PetriWoodmon gave a roar as it swung its arms at the dive bombing Birdramon. She was clearly too fast for it but, on the other hand, the wind blasts she was able to get off were being as ineffective as everything else thrown at it. Garurumon's ice bullets and Kabuterimon's shards were striking its knee from either side but they too were having little effect, if any. Taichi was still unconscious and all Koushiro could do was stare helplessly. Greymon had positioned himself between the two and PetriWoodmon, pelting the giant with fireballs. Koushiro wasn't exactly sure he liked Greymon potentially drawing PetriWoodmon's attention to them but, on the other hand, maybe they were safer with Greymon right there. He just didn't know.
A yelp and a crash came from behind. He jumped, tried to turn around, and fell on to his rear while attempting to summon his CoreBlaster. The weapon went flying right out of his hand. All he could was helplessly slide away as the… small white seal with blue stripes stared at him. The Digiscanner called the digimon Gomamon, and he could command fish and fire pressurized water.
"It figures," Gomamon grumbled, "I would evolve into a form that doesn't fly when I'm six feet above the ground." Evolve? It was then Koushiro noticed the tuft of red hair on the seal's head.
"Pukamon?" he carefully asked. Gomamon's face lit up.
"You recognize me?!" he chirped, "Jou really came through, didn't he?!"
"Yes…" Koushiro muttered, trying to process what he was seeing. His thoughts were interrupted by an enraged roar, even by PetriWoodmon's standards. Koushiro risked a look as he stood and its hands were raised while taking on a green glow. Birdramon was no longer attacking, probably due to caution, though Garurumon and Kabuterimon still were.
"What is its problem?" Gomamon asked.
"Paranoia, delusions, megalomania, I would imagine some narcissism…" Koushiro rattled off. Gomamon stared at him blankly. "Its insane," he clarified, before remembering what Gomamon's appearance meant. "Anyways, does this mean Yamato-san and Sora-san found Jou-san?"
"No ide- whoa! Big plants!" Koushiro quickly looked back at PetriWoodmon. Three stalks going above its head had grown behind it. On the top of each was what looked like a purple venus flytrap. One opened up and a projectile launched itself straight into Greymon with a burst of brown flakes, leaving the dinosaur wrapped in a bunch of the same thorny plants PetriWoodmon's beam left behind. Greymon roared as he fell over.
"I'm coming!" Garurumon shouted as he raced to Greymon, but a similar projectile struck him in the back, leaving him in the same position. The plant then joined the other two in firing on Birdramon and Kabuterimon who were clearly having a difficult time evading. Kabuterimon went down. "No!" Koushiro shouted, starting to move to his partner.
"Easy there!" Gomamon said, "Tall, wooden, and ugly's gonna target you too!"
"But-" Koushiro started but stopped as his logical side took over. Kabuterimon was too far away for him to reach unnoticed. He'd have to count on Birdramon Garurumon. And then Birdramon went down. And in his peripheral vision, he could just barely make out Garurumon's stripes. He was bound too.
"Its over," Koushiro despaired, "We've lost." He felt himself start to tremble. I'm going to die. That thing is going to kill me.
"If I could just evolve again!" Gomamon shouted, "PetriWoodmon's in water! That's my territory!" Jou-san!
"Yes! Where's Jou-san?! I have to awaken him!" Waking someone who just activated a digivice felt like the height of cruelty but things were desperate. Realistically, Gomamon's evolved form wouldn't make any real difference but it was still better than nothing.
"I don't know!" Gomamon answered, sounding incredibly frustrated, "That stupid Veemon sucker pun- er headbutted me. The next thing I knew I was washing down the river leading here and those roots were closing behind me so I can't go back!" Koushiro closed his eyes, the spark of hope fading. It really was hopeless.
He looked at Greymon, still struggling with the vines. If he couldn't break out, there was no chance Kabuterimon could. But he is considerably closer, he noted, I can at least help him.He summoned his CoreSaber and activated the Photo Core since the PyroSaber might accidentally burn the dinosaur. He moved towards Greymon and swung through the vines. His blade bounced off but there was a little visible damage. "Please calm down, Greymon," he said to the struggling dinosaur, "I'm cutting you free."
"I'll help the others then," Greymon said, "And hurry!" PetriWoodmon was lumbering towards Birdramon. Koushiro's heart froze as he realized PetriWoodmon could simply step on her now.
"Why isn't Sora there?!" Gomamon demanded, "And where's Yamato?!"
