Disclaimer: Digimon is not owned by me.
Author's Note: Sorry that this took so long to come out. I've realized that I have a monster
rewrite job headed my way, and school started and excuses, excuses, excuses. I hope it
doesn't end up too long to keep you interest. Sparrow9 pointed out an inconsistency that I
didn't quite explain in the story. Ken is banking on TK having done enough without his
powers, and is interpreting Gennai to mean that his powers can only come out in a limited fashion.
It remains to be seen who is right.
Episode XXIII
White Knight
"In the depths of winter I finally learned there was in me an invincible summer."
-Albert Camus
"Evil Inferno!" Flames blasted out a wide circle around Daemon, and the charge ground to a halt with sudden fury. Fire and determination met for a few moments as everything held still, and then the combatants separated themselves for a moment to look each other over.
Oblivious to the battle in the middle of the field MarineDevimon and Zudomon were slowly circling each other, each one looking for a weakness that they could exploit. Both of them claimed dominance of the seas, and it was obvious that they had fostered an intense dislike of each other. Above, through the air there was movement and current as Garudamon, Unimon and LadyDevimon eyed each other warily, waiting for the other to begin their movement. SkullSatamon raised one eyebrow in an appraising way, but there was no reply from Piximon, who fluttered facing him, but the merest twitch of an eye, easily mistaken. For a moment everything was stillness, the other digimon belonging to the digidestined, along with the other heroes come to support them facing Daemon in a vast ring.
"So you wish battle." Daemon looked at his foes with consideration. "I will grant that your confidence and skill has improved somewhat since our last meeting. Still you have only two who are truly capable of causing me concern. I think I shall discuss with them, and let the rest of you deal with other things." He waved his hand.
"Look out!" Tai shouted, and lunged backward, but he was not quick enough. He and Matt had been standing next to MetalGarurumon and WarGreymon when Daemon waved his hand and now they could only watch in horror as the ground erupted around them in blue fire. For a moment it looked like they were doomed to be consumed in Daemon's flames, but the fires died after a moment as they were forced skyward by Daemon's will.
A second later the two Megas and their two human companions were enclosed by a solid hemisphere of blue light, similar to something that might have come out of a holographic light display. The two humans looked like they were trying to panic but their digimon were standing calm and statuelike, awaiting the fight they knew was coming. Daemon relaxed his posture, but the glowing field remained in place, a barrier that split the team in half.
"What is that?" Sora yelled. MegaKabuterimon howled in challenge, and a brilliant bolt of energy shot down from him, only to disperse harmlessly on the surface of the barrier. Whatever it was, it was strong enough to repel their attacks.
"He intends to keep this fight separate." Izzy told them unnecessarily. "He just wants to have it out with the two of them while we cannot interfere."
"Now what do we do?" Joe asked, clutching his head.
"We have to help them!" Mimi yelled.
"No we don't." Izzy was surprisingly calm. "We just have to believe in them, in the fact that they can win, as much as they believe in us. This is their fight now, and all we can do is help from afar."
"That isn't" Joe began when Piximon moved. Or it could have been SkullSatamon, nobody was really sure, but in one second they went from stationary and immobile to speeding bullets, suddenly ricocheting across the landscape. Izzy remembered their last confrontation with SkullSatamon, how easily he had overwhelmed even Ultimate level digimon and realized that this was an Ultimate whose like they had not seen before, something powerful beyond what most normal digimon could hope to achieve. But he had never appreciated Piximon's skills before. Only a flare of light, as bright as the sun, had marked his battle against the Dark Masters, but here it was quickly obvious that he might even have grown in power since then. As fast as SkullSatamon moved his staff to attack with his devastating energies, Piximon's spear moved just as fast, and the clash of their weapons created flashes of light all over the battleground. The speed that they were moving at was phenomenal, and they literally covered the entire valley in seconds, bouncing off each other like hyper-active billiards balls.
Flashes exploded across the battlefield, fire and wind gusts tore through lines both friendly and enemy, and in that moment that battle resumed. LadyDevimon shot forward, sending darkness ahead, but Garudamon dived out of the way. Unimon simply moved, so fast that all you could see was a blur, and the evil digimon suddenly found herself plowing through merely empty air. MarineDevimon and Zudomon leapt at each other at the same moment, tearing through the air like rockets, and their collision shook the earth. A moment later they were a mess of brawny arms and squirming tentacles writhing at each other in fury. The lines of battle thundered together once more, and the dark digimon found themselves beset by the forces of the Light, but they had gained precious moments to rest and regroup, and now the battle threatened to wage hopelessly out of control.
But the digidestined barely watched, their attention fixed on what was happening inside the globe.
"So, we meet again." Daemon seemed content to wait for them. Themselves, they preferred to wait for him to come to them.
"But things have changed." WarGreymon's voice was confident, and Tai suddenly realized how much he had missed his huge partner. Light shown from him, reflecting off the armored surfaces like rainbows, and the fires of the sunrise burned in his claws.
"The tide has turned, evil one." MetalGarurumon stalked around his foe like the wolf he was, every step slow, cautious, careful, but every movement revealing that he too was ready to spring into action. There was nothing about his movements that seemed casual, he looked like a trap, ready to spring shut on his opponent.
"The fires of war bracket the world. There is nothing that you can do to stop it." Daemon stepped forward slowly, one single step that seemed to shake the earth.
"But in fire is steel forged. And in blood is the blade of war tempered." WarGreymon stepped forward. "We have learned. You and your kind have taught us well over the years. We will not yield to you, no matter the guise that you bring before us. You are a demon, ancient enemy of the angels of old. You fear the Asrana'Dactal like no other, and we know some of it. We are champions of this world, named and ordained by powers which you will never understand or be able to match." With every word his claws rose until they seemed to point straight at his opponent.
"As long as we stand, you will not prevail. We are strong enough to resist you, once, and for all. We will throw you out, and then there will be peace, for a time. We will stand, and you will not defeat us." MetalGarurumon had finally stopped, crouching in preparation for the spring.
"Then I will see to it that you do not stand long." Daemon responded. And leapt.
He was aiming for WarGreymon, hands spread wide, unholy flames gathering on their edges as if he was going to seize the Mega and let his fire burn through armor and into the tender flesh beneath. But the world suddenly erupted in a blur of blue and silver and MetalGarurumon slammed into Daemon like a battering ram, seeking to sink metal-shod teeth into the monarch's skin. Daemon flailed once and MetalGarurumon bounced off, but the Mega landed on his feet and was up and in the air again in an instant, eyes glowing at the sounds of battle.
WarGreymon charged through the gap to the left. Daemon released a blast of force through his hands, but WarGreymon cut it apart with his glowing claws, diving forward to meet his enemy. There was a light in his eye that reminded Tai briefly of the battles of his former glory days, the days when he had stood against the darkness.
"Mega Claw!" He howled, and his claws came alight with the fires of the sun itself. As the snapped through the air they left tracks of dancing flamelets behind, as if he was igniting the very air itself. Daemon responded by throwing up walls of fire and constructs of flame in his path, concentrating upon this fearsome apparition. Steel and fire met, clashed, flamed, and burst asunder. Every time they clashed they bounced apart again in showers of flaming sparks, lighting the air around them like a fireworks display. WarGreymon seemed to be making progress when Daemon growled in anger and lashed out with pure force, catching the Mega unawares and sending him tumbling backwards. He growled something rude as he got to his feet.
"Now it is time to finish you. Evil Inferno!" Fire reached out toward WarGreymon in a torrential rush. Tai's heart went into his mouth.
