Crystal Tamers
by Tremor3258
Cleansing Fire! The Aura of Chromamon
Note: I had this episode nearly finished, but it got accidentally wiped out and I didn't have a backup. That's why this took so long to post. Also, yes, I switched Saban's names (probably) for the northern and southern Holy Beasts. This version matches the Japanese better (Zhuquiaomon probably goes to Zhuquiaomon rather than Ebonwumon)
Disclaimer: C-tamer is a mixture of seasons 1 and 2 with a heavy dash of Tamers thrown in for good measure. Sadly, I don't own any of it, so don't sue me!
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Blackwargreymon: A one-shot viral modification based on one of the Digital World's greatest heroes, Wargreymon (q.v.). Created by one of Myotismon's 'children' from an evil energy force that is still not understood, but is generally assumed to have been forged in the Dark Ocean (a mysterious sub-plane to the Digital World that seems to have harmful influences in mind, as well as being the original home of the Dark Masters (q.v)). Unlike most of the Control Spire monsters, Blackwargreymon displayed clear free will and followed his own agenda before sacrificing himself to create a temporary barrier in the data world between our reality and its digital counterpart.
Blackwargreymon's sacrifice led to a greater acceptance of Viral types (most of which are aggressive, but show little of the megalomania common to the Viral Digimon the Digidestined encounctered), but also led to most major religions refusing to acknowledge Digimon having souls for almost fifteen years, due to a true Digimon being crafted from non-living sources.
- World Book entry on Blackwargreymon, 2049 on-line edition.
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The Digital World screamed as its supposed greatest protectors attempted to rape its very life force. Plants withered, Digimon collapsed, the skies and oceans roiled, and fissures were drawn through the earth.
The Holy Beasts, mysterious, powerful, and so utterly convinced of the rightness of their quest to try and destroy the Dark Ocean, had long ago stolen a great deal of power from the Digital World and the Digidestined. The greatest trick had been convincing them that it was for a good cause, where instead they had merely been turning back the clock.
Now, Gennai, feeling greatly revitalized by the near presence of the massive, and still growing, energy the Holy Beasts had gathered, looked around at his compatriots in the Digital World's greatest crime, the theft of the Digital World's soul.
Azulongmon was the most public of the four, bonded to the Eastern regions of the Digital World where much of the Digidestined's fighting had taken place against the renewed threat. Greatly resembling Magnadramon, the blue flying serpent-like dragon's legs were comfortably wrapped in his Digicores. Much of the current plan had only been able to take place due to Azulongmon's ability to keep the Digidestined from taking undue notice of certain recent ... discrepancies. Tricking Gennai into granting him a needed life extension (necessary to protect the Digital World's privacy) that, as a minor defect, tied the Guardian to the Holy Beasts was simply a bonus.
On the north cardinal point of the massive energy ball rested the ancient Ebonwumon. Tinted grey, this Holy Beast was a massive two-headed turtle whose shell was an ancient hardened tree. The oldest and probably the wisest, he had managed to rein in the other three, greatly increasing their chances as the Digital World stopped struggling at its bindings. Now quiescent, the energy of an entire world was much easier to control. Though it was still dangerous, it was nowhere near like the struggling to defuse an atomic bomb that had gone off that Azulongmon had been prepared to deal with. Twelve dusty-looking Digicores shielded the Mega's trunk-shell.
Baihumon, a rather armored and spiky looking white tiger, though set to the same massive scale as the other Holy Beasts rested at the south point. His Digicores flashed with energy as he struggled to maintain concentration. He wasn't quite as powerful generally as the others, but he had found the ancient texts that had been long forgotten and discarded in limbo, that gave the Holy Beasts the chance to strike a true and lasting victory against Darkness by destroying the Dark Ocean. True, the Digital World had to be pillaged to within a micrometer of losing integrity, but it should eventually recover.
The western Holy Beast resembled the legendary phoenix, however he had four eyes and four sets of wings, though his color and element was the same fiery red as that of the traditional image. A master of energy, he had formed the spells that drained the Digital World and it was he who was nearly prescient about detecting the minor flares within the containment field, preventing the entire artifice from coming tumbling down. Despite Zhuquiaomon relaxed appearance, he was carefully tracking every speck of energy he could see as the glowing ball of light's diameter was quickly approaching Venommyotismon's height. Soon it would be unleashed upon the Dark Ocean, utterly destroying it.
Somewhere very close physically but quite a long ways as beings traveled, laughed at their childish antics.
**************
To Angie's amazement, she was still on her feet, despite a headache that felt like one of Demon's Evil Infernos was going off behind her temples. Actually, most of the other children tested against the Wall of Fire, well, the older ones anyway, had managed to remain on their feet, though each had the most intense expression Angie had seen on them in the days since the new Chosen had been traumatized by the forced contact with what lay at the core of the Wall of Fire. Right now that expression varied. The older children who were still conscious were split into two groups. There was still a veil across their souls, and Angie couldn't quite make out which trait the other nine bearers of the Digital World's spirits would bear, but there were differences with the sexes. The girls looked at Angie in pained pity for the fact she was experiencing it worse. The boys generally had relief in the fact that they didn't have it worse.
Angie's original plan seemed to have fallen through. Blackwargreymon was an inversion of everything that made up a normal Digimon, and he was actually feeding on the distortion, draining away the chaos through the Digital World. With the gate failing, his meal had stopped, but Angie hoped that her friends in the Real World would be able to track the Construct. They had mastered the fine art of casting spells upon their partners, relying on the strength of their connection to the Digital World's spirits and the soul bond with their partners. Angie was a novice compared to them, and she had pinned her hopes upon them.
She might never know if they succeeded right now. She had to be strong, for everyone's sake. There was one thing on all the faces that stood before Angie, who had only the fallen Mega and her partner by her side, and a howling vortex of nothingness behind her. The new Chosen, or possibly Tamers, to use her old friend's naming system, as well as the other humans waiting behind them, still under the spell. The various Rookie and in-training aids, the Champions, captains dedicated to help spy and keep the Digital World healed, and Demon's three Ultimate advisors, demonic Viruses true, but hand-picked by Demon for their dedication to preserving their world. What they planned to do with an intact Digital World was a point of disharmony among Demon's army, large for the Digital world but quite small by human standards. Still, for now, everyone had one look, and that was a plead for guidance. Angie had gone through the trials in better shape than anyone and shown initiative and temporarily, at least, had Demon's favor.
"All right," Angie took a deep breath as her mind raced. The Digital World cried out for energy, but Angie had overloaded the Digimental of Darkness, and there were still too many shadows in her mind for her to risk casting a spell. Urgently voiced shouting, though reduced to faint whispers in her shrouded mind, suggested that the raw energy from a bad casting would probably dissolve the Digital World in this section.
"We need that gate to reopen. Can anyone fix that?" Angie said after a moment's thought. Draining the Real World wasn't a great option, and Angie hoped there weren't any hospitals near where the Gate would open, but it would buy them some time to be able to think without the Digital World's death knells in her ear, as well as slow down the Holy Beast's spell thanks to Blackwargreymon.
