'Kidnap Part 3: Silphymon's Lightning Speed'
"Izzy. Izzy, wake up!"
Izzy slowly came to. His last clear memory was trying to pull Kari out of a pit of darkness, then he'd had the unpleasant sensation of falling, then...nothing. "Where...where am I?"
"I don't know" Yolei said. "They captured us just after we came here. They took Hawkmon and Gatomon with them, and they took Kari somewhere a few hours ago."
"Kari...KARI! Where is she?" Izzy got up, looking around.
"I don't know," Yolei answered, aware of how Izzy felt about Kari. "I didn't see Scizor or Tentomon when we came here. They might be free still..."
Izzy looked around desperately. His mind started to work again, and he checked what he still had with him. "I still have my digivice" he wondered, surprised the guards had not taken it.
"Mine too. And my D-Terminal," Yolei replied. "I can't get through to the others, and without Hawkmon, my D-3 is useless. And I wish they'd stop playing that blasted ocean sounds music!"
Izzy blinked at Yolei, and listened. Then, he too heard it. The sound of waves crashing on rocks...
==Digital World.
Tai had shown up just after Sneasel's attack, hoping to add moral support. Instead, he had found that his sister was gone, as were Izzy and Yolei, their digimon, and Scizor. Needless to say, he hadn't taken it well.
"YOU JUST STOOD THERE" Tai roared, holding Seth by his shirt.
"Just back off!" Seth shoved Tai back, also angry. "If you think I just let them get away, I'll-"
"Both of you, knock it off!" Cody got between the two. "There's no point blaming anyone for this, we should be trying to find a way to get her back!"
"But-"
"SHUT UP TAI!" Everyone stopped, staring at Davis. The digidestined, Veemon standing beside him, looked at Tai, face twisted by fury. "You think you're the only one that wants to get her back? She's our friend too, so stop acting like a jerk and help us already!"
No one spoke for a second. Tai slumped down to his knees, emotionally drained.
"I called Ken and Ryo" TK said to Davis. "They said to meet us at Ken's old base; he says he has an idea. And they said that Baihumon would meet us there too."
"Great. Let's get going."
As the group headed out, Davis went up beside Seth. "Hey, I'm sorry about Tai. He's, well..."
"Forget it" Seth replied. "Something like that happened to me, I'd go nuts too."
Davis looked at June, alongside Kyle. "Yeah" he said, remembering the fight against Cyclomon. "I know what you mean. Don't tell her I said that, though."
Seth grinned. "My lips are sealed." At the town outskirts, all the monsters that could digivolve to flyers did so, and carried the children off to the site of the Emperor's old base.
==
Kari knew that this wasn't real. She knew that she was taken prisoner by the same people that had tried to capture her once before and make her their 'queen'. She knew that, as the bearer of the Crest of Light, she was being singled out for her unusual abilities. That didn't make the nightmare hallucinations Demon was feeding her any less painful to experience.
"This is all your fault," the image of Tai screamed at her. As Kari watched, 'Tai' began to turn into stone, then crumbled. "If you were stronger, I'd still be alive!"
"Gatomon" Kari called. "Help me!"
"I'm coming, Kari!" With relief, she saw Gatomon coming towards her, face unmarred by hate or anger. Then, she watched as her partner was speared by a bolt of electricity, and slammed against a wall.
"No!" Kari moved towards Gatomon, but a forearm struck her, pinning her to the wall only a few feet from her digimon. In front of her, the Digimon Emperor's face leered. "You think you're so special," the face said. "You're just a coward."
Kari struggled, trying to get to her partner.
"Looking for this," the Emperor asked, holding up Kari's digivice. As she watched, the screen, then the D-3 itself began to crack, then shattered into countless pieces. As it did, so did Gatomon's image. "You're just a pretender. You were a fine puppet for the forces of Light, but little else."
"You're lying!" Kari shouted back, denying the image.
The emperor pulled his goggles off, revealing Izzy's face underneath. "I don't know what I ever saw in you..."
==
Demon and Dagomon watched the girl, unconscious and lying down inside a field of dark energy. "Progress?"
"None, my lord" Dagomon replied angrily. "Her body rejected the Dark Spore we tried to implant when she was brought here, and her will is yet too strong to condition her mind to accept it." Dagomon glared at the unconscious girl, furious. "Why do we not just destroy her?"
Demon held back a chuckle. "You're just angry because your precious Deep Ones botched the job so miserably. 'Scubamon', please."
Dagomon flinched, not wishing to be reminded of that debacle. He had executed the Deep Ones that had failed him, but he was still needled about it by his peers.
"As for the girl," Demon said, "she is more use to me alive and filled with the power of the Dark Ocean. Once she is, we defeat the powers of Light, open the gates to the Digital World, and simply flood the place." Demon chuckled at his small joke, then left, heading back to his throne room.