"Ice Wolf Claw!" A blast of freezing ice responded, crystallizing what water there was left in the air into ice. For a moment Daemon and MetalGarurumon stood facing each other, each one struggling against the other with all their strength, sending fire and ice back and forth like two tornadoes trying to fight with each other. But then Daemon burst through the blasts of cold, only to find that MetalGarurumon, reacting with the reflexes of a true wolf, was no longer there. He was aloft again, trying to get out of the way.
"These guys talk too much." WarGreymon complained as he slammed a metal-clad hand down on Daemon'' head. During the exchange of fire he had managed to speed up behind the demon, and the shattering sound of the impact renewed Tai's faith in his companion.
"Evil Inferno!" Fires leapt at the armored warrior, who was already shooting back into the sky.
"Terra Force!" This was not the true power of WarGreymon, because the ball of energy gathered was actually very small, but it was enough to counter the split second Inferno Daemon had released. And then MetalGarurumon was leaping back into the fray.
"Vulcan's Hammer!" Zudomon brought his hammer down on MarineDevimon's head for the third time and the huge squid-like mass of blackness dissolved into shards of digital data. The now bruised marine mammal stood up and began to lumber off toward the next fight that he could see.
"How are we doing?" Sora asked, as she turned away from the sky. Above LadyDevimon had just blundered into a trap, swatted from the sky like a bug as the renewed warriors of the Light took to the air, driving the darkness back. The skilled and experienced Garudamon, having just broken the formidable digimon's back with a single blow took the task of driving the other digimon away from there with vigor. LadyDevimon tried to struggle upright, her face alive with venom, but her back simply would not support her and she collapsed, cursing.
"I don't know." Izzy admitted. His attention was split between the titanic struggle inside the dome, and the blurred movements of Piximon and SkullSatamon, who were still blurring around the battlefield. He was also trying to direct the battle itself, but it seemed to have resolved itself into an uneven match. Digimon on both sides were hugging the ground, exchanging fire, nobody willing to begin the charge that would end the battle, especially with the true confrontation taking place not so far away. Since nothing they did would likely have an effect upon the battle itself, they were now unwilling to die for a cause that they saw as already won.
"It all depends on Tai and Matt now." Joe pointed out, looking up from where he was bandaging the arm of an injured Monzaemon. He had set up a little field hospital there in the middle of the battleground, and was trying to patch up as many digimon as he could. Mimi was helping him, getting injured digimon to lay down and wait their turn for the doctor's aid. Digimon were scrambling into his tent, carrying the bodies of fallen companions. Some of them came in a state that was as near to death as a digimon could get without crossing that fatal line, but others were still full of fire. They only wanted to get their wounds wrapped up so they could get back to the fight.
"Somehow I think it always did." Izzy mused, watching the battle progress. He had temporarily given up on the rest of the battle, a reasonable decision considering that there truly was nothing for him to do their anyway. He was smart enough to understand what was happening inside the dome, and to realize how important it was. Izzy sighed as a familiar feeling came back to him. All of the effort he had expended for the team had given them the chance to win, but now all he could do was watch from the sidelines as the battle raged on elsewhere.
"Finish him guys!" Sora cheered.
"Let's do this." WarGreymon howled. He was rising from the ground again after being thrown there once more, but he looked just as angry as ever.
"Commencing attack." MetalGarurumon darted in, but this time, instead of closing with his opposition he veered off at the last moment and unleashed a barrage of fire that nearly knocked Daemon down.
"Terra Force!" This time the globe of fire looked like the sun, and was probably as big. Hauled over WarGreymon's head it framed him for a moment, and then plunged downward, blasting the dirt from around where Daemon was, obscuring all in fire. Light and shadow danced across the earth in concert, as the world rocked beneath them.
"We won!" Tai yelled, but Matt restrained his enthusiasm with a cautioning hand.
"Fools!" Daemon roared, but this time he was not disinterested and board, but angry, horribly angry and ready to unleash his fury on any who would be foolish enough to stand against him. "Evil Inferno!"
This time the flames were not the cheerful flames of home or even the ravenous beasts that he had unleashed earlier against his enemies. These were the infernos of truth and legend, burning their way across the ground like a firestorm. WarGreymon was thrown to the ground helpless in the face of that power, power that tossed him around like a rag doll. MetalGarurumon fell back under that assault, steadily loosing ground to that tornado of fire.
"He means to finish it." WarGreymon grunted as he was slammed into the ground again.
"If we are to act, it must be now." MetalGarurumon continued.
A cold, knowing certainty came over Tai and Matt. There were no words for this, no reason in the madness that had overcome them all, only knowledge, and with it, comfort. And perhaps hope. Without knowing why they stepped toward each other, until they were so closed that they were almost not touching, but not quite. Their crests ignited in fires that others would have been hard pressed to interpret, and harder pressed to look at. But the other digidestined stared into the heart of the new star that had blossomed their with expressions of rapture in their faces.
The darkness closed in on the sleeping digidestined, but there was a disturbance in the air. Patterns of dust unchanged for years were suddenly swept away by a wall of power, as the tides of destiny bent and changed around them. Even as Ken settled down for a fitful night of rest, he was shocked by the sudden change in light around them. Then he realized where it was coming from.
TK and Kari jerked back upright, both of them with eyes wide and chests flaming with unearthly light, power blasting out of them like water from a fountain. They opened their mouths in unison and yelled to whatever gods were listening.
"The Hour Has Come! It Is Time!"
Izzy tried to describe it later and failed. To start with, he claimed, there was a feeling that they were all together. It was hard to tell where, maybe in a park for a picnic, or maybe hiding in some room in school, having lunch. All that you knew is that it was warm and comfortable and safe and all of your friends were there, waiting for you, waiting to talk to you, or laugh with you, or share with you. You could still feel the danger lurking in the background, but it had changed, become less urgent. Disaster fell away like it had never been there before.
He looked around, laughing and smiling, at the others' faces. Sora, now renewed and in the full splendor of her youthful vigor, energy fairly screaming about its presence from the center of her heart. Joe, tall, calm and collected now, he was not smiling as wildly, but confidently, as if his heart was full to bursting inside. Mimi, more beautiful than ever, her hair falling around her in shimming waves, looking like she was ready to start dancing around them. And most of all Matt and Tai, standing together like the friends they were, the light of their regard for each other practically radiating off of them like rain pouring off the sides of a building during a storm.
He was aware of other faces. It seemed Ken and Davis were there, and Yolei and Cody, and especially the glowing forms of TK and Kari. All of their strength seemed to be pouring out, gathering in a pool, draining from them, but, like love, the more they gave, the more they seemed to have. Behind them lurked other faces, some of them looked familiar, and for a moment Izzy had a glimpse of Michael, and Willis and Neriko and other digidestined that normally lived all over the world, joining in. Behind them were faces and figures that Izzy could not identify at all. Some of them looked almost inhuman, some of them were old, some were young. Some were flickering flames, while some of them radiated great power like the sun. But they only appeared as visions, as phantoms, as ghosts made flesh, giving some of what they were, their indisputable essence, into the pool of power gathering beneath them, smiling at the others who watched them, returning love and friendship with more of the same.
And in the distance he could see the battlefield, a point of drab, ordinary colors amid the blessed surroundings of heaven. But it was there that they were all concentrated, and he could only watch in amazement as the sky around the field, and then the field itself, changed to black. There were only two digimon, MetalGarurumon and WarGreymon, outlined in light. And then they began to change.
Carefully, as if they had been built only for this purpose, the two Megas began to fold up. Arms contracted, torsos disappeared into the steady swelling of their heads. And then, when it seemed that all that would be left would be the empty shells of their skulls, from those shells arose huge mechanical constructs. For a moment they looked peculiarly like construction equipment, and then Izzy realized that he was watching the formation of giant arms. And then
There was light, and singing, and music, and power. That much he was sure of. But there was also something else, a sense of joining, a sense of everything made right again. A sense of rebirth from fire. Out of a symphony of light and strength, something took shape, took physical form, rising from the ashes.
