Darkness Reborn

Chapter 5: Counter-attack!

by Silver

*Standard Disclaimer: I do not own any rights to Digimon's Creatures or Characters or Storyline.*

            Author's Note: TA-DA! I'm back, and I'm a graduate. After what has to have been my most demanding semester ever, I am celebrating by resuscitating my old story. Here's hoping I never take this long to post a chapter again.

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            The moist grass carpeting the forest floor muffled Raidramon's footsteps, denying the group even the most basic sound. Davis, Ken, Datirimon, and Wormmon had been riding for over an hour without saying a word. The silence from the group was bad enough, but the muting shroud covering the entire area was maddening. Davis wanted to scream at the top of his lungs. It was getting to the point where he didn't care if he attracted ChaosWarGreymon himself. At least then Davis would see another sign of life in the Digital World! He clenched Raidramon's handholds tightly and gritted his teeth, feeling the urge rise up in him.

            "Hey, Davis?"

            "AHH!" Davis jumped in his seat when Ken spoke up behind him. He hadn't expected a sudden break in the silence. He slipped and nearly fell off his mount.

            "What's your problem?" asked Datirimon.

            "Nothing." Davis huffed. "You just startled me."

            Ken helped Davis back up and said, "I've been thinking about what you said earlier: about me not blaming myself for this situation and focusing on defeating the new Emperor?"

            "Yeah, what about it?"

            "I finally realized that you're right. I can't hold myself responsible for what this new Emperor is doing. I won't give in to blaming myself like I did before."

            Davis grinned, "Took you that long to figure it out, huh?"

            "Watch the sarcasm. Don't make me sick Puttimon on you." They both laughed.

            "Davis!" Raidramon's ears twitched. "Something's coming."

            Davis cupped his hand to his ear. "I don't hear anything."

            "My ears are this big for a reason." Raidramon braced himself. "Better get ready for a fight!" Everyone nodded and slid off.

            Ken produced his digiegg from his d-terminal. "Digiarmor energize!"

            "Wormmon armor digivolve to… Puttimon: Cute Kindness!" The imp Digimon stood next to Raidramon, both poised for an attack. "Charge!" They lunged forward into the thicket of bushes. A loud thump and scream followed shortly after they disappeared. There were no explosions or sounds of battle. Instead, it sounded like a large argument with several voices shouting at one another. All of them sounded very familiar. Especially one loud, female voice.

            "Get offa me! Is this your idea of a joke? You're getting grass stains all over my clothes!"

            Davis glanced at Ken. "You don't think..?"

            Ken nodded, "We're in for a lot of trouble now."

Datirimon looked at them quizzically. "What's wrong? Why are you guys so scared? Who's after us now?"

"No one is after us. I think we just attacked one of our teammates. And if it's who I think it is, we might want to run and find ChaosWarGreymon. He's not as scary as Yolei when she's angry."

"You could always disappear into those Hiding Trees." Datirimon nodded towards a cluster of unobtrusive maples around the clearing. "There's at least ten of them around here."

Davis scratched his head, "Let's keep that option open. But I guess we better call our Digimon off first." They both inched toward the thicket with the apprehension of doomed men.

            On the other side, Raidramon and Puttimon were standing by with bewildered expressions, too stunned to move. Raidramon's paws rested on Yolei's back, pinning her to the ground. Puttimon sat atop Cody, forcing him to stay in the same position. Armadillomon and Hawkmon stood off to the side, watching the fiasco with bewildered but amused faces. They looked at Ken and Davis with a mixture of pity and humor. They knew the two humans were in for the talk down of their lives.

            "Davis!" Yolei roared, "Get this oversized lizard off of me!"

            "I-I'm not a lizard." Raidramon complained. His tone signaled that he knew how much trouble he was in.

            Davis asked, "You promise not to kill me when I get him off you?"

            "I don't make promises like that!"

            Davis gave a resigned sigh. "Get off her, Raidramon." The armor Digimon stepped off, bowing apologetically as he retreated to Davis' side.

            "You too, Puttimon." Ken's partner hopped off Cody and apologized.

