Winds of Change

by MorningstarZero

An alternate ending to season 02 that takes the Digidestined on a life altering adventure. Any and all feedback welcome. *Re-Writes for Chapters 1-5 up*

4. Chapter 4: The Spear of Destiny

Chapter 4: The Spear of Destiny

Five of the claws snaked to life and rushed at the members of the Sentinel team. The Sentinels' digimon responded in turn by knocking the claw headed for their partner off course, causing the claws to slam into the ground away from their intended targets. As the first set of claws landed, a second set of five snaked to life and attacked, and again the Sentinel's digimon were able to knock the claws clear of their partners. As the second set landed, the first set recovered from their failed attack and struck again.
The process of attack and deflection repeated itself while the Sentinels held their positions, their faith in their partners' ability to defend them unwavering, while they used the power of their crystals to seal the portal between the Digital World and the Negative Plane.
Ten minutes after Apocalymon began his onslaught, the tide of the battle began to shift; the Sentinel digimon were beginning to get winded and the attacks were getting closer to hitting their mark with every pass.
"Alex… we… can't keep… this pace up… for much longer." WyrmDramon called to his partner.
"Almost done buddy, we just need another two minutes." Alex shouted back to his airborne digimon.
WyrmDramon used his forearms to swat a claw off course, "Well, we don't have two minutes left in us."
"Frell!! Ok guys, we'll have to finish this up after we take care of this overgrown Rubik's cube."
The Sentinels lowered their arms with their crystals then quickly scattered to different positions, turning to face their partners. An energy stream lanced out from each of the Sentinel's D3's to their crystals, and the continued on to their partners.
"WyrmDramon Mega-Digivolve to…"
WyrmDramon grew to thirty-five feet from snout to tail, sprouted another wings just behind his first pair, and grew two great horns from the top of his head.
"… Great WyrmDramon!!!"
"Lichmon Mega-Digivolve to…"
Lichmon underwent a major transformation as he grew into a skeletal version of Great WyrmDramon.
"… NecroDramon!!!"
"Cyber Lupinmon Mega-Digivolve to…"
The rest Cyber Lupinmon's body became cybernetic. On the new digimon's right torso was mounted a cannon style weapon.
"… Alpha Lupinmon!!!"
"Ravenmon Mega-Digivolve to…"
Ravenmon lost it's humanoid shape as transformed into what appeared to be a gigantic raven.
"… Rocmon!!!"
"Dino Beemon Mega-Digivolve to…"
Dino Beemon's body turned into a hard, black, insectoid style exoskeleton as his body took the shape of a rather large, fearsome looking Stag Beetle.
"… Gran Kuwagamon!!!"
As Rocmon completed her transformation, she caught one of the double-helix chains in her beak. Taking a couple of seconds to gather her strength, she bit down hard on the chain, snapping it. The loose end disintegrated immediately, while the part that was still attached to Apocalymon quickly reeled itself back into the opening that it had spawned from.
"Nice job Rocmon!!" Jen shouted up to her partner.
Suddenly, another claw emerged from the opening that the damaged one had disappeared into seconds earlier.
"Oh gimme a bloody break!" Jen screamed in disgust.
Apocalymon picked up the pace of his attacks and began attacking the Sentinel digimon as well as the Sentinels themselves. The digimon spent the next several minutes going from chain to chain, ripping them apart; and every time a chain was broken it retracted and regenerated.
"This isn't working." Alex said to himself, "Ack, son of a…" Alex quickly rolled out of the way of one of Apocalymon's claws. As he came to his feet Alex shouted, "Guys, ignore the claws and chains! Attack Apocalymon directly!"
The digimon disengaged from their current attacks and turned to face their attention on the floating dodecahedron. Alpha Lupinmon was the first to get into position, "ALPHA CANNON!", a gigantic ball of energy was propelled from his cannon and arced its way to its intended target. The energy ball impacted against the giant dodecahedron but had little effect.
Great WyrmDramon avoided one of Apocalymon's claws as he came to a quick halt and hovered just long enough to unleash his breath weapon, "MEGA FLARE!" The fiery comet spewed by the great dragon had as little effect as the previous attack..
