Author's Notes
Here is the next chapter; Sacrifice. Just to warn you, as the title suggests, some characters sacrifice themselves. I had planned them to sacrifice in a different way but it flowed like it has written. Hope you like the way it was written.
This chapter marks the largest chapter by at least 2,000 words. A milestone for a dramatic chapter.
Disclaimer: I DO NOT OWN DIGIMON OR ANY CHARACTERS IN THIS CHAPTER. Except the characters you all know about. Lenora, Felisha, Mira, Adam, Cerutoidmon, Avamorimon, and my versions of the purified warriors.
Please read, review and rate.
GigaGaiamon swung his tail, trying to keep the attacking Soulmon at bay. But they just flew higher and used their 'Necro Magic' attack to fire dark symbols to inflict pain on GigaGaiamon's body.
WarGreymon launched himself at Barbamon, who simply swung his staff, propelling WarGreymon into a wall.
"WarGreymon!" Tai called.
WarGreymon slowly pushed himself back onto his feet. "I guess that's why he's a Lord."
Aldamon gathered energy between his hands. "Solar Wind Destroyer!"
The fireball shot through the air, destroying some Soulmon and greatly wounding the others. WarGreymon raised his hands and placed them together. He jumped in the air and spun rapidly, creating a fiery tornado.
He sped his way through the other Soulmon, leaving a slightly angered Barbamon looking at the digidestined.
Lopmon shivered in fear, joining Suzie in standing behind Tai. Barbamon took a step forward, making the humans step back, trying to keep their distance.
"You can't stay away from me forever." Barbamon taunted. "Kari has wished your destruction."
Tai growled quietly. "I'm getting sick of this."
Suzie looked at Tai's hands, clenched and shaking slightly. She made a promise to herself to be brave, and here she was, hiding behind Tai.
She took in a gulp of air, grabbed her digivice and held it to the sky. She ran ahead of Tai. "Bio-Merge Activate!"
Lopmon gathered her courage and jumped at Suzie. "Lopmon Bio-Merge to…Anubismon!"
Anubismon rushed to Barbamon, jumping in the air as the staff was spun, and pulled back a clenched hand and punched Barbamon in the head, forcing him to the ground.
Anubismon quickly backed away. "Kai, attack!"
"Tectonic Shift" GigaGaiamon roared, splitting the earth, sending large chunks from every direction. "Takuya! WarGreymon!"
Two large balls of fire were the last thing Barbamon saw before he was sent flying out of the arena.
Twenty tense seconds later, WarGreymon shrank down to Koromon while GigaGaiamon and Aldamon changed back to their human forms.
Mimi looked at Anubismon. "Are you guys going to separate?"
"Not yet." Anubismon replied. "Not until we're safe."
"Well, be careful you two." Takuya said. "Don't let your energy suddenly run out."
"Come on, we need to find the others." Tai said, holding his small pink digimon. "And I personally don't want to stay in this place."
Kai walked towards Tai, but fell through a sudden hole. Everyone ran to the hole, looking down at a wide-eyed Kai.
"You guys might want to come down here." He suggested.
Looking at each other, deciding to jump down, Tai passed Koromon to Kai, following instantly. Anubismon jumped down, splitting into Suzie and Lopmon after looking at their surroundings. Palmon used her vines to lower herself down. Mimi sat at the holes edge, ready to jump down. Takuya took her hand and helped her down. Tai Helped slow Mimi's descent. Takuya quickly jumped down, finding that they were at a beach.
He looked up at an angle and saw the coliseum walls but if he didn't know where to look, he wouldn't have known there was a portal there.
"So where now?" Takuya asked.
"There's a giant tree over here." Mimi called. "Let's head there. They may be some digi-life."
Ai woke with a hot sweat over her face. She looked around the campsite. It was still night, but she could see the faint light of the sunrise peaking from the lake's reflection.
She walked to the lake and splashed some water on her face. Her eyes watered as she remembered the feeling of dread from her already forgotten dream. "I want to go home." She whispered.
But she knew it was impossible. She knew she had to help everyone. She was sure everyone else wanted to go home as well.
She looked at her brother and digimon. She liked Impmon, but for some reason, she never felt like a real partner to him. Not like Mako. Mako and Impmon seemed made for each other. She looked over the digimon. She wanted a digimon she could have such a bond with.
She decided to take her mind off her thoughts and snuck away from the group to find something other than fish that she could eat.
She had left the digivice for Impmon with Mako. Just in case it was needed with the group. She looked around, truly taking in the sight of the digital world.
The only real place she had looked around was the beach when she and Mako had first arrived. Even that hadn't lasted long since Tai had shown up after only fifteen minutes.
She looked down at the ground and saw a blue apple. She picked it up, wondering why an apple would be blue.
She carefully inspected it. There were no bruises or little holes on it. She wiped it on her clothes, and took a small bite.
It was deliciously sweet and juicy, just how she liked her apples. She couldn't help but feel a wave of happiness wash over her.
She looked over at a tree and saw several orange and red mushrooms. She reached a hand to pick one up.
She held it in her hand, slowly putting it to her mouth.
"Don't eat it." Warned a voice. "It'll make you sick."
Ai looked around. "Sick?"
"Trust me kid." The voice, definitely a woman's, insisted. "Go back to your friends. Don't tell them what happened here."
