Chapter 25 – Courage and Friendschip
When Tai, Matt, Agumon and Gabumon arrived in Germany, they were literally lost. The distortion had led them into a forest. Far and wide only trees, trees and again trees. Nowhere could you see a human being. T.K.'s brother sighed heavily about his blond hair. He had no idea where they were. The four had never been to Germany.
"Where are we?" the brown-haired man asked.
"No idea..." replied Agumon.
"How do we know where we are," Matt said.
"And why are we here?" was Gabumon's question.
"Guilmon said that the third highest number of Knightmon will appear here," Tai replied.
"Just wonder where exactly..." said the blond-haired man.
"We don't know..." Kari's brother shrugged.
"Maybe we should try to find some DigiDestined," suggested the yellow dinosaur.
"Good idea," the reptile digimon agreed: "There are certainly a few DigiDestined here. I just hope they can speak our language."
"Don't worry. With English you can also talk", Tai put his hands in his hip.
"That's why Akira and Mimi went to America..." Matt replied.
"Right..." a nervous smile scurried over his lips.
Suddenly something was rumbling between the shrubs. The brown-haired man got a real scare and jumped a few meters back. He bumped into someone. This person spoke something in incomprehensible language before tilting his head slightly. Then he whistled.
From the shrubs a dog that had grown too big emerged. His fur was black-brown, while the feet had a light brown fur up to the knees. The three grey claws dug into the forest floor as the dog watched the digimon. Then it quietly yelled up. There was a grey blade on his heels, but it could not move them. On the thighs was a red-orange eye with a black iris. On the back of the dog was a row of spikes. It wore a grey ring embroidered with spikes on its neck. The jaw and belly of the supposed animal were light brown. His red-orange eyes curiously examined the DigiDestined and their partner, while the short tail wobbled excitedly.
The stranger explained something in a foreign language. The word Dobermon and Digimon was used.
"Err... We DigiDestined are..." Tai tried to say something in English.
Again, the stranger spoke to his digimon and shrugged his shoulders. He didn't understand them.
"Subject, verb, object, Tai," Matt explained: "Not subject, object, verb."
"Ah... right," the brown-haired man said.
"We talk in Japanese can," said the stranger: "Was in Japan a year."
"You can understand us?! That's very good!" smiled Tai: "Who are you?"
"Tim and that's Dobermon here," he pointed to the dog: "He's my partner."
"I'm happy to meet you," Dobermon said fluently.
"Huh? You can speak our language fluently," the blonde-haired man said, somewhat astonished.
"We Digimon imitate the language of humans, so we can actually speak any language," the dog explained: "That's why I'm going to suggest to Tim that I translate for him. So I think it will be faster."
Dobermon explained his proposal to his partner on German before he said something in his native language and then the boy nodded.
"Tim agrees," the dog said.
"Very good," Agumon said.
"Do you know if there are more DigiDestined in Germany?" asked Gabumon Dobermon.
"As far as we know, no," he replied.
"Do you really know what's going on?" was the question of the yellow dinosaur.
"All I know is that someone called the Homeostasis needs our help," the dog took turns looking at Tim and the two strangers.
"The Homeostasis is the god of the digital world," Tai began to explain.
"It's found out that many Knightmon swell around the globe to attack our world on the orders of the god King Drasil," Matt continued.
Dobermon nodded again and translated the words so that his partner could understand.
"We definitely have to stop King Drasil!" exclaimed Agumon.
"Good..." said the dog, "We will help you."
"Me and Agumon are expected to defeat a lot of the Knightmon," Gabumon said.
"Why that?" asked Dobermon.
"We are one of the Royal Knights!" the yellow dinosaur replied: "That's why it's our duty to stop the Knightmon!"
"I see... Tim," the dog said to his partner.
"Ah!" he said after his partner finished the statement: "Royal knights... Ah! Legend of Arthur! Round Table Knights!"
"What is he talking about?" Tai asked his best friend.
"No idea," he replied.
"The Knights of the Round Table and their King Arthur are a legend from England," Dobermon explained: "According to legend, the young Arthur is said to have drawn a sword from the stone and thus became King of England."
"Sounds exciting," Agumon said.
"It is," the dog smiled, "But we can talk about it afterwards."
"Why that, Dobermon?" was Gabumon's question.
"I smell a lot of digimon," he said, "they're on their way here."
"What?!" the brown-haired man said.
"That must be the Knightmon," Matt said.
Dobermon raised his head in the air and sniffed. He could smell good with his nose and was able to estimate the number of attackers.
"Hundred and fifty Knightmon," the dog said, immediately translating it for his partner.
