D3 : Digital Diaries Dimensions
Variations 1.9 : A Metahuman Rebirth
written by Shaun Garin
Disclaimer : Digimon is owned by their respective companies. All rights and reservations considered. Strict useage of japanese names. Eric and the humans of the Canadian team belong to me. Lord Archive wrote the Diaries series. Static Shock is owned by WB. Ranma 1/2 is owned by Takahashi Rumiko.
=================
"Geist Abend!"
The building was sliced in half by the sheer force of the crimson blade attack as Policemen ducked out of the path of the blade. Duskmon smiled to himself as he looked over at the horizon. Shebang leapt into view, followed by the impostor of himself and the strange insect and the little girl with the Rabbit. "This is it?" he said scornfully. "A non-metahuman, the impostor and a little girl? And I thought you couldn't even muster a force to stop us."
"We're more than enough to take you down," Shebang snarled. "All right team, lets take them down!"
"Metabreed, attack!" Duskmon ordered.
Stingmon jumped into action, both stingers jutting out of his wrist gauntlets as he zoomed back and forth across Harpymon and D'Arcmon, scoring hits on their bodies. Harpymon spin and let out a blast of air that knocked a lamppost down onto the ground. Stingmon grunted and said, "Try this out!" He clasped his hands together and started spinning incredibly fast in a move reminicent of War Greymon. D'Arcmon and Harpymon were forced to jump out of the way as Stingmon flew past them.
Kangaroomon and Antiramon circled each other, fighting hand to hand as they punched and kicked out. "You're pretty good," remarked Antiramon as he axe kicked at Kangaroomon, only to get his foot caught and tossed backwards.
"You're not so bad yourself," Kangaroomon grunted, lashing out with his tail to strike the perfection across the head. Antiramon went flying back and skidded across the pavement. "But I'm better."
Antiramon chuckled, got to his feet and wiped his mouth free of the slightly bleeding abrasion. "Not bad. To quote my brother; Bring it on, punk!"
Shebang dodged in and out of the swords as she brought up Ken's elven sword to meet Duskmon's own crimson blades. The blades rang as they clanged together repeatedly, throwing sparks.
Shebang feinted to the left as Duskmon made a wide attack that left his whole left side open. Taking the opportunity, Shebang struck. With a tremendous slash, Shebang cut across Duskmon's body, making sparks fly from his chest.
Duskmon yelled and swung across with his left arm, catching Shebang on the chest with his forearm. She flew backwards and bounced once. The superheroine did not move.
"Shebang!" Ken shouted, running over to check on the girl. Her breathing was strong but pulse weak. Calling over two officers, he made sure to get her out of the way.
As the officers carried the unconcious superheroine away, Ken got up from his kneeling position and glared at himself standing in the form of a dark digimon. "This has to stop."
"My thoughts exactly imposter," snarled Duskmon. "But it won't stop until I end your life!" The eye on his chest flared red and become a slitted pupil. It seemed to burn like fire and Ken was reminded of Sauron.
Suddenly, Duskmon was in front of him, and Ken felt his knee impact on his stomach. The unpowered Ichijoji flew backwards and slammed into the wall. Coughing up blood from the impact, he slid down the wall, thankful he did not actually become part of the wall itself. Duskmon sneered as he picked up Ken by his long hair. "Well now, how does it feel?"
"Why are you doing this?" Ken asked, coughing. He could feel that bones had cracked upon that impact. His shoulder screamed and his ribs protested from the harsh manner of Duskmon's handling. "Why?"
"Why? I'll tell you why. Mom and dad died and left me and Osamu alone. When we got gassed in the Big Bang, I had to take control. I took care of my brother, like mom and dad would have wanted me to. Even before we were gassed, I took care of him. And for what?" Duskmon threw Ken on the ground and stomped on his chest. Ken cried out but didn't stop staring at Duskmon's face.
"Do you know how it's like, imposter? Living day to day protecting, surviving? The streets are nothing for a Bang Baby like me. Osamu knew that, and he chickened out, going straight. The Turncoat. He couldn't even face up to the harsh reality."
"So this is revenge?" Ken asked. "I know how you feel."
"Do you? DO YOU?!" Duskmon was screaming now but he didn't care. "All my life, I was in Osamu's shadow! Then I had to take care of him and look how that turned out! He is NOTHING to me! You hear me? NOTHING!" Duskmon raised a sword and there was a glint in his eye. A crazed maniacal look that Ken himself had seen in the mirror once before. "Goodbye, imposter."
