In the Shadow of Chaos

by The Masked Ermine

The Digital World, recreated from fragments of other realities, is in peril. The chaos is building, can a fabled group known as the Digidestined save the world from the Shadow of Chaos?

67. The Coming Darkness Part 2

I don't own digimon

The Coming Darkness Pt. 2

888

Mark dropped back. Lucemon stood up straight and started to walk away silently. Steven, Mark and the two boys' mother looked at each other and then at the slowly walking angel.

"Lucemon…" Mark reached forward.

"Don't come near me, brat," growled the angel loudly.

"Lucas!" yelped the boy's mother.

"I am not human, do not talk to me like one, woman," growled Lucemon loudly without turning around. "I am free of Kougen; I plan to use that freedom to find a way back to the Digital World." The angel unfolded his wings and started to glide away. Lucemon got about ten feet from the humans when he stopped and shook heavily. The lines of his skin shone bright green and the pulsing blood vessels blazed with the equal green. Lucemon dropped down to his knees.

"LUCEMON!" Mark ran forward. The angel hoisted himself up on his knees. Mark ran to his side, "Lucemon, are you ok?"

"That...was not supposed to happen," gasped the angel between heavy breaths. "The hazard…" The angel shuddered. He shot his head up and back towards the white digimon being held down by Ryuudamon, "What have you done to me?"

"The book is supposed to steal souls!" yelped the little digimon as it whimpered under the grasp of Ryuudamon. "You shouldn't be able to move!" The little digimon struggled more fervently, "Oh, please let me go; I just went on this whole trip with Karatenmon to travel! We Bokomon only like to travel!"

Lucemon made a leap at the white digimon, but suddenly the green light pulsed through the angel's body and Lucemon was on the ground whimpering in agony. Mark ran to the angel and wrapped his arms around Lucemon.

"Get off of me!" shouted Lucemon as he pushed Mark off of him. He narrowed his eyes and looked at Bokomon, "Then you've taken Kougen from me completely, not just drained a portion of his spirit energy…" Lucemon's eyes closed, "then there is nothing controlling the hazard…" The ruby eyes widened in concern. "But…why haven't I exploded…?" He narrowed his eyes, "Give me Kougen back now!" Lucemon reached forward yanking Bokomon from under Ryuudamon; the black lizard flipped backward. "GIVE HIM BACK NOW!"

"Please, Mr. Lucemon sir…" Bokomon struggled violently, "Don't hurt me!"

"Then give me Kougen, now!" growled Lucemon as he grasped the little white digimon tighter. "Or I shall crush your little body until nothing is left, not even data dust…"

"I CAN'T!" screamed the little digimon as he flailed in Lucemon's rock hard grasp. "I NEVER LEARNED HOW TO RELEASE SOULS FROM THE BOOK!"

Lucemon growled loudly, "That was not the right answer!"

"LUCEMON!" shouted Mark loudly. The angel winced hard at the shout, partly because it was right in his ear.

"Don't interfere," replied Lucemon slightly gritting his teeth, "I won't be ordered by human brats…"

"If you destroy him, you will not get what you want," said Steven quietly. Lucemon's red eyes flashed up at the blonde haired boy. Steven was looking at the ground. "Bokomon is the only lead we have on controlling the book, if you destroy him then there will be no chance…"

"Lucemon…" Mark's arms wrapped around the angel's waist, "please…don't…"

The angel's grip faltered and Bokomon slipped from his hand and dropped to the ground. The little white digimon was quick to his feet and he scrambled from the angel and behind Steven.

"I can't stand this!" shouted the angel loudly. He clenched his fists and shot into the sky. Mark gasped as he fell backward. Lucemon achieved about ten feet before he curled up into a green glow and then spiraled toward the earth. He crashed down next to Mark.

"Lucemon!" Mark crawled to the angel.

"Hurry, gather him up, we have to retreat," whispered Ryuudamon loudly. "The Vilemon are coming…"

"What, more?" yelped Steven loudly.

"Karatenmon must have had a larger army than Gennai thought…" whispered Ryuudamon quietly.

"Here," Kevin ran up to Mark and helped him lift the limp angel.

"No, I'll do it…" Mark shook his head and pulled Lucemon up over his shoulder and staggered toward the alley.

