With the Crest of Corruption raised high over his head, Geno began to laugh with an increasing tone of madness. The light that surged up around the crest was a mere shadow of the incredible energy that was pouring out of it. Fierce winds swept out from Geno, forcing the DigiDestined to shield their eyes from the flying sand.
"I have a REALLY bad feeling about this!" yelled Matt over the wind.
"No kidding!" shouted Tai.
"What do you suggest we do?!" asked Hawkmon.
"Stand strong, DigiDestined!" commanded Protomon. "This puny storm cannot compare to what we must all face shortly!"
A sudden burst of dark energy shot from the crest, blowing several layers of sand immediately around Geno outward. Lightning split the sky overhead, and Geno and the two helmets of the defeated dark digimon floating next to him were bathed in the burning light of the crest.
"Don't worry Kari!" yelled TK. "I got you!"
True to his word, TK quickly arrived where Kari was, and helped her shield herself from the biting winds and stinging sand.
"It's coming…" said Gatomon.
"What is?" asked Patamon.
"Something… evil," said Gatomon. "Something far worse than Myotismon could ever hope to be."
"Well I'm not encouraged by that," said Patamon.
Another wave of darkness burst from the crest, instantly tripling the strength and speed of the wind. Bolts of lightning began to strike the ground all around them. Still, Protomon stood strong. He glared right into Geno's eyes without even flinching.
"Protomon!" yelled Davis. "What are you waiting for?! Attack him now!"
"I will not!" said Protomon without moving his eyes away from Geno. "If I attack now, the risk to your friend is far too great!"
"But isn't Jack gone?!" called Cody.
"Far from it!" announced Protomon. "And I will not take unnecessary risks with his life! I sense he will be too important to all of our futures. I will not allow any harm to come to him!"
Yet another burst of power radiated from the crest. Now, bolts of lightning rained down constantly and the ground began to shake violently. The eyeholes on both Blackwargreymon's and Blackmetalgarurumon's helmets began to emit a pulsating red light.
"Well we've got to do something!" shouted Veemon.
"HA!" laughed Geno. "THERE'S NOTHING THAT ANY OF YOU CAN DO TO STOP ME NOW! IN MERE SECONDS, I SHALL BE THE SUPREME BEING IN THIS WORLD, AND I SHALL HAVE MY REVENGE!!!"
With a mighty heave, Geno hurled the Crest of Corruption straight up into the air. At over a hundred feet up, it looked like it was about to begin to fall back to the ground, but instead of falling it just hung there.
"NOW!!!" screamed Geno.
The helmets floating at his side shot away from him at full speed and began to circle each other at a distance of some fifty feet. As they orbited an invisible axis between Geno and the crest, they left red trails of energy in their wake. After several seconds, they came to a rest high in the air, with Blackwargreymon's helmet being on Geno's right and Blackmetalgarurumon's helmet being on his left. Both then shook far more wildly than before. Within a couple seconds, they somehow managed to double and redouble their size. The helmets grew in leaps and bounds, as did the strength of the energy they radiated. As the helmets grew, the crest began to emit streams of energy that stretched out like a network of veins and arteries, gradually taking on the shape of a massive, hulking body.
Geno let his arms fall at his sides. He stared at the DigiDestined with a wild look in his eyes and a wide grin on his face. His muscles twitched ever so slightly, and he began to laugh to himself; quietly at first, but then it grew much louder.
"What's happening?!" screamed Mimi, who had fallen to the sand and was covering her head.
"Hang on!" yelled Michael, going to Mimi's aid.
"Watch it guys!" said Betamon, dodging out of the way of a large rock that had been sent flying.
"Down!" shouted Lopmon, shoving Willis to the ground to avoid the same rock.
Suddenly, with one last, great laugh, Geno threw his head back and his eyes glowed white once again. Two streams of white light shot from his eyes up to the Crest of Corruption above. The second the streams hit, a burst of energy far greater than any of those that preceded it was released, launching all of the DigiDestined and their digimon through the air. Even Protomon was nearly sent flying, but he somehow managed to hold on.