            Yolei was on her feat in less than a heartbeat. Davis and Ken cringed together as she berated them. "I can't believe you'd jump your own teammates! What kind of Digidestined are you? You could have killed us, and you nearly ruined my clothes! If we weren't in so much trouble already, I'd have Hawkmon armor digivolve and stomp you two into the ground. I don't need this kind of aggravation! If you two only knew the trouble Cody and I have been through. We got attacked by a Tortomon and got lost in this weird special thingy, and then we had to fight Ninjamon and ChaosWarGreymon! And where were you two during all this, huh? Why didn't you use your D3's instead of attacking us with your Digimon?"

            Davis said, "Well… our D3's don't work right now."

            "That's no excuse! What were you…" Yolei finally noticed Wormmon. "Oh wow!" She ran over and hugged him. "He's so cute! Ken, who is this?"

            Ken blinked, "That's… um… that's Puttimon. He's Wormmon's armor form."

            "He's your partner? That's so great! A cute Digimon for a cute boy!" Everyone grinned at Ken's blushing.

            Cody finally spoke up. "Wormmon can armor digivolve?"

            Datirimon nodded. "Yep. Thanks to me!"

            Ken explained, "We found Datirimon and rescued him from some controlled Digimon. He used an ability given to him by Oikawa to recreate our digieggs from our crest power. He then sent a burst of that same power out over the digital world so your digieggs would return as well."

            Cody nodded, "So that's what that light was. It came at a good time. We would still be trapped if it weren't for our digieggs." Cody explained the spatial warp they'd encountered.

            Davis said, "Whoa. That's pretty weird. This new Emperor's got some freaky tricks. He can even keep control over Digimon after we destroyed a control spire." He told them how they'd managed to destroy a control spire, only to have the Digimon become enslaved once again. "It's like the control spire didn't even matter."

            Hawkmon scratched his head. "We appear to be caught off guard constantly by this new Emperor's tactics. Despite their similarity to Ken's old plans, these new dark rings and spires behave very differently. I wonder how the new Emperor knows how to orchestrate all of this."

            Davis shrugged and looked around. "Well, we can shut his plans down once we're all back together. Which reminds me, have you guys seen Kari or TK?" Yolei and Cody shook their heads.

Cody said, "Yolei and I were able to send short-range messages to one another on our d-terminals. Maybe we can contact them?"

Davis pulled out his d-terminal. "Let's give it a try."

            *          *          *          *                      *          *          *          *

"Chaotic Force!" Pegasusmon drove to the side as a condensed sphere of power shot past. Kari clung to TK while TK clung to Pegasusmon's neck, sandwiching Gatomon in the process.

"Pegasusmon," TK said, "you have to go faster!"
            "This is it." Pegasusmon panted. "Can't go any faster! You're all too heavy."

Kari glanced behind them and saw that ChaosWarGreymon was close behind. "I think he's holding back on purpose. He's chasing us for the fun of it!"

"Great." muttered TK. "So he could overtake us any time he wants to… There's gotta be some way out of this." He refused to let Kari, Gatomon, and Patamon die. Even the most powerful Digimon had a weakness. They just had to exploit it. But that raised the question: what was ChaosWarGreymon's weakness?

He's obsessed with hunting. A smart Digimon would have finished us off right away, but he's holding back, trying to get some sport out of us. Maybe TK should challenge him to a hunt-or-be-hunted game? No. There was no way he'd be able to outmaneuver the hunter. There wasn't enough time to have Gatomon armor digivolve and fly Kari to safety. It didn't appear that there was any way to evade the dark Mega.

A chime from TK's d-terminal ended his line of scenarios. He quickly opened it and read the e-mail. "Davis and Ken have met up with Cody and Yolei!"

Gatomon huffed. "Great. A Digidestined reunion. How does that help us?"

TK smiled. "I bet ChaosWarGreymon's too focused on us right now to notice another attack. Davis and the others are near where we first split up. We're close by, so let's head for them as fast as we can!"

"Are you sure?" Kari asked. "We'll just lead ChaosWarGreymon to them."

"I know. But they've probably got Armor Digimon as well, so we'll stand a better chance in a fight. Plus, they can surprise ChaosWarGreymon while we lead him in."

Kari grinned, "And you told me not to set myself up as a decoy."

"We're not acting as decoys. We'll be bait."

Kari sighed while TK punched instructions into his d-terminal. "Why doesn't that make me feel any better?"

