Back to the Digidestined, across an immeasurable distance . . .
The Digidestined were reunited once more, in the large, grassy field that linked the two Dark Alliance's hideouts. They were unusually quiet after their rather large battles, which was uncharacteristic for them. Perhaps they did not fully trust the four Mega Digimon who stood in a group off to the side that had once made up their deadliest enemies.
Sora and Tai were once again holding hands, both because they were unsure of what else to do. The other Digidestined appeared almost indifferent to each other, almost aloof.
"Tai, do you think it's wise to join sides with the Dark Masters? Unless you've forgotten, they're the bad guys!" Izzy said over his shoulder, as he worked away at some sort of program on his computer.
"They may be the key to help us beat Eldritchmon." Tai said, sounding almost uncertain of himself. "We need firepower, and we know they have plenty of that."
"Yeah and evil and cruelty, and the list goes on and on." Matt said. "We beat them, so the rest of the Dark Alliance can't be that hard!"
"Perhaps you need an epiphany." Piedmon said. He sauntered over to the group of Digidestined, trying to hide his scorn of working with them. "We have fought the Dark Alliance already, and I am sad to say that they performed far better than we did. I am not even sure if combined we can beat the remaining Dark Alliance."
"They have three. We have what, twelve?" Matt demanded.
Piedmon smiled to himself. This overconfident fool may be the downfall to us all. "Do you have any idea of how powerful Eldritchmon is by himself? I personally took him on, and he out performed me even as the fight started."
Matt looked like he was going to make another snide remark, but Mimi kicked him suddenly, and he fell silent.
Piedmon strode back to where the other Dark Masters were, muttering to himself.
"I don't trust him." Sora said, watching the head of the Dark Masters warily.
"Neither do I." Tai admitted, "But what else can we do? Even Gennai warned us about the Dark Alliance and how strong they were."
All the Digidestined fell silent after this, and night soon fell. They slept on the ground, as they were accustomed to doing. They stayed within close proximity of each other, and did not venture to glimpse upon what the Dark Masters were doing.
In the darkest hour in the night, perhaps only a few hours before the sun would be peeking out from over the horizon, the air suddenly grew chill, as a section of the very darkness of night twisted and warped, until Musyamon stood drifting only a few feet in front of the sleeping children. He glanced down upon them, almost indifferent, and then looked over at the Dark Masters, perhaps no more than ten yards away to one side. He then extended his right hand over the group of the sleeping Digidestined, and murmured something. A dark, chill light appeared to encircle Tai, Sora, and T.K, along with their appropriate Digimon and their unconscious bodies levitated, shimmered, and then vanished.
Musyamon turned to leave, but then a cool, chill voice stopped him in his tracks. "What do you think you're doing, Musyamon?"
Musyamon searched for the voice, and found it, floating in a curled up position above his head. MetalSeadramon stood, glaring at the smaller member of the Dark Alliance. "You're outnumbered, Musyamon."
"That may be so," Musyamon said, his voice sounding strangely calming and serene, "But you are out of your league when you deal with the Dark Alliance. Mega Blade!" Drawing his strangely shimmering black blade in one smooth motion, Musyamon sent a powerful arc of energy slamming into MetalSeadramon, causing him to fall from his lofty seat.
"River of Power!" Incredible energies lanced straight from MetalSeadramon to Musyamon, but Musyamon swung, with his curved blade glittering, and sliced MetalSeadramon's attack in two.
"Giga Cannon!" two explosions of energy slammed into Musyamon, catching him unawares, slamming him into the ground.
"Tai?" Kari asked sleepily. She had been leaning against her brother while she slept, and now he was gone. She looked up, and to her horror saw one of those horrible Dark Alliance fighting with MetalSeadramon and Machinedramon. "Gatomon! Wake up!" She shook the small sleeping cat Digimon at her side.
"Gatomon Digivolved to . . . Angewoman!"
"T.K!! T.K. where are you!" Matt was wide awake in a split second, upon hearing Kari's scream.
"What's going on? Is there a sale at the shoe store?" Mimi asked sleepily, as she sat up.
"Gabumon digivolved to . . . . Garurumon!"
In a previously unknown place, at an immeasurable distance . . . .
Sora's eyes slowly fluttered open, and she stared up at the rough stone ceiling high over her head in confusion for several moments. She sat up suddenly, and looked around. She appeared to be in some vast stone chamber, empty of everything except herself and Tai and T.K., who were at her side, still sleeping.
