Chapter Thirty-Seven

Lily's Nightmare, Lucemon's Curse

AN: Hey just so you guys know, chapters might be a little short this month. Why? Because this is the last month of school. And that means...duh duh duh...FINALS. Someone please just kill me. But on the bright side, this is my VERY last month of school. I'm graduating this year! YAY ME! And then I'll...have to go to college and be...even more responsible. Ugh. Ah well. At least you're never too old for fanfiction!

I pretty much knew at this point, beyond any doubt, that my childhood sucked. Sometimes people who've had terrible experiences look back, and they think to themselves, "Maybe I'm exaggerating, maybe it wasn't that traumatizing and soul-crushing and utterly dehumanizing after all. Well right now I was reliving my childhood and I can honestly say that it was sucking just as much as it had ever sucked before.

"CAN'T YOU RUN ANY FASTER?! THEY'RE RIGHT BEHIND US!"

"I'M—TRYING!" I manage to gasp out desperately, forcing air into my lungs as my feet pound down the hallway at top speed, trying to quell the rising sense of panic and terror rising up in my body.

Endless hallways, endless corridors, no way out, and the sounds of a miniature army chasing after you. This was not happening AGAIN. It couldn't be happening again. Yggdrasil, please, please, I'll do anything just let this be some sort of horrible, horrible nightmare.

….Just not him. Any of the Dark Masters, I'd take Apocylamon himself over that monster. The hair rises on the back of my neck and I know somehow he's watching me, watching me run through his trap like a rat running through a maze.

I am NOT his rat, I am not his entertainment!

"There she is!" I bolt down the hallway at top speed, and Ralts lets out a yelp. "Lily, it's a dead end!"

I just snarl, flashing fangs and keep running right in that direction, ignoring my frantic Pokemon yelling desperately if I'm insane or just plain stupid. The laughter of the grunts echoes behind me, and suddenly I'm seven years old again, Demidevimon's mocking snicker and Gatomon's leer replaying in my brain.

Well guess what Dorkula. I'm not seven years old anymore. And I've learned a few things. As I reach the wall I spring outwards, using the wall as a catapult of sorts and backflip over the crowd of gawking flunkies. Ralts is shivering in my arms, just as surprised by the sudden movement. I bite my lip as I look down at her.

The last thing I ever wanted was to bring someone else into my problems. The last thing I ever wanted was for someone I cared about to be targeted by Myotismon as well, just cause he wanted me. WHY he wanted me I didn't have a freaking CLUE!

My powers were gone. Gone, gone, GONE. And he KNEW that! He'd spent enough time skulking around me as Damien to know that I couldn't grant him his obsession with world domination even if I wanted to.

…Unless this wasn't about power. Unless this was solely about revenge. I feel my stomach churn and as I duck behind another corridor, the grunts rushing past without even realizing (oldest trick in the book, really cliché but you'd be surprised how well it works) I clasp a hand over my mouth, afraid I'm going to scream or throw up. Maybe both. That would certainly be interesting.

"Lily?"

I can sense Ralt's anxiety for me as she looks up at me, but right now I'm just trying to remember how to breath. Myotismon did…did terrible terrible things to people who betrayed him. I should know I'd seen it happen about fifty different times.

….I'm never going to see them again. Tai, Sira, Alexander…they're just going to find my body mauled beyond recognition by Myotismon's bats.

NOW I felt like throwing up. For all my fierce attitude and defiantness I didn't want to die. I SOOOO didn't want to die, especially…not like that. Please, please, not like that…someone please find me….

Taichi….where are you….?

"I know you're hiding in there…." That voice makes my blood run cold like nothing else could—a bizzare mixture of Damien's dry amusement and Myotismon's cold, smug arrogance. "Come on out….you're telling me you're too scared to play?"

I clench my hands into tight, shaking fists, and Ralts literally lets out an audible growl next to me.

"…Run." I mutter to her out of the corner of my mouth, and her head snaps quickly around in my direction.

"Not without you, you useless idiot!"

"Please, just for once don't argue with me." I mutter, wondering why I'm trying so darn hard to be quiet when it's obvious Myotismon is lurking right around the corner for me, just waiting for me to make another desperate bid for freedom.

An image pops into my mind of that one time there was this mouse hole in the Kamiya's apartment, and Miko sat there for hours, her eyes slit menacingly, her tail lashing back forth, a short satisfied hiss from her as a terrified last squeak from the mouse echoes.

The image really, really doesn't improve my mood. In all honesty, getting Ralts to run as well probably won't do any good. If Myotismon truly decides to kill her, then I'm not sure there's anything I can do to protect her.

But the best hope I have is that if he's too busy…torturing me then he won't bother going after one little Pokemon.

Ralts lets out a noise that sounds like a more desperate whimper than anything else, something I never thought in the world would come from her. And it breaks my heart. "GO."

"I'll find help, I'll get help, I'll get Sira and Ras and they won't let this ha-"JUST GO!"

She glances back over her shoulder before bolting down the hallway. I can only pray that she finds the way out.

Turning my head back around, I let out a startled scream as Damien's face is mere inches from mine.

"You know that was pointless, right?" He asks in a bored drawl, jerking his head in the direction where Ralts had raced off too. I don't say a word, just glower at him, clenching my fists and trying to fight the instinct to tremble. He was too close, too close, far too close, his breath on my neck.

"…There's no way out of here. You really think I'd be stupid enough for that, to let one of your friends run off and go for help and bring that sea-witch on my case?"

My brain still can't really process that this is MYOTISMON standing in front of me, MYOTISMON. When I thought of the #$$$$$ creep at all, I thought of dark rooms, lit candles, the swish of a cloak, the smell of blood filling my nostrils.