            *          *          *          *                      *          *          *          *

"Here they come." Davis signaled from a branch. The Armor Digimon took their positions from under the cover of the trees. Raidramon, Puttimon, Halsemon, and Digimon raised their attention to the sky, focusing their power towards the target zone. Davis slid down the tree trunk and ran over to the group, who stood poised to run. "TK and Kari will meet us back in the clearing. Then we can take ChaosWarGreymon down!"

"And how are we supposed to do that?" Yolei demanded. "Six Armor Digimon won't stand much chance against a Mega. We'd need a miracle to beat this guy!"

"So you're saying we should run? I don't think so. We've tried that already and look where it got us."

"You're both right." Cody broke into the argument. "We can't keep running, but we can't exactly stand and fight either. We'd lose in a head on confrontation. We'll fall back and look for a chance to surprise him, just like we are now."

"They're coming, they're coming, they're coming!" Datirimon hopped back and forth excitedly. Pegasusmon flashed by overhead "Fire, fire, fire!"

"Thunder Blast!"

"Heart Beam!"

"Eagle Eye!"

"Gold Rush!" The four attacks rocketed up and struck ChaosWarGreymon in the chest just as he appeared. His roar actually dwarfed the noise of the explosion while he fell back and crashed into the forest.

"Let's go!" Ken signaled the others to run.

They reached TK's group just as Pegasusmon touched down. "Hey, Kari!" Davis called. "You okay?"

Kari nodded, "Barely. Thank you for getting ChaosWarGreymon off our backs."

Davis grinned proudly, "All in a days work!"

Yolei huffed, "Hey! We did just as much as you did."

Cody blindsided the argument, "We don't have time for this. ChaosWarGreymon will be on us again in no time. We have to go!"

"No." TK said quietly. Everyone stared at him with dumbfounded expressions.

"TK?" Kari asked worriedly.

"We can't run. Not any more. Pegasusmon is too tired, and ChaosWarGreymon will just go on killing and conquering if we run away now. He's just like the Digimon Emperor: obsessed with power and he doesn't care who he hurts. I'm not going to run away and let him do as he pleases. We have to stop him, now!"

Davis nodded, "I'm with you, TK! Let's show that weirdo who's in charge!"

Kari was less enthusiastic, "How are we supposed to fight when our Digimon's combine strength can't even hurt him?"

"He can be surprised." said TK. "If we lure him into a trap, we can take him unaware and inflict some major damage before he has the chance to retaliate."

"Good plan! Good plan!" Datirimon squeaked. "I wanna see you guys beat ChaosWarGreymon! Then maybe Yukio can come back."

Cody asked, "So where do we set this trap? ChaosWarGreymon can smell our Digimon very clearly."

"The hiding trees…" Ken looked at Datirimon. "You mentioned there were a lot of hiding trees near where we ambushed Yolei and Cody. Can you show us where they are?"

"Sure!"

Ken nodded. "I have an idea then. Let's move!" They all followed Ken and Datirimon, not sure what he was plotting.

            *          *          *          *                      *          *          *          *

Six Digidestined all gathered together with their partners. That was twelve prey! ChaosWarGreymon didn't bother to stand up while he contemplated the hunt before him. There had been four attacks that had knocked him to the ground. They were all too weak to harm him but they'd had enough force to momentarily faze him. Such power could only come from the Digidestined's Digimon, and no Digimon would be caught without its partner. Including the two human's that ChaosWarGreymon had been chasing, it was clear that these humans had finally reassembled; meaning that his hunt had finally reached its peak.

All those humiliations. All the escapes. His prey had evaded him too many times to be tolerated! They would die now. No gloating. No hunting. No mercy. He would stain the ground with their blood this very moment. After a day of hide-and-seek, he would be the winner, and show his loyalty to the Emperor. Without the Digidestined, there was nothing that could challenge the new Emperor.

With a feral growl, ChaosWarGreymon stood erect and charged through the trees, smashing anything that got in his way. Now there would be a reckoning.

            *          *          *          *                      *          *          *          *

"So we're the bait again." Kari sighed while they waited. "How did Ken talk us into this?"

TK shrugged. "It makes sense when you think about it. ChaosWarGreymon was focused on us, so he'll probably be tracking us first." He looked at Pegasusmon, standing beside him. "You ready?"

"As I'll ever be. How about you, Nefertimon?"

Gatomon's newly evolved form nodded. "I suppose so. Though I'm not at a hundred percent after ChaosWarGreymon batted me around the last time."