As the blinding light slowly died down, an ominous stillness settled over the land. The wind, the earthquakes, the lightning, and all the other symptoms of what had just been happening were all gone. The clouds overhead hung perfectly motionless, dominating the landscape with darkness. In the distance, the final roll of thunder could be heard.
"What happened?" whispered Sora, lifting her head up.
"I have no idea," said Matt, who sat beside her.
"There's Protomon," Cody said as he pointed to the familiar, stoic figure.
"I think I want to go home now," said Mimi.
"Don't worry," said Palmon. "I think the worst of it is over now."
"Don't bet on it," said Protomon forebodingly. "Look…"
Protomon lifted his sword and pointed to where Geno had stood moments before. One by one, the DigiDestined and digimon looked to the spot and what they saw was a huge figure, whose form was rather hard to determine as an enormous red cape was wrapped fairly tightly around his body. He had to be at least a hundred and fifty feet tall.
"It has been completed," said Protomon. "Now, the Corrupter has taken on his final form."
"What IS that thing?!" asked Tai.
"I was hoping someone would ask…" said a booming voice that seemed to cover the whole desert. "I am destruction incarnate. I am the absolute corrupter. I bring terror to this world, and I take life from it. I am perfect, and I have come to fulfill my true purpose at last."
"Your true purpose?" asked Izzy.
"Yes," said the voice. "The purpose I was designed with; to bring genocide to this world, and to extinguish all life, or you see, I finally have the means to accomplish this task. In a final, perfect irony, I shall use a digimon to destroy the digimon!"
"He can't be serious!" said Armadillomon. "He's bluffing!"
"Do not take him lightly," said Protomon. "He is very serious about this. We are the last hope for defeating him now. If we can't hold him back, then his ambitions will be realized. I need not tell you the consequences of that."
"Then we don't have a second to waste!" said Davis. "Veemon!"
"I'm on it!" said Veemon.
With incredible heart, Veemon charged forward and Davis extended his D-3. In a burst of light, Veemon digivolved to Exveemon and took to the air. He drew closer and closer to the ghostly figure, preparing to strike with everything he had. Exveemon pulled back his arm and threw the most powerful punch he could possibly muster, but the instant he touched the figure, a wave of red energy washed over him and he screamed in terrible pain. Exveemon was then launched back through the air and landed mere feet from Davis, back in the form of Veemon. His body was smoking and covered in scorches.
"Veemon!" shouted Davis, rushing to his friend's side.
"I'm *cough*… I'm okay, Davis," said Veemon. "Really, I'm fine…"
Veemon closed his eyes weakly.
"What just happened up there?" asked TK.
"It's the power of the crest," said Protomon. "The virus has linked it wholly to itself, corrupting it and its powers. Since the virus has no need to use it for digivolving, he can use its incredible energy amplifying properties to give off waves of sheer destructive power."
"And it's somehow using that to create a protective barrier?" asked Izzy.
"Exactly," said Protomon. "You and your digimon won't even be able to approach it."
"But what about ranged attacks?" asked Joe. "Couldn't those be effective?"
"I doubt it," said Protomon. "Knowing him, he either can completely disperse any incoming attack, or he may be able to return the attack back with increased lethality."
"I'm liking this less and less by the second," said Agumon.
"How can we hope to fight him?" asked Gabumon.
"YOU can't," said Protomon. "At least… not yet."
"What do you mean?" asked Wormmon.
"I have a plan," said Protomon. "But only I can carry it out. For now, just let me fight. I will tell you when it is time for you to do your part."
"We can't just wait here," said Ken. "You might get slaughtered out there without our help."
"You have no choice," said Protomon. "Besides, you have to stay here and look after your own."
Protomon casually glanced at a nearby sand dune.
"Watch over him," said Protomon. "You will need him some day."
With that, Protomon brandished his sword and headed towards his destiny in a burst of speed. Once Protomon had gone, Ken walked over to examine the sand dune that Protomon had looked at. What he found there was the nearly buried and seemingly lifeless body of Jack.
"Hey guys! Get over here!" yelled Ken.
