Author's note: Sorry for the late update.
Chapter 44 – A new foe
"Then it's finally over?" asked Dorumon: "Finally... At last, this nightmare is over."
He was really relieved that King Drasil was finally dead. The god had been responsible for so much suffering. Even his personal suffering through Piedmon's sphere... King Drasil would have been able to remove the sphere, but had not done so, as the god thought it was an advantage to have a faithful subordinate. The DigiDestined, their partner, Sera, Shin, Guilmon and Kudamon were also pleased with this news.
"No." said the in-training digimon: "The nightmare... It has only just begun."
Everyone looked at the in-training digimon in shock.
"W-what do you mean?" asked Mimi shrilly: "What do you mean by that?"
"Is King Drasil still alive?" was Palmon's question.
"No. King Drasil is dead..." Akira began: "But-"
"But what? Spit it out, Akira!" Matt asked her.
"Calm down, Matt," Gabumon rebuked him.
"King Drasil was controlled by someone all the time." Wanyamon said.
"What? Who?" asked Guilmon.
"He was controlled by a Digimon called Deemon." Sera's daughter said.
"Deemon?" her mother repeated.
She had never heard of this name.
"Deemon?!" shouted Veemon, clenching his hands to fists.
"That's..." Yolei broke off.
"That is..", T.K. also broke off.
"Yes. It is." the in-training digimon said.
"No." Kari's eyes widened with shock.
"This can't be... But how?" asked Armadillomon: "How can he escape from Dark Ocean?"
"We don't know" Akira replied.
"Oh no." Dorumon said.
"Oh no what?" Davis looked at the purple dragon inquiringly.
"I... I gave Deemon Apocalymon's data when I was still controlled by Piedmon's sphere." Alphamon's rookie level dropped his ears and he crunched his teeth.
"You did what?!" shouted Guilmon.
"Guilmon..." Kudamon said: "Please don't be so angry with him. It doesn't help us."
"That's a disaster!" Cody exclaimed: "Do you know how strong this Deemon is?"
"Pretty strong, isn't he?" said Tai.
"We had a lot of trouble banishing him to the Dark Oceab at the time." Ken explained, gritting his teeth.
"Oh yes. It was damn difficult." Gatomon raved.
"He was way too strong for us." Patamon agreed.
"It was impossible to kill him." Hawkmon recalled.
"Exactly!" agreed Wormmon: "Even me and Veemon as Imperialdramon couldn't do anything."
"So how can Omnimon and the others do something?" asked Gomamon.
"Maybe with that superform he used in the fight against Ordinemon?" suggested Sora.
"We can't even fuse with Omnimon anymore." Biyomon said.
"How do you even want to make it?" was Agumon's question.
"Maybe we should ask the Sovereigns for help." Shin said.
"The Sovereigns..." Izzy repeated thoughtfully: "You have been their partners."
"It should work with the Sovereigns." Hackmon replied: "They easily defeated the Dark Masters."
"But where do we find them?" asked Meiko.
"I don't know," replied the four-footed dragon.
"The Sovereign... Any information about them, genius?" asked Davis Izzy.
"According to the database not..." replied the 'genius'.
"According to Sora's father, they should present the four cardinal directions," Yolei said.
"North, South, West and East," Hawkmon added.
"That's true," Shin agreed: "Azulongmon, Ebonwumon, Zhuqiaomon and Baihumon... The former had been my partner. I remember when he was still a Gotsumon."
"Right... You two were DigiDestined" Tai said.
"Not only us." Sera smiled: "Even Kato, Maki and Daigo. Together we have stopped the Dark Masters."
"We met Azulongmon once." T.K. said.
"He was huge." Patamon recalled.
"Oh yes." Armadillomon confirmed.
"We had never seen such a big digimon before." Cody continued.
"Sorry, if I bring you back from the memories." Wanyamon moaned: "But how do we find these Sovereigns now?"
"We are looking for them!" cried Mimi.
"And how?" was Gatomon's question: "They're unlikely to appear here."
"Maybe we should look in the respective directions?" suggested Kari.
"Good idea." Tai said.
"Then we should split up." Matt concluded.
"And we hardly have any strength anymore." Agumon said.