A loud crash signaled that their opponent neared. Trees toppled one after another. ChaosWarGreymon was clearing a path. TK glanced at Kari, who was trembling slightly. He hesitantly reached down and placed his sweaty hand on hers. Kari glanced at him, then she smiled and the trembling stopped.

He tried to reassure her. "We'll be fine. Like I said, we've been through this before."

Kari nodded. "Yeah. But next time Ken can be the bait."

ChaosWarGreymon finally slammed through the trees. His eyes glowed red with bloodlust and every muscle swelled with terrifying power. He didn't even slow down when he spotted the two humans. He instead screamed and charged forward with all his claws brandished at their throats.

"NOW!" cried TK.

"Fire Rocket!"

"Double Stars!"

"Gold Rush!"

"Heart Beam!" The trees fired at the dark Mega. Blasts of power sprung from the wooden surfaces of several trunks encircling the area, blasting ChaosWarGreymon on each side. The titan staggered and swayed under the barrage, but didn't appear to be wounded.

Kari looked at the remaining Armor Digimon. "Attack now!"

"Rosetta Stones!"

"Star Shower!" The storm of stone slabs and rocketing stars joined the assault, adding even more force. With a final roar of defiance, ChaosWarGreymon vanished in an explosion that knocked TK and Kari onto the ground.

Flamedramon and the other Armor Digimon emerged from their hiding trees, along with their partners. They all took up positions around the smoking crater they'd just created. "Did we get him?"

Cody shook his head. "A Mega wouldn't fall to an attack like that. But I think we did hurt him."

"ROOOWWWWAAAARRR!" The smoke blew away in a gust of power with ChaosWarGreymon at the center of the storm. His energy shook the ground and sliced rocks in two. The Digidestined and their Digimon braced against the maelstrom. ChaosWarGreymon's armor was cracked and broken. His claw shields had shattered into jagged shards that littered the ground or cut into his skin. Thin black liquid leaked out of the wounds, falling and being absorbed into the ground.

With another scream of pure rage, ChaosWarGreymon formed a sphere of terrifying gold above his head and threw it at the assembled Digimon. All the Armor Digimon responded quickly by snatching up their partners and leaping to safety. The destructive energy continued on, cutting a path through the trees and vanishing into the horizon, where it exploded.

Flamedramon and Shurimon deposited their partners near the trees before resuming their attack. "Flaming fist!" Flamedramon's hand flamed and he jumped towards his enemy to deliver a blow to the chest. ChaosWarGreymon was moving much slower. His wounds hindered him. The attack struck dead center and managed to further crack the armor, but did not draw more of the strange liquid that served as blood.

ChaosWarGreymon grabbed Flamedramon by the head and threw him at Shurimon. The digital ninja jumped to the side and wrapped his extendable arm around Flamedramon. Shurimon reeled his teammate in before he could strike the trees.

Meanwhile, Puttimon and Digmon attempted a double attack.

"Heart Beam!" Puttimon fired several beams into the air.

"Rock Cracking!" Digmon drove all his drills into the soil, spawning a massive fissure. The break in the rocks shot ahead of the beams of energy and forced ChaosWarGreymon into the air, where Puttimon's attacks struck home. ChaosWarGreymon howled his fury as more chunks of armor blasted off, revealing his chest. Or rather, what should have been his chest.

Beneath his armor, there was no flesh. No muscles. Nothing that resembled a living, solid creature. There was only liquid. Black, churning liquid that flowed and swirled like water held in a tank. It did not gush out of the wound, but instead trickled out as if some force where holding a majority of the fluid within.

The Digidestined and their partners stared at him in complete awe and fear. Here before them was no Digimon, nor a control-spire born Digimon. This was completely alien to them; a mockery of all they knew. This was a creature that impersonated a Digimon and killed other creatures without mercy. This was a breed of foe they'd never encountered.

"What are you?" asked TK.

ChaosWarGreymon's eyes flashed pure red. "Your executioner." He rose into the air once more and began hurling Chaotic Force attacks randomly, howling his fury. "DIE! EVERYONE AND EVERYTHING! DIE!" The attacks soared out over the landscape and blanketing it in explosions and death. Sometimes the screams of dying Digimon could be heard, whereas other blows smothered all sound. No matter where the attacks struck, however, something died. Trees, insects, Digimon, animals; they all vanished in one massive flash of fire and light. ChaosWarGreymon continued to howl and roar, blasting uncontrollably and without caution. Even his own control spires fell under his fury.

