Chapter 30: Tempests upon a Dark Ocean

The digidestined were no longer in the mental hospital in Columbia. Instead they all stared at Daemon, floating above the black waters of the Dark Ocean. Cold winds blew sand into their faces, stinging the skin. The sky was a dark grey, with what looked like negative stars spattered across it, black dots on the slate. An ancient looking lighthouse shot a dark light across the landscape, rounding out the depressing land. Daemon laughed at the digidestined as they looked about in fear.

"I hope you like this world. I spent two thousand years here, dwelling in my own darkness. By sending me here, those digidestined that preceded you sealed the doom of both worlds. I found that I could manipulate my dark powers beyond what I had ever known in the rest of the Digital World. So, I began building my power, using the home of the Memoriamon to build my armies as well as my own power. The despair and fear of the Digital World all seeped and flowed, like water down rivers, to this Dark Ocean. Finally, they carried with them, the knowledge of the worlds, shadows of data bringing me news of the events there. That is how I found out about the legends. After that, I just had to break out with my army, find Millenniumon, and become what we were always supposed to be." Daemon floated around the digidestined, who listened attentively to his story, hoping that he would slip and say something that would be useful.

"But you weren't able to do it, were you? The digi-gods destroyed Millenniumon before you could DNA digivolve." Chris snapped cockily at Daemon.

"WRONG!" Daemon yelled back and laughed hysterically. "First and foremost: I never planned to DNA digivolve with Millenniumon. DNA digivolution is a weak, temporary combination of the powers of two digimon. We planned to merge our very coding, making us the one deity, permanently. Secondly, you can not completely destroy any digimon. Yes, he died, his data returning to the Data World, but it wasn't long before I found his data-ghost. All that I need is enough data for us to merge with. Now, with the data of the two worlds, I have enough."

"No." Kristen looked in shock at Daemon. "You can't. You can't have that power already, it's impossible."

"Not all on me at once, but all I need do is disband my army, take its data, and I'll have more than enough. That is why I've decided to let you humans have your last hurrah. In about twenty minutes, a nuclear barrage will completely annihilate the Devimon approaching North America. Once they are destroyed, their data will come straight to me. With it, Millenniumon and I will fuse our coding in the Data World to become the true Dark-God: Armageddamon."

"We won't let you!" Joey yelled out at Daemon, clenching his digivice tightly. "We'll stop you just like we always have!"

"Yeah! Just wait till I digivolve!" Agumon turned to Chris, ready to warpdigivolve. "Chris!"

"Right!" Chris pulled out his digivice and it glowed faintly.

"Agumon warpdigivolve to… Agumon?" A small wave of power swept over Agumon, but fell short, sending him back to his rookie form. "What happened?" Daemon continued to laugh, his dark schemes finally coming back together.

"The power of your beloved digi-gods has long since faded. The only reason that you ever could reach Mega was because of the dark energies that James gave you. Though now your crests could show all the brighter, they are nothing compared to suppressive energies of the Dark Ocean." The digidestined began to lose confidence. Chris went back to Jennifer.

"Wake up! We need you!" She sat, her knees brought up to her chest, staring out over the Dark Ocean. "Please!" She murmured something. "What?"

"I killed him." Jennifer repeated it over and over. Daemon laughed. Chris took a step back from her.

"The poor girl has finally convinced herself that she is the reason James is dead." Chris looked in shock at Daemon, and then at Jennifer. The digidestined hadn't known what had happened to me, only thinking that I had been injured or taken to the Digital World. "Love is my favorite of your virtues you know." Everybody turned back to Daemon, hate and rage building up in them. "Of them all, love brings the most pain and fear. It brings the darkest thoughts, even more so than hope. If I worked on it, I could probably make her more than Fuzenmon ever could have been."

"We've got to get out of here." Tentomon whispered in Kristen's ear.

"What? Why!?" Kristen turned to her partner.

"You're the Digidestined of Knowledge! It's obvious we're way out of out league right now! It's only three of us against him!"

