(A/N: Ok, I know this chapter title sounds like it doesn't make much sense, but you'll understand what it's referring to when you read the chapter. So without further ado, let's get to it.)
Disclaimer: I own nothing.
Chapter 177: Rust and Fury
Imperialdramon stood up and dusted himself off, then reached down and helped Gallantmon X to his feet before turning to Boltboutamon. "Anyone ever tell you that your games really suck?"
Boltboutamon snickered. "Sounds to me like you're getting antsy. Nervous about your battle?"
"You can do it!" Seraphimon shouted to his friends as he rejoined the others.
"Yeah, we believe in you!" Ophanimon C called as she landed beside them.
A mocking grin spread across the demon Digimon's face. "You humans need some new material. Your faith in each other is so old it's beginning to rust. Speaking of which…" He hovered over to RustTyranomon. Floating by the dragon Digimon's head, he reached out and stroked his cheek. "Go have some fun."
RustTyranomon roared and stomped onto the battlefield. Gallantmon X and Imperialdramon braced themselves for battle as they prepared to face off against what was essentially a dinosaur crossed with a tank.
"It's like we're fighting against a Power Ranger's dinozord," Gallantmon X commented.
"It's fine, we got this," Imperialdramon told him.
From the sidelines, OmniShoutmon called down to them. "Be careful! RustTyranomon is strong enough to destroy the world!"
Imperialdramon cut his eyes at him. "Thanks for that. So very reassuring."
"Rust Breath!" RustTyranomon cried.
Opening his mouth, he breathed a massive stream of fire. Gallantmon X and Imperialdramon took to the air, avoiding the flames as they flew above the attacking dragon Digimon.
"How is breathing fire 'Rust Breath'?" Gallantmon X exclaimed.
"His flames also induce rusting!" OmniShoutmon called from the ground.
"Again, thanks for that," Imperialdramon muttered sarcastically. "Any other ways you want to make this battle more nerve-wracking for us?"
"Terrors Cluster!" RustTyranomon cried.
The inside of the cannon on his back started to glow before launching an electromagnetic beam up at the two Digimon. Gallantmon X went one way and Imperialdramon went another. The beam lit up the sky behind them as it erupted, giving the two of them a general idea of just how RustTyranomon could indeed destroy the world.
"Yeah, let's avoid that attack," Gallantmon X suggested.
"Let's avoid all his attacks," said Imperialdramon, "and hit him with our own. Super Positron Laser!"
He fired a beam down at RustTyranomon. The dragon Digimon roared as it pushed against him, and raised a hand to shield his face. Gallantmon X took the opportunity to fly in and punch him with his Saint Knuckle.
RustTyranomon stumbled, then turned around and swiped his tail. It crashed into Gallantmon X, sending him spinning away. Then looked up at Imperialdramon and unleashed his Rust Breath. Imperialdramon stopped firing and dodged the flames as Gallantmon X flew back over and used his Zeig Saber.
RustTyranomon roared again as the stabbing beam slammed into him. He turned his flames on the knight Digimon, who retracted his energy-lance and held up his shield. RustTyranomon's flames flowed over the shield, but it succeeded in holding back the attack. That is, until the shield began to rust and began crumbling apart.
"Oh, right, the rusting," Gallantmon X muttered.
RustTyranomon kept breathing fire as he stalked forward, and Gallantmon X's shield rusted and crumbled apart all the more. But as he closed in on the knight Digimon, he was suddenly hit from up above by Imperialdramon's Giga Crusher. The attack knocked the dragon Digimon down, and Imperialdramon flew in. On the ground, RustTyranomon looked up at him and roared before Imperialdramon slashed at him with his Imperial Claw.
RustTyranomon snarled as the dragon Digimon's claws slashed at him, then lunged at him, trying to bite. Imperialdramon pulled back to avoid the snapping jaws, then hit him with his Imperial Kick, knocking RustTyranomon's head to the side, then blasted him back with his Hyper Prominence.
"Time to slay this dragon," Imperialdramon declared. "Omni Sword!"
He flew at RustTyranomon as the dragon Digimon got to his feet. RustTyranomon turned to him and unleashed his Rust Breath. Imperialdramon swiped his sword through the flames, cutting through them, and brought his sword down on RustTyranomon's head.
The rusted sword broke upon making contact with the dragon Digimon's head, having completely rusted through. Imperialdramon gasped and pulled back, looking at his broken sword.
"Were you not listening when I said that his fire induces rusting!?" OmniShoutmon shouted.
"I thought it'd be fine since I cut through the flames!" Imperialdramon objected. He then looked up as RustTyranomon pointed his cannon at him, and Imperialdramon's eyes widened. "Oh, son of a-"
"Terrors Cluster!" RustTyranomon cried.