Skullsatomon raised his bone weapon into the air uneasily. The crowds parted for the massive demonic power-house as he walked from overseeing the children to overlooking the distortion that had been his master's Gate. The Mega-powerful Ultimate stared at the Gate in contemplation for a moment before lancing forward suddenly, his club enveloped with blue freezing power. "Nail Bone!" howled the demon triumphantly, and suddenly, the gate flickered into place. "That wasn't too bad. I just froze the section of the Digital World into relation with the gate so we'd have a stable connection."
Angie merely nodded. With the fear emanating from the Digital World itself subsiding her mind was starting to work better. Darkness and serenity had been her calling, even prior to her awakening, and that calm planning and weaving of ideas was her true strength. However, there were so many problems to fix, that it was almost impossible to see where to begin. The immediate area needed help, Digimon were dying as their reality was drained away, and the Real World was starting to shudder in sympathetic vibrations as the Digital World headed towards a final crash.
"I really, really miss Jessica right now," muttered Angie. Her friend, depression ridden, and always seeming only moments away from a suicide attempt, had still been able to display amazingly clear vision, brilliant intuition, and empathy. Never giving herself any light, she had instead dedicated herself to making other humans' and Digimons' lives easier. Angie blinked in astonishment at an errant thought. Jessica was more powerful for now, but she had been fairly empathetic. Angie wasn't quite as strong, but she had broken through the spell better, and had always believed she was a decent person. There was definitely a connection there but now was not the time.
"Jessica knew the Digital World and Digimon like the back of her hand. She's easily faced down, with some help from Allen," Angie was honest with herself, probably why she had managed to face down the wall so well, "All the Constructs we've thrown to boost and hone her powers. She'd have this situation figured out in a second. Some lever to move things," Angie continued muttering. "Of course, she'd also be willing to take the pain," Angie said in realization, "Everyone! Stop shutting your senses down and get them wide open! If we can find out where this is coming from, we may be able to open a gate to that location!" Everyone, no matter what species or level, groaned at that statement. A quick glare got them all to concentrating. Well, that or the sudden tremor underfoot.
Angie however, quit trying to ignore the Digital World's pleas and embraced them. Her world spun away for a moment, and when she regained conscious, it was all she could do to stop from cursing. Lady Devimon was there to help support her, tears running from her eyes at the pain. Angie said weakly, "If I'd done that sooner instead of messing with the Digimental, we'd be able to do something by now. They're on Server, at an old weak point in the barrier."
"Myotismon's old castle site," said Marinedevimon, who'd been fairly quiet up until now, mainly because he was in charge of baggage and had been more exhausted than anyone else. "That is an old place of power, much like Infinity Mountain is. The currents of the Digital World flow to that location, and things done there touch much of everything else. It's why the topography is so bad throughout that space, echoes of other parts of the Digital World reside there as well."
"Could we connect the gate to that location, and maybe disrupt the spell?" asked Angie.
"Lord Demon could, but unless you've unlocked the full potential hinted at in those ancient texts, I think we're out of luck," said Lady Devimon grimly. Angie used words a twelve-year-old shouldn't know.
***************
Jessica, Allen, and Hikari, plus assorted Digimon, stayed behind a low set of artfully arranged boulders in the shattered remnants of Tai's garden. She was trying to shake her head to clear it. Explosions had nearly shattered her ear drums from underground. Tai's house had a lair of armor built above it, but it wasn't designed to deal with Terra Destroyers. When the ceiling had started to buckle, the group cleared out. She wasn't sure if all the ringing in her ears was from the explosions. It felt like something was trying to get her attention by yelling, but she couldn't quite make out what was being said. Hikari's expression looked like what Jessica thought hers was, a bit distant as well, but she also looked exhausted.
Allen looked at them in worry. It was possible they had been injured in the mad scramble up the stairs, as the ceiling started to collapse, and they'd need all their wits about them to survive. Metalgreymon was fighting desperately, but Blackwargreymon was nearly as fast, and his shield was immune to whatever Metalgreymon threw out. He studied the Construct more carefully. It seemed to be getting stronger. The afternoon was starting to go into shadows, and Tai's little valley was darkening as the mountains around it hid the sun. However, it seemed that the darkness was growing around Blackwargreymon in particular as well.
"We need to provide a distraction," Allen muttered. Guilmon looked at him in fright, and Jessica just stared at him blankly. "Come on, Jessica. Even I can feel that's the same Construct that killed Veedramon. You can't be thinking we can talk with that thing!" he yelled.
Jessica shook her head tentatively, as if she was afraid it was going to fall off. "No, it's not that. That's just a symptom," she said distantly, before making a visible effort to focus, "There's something very wrong going on nearby. This is nothing compared to that."
"Think globally, act locally, Jessica!" Allen yelled in frustration, "Eventually, Blackwargreymon is going to land a solid blow on Metalgreymon, and then it'll be over. We need to provide a distraction."
Jessica nodded, before looking at her D-Power with some trepidation. Besides Crystalmon, not a lot of good had come from it. Hikari, meanwhile, was focusing, hoping to jump Tanemon back up to her champion form, before opening her eyes in anguish. "Jessica's right, Allen. I've been training with you guys too long. I can hear something yelling, and it gets worse when I focus on trying to digivolve Tanemon."
"We've never dealt with a Mega before," said Jessica thoughtfully, while looking through the cards she had, before selecting one. "Whatever has been written on them shows that they tend to break the rules. But you're right, Hikari. We need to figure out how to deal with this guy. First things first!" she declared, closing her eyes, and focusing on the card in her hand. After a moment it began to crackle with energy. "Crystalmon's been battered, and I wanted to let her heal normally. Sorry," she apologized as the card became too bright to look at. Crystalmon wearily bowed her head, indicating she was fine.
Allen had a card out as well to deal with Guilmon's needs, though he wasn't working on boosting it at all. "Digi-modfiy!" the two said at the same time, "Seed of health activate!" The slight green glow of Allen's slash was overwhelmed by the energy dome created by Jessica. The massive field of healing power spread out across the valley. Blackwargreymon and Metalgreymon turned to face it and were engulfed. Metalgreymon perked up, with the tiny scratched on him repaired. Blackwargreymon, however, howled with agony within the white space. The dome finally retracted, leaving the trio feeling a bit stunned from the power.
Jessica keeled over like she had been struck. The energy had been given freely, but it felt like the spiritual equivalent of getting a blood transfusion from a dying man. The D-Power's screen switched off as she hit the ground. Allen also reeled a bit, but his gift wasn't to hear, but it was to see. The power lines that he normally didn't notice were clear now because so few of them were remaining, besides the fat lines running into Blackwargreymon. Already they were questing to reestablish themselves in the heavily armored Construct.
The dragon-man Construct could feel himself sleeting away as Kindness's power was released. Roaring, Blackwargreymon struggled and soon formed a small Terra Destroyer in his hand. Metalgreymon, Tai riding, thought it was for them, and tried to get farther from the children. Blackwargreymon didn't deign to notice the insignificant cyborg, hurling the globe of sullen red energy at the group.