"Your partner is very smart Kristen." Daemon was taking his time, not in any hurry to kill the digidestined yet. "I advise you to listen to him, although any attempts at escape from here are futile for you." Joey ran up to Jennifer.

"Jennifer? Please wake up. I'm… scared. I want my mom and she isn't here." Chris looked at Joey, shaking nervously. They hadn't told him his mom was dead. "You're the only person like her. You looked out for me, you helped me, you're like a big sis to me." Tears came to the young child's eyes. "Please wake up."

"I killed him…" Jennifer paid no heed to Joey's pleas.

"Please stop!!!" Jennifer screamed, trying to look away, only to be forced and confronted with the image over, and over, and over again. Every time was worse, the blast ripping through to the sky and the two breaking into data: one her enemy, one her love. "I can't take it!"

"Good. The sooner you truly realize the pain you brought your friends, the better. Your greed for love brought him to his end and soon it will be the downfall of the others." The Memoriamon hissed throughout her thoughts. It was the only thing she heard; the dark creature's hissing voice. "I think it's time to hook up the speakers now."

"Please no! I'm begging you!" Jennifer fell to her knees, crying. She couldn't take so much pain at once.

"I hope you like surround sound." The blast echoed and reverberated off the edges of her mind. Blackwargreymon's last scream, all of it, she heard it pounding in her ears. "Stop fighting it, you're only prolonging the pain. Let it flow over you, command you, become you."

"Jennifer!" The scene began playing over again, like somebody kept playing one part of a VCR tape, rewinding it, and playing it again. She saw me running up to her.

"James… please… don't… run…" Jennifer heard herself in the memory and screamed out.

"Damnit run! Run please! Before it's too late!!! Why didn't I scream!!? Why didn't I tell him!!?" Jennifer shook as the darkness began to rage against her.

"What?"

"Those who fight together," SHLICH, "die together." Jennifer screamed, teetering on the border of insanity as she watched the blade go through the 'me' in her memory. I tried to gasp for air, but couldn't

"BREATHE DAMN YOU, BREATHE!!!" She screamed at the memory of me as it died in front of her.

"Heh." There were a few more struggles for air before I finally stopped trying. Instead, a look of understanding, as if I had finally realized that I could do only one thing, came across my face.

"Please don't leave me again." Jennifer began to break down.

"I… love you."

"What?" She couldn't hear what I said. "What did you say?"

"He said 'Damn you'." The Memoriamon tried to cover up his blunder.

"No he didn't." The memory played quickly over again as the Memoriamon began to lose control of Jennifer's thoughts.

"I… love you." Jennifer stopped breathing.

"Then why did you die?" Jennifer spoke out to the memory as if I were really there.

"Grrr… AHHH!!!" The memory of me yelled as he shoved down on Blackwargreymon's claw, causing it to cut a little deeper. Energy poured into the 357 Magnum as the static light poured from the digivice.

"Why are you going to kill yourself?" I focused with my eyes close, until a split-second until I pulled the trigger. My eyes opened and looked up at Jennifer, and a weak smile came across my face. I closed my eyes again and pulled the trigger. The memory went back to its normal speed, showing me get ripped into oblivion by my own attack, my data flowing through the new hole in Blackwargreymon. Blackwargreymon broke apart, speaking his last words, but Jennifer didn't hear them, as if the sound of the memory had been shut back off. "That's why."

"NO!" The Memoriamon finally realized how fatal his blunder had been.

"You died… for me. Not because of me, but because you chose to in order to save me, to save all of us."

"No he didn't!"

"Yes he did! I loved him but never thought he loved me back! He was the same way and couldn't bring himself to tell me until the end!"

"Jennifer, please wake up!" Joey's cries sounded distant.

"Joey?"

"Please! We need you!" The cries became louder.

"I'm coming!" The memory faded.

"NO!!!"

Many minutes had passed while Joey continued to cry against Jennifer.

"Jennifer, please wake up!"