The others all quickly gathered around Jack. Joe moved in to examine him for signs of life while Kari grabbed his hand and held it and Mimi gingerly laid her hand upon his shoulder.
"He looks pretty bad," said Joe as he checked Jack's pulse.
"Is he… dead?" Cody nearly choked on that last word.
Joe left Jack's pulse and forced opened one of his eyes. "No, he's alive. His pulse is weak, but regular. I'd appreciate it if you guys could help me get him out from under all this sand though. Just don't move him."
"Right," said Ken and Cody as they started to unbury him.
"How do you suppose he got all the way over here?" asked Betamon.
"He was probably thrown by that last explosion of energy," Izzy responded.
"I'm so sorry Jack," whispered Mimi. "I can't believe this happened to you."
"Please be alright…" Kari begged as she helped to brush Jack's hair away from his eyes. "Please, please, please…"
"Everyone back away," Joe instructed suddenly. "I think he's coming to."
As soon as Joe issued his order, Jack began to cough violently and everyone swiftly backed off. Jack's coughing continued for several more seconds before finally subsiding into steady, heavy breathing.
Meanwhile, Protomon stood before the domineering figure clad in crimson that loomed over the battlefield. Though his eyes could not be seen, the virus was undoubtedly staring down at Protomon, just as Protomon stared up at him.
"We've both known this day would eventually come," said the virus. "It's taken longer than I thought it would, but it was perhaps inevitable."
"You will pay for your crimes," said Protomon. "Believe me in that."
"Don't be overconfident, Protomon," said the virus. "You may be the strongest of all digimon, but you are still a digimon. As such, even you are bound by limits; limits which do not apply to me."
"All things have their limits, virus," said Protomon. "Even you."
"Then it's time to test which of us is truly superior," said the virus. "Will it be you, a mere digimon, who claims victory, or will it be I, a pure program, unobstructed by form and rules. Personally, I can't wait to find out."
"Then let's begin," said Protomon.
Protomon began to spin his sword in his right hand and took cautious steps toward the looming figure.
"So be it, digimon…" grumbled the virus.
The giant figure threw open its cape just as Protomon charged. There was a great spark of light as Protomon's blade struck the virus' armored body. Protomon landed again, about fifty yards from his adversary. They glared at each other, and Protomon once began to spin his blade.
"Is… is that…?" stammered TK.
"There's just no way," said Mimi.
"I can't believe this," gasped Tai.
"Is it?" asked Matt.
"It is," said Gabumon.
"Unbelievable…" said Agumon.
"NightmareOmnimon…" grumbled Protomon. "A virus type, born of pure anger and hatred. His body represents the ultimate in corruption. He is a creature of pure malice, living only to taint the minds and bodies of other digimon with his foul influence before disposing of them entirely."
The massive being bore a startling resemblance to Omnimon, but there were certainly some significant differences. His armor was pitch black with a dark sheen to it rather than white. Emblazoned in silver across his chest was the unmistakable Crest of Corruption. His cape was a deep crimson, and his shoulder pads took on the form of a pair of great, curved spikes that were silver in color. His arms, unlike those of Omnimon, featured Blackwargreymon's helmet on the right and Blackmetalgarurumon's on the left. Perhaps the most startling features of this new being though, were perhaps his cold, lifeless eyes. They were solid white, and even though one could never be certain of exactly where he was looking, the seemed to pierce the soul of anyone brave enough to look into them.
"And now, Protomon," said NightmareOmnimon. "The day of your reckoning is at hand. Come to me, if you dare…"
"Mark my words, NightmareOmnimon," said Protomon. "On this day, you will reap what you have spent your whole life sowing. All debts will be repaid. Now let's begin."
"As you wish…" said NighmareOmnimon, lifting up his right arm and unleashing his Infernal Sword, a huge black blade covered in silvery runes. "Let the reaping commence…"
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
[I should note that at this point I have no plans for a picture of NightmareOmnimon, since he's hard to draw and I think you can figure out his appearance on your own. However, if there's a big demand for a picture, I'll certainly be happy to oblige. Now stay tuned, because I plan on bringing out the next chapter soon…]