Chapter 18: The friendly dragon

With everyone now rescued, every last Digi-Core free and returned to their rightful body, the next step was going deeper into the Dark Lord's castle, to confront the mastermind of all this evil and try to defeat this menace once and for all.

And despite going through many monsters to get to him, Veemon called Agumon, needing a moment to talk to him in private.

"By any chance, do you know what a dragon is like?" Veemon asked Agumon, who was a little puzzled by the question, but nodded.

"They're these massive creatures that can fly around as much as they like. And breathe fire which burns everything to a crisp." Agumon said in reply, which then caused Veemon to ask. "But they aren't real, right?"

"You two might wanna think again." Guilmon suddenly called, hating to cut into private conversations, but found it was necessary, for a set of loud footsteps were heard coming towards them, before, and from out the shadows, emerged a gigantic silver scaled dragon that had black horns, huge blue wings and a clear hostile expression amongst its fanged maw.

"Whoa! We've got to stop this thing pronto!" Renamon declared, just as she jumped back, as to avoid a sudden fireball attack from the dragon.

"Everyone, we gotta reach our full power! Something tells me this dragon won't be slain without a fight." Gabumon called, expressing a more commanding side, which Gaomon liked, leaving her smiling a little at the thought of this Gabumon commanding her around in their next bed quarters.

But after refocusing and joining her friends, WarGrowlmon, Kyubimon, MetalGreymon, Garudamon, Angewomon, MagnaAngemon, Palidramon, WereGarurumon, MachGaogamon and Meicrackmon all showed up, ready to fight

"Modestly Stun!" Meicrackmon announced as she started the fight, using the set of appendages extending from her back to attack, sending them rushing forward in the hopes to pierce the dragon's being and plant her toxins within the giant beast.

"Desperado Blaster!" Paildramon then let out, trying to look out for Meicrackmon and keep the dragon distracted with a series of energy shots from his set of thigh mounted cannons.

However, the dragon flew over the set of attacks, before showing its own power, casting a great inferno that it then launched at MetalGreymon who blocked the attack as best he could, bringing up his arms in a cross formation to shield himself, but found the impact of the flames pressing against him too much for him to handle, where the cybernetic reptilian Digimon was then knocked down to the ground.

Losing interest in the seemingly defeated form of MetalGreymon, the dragon turned when it saw Garudamon coming at him, where it prepared to sink its fangs into Garudamon, only to be whacked out of the way by WereGarurumon's pan.

At being assaulted by cutlery, the dragon snarled, giving a terrible roar as it turned its attention upon MachGaogamon, seeing her as the closest foe and slashed at her with his claws, not only causing MachGaogamon to skid backwards, but the slash left a fair impact to her body.

But looking out for her, Kyubimon sprung into action, paying back the dragon for what it had done to her friend and ally.

"Dragon Wheel!" Kyubimon announced as she leapt up and began to spin around, encasing her body in a blue orb of flame that she then released off of her body and threw at the dragon, which took the form of a giant blue dragon itself.

"Megaldo Spark!" WarGrowlmon followed up, assisting Kyubimon as he released a powerful surge of electricity from his armoured chest, not only shocking the beast with the attack, but it allowed Kyubimon to strike as well without any backlash.

"Mega Claw!" MetalGreymon then bellowed, shooting out its left claw, which wrapped around the dragon's legs due to the thick metal strand that kept his claw tethered to the rest of his arm, before reeling back and managing to get the dragon to topple down.

"Wing Blade!" Garudamon let out, seeing her chance to get some payback against the dragon as she encased her body in flames, before slamming herself against the dragon's side, knocking it down and along the ground.

"Gaoga Tornado!" MachGaogamon followed up as she circled around the dragon, delivering a high onslaught of punches and kicks, striking the dragon from all angles.

While it looked as though the group had the upper hand with their teamwork, the dragon then gave a terrible roar, not only causing MachGaogamon o lose her focus due to the roar ringing through her ears, but after smacking her away with its tail, it attacked Kyubimon with a great intensity as it bit into her leg, causing the foxy Digimon to cry in great pain.

