Disclaimer: I do not own Digimon. Got it?
Episode XXII Queen's GambitVictory is a thing of the will.
Ferdinand Foch, Message to Marshal Joffre, 1914
Author's Note: I'm finally back, and this thing is going much slower than I had originally anticipated. I'm sorry that I'm keeping people who might actually want to read this waiting, but I'm a lazy bum. You can complain about that if you like, it might inspire me to get stuff up faster. I have some adjustments to make to the third part of the epic before it goes online. I hope it does all right, and if there are any helpful criticisms out there, I'll be sure to take them.
-dA
"This place doesn't look like much." TK looked around a bit confused. "It doesn't feel like that much either."
"Why is it always a cave?" Davis muttered again.
"It's not that bad." Cody reminded him.
"Thanks Cody. That's only 'cause you're too short to hit your head on the ceiling." Yolei reminded him.
"I can hit my head on the ceiling." Patamon responded, flying off of TK's hat to hover a bit lower in the air.
"That's not exactly a good thing." Kari responded, giggling.
"Will you all be quiet?" Sorcerymon grumbled, quieting them all. "I'm trying to concentrate."
The cave entrance they were standing above was small and narrow, leading into the darkness and the dampness beyond. They could see where the cave ended a short way back in a cluster of rocks.
"Ah, right." Sorcerymon raised his hand and let a flash of power escape him. To one side a massive boulder gave a groan and slowly shifted out of the way, exposing an opening to one side. "The cave has nothing to do with it. The access SaberLeomon had made begins here, and leads into the main aqueduct."
"Oh, right." TK grinned at his own assumption.
"Everyone down the hatch." Davis pointed.
"This isn't a submarine Davis." Yolei complained.
"Will you two give it a rest already?' Gatomon asked wearily as they passed out of the outer world.
"You see them?" Sora hissed.
"I register their presence." Andromon, eyes telescoping wildly, finally managed to fix on some distant object. "I cannot determine their composition from here, but I find it unlikely that there is someone else of that description here."
"Izzy, this is Sora." The young woman spoke into her D3. "We have visual contact with incoming forces. Can't tell what they are just yet."
"Hold on Sora. We'll send someone out to take a look."
"Someone's on the way." Sora repeated unnecessarily to Biyomon.
"I wonder who?" Biyomon looked up.
"I sense someone else approaching." Andromon looked up, trying to focus on something. "It appears to be Unimon flying high and trying to keep out of sight."
"Well, that's one way to do it. He'll take a peek and then get clear." Sora reported confidently.
There were a few minutes of quiet before Izzy's voice crackled back on. "All right you guys, we got 'em. Get back to base so we can start planning."
"On the way."
"Tired yet?" Davis asked, looking backward.
"Not a chance." TK was probably grinning back but it was impossible to tell in the dark confines of the tunnel.
"Well, we're here." Sorcerymon stopped suddenly, the light that was hovering above him magically stopped at the same time. "After this we're in hostile territory, so you might as well get your breath back."
"Where's the door?" Cody asked, peering around.
"Above us." Sorcerymon tapped on a metal grating that was embedded into the ceiling above them. It was old and rusted with age, but it still looked functional in the dim light that was coming through from above them.
"So what's up there?" Davis asked.
"Last time I went through here it was the basement. There are a lot of storerooms and such things up there. Probably by now there are a lot of dungeons as well. Usually not many people come down here. Above that were the floors that were accessible to the courtyard, but above that the castle stretches about twenty floors up. How much power do we have for this?"
"Hopefully enough." Ken leaned his head down on his fist. "I have a theory that might be of some use to us."
"What is it?" Yolei asked.
"Well, it has to do with TK. I think his power responds to similar powers, such as Reaver's power. He tells me that he's stronger than I ever thought. If he can get near Khartan, they might fight each other into a standstill. I think that may be our best shot, but if that doesn't work, we've got a lot of power to back ourselves up."
"And we may have another advantage." Cody looked up from where he had been staring at the dark ground. "If there are enough people he's thrown into dungeons, we might be able to free them and get them to aid us."
