Till The End Of All
By CyberDracomon
Chapter 5 of 26 - Enemy
Before the group knew it they found themselves back in the Digital World, but in an area they had never seen before. Even though everything looked the same as the region they had come to know well, they all had a feeling in them that this wasn't the Digital World they were used to. TK looked around the landscape, seeing far off mountains and jungle areas unfamiliar to him, even the grass under his feet felt different somehow. He looked over at Kari, who looked about as lost as he was.
"Hey Gatomon?" Kari said, taking her own look around. "How much do you know about this area of the Digital World?" To Kari's dismay Gatomon looked as lost as any of them.
"Just that it's guarded by a different Digimon than Azulongmon." She explained. "Maybe that's why everything feels weird..." TK hadn't thought of that, whatever guardian was in this realm was probably different in power than Azulongmon. Whatever the reason was, it would take a while to adjust to. It felt like the grass and ground under his feet were a lot firmer, like the grass was growing out of stone instead of soil.
"We should be careful." TK said. "We don't even know what Digimon are in this area of the Digital World, for all we know Digimon like Myotismon could be common around here." Kari nodded, a sudden look of worry in her eyes. TK didn't mean to worry her with that, but it was true they had to be prepared for the worst that could happen.
"In that case we should hurry to the temple." Patamon suggested. "Better to avoid anything until we know what's out there, right?" TK had to admit, his partner showed a lot more maturity under pressure, a big contrast to his usual self.
"Right, Patamon." Kari replied, drawing her D-3 from her pocket. She held it forward, projecting the map of the area in front of the four. "...Looks like the temple is..." Kari pointed the Digivice around until the map lined up with the landscape, pointing the right direction. "...It's somewhere in that jungle." TK looked away from the map, now noticing it pointed into an ominous looking jungle, too thick to look very far into.
"Not exactly a convenient temple, is it?" Gatomon said, just as stunned at the appearance of the jungle as TK was.
"Azulongmon said we had to go there, though." Kari replied. "We've dealt with worse than some overgrown plants, right?" She had a point, but then again that was in the eastern regions, getting through the jungle might be the easiest thing about the journey.
"Let me and Patamon go ahead." Gatomon said suddenly. "If we're in front of you it'll be easier for us to warn you and defend you. Besides, who else is going to clear out those vines?" The girls seemed to be dead on today, and in all honesty TK wasn't looking forward to leading them into the jungle himself, at least this way he could stay beside Kari and keep her safe just in case.
"Alright then." TK said. "Gatomon and Patamon can lead the way, it should just be a straight shot to the temple from here." The two Digimon nodded, both ready for their new task. Gatomon started into the jungle first, taking a quick swipe of her claws to remove a low-hanging vine. Patamon flew in a little higher, ready to blast any branches or vines out of the way. TK was about to enter, only to be stopped by Kari suddenly taking hold of his wrist from behind. He turned to look at her, confused by the sudden reluctance.
"TK..." She started, a worried tone to her voice. "Azulongmon... He said this would be harder than anything we've ever faced before... What if we're not up to it?" He realized Kari had waited for Patamon and Gatomon to be out of earshot, not wanting to discourage them, but such a sudden show of worry wasn't like Kari at all. TK turned and put his hands on Kari's waist, a gesture of comfort he had used a great deal in their history together.
"Kari, we can't worry about that so soon." TK explained, trying his best to find the right words quickly. "We don't even know how to stop the Cataclysm yet, but I know we're capable of it. We've been through too much already not to be." TK noticed Kari smile a bit, hopefully a sign of some renewed confidence. "Let's go, we'll find something at the temple to help. There's nothing to worry about." TK released Kari's waist and turned, walking into the path their Digimon had cleared. Kari smiled, watching him enter the dense jungle.
"Right, TK..." She whispered to herself. "...Nothing to worry about..." Kari took a deep breath to relax herself before following after TK, hoping the solution to this problem awaited them.
**********
Patamon blasted another vine from in front of him, ripping it apart as his Boom Bubble forced itself through the vine. It was about the tenth one he had to take care of, it was a task that was proving more difficult than he expected. He looked below at Gatomon, who was having a considerably easier time with her built-in weed whackers. Patamon couldn't look for long, though, too many recent memories being raised all over again. Unfortunately even without looking at Gatomon those memories seemed to drift through his mind, it was uncontrollable.
"Hey!" Patamon suddenly heard. "Digiworld to Patamon!" He looked down to see Gatomon staring up at him like he had just dropped dead.