"Nightmare Shocker!" bolts of black lightning laced up the street from the north side of town. A pair of humans was running ahead of the lightning strikes.

"Samuel, Jeri!" shouted the boys' mother as the adults rushed towards them.

"Hurry, into the alley," shouted Steven as he pushed the adults and helped direct Mark forward.

The group gasped as they crouched behind a dumpster. The man and woman looked up at Steven and then at Ryuudamon. "So…" the man gasped quietly, "You have one too…"

"Yeah…" Steven looked down at Ryuudamon and smiled; he then looked up at the adults, "Where is Kevin?"

"With Mr. Takenouchi, on the north side," replied the woman. "I hope him and his little friend are safe…"

"Snow Agumon won't let a 'mon touch Kevin," whispered Steven with a smile.

"IN here, in here!" shouted the scratchy, screaming voice of a Vilemon.

"Nightmare Shocker!" the chorus came, as the dumpster exploded into dust. The humans looked up in horror as the apes hopped forward snickering.

"Iai Blade!" shouted Ryuudamon swiping a glowing energy blade at the monkeys.

"D-Divine…Feat…" Steven head shot up and saw Lucemon weakly sitting up.

His arm was extended and the red afterglow of the attack shimmered off of his fingers. Steven looked back at where the Vilemon were attacking. A majority of the apes were gone, but where a few fell; ten more appeared.

"This isn't working," growled Steven as he clenched his fist.

Lucemon stood. "I'm getting out of here." The angel glided backward until he started to convulse.

"Lucemon!" shouted Mark.

"Something…is…" Lucemon groaned as he fell to the earth. He looked up. Mark appeared in his hazy view. "No…I can't believe it…the human…"

Mark grabbed up Lucemon before he fell forward. "I'm sorry buddy," whispered the boy.

"Ryuudamon digivolve to Ginryuumon!" The little black lizard grew into a larger dragon quadruped. He pulled his head back and then pushed it forward as the blade on his helmet glowed. "Armor Piercing Blade!" The monkeys squealed as they were sliced to bits.

"MARK!" screamed Steven as a troop of monkeys dropped down behind the humans.

Mark, holding Lucemon, scooted against the walls of the buildings that surrounded the alley. The apes encircled around them. His glasses slid down his nose as his hands searched for something to protect himself.

"Mark!" the boy could hear his mother whimpering loudly as the other adults held her back.

The boy looked down and saw that the angel was still semi-conscious, and the monkeys continued to edge in.

888

"Jason what are you doing!" shouted Brendan as he and his dad scrambled after the boy.

"My dad!" shouted the black haired boy as he ran. "They'll get him!"

Seadramon curled overhead and fired a blast behind the boy knocking out a group of the Vilemon that had started to pursue them. Dobermon was already pinning down hordes of the demon monkeys in large Grau Realm spheres. Jason ran forward toward his house.

"GET OFF ME!" shouted the voice of Jason's father.

"DAD!" shouted Jason as he skidded to a stop. The Vilemon were haranguing the middle aged man who was sweeping his hands around.

"Jason, get back!" shouted the man loudly.

"Seadramon!" shouted Jason as the large serpent shot forward.

"Water Breath!" spitfire bursts of water picked the Vilemon off one by one. Jason's father stood up and lowered his arms and looked up at the large sea serpent, which was hovering over the street.

"You…are that snake in my dream…" said the man as he pointed upward.

Jason grabbed the man by the waist, "We're getting out of here. Seadramon!"

The dragon lowered himself down and Jason pushed his father onto the dragon and climbed on behind him. The man was shaking but Jason put his hand on the man's shoulder.

"What the Hell are we doing?" shouted the man loudly.

"Umm, we're going to go stop this once and for all," replied Jason with a smile and patted Seadramon, "Come on, boy, let's go!"

"Right!" growled the dragon. The blue-green serpent turned and fired a blast of ice to free up Dobermon. "Let's go guys!"

"Ok, come on Dad," shouted Brendan as he grabbed the rounder man's hand and pulled him up on the large spiked, dog.

"Please!" shouted another voice. "Please don't leave me alone!"

Brendan turned his head. It was a man. He had blue hair and dark eyes. His ragged red cloth covered his torso. Torn jeans flapped on his legs.

