And here we are. The final chapter of Coexistence and it certainly ends on a gloom note. Darkest before the dawn, but that dawn can't come soon enough, huh?
Shoutout to jacquelinemueller53 and Power Master for the reviews. Jacqueline, I won't say much right now, but before this whole saga is through, I promise you'll see WarGrwolmon become Gallantmon at some point. And than you Power for the words there. I hope you'll also like what I've done here at the end.
Anyways, let's finish this off.
Chapter 21: The Bringer of Armageddon! Ordinemon!
Tsukishima District, Minato Ward, Tokyo, Japan. August 14th, 2005. 0746 Hours
P.O.V. – Ross McGlathery
Even as we basically were trying to deal with the realization that Homeostasis more than likely had abandoned us to it's own plans and left us in the middle of a war between it and Yggdrasil, the fight with Meicoomon and Jesmon continued to be intense.
Our own Digimon were all keeping their distance for the moment; which was smart considering that Jesmon was obviously an Ultimate-Level and whatever Meicoomon's current form was called was one too. Still didn't make anything easier though, with their power, they could easily level the entire area with their fighting.
That was proven when one attack knocked Jesmon away and caused him to scrape the top of a building that was near us, causing debris to fall.
"Take cover!" Jou called out as the Digimon quickly moved to either shield us or get us out of the way. However, that wasn't the case with Meiko who was further back from us and Jesmon was falling right towards her!
"Meiko-san?!" Hikari cried. To the absolute shock of everyone, Meicoomon flew right between her and the falling Jesmon as she struck him again and caused him to crash into the park.
"Did Meicoomon…" Taichi muttered.
"Protect Mei-Mei…" Mimi said.
"Wasn't she just attacking Jesmon?" Jou suggested. He made a good point. Was there someone deep down the old Meicoomon still trying to protect her partner, or was she just trying to keep up a combo of attacks and not let Jesmon recover and Meiko's placement was just circumstantial.
"No. She protected her." Sora argued.
"That's right! I'm sure!" Mimi agreed. Our attention went right back to the fight as they once more pushed out of the park.
"If Meicoomon really protected Mochizuki-san…" Takeru said.
"We gotta save her!" Hikari declared.
"Taichi!" Yamato called out to him. "We need Omegamon!"
"I know!" He shouted. "MetalGreymon, lure Meicoomon to the ocean somehow!" MetalGreymon responded by evolving into WarGreymon as he prepared to Jogress with WereGarurumon when he reached his final stage.
"We shall follow too!" HolyAngemon responded. The other Digimon, excluding Angewomon, evolved into their Ultimate-Levels as well. All the Digimon went right after Jesmon and Meicoomon once they were ready.
"To the ocean!" Angewomon ordered. All of us started to run and try to keep up as best as we could.
"Halt, Chosen Children." We all came to a dead stop hearing that behind us. The voice was obviously Hikari's but sounded different. Turning around, we could all see her glowing, once more possessed by Homeostasis like she was six years ago.
"Hikari?" Taichi looked at her.
"Think it's Homeostasis at the moment, Taichi." I told him.
"Stop these foolish actions." She said.
"What do you mean 'foolish actions'?!" Yamato questioned.
"Anything to obstruct harmony and stability shall be removed…"
"Is that why you're gonna get rid of Meicoomon?" Takeru shouted.
"We won't let that happen!" Mimi argued.
"We are just doing what you could not do. If all of you get in the way, you will be removed as well."
"Don't you dare!" Nishijima stormed up to her. "These children as well as their partners are not your pawns!"
"Your actions right now obstruct harmony."
"We just want to protect our friends!" Taichi shouted.
"Friends…" Meiko muttered as I quickly turned my head back to the battle at hand for a moment as Meicoomon continued to launch a furious assault on Jesmon. Several of our partners moved in, but Jesmon had those energy guns or whatever those orbs that followed him around attack them. Clearly, he was following Homeostasis orders to the letter.
"That one has become too strong." Homeostasis continued.
"Are you saying that you will do absolutely anything for harmony?! Even when you know it's wrong!" Jou shouted.