"Tai! Something's wrong!" Sora whispered, fighting to keep the panic from her voice as she shook Tai. He fell from his sleep slowly, and it seemed to Sora that she had been shaking him forever before he woke up. Once he had taken in the situation, he leapt to his feet while Sora woke T.K.
"Agumon, where are we?" Tai asked, glancing down at the small dinosaur Digimon at his side.
"I thought you might know, Tai. I've never even heard of a place like this on the Digiworld."
"That is because it is not on the Digiworld." A low chill voice appeared to ripple through the air, one that shook the Digidestined to their very bones. The air in front of them shimmered, thickened, and Eldritchmon stood suddenly before them.
"Eldritchmon." Tai barely breathed. Agumon grimaced, but glared at the leader of the Dark Alliance.
"While we are waiting for your friends to rescue you, I might as well tell you where you are. Sit, if you will."
Almost against his will, Tai sat down on the cold stone floor, followed by the others, almost in a trance. Tai glanced at Sora, and saw that she was not impressed at all with Eldritchmon, but T.K. was staring mesmerized at Eldritchmon.
"This immense castle is not on the Digital World. It is, in fact, in the Digital World. As you know, everything about the Digital World is created from computer coding. Well, this castle sits not in that coding, but in a physical level above it. It is the only real thing on the Digital World, and because of that, only things that I allow may see the castle. In effect, I am a real being, not restricted by the ridiculous rules and barriers of the primitive computer coding spectrum, so I cannot be defeated by regular Digimon and their pitiful computer based attacks."
"So then why do you need the Dark Alliance?" Sora asked.
"I only expected them to hinder you long enough so that I may learn of your strengths and weaknesses. They have done that, the two simpering fools you have defeated, and the others, I expect, will fall before the combined power of the Digidestined and the Dark Masters before long, but in the process, you will be weakened, and ever so more easy for me to defeat."
"So how are our friends going to find us?"
"Musyamon will take care of that."
"We'll—" Tai rose up, defiant, but then shrank down as Eldritchmon's words hit home.
"You'll defeat me? I think not. Your leader, Gennai, is a prime example of the pitiful weakness of the computer coding. Once he was great and strong, one of the strongest in all the Digital World, but he was broken slowly in time by Piedmon and others much more darker and powerful then he, until he is no more than what he appears to be: a weak old man. He lost the cards to your world, and those cards were passed on to Myotismon."
"Why do you think you can—"
"Enough questions for now. It's time for your long anticipated and much deserved destruction." Eldritchmon smiled evilly down at the Digidestined as he appeared to grow before their very eyes.
"I don't think so Mr. Magic! Agumon!" Tai held out his energy spewing Digivice.
"Agumon Warp Digivolved to . . . . WarGreymon!"
"Biyomon Warp Digivolved to . . . . Phoenixmon!"
"Patamon Digivolved to . . . . Angemon!"
"Terra Force!" Placing his two large sets of claws above his head, WarGreymon began to spin horizontally around and around like a top, until he was nothing more than a red and orange blur, and launched himself straight for Eldritchmon.
"Wall of Darkness!" Eldritchmon placed his hands out before him, palms facing outward, and the very air in front of him appeared to freeze, harden, and grow black as coal. WarGreymon, instead of slamming into Eldritchmon, now disappeared into the blackness. He appeared to be sucked into the endless void, but then tumbled out a few seconds later.
"Hand of Fate!" Brilliant celestial energy, super nova-white, exploded from Angemon's fist and streaked straight for Eldritchmon. He took the blow head on, without much interest, and grinned almost madly. He swung out with his staff, leveling the head out towards Angemon—
"Magical Force!" An explosion of dark magical energy lanced from the staff's head and slammed into Angemon, dropping him to the stone floor like a dropped safe.
"Angemon!" T.K. ran over to his fallen friend.
"Crimson Flame!" Phoenixmon flared, banked, climbed high, and then stopped in midair. She appeared to twirl rapidly in midair, wings outstretched, and a large diamond shaped ball of fire energy shot out from her and shot straight for Eldrtichmon. He took the hit, and appeared to blink, and stopped himself from taking a step backwards, but that was about it.
