Disclaimer: I don't own Digimon.
Less than Human
Chapter: 54/ The Die Rolls
Lightning crackled across the sky as the great, serpentine dragon known as Azulongmon tore across the sky, his eyes fixed with worry and anxiety as he flew. Checking the mountains that were fast approaching Azulongmon picked up his pace and thunder boomed.
I have to hurry, thought Azulongmon, urging every bit of speed that he could muster to reach his destination as quickly as possible. The fate of the whole digital world might depend on it.
Things had been quite eventful ever since the sudden appearance of the strange blue cloud that had attacked and incapacitated his fellow Sovereign Zhuqiaomon. It was fortunate indeed that the three Celestials had arrived as quickly as they did after he had sent a summoning to them, as the fire bird's condition was such that Azulongmon and his allies feared that he would be deleted without the proper intervention. Their abilities with healing were adequate due to their sheer amount of power and knowledge of data manipulation, but when it came to that specific art none surpassed the skill of the three Celestials. Secure in the knowledge that Zhuqiaomon would be all right in their hands, as his condition was beginning to stabilize prior to Azulongmon's hasty exodus beyond the lands of the Sovereigns, the mighty Sovereign now sought to find answers to questions that had been on his mind ever since the encounter from yesterday.
And there was only one group that he believed to be able to provide him with what he sought.
Azulongmon cleared the mountains now and dove towards a valley that lay just within its shadow, surrounded by a fine layer of mist. Coming to a halt just above it Azulongmon waited, peering into it with his four eyes as though trying to see what lay within until finally, as though by some unspoken command or communication the mist slowly parted and dissipated into thin air, revealing a sizeable Shinto temple with great towers and massive walls, giving it the appearance more of a fortress then a place of worship. A small figure, at least when compared to Azulongmon, rose into the air and came to a halt in front of the guardian of the Eastern Quadrant of the digital world. It was a tall woman with a pale face that was half obscured by a blue colored, fox shaped face mask. Blue body armor covered the woman's upper torso and shoulders over a black, skin tight jump suit, and she wore blue colored gloves and high heeled boots. A silver vajra staff was held loosely in one hand while black, silver tipped hair tied off into two separate pony tails to resemble fox tails flowed down her back. Azulongmon instantly recognized the digimon as a Kuzuhamon.
"Greetings Lord Azulonmon," spoke the Kuzuhamon courteously, inclining her head slightly as a show of respect to the great and powerful dragon. "How may I be of service to you?"
"I must see your mistress immediately," boomed Azulongmon, his voice echoing across the landscape, though its sound did not at all disturb the floating shaman digimon in front of him. "I apologize for the abruptness of my arrival and demand but recent developments have come to my attention, and given what they entail I am certain that they will require that of your people as well."
The Kuzuhamon bowed her head again and turned to head back to the temple.
"If you would be so kind as to follow me then," the raven haired woman said and together the two of them flew towards the inner courtyard that lay within the center of the Shinto temple. The sound of a Gong reverberated throughout the courtyard as they approached, signaling to all of the temple's occupants that they had visitors. As Azulongmon neared he took note of the multitude of fox-like digimon that were now appearing in the courtyard and on the rooftops as if out of nowhere, all of which appeared to belong to the Renamon evolution line, everything from Rookie to Ultimate, although he knew that they were not the totality of this mysterious group of the digital world. There were still some members that he knew quite well who were absent, but the Sovereign knew that that would change soon enough. Bringing his eyes to bear on the front steps of a particularly large area of the temple, he knew that he was not disappointed. A group of seven Mega level shaman digimon, four Sakuyamon of varying appearance and color and three Kuzuhamon. But amongst these seven that made up the renowned Seer Council, it was the one who stood at the center of the group that held his attention.