There, Demon met Arukenimon. "Now. my dear, we must do something about your track record."
"It's not my fault. Turning control spires into digimon is a fine plan, but those kids have been blowing up every spire they could once they found out what we were doing. And now that they have two ultimate digimon on their side."
"Then we should even the playing field a bit." Demon ushered Arukenimon through a door, onto, a small balcony overlooking a vast field.
A field of Control Spires.
"Will this be enough to suit your needs? Rest assured, I can easily create more."
==Digital World, an hour ago
Since meeting his old friend again, Ken had hoped that he could put his days as the Emperor behind him. At the beginning of the day, Ken and Ryo had managed to slip out, taking advantage of a convenient day off from school so the two friends could really catch up on old times. They didn't know that Baihumon had managed to arrange to have Ken's entire school undergo a full fire safety inspection, nor would they have cared.
Then, Ryo had gotten the message of Kari's abduction. The two had hurried back to Ken's place, and taken a portal to the digital world, coming out in Primary Village. There, Baihumon, in his true form, had met them, filled them in on the specifics of the situation, as well as who had done it.
"The Dark Ocean," Baihumon had said. "I'm sure of it, this has all their trademarks."
"Can we get Kari back?" Wormmon had asked. He had felt, dimly, the power of the other dimension, and feared the worst.
"Not without a stable portal. And they'd have been sure to take care of every one they knew of before carrying this out."
Ken didn't say anything for a second. Then, "I know where there might be one." That was why, an hour later, Ken, Ryo, their partner monsters, and Baihumon were looking over the wreckage of Ken's old base. The former Emperor shivered, trying to fight back the nausea he felt as he looked at the place. Ryo put his hand on Ken's shoulder, trying to ease his friend's mind.
A roar caught their ears. "That must be Charizard" Wormmon said, searching for the fire pokemon. The group spotted him, and the rest of the digidestined heading towards them. Ken noted that Tai and Agumon were there too, and wondered if he'd have a chance to explain his plan before Greymon deep-fried him.
"We got here as soon as we could," Davis said, hopping off of Exveemon's back when they landed. "What's the plan?"
"Inside the...base" Ken said. "Baihumon said that the Dark Ocean was behind Kari's kidnapping. I think that place gave the power to my base as well. Nothing else could have restrained the power of the golden digiegg for as long as it was."
"So there's a portal inside?" Tai looked at Ken, who stepped back.
"Easy, Tai" TK said. "If Ken's right, it's as good a plan as any."
Ryo nodded. "So we go inside, find out where the power came from, and use it to build a portal to the Dark Ocean, charge in, and rescue everyone."
"Simple" Seth said, standing beside Wizardmon. Ken then led the group into the base.
==Dark Ocean
"So far, so good" Tentomon said to Scizor, who was watching for any more attackers. "Though I'd feel better if we were someplace else. Florida comes to mind." Tentomon babbled a bit more, trying to mask the fear he felt. It was understandable to Scizor; without Izzy, Tentomon couldn't digivolve, and they were behind enemy lines, so to speak. Scizor himself was also worn down. He still had not recovered from his fight with Lynxmon, and when they had landed, the pair had been forced to deal with a small squad of shadowy beings.
The shadow-beings fell easily enough, Scizor thought. But he could easily get swarmed; his training was mostly for one on one battles in the Pokemon leagues; in a standing fight against a numerically superior opponent, he'd lose. Then, the bug pokemon heard a sound, and raised a claw.
"What is it?" Tentomon hissed, trying to keep quiet.
Scizor narrowed his eyes, trying to look past the shadow-beings in front of the door. Just past them, Scizor could make out the sound of Hawkmon trying to rouse someone. Gatomon! Quickly, he motioned Tentomon to wait here, while Scizor drew the Deep Ones away from the door. Getting their attention should be easy enough...
"Who's there" the faint half-voice rasped. One of the Deep ones moved towards Scizor, who had stepped out into plain sight. "Did the Master send you...?" Scizor's reply, a powered up Metal Claw, gave the Deep One his answer, about a second before the demonic entity discorporated. Scizor took no pleasure in destroying the creature, but he knew the folly of leaving someone behind to sound an alarm.
The two other deep ones watched this and moved to attack Scizor. The pokemon darted back, luring them past Tentomon. When the two were in position, the Deep Ones were felled by a combination of Scizor's Swift attack and Tentomon's Super Shocker. Once they were dispatched, the two monsters rushed to the door.
Opening it, they found Hawkmon on the ground, Gatomon lying beside him, writhing in agony. "We have to get her out of here," Hawkmon said urgently. "I think whatever they're doing to Kari is having an effect on her, too!"
"We'll do what we can" Tentomon said. "Just one question. Where did they take her?"
Tentomon's voice roused Gatomon. "K...Kari...." She blinked twice, saw Scizor and Tentomon standing over her. "You're here. We have to find Kari now! They're doing something to her!"