"Henry!" shouted Mr. Heigan as he turned. "We have to get him!"

"Ok," said Brendan as Dobermon galloped towards the man. Brendan and his father put out their hands and grabbed the man up and pulled him up on Dobermon.

"Herbie, what are you doing?" the man gasped. He looked at the dog he was riding. "Isn't this one of the monsters?"

"This one is on our side," replied Mr. Heigan with a smile, "It's been a while since someone has called me Herbie…" He looked forward to see his son with his laptop out. "Now is not the time to be messing around with that confounded thing!"

"Actually, Dad, it is," replied the boy as the large hound they were riding on swept around to follow Seadramon. "I got an e-mail from Gennai; he sort of is our guide…or something…" Brendan patted Dobermon, "Get closer to Seadramon this is really important!"

"Ok, Brendan!" replied the dog as he galloped harder and ran underneath the sea serpent.

"JASON!" shouted Brendan loudly cupping a hand around his mouth, "I HAVE SOMETHING TO TELL YOU!"

"OK, DOWN SEADRAMON!" called Jason. The sea monster lowered itself down and Dobermon ran along side the sea serpent.

"Jason, I got an email from Gennai," shouted Brendan less loudly. "He couldn't find a way to detect the kid but he did search his records…and found him!"

"WHAT?" Jason and Seadramon yelped in surprise.

"He found the kid, it's a boy!" called Brendan loudly. "A Japanese boy named, Kuro Ishida!"

"ACK!" yelped Jason, "So we're in the wrong country?"

"Not necessarily, Gennai said it was in files that were prior to the Great Reformat," replied Brendan. "So he could be an adult!"

"What would the digimon want with an adult?" asked Jason loudly.

"How am I supposed to know?" shouted Brendan. "What ever questions we have can wait until we meet up with Steven and the others!"

"Steven, you know Steven?" asked Henry loudly as he nudged Brendan's shoulder.

"Yeah, he's, well, he's like us, he has a digimon too," replied Brendan. "Why?"

"So…he's part of this too?" asked the man as he looked down.

"So is Mark," said Brendan. The man looked up, his eyes were wide. Brendan shook his head and smiled, "Don't worry, Ryuudamon and Lucemon will protect them."

888

Lucemon opened his eyes slowly. He lifted his head and saw the image of demon apes flying backward as a metal pipe cracked them in the heads, guts and anything else the small human boy that Kougen called 'Mark' could swing and hit. One of the Vilemon leapt forward and got cracked in the head by the pipe that Mark held. The monkey crashed against a brick wall and then into a garbage can.

"HYAH!" yelped the boy as he swung the metal pipe around, "Take this, and this, and one of these!"

The Vilemon were scattering from the boy as Ginryuumon cleaned up on those trying to enter the alley. Mark made a run at the remaining Vilemon.

"They boy has spunk at least…" smirked Lucemon as he watched the boy run.

The boy took a running start and Lucemon felt something flare in his chest as the searing pain of rising hazard flooded through his veins. Lucemon growled loudly and the boy stopped and turned running back to Lucemon, as the boy ran closer to Lucemon the pain subsided.

"Lucemon!" Mark skidded next to Lucemon.

"I understand…" The angel narrowed his eyes. "You…must have a very strong link to Kougen…" The angel looked the boy in his eyes. "To be the one to maintain containment of the hazard…"

"Nightmare Shocker!" yelped the Vilemon at the small opening. Lucemon growled and pulled the boy down and flashed his wings around the boy, taking the hit.

"Lucemon…" whispered Mark quietly his eyes wide in surprise.

"Don't act so surprised," gasped the angel as he slowly stood, "I need to keep you alive or I'll turn into a big ball of green hellfire."

"I'll let you believe that, even though I know better…" Mark smiled broadly and grabbed the angel into a hug.

"GET OFF ME, GET OFF ME!" roared the angel as he pushed Mark off of him.

"Shh!" yelped Bokomon loudly.

"Don't shush me you overgrown…" started Lucemon loudly. His head then rose slowly.

The shadows shifted and morphed quietly converting themselves into the form of Karatenmon. The humans gasped and Bokomon screamed in terror and hid behind Ginryuumon. The black dragon growled at the forming shadows.

"Bokomon…" said the shadowy form as two glowing eyes pierced the darkness, "Didn't I give you an order to capture the female digi-destined's soul?"

