(A/N: I got a really big surprise recently. Apparently one of my DBZ fanfics, The Genus In The Slave Quarters, has actually gotten it's own TV Tropes page. I didn't even know that was possible! It's quite a honor. Maybe it'll even help in getting my original novel published. Recognition is recognition. But I'm sure your more interested in what's going to happen now that Imperialdramon has finally achieved Paladin Mode. Let's take a look.)
Disclaimer: I own nothing.
Chapter 156: Trust
"Holy crap!" Imperialdramon exclaimed as he took in his new form.
For the most part, he still looked the same, only now he had turned almost entirely white, and he now held a sword nearly identical to Omnimon's, which was now almost as long as his entire body. And the power he now felt running through himself. He had thought that he had been strong before, but this was something else entirely.
His eyes shifted to the sword he held. Prior to his Digivolution, he had no idea how to wield a sword, outside the use of his Splendor Blade of course, but now he had all the knowledge of being a swordsman. It was like when he had become a Digimon for the first time, where the transformation provided him with the knowledge of how his new body worked and how to use his attacks, despite having no experience. He now knew how to actually use a sword, and what his new power was capable of.
Something out of the corner of his eye drew his attention, and he looked just in time to see the Big Charge Bomb Raidenmon had launched at him. It exploded against him, and Imperialdramon was blasted off his feet. He crashed several feet away, his sword landing point first in the ground just a few inches from his face.
"Well, that was embarrassing," he muttered. Then he gasped in realization. "Tai!"
Much to his relief, he saw that his human look-alike was still lying on the ground where he had been before, Imperialdramon's body having shielded him from the blast. His gaze then shifted back to the battle with Raidenmon, and he saw EmperorGreymon on the machine Digimon's back, repeatedly stabbing his sword into him futilely while Seraphimon circled around, using his Hallowed Knuckle over and over again.
Imperialdramon stood up and pulled his sword out of the ground. He took off as Raidenmon unleashed his Kirlian Brand, blasting Seraphimon and EmperorGreymon away. Imperialdramon flew over and swung his sword, just as Raidenmon turned to him. The blade came down on the machine Digimon's forehead, and they both froze. Raidenmon's eyes crossed as he looked at the blade, then back at Imperialdramon, and his eyes narrowed.
"I was hoping it would be more affective this time," the dragon Digimon muttered.
Raidenmon lashed out at him, and Imperialdramon jumped back. His foot shot out with his Imperial Kick, hitting Raidenmon in the face. He then followed up with his Super Positron Laser, the beam pushing Raidenmon back.
The machine Digimon shook this off and raised his cannon, firing at the dragon Digimon. Imperialdramon leapt up over the blast and raised his sword over his head. "Omni Sword!"
He came down, stabbing downward with his glowing sword as Raidenmon looked up at him. His sword buried into one of Raidenmon's eyes, sinking down nearly to the hilt. Raidenmon howled in pain and pulled back, taking the sword with him as he thrashed about violently.
"Why didn't we think of that?" Seraphimon commented as he and EmperorGreymon rejoined Imperialdramon. "That certainly got around his armor."
"Honestly, it was a lucky shot," Imperialdramon admitted. "I wasn't even aiming there."
"Wait, when did you turn white?" EmperorGreymon asked, taking note of Imperialdramon's new appearance. "Or get a sword like that?"
Before the dragon Digimon could answer, something began to happen to Raidenmon. His body began to glow, not with the light of Digivolution, but with DeDigivolution, and he began to split back into the Machine Mercenaries again, the forms of Fujinmon, Raijinmon, and Suijinmon beginning to appear. It was apparent that the three were trying to remain as one, but they continued to separate, resembling little more than a glowing blob of mass.
"I'll explain later!" said Imperialdramon. "Let's go!"
"But what's happening to them?" Seraphimon wondered.
"Who cares, just blast them!" EmperorGreymon cried. "Soaring None Headed Dragon Force!"
"Strike of the Seven Stars!"