"DUSKMON!" Suddenly, Duskmon was tackled off of Ken as a cuddly ball of ice slammed into him. Duskmon and Chakkumon rolled around the ground in a struggle that Ken knew not to get into.
"DAMN YOU!" Duskmon shouted. "Why can't you leave me ALONE?!"
Chakkumon went flying from a blast that sent him soaring into Blitzmon's arms. "You okay?" Blitzmon asked as he landed.
"I'm fine, but..." Chakkumon and Blitzmon looked over at where Duskmon was still writhing against an unknown force.
And to their horror, Duskmon began to glow. "Duskmon.... Omega Mode...."
===============
"The city is in a state of emergency as the Metabreed is causing untold destruction downtown. People from the central area are being evacuated as we speak. As it stands, a total of four buildings has been leveled by the Metahuman known as Ebon, aka Duskmon, aka Ken Ichijoji. Joining the fight just recently is Static and Rubberband Man who are facing off against the Metabreed. Duskmon has apparently skipped a form and has become a Omega class Metahuman. This could be Dakota's biggest fight ever."
"I don't like this," said Sean Hawkings as he folded his arms. "The Metabreed never toppled buildings, only commited crimes and theft."
"Don't worry, Daddy," said Raine as she watched the fight intently on the television. "I'm sure Osamu can take care of himself."
"I'm more worried about your brother," said Sean.
"Eric? What do you mean?"
Sean sighed as he watched the fight progress on the screen. "I'm surprised you haven't noticed Raine, how your little brother has become stronger and more sufficient over the last three years. The odd emergancies and the running out at any time of the day. Eric, is Static."
"But... you always thought Static would go bad some day," protested Raine, her disbelief covering her immediate fear for the large electrical Beta at the fight.
"That was before I noticed the change in Eric. And the amount of times Static has shown up in the area where ever we took a trip... it makes sense once you notice it. And no one has the same hairstyle as anyone else. I couldn't miss that mop of hair without having to be blind. I've known about Eric's superhero pastime for the last two and a half years." Sean smiled and patted his daughter on the shoulder. "You should pay more attention to your brother."
"I never knew," said Raine thoughtfully. "I thought he was being irresponsible for running out all of the time when there's things needed to be done."
Sean chuckled. "Give it time, honey. You'll find out soon enough that Eric is being more mature than his age gives him for."
===============
"Reichmon, Hybrid Digimon," said Eric as he ran up with the remaining members of the team; Timezone and Gear. Sora was with them too as she tended to the digimon who had fallen back with Duskmon's evolution to Reichmon.
"Any idea of his capabilities?" asked Gear as he scanned Reichmon for weaknesses.
"Yeah, and they're pretty nasty. Darkness based attacks, and can still hit rather hard even at a newly evolved level. We need to break out the big guns."
Antiramon jumped back from the fighting and landed next to his Tamer. "Shuichon," he said sharply.
Shuichon nodded and held up her D-Arc. "Matrix Evolution!"
"Antiramon evolve!" Brilliant light erupted from the pair as an angel Digimon stood in the middle of the crowd. "Cherubimon!"
"Oh yeah, the dog is back in the house!" Lopmon cheered as he evolved into Wendigomon and then into Antiramon.
"Technically, you're a bunny," said Eric who got a murderous look from his partner.
"I'm not a bunny!" exclaimed Antiramon who leapt into the fray.
Gear leaned over and asked quietly, "Is he really a bunny?"
"Yeah," said Eric. "He's just in denial."
"I'm sitting this one out," Stingmon said, devolving to Wormmon while wincing in pain. "I'm as injured as Ken."
"Hey, it's not that bad," said Ken, holding his ribs.
"As much as we should keep bickering like this, we're needed on the battle field," said Timezone. "Gear, go ahead. I'll patch up these kids."
"Right." Gear ignited his skates and flew off into the melee.
Reichmon and Cherubimon traded blows, going physical as they dodged and swerved. Fists met staff as the dark Lion digimon slashed the air in a cross formation. "Red Cross!"
"Lightning Spear!"
The attacks met in the middle, creating a minor explosion that Reichmon leapt through and delivered a tremendous kick to the face. Cherubimon staggered but righted himself. "Give it up," said Cherubimon, trying to egg him into a blind rage. "You're ten thousand years too slow to defeat me."
"RAUGH!" Reichmon yelled. Cherubimon smirked to himself, his job done.