Allen yelled as it was approaching. In fear, anger, or pain was something he never became sure of. Acting on instincts older than him, he held the D-Power up. In the moment before its screen darkened, a storm of hail and lightning spat out of it, ensnaring the Terra Destroyer. After a moment, it exploded. But the power surrounding it forced it to do so .... elsewhere.
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The group of Digidestined were blasted off their feet as power was forced back along the lines Skullsatomon had, well, nailed into place. With the ultimate's spell disrupted, the portal started to fluctuate before starting to be torn into strips that started to float their way towards Myotismon's old castle site.
Angie started to shake once she felt Blackwargreymon's energies be drained into the area from sheer helplessness. It had probably helped buy some time, but there wasn't Apocalypmon of the giant reset button here to save the Digital World. It was up to them, and their attempts were failing.
Suddenly, the Digimental of Darkness began to pulse again. Angie groaned and fell to the shuddering ground. Touching the Digital World's core, hidden behind fire and darkness, had influenced her before, and it looked like they were again. "Why can't I just think for myself?" she whispered.
"There's no time," the Digimental replied, with a voice comprised of millions. "We can do nothing, warded and bound by the Holy Beasts, and the current Guardians are either helpless spirits or have been corrupted. We need you to try and disrupt their spell. The Holy Beasts are moments away from opening a gate to the Dark Ocean. The master of that realm has created a twisted parody of the Digital World from his will alone. He is the true enemy of the twin worlds, but has managed to turn so much to him. He cannot be allowed to work in this world directly!"
"Okay, enough propagandizing!" she whispered. Her headache was getting worse. "So explain to me how this nebulous plan and prophecies that you mentioned the last time in my head have to do with us having our souls sealed shut?"
"That was unfortunate, but you would either have gone mad or shut us out completely without it. Now, let us guide your actions!" stated the voices. Angie suddenly realized that the spirit in the orb had been talking to everyone when the four youngest children suddenly started to glow with golden light, knocking the six older ones back.
"Fate, Miracles, Hope, and Light stand ready. Do with us what you will," they said in eery harmony. The golden light grew, but became intermeshed with a black mist Angie remembered all too well from a school day that couldn't be over a few weeks ago but seemed like years. She backed up a few steps involuntarily as the mist formed a shell around them, temporarily giving their powers a reprieve.
Angie shook her head. This was all going too fast. She asked, "Okay: even with the most powerful crests, do they think they can match Dark-Master level Megas?"
John, the older jock stood by his Veemon, and muttered shamefully, "I don't want to be controlled again. Good work or no good work, I miss my family." The others, well those not currently glowing, nodded.
"I'd like to do some controlling," muttered Margaret near her Piddomon. "No more of this stupid Digital World screaming in my ears. I wish I could just turn it all off!"
Angie shuddered at that. She couldn't fault the girl, well besides the betrayal of trust she had engaged in, but not sensing the Digital World, though she wasn't good yet, meant going back to the old days of the faint depression. She had covered it up with shallowness to a degree. "Wait, turning it off! The Digital World, for whatever reason, talks to us, right?" The others gave a 'duh' look and pointed at the four power sources. "Right," she said self-consciously, "If Demon was right, the spirits are what makes up the Digital World, and the Holy Beast are stealing stuff from them." Small fissures appeared in the earth almost on cue. The Digital World's structure was starting to decay. Angie said more loudly, "So, why not try and cut the connections they're using?"
"Just pull the Digital World's power back where it belongs? Can we do that?" John asked.
"The Holy Beasts are," noted Angie angrily. She ran her fingers through her hair, "Listen: We didn't have time for any training, so we'll just have to wing it. After all, we've got miracles, fate and hope on our side," she smiled, "Along with almost everything else. Just concentrate. I've heard it before, and maybe we can get it to listen back." Everyone stared at her, and she said defensively, "This is all I've got, guys. We're way outmatched by the Holy Beasts, and they can control the very structure of the Digital World, and are doing it right now. So, let's not feed them like those four are doing and do something."
The others nodded and concentrated. Tiny sparkles of light surrounded the six, before beginning to spin around, dragging a vortex into being around the group.
**************
The Holy Beasts roared in astonishment as the energy, which had been passive, suddenly started to flow into the sphere at a greatly accelerated rate. Then the containment field began to writhe as various colors of energy tried to find their way free of the field.
Baihumon roared accusingly, "This is crest energy, Azulongmon and Gennai! You said that the crests were accounted for! You said we had access to all the digivolution energy!"
"All the crests bearers had given up their powers!" Gennai insisted, "We routed some through a Digicore to give them their powers back due to Myotismon's unexpected revival, but the arrows of Hope and Light and all the other crests are drained and in there, my lords!"
"Then I suggest you figure out where this other energy is coming from, Gennai," hissed Azulongmon dangerously, "There's a new source from somewhere. If not the Crests and Digivices you designed, then perhaps it is some fool with a Digivice somewhere who did not get out before the Gates were closed!"
Gennai started to reply, and then stopped. He hung his head for a minute, with the glares of the four Holy Beasts beating down when they had a moment in between trying to stop their bomb from going off. He bowed and said, "I believe I may know the answer. I thought there was an attempt by a certain Mega to fulfill a certain prophecy. I did run into an interesting Digivice several weeks ago, but I believed, apparently incorrectly, that it was a simple result of Demon's corruption that would quickly drain their life energy."
Azulongmon's voice was filled with dread, "He reached the heart of the Wall of Fire, did he?" Gennai nodded reluctantly. "Find them," Azulongmon said with finality, "Find them, Gennai, and kill them quickly. If he has gotten at the unfinished prophecies, there must be no chance to allow what little is written there to come to completion." Gennai nodded in agreement and flew off. Now that he knew what to look for, the holy powers of four crests being pumped into the Digital World were obvious, and he dashed across the dying oceans towards File Island.
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"Allen," said Hikari shakily, "I don't know what you did, but I'm very glad you did it." A blackened crescent shape showed where the Terra Destroyer had been halted.
Jessica was a bit more focused, and screamed when Wargreymon's right claw found its way into Metalgreymon's chest. The metal pierced with an ear-rending shriek, and then Agumon and Tai collapsed to the ground in a flash of orange light. "There has to be something we can do," she stated, mind racing through combinations.
"Great idea, Jessica, except for one problem," Allen stated flatly. He held up his Digivice, which looked dead as it hung limply. "It doesn't seem that the D-Powers are working. It looks like we should have listened. Something big is happening." Jessica double-checked her D-Power, but its screen was blank as well.
Hikari checked hers, but the screen was still merrily lit. Tanemon wasn't digivolving, but the Digivice was in its normal standby mode. "Must just be you two, then," she remarked.
"This doesn't make any sense," Jessica said wearily. Stress, fear, and the amount of energy she had pushed into the first card slash was getting to her, and now she had problems keeping her eyes open.