"Looking for Jou-san!" Koushiro answered, Desperately hacking at the vines, "Garurumon and Birdramon fell into the river!"
"And Taichi's still messed up," Gomamon said, "Crap! Jou! You gotta evolve me again!" Gomamon suddenly took on the familiar glow. What?! That's impossible! There's no way Jou-san could have recovered so quickly! Yet, somehow he did. Koushiro watched in awe as Gomamon took his new form. Ikkakumon. An aquatic digimon whose fur masked an extremely durable skin. His explosive horn was made of mithral and was capable of piercing virtually any alloy.
Any alloy? He recalled the DigiScanner's information on PetriWoodmon. That stone-like bark is what makes it so invincible! Jou-san! You've saved us!"I think you can beat it, Ikkakumon!" Koushiro called out. Ikkakumon just started blankly. "Ikkakumon?" Oh, no. Koushiro remembered what happened when Agumon evolved to Greymon the first time. His instincts are taking over! No, no, no! He didn't need this now! "Ikkakumon!"
"Come on, Pukamon!" Taichi's voice sounded, "We need you!" Ikkakumon blinked and shook his head. Taichi-san?! Koushiro looked. Yes! Taichi was awake and even getting back to his feet!
"Taichi-san!" He barely noticed the tears of relief running down his cheeks. Now that Taichi was back, it somehow felt like things were turning around.
"Sorry, Koush," Taichi said with a smile, "but I'm taking over now. You good?" Koushiro could only nod. "Come on, Pukamon! I know you're in there!" Ikkakumon blinked.
"Oh, sorry! Kind of forgot who I was!" he apologized, "Good thing I'm such a laid back guy!" He looked at the battle. "Uh oh!" His horn fired. Koushiro looked and saw that PetriWoodmon had its foot right above Birdramon, wearing a sadistic grin. Ikkakumon's horn exploded against its face and it stumbled back a couple steps with an angry yelp. "I was expecting a bit more," Ikkakumon complained.
"I don't think it moved fast enough for penetration," Koushiro informed, returning to his job of free Greymon, trying to fight the returning despair. Taichi was awake again and, as illogical as it sounded, that meant they still had a chance.
"Wait!" Ikkakumon cried out, "I'm getting something else! I feel… stronger.. and watery?"
"The Hydro Core!" Taichi said, "Jou must've sent you it! Can we count on him or what?!" Koushiro could only nod. Jou shouldn't even be conscious! How was he able to help?!
A watery bang and a few drops of water splashing over him snapped Koushiro back to reality. Ikkakumon's horn blasted by at a far greater speed than before, leaving a trail of spraying water behind. Within an instant, it was gone, and an explosion on PetriWoodmon's forehead immediately followed. PetriWoodmon screamed, staggering back, behind the flytraps, while clutching its head.
"Boom! Headshot!" Ikkakumon shouted. Koushiro's PhotoSaber went through the vines and Greymon shot right to his feet, the rest of the vines falling off.
"Taichi!" Greymon happily called out.
"Later!" Taichi commanded, "Save the others!"
Koushiro allowed himself to fall back into a sitting position while Greymon ran over to Garurumon, shooting a fireball at one the flytraps. It struck and the plant was particles. The other two fired at Greymon. Greymon fired back, a fireball hitting one of the seeds and Ikkakumon's horn lanced through the other, and embedded itself in another flytrap's mouth. With the explosion it was gone. Greymon struck down the last flytrap with another fireball as his claws ripped through the vines holding Garurumon.
"I'll take care of the tree!" Ikkakumon called out, pulling himself along the ground at an impressive speed.
"Target the knees!" Garurumon responded. "We'll save Birdramon and Kabuterimon!"
"Tainted Beast!" PetriWoodmon shouted, glaring at Ikkakumon, "Life greater than Taint!" Its hands no longer covering its head, the missing chunk exposed a bright green glow. Was that the life energy PetriWoodmon had inside it? Koushiro activated the DigiScanner and brought up a magnified image of PetriWoodmon's injury. Very brief flashes of purple were appearing infrequently. What could they mean?
Right as Ikkakumon reached the water, PetriWoodmon fired its vegetation beam, leaving Ikkakumon encased. But his horn still fired off, embedding itself into the knee Garurumon and Kabuterimon were attacking. It detonated, obliterating the knee in a spray of stone-like bark and PetriWoodmon roared and began to fall as its severed leg fell over and disappeared. Bright green vines shot out of the stump, wrapping themselves into the shape of a new leg.