I did not, ever, think of a bored looking teenage boy, his dark hair askew all over, wearing jeans, and the scent of some cheap deodorant. This….couldn't be true.

"I suppose you want to make some stupid gloating monologue about how hopelessly naïve I've been and how your glorious plan is finally all coming together and then further torturing me by making me endure every single…freaking detail." I spit out through clenched teeth.

He cocks his head to one side. "…And I should do that because…?"

…Yeah. "You are NOT Myotismon." I say flatly, and his eyebrows shoot up, an amused smirk on his face. "Interesting. Care to explain why you think that?"

"Because…because I know him! You are nothing like him, you are…subtle, you're not filling the room with your conceited arrogance, you're not stomping all over underlings who annoy you, I haven't heard one single maniacal laugh out of you…."

"…Still not sure if I should be offended by this simple description of my character or not."

"SEE?! SEE?! He never talks like that, ever! You're…CALM FOR THE LOVE OF YGGDRASIL. For crying out loud, I would have been swatted into the wall and beaten within an inch of my life if I dared talk to Myotismon like this."

"The temptation is very strong in my mind, yet I will resist."

I grab him by the shirt collar without really thinking about it, slamming him into the wall and growling, "Quit toying with me and spit it out. Who…WHAT….are you…?"

Damien stares at me blankly for a moment before glancing down at my wrists. "….You got that when you were 12."

"…Huh…?" I glance down in the direction he's looking and see a thin, white scar there that slants down vertically. It's really not that noticeable, I can't think of anyone whose ever called attention to it.

"When you were 12 you were on the top floor of the castle." He says flatly, emotionlessly. "You jumped before Phantomon could grab you, and you broke both your wrist, shattered your leg bone, and broke a few ribs as well. I thought for sure you'd killed yourself that time."

I can't help but shift uncomfortably. Maybe, maybe I might have mentioned that story in passing, to him or to someone else, but I'd never told anyone how bad my injuries had been, or how high I'd jumped from to be honest. Heck Wizardmon had threatened to strangle me if I ever did anything that remotely stupid again.

"But by Yggdrasil…even when you were barely holding onto consciousness you were still fighting off the men that I sent out there. And I remember I thought that perhaps you were actually….maybe worth all of the bother after all."

"Wish you hadn't." I whisper back, my voice cracking slightly, emotions whirling around in me, the shock, confusion, anger and fear all combining to make me unable to move.

His lips curve back in a smirk slightly. "…I bet you do. Plenty of people think like that. The man who so kindly let me borrow his body surely wished that he'd just died instead as well."

"Wait, you did WHAT?!"

"So much revulsion…it was an easy enough thing you know. Once you and your friends went floating merrily off into the sparkling rainbow and were done dancing on my grave…."

Oh that is so unfair. We weren't actually dancing on his grave. I was just…whooping a little with Renamon and Gatomon. And some cartwheels and backflips might have occurred amongst the whole group but hey…

"I was barely holding onto existence….I'm still not sure how exactly I survived. Rather it was through sheer hatred of you filthy traitors or what, I'm still not sure. But somehow I didn't pass into GranDracmon's realm of the undead. And then I met him….that man completely distraught over the death of his closest friend, wanting so desperately to join you children in the Digital World." Myotismon gave me this look that was far too innocent. "I just gave him what he asked for, Lily."

"Somehow, I doubt whatever the poor sap had in mind was you taking over his body, mind and soul." I growl furiously.

"Then he should have been more specific, shouldn't he? Actually, he probably shouldn't have said yes to the creepy disembodied voice in the first place. Ah well. His problem, not mine."

"You think this is FUNNY don't you?!"

"Hysterical."

"…That doesn't explain the personality changes….and you said this guy was a man…not a teenager…how…."

"Far as I know, I am the first Digimon to bond with a human in this manner." Myotismon yawns. "Sort of like your beloved biomergence. Together, we created a new form completely, though I am the dominant one, I can still hear him…screaming at times."

I stare at him in disbelief, amazed at how he can say something like that without a hint of emotion. He's not even gloating. He's just…stating the facts, with a vague hint of amusement.

"Tis better to fight the devil you know then the devil you don't." He murmurs, his eyes flicking up to my face. "That's how the phrase goes, isn't it pet? That's why you're so afraid of me."

"HOW MANY YGGDRASIL FORSAKEN TIMES HAVE I SAID DON'T CALL ME THAT. I guess some things never change!"

"No…." His smile is positively disturbing. "Some things never do." The attack lashes out before I even have time to really register that I'm under attack, the red whip yanking around my heels and yanking me down to the ground, my face hitting the ground, stars whirling around my eyes as the splitting pain reaches my head and the burning sensation in my heels is enough to make me scream out freaking loud.

The smell of my blood fills the room as the Crimson Lightning bomb hits the ground in front of me once more, creating a deep chasm.

I gasp out, looking up at Damien, seeing him smirking widely, the light of cruelty in his eyes a kind of hunger.

"Yggdrasil, I've missed this…." He laughs, fangs glinting in the light of the room. "….Scream for me, girl. Let me hear you howl."

The whip lashes across my back, stomach, and arms over and over again, the blinding, agonizing pain, as the skin is ripped away from my body, and the screams echoing throughout the room sound so animalistic, so desperate and feral, that it takes me a moment to realize that I'm the one screaming.

SOMEONE HELP ME!

…

"Hey Mimi?" Mimi looks up at her Digimon, Lillymon holding her partner around the waist as they soared through the air. "Yeah?"

"Do you think….do you think she's okay?" The hesitant tone in Lillymon's voice was understandable. Mimi had been wondering the same thing as she looked over at the Demon Lord flying beside them.