"So who are we facing?" TK asked.
"We've seen almost everything." Ken reported, nodding at Sorcerymon. "Bakemon and other various low powered fighters. He seems to keep his strongest fighters elsewhere."
"They're hardly needed here." Sorcerymon grumbled. "Inside the castle are the strongest in this world. Sickle, Ravisher, Talon and Bane are all forces on the level of Reaver, and are incredibly strong. They're inside there together somewhere. I don't know if they live there, or if this is just their home base, but it could be both or neither. They're just seen here the most."
"So we could be outmatched here." Yolei complained.
"Don't worry. As long as we're together, nothing is going to stop us." Gatomon replied lightly, jumping out of Kari's arms.
"We all rested? All right then, through the gap."
"Our reports appear to be correct." Piximon informed the assembled group. "Daemon himself is coming out."
"But why?" Mimi asked after a moment. "Why is he coming himself. He hasn't done this before."
"She has a point." Palmon continued. "He has an army. Why doesn't he use it? I mean, he could send them after us."
"And we'd have a hard time tricking them again. He has to know that." Joe pointed out from where he was sprawled at the foot of a pile of fallen wood.
"Because we're costing him." Leomon grumbled under his breath, the subterranean vibrations shaking the ground around them. "We're costing him too much, and he's trying to end it."
"Izzy, can you explain?" Tai asked, assuming control of the situation.
"Actually Piximon is best cut out for this. If you would…"
"Of course." Piximon pointed at the map of the digital world that Izzy had managed to project in the air in front of them, the continents and mountains floating there in the air without a care. "To put it bluntly, we cost Daemon too many troops last night, and he needs them more."
"To do what?" Joe returned. "He's already far and away the most powerful digimon in the world. He has enough power to defeat anyone who comes up against him. What does he care about the people who work for him?"
"Yeah. Myostismon didn't seem to care, and neither did the Dark Masters. They just threw whatever they had at us." Agumon looked confused.
"But this is now." Piximon pointed at a remote portion on the map where a green valley and a blue lake were clearly outlined. "Take this, the Verdant Terrace region. One of the best sources of hardwoods in the world. Lumber is taken from the forests carefully and shipped down to the more populated lowlands by boat. But it's also really isolated. If we attacked there in a few days it would take hours for even Daemon to get out there, and by that time we would have safely escaped to the mountains. The only way he can stop these raids is to station troops all around the world. If we cause enough losses, he can kiss his empire goodbye. Without his troops, his subjects would probably just melt away into the wilderness."
"But he has a whole army." Gomamon countered.
"Minus the more than a hundred that we trashed last night." Ogremon looked up from where he was polishing his club. "And those who accidentally got fried when we attacked Pinnacle. And those that you've wiped out along the way. Even if he sent an army of Ultimates after you, you would probably end up butchering half of them before they either overwhelmed us or forced us to retreat and regroup. And that's too much for him."
"He knows that he's powerful." Izzy pointed out. "And he's not afraid of us, so he's coming to take care of us personally."
"Unfortunately he hasn't yet descended into foolishness." Piximon reported. "He has brought quite a strong force against us. Many of his champions are aligned, waiting for a chance to attack and flatten us once again. Behind them he has brought his personal guard. You may remember the Daemon Corps. I heard that it was once destroyed, but whether he resurrected them through the dark arts or merely found replacements I do not know. Only I know that MarineDevimon, LadyDevimon and SkullSatamon once again move against us."
"And so what do we have?" Tai asked, considering his options carefully.
Izzy and Piximon exchanged a rather significant look, something that did not escape the others. "Digimon." Izzy finally replied.
"Yeah, well, I knew that. Could you be a bit more specific?" Tai sounded grumpy now.
"Well, you haven't been back to the main camp yet today. Maybe you should go outside and take a look." Izzy pointed out the door.
"Is this place dead?" Ken asked the others, looking around with a puzzled expression on his face.
"I have seen cemeteries livelier than this." Cody responded, shaking just a little. "This place is really spooky."
