Disclaimer: I don't own Digimon.
Digimon Trinity
Chapter: 139/ Episode 20: The Storm's Scythe
Takeru stormed into the control room, Janyu and his friends not far behind.
"Report!" he called out, snapping his lighter open with a loud click.
"It's a giant wild one!" Tally replied, her voice edged, verging near panic.
"It's the same pattern as the one from yesterday," Yolei added. "Only much, much stronger! Bio-emergence commencing now."
Takeru seethed, clenching at his lighter. Stronger? That wasn't good. Would Juggernaut still be effective against it? It hadn't needed full power the last time, but if the dark digimon was definitely more powerful now, then that meant it had been further empowered to combat Hypnos' weapon.
He flicked his lighter closed. "Get me a visual," he said before turning to the Monster Makers. "Here. You'll have a front row seat of why I asked you all to be here. Think hard about your answer."
"Visual's up sir," Tally reported, a screen coming to life. Takeru turned to face it, his eyes narrowing beneath his sunglasses. Yes, it was indeed the same digimon as yesterday. The one who had, by all video reports, defeated the Tamers.
The Tamers who were meant to be their generation's 'destined heroes.' The children of prophecy.
No more prophecies, he thought. Darkness, it is time to put an end to you.
"Sir!" came Yolei's alarmed voice. "A high level digimon just appeared on our scanners! It's…" She gave a sudden, choking sound. "Oh no… Not her!"
"Ichijouji! What's going on?!" Takeru shouted.
In response to his question, the image on the screen changed and Takeru felt himself grow cold at the sight of a dark-armored angel as she came into view, a black aura radiating from about her.
"Juggernaut…" he rasped, his lighter pressing hard into the palm of his hand. "I want Juggernaut operational now!"
###
The Tamers made their way through the screaming, panicked crowds, doing their best to avoid being swept up by the surging tidal wave of bodies. Rika's eyes flashed over to Takato and then at his three classmates who had chosen to follow them against all reason and calls to stay behind. Moreover, she frowned at the presence of Calumon, who Jeri presently held in her arms. The In-Training digimon looked tired, but he too insisted on coming and, for some reason, Takato said that he had to. No reason was given. There had simply been no time. The digital field was manifesting too quickly, leaving them with the thin hope that Calumon and the others would be smart enough to stay out of their way.
Rika wasn't going to let this go however. Something about the way Takato had looked when talking about Calumon… She saw something turning behind his eyes. She felt something click in the back of her mind in response to that. Some memory tickled. She cursed inwardly, hating how it bothered her yet wouldn't give up so much as a clue that would put everything into place. She was going to have to get answers out of Gogglehead later and hopefully that would jar everything else.
"It's Indramon!" Takato shouted, coming to a halt at the foot of the bridge the Deva stood upon. Smoke billowed up from the horse Deva as he stomped forward, unmindful of the humans that raced away from him.
"He's a lot bigger than I remember," Terriermon said from Henry's shoulder. "Someone give him a can of spinach or something?"
"He grew after he absorbed the power of our Trinity Burst," Renamon said, frowning up at the Ultimate. Rika groaned at this.
"So you're saying he's loaded it to give himself a boost? Terrific…"
Takato swallowed and looked over at Calumon, who lay wrapped up in Jeri's arms. The brunette looked worried and Calumon himself looked exhausted still. The nap he had taken didn't seem to do anything for him the way it had for the others.
Does digivolving take that much out of him? he wondered, his hand tightening about his digivice. Of course, this was all assuming that Calumon even had any affect on their digimon and that this wasn't because he missed his morning mountain of creampuffs.
The ground shook beneath his feet as Indramon's foot crunched down upon a car, causing it to explode. He gasped in surprise.
"Wake up, Gogglehead!" Rika shouted. "This is no time to be flaking out on us now!"
"Yeah, especially in front of your girlfriend," Terriermon quipped, hopping down from Henry's shoulder. Rika sputtered angrily, but another quake from Indramon's step shut off all further discussion. There lay only one thing now. Fight or be deleted.
"Rika!" called Renamon, getting into a crouch.
"Henry!" from Terriermon, rising onto his tiny feet.
"Takato!" from Guilmon, staring defiantly up at the oncoming horse Deva.