Luckily, she wasn't the only one. Blackwargreymon had stopped flying soon after taking out Metalgreymon. His last Terra Destroyer had been barely the size of a volleyball. He felt cut off from his power source. He wasn't intelligent per se, but Angie's power boost had included some powerful space-time manipulative abilities. She had just been trying to make him a sink for the chaos, and transfer energy from the Real World to the Digital one as life support. The Digimental of Darkness had thrown in a few options of its own, however, and Blackwargreymon quickly charged its claws with power. Thrusting both arms out ahead of its body, the Mega Construct pulled them apart, leaving a hole in reality behind. Weakened, the Digidestined of Courage and the young Tamers could only watch as darkness began to flow over the Mega, whose minor cuts and scratches quickly started to heal.
************
This was what he had been waiting for. The master of the Dark Ocean, possibly the single most evil creature that the twin worlds were aware of, watched in satisfaction. Blackwargreymon was powerful enough to open a gate, but had no ability to control it. Now he could put it into position over the Holy Beasts plateau. They were planning to open such a gate and unleash the power, and would take no note of it arriving ahead of schedule.
The Holy Beasts had gathered the energy of the Digital World in one place. While he could create creatures capable of defeating the four, and had in the past, allowing them to hand the Digital World, and the gateway to its counterpart, on a platter was far sweeter and easier. He hadn't even had to manipulate them much, and they had neutralized the old Digidestined for him. He almost felt bad that he hadn't gotten them a present. Almost
There was one problem remaining, and it was only a possible threat. The younger Digidestined, or Tamers, or whatever the correct term was. Demon had remained beyond his control, even when approaching into the Dark Ocean, and he was a shadowy puzzle wrapped inside an enigma. His motives were even more unclear than his history. World domination seemed likely, but Digidestined had a bad habit of not remaining under control. Especially since these young ones were incredibly hard to actually focus on, when nothing should escape the master's senses. Why Demon was expending so much effort was unclear. Demon possibly had enough power to destroy a Holy Beast, but instead he had focused on saving his followers rather than build up strength to seize portions of the Digital World. It was very bizarre to the dark one's thinking.
The control spell he used was also bizarre. It did not control them to a great degree. Considering the spell had been cast near birth, they should have had no possible defense, as the spell was as much a part of their personality basis as anything else. Still, the master approved of the depression all of the recipients seemed to suffer from to a degree. It obviously did some sort of emotional manipulation, but that was almost a side effect, and not very strong. Instead, it cloaked them, and their power, which the master wasn't quite sure he understood completely.
Still, it was worth the time to deal with the children first. Digimon with children were usually more dangerous than Digimon without a partner, in the experienced view of most recent powerful evil Digimon. Mumbling in an exotic tongue, the master opened a small window, and merged that portal with Blackwargreymon's. With a three-way connection, he could keep an eye on all three worlds he was interested in. Without another gesture, he moved the Digital end above the glowing ball of energy.
Yes, in a few moments the Holy Beasts would attempt to unleash all the energy in an attempt to destroy him, but meanwhile, the spirits that bound human dreams into data form were all gathered in one place and achingly ready for the taking. With the Holy Beasts so focused on gathering energy, slipping a little of his own in would be easy, and very profitable.
***********
The younger children, possessed of holy powers and ancient entities poured power down the unready maws of the Holy Beasts. The golden light brought them nearly to their limit. With Gennai currently tracking down the source, no one really could pay attention why the black vortex had pulled in ahead of schedule. Aggravating the situation were the tiny sparkles that the older children could manage yet. This energy wasn't intended to overpower the Holy Beasts, but rather it led other energy in an attempt to escape the containment field.
In the midst of all this degenerating chaos, a few web-like strands of pure blackness went totally unnoticed by the Holy Beasts. So, they didn't notice that coincidentally, the struggles within the field stopped intensifying, allowing them to maintain control.
Gennai, dashing across the ocean like Piedmon was no his tail, arrived at a bizarre scene. A large group of data and viral Digimon, including Demon, were all lying around unconscious. In the middle of a clearing however, were six figures lying on the ground, encased in ice with dark, organic-looking webbing pulsating through it. Four others were floating, with golden cracks through the ice and the webbing.
Gennai ignored the dark Digimon temporarily to look at the children. He could feel unholy power radiating off of the webbing, and assumed it had something to do with the demons in the area. However, the younger ones had the distinct aura of holy energies, similar to Azulongmon. Gennai shrugged, "Well let's kill two birds with one stone: Sweet youth returns again!" Gennai gestured and power started to flow from the ensnared Tamers. The black webbing grew like lichen over the surface of the ice as Gennai's data was reformed, with his hair steadily darkening and the small wrinkles on his face smoothing out. The shakings in the area started to grow again as the Holy Beasts were able to drain the energy in the Digital World rather than the energy that the children were attempting to overwhelm them with. Meanwhile, they began to get paler and paler. The dark master actually clapped his hands with glee. He'd apparently only managed to catch the ones in the Digital World, but this would speed things up nicely.
****************
Back in the real world, Blackwargreymon was growing in power. The real world was starting to resonate with the effects of the Digital World, and there had been a small earthquake already in the last few minutes. While the weather had been amazingly pleasant just a little while before, the temperature had dropped at least five degrees on the Celsius scale, and storm clouds were beginning to form overhead. Wind howled through the valley.
Blackwargreymon had made no move to finish them off for the time being, busy soaking in power. With a more advanced programming than 'hunt down Tamers', he would probably have tossed a few small Terra Destroyers, but right now he was busy recharging, and then he would destroy them.
Jessica was busy digging through her card collection before grabbing Hikari's small bundle and doing the same. She sighed in relief and clutched a card to her chest. "Thank goodness I found this," she said tiredly. It was getting so she could barely focus on the writing. She shook herself, and wished for some sort of caffeine. "Okay, this situation is something the second group saw," Jessica said before yawning. It was so very cold. She forced herself to go on, "I need to get close to the portal, but can you give a distraction?"
Allen looked at Guilmon who nodded. Allen replied, "I think we can try something. Pyro sphere is strong enough to maybe disrupt the energy flow. How are you going to get that card to work?"
"I'll think of something," she said more courageously than she felt, "I just need to get close in so it'll work faster. I'll try and stay out of Blackwargreymon's way, and he's probably going to feel this. Crystalmon, stay here. You're not necessary for this, and I want to avoid getting you hurt."
"Sorry," the Digimon replied cheerfully, "It doesn't work that way. I only contradict you when you're not being confident. Otherwise, I'm at your side!"
"Mental links have their disadvantages," Jessica noted with a small smile. "Hikari, I can't force you to do this, but I'd appreciate any help you could provide."
Hikari scooped up Tanemon. "Please, you live to six years old, you know how to dodge a Digimon battle. Even you know that this is just a bit more rough version of what the city's like. Dark, dreary. Admittedly, it's less polluted here, but I'm in with you, Jessica." Jessica nodded her thanks, and held up three fingers, folding one up after another. On zero, everyone started running, Hikari and Allen on diagonals on her path. Straight towards the beast.
Tai was watching from the remnants of his prized gazebo. That fall had probably broken a few ribs, and he wasn't getting any younger. However, the rather good-sized red Guilmon stood out easily in the smouldering fields, and he didn't need Agumon's eyes to pick it out. Agumon didn't know that however, and quickly asked, "There's the three kids? What are they doing, Tai?"