NecroDramon pulled a similar aerial maneuver as Great WyrmDramon and was able to attack with his breath weapon, "DEAD BREATH!" The ghostly skull impacted against its intended target, and also failed to have any noticeable effect. Rocmon made the next attempt by attempting to dig her claws into the floating mass, "RAZOR TALON!", Despite her best efforts, her claws would not penetrate the Apocalymon's armor.
Gran Kuwagamon finally made his attack, "DIMENSION SCISSORS!", the blades of energy ripped through the air and but the dodecahedron remained unscathed.
"Guys, try fielding your fire! Everyone attack the same spot at the same time!" Sam shouted to all the digimon.
Following his suggestion, the Sentinel digimon made a unified strike at Apocalymon.. but to no avail.
Alex whistled, causing Great WyrmDramon to break from his attack and make a high speed pass by Alex. As his partner flew past him, Alex was scooped up into Great WyrmDramon's right hand.
"Star, where are you going!?!?!" Jen screamed into her micro-transceiver.
"I've got a theory, but I need a wide angle to see if I'm right. Hold tight." Alex replied. "Great WyrmDramon, drop me on top of the crater ledge straight ahead."
"You got it, boss." Great WyrmDramon flew to the crater's edge and set Alex down.
Alex unshouldered his Scout rifle and dropped into a prone shooting position. From his position, he could clearly see the top of the dodecahedron. Alex quickly adjusted the zoom on his rifle scope. As he peered through his scope, a big grin appeared across his face and he quickly tapped his micro-transceiver, "Looks like I was right guys. All we've been attacking is a tank of some kind. I've got a clear shot on Apocalymon and I don't think he sees me."
"What are you waiting for Star? Take him out!" Lauren replied.
"Gimme a second. I have to switch rifles, my Scout doesn't have the range. It's a two and a half kilometer shot."
Alex threw a Scout rifle aside and pulled his D-pad from his back pocket and used it to synthesize a Barrett M82A1. Alex quickly unfolded the bi-pod on the large rifle and tilted into a shooting position. Taking a moment to adjust his scope and aim the shot properly, Alex began controlling his breathing.
Lauren's voice rang in on Alex's micro-transceiver "Star hurry, things are getting really…..*Scream*"
Alex went wide eyed and quickly tapped his micro-transceiver into transmit mode "Heart…. Heart…. Heart this is Star, respond….. LAUREN!!!"
"Star this is Sun… Heart and Alpha Lupinmon just got hit. Heart looks like she's in bad shape"
"What about Alpha Lupinmon?"
"She broke up just after being hit.. she's gone."
Marcus broke in on the com, "Alex, wake up and take this bastard out!"
Alex quickly shook out of his daze and went back to setting up his shot. He watched as the tall figure clad head to toe in black leather stood atop his floating 'tank', laughing at the demise of Alpha Lupinmon and his girlfriend.
Alex took in one last deep breath, exhaled quickly, and then squeezed the trigger of his rifle. Alex watched as Apocalymon jolted suddenly as the .50 caliber bullet ripped a hole the size of a quarter though his chest. Apocalymon looked down at the gaping wound in disbelief, and collapsed. The floating dodecahedron ceased its assault, all its claws hung limp and lifeless at the end of their chains. Alex stood up, feeling as if his right shoulder had just been torn off by the vicious recoil of the high caliber rifle. Not waiting for his command, Great WyrmDramon quickly scooped up Alex and began flying back toward the rest of the group.
The other three Sentinels and their Digimon had gathered around Lauren by the time Alex and Great WyrmDramon arrived. Great WyrmDramon set down Alex, who immediately began running toward Lauren. As he was running, three of dodecahedron's claws lurched to life to strike one last time. The Sentinels were caught completely off guard.
Everyone in the group was at least winged as the claws made the last strike, though Jen, Rocmon, and Gran Kuwagamon caught the full force of the attacks. After they struck, the claws and the dodecahedron all disintegrated and Apocalymon's body fell, hitting the ground with a sickening thud.
As Alex came to, he quickly looked around. He spotted Marcus, Creepmon, Sam, Jen, and Pseudodramon. They were all unconscious and Marcus, Sam, and Jen looked to be in pretty bad shape. The only signs of Rocmon and Gran Kuwagamon were quickly dispersing particles of data. Alex tried to pull himself up, but his right arm and leg wouldn't respond. His right shoulder appeared to be dislocated; and he suspected he spotted several breaks in his arm and leg as well.
