==Takashi home, morning.
TK stood up. "Thanks mom! I have to go meet my friends now!"
Natsuko Takashi looked at her son. She marveled how much he had grown up
since the last time monsters had torn through the heart of Tokyo. And how he
had been meeting his friends an awful lot. "It's started again, hasn't it?"
she asked.
"Mom?"
"You're going to the Digital World and fighting monsters again. I can see it."
TK grimaced. He had been reluctant to tell his mom about his latest
adventures. "Yeah."
Natsuko sighed. "I can't stop you, I guess. Just, tell me one thing?" TK
looked at his mom, wondering what she was about to ask. "Who is she?"
TK had to fight to avoid choking. "W-Whaa?"
"I know how it is with your generation. First you're off to save the world.
Then you find out about girls, and soon enough, poor old mom is left behind,
all alone at home. Can I at least know who it is?" TK started stammering
(rare sight -ed), causing Natsuko to grin a bit. "Is it that Kamiya girl?
Kari, was that her name?" Natsuko knew that it wasn't, but couldn't resist
teasing her son a bit. He was so serious these days.
"Crystal." TK mumbled. "Her name's Crystal."
Odd name, Natsuko thought to herself. "She's from that place Kyle's from,
isn't she?" At TK's expression, she chuckled. "Oh come on. I'm not the only
mother of a digidestined in Tokyo. I ran into Cody's mother a few weeks ago,
and she told me everything."
"Oh. Sorry mom."
"That's all right, TK. I know you just didn't want me to worry. Now you
better get going." TK thanked her, and went to leave. "Oh, and TK?"
"Yes?"
Natsuko smiled. "You're not allowed to go on a date until you're 15,
remember." she said sweetly.
"MOM!"
---------------------------------------------
Digimon: Digicross Episode 25
'Shakouomon and the stone of destiny!'
---------------------------------------------
==Digital World, happening at the same time as Digicross 24.
The portal glowed, and TK stepped through, followed by Patamon. A few minutes
later, it glowed again, and Cody came through, followed by Armadillomon.
"Is your mom making that dinner again tonight?" Armadillomon asked. "It was
delicious!"
"She can't make spinach rolls every night, Armadillomon." Cody replied. TK
and Patamon looked at each other. Weird kid, they both thought. "So, where
are we going?" Cody asked.
"Baihumon said that there was something odd happening at the destiny stone in
this area, and asked me to check it out. I figured you might want to come
along."
"Me? Why?" Cody asked.
TK shrugged. "Well, we never talk that much, you've always hung back." TK
smiled. "It's tough being the youngest in the group, isn't it?"
"Well...Davis does tend to dominate the conversation." Cody admitted.
"He's not half as bad as Tai and Matt were." Patamon said.
"Yeah, you should have heard some of the stories Gatomon told me about those
two." Armadillomon added. "I wonder how you managed to survive without Cody
and me?" Sighing, he shook his head.
"He had me!" Patamon said. "You should have seen me when I digivolved to
Magna Angemon! I could have taken on all the Dark Masters!" Patamon looked at
TK. "I guess I still miss it a bit." he sighed.
"Did Patamon really beat Piedmon?" Cody asked.
"The other digidestined helped. A bit." TK replied, grinning.
==
Mewtwo slumped down, exhausted. He had felt some strange energy in this part
of the digital world, and had come to investigate. As soon as he got close, he
had been attacked by something that was able to resist even his psychic
ability. Adding to that was a psychic field that was draining his own
strength, making him almost helpless. He could not resist as some form of
metallic suit was placed over him, reminiscent of the armour Giovanni had used
to 'teach' him to control his powers. However, this set dampened his powers,
though it also blocked out the other psychic signal. It also left him blind;
he did not have enough power to extend his senses beyond the helmet.
Arukenimon, confident that her prisoner was now secure, left the impromptu
jail she had set up. She went over to a large stone that was radiating an
unearthly amount of power. Beside it was a Control Spire, absorbing the
radiation and converting it into a form more useful to her. Between the two
was Larvitar, who had managed to make his way here after crawling through
unknown reaches of the digital world.
"What...what are you doing to me?" Larvitar growled.
Arukenimon gave a sick smile. "You are about to evolve, my dear. However,
your form will be chosen by us, a form that will be a bit more useful when it
comes to fighting the digidestined." She completely ignored Larvitar's scowl
as she said that. Then, Larvitar began to evolve. "Your form of Pupitar is
only a temporary one; it should only take you a few hours to evolve into
something much more powerful than that dreary old Tyranitar."
Out of the shadows, Sneasel padded silently over to Arukenimon. "Two children
are approaching, master. Both male, TK and Pegasusmon, the other one is that
small child with the Sandshrew."
"Armadillomon." Arukenimon idly corrected, toying with the pokeball that hung
around her neck. "So, they sent in the angel." she mused. "We had best
prepare a reception. I assume you'll want in on it, Sneasel?" The pokemon
nodded, extending her claws as she did.
==
Pegasusmon landed, reverting to Patamon after his passengers got off.
Armadillomon looked around, uneasy. "Can you feel something wrong Cody?
There's something not right about this place."
"I can feel it too." Patamon said. "We should be careful, TK." Armadillomon
edged closer to Cody. "It almost feels like a Control Spire, but not as
strong."
TK's eyes narrowed. "Let's try a test then. Try digivolving, Patamon."
Patamon nodded, concentrating. TK's digivice lit up, and Patamon felt the
power hit him. "Patamon, digivolve to...Angemon!"
"I guess there aren't any control spires here after all." Armadillomon noted.
Beside him, Cody watched the angel digimon's appearance, a little awestruck.
"I know, all I do is turn into a big old dinosaur."