"No!" Koushiro found himself shouting. That wasn't fair! How could PetriWoodmon repair itself so easily?! Right, life energy.
"Bet that took a lot out of it," Taichi commented. Koushiro blinked. That was true. Creating those vines with enough strength to sustain its bulk had to be difficult. Another roar from PetriWoodmon, its vine leg now covered blue fire, not unlike Greymon's enhanced fireballs. It started moving back while spitting allergen balls. Koushiro had to look away and cover his face as the growing cloud reached him. Thankfully, it was only seconds until he felt Birdramon's winds blowing it away.
PetriWoodmon was now back where it had emerged, raking a hand through the water, dousing the burning leg. With a shout, Ikkakumon flung himself from the shore into the water and rocketed towards it. It fired its vegetation beam as Ikkakumon submerged, the weeds appearing on the water's surface. PetriWoodmon started to look for the walrus when Kabuterimon's shard struck his head from above. Ikkakumon popped out of the water and something glinted. PetriWoodmon's knee opposite of the vine leg exploded and PetriWoodmon roared again as the vines grew to replace the leg. The purple flashes in that green light were occurring much more frequently now.
It squatted, lowering itself into the water. "Crap! Ikkakumon! Get out of there!" Taichi shouted suddenly. Koushiro suddenly realized what PetriWoodmon was about to do. Kabuterimon! It's going to jump! You and Ikkakumon have to get away! Greymon and Garurumon both moved between the two boys and the lake. Birdramon landed right behind them.
PetriWoodmon launched into the air as Kabuterimon started flying back at a height nothing its size should've been capable of reaching. Just past the digimon, Koushiro could see the bulge of water that had to be Ikkakumon. Kabuterimon must have warned him. PetriWoodmon came down with a CRASH that bowled Koushiro right over.
Greymon and Birdramon immediately fired their fire cyclone and a cloud of steam washed over. Koushiro immediately hugged his laptop as close to himself as possible, making sure all vents were pressed against him, in a desperate attempt to keep all moisture out. He opened his eyes, and through the fog, he could see a bright green light with occasional purple flashes.
Then everything turned yellow and he couldn't breathe.
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With a pained shout, Yamato slashed through a Bushmon. As it disappeared, he allowed himself to stumble forward as he agonizingly turned around for whatever else was there. Nothing. Silence, except for his ragged breathing. Sora was looking at him, looking at least as bad he felt. "Did we just fight off an army of bioweapons?" she asked.
"W-We did," he realized. I can't believe we- no, calm down! First check on TK! He turned to look and immediately growled. Mimi was kneeling and holding his little brother in a protective embrace. So now you're his friend again? He shook his head, that previous anger almost gone. Stop overreacting. It's not like you were that much better. He started over to the pair. Fought an army for you bro. Would Yagami-kun do that? Stupid question. Of course he would.
"We did it," Sora announced from behind him, "It should be safe now."
"Y-You did?" Mimi asked cautiously.
"Yama!" TK shouted, bursting right out of her arms into a hug that nearly bowled him over. He clenched his teeth to keep from crying out over the jolt of pain from his… everything. Which really wasn't hard; he too surprised at his brother's suuden affection to really notice.
"T-TK?" Did TK really forgive him that easily? Or was it just because of the terrifying experience he just went through? Of course it is. You haven't done anything that Yagami-kun wouldn't have done. Shaking that depressing thought out of his head, he returned TK's hug.
"Something's coming!" Sora said suddenly. Yamato immediately straightened. A lump of ground was moving towards them.
"Go back to Mimi-san," he ordered, "and then get on that boulder! You might be safer there!"
"But Yama-" TK started to protest.
"Come on, TK-chan," Mimi's voice sounded, "This hard enough for them already." The girl dragged the boy off. Large grassy stalks burst out burst out of the mound. On impulse, Yamato fired his PyroBlaster, and the grass retreated.
"Tanglemon!" Sora called out.
"Whatever you do," Yamato shouted to TK and Mimi who were climbing on to the boulder, "stay quiet and try not to move! Tanglemon is blind!" He looked back at Sora. She was holding an arm out and… cutting it with her PhotoSaber, but with the energy blade turned off?!
"Tanglemon tasted me once already," she said as her blood dripped to the ground, "I figure it'll want the rest." Grimacing, Yamato followed her example.
