Chapter 18: The Phantom Hero
Everyone stared in shock as their friend, Tai Kamiya walked forward. He looked like the courageous youth they knew before Agumon was killed. "I am Tai Kamiya, First Child of the Digidestined!"
Nightmaremon laughed so deeply it was obvious he was amused in a diabolical manner. "I am aware of who you are." Nightmaremon shaped himself into the form of SkullGreymon, "You are the creator of this nightmare!"
Tai didn't give any sign of sadness or fear. "Maybe, but I am also the creator of the light that destroyed that nightmare!" Tai prepared himself to dash forward, "Prepare for that light, monster!"
Tai dashed forward at full speed shouting out a war cry. Sora tried to stop him, "No, Tai! What are you doing? You have no digimon!"
Nightmaremon started to laugh again, "Foolish boy! I'll strip your skin from your body and offer it to your friends' worst nightmares!"
Tai jumped into the air and was within a few feet of Nightmaremon. Nightmaremon returned to his blob shape and surrounded Tai. He caved in his sides and consumed the digidestined.
Sora ran forward but was held back by Izzy, "No! Tai!"
"Sora!" Izzy cried as he pulled her back, "You can't possibly be trying to save him!"
"I have to!"
Joe joined Izzy and helped pull her away, "Forget it! You'll die!"
"But Tai!" Sora was cut off as a loud noise came from Nightmaremon.
Nightmaremon shook as he began to consume Tai's body, but came to a sudden halt, "What? this cannot be!"
Laughter came from above them. Nightmaremon spun his head around to try to find the source, "Who's there? Show yourself!"
"My, my, Nightmaremon. You sure fell for that one!" A cloaked figure appeared between Nightmaremon and the Digidestined.
Nightmaremon released his prey, but nothing was there. "You! You tricked me!"
"And it was a lot easier than I thought it would be." the cloaked figure laughed some more. His cloak was a dark grey, nearly black. Underneath you could see another cloak, this one red. His eyes looked like Phantomon's, but other than that he had the appearance of a Wizard. He reached into his sleeves and pulled a sword from one and a staff with a skull on it's top from the other. He swung them a bit and then pointed them at Nightmaremon, "Well then. Shall we begin?"
Nightmaremon seemed angrier than he had ever been before. He shrank in size as he shaped into another form, "You! You would dare stand against me again? PhantomWizardmon, you have one more chance! Side with me and you will be spared!" He had finished his transformation. His form looked like Wizardmon, only with metal armor and a bit taller. His appearance hinted that the armor would be gold, but his forms didn't have color, just black and white and a few shades of grey. He reached forward with his right hand, "Join me, PhantomWizardmon!"
PhantomWizardmon gave a sharp laugh at the figure, "taking the form of GigaWizardmon will not sway me! Aren't you supposed to be a Nightmare?"
"Very well," Nightmaremon paused for a brief moment. He stared toward the ground, then quickly lifted his head to see PhantomWizardmon. "Face your nightmare!" He morphed into a different figure. This one was also clad in armor, but sported a helmet that protected his face and a cape. The Digidestined were certain he was a magnificent digimon in reality, but Nightmaremon's pale duplication robbed it of its true beauty. He pulled two swords from his back and swung them at PhantomWizardmon's torso.
PhantomWizardmon quickly brought up his sword and staff, crossing them at his waist to block the attack. The force of the attack caught him off guard, and sent him back a step or two. He quickly readjusted his stance to allow better balance and a stronger hold. "KnightMagemon..."
Nightmaremon ignored the comment and quickly attacked a second time. This time he swung high, aiming for the head. PhantomWizardmon was prepared this time and easily parried the blow. Nightmaremon brought his swords to his chest as PhantomWizardmon retaliated with his own sword. Using Nightmaremon's blades to hoist him upward, PhantomWizardmon leapt over Nightmaremon and landed behind him. He twisted around in a corkscrew and slashed at his back.
Nightmaremon quickly spun around to block the blow. The orientation of his feet betrayed him and sent him tumbling as his sword met PhantomWizardmon's. He quickly rolled away and back onto his feet. Leaping forward he returned to the offensive.
Joe cleaned off his glasses and replaced them on his face. "Wow! Look at em go!" Joe tightened his hands into fists as the battle raged on. Their movements became quicker, almost inhuman.
