Angel of Vengeance
Chapter 6 Part 2: The First Test
Renamon couldn't see the Clown— or as it claimed to prefer, the Violator. The fact that he was back in her head meant the creature couldn't be too far, though. She was pretty sure his telepathic abilities had a limit to their range. Otherwise he could have been messing with her psychically since their battle.
"What's the matter, monster? Afraid to face me?" The DigiSpawn taunted.
"You should be so lucky," The Violator's voice sounded in her mind again. "You beat me once, and that's all yer gettin'."
Standing to her full height, chains clattering and flexing, cape snapping in a non-existent breeze, Renamon dropped into a fighting stance. "We'll see."
The attack was only dodged due to Renamon's hearing. The creature was unnaturally silent despite the sheer size of the beast. No human would have been able to hear it. Her nature as a Digimon— possibly bolstered by her new powers, though she couldn't have said for certain— allowed her to pick up on the minute scrapings of the thing's claws. She still only just avoided it. Her chains moved on their own, extending, and driving into the creature with all the force of a baseball bat a full force to a human spine. But the creature that stood before her was not the Violator.
Renamon stared in incomprehension at what stood before her. At first glance it was extraordinarily similar to the Violator. The arms and legs were nearly identical in proportion. It had several bony protrusions emerging from the central mass of its body, but was a chalky, mottled grey, compared to the bright blue that bordered on white that she remembered from the battle with the Violator.
A relative? The Digital HellSpawn wondered to herself as the thing turned with a growl. It crouched, the right leg twitching. It watched Renamon through multifaceted, blood red eyes. The two hellborn creatures were still as statues. Neither moved, and even at a close enough distance it would be hard to tell if either was breathing. Only the rustle of Renamon's cape and the jangle of the chains at her waist in the wind gave any indication that the two weren't inanimate objects.
Some unseen signal set the two in motion. The Violator-like creature slashed with its claws as Renamon darted towards it. Moving with ease born from countless battles fought in the Digital World, Renamon sidestepped it and slammed both fists into the creature's distended lower jaw. The chains at her waist joined in a split second later, and the combined force of both blows lifted the monster into the air and flying across the street where it crashed heavily into a large wall.
"Nicely played, Digi-bitch," The Violator's voice sounded in her head. "Ain't many people who can take my little buddy down like that. But now you gotta fight the champ."
From below the street, the Violator erupted through the pavement, roaring in fury and swatting Renamon through the steeple of the church whenere she collapsed within in pain. The Phlebiac monster was just as horrific as before, but now with the other beast in tow, he was a greater threat. Renamon's eyes narrowed. That had been a nearly perfect opportunity to take her out. But the Digital HellSpawn was still alive and kicking.
Or as close to it as HellSpawn ever got, at least.
He could have killed me, Renamon mused as she pulled herself to her feet. Her new healing abilities had kicked in, dulling the pain. So why didn't he take the opportunity?
She had no time to ponder it, using her teleportation ability to escape from a dual attack from the leaping monstrosities. Emerging in the skies above, she crossed her arms over herself, gathering the more familiar power of her signature attack, even as the church steeple gave her unintended cover. The hell beasts were thrashing around in berserker madness at having missed their intended target.
"DIAMOND STORM!"
Shards of black light lanced towards the monsters. The Violator, remembering this from their first encounter, grabbed his red-skinned compatriot and forcibly threw him into the descending barrage, shielding himself from the worst of it. The red skinned beast shrieked in unholy agony even as the attack did further damage to the church, breaking away and falling into the church below.
The parishioners hadn't been foolish enough to remain in the building, thankfully, streaming out in fear the moment the crashing around outside had begun. It seemed like everyone would get out safely. But fate, it seems, had other ideas.
"Mommy!"
"Akiko!" A woman had turned and was trying to get back into the church, only to be grabbed by the arms by two other church-goers. "Let me go, my daughter's still in there!"
Renamon's ears twitched as she heard this. It took her less than a second to find the child, pinned beneath a steel beam, but looking otherwise unharmed. But that beam wouldn't protect her for much longer if any other pieces of the church came loose. The child couldn't have been more than seven or eight and seemed terrified out of her wits. The Digital HellSpawn supposed she couldn't blame her. This had probably been an extremely slow day at first. If not for her, this child might have gone home to play with friends or watch television. But now, because she was the target of things from the Hell which this child and her family believed in as part of their religion, she might well perish.