Ai looked at the mushroom and threw it away. She began to walk away, but turned her head. "Whoever you are, thank you."
Watching her go, a figure in a red dress and purple gloves watched Ai go back, a tear falling down her face.
She made her way to the lake, soon to be questioned about her whereabouts by a very concerned digimon.
"Where were you Ai?"
"I woke up earlier and wanted a walk." Ai answered, walking past her brother.
Impmon walked to Ai. "Ai, are you alright?"
Ai looked down at the purple digimon. "I just had a bad dream Impmon, that's all. I'm alright, there's nothing to worry about."
Impmon looked at her face. Having lied frequently in the past, he could tell when someone was lying. He was surprised that Ai would lie so easily to him.
"What's the plan for today?" yawned a sleepy Jeri.
"First things first, we should try to find Tai and the others." Matt said.
"But we should also try to find the Demon Lords weaknesses." Izzy inputted.
"So what do we do?" Kazu asked. "We can't do both at the same."
Takato gulped. "As much as I hate to suggest this, maybe we should split up again?"
Matt and Izzy looked at each other. "It would be easier." Matt agreed with the young tamer.
"Not to mention we would cover more ground this way." Izzy added.
Everyone waited with anticipation as to what the orders would be. Matt and Izzy ultimately decided that after breakfast, with help of safe food gathered by the digimon, they would be divided into two groups.
One would try to find information and their other friends, whilst the others would try to somehow, defeat the Demon Lords.
Since Matt wanted to take on the Demon Lords, Joe had decided to go with his group in case of an emergency. Kazu wanted to go with Matt to help Guardromon digivolve higher and also to know his own limits. Saving Kari wouldn't hurt either, since that was the reason Koichi joined Matt's group. Zoe and Jeri took it upon themselves to watch over Ai and Mako, since they wanted to help the best they could. Takato wanted to keep Jeri safe, so against his own needs, he was the last person to join Matt's group.
Everyone else decided to go with Izzy, wanting to not fight unless they had no choice. Matt's group headed in one direction whilst Izzy's headed through the forest, with a chorus of 'Good Luck' and 'Be careful' filling the growing air.
Kari looked over the map of the region, noticing the four groupings. She sighed and folded her arms.
"Why the separation?" she asked herself.
She placed a hand over one of the groupings. A purple dot appeared. She reached with her fingers to the nearby group, making a green dot and a red dot appear. She looked over to the other groupings. She placed her thumb on one, forcing a second green dot to appear and with her little finger, made a red dot appear.
She brought her hands together, bringing the multi-coloured dots into one group, near a small grey patch.
Before she left the map, she barely noticed a gathering of white dots. She placed a digit on each dot and joined them with the small grouping she made. She smiled and left the room to find Daemon and Lilithmon.
She had a little journey to plan.
A blinding light paralysed TK as he walked, hand in hand with Davis. He felt his grip loosen, he called out to his friends. The light died down and he removed his hands from his eyes.
He was in a city instead of the forest he was in just five seconds ago. He looked around, Patamon falling off his head from the rapid movements. He held his partner, and began to walk around.
It reminded him of the city that his friend Andromon was in charge of. Except that there were digimon other than Guardromon as residents.
"What happened TK?" Patamon asked.
"I think we were transported here." TK answered. "But who transported us?"
TK looked around as he heard someone call his name. He saw his brother running towards him, Gabumon staying close.
"Matt?" TK asked. "I thought you went to fight."
"I did." Matt answered when he reached his brother. "But then this light appeared out of nowhere and suddenly I was here.
"And where is here blondie?" asked an irritated voice.
TK and Matt saw Impmon with Ai and Mako, looking worried. With good reason, they were all walking in separate locations, only to suddenly find themselves in a city.
Tommy, Suzie and Lopmon arrived from an alley and joined the displaced group. Since they were the only humans in the city, they did stand out. Mostly, the citizens were just surprised to see humans since some had never seen humans before.
Matt approached a digimon with an axe in its pumpkin head. "Excuse me Pumpkinmon?"
The digimon turned around and smiled. "Hey there. What can I do for you?"
"Can you tell us where to go for some information?" Matt asked.
Pumpkinmon thought for a second. "You could try the information building, but it's run by a Numemon and he doesn't know where anything is."
"Then why's he running an information centre?" Impmon asked.
"It's the mayors decree that everyone reports to him for a job, whether you're good for it or not." Pumpkinmon replied. "That guy's got a Meramon as a fire fighter and a Seadramon as the head chef in a restaurant that's not allowed to serve sushi!"
"That does sound a little weird." TK acknowledged.
"Let's go see this mayor." Matt suggested.
So together, they followed Pumpkinmon's directions to the edge of town where they found the house of the mayor.
TK knocked on the door. The door slowly creaked open, revealing a small animal digimon floating on a cloud.
"May I help you?" it asked.
"We'd like to see the mayor." Matt answered. "We would like to ask about the possibility of becoming citizens here."
"I shall ask if he is willing to see you." The digimon bowed, and closed the door.
Tommy looked at Matt. "Why did you say that?"
"I'm hoping he'll let us in so we can talk some sense into him." Matt answered. "And we can also see what kind of digimon ruins a town like this."
The door opened again, and the floating digimon appeared. "The mayor is willing to see you for ten minutes only. Make them count." The digimon opened the door and everyone walked in.