There had been an almost scary lack of sarcastic and or perverted comments for the last while. The grim look on Lilithmon's face was seriously frightening. She looked as though she was fighting the desire to punch something in the face.

And that comment about….bad pasts. Mimi shudders slightly, rubbing her arms. She's so distracted by her thoughts that she just barely registers Izzy's frantic shout as they reach the capital of the country.

"Evasive action! NOW!"

The blasts of energy nearly strike right through Lillymon's wings, causing both her and Mimi to let out screams of panic. Lilithmon's head whips around and she snarls, flashing fangs before slicing through several of the giant bat like Digimon that charge up at them.

The feral expression on her face as the data scatters is slightly chilling, but Mimi's more concerned about the fact that even more enemies are coming from all sides.

Izzy glances down at Kabuterimon, clinging determinedly to his partner's helmet. "Are you ready for this buddy?"

"Born ready." Kabuterimon growls out as Izzy lifts his Digivice to the sky, the Crest symbol on his skin shining a deep purple.

But before anything can happen, there's a woosh of wings and then his Digivice is yanked from his grip.

"WHAT THE HECK?!"

"Give that back!" Mimi shouts, furious now before her eyes widen in disbelief, as Lilithmon has frozen completely, staring at the figure in front of her as though she's seen a ghost.

The being is dressed in an incredibly tight red suit with a rosebud on top of her head, high leather pants and black leather boots, a thorn whip in her head and a cape that appears to be made out of white petals.

She giggles, backflipping in the air as she's still holding Izzy's Digivice. "Miss me Lady Lilithmon?"

"…Give that back." Lilithmon says, her voice quiet and more deadly than any shout as her black eyes narrow dangerously.

"Aw, come on. We haven't seen each other in so long, that's the best greeting you'll give me?"

"Better than me just automatically plunging my claws into your stomach." She snarls, her fangs flashing menacingly. "Which is what will happen unless you drop the boy's Digivice now."

"Drop?" She dangles the Digivice between thumb and forefinger and Izzy lets out a strangled cry. "What a fascinating idea. How breakable are these things anyway?"

Lillymon growls and clenches her fists but Lilithmon shakes her head almost inperceptibly at her. "Go."

"…But…"

"I will handle this." She says with icy coldness, and Mimi and Izzy glance at each other uneasily.

"Could you really bring yourself to kill me?" Rosemon giggles. "That wouldn't really fit with your new, well…reformed persona you've created for yourself, would it?"

Lilithmon smiles, rolling up her long baggy sleeve slightly to reveal her gnarled arm with the wicked looking claws. "Just because I am more…selective about the targets I bring down doesn't make me completely reformed, Rosemon. And it certainly doesn't make me weak either."

"Oh please." Rosemon's scornful laugh sounds much more biting than usual. "You and your friends turned your back on everything you were, and everything you taught us to be, simply because you felt bad. You had it all, and now you're stuck inside a pit of hell, with no glory or anything remotely like it to your name. And you say you're proud of that?"

"Something's are more important than power." She says softly. "You're right, we were stronger….back then. But we weren't respected, we were feared, people were terrified of us. It took me a while but then I remembered that…that wasn't what I wanted. It had never been what any of us had wanted."

"What if it was what I wanted?" Rosemon growls, her anger filling the skies. "What about US?! You abandoned us, do you think I can ever forgive any of you for that?!"

"…You're letting your hate get the better of you. Just because he has been preaching these words into your ears doesn't mean you have to listen…."

"SHUT UP!"

The thorn covered whip lashes forwards with an intensity that it slams into Lilithmon's stomach before she has the chance to block.

Rosemon smirks as Lilithmon gasps in pain and doubles over slightly, the whip tightening around her.

"See?" The hold tightens and the thorns dig in deeper. "I told you you'd gotten too soft to ever actually be considered a….wait…."
There's the flash of gold and then the next thing Rosemon knows the whip has been torn into pieces and the punch sends her sprawling backwards.

"Did you honestly think that was going to work?" Lilithmon asks sweetly, cocking her head to one side, with a smile so innocent it was frankly eerie. "Now I believe it's my turn."

…

The screams of the civilians was starting to get waaaay too familiar to TK he thought grimly, as he leapt down from Pegasusmon's back and bolted forwards to where two policemen were talking frantically into their radios.

"Hey!" TK skids to a stop in front of them, and the fatter one, the cliché sort of cop that had eaten one too many donuts, waves him away angrily. "Get to safety, kid! We don't have time to be worrying about some moron running around in the street when freaking Armageddon is around us!"

TK acts like the idiot hasn't said a word, gesturing to the building he snaps, "I need a parameter set up around there, you guys might not be able to do much good, but at least make sure the civilians stay inside while we deal with this mess!"

"…YOU deal with this mess? Don't make me…."

There's a fierce whinny behind them and Pegasusmon lands next to TK just as several Gazimon launch themselves at the cops. Gazimon weren't strong compared to most Digimon, but no human stands a chance against a large group of Digimon, even if they are only Rookies.

Pegasusmon lets out a furious whinny and rears up in his hind legs, his forehead starting to shine a bright emerald as he lets out a cry of "EQUS BEAM!"

The bright light shoots forwards, incinerating most of the entire group on the spot, who then redirect their attention from the humans to pounce at the horse.

However he makes ridiculously short work of them, kicking and bucking one off his back so high it goes flying stupidly high and then is blasted by a shot of light. Lucemon grins slyly down at them and Pegasusmon snorts.

"Show off…."

"And he loves every moment of it." TK sighs before turning back and seeing the policemen staring in disbelief. He just raises one eyebrow and the taller policeman immediately turns his radio on, barking orders into it. "I need men on…!"

