Chapter 19: Battle of the Sands
"Bet you never thought you'd be doing this again, huh?" Melissa whispered to Jack. They were walking towards Richard's castle in an attempt to get as close as possible without being spotted. And they were walking right through the desert Jack and Melissa had been in the first time they had come to the Digital World.
"Actually I had actually planned on coming back here." Jack said.
"Why?" Melissa asked, "I thought you hated it as much as I did."
"I was sure you wouldn't follow me here." Jack told her.
"If I remember correctly it was you that always followed me." Melissa said as if he had insulted her.
"You remember incorrectly then." Jack replied calmly.
"I do not." Melissa said irritated. "Just shut up and leave me alone."
"Will you two shut up." Izzy hissed at them, "This is serious."
"Their fault." Jack and Melissa said immediately while pointing to the other one. Upon noticing this they added both a glare to the gesture.
A few yards away Ken asked, "Who do you think will admit their feelings first?"
TK shook his head, "Actually I think they just like to fight." he told Ken.
Kari nodded in agreement, "Not everything is a hidden sign of romance." she added.
"So his castle is in here?" TK asked.
Kari nodded again, "Yeah, we should be able to see it right over the next rise."
"Well the land was certainly cheap," TK commented, "but who'd want this for a view."
"My thoughts exactly." Kari said.
"So, they're trying to sneak in." Richard commented his eyes fixed on a monitor on the wall.
"Yes Richard, they plan on sneaking in here and attacking you before we can react." Betamon told the human.
"Sneak out there yourself and hide in the sand." Richard told Betamon, "After they pass you I'll make you digivolve and we'll catch them between the castle and Mechaseadramon."
"And if they make it into the castle?" Betamon asked, "I'll be far too large to enter."
"If you keep the Digimon outside I'll deal with any humans that get in the castle." Richard said confidently.
"Don't be too overconfident Richard. One mistake now and it will be your last." Betamon warned. Richard brushed the advice off.
"Well here we are." Izzy said as they reached the bottom of a dune by the castle. From where they were their destination was just a short run across a flat piece of sand away.
"Should we just run for it?" Ken asked. The final approach was likely to be the hardest part of all of it.
"Why not," TK said, "I don't see anyone here waiting for us."
"And there aren't many places to hide behind right here." Melissa added backing up the person who was supposed to be her cousin.
"For once I'm in agreement with the wench." Jack said. "Let's make a run for it."
"We've been trying to surprise him this far, and each moment we wait is another moment he could spot us in." Izzy said smartly. They stopped talking about whether or not too after that; majority already ruled, they were running.
They reached the wall of the castle without incident. The gate was on the other side of the building but their plan required the use of a small servant's door on the side they were on. Behind them though the sand erupted in a flash of energy so powerful it pushed them all into the wall of the castle. Out of the sands rose a huge mechanical serpent.
"He was waiting for us." Kari said realization dawning on her. "This is an ambush."
"Thanks, I never would have guessed that." Melissa replied sarcastically from beside her.
As the energy wave died down their bodies stopped being smashed into the wall of the castle. "Guess this means we have to fight." Ken commented gripping his D3.
"Lis, get behind me," Jack whispered, "and do whatever you can to hatch that egg."
"I don't need you to protect me." Melissa retorted, "I can take care of myself."
"I was trying to hide our trump card not protect you." Jack told her as he reached for his own digivice.
"Bullshit." Melissa commented as she unconsciously moved back behind the others.
"Don't even think about it." Kari told TK noting the exchange between Jack and Melissa.
"Wouldn't dream of it." TK replied his hand on his D3. "We fight together remember; Hope and Light."
"Yeah I remember." Kari said as she put her hand on her own D3.
"This shouldn't take too long." Izzy commented. The trembling of his hand as he pulled out his digivice was enough to expose his true feelings though. "Let's get him!"
"Tentomon warp digivolve to Herculeskabuterimon!"
"Wormmon digivolve to Stingmon!"
"Gatomon digivolve to Angewomon!"
"Patamon digivolve to Angemon digivolve to Magnangemon!"
"Bonemon digivolve to Skelemon digivolve to Necromon!"
They were at full power: one mega, three ultimates, and one champion versus Mechaseadramon; whatever level he was at. Mechaseadramon reared up before them the cannon in his snout charging to fire. At his full length the serpentine digimon was nearly as long as the enormous wall ringing the castle. "Tidal Force!" all of the digimon avoided the attack but the sheer power of its wake pushed them even further apart.