"Oh, sorry..." He quickly said. "Guess this whole Cataclysm thing is starting to get to me." That was true to an extant, but obviously wasn't what was bothering him the most.
"Well at least pay attention, we can't stop it if we can't get any farther." She reminded him. Gatomon pointed up to a cluster of vines in front of Patamon, it seemed to be a knot of vines from every direction. "Think you can fire a shot good enough to get through that?" Patamon took a good look at how the knot was formed, then simply smiled, flying backwards a little. He quickly took in as much air as his body could hold, swelling him up to twice his size.
"Boom Bubble!" Patamon fired the blast of air, throwing himself backwards in the process. The ball of air hit the tangles hard, slowly ripping at them with the sharp blast of air. After only a few seconds the blast forced its way through, sending the remains of the vines everywhere and clearing the path.
"Nice shot." Gatomon complimented. She walked forward, just now noticing what was beyond those tangles. "It looks like a big clearing, there's no trees to get through." Patamon just now noticed the same, it looked like one big gap in the jungle.
"Good, maybe we can stop and rest for a while..." Patamon suggested. Gatomon looked behind her, checking for their human partners.
"Looks like we got a little too far ahead of Kari and TK..." She said. "Maybe we should stop and let them catch up." Always trying to be the tough one... Patamon had known her for too long, though, he could tell she was as tired as he was. She had a way of limping her tail a bit lower when she was, it meant the same as panting or sweating for her.
'Whew..." Patamon said, landing on the ground beside her. He was glad to get off of his wings after so long, not to mention glad he could let his body rest, it was sore from so many Boom Bubble inflations. He and Gatomon walked into the clearing, now getting a full view of how large it was. It looked so strange, even though the area was surrounded by trees and vines, there wasn't anything but dirt under their feet now, or anywhere in the large circular area.
"Looks like the only way in is the path we made." Gatomon pointed out, noticing there were no other clearings. "It should be a safe place to take a break." Patamon walked around, looking over the area. It looked safe enough, but to his dismay not a single fruit tree. Firing so often had made him a little hungry, nothing unbearable but enough to be distracting. In a way he welcomed it, distracted from his thoughts of Gatomon and the past few days with her. It haunted him no matter what he did or thought about for some reason, and the more it haunted him the more it hurt. This had to stop, one way or another, he had to get it off his mind.
"Gatomon..." Patamon said nervously. "As long as we're alone, I need to talk to you." Gatomon looked at him strangely, not expecting this.
"What is it, Patamon?" She asked. "...Wait... This isn't about what happened a few days ago, is it? I thought we agreed on that, it was just an experiment and we know what it was, right?" Of course Patamon already knew all of that, but just knowing that wasn't enough now.
"I know, Gatomon, but..." Somehow the words he needed escaped him, it took a while to recall them. "...but something still doesn't feel right about it. It was more than just that, didn't you feel it, too?" Gatomon looked on with a blank stare, unsure of what to think.
"...I'll admit that..." She said. "...but we know what we did wasn't meant for us, what if it was wrong for us to do?" Patamon shook his head, something in him not agreeing with that.
"We don't know that for sure." He replied. "Just because TK and Kari are in love and we're not doesn't mean it was wrong." Patamon felt weird saying that, but for what reason he didn't know. Gatomon hesitated before responding, apparently not sure what to reply with.
"I guess we just don't know enough about it..." She admitted. If we keep guessing like this we're just going to confuse ourselves. Maybe we should just find out what it's for before we try to guess again." Patamon was more concerned about why he felt such a thrill from it, but whatever they could figure out had to help.
"Good idea." He replied. "...I'm sorry I brought it up. I guess I was kind of worried..." Gatomon blinked, now unsure of what he was getting at.
"Worried about what?" She asked. Patamon wish he knew that, too, it was hard for even him to identify... He took a minute to find the words, but they still didn't seem right.
"Well..." He began. "I... kind of felt like it might have hurt our friendship somehow... It's strange, I can't describe it, I just feel that way." Gatomon looked down, thinking things over. Patamon wasn't sure what to expect next and could only wait.
"...Now that I think about it, I guess I worried about the same." She said. "You don't have to worry, though, next to Kari I trust you the most in the world. You've been my best friend for years, nothing could change that, right?" Patamon smiled slightly, relieved at her reaction.
"Right." He replied. "Thanks, Gatomon." With that Patamon stepped closer and gave Gatomon a friendly hug, the same he had been giving her for years. She smiled and hugged back, doing a better job of it than Patamon with his smaller arms. Patamon stayed there for a second, but something felt wrong now. It was like the hug was wrong, it seemed... almost empty...