PhantomWizardmon swung his sword with such speed it looked like he held ten. He managed to block every attack with his staff alone.
Izzy noted this and thought about it for a while. He said, "The rate at which they fight is impossible. The mind simply cannot react fast enough to parry those attacks." He felt something tugging his shirt and looked down, "what is it Tentomon?"
"Izzy, isn't it also impossible that we even exist here?"
"Good point."
The battle became more intense as Nightmaremon increased the strength with which he attacked. sand was kicked into the air as the two combatants fiercely moved. Their shouts and cries could be heard throughout the sky.
PhantomWizardmon began to step back as Nightmaremon continued to beat down his defenses. Each blow weakened his strength and it began to slow him down. Nightmaremon saw his weakness begin to overtake him and used it to his advantage. He threw one of his swords into the air and placed both hands on the remaining one. Doubling the strength with each blow, he attacked at the torso and then at the face.
PhantomWizardmon blocked both, but his strength quickly gave way and he was knocked off balance by the second attack. His arms were thrown upward by Nightmaremon's swing, leaving him open for the next attack.
Nightmaremon didn't hesitate a second and quickly rotated his blade downward, aiming to slice PhantomWizardmon in half. PhantomWizardmon fell back, trying to avoid the slice. It tore through his robes and hit flesh on his left leg. He screamed as blood began to leak out of the open wound. It splattered over his stomach, making it seem worse than it really was.
Nightmaremon kicked PhantomWizardmon to the ground and caught the sword he had thrown as it fell to him. He pointed one of the blades at PhantomWizardmon's face, "You're finished." He returned the blade to the sheath on his back and grinned, "I'd hate to give you a pleasant trip, so I'll let you slowly bleed to death!"
He gave the other a hard look and smiled coldly, "It won' be long." He turned around to where the Digidestined were standing. Mimi and Sora stepped back as he laughed, "who's next?"
"I am!" Luciedmon leapt at Nightmaremon with a ferocious roar.
Nightmaremon stood his ground and slapped the wolf away by creating a burst of energy. Luciedmon fell on his back, knocked unconscious by the force of the blow. "Don't make me laugh! It doesn't fit my character." He began to walk towards the children, "Now to... Ah!"
PhantomWizardmon pulled Nightmaremon back by his cape and stabbed him in the back with his sword. the blade went through with ease as if there were nothing there. Nightmaremon lost his shape and returned to his odd normality. He turned around to face his attacker and opened his eyes in shock to discovering who it was, "You!"
"Run, children!" PhantomWizardmon signalled the Digidestined to run and attacked Nightmaremon. "You'll never stop them, Nightmaremon, never! Phantom fist!"
A burst of red energy exploded in Nightmaremon's face. He stepped back, but quickly collected his bearings. Nightmaremon morphed part of his body into a hand with claws. He grabbed PhantomWizardmon and slammed him into the ground, "Is that so? We'll see about that!" He formed several spikes with the rest of his body, "Soon we shall see!" He stabbed them forward at the downed warrior. "Soon!"
A cry echoed through the cloudless sky as PhantomWizardmon was impaled by Nightmaremon's spikes. they tore through his flesh and broke through bones, sending cracking noises outward. His body began to glow violently and exploded, sending crimson flames into Nightmaremon's face.
Nightmaremon stepped back from the explosion and blocked the flames from his eyes. He pondered the end of PhantomWizardmon for a brief moment and grinned, "Is that so?" He turned to the direction the children ran and knew right away what had happened. The same as that one time... He shouted, "I won't fall for that one again, PhantomWizardmon! I'll find you! And when I do, you'll suffer the nightmare of billions!"
- A short Distance away -
The Digidestined paused as the ground shook and the sound of an explosion rocked through their heads. TK looked back to where PhantomWizardmon and Nightmaremon were left behind and feared the worst. "Do you think PhantomWizardmon won?"
Joe squinted through his glasses, "I'd hate to say it, but I doubt it..." Returned around, "Come on. We have to keep moving."
The children continued their escape through the desert. It was hard to tell which way they were going in the endless horizon of sand, but there was no time to debate which way to go. They could only trust that they left foot prints behind and that they would never cross paths with those prints.
As they passed some cactuses something called out to them. They stopped and slowly approached the cactus that sent out the call. Sora was the first to reach it, "Where are you?"
"Right here."
The voice shocked her and she quickly spun around to see PhantomWizardmon, slumped over on his staff. "Oh my God! Are you alright?"