Cody's face reddened as he tried to stammer out an explanation. Before TK or
Angemon could intervene, the ground around them exploded, and several small
creatures came out. "Chrysalimon!" Cody shouted.
Angemon flew up, pulled his fist back, and launched his Hand of Fate attack.
The energy washed over the digimon with no apparent effect. "They're resisting
my powers!" he yelled, closing with some of them and swinging his staff around.
"I count five!"
"Armadillomon, digivolve to...Ankylomon!" Ankylomon swung his tail around,
catching two of the Chrysalimon. They fell to the ground, shell fragmenting to
reveal a shiny black surface underneath.
"They were made from a Control Spire!" Cody yelled.
"That means I don't have to hold back!" Ankylomon growled. "Megaton Press!"
Ankylomon jumped and managed to belly-flop another Chrysalimon, shattering it.
"Too easy!" As he said that, the ground rumbled again.
"I think you overdid it!" Cody yelled. "Get out of there!" Cody ran over to
Ankylomon. TK tried to stop him, but was too slow. The ground split, and
Ankylomon and Cody fell through the ground. TK heard some shouts, then nothing.
"Cody!" TK yelled. Angemon snarled, grabbed the fourth Chrysalimon by one of
its tentacles, and swung it into the fifth, shattering both. He flew over,
grabbed TK, and flew down.
Cody and Ankylomon were gone, several tracks left in the ground suggesting
that there had been a brief but energetic fight.
==
When Cody came to, he found that he was in a cell, and Armadillomon was beside
him. "So, our guest awakens." Arukenimon said, eyes fixed on the boy. Cody
looked up, saw Arukenimon, and saw his digivice and D-terminal on a small table
behind her. "I suppose we could have just disposed of you and your over-
enthusiastic friend, but I figured that you could keep our other guest company.
Have a nice day." The lady strolled off, mane of white hair trailing behind
her.
Cody crawled over to Armadillomon, still a bit woozy from the fall he took.
"Armadillomon, are you all right?"
"Nothing some of your mom's spinach rolls couldn't fix."
"I promise, I'll have mom make all you can eat if we get out of this." Cody
noticed someone else in the cage, sitting in a far corner. Cody went over to
check on the other being too. He had a tail, and was covered in what looked
like white fur..."Mewtwo?"
"Who...who is there?" Mewtwo's voice was weak, barely above a whisper. Cody
realized that Mewtwo was actually speaking, not communicating telepathically as
he usually did.
"It's Cody. What's wrong?"
"Help...help get this helmet off..." Cody pulled on the helmet, but it was
fastened too tightly. He beckoned Armadillomon over, and the two spent a few
minutes working on the helmet before it finally came off. Mewtwo started to
breathe, then fell over as if struck. "The pain..." he gasped. Hastily, Cody
placed the helmet back on. "It seems that this helmet is shielding me from the
energy that is powering this place."
Cody looked around. "Energy? Armadillomon?"
"I can feel something, but beyond making me all shivery under my shell, I
can't tell what it is."
"Can you digivolve to Digmon?" Mewtwo asked.
"They took my digivice and D-Terminal. They're about three meters from the
cage, in the direction you're facing now."
==
TK looked around the cavern. He and Angemon had been walking for several
minutes now. "How far down is this destiny stone supposed to be, anyway?"
"I don't know." Angemon replied. "Digimon know about the stones, but don't
normally live near them; the energy affects them in different ways; I think
that's why I haven't gone back to Patamon yet; I can feel the stone more
clearly now, but there's something else too, something evil that's drawing
power off of it."
"Probably the same thing that sent those Chrysalimon up." TK sighed
explosively. "I should have kept a closer eye on Cody." he berated himself.
"TK," Angemon said firmly, "he'll be fine. Don't go all Matt on us, 'cause I
really don't want to start fighting Exveemon."
TK looked up. "Did I really sound like Matt?"
"When he tried to clean Tai's clock, yes. During the fight against
Puppetmon."
"Don't remind me." TK shivered, remembering being held by the insane puppet
digimon. In a way, he was scarier than Piedmon, or even Apocalymon. He
decided to change the subject. "So, how did my mom find out about Crystal?"
Angemon looked straight ahead. "Angels don't lie." he said with as much
dignity as he could muster. "Besides, Gatomon told her."
"Great." TK muttered. "She thinks I've been dating her."
Angemon was about to reply when the two explorers heard a cry for help.
"Gatomon?" Angemon wondered. The voice did sound a bit like hers.
"Can't be. She's back in the Pokemon World." TK replied.
They both ran ahead, and found three more Chrysalimon attacking what looked
like a catgirl from one of Davis' anime series. "Help me!" the cat yelled,
swinging wildly. Beside her, there was a small pile of crystals. "I can't
hold them off much longer!"
Angemon flew over, and started swinging at the Chrysalimon. He got one, and
the other two flew off. "Are you all right?"
"I am now." the cat said, eyes widening. "My name's Bastemon. Are you
sing...I mean, what's your name?"
"Angemon." the digimon replied, shooting a sharp glance at TK, who was trying
not to laugh. "Why are you down here?"
"I sensed that something powerful was at work in this area; I know that there
is a large object of power nearby, so I decided to come down and have a look.
But those strange creatures attacked me and shattered my crystal ball; I need
it to focus my attacks." Bastemon looked at Angemon. "Can you escort me to
the top? I would be eternally...grateful."
Angemon regarded Bastemon warily. His earlier observation had been right.
Bastemon -did- sound like Gatomon. A little too much like her, Angemon
decided. And she seemed to be completely ignoring TK, focussing all her
attention on Angemon. "We have friends down here as well. If we delay, they
may be hurt. I'm sorry."
"Well, why don't I come along? You look like you could use some help. And I
never could resist someone in white." Bastemon took Angemon's arm and led him
down one of the tunnels. Trying not to snigger (aloud), TK followed them.