"Nova Force!" WarGreymon once more leapt into the air, generated a vast ball of red energy between his outstretched arms and threw it straight for Eldritchmon. He dodged the attack, and it slammed into the wall behind him, appearing the shake the entire room.
"Magical Force!" An explosion of magical energy flew from his staff, slamming both WarGreymon and Phoenixmon into the far wall.
"Phoenixmon!" Sora cried out for her friend. "Tai, how can we beat Eldritchmon?"
"We beat Apoclyamon, didn't we?" Tai asked, sounding almost as if he was trying to encourage himself.
"We can't give up hope!" T.K. yelled out, as Angemon steadied himself on his feet. T.K.'s chest appeared to glow with fire as his crest glowed brightly.
"Angemon Digivolved to . . . . MagnaAngemon."
Eldritchmon appeared almost amused as he watched MagnaAngemon slowly advance upon him. He raised his staff, almost dripping with contempt.
"Magical Force!"
"Gate of Destiny!" MagnaAngemon clove a large circle in the air with Xcaliber, his energy sword, and this circle appeared to create a spinning, shiny golden disc. The disc spun once, and split open down the center, revealing a glowing, celestial, vast inside. The energies of Eldritchmon's attack slammed into the inside of the circle, and the disc snapped closed, disappearing as it went. MagnaAngemon stood tall behind it, but the strain of absorbing Eldritchmon's attack was evident.
"Impressive, for back-washed simple minded computer coded fools. I can see why you defeated the Dark Master fools." Eldritchmon said quietly. "Unfortunately, it is not impressive enough. Magical Force!" The energies slammed head on into MagnaAngemon, who was not strong enough to generate another Gate of Destiny, and so was sent reeling from the blow.
"Terra Force!"
"Beak of Power!"
Both WarGreymon and Phoenixmon launched themselves straight for Eldritchmon, each brimming with enough power to easily level an entire city.
"Wall of Darkness!" The impenetrable black fog appeared to enshroud WarGreymon and Phoenixmon as they almost reached Eldritchmon, and then the fog disappeared, taking them both with it. A second later, they appeared to fall out of the ceiling, almost phasing through it. They hit the ground like a sack of potatoes, and struggled to stand.
"Magical Force!" The incredible dark energies flew straight for the fallen forms of WarGreymon and Phoenixmon. With a gentle rustle of pure white wings, MagnaAngemon dove and put himself between the dark energies and the two fallen Mega Digimon. He took the blow head on, and fell, devolving to Patamon as he went. Patamon tried to flap his wings, but found he was too weak to even do that, so T.K. caught him and held him close.
"We're not done yet." WarGreymon said, as he finally managed to stand.
"Is that a fact?" Eldritchmon laughed. "You fools were done before you started. Magic Trick!" A bubble of energy leapt from Eldritchmon's staff and slammed into WarGreymon and Phoenixmon with amazing force for something so small, and both WarGreymon and Phoenixmon shuddered and devolved to their rookie forms.
As Tai ran to help Agumon to his feet, and saw Eldritchmon still standing over them, smirking and laughing, he wondered if this was really the end. Sora, with T.K. huddling at her waist, came running over to Tai. Sora felt for Tai's hand in the growing darkness; if they were going to go, they would go together. In her other hand, she held the weakened Biyomon close to her side.
Eldritchmon laughed once more, a laugh full of evil and contempt, and raised his wooden staff, deep magical energies growing in the head, ready to be unleashed in a final, devastating blow.
Musyamon appeared then, suddenly, right next to Eldritchmon. Materializing in front of Tai, Sora, T.K. and their Digimon, were the other five Digidestined and their Digimon. Already, Gabumon had warp Digivolved to MetalGarurumon, and Tentomon had warp Digivolved into HerculesKabuterimon. Seconds later, all four of the Dark Masters appeared perhaps five yards to one side. Musyamon bowed to Eldritchmon. "I have done what you bade of me, my Lord. I have led the children and their allies here."
Eldritchmon looked furiously at Musyamon for a second, and then his expression changed to one of jovial. "Well done, Musyamon. Photomon, you may come out."
"Photomon?" Matt yelled in surprise, as he and the other Digidestined ran to help Tai, Sora, and T.K. to their feet.
'Surprise!" the small evil Digimon that appeared to be constructed out of parts of a camera suddenly appeared on the other side of Eldritchmon, who smirked at the astonished looks of the Digidestined.