In another part of the fight, Blitzmon, Chakkumon, Gear and Antiramon had finished mopping up the Metabreed who were tied together with a street lamp. "That takes care of them," said Blitzmon. "Now, to take down Ebon."
"It's not going to be easy Static," said Gear. "He's an Omega level and extremely powerful. I'm not sure if your Beta form can defeat it."
"We have to try," Chakkumon replied gruffly. "Otherwise, my brother will level the city."
"You heard the digimon," said Antiramon. A single bound catapulted him into the air as he came down on Reichmon's head. "BOOT TO THE HEAD!"
Reichmon looked at him as Antiramon bounced off. "RED CROSS!"
"GAH!" Antiramon exclaimed, bending over in a Matrix style backwards bend to avoid the Red Cross attack. "Well, this is uncomfortable," he said, falling over onto the ground.
"Jokes later," shouted Chakkumon as he tried to wrap himself around Reichmon's body in an attempt to immobilize him. Reichmon merely peeled his brother off of himself and glared at his brother.
"Try again, fool." He then tossed Chakkumon through a store window. Reichmon then cried out as he was struck with electricity.
Blitzmon hovered on his foldable metal disk, hands sparkling with electricity. "Give it up Ebon!" Blitzmon shouted. "It's over for you!"
"Guess again fool!" Ebon whirled on him and shouted, "Darkness Howl!"
A wave of pure darkness engulphed Blitzmon who yelled and was knocked to the ground. Blitzmon groaned and rolled over in an attempt to get up. Suddenly, Reichmon's foot came down on him and Blitzmon yelped. "Time to fry Zero," said Reichmon as he leveled his staff at Blitzmon.
"Not quite!" shouted Gear as a Zap Cap was thrown at Reichmon. Reichmon held up a hand to block it but the cap exploded into metal tendrils that wrapped the Metahuman up tightly. "Ha, beat that, sucker," said Gear as Reichmon rolled around on the ground.
With a yell, Reichmon ripped free of the bonds and he leveled his staff at Gear. "Red Cross!"
Gear took the full force of the blast as he bounced twice and groaned. Eric, on the ground, blinked once. "That's just not possible."
"His costume isn't made of spandex you know," said Timezone as she helped wrap up Ken's ribs. "It's made of unstable molecular fabric. James improves his costume all the time since he's just toting tech."
"Oh, so he's wearing something from Spiderman 20something or other." said Eric, nodding to himself. "That would explain how he survived a Ultimate Level Digimon's blast."
"Reichmon is newly evolved," said Ken as he winced at the movement. "if he were fully mature as an Ultimate..."
"Yeah, Gear would be paste." replied Eric. "Speaking of paste, how do we take this guy down without deleting him? We can't send him to the Digital World. I doubt there even IS one here, despite the evidence."
Ken's expression knotted into a frown. "I don't think we can even access a Digital World...."
Meanwhile, Reichmon got to his feet after Blitzmon had blasted him with several thousand volts. The dark Lion digimon laughed as he shot Blitzmon with a Red Cross attack. Chakkumon came at him with an extended punch, but Reichmon grabbed his hand and proceeded to flip Chakkumon like a flapjack. "Is that the best you've got, Zeros?" Reichmon taunted.
"Naw, we're trying to stall you," said Blitzmon as he got to his feet.
"Stall me?" Reichmon asked, momentarily puzzled.
"Lightning Spear!" Reichmon leapt out of the way instinctively as the spear slammed into the ground and detonated. "I'm getting sick and tired of you!" he howled at Cherubimon. "Darkness Howl!"
"GACK!" exclaimed Cherubimon as the angelic giant crashed to the ground, splitting into Shuichon and Lopmon. Reichmon got a manical gleam in his eye as he leveled his weapon at the pair.
"Later," he intoned as a Red Cross attack flashed out.
Suddenly, Blitzmon was between them, an electrical shield raised. The attack exploded harmlessly as Reichmon howled angrily and started to pound on the electrical shield, wincing as he struck the charged energies over and over. Blitzmon grunted and held on, pushing back with the shield. "Give it up Ebon," Blitzmon growled. "You can't beat all of us."
"That's true," Reichmon snarled as he pushed back at Blitzmon and with a tremendous punch, knocked the metahuman hero into the wall. "But I can take out a few of you in the process."