She stood tall, arms folded across her chest. Her appearance was markedly different from that of the traditional Sakuyamon's and Kuzuhamon's who stood by her side like mirror images of each other, lacking the bronze or blue colored battle armor, gloves, and black body suit that made up their outfits, and instead was garbed in a loose fitting white kimono with a red dress belted on around her waist. The familiar fox shaped face mask covered her face as it did those of her comrades, and in one hand she held not a vajra staff as they did but rather something that resembled a short handled mop or duster. On the whole she did not look nearly as impressive or as threatening as the battle ready Kuzuhamon and Sakuyamon that flanked her but Azulongmon knew full well that appearances could be deceiving. She was a digimon of deep, and mysterious power that reached beyond even that of the Sovereigns in some respects, and it was said that she had a connection with a higher power much in the same way that Seraphimon did, enabling her to see things that others could not, be it the future, the past, the present, or the departed. As a result this digimon went by many titles. 'The Shrine Maiden' and 'the Diviner' to name a couple, but she herself merely went by the name that she had digivolved with. Sakuyamon.
"Greetings Lord Azulongmon," spoke the shaman woman while her companions inclined their heads respectfully. "To what do we owe this visit?"
Azulongmon coiled himself in the sky as he met the shaman's gaze.
"I bring news of a new and impending danger to the digital world."
The lady of the temple simply tilted her head to one side.
"Such is life," the woman said, her tone not saying anything as to whether or not she deemed this to be of any importance, but rather that it was to be expected. "Yet I sense that there is more to this then just another digimon causing damage to the digital world."
"You sense correctly then," replied Azulongmon with a nod. "Yesterday an unknown entity breached the barriers of the Sovereign lands and assaulted one of my brethren, nearly deleting him in the process and absorbing a fraction of his data before retreating. I have reason to believe that it is heading towards the human world now and I am preparing a task force to find it and stop it before it can do so but I fear that we may not be enough. The being is fearsomely powerful, and yet we know nothing about it. Nothing that we have recorded can explain what sort of power this being is and where it could have come from, so I have come here, seeking your aid. Your sight sees far Sakuyamon of the Seer Council, if you would…"
Sakuyamon waved a dismissive hand at the dragon.
"So long as you dispense with the formalities old friend," the shaman said, a small smile finally curving on her strong face. "You know how I hate it when you do that. It makes me feel old."
Azulongmon chuckled warmly, and a tension that had been hanging upon the air suddenly evaporated like the fog barrier had done upon his arrival.
"My apologies."
"None is necessary, said the shaman as she took a step forward and began to float in the air. Rising upwards so that she was more eyelevel with the Sovereign, Sakuyamon turned to look towards the mountaintop.
"Come with me," she said, gesturing with her odd scepter and together the two of them flew off towards the mountain peak, leaving behind the temple and its occupants to return to their daily business.
Sakuyamon touched the surface of the mountain spring with one finger, sending out ripples along it while above her Azulongmon watched, not saying a single word so as to not break the shaman's concentration. The ripples continued to move across the water, and a light played upon them that resembled moonshine.
"Excellent," whispered Sakuyamon and she touched the surface of the water again, sending out more ripples. As the watery tremors moved, violet colored rings formed where they passed; creating an intricate, circular design with Japanese characters written in between each ring. A gust of wind blew across the water, creating more ripples which added to the design that was forming. Seeing this Sakuyamon raised her wand to block out the sunlight that shone down on the water and two, crisscrossing triangles appeared in the center of the mandala, completing it. The vajra mandala glowed, looking as though it were waiting for its purpose to be fulfilled.
Sakuyamon took a step back, looking into the symbol that she had designed, frowning beneath her facemask.
"The entity that you seek is older then you know."
"Is it the Chaos returned?"
"No. That creature is no more. You Sovereigns saw to that if I recall correctly."
Azulongmon breathed a silent sigh of relief.
"Continue."
A ripple advanced slowly from the center of the design.
"It is not man-made," said Sakuyamon, "Though it shares similar qualities with the programs that first appeared in the digital world…the many that arrived before the Great Sleep following the Time of the Chasm."