"Let's do it," Takato nodded. All concerns swept away as the three Tamers drew out their digivolution cards and slashed them through their digivices. Shells of data formed about their partners and grew tremendously.
"Renamon! Digivolve tooo…Kyubimon!"
"Terriermon! Digivolve tooo…Gargomon!"
"Guilmon! Digivolve tooo… Growlmon!"
The shells shattered, revealing all three once more in their Champion forms. Without wasting a second, they dashed forward, much to the joy of Kazu and Kenta, who both pumped their fists into the air at the sight of the three digimon about to go into battle. Jeri watched, but she didn't share their excitement or eagerness.
What…What's going to happen now? she thought, her eyes falling on Takato and his two friends as they fanned through their cards for something that would give them an edge. Would they experience feedback of the sort that Takato had in previous battles? Or would it just be him alone? How bad would it be? Would the digimon be…?
Calumon's groan caught her attention and focused her concerns down on him. "Are you okay?" she asked, looking down at the tiny, creampuff digimon. The In-Training digimon cracked his eyes open, looking as though the effort of doing so had been almost a battle in itself.
"I'll be okay," he moaned, closing his eyes again and slumping against her arm. Jeri gulped, wondering how such a creature could look so fragile. Did digimon always look this vulnerable even when they were this small?
And then…a cold wind blew over them and a shadow darkened the sky.
###
Makuramon sat atop a sign, his eyes growing wide at the figure that drew to a halt in front of Indramon. His mouth worked, finding itself suddenly unable to locate his voice until, after one long moment, a single word drew out, scarcely a whisper.
"Makaaa…"
###
She hovered there, golden demonic wings burning with hellfire, blue and green armor dark and bright from the intermingling of flame and the aura of shadow that surrounded her. Eyes, blood red fell upon Indramon. The Ultimate shuddered, pausing in its approach.
"Ophanimon Falldown Mode. Fallen angel digimon." Takato looked up from his digivice, his heart screaming thunder in his ears. "She's Mega level!"
"Is she on our side?" Rika asked, her violet eyes full of worry as her teeth clenched against one another. A Mega. A Mega! And arriving when they were about to do battle with an Ultimate! This day was just getting worse and worse for them it seemed. "Ophanimon… She's the Mega form of your teacher's digimon, right? Gatomon?"
"Yeah, I mean… No! She shouldn't be!" Takato shook his head. "The documentaries…"
"Enough!" Ophanimon shouted, and a dark wind blasted across the city. Indramon's mane fluttered in response, but the Tamers and their digimon had to dig their heels in to prevent from being knocked over. "This war ends here…"
"Who are you to deny the holy Sovereign their war against the humans?" Indramon asked, shaking himself back to attention. "I am his servant, Dark One. You are nothing but one of the fallen." He sniffed the air and snorted. "A fallen with the stink of being kept by humans."
Raising her hand, a blue scythe with a long, curved blade materialized within her grasp
"I will deny your Sovereign their war as I please," she said, and her voice came out in a thin hiss, like a viper. "I need nothing more than my own conviction. I will purge the worlds of all your kind!"
The dark aura that surrounded her flared violently. Gripping her scythe, she fell into a stance. Violence… Hatred… All the endless fighting that never seemed to have an end and only created more and more suffering and destruction! Her partner… Kari! She had been made to suffer because of this unending conflict. Tormented! Made to wield the Digi-egg of Darkness and become the Queen of Shadows. No more!
Her gauntlets ground against her scythe's grip and she shifted her footing. Indramon, seeing this, lifted his arms.
"I can see that we're at an impasse," he said, and the straps that bound his horn to his back evaporated. His weapon rose into the air and took aim. "You may slay me, but I will shatter the weapon you fools have made and the tainted ones you now stand in front of."
The horn rose and Ophanimon let out a howl just then. Loud and rending, causing Takato and the others to clamp their hands about their ears to shield themselves from it. Not that it did much good. Ophanimon's scream clawed its way into the depths of their hearts – indeed, their very souls – carrying with it all the years of pain and agony and frustration that Gatomon had carried with her. Takato fell to his knees, his mouth open and screaming as well, and a small, tiny drop of blood fell from his nose and to the pavement below. Tears welled up, and for an instant, he saw Gatomon as she was when Myotismon lashed her with his whips. The loneliness she had endured when searching for Kari. The burdens she shouldered for her partner once reunited. On and on and then…Indramon screamed.