"He's crazy!" Davis cried. "He's gonna destroy everything!"

"Pegasusmon!" TK turned to his partner, imploring.

The winged horse nodded and galloped forward. "Flamedramon, come with me!" The Davis' partner mounted the steed and they rose up to meet the berserker. One attack came far too close and Pegasusmon lose control in the attack's wake. The blast of power struck the ground near the Digidestined and forced them once more to the ground. Flamedramon used Pegasusmon's back as a springboard to launch him even higher, right at his target.

            "Fire Rocket!" The flame shield encased his body and Flamedramon struck once more. This time the attack did not hinder the Chaos General, but it did stop him from attacking. ChaosWarGreymon's attention refocused on his prey. As Flamedramon descended to the ground, he was completely bereft the ability to defend or attack. The general ceased this opportunity and struck with his foot, kicking Flamedramon with such force that he reverted to Veemon.

            "Chaotic Force!" A second blast struck near the other grounded Digimon and sapped them of all their strength. Shurimon, Puttimon, and Digmon all reverted back to their rookie forms. Only the two winged Digimon were nimble enough to evade the blow. The children escaped the brunt of the explosion thanks to their partners' protection. But nothing could save them from the monster that approached.

                        *          *          *          *                      *          *          *          *

            No more hunting. No more games. No more second chance. No more mercy.

            This chase had lasted all day, and it was time for the kill. But now his prey was more than just the thirteen beings before him. This world had worked to thwart him. The tress that had hidden his prey, the flowers that had worked to mask their scent, the rivers that served as guides and the rocks that served as deterrents to his chase. Even the control spires themselves had slowed him through their warped space abilities. ChaosWarGreymon was finished with this realm. Let it all burn. Let the creatures and the plants and the landscape all die, he cared not. This world was to become a slave colony anyway, just as Earth would. Who cared if there was a smaller pool of slaves to chose from?

            He advanced on the Digidestined slowly, intently. He no longer had blades with which to gouge out their eyes or vivisect them, but he had his own fists and claws. He would beat them to a bloody pulp, then rip out their throats and feel their warm blood trickle down his hands. And then he'd laugh, reveling in the completion of his most challenging hunt ever.

            "Star Shower!" A hail of stars struck him from above. In his weakened state, the attack actually hurt. But even with his armor in pieces, he would not be defeated by such a measly attack. He concentrated a small pulse of energy above his index finger and tossed it at his attacker. A larger attack would have killed the Digimon, but where was the sport in that? He'd worked too hard for a quick, easy kill now. The blast of energy exploded against the flying stallion, and blew him into the sky, only to fall back to the ground. To the Digimon's credit, it did not revert to its rookie form. His partner, the human with the scent of the Emperor on him, ran to check the horse's wounds.

            ChaosWarGreymon resumed his advance, eager to kill everyone and everything in his sight.

                        *          *          *          *                      *          *          *          *

            "Pegasusmon!" TK shook his partner gently. "Speak to me."

            "I'm… I'm alright. I just need a moment."

            "A moment is something we don't have!" Cody exclaimed. "We can't keep fighting like this. He's going to destroy us at this rate!"

            "So we should just run away?" Davis protested. "He'll kill everyone in the forest if we leave!"

            TK stared at the approaching murderer. This thing in front of him wasn't a Digimon, and it was unlike anything he'd seen before. It was so much like BlackWarGreymon: an artificial being whose violence threatened the whole world. But this creature knew the harm it was causing and enjoyed it. It had no heart, no soul, just bloodlust. It was darkness, uncaring and malevolent. For a moment, TK considered ordering Pegasusmon into an all-out assault. Just keep striking the monster until it stopped moving. Beat it into the ground and into its grave.

            TK's fist clenched. It was so tempting. He could feel the words squirming inside his mouth, trying to wriggle out through his lips. But he kept the words back, and forced his anger to wait. A frontal attack would do nothing. He'd only end up sending his partner to his doom.

            Ken stepped forward. "We can't run away; not from this. If we can't defeat this Chaos General, then we'll never be strong enough to defeat the Digimon Emperor. We have to overcome this monster so we can defeat the true threat. We have to stay strong and face him no matter how powerful he may appear. You guys defeated me when I was the Emperor, even though I had an army of Digimon backing me up. And you always found a way to defeat Digimon that were stronger than you. We managed to repel BlackWarGreymon together, even though he was a Mega as well. Let's not give up now!"