Gravity tried to take hold of Renamon, but she defied it, teleporting again, this time to inside the church itself, throwing debris aside one handed. The child— Akiko— was still desperately calling for her mother, who was likewise trying to regain entry to the structure. Renamon held up one hand to the adults.
"Stay where you are! I will bring the child to you!" she called as she reached the beam that the girl had been trapped under. Her chains snaked around the thing and hurled it away as though it were little more than a Styrofoam coaster. The Digital HellSpawn took half a second to wonder about that, before reaching down to scoop the girl up in her arms. "I have you little one," she said in what she hoped was a comforting tone. "You'll be safe with your parents soon enough."
"In your dreams, you stupid fox-fuck."
It wasn't the Violator this time. The voice that had sounded in her was not the one the Violator issued. She launched herself sidewise just in time to keep the child from being snatched by the red-skinned demon. The Violator himself watched from the steeple above.
"Out of my way, beast. This doesn't concern the humans."
The monster just laughed in her head, and slammed its hand into the floor, which shattered and cracked. Renamon's chains spiked upwards into the roof and pulled her and the girl away from the ground. Luckily, this church had no basement. Renamon wasn't sure if the child could have escaped the fall without injury even if she had turned herself to take the impact. But the creature was hardly done. Its hand began to pulsate with a strange light, and Renamon's senses screamed at her again. The chains let go of the remains of the roof and her cape leapt around her and the girl as her feet hit the ground, hardening to an impossible degree. The sound ot wood, metal and even glass slamming into the place where they'd been moments ago reached the ears of human and Digimon alike.
The girl, afraid at first of Renamon's mask and appearance, now clung to her in mortal fear of what was going on around her.
"You will be safe, child. I promise," Renamon whispered to her. "Trust that you will be returned to your mother safely. But we need to get out of here. Will you trust me to get you out of here?"
Still whimpering in horror, the little girl nodded against Renamon's side and clutched at her armor a bit more firmly. Behind her mask, Renamon smiled. The girl was scared beyond belief. But she hadn't completely lost her head or begun struggling to get away from her, which made things easier as she moved. Despite having increased in density the way it had, it still moved when Renamon needed it to, and she needed it to now. The distant sound of police sirens on the approach made her worry. She doubted that the humans— the Hypnos group aside— were any better equipped to deal with Digimon than they had been prior to her death. Meaning that the chance of them being able to handle demons would be somewhere between slim and none. And slim had choked on its own entrails five years ago.
There has to be a way to get the girl out of here without putting her at more than minimal risk.... But how? Renamon asked herself desperately. She had no idea what powers these things had, and even less of an idea what abilities her new body truly had. She knew the chains and cape would respond to her thoughts, and Cogliostro had intimated there was more to her than just a suit that responded to her desires or to danger when it threatened her.
"Jeez! I know they said something weird was going on, but seriously, what the hell?!"
Renamon's eyes widened in surprise and the two demons turned in surprise.
Beelzemon and Megidramon had arrived. Takato slid off the Dragon of the Hazard with an ease that spoke of this being a regular thing. Ruki, a little less used to it, accepted a hand down from both Takato and Jenrya, who had apparently ridden on Behemoth with the Demon Lord Digimon. A few moments later, Rapidmon descended from the air, coming down with a heavy mettalic thunk.
"Renamon, are you alright?" Takato called, pulling his D-Arc out and sliding open a holder on his side that housed his cards.
"Your timing is impeccable," she called back. "I'm fine, but I'm not alone. I can't fight them and keep the child safe at the same time!"
The Tamers and Digimon's body language snapped into a more serious state at the mention of a child in danger.
"Megidramon, Beelzemon, can you distract those things long enough for Renamon to get the kid to safety?" Takato asked. Renamon's eyes widened at the commanding tone he had taken on.
Instead of verbally replying, the Demon Lord and the Dragon of the Hazard moved forward and split away from the group, their focus solely on the hellish things staring at them, taken by surprise, and thus unable to stop the Digimon from slamming into each of them. The red skinned thing was caught be Beelzemon, as his wings emerged, and seconds later, they were barreling into the sky. The demon roared in frustration, and began pounding on Beelzemon's back, but the Demon Lord Digimon was incensed at the idea of these things threatening a child, and with rage came adrenaline, dulling whatever pain he might have otherwise felt to little more than a dull throb at best. Spotting a nearby lot, long abandoned by the people of Shinjuku, but still containing a building slowly crumbling from age, Beelzemon changed his flight path and slammed himself and the hell-thing into a wall at top speed.