Imperialdramon just barely managed to hold up his cannon and fire his Super Positron Laser. The resounding blast of the two attacks colliding right in front of him sent him flying through the air, crashing to the ground and skidding across it.
"Darn you!" Gallantmon X shouted.
Despite his shield being reduced to a rusted clump of metal, he flew at RustTyranomon and blasted him with lightning from his Royal Saber attack. RustTyranomon immediately turned to him, snapping his jaws. Gallantmon X pulled back and circled to the other side of his head, firing his Final Elysion. His shield was so heavily damaged though and so much of had rusted away that the attack only unleashed a fraction of its power.
Shaking off the beam, RustTyranomon breathed more fire at Gallantmon X. The knight Digimon maneuvered around the stream of fire before tossing his useless shield away and flew along the underside of the fire, coming up right beneath RustTyranomon's under-jaw. "Zeig Saber!"
His energy-lance grew and extended outward, colliding with RustTyranomon's bottom jaw and forcing his mouth shut, cutting off the flames. RustTyranomon stumbled back as the energy-lance continued to extend, and Gallantmon X gave a hard shove. The dragon Digimon tumbled over, firing his cannon, and his Terrors Cluster attack fired into the sky.
Retracting his lance, Gallantmon X flew over to Imperialdramon, who had not yet moved from where he fell. Gallantmon X lifted his head, which came across as rather awkward since Imperialdramon was so much bigger than him.
"Imperialdramon, you ok, pal? Come on, wake up."
An irritated groan escaped the dragon Digimon. "Can't a guy get a moment's peace?"
"No time for that," Gallantmon X told him. "We're in the middle of a battle."
Imperialdramon groaned again. "Right, I'm getting up. Oof. That hurts. Can't believe I went down with just a single attack like that. How embarrassing."
"It was a pretty hard hit. And at pretty close range. You're lucky you didn't take the full blast of it."
"Still embarrassing."
RustTyranomon roared, drawing their attention. The dragon Digimon was back on his feet, stalking towards them, flames flickering in his mouth.
Imperialdramon sat up. "Wish I could heal myself, but I can only heal others."
Gallantmon X scoffed. "Ironic, I can only heal myself, but you're the one who needs it."
Imperialdramon brushed him off as he got to his feet. "What we need is to take this guy out A.S.A.P. I doubt I'll survive another blast of that cannon. Any ideas?"
Gallantmon X looked back at RustTyranomon. "Well, one. How's your aim right now?"
RustTyranomon roared and unleashed his Rust Breath. His opponents flew up into the air to avoid the flames, with Gallantmon X practically carrying his comrade.
"As good as it needs to be," Imperialdramon replied.
That was good enough for Gallantmon X, who nodded. "Right, then I'll set things up for you, and hopefully we can end this quickly. Wait for the money shot."
"I'll keep an eye out for it."
Gallantmon X nodded, then released Imperialdramon and flew towards RustTyranomon. "Hey, you big rust bucket, you've got something on your face! Royal Saber!"
He flung lightning at RustTyranomon. The dragon Digimon roared and fired his Rust Breath up at him. Gallantmon somersaulted through the air to avoid it, then fired his Zeig Saber. His lancebeam extended, striking RustTyranomon, and the dragon Digimon snarled, trying to bat it away. Gallantmon X continued to fire, dragging the beam over his body. When RustTyranomon opened his mouth to breathe more fire, making the dragon Digimon recoil.
"Come on," he said quietly to himself. "You know you want to. Show me the big guns."
RustTyranomon continued to thrash about, breathing fire in frustration as Gallantmon X's lance-beam proceeded to blast against him. With a snarl, he regained his footing and aimed his cannon up at the knight Digimon, and that's when Imperialdramon made his move.
"Giga Crusher!"
"Terrors Cluster!"
Imperialdramon had been at the ready, and so had gotten his shot off first, firing his attack into RustTyranomon's cannon. The dragon Digimon seemed to have realized what the ploy had been, turning to look up at his cannon before his attack collided with Imperialdramon's, creating an internal explosion that tore its way through his body, sending fragments of it flying. The explosion expanded outward, the blast throwing back both Gallantmon X and Imperialdramon, and even the onlookers recoiled from the explosion, the only exception being Boltboutamon, who hadn't taken his eyes off the battle.
"Beautiful," he whispered with a cruel sneer.
The explosion soon died down, revealing a massive crater where RustTyranomon had been, with only bits of data remaining of him. Nearby, Gallantmon X sat up, pushing debris from the blown apart land off him before spotting Imperialdramon a distance away and fixing him with a glare.
"What was that!?" he demanded furiously. "That wasn't what I meant! I was just trying to create an opening for you! We almost got caught in that blast!"