The water rippled again, and an image appeared on the surface of the water, faintly obscuring the vajra mandala symbol. An image of the digital world, breaking and shattering appeared to the two Megas, settling on an image of a blue, fog-like cloud moving across the primitive digital world, azure tentacles reaching out towards something. Azulongmon shivered involuntarily. Although he hadn't existed during the time that was known as the Chasm and was now largely forgotten by existing digimon, those in the highest levels of power knew of it well. It was a dark period for the digital world before the darkness as it was recognized now even rose. Existence hung on a thread in those days and many beings and programs of power walked abroad, barely noticing the digimon and digignomes that they deleted in their wake. D-Reaper existed during that time, as did many others, but of all of them only the D-Reaper was remembered for the threat that it had posed to all existence. Most, Azulongmon included, believed that the Chaos had simply destroyed or absorbed the others as it had so many other digimon and digignomes before. Now however it seemed that he had erred.
"What does it want?" Asked Azulongmon.
"It is not about what it wants," answered Sakuyamon, her frown increasing in intensity beneath her mask. "But rather what it was made to do, to keep something…in. To contain it. It is…a seal."
Now it was Azulongmon's turn to frown.
"A seal for what?"
The image on the water shifted to a familiar, red, glowing Hazard symbol, pulsating like a heartbeat. Now this was something that almost all digimon were aware of; a natural occurrence in the digital world that was often more dangerous then not and quite disruptive to the balance of the digital world. Digimon who were marked by the symbol of the Digital Hazard often conveyed great amounts of power even at an early level. The Rookie level Lucemon was one such being, and one of only two digimon that he knew of that could access the potential of the Hazard consciously and easily. Others often were unable to use it, and if they did were only able to access it unconsciously. It was fortunate that the data signature of the Digital Hazard rarely occurred, and when it did it was never in any significant amount that would be truly harmful to the digital world.
Well, with the exception of one known incident, and it had happened on the very doorstep of the Sovereigns home.
The Hazard symbol on the water's surface began to warp and transform as data began to coalesce about it. Black flames wreathed about it like dark serpents, licking hungrily about it as they fed upon its power, engorged upon its strength. Bladed claws of a dark, misshapen form began to materialize as the blue fog descended upon it. A dragonic head raised upwards and howled angrily, though no sound could be heard coming from its throat. Blue tentacles enwrapped themselves around the beast's throat and clamped its mouth shut as the fog rose to cover its face. One, piercing, blood red eye glared out of a socket before it disappeared from view. A second later the image disappeared and the vajra seal vanished with it, revealing no more to the two Mega level guardians of the digital world.
"Something was broken when it should not have been," spoke Sakuyamon calmly. "The Seal goes to reclaim its charge. Its journey has been long, and events have set it back but now it knows where to look. Now it knows where to go, and it will stop at nothing to take back what it imprisoned. The Hazard comes in many forms and appears in many places, but there is only one that it searches for. Only…one."
Sakuyamon looked up at Azulongmon.
"We must assemble the Seer Council as quickly as possible."
Impmon and Renamon weren't at all surprised when the fog that was approaching them settled down on the ground and detonated with the force of a small bomb, and neither was Guilmon to some extent though it certainly did startle him as due to his lack of coherent memories of his past life he was no longer as familiar with the event of a digimon bio-emerging as he normally would have been. In either case, the three digimon prepared themselves for a possible confrontation with whatever digimon had arrived in the real world. Renamon calmly noted that Impmon had now digivolved to Beelzemon, and that he now sported a long bladed sword resembling the one that Leomon had born before being deleted but decided not to comment on this occurrence at the moment. She had seen it yesterday but had otherwise been too distracted to ask anything about it at the time, and after that had been too focused on Guilmon's plight to think about it. Pushing the thought out of the way for a moment Renamon reached out with her mind and made contact with that of her partner. She could sense Rika's anxiety and her movement as she raced through the city to get to the scene but she was still too far away. Renamon briefly considered grabbing Guilmon and getting out of the way until they met up with their Tamers but she felt that she needed to see what precisely the opposition was that they were up against. If it was a low enough level Beelzemon would be all that was needed. If not…
Let's just see what we can before deciding on anything, thought Renamon as she interposed herself between the now growling Guilmon and the fog. She eyed the crimson reptile warily, hoping that he didn't do anything unwise until they knew for sure what they were dealing with. They had already lost Guilmon once. She did not desire to lose him a second time.