Fast! Renamon thought, as the attack occurred in less than six seconds from start to finish. She knew Impon's mega form and its Blast Mode state were incredibly powerful, but this was beyond anything she expected. Megidramon took advantage of Violator's distracted state and lashed out with his sinuous, bony tail and lashed it through the remains of the steeple. Taking this as her cue, Renamon launched herself out of the church, cape receding from her as she did so. Quickly finding the woman who had identified Akiko as her daughter, she landed before her from the leap through the threshold of the church, and gently held the girl out.
Parent and child needed no prompting, as the girl immediately grasped at her mother, who in turn scooped her away from Renamon and nodded her thanks with a teaful smile.
"She's a bit shaken, but unharmed otherwise, as I promised," the Digital HellSpawn affirmed.
"What are those things?" the mother asked, only to receive a shake of the head.
"I don't know. I know what they've claimed to be, but I could care less if they're telling the truth," Renamon returned as she spun around to watch the battle. "They're a danger to the city, my friends, and the man I love…I don't need to know anything beyond that!"
With that declaration— leaving a redfaced Takato tugging at his ponytail in embarrassment (and a bit of flattered shyness at such a bold proclamation) in her wake— the HellSpawn launched herself into the fray.
Rika was caught between worry for Beelzemon and Megidramon, revulsion at the sight of the two bizarre looking things with the distended jaws, and irritation at how casually Renamon— she still had trouble accepting that— could speak of having feelings for Takato. Her Takato. She hadn't understood how and when the brunette tamer had snuck into her heart, but he had. And the idea that Renamon wanted him too…had literally come back from the dead to be at his side…she had no idea how to deal with it.
"Get the fuck off me!" the red skinned thing roared, speaking mentally, but not directing at anyone, and thus allowing anyone within mental 'earshot' to pick it up. It had been caught in Beelzemon's grasp again and was pounding on his back as it attempted to wriggle itself free.
"Go ta hell!" Was Beelzemon's succinct reply.
"Don't be stupid. I can't go back while I'm on a job!" the thing replied.
Beelzemon's three eyes narrowed and he snorted, driving a knee into whatever passed for the monster's stomach, releasing his grip just as it folded over in pain. He pulled two guns. One from his waist and another from behind his back and trained both on the thing.
"You seem to think that was a request," the Demon Lord Digimon scowled. A split second later, twin triggers were pulled.
"DOUBLE IMPACT!"
The attack was unleashed at point blank range. The smell of flesh sizzling from the amount of heat conducted by the bullets was detectable even at range. But the thing did not die. It chirred and growled. It tried in desperation to evade in futile haste from the attack. It thrashed about in agony. But it. Did. Not. Die.
Beelzemon snarled in disbelief. The thing should have been just bloody chunks at most and a red smear at best. But despite unloading enough firepower in that attack to take down a heard of Mammothmon, the creature was still alive. And more horrifyingly, it was putting itself back together. The injuries it had sustained were closing and knitting themselves back together.
"Oh you gotta be shitting me," Beelzemon muttered in disbelief.
The thing didn't bother with a verbal response, instead grabbing the Mega Digimon and bringing it in for a roundhouse to the face, maintaining his grip to send Beelzemon hurtling back the way they'd come. Before it could take any kind of breather, however, Renamon was on the monstrosity. With Violator forced to deal with Megidramon, she had diverted to the other beast, wanting to prevent it from regaining its footing. Her chains caught one of its legs and yanked. The thing went sprawling. Following up immediately, Renamon drove multiple Power Paw strikes into its chest and face. By the time she had pulled back to catch her breath, the thing looked like it'd been through a meat tenderizer.
And as before, the thing was healing. Just like she had.
"This could go on forever…" she muttered to herself in irritation. As the thing began to move again, Renamon pondered her next move even as she charged up another Power Paw, wishing against all obvious facts to the contrary that she could just end this all with a simple gesture.