"But we destroyed that pile of recycled scrap metal!" Joe said. He had to force himself not to hyperventilate.
"Guess again." Photomon said in a slightly insane voice. "Giga Shocker!" A bolt of lightning streaked straight for Joe, and before Gomamon could Digivolve—
"Clown Trick!" Three concentric rings of yellow energy encircled the bolt of lightning and caused it to dissipate. "Regroup yourselves, Digidestined. We shall distract these fools who dared to try to take the Digital World from us!" Piedmon said. To prove his point, he pulled three of his swords from their sheathes and threw them straight at Musyamon. "Trump Sword!"
"Puppet Power!"
As the Dark Masters and the Dark Alliance went head to head, the Digidestined quickly formed a small circle, after Tai and Kari and Matt and T.K. were reunited. "As much as I would like to see both of these groups destroy each other," Matt said, "I think the Dark Alliance will still win, even though they are outnumbered."
"Yes. According to the information we have gathered about their strengths, it is apparent that the Dark Alliance, particularly Eldritchmon, is much stronger than the Dark Masters." Izzy said.
"Any ideas?" Joe asked, pushing up his glasses.
"We have to have the most firepower we can get." Tai said. "We have what, four Mega Digimon?"
"Five. Palmon warp-digivolved when we were fighting Phobiamon." Mimi said, smiling down at her friend.
'Izzy, do you have idea about how we can get the other Digimon to Digivolve to Mega form?" Tai asked.
"Well, it is apparent that the process of evolving to Mega has something to do with utilizing, to the fullest extent, the namesake of their crests. For example, Tentomon warp-Digivolved when I discovered why Piedmon was still as strong as he was originally. So in order for the remaining Digimon to Digivolve to their Mega forms, their human counterparts must fulfill the ideals that their crests stand for."
"Um . . . that was kind of over my head, but I think I got it. So what you're saying is that in order for Gomamon to Digivolve, I have to do something reliable." Joe said.
"That's it." Izzy said, blushing a little at his Harvard-level vocabulary. The other Digidestined laughed at this, feeling good that they could still laugh, considering the circumstances. They then turned to see the battle unfolding between their newfound allies and the Dark Alliance.
The Dark Alliance and the Dark Masters, it seemed, had basically traded shots without much happening, but the Dark Masters appeared more peaked then their enemies did.
"This little bout of fisticuffs has gone on long enough. It is time to finish the Dark Masters once and for all. Photomon!" Eldritchmon snapped at the smaller Digimon at his right side.
"You got it, Lord Eldritchmon." He then appeared to glow from within with a dark light, and rapidly grew and shifted, until he was a carbon copy of WarGreymon.
"I think I know what's coming next!" Joe breathed, and the other Digidestined silently agreed. They had seen this sort of thing happen before, only it was they who were fighting the Dark Masters.
MetalSeadramon guessed too, what Photomon's plan was, so he reared up, generating incredible energies in the cannon apparatus where his nose should be. "River of Power!" Incredible energy, condensed into a thick beam of blue light, shot from MetalSeadramon and streaked straight for Photomon, in the perfect guise of WarGreymon.
Photomon/WarGreymon placed his claws together high above his head, fully extending his arms, and began to spin vertically like a high-speed top. "Terra Force!" he launched himself at MetalSeadramon, still spinning, and shot straight through MetalSeadramon's attack, and then right through MetalSeadramon himself like a hot knife through butter.
"Giga Cannon!"
Still spinning at incredibly high speeds after coming out of the other side of MetalSeadramon, Photomon/WarGreymon easily dodged Machinedramon's twin explosions of energy, and bore a hole through the middle of Machinedramon like a drill going through wood.
As first MetalSeadramon fell to the ground and disappeared into nothingness followed by Machinedramon, Photomon/WarGreymon came out of his spin and stood facing the remaining two Dark Masters, his expression masked by WarGreymon's armor, but anyone could tell he was laughing.
"Puppet Power!" Puppetmon threw the X-shaped piece of wood with amazing speed, and it slammed head on into Photomon, causing him to revert back to his original form. As he climbed gingerly to his feet, Puppetmon came at him, the X-shaped piece of wood in one hand, ready to be thrown again.
"Giga Shocker!" An incredible bolt of electricity leapt from the injured Photomon, as Puppetmon threw his piece of wood as hard as he could.