TK doesn't bother to hear the rest, because an angry roar distracts him. He whips his head around to see the snarling figure of a pair of Coredramons advancing on him, forked tongues tasting the air. Two very big dragons. Perfect.

Pegasusmon whinnies and springs into the air, his wings snapping open. "METEOR SHOWER!"

The one on the right, covered in green scales bares its fangs and lets out a roar of "GREEN FLARE BREATH!" from below that blasts upwards and hits Pegasusmon's attack, dissolving it.

Pegasusmon barely manages to swoop out of the way just as the other dragon, a blue one, suddenly with ridiculously fast speed appears above the winged horse and sinks massive talons into his back.

"PEGASUSMON!" TK screams, his eyes wide with horror as the horse Digimon lets out an animalistic shriek of agony.

Pegasusmon struggles in vain to get free, only to have the claws dig even deeper into his body. The raspy laugh of his attacker grates on his every nerve. With a furious snort, he uses the last of his energy to do perhaps the last thing his enemy saw coming.

He degenrates willingly, turning back into the small and fluffy form of Patamon. Coredramon lets out a shriek of frustration and anger as he realizes that he has now lost his grip on his prey, but he doesn't have much time to think about that.

TK's Digivice bursts into golden light as Patamon falls back slightly, calling out, "PATAMON DIGIVOLVE TO…ANGEMON!"

The white light burns at Coredramon's sensiative eyes, screeching as he pulls away, he doesn't have a chance to block the punch filled with heavenly energy. Angemon's Hand of Fate slams into his chest and strikes his core in one shot, deleting him.

"Atta boy!" TK yells, as he punches the air. However another snarl echoes and he's suddenly reminded with a jolt that…well uh oh…

"Uh, Angemon?! There's another one!"

The green Coredramon roars and charges at TK just as Angemon lets out a furious yell and dives downwards, determined to protect his partner even if it's the last thing he does. But before the dragon can snap TK in half, the ground seems to explode in front of them.

"GOLD RUSH!"

The spike-like drills slam into the dragon, not enough to cause serious damage, but slam into his open mouth and knock a few teeth out. He rears back, spitting with anger and surprise, and Digimon glances over at TK, wincing.

"Hope you don't mind me stealing your thunder." He calls up at Angemon. Angemon breathes a sigh of relief. "If it means saving my partner, you can steal my thunder as you call it anytime you want."

"Brilliant! Then you can run along now, I've got this one covered." He laughs. TK's D-3 suddenly flashes with a message from Cody. His eyes widen as he reads the all-caps message.

"HURRY."

"Angemon, let's go!" Angemon streaks down, grabbing his partner around the waist and streaking across the horizon at ridiculously high speed.

Digmon smirks slightly as Coredramon whips his head back around, snarling menacingly, and he asks in his usual cheerful way, "So do you want to surrender now? Might save me the trouble of kicking your scaly tail in."

Coredramon smirks slightly. "I wouldn't be…nearly so boastful if I were you." He hisses menacingly. Digmon raises his drills again before freezing in alarm as the data from the previous Coredramon floats downwards, as if propelled by a magnet.

His jaw drops open slightly as the Coredramon absorbs it greedily, the hungry look in his eyes growing.

"…You just….you just…" Digmon's voice trails off and his eyes narrow. "You downloaded the data of your own comerade?! What the heck is wrong with you?!"

Coredramon snickers, licking his lips as though he'd just enjoyed a very fine meal and not the remains of the person he'd just been fighting alongside. "Wrong with me? What's wrong with you? I'm following the instincts that have been programmed into me. The Dark Spore reverts us back to our true state. This is how Digimon should be. Digital Monsters after all."

"…We're not savages seeking nothing but more data to load." Digmon growls. "That's like saying that we're no better than the animals Cody watches on his documentary shows. We can think. We can feel. We're just like the humans in that instance, so don't give me that whole, following your instincts bullcrap!"

Coredramon cocks his head and sneers. "That's why you and your pathetic human partners will always be the ones who fall in the end. Pathetic."

"Yeah. Well we'll find out won't we?" Digmon growls, straightening up again, the drills on all parts of his body whirling to life menacingly.

"Yes, we will." Coredramon smirks, leaning forwards and showing razor sharp teeth as his body starts to shine.

…Uh oh. That can't possibly be good. "I'm bored of this conversation. And I'm starting to feel…awfully…hungry….COREDRAMON DIGIVOLVE TO….GROUNDRAMON!"

The giant dragon that stands in front of him is at least twice as big as his Champion form. Instead of wings, he now has giant claws that curve upwards over his back like clubs with blades.

"….Man, why can't these things ever be easy?" Digmon complains.

…

"This is TOO easy!" Lucemon laughs out loud, smirking as he pivots on one foot to whirl around and blast another Digimon that charges at him from point blank range.

"Don't get cocky brat." GranDracmon growls, exasperation obvious in his tone as he waves a hand. The large section of Digimon that charge them suddenly scream as they're literally sucked into the pits of hell.

"It's sort of scary how you can do that." Lucemon notes, arching his eyebrows.

"I am scary." GranDracmon says with a smirk. Lucemon rolls his eyes and glances back over at Cody. "Hey kid, you okay?"

"Fine." Cody wasn't completely fine. The rampant deaths of the Digimon around him were making him feel quite ill, if he was being completely honest with himself, but…

But Lucemon and GranDracmon were trying to protect him, could he really fault them for that? And the rest of the innocent people in this city.

That was the sort of thing….his Dad would have done, wouldn't it? After all dying for your country was one thing. But then who would be left to protect the people?

Cody manages a slightly braver smile on his face and nods determinedly. "I'm fine. These guys aren't going to get away with this."

GranDracmon snorts, amused, and then there's suddenly a loud scream from above.

