DISCLAIMER: I don't own Digimon; the Thirteenth Amendment put an end to slavery.
Last time on Digimon Genesis! The digital humans engaged in a battle with the last of Daemon's lieutenants, who proved to be no other than LadyDevimon! The battle was fierce, but with the help of Yuka's ultimate form of Persiamon, the Genesis Team once again pulled through. Then Daemon appeared, and all hell broke lose. He killed LadyDevimon, the servant who betrayed him, and set his sights on the human children, intent on destroying them and vanquishing the last remaining humans in the Digital World …
DIGIMON GENESISCHAPTER XXXVII
THE ROOT OF ALL EVIL
They all stood before him, agape. They were not awed by his sight, even though that was chilling and overwhelming enough. Rather, they were overwhelmed by his sheer evil, by the act he had just committed before their very eyes.
"So … who will be next?" Daemon asked them. The question was obviously meant to taunt them, but it sounded sincere, there was nothing but evil in his voice.
"You - you -" Radiatimon sputtered. "She was your wife, and you -"
"Killed her?" said Daemon. "I have killed many. What's one more life to me?"
"But she was your own wife!"
Daemon laughed, an evil laugh that sent chills down their spine. It was a laugh not delighting in the absurd, rather it was laughter at any thought of goodness. "You silly human, put away your absurd concepts of 'love'. It is all a purification process … first go the humans. Next the vaccine types, and all data types who dare stand in my way … and then …" "Everyone you love?"
Daemon sneered. "I love no one," he said. "Not anymore, at least. I will kill all those who betray our cause - my cause - for they are one and the same."
"Well, you're just going to have to kill us then!" said Hypothermon.
"We're ready to fight you!" said Persiamon.
Daemon laughed again. "Ready? You fools do not know ready. I, who have possessed total control over the Digital World for years and years and years … you, who have just arrived here, think you can defeat me? Ha!"
"We'll see who's laughing when we get through with you," said Knightmon. "After all, we managed to defeat all your lieutenants. We defeated them - now it's your turn!"
Daemon laughed again. "Ha! You defeated one of my lieutenants, and with considerable help. MarineDevimon, a lackluster warrior. I shall know better next time -"
"Next time?" asked Nornmon.
"There won't be a next time!" said Hypothermon.
Daemon laughed again. "If I really wanted to kill you, I would have done so a long time ago. You have exposed all the flaws in my lieutenants. They were weak Digimon … MarineDevimon, so full of himself that he believed himself unstoppable … but I digress. You defeated only one of my lieutenants. You forget that it was I who killed the two others."
"Yeah?" said Radiatimon. "Well, you don't have any lieutenants left. It's just you - and us."
Daemon laughed again. "Only a coward would say that. A true warrior would fight me one on one. Say what you will of what I did with SkullSatamon, or LadyDevimon. But I killed them with my own hand. I did not need the help of others - and you will need all the help you can to defeat me. Ha! To even think of such a thing is impossible. Shall we battle now? Are you truly 'ready'?"
"We're ready as we'll ever be!" said Radiatimon.
"Are you?" said Daemon. "Soon, you will regret that. I am not going to go easy on you - why should you, when you think that you are the saviors, those who will cleanse the world of evil? Don't you know that evil has already been cleansed - the humans have already been wiped out, and only you five remain. Now it is time to finish the job! And when I am done killing you, the vaccine types will go, and the datas, and all viruses who refuse to be loyal to me. This will truly be my world!"
"You're a selfish, greedy monster," breathed Radiatimon.
"Funny that you should say that," said Daemon, narrowing his slit-like eyes. "You are the human they call Takumi, are you not? You should know something about selfish, greedy monsters."
"What are you talking about?" Radiatimon demanded.
Daemon laughed again. "There is so much you won't know … and so much you will never learn. I will kill you all, I will make it so that you will regret ever have coming here. "Evil Inferno!"
It was his attack, he threw fireballs at them, one to each of them, five in total. When they struck, they felt pain like they had never felt before, they screamed out in agony, for they had never felt an attack this powerful. They knew they were dying, dying totally - all of them felt this - and yet, they survived. It was truly a miracle that they did so, though they were not reassured by this. They knew it was only a matter of time … they were thrown to the side, fallen on the ground, each of them felt like fighting Daemon was a useless battle, like fighting a fear that they knew could not be conquered.
Daemon laughed. "You weak, foolish Digimon! Don't you know that I'm at the mega level? Fully digivolved though you are, I can kill all of you without breaking a sweat. How does it feel? How does it feel knowing that my power will always eclipse yours? You had better surrender now."
"We'll never surrender!" said Radiatimon.
"Ah, bravery," said Daemon. "The kind of bravery that leads one to death … perhaps cowardice would serve you better, Radiatimon … or Takumi … you needn't die …"
"I told you once," said Radiatimon. "And I'm not saying it again: I'll never surrender to you."
"And neither will we!" said Persiamon.