Extending her senses Renamon peered into the fog barrier and felt her fur prickle as it began to stand on end. The vulpine digimon narrowed her eyes. There was something familiar about what she was sensing…
"Well, well, well," laughed a deep, feminine voice from within the fog barrier. "Fate is indeed kind to us."
Beelzemon's eyes widened in shock and recognition at the voice.
"Wha…no way!"
As if Beelzemon's voice had been a trigger the fog blew away, revealing two, tall, and heavily armored figures. One, pink colored, thin and slender with a female grace to it finished spinning where it stood, yellow ribbons slicing through the air before becoming still while the other Renamon was all too familiar with. Standing tall, decked with white, glimmering armor with gold trim, blue wings, and blue colored gauntlets with jewels imbedded in its palms. This one was called Dynasmon if she remembered Takato's analysis correctly.
I thought he was destroyed, thought Renamon as she raised her fists and assumed a battle stance, watching both digimon warily while still keeping herself between them and Guilmon.
The pink armored, knight digimon turned its avian-like helm towards Beelzemon, and though no expression was visible Renamon could have sworn that she was smiling.
"Hello Demon Lord. Miss me?"
"Like a boil," growled Beelzemon as he reached over his shoulder and drew his sword, the blade making a whispering hiss as it left its sheath. "This time I'll make sure that I've lanced you."
"Oh you," laughed the female knight as if at the worlds funniest joke. "And here I thought the only lancers were knights. Last I checked, Demon Lords did not fit the bill."
"Not that I know what that is but I am not a Demon Lord!" Growled Beelzemon.
"Enough of this!" Bellowed Dynasmon. "Crusadermon. Since you're the one who has a debt to settle with him, then have at him as you wish. I on the other hand shall deal with the main purpose behind our mission. We have two X digimon to find and capture, and one of them is within our gra…"
"Double Impact!"
Moving with a speed that was almost impossible to see, Beelzemon's hand became a blur as it whipped out his double barrel berenjena shotgun from his left leg and blasted Dynasmon in the head. The Royal Knight's head whipped backwards as the bullets impacted his face full force and sent him staggering. Beelzemon had just enough time to look over at Renamon, his blue eyes sending her a silent message to get out of dodge just before the pink armored knight, identified as Crusadermon slammed into him and sent him flying backwards with a pained cry. Crusadermon turned towards Renamon and Guilmon and as she had with Beelzemon a second ago, sped towards the pair and kicked Renamon away before she even had time to react.
"Do yourself a favor foxy," Crusadermon said, her voice mocking. "Stay out of this."
"Pyro…"
Guilmon was caught by surprise as Crusadermon contemptuously slapped his face to the side, sending his crimson fireball rocketing away from his intended target and narrowly missing Beelzemon as he staggered back to his feet. Not missing a beat Crusadermon grabbed Guilmon by the neck and at the exact same moment that Beelzemon trained his shotgun on her. Crusadermon placed the red dinosaur in front of her body, using the hapless Rookie as a shield against Beelzemon's gun. The Demon Lord grimaced as he realized that there was no way he was going to be able to blast the knight without harming Guilmon in the process. From what he remembered of his last battle with this particular digimon she was fast enough to avoid his attacks, and if that was the case she would be fast enough to block them.
"Now, now," said Crusadermon, her voice all but teasing Beelzemon as she kept a firm hold on Guilmon. "You wouldn't want anything to happen to your little friend here, would you? I've been watching you for some time oh 'Lord of Gluttony'. Even in your Rookie form the stench of a Demon Lord is easily noticeable. You are correct however that you are different from others of your brethren; I've seen that much of you from how you've interacted with this digimon. But just to make sure let's have a little test, shall we? If you don't want this digimon to be hurt, all you need to do is drop your weapon and let us do what we came here to do. It's as plain as that. Because if you don't…"
Crusadermon gave a squeeze around Guilmon's neck for emphasis on her point, and the lizard chocked audibly as he struggled to free himself from Crusadermon's vice-like grasp.
