Takuya's first instinct was to ask how this had happened.
He couldn't keep himself from staring at Erociamon after the transformation of Koji had drawn to a conclusion. Everything about his companion had fallen apart, and it appeared that he was only a hollow shell of his former self. It was sickening to see, and Takuya couldn't do anything but watch with wide, fearful eyes. This was far from being the Koji that he had come to know and care for. His grief over Koichi's death had shoved him over the edge, and only rage for Lucemon remained.
"He combined the Spirits of Light and Darkness..." Izumi whispered from somewhere near Takuya. He wasn't entirely sure of where she was, but he didn't want to check for her precise location either. He didn't even know if he had the energy to try.
"How is that even possible?" Saki questioned. For one of the first times since Saki had crossed paths with Takuya, they seemed clueless and confused. Their regular poise had fallen away, and Takuya could see Saki for the person that they truly were. Beneath their mask of detached stoicism, they were still a young child who was simply trying to survive.
"It shouldn't be possible!" Bokomon cried out. "The Spirits should have returned to the Digital World if Koichi is truly gone, but the Digital World is gone... I assume that they went to the closest thing they could find to their host, and since Koji shares blood with Koichi..."
Bokomon's voice trailed off there, and Takuya understood that he didn't need to finish his explanation. Instead, the Warrior of Fire turned his attention towards Erociamon once again. Pulling the Spirits away from their vessels wasn't meant to be possible. Even when Takuya's soul had been lured away by the Dark Trailmon, the Spirits had remained part of him. It was because of the influence of the Spirits that he had become Flamemon. When Izumi fell into slumber, Zephyrmon's Spirit was the dominant force in her body, taking control of her motions as Izumi temporarily fell dormant. Their Spirits had remained attached heavily to them, but this was no longer the case with Koichi.
It shouldn't have happened. Nothing of this nature should have been able to take place, and Takuya felt oddly nauseous out of nowhere. He knew without a shadow of a doubt that his sudden sickness had nothing to do with the overwhelming sensation of unleashing his fiery abilities a moment forward, and it was unrelated to the damage he had sustained from Lucemon's previous attacks. He couldn't believe that this was happening. It shouldn't have even been possible, but desperate times called for desperate measures, and the fusion of the Spirits of Light and Darkness was far from being stable.
Light and Darkness.
Lucemon's words echoed in Takuya's mind once again. The Angel of Hell had declared that he was the only one capable of combining the powers of Light and Darkness, and without the proper buffer and separation, fusing the elements would result in something volatile and destructive. None of them had expected something like this to happen, but Koji was suddenly fulfilling the prophecy of death and feral rage that Lucemon had foretold.
Erociamon didn't seem to understand what he truly was, and he rocketed himself forward with the anger of a thousand suns. His hands flashed with the energy of both Light and Darkness, and the overwhelming glow of black and white was almost enough to steal Takuya's vision. The Warrior of Fire was left reeling as he hissed in pain and attempted to focus on the fight without completely losing his sense of focus.
Erociamon was next to Lucemon before any of them had a chance to register what was happening. He reared one of his hands back before slamming it forward into the angel's shoulder, and there was a percussive explosion of sound that spread outwards. It ricocheted in Takuya's mind, and the Warrior of Fire found himself reeling with the raw strength of Erociamon's single blow. All of the previous attacks from the Legendary Warriors had been powerful, but they felt like nothing when compared to the atrocity of the blackened sun.
Lucemon actually seemed to take damage from the attack, and that was the greatest shock of all. Lucemon's armor was dented, and his eyes went wide with strained panic. He stumbled backwards and let one hand rise to his shoulder as he examined the shift in his armor's metal. "You..." Lucemon whispered. He looked up to Erociamon with a terrifying blaze burning in his eyes, and he lunged forward with his hands outstretched.
Erociamon didn't even try to dodge the attack. He was punched twice, once in the left shoulder and once in the chest. He took the heavy damage, and a scream that barely felt human rattled free of his lungs. The sound was nothing short of horrible, and Takuya felt as if he was going to be sick. His grief for Koichi, still a present flame that flickered and whistled in his core, seemed secondary to his sheer terror of the monster that Koji had become.
Erociamon pulled back his hand once again, and a blast of flickering silver and obsidian formed in his palm. He shoved it forwards, and a column of light shot forward towards Lucemon. The angel managed to mostly evade the attack, but he was clipped on the wing. His angelic wings, previously white and pure, had been singed at the edge by the most recent strike. Lucemon roared in pain, and an unchained anger flashed through his eyes. Previously, Lucemon had only been playing with the Legendary Warriors, and he had felt as if he was completely in control of the situation. All of a sudden, he was at a major disadvantage, and Erociamon was the one who was running the show. A fighter had finally appeared to give Lucemon a run for his money, and he didn't know how he was meant to handle it.
"Fusing the Spirits shouldn't be possible," Yumiko whispered. Takuya longed to turn and face her, but he couldn't take his eyes off the fight between Erociamon and Lucemon. The former opened a great gash against Lucemon's devilish wings, and Fractal Code flashed in the space where the cuts had been formed. Lucemon snarled before diving forward, and another series of quick blows were exchanged that Takuya couldn't precisely identify.
"It was never thought to be possible, but under dire circumstances like this..." Hinoka said softly. "The Spirits of Darkness had nothing left to do, so they returned to Koji as Koichi would have liked them to. I don't know what we can do now though... How can we even pull the Spirits apart? Can Koji be saved from something like this?"
"If the power of the Spirits is going to be combined, then it needs a proxy," Junpei murmured. He cringed as another powerful blow made contact with Erociamon. The strike was followed quickly by a shriek of agony and yet another powerful scratch against Lucemon. "During the original war, Lucemon took the power of the Spirits of Energy and Cosmos to use for himself. He was powerful enough to maintain that sort of strength, but Koji isn't anywhere near as powerful as Lucemon. I don't know what we're supposed to do to pull them apart if the Spirits have fused together like they have."
Takuya glanced around madly, desperate to find something, anything, that would be able to solve their problems. Koji had been fused with the Spirits of Light and Darkness, the two most volatile elements when combined, and they had no idea how to undo such a process. It hadn't been natural in the first place, so where would they even start to go about reversing it? What if they couldn't ever get him back? They had just lost Koichi, and Takuya detested the idea that they might lose Koji along the way too.
"We can't just fix this out of the blue," Tomoki realized, his voice starting to waver already. "What can we do to reverse this? I don't know how we can fix this. I want to do something that will help him, but I'm scared that we won't be able to save him..."
