I am back! I used to be Angel of the Hazard, but now my interests have turned to InuYasha, thus Tetsusaiga's Keeper. Looks like I have to post some more to gain any more reviews, so I type hoping to bring back my readers. This chapter will show the first actual digimon of evil. My own creation as it happens. By the way, I got the name of AncientParagomon from paragon- a model of excellence or perfection.

GoldGuilmon: Yeah, yeah. Whatever TK, let's just get to the chapter already!

Sheesh, SOMEONE'S in a bad mood today.

GoldGuilmon: …None of your business either.

Okay, okay! Just so everyone knows, the rating is going higher from now on, so don't say I didn't warn ya! Also, the names of the elemental gnomes were borrowed from the Djinni™ names from Golden Sun ®, and the song lyrics were borrowed from Evanescence's excellent "Bring Me to Life", I don't own them!

~::~::~ = Present time to flashback and back

= Scene change in flashback

~*~*~ = Change to song, and back

~:~:~ = Regular scene change

To the chapter!

TLOF: Crimson Destiny

Ch. 2 Dreams do Come True, part 2 Revelation


[AncientParagomon, Holy Dragon Knight digimon of the Mystic (A step above Mega) level. This majestic digimon's Hazard's Apocalypse can obliterate a continent within seconds, though it takes several minutes to power up. His Catalyst's Crush takes several Mega-level attacks and combines them into one awesome move. He had a sword, but it was said to be lost in the ancient Digital Crusades when he fought against the only evil digimon to match his power.]

Majestic seemed to be an understatement, as one stared at the figure of AncientParagomon. He stood slightly taller than Gallantmon Crimson Mode, at about two and a half stories. The armor was what caught the eye though, as the lower torso and below was covered in a crimson and gold sea of flame. The upper torso and arms were dark as pitch and in the exact middle of the bulging chest (much like Gallantmon CM's) was the hazard sign in white, engraved on a midnight blue gem. The helmet looked much like Magnamon's with the exception of the crimson and black coloring, the bat wing extensions, the Catalyst's symbol and the silver ponytail from Gallantmon CM. Three pairs of translucent crimson and gold angel wings spread out behind him. But as far as weapons, there was none visible.

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With a start, Rika opened her eyes. All around her was blackness, as far as she could see. Groaning, she muttered to no one in particular, "Not this again……"

"'Fraid so, little brat." A creature, cloaked in an evil red aura of power, let her know with a sneer.

Rika shot him a glare, "YOU! Call me that one more time and I'll -!"

"You'll do nothing. If I may not kindly remind you, you're trapped here, thanks to yours truly."

The glare got sharper. "You bastard!"

The digital being took a bow. "Why thank you! I didn't think you'd be one for handing out compliments!"

"It wasn't a compliment."

The figure decided to ignore that, and changed the subject. "It's only a matter of time now."

Rika glanced at the being confused." ……..?"

"Oh yes, I decided that you needed a swim, so I took the liberty of taking control of your body and made you jump into Shinjuku Harbor."

Rika stared at him incredulously, then shook her head and directed another poisonous glare in the mysterious digimon's direction. "Damn you! If only I had Renamon, I'd kick your sorry little a-"

The figure waved her to silence. "But you don't and you won't, too bad. It would have been fun to torture both of you at once, but I guess I can't have everything!"

"I can't believe this!" 'If only Takato was still here…… That'd shut his puny butt up!'

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"She can't hold out much longer, sir!" Viximon was getting desperate.

"I know Viximon, I know!"

"Mental Teleport!" With that phrase, AncientParagomon and Rika's in-training kitsune digimon disappear, aiming for the mind of Rika Nonaka.

Midway to their destination, the holy warrior brings a special trick out from his sleeve, "GRANITE, FLASH, USE THE LAVA BARRIER NOW!"

Immediately following the knight's order two spheres, one orange the other gold, raced toward the bay- within seconds, in a brilliant burst of light, a sphere of fire forms under the water and slowly rises to eventually rest on the median of the bridge.

Quickly reaching their destination, they come upon a world of… nothingness. "So this is what it's like in my Tamer's mind…" Rika's partner looks around worriedly, knowing something was terribly wrong.

"There she is." Viximon perks up, hearing the ancient warrior's words.

"RIK-mmph!" She is quickly silenced by the bigger being.

"SHHHHH!" He motions to the left, pointing out another digimon with a blood-red glow around its form.

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"Do you think they can do it?" wondered an anxious Kapurimon.

"Of course they'll take care of it!" Retorted a Gummimon, "A Mystic-level should be strong enough don't you think?! Don't you have any faith in Takato?!"

"Well… I guess so." Answered Hopmon (Monodramon's baby level)

"Besides, Takato and Rika still have to get to their honeymoon with all the-"

The others glared at the green blob of a digimon, "Don't you dare finish that sentence, Jellomon!"

