BWG: Hey, where's Gordianus?
Me: I sent him back to his own time after giving him a hefty reward for saving me.
BWG: Darn, I wanted to say goodbye before he left.
Me: Oh well.
BWG: So what now?
Me: Now that I'm back in action, it's time to finish up the story! Only one more chapter after this!
BWG: Why do we have one more chapter after this?
Me: …Because the story's almost DONE.
BWG: Oh.
Me: Now, let's get this started!
A crimson and gold blur shot out of the sky, catching ChaosGallantmon and Lopmon in midair and flying away from the falling debris. Unable to believe they were alive, ChaosGallantmon looked down at whatever had saved them. "Grani!" he said, excited.
"That's my name, don't wear it out!" said the old king proudly.
"I thought you were taking Sakuyamon to the surface! What are you doing back here?"
Grani chuckled. "We were halfway to the surface when we realized our real place was with you. And it's a good thing we came, otherwise you'd be dead by now!"
Lopmon, who had squeezed her eyes shut from fear when they started to fall, opened them warily. "Huh? Are we still alive?"
ChaosGallantmon nodded. "Thanks to my good friend here. Lopmon, I'd like to introduce you to Grani. If it weren't for him, I'd never have gotten this far in my quest."
Lopmon blinked. "Nice to meet you, Mr. Grani!"
Grani smiled. "It's nice to finally meet you too, Lopmon. Guilmon's told me all sorts of good things about you!"
Lopmon giggled, then looked over Grani's side. Her eyes widened. "We're flying!"
"Well of course we are, how else could I have rescued you from the tower?" asked Grani.
Lopmon had a dreamy look on her face. "I've always wanted to fly…that's why I have such a good talent with seagulls…but I never imagined that someday I really would be flying, instead of seeing it through a seagull's eyes!"
Grani glanced at ChaosGallantmon. The Dark Knight shrugged. "It runs in the family." Grani nodded in understanding and flew away as Lucemon's crumbling tower finally collapsed on itself, showering rubble all over the park and leaving a huge pile of debris where it once stood. Grani circled the massive pile of debris and landed near the edge of the park, where a certain Shaman was waiting impatiently.
Sakuyamon frowned as the trio landed. As ChaosGallantmon and Lopmon disembarked, the princess strode over to the Dark Knight and slapped him hard across the face. "That's for not coming to see me before going to kill Lucemon!" she said angrily.
ChaosGallantmon winced. "Sorry, I just didn't want you to get hurt during the battle!" he said weakly.
She slapped him again. "Dammit, I've been worrying about you for the last week or so in that sacred room! I had no way of knowing if you were still alive, or if Lucemon had somehow found my hiding place and was coming to get me, or even how my crew was! Did it ever occur to you that I might have been happy to wait behind if you had asked me yourself instead of sending up dragon boy here?!" she said angrily, pointing to Grani.
"Hey!" Grani said. Nobody noticed.
"No." said ChaosGallantmon honestly. She raised her hand to strike him again and he quickly said, "Because I knew if I went to see you, you would demand to come with me and kick Lucemon's ass, and I wouldn't have been able to refuse."
Sakuyamon hesitated, impressed. Then she slapped him again, but only playfully. "You know me better than I thought." She said with a smirk.
Lopmon looked back and forth between the two. "Big Brother, is she your girlfriend?" asked Lopmon.
"NO!" said ChaosGallantmon quickly.
"Yes." Said Sakuyamon.
The Dark Knight blinked. "You are?"
"Yes." She said, making it sound like it was obvious.
Now, as everyone may have figured out by now, our favorite Dark Knight has a crush on Sakuyamon, and while he wasn't actually complaining about this strange turn of events, he was quite a bit confused. "But-"
"Do you want me to hit you again?" she said sternly.
"No." he said meekly. Lopmon giggled. Grani stifled a snicker. ChaosGallantmon glared at them, causing them to shut up.
"Well, isn't this lovely." Said a familiar voice. Lucemon walked out from behind a group of trees, shocking everybody.