"I agree completely." Armadillomon sounded like he was trying to keep an optimistic tone in his voice, but even he was being tried by the circumstances. Wormmon was just trying to keep his mouth shut.
Hallway after hallway, line after line of niches, nooks and crannies extended away into a distance shrouded by darkness. What light there was came through the cracks in boarded up windows, and from strange sources that intimidated Ken to no end. Everywhere he looked there were strange shadows, that almost seemed to move, and looked too odd to be normal furniture. Go a few steps and another corridor would suddenly yawn open to one side. And everywhere was black, black with the darkness that shrouds a house abandoned.
"This place would make a great haunted house." Cody tried to rub the goose bumps off of his arms.
"Are you kidding? Nobody would pay to come here and see this. They might pay so that they didn't have to." Ken looked around again in the dimness. "Anyway, I'm not seeing anything. Let's go back."
"Right." Wormmon finally said something. "This whole place is deserted, and that's just spooky."
How many people do you save when you save a world? Joe had asked that once when he was feeling philosophical. He claimed actually that he was nervous and wanted to quantify his achievements, in numbers, so that he could present it to a review board. How many digimon had their actions saved?
Tai could have told him. He could have counted them. They all seemed to be standing in front of him. All sorts of digimon, some small and pink in-training versions who clustered around talking to each other as they moved from here to there, some solid and solitary champions. There were flames as a Meramon moved around, lighting cooking fires with the flames rising from his body. There were grunts as a group of Mojyamon trooped through, scratching their round bodies with their clubs as they tried to figure out where they were trying to go. Small and nervous rookies darted between their feet. Hastily erected tents lay between every tree, above every nook and cranny that they could find, and sometimes there were excavated hollows, or what looked like barely functional nests. Everywhere digimon were moving, talking, exchanging their views and their opinions, yelling and shouting at each other, and generally making a lot of noise.
"My God." Matt whispered reverently, echoing the feelings the others were holding.
After a few more moments of stunned silence Tai turned back to Izzy and asked quietly "How many?"
"How many who actually want to fight?" Izzy consulted a mental list he had made for a moment before returning his attention to the group's leader. "At the moment about three hundred, but more arrive every hour."
"Three hundred!" Mimi yelled. Everyone's mouth hung a bit slack after that.
"More or less. We're having a bit of a problem with them, primarily because digimon aren't big ones for counting. Each group knows how many they have, but the leaders tend to forget how to add." Piximon confirmed.
"But where did they all come from?" Joe wanted to know, flabbergasted.
"Everywhere. The deep forests where Daemon dares not penetrate. The empty grasslands where his soldiers never go to avoid being caught and lost. The hills, those that still run wild and free where digimon can hide without being exposed. The mountains, where many fled after the first conquests, living in remote valleys and avoiding Daemon's personal soldiers. There are outposts of digimon living wild and free everywhere." Leomon's deeply resonant voice somehow added more weight to this explanation.
"But why…" Sora began.
"Because they owe a debt to you. To all of you." Piximon floated up in midair, surveying the army gathering around him. "You digidestined have helped save this world not once but at least twice, and perhaps more times that I do not know about. You are the ones who stand between this world and eternal darkness. Perhaps you do not know what it feels like, but for us digimon, even though we know that you are the ones who have the power to do this, sitting here while you go out and face evil is something we do not like. Now, when you need all the aid we can provide, it is best for us to aid you. We all would like to feel as if we are truly assisting you digidestined in your quest to save the world from darkness. This is our help, our assistance, our achievement. It is the way we work to pay you back for the times you have saved the world and we have done nothing."
"But you didn't need to do that. We would have done all this without…" Joe began to say, but Piximon raised his spear to silence him.
"Think about it Joe. You would aid your companions anywhere because they have risked their lives to save you. Likewise these digimon would risk theirs to pay back the debt they owe you. It takes a lot to unite digimon, we like to fight too much, but the face of evil has done this. We do not make armies, but for your sake, for the sake of living things everywhere, we will make an exception."
"They aren't an army yet." Izzy reported. "But they're willing to pay Daemon back for all he's done to them."
