Chapter 16 - The Storm Abates
"METAL WOLF CLAW!"
I smiled as MetalGarurumon knocked the Cannondramon back into its fellows. Cannondramon were hard to knock down, but they took awhile to get back on their feet.
Which is the only reason we're still alive…
"POSITRON LASER!"
Imperialdramon's attack deleted one of the hulking Cannondramon.
One down, eleven to go.
"ELECTRO SHOCKER!"
"VULCAN'S HAMMER!"
"FLOWER CANNON!"
The combined attacks of the three ultimate-leveled digimon managed to throw two of the Cannondramon back, but it wouldn't last long.
"MetalGarurumon!"
"I'm on it!"
"ICE WOLF BITE!"
One of the Cannondramon was taken down, but the other retaliated.
"GRENADE STORM!"
The successive explosions knocked MetalGarurumon back, sinking him to his knees.
"MetalGarurumon!"
I cried out again, this time in concern, running forward.
"HORN BUSTER!"
"FLOWER CANNON!"
"HORN AND TUSK!"
Cannondramon was driven out the way at the last second, and MetalGarurumon jumped to his feet, still breathing heavily.
"You okay buddy?"
"Fine Matt. Just give me a second."
I nodded, and looked around. There were very few Sora clones left, most of them having been destroyed by errant Cannondramon attacks, and those that were left still milled randomly, getting deleted left and right. As far as remaining Cannondramon went, MegaKabuterimon, Lilymon, and Zudomon had just finished theirs off; three more were headed their way, and Shakkoumon and Silphymon had two more pinned down. Imperialdramon was keeping three more occupied.
That's eight. Three have been deleted, so where's the last one?
"DINO CANNON!"
MetalGarurumon jumped up to shield me from the attack, but not all was well.
"METAL WOLF CLAW!"
The Cannondramon went down, but MetalGarurumon dedigivolved. Tsunomon looked up at me.
"Sorry… Matt…"
Then he passed out.
"Tsunomon!"
"GIGA CRUSHER!"
Imperialdramon: Fighter Mode finished his Cannondramon off, and moved to help Silphymon and Shakkoumon with their last one.
"DINO CANNON!"
I spun to my right to see Mimi, Izzy, and Joe's digimon go down under the assault of all three Cannondramon.
Crap. What happens now?
"GRENADE STORM!"
The attack sailed over my head, behind us. I turned to see Imperialdramon dedigivolve, and Silphymon and Shakkoumon groaning. I looked back to find the last three Cannondramon approaching slowly.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"So what's your attack do, Pharaohmon? Scare mon away? I can definitely see why. You're ugly enough."
"Humph. Pathetic ChaosGallantmon, you call that an insult? Weak and stupid. Oh no. I fear for my life. NECRO MIST!"
I was suddenly very glad I had loaded what data I had, because what was left suddenly formed into small mummies, four of them.
I don't know if the size or number of them increases when there's more data, but I'm pretty sure I don't want to find out…
I ignored the peons and jumped for Pharaohmon.
"DEMON'S DIS-"
I didn't get the chance, he simply smacked me into the floor, where the little mummies started holding me down. He smashed his oversized fist into my plate armor, and I heard a distinct crack.
That's not a good sign…
I struggled with the idiots holding me down, but couldn't seem to find the leverage to do so. His next hit landed on my face, and I could feel the helmet cut into my head. I noted that the mist seemed to thin out, and the grip holding me was getting weaker.
Pharaohmon noticed too.
As his attack faded completely, he grabbed me by the neck and lifted me from the ground. Anger swirled through my veins, and I gathered my strength.
"DEMON'S DISASTER!"
He dodged at the last second, letting me go and jumping out of the way. The bolt of energy sailed on, in to the glowing column, shattering it. I hit the ground with a resounding thump, and Pharaohmon screamed.
"YOU IDIOT! You just destroyed the ship's power generator!"
Really? That's bad…
Pharaohmon was not amused. He grabbed my battered form by the leg, and threw me though the wall. Several walls actually. Luckily something was there to break my fall.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I turned at the sound of something breaking.