"Magna Sword!" Magnangemon yelled slashing at Mechaseadramon. The attack bounced almost harmlessly off the serpent's armor.
"Spiking Strike!" Mechaseadramon completely ignored Stingmon and his attack; it had no effect on the giant serpent whatsoever.
"Mega Electroshocker!" the blast of electric energy forced Mechaseadramon back a bit. It was the closest they had come so far to actually doing damage to the beast.
Mechaseadramon turned towards the giant insect that had blasted him. "Tidal Force!" Herculeskabuterimon dodged most of the blast, but it caught one of his legs and hurled him back into the wall of the castle.
"Dark Slash!"
"Celestial Arrow!" the two attacks glanced all but harmlessly off Mechaseadramon's armored exterior and prompted a retaliatory strike they both dodged.
"This is going nowhere." TK complained while watching the battle above him.
"They're not getting any closer to defeating him." Ken conceded, "And it almost looks like he's playing with them."
Jack looked up at the small figures buzzing around Mechaseadramon and Herculeskabuterimon in the sky, TK was right they were getting nowhere. He looked around him searching for something he could do to help out. Jack's eyes fell on the servants' door they had planned on using to enter the castle and a plan began to form in his mind. It was stupid, crazy, and possibly suicidal, but it was a plan.
"Takaishi, if I die here make sure my body gets a good burial." Jack said to TK before turning towards the door and taking off at full speed.
"What the hell is he thinking?" Izzy wondered aloud. "If there are any Digimon in there they'll eat him alive."
"He's realized we're not getting anywhere out here and decided to do something about it." Melissa said.
"Are you saying we should follow him?" Ken asked. His answer was cut off by Mechaseadramon's tail colliding with the servants' door; no one was using that anymore.
"You don't think that Jack?" Kari asked not actually finishing the question.
"No, he made it." Melissa said confidently. "Jack's still alive, for now."
"Celestial Arrow!"
"Dark Slash!"
"Spiking Strike!"
"Magna Sword!" another group of attacks bounced off of Mechaseadramon.
"Tidal Force!" the four digimon scattered to avoid the blast and were further scattered by its wake.
"Mega Electroshocker!" another of Herculeskabuterimon's attacks hit home and did some slight damage to the armored serpent.
"Tidal Force!" the attack hit Herculeskabuterimon and sent the giant bug back into the castle wall.
The castle hallways were completely empty. Jack would have given up trying to move quietly if it hadn't been for a nagging feeling that it couldn't be this easy. As he reached the top of a staircase he suddenly saw a person standing around the corner of the hallway. As he reached the juncture he swung around it with his arm out and felt it connect with flesh. Outside the castle a small green glow began to build around Necromon.
Richard was shocked when Jack's fist connected with his face. There was no way he could have known that he was there, none. He therefore concluded that Jack was swinging his fist around each corner like that. He didn't let his surprise phase him though, and immediately kicked out at Jack sending the man backwards and onto the ground.
Jack however grabbed a handful of Richard's shirt and dragged the Kaiser down with him. He had listened to what Ken and TK had said about the man and wasn't about to underestimate him, despite his past accomplishments. The two hit the floor and began to roll around wrestling and throwing punches each one trying to gain the upper hand.
As the reached the top of the stairs Richard managed to get on top and began to rain punches down on Jack's head. Jack desperately searched for a way out of the predicament and his hand brushed against something he had in his pocket. It was the knife Kari had used to try and kill TK, which he had picked up in the aftermath. Jack grabbed the knife in one hand and yanked it out of his pocket, across Richard's stomach and up towards the Kaiser's shoulder. Richard howled in pain and kicked Jack off him and down the stairs before turning and hurrying away down the hallway.
Outside the castle the glow surrounding Necromon began to intensify, but no one paid it any mind. The digimon were now having a much harder time dodging Mechaseadramon's attacks. It seemed the serpent had finally gauged the abilities of his opponents. His attacks were now so frequent and well aimed that the digimon had almost no time to counterattack.
Back inside the castle Jack laid at the bottom of the steps for a little while to catch his breath before getting to his feet and attempting to follow Richard. The trail wasn't hard to follow, Richard was bleeding heavily and the crimson splatters of his blood were a stark contrast against the grey of the stone floor.
Jack followed the drips on the floor as quickly as he could, speeding up to a swift jog as he got his breath back. As he reached a corner his foot slid in an abnormally large pool of blood and he fell forward just as Richard spun out from behind the corner arm out as Jack's own had been earlier.