Imperialdramon's chest opened. "Hyper Prominence!"
A large ball of black energy shot out of his chest and flew to join Seraphimon and EmperorGreymon's attacks. The three attacks struck the glowing mass that Raidenmon had become and erupted in a massive explosion. An indistinguishable sound came from it as Fujinmon, Raijinmon, Suijinmon, and what was left of Raidenmon's body burst into data.
The DigiDestined stared at the empty space, hardly able to believe what they saw. All that was left of their long time enemies was their lingering data, and it soon faded away.
"Did we just defeat the Machine Mercenaries?" Imperialdramon asked in amazement.
"I think so," EmperorGreymon replied. Then he considered something. "But did we break one of those unspoken rules like we did with Snatchmon by attacking while they were DeDigivolving? Because it looked like they were DeDigivolving."
"It doesn't matter right now," Seraphimon told them. "We've got a Chaos General to court-martial."
"And I've got the perfect method," said Imperialdramon, swiping his sword. "Time for some capital punishment."
The three of them flew towards ChaosGallantmon C, speeding right past their friends. With a cry of "We're coming", Imperialdramon was in the lead, and he swung his sword. ChaosGallantmon C brought up his shield, and Imperialdramon's sword clanged against it. ChaosGallantmon C made to stab with his lance, only to have Seraphimon grab it and pull it to the side. Imperialdramon pulled back, and ChaosGallantmon C raised his shield to hit Seraphimon, only to have EmperorGreymon grab it and pull it aside, leaving the Chaos General open to Imperialdramon.
"Omni Sword!" the dragon Digimon cried, stabbing forward.
A wall of ice suddenly appeared between ChaosGallantmon C and Imperialdramon, and his sword became embedded in it. The knight Digimon sneered at Imperialdramon before slamming Seraphimon and EmperorGreymon together, then turning back to the dragon Digimon as he tried to pull his sword out of the ice.
Ophanimon C was suddenly by his side, and she placed her hand on the wall of ice. A wall of fire rose up, covering the ice wall, causing it to melt in seconds. Imperialdramon's sword pushed its way through as ChaosGallantmon C pulled back, but it still pierced his stomach.
ChaosGallantmon C cried out as he flew backwards. A band of Fractal Code exited his stomach wound where he had been stabbed as if he were bleeding. As the last of the Fractal Code disconnected from the Chaos General, he began to glow, and when the light faded, he had DeDigivolved down to regular ChaosGallantmon. As for the Fractal Code that had escaped him, it turned into the ChronoCore he had used to Digivolve with.
Imperialdramon reacted immediately, pointing his arm cannon at the ChronoCore. "Super Positron Laser!"
He blasted the ChronoCore, and it burst into data. ChaosGallantmon shouted in protest and reached for the ChronoCore that was no longer there.
"Looks like your big trump card is gone," Ophanimon C told him.
The rest of the DigiDestined gathered around her and Imperialdramon, looking more than ready to keep fighting. ChaosGallantmon glanced at each of them, his only visible eye flashing with hate. His body language indicated that he wanted nothing more than to attack them, and yet he hesitated.
"Ready for round two?" OmniShoutmon challenged.
A growl escaped ChaosGallantmon. "Mark my words, you'll pay for this. Waking Dead!"
He fired lighting from his shield. The DigiDestined recoiled from the lighting as ChaosGallantmon took off.
"Coward!" EmperorGreymon called after him.
"Quick, let's go after him," said Gallantmon.
But OmniShoutmon shook his head. "There's no time. We have to go after Barbamon before it's too late. We've already wasted too much time."
Imperialdramon's eyes widened. "I completely forgot about him in the heat of battle."
"Speaking of which," said Gallantmon, taking in the dragon Digimon's new look, "what's with the color change?"
Imperialdramon spun around, showing himself off. "Pretty cool, right? Omnimon couldn't fight anymore, so he gave me all his power."
