Disclaimer: All official anime characters are property of their respective companies.
To Rian:
1. I haven't planned that far yet.
2. Yomiko's world was dealt with in chapter 6.
3. Not likely.
4. Yes, I'm drawing out my designs for the Blackhearted, as well as any summons I may include that are exclusive to this fanfic.
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UNITED WE STAND AS ONE
Digital World Disaster
"The Warrior of Fire has finally returned," said Cherubimon as he watched Takuya, Meta Knight, and Kaiba from his castle under the Rose Morning Star, "He will undoubtedly come after his friends and then attempt to eliminate me. However, he will have to pass my hordes of Blackhearted minions, first." The Great Angel snapped his fingers and several black creatures appeared on the floor around him. He then showed them the image of the three stone holders.
"Find them," he ordered, "And when you have, destroy them." The creatures seemed to nod before they disappeared into the floor and dispersed from the castle.
o o o
"Do you think in hindsight that it was a bad idea to leave the Highwind behind?" asked Meta Knight.
"Too late to turn back and get it now," said Kaiba. He, Meta Knight, and Takuya were seated in one of the train coaches being pulled by the Trailmon Worm.
"I wonder if everyone is alright?" Takuya thought out loud as he stared out the window.
"Based on our past trips into other worlds, it would seem likely," answered Meta Knight, "The Blackhearted clearly want our stones. In order to obtain yours, they would have to lure you in. And in doing so, they plan to use your friends as bait."
"Now that you mention it, hasn't just about everyone had someone close to them trapped by the Blackhearted when we went to their respective worlds?" asked Takuya, "Kaiba, when we went to your world, they had your brother held hostage."
"That's correct," said Kaiba.
"And Li had to save Sakura and Daigo had to rescue Rena," added Meta Knight.
"So my friends are alright, then. Alright, no more worrying. I've got to prepare for this fight!" As Takuya returned to his seat, the train suddenly jerked to a stop and he was thrown against the front of the car.
"What's wrong?" Kaiba asked.
"Black creatures!" Worm shouted frantically, "Sorry, but the rides over!" The doors to the coach suddenly flew open and the panicky Trailmon tossed out all three stone holders onto the ground before taking off.
"Look over there!" shouted Meta Knight. Takuya and Kaiba turned in the direction that Meta Knight was pointing in with his sword and saw several black creatures about a head shorter than Takuya with bat wings, tails, big bat ears, and fangs. Emblazoned on their chests was the Blackhearted insignia.
"They're Blackhearted alright," said Takuya, "It's time to fight! SPIRIT EVOLUTION!"
"AGNIMON!"
"Wait! We must know what kind of Blackhearted these are!" said Meta Knight.
"I don't care. I'm going on!" Agnimon clenched his fists and they both started burning with bright orange flames, "BURNING SALAMANDER!" He thrust his fists forward and launched two large fireballs at the minions, which were labeled by Cherubimon as the Shademon.
"I summon Blade Knight in attack mode!" Kaiba slapped a card onto his Duel Disk and the blue-armored warrior appeared before him, "Blade Knight, strike down those Blackhearted now!" Blade Knight grasped its sword firmly and ran in the battle. It swung its blade and wiped out three Shademon with one fell blow.
Meta Knight drew back his sword as several Blackhearted approached him and swung, launching a blade beam that sliced through them.
"Now I summon X-Head Cannon!" Kaiba slapped down another card onto his Duel Disk and his X-Head Cannon appeared next to his Blade Knight, "Attack now!" Blade Knight drew back its arm and ran back into the storm of Blackhearted while X-Head Cannon targeted several of the dark minions and fired, hitting them dead-on.
Meanwhile, several Soldiers appeared to assist the Shademon. Agnimon quickly whipped around and launched several Fire Darts at their Blackhearted insignias.
"Watch out!" Meta Knight warned as a Dark Armor suddenly dropped down from the sky.
"Leave it to me!" said Kaiba, "I summon Familiar Knight! Attack the Dark Armor now!" The Duelist slapped down another card and the level three Warrior monster appeared and charged towards the disembodied suit of armor. However, the Dark Armor simply drew back its gauntlet and slammed its fist into Familiar Knight, destroying it.
"Kaiba, what good did that do?" asked Agnimon as he punched aside another Shademon.