==
"I may be able to retrieve your digivice and D-terminal." Mewtwo said. "But I
will need your help."
"What do we do?" Cody asked.
"My powers are weakened, but I think I have enough power to telekinetically
summon your items to our location. However, I will need your help to remove
this helmet, and you will have to get me away from this place. The energy in
here is severely damaging to any psychic pokemon." Cody nodded, stepping
forward. "Come closer. It will be easier if I have an image to focus on."
Mewtwo placed a paw on Cody's head. "Focus on your digivice and D-terminal.
That should be enough for me to work with." Cody closed his eyes,
concentrating.
Mewtwo extended what little power he had to work with into the boy's mind.
Immediately, he was struck by how disciplined Cody was. A shame Ash is not
more like him, he thought to himself. The images Mewtwo was looking for were
right there, waiting for him. "I have them. Now, removed the helmet." Mewtwo
gritted his teeth, trying to keep his mind's eye on the mental picture of the D-
3 and D-Terminal, as the pain tore at him. Dimly, he heard someone talking,
then the helmet was replaced.
"You got them back, Mewtwo. Now Armadillomon can digivolve to Digmon and get
us out of here." Cody looked at Armadillomon. "Are you ready?" Armadillomon
nodded. "Digiarmour energize!"
"Armadillomon, armour digivolve to...Digmon, the wisdom of steel!"
Arukenimon sat up sharply, hearing a loud explosion from the jail. She ran
over, and found a large hole in the floor, and the three prisoners gone.
"Down, huh? Well, I guess they'll meet my other friend."
==
After prying Bastemon off of him, Angemon scouted ahead a bit. TK followed
him. "Angemon? Are you alright?"
"I'm not hurt." Angemon replied. TK stared at him, waiting for the rest of
it. He knows me too well, Angemon thought. "It's just...I can't seem to
understand Bastemon."
"She is being a bit pushy, isn't she?" TK wondered.
"That too, but there's something...not right about her. Like I should know
who she is."
"Do you know any other Bastemon?" TK asked.
"No. Most Bastemon operate as wandering fortune tellers, but they're usually
fairly reclusive. One came to Primary Village once after it was restored. All
the baby digimon there crowded around listening to her tell stories."
"Not the same person?"
Angemon shook his head. "Not in the least."
"My ears were burning." Bastemon said, approaching. "You weren't about to
leave me behind in this terrible place, were you?" Bastemon sidled up to
Angemon.
"No. Look, I appreciate the attention, but..." Angemon trailed off.
"Oh?" Bastemon asked archly. "You mean that little brown hairball didn't
swipe that pathetic kitten from URK!" Bastemon trailed off as Angemon moved
away and jabbed his staff into her neck, not doing any damage, but pinning her
in place.
"Who are you?" Angemon growled. "You're not a Bastemon."
Bastemon grinned. "I see you've figured it out." Her form shifted into one
Angemon and TK recognized. Lady Devimon leered at Angemon. "But the offer's
still open, handsome. Ditch Gatomon and the little boy here and we could have
a wild time."
"Nice try, but no." Angemon replied. "TK? Your call." Before TK could
reply, Lady Devimon rolled away from Angemon and came up, ready to fight.
"Nice try, angel-boy, but I'm following my own destiny. I'm not going to have
some pathetic human tell me when to fight." She charged up an attack.
==
Digmon burst through a wall, Cody half dragging, half carrying Mewtwo with
him. They all fell to the ground, gasping for breath. "I think we are clear
of the energy." Mewtwo said, pulling the helmet off. "Yes. The energy is not
as painful here."
Cody recalled the digiegg, and tried to send a message. "Whatever's going on
up there, it's blocking my D-terminal as well. I can't contact any of the
others."
"Well, we have a large lake here." Armadillomon pointed out. "If we follow
the river that feeds it, it should take us out of here."
The water abruptly surged, soaking the three. A large digimon exploded out of
the water, tentacles waving around. "I beg to differ!" the digimon snarled.
"Gesomon." Armadillomon cried. "Cody, I'll have a better chance fighting him
in the water!"
Cody nodded. "Digiarmour energize!"
"Armadillomon, armour digivolve to...Submarimon, reliable guardian of the
sea!" Submarimon quickly went underwater, meeting Gesomon in his own element.
The water churned for a minute as the two digimon battled. As they watched,
Mewtwo looked around. Suddenly, he stiffened. "Something is happening. A new
evil force is emerging."
"What kind of power? Is it another control spire digimon?" Cody asked
"No. This is something far worse, on a level similar to that of Chimeramon."
As he spoke, he felt the power that affected his psychic abilities fade away.
He concentrated, building up his energy.
==
By the destiny stone, the control spire started to crack, then it shattered.
However, instead of disappearing, the shards were pulled into the cocoon that
had been leaching power from the Stone. There was a sharp cracking sound, and
a small figure crawled out.
Arukenimon looked at the figure. "I'm less than impressed."
:A moment,: Demon's voice echoed in her mind, :Larvitar's body must adapt to
the power filling it. Ah, now he is evolving.:
Growling in pain, Larvitar rolled on the ground, body glowing with a sickly
green light, instead of the usual white associated with pokemon evolutions.
Larvitar's body shifted, twisted, and reformed itself into a humanoid figure,
which vaguely resembled an armour digimon Arukenimon had seen only once, when
the Digimon Emperor was beaten. Blades snapped out of the armoured plates on
the digimon's forearms, these bone white, in contrast to the greenish gold of
the armour it wore.
==
It was a running battle. Angemon was much more experienced in fighting than
Lady Devimon, but Lady Devimon had more power. The battle had run all the way
back to the surface, Angemon carrying TK with him.