**********
TK and Kari eventually made it to the clearing where Patamon and Gatomon were waiting. Both Digimon looked well rested from their clearing jobs and were obviously ready for more. TK looked around at the clearing, amazed that the jungle could keep such a wide open area barren of land like this.
"Kari, can you check the map?" TK asked. "I want to see how close this clearing is from the temple." Kari nodded, pulling out her Digivice. She pressed the button on top, projecting the map into the air. Kari looked it over, finding the two markers and a small gap in the jungle where they were now.
"Looks like we're a little more than halfway there." She pointed out. "We'll probably be there in another half hour easily." TK was relieved to hear that, as it was he didn't like pushing Patamon and Gatomon so hard just to get to the temple.
"Let's hurry, then." TK said. "We still don't know enough about this place to just wait for something to happen." He then turned to the two Digimon, who jumped to attention as he did. "Think you two are up for the next half of the trip?" Patamon and Gatomon exchanged a quick glance before nodding at TK, then started for the other side of the clearing.
Before the two even got to the center, though, they were stopped by a sudden flash of light that seemed to come out of nowhere, forcing all four to cover their eyes. When they looked back there was now a strange energy in the middle of the air that looked like a surge of electricity dancing around.
"This can't be good..." Patamon said, stepping back a bit. Gatomon did the same, both still watching the electricity. Suddenly it vanished, only the be replaced by what looked like a crack from a broken window, but in midair, not seeming to be on anything. The crack spread from it's center, steadily growing, each new crack accompanied by the same noise you'd expect to hear from breaking glass.
"TK, what's going on?" Kari asked nervously. TK was too nervous to answer, even if he could explain it. Suddenly from the middle of the cracks a pair of large claws appeared, startling everyone, making them jump back. The claws turned away from each other, then dug into the air beside them, taking hold. They then pulled the cracks apart, making them spread much faster and the sounds to become much louder. Eventually they hit a breaking point, shattering the air and sending fragments everywhere and sounding a huge breaking noise. TK covered his eyes with his arm to protect from any of the fragments, only to find none hit him. He could have sworn there were shards heading right for him... He looked up, finding the cracks gone and the air normal, but they were now replaced by a new figure. A massive, blood red dragon was now there, floating in the air above them. It had to be at least four times as tall as TK was. It had a powerful chest, covered with barbs, and strong arms with spikes on the shoulders and blades coming from the wrists. He had no legs, instead he featured a long tail with a set of spikes on the end. From his neck to the end of his tail his belly was gold colored and he sported two pairs of wings, all featuring their own spike at the top and lighter red in the skin of it's wings. On his head he had four horns, one larger and one smaller on both sides of his head. He had a mane of very light blonde hair and a pair of bright, glowing gold eyes with a small spike above each. The sight was as menacing as any Digimon he had ever seen before.
"...You two are the ones the guardian's have chosen?" It roared, his voice echoed slightly as he spoke. "I was hoping for more... Still you are the children of Hope and Light, you may prove worthy yet..." Both TK and Kari were amazed, not only by the sight of this Digimon but also that he already knew more about them than they knew about him.
"Who are you?" Kari shouted up to the dragon Digimon. "How do you know who we are?" It looked down at her, it's facial expression ice cold the entire time except for it's glaring eyes.
"How I know of you is not of your concern." He responded. "I am Ragnadramon, the guardian of the Cataclysm. I know of your quest and I have been sent to make sure you do not accomplish it." TK knew it wasn't going to be as easy as Kari and Azulongmon made it out to be. He looked down at Patamon, who looked eager to go into battle.
"Patamon, you're up!" TK shouted. "Don't go too far just yet, though, if he's only a Champion you don't have to waste your strength so soon." TK knew his entrance was flashy and he was big, but they had seen bigger Champion Digimon and Patamon still needed as much strength as possible to get to the temple. TK watched as his partner began glowing, building up the needed energy.
"Patamon Digivolve to..." Patamon's traditional storm of feathers emerged, flying in every direction. Once his power had hit it's limit, Patamon vanished in a blaze of white light, leaving a very familiar six winged angel in his place. "Angemon!" It had been so long since TK had seen Angemon he couldn't believe he was back.
"Ah, yes..." Ragnadramon said, now watching Angemon. "You command the angel Digimon... This may prove amusing." Angemon ignored the comment, swinging his staff and then absorbing it into his fist, charging his attack.