"It allowed me to summon this," Kaiba answered, "Rare Metal Dragon!" He placed a new card on his Duel Disk and the 2400-attack monster appeared and charged towards Dark Armor. The monster made contact with the torso and the metallic menace was vanquished.
"Mind explaining that please?" Agnimon asked.
"Even though it's a level four monster, Rare Metal Dragon can't be Normal Summoned or Set," Kaiba explained, "So in order to bring it out, I used my Familiar Knight's special ability to Special Summon it."
"Makes sense. Kaiba, watch out!" Kaiba turned and saw a pair of Shademon flying straight at him.
"Agnimon Slide Evolution! VRITRAMON!"
Vritramon quickly flew in and slammed into the two Digimon Blackhearted.
"CORONA BLASTER!" The blasters on his forearms rotated forward and he unleashed a barrage of red-hot laserfire on the Shademon until they were deleted.
"That wasn't necessary," the Kaiba Corp CEO muttered, "Rare Metal Dragon, attack!" The black scaled beast roared before unleashing its onslaught on the Blackhearted.
"FLAME STORM!" Burning hot flames surrounded Vritramon's body as he flew past the remaining minions of darkness, incinerating them until nothing remained.
"That's the last of them!" Meta Knight called. Kaiba collected up his cards from his Duel Disk and placed them back into his deck and shuffled it while Vritramon devolved back into Takuya.
"Let's get moving," said the goggle boy. Kaiba and Meta Knight nodded in agreement and the three of them moved out.
o o o
"The Shademon were among the weaker Blackhearted inhabiting the Digital World," Cherubimon thought out loud as he continued to watch the three stone holders as they approached his castle under the Rose Morning Star, "Let them come. There's even more Blackhearted in here." The Great Angel turned around and several more Blackhearted minions appeared. Aside from some Shademon and the standard Shadows and Soldiers, he had also called upon some deep crimson creatures with horns and purple wings carrying around spears. Like the others, they too bore the Blackhearted crest on their bodies.
"These Evilmon Blackhearted shall make excellent reinforcements," Cherubimon chortled, "And while I'm at it, I'll send this one out, as well." His lips curled back into an evil grin as a silhouette appeared in his viewing sphere.
o o o
Back at ADI headquarters, Kite and Jim were busy going over plans for a Chaos Gate as a means of replacing the obliterated transporter.
"So in order to use this thing, I'll have to input a set of keywords that, depending on the combination, can take anyone to any part of the universe?" asked Jim.
"That's it in a nutshell," answered Kite.
"We'll have to send out a team to get some supplies." The young mechanic leaned back in his chair and stretched. Elsewhere in the building, Chaud was looking over the LPU Jim had given him.
"It's handy, but Cross Fusion works much more efficiently," he thought out loud as he placed the device back on the table.
"If you want, we can get to work on creating some portable Dimensional Converters," a voice suggested. The ace NetBattler turned around and saw Otaku walking in carrying a stack of papers in one hand.
"Can you do that?" asked Chaud.
"We've got plans for everything here," the leader of the ADI answered as he set down his papers, "After all, we've got access to every single world."
"Speaking of which," Chaud interjected, "if this place isn't on any of the worlds, then where exactly are we?"
"Inter-world space."
Meanwhile, Richie was watching the activity going on in the base from the security room with Ryo sitting across from him.
"I still can't believe that both Sephiroth and Bakura did so much damage to the base," the Pokémon trainer sighed.
"We've established that several times already," the Legendary Tamer replied, "There's nothing we could have done. They both took us by surprise."
"Still, there has to be something we can do to fortify the base."
"Well, when the stone holders get back we can send them out to get supplies for that."
o o o
The rocks crunched beneath Takuya's sneakers as he, Kaiba, and Meta Knight continued traversing through the Dark Region towards Cherubimon's castle.
"It's a lot farther away than I thought," Takuya sighed.
"Nobody said it was going to be easy," Kaiba muttered.
"Indeed not," a new voice called out; The three stone holders turned towards the direction of the voice and saw several Blackhearted approaching. Accompanying them was a warrior with long blond hair dressed in black armor with eyes on his chest, shoulders, elbows, knees, and feet and a pair of black dragon skull for hands. Takuya recognized him immediately.
"Duskmon!" The Legendary Warrior of Darkness laughed evilly as he stepped forward.
"Correct," he said, "I will take great pleasure in destroying you, as will the Blackhearted."
