(A/N: So, it seemed I got some positive opinions about Bagramon joining the fray, along with some other interesting predictions of what's to come. I also had someone ask if what happened with Seraphimon and Ophanimon DNA Digivolving was TK somehow escaping his prophecy of death. Sadly, no it wasn't. TK merely wondered if that was going to be the moment, but AncientWisemon said that TK would give up his life for his friends, so his prophecy is still going to be hanging over his head. But more on that later. For now, let's see how our heroes react when they learn about their new enemy.)
Disclaimer: I own nothing.
Chapter 148: Divine Exposition
"Bagramon?" Tai repeated. "Never heard of him before."
An angry growl escaped Shoutmon. "That's because no one likes to talk about him. He's the biggest traitor in history. He actually betrayed the Digimon God himself."
Takato's eyes widened. "He actually betrayed the Digimon God? Wow, that's bad. Like, really bad."
Azulongmon closed his eyes. "It is true. Bagramon was once what would be described as the right hand man of the Digimon God. One could even go as far as to call him a former Digimon Sovereign."
Shoutmon let out what could only be described as a hiss. "You saw a representation of him before. Remember when Asuramon was going to be mated to Beastmon. Bagramon was one of the two golden statues in the church at the end of the aisle in front of the stained glass representation of the Digimon God. Personally, I think we should get rid of those statues, even if they are meant to portray him for what he once was."
"The former right hand of the Digimon God," TK repeated uneasily. "How and why would someone like that betray the Digimon God and become an unofficial Demon Lord?"
"It is a sad and tragic story," Azulongmon replied, "but I shall account it for you. It would be best if you knew everything."
"Here, here," Takuya agreed. "I'm tired of being left in the dark about things, only to find out later when we should have known sooner."
"He fell from grace," Shoutmon snarled. "There's nothing more you need to know."
A sigh escaped Azulongmon. "Now, Shoutmon, you that's not the whole story. As the Digimon King, you must remain unbiased."
The smaller dragon grumbled. "Yes, sir."
Azulongmon turned his attention back to the teens. "You see, children, when the Digimon God first created life in the Digital World, Bagramon was his favorite. He originally served as the highest ranking angel Digimon, and stood on equal par with the Sovereigns, serving directly under the Digimon God."
"Which just makes his betrayal all the worse," Shoutmon seethed, "considering what an honor that was."
Kari placed a finger to her lips. "Shoutmon, shh."
Azulongmon did not seem bothered by the interruption, and went on as if it had never happened. "For the longest time, Bagramon served the Digimon God and the Digital World loyally, but as time went on and darkness began to rise, Bagramon began to grow weary with the state of things. The Three Catastrophes were especially concerning for him, as were the rise of the Demon Lords, and all those they were recruiting to their cause."
Takuya's face scrunched up. "That doesn't make sense. If he was so worried about the Demon Lords and what they were doing, then why did he join them?"
"This was before Bagramon gave himself over to the darkness. For the longest time, the Guardians fought back the forces of darkness and kept the Demon Lords in check, but after the Third Catastrophe, when the Guardians sacrificed themselves to destroy ZeedMillenniummon, Bagramon found that he could no longer stand idly by and allow evil to run rampant. And after the destruction of Yggdrasil, he finally brought his concerns to the Digimon God. He questioned the way other life forms used their free will and the wicked deeds that came from it. The birth of ZeedMillenniummon was, perhaps, the biggest example of this, for a single Digimon to nearly destroy the entire multiverse simply by existing."
Tai held up a hand. "Wait, hold up. Bagramon was questioning whether or not living beings should have free will because there were those who decided to be evil?"
"That is correct," Azulongmon replied sadly. "And he also began to question the way the Digimon God ruled the Digital World, claiming that he was failing at his duty as this world's creator by letting the residents use their free will to commit such atrocities."
"Geez, he said that to the Digimon God?" Takato asked. "I don't even have the nerve to talk back to my parents."
"But it couldn't be helped," said Kari, ignoring Takato. "Free will means that everyone is in control of their thoughts and actions, and that sometimes means that there will be those that will do horrible things. But without free will, there wouldn't be any point in living."