Erociamon reached out one hand towards Lucemon's face and delivered a deep scratch across the angel's skin. Lucemon roared in response and reached out, clamping his fingers down firmly around a segment of Erociamon's hair that was longer and hadn't fallen away from his body. He pulled Erociamon in closer before delivering a quick kick to his enemy's stomach. Erociamon screamed, and Takuya felt as if that voice would be able to tear flesh from bone if it tried hard enough. When he listened closely, he could have sworn that he could hear the layered voices of all of the Spirits of Light and Darkness, including the various echoes of the false Warrior of Darkness. Koji and Koichi were blended in there as well, and all of them were screaming in pure agony.
Takuya had thought that he had grown used to seeing people completely shatter when the Beast Spirits first entered his life. He had seen the other members of his team suffer under the weight of their own past issues, and calming them had been difficult at best and excruciating at worst. Takuya could still remember the way that he had done so much to harm himself when he lost control over his emotions, and everything felt as if it was falling apart. Even so, none of that could compare to what he was seeing reflected through Erociamon in that moment. It was as if nothing in the world mattered aside from tearing Lucemon apart with all of the brutality in existence. It was nothing short of terrifying, and Takuya wished that he had the ability to move so that he could do something to fix it.
"You are nothing to me!" Lucemon shrieked. He flew towards Erociamon and tackled his foe, raising one hand to bring down another mighty slash. "None of you mean anything to me! I am the one true ruler of the Digital World, and none of you have any idea who you are opposing by standing up to me!"
The change in Lucemon's demeanor was unsettling, and Takuya felt himself shudder. Lucemon had been terrifying to encounter beforehand, back when he believed himself to be a detached tactician who had all of the power in the world to do as he pleased with those around him. He had allowed his ego to get the better of him, but he had been somewhat stable. When that was removed though, the true insecurities that rested beneath the surface were allowed to thrive and show themselves for all the world to see. Lucemon was not the powerful creature with no faults that he believed himself to be. He most certainly had weaknesses, and his most prominent issue was his inability to understand that perhaps he wasn't the most powerful being to ever draw breath.
"Erociamon is dealing more damage now than any of us were before this started," Mayumi commented. "I think it's because he managed to fuse the Spirits together, but how are we supposed to use that information to our advantage? We can't just combine the Spirits as we wish. Even if we wanted to, we don't have the proper vessel to put all of that through, and I don't think that we would be able to do it the same way that Koji did with Koichi's Spirits..."
"If we're going to defeat Lucemon, we have to find a way to pull Erociamon apart," Haroi concluded. "I know that he's dealing a lot of damage now, but he's unstable, and when he runs out of steam, there's not going to be anything left. He's going to completely fall apart, and we can't have that happen. We need to sever the different parts of Erociamon, and then we need to find a way to combine the Spirits' power in a way that will give us the power and control needed to defeat Lucemon."
There weren't any objections there, to say the least. Haroi was right, and none of them were going to deny that. If they were going to conquer Lucemon, the steps they had to act out were clear as could be. It was the process of doing so that was going to be difficult for them though, and Takuya hated the fact that there was nothing they could do aside from simply watch as Koji fell apart. Erociamon was not a healthy representation of his grief. After all that time they had spent together as a team, learning to overcome their issues and cope with radical emotions in a healthy way, Erociamon was still unstable. The fusion of the Spirits had driven Koji over the edge, and Takuya was desperate to hear that there was a way that he could be brought back.
As far as he could tell, Erociamon was getting closer to running out of steam. His actions were starting to slow down slightly, though the difference was so minimal that most people wouldn't have even noticed it. Takuya only picked up on it because his Digimon side made it easier for him to observe details of this nature. If not for that, he never would have recognized that anything was wrong with Erociamon aside from the obvious.
Lucemon managed to pull away from Erociamon for long enough to prepare a large attack, and when he shoved his arms forwards once again, a column of crackling energy burst forth from his palms and slammed straight into Erociamon's chest. The fused Warrior had long since given up on dodging Lucemon's attacks, and his thought process was focused only on ending the battle as soon as possible to prevent further loss. He wasn't attempting to save himself; he simply wanted revenge.
The damage was evident when Takuya looked closely. The pieces of white and black that covered Erociamon's skin were starting to flake away, leaving behind only cracks in their place. There was no color to the division in Erociamon's flesh, but it appeared that he was a doll, and when the paint was peeled back, all that remained was the hollow shell of porcelain beneath. He was bound to fall apart sooner or later, whether it be by Lucemon's hand or some other force. They needed to find a way to ensure that it was the latter. Takuya refused to lose anyone else. Not like this.
He glanced over to the five Digimon who had been watching the fight since the start. All of them looked completely horrified, none of them having ever seen something so dreadful in their lives. Neemon's eyes were wide open, and he seemed haunted by what was unfolding before him. Neemon, who had seemed so uncaring and relaxed throughout their entire journey, was struggling to come to terms with reality, and simply knowing that fact made Takuya feel as if he was the one being shredded to pieces by Lucemon instead of Erociamon.
Another inhuman shriek pierced the air, and Takuya resisted the urge to clap his hands over his ears just so that he didn't have to listen to the pained screaming. He glanced back over to Erociamon and saw that a heavy punch had been dealt to his shoulder. The cracks were starting to become more evident. The webs of flaking skin were terrifying to Takuya, and he couldn't help but wonder if this would somehow find a way to leave lasting damage. It certainly wouldn't have surprised him, but he hated to acknowledge that such was a possibility.
Erociamon tore a mighty scar down the front of Lucemon's body, managing to pierce through the fallen angel's armor almost effortlessly. Fractal Code shone ominously in the low lighting of the Dark Heart before Lucemon slammed his hand down against the weak point. He held it there until he was able to state conclusively that he had recovered the damage done. It appeared to Takuya that he had the ability to heal, though this did make a considerable amount of sense in hindsight. He had likely passed on such a power to Cherubimon when he was still using the Celestial Digimon as his figurehead of war. Given how immensely strong Lucemon was, it was only natural that he held such power.
Lucemon growled as his injuries began to heal, but it appeared as if they weren't patching themselves up quite as well as he had hoped. There were still traces of the damage that Erociamon had dealt, and Takuya realized that Lucemon was too flustered from his anger to properly recover from his injuries. He bitterly thought that this was the way it ought to be after all of the suffering that Lucemon had visited upon the Digital World, but his irritated musings were cut short as Lucemon unleashed another blast of energy that hit Erociamon square in the chest.
