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Fourth Piece: Hope
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A short distance away from the others, Seraphimon and Magnadramon watch the battle continue to unfold. While most of their friends have already decided to join forces with ExMilleniumon in the battle against Pentamon, TK and Kari's stronger feelings about evil prevent them from doing the same. Finally, after a few more moments of spectating, Magnadramon looks towards the Seraphim warrior.
"TK…what should we do?" she asks.
"I don't know…" he replies with sigh, "But I cannot just sit here and watch, we have to fight. I think we should attack Pentamon."
"No," whispers Magnadramon, looking away from both her friend and the battle.
"Listen, although I hate to admit it, ExMilleniumon is right. If we do not team up with him, Penn is going to destroy the Digital World, the Real World, and countless other worlds. We have no choice," explains Seraphimon, reaching towards his friend and placing a hand on her "shoulder". She quickly pulls away.
"No!" screams Kari, her voice having become dominant over Gatomon's, "I can't! I can't fight Pentamon!"
Seraphimon stares at her in confusion and asks, "Why?"
"My brother is inside Pentamon! I can't fight him…I can't fight Tai…" Kari answers, tears starting to pour down her face within the Digi-Sphere, "You are asking me to kill my own brother…I just can't…"
"Kari…" whispers Gatomon sadly as her partner weeps quietly. Seraphimon looks towards the battle again, and then back to Magnadramon.
"Kari…I am sorry, but I'm sure that this is what Tai would want," he says, before turning away and soaring towards the others, leaving Magnadramon to herself.
"TK…Tai…" Kari mumbles quietly, "Tai…"
Through the corner of her eye, Kari watches as Seraphimon descends upon the battlefield.
"GRRAAAHHH!!!" he howls at the top of his lungs, ramming Pentamon's back and sending it flying straight down. With amazing speed, Seraphimon flies underneath Pentamon and delivers a rapid series of punches. Pentamon does not seem as affected by this assault, though, since it quickly swats Seraphimon away with its fist. TK is unfazed.
"SEVEN HEAVENS!!" Seraphimon yells, launching a series of seven energy blasts at Pentamon all of which explode upon the beast's tough hide. Kari covers her ears so she cannot hear Pentamon's scream. She does not want to hear her brother's suffering.
Only a short distance away, Sakuyamon is also in conflict over what to do…
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"Rika!" yells Renamon, trying desperately to get her partner's attention, "Please, we must do something! Rika!" The Digimon Queen does not respond to her partner in any way and continues to simply stare blankly ahead of her. She had screamed until her voice had gone hoarse. Now…
"RIKA!!"
…She has gone into mental shock.
Renamon growls with frustration. Her cries have not been able to reach the girl, who has completely shut herself off.
"Rika…I know that you are extremely upset over Ryo's death, but you cannot allow that to stop you! We have to fight Pentamon…we have to finish what we came here to do!" Renamon says, "I need your help to do that. Please, Rika, help me!"
At long last, Rika stirs, but Renamon's relief is quickly demolished as the girl quietly mumbles, "Ryo…you promised me…"
"RIKA!!" the kitsune growls, wanting so much to grab her partner and shake some sense into her, "Snap out of it, already! We have to fight! If we don't stop Penn and Pentamon, thousands of realities will be destroyed! Rika!"
"Let them die," Rika whispers, "We're all just data anyway…"
"Grr…that's IT!!" Renamon screams, finally at the limit of her frustration, "If you will not will help me, then I will have to rely upon the power within myself to defeat Penn!" As she says this, the light blue glow within the Digi-Sphere dims to darkness.
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"PENTAMON!!"
The Mega looks up just in time for Sakuyamon to kick him directly between the eyes. Speedily, she clubs the side of Pentamon's head and sends him flying towards Imperialdramon.
"Die already, you FREAK!" growls the ancient dragon, "POSITRON LASER!!" As Pentamon just barely dodges to the side, Sakuyamon charges towards him and slashes down with her staff. Quickly, Pentamon moves his arm and blocks the attack, to Sakuyamon's astonishment.
"What…!" she gasps as the Mega pushes her away, "I thought the ring would give me enough power to defeat him! Unless…"
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Rika looks at her hand, vaguely recognizing the golden object around her finger: Gatomon's Tail Ring.
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"…Unless it only gives RIKA that power!"
Sakuyamon watches as Pentamon skillfully dodges another positron laser from Imperialdramon, and then a series of energy blasts from Seraphimon.
"I can do this…" she whispers, "I can do this without Rika!" With that proclamation, Sakuyamon once again charges into battle.
"SPIRIT STRIKE!!" yells Sakuyamon, blasting Pentamon's chest. Valkryimon suddenly appears and kicks Pentamon in the side, pushing him towards Seraphimon.
"SEVEN HEAVENS!!" he shouts, bombarding Pentamon with another series of energy blasts.
"Hey!" Vikemon bellows, heaving one of his hammers at the synthetic Mega, "Take this!" Pentamon quickly dodges, but the attack proves to be the perfect distraction for Imperialdramon, who suddenly rams himself into the monster's abdomen.
"POSITRON LASER!!" he roars, blasting a large hole in Pentamon's chest. Not surprisingly, though, the wound quickly heals. Pentamon growls at the Digidestined Digimon before punching him away.
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Pen takes a few deep breaths, trying to calm himself down as his staff simply stares at the now shattered computer monitor lying on the floor. For a few moments, the young man merely stands there and listens to the sounds of battle:
"POSITRON LASER!!"
"Circle around! Now! SPIRIT STRIKE!!"
"GRAAAH!!"
Finally, the author speaks: "Kill it."
"Wha…?"