"Indeed," the Sovereign agreed. "And the Digimon God tried to explain this to Bagramon. Unfortunately, he was so blinded by all the evil that free will allowed that Bagramon could only focus on the bad. He began to feel that free will was pointless if so much suffering came as a result of it. But when he could not convince the Digimon God of this, he decided that the Digimon God was unfit to rule. Bagramon came to believe that only he, with his ideology, was suitable to rule, and was willing to do whatever was necessary to bring forth everlasting peace."
Shoutmon scoffed. "Which is just stupid. And who gave Bagramon the authority to just decide he was in the right? Oh, that's right, his free will! Without free will, then Bagramon wouldn't even have been able to question the Digimon God's authority in the first place, let alone disagree with it. He'd be nothing more than a mindless puppet, unable to even think for himself."
Azulongmon sighed again. "Be that as it may, Bagramon felt that he was in the right, and was willing to go to any means necessary to create the perfect world he envisioned, one with no suffering and no violence. He betrayed the Digimon God and staged a rebellion against him in an attempt to overthrow him."
Takuya rolled his eyes. "Well that was stupid. I may not know much about the Digimon God, but even I could have told him how idiotic that was."
Azulongmon nodded. "You are correct, young one. But Bagramon was so resolute in his ideals that he strove to do the impossible. Naturally, his rebellion ended in complete and utter failure, and he received the scourge of the Digimon God for his betrayal. As a result, Bagramon eternally lost half his body and one of his eyes. His once grand angel wings were completely incinerated, and his remaining additional ones were permanently blackened and burned."
Takuya made a motion with his hand, as if to say 'I told you so'. "There, see, just what I said. Stupid."
Another sigh escaped the Sovereign. "Despite Bagramon's betrayal, the Digimon God was benevolent, and decreed that Bagramon would be forgiven if he repented. However, Bagramon became more resolute than ever, and he committed even further blaspheme by carving out replacement artificial limbs for himself from the holy Server Tree where Yggdrasil once dwelled, and replaced his missing eye with a large ruby.
"This resulted in a monstrous transformation and the rewriting of his very code, greatly increasing Bagramon's power and granting him terrifying new abilities. With his artificial arm, Bagramon was now able to grab hold of the very souls of others and rip them from their bodies, even allowing him to send them to Digimon Heaven or Digimon Hell as he pleased, or even place them inside the bodies of others. And with his new ruby eye, he was now able to observe anywhere within the Digital World. With this new form and these new powers, Bagramon gained the title as the Sage of Death."
Takato whistled. "That sounds pretty bad. I can see why he's labeled as the biggest traitor in history."
Shoutmon let out a humorless chuckle. "Oh, we're not done yet. This was just his descent into darkness. Tell them what happened next."
The Sovereign did so with the utmost regret. "Bagramon had become more determine than ever to banish the Digimon God from this world and have his own idea of justice replace what he deemed was an 'unreasonable' one. To do this, he decided to tear down the Digimon God's branch of authority. This is when he approached the Demon Lords and proposed an alliance. With their powers combined, they sealed my fellow Sovereigns and I away in a pocket dimension, and there we've remained for the better part of 10,000 years."
TK ran a hand over his face. "I just don't see Bagramon's logic. He betrayed the Digimon God because he thought there was too much evil in the world, and his solution is to cause even more evil?"
"Bagramon intends to let the Digital World fall to ruin and rebuild it in his image," Shoutmon muttered. "And anyone who even thinks of defying his will in the slightest is to die again and again until they submit to him absolutely. Truthfully, he's not too different from Lucemon. Probably why they allied with each other. Lucemon believes he's the most suitable ruler, while Bagramon thinks only he can bring forth a truly peaceful world by dominating everyone. They're just using each other for a mutual goal, just with a different outcome."
"But what about the Digimon God?" Kari asked. "Why didn't he do anything to stop this?"
"For the very reason Bagramon condemned him," Azulongmon replied. "Because the Digimon God believed in free will. And, sadly, this is what Bagramon chose to do with his, just like all those who gave into the darkness. He only rained his wrath on Bagramon before because Bagramon attempted to attack him directly, but otherwise, he allowed his once most loyal servant to do as he pleased with the very free will that Bagramon held in contempt.