What the…?
A moment later the wall to my left exploded, and a black armored knight flew backwards, landing on the Cannondramon, knocking them down again.
That was convenient.
There was crashing happening; apparently whatever had thrown the knight in here was coming for us. To my right, Cody called out to me.
"TK! Get over here quick!"
I turned back to see the one thing I never wanted to see happen. Cody was cradling Kari's head in his lap, moaning in pain.
"Kari…"
I was interrupted by the knight rising to his feet unsteadily. His chest plate was cracked and his helmet dented and torn, the cape in complete ruin. I made a hasty decision.
"Shakkoumon! Give your power to Veemon and Wormmon! We need Imperialdramon!"
"You too Silphymon!"
I glanced to the side to see Yolie calling out the order.
Digivolution_
Veemon Digivolve to… X-Veemon!
Wormmon Digivolve to… Stingmon!
DNA
Digivolution_
X-Veemon… Stingmon… DNA Digivolve to… Paildramon!
Digivolution_
Paildramon Digivolve to… Imperialdramon!
Imperialdramon Mode -
"Halt."
The knight stopped Imperialdramon before he could mode change. The crashing grew louder in the background, and he spoke further, and with more haste.
"Leave this place. Now."
"Why should we?!"
His eyes narrowed.
"Because I've accidentally destroyed the power generator to this place, and only one of you is in any condition to battle! Now go!"
Imperialdramon gulped.
"I can run or I can fight guys. But I can't do both, I don't have the energy."
Next to me, Matt shook his head.
"We fight! We can't leave Tai or Sora!"
The knight closed his eyes for a moment, then opened them and addressed us.
"My winged companion tells a story of a Datamon exiting with a human on a ship, then another human following on the wings of a Garudamon."
Matt was silent for a moment.
"If you're lying…"
"I am not."
"You're not in any condition to fight either… oh, my…"
Mimi was interrupted by the unusual sight before us. Rising slightly off the ground, head thrown back, the knight digimon absorbed the spare data floating around that hadn't dissipated yet, like BlackWarGrowlmon absorbing control spires. The cracks in his armor sealed, the dents in his helm smoothed out, and his cape reformed. In moments he was like new. He reached up, and clapped down his blue visor.
There's something about that visor…
"Go. Go now!"
There was a roar, and the remainder of the wall was punched out by a purple and gold glove, followed by the rest of the digimon, which was a large mummy.
Pharaohmon.
Kari's unconscious moans captured my attention once more and I moved to help Cody get her to Imperialdramon. Just before we left, Davis called out.
"Good luck!"
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I barely acknowledged Davis's statement as I watched Pharaohmon plow through the wall.
The direct approach isn't going to work with this one.
I frowned. Unless I improvised something soon, the direct approach was all I had. A slight noise made me risk a glance behind me. A Cannondramon was lifting itself off the ground.
Great. That's just what I need right now. Better take care of them first.
I knew turning my back on Pharaohmon was stupid, but if those Cannondramon joined in I would quickly be overwhelmed. I rushed the first one, still trying to regain its feet, and flipped myself over it's head and on to it's back, running down between the cannons towards the other two, at the last second, I jumped off the Cannondramon's back, high into the air.
"DINO CANNON!"
"JUDECCA PRISON!"
As I jumped, the attack from the third Cannondramon off to the side hit where I had been standing only a moment before, smashing the Cannondramon into the ground. My attack was aimed at the Cannondramon I was running towards, deleting it. I spun quickly to take advantage of the downed Cannon behind me.
"DEMON'S DISASTER!"
My attack tore a hole right through its torso, reducing it to dust.
"NECRO MIST!"
Crap.
It seemed that the more data there was, the more the little guys increased in number. Right now there were a lot of them, I couldn't get an exact count. I just concentrated on keeping out of their grip.
"GRENADE STORM!"
I tucked and rolled, and the majority of the blasts passed over head, striking the little things. I groaned when the mist instantly began to reform them.