"Let's get down to business." Tai pointed. "Time to come up with a plan."
"It's getting dark here." Sorcerymon pointed out, as the shafts of light coming down from above began to fade. "It must be getting into the afternoon again."
"We aren't going to be able to see anything soon." Hawkmon pointed out unnecessarily.
"Maybe since we're in the bedroom sections we should rest here, eh?" Davis asked.
"Excellent idea Davis. Dibs on the soft bed!" Yolei called, darting into one room.
"Can we really sleep here?" Ken asked TK under his breath.
"We better try. I'd really hate to blunder into Khartan in the dark." TK responded. "I wish there was a window around here."
"Well, you can't have everything." Gatomon told him, twitching her tail in an aggravated fashion. "You're lucky to have what you've got."
"I wonder why he boarded this level up?" Sorcerymon asked himself, rubbing his chin.
"I don't know, but I think I can pass on finding out for now."
Afternoon came slowly and reluctantly, as if it somehow knew that it would not look forward to showing this particular day. The sun refused to shine above the damp mist that had blown in around eleven, blanketing the whole area in a fog of confusion.
Piximon pointed out that this should effect their opponents much more than it would affect them. After all, their opponents had been training more, and were counting on their coordination to get them farther. Superior numbers were more likely to triumph in the damp conditions of fog, if they indeed had similar firepower.
And they had superior numbers now. Even though Tai had, at first, refused to believe it, the numbers kept pouring in. Almost a hundred Otamamon and Geckomon trooped in about noon, in full formation with sticks tucked under their arms in a fashion they clearly thought of as military. A whole platoon of Meramon coming from the volcanic wastelands made it in right after that. Jumping along on their curious non-legs almost fifty Motimon bounced their way into the campsite soon after that, the entire contents of a village not far away. A herd of Monochromon wandered in not long after that. Digimon that had never seen each other before this day greeted each other like long lost friends and brothers, trying to establish friendships with people who might be dead in as little as a day. All over the camp bonds were being forged as those who were ready to fight joined together to prepare for battle.
"The Digital World is occasionally a savage place." Leomon explained to Tai and Matt. "Fighting, as much as we wish it was not, is a way of life here. Now, with the chance to rid themselves of great evil, the tendency of the digimon to fight for themselves and their friends is re-asserting itself. They are ready to battle if it means they can win their freedom here."
Izzy and Piximon were frantic, organizing soldiers into ranks, rough companies gradually taking shape, battle planes gradually being formed out of nothing. Piximon's experience in times past and Izzy's phenomenal organizational skills combined to shape, in one brief time, an army out of a mob. It was not much of an army, but it looked increasingly like it would do.
And Tai had been busy as well. Walking along with Matt, he had sought out those digimon who looked like they were leaders. Striding among them they appeared, for a moment, as the legends that the digimon had made them out to be, towering above most rookies and in-training, standing at eye level with many of the champions, with their two partner digimon right behind them. Tai had inspired courage; Matt had given the digimon confidence. Many of them were scared, rightfully, coming out to stand against an evil greater than any of them had ever seen. Many of them had not known of the battles against the Emperor, or the long ago fights against the Dark Masters. But here Tai came, a living legend from days of heroic myths. And with him came hard-bitten digimon. Rookies or not, Agumon and Gabumon were two of the most experienced digimon in the world, and it showed. With them came a feeling of heady confidence, as if they were now part of the legends that they had told to each other around campfires. Tai and Matt created, out of a disorganized mass, a confident new beginning.
Mimi and Joe kept themselves busy as well. Mimi had the responsibility of trying to keep the energy of these digimon up, taking the supplies that some groups had brought in, and sharing them among the others. Joe was already organizing what he said were field hospitals. At the beginning, they did not look like much, but they quickly started to take shape. It would be up to Joe, as well as some of the other digimon who had volunteered to help him, to run into the battle and retrieve fallen and injured digimon.
Sora spent nearly the entire time running back and forth among the scouts, keeping a careful eye on Daemon's approach. She and Biyomon made sure that Daemon was not bringing up any surprises to score on them. And, fortunately for them, it appeared that he had added no new tricks to his arsenal. Nevertheless, she kept a sharp eye on the demon monarch.