"I-I-I…" Bokomon gulped, "I may have heard that…"

"Then why are you here?" asked the figure as he took a measured step forward, exposing his lavender talons to the world.

"Well, I-I…was, was…" Bokomon shook heavily and started to stagger backward. "I WAS CURIOUS ABOUT THE CITY!"

"You let your curiosity get the better of you?" asked the bird man as he walked forward. "And did not take the Child of Light…"

"You aren't getting Michelle!" shouted Steven loudly.

"This is the guy that Kevin was talking about?" asked Samuel and Jeri in unison.

Steven nodded and narrowed his eyes towards the crow man. "He is."

"We won't let you hurt our daughter!" shouted the two parents loudly.

The raven turned his head slightly and lifted his hand. "Oh I doubt you can stop me," twin tendrils of darkness shot forward covering the two humans and Jeri and Samuel dropped to their knees and then to the ground.

"What did you do?" accused Steven loudly.

"Don't worry, they aren't dead, yet," replied the crow. Karatenmon took another step forward and his gaze turned to Bokomon. "If you will not take the girl, then I will take the book from you."

"No!" yelped Bokomon loudly and he twisted shielding the book from Karatenmon's grasp. The little digimon scurried backward.

"Don't come any closer!" shouted Steven loudly. Ginryuumon growled loudly and took a heavy step forward.

Karatenmon narrowed his eyes and sneered. He flicked his wrists up and then down and a torrent of shadows descended on Ginryuumon, lifted the dragon and then tossed him over Karatenmon's shoulder. The tengu smiled and twitched his wings a little and then continued forward.

"I won't let you have this book, if you take it then…" Bokomon gulped, "then Lucemon won't get his soul back!"

"You idiot!" growled Lucemon as he looked at the white digimon.

"So, you actually did do something whilst goofing around with your sightseeing," Karatenmon looked at Bokomon, "Hand over the book."

"NO!" shouted Bokomon loudly, "No, no, no, no, no, no!"

"It was not a request, I told you to hand it over!" growled Karatenmon loudly.

"And I told you no!" shouted Bokomon as he hugged the book close to him.

"Silly creature, you are testing my patience," Karatenmon's hands fell upon the hilts of his swords. "It seems my patience has failed your tests."

"Karatenmon, don't you dare!" growled Lucemon loudly. He lifted a hand. "Divine Feat!" A pulse of black energy shot from his hand leaving a lingering lavender glow. Karatenmon smirked and held up his palm and absorbed the attack.

"I see; Bokomon here, seemed to have somehow captured your light side, leaving just the darkness in you, eh Lucemon?" Karatenmon smiled quietly and unsheathed his swords. "You cannot destroy darkness with darkness." He lifted the blades. "RAVEN BLADES!"

Bokomon's eyes grew to the sized of dish plates. The little digimon turned to run, but the arcs of dark energy caught him and he fell, face first, where he stood. Mark ran to the little digimon with Lucemon close behind.

"Take the book," whispered Bokomon quietly. "Take it, don't let Karatenmon get it, maybe you can find a way to free Lucemon's soul…"

The little, white, bear-like digimon pushed the book into Mark's arms. Bokomon then exploded into dust in front of Mark's eyes. The boy turned suddenly; his eyes flashed with anger.

"You…killed him, he just wanted to travel and see out his dreams and you killed him!" shouted Mark loudly.

"Foolish, little child," Karatenmon took a step forward, "I gave him an order; he was insubordinate. His destruction was his own making." Karatenmon proceeded forward. Steven and his mother could only watch on impotently as the black-winged digimon advanced on the brown haired boy. "Now, give me the book!"

"No!" shouted Mark loudly. He walked back till his back was to the wall of the alley.

Lucemon dropped down in front of the boy. "Do not continue this, Karatenmon, do not harm a hair on his head, or I will be forced to attack!"

"Why are you protecting this child? You are the dark side of Lucemon, you want your freedom and you have it, leave this child to me, I have no fight with a fellow being of darkness," said the tengu as he took another step forward.

"Don't come any closer!" Lucemon brought his hands together in a prayerful manner and a red glow emanated from his fingers.