Not cool…
I doubled back on the creepy guys, and tried to jump over them. I stress the tried, because at that moment a giant fist impacted onto my side, sending me flying towards the Cannondramon. I spread my arms as I sailed, attempting to make as un-aerodynamic a shape as possible, in an effort to slow myself down.
"DINO CANNON!"
I swung myself around, catching the beam on the Gorgon, and was slowed, then propelled backwards, back towards Pharaohmon. Raising my lance, I charged energy for attack.
"DEMON'S DISASTER!"
He instinctively blocked the attack, covering himself with his arms. My attack hit head on, and actually did some damage. Getting closer, I cut my attack and rebounded off his chest, shooting off to one side, letting the Cannondramon's attack impact as well.
He groaned in pain at his burnt arms. He growled and pointed at the Cannondramon, and his little minions destroyed it, leaving me alone as I hit the floor. Then the mist faded before he could order them back to business, and it was just Pharaohmon and I. He sneered at me.
"Not bad. You're the toughest opponent I've had in awhile. Time to end this!"
He rushed at me, and I dodged, barely, but I hadn't counted on his agility, as he hit me in the back, sending me to the floor, almost out of the hole in the wall to a drop that was certain death. Pharaohmon grinned as he approached. He lifted his foot and slammed it down against me. I felt my armor buckle again, and the floor under me cracked under the force.
"This is the end of the line ChaosGallantmon! Prepare for your demise!"
He began another fierce stomp, but then the floor tipped, sending him sprawling backwards. I slammed my lance into one of the cracks in the floor, keeping myself there as the floor went vertical and became a wall. It seemed that whatever power reserves Pharaohmon's ship had had just run dry. The ship started falling in a dive, and Pharaohmon fell back to the wall, hitting with a grunt. He recovered quickly, and began climbing the wall towards me.
Vindictive, isn't he?
I gathered my damaged body against the wall and sprang outward a few feet, and pointed my shield down towards Pharahmon.
"JUDECCA PRISON!"
My attack hit Pharaohmon's head, and the resistance shot me backwards and up, out of the hole the Digidestined had plowed through. I tumbled through the air for a few moments, smiling under the facemask. Pharaohmon wouldn't be back anytime soon. I started to fall as well, and I let the gravity control me as I fell.
Then a hard metal surface slammed into me from below.
Grani.
*Greetings Tamer.*
*Takato, Grani, Takato.*
*Of course. Should we land?*
*As much as I'd like to, we should follow Tai and Garudamon. She hasn't eaten in days, there's no telling how much power she has left. It's a wonder she's been up at the ultimate level this long.*
*Agreed.*
Grani took off in what I hoped was the appropriate direction, and I kneeled to catch my breath. Behind us, the ship crashed in a symphony of light and sound, being heard and seen for miles around.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Datamon leered crazily at me, still gripping my arm in one hand and my digivice in the other. Then an explosion ripped through the area, and Datamon was distracted by the sudden noise.
Now or never…
I moved suddenly, hoping to catch him off guard and made a grab at my digivice. I got it from him before he could react, and he used the arm to hit me, sending me to the other end of the ship.
"You shouldn't have done that my dear, you shouldn't have done that."
I spat at him.
"The Digidestined will come for me!"
He chuckled.
"Perhaps, but I think that perhaps you should worry more about what ChaosGallantmon wants with you."
ChaosGallantmon?
"WING BLADE!"
Before he could elaborate, his end of the ship exploded as Garudamon's attack sliced through, deleting him instantly. I looked up to see Garudamon with Tai on her back.
Then she started shrinking, and Tai, Koromon, and Yokomon feel to the deck. Yokomon spoke first.
"Sorry Sora…"
"She hasn't eaten since you were taken. I'm surprised we made it this far…"
"Yokomon…"
I picked her up and held her to me. Tai smiled at me, then looked around.
"So how do we get this thing to land?"
Uh oh.