"Puppet Power!"
The bolt of lightning struck Puppetmon first, jolting him and then frying him, and finally causing him to disappear. Photomon attempted to dodge Puppetmon's attack, but he was injured, and not fast enough, so the spinning X-shaped piece of wood cleaved him cleanly in two.
Piedmon whirled around to face the two remaining Dark Alliance, the rage clearly showing on his face. Eldritchmon gestured slightly to Musyamon, who bowed deeply and drew his black, curved blade with surprising speed.
"Trump Sword!" Three swords flew straight for Musyamon, who deflected each one off the flat of his own sword, with a speed which defied logic.
"Mega Blade!" The sword slashed down at Piedmon, the blade shinning with a dull black light, slamming into Piedmon, sending him reeling backwards.
"Clown Trick!" Piedmon shot out a large burst of solidified wind energy from his outstretched hands, but Musyamon cleaved it in two with one swipe of his curved blade.
"Ninja Star!" Musyamon gestured into the air with his left hand, and five small but deadly sharp ninja throwing stars appeared and were sent whizzing straight at Piedmon. Piedmon drew two swords and knocked all five stars from their original path, all in one smooth motion. He then ran straight for Musyamon, before the other Digimon could launch another attack, and slashed at him with both swords at almost super-human speed.
Musyamon appeared to have no problem blocking at first, but as the intensity and speed of the blows increased, Musyamon grew harder and harder pressed to blow them all, and very soon began to be injured by them, until with one amazing double-sword uppercut, Piedmon knocked Musyamon backwards, causing his sword to skid across the floor out of reach.
"Magical Force!" Eldritchmon struck suddenly, and Piedmon slammed into the far stone wall like a wrecking ball, out of the fight for the moment.
Tai instantly turned to Agumon, who was sitting crouched on the floor, holding his stomach, looking not a little sick. "Agumon, are you up for another round?"
"I'm sorry Tai," Agumon winced as he looked up at his friend, 'But I seem to have no energy left. That last fight with Eldritchmon really took a lot out of me."
Tai gritted his teeth, but knew he couldn't force Agumon to fight, even now, when he was really needed. With three of the four Dark Masters down and two of the most powerful Dark Alliance still up, they would need all the firepower they could get. He instead turned to the others. "What about you guys? Are you up to it?"
MetalGarurumon stepped up quickly, and HerculesKabuterimon rose up, his thin wings beating several hundred times a second. Mimi stood up, with Palmon at her side. He unclipped her Digivice from her purse strap, looked at it for a minute, and slowly held it out over Palmon.
"Don't worry Mimi, I'll be all right." Palmon said, as she stepped up into the energy spilling forth from Mimi's Digivice.
"Palmon Warp-Digivolved to . . . . FloraLillymon!"
The beautiful, graceful wooden maiden strode off purposefully towards the waiting Eldritchmon and Musyamon, closely following her two Mega comrades.
HerculesKabuterimon attacked first, diving down from the sky like a fighter plane. "Giga Scissor Claw!" His huge, crushing mandibles snapped in rapid succession, straight at Eldritchmon. He shrugged off the attack, like he was shrugging off rainwater from his over coat, and raised his staff to counter-attack.
"Ice Wolf Claw!"
Before he could attack, MetalGarurumon unleashed a volley of his ice rockets, covering him in a foot thick coating of ice. Energy burst forth from within the coating of ice, the ice simply vaporized, and Eldritchmon was free, no more worse for the wear.
"Forest Strike!" FloraLillymon raised her arms over her head, massive tree trunks appeared to levitate over her head, and one by one slammed like battering rams into Eldritchmon. These appeared to have some effect, because each tree trunk that slammed into him caused him to take a step back, and he gritted his teeth.
"Not so tough are you now, Eldritchmon?" Matt yelled.
"Blade of Darkness!" Musyamon drew his sword blazing from its sheath, glowing with an impossibly dark light, and slashed it out on the oncoming Mega Digimon. The energy released from the blade slammed all three Digimon back several yards, scattering the Digidestined as they scrambled to get out of the way, lest they be crushed by their huge Digimon as they fell.
"I believe you were saying something about the limits of my strengths, fool human." Eldritchmon said, as he approached the fallen Digimon. Before they could rise and attack, he raised his staff—
"Magical Force!"