"Cody's still down there!" TK yelled as they exited.
"And Lady Devimon's right here! We'll be no use to anyone if she kills us
both! Now get to cover!" Angemon replied, before turning back to face the
fallen angel.
"If you're that eager to find your little friend, I can arrange that. When I
bury you all under this mountain! Darkness Wave!" Lady Devimon fired her
attack at Angemon. He managed to deflect it, but the force of the attack drove
him back. "Give it up, angel boy!" she taunted. "You should have joined me
when you had the chance. Shame you'll have to go now!" Leering, she brought
her red-clawed hand up. She then made a dismissive gesture, pointing her hand
at TK and firing her nails at him!
"TK!" Angemon yelled, trying to get to his partner before the attack did.
Horrified, he saw the attack strike, kicking up a cloud of dust. It cleared,
but neither digimon saw the boy impaled on Lady Devimon's spear-like nails.
Instead, his image shimmered into view a few feet away. At his feet was a
small, purple, catlike creature.
TK looked at the pokemon. "Espeon? Then..." He looked back and saw Crystal
there, sighing in relief.
She ran over to TK. "Are you alright? I got worried, so I came looking for
you." Her gaze then switched to Lady Devimon. "Espeon, Psyblast attack!"
Lady Devimon parried the attack. "Fool! I evolved from a Dark Type Pokemon.
Your precious psychic powers are useless!"
:Indeed: a voice echoed in everyone's mind. The ground opened up, and Mewtwo,
levitating Cody and Armadillomon with him, floated into view. :That explains
much of what has happened here.:
The fallen angel smirked. "The last time I checked, you were a psychic
pokemon too. You'll fall even faster."
Mewtwo said nothing, setting Cody and Armadillomon down. He then looked from
Lady Devimon to a small outcropping of rock. Part of it broke off, then shot
at Lady Devimon, as if fired from a cannon! Panicked, Lady Devimon dodged.
:You are shielded against direct assaults,: Mewtwo agreed, :but there are many
ways to use psychic abilities.: Mewtwo's aura glowed blue, and the rocks and
sand at his feet floated up, the were also launched at the digimon, pelting her.
"Enough." Arukenimon stepped out of the cave entrance, eyes on Lady Devimon.
"You've done enough for today. We should let our newest friend out to play."
"I can take them." Lady Devimon snarled.
"I said return!" Arukenimon barked. She and the fallen angel glared at each
other. "Now then, I believe I was about to destroy you all?"
"No, I was about to destroy them all." a deep voice said. A figure slowly
walked out of the cavern.
TK blinked. "Magnamon?" he said, thinking he recognized the figure.
Arukenimon laughed. "Close, but not quite. We had a long time to study the
golden digiegg while it was in our possession; enough time to create this fine
specimen. Let me introduce Magnatar."
Angemon didn't recognize the name, but he could feel the power coming from
this newcomer. Quickly, he fired his Hand of Fate, trying to end the fight
quickly. The blast hit, but Magnatar was unaffected. Espeon fired another
psyblast, with similar results.
"I'll leave you to it, then. Try not to have too much fun." Arukenimon said.
"Fun has to be interesting." Magnatar growled. "This won't even be a light
workout. Let's see. First...you!" he said, looking at Espeon. "Devil shot!"
A swarm of missiles launched from Magnatar's shoulder pauldrons, aimed at the
pokemon. Espeon dodged the first few, but was quickly knocked out by the rest
of them. He glowed and reverted to Eevee. Crystal ran over, gathering up
Eevee. TK tackled her, knocking her clear of a second salvo of missiles.
"Pathetic."
Snarling, Mewtwo fired a Hyper Beam, which did hit Magnatar on an unarmoured
part of his body. "So, you've figured out that I evolved from a Dark Type, did
you?"
"Yes," Mewtwo growled, "your aura is similar to that of Sneasel's when she
becomes Lady Devimon."
Magnatar snorted. "She's nothing compared to me." Idly, he launched another
Devil Shot, striking Angemon full force. The angel was hurled away by the
blast, coming to rest near TK.
There was a shout as Armadillomon digivolved to Ankylomon. The dinosaur
digimon tried to overpower Magnatar with his Tail Hammer. Magnatar went
flying, landed, and quickly got up. "Get away from him!" Cody yelled.
Magnatar snorted again, unimpressed. "Ankylomon, you can beat him!" Ankylomon
charged again, but Magnatar was able to dodge the attack.
He's toying with us, TK realized. "Crystal, you have to get out of here."
"TK-"
"No arguments! This isn't a pokemon battle, that digimon is trying to kill
us! Please!" TK locked eyes with Crystal. "Please." he repeated in a quieter
voice.
"How touching." Lady Devimon said, ignoring Arukenimon and attacking again.
"I turn my back for a few minutes and you humans get all sappy on me.
Darkness-"
"Monodramon, digivolve to...Strikedramon!" Another digimon tackled Lady
Devimon, knocking her clear of the two humans before she could attack them.
"Flamedramon?" TK gasped, startled. Wait, he thought, there's no armour, and
he's at least half again as big as Flamedramon.
Stuart ran up. "Nope. That's Strikedramon, Champion level Dragon Man
digimon. At least, that's what he told me on our way over." He looked at
Magnatar. "Ugly. We should have called Seth, he and Wizardmon could have
helped out." A blur of white and yellow ran past Stuart as he talked. A
second later, Caryl also ran up, panting for breath.
"She's so fast." Caryl wheezed. "She helped us find you when we came through
the portal."
Kyuubimon jumped, twisting in midair. "Dragon Wheel!" she shouted, turning
into a flaming comet and striking the fallen angel. "Strikedramon and I will
take care of Lady Devimon." Kyuubimon yelled to Ankylomon and Angemon.
