Appearing at the base of a ruined building, the small group of chosen looked up at the mass that was known as the D-Reaper. Its gelatinous body hovered over the buildings, and in the distance, was a mountian of mass over the twin towers of the Hypnos Building. Takuya looked up and whistled. "That's a whole lotta jello."
"That's what I thought. Man, I'm hungry," Junpei remarked, earning a grin from Eric. Ken, Hirokazu and Kenta hung their heads and the rest of the chosen just sighed.
"All right everyone, we're here to save a world," Takuya said, holding up his digivice. "Lets do this!"
"Go for it!"
"Double Spirit Evolution!"
"Card Slash! Blue Card!"
"Jet Sylphimon!" Izumi became her advanced form, a white leather clad woman with violet hair, metallic white wings on her back and carrying a huge pinwheel in her hands.
"Daipenmon!" Tomoki transformed into a large round penguin, holding two giant popsicles. One was blue, the other was red.
"Rhino Kabuterimon!" Junpei went down on all fours and became a large metallic blue Rhino with a distinct beetle motif to his features, a golden horn on his head and six legs.
"Reichmon!" Kouichi became a lion man with golden wings and carrying a huge staff.
"Ardhamon!" Takuya turned into a humanoid dragon man with two weapons on his wrists, wings and a gold and crimson armor on his body.
"Beowulfmon!" A shining knight in white wolf like armor appeared, carrying a huge sword in one hand was Kouji's advance form.
"Stingmon!" Wormmon quickly became the large green humanoid bug.
"Antiramon!" The pair of Lopmons shouted as they transformed into their perfection forms.
"Andromon!" Gardromon grew taller and more powerful as he became humanoid in appearance, clad in stainless steel grey armor.
Daipenmon hopped towards the D-Reaper. "C'mon, lets go!"
Eric looked at Junpei who was walking along without any difficulty despite his six legs. "Dude, how do you walk like that?"
"Practice," Rhino Kabuterimon said with a grin.
"How can you two joke around right now?" Jet Sylphimon asked curiously as she hovered alongside Rhino Kabuterimon.
"It keeps us sane," Eric's Antiramon replied with a shrug. "We're going into a battle that'll decide the fate of this world. Of COURSE we need to joke around so we won't crack. If we can poke fun at life and death, I'm pretty sure most of the world can remain sane."
"Somehow, I wonder if that's how Daisuke stayed sane through the whole last year," Ken said with a sigh.
Jet Sylphimon looked at Reichmon who just shrugged.
"This is it," Beowulfmon said, sticking out his hand to the mass. Half expecting to find his hand burned off when he stuck it into the mass, he found it slid easily inside it, and out again. One by one, everyone walked inside, the non-evolved humans contained within Marine Angemon's heart bubble for extra protection.
==============
D^3 : Digital Diaries Dimensions
Variations 1.7 : Darkline Part 2
written by Shaun Garin
Digimon is owned by their creators, Akiyoshi Hongo and Toei. Diaries universe is created by Lord Archive, who lent it to me. The charecter of Eric belongs to me, as with the whole Canadian team. All charecters, references and such belong to their respective owners.
==============
The landscape before them was a red mass of coiled wires and a dark red sky that seemed to throb like some kind of heartbeat. Kenta adjusted his glasses and nodded. "Yeah, this is about how it looked like last time." He then noticed a few differences in the internal area of the D-Reaper, such as all of the organics remained intact, with the exception of a row of trees in the middle of where the park used to be. The rest of the buildings seemed to be half dissolved and assimilated.
"Everyone good to go?" Hirokazu asked as he looked at the transformed humans and the rest of the digimon.
"We're all set," Ardhamon said, giving a thumbs up.
"All right, lets move on out!" Hirokazu pointed as they flew, ran and hovered towards the center of the D-Reaper. In the middle of it, stood a huge tower of cables that seemed to stretch to the red mass of sky.
Stingmon shuddered as he passed along the remains of what used to be a bakery. "I'm really going to have some tentacle nightmares after this place."
Jet Sylphimon shuddered violently as she flew alongside Beowulfmon who was jogging at a steady pace, trying not to wear himself out. "Geez, thanks a lot. I'm the only GIRL in this place."
Stingmon looked sheepish. "Sorry."
Eric's Antiramon suddenly chuckling, his whole body shaking in mirth. "Hey Eric, remember that one hentai anime where..."
"ANTIRAMON!" Eric shouted, going beet red.
"Forget about it now," Reichmon shouted as he dropped into a defensive position. "Incoming!"
A horde of ADR's floated towards the group, their 35mm cannons armed and glowing with energy. Hirokazu growled angrily and Kenta's hands curled into fists. "ATTACK!" Hirokazu howled as the ADR's and the digimon surged forth.
Fire, ice, light, wind, thunder and darkness blasted forwards, taking out a score of the ADR's who quickly opened fire on them. The humans were safely protected within Marine Angemon's bubble as the short range fighters went to town on the ADR's.
Stingmon moved like a samurai through the digital weapons, each of his dual blades taking out an enemy with precision attacks. Shuichon's Antiramon turned his hands into axes while Eric's Antiramon had summoned his Treasure Axes, spinning around and doing a rather good impression of Gimli at Helm's Deep.
The others kept on firing energy beams while Takuya, Kouji and Kouichi rushed in with their hands and weapons. Scores and scores of ADR's dropped, bursting into reddish liquid that reminded the humans inside of the bubble of blood. Even the inside of the area smelled like iron and a bit of copper.
Daipenmon finished bludgoning his opponents into sludge with his twin popsicles as Rhino Kabuterimon charged down several more, including a couple of giant ADR's that exploded rather messily in a flash of lightning. "This isn't getting us anywhere," Rhino Kabuterimon growled angrily as he gored one into submission, red ooze splattering everywhere. "Push them back!"
"You heard him! Banzai!" Ardhamon shouted. The fray continued, slamming the ADR's back further and further as the wall of enemies began to crack.
Jet Sylphimon blasted several, slicing other ADR's with her giant pinwheel. To her back, Reichmon and Beowulfmon worked as a well oiled team, racking up an impressive kill total.
"This is kinda fun, in a sort of a Helm's Deep sort of way," Stingmon remarked as he slashed several ADR's and opened up the way for a rush at the main enemy stronghold.
Eric's Antiramon grinned widely as he threw himself into the fray again. He hacked two with a mighty swing and grinned. "That's two!"
"What, we're keeping score now?" Ardhamon shouted back, distinctly amused as he blasted several others. "Hah! Five!"
Rhino Kabuterimon charged through the ranks, knocking ADR's away like bowling pins. Many exploded into red ooze as he cleared the area away of ADR's. "Ten!"
The group pushed the enemy back until the large tower was right before them. It loomed over them like a twisted spiral coil of copper. The coppery smell still hung in the air as the remaining ADR's were eliminiated.
"There it is," Kenta said. "The very center of the D-Reaper."
Beowulfmon looked up at the tower and nodded grimly. He traded glances from the others who exhanged weary smiles. "All right! Lets go guys!" He leapt straight up towards the top of the tower.
Suddenly, a creature came careeming out of nowhere, it's left arm ending in a wicked scythe. Beowulfmon was flung back from the impact with a cry.
Jet Sylphimon grabbed him and hauled him out of the way as a scythe like blade slammed down where he used to be a moment ago. "What the hell is that thing?" Jet Sylphimon shouted as the woman like creature pulled a sickly twisted smile.
Hirokazu looked at it and paled. "Juri!"
The tall creature started to scream loudly as it slammed down the scythe blades at everyone. A blade glanced off Marine Angemon's shield. It shuddered, but held.
"Pipipopu!" Marine Angemon exclaimed as it strengthened its shields to ward off another direct attack.
"Everyone! Aim for the face! It's vulnerable!" Ken shouted.
Ardhamon aimed upwards and his gauntlets opened up. "Brahma Sutra!" Rapid fire blasts of fire launched out, slamming up against the ADR-01.
"Licht Angriff!" Light showered ADR-01 as it screamed and retaliated. Beowulfmon was forced to block with his giant sword and he hacked off her arm.
ADR-01 screamed as she weaved around the other attacks. A great slash brought Reichmon to his knees. It giggled insanely as it grew another arm with a wicked scimitar on it and tried to remove his head. Reichmon found himself protected by Jet Silphymon as she pushed back, forcing the attacker back. The pair danced back and forth, weapons clashing and ringing against each other before the ADR forced Jet Silphymon back.
"That is one tough cookie," Ardhamon said as he aimed a Brahma Sutra at her back. ADR-01 simply floated over it as she sent a cutting blade to slam into Ardhamon and Beowulfmon who had just gotten back up. "Fuck... that hurt."
"Bastard," Eric growled. The creature looked at him and he swallowed. It giggled that insane giggle once again and launched herself at the shield. It impacted and shuddered. Ken and Eric's hands went to their swords as the elven steel flashed and the digital Sting erupted into being.
Marine Angemon reinforced his shield once again, but small spiderweb cracks were beginning to form in the pink bubble. "Hold on Marine Angemon!" Kenta urged. "Guys, little help here?"
"Strawberry Death!" One of Daipenmon's popsicles, the red one, glowed and a torrent of reddish energy slammed into ADR-01. It stumbled but did not relent, continuing it's assult on the heart shaped pink bubble. Daipenmon bounced towards the shielded teenagers but ADR-01 opened it's mouth and spat a beam that sent Daipenmon tumbling away.
"Hey, leave 'em alone!" Rhino Kabuterimon charged towards the ADR who turned to meet him. He lunged at her, but she dodged and brought down her scythe on his back. Rhino Kabuterimon cried out in pain and slammed to the ground, skidding along the cables that made up the floor.
"JUNPEI!" Izumi screamed. "DIE YOU!" She then lashed out wordlessly with her major wind attack, the cutting bades forcing the ADR backwards. ADR-01 shielded her face but no major damage was apparent. A small cut from a wind blade healed up rather quickly.
01 suddenly blurred and Izumi found herself flying backwards, a large wound going from the bottom of her stomach to the shoulder. The fairy bounced once, twice and landed with a tremendous impact. She groaned as a spiral of digicode appeared around her.
The remaining four boys, blinded in their rage, lunged at the ADR, only to get tossed aside like rag dolls. Reichmon was able to score a cut along her spine, but it quickly healed without any preamble. Quickly, the defenders were on the ground, leaving the digimon standing before her, prepared to fight to the end.