A movement in the corner of his eye caught Alex's attention. He turned his head to look: to his horror, Apocalymon slowly pull himself upright and began lurching his way toward the helpless Sentinels.
As Apocalymon neared, Alex did the only thing he could do…pray. As if in response to his prayer, Alex could hear a loud shrieking noise, as if something was falling toward him very quickly. Alex looked up just in time to see an odd shaped spear drive itself in the ground in front of him. The spear appeared to be two long metal rods, wound around one another like a pair of snakes; at the midpoint of the spear's length, the two rods stopped winding around one another and turned into straight single edged, triangular shaped blade, giving the spear the look of a large tuning fork. Nearby, Pseudodramon began to stir to consciousness.
'A chance…. we've got… one chance.' Alex told himself. Alex reached around to his back pocket and pulled out his D-pad. He pressed a button on his main display pulling an egg shaped object up on the screen. Tapping another button, a beam of light arced its way to Alex's D3, then to Pseudodramon.
"Pseudodramon Armor Digivolve to…"
Pseudodramon's figure became humanoid, loosing its wings and tail. The now seven foot tall brown lizard was clad in green armor similar to Flamedramon's, except that his gauntlets didn't cover his hands.
"…Dragoonmon!!!"
Dragoonmon slowly walked over to and retrieved the mysterious spear from the ground. Apocalymon stopped in his tracks and got a very panicked look on his face. At the same time, a very evil grin crossed Alex's face as he shouted at Apocalymon, "Go back to the hell that spawned you!"
Using his remaining strength, Dragoonmon lifted the eight and a half foot spear and threw it straight at Apocalymon, then collapsed and de-evolved back to Pseudodramon.
The spear found its mark, its twin points impaling themselves into Apocalymon's torso. The force of the impact pushed Apocalymon back into one of the sides of the Dark Portal's stone arch. His body was completely limp, the only thing that was holding him up was spear that had completely impaled him and imbedded itself in the stone arch.
Alex waited a few tense moments to see if Apocalymon would disintegrate, but he didn't; instead, Apocalymon came back to life and slowly began pulling the spear from his chest. Using his good arm, Alex immediately reached out to his nearby digimon partner, who was once again unconscious, and tried to wake him up.
Having freed himself, Apocalymon fell to his knees and looked at the three gaping wounds in his chest, all oozing a black substance that Alex could only figure was Apocalymon's equivalent to blood. Apocalymon looked up at Alex, "This… this isn't… over Sentinel.". With that, Apocalymon used his remaining strength to crawl through what remained of the Dark Portal.

Alex struggled to continue as, the Digidestined sat in suspenseful silence.
After a few tense moments, Izzy spoke up, "What happened next Alex? I mean, If you don't want to continue, it's okay, we understand, but..."
Alex drew in a deep breath, "No, no, it's alright. After Apocalymon slithered back through the portal; I crawled over to Lauren, and kinda pulled her into my lap using my left arm. I was surprised as hell when she opened her eyes. She didn't say anything… she didn't need to. I could see it all in her eyes. The fear, the pain, the sorrow, and the love. I ran my hand through her hair, and then I leaned down to kiss her. I think…. I think she used what little life she had left in her to kiss me back. As I kissed her… I, uh …. I felt her go limp in my arms and her breathing stop." Alex stopped talking as a single tear escaped his right eye and rolled down his cheek. He closed his eyes, "After that, I really don't remember much because I passed out. My memory kicks back in about twelve hours later when I woke up in a recovery tank back at Sentinel HQ. The whole time I was floating in that tank, I was praying that the whole thing had just been some sort of nightmare, and that Lauren was going to be there to greet me when I got out."
"So, Alex, how'd you end up back at your Headquarters? I mean, who got you in there?" Cody asked.
"Well, while we didn't completely close the Dark Portal, we closed it enough so that it no longer interfered with the soloton radar system; Gennai was able to 'Gate' us back to Sentinel HQ."
"Did you ever go back and finish closing the portal?" Tai asked.
"Well, yes and no. Without Jen and Lauren's crystals we didn't have enough power to finish closing the portal. The best we could do was put a seal over it, with a little help from Azulongmon."