A cloak whirled, white and smooth cloth rising, controlled somehow without a force visible, to reveal scarlet beneath. A head, braced by a single forward pointing horn rose, and inside the eye sockets two eyes flared to life, both staring across the field with the utmost concentration.
The image solidified. The dream vanished, the wall of fire surrounding him exploded and vanished.
And, with a footstep that shook the world, Omnimon stepped out of legend and onto the field of battle.
He had changed. His armor had grown, his claws had shrunk, but some things were the same. He did not just reflect light, he glowed, like a star that had once been falling, but had decided to stop. Light shone from him in waves, gently washing over the world, illuminating everything in a silver glow. Armor covered his chest, bracing him against the elements, against all who would come and stand against him, but all of that was nothing compared to the fire in his eyes, fire that simply would not go out.
He was the ultimate knight, a construct of technology, magic and prowess, and it showed. Every line, every movement displayed a power and majesty that none had yet experienced.
"Daemon." He rumbled, ominously like storm clouds gathered on the horizon. "You who once strode the land in search of conquest, you who once betrayed all that we hold dear. Your presence here is an abomination, and must cease. Your rule is a thing of evil, lies and trickery and it shall be brought to an end. This pointless battle will cease."
"You know Paladin, I never liked you much anyway." Daemon also was acting more serious, vibrating the earth itself with his words. "And I don't think I'm going to obey your nonsensical little commands. Rule is a matter of power, and the truth is that you don't have the power to force me to do anything."
"Perhaps." Omnimon stalked across the intervening ground, each step eating up another precious piece of earth. "That remains to be seen."
"You cannot defeat a true monarch of evil. A servant of the greater darkness remains beyond you." Daemon began to circle warily, eyes never leaving his opponent.
"I am anointed champion of this world. I wield power equal to anything that can threaten this world." Omnimon stopped and glared at his opponent.
"I am not of this world. You have no dominion over me." Daemon stopped, obviously awaiting something.
"That is a distinction that has yet to be tested."
There was a long, still moment as they both stared at each other.
"Evil Inferno!" The flames reached out from Daemon's hand, but this time they stopped a few meters away from him, coalescing into a sword of burning unholy flame. An evil light burned from his eyes, and he charged forward.
"Transcendent Sword!" WarGreymon's maw opened on Omnimon's left hand, and a huge sword blade, inscribed with ancient runes, erupted, glowing with silver fire. Omnimon stepped, pivoted, and charged.
The clash of blades was tremendous, sparks were sent flying everywhere, showering the ground with miniature firestorms. Lightnings flared between them. As fast as the first stroke was deflected, another fell, and the two continued. Daemon was striking rapidly, his sword swinging around his hand without movement, only with the direction of his malevolent will. Omnimon's arm sometimes seemed to blur as they struggled back and forth. High strokes and low were parried with flashes of light, thrusts were knocked aside, swings deflected. The ground beneath them began to bubble with the titanic fury of the battle taking place above, shattering the ground. Tai and Matt were shoved against the walls of the bubble by the sheer force of the battle taking place.
"Now what?" Joe asked nervously.
"We watch." Sora replied seriously. She could feel it swelling through her, through all of them, the steady thrum of power. In a sense all of them had been combined to make that monster digimon, that knight in shining armor that bestrode the battlefield like a titan out of myth. There was a strength there that they had never truly understood before, the impact of a dozen digidestined working as a team, standing against an evil powerful enough that they were all needed to take it down. She could feel her heart beat against her chest as she realized that her two best friends in the entire world were standing inside that dome, with that warrior. She knew that they were still in danger, but somehow she refused to believe it, and her heart swelled as she embraced their forthcoming triumph.
At last, after what seemed like an eternity of fighting their way up and down the field, exchanging blow for blow, the two combatants separated, almost like boxers returning to their corners to lick their wounds. But they did not stay there. Like the inexorable machines of war they were, they both raised their arms.
"Evil Inferno!" A raging ball of fire shot from Daemon's outstretched arm.
MetalGarurumon's jaws opened. With a click and a roar there was suddenly a huge cannon barrel protruding from them, maw opened wide in preparation for destruction. Fire glowed in the barrel for a moment, and then Omnimon roared "Supreme Cannon!"
This time the winner was obvious, the ball of white fire overwhelmed the raging firestorm and blasted toward Daemon, but the evil digimon had already flitted out of the way, riding on the disruption created by the cannon blast. Instead of hitting him the blast shot forward and hit the inner edge of the barrier. The barrier bent under the weight, stretching like a dome made of rubber, and then snapped back, and the globe of fire slammed into the ground and detonated, illuminating everything.
"No good. He's too fast." Omnimon muttered to himself. And then he leapt forward. "Transcendent Sword!"
"Evil Inferno!" The swords of fire and light clashed again, slamming into each other with a force that sent the entire earth vibrating. Light and shadow exploded off of each other, bouncing in different directions, and then both warriors hit the ground, each one facing the opposite direction from their opponent. Within less then a second they had spun around, blades out again, descending like bolts from above, clashing and slashing their way through each other. Sparks flared again as they crashed together, and with a suddenness that astounded the observers, they both clattered down to the ground. Omnimon got to his knees, his sword trailing on the ground as if too heavy, but Daemon managed to get his feet under him and spring at his foe's unprotected back.
"Omnimon!" Tai and Matt both yelled as one.
But Omnimon was already moving with a speed that belied his earlier seeming inability to move, his right arm coming up cat quick.
"Supreme Cannon!"
Daemon tried to throw himself out of the way, but he was not entirely successful, and the edge of the blast batted him around like a tennis ball. But he was still able to bring his sword up and block Omnimon's descending Transcendent Sword. Once again they were off, blades clashing in a fury of arms that raised an echoing din around the world.
"Look at them go." Izzy whispered.
"I must admit." Leomon had come up behind them, taking advantage of the lull in the battle outside to observe the true confrontation. "I am a master of many kinds of schools of sword fighting, but this is beyond me. I think Omnimon might actually be using the legendary Asrana'Dactal. I thought that nobody alive knew that. Then again, I thought he was only a legend."
"Omnimon?" Joe asked curiously, taking his attention momentarily off the swordplay within the dome.
"Yes, we have legends of the shining knight of the Digital World, but I had always thought that they were just that, legends. But now, to see him in person, it is something beyond even what the legends describe."
"What do the legends say?" Izzy asked absently.
"That should evil ever conquer, that there can be created a single digimon out of the two strongest warriors, and that he shall retain in himself the power to stand against all evil. He shall be a knight, bearer of the ancient Asrana'Dactal style, a being whom the angels taught long ago." Leomon looked pensive for a moment. "Once he appeared before, and then disappeared. We do not know much of the great war, so long ago, only that this warrior in front of us is beyond powerful."
"Evil Inferno!" Daemon surrounded himself with a wall of fire, masking his presence, covering everything so that all Omnimon could see was a wall of steady flames, obscuring all vision. Fires raged everywhere, and behind it all he could hear Daemon's laugh. Omnimon quickly considered his options, and then quietly closed his eyes.
"What's he doing?" Matt asked in astonishment.
There was a flicker, a flicker of power and a small change in the currents of destiny. Without opening his eyes Omnimon sprang, half turning, his sword arm coming around in a huge arc, and Daemon's blade, which had just appeared coming through the wall of flames, bounced off it, brutally crushed to one side. If Daemon himself had been a little less aware, he might have gotten sliced open by the backswing. As it was he only barely managed to throw himself out of the way, and a piece of his sleeve was sliced over.