"Jellomon?! Why I oughta!" Glares get sharper, as the others surround the one-horned baby-level." …. Nevermind."

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Rika looked up for a moment, she thought she heard Renamon's voice! But that couldn't be, could it? Her partner was forever lost to the Digital World! As she turned her head to the right, she saw a figure, it being very tall and nothing close to looking like any of Renamon's evolutions……

Unfortunately, the mysterious evil creature holding her captive noticed the figure as well. "What the hell?! Who are you and how… did… you…"He paused for a moment, thinking, and obviously remembering, "IT'S YOU! How did you survive our last meeting? I thought you were destroyed!"

The taller newcomer studied her captor carefully, and gave off the most hair-raising growl the others had ever heard before, or long after. *Softly, but grows louder* "You bastard! I DID die, trying to destroy your lousy data, but my spirit managed to survive, and now I get a second chance, even without my blade! YOU DIE NOW, PERNICIMON!"

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How can you sing to my eyes like open doors,

Leading you down into my core, where I've become so numb?

Without a soul… my spirit's sleeping somewhere cold,

Until you find it there, and lead it back home.

{Chorus}-------------------------------------

(Wake me up) Wake me up inside,

(Can't wake up) Wake me up inside,

(Save me) Call my name and save me from the dark,

(Wake me up) Bid my blood to run,

(Can't wake up) Before I come undone,

(Save me) Save me from the nothing I've become.

{End Chorus}------------------------------

Now that I know what I'm without,

You can't just leave me,

Breathe into me and make me real,

Bring me… to life.

{Chorus}

Bring me to life (I've been living a lie, there's nothing inside) Bring me to life

Frozen inside without your touch, without your love Darling,

Only you are the life among the dead………

(All of this time, I can't believe I couldn't see,

Kept in the dark, But you were never fond of me)

I'm expecting a frozen use it seems, got to open my eyes to everything.

(Without thought, without a voice, without a soul,

Don't let me die here, there must be something more)

Bring me to life.

{Chorus}

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For several moments a deafening silence filled the air, though it quickly became filled with an explosion of energy from the two combatants. And at that precise moment of collision, the world around Vixiemon and Rika rapidly blanked out with the two staring at each other in amazement, Rika whispering her partner's name as they found themselves in what seemed a vast room, completely white.

At first, silence reigned in the blank nothingness; then a voice that Rika, startled, realized sounded like an older version of her began to resonate through the stillness.

|Prepare yourselves children. You will have to learn about a troubled era, a time when a hero emerged from within a young boy's soul to banish the evil that has been released now after being trapped in purgatory for a millennium… This young man will seem familiar, but I leave it to you to puzzle it out for yourselves. We will meet again, but for now, farewell… |

It begins.

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The whiteness melted away to reveal a field, with a mansion on top of a rise a few hundred meters away. A child could be seen walking along a forest edge not far away. The young girl appeared to be around eight or nine years old, and was wearing a sky-blue kimono with a yellow ribbon sash. The child also had bright red hair with several golden highlights. She appeared to be looking for something.

Several dozen yards away, clear to Viximon's eyes, a younger child (about five years old) was crying softly, obviously lost. A few moments later, the kid noticed the girl and began calling out for her, still in tears. "Ruki! Ruki, I'm over here!"

Ruki….

A few meters away from the two children, a shadow leapt from tree to tree, following the scent of fear it had picked up not too long ago. Within seconds, the creature sighted the being from which the sharp smell emanated. With the visual confirmation acknowledged, the strange shape crept slowly forward, every sense attuned to the world around it, making sure nothing would startle the object of his search. This creature didn't want to do anything to harm its target, it was just curious as to why the small child was so afraid….

The older child looks up at a sudden sound in the tree next to where she and her brother are sitting. Nothing is heard, and she shrugs, it must have been her imagination. That's when the sound came once more, she was sure something was watching them. The strange thing was, it wasn't a threatening feeling she was getting from this creature, in fact, and it seemed almost friendly? Taking a chance, the girl now known as Ruki glances at the lowest branch of the oak tree a few yards back, and sees silver glinting from the evening sunlight. That's when the yelp emanated from the tree.

The child had seen it. He must have been careless in his concealment- now, to him at least, there was no need to stay hidden, and he dropped down out of his tree.

The siblings jumped back in surprise, at the sudden appearance of this shadow-like creature. That's all they could tell about it anyway, yet there was one thing that was noticeable, this 'creature' was human-like……... Then, just as suddenly as it appeared, the being began to shift and gain color, until before them stood a young boy.

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The blankness returned, but that was soon replaced with sounds from what seemed to be a chaotic battle. That's when a scene of massive destruction greeted the Tamer and partner.

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"What do you have to report Stingmon?"