"Let's say we couldn't digivolve right now." Gabumon continued.
"The fight against King Drasil was exhausting," Biyomon said.
"So... What are we doing now?" asked Joe.
"I would suggest that we rest." Ken said, "Our digimon are completely exhausted and they could desperately need a break."
"Good idea..." Wormmon agreed.
"I want to eat something!" cried Palmon.
"Me too!" agreed Gomamon.
Kari laughed.
"But we don't have anything with us." Sora said.
"Then we look for something to eat." Meiko said.
"Melons wouldn't be bad." Veemon said.
"I'd like some fruit." Tentomon continued.
"When we're already there. I'd like a banana!" cried Akira.
"Bread please." Guilmon agreed.
"Carrots." Kudamon said.
Dorumon sighed heavily. They always wanted to eat food.
"Fights cannot be fought when the stomach growls!" complained Wanyamon.
"Okay!" cried Tai, "Then we're looking for something to eat!"
After the group had eaten and fried various fruits by the campfire, one part lay down to sleep, while the other part chatted quietly. Shin stretched out before his eyes wandered to his girlfriend, who was lying next to him and was asleep. He smiled softly and brushed a strand out of her face.
"I still can't believe she's my mother." said Akira, who had watched the loving gesture.
"To learn that your sister is actually your mother..." Meiko said, looking down at Hackmon, who had rolled up in her lap.
As always, his hood was pulled over his head.
"Well... I can feel with you, Akira." said Izzy, who searched for useful information in his laptop.
Tentomon himself had not yet fallen asleep, but was also very tired. Kudamon had made herself comfortable on Shin's shoulders. The white weasel seemed to be enjoying that someone carried her. And Dorumon was also awake and listened to the conversation.
"Really?" asked Sera's daughter.
"My biological parents died in a car accident." the redhead explained: "But I'm glad who my parents are."
"Are they very nice?" was the question of the black-haired.
"Yes. They are very friendly and accommodating. They support me and quickly realized that I have a talent for computers."
"I think Sera is just like that." Akira replied.
"My parents are like that too." Meiko said, gently stroking Hackmon's head: "What about you Shin?"
"My parents died when I was six." Mr. Kawa said: "That's why I was adopted."
"Do you still have contact with your parents?" was Izzy's question.
"No. I broke off contact when I found a job..."
"Why did you cut off contact?" asked Kudamon.
"They were no longer interested in me. But I didn't really care. I had Sera..."
"Sera means a lot to you, doesn't she?" said Dorumon.
"Yes. We are planning to be marrie-"
"What!" cried Akira.
"Sht. Otherwise you wake up the others, Akira." Shin rebuked her.
"Sorry," she began to smile: "But then I want to help Sera choosing her wedding dress."
"You can do that for sure." Mr. Kawa assured her as Izzy slammed his laptop shut.
"I don't know what you're doing, but I'm going to lie down now." the redhead said, stretching out and laying down on the floor.
Tentomon also made himself comfortable and let himself sink to the bottom.
"Do that." Shin replied, smiling.
Meiko grabbed Hackmon by the body and gently lifted him up before she laid him on the floor. She made herself comfortable next to him and closed her eyes. Akira smiled at her mother's boyfriend and stroked Wanyamon's fur.
"Sometimes I still can't believe I'm a DigiDestined." she admitted.
"Sometimes it seems so unreal to me."
"But by becoming a DigiDestined, you've changed a lot." Mr. Kawa said.
"You think so?"
"Yes. You used to be much more aggressive... now you are calmer."
"Thank you... But I still have a long way to go..."
"Do you still want to be a policewoman?" he asked her at one point.
"No." she shook her head.
"I want to be a singer!" she laughed: "That was a joke."
"So what do you want to become?"
"I don't know..."
"Hm..." Shin closed his eyes and began to think, "You like to write, don't you?"
"Writing..." she repeated tonelessly: "I can't imagine that I want to do this for a lifetime."
"What are your hobbies?" was Kudamon's question.
"My hobbies are writing and being in nature." Akira replied.
"How about biologist?" suggested Mr. Kawa.
"Apart from being extremely bad in biology." Sera's daughter raised an eyebrow and took her partner into her hands.