Inside, it looked like a simple house. A spiral staircase was in front of them leading up to the next floor. Pictures of whom they presumed to be the mayor lined the magnolia walls; he seemed to be a single man.
"He looks human." Tommy noted.
"Don't let that fool you." TK warned. "Some of our digimon enemies have had the ability to look human."
"So then this mayor…?" Impmon asked.
"Just be on guard." Matt finished.
"What are you waiting for?" the digimon butler asked. "Go up the staircase. It's the only room up there."
The digidestined hurried up the stairs and entered the large office of the mayor.
"Suzie!" Mimi called for the tenth time, with no response.
"It's no use Mimi." Takuya sighed. "She's gone. That light-thingy took her."
"Well, wherever she disappeared to, Lopmon went with her." Tai said. ""We have more of a reason to get to that tree. Hopefully, if anyone is living there, they may be able to tell us what happened to Suzie."
"Is there any way we can go faster?" Mimi asked.
"I suppose if I become BurningGreymon, I could carry you." Takuya thought aloud, grabbing his digivice and transforming into BurningGreymon.
Kai turned into GigaGaiamon and flew alongside. "We should get there in no time."
"Five minutes tops." BurningGreymon answered.
The tree grew larger, signalling their arrival. About thirty feet from the tree's base, BurningGreymon and GigaGaiamon shed their digimon forms.
"Come on." Tai said, Agumon by his side. They found a hole in the bottom of the tree and walked in. "Be on guard. We don't know what we might face."
A staircase with torches lighting the way up to the daylight above was all the decorations there were.
"Hasn't the digital world heard of elevators?" Mimi sighed.
"Not now Mimi." Tai whispered.
"Well, it's a valid point." Mimi huffed, Tai alarmed that Mimi heard him.
"Let's not focus on that now." Takuya said, being the first to exit the trunk. He looked at the stone buildings, looking completely out of place inside a giant tree.
"Not what I expected." Kai said. "Even though I'm starting to realize that everything is not what it seems."
"That's a good rule to remember." Agumon agreed.
"So where do we go now?" Palmon asked.
"Mimi and I will look over here." Tai said. "Kai, you and Takuya take a look over there."
Tai and Mimi looked around the buildings. "Tai, what are we looking for?"
"I'm not sure Mimi." Tai answered. "But as we all know, we'll find it when we find it."
"And that's what worries me." Mimi replied. "Wherever we go, a big bad destroys everything. Devimon, Etemon, Myotismon, even the Dark Masters."
"We always try to prevent destruction." Tai reminded her. "It just doesn't go the way we planned."
"There's nothing suspicious here." Palmon observed.
"You're right Palmon." Tai said.
"I am?" Palmon asked, surprised.
"Yes, you are." He repeated, looking serious. "There's nothing suspicious here because there's no-one around. Except us."
"So what do we do Tai?" Agumon asked.
Tai looked around, looking for anything different or out of place.
Stone buildings in a tree, no-one around except them, a small hut made of leaves and twigs. Tai took a double-take.
"Guys, over here."
Mimi and the two digimon looked over at Tai and saw the hut. They slowly walked to the hut, anticipating danger with every step. As they approached, they heard voices inside, arguing. Tai peeked inside to see three digimon close to fighting each other.
"They need to get along." Mimi observed.
Tai stepped inside. "Stop arguing."
The three digimon looked at him. "What do you want?"
Tai stepped back slightly. "Geez, sorry. I was only wondering if you could help us."
"What do you mean?" one of them asked.
"Someone was taken from us in a bright light." Mimi answered.
"We saw the light. It was an immense power. And it will only grow."
"Who are you guys?" Agumon asked.
"We are the fortune-teller trio." The smallest replied. "I am Shamanmon. These are my colleagues Baronmon, and Sepikmon. We each govern an aspect of time."
"What?" Palmon asked.
"Past, present and future?" Mimi asked.
"Exactly." Baronmon said. "I look into the past. Sepikmon tells of the present and Shamanmon foretells the future."
"So what's happening now then?" Tai huffed.
"The land is changing." Sepikmon answered.
"Duh." Mimi whispered.
"I mean, what is causing the land to change?" Tai repeated.
Baronmon pulled out a crystal ball and gazed into it. "I cannot see. The vision is cloudy."
"Shouldn't you leave this city then?" Mimi asked.
"City?" Shamanmon walked to the doorway. An audible gasp filled the room.
"Told you." Mimi smiled.
"We're not in a city." Shamanmon shook his head.
"What?" Tai asked, running to the door.
Shamanmon was right, they were not in a city. Without anyone feeling or seeing anything, they had been transported to an island in the ocean.
"You've got to be kidding me." Tai sighed.
"Don't worry Jeri." Takato soothed his friend. "Remember back in our digital world? Those pink things that send us to other areas? It could be something as simple as that."
"It's not the same Takato." Jeri argued, taking out her digivice. "I'm not getting a read on their position."
"If we're too far away, there's not going to be a signal." Kazu added. "Think of it as a Wi-Fi signal. If you're too far away from the network you want, you're not going to find it."
Jeri sighed. She felt a large hand on her shoulder. She looked up to the consoling face of her digimon. She looked down at her feet.
Zoe jogged slightly to Joe's side. "Joe, how are we going to fight those guys separated when we couldn't stand against some of them when we were together?"
Joe sighed. "I don't know Zoe. But we'll find a way."
"I hope so." Zoe said quietly.