"Hand of Fate!" Angemon threw his fist forward, firing a beam of pure holy energy. The golden beam flew at Ragnadramon, but the dragon remained motionless, making no effort against the attack. TK and Angemon watched as the attack blasted against his chest, but only flew off, spreading out as it hit and disappearing without even making Ragnadramon blink. Both couldn't believe he had so easily ignored the attack.
"He's an Ultimate?" Kari said, as surprised as any of them. She looked at Gatomon, who was already waiting for a signal to join in. "Alright, then it's our turn." With that Gatomon turned and began building up her own power, preparing her own transformation.
"Gatomon Digivolve to..." Gatomon's body became a bright pink, growing from a feline to a humanoid form. Her gloves slipped off, replaced by a new, archer's glove on one hand and a long ribbon on the other. Her eight wings grew, unfolding as her angelic outfit appeared, finishing off with her helmet. "Angewomon!" The dragon now had two angels to battle with, something that even Myotismon and Dark Masters had cowered over. The dragon remained perfectly calm, however, waiting for the next move.
"Celestial Arrow!" Angewomon quickly formed an arrow of light, pulling it against the bow that had formed on her glove. As soon as it was charged she let it fly toward Ragnadramon's face, sending it as fast as possible. Just before it connected, though, the heroes heard a loud whip crack just before the arrow was thrown to the side, it's power diminished. They couldn't tell what had knocked it off course until they noticed Ragnadramon's tail retracting back.
"TK, he's too powerful." Angemon stated. "I'll have to go all out to stop him." TK nodded, agreeing, but he wished there was an easier way. Again Angemon powered himself up, this time taking in as much energy as he could draw.
"Angemon Digivolve to..." Another storm of white feathers came, this time surrounding Angemon has his body became pure energy, eventually reforming into a more powerful, eight-winged angel. A purple shield appeared over his left arm with a purple beam sword on his right, and a new purple helmet across his face. "MagnaAngemon!" TK was sure this would be a match for the dragon, MagnaAngemon had proven more than once he was as powerful as any Digimon, even Megas. MagnaAngemon wasted no time, raising his sword and circling it around.
"Gate Of Destiny!" He cried, releasing the loop he had formed. It flashed before becoming a golden gate, circling in midair in front of Ragnadramon, The gate opened, releasing a mass of white energy, flooding over Ragnadramon. TK watched as it bombarded their enemy, but his hope soon became despair as Ragnadramon grabbed onto the gate, gripping onto it until it exploded into a storm of digital bits. Again he glared at his opponents, with no sign of physical damage or effort. A Mega level, that was the last thing TK wanted to see now...
"I had thought you were the strongest of the Digidestined..." The dragon said. "I was hoping I would have more of a fight in this encounter, but alas it was not to be. Now it's my turn..." Ragnadramon's eyes suddenly flared even brighter, apparently readying an attack of his own. Both MagnaAngemon and Angewomon flew back a bit, regrouping themselves for whatever was coming next. Ragnadramon suddenly turned his head to Angewomon, his chosen first victim.
"Reality Breaker!" Ragnadramon threw his claws forward, making the space around Angewomon crack and distort. Before she could escape the space shattered into shards, then flew around her and through her in every direction, slashing her over and over. With each passing shard came a scream from the angel Digimon, paralyzing her in pain. Kari watched on in horror, unable to do anything to help. The shards suddenly stopped, then exploded with enough force to throw Angewomon to the ground, hitting hard and actually breaking the ground under her form the force of her impact. Kari ran over to her fallen partner, kneeling beside her in hopes that she was okay. TK watched the entire scene and was about to tell MagnaAngemon to run while he could, only to find the dragon Mega already entering his next attack, looking at MagnaAngemon.
"Eternal Pain!" Ragnadramon's eyes suddenly emitted an eerie, dark red light. MagnaAngemon wasn't sure what to expect until he felt a surge of pain through his entire body. TK watched as the same red light suddenly came from his partner's body, looking like endless spikes coming from within the center of his body. With the attack came an endless scream of agony from MagnaAngemon and Ragnadramon showed no signs of letting up. As much as he tried MagnaAngemon could do little but scream, in too much pain to move. Eventually Ragnadramon blinked, restoring his eyes' gold glow. The light faded from MagnaAngemon, sending the angel Digimon falling to the ground, landing with a hard crash into the jungle floor. TK couldn't believe what had just happened, too stunned to know what to do next. Both Digimon were out and Ragnadramon wasn't even budged, and worst yet he looked far from finished...