ADR-01, it's job finished, turned towards the digimon. And in a twisted Juri voice, announced, "Resistance, is futile." She then giggled. "You will be assimilated. Your data, is ours." It's eyes widened in maniacal glee. "AND SO IS YOUR LIFE!"
Stingmon, being of such a low level in comparison to the ADR-01, was dispatched, thrown across the way. Eric's Antiramon and Shuichon's were tossed aside, giant gashes along the arms and neck, leaving Gardromon standing there. "You will not pass!" he announced loudly, firing his Destruction Grenade directly in her face.
Out of the smoke that resulted from the direct impact, a scythe slammed into Gardromon, tossing him into Marine Angemon's shield. The scythe came down again, and Gardromon rolled to the side, but it slammed into a weakened area of the shield. Another slash brought the robust machine to his knees.
With a shattering sound, the shield dissapeared into a shower of digital pixels. The scythe came down again amidst ADR-01's insane giggling and the humans tossed themselves aside to avoid her attack.
Eric rolled to his feet and drew his digital sword. "C'mon ugly!" But it did not heed his call as the ADR advanced on Shuichon who laid prone on the ground. Not caring of his position, he rushed her, but was flung backwards by the merest backhand. Ken tried it with the same results as he lost grip of his sword, the elven steel slamming into the floor of the D-Reaper point first.
Shuichon rolled over and looked into the remorseless eyes of ADR-01 as it leaned in and whispered, "Die....."
"SHUICHON!" came Hirokazu's scream.
"NO!" was the shout from Gardromon.
It raised her weapon and it came down....
================
Hirokazu pulled himself to a sitting position as ADR-01 advanced on Shuichon as the weapon bearers tried to attack the ADR with very little result. He crawled over to Gardromon and said, "Are you okay?"
"No.... tired..... very tired." Gardromon wheezed, if it were possible for a mechanioid digimon.
"We'll stop her," Hirokazu said, helping his partner to his feet. "Lets get her."
The pair looked over and the ADR was raising it's weapon, ready to bring it down through Shuichon. Hirokazu's pupils dialated. "SHUICHON!"
"NO!" Gardromon shouted.
It raised her weapon and it came down....
And light flared, and the weapon stopped an inch before driving itself into Shuichon's heart.
ADR-01 spun around and it's own expression turned fearful. "NO!" Was the shout that tore from it's throat.
"Matrix Evolution! Gardromon Evolve!" In it's place, a huge obsidian digimon stood, and it brandished it's arms as it stood, an obelisk in a storm. "High Andromon!"
High Andromon then raised his hand and said, "Assimilate this. ATOMIC RAY!"
A huge blast of golden energy lanced out, slamming into ADR-01. It shrieked in pain as everyone was roused by it's screaming. It kept wailing as it began to discintigrate. High Andromon raised his other hand and another torrent of golden light lanced out to slam against her.
The combined force of two Atomic Rays ripped the ADR asunder, scattering her reddish blood like data all over the ground, ending up with a stain that smeared the ground. The stain vanished quickly, evaporating into the air.
Ardhamon got up to his feet and shook his head. "Whoa. Remind me never to get on your bad side," he joked, cracking the silence that followed.
High Andromon looked at his hands and a small smile crossed his face. "I did it. I actually Matrix Evolved."
Kenta sighed. "Now it's official. I'm the only one who can't in the whole Tamers group."
"What do you mean by that?" Eric asked. "Shuichon hasn't Matrix Evolved yet."
Ken threw his companion a pointed look. "Eric, Marine Angemon is an ultimate level digimon."
"BWA?!" Eric exclaimed. "That little thing is an ultimate?!"
Marine Angemon folded his arms and scolded Eric. "Pi pi po puu."
"Sorry little dude, I don't speak Mokona," Eric joked. Shuichon's Antiramon wore a blank expression on his face. Daipenmon and Rhino Kabuterimon were snickering, but the rest looked blank.
Eric sighed, hanging his head. "Doesn't anyone watch Rayearth?" Antiramon patted his head in sympathy.
"That's a girl's show, isn't it?" Jet Silphymon said, earning a shrug from the rest of them.
"Enough of that." Beowulfmon said, turning to look upwards at the large Mother D-Reaper who had now noticed their presence. "Lets get this thing!"
"Before we get past them!" Ardhamon shouted. A second later, a massive foot stomped down where the A-Hybrids were standing a moment before. A huge towering robot, burnished with a metallic green hue stood before them. The Hybrids tossed themselves to the side as Marine Angemon hastily errected a shield around the humans.
Shuichon gasped as she looked up at it. High Andromon went pale as he could along with Kenta. Marine Angemon made a "Pi pi" of shock.
The robot was facing the other way as Shuichon broke free from her shock and exclaimed, "Jen-Oniichan!"
The robot known as Saint Galgomon turned, and what greeted them was a monstrocity. Half of it's face was covered in reddish wires and circutry. The bottom of half of Saint Galgomon looked like it was made up of metallic plates, and one of it's arms ended in a cruel looking biomechanical decice. But the chilling look Saint Galgomon gave them as it flashed it's locator red scanning laser at them was beyond scary.
As usual, it was Eric who broke the silence a moment later, with the exclimation of "It's a Borg. A FUCKING BORG!"
If things couldn't get any worse, two more creatures swooped in, one hovering on an eagle styled red machine and the other hovering on her own. It was Sakuyamon and Dukemon, but they too had faced the strange mechnical fusion. Wires and coils were attatched to the body, giving the digimon an otherworldly evil look.
Scanning beams rode over each person as Dukemon's hand moulded into a lance. His voice echoed with a thousand voices as he spoke. "We are the D-Reaper Agents. Alpha, Omega and Trita. Surrender and prepare to have your digital information absorbed and assimilated for our use. Do not try to fight back. Do not resist. We are the D-Reaper. Prepare to be assimilated...." Dukemon's lance started to glow. "Or be destroyed."
"I knew I should have stayed in bed today," Rhino Kabuterimon grumbled.
"Fuck that," High Andromon said, aiming his fists at them. "Atomic... hey, Kenta, Shuichon get off!"
The pair of Tamers had grabbed each one of High Andromon's fists. "Don't shoot them!" Shuichon exclaimed, halfway to tears. "We can't kill them!"
"That's right!" Kenta added. "They're not doing this willingly! They're being controlled."
"You cannot control what has been killed," Sakuyamon, now known as ADR Omega said in an impassive voice. "These host bodies are already deceased. We just used it for our own advantage."
The small struggle between Kenta, Shuichon and High Andromon stopped in a heartbeat. The pair slid off of High Andromon's arms as Kenta said in a weak voice, "No. They're dead?"
"As dead as we are," Saint Galgomon, now ADR Trita said, his voice flat and without emotion. "Surrender. Or be destroyed. This is your final warning." His weapon ports opened up and incidentary weapons gleamed from the inside out.
Eric shivered at the cold and malice that dripped from their flat, emotionless voices. "Surrender... or die.... tough choice."
"I hate the fact that we're fighting zombies, but that just means..." High Andromon looked up and raised his arms. "ATOMIC RAY!"
Saint Galgomon was caught off guard as the golden beams slammed into his face. The giant assimilated dog machine fell backwards, slamming into the ground with a thud. ".... that we have to fight." High Andromon finished.
The action spurred everyone to the fight as they opened fire on the two smaller ADR's who dodged and weaved, sending their own attacks back. A Final Elysian rocked the ground, tossing Jet Silphymon back into the arms of Reichmon who retalliated with his attack.
Ardhamon took to the air, getting into the face of Sakuyamon who's scanning laser was crushed under the impact of his fist. He then blasted her a second later, palm stretched out. She went careeming into the ground and laid there, motionless.
Saint Galgomon got up, and began to fire missiles everywhere. The landscape became potholed with the numerous explosions, and several shuddered against the shields of Marine Angemon who strained against the missile barrage. "Hold together," Kenta muttered.
Stingmon and Eric's Antiramon hung back from the carnage. "Yeesh, this is too high powered for me," Antiramon grumbled.
"I agree," Shuichon's Antiramon said. "We should go around them and target the Mother D-Reaper."
"Agreed," Stingmon said. "Ken-chan?"
"Go, Stingmon," Ken said, his expression hard.
The trio of digimon circled around the carnage and made their way towards the giant tower that was Mother D-Reaper. Sakuyamon saw this and moved to intervene, but a resounding punch from Beowulfmon stopped her in her tracks, preventing her from proceeding. The pair fenced back and forth, staff against longsword as the A-Hybrids prevented the ADR's from following the three digimon.
Shuichon's Antiramon looked up at the monster, and the monster looked down. It let out a keening wail. Shuichon's Antiramon shouted, "Lets go!" And leapt high into the air to try and reach the face of the monster.
Eric's Antiramon and Stingmon followed close behind, Stingmon holding Antiramon in his claws. "You need to loose weight," Stingmon grunted. Eric's Antiramon grinned. Despite world crisis odds, he was still able to get Stingmon to crack a joke.
"I have taught you well," Antiramon deadpanned. The pair hovered face to face to Mother D-Reaper. Shuichon's Antiramon was already there, hacking at the cables that was presumably it's neck with his axe like hands. "In the words of the great Ryo Saeba : MOKKORI!"
Antiramon flung himself at the face, and landed with a soft "Oof," and a thud. He then started slamming at the crystal and the Mother D-Reaper wailed in pain.
Stingmon joined him and commented, while slamming his stingers at the crystal, "You DO know what that meant right?"
"Yep," Eric's Antiramon chuckled. "Not like I'm getting any from anyone else though, ne?"
"You are a twisted bunny," Stingmon sniggered as they slammed hard against the face of the crystal, making a dent. "Damn, what is this stuff made of?"
"Adamantium?" said the wisecracking bunny with a shrug. "C'mon, on three! THREE!"
The Axe and stinger came down and in a second, the crystal began to crack. "All right! AUGH!"
"ANTIRAMON!" Stingmon shouted. Antiramon had been struck by a giant scythe from a cable monster that had risen from behind them, and he was bleeding data freely from a gash on his shoulder. With a small thud, he hit the ground and groaned. "Antiramon, are you all right?!"
"It's okay! Ground broke my fall!" came the weak reply. Stingmon shook his head, smirking to himself. Only Antiramon could crack a joke when wounded.