From the face of this the colour gave away and with big eyes he stared at Dobermon. He asked him something before the dog nodded.
"Then let's stop this Knightmon!" exclaimed Agumon: "Agumon warp-digivolve to... WarGreymon!"
The dragon man immediately flew into the air, creating an energy sphere between his claws, which he threw at five Knightmon.
"Gabumon warp-digivolve to... MetalGarurumon!" the mechanical wolf also rose into the air and fired an icy breath at an attacker from his mouth.
"I can't fly and I'm just an adult-level digimon, but I can defend you here on the ground!" said Dobermon.
As a few Knightmons approached the DigiDestined, the dog sent a roar that paralyzed the enemy before firing a dark ray of energy. Meanwhile, WarGreymon and MetalGarurumon fought high in the air and helped each other.
"WarGreymon!" shouted the mechanical wolf.
"What is it?" he asked after throwing away a Knightmon with his fist.
"Do you think the Knightmon will do this voluntarily?"
"No. They have to do it."
Both dodged energy.
"Grace Cross Freezer!" sounded MetalGarurumon's voice before firing several rockets at three enemies.
"Dramon Killer!" WarGreymon sharpened his dramon killers and drove a Knightmon over the armour with this one.
The attacker dissolved into data that was carried away by the wind.
"Maybe they will stop when we fuse to Omnimon," the dragon man said.
"It would be worth a try," the mechanical wolf agreed.
"WarGreymon!"
"MetalGarurumon!"
"DNA digitation to..." they both shouted, before uniting into a digimon: "Omnimon!"
Majestic, the white knight extended his arms to the side, while his cape blew behind him.
"Wow..." Tim marvelled: "What a Digimon this is?"
"Omnimon!" Tai replied.
Dobermon saw a Knightmon approaching his partner from behind. Immediately the dog jumped on it and bit him in the neck. The Knightmon was killed by Dobermon's attack, but another appeared and hurled the dog against the tree with an energy shrew.
"Dobermon!" his partner shouted and rushed to him.
"Tim!" Matt sounded alarmed.
The man saw an opponent approaching him and attacking him.
"Nobody threatens Tim!" said Dobermon, growling.
Out of nowhere, a distortion emerged from which another Knightmon appeared. The blonde-haired man was alarmed, because this Knightmon looked a little different from the others and was certainly stronger.
"Don't worry. I'm on your side," Knightmon said.
This Knightmon wore a white cape with the inside red. In his hand he held a great sword, which held it with two hands.
"Wise sword!" the Knightmon shouted, waving his blade and creating a blue wave of energy: "On my honour, I will protect you humans."
"Thank you," Tai said, "But why are you helping us?"
"I help you because it was ordered by Sir Gallantmon and Sir Sleipmon," he said: "My name is Knightmon Wise Sword Mode. But I just prefer WiseKnightmon."
"Okay..."
WiseKnightmon briefly took off before flying into the air and then skewering a Knightmon with his sword, which was about to attack Omnimon in the back.
"Sir Omnimon. Sir Gallantmon and Sir Sleipmon send me. I will guarantee you my support in this fight," WiseKnightmon said.
"Thank you," said the fused Digimon.
"Another thing, Sir Omnimon."
"Yes?" he just sent an energy wave to five Knightmons.
"All but two Royal Knights have appeared," WiseKnightmon blocked an enemy's attack and kicked him in the stomach almost at the same moment.
"Good to know," he nodded to him, pointing his Garuru cannon at another opponent.
Then he fired a beam of energy at it.
"Soon all the Royal Knights will awaken."
"Probably... However, we will fight against each other again..." he quietly uttered a single name full of wistfulness: "Alphamon..."
Omnimon pointed his sword toward the sky and gathered energy in it. He then let go of the accumulated mass of energy on ten Knightmons.
"Omega Blast!" he shouted, before the Knightmons went down in a blaze: "Knightmon Wise Sword Mode. I can cope well on my own. Please protect Tai, Matt and Tim."
"Are you sure, Sir Omnimon?"
"Yes. I wouldn't forgive if Tai and Matt were hurt."
"Understood!" said WiseKnightmon, before landing on the ground and defeating other Knightmons.
Meanwhile, Omnimon closed his eyes and stretched out his arms diagonally sideways. The weapons appeared from both the Grey head and the Garuru head. Energy accumulated in both weapons before the merged Digimon reopened his eyes.
"Grey Sword, Garuru Cannon!" he fired his two most powerful attacks on the enemy at the same time.
