Despite Patamon's complaints, Hikari and Gatomon insisted on testing the white cat's Ultimate forms. Sadly, as it turned out, Gatomon would only be able to try one of them before needing to recover. Fortunately she got to try Mastemon. Despite it feeling strange that she also had data of LadyDevimon comprising that form, she couldn't argue with the results. But when Ophanimon saw Mastemon, she stormed out like a woman on a mission.
Although, Koshiro started to point out something. None of them had been feeling least bit tired, despite it no doubt being many many hours that they have been here. They would have to ask Novice about it.
Which leads to Hikari carrying Gatomon in her arms towards the reading room. Until suddenyl from around the corner, Novice ran like his life depended on it.
"Pois alta(Out of the way)!" Hikari didn't need a translation to realize she needed to move aside and allow the Overseer to run further down the hall.
"What was that about?" Hikari muttered, just when Ophanimon rounded the same corner, armed with her lance.
"Get back here and take this punishment like a man! You twisted little schemer!" The Angelic digimon yelled as she fired Eden's Lance at him. Whether it was a sixth sense, or something else, Novice ducked under the beam and kept running.
Hikari and Gatomon blinked as the two ran down the hall.
"...I'm not sure I want to know why Ophanimon is chasing him." Gatomon said simply. Although she guessed it had something to do with her becoming Mastemon. Or perhaps the implications of Jogressing with LadyDevimon. The white cat shuddered at the absurd notion of her becoming besties with such.
"Maybe you're right." Hikari agreed.
Some time later, everyone was gathered into the reading room and Patamon already had the book, ready to see what his other would evolve to.
Although everyone was a little curious about Ophanimon sitting next to Novice with her lance resting on her lap. And the Divine Mother was scowling at the nervous looking Overseer.
"That's what you get for not placing the same restrictions on her that you placed on me and Impmon." Black mocked her human from her basket.
Novice grumbled something under his breath before motioning for Patamon to start reading.
Final Hope! Seraphimon!
The title card showed a silhouette of what they can only guess is Seraphimon.
"Definitely an angel." Mimi voiced what everyone else was thinking.
"Okay guys, quick plan. We've probably got like 10 minutes before we're gonna fight the head honcho. What's the game plan?" Yang said seriously as they saw Piedmon approaching.
"Just go ultimate and curbstomp him!" Veemon said with a grin.
"Veemon." Gatomon sighed.
"Quick recap. Every Dark Master so far has had some kind of gimmick to them. No reason Piedmon won't be the same. I don't think we should attack en mass just yet," Gyro said quickly.
"He's right." Taichi agreed with Gyro. Especially when he, Yamato, Wargreymon and MetalGarurumon were turned into dolls.
"I really hope they don't let him have a chance to use it." Yamato said, referring to the same thing Taichi was thinking about.
"Use what?" Hawkmon asked, looking a little confused.
"...Turning us into dolls." Sora said first, causing the second generation to freeze up at the very thought.
"Then maybe one of us should 'test the waters' to try and make him tip his hand," Mastemon suggested. "I volunteer."
"You sure? You JUST evolved. You might have the same problem as WarGreymon and MetalGarurumon did the last time they fought him," Nora asked worriedly.
"Well it's either that or revert to Nyaromon. I've still got a lot of energy, so I might as well put it to good use. Besides, we're all together and he's alone. I'm not afraid knowing you all got my back," Mastemon reassured.
Everyone smiled at this, including Ophanimon who seemed less hostile already.
"Alright, we're counting on you. But if things get hairy, don't be afraid to tag out," Jaune said after a few moments.
"Got it. Let's go, Nora," Mastemon said, as she picked Nora up and the two soon flew forward to face Piedmon.
The moment they got close, Nora had jumped off, and Mastemon immediately began attacking. There was no point for words anymore, as they'd gone this far. That and it's easier to avoid tipping your hand if you stay silent. The only problem…
"Heh, haven't you kids learned anything?" Piedmon chuckled as he easily evaded Mastemon's attacks as she was lashing out with a blade of blue energy from her right arm, and a blade of reddish pink energy from her left hand, but the fast clown was easily evading all of them, at least until she managed to land a kick on him, sending him flying back and into a nearby wall. However, Mastemon kept up her guard cause they were under no illusions that that was anywhere close to enough to stop him. True enough…
Agumon growled as he remembered how he got a good hit on the clown and it didn't seem to phase him.
"Honestly, I'd have thought you'd learn by now that sending a newly evolved Ultimate is pointless against me," Piedmon chuckled as he stepped out of the dust, looking not the least bit harmed. "Now then…" he started pulling out his weapons. "Trump Sword!" he called out as he threw the swords at her.
"Holy Desire!" Mastemon countered, knocking two of the swords away with a blade of light from her right hand. "Dark Despair!" she followed up, countering with a sphere of darkness from her left hand, deflecting the remaining two swords, though the first two she deflected suddenly came back, forcing her to dodge, though one did nick her leg, causing her to grunt in pain.
"Mastemon!" Nora called in alarm.
"I'm alright," Mastemon reassured, before glaring at Piedmon. "But he certainly lives up to his position as leader of the Dark Masters."
"Unfortunately." Jo sighed, while Gatomon frowned a little at her other getting damaged. Then again, Nora's Mastemon is a fresh Ultimate and they all still remembered what happened with WarGreymon and MetalGarurumon.
"You're only realizing that now?" Piedmon laughed. "Toy Wonderness!" he called out, sending a gust of wind and boulders flying at them.
"Whoa!" Nora gasped, quickly pulling out Magnhild as she and Mastemon defended against the move, breaking up most of the large rocks, but still taking some hits. "Okay...that wasn't pleasant…"
"No it wasn't." Agumon grumbled while rubbing his arms at the memory of getting beaten up even as WarGreymon.
"There's more where that came from!" Piedmon laughed as he sent more and more flying at them, causing them to gradually take more damage. After a few rounds…
"Okay...maybe this wasn't such a great idea…" Mastemon groaned. "Nora?"
"Waaay ahead of you," Nora groaned, already going for her scroll. "Uh...guys…" she started.
"...At least they have a back up plan." Koshiro commented on the bright side.
"Toy Wonderness!" Piedmon shot out once again.
"Chaos Degradation!" Mastemon countered, causing an explosion to happen, sending her and Nora flying back.
"Not to sound rushed but...SAVE US! SAVE OUR SORRY BUTTS!" Nora shouted into the scroll as the two were flying in the air.
As much as it wasn't nice seeing Nora and Mastemon being beaten, Nora's shouting still earned some laughs. Even Ophanimon found it funny.
"I know I should not laugh at this, but that girl is a riot." Ophanimon commented on the carrot top.
"For once we agree." Black said from her basket before her ears folded in disbelief, "Did I seriously just say that?"
But Patamon wouldn't stop reading just because Black has miraculously agreed with Ophanimon.
They didn't even get to hit the ground when UlforceVeedramon caught them. "Easy there you two, take five," he said.
"I think I'll take twenty," Mastemon groaned as she reverted to Nyaromon. "I don't think I'm gonna be any good for a bit."
"We'll handle this part first," Vikemon said as he joined them as well.
Gatomon crossed her paws in annoyance.
"Our time to shine." Gomamon said, rubbing his flippers together eagerly.
"Heh, doesn't matter how many of you come. It won't make a difference!" Piedmon laughed. "Trump Sword!" he called out, throwing his weapons...only for them to be sent flying back...in the form of being frozen in a block of ice then thrown back.
"You were saying?" Vikemon smirked, right as Piedmon evaded...only to get kicked in the back by UlforceVeedramon who had gotten behind him.
"Beat that clown!" Veemon cheered his other.
"You understand that they cannot hear you?" Ophanimon said with a smile.
"Who cares!" But that did nothing to quell the excitable blue dinosaur. Ophanimon chuckled at this.
"In case you didn't notice, you're the one with the number disadvantage now," he smirked.
"Don't get conceited!" Piedmon growled as he lashed out, slashing UlforceVeedramon with a sword he'd conjured up, pushing him back...but quickly had to evade when Mjolnir was shot towards him.
"Oh we're not conceited. We're just confident," the two of them smirked.
"Speaking of which, mind your head," Vikemon said mockingly, to which Piedmon was forced to do a rather impressive limbo maneuver as GrandisKuwagamon's Gran Killer sailed pass where his head used to be...which left him open when a whip lashed out and wrapped around his neck, pulling him up, right into a heavy wing slap from Phoenixmon, sending him crashing into the ground.
"Yes!" Palmon and Biyomon cheered at their others getting hits in.
"You're experienced, we'll give you that. But do you REALLY think you can fight ALL of us at the same time?" Rosemon chuckled.
"No he can't." Mimi said with a smirk.