"Making it a little more tempting," he said, doing his best not to look at TK. His younger brother had to be freaked out by this. The grassy tentacles burst out right between him and Sora, throwing the two off their feet.
The tentacles clustered together, forming a club, and swung down where Sora had landed. She rolled out of the way and snapped off a fireball but the tentacles shot back into the mound. The mound began to move towards him. He aimed the PyroBlaster as he started moving back and fired, blasting away dirt, but nothing else. He gripped the PhotoSaber, re-energized the blade, and lunged, stabbing at the lump's center but the tentacles burst out and wrapped around his body the way they had bound Sora before. A flash of Sora's PhotoSaber released him and he landed on his front.
As he pushed himself back up, the ground in front exploded as the tentacles burst out in their club form, followed by a yelp from Sora. He saw the girl land on her back and the club swung down on to her stomach. She rolled to her side, clutching her bleeding stomach, while Yamato gave an angry shout and stabbed at the ground again. At impossible speed, the club unraveled and, right as the blade started to penetrate the soil, several tentacles struck him across the face so hard, he felt his body spin and started to fall over when another tentacle wrapped around his neck.
The tentacle released him with the smell of burning grass. He looked at Sora who held out her PhotoSaber while holstering her PyroBlaster and it looked like she was concentrating. The PhotoSaber gave a black flash, indicating a change to the Astro Core. She drove the AstroSaber into the ground and the mound started moving towards her. Of course! Since Tanglemon relies on vibrations, the AstroSaber's gravity has to be like a magnet! Sora started to run while dragging the gravity blade behind her.
Yamato tightened his grip on the PhotoSaber and chased after. As he got close, tentacles burst out but Sora immediately lifted her blade in an overhead swing, the tentacles seemingly caught in its gravity. Yamato lunged, plunging his weapon through the ground. The Tanglemon immediately took off like a rocket, yanking the blade out of his hand. He watched his weapon go through countless directions as the clearly panicking Tanglemon tried to shake it off. Sora plunged her blade into the ground and Tanglemon charged right at it. The raised ground reached the weapon, stopped, and data particles floated out from the mound.
As Sora pulled her blade out of the ground and stepped away, Yamato stared at the unmoving mound, waiting for some kind of sign the Tanglemon was still there somehow. Nothing. He carefully crept over and picked up his weapon. Still nothing. He looked at Sora. "That seems to be it." She nodded.
Yamato started back over to TK and Mimi, immediately nearly being bowled over by a small blur. "Yama!" TK cried, "You were hurt and I couldn't help and I'm sorry and-"
"TK, stop!" Yamato pleaded as he knelt down, suddenly remembering just how messed up he was, "You stayed safe. That's all I wanted."
"Thank you," Mimi practically squeaked, "Y-You saved us."
"W-We did," Sora responded, sounding as awkward as Yamato felt. That memory of Mimi yelling at TK, even slapping him, didn't inspire the anger and hate it used to. Was it just the recent danger making him forget?
"We've kept Jou-kun waiting long enough," he said, "and as much as Sora-san and I need to rest, it's not safe. Let's just move on."
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Taichi struggled pulling against the tree to get himself to his feet as he continued coughing and sneezing over the yellow mist. To think I thought allergies were just an excuse! His wounds were practically burning and every muscle aching. The only thing keeping him on his feet was the fact he nearly suffocated when he was lying down. The mist was thicker on the bottom. Its not a mist, its that dust from his allergy balls!
A warm breeze came down on him. Birdramon! He could almost feel the powder being forced straight down. Leaning against the tree, he tried to open his eyes. His eyelids felt like they were coated in sand that his eyes were trying to wash out with a liquid itching powder. He could hear a lot of stomping around too. What was going on?
"Koushiro-han!" he heard Kabuterimon shout.
"Wh-What happened?!" he choked out, mentally cursing his eyelids.
"I think he's fainted!" Birdramon answered, "I think the powder was too much!"
"I have to get him out of here!" Kabuterimon said, "Sorry guys!"
"Go!" Taichi ordered as loudly as he could, "Save him!" He punctuated his order with a coughing fit.
"What about you, Taichi?," Birdramon said as he heard Kabuterimon land, "If I let anything-"
"I'm fine!" Taichi interrupted, finally getting his eyes open. He looked at the blurry red mass as the purple mass that he figured was Kabuterimon took off. "Down Kabuterimon! Stop PetriWoodmon!"