She laid him on the floor and joined him immediately.
"What else do you want to do?" Shin asked her.
"I don't know," she said, yawning.
"Okay." Mr. Kawa nodded: "Then sleep first, Akira."
"That's what I'm going to do. Good night, Shin." she closed her eyes.
Shin watched his girlfriend's daughter long and tacitly. When he first met her, he didn't really like her, even though he knew at the time that Akira was Sera's daughter. It was only with time that he began to understand why she behaved in this way and showed more understanding, although hardly a day passed when they argued. Basically, Mr. Kawa was very happy that Sera's daughter was a DigiDestined.
"Say, Kudamon..." Shin began.
"Yes?" she looked at him curiously.
"What would you have two in mind if King Drasil hadn't been controlled by this Deemon?" he asked her.
"Me and Guilmon would continue to operate under the Homeostasis' command and protect the digital world."
"So you are not planning to rebuild the Royal Knights?"
"The Homeostasis wants this, but I don't think it should be like that. Some of the Royal Knights is dead ... Three want nothing more to do with it... Dorumon probably wants to rebuild the Royal Knights, while Agumon, Gabumon, Veemon, Hackmon and Wanyamon also have no interest in it..." she digressed.
"And what is it for you and Guilmon?"
"I don't know... I myself don't really want the Royal Knights to be rebuild... Too much has happened, therefore. What I want is actually to have a human partner, like Hackmon..."
"Like Hackmon?"
"Yes. He was supposed to be Meiko's partner, as he was immersed in deep solitude and he didn't care about anything. But King Drasil had created Meicoomon, which is why she became her partner, not Hackmon. Eventually, when Hackmon was killed by Alphamon, he could finally become Meiko's partner... The Homeostasis had fulfilled his wish. A life that was not marked by loneliness." she closed her eyes and breathed audibly.
"I see... Do you have a human in sight?" Shin asked her.
"No."
"How about me." he joked.
"You really wanted to be my partner?" she sounded astonished, but also happy.
"Maybe."
"You were just joking, weren't you?" said Kudamon, her voice freezing cold.
"Yes." he admitted: "But I really wouldn't mind becoming a DigiDestined again. Then I could travel with Akira through the digital world... And then we would have something in common."
'I'm going to talk to the Homeostasis about it. Maybe I can become your partner."
Mr. Kawa smiled and took the white weasel into his hands. He smiled at her with delight. Both would be pleased with this idea. Eventually Kudamon had to yawn and the two decided to sleep. Tomorrow's day will be exhausting with the search for the sovereigns.
When Shin and Kudamon fell asleep, Guilmon opened an eye and looked at Sleipmon's rookie level. He had not been able to sleep, so he had heard the whole conversation. The red dinosaur straightened up and distanced itself from the group.
"What are you going?" a voice asked him.
Guilmon turned around and saw Sera looking at him.
"I just wanted to go for a short walk." he said.
"You listened to the conversation between Shin and Kudamon, didn't you?" she said.
"And..."
"Would you like to have a human partner?"
"Yes... But..." he interrupted himself.
"But what?"
"I'm a pretty dangerous digimon. If I had a human partner, its negative emotions would very quickly affect me and I would go through a black digivolution. Therefore, for my own protection, I do not want to have a human partner."
"I see..." she looked down a little disappointed.
"There is nothing personal against you... You are a very loving and sincere person... But it is precisely such people who can be very easily injured."
"I know." she sighed: "When Akira came to me she was constantly screaming at me... And once she ran away, I was worried about her. I'm probably a pretty emotional person."
"That's a good thing. You can talk to others well."
"I can do that. Shin always gives me the strength to get through everything... I can talk to him about my worries and fears. Even then it was like that when we were DigiDestined."
"If we find the Sovereigns, you would be very happy."
"Yes," she smiled candidly to him: "I can see Ebonwumon again. I missed her very much."
"I see..." he smiled at her and sat down.
Sera yawned extensively and held her hand in front of her mouth. She, too, was tired.
"I'm so happy to see the digital world again. It is just as beautiful as I have in my memories." she said, before laying down and falling asleep within seconds.
