(A/N: This chapter was interesting to write, as I decided to take a more, shall we say, realistic approach to it regarding people's reaction to certain things. So far, our heroes have gotten an almost formulaic response to their actions, but now they're about to see another side of things. I don't want to give away any more, so lets just get to it.)

Disclaimer: I own nothing.

Chapter 130: Ungrateful

"What is that guy's deal?" Seraphimon wondered out loud as he stared at the empty space where the portal that Boltboutamon and ChaosBlackWarGreymon had disappeared through had been.

Ophanimon shook her head. "I really don't know, but I doubt he was actually helping us. It's like he said, this is all one twisted game to him. Whatever he's planning, though, I don't want to be a part of it."

Her fellow angel Digimon looked at their friends. "Same here. At least we got through this in one piece. And with an old friend to boot."

They looked on as Grani circled overhead, glad that the steed Digital life form had survived the army of Diaboromon copies. Then they rejoined the others on the ground and resumed their human forms. ShineGreymon landed beside them as well, and Marcus ran over to him.

"Nice job, pal!" he called up to the dragon Digimon. "You did it!"

ShineGreymon DeDigivolved down to Agumon and high-fived his partner. "As if there were any doubt. Of course, the others helped."

Marcus smiled at the teens. "Yeah, you guys did great. Totally awesome. And who's this new guy? A friend of yours?"

Tai nodded, smiling. "Yeah, someone we thought we lost."

Grani finally came in for a landing, setting down in an area clear of debris. The teens ran over to him happily, a few of them even hugging him where they could.

"You old son of a gun," said Davis as he embraced the steed Digital life form. "I can't believe you're here."

Grani's large eye settled on him. "I am happy to see you again as well. I feared the worst after I lost you at sea."

"You feared the worst?" said Takato. "We thought you were a goner, stuck facing all those Diaboromon like that. How did you escape?"

Grani's eye shifted to him. "Diaboromon copies may be just as powerful as the original, but they are fragile and easily destroyed. Once I no longer had to worry about protecting you, I was able to blast my way free. They were more concerned with finding you than defeating me."

Takuya gave a relieved chuckle. "Well, thank goodness you got here when you did. I don't know if we would have been able to defeat Ornismon like we did, let alone ChaosBlackWarGreymon and Boltboutamon."

Shoutmon raised an eyebrow at Grani. "How did you manage to find us anyway?"

Grani closed his eyes and was silent for a few moments. "I've been searching for you ever since we were separated. Once I had escaped the Diaboromon copies, I immediately began looking for you. I was most relieved to learn that you did not drown, and I began following your trail ever since, but always seemed to be a few steps behind. You have been quite busy. Defeating two Demon Lords; I did not think it was possible."

Takato sweat-dropped. "So everyone keeps telling us."

Grani gave a nod of acknowledgement. "Not too long ago, I was searching in a nearby village when I learned that in another one not too far off where Trailmon no longer traveled to, there was a request to have one come to provide transport for some humans."

"The village overrun by Parasimon," Kari gasped.

Grani nodded again. "I immediately made my way there, but you had already left. Upon inquiring the residents, I learned of where you were heading, and came here to find you engaged in battle. I am glad I arrived in time."

TK gave him a smile. "Well, we're glad to have you here, and even gladder that you survived."

"As am I." He glanced at Marcus. "And with another human companion I see."

Grinning, Marcus thrust his thumb at himself. "The name's Marcus Damon. Good to meet you, big guy."

"And I'm Agumon," the reptile Digimon stated. "But I guess you already knew that."

Grani considered the new human. "Marcus Damon. I am glad to meet you. Have you too come into the power of a Guardian?"

Marcus waved this off. "Nah, no Digimon transformations for me. But Agumon and I do just fine as we are."

"You know it, bro!"

Grani raised an eyebrow at the duo. "I see. And do you intend to face the remaining Demon Lords as well?"

Marcus looked surprised. "Face the remaining Demon Lords? Huh? I guess I hadn't really thought about it. Agumon and I have always sort of just done our own thing, helping out wherever we could." He thumped his chest. "But I'll tell you this much, we already decided to go confront Beelzemon. So if you guys still intend to head there, we'd be happy to tag along."

Grani gave a nod. "And you shall have my assistance as well. I lost you once, I do not intend to lose you a second time."

Tai let out a sigh of relief. "That's good to hear. We could use all the help we can get."