"Sacrifices are necessary."
"It's not that simple!" Taichi argued.
"Don't you dare say that!" Hikari's own voice came from her own mouth. "Get out!" It sounded as though Hikari's light was slowly dimming that she was trying to fight for control of her own body, away from Homeostasis's control.
"Hikari-chan…" Takeru walked up to her.
"Get out of me this instant! There should never be any sacrifices! Ever! Our friend is suffering! And with your selfish reasons you want to… I won't let you!"
The clash of fighting once more caused me to look back, as MetalGarurumon and WarGreymon clashed with Jesmon while all the others dealt with Meicoomon. Meicoomon was proving to be insanely powerful as she was still able to easily hold off six Ultimates.
"At this point, you cannot do anything. Leave such feelings of teamwork aside which obstructs the bigger picture."
"Alright, listen here, you bitch!" I stormed up to her. "We've been trying to do what we can this whole time while you've been doing little to help us! Here's an idea, point us right towards Yggdrasil and we'll end that bastard quick! He, Alphamon and that faker are all the reason Meicoomon is like this! We can still have both of us win if you just help us quell her down!" I roared.
"Unfortunately for you, it's much too late for that. The time to quell her is long past and defeating Yggdrasil still will not solve anything. You must make your decision now. Either assist or stay out of the way, the only other option is to be destroyed and risk letting all come to ruin." Homeostasis said before the light vanished and Hikari fell over into Takeru's arms.
"Mei-chan!" Meiko cried out as Jesmon had grabbed Meicoomon and started pulling her away from the rest of the Digimon.
"Meiko, wait!" Yamato chased after her as she began running, causing the rest of us to try and keep up, while also dealing with a currently unconscious Hikari.
"Our friends…" Taichi growled as Jesmon opened a distortion and flew through it. "What's wrong with caring for our friends!? What's wrong with it!?"
"The distortion's closing!" Koushiro shouted as we ran as fast as we could to it with our Digimon following close behind.
"I'm gonna protect them!" Taichi declared. "Yamato!"
"Yeah!" The two of them raised their D-3s and MetalGarurumon and WarGreymon quickly Jogressed into Omegamon. Omegamon deployed his sword and swung at the distortion, causing it to become much bigger and give us a longer window to get through it. All of us followed Omegamon and Meiko and went through with no fear of where it would lead us.
We found ourselves now out in an open rocky desert, similar to the mesas of Arizona in some ways, with distortions opened all over the sky as the Digimon all launched their attacks towards Jesmon, causing him to release Meicoomon and focus his attention on them.
"Celestial Arrow!" Angewomon fired her arrow at him that he easily deflected before Omegamon jumped behind him and tried to stab him, but Jesmon turned and stopped the blade with his own as the two got into a sword lock.
"Do you hear me? Homeostasis!" Taichi yelled out. "We don't care if it's right or wrong! We will protect our important friends! That's all!"
We all looked at Taichi for a moment as the whole fight suddenly came to a stop as if his words caused a momentary truce of everything. That pause was shattered as fittingly the sky did that as Alphamon descended from the sky.
"Great, looks like Yggdrasil wants to make sure Meicoomon keeps rampaging if he's sending Alphamon." Yamato growled.
"But who exactly is he here for? Jesmon or our Digimon?" Koushiro wondered. The answer was both as Alphamon tackled first Omegamon and then Jesmon. The fights all continued as Alphamon focused on the two knights while the rest of our Digimon continued fighting Meicoomon's devastating form.
"Seraphimon!" Takeru cried out as Meicoomon and him flew right into the middle of Alphamon and Jesmon's fight. The two were in a lock for a moment but the moment the two smaller Digimon moved away, Alphamon charged with his axe at Jesmon.
"Well, just goes to prove who's on what side. Alphamon is making sure Meicoomon keeps things up, and Jesmon didn't stab Seraphimon in the back." I muttered.
When the axe clashed against Jesmon, massive explosions tore through the sky like the Shinfakushi's burst missile attack. By the time the smoke from the massive blasts died down, most of the Digimon had been reverted back to their Baby forms and fell from the sky. We all started rushing closer to the fight in an effort to catch our partners before they hit the ground.