Just over half of the existing Knightmons were defeated by the attack. The other half was able to get to safety just in time. Suddenly Omnimon felt a strange feeling. As if someone were breaking the barrier between this and the digital world. A purple light appeared before the room in the sky appeared to break to clear the way for a single Digimon with incredible powers. A red jewel shimmered in the sun before the Digimon looked at the white knight. It was Alphamon who personally interfered in this fight. With a hand gesture, he told the rest of the Knightmons to withdraw. Several distortions appeared so that the attackers could withdraw.
"Alphamon!" Omnimon raved angrily: "Immediately order the stop of the attack on this world!"
"Why should I do this, Omnimon?" he asked, before laughing.
The blue eyes of the fused Digimon reflected sadness. His old friend Alphamon could not be saved. He always knew. Suddenly, he remembered Jesmon. He had been a good friend of the black knight... But a short time ago Alphamon had killed him.
"Alphamon... Why did you kill Jesmon? He was one of your best friends," Omnimon said.
"Friends... Why do you need them?" was his question.
"What?! Friends are needed because-"
"Because what? I don't need friends. What I want is for King Drasil to get his will."
"Alphamon! You were always the one who had opposed King Drasil! What changed you so much?!"
Suddenly, it came back to the fused Digimon. Piedmons Ball... Through Piedmon's ball, he had slowly but steadily changed.
"By Piedmon... More specifically, through the small, black ball," Omnimon quipped.
"Not bad," the black knight mocked: "But this is your end... No. Not just yours. Also that of your friends and their partner. I and my subordinates will defeat each one of you. Argh!"
He grabbed his head and bent over in pain.
"Alphamon?" asked Omnimon uncertainly: "What's going on?"
The said Digimon clenched his hands to fists.
"Omni... mon... Please... Kill-," he began, but had to scream in pain again.
"What?" he looked at him confused: "What's going on?"
Had Omnimon imagined it or did Alphamon want him to kill him? Before he could ask further, however, a distortion appeared behind the black digimon, into which he entered. So Alphamon disappeared again and left the merged Digimon alone with questions.
/Something is going on with him... but what?/, he asked himself.
Then he landed on the ground.
"Something doesn't seem to be right with Alphamon," Matt said.
"That's also true... I think for a moment he wanted me to kill him," Omnimon said.
Dobermon began to translate everything for Tim. He hardly understood anything of what was said in terms of content, so he had to look at the other two DigiDestined inquiringly. Tai immediately understood and told the dog that they couldn't tell her anything else for their safety. Although Tim was keenly interested, he didn't want to go any further into danger. The German Digiritter and his partner finally said goodbye to the two new DigiDestined.
"Sayonara!" Tim shouted to say goodbye, waving to Tai, Matt, Omnimon and WiseKnightmon before riding on Dobermon's back.
When both disappeared, the brown-haired man turned to the allied Knightmon.
"WiseKnightmon... Could you please go to Tokyo. There are two DigiDestined who need help," Tai asked him.
"Understood... But why exactly do they need my help?"
"Because in defence of the city there is only one perfect-level digimon and one adult-level digimon," explained the blonde-haired.
"Okay. Then I'll go there," WiseKnightmon said, before a distortion appeared: "I hope I'll see you again."
With this, the allied Knightmon also disappeared. Tai and Matt looked at each other tacitly before looking up to Omnimon. He sighed heavily and sank into thought. He knew that Gallantmon was working with the Homeostasis and Hackmon became Meiko's partner, as did Dynasmon. He became Akira's partner.
As for Duftmon, he guarded Primary Village. But what about the others? Sleipmon, UlforceVeedramon, Gankoomon, Crusadermon, Craniamon, Examon and... And who else? Who else had been a Royal Knight? He could not remember this knight. He did not know the name or appearance of the last digimon. Again, Omnimon sighed.
"Are you alright, Omnimon?" Tai asked, somewhat anxiously: "You sigh quite often..."
"It's nothing, Tai," the fused Digimon replied.
"Is it because of Alphamon?" was Matt's question.
"Not only", the white knight looked to the side and then to the sky, before looking back at his partners: "I remember more and more who I used to be..."
"And who were you? I mean a part of you had told me that you were once a member of the protectors of the digital world," the blonde-haired man said.
"A Royal Knight," Kari's brother added, "And you fell into an argument..."
"Exactly," Omnimon nodded: "We, so me and Alphamon, were arguing with each other who was the better leader. Alphamon followed King Drasil unconditionally, even though he was actually the one to stop him."
"Right... Guilmon had said something like that once... I remember," said T.K.'s brother: "Alphamon, who was supposed to stop King Drasil, fell into the darkness... by Piedmon's bullet."