Kari smiled happily. "And with Grani around, we can travel a lot faster since we won't need to walk everywhere."

"My feet thank you," Davis cried gratefully.

His look of gratitude became one of surprise and pain as a piece of debris flew through the air and struck him in the head. He gave a small yelp and turned to see who threw it.

Having gathered around were a crowd of Digimon, and not one of them looked happy. Their expressions ranged from tearful to furious as they glared at the teens. Deramon seemed to be in the lead, and was also the one to have thrown the piece of debris at Davis.

"I knew you humans were trouble!" he shouted furiously. "I never should have let you into my bar!"

Takuya glared at him. "Hey, we just beat one of the Demon Lord's servants, and a powerful one at that."

Deramon returned the glare. "Yeah, congratulations. You only destroyed our whole village in the process."

A feeling of shame and awkwardness fell over the teens as they slowly turned their attention to the destruction. The whole village was in ruins. Very few structures still stood, and even fewer were undamaged at all.

Takato looked at the crowd of Digimon. "We didn't do that. That was the Demon Lords' men."

"And why do you think they were here?" a Digimon in the crowd demanded. "They came here because of you, and our village was caught in the middle."

"What village?" another Digimon snapped. "Everything is gone. They destroyed everything. And lets not forget all our neighbors who were killed."

"And then there's the village that Beelzemon is holding hostage," Deramon added. "He's there killing innocents because he wants you. It would have been better if you never came here at all."

Takuya pointed at him. "Hey, we don't even want to be here. And we didn't want to get involved with the Demon Lords or their men. They're the ones coming after us. All we're doing is defending ourselves. We had no choice but to fight back."

Davis crossed his arms. "And besides, we already took out two Demon Lords, and four Chaos Generals. Your welcome."

"At the cost of what!?" Deramon demanded. "We're the ones paying the price. So what do you humans care? Things may not be great with the Demon Lords in control, but we've lived with it for thousands of years. It wasn't until you humans came around that their wrath was brought down on us. Why don't you just get out of here and spare us your misfortune."

There were shouts of agreement from the other Digimon, and some more began throwing pieces of debris. Davis covered his head as he glared at the Digimon in outrage. He looked like he was going to say something more, but Shoutmon grabbed his shirt and gave it a small tug.

"Don't bother," he told him sadly. "You'll never get through to them."

"But they-"

"I know, but some Digimon have grown so used to the way things are, despite the horrible conditions, that they've just accepted it as fact of life. If anything, they fear things will just get worse by stirring the pot. In their eyes, what happened here will only make things harder for them. To them, you are the problem, not the Demon Lords."

"But that's crazy!"

A sigh escaped Grani. "I'm afraid he's right. There is nothing you can do here. It would be best to just leave. I will bring you to a place where you can rest for your upcoming battle with Beelzemon."

The others all glanced at Tai. He, in turn, gave the angry Digimon mob a sorrowful look before nodding. And, one by one, they climbed up onto Grani's back. The Digimon mob continued to shout insults and throw debris, but they were ignored as Grani rose up into the air and took off.

"Bunch of ingrates," Davis grumbled irritably. "We may be trying to get home, but we're also putting our lives on the line to take out the Demon Lords and give them better lives."

"You cannot expect everyone to be grateful," Grani told him remorsefully. "Especially when they are the casualties who suffer from the collateral damage. To them, your conflict with the Demon Lords had nothing to do with them, yet they still suffered for it, so they blame you for involving them."

Takato hung his head. "I get what you're saying, but everyone keeps telling us how grateful they are for what we've done. To suddenly have others hate us for it…"

"Them's the breaks, kid," Shoutmon replied. "This is the result of living under Demon Lord rule for so long. Trust me though, once we take out the Demon Lords, they'll see how foolish they were and will be grateful. Right now though, they don't even see you succeeding in taking down the Demon Lords as an option, and the consequences for trying will only make things worse for them."

TK frowned. "Wow. You know, we never really considered all the negative actions that fighting the Demon Lords would cause. We just kept focusing on the good it would do."

He felt someone place their hand over his, and turned to see Kari giving him a small smile. "It's all we can do. We're at war. And, sadly, there will always be casualties during war. All we can do is focus on the good we will do for the future and try to prevent as much damage and as many casualties as we can."

"Your mate is right," Grani replied. "You must continue to focus on the good."

Both TK and Kari turned beet red. "M-Mate!?" the former exclaimed as Kari seemed to shrink into her own shirt in embarrassment.