Now the only combatants were Omegamon, Jesmon, Alphamon and Meicoomon's Ultimate form. All four Digimon clashed once more that utterly tore the sky in half with such power, it was like having a front row to Hiroshima.
"Gigimon, you alright?" I asked as we all caught our falling Digimon.
"Tired… so very tired right now…" He groaned as I clutched him. I then growled as I looked back up to the battle in the sky. I hated what was happening right now, how useless we all seemed to be. Was there really nothing we could do for Meicoomon? Were we really just nothing but tools to be thrown away by Homeostasis once we had served our purpose?
If this was all the case, then why the hell were we even chosen in the first place?
The fighters switched their engagements once the next explosion cleared. Alphamon and Omegamon's axe and sword were locked against each other while Meicoomon continued her attack on Jesmon. However, it changed when she knocked Jesmon away and released an x shaped energy attack that struck Omegamon in the chest, causing him to fall from the sky!
"Zero distinction!" Jou cried as Meicoomon continued going after Omegamon. His words meaning that even though we were trying to save her and not destroy her, she still was going for the kill on all our Digimon.
"Meicoomon! Don't make Meiko-san suffer anymore! Please!" Hikari yelled, trying to hope that maybe something would get through to her.
"Mei…" I heard Meiko whisper as I turned to see a tear go down her cheek. "Please…"
"…kill Mei-chan."
The rest of us were taken completely aback by Meiko's words, some more than others. The fact that she finally broke and said what our only option might be at this point was the real shocker. I hate to do it, I want to save Meicoomon as much as everyone else; but because of that bastard, Yggdrasil, he's making absolutely sure that we can't do that.
"Meiko-san!" Hikari shouted.
"Mei-Mei! What are you saying?!" Mimi asked as Omegamon hit the ground hard.
"I can't… any longer…" Meiko sobbed as she put her hands to her face and cried, dropping to her knees. Meicoomon let out another violent roar as Omegamon slowly got back up before the two Digimon clashed once more.
"I told you, partners are each other's hope!" Sora ran over and knelt down next to Meiko as she tried to console her. "But you're only giving off despair!" Meiko said nothing to her. "Then are you saying that killing Meicoomon is your answer of hope, Meiko-chan?"
"No way…" Mimi said. "That's too sad!" Everyone was silent once more as the four Digimon continued to fight, with none looking like they were close to their limit.
"Okay." Taichi said, once more to everyone's shock.
"Taichi?!" Yamato shouted.
"Onii-chan!"
"Omegamon!" Taichi called out.
"Stop!" Yamato interrupted him.
"That's the only way to stop Meicoomon!"
"Wait!" Jou stepped up. "It's true Meicoomon is the cause of everything."
"Jou-senpai!" Sora cried.
"But Meicoomon is her partner, you know?! Her one and only!"
"Taichi, you're gonna put all the responsibility on Meicoomon and put an end to everything?!" Yamato argued.
"Yeah. I'm gonna end it with our hands." He said. "We can't let them have their way." The Digimon continued to clash but someone was going to break sooner or later, and the worry was it might be Omegamon first. "Meicoomon is one of us. I…" Taichi paused. "I won't run from our friend's pain!"
"We are the Chosen Children!"
Meicoomon tackled Omegamon in the chest and sent him flying through the air once again.
"Omegamon!" Koushiro shouted.
"He's right." I spoke up, now everyone's attention was to me. "We don't have a choice any more. We can't reach her anymore and the longer she's like this, the more damage to everything she'll do. All our efforts are just playing into Yggdrasil's hands."
"Ross-chan…" Hikari whispered.
"Look, I know it sounds cruel and heartless, but it might be our only option. Besides, we're in the Digital World now. We kill her and let her be reborn here, like Patamon and Monodramon. It'll give us time to find and kill that fake, Alphamon and Yggdrasil, and end them once and for all to keep them from trying to use Meicoomon in their plans again!"
"Ross… that's…" Mimi didn't know how to respond to me.