"Wouldn't we be better off if we found Izzy and Yolei first" Tentomon hazarded. "We'd have a batter chance at saving her if Hawkmon and I could digivolve."
"No! We have to find Kari first!"
"He's right," Hawkmon said. "Two rookies, a weakened champion digimon, and a pokemon that's already been in several fights today won't have a chance against at least two ultimate level digimon!"
"You do what you want!" Gatomon turned to leave. "I'm going after Kari!" Gatomon turned to leave, but Scizor blocked her way. "Outta my way, bug!"
"Knock...it...off," Scizor rasped, throwing the words Gatomon had said to him back in Andromon's city, a seeming eternity ago. The other monsters stared, not sure what to make of Scizor's newfound ability to speak.
==Digital World
Ken led the group inside his base, recalling dimly the way around. "OK, the main power core is just past the spire generator."
"I thought we wrecked it," Cody said, remembering his time inside the base.
"It was a control room, but not the actual equipment itself" Ken replied. He opened a large door. "It's just past-" He stopped, stunned.
"What is it?" Davis asked, pushing past everyone to see what Ken saw. All he saw was an empty room.
"The Spire constructor." Ken breathed, unable to believe what he saw. "It's...gone."
"Maybe it vanished when the base was wrecked." TK said.
"No!" Ken insisted. "It was a physical construct, I know it!"
Ryo calmed his friend down. "Easy, kid. Let's just find the main power core, then we can get our friends back, alright?" Ken nodded, and continued leading.
Wizardmon hung back, surveying the empty room. "What's up?" Armadillomon asked, noticing Wizardmon staying behind.
"Ken was right," Wizardmon said. "Someone else has been here. I fear the worst."
"Well, we got more important things to deal with now" Armadillomon replied. "The golden digiegg was powering this place, and it's gone now, right? So all whoever it was that made off with the doohickey just got a big pile of junk."
"Yes," Wizardmon said, unconvinced, "perhaps."
Inside the power Room, Ken quickly set to work checking some of the systems. "As the Emperor, I knew the power for this base came from an external source, but I never suspected that it came from another dimension. From what you told me, I think...yes!" Ken pointed to a small panel, which was still dimly lit.
Baihumon, in his human guise, looked at the panel. "Yes. That is the Dark Ocean's energy. And this base is still receiving a small amount of it. There may be enough to open a portal as planned."
"Hold it." TK said. "Where is this portal going to open?"
"He's right." Patamon stared at Ken. "If we don't watch where we put the other end of the portal, we could wind up hip deep in bad guys."
"If you mean Deep Ones" Baihumon said, "Don't worry. They're specialty is swarming, but they're not too strong, or smart. And don't worry about the portal. I've had a bit of experience with this sort of thing."
"Deep ones?" Davis asked TK, confused.
"It's those things that took Kari when she was dragged off to that alternate world. They impersonated Digimon, but Angewomon was able to drive them away. They were saying something about making Kari their queen."
Baihumon winced. "I was afraid of that. They may be trying to corrupt Kari in the same way they did Ken. We'd better hurry. Relax." he told Tai, who looked ready to explode. "Kari's much stronger than you give her credit for. The powers of Light chose well when they picked her."
==Dark Ocean
"Sir," Arukenimon reported, "the digidestined in the Digital World are attempting to open a portal here."
"Hmm. Who saw that one coming," Demon replied. "Well, we should reward their efforts. My dear, if you could? We should be able to manage two conscripts."
Arukenimon nodded, plucking out several strands of hair. "Spirit Needle!" The silver darts embedded themselves in some of the control spires. The spires lifted, formed into two points of light, and reshaped themselves into digimon!
When the process was completed, Arukenimon addressed the artificial digimon. "Go destroy the digidestined trying to come here and the base as well. We can't afford to have anyone else following them here." The two nodded, and headed through a rift in the sky that Demon opened for them.
As they left, Demon turned to Arukenimon. "Megadramon and a viral WereGarurumon? You do have taste."
==
The group of monsters slowly crept along the corridors, Gatomon getting edgier with every minute. She could feel the torment that her partner was going through, yet as she got closer, she could also feel that Kari was still there, unbroken. "Just hold on," she said quietly, waiting for Hawkmon and Tentomon to return from scouting ahead. "We'll be there soon." Beside her, Scizor put a claw on her head, indicating that he shared her sentiments.
Finally, the two rookie digimon returned. "I think we found them" Tentomon said, pointing to the direction he had come from.
"Well, I know Yolei's voice better than anyone's," Hawkmon added, drawing a smirk from Gatomon, appreciating the attempt at humor. "The bad news is that there are more of those things guarding the way in."
Scizor stood up, wings extended. "No...problem," he said. His voice was starting to smooth out, though it still reminded Hawkmon faintly of the time Yolei was playing with a synthesizer after one of Matt's concerts.
