I don't own digimon
Turnover
888
The orange glow, the anger, the rage, the blind, berserk rage, it was growing more powerful brighter. Wind screamed, wailed, shrieked and made any other sound of utter and complete pain as the air fled from the power that was building in the atmosphere. All the while the children, the present onlookers gaped in unmoving awe, terror, and amazement. A brightly glowing sphere was spinning harshly with bright orange energy, whips and tendrils of power snapped in curling ropes around the sphere's circumference. The ropes curled tighter and tighter around the center of the sphere, dragging in more and more power from the molecules unfortunate enough to be in the reach of the maelstrom. The ropes spun faster and faster. An unholy whine vibrated the air and the ground. The whine slowly swept up in pitch becoming sharper and more painful to listen to as the whine became a piercing scream. All those present covered their ears and dropped to their knees as the sound cut their ears and flesh like a knife. Just as the screaming shriek became mind bending and unbearable the sphere exploded. The ball of light that had been twisting it furious energy around like an insane merry-go-round was now completely evaporated, single streamers of light still twisted around the exposed figure within the now dissipated sphere.
Smooth, sharp armor covered the beast's body. The metal had a sapphire sheen to it. A large pair of wings unfurled from the beast's back. The wings were light those of a bat, save the long digits between the webbing of the wings was completely composed of twisted, gnarled metal blades. The hinges of the aerial appendages were huge metallic saber that stabbed through the air. The body itself was armored up and down. It was like the entire creature had been dipped in chrome. The head had a huge frill that rose up from the forehead, right behind a triangle of crimson that pulsed like an artery during a headache. The frill was like chromed flames with tongues of metal curling up off the beast's cranium. Chrome-fanged mouth of the beast was wide open showing the long, dagger fangs that protruded from the beast's snout. The shoulders had large, round metallic guards covering the strong joints between the creature's humerus and scapula. The upper arms' armor coating turned into a large, swept-back blade that pointed backward. The rest of the arm was a collection of smoothly put together armor plates that extended down into the long clawed hands. Thin, saber-like claws clenched together, the rest of the hands covered in bright, orange flames that flicked around the metal.
The beast's torso was covered also in the sapphire chrome. The chest's armor pushed forward in a blunted, process. The thin abdomen and waist were covered by more of a blue armored mesh, but one could see a more stable armor foundation underneath the mesh. The legs were covered in smooth, clean, shining metal. The knees were augmented by large twisted metal spikes, one spike on each patella. The feet extended down into three, long, metallic talons. A thin tail swept around the shingled armor on the tail neatly sliding one plate of metal over the next. The end of the tail carried a heavy arrowhead. The base of the arrow curved on each side of the tail like a battle axe that curved into a second base that curled to sharp, flat point.
"Do you really think this will change anything?" roared the second beast that dominated the scene. The larger beast was a centaur of sorts, with a large, sinewy, red bestial body and a blue armored humanoid torso. Two shark heads snapped from the beast's forward lower body's shoulders. Its finned, head glared at the metallic dragon hanging in the air. "Pathetic! You're nothing to me!"
The dragon didn't respond as it just hung there in silence, even the wind had disappeared after the digivolution had finished. GranDracmon chuckled loudly as he crossed his long, thin, red arms across the blue, bat-winged armor that covered his chest.
"Afraid to speak, eh?" snorted GranDracmon with his booming voice. "I'm not surprised." The large wings on the back of GranDracmon's back unfurled. "Allow me to end your terror."
GranDracmon's red arms shot forward, the long claws coming together with their pointed ends aiming at the metal coated dragon. The sound of claws striking metal clanged through the stagnant air. GranDracmon narrowed his red eyes as he looked at his clawed hands trying to drive into the azure coated metal of the dragon's body. The dragon growled slightly before lifting its arms. The flaming hands of the dragon closed onto the flesh of GranDracmon's arms; his claws cutting into the burning skin.
"Kill…that is my purpose…" growled the dragon. "Death, destruction, terror…I feel it pumping through your putrid flesh."
"HA!" retorted GranDracmon loudly, "I have no fear of you, pathetic beast!"
"Then I shall rectify that," replied the voice of the dragon as he yanked his clawed hands back, dragging the crimson arms with his claws. "The rest of your minimal existence shall be in terror…."
888
The children winced as the echoes of random snaps and crackles and tearing rips bounced into their ears. A loud pop was followed by GranDracmon roaring in pain. Sinews were snapping, like ropes that have been loaded beyond their capacity. Bone groaned as it was slightly elongated before the intercellular matrices started to crack. The bone yanked on ligaments and tendons crackled and snapped as the cartilage was torn asunder. Finally a pair of twin thumps rumbled across the ground as the mass of GranDracmon's arms crashed to the ground like huge pieces of lumber. The fingers were still twitching as residual action potentials jumped from nerve to muscles, contracting the muscles.
GranDracmon was howling in pain and fury. GranDracmon's huge, clawed feet stomped and his humanoid torso weaved back and forth. His head looked blankly at the empty sockets where his arms had protruded. His arms were now replaced by the spurting fountains of crimson fluid that exploded from the new orifices on either side of his upper torso.
Taku narrowed his eyes. Ren's head was pressed against his chest, her face and eyes pressing against his sternum, her sobs were muffled against his chest. Jiro was half slumped against him, the young blonde looking up in shock at the scene, his brown eyes quivered as the large dilated pupils tried to take in what was going on. Kisho was looking up in awe, dumbstruck. One of his hands was gently clenching his digivice. The fingers slowly slid from the small, white device. It fell and silently bounced on the ground. The brunette slowly dropped forward, his knees striking the hard, sandy earth. Haru walked slowly forward and dropped down next to the brunette. The blue eyed boy gently lifted his hand and put it on Kisho's shoulder.