Tai said nothing still, watching carefully. What Jessica had said, only about thirty minutes ago now, was preying on his mind. Impassioned stances were for the young, but Tai remembered thinking like that, back before being convinced to give up his powers. He wasn't sure when it had started, but young Tai would have preferred to stay and fight whatever menaces waited. Older Tai didn't mind, and barely even fought when Sora had switched her preference so long ago.
Still, they were going for the attempt. They were probably too weak to digivolve their partners, after what tricks they had pulled to buy themselves some time. Jessica was behind the other two, stumbling over the uneven ground, and it seemed only her partner's urging was keeping her upright. Tai's eyes narrowed. He couldn't make out details at this range, "I don't think this is some defiant last stand. Agumon, is there anything in Jessica's hands?"
Agumon stared for a moment, "She has that weird Digivice and I think a card, Tai. I can't make out what's on it." Agumon sniffed, "It smells like spring though," he noted absently.
"So that snout is good for something," Tai remarked. Tai held up his hands to ward off Agumon's reflex hurt gesture. "So this isn't some attempt to at least die with honor. Agumon, let's go, they need our help."
"Tai! I can't digivolve again so soon! Maybe with the crests, or in the Digital World, I could manage it. But I need some food or a couple hours to try for Metalgreymon again on just a Digi-core," Agumon said frantically.
"We're not ready to destroy that thing, yet, old buddy. Remember, she swiped another card and fixed you up?" Tai asked. Agumon nodded hesitantly, and Tai said triumphantly, "So, she's probably planning something like that. We just need to go out there and keep that big bastard busy, all right?" Agumon nodded, determined now. He didn't like playing the more activist of the two, and having to reign in Tai brought to mind fond memories of a summer long past. Agumon howled and charged ahead, Tai right behind him.
"Pyro sphere!" yelled Guilmon. A spot on Blackwargreymon's chest was cleared of the dark fire flowing over him for a moment as the projectile exploded. Blackwargreymon's mind clicked over, and prepared to annihilate the virus type.
"Pepper breath!" said Agumon casually, and his tiny puff of flame shot out. It wasn't nearly as strong as the Pyro sphere, but Agumon had plenty of experience, and could control his attack perfectly. The tiny puff of hot air was directed exactly to go straight into the eyehole in Blackwargreymon's helmet. The Mega roared as he was temporarily blinded. Even when striking such a vulnerable spot, a mere Rookie's attack couldn't permanently injure him, at least on the first attempt.
Blackwargreymon stopped draining power, and turned to face towards the two Rookies and partners. A Terra Destroyer began to form in his outstretched hands, but a set of bubbles tickled at his neck. Programmed to deal with the immediate threat, Blackwargreymon banished the attack to see a small girl, and an even smaller Digimon staring defiantly at him. "I'm not letting you hurt anyone," Hikari warned. She focused, trying to relieve her tension. She needed to get ready to run, relying on her experience and knowledge of turf wars in the city to see her through, not the Digivice or anyone else besides Tanemon, her other half. Suddenly, her Digivice shrieked and a pulse of light burst forth. Blackwargreymon staggered backwards away from the gate. A quick round of fire balls from Agumon and Guilmon drove him another step back.
Hikari looked at her Digivice in surprise. It had changed to resemble Jessica's and Allen's, except instead of the blue-white of Jessica's or red of Allen's, it was a shimmering purple. "D-Power off-line," traced letters on the artifact's screen, "Awaiting Digivolution to rookie level to activate Digi-modification system." As the last line blinked, Hikari gasped. What little she had been getting of Jessica's sensing abilities from their training together had suddenly magnified a hundred fold, and she could hear screaming from everything around her, but especially the parody of life in front of her. Jessica had training and time to come to grips with her sensitivity, but Hikari's was stuck at one level: full on. She collapsed, unconscious from the sudden strain.
Jessica only noted the flash of light, and fuzzily thought the Digivice had started working again. Her only focus was on the gate and the Mega Construct, and she was pleased to see it knocked backwards and indecisive. It focused no attention on her, and she was able to draw up reasonably close to the gate.
"Please," she whispered, hoping that whatever shared her body would listen. "I can't do this myself. Just enough strength to do this one thing." Blackness tore at the edges of her vision in response, but the card began to grow warm in her hands with energy. "Digi-modify," she said, slightly slurring the words. "Destiny stone, activate!" she said, and brought the card into contact with the reader. She hesitated for a moment. She was so cold it was starting to chill her bones. Crystalmon shrieked as ice was actually starting to form on her.
The presence behind the gate, however, was attracted to the power. A set of black webbing spun out and around her, finishing the process of freezing her in place, and locking her in stasis. Jessica was lost to the outside world.
***************
She awoke suddenly in a dark, chilly place, feeling hemmed in and lying on the 'ground'. "It's been a while," she remarked, "But now is a really bad time." She looked around, as maybe this was an opportunity to grab her crest, and tried to stand up, but failed. She looked behind her. Chains were encircling her and pulsing with a black light. With each pulse, she felt herself grow a little colder.
"I'm sorry. It was not my attention, but this is not the same darkness you are used to," said the older voice of Kindness. "This is.. defilement." She continued wearily, and Jessica noticed that one of the walls was starting to glow. "Yes, the barrier is breaking down in between us as we weaken. It has hurt you greatly, and cut you off from the outside world, but has allowed both of us to grow to a great extent."
"The barrier. I'm starting to think it wasn't a totally bad thing," Jessica remarked, struggling with the chains. She continued, "Without it, I've felt once or twice just being able to hear everything going on. I don't think I could live like that."
"You couldn't," confirmed Kindness, "At least, not yet. I'm not truly the Digital World, and I don't know exactly what it has planned for you, but I believe that we both needed time."
"Now would be a good idea to start explaining yourself, since I seem to be stuck. Time for what?" asked Jessica.
"Time to grow," said Kindness fondly, "I"ve watched over you your whole life, Jessica. But at the beginning, I was just an idea. Even through the darkness, your actions helped focus and shape me. I'm a representation of an abstract now, but with the powers, such as they are, of the abstract. That abstract helps make up the Digital World, but my powers are your powers. The barrier blinds you from me to keep you safe. We're the same person, I'm just a fragment, or a conscious. Right now, though, you're not the only one chained. Darkness binds me, and something else is starting to feed on the basis of the Digital World, and me with it. Look at the chains," the spirit commanded.
Jessica tore her eyes away from trying to make out the figure to crane her neck. Dark light pulsed along her chains, but they met and paralleled another set that glowed pink. Each traveled through that past of least resistance Jessica remembered from her last visit to the depths of her mind. Strangely, she didn't feel that dark presence from last time. She wasn't sure who it was instead, as she wasn't good at naming minds. "Who are they?" she asked.
Kindness sounded confused, "I can feel Serenity, though she goes by the name Darkness for now, and Sincerity very clearly. Love is faint, and the others are just sort of there for now. I don't know exactly who they are. Even if you met them, they were bound like you, us, back in the real world."
"Right," she said absently, trying to focus down the chains. There were many voices, a few enraged, many muted and trying to struggle free. A few others were looking for the source of the problems. She blinked in surprise at something she sensed there.