"Ummm. The controls were taken out when Garudamon destroyed Datamon."
Tai sighed.
"Sorry Sora. Looks like we found you in time to die."
I smiled sadly.
"It's not your fault Tai. You did your best."
His smile was a twin to mine.
"Yeah. It just wasn't enough."
"I thought you people never gave up."
I looked skyward again. Descending was a large blue and gold dragon, a black knight on top. The dragon leveled out with our aimless ship and the knight looked at us expectantly.
"Well, are you coming or not?"
Tai seemed a little nervous.
"How do we know we can trust you?"
He pointed in front of us.
"I don't think you have a choice…"
I looked back. We were headed straight towards a mountain. Tai's eyes grew to the size of dinner plates, before, without a word, he turned and grabbed Koromon and me, jumping onto the dragon. It pealed off instantly, as the ship continued its course towards the mountain. I spoke a little hesitantly.
"Datamon said a knight, ChaosGallantmon, wanted me for something, are…"
He sighed.
"Yes, I am he."
Tai's eyes narrowed suspiciously, and he stepped protectively in front of me.
"And what do you want her for?"
He looked up, and he sighed again.
"It no longer matters. The issue is… moot… now. I no longer have an interest in the situation. I will return you safely to the ground, then depart."
I stepped out from behind Tai.
"Thanks."
He just grunted in response, and the dragon began to spiral to the ground. We got off, and to my surprise, he dismounted as well. He kneeled next to his mount.
"Go home, my friend. You've earned a long rest."
The dragon flew up, and then heat waves appeared around it, and it faded from view. He inspected his armor and sighed.
"It will take days to recover from this."
I looked up at the damaged knight, and tried to smile. The black armor, and the fact that he had wanted me for something, memories of Datamon still in my mind, made me a little hesitant.
"Will we see you again?"
He chuckled then, a strange sound from him.
"Knowing my luck, yes."
Then, his shield formed, and the central symbol flashed green, and he exploded into a green mist.
Creepy…
Tai smiled and held out his hand.
"Come on. Let's get you home."
"METAL WOLF CLAW!"
I smiled as MetalGarurumon knocked the Cannondramon back into its fellows. Cannondramon were hard to knock down, but they took awhile to get back on their feet.
Which is the only reason we're still alive…
"POSITRON LASER!"
Imperialdramon's attack deleted one of the hulking Cannondramon.
One down, eleven to go.
"ELECTRO SHOCKER!"
"VULCAN'S HAMMER!"
"FLOWER CANNON!"
The combined attacks of the three ultimate-leveled digimon managed to throw two of the Cannondramon back, but it wouldn't last long.
"MetalGarurumon!"
"I'm on it!"
"ICE WOLF BITE!"
One of the Cannondramon was taken down, but the other retaliated.
"GRENADE STORM!"
The successive explosions knocked MetalGarurumon back, sinking him to his knees.
"MetalGarurumon!"
I cried out again, this time in concern, running forward.
"HORN BUSTER!"
"FLOWER CANNON!"
"HORN AND TUSK!"
Cannondramon was driven out the way at the last second, and MetalGarurumon jumped to his feet, still breathing heavily.
"You okay buddy?"
"Fine Matt. Just give me a second."
I nodded, and looked around. There were very few Sora clones left, most of them having been destroyed by errant Cannondramon attacks, and those that were left still milled randomly, getting deleted left and right. As far as remaining Cannondramon went, MegaKabuterimon, Lilymon, and Zudomon had just finished theirs off; three more were headed their way, and Shakkoumon and Silphymon had two more pinned down. Imperialdramon was keeping three more occupied.
That's eight. Three have been deleted, so where's the last one?
"DINO CANNON!"
MetalGarurumon jumped up to shield me from the attack, but not all was well.
"METAL WOLF CLAW!"
The Cannondramon went down, but MetalGarurumon dedigivolved. Tsunomon looked up at me.
"Sorry… Matt…"
Then he passed out.
"Tsunomon!"
"GIGA CRUSHER!"