"You foolish Digimon!" said Daemon. "If I ought to call you that … for as far as I can tell, you are half-breeds, nothing less, nothing more. You will never know what it's like to be a true Digimon …"
"And neither will you!" shouted Radiatimon. "A true Digimon would never kill … a true Digimon is someone who loves …"
Daemon laughed again. "I should have expected that of my opponents. And yet I was sure you would not be so foolish … then again, if you were truly smart, you would not oppose me to begin with … enough talk … it is time for killing! Flame Inferno!"
They faced the flames one more time, and it was just as devastating as the last time, but their recovery was quicker, and they felt like they could stand one more, and just one more - they knew they would be done for if they did not respond soon …
"Helios Missile!" shouted Radiatimon.
The missile went straight for Daemon, then stopped, and was completely dissolved. Radiatimon opened his mouth, astonished. "How did he do that -" he whispered.
"You fools!" shouted Daemon. "I know more power than you ever will. Now feel my soul of darkness!"
Radiatimon received the attack head-on, it was the worst experience he had ever had, worst than the attack that came before, though it did not kill him. Instead, it filled him with a sense of grief, a sense of hopelessness … and he knew it was impossible, completely impossible, to defeat Daemon, to even battle him was laughable … he knew that their anticipated victory would end in bitter, bitter defeat, and death. Radiatimon dropped to the ground, his wings folded, he felt cold and miserable, and nothing could shake him from his stupor …
"Radiatimon!" shouted Persiamon.
"Ha ha ha!" laughed Daemon. "One down … four to go. I expected better of you, you so-called 'saviors'. How does it feel? How does it feel to know that you are so close to death? I must admit, I have only felt it once … but how does it feel to be completely certain, absolutely certain, that death is inevitable?"
"I'm getting tired of your talk!" shouted Hypothermon.
Daemon laughed again. "You had better get used to it. Mine is the last voice you shall hear!"
Hypothermon, angered, shouted "Freeze Tranquil!"
Even though they knew Daemon was a mega Digimon, even though he knew he was near unstoppable, still they expected him to freeze in Hypothermon's attack. He did not. Instead, the ice never hit him, it shattered him before it made impact, as if Daemon and the ice were physically unable to make contact.
"Your attacks are futile!" said Daemon. He flew, up into the air, high above them all, he hovered above them, symbolizing strength, an evil strength that could not be confronted, but nonetheless was fought against.
"Nature's Game!" shouted Nornmon. She released to Daemon a ball of energy, but he flapped his wings, and somehow he absorbed it; the other Digimon were agape with horror, but still they tried.
"Helter Skelter!" shouted Persiamon. She danced, danced as she did before LadyDevimon, but the attack had none of that effect, Daemon's eyes simply narrowed with fury, and nothing happened.
"Berserk Sword!" shouted Knightmon. His sword he slashed, back and forth, through and down, but Daemon escaped without a scratch. The Digimon were completely stunned, none of their attacks were able to make headway against him.
"Now," said Daemon. "Shall you feel my true wrath! Evil Inferno!"
The fire came again, they were all engulfed, and left with the feeling that nothing was possible, that there was nothing the individual Digimon coulda accomplish: all was lost, all was futile. After some time, they broke free, though they were severely weakened. Hypothermon ran first from the crowd. "Freeze Tranquil!" he shouted, and the ice came again, and once again, to no effect. He did, however, succeed, in tackling Daemon, to the ground the evil Digimon went, but without a fight. He merely laughed, unfazed.
"An ultimate Digimon, who believes he can defeat me?" said Daemon. "Very well. I shall humor you. But do not blame me when the target of your destruction -" Suddenly, Daemon was no more, he appeared somewhere else, far above Hypothermon, "- disappears! Flame Inferno!"
The flames came again, and Hypothermon was once again engulfed, he fell to the ground, screaming in pain; the other Digimon had no choice but to attack.
"Helter Skelter!" shouted Persiamon.
Daemon laughed. "Foolish Digimon, do you think dancing will defeat me? Flame Inferno!"
Persiamon was engulfed in flames, she screamed out in pain, and she was taken out: not dead, but near death. Nornmon and Knightmon were left standing. They confronted Daemon, knowing that the inevitable awaited them …
"Very well," said Daemon. "Attack me, if you wish. I shall turn your attacks against you. Your techniques will not faze me in the slightest. Go on. I dare you!"
Radiatimon got up. "He's - strong," he said, to no one in particular.
"We can't give up," said Hypothermon. "We have to defeat him!"
Daemon laughed again. "I will not be defeated by a bunch of humans! I, Daemon, ruler of this world? And now, so-called saviors, I grow bored with our encounter. Evil Inferno!"
There were flames, so many of them, growing and spreading across the floor so that everything was engulfed, nothing was spared. It was a sea of fire, the Digimon howled with pain as they felt the fires burn their feet, burn their bodies.
"Freeze Tranquil!" Hypothermon shouted. There was a jet of ice, and steam was produced, the raging fires slowly died down, but not without the Digimon sustaining considerable damage.
"There must be a way," said Nornmon. "If we all combine our attacks together …"
"… then we might stand a chance!" said Knightmon. "BERSERK SWORD!"
