Digimon: Digital Monsters
Mirror, Mirror—Part Four
By 7 of 11
Alt-Yamato tightened his grip on the hilt of the sword he held in his hand, sweat trickling down his face. He glared at his opponent, who was standing roughly fifteen feet away from him, venom in her eyes. Once again shifting his hold, Alt-Yamato charged.
Gleaming steel sparked against gleaming steel as Alt-Hikari met his charge without flinching. She retaliated by slashing downward at Alt-Yamato's skull. He barely got his saber up in time, knocking her blade away a scant few inches from his face. Alt-Yamato jabbed the point of his sword at her, but she parried the blow easily.
As the two brought their swords together again, a flicker of motion caught Alt-Yamato's eye. He turned to see Alt-Sora and Alt-Jyou sprinting down the runway back to the main complex of the airport, presumably to summon reinforcements for Alt-Hikari. If that happened, both he and the Digidestined were toast. "IronGarurumon!" He cried. "Stop them, now!"
This moment of broken concentration proved nearly fatal for him, however, as metal flashed in front of his nose, coming down to slice into his upper bicep. Alt-Yamato could feel the muscle part under the blade, and jerked his arm away, blood pooling out onto the skin. He winced, although the gash was hardly mortal in itself, the pain was intense—and that could cost him.
"You got it, Yamato!" The bronze warrior leapt into the air, and began a looping path to attack the retreating duo.
Alt-Sora's partner, Vulturemon, moved to intercept him. "Vulture's Blast!" The jet of energy spat out at IronGarurumon. The targeted Digimon increased his speed, dashing behind a dilapidated, two-story structure just in time. Vulturemon's attack blasted the building apart, sowing debris over the surrounding area.
IronGarurumon skillfully dodged the stone rain with the natural reflexes of a honed warrior. In one fluid movement, he rotated vertically 180 degrees, using the momentum like a slingshot. "Buzz Blade!" The circular saw blade attached to the end of his tail hurtled towards the escaping two.
Alt-Jyou gasped for breath as he ran besides Alt-Sora, trying to get away from the Digidestined. Something had gone seriously wrong, it appeared, and now Alt-Yamato was on the side of the Digidestined. Oh well, Alt-Taichi would destroy him later. Right now, the main concern was getting away.
There was a whistling of an object flying through the air at an incredible velocity, and then Alt-Sora screeched to his side. The whistling turned into a horrifying scrape of metal cutting through flesh and bone. A silver and red blur bounced off of the pavement in front of him, and looped into the air, missing Alt-Jyou's arm by bare centimeters.
Vulturemon squawked and fell to the ground in front of him, lifeless. Sparkles circled her body, and she dissolved into nothingness. Alt-Jyou knew this wasn't good. He turned, but he already expected what he would see. Alt-Sora was lying on the grass to the side of the runway—no, wait, that wasn't correct, half of her was there. The other half was sprawled out on the hard cement, a growing lake of red staining it permanently. She had been completely bisected by IronGarurumon's Buzz Blade attack.
He fell to his knees, retching. His rational mind took over after a short while. Wait a minute…where was IronGarurumon? Alt-Jyou looked all around, but saw no sign of the Mega Digimon. A shout came from above him. "Garuru Slam!"
Alt-Jyou looked upwards to see the bronzed IronGarurumon flying down at him. Actually, it was more like falling…"Oh, SHIT!" Were Alt-Jyou's last words before the multi-ton Digimon crushed him.
Alt-Yamato raised his hand to protect himself from the debris flung into the sky by Vulturemon's attack. He blinked, in order to remove the dust that was accumulating in his eyes. Despite the pain in his arm, which was still trickling with crimson liquid, he smirked as he saw Alt-Hikari under the same assault from the sky. Her guard was down, this was his chance.
He swung a powerful slice to her side. Alt-Hikari noticed it coming in the nick of time, and stumbled backward to dodge it. She wasn't quick enough, however, and the blade tore through the fabric of her shirt around her stomach, and Alt-Yamato gratifyingly saw a line of red appears where he had slashed.
Alt-Yamato put down his sword and leapt at her, shoulder forward. He connected solidly with her, and being already off-balance, Alt-Hikari went sprawling across the rocks lining the ground. He caught a flash of metal as her sword went flying to the wreckage of the building Vulturemon had demolished.
Triumphantly, he walked to his downed opponent, saber ready to kill. His confidence brought about his downfall, however. He was raising his sword up high when he felt his legs kicked out from under him. Alt-Yamato crashed into the pavement, pain jolting through his arm. When the red finally vanished from his vision, he had time to glimpse Alt-Hikari ducking into the corpse of the abandoned structure.
Cursing his pride, Alt-Yamato cautiously crept to the building. Where was Alt-Hikari? Something clanked underfoot—he looked down to see her lost sword. Despite what he had just told himself about being too confident, Alt-Yamato smiled. Alt-Hikari couldn't kill him without her sword.
The clatter of rocks falling was his only warning. He turned his face to look above him, and a blur collided with his chest, sending Alt-Yamato flying. The gravel on the ground tore up his skin, and he felt the sticky wetness beginning to spread. He pushed himself to his feet, and saw Alt-Hikari recover her blade, grinning sadistically.
Alt-Yamato's heart pounded in his chest. "Not bad," he said dryly, trying to buy time to come up with a plan.
"Oh, I agree with you!" Alt-Hikari flipped her sword from one hand to another. "The thrill of the game is always best when playing against an opponent who is as skilled as you are. But, now, I think the game is over, Yamato." She moved in for the kill, slashing upwards to Alt-Yamato's stomach viciously. His sword clashed against hers as he parried the slice.