"Lucemon!" hissed Sakuyamon, brandishing her staff.
"Big Brother, I thought you killed him!" said Lopmon anxiously.
ChaosGallantmon laughed nervously. "Actually, my Gorgon's Eye technique only turns victims to stone for a short amount of time. If that stupid tower hadn't collapsed, I would have killed him."
Lucemon nodded. "Yes, you would have. But since you couldn't kill me when you had the chance, you have cleared the way for my final victory."
The Dark Knight regained his courage. "I wiped the floor with you before. Unless you somehow got stronger in the five or so minutes since I turned you to stone, I'd say you were bluffing."
Lucemon smirked. "Bluffing? You think I'm bluffing? This is too rich. Allow me demonstrate exactly why all three-er, four of you," he amended, noticing Grani. "Are doomed." He raised his right hand, the Catalyst of Power glowing brightly on it.
The four looked around anxiously. Nothing happened. "Er, exactly what is going to make us all 'doomed'?" asked Grani.
Lucemon pointed upwards. "I suggest you take a look at the sky."
All four looked up and gasped from shock. Against the backdrop of the ocean suspended far above them, they could see what could only be described as a hole in the sky. It opened onto another world, a world of dark pink skies and shifting, malevolent mists. The hole grew rapidly, covering the entirety of the hidden land of Shinjuku and blotting out the shimmering sea above. The mists reached out, slowly worming their way from the edge of the land and causing everything they touched to disappear.
Lopmon shivered. "Wh-what's going on? I feel…I feel…like something's trying to take away my memories…"
"Or my body…" whispered ChaosGallantmon, looking frightened as his arm turned transparent for a second then returned to normal.
"Or my very soul…" added Sakuyamon, suddenly touching her hand to her chest.
"Lucemon, what have you done?" asked Grani, with an edge of terror in his voice.
The wingless, beaten body of the Angel shook with laughter as mist slowly creeped around him, very slowly circling his body. "What have I done? I have taken us to the Dark Area!"
Everyone stared at Lucemon in horror. "The…the Dark Area?" asked Grani, looking as if he was at the brink of unconsciousness.
"Lucemon…why have you taken us here?" asked Sakuyamon in disbelief.
Lucemon grinned at her as the mist very slowly curled around his feet. "In the time before time, the three great goddesses Cherubimon, Seraphimon, and Ophanimon descended from the heavens and created a world out of the nothingness, sealing what remained of the original void at the center of the new planet. They created life on the planet, ignoring the abyss they had sealed away. After all, it was only a void, wasn't it? It couldn't possibly cause any harm!" He laughed again, his handsome features starting to look somewhat haggard. "They were wrong! The Dark Area was enraged that it was bottled up. It was infuriated that it had been reduced and something completely unnatural was formed around it. It sought to escape its boundaries and restore the world to its rightful order, to return it to nothingness. But it could not. Until six Sages and a very stupid princess thought it would be a good idea to cast me into the void." His eyes slowly turned from blue to blood red as the mists started to rise around his body. "The Dark Area sought to kill me instantly, to enshroud me in its hungry mists and devour me utterly. But it could not. The Catalyst of Power protected me from death by anything other than the blessings on the Invincible. The Dark Area could not eat me. So instead, it subverted me." The mists were up to his knees now, his face was beginning to look truly hideous, and his eyes had transformed into veritable portals depicting the hatred and rage seething beneath his skin. "It showed me that the natural order of the world was that of nullification. Life was an aberration, and needed to be destroyed. It wanted me to help it, to bring the Dark Area out of the depths and cast the souls of the Digital World into the bowels of the abyss. At first I refused. But as time passed, the mists of the Dark Area twisted my mind more and more, changing me from my former self into its child. Its vessel. Its slave." The mists had reached his waist. "When the Royal Knights released me, I saw my chance at serving my new master. If I could reassemble the Catalyst, I could wish to break the seal of the Dark Area, and consume the entire world in nothingness. But I underestimated the amount of influence the gods had in this world, and was frozen in time at the bottom of the sea for a very long time until I found a way to break free and reach the land above." He smirked, which looked almost like a grimace now. "And now I have come full circle. All three holders of the Catalyst are in one place. It has come once again to the final fight to decide whether the world will remain as it is…or be destroyed utterly."