"Omnimon!" Ophanimon C exclaimed, and began looking around. "Where's my brother? Tai!"
Imperialdramon held up his hands. "Whoa, calm down. He's ok. He just changed back to his human form. Come on, he's over here."
He flew them over to where he had left Tai. The teen was still lying on his back with his eyes closed, but he opened them when he heard the others land beside him.
"Hey, guys," he said. "Does this mean we won?"
"We won," Seraphimon confirmed. "Raidenmon was destroyed, and ChaosGallantmon flew the coop."
"Yeah, not even a Chaos General can face off against all of us now," Gallantmon said proudly.
EmperorGreymon decided to bring up his previous question. "Speaking of which, how did we beat them? Once Imperialdramon stabbed Raidenmon with his sword, he began to split into the Machine Mercenaries again, and when he stabbed ChaosGallantmon, he DeDigivolved and separated from the ChronoCore. What was up with that? Oh, and is it considered, um, 'illegal' to attack while someone is DeDigivolving?"
OmniShoutmon raised an eyebrow. "Well, first of all, no, attacking a Digimon that's DeDigivolving is a vulnerable state a Digimon is reduced to as a result of battle, so it's considered ok."
He looked at Imperialdramon. "As for why Raidenmon and ChaosGallantmon DeDigivolved, it's the affects of Imperialdramon's Omni Sword attack. The power of his sword causes an opponent's data to reset. The Machine Mercenaries had DNA Digivolved and ChaosGallantmon had Digivolved with a ChronoCore, so when their data reset, it forced them to separate."
"That'll be useful," said Seraphimon. "Now if anyone Digivolves or powers up in ways other than normal Digivolution, we can revert them back to how they were before."
"But what about Tai?" Ophanimon C asked. "If he gave all his power to Imperialdramon, then can he still become Omnimon?"
Gritting his teeth, Tai sat up, his arms aching horribly as a result of the phantom pain from having his limbs ripped out. Taking out his Digivice, he looked at the powered down blank screen. "I don't know. There's no power left, so I can't tell if I still have Omnimon's data. Honestly, I wasn't even thinking about whether or not I'd still be able to become Omnimon or not, or even be able to Spirit Evolve at all. I was just trying to help us win." He tapped the screen of his Digivice. "I guess we'll just have to wait and see when it recharges."
"And right now?" Gallantmon asked. "How are we supposed to stop Barbamon when we're all worn down like this?"
Seraphimon sighed. "I'm just going to have to heal everyone as much as I can. That'll cost me a lot of energy though, so I don't know how much power I'll have left for the fight."
Ophanimon C's shoulders sank. "I'm sorry, I wish I still had a healing ability in this form. I guess I could always DeDigivolve to regular Ophanimon, but then I'll waste even more energy when I Digivolve to Ophanimon C again."
Imperialdramon puffed out his chest. "Hey, don't worry. My Digivolution came with new powers too, including a healing ability. Now I can pick up the slack."
Behind his helmet, Seraphimon beamed. "Then what are we waiting for, let's get to it. Perfect Revival!"
"Heaven's Light!"
Healing light from both Seraphimon and Imperialdramon poured over the group, healing the injuries they all sustained. Even Tai got a dose, and the lingering phantom pain he still had from when he was Omnimon faded as well.
"This is a start," he said, "but we're still at a disadvantage. I still can't fight, and even though all your injuries are healed, you still used up a lot of energy fighting Raidenmon and ChaosGallantmon. Going after Barbamon now would be suicide."
OmniShoutmon's eyes widened. "That's it!" He held out his hand, and AncientWisemon's Fractal Code emerged. "This is why AncientWisemon gave us his Fractal Code. Rather than use it for a power boost, we can use it to replenish ourselves. That's why he told us to wait until after our next battle to use it, because he knew we would need it to fight Barbamon afterwards."
Imperialdramon punched the air. "I knew it! I told you there was a reason."
"And you were right. Come on, gather around, everyone. You too, Tai. We're going to share the data."