"Do us a favor; stay there!" Stingmon shouted, turning to face the creature. It had no distinguishing marks, simply a pile of cables with a giant mouth and giant scythes. It screamed and swung at Stingmon who was forced to dodge. "Great, another thing to worry about."
Shuichon's Antiramon looked up from where it had hacked away a good portion of cables connecting the head to the neck. "Please distract the monster, I will keep working to break the crystal!" Antiramon scurried up the face and began to hack at the crack with one axe hand.
"Sure, 'distract it' he says," Stingmon grumbled. "Hey, little help up here?"
Jet Silphymon and Ardhamon were at his side immediately, and dodged a scythe strike. "Lets get rid of this thing!" Ardhamon exclaimed. His weapons slid open. "Brahma Sutra!" The creature was peppered with small fire bursts that did nothing except to sting and annoy the monster. It tried to slice Ardhamon open with another scythe, but he dodged out of the way. "That didn't work," he muttered to himself.
"Jet Winter!" Jet Silphymon glowed a cool blue color and pointed her pinwheel at the monster. It spun rapidly, sending an icy torrent of freezing wind at it. The monster raised two scythes to block the attack, and the scythes froze. They then broke off into melting globs of red ooze.
Down below, the battle had been changing to the A-Hybrid's side. Rhino Kabuterimon aimed his horn and shouted, "Thunder Laser!"
A thick beam of electrical power slammed into Saint Galgomon who staggered. A second one scored a direct hit on the mecha digimon, and it was then joined by Reichmon's Rot Kruez as he leapt up and sent a red cross shaped energy attack into Saint Galgomon's face. Pieces of the mechanical devices exploded off of it and it toppled over with a resounding crash. Saint Galgomon did not get up as the tracking laser went dark and a fine mist escaped from the giant mecha with a sound of escaping breath.
"Strawberry Death!" A red blast shot from Daipenmon's red popsicle, forcing Sakuyamon to dodge wildly. She did not notice Beowulfmon's Light Attack coming from behind. The missiles struck her back and she fell with a cry. The tracking laser smashed against the ground as she impacted. Sakuyamon tried to get up, but Daipemon's Blue Popsicle came down with a resounding thud. The fox shaman fell to the ground and the same mist escaped her.
"Two down," High Andromon said as he grappled with Dukemon. He had shattered Dukemon's Lance and Shield several times with point blank Atomic Rays and good old fashioned brawling.
High Andromon grappled with the holy knight Digimon he used to call his friend. "Give up," Dukemon said, his voice flat. High Andromon was forced to his knees as Dukemon's hands were locked with High Andromon's own. "Resistance is futile."
"Resistance isn't futile buddy," High Andromon snarled, pushing to his feet as he reversed the mercy fight. In an instant, Dukemon found himself being tossed to the ground as High Andromon slid backwards in a boxing form. "C'mon, you fight like a pansy."
Dukemon took a wild swing at his head, and High Andromon sidestepped it, slamming his knee into Dukemon's stomach. Dukemon gasped as High Andromon picked him up and slammed him to the ground head first. "Stupid," High Andromon grumbled. "You still fight like Takato. And I ruled you in playground scraps."
"You... will.. not... prevail..." the flat voice of Dukemon said, getting to his feet.
"You never learn, do you? You can't control the spirit if it is unwilling." High Andromon ducked under a right cross as he slammed his fist in a body blow that resounded with a dull clang. Dukemon stumbled backwards as High Andromon pressed his advantage, using his Copy and Paste ability to make more of himself. The solid clones shot forward, dealing several blows that sent the knight reeling. The last clone, High Andromon himself rushed forward, grabbed Dukemon's head and crushed it against his knee.
Dukemon collapsed bonelessly to the ground as the mechanical devices on him went haywire from the beating he took. "Does... not.... compute," the flat voice stammered.
High Andromon picked him up by the shoulder, staring the ghost of his best friend into the face. "You may have Takato's body, but you don't have his spirit." He pressed a hand to his chest. "Goodbye, Takato. You were my friend. I hope your spirit remembers it."
High Andromon closed his eyes, and in an instant and a flash of blinding light and a rush of heat, there was a smoking hole through Dukemon's chest. The light went out in Dukemon's eyes and the echoing sound of escaping breath was heard as a fine mist rose up from Dukemon. The body slid to the ground as High Andromon lowered his hand, his weapon still smoking.
In that moment, High Andromon let out a long, undying wail that turned into wracking sobs.
And with that, Dukemon dissolved into the wind. High Andromon looked up through tear streaked eyes and saw that Sakuyamon and Saint Galgomon were also blowing away into digital data.
Kenta sobbed on Ken's shoulder as the dark haired boy let him cry. Eric made no pretences to hide his tears as they flowed freely from his face as he tended to his wounded Digimon. Shuichon wailed, her knees pulled up to her chest as she cried for the people she had just lost.
Meanwhile, Shuichon's Antiramon raised his axe hand and slammed it through the crystal. It broke and shattered. Looking down into the well, he was greeted with a happy, "CULU!"
"Culumon!" Antiramon shouted into the darkness. "Are you all right?"
There was silence. And then a panicked, "Culu! Get outta here, culu! She is mad, Culu!"
Antiramon didn't realize the meaning of the words for a moment before he was thrown clear away from the Mother D-Reaper. A loud piercing wail was heard as Mother D-Reaper exploded apart in a hail of reddish ooze. From out of it, a new creature had emerged. And the sight was beyond scary. It was horrifying, like a nightmare that had taken real form.
One hundred feet high. A hand ending in a bio-mechanical nightmare, the other, more human but with Apoclyamon octohedron type ends on the fingers. A ripped, torn green dress, cables and mechanics covering most of it's body with paper white skin and remnants of clothing peeking out. Wild hair reminicent of some ancient witch, blank soulless brown eyes, and no feet, rather, ending in a mass of cables. And in a crystal around her neck, Culumon pounded at the crystaline wall with futile strikes.
The creature looked down and stretched out her octohedron hand as they formed into various digimon shapes. "Erase," it proclaimed, and a torrent of attacks blasted at the enemy.
Stingmon turned and only his phenominal speed saved him from becoming a smear on the Reaper Monster. "Holy," he grunted, casually slicing a scythe off it's connection. For some reason, the Reaper Monster was reacting as if it did not want to fight. The hesitation allowed Stingmon to take down several of it's scythes. "What the hell is that thing?"
"I'm not sure," Jet Silphymon said. "It looks like a girl..."
"Juri.... what has happened to you?" Kenta asked, his face tear streaked.
"Katou Juri is no longer with us," the horror said, unleashing attacks from all sorts of digimon D-Reaper had destroyed. "There is only Juri-Reaper, the final evolution. We are one."
"Juri-Reaper?" High Andromon breathed.
"We, the D-Reaper found a perfect host for us. Katou Juri's emotions allowed us to feed and grow, developing within and without her. Katou Juri's tormented mind, filled with pain, loss and suffering, allowed our program to evolve, creating our Agents of D-Reaper. We, are perfect, for Katou Juri has given up her soul to us. We, are one. Katou Juri, and D-Reaper. We are Juri-Reaper, program extention dotExecute. You shall be Erased."
High Andromon seethed with rage as his backpack ignited and he shot like a rocket towards the monster that had taken Juri's form. "GIVE JURI BACK TO US! ATOMIC..."
"DELETE!" Roared Juri-Reaper, it's eyes shooting a torrent of crimson energy.
High Andromon cried out as he was struck. He slammed into the ground, and in an instant, he and his partner seperated. Gardromon had become Kokuwamon, a child metal insect with the attack.
"HIROKAZU!" Kenta abandoned the bubble as he rushed towards his friend. Cradling his friends head in his lap, Hirokazu opened his eyes and smiled weakily.
"I'm fine," Hirokazu said with a smile. "I just... need some rest." Hirokazu then passed out as Marine Angemon floated over to create a heart shield around the pair.
"You dummy," Kenta said, a bit of fondness in his voice.
"I think we need to step things up a notch!" Ardhamon announced as he landed on the ground. He was joined by the rest of the A-Hybrids who reverted to their human forms.
"Hyper Spirit Evolution!" Takuya and Kouji cried, drawing their hands across digital code. In an instant, two digimon roughly half the size of Saint Galgomon stood in the middle.
"Kaiser Greymon!" Takuya announced.
"Magna Garurumon!" Kouji added.
Kaiser Greymon drew the sword on his back and stabbed it into the ground. Nine lines of fire exploded from beneath him and rose up as serpentine dragons. "Nine Headed Dragon Ranks!"
Magna Garurumon soared in from above, his guns blazing with missles and energy shots from his giant arm cannon and the gattling weapon on the other. "Machinegun Destroy!"
The twin attacks impacted above and blow Juri-Reaper as it thrashed about. Sticking a hand upwards, it shouted, "Delete!"
Magna Garurumon dodged around the lances of dark energy as he removed his laser sword from a hidden panel on his arm. "Starlight Velocity!" Within seconds, he had passed Juri-Reaper. Nothing happened for a second, but suddenly, the crystal holding Culumon exploded outwards and Culumon happily floated downwards with cries of "Culu!" He landed into Kenta's arms and scrambled up to perch on his head.
Kaiser Greymon picked up his sword and rushed towards Juri-Reaper. He leapt high into the air and his weapon ignited, creating a huge fire dragon. "Flame Dragon Attack!"
The sword thrust deep into Juri-Reaper's Chest and it wailed in pain. Kaiser Greymon twisted the sword to bury it deeper, but suddenly, Juri-Reaper swatted him off. Kaiser Greymon fell to the ground with a tremendous impact.
"Kaiser Greymon! AH!" Magna Garurumon did not see the giant hand that scooped him up, and currently applied pressure to his body. The wolf man screamed in pain as ribs cracked under the pressure.
Kaiser Greymon groaned on the ground, a ring of digicode appearing around his body. His body turned black and it shrunk into the form of Takuya. He groaned and fell into unconciousness.
A spiral of digicode appeared around Magna Garurumon's body as well and he was dropped. He reverted to Kouji in mid fall. In an instant, Kouichi turned into Lowemon and caught his brother in mid fall.
Juri-Reaper emitted a flat, synthisized chuckle. "Delete," it said, pointing its hand towards the children who stood in the middle.
Stingmon shot up towards Juri-Reaper, his stinger out. "Striking Finish!" He was batted away like an annoyance and fell to the ground. He devolved in mid fall, causing Ken to rush underneath him. "Sorry Ken-chan, I did my best." Wormmon said weakily.