But now Omnimon had another problem. A quick glance confirmed what it was. Matt and Tai were now bruised, scorched, partially burnt, and trapped inside the dome with the battle of the century. Omnimon thought that he could shatter the dome, but not without taking enough attention off of the battle to finish him. He needed to finish this now.
"What's wrong?" Sora asked outside the dome, looking in at Omnimon's sudden refusal to attack.
Izzy gasped in shock. "It's Matt and Tai."
"What?"
"They're trapped inside the dome. At the rate that those two are tearing things up, we aren't going to be able to find enough of them to bury by the time they're done with this. He needs a way to end this."
"But how?" Leomon asked. "Daemon is a fearsome opponent. This battle could last for hours before one of them makes a mistake."
But Izzy was already thinking rapidly, his mind going back to the beginning of the battle. His eyes jerked open as the idea came to him.
"Omnimon!" He screamed.
In the middle of the battle the white knight paused, memories and ideas flooding into his head. All the strength of the Digidestined had gone into making him, and now he could feel their thoughts, especially the thrown thought of Koushiro Izumi, piercing his mind like a beam of light. He looked at Daemon with a new light burning in his eyes.
One arm came up, white light began to gather, fire began to build. Daemon smirked and waited for the shot to come, waiting for a repeat of the last time this had happened. Omnimon ignored him and concentrated. He was doing this by instinct now, by the senses granted to him by his maker, by his intuition, by the feel of the battlefield. The warrior's instincts, inborn into him, the little of the Asrana'Dactal he actually knew, all of it combined quickly into one feeling. There was nothing to back it up, but he was a warrior, and he would go with his gut.
"Supreme Cannon!" The blast of light was moving quicker this time, like a lightning bolt, blasting out from Omnimon's arm.
Daemon watched it coming, and managed, with the utmost of effort, to barely get out of the way. The blast continued on sailing toward the edge of the barrier.
"Again with the useless techniques?" Daemon smirked, but Omnimon paid him no attention, instead watching something behind him. Too late Daemon felt the change in the currents, the alteration in power, the rippling of fate. Too late he felt something behind him.
The globe of fire had not dissipated. It had hit the barrier, been stretched, distorted, and had rebounded like a basketball, screaming across the ground with a howl of fury. Now, even as Daemon began to turn, became aware of the extent of his peril, it was already too late, a globe of fire was coming for him, and it was already too close to stop.
The explosion was immense, rocking the damaged earth one more time. In the distance old trees fell, collapsing under their own weight. Birds took flight miles away, and all over the field the battle stopped completely. And Daemon was struck hard in the back, his eyes open in horror he lurched out of the all-consuming explosion, fires running up and down his now tattered clothes. He screamed in pain, and looked curiously thin and used up, like a threadbare doll as the explosion threw him forward.
Toward Omnimon.
And the white knight of the Digital World, who had been expecting this very moment, leapt forward himself. His eyes burned with cold fire, but all his effort was concentrated down into one arm, waiting for the moment in which to use it, to end this once and for all. And then, as Daemon's eyes widened one last time, as time slowed down, Omnimon thrust forward.
"Transcendent Sword!" He roared, in a voice that shook the leaves from the trees.
"Go!" Tai and Matt yelled at once.
And the blade, glowing with the silver fire of transcendent light thrust forward with all the weight and hope of the world behind it. And Daemon, reeling helplessly from the explosion, hit the tip with a sickening crunch. For a moment he just looked odd, ridiculous, a puppet whose strings had been cut. And then the massive sword protruded from his back, and his eyes, first red, faded to black. Silver fire burst through his body, raging unchecked, and burnt it to ash. And then, while his scream of agony still echoed in the air, the monarch of the digital world, the tyrant of a thousand nations, destroyer of cities and shatterer of empires toppled from the blade of a glowing sword and dissolved into a million pieces of data.
And then it was over.
The barrier fell. Matt and Tai collapsed as one. Omnimon looked at the suddenly silent battlefield with a dark and intimidating glance, his eyesight finally falling on the one movement still left on the field. With one massive arm he reached out and plucked SkullSatamon out of the air with the jaws of MetalGarurumon. Beside him Piximon also stopped. Both digimon were scarred, singed and battered, but they both were very definitely alive.
"Flee from here." Omnimon stared at SkullSatamon with one burning eye. "Return to your master. You know of whom I speak. Tell him that his puppet has been destroyed, his plans upset, and destiny changed. Tell him that I, that we, are coming for him. And then never return." He released his captive.
SkullSatamon looked at the massive knight for a moment, and then vanished upwards in a blur of speed, not wanting anything to do with the more powerful digimon. Omnimon narrowed his gaze and looked at the others still walking on the field. "That goes for you as well. Those who served Daemon may leave here in peace. But should I find any of you here in an hours time who are not too injured to move, it will go ill for you." The fire in his gaze gave those around him no doubt what that meant.
An hour later the battlefield was empty.
"So Daemon has fallen." Khartan frowned momentarily, or at least gave the impression of having done so under his cloak of shifting blackness.
"He is Master." Bane repeated.
"I told you that you did not have to call me that. Bah, never mind. The question is now what happens next. I did not expect him to fall so soon, but it is certainly not unexpected. Are we ready for the next phase of the great plan?"
"Of course sire."
"That's not much better Bane. Very well, we will wait on the Digidestined invading my castle to make their move, and then go to phase two."
"My lord's will."
"Bane, you begin to irritate me."
"So what's the plan?" Sora asked again.
Everywhere in the narrow campground was the sound of wounded digimon groaning and mumbling. Joe was gone, working overtime on bringing digimon back up to strength. He was more cheerful than they had seen him in some time, finally with something he could do. He was making a difference again, and there was nobody killing others around him. Mimi had gone with him to help him out. Both of them had been changed by the constant stream of the dead and wounded, but they were still, at heart, themselves, and they would hold onto that for the rest of their life.
Sora and Izzy were watching over the comatose bodies of Tai and Matt, both of whom had not regained consciousness after leaving the battlefield. They had been carried with the greatest of care to this place and deposited here with honor. Sora wondered for a moment if the resemblance of lying in state suggested an uncertain future but Izzy shrugged as he looked over the burns and other marks.
"Well, their clothes are totaled, but they should be able to go again tomorrow. It doesn't look like they have any permanent damage, and they're probably just exhausted from giving Omnimon all their energy. Which puts us right on Gennai's deadline. I think what we should do it tomorrow, just find the gate and get to the others. It is what we came here for after all."
"Right." Sora began her vigil.
Outside the celebration was underway. It was quiet and subdued, because there was not a single digimon there who did not know somebody either injured or deleted, but it was a celebration nonetheless. Everyone knew that they had, through rising together and fighting together, rid themselves of an evil monarch. The forces of darkness had fled the land for a time. Already the fastest and most rested digimon had been sent out to spread the message, that Daemon had been met and defeated on the fields of the Digital World.
Digimon who had known precious little to cheer about in the past years, who had spent months hiding in the brush and the wilderness, afraid that the simple comforts of home would bring evil to their doorstep threw back their heads in wild abandon. The digidestined had been triumphant, the Digital World was free of evil once more.
And the tales were already starting to spread. Tales of digimon that had taken a stand against evil and, with the power of their own hearts and the strength of their own bodies, had driven an unknowable evil back into the depths. The tales would spread as the digimon come back home, and give them to their children, and their friends and their neighbors. And in time the legends would grow until the deeds would have filled a dozen battles, but the message would remain the same. Digimon could fight for themselves, and win, and could drive off evil if they stuck together. It was a message that would never, ever cease.