The incredible dark energies leapt from the staff, and threw the three Mega Digimon hard against the far wall, some twenty yards away. Eldritchmon laughed and raised his dark staff again to finish them off—
"Trump Sword!" Three expertly thrown swords knocked the staff from his hand and sent it spinning away, skidding across the floor. As Eldritchmon muttered a curse and went after it, Musyamon glared at Piedmon, who stood glaring back. Musyamon moved to draw his sword, but Piedmon was faster.
"Trump Sword!" Two swords flew, caught Musyamon by his cape, and slammed him against one of the large, thick stone pillars that dotted the vast room, pinning him to the rock by his cape.
"I've had enough of the Dark Masters. You deserve a fate worse than being defeated, Piedmon." Eldritchmon said, as he almost glided up to him. Piedmon drew more swords, and was about to throw them, but Eldritchmon moved faster still. He jumped up to Piedmon, closing the gap in between them to perhaps three feet.
"Wall of Darkness!"
The dark fog sprang up out of nowhere, directly in front of Piedmon, and before he could move out of the way, the darkness appeared to reach out with groping tentacles, ensnare him, and pull him into the thick impenetrable fog. Eldritchmon gestured, and the fog disappeared, taking Piedmon with it.
"What did you do to Piedmon?" Izzy demanded, surprised at himself. Even though Piedmon was once their greatest enemy, he had sacrificed himself and the rest of the Dark Masters so that the Digidestined had time to plan out an attack and regroup.
"I sent him to a spectral limbo, if it's any concern of yours. Don't worry, you won't be joining him. I have a special demise planned for the eight of you." Eldritchmon grinned evilly, and began to close the gap between the Digidestined and himself.
"Metal Wolf Claw!"
MetalGarurumon leapt straight for Eldritchmon, a burst of silver energy shooting out of his gaping jaws. The blast slammed into Eldritchmon, and he took a step back, more out of surprise than anything.
"Mega Electro Shocker!" An incredible explosion of electrical energy exploded from HerculesKabuterimon and struck Eldritchmon head on, forcing him back.
"Petal Storm!" FloraLillymon appeared to levitate into the air, and the small but extraordinarily powerful pink petals materialized out of thin air, and all at once slammed into Eldritchmon, lifting him up and slamming him into the wall behind him, throwing up a thick cloud of dust and debris from where he hit.
"We beat him?" Joe asked, almost disbelieving himself.
A deep, dark laugh emitted from the middle of the dust cloud as an answer to Joe's question.
"I don't think so." Mimi said nervously.
All at once the dust cloud vanished, as if it had been sucked up by a powerful yet unseen dust buster. Eldritchmon stood, completely unfazed and unharmed. "That was enlightening." Eldritchmon said, as he strode purposefully towards the group of three Digimon. "It was enlightening in that you fools may be stronger and more resourceful than I and others have given you credit for." He leveled his staff at the group, "But, nevertheless, you are far too weak. Magical Force!"
The explosion of energy slammed MetalGarurumon and FloraLillymon into the wall behind them, and sent HerculesKabuterimon falling to the ground like a sack of wet cement. Both HerculesKabuterimon and FloraLillymon, not having much experience in the Mega stage, reverted to their rookie form, but MetalGarurumon climbed painfully to his feet.
As Joe watched Izzy and Mimi run to help their fallen friends and Eldritchmon advance upon them once more, this time without much to bar his way, he felt a real sense of dread. Being older than everyone, he felt it was his responsibility to watch over the younger kids, and if anyone got hurt, it would be his fault because he hadn't protected them. He felt just like a parent watching over their children; they had to make sure they were okay. Joe looked down, as such thoughts streamed through his mind, and dimly focused on the familiar face of Gomamon looking up at him.
Then, it seemed that some of the weight of responsibility of protected the other kids was lifted from his shoulders, and he became vaguely aware of his crest glowing like fire from within. The energy from his crest moved in spades to his Digivice, where it poured over like an overfilled dam, straight to Gomamon.
"Gomamon Warp-Digivolved to . . . . Vulcanmon!" Vulcanmon stood, a different and more powerful and slimmed down version of Zudomon, and he had a large, high-tech looking metallic circle in his right hand.
Eldritchmon stopped short when this forty foot tall Mega Digimon suddenly appeared before him. Eldritchmon glared up at Vulcanmon, but made no move to attack. Instead he snapped his fingers, and Musyamon, who by this time had managed to free himself from Piedmon's swords, leapt to his side.