"Is there a way to save her without destroying her? I'd love to hear it!" I shouted at the others. "I'm as pissed off about the situation but Yggdrasil is nothing more than a villain we've dealt with before. Wants to conquer both worlds and exterminate humanity. Not stopping Meicoomon just allows him to win and make everything we've ever done all for naught!"
"Mei-chan…" Meiko sighed. "It's alright now. I'm sorry…"
Omegamon recovered from Meicoomon's attacks before he grabbed her and flew fast into the ground, causing a massive crater in the ground and starting all sorts of nearby ground quakes. At the same time, the fight with Alphamon and Jesmon was locked into an even struggle.
"Mochizuki-san…" Takeru said as Meiko got back up onto her feet, at just the same moment Yamato grabbed Taichi's collar and then punched me in the face when I got close to him.
"Are you kidding me?!" He roared as I hit the ground. "Hope doesn't include sacrificing our friends! Taichi!"
"Please stop already!" Koushiro got in between the two of them as I got back up off the ground and rubbed my jaw. "You should already know too, Yamato-san!"
"Yamato…" I groaned. "We've tried everything, we really have. I can't see any other options, can you?"
Jesmon's orbs launched a rapid attack on Alphamon which might be a sign that he was finally getting close to breaking him. If Alphamon could be killed, that certainly would have to help us somehow. Of course, our attention was a bit more on Omegamon and Meicoomon as she launched him out of the crater and struck him hard several times. Yamato closed his eyes and started to scream in anger as he looked so conflicted.
"Thank you." Meiko drew our attention back to her as she took a few steps before she started running towards the battle.
"Idiot!" Yamato yelled as he chased after her.
"Yamato!" Taichi went right after him.
"Taichi!" It seemed like a train now as I chased him, though not before I put Gigimon on the ground. I thought I would move just a bit faster without having to carry him.
"Don't!" I heard Nishijima behind us, probably stopping the others.
"Nishijima-san…" I heard Mimi say.
"Stay here!"
"Mei-chan!" Meiko cried out.
"Meiko!" Yamato caught up with her and grabbed her as Meicoomon launched another one of those x energy attacks at Omegamon.
"Let go! Let go of me!" Meiko cried as Yamato refused to let go when Taichi and I caught up with them.
"Un Pour Tous!" Jesmon cried out as a large energy triangle was deployed and looked ready to attack all three other combatants. However, a beam was charging in the middle of it and it was aimed directly at Meicoomon!
Omegamon charged forward to knock her out of the way before the beam fired and Alphamon moved while Jesmon was charging to attack him. Jesmon's attack went completely off course and tore a massive canyon into the earth, which started to cause much of the area to start crumbling. Massive cracks in the earth started to open up near us before a crack ripped right between us, separating Meiko and Yamato from Taichi and I.
"Ross! Taichi! You alright!?" Yamato called out from the other side.
"Yeah, we're fine!" I shouted. The crack started to widen as more of the earth was swallowed into the abyss below. "Keep moving!" I shouted as Taichi and I quickly got up and started to run. "Taichi! Alphamon is doing whatever it takes to keep Meicoomon away from harm. We need to take him out first!"
"I know, I know! Omegamon!" He waved as we moved before pointing back to Yamato and Meiko. "Let's at least get them out of harm's way first." He told me. We kept on moving as Omegamon flew down and got Yamato and Meiko to safety away from the fissures and rejoined the others.
"Good work, Omegamon! Now, deal with Alphamon!" Taichi ordered as we kept moving, the ground giving away as we kept trying to avoid falling. After a few more feet, we finally reached more solid earth beneath us before I fell on the ground.
"Phew…" I took a few deep breaths. "I hate breakable floors." I chuckled at the face of another near death experience we had. Taichi gave a bit of a chuckle himself as we looked back up into the air.
Alphamon's axe took another wide swing at Jesmon before he used the end of it to smack Jesmon right between the eyes and then swung again, striking Jesmon in the chest. The Ultimate groaned out in pain as he fell from the sky; still somehow alive despite the wound to the chest.