Blinking back tears, Takato's head snapped up, his mind clearing of the shadow that had fallen over him. Indramon was falling away, a stream of shining light flying away from his abdomen as Ophanimon's scythe sliced clean through him, the Ultimate having just barely avoided being bisected in two. He crashed down into the street below, the pavement shattering beneath him. He attempted to rise, but Ophanimon fell upon him, crushing him down with her armored foot. Her scythe gleamed, catching the light of the sun and she swung in a wide arc, its razors-edge aimed directly at the horse Deva's neck.
Light shone forth from Indramon's horn just then and the blast struck a powerful blow against the angel's weapon, causing her to stagger and fall back slightly, smoke billowing skyward. She glanced idly at it, inspecting it before letting fly once more, this time sending a fiery, crescent-shaped wave of energy at the horn, shearing it in two. The horn split apart and detonated, sending flaming fragments flying through the air before dissolving into shards of sparkling light.
The Horn of Desolation gone, Ophanimon turned her crimson gaze on Indramon and set her teeth into a distasteful grimace. Darkness burned along the blade of her scythe and she swung once more.
"Oh…Oh barf!" Takato heard Kazu gasp as the scythe ripped into Indramon's shoulder, cleaving deep into digital muscle and imbedding itself there. Ophanimon gave her weapon a twist and widened the injury, sending a stream of shining data floating free from the Deva.
"How's it feel?" she asked as Indramon roared in pain and anguish. "To be at someone else's mercy? This is what the humans of this world have to live with every time one such as you arrive here to wage your war on them." She gave another wrench and the wound widened still further. Skin glitched and distorted as Indramon struggled to free himself, revealing a wireframe beneath. "This is what my partner felt when she was tormented by your kind!"
"What…What is she doing?" Takato heard Jeri stammer out, clutching Calumon closer to her. "What is she talking about?"
Takato's stomach churned at the sight of the cold-blooded torture they were being made witness to. He could see that the others felt much the same way. The brutality of it all… This…couldn't be Gatomon. Not the Gatomon he knew, and yet, here she was. Dark digivolution. He had only ever heard about it, but never actually witnessed it.
Ms. Kamiya… he thought, his eyes softening. Did the War hurt you that bad?
Gritting his teeth, Indramon swung his free arm up like a club, only for Ophanimon to catch it with one hand. She narrowed her eyes, and with a powerful squeeze, broke the wireframe beneath. Indramon howled in pain once more and Ophanimon let the newly injured limb fall like garbage. Pressing her heel against his chest once more, she crushed him down.
"Answer me. Answer me honestly and I will put you out of your misery," she continued. Sweat standing out prominently on his face, Indramon drew in a deep, shaky breath.
"Never…" he rasped. Ophanimon nodded, as if she expected no less.
"Then your torment continues," she said, ripping her scythe free, "until you answer appropriately."
C-Continues? Memories from yesterday's battle between the Deva and Impmon flashed through Takato's mind and he clenched his digivice.
"No!" he shouted suddenly and Ophanimon paused. Turning, her blood-red eyes fell upon Takato's crimson ones.
"No?" she asked, and though her voice was soft, Takato felt the pressure of a thunderstorm contained within. He shivered, but held his ground.
"Don't…" he began, only for his fear to cause him to stammer. Swallowing, he tried again. "Just…don't. Stop this! He's…He's beaten! It's over. Ophanimon or Gatomon or whoever you are… It's…It's over. He can't hurt anyone like this." His face softened, remembering how Indramon had kept going even after Impmon was well past the point of being able to fight back. "You don't need to fight him anymore."
Ophanimon held his gaze for a minute before turning away. Lifting her scythe, she prepared to take aim.
"You are a child, Takato," she said simply. "One day, you will understand why this needs to be done."
Takato's mouth dropped open in horror and without thinking he slashed a Hyper Speed card through his digivice. "Growlmon!"
What?! Rika's eyes snapped over to the boy in shock.