Tentomon watched as Scizor moved towards the guards. "That voice is starting to creep me out. So, are we going to help him?"
==
The five Deep Ones wondered what they had done to anger Dagomon so. Guard duty was bad enough, but that purple haired girl was making an unpleasant job ten times worse. If she wasn't screaming her lungs out, she was pestering every guard within earshot.
"Hey," Yolei yelled out of the cell she and Izzy were in, "I want a phone call! You hear me?"
"Yolei, forget it." Izzy said, despairing. "Yelling at them won't get us out of here. And there aren't any phones we could use anyway."
"Well, just giving up won't help! Listen, I might not be as all knowing as you are, but I do know that Kari won't go for someone who curls up and surrenders at the first sign of trouble!"
Hurt by the barb, Izzy snapp[ed back at Yolei. "How is yelling at those shadows going to help us or Kari?"
"How should I know? Maybe I'll get one of them ticked off enough to open the door and come in. When he does, you hit him over the head with..." Yolei trailed off, not sure what they could hit a Deep One with, much less what they could do after that. "Alright, it's not a perfect plan! But I'm not giving up!"
From behind the door where the guards were, there were sounds of a scuffle. Then, the door was blown away in a blast of golden light and electricity. Through the wreckage, Scizor and Tentomon stepped through.
"Tentomon" Izzy said, spirits brightening.
"Good to see you again," Tentomon replied, setting to work on the cell door. The bug digimon cocked his head over, calling to Scizor and Hawkmon, who also stepped through. "A little help here, please?" A less violent barrage of electricity, spinning feathers, and stars hit the lock to the door, opening the cell.
Izzy and Yolei grabbed their partners, glad to see them relatively unharmed. "Now what," Yolei asked. "Do you know where they took Kari?"
"No" Gatomon said. "But we have to find her, now."
"Now that we're free, maybe..." Yolei took out her D-3, and started scanning for Kari's digivice. "They didn't take our digivices, so Kari might still have hers with her. It's a weak signal, but I think I can track it. This way!"
==
Demon noted the alarm from the area where the other two digidestined were held. Waving a hand, he summoned up a rectangular wall of fog, which showed a hazy image of the digidestined, their partner digimon, Gatomon, and Scizor headed towards where Kari was being brainwashed.
"Sneasel. You are needed." A shadow materialized in front of Demon. "You have an unfinished battle to settle. Go to where the girl is being kept and await the chance to attack." In one of his hands, a ball of black energy formed. He transferred the energy into Sneasel, causing the pokemon to shudder for a few minutes at the raw power flowing through her now. "You should now be more than a match for them, even if they do free the girl."
Sneasel nodded, and left the room. Demon took one more look at the status of Kari's brainwashing. If he had an eyebrow, he would have arched it, surprised that the girl had still managed to resist being subjected to the power of the Dark Ocean.
"I may have underestimated them."
==
Komainumon parried, kicked, and launched several Dragon Fangs at his opponent. But the smaller figure moved with almost unbelievable agility, and was able to land several punishing attacks of its own.
"I'm glad Ken didn't get a hold of Gabumon," Komainumon muttered. "This guy could put Metal Greymon to shame." Grunting, the DNA digimon launched another set of attacks at the black Were Garurumon.
In the air, Dino Beemon fought against the much larger Megadramon. The two digimon were matched in terms of ferocity, though Megadramon was able to fly much more easily than Dino Beemon was, and his Dark Side attack was much more accurate than Dino Beemon's Irritant Buzz. Plus Megadramon was keeping well out of reach of his Kaiser Blades, too.
More insidiously, the two attacking digimon were keeping the defenders in a defensive posture; Komainumon and Dino Beemon had to defend the base as well as themselves. The Artificial digimon, slaves to Arukenimon's will, couldn't care less about their own lives or those of their opponents.
Inside was no better. While Ken and Baihumon worked to establish a portal, the rest of the digidestined were trying to fight off waves of Deep Ones, who were trying to destroy the attempt to open a portal and rescue those digidestined trapped in the Dark Ocean. Worse, Veemon, Patamon, and Armadillomon couldn't digivolve to their more powerful Champion forms; one wrong shot could easily destroy the work Ken and Baihumon were doing. Fortunately, Flareon was able to operate effectively in the enclosed environment. Beside him, Ivysaur's accurate Razor Leaves and Vine Whips kept the horde back. Agumon and Wizardmon stayed with the children, picking off any Deep Ones that managed to get through even that line up of monsters.
Like Kyle, Ryo had released those pokemon he had with him. Backing up Flareon and Ivysaur, a Vaporeon fired blasts of water and ice, and a Noctowl swooped among the hordes, hypnotizing and tackling those monsters he could. There had been a brief moment of panic when Magby managed to get out; the baby pokemon had managed to stop one Deep One, but Ryo called it back before the baby pokemon could be hurt by a second one.
