Chapter 37: The Sky Turns Black Part 8
Heya everybody. I'd like to say thanks again to Lilly the Omega Wolf, Atariel Tsukai and Stuart444 for leaving reviews of the last chapter. I'm glad that the idea of TK and Kari being telepathically linked was well received because I was worried that it might not be, so I was relieved to get good feedback about it.
As normal, I don't own Digimon or any other copyrighted things that I might mention in this chapter or the story as a whole. Metalseadramon would be in Digimon Tri if I did.
And now the conclusion of the battle ...
TK was panting heavily as he wiped the rain off his face. The water was still lashing down from the thunderstorm above and it had soaked most of his clothes despite him wearing a jacket. He knew that Kari was fairing no better through the link that had been created between their minds by their crests. His eyes glanced at the brunette girl to confirm that she was just as drenched as he was.
Kari swung her fist at Deep One that came too close to them and it was wiped out instantly. Her body was still radiating the light from their combined powers, just like TK's was, and that allowed them to continue fighting off the evil beings. However, it was becoming more of a struggle for the two teens. They had slowed to a walking pace and were breathing heavily as fatigue began to set in. TK could feel his legs aching and he could sense that Kari's legs were even more tired. He didn't know how much longer they could keep this up.
The couple had split off from the others so that they could take the fight to the Deep Ones more effectively. It also stopped them from blinding their friends with the light coming from their bodies. The other Digidestined were being protected by the Digimon as they used the walls of an alleyway to cover themselves again. Only Angewomon had joined TK and Kari as they split off from their comrades and she remained above them providing air support. The plan had been working so far because the Digidestined of Hope and Light had managed to take out vast numbers of Deep Ones while herding the others into the waiting trap set up by the Digimon.
TK didn't quite know how long he and Kari had been doing this but he was certain that it was for more than a couple of hours. Usually he could sprint around for ages, and his time training on the basketball court was testament to this, but he was tiring much more quickly than normal and the same applied to Kari. Both of them had shared thoughts about it and came to the conclusion that their light must somehow be involved. They had never kept their crests combined for that long in the past so neither of the lovers knew what the side effects were.
"We need to stop and take a rest," TK decided and didn't bother voicing it because he knew that his girlfriend could still read his thoughts. Both of the teens were still very uncomfortable with the idea of someone being able read their mind even if it was someone that they were as intimate with as they were with each other, but they had managed to put that aside when they focused on the task at hand. It had actually given the couple an advantage that helped them work seamlessly with one another.
Kari stopped and placed her hands on her knees. She was gasping for air as she glanced up at TK. "Yeah. I can't keep this up for much longer."
"Angewomon," TK glanced towards the sky and called out to the angel Digimon. "Can you take us back to the others?"
"Sure," she replied with a nod of her head. Angewomon fired one of her arrows at a Megadramon that was coming towards them and scored a direct hit. She watched it disintegrate before swooping down and landing in the clearing around the two humans. The angel scooped them up in her arms before flying over to the others.
TK eyes glanced down and scanned battlefield as they approached the alleyway that their friends were in. Zudomon, Grapleomon and Shakkoumon were defending the entrance while Magnaangemon and Silphymon were taking care of aerial threats. The Digidestined themselves were protected by the high walls of the alley that stopped them from being attacked from the flanks and from behind.
Angewomon landed in the clearing, allowing TK and Kari to climb out of her arms so that they could join the others. The angel Digimon took to the air again as TK glanced over at his girlfriend. The bond between them told him that she wasn't exactly steady at that moment and his eyes confirmed that she was beginning to sway. TK reached out to her in an attempt to lend her some extra support.
Suddenly Kari's legs gave up on her and fatigue took over. She fell straight into TK's waiting arms and against his chest, making him fall backwards onto the concrete with her. He just didn't have the strength left to hold her up either and their combined weight had made his legs give out too.
"Kari!" Yolei yelled as she watched between the gaps in her fingers.
"TK!" Cody let his hand drop from over his eyes so that he could see what had happened and he quickly sprinted over to his DNA digivolution partner once he saw him lying on the ground. He didn't care that the brightness from their light was hurting his eyes as he knelt down next to his comrades.