Growlmon however seemed to be of one mind as his partner. Rearing back, he unleashed a torrent of fireballs at Ophanimon, and they slammed into the fallen angel's back. The Mega wasn't harmed in the least, of course, but she turned, her eyes blazing with such fury that Takato found himself taken aback, his heart paused in midbeat, as if deciding whether or not it would be best to simply stop entirely and end it all there for him.
The sound of heavy wings beating upon the air quickly made up its mind and Takato's head jerked in its direction to find Garudamon, Stingmon and ExVeemon fast approaching. Touching down, Sora, Ken and Davis jumped down from their partners and stood, eyes on Ophanimon as her wrathful visage swung towards them.
"Will you oppose me as well?" she asked. The three Digidestined looked at each other in confusion, but of them only Sora stepped forward.
"Gatomon?" she asked. "Is…that you? What happened?"
"He happened!" Ophanimon's scythe snapped in Indramon's direction. "And now, others are attempting to stop me from delivering the justice these so-called Devas deserve! Him and…" Her teeth sparked as they ground against one another. "…so many others. Others like Takeru."
"Whoa, wait, what?" Davis balked, breaking in now. "What's this about TP? What's going on here?"
"This Deva is only the beginning." Ophanimon pointed her scythe down towards the twin towers of Shinjuku's government building, within which was housed Takeru's government organization. "Takeru Takaishi will also feel my blade for the pain and damage he has caused these past few months. And Takato…" Her eyes flashed, turning towards the goggle-wearing boy in question. "Don't think you will be exempt because you are Kari's student. You will pay for preventing justice from being served!"
At that, Rika felt something snap violently within her suddenly and before she knew it she found herself stepping up next to him protectively. "Don't you even think about hurting…!" she began, her voice dripping with anger, but before she could continue further, the sky flashed and an eerie, emerald light burned across it. Ophanimon shrieked as a column of green light descended upon her, enveloping her.
"Takeru!" she shouted. "You dare delay your justice?!"
Wings burning brightly, she slashed her arms to the side and the column of light around her burst apart with explosive force. This time no amount of grounding could have kept anyone standing, and Digidestined, Tamers, digimon and civilians alike crashed to the ground. Ophanimon lifted into the air, her scythe arcing wildly about her.
"I will not allow you to escape your judgment!" she seethed, fire erupting along the length of her blade.
Just then, a massive, clawed hand, bird-like in shape, surged forth and snatched hold of her.
"Gatomon! You've got to stop this now!" Garudamon shouted, forcing the fallen angel to the ground and bearing down on her with all her weight. ExVeemon and Stingmon soon joined her.
"Yeah!" ExVeemon said. "Get a hold of yourself! That's the dark digivolution talking! Calm down and think things through!"
"No more thinking things through," Ophanimon said, anger roiling within her.
Everything happened very fast then. With almost no effort, she broke free from Garudamon's grasp and with a powerful kick, knocked her to the side. Stingmon dove toward her, shoulder guards lifting as an energy spike erupted from his forearm. Flipping her scythe about, she slammed the blunt end into the insect's face, sending him careening across the street where he slammed into a building and burst out the other end. ExVeemon dashed backward, attempting to buy some distance, knowing full well that he didn't stand a chance against her physically. Ophanimon didn't allow him to get very far however and in the next instant, she slammed the butt of her scythe into his stomach, sending him flying, the light of devolution forming over him.
"This…isn't good," Gargomon said, completely unsure as to what to do in this situation. Ophanimon completely outmatched them. Far, far more than Indramon had. And she just now took out two Ultimates and two Champions and came away without so much as a single singe.
Settling the butt of her scythe down on the ground, she turned toward the Tamers, her eyes considering. Gargomon gulped, his guns taking aim.
"I don't suppose you'd be willing to settle this over a match over checkers?" he asked hopefully.
Gargomon… Henry groaned inwardly. Is this really the time to be joking?!
Ophanimon's image blurred and a moment later, Gargomon found himself flying through the air, slapped out of the way by the dark angel. Kyubimon curled up into a ball, blue flames igniting around her, but a swift twist and Ophanimon's kick connected sure and hard against her side, sending the fox digimon smashing into a parked car, causing it to crumple inward like tissue paper. Rika cried out, clutching at her ribs as unexpected pain tore across them, almost causing her to lose her footing.