There was a long silence. Finally, ChaosGallantmon spoke up. "Er…Okay. Shall we begin then?" he said, sounding a little unsure.
Lucemon wagged one of his fingers in the air. "Tut, Tut, ChaosGallantmon. Don't you want to hear the rules first?"
They all stared at him, confused. "What do you mean by rules?" asked Lopmon.
Lucemon pursed his lips. "Perhaps rules is the wrong word. More like…conditions."
"All right, let's hear these conditions." Said Grani.
Lucemon raised a finger. "Number one: You can all team up on me, if you wish, but bear in mind that if even one of you dies, you all lose instantly." He raised a second finger. "Number two: There is a time limit. As we speak, the mists of the Dark Area are consuming Shinjuku. If I am not beaten by the time the entire city is devoured, you all lose instantly." Lucemon raised a third finger. "Number three: if you touch the mists, you'll be consumed and die and you all lose instantly." He raised another finger as the mist creeped up to his neck. "Number four: Any buildings or pieces of land that are destroyed during our battle will instantly be consumed by the Dark Area and lower the amount of time you have to defeat me." He lowered his hand, which was instantly covered by the mist. "If you should happen to defeat me, my life will be forfeit and you will receive the Catalyst of Power and may use it as you see fit. You will also be transported out of the Dark Area, along with the rest of Shinjuku."
"And if we lose?" asked Sakuyamon quietly.
Lucemon's grotesque smile grew. "If you lose, your bodies, your minds, and your souls will be devoured utterly and become lost forever in the abyss of the Dark Area. The Catalyst pieces you retain will combine with mine and I will make my wish, reducing the world to its natural state of nothingness. Are those all your questions? Because I have one last surprise to spring on you."
"What's that?" growled ChaosGallantmon.
"While I've distracted you with all this exposition, the mists you see enshrouding my body have been reconfiguring my data structure, allowing me to Digivolve into a creature capable of defeating you. I suggest you get out of the way, because my final evolution will take a chunk out of the city as it forms, and I don't want to win that easily." With that, the mist covered his head and swelled outwards, transforming into a huge black DigiEgg that continued to expand as more mist fed into it.
The heroes exchanged frantic glances. At an unspoken command, they leaped into action. ChaosGallantmon grabbed Lopmon and jumped onto Grani, who immediately blasted off. Sakuyamon kicked off the ground, flying after them. As they flew away, the black egg continued to swell, obliterating the park around it. It grew to twice the size of Lucemon's old tower, making it as big as one of the skyscrapers. The egg shattered, annihilating the rest of the park and a few surrounding buildings, revealing a truly horrific beast. It was a behemoth dark purple dragon, with a very long tail ending in spikes, long and sharp claws, ten wings growing from its back, and a pair of larger wings growing from its lanky arms. In its claws the dragon clutched a huge orb containing the same swirling mists that made up the Dark Area. Its head was somewhat small and had no snout, allowing room for a large golden mask that hid the beast's face. It had large bumps in place of eyeholes, and a pair of gold dragon wings grew from either side of the mask. The dragon raised its head and let loose a great roar that echoed all across the city.
"That looks like a dragon to the tenth power!" said ChaosGallantmon, amazed.
"That thing could eat Skydramon for lunch and still have room for dessert. I'd say we're in trouble." Said Grani weakly.
Lopmon quivered. "Uh, g-guys? D-do you think you could just, you know, drop me off? I-I mean, I don't want to get in the way or anything…and I'm kind of scared…"
"Don't worry, we wouldn't think of taking you into battle." Said Sakuyamon. She looked over at ChaosGallantmon. "I'll head back and try to slow that thing down while you drop her off somewhere safe. You may be the only one capable of killing him, but I think I can at least cause him some pain." She turned around and flew back in the opposite direction, back towards the dragon.