"I said KILL IT! Just delete the damn file!" Penn yells, "I was an idiot to send Pentamon to fight. If I had just simply followed the original plan and had Pentamon delete everything, it would be done by now. Pull back Pentamon and then delete the Adventures Universe. This idiocy ends now."
"Yes sir," replies one of the technicians as they all begin typing furiously at their consoles. With a sigh, Penn sits down and puts his head in his hands. What was he doing? He thought that by doing this, his father would be proud of him. But now…
"He would probably think I was still acting like a child," whispers Penn, "He would be right." Penn looks up at the battle displayed upon the large screen not too far away, but notices something out of the corner of his eye: the Millennium Digivice. He stares at it for a moment, but the young man's thoughts are interrupted by a warning alarm screeching across the room.
"What happened?" he asks loudly.
"It's the hackers again! They've cut us off from the server!" one of the technicians yells back, "We can no longer control the battle!"
"WHAT?!" yells Penn, just as another alarm goes off and the image on the large screen vanishes, replaced with a single message:
"Access Denied. You are forbidden to view this material. Please watch Digimon on Q13 Fox every Saturday morning."
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"HYAAAH!" cries ExMilleniumon, charging at Pentamon with his sword drawn. The Dark God slashes at his target twice, but Pentamon is able to just barely dodge each time. Pentamon strikes back with a series of punches, but emits a guttural growl when its assault proves as futile as its adversary's. ExMilleniumon slashes again, but this time is successful in slicing a gash in Pentamon's chest. With a feral roar, Pentamon quickly rams ExMilleniumon and savagely rips into the Digimon's left arm as it tries to defend itself.
"Dammit!" he yells angrily, knocking Pentamon away with the butt of his sword and glaring at him. It is at that moment that he notices something drastically different: Pentamon has not healed. The gaping wound across the amalgamated Mega's chest is still there! The Dark God grins sinisterly.
"It is time to end this pitiful charade," he says while gripping his sword more tightly, "With your death, and my ascension into absolute divinity!" With renewed vigor, ExMilleniumon charges at Pentamon and stabs the blade at it with all of his might, but the sword stops suddenly as it collides with a SECOND AT Field! Arcs of energy fly in all directions as ExMilleniumon continues pushing forward, trying to force the weapon through the invisible barrier.
"You…shall not…pass," Pentamon hisses, a sudden and seemingly unnatural show of intelligence. All of a sudden, Sakuyamon and the other Digidestined fly up above the two from behind Pentamon.
"NO! This battle ends NOW!!" the group yells, just before launching all of their attacks at Penn's creation. A series of powerful explosions ripple across Pentamon's secondary AT field, but it manages to hold.
"You…cannot…kill me!" the Digimon growls, but its words go unheard as the Digidestined pound him again and again with their attacks. It decides to forget about the Digidestined and focus all of its energies on killing the only real threat: ExMilleniumon. The AT field strengthens slightly at the point where ExMilleniumon is trying to pierce it, forcing the blade back out slightly.
"Dammit…" he hisses through grit teeth. It is like trying to force a pin through a cement wall, but he does not give up. He must not give up.
"I will not give up…I refuse to give up…" he thinks frantically as Pentamon forms a crimson spear in each of his hands.
"Now…" it hisses, "Die!"
"I am ExMilleniumon, ruler of all reality," yells the Dark God, "I CANNOT LOSE!!"
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"Digi-Modify! Radiant Faith!"
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"What the…?" whispers Vikemon observantly, "Is ExMilleniumon…glowing?"
"PENTA SPEAR!!" howls Pentamon, throwing one of the energy spikes at ExMilleniumon, which forces him to break off the assault and dodge out of the way. Pentamon tosses the other spear, but this time the Dark Mega successfully knocks it away with his sword. He glares at Pentamon for a moment, but soon that mysterious glow that had enveloped him is completely into his sword. ExMilleniumon smirks.
The Dark God's final assault happens so fast that the Digi-Destined barely have a chance to recognize that it has even happened. ExMilleniumon charges at Pentamon, successfully slashes through the AT Field, and finally rams the powered-up sword right through the monster's chest.
"He…did it…" says Valkryimon, not sure whether to cheer or get ready to fight some more. ExMilleniumon pulls the sword out of Pentamon as the Digimon begins to discorporate. Pentamon stares at its killer blankly.
"Program…Terminated…" he manages to say, before finally dissolving to nothing but loose data.
Inside her Digi-Sphere, tears flow freely down Kari's face as she mumbles, "Goodbye…Tai…"
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ExMilleniumon's smirk now grows into a large maniacal grin as the Mega begins to absorb his victim's data. It is an amazing feeling, even more satisfying than absorbing Excaliburmon. It is pure ecstasy. He can feel himself gain more power with every particle…become stronger in every conceivable way. Then…
"Oh no…" whispers Vikemon with a shudder, "He's Digivolving…" The Digi-Destined watch with horror as ExMilleniumon, now their ultimate enemy, is encased in a sphere of light. Without warning, a powerful force begins pulling the six Megas towards him!
"What…what's happening?!" yells Imperialdramon.
"I don't know! Something is pulling us towards ExMilleniumon!" Valkryimon replies, "Like some kind of digi-magnet!"
"Let's get out of here!" exclaims Seraphimon as all of the Digi-Destined turn and try to fly away, but none of them can.
"I can't…it's too strong…" growls Sakuyamon. She looks back towards ExMilleniumon and is engulfed by a bright light.
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"Heh, Heh, Heh. I'm coming for you, Penn Sanders."
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Digimon Shift: Initiation is written by Seth Turtle. Digimon Shift: Last Piece is written by Pkmatrix and has been written with Seth Turtle's permission. Any and all original characters in these two stories are copyright of Seth Turtle. For a disclaimer covering all other copyrighted material appearing in this story, please check my profile.