"You're not that bad looking….for a human." A Devimon snickers as he lifts a terrified teenage girl up by the arm, possibly dislocating it in the process. "I have to say, that I haven't had a good time for a while here. Maybe you can show me one…."

She sniffles, tears running down her cheeks. "Please no. Let me go, please….."

He laughs loudly before he's blasted to pieces, the girl screaming as she plummets to the ground and then suddenly arms wrap around her waist protectively.

"Seriously, what is with all of these fools and their inability to ever treat a pretty girl right?" Lucemon questions. "You all right?"

"T-thank you…."

Lucemon shrugs, flashing a slight smile and then suddenly freezing. His blue eyes widen as he slowly turns his head around. His face pales as though he's seen a ghost.

Beside him, Cody glances up to see GranDracmon tensing as well. The vampire's eyes are horrified. "…How is it….it can't be…what I sense…."

The raspy chuckle echoes and then a scream. Another girl's scream. Lucemon's face drains of all color as words shriek frantically on the wind, "LUCEMON HELP ME!"

"…Wh-…."

The shadows whirl around in the middle of the sky, and Cody gasps suddenly, cringing backwards in horror. The metallic skeleton levitates there, black sunken eyes fixating lifelessly on Lucemon, teeth permanently fixed in a smile. "Hello my Lord. It's been a long time."

Lucemon lets out a low growl, pinning his ear wings back against his head. "Don't call me that."

"Oh I'm sorry. I should have realized that you don't like being reminded of your past. However I would have thought that you would have liked to see your old friend."

He waves his hand slightly to reveal a girl…a girl Cody had never seen before floating in a pink bubble. Her long dark curly hair flies around her head, scrapes all over her body, pale brown eyes.

"…..Lizzie….." Lucemon's voice was nothing more than a simple whisper, his voice cracking.

Cody jerks his head over towards GranDracmon. "What are they talking about?! Whose Lizzie?!"

GranDracmon's hands are actually SHAKING by his side. "….Someone…someone neither of us thought we'd ever see again."

Lizzie's brown eyes were full of pain as she writhes inside of the pink bubble, a scream erupting from her throat. "HELP ME! PLEASE!"

"I have to say, the despair coming off of this girl is possibly some of the most delicious I've tasted in a while." MetalPhantomon smirks, or would have smirked if his skull of a face could move. "So much agony, so much hurt so much….betrayal."

"…Let. Her. Go." Lucemon growls through clenched teeth, his pupils narrowed down to mere slits. Cody's taken aback by exactly how angry Lucemon looks. He's never seen him like this before. This is not the face of a angelic boy that could be distracted from his admittedly confusing world domination plans by watermelon.

He looked ready to kill somebody, and brutally as well. GranDracmon's head shoots up and he snaps, "Don't you dare lose control here Lucemon. Not here, not now, you'll only make things worse!"

Lucemon's lips curve into a feral snarl that sends shivers down Cody's spine. He could have sworn a glimmer of red passed over the angel's eyes.

GranDracmon swore loudly and using words that Cody had never even heard of. "You know it can't be her! This must be some kind of trick, use your head for the love of…."

"GAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" Lizzie's agonized scream cuts GranDracmon off midsentence and Lucemon snaps, charging forwards with a speed he'd never used before.

"GET AWAY FROM HER!"

MetalPhantomon just smirks as he fades into the daylight, dragging his prisoner along with him. "If you want your precious human, come and get her."

"LUCEMON WAIT DON'T!"

"What's going on?!" Cody asks frantically as Lucemon darts across the horizon. GranDracmon seeths."Stupid….little…idiot. He doesn't have his restrainers on anymore. If he looses control of his emotions…."

"Maybe chaining Sira to the toilet with them really wasn't the best idea?" Cody asks in a sort of deadpan voice.

"Yes, thank you Mr. Critic, I am aware of that, but I didn't exactly have a choice at the time." He scoops Cody up in his arms and Cody yelps slightly as they begin to teleport.

"Now come on! If that idiot does what I think he's going to end up doing….."

…

Lucemon skids to a stop in the middle of the air, snarling a warning as MetalPhantomon appears in front of him, whirling his scythe around lazily as Lizzie floats beside him, her eyes closed now, as though she was unconscious.

"GRAND CROSS!" He shouts, the white light forming around his hands as he blasts the attack straight at the ! ### coward, but….

"I wouldn't do that if I were you." MetalPhantomon says lazily, moving the pink bubble, to Lucemon's horror, the attack hits the bubble dead-on. Lizzie's scream of agony literally seems to burn inside of him, and he doesn't realize for a bit that the scream of horror is coming from him.

"Relax, it can last that." MetalPhantomon yawns as the smoke clears and by some miracle, Lizzie's not turned to ash, but she's covered with burns and her breathing is shallow and desperate.

Her eyes feebly open and fixate on Lucemon's. "Lizzie, I didn't MEAN TO-….!"

"Aww, look at that, you're hurting her again."

"SHUT UP!" His head starts pounding ominously and he presses his hands to his temple, trying desperately to calm himself even though the rage pounding through him won't leave…

"Kill him….KILL HIM….Take that scythe of his and slice his own head off with it. Let the fool see exactly who he is toying with."

"You don't want too? Even after he mocks you like this? Where's your PRIDE?"

"Weak….pathetic….you hide from the darkness, struggle to keep it contained while you know full well how much stronger you are when you embrace it."

"Grr…..GET OUT OF MY HEAD!" Lucemon yells, burying his face in his hand as his vision grew more and more blurry. No, no, not now, please no….

"Hmm? Get out of your head? You know as well as I do that this is quite impossible. Because…I….AM….YOU."

"GAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" The sheering pain in his head spreads to the rest of his body, despite his best urge to fight it, coughing and desperately gasping for air—he lets out an agonized scream as his right arm pulses with energy….and then suddenly grows massively in size, revealing the arm of a much older Digimon, with long, clawed fingers. He yells as the wings on his left side start to contort horribly, the fine white feathers falling out all over the place as black skin takes the place of it.

MetalPhantomon smirks while Lizzie freezes in horror. "Good to see you back….my Lord." He says, smiling at the figure before him. (Well again…he can't really smirk but you get the idea).

The figure is much taller than Lucemon was previously, black leather bat wings on one side of his body and white feathery wings from his previous form on the other. He flexes his fingers in and out, staring down at his hand as though he can't quite believe what he's seeing.

"…My Lord?"

A smirk appears on Lucemon's face, and those blue eyes are icy cold, absent of all warmth. "It has been a while….hasn't it?" He murmurs, arching an eyebrow, his voice deeper and more mature than the pre-puberty tones of his lower form.

"Aye, my lord!" MetalPhantomon's tone is much less mocking and much more excited now. "We knew that you only needed a….a little push to force yourself out of your self imposed exile. That was why the master…why all of us…sided with Millenniummon we knew that it would work out in the end and…and things could return to the…"

"The good old days?" Lucemon says, his lips quirking back in a sarcastic sneer. "Was that your thought?"

"….Um….well yes." Suddenly MetalPhantomon doesn't seem nearly as confident as he used to. Maybe it's because the dark aura coming off of Lucemon is so incredibly powerful that only an idiot wouldn't be afraid.

"Lucemon….?" Lizzie's voice comes out as a soft horse whisper. Lucemon doesn't even bother to look at her, suddenly shooting his hand up, a white orb forming in the middle of his palm before he blasts it straight at the pink sphere and the girl it contained.

Lizzie's scream echoes, but right before it hits her body shifts, revealing not a girl….but a raggedy ghost whose terrified expression lasts for a second before being blasted into bits.

MetalPhantomon tenses as Lucemon's eyes fixate on his hollow sockets. "….Did you really think….that playing me for a fool was a good idea?"

"…My lord….please….I….."

Lucemon cocks his head to the side and smiles slightly, a gesture he did plenty of times back in his Rookie form. But somehow it seems so much more chilling.

"Although I do suppose I owe you something for letting me escape that wretched fool…." He murmurs, stroking his jaw thoughtfully. "…You can help me again now. It's been a long time since I've felt another's strength fill my veins."

"My lord….WAIT….PLEASE! GAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"

….

Joe gasps and splutters in the water. This was just like the time that he and TK had been attacked back in the harbor in Myotismon's reign.

Only this time, instead of simply MegaSeadramon, it was an entire freaking army of sea Digimon. Leviamon's roar of rage echoes in his head as he starts to feel the darkness enveloping him.

This was just sad, it really was. To come all this way and then to fall like this? Suddenly Joe felt a strong hand grabbing him by the side and pulling him upwards. Gennai grimaces as he forces Joe into the Mekanoriomon's pod. "You two stay inside here and keep going." He gasps out, and Joe looks over to see Dilbert, squished up against the wall, gasping.

"Your…elbow…is in my throat…."

"Save it." Gennai snaps. "The Mekanoriomon knows the way to go. Whatever happens, get the Digiegg and don't let anyone else get their hands on it."

"Aye sir!" Dilbert calls, his voice still slightly strained because Joe is practically being forced to sit on his lap. Wormmon rolls her eyes and mutters how annoying it is that this perfect opportunity for a joke is at the wrong time.

Gennai nods and pops what appears to be some sort of breathing device into his mouth before diving back out into the water.

"Seriously, what is he made of?" Wormmon questions.

Dilbert shakes his head as he watches Gennai swim with stupidly fast ease towards the site of the battle. "I dunno, but if he whips out a lightsaber, I'm really not going to be surprised."

"Oh hah-hah."

Gennai glances back over his shoulder and gives them an impatient gesture, and the Mekanorimon buzzes to life, swirling downwards at top speed.

Joe clenches his teeth, trying to keep himself from panicking. It wasn't the water that was making him so afraid this time though. It was the fear of being separated from his Digimon. It was a horrible sensation.

"Hey."

He glances over at Dilbert, who gives him a reassuring nod. "I'm sure Gommamon will be OK."

"I hope so." Joe whispers, his voice cracking slightly on the syllable.

"And besides, even if he can't reach the Ultimate level at this point, you forget who they have with them. LEVIAMON. LEV-I-A-MON. The Digimon is more like a tank than anything else, you should know that."

Joe lets a small smile appear on his face. That was definitely true. Leviamon was a true titan of the ocean. And right now…she was pissed.

Ikakumon lands on the bottom of the sea bed, smirking as he watches Leviamon blast several Scubamon into nothing but dust. He unfortunately spends too much time looking at her, distracting him right as a very familiar tail strikes him across the chest and sends him flying.

The snarling sea serpent was unmistakeable. Ikakumon's black eyes narrow. "Aren't you supposed to be dead?"

MegaSeadramon growls, lowering his horn that was sparking with electricity. But Ikakumon wasn't afraid of this creep anymore. He'd helped fight MetalSeadramon, for crying out loud. Compared to him, this twerp was nothing but a little guppy.

"All right, you want a piece of me?! Fine! Harpoon Torpedo!"

….

"Ah….hhhh….." The smell of blood is all over the place, my head is spinning wildly, I can't think, I can barely manage to push my hands up underneath me and raise my head a fraction off the ground.

That is, for a brief second until I'm slammed back into the ground and taste asphalt again. "So…weak." Myotismon's voice scoffs as he kicks me in the side, causing me to let out an admittedly pitiful whimper and crawl into a ball.