/Maybe.../ the red dinosaur began: /Maybe I should lie down soon... Tomorrow will be a busy day./
So Guilmon settled down to the ground and closed his eyes.
The next morning, the whole group went south. Their goal was to find one of the Sovereigns... However, because Deemon could attack them, Dorumon decided that they would not split up.
"Hm... How are we supposed to find the Sovereign?" Davis asked after a while: "Isn't it that they suddenly appear before us..."
"Azulongmon did it." Veemon said.
"But only because BlackWarGreymon had destroyed the Holy Stones..." Wormmon clarified.
Agumon growled quietly at the mention of BlackWarGreymon.
"The Holy Stones were destroyed?!" shouted Shin, disenchanted.
"Yes..." Yolei said depressed.
"Don't worry... Azulongmon repaired the damage." Ken said.
"But I'm relieved... It was quite difficult to put up the stones." Sera said.
"What are these stones?" asked Wanyamon.
"They made sure that the digital world, our world and other worlds didn't mix." Hawkmon replied.
"That's not quite true." Mr. Kawa said: "Originally, we set up these stones to weaken the Dark Masters."
"Didn't help much," continued his girlfriend and partner: "We were nevertheless defeated by the Dark Masters..."
"Until the Homeostasis stepped in and digivolved your partners to the Sovereigns." Hackmon said.
"Is the Homeostasis so powerful?" was Sora's question.
"Yes." Guilmon replied.
"But why didn't it help us with the Meicoomon thing?" asked Joe.
"The Homeostasis is not omnipotent. It has its limits." Kudamon said.
"For example?" asked Biyomon.
"No digimon who had died in the human world can be revived." the white weasel sighed, as she was thinking of her subordinate DarkKnightmon, who had died fighting Gankoomon.
"How do you know that, Kudamon?" was Kari's question.
"Because a subordinate of us had died in the human world." Guilmon sighed.
"Who?" asked Dorumon.
"DarkKnightmon." Kudamon replied.
The purple dragon's face fell. Even a faithful subordinate of the Royal Knights was killed by King Drasil, no by Deemon.
"Dorumon? Are you okay?" Mimi asked him.
"DarkKnightmon had been a close friend of mine... I didn't think he was..." Dorumon broke off and looked into the distance: "Let's leave it."
For quite a while, everyone remained silent until Tentomon spoke:
"I doubt we have a chance against Deemon at all."
"We don't have a chance, Tentomon," Wanyamon said: "He was, after all, the one who killed almost all the Royal Knights... It was only with difficulty that the survivors were able to banish him into the Dark Ocean."
"And the survivors were?" was Cody's question.
"Me, Magnamon, Alphamon and Jesmon," replied the in-training digimon: "While me and Magnamon were so badly wounded that we had to rest for a while."
"So this Deemon was responsible for the fact that the Royal Knights were almost completely wiped out." Matt said.
"Yes..." Gabumon confirmed depressed: "It was all his fault..."
"Don't let yourself be dragged down!" Armadillomon encouraged them.
"Armadillomon is right. We have to fight him and defeat him. We will do it!" cried Palmon.
"Euphoric as always, right Palmon?" laughed Tai.
"That's a good thing..." said Gomamon: "I don't like a gloomy mood at all!"
"I don't like a gloomy mood either..." Patamon agreed.
"We just shouldn't lose hope." T.K. said.
"Exactly!" confirmed Gatomon.
"You are really something!" Akira laughed happily.
"We're, after all DigiDestined." Izzy replied, smiling.
"We always see everything so optimistically." Tentomon said.
"And that's why I like such group trips." Meiko smiled.
From the corner of his eye, Agumon suddenly noticed blue flames shooting at Dorumon.
"Dorumon, watch out!" the yellow dinosaur shouted, throwing himself against the purple dragon, bringing it down.
"What?" Veemon immediately looked around for the attacker.
Then he saw him, he began to growl furiously. Guilmon also growled, while Hackmon and Gabumon stared calmly and yet boiled with rage at the Digimon. Kudamon shrugged a little. Davis, Cody, Yolei, Ken, Kari, T.K., Armadillomon, Hawkmon, Wormmon, Gatomon and Patamon also identified the attacker.
"Deemon!" the red dinosaur growled angrily.