"Kouichi, why have you turned back into Duskmon?" asked Takuya.
"He has most likely fallen under the spell of darkness of the Blackhearted," Meta Knight guessed.
"I've had enough of this," Kaiba said coldly as he activated his Duel Disk. Meta Knight turned and looked up at Takuya.
"Takuya, if you do not wish to fight your friend, that is understandable," he said as he drew his sword. Takuya tightened his grip around his D-Scan and looked up.
"I'm sure about this," he answered, "Duskmon is mine. DOUBLE SPIRIT EVOLUTION!"
"ARDHAMON!"
Now in his A-Hybrid form, Ardhamon spread his wings and flew towards Duskmon, who extended his swords out of his hands. The two warriors clashed and Duskmon was pushed back.
"I summon Vorse Raider!" Kaiba slapped the card down onto his Duel Disk and the Warrior-type monster appeared in front of him, "Now Vorse Raider, attack those monsters now!" The creature obeyed and Vorse Raider dove into the fray of Blackhearted and started swinging its weapon as it passed, slicing apart several of the minions as it passed.
"Sword Beam!" Meta Knight drew back his arm and swung his sword, sending out an energy beam from the blade that cut through three Soldiers.
"GEIST ABEND!" Duskmon retracted his swords into his hands and held out his arms. All of his eyes pointed forward and he fired a barrage of red lasers towards Ardhamon. The winged Digimon quickly spread out his wings and leapt up over the beams. As soon as he had, though, Duskmon re-extended his swords and charged. Ardhamon was completely caught off guard and was pushed back as he blocked the dark Digimon's attack. Meanwhile, deep inside Duskmon, Kouichi Kimura was continuously screaming for help.
"Please help me!" he shouted into the abyss, "Someone, help!" At that moment, he saw a brief glimpse of the outside world and saw Ardhamon.
"Takuya! Get me out of here!" He knew his words couldn't reach him, but he still tried.
"BRAHMA SUTRA!" Ardhamon's weapon rotated forward and opened up before he unleashed a barrage of fireballs on Duskmon. The dark Digimon swung his swords and attempted to cut them apart as they came. Meanwhile around them, Kaiba and Meta Knight continued to fight against the Blackhearted minions.
"I summon Z-Metal Tank and Kaiser Sea Horse!" Kaiba slapped the cards down onto his Duel Disk and the two monsters appeared alongside his Vorse Raider. His warrior slashed past several Shadows and Evilmon while his machine monster blasted through a horde of Shademon and his Kaiser Sea Horse ploughed past a line of Soldiers.
Meta Knight jumped up to evade two oncoming Evilmon and they slammed into each other headfirst. As he came back down, he swung down his sword and removed their heads.
"EROBERUNG!" Duskmon swung his swords and carved a red full moon in front of him. Ardhamon braced himself for whatever was to come as the dark warrior suddenly burst through the illusion and slammed into him blades first. Ardhamon was pushed back considerably, but he still managed to stand his ground.
"You're holding out better than I had anticipated," said Duskmon as he stepped back and withdrew his swords, "But it ends now." And with that, clouds of darkness began to shroud his body.
"Duskmon Slide Evolution! VELGMON!"
The Blackhearted that were fighting Meta Knight and Kaiba suddenly stopped attacking and looked up as the massive crimson demonic bird rose up and soared overhead. The stone holders of Thunder and Water also shifted their gaze upward at the Beast Warrior of Darkness. Velgmon let out a deafening roar before banking around and dive-bombing towards the ground.
"Look out!" shouted Ardhamon. He, Kaiba, and Meta Knight quickly leapt away as Velgmon's talons swept along the ground. The Blackhearted, being less intelligent, weren't so fortunate as they were struck down by the claws and destroyed.
o o o
"What is this?" asked Cherubimon, "No, you fool! Don't destroy our own forces!"
"Trouble, Cherubimon?" The corrupted Great Angel turned at the sound of the voice and saw Yami Malik approaching him.
"Malik…"
"It seems as though you've lost your hold on him," the ancient Egyptian spirit noted as he watched the activity on Cherubimon's viewing sphere.
"The Beast Spirit's instincts always kick in when awakened," the large Digimon replied. Yami Malik smirked.