Every single nerve of my body is on fire. I don't even want to know how bad my back probably is right now. I'm pretty sure he's reopened every single scar I had in childhood, and if I don't die of bloodloss here and now, it's going to be a miracle.

So…tired…can't keep…eyes open….

"Why don't you just kill me?" I rasp out, glowering up at him through blood-soaked bangs. "I'm not any use to you anymore, am I? The star with no powers? Come on, we all know they were the only reason you kept my impudent butt around."

"Correct." He shrugs. "And if you had lost your powers completely, then I probably would end up simply killing you. I'm certainly not keeping you for your looks you know?"

Well okay. That's hurtful. A relief in some ways however. "In case you haven't noticed, they ARE gone you moron. I would have thought that you would have noticed that when you were skulking around spying on us. Or were you too busy eyeing yourself in the mirror to observe that."

"Are you really so stupid as to continue to run your mouth? Even in THIS condition?"

"I don't really have anything to lose at this point, now do I?"

He smirks, crouching next to me. "I could kill you, if I wanted to. But to be honest…that would be too simple. There are so many ways of showing you how far below me you are."

I bare my fangs at him and he shrugs. "And when it comes to you getting your powers back…why my pet you should know that there's…more than one way to turn on a light. You just have to…push the right buttons so to speak."

"You'll never get away with this. If I have to fight you for the rest of my life than I can and I WILL! I will never stop trying to get away from you, and I will never ever give into you!"

"Stubborn as always I see. Thankfulyl that…unfortunate aspect of your personality can be modified."

I glower at him once more before screaming as the whip lashes around my right arm and sends me flying into the wall opposite. Gasping I slide down, and his mocking laughter and the mocking laughter of the grunts echoes in my ears over and over again.

Suddenly Myotismon stops his gloating laughter slightly, narrowing his eyes and locking off to the side.

That's when the sound of an explosion echoes behind me, and the next thing I know, Myotismon lets out a scream of agony, clutching his stomach as the slash slices vertically across, and then he's punched in the face.

Edan snarls at him, his eyes narrowed down to slits of cold fury. "Keep your filthy hands off of her."

"E-…Edan?"

His LadyDevimon swoops in, slicing through several of the grunts with her wicked claws and seething. "Any of you cowards brave enough to actually fight rather than standing and laughing at a girl being tormented?"

"Lily, you okay?" Edan drops by my side, holding my head in his hands. "Holy crap…you're a mess…."

"Gee thanks I had no way of figuring that out on my own."

"Well you can be sarcastic still which proves you're not dying."

"…How did…" He holds me bridal style and I cling to his shirt whispering, "How did you know where to find me?"

"Well thank technology for that. Tracked your signal to here. And your friend filled us in on the situation. As she also vividly described how she was going to disembowel Dorkula the next time she saw him."

"AND I STILL WILL YOU BLOODSUCKING FREAK!"

"Ralts…."

The death aura that is surrounding Ralts is so strong that it actually makes some of the grunts back up a few paces, their faces paling.

"Do not…EVER….touch my trainer again!" The Psychic attack slams into Myotismon at full strength and sends him flying backwards into the wall. And then Ralts continues to slam him against the wall for good measure. Repeatedly. With so much vehemence that it's actually a little scary.

"IF. YOU. EVER. TOUCH. MY. TAMER. AGAIN. I. WILL. BREAK. YOUR. BONES. AND. USE. THEM. FOR. MY. BREAD!"

"Disturbing and violent imagery duly noted." LadyDevimon says, sweatdropping slightly.

"Ralts…RALTS!" Edan yells, wincing slightly as the sound of Damien's face breaking echoes even more. "Put the creepy vampire down and let's get out of here. Your trainer is your top priority right?"

"….FINE. But this isn't over! I am the personification of vengeance you know! And my form is justice isn't the swift and brutal kind, it's long, humiliating, and torturous!"

"Yes, yes we know!"

"I WILL MAKE YOU WISH…THAT YOUR PARENTS NEVER EVEN CONSIDERED CONCIEVING YOU!"

"Ralts…" I moan slightly, because quite frankly her shrill shrieking is making the headache I'm feeling about ten times worse, not better.

Ralts hops into LadyDevimon's arms, shooting Damien a very very rude hand gesture that I have no idea how she learned. LadyDevimon spreads her wings and grabs Edan, holding all of us in one long arm as the other forms a massive black spear. She rams it into the window with all her might, shattering the glass I couldn't break.

"Lily…" The wind whistles at my face and body and it's all I can do to not bawl horribly as the wounds sting agonizingly.

"You should have let me kill him."

"Ralts, seriously, you're not helping. Lily, it's okay. Look at me Lils. Look at me….look….."

…

Tai shrugs himself free of Matt's grip and glares at him. "Would you quit treating me like a child that needs a timeout?!"

Matt's punch comes out of nowhere and hits Tai flat in the jaw, knocking him to the ground with a grunt of pain.

Matt grabs him by the front of the shirt and hoists him up, glowering, blue eyes sparking with anger. "Understand this Kamiya. I know you and Lily have that awkward, dating and yet never calling it dating stupid thing going on, but let me make one thing…perfectly clear. You are not the only person who loves her, and you are not the only person who is terrified for her. Lily's been like a sister to me for as long as I've known her, we all feel the same way. So don't be, woe is me, no one cares more about her than me. Otherwise, dude, I will break your face. Are we clear?"

Tai's jaw clenches and he looks away. ".,..I never said…" His voice trails off. "…"

"Look, you didn't like it when Alexander assumed you cared less about Lily than he did, but don't respond by doing the exact same thing. We don't have TIME for that crap."

Tai lets in a shaky breath and sighs. "…I know." His brown eyes slowly meet Matt's. "….I'm sorry."