The said Digimon wore a dark red robe over his body. Two gigantic wings grew on the back. The outer skin of it was black, while the inside was purple. From his sleeves you could see a blue hand with five fingers and red claws. The edge of the sleeves as well as the end of the robe were decorated with a grey ribbon and yellow ornaments. Above the Elle there was a grey stripe on the sleeves, each with a yellow edge on and below the said stripe. Over his torso was a grey, pointed sash with yellow rim and decorated with green runes. Above it hung a chain consisting of black pearls and a circle with rune-like recesses. Deemon's face was obscured by a dark red hood that revealed only his blue eyes and light grey horns. There was a yellow star on this hood.
"I have to thank you sincerely, Alphamon." the demon drawled: "By receiving Apocalymon's data, I was finally able to escape from the Dark Ocean."
"So you were the one who controlled King Drasil! " Wanyamon growled angrily.
"Please. King Drasil was flawed from the start. How else could I have controlled him so easily? He was constantly making mistakes... Project Arch, because the digital wolrd was overpopulated. The not chosen digimon were killed by the Royal Knights and later by DexDorugremon."
"That's why I exist!" cried Dorumon: "I've always stopped King Drasil."
"Why I turned you in the first place... What do you think? Why did the Dark Masters want to resurrect Apocalymon?" asked Deemon the DigiDestined.
"We don't know." Joe admitted.
"Because I told them that Apocalymon will hand over the rule of the digital world... They were very easily manipulated because they just wanted to be accepted."
T.K. gritted his teeth as he remembered Puppetmon. He just wanted to have friends and they had just attacked him without questioning why he had kidnapped Matt's brother.
"That..." Tai broke off.
"We virus type digimon always wanted to be accepted." the demon continued: "But King Drasil had created us to destroy the world."
Deemon collected blue flames between his hands.
"Not all virus type digimon are malicious!" cried Wormmon.
"I've never said that." said the demon: "We virus type digimon are capable of destroying the world. So don't you want to tell me, little insect, that you don't have any inner destructive instincts?"
The green insect remained silent as Ken lifted him up and quietly muttered his name.
"Yes, we virus type digimon can destroy the digital world! But we don't want to do that and we're doing everything we can to make sure we're not what we're being branded for!" Guilmon said.
"However. You won't have to live long anyway! Your suffering is now coming to an end." Deemon replied, firing blue flames at the group.
"Kudamon warp-digivolve to... Sleipmon!" she was able to stand in front of everyone just in time.
The flames engulfed her, while Sleipmon let a scream of pain. When the attack faded, her left front leg buckled and she breathed heavily in and out. Her eyes were closed as her entire body trembled in pain.
"F-flee..." she advised: "I'm trying... to stop... him…"
"I'm going to help you!" the red dinosaur shouted: "Guilmon warp-digivolve too... Gallantmon!"
"Sleipmon! Gallantmon!" screamed Dorumon.
The knight-digimon looked at the purple dragons and said:
"Flee! We will stop him!"
Alphamon's rookie level closed his eyes, while the others looked shocked at the two Royal Knights.
"We have to go. Don't let this opportunity pass." Tai said.
"Tai!" said Kari: "We can't just do it like this. They need our-"
"We just can't do anything about Deemon." Dorumon interrupted her with tears in her eyes.
A few of the group swallowed heavily. Then everyone started to flee.
"You know you don't have a chance against me." the demon said as the group fled.
"We know that... But we will help our friends!" said Gallantmon.
"Even if... if it... will cost… our life…"
"Then you will die now!" cried Deemon, igniting an attack that knocked Sleipmon to the ground.
"Sleipmon!" the knight-digimon knelt down to her.
"I'm sorry..." she quioped, closing her eyes: "I can... not... con… tinue…"
"Don't worry. I'm going to hold him off."
"Thank you..." she exhaled before her body dissolved into data.
Gallantmon looked behind the data. Tears formed in his eyes, which he quickly swallowed down. With an angry outcry, he ran to the demon and tried to put him down with his lance. But he dodged to the side and rammed his hand into the knight's armor. Gallantmon tried to hit Deemon with his lance. But before the weapon could reach the demon, he also dissolved into a thousand data.