Cody ran over to where the other humans were gathered. "TK, Angemon needs
you!" he said, grabbing TK by the arm and dragging him back to where Magnatar
was fighting the two champion digimon.
TK ran over, and gasped at what he saw. Magnatar was easily controlling the
battle. He had Angemon by the throat in one hand, and was in the process of
launching another Devil Shot at Ankylomon. Ankylomon was too slow to evade the
attack, and was hit, the missiles doing damage even through the dinosaur's
tough armour. Angemon tried to make a swing with his staff, but Magnatar
caught it in his other hand, pulled the rod out of Angemon's grasp, snapped it
in half, and tossed the weapon away. He tossed Angemon away next, the angel
landing near his shattered weapon. "Angemon!" TK yelled, running down the
slope to his partner.
Mewtwo looked around. He realized that they could not win against Magnatar,
much less him and Lady Devimon. All this power, he thought...A desperate hope
came to him. Desperately, he tried to remember which guardian oversaw this
area. :Azulongmon!: he mentally shouted.
:I hear you Mewtwo. And I can see what is happening. But I do not have the
power to assist you. I..." Azulongmon's voice trailed off as he saw Mewtwo's
plan unfold in his mind. :It is very dangerous, Mewtwo.:
:I know. But unless I try, we are all doomed.: Without waiting for another
word, Mewtwo teleported away, unseen by the combatants.
==
Mewtwo appeared by the Destiny Stone. Even though he was not a digimon, his
psychic senses reeled under the power he could feel from the stone. He placed
his hands on the stone, and began concentrating.
==
Lady Devimon snarled as she dodged another Strike Fang from Strikedramon, then
twisted wildly to avoid Kyuubimon's Foxtail Inferno. She launched an attack at
Strikedramon, trying to keep him between herself and Kyuubimon.
Some yards away, Stuart and Caryl watched the fight. "I hope they can do
this." Stuart whispered. "We'd better hope Izzy was wrong when he said
Ultimate digimon were a lot more powerful than Champion digimon."
"Kyuubimon, go left!" Caryl yelled. "They'll be fine." she replied. It's
just about timing, that's all." She hadn't kept up with Lorelei when she went
all philosophical on her (as she thought of it), but she was able to understand
the value of timing. "Now!" she yelled. Kyuubimon jumped, unleashed another
Dragon Wheel, which allowed Strikedramon a chance to attack again.
"Wow." was all Stuart could say.
Caryl shrugged. "Ms. Lorelei told me about pokemon battles and the Elite
Four. Sounds like something Renamon and I should go for."
==
Angemon, panting for breath, got to his knees, one of the broken halves of his
staff in hand. TK swallowed as he saw the extent of Angemon's injuries. His
mask had been partially shattered; one of Angemon's eyes was visible. Same
colour as mine, TK noted. One of his wings was bent at an odd angle, causing
Angemon to wince when he tried to move it. There were numerous cuts, many
severe, around his torso.
"T...K...wait here." Angemon said, standing. "I have to stop him."
Cody ran over. "You're too badly hurt!" he yelled. "Both of you are!" TK
saw that Ankylomon was in little better shape. "We have to get the others
here."
"It's alright." Ankylomon growled. "We can take this jerk." Magnatar stood a
short distance away, waiting for the next attack to come. "And that's 'we',
Angemon."
Angemon nodded. "Of course."
"But-" Cody started.
"They can." TK cut Cody off. "As long as we believe in our digimon, they can
beat anyone. "Sure, Magna Angemon was able to finish off Piedmon, but he
needed the other digidestined to help."
"Cody," Ankylomon said, "I'll come back, if that's what you want." The ground
chose that minute to erupt again, this time allowing Mewtwo, aura almost
blinding. With a shout, he unleashed two beams of energy, which entered into
Cody and TK's digivices. TK saw Angemon's injuries heal, then was nearly
floored by what happened next.
"Ankylomon...Angemon...DNA Digivolve to... Shakkoumon!" The new digimon
looked...odd, TK decided. Silvery, it had a large head, a separate torso, what
looked like jet engines for legs, and arms that ended in claws. On its back
were two stubby wings.
"Shakkoumon?" Cody whispered.
"I'm less than impressed." Magnatar said (slightly impressed -ed). "Devil
Shot!" A hole opened up on Shakkoumon's torso, releasing several dozen
spinning blades. Each blade struck one of the missiles, negating the attack.
Angered, Magnatar flew at Shakkoumon, claws extended.
Shakkoumon's eyes glowed red. "Justice Beam!" he called, firing two beams of
power from his eyes. They struck, knocking the evil digimon away, slamming him
into the ground for a change. "Take our advice, give up now!" Shakkoumon
commanded.
"Never!" Magnatar roared. He flew up, missile ports opening all over his
body. However, these openings didn't release missiles. Instead, they started
to glow a bright yellow. "I'll destroy you and everything in this area! HYPER
JIHAD!"
"No!" Shakkoumon yelled, getting between the energy beam and the humans. He
flung his arms out, intercepting the attack and, to TK and Cody's surprise,
absorbing the full power of that awful beam. Magnatar, exhausted from using
that attack, backpedaled in midair (odd image, no? -ed)
"This yours?" Shakkoumon casually asked, eyes now glowing yellow, the same
colour as Magnatar's attack. "Harmonious Spirit!" The twin beams hammered
into Magnatar, sending the digimon flying.
"No!" Lady Devimon shouted, seeing this happen. As she turned, she left
herself open for Strikedramon to land a powerful Strike Fang attack on her,
driving her to the ground. Kyuubimon followed up with another Foxtail Inferno,
and Lady Devimon collapsed, becoming Sneasel again.
"Wait!" Caryl yelled as Kyuubimon moved to attack again. "I think we beat
it." She looked again, and her eyes widened. "That's a pokemon!"