TK, with the help of Cody and Yolei, forced himself to sit up. He held Kari against his chest, lending her some support as Joe and Noriko joined them. Kari glanced up and looked into TK's eyes before they used their telepathic link to come to a decision on what they should do next.
"Guys, Kari and I can't keep this up any longer," TK panted as he told the others. "Keeping our crests combined like this is draining too much of our energy. We have to stop."
"Do what you have to do," Joe informed them as he did his best to inspect their bodies for any injuries despite the glaring light almost blinding him.
"Yeah," Yolei nodded before she glanced at her hands because she had instinctively placed them on her friends. "And I'm glad that your light doesn't hurt me like it does the Deep Ones. I'd have lost my hands right now if it did."
"Our light only effects creatures that emit darkness," Kari continued to take deep breaths as she replied to Yolei. "That means you can touch us without getting hurt."
"That's a relief," Cody sighed as he kept his eyes fixed on the couple. "You should break the bond between your crests now if you can so that you can reserve some energy in case we need it later. Don't worry about protecting us because the Digimon can take care of that."
"Right," TK and Kari replied in unison with a nod of their heads. The couple gazed into one another's eyes before ending their focus on the power being emitted by their crests. TK could feel the bond slowly weakening between them as the light being given off by their bodies dimmed. Kari's thoughts were becoming less clear to him, as was his ability to sense what she was feeling. Eventually the light faded out and the couple remained there on the concrete with the others around them.
"Can you hear this thought?" TK tested to see if Kari could still read his mind but, when he received no reply, he was certain that the link between their minds was gone. The two teens sighed in relief now that their thoughts and memories were their own once more. As much as TK trusted Kari, he wasn't sure if he wanted to go through that again.
"Tai, TK," Izzy's voice suddenly left the earpieces of the Digidestined, capturing their attention. "We have a problem. There's one of those evil fogs forming in one of the outer areas of Tokyo that hasn't been fully evacuated yet."
A fireball erupted from a ship and another explosion rumbled across the battlefield. The smell of burning fuel continued to flood into Tai's nostrils as the oil on the ocean's surface remained ablaze. The black cloud created by the smoke that hung over the warzone was thicker than ever and the eerie orange glow from the blaze on the sea was the only light source. The fire was only being added to as more and more ships tried their luck against the Digimon and failed.
Sparks flew as Wargreymon managed to land another glancing blow with his claws on Metalseadramon's skin before veering off as the giant sea serpent swung his tail at the Digimon of Courage. Both combatants were showing the effects of their battle. Metalseadramon had numerous gashes in his metallic skin where Wargreymon had caught him with his dramon destroyer gauntlets along with several scorch marks. Those areas were near misses or where the chosen Digimon's Terra Force had just clipped him.
Wargreymon wasn't unscathed either with parts of his armour being broken or cracked by various strikes from his foe. His shield in particular was showing wear from the fight and was smouldering from the impact of several River of Power attacks when Wargreymon had been forced to use it to protect himself. He had tried to limit its use to just when he couldn't evade the blue beam. Tai also noticed that his partner was breathing rather heavily now and that Metalseadramon was also similarly tired. The two mega level Digimon had been battling it out over the sea of fire for hours without any breaks.
Metalseadramon's nose cannon lit up before he fired his River of Power at Wargreymon in retaliation for that swipe seconds earlier. This time the humanoid dragon barrel rolled over the blue beam and swooped down to remain out of its path. The sea monster stopped his attack and dived down after his opponent to either trap him in his jaws or launch another energy beam in his direction.
While suddenly veering off to his left, Wargreymon prepared another fireball in his hands. He was now facing Metalseadramon and threw his main attack at the monster yet another time. He followed his attack in, using it as cover so that he could get close to his foe without being hurt. The sea serpent corkscrewed over Wargreymon's Terra Force and coiled up, leaving him wide open to another slash attack from the dramon destroyer claws.
Metalseadramon suddenly began tightening his coil as his foe attempted to swipe at his underside. He quickly narrowed the gap between his snake-like body as he intended on constricting and crushing Wargreymon. The Digimon of Courage quickly powered up another Terra Force to take the opportunity to score a direct hit. Metalseadramon, realising what would happen if he continued his planned attack, uncoiled and looped upwards into the black cloud above.