Once again, the cracks began to spread outwards, and flashes of white and black left behind Erociamon's body before dissipating into nothing more than ash a few moments later. It was almost terrifying how many cracks covered the surface of Erociamon's checkered flesh, and Takuya thought that he was going to be sick. The longer that this dragged on, the more impossible it seemed that they would be able to save Koji at all. How were they supposed to fix something like this?
Erociamon charged towards Lucemon, closing the distance between them in the blink of an eye. His hands were outstretched, and he didn't hesitate to rain down a dozen small attacks of light, darkness, and claws down upon Lucemon's body. The angel didn't give Erociamon the satisfaction of seeing him struggle, but it was clear as could be that he wasn't going to be able to sustain much more of this intense combat. Lucemon snarled before reaching out one hand, wrapping his fingers around Erociamon's vulnerable throat.
The being that had once been Koji shrieked in pain and began to struggle, digging his claws into Lucemon's hand with an intensity that bordered on being feral. His legs kicked out, and he struck Lucemon's shoulder limply. Not enough damage was done to completely free him from Lucemon's grasp, but it temporarily loosened the angel's grasp, giving him the chance to get in one final cut that pulled brutally at the metal on Lucemon's arm. The sickening sound of claws on steel echoed throughout the Dark Heart, and nausea set in anew as Erociamon continued to scream with the rage of a thousand cornered animals.
Lucemon's grip tightened once more, and Erociamon's cries slowly died down. Cracks spread outwards across Erociamon's neck with renewed vigor, and the haunted sapphire that had once belonged to the twins of Light and Darkness fell closed. A struggle drew to a close, and Lucemon's eyes narrowed. "You shouldn't have stood against me," he said simply. "Every last one of you will die here and now! You shouldn't have contested the power of a god, so you will fall before me helplessly!"
And then, Erociamon began to glow.
The light was dull at first, and Takuya almost didn't even notice it. There was something oddly heavenly about the illumination, and when it began to spread outwards, festering in the cracks between black and white fragments, Takuya began to feel oddly at peace. He glanced over his shoulder, recognizing something in his peripheral vision. Erociamon's cries vanished into nothingness, and his eyes slowly opened. The feral glaze to his irises had disappeared, leaving behind only something that blended exhaustion and grief in a way that felt terribly tragic to Takuya.
The source of curiosity aside from Erociamon was, much to Takuya's surprise, none other than Neemon. The small Digimon was glowing brightly with white light, and he glanced down at his skin in confusion. Takuya wondered what could have been happening, but his mind suddenly flashed back to his time at Evergreen Dawn. Neemon had glowed when Seraphimon was freed from his coma as well. It had been Seraphimon's power reacting to the group needing his assistance.
If Takuya had to wager a guess, he would have had to assume that the last of Seraphimon's blessing was reacting with their dire circumstances. Erociamon was unstable, but there was a power that would have been able to save him from himself: an honest miracle. The Celestial Three were gone, and their previous era of reigning over the Digital World had drawn to a close, but a drop of Seraphimon's power still remained.
However, Neemon's glow was dimmer than it had been the last time, and something about it seemed desperate. Takuya realized that this was the only remaining bit of the blessing that he had left. As soon as this miracle had been executed, the blessing would diminish completely, and the group would have nothing but their own power to fight back against Lucemon.
Erociamon's light continued to spread outwards, and Takuya realized that his injuries were healing. Erociamon wasn't the only one recovering from the damage that had been dealt. The Digimon finally fell fully still, and he allowed himself to shut his eyes once again. Lucemon recoiled as the glow grew to be too much for him, and the hand that had previously been clamped around Erociamon's throat moved to cover his face. Takuya found himself staring into the center of the inferno even though he was fully aware that he would barely be able to see anything afterwards. Something about it was simply hypnotizing him, and his jaw was slightly agape as he witnessed the true depth of a miracle in all of its glory.
When the light finally dimmed and faded away completely, Koji was left suspended where Erociamon had been previously. His eyes were only at half-mast, and while his injuries had been healed, he was still clearly exhausted. In one hand, he held his own D-Tector, and Koichi's device was grasped in the other. When Koji managed to push his eyelids open fully, he saw the Legendary Warriors, but he offered no true response. The Dark Heart had fallen silent, and nobody wanted to be the one to break through the veil of quiet.
Lucemon was practically seething in anger once it was all over. His anger was enough to shatter any sense of peace that the remnants of Seraphimon's blessing had left behind. "You have caused enough issues for me, you bugs!" he exclaimed. He raised one hand, and a large sword made of writhing energy appeared between his fingers. He slashed through the air, and the Dark Heart itself split in half from the single motion.
The world seemed to fall apart in that moment, and all it took was a flick of Lucemon's wrist for Takuya and the rest of the Legendary Warriors to be sent flying. Takuya was vaguely aware of screaming somewhere in the back of his mind, but the rushing of wind that surrounded him drowned out a majority of the sound. His eyes shut against the rushing gale, and he longed to be grounded once again as soon as possible.
"You will fall along with the rest of your pathetic world! I tire of seeing your ridiculous faces!" Lucemon shouted, and as was to be expected, the fallen angel's voice seemed to come from inside of Takuya's head instead of the world at large. The Warrior of Fire whined under his breath, longing to banish that cursed voice from his mind forever.
The universe seemed to tilt sideways, and Takuya felt like he was going to be sick. Everything was suddenly disorienting beyond imagination, and he wasn't sure of what was happening. He couldn't tell if his eyes were opened or not, but he was almost positive that he didn't want to know in the first place.
The sudden explosion of pain in Takuya's back made him scream as all of the air was yanked from his lungs. He cried out in shock before crumpling into a pile of limbs on the floor. When he managed to push himself upwards, he managed to tear his eyes open. He could see solid ground, stony and gray, below him. Where the hell was he?
Takuya managed to pull himself to his feet despite his body screaming in protest, and he glanced around in shock. All around him, he could see empty tunnels leading off to somewhere unknown. Something that had once resembled a column was collapsed at the center of the area, and stray pieces of cement were scattered all over the ground. Takuya frowned and let out a small breath. He found himself having to force air in and out of his lungs as the seconds passed by.
It took a moment for him to register where he was. They had wound up below the Shibuya train station somehow. The tunnels had mostly fallen apart, and some of them were blocked off completely. The ground appeared to be disintegrating in places, and the elevator had fallen free of its previous confines. The column that had supported it had fallen away, leaving behind only a pile of rubble where the impressive structure had once stood. Above, there was nothing but an empty ceiling that doubled as the floor for the bottom segment of the train station.