End Chapter 5
Coming Next: Chapter 6 - Fate
Ragnadramon is my own creation! Go here to see him:
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By CyberDracomon
Chapter 5 of 26 - Enemy
Before the group knew it they found themselves back in the Digital World, but in an area they had never seen before. Even though everything looked the same as the region they had come to know well, they all had a feeling in them that this wasn't the Digital World they were used to. TK looked around the landscape, seeing far off mountains and jungle areas unfamiliar to him, even the grass under his feet felt different somehow. He looked over at Kari, who looked about as lost as he was.
"Hey Gatomon?" Kari said, taking her own look around. "How much do you know about this area of the Digital World?" To Kari's dismay Gatomon looked as lost as any of them.
"Just that it's guarded by a different Digimon than Azulongmon." She explained. "Maybe that's why everything feels weird..." TK hadn't thought of that, whatever guardian was in this realm was probably different in power than Azulongmon. Whatever the reason was, it would take a while to adjust to. It felt like the grass and ground under his feet were a lot firmer, like the grass was growing out of stone instead of soil.
"We should be careful." TK said. "We don't even know what Digimon are in this area of the Digital World, for all we know Digimon like Myotismon could be common around here." Kari nodded, a sudden look of worry in her eyes. TK didn't mean to worry her with that, but it was true they had to be prepared for the worst that could happen.
"In that case we should hurry to the temple." Patamon suggested. "Better to avoid anything until we know what's out there, right?" TK had to admit, his partner showed a lot more maturity under pressure, a big contrast to his usual self.
"Right, Patamon." Kari replied, drawing her D-3 from her pocket. She held it forward, projecting the map of the area in front of the four. "...Looks like the temple is..." Kari pointed the Digivice around until the map lined up with the landscape, pointing the right direction. "...It's somewhere in that jungle." TK looked away from the map, now noticing it pointed into an ominous looking jungle, too thick to look very far into.
"Not exactly a convenient temple, is it?" Gatomon said, just as stunned at the appearance of the jungle as TK was.
"Azulongmon said we had to go there, though." Kari replied. "We've dealt with worse than some overgrown plants, right?" She had a point, but then again that was in the eastern regions, getting through the jungle might be the easiest thing about the journey.
"Let me and Patamon go ahead." Gatomon said suddenly. "If we're in front of you it'll be easier for us to warn you and defend you. Besides, who else is going to clear out those vines?" The girls seemed to be dead on today, and in all honesty TK wasn't looking forward to leading them into the jungle himself, at least this way he could stay beside Kari and keep her safe just in case.
"Alright then." TK said. "Gatomon and Patamon can lead the way, it should just be a straight shot to the temple from here." The two Digimon nodded, both ready for their new task. Gatomon started into the jungle first, taking a quick swipe of her claws to remove a low-hanging vine. Patamon flew in a little higher, ready to blast any branches or vines out of the way. TK was about to enter, only to be stopped by Kari suddenly taking hold of his wrist from behind. He turned to look at her, confused by the sudden reluctance.
"TK..." She started, a worried tone to her voice. "Azulongmon... He said this would be harder than anything we've ever faced before... What if we're not up to it?" He realized Kari had waited for Patamon and Gatomon to be out of earshot, not wanting to discourage them, but such a sudden show of worry wasn't like Kari at all. TK turned and put his hands on Kari's waist, a gesture of comfort he had used a great deal in their history together.
"Kari, we can't worry about that so soon." TK explained, trying his best to find the right words quickly. "We don't even know how to stop the Cataclysm yet, but I know we're capable of it. We've been through too much already not to be." TK noticed Kari smile a bit, hopefully a sign of some renewed confidence. "Let's go, we'll find something at the temple to help. There's nothing to worry about." TK released Kari's waist and turned, walking into the path their Digimon had cleared. Kari smiled, watching him enter the dense jungle.
"Right, TK..." She whispered to herself. "...Nothing to worry about..." Kari took a deep breath to relax herself before following after TK, hoping the solution to this problem awaited them.
**********
Patamon blasted another vine from in front of him, ripping it apart as his Boom Bubble forced itself through the vine. It was about the tenth one he had to take care of, it was a task that was proving more difficult than he expected. He looked below at Gatomon, who was having a considerably easier time with her built-in weed whackers. Patamon couldn't look for long, though, too many recent memories being raised all over again. Unfortunately even without looking at Gatomon those memories seemed to drift through his mind, it was uncontrollable.
"Hey!" Patamon suddenly heard. "Digiworld to Patamon!" He looked down to see Gatomon staring up at him like he had just dropped dead.