"Not if I have anything to say about it!" Static blasted Reichmon with a bolt of violet electricity and Reichmon went flying into the wall. "You ever stopped to think how much damage you've done to this city? All the metahuman fights? Properties getting destroyed, people living in fear..."
"Better for me when I take over this city," snapped Reichmon as he dug himself out of the wall.
"You know it just as well as I do, Ken," said Chakkumon as he got to his feet from the flipping. "Mom and dad wouldn't want us to be villians. And neither did I want to be one either."
"I protected us on the streets!" yelled Reichmon as he shot an energy bolt at Chakkumon who merely dodged.
"Who're you trying to fool?" chimed in a third voice. The Travelling Ken stood up and pointed to Shuichon. "She's eight years old Ken. And you nearly killed a little girl. Is that how you want to be seen as? A murderer?"
"I...." Reichmon paused. He then growled angrily and rushed at Chakkumon. He grabbed the bear around the throat and slammed him into the ground. "That has NOTHING to do with this! You hear me?"
""Bullshit!" exclaimed Chakkumon as his wind was slowly being cut off by Reichmon's grip. "You know better than anyone that mom and dad wouldn't want us here!"
"SHUT UP SHUT UP SHUT UP!" Reichmon screamed, his hold tightening. With one hand, he picked up his brother and slammed him into the wall. Chakkumon coughed but his gaze never strayed.
"How does it feel Ken?" Osamu asked, choking. "How does it feel to be a murderer? How would mom and dad feel if we killed each other? Us? Two brothers who loved each other."
"I.... I...." Reichmon's grip loosed enough for Chakkumon to cough violently.
"I won't stop you," said Chakkumon suddenly, reaching up to tighten Reichmon's grip. Reichmon's eyes went wide as Chakkumon stared at him. "Go ahead, break my neck, throttle me. Destroy me, tear me apart."
"What are you saying?" asked Reichmon.
"You can change yourself, brother," said Chakkumon as he let go of Reichmon's wrist. "You can't change who you are, because deep down, you're not a murderer. You'll always... be my gentle little brother." Osamu then powered down back into his normal form. "Think about it."
"I... I...." Reichmon screamed and brilliant black light exploded off of him, leaving a screaming Ebon who slumped to his knees, one hand loosely around Osamu's neck. A long moment passed before Ken said softly, "I... always thought mom and dad would be proud. When this world became one big video game, I thought..."
Osamu smiled, leaned over and wrapped Ken's arms around his shoulders as he rested his head against Ken's own. Ken flinched at the motion before hugging back. "I'm sorry," Ken whispered. "I'm so sorry...."
"It's all right... I forgive you."
"Ah, a happy ending," sighed Shiv. He and the other metahumans had depowered, effectively letting the lamppost fall off them due to the reduction in size.
"So what do we do now?" asked Talon.
"There's a clinic devoted to metahuman cures," said Eric who had walked over. Antiramon landed next to him and devolved back into Lopmon. "I'm sure they'll take you all in."
"I dunno," said Kangorr. "Seems too good to be true."
"You'll get to see your family again," pushed Lopmon.
"And there's nothing better than family," said Static who had devolved and was hovering gently over the ground. "You guys should check in. I'm sure your parents will come around soon."
"It'll be good to be home," said Talon softly.
=================
"That's about it," sighed Eric as he tapped at the side of the Jade Gate. "I suppose it's about time we headed home really."
"Before you do," said James, "I have gifts for all of you. First off, four shirts in your sizes." He handed them the shirts and said,"They're made of Unstable Molecular Fabric. You could get struck by most things and not get a scratch. Secondly," James grinned, "Zap caps. One for each of you. I'd give you more but I'm running low."
"All right, nice. Anything that WILL cut the shirts?" asked Eric.
"Monomolecular edges, but I doubt you'll find several. Even then, they'll self repair due to the design of them. Mind you it can only take so much damage before it rips completely." said James.
"Thanks for your help," said the native Eric. "Keep in touch if you can."
"We'll try," said Ken. "Stay safe."
"In our line of work, we'll try," said Sora with a grin.
"Later you guys," chimed in Mimi and Osamu.
There was a shifting sound and a brilliant flash, and then they were gone.
==================
"Looks peaceful enough." said Ken as he checked the area.
"No crazy metahumans, nothing of the sort," remarked Eric.
"Except for the flying turtle." pointed out Sora.
"CUTE!" exclaimed Shuichon.
"Myah! Myah!" The Turtle chirped as it flew towards a large three story Inn in front of them.