However, Alphamon's victory would be short lived as due to his attention to Jesmon, he was unable to see Omegamon flying straight at him with his sword drawn until it was too late. He quickly turned around to swing again but before he could hit Omegamon as well, the sword went right through Alphamon's throat.
The dying Digimon had just enough strength to finish going through his swing to strike Omegamon in the chest like Jesmon before he finally died and exploded into data. Omegamon was wounded and the strike caused him to fall towards the ground not too far away from us before he slammed into the ground and more than likely devolved.
But, as soon as he hit, the ground beneath us started to rumble again as little pieces began to fall apart beneath our feet.
"Oh shi-" I said before the ground gave way.
"Taichi! Ross!" I heard Nishijima's voice nearby before everything went dark.
P.O.V. – Yamato Ishida
Shock. That's the word that could describe all of us the moment we saw Taichi, Ross, and Nishijima all being swallowed up by the earth nearby. Everything was completely silent as Omegamon devolved, Meicoomon and Jesmon were now out of the fight, and there wasn't a hint of a sign that Taichi or the others were okay. I soon began to dash my way over to where they last were.
"Onii-san!" Takeru shouted at me as I kept running. I didn't care about the ground, I needed to see if there was any sign of them. By the time I reached to where they were last seen; there was nothing but buried earth. The only things that were there was Taichi's goggles and a small box. My heart sank to the deepest pits as I saw them and grabbed them.
"Oh, fuck…" I nearly cried when I opened the box and saw the ring inside it. It was a gold band with a large emerald in the center of it, and what could be seen inside the jewel was a little carving of the Crest of Purity. I knew in an instant who's was it and who it was for.
"Yamato…" Sora muttered as I walked back over to them, the look on my face probably told it all before I walked up to Mimi and handed her the box.
"Oh, God…" She broke as soon as she saw the ring. "He still was going…" She started to sob.
"Onii-chan… Ross-chan…" Hikari muttered as she started walking past us, completely looking almost dead eyed as the shock of it all still was fresh to her.
"Hikari…" Nyaromon hopped behind her trying to keep up.
Then came the dam burst.
"NOOOOOOOOOO!" She screamed as loud as she could as she dropped to her knees. "They're not dead! They can't be dead! Don't leave me alone, you two!" She sobbed as she continued to scream.
"Takeru, do something!" I shouted at him, hopefully he would be able to at least calm her down for a moment. He ran over to try and hug her, but she kept trying to fight out of his grasp.
"No! No!" She cried as she threw him off. "Onii-chan! Ross-chan!" She ran over to the area they vanished and started digging into the ground with her hands. "Please! Be alright! Just be buried under a few inches of dirt!"
Of course, her grief was one thing, we could all fully understand that; we were all just as crushed by this sudden turn. Why? Why is it always those two that always ends up essentially being torn away from us? First the aftermath of destroying Etemon and now this.
However, our eyes soon were locked on Hikari as we began to notice dark purple symbols slowly glitching out at her legs. Was she infected as well, or what?
"Oh, shit! Takeru! Stop her!" I ordered as Takeru knew what was going on too.
"Hikari-chan! Please! Stop! You're making it worse!" He begged as he tried to console her.
"No! No! No!" She kept screaming as more of her began to be engulfed in the symbols.
"Takeru-kun! Stop her! She's activating a Dark Evolution!" Koushiro shouted as he looked at his laptop.
"Hikari-chan! Please, listen!" Mimi tried to say as she was dealing with her tears as well.
"Hikari… I…" Nyaromon muttered before she fell over as the symbols quickly moved from Hikari and engulfed her.
"Somebody do something!" Jou cried as he tried to get his voice over the sound of Hikari's painful cries.
"Too late." Koushiro said, sounding completely defeated as Nyaromon's blackened form began to shift and change and started to grow much, much larger. The darkness soon vanished and revealed a truly disheartening form that she had evolved into.
While at a glance, this form looked someone angelic, it was anything but. This new Digimon was coated in a teal-ish colored armor with four large bat wings and a giant scythe on her back. Finally was her face that was just simply a silver mask which worried me of what could be behind it.