At the same time, their respective partners had met up with Nora, to which Nyaromon was now scarfing down a number of rations they'd been carrying. "Eat up Nyaromon, we'll get our rematch once you're feeling better," Nora smiled...right as an explosion hit, as HerculesKabuterimon, MetalGarurumon, and WarGreymon fired their attacks, forcing Piedmon to evade, though he was notably singed...before crying out in pain as HolyAngemon hit him with his excalibur. "...provided they leave anything for us," Nora amended, to which Nyaromon just shrugged...though how an armless creature could shrug was beyond her.
"...What does it say about me that I hope my other gets to have some payback?" Gatomon quipped with a small grin.
"That you want justice." Ophanimon replied with a smile of her own.
"Or that you have a sadistic streak." Black added from her basket, earning a glare from the angel. Gatomon just took it in stride.
Back at the fight, things were...going very well for the Chosen...not surprising as it was literally 8 Ultimates and one Perfect with Holy Powers against one Ultimate.
"Aren't you heroes supposed to fight fair?" Piedmon growled.
"What kind of idiot fights fair when the fate of the world is at stake?" WarGreymon deadpanned.
"I hate him being right." Taichi sighed a little.
"To quote a wise man: Seek victory in a fight, not fairness." Novice quoted with a small smile.
"Wise words." Black agreed.
"You're surprisingly villainous you know that?" Piedmon deadpanned.
"Nah, this isn't villainous," Rosemon said, right before her leg came up from behind him...and hit him...let's just say Piedmon let out a VERY girlish scream at where she hit. "Now THIS is villainous," she smirked. "And there's a LOT more where THAT came from after the shit you've done to this world!"
"...Did she just..." Yamato let out with a disturbed look, seeing as the scene didn't show where Rosemon kicked. But the implications...were not pretty.
"Who knew he could sing like that." Gomamon snickered.
"This...proves...nothing!" Piedmon squeaked as he got some range… while clutching his lower area in pain.
"Like we care," MetalGarurumon snorted. "Face it Piedmon, its over! You Dark Masters have lost!"
"Over? No...not by a long shot," Piedmon growled, before he pulled out a white cloth...which was promptly incinerated by Phoenixmon.
"What the?!" Piedmon gasped shaking off the flames.
"Did you REALLY think we were gonna give you time to pull whatever trick you had planned?" Phoenixmon deadpanned.
The first seven felt embarrassment at letting their Piedmon do EXACTLY that.
"No," Piedmon admitted, before smirking. "That's why I had the REAL trick, right here," he said, opening his left hand, revealing a familiar black stone.
"That's!" they all gasped, before a faded image of Myotismon appeared next to Piedmon.
"Surprised? Why do you think I had Witchmon infiltrate Myotismon's ranks? He was but an upstart, but he was a powerful upstart. He was bound to make something useful," Piedmon chuckled, as the powers of darkness began to radiate from him. "Now I'll put his final legacy, and his power, to good use!" Piedmon declared as dark tentacles wrapped around the image of Myotismon that actually began to struggle, before he was pulled into Piedmon's chest, the clown laughing as he was for all intents and purpose, 'eating' the other Digimon.
"Okay...that's just sick…" HerculesKabuterimon said.
"What he said." Patamon commented.
It was strange... after everything Myotismon pulled on them in the past, and especially as BelialMyotismon, the Children still found it in themselves to feel a little sorry for the devoured vampire. Even Gatomon managed to feel the tiniest pangs of sympathy.
"Oh, this is just the beginning," Piedmon smirked as he was radiating with energy, darkness covering him. "Piedmon, Slide Evolution!"
"What?!" was the universal reaction.
"Quick translation about that kind of evolution?" Yang asked Weiss who was already looking through the Analyzer.
"Same Level, but different form from the looks of it." Weiss said urgently, knowing it would likely be a lot more powerful than his last one.
"Similar how Lilithmon is said to be a slide-evolution of an Ophanimon." Novice pointed out, earning a scowl from Ophanimon and Black.
"Do not. Ever compare me to that." Ophanimon said threateningly while pointing her lance to Black who chose not to comment.
"BoltBoutamon!" came Piedmon's voice as the darkness removed itself from his new body.
His build was roughly the same, if not a bit taller, but his outfit now had more of a corsair theme to it, wearing golden armor on his chest, with shoulder plates shaped like skulls with horns, he wore a golden face mask that exposed his eyes and a cruel smirk on his lips, a large hat with a red feather sticking out of it sitting atop his head. A Red cloth hanged around his neck, falling down the back and into a pair of strangely shaped wings, though the main oddity had to be the extra pair of arms that came out from just behind his main pair, these new ones being long and skeletal with clawed fingers, finally, sheathed at his hips were a pair of rapiers with skull shaped guards with a pair of pistols holstered just above them.
"...A pirate?" Jo was the first to comment.
"A vampire pirate." Koshiro muttered in mild disbelief.
"...How much stronger is he?" Armadimon asked nervously.
In response, Patamon kept reading.
"Okay...that doesn't look good," Ren frowned, before turning to Wiess. "How much trouble are we about to deal with?"
Weiss went through the Analyzer and groaned. "A LOT if the Analyzer is correct. That's BoltBoutamon."
Digimon Analyzer: BoltBoutamon
BoltBoutamon. Virus Type. An Ultimate Level Demon Man Digimon. A Digimon known as the Malevolent Fist, born from the forceful combination of Piedmon absorbing data of Myotismon. He wields the Spiedini swords and Ala di Pollo guns in his quest to eradicate all sources of light from the Digital World. His special attacks are Palazzi Valzer, multiplying the amount of swords he carries with him and sending them flying off in all directions, and Quarzione, firing bullets that, when they make contact with an enemy, enter their body and start moving around to damage them from within.
"Okay, that doesn't sound good." Gabumon commented on the Analyzer.
"You'll never defeat my most powerful form!" BoltBoutamon laughed.
"Like we haven't heard THAT one before," Phoenixmon rolled her eyes.
"And like all the others, we're not gonna lose!" WarGreymon glared.
"Eager to meet your end? Very well, I'll at least prepare for you a fitting final stage," BoltBoutamon smirked, as he snapped his fingers, and suddenly a barrier encircled them, while also keeping out anyone else, leaving the partnerless Digimon who'd just arrived to be stuck outside.
"Hey, what's going on?!" Chuumon's voice spoke up as he had been once more hiding in Jaune's hoodie...before he was suddenly levitated...and thrown out of the barrier, fortunately Frigimon managing to catch him.
"I don't have the patience to deal with vermin," BoltBoutamon snorted, before the ground started to shake, and the area surrounded by the barrier started to rise up into the sky.
"Ok… that's bad." Ogremon said as he watched the Chosen be lifted up into a makeshift arena.
"I would say it's bad for BoltBoutamon, but he's a little too confident." Yamato commented on the pirate.
"It just got worse." SaberLeomon said with narrowed eyes after evolving quickly, watching ahead at the swarm heading towards them.
"I have no time to deal with you fools, but since you also came this way to die, I'll leave you to my personal army," BoltBoutamon laughed as he summoned the Nightmare Soldiers to tear the resistance apart.
"I hope they'll be alright." Mimi muttered in worry. The resistance she had gathered were of help, but if BoltBoutamon had some more powerful digimon at his service then... She didn't want to think about it.
"Well…" Centarumon started, slight nervousness creeping into his tone "I guess this IS the final battle now."
"And it's a final battle we're going to win." Frigimon added as she put her fists up.
"Yeah." Takeru said confidently, hoping that Seraphimon's evolution isn't preceded by another digimon's death.
Ogremon grunted as he took off his sling, twisting his arm a bit and winding it up "Damn right we will. The kids helped us to get here, so let's return the favor and clean house!"
By then the Arena was getting higher in the sky, but still enough for the Chosen to hear.
"Heh, you hear that? Everyone here isn't going to stop till your reign ends, so come at us bone head! We'll smash you into the ground!" Gyro said, earning shouts of agreement from his team.
"Cling on to that belief while you can!" BoltBoutamon growled, as the team charged forward.
The first to charge forward were GrandisKuwagamon with UlforceVeedramon, the two faster Digimon seemingly blurs as they charged forward, and managed to land a few hits on BoltBoutamon, but the armor was a LOT stronger than what Piedmon once had, thus the damage wasn't as significant as it would have been, and after a few hits, the two came in for another shot with their special attacks...but…
"I see you!" BoltBoutamon roared, as his extra arms lashed out, and grabbed both of them out of the air.
"Oh come on!" Veemon complained.
"That's not fair." Tentomon waved his arms frantically.
"Hang on guys!" WarGreymon said as he and MetalGarurumon went to help their friends...only for BoltBoutamon to promptly throw them at them, causing the four to end up in a heap.
"...Seriously?" Agumon grumbled at his other getting into such an embarrassing position.
"In retrospect, we probably should have expected that…" MetalGarurumon groaned as he was was currently under GrandisKuwagamon.
Gabumon winced at the weight his other must be under, despite having a metal body.
"He's fast. Well, let's try this!" Vikemon said as he exhaled a powerful blast of cold wind, soon encasing BoltBoutamon in thick layer of ice. "Now let's smash him!" Vikemon said...right as the ice shook and promptly exploded, forcing them back with a small hailstorm. "...or he can do that…" Vikemon sweatdropped.