"How did we end up back here...?" came a question from somewhere off to Takuya's left. He glanced over to see Saki rising to their feet, brushing away a small rock from their shoulder. Their hair, regularly vibrant in its crimson shades, had grown darker under the influence of a thick layer of dust. Saki began to brush their fingers through their hair to try and dispel it, but they were sent into a minor episode of coughing when too many stray rocks left behind their scarlet tresses.
"The gate to Earth has been open all this time," Izumi realized as she uneasily found her footing once again. She was leaning heavily against the wall of the station, and her lip had split open during the impact. She didn't bother rubbing away the blood, and it dripped down her chin before landing as a small drop on the ground below.
"Lucemon simply took advantage of that..." Junpei murmured. He growled as he shook his head, and the other members of the Legendary Warriors all found their way to their feet as well. "I don't know what we can even do now. We don't have the energy to Spirit Evolve. We don't even have a way to get back to the Digital World. Lucemon was strong enough to hurl us through the gate, but it would take us too long to return. By the time we get back, he's bound to already be here on Earth. We can't even get up to the surface to try and fight him. I somehow doubt that he's going to be passing through the barrier down here. He'll find a way to divert his arrival point to be somewhere above ground."
"Damn it!" Chihiro cried out, pressing one hand against the nearby wall. When they looked up, there were tears of defeat in their eyes, and Takuya found his jaw dropping once again. He could count on one hand the number of times that he had seen Chihiro cry in all of the years of their friendship. In more than a decade, Chihiro had asserted themselves as someone who detested showing vulnerability, and seeing them this way so suddenly was beyond jarring.
"We have to find a way to do something," Mayumi told the group. Her voice was far softer than usual, and Takuya would have been lying if he said that he saw signs of her regular optimism. In fact, he hadn't ever seen her looking so deflated. Despite her words of hope, her eyes displayed the true despair that had found a home in her soul.
"What can we do?" Haroi asked. He hadn't gotten to his feet, instead simply sitting down in the space in front of the elevator. His legs were hanging off the edge of a particularly large rock, and a gash had opened in the side of his right ankle. He made no efforts to mend the injury, instead simply staring at it with a blank gaze.
"We can't give up!" Koji exclaimed. His voice cracked as he spoke, and he limped over to the elevator. Both his and Koichi's D-Tectors were still planted firmly in his hands. "We have to do something to defeat Lucemon! He killed Koichi, and we can't just let something like that stand!" He appeared to be on the verge of shattering due to his own grief. Hearing him say that Koichi was dead made Takuya's heart shatter all over again.
"I can't do that again," Neemon announced. He was sitting next to Bokomon, and one of his hands was resting limply on top of Salamon's head. "I could feel a little bit of Seraphimon's power inside of me before, but there's none of it left. Between pulling apart Erociamon and restoring everyone... It's gone."
Takuya turned his face towards the ceiling above. He didn't know what to do. As much as he longed to encourage the other members of the group, he didn't have the words. His charisma was failing him, giving way to only hopelessness and terror. They had given it their all, and they hadn't been able to do anything to stop Lucemon. Erociamon was the only one who had dealt any damage, and he had been taken down in a matter of minutes. The only way that they would have been able to do anything would involve fusing the Spirits, but there was no way of saying that was even possible. No matter how Takuya looked at it, they were finished. Lucemon was going to destroy Earth and every other world out there the same way that he had trampled over the Digital World. All of this had been for nothing. They were going to die, and nothing could reverse such a fate.
"I wouldn't lose hope so soon."
Takuya let out a gasp upon hearing the unfamiliar voice, and he instinctively started to look around in an attempt to find the source. In the end, his gaze was forced to settle on his D-Tector, and he realized that an unfamiliar image had appeared on the screen. As far as he could tell, it was a Digimon, but it certainly wasn't one that he had seen before. Something about the face felt familiar to him though, and Takuya found himself holding up his D-Tector with the screen facing outwards.
In a flash of red light, a figure manifested before him, and Takuya stared into the center of the glow with wide, curious eyes. He reached out his hand and attempted to touch the creature in question, but he found himself pulling back before he could get too close. Somehow, it felt wrong to do, so he instead settled on glancing up and down the beast that had formed seemingly from thin air.
The Digimon was mostly red in color, but a white helmet was attached to the top of its head. It had vibrant orange wings that stuck out from its shoulders in a grand display. Its eyes were such a piercing blue color that it felt as if they were staring directly through Takuya. The Warrior of Fire found himself infatuated with the creature, and he took another step closer, not breaking off the gaze that he shared with the new arrival.
"You may call me AncientGreymon," the Digimon finally said. "I was the original Warrior of Fire during the battle against Lucemon. As such, I am your predecessor, and you are my chosen avatar in the current war."
Takuya felt as if all of the air had been pulled from his lungs. All he could do was stare, and he let out a small sigh when he finally remembered that he still had to breathe. No matter how much he wanted to talk, he couldn't bring himself to say a word. It felt as if the syllables simply refused to form.
After the initial light that had created AncientGreymon, another set of eruptions of illuminations began, and Takuya found himself glancing around the area to see that other Digimon were being created from the D-Tectors. Their images were still transparent, making it clear that they weren't entirely there. Instead, they were merely halfway present at best.
All of their names seemed to come naturally to Takuya's mind, surely a byproduct of his connection with AncientGreymon. AncientGarurumon, Warrior of Light. AncientKazemon, Warrior of Wind. AncientBlitzmon, Warrior of Thunder. As the illumination spread throughout the area, Takuya found himself awestruck, and he wondered if he had experienced anything quite this enthralling since he first merged with the Spirit of Agunimon on his first day in the Digital World. Everything about the moment simply felt perfect in a way that he couldn't quite describe.
"What's going on?" Mayumi questioned as she allowed her D-Tector to fall down to her side. Takuya examined the Digimon that was standing beside her, a lean creature that appeared to be rather catlike. His mind told him that this was AncientSilphymon.
"The souls of the Legendary Warriors regularly rest on Rubrum," Hinoka murmured as she examined the three nearest Digimon. AncientMermaimon was the Warrior of Water and Hinoka's predecessor. AncientTrojamon was Yumiko's past incarnation and the Warrior of Wood. Finally, AncientWisemon was connected with Saki as the Warrior of Steel.