"HELIOS MISSILE!"
"FREEZE TRANQUIL!"
"HELTER SKELTER!" "DESTINY WEAVING!"
The attacks all combined at once, but with a wave of his hand the combined energies of the attacks were sent literally through the roof, there was another boom, and the ceiling began to crumble. The Digimon tried to avoid the falling rocks, but Daemon was unfazed, everything that threatened to crush him was merely deleted within inches of touching him. He seemed to be invincible.
"There's no way -" said Hypothermon. "- That we're going to be defeated here, right now. Not after all we've been through."
"We can't allow him to beat us!" said Nornmon.
"But how?" said Knightmon. "He's strong - stronger than any Digimon we've ever encountered -"
Daemon laughed again. "Are you fools finished talking yet? Do you not know that there is no strategy, nothing you can implement to change the outcome of this fight? You are doomed. You had best let me kill you, so that I can at least spare you the suffering of a long, drawn-out death. I do this not because you are human, but because you are Digimon also, and therefore deserving of a quick death."
"I'm getting tired of your talk!" shouted Radiatimon. Somehow the reality that this, Daemon, was the Digimon who had finished off the last remaining humans, who had killed countless beings, was now before them. It was probably best not to think about it; he could not comprehend such evil. Radiatimon knew it was no use, knew it was to no avail, but he had to do something, anything. "HELIOS MISSILE!" Straight for Daemon the missile went, and once again it was dissolved. Radiatimon descended to the ground, frustrated. It was like Daemon had sold his soul to the devil in exchange for massive power.
"I think my point has been exhausted," said Daemon. "There is no way to defeat me. It is utterly impossible!"
"How is he doing that?" Nornmon whispered.
"I don't know," breathed Radiatimon.
"He must be doing something," said Knightmon. "If only we could find out what!"
"I've got an idea," said Hypothermon. "Let's attack, all together, one at a time - let's not combine our attacks, let's have him deal with us on all sides."
"Do you think it will work?" said Persiamon.
"It has to," said Radiatimon. "We're going to have to try everything!"
"I believe the hour of your death is at hand," said Daemon. "And now, it is time to finish you all. Evil -"
"HELIOS MISSILE!"
"FREEZE TRANQUIL!"
"NATURE'S GAME!"
"VAMPIRE WAVE!"
"BERSERK SWORD!"
Daemon dealt with Radiatimon's attack, and then, on the other side, Hypothermon's freezing attack. Persiamon's attack, however, hit him head on, the first damage he had sustained thus far.
"Yes!" cried the Digimon. They treated it almost like they had won the entire battle; they had proved that Daemon could be hurt after all.
But he was not hurt badly, he quickly recovered in time to stop Persiamon's attack, and to deflect Knightmon's sword. The effect this had on Knightmon was devastating: with his sword, he was thrown to the other side of the large room, his armor clanging on the floor as he fell.
"Knightmon!" shouted Persiamon.
"I think I shall kill you all one at a time," said Daemon. "Since you are all too cowardly to fight me one-on-one. Say good-bye, Knightmon! Evil Inferno!"
"Berserk Sword!" shouted Knightmon. He recovered quickly, and he managed to deflect the onslaught of flames with his sword, throwing them off with a heavy grunt. He faced Daemon, breathing heavily, and then began to run at his foe, brandishing his weapon.
"Knightmon!" shouted Nornmon. "No -"
"Still haven't learned, have you?" said Daemon. "You cannot defeat me. Don't even try. Evil Inferno!"
The flames came again, rising higher and higher, like a floor, rising, rising. The fire incinerated them, burned them, they screamed with pain as the fires rushed through them.
"There is no escape!" said Daemon. "All humans who dare trifle with me will suffer my wrath!"
Knightmon, however, refused to back down. "BERSERK SWORD!"
The sword was flashing, this way and that, there was no way that Daemon could avoid it. And yet, he did. When he emerged on the other side, the sword had no effect on him; on him there was not a scratch.
"I can't believe how powerful he is," said Radiatimon.
"We should have expected this," said Hypothermon. "The most powerful Digimon in the world."
A thousand thoughts were rushing through their minds, they wondered was it worth getting killed just to spare the lives of countless Digimon, they wondered if they had made some mistake, perhaps they had gotten here too early, perhaps they had erred in not fighting him without more experience. Had they battled SkullSatamon, perhaps they would have had the necessary skill to beat him, but they had not: Daemon had seen to that. And perhaps even all of those things would not have helped, perhaps they had been doomed to defeat for the beginning. Yet it seemed so ignominious, so wrong, that they were doomed for defeat. They had thought, since the beginning, that they were destined for something great, and now … and now they realized the futility in all of this. It was over … all over … try as they might, they could not defeat him, they could only prolong their suffering and extend their moment of death, but it was inevitable now, all inevitable, their fate was sealed …
"Having fun?" asked Daemon. "I love watching you all suffer. I have to admit, I take pleasure in killing humans. It is my great misfortune that I am unable to kill you in your human forms … but I will still kill you!"