Beneath their vantage point groups of digimon tried to march and countermarch through the camp they had established. It was not to try and get them to look pretty, as Izzy had pointed out, but rather to get them used to working together. Over to one side target practice was underway, and to another side they were trying out makeshift weapons that Izzy thought might be able to turn the tide. Here and there digimon stood immobile, as if stunned by the movement around them, but the air of the camp was as of a place where everyone was in motion, trying to meet a deadline that was coming way too soon.
And then, as the sun finally came out, Daemon came.
Tai and Leomon had taken up station on a high hill in the middle of a broad and shallow valley, a pinnacle of rock that rose almost thirty meters, the first ten in lush greenery, and the top merely an outcropping of white rock carved into natural towers through erosion. From there Tai and Leomon could observe the whole field. Daemon, sensing their presence, his form a lurking menace in the shadow that crawled across the land, formed his army facing them.
This was outside of the forest, away from traps and deceit. Here Daemon hoped to use the bulk of his army to intimidate the digidestined. And it worked. He had brought easily three hundred digimon, and they arranged themselves in a black mass facing the hill, like a set of jaws open wide to enclose it. In the middle Daemon stood smirking. Even from their fortified position it was hard to feel anything but despair, or would have been, had things been unfolding the way they seemed to be.
"So what do we do?" Matt wanted to know. His voice was a bit shaky, but nobody could have blamed him for that. It was clear though, and seemed almost deliberately calm.
"We wait." Piximon was hovering off to one side, watching them cautiously. His gaze was fixed on Daemon's army. "He's trying to scare us into losing, but we're onto him. It's only when his army starts charging that we respond."
"Stick to the plan." Tai smiled at his friend, and pounded Matt quickly on the shoulder.
"Ready?" Matt turned to him. He held out a hand.
"Ready." Tai replied with a tight smile.
There was a moment of awed silence from the digimon present as the chests of the two digidestined grasped each other firmly. In both of their chests light flared suddenly, blasting through both of them. One was a fiery orange, the other a deep piercing blue. For a moment they melded through the colors of the rainbow into a pure white, and every digimon could feel their muscles expanding with that strength. Once, not even a day ago, they would have been shaken at this, would have doubted that which came from their hearts. But things had changed. They were what they always had been, and not what they feared they might be.
On the other side, acting on some unspoken signal the opposing digimon sprang forward, closing on the small hillside, roaring in rage and hatred, their voices carrying in a manner designed to drive other opponents from the field in terror. But Matt and Tai only smiled firmly at each other. For a moment friendship and courage mixed, and light flooded out.
"Now!" They both shouted, and the fires of war ignited.
"Agumon…warp digivolves to…WARGREYMON!"
"Gabumon…warp digivolves to…METALGARURUMON!"
As the light faded two powerful Megas stood there, the light gleaming in their eyes. Light from the new-born sun split down and bounced off their armor, scattering to the four winds. Edges radiated a new sharpness, as if the digimon they had become were somehow clearer, better defined. Power radiated from every line.
"Now that wasn't in the plan." Tai laughed at the sudden change.
"Izzy'll survive." Matt responded, turning around.
And then the first wave was upon them.
Izzy had grouped the strongest hand to hand fighters on the hillside. Tai had control over Piximon, Leomon, Ogremon, Andromon, Frigimon, the Meramon and, because they were small, courageous and fit in easily, several Koromon. He also had control over a single Geckomon, not that this was truly necessary. Tai understood his job well. Piximon, Leomon and the rest of the digidestined had hashed it out over an hour of difficult conferences, and the rough shape of the plan was known to all the leaders. He also understood why he was here, he and Matt, the strongest and most powerful of the digidestined fighters, standing facing the darkness.
The first wave was mostly heavy digimon, big and brutal compared to the others. A huge Cherrymon led the offensive, around him grouped in a loose formation were Gardromon and Woodmon, the heaviest of those groups selected to take the hill in a single charge. They lumbered forward like a herd of unstoppable beasts, and it seemed that the ground was shaking under them. But Tai watched with eyes trained and tempered by long years of digital conflict.