They did as he said, and the Fractal Code split into seven separate ribbons, each of them absorbing a portion of it, Tai taking his share into his Digivice. They felt the data replenish their energy, making them feel nearly as energized as if they had just Spirit Evolved. Even Tai's Digivice powered back on, the image of Omnimon present on the screen.
"It worked!" he cried excitedly. "I still have Omnimon's data. Execute! Spirit Evolution… Omnimon!"
Imperialdramon let out a sigh of relief. "Phew. Thank goodness you can still Spirit Evolve. I was afraid you might not be able to."
"I had a feeling he would," said OmniShoutmon. "Your Digivice contains the DigiCore of your Digimon. What Tai did was the equivalent of giving Imperialdramon Omnimon's Fractal Code."
Gallantmon cocked his head to the side. "Then shouldn't Tai have had to start over from scratch at the Baby level?"
OmniShoutmon considered this. "Ordinarily, yes, but your Digivice seem to record and save the data inserted inside them, so you can jump straight to the highest level you were at before rather than having to work to unlock your Digivolutions again, even if you lose or give away the data."
Ophanimon C cleared her voice. "Guys, as great as this news is, we still have Barbamon to worry about. At this point, he might have already awoken Armamon."
EmperorGreymon swore. "You're right. And we still have no way of getting to him. What are we going to do?"
A mocking laughter greeted them, and they began looking around. They pinpointed the source, and looked up to see a certain demon Digimon floating in the air above them. "Yes, what will you do?"
"Volcano Napalm!" Ophanimon C cried, throwing a fireball that erupted into a pillar of fire.
Boltboutamon grinned and used his Curtain Call, snapping his fingers to create a shockwave that countered her attack. "Well, well, I see that Hell truly hath no fury. You can relax, humans, I'm not here to fight you."
"So why are you here?" EmperorGreymon demanded.
The demon Digimon chuckled. "Why, to enjoy the show, of course. Your battle with ChaosGallantmon and Raidenmon was most amusing."
"You were watching that?" snapped Omnimon.
"Indeed. I've been watching you humans for a while; even during certain times when you don't realize that I'm there. You're just so fun to watch. Right now, I'm getting a kick out of watching you desperately try to find a way to stop Barbamon. Feel free to panic. I do enjoy watching a good panic attack."
"Seraphimon glared at him. "We're not going to panic. Even if we don't find a way to prevent Barbamon from releasing Armamon, we'll find a way to defeat them."
Boltboutamon sneered. "Ah, such wishful thinking. I'll enjoy watching it fall to despair."
EmperorGreymon pointed his sword at him. "We don't have time to deal with you. We've got more important things to worry about."
"But of course," Boltboutamon mocked. "You're got to stop Barbamon from awakening Armamon. So, what will you do?"
EmperorGreymon growled, and OmniShoutmon placed a hand on his shoulder. "Ignore him. He's here to mock us and try to make us squirm. Don't give him what he wants. We've got to focus on stopping Barbamon; we don't have the time or energy to waste on anything else."
Ophanimon C gave him a worried look. "He already has a big head start on us. Even if we find a way to get to where he is, it may be too late. OmniShoutmon, will we be able to defeat Armamon if he's unleashed?"
The dragon Digimon hesitated, looking very concerned. "I don't know. I really don't know. Right now, I would say no, but I've said the same thing about the Demon Lords we've beaten. Still, it'll be better if we just avoid that battle entirely and prevent Armamon's awakening."
"Then we need to figure out a way to get to the location," said Seraphimon, "but we don't even know where to go. I wish AncientWisemon would have told us that."
"Even if he did, we still have no way to get there," Gallantmon pointed out, looking frustrated. "Ah, this is hopeless!"
A chuckle came from Boltboutamon. "I suppose I could always take you there."
The DigiDestined looked up at him. "What?" asked Omnimon.
The demon Digimon grinned. "I said that I could take you there. In case you've forgotten, I can create portals to different locations in the Digital World. And since I was listening in on AncientWisemon's torture, I know where Barbamon's gone. I can easily take you there."