"HELIOS MISSILE!" shouted Radiatimon.
The missile came, Daemon swept out of the way, there was no hitting him.
"Evil Inferno!" he responded, and the flames came again.
"Freeze Tranquil!" shouted Hypothermon. The flames died down, Daemon growled with fury.
"All right," said Radiatimon. "Hypothermon, I want you to keep doing that. Don't let him flame us again!"
"I'll attack from the skies!" shouted Nornmon. "Nature's Game!"
She flew up into the large hole and the ceiling, far, far away from Daemon. Daemon looked up after her, but was intent on destroying the Digimon presently before him, Radiatimon and Hypothermon.
"HELIOS MISSILE!"
Radiatimon fired, but Daemon seemed to absorb the attack: then, to their horror, he deflected it right back to them. They shouted in dismay, taking cover as the blast destructed the wall. Daemon laughed.
"FREEZE TRANQUIL!"
But the attack did nothing, the ice too was deflected and shot at them like darts. Radiatimon shot fire from his claws, and the ice melted before it reached them.
"I'll handle him!" shouted Knightmon. He dueled with Daemon, but the sword proved useless, and he was again thrown to the side, discarded like a piece of scrap metal.
"Your pitiful attacks will not defeat me," said Daemon. "Evil -"
"Destiny Weaving!"
From above came the sound of Nornmon on the attack. Daemon looked up, but it was too late, the cords took him by surprise and wrapped around him. For a few seconds he struggled and the Digimon watched, thinking it was too good to be true. It was. In seconds he broke the cords easily. Fire surrounded his body, like a dog chasing its tail. He narrowed his slit-like eyes at Nornmon. "You will pay!" he told her. "Evil Inferno!"
"Vampire Wave!"
Radiatimon, angrily, shouted, "YOU WILL NOT ATTACK HER!" and then shot his own fire at Daemon's. The jets of fire collided in midair and then vaporized, with none achieving his victory.
"You miserable fools," said Daemon. "You have not even begun to understand my power!"
"We understand it, Daemon!" said Radiatimon. "And we're going to defeat you!"
Daemon laughed again. "Is that so? Then why don't you do it? We have fought and fought and fought, and yet you have not given me even a scratch, and I have left my most powerful attacks unused. Do you really think you stand a chance of beating me?"
"It doesn't matter!" said Radiatimon. "We're the saviors!"
Daemon laughed again, this time his most chilling laugh of all, for he seemed more confident of this coming statement than any he had made. "You misunderstand the prophecy, you fools - this world has already been saved, saved by me, the great Daemon, for I have purged this world of humans, and it will be only a matter of time before you too are all dead! EVIL INFERNO!"
The fire came again, this time they were prepared, but it did not lessen the pain, they merely had to tolerate it, wait for the incineration to stop.
"I don't - think - we can -" Knightmon said.
"We can," said Radiatimon, gritting his teeth, waiting for the fire to die. "We will." These were words, but he wondered if they were nothing more than that - just words. The lingering doubts that he had they would not be able to defeat Daemon had been growing ever since they got inside the castle, and was not at his highest point. It seemed almost unbelievable - he had had so much faith in itself that it now seemed unreal that defeat could be looming overhead. He tried not to think about it. He would not surrender, would not become an offering for Daemon - they would either have to defeat him - or die trying. There was no middle ground, no moderation, no compromise that could be reached to ensure the survival of both parties. It was good versus evil, life versus death … they knew, more than anything, that their side was the right one.
"EVIL INFERNO!" shouted Daemon again. There was murder in his words; he was intending to kill them all and they knew it. The fires burned them again, but still they would not die, they would not surrender. And yet they knew also that they could not last: the pain was too great, but worst still was the knowledge that soon the pain would subside and they would be unable to feel anything, good nor bad, that life would be extinguished from them forever, and Daemon would live - they knew they had to fight - they were the saviors, they had to persist - and yet - it was so hard -
"FIGHT!" said Radiatimon. "FIGHT!"
Somehow Hypothermon had it in him to yell, "Freeze Tranquil!" and the fires began to slowly die, but Daemon kept blasting them back, flare upon flare, until Hypothermon's attacks could hardly compete with it …
Nornmon came down from overhead, she shouted, "Destiny Weaving!" and Daemon was once again wrapped in cords, but he was quickly freed, entangling himself with greater ease than last time: he was beginning to adapt. This, obviously, brought them no relief, but they continued to resist his attacks; they knew they had no option, even though it was so much easier not to fight, to surrender, surrender to whatever - on Daemon's terms, or to death. Surrender … the temptation was such that it crossed their minds more than once, but they would not, they were thinking of the reasons they were fighting, even from this onslaught of doom. They thought of their arrival … there were images of LadyDevimon, who had freed them from prison, flashing before their minds … images of the Elder of Civil City, SaberLeomon, and how he had hosted him there … they thought of Angemon … and Piddomon … and of Angel Army, and of Witchmon and Wizardmon, and of MetalMamemon … they faced the fires, again and again, it burned their bodies, gave them searing pain … but still they fought. They knew that this was their test; they had no choice but to fight on: they knew the fate of this world depended on it.