"Oh, sorry..." He quickly said. "Guess this whole Cataclysm thing is starting to get to me." That was true to an extant, but obviously wasn't what was bothering him the most.
"Well at least pay attention, we can't stop it if we can't get any farther." She reminded him. Gatomon pointed up to a cluster of vines in front of Patamon, it seemed to be a knot of vines from every direction. "Think you can fire a shot good enough to get through that?" Patamon took a good look at how the knot was formed, then simply smiled, flying backwards a little. He quickly took in as much air as his body could hold, swelling him up to twice his size.
"Boom Bubble!" Patamon fired the blast of air, throwing himself backwards in the process. The ball of air hit the tangles hard, slowly ripping at them with the sharp blast of air. After only a few seconds the blast forced its way through, sending the remains of the vines everywhere and clearing the path.
"Nice shot." Gatomon complimented. She walked forward, just now noticing what was beyond those tangles. "It looks like a big clearing, there's no trees to get through." Patamon just now noticed the same, it looked like one big gap in the jungle.
"Good, maybe we can stop and rest for a while..." Patamon suggested. Gatomon looked behind her, checking for their human partners.
"Looks like we got a little too far ahead of Kari and TK..." She said. "Maybe we should stop and let them catch up." Always trying to be the tough one... Patamon had known her for too long, though, he could tell she was as tired as he was. She had a way of limping her tail a bit lower when she was, it meant the same as panting or sweating for her.
'Whew..." Patamon said, landing on the ground beside her. He was glad to get off of his wings after so long, not to mention glad he could let his body rest, it was sore from so many Boom Bubble inflations. He and Gatomon walked into the clearing, now getting a full view of how large it was. It looked so strange, even though the area was surrounded by trees and vines, there wasn't anything but dirt under their feet now, or anywhere in the large circular area.
"Looks like the only way in is the path we made." Gatomon pointed out, noticing there were no other clearings. "It should be a safe place to take a break." Patamon walked around, looking over the area. It looked safe enough, but to his dismay not a single fruit tree. Firing so often had made him a little hungry, nothing unbearable but enough to be distracting. In a way he welcomed it, distracted from his thoughts of Gatomon and the past few days with her. It haunted him no matter what he did or thought about for some reason, and the more it haunted him the more it hurt. This had to stop, one way or another, he had to get it off his mind.
"Gatomon..." Patamon said nervously. "As long as we're alone, I need to talk to you." Gatomon looked at him strangely, not expecting this.
"What is it, Patamon?" She asked. "...Wait... This isn't about what happened a few days ago, is it? I thought we agreed on that, it was just an experiment and we know what it was, right?" Of course Patamon already knew all of that, but just knowing that wasn't enough now.
"I know, Gatomon, but..." Somehow the words he needed escaped him, it took a while to recall them. "...but something still doesn't feel right about it. It was more than just that, didn't you feel it, too?" Gatomon looked on with a blank stare, unsure of what to think.
"...I'll admit that..." She said. "...but we know what we did wasn't meant for us, what if it was wrong for us to do?" Patamon shook his head, something in him not agreeing with that.
"We don't know that for sure." He replied. "Just because TK and Kari are in love and we're not doesn't mean it was wrong." Patamon felt weird saying that, but for what reason he didn't know. Gatomon hesitated before responding, apparently not sure what to reply with.
"I guess we just don't know enough about it..." She admitted. If we keep guessing like this we're just going to confuse ourselves. Maybe we should just find out what it's for before we try to guess again." Patamon was more concerned about why he felt such a thrill from it, but whatever they could figure out had to help.
"Good idea." He replied. "...I'm sorry I brought it up. I guess I was kind of worried..." Gatomon blinked, now unsure of what he was getting at.
"Worried about what?" She asked. Patamon wish he knew that, too, it was hard for even him to identify... He took a minute to find the words, but they still didn't seem right.
"Well..." He began. "I... kind of felt like it might have hurt our friendship somehow... It's strange, I can't describe it, I just feel that way." Gatomon looked down, thinking things over. Patamon wasn't sure what to expect next and could only wait.
"...Now that I think about it, I guess I worried about the same." She said. "You don't have to worry, though, next to Kari I trust you the most in the world. You've been my best friend for years, nothing could change that, right?" Patamon smiled slightly, relieved at her reaction.
"Right." He replied. "Thanks, Gatomon." With that Patamon stepped closer and gave Gatomon a friendly hug, the same he had been giving her for years. She smiled and hugged back, doing a better job of it than Patamon with his smaller arms. Patamon stayed there for a second, but something felt wrong now. It was like the hug was wrong, it seemed... almost empty...