"Fine, if you will not move on your own, then I will have to remove you!" growled Karatenmon. He lifted his swords again. "Raven Blades!"

"NO!" screamed Mark loudly. His digivice screamed loudly. A red light exploded around Lucemon.

"Lucemon, digivolve to….Pidmon!" The red light faded and a gnarled, obsidian staff impeded the swords of Karatenmon. A pair of black, dirty wings unfurled behind the grey humanoid body of an angel. A lavender sash curled around his muscular arms and legs. The draping that fell from his belt shared the same lavender tinge. "I told you not to come any closer!"

"So, the little darkened angel can still digivolve…" chuckled Karatenmon loudly.

"He's not the only one," growled the voice of Ginryuumon from behind the tengu.

"This one is for Bokomon, and Kevin's parents!" shouted Steven as he lifted his digivice.

"Ginryuumon digivolve to HishaRyuumon!" the quadruped elongated into a dark green and red dragon. Swept back antlers flanked his skull, and bony fins jutted from his back. "Now Pidmon, let's take out this trash!"

"Right," growled the angel loudly. One hand held his staff in place to hold off the twin swords of Karatenmon; his other hand pulled back and then shot forward in a fist that sent the tengu flying backward.

Karatenmon caught himself and slid across the ground and looked up as the large dragon above him slammed a green orb in his direction. Karatenmon leapt to one side, instantly taking flight.

Pidmon shot up to continue his attack when he was afflicted with a burst of green energy that sent him spiraling to the ground.

"Pidmon!" shouted Mark as he ran forward.

"Even in this form…the hazard is unstable," gasped the Champion angel as he propped himself up. "You are my containment; you will come with me, on my back now!"

"No, don't, Mark!" shouted the boy's mother loudly, "You'll get killed!"

"If he dies…" Pidmon started as he hoisted the boy onto his back, "I'll die and so will everything on this world. I'll protect him."

Pidmon then flapped his dirty wings and flew into the fray. HishaRyuumon was firing blasts of twisting flame at the crow tengu, but the bird wizard only dodged them. Karatenmon swept back and forth on his black wings.

"Fine, eat this!" roared HishaRyuumon as he raised an orange orb that he held in his paw, "Seiryuujin!" An orange blade whipped forward. Karatenmon crossed his two swords against the blade and fell back against the strain.

"Fire Feather!" shouted Pidmon as he opened his clenched hand.

A swirling blast of black, flaming feathers ripped through the air. They closed in on Karatenmon. The bird man had no defense; all of his defensive attention was against HishaRyuumon, or that's how it looked. Suddenly the feathers whipped around the tengu. A purple orb closed around the bird man slicing HishaRyuumon's blade cleanly.

"Insufferable ingrates!" shouted the crow.

A portion of the crow's barrier seemed to condense into one spot and fired forward as one blast of darkness. HishaRyuumon dove between the blast and Pidmon taking the strike on the chin. The dragon was sent crashing to the ground underneath the dark angel. Karatenmon smirked quietly and the barrier condensed again and fired a second blast at Pidmon. The angel quickly reacted by dodging the blast, but Karatenmon had already sent another salvo of darkness towards the angel.

"Hold on tight, this is going to get rough," shouted Pidmon as he pulled back and held his staff in front of him.

The obsidian shaft spun in the angel's palm. The bolts of darkness ricocheted off of the staff. Pidmon switched hands several times deflecting the blasts. Karatenmon growled in frustration and finally dispelled the barrier.

"You will not survive!" shouted the bird. Karatenmon closed his eyes and clenched his fists. A black aura swept around him.

"If he tries one of those moves from those old, Japanese cartoons my granddad used to watch, then I'm going home," whispered Mark quietly in Pidmon's ear.

"If there is a home to go to," replied Pidmon as he lifted his staff up.

The tengu pushed his hands forward releasing a large black raven. The bird phantom screeched loudly. Pidmon started to spin his staff to deflect the blast but the size of the attack was so massive that it sent the angel and his cargo spiraling to the ground. Pidmon instantly started to scream in pain as an emerald glow filled his body. Mark reached out for the angel but the blast had already knocked them away from each other. Mark landed hard on the ground. Fifteen feet away Pidmon crashed to the ground writhing on the ground. A spear of green light shot from behind one of his wings and sliced the corner of a building into oblivion.