Cherrymon may have been big, but he was still just a tree. Two different Meramon caught him in a crossfire from far out. For a few moments blasts of fire and hypersonic seeds blasted back and forth, but only for a few moments before the giant tree retreated, its upper branches already in fire. Despite the fact that one had been an Ultimate, the combined powers of spirited Champions was enough to bring him down. But that was enough time for the others to draw up to the base of the hill.
Leomon was waiting. With a roar, and a whirl of his blade, he thundered into battle, weapon flashing in the new sunlight. He wielded his deadly sword with the skill of a dancer, or a juggler, always keeping it between him and danger, smashing aside his opponents, slicing them until they were forced to retreat from the onslaught. Ogremon, perhaps not wishing to be outdone by his rival bashed about with his club, relentlessly dodging other attacks, lashing out with elemental fury. Every now and then the world lit with a flare of orange or purple fire as they clashed with more demanding foes, but they were quickly submerged in their opponents.
Andromon planted himself firmly in the track the Woodmon were taking. His first Gatling Attack blasted two separate Woodmon into pieces of digital data, but the rush got closer. His second blast also did damage, sending several onrushing champions flying through the air, but then they were on him. He nearly disappeared under them, but reappeared a moment later in a rapidly clearing space, wielding his Lightning Blade like a scimitar to gain respect from those rushing to attack him. His eyes flashed as he cut through the enemy ranks. The Gardromon rush was met by the others, Meramon from the heights raining down a steady stream of fire upon them, heating them up until their armor almost glowed. As they rushed to the top they were met by Frigimon, bashing out in abandon with his Sub-Zero Ice Punch, flash freezing them. In many cases the stress of being heated and frozen so fast was too much, and the expired on the spot. Pieces of broken metal flew through the air, only to transform into digital data.
From far back a squadron of Vilemon tried to bombard the top of the hill to give themselves the advantage. But Piximon was prepared for this, and a digital barrier rose around him and the entire hill, shielding the inhabitants from the enemy bombardment. Out of that barrier rose a shape of blue metal and flashing eyes, MetalGarurumon rising to the challenge of battle. The Vilemon scattered almost immediately, but it was not quite fast enough to prevent some of them from falling in battle.
An enterprising group of Bakemon managed to float quietly up the back of the hillside. As they crested the top they were suddenly met by the armored specter of WarGreymon waiting for them. The ensuing fight was both short and to the point. It was also very predictable. And above it all the Geckomon stood back on his heels and let the sweet, proud sound of his horn ring out.
The horn was the signal, but Izzy, who had an excellent sense of timing, was already moving. Even as the horn sounded from the hill there was a sudden fanfare of several dozen similar instruments, each one in a different location. At that signal the long grasses waving carefully in the breeze parted, and the army arose. It marched off step, in the kind of pattern that only an amateur or a desperate man would accept as a formation. They were off step, clustered in the wrong places, and spread thinly. But they were full of determination and spirit, and they were in the right places at the right time. Most of them were rookies or in-training level digimon, not a match for the champions that made up most of Daemon's armies, but what they lacked in power they were making up in numbers and willpower. More than that, the sudden appearance of an army on the ridges gave Daemon's forces the biggest loss of morale ever. They were the digimon who had terrorized the land, had seen the hatred in the eyes of their enemies as they took what those digimon created. And now they were looking at their worst nightmare, all their enemies returned united to stop them. They were used to beating up near-defenseless digimon, the presence of such a huge force arrayed against them frightened them, and the lack of their own education scared them. They were not experienced enough, or knowledgeable enough, to understand the weaknesses that their opponents amateurish formation had, or the advantages that they still possessed. All they were was frightened.