"I…just wanted to stop GranDracmon…" Kisho whispered as he looked up at the metallic dragon hovering in the air. "This isn't…what I expected…"
"Let's not get too anxious…" Haru replied quietly as he gently tightened his fingers around Kisho's shoulder. "It may work itself out…like DemiDevimon and Taku…"
"No…" Taku hissed under his breath as he glared up at the shimmering dragon digimon hanging in the air. "This is different…feral…it's more than a corruption of the true purpose…it's like there is nothing left of the true energy left, he's just being fed by sheer will…"
The snarling of GranDracmon lowered as the demon beast's face slowly readjusted out of the crunched up wince of pain to a more angered look. The beast's eyes narrowed. The metal dragon was huge unto itself, and its wingspan easily matched that of GranDracmon's but the dragon's body was much shorter and was not nearly as bulky as GranDracmon's.
"Your power may be incredible but even the most powerful fall at my knees," growled GranDracmon, his voice shaking the air. The shark heads at his waist squealed loudly. The demon beast chuckled loudly, "You want to take a chance against him my pets? Fine…let us. Crystal Revolution!"
The shark heads mouths filled with a blue energy. Shards of blue crystals belched from the mouths. The dragon snorted as its wings curled tightly around its body. The crystal shards plinked and exploded across the re-enforced metal wings. The wings flashed opened and the remaining crystal shards were thrust back at their owner. GranDracmon retreated as the sharks stabbed and cut at his lower torso, tearing into the sinewy, corded, red flesh that composed his lower half. The metallic dragon charged forward and smashed its flaming hands into the mouths of the shark heads on either side of GranDracmon's waist. A muffled screech came from the sharks as a long, writhing, pink, rope-like thing was yanked from each mouth. It took the children a couple of seconds to realize that the ropes were actually forked on the end, and weren't ropes at all but the shark heads' tongues. There was a loud crack and one of the right shark head's maxilla bent upward causing the head to point upward at a one hundred degree angel. A loud snap and ripping sound indicated that the left shark head was being twisted and ripped from GranDracmon. The beast demon snarled as the metallic gray head was tossed to the ground, its back end nothing but a red hole.
"This is over…" roared GranDracmon as he declined his head and his eyes turned from red to white. "Eye of…."
The metal dragon's flaming hands pressed against GranDracmon's face. The demon roared in pain as the flames charred his eyes and face. The smell of burning flesh curled down from the fight filling the nostrils of the digi-destined with the rancid smell. A few seconds later a loud crack was followed by a large, rounded shape crashing to the ground. GranDracmon's body wavered back and forth and then collapsed on its side. The thunder from the collision shook the ground and the air. A wave of dust and debris rolled toward them like a sandstorm.
Taku swung around putting his back to the wave of dust and slinging Ren and Jiro under his torso. Taku made a quick glance over and saw Haru push Kisho to the ground, forcing the brunette's green banded goggles over the boy's face as the blonde buried his face into Kisho's back. The wind a dust held a foul smell, like rotting eggs and meat. The putrid concoction burned the noses of all those exposed with the sheer fetid quality it had. It took everything Taku had to hold the bile back from gushing out all over the place. His eyes watered, partly from small bits of sand and dust but mostly from the searing quality the noxious air had. He held the two people in his arms closer pressing their heads against his chest. A cold dagger rammed his back. His eyes reflexively shot open and though dust and the smell burned them he turned his head and looked back.
"Arkadimon…." Taku whispered quietly as he sat back up. The dust swept around and finally the wave past, dragging its contents with it as it past. A residual haze of particulate hung in the air.
"Wha…what is that horrible malevolence I feel…in my bones…" growled a voice.
Ren's head shot up and her mouth dropped open. The brunette girl leapt to her feet and lunged toward the source of the voice. Taku and Jiro looked up and a smile crept across their faces. A pile of granite shards laid on the ground, but in the middle of the granite shards was a large, black dragon. Thin, but muscular legs rose up from the rock to a metallic skirt that wrapped around its thin waist. A tone stomach, with nicely carved set of adnominal muscles, stretched up to a metallic brassiere that hugged a muscular but rounded chest. A pair of strong arms was carefully curled around the brunette, who was latched onto the dragon. A spike curled back on each arm, like a bent nail. Clawed hands laid softly on Ren's back trailing the thick claws up and down the girl's spine. The dragon's head was turned down. A metallic plate covered the dragon's face up to a pair of sharp prongs that extended up from the back of the dragon's head.
"Cyberdramon…I thought I lost you…" The girl whispered as her fingers curled tighter against the dragon's skin.
"It…must be GranDracmon's destruction…" whispered Haru as he turned and watched Grademon slice free from his rocky tomb. The golden swordsman dropped to one knee. "In some of the stories…after Medusa is destroyed the heroes were freed from the spell…"
"Then I guess we should be lucky that GranDracmon read the right books," said Grademon quietly as the knight walked forward. His long, golden armored legs stepped from the rock rubble on the ground. His armor was the same bronze-gold coloration up and down his thin, lithe body. His golden eyes narrowed as he looked ahead. The azure cloak he wore settled around his body like a robe. "That incredible power…that anger, what is that hatred that soaks the air with the smell of death and decay?"
"Depends…" Haru said as he looked into the settling haze. "Leftover GranDracmon or whatever the heck DORUmon evolved into…"
"Or Arkadimon…" hissed Taku angrily. Haru looked up, his azure eyes narrowed.
"If the others are free from that attack GranDracmon used then wouldn't Paildramon…" Jiro said suddenly as he leapt to his feet from his leaning condition against Taku's chest.
"He's in the crossfire…" Taku growled as he clenched his fists, "We have to get closer…Kisho, we have to get closer; it's our only chance to get this mess fixed!"
The brunette was looking up at the large dragon hanging in the air. A soft growl rumbled through the air as the dragon's upper torso slowly expanded and contracted.
"Kisho, snap out of it!" Haru grabbed the brunette's shoulder and turned the boy around so that the brunette's brown eyes locked with Haru's blue eyes, "This was a mistake, but if we're going to fix it, you're going need to snap out of this. If you want to see DORUmon again get up."
Kisho's eyes twitched slightly, "I…don't deserve…"
A loud crack snapped through the air. Taku, Jiro and Ren's mouths fell open. Grademon and Cyberdramon winced slightly. Kisho lifted his hand up to his turned head to a pulsing red hand print burning on his cheek.