"If Jessica was here," thought a voice, "She'd figure out how to untangle this web before all of us die."
A weaker voice replied, "You've come far enough along to sense everything. Why you consider to insist your Darkness, I won't understand, but we'll beat this, Angie."
"Angie!" yelled Jessica mentally. There was a quick paroxysm of confusion.
"You're here to," Angie said sadly, "But aren't you in the real world?"
"I don't have time to explain. There's a big Mega attacking, and I need to get out of here and seal it up," said Jessica. Her eyes narrowed as she felt remorse coming from one of them. "Angie, you didn't get so caught up in doing something to help, you didn't think 'long-term', did you?" Jessica said threateningly.
"Finding out the reason your personality the way it is due to a mind-altering spell and possession by a Digital spirit has helped your confidence, I see," said Angie wryly. A sort of mental head shaking followed. "Sorry, it's hard for me to stay so serious and alarmed."
"You must be Serenity then," noted Jessica, "do you know what's happening?"
"Wait," said the other voice, "I'm Eiko by the way, but I think I'm getting a suggestion. The barriers are under our control now, due to the Wall. That's why Jessica, who Angie's told me about, can push hers back to an extent. Just let them drop for a moment, and maybe we can figure out what's going on."
"If we weren't all about to die from getting drained out, I'd say you were crazy," said Angie, "We're probably going to go insane, and we probably won't remember a lot besides the necessary details."
"Good," chorused the other two, "I want my mind to stay its own, what's left of it anyway." Shame filtered over from Kindness, but Jessica ignored it. "I can feel others there, can they help?"
"They're not as introspective," commented Angie, "But I'll see what I can do. They're plenty good people really. We've been hanging out with the wrong crowd, but there's no time. I can feel myself getting colder. Hang on, and just open yourself up." Jessica did as ordered, though it took several tries before the barrier fell down.
Jessica's internal clock kept going, and it was about five seconds later when the world resorted and she started tracking. She had felt Kindness settle into herself, like a limb that had fallen asleep and suddenly awakened, and then there was too much going on. She had felt everything. Herself, weakening and being drained. Hikari struggling as she felt the screams of the Digital World massed. Picking out each individual plea for help in the Digital World, and worse of all, being forced to see everything inside herself. All the little insults she had done and hurts she had caused over the years. There probably less than there were for most people, but they were still there. Tears streaked silently down her face.
"Are you two," the mental voice cracked, "At least here? All right isn't the right phrase to use."
Angie said wearily, "I'm so sorry Jessica. I didn't know about the lack of Wargreymon."
"It's all right, and I think what I see what you meant about Darkness, but that can wait," said Jessica, "We take out your problem, and Blackwargreymon's a snap. Heck, you said you felt an echo of you in the field struggling to get out, so maybe Mr. Kamiya's crest power is there."
"Good idea," said Angie warmly, and a bit taken by surprise, "I wouldn't have thought of that. But how do we get out. We're being drained, our powers are being drained. Not by the same people, and I'm wondering who the second is."
"Doesn't matter," said Eiko, "They're draining two different things, so one thing won't solve the problem. Unless we could reroute both away. The Holy Beasts kept hold even when we focused everything on one point in the containment field. They can keep draining our mystical energy, and something has our life energy too. I doubt I can stand up even if we succeed at this point." Eiko's voice was tremulous. There was a limit to how long they could ignore that they were resting on the world's balance point, and they were physically down, mentally exhausted, and spiritually drained.
Angie said, "Well, maybe we could cross the streams, as it were, and confuse them."
"Actually, that might work," said Jessica. Here, her mind was working better than it had outside. She'd probably only know when the final exhaustion over took her when everything just stopped. "The Holy Beasts are really greedy, and everyone's sucking up energy. If something disturbs the flow, maybe they'll stop paying attention long enough to disrupt the flow."
"Nothing else to try," remarked Eiko, "The others are listening in, faintly. I'll try and talk to them." Several moments passed, and then Eiko said, "Get with your 'better halves' you two, and then hope you can move the chains enough."
Jessica turned to look at the weary figure beside her. The barrier was breaking down as their energy drained, as something of them went into maintaining it. Jessica knew, after everything that had happened today, she probably wasn't going to wake up for a week except for psychotherapy. She could see shimmering pink and white garments, and what looked like angelic wings. "On 'one', all right? I'm not sure I'll be around for three," she said. Kindness nodded back.
The two immediately tried rolling down towards what was draining them. Stopping to struggle, they started to get pulled in easily. However, this gave them some slack, and the two started to roll towards the barrier. From their points of view, it was a bit like a mirror. Closing their eyes, they hit the barrier, but it didn't break. Jessica felt something snap, and started to lose consciousness. However, it was enough for the two chains, continuing on momentum, to feed hungrily on the barrier than each other. The same scene was carried out in six other places, more or less.
************
Gennai's eyes widened in horror. More power had started to flow through him, but then the life energy had been added to by the sharper tang of Digital power. Then he felt a deep hunger rushing over him. The Four Holy Beasts had far greater appetites than he could manage, and they started to drain him instead. Rapidly aging, Gennai collapsed and stopped the connection. The darkness immediately began to recede from the ice-encased bodies.
However, it was enough. With all four draining the same line apparently of life energy, the four Holy Beasts didn't notice they were starting to feed on each other momentarily. Feeling a far greater power source than trying to drain the last vestiges from the Digital World, the four fell into it for a moment. A few sparks, sent by the Spirits last gasp before fading into somnolence along with their hosts, made it out of the containment field and into the portal before the Holy Beasts wised up. So much of the Digidestined's success had been last minute chances, and yet another had succeeded as the sparks floated up into the portal towards the Real World. They weren't much, but it was enough.
************
"Jessica's an ice cube, Hikari's out of it, and Blackwargreymon looks angry enough to take out the area," Guilmon complained. "And I'm getting hungry!"
"Nice to see your priorities, big guy," Allen commented. Blackwargreymon had decided for now to send dark bolts of chaos and corruption, waiting to continue feeding off the death of the Digital World. Jessica glinted in the lightning beginning to flash through the clouds. Allen's head felt like it was going to fall off from everything going on. He had felt something surge through the gate, but he wasn't sure what. He was starting to wish he'd focused more on Jessica's mysticism, and less on being able to swipe many cards.
A small shower of sparks would have gone unnoticed, except they were astonishingly bright in the darkening sky. They settled around Jessica like fireflies for a moment, before the ice and darkness suddenly shattered. Blackwargreymon went stumbling backwards as the darkened vortex in front of him settled into the view of a shimmering ball of energy. The Digivices and D-Powers went back to life faintly.
Jessica looked at her hand as energy surged through her for a moment. As the glow faded, the card in front of her turned to crystal for a moment. Crystalmon looked at her, and she felt the Digimon's presence immensely, but she couldn't keep up the output, and the crystal faded, leaving two cards. "One final gift," whispered Kindness, "I'm too tired to do more for now. Use them wisely."