"Nothing good I'm afraid…….." The digimon in question replied," The enemy is gathering reinforcements on all fronts, we're quickly becoming outmatched."

"Damn……" Turning away from the carnage, With her mind clouded from the gruesome scene behind her, Rika catches a glimpse of the speaker, and does a double take.

"Gallantmon?!" Though she yelped loud enough to alert anyone within eighty yards of her presence, nobody even glanced in her direction.

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Viximon was in a similar predicament as her tamer, but it was something else entirely that held her attention. "I don't believe it! Is that really one of my ancestors? She does seem familiar……I wonder if it's really the Sakuyamon?" She thought for a moment." According to that legend my parents told me, a Sakuyamon was a major factor in the defeat of the unknown leader of the dark forces during the Digital Crusades….." 'Could I really be watching a battle during that holy war?!'

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A sudden feeling washed over Rika, compelling her to walk over to the nearby ridge. Not so far away, that same force was pulling along Viximon. When both got to the peak, a morbid scene of ruin met their eyes- for, as far as they could see, data and screams from defeated digimon soldiers filled the air. There was one more feature that truly made both sick to their stomachs; Humans were littering the ground alongside their digital counterparts, many of them missing limbs, or lying in crimson pools of their own fluids.

Above all this carnage, a very familiar digimon glided through the air, gloating at his seeming success. 'These pathetic fools should have known better than to associate them with human trash……' he shrugged. "Oh well, not much longer now, and the entire digital and human planes will be mine to control!"

"You bastard!" Of course, Pernicimon couldn't hear Rika, but she didn't care, she had to do something, say anything, to get her mind off the destruction below.

"Your rampage has gone far enough necromancer!" Viximon gasped, seeing the gallantmon for the first time.

"Ah, so it's you Tasano."

'He really does sound just like Takato!' digimon and tamer realized in startlement.

Rika and Viximon looked on in amazement, at the supposedly one-of-a kind Mega.

"You're supposedly the strongest general in history, though I beg to differ." The evil digital being certainly didn't seem impressed. "I believe I have something that is very important to you…"

"What makes you think I'd be interested in this?"

"Oh, you'll see!" Snickering to himself, Pernicimon motioned with a finger, and a figure floated up to join him, struggling against the psychic hold of the evil creature. The figure was a young woman, probably in her early to mid-twenties. She had red hair with gold highlights, and was wearing armor very similar to what the warrior-shamaness Sakuyamon wore. In fact she was a Sakuyamon, with only the hair being different. "Say hello to your beloved wife!"

Wife…

Tasano's eyes widened in horror. "RUKI!" Shaking visibly, he glared with almost animalistic fury. "Damn you!" Pernicimon glanced at him unconcerned, and yawned. That drained away any vestige of restraint that the holy knight might have had. "LIGHTNING JOUST!"

Pernicimon yawned again, and batted the beam aside, as effortlessly as if he were swatting a gnat. Tasano wouldn't give up that easily however, pouring more energy into his strongest attack, "FINAL ELYSIAN!" Once again, however, a bored Pernicimon slapped the powerful attack aside with barely a sweat.

"Hmm… what, that's it? I guess it's my turn then; WICKED HAVOC!" Several skulls glowing with dark green energy formed around their creator, and swarmed toward the hapless knight below, creating a massive explosion.

After a few minutes passed, he gave up waiting and turned to his captive. "…Well that was easy! Come along now dear Ruki!" Just as he was about to take his leave however, a severely damaged Gallantmon dragged himself out from the crater caused by the eruption of unholy energy. "Well now, you're stronger than you look, but one more hit should finish you off!"

'He's right, that attack was almost too much for me to handle once! I won't be able to handle anymore with that amount of power… But I can't give up, Ruki's counting on me to get her away from that bastard. How can I hope to counter that amount of energy?!'

"Look out Tasano!!" Hearing Ruki's warning, Gallantmon looked up just in time to see his destruction come hurtling toward him, with nowhere to dodge. To the surprise of everyone there though, at the last instant, a brilliant reddish-golden flash deflected the attack right back at Pernicimon. Swiftly moving him and his captive out of the energy's path, the dark sorcerer gazed in apprehension at the object shining in his adversary's hands.

As the glow faded from the not quite oval shape of the ancient object floating down toward the holy knight, it soon became apparent that the war might soon come to a close. The holy energy radiating from the egg was immense to say the least!

Arms trembling, Gallantmon glanced up at his wife, then down at the life saving crimson-gold artifact he now had possession of. Ruki slightly nodded at him with watery eyes, letting the paladin know she wasn't going to give up on him any time soon. He took a deep breath, and began concentrating with all his might, willing the holy item to become a part of him… and it began to shine, as bright as the summer sun, covering the white-armored mega with the sacred power of holy digivolution…

"GALLANTMON OMEGA DIGIVOLVES TO-!"

"PARAGOMON!"

Please R & R!