"Lucemon absorbed the moons, so it makes sense that their souls would have been released to wander aimlessly... Well, to be more accurate, they would have decided to come to the people who could have kept them anchored to the land of the living... Us," Haroi concluded as he eyed the Digimon that his own D-Tector had created, a humanoid creature who seemed to be hiding within the cosmic pattern of his cloak and hat. Takuya realized that he was AncientWizardmon a moment later.
A black lion creature took a step forward from his place beside AncientGarurumon, and Takuya found himself swallowing bile. AncientSphinxmon was the previous incarnation of Koichi and the Warrior of Darkness, and his presence felt somehow wrong when Koichi wasn't there to enjoy it as well. Takuya forced himself to look down to the ground to keep from acknowledging his guilt head-on.
"You cannot give up in the battle against Lucemon. All of the worlds are counting on you to defeat him. The universe will not survive if he is allowed to roam free," AncientSphinxmon declared. "There is a way to fight him, but you will all have to work together."
Koji glanced up to AncientSphinxmon with something like bitter treachery in his eyes. "But we can't work together without Koichi! He's gone, and Lucemon was the one who killed him! The Legendary Warriors aren't complete without him!"
"Koichi's fate is not sealed just yet," AncientGarurumon told Koji, silencing his heir immediately. "But such can be discussed later. Barely any time has passed on Earth since you first traveled to the Digital World. Time flows differently between the worlds, and he still stands a chance of survival, but only if Lucemon is defeated."
"Lucemon's presence corrupted the Digital World and caused it to fall out of sync with Earth," came the explanation of AncientVolcamon, the Warrior of Earth. "The worlds used to run perfectly parallel to one another, but all of that fell apart when Lucemon came to power. His strength warped the link between the realms so completely that the Digital World was forced to speed its pace rapidly to keep from destroying itself under his raw strength."
"How can we defeat Lucemon?" Junpei questioned as he glanced around at the original Legendary Warriors with a frown on his face. "We tried everything that we had at our disposal, and he still threw us around like we were nothing more than rag dolls. We were even able to pull off something by using the full force of our elemental powers, but that didn't do anything to help us. How was that even possible anyway?"
"The elements have left their traces on you all. You are no longer as human as you were initially, and you are part Digimon now. The Digital World has given you its power, and it culminated in a moment of grief and rage. Consider it a blessing from us and the Spirits themselves," AncientKazemon explained. "You have grown incredibly powerful, You simply need a way of pulling that power together and use it in tandem with the Spirits that have caused you to grow so powerful."
Saki's expression slipped into a frown, and doubt found a home on their expression. "Unless we have a way of fusing the Spirits together, then there's nothing we're going to be able to do but sit back here and watch as he destroys everything, us included. It's just a matter of time before he turns his attention in our direction again."
"There is a way for fusion of the Spirits to be possible," AncientMegatheriummon, the Warrior of Ice, interjected. "It is a power that was created when we combined our power at the start of the war against Lucemon. We created a seal long before any fighting could begin, and we intended to use it to restrict Lucemon if we could not kill him and stop his plans for good. This lock is known as the Grand Spirit, and it is the conduit needed to fuse all of the Spirits without causing any collateral damage."
"Then we have to find a way to use it!" Tomoki declared despite the waver to his voice. "We've come this far, and we can't just let Lucemon destroy Earth, the Digital World, and every other realm out there. If we have a way of using the power of the Grand Spirit, then we have to take advantage of it somehow!"
"Where do we start?" Izumi questioned, turning to AncientKazemon with determination glittering in her eyes. "We need your advice in order know what to do next, and you've all fought him before, so tell us what we have to do."
"The Grand Spirit will heed your call if you say that you require its aid," AncientKazemon replied. "It responds to the strength of the Legendary Warriors, and if you show that you truly do require its power, then it will come to you. It followed our wishes and sealed Lucemon away for many generations, and I believe passionately that it will listen to your generation as well."
Takuya gave one final sweeping glance over the rest of the Legendary Warriors of his generation, and he stepped forward to the empty space in front of the elevator. He reached out both of his hands, waiting for the other members of the group to step forward as well. Despite their temporary brush with hopelessness, none of them were going to be giving up yet. They had already solidified their positions on Lucemon's strength before, and if they had to, they would do everything in their power to ensure that he was defeated once and for all. Such a vow would not be broken no matter what Lucemon attempted to do next.
Chihiro was the first one to respond, ever the loyal one in spite of what appearances might have suggested. They adjusted their hat, pulling back the brim so that their eyes were in perfect view of the rest of the group. Chihiro pressed their shoulders back as well in a rare display of true confidence as opposed to a mere defensive mask. They took Takuya's hand within their own and nodded in his direction.
"Lucemon isn't going to get away with everything that he's done," Chihiro began, giving a brief glance over their shoulder to AncientVolcamon. The Warrior of Earth fell in behind them, standing beside AncientGreymon. The Warriors of Fire and Earth shared a brief glance, and Takuya could feel their smiles even if he couldn't see them.
Tomoki was the next one to respond, and he seemed suddenly confident as well. His regular nervous aura had disappeared, giving way instead to complete passion. He smiled brightly, and his emerald eyes gleamed with the determination that Takuya had known him to be capable of from the beginning. Regardless of his previous hardships, he was ready, and nothing was going to be stopping him after how far he had come.
"The Digital World hasn't completely fallen yet. As long as we're still here, it continues to survive," Tomoki said next. He curled his fingers in between Chihiro's, taking their hand passionately and continuing the circle further. AncientMegatheriummon followed his lead and appeared behind him, and Takuya could see the pride that swelled in the Digimon's gaze at the sight of his successor out of the corner of his eyes. Takuya allowed himself a small smile at the heartwarming sight.
Yumiko brushed away a lingering piece of hair from her face, and her expression glittered with something ambitious. Takuya had come to know her as an anxious yet kind person, but none of his previous experiences with her could have prepared him for the raw determination that had formed in her gaze. She took Tomoki's hand in her own without a moment of hesitation, carrying herself with a sense of pride that Takuya had never anticipated to see from her.
"Until my last breath, I will continue to fight for the Digital World," Yumiko announced confidently as AncientTrojamon followed her example. Yumiko glanced over her shoulder, and the two incarnations of the Warrior of Wood met eyes with a soft familiarity that made Takuya feel as if the two had known one another for a lifetime. In a way, they had.
Haroi came next, and he managed to force himself to stand despite the wounds that he had previously sustained. He gave off a sensation of quiet strength that Takuya had to confess that he rather admired. Haroi smiled to Yumiko before taking her hand.