"I don't want to hear you say that," Haru growled under his breath as his hands reached up and grabbed the boy's blue T-shirt by the front. Haru stood up and yanked Kisho to his feet, "You've been the one that's been pushing us forward, unafraid. You've been leading the charge!"
"I failed…" Kisho whispered as his head slumped down and he looked at the ground. "I don't deserve to…"
Crack!
The children and the digimon shuddered again. Haru narrowed his eyes, "What did you say?"
Kisho didn't respond. His head was lowered in despondence. His eyes were not really unfocused just not interested. His face had a red mark on each side. Twin, pulsing handprints glowed on his cheeks. Haru growled and shook the boy until the brunette brought his eyes up to Haru's.
"What do you want me to do?" hissed Kisho venomously.
"Take some damned responsibility and show some backbone and fix it!" Haru snarled back as he glared into the pair of soft chocolate orbs looking at him through the thick glass of the brunette's goggle lens. "He's your friend; no he's more than that. Only a coward would just leave their friends at time like this! Are you a coward?"
"No…" Kisho whispered quietly.
"What was that? I don't think I heard you?" Haru shot back loudly.
"NO! I'm not a coward!" Kisho shouted as he pushed against the gray fabric that made up Haru's shirt and knocked the blonde haired boy backward. "I'm not a coward!"
"Then stop acting like one," Haru growled as he stood up. He dusted his pants off and glared at Kisho, "Are you going to stand up to your mistake or are you going to kneel in the dirt again and zone out, like some ostrich ramming its head in the sand?"
"Whatever you're going to do, do it…I don't know if Paildramon could handle going up against either Arkadimon or whatever that thing is…by himself…actually I don't know if we can do it together…" Grademon said as the golden armored swordsman stepped forward in a long, heron-esque stride.
"Well?" Haru glared at Kisho, his sharp, sapphire eyes blazing. A small, stifled explosion filled the air, and Kisho looked back to see a puff of dust and flame poof into the air.
"We have to try…" Kisho said slowly more to the ground than anyone around him.
Haru nodded and reached out, clasping the brunette's soft brown hand. "Grademon, let's get up there and see what's going on."
The knight quickly snatched the two children up scooping them upward and cradling them in his arms. The blue cape flapped and whapped as it unfurled behind the swordsman.
Cyberdramon didn't even wait for the request and the dragon scooped the children and flapped her four, thin, crimson wings and lifted off the ground with three small heads looking down at the ground below, streaming past as Cyberdramon's wings beat against the cold, stagnant air.
888
Paildramon crashed to the ground and rolled, his wings curled around his body. The wing membranes, between the groups of phalanges, were scuffed and scratched from scraping against the rocks, and sandy earth. Heat pressed against the dragon's gold and black armor. His red chocolate eyes flickered open and he let out a short grunt as he pressed his gauntleted hands against the gritty, pebbly soil. His black and white wings unfurled slightly and his eyes slowly rose up to see what had smashed his escape from the granite tomb.
Paildramon's eyes instantly shrunk as he peered at the hulking dragon standing above him. A chrome metal body accentuated with sweeping, blade-like armor projections at several of the joints, such as the elbows, shoulders and knees. Huge, chromed wings were unfurled, with large, gnarled sword projects between the metal glossed webbing.
"DORU…DORUghoramon…" Paildramon choked the name and took a slow step backward. "Could it be…we're still dreaming…? A nightmare…it has to be…a nightmare…"
"If…only it were," A hoarse, buzzing voice growled statically. "Instead, it's reality…in the dress of your worst nightmare…facing not just the insanity of an ancient boogieman but your greatest fears…me…"
Paildramon turned slowly. A muscular, upright beast was standing in the epicenter of leftover flesh and blood. It had a broad chest and shoulders. A pair of fleshy wings was slightly unfurled; the underskirts of the wings were wriggling with thousands of crimson tentacles. A tiny, insectoid head was perched between the muscular shoulders, with red tuffs of hair pushing out from under the mask of green exoskeleton. Pulsing blood vessels pumped up to the small ovoid head. The creature's flesh was a mixed, green-beige color. The upper arms had black coils of some armor wrapped around the muscles. The lower arms were wide, as an apricot exoskeleton fanned out from the elbow to five, long, rubbery, red claws. The left hand had its red claws coiled around a black pedestal holding a black, crystal ball. The lower limbs were much like the rest of the beast, bulging and muscular, though they were nearly completely covered in green-beige fleshy armor. The beast had wide, three toed feet ending again in long red claws.
"Bastard…" Paildramon growled as he looked back at DORUghoramon. "What have you done, Arkadimon!"
"I have done nothing," buzzed the muscle bound creature. "This one is of your own creation."
"What do you mean?" Paildramon growled as he glared at the hulking form of Arkadimon.
"This is your friend, DORUmon…" chuckled Arkadimon as he lifted his head and looked into the maw of the metallic dragon; it was standing in coiled rage, evidently trying to measure the two targets that were before it. "See what happens when rage and hatred are allowed to blossom…a being most magnificent was born…"
"A mindless killing machine, you mean?" growled Paildramon as he lifted his gauntleted arms. The white and black spikes protruding from the counter-colored gauntlets snapped with energy.
A loud roar rose behind Paildramon and then heat swarmed up his back. Paildramon leapt forward just as a concussion wave smashed against him. The dragon turned his head and saw the flaming, metal fist of DORUghoramon smashed into a crater where Paildramon had been standing. Paildramon hovered in the air and turned back to Arkadimon.
"You're making a mistake…" chuckled the muscle bound, insect mutant. Paildramon narrowed his red eyes. It didn't take long for him to realize that DORUghoramon wasn't finished. The realization came from a sharp, burning strike to the middle of Paildramon's back. Paildramon crashed back to the ground on his chest. Paildramon's claws dug into the earth. The rubbery claws on Arkadimon's massive hands shot forward. "Freeze Tentacle!"
Paildramon rolled as the talons cut into the earth. The ground around the contact sight turned a frosty, crystalline blue. Paildramon pushed himself up and scrambled to his feet. He leapt into the air. His eyes glanced back and forth between DORUghoramon's sharp form and the bulky, muscular form of Arkadimon.