            Davis nodded, "That's the spirit, Ken! We're gonna beat this guy no matter what."

            TK looked at Ken and Davis with a mixture of envy and disbelief. They were staying to fight a battle others would deem impossible. They showed no hesitation, though they had to have some doubts. It was insane to stay, yet it was foolish to run away. The Digidestined had to hope for victory and pursue that hope with every ounce of strength. Retreating would never end this conflict.

            A red light shone from Ken's pocket, momentarily diverting everyone's attention from the approaching general. Ken pulled out his d-terminal, which was flashing the symbol for Kindness on its screen. At the push of a button, the digiegg of Kindness appeared and hovered over the consul. The rose-shaped egg's light began to shift from a deep red to shinning gold. Its aura extended to the edges of the clearing, halting ChaosWarGreymon in its blinding light. The dark imposture snarled and shielded his eyes.

            "Hey!" Veemon and the other Digimon stood up, "I feel better!" All of the Digimon chorused the return of their strength.

            Davis said, "I know this light… This is…"

            As if in reply, the petals of the digiegg began to open, revealing a shinning core at the its center. The light rose into the air and split in two, each half descending to Ken and Davis. The two Digidestined held up their hand to receive the new power. In a final burst of glorious light, two new digieggs appeared before them. Both were golden, but stylized very differently. The first one was familiar to Davis. It was created from a mixture of sharp angles to form a basic square with a mesa-like top. The egg itself rested upon a small pedestal that almost looked like an armored foot. The white insignia on the top announced the new creation as the digiegg of Miracles.

            The second egg, by contrast, was completely round with a cone-shaped base. One curving wing protruded from the top, and there was a symbol the egg's face that looked like an "S" turned on its side, almost like a half-finished infinity symbol. Ken frowned, "I don't recognize this."

            Datirimon hopped forward. "That's what Yukio told me about!! That's the power he put in your digiegg, Ken. It was made from your crest, so it has the power to create new digieggs. These are the digieggs of Miracles and Fate!"

            The newly formed golden digieggs descended towards Ken and Davis. Davis reached for his egg like it was an old friend. Ken was far more hesitant. "So I'm the Digidestined of Fate?"

            Davis shrugged, "Don't read too much into it. I got the digiegg of Friendship, 'cept I usually end up ticking my friends off." Ken grinned slightly. Davis continued, "Let's show this guy what real power is all about!"

            Ken nodded his agreement and they both held up their new digieggs. "Golden armor energize!" The world vanished into a golden light.

            "Veemon golden armor digivolve to… Magnamon!" Veemon's golden armor form was a taller, more humanoid version of Veemon. His armor covered most of his body, leaving only his upper arms legs, and belly bare. The armor was cut at sharp angles, with triangular horns rising up from Magnamon's head and knees to form V shapes. Two huge shoulder pads jutted out, revealing a set of thrusters underneath.

            "Wormmon golden armor digivolve to… Hypermon!" Wormmon took on a human form as well. His skin color changed to dark black, which made his golden armor stand out even more. In contrast to Magnamon's armor, Hypermon's was rounded with no angles at all. It covered the same body sections as Magnamon's armor, but his shoulder pads were much shorter. His smooth mask had two rose colored eye covers that looked like fly's eyes. Hypermon's hands were sheathed beneath a pair of large blasters. His most noticeable feature was the pair of large metallic wings protruding from his back. They were styled after the wing atop the digiegg of fate, and blue fires burning at the tips showed them to be a set of thrusters rather than biological wings.

            Ken smiled, "Now that's what a partner Digimon should look like!"

            Hypermon glanced at him. "What's that supposed to mean?"

            "Nothing!"

            The two golden armor Digimon stepped forward to face their opponent. ChaosWarGreymon had recovered from the initial shock of the blast and stood with his claws outstretched. Without a word, both sides charged each other.