Daemon laughed again, a laugh that cut them to the quick. It seemed like he was carefully prolonging their suffering, that they may go to the grave with nothing but regret for ever having dealt with him. They knew he was cruel, knew more than ever that they had to hurt him, but all their attempts had proved useless. Every time they resisted, they seemed only to hasten their own demise. They felt acutely that they were in the clutches of evil, and once Daemon put his hold on them, he would not release. Still they fought back, full of determination.
"We won't let you defeat us, Daemon!" shouted Radiatimon.
Daemon laughed. "Prove it!" he said. "Or are you too weak? EVIL INFERNO!" The flames came again, covering him, Radiatimon tried to resist. He stuck his claws out, slowly, but surely, he was able to overcome the flames. They dissipated, and Radiatimon stood, unscratched.
"So!" Daemon stammered. "You've been able to resist my attack. Well no more! EVIL INFERNO!"
It was unbelievable: two jets of flames appeared, and Radiatimon was caught between them, he was thrown onto his side, his head hitting the wall with a violent crash. More rocks fell; the palace was crumbling. Daemon flew overhead, through the gap in the ceiling, his voice thundering: "You shall not defeat me. I will kill each and every one of you, one at a time."
"Nature's Game!" Nornmon shouted. She threw an energy ball up at Daemon, but he easily blocked it, and the ball was sent spiraling up into the air, exploding miles away with a loud explosion.
"Foolish human, you dare call yourself a Digimon? Don't you know that it is futile to resist me, Daemon, the King of the Digital World, Human-Slayer?"
From behind him Hypothermon appeared. "FREEZE TRANQUIL!" This time the attack hit; Daemon was briefly turned to ice, but then it seemed to melt around him as the flames erupted from him again. Daemon laughed, but it was an angry laugh, plotting destruction. Suddenly his claws protracted, grabbing Hypothermon by the throat …
"RYOTA!" shouted Persiamon.
Daemon laughed. "Such a silly, human name … Ryota. Well then, Ryota, it is high past time that I killed you. Say good-bye!"
"FREEZE -"
"No!" shouted Daemon, choking him; Hypothermon gasped for air. "There will be none of that. You will -"
"BERSERK SWORD!"
Daemon's claw retracted, injured by Knightmon's sword; Daemon gave Knightmon a look of fury.
"Very well," he said. "You will be the first to go. EVIL INFERNO!"
The flames came again, but Knightmon was able to resist them, he slashed his sword, left and right, left and right, and the flames dissipated. Some of them bounced back and targeted Daemon, but he blocked them effectively.
"I see that giving you a quick, painless death is not in the cards," said Daemon.
"Neither is letting you live!" shouted Radiatimon. "HELIOS MISSILE!"
The missile fired, there was a great explosion, but it seemed that Daemon escaped, and he reappeared amongst the flames, which died down immediately. He turned around, fury in his eyes. "You fool! How dare you attack me! How little you know …"
"I'll attack you because you're the worst Digimon in existence!" shouted Radiatimon.
"Wrong!" said Daemon. "I am the most powerful Digimon in existence, and therefore it is foolish to oppose me! Radiatimon … or Takumi … you had better surrender now. You do not need to be killed, even though the others surely must die … but if you refuse to back down, I will send you down to the grave as well!"
"I'm not backing down!" shouted Radiatimon.
"What's he up to?" said Hypothermon.
"I'm up to killing you," said Daemon. "EVIL FLAPPING!" Daemon's claws appeared again, hitting Hypothermon square in the face. The ultimate Digimon groaned as the claws gripped him, blood was pouring from his head.
"RYOTA!" shouted Radiatimon.
"No …" said Hypothermon. "I will not … back down …"
"RYOTA!" shouted the others, Knightmon rushed to his side …
"EVIL INFERNO!"
And the flames came again, and everyone was scattered but Knightmon, who with his shield blocked Hypothermon from being injured again.
"How valiant, that you would put your life before that of your friend's!" said Daemon. "But it is all useless, you shall both die in the end!"
Hypothermon got up, he seemed impossibly resilient. "Daemon," he said. "There are so many things you don't know … so many things that you'll never find out …"
"What is this nonsense?" said Daemon. "Shall I strike you again and deliver the fatal blow?"
"You've done nothing all your life but try to gain as much power as possible!" shouted Hypothermon. "Power over others, power to make others die … and now you're going to pay for what you've done! You're going to pay for the Slaughters - you're going to pay for all the humans you've killed!"
"How?" said Daemon. "When I am opposed by a confederacy of mediocrities?"
"You will pay!" Hypothermon would back down, he stood before Daemon, fury in his eyes, he was intent on destroying him …
"You little fool," said Daemon. "I will crush you like a housecat! Very well. If you are prepared to meet your doom so quickly, before the others … EVIL INFERNO!" The flames came again. This time, they could not be stopped. Everyone stood, stunned, watching as Hypothermon took the attack head-on.