"Blade of Darkness!" His sword seemed to glow by itself with evil light as it sprang from the sheath, and Musyamon slashed it out, straight for the still Vulcanmon, who was glaring down at the two smaller Dark Alliance. He took the blow head on, and barely seemed to feel it.
"Chakram of Power!" Vulcanmon spun the metal circle in his hand once, and it appeared to glow with a golden light. Then he threw it, and it flew, spinning and shining, and went straight through the middle of Musyamon before he could block. Musyamon dropped his sword, and it vanished first, and then he fell, vanishing into nothingness before he hit the ground. The circle of metal ricocheted off the stone wall behind Eldritchmon, and flew back to Vulcanmon, who caught it.
"Gatomon Digivolved to . . . Angewoman!" The angel-Digimon flew high, and power and light seemed to radiate from her shimmering wings and rain down on the hurt and weak Digimon.
"Sora . . . . I feel strong again!" Biyomon said, as she hopped from where she had been lying half-unconscious a moment before.
"Me too!" Agumon declared, as he rose swiftly to his feet. Angewoman landed near Kari, who threw her arms around her. "My powers have given you a temporary boost. If we all work together, it may be enough to defeat Eldritchmon once and for all. I need everyone to Digivolve to their highest stages."
"Agumon Warp-Digivolved to . . . . WarGreymon!"
"Biyomon Warp-Digivolved to . . . . Phoenixmon!"
"Tentomon Warp Digivolved to . . . . HerculesKabuterimon!"
"Patamon Digivolved to Angemon! Angemon Digivolved to . . . . MagnaAngemon!"
As Angewoman flew into the air, followed closely by MagnaAngemon, she shouted over her shoulder, "Everyone, throw your hardest attacks at me!" She spread her arms in an arc over her head, "Heaven's Charm!" A brightly glowing golden ring of energy appeared overhead.
"That worked for Myotismon, it will not work for me!" Eldritchmon sneered. "Magical Force!" He directed the attack straight for Angewoman, but at the last second, Vulcanmon rose up in front of her, and totally deflected the attack off of his large shell.
"Everyone, give your power to Angewoman!" Phoenixmon commanded, as she banked and turned over their heads.
"Mega Electro Shocker!"
"Forest Strike!"
"Chakram of Power!"
"Giga Missile!"
"Crimson Flame!"
"Nova Force!"
Six incredible energy attacks all rocketed straight for the shimmering golden ring that hovered above Angewoman. The attacks hit in dead center, causing a deafening explosion or sound and light that made even Eldritchmon pause. The energy congealed and coalesced into something resembling a star going supernova. This energy was then channeled straight into Angewoman, who stood ready. She quickly forged all of the energy into an oversized arrow, in which she could barely contain with all the energy it held.
"You ready MagnaAngemon?" she asked, and the strain in her voice was evident of the physical strain she was enduring to contain so much energy for so long.
"Gate of Destiny!" MagnaAngemon's energy sword Xcaliber cut cleanly through the air a large circle, and from this circle, a large spinning closed disc appeared. The disc spun once more, and then split open down the center, revealing a dimensional limbo.
"Magical Force!" Eldritchmon launched the attack again straight for Angewoman, but before it could reach her—
"Celestial Arrow!"
She fitted the arrow forged completely of the energy of six Mega Digimon's attacks to her bow, which elongated from her glow, and let it fly. The energy arrow clove straight through Eldritchmon's attack and struck him head on before he could move. The explosion of all that pent up energy sent him airborne, straight into the waiting Gate of Destiny.
His staff was sucked in and vanished, but Eldritchmon, incredibly held onto the sides of the Gate, and was slowly pulling himself out, laughing all the while. "Good plan, Digidestined, but I will not be foiled by a bunch of computer coded fools!"
"Terra Force!"
WarGreymon launched himself straight at Eldritchmon, who had succeeded in pulling himself half out of the Gate, despite the fact that the Gate was acting like a huge vacuum, trying to pull him in.
"WarGreymon will be sucked in!" Izzy yelled, as his fingers struck his computer keyboard like rain in a thunderstorm. "Once the Gate is opened, it will absorb any and all Digimon into the dimensional limbo that it is a portal to, until it is closed!"
