Chapter 21: Rise of the Dark God

The doctors were perplexed at our condition. In the eleven days since they had found us, a week since I had woken up, we had gone from unconscious and bedridden to helping with injured soldiers. We ran errands and checks up on those who weren't hurt too badly, glad that we finally had time off from fighting. They didn't know how we healed so fast, but we did. The digivices were working their charms, but we didn't tell them.

Agumon and Tentomon went about like royalty. Any soldier, doctor, or nurse that saw them stared in awe at the alien creatures, wondering if they could attack like the Ogremon and Bakemon had. One doctor learned that they could when he tried to take a blood sample from Agumon. His face and hair were singed and burnt mildly before the needle could come near Agumon's arm.

Nobody mentioned them, but there were still many problems. Demon and Lucemon had disappeared into the Digital World, carrying the data of all the other digidestined with them. We didn't know what they planned next and the tension could be felt between us. But that didn't bother me nearly as much as my own problems. Nobody would even think to mention Fuzenmon or my previous 'actions'. I finally approached Jennifer about it. She was bringing dinner to a couple of soldiers who had lost limbs in the fighting.

"Hey Jen, can I ask you something?"

"Thank you young lady." The black soldier lying in the bed spoke in a quiet, yet deep and booming voice as he took the cup of water from Jennifer.

"No problem! Yeah James, what is it?" She acknowledged the Frenchman and turned to me.

"Well, could we um… talk in… private?" I thought I could hear the other soldier Jennifer had brought food to laugh a little.

"Sure, that is if you can find anywhere 'private'." I felt an odd mix of nervousness and queasiness at the same time. I noticed the black soldier making a kissing face to the other soldier. He laughed, but stopped short and coughed. I led Jennifer outside and looked around. Green military tents were all over the clearing as men marched between them and vehicles rode by. I walked around behind the medical tent we were in with Jennifer in tow. There wasn't anybody back behind the tent and I decided to talk there.

"Why hasn't anybody said anything?" I looked at Jennifer and her smile lowered a bit.

"What are you talking about?" She was playing stupid and I could tell.

"Why hasn't anybody said anything about me, about Fuzenmon?" I yelled a bit and Jennifer held her finger over her lips.

"Shut up!" She talked to me in a frustrated whisper. "There are people on the other side of this tent!"

"Sorry, but why?" I lowered my voice to a whisper as well.

"Because we know it wasn't your fault James. Daemon had you under his control."

"But what if he didn't!?"

"What do you mean James?" Jennifer was getting nervous.

"I mean I remembered so many things in the past few weeks that I had blocked out and I don't know what's happening to me anymore!" I began to pace about. "I never knew I had bottled up so much hate and when Myotismon finally popped the cork I went berserk!"

"Shhh! Calm down James, just try to forget about it." Jennifer tried her best to calm me down.

"I can't forget about it, that's why I'm talking to you! What if I forget about it again and it all comes pouring out and another ten thousand people die because of it?"

"James…"

"Or what if I can't take remembering it all? What if I go back to being Fuzenmon? I don't want that to happen!"

"It won't as long as you don't want it to!"

"Yes it will! You have no idea what it is like to be afraid of yourself, to be scared that you're going to hurt everybody you care about!"

"James, calm down!" We were both shouting now.

"I mean what if I hurt more soldiers, or hurt the others, or hurt you!?" Silence ensued. I breathed heavily, surprised at what I had said. Jennifer looked at me in half-shock. "I mean… I'm afraid that sooner or later I'm gonna fail again and that you all are going to die because of me."

"James, that won't happen." She spoke very calmly. "I won't let that happen. You're back with us now and we'll do whatever we can to help you." I calmed down and closed my eyes as she continued talking. "You just have let us help you." I opened my eyes and looked into hers. She laughed. "Help me help you."

"Stupid blood. Kristen, you're smart, tell me, why blood is so hard to mop up?" It was late evening and Chris complained as he mopped around the beds of soldiers where blood had fallen onto the ground.