"What's the difference?" Kari asked
"Let's see if I can explain this… Ok, the Dark Portal is a tear in the dimensional space/time between the Digital World and Negative Plane. With the five crystals, we were actually repairing the tear, closing it permanently; had we succeeded, no one would have ever been able to travel between the Digital World and Negative Plane again. When we sealed it, all we did was put up a barrier that prevented anyone from using the portal, but the portal is still there. If someone broke the seal, they would be able to use the portal and travel between the Digital World and Negative Plane. That make any sense?"
"Yeah, it makes perfect sense Alex." Kari replied with a smile.
Sora looked at her watch, "Oh wow, it's 7:00. I've got to get home."
"I think that goes for most of us." Tai responded.
"Hey Alex, some of us are planning on heading to the Digital World tomorrow afternoon, would you care to join us?" T.K. asked.
"I'd love to. I have a few matters to attend to there anyway. Once I get things taken care of, I'd be glad to join ya."
"Great, see ya then!"
The rest of the Digidestined said their good-byes to one another and went their separate ways home, except for Joe who waited behind.
"Hey Alex, I just have a question for you, if you don't mind."
"No, what's up?"
"Can you tell me more about the recovery tanks?" Joe asked.
"Yeah, it's a neat little piece of technology. Basically the injured party is floated in a tank full of various nutrients and chemicals that stimulate the body's natural regenerative system."
"How effective is it?"
"Well, a little less than twenty-four hours after having my right ulna, right radius, right femur, and three ribs broken, along with a punctured lung and dislocated shoulder; I was taking a warm shower to wash off the recovery fluid. No physical aches or pains of any sort."
"That's amazing."
"Why do you ask?"
"No reason in particular, I'm just studying to be a doctor and you peaked my interest. Any chance I might be able to get a look at one?"
"I'll see what I can do. Cleric is kinda touchy about people poking around in her Medlab."
"Cleric?"
"Yeah, she's the Sentinel's medic. She's a medical student and Luther Collage, she was more than happy to get out of the field and fix up everyone's bumps and bruises."
"Alright, thanks Alex." Joe then turned and departed.
Alex looked over at Ken, "So, what'd ya have in mind for dinner?"
"Well, I hate to say it, but I have a huge craving for pizza right now. But you're probably thinking of something a little more Japanese right?"
Alex gave Ken a funny look, "Ken. Above all else, I'm a computer geek. I am ready, willing, and able to eat pizza anytime, anywhere."
"Great, I know this awesome pizza and arcade that's not far from here."
"Lead on."

Alex and Ken arrived at the arcade/pizzeria after a short walk. After placing their order and getting their drinks, they found a booth in a relatively quite part of the dining area.
"So Kenny, about you and Yolei. What's the story?"
Ken cursed inwardly; he had hoped that Alex would have forgotten. Ken stared at his soda, stirring it slowly with his straw; "There's not much to tell Alex. I mean, I like her and all, but with how things are, I have a hard time envisioning her wanting to be my friend, let alone my girlfriend."
"What makes you say that?"
"Well, there was there was that whole Digimon Emperor episode."
"So?" Alex took a sip of his soda, "That's all behind you now. You're a different person now than you were then."
"Yeah, but that doesn't change the horrible things I did. I mean, do you have any idea some of the things I did?"
"Ken, I know about everything you did when you were the Digimon Emperor. We had to keep a close eye on you to see if our suspicions were correct."
"Wait a sec.. who's this we? And what suspicions?"
"By we, I mean the Sentinels."
"You and Marcus?"
"Oh no. What started with my group has grown to something much more. The Sentinels are an organization of a select group of 'The Chosen' that safeguard the Digital World from outside threats."
"And by 'The Chosen' you are referring to who?"
"Anyone with any kind of Digivice and Digimon partner."
"So, the Sentinels are like the Digidestined?"
"Kind of. The Digidestined, you know, are charged with safeguarding the Digital World. However, all the threats you guys handle are internal, problems that started in the Digital World to begin with. The Sentinels guard against external threats, such as invasion from the Negative Plane or any other world…even our world, the 'Real World'."
"Then why were you and the Sentinels watching me?"
"Because, Kenny boy, you were a huge 'Grey Area'. Being one of 'The Chosen', you were technically an internal issue; however, we suspected that there may have been external forces guiding you along you path of destruction. Turned out, we were right. You were being influenced by something or someone else. We never quite got a fix on who, why, or how they were influencing you; however, we are certain that it was coming from the Negative Plane."