"This isn't over, Arkadimon…" Paildramon growled as he allowed a long, white spike extend from his onyx gauntlet.
"It is! Freezing…" Arkadimon's arm extended but instantly he was sent hurtling backward by a twisting blast of white plasma.
Paildramon's eyes widened, as he traced the plasma back to DORUghoramon. A glint caught Paildramon's attention and he instantly turned his head. A black pedestal was turning end over end in the air. Arkadimon had released the Dark Digimental in the attack. Paildramon's wings tilted and he dove. The rounded head of the crystal ball fell into Paildramon's arms. Paildramon glided upward and looked down at the object in his arms, sparkling innocently in his eyes. An orange glow filled the crystal ball's face. Paildramon turned and dropped backward as flames roared past. The heat pressed against Paildramon's black helmet and dried his eyes forcing the DNA digivolved digimon to blink its eyes.
"Freeze Tentacle!" A swarm of crimson rope was twisting and whirling toward Paildramon. The flames fanned out around the tentacles. The black and white dragon had no time to move, to avoid the attack.
"Grade Slash!" Golden glints of light and loud swiping sounds cut through the air. A blue cape twirled in front of Paildramon, and clumps of crimson flesh dropped to the earth. Paildramon blinked as he watched the cape glide back to the ground. The cape swept to the left revealing a bronze swordsman, his swords drawn.
"Grademon!" Paildramon said in shock as he looked over to where DORUghoramon was snarling at a lithe, black dragon sending hazel pulses into chrome Mega's stomach. Paildramon smirked slightly, "Cyberdramon…"
"Paildramon, you should go back to where the children are, and rest," Grademon shouted as he crossed his swords.
"Are you…" Paildramon winced. He looked down at the sparkling surface of the Dark Digimental. "…sure?"
"Freeze Tentacle!" Arkadimon snarled.
Ruddy whips of rubber caught Grademon's attention and the swordsman swept one of his thin, strong swords in a sharp arc. Golden energy sliced behind the blade and the tentacles were sliced cleanly from their bases. The rubbery whips writhed on the ground, flopping and wriggling on the dusty earth. Grademon turned its head back to Paildramon and nodded slowly.
The white and black dragon grunted and flew. DORUghoramon snarled and sliced its chrome claws up through the air, dragging the flames that roared around the palms of the metal covered gargoyle upward. The heat of the flames licked against the exposed, gray skin of Paildramon's stomach. The long, thin, chromed tail of DORUghoramon curled upward, the flat of the arrowhead plate at the end of the tail swung towards Paildramon's face. Paildramon twisted to the left letting the flat of the tail plate rush past his body. Paildramon then dove toward a group of children several hectometers away from the fight.
888
Arkadimon growled. The swordsman and the black dragon were turning things, and with the Dark Digimental out of his hands he could feel the purifying affects of the Digital World's defenses trying to rub him into a more manageable bite size form. His increase musculature burned from exertion as he tried to maintain his strength whilst fending off the swordsman and the black dragon. They were attacking in unison now, their attacks pouncing onto his tough flesh.
DORUghoramon was snarling and firing at the two other digimon and at him. A blast of twisting, white plasma was raging towards him. He crossed his thick arms over his chest and head. The plasma burned and hissed against his armored appendages. Ionized gasses discharged bursts of electrical energy in loud snaps and angry hisses across his armor.
He grew angered as he felt a sickening pressure against his stomach. A thin, muscular arm had embedded its clawed fist against his green flesh. The faceless, metallic face mask was right below his fist. The claws, at the end of his arms, curled into a fist. He dropped his club-like fist against the dragon's spine. The thin, red wings swept upward, and the dragon crashed to the ground. He swung his wide, clawed foot upward kicking the dragon away with a minimal effort.
A twisting burst of wind howled against his left side. He growled and lifted his left arm, blocking the attack. Before he could release a counterstrike a huge shadow curled around his beige-green body. A pair of orange flames was driving towards him. He reflexively pushed his hands up catching the flaming fists in his armored hands. He let out an aggravated groan as the combination of the flames searing into his palms and the purifying energy of the Harmony barrier stabbed into his straining muscles. He growled loudly and pushed DORUghoramon retreated one or two steps and Arkadimon leapt backward, spreading his heavy wings. He could feel the little villi on the wings' surfaces wriggling. He strained forward and the villi shot forward. DORUghoramon snarled and sliced its bladed wing forward, cutting the tiny tentacles. The wings swept back and the metallic maw opened and another twisting blast of plasma rushed forward. The ionized torrent burned against his chest. Emerald energy exploded against his small head, the exoskeleton of his head deflected the attack easily enough. A cut scratched against his chest. A lithe knight was leaping backward, his swords crossed. A golden torrent of energy shot forward from the intersection of the blades and struck him.
"Enough of this!" Arkadimon snarled as he pushed his arms out, with his fists clenched. A dome of small black dots formed around his body. Arkadimon then splayed his clawed fingers. The dome expanded outward and the dots swarmed his three attackers. The black spots were easily seen on the golden armor of the swordsman and the sapphire chrome of DORUghoramon but they were less noticeable on the black muscles of the dragon, save for the thin, red wings which looked as if they had had pepper sprinkled on them. The attackers looked down at themselves as the dots continued to accumulate on the three digimon. Arkadimon then clamped his hands tightly shut. "DOT MATRIX!"
The dots glowed and then the super heated dots exploded. Arkadimon chuckled softly as he watched all three digimon fall backward onto their backs. He winced hard, holding his body as purifying energy punched into his gut. The pain ripped upward and burned through his arms. He staggered a couple of steps and then concentrated pushing the pain away and stood straight.
He slowly walked forward, stepping on the wings of DORUghoramon as he walked over the fallen creatures. He was walking towards a group of five humans, being guarded by a still winded and weak Paildramon.
The Paildramon's golden armor was scuffed, dented and burnt. The black leggings were cracked as were the platinum and onyx gauntlets. Off color bruises spotted the murky yellow flesh of the dragon. One of the dragon's red eyes were closed, leaving one of the onyx helmet's eye ports a complete void. The white thorn in the left arm's gauntlet was raised.