Izzy typed away on his computer, trying to find Tommy's digivice signal.
"Any luck?" Yutaka asked.
Izzy shook his head. "Sorry Yutaka, he's nowhere near here. I'm just going to zoom out now." Izzy zoomed out on his computer and found tommy signal, along with nine others in the area.
"That's odd." Izzy observed.
"What is?" Yutaka asked, looking over Izzy's shoulder. He saw the dots. "Ok, I get that that is Tommy, but who is everyone else?"
"My guess is that five of them must be the original digidestined. You know, Psychemon and the others."
"So Kari didn't destroy them?" Yolei asked, relieved that Kari hadn't crossed that line yet.
"My guess is that she thought she did, or at the very least, she just wanted them away." Izzy said.
"How far away are Tommy and the others?" Ryo asked.
Izzy typed a little and read the results. "About a day and a half. Without rest."
Ryo looked at Cyberdramon, having a silent conversation with him. They both nodded. "What direction are they?"
Izzy turned around, finding his bearings. "That way."
Ryo waved a hand and walked away. "Ok thanks. See you guys later."
"Where do you think you're going?" Yolei snapped.
"I'm going to find Tommy and the others. You guys see of you can find some info on the Demon Lords." Ryo instructed.
"Ryo, you can't go alone." Kenta protested. "You were lost in the digital world for a year before we found you."
"Yeah, but I wasn't alone." Ryo smiled. "Cyberdramon was with me."
"And he's not going to be alone now either." Yutaka said. "I'm going with him. I want to find my brother."
Izzy saw the determination in Yutaka's eyes. "Alright. Just be careful."
Ken looked at Yolei. He knew what she wanted to do. Yutaka and Ryo were already walking away. He grabbed Yolei's shoulders and kissed her. "Go with them. I'll be fine."
Yolei looked at him, unsure why he said that. "Ken?"
Ken smiled. "Just go. I'll see you later. I promise."
Yolei nodded, and with Hawkmon, ran after Ryo and Yutaka. Cody saw Yolei running after the two boys.
"And I thought we were best sticking together, not separating so it would be easier for the Demon Lords to pick us off." He complained.
"I know Cody." Izzy said. "But if they find Tommy and the others, then we'll be slowly getting back together. When my group were fighting the Dark Masters, due to different feelings, we split up. We were still able to fight Puppetmon and Machinedramon."
"Yeah, that's true." Kenta remembered.
"Come on." Izzy said. "We've got a long way to go."
Matt and TK looked around for any signs the Mayor was anything bad. They couldn't see anything.
An oak table was in the centre of the room, on a large square rug. Two three seated sofas were placed at right-angles of each other.
"Make yourselves comfortable." Called an aged voice. "I'll be out in a minute."
They looked at the sofas and sat down. Everyone looked around, looking for anything out of place. Ai took a double-take at a picture near what she thought was the mayor's desk. She stood up and walked over. Impmon jumped up and followed her.
"Ai? What is it?" Impmon asked. She picked up the picture and showed the purple digimon. "It's just a picture of the mayor."
Ai put the picture in the light and tilted it at an angle. Impmon's eyes widened as the picture revealed a second image.
"Now where was I?" the aged voice asked.
Ai quickly put the photo down and Impmon and she rushed back to their place with Mako.
The mayor looked just like his pictures. He looked completely human. He had brown hair, which was starting to grey at the roots. His moustache was bold and his eyes were kind. He wore a black suit with an orange tie tucked into his jacket.
"Nice to meet you all." The mayor smiled, sitting down at his desk. "Save the formalities and call me Devon." He looked at them all and stopped when he saw Patamon resting on TK's head.
"Excuse me Devon, but we were wondering if you would be able to help us?" Matt asked.
"How so?" Devon cupped his hands and rested them on his desk.
"We were brought here by a blinding light and we were wondering if you have any idea what digimon has that kind of power." Matt explained.
"I'm afraid I cannot think of anything." Devon shook his head.
"I want to know about the way the jobs are given." Tommy inputted.
"It's simple." Devon answered. "I know what jobs are needed and I tell the digimon that requires a job that the job is theirs."
"But some of the digimon think that the jobs may better suited for other digimon." Matt said. "Some think that Meramon may be better suited in a cooking capacity and Seadramon to fight fires. And Numemon has no sense of direction so why is he in the information industry?"
Patamon looked at Devon. Something deep inside him clicked and he jumped from TK's head and flew in front of him.
"Patamon, what is it?" TK asked.
"There's something about him." Patamon replied. "I don't know what it is. There's just something."
TK grabbed his digimon. "Well, forget about it." He insisted. "Sorry about that."
Devon smiled. "Don't worry about it. It's quite alright." Devon looked at the clock. "Oh my, I almost forgot! I have a meeting in ten minutes. I must prepare for it. I'm so sorry about this."
Matt stood up, everyone else following suit. "It's quite alright. We understand."
"Tapirmon!" Devon called.
The digimon from before glided up the stairs and into the room. "You called?"
"Please show our guests out."
Tapirmon bowed. "At once. Follow me."
After being shown out, the group started to walk away when Ai stopped and looked behind herself.
"What is it?" Suzie asked.
"The picture." She replied.
"What picture?" Tommy asked.
Ai faced the group. "There was a picture. I held it at an angle and it changed."
"Changed to what?" Matt asked.