"Where are these things coming from?" Flamedramon snarled as he dispatched two more.
"The spire room." Pegasusmon called, seeing the door that had been torn open, more Deep Ones marching through.
"Well then, let's push em back! GOLD RUSH!" The missiles slammed into more Deep Ones, dispatching them.
"Right. Gotta blast 'em all!" Flareon called, leading the rush. "Hey, when's that portal gonna be ready?"
"Soon!" Baihumon called. "Those things must have a generator in the other room. If you can find it and wreck it, we'll be a lot better off!"
"Generator?" Davis and Cody asked.
"Yeah. Those Deep Ones don't have a will of their own; they're just bits of darkness given form and limited awareness. They're no different from control spires, when you think about it."
"Just disposable soldiers," TK said, sickened by the idea.
"Later!" Ryo said. "Vaporeon, Whirlpool!"
"Flareon, use your Fire Spin!" the two pokemon launched spinning vortexes of fire and water, which created a hole in the army of darkness (tm). Flamedramon led the armour digimon through, towards the room that once housed the spire generator. The group of monsters was intent on finishing this battle.
==
It was Izzy that spotted Kari's D-Terminal. He ran over and picked it up, then started looking around. "No. here could she be?" Frustration began creeping into his voice.
"Over there," Hawkmon said, indicating an archway. Running inside, the group found Kari, still unconscious and imprisoned inside a field of black energy. Izzy and Gatomon ran over, trying to free Kari from it's grip. Izzy could see her digivice, at her waist where she always kept it. He swore he could see a faint sparkle of light from it.
The rest of the group scoured the area, trying to find some clue of how to get home. A flicker of movement caught Hawkmon's eye, and he hurled a Feather Strike at a shadow. There was a shriek, and a small digimon fell out. Yolei ran over, grabbed the Gazimon, and pinned it to the wall. "OK, how do we get Kari out, and how do we get home?"
Pagumon looked at the digimon with her, weighing his chances. "I don't know," he admitted. "I just work here!"
"That'd be for me to answer," a female voice said. everyone in the room looked at the newcomer. She appeared human, but was dressed in a red sleeveless trenchcoat, had white hair under a large hat, and purple gloves with spiderweb patterns on them.
"And you would be...?"
Arukenimon bowed to Yolei, unfazed by her tone. "Arukenimon. And don't let my looks fool you; this is just my everyday look. Here's my Sunday best!" With that, she shifted into something that resembled a hideously oversized spider, but the upper torso was vaguely human, with oversized arms, horns in her head, and a mask over her eyes.
Another figure ran in. "Don't forget me," Sneasel said, tensing. "You and me have some unfinished business," she said, indicating Scizor.
Izzy looked at the two evil monsters. "Let her go!"
"I can't," a third voice said, and another digimon entered the room. He was twice the size of Arukenimon's spider form, and looked something like a bipedal octopus. "We're not done with her."
"Please, Dagomon," Arukenimon mock-begged, "can't we have a little fun?"
"No. Our master dislikes...spontaneous renovation. We will destroy them now."
Izzy looked at Dagomon, not flinching. "Tentomon," he called to his partner. "Let's do it."
"Tentomon, digivolve to...Kabuterimon!"
"Hawkmon, digivolve to...Aquilamon!" The two champion digimon attacked, as did Scizor, but were quickly repulsed. Then, the fighters broke up into one to one fights; Scizor and Sneasel duelled in a lethal version of a pokemon battle, Aquilamon fought Arukenimon, and Kabuterimon battled Dagomon.
Having no other ideas, Izzy began hammering on the field. "Wake up, Kari! We need you!" Below him, Gatomon was trying to smash the base of the table, hoping it would shut down if damaged enough. "Please, wake up!"
Arukenimon noted Izzy's reaction as she fought Aquilamon. The giant bird was a good fighter, but he was at a disadvantage inside an enclosed area like this. It was only because the chamber had been designed to accommodate much larger digimon that he was able to move at all. Kabuterimon was a bit better off, as he was able to move around on his legs, and his wings were smaller and designed for hovering.
Scizor and Sneasel traded blows, the bug pokemon waiting for the inevitable digivolution. "I know what you're thinking," Sneasel taunted. "You're thinking 'does she have one digivolution left, or two'." Scizor narrowed his eyes, wondering what she was getting at. "Well, let me answer that. Two! Sneasel, Dark digivolve to...Lady Devimon!" As Scizor watched, Sneasel seemed to shift into Lynxmon, but then stood up, body wreathed in dark fire. Then, the fire cleared, leaving a female human figure, blue skinned and clad in black leather. Bone white hair and fingernails could be seen. "Well, I am impressed." the former pokemon said. "I can see what that little rat got so worked up about." Catching Gatomon's eye, she taunted her some more. "So, what do you think? I think this is how an angel should really look."