Imperialdramon gave him a bewildered look. "But you said to wait for the money shot. I thought you meant for that since you were provoking him like that. You didn't exactly specify…"
He trailed off as Gallantmon X's angry look slipped away and he began laughing. "Of course that's what I meant, you big idiot. You did it perfectly. We totally smoked that guy!"
Imperialdramon blinked before he began laughing as well. Their mirth was interrupted though by a much crueler laughter that succeeded in killing the relief they felt, and the two of them glanced at Boltboutamon.
The demon Digimon was laughing hysterically, finding a whole different kind of joy from Imperialdramon and Gallantmon X over their victory. "What a beautiful friendship. Such trust, such understanding. It's going to be so delicious to see your hearts break when you begin to lose those you care for."
"That won't happen!" Omnimon declared. "We're not going to let it."
Boltboutamon suddenly bent over backwards in the air, his back arching as he leaned back to look down at the knight Digimon with wide mad eyes. "Oh? Such confidence. But can you back it up? Because the two-on-one battles are now over. And since you felt the need to open your mouth, you can go next. And I think Rasenmon would like to get in on the action. I don't think she can hold herself back any longer."
Omnimon looked at the bewitching beast Digimon and saw that she did indeed seem to be vey agitated and eager for battle, almost as if an invisible force was the only thing holding her back from going on a rampage.
Taking a deep breath, Omnimon nodded. "Fine then, let's get this over with."
He flew forward, giving Imperialdramon and Gallantmon X nods as he passed them.
"Good luck," Gallantmon X whispered as he flew by.
Omnimon didn't reply as he settled on the battlefield. He glanced at his friends before looking up at Boltboutamon. "Alright, I'm read-"
Boltboutamon snapped his fingers and Rasenmon charged forward to attack like a rabid animal let off its leash. Omnimon was taken aback at the sudden ferocity, but recovered quickly and held up his sword and cannon. "Let's go."
Rasenmon leapt at him. "Desperato Vortex!"
Her spiral-shaped tails extended outward and flew at Omnimon to stab him. He jumped backwards to avoid the first one, then began dancing back as the others stabbed at him. Rasenmon pounced, and Omnimon took to the air to dodge her. She roared up at him and sent all her tails up at him. Omnimon looked back at them, seeing the tails coming at him, and pointed both hands at them.
"Double Torrent!" he cried, firing blasts of fire and ice that exploded against the tails.
Rasenmon roared and retracted her tails, then lashed out with them again. This time, she stabbed them into the ground, and Omnimon watched her warily. His attention was drawn elsewhere though as one of the tails burst up from underground and shot up to strike him. Omnimon pulled back, avoiding the tail, and several others shot up at him. Omnimon jolted about in the air to avoid them before lashing out with his sword, slicing off the end of one of the tails.
A pained howl escaped Rasenmon and she retracted her tails. Omnimon turned to her and used his Fearsome Blade. His sword turned into a blade of energy, and he swiped at Rasenmon, the blade extending like a whip as it flew at the bewitching beast Digimon.
"Spiral Hell!" Rasenmon cried, and the blades on her wrists began spinning, creating a cutting vortex around her hands.
She lashed out at Omnimon's attack, and his blade was knocked away as it made contact with her hand vortex. He swiped at her several more times, but each time she successfully deflected his attack.
"Graceful Cannon!" Omnimon cried, and fired a cutting beam from his cannon.
Rasenmon leapt up into the air, jumping over the beam, and lashed out at Omnimon again. This time, a tearing tornado flew out of the vortex around her hand. Omnimon held his arms up in front of him and wrapped his wings around himself protectively as the tornado flowed over him. He cried out as the attack shredded his wings, sending feathers flying everywhere.
Rasenmon landed and then jumped up again, pouncing at Omnimon. She tackled him out of the air and they crashed to the ground with her on top of him, and she snarled in his face. "Predator's Bite!"
Her fangs began glowing and she made a move to bite him. Omnimon barely managed to bring his arm up in time to have her bite down on his sword, allowing him to hold her at bay.
"Omnimon, beware!" OmniShoutmon called to him. "That attack allows her to devour your DigiCode!"
Susanoomon glanced at him. "But we're human, we don't have a DigiCore. Wait, do you mean she'll devour our soul? They're essentially the same thing, right?"
"No!" Ophanimon C shouted, and made to go help her brother. "We have to help him!"
Boltboutamon suddenly moved into her path. "Ah, ah, ah Remember, this is still part of the game. If you interfere, then the game is over, and we go into a free for all war. And I'll be joining in as well."
"Bastard," Imperialdramon growled. "We don't care about your games. If you want a war, then we'll give you a war."