Wargreymon threw his fireball after him but the giant dragon dodged the attack as he went up into the thick black cloud that hung over the battlefield. Metalseadramon quickly looped back down and fired another beam straight at his foe. Wargreymon evaded the attack once again and retaliated with another Terra Force as the exchange continued.
Tai was forced to tighten his grip on Imperialdramon's back again as the huge black dragon avoided an attack from a Skullbaluchimon. He could feel his arms beginning to ache from having to cling on so much during all of the evasive manoeuvres and he wondered how the less athletic people with him were holding up. His grip tightened again as Imperialdramon swung around and powered up his laser. Tai watched as the dragon's beam tore a hole straight through the Skullbaluchimon, killing it instantly.
Several small explosions off in the distance caught Tai's attention and he watched as Metalgarurumon took out another squadron of Pteramon. The metal wolf continued his attacks by launching several more rockets at two Megadramon and a Gigadramon that were chasing Garudamon. He then swooped down and attacked some Seadramon and Gesomon that had just surfaced in one of the openings between the flames on the ocean.
Garudamon, now free from her assailants, swung her massive talons at some Airdramon in her path. Her claws ripped through the smaller flying Digimon, breaking off wings and tails while decapitating others. Pieces of the Digimon instantly turned to data while large remnants fell lifelessly to the sea below. Garudamon then followed Metalgarurumon down towards the ocean and launched the red bird-shaped energy of her Wing Blade attack at some Ebidramon.
Lillymon corkscrewed over the rockets of a Pteramon before looping around in behind it and firing her Flower Cannon. The green energy ball vapourised most of the purple Digimon's body, killing it instantly and allowing the fairy Digimon to chase after other flying foes. She followed up by diving down on a formation of Airdramon and Pteramon, wiping them out with her attack one at a time. She then looped back around and covered Metalgarurumon and Garudamon as they soared back up from their attacks on the sea monsters.
While the number of aerial threats had thinned since the beginning of the battle, the stream of evil flying monsters coming from the fog surrounding some of the nearby islands hadn't showed any sign of stopping. Tai pursed his lips at that thought and it didn't sit well with him. Their Digimon were showing obvious fatigue from battling for all of that time and he didn't know how much longer they could keep this going. He could see that Lillymon, Garudamon and Metalgarurumon were all breathing heavily as they chased down some more of the foes that were just entering the fight.
The three Digimon swooped down from the black cloud and wiped out a huge number of the formation. Most of their attacks struck home as the weaker and slower foes couldn't defend themselves against the Chosen Digimon. They weaved around in amongst the evil Digimon as Wargreymon and Metalseadramon continued to duel nearby while Imperialdramon made sure that he didn't get too close.
The giant dragon was forced to duck under one of Metalseadramon's blue beams as the sea monster found himself facing him. Wargreymon quickly released a fireball at his opponent, forcing him to break off the attack. Just then Lillymon looped around after finishing off three Airdramon and found herself just behind Metalseadramon. She fired a salvo of five green energy balls at the monster's head and back.
Tai held his breath, hoping that the attacks would be enough to injure and stop the biggest threat to their safety. The image of Lillymon battling Metalseadramon eight years earlier flashed through his mind and he hoped that this time her attacks would be more effective. His fist tightened as the five green balls scored hits on Metalseadramon.
A loud groan escaped Tai's mouth as he watch all five balls bounce off Metalseadramon's skin without it seeming to even phase the mega level Digimon. He guessed that nothing had changed in the power difference between the metal dragon and Lillymon over the years, so their foe was still able to shrug off the attack without even flinching. Tai pursed his lips and wished that the next time an opportunity like that arose that it fell to either Metalgarurumon or Imperialdramon.
Wargreymon slammed both halves of his shield together in front of him as Metalseadramon looped around and fired another beam from close range. The force of the impact was enough to send the orange mega Digimon flying through the sky. Tai gasped as he saw a piece of his partner's shield break away and fall to the ocean. Another sigh escaped his lips as he watched Wargreymon begin spinning to counter with an attack of his own.
A large tornado formed around the Digimon of Courage and it began tearing apart his rival's attack. Wargreymon then flew forwards and straight at the metal serpent while getting his manoeuvre up to full power. He aimed right at his mouth but Metalseadramon barrel rolled away and dived down towards the ocean.