Feedback! she realized through the haze of the pain. The Mega had struck her partner hard! Looking up, she saw the limp form of Kyubimon, lying within the mess of metal, digital blood pooling next to her mouth. She didn't move and the fires about her tails were gone.
"Kyubimon!" Rika shouted just before Ophanimon's shadow fell over her.
"Don't think I've forgotten your crimes, Digimon Queen…" the dark angel said in a low voice.
"Nooo!"
Rika gasped as Takato shoved her out of the way, and as though he had been moving in time with his partner, Growlmon bulldozed into the Mega with a heavy crash, trying desperately to pin her. Ophanimon barely had to work to disentangle herself from the Champion however, and soon enough Growlmon found himself slamming hard into the pavement. Takato let out a cry as his partner's pain erupted in his own body and he fell to the ground, clutching at his stomach.
"So much justice to be met out," Ophanimon growled, the darkness flowing off her all the more. "So much darkness that needs to be…expunged." Her eyes turned on Jeri just then and the girl instinctively drew back, clutching Calumon close to her.
"W-What are you…?" she began, her voice quavering. Takato felt a sickening terror surge inside him at what Ophanimon was implying.
"Stop it…" he gasped, fighting through the pain. "Stop it! This isn't like you! You've got to stop!"
Ophanimon lifted her scythe and Takato looked up at her, eyes blazing. A light began to shine on his chest just then, weak and flickering, shaped like a heart.
"Please…" Takato repeated, his voice becoming firm. "The Gatomon I know would never do something like this!"
Ophanimon hesitated, her eyes frozen with sudden doubt as the light from the boy's crest penetrated the haze of shadow in her mind.
Just then a rock banged across Ophanimon's helmet and the light on Takato's chest winked out of existence.
"Back off!" Kazu shouted. Ophanimon blinked, seemingly taken aback by this sudden display of resistance from the boy. A bewilderment that was equally shared by all present. Ophanimon's scythe drew back from Takato and she narrowed her eyes.
"K-Kazu…" Kenta gulped. "Dude! She's a Mega!"
"So what?" Kazu snorted. "Just because she's the teacher's pet doesn't mean she can get away with beating people up because she wants to! What kind of justice is that? Hey! Angel lady! I cheated on last week's math test! Are you going to do something about that?" He picked up another rock. "I've got a pretty long list of things I'm guilty of. You going to punish me for every one of them?"
Ophanimon tsked to herself.
"You delay me," she said. "I have far greater sins to punish than the likes of you, Kazu."
Turning away from them, she brought her attention back on the Deva as he was struggling out of the crater in the street, his injuries bleeding profusely. Yet he stared defiance at her like a spear. Data swirled and converged in front of him, and his horn pieced itself back together and solidified.
"Yet his delay was more than adequate," he said. "For the time of your destruction draws nigh. Horn of Desolation!"
Power swirled within the horn's mouth, drawing on the residual Trinity Burst energies that remained within the Deva. This battle was lost, but most of his master's enemies were now gathered in one place. Bringing his lips to his horn, he blew mightily and a fireball of twisting energies shaped like a firebird shot out. Ophanimon raised her scythe and brought it before her like a shield. The firebird slammed into it and detonated, sending immense shockwaves emanating throughout the city. Windows shattered and cracks tore across the street. Indramon lowered his horn and waited. His body was a giant knot of pain from his injuries, but as long as he was able to do so, he would stand ready to fight.
The smoke across from him began to clear and with a wave of her scythe, Ophanimon emerged completely unharmed.
"Is that all you can do?" she asked, raising her scythe. "Allow me to show you what a digimon of true power can do!"
With a wide swing, she launched a torrent of fire at Indramon. At once, the Deva's mouth clamped back down upon his horn and he breathed in. The fire slash changed shape as the horn began to draw it in, twisting up like a fiery tornado before falling into its mouth. Indramon felt fresh strength flow into his body and his wounds began to heal and close up. Laughing, he released his weapon from his mouth and his eyes blazed with the unholy light he had taken within himself.
"Yes," he said, his fur beginning to darken. "And now that you have done so, it is time for me to return the favor and give you the final lesson! Horn of Desolation!"
Another blast of the horn and Ophanimon's scream echoed throughout the city.
8