"What's this about?" Demanded Beelzemon. "Why don't you tell us just who exactly you are and what it is…"
"No talk! Drop your weapon now or I'll be having another digimon becoming a part of my data."
Beelzemon clenched his eyes shut.
Damn it! Cursed Beelzemon, realizing that the situation was out of his hands at the moment. They were caught off guard without any Tamers as backup and now they were in a hostage situation against two immensely powerful digimon. His mind raced to find a way out of this that would end without Guilmon being killed, but after seeing Crusadermon's grip tighten Beelzemon relaxed his pull on the trigger Beelzemon and the shotgun clattered loudly as it hit the ground. Crusadermon nodded.
"Excellent. Good boy. Now, move away, but still where we can see you. We won't be but a moment. Dynasmon! Are you…"
"Diamond Storm!"
Crusadermon's head snapped upwards just in time to see a flurry of crystal shards flying towards her from the Renamon that she had thrown into the tree scant seconds ago. Surely, this digimon, whom she had noted to be just as close to the digimon that she was currently holding as the Demon Lord wouldn't risk the welfare of her comrade? Never mind the fact that as a Rookie and a data type it was virtually worthless against her.
Unless she knows that he won't be harmed by her attack, thought Crusadermon. In a flash of realization, the pink knight realized that the vulpine's attack was but a distraction. Spinning rapidly, Crusadermon lashed out with her armor's ribbons and slashed at the diamonds as they came at her, shattering them into data particles before coming about to see that Beelzemon had not only retrieved his shotgun but had already fired at her. The bullets crossed the distance between them in the blink of an eye…
…And impacted against Dynasmon's azure wing just as soon as it rose up in front of her like a shield.
"Dragon Thrower!"
Spinning on a dime Dynasmon brought his arms to bear on Renamon and Beelzemon and fired twin energy blasts repeatedly from the jewels on his palms. The first blast knocked Beelzemon's shotgun out of his hand while the next one caught the Demon Lord full in the chest, and was followed by another and still another before his feet even left the ground. Howling in pain Beelzemon took another two blasts before finally impacting the ground and becoming still. Renamon for her part faired far better then her Mega level comrade, easily evading the first attacks that Dynasmon launched at her by utilizing her shadow shifting abilities. However, Dynasmon either was faster then she had given him credit for or had far better senses as he had already corrected his aim and fired at the exact spot that she would reappear in, catching her by surprise and knocking her to the ground. Groaning in pain, Renamon struggled to regain her footing. Dynasmon approached the vixen and came to a halt in front of her before grabbing a hold of her and lifting her up. Renamon grappled with his arm, but the armor that protected it was too strong. She was…helpless.
"You fight well for one at such a low level," said Dynasmon. "And I must commend you for standing by your comrades even when the battle is already lost. So allow me to grant you a gift, so that when we meet again, you will truly be able to give me a worthy battle. I give you, the gift…of life!"
With that said, Dynasmon turned and threw Renamon with all the strength that he could muster, sending the kitsune flying through the air as though she were a ragdoll. Dynasmon watched for a moment as the vulpine digimon's form disappeared over the tree line and towards the depths of the city before turning back towards Crusadermon and her prize.
"You should have deleted her," said Crusadermon scornfully. "You said that she was the one who damaged your eye. That's hardly the treatment befitting someone who would dare attack a Royal Knight."
"Her reasons are her own, and are noble ones as well," answered Dynasmon gruffly as he walked over to his partner and grabbed hold of the crimson dinosaur, taking him out of Crusadermon's hands. "She has honor in her, and will defend her allies to the death if need be. I have seen proof of that already, and one with a spirit like hers should not be snuffed out so readily or without regard. If I am to destroy her it shall be on equal terms and it will be by my merit or hers that will determine which of us stays alive."