"So the secret is out…" chuckled Karatenmon as he dropped down between Pidmon and Mark. The angel slowly started to crawl towards Mark. "So, he needs you, to stay alive…" whispered Karatenmon his voice relishing the tidbit of new information. The crow digimon turned on Mark, "Give me the book now!"

"No!" Mark shouted loudly. Pidmon screamed loudly as he collapsed on the ground. Karatenmon was standing on his back.

"Then we'll just see how long this poor fellow can stay like this…" chuckled Karatenmon. Mark narrowed his eyes and made ready to run towards Pidmon, but he heard the sliding of metal and looked up. "If you move…" Karatenmon pointed the unsheathed sword towards the alley where his mother and brother, and Kevin's parents were hiding, "They won't see another minute of their pathetic lives…"

"Give…him…the book…" gasped Pidmon loudly.

"No, I won't let him take away your other self!" shouted Mark loudly. "You wanted to be free; I won't let him take away your chance at freedom…" The boy sniffed hard.

HishaRyuumon rose from the rubble and roared loudly. Karatenmon sneered, "Nuh uh, big boy, if you twitch, they get the boom." HishaRyuumon froze in his position.

"I have no chance at freedom; give him the book…if you don't…" Pidmon tensed up and groaned, "There will be nothing to protect…"

"I won't let you give up on your hopes and dreams!" shouted Mark loudly. "Even if you aren't the Lucemon I know and love you are still part of him and you deserve every chance you can get! I won't let Karatenmon take your dreams away!" Mark hugged the book close to him and sat down with his chin against the binding, "I wish I knew how to open this thing and let you go…" Mark closed his eyes and a tear rolled down his cheek, "You're our only hope…"

The tear struck the book and a green light shone around the binding. Mark looked at the book. It pulled from his grasped and snapped open. An indescribable light rose from the pages as the book disintegrated. It took the form of brightly glowing Lucemon; only the glow was like the light of a thousand suns. Karatenmon screeched loudly at the light and fell back. The entity of light walked slowly towards the writhing Pidmon.

"Kougen…" gasped Pidmon quietly, as he slowly raised his aching head.

The figure nodded and leaned down, extending its hand. Pidmon slowly lifted his own hand. The two hands grasped one another and the green glow of the arm disappeared. The being of light hoisted Pidmon up and the darkened angel was free from the hazard light. Kougen looked back at Mark. The boy was shielding his eyes, and he saw that the small pendant on his chest was glowing bright green. Kougen turned back to Pidmon and embraced him.

Darkness and light shot up into the sky. A twisting and heaving burst exploded in the sky. Karatenmon growled angrily.

"Pidmon digivolve to…" The wings glowed brightly and morphed into black hands. The white body armor was replaced by black flesh and flames. A golden ring formed from the back of the being. Three masks covered the being's head, one red, one blue and one gold, "Asuramon!"

"Now we're back in this game!" shouted HishaRyuumon.

"Indeed," replied Asuramon with a nod. He lifted his fists, "FIRE FISTS OF ASURA!" The four armed man punched his flaming fists forward.

"No!" shouted Karatenmon as he curled up against the blasts. Karatenmon growled loudly and unsheathed another sword and pointed it towards the alley where Steven was, "I will destroy them!"

"Schwarz Strahl!" A black beam snapped the blade from Karatenmon's hand.

"Time for you to go on the deep freeze!" shouted a blue green serpent as it appeared over the buildings. "Ice Blast!"

A blast of winter slammed Karatenmon. The freeze held Karatenmon for a few seconds, but the ice started to crack with deep, dark fissures. The ice shattered plinking hundreds of crystal shards in all directions. Karatenmon then swept his remaining sword at the two oncoming digimon. The first was the dog digimon, Dobermon, followed by the water digimon, Seadramon. A blooming cloud of darkness shot towards the two Champions and engulfed them, tossing them around in a maelstrom of shadows. Seadramon crashed to the ground followed by Dobermon.

"Seadramon!" shouted a boy. A dark haired child ran up to the sea serpent.

"Dobermon!" a second boy followed the first. His small hands clasped the head of the canine digimon.

"Jason, Brendan!" shouted the boy of friendship as he ran from the alley.

"STEVEN!" shouted the man with Dobermon. His blue hair was ruffled from riding the dog but he leapt down and ran forward.