"But despite the Digimon God's belief in free will, he was greatly despaired at what had become of Bagramon and what was happening to the world he had created that he withdrew from it, taking Homeostasis with him, deciding to see how things would play out without his interfering." He closed his eyes sadly. "So it seems that, in the end, Bagramon got what he wanted after all."
Tai's eyes narrowed. "Not completely. The Digimon God may have withdrawn from the world, but Bagramon does not rule it, and we're not going to let him. Nor are we going to let him subjugate everyone. I don't see how anyone who thinks free will is a bad thing could be anything less than a tyrannical dictator. As far as I'm concerned, he's just as bad as the Demon Lords. Maybe worse. They may have gone bad, but at least they never directly and literally betrayed anyone the way he did."
Shoutmon punched the air. "That's what I'm talking about. I knew you guys would understand."
Takato sighed. "Well, we would have had to face him anyway. At least now we know that he's the ultimate traitor who doesn't believe in free will and can literally rip our souls out of our bodies. Oh, and let's not forget that he can spy on us anywhere we go at any time thanks to that ruby eye of his. That's going to make going to the bathroom feel really awkward."
"I am deeply sorry that I must place this burden on your shoulders, children," Azulongmon told them. "But you truly are our best hope at bringing balance to this world. The power of the human spirit resonates greatly with those they share it with. It is that power that I believe will save us. I cannot go with you on your journey, but I can still help you." His gaze zeroed in on Tai. "You, young one, you are the leader of your group, are you not?"
Tai blinked. "Huh? What? Oh, well, yeah, I guess I am. But there's also Shoutmon."
"Shoutmon has his own duties to follow, and while he may accompany you on your journey, the task falls mostly on the six of you. As the leader of your group, you will be required to shoulder the most responsibility. To lead requires great power and wisdom. Therefore, I now grant you this to help you on your quest."
One of the orbs floating around him came away from his body and floated down over to Tai. Shoutmon's mouth dropped open in astonishment at the sight of it. "You're giving him one of your DigiCores!? Don't you know how long it will take you to produce another one?"
"It is for a good cause, Shoutmon," the Sovereign told him, "and it is all the assistance I can give right now."
Takuya pointed at the DigiCore. "Hey, can the rest of us get one of those too?"
Shoutmon jumped up and smacked him over the back of the head. "How dare you ask that!? This is the equivalent of him giving away a piece of his soul!"
Tai looked up at Azulongmon uncertainly. "Are you sure about this?"
The Sovereign nodded. "I am. But be wary when using its power. I do not know how it will affect a human, so be sure to save it for a time of need."
Tai nodded. "Yes, I will."
He held up his Digivice towards the DigiCore, and watched as it was drawn into the device. The Digivice chimed and glowed for a few seconds before powering down once more.
"It is done then," said Azulongmon. "I'm afraid I can not stay away from my duties any longer."
Takato just waved this off. "Hey, don't worry about it. You've already been way more helpful than the other Sovereigns have been- Ow! Why'd you kick me?"
"Idiot," Shoutmon grumbled.
"I believe in you, children," Azulongmon told them as he prepared to depart. "I know you will save this world."
He rose up into the sky after that, his long serpentine body disappearing into the clouds. The clouds soon faded away, along with all traces of Azulongmon.
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The days passed in a blur after that. With the destruction of EvilbeastLaylamon, peace had been restored to what had once been the domain of the Demon Lord of Lust. The teens took a day off to rest from the battle, choosing to take up residence in a section of the castle that was not at risk of collapsing from the rampage the Demon Lord had gone through.
They knew they couldn't stay long though, and so, after restocking as much as they could, they set out the next day for the fortress where Blastmon had claimed that AncientWisemon was being held. They hoped that once they freed the mutant Digimon that he would be able to help them on their journey.
"How long should it take us to get there?" Tai asked.
Shoutmon wobbled his head. "Not too long, I don't think. It's a several days journey going at our pace, maybe a little longer depending on whether or not we run into any trouble."
I guess that's good," Takuya muttered thoughtfully. "Do you think Barbamon will be at the fortress?"
The dragon Digimon nodded. "There's a good chance. Either him or his Chaos General. We'll need to face both at some point anyway."
"Fine with me," Davis growled. "Personally, I'd rather end this sooner rather than later."