"You did fine, Wormmon," Ken said softly.
"Well, anyone have ideas?" Eric said, backing up. An injured Lopmon was in his hands.
"I will continue fighting," Shuichon's Antiramon said, preparing to leap into action.
"Antiramon," Shuichon said, stopping her partner from moving. "I will fight too."
"Shuichon..." Antiramon said. "No, you cannot. It is far too dangerous."
"Antiramon, you told me, I am a Tamer." Shuichon stood up and passed through the protective shielding. "I will fight too!" Her digivice glowed brilliantly and Culumon felt a stirring in the last vestiges of the evolution energies that remained within him.
Antiramon glowed brilliantly as well, and Shuichon and Antiramon seemed to walk into each other. Juri-Reaper flinched from the brilliance of the glow as a cry echoed from inside it startled everyone.
"Matrix Evolution!" cried Shuichon. At the same time, Antiramon cried out, "Antiramon evolve!"
Glorious church-like music filled the air as a heavenly glow filled the dismal and darkness of the inside of D-Reaper. Juri-Reaper cried out, as if in pain. And from that light, walked out a great angel, pink and white in color, with two golden rings around it's ears. It had a warm smile and beady eyes that were filled with compassion. Stretching out his arms, he floated upwards and announced its name, "Cherubimon!"
Cherubimon floated towards Reaper first. Reaper cried out from the light emitting from the Holy Beast Digimon. Cherubimon stretched out a hand, and Reaper exploded, revealing a pair of figures curled up within it. Taking the two in hand, he set them down gently next to everyone.
Ken looked at the boy and gasped. "Ryo! Ryo Akiyama!" Ryo also held an egg in his hands.
"What? We thought he died too!" Kenta exclaimed.
Eric reached down, rolled Ryo on his back and listened closely to his chest. "He'll be all right. He just needs some rest."
Cherubimon then turned his attention to Juri-Reaper who hissed in his light. "Demonic Program, you will be stripped from the Digital World, never to return! I now cast you out of the poor girl that you have possessed!"
"No!" Juri-Reaper screamed, "She is OURS!"
Cherubimon raised its hand and a golden lightning bolt appeared in it. It reared back, preparing to strike the monstrocity down. Then, before he could attack, a small voice reached his ears.
"Cher...ubi...mon..."
"Shuichon..." Cherubimon said internally. "You hath heard the voice, did you not?"
"Yes..." Shuichon said from within. "That was Juri-san!"
"Strike...."
Cherubimon dodged a slash from Juri-Reaper as it strained to listen.
"Strike... the chest... at the wound."
"The Juri-Reaper hath a core! Shuichon! We must strike now!" Cherubimon exclaimed.
"But the core... must be Juri-san!" Shuichon reasoned. "I cannot kill her!"
"Cher... ubi...mon..." Juri pleaded from inside her monsterous form. "It is... the only.... way..."
"Shuichon! It is now or never!" Cherubimon exclaimed.
"Yes! Strike now!" Shuichon commanded, her body already in motion. A single tear fell from her eye as she raised their arm that held the Lightning Spear.
Ducking under a slash from the manipulator arm, the Lightning Spear dug into the wound. Juri-Reaper screamed and coughed up red ooze. It went deeper and deeper into the wound as Cherubimon floated backwards and called upon a storm. "Heaven's Judgement!" Cherubimon shouted, and an incredible explosion of lightning struck Juri-Reaper.
The resulting brilliance caused everyone to shield their eyes as Juri-Reaper wails were cut short. The brilliance moved through the D-Reaper, creating cracks and fissures that opened up. Huge chunks of the D-Reaper began to delete.
In the midst of the explosions of the Juri-Reaper, the core that made up the heart exploded outwards, revealing a slender brown haired girl. The Lightning Spear was shoved through her chest. Cherubimon's eyes widened as the girl whispered, "Thank you." Then, explosions engulphed her and she fell to the ground, deleting upon impact.
"Kenta! Get us the fuck out of here!" Ken shouted, shouldering Akiyama while Ken picked up Monodramon's Digitama.
Kenta directed Marine Angemon to create shield as he sped the humans away. Cherubimon followed close behind. The world around them crumbled, exploded and deleted with fierce intencity. Several times their bubbles were jostled and tossed about.
They then passed through the layers of ooze, ignoring the heat about them. And finally, they were out.
From outside, they could see the D-Reaper exploding at random areas, large chunks deleting off of it. Soon, it grew smaller and smaller, until finally, the last piece crumbled into data and blew away in the wind.
As they stood on the rooftops surrounding Hypnos, Kenta gave a long sigh. "We did it." He then turned to everyone. Akiyama had woken up and was shouldered by Ken. Hirokazu was supported by Kokuwamon. Takuya and Kouji woke up in the arms of their friends. And the weary travellers had tired smiles on their faces. Culumon sat on Eric's head, tired looking, but strangely happy.
Cherubimon landed on the rooftop and seperated into Shuichon and Lopmon. She then threw herself into the arms of her remaining friends, crying freely.
Kenta held the little girl as Eric pulled out the gate. It glowed warmly as it opened a portal for people to pass through. "Lets go home," Kenta said, earning smiles from everyone.
===============
Back in the Digital World a party was being thrown. When people had heard the good news that their world was safe, everyone had to celebrate.
The injured Warriors and Tamers were greeted with a Hero's Welcome. Eric, Ken and Sora stood to the side, sipping on tea as they watched the festivities. "It really is for them, isn't it?" Eric said with a sad smile.
"Yes," Ken said, nursing his own tea. Lopmon and Wormmon sat at their feet, eating as much food as possible. "It is really their victory."
Sora smiled as Hirokazu, despite his injuries, started a rousing chorus of "We Are the Champions" in his rather broken English. Despite the language barrier, people began to sing. People swayed back and forth, laughing and drinking. "They deserved a happy ending."
"Yeah. I suppose it's time to move on, eh?" Eric said.
"After, a bath and sleep," Ken said, a small smile growing on his face.
The three picked up their stuff, and their digimon, and walked off to the baths. And in the distance, the song continued.
We are the Champions!
We are the Champions!
No time for loosers!
Cause we are the Champions!
Of the WORLD!
==============
"Human settlements are growing," Yamaki said as the trio continued to prepare for the jump that might take them home. "There will be a giant settlement in this area after a couple of years."
"Humankind flourishing in the Digital World." Ken smiled. "Sounds like a dream come true."
Shibumi smiled. "The others would be off to see you, but because of their injuries, they had to sleep."
"Like HELL!" Yamaki and Shibumi turned, surprised. Everyone that fought with stood there, broad grins on their face. Akyama was in a crude wheelchair, Kenta pushing him. Akiyama held Monodramon's Digitama in his hands. Hirokazu leaned on Izumi as Junpei and Kouichi supported their friends. Shuichon stood at the front, holding a travelling bag made of some sort of material from the digital world. Hirokazu smiled as he limped up to Eric. He stuck out his hand.
Eric blinked but grinned and shook. He was then surprised to be pulled into a rough manly hug. The same process was then repeated with Ken and Sora who pulled away, flushing. They were unused to public displays of affection. The Warriors and Tamers shook hands, sometimes hugged depending on the person. "Keep in touch, if you can." Kenta said with a smile.
"We will, if we can. Believe me, we'll find a way." Sora said with a smile.
Eric crouched down to Shuichon who had a small bag slung over her back. "And are you going to miss us?"
"Nope," Shuichon said, Lopmon standing at her feet. "I'm coming with Eric-oniisan, Ken-oniisan and Sora-oneechan!"
The travellers fell over in surprise. "Wha?" Eric's Lopmon stammered.
Akiyama's eyes were wide. "Shuichon, you can't go with them! You're needed here, with us."
"Yeah," Hirokazu added with a smile. "We can be your family. Me, Ryo, Hirokazu and our digimon, Marine Angemon, Kokuwamon and Monodramon! We can do a ton of stuff just like Jen, Ruki, Juri and Takato used to do...." Hirokazu trailed off as he realised he stuck his foot in his mouth. Recovering, he added in a serious tone of voice, "Well, it is your decision, Shuichon."
"It wouldn't be home without you, Shuichon," Kenta added. "Is this what you want? Really? To go with them or stay with us?"
"Yes!" Shuichon smiled. She then sobered. "I want to see the world like the three do. With Daddy, Mommy and my family gone, I want a family with them. But... you three are my family as well!" An even brighter smile followed that statement.
"If that is what you want, then take care." Kenta crouched down and hugged Shuichon. "Don't ever forget us."
"I won't," Shuichon said, repeating the process with everyone else.
Eric grinned as he stood up and fished in a bag, going deeper than possible. "Lets see... ah, here we go. Everyone group together! Photo Time!" He then grinned mischeviously. "Such a Kodiac Moment." He was then pelted with stuff for the bad bear pun.
An entire roll of film was taken when they finally seperated. Eric put Shuichon's belongings into the Bag of Holding as the travellers prepared to leave.
"You take good care of Shuichon, you hear?" Hirokazu called out.
"Have a good trip!" Takuya shouted as everyone waved.
"Catch you on the flip dimension!" Wormmon called out as they vanished from sight with Shuichon and Lopmon in tow.
==============
Reappearing, Shuichon giggled. "That was fun!"
Eric looked around the area as he shielded his eyes. "Looks like the Tokyo skyline. Do we have any yen to get a hotel room and a decent meal?"
Ken looked around and pointed to a house that was labeled in a pinup sign, "Fubari Onsen." "Right there," he said.
"All right! Hotsprings!" Lopmon cheered and then winced. "I certianly need it."
"You need it? You took less than I did!" Wormmon exclaimed.
"Did not!"
"Did too!"
"Did not!"
"You BOTH took the same amount of damage!" Sora interrupted as she knocked on the door. "Hello, anyone home?"
The door opened and everyone froze. A grinning Yamato stood behind the door, dressed in an open shirt with the sleeves rolled up. Around his neck were three ebony bones, and he wore rolled up slacks with high sandals. On his head was a pair of orange headphones. "Hi, welcome to Fubari Onsen," he greeted. "I'm Asakura Yamato. Nice to meet you."
"And I am Were Garurumon!" A Were Garurumon appeared out of nowhere. "Greetings!"
"Something tells me we're not home yet," Eric cracked in the silence that followed. Followed by a clonking on the head by Sora and Ken.
===============
We are the Champions!