"Steven no!" shouted HishaRyuumon as he opened his mouth, "Juuouguruma!" A spinning blaze of fire shot at Karatenmon who was rushing towards the boy. The raven wizard held up his hand, and a black circle shielded him from the blast.

Asuramon dropped down in front of Steven and glared at Karatenmon. HishaRyuumon curled up behind the four armed digimon. Karatenmon smirked quietly and lifted his sword. The blue haired man ran up to Steven and then looked at the alley the boy had come from.

"Mary!" yelped the man loudly as he ran to the boys' mother.

A cruel smile crossed Karatenmon's beak as his sword charged up.

"Don't let him do it, Dobermon!" shouted Brendan loudly.

"Right, Dobermon digivolve to Cerberumon!" The pinscher morphed into a large, Rottweiler. Two head-like shoulders were grasping its forelegs and a grey mane was tied into a pair of braids. "Hell Fire!"

A swirling mass of emerald flames shot at Karatenmon. The raven lifted its palm and the flames struck a barrier and whirled around the hand and twisted around to fly back at Cerberumon. The large dog digimon yelped loudly as it was sent flying back by its own attack.

"Cerberumon!" Brendan ran forward; his father wasn't far behind.

"Seadramon, this guy is serious," whispered Jason. He looked up at the dragon with his bright, blue eyes, "We better get serious too…" Jason pulled out his tag and crest, and held up his digivice.

"Seadramon digivolve to Mega Seadramon!" The blue-green dragon grew and filled the sky as a red and white serpent with hundreds of little fins on its side. A golden helmet, with a jagged horn covered its head. "Thunder Javelin!"

The blast of lightning shot downward towards Karatenmon. The crow wizard leapt up from the attack and hovered in the air. An overconfident smirked played across his beaked mouth. A black bubble swirled up around the wizard.

"Another barrier," growled HishaRyuumon.

"I'll knock it down!" replied Asuramon loudly. He drew his four fists back and let flames roll around them, "Fire Fists of Asura!" The four blasts of flame shot up to Karatenmon. All of them struck the barrier but not a one left a noticeable dent in the dark sphere.

"Fools; my power is near completion," Karatenmon looked down at the digimon below him. "There is but one thing left to do!" Karatenmon started to glide northward.

"No you don't!" shouted HishaRyuumon and Mega Seadramon. The two dragons moved to impede Karatenmon's forward movement.

"Inferno GATE!" Cerberumon roared. A black circle shot forward and engulfed Karatenmon and then disappeared. The sound of laughter filtered through the air. Dark laughter echoed from the alleys and the shadows.

"You dare put me in a realm of darkness?" called out the voice. The circle reappeared in the sky and exploded open belching up Karatenmon. "I am darkness, nothing but darkness."

"Juuouguruma!" shouted HishaRyuumon as a twisting pinwheel of flames reached out towards Karatenmon.

"Thunder Javelin!" The lance of lightning that shot from Mega Seadramon's horn threaded through the flames created by HishaRyuumon.

The two attacks gored Karatenmon's barrier. The ball of darkness glided backward from the tandem attack but it held its ground. Karatenmon started to chuckle.

"You insects are nothing to me!" called out Karatenmon loudly. "Now part…!"

A maser of darkness shot forward, wedging Mega Seadramon and HishaRyuumon apart. Karatenmon started forward.

"Stay right there!" shouted Asuramon. The godly digimon rose up behind Karatenmon. "You won't be allowed to leave this scene!"

"Stop me then!" replied Karatenmon as his sphere started forward.

The left mask's eyes glowed brightly; followed by the right mask's eyes. The middle mask's eyes then burned bright green. Asuramon then slapped his four hands together and pushed forward, "Human Emotion!"

The middle mask's eyes and mouth exploded in light. Karatenmon turned slowly. The light shot forward and slammed the barrier. Karatenmon's red eyes opened wider as he watched the darkness of his barrier evaporate.

The crow wizard screamed as he was sent sailing backward against a beam of holy, green, light.

"Hurry, we must get him while the barrier is down!" shouted Brendan as he leapt onto Cerberumon's back.

"Let's go!" shouted Jason as he ran after Karatenmon. Mark was behind the boy of Reliability as was his brother. The children's parents started to chase after their children, save Mark and Steven's.