Inside, Tapirmon looked at the children, looking back at the house. "They're still there."
Devon looked out of the window. "Indeed. I wonder why?"
Tapirmon looked at Devon. "Pardon me for asking, but is there a slight possibility that they could still be here due to an accidental misspoken word?"
Devon looked down at the digimon. "I don't think so. There's nothing I could have done." Devon recalled, then walked over to his desk.
"Mayor?" Tapirmon asked, unsure what he meant.
Devon looked at the picture that Ai had earlier looked at. He picked it up and moved it to angle, revealing a second image.
Devon looked out of the window, taking particular notice on Patamon and TK.
"I want that boy. The one with the Patamon." Devon told the small digimon.
Tapirmon watched Devon as he began to mutter.
"Mayor, may I suggest that you forget about the boy?" Tapirmon spoke. "It would be a futile gesture on your part."
"I shall not!" Devon bellowed. "I want the boy!"
Tapirmon backed away at the tone Devon was using. Tapirmon backed to the stairwell. Devon looked at Tapirmon, cowering in fear.
Tapirmon saw Devon gain a wicked smirk and red covered the entirety of his eyeballs. "I always get what I want."
"Mayor?"
"That's not my name." Devon sneered.
Back outside, Matt knocked on the door. "Hello? Tapirmon? Devon?" A minute later, he faced the group. "Something's wrong."
"We've got to bust in." TK said, as he grabbed his digivice.
In a flash of light, Angemon hovered in place. Tommy spirit-evolved and froze the door. Angemon readied his staff and slammed the door. The door shattered and everyone walked in.
"Hello?" Matt called.
"Up here." Called a voice.
Everyone looked upstairs. The voice sounded like Devon's but it was filled with a lot of hatred and malice.
"Tommy, stay down here with Suzie, Ai & Mako." Matt instructed. "TK and I will go upstairs."
"We want to help." Mako insisted.
TK knelt down. "Listen Mako. The only reason we want you to stay down here is because you're so new to this responsibility. If something goes wrong up there, I want you to get Suzie and Ai and run away as fast as you can."
"We can't." Lopmon said. "What if you need help?"
"That's why we're trusting you and Impmon to make sure they get to safety." Matt smiled.
Matt and TK walked upstairs, Gabumon and Angemon keeping guard. The room was disturbed, as if a battle had taken place.
"What happened here?" TK asked aloud.
"I don't know." Matt replied. "Just be careful."
"Hello?" Angemon called. "Devon? Are you hurt?"
"Is someone there?" called a voice.
"Devon?" Matt asked.
From the back room, Devon emerged and looked at the brothers. He had a sinister look about him. "So you came back?"
"We were worried." TK said. "We heard a loud noise and came to see if you needed help."
"Well, I'm touched by your concern, but I can handle myself." Devon responded.
Matt looked around, noticing someone was missing. "Where's Tapirmon?"
TK looked around. The little digimon was nowhere to be seen. TK looked at Devon. "Where is he?"
"He's on a break." Devon said quickly.
"You said that a little too quickly." Matt accused.
Angemon pointed his staff. "Who are you?"
"I am the Mayor of this city." Devon insisted.
"That's who you are." Angemon said. "I want to know who you are!"
"You want to know?" Devon asked. "Very well." Devon stood back and outstretched his arms.
Dark clouds swirled up and surrounded him. Large red wings erupted out of his back. He grew in size to a head above Angemon. His face peeled away, revealing a golden mask with six eye-holes and horns. His hands cracked as they changed into gold-tipped claws on wrapped in red small bands. His body changed to a muscular silver one with red orbs going up his left side. His shoes were now boots with two spikes coming from the tips. "I am NeoDevimon!"
Matt sighed. "You've got to kidding me."
"No such luck." NeoDevimon sneered, his six green eyes glowed behind his mask.
He raised a hand and reached for TK. Angemon dove in front, using his staff as leverage between himself and the evil. "Get out of here." He strained.
"Never." TK spat, his crest around his neck glowing.
"Angemon digivolve to…MagnaAngemon!"
Gabumon jumped behind NeoDevimon and glowed yellow with Matt's crest glowing also. "Gabumon digivolve to…Garurumon! Garurumon digivolve to…WereGarurumon!"
NeoDevimon laughed. "You think a little transformation is enough to scare me?"
"Maybe not." WereGarurumon agreed.
"But we intend to defeat you." MagnaAngemon finished. "Matt, get TK out of here!"
"Oh no you don't!" NeoDevimon called. "Guilty Claw!"
His hands extended fast, glowing red. MagnaAngemon used the small purple sword on his right hand to block the attack. "You may be good, but you have no power against Excalibur."
"I've always wondered what that sword was." TK muttered.
"Wolf Claw!" WereGarurumon jumped for NeoDevimon and crossed his hands, creating a red 'X' shape.
NeoDevimon spun around, spinning his arm, destroying the attack. He grabbed the werewolf digimon and spun again, throwing him into MagnaAngemon.
TK wanted to run to his digimon but Matt held him back. "TK, he can handle himself. We've got to get out of here."
TK looked back at his digimon. MagnaAngemon saw TK's concern. "Just go. We'll be fine."
Against his own heart, he knew he had to run. He followed Matt down the stairs and ran for the door. A loud howl from upstairs drew their attention. Matt's eyes watered hearing his partner howling in pain.