            Hypermon flew in first, his thrusters giving him an amazing burst of speed. ChaosWarGreymon swung with his right claw but Hypermon used a burst of energy to swing around to the side and dodge the blow. Having put all his weight into the blow, ChaosWarGreymon stumbled forward, which gave Magnamon a chance to strike. "Magna Kick!" He slammed his armored foot into ChaosWarGreymon's face. The blow did not knock the dark Mega down, but it did stagger him. Magnamon followed up his attack with a series of punches, and Hypermon came around to add his own blows to the fray. Their combine assault pushed ChaosWarGreymon even farther back and broke off more chunks of armor, revealing an increasing pool of the strange liquid underneath.

            Enraged, ChaosWarGreymon brought his leg up and kicked Hypermon away, he then brought his fists down in a pile-driver that smashed into Magnamon's back. Magnamon fell on his face and would have been stomped by ChaosWarGreymon had Hypermon not returned to the fight. ChaosWarGreymon opted to gain some ground and began to rise into the air, but Magnamon lunged forward and grabbed hold of his ankles, restricting him to the ground. Hypermon resumed his blows of punches and kicks, culminating in one final kick to the stomach using both his feet.

            Magnamon followed up the attack by jumping up and bashing his fist into ChaosWarGreymon's chin. The two defenders then tried their energy attacks.

            "Magna Blast!" Golden light shot forth from Magnamon's armor.

            "Hyper Laser!" Hypermon's cannon-gauntlets fired twin beams of light. Both attacks struck dead-on. ChaosWarGreymon momentarily vanished in an explosion.

            "Did we finish him?" Magnamon asked hopefully. Despite their strong start, hurting ChaosWarGreymon required an immense amount of strength from the golden armor Digimon. Both were already panting heavily, and the battle had just renewed.

            "CHAOTIC FORCE!" A massive sphere launched at them. Magnamon and Hypermon were barely able to jump out of way before the attack struck the ground and sent them tumbling in free-fall. The two Digimon crashed down near their teammates, who ran to see if they were all right.

            ChaosWarGreymon emerged from the smoking crater created from the previous attack. His armor was hardly noticeable anymore. Most of his body was now revealed, and all of it was a rippling darkness. But there was one feature – newly revealed by Magnamon and Hypermon's joint attack – that stood out. ChaosWarGreymon's neck armor had been destroyed, revealing a dark spiral underneath. The shape was almost standard for the advanced slave collar that could control Ultimates, with one exception. The spiral control device had glowing red spikes lining its surface. It flashed and pulsed, as if it were losing energy.

            Cody pointed at the spiral, "That's our target! We have to destroy it."

            TK nodded, "Pegasusmon, Nefertimon, hold him in place so Magnamon and Hypermon can attack!" The two winged Digimon nodded and took flight. Gliding parallel to each other, their leg front leg armor began to glow.

            "Golden noose!" They crossed paths and formed a line of energy between their armor. Flying in at full speed, they circled ChaosWarGreymon several times. With each pass, the noose wound around tighter and tighter, until it pinned his arms to his side. ChaosWarGreymon howled and struggled against his bondage, but did not have the strength to break it.

            Yolei looked at Hawkmon, "Let's give 'em a hand. Digiarmor energize!" Cody mimicked Yolei's command and both Hawkmon and Armadillomon armor digivolved to Shurimon and Digmon again.

            "Now!" ordered Magnamon, "All together! Magna Blast!"

            "Hyper Laser!"

            "Double Stars!"

            "Gold Rush!"

            The attacks reached for ChaosWarGreymon's neck like hungry predators.

                        *          *          *          *                      *          *          *          *

            So this was the taste of fear.

            Struggling against the energy binding him, ChaosWarGreymon knew he was defeated. He was tired. So very weak. He no longer had the strength to break the bond or fire another attack.

            Shame welled up in him; shame at being outsmarted and overpowered by his prey. He'd been eluded and avoided all day. There'd been so many chances; so many times he could have killed the very creatures that threatened his life now. The blood lust was gone, as was the adrenaline rush that came with the hunt. There was only fear, the fear of a creature that knew its life was ending. All living beings felt his terror when their lives were threatened. No doubt ChaosWarGreymon had caused such fear in his own prey.

            What was that old human saying? "He who lives by the sword dies by the sword?" Well, such sentimentality was not to his taste. He did not regret the pleasure he took from the hunt, or the weak lives that he'd weeded out. This was the purpose of the hunt: to kill off the weaker lives so that the strong would grow and prosper. If he was to die now, then he was weaker than those who slew him. He deserved to die.