Tai's eyes opened wide as the dragon suddenly arched upwards and came straight back up behind Wargreymon as he stopped his tornado. Metalseadramon fired another beam at Tai's partner, forcing him to use his shield once more. The Leader of the Digidestined watched as the blue energy smashed into the metal shield once again and more pieces began breaking off. He gritted his teeth, not knowing how much more of this his Digimon could withstand.
"Garuru Tomahawk!" Metalgarurumon captured Tai's attention as he fired the largest of his missiles from inside his chest. The metal wolf was forced to veer off from his attack by five Gigadramon that swooped down behind him. However, that didn't matter as his rocket was already locked on Metalseadramon. He quickly looped around and fired his normal missiles at the Gigadramon, killing them instantly.
Metalseadramon quickly broke off his attack on Wargreymon when he saw the huge rocket flying straight at him. He corkscrewed and dived down towards the ocean again, but it was too late. The missile tracked him and closed in on his midriff. The sea serpent quickly coiled up in one last attempt to avoid the attack so that it would pass through the twists of his body. Metalseadramon's lips turned upwards as the rocket passed between his coils, but then he suddenly roared in agony.
The metal dragon was thrown through the air by the missile as it exploded. It hadn't come into contact with him but the blast was enough to send him crashing into the ocean below. Huge waves fanned out in the flaming sea as water rose several hundred metres into the air from the impact. Tai was about to cheer in victory when he saw Metalseadramon move. The dragon's body was charred from the blast but it wasn't enough to stop him from diving deep down into the ocean.
"Did that finish him off?" Davis asked as his eyes scanned the ocean below. "Is he running away?"
"No," Matt replied firmly as he and the others also tried to find the metal dragon. "That wasn't a direct hit so it wasn't enough to finish him off."
"He'll spring another surprise attack so keep your eyes open," Tai added as he clenched his fists again. "Metalseadramon will not give up that easily."
As if on cue, a Russian battleship rose from the water with the sea serpent's mouth around its hull. Metalseadramon's teeth had torn through the thick armoured plating, forming fractures that began to spread as he lifted the vessel higher into the sky. The sound of twisting metal crossed the battlefield as the ship began splitting in two along the cracks. Tai held his breath as the boat's hull finally gave way and the two pieces began falling towards the ocean.
Repeating his initial move from earlier in the battle, Metalseadramon swung his tail at the stern of the vessel and sent it flying in the direction of Imperialdramon. However, this time he coiled around and smashed his tail into the bow as well, sending it flying towards Wargreymon and the other Chosen Digimon. The Digidestined held on tightly as Imperialdramon arced around and climbed steeply in an attempt to avoid the stern of the boat. The other Digimon also took evasive action, doing their best to get out of the way by heading for the black cloud of smoke above them.
Tai glanced back and saw pieces of the ship falling off as it flew towards them, but it wasn't that which made his eyes open wide in horror. Metalseadramon's nose cannon lit up and he fired his beam at both halves of the battleship. The ammunition with them exploded, turning the two pieces of the boat into a wall of sharp flaming debris. Imperialdramon sped up and soared towards the black smoke as Tai stared at the jagged fire-covered shards that were coming their way. He hoped that the other Digimon would be able to escape it too because those pieces of metal looked like they could penetrate or rip apart flesh.
Imperialdramon just made it into the smoke cloud and to safety before the shrapnel could reach him. However, a loud cry of agony echoed through the air, suggesting that others might not have been as fortunate. Tai had seen that Metalseadramon didn't care about his comrades and he hoped that it was one of the Pteramon screaming in pain.
"Garudamon!" Sora gasped as her eyes opened wide. She was glancing around for her partner but it was impossible to see anything in the thick black cloud around them. Tai gulped, knowing that no Pteramon would be able to squawk that loudly and that meant only one thing.
Imperialdramon dived down out of the smoke a few seconds later once he was certain that the shrapnel had passed. The Digidestined coughed as they tried to clear their lungs of the fumes before they glanced around for their Digimon. Tai spotted Lillymon first when she swooped down from the cloud and attacked some of the Airdramon that were regrouping after dodging the flaming shards of metal. Wargreymon and Metalgarurumon dived down soon after and rejoined the fight, leaving only Garudamon missing.