"Don't come closer, Arkadimon," snarled the dragon as it lowered its hands to the cannons attached to its hips.
"Go ahead, I'm far too busy to deal with low level scum like you," Arkadimon snorted in reply.
The cannons swiveled forward. He sighed quietly in annoyance as the white and black pellets of energy fired from the muzzles of the guns. He lifted his hand and blocked the attack. He swept his hand upward. A swirl of black dots curled into existence. The dots rushed forward and collected all over the Paildramon's body. A few seconds later the dots exploded. The dragon staggered backward and dropped to on knee. Arkadimon narrowed his eyes.
"It's working according to plan…" Arkadimon watched as the dragon glowed and split into two digimon, a winged, gray skinned dragon and a golden armored knight.
"We won't be made to go unconscious so you can cut through our partners," growled the gray skinned dragon as his spiked knuckles pressed on the ground pushing the dragon's muscular body up to its feet.
"We won't be defeated so easily by you," growled the knight as he stood up. Tiny ports on the large shoulder pads opened up. "My light shall cut through your evil body!"
Arkadimon stopped and a smiled curled across his face underneath the exoskeleton mask on his head. He tensed his body and glared into the knight's eyes. The knight's golden armor glowed with a yellow radiance. The air cracked with energy as light streamed forward from the ports on the knight's armor. The light ripped forward flaring against his body. He grunted as the light burned across his flesh. He pressed the burning sensation down, collecting it in the pit of his stomach and then he sucked in deeply. He pulled the light in drawing it towards the pit of burning energy in his stomach.
He lifted his eyes and saw the surprised look on the knight's face as his attack refused to end. The light streamed in faster and faster swirling into the pit of Arkadimon's stomach. Arkadimon could feel the warmth spreading as the light was digested; the pressure from the harmony barrier seemed to disappear.
"Fool," Arkadimon whispered as he continued to draw in the light.
"What's going on?" Growled the dragon loudly as it glanced at the knight.
"I can't…stop the attack…it's like he's siphoning energy off of me…" growled the knight as he winced.
"I don't understand how he can take it," A small, yellow-haired human standing behind the knight called. "I thought he was evil?"
"Why is he doing it?" growled the black haired boy, Taku. The Paildramon must have handed the boy the Dark Digimental because the artifact was now in the boy's hands.
"To replace that which you have proven to be most easy to lose," Arkadimon replied as he continued to draw the energy in. "I need the Dark Digimental to shield my power from the purifying power of the barrier. The Dark Digimental hides my energy signature from the barrier, as do my hosts…but as you have shown those means of hiding are becoming more and more inefficient. I have to continue to find more and more powerful hosts in order to survive because you continue to reclaim the digimental. I grow weary of having to hide. I was created to fight and destroy, not run and hide."
"That doesn't explain anything!" snarled the black haired human loudly, "How does taking hits from Magnamon change anything!"
"Because…he's absorbing the Light from the attacks, doing so causes his darkness to seem less concentrated…" A second yellow haired human walked forward. Its blue eyes were narrowed, "he's equalizing himself. Hiding the darkness under a film of light, absorbing the holy to diffuse the unholy…quite ingenious."
"I don't need your compliments…" Arkadimon snorted. Magnamon groaned as he dropped to his knees. The light energy poured out of his body like water from a broken damn.
"We have to stop this, he's sucking Magnamon dry!" the little yellow haired human shouted.
"How can we stop him?" a third human said, with long brown hair.
"Use his own trick against him," the second yellow haired boy snapped his fingers. "Taku, we need to have ExVeemon attack Arkadimon!"
"Guys…" The fifth human looked up. The goggles were over the brown eyes.
"Not, now, Kisho," Taku said loudly, "ExVeemon!"
"Right!" The dragon crossed its chest. "If you like Magnamon's Light, you'll love my Darkness! V Laser!"
Arkadimon snarled as a cross of black energy crushed against his body. The darkness was canceling out the light. Arkadimon wrenched away from the attacks and staggered backward, tearing the light he had collected from the tainting affects of the gray skinned dragon. He took another step back and pointed his thick, armored arm forward letting the rubber claws point at ExVeemon. Magnamon was on all fours; it was heaving loudly, its breath puffed out of the knight's mouth.
"You'll be sorry, for interfering," growled Arkadimon loudly. He looked at the humans and the dragon, their faces were tense and their eyes were wide in awe and terror. He could only feel gratification coursing through his veins. "Freeze…"
A blast of heat blasted into his back. Arkadimon staggered forward and dropped to his knees. He could feel the numbing electricity running over his muscles and shook. The loud screech of metal sliding on metal tore through into his ears. The absorption of the light must have blunted his senses, he hadn't even noticed. Another stream of heat roared against his back as electrically charged ions discharged across the membranes of his wings.
"DORUmon…" the goggle wearing human said quietly.
He didn't have time for this. His light core was corrupted by the dragon's attack, it was deteriorating. He had to leave before the core was completely nullified and the barrier's affects returned. The plasma roared against his back, burning his armor. The plasma then faded. It was now or never. Arkadimon dug his claws into the dirt and then twisted his body around tossing the soil upward. The dirt smashed into the hulking, chrome beast behind him. DORUghoramon snarled angrily and tossed its head back, lifting its claws up to its face. Arkadimon spread his hurting wings and took off and then shot off toward the south, leaving the humans behind.
888
"And you said that developing these fliers was a stupid idea," snorted the robed man as he walked around a hovering machine.
His blue eyes flicked back to the red haired woman behind him. The woman shook her head and looked down at what seemed to be a clipboard. She lifted a small pen and tapped it. The 'clipboard' was actually a portable computer system lit by an LCD. The pen was a special mouse that used a laser to interact with the sensors on the LCD screen.
"Yes, yes, Project: Grani was ingenious," said the woman quietly. "I am just amazed that we disagreed with you, considering our limited supplies and well, at the time there had been no need…"
"Do I sense a wee bit of sarcasm in your voice?" said the blue eyed man as he walked around the red machine.