"Come on Matt." TK said. "We have no choice."
Matt opened the door and the brothers ran outside. Glass shattered upstairs and showered over the boys.
When the glass stopped falling, the brothers looked up and saw MagnaAngemon and NeoDevimon floating in the sky.
MagnaAngemon flew out of the way of one of NeoDevimon's claws. MagnaAngemon looked down to the ground. He saw the retreating forms of Matt and TK. He smiled slightly but NeoDevimon dived down for the boys himself.
WereGarurumon called out and MagnaAngemon knew he wouldn't make it in time but he still dived down, trying his best.
NeoDevimon could taste TK as he got closer and closer. Just as he made a grab for the boy, something tiny and fast hit his hand, causing him to retract.
He spun around to see three of the four other children with a large white-furred beast and an adult sized digimon holding a gun, smoke still visible from the barrel. "Leave the children alone."
NeoDevimon touched down to the ground and looked at the digimon. "Beelzemon, why are you protecting the humans?"
"Because I want to." Beelzemon replied.
"But you hate humans." NeoDevimon insisted.
"He must think you're the Demon Lord Beelzemon." Mako whispered.
"I told you to leave them alone." Beelzemon repeated, stopping NeoDevimon from reaching for Suzie.
"There's something different about you." NeoDevimon realised.
Beelzemon gulped down as Lopmon stood in front of Suzie, ready to protect her. MagnaAngemon stood on the ground behind NeoDevimon, WereGarurumon joining him. NeoDevimon raised his arms over Beelzemon. He lowered them.
"You are not the Beelzemon I know." NeoDevimon said. "You absolutely stink of humanity."
NeoDevimon stepped forward. Lopmon fired a round of her 'Blazing Ice' to keep the evil digimon away.
NeoDevimon outstretched his arms and spun around. "Guilty Claw!"
The digimon protected the humans, taking the full force of the attack. The attack made the digimon lose their strength and forced them to de-digivolve to their lower forms.
"Now, for the humans." NeoDevimon sneered.
He raised his claw over Ai. He brought it down as purple bandages wrapped around his claw, stopping his movements. He turned around to see a half woman-half spider pulling on the bandages. He used his other claw to rip the bandages, sending the newcomer back a few inches.
"Sorry. No destroying little girls for you."
TK instantly recognised the newcomer. "Arukenimon?"
Arukenimon looked at TK. "Hey there kid. How's it going?" she pushed herself back up.
"You know me?" TK asked, surprised.
"Yeah, I do." Arukenimon replied. "Don't worry, I'm on your side for once."
TK scowled. "I find that hard to believe."
NeoDevimon went to swipe at TK, the still tired Tokomon trying to push himself up. Arukenimon jumped the distance, grabbed Tokomon and TK and jumped clear out of the way.
"Believe me now?" she asked.
"For this battle? Yes." He replied quickly.
She changed to her human form and bit off some of her long silver hair. "Spirit Needle!"
The hairs straightened out like cardboard. She let go and they fired straight for NeoDevimon. They stuck in him, causing him to scream in pain, even more so when the needles began to push themselves in.
She smiled. "Come on everyone, let's move."
Everyone began to move, staying clear of NeoDevimon. Arukenimon led them to a less populated area, with five other human children waiting in the shadows.
"That was close." Arukenimon gasped for breath. She looked at the surprised faces of the five children. She turned around and realised what she had done. "Oops. I didn't have time to think."
Matt looked into the shadows and saw the children. "Who are you?"
Arukenimon looked around and backed away as one of the children walked out of the shadows. He was wearing a thin long-sleeved brown T-Shirt and black jeans and white trainers. Matt looked at the boy.
"You look like me." He observed. "When I was younger anyway."
The other four children walked out of the shadows. One wore a bobcat haircut, blue jeans, black boots and a red, short-sleeved T-Shirt. Another had a blue skirt with a large white frill along the bottom. She wore a pink cardigan over a white T-Shirt. Her hair was tied in a ponytail with the bobble pushing her hair up and letting the rest fall slightly.
The third had a large head of blonde hair, was wearing a torn blue T-Shirt with the left sleeve long and the right sleeve ripped. He had knee high socks and black slip-on trainers and a pair of black material shorts. The final wore a pair of green shorts and a baggy white hoodie, small black 'dress' shoes and a round sun-hat.
"Well, this is unexpected." TK said.
"Great." Matt sighed. "More digidestined?"
The 'Matt look-a-like' stepped forward. "Hello."
"Who are you?" Matt asked.
"My name is Hiro." He introduced. "This is my digidestined group."
"Nice to meet you." Tommy smiled.
"Wish I could say the same." Hiro replied. "There's a dark power in this city. We're trying to find it."
"They found it." Arukenimon said. "It's a NeoDevimon."
"NeoDevimon?" the large head of blonde hair asked.
A loud scream drew everyone's attention. Matt stepped forward. "Leave this to us."
Hiro stepped forward. "No, we're helping too."
Matt looked down at Hiro. "Sorry kid. But there's only one digimon on your side, and we've got four."
"Did you forget that we're digidestined as well?" Hiro asked, a little irritated.
"Well, where are your digimon?" Matt asked, knowing they weren't around.
"They're looking around the town." He replied. "Don't start with me."
NeoDevimon crashed onto the ground, scaring Ai and Mako. Beelzemon launched a right punch on NeoDevimon's golden mask. NeoDevimon steadied himself and replied with a punch of his own.