"Well blood isn't water Chris. It's made up of various different solid cells, as well as plasma, the liquid they are carried in." Chris looked at her confusedly. "Blood is thicker than water." Kristen looked up from the book she was reading. I leaned forward in my bed and looked; it was a technical manual for various military weapons.

"Isn't that restricted reading?" I asked her and she looked over at me.

"It wouldn't have been so easy for me to get if it was."

"Where did you get it?" She turned back to her book and blushed a little.

"Oh, it was just… lying around."

"Lying around where?"

"I found it with the rest of some soldier's things."

"And where did you find them, Kristen?" She closed the book and stared at me.

"It's not like he's going to need it!" I realized what she was talking about; it was from a dying soldier's pack.

"Kristen! You stole that from a dead man?"

"Jeez James, you make it sound like a crime." She opened the book again and continued reading.

"I think it is a crime." Chris looked at Kristen, leaning on the mop he was using.

"Well what do you want me to do with it?" Kristen looked at him. "Or should I just throw it at you for butting in on our conversation?" Kristen yelled at Chris.

"I like what you've done here…" I looked around and shrugged off the voice as just somebody else talking, but it sounded so familiar…

"Hey, don't get mad at me for speaking the… OW!!!" The book hit Chris in the face and landed on his foot. Kristen laughed. I began to laugh, but stopped.

"So when do we attack?"

"What?" I spoke out into space and looked around me again. Kristen and Chris looked at me.

"What James?" As Chris looked at me, he went to lean back on his mop after the book attack. It slipped out from under him and Kristen burst out in laughing. Some of the troops in the ward laughed too.

"Do I have to command anything?" The voice didn't want the hassle of keeping up with an entire army, I could tell.

"What is it James?" Kristen looked at me and I held my finger to her, asking for a moment of silence.

"I can hear somebody talking."

"Good. So long as I get to take the digidestined. I deserve the rest of their data, I mean, since I already have most of them."

"It's Lucemon." I finally recognized the voice and leaned back. "I can hear what he is saying to somebody." Kristen put her book aside and sat up. Chris got up off the floor and walked over to the end of my bed. I rested back on my pillow and closed my eyes. A hazy picture began to form.

"What do you mean be careful? I plan on crushing them in one fell swoop." I saw Daemon standing in front of 'me'. There was something all around us, but I could only make out Daemon.

"They are more powerful than you think they are and you haven't reached your normal strength yet." Daemon spoke without emotion to his underling.

"I don't care, they still are just ultimates; you said it yourself." I heard a scratchy voice coming from my mouth. Kristen and Chris watched.

"What are you talking about James?" I could hear Kristen, but I couldn't see her. Daemon shrugged. The picture faded and I came back to the medical tent. "What's going on?"

"Daemon… he reconfigured Lucemon from me." I spoke coldly.

"Yeah, we already know that. What does that have to do with anything?" Chris picked his mop back up.

"If a digimon personally reconfigures another creature or digimon, the reconfigured digimon is permanently linked to the person they were reconfigured from."

"What? You lost me." Chris stared blankly.

"Is that good news or bad news?" Kristen looked at me worriedly and I snapped out of my lethargic state.

"Well, I don't rightly know yet."

"How do you know this anyways?" Chris started mopping again.

"Let me put it this way: It's amazing the shizz you learn when you're evil."

Joey ran around outside as dusk began to creep down on the camp. Jennifer was with him, making sure he didn't get of into trouble.

"You don't have to follow me around Jennifer. I can take care of myself!" Jennifer laughed at Joey. He tried his best to act older than he was, but his childish voice killed any attempts.

"Joey, you're only eight and this is a military camp. I'm sure you'd find a way to hurt yourself. Any little kid would."

"I'm not a little kid!" Thunder boomed from the sky and the two looked up. "Is the sky supposed to look like that?" Dark clouds covered the sky, glowing red from the setting sun on the horizon.

"It's about to rain, come on let's get inside." Jennifer turned around and waved for Joey to follow her, but he didn't.

"I don't think so Jennifer." Joey's voice shook.