**********
TK and Kari eventually made it to the clearing where Patamon and Gatomon were waiting. Both Digimon looked well rested from their clearing jobs and were obviously ready for more. TK looked around at the clearing, amazed that the jungle could keep such a wide open area barren of land like this.
"Kari, can you check the map?" TK asked. "I want to see how close this clearing is from the temple." Kari nodded, pulling out her Digivice. She pressed the button on top, projecting the map into the air. Kari looked it over, finding the two markers and a small gap in the jungle where they were now.
"Looks like we're a little more than halfway there." She pointed out. "We'll probably be there in another half hour easily." TK was relieved to hear that, as it was he didn't like pushing Patamon and Gatomon so hard just to get to the temple.
"Let's hurry, then." TK said. "We still don't know enough about this place to just wait for something to happen." He then turned to the two Digimon, who jumped to attention as he did. "Think you two are up for the next half of the trip?" Patamon and Gatomon exchanged a quick glance before nodding at TK, then started for the other side of the clearing.
Before the two even got to the center, though, they were stopped by a sudden flash of light that seemed to come out of nowhere, forcing all four to cover their eyes. When they looked back there was now a strange energy in the middle of the air that looked like a surge of electricity dancing around.
"This can't be good..." Patamon said, stepping back a bit. Gatomon did the same, both still watching the electricity. Suddenly it vanished, only the be replaced by what looked like a crack from a broken window, but in midair, not seeming to be on anything. The crack spread from it's center, steadily growing, each new crack accompanied by the same noise you'd expect to hear from breaking glass.
"TK, what's going on?" Kari asked nervously. TK was too nervous to answer, even if he could explain it. Suddenly from the middle of the cracks a pair of large claws appeared, startling everyone, making them jump back. The claws turned away from each other, then dug into the air beside them, taking hold. They then pulled the cracks apart, making them spread much faster and the sounds to become much louder. Eventually they hit a breaking point, shattering the air and sending fragments everywhere and sounding a huge breaking noise. TK covered his eyes with his arm to protect from any of the fragments, only to find none hit him. He could have sworn there were shards heading right for him... He looked up, finding the cracks gone and the air normal, but they were now replaced by a new figure. A massive, blood red dragon was now there, floating in the air above them. It had to be at least four times as tall as TK was. It had a powerful chest, covered with barbs, and strong arms with spikes on the shoulders and blades coming from the wrists. He had no legs, instead he featured a long tail with a set of spikes on the end. From his neck to the end of his tail his belly was gold colored and he sported two pairs of wings, all featuring their own spike at the top and lighter red in the skin of it's wings. On his head he had four horns, one larger and one smaller on both sides of his head. He had a mane of very light blonde hair and a pair of bright, glowing gold eyes with a small spike above each. The sight was as menacing as any Digimon he had ever seen before.
"...You two are the ones the guardian's have chosen?" It roared, his voice echoed slightly as he spoke. "I was hoping for more... Still you are the children of Hope and Light, you may prove worthy yet..." Both TK and Kari were amazed, not only by the sight of this Digimon but also that he already knew more about them than they knew about him.
"Who are you?" Kari shouted up to the dragon Digimon. "How do you know who we are?" It looked down at her, it's facial expression ice cold the entire time except for it's glaring eyes.
"How I know of you is not of your concern." He responded. "I am Ragnadramon, the guardian of the Cataclysm. I know of your quest and I have been sent to make sure you do not accomplish it." TK knew it wasn't going to be as easy as Kari and Azulongmon made it out to be. He looked down at Patamon, who looked eager to go into battle.
"Patamon, you're up!" TK shouted. "Don't go too far just yet, though, if he's only a Champion you don't have to waste your strength so soon." TK knew his entrance was flashy and he was big, but they had seen bigger Champion Digimon and Patamon still needed as much strength as possible to get to the temple. TK watched as his partner began glowing, building up the needed energy.
"Patamon Digivolve to..." Patamon's traditional storm of feathers emerged, flying in every direction. Once his power had hit it's limit, Patamon vanished in a blaze of white light, leaving a very familiar six winged angel in his place. "Angemon!" It had been so long since TK had seen Angemon he couldn't believe he was back.
"Ah, yes..." Ragnadramon said, now watching Angemon. "You command the angel Digimon... This may prove amusing." Angemon ignored the comment, swinging his staff and then absorbing it into his fist, charging his attack.