Matt's own eyes soften slightly. "…We'll find her, man. All right? But we have to work together if we're going to do this. It's not like Lily just is going to fall out of the sky on her own, okay?"

Suddenly there's a yell from Renamon. "Guys, get over here! We've got company!"

Tai and Matt both bolt to their feet, tearing forwards, Matt cursing under his breath while Tai clenches his teeth in fury. For the love of Yggdrasil, what else could go wrong?

The dark shadow circles above them several times, and he growls under his breath, the nails digging into his palm. His girlfriend—well not girlfriend—but girl he liked…a lot had been captured, and he was just not in a mood to deal with more data hungry freaks.

"Agumon, blast them out of the sky!" He snaps, whirling around to face his partner. Agumon shakes his head. "Uh, Tai. That might be a bad idea."

"…What do you mean it might be a bad id-"

"You don't really think much through, do you goggle boy?"

"…Ralts?"

"Edan?" Alexander asks in disbelief and confusion. His three eyes narrow slightly. "What are you…" His voice trails off and he makes a sort of choked noise.

Edan slowly lifts his head from where he's cradling a girl whose face is so soaked with blood it's almost indistinguishable.

But somehow Tai knows, in that moment, his feet pulling him forwards as though he's propelled by a magnet. "Li….LILY!"

….

Datamon swallows, taking another step back. Barbamon toys with his staff slightly, his long fingers wrapping around the object menacingly.

He doesn't say a word. He doesn't have to. Barbamon makes it pretty clear through that gesture alone that if the fool even tries to run, he'll blast him in half a second or less.

'Datamon growls. "Whatever happened to the forgiveness and mercy that you Digidestined brats are supposed to preach?" He says, his voice bubbling up into a nearly hysterical laugh.

Sora shakes her head, red tendrils falling into her face. "That only goes so far Datamon. Let's go through what you've done since the moment we've met you. You manipulated our good intentions in order to free yourself from your prison. And then what's the first thing you do? You kidnap me and drag me away from my friends. You frigging CLONE me in order to use MY Crest for your sick desire of revenge. You nearly killed both me and my best friend Tai. And then you come back. And you try to inject both Kari and Yolei with your so-called Dark Spore—what it would have done to them, I'm not sure. And I'm very glad you'll never get the opportunity to try it."

Yolei crosses her arms. "Not to mention, you and your cronies tried to wreck Disney World! I mean, who the heck is sick enough to do something like that?!"

"…Yolei. You're sort of missing the main point there." Kari points out gently to her friend.

"…But it's DISNEY! What sort of sick twisted evil mind could possibly come up with something like that?"

"Oh, forget kidnapping a young teenage girl and cloning her and then trying to murder a bunch of other kids to get revenge. Threatening Disney, now that's hard core."

"Thank you Aquilamon….wait were you being sarcastic?"

"Perhaps."

"…Dude I sort of hate you."

Datamon growls, clenching his robotic fists together angrily. "I cannot stand the idea of living in fear of you you….you gabbering idiots!"

His hands form together to create another dark sphere, which he lobs at them with a roar of rage.

Yolei and Kari both gasp as the attack is thrown right at their faces, but the angry screech echoes as Aquilamon opens his beak wide, and winds burst free from it.

The mighty winds send Datamon's attack flying into a nearby rollercoaster, but Datamon uses the distraction to propel himself high up into the sky.

"DATA CRUSHER!"

The giant shreds of glass shoot down all over the place, slicing down like arrows.

"METEOR WING!" The flames shoot upwards and counter the attack, melting the glass into tiny harmless particles. Datamon;s eyes widen as the giant angry phoenix is suddenly before him.

"It ends now." She states flatly, and the next thing Datamon knows her claws have wrapped around his body, keeping him unable to move.

He screams as they ascend higher and higher, until the theme park seems so very very small below. "PUT ME DOWN! YOU FILTHY OVERSIZED TURKEY! NOW!"

"If you insist." Is the cold response as she suddenly dives back down, pinning her wings at her side in order to increase her speed.

Datamon knew what was going to happen the minute before it actually came. He shudders, closing his eyes, wondering if he's squanedered a second chance at life…..

Birdramon squawks as she comes closer to the ground, brings the foot carrying Datamon up, and sends him crashing from at least 50 meters in the sky.

The explosion causes the smoke to rise up high over the amusement park, and screams grew even more frantic, people convinced that a bomb must have been the culprit.

Datamon's data flickers a bit, the glass encasing his head completely shattered. His one eyeslowly closes before he bursts into pieces.,

Birdramon breathes hard, glowering menacingly at the spot, before breathing a sigh of relief. The monster was finally gone.

Sora lets out a cry of joy as she runs forward and hugs Birdramon tightly around the neck. "You did it! I'm so proud of you Biyo!"

….

"My lord, are you all right?"

Damien/Myotismon growls, shaking the cement from his hair where that darn Pokemon had slammed his face into the wall repeatedly. "I'm FINE." He snaps, his temper rising. "Do you honestly think I need your help?"

"But my lord…." Wisely the grunt did not continue this conversation as it could only lead to his demise. "The girl escaped once more. Won't Lord Millenniummon be angry?"

"Why should he? I managed to copy hers." He manages to smile eerily, holding something in his hand.

"But my Lord, why did you need to copy hers so badly? We have used several on our Digimon armies."

"On Digimon, yes. But the ones we use on Digimon have been too modified to work on humans. This…earlier model….thank the Dark Ocean I managed to get my hands on it."

"But she still managed to escape."

"Yes, do not worry. Her friends will soon regret rescuing her." He throws back his head and laughs. "HAH. She thinks that death would have been better? Just now? She has no idea….."