"And MagnaAngemon can't close it!" Tai yelled, "Not with Eldritchmon blocking the way!"
WarGreymon slammed into Eldritchmon, knocking him free of his hold. Eldritchmon fell freely into the Gate, but at such close range, WarGreymon began to get drawn into the Gate as well. He dug his foot long claws into the metal ring and held on as well as he could, but MagnaAngemon still could not close the portal!
A sharp evil laugh tore through the air, and WarGreymon yelled, "Eldritchmon's hanging on to me! He'll suck us both in!"
"Don't worry WarGreymon, I've got you." FloraLillymon reached out, her arms growing impossibly long, as if they were plant vines, and grabbed WarGreymon, just as his claws ripped through the metal of the Gate and he was about to be sucked in. WarGreymon tried to kick Eldritchmon free, but he wouldn't let go.
As FloraLillymon slowly drew WarGreymon out of the Gate, Tai yelled, "We're the Digidestined, Eldritchmon! And we don't lose!"
"Chakram of Power!" Vulcanmon threw his Chakram, spinning, and it slammed Eldritchmon in the chest, knocking him free of WarGreymon. Eldritchmon fell, screaming, into the Gate, and it closed with a snap, and disappeared into nothingness.
The noise that erupted inside of the cavern resembled something like a bomb going off. Tai and Sora were hugging each other as tight as they could, and the other Digidestined were clamoring about for joy. The six Mega Digimon, along with Angewoman and MagnaAngemon, devolved back to their rookie forms and gladly accepted their friend's thanks.
A thick beam of light, which appeared very out of place in such an evil and dark abode, suddenly appeared to explode out of the ground, and the image of Gennai appeared before them.
"Hello kids! I see you have finally defeated the Dark Alliance! I must admit, for a while there, I was afraid that Eldritchmon really could not be defeated. But you proved me wrong, and I'm glad. I'm sorry to say, Eldritchmon is not gone for good."
"What?" Tai asked, pulling free from Sora in astonishment.
"He is much darker, much more evil than can be defeated merely by Digimon. The Gate of Destiny only prevents him from growing in power, and contains him. He will stay in that dimensional limbo, until he is set free."
"Who would set him free?" Joe asked.
"Anyone who wants to wreck havoc on the Digital World. There is but one way to defeat evil that great, and I would dare not even speak it."
"So what, can we stay here a while this time?" Matt asked.
"I'm afraid not. If you remember, the last time you were on the Digiworld, your world and the Digiworld became in sync, so time passes the same on both worlds." Everyone felt their happy mood evaporate upon hearing these words.
"So how did the Dark Masters grow up from Digieggs in only six months?" Mimi asked.
"The Dark Masters were not reborn in the primary village as most Digimon are. It's a rather complicated process involving fried eggs that I don't want to get into. So are you ready now for the trip home?"
"Give us a few minutes to say good bye." Matt said. The Digidestined then said good bye to their Digimon for the second time, still not knowing if they would ever see them again.
"Don't worry kids." Gennai smiled. "You will most certainly be seeing your Digimon again before long. I am sure about that. What I'm not sure about is how to get my wristwatch fixed." He held up his watch, which looked as if the battery had run dead. Izzy was about to tell Gennai how to fix it, but stopped. He looked down at Tentomon, and smiled, remorsefully.
Finally, once the proper good byes had been said, the Digidestined slowly and reluctantly parted from their Digimon.
"Don't worry," Tai said, almost to himself, "Gennai promised we'd be back." He took Sora's hand and felt reassured by her warm touch. She smiled at him, and he felt at least there was something to look forward to.
"We're ready." Kari said, speaking for them all.
"I will be seeing you in the future then, Digidestined." Gennai said. "I will contact Izzy, and he will alert the rest of you. Until next time, Digidestined."
The beam of light he was in shimmered and faded, along with the eight Digimon, who were waving good bye. The Digidestined stood in silence for a few moments, until they noticed their surroundings being yanked away from them, like a tablecloth being yanked out from underneath the dishes on a table. They appeared to be traveling upwards, as if in an unseen elevator, and, in the blink of an eye, reappeared in Tai's living room, from where they had left.
They separated, tucking their Digivices away almost unconsciously. Their parents were not too pleased with them, but after they explained they had spent the night at someone's house, they only were expected to do the dishes for a week instead of a year.
Such is the life of a Digidestined . . . . .