The advancing army was grouped in series. The biggest and toughest digimon, mostly champions who would usually wander the wilderness, were grouped in the second line. Ahead of them were the small fast fighters who would dart ahead and engage the enemy directly. Behind them, filling in the gaps, were the smaller ones who had little strength to add. By adding their firepower to the affair, and filling in gaps when the ones in front fell out of the line, Izzy had hoped to create a solid formation. The very back row was filled with troops who were more reluctant, but whose missile firepower could add greatly to the battle already underway. Together, only swaying a little, they charged down the hill at their opponents, trying to avoid giving the enemy a chance to move against them.
Too late, Daemon recognized his danger, but now the battle was well and truly joined. As Izzy had hoped Daemon concentrated solely upon the leaders on that central pinnacle of rock, those who had defied him so long. He had avoided scouting out the countryside, and remained ignorant of the forces waiting to ambush him. Now Daemon was aware and furious, but the trap was already sprung.
With a howl Daemon sent his reserves airborne, but he was already out of luck, because, for the first time, he was outclassed in the air. His flying digimon barely had time to get off the ground before the storm was upon them. With a roar of battle that would have intimidated most dragons Garudamon and MegaKabuterimon rose into the sky, howling for altitude. Behind them dozens of others arose, Unimon and a squadron of insectoid champions, groups of flying rookies and a few other assorted digimon from the wilds rising into the sky. Within seconds the air had turned into a giant dogfight, but the superior numbers and determination of the newcomers was clearly showing. Dark digimon after digimon either turned tail and fled, or tumbled from the sky, sometimes in flames. The forces of Light could not dominate the skies, but they could keep their enemies from taking it over.
"Ice Wolf Spikes!" MetalGarurumon drew himself up in the move he had been preparing since the beginning of the battle. Armored hatches on his body slid open with smooth precision, and a second later there was the blast of smoke that marked the launch of his multiple missiles. By concentrating he was able to change his usual attack, and now each missile blasted out independently guided tandem, each one seeking a different target. All across the field dark digimon cried out in sudden pain and fear as death found them, blasting them apart in fragments of digital data.
At that point the allies slammed into the army of Daemon with an impact that probably could have been heard on the other side of the continent. The front lines disintegrated into a mess of melee combat as one side and the other tried to slash, bash and generally backstab their way through the other. Combat was so close that, in many cases, attacks simply were useless, and fighting was carried out tooth and claw to fist. Here and there loomed the sudden flash of fire, or the descent of teeth, followed by screams and howls, sometimes in rage, sometimes in pain. Sometimes the screams cut off sickeningly quick. Digimon collapsed, injured, only to be trampled in the mess and tangle of bodies, sometimes by their own allies and friends. Everything dissolved into madness.
Any view of the battle turned into chaos. Tai saw a brief glimpse of Leomon and Ogremon, now fighting back-to-back in a turning wheel of chaos and destruction, carving their way through the last of the original Woodmon to assault the hill. For a moment there was a flicker of lightning and Andromon appeared, simply tossing RedVeggiemon around like a salad, sending bolts of flickering lightning down his arms at his opponents. Then they all disappeared back into the maddening chaos of battle. In another section Frigimon suddenly loomed above his opponents, cold radiating off of him like flickering flame, driving his opponents back with his aura. Then he too was gone into the mad rush of battle. Here a group of Otamamon and Numemon swarmed a single Gardromon, who tried to pick them off as they attacked. He threw some to the ground, but soon disappeared under the rising tide. There a Geckomon was crushed savagely under the feet of a group of rampaging Woodmon. Here there was death, there destruction. Blood, data and fire became mixed in a huge storm.
Smaller digimon, most of them on the side of the digidestined, were treated mercilessly, crushed by enemies big enough to ignore them, and sometimes by their own allies. But they did not die easily, and they did not die alone. Their refusal to surrender encouraged all the digimon on their side to higher and higher acts of courage. And though they might be ground underfoot like so much dirt, MetalGarurumon and WarGreymon were doing the same thing to the army of Champions that they had encountered. From their flashing metal claws, teeth, and the blazing orange and blue fires of their attacks digimon were fleeing. Disintegrating data always marked the part of the chaos where Matt and Tai were standing, allowing them to be distinguished from the dreadful roar of battle, that elemental beast that threatened to drown them all in sonic fury.