A pair of wings extended out of a central body, that connected to the head of the machine, that looked like a bird's head with a beak like snout and slightly frilled crest. The entire machine had golden linings. A pair of talon-like horns extended out of the machine's 'chest'. A small stand was extended from below the machine's body with a wide foot like projection that constituted the landing gear. The tail swept up into a red nodule.
"Master Gennai, I just don't see how you can be so…flippant now," grumbled the woman as she looked up at the man. His hair was brown and gently spiked. "Only twenty minutes ago you were giving orders like a military officer…and now…you're…"
The woman arched an eyebrow as the man leapt up on the machine and jostled back and forth making engine sounds.
"So how does it work?" The man's blue eyes jumped up and looked directly into the woman's hazel eyes. "I mean, I know how it works, but I want to know how to control it…"
"Most of the commands are given to pressure sensitive pedals on the piloting plate…" said the woman as she pointed to a round circle on the mechanical bird's back. "Back and forward are up and down, respectively, left and right are…"
"Ooo, I know this one…left and right…respectively of course…correct?" Gennai said like an overenthusiastic child at Christmas.
"Your penchant for the obvious is astonishing," said the woman under her breath. She narrowed her eyes. "You do understand you're basically going to be flying around on a modified Pteranomon…that's had its digi-core removed…"
"It was beyond repair…we gave it a second life," Gennai said, his innocent voice replaced by a darker almost sinister voice, "now is not the time to be debating the ethics…"
"I just wanted for it to be noted…" said the woman quietly. "The risk we're taking is immense. The data code that was created is extremely dangerous, if it's allowed too much latitude it could destroy everything…"
"Bah, this code is designed specifically to excise extra data," snorted Gennai as he stood up and pressed his foot on the left side of the circle. The mechanical bird tilted to the left. Gennai then put his weight on the right side of the command circle and the bird righted itself.
"The code transmitter has been hooked up to the Grani's forward weapons' array," the woman said in a sour tone. "There should be a cord connected to a button, that's your trigger,"
Gennai picked up a small cylinder with a red button on it. He pressed the button three times and frowned. "It doesn't work…"
The woman sighed and shook her head. "The weapons' array will be inoperable until Grani is within range of the target. A targeting system should appear in a holographic projection in front of you at that time. It will take about a third of a second to a full second to get a stable lock; unfortunately our computations suggests that DORUghoramon will need to be in contact with the code for at least five seconds in order for us to excise enough of the data to force a de-digivolution. Gennai, Grani wasn't made for defense. All it would take is a close side swipe from DORUghoramon to seriously disable the flier…"
"Talking about defense how will I keep from falling off…and what about acceleration?" Gennai asked as he looked down at the circle he was standing on.
"The trigger button, there is a thumb throttle, up is acceleration, down deceleration," replied the woman quietly as she looked up at Gennai, "There is a resonance shield calibrated to your personal EM vibrations. It surrounds the command circle. If all works as good as it's programmed to, then you should be safely restrained within the command circle…"
"What if there is an emergency…?" Gennai said quietly, "like, if I have to jump ship…"
"You shut the throttle off, and hit the trigger, as long as you're no longer engaging an enemy…the combination of throttle shut off and trigger activation should shut down the shield. Gennai, I must say that I think it is unwise to do this…we should call the angels…" the woman said as she hugged the 'clipboard' against her chest.
"Luminel, the angels are busy, not only that if one of them were called it would give Arkadimon quite the advantage…" Gennai replied sternly. "We can do this. We can't keep hiding behind others. If we continue to project a defenseless demeanor we will continue to see attacks like the ones we encountered from Matadormon…in these dark times it is not wise to be the weak gazelle in this den of lions."
"If I remember correctly, gazelle travel in interspecific herds…with larger more formidable creatures," replied the woman quietly.
"Unfortunately, our lions can look like our buffalo," Gennai said quietly. He leaned back slightly and flicked his thumb on a small, sliding switch on the button box.
Grani hummed quietly as the electromagnetic drive charged and the flier ascended jerkily toward a large sunroof. Luminel pressed a button on the clipboard. The sunroof slowly opened and after the glass plating was fully opened Grani and Gennai jerked slowly out the window.
888
Grademon and Cyberdramon charged forward and skid in front of DORUghoramon, placing themselves between the large, metal beast and the humans. Grademon had his swords drawn and crossed. Cyberdramon had her claws raised. The two digimon added to the number of digimon between him and the humans. There were already a viral form of ExVeemon and an exhausted Magnamon before him.
DORUghoramon roared savagely; its piercing screech cut through the air and the ears of the children and digimon in front of it. Its eyes were watering and it hurt. It didn't know how it could identify the two digimon that had made shields of themselves but it knew them, it didn't care. The other, bulky insect had escaped, running away in terror of its horrendous power. These would also, soon, either run away in terror or be slain. DORUghoramon clenched one of its fists and then drove it into the earth. The dirt and sand melted from the flames and re-solidified as impure glass. The two digimon in front of him didn't flinch. Neither did the humans or the four digimon.
"Don't make us hurt you, DORUmon," growled Grademon as the lithe swordsman peered at DORUghoramon from above the point of intersection of the digimon's swords.
"We don't want to fight you," Cyberdramon continued as the dragon clenched its fists.
"They didn't want to fight?" The idea was absurd and insane. There was no other reason to exist than to strike fear into the hearts of others. Having others fear you was the ultimate way to know you were not a coward, the only way. These digimon were trying to trick him. That would not be allowed. "Fear me, cowards who refuse to fight, you shall be struck down!"
He opened his mouth. He could feel the energy building. The ionized gasses swirled in his maw. He was going to take the two digimon who had spoken out first. He'd then think about the others. He was nearly ready to attack when he noticed one small figure running forward.
It had messed up brown hair. It wore a small blue shirt. The creature was bipedal, thin and looked impotent. A pair of glasses was perched over its eyes. It was waving its hands in the air. The insignificant speck was shouting at him.