The fire of freedom had been lit, its flames would never die.
Author's Note: Sorry that this took so long to come out. I've realized that I have a monster
rewrite job headed my way, and school started and excuses, excuses, excuses. I hope it
doesn't end up too long to keep you interest. Sparrow9 pointed out an inconsistency that I
didn't quite explain in the story. Ken is banking on TK having done enough without his
powers, and is interpreting Gennai to mean that his powers can only come out in a limited fashion.
It remains to be seen who is right.
White Knight
"In the depths of winter I finally learned there was in me an invincible summer."
-Albert Camus
Oblivious to the battle in the middle of the field MarineDevimon and Zudomon were slowly circling each other, each one looking for a weakness that they could exploit. Both of them claimed dominance of the seas, and it was obvious that they had fostered an intense dislike of each other. Above, through the air there was movement and current as Garudamon, Unimon and LadyDevimon eyed each other warily, waiting for the other to begin their movement. SkullSatamon raised one eyebrow in an appraising way, but there was no reply from Piximon, who fluttered facing him, but the merest twitch of an eye, easily mistaken. For a moment everything was stillness, the other digimon belonging to the digidestined, along with the other heroes come to support them facing Daemon in a vast ring.
"So you wish battle." Daemon looked at his foes with consideration. "I will grant that your confidence and skill has improved somewhat since our last meeting. Still you have only two who are truly capable of causing me concern. I think I shall discuss with them, and let the rest of you deal with other things." He waved his hand.
"Look out!" Tai shouted, and lunged backward, but he was not quick enough. He and Matt had been standing next to MetalGarurumon and WarGreymon when Daemon waved his hand and now they could only watch in horror as the ground erupted around them in blue fire. For a moment it looked like they were doomed to be consumed in Daemon's flames, but the fires died after a moment as they were forced skyward by Daemon's will.
A second later the two Megas and their two human companions were enclosed by a solid hemisphere of blue light, similar to something that might have come out of a holographic light display. The two humans looked like they were trying to panic but their digimon were standing calm and statuelike, awaiting the fight they knew was coming. Daemon relaxed his posture, but the glowing field remained in place, a barrier that split the team in half.
"What is that?" Sora yelled. MegaKabuterimon howled in challenge, and a brilliant bolt of energy shot down from him, only to disperse harmlessly on the surface of the barrier. Whatever it was, it was strong enough to repel their attacks.
"He intends to keep this fight separate." Izzy told them unnecessarily. "He just wants to have it out with the two of them while we cannot interfere."
"Now what do we do?" Joe asked, clutching his head.
"We have to help them!" Mimi yelled.
"No we don't." Izzy was surprisingly calm. "We just have to believe in them, in the fact that they can win, as much as they believe in us. This is their fight now, and all we can do is help from afar."
"That isn't" Joe began when Piximon moved. Or it could have been SkullSatamon, nobody was really sure, but in one second they went from stationary and immobile to speeding bullets, suddenly ricocheting across the landscape. Izzy remembered their last confrontation with SkullSatamon, how easily he had overwhelmed even Ultimate level digimon and realized that this was an Ultimate whose like they had not seen before, something powerful beyond what most normal digimon could hope to achieve. But he had never appreciated Piximon's skills before. Only a flare of light, as bright as the sun, had marked his battle against the Dark Masters, but here it was quickly obvious that he might even have grown in power since then. As fast as SkullSatamon moved his staff to attack with his devastating energies, Piximon's spear moved just as fast, and the clash of their weapons created flashes of light all over the battleground. The speed that they were moving at was phenomenal, and they literally covered the entire valley in seconds, bouncing off each other like hyper-active billiards balls.
Flashes exploded across the battlefield, fire and wind gusts tore through lines both friendly and enemy, and in that moment that battle resumed. LadyDevimon shot forward, sending darkness ahead, but Garudamon dived out of the way. Unimon simply moved, so fast that all you could see was a blur, and the evil digimon suddenly found herself plowing through merely empty air. MarineDevimon and Zudomon leapt at each other at the same moment, tearing through the air like rockets, and their collision shook the earth. A moment later they were a mess of brawny arms and squirming tentacles writhing at each other in fury. The lines of battle thundered together once more, and the dark digimon found themselves beset by the forces of the Light, but they had gained precious moments to rest and regroup, and now the battle threatened to wage hopelessly out of control.
But the digidestined barely watched, their attention fixed on what was happening inside the globe.
"So, we meet again." Daemon seemed content to wait for them. Themselves, they preferred to wait for him to come to them.
"But things have changed." WarGreymon's voice was confident, and Tai suddenly realized how much he had missed his huge partner. Light shown from him, reflecting off the armored surfaces like rainbows, and the fires of the sunrise burned in his claws.
"The tide has turned, evil one." MetalGarurumon stalked around his foe like the wolf he was, every step slow, cautious, careful, but every movement revealing that he too was ready to spring into action. There was nothing about his movements that seemed casual, he looked like a trap, ready to spring shut on his opponent.
"The fires of war bracket the world. There is nothing that you can do to stop it." Daemon stepped forward slowly, one single step that seemed to shake the earth.
"But in fire is steel forged. And in blood is the blade of war tempered." WarGreymon stepped forward. "We have learned. You and your kind have taught us well over the years. We will not yield to you, no matter the guise that you bring before us. You are a demon, ancient enemy of the angels of old. You fear the Asrana'Dactal like no other, and we know some of it. We are champions of this world, named and ordained by powers which you will never understand or be able to match." With every word his claws rose until they seemed to point straight at his opponent.
"As long as we stand, you will not prevail. We are strong enough to resist you, once, and for all. We will throw you out, and then there will be peace, for a time. We will stand, and you will not defeat us." MetalGarurumon had finally stopped, crouching in preparation for the spring.
"Then I will see to it that you do not stand long." Daemon responded. And leapt.
He was aiming for WarGreymon, hands spread wide, unholy flames gathering on their edges as if he was going to seize the Mega and let his fire burn through armor and into the tender flesh beneath. But the world suddenly erupted in a blur of blue and silver and MetalGarurumon slammed into Daemon like a battering ram, seeking to sink metal-shod teeth into the monarch's skin. Daemon flailed once and MetalGarurumon bounced off, but the Mega landed on his feet and was up and in the air again in an instant, eyes glowing at the sounds of battle.
WarGreymon charged through the gap to the left. Daemon released a blast of force through his hands, but WarGreymon cut it apart with his glowing claws, diving forward to meet his enemy. There was a light in his eye that reminded Tai briefly of the battles of his former glory days, the days when he had stood against the darkness.
"Mega Claw!" He howled, and his claws came alight with the fires of the sun itself. As the snapped through the air they left tracks of dancing flamelets behind, as if he was igniting the very air itself. Daemon responded by throwing up walls of fire and constructs of flame in his path, concentrating upon this fearsome apparition. Steel and fire met, clashed, flamed, and burst asunder. Every time they clashed they bounced apart again in showers of flaming sparks, lighting the air around them like a fireworks display. WarGreymon seemed to be making progress when Daemon growled in anger and lashed out with pure force, catching the Mega unawares and sending him tumbling backwards. He growled something rude as he got to his feet.
"Now it is time to finish you. Evil Inferno!" Fire reached out toward WarGreymon in a torrential rush. Tai's heart went into his mouth.
"Ice Wolf Claw!" A blast of freezing ice responded, crystallizing what water there was left in the air into ice. For a moment Daemon and MetalGarurumon stood facing each other, each one struggling against the other with all their strength, sending fire and ice back and forth like two tornadoes trying to fight with each other. But then Daemon burst through the blasts of cold, only to find that MetalGarurumon, reacting with the reflexes of a true wolf, was no longer there. He was aloft again, trying to get out of the way.