==================
Variations 1.9 : A Metahuman Rebirth
written by Shaun Garin
Disclaimer : Digimon is owned by their respective companies. All rights and reservations considered. Strict useage of japanese names. Eric and the humans of the Canadian team belong to me. Lord Archive wrote the Diaries series. Static Shock is owned by WB. Ranma 1/2 is owned by Takahashi Rumiko.
=================
"Geist Abend!"
The building was sliced in half by the sheer force of the crimson blade attack as Policemen ducked out of the path of the blade. Duskmon smiled to himself as he looked over at the horizon. Shebang leapt into view, followed by the impostor of himself and the strange insect and the little girl with the Rabbit. "This is it?" he said scornfully. "A non-metahuman, the impostor and a little girl? And I thought you couldn't even muster a force to stop us."
"We're more than enough to take you down," Shebang snarled. "All right team, lets take them down!"
"Metabreed, attack!" Duskmon ordered.
Stingmon jumped into action, both stingers jutting out of his wrist gauntlets as he zoomed back and forth across Harpymon and D'Arcmon, scoring hits on their bodies. Harpymon spin and let out a blast of air that knocked a lamppost down onto the ground. Stingmon grunted and said, "Try this out!" He clasped his hands together and started spinning incredibly fast in a move reminicent of War Greymon. D'Arcmon and Harpymon were forced to jump out of the way as Stingmon flew past them.
Kangaroomon and Antiramon circled each other, fighting hand to hand as they punched and kicked out. "You're pretty good," remarked Antiramon as he axe kicked at Kangaroomon, only to get his foot caught and tossed backwards.
"You're not so bad yourself," Kangaroomon grunted, lashing out with his tail to strike the perfection across the head. Antiramon went flying back and skidded across the pavement. "But I'm better."
Antiramon chuckled, got to his feet and wiped his mouth free of the slightly bleeding abrasion. "Not bad. To quote my brother; Bring it on, punk!"
Shebang dodged in and out of the swords as she brought up Ken's elven sword to meet Duskmon's own crimson blades. The blades rang as they clanged together repeatedly, throwing sparks.
Shebang feinted to the left as Duskmon made a wide attack that left his whole left side open. Taking the opportunity, Shebang struck. With a tremendous slash, Shebang cut across Duskmon's body, making sparks fly from his chest.
Duskmon yelled and swung across with his left arm, catching Shebang on the chest with his forearm. She flew backwards and bounced once. The superheroine did not move.
"Shebang!" Ken shouted, running over to check on the girl. Her breathing was strong but pulse weak. Calling over two officers, he made sure to get her out of the way.
As the officers carried the unconcious superheroine away, Ken got up from his kneeling position and glared at himself standing in the form of a dark digimon. "This has to stop."
"My thoughts exactly imposter," snarled Duskmon. "But it won't stop until I end your life!" The eye on his chest flared red and become a slitted pupil. It seemed to burn like fire and Ken was reminded of Sauron.
Suddenly, Duskmon was in front of him, and Ken felt his knee impact on his stomach. The unpowered Ichijoji flew backwards and slammed into the wall. Coughing up blood from the impact, he slid down the wall, thankful he did not actually become part of the wall itself. Duskmon sneered as he picked up Ken by his long hair. "Well now, how does it feel?"
"Why are you doing this?" Ken asked, coughing. He could feel that bones had cracked upon that impact. His shoulder screamed and his ribs protested from the harsh manner of Duskmon's handling. "Why?"
"Why? I'll tell you why. Mom and dad died and left me and Osamu alone. When we got gassed in the Big Bang, I had to take control. I took care of my brother, like mom and dad would have wanted me to. Even before we were gassed, I took care of him. And for what?" Duskmon threw Ken on the ground and stomped on his chest. Ken cried out but didn't stop staring at Duskmon's face.
"Do you know how it's like, imposter? Living day to day protecting, surviving? The streets are nothing for a Bang Baby like me. Osamu knew that, and he chickened out, going straight. The Turncoat. He couldn't even face up to the harsh reality."
"So this is revenge?" Ken asked. "I know how you feel."
"Do you? DO YOU?!" Duskmon was screaming now but he didn't care. "All my life, I was in Osamu's shadow! Then I had to take care of him and look how that turned out! He is NOTHING to me! You hear me? NOTHING!" Duskmon raised a sword and there was a glint in his eye. A crazed maniacal look that Ken himself had seen in the mirror once before. "Goodbye, imposter."