Imperialdramon: Fighter Mode finished his Cannondramon off, and moved to help Silphymon and Shakkoumon with their last one.
"DINO CANNON!"
I spun to my right to see Mimi, Izzy, and Joe's digimon go down under the assault of all three Cannondramon.
Crap. What happens now?
"GRENADE STORM!"
The attack sailed over my head, behind us. I turned to see Imperialdramon dedigivolve, and Silphymon and Shakkoumon groaning. I looked back to find the last three Cannondramon approaching slowly.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"So what's your attack do, Pharaohmon? Scare mon away? I can definitely see why. You're ugly enough."
"Humph. Pathetic ChaosGallantmon, you call that an insult? Weak and stupid. Oh no. I fear for my life. NECRO MIST!"
I was suddenly very glad I had loaded what data I had, because what was left suddenly formed into small mummies, four of them.
I don't know if the size or number of them increases when there's more data, but I'm pretty sure I don't want to find out…
I ignored the peons and jumped for Pharaohmon.
"DEMON'S DIS-"
I didn't get the chance, he simply smacked me into the floor, where the little mummies started holding me down. He smashed his oversized fist into my plate armor, and I heard a distinct crack.
That's not a good sign…
I struggled with the idiots holding me down, but couldn't seem to find the leverage to do so. His next hit landed on my face, and I could feel the helmet cut into my head. I noted that the mist seemed to thin out, and the grip holding me was getting weaker.
Pharaohmon noticed too.
As his attack faded completely, he grabbed me by the neck and lifted me from the ground. Anger swirled through my veins, and I gathered my strength.
"DEMON'S DISASTER!"
He dodged at the last second, letting me go and jumping out of the way. The bolt of energy sailed on, in to the glowing column, shattering it. I hit the ground with a resounding thump, and Pharaohmon screamed.
"YOU IDIOT! You just destroyed the ship's power generator!"
Really? That's bad…
Pharaohmon was not amused. He grabbed my battered form by the leg, and threw me though the wall. Several walls actually. Luckily something was there to break my fall.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I turned at the sound of something breaking.
What the…?
A moment later the wall to my left exploded, and a black armored knight flew backwards, landing on the Cannondramon, knocking them down again.
That was convenient.
There was crashing happening; apparently whatever had thrown the knight in here was coming for us. To my right, Cody called out to me.
"TK! Get over here quick!"
I turned back to see the one thing I never wanted to see happen. Cody was cradling Kari's head in his lap, moaning in pain.
"Kari…"
I was interrupted by the knight rising to his feet unsteadily. His chest plate was cracked and his helmet dented and torn, the cape in complete ruin. I made a hasty decision.
"Shakkoumon! Give your power to Veemon and Wormmon! We need Imperialdramon!"
"You too Silphymon!"
I glanced to the side to see Yolie calling out the order.
Digivolution_
Veemon Digivolve to… X-Veemon!
Wormmon Digivolve to… Stingmon!
DNA
Digivolution_
X-Veemon… Stingmon… DNA Digivolve to… Paildramon!
Digivolution_
Paildramon Digivolve to… Imperialdramon!
Imperialdramon Mode -
"Halt."
The knight stopped Imperialdramon before he could mode change. The crashing grew louder in the background, and he spoke further, and with more haste.
"Leave this place. Now."
"Why should we?!"
His eyes narrowed.
"Because I've accidentally destroyed the power generator to this place, and only one of you is in any condition to battle! Now go!"
Imperialdramon gulped.
"I can run or I can fight guys. But I can't do both, I don't have the energy."
Next to me, Matt shook his head.
"We fight! We can't leave Tai or Sora!"
The knight closed his eyes for a moment, then opened them and addressed us.
"My winged companion tells a story of a Datamon exiting with a human on a ship, then another human following on the wings of a Garudamon."
Matt was silent for a moment.
"If you're lying…"
"I am not."