Gomamon looked annoyed at Boltboutamon breaking free from the ice.
"Out of the way boys, cause fire is about to land in this hole!" Phoenixmon shouted as Rosemon was riding on top of her.
"Forbidden Temptation!" Rosemon called out as she fired her best attack, pelting BoltBoutamon with a flurry of flower petals, but he managed to block them with his extra arms.
"And what's this supposed to do? I honestly feel like you're not even trying," he laughed.
Palmon looked red in the face, though whether it was from anger or embarrassment was debatable. Actually, the redness seemed to come from anger, judging by the steam that was coming off of her head.
"Cause she's not. Starlight Explosion!" Phoenixmon followed up, igniting her feathers near BoltBoutamon, and being in the middle of a storm of petals...well...her attack had some extra fuel to burn.
Palmon's anger turned to cheers alongside Biyomon for getting that hit in.
"Huh, you used Rosemon's attack to power up your own," HerculesKabuterimon noted. "Nice."
"Question is, is it going to work?" HolyAngemon frowned. True enough, BoltBoutamon stepped out, looking rather singed, but overall he seemed like he didn't take any heavy damage.
"Of course it wasn't that easy." Miyako groaned.
"...think we can stuff him into the Heaven's Gate?" GrandisKuwagamon suggested.
"We can try, but somehow I'm not sure he's going to make it easy," WarGreymon deadpanned, to which HolyAngemon formed the gate anyway.
"Cool, we got the gate, now then…" Rosemon glared at BoltBoutamon before lashing out with her whip, wrapping it around him, to which all of them grabbed hold.
"GET OVER HERE!" they all roared as they pulled.
"Pierce?" Gyro started.
"Yeah, bro?" Pierce asked.
"Am I the only one feeling so proud that they used THAT classic line?" he asked.
"Huh?" Came out of most children, before Takeru seemed to realize something.
"Wait, I think there's a fighting game where a character says that when pulling someone in." Takeru said with a thoughtful look.
"What game was that?" Yamato asked, not immediately remembering one like that.
"Mortal Kombat." Novice pointed out, "And that line is used by Scorpion, who is practically the mascot of the game."
"I don't think I've played that." Daisuke commented.
"I would be surprised if you had, considering the game is M-rated due to it being... very bloody." Novice said, wondering a little if he should show them.
"And that's all anyone needs to know." Sora quickly said, not wanting to risk getting a visual demonstration.
"Sora's right." Jo added in quickly.
"Right there with you," Pierce chuckled at the gaming reference.
Too bad while the plan on paper worked pretty well, namely BoltBoutamon was thrown towards the gate, but the problem was….
"...okay, first order of business, either we break those arms, or we RIP them off," HerculesKabuterimon deadpanned, as once again, BoltBoutamon's extra arms had actually stopped another of their plans, namely he was keeping himself from going into the gate using them, before he took out his sword and cut the gate, causing it to shatter.
"Hey!" Patamon complained at the gate being destroyed.
"I am THIS close to shoving Excalibur where the sun doesn't shine." HolyAngemon muttered.
"I agree with my other." Patamon also muttered, causing Takeru to look concerned.
"Uh… you gonna be ok?" MetalGarurumon asked him in worry.
"I will if I can finally get that attack to work again." the angel shot back.
"Dude, easy there. You're literally the only guy fighting here who's got an instant kill move. The universe NEVER makes those moves easy to pull off," WarGreymon reassured.
"That's right Patamon." Takeru added in, "Besides, remember the title of this chapter?"
Patamon visibly cheered up at the reminder. "...I just wish it happened already, I just can't wait!"
Ophanimon shook her head at the little mon's enthusiasm. "Do try to not skip any text."
"Besides, the move should work once we do something about those arms," Rosemon added.
"So yeah, time for the arms to come off!" UlforceVeedramon said, igniting his blades.
"Sounds good to me!" WarGreymon nodded as they once again renewed their assault.
Meanwhile, down below, the resistance were also fighting for their lives. So far while they were grossly outnumbered, the fact they had an Ultimate on their side in the form of SaberLeomon. Speaking of which, he grunted after he finished deleting an Orochimon that had tried to take a bite out of him.
"There doesn't seem to be any end to them!" Centarumon grunted as he kept shooting, Chuumon on his back.
"Please don't say that! This is terrifying enough as is!" Deramon shot back as he fired Royal Nuts after Royal Nuts, Floramon by his side helping however she could, even if mainly watching his back.
"These guys ain't so tough! We can take them!" Duramon roared as he cut an enemy apart.
"You said it!" DoruGreymon grinned as he hit several with a Metal Meteor.
"Let's do this guys!" Hisyaryumon agreed.
"Yes, do not be deterred! We have fought this far together, and together we will gain victory!" Andromon said as he fired a Gatling Missile.
"You said it buddy!" Mamemon agreed as he deleted several of the attacking soldiers.
"Don't let up! The Chosen Children are fighting as we speak! We have to hold out at least until they defeat Piedmon!" SaberLeomon said, though inwardly he was glad he'd gotten that tablet from Nora and Ren all those years ago. Had it not been for the data in the tablet, he'd no doubt be stuck randomly transforming back…and THAT would have been really bad right now.
"Yeah, well that aside, I don't feel like losing to a bunch of kids in the ass kicking department!" Ogremon added as he caved a Devidramon's head in, before throwing his club. "Watch your back!" he shouted as he clubbed a Fangmon that was chasing after Meicoomon.
"Thanks!" Meicoomon shouted at the assist, before turning around and using her special move to delete her would be attacker.
Ogremon caught his club, right before a shadow loomed behind him...or it would have if the Wendigomon didn't suddenly have its head blown off by Waspmon. "Keep your own advice in mind!" he chuckled...right as a Troopmon who was about to shoot him came running while shouting in pain, with Dobermon firmly biting him on the rear, allowing for Waspmon to shoot him too.
Several laughs were let out at Dobermon pulling a classic dog move.
"Enough with the banter! Focus on covering each other's backs!" Dobermon barked, earning nods of agreement from them.
On the side, Frigimon had just turned a Musyamon into a popsicle, while Kyukimon and Pandamon just finished taking out an Astamon who had been trying to shoot her. "And to think I thought I'd go back to WWW to help with the frontlines," she couldn't help but chuckle, while Gekomon and Otamamon were on her shoulders, doing what they could to give support fire.
Black frowned at the sight of Astamon, but kept reminding herself that the Digiegg of the one she knew was in Novice's vault to her knowledge. Vault that was beyond her means of breaking into.
"Yeah, if anything THIS is the frontlines," Kyukimon and Pandamon chuckled at the irony of her statement as they continued to cut through the incoming enemies.
"Don't die now!" Kyukimon said.
"I could say the same to you! I'd rather not have to tell Kotemon you bit it!" Pandamon smirked.
"I think it's safe to say all three of us have a very good reason to get out of this alive," Frigimon said as she pummeled another Wendigomon to the ground.
Everyone was smiling at the resistance doing pretty well for themselves.
"I guess I worried for nothing." Mimi sighed in relief.
However, right as they said that, a large figure rushed at them...or would have if they weren't suddenly impaled on SaberLeomon's Nail Crusher. "Everyone, stick together! They can't pick us off if we guard each other's backs!" he called, while tossing the dissolving MadLeomon he'd just impaled to the side. The others didn't hesitate to move to group up, while Andromon and Mamemon did their best to cover for anyone coming back, as their tougher defenses proved to be quite hard to penetrate.
Along the way, Centarumon was suddenly rushed by a group of Vilemon and Boogiemon, knocking Chuumon who had been on his back off.
"Hey! Leave him alone! Cheese Bomb!" Chuumon shouted, but the Boogiemon nearby simply impaled his attack like it was nothing.
"Hey guys, get a load of the pipsqueak who thinks he can fight!" the Boogiemon laughed. "Run along little rodent, before you get hurt," he taunted.
Mimi had now covered her mouth with a guilty look.
"It was not your fault." Ophanimon said consolingly. Sora also placed a supporting hand on her friend's shoulder.
Chuumon growled "I may be small… but I'm not going to just stand by and do nothing!" he practically roared.
"Oh yeah? What are you gonna do? Nibble on my feet?" the Boogiemon laughed.
At this point Chuumon felt his anger reach a new peak as all the feelings he'd been forced to bottle up ever since losing Sukamon came back with a vengeance. And at that moment, something inside of him clicked. "Chuumon, Dark Evolution!" he roared as a grey light exploded off his body, which suddenly shot up in size to roughly the height of a human adult, wings appearing on him, and his tail gaining a spade tip, before the light faded off, revealing a red skinned demonic Digimon with a black outfit that had a rather high collar, the wings connected to his shoulders and looking to be part of his outfit, he sported two horns on his forehead, a mohawk of hair, and a short goatee. He then snapped his fingers, and a pitchfork appeared in his hand "Phelesmon!"