"We have to get out of here." Korikakumon insisted.
"He's right." Tsunomon agreed. "Just run Matt."
NeoDevimon delivered a spin-kick to Beelzemon's chest, forcing him to ground and de-digivolving to Impmon. He then quickly grabbed Ai and lifted her off the ground.
"Ai!" Mako called. "Impmon, help her!"
"I'm too tired." Impmon replied. "But I'll try."
Arukenimon stood in front. "Don't waste your strength. I'll get her."
"You think you can get her?" NeoDevimon taunted. "Try it ugly."
Arukenimon snarled. She changed into her spider-form and jumped in the air. NeoDevimon moved Ai away from her and pointed a claw at Arukenimon. "Guilty Claw!"
The claw shot forward but Arukenimon used her legs and jumped onto the claw and jumped behind NeoDevimon. She spun around and used her thread to wrap around Ai. She yanked the threads and flung Ai into the air. The spider digimon jumped in the air and caught her, placing her safely with the other digidestined.
"Are you ok?" she asked.
"Yes, thank you." Ai gasped.
NeoDevimon roared. Everyone turned to face him.
He raised his arms above his head and looked to the sky. He glowed with a fiery orange aura.
"By the power of the seven, I call from below the heavens!" NeoDevimon called. Everyone braced themselves for what could happen. "To rid these insects from my path, I call on Daemon, Demon Lord of Wrath!"
"I'm not an insect!" Arukenimon called. "I have eight legs! I'm an arachnid you idiot!"
Dark clouds swirled above NeoDevimon and dropped to the ground. The column of smoke cleared, revealing a red cloaked digimon with two white horns and purple hands.
"Who dares summon me?" the being demanded.
"I do." NeoDevimon admitted. "Lord Daemon."
"Daemon?" Impmon asked. "You looked different."
"I prefer this form. It's more elegant." Daemon turned to face NeoDevimon. "Now, surely you must know the price for summoning me."
"Price?" TK asked.
Daemon raised his hands and aimed them at NeoDevimon. "Evil Inferno!"
Two streams of intense flames erupted and engulfed NeoDevimon. His screams of pain filled the air as he was reduced to nothing. Daemon faced the group, his hands still giving off small parts of smoke.
"I am glad however that he summoned me to your location." Daemon revealed.
Tokomon and Tsunomon jumped out of their partners arms and landed on the floor. "Are you guys crazy?!" Hiro called. "You have no chance against him!"
"At least someone knows what they're talking about." Daemon sneered.
Daemon rose into the air, arms outstretched. His red cloak was shredded as he changed into his true demonic form. He landed onto the ground with a loud bang.
"I prefer the other one." Mako said.
Daemon lifted an arm and reached for Arukenimon. He picked her up and looked at her. "Now then, what shall be your final wish?"
Arukenimon's mind flashed back to the last digimon who wanted to hear her wishes. "No, not again!"
"Leave her alone!" Ai called.
She took a step forward but Arukenimon raised her hand. "No! Stay where you are."
"But…" Ai started.
"I've gone through this before." Arukenimon panted. "I can do it again."
Suzie quickly grabbed a card and swiped it. "Digi-Modify! Matrix-Digivolution Activate!"
"Lopmon Matrix Digivolve to…Antylamon!"
The large rabbit digimon looked down at Daemon. "Let her go."
"Shut your mouth carrot eater!" Daemon snapped. He turned his attention to his prisoner. "Now, about your final wish?"
Arukenimon raised her arms and changed to her human form. She slid out of his hand and dropped to the floor. She rolled away from Daemon's stamping foot, just missing it and ran to the group.
"That's not going to save you for long." Daemon snarled.
"Long enough." Arukenimon said back.
Hiro stood forward. "That's it. I'm done taking a back seat."
"Hiro, you can't fight. Where's your digimon?" TK asked.
Hiro looked behind Daemon and smirked. "They're right behind him." He pointed.
Daemon looked behind himself and saw five mega level digimon; Machinedramon, MetalSeadramon, Piedmon, Devitamamon and Puppetmon. Matt looked at the digimon and them looked back at Hiro's group.
"There's no way…" he started.
Hiro looked at Daemon. "Listen up you freak." Daemon turned back and looked at Hiro. "You can threaten anyone you like; Arukenimon, innocent digimon. You can torture them all you like." Hiro looked at Matt and TK, then back to Daemon. "But I'll tell you this much. No-one, and I mean no-one threatens my sons. Machinedramon!"
"Giga Cannon!" Machinedramon fired his attack and landed a direct hit.
"What is going on?" TK asked.
Matt looked at Hiro. "Ask our father."
TK looked at Hiro, meeting his eyes. "Dad?"
"Hi TK." Hiro gave a weak smile. "Even we're not sure."
Matt looked at the group. He instantly knew that the other boy was Adam. He observed their faces and knew who was who. "So, this is what the original digidestined actually look like."
"Guys?" Felisha pointed.
The smoke cleared, revealing a very much undamaged, and angry, Daemon. He growled at the mechanical digimon. As he took a step forward, four sharp stinging pains hit his left leg.
"That's far enough." Piedmon told him.
"I take orders from no-one." Daemon roared, picking up Devitamamon and throwing him at the clown.