The blond-haired man threw a quick glance at the Digidestined. They were down completely, he couldn't expect any help from them. Although he had to give them SOME credit, it wasn't often easy to withstand an attack from two Mega Digimon. And what about IronGarurumon? Alt-Yamato looked into the sky, where his partner was managing to dodge shots from the twin Deviwomons—but his luck had to run out soon.
Alt-Yamato thought. IronGarurumon couldn't help him, being too busy trying to survive, and he couldn't help IronGarurumon, since they were in the air—but he could even the odds.
Steel flashed narrowly over his head as Alt-Yamato rolled behind Alt-Hikari. Coming up from the crouch, he spun around. His blade caught the chain on which Alt-Hikari had attached her Alternate's Crest and Digivice, and it snapped. The two items necessary to controlling a Digimon flew into the air. "No!!" Alt-Hikari cried as Alt-Yamato continued the spin, in one fluid motion both snatching them from the sky and tossing them back to Hikari. In the sky above, one of the Deviwomons moaned and sank to the ground, becoming Angewomon once more.
With renewed strength, Alt-Yamato went to the attack. Sword met sword repeatedly as he drove Alt-Hikari to the ruined wall she had leaped off of previously. As their blades clashed again, both of them trying to overpower the other, the duo glared at each other, intense hatred putting new meaning to the phrase, 'If looks could kill'. While Alt-Yamato might have had the advantage in strength before, with his injured arm it was a fair match.
Alt-Yamato's lips tightened in a weary smile as he saw the absolute horror on Alt-Hikari's face when she realized she was backing into a wall. He brought his sword down in a slice designed to end the battle right there. However, his weapon rebounded straight out of his hands as it struck something hard and unyielding, instead of cutting straight through Alt-Hikari's flesh. Too late did Alt-Yamato realize that instead of him leading her, she had led him. She had dodged out of the way, leading his sword to hit the wall. Alt-Yamato's world suddenly spun as something collided with his face.
When the airport stopped spinning around his head, Alt-Yamato felt something very sharp and cold pressed under his chin. He was flat on his back, and Alt-Hikari had him pinned with her saber. He saw blood on her sword hilt—his blood. She had rammed the hilt of her sword into his head.
"Like I said, it's time for the game to end." Alt-Hikari pressed harder, and Alt-Yamato felt his skin beginning to part under the blade's pressure. Blood started to mingle with the sweat trickling down his neck.
Alt-Yamato, ever so slowly, as to not draw attention, moved his hand to the spear strapped to his back. If he could get it, then maybe he stood a chance…It was apparently not to be, however, as Alt-Hikari increased the pressure. "Don't even try to fool me, Yamato," She chided, as if speaking to a child. "I can see every move you make."
"Is that a fact?" Alt-Yamato choked. "Well, I guess you missed something." Alt-Hikari suddenly screeched and dropped her sword as a dagger imbedded itself in her chest. Alt-Yamato had used the spear as a diversion while going for his concealed weapon.
In one motion, Alt-Yamato was on his feet. He grabbed the steel shaft from his back, and smiled devishly at Alt-Hikari, before plunging it through her sternum. Her scream turned to a gurgle as she stumbled against the wall, hands wrapped around the javelin, trying to remove it from its spot buried in her chest. The black spear wouldn't budge, no matter how much she tried with her quickly ebbing strength. As she sank to the ground, it became clear this battle had been won.
Alt-Yamato walked to his impaled foe, stopping only to retrieve his sword, and knelt by her side. "Yes, it is time for the game to end now."
She looked at him with pain and terror in her eyes. "Bastard…" Alt-Hikari hissed, regaining just enough of her old fire back for that one word. She coughed up blood.
Alt-Yamato nodded. "I'll remember you said that." With those words, he drove his sword into her stomach. Ignoring the warm, slimy, wetness that poured from the gaping wound, he cut upwards and across, disemboweling her totally. Alt-Hikari gave one final wheeze, and then, with a death rattle, she died.
Alt-Yamato brought his hand and sword back out of her intestines, looking like he had just dunked them in a vat of red paint. There was a crunch of gravel suddenly, and he turned to see Hikari standing there weakly. "What happened?" she asked, and then she saw her dead Alternate. "Oh, my God!" She fell to her knees and vomited.
"She deserved it…" Alt-Yamato managed to say, but his strength was almost gone as well.
As the rest of the Digidestined approached, a voice spoke from behind them. "Ah, trying to rationalize your cold-blooded murder, how pathetic!" Everyone spun around to see a man, shrouded entirely in spiked black armor, approach. "Permit me to introduce myself. I am Shade, and you all are now my prisoners."
"Just try it…" WarGreymon challenged.
Shade nodded. "Very well, I will!" He raised his hands, and Hikari knew something was going to happen, something bad. Yet why did Shade seem so familiar to her? It was almost as if she knew him…then everything went black.
From a point on the outskirts of the airport field, Masayoshi looked through binoculars at the group. "Who's that?"
"Who's what?" Jun asked.
"Him, the guy in the spikes!" Masayoshi handed the binoculars to Jun.
Sikamon shifted nervously. "Whoever he is, he's probably not good!"
Jun gulped. "I'd say that's an excellent assumption…he just attacked everyone, and they're now knocked out! All at once, too…"
"What?" Aphroditemon took the binoculars and gazed out upon the scene. "He's bringing them all away…without even touching them! I think he's taking them prisoner!"
"Which means…" Marshmon began.
Kana was quick to pick up. "…That it's all…up to us!"
Can the kids save the Digidestined from certain doom at the hands of the evil Alt-Destined? And who is the mysterious Shade? Why is he so familiar to Hikari?