"Alphamon was able to suppress the influence of the sphere for years. But after we defeated MaloMyotismon, the influence became too great and Alphamon began to work with King Drasil again, even though he had seen the extent of this allegiance."
"Extent?" repeated Tai.
"King Drasil had once ordered to kill all Digimon... Alphamon was able to stop him at the time," the fused Digimon explained before falling to his knees.
"Omnimon!" shouted Matt.
"I am fine, Matt. I'm just exhausted... Immediately I will-" he did not come further, because Omnimon de-fused to Agumon and Gabumon, who stood exhausted but not unconscious, with firm feet on the ground.
"I'm hungry Tai..." groaned the yellow dinosaur.
"Yes, yes..." his partner smiled: "But I don't have anything to eat."
"Do you think it's easy to keep Omnimon, Tai?" asked Gabumon, irritated.
"Of course we don't believe that..." Matt defended his friend: "And we understand that you are tired and exhausted now, as long as you have kept Omnimon longer this time."
The blonde-haired man smiled at the two Digimons and knelt down to his partner.
"Your nose is good, Gabumon... Maybe you can find us a little bit to eat," Matt suggested.
"Or we should have just asked Tim and Dobermon if they had something to eat..." the brown-haired man replied, entangled his arms in front of his chest.
There was a crushing silence. Why didn't they ask Tim and Dobermon?
"You know Gabumon..." Agumon began.
"Yes?" said Digimon, tilting his head slightly to the side.
"A Digimon that we knew would probably write a poem..."
"Yes," said the reptile digimon.
"Who?" asked Tai, "Do we know said Digimon?"
"No, you don't know," replied the yellow dinosaur: "The digimon is called Crusadermon."
"Crusadermon...," Matt said.
"Yes... She was the Lord of the Knightmon," Gabumon said.
"Sometimes she was called LordKnightmon," Agumon replied, taking a short break before sighing: "Crusadermon was a good friend of Dynasmon, by the way."
"Was?" the brown-haired man repeated: "What happened to Crusadermon?"
"She was killed by a digimon," the reptile digimon said.
"She should have been reborn now. However, it will be on Yggdrasil's side..." the yellow dinosaur concluded.
"And if she meets Dynasmon, who has taken on Yggdrasil, what will happen?" asked T.K.'s brother.
"They will fight with each other until one of them is no longer alive or one of them will join the opposing side... The former would be more likely," Agumon sighed.
"Why?" was Tai's counter-question.
"Because Dynasmon is very loyal to Akira," Gabumon said, "he wouldn't betray her."
Matt's partner did not want to imagine what would happen in a confrontation between the two Royal Knights. Dynasmon himself would probably surrender and be killed. It will definitely be hard for him to compete against an old friend.
Gabumon shook briefly. He only hoped that Akira and Crusadermon would never meet. The latter would then be very angry with her former boyfriend's partner and would try to attack her... Or? He wasn't so sure.
"It is inevitable that the two will fight against each other... I think this Crusadermon was very much attached to Dynasmon, right?" said Kari's brother, tilting his head slightly to the side.
He didn't need an answer. He already knew it. The whole conversation was interrupted by a crushing silence. Agumon looked at Tai and then at Gabumon, who shrugged. The reptile digimon then growled quietly before looking at Matt. He folded his arms in front of his chest and thought something. His thoughts revolved mainly around the crisis caused by Yggdrasil and his Royal Knights. But also because of his studies in space travel in America. Now that he was thinking of America. How Akira, Wanyamon, Mimi and Palmon beat each other there. The former American Digiritter once lived in the United States. So it was a good idea to let them travel there via distortion. Meanwhile, Gabumon recalled something from a long time ago.
Rhythmic-sounding footsteps echoed in the digital space. Omnimon walked through the area at a rather leisurely pace, which consisted only of lines and ones and zeros. His sapphire-blue eyes saw Jesmon and his master Gankoomon in the distance. The latter had his arms crossed in front of his chest and argued loudly with his student, who had just reached the ultimate-level.
"Really..." the man moaned angrily: "You're way too naive."
"Stop saying this all the time, sensei!" Jesmon exclaimed angrily: "I know I'm naive. Nevertheless, I will stand up to him!"
"You idiot!" Gankoomon shouted, giving the dragon man a head nut: "It's a command from Alphamon!"
"And?! If we attack any Digimon for no reason, it will come back to us! That's what Sir Omnimon said!"
"You don't need to talk him with Sir anymore, Jesmon. You are now a Royal Knight."
"I know. But nevertheless I have a lot of respect for Sir Omnimon."
"But still, you should follow Alphamon's commands."
"Why are you arguing?" asked Omnimon.