"So many have fallen under Lucemon's tyranny," Haroi remarked softly. He glanced down before turning his gaze back upwards. AncientWizardmon came to stand behind him without much further hesitation. For a brief moment, AncientTrojamon met eyes with AncientWizardmon, and Takuya's mind told him distantly of the history Mayumi and Haroi had shared regarding their previous incarnations. AncientSilphymon and AncientWizardmon had both betrayed the rest of their teammates in favor of siding with Lucemon since they believed that he would be the successful party in the war. Such an action had ultimately led to both of them falling in battle and eventually being erased completely from the pages of history.
However, there seemed to be an odd sense of calm in the air as AncientTrojamon locked eyes with AncientWizardmon, almost as if they agreed to let all of their previous issues remain in the past. It had been centuries, perhaps even millennia, since the Legendary Warriors were last together as a full team. Enmity of the past seemed to melt away, and forgiveness permeated the air like the most beautiful mist ever conceived. Takuya allowed the sensation of calm to fall upon him, and he smiled to himself. Two generations of Warriors had been united, albeit not in the way that any of them could have anticipated.
Mayumi seemed to understand this acceptance as well, and she looked up to AncientSilphymon. The two Warriors of Energy watched one another for a long moment before coming to the same conclusion, and Mayumi began to make her way in the direction of the circle that was slowly starting to grow larger. She and Haroi took one another's hands confidently, and Mayumi's trademark smile spread across her face. Takuya decided that he preferred this to her weary emptiness from before. It wasn't even a question to him.
"The least that we can do for them and the rest of the Digital World is make sure that he goes down once and for all," Mayumi agreed confidently. She looked out over the rest of the circle, almost as if she was counting something in her head. After she had reached the total, she allowed her smile to grow a little bit wider. AncientSilphymon took slow steps towards the ring as well, eventually coming to stand behind her.
Hinoka didn't hesitate when she walked closer to the circle either, and she took Mayumi's hand gently in her own. All of her past anxieties had disappeared, and Takuya felt something odd from her direction, like a new sense of belonging and home. He had to admit that he felt the same way. He had certainly found a place to feel welcome thanks to the Legendary Warriors, and as far as he could tell, Hinoka was just as familiar with the sensation as he was.
"Lucemon defeated the previous generation of Legendary Warriors and was only sealed away," Hinoka commented. It was a mere statement of fact, but something about it made Takuya's heart swell with a strange sense of finality. AncientMermaimon appeared behind Hinoka a few moments later, and everything about her smile seemed to glow with nothing short of pure pride for her heir.
Izumi's honest eyes, something that Takuya had never expected to see when he first met her, gleamed like the most precious gem in the world. She fell into a place beside Hinoka, and the two shared a warm gaze that reminded Takuya in a strange way of AncientTrojamon and AncientWizardmon's brief connection. However, instead of placing water under the bridge then and there, Takuya suspected that the issues in question had been laid to rest long ago. It made him joyful to see regardless.
"But we aren't going to settle for something like that this time," Izumi said next, effortlessly finishing Hinoka's sentence for her. AncientKazemon seemed to agree, and she found a place behind Izumi. Her magnificent wings fanned around her, giving her an ethereal sense of confident grace that passed effortlessly to Izumi.
Junpei's expression was just as bare and honest as Izumi's was, and Takuya found himself remembering just how guarded he had been in the beginning days of their journey. He never could have imagined that Junpei would open himself up to be so happy with his place in the world. Junpei seemed to be one of the happiest out of all of them that he had found a home, and Takuya knew that he would never be able to doubt the loyalty and dedication of the Warrior of Thunder no matter the circumstances.
"Lucemon is going to pay for everything that he's done to us," Junpei agreed with a firm nod as he found a place beside Izumi. AncientBlitzmon took his position behind Junpei, and Takuya saw the Warriors of Thunder and Wind briefly squeeze at one another's hands, a silent show of belief in one another that made him feel oddly elated.
Saki was the next one to answer the call of their companions. They let out a small snicker and shook their head as they approached the space beside Junpei. The circle had nearly been completed now, and Saki seemed more than glad to fill in a third of the remaining gap. Given how dodgy they had been in the beginning, it was heartwarming to see their eyes so full of trust and integrity. Takuya never would have guessed that they and Lyramon had once been one and the same.
"It's time that we send that angel to hell once and for all," Saki announced, their characteristic wit just as sharp as ever. AncientWisemon seemed to agree, and they silently fell into place beside their current vessel. There was a silent sense of trust between them that made Takuya feel oddly warm inside. Everything about this situation seemed to be so perfect.
The brief moment of perfection all fell apart when Takuya's gaze found the one person who had yet to join the circle. AncientSpinxmon took his position beside AncientWisemon, and all eyes were left to fall on the empty space in front of him. Koji was hesitant to reach out towards Saki, seeming to understand that Koichi's position was meant to be beside the Warrior of Steel. He glanced down at the two D-Tectors in his hands, almost conflicted about what his next move was meant to be.
"Koichi would want for you to defeat Lucemon," AncientSphinxmon announced, reading all of their thoughts and effortlessly offering a solution. "I can still feel his presence... He is not gone yet. He is waiting for you, and he will be there for all of you when the battle is over and Lucemon has been vanquished. Until that time has come, he has trusted you with the Spirits of Darkness. Use them to call upon the Grand Spirit and embrace the power of fusion."
Koji watched AncientSphinxmon for a long moment before he let one of his arms rise up to his face. A strangled sob made its way free of his lips, and Koji wiped his wrist across his eyes to dispel the tears that had formed in his eyes. He gave a thankful nod in the direction of the Warrior of Darkness before he attached both his D-Tector and his brother's to the waistband of his dark trousers. AncientSphinxmon and AncientGarurumon both smiled in response, their eyes softening at the sight of Light and Darkness coming together.
Takuya found tears welling up in his eyes as well, but he didn't allow them to fall. After all, they had a mission to attend to first and foremost, and he refused to back down so close to the time of their success. Erociamon, the atrocity of the blackened sun, would never appear again. Takuya was sure of that much. After all, Koji wasn't left to shoulder his grief and sorrow alone. The rest of the team was there as well, and the eclipse of the heart that had caused Erociamon to form in the first place had drawn to a close. The sun and moon had fallen out of alignment, now admiring one another with silent respect and the intention to remain loyal to one another through thick and thin.