No one said anything to this. No one had said much of anything about his time where he was working with Laylamon. It was obvious to anyone with eyes that he was still sore about what had happened to him, and it seemed to be an unspoken agreement amongst the group not to bring up what had happened. Instead, they would wait until Davis brought the subject up and decided to talk about it.
"So, Shoutmon," said TK, deciding to bring up something that had been nagging at him, "what can we expect from Barbamon? He, Daemon, and Lucemon are the strongest of the Demon Lords, right? The Big Three, so to speak? Just what exactly are we looking at?"
The dragon Digimon sighed and rubbed the back of his head. "Well, it's not good. Of the three, he's ranked beneath Lucemon and Daemon, but he's a lot stronger than any of the four Demon Lords we've faced so far."
"Great," Takato muttered. "How much stronger exactly? Can you give us an example?"
Shoutmon tapped his chin. "I guess this would be the best example. Remember how Azulongmon mentioned how Yggdrasil was destroyed? Well, it was pretty much Barbamon who was responsible for that."
Kari nodded. "Yeah, I think you mentioned that before. Didn't Barbamon take him over, causing Yggdrasil to malfunction, so he had to be destroyed."
Shoutmon wobbled his head. "That's the short version of it. You see, the Digimon God created two avatars that he copied a portion of his consciousness into. One was Homeostasis, whose purpose was to see to the balance of the Digital World, and the other was Yggdrasil, whose purpose was to see to the Digital World's survival and function. Yggdrasil had a more active role than Homeostasis, and as such was a lot more power.
"For Yggdrasil's design, the fragment of the Digimon God's consciousness he was made up of was placed into a crystal shard, which was then placed into the core body of King Drasil. King Drasil was then inserted into the host computer, Yggdrasil_7D6, who resided in the Server Tree. And yes, Yggdrasil was powerful. Even an army of Digimon wouldn't be able to defeat him."
Davis recalled something about this being mentioned, but it was from too long ago. "Yeah, you said like he was as strong as several hundred Digimon, or something."
Shoutmon scoffed at this. "Several hundred? More like 9,000 Mega level Digimon."
Takuya whirled around to face him. "Whoa, how many?"
"It's over 9,000!" Takato suddenly shouted. When everyone else gave him a strange look, he just turned red in embarrassment. "Sorry, joking. Just trying to break the tension."
"I do remember that now that you mention it," Davis recalled.
"I don't," Takuya remarked, still feeling shocked.
Shoutmon just rolled his eyes. "Anyway, because Yggdrasil's primary role was to see to the survival of the Digital World, he was always at risk of… malfunctioning and resorting to unorthodox or even malevolent means to see to it. So the Digimon God took precautions in case such a malfunction ever happen. He created VictorGreymon and ZeedGarurumon, two powerful Mega level Digimon who were specifically designed to take down Yggdrasil in case he ever did malfunction, and assigned them to watch over him."
"This is all very interesting," Tai interrupted, "but where does Barbamon come into all this?"
"I'm getting there. Sheesh, show some patience. Anyway, Barbamon managed to corrupt and take over Yggdrasil, forcing VictoryGreymon and ZeedGarurumon to destroy him, and the body of King Drasil as well until all that remained was the crystal shard containing the fragment of consciousness the Digimon God had created, which Homeostasis was then forced to shut down due to the way Barbamon had corrupted it. So while Barbamon didn't destroy Yggdrasil himself, he did take him over and was responsible for his destruction."
"Ok, we get it, that's pretty bad," Takato said uneasily.
"And let's not forget," TK added, "he's also the one who drove Bacchusmon insane, and didn't you say he was even capable of easily controlling that guy we fought, Ghoulmon Black?"
Shoutmon nodded. "Yup, and Ghoulmon Black is a god of destruction."
"Alright, that's enough," said Takato, "you're making us nervous."
The dragon Digimon sighed. "Sorry, I just want you guys to be prepared. You got a taste of his power when you faced him before, but he was just toying with you then. This time, he's going to be out to really kill you." He crossed his arms. "And there's no telling what advantages he'll gain if he gets what he's looking for from AncientWisemon."
"What does he want from AncientWisemon?" Takuya asked. "What do you think he's after?"
Shoutmon shrugged. "Who knows? AncientWisemon knows everything, so it could literally be anything."