"DUSKMON!" Suddenly, Duskmon was tackled off of Ken as a cuddly ball of ice slammed into him. Duskmon and Chakkumon rolled around the ground in a struggle that Ken knew not to get into.
"DAMN YOU!" Duskmon shouted. "Why can't you leave me ALONE?!"
Chakkumon went flying from a blast that sent him soaring into Blitzmon's arms. "You okay?" Blitzmon asked as he landed.
"I'm fine, but..." Chakkumon and Blitzmon looked over at where Duskmon was still writhing against an unknown force.
And to their horror, Duskmon began to glow. "Duskmon.... Omega Mode...."
===============
"The city is in a state of emergency as the Metabreed is causing untold destruction downtown. People from the central area are being evacuated as we speak. As it stands, a total of four buildings has been leveled by the Metahuman known as Ebon, aka Duskmon, aka Ken Ichijoji. Joining the fight just recently is Static and Rubberband Man who are facing off against the Metabreed. Duskmon has apparently skipped a form and has become a Omega class Metahuman. This could be Dakota's biggest fight ever."
"I don't like this," said Sean Hawkings as he folded his arms. "The Metabreed never toppled buildings, only commited crimes and theft."
"Don't worry, Daddy," said Raine as she watched the fight intently on the television. "I'm sure Osamu can take care of himself."
"I'm more worried about your brother," said Sean.
"Eric? What do you mean?"
Sean sighed as he watched the fight progress on the screen. "I'm surprised you haven't noticed Raine, how your little brother has become stronger and more sufficient over the last three years. The odd emergancies and the running out at any time of the day. Eric, is Static."
"But... you always thought Static would go bad some day," protested Raine, her disbelief covering her immediate fear for the large electrical Beta at the fight.
"That was before I noticed the change in Eric. And the amount of times Static has shown up in the area where ever we took a trip... it makes sense once you notice it. And no one has the same hairstyle as anyone else. I couldn't miss that mop of hair without having to be blind. I've known about Eric's superhero pastime for the last two and a half years." Sean smiled and patted his daughter on the shoulder. "You should pay more attention to your brother."
"I never knew," said Raine thoughtfully. "I thought he was being irresponsible for running out all of the time when there's things needed to be done."
Sean chuckled. "Give it time, honey. You'll find out soon enough that Eric is being more mature than his age gives him for."
===============
"Reichmon, Hybrid Digimon," said Eric as he ran up with the remaining members of the team; Timezone and Gear. Sora was with them too as she tended to the digimon who had fallen back with Duskmon's evolution to Reichmon.
"Any idea of his capabilities?" asked Gear as he scanned Reichmon for weaknesses.
"Yeah, and they're pretty nasty. Darkness based attacks, and can still hit rather hard even at a newly evolved level. We need to break out the big guns."
Antiramon jumped back from the fighting and landed next to his Tamer. "Shuichon," he said sharply.
Shuichon nodded and held up her D-Arc. "Matrix Evolution!"
"Antiramon evolve!" Brilliant light erupted from the pair as an angel Digimon stood in the middle of the crowd. "Cherubimon!"
"Oh yeah, the dog is back in the house!" Lopmon cheered as he evolved into Wendigomon and then into Antiramon.
"Technically, you're a bunny," said Eric who got a murderous look from his partner.
"I'm not a bunny!" exclaimed Antiramon who leapt into the fray.
Gear leaned over and asked quietly, "Is he really a bunny?"
"Yeah," said Eric. "He's just in denial."
"I'm sitting this one out," Stingmon said, devolving to Wormmon while wincing in pain. "I'm as injured as Ken."
"Hey, it's not that bad," said Ken, holding his ribs.
"As much as we should keep bickering like this, we're needed on the battle field," said Timezone. "Gear, go ahead. I'll patch up these kids."
"Right." Gear ignited his skates and flew off into the melee.
Reichmon and Cherubimon traded blows, going physical as they dodged and swerved. Fists met staff as the dark Lion digimon slashed the air in a cross formation. "Red Cross!"
"Lightning Spear!"
The attacks met in the middle, creating a minor explosion that Reichmon leapt through and delivered a tremendous kick to the face. Cherubimon staggered but righted himself. "Give it up," said Cherubimon, trying to egg him into a blind rage. "You're ten thousand years too slow to defeat me."
"RAUGH!" Reichmon yelled. Cherubimon smirked to himself, his job done.