"What could come out of the clouds other than rain?" Jennifer knew it was probably a bad question considering all they had been through, but she asked anyway.

"Nothing, as long as you count fire as rain." Red streaks reflected in Joey's eyes and Jennifer looked up.

"Holy Shit!" Jennifer screamed, shocking Joey. He hadn't ever heard her swear. "Chris, James, Kristen; get out here now!" She screamed to the medical tent we were in and we came running out. "Look!" She pointed up and we looked.

"This… isn't good… is it?" Chris stared at the sky, forcing any signs of fear away to keep his courageous persona intact.

"I don't like this." Kristen on the other hand didn't bother. She took a few steps back instinctively towards the tent.

"Ohhh man, this is bad." I stared at the sky.

Small meteors and brimstone fell from rings of fire in the clouds. They began to land on the camp, sending people screaming in all directions and setting tents on fire. The voice came back.

"Look at them run! Ha ha ha ha ha!!!" Lucemon's hysterical laughter rang in my ears.

"We have to get out of here now!" I yelled to Jennifer and Joey, but it was too late. The rings of fire in the sky widened and Daemon's real army attacked. It made Myotismon's force look like a joke.

Every form of Devimon flew down from the sky: Ladydevimon, Marinedevimon, Devimon, Demidevimon, and at the head of them all was Daemon himself. The devils flew down and landed on the now burning environment, killing and destroying anything in sight. We all ran to each other as they landed. Soldiers quickly took arms and tried to fight the devils, but to no avail. The bullets just bounced off the powerful digimon, doing nothing but drawing their attention. A few tanks came up and finally began to effectively fight, but were quickly disposed of by a Ladydevimon.

"Chris! Where are you?" Agumon came out of the burning medical tent with Tentomon not far behind.

"We're over here!" Chris waved to Agumon and a chunk of brimstone landed in front of him, making him jump back. "Whoa!"

"Come on, we have to go!" Tentomon flew over to Kristen.

"No, we have to fight them! We can take em'! Are you with me buddy?" Chris shouted orders as he pulled out his digivice.

"I'm ready when you are!" Agumon took a fighting stance which normally would have made us laugh except for the serious situation. Everybody pulled out their digivice, except me.

"Agumon digivolve to… Greymon!"

"Tentomon digivolve to… Kabuterimon!"

"Spirit Code Activate! Digivolve to… Kazemon!"

"Spirit Code Activate! Digivolve to… Kumamon!" The light cleared and the digimon stood together looking at Chris, Kristen, and I. "Let's whoop some Daemon butt!" Kumamon shouted aloud. I began to cheer in agreement, but felt my heart drop. I looked up and saw him.

"I'm sorry to disappoint you, but I'm the only one you'll be fighting." Lucemon dropped down and landed in the middle of the circle we had made, roundhouse-kicking all of us away. Everybody landed and quickly got back up, ready to fight.

"Nova Blast!"

"Electro Shocker!"

"Hurricane Wind!"

"Blizzard Blaster!" The shots came towards Lucemon, but never reached him. He blinked and his eyes changed to an eerie color. The attacks stopped and disintegrated.

"I don't see why Daemon worried about you." He dashed forward and slammed into Greymon, sending him backwards into a clump of trees. All of them fell over as the giant dinosaur-like digimon crashed into them.

"So you wanna fight the hard way?" Chris held up his digivice and the Crest of Courage glowed. Everybody else did as well, digivolving to ultimate. Arashimon, Polamon, Megakabuterimon, and Metalgreymon now stood where their champion counterparts had moments ago. I couldn't take it anymore, I felt useless on the sidelines. I ran forward to join the fight, my gloves glowing with dark energy. I didn't notice that though, my only thought was to defeat Lucemon.

"Fujita Cannon!"

"Hailstorm!"

"Horn Buster!"

"Giga Blaster!"

"Please, is that all you have to show me?" Lucemon spun about, reflecting the attacks back at them. Everybody was hit and thrown away. "Are you quite finished? I'd like to go ahead and take your data."