"Let's just see how this battle turns out."
o o o
"I sacrifice my Kaiser Sea Horse in order to summon one of my Blue-Eyes White Dragons!" Kaiba removed the effect monster from his Duel Disk and slipped it into his Graveyard before slapping down one of his most powerful monsters in its place. In front of him, his Kaiser Sea Horse disappeared and from its place rose the Blue-Eyes White Dragon. The mighty beast let out an ear-piercing roar, announcing itself to everyone in the area.
"Blue-Eyes White Dragon, White Lightning!" Kaiba ordered. Immediately following its master's command, the dragon opened its mouth and unleashed a powerful sparking beam of energy straight at Velgmon. The dark warrior banked left and avoided the blast. Letting out another roar, he flew in low and started to drag the tip of his wing along the ground, leaving a thin red line.
"What is he doing?" asked Meta Knight. Ardhamon's eyes widened. He'd seen this attack before.
"Everyone, get outside of the circle now!" he shouted. Velgmon finally completed the ring and flew high into the air. His eyes flashed and he gave one mighty flap from his wings.
"ZONE DELETER!" Two curved walls of dark energy began to rise up from the circle and close over it like a dome.
"We must run!" exclaimed Meta Knight as he re-sheathed his sword. The Star Warrior began to run towards the gap where the two sides were bound to meet. Kaiba signalled his dragon and the great beast landed next to him. He climbed on and ordered it to take off. Ardhamon spread his wings and flew after his comrades. The three of them were able to make it out just in time. The Blackhearted minions, however, weren't so fortunate. Because of their numbers, there wasn't enough room for them to move and in they end they were caught inside the dome as it closed. A pair of eyes opened on the surface, giving it the resemblance of Cherubimon's face, before the whole dome shone bright red and exploded, destroying everything inside it. Ardhamon, Kaiba, and Meta Knight looked at the smoking crater that the Zone Deleter had just created in awe of Velgmon's power.
"He's coming back!" exclaimed Kaiba as the massive bird banked around and flew straight towards them.
"Not if we can do anything about it," replied Ardhamon, "BRAHMA SUTRA!" He activated his weapons and unleashed a barrage of fireballs at the incoming Velgmon. His attack missed as the target veered away and landed on a large rock.
"MASTER OF DARKNESS!" Velgmon stared intently at the three stone holders and fired a stream of glowing red eyes from his third eye.
"Negate Attack!" Kaiba quickly activated his trap card and the Master of Darkness was swallowed up by an invisible vortex in midair.
"At this rate, we're never going to get this mission over with," the teenaged CEO muttered.
"We just need to be able to separate Kouichi's spirits from him so I can scan and purify them," Ardhamon said as Velgmon took flight once again, "We'll have to hit him hard!"
"Why don't you use that summon gem you were given before we left on our mission?" Meta Knight suggested.
"I almost forgot about that!" Ardhamon reached behind him and produced the fiery orange sphere. He stood up and faced Velgmon as the massive demonic bird swooped in low. Taking in a deep breath, he held out the summon gem in his hand.
"Spirit of the gem, please come aid us in this time of need." The summon gem flashed and flames poured out and fell to the ground. They moved along the surface until they had burned a large circle with several complicated designs and symbols in the dirt. Suddenly, the ground in the circle burst open as a large pillar of fire rose up. From the towering inferno emerged a fiery beast with dark brown hair covering its entire body, two powerful arms with claws on the end of each finger, and four long curved horns protruding out from its dog-like head. Its heels, thighs, elbows, and shoulders were ablaze with flames. A large mane of pure flames encircled its head and ran along the center of its back, ending in a blazing tail. A flash of fire burst from its mouth as the beast let out a mighty roar and burned its name onto the ground.
"Ifrit," Meta Knight read.
"Ifrit, help us defeat Velgmon!" commanded Ardhamon. The flaming beast growled in acknowledgement and spat a meteor up at Velgmon. The blazing projectile collided with its target and the demonic bird descended, landing on yet another large rock.
"Ifrit, hit him with Hellfire!" Ifrit complied with Ardhamon's orders started spewing flames from his mouth into the ground. It was only a few seconds later that a massive pillar of fire suddenly burst up around Velgmon trapping him within the inferno. Ifrit ceased breathing into the ground and roared as his hands flared up and he threw two fireballs. They struck Velgmon from both sides and the dark Digimon let out a roar of agony. By the time, the pillar of fire had become a blazing tornado that ripped around its victim burning it from every possible angle. Ifrit then ground his foot against the ground like a bull about to charge as his entire body became engulfed in flames. He then launched himself straight towards the trapped Velgmon and slammed into him with full force. The flames died down and Velgmon staggered out, his body smoking and covered with burns. The summon creature's part now done, Ardhamon built up his power into one single fireball at least twice his size.