PhantomWizardmon fell to the ground. The others had caught up. TK and Kari kneeled down beside him, "What happened? Did you beat Nightmaremon?"
"No..." PhantomWizardmon seemed to choke as he spoke, "I used a trick to escape. One that I've used before..." He flipped over onto his back and revealed the wounds he had suffered from the battle, "He will not be fooled this time. He knows I've escaped."
Joe examined the wounds and turned his head, "These wounds are pretty bad."
"They are extensive... but not fatal. I will be fine."
"Are you sure," Izzy gave PhantomWizardmon a puzzled look. "We've seen digimon who've been hurt before. Most were better off than you and they still perished."
PhantomWizardmon got to his feet. He fell forward, but caught himself with his staff. He leaned on it to remain standing, "I am better suited to this sort of thing."
Sora squinted, "Speaking of things. What the Hell was that thing?"
PhantomWizardmon didn't move his head to address Sora directly, "He is Nightmaremon, the ruler of the night's worst events."
"How does he know so much about our dreams and nightmares?" Joe walked a bit closer so he could hear better.
"He is unlike any other digimon ever conceived..." PhantomWizardmon paused to gather his thoughts. "Unlike other digimon, Nightmaremon is not created by excess data from the internet."
Izzy seemed intrigued by that and pressed on, "He's not?"
"No..." PhantomWizardmon pushed with his arms on his staff to stand up at his full height. He turned to face the Digidestined as a whole, "He was created by other digimon."
"Other digimon?" Mimi scratched her head and sat down. "you mean like adults create children?"
"Far from it," PhantomWizardmon turned his staff so the skull pointed at the Digidestined. "Watch," He mumbled something under his breath and the skull began to glow. A ball of like appeared in front of the Digidestined. The ball showed numerous figures chanting. They were staring into similar balls of light and were pulling things from them.
Izzy closely examined the progression of the events. The scene shifted and showed the figures putting together what they had collected from the balls of light. "What's this?
"That is the birth of Dreamon." PhantomWizardmon spoke as the images continued to change. He explained everything as they occurred "Dreamon is the result of billions of dreams. He was created to control the flow of dreams. To insure good rest." He paused as the image changed again, "Dreamon, however, was discovered by the evil digimon known as LordDevimon."
The image showed Dreamon being infected by LordDevimon. "LordDevimon placed a single nightmare within Dreamon. those who created him didn't think it would matter that much. They allowed Dreamon to know the other side of dreams." He paused again as the image changed again, "Dreamon however, was no more. The dark shadow that replaced his greatness was known only as Nightmaremon."
The ball showed Nightmaremon as he attacked and killed those who had created him. He was opposed, but easily overcame them. Joe looked a little closer as the battle unfolded, "Hey, that looks like you."
"That's right. I was there when it happened. When it all happened."
"You mean?"
"I was part of the team that created Dreamon." PhantomWizardmon looked up at the sky, "And ultimately, NightMaremon..."
Kari looked away from the ball and at the cloaked wizard, "It's not your fault. There's no way you could've known what would result."
"Oh, but we did." PhantomWizardmon changed the image to show the face of KnightMagemon. "That is KnightMagemon, one of the few digimon that aided me in creating Dreamon. He warned us of the possibility of Nightmaremon being created after Dreamon had been tainted." PhantomWizardmon switched the image back to it's original subject, "We chose to ignore his warnings."
"Why did Nightmaremon choose Knightmagemon as his form when turning into your nightmare?" TK asked.
"He chose that form because it is what I fear most. I fear that one day KnightMagemon will return to destroy the Nightmare I created, as well as me for creating it."
Mimi gave him a sad look, "That's awful!"
Joe comforted Mimi, "why would he do that?"
"His honor. He would destroy every trace of the monster and it's creators, including himself in the end."
"But it was LordDevimon that creating Nightmaremon," Sora put a stern tone in her words, "not you, or any of the creators of Dreamon."
"Perhaps, but for ignoring his warnings and allowing the nightmare to be created, we, ourselves committed a sin."
Rumbling could be hear in the distance, Luciedmon quickly dashed to where the group was talking. "Nightmaremon's on the move. We better get going"
Joe stood up, "right." He helped Mimi to her feet, "Let's go guys. Our battle with Nightmaremon with have to wait for another time."