"These guys talk too much." WarGreymon complained as he slammed a metal-clad hand down on Daemon'' head. During the exchange of fire he had managed to speed up behind the demon, and the shattering sound of the impact renewed Tai's faith in his companion.
"Evil Inferno!" Fires leapt at the armored warrior, who was already shooting back into the sky.
"Terra Force!" This was not the true power of WarGreymon, because the ball of energy gathered was actually very small, but it was enough to counter the split second Inferno Daemon had released. And then MetalGarurumon was leaping back into the fray.
"Vulcan's Hammer!" Zudomon brought his hammer down on MarineDevimon's head for the third time and the huge squid-like mass of blackness dissolved into shards of digital data. The now bruised marine mammal stood up and began to lumber off toward the next fight that he could see.
"How are we doing?" Sora asked, as she turned away from the sky. Above LadyDevimon had just blundered into a trap, swatted from the sky like a bug as the renewed warriors of the Light took to the air, driving the darkness back. The skilled and experienced Garudamon, having just broken the formidable digimon's back with a single blow took the task of driving the other digimon away from there with vigor. LadyDevimon tried to struggle upright, her face alive with venom, but her back simply would not support her and she collapsed, cursing.
"I don't know." Izzy admitted. His attention was split between the titanic struggle inside the dome, and the blurred movements of Piximon and SkullSatamon, who were still blurring around the battlefield. He was also trying to direct the battle itself, but it seemed to have resolved itself into an uneven match. Digimon on both sides were hugging the ground, exchanging fire, nobody willing to begin the charge that would end the battle, especially with the true confrontation taking place not so far away. Since nothing they did would likely have an effect upon the battle itself, they were now unwilling to die for a cause that they saw as already won.
"It all depends on Tai and Matt now." Joe pointed out, looking up from where he was bandaging the arm of an injured Monzaemon. He had set up a little field hospital there in the middle of the battleground, and was trying to patch up as many digimon as he could. Mimi was helping him, getting injured digimon to lay down and wait their turn for the doctor's aid. Digimon were scrambling into his tent, carrying the bodies of fallen companions. Some of them came in a state that was as near to death as a digimon could get without crossing that fatal line, but others were still full of fire. They only wanted to get their wounds wrapped up so they could get back to the fight.
"Somehow I think it always did." Izzy mused, watching the battle progress. He had temporarily given up on the rest of the battle, a reasonable decision considering that there truly was nothing for him to do their anyway. He was smart enough to understand what was happening inside the dome, and to realize how important it was. Izzy sighed as a familiar feeling came back to him. All of the effort he had expended for the team had given them the chance to win, but now all he could do was watch from the sidelines as the battle raged on elsewhere.
"Finish him guys!" Sora cheered.
"Let's do this." WarGreymon howled. He was rising from the ground again after being thrown there once more, but he looked just as angry as ever.
"Commencing attack." MetalGarurumon darted in, but this time, instead of closing with his opposition he veered off at the last moment and unleashed a barrage of fire that nearly knocked Daemon down.
"Terra Force!" This time the globe of fire looked like the sun, and was probably as big. Hauled over WarGreymon's head it framed him for a moment, and then plunged downward, blasting the dirt from around where Daemon was, obscuring all in fire. Light and shadow danced across the earth in concert, as the world rocked beneath them.
"We won!" Tai yelled, but Matt restrained his enthusiasm with a cautioning hand.
"Fools!" Daemon roared, but this time he was not disinterested and board, but angry, horribly angry and ready to unleash his fury on any who would be foolish enough to stand against him. "Evil Inferno!"
This time the flames were not the cheerful flames of home or even the ravenous beasts that he had unleashed earlier against his enemies. These were the infernos of truth and legend, burning their way across the ground like a firestorm. WarGreymon was thrown to the ground helpless in the face of that power, power that tossed him around like a rag doll. MetalGarurumon fell back under that assault, steadily loosing ground to that tornado of fire.
"He means to finish it." WarGreymon grunted as he was slammed into the ground again.
"If we are to act, it must be now." MetalGarurumon continued.
A cold, knowing certainty came over Tai and Matt. There were no words for this, no reason in the madness that had overcome them all, only knowledge, and with it, comfort. And perhaps hope. Without knowing why they stepped toward each other, until they were so closed that they were almost not touching, but not quite. Their crests ignited in fires that others would have been hard pressed to interpret, and harder pressed to look at. But the other digidestined stared into the heart of the new star that had blossomed their with expressions of rapture in their faces.
The darkness closed in on the sleeping digidestined, but there was a disturbance in the air. Patterns of dust unchanged for years were suddenly swept away by a wall of power, as the tides of destiny bent and changed around them. Even as Ken settled down for a fitful night of rest, he was shocked by the sudden change in light around them. Then he realized where it was coming from.
TK and Kari jerked back upright, both of them with eyes wide and chests flaming with unearthly light, power blasting out of them like water from a fountain. They opened their mouths in unison and yelled to whatever gods were listening.
"The Hour Has Come! It Is Time!"
Izzy tried to describe it later and failed. To start with, he claimed, there was a feeling that they were all together. It was hard to tell where, maybe in a park for a picnic, or maybe hiding in some room in school, having lunch. All that you knew is that it was warm and comfortable and safe and all of your friends were there, waiting for you, waiting to talk to you, or laugh with you, or share with you. You could still feel the danger lurking in the background, but it had changed, become less urgent. Disaster fell away like it had never been there before.
He looked around, laughing and smiling, at the others' faces. Sora, now renewed and in the full splendor of her youthful vigor, energy fairly screaming about its presence from the center of her heart. Joe, tall, calm and collected now, he was not smiling as wildly, but confidently, as if his heart was full to bursting inside. Mimi, more beautiful than ever, her hair falling around her in shimming waves, looking like she was ready to start dancing around them. And most of all Matt and Tai, standing together like the friends they were, the light of their regard for each other practically radiating off of them like rain pouring off the sides of a building during a storm.
He was aware of other faces. It seemed Ken and Davis were there, and Yolei and Cody, and especially the glowing forms of TK and Kari. All of their strength seemed to be pouring out, gathering in a pool, draining from them, but, like love, the more they gave, the more they seemed to have. Behind them lurked other faces, some of them looked familiar, and for a moment Izzy had a glimpse of Michael, and Willis and Neriko and other digidestined that normally lived all over the world, joining in. Behind them were faces and figures that Izzy could not identify at all. Some of them looked almost inhuman, some of them were old, some were young. Some were flickering flames, while some of them radiated great power like the sun. But they only appeared as visions, as phantoms, as ghosts made flesh, giving some of what they were, their indisputable essence, into the pool of power gathering beneath them, smiling at the others who watched them, returning love and friendship with more of the same.
And in the distance he could see the battlefield, a point of drab, ordinary colors amid the blessed surroundings of heaven. But it was there that they were all concentrated, and he could only watch in amazement as the sky around the field, and then the field itself, changed to black. There were only two digimon, MetalGarurumon and WarGreymon, outlined in light. And then they began to change.
Carefully, as if they had been built only for this purpose, the two Megas began to fold up. Arms contracted, torsos disappeared into the steady swelling of their heads. And then, when it seemed that all that would be left would be the empty shells of their skulls, from those shells arose huge mechanical constructs. For a moment they looked peculiarly like construction equipment, and then Izzy realized that he was watching the formation of giant arms. And then
There was light, and singing, and music, and power. That much he was sure of. But there was also something else, a sense of joining, a sense of everything made right again. A sense of rebirth from fire. Out of a symphony of light and strength, something took shape, took physical form, rising from the ashes.