Izzy's spirit fell. There were three ultimates against them. They needed a miracle now. "Kari," he whispered, "please wake up. We need you."
"Come on," Yolei said, trying to wake up Kari as well. "We didn't come all this way to save you just so you could conk out on us now!"
"Let the girl rest" Arukenimon teased.
Izzy looked up, fire in his eyes. "Leave. Her. ALONE!"
Kabuterimon, being beaten back by Dagomon's assaults, felt the energy hit him, linked to Izzy's emotions. "Kabuterimon, digivolve to..." Dagomon charged in, trying to attack before the digivolution completed its cycle. He miscalculated, and found a large red horn thrust through his midsection.
"Mega Kabuterimon," the Ultimate digimon completed, pulling his horn out of Dagomon. The demonic digimon reeled back and fled, his life force bleeding away. Mega Kabuterimon turned his attention to Arukenimon. The spider dodged the Horn Buster attack, and sprayed a cloud of acidic mist into the digimon's face. A lucky shot from Arukenimon's webs managed to immobilize Aquilamon, taking him out of the fight.
It was Lady Devimon who was having the easiest fight. Having reached the Ultimate level, she was more than a match for the exhausted bug pokemon. Still, she toyed with Scizor, forcing him into a lethal game of dodging her spear like nails, laughing as Scizor dodged the attacks with increasing desperation. Finally, the bug pokemon slipped, and received a nasty blow across one of his legs.
"NO!" Izzy yelled, slamming his hands down on the field holding Kari. That action, and the emotion behind it, finally connected. Kari's digivice began to glow, and the field began to weaken.
Not noticing, Lady Devimon took careful aim at Scizor's head, savoring the moment. "Well, it was fun, but you must go now. See you in the spirit house, buggy boy."
"My...swarm...will avenge me."
Lady Devimon arched an eyebrow. "So, you can speak too? I'll have that inscribed on your tombstone." A cry from Arukenimon got her attention. She saw the field around Kari weakening. "I'll deal with you later" she snarled. Flying up, she took aim, intent on destroying the whole group at once. "Darkness Wave!"
Izzy dashed around, getting between the attack and Kari. Yolei watched as Izzy was thrown back by the force of the blow, slammed into the field, and collapsed, wincing as he landed badly on one of his feet. The impact on the field disrupted the last of it, and Kari came to, shaking off the effects of the mental assault inflicted on her. It was fortunate that Lady Devimon's aim was a bit off; any closer and Izzy might not have survived the attack.
Kari sat up on the table, fighting off the nausea and horror of her mental torture. "Where...Izzy!" Looking down, she saw Izzy, semi conscious. "What happened?"
"Your doom!" Arukenimon and Lady Devimon snarled. Having lost the energy from Izzy, Mega Kabuterimon was quickly knocked out by the two evil monsters, reverting to Motimon. Aquilamon managed to free himself from the webbing, and resumed his attack.
Kari tried to stand up, but the stress on her mind showed. She couldn't think straight, and she fell off the table, trying not to throw up. Yolei grabbed Kari and dragged her away from the table; Izzy staggered clear, limping from a sprained ankle.
"Look out!" Scizor's voice cut across the battle, as the three humans were knocked over by a blast from Lady Devimon. She waved Arukenimon back, intent on finishing the group by herself. As she turned back to face her targets, Gatomon leaped up and began scratching the fallen angel's face and upper body with her claws.
"Get off me!" Lady Devimon tried to claw Gatomon off her face, but the smaller digimon was able to dodge the worst of the clumsy attacks. Finally, Gatomon leaped clear, landing in front of the humans. "You...you DARE?" A blast of energy struck the angel from behind; Scizor had fired a Hyper Beam. A series of energy rings, launched by Aquilamon, pummeled Lady Devimon. Gatomon leaped again, ready to rake Lady Devimon's face again.
"Rrr...DARKNESS WAVE!" This time, the attack had its intended purpose, as the digimon were the type of targets that could be affected by the attack.
Gatomon watched as Aquilamon was slammed into the wall, landing near Motimon. "Kari! I need to digivolve!" Kari tried to summon the energy to trigger the evolution, but couldn't.
"I...I'm too weak."
"I'll help!" Yolei took Kari's arm and held it up, her digivice beginning to come to life. At Yolei's waist, her digivice began to activate as well. "We're going home!"
Scizor staggered to his feet, wincing as the wound on his leg and the fatigue from the day drained the last of his energy. Beside him, Gatomon and Aquilamon stared down Lady Devimon, waiting for the attack. "You heard her," Aquilamon roared. "And what Yolei says, goes!"
"Double for me!" Gatomon said. Beams of light from Yolei's and Kari's D-3s hit the digimon...
"Aquilamon...Gatomon...DNA digivolve to...Silphymon!"