"Honor," scoffed Crusadermon. "I cannot relate to that. You have left an enemy alive, allowing them to come back later when they are strong enough to become a threat. Better to destroy your enemies when they are unable to fight back. Much more sensible that way. Oh well. To each his own I suppose."
The sound of Beelzemon groaning caught both of their attention. Turning they saw the black winged Demon Lord climbing back to his feet, one hand holding his chest carefully where he had been shot while the other brought his sword to bear. Blue eyes flashed in tune with the light reflecting off of his sword and an orange aura began to flicker around his body.
"Do you have any objections to my destroying him then? After all, his spirit is much like that of the Renamon that you so callously tossed away and he is injured. Would that make things unequal between us?"
Dynasmon snorted.
"Demon Lords are notorious for leading their enemies into a false sense of security, and that one has many layers. Don't destroy him unless you absolutely have to…and don't just destroy him because I gave you that much permission."
"Oooh…oh well, I don't mind an extended work out." Crusadermon's shield closed around her fist as she got into a battle stance. "After all, it'll give me time to humiliate this digimon for what he did to me before. Have at thee!" And with that, Crusadermon sped towards Beelzemon.
Dynasmon turned away from the resumed battle and towards Guilmon who was still struggling to get out of the Royal Knight's grip. His mouth began to glow as he prepared to fire off another Pyro Sphere at Dynasmon but a firm grasp around his mouth put an end to that.
"Just relax," Dynasmon said as his eyes began to glow. "It will all be over soon. Initiating memory scan."
Guilmon's struggles intensified for a moment as he felt something grab at his mind and then he was still. His last thoughts at that moment were of his partner before the world vanished around him.
Renamon tumbled through the air, but not without control. Having quickly reoriented herself the vulpine now took hold of the situation and was now struggling to slow her speed and alter her descent so that she would land somewhere as easily, and as safely as she could so that she wouldn't be put out of action. As a digimon she could still take quite a fair amount of abuse, having fallen off of the top of the Hypnos Towers and survived (even after getting struck by the tail of the Tiger Deva Mihiramon) but she still would take damage that could easily prevent her from rejoining the fight, especially if Dynasmonmon's throwing arm left anything to consider. Twisting and angling her body Renamon winced. She still had enough forward momentum to keep her airborne, but it was now starting to bleed away, and not only that there was nothing but the hard stone and concrete of the city around her. She had left the vicinity of the park now.
I had better do something fast before I become, as Terriermon would put it, 'street pizza'! That building there especially is coming up awfully fast! If I can…just…
Renamon suddenly gasped as she felt a flood of energy suddenly rush through her form and a blinding white light burst from her body before coalescing around her back. Six, white, angelic wings burst from her back a moment later and Renamon, not even taking a moment to wonder at the transformation, as she had already guessed as to what had happened, quickly flapped them and twisted out of the way of the building's path, her foot paw scraping along the side of it. Allowing a small smile of relief to grace her lips Renamon looked down at the streets and quickly spied Rika standing in the crowd. She quickly flew down to join her, startling many a bystander as she touched down and the wings vanished from her back.
"Good thing I drew that Angemon card when I did," smirked Rika, her mouth twitching into a relieved smile that matched Renamon's earlier one. Renamon nodded her thanks.
"We have a problem," said Renamon.
"I kind of gathered that with the way that you were hurtling through the air. What the heck happened up there? Are you all right?"
"I'm…fine. But Dynasmon's back and he's brought an ally…a Crusadermon that Beelzemon had fought the night that we left for Okinawa. Beelzemon was out of commission when Dynasmon decided to get rid of me and now they both have Guilmon. For some reason they're interested in him."
Rika's eyes took on a fire to them as she gripped her digivice hard. Something in that look caused Renamon to almost become worried for their opponents. Almost, but that only counted in horseshoes and hand grenades.
"Then let's see about taking the fight back to them then. Are you up for it?"
"Always."
Rika raised her digivice to the sky and called out the activation command for biomerging with Renamon. The two were surrounded by a bright, azure light that merged the two together, and within seconds the tall, proud form of Sakuyamon leapt into the air, her path of flight aiming straight towards the park.
9