"Gwah?" Strikedramon and Stuart said simultaneously.
Kyuubimon looked at Sneasel. "She's right, it was in the pokedex Caryl got
from Lorelei. A Sneasel." Kyuubimon looked at Sneasel. "Didn't Izzy say that
there was a Sneasel working for the Dark Ocean?"
"I'll never tell." Sneasel growled. A second later, Arukenimon appeared,
grabbed Sneasel, and escaped.
==That night.
Natsuko Takashi looked at the wall clock. 6:30pm, she thought. I wish he'd
call or say something about when he would be home. Doesn't he know how much I
worry about him?
A knock on the door disrupted her reverie. She got up, and walked over. "Who
is it?"
"It's me, mom."
"It's about time you got home." Natsuko sighed, opening the door. She was
about to go on, when she saw that TK was not alone. "And who is this?" she
asked her son.
"Well...this is Crystal." TK said, trying not to sound too silly.
"It's a pleasure to meet you, Miss Takashi." Crystal said, smiling. On her
shoulder, Eevee yipped happily.
"Well, why don't you come in, both of you? I'm sure there's a lot TK hasn't
told me about you."
"Mom!"
Next Episode:
Davis, Ken and Cody are brought to Celadon Hospital, where they meet Ukyo
Oikawa. On meeting the digidestined children, Oikawa's memory starts to
return, and he is able to tell the two about the fate of Myotismon, who had
possessed him years earlier. The story is cut short as Magnatar appears over
Indigo Plateau, and starts destroying the stadium. Can the digidestined
children stop Magnatar, especially when he has drained the power of a third
Destiny Stone? Next time on Digimon: Digicross...
'Magnatar and the destruction of the Indigo League.'
Digicross TV short
'A Davis at the beach'
The Digiport opened, revealing Davis, Ryo, Ken, and Yolei, who was busy trying
to get through Ken so she could throttle the aforementioned Ryo.
"I'll give you a big date, you creep!" Yolei shouted.
"Hey, I was just joking! A little help Davis?" Ryo begged.
Davis shook his head. "Oh no. This is one time I'm staying out of a fight."
He and Veemon nodded.
"Yolei, please!" Hawkmon started pulling on Yolei's ankle. "Strangling Ryo
will not solve anything. All he said was that you liked Ken!" Ken
concentrated on becoming invisible.
"Well he doesn't have to blab it all over the place!" Yolei shouted at
Hawkmon, face reddening as she spoke.
"She's not denying it." Veemon whispered to Davis, who started sniggering.
"What was THAT?" Yolei demanded, switching her attention to Davis and Veemon.
The door to the pokemon center opened. "Are we intruding?" Melody asked, as
she and Edward Silver stepped in.
==
Outside, the digimon were playing on the beach. It was empty today, so there
were no worries about being seen by trainers or, worse, said trainers trying to
catch one of them.
Hawkmon sat under an umbrella, watching as the two Veemons played in the surf.
Melody's Veemon had adapted to life in the Orange Islands fairly quickly.
Hawkmon had to admit, he had never expected to see a tanned Veemon; V-mon (as
Melody's partner had insisted on being called) had a fainter shade of blue skin
now, and was currently swimming circles around Davis' Veemon. Penguinmon
waddled up to Hawkmon. "Not coming in? The water's great."
"I'm a bird, not a fish. But thanks." Hawkmon replied.
"Hey, I'm a bird!" Penguinmon protested. "How about you?" he asked Wormmon.
"Sorry. Salt water's bad for my complexion." Wormmon looked at Hawkmon.
"Something on your mind?"
"Oh, just wishing I was back in Stone Town." Hawkmon said absently. "I'm not
much of an ocean type."
"I think he wants to stay near Kyle's Pidgeot." Wormmon whispered to
Penguinmon.
Hawkmon heard this. "I'll have you know she is a most enchanting creature."
he replied, trying to recover some of his dignity.
==
The humans had gathered in a large, open-aired hut, which Melody said was
usually used for traditional ceremonies by the islanders. Yolei had suggested
that they start with some introductions. Davis, eager to hit the beach, went
first.
"My name's Davis, and I'm in charge of the digidestined in Japan! It'll be
great to be working with you." Melody chuckled at that. "My partner's Veemon."
Yolei sighed. "I'm Yolei. Just ignore Davis, he has delusions of grandeur on
a fairly regular basis. Hawkmon's my partner, and this is Ken, he joined our
group just recently."
Beside her, Ken nodded. "My partner is Wormmon, but I'm sure you all know
that by now." Ken shifted a bit, as if uncomfortable.
"Ryo Akiyama, but I'm sure Ed's told you all about me." Ryo glanced at
Edward, who shook his head. "Should have figured. He is a rotten liar, so I
guess it's for the best." He leaned over to Yolei. "If you want any dirt on
Ken, I know everything you could ever want to know."
Yolei's face went bright pink, and she smacked Ryo on the back of his head.
Ken just wished he could turn invisible.
"My name's Melody, and I live here." Melody nodded to Davis. "So, any
initiation rituals, oh fearless leader?" Davis' face reddened a bit, getting a
laugh out of everyone. "I've lived here all my life." she added.
"You have?" Edward asked. "I'm Edward Silver, I'm originally from the Johto
region, but I've traveled a lot since then. Actually, I've been looking for a
pokemon that's been seen in this area. Have you ever heard of Lugia?"
"What?" Melody gasped, standing up. Edward blinked, confused by Melody's
reaction. Melody spun on her heel and walked out of the room. Davis went
after her.
Edward blinked, still confused. "Huh?" was about all he could manage.
==
"Melody? Hey, wait up!" Davis yelled, running to keep up with the girl.