"Joey?" Jennifer murmured the way she had before.

"Please! We need you!" Joey didn't hear her over his own crying. Jennifer stirred a little and he let go of the tight hug he had previously had on her.

"I'm… I'm coming!" Jennifer sat up straight, the shadow around her becoming unstable, breaking up around her. She blinked a few times and the color finally came back to her eyes. She jumped to her feet and the black cloud around her fell away, shooting into the sky near Daemon.

"Impressive." Daemon didn't worry about his defeated lackey. "You failed me Memoriamon."

"No master! Please!" With a swing of the scythe, the Memoriamon broke into data and Daemon absorbed him.

"I wanted to wait until I had become Armageddamon, but I grow impatient. Time to die." Daemon flew down, pulling his scythe back to strike down Jennifer. It came down to her, but never landed. Jennifer's hand went up and caught the scythe by the long handle, stopping it in the air. "What the…!?" Jennifer's digivice was shaking violently and glowing furiously.

"No Daemon. I won't let you." A long crack opened in the screen of the D-X and bright pink light exploded onto the scene. A moment later, the Crest of Love, no longer a code but the actual, physical crest and tag, floated in front of Jennifer. She closed her eyes and grabbed it with her free hand. Her eyes opened, glowing.

"NO!" Daemon yelled; his eyes wide with shock that the crest had been recreated by the digivice itself.

"Mega Spirit Activate!" A ghostly form of Azulongmon shot out from Jennifer's digivice into the sky, sending light across the Dark Ocean. It circled in the sky for a moment before diving headfirst towards Jennifer. It crashed into her, sending a bright flash of light, blinding everybody, washing away the darkness of the Ocean for an instant. "Warpdigivolve to… Tempesmon!!!" The light cleared and Tempesmon stood holding Daemon's scythe at bay.

She now donned a grey cloak that wrapped around her, just slightly loose, that seemed to blend in the sky behind her. Her wings had changed from the previous butterfly-like curves to a streamlined pair of wings that looked like they would be from a jet fighter if they had been metal. They were wide at the bottom, narrowing to a tip at the top. Her hair was a light purple and hung down to just past the back of her knees. A veil covered her face below her eyes, much like Zephyrmon's.

"How? How is this possible?" Daemon was shocked, but spoke in anger, not the fear that most villains attained when matched with a formidable foe.

"Daemon, you will pay for your crimes against existence." Tempesmon pushed the scythe out of the way and kicked Daemon in the 'chest', sending him back a short ways. He laughed a little.

"You have much power around you. Very few can actually stand a chance against me." Daemon flew past Tempesmon until he was well over the Dark Ocean. "But you still are hopeless."

"Typhoon Stars!" Tempesmon quickly reached into the folds of her cloak and produced six, hurricane-shaped, throwing stars. She launched them at Daemon and they began spinning like buzz-saws. A powerful gale followed them, kicking up sand and blowing waves out to the sides as they went over the Dark Ocean. They slammed into Daemon and he held his scythe up, blocking them. They spun against it, cutting deep into the handle of the scythe, pushing Daemon further back over the ocean. They broke into data as Daemon finally knocked them away.

"It will take more than that to stop me."

"I'm just getting started!" Tempesmon shouted back at Daemon, taunting him. "Skyfall!" Tempesmon threw her hands into the air, yelling out the name of her attack. The dark clouds above rumbled, but nothing seemed to happen.

"Is this the best you can put against me? A Mega that knows no real attack?" Daemon acted as though he was insulted. Suddenly, the winds picked up. Sand began to blow about and it became hard to stand against the hurricane force winds.

"What's happening?" Joey yelled out, no longer able to see Tempesmon, who still floated in the air over the beach, holding her hands up.

"Everybody get down!!!" Kristen was looking at the sky and yelled out. She ran over and tackled Joey, pinning him to the ground and covering his head. Tentomon struggled to get to the ground safely, getting blown around like a feather in an updraft. Chris had dived to the ground, holding his hands over his head. Agumon did the same beside him. Daemon simply floated as the winds broke against him.