And then Daemon entered the battle, and everything got worse.
Izzy watched and waited from his central position. Around him he could see the continuing disaster and triumph of the battle unfolding, and he tried to focus on what was happening, to ignore the consequences now so painfully obvious. Everywhere death and destruction spoke to him, telling him of the failure of his plans, but he ignored the voices that spoke disquiet in his head.
Daemon's right wing and center had drawn up into a huddled mob, determined to stand their ground, trapped between his forces and their master. Izzy had split his forces into four "companies", and the two companies that had swept down from the right barely outnumbered their opponents, and they managed only to keep their opponents busy, their firepower about evenly matched. However the left wing had managed to cut off Daemon's left wing, and had surrounded it and had it heavily outnumbered. Izzy's plan was simple, finish off the left wing, now separated, and then unleash those soldiers, plus the ones on the rock and his last reserves to drive straight through to Daemon. For a moment it looked as if that plan would actually work.
But when Daemon moved Izzy changed his strategy, switching to the one he had originally planned on.
"Finally." He whispered, and unleashed the final assault.
Daemon came with the thunder of his fire pushing ahead of him, broadcasting his place and intent to all who came before him. His presence inspired terror in his foes, confidence in his servants. His guards came with him, massive MarineDevimon, oozing primal darkness, slim LadyDevimon, laughing terribly and cruelly, SkullSatamon, a brute with eyes that glowed with interior evil. Everywhere he went other digimon fled in terror, abandoning the field to him.
But his presence was the signal that they had all been waiting for.
"Wing Blade!" Garudamon went first, flame spearing toward the ground, blasting a huge hole in the ground, sending pieces flying everywhere, lighting the world with sparks. The attack, as Leomon had explained patiently, was merely a diversion, something to get the attention of the ground-based attackers while the rest of the soldiers sprang into action.
Izzy's last reserves, held back especially for this moment, also sprang forward. Centarumon had been waiting since the beginning of the battle for the moment when Daemon would commit himself, would lose his distant position of command. Now, involved in the battle, the mega was too busy to pay attention to things on the outskirts. With that, Centarumon, along with a group of Monochromon and a few Tyrannomon sprang forth onto the field of battle. The ground thundered away under their feet, warning those in their path of the oncoming horde, and allowing them to brace for battle. But the new arrivals were not interested in fighting. They were simply to trample the enemy formations into the ground, blasting targets of opportunity, and break the formation up. Their arrival made the battle even more chaotic, but the focus of conflict shifted away from them almost as quickly.
Daemon was engaged in the middle, coming to the rescue of his beleaguered center, but he was unable to aid the wings as they came under attack from increasingly vicious opposition. The charge of the cavalry came when he was otherwise engaged. Had he remained aloof and separated from battle he could have halted the charge easily, but, as it was, he was occupied and completely ignorant of the havoc being wreaked on his troops.
But now everyone was zeroing in on him. He might have been powerful enough to attract everybody's attention, but that only made him more a target. Even as he strode through another line of soldiers all six digimon belonging to the digidestined swooped down on him, blazing with power. There was an exchange of power as the two groups blasted each other, and then there was a pause in the battle as a whole.
Daemon's almost annihilated left wing fled the field. His other forces stayed in place, but looked as if they were going to run away. They probably were, Izzy thought, if their master got defeated. Daemon, standing alone in the middle of the field, was surrounded by every one of the digimon that they had managed to draft. Leomon and Ogremon, Andromon and Frigimon, all of them stood firm against the evil monarch in a straight line that showed no sign of wavering. Piximon floated overhead, his spear still a banner for all to follow. Digimon on both sides were suddenly aware of what was going on, and their was a shift in the lines of battle. Nobody wanted to die while the true battle was going on elsewhere.
The battle lulled as digimon withdrew and prepared to watch the titanic clash that was preparing itself in the middle of the field. Everyone knew that this was where the true battle would take place, and that everything else was insignificant compared to this clash of arms.
For a long moment they just stared at each other, each side taking the measure of the other side, neither group wanting to back down.
Then they charged.