We are the Champions!
No time for loosers!
Cause we are the Champions!
Of the WORLD!
Queen - We Are the Champions
To be continued!
"That's what I thought. Man, I'm hungry," Junpei remarked, earning a grin from Eric. Ken, Hirokazu and Kenta hung their heads and the rest of the chosen just sighed.
"All right everyone, we're here to save a world," Takuya said, holding up his digivice. "Lets do this!"
"Go for it!"
"Double Spirit Evolution!"
"Card Slash! Blue Card!"
"Jet Sylphimon!" Izumi became her advanced form, a white leather clad woman with violet hair, metallic white wings on her back and carrying a huge pinwheel in her hands.
"Daipenmon!" Tomoki transformed into a large round penguin, holding two giant popsicles. One was blue, the other was red.
"Rhino Kabuterimon!" Junpei went down on all fours and became a large metallic blue Rhino with a distinct beetle motif to his features, a golden horn on his head and six legs.
"Reichmon!" Kouichi became a lion man with golden wings and carrying a huge staff.
"Ardhamon!" Takuya turned into a humanoid dragon man with two weapons on his wrists, wings and a gold and crimson armor on his body.
"Beowulfmon!" A shining knight in white wolf like armor appeared, carrying a huge sword in one hand was Kouji's advance form.
"Stingmon!" Wormmon quickly became the large green humanoid bug.
"Antiramon!" The pair of Lopmons shouted as they transformed into their perfection forms.
"Andromon!" Gardromon grew taller and more powerful as he became humanoid in appearance, clad in stainless steel grey armor.
Daipenmon hopped towards the D-Reaper. "C'mon, lets go!"
Eric looked at Junpei who was walking along without any difficulty despite his six legs. "Dude, how do you walk like that?"
"Practice," Rhino Kabuterimon said with a grin.
"How can you two joke around right now?" Jet Sylphimon asked curiously as she hovered alongside Rhino Kabuterimon.
"It keeps us sane," Eric's Antiramon replied with a shrug. "We're going into a battle that'll decide the fate of this world. Of COURSE we need to joke around so we won't crack. If we can poke fun at life and death, I'm pretty sure most of the world can remain sane."
"Somehow, I wonder if that's how Daisuke stayed sane through the whole last year," Ken said with a sigh.
Jet Sylphimon looked at Reichmon who just shrugged.
"This is it," Beowulfmon said, sticking out his hand to the mass. Half expecting to find his hand burned off when he stuck it into the mass, he found it slid easily inside it, and out again. One by one, everyone walked inside, the non-evolved humans contained within Marine Angemon's heart bubble for extra protection.
==============
D^3 : Digital Diaries Dimensions
Variations 1.7 : Darkline Part 2
written by Shaun Garin
Digimon is owned by their creators, Akiyoshi Hongo and Toei. Diaries universe is created by Lord Archive, who lent it to me. The charecter of Eric belongs to me, as with the whole Canadian team. All charecters, references and such belong to their respective owners.
==============
The landscape before them was a red mass of coiled wires and a dark red sky that seemed to throb like some kind of heartbeat. Kenta adjusted his glasses and nodded. "Yeah, this is about how it looked like last time." He then noticed a few differences in the internal area of the D-Reaper, such as all of the organics remained intact, with the exception of a row of trees in the middle of where the park used to be. The rest of the buildings seemed to be half dissolved and assimilated.
"Everyone good to go?" Hirokazu asked as he looked at the transformed humans and the rest of the digimon.
"We're all set," Ardhamon said, giving a thumbs up.
"All right, lets move on out!" Hirokazu pointed as they flew, ran and hovered towards the center of the D-Reaper. In the middle of it, stood a huge tower of cables that seemed to stretch to the red mass of sky.
Stingmon shuddered as he passed along the remains of what used to be a bakery. "I'm really going to have some tentacle nightmares after this place."
Jet Sylphimon shuddered violently as she flew alongside Beowulfmon who was jogging at a steady pace, trying not to wear himself out. "Geez, thanks a lot. I'm the only GIRL in this place."
Stingmon looked sheepish. "Sorry."
Eric's Antiramon suddenly chuckling, his whole body shaking in mirth. "Hey Eric, remember that one hentai anime where..."
"ANTIRAMON!" Eric shouted, going beet red.
"Forget about it now," Reichmon shouted as he dropped into a defensive position. "Incoming!"
A horde of ADR's floated towards the group, their 35mm cannons armed and glowing with energy. Hirokazu growled angrily and Kenta's hands curled into fists. "ATTACK!" Hirokazu howled as the ADR's and the digimon surged forth.
Fire, ice, light, wind, thunder and darkness blasted forwards, taking out a score of the ADR's who quickly opened fire on them. The humans were safely protected within Marine Angemon's bubble as the short range fighters went to town on the ADR's.
Stingmon moved like a samurai through the digital weapons, each of his dual blades taking out an enemy with precision attacks. Shuichon's Antiramon turned his hands into axes while Eric's Antiramon had summoned his Treasure Axes, spinning around and doing a rather good impression of Gimli at Helm's Deep.
The others kept on firing energy beams while Takuya, Kouji and Kouichi rushed in with their hands and weapons. Scores and scores of ADR's dropped, bursting into reddish liquid that reminded the humans inside of the bubble of blood. Even the inside of the area smelled like iron and a bit of copper.
Daipenmon finished bludgoning his opponents into sludge with his twin popsicles as Rhino Kabuterimon charged down several more, including a couple of giant ADR's that exploded rather messily in a flash of lightning. "This isn't getting us anywhere," Rhino Kabuterimon growled angrily as he gored one into submission, red ooze splattering everywhere. "Push them back!"
"You heard him! Banzai!" Ardhamon shouted. The fray continued, slamming the ADR's back further and further as the wall of enemies began to crack.
Jet Sylphimon blasted several, slicing other ADR's with her giant pinwheel. To her back, Reichmon and Beowulfmon worked as a well oiled team, racking up an impressive kill total.
"This is kinda fun, in a sort of a Helm's Deep sort of way," Stingmon remarked as he slashed several ADR's and opened up the way for a rush at the main enemy stronghold.
Eric's Antiramon grinned widely as he threw himself into the fray again. He hacked two with a mighty swing and grinned. "That's two!"
"What, we're keeping score now?" Ardhamon shouted back, distinctly amused as he blasted several others. "Hah! Five!"
Rhino Kabuterimon charged through the ranks, knocking ADR's away like bowling pins. Many exploded into red ooze as he cleared the area away of ADR's. "Ten!"
The group pushed the enemy back until the large tower was right before them. It loomed over them like a twisted spiral coil of copper. The coppery smell still hung in the air as the remaining ADR's were eliminiated.
"There it is," Kenta said. "The very center of the D-Reaper."
Beowulfmon looked up at the tower and nodded grimly. He traded glances from the others who exhanged weary smiles. "All right! Lets go guys!" He leapt straight up towards the top of the tower.
Suddenly, a creature came careeming out of nowhere, it's left arm ending in a wicked scythe. Beowulfmon was flung back from the impact with a cry.
Jet Sylphimon grabbed him and hauled him out of the way as a scythe like blade slammed down where he used to be a moment ago. "What the hell is that thing?" Jet Sylphimon shouted as the woman like creature pulled a sickly twisted smile.
Hirokazu looked at it and paled. "Juri!"
The tall creature started to scream loudly as it slammed down the scythe blades at everyone. A blade glanced off Marine Angemon's shield. It shuddered, but held.
"Pipipopu!" Marine Angemon exclaimed as it strengthened its shields to ward off another direct attack.
"Everyone! Aim for the face! It's vulnerable!" Ken shouted.
Ardhamon aimed upwards and his gauntlets opened up. "Brahma Sutra!" Rapid fire blasts of fire launched out, slamming up against the ADR-01.
"Licht Angriff!" Light showered ADR-01 as it screamed and retaliated. Beowulfmon was forced to block with his giant sword and he hacked off her arm.
ADR-01 screamed as she weaved around the other attacks. A great slash brought Reichmon to his knees. It giggled insanely as it grew another arm with a wicked scimitar on it and tried to remove his head. Reichmon found himself protected by Jet Silphymon as she pushed back, forcing the attacker back. The pair danced back and forth, weapons clashing and ringing against each other before the ADR forced Jet Silphymon back.
"That is one tough cookie," Ardhamon said as he aimed a Brahma Sutra at her back. ADR-01 simply floated over it as she sent a cutting blade to slam into Ardhamon and Beowulfmon who had just gotten back up. "Fuck... that hurt."
"Bastard," Eric growled. The creature looked at him and he swallowed. It giggled that insane giggle once again and launched herself at the shield. It impacted and shuddered. Ken and Eric's hands went to their swords as the elven steel flashed and the digital Sting erupted into being.
Marine Angemon reinforced his shield once again, but small spiderweb cracks were beginning to form in the pink bubble. "Hold on Marine Angemon!" Kenta urged. "Guys, little help here?"
"Strawberry Death!" One of Daipenmon's popsicles, the red one, glowed and a torrent of reddish energy slammed into ADR-01. It stumbled but did not relent, continuing it's assult on the heart shaped pink bubble. Daipenmon bounced towards the shielded teenagers but ADR-01 opened it's mouth and spat a beam that sent Daipenmon tumbling away.
"Hey, leave 'em alone!" Rhino Kabuterimon charged towards the ADR who turned to meet him. He lunged at her, but she dodged and brought down her scythe on his back. Rhino Kabuterimon cried out in pain and slammed to the ground, skidding along the cables that made up the floor.
"JUNPEI!" Izumi screamed. "DIE YOU!" She then lashed out wordlessly with her major wind attack, the cutting bades forcing the ADR backwards. ADR-01 shielded her face but no major damage was apparent. A small cut from a wind blade healed up rather quickly.
01 suddenly blurred and Izumi found herself flying backwards, a large wound going from the bottom of her stomach to the shoulder. The fairy bounced once, twice and landed with a tremendous impact. She groaned as a spiral of digicode appeared around her.
The remaining four boys, blinded in their rage, lunged at the ADR, only to get tossed aside like rag dolls. Reichmon was able to score a cut along her spine, but it quickly healed without any preamble. Quickly, the defenders were on the ground, leaving the digimon standing before her, prepared to fight to the end.