Everyone's jaws dropped at Chuumon Dark Evolving. More so because of what he evolved into.
All eyes turned to Novice. "Yes, apparently one of Chuumon's possible evolutions is that."
"...I don't know how to feel about this." Mimi said now fearing a little about the possibility of Chuumon's new form turning on everyone like SkullGreymon did.
Digimon Analyzer: Phelesmon
Phelesmon. Virus Type. A Perfect Level Fallen Angel Digimon. A Digimon who in olden tales is said to snatch away the souls of anyone who calls upon it to grant their desires. When not engaged in battle, Phelesmon is usually known to the perfect picture of an aristocrat. His special attacks are Demon's Shout, releasing a scream at his enemies that drives them to insanity, and Black Statue, striking the enemy with it's pitchfork and turning them in a statue made of onyx.
The Boogiemon looked up at the new Digimon, and it was at that moment he knew...he'd fucked up big time. "Ahahaha...about that pipsqueak thing...funny joke, right?" he tried to salvage the situation...only to get punched in the face and be sent flying right out of the battle field and slamming into the bottom of the arena in the sky.
Aside from part of the text being censored, everyone let out small laughs at the Boogiemon getting its just desserts.
"Like me with those Gazimon." Agumon commented on him getting payback on Etemon's Gazimon that ganged up on him. Still so satisfying to remember sending them flying.
"Demon's Shout!" Phelesmon called out, bombarding the Digimon attacking Centarumon with his shout which left them screaming as they clutched their ears as the scream tore at their sanity...before they ran into nearby boulders in a frenzy.
"Okay...I'll admit I didn't expect to see that happen, though I'm glad you seem to have retained your sanity," Centarumon said.
"You go on and join the others. I got over 10 YEARS worth of repressed emotions I need to offload," Phelesmon said, glaring at the army still gathered before them.
No one could blame the Fallen Angel for feeling that way.
"Don't overextend," Centarumon merely cautioned, before leaving Phelesmon be.
"Right," he nodded, before glaring. "Now then…." he started, before raising his pitchfork over his head and letting out an unintelligible war cry as he ran pitchfork first into the fray, and started carving out a bloody swath as he tore apart at the Nightmare Soldiers both physically AND mentally.
Fortunately the scene in question seemed to be a little chopped up to remove some of the gory details that were mentioned.
Miyako let out a sigh of relief at not having to cover Iori's eyes as they only heard the enemies cry in pain while the picture didn't show what was actually happening.
"...remind me never to piss off that guy ever again," was all Ogremon could say at seeing Phelesmon go medieval on the army.
"Only if you remind US to not do it too," Meicoomon sweat dropped.
"Good advice." Daisuke commented as he winced at another sound of carnage the speakers let out.
"Talk about big things coming in small packages." Black chuckled as her tail swished happily.
Meanwhile….
"WHAT THE HELL ARE THESE ARMS MADE OF?!" was the angry shout as Vikemon was ramming Mjolnir into BoltBoutamon's extra arms, which were raised defensively, yet SOMEHOW they were holding up against not just HIS weapons, but also the Gran Killers AND the Dramon Killers, along with the blades of the V Bracelets.
"That's total BS!" Agumon roared.
"Yeah!" Gomamon agreed.
"Are those arms made of some kind of black Chrome Digizoid?" Koshiro had to ask.
"Beats me." Novice shrugged, "Though I wouldn't be surprised if they were."
"Why don't you just give up while you still can?!" BoltBoutamon taunted, before unsheathing his sword. "Palazzi Valzer!" he called out as his swords suddenly multiplied till there were….a LOT…
"That… looks a lot like what Emerald does in canon." Pierce said after a moment.
"Yeah, but this time it's real!" Yang said urgently.
"Brace for impact!" MetalGarurumon shouted as all the Digimon immediately huddled up in front of the hunters as the attack hit, shielding them with their bodies. When it was over, they were left groaning on the ground.
"Okay...that wasn't fun at all…" UlforceVeedramon groaned.
"It really didn't look like it." Armadimon agreed. As did everyone else.
"It's probably gonna get a lot LESS fun if we don't do anything about it soon…" HerculesKabuterimon added, seeing as he noticed HolyAngemon, who in the rush, had been in a position to take a good number of hits, reverting to Patamon from the damage he took.
Patamon's paws tightened theri grip on the book in anticipation. It had to be close. It just had to be.
"How many times do I have to say it? You can't win!" BoltBoutamon laughed.
"And how many times do we have to say that we DON'T quit!" GrandisKuwagamon shot back.
At that BoltBoutamon laughed. "You really ARE idiots! Try and try as you might, you can't defeat me! No one can defeat me anymore! Not even Yggdrasil himself! So stop clinging to your false hope, and accept your demise!"
"Okay, that is arrogant." Black said with a frown, "I mean... he's almost on the level of mister High-and-Mighty."
"Really? How so?" Yamato asked out of curiosity.
Black looked thoughtful of that. Then she used a polite conversational tone to say the next piece, "A perfect being such as myself has no need to explain my greatness to vermin." All of that said with a friendly smile made everyone look annoyed. "That's him in a nutshell." Black then said with an annoyed look.
"Wow... what a jerk." Daisuke commented.
"I know right!" Black threw her paws into the air as she fell on her back in her basket.
"Shut up!" was the response he got, followed by a small hail of bullets. The source revealed to be Blake. "Who the hell gave you the right to decide?! To do whatever you want!" she growled. "We're not done yet, not by a long shot, so it's FAR too early for you to be claiming victory!"
"And what can you possibly do?" BoltBoutamon laughed. "I've taken all of you on and I'm still here just fine!"
"No you haven't," she said dangerously. "Everyone who's dead because of you, we won't let their sacrifices be in vain. We'll make sure to finish this fight, so that the Digital World can finally find peace! So give up on making us give up!" at that moment, her crest started to shine brightly, as a pillar of yellow light released into the sky, breaking through the top of the dark barrier set up around the piece of land "Today… is the day this all ends." Blake said in a tone that left no room to continue, as her tag floated out of her clothes and shattered, the crest flying into her body as the light gathered into her hand, grabbing hold of her D-Core, which changed into a D-Crest with a yellow grip "Patamon, are you ready?"
"I am!" was all Patamon said as he flew upwards, Blake aiming her D-Crest at him.
Patamon almost couldn't believe it. He would finally get to see his Ultimate form.
(Play Brave Heart)
The Crest of Hope appeared on the glass covering, before the light erupted from the Digivice, shooting the Crest out, which flew forward and into Patamon, who turned the same color of the Crest, and did a backflip. "Patamon, Warp Evolution!" Patamon called out, releasing a burst of light, which revealed Angemon, who turned and repeated the process, revealing HolyAngemon who did the same one more time. From the final burst of light came a being covered in armor, wearing a helmet with wings attached to the side that covered his face completely. He then extended his arms out, the gauntlets gaining a second plate of armor over the first one that was blue in color with a golden engraving of a Fleur-de-Lys. The rest of his armor then gained color, revealing it to be silver in color with gold highlights, with the knee guards, ankle guards, front piece and helmet being blue in color, the front of the helmet sporting a golden four point star while the wings on its sides were silver, a long piece of cloth then appearing dangling from the front of his armor between his legs with Digicode written onto it. Large blue shoulder pads then appeared over his bare shoulders, followed by 10 golden angelic wings shooting out of his back, his silvery blonde hair falling out of his helmet and across his back a moment after. The Crest of Hope then engraved itself on his stomach armor, as Patamon's blue eyes shone from behind the helmet for a moment, before he cast his arm to the side, breaking up the area around him and turning it into an area that could be described as heaven, as he then let out a brilliant explosion of light from his body "Seraphimon!"
"Wooow." Patamon's eyes were sparkling at the divine form of his other.
Ophanimon also smiled at the sight of Seraphimon.
"Well… that's bright." Ren said after a moment, squinting his eyes to look up at Patamon's Ultimate form as it let off a large amount of light, almost like a sun shining bright.
"And I think it's just what we need." Pyrrha added.
"I'll say, look at him!" Jaune said as he pointed at BoltBoutamon, who recoiled away from the light, trying to cover himself from it while his body let off wisps of smoke.
"I guess that's the downside of absorbing a vampire." Ruby realised what his problem was after a moment.
"Myotismon did cover Vale in mist." Iori commented with a small smile at what looked like a new advantage.
"Then it gives me the perfect chance." Seraphimon spoke, crossing his arms in front of himself "Final Heal!" he said before spreading them across, as a soft glow of light covered all of the Chosen and their partners.
"Huh?" Was the universal reaction.
"Remember the game I mentioned where Mastemon debuted?" Novice piped up, earning everyone's attention, "Aside from each Digimon's individual Special Move, they could also learn additional abilities, Final Heal is one of them."
"Wait, is this Digital World based on a video game then?" Mimi then asked.
"No Mimi," Koshiro said, "Remember what he said about worlds having connections. In this one, the connection must be elements from what his Earth must consider a video game mechanic being real in this one."