"What?" Melody snapped, turning around. Davis, startled, tried to stop before
he collided with her, slipped, and landed on his backside, eyes squeezed shut
from the pain.
"Ah! Sorry!" Melody said, running over to Davis and helping him up.
"Forget it." he replied. "Happens all the time. So, why'd you leave?"
"Because..." Melody started to snap, then trailed off. "I'm sorry." she
started again. "It's just...The last time I came across someone trying to
catch Lugia, he was a demented nutcase, remember?" Davis nodded. Melody
sighed. "I guess I overreacted."
Davis shrugged. "It happens. Hey, even I put my foot in it sometimes."
The two Veemon had seen Melody and Davis leaving, and followed them. "Yeah,
like last week, when-"
"Veemon!" Davis hissed. "I thought we agreed not to talk about that!"
Melody chuckled, her mood lightening. "Why don't I show you around?"
==
Edward sighed. "Looks like I stuck my foot in it again." he muttered. "I
should have known."
"Known what?" Yolei asked.
"That Lugia is seen as a...well, not quite a god, but he is given special
regard out here." Ken answered. "I read about it at Professor Oak's." he
admitted.
Edward nodded. "All the legendary birds are; Lugia, Zapdos, Moltres, and
Articuno. Ho-oh would be too, if he lived in this area."
"Why Lugia?" Yolei asked, curious.
"It's silly." Edward said. "Ryo and I saw Lugia one day when we were about
six. We were at a beach with our families, and we were just looking out over
the ocean and there he was; Mom and dad thought it was a cloud, but I just knew
it was Lugia. When I was ten, I got my license to train pokemon, and started
searching."
"And he's been casting about ever since." Ryo added. "You never did go into
the Indigo or Johto league, though."
Edward shrugged. "Never was interested in battling pokemon. Now that I have
a digimon partner, I don't know what I'll do. Keep looking for Lugia, I guess."
"And when you catch him?" Ken asked.
Edward and Ryo shook their heads. "We never wanted to catch Lugia, just see
him. Y'know, so we know that we weren't seeing things. If I hadn't met
Baihumon and Ken here, I might be poking around here, too." Ryo nodded to Ken.
"And speaking of digimon, weren't we supposed to be talking about who we're
fighting THIS time?"
"Shouldn't we wait for Davis and Melody?" Yolei asked.
"Wait for Davis?" Ken asked. "I thought Hawkmon was in a hurry to get back."
It took everyone else a second to realize that Ken was making a joke.
==
Eventually, Davis and Melody did make it back, Melody apologizing to Edward,
then explaining how she had met Lugia. After that, Ken and Yolei told the
other digidestined about the Dark Ocean, Sneasel, Arukenimon, and the best way
to deal with Control Spires (knock them flat -ed).
"A whole dimension...whoa." Edward whispered when everyone else was done.
"Ah, we can handle it." Davis told him. "Any trouble, just call and we'll
come running."
"If Mr. Hero can find the way." Yolei remarked.
Davis groaned. "You see what I have to put up with?" he said to no-one in
particular.
Melody smiled. "Poor baby." she said. "Oh, I almost forgot." She walked
over to Davis, still smiling.
"F...forgot what?" Davis asked, suddenly nervous.
Melody took that as her cue to lean forward and kiss Davis. "The traditional
welcome kiss. All the great heroes get one." Yolei was caught between trying
not to laugh and elbowing Ryo to keep him from making a smart remark. She
managed both, somehow.
"Ouch." Ryo managed. "And you've been here *how* long, Edward?"
"Not long enough, I guess." Edward replied.
V-mon hopped over to Hawkmon, who was watching the whole thing. "Maybe you
should try that on Pidgeot." he whispered.
"Quiet, you." Hawkmon replied, hoping Yolei hadn't heard. Sadly, she had.
The end.
TK stood up. "Thanks mom! I have to go meet my friends now!"
Natsuko Takashi looked at her son. She marveled how much he had grown up
since the last time monsters had torn through the heart of Tokyo. And how he
had been meeting his friends an awful lot. "It's started again, hasn't it?"
she asked.
"Mom?"
"You're going to the Digital World and fighting monsters again. I can see it."
TK grimaced. He had been reluctant to tell his mom about his latest
adventures. "Yeah."
Natsuko sighed. "I can't stop you, I guess. Just, tell me one thing?" TK
looked at his mom, wondering what she was about to ask. "Who is she?"
TK had to fight to avoid choking. "W-Whaa?"
"I know how it is with your generation. First you're off to save the world.
Then you find out about girls, and soon enough, poor old mom is left behind,
all alone at home. Can I at least know who it is?" TK started stammering
(rare sight -ed), causing Natsuko to grin a bit. "Is it that Kamiya girl?
Kari, was that her name?" Natsuko knew that it wasn't, but couldn't resist
teasing her son a bit. He was so serious these days.
"Crystal." TK mumbled. "Her name's Crystal."
Odd name, Natsuko thought to herself. "She's from that place Kyle's from,
isn't she?" At TK's expression, she chuckled. "Oh come on. I'm not the only
mother of a digidestined in Tokyo. I ran into Cody's mother a few weeks ago,
and she told me everything."
"Oh. Sorry mom."
"That's all right, TK. I know you just didn't want me to worry. Now you
better get going." TK thanked her, and went to leave. "Oh, and TK?"
"Yes?"
Natsuko smiled. "You're not allowed to go on a date until you're 15,
remember." she said sweetly.
"MOM!"
---------------------------------------------
Digimon: Digicross Episode 25
'Shakouomon and the stone of destiny!'
---------------------------------------------
==Digital World, happening at the same time as Digicross 24.
The portal glowed, and TK stepped through, followed by Patamon. A few minutes
later, it glowed again, and Cody came through, followed by Armadillomon.
