Chapter 45 - Knights

I sobbed in disbelief as Takato's form shattered like glass and turned to dust. I collapsed onto Tai, whose eyes were squeezed shut.

"Oh no… no… why did this happen? What went wrong…? Why? Oh god… why?"

I turned my head to face MedievalGallantmon as he turned to us.

"Hmm. Not bad. Your friend there could actually have given me workout had he been able to digivolve."

A growling voice answered him.

"Who says I can't?"

BlackGuilmon was on his feet, golden eyes bright, the data cloud swirling around him. I looked on with horrified fascination.

Did BlackGuilmon just load Takato's data?

MedievalGallantmon just snorted. BlackGuilmon continued as Takato's data began to stream into him.

"Takatomon is with me. Takatomon helps me. And together… YOU! WILL! FALL!"

The data finished absorbing into his body. His eyes glowed a blood red as he let out a thundering roar and raised himself up, stretching to his full height.

His body glowed. The white knight took a step back in disbelief.

And the glowing form grew. It grew into a humanoid shape, dressed in black armor, kneeling in place, head bent down, a blue cape flowing from the shoulder guards.

BlackGuilmon Biomerge to… ChaosGallantmon!

The head snapped up to glare at MedievalGallantmon, crimson eyes blazing.

"Surprise."

And then he was up, a lance and shield forming on his hands.

"DEMON'S DISASTER!"

The attack took the white knight by surprise as Tai swore next to me. Ken echoed him.

"What?"

Tai grimaced.

"We should have seen it. Takato is ChaosGallantmon."

I frowned a little. I, like a few others, hadn't made the conscious connection quite so fast, and I looked out at the fight with some surprise.

While this was going on, MedievalGallantmon recovered and made a chopping motion with his axe. ChaosGallantmon caught it on his shield, but was still pushed back from the double-handed blow.

Takato countered with his lance, but the other knight leapt back.

"LASER OF WYVERN!"

Takato sidestepped even as he charged in close, bringing in his lance for a strike. MedievalGallantmon ducked backwards again, but this time ChaosGallantmon was ready.

"JUDECCA PRISON!"

The white knight brought up his axe to block, but was pushed back. The dark knight was quick to press the advantage. The axe was brought to bear again, and this time Takato used both lance and shield to block, resulting in a power struggle as each fought to break their opponent. MedievalGallantmon spoke.

"Not… bad! It's been… years… since I had… such a… worthy… opponent!"

"Your… point?"

"That… this will be… one of the… few… battles worth… remembering!"

"Remember… this! GRANI!"

And with that, ChaosGallantmon deliberately flung himself backwards, hitting the ground with a 'thunk'. He made no move to get up though, as the space above him was suddenly filled with a blue and gold dragon that slammed into MedievalGallantmon's chest, driving him back and slamming him into the wall before leaving the way he came, shimmering into nothing.

Takato rolled to his feet and dove into the dust kicked up by the crash. For a bit, all we could hear was the sound of metal on metal, but voices drifted out too.

"Have you… no honor?"

"Ha! Black… knights… are expected… to cheat!"

"LASER OF WYVERN!"

"DEMON'S DISASTER!"

The smoke was blown back, billowing out and past us as their attacks connected. Then MedievalGallantmon charged in, sweeping his axe across. ChaosGallantmon leapt above the swing, but was unprepared for the white fist connecting to his gut, sending him flying backwards.

"You're good, boy."

Takato groaned and didn't answer, but still rolled over to avoid the follow up chop that would likely have cleaved him in two. MedievalGallantmon jumped back even as Takato moved to his feet. He yet again charged in, trying to get close, too close for the axe to be used effectively.

Takato slammed his shield into his opponent's face, knocking him back a bit. He didn't get in a follow up strike, as MedievalGallantmon countered with the sharpened butt end of his staff. ChaosGallantmon leapt back, but not fast enough as it left a gouge in his armored torso plate.

As the sharpened edge came around, the white knight flipped ends, making the head come down at an angle, deepening the gash. The cut looked really gruesome. MedievalGallantmon's eyes glinted.

"But not quite good enough!"

Takato stood, saying nothing, and went into a slight crouch, watching the other knight, who also moved into a battle stance. I don't know how long they stood there, but it felt like hours as they stared, waiting for the other to relax, show weakness, something. All I knew was that I couldn't breathe while it was happening.

At some silent signal, they were charging each other again. When Takato suddenly dropped to one knee, lowering his head, MedievalGallantmon jumped. The black shield was up in an instant.

"JUDECCA PRISON!"

The axe came up to block again, but it wasn't quite fast enough or strong enough, and he was thrown backwards, slamming heavily into the ground. He wasn't down long though, and after a moment, rolled back to his feet, axe pointed forward.

"LASER OF WYVERN!"

The beam reflected harmlessly off the shield, and was quickly countered.

"DEMON'S DISASTER!"

MedievalGallantmon cut his attack and moved to the side, letting the black beam move harmlessly past. He charged in. The two collided once more, each struggling for dominance. Suddenly, ChaosGallantmon crashed to the ground, having been tripped by his opponent. ChaosGallantmon brought his shield up quickly to block the incoming axe. The shield was scared and dented from the impact, but it held.

The axe flashed up again, but before it could come down, the dragon interfered again, slamming into the white knight's side. It left before completing the slam into the wall, but the distraction was enough for ChaosGallantmon to get to his feet.