Novice looked surprised at that before smiling, "I couldn't have put it better myself."
"I can feel my strength coming back to me." WarGreymon said as he got back to his feet, looking better than new. Not just him, as everyone soon looked better than ever, even Nyaromon who had evolved into Salamon again, Nora quickly pulling out her D-Crest, and soon Mastemon was among them too.
Gatomon couldn't help smiling at her other joining the fight once again.
"Seraphimon… he's really powerful." Weiss said as she looked at the Analyzer.
Digimon Analyzer: Seraphimon
Seraphimon. Vaccine Type. An Ultimate Level Seraph Digimon. A powerful angelic Digimon, the highest ranked one at that, said to rule over all of them as one of the Three Celestials. It is told that should Seraphimon descend from the heavens to combat evil, he will purify all traces of darkness from the world. His special attacks are Seven Heavens, firing seven orbs of holy energy to destroy evil, and Divine Breaker, sending forth a ball of crackling lightning from his fist.
"Talk about divine punishment." Hawkmon commented with a grin on his beak.
"I-it doesn't matter! One more of you won't make a diff-" BoltBoutamon tried to say...if Seraphimon didn't surge forward and land a haymaker charged with holy power to the side of his face, sending him flying till he collided with the edge of his own barrier.
"You were saying?" Patamon couldn't help but smirk as he commented.
"You were saying?" Seraphimon couldn't help but smirk.
Takeru chuckled at Seraphimon mirroring Patamon's reaction.
"Tch…! Don't get overconfident!" BoltBoutamon roared. "Quartzione!"
"Divine Breaker!" Seraphimon countered, destroying the bullets as the ball of lightning plowed into BoltBoutamon, pushing him back.
"In that case...Palazzi Valzer!" BoltBoutamon followed up.
"Forbidden Temptation!" Rosemon countered, her attack hitting the many swords, causing them to disappear from the damage, while also cutting into BoltBoutamon who was now feeling the damage.
"The Holy Light radiating from Seraphimon must have weakened his defenses." Ophanimon commented with a smile.
"I-Impossible! How am I losing to you all?!" he gasped.
"Shouldn't it be obvious?" Yang grinned.
"You've been drawing your extra power from Myotismon's malice, and his powers amplifying your original power," Weiss said. "But in doing so you absorbed his weakness too!"
"Our Myotismon was also weak to sunlight." Gatomon supported the information.
As if to emphasise the point, Seraphimon called forth a powerful holy light, which Mastemon added to as well, shining it onto BoltBoutamon who recoiled when it made contact with him.
"T-this can't…!" BoltBoutamon growled, before his eyes widened, and at that moment, he realized how badly he'd messed up. In provoking the bearer of Hope, he'd triggered the very Crest they needed to turn the tables. The realization made him angered beyond anything, and in a frenzied roar, he discarded any semblance of defense and charged forward. If he could kill the Digimon of Hope, he could still win this!
"Something tells me that's easier said than done at this point." Gomamon smirked.
Everyone agreed with that with eager nods.
"Hold it right there! Seven Heavens!" Seraphimon called out, before launching the seven orbs of holy light, which plowed right into BoltBoutamon's body, causing him to cry out in pain as he was pushed back. However, he didn't impact the wall this time, seeing as UlforceVeedramon had gotten behind him.
"Don't forget about us!" he grinned before he kicked BoltBoutamon in the back, sending him flying towards Phoenixmon. "Play ball!" he grinned.
"Oh yeah!" Veemon cheered at his other as the other Digimon looked a little confused before the realization set in. And then they all adopted evil grins. Ones that had faces capable of that anyway.
"Oooooh!" everyone grinned at that, before Phoenixmon used her wing to knock the hapless Dark Master towards HerculesKabuterimon, who used his horn to knock the 'ball' away towards MetalGarurumon who rammed it towards Rosemon, who grabbed it with her whip, before flinging it at WarGreymon who hit it with a mighty kick, straight for GrandisKuwagamon, who joined his hands, and did a volleyball pass to Mastemon, who flipped upside down and kicked it towards Vikemon, who had equipped Mjolnir to his hands, and was rearing up like a baseball batter, before hitting the 'ball' in a way that sent him flying upward.
"Yes!" Biyomon cheered for her other.
"Pass!" Gabumon called out.
"Coming down!" Palmon joked.
"Shoot!" Agumon cheered.
"To you!" Wormmon said while mimicking the maneuver with his front most legs.
"One more!" Gatomon joined in with a kick at the air.
"And it's a homerun!" Gomamon finished while swinging his flippers like he was the one batting.
Everyone laughed at the partner digimons' antics, but none of them could blame them.
"Gather, O Holy Power!" Seraphimon called out as he flew upwards, the lights from the Digivices coming to him and gathering just over his joined hands, which he raised up, forming a MASSIVE sphere of holy light...and bringing it down on the ascending Dark Master, slamming down on him as he roared in pain at the holy energy wreaking havoc on his power, which sent him CRASHING down into the ground, and he didn't stop there. He hit the ground...and kept going till he'd broken right through the bottom of the arena and he was STILL going.
"Now that was an overkill." Takeru commented with a small smile, almost feeling sorry for BoltBoutamon.
"I hope THAT hurt, clown boy!" Jaune shouted down the hole.
"Hey...if he's gone...what's holding this arena up?" Nora suddenly spoke up as the barrier faded.
Novice could picture the record scratch noise as everyone suddenly realized that BoltBoutamon's defeat probably meant that the arena would fall now.
"...oh…" everyone barely managed to say as the Digimon grabbed their partners, before the Arena fell from the sky.
"That was quick thinking." Jo was the first to comment in slight relief of the Remnant crew not having to have a fall like that.
Back down below, the resistance had managed to make a BIG dent in the Nightmare Soldiers...before Waspmon noticed something. "Hey guys...what's that?" he asked, right as the object crashed into the ground...followed by the arena falling out of the sky...and they were still kinda close to it too.
"Everyone run!" SaberLeomon shouted, and they all did just that, getting out of the way, leaving the Nightmare Soldiers, and BoltBoutamon who was still embedded in the little hole, to look up and see the arena coming down.
"...I HATE those kids…"BoltBoutamon managed to snarl before he and his army were promptly crushed.
"I think that was the real overkill." Taichi said, earning several laughs out of everyone. It was true. Getting smacked around then being blasted through a floating island and then being crushed by the said island... If that's not an overkill then what is?
A few moments later, a fist punched out of the ground, as the battered Dark Master pulled himself out of the 'wreck'.
"Are you freaking kidding me!?" Mimi and Miyako exclaimed in unison.
"All that and he's still alive?" Hikari couldn't believe her eyes.
"Knew you were still alive. Which is really good," came Gyro's voice. "Cause a LOT of people right now want a piece of you," he said, to which BoltBoutamon realized he was now surrounded by not just the 10 Ultimates, but also the entire resistance...and boy did they look ANGRY.
"Nevermind." Miyako said as she had a pretty good idea where this was going.
"Don't you dare look down on me! I can still-!" he didn't get to finish as the Chosen aimed their Digivices at him and bombarded him with their light, causing him to shout in pain, before the Abyss Stone was forcefully ejected from him and shattered, reverting him to Piedmon.
"...I should feel sorry for him, but then I remember that this world is better off without him." Ophanimon said with a smile that somehow mixed amusement and pity.
"I don't." Black said in a bored tone.
"All yours, everyone!" Ruby said, giving the Digimon a thumbs up.
"Knock him dead!" Pierce said with a small swing of his arm.
"WITH PLEASURE!" the Digimon all roared.
"Uh...parley?" Piedmon asked pathetically.
"Uhh, Novice could you tone down the volume?" Ken said, bracing himself for the most likely response the Dark Master would get.
Novice smiled before opening a holographic screen and pressed a few choice buttons. But the volume seemed to stay the same.
"...you wrecked our continent, killed our friends, made our lives a living hell," Phelesmon deadpanned. "WHAT DO YOU THINK IS OUR ANSWER TO THAT?! LET'S GET HIM GUYS!"
Until Phelesmon shouted, meaning that the volume was low enough for no one's hearing to be jeopardized, but high enough that everyone got the message of him being angry.
"Lullaby Bubble!"
"Allergy Shower!"
"Crush Symphony!"
"Hunting Cannon!"
"Absolute Zero Punch!"
"Turbo Stinger!"
"Fist of the Supreme King!"
"X Scratch!"
"Grau Larm!"
"Royal Nuts!"
"Demon's Shout!"
"Blade Twister!"
"Animal Nail!"
"Spiral Sword!"
"Smiley Bomb!"
"Metal Meteor!"
"Tenryu Suishoukyu!"
"Blindead!"
"Infinity Arrow!"
"Gaia Force!"
"Cocytus Breath!"
"Starlight Explosion!"
"Forbidden Temptation!"
"Arctic Blizzard!"
"Giga Blaster!"
"Shining V Force!"
"Grandis Scissors!"