Ken sat back in his seat, the full effect of what Alex had just told his was beginning to set in, "So you mean the whole time…"
"You were under someone else's control. It wasn't you at all. Which is all the more reason why you should put it behind you and move on."
"But what if whoever was controlling me does it again?"
"They won't."
"What makes you so certain?"
"Because the reason the Digidestined defeated you was that whoever or whatever was controlling you pulled their power back and stopped supporting you. Whether it was because we were getting close to tracking them down or because you had outlived your usefulness to them we don't know. The point is they gave up control of you willingly. Look Ken, you're a good person; I know it, your friends know it, and most importantly, Yolei knows it. She really cares about you a lot."
"How can you be so certain of that?"
"Lots of things. Her body language when she's around you, they way she looks at you, and also my gut tells me so."
"Your gut?"
"Yeah, my gut. You know, like a sixth sense. Everyone has it, most just choose to ignore it. I don't, and its never steered me wrong yet."
"You really think she likes me?"
"Not a doubt in my mind. I'm serious Ken, if you care about her as much as I think you do, ask her out."
A woman's voice rang in over the loud speaker, "Order for Zero. Zero, you're order is ready."
Alex slid out of the booth, "I'll go get our food." Alex turned and began walking away.
Ken's jaw almost hit the table as a sudden realization crossed his mind, "Wait a second. Zero, as in the same Zero that rescued us a few days ago in the Digital World?"
Alex stopped, and the looked back over his right shoulder at Ken and smiled, "I told you I wouldn't be far off if you guys got into trouble again." Alex then continued walking.

Davis was still moping in his room. Though he had finally managed to stop crying for the time being, there was still a throbbing ache in his chest that wouldn't cease. Davis' mind was erratically jumping from thoughts of Kari, to how he could win her from T.K., to how best to take revenge on T.K. for stealing his girl from him. The sound of a knock on his door brought Davis back to reality.
"Davis, it's Tai."
Davis thought about telling him to buzz off, but instead decided against it, "What do you want Tai?"
"I came to see if you're ok. Can I come in?"
Davis walked over and unlocked the door, leaving Tai to open it for himself.
Tai couldn't help but feel sorry for Davis; he looked like he'd been through hell and back, "God, you look like hell. Wanna talk about it?"
Davis gestured for Tai to enter. Once inside, Tai closed the door behind him, "How could she choose him over me? I mean, what does he have that I don't?"
Tai placed a reassuring hand oh Davis' shoulder, "Look, I don't know what to tell you Davis. I know it hurts a lot.."
Davis shrugged Tai's hand off his shoulder angrily, "Oh what do you know about it! How could you possibly know what I'm going through!?"
"Because I'm going through it right now too! That's how."
Davis looked at Tai in disbelief, "What are you talking about?"
"Sora."
The admission made Davis loose his train of thought for a moment, "Wait a sec, you mean that you…"
Tai seated himself in the chair at Davis' computer desk, "Yes."
Davis seated himself on his bed, "How do you deal with the pain? How do you deal with seeing her and Matt together? Hell, do they even know how you feel?"
Tai closed his eyes and shook his head, "No. They are my two best friends in the world, and neither of them have a clue. Which is good."
"Why?"
Tai let out a deep sigh and opened his eyes, "Because I don't want it to get in the way of our friendships. Sora is with who she wants to be with, and that makes her happy; and all I care about is her being happy. That's how I'm able to deal with the pain."
"Even though it's killing you inside?"
"Yes."
Davis shook his head, "I don't think I can do that. I need to win her back Tai. I need you're help."
It was Tai's turn to look at Davis in disbelief, "Have you listened to a word I've just said?"
"Yes, but I know that I can maker her happier than T.K. can."
Tai cocked his head slightly to the right, "What makes you so certain of that?"
"I just am." Davis looked at Tai pleadingly, "I need you're help Tai. You're her big brother, you can tell me things. Give me insights to help me win her over."
Tai held both his hand up, "Whoa there. Look, Davis, I'm willing to help you deal with the pain as best I can; but I'm not going to help you interfere with Kari's relationship with T.K. She's made her choice and I respect that."