In another part of the fight, Blitzmon, Chakkumon, Gear and Antiramon had finished mopping up the Metabreed who were tied together with a street lamp. "That takes care of them," said Blitzmon. "Now, to take down Ebon."
"It's not going to be easy Static," said Gear. "He's an Omega level and extremely powerful. I'm not sure if your Beta form can defeat it."
"We have to try," Chakkumon replied gruffly. "Otherwise, my brother will level the city."
"You heard the digimon," said Antiramon. A single bound catapulted him into the air as he came down on Reichmon's head. "BOOT TO THE HEAD!"
Reichmon looked at him as Antiramon bounced off. "RED CROSS!"
"GAH!" Antiramon exclaimed, bending over in a Matrix style backwards bend to avoid the Red Cross attack. "Well, this is uncomfortable," he said, falling over onto the ground.
"Jokes later," shouted Chakkumon as he tried to wrap himself around Reichmon's body in an attempt to immobilize him. Reichmon merely peeled his brother off of himself and glared at his brother.
"Try again, fool." He then tossed Chakkumon through a store window. Reichmon then cried out as he was struck with electricity.
Blitzmon hovered on his foldable metal disk, hands sparkling with electricity. "Give it up Ebon!" Blitzmon shouted. "It's over for you!"
"Guess again fool!" Ebon whirled on him and shouted, "Darkness Howl!"
A wave of pure darkness engulphed Blitzmon who yelled and was knocked to the ground. Blitzmon groaned and rolled over in an attempt to get up. Suddenly, Reichmon's foot came down on him and Blitzmon yelped. "Time to fry Zero," said Reichmon as he leveled his staff at Blitzmon.
"Not quite!" shouted Gear as a Zap Cap was thrown at Reichmon. Reichmon held up a hand to block it but the cap exploded into metal tendrils that wrapped the Metahuman up tightly. "Ha, beat that, sucker," said Gear as Reichmon rolled around on the ground.
With a yell, Reichmon ripped free of the bonds and he leveled his staff at Gear. "Red Cross!"
Gear took the full force of the blast as he bounced twice and groaned. Eric, on the ground, blinked once. "That's just not possible."
"His costume isn't made of spandex you know," said Timezone as she helped wrap up Ken's ribs. "It's made of unstable molecular fabric. James improves his costume all the time since he's just toting tech."
"Oh, so he's wearing something from Spiderman 20something or other." said Eric, nodding to himself. "That would explain how he survived a Ultimate Level Digimon's blast."
"Reichmon is newly evolved," said Ken as he winced at the movement. "if he were fully mature as an Ultimate..."
"Yeah, Gear would be paste." replied Eric. "Speaking of paste, how do we take this guy down without deleting him? We can't send him to the Digital World. I doubt there even IS one here, despite the evidence."
Ken's expression knotted into a frown. "I don't think we can even access a Digital World...."
Meanwhile, Reichmon got to his feet after Blitzmon had blasted him with several thousand volts. The dark Lion digimon laughed as he shot Blitzmon with a Red Cross attack. Chakkumon came at him with an extended punch, but Reichmon grabbed his hand and proceeded to flip Chakkumon like a flapjack. "Is that the best you've got, Zeros?" Reichmon taunted.
"Naw, we're trying to stall you," said Blitzmon as he got to his feet.
"Stall me?" Reichmon asked, momentarily puzzled.
"Lightning Spear!" Reichmon leapt out of the way instinctively as the spear slammed into the ground and detonated. "I'm getting sick and tired of you!" he howled at Cherubimon. "Darkness Howl!"
"GACK!" exclaimed Cherubimon as the angelic giant crashed to the ground, splitting into Shuichon and Lopmon. Reichmon got a manical gleam in his eye as he leveled his weapon at the pair.
"Later," he intoned as a Red Cross attack flashed out.
Suddenly, Blitzmon was between them, an electrical shield raised. The attack exploded harmlessly as Reichmon howled angrily and started to pound on the electrical shield, wincing as he struck the charged energies over and over. Blitzmon grunted and held on, pushing back with the shield. "Give it up Ebon," Blitzmon growled. "You can't beat all of us."
"That's true," Reichmon snarled as he pushed back at Blitzmon and with a tremendous punch, knocked the metahuman hero into the wall. "But I can take out a few of you in the process."