"BRAHMA SHIL!" He raised his arms over his head and threw his attack forward. Velgmon's roar pierced the air as the attack struck him. His roar faded away when Duskmon separated from his body and from him emerged Kouichi. With the two Spirits of Darkness removed, their Digicodes formed around the empty shells of the two Digimon. Ardhamon nodded with satisfaction and took out his D-Scan.
"Digicode Scan!" He scanned the Spirit of Darkness into his Digivice and Kouichi fell to the ground. Ardhamon quickly devolved back into Takuya and ran over to the black-haired boy. Kaiba and Meta Knight came up behind him and looked down.
"How is he?" asked Meta Knight.
"I think he's going to be fine," Takuya sighed. Kouichi slowly regained consciousness and he was finally able to sit up on his own.
"Kouichi."
"Takuya, is that you?"
"Yeah, it's me." Kouichi leaned his head against the rock he had propped himself up against and took a deep breath.
"Who are these two?" he asked as his gaze fell towards Meta Knight and Kaiba.
"Long story and no time to tell it," answered Takuya, "Where are Izumi and the others." Kouichi raised his hand and pointed towards the Rose Morning Star.
"They're in Cherubimon's castle," he replied.
"Are they alright?"
"They were the last time I saw them." Takuya let out a sigh of relief before turning back towards Kouichi.
"What's happened here?" he asked.
"Well, after we were captured we were taken to Cherubimon's castle by those black creatures," Kouichi explained, "He imprisoned Izumi, Tomoki, and my brother and took away their D-Scans. At the time, I wondered why he didn't lock me up with them. My answer came when those black creatures surrounded me. They somehow got into my D-Scan and changed my spirits back into their evil forms. Then Cherubimon force-evolved me into Duskmon. Since then, I had no control over my body until now."
"I'd hate to break up this heartwarming reunion," Kaiba interjected, "but we need to get going."
"He's right." Takuya held out his hand and helped Kouichi onto his feet, "We gotta save everyone from Cherubimon. And fast. By the way, Kouichi, you'll need these." Takuya took out his D-Scan and Kouichi did the same.
"Fire into Darkness." A stream of light travelled from Takuya's Digivice to Kouichi's and along it travelled the Spirits of Darkness. As they transferred Digivices, the two Spirits transformed back into their purified forms.
"Let's go."
o o o
"Here they come," Cherubimon chortled as he watched the stone holder party and their new addition approach his castle.
"Make sure you don't mess this up," Yami Malik growled as he turned around. A black portal opened up and he disappeared through it, leaving Cherubimon alone in his castle once again.
"Rest assured, I will destroy them."
o o o
"So where were Izumi, Tomoki, and the others the last time you saw them?" asked Takuya.
"They were imprisoned somewhere near the base of the castle," answered Kouichi as the finally reached Cherubimon's castle.
"How do we get in?" asked Meta Knight.
"There's a path down here. Follow me." Kouichi led the way with the stone holders right behind him. They entered an area filled with what seemed to be countless mirrors floating around in the air.
"Can you remember exactly where they were?" asked Takuya.
"I have an educated guess, but that's it." After several minutes of walking around, they finally found the other Chosen Children, each shackled inside separate cells.
"Izumi! Tomoki! Kouji! Junpei! Bokomon! Neemon!" The four kids and two Digimon looked up at the sound of Takuya's voice and turned their heads towards him.
"Takuya!" exclaimed Izumi.
"We're saved!" cried Bokomon, who was locked in the same cell as Neemon.
"Hold on, guys. We'll get you out," Takuya assured them.
"How?" asked Kouji.
"Leave that to us," said Meta Knight as he stepped forward. He drew his sword from its scabbard and cut down the bars to Tomoki's cell.
"Blade Knight, help them." Kaiba placed the card on the surface of his Duel Disk and the monster appeared before him. It swung its blade and cut its way into Kouji's cell. Blade Knight then freed the bandanna-wearing boy from his chain as did Meta Knight with Tomoki. It didn't take long to get the others free and soon everyone was standing in the corridor of the dungeon.