Persiamon screamed. "RYOTA!"
"No!" said Radiatimon.
"Ha ha ha!" shouted Daemon. "Fight back, Hypothermon, fight back if you can!" The fires raged, they would not die, Hypothermon groaned in pain, until his groans became weaker and weaker, and nothing more came out …
"NO!" said the other Digimon, together.
The fires died, vanishing in an instant. On the ground was Hypothermon. His eyes were closed, he breathed no more, his chest no longer rose and fell. Daemon laughed again, his triumphant cackling ringing in their ears, and then there was nothing, nothing more in the world …
Something dropped to the ground in front of Hypothermon; they all knew what it was. It was Ryota's D-Pendulum. They watched it solemnly for a few seconds, and then, to their shock and horror, it broke into pieces.
"No," said Radiatimon, disbelievingly. "It can't be …"
"Oh, but it can," said Daemon, after a while. "Your friend Ryota has been killed, and existing no more, his D-Pendulum is …" He stopped. Something else was happening, something unexpected … Hypothermon was glowing. In a few seconds Ryota took his place, looking at his destroyed D-Pendulum with stunned agony … but there was also that look of determination, a look that had not been supplanted. Ryota was alive …
"He de-digivolved!" Nornmon shouted.
"Yes …" said Daemon, nodding grimly. But then his cold lips grew into a smile. "But in his human form, how much longer can he last?"
And then there was something else … Daemon was looking at Ryota with hatred, more hatred than they had ever seen on a being in their life … they all knew that it was because a human had appeared before him, a being of a race that he figured had been all but wiped out …
Ryota stared at his broken D-Pendulum, all was hopeless, all was lost, but then … something else happened. The pieces started glowing, a faint light that nonetheless had every person in the room transfigured. Glowing brightly, the pieces began to reassemble themselves.
"What's this?" said Daemon.
Slowly, the pieces came together again, but not into the old D-Pendulum. A new, more powerful device was in Ryota's hands. It was transparent, but was larger in size than the original D-Pendulum. Ryota stared at it for a while, stunned.
"You give that to me!" said Daemon, holding his hand out. Ryota gripped the new digivice tightly …
"Ryota!" shouted Nornmon. "Use that device to digivolve!"
"Right!" said Ryota.
"No!" shouted Daemon.
There was a flash of blue light; it was blinding. They all covered their eyes with their hands, for the light was too bright for them to behold. Then from all the confusion there came a voice. "MEGA DIGIVOLVE!"
The light disappeared, and in its place, and Ryota's, there stood a figure not quite man and not quite animal: he was definitely humanoid, though still retaining qualities of the snow leopard creature, he wore an animal's helmet and was heavily armored to the point that no bullet could penetrate his exterior; he held a saber in his hand that was short and ridged, and there was still that look of determination in his eyes - a righteous anger that would soon explode.
"FELIDISMON!"
The room shook at this declaration of the new creature's name, even Daemon looked a little frightened, or at least uncertain; this turn of events was not to his liking. The creature pushed his saber into the ground, and the room shook some more, but more than that: the floor beneath them was beginning to move, as if tectonic plates beneath them were shifting, and them along with it. It was a structured, highly mechanical movement, the outline of the floor itself was changing, and the other Digimon were being moved. While a solid pentagram had once stained the floor, the blocks were moving, shifting, puzzle-like, and a new image on the tiles was being formed. The other Digimon were moved to the side, and then they felt themselves glowing - standing on their blocks, a virtual moving sidewalk, they had dedigivolved. And then came the final relocation, and they could all make out a new image forming on the tiles: a cross, holy and defiant, contemptuous of evil. Daemon stared at it and seemed to fear it, he looked straight ahead of him and found himself directly across from the new mega Digimon; the floors had aligned to place them on opposing sides.
"So," said Daemon, finding words, "you all have a mega Digimon on your team. No problem, I will dispense of him just as I will dispense of you all - later -"
Felidismon did not reply; he merely looked at Daemon like a parent who was scolding a child. Then he spoke. "Daemon." He had a thundering, majestic voice, the voice that a god might have. "You have done nothing but evil in this world. It is time to consign you to the same place that you consigned your enemies, those in this world who did nothing to arouse your fury but to live. I will destroy you, not because I hate you, but because you hated."
"Then kill me," Daemon spat. "If you can!" There was a loud blast, and he vanished, the other Digimon that had been placed on the sidelines looked around, waiting for him to reappear, and he did so, over their heads, a fireball in his hands. Felidismon leaped, Daemon threw the fireball but it was to no avail: Felidismon punched it and the fireball dispersed. He shot his fist at Daemon, who avoided it again, appearing behind him, and they dueled, punching and kicking and fighting as the others cleared out of the way. Finally Felidismon landed a kick at the side of Daemon's head, and the evil Digimon went spiraling into the ground.
"Freezing Destroyer!" Felidismon shouted. From a cannon at his side there came another fireball, blue in color, but this one did not miss: it hit Daemon just before he landed on the ground with a loud bang. There was a deafening explosion, and then … all was quiet.