ADR-01, it's job finished, turned towards the digimon. And in a twisted Juri voice, announced, "Resistance, is futile." She then giggled. "You will be assimilated. Your data, is ours." It's eyes widened in maniacal glee. "AND SO IS YOUR LIFE!"
Stingmon, being of such a low level in comparison to the ADR-01, was dispatched, thrown across the way. Eric's Antiramon and Shuichon's were tossed aside, giant gashes along the arms and neck, leaving Gardromon standing there. "You will not pass!" he announced loudly, firing his Destruction Grenade directly in her face.
Out of the smoke that resulted from the direct impact, a scythe slammed into Gardromon, tossing him into Marine Angemon's shield. The scythe came down again, and Gardromon rolled to the side, but it slammed into a weakened area of the shield. Another slash brought the robust machine to his knees.
With a shattering sound, the shield dissapeared into a shower of digital pixels. The scythe came down again amidst ADR-01's insane giggling and the humans tossed themselves aside to avoid her attack.
Eric rolled to his feet and drew his digital sword. "C'mon ugly!" But it did not heed his call as the ADR advanced on Shuichon who laid prone on the ground. Not caring of his position, he rushed her, but was flung backwards by the merest backhand. Ken tried it with the same results as he lost grip of his sword, the elven steel slamming into the floor of the D-Reaper point first.
Shuichon rolled over and looked into the remorseless eyes of ADR-01 as it leaned in and whispered, "Die....."
"SHUICHON!" came Hirokazu's scream.
"NO!" was the shout from Gardromon.
It raised her weapon and it came down....
================
Hirokazu pulled himself to a sitting position as ADR-01 advanced on Shuichon as the weapon bearers tried to attack the ADR with very little result. He crawled over to Gardromon and said, "Are you okay?"
"No.... tired..... very tired." Gardromon wheezed, if it were possible for a mechanioid digimon.
"We'll stop her," Hirokazu said, helping his partner to his feet. "Lets get her."
The pair looked over and the ADR was raising it's weapon, ready to bring it down through Shuichon. Hirokazu's pupils dialated. "SHUICHON!"
"NO!" Gardromon shouted.
It raised her weapon and it came down....
And light flared, and the weapon stopped an inch before driving itself into Shuichon's heart.
ADR-01 spun around and it's own expression turned fearful. "NO!" Was the shout that tore from it's throat.
"Matrix Evolution! Gardromon Evolve!" In it's place, a huge obsidian digimon stood, and it brandished it's arms as it stood, an obelisk in a storm. "High Andromon!"
High Andromon then raised his hand and said, "Assimilate this. ATOMIC RAY!"
A huge blast of golden energy lanced out, slamming into ADR-01. It shrieked in pain as everyone was roused by it's screaming. It kept wailing as it began to discintigrate. High Andromon raised his other hand and another torrent of golden light lanced out to slam against her.
The combined force of two Atomic Rays ripped the ADR asunder, scattering her reddish blood like data all over the ground, ending up with a stain that smeared the ground. The stain vanished quickly, evaporating into the air.
Ardhamon got up to his feet and shook his head. "Whoa. Remind me never to get on your bad side," he joked, cracking the silence that followed.
High Andromon looked at his hands and a small smile crossed his face. "I did it. I actually Matrix Evolved."
Kenta sighed. "Now it's official. I'm the only one who can't in the whole Tamers group."
"What do you mean by that?" Eric asked. "Shuichon hasn't Matrix Evolved yet."
Ken threw his companion a pointed look. "Eric, Marine Angemon is an ultimate level digimon."
"BWA?!" Eric exclaimed. "That little thing is an ultimate?!"
Marine Angemon folded his arms and scolded Eric. "Pi pi po puu."
"Sorry little dude, I don't speak Mokona," Eric joked. Shuichon's Antiramon wore a blank expression on his face. Daipenmon and Rhino Kabuterimon were snickering, but the rest looked blank.
Eric sighed, hanging his head. "Doesn't anyone watch Rayearth?" Antiramon patted his head in sympathy.
"That's a girl's show, isn't it?" Jet Silphymon said, earning a shrug from the rest of them.
"Enough of that." Beowulfmon said, turning to look upwards at the large Mother D-Reaper who had now noticed their presence. "Lets get this thing!"
"Before we get past them!" Ardhamon shouted. A second later, a massive foot stomped down where the A-Hybrids were standing a moment before. A huge towering robot, burnished with a metallic green hue stood before them. The Hybrids tossed themselves to the side as Marine Angemon hastily errected a shield around the humans.
Shuichon gasped as she looked up at it. High Andromon went pale as he could along with Kenta. Marine Angemon made a "Pi pi" of shock.
The robot was facing the other way as Shuichon broke free from her shock and exclaimed, "Jen-Oniichan!"
The robot known as Saint Galgomon turned, and what greeted them was a monstrocity. Half of it's face was covered in reddish wires and circutry. The bottom of half of Saint Galgomon looked like it was made up of metallic plates, and one of it's arms ended in a cruel looking biomechanical decice. But the chilling look Saint Galgomon gave them as it flashed it's locator red scanning laser at them was beyond scary.
As usual, it was Eric who broke the silence a moment later, with the exclimation of "It's a Borg. A FUCKING BORG!"
If things couldn't get any worse, two more creatures swooped in, one hovering on an eagle styled red machine and the other hovering on her own. It was Sakuyamon and Dukemon, but they too had faced the strange mechnical fusion. Wires and coils were attatched to the body, giving the digimon an otherworldly evil look.
Scanning beams rode over each person as Dukemon's hand moulded into a lance. His voice echoed with a thousand voices as he spoke. "We are the D-Reaper Agents. Alpha, Omega and Trita. Surrender and prepare to have your digital information absorbed and assimilated for our use. Do not try to fight back. Do not resist. We are the D-Reaper. Prepare to be assimilated...." Dukemon's lance started to glow. "Or be destroyed."
"I knew I should have stayed in bed today," Rhino Kabuterimon grumbled.
"Fuck that," High Andromon said, aiming his fists at them. "Atomic... hey, Kenta, Shuichon get off!"
The pair of Tamers had grabbed each one of High Andromon's fists. "Don't shoot them!" Shuichon exclaimed, halfway to tears. "We can't kill them!"
"That's right!" Kenta added. "They're not doing this willingly! They're being controlled."
"You cannot control what has been killed," Sakuyamon, now known as ADR Omega said in an impassive voice. "These host bodies are already deceased. We just used it for our own advantage."
The small struggle between Kenta, Shuichon and High Andromon stopped in a heartbeat. The pair slid off of High Andromon's arms as Kenta said in a weak voice, "No. They're dead?"
"As dead as we are," Saint Galgomon, now ADR Trita said, his voice flat and without emotion. "Surrender. Or be destroyed. This is your final warning." His weapon ports opened up and incidentary weapons gleamed from the inside out.
Eric shivered at the cold and malice that dripped from their flat, emotionless voices. "Surrender... or die.... tough choice."
"I hate the fact that we're fighting zombies, but that just means..." High Andromon looked up and raised his arms. "ATOMIC RAY!"
Saint Galgomon was caught off guard as the golden beams slammed into his face. The giant assimilated dog machine fell backwards, slamming into the ground with a thud. ".... that we have to fight." High Andromon finished.
The action spurred everyone to the fight as they opened fire on the two smaller ADR's who dodged and weaved, sending their own attacks back. A Final Elysian rocked the ground, tossing Jet Silphymon back into the arms of Reichmon who retalliated with his attack.
Ardhamon took to the air, getting into the face of Sakuyamon who's scanning laser was crushed under the impact of his fist. He then blasted her a second later, palm stretched out. She went careeming into the ground and laid there, motionless.
Saint Galgomon got up, and began to fire missiles everywhere. The landscape became potholed with the numerous explosions, and several shuddered against the shields of Marine Angemon who strained against the missile barrage. "Hold together," Kenta muttered.
Stingmon and Eric's Antiramon hung back from the carnage. "Yeesh, this is too high powered for me," Antiramon grumbled.
"I agree," Shuichon's Antiramon said. "We should go around them and target the Mother D-Reaper."
"Agreed," Stingmon said. "Ken-chan?"
"Go, Stingmon," Ken said, his expression hard.
The trio of digimon circled around the carnage and made their way towards the giant tower that was Mother D-Reaper. Sakuyamon saw this and moved to intervene, but a resounding punch from Beowulfmon stopped her in her tracks, preventing her from proceeding. The pair fenced back and forth, staff against longsword as the A-Hybrids prevented the ADR's from following the three digimon.
Shuichon's Antiramon looked up at the monster, and the monster looked down. It let out a keening wail. Shuichon's Antiramon shouted, "Lets go!" And leapt high into the air to try and reach the face of the monster.
Eric's Antiramon and Stingmon followed close behind, Stingmon holding Antiramon in his claws. "You need to loose weight," Stingmon grunted. Eric's Antiramon grinned. Despite world crisis odds, he was still able to get Stingmon to crack a joke.
"I have taught you well," Antiramon deadpanned. The pair hovered face to face to Mother D-Reaper. Shuichon's Antiramon was already there, hacking at the cables that was presumably it's neck with his axe like hands. "In the words of the great Ryo Saeba : MOKKORI!"
Antiramon flung himself at the face, and landed with a soft "Oof," and a thud. He then started slamming at the crystal and the Mother D-Reaper wailed in pain.
Stingmon joined him and commented, while slamming his stingers at the crystal, "You DO know what that meant right?"
"Yep," Eric's Antiramon chuckled. "Not like I'm getting any from anyone else though, ne?"
"You are a twisted bunny," Stingmon sniggered as they slammed hard against the face of the crystal, making a dent. "Damn, what is this stuff made of?"
"Adamantium?" said the wisecracking bunny with a shrug. "C'mon, on three! THREE!"
The Axe and stinger came down and in a second, the crystal began to crack. "All right! AUGH!"
"ANTIRAMON!" Stingmon shouted. Antiramon had been struck by a giant scythe from a cable monster that had risen from behind them, and he was bleeding data freely from a gash on his shoulder. With a small thud, he hit the ground and groaned. "Antiramon, are you all right?!"
"It's okay! Ground broke my fall!" came the weak reply. Stingmon shook his head, smirking to himself. Only Antiramon could crack a joke when wounded.
"Do us a favor; stay there!" Stingmon shouted, turning to face the creature. It had no distinguishing marks, simply a pile of cables with a giant mouth and giant scythes. It screamed and swung at Stingmon who was forced to dodge. "Great, another thing to worry about."