They were watching each other again, looking for openings.

"You're annoying, boy. Give it up! LASER OF WYVERN!"

The beam was held with the battered shield again, and Takato responded.

"Not an option. JUDECCA PRISON!"

The larger beam easily overwhelmed the first, and pushed it back, exploding at the source, sending MedievalGallantmon flying. Takato was running forward in an instant and managed to whip his lance across the other knight's torso, giving him a similar cut to his own. ChaosGallantmon also gave him a kick for good measure; slightly lengthening the white knight's hang time.

Takato jumped backwards as well, using MedievalGallantmon's recovery time to take a moment to catch his breath. Both digimon were breathing heavily, their exertion beginning to take its toll on them.

My eyes widened at the battle that was going on. This was… well, 'Clash of the Titans' came to mind as a good phrase. Next to me, Phil squeezed my hand.

"At least we know he's on our side, right Maria?"

I gave him a small smile. It didn't matter too much to me whose side the two knights were on. The biggest thing on my mind now was getting out. Just ahead of me, Lou was conversing with Tai. They nodded, and Lou came back to us.

"We're going to attempt to find a way out of here while ChaosGallantmon keeps the other one busy. We're no good like this. Tai's going to take his people and try to find the thing that's keeping us from digivolving and destroy it."

Steve frowned.

"But… How are the Odaiba kids going to accomplish that? I mean, once they find a way out, can't they just storm the place with megas? And our digimon are still tired from SkullGreymon."

Lou shrugged.

"Yes, but they'll need a larger number to stay alive in the tunnels. And they're pretty sure that MedievalGallantmon is the strongest thing in here."

"What makes them so sure?"

Lou looked Steve right in the eyes.

"Because if he isn't… We're doomed. So therefore, we operate on the assumption that nothing incredibly strong will be left in here."

Steve sweat dropped.

"Riiight."

I absently noted the Digidestined run off down the tunnel as MedievalGallantmon came at me, axe raised high.

I waited.

Once he started swinging, and overhead chop, I stepped to the side and inside his guard, striking my lance deep into the cut I had already made. I grunted as the follow through of his strike knocked me away from him, sending me spilling to the floor again.

This had been a huge gamble from the beginning. I hadn't been sure that BlackGulmon loading my data would be enough. There was some catalyst element involved in the normal process, but I wasn't sure if it merely protected the data, or if it provided some kind of extra boost.

And I still don't know what'll happen when, if, I dedigivolve…

A sudden whistling noise made me roll to the side again on instinct, and I mentally berated myself to keep my mind on the fight.

As I rolled, I gathered my legs under me, and jumped, narrowly avoiding a horizontal slash by my axe-wielding counterpart. Not meeting the expected target, he slipped off balance, and I managed to land safely and get my shield up in time for the next assault.

Then, my hand exploded in pain as the Gorgon shattered, and the axe bit deep. Cursing under my breath, I swung my lance underneath and up, hoping that I might be able to snap the shaft, or at the very least get the damn thing out of my hand.

He pulled back though, so it was a futile gesture. Hopping backwards, I focused my energy, and formed a new shield to replace the one I broke. I grimaced, though it wasn't seen through the face-plate.

I probably can't manage another one. I'm getting too tired.

I gain half a seconds time by doing that though. MedievalGallantmon was a little surprised I could regenerate my shield so easily. I lashed out suddenly.

"DEMON'S DISASTER!"

He swung the axe to block, as I suspected, but it gave me time to close the distance on him. If an attack was going to make it through, I was either going to have to be up close and personal, or he would have to be heavily distracted.

"LASER OF WYVERN!"

I blocked on my reformed shield, and it held fast, a little to my surprise.

He must be weakening too. Good. Let's see if I can wrap this up.

I started charging my shield again.

Grani. Again please.

Of course.

The digital dragon shimmered into play once more as I neared the white knight in front of me.

Unfortunately, he caught the movement out of the corner of his eye, and swung his axe. Grani's armor crumpled as the axe dug deep, and the dragon fell to the ground.

More energy built in the Gorgon up as my anger supplied it.

"GRANIII!"

I was on him in an instant, and began hammering blows. I wanted the energy in my shield to be almost ready to burst on its own before releasing it. In my anger, though, I got sloppy, and he struck first.

"LASER OF WYVERN!"

I fell back, but managed to keep a hold of the energy in the shield. I was not happy, and it showed. But to my horror, I couldn't get off my knees. I had too much of myself built into the shield at the moment, and not enough reserves to stand.

MedievalGallantmon grinned and held out the butt end of the axe. It glowed and he began writing in the air. I shakily raised my shield, focusing, just as he finished writing. He put his hand in the center, and the entire thing pulsed with power, just as the glyphs in my shield flashed.

"FINAL CREST!"

"JUDECCA PRISON!"

The two beams flew out, connecting and we concentrated on them, the barrier moving back and forth constantly. I growled in my frustration, remembering Grani, who lay just behind my opponent, and shoved everything I had left out my shield.

It was enough, and MedivalGallantmon was torn apart, becoming dust in the wind. I could feel my own data starting to fray at the edges from energy loss, and I pulled in his to compensate. I rose refreshed by the powerful data, not daring to dedigivolve any time soon.

I heard a groan, and rushed to Grani.

I just hope the others are doing okay…