Tai glanced hesitantly at Davis, knowing he was about to break their unspoken rule. "Hey, Davis, did Laylamon ever-"
"No, she didn't mention anything about Barbamon's plan, or of anything about the other Demon Lords either. And, quite frankly, at the time, I didn't even care. I was too focused on… other things."
That was all that was said on the matter, and so they let the subject drop.
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The room was filled with darkness, obscuring those present in shadow. There was no need for any light though, as everyone knew the other, and there were none who would dare to interfere with their meeting, not unless they wished to die.
Three pairs of eyes shined in the darkness, one holding more hostility than the other two. It was the owner of these eyes that had called this meeting, and now addressed the other two. "We have a job to do."
One of the set of eyes, a pair of light green ones, looked on uncaringly at the lavender ones that had belonged to the speaker. "You are referring to the humans. Are you implying that they pose a threat? You would know better since you've faced them before."
"And failed to defeat them," the owner of the pale yellow eyes remarked.
The lavender eyes flashed angrily. "You know good and well how and why that battle did not end with their demise, but I intend to see to it that they meet a fitting end."
"Is that why you're requesting our assistance?" Yellow Eyes asked. "Have the humans become too powerful?"
"Do not think me so weak that I cannot handle these humans on my own. I intend to pay them back a hundred times, a thousand times, for all they've done."
"Calm yourself," Green Eyes said calmly. "It's understandable that you more than others would have reason to want them dead. However, the masters have decided to deal with them."
The lavender eyes narrowed. "Perhaps, but they did not order us to stand down, and we have a duty to uphold. These humans are not even worth the masters' time; we are meant to handle situations like this."
An almost mocking chuckle escaped Yellow Eyes. "You can't fool us. This is personal for you. You're too emotionally involved."
"I am loyal!" Lavender Eyes snapped. "And I will not allow the masters to lower themselves to having to personally kill these humans especially when it is our duty. Or are you saying that your loyalty is beneath mine?"
The yellow eyes widened in surprise before glaring furiously. "My loyalty to the masters is unshakable, and I will kill anyone who questions it. Even you."
"Enough of your squabbling," Green Eyes remarked. "It is beneath us. You do, however, raise a good point. Taking care of these humans is indeed a matter for us to deal with, not the masters. Therefore, I concur, we should take care of them."
Snickering filled the room that did not belong to the three of them, and they looked around to see who would dare to interrupt their meeting. They didn't need to look long though, as a flame appeared at the end of a fingertip, illuminating the intruder's face.
"Well, it's about time the three of you decided to step up," the newcomer commented. "I was honestly wondering when you would decide to take action."
The lavender eyes flashed with anger. "Boltboutamon! How dare you show your face before me after what you pulled!"
"Calm yourself, Mr. Sensitive," the demon Digimon told him. "All I did was set the stage for an even more interesting outcome. It's a game, you see, and I'm enjoying it immensely. Learn to lighten up and have a little fun. It's not that often that something this interesting happens."
"Do you think we care about your opinion in the slightest?" Yellow Eyes growled. "You have no loyalty."
"I am loyal," Boltboutamon replied. "To myself. I just want to have a good time, and you're all providing me with one. In fact, it seems that even Bagramon is going to get involved soon. That will really make things interesting."
There was movement in the dark as Lavender Eyes took a step closer to him. "Just stay out of our way. I will not have you interfering again."
Boltboutamon chuckled. "Relax. I promise that I won't get in the way of your little revenge. In fact, I'd even be willing to offer my assistance if it comes to it." He flicked the flame at the lavender eyes, where it bounced off the dragon Digimon's face. "Will that make you happy, ChaosBlackWarGreymon?"
(A/N: And there it is. All the cards are on the table now. Well, almost. Bagramon, the last one in the our heroes way, is going to make himself known. What more, ChaosBlackWarGreymon is back, and it looks like he's bringing some friends along. And just what is Boltboutamn playing at now. It looks like our heroes are going to have a lot to deal with beside Barbamon on their journey to save AncientWisemon. Hopefully the DigiCore that Azulongmon provided them will help. There's a lot more coming, so stay tuned, and I'll see you in two weeks.)
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New Digimon that appear. Replace the DOT in the link(s) with actual periods.
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