A cloak whirled, white and smooth cloth rising, controlled somehow without a force visible, to reveal scarlet beneath. A head, braced by a single forward pointing horn rose, and inside the eye sockets two eyes flared to life, both staring across the field with the utmost concentration.
The image solidified. The dream vanished, the wall of fire surrounding him exploded and vanished.
And, with a footstep that shook the world, Omnimon stepped out of legend and onto the field of battle.
He had changed. His armor had grown, his claws had shrunk, but some things were the same. He did not just reflect light, he glowed, like a star that had once been falling, but had decided to stop. Light shone from him in waves, gently washing over the world, illuminating everything in a silver glow. Armor covered his chest, bracing him against the elements, against all who would come and stand against him, but all of that was nothing compared to the fire in his eyes, fire that simply would not go out.
He was the ultimate knight, a construct of technology, magic and prowess, and it showed. Every line, every movement displayed a power and majesty that none had yet experienced.
"Daemon." He rumbled, ominously like storm clouds gathered on the horizon. "You who once strode the land in search of conquest, you who once betrayed all that we hold dear. Your presence here is an abomination, and must cease. Your rule is a thing of evil, lies and trickery and it shall be brought to an end. This pointless battle will cease."
"You know Paladin, I never liked you much anyway." Daemon also was acting more serious, vibrating the earth itself with his words. "And I don't think I'm going to obey your nonsensical little commands. Rule is a matter of power, and the truth is that you don't have the power to force me to do anything."
"Perhaps." Omnimon stalked across the intervening ground, each step eating up another precious piece of earth. "That remains to be seen."
"You cannot defeat a true monarch of evil. A servant of the greater darkness remains beyond you." Daemon began to circle warily, eyes never leaving his opponent.
"I am anointed champion of this world. I wield power equal to anything that can threaten this world." Omnimon stopped and glared at his opponent.
"I am not of this world. You have no dominion over me." Daemon stopped, obviously awaiting something.
"That is a distinction that has yet to be tested."
There was a long, still moment as they both stared at each other.
"Evil Inferno!" The flames reached out from Daemon's hand, but this time they stopped a few meters away from him, coalescing into a sword of burning unholy flame. An evil light burned from his eyes, and he charged forward.
"Transcendent Sword!" WarGreymon's maw opened on Omnimon's left hand, and a huge sword blade, inscribed with ancient runes, erupted, glowing with silver fire. Omnimon stepped, pivoted, and charged.
The clash of blades was tremendous, sparks were sent flying everywhere, showering the ground with miniature firestorms. Lightnings flared between them. As fast as the first stroke was deflected, another fell, and the two continued. Daemon was striking rapidly, his sword swinging around his hand without movement, only with the direction of his malevolent will. Omnimon's arm sometimes seemed to blur as they struggled back and forth. High strokes and low were parried with flashes of light, thrusts were knocked aside, swings deflected. The ground beneath them began to bubble with the titanic fury of the battle taking place above, shattering the ground. Tai and Matt were shoved against the walls of the bubble by the sheer force of the battle taking place.
"Now what?" Joe asked nervously.
"We watch." Sora replied seriously. She could feel it swelling through her, through all of them, the steady thrum of power. In a sense all of them had been combined to make that monster digimon, that knight in shining armor that bestrode the battlefield like a titan out of myth. There was a strength there that they had never truly understood before, the impact of a dozen digidestined working as a team, standing against an evil powerful enough that they were all needed to take it down. She could feel her heart beat against her chest as she realized that her two best friends in the entire world were standing inside that dome, with that warrior. She knew that they were still in danger, but somehow she refused to believe it, and her heart swelled as she embraced their forthcoming triumph.
At last, after what seemed like an eternity of fighting their way up and down the field, exchanging blow for blow, the two combatants separated, almost like boxers returning to their corners to lick their wounds. But they did not stay there. Like the inexorable machines of war they were, they both raised their arms.
"Evil Inferno!" A raging ball of fire shot from Daemon's outstretched arm.
MetalGarurumon's jaws opened. With a click and a roar there was suddenly a huge cannon barrel protruding from them, maw opened wide in preparation for destruction. Fire glowed in the barrel for a moment, and then Omnimon roared "Supreme Cannon!"
This time the winner was obvious, the ball of white fire overwhelmed the raging firestorm and blasted toward Daemon, but the evil digimon had already flitted out of the way, riding on the disruption created by the cannon blast. Instead of hitting him the blast shot forward and hit the inner edge of the barrier. The barrier bent under the weight, stretching like a dome made of rubber, and then snapped back, and the globe of fire slammed into the ground and detonated, illuminating everything.
"No good. He's too fast." Omnimon muttered to himself. And then he leapt forward. "Transcendent Sword!"
"Evil Inferno!" The swords of fire and light clashed again, slamming into each other with a force that sent the entire earth vibrating. Light and shadow exploded off of each other, bouncing in different directions, and then both warriors hit the ground, each one facing the opposite direction from their opponent. Within less then a second they had spun around, blades out again, descending like bolts from above, clashing and slashing their way through each other. Sparks flared again as they crashed together, and with a suddenness that astounded the observers, they both clattered down to the ground. Omnimon got to his knees, his sword trailing on the ground as if too heavy, but Daemon managed to get his feet under him and spring at his foe's unprotected back.
"Omnimon!" Tai and Matt both yelled as one.
But Omnimon was already moving with a speed that belied his earlier seeming inability to move, his right arm coming up cat quick.
"Supreme Cannon!"
Daemon tried to throw himself out of the way, but he was not entirely successful, and the edge of the blast batted him around like a tennis ball. But he was still able to bring his sword up and block Omnimon's descending Transcendent Sword. Once again they were off, blades clashing in a fury of arms that raised an echoing din around the world.
"Look at them go." Izzy whispered.
"I must admit." Leomon had come up behind them, taking advantage of the lull in the battle outside to observe the true confrontation. "I am a master of many kinds of schools of sword fighting, but this is beyond me. I think Omnimon might actually be using the legendary Asrana'Dactal. I thought that nobody alive knew that. Then again, I thought he was only a legend."
"Omnimon?" Joe asked curiously, taking his attention momentarily off the swordplay within the dome.
"Yes, we have legends of the shining knight of the Digital World, but I had always thought that they were just that, legends. But now, to see him in person, it is something beyond even what the legends describe."
"What do the legends say?" Izzy asked absently.
"That should evil ever conquer, that there can be created a single digimon out of the two strongest warriors, and that he shall retain in himself the power to stand against all evil. He shall be a knight, bearer of the ancient Asrana'Dactal style, a being whom the angels taught long ago." Leomon looked pensive for a moment. "Once he appeared before, and then disappeared. We do not know much of the great war, so long ago, only that this warrior in front of us is beyond powerful."
"Evil Inferno!" Daemon surrounded himself with a wall of fire, masking his presence, covering everything so that all Omnimon could see was a wall of steady flames, obscuring all vision. Fires raged everywhere, and behind it all he could hear Daemon's laugh. Omnimon quickly considered his options, and then quietly closed his eyes.
"What's he doing?" Matt asked in astonishment.
There was a flicker, a flicker of power and a small change in the currents of destiny. Without opening his eyes Omnimon sprang, half turning, his sword arm coming around in a huge arc, and Daemon's blade, which had just appeared coming through the wall of flames, bounced off it, brutally crushed to one side. If Daemon himself had been a little less aware, he might have gotten sliced open by the backswing. As it was he only barely managed to throw himself out of the way, and a piece of his sleeve was sliced over.