"Not if I have anything to say about it!" Static blasted Reichmon with a bolt of violet electricity and Reichmon went flying into the wall. "You ever stopped to think how much damage you've done to this city? All the metahuman fights? Properties getting destroyed, people living in fear..."
"Better for me when I take over this city," snapped Reichmon as he dug himself out of the wall.
"You know it just as well as I do, Ken," said Chakkumon as he got to his feet from the flipping. "Mom and dad wouldn't want us to be villians. And neither did I want to be one either."
"I protected us on the streets!" yelled Reichmon as he shot an energy bolt at Chakkumon who merely dodged.
"Who're you trying to fool?" chimed in a third voice. The Travelling Ken stood up and pointed to Shuichon. "She's eight years old Ken. And you nearly killed a little girl. Is that how you want to be seen as? A murderer?"
"I...." Reichmon paused. He then growled angrily and rushed at Chakkumon. He grabbed the bear around the throat and slammed him into the ground. "That has NOTHING to do with this! You hear me?"
""Bullshit!" exclaimed Chakkumon as his wind was slowly being cut off by Reichmon's grip. "You know better than anyone that mom and dad wouldn't want us here!"
"SHUT UP SHUT UP SHUT UP!" Reichmon screamed, his hold tightening. With one hand, he picked up his brother and slammed him into the wall. Chakkumon coughed but his gaze never strayed.
"How does it feel Ken?" Osamu asked, choking. "How does it feel to be a murderer? How would mom and dad feel if we killed each other? Us? Two brothers who loved each other."
"I.... I...." Reichmon's grip loosed enough for Chakkumon to cough violently.
"I won't stop you," said Chakkumon suddenly, reaching up to tighten Reichmon's grip. Reichmon's eyes went wide as Chakkumon stared at him. "Go ahead, break my neck, throttle me. Destroy me, tear me apart."
"What are you saying?" asked Reichmon.
"You can change yourself, brother," said Chakkumon as he let go of Reichmon's wrist. "You can't change who you are, because deep down, you're not a murderer. You'll always... be my gentle little brother." Osamu then powered down back into his normal form. "Think about it."
"I... I...." Reichmon screamed and brilliant black light exploded off of him, leaving a screaming Ebon who slumped to his knees, one hand loosely around Osamu's neck. A long moment passed before Ken said softly, "I... always thought mom and dad would be proud. When this world became one big video game, I thought..."
Osamu smiled, leaned over and wrapped Ken's arms around his shoulders as he rested his head against Ken's own. Ken flinched at the motion before hugging back. "I'm sorry," Ken whispered. "I'm so sorry...."
"It's all right... I forgive you."
"Ah, a happy ending," sighed Shiv. He and the other metahumans had depowered, effectively letting the lamppost fall off them due to the reduction in size.
"So what do we do now?" asked Talon.
"There's a clinic devoted to metahuman cures," said Eric who had walked over. Antiramon landed next to him and devolved back into Lopmon. "I'm sure they'll take you all in."
"I dunno," said Kangorr. "Seems too good to be true."
"You'll get to see your family again," pushed Lopmon.
"And there's nothing better than family," said Static who had devolved and was hovering gently over the ground. "You guys should check in. I'm sure your parents will come around soon."
"It'll be good to be home," said Talon softly.
=================
"That's about it," sighed Eric as he tapped at the side of the Jade Gate. "I suppose it's about time we headed home really."
"Before you do," said James, "I have gifts for all of you. First off, four shirts in your sizes." He handed them the shirts and said,"They're made of Unstable Molecular Fabric. You could get struck by most things and not get a scratch. Secondly," James grinned, "Zap caps. One for each of you. I'd give you more but I'm running low."
"All right, nice. Anything that WILL cut the shirts?" asked Eric.
"Monomolecular edges, but I doubt you'll find several. Even then, they'll self repair due to the design of them. Mind you it can only take so much damage before it rips completely." said James.
"Thanks for your help," said the native Eric. "Keep in touch if you can."
"We'll try," said Ken. "Stay safe."
"In our line of work, we'll try," said Sora with a grin.
"Later you guys," chimed in Mimi and Osamu.
There was a shifting sound and a brilliant flash, and then they were gone.
==================
"Looks peaceful enough." said Ken as he checked the area.
"No crazy metahumans, nothing of the sort," remarked Eric.
"Except for the flying turtle." pointed out Sora.
"CUTE!" exclaimed Shuichon.
"Myah! Myah!" The Turtle chirped as it flew towards a large three story Inn in front of them.
==================