Grani slowed down and landed on top of the Metropolitan Building's east tower. "Will you be okay up here?" asked ChaosGallantmon anxiously.
The brown rabbit nodded. "I'll be fine. You just take care of that dragon, okay?"
Grani smirked. "We can handle it. Let's get 'em!" He restarted his engines and took off.
"Good luck!" she yelled at them as they flew away.
Grani and ChaosGallantmon rapidly flew back towards Lucemon, who had flown a little ways above and outside the remains of the park, which was now part of the Dark Area. Sakuyamon flew around him at super speed, dodging blasts of technicolor fire from the dragon's mouth and launching what appeared to be blades formed of cherry blossom petals at the beast, cutting several gashes into the monster's skin. As the duo approached, they saw Sakuyamon back away from the dragon and raise her staff. Using the power of the Catalyst of Wisdom, she summoned four colorful fox spirits of wind, water, fire and lightning. She unleashed the four powerful spirits at the dragon, striking it in the back and destroying its ten wings. The dragon roared in pain and crashed to the ground, sending a portion of the street and a nearby skyscraper to the abyss. The Dark Knight and ancient king cheered Sakuyamon's accomplishment, but their cries died in their throats as the gashes in the beast's flesh and the stumps that were all that remained of the wings regenerated, healing the dragon! "No way!" said ChaosGallantmon loudly, which caught Sakuyamon's attention
The Shaman flew over to her friends. "I'm glad you're here. My attacks aren't doing anything to that guy! If I blow up half his body, it just grows back! Maybe you two should give it a try."
Grani nodded. "Let's see how he likes my Yuggoth Blaster!" The flying machine fired his blaster and machine gun at the dragon as it rose back into the air, blowing its legs and tail into stumps. "Yeah!" The damage immediately healed itself. "Oh, come on!"
"It's my turn." ChaosGallantmon generated his Pyro Sphere and Cryo Sphere, then combined them into a single dark energy blast and hurled it at the dragon. It exploded on the beast's side, blowing out a chunk of its left arm. Sadly, the arm healed right away. "Well, that worked well." He said sarcastically.
"Perhaps we're not hitting him hard enough. Let's try combining our attacks, maybe that could overload his healing system." Suggested Sakuyamon.
"Works for me. Let's give it a shot!" said Grani.
They all started charging up their most powerful attacks. ChaosGallantmon summoned Gram and Aegis and began to prepare to use them both at once. The trio unleashed all their strongest attacks; combining them into a spiraling helix that smashed into Lucemon's head and neck, blowing it to smithereens. "There's no way he can recover from that!" said ChaosGallantmon confidently.
He was proven wrong. The orb clutched in the dragon's hands glowed, and the stump of the neck grew outward, reforming the head. Grani gasped. "Did you see that? When the orb was glowing, it healed itself!"
"Then the dragon isn't our real target, but the orb! If we can destroy it, perhaps Lucemon will be unable to heal himself and we can take him out once and for all!" said Sakuyamon hopefully.
ChaosGallantmon nodded. "Okay then. Sakuyamon, my attacks will probably have more of an effect on the orb than yours will because I contain the Invincible's data. Do you think you can distract Lucemon while I assault the orb?" he asked.
Sakuyamon gave him a thumb's up. "Piece of cake." She flew towards the dragon and started hurling her cherry blossom blades again, angering the beast and allowing her to lure it away from her friends.
ChaosGallantmon looked down at his partner. "Grani, remember when I said never to perform stunts while I was riding on you?"
"Yes, why?"
"Forget I said that. We're going to need all the flying expertise you've got!"
Grani blinked. "But…what about you? Won't you fall off?"
"In this form, my boots are magnetic. I'll stick to your back like a Flymon to a wall!"
Grani brightened up several degrees. "Well in that case…let's do this!" Boosting his engines to the maximum, he rocketed towards the other two combatants.