"U-Understood!" Birdramon responded. The blur moved with the sound of a powerful flap. His eyes starting to clear, Taichi immediately looked towards the sounds of the battle, just in time to see PetriWoodmon jump at Greymon with a swing of its fist. Greymon jumped back, but PetriWoodmon's punch grazed him, throwing him to his back. Garurumon's ice flames struck one of PetriWoodmon's vines legs and it slapped a hand down at the wolf. Garurumon leapt back just in time as Birdramon fired a wind blast into the hole in PetriWoodmon's head. PetriWoodmon roared and spit an allergy ball that she swerved around.
Greymon launched a fireball into PetriWoodmon's vine leg though the leg didn't ignite. Too wet. But I'll bet that'll be good for Garurumon. PetriWoodmon raked a hand through the mud and water right as Garurumon fired more freeze, creating a wall of ice. PetriWoodmon then lunged and punched through the ice, a chunk colliding Garurumon as he tried to leap away. He landed on his side as PetriWoodmon raked its hand through the ground again, this time towards Greymon as Birdramon positioned herself above him for another cyclone. Both digimon were taken down by the wall of mud.
Where's Ikkakumon?! Taichi wondered. With PetriWoodmon fighting up close like that, it was a perfect chance for Ikkakumon's sharp shooting. He looked around the walrus. The ground was covered in thin stems. Great. Was Ikkakumon- Oh no! There he was, on his back, and wrapped up in much thicker stems. And worse, Ikkakumon was facing the opposite way of the battle.
Taichi made his way over as quickly as he could without tripping. If he went down, he wasn't getting back up. "Ikkakumon!" he called upon reaching the digimon. Ikkakumon looked at him.
"Hey Taichi," he said rather nonchalantly, "Could really use some help here. Birdramon can't do anything without burning me and Kabuterimon's too afraid of drawing attention to Koushiro."
"I think PetriWoodmon would notice any of them freeing you," Taichi said, "You are the biggest threat to it." He studied the stems. They weren't looking as strong as the ones PetriWoodmon had created earlier. They were a bit wilted and he could see brown spots. But it wasn't disappearing, either. Perhaps it couldn't create healthy plants in such a short time? He summoned his ElectroSaber. Crap! That's like the worst choice! And he'd already used up Photo with that Tailmon ambush. And with Pyro on Greymon… Um, okay what do I use. Cryo? No, the vines won't freeze fast enough. Aero's good at cutting but it can't do little cuts.
All that was left was Geo. The GeoSaber took on a stone blade that managed to be better than steel or iron with a good, sharp edge. Of course, these vines felt like cutting through steel but some specks did break off.Really wish this blade was serrated."I've got this. Get ready to turn PetriWoodmon into firewood."
He heard the roar of Greymon's and Birdramon's fire cyclone. A quick glance while hacking at the stems revealed PetriWoodmon blocking the firestorm as it slowly stepped towards the two digimon. Garurumon leapt from behind it, scaling its back, and fired a freeze into the hole in its head. PetriWoodmon shrieked, clutching its head and stumbled back as the cyclone faded. With another roar- Seriously, how strong is PetriWoodmon's throat anyhow? PetriWoodmon raised is its arms and looked up. It began glowing green with purple flashes and an explosion of yellow dust burst right out of its body. Not again! "More allergy powder!"
"I'm really growing to hate that guy!" Ikkakumon growled. Taichi stopped swinging and held his breath. The dust coated Greymon and Garurumon, leaving them in coughing fits, but by the time it reached him, it was only up to his knees. And PetriWoodmon was slumped over, visibly breathing very heavily.
We're getting to him, he happily noted and returned to cutting the stems as Birdramon started blowing the dust off of Greymon. Greymon's coughing calmed down and she flew over to Garurumon while the stems snapped. Ikkakumon rolled over, the rest of the stems falling off. "Payback time!" he shouted as he pushed himself towards PetriWoodmon, who was just starting to straighten back up.
"No!" PetriWoodmon shouted and fired its weed beam. Ikkakumon swerved to the side, dodging it, and fired back. A third leg shattered. PetriWoodmon shrieked then Garurumon's freeze struck a vine leg, coating it in a layer of ice. Right after that came the fire cyclone, burning through the remaining vine leg. PetriWoodmon's frozen leg snapped and it fell over with a wail.
"We've got it!" Taichi couldn't help but shout.