Koji finally took his place in the circle, bridging the gap between Saki and Takuya. Koji's hand felt warm in Takuya's, and he could feel the dampness from when Koji had wiped his tears away just a moment beforehand. Koji glanced over to Saki one more time, and the Warrior of Steel gave him a nod, saying silently that one day, this circle would be formed again. When that time came, Koji and Saki would not be the ones holding hands. After Lucemon fell, the chance would arrive for them to bring salvation to the Warrior of Darkness together. They would have another figure to fill the space between them, and neither one of them would have had it any other way.
Takuya was the next one who caught Koji's attention, and the two shared another long glance. Everything that either one of them had ever thought about one another seemed to be communicated in that moment. Takuya remembered the times where he had disliked Koji's distant and harsh nature, and he realized that Koji hadn't been fond of his brash loudness either. Despite this, they had managed to foster a relationship that was far stronger than what either one of them could have anticipated, and it was a connection they were going to cling to forever.
In a way, it was a role reversal compared to their previous intense conversation. Takuya had been the one pressing on through the positive and negative with a smile on his face for better or worse, and Koji had been forced to snap him out of his toxic positivity with something that they could both embrace. This time, Koji had been running only on his anguish and grief, but Takuya had played a part in pulling him back from the brink of his own self-annihilation. They were opposites, but they were perfect for one another just the same. The Warriors of Fire and Light had been the only ones to survive the battle against Lucemon the first time, creating a special bond between their heirs that could never hope to be broken. Beyond that, Takuya and Koji had fostered a connection of their own devising that would remain powerful and firm no matter what happened.
"For Koichi," Koji managed to say despite the clear sorrow in his voice. His words trembled as he forced them out, and the Warrior of Light allowed himself to cry openly in front of many people for the first time in an eternity. He didn't bother reaching up to stop the tears from flowing down his cheeks and dropping on the debris below. After all, none of that mattered anymore.
"For the Digital World and Earth," Takuya declared next, glancing up to the rest of the group. He took in the sight of those around him, and he found that the fire inside began to burn with a renewed vigor. The intensity of this newfound flame was of such magnitude that nothing could ever hope to extinguish it, not even the power of a king, god, or fallen angel.
"We fight!"
Every Legendary Warrior spoke in harmony, and Takuya could have sworn that he heard Koichi's voice among the two generations of fighters' cries for justice and victory. He swept his gaze over the area, and determination overcame his entire being. Nothing was going to stop him or the rest of the group from defeating Lucemon and saving the Digital World from his reign of tyranny.
Takuya's gaze briefly settled on a small cluster of figures beyond the Legendary Warriors, and he saw Bokomon, Neemon, Patamon, Salamon, and Lopmon all watching them with smiles on their faces. Takuya grinned in return, and when he blinked, he could have sworn that he saw the outlines of Seraphimon, Ophanimon, and Cherubimon looking over them. He knew that all three of the Celestial Digimon were watching them somehow, and they approved of the group's endeavors as well. Every living creature left from the previous era of the Digital World was watching them and knew what was bound to come next. Lucemon would fall, and it would be at the hands of the very Legendary Warriors who he had once fought against so bitterly generations prior.
Light suddenly exploded from the space above him, and he glanced up to see that a silhouette was descending from above. It held the same appearance as the Spirits that he had grown so used to, and he had no doubts that this was the Grand Spirit that the original Legendary Warriors had mentioned. This was the conduit that they would be using to fuse all of the Spirits into one greater being, and it was their path to defeating Lucemon.
As the Grand Spirit answered their call, the Legendary Warriors shut their eyes against the blazing inferno that had formed between their clasped hands. Takuya felt his body began to shift, and he was vaguely aware of a new presence joining him inside. He knew that AncientGreymon was pushing himself to join the rest of the group, and something told him that the other Legendary Warriors from the previous generation were doing the same.
He could feel the transformation at first rather than seeing it. Takuya began to feel as if he was not the only one in control of his body, and everything began to change around him. He could feel eleven other hearts beating alongside his own, and he recognized them as belonging to the other Legendary Warriors from his team. Even Koichi's pulse was there in all of its faint yet precious glory. They were all one and the same, and they would never again be separated no matter how hard anyone tried to tear them apart.
The sensation was not entirely unlike Spirit Evolving on his own, though there was a new dimension to it as well. He felt as if the world itself was coming together for this moment, as if this was the apex of his destiny made true for but a few brief whispers of time. Everything seemed to make sense, and his mind slipped into a position of enlightenment that he had never before encountered. It was beautiful and new, but he wasn't at all opposed to it. In fact, he wanted to embrace it every moment of the rest of his life.
When Takuya's vision finally cleared, he realized that there were two parallel visions dancing behind his eyes. In the first, he saw real life. From the shattered train station to the vibrant realm of Earth, Takuya beheld it all in a stunning new light that he had never before experienced. He felt as if he was living on top of the world, as if nothing could ever hope to bring him down from the high of living in the purity of heaven. He had fallen short before in his desperation for salvation, but he would never again fail to find the gates of the realm that welcomed him with open arms in that perfect moment.
The other set of pictures was something completely different, and Takuya realized that it was what was going on inside of the Grand Spirit. All of them had Spirit Evolved together, and the Legendary Warriors formed a circle much like the one they had created in the real world. Their hands were still connected perfectly, and Takuya could feel the palms of both Chihiro and Koji on either side of him even though all of them were sharing a singular body.
As for the physical form that they all shared, they all had a plate of red armor across the chest with intricate swirling designs of a bright yellow color. The lower half of their torso was blue in color, but red eventually took over once again with the armor covering their thighs. Shoulder guards in a similar pattern to their chest plate spread outwards, creating powerful spikes on either side that would undoubtedly protect them from any sneak attacks. Beneath that, blue armor lined in silver could be seen.
The lower half of their legs were covered in blue armor with yellow highlights. Their arms were primarily red with yellow swirls on them, but there was one key difference between the right and left sides of their bodies. In fact, it was the one thing that kept the two sides of the Digimon from being symmetrical. On the left side, there was an orange outline with two white horns jutting out from either side. Another horn protruded from the top, an echo of AncientGreymon's armor. The right side had a silver outline of a wolf that resembled AncientGarurumon, and twin ears stuck up from the place where the head's sculpture met the red and yellow armor behind it. The segments of special metal were echoes of the Legendary Warriors who had survived the initial battle against Lucemon, a reference back to the ancient history of the Digital World that the Legendary Warriors were reliving generations later.
A yellow ring stuck out from behind them, and three spikes protruded from the top, right, and left. The ring gleamed with something dangerously powerful, and it sent a rush of energy through their shared body. Two yellow trails stuck our from beneath the ring, and they were edged in red with similar elaborate patterns as the rest of their armor.