"I'm waiting." The clouds above began to thunder and spark wildly. A moment later, they began to swirl. Daemon didn't notice. "Well? I grow tired of this. If you wish to attack me, do so now. I have a meeting with some radioactive data." Tempesmon threw her hands down, commencing the attack. Funnel clouds shot down quickly from the sky, the dark clouds twisting between each other as they came down onto the sands and the ocean. One formed upon the lighthouse, tearing the stones that it was built of apart. Water sprayed everywhere from the tornados on the water and a torrential downpour began. The tornados all whirled about aimlessly for a moment, before all shifting towards Daemon.

"It is time for your evil to be carried away from this world upon the winds of fate, Daemon!" Tempesmon called out as Daemon vanished in the tornados converging on top of them. The waters became tumultuous, if not already before. The tornado split the water, driving all the way down to the ocean floor. Suddenly, Daemon's scythe was thrown from the column of black clouds, hurtling towards Tempesmon. She noticed it and quickly bent back, letting it fly over her. It drove into a tree on the edge of the beach. The winds dissipated, and Daemon was gone. The funnel clouds began to drift away, like wisps of smoke, but the torrential storm remained.

"Where… where's Daemon?" Chris looked up, shouting over the thunder and rain.

"Did we win?" Joey shoved Kristen off of him.

"Yes. It's over." Tempesmon breathed a sigh of relief. "I think it's finally over."

"Ha ha ha ha ha!" Daemon's voice bellowed from everywhere, causing Tempesmon tense back up. "You don't think I'd be defeated so easily do you?"

"Show yourself!" A crack of lightning smashed into the sands a few yards away from Agumon, causing him to yell.

"I'm sorry, but I need not do that anymore. It is time!" The ground began to shake and rumble, more bolts of lightning cracking into the ground.

"Tempesmon!" Kristen called out as a bolt nearly hit her. "Watch what you're doing!"

"It isn't me!" Tempesmon looked around in panic, no longer in control of the weather. The ground shook and reverberated violently, as if the entire Dark Ocean was on the verge of collapsing in on itself. Finally, it emerged. A massive swell of water appeared out in the middle of the Dark Ocean, raising hundreds of feet in the air. The ground cracked and buckled as the waters receded to the swell, causing the tide to go out; very, very far out. Finally, the swell burst, a huge cloud of data flowing from it into the sky. "No… NO!!!" Tempesmon screamed out as the massive cloud of data whirled about in the sky, more data flowing in from the horizon, in all directions, towards it.

"The D-Day of R-Reckoning has-s come-come. Doom-doom has come-me to these-se worlds-s-s. Ha ha ha ha ha!!!" Two voices, dark and sinister, echoed and reverberated off of each other, spreading across the sky as the seemingly endless clouds of data swirled upon one another. "Let it be known, that upon this day, when the worlds of digimon and humans became one, all traces of virtue were swept away forever!" Finally, the negative appearance of the Dark Ocean disappeared, causing it to look normal, or at least as normal as it ever had. A regular light flowed in upon it from the Crest of Love, in its tag around Tempesmon's neck, still shining so long as she existed.

"Alright, if you will give me just a moment…" A reporter held away the headphones on his headset, letting a military officer whisper something in his ear. "Okay, I have just received word that confirms the rumors of a massive nuclear assault against what has been called by high ranking officials as the Daemon Corps. This is a last ditch effort by the United States military to stop what has devastated the rest of the world. It will be aimed here," the reporter held up an atlas of eastern Canada and the northeastern United States, "over the Atlantic Ocean just off the coast of the Newfoundland province of Canada, where the Daemon Corps will be crossing in just a few moments. Although previous attempts at nuclear assaults have failed, the military is confident that this attack will prevail, only relying on the bare minimal of computerized systems, due to the chaotic conditions of the world's remaining electronics, as more disasters take place across the country due to system-wide computer failures." The reporter went on to describe how dams across the nation had broken down, flooding huge regions; how nuclear plants had melted down; and other various tragedies had occurred as the ravaged Digital World finally began to take it's toll on the real world. "The fate of the human race now rests with this one last thrust at the evils that have consumed our world, the forces over Central America, having mysteriously disappeared, only to show back up with the remainder of the Daemon Corp."