"Brave shield and digivolution," she noted. "All right, big and ugly!" she shouted bravely. Crystalmon looked at her in surprise. She had been locked out when Jessica was in the ice, and it had been terrifying. She was briefly wondering where this girl had come from. Jessica looked at her partner with infinitely weary eyes. "No time to explain now, old friend. Fly over to Allen and ask him to use this. I doubt there's more than one card swipe for each of us. I'll give you a little boost first. I hope I stay awake to see this, though."
Crystalmon's eyes widened. There was parts of a plan floating in Jessica's head, but it was greatly distorted. The terrible pressure on the Digital World had eased up for the moment, and with the energy flowing more freely, Jessica was planning to grant it to Crystalmon. "Stop, Jessica! That's too draining! You're nearly dead!"
"Blackwargreymon won't let you make it alive otherwise. Please, Crystalmon. This is more than us!" Crystalmon reluctantly nodded. Jessica didn't have a death wish, or she'd never have made it to as old as she was. Jessica took a deep breath, and prayed as she said, "Digi-modify! Digivolution activate!" The card swiped through the reader. The new data upload made the D-Power crackle with energy. To the horror of several powerful Megas, white energy balls split out of their sphere, heading through the portal and beginning to circle Crystalmon.
"Digivolution!" stated the D-Power flatly. An egg appeared on the screen before bands of light encircled Crystalmon.
Data spread off from Crystalmon, allowing her form to be rewritten. After a moment, the egg collapsed inwards with added data to stabilize her structure. She was still a dragon, but she had a proud mane of white hair. Her scales were more iridescent than white, and silver claws glinted evilly at each foot. Her tail had split into two whip-like structures, merging halfway up. She was around twenty-five feet long, about two-thirds of that neck and tail. Proud wings jutted out to either side, and large ridged fins flowed down her back, ending in the tail. There were spikes around each of her ankles. "Crystalmon, digivolve to Chromamon!" she bellowed triumphantly.
Jessica collapsed like a sack of potatoes, Chromamon reaching out to cushion the fall by grabbing her. The dragon checked for a pulse, and after finding one, lovingly set her down, taking the card. "I won't fail you, Jessica, or anyone else!" she promised, before flapping off mightily.
A champion was enough for even the idiotic Blackwargreymon to sit up and take notice. Chromamon wasn't especially fast. There was only a few thousand feet, but it would take her perhaps a minute to cover the distance to Allen. Blackwargreymon roared, and flew at her. Chromamon's emphasis was on maneuverability, and she tucked her wings in and sideslipped out of the way, Blackwargreymon's Dramon destroyers tearing up the Earth.
"Chromamon," read Allen, "A Holy Beast, Champion level. Says her attacks are plasma ball and argent clawstrike." Tai nodded in understanding. Allen looked up, "She's beautiful."
"And what am I?" Guilmon asked indignantly.
"I'll say you're cool if you keep giving Chromamon some cover fire," Allen suggested. Guilmon started and started throwing pyro spheres at Blackwargreymon, who was trying to get his claws out of the steel plating. Chromamon took that opportunity to fly over.
"Allen! Use this! Jessica wanted it done!" Chromamon set the card down.
Agumon peered at it before Allen took it up, "Hey! I know that. When I'm Wargreymon, I carry that around on my back."
Allen nodded determinedly, and explained, "She probably wanted this shield. Maybe we can reflect it off, or something. All right, Guilmon, we're going to run out there and use it to take him out with his own attack!" Tai grabbed the boy's arm before he could swipe the card.
"I have a better idea," Tai said with a faint smile, "Why not let someone whose Mega form is part of that card deal with it. I'm use to dodging big attacks." Tai had his old devil-may-care grin on, and explained, "I've got longer legs. Someone needs to get to Jessica. That energy globe doesn't look friendly."
Allen sighed, "Well, I'm Japanese. I'm lousy at saying no to my elders. Guilmon, after I do this, give it to Agumon." Guilmon nodded. "Digi-modify!" Allen yelled. The screen on the D-Power brightened in preparation, prepared to give it its last, "Wargreymon's brave shield!" The massive golden armor, emblazoned with the crest of courage, was balanced precariously in Guilmon's claws.
"Here you go!" Guilmon said cheerfully, handing the weight easily to Agumon, who staggered before bracing himself. "Don't get yourselves killed!" Agumon and Tai nodded, before charging out with a berserker yell.
****************
Zhuquiaomon roared in fear, "Something is going wrong! The Crest of Courage has started to stir!" The light balls had been bad enough, but this was the loss of a crest. Without all of them to stabilize the spell, they would lose everything. Already fire was striking along the insides.
"I cannot contact Gennai!" said Azulongmon, "He has been struck down!" The holy beasts looked at each other nervously. Gennai was nearly as powerful as them. What could have happened?
"Recall him!" yelled Baihumon. Azulongmon nodded. It would take some power away, but that was nothing to the coming catastrophe. With a flare of light, Gennai appeared. Now, instead of being nervous, the Holy Beasts were terrified. Gennai had become old and withered again. This could possibly mean he had broken the youth spell and regained his independence from them. Gennai knew more about the Digidestined than anyone, having created the current Digivices when the Holy Beasts had been imprisoned. If he ordered a strike against him, millions would come to fight.
Ebonwumon broke his silence, "We must strike now, brothers! Before all is lost. Even if we are not ready, we can buy thousands of years. More than enough time to heal!" Azulongmon didn't nod with the others, risking a glance at the ominous black vortex first before reluctantly nodding. The fire inside the globe was starting to coalesce, and that could mean an explosion. "Now! Strike with all your fury, Soul of the Digital World!" roared Ebonwumon as he got the approval and silent support of the three others.
What happened next was a complete surprise. What should have happened was a beam of energy pouring from the sphere, annihilating everything in its path. Instead, an animalistic growl sounded from inside. A golden figure jumped out of the sphere, followed by a beam of energy. A faint Wargreymon pierced the vortex with contemptuous ease, wiping it away. Azulongmon could just make out other humanoid figures within the beam. "They're all lose!" he said in horror. Indeed it was so. Inspired by Courage, the spirits bound to the various crests, in the forms of their old Ultimates or Megas made their way to freedom. Wargreymon continued to arc through the sky, before disappearing in a flash of light. When the energy reached that height, it started to spread out into a dome, though bits of it started to fall down like rain.
"It is over, my brothers," Azulongmon stated with finality. "We still have the body in our grasp, but we have lost the soul completely for now. The unfinished prophecies have begun." The others nodded in agreement. As much as they'd like to deny it, this plan had failed. "Our only consolation is that this energy will indeed buy the Digital World enough time to begin our fallback plans. Come," he said with delight. The others would be lost, but he had control now. "We shall leave. Bring the Guardian, and we must plan for other days." The three others nodded quickly and subserviently, padding away without a second glance towards the emptying energy sphere.
**************
And what of Wargreymon? Tai had charged forward. Recognizing the strength of the shield, but not the purpose, Blackwargreymon gave his best shot to his shield. Tai roared defiantly as the bolt approached. When it struck, the explosion nearly deafened him, but he'd be damned if he backed down after everything else. He would die as he should have lived. He was, however, very surprised to find him and Agumon still intact when the energy passed.