"You're not in any condition to fight either… oh, my…"
Mimi was interrupted by the unusual sight before us. Rising slightly off the ground, head thrown back, the knight digimon absorbed the spare data floating around that hadn't dissipated yet, like BlackWarGrowlmon absorbing control spires. The cracks in his armor sealed, the dents in his helm smoothed out, and his cape reformed. In moments he was like new. He reached up, and clapped down his blue visor.
There's something about that visor…
"Go. Go now!"
There was a roar, and the remainder of the wall was punched out by a purple and gold glove, followed by the rest of the digimon, which was a large mummy.
Pharaohmon.
Kari's unconscious moans captured my attention once more and I moved to help Cody get her to Imperialdramon. Just before we left, Davis called out.
"Good luck!"
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I barely acknowledged Davis's statement as I watched Pharaohmon plow through the wall.
The direct approach isn't going to work with this one.
I frowned. Unless I improvised something soon, the direct approach was all I had. A slight noise made me risk a glance behind me. A Cannondramon was lifting itself off the ground.
Great. That's just what I need right now. Better take care of them first.
I knew turning my back on Pharaohmon was stupid, but if those Cannondramon joined in I would quickly be overwhelmed. I rushed the first one, still trying to regain its feet, and flipped myself over it's head and on to it's back, running down between the cannons towards the other two, at the last second, I jumped off the Cannondramon's back, high into the air.
"DINO CANNON!"
"JUDECCA PRISON!"
As I jumped, the attack from the third Cannondramon off to the side hit where I had been standing only a moment before, smashing the Cannondramon into the ground. My attack was aimed at the Cannondramon I was running towards, deleting it. I spun quickly to take advantage of the downed Cannon behind me.
"DEMON'S DISASTER!"
My attack tore a hole right through its torso, reducing it to dust.
"NECRO MIST!"
Crap.
It seemed that the more data there was, the more the little guys increased in number. Right now there were a lot of them, I couldn't get an exact count. I just concentrated on keeping out of their grip.
"GRENADE STORM!"
I tucked and rolled, and the majority of the blasts passed over head, striking the little things. I groaned when the mist instantly began to reform them.
Not cool…
I doubled back on the creepy guys, and tried to jump over them. I stress the tried, because at that moment a giant fist impacted onto my side, sending me flying towards the Cannondramon. I spread my arms as I sailed, attempting to make as un-aerodynamic a shape as possible, in an effort to slow myself down.
"DINO CANNON!"
I swung myself around, catching the beam on the Gorgon, and was slowed, then propelled backwards, back towards Pharaohmon. Raising my lance, I charged energy for attack.
"DEMON'S DISASTER!"
He instinctively blocked the attack, covering himself with his arms. My attack hit head on, and actually did some damage. Getting closer, I cut my attack and rebounded off his chest, shooting off to one side, letting the Cannondramon's attack impact as well.
He groaned in pain at his burnt arms. He growled and pointed at the Cannondramon, and his little minions destroyed it, leaving me alone as I hit the floor. Then the mist faded before he could order them back to business, and it was just Pharaohmon and I. He sneered at me.
"Not bad. You're the toughest opponent I've had in awhile. Time to end this!"
He rushed at me, and I dodged, barely, but I hadn't counted on his agility, as he hit me in the back, sending me to the floor, almost out of the hole in the wall to a drop that was certain death. Pharaohmon grinned as he approached. He lifted his foot and slammed it down against me. I felt my armor buckle again, and the floor under me cracked under the force.
"This is the end of the line ChaosGallantmon! Prepare for your demise!"
He began another fierce stomp, but then the floor tipped, sending him sprawling backwards. I slammed my lance into one of the cracks in the floor, keeping myself there as the floor went vertical and became a wall. It seemed that whatever power reserves Pharaohmon's ship had had just run dry. The ship started falling in a dive, and Pharaohmon fell back to the wall, hitting with a grunt. He recovered quickly, and began climbing the wall towards me.
Vindictive, isn't he?
I gathered my damaged body against the wall and sprang outward a few feet, and pointed my shield down towards Pharahmon.