"I'm really glad all you guys are safe," Takuya said relieved. Izumi ran up to the goggle boy and threw her arms around him.
"I was worried about you," she whispered into his ear. Takuya slowly moved his arms around Izumi and returned her embrace.
"You don't need to worry, anymore," he assured her, "I'm here." Meanwhile, Kouji, Tomoki, Junpei, Bokomon, and Neemon were looking towards Kaiba and Meta Knight.
"Who are these people?" asked Bokomon.
"We'll talk more about that later," Takuya answered as he pulled away from Izumi, "Right now, we have to take care of Cherubimon."
"There's just one problem," Junpei interjected, "When we got captured, he took our Digivices from us."
"Then we'll just have to get them back." Takuya stepped forward and held his D-Scan tightly in his grip, "Time to head up."
After leaving the dungeon, the group quickly found a set of crystalline stairs and scaled them to the top of the tower. It wasn't long before they finally saw the massive form of Cherubimon.
"I've been expecting you," the corrupted Great Angel cackled as they came up. Sitting on a stone table behind him were Kouji's, Izumi's, Tomoki's, and Junpei's D-Scans.
"This ends now, Cherubimon!" Takuya shouted.
"Interesting," Cherubimon chortled, "However, you won't be able to defeat me even with all your Digivices!" And with that, he spread out his arms like a pair of wings and beckoned them to attack.
"Takuya, you help your friends!" Meta Knight directed, "Kaiba and I shall fight him off for now."
"Thanks, you two." Takuya turned towards his friends and nodded, "Let's go!" And with that, the Chosen Children made a break for the D-Scans.
"Don't let them get those Digivices!" Cherubimon barked. From the shadows in the chamber, several Blackhearted emerged and proceeded to converge on the six kids.
"Your fight's with us!" Kaiba called to Cherubimon.
"You want a piece of me?" asked the evil Digimon, "Come and get it!" Kaiba drew four cards from his deck and placed three of them onto the field.
"I summon X Head Cannon, Y Dragon Head, and Z Metal Tank!" As Kaiba declared his creatures, they all appeared in front of him alongside the Blade Knight he summoned back in the dungeon.
"Now I remove my monsters from play!" the Duelist continued, "In doing so, I fuse them together into XYZ Dragon Cannon!" True to his words, the three mechanical creatures converged on one another and combined into one mighty machine. Kaiba held out his hand and pointed straight at Cherubimon.
"Attack now!" The XYZ-Dragon Cannon powered up its weapons and took aim.
"It's useless," Cherubimon sneered. A few seconds later, he was blasted out the side of the tower. He quickly recovered from the hit and hovered in the air outside the castle.
Meanwhile, the Chosen Children had run into a large horde of Blackhearted, which blocked access to the Digivices.
"How are we going to get across?" asked Tomoki.
"With this!" Takuya held out Ifrit's summon gem and called on the fiery beast again. Ifrit appeared in no time and stood ready to take Takuya's command.
"Ifrit, blast those Blackhearted away!" The summoned creature roared in compliance and unleashed a blazing inferno on the Blackhearted. The minions of darkness were quickly burned away and a path cleared. Kouji, Izumi, Junpei, and Tomoki dashed in and grabbed their Digivices off the table.
"Now let's get down to the serious stuff," Takuya declared. Izumi, Junpei, Tomoki, and Kouichi held out their D-Scans and a ring of Digicode appeared around each of their left hands. The four of them quickly scanned them.
"SPIRIT EVOLUTION!" Their clothes tore away from their bodies and their human spirits activated. The armor from their respective Hybrid forms appeared over their bodies and transformed them.
"FAIRYMON!"
"BLITZMON!"
"CHAKMON!"
"LÖWEMON!"
Takuya and Kouji held out their D-Scans and their left hands were surrounded by a collection of Digicodes, which they scanned through.
"DOUBLE SPIRIT EVOLUTION!" Their clothes were instantly ripped away as their bodies were surrounded by their respective elements. Both boys' H-Spirits and B-Spirits circled them four times before converging onto them, transforming them into their A-Hybrid forms.
"ARDHAMON!"
"BEOWULFMON!"
"Let's do it!" shouted Ardhamon. The other Hybrids chorused in agreement and followed as he led them into the heat of the battle.