They stood and waited for a few minutes.
"Is he … dead?" Nornmon spoke at last.
They waited, watching, waiting …
"NO!" came a voice. It was Daemon, and he appeared again, this time from underneath them, piercing them with his wings.
Seeing his enemy, Felidismon shouted, "Freezing Destroyer!" and there came another blue fireball, but Daemon blocked this one and flew up to meet his foe in battle. They sparred once more, Felidismon punched Daemon but this was blocked, and then Daemon slashed Felidismon, but his armor prevented him from being injured. It was like this for several minutes, with no one having the clear upper hand; several times Felidismon pinned Daemon to the ground with his sword, but Daemon would fly out from under him, would dart out from underneath him, or simply disappear. On one of these occasions he reappeared behind Felidismon and sent a fireball his way. The armor on his back was not as strong, and the attack struck. Felidismon grunted with pain, then Daemon climbed on top of him and tackled him to the ground, where he sent more fireballs his way.
"Evil Inferno!"
"Urgh!"
"Evil Inferno!"
"Urgh!"
"Evil Inferno!"
"URGHH!"
Felidismon was hit, he went down to the ground, crashing in front of everyone. They gasped: he appeared seriously injured. Daemon appeared at his side, cackling malevolently, growing an injury ball between his hands -
"Ryota!" shouted Reina. "Watch out!"
Daemon threw the energy ball with a loud grunt, but Felidismon disappeared, just as Daemon had done earlier. This trickery seemed to surprise the evil Digimon, who had not anticipated that Felidismon would do that, nor was he ready for the snow leopard Digimon appearing behind him and slashing him on the head. Daemon stood to the side, his eyes narrowed with hatred, clutching his cloak. "You will pay!" he stammered.
But the energy was now glowing in Felidismon's cannon. Aiming it at Daemon, he shouted "FREEZING DESTROYER!"
But the attack was to no avail, Daemon narrowly dodged it, left and right, again and again, until finally he produced his own ball of energy that could withstand Felidismon's attack. The two jets of energy collided and dissolved into nothingness, and it was just the two of them again.
"You are a powerful opponent," Daemon admitted. "But hardly worth it." He spat. "So long as human blood runs in your veins, you are my enemy, and I will destroy you!"
With supersonic speed, he suddenly appeared in front of Felidismon, then flung a ball of dark energy straight at his head. Felidismon moaned in pain, the children gasped as they watched his armor break under the force of the attack. Daemon laughed, savoring his triumph as Felidismon fell to the ground …
"NO!" Reina shouted.
"And now," said Daemon, turning his attention to the humans. "I will destroy you all, one at a time, and purge the last remaining humans from my midst!"
The children braced themselves …
"EVIL … INFERNO!" shouted Daemon, and they could feel the rage inside of him, feel his hatred, it filled the arena. He was producing fire, a fire darker than they had ever seen before in their lives, and they knew that it had nothing but the cruelest of intentions. With a raging yell, he called the fire on, and it came for them, and they could do nothing but watch … Takumi covered his head with his hands, as if that would help … then, there came a sound he had never heard before, and he thought for a minute that it was the sound of death, but no … death had not come.
"What?!" shouted Daemon. It was good, this was a good thing, it was a yell, not of triumph, but of astonishment, and rage, but helpless, unknowing rage … the attack had come within several feet of them, and then had stopped, and the fire blew away before it could touch them.
"What!?" said Daemon again.
"The joke's on you, Daemon," said Felidismon. "I produced a force field around them. If you want to hurt them, you'll have to go through me!"
Daemon through Felidismon an angry look. "You fool! Do you really think that you are strong enough to defeat me? I'll kill you, and then I'll kill your friends - in their human forms, powerless to stop me! EVIL INFERNO!"
The fire came again, but Felidismon deflected it with one of his arms, and it scattered off in several different directions. Some of the flares came for the human children, but they were deflected by the force field.
"You piece of vermin; I'll send more fire your way, more than you can handle! EVIL INFERNO!"
Now it was Felidismon's turn to laugh, for the flares were once again deflected. "Your attacks grow stale, Daemon! Send something new!"
"You fool!" shouted Daemon. "EVIL INFERNO!" And then the fires came again, and they kept coming and coming and coming: Felidismon deflected some, but the other attacks he was unable to evade, and he was thrown to the ground, the flares beginning to consume him as if they had minds of their own …
"Fire and ice!" said Daemon triumphantly. "I wonder who will prevail? Now, you said I would have to kill you before I went to the other pathetic humans? Very well! I will be sure to make your death quick and painful, that I may get to the other humans faster! DOUBLE DUST!" With this new attack, he flapped his wings, and sinister, dark dust sprang from them, coming at Felidismon from all directions, the dust, being little more than grains of sand, had a devastating effect on him, and he shouted with pain.
"Agony, sweet agony, that song of the doomed!" said Daemon. He stepped up toward Felidismon. "And now I will crush you like a bug!" He set his foot down on Felidismon's head, and the mega Digimon was powerless to stop it, he groaned, but soon the noises came to a stop …
"RYOTA!" shouted Yuka.