As they zoomed towards Lucemon at close to the speed of sound, Sakuyamon blew up the dragon's head with her spirit foxes, causing the beast to stop moving long enough to heal itself. Grani swooped down low to avoid the dragon's thrashing tail, skimmed the surface of the street, and looped up beneath the dragon's legs, reaching the underside of the orb. ChaosGallantmon drove Gram into the side of the orb, tearing a long gash in it as they flew vertically up its side, breaking away when the dragon's new head noticed them and breathed fire at them. Grani performed a barrel roll to avoid the flames and soared over the dragon's shoulder and down its back, turned at a ninety degree angle around the wings, flew beneath the dragon's armpit, and straddled the orb again. They left another long gash across the surface of the sphere, bisecting the first one, and flew away as Lucemon tried to hit them with his fire breath once again.
The dragon broke off its attack when Sakuyamon blasted one of its arms off with her spirits, causing the dragon's grip to falter and almost drop the precious orb. As the beast tried to regenerate its limb, Grani flew back towards the sphere. ChaosGallantmon combined his fire and ice balls to create a ball of shadow energy and threw it at the point where the two gashes intersected, blasting open a small hole in the sphere and causing some of the mist inside to seep out. The sudden shock startled Lucemon and caused him to drop the orb just as he finished healing his arm. The beast lunged for the sphere as it landed on the road, but Sakuyamon summoned her spirits again, using them to hold the dragon in place while the other heroes flew towards the fallen orb. Lucemon opened his mouth and started to unleash his flames, but a spirit fox wrapped around his jaws, slamming them shut and causing the fire breath to explode in the dragon's mouth, shattering his head and forcing him to heal it once more.
As the duo flew over the surface of the orb, looking for the hole they had made, ChaosGallantmon thought he saw something appear for an instant in the depths of the sphere, something other than mists. He saw, for an instant, what looked to be a large light green worm of some sort. It had twelve feathery wings growing from its segmented back, a pair of large red eyes on opposite sides of its head, an extremely sharp stinger ringed with a halo, and a red sphere sunken into its chest. He blinked, trying to verify that he had really seen anything, and it vanished. As he pondered the existence of what he had just seen, Grani called him back to reality. "Hey, the hole's coming up! Get ready!" The Dark Knight nodded and took out his bomb bag. He pulled out a bomb, armed it, and stuffed it back into the bag with the other explosives. He threw the entire bag in as they flew close to the hole, then they rocketed as far as they could away from the orb. The bombs exploded, causing an eighth of the orb to shatter and release a huge burst of mist, destroying an entire city block.
Lucemon screamed in pain, breaking free from Sakuyamon's bonds, and flew down to pick up his precious orb. The deadly mists seemed to have no effect on him as he clutched the ball tightly to his chest and flew back into the air. Sakuyamon grinned. "I think we've made him angry!" she yelled as ChaosGallantmon and Grani flew over to her.
"I'm not sure that's a good thing!" said the Dark Knight, watching with a hint of worry as the dragon started concentrating, causing a dozen or so small pink vortexes to open in the air around it. As golden light started streaming out of the vortexes, the dragon released a horrific roar. Light surged from the vortexes, resulting in a huge explosion that sent at least half of Shinjuku to the Dark Area. Sakuyamon had managed to protect herself by immediately summoning a spherical force field that looked like a giant Yin-Yang, but the other two weren't so lucky. With no real shields, ChaosGallantmon and Grani tried to outrun the explosion, but they never stood a chance. The blast hit them unbelievably hard, ripping off one of Grani's wings and practically destroying ChaosGallantmon's armor. The explosion flung them away, then subsided, leaving nothing but mists in its wake.
Lopmon gasped from her rooftop. "BIG BROTHER!" she screamed.
"NO!" howled Sakuyamon as the Dark Knight and the dragon ship began to fall to their deaths in the mist below.
The dragon reared back its hideous head and made an awful choking sound that could only be a laugh.