Her hand began to flicker and then blaze with a green glow not unlike that of her eyes as she thrust her arm forward for another Power Paw. But this time, it stumbled back just enough to avoid contact. Sighting the glow, its eyes widened even as the energy surrounding her fist seemed to brighten further. The creature howled in utter disgust and rage as it too began to take on the same glow. Renamon could feel something in her fighting through her body. The glow of her fist had called something else from within her new form, and as the green energy burst, she was forced to close her eyes for the merest of moments. When she opened them, the beast was gone, leaving only a wisp of smoke behind.
"Oh give me a fucking break!" the voice of the Violator railed across the minds of all within mental earshot. "Now she pulls a HellSpawn power outta her ass?!"
The Violator had been pressed far more than he thought the Dragon of the Hazard to be capable of. But a moment's overextension on a slash of his claws had given the Phlebiac monster a chance to get away from him, only to feel a familiar jolt of power. He'd seen any number of Spawn pull that little trick. But this time had been far stronger than it should have been. Still, at least it was a start—
"The fucking Hell?"
Something was wrong. He had seen The Tormenter he'd brought up vanish, but the feel of it was different. Not just because the Digital Bitch had used more power than she needed for that kinda stunt. No, there was something else. He took a closer look at Renamon, seeing him through more than just his eyes. What was—
The Violator's eyes widened, and if possible, his distended jaw somehow managed to drop in shock.
'Fuck me with a barbed wire bat…' the demon thought to himself.
Faced with this new information, the creature summoned a puke brown mist and vanished from sight.
"…The fuck just happened?" Megidramon asked as he righted himself and the fighters converged near the now ruined church as the Hypnos vans and police cars began to arrive.
"I have no clue," Renamon answered, shaking her head. "I'm not sorry to see the things leave, though."
"How did you kill that red one?" Takato inquired. He was just putting his cell phone away, having made Yamaki aware of what was happening. Hypnos agents disembarked from the vans and began using various devices to take energy readings from the battlefield.
"I…. don't think I did," Renamon said slowly. "I don't know what happened, but something tells me its not dead. Just… not here."
"Very astute, Renamon," The group turned to see Cogliostro approach. "That ability is standard for most Spawn, but few manage to learn to use it, in a somewhat ironic twist. It's a means to send lesser demons back to Hell."
"I could feel a…I don't know how to describe it. But my body felt like I had hooked into the beast and then that hook had become attached to something else. Something that tried to pull us both with it but couldn't hold me."
"Hmmm," Cogliostro's gaze turned hard as he looked Renamon over. He stepped closer, and placed his hand on her chest just below her collarbone, and his hand pulsed briefly with blue light. His eyes widened and the old man took a step back. "Well, now isn't that interesting…?"
"What?" Ruki interjected herself, having stayed quiet this whole time. "What's interesting."
"I need to see your device," Cogliostro turned to her, not answering her question. "The one that bears Renamon's mask as sigil."
Ruki was about to object, but Takato snagged it from her belt and handed it over to Cogliostro. She turned to chew him out, but the brunette shook his head at her. Something about the way the old westerner was talking made Takato think things were about to change again. There was an intensity to his tone that they hadn't yet heard from him.
The device was examined minutely by the old man, and after a few moments, he pressed it against Renamon's now ample breasts, sliding it under her jaw where her throat met the collar bones. Another blue pulse flashed from it and Cog's hand. He pulled the device back and returned it to Ruki. "Well, one bit of interesting news," he rumbled in curiosity.
"What's that?" Jenrya asked.
"It would seem that Renamon did not make a deal with Malebolgia…"
The Unenviable Author's Post-notes!:
Well, another year, another Halloween. This time, I managed to get things done just in time. I hope that this update finds everyone as safe and healthy as possible. The pandemic has sucked all around and killed a lot of fun for those of us who attend conventions. But on the other hand, it gave me a little more time to get the fic's next chapter written.
So, a mystery appears! Renamon didn't make a deal with Malebolgia? That certainly lends itself to some intriguing questions, now don't it? Don't worry gang, there will be answers coming. What those answers will mean for our heroes though, that I'll have to keep close to the chest for now.
Happy Halloween folks! Remember, may your night be filled with frightful fun and candy to match the power of the sun!
*At this point, Godzilla pops up and waves.*
Godzilla: HAPPY HALLOWEEN EVERYBODY! ^.^
Yeah, what he said. And don't forget to Review!