"Hey, pal!" Davis snapped, bopping his fist down on Grani's back. "She's not his mate!"

Grani barely reacted. "Forgive me, I made an incorrect assumption."

"Hey, I thought the same thing you did," Agumon replied.

Tai glanced back and forth between the two blushing teenagers with a suspicious look on his face. "Is something going on that you're not telling me?"

"No!" TK said, a little too loudly. "Nothing's going on between us. There hasn't been any time, and you would have noticed since we're all always together."

Kari glared at her brother. "And even if there was, it's none of your business."

"Like hell it isn't! You're my little sister!"

"And you're my big brother. Do you see me getting in your case about you and Sora? 'Cause I can tell you, it's awkward for me too."

As an argument broke out between the two siblings, Takato let out a nervous chuckle. "It's times like this that I'm glad that I'm an only child."

Fortunately, the bickering didn't last long before the siblings decided not to speak to each other. It brought forth a very awkward silence that no one seemed eager to break. And so they traveled in silence for the next few hours.

The teens had to admit, traveling on Grani made getting around a lot easier and a lot faster. They covered ground in a fraction of the time it would have taken to walk.

"We should be reaching the village Beelzemon is holding hostage in about 20 minutes," the steed Digital life form told them.

Tai raised an eyebrow. They were really going that fast? The village wasn't even in sight yet. If they could reach it that quickly…

"Stop here," he said. " We'll rest up here and the attack in the morning."

Takato glanced at him. "But what about Beelzemon's threat? He said he would execute 10 more residents every day we don't show up."

Tai nodded. "I know, but we won't let him. We're waking up and moving out before sunrise. Trust me, I'd much rather head over there now and not even risk it, but this is a Demon Lord we're talking about. We need to be completely rested, and our Digivices fully energized."

Shoutmon nodded. "Agreed. And even though we'll still probably lose… well, you never know."

Marcus thumped his chest. "Hey, don't worry. Agumon and I are here to even the odds. Right, pal?"

Agumon sweat-dropped, clearly nervous at the thought of facing a Demon Lord now that the moment was almost upon them, but he did a good job of hiding his worry. "You know it, bro."

Grani came down for a landing, and everyone climbed off his back. "I will keep watch during the night. You humans rest."

"Hey," said Agumon, "you need to sleep too, if you're going to help us fight. We'll split the shift. You watch for half the night, and I'll watch the other half."

Grani seemed to consider this before nodding. "Very well. I'll take first watch."

Agumon shook his head. "No, I will. You've been carrying us for the past few hours, so you rest. I got this. Agumon Matrix Digivolve to… RizeGreymon!"

It was a different Digivolution than what the teens had seen so far, and also a different Digivolution cry. "RizeGreymon?" Takuya questioned. "And did he say 'Matrix' Digivolution?"

"An instant Digivolution from Rookie to Ultimate," Shoutmon explained. "Similar to Warp Digivolution, which goes straight from Rookie to Mega."

Kari cocked her head to the side. "What about ShineGreymon? That was your Mega level, right?"

RizeGreymon nodded. "Yes, but like I said before, I can't reach my Mega level on my own yet, only Ultimate. I rely on the energy I get from bro in order to Digivolve to Mega. Unfortunately, that energy doesn't last, and once I burn it off, I DeDigivolve again."

Takuya glanced at his Digivice. "Huh. That's not too different from how our Digivices work."

Shoutmon nodded. "Hence why the Sovereigns decided to use you to resurrect the Guardians. The Digivices are a more perfected and permanent method."

"Enough talk," Grani gently scolded. "You must get as much rest as you can. Whatever discussions you wish too have can wait until after the battle with Beelzemon."

Tai nodded in agreement. "He's right. Tomorrow's going to be a big day. So lets get to it."

(-)-(-)-(-)-(-)-(-)-(-)-(-)-(-)-(-)

"Line up!"

The malicious voice echoed through the village, waking the residents. This had been the routine for the past several days, but there was nothing that could be done about it. And so, on trembling legs, the residents exited their homes and took their positions, getting into two lines facing each other.

Refusing to report was out of the question, as was fleeing the village; Beelzemon had made that very clear. All they could do was wait and pray that he didn't choose them. If they didn't cooperate, then he would simply kill off the entire village and move his cause to the next one.