"LIGHTNING SPEAR!" A bolt of red lightning formed in Cherubimon's hand and he threw it forward, piercing Kaiba's Blade Knight and destroying it. Meta Knight leapt towards the massive Digimon and stuck his sword into him. However because of the size difference, it was nothing more to Cherubimon than a needle prick.
"You'll have to do better than that!"
"We intend to!" Cherubimon looked up at the source of the voice and saw Ardhamon and the other Hybrids heading towards him.
"BREZZA PETALO!" Fairymon conjured up ten mini tornadoes, one on each finger, and launched them at Cherubimon. The attack caught him off guard and he stumbled back in surprise.
"GOLDEN THUNDER!" Blitzmon's fist sparked wildly as he unleashed a powerful lightning bolt aimed at Cherubimon.
"SNOW BOMBER!" Chakmon unhooked his rocket launcher from his back and fired off a barrage of ice-hard snowballs.
"ENDLICH METEOR!" The lion head on Löwemon's chest opened its mouth and fired a powerful blast of dark energy. Combined with Blitzmon's Golden Thunder and Chakmon's Snow Bomber, they struck Cherubimon hard on the chest and knocked him back several meters.
"Our turn!" shouted Ardhamon, "Ready, Kouji?"
"Oh yeah!" replied Beowulfmon, "ZWEIHANDLER!" Light surrounded the blades of his sword and they rose into the form of a glowing wolf. With a mighty howl, it launched itself at Cherubimon with Beowulfmon right inside it.
"What!" Cherubimon brought his arms up in front of himself as the wolf slammed into him and Beowulfmon followed up with a powerful slash from his sword.
"BRAHMA SHIL!" Ardhamon launched his most devastating attack and hit the evil angel with full force.
"Their teamwork is incredible!" Meta Knight commented as he watched the Legendary Warriors fight. Kaiba scoffed.
"I couldn't care less about the value of teamwork. I just want to get this over with. I summon Lord of Dragons and activate two Flutes of Summoning Dragon!" Kaiba summoned his Spellcaster and activated his Magic Cards. Instantly, he placed all three of his Blue-Eyes White Dragons onto his Duel Disk and the majestic creatures appeared before him and roared.
"Blue-Eyes White Dragons, White Lightning attack!" All three dragons opened their mouths and launched powerful beams of energy straight towards Cherubimon.
"Are you serious?" the Great Angel sneered, "HEAVEN'S JUDGEMENT!" Several black bolts of lightning shot out from out of nowhere and intercepted all three White Lightning attacks. Meta Knight fired off several Sword Beams, but Cherubimon blocked them with a Lightning Spear he was using as a sword. He then turned to the Hybrids.
"Now to dispose of you!" he growled ,"LIGHTNING SPEAR!" He threw his weapon down and struck them all with one blow. The force created by such a blast forced all six of them to devolve back into their human forms.
"Kaiba, we must help them!" alerted Meta Knight.
"I won't be brushed off so easily," grumbled Kaiba as he activated a Polymerization card and fused his Blue-Eyes White Dragons into the Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon.
"Now I shall destroy you for good," Cherubimon snarled as he reached out towards the kids. Suddenly, his hand was blasted away and he was forced to turn his attention to the other two stone holders. Back on the ground, the Chosen Children succeeded in getting up.
"Looks like we've got no choice," Kouji thought out loud.
"Let's do it," said Takuya. Everyone took out their D-Scans.
"Wind into Fire!" shouted Izumi.
"Ice into Fire!" cried Tomoki.
"Thunder into Light!" Junpei yelled.
"Darkness into Light!" announced Kouichi.
With their friends' Spirits now lent to them, Takuya and Kouji activated their collections of Digicode rings and scanned them.
"HYPER SPIRIT EVOLUTION!"
"KAISERGREYMON!"
"MAGNAGARURUMON!"
The two Z-Hybrids quickly took their friends over to a safe location before engaging Cherubimon.
"FLAME DRAGON ATTACK!" KaiserGreymon held his sword out in front of him like a crossbow and shot a powerful beam of energy straight at Cherubimon's back. His attack hit its mark and caused the target to turn around.
"What the?"
"MACHINEGUN DESTROY!" MagnaGarurumon launched all his missiles and fired off his machinegun and his cannon, swallowing Cherubimon in a storm of artillery.
"Sword Beams!" Meta Knight swung his sword and fired off more energy waves at the dark Digimon.