"Even if you don't agree with who she chooses?"
"Yes."
"So you don't agree with her choosing T.K. over me then."
"I didn't say that."
"Then you DO agree with her choice?!?"
"I didn't say that either Davis. You're starting to put words in my mouth."
"Look you either agree with her choice or you don't, so which is it?"
"Davis, look it's not like that…"
"You're either with me or against me on this Tai. So which is it, are you going to help me win Kari back or not?"
Tai hung his head in defeat, "Davis.. I can't."
Davis threw a pillow against the wall in frustration, "Fine. Get out! Some friend you turned out to be."
"Davis, you're overreacting…."
"I SAID GET OUT!!"
Tai froze for a moment, he had never seen Davis like this. He was afraid. Afraid of the choices that Davis was making now, but he had no choice, "Alright, I'm going, but if you change your mind…."
"I won't"
"Fine."
Tai slowly turned and left Davis' room. After Tai had gone, Davis slumped down in the chair by his computer desk, his mind fixated on one thing now; how to win Kari Kamiya's heart.

Alex returned with a large pizza and a couple of plates He placed the pizza in the middle of the table and handed Ken a plate, he then sat down and grabbed a slice of the pizza. He was about to take a bite of it when Ken spoke up, "Ok, you have some explaining to do."
"Oh?"
"Why didn't you tell me?"
"Tell you what?"
"That you were Zero."
"Was it really that important that I did tell you?"
Ken thought for a minute about Alex's question, "Well, I guess not. I guess I'm just surprised, that's all."
"Surprised at what?"
"Well you, and all the amazing things that you did in the Digital World with that armor of yours."
"That wasn't just armor."
"Oh? What was it then?"
Alex took a bite of his pizza, "Well, that was one of my partners forms.", he explained through a mouth full of cheese.
"One of your Digimon's forms is a suit of armor? Which level?"
"Tekno."
"Tekno? Never heard of it."
"Not the least bit surprised. The Tekno form is kind of like an Armor evolution and a DNA evolution all in one."
"DNA? Who does he digivolve with?"
"Me, silly. When my partner is in his armor form, Dragoonmon, I can use my crystal to Tekno evolve with him and become Zero."
"So that's what you meant by the whole 'I'm a little of both in this form' comment."
"Exactly."
"So, do all the Sentinels have a Tekno from?"
"No. Aside from Marcus and myself, there are only six others who have Tekno forms. Mind you, there are approximately a hundred or so Sentinels."
"A hundred!"
"Yeah. You'd be surprised to find out exactly how many 'Chosen' kids there are around the world."
"Are there other groups of Digidestined?"
"Oh yeah. There are easily as many Digidestined as there are Sentinels."
"So, why don't all the Sentinels have Tekno forms?"
"Well, in order to have a Tekno form you have to have a crystal. The crystals are very powerful, and Azulongmon doesn't just go handing those things out."
"Is there some kind of trial or test someone has to go through to get a crystal?"
"Oh yeah. And it's not easy."
Ken was quiet for the next few minutes and he pondered a very serious question in his mind. Finally, he came to a decision, "I want to you join you."
Alex was half way through taking a drink of his soda and had to spit the urge to spit it out, "You what?!?"
"I want to join you. I want to be a Sentinel."
"Look, Ken. Your team needs you…"
"I want revenge Alex. For what's happened to me and my brother. I want to help you put an end to the threat of the Negative Plane."
"Ken, it's not that simple. This new invasion shouldn't have even been possible. There are lots of unknowns right now."
"All the more reason you need me."
"Hey, for what it's worth, I agree with you. But I have to run this past someone else before I give you an answer alright?"
"How soon will you know?"
"Tomorrow night."
"Alright."
Alex finished off his glass of soda as Ken finished the last piece of pizza. Alex looked at his watch, it was 20:15, plenty of time. Collecting the dishes, Alex glanced over at the arcade, "Shall we?"
"Oh yes, we shall." Ken replied with a smile.
As the pair walked toward the arcade the only thought on Alex's mind was 'God, Sam is going to kill me for getting Ken involved in this.'

Will Alex let Ken join the Sentinels? What underhanded schemes will Davis hatch to try and win Kari's heart? You'll just have to wait for Chapter 5 of 'Winds of Change' entitled "The Storm Approaches"