"Chaos Degradation!"
"Seven Heavens!"
The attacks all hit one right after another, Piedmon trying to guard the barrage at first, but as they kept coming, they broke through, making him take the full brunt of the onslaught, and well...let's just say there probably wasn't ever and probably never will be a more THOROUGH deletion than what followed, judging by the bright light and the mushroom cloud that literally everyone who happened to be looking at Spiral Mountain's peak could see no matter where they were.
The Children let out winces as more attacks connected with BolBoutamon, while the Digimon had a very satisfied look at the "thorough" deletion going on.
(Song End)
"...Does everyone agree that that was the true overkill?" Sora found herself asking.
"Yes." Was the universal response from the rest of the readers.
Back at the peak, everyone was on their backs from the sheer force of the explosion they'd made.
"I think we just redefined the meaning of 'overdoing' and 'overkill'," HerculesKabuterimon noted. "Great job everyone."
"Totally worth it!" everyone agreed.
No one could find themselves disagreeing with either statement.
"And just to confirm that yes, he's gone, the scans we put up are showing the last parts of the Mountain disappearing," Weiss confirmed. "We did it! We won!"
"We won…" Blake breathed, almost not believing it.
"WE WON! WE SAVED THE DIGITAL WORLD!" Nora cheered as she pulled Ren into a bone crushing hug.
The group soon devolved into cheers of excitement before…
"So...now what?" Pyrrha asked. "Is everything supposed to go back together by itself, or are we supposed to...do something else?"
"Umm... isn't this the part where the Spiral Mountain collapses because it can't hold itself?" Hikari then asked in worry, which caused everyone to now wait with baited breath.
"That's...a really good question," Gyro admitted. "Oh well, when in doubt, we all know what to do...or try to do anyway."
Everyone, even their Digimon who had all reverted to Baby form by now, chuckled before they all agreed. "Call Gennai."
"Only one problem...we don't know where his house is right now…" Ren mused.
"Not to worry, I'm right here," came a familiar voice as a Mekanorimon suddenly landed.
"We're not even going to complain about how convenient that is." Pierce chuckled as they went up to the Digimon as the top opened and Gennai got out slowly with his cane in hand.
No one else could bring themselves to complain either of how easy they now have.
"So, what's next?" Yang asked. "We've beaten the Dark Masters, Spiral Mountain is gone, so...what do we do now?"
"This is the part where we faced Apocalymon." Jo then reminded everyone.
"I wonder if they're going to have troubles." Biyomon looked very worried.
"They'll just curbstomp him too." Agumon crossed his arms confidently.
"But the digimon that they faced were stronger than the ones we faced." Koshiro looked thoughtful, "It wouldn't be unreasonable to think that the Apocalymon they're going to face will also be stronger."
Takeru had a determined look."Keep reading Patamon."
"What YOU all need to do is…" Gennai said, gaining their attention. "Nothing."
"WHAT?!" Was the reaction from the first eight Chosen and their partners.
At that they face faulted. "You did that on purpose," Blake accused.
"Guilty," Gennai chuckled. "But seriously, there's literally nothing more you all need to do at this point. Well...except one last thing. My boss wants to talk to you. Nothing bad obviously, but still important."
"But... wasn't there going to be Apocalymon?" Jo looked flabbergasted at Gennai saying that it was nothing bad.
"Wait, didn't Gennai say they were going to talk to his boss?" Armadimon then pointed out.
Patamon kept reading, seeing that as the only answer. All the while Novice had an expectant look on his face.
"Wait, did you just say they're about to get an audience with Yggdrasil himself?!" the resistance members all gaped.
"Wow...we're getting an audience with a god...I have no idea how to react to that…" Weiss blinked.
"Normally I'd say freaking out is a good option, but I think we're all too tired for that right now." Motimon said, to all around agreement.
"So… where would we meet Yggdrasil?" Koromon asked.
As if to answer their question, a beam of light suddenly came down from the heavens as they were all being slowly pulled upward.
"I'd say right here, right now," Gennai snorted.
"...Is this Gennai a troll?" Daisuke asked before turning to others.
"Looks that way." Miyako said.
"Does he have to do it rapture style?" Pierce deadpanned.
Gennai just shrugged.
Once they reached a certain height, the light flashed bright around them, before they disappeared from the area.
Once their sight returned to them, the group were treated to an area that appeared to be a large room, that seemed to be made out of an almost crystalline liquid, the floor rippling beneath their feet.
"...It's beautiful." Mimi and Miyako gushed at the sight.
"Yes... so pretty." Palmon's eyes were sparkling.
"It is something." Takeru agreed to lesser extent, as did everyone else.
"Well… even for the Digital World, this is new." Jaune said after a moment.
"You're telling mE?!" Bukamon started, his voice turning to surprise as he and all the other Baby levels suddenly evolved back into Child.
"Ok, not that we're ungrateful, because having working limbs is nice, but what just happened?" Wormmon wondered.
"A small gift if you will," a new voice said. It was regal in tone, and one that just listening to you could tell demanded respect despite the notable lack of any arrogance in the tone. They also noticed that the voice seemed completely gender neutral, as in there was no way of knowing from the voice alone if the owner was male or female.
Some of the Children looked a little confused about the voice. How can something be that gender neutral?
Turning to the source, the center of the room, they were met with the sight of a figure slowly rising up from the ground.
The first thing that was noticed was that the figured had a clear lack of legs, its body instead being made up entirely of crystal armor, with only the arms and face being normal, or as close to normal as they could, seeing as they were white as snow and lacked any distinctive features save for a nose, a mouth, and a pair of completely white eyes on the face, along with long white hair coming out the back of the crystal helmet. "Welcome, Chosen Children," the figure spoke. "I am Yggdrasil."
"That's the god of the Digital World?" Iori muttered in slight amazement.
"Well... it looks the part." Hikari said, sounding hesitant as she called Yggdrassil "it".
Novice chuckled at this, "The problem with languages that have separate pronouns for men and women is that when you see something that is neither, you're not sure how to address them."
"What do you mean?" Jo asked out of curiosity.
"The language I grew up with only has one gender-neutral third person pronoun." Novice said simply.
"Why?" Miyako asked out of curiosity.
Novice shrugged at this, "Don't know. Maybe no one ever thought of it."
"I believe we have gone a little off-topic here." Ophanimon interjected.
Patamon took this as his queue to continue reading.
"Well… meeting with god… this isn't how I thought the day would end honestly." Gyro said after a moment.
"I can imagine it was not." Yggdrasil spoke, clear amusement in their tone.
"So, what's going to happen now? We've defeated the Dark Masters, shouldn't we be fighting the great evil Gennai said they spawned from?" Pyrrha asked.
Yggdrasil was silent for several moments before finally speaking "No. You are not yet ready to fight it."
"Say what?" Mimi sounded annoyed now.
"In what way?" Yang asked, a bit annoyed, but figuring the literal god would have a good reason.
"A few reasons. For starters, you've still not fully realized your full powers yet," Yggdrasil started. "Though you defeated the Dark Masters, it still takes much more time than you've all had to fully master the Ultimate level. Furthermore, when I sealed the great evil, I sort of...I suppose you could say I damaged its stability. It currently does not have a fully physical form, as such there is no telling what it may do in this state if you were to fight it now," Yggdrasil cautioned.
"So, it's like with a bomb, one wrong move, and everything goes south." Nora summed up with a frown.
The first generation was reminded of Apocalymon's attempt to destroy both worlds by blowing itself up.
"...So... if they fought Apocalymon now, it could blow up?" Agumon guessed.
Novice then started counting on his fingers in thought, "It not having physical form might also mean that there's no real way to harm it. Maybe it could rain Ultimate level attacks left and right. Or it could devour anything in its path."
That last one sent a shiver down the reader's backs as various disturbing images came from that.
Novice then saw the damage he did. "Ehheh... sorry." the Overseer said sheepishly. Then he got a whack from Eden's Lance on his head.
"Yes! That's how it feels!" Black cheered as she finally got some form a revenge from all the times she got whacked.
"...Just keep reading, Patamon." Gatomon almost pleaded, despite slightly enjoying their host's comedy routine.
"An apt description yes. Keeping it restrained is proving difficult, but I will endeavor to do so for as long as it takes until you are ready to properly destroy it." Yggdrasil said, showing how much faith they had in the Chosen.
"Alright...so...what happens now?" Blake asked.
"For now, you all may return to your world. You have done your part, now I will do my part and fix the damage the Dark Masters have wrought on this world," Yggdrasil said. "Once that is done, I think it's time to finally restore the time dilation of the worlds."
"Wait… that was you?" Ruby asked after everyone took a moment to process his words.
"Not the original effect, but I managed to make use of it to my advantage, though when your mother first fell into this world, I had to make sure to grind it to a halt as much as I could so you would have a chance to meet again." Yggdrasil explained as he turned his head towards Ruby. "It was only after the Dark Powers began spreading did I start...tweaking...the time difference so as to give you all more time when you inevitably came. And before you ask, the reason why young Keenan's arrival and time in the Digital World was so strange, is an unintended side-effect. He came when I was still adjusting the time, so he ended up 'in the past' so to speak."