"Don't do it DORUmon!" shouted the speck loudly, "Please! I'm sorry DORUmon! I didn't want to make you a monster! I just wanted to be strong to stop GranDracmon! I'm sorry I shouted at you, you were trying to protect me…I should've done the same…now you're a monster…and…"
DORUghoramon tilted his head. The voice was hoarse, weak and filled with nervousness. It was a voice he could slightly recollect but from where he didn't know. It was unimaginable that he'd remember such an impotent opponent, but then again he could only remember a few moments of his entire life, other than the transpirings of this last hour or so.
He narrowed his eyes. "Why should this insignificant speck make me hesitate?"
"DORUmon, please," the speck was shouting again. There was a quiver, a waiver to its voice. A mournful sadness seemed to rise up, "DORUmon, don't do it, stop this…I just want you to turn back to normal. I want you to be my friend again. I don't want you to be a monster anymore, please come back to me….please, DORUmon, please. I'm begging you, don't let this continue. I'm sorry, DORUmon, I'm sorry…."
This was insufferable. It was crying. It was sobbing, and begging like some pathetic coward. It wasn't even going to fight, but just surrender. It was trying to steal the honor of the fight from him, but something in him said that this made sense. Something said that this insignificant, human bug was more important than fighting and striking terror in others. It was impossible. The little speck was nothing compared to him. He couldn't attack though. His mind seemed to have frozen his body. He couldn't make a move forward or back. His eyes could only look down at the speck.
"DORUmon," shouted the speck again, "I love you…I just…wish I could make you feel better…you must be in so much pain, to have all that hatred in you, you must be miserable…I was stupid…I subjected my friend to the worse things in the universe...I made you into a horrible monster. Please, forgive me…"
This feeling was unacceptable. This need for mercy was beyond anything that he could understand. He was the master of terror the force of fear. Nothing would make him back down, especially not some speck of blue cotton and tan flesh. He could feel his muscles tense and his body shook as his body struggled to enforce a command his unconscious mind was trying to rebuke. The energy was building up. The smell of the specks tiny tears burned his snout as their saline stench re-enforced his unwillingness to finish off the speck.
His mind was a tornado. Hatred and kindness, love and rage, mercy and cruelty tossed around the concepts wrestling in his brain, each trying to gain the upper hand over the other. He could hear the joints of his chromed body clattering slightly in his indecision. His fingers curled and uncurled.
His eyes glared down at the speck. He roared loudly and finally his mind snapped out of its gridlock. His mouth opened.
"Kisho!" shouted the swordsman, Grademon.
The plasma fired downward. It's white hot intensity warping the air around it.
888
Gennai squinted downward. Though the resonance shield blocked him from being thrown from the flier, a sharp, thin wind blew into his eyes, forcing them to dry and water. A stream of beeps caught Gennai's attention. His robes flapped in the wind as well. A glowing screen appeared in front of him. A pair of crosshairs bounced around the hologram. The fuzzy image of DORUghoramon was shown between the shifting crosshairs. Before Gennai could blink the crosshairs cinched down and blinked bright red.
Gennai looked up and saw DORUghoramon looming over the children. His mouth was open and plasma was boiling in his throat. An earth shattering roar rumbled from the scene. DORUghoramon's head snapped downward. The plasma fired downward. He could make out a few sudden movements and then saw ExVeemon and Magnamon retreat. Gennai growled and pressed the trigger button.
The flier's beak popped open and a beam of white light ripped from the transmitter. The beam slammed into DORUghoramon's chest. The metallic dragon lurched backward and hissed loudly as his body started to glow.
"One, one thousand…two one thousand….three one thousand," Gennai counted softly to himself as the beam continued to stream into DORUghoramon's chest.
The dragon snarled and its eyes glared at Gennai. Its mouth opened and the stream of plasma it was going to use on the children came rushing towards him and Grani.
"Son of a…" Gennai growled as stopped his left foot down. Grani instantly slung left. The crosshairs dispersed and the beam shut down. Gennai leaned forward as the plasma stream trailed after the veering flier. The plasma swept only a few feet over his head. Gennai could hear the electrical snaps in the charge molecules. "I'd give a kingdom for a high intensity deflector shield…"
The man leaned right again and the crosshairs re-locked onto DORUghoramon. Gennai pressed the trigger. The beam flew forward, this time striking the large metal beast in the flank. DORUghoramon growled loudly and flew into the air flapping its wings. The beam cut out as the dragon left the crosshairs. The little X's chased the dragon and a lock was re-established. The beam again was cutting upward at DORUghoramon. The metal dragon dipped out of its way. It opened its mouth and another river of white hot, ionized gas was sent hurtling toward the flier and Gennai. The flier this time curved upward as Gennai leaned backward. The plasma hissed under the electromagnetic hover systems and for a few frightening seconds Gennai thought the ionic interference would cause the hover jets to fail. Gennai veered away from the plasma and flew in a wide arc, trying to circle DORUghoramon.
The chrome beast took the offensive and dove toward Grani. Gennai swore under his breath as the dragon charged. All the other weapon systems on the bird were disconnected to make room for the transmitter unit. Grani instantly dipped down as DORUghoramon's body closed in. The larger dragon wasn't as maneuverable as Grani, but Gennai wasn't exactly an expert in flying the machine, actually no one was but at the moment that fact wasn't entirely important. Gennai clenched his left fist and with a sweeping motion swung his foot back and right sending the flier up and right in a hard turn swinging the front of Grani around to face the receding form of DORUghoramon. Gennai pressed the throttle up and accelerated chasing the dragon. The crosshairs in an eye's blink were locked and Gennai hit the trigger with his thumb. DORUghoramon twisted and swept left and right trying to shake the beam, but to no avail. The dragon turned its head back and a split second blast of white plasma flew forward. Gennai was too slow to respond and the blast smashed into the right wing. The flier shimmied and shook as Gennai struggled to hold it straight. The beam lanced left and right, riding the dragon's outline unstably. Five seconds passed then six, then eight. Finally, the dragon shimmered and unhealthy green color. Series of zeros and ones covered the dragon's skin.
DORUghoramon crashed to the ground. Gennai cut the throttle and let the flier hover in the air. The flier shook even though it was no longer moving and Gennai had to lean to the left to keep the machine level. DORUghoramon howled loudly and reached to the sky. Its wings rusted away, flaking into the air. A solemn screech stabbed the air. Gennai narrowed his eyes as the glow dissipated and finally disappeared. The digi-destined were rushing to the site.