Shuichon's Antiramon looked up from where it had hacked away a good portion of cables connecting the head to the neck. "Please distract the monster, I will keep working to break the crystal!" Antiramon scurried up the face and began to hack at the crack with one axe hand.
"Sure, 'distract it' he says," Stingmon grumbled. "Hey, little help up here?"
Jet Silphymon and Ardhamon were at his side immediately, and dodged a scythe strike. "Lets get rid of this thing!" Ardhamon exclaimed. His weapons slid open. "Brahma Sutra!" The creature was peppered with small fire bursts that did nothing except to sting and annoy the monster. It tried to slice Ardhamon open with another scythe, but he dodged out of the way. "That didn't work," he muttered to himself.
"Jet Winter!" Jet Silphymon glowed a cool blue color and pointed her pinwheel at the monster. It spun rapidly, sending an icy torrent of freezing wind at it. The monster raised two scythes to block the attack, and the scythes froze. They then broke off into melting globs of red ooze.
Down below, the battle had been changing to the A-Hybrid's side. Rhino Kabuterimon aimed his horn and shouted, "Thunder Laser!"
A thick beam of electrical power slammed into Saint Galgomon who staggered. A second one scored a direct hit on the mecha digimon, and it was then joined by Reichmon's Rot Kruez as he leapt up and sent a red cross shaped energy attack into Saint Galgomon's face. Pieces of the mechanical devices exploded off of it and it toppled over with a resounding crash. Saint Galgomon did not get up as the tracking laser went dark and a fine mist escaped from the giant mecha with a sound of escaping breath.
"Strawberry Death!" A red blast shot from Daipenmon's red popsicle, forcing Sakuyamon to dodge wildly. She did not notice Beowulfmon's Light Attack coming from behind. The missiles struck her back and she fell with a cry. The tracking laser smashed against the ground as she impacted. Sakuyamon tried to get up, but Daipemon's Blue Popsicle came down with a resounding thud. The fox shaman fell to the ground and the same mist escaped her.
"Two down," High Andromon said as he grappled with Dukemon. He had shattered Dukemon's Lance and Shield several times with point blank Atomic Rays and good old fashioned brawling.
High Andromon grappled with the holy knight Digimon he used to call his friend. "Give up," Dukemon said, his voice flat. High Andromon was forced to his knees as Dukemon's hands were locked with High Andromon's own. "Resistance is futile."
"Resistance isn't futile buddy," High Andromon snarled, pushing to his feet as he reversed the mercy fight. In an instant, Dukemon found himself being tossed to the ground as High Andromon slid backwards in a boxing form. "C'mon, you fight like a pansy."
Dukemon took a wild swing at his head, and High Andromon sidestepped it, slamming his knee into Dukemon's stomach. Dukemon gasped as High Andromon picked him up and slammed him to the ground head first. "Stupid," High Andromon grumbled. "You still fight like Takato. And I ruled you in playground scraps."
"You... will.. not... prevail..." the flat voice of Dukemon said, getting to his feet.
"You never learn, do you? You can't control the spirit if it is unwilling." High Andromon ducked under a right cross as he slammed his fist in a body blow that resounded with a dull clang. Dukemon stumbled backwards as High Andromon pressed his advantage, using his Copy and Paste ability to make more of himself. The solid clones shot forward, dealing several blows that sent the knight reeling. The last clone, High Andromon himself rushed forward, grabbed Dukemon's head and crushed it against his knee.
Dukemon collapsed bonelessly to the ground as the mechanical devices on him went haywire from the beating he took. "Does... not.... compute," the flat voice stammered.
High Andromon picked him up by the shoulder, staring the ghost of his best friend into the face. "You may have Takato's body, but you don't have his spirit." He pressed a hand to his chest. "Goodbye, Takato. You were my friend. I hope your spirit remembers it."
High Andromon closed his eyes, and in an instant and a flash of blinding light and a rush of heat, there was a smoking hole through Dukemon's chest. The light went out in Dukemon's eyes and the echoing sound of escaping breath was heard as a fine mist rose up from Dukemon. The body slid to the ground as High Andromon lowered his hand, his weapon still smoking.
In that moment, High Andromon let out a long, undying wail that turned into wracking sobs.
And with that, Dukemon dissolved into the wind. High Andromon looked up through tear streaked eyes and saw that Sakuyamon and Saint Galgomon were also blowing away into digital data.
Kenta sobbed on Ken's shoulder as the dark haired boy let him cry. Eric made no pretences to hide his tears as they flowed freely from his face as he tended to his wounded Digimon. Shuichon wailed, her knees pulled up to her chest as she cried for the people she had just lost.
Meanwhile, Shuichon's Antiramon raised his axe hand and slammed it through the crystal. It broke and shattered. Looking down into the well, he was greeted with a happy, "CULU!"
"Culumon!" Antiramon shouted into the darkness. "Are you all right?"
There was silence. And then a panicked, "Culu! Get outta here, culu! She is mad, Culu!"
Antiramon didn't realize the meaning of the words for a moment before he was thrown clear away from the Mother D-Reaper. A loud piercing wail was heard as Mother D-Reaper exploded apart in a hail of reddish ooze. From out of it, a new creature had emerged. And the sight was beyond scary. It was horrifying, like a nightmare that had taken real form.
One hundred feet high. A hand ending in a bio-mechanical nightmare, the other, more human but with Apoclyamon octohedron type ends on the fingers. A ripped, torn green dress, cables and mechanics covering most of it's body with paper white skin and remnants of clothing peeking out. Wild hair reminicent of some ancient witch, blank soulless brown eyes, and no feet, rather, ending in a mass of cables. And in a crystal around her neck, Culumon pounded at the crystaline wall with futile strikes.
The creature looked down and stretched out her octohedron hand as they formed into various digimon shapes. "Erase," it proclaimed, and a torrent of attacks blasted at the enemy.
Stingmon turned and only his phenominal speed saved him from becoming a smear on the Reaper Monster. "Holy," he grunted, casually slicing a scythe off it's connection. For some reason, the Reaper Monster was reacting as if it did not want to fight. The hesitation allowed Stingmon to take down several of it's scythes. "What the hell is that thing?"
"I'm not sure," Jet Silphymon said. "It looks like a girl..."
"Juri.... what has happened to you?" Kenta asked, his face tear streaked.
"Katou Juri is no longer with us," the horror said, unleashing attacks from all sorts of digimon D-Reaper had destroyed. "There is only Juri-Reaper, the final evolution. We are one."
"Juri-Reaper?" High Andromon breathed.
"We, the D-Reaper found a perfect host for us. Katou Juri's emotions allowed us to feed and grow, developing within and without her. Katou Juri's tormented mind, filled with pain, loss and suffering, allowed our program to evolve, creating our Agents of D-Reaper. We, are perfect, for Katou Juri has given up her soul to us. We, are one. Katou Juri, and D-Reaper. We are Juri-Reaper, program extention dotExecute. You shall be Erased."
High Andromon seethed with rage as his backpack ignited and he shot like a rocket towards the monster that had taken Juri's form. "GIVE JURI BACK TO US! ATOMIC..."
"DELETE!" Roared Juri-Reaper, it's eyes shooting a torrent of crimson energy.
High Andromon cried out as he was struck. He slammed into the ground, and in an instant, he and his partner seperated. Gardromon had become Kokuwamon, a child metal insect with the attack.
"HIROKAZU!" Kenta abandoned the bubble as he rushed towards his friend. Cradling his friends head in his lap, Hirokazu opened his eyes and smiled weakily.
"I'm fine," Hirokazu said with a smile. "I just... need some rest." Hirokazu then passed out as Marine Angemon floated over to create a heart shield around the pair.
"You dummy," Kenta said, a bit of fondness in his voice.
"I think we need to step things up a notch!" Ardhamon announced as he landed on the ground. He was joined by the rest of the A-Hybrids who reverted to their human forms.
"Hyper Spirit Evolution!" Takuya and Kouji cried, drawing their hands across digital code. In an instant, two digimon roughly half the size of Saint Galgomon stood in the middle.
"Kaiser Greymon!" Takuya announced.
"Magna Garurumon!" Kouji added.
Kaiser Greymon drew the sword on his back and stabbed it into the ground. Nine lines of fire exploded from beneath him and rose up as serpentine dragons. "Nine Headed Dragon Ranks!"
Magna Garurumon soared in from above, his guns blazing with missles and energy shots from his giant arm cannon and the gattling weapon on the other. "Machinegun Destroy!"
The twin attacks impacted above and blow Juri-Reaper as it thrashed about. Sticking a hand upwards, it shouted, "Delete!"
Magna Garurumon dodged around the lances of dark energy as he removed his laser sword from a hidden panel on his arm. "Starlight Velocity!" Within seconds, he had passed Juri-Reaper. Nothing happened for a second, but suddenly, the crystal holding Culumon exploded outwards and Culumon happily floated downwards with cries of "Culu!" He landed into Kenta's arms and scrambled up to perch on his head.
Kaiser Greymon picked up his sword and rushed towards Juri-Reaper. He leapt high into the air and his weapon ignited, creating a huge fire dragon. "Flame Dragon Attack!"
The sword thrust deep into Juri-Reaper's Chest and it wailed in pain. Kaiser Greymon twisted the sword to bury it deeper, but suddenly, Juri-Reaper swatted him off. Kaiser Greymon fell to the ground with a tremendous impact.
"Kaiser Greymon! AH!" Magna Garurumon did not see the giant hand that scooped him up, and currently applied pressure to his body. The wolf man screamed in pain as ribs cracked under the pressure.
Kaiser Greymon groaned on the ground, a ring of digicode appearing around his body. His body turned black and it shrunk into the form of Takuya. He groaned and fell into unconciousness.
A spiral of digicode appeared around Magna Garurumon's body as well and he was dropped. He reverted to Kouji in mid fall. In an instant, Kouichi turned into Lowemon and caught his brother in mid fall.
Juri-Reaper emitted a flat, synthisized chuckle. "Delete," it said, pointing its hand towards the children who stood in the middle.
Stingmon shot up towards Juri-Reaper, his stinger out. "Striking Finish!" He was batted away like an annoyance and fell to the ground. He devolved in mid fall, causing Ken to rush underneath him. "Sorry Ken-chan, I did my best." Wormmon said weakily.
"You did fine, Wormmon," Ken said softly.