Instead of the shield, however, there was a ghostly figure of Wargreymon. He smiled paternally at the two, before fading into Agumon. Tai felt a sudden warmth on his chest, and looked down in shock to see the crest symbol shining there for the first time in years. "All right, Agumon! Let's do it for old time's sake! Warp-digivolve!"
A massive beam of orange energy enveloped Agumon, who quickly grew through his various stage. When the energy passed, a massive red-haired figure, slightly scaly under his proud armor, waited there calmly. He held up his hands, armed with their mighty clawed wrist guards, and Blackwargreymon roared. Challenge given and accepted.
Wargreymon didn't even bother with his claws or attacks on the first round, simply rearing back and punching with all the anger he had felt for not simply cutting through the compromises over the years, and watching Tai shield himself from the world. Blackwargreymon went sliding through the air to impact against a mountain. "It's good to cut loose," he rumbled, before taking to the skies.
On the ground, Allen smiled as his D-Power shone again with steady light. Chromamon, however, was going to gather up Hikari and Jessica, and after a few minutes (during which Wargreymon was happily playing both sides of a tennis match, with Blackwargreymon as the ball), deposited them near Allen. Both had regained conscious, but Hikari looked too exhausted to do much more than breathe.
"How did you know it would work?" Allen asked after explaining everything.
Jessica shrugged and smiled, "I didn't. I started to crack things open, but you evidently gave Mr. Kamiya the key, by giving him something Wargreymon could find his way back too." Jessica smiled happily, "This was much more of what I was expecting from him."
Allen was shocked, "You nearly killed the world's greatest hero on a theory with holes big enough to fit a Holy Beast through?" Allen winced at the selection, "Maybe I don't want them poking holes in the theories right now. We really need to sit down and have a massive planning session. Who knows who our enemies are?"
Jessica pointed up at the sky, where Wargreymon was chasing Blackwargreymon across the sky. "I'd like to take that guy out. From what I remember, he's going to block the Digital World's full restoration, though that could take years, until he's taken out. Plus, it'll probably help the last of poor Hikari's headache." Allen nodded at that, and pulled out a Digivolution card and quickly swiped it at Guilmon's nod.
"Digivolution," stated a computerized voice for the second time.
Once again rings flew out from a D-power, but this time they were red. "Guilmon, digivolve to Growlmon!" roared the massive dinosaur once he had returned from a wireframe state.
After making sure Hikari was comfortable, the two mounted their partners. Growlmon could only hop along the ground, but Wargreymon wasn't a very fast Digimon in the air, and Chromamon quickly caught up. Wargreymon grinned. "If you guys managed to recover." Jessica didn't think so, but didn't say anything as the Mega continued, "You definitely deserve to be on this. Mega claw!" roared the Digimon, spiraling into a tornado and leaping ahead, digging into the shield on Blackwargreymon's back and ripping it to shreds, as well as causing some of the oil the Construct used for blood to begin to drip out.
Growlmon roared down below, hurrying up to get to a point where he could be in range for his flame attack. Jessica noted this. "Chromamon, care to make him a little more flammable? I'm really ready for a clear victory today!" The dragon pumped harder in the air, straining herself, but getting into an attack position over the oblivious Mega.
"Argent clawstrike!" roared the dragon, diving down to strike with suddenly glowing claws. Blackwargreymon roared as the minute damage to his flesh under the armor was greatly expanded on. An oil trace slowly fell down through the long passage to the ground. Growlmon's eyes narrowed.
"Pyro blaster!" came tinnily from below, but the flame trail that came up and exploded on Blackwargreymon's back was nearly enough to knock the Mega from the air.
"Now, to heat things up a little!" giggled Wargreymon. "Sorry," he said when the two airborne stared at him. "Let's finish this! Terra Force!" Wargreymon paused, arms spread wide to allow a massive globe of fire energy to fill the space, before he tossed it forward.
"Plasma ball!" shouted Chromamon before spitting out a ball of blue-white hot matter, powerful enough to ionize the air in its passage, judging by the ozone spell. The two fiery attacks, one holy, one just plain hot and huge, impacted simultaneously, as Chromamon's attack had a smaller buildup time. The Construct howled in agony for a moment as the fire raced through the crack in his armor, before the voice was choked off. When the inferno cleared, nothing was left but for some data. Wargreymon did a barrel roll, but picking up on the exhausted state of her passenger, Chromamon went back towards the blasted valley as the storm clouds broke, casting a few rays of sunlight down.
**************
"Have a good flight back, all of you," Tai said warmly a few hours later. They had grabbed a quick nap, and some food, but Hikari was ready to collapse from exhaustion despite the rest, but they needed to get back to the train station before Chromamon dedigivolved. Growlmon had reverted an hour ago, but he hadn't been the epicenter of a charged healing card, and he'd digivolved earlier in the day.
"Thank you, Mr. Kamiya. Without you, we'd have lost," Allen replied.
"I'm starting to believe that having only champions would be a minor inconvenience to you," Tai stated, "Good luck on your quest. The gates are probably still down, but I'll have Greymon sit on Gennai if he doesn't do a better job tracking." Tai looked at the destroyed landscape, "So much work gone, but this is a chance to make it better," he said philosophically, "I've spent too much time up here, and cut myself off. I've lost a lot of time, and I have you three for reminding me how to spend my last years."
Jessica bowed awkwardly. She was holding up the fitfully sleeping Hikari. "Thank you for your kindness, but we have to return now. Poor Hikari needs rest and time to focus, and there's a lot going on we need to sort out." Tai nodded, and bowed back, before the group hopped on Chromamon, being careful of the spikes.
Jessica managed to make it out of sight before the tears of exhaustion and stress fell down her face. She had found her friend, but there were all sorts of preconceptions to deal with, and the feelings the Digital World had broadcast would haunt her for the rest of her life. With even willpower and pride to the older Digidestined no longer an issue, Jessica simply slumped over as tears ran down her face. Allen barely caught her in time.
"I don't blame you," Allen said in a comforting whisper. "Chromamon, Jessica has the right idea. Let's go home." The rest of the trip to the train was silent but for the flap of wings under the starlit sky.
To be continued....
It took a month. There were four separate major rewrites, and I just wanted to get things done that the tone sounds a bit hurried in some places because I wanted to get something decent through. I knew how I wanted things to go after Jessica broke free of the ice, and much of the internal sequence talking to the other Digidestined. You should meet the rest of the group, hinted at this time, in the next chapter.
It should come out faster. Finals are coming, which will slow things down, but this heavily philosophical piece that dealt with many of the initial arc pieces has been dealt with, at long last. Now it's time to start the next arc, and finish wrapping up this one.
Please review. Something better than this is really long would be nice. ^_^
Next time: We see what happened with the Digital World as Demon's little chosen ones begin their training in earnest. The Holy Beasts begin to pay more attention to the campaign, while in the Real World, Jessica and Allen struggle to help Hikari deal with the first days with a D-Power. Connections to the past start to be established as the groups make a better contact than a near-death experience. Sometime soon!