==Digital World
"Now!"
At Komainumon's cry, Dino Beemon dropped, slashing Were Garurumon with his Kaiser Blades. The unexpected switch in opponents worked, as the artificial digimon exploded under the assault. Komainumon jumped as Dino Beemon landed, embedding his staff inside Megadramon's torso, launching his Celestial Edict through the hole. The second attacker also de-resolved.
"They're both fake digimon," Komainumon said. "We'd better get back inside." Warily, he eyed Dino Beemon, wondering if the DNA digimon would attack. Dino Beemon stood there, trying to resist the urge to fight. Sensing the berserk fury was about to overtake him, he ended the digivolution, splitting into Charmander and Leafmon. Komainumon did the same.
"We'd better get back inside," Growlithe said, trying to stand up. Beside him, Elecmon, teeth gritted, headed back to the base where his partner was. "You two alright?"
Charmander staggered to his feet, tail-flame low. "I will be in a bit. No Infant or In-Training form to fall back to." Growlithe nodded, understanding him completely. "You got off OK," he said to Elecmon.
"Long experience." The four monsters trudged back to the base, hoping their friends were alright.
As they walked, Leafmon, hitching a ride on Growlithe's back, leaned his body over and asked the pokemon a question. "What's it like when you digivolve with Leomon?"
"Biggest rush I ever felt, like I could take on all five Legendary Birds with three paws tied behind my back. I don't know if I could describe it any better. But you should know that, shouldn't you?"
"I don't know. When I merge with Charizard, it feels good, but there's something missing," Leafmon whispered. "I don't know why, but I think it might be why Dino Beemon can't be controlled."
==
Inside the base, the monsters had managed to push the Deep Ones back to the Spire Creation Room. Inside, Noctowl was able to pick out the spire, and highlighted it using his Foresight so the others could see it.
"All together now!" Flamedramon launched a hail of fireballs, passing over the heads of the Deep ones and hitting the sphere. Everyone else did like wise, and the sphere shattered under the combination of fire, ice, light, and steel missiles. As it collapsed, the remaining Deep Ones faded, their source of power destroyed.
"All clear!" Flareon called back to the humans in the power room.
"Great" Davis yelled. "Hey, how's the portal going?"
"Almost done!" TK said, who had moved to help Ken and Baihumon. "Hey, this gauge is doing something funny!"
Ken ran over and had a look. "It should be OK, we should be able to form the portal. But they'd better come through quickly, because I can't guarantee its stability!"
"It'll hold," Baihumon grunted, controlling the flow of power. "But if you've got anything of value in here, you'd better plan on moving it soon!" He nodded to Davis and the others. "You might want to move over a bit. You're standing where the portal is going to form!"
"How soon," Cody yelled.
"Five seconds!"
==Dark Ocean
As soon as Silphymon appeared, Lady Devimon and Arukenimon changed targets, discarding Scizor in favor of the more dangerous Ultimate digimon. However, the misshapen spider was unable to keep up with Silphymon's speed, leaving Lady Devimon to handle the brunt of the attack.
As they fought, Yolei went over and grabbed Motimon. Kari helped Izzy, dragging him clear of the fight, and leading Scizor away too. The bug pokemon hated leaving a battle, but recognized that his wounds were too severe to be able to fight effectively. As they moved, a red whip cracked in front of them.
"Going somewhere?" Arukenimon taunted. "Don't think we've forgotten about you."
The four beings tensed. Scizor, the only one who could possibly fight, was barely able to stand. Kari and Yolei had no chance, and Izzy was still unconscious. Still, Scizor had to try. With an effort, he stood up, facing Arukenimon.
"Please. Acid Mist!" Scizor saw the opening, and launched one final attack. Standing he extended his wings and started to spin, drawing the acid towards him. For a second, Kari thought Scizor was trying to use Swords Dance to repel it, but had botched it somehow. Then, she saw how Scizor's wings were angled.
"Yolei! Get down!" Kari pushed Izzy down, giving Scizor room to use his attack. Yolei hit the ground as well, covering Motimon, as Scizor finished his move.
"Razor Wind!" The attack, forcing Arukenimon's attack along with it, hit Arukenimon head on. The spider screamed in agony as her own acid burned her, forcing her back. Utterly spent, Scizor collapsed, having thrown all his energy into the attack.
"Scizor," Silphymon called, seeing the bug's attack.
"S...Steel beats...acid." Scizor's voice was starting to smooth out, but the fatigue and pain in his voice were all too apparent now.
"You're fighting me," Lady Devimon snarled. "Darkness Wave!"
Silphymon dodged the attack, and used Gatomon's pent up anger to simply punch the fallen angel in the gut. "You will never, EVER, hurt my friends again!" Each word was punctuated by another strike. The DNA digimon's final blow knocked Lady Devimon back into a wall, leaving a good sized imprint in it, hinting at the force of the blow. Still conscious, the fallen angel charged up another attack, as did Silphymon.