Heavy footsteps were heard as the Demon Lord marched between the two roads. His cruel green eyes darted back and forth as if he were mentally taking role call. He came to a stop and looked towards the rising sun as it began to peak up above the horizon. Closing his eyes, he breathed deeply, and a cruel grin crept up his face.

"Another morning. You know what that means. Ten more on the chopping block." He pulled out his gun and cocked it. "So, who's it going to be today?"

His eyes scanned the two rows of terrified Digimon, and came to a rest on a random Digimon. "One."

He fired, and the Digimon burst into data upon impact. The others flinched, but remained in their spots as Beelzemon once again scammed the rows. "Two."

Another Digimon burst into data, followed by a third a few seconds later. There was a sob from the crowd, and Beelzemon snickered. "Hey, don't blame me. This is all thanks to those humans. They're the reason why I'm here doing this, and why I'm still doing it, because they're too selfish and cowardly to come face me. And you thought that they might be your saviors. Four."

As yet another Digimon burst into data, another one let out a strangled, "Please."

Beelemon's gaze landed on him. "What was that?" he walked over and lashed out with his blaster, the clamps snapping down on around his neck, and he lifted him into the air. "You have something to say to me, Dracomon? Say it."

The dragon Digimon coughed as his air supply was cut off. "Please, Lord Beelzemon, don't do this anymore. I beg you."

"Beg me?" Beelzemon repeated, sounding disgusted. "Since when has begging ever worked with me? In fact, the very fact that you're begging me to change my mind is a display of defiance. Corona Blaster!"

Still keeping hold of Dracomon, he fired his blaster, and the dragon Digimon was blown away. The Demon Lord slowly lowered his blaster before looking back at the two rows. "And he doesn't even count as one of today's ten. That was just because he pissed me off. Now, where was I? Four, or five?" The question was rhetorical, and the Digimon knew it, not daring to speak out of fear. "Ah, the heck with it. Lets just start over. One."

And so it went on. Beelzemon would count before firing upon and killing a random Digimon. There were no further signs of protest from the residents as the grinning Demon Lord killed one after another with a sadistic glee.

"Eight," he said, firing upon another. He slowly waved his gun through the air. "Nin-"

"Yuggoth Blaster!"

Beelzemon turned, just in time to be stuck by a tri-bolo blast of energy. The residential Digimon cried out as he went flying through the air and crashed into a house. Grani came flying down, and the teens hopped off his back.

A few moments later, Beelzemon rose up from the destroyed remains, and a wicked grin spread across his face. "So, you're finally here. You just missed today's deadline."

"Bull!" Tai shouted. "It's barely first light. I can't believe you started killing like that."

"Speaking of which," Beelzemon said thoughtfully. "Nine! Ten!"

Two more Digimon burst into data. That was enough for the residents to flee in terror. The teens were equally as horrified, but their horror soon gave way to anger as they looked back at the Demon Lord.

"What the hell!?" Davis exclaimed. "We're here, aren't we?"

"You're late," Beelzemon said simply. "And I believe I made my message clear."

"That every day we're not here you would kill ten," Marcus snarled. "Going by that logic, you should have started killing at the end of the day, not the start of it. And speaking of which, what kind of crap message was that? It'd take awhile for us to even hear it, if we ever did. Not to mention it would take time to get here."

The Demon Lord raised an eyebrow at him. "And who the hell are you? Where'd another human come from?"

Marcus thumped his chest, as he seemed fond of doing. "The name's Marcus Damon, and I've actually been here for thousands of years."

Beelzemon studied him curiously for a few moments before grinning. "Oh, I get it now. You're the other human that showed up with Kurata way back when. Well, this is a surprise. I get to kill an extra human today."

Marcus blinked. "You know Kurata?" He shook his head. "You know what, I don't care. You've got something coming, and I'm going to give it to you."

With a battle cry, he charged forward, ignoring the cries from the others for him to come back. Beelzemon watched him come impassively. Marcus threw a punch, and the Demon Lord lashed out with his blaster, the end clamping down around Marcus' neck the same way he did to Dracomon.

Lifting Marcus into the air, he brought him close. "Just what the hell do you think you're going to do?"

"This!" Marcus managed to gasp out, and punched outward.

His fist struck Beelzemon in the jaw. The Demon Lord didn't even budge, but his eyes narrowed at his audacity. "Did you get that out of your system?"

Despite his predicament, Marcus grinned as he held up his glowing fist. "Uh huh. Agumon, now!"

"Agumon Warp Digivolve to… ShineGreymon!"