            Taking solace in the natural selection of the hunt, ChaosWarGreymon relaxed his struggling and tilted his head back; bearing his neck to the superior hunters.

                        *          *          *          *                      *          *          *          *

            The attacks struck without mercy, and within moments there were chunks of shattered control spiral covering the ground. ChaosWarGreymon stood for a moment, his body leaking the strange black fluid. He twitched and trembled, then sunk to his knees and fell on his belly. And then he melted.

            His armor sagged and fell apart, dissolving into the same black fluid that gushed from underneath. His body faded away and became an ever-expanding pool of dark water that stained the ground. The grass smothered beneath the liquid turned dark brown and shriveled up. The Digidestiend stepped back from the water's edge, unsure what it would do to them. The pool finally stopped expanding, leaving a patch of dead plant life in its wake.

            "That's…" Kari's skin faded to pale white, and she broke out in a terrible sweat. "The Dark Ocean. That water's from the Dark Ocean." Davis placed a hand on her shoulder while TK held her hand. It took a few moments for their comfort to calm Kari.

            "That's correct. The Dark Ocean is one force behind this battle." A figure stepped out from the trees. He wore a white robe with brown lining, similar to the dress of the guardians of the Digital World who had created the digivices. His black hair hung around his shoulders, and his once pale skin was now a much more healthy pink hue.

            "Yukio!" Datirimon hopped over to his partner and leaped into his arms.

            Yukio Oikawa smiled at his friend, "You've done very well, Datirimon. Thanks to you, we have a fighting chance once again."

            "Oikawa!" The Digidestined ran to see him. "You're free!"

            Oikawa smiled and nodded, "For the moment, yes. ChaosWarGreymon's defeat has caused a loss of power among the control spires, but I feel their energy returning. They will once again ensnare me."

            Ken protested, "But we just defeat the Chaos General."

            "You defeated a Chaos General. There are still two left."

            "Two?" Yolei moaned.

            Cody agreed, "We barely defeated this one."

            "I know it will be difficult, but I am certain that you will succeed in this battle." He looked at TK. "The next phase of this war will take place on Earth. The Emperor has set his ambitions towards conquering both worlds. You must take advantage of this window and return home so that you can defeat the new Emperor. But before you go, there is something I must tell you." Something about the way he was looking at TK unnerved the whole group.

            "This new Emperor has crest power, the same as yours. In fact, he has the crest of Hope."

            "That's not possible!" TK said, "I'm the Digidestined of Hope."

            Oikawa nodded, "Yes, but don't forget that Davis, Yolei, and Cody all have the same power as Tai, Sora, and Izzy. It's not inconceivable that someone else has your crest power."

            Davis said, "But Datirimon told us that there wasn't anyone else who had TK's crest power!"

            "Did not! Did not! Did not!" Datirimon bounced up and down furiously. "I said that we couldn't find anyone with as much hope power as TK, but I never said it couldn't happen!"

            TK glanced at his feet. "So this new Emepror has the same power as I do?"

            Oikawa nodded, "Yes; and as such, I think it would be best for you to have this. Hold up your D3." TK did as told and Oikawa held up a sphere of light in his hand. The pulsing orb floated the small distance between their hands and settled into TK's D3. "This will aid you when the time is right. I'm confident you'll know when to use it."

            "Sure…" TK had no clue what he meant.

            Oikawa regarded the whole group. "You've done very well to defeat this first general, but the other two are far more powerful. You must fight hard to free both worlds from the Emperor's grasp. Now go, before you loose this chance to return home."

            The Digdestined nodded. Kari asked, "Datirimon, will you come back with us?"

            "No. My place is with Yukio. I'll cheer for you from this world."

            The group nodded, not at all surprised by Datirimon's choice to remain with his partner. They walked away in silence, and vanished into the forest.

            "Do you think they can win?" Datirimon asked his partner.

            "I don't know. They have no idea of what is in store for them. I wish I could warn them, but this is something they must discover for themselves if they are to end the Emperor's threat once and for all. But I fear that my silence might wound their hearts deeper than anything else that might happen."

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            Author's Note: I realize that I'm stretching the limits of believability by having six Armor Digimon defeat a Mega, but my hope is that I made it realistic enough to be palatable. Next chapter will feature more character development, which I prefer to fight scenes. Until next time, please leave a review and let me know what you like and what you think I can improve upon.