ChaosGallantmon plummeted headfirst towards the mists. "I guess…this is it…" he whispered. "Nothing…can save us…now."
Grani weakly looked down at his partner, using his telepathic connection with the magic pebble to speak to ChaosGallantmon. "Don't be…so sure. There's still…one…last…hope."
"…What?"
"ChaosGallantmon…I want you to take my data."
The Dark Knight's eyes widened. "NO! I can't!"
"Listen to me! If you don't take my data, the Dark Area will just consume it! We'll lose, you hear me? WE'LL ALL LOSE!"
"But Grani…I can't. You're my friend!"
Grani nodded. "I know. And that's why I have to do this. I've spent the last thousand years lamenting all the lives I had to sacrifice to trap Lucemon. I will not allow him to claim another life, especially not when that life is as dear to me as a son!"
The Dark Knight's eyes started tearing up. "Grani…"
The former king gave him a small smile. "ChaosGallantmon…Guilmon…you told me once you've always wanted to fly, didn't you? Well, I'm giving you your chance. Take my wings…and fly." He activated what was left of his engines and started falling faster, rocketing down towards the Dark Knight. The noble spirit collided with ChaosGallantmon's chest, merging with him. The Dark Knight started to glow.
His armor began to change. The tips of his boots were blue with three silver bumps on them, and the rest of the boots were gray. Dark gray bands with silver trim and bumps circled his heels. His leg armor turned blue, and large silver bands circled his knees, changing the symbol on the blue knee plates from the Hazard to the Catalyst. As his upper legs turned blue, a pair of round silver fixtures fused to his hips, attaching themselves with four long arms each. Each fixture was tipped with a large red crystal sphere. His groin armor turned blue, sprouting a blue and silver scabbard from his waist. His chest armor grew a little slimmer, forming gray muscle plates on the sides and forming a band of blue right up from the waist to the pectorals, which were completely blue along with the rest of the chest armor. Another silver fixture attached itself to his torso, growing a red crystal with the Hazard symbol engraved on it. A pair of big hexagonal plates attached to his shoulders. Each was blue and lined with silver, and also had another pair of silver fixtures with red crystals. His upper arms were encased in blue armor and white leather, while the gauntlets around his lower arms turned blue with silver bumps and the plates on his elbows gained Catalyst symbols. Also, his metal gloves turned from black to gray. Ten raven wings grew from his back, giving off a black aura. A pair of weapons formed from pure darkness appeared in his hands, one a thin double-headed lance, the other a black sword looking exactly like the Invincible. A high gray collar ring grew from his shoulders, extending behind his head and forming adequate protection for his neck and skull. His blue Guilmon helm changed to a darker hue. The wings extended to the sides, looking more like dragon wings than those of a bat's. A long curved crest grew from the top of the helm, elongating the top triangle of the Catalyst symbol painted in black on the center of the Dark Knight's forehead. The only thing remaining unchanged aside from the knight's yellow eyes and face grille was the small spike on his helmet and the long, thin black ribbon falling to the ground.
The newly evolved ChaosGallantmon stopped his descent only inches above the lethal mists, flipped right side up, and flew towards the laughing dragon. He pointed his weapons in front of him and slammed into the base of the dragon's neck, ripping through it and coming out the other side. Lucemon roared in pain.
Lopmon, seeing this, started dancing on the rooftop. "He's alive! He's alive!" she sang, not noticing the mist creeping closer and closer to her building.
Sakuyamon's jaw dropped as ChaosGallantmon veered around Lucemon and flew back towards her. "You're…you're alive!" she said in disbelief.
He laughed. "Did you really think you could get rid of me that easily?"
She shook her head, a smile coming to her face. "I should have had more faith in you. You always DO find a way to win, don't you?"
An angry growl drew their attention back to the dragon. "We can talk later, let's finish this guy off first!" said the Dark Knight.