"JUDECCA PRISON!"
My attack hit Pharaohmon's head, and the resistance shot me backwards and up, out of the hole the Digidestined had plowed through. I tumbled through the air for a few moments, smiling under the facemask. Pharaohmon wouldn't be back anytime soon. I started to fall as well, and I let the gravity control me as I fell.
Then a hard metal surface slammed into me from below.
Grani.
*Greetings Tamer.*
*Takato, Grani, Takato.*
*Of course. Should we land?*
*As much as I'd like to, we should follow Tai and Garudamon. She hasn't eaten in days, there's no telling how much power she has left. It's a wonder she's been up at the ultimate level this long.*
*Agreed.*
Grani took off in what I hoped was the appropriate direction, and I kneeled to catch my breath. Behind us, the ship crashed in a symphony of light and sound, being heard and seen for miles around.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Datamon leered crazily at me, still gripping my arm in one hand and my digivice in the other. Then an explosion ripped through the area, and Datamon was distracted by the sudden noise.
Now or never…
I moved suddenly, hoping to catch him off guard and made a grab at my digivice. I got it from him before he could react, and he used the arm to hit me, sending me to the other end of the ship.
"You shouldn't have done that my dear, you shouldn't have done that."
I spat at him.
"The Digidestined will come for me!"
He chuckled.
"Perhaps, but I think that perhaps you should worry more about what ChaosGallantmon wants with you."
ChaosGallantmon?
"WING BLADE!"
Before he could elaborate, his end of the ship exploded as Garudamon's attack sliced through, deleting him instantly. I looked up to see Garudamon with Tai on her back.
Then she started shrinking, and Tai, Koromon, and Yokomon feel to the deck. Yokomon spoke first.
"Sorry Sora…"
"She hasn't eaten since you were taken. I'm surprised we made it this far…"
"Yokomon…"
I picked her up and held her to me. Tai smiled at me, then looked around.
"So how do we get this thing to land?"
Uh oh.
"Ummm. The controls were taken out when Garudamon destroyed Datamon."
Tai sighed.
"Sorry Sora. Looks like we found you in time to die."
I smiled sadly.
"It's not your fault Tai. You did your best."
His smile was a twin to mine.
"Yeah. It just wasn't enough."
"I thought you people never gave up."
I looked skyward again. Descending was a large blue and gold dragon, a black knight on top. The dragon leveled out with our aimless ship and the knight looked at us expectantly.
"Well, are you coming or not?"
Tai seemed a little nervous.
"How do we know we can trust you?"
He pointed in front of us.
"I don't think you have a choice…"
I looked back. We were headed straight towards a mountain. Tai's eyes grew to the size of dinner plates, before, without a word, he turned and grabbed Koromon and me, jumping onto the dragon. It pealed off instantly, as the ship continued its course towards the mountain. I spoke a little hesitantly.
"Datamon said a knight, ChaosGallantmon, wanted me for something, are…"
He sighed.
"Yes, I am he."
Tai's eyes narrowed suspiciously, and he stepped protectively in front of me.
"And what do you want her for?"
He looked up, and he sighed again.
"It no longer matters. The issue is… moot… now. I no longer have an interest in the situation. I will return you safely to the ground, then depart."
I stepped out from behind Tai.
"Thanks."
He just grunted in response, and the dragon began to spiral to the ground. We got off, and to my surprise, he dismounted as well. He kneeled next to his mount.
"Go home, my friend. You've earned a long rest."
The dragon flew up, and then heat waves appeared around it, and it faded from view. He inspected his armor and sighed.
"It will take days to recover from this."
I looked up at the damaged knight, and tried to smile. The black armor, and the fact that he had wanted me for something, memories of Datamon still in my mind, made me a little hesitant.
"Will we see you again?"
He chuckled then, a strange sound from him.
"Knowing my luck, yes."
Then, his shield formed, and the central symbol flashed green, and he exploded into a green mist.
Creepy…
Tai smiled and held out his hand.
"Come on. Let's get you home."