"We can't stop him," said Takumi bitterly. He put his hands into fists. "Even with a mega level Digimon, we can't stop him …"
Reina grabbed Takumi's hand. "DON'T SAY THAT!" she protested. "DON'T SAY THAT! WHATEVER YOU DO, DON'T SAY THAT!"
It hit Takumi like a thousand bricks. "You're right," he said. "We're so close to winning, so close … we can't stop until we get what we've came here for!"
Daemon laughed again. "You fool, this Digimon is so near to death, do you think your courage or your persistence will stop the inevitable?" He laughed again, and then something strange happened. The pendant around Daemon's neck glowed, and the D-Pendulum Progress around Felidismon's neck glowed as well. Suddenly, twin beams of light came from them, hitting each other, deflecting off of each other, and Daemon was completely immobile …
"What!?" said Daemon, more taken aback by this than anything that had yet transpired. Then there was a beam-like sound, and Daemon was thrown back, against the wall, hitting it with a loud crash, having been knocked back by the blue beam of light …
Felidismon got up, clearly injured by the fight but still back on his feet. He too, did not know why the beams had counteracted in that fashion, only that he had to get up, and stay up, and not let Daemon get the best of him …
"You are strong," said Daemon, coming from out of the wall. "But not strong enough. Your D-Pendulum will not help you against me!"
"Maybe they will," whispered Takumi, from inside of the force field.
"What?" said Reina.
"The power of the D-Pendulums!" said Takumi. "Come on, let's use them! If they can be used to digivolve us, why can't they be used to stop Daemon?"
"You're right," said Shun. "Let's try. But - how?"
"It's energy," said Takumi. "The energy of the D-Pendulum. When it's not concentrated, it's less powerful. But if we can direct our energy to defeating Daemon …"
"Then we might manage to defeat him?" said Yuka.
"Exactly," said Takumi.
"Let's do it," said Shun. "Ryota needs all the help we can get."
"What do we do?" Reina asked.
"I'm not sure," said Takumi. "But we have to do it in our minds … we have to remember … remember all the horrible things that Daemon did …"
Daemon slashed Felidismon, he shouted in pain.
"We've got to be passionate about what we're doing," said Takumi. "Passionate, but not angry. We can't allow the energy to be wasted. We've got to concentrate … concentrate on defeating him … concentrate on helping Ryota …"
Daemon hit the humanoid snow leopard Digimon again, and he went down, fell to the ground …
"DO IT!" Takumi shouted.
Their D-Pendulums vibrated, they could feel the energy come out of them, and beams of light hit Daemon. They were multi-colored, and they hit him everywhere on his body, on his arms, on his cloak, his horns, his torso, his legs, and Takumi's red beam of light hit him in his face, obscured by his cloak. Daemon screamed, and he released Felidismon, the pain was too much for him to bear …
"We're beating him!" said Takumi. "Ryota, get him!"
Felidismon used up his remaining strength and grabbed hold of the cannon on his right arm. "Freezing - DESTROYER!" he shouted. Two jets of harsh blue fire roared from the cannon, and Daemon was hit; the evil Digimon shouted and was thrown high into the air like a rag doll. Then Felidismon appeared, lightning-quick, at Daemon's side and withdrew a large, blue saber from his sheath. Then, like a skilled chef, he sliced and diced Daemon, cutting him, wounding him severely. Daemon shouted again and then no sound came out. The evil Digimon's body fell to the floor with one final CRASH, shaking the arena, and it was over.
Felidismon glowed, and they could see the Digimon shrinking, shrinking back into his human form of Ryota, and the force field subsided. The battle was over. They had won.
But all was not well. The children had hardly emerged from the force field when they saw something happening to Daemon's body. They had expected it to disintegrate and disappear up into the air like the remains of all other vanquished Digimon, but instead it remained on the floor, unmoving. Then there was a strange, eerie blue glow around Daemon's body, and they watched with shock and horror as the sinister wings seemed to fold back inside of his body, saw the horns shrink and return to his head, saw his cloak fading and color returning to the thing inside the cloak …
They were all open-mouthed with shock as they saw Daemon, and then there came a glow, so bright they were nearly blinded, and yet they could all see clearly, what remained on the floor. None of them had seen anything like him before. It was a being, and it was very much alive, though barely conscious, they could see him look at them through his eyes with a mixture of revulsion and hatred. But it was not Daemon who stared through them. It was a figure, with long, dark bluish hair and cold, empty eyes.
They saw, but they did not believe. Takumi lifted up a finger and pointed, but no sound escaped his lips. Shun was the first to speak, shouting the thought that had all struck them like lightning. His voice shaking, he said:
"H-he's a human!"
Next time on Digimon Genesis!The story behind Daemon finally revealed! Who is this sinister Digimon, and what is his history? Where did he come from, and what led him to such evil deeds? Secrets will be revealed on the next Digimon Genesis:
ALL TOO HUMAN