Gennai leaned forward and gently pushed the throttle up. Grani flew down to the scene shakily. A red display was flashing on the holographic display. Gennai bit his lip. It was a warning, one of the power couplers were damaged, the power transfers were overloading. He had to get closer to the ground. He leaned forward. Grani grumbled as it shook into a higher gear. Grani's holographic warnings were soon replaced by a loud beeping that pierced ones ears like a knife. Gennai narrowed his eyes and moved to jump, and then realized. The resonance shield was still activated.
"Damn complicated thing," snorted Gennai as he cut the throttle.
He hit the trigger system. Gennai leapt from the flier, the resonance shield de-activated. The beeping sound still rang in his ears and then there was a loud 'boom' that rolled like thunder across the barren landscape below. His right shoulder crashed into the ground first and he rolled into the collision, tucking his chin against his chest. He grunted as he felt a pain shoot through his arm. There was no crunch or crack that accompanied the pain but that rarely meant anything, and either way pain still hurt, this one especially so. His legs didn't seem overly affected and he stood up slowly and felt his right arm and winced heavily as a pain shot up from his elbow and down from his shoulder. His entire body ached and his head pounded. He shook his head, though that ended up causing more problems than fixing anything. He closed his eyes and hummed slowly to himself and then started to walk toward the area DORUghoramon had gone down. He hoped he hadn't been too aggressive; after all, the beam did go three seconds long, he just hoped he hadn't excised DORUmon to nothing.
They were already there when he arrived. They were huddled around Kisho. The goggle wearing, brunette was kneeling on the ground holding something close to his chest. It definitely wasn't DORUmon, it was too small. The children's digimon had reverted to their Rookie forms. Guilmon had his head tilted. The red ear wings on the crimson dragon were drooped and a sad face was playing across its face. The dragon lifted its golden eyes up to Haru. The blonde's hand was gently resting on Kisho's shoulder. Agumon was looking down at the ground its arms crossed over its leathery, yellow body. Jiro was standing behind the tyrannosaur and had his small hands on the tyrannosaur's shoulders. His brown eyes were looking at whatever was in Kisho's arms the little boy's blonde hair was all mussed and tussled, evidently from the fight. Renamon was kneeling next to the brown haired girl, Ren. The fox had its furry head lowered. Ren's hand had somehow found its way into one of Renamon's paws and the girl's fingers squeezed slightly the fox's paws. DemiDevimon was sitting on Taku's head. The black haired boy had a frown cut across his face. The bat's golden eyes were downcast and its wings were hung limply.
"Well…" Gennai coughed as he approached. "Is everyone ok?"
Kisho turned slowly. His arms cradled a small object, not larger than a softball, save it was like purple-gray, furry gelatin. The creature wasn't moving and its eyes were closed. The tiny triangular ears on its head were folded tightly against its soft body-head.
"He's…not moving…" whispered Kisho quietly as a finger gently ran over the little digimon's brow. The fur had a tiny amount of lubricating slime on its surface that moistened Kisho's fingers as they slowly slid along glossy coat.
Gennai walked up slowly and knelt down next to the boy. "I had to do it. He was far too dangerous," Gennai's fingers lifted up and touched the digimon's fur, carefully eclipsing Kisho's smaller fingers. "He'll survive…I'm sure of it. He'll feel some pain, but he should be back to his old self soon enough…he just needs rest."
"How can you be so cold…acting like this is no big deal?" Taku's voice bit Gennai's ears.
"Sometimes, Taku," Gennai's voice spoke in a quiet, even tone. Not really mumbling, not really whispering, but rather it just spoke in a velveteen soft, quiet tone. "Sometimes, we must do things, horrible, painful things, to the ones we like, very much, to do something that is for the good of the entire world. No one likes to do it, least of all I, but when pressed against a corner, the needs of the many, are paramount to the needs of few…"
Gennai turned slowly to the others digi-destined. They were in varying degrees of anger and understanding. Jiro had his brows furrowed trying to measure Gennai's words with his own conscious. Haru was nodding slightly and still had his hand on Kisho's shoulder. Kisho himself was still numbly stroking the baby digimon in his arms, quietly mumbling his apologies over and over again at the little creature. Ren was looking down at the ground, unwilling to face Gennai or his revelation, and Taku, Taku was glaring at Gennai with little remorse or forgiveness.
"You're just justifying this to yourself…" Taku growled softly.
Gennai winced as his arm reminded him that the bone was under some kind of trauma, broken or sprained it was still up to debate. He looked down and sighed. He was neither physically or psychologically in the mood to debate a young, human child about the philosophy of majority's priority at the expense of the minority's pain.
He started to walk toward the north, "Come, we should retire to the Order's stronghold, I'm sure they will send someone to get us soon enough."
He could hear the sound of shuffling feet of children. The digimon's claws and feet moved more silently but he could still hear them gently padding on the earth. He heard Haru's voice prodding Kisho along, as the other boy continued to mumble softly to the digimon, now they seemed to be mumbles of assurance of promises, though an apology or two were still poking through the other whispers. It was going to be hard, hard to justify the way the Order worked to the idealistic reasoning of children, but then again he may not have to. It all depended on what kind of move Arkadimon would make, in the end; it was all depending on Arkadimon.
888
AN: Sorry for the wait guys. I got sidetracked. Finally Matadormon's arc is over. We'll see what happens from here on out. I don't know; part of me likes the way GranDracmon was done in, wonderfully gruesome. This chapter sort of weaves back and forth. Gennai is probably a very difficult to write for and I think I take quite a few liberties with him. I just imagine him as incredibly flippant whilst holding an almost sinister seriousness within and always working in the background, almost a spy, almost maybe a Gandalf-esque character, but much more flippant than Gandalf. It's difficult to explain.
DORUghoramon became a much more hulking, seething beast of rage, like Megidramonand less like the wild unbarred monster that Skull Greymon was...I don't know where I was going with this, I just thought I'd point it out...