At the sight, as well as almost feeling the pain himself, WarGrowlmon became enraged and charged in, slamming the dragon in the face with his Pendulum Blades, causing the dragon to cry and stagger back as a set of deep cuts were left upon its face.

With the dragon in its injured state, WarGrowlmon rushed over to Kyubimon, where he picked her up, making sure to be careful around the wound around her hind leg as he examined her.

"Kyubimon, are you alright?" WarGrowlmon asked with a clear worry in his voice, which caused Kyubimon to smile.

"I am ok. I can still fight." She assured, before gently breaking from WarGrowlmon's embrace and landing gracefully on her feet, making sure not to put too much pressure on her damage leg, before staring at the bite mark.

"Kyubimon, as strong as you are, you're still only at Champion Level." Meicrackmon said, trying not to offend Kyubimon as she then added. "Let us handle this."

"She's only just been rescued so it won't be a wise idea for her to fight for a bit." Palidramon added, agreeing with Meicrackmon.

"Don't say that. She's one of the greatest female fighters I've ever known. She won't give up so easily." WarGrowlmon then cut in, knowing that while the others were trying to support Kyubimon, he still believed in her.

"You right. If you can become stronger, then so can I. I don't want to be left in the dust and leave the fighting to WarGrowlmon and the others. I must protect him and you all. I never give up!" Kyubimon said with confidence, desiring the same power her friends and the Digimon she loved has mastered, causing something inside of the vixen to awaken as she was encircled in a powerful blue aura.

"Kyubimon…" Garudamon said in awe, wondering what was happening to Kyubimon, while WarGrowlmon gave a proud smile behind his armoured jaws, knowing Kyubimon had unlocked the power to Digivolve to her Ultimate from.

"Kyubimon Digivolve to…" Kyubimon began to call, allowing the light to consume her completely, altering her Data and her appearance in more noticeable ways than most, leaving WarGrowlmon and the others watching as the light around Kyubimon's form changed from the stretched beastly form it was and into a tall humanoid figure.

Dispelling the light around her, waving it aside with a giant paintbrush, the other Digimon looked at Kyubimon, amazed to see that as she maintained her fox-like appearance, looking similar to Renamon, she now wore a pure white robe, noticing the sleeves of the garment running past her paws, while a pair of purple pants covered her legs.

While a black cap rested atop her head and the purple markings had changed, with two lines running under her eyes and three markings shaped like like yin and yang were marked upon her forehead.

And after giving the giant paintbrush a continued graceful swing, the foxy Digimon made her name know, where she called with might. "Taomon!"

With Taomon by the side of her friends, with WarGrowlmon remaining of how proud he was of her, all turned their attention back to the dragon, ready to finish it off once and for all.

"Alright. Let's destroy this thing and…" Angewomon began to say.

"Angewomon, someone of your calibre should tell that this dragon is actually being controlled by a hostile Digi-Core." Taomon said, her words causing all to turn to her in surprise, leaving the angelic Digimon to ask. "Wait, how'd you know that?"

"I can sense its being. A Digi-Core was possessed, which is now controlling that dragon." Taomon replied, which not only amazed WarGrowlmon, but it greatly impressed him at her new skills.

"Alright. Then we just have to defeat it to get rid of that Digi-Core." WarGrowlmon declared, causing Taomon to smile at WarGrowlmon's trust, before showing off her new skills.

"Talisman of Light!" Taomon let out as she swung her paintbrush before her, forming a glowing red symbol, which shone intensely, affecting the dragon, where it gave a terrible roar, unable to withstand Taomon's power.

"Alright! Now we've got her!" Paildramon called, before striking with his electrical att, letting out a mighty. "Electric Bolt!"

"Celestial Arrow!" Angewomon followed as she summoned her bow and arrow of light, pulled back the string of her bow and fired.

"Judgement Slash!" MagnaAngemon let out, swinging down his blade and releasing a wave of light energy at the dragon, which was followed by MetalGreymon who used his magic to bring forth a great ice storm.