But now Omnimon had another problem. A quick glance confirmed what it was. Matt and Tai were now bruised, scorched, partially burnt, and trapped inside the dome with the battle of the century. Omnimon thought that he could shatter the dome, but not without taking enough attention off of the battle to finish him. He needed to finish this now.
"What's wrong?" Sora asked outside the dome, looking in at Omnimon's sudden refusal to attack.
Izzy gasped in shock. "It's Matt and Tai."
"What?"
"They're trapped inside the dome. At the rate that those two are tearing things up, we aren't going to be able to find enough of them to bury by the time they're done with this. He needs a way to end this."
"But how?" Leomon asked. "Daemon is a fearsome opponent. This battle could last for hours before one of them makes a mistake."
But Izzy was already thinking rapidly, his mind going back to the beginning of the battle. His eyes jerked open as the idea came to him.
"Omnimon!" He screamed.
In the middle of the battle the white knight paused, memories and ideas flooding into his head. All the strength of the Digidestined had gone into making him, and now he could feel their thoughts, especially the thrown thought of Koushiro Izumi, piercing his mind like a beam of light. He looked at Daemon with a new light burning in his eyes.
One arm came up, white light began to gather, fire began to build. Daemon smirked and waited for the shot to come, waiting for a repeat of the last time this had happened. Omnimon ignored him and concentrated. He was doing this by instinct now, by the senses granted to him by his maker, by his intuition, by the feel of the battlefield. The warrior's instincts, inborn into him, the little of the Asrana'Dactal he actually knew, all of it combined quickly into one feeling. There was nothing to back it up, but he was a warrior, and he would go with his gut.
"Supreme Cannon!" The blast of light was moving quicker this time, like a lightning bolt, blasting out from Omnimon's arm.
Daemon watched it coming, and managed, with the utmost of effort, to barely get out of the way. The blast continued on sailing toward the edge of the barrier.
"Again with the useless techniques?" Daemon smirked, but Omnimon paid him no attention, instead watching something behind him. Too late Daemon felt the change in the currents, the alteration in power, the rippling of fate. Too late he felt something behind him.
The globe of fire had not dissipated. It had hit the barrier, been stretched, distorted, and had rebounded like a basketball, screaming across the ground with a howl of fury. Now, even as Daemon began to turn, became aware of the extent of his peril, it was already too late, a globe of fire was coming for him, and it was already too close to stop.
The explosion was immense, rocking the damaged earth one more time. In the distance old trees fell, collapsing under their own weight. Birds took flight miles away, and all over the field the battle stopped completely. And Daemon was struck hard in the back, his eyes open in horror he lurched out of the all-consuming explosion, fires running up and down his now tattered clothes. He screamed in pain, and looked curiously thin and used up, like a threadbare doll as the explosion threw him forward.
Toward Omnimon.
And the white knight of the Digital World, who had been expecting this very moment, leapt forward himself. His eyes burned with cold fire, but all his effort was concentrated down into one arm, waiting for the moment in which to use it, to end this once and for all. And then, as Daemon's eyes widened one last time, as time slowed down, Omnimon thrust forward.
"Transcendent Sword!" He roared, in a voice that shook the leaves from the trees.
"Go!" Tai and Matt yelled at once.
And the blade, glowing with the silver fire of transcendent light thrust forward with all the weight and hope of the world behind it. And Daemon, reeling helplessly from the explosion, hit the tip with a sickening crunch. For a moment he just looked odd, ridiculous, a puppet whose strings had been cut. And then the massive sword protruded from his back, and his eyes, first red, faded to black. Silver fire burst through his body, raging unchecked, and burnt it to ash. And then, while his scream of agony still echoed in the air, the monarch of the digital world, the tyrant of a thousand nations, destroyer of cities and shatterer of empires toppled from the blade of a glowing sword and dissolved into a million pieces of data.
And then it was over.
The barrier fell. Matt and Tai collapsed as one. Omnimon looked at the suddenly silent battlefield with a dark and intimidating glance, his eyesight finally falling on the one movement still left on the field. With one massive arm he reached out and plucked SkullSatamon out of the air with the jaws of MetalGarurumon. Beside him Piximon also stopped. Both digimon were scarred, singed and battered, but they both were very definitely alive.
"Flee from here." Omnimon stared at SkullSatamon with one burning eye. "Return to your master. You know of whom I speak. Tell him that his puppet has been destroyed, his plans upset, and destiny changed. Tell him that I, that we, are coming for him. And then never return." He released his captive.
SkullSatamon looked at the massive knight for a moment, and then vanished upwards in a blur of speed, not wanting anything to do with the more powerful digimon. Omnimon narrowed his gaze and looked at the others still walking on the field. "That goes for you as well. Those who served Daemon may leave here in peace. But should I find any of you here in an hours time who are not too injured to move, it will go ill for you." The fire in his gaze gave those around him no doubt what that meant.
An hour later the battlefield was empty.
"So Daemon has fallen." Khartan frowned momentarily, or at least gave the impression of having done so under his cloak of shifting blackness.
"He is Master." Bane repeated.
"I told you that you did not have to call me that. Bah, never mind. The question is now what happens next. I did not expect him to fall so soon, but it is certainly not unexpected. Are we ready for the next phase of the great plan?"
"Of course sire."
"That's not much better Bane. Very well, we will wait on the Digidestined invading my castle to make their move, and then go to phase two."
"My lord's will."
"Bane, you begin to irritate me."
"So what's the plan?" Sora asked again.
Everywhere in the narrow campground was the sound of wounded digimon groaning and mumbling. Joe was gone, working overtime on bringing digimon back up to strength. He was more cheerful than they had seen him in some time, finally with something he could do. He was making a difference again, and there was nobody killing others around him. Mimi had gone with him to help him out. Both of them had been changed by the constant stream of the dead and wounded, but they were still, at heart, themselves, and they would hold onto that for the rest of their life.
Sora and Izzy were watching over the comatose bodies of Tai and Matt, both of whom had not regained consciousness after leaving the battlefield. They had been carried with the greatest of care to this place and deposited here with honor. Sora wondered for a moment if the resemblance of lying in state suggested an uncertain future but Izzy shrugged as he looked over the burns and other marks.
"Well, their clothes are totaled, but they should be able to go again tomorrow. It doesn't look like they have any permanent damage, and they're probably just exhausted from giving Omnimon all their energy. Which puts us right on Gennai's deadline. I think what we should do it tomorrow, just find the gate and get to the others. It is what we came here for after all."
"Right." Sora began her vigil.
Outside the celebration was underway. It was quiet and subdued, because there was not a single digimon there who did not know somebody either injured or deleted, but it was a celebration nonetheless. Everyone knew that they had, through rising together and fighting together, rid themselves of an evil monarch. The forces of darkness had fled the land for a time. Already the fastest and most rested digimon had been sent out to spread the message, that Daemon had been met and defeated on the fields of the Digital World.
Digimon who had known precious little to cheer about in the past years, who had spent months hiding in the brush and the wilderness, afraid that the simple comforts of home would bring evil to their doorstep threw back their heads in wild abandon. The digidestined had been triumphant, the Digital World was free of evil once more.
And the tales were already starting to spread. Tales of digimon that had taken a stand against evil and, with the power of their own hearts and the strength of their own bodies, had driven an unknowable evil back into the depths. The tales would spread as the digimon come back home, and give them to their children, and their friends and their neighbors. And in time the legends would grow until the deeds would have filled a dozen battles, but the message would remain the same. Digimon could fight for themselves, and win, and could drive off evil if they stuck together. It was a message that would never, ever cease.
The fire of freedom had been lit, its flames would never die.