The Digidestined were looking over the sides of Imperialdramon, hoping that their friend hadn't crashed into the burning oil-covered ocean below. They all sighed in relief when the red humanoid bird flew down from the cloud too. However, that relief was short lived when Tai noticed the blood coming from several injuries. Garudamon pulled a large piece of metal out of her right thigh and she threw it aside as more blood flowed out of the wound. She also had gashes over her right arm and chest, although her wings appeared to be fine so she could still fly.
"Get close to Garudamon so that I can make sure that she's alright," Sora instructed as her concern-filled gaze remained fixed on her partner. Imperialdramon did as he was told and flew over to his injured comrade. Sora gulped as she watched the blood running down her friend's leg. "Are you ok, Garudamon?"
"You can rest if you want," Tai added as he glanced over the rest of the bird's body to make sure that there weren't any more injures than the three that he had already spotted. "Don't make your injuries worse."
"I'll be fine," Garudamon replied as she glanced at the Digidestined. "The cuts aren't that deep and I've fought with worse injuries in the past."
"Are you sure?" Sora asked softly as she stared up at her Digimon.
"Yeah," Garudamon nodded as she made eye contact with the auburn-haired young woman. "Now let's keep moving because we're sitting ducks here."
"Right," Imperialdramon replied as both he and Garudamon veered off and rejoined the battle. The dragon's back lit up as he fired another Positron Laser at some of the evil Digimon entering the battle from the continuing stream of foes leaving the mists around the islands. He scored direct hits on most of them and Garudamon finished off the rest of this latest squadron.
Tai's gaze returned to his partner and he watched as his friend dodged one of Metalseadramon's attacks before retaliating with a Terra Force. The attack missed and it looked as if the two mega Digimon were matching each other blow for blow again. Wargreymon followed up with another fireball but that was evaded too just like Metalseadramon's River of Power was ducked under as he attempted to land a hit. Tai realised that this had now definitely become a battle of stamina.
"Tai, TK," Izzy's voice suddenly left the earpieces of the Digidestined, capturing their attention. "We have a problem. There's one of those evil fogs forming in one of the outer areas of Tokyo that hasn't been fully evacuated yet."
"Crap," Tai muttered under his breath before pressing the talk button. "TK, can you and your team deal with it? We're battling Metalseadramon right now and there are still some ships left that we need to protect."
"We can't," Joe replied, surprising Tai because he was expecting his sister's boyfriend to be the one to respond. "TK and Kari are out of it. They've given everything they can and if they try to do any more then they'll probably pass out from exhaustion."
"Our Digimon are getting tired too," Noriko added, further surprising the Leader of the Digidestined because she was meant to have stayed at the DPD headquarters. "We're ok for the moment but we're surrounded and I don't know how much longer they can keep this up. The waves of dark creatures just keep coming."
"Kari ..."
"TK ..."
"... Are you alright?" Tai and Matt asked over their earpieces at the same time.
"We're fine," the couple replied in equal synchronicity. Tai could hear their heavy panting and the fatigue in their voices before TK continued for them both. "We're just tired, that's all. We've used a lot of energy during this battle to keep the Deep Ones away from the others. We aren't hurt or anything."
Tai sighed and rubbed his forehead before replying to the blonde teen. "Ok, if what Joe says is correct then I don't want you to push yourselves unless you really have to. The worst thing that could happen would be for you to pass out while in the middle of a battle."
"There's another mist forming in another region of Tokyo," Izzy interjected in a tone filled with urgency. "It's in an evacuated area but it is near the edge of the city. Wait, there's another one forming and a fourth one. This one's in an area with some of the evacuating traffic. A fifth one has just appeared too."
Tai gritted his teeth as he thought for a moment. His eyes scanned the flames on the ocean below him as well as the battle raging on around them. He glanced at each of his team's Digimon and noticed just how tired they were as they continued to fight. His eyes studied Garudamon's wounds before his gaze fixed onto his own partner. Wargreymon had pieces of his armour missing and his shield was badly scorched from Metalseadramon's attacks. He was breathing heavily as he corkscrewed over another beam aimed at him by his metallic foe.