"I bes life!" PetriWoodmon shouted, "You bes unlife! Life greater than unlife!" PetriWoodmon began glowing green again, with the purple flashing so frequently, it was almost giving Taichi a headache to look at. The scattered trees began glowing along with the treewall. In fact, it looked like the entire forest had had lit up. Complete with those headache inducing purple flashes.
What's going on? Dread began to bubble in his stomach. He suddenly remembered how much of a wasteland File was. This forest was not natural and with PetriWoodmon's plant creation powers… Oh crap! He quickly summoned the AstroBlaster and changed it to Cryo. The bang of one of Ikkakumon's horns rang out and projectile exploded against PetriWoodmon, but no damage. Instead, the trees began to disintegrate and their particles flew into PetriWoodmon. Ikkakumon fired again, Greymon, Garurumon, and Birdramon joining in, but nothing worked. Whatever it was doing wasn't being stopped by anything.
The converging lights molded around it becoming a green and purple blob. The blob took on the form of a gigantic tree and lights faded. The DigiScanner information burned its way in. PetriWoodmon: Vital Mode. PetriWoodmon had used its strong vitality to reignite its life force, rebirthing its body. Its bark is softer but its wood inside is now healthy and just as strong. Its immobile in this form but can create more complex plants. Vital Mode is primarily for recovery.
It's healing itself?! Well, fine. It should be flammable now. And with Ikkakumon's shots, it won't matter. In fact, Ikkakumon just fired one. It exploded but just one small chunk was broken off. And it immediately regenerated. Greymon blasted the leaves with a fireball. They ignited but after a few seconds, the flames died out. The DigiScanner warned that the life energy within PetriWoodmon was extremely active. He looked around. The treewall was gone but the rest of the trees were still there and glowing. So we're literally fighting the entire forest?!
"You bes unlife!" PetriWoodmon shouted, "I bes life! Life beats unlife! Feel wrath of life!" Several trees disappeared in three rays of green and purple light and shot into the ground just in front of it. The ground began to shake as three figures began to emerge. They were big. Very big. Wooden looking of course. And with four legs… Taichi's mouth went dry. They look just like PetriWoodmon! Indeed, three copies of PetriWoodmon stood in front of the real one. They were even the same size!
Birdramon went over Greymon for another cyclone, but a yellow beam from one clone blasted against Greymon's head directly, throwing him back. It then leapt at Birdramon with shocking speed and slapped her to the ground. It landed, its feet stomping down on the two digimon. Taichi's heart froze as they disappeared in a flash of light. "Greymon!"
No, wait! Greymon was still there! And so was Birdramonmon! They just reverted back to Agumon and Piyomon. Taichi's hand unconsciously wiped his tears away as he watched another PetriWoodmon fire its allergy balls through Garurumon's freeze. Fired with more force than the real PetriWoodmon, the frozen balls struck wolf, exploding in a spray of ice and yellow dust. Garurumon fell into a coughing fit and the PetriWoodmon drove a fist down into the wolf. With a flash, he was Gabumon again.
The third PetriWoodmon was firing its yellow beam at Ikkakumon. You can do this! You beat the real one! You can take these fakers! Ikkakumon moved through the water with impressive agility, evading the beam, but the beam was leaving the usual weeds in place, limiting the places Ikkakumon could go. A horn fired and a knee exploded. But the leg didn't fall off. In fact, the knee wasn't even that damaged. Its body is young! Taichi realized, It doesn't have the weakness!
Within moments, Ikkakumon was encased in the weeds again. The PetriWoodmon lumbered over to Ikkakumon while the other two raised their feet above the fallen digimon. "No!" Taichi shouted, knowing there was nothing he could do. It was over. PetriWoodmon won. Sure they still had Kabuterimon, but he couldn't beat PetriWoodmon alone.
"Kill all at once!" the real PetriWoodmon said. The PetriWoodmon that trapped Ikkakumon put both its hands on the front and rear of Ikkakumon. The hands swung. The legs above Agumon, Piyomon, and Gabumon came down. Taichi looked away, not wanting to witness his failure to protect Agumon.
Silence. All Taichi could hear was his beating heart. No sound of a stomp or anything. He slowly turned around, dreading the horrific sight awaiting him. The PetriWoodmon clones were… still standing with their legs raised? Their positions hadn't changed at all, though their wood was looking rather dark. And… they were disintegrating into data particles!
And PetriWoodmon itself, it too was darker its, its eyes just a lifeless black. Its leaves brown. It too was disintegrating. Taichi looked around. The trees were disappearing too. D-Did we win? How?