Lucemon started concentrating, forming pink vortexes again. "Quick, get behind me!" said Sakuyamon. ChaosGallantmon got close to her just as the vortexes released their explosive light, and found himself protected by the Shaman's force field. When the explosion dissipated, doing no more damage because they were already in a destroyed area, Sakuyamon lowered her shield. Enraged, Lucemon breathed fire at the duo. They quickly flew out of the way. "How do we stop this guy?"
"We follow the same plan as before: destroy that orb! If we combine our attacks and fire them into that big hole I made, I think we can break that thing once and for all!"
Sakuyamon nodded. "Then let's end this!" She summoned her spirit foxes and sent them towards the dragon. ChaosGallantmon crossed his weapons before him. Dark energy crackled out of the weapons and his wings, creating a black energy field that shot towards Lucemon. The field combined with the spirits, creating a far more powerful energy helix than the last one they had used. The energy blast shot into the hole in the orb and exploded, completely destroying the sphere! Lucemon screamed in pain as huge amounts of mist billowed away from the explosion and faded away. The dragon went crazy; flying erratically and breathing fire at chaotic intervals. ChaosGallantmon and Sakuyamon barely managed to get out of the way as Lucemon hurtled right towards them, heading straight for what was left of the city! Sakuyamon summoned several more spirit foxes, using them to hold the great dragon in place. The beast roared in fury and struggled frantically, trying to break his bonds. The Shaman turned to ChaosGallantmon. "I'm using my powers to hold him. Quickly, finish this battle with the power of the Invincible!"
"Right!" The Dark Knight flew over to the struggling dragon. He maneuvered in front of Lucemon, getting the dragon's attention and causing it to struggle even harder to get to its nemesis. ChaosGallantmon held out his black sword. "With this final blow, I cast thee into Hell!" he cried. He drove the sword into Lucemon's forehead, burying it up to the hilt.
The dragon froze, no longer struggling. The gold mask on the beast's face snapped in two and disintegrated. As Sakuyamon's spirit bonds faded away, Lucemon's head lolled backward in pain; his arms, legs, wings and tail all drooping. Tendrils of mist grew from the Dark Area, wrapping around the limp dragon and forming a big, dark cocoon. When the mists parted, there was nothing left. Nothing at all. Slowly, reluctantly, but inevitably, the sky started changing back to normal, the destroyed parts of the city shifting back into rubble and debris instead of portions of the abyss. All the consuming mists were sucked into the ever-shrinking hole in the sky, which sealed itself up, leaving no trace of the Dark Area behind. At long last, the battle was over.
ChaosGallantmon and Sakuyamon landed on top of the Metropolitan Building. Lopmon ran over, her eyes wide with excitement. "I knew you guys would win! Lucemon never stood a chance!" She jumped into her big brother's arms, stretching her tiny arms as far as she could across the Dark Knight's torso. It wasn't very far. Finding she couldn't properly hug ChaosGallantmon, she looked up into his face, scowling. "I know you're my big brother, but do you have to be this big?" All three of them laughed.
The Digimon silently laughed to himself as he quietly moved into position. They were laughing now, but they had no idea they were only moments away from their ultimate demise.
"By the way, what exactly triggered your new armor change?" asked Sakuyamon.
ChaosGallantmon looked down. "Grani sacrificed himself to give us all a chance at life. He gave me his data and his wings so that I could defeat Lucemon. He was a true hero." He sighed in depression. "Another person I cared about bites the dust. Lucemon may be dead, but those he killed will never get a second chance at life."
"I wouldn't be so sure of that." Said Sakuyamon.
The Digimon slowly moved closer to the trio. He only had one chance at this. If he messed up, it would be over for him. For good.
"What do you mean?" asked Lopmon.
"Now that Lucemon's dead, we can combine his Catalyst of Power with our two Catalyst pieces and wish everyone he's killed back!" explained Sakuyamon.
ChaosGallantmon slapped his forehead. "Oh yeah, I completely forgot we could do that!" He paused. "Where is the Catalyst of Power, anyway? Didn't Lucemon say we'd get it if we defeated him?"