"We can't just leave them here," whispered the woman quietly as she looked down at the two other adults lying in the alley. The man walked forward. The woman looked at him. "Henry?"

"They were hurt by that bird creature right?" whispered the man quietly, "Is that right, Mary?"

The woman nodded. "They are Steven and Michelle's parents."

"I know…" said Henry quietly. "Samuel, Jeri, they were our friends in school remember, and then there was Michael, Jason's father, but he's older than we are, I don't know why we were friends, he's old enough to be our parents, and Herbie, Marci and Susan. We were all friends. Then that meteor…and we just sort of grew apart."

"What's wrong Henry?" asked the woman.

"I feel this strange, feeling that something is missing here…" He held his hand out and made a mock effort of gripping a small, tape measure-sized object. "Something very important…"

A small phantom of light pooled in the man's hand. The two adults looked up, at each other, in surprise. The phantom then exploded in radiance that filled the alley way.

"Ugh…" moaned Samuel as he lifted his head with a shake. "What the heck happened?"

"I don't know, I only remember that crow creature…" whispered Jeri as she winced and held herself up on her hands.

Henry and Mary looked at each other dumbfounded and then down at Henry's hand. The phantom of light slowly faded into his palm.

"That was…" whispered Henry.

"Miraculous…" Mary finished quietly as she looked aghast at her husband's hand.

888

"The holy lights are converging…" Karatenmon narrowed his eyes as he felt his chest where the blast struck. There was a dark pulse. He looked up. "Ah…Bastemon…"

The feline leapt down from the roof of a building. She was carrying a human. She dropped the man down on the ground and lifted her claws. "Karatenmon, you traitor, how dare you take my armies from me!"

"Oh, Bastemon, don't you have a bigger problem to worry about?" asked the raven wizard quietly.

"What do you mean?" growled Bastemon.

Karatenmon slowly lifted his finger and pointed behind Bastemon. The feline turned. Her eyes widened.

"PANDORA DIALOG!"

"WING BLADE!"

"TALISMAN OF LIGHT!"

"DESOLATION CLAW!"

The feline barely leapt from the collective blast. Karatenmon smirked and lifted his hand leveling a dark barrier around himself and the human that deflected the backwash of the attack.

"Now you're all here…" smiled Karatenmon. He didn't look back, but he knew Asuramon, HishaRyuumon, Cerberumon and Mega Seadramon were there.

"Then we are unstoppable!" shouted a small human voice. He looked forward and glowered at the young girl who had thwarted him earlier that evening. "If we fight together, nothing can stop us!"

Karatenmon smiled quietly. "But, you aren't all on the same side, you see, for I have my other half…"

"What do you mean?" shouted the boy of Courage loudly.

Karatenmon kneeled down and grasped the back of Mr. Takenouchi's shirt and shook him slightly. He smiled as the man's eyes slowly opened. "Well, hello there, partner…"

"It's you…isn't it?" asked the man quietly.

"Aye, we are both here, we've been waiting to see you again for a long time," said Karatenmon as the pendant around his neck pulsed feverishly. "Kuro Ishida, I've waited a long time to see you again."

"No, not…not you…" the man gulped quietly. He remembered, that voice, the voice that had come out of his mouth so many years ago.

888

AN: I will say that next chapter will probably come along a little faster, it's most fighting so, it shouldn't take as long to write, that and most of my papers and tests have been finished so I have a clearer window to work from. I apologize if this chapter is slightly lackluster, I hope to make things up next chapter.

Qiviut: Well this chapter is a bit of set up chapter. I feel this chapter is slightly schizophrenic and every time I sat down to write this chapter it felt as if the camera in my head was at an odd angle.

Alforce: Well, this will hopefully pass. I hope you are starting to understand. The real clues for your questions are in Fall of Harmony, and anyone else that has questions can look to that to see as well as to Digimon Encyclopedia at digibros, did a lot of trolling around digibros to find a way to make things work.

Blue: Well you'll just have to wait for the Mega digimon, I hope to throw a couple of wrenches into the machinations, with at least one digivolution and maybe another in the second, and considering one of the three upcoming Mega Digivolutions isn't completely determined yet…there is still a lot of stuff to be guessed.