The new dragon Digimon pulled his sword from the ground and pointed it at Beelzemon. "Let him go. I'm your opponent now."

The Demon Lord's gaze shifted to ShineGreymon before going back to Marcus, and a sadistic smile spread across his face. "Or I could crush his neck and kill him right in front of you."

He emphasized his point by having the clamps squeeze tighter around Marcus' neck. A strangled sound escaped the teen as his face began turning red, and then purple. Cries of protest came from the others, but there was nothing they could do to help.

Beelzemon chuckled, but then suddenly threw Marcus over to them. He began gasping and coughing, his hand going to his neck, which was already starting to bruise.

"Don't think I was doing any of you a kindness by releasing him," the Demon Lord told them. "I simply want him to watch, helplessly, as I kill each and very one of you. After I finish with you, then I'll put an end to him as well, slowly." He chuckled. "I want to see that fighting spirit of his break."

Tai held up his Digivice. "That won't happen, because we're finally taking you down. Execute! Spirit Evolution… Omnimon!"

"Execute! Spirit Evolution… Imperialdramon Fighter Mode!"

"Execute! Spirit Evolution… Gallantmon!"

"Execute! Spirit Evolution… EmperorGreymon!"

"Execute! Spirit Evolution… Seraphimon!"

"Execute! Spirit Evolution… Ophanimon!"

"Shoutmon Digivolve to… OmniShoutmon!"

Beelzemon was still grinning as he surveyed the group before him. His eyes settled on Grani, and a chuckle escaped him. "Well, well, well, look at this. I didn't expect to find two extra opponents, but I welcome the challenge."

Imperialdramon took a step forward. "You sure you're up to it? You failed to kill us the first time we fought. We destroyed your bike and threw you into a data stream the second time. And the third time you took off running with your tail between your legs when Laylamon called you."

A vein throbbed in Beelzemon's head, but he reeled in his temper and chuckled again. "You've got quite the mouth on you, human filth. But didn't you ever wonder why Laylamon summoned me? She decided to make me a little proposal. Because you humans got lucky and by some miracle somehow managed to defeat two of us, the rest of the Digital World is beginning to foolishly get hopeful. We need to crush that hope. And what better way to do it than to show the full power of a Demon Lord, and how easily I can crush you. She summoned me to give me the means to do just that. Personally, I think it will be overkill, but I've never been one to shy away from that."

He held up his hand, and something materialized within it. OmniShoutmon, ShineGreymon, and Grani all gasped at the sight of it, but the DigiDestined didn't quite understand.

"Wait, I think I've seen one of those before," said Omnimon.

"You have!" OmniShoutmon exclaimed. "It's an X-Antibody. Remember how Chaosdramon used one to become Chaosdramon X? We can't let him use that!"

Beelzemon laughed. "It's amusing that you think that you can actually let me do something or not."

He held up the X-Antibody, and it flashed brightly before bursting into data and flowing into Beelzemon's body. He gave a loud cry as the light of Digivolution surrounded him and flashed brightly.

"Beelzemon Digivolve to… Beelzemon X!"

The light vanished, and a new Beelzemon now stood. His attire had changed, as had his blaster, which was now on his left hand instead of his right, and now had two barrels and resembled a shotgun. He now had four blue wings that stretched out from his back, and his mask had changed shape and turned red.

OmniShoutmon took a step back. "No. No, no, no, no, no. This isn't good. I didn't anticipate this. We're all going to die."

Gallantmon gulped nervously. "It… It can't be too different, can it?"

Beelzemon X chuckled. "Oh, it can. In this form, I now have the ability to summon and control the crimson flames of El Evangelio. And that's just the tip of the iceberg."

"I have no idea what that means," Imperialdramon replied, "but nothing's changed. We're still going to fight."

An evil grin spread across the Demon Lord's face as he held up his blaster. "Then come at me, humans. Come and die."

(A/N: Alright, here we go, the final battle with Beelzemon. He's reached his X form, but our heroes now have Grani and ShineGreymon on their side. There's been a lot of back and forth between Beelzemon and our heroes, and now it's finally going to come to a head, so stay tuned.)

(-)-(-)-(-)-(-)-(-)-(-)

New Digimon that appear. Replace the DOT in the link(s) with actual periods.

digimonDOTwikiaDOTcom/wiki/RizeGreymon

digimonDOTwikiaDOTcom/wiki/Dracomon

digimonDOTwikiaDOTcom/wiki/Beelzemon_X