"That won't be happening. Zero Fist!" I threw my fist at Lucemon, who didn't see me coming from behind. He turned around and took the punch straight to the face. It didn't hurt him a lot, but it was about as effective as a regular punch on a regular person.

"Grrr… so the traitor returns. I see you still hold on to your dark powers." He threw his fist back at me and I fell to the ground. He ran up and I kicked him in the chest as I jumped to my feet.

"Shut up. Zero Fist!" I attacked again just as he did. Our attacks met and we were both thrown back.

"What the hell is going on?" He pushed himself up. "How are you so powerful?" He stared at me for a second and gasped. "So that was why Daemon has no power over me."

"I said shut up! Zero Fist!" Lucemon jumped into the air and dodged my attack, throwing a sphere of dark energy at me as he did. It hit dead on and I was driven into the ground. The dust settled and I struggled to get out of the newly formed crater. Brimstone fell towards me and I moved to dodge the small, rock sized chunk. I climbed out of the crater and looked at Lucemon.

"So that is what my 'master' looks like." He laughed.

"Quit babbling." The others had gotten back up and were returning to the fight. The brimstone fell more heavily now as the rings of fire in the sky grew larger.

"You must be incredibly weak. The links formed by reconfiguration give the master of a pair incredible power over their creation, yet I feel nothing from you." Rage built up. Arashimon realized what was happening.

"James, don't let him get to you! We're safe! You don't have to do it!" She aimed and lobbed another shot at Lucemon. "Fujita Cannon!" It arched over me and landed in front of him, sending dirt and dust everywhere. I could feel myself being picked up by Arashimon and lifted into the air. The dust settled and Lucemon looked about. We were flying quickly away, dodging brimstone and fire.

"Damn, they got away. Oh well, at least I know how to dispose of them now." Lucemon looked up into the sky. "Daemon! When are they getting here? They're running late!"

"I know! They should be here any… ah here they come!"

We flew through the sky, dodging fire and diving Devimon. Hundreds of them flew out of the rings of fire in the burning skies. I fidgeted against Arashimon's grip.

"Why did you make me run? I almost had him!"

"Didn't you feel it? Didn't you see it?"

"Feel what?"

"There was a cloud of dark energy around you! Heck, there still is!" I looked down at myself and realized she was right. Dark energy pulsed through me, but not nearly as strong as it used to. As I noticed it, it went away, leaving me feeling tired. I looked up and saw the rings of fire when it happened.

"I think we need to move faster." I shouted to Arashimon over the wind blowing against us.

"Why?"

"See for yourself." She turned and looked at the rings of fire.

"Ohhh man, this is bad."

"My sentiments exactly." The rings finally collapsed on themselves as a few more chunks of fire came out of them. However, instead of disappearing, one massive ring appeared, a thunderous roar coming from it. The sky lit ablaze as the massive portal stretched across Japan. "Jennifer, did you ever see that last Matrix movie?"

"I wish I hadn't. Megakabuterimon, we've gotta move!" She shouted to the massive bug, where everybody else was hanging from. Metalgreymon had devolved to Koromon so as not to weigh him down.

The roar became deafening as the mass of devil-digimon poured out of the gate by the thousands. They spread out over the land, not stopping for anything but simply attacking drive-by style as they went. It was beyond insanity. In just a matter of minutes the entire remaining military force that we had just been with was wiped out, but we could only see the cloud of digimon swarming over it. We were over the sea now between Japan and Korea. Arashimon flew closer to Megakabuterimon. I looked at the others as they watched, terrified.

"How the hell are we supposed to stop that!?" Chris shouted out over the wind.

"I don't know, but I hope we think of something soon because it won't take them long to finish off Japan." I shouted back over the winds as we approached a large city in South Korea. We flew lower and saw the people in it point and shout at us. Others watched what looked like a black column slamming and spreading into Japan. We landed in the street, Arashimon and Megakabuterimon setting us down and devolving. People stood away from us, somewhat afraid of what we were. We couldn't help but join them in watching Daemon's army destroy Japan.

Finally the portal shut, taking its fiery glow with it, and the islands could no longer be seen.