"Stay back!" Omnimon called to them as he continued to hold Rasenmon back. "Don't get involved. I can handle this. Flame Breath!"
He breathed a stream of fire into the bewitching beast Digimon's face. She recoiled from the flames, allowing Omnimon to stick his cannon up against her torso and use his Inferno attack. He began repeatedly firing, knocking Rasenmon back more and more with each blast, allowing him to get to his feet.
Rasenmon snarled and lunged forward. She lashed out with her vortex claw, and he countered out with his sword, knocking her hand away. She struck her other hand, but he knocked this one away too. She kept swiping at him, and Omnimon began backing away as he tried to use his single sword to block both of her hands.
An opening presented itself, and he pointed his cannon at her. She reacted before he could fire though, knocking his arm out of the way, and his shot missed. She lashed out again, and this time dug her bladed vortex into his chest. Omnimon pulled back, and she used her Spiral Hell to send another cutting tornado at Omnimon. It flowed over him, slicing up his body, and the knight Digimon grunted in pain with every cut.
"T-Sword!" he cried, swiping his sword to send out a wave of energy. It flowed over Rasenmon and she froze, the blades on her wrists stopping as she was immobilized. She attempted to break free, but she was completely paralyzed, unable to move. "Fearsome Blade!"
He lashed out with his long-range energy blade. One after the other, he sliced off Rasenmon's tails, and each one burst into data every time he cut one off.
Rasenmon suddenly broke her paralysis and lunged at Omnimon, covering the distance between them in no time, and her fangs began glowing. "Predator's Bite!"
Omnimon's other hand came up as she pounced, and her glowing jaws bit down on his cannon, the barrel nearly reaching the back of her throat. Their gazes locked on each other, neither of them moving, but both knowing what was going to happen at the slightest movement.
Rasenmon went for it, thrusting a clawed hand at Omnimon as the blades on her wrist began spinning. Omnimon responded by firing his Graceful Cannon. The cutting beam tore through Rasenmon, bursting out of the back if her head, leaving a large gaping hole. The bewitching beast Digimon went limp, then slowly slid off Omnimon's cannon and began to dissolve away.
Omnimon lowered his cannon, breathing out a sigh of relief. He looked down at his cut up and punctured body, not to mention his shredded wings, and he winced in pain. Rasenmon had been savage. Fury Mode had definitely been a suitable title. He was just glad it was over as he made his way back over to his friends.
"Omnimon!" Ophanimon C shouted, rushing over to him and began fussing over his injuries. "You're hurt."
He chuckled. "Aw, come on, you know I've been worse off than this."
"Doesn't make it any easier to see. Someone heal him."
"I got him," said Susanoomon, holding out his hand. "I'm still at full power."
Seraphimon grabbed his wrist. "You haven't fought yet. You might need your strength. I'll do it. Perfect Revival!"
Imperialdramon internally pouted. "I fought already too. I could have healed him."
Seraphimon glanced at the dragon Digimon, looking him up and down. "Actually, you look like you could use some healing too. You took a pretty hard hit from RustTyranomon. Perfect Revival!"
As Imperialdramon was healed, Boltboutamon floated over, hovering upside-down in the air. "It's so sweet the way you look out for each other. And as much as I hate to tear apart your little group, it's time for the next battle."
Susanoomon sighed and looked at their last two opponents. "Fine, I guess I'm up."
Boltboutamon was suddenly in front of him, his face less than an inch from the god Digimon's, his wide, crazed eyes, boring into Susanoomon's. "I'm the one in charge of this game. I say whose turn it is." His hand shot out, grabbing OmniShoutmon around the neck and shoving him to the battlefield. "And I say it's your turn, your majesty."
OmniShoutmon got up and dusted himself off. "You're full of crap, Boltboutamon. I know exactly what you're doing, and why you're choosing who you are to face off against who."
The demon Digimon grinned broadly. "Then you must know who you're going to face off against. You seek to be the king of all Digimon, so let's see you face one who's made of many. Kimeramon!"
The composition Digimon roared and rose up into the air, coming down in front of OmniShoutmon, absolutely dwarfing him. The dragon Digimon took a nervous step back as Kimeramon growled menacingly.
Grinning broadly, Boltboutamon glanced back at the DigiDestined. "He's right about one thing. This game did allow me to achieve something." He looked back at the battlefield, his eyes shining. "The death of OmniShoutmon."
(A/N: Ok, so we have some good news. Imperialdramon, Gallantmon X, and Omnimon were all able to defeat their opponents. But now it's OmniShoutmon's turn, and he's facing off against Kimeramon. Boltboutamon seems pretty confident that he won't be able to win. So what's going to happen? Stay tuned to find out.)