The Digimon laughed again. The Catalyst of Power was in the hands of its rightful owner, who was FAR from defeated.
Sakuyamon shrugged. "It's probably somewhere around here. Shall we go look for it?"
"Just a second. There's something I need to ask you." Said the Dark Knight.
"What's that?"
The Digimon hesitated, slightly curious.
"What did you mean earlier when you said you were my girlfriend?" Sakuyamon stared at him like he was an idiot, then whacked him on the head with her staff. "Ow!"
"It means I like you, stupid!"
ChaosGallantmon blushed. "Right, that's what I thought." Lopmon giggled.
The Digimon snorted. Why did mortals always have to put so much emphasis on a stupid emotion like love? None of the other immortals bothered themselves with it. Then again, it had been a very long time since he had last been in heaven, so things might have changed…
"W-Well, I guess I like you too, Sakuyamon."
"Glad to hear it. So, shouldn't we be looking for that missing Catalyst piece now?"
"Uh, sure. Let's get going!"
"Not if I can help it!" said the Digimon, finally springing into action.Lopmon spotted something out of the corner of her eye. She turned to get a better look at it and gasped. "Big Brother, behind you!"
ChaosGallantmon spun around. "What-" He choked on his next words as a huge stinger pierced the crystal on his chest and ripped out of his back, right where all ten wings met. The girls stared at the large green twelve-winged worm that had just signed the Dark Knight's death sentence in horror. "H-how?" asked ChaosGallantmon, hanging on to what little life he had left.
The worm chuckled. "The dragon was just a puppet, a red herring to distract and weaken you fools to the point where I could finish you off easily. And it looks as if it worked."
ChaosGallantmon weakly turned his head, locking eyes with the Shaman. "Sa…Ku…Ya…Mon…" He disintegrated into a large cloud of data clustered around a small black triangle.
Lucemon laughed and began to absorb the data. "Oh no you don't!" yelled Sakuyamon. She jumped forward, grabbing the Catalyst of Courage. Immediately, Sakuyamon loaded the Catalyst piece along with all of ChaosGallantmon's data, including the blessings of the gods!
Lucemon gasped. "No!"
Sakuyamon's staff transformed into a halberd with a nasty-looking blade resembling the Invincible at the top. She thrusted the halberd into the red sphere on Lucemon's chest, piercing the villain's heart. He choked, and stared at Sakuyamon with disbelieving eyes. "Die." She whispered, twisting the halberd in the insect's chest.
Lucemon vaporized, his data appearing along with the Catalyst of Power. Lopmon blinked. "Is…is he dead?"
"Yes. For real this time." said Sakuyamon.
"And so's my brother," said Lopmon, about to cry.
"Not for long." Sakuyamon loaded the data and the final piece of the Catalyst. Her body began to glow. Catalyst symbols lit up on both of her hands and her forehead. The three Catalyst pieces flew out of her body and converged in midair, transforming into a massive inverted pyramid formed from red crystal. As Lopmon stared in awe at the holy artifact, Sakuyamon stepped forward and touched the crystal. "Gods of the Catalyst, hear me! I wish that Lucemon had never been corrupted, so that none of the atrocities he committed ever came to pass!" The pyramid started glowing. Sakuyamon stepped back as the crystal slowly began to rotate, rising into the air as it started emitting a rainbow of light. It began spinning faster and glowing brighter as it got higher. By the time it reached the veil between Shinjuku and the sea, the light was too bright to look at. It continued to grow in its intensity, sending its light back through time and space, altering a single crucial event in history.
And the world was changed forever.
BWG: (Blinks.) Whoa.
Me: Not bad, huh?
BWG: So what exactly has been changed?
Me: You'll have to wait until next time to find that out! See you then, on the final chapter of Legend of Renamon: The Wind Waker!
BWG: Cool. By the way, would it be too much to ask someone to look at Ri2's new one-shot, Cave Canem? I feel sorry for the poor thing, sitting all by itself without even a single review. (Hint, hint!)