"Uhh... what?" Daisuke said, a little unable to keep up. And he wasn't alone.
"Was I supposed to understand that?" Veemon added in.
"...I'm... not sure how to explain that if you didn't understand now." Koshiro commented on Daisuke.
"That explains a lot…" Weiss sighed. "So...are you going to send us back, or…?"
"There is a gate in File that I'd kept hidden for a while. The secret, is the tram you all spent a night in when you had to fight Seadramon," Yggdrasil said. "At the moment, time is still unsynchronized between the two worlds, so you do not need to leave just yet. The Tram is a gate that will open during an eclipse, which normally would only happen once in a LONG time, but for this situation…" Yggdrasil trailed off, before an orb of light appeared and a stream of data went into Weiss's Scroll. "This is a one time use program to trigger an eclipse. Use it to return to Remnant."
"That is… rather interesting how a program can just trigger an eclipse like that." Tentomon said after a moment as he looked at Weiss's scroll.
"Well, the Digital World is comprised of data, and Yggdrassil is the god of Digital World." Koshiro said with a thoughtful look. "...I wonder if I could come up with something like that?"
"I would advice against it." Ophanimon spoke up, "Reaching out to the powers of a god has a tendency to turn the one reaching for it into a monster."
"Besides." Novice added in, now having an ice-pack on his head, "If you did figure out something like that, what if by some chance it fell into the wrong hands?"
Koshiro let out a sigh,"I see your point. I guess I better just leave this alone."
"Koshiro, you're smart, but... I don't want you to do something that could cause a disaster." Tentomon chimed in.
"I understand." Koshiro smiled to his partner.
"So, what happens now?" Biyomon asked.
"Now? I will deposit you on File, the majority of the island was still intact, only its edges had been absorbed into Spiral Mountain." Yggdrasil stated, earning nods from them.
"What about all the other Digimon that died because of the Dark Masters?" Palmon asked with a frown.
"Worry not, their data is not lost forever, and I will make the Primary Villages my top priority, they will all return in time." They stated, earning relieved looks from the Chosen.
"Wait, so, when we leave, what's going to happen exactly?" Ren asked curiously.
"All Digimon without partners that are on Remnant will be brought back to the Digital World while I work on fixing the data. However, know that it is impossible for me to stop tears from opening between the two worlds, so you will likely find Digimon still leaking into your world for a long time to come. As such, your partners will return with you, to help keep your own world safe, just as you kept this one out of evil's hands." Yggdrasil explained, the group making sure to keep a mental note of it. "Now then, I believe I've kept you long enough. I will send you all to the Primary Village of File Island, along with the Resistance group you've all gathered together. I think you've all earned a little rest," Yggdrasil chuckled at the end, before everything was covered in a bright light.
When the light subsided, a familiar soft ground met their feet, as the colorful blocks and gentle sounds of Primary village could be seen.
"Well, this is nice to see after all the fighting." Blake said with a small smile after a moment.
"Tell me about it." Patamon added with a light chuckle.
"The fighting's finally over, for now at least." Veemon said with a relieved sigh.
"Yeahp, we can finally rest." Pierce added as he took a deep breath and let it out with a smile.
Everyone nodded in agreement… before they all fell backwards onto the soft ground.
"Oh dear Oum I'm so freaking tired." Jaune groaned.
"I can't even move my claws." Gomamon groaned right along with him.
"I hate adrenaline crashes." Gyro muttered.
"Tell me about it." Agumon added.
"I Think we can all agree to...just lie down here for a while…" Pyrrha said, getting several sounds of agreement in response.
Everyone chuckled at the Remnant crew crashing like that. But no one could blame them. Still... some of them, mainly Mimi, felt annoyed as when they left the Digital World they were under the assumption that it would be forever.
Oh well, no use dwelling on the past too much.
The next few days went by in a blur. The group had decided to take the next few days to just...rest...after the adventure they'd just been through. However, as fun as it was, they knew they couldn't stay forever. As such, it wasn't long before they were now gathered near the tram they'd spent the night in all that time ago.
"Well, looks like this is it," Pierce chuckled. "One heck of a crazy adventure we had."
"And it's far from over too!" Veemon added, earning a chuckle from his partner.
"I know what you mean," Yang laughed.
"But if we could go back, we'd do it all again," Biyomon added, to which everyone nodded in agreement.
"Hey...has anyone seen Gyro?" Agumon asked.
"Oh, he said he was gonna get something. He should be here soon," Jaune said.
"Not like we're pressed for time anyway," Gomamon commented.
"Doesn't mean I'm going to make everyone wait longer than they should." Gyro said as he flew down towards the group, landing behind them and putting his blades away.
"So, what were you getting?" Ruby asked curiously as Gyro reached into his pouch.
"These." Gyro said, pulling out wrapped up ice cream bars from his pouch "The icing on the cake."
"Ice cream?" Daisuke said in slight confusion.
"I mean, sure everyone likes ice cream, but how is this the icing on the cake?" Taichi asked skeptically.
Novice looked blanched at the question as he recognized the ice cream bars. "Hold up." The Overseer said before opening a holographic screen to check something. "Ahh! The first one wouldn't even be a year old in your world." The Overseer looked disappointed.
"The first what?" Takeru asked first.
"Keep reading." Novice said with a small smile.
"Oh nice, what flavor?" Yang asked as Gyro handed one out to everyone present.
"You'll see." was all Gyro said as they all opened them, noting the pale blue color, though Pierce was the only one who blinked in recognition before smiling.
The first one to take a bite was Nora, who hummed as she tasted it "Salty… and sweet."
"Hmm..." Mimi hummed in thought as everyone else looked mildly skeptical.
"That's a thing?" Jaune asked, blinking in confusion.
"It is, this is Sea-Salt ice cream. I don't know if you have it on Remnant, but we do have it on Earth, though it was made popular because of a work of fiction, a game franchise called Kingdom Hearts." Pierce answered with a smile as he bit into it, humming in content "Damn, now I know why Roxas and Axel liked it so much."
"Kingdom Hearts." Daisuke muttered as he wracked his brain. "Ahh! It's that game that was released back in March!"
"Oh yeah." Takeru also said in recognition, "I've heard of it, but I don't have the console for it."
Yamato rolled his eyes at Takeru before realizing something about the game his younger brother just mentioned, "Hold up, Pierce called it 'franchise', but there's only one of that game, right?"
"In your Earth, as of now, yes." Novice explained, "But in the Earth I came from, it has already had multiple games, Kingdom Hearts II being the one that introduced Sea-Salt ice cream."
"Is it good?" Mimi asked out of curiosity.
Novice shrugged, "Don't know. It didn't exist on my Earth. Or if it does, then it's probably fan made."
This gave Mimi some ideas.
"Sorry, but is that ice cream somehow important?" Sora then asked, "I mean it sounded like it."
Novice chuckled at this as he ran a hand through his brown hair. "...Well, it's less to do with the ice cream itself and more on it being eaten with friends."
"Ahh!" Was the universal reaction to it. Which also gave Mimi some ideas.
"Tastes like victory." Gyro said in agreement after swallowing a bite.
"It sure does. Feels like a real job well done," Ruby nodded as they all ate. Eventually, they finished up their ice cream and were now ready to board the tram. However…
"Hey!" came a shout, just as Weiss activated the app to trigger a one time solar eclipse. Turning to the shout, they saw all their friends on File together.
(Play Butter-Fly: Digimon Adventures Opening)
"You guys?" Ren blinked.
"Why are you so surprised? It's only natural to want to see a friend off," Leomon said with a grin.
"Thanks for everything you did for us!" BlueMeramon said.
"We won't ever forget it!" Waspmon added.
The group in the tram blinked, then chuckled. "Don't say that like this is goodbye forever! We'll be back eventually! If you guys ever need a hand, holler and we'll come running!" Nora said as they all waved, the tram starting to move as the gate was opening.
"The same goes for your kids! If you ever get in over your heads, we'll run over and help!" Ogremon hollered proudly.
"And remember! You'll always be welcome into the Digital World!" Phelesmon added with a grin.
By now the tram was moving faster, as their friends chased after it to a degree, waving all the way, the chosen and their partners waving back, as slowly but surely, the tram began to lift off the ground. Once they couldn't follow anymore, the group smiled as they watched the tram leave.
Inside the tram, the chosen and their Digimon were soon seated, some of them wiping tears out of their eyes, though others tried to hide it. "Don't worry guys," Gyro said, wiping off a tear. "This isn't the end. Not now, not ever," he grinned, before pulling out a photo. A photo of them and all the friends they'd made.
Everyone nodded, grinning with him, as the tram finally faded into the eclipse.
Everyone smiled a little, some of them feeling nostalgic on the adventure they went through. Especially the ending of this one.
"Well, Gyro's right. Their adventure isn't probably over yet." Taichi said before turning to Novice, "So... are you gonna give Takeru the update?"