This new Digimon gave out a violent roar, similar to the ones that Meicoomon had been given before as we all just stared in shock. Even Hikari was brought out of her sorrow for a moment as we watched.
To make things even much worse, that dark force moved onto Meicoomon's broken form as a vast vortex of dark energy swept through the sky and started dragging both Meicoomon and Tailmon's fallen forms close together. We watched in abject horror as both Digimon got close and started to merge together in a much more twisted Jogress evolution.
"Why?" I questioned as I kept looking.
"This is really bad." Koushiro said as he typed away. "It appears those two are creating a cataclysmic event right now!"
The dark aura completely engulfed them for a moment before an entirely new monstrosity began to descend from the sky.
This new creature was a gigantic humanoid female with pale skin all over her body and titanic black wings. She had tentacle-like hair, a mouthful of sharp teeth and no eyes, and her arms and legs ended in DNA strands. If I had to think, she gave me some reminders of Lilith from Evangelion.
"Well done, you foolish humans!" The sound of that fake Gennai's voice taunting us from the vast void above filled the area. "Instead of destroying Meicoomon like should have, you've completely doomed your pathetic race by unleashing Ordinemon upon your world! Enjoy the last moments of your existence! Hahahaha!"
"Damn it!" I slammed my fist into the ground as Ordinemon vanished through the vortex, probably heading straight for Earth.
"If this is as Yggdrasil planned, then our world will be swallowed by the Digital World." Koushiro informed.
"Mimi…" Gigimon walked up to her. "Ross… he's…"
"Gigimon…" Mimi sobbed as she picked him up and held him in a tight hug.
I looked back down at Taichi's goggles that I still held in my hand as I tightened my grip.
"Our friends… What's wrong with caring for our friends!" I recalled one of the last things Taichi said before we jumped back into the Digital World.
"You idiot…" I muttered to myself. Taichi, and by extension, Ross, were the only ones who thought we had to kill Meicoomon, that there was no choice to save her; even though there was always a choice. And now they, and Nishijima were now gone. I looked back to the others who still were completely shocked by the recent events.
"Everyone, stand up!" I said.
"Yamato…" Sora muttered.
"What is sitting going to do?" I asked. "What is yelling going to do? We can't save anything!" I shouted as I glanced over to see Tsunomon and Koromon looking into the chasm. "Then let's stand up! Don't stop! We can cry later!" I reminded them. We had to stop Ordinemon before she destroyed everything. Before Yggdrasil could win. Mourning for Taichi, Ross and Nishijima would have to wait.
The other's all slowly started getting up onto their feet, though Mimi and Hikari were obviously the hardest to move as both of them were still wracked with grief. Sora by extension too, but surprisingly, she was the first to stand up.
"Taichi…" Koromon's voice whimpered as I looked back to him as Meiko walked up to him. "Where's Taichi? Taichi!" He called out in to the abyss below.
"Stop, Koromon!" I shouted at him as Meiko picked him up.
"I… need to protect Taichi." He said. "I need to, but…"
"Same with Ross!" Gigimon called out as Mimi approached me with him in her arms.
"Meiko… I… Taichi…" Koromon whimpered once more.
"I'm sorry…" Meiko said to him.
"Don't apologize." I stopped her. "That was his own decision."
"Yamato…" She looked at me with hurt eyes, like I was sounding like I had betrayed him in some way. I sighed once more as I looked to the goggles and put them on, as Taichi probably would've wanted me to do since I now have to step up and lead the others. This time, I would try to make sure that this group wouldn't split up and that we could still save the world.
"Let's go." I said as we all looked up to the sky and saw Tokyo hovering above…
Just like with the Etemon fight before, Ross and Taichi vanish and are presumed dead. I thought having them both be dead really would impact Hikari even worse than it was originally. I feel bad breaking her like that, but that's really the only way this story could continue in a way that makes sense; at least to me.
Also... damn, Ross went all out for that engagement ring.
Hope you all liked it and I'll see you all fairly soon for the next chapter. No dates this time, but I'll try to be quicker than last time.
"Push the button, Frank."