The fused knight approached and inspected the two ultimate-digimon. Jesmon nodded briefly to him before looking at his master. The man himself gritted his teeth. He himself did not want Omnimon to drill. Gankoomon always followed the orders of Alphamon, not Omnimon's. However, doubts slowly gnawed in him. Because Alphamon's commands became more and more extreme.
"Sir Alphamon asked me and Sir Examon to sink File Island into the sea," the dragon man explained.
"Don't obey the command," the fused Digimon decided, "not only because it is home to Ornithmon, but also because it is home to Primary Village."
"Alphamon himself said that this was an order from King Drasil," Gankoomon said.
"Nonsense!" Omnimon told them: "Never would Alphamon give such orders!"
"Look at it, Omnimon," said a fourth voice.
Examon emerged from a dark corner of the dark room. He had bitten his teeth on top of each other and growled a little.
"Sir Examon... What do you mean by that?" asked Jesmon.
"Alphamon is increasingly following King Drasil's commands. He is supposed to be the one who stopped him and controlled us..." the red-scaly dragon growled.
"But he is increasingly negatively influenced by King Drasil..." said a fifth voice.
This belonged to Sleipmon. She herself trotted to her comrades and looked at the man with indistinct eyes.
"Do you want to help Alphamon execute these commands, Gankoomon?" she asked softly.
"No," he replied, "I see for myself how extreme the orders are..."
"Too extreme," a sixth voice agreed.
"Gallantmon!" said Omnimon, astonished: "I thought you were on the continent Server."
"I was," he said.
Through his voice you could see that he wasn't in a good mood.
"The village I was supposed to destroy... Its inhabitants were in-training-level digimon," Gallantmon said.
"That goes too far now!" Sleipmon exclaimed angrily: "I will no longer obey King Drasil's orders."
"I won't either!" growled Examon, hitting his long tail on the ground in anger.
"Calm down you two. Act before you think," Jesmon tried to reassure her.
"Other way around, Jesmon," Gankoomon corrected him: "Think before you act."
"If we start thinking, we will not act," the white knight with the red cape declared.
"Normally I think about... But this time I'm acting first!" said Omnimon: "I'm going to talk to Alphamon about it... If he continues to obey King Drasil's orders, I will kill him."
"Isn't that a little too extreme?" the dragon man asked uncertainly.
"It's too extreme," the six-footed horse replied, scurrying to the ground with her right front hoove.
"He's our comrade, Omnimon," Gallantmon quipped.
"That's why I have to stop him," the fused knight raved, leaving his comrades without another word to lose.
His mind was racing. He himself was not ready for such measures, because he was good friends with Alphamon. And this would be his fate if he did not give everything and saw beyond his friendship with him. Omnimon stopped and sighed heavily. He didn't like how things were going. But did he have another choice? After all, he was the deputy leader of the Royal Knights and the right hand of the black knight. Alphamon moved into the field of view of the merged knight. He himself was talking to Craniamon, who left a short time later. The purple knight walked past Omnimon and cast an angry glance at him. When Craniamon disappeared from the sight of both Royal Knights, the black knight looked at his right hand.
"So you want me to stop obeying King Drasil's orders?" he asked.
"Craniamon listened to us, didn't he?" it sounded more like a guess than a question.
"Yes, he has. I am not going to oppose the orders of our Lord, Omnimon. You have to understand that the Homeostasis-"
"The Homeostasis only wants harmony!" the fused knight interrupted him: "It is a program created by King Drasil..."
"I'm aware of that, Omnimon. However, the Homeostasis is controlled by someone. We don't know who yet."
"The Homeostasis and controlled?! The only one who has contact with the Homeostasis is Jesmon, as he was created by it and acts as its messenger! He must have noticed if the Homeostasis was controlled by someone."
"Must?! But he doesn't have!"
"Because it's not true at all! Jesmon may still be young and naive, but he has good judgment and can assess the Homeostasis better than he does with King Drasil."
"Then you're blind, Omnimon."
"I'm not, Alphamon! You are blind, Alphamon! You are the one who should stop our Lord! That's your duty!" he waved his left arm to the side as he put his one foot forward, taking a slightly bent posture.
The black knight placed a hand on the shoulder of his right hand and then pressed it lightly. Finally, he said:
"Omnimon... You are my closest friend. If you betray me, I will never forgive you, even if you are reborn."
With that, he let go of his shoulder and began to move. Omnimon stood down normally and gritted his teeth. When he could no longer hear his friend, he spoke softly:
"Alphamon... Why? Why did you just change so much? Do you trust King Drasil so much? Do you trust him so much that you no longer doubt him?"