"Nope." Novice said with a mischievious look.
"What?!" Takeru and Patamon let out indignantly. In response, Novice pointed at the book.
Everyone stared at the still open book. No one getting what the problem was.
Until Hawkmon asked the question, "Doesn't the book usually close at the end of chapter?"
And then everyone realized that the book has yet to shut itself.
"I didn't mention it before, but the Dark Masters Arc had its own opening. One I left out, because it had spoilers." Novice explained, "Now that the arc is over, I can show it to you."
"Well, let's see it then." Gabumon said, "Patamon, can you still read?"
"...Sure." Patamon said, still miffed at Takeru and him not getting an upgrade yet.
(intro)
*Music*
The music sounded a little somber for the reader. Which they supposed was fitting, seeing as what was at stake in this arc.
The scene opens as a cloud of dust is blown away, showing several feet walking through a rocky and ruined path. The scene then shifts to show the Chosen and their Digimon, before they look upward, the scene focusing on Gyro and Agumon who frown deeply. The scene changes to show the sight they are looking at: Spiral Mountain that stretches far into the sky, as the title appears. "THOR Alter: Digital Story-Dark Masters Saga"
Hidari te ni kakushita negai wa negai no mama de samenai yume miteta
The scene changes to show a small gust of wind that is moving in tandem to a hand, revealing Gyro practicing his semblance, while Pierce gets up, Pandora at the ready, both of them inside a workshop of some kind with Agumon and Veemon, before the four walk out into the light.
"This scene makes me think that Gyro and Pierce are getting ready for something." Ken commented. Wormmon nodded at his partner's observation.
migi te ni wa kara no kioku daremo shiranai sekai no hate yamanai ame ni utareteita
The scene changes to show team RWBY walking on the roof of a tall building in Vale, smiling as they overlook the city, the breeze flowing by them, before their partners suddenly land on their shoulders, all of them hugging the girls, much to their joy/amusement.
The readers who's partner's other was paired with the girls chuckled a little at this scene.
"Aww, they're besties like us." Mimi also commented as she happily hugged Palmon who hugged back.
Sora also gave Biyomon a one armed hug, while the pink bird fully hugged Sora.
Takeru stroked Patamon's head, the mon never pausing in reading despite this.
Koshiro and Tentomon shared a discreet low-five.
mamoritai mono o mamoreru tsuyosa
The scene changes to show a field as Salamon, Gabumon, Gomamon, and Wormmon are seen running through it with smiles on their faces, Nora soon joining them as the rest of their teammates follow after with amused looks, as the group soon stopped and looked out over the cliff they were on.
Ken hugged Wormmon lightly in this scene, while Hikari did the same with Gatomon.
Gomamon spread his flippers towards Jo expecting to be hugged. But the Chosen of Reliability instead ruffled the seal's stripe of hair with a grin, much to the said seal's annoyance.
Yamato placed his hand upon Gabumon's back, which the pelt wearing lizard took as his cue to snuggle just a little closer.
sore o shinjirarenakunaru yowasa
The scene then changes to show Gennai looking over various fragments of data salvaged from the Order, an apprehensive frown on his face as he looks out the doors of his home.
For some reason, this scene combined with the lyrics made the readers wonder if Gennai was perhaps thinking he wasn't doing enough to help. They all knew this to be false, but many of them were all too familiar with the feeling, so they understood.
subete o ukeirete ashita o sagasu
The scene changes again to show several feet stepping onto a rocky path overlooking the ocean, before the scene shifts to show Leomon and standing alongside him were Andromon, Thundermon, Ogremon, Centarumon, Waspmon, Whamon (on the surface of the ocean), Piximon, Dorugamon, ZubaEagermon, Ginryumon (the three now permanently adults), Chuumon, Dinohyumon, Grizzmon, the Gekomon and Otamamon, and GrandLocomon. The scene then changes to show the four Dark Masters, before focusing on Piedmon who has a sadistic grin on his face.
Smiles were shared as the resistance was shown, though not all of them evolved to Perfects or Ultimate.
Then they frowned when the Dark Masters were shown, despite the memory of Piedmon being thoroughly deleted still fresh in their minds.
Brave shine…!
The scene changes to show the 10 chosen children with determined looks before they all raise their Digivice Crests into the air which shine brightly.
Te wo nobaseba mada Stay the night!
The scene changes to show MetalSeadramon burst out of the water, before firing into the sky, revealing Phoenixmon with Yang on her back as the two evade the attack and countered, forcing MetalSeadramon to dodge, before Ruby and Rosemon entered the fray, Ruby raking Crescent Rose against his armor, while Rosemon struck with her vines.
"That looks so cool." Palmon and Mimi gushed at Ruby's and Rosemon's moment.
"It sure does." Sora agreed.
Kizu darake no yoru, You save my life...
The scene changes to show a shot of Puppetmon upside down before he lands on top of Machinedramon as the two fire their attacks wildly. The scene then shifts to show UlforceVeedramon and GrandisKuwagamon evading the attacks, before cutting through several fragments of debris that were kicked up by the attacks, before charging forward and separating the two Dark Masters, followed by the scene panning to show HerculesKabuterimon and Vikemon with their attacks ready, before they launched them at the disoriented Dark Masters.
The Digimon who's others were presented had wide smiles at them peppering the Dark Masters. Well, Veemon and Gomamon who had mouths capable of did anyway, but you would have to be blind not to see the same kind of mood on Wormmon and Tentomon.
kazashita yaiba no saki ni
The scene changes again to show Piedmon fighting against WarGreymon and MetalGarurumon, the two Digimon fighting on even grounds with him, before they manage to knock him back, Piedmon suddenly looking behind to see Seraphimon and Mastemon who launch their attacks, causing the scene to be covered in a white light.
The four digimon represented smiled at this, feeling slight disappointment that it didn't go the way the opening showed. But the way it did go was still funny.
omoi o kasaneta inori wa toki o koete
The scene changes again to show the various Chosen and their partners (all in Ultimate form) watching a sunset from various different scenes (a rocky area for Gyro, a lakeside for Pyrrha, a treetop for Yang, a hill for Weiss, a shallow pool of water for Jaune, a grassy field for Ruby, under a tree for Blake, a beaten path for Nora, a forest road for Ren, and a street for Pierce)
Your brave shine…
The final scene shows the Chosen standing together on top of a now destroyed spiral mountain, their D-Crests raised to the sky as the light breaks through the darkness and golden particles spread from the mountain to the rest of the world.
Only now did the book shut itself.
"So? What did you all think?" Novice asked the readers.
"It was awesome!" Daisuke was the first to comment.
"Yeah. It was." Yamato chuckled.
"I can see why you didn't show us this before." Jo commented, "It would have ruined the surprise of seeing our partners' Ultimate forms.
"Precisely." Novice said with a grin, "And now, before I forget." Novice then opened another holographic screen, which Takeru took as his cue to take his Digivice out. Sure enough, another light shot out of the screen and turned Takeru's D3 into a D-Crest.
"Takeru! I want to try my Ultimate now!" Patamon hollered as he rose to his wings, flapping them over eagerly in the air.
"Sure thing." Takeru agreed as he got up from his sofa while the book flew back to the middle of the reading room.
Most of the Children moved out, eager to see how Patamon will do as Seraphimon. Except Koshiro who seemed to remember something last minute before turning to Novice.
"Hey, Novice. Can I ask you something?" The Chosen of Knowledge asked.
"You can, but I don't have to answer." The Overseer joked as he got off his seat, "So what can I help you with?"
"Why haven't we felt tired?"
"...I don't understand the question." Novice looked puzzled.
"Well, we have been here for... I'm not even sure how long but we haven't felt the least bit tired. At least... not to the point we want to sleep." Koshiro explained.
Novice looked thoughtful for a moment before answering, "This pocket dimension warps your sense of time. The lair normally simulates the change of time from day to night, but for the duration of this reading... I have disabled this function. With your sense of time warped, you have no way to perceive the change of hours. Which also means that your body is unable to perceive if it should be tired or not."
"But... how can we still go hungry in that case." Koshiro pointed out.
Novice shrugged, "Well... your guess is as good as mine on that one. I never really questioned it. But it does get a little disturbing after a while, which was why I set up the system to simulate the change of day in the first place. But as I said, I had to turn it off for now so that you guys also wouldn't need to sleep on top of all your other bodily needs."
"...Uhhuh." Koshiro muttered, not sure how much to believe of that, but then again. Novice has no reason to lie about it.
"Was there anything else?" Novice then asked.
"No... I think I'm good." Koshiro then said before walking out. Ophanimon and Black had already moved outside during this conversation.
Black: You seem eager to see the little one become Seraphimon.
Ophanimon: *Ignores the cat*
Black: Are you perhaps hoping to spend some quality time with- Whoa! *barely avoids Eden's Lance*
Ophanimon: Keep talking and I will eradicate you, despite what Novice might protest.
Black: Okay... shutting up.