EmperorGreymon scoffed. "You expect us to trust you? You'll probably transport us to the other side of the Digital World, or into a pool of lava in a volcano or something."
"Why would we ever think you'd help us?" Ophanimon C demanded.
Boltboutamon came down and landed a short distance away. "Because I'm interested in seeing how this plays out. Whether you'd be able to prevent Barbamon from awakening Armamon, or if you'll be able to stop the two of them if he does. It'll certainly be very amusing to see what happens."
"Bull!" Omnimon snapped. "You'd never help us. This is just some sick game you're playing."
"Correct!" Boltboutamon admitted gleefully. "It's a game, and I want to level the playing field. After all, it won't be as much fun if it's too one-sided." He hesitated. "Ok, it will still be fun watching you get utterly destroyed, but it'll be even more fun if the odds were more even. And besides, why deprive myself of the thrill of watching you race against time."
EmperorGreymon scoffed again. "Yeah, right. You're just trying to trick is. We can't trust you!"
"No," Imperialdramon said quietly. "We have to."
Everyone looked at him. "What?" Omnimon asked.
The dragon Digimon's eyes narrowed. "Believe me, after the way I was tricked by Laylamon, I'm the last one who would ever trust a Demon Lord," he glanced at Boltboutamon, "or one who works for them. But remember what AncientWisemon told us before he died? We have to trust Boltboutamon, even when every fiber of our beings tells us not to."
The demon Digimon's grin widened. "Yes, trust me."
Ignoring Boltboutamon, Omnimon looked at Imperialdramon. "You actually believe him?"
The dragon Digimon stomped his foot. "Of course not. I would never believe Boltboutamon." He sighed in resignation. "But I do believe AncientWisemon. I told OmniShoutmon before, I learned to listen to those older and wiser than me, and not stubbornly think that I know better about things I don't understand. If AncientWisemon thinks we should trust Boltboutamon on this, then no matter how much I think otherwise, I believe him."
The others were silent at this as Boltboutamon looked on in amusement. Gallantmon looked at his friends before stomping throwing up his arms. "Guys, just think about this. Can we really take a chance that Boltboutamon won't try something? AncientWisemon may know everything, but it doesn't mean he's right about everything. If he knows all possible futures, then he must know of futures where Boltboutamon is going to trick us here. What if AncientWisemon' judgment is wrong and this is one of those futures?"
A OmniShoutmon let out a frustrated groan. "No, he's right. We have to trust AncientWisemon. Even in the battle with ChaosGallantmon and Raidenmon, I almost used the Fractal Code he gave me instead of waiting, and if I had, then we would all be in big trouble right now rather than at full power."
A snicker escaped Boltboutamon. "You see. You can trust me. Listen to AncientWisemon."
Omnimon let out an irritated sigh. "We don't have a choice. We have to chance it." He pointed his sword at Boltboutamon. "But if you mess with us, we'll destroy you."
The demon Digimon laughed. "I would certainly like to see you try. But we'll have to save that for another time. If you survive your encounter with Barbamon that is. Battlefield Remover!"
He snapped his fingers and a portal appeared. Flashing a grin at the DigiDestined, he gave them a come hither motion with his finger. "Follow me to the Demon Lord of Greed. This outta be fun."
He backed into the portal. It remained open for them, big enough to fit even Imperialdramon. The DigiDestined stood before it with an ominous feeling.
"I hope we're not making a huge mistake," Omnimon stated.
Taking a deep breath, he charged forward into the portal, and the others followed.
(A/N: Dun, dun, dun. What's going to happen? Is Boltboutamon really trustworthy? Like Gallantmon pointed out, AncientWisemon may know everything, but it doesn't mean he's right about everything. And even if he is, it will still be up to our heroes to get to Barbamon in time. If they don't, will they be able to defeat Armamon? So many question. Find out what happens in two weeks.)