"I sacrifice my Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon in order to summon the Blue-Eyes Shining Dragon!" Kaiba's three-headed dragon instantly disappeared and was replaced with a single more majestic-looking creature. He also summoned another monster and sacrificed it, his Lord of Dragons, and his XYZ Dragon Cannon to Special Summon God of the Obelisk. Before long, Cherubimon was faced with two powerful monsters, two Z-Hybrid Digimon, and a short knight.
"Cherubimon, your reign of terror ends now!" KaiserGreymon declared. The fallen angel chuckled darkly as he glared at his opponents with a menacing look in his eyes.
"You are fool to think that you can stand up to one of the Great Angels combined with the dark powers of the Blackhearted!" he bellowed.
"That hasn't stopped us before and it's not going to stop us now!" KaiserGreymon plunged his sword into the ground and eight rows of flame shot out in different directions, "NINE-HEADED DRAGON RANKS!" Each row of flames rose up in the form of a dragon head and bit down on Cherubimon, holding him fast in place. Finally, the ground beneath KaiserGreymon gave way and a ninth and larger head rose up and headed straight for the evil Digimon. As it slammed into its target, the Z-Hybrid of Fire raised his sword over his head and brought it downward. His weapon cut through Cherubimon like a lightsaber and he landed on a floating rock somewhere behind him.
"We must attack now!" Meta Knight called out, "Sword Beam!" He swung his sword and sent and energy wave flying towards Cherubimon, hitting him dead on the chest.
"Blue-Eyes Shining Dragon and God of the Obelisk, attack now!" Kaiba commanded. His two monsters complied and advanced towards Cherubimon. First, the Blue-Eyes Shining Dragon launched a shimmering energy blast from its mouth at the massive Digimon followed by God of the Obelisk slamming its enormous fist into his chest.
"STARLIGHT VELOCITY!" MagnaGarurumon discarded his weapons and drew his lightsabers. As he activated the blades, he powered up his jets and shot forward. He streaked towards Cherubimon at unfathomable speeds and cleaved his way right through his body with his energy blades. The dark angel fell onto the rocks and collapsed on one knee, gasping. When he looked up, his eyes widened as KaiserGreymon came down towards him and plunged his sword deep into his forehead.
"How…could I have been…defeated…?" Those final words slowly escaped Cherubimon's mouth as KaiserGreymon pulled his sword out from his head and dark matter started to spill out. before long, the Great Angel's body had disintegrated into a nothing more than a cloud of pixels and dissipated.
"They did it!" exclaimed Izumi.
"They defeated Cherubimon!" Kouichi added. Back on the battlefield, KaiserGreymon and MagnaGarurumon reverted back into Takuya and Kouji, Kaiba's monsters disappeared as he gathered his cards back up, and Meta Knight re-sheathed his sword. The goggle boy turned to his fellow Chosen Children and grinned as he gave them a thumb-up.
o o o
Sora directed Takuya as he brought the Highwind into the hangar and docked it. Squall and Ryo quickly brought out the ramp as the Gummi Ship's cockpit opened, allowing the three stone holders and their passengers to disembark.
"How did your mission go?" asked the Legendary Tamer.
"The Digital World is safe," Takuya reported, "and we managed to rescue a few people, too." The three members of the ADI staff currently standing in the hangar looked up as the rest of the Chosen Children came out from the Highwind along with Bokomon and Neemon.
"I'll go to Otaku and get the paperwork," Squall volunteered and he turned around and left. Meanwhile, the other kids were looking around completely awestruck by their surroundings.
"So this is where you've been staying all this time?" asked Junpei.
"It looks like something from a movie," Kouji commented.
"It's…kinda complicated," Takuya replied.
"Takuya, you're needed in Otaku's office!" Squall yelled.
"I'll explain everything later!" And with that, Takuya quickly scaled the ladder up to the catwalk and disappeared into a doorway.
"I'll take you to your rooms," Sora offered to the Chosen Children and began to lead them away.
o o o
"So much for Cherubimon," Riku scoffed as he threw the report he had been given onto the table and walked onto the balcony where Sephiroth stood. The two of them looked out at the void that surrounded the Blackhearted headquarters and heard an odd noise coming from below. Riku cast his gaze downward.
"It looks like King Ghidorah is getting restless," he observed.
"It shouldn't be much longer before his services are required," replied Sephiroth as he turned and headed back in.
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Thus concludes this chapter (finally).