"We're coming back to help out. Imperialdramon's speed will allow us to get there the quickest," the brunette teen announced into the microphone of his earpiece once he made his decision. "And making sure the evacuation is complete is our main priority."
"Understood," TK replied as he continued to take deep breaths. "If you want our help then let us know."
"I'll keep you informed of any changes while you're on route," Izzy paused for a moment before adding more. "You might want to hurry though because this fog is growing at the fastest rate I've seen."
"Ok, we're on our way," Tai replied, ending the discussion before he gave his next order. "Imperialdramon, tell the other Digimon that we're heading back."
"Fall back," the giant dragon yelled out the command that the group had discussed for this situation on their journey out. "Fall back."
Kari quickly shoved some of her tops into one of her suitcases. Her whole body ached and she had never felt so tired in her life but she forced herself to continue because she knew that she was going to need everything that she could take from her bedroom. TK was behind her filling his suitcase with his things too as the couple tried to pack as quickly as they could.
Things had taken a serious turn for the worse over the last thirty minutes. Those few dark clouds had grown too large before Tai and his group could reach them. They had joined together to form a barrier around the outer edges of Tokyo, stopping anything from going in or coming out. The continuing invasion from the sea meant that they were now completely surrounded by advancing troops and it was only a matter of time before they reached Odaiba. All of the Digidestined were collecting as much of their belongings as they could before they headed for the DPD underground base.
Glancing around her room once more, Kari made a mental list of the things that she needed or wanted to take with her. She had already packed her shorts, underwear, skirts and trousers along with her toiletries, makeup and other essentials. Her shirts and dresses were in the case that she was packing now and she was going to place her towels on top of them when she paused for a moment. Her redwood eyes fixed onto the photos around her desk of her and TK and she knew that she couldn't leave them behind.
The brunette girl rushed over to her desk and picked up the framed pictures and placed them into her suitcase. She then slid her camera and photo album next her laptop in her backpack. Kari placed her towels over the frames to protect them before grabbing a few other things and placing them in too. She took one last glance around her room before zipping up her fourth and final suitcase and slinging her backpack over her shoulders.
"Ready?" TK asked her as he closed his final bag.
"Yeah," Kari replied as she studied him for a moment. She could see the tiredness in his sapphire eyes as they gazed at her and she knew that her boyfriend was probably as exhausted as she was after the battle that they had been through. Her energy was completely drained and she had to force her legs to move because all they wanted to do was give out on her again and allow her to go to sleep. "Let's go."
TK nodded as the couple took their remaining bags and headed for the balcony. The door was wide open and Tai was giving Metalgreymon his last bag. The giant orange dinosaur was going to be carrying all of Tai's, Noriko's and Keiko's things to the DPD headquarters. The girls and their Digimon were already on Metalgreymon and waiting to go. TK and Kari handed their last bags to Magnaangemon as he was going to look after their things while they were carried by Angewomon.
"I'm just going to do one last check of the apartment before we go," Kari informed the others as she placed her suitcase into Magnaangemon's hands.
"Ok," Tai nodded as he climbed onto Metalgreymon's shoulder. "Be quick. It won't be long before this area is over run by Deep Ones and evil Digimon, and we need to be inside the DPD headquarters before that happens."
"I will," the brunette girl replied as she rushed back inside. She ran from room to room, making sure everything that they might need had been collected. She switched the lights off as she checked that the main door was locked. The last places to check were the main living area and the kitchen.
Kari paused as she was about to switch off the lights in the kitchen. Her gaze was fixed on the pots that she had left on the stove when Tai informed her about the attack during what was now the previous evening. She wondered when the next time would be when she would be able to come home, assuming that her home would still exist after Dragomon's forces made it here. Would this be the last time she would ever see her home?
The teen girl didn't dwell on the thought and switched off the lights in the kitchen and living room before heading for the balcony. Kari glanced back once more to capture what she hoped wouldn't be the last mental image of the Kamiya apartment. She took a deep breath and slid the door closed before climbing into Angewomon's waiting arms. The Digimon flew off, heading for the relative safety of the Digimon Protection Division's underground base.
Well that's the end of the big mid-story battle and it's been a really long one. I've ended up writing two more chapters for it than I expected just so that I could fit everything in. Please let me know your thoughts on this chapter and the battle as a whole by leaving a review below =D