"Darkness Wave!"
"Astral Laser!"
==
"The portal's opening," Ken yelled. "Get back!"
As the digidestined watched, the portal formed in the air, a swirling portal of darkness. Other than its size, it resembled the portal that Sneasel had opened back in Shogungeckomon's village. That, and the volume of smoke and flying debris coming through it.
"Kari," Tai yelled, heading towards the portal. Agumon stood by him, ready to fight off any deep ones that came through.
What did come through was Yolei. In the explosion, she had lost her glasses and the hat that appeared when she entered the digital world; her hair cascaded around her, dirty and tangled. In her arms was Motimon. "Don't worry," she gasped, stepping into the group. "Everyone else is just behind me, I think. We got a bit split up when those attacks collided."
Next out was Silphymon, supporting Scizor, still limping and barely conscious. Kyle ran over and put the bug pokemon in his pokeball. Just behind Silphymon was Kari, who was helping Izzy out the same way Silphymon had assisted Scizor. Tai ran over and helped her with Izzy, then, once the boy was laid down on the ground, hugged his sister and promised that he would never, ever let this happen again. The newest DNA digimon was introduced, and Baihumon, reverting to his true form (big white tiger. *Really* big), gave Kyle a lift to the nearest portal so he could get Scizor to a pokemon center. June promised to catch up with him, and Kari and Yolei promised to visit the next day.
==Dark Ocean
Lady Devimon staggered out of the wreckage. Snarling, she glowed and reverted to Sneasel. "Those twists are....rrrr!"
Behind her, Arukenimon staggered out as well. She was still in her spider form, and one of her arms hung loosely at her side. "Well, that went well." Not appreciating the black humour, Sneasel glared back at Arukenimon.
"I'd have had them if they hadn't been able to DNA digivolve like that."
"Well don't blame me!" Arukenimon returned Sneasel's glare. "Why didn't you destroy that boy before he could free Kari?"
"You know my powers don't work as well against human opponents!"
"Actually, no, I didn't. That was the first time I've seen you digivolve to Lady Devimon, so what's REALLY the story?"
"Enough." Demon walked in, surveying the damage and the two servants before him. "I have to admit, those kids managed to surprise even me. Where's Dagomon?"
Sneasel looked over her shoulder. "His 'loyal attendants' are dragging his worthless carcass out now." As she spoke, several dozen Deep Ones laboured to bring Dagomon out of the room, struggling to save their 'master'. As Sneasel watched, some of the Deep Ones were absorbed into Dagomon's body, aiding in his regeneration.
Demon's eyes narrowed. "Hmm. Much as I enjoy a good fight, I suppose an example must be made. Can't have everyone thinking they can just come in and trash the place."
==Human world
That night, Kari rested, Salamon beside her. However, images of the torment that Demon had inflicted on her still tugged at her mind, keeping her from sleeping peacefully. A faint noise woke the girl up. Blinking the sleep from her eyes, she watched as the pale blue aura that had appeared in her room resolved into Mewtwo.
"My greeting, Kari Kamiya." Mewtwo bowed.
"How did..?"
"Gennai told me what happened, and said I might be able to help somewhat."
"But you can't take it away, can you?"
Mewtwo shook his head, impressed by the insight of the girl. "No. Your mind would resist such an attempt, no matter how well intentioned. And to remove or suppress such an experience may do more harm than good. I can...place it in context, if you will allow me."
"I don't understand."
"The images Demon threw at you played on the fears and doubts that existed in your mind already; do not be ashamed about it. Indeed, that you lasted so long is a credit to your willpower."
Kari nodded. "Why are you doing this?"
"It was Baihumon's idea that I do this, yet I sense there may be a deeper reason for his actions than simple altruism. But it is your well being that is important now. Rest, and I will keep the nightmares at bay." Kari nodded again, and fell back asleep. As she rested, Mewtwo traced the chains of memory that Demon's influence had tried to corrupt, reminding the girl of what she already knew and that no evil force could ever take away.
==Digital World
Baihumon examined the large stone, trying to discern what had happened. There had been a drain of its energy, that much was clear. But by who was still a mystery. So intent was he on the stone, he missed the materialization of another human. This one, old, walking with a cane, eyes apparently closed, walked up to the guardian.
"Hey, cat," Gennai said. "You awake in there?"
Baihumon looked around. "I must be getting old. It's as we feared. While Kari was being kidnapped, something drained some of the power out of this destiny stone."
Gennai nodded. "Thought so. Any idea who?"
"No. And I'm scared."
Next Episode
The digidestined take a day off, after the tremendous stress they faced.
Kyle checks up on Scizor, Ken and Yolei talk, and Izzy deals with how he
feels about Kari. Next time, on Digimon: Digicross-
'Friendships renewed.'