"Metal Wolf Claw!" MetalGarurumon then called with a mighty roar, releasing a blast of icy energy from his mouth.

"Love Song!" Garudamon called as she used her mic magic to give a power boost to her allies, believing one final line of attacks should win them their battle.

"We're almost done. Let's end this. Howling Cannon!" MachGaogamon announced, using her mighty voice to cast out a powerful howl, placing the dragon in a dazed state, allowing WarGrowlmon and Taomon to nod at one another, before they decided to end their fight.

"Atomic Light!" They called as one, combining WarGrowlmon's Atomic Blaster and Taomon's Talisman of Light, the result sending Taomon's light power within WarGrowlmon's attack, powering up and actually stabilizing the set of radioactive blasts, allowing WarGrowlmon to continue to release more and more energy, to the point the dragon was unable to withstand anymore, before it collapsed defeated, leaving the Digi-Core to fly out, glad to be free.

"Alright. We did it!" Meicrackmon cheered.

"Not yet." Taomon said in reply, confusing the feline Digimon a little, before watching with a curiousness as Taomon withdrew a paper seal from her right sleeve, which she then threw at the Digi-Core trying to take its time to enjoy its freedom, which stuck upon the Digi-Core and began to absorb the dark energies only Taomon could see.

"It is done." She then said with a smile, sensing the Digi-Core was no longer influenced by any dark forces, leaving the others watching the Digi-Core float off and find its body, while Taomon looked upon her seal, which had fallen to the floor, seeing the kanji for evil now set upon the seal, which she knew was now harmless and unable to contaminate any with its dark powers again.

"Mmm…" The dragon they had just defeated then let out as it regained consciousness, opening his eyes and revealing the innocent look he held.

"Oh. Where am I? Oh dear, this is embarrassing. Did you guys help me?" The dragon asked, expressing a clear confusion and showing that it indeed had no control over its actions.

"It… talked!?" Palidramon let out with a stunned tone, while MachGaogamon was a little calmer to the situation presented before them, where she informed with respect. "Yes, we helped remove a Digi-Core that was using you, though I do apologize if you still experience any pain."

"Thank you all so much." The dragon said happily, before adding. "I'm Wilde, and while I don't know what happened, I think I made a mess of things, so I am also sorry."

"It's no problem." WarGrowlmon assured.

"We're on our way to defeat Dark lord Impmon." Paildramon said, before offering. "Care to join us and get some payback?"

"Well... I am no fighter, but I can help. From what I remember, the Dark Lord is beyond this hall. Head there and you'll find him" Wilde replied, finding Taomon show her respect as she bowed and said. "Thank you so much."

Wilde smiled, glad to have helped the heroes, only to then let out a small yawn as he stretched his arms out and said. "Stomping around makes you feel tired. Night night..."

And with that said, the dragon then crawled up and fell asleep, surprising the group a little, but after such a fight, they couldn't blame him.

Going past Wilde, doing their best to allow the dragon his rest, the group continued onwards.

"So dragons… they really do exist..." Palidramon let out, though he had to admit he never imagined them to show such odd perks.

"It was so scary." Angewomon confessed, before she felt some comfort as MagnaAngemon rubbed her back and looked at her with a caring smile, causing Angewomon to smile back.

"Well until we defeated it, then it turns out he was just a big softie." MetalGreymon said, finding Garudamon agreed with him, but had to ask. "True, but since we beat him, why are we still in our Ultimate forms?"

"The Dark Lord is just beyond here in his throne room. We're up for a terrible battle and there's no time for rest." WarGrowlmon informed, knowing that confronting the evil that was the Dark Lord would be a challenge, but he also knew there was no turning back.

"I am a little scared, but with all of us together I know we can prevail." Meicrackmon said confidently.

"Our final battle is up ahead. Let's finish this together, WarGrowlmon." Taomon said with a smile, standing close by WarGrowlmon's side as the group headed down the hall, coming across a set of giant steel doors, which WarGrowlmon slowly pushed open, with all heading into the throne room, ready to face the Dark Lord and put an end to him once and for all.