"Hand of Fate!" Angemon threw his fist forward, firing a beam of pure holy energy. The golden beam flew at Ragnadramon, but the dragon remained motionless, making no effort against the attack. TK and Angemon watched as the attack blasted against his chest, but only flew off, spreading out as it hit and disappearing without even making Ragnadramon blink. Both couldn't believe he had so easily ignored the attack.
"He's an Ultimate?" Kari said, as surprised as any of them. She looked at Gatomon, who was already waiting for a signal to join in. "Alright, then it's our turn." With that Gatomon turned and began building up her own power, preparing her own transformation.
"Gatomon Digivolve to..." Gatomon's body became a bright pink, growing from a feline to a humanoid form. Her gloves slipped off, replaced by a new, archer's glove on one hand and a long ribbon on the other. Her eight wings grew, unfolding as her angelic outfit appeared, finishing off with her helmet. "Angewomon!" The dragon now had two angels to battle with, something that even Myotismon and Dark Masters had cowered over. The dragon remained perfectly calm, however, waiting for the next move.
"Celestial Arrow!" Angewomon quickly formed an arrow of light, pulling it against the bow that had formed on her glove. As soon as it was charged she let it fly toward Ragnadramon's face, sending it as fast as possible. Just before it connected, though, the heroes heard a loud whip crack just before the arrow was thrown to the side, it's power diminished. They couldn't tell what had knocked it off course until they noticed Ragnadramon's tail retracting back.
"TK, he's too powerful." Angemon stated. "I'll have to go all out to stop him." TK nodded, agreeing, but he wished there was an easier way. Again Angemon powered himself up, this time taking in as much energy as he could draw.
"Angemon Digivolve to..." Another storm of white feathers came, this time surrounding Angemon has his body became pure energy, eventually reforming into a more powerful, eight-winged angel. A purple shield appeared over his left arm with a purple beam sword on his right, and a new purple helmet across his face. "MagnaAngemon!" TK was sure this would be a match for the dragon, MagnaAngemon had proven more than once he was as powerful as any Digimon, even Megas. MagnaAngemon wasted no time, raising his sword and circling it around.
"Gate Of Destiny!" He cried, releasing the loop he had formed. It flashed before becoming a golden gate, circling in midair in front of Ragnadramon, The gate opened, releasing a mass of white energy, flooding over Ragnadramon. TK watched as it bombarded their enemy, but his hope soon became despair as Ragnadramon grabbed onto the gate, gripping onto it until it exploded into a storm of digital bits. Again he glared at his opponents, with no sign of physical damage or effort. A Mega level, that was the last thing TK wanted to see now...
"I had thought you were the strongest of the Digidestined..." The dragon said. "I was hoping I would have more of a fight in this encounter, but alas it was not to be. Now it's my turn..." Ragnadramon's eyes suddenly flared even brighter, apparently readying an attack of his own. Both MagnaAngemon and Angewomon flew back a bit, regrouping themselves for whatever was coming next. Ragnadramon suddenly turned his head to Angewomon, his chosen first victim.
"Reality Breaker!" Ragnadramon threw his claws forward, making the space around Angewomon crack and distort. Before she could escape the space shattered into shards, then flew around her and through her in every direction, slashing her over and over. With each passing shard came a scream from the angel Digimon, paralyzing her in pain. Kari watched on in horror, unable to do anything to help. The shards suddenly stopped, then exploded with enough force to throw Angewomon to the ground, hitting hard and actually breaking the ground under her form the force of her impact. Kari ran over to her fallen partner, kneeling beside her in hopes that she was okay. TK watched the entire scene and was about to tell MagnaAngemon to run while he could, only to find the dragon Mega already entering his next attack, looking at MagnaAngemon.
"Eternal Pain!" Ragnadramon's eyes suddenly emitted an eerie, dark red light. MagnaAngemon wasn't sure what to expect until he felt a surge of pain through his entire body. TK watched as the same red light suddenly came from his partner's body, looking like endless spikes coming from within the center of his body. With the attack came an endless scream of agony from MagnaAngemon and Ragnadramon showed no signs of letting up. As much as he tried MagnaAngemon could do little but scream, in too much pain to move. Eventually Ragnadramon blinked, restoring his eyes' gold glow. The light faded from MagnaAngemon, sending the angel Digimon falling to the ground, landing with a hard crash into the jungle floor. TK couldn't believe what had just happened, too stunned to know what to do next. Both Digimon were out and Ragnadramon wasn't even budged, and worst yet he looked far from finished...
End Chapter 5
Coming Next: Chapter 6 - Fate
Ragnadramon is my own creation! Go here to see him:
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