Jack however was down lower because he had slipped in the blood so Richard's strike went over his head. Jack, however, fell forward, shoulder first, into Richard's groin. The red haired man fell backwards in completely unexpected pain and Jack went down with him. Neither one of them noticed the green gleam under Jack's shirt.
Outside the castle the group had finally decided on a plan to take down Mechaseadramon, a single simultaneous strike using all the rest of the energy they had left. Then the green aura around Necromon reached its peak and he digivolved. The blade of the scythe became an ankh that moved up on top of the handle. A small covering of thin shriveled skin covered his bones and his cloak became a little rattier. "Necromon digivolve to Lichmon!"
"What just happened?" Izzy asked in surprise.
"Either Jack just did something really lucky or he just gambled and won." Melissa said remembering the crest conversation from what seemed like months ago back in the diner.
"So are we still go for that plan?" TK asked.
"More than ever." Izzy replied.
TK held his D3 in the air and released a beam of light from it, the signal to begin the attack.
"Spiking Strike!"
"Gate of Destiny!"
"Celestial Arrow!"
"Magic of Unlife!"
"Giga Scissorclaw!" the combined strength of the attacks converged on Mechaseadramon and blasted him back into the castle wall in a ball of blinding light.
In the castle Jack had Richard down and was about to grab the digivice when a blast shook the castle and tossed him off his feet. Richard took off again and Jack pursued him, again. Jack caught up and tackled Richard at an entrance to the courtyard. Out in the yard the Kaiser and the Prophet were about to witness the end of the battle to decide the fate of this world.
The digidestined entered the courtyard through a knocked down wall holding their In-training partners and Skullmon. From the smoke and dust a single figure rose up, it was a long metal plated sea serpent. Metalseadramon glared down at the people and digimon that had caused him so much trouble, "This is it Digidestined." he declared, "Now is when you die."
As Metalseadramon charged up his cannon Melissa through herself between the serpent and her friends, "NO!" she yelled, "I won't let you do this."
The only sound that interrupted the silence that followed was a crack, then another crack, and then the air was filled with the sound of cracking. With each crack a line appeared in the egg Melissa was holding and from each crack radiated a red-orange glow. Finally the top burst off the egg and a small black blob surrounded by the same red-orange aura popped out. Melissa stared at the blob in shock as it began to digivolve. "Pakamon digivolve to Minidevimon digivolve to Demidevimon digivolve to Devimon digivolve to Myotismon digivolve to Piedmon."
The clown digimon hovered in front of Metalseadramon blocking his path to the digidestined. "So you're back too." Piedmon stated.
"Welcome back Piedmon," Metalseadramon said, "come on, now we can finally destroy the digidestined and regain control of the digital world."
Piedmon shook his head sadly. "You just don't get it do you?" he asked Metalseadramon looked confused. "We didn't actually rule anything; digimon just did what we said while we were around because we could kill them. The digital world cannot be ruled, the sovereigns know that, it's why they stay out of things."
"I'm taking back control of this world." Metalseadramon declared, "Whether I have too go through you or not."
"Don't be an idiot." Piedmon chastised. "You were the first one to go for a reason, you were the weakest master. Don't throw you're life away over nothing."
"River of …"
"Trump Sword!" Piedmon yelled throwing all four swords into Metalseadramon and deleting him before he could even launch his attack.
"You did it!" Jack yelled forgetting Richard to run to congratulate Melissa. "You stupid contrary wench, you hatched him good and saved us all!" he declared clasping her in a hug. Then completely spontaneously he kissed Melissa, right on the lips, the sand whipping around them. Just as they began to get into it a cough brought the two back to reality. Melissa immediately coughed and began to spit as if she could get his taste out of her mouth, Jack did the same.
"I still hate you bastard." she told him.
"And I still hate you wench." Jack clarified.
"What happened to Richard?" TK asked anxiously.
"He was right over there." Jack said turning to point to where he had been earlier. In the hall they saw the flash of a closing digiport.
"He's gone now." Kari said. "It's over, it's finally over."
Richard came out in a dark alley and stumbled towards the road. He was hurt bad, real bad. He needed to get to a hospital soon; he had lost far too much blood in the castle. He grabbed onto the first person he saw, "Please help me." he croaked, "I need to get to a hospital." Looking up he saw he had grabbed a woman, a woman he had seen before, a woman he had seen naked before. And somehow she recognized him too. "Oh shit." he mumbled before sinking to the ground.