"Well, anyone have ideas?" Eric said, backing up. An injured Lopmon was in his hands.
"I will continue fighting," Shuichon's Antiramon said, preparing to leap into action.
"Antiramon," Shuichon said, stopping her partner from moving. "I will fight too."
"Shuichon..." Antiramon said. "No, you cannot. It is far too dangerous."
"Antiramon, you told me, I am a Tamer." Shuichon stood up and passed through the protective shielding. "I will fight too!" Her digivice glowed brilliantly and Culumon felt a stirring in the last vestiges of the evolution energies that remained within him.
Antiramon glowed brilliantly as well, and Shuichon and Antiramon seemed to walk into each other. Juri-Reaper flinched from the brilliance of the glow as a cry echoed from inside it startled everyone.
"Matrix Evolution!" cried Shuichon. At the same time, Antiramon cried out, "Antiramon evolve!"
Glorious church-like music filled the air as a heavenly glow filled the dismal and darkness of the inside of D-Reaper. Juri-Reaper cried out, as if in pain. And from that light, walked out a great angel, pink and white in color, with two golden rings around it's ears. It had a warm smile and beady eyes that were filled with compassion. Stretching out his arms, he floated upwards and announced its name, "Cherubimon!"
Cherubimon floated towards Reaper first. Reaper cried out from the light emitting from the Holy Beast Digimon. Cherubimon stretched out a hand, and Reaper exploded, revealing a pair of figures curled up within it. Taking the two in hand, he set them down gently next to everyone.
Ken looked at the boy and gasped. "Ryo! Ryo Akiyama!" Ryo also held an egg in his hands.
"What? We thought he died too!" Kenta exclaimed.
Eric reached down, rolled Ryo on his back and listened closely to his chest. "He'll be all right. He just needs some rest."
Cherubimon then turned his attention to Juri-Reaper who hissed in his light. "Demonic Program, you will be stripped from the Digital World, never to return! I now cast you out of the poor girl that you have possessed!"
"No!" Juri-Reaper screamed, "She is OURS!"
Cherubimon raised its hand and a golden lightning bolt appeared in it. It reared back, preparing to strike the monstrocity down. Then, before he could attack, a small voice reached his ears.
"Cher...ubi...mon..."
"Shuichon..." Cherubimon said internally. "You hath heard the voice, did you not?"
"Yes..." Shuichon said from within. "That was Juri-san!"
"Strike...."
Cherubimon dodged a slash from Juri-Reaper as it strained to listen.
"Strike... the chest... at the wound."
"The Juri-Reaper hath a core! Shuichon! We must strike now!" Cherubimon exclaimed.
"But the core... must be Juri-san!" Shuichon reasoned. "I cannot kill her!"
"Cher... ubi...mon..." Juri pleaded from inside her monsterous form. "It is... the only.... way..."
"Shuichon! It is now or never!" Cherubimon exclaimed.
"Yes! Strike now!" Shuichon commanded, her body already in motion. A single tear fell from her eye as she raised their arm that held the Lightning Spear.
Ducking under a slash from the manipulator arm, the Lightning Spear dug into the wound. Juri-Reaper screamed and coughed up red ooze. It went deeper and deeper into the wound as Cherubimon floated backwards and called upon a storm. "Heaven's Judgement!" Cherubimon shouted, and an incredible explosion of lightning struck Juri-Reaper.
The resulting brilliance caused everyone to shield their eyes as Juri-Reaper wails were cut short. The brilliance moved through the D-Reaper, creating cracks and fissures that opened up. Huge chunks of the D-Reaper began to delete.
In the midst of the explosions of the Juri-Reaper, the core that made up the heart exploded outwards, revealing a slender brown haired girl. The Lightning Spear was shoved through her chest. Cherubimon's eyes widened as the girl whispered, "Thank you." Then, explosions engulphed her and she fell to the ground, deleting upon impact.
"Kenta! Get us the fuck out of here!" Ken shouted, shouldering Akiyama while Ken picked up Monodramon's Digitama.
Kenta directed Marine Angemon to create shield as he sped the humans away. Cherubimon followed close behind. The world around them crumbled, exploded and deleted with fierce intencity. Several times their bubbles were jostled and tossed about.
They then passed through the layers of ooze, ignoring the heat about them. And finally, they were out.
From outside, they could see the D-Reaper exploding at random areas, large chunks deleting off of it. Soon, it grew smaller and smaller, until finally, the last piece crumbled into data and blew away in the wind.
As they stood on the rooftops surrounding Hypnos, Kenta gave a long sigh. "We did it." He then turned to everyone. Akiyama had woken up and was shouldered by Ken. Hirokazu was supported by Kokuwamon. Takuya and Kouji woke up in the arms of their friends. And the weary travellers had tired smiles on their faces. Culumon sat on Eric's head, tired looking, but strangely happy.
Cherubimon landed on the rooftop and seperated into Shuichon and Lopmon. She then threw herself into the arms of her remaining friends, crying freely.
Kenta held the little girl as Eric pulled out the gate. It glowed warmly as it opened a portal for people to pass through. "Lets go home," Kenta said, earning smiles from everyone.
===============
Back in the Digital World a party was being thrown. When people had heard the good news that their world was safe, everyone had to celebrate.
The injured Warriors and Tamers were greeted with a Hero's Welcome. Eric, Ken and Sora stood to the side, sipping on tea as they watched the festivities. "It really is for them, isn't it?" Eric said with a sad smile.
"Yes," Ken said, nursing his own tea. Lopmon and Wormmon sat at their feet, eating as much food as possible. "It is really their victory."
Sora smiled as Hirokazu, despite his injuries, started a rousing chorus of "We Are the Champions" in his rather broken English. Despite the language barrier, people began to sing. People swayed back and forth, laughing and drinking. "They deserved a happy ending."
"Yeah. I suppose it's time to move on, eh?" Eric said.
"After, a bath and sleep," Ken said, a small smile growing on his face.
The three picked up their stuff, and their digimon, and walked off to the baths. And in the distance, the song continued.
We are the Champions!
We are the Champions!
No time for loosers!
Cause we are the Champions!
Of the WORLD!
==============
"Human settlements are growing," Yamaki said as the trio continued to prepare for the jump that might take them home. "There will be a giant settlement in this area after a couple of years."
"Humankind flourishing in the Digital World." Ken smiled. "Sounds like a dream come true."
Shibumi smiled. "The others would be off to see you, but because of their injuries, they had to sleep."
"Like HELL!" Yamaki and Shibumi turned, surprised. Everyone that fought with stood there, broad grins on their face. Akyama was in a crude wheelchair, Kenta pushing him. Akiyama held Monodramon's Digitama in his hands. Hirokazu leaned on Izumi as Junpei and Kouichi supported their friends. Shuichon stood at the front, holding a travelling bag made of some sort of material from the digital world. Hirokazu smiled as he limped up to Eric. He stuck out his hand.
Eric blinked but grinned and shook. He was then surprised to be pulled into a rough manly hug. The same process was then repeated with Ken and Sora who pulled away, flushing. They were unused to public displays of affection. The Warriors and Tamers shook hands, sometimes hugged depending on the person. "Keep in touch, if you can." Kenta said with a smile.
"We will, if we can. Believe me, we'll find a way." Sora said with a smile.
Eric crouched down to Shuichon who had a small bag slung over her back. "And are you going to miss us?"
"Nope," Shuichon said, Lopmon standing at her feet. "I'm coming with Eric-oniisan, Ken-oniisan and Sora-oneechan!"
The travellers fell over in surprise. "Wha?" Eric's Lopmon stammered.
Akiyama's eyes were wide. "Shuichon, you can't go with them! You're needed here, with us."
"Yeah," Hirokazu added with a smile. "We can be your family. Me, Ryo, Hirokazu and our digimon, Marine Angemon, Kokuwamon and Monodramon! We can do a ton of stuff just like Jen, Ruki, Juri and Takato used to do...." Hirokazu trailed off as he realised he stuck his foot in his mouth. Recovering, he added in a serious tone of voice, "Well, it is your decision, Shuichon."
"It wouldn't be home without you, Shuichon," Kenta added. "Is this what you want? Really? To go with them or stay with us?"
"Yes!" Shuichon smiled. She then sobered. "I want to see the world like the three do. With Daddy, Mommy and my family gone, I want a family with them. But... you three are my family as well!" An even brighter smile followed that statement.
"If that is what you want, then take care." Kenta crouched down and hugged Shuichon. "Don't ever forget us."
"I won't," Shuichon said, repeating the process with everyone else.
Eric grinned as he stood up and fished in a bag, going deeper than possible. "Lets see... ah, here we go. Everyone group together! Photo Time!" He then grinned mischeviously. "Such a Kodiac Moment." He was then pelted with stuff for the bad bear pun.
An entire roll of film was taken when they finally seperated. Eric put Shuichon's belongings into the Bag of Holding as the travellers prepared to leave.
"You take good care of Shuichon, you hear?" Hirokazu called out.
"Have a good trip!" Takuya shouted as everyone waved.
"Catch you on the flip dimension!" Wormmon called out as they vanished from sight with Shuichon and Lopmon in tow.
==============
Reappearing, Shuichon giggled. "That was fun!"
Eric looked around the area as he shielded his eyes. "Looks like the Tokyo skyline. Do we have any yen to get a hotel room and a decent meal?"
Ken looked around and pointed to a house that was labeled in a pinup sign, "Fubari Onsen." "Right there," he said.
"All right! Hotsprings!" Lopmon cheered and then winced. "I certianly need it."
"You need it? You took less than I did!" Wormmon exclaimed.
"Did not!"
"Did too!"
"Did not!"
"You BOTH took the same amount of damage!" Sora interrupted as she knocked on the door. "Hello, anyone home?"
The door opened and everyone froze. A grinning Yamato stood behind the door, dressed in an open shirt with the sleeves rolled up. Around his neck were three ebony bones, and he wore rolled up slacks with high sandals. On his head was a pair of orange headphones. "Hi, welcome to Fubari Onsen," he greeted. "I'm Asakura Yamato. Nice to meet you."
"And I am Were Garurumon!" A Were Garurumon appeared out of nowhere. "Greetings!"
"Something tells me we're not home yet," Eric cracked in the silence that followed. Followed by a clonking on the head by Sora and Ken.
===============
We are the Champions!
We are the Champions!
No time for loosers!
Cause we are the Champions!
Of the WORLD!
Queen - We Are the Champions
To be continued!