Their helmet was a dark gray color at the base where it connected with the rest of their body. Two red stripes marked either cheek, and pale silver metal covered the remainder of their face. A neutral gray wrapped around their eyebrow region before tapering off into two spikes on either side of their face. The back part of the helmet was blue, and a red circle stuck out among the cerulean. It contained a symbol that resembled the Japanese kanji for the word 'heaven'. Yellow showed itself around the outsides of the red ring, pressing upwards into a half-circle that possessed elegance beyond imagination. Their eyes were a piercing blue color.
This was the true power of the Grand Spirit, and it was something that would never be forgotten. All of the Legendary Warriors had combined to create this one Digimon that would save all worlds from devastation. Previous catastrophe would be forgotten in the name of the raw power that they possessed because of the strength they shared with one another. They had ascended and become something unified, a presence that would never be torn apart.
They were the Warrior of Heaven.
Susanoomon.
And so the second-to-last chapter has arrived!
I'm going to keep all my gushy stuff about this story's conclusion to another author's note, but trust me when I say that I'm making myself hold back for now. For the time being, I'm going to be discussing this chapter individually and how all of its little details work. There's a lot to cover, so let's get right into it.
First off, there's Erociamon. I mentioned in the last chapter that he's a replacement of Susanoomon's first appearance. His title (since I mentioned that Duskmon is the Warrior of Void before) is the Atrocity of the Blackened Sun, hence the name of this chapter. He's not really supposed to exist and was created by Koji's anger and grief for Koichi, so he's a mindless beast set only on vengeance and violence. You could alternatively call him the Warrior of Eclipse, but he's even less of a Legendary Warrior than Duskmon is in my eyes, so he gets a special and edgy title.
Now for Neemon's blessing! I bet you thought I forgot about that, huh? Nope! The first half of the blessing was used up at Evergreen Dawn, but the second half forcefully pulled apart Erociamon and replenished the energy of the rest of the Legendary Warriors. I was planning on doing this from the start so that it wasn't just a forgotten point after the Evergreen Dawn arc ended. Unfortunately, that's all that was left of the Celestial Three's previous power, so rest in peace to the last bit of Seraphimon's strength. You will be missed.
This chapter can very clearly be divided into two halves: hopeless and hopeful. The first half is coming on the heels of a very emotional moment in the form of Koichi's sacrifice, and everyone is completely destroyed by it. They were all planning on doing what they could to help Koichi upon learning that he didn't have a body anymore, but they didn't give that chance, hence the outburst of anger. Getting their asses kicked by Lucemon didn't help, and there wasn't much they could do about that given how strong he is.
The original Legendary Warriors manifesting was my way of tying back in with the plot point of Rubrum. Given that they don't have a resting place anymore, they went towards their current hosts, and they were more than happy to explain everything that would be necessary for the group to press on. I said that we'd get back to the matter of the elements reacting before, and that happened here. Woohoo.
Speaking of the original Warriors, AncientSilphymon and AncientWizardmon are the original Warriors of Energy and Cosmos respectively. I was originally planning on having their names follow the same name schematic as AncientKazemon and AncientBlitzmon, but I wound up changing my mind shortly before I started to write this chapter, so here we go. Bonus points for Silphymon being one of my favorite Digimon (you can see the influence in Kirismon's design there actually hence the name share).
The moment where all of the Legendary Warriors come together was one of my favorites to write in the whole book. It gave me chills, and I just loved working on it as a whole. The moment of having Koji and Saki understand where Koichi was meant to be in the circle was a particular favorite part of mine, and it creates a connection between two characters who had radically different connections to him. Most of Saki's interactions with Koichi were when he was Duskmon and the two were arguing for dominance in the Fallen Warriors, but this is sort of a nice little way to lay their previous arguments to rest.
On the topic of setting aside grudges, the moment with AncientTrojamon and AncientWizardmon was a small one that I think is particularly nice. Since the original Warriors of Energy and Cosmos betrayed their teammates in an act of perceived self-preservation, this isn't exactly an optimal reunion for them. AncientWizardmon and AncientSilphymon both regret their past choices, and they made that silently clear to the rest of the group. Plus, they can all reunite over the good deeds of their successors, so they're finally ready to move past the issues of generations long gone.
Another few parts about that scene that I want to point out involve Takuya and Koji specifically. First off, there's the reference of Takuya saying that he had fallen short of heaven before, and that's a reference to chapter twenty-seven which goes by the same title. It simultaneously ties in with Susanoomon's title as the Warrior of Heaven, and it shows how far Takuya has come from the days when he ran from his problems given that now he's confronting this hopeless situation without hesitation.
Takuya and Koji's interaction there is another way of referencing the old argument that they had in chapter twenty-six just before Takuya met the Dark Trailmon. They (much like Hinoka and Izumi, as a matter of fact) are leaving that in the past once and for all. The issue had been resolved previously, yes, but this is a final note to end it on to show that they're not going to be having such conflict issues ever again. It's what both of them deserve in my eyes.
The final thing that we have to talk about is the elephant in the room: Susanoomon! He's the Warrior of Heaven, a contrast to Lucemon's title as the Angel of Hell. He consisted of all of the Warriors from the very beginning, so his design influences from AncientGarurumon and AncientGreymon are instead references to the fact that they were the two Legendary Warriors who survived the battle with Lucemon instead of referencing MagnaGarurumon and KaiserGreymon. I told you that I wasn't going to favor Takuya and Koji in this, and I'm keeping my word to the bitter end.
Fun fact about Susanoomon that falls in the category of 'information that bears no true import on the plot but I came up with anyways' like facts from a few chapters ago: this is not Susanoomon's true form. The final form of Susanoomon (known as Susanoomon Heavenly Mode as opposed to this current Grand Mode) takes influences from all twelve of the Legendary Warriors' appearances. Since Koichi is not present, Heavenly Mode is not possible. One of these days, I'm going to draw out that design, probably on my Tumblr (digitaldreams0801), but for now, you'll just have to take my word for it that such a little trivia character who doesn't appear in the story does in fact exist and is very fucking badass.
That should be about it for this chapter (I say after writing one of the longest author's notes in this story to date). Next time that we meet, it will be for the final chapter's release, and this story will draw to a close! Next week's chapter is going to be a really long one (twice as long as my average updates for this chapter, as a matter of fact), so you guys had better be ready for it, because we've finally reached the end of the line. Until then, I hope you've enjoyed this chapter. Feedback is always appreciated. Have a nice day, everyone!
-Digital