Lenora and Felisha ran to their digimon's side. Puppetmon jumped in the air and swung his hammer, sending small bursts of energy to Daemon. He swatted them away as if they were mere droplets of water.
MetalSeadramon moved forward and coiled his body tightly around the digimon. He pointed his nose as close to Daemon as he could. "River of Power!"
A rush of energy erupted and covered Daemon's head, completely shadowing him. The attack ended with Daemon head-butting the serpentine digimon.
MetalSeadramon fell to the ground, with Adam running to his side. Only Machinedramon and Puppetmon were left to fight.
Mira felt her digivice begin to vibrate. She looked at it, seeing the same symbol as before. "Digidestined." Came a familiar female voice.
"Lady Ophanimon?" Korikakumon asked.
"It is good to hear a familiar voice." The voice confirmed. "I am sorry to tell you all this, but this is the time of the difficult choice. Now will determine how many losses there are."
"What do you mean?" Mira asked.
"The five of you have met the trio of fortune-telling digimon." Ophanimon reminded. "The time for their prophecy is now. Which path will you choose?"
The symbol faded and her digivice fell silent. Mira looked around. "Guys?"
Hiro, or Hiroaki since his identity was revealed, looked at Machinedramon. He met the hollow eyes of his digimon.
"Hiroaki?" he asked.
Hiroaki looked at his shoes. He looked back up. "Tommy, would you be able to carry everyone away from here?"
Korikakumon looked around. "I think so."
"Then do it." He ordered.
"What?" Matt asked. "We're not leaving."
"Yes, you are." Hiroaki insisted. "Tommy, I want you to hold Matt and TK. They'll struggle but do not let go."
Matt and TK heard the tone their dad was using. They knew this was serious. They began to move forward but large hands wrapped around them.
Impmon helped Ai and Mako onto Korikakumon. "Hold tight kids." Antylamon picked up Suzie in one hand and Tsunomon and Tokomon in the other.
Arukenimon perched herself on Korikakumon's shoulder. "Come on." She urged. "You can still get away."
"No. It's either this, or more people die." Hiroaki told her.
"No-one has to die." Matt screamed. "Please dad, don't do this!"
"I've got to. We've got to." Hiroaki told his son. "It's the only way."
Matt looked at his brother, eyes shut tightly, his mouth quivering. Matt looked back. "Please, don't."
Hiroaki looked away. "Tommy, Antylamon, get going. Before it's too late."
"No don't!" Matt called. He began to struggle against Korikakumon's hand. "Let me go! I have to help him!"
"I can't." came the gruff reply. "He told me not to."
"I don't care." Matt argued. "Let me go now! I want to go help my father!"
"Yamato!"
Matt looked over to a tear-filled Hiroaki. "Dad?"
"Don't argue with me." He said. "Sure enough my body's younger than yours, but I am still your father."
"You can't leave." Matt begged, tears flowing freely.
"Your safety is more important." Hiroaki told him. "Please Tommy, take them away."
Cries of pain filled the air. The five mega digimon had been reduced to their rookie stages. They were badly beaten but not willing to give up yet.
"We can't let Daemon get away." Psychemon strained.
"We have to get time for the others to escape." SnowAgumon agreed.
Daemon walked towards Korikakumon and Antylamon. The five rookie digimon fired their attacks at an attempt to slow down Daemon. He turned around and growled at the rookie digimon. Daemon raised his hands above his head.
TK opened his eyes. "Dad, you don't have to do this."
Hiroaki took one final look at his sons. "Yes, I do." He turned away, unable to face his sons anymore. "Look after each other. Tell your mother that I'm sorry. My dreams got the better of me after all."
Daemon quickly turned around and threw his hands down, throwing his flames towards Korikakumon and Antylamon.
Suzie looked through cards and saw one with a shield she knew was safe. "Digi-Modify! Taomon's Talisman Spell Activate!"
Antylamon opened her mouth and exhaled, creating a shield around herself and Korikakumon. The flames hit the shield, severely testing the shield's strength.
"Keep it up Antylamon." Suzie encouraged.
"I'm trying Suzie." Antylamon said.
Hiroaki, Psychemon and everyone else ran around Daemon and stood in-between him and those in the shield. "Leave them alone."
"You dare to stand in the way of me and my prey?" Daemon asked. "Very well."
"No." TK realised what was about to happen. "No!"
Hiroaki closed his eyes. "Goodbye Nancy." He whispered with a serene smile.
"Evil Inferno!" Daemon called.
Daemon thrust his hands to the ten unprotected beings. The flames exploded upon hitting the ground, then died down, revealing only five piles of ash.
Antylamon quickly imagined the shield moving away, and the shield did just that.
Matt and TK instantly broke down in Korikakumon's hands. Ai, Mako and Suzie turned away from the scene. Impmon used the red bandana around his neck to wipe away the tears from his own eyes. Arukenimon looked to the sky, her eyes tightly shut. Not allowing a tear to fall.
Sure, she had caused carnage and destruction when she was in her old dimension, but to see human beings be reduced to piles of ash. This was something that she was never prepared for.
Tsunomon and Tokomon looked at each other. Despite their hopes and wishes, they knew that humans could not be reborn, like digimon could.
Daemon looked at the shield in the distance. He knew it was too far away. "You shall live another day digidestined." Daemon changed back into his cloaked form. "Until we meet again."
I hope the sacrifice was written ok. Please leave reviews to let me know what you think.