"This is it, isn't it Gennai?" I watched helplessly at the television, listening to the reporter. My data was a bit more static than usual, but I didn't really notice. It is hard to feel anything when you're a ghost.

"I think so James." Gennai also gazed helplessly at the television set. "If this attack fails, then I think it is over for us. If it succeeds, then… well… we can just hope that the others show up in time to stop Daemon."

"Should we hold our breath?" I looked darkly at Gennai. "I think everybody else remaining in existence is."

"James," Gennai slowly looked at me one last time as the ground began to shake and rumble, "if you believe in God, now is the time to pray."

"Sir, awaiting your command." A young soldier looked anxiously at the Secretary of Defense, holding a phone to his head. The old, tired cabinet member held onto a phone of his own.

"Mr. President, we're awaiting your orders."

"Fire at will." The voice cracked from the other end, distorted slightly from the virus that swept through the world's computer networks.

"Thank you sir." The Secretary of Defense hung up and nodded to the young soldier.

"Fire at will, I repeat, fire at will." The soldier gave the command over and over, speaking hastily. The call went out across the lines, to various hidden silos across the country. All at once, the hatches to them opened, the missiles igniting and lifting off out of them. The thrust of the missiles could be seen for miles, and miles upon end. Hundreds, thousands of weapons; the entire American arsenal firing out at once, rushing upon the Daemon Corps, as the Devimon and Ladydevimon all flew madly towards their ultimate destiny. Pictures of the missiles appeared on the monitors of the Pentagon, as well as on a dozen different television sets placed in the Oval Office of the White House.

"Please… please… God damnit please…" The Secretary of Defense balled his hands into fists as the missiles neared their target. "Come on… come on…" Beads of sweat emerged upon his forehead, running down his face as he shook nervously. He slowly crept toward the monitor he watched: zoomed in satellite footage upon the region around the Atlantic between Greenland and Newfoundland, Canada. The nukes hit, completely lighting up the screen of the region. "Yes… yes… YES!!!" The Secretary of Defense screamed at the top of his lungs as a cheer came from every person in the Pentagon. "WE DID IT!!!"

"Here you can see the weapons moving towards their targets now. We will leave the camera aimed towards the target, however if you can see this from your home look away now, the flash will leave you blind, should you look at it." The nukes hit and a huge cloud shot into the sky, silently tearing the tectonic plates apart below the flash-boiled ocean. The flash spread across the face of the planet, shining about from the horizon for a thousand miles. Finally, the sound followed, a devastating roar that deafened those who watched. It shattered windows of buildings in New York, and completely tore down weaker buildings in Toronto. The entire planet seemed to shake from the blast. A few minutes passed and the light finally died down, leaving the image of the massive cloud of smoke and data that engulfed the entire region around where the missiles hit. The roar died down slightly, and the reporter stood up straight, having bent over during the blast. She yelled over the lingering sound.

"From the looks of it, I believe that the attack was a success!" She pointed at the cloud, smiling. "I think it's over." Suddenly, the cloud began to spin and whirl as the data moved. The ground shook and rumbled.

"What's happening?" The anchors in the studio asked the reporter, the earth beneath them rumbling as well.

"I don't know!" The reporter struggled to maintain her balance, finally turning to look at the cloud of data. "Oh dear god…"

"No… it can't be… not now…" Gennai's voice was shaking, as well as the rest of him. "Please no." The ground began to shake violently.

"Gennai, what's happening!?" I floated above, my data becoming more static. Finally, a clear distortion ran through me, sending pain through my consciousness. "AHHH!!! HELP!!!"

"It's over." Gennai began to look distorted, his data breaking apart. "We failed."