"Is your mom making that dinner again tonight?" Armadillomon asked. "It was
delicious!"
"She can't make spinach rolls every night, Armadillomon." Cody replied. TK
and Patamon looked at each other. Weird kid, they both thought. "So, where
are we going?" Cody asked.
"Baihumon said that there was something odd happening at the destiny stone in
this area, and asked me to check it out. I figured you might want to come
along."
"Me? Why?" Cody asked.
TK shrugged. "Well, we never talk that much, you've always hung back." TK
smiled. "It's tough being the youngest in the group, isn't it?"
"Well...Davis does tend to dominate the conversation." Cody admitted.
"He's not half as bad as Tai and Matt were." Patamon said.
"Yeah, you should have heard some of the stories Gatomon told me about those
two." Armadillomon added. "I wonder how you managed to survive without Cody
and me?" Sighing, he shook his head.
"He had me!" Patamon said. "You should have seen me when I digivolved to
Magna Angemon! I could have taken on all the Dark Masters!" Patamon looked at
TK. "I guess I still miss it a bit." he sighed.
"Did Patamon really beat Piedmon?" Cody asked.
"The other digidestined helped. A bit." TK replied, grinning.
==
Mewtwo slumped down, exhausted. He had felt some strange energy in this part
of the digital world, and had come to investigate. As soon as he got close, he
had been attacked by something that was able to resist even his psychic
ability. Adding to that was a psychic field that was draining his own
strength, making him almost helpless. He could not resist as some form of
metallic suit was placed over him, reminiscent of the armour Giovanni had used
to 'teach' him to control his powers. However, this set dampened his powers,
though it also blocked out the other psychic signal. It also left him blind;
he did not have enough power to extend his senses beyond the helmet.
Arukenimon, confident that her prisoner was now secure, left the impromptu
jail she had set up. She went over to a large stone that was radiating an
unearthly amount of power. Beside it was a Control Spire, absorbing the
radiation and converting it into a form more useful to her. Between the two
was Larvitar, who had managed to make his way here after crawling through
unknown reaches of the digital world.
"What...what are you doing to me?" Larvitar growled.
Arukenimon gave a sick smile. "You are about to evolve, my dear. However,
your form will be chosen by us, a form that will be a bit more useful when it
comes to fighting the digidestined." She completely ignored Larvitar's scowl
as she said that. Then, Larvitar began to evolve. "Your form of Pupitar is
only a temporary one; it should only take you a few hours to evolve into
something much more powerful than that dreary old Tyranitar."
Out of the shadows, Sneasel padded silently over to Arukenimon. "Two children
are approaching, master. Both male, TK and Pegasusmon, the other one is that
small child with the Sandshrew."
"Armadillomon." Arukenimon idly corrected, toying with the pokeball that hung
around her neck. "So, they sent in the angel." she mused. "We had best
prepare a reception. I assume you'll want in on it, Sneasel?" The pokemon
nodded, extending her claws as she did.
==
Pegasusmon landed, reverting to Patamon after his passengers got off.
Armadillomon looked around, uneasy. "Can you feel something wrong Cody?
There's something not right about this place."
"I can feel it too." Patamon said. "We should be careful, TK." Armadillomon
edged closer to Cody. "It almost feels like a Control Spire, but not as
strong."
TK's eyes narrowed. "Let's try a test then. Try digivolving, Patamon."
Patamon nodded, concentrating. TK's digivice lit up, and Patamon felt the
power hit him. "Patamon, digivolve to...Angemon!"
"I guess there aren't any control spires here after all." Armadillomon noted.
Beside him, Cody watched the angel digimon's appearance, a little awestruck.
"I know, all I do is turn into a big old dinosaur."
Cody's face reddened as he tried to stammer out an explanation. Before TK or
Angemon could intervene, the ground around them exploded, and several small
creatures came out. "Chrysalimon!" Cody shouted.
Angemon flew up, pulled his fist back, and launched his Hand of Fate attack.
The energy washed over the digimon with no apparent effect. "They're resisting
my powers!" he yelled, closing with some of them and swinging his staff around.
"I count five!"
"Armadillomon, digivolve to...Ankylomon!" Ankylomon swung his tail around,
catching two of the Chrysalimon. They fell to the ground, shell fragmenting to
reveal a shiny black surface underneath.
"They were made from a Control Spire!" Cody yelled.
"That means I don't have to hold back!" Ankylomon growled. "Megaton Press!"
Ankylomon jumped and managed to belly-flop another Chrysalimon, shattering it.
"Too easy!" As he said that, the ground rumbled again.
"I think you overdid it!" Cody yelled. "Get out of there!" Cody ran over to
Ankylomon. TK tried to stop him, but was too slow. The ground split, and
Ankylomon and Cody fell through the ground. TK heard some shouts, then nothing.
"Cody!" TK yelled. Angemon snarled, grabbed the fourth Chrysalimon by one of
its tentacles, and swung it into the fifth, shattering both. He flew over,
grabbed TK, and flew down.
Cody and Ankylomon were gone, several tracks left in the ground suggesting
that there had been a brief but energetic fight.
==
When Cody came to, he found that he was in a cell, and Armadillomon was beside
him. "So, our guest awakens." Arukenimon said, eyes fixed on the boy. Cody
looked up, saw Arukenimon, and saw his digivice and D-terminal on a small table
behind her. "I suppose we could have just disposed of you and your over-
enthusiastic friend, but I figured that you could keep our other guest company.
Have a nice day." The lady strolled off, mane of white hair trailing behind
her.
Cody crawled over to Armadillomon, still a bit woozy from the fall he took.
"Armadillomon, are you all right?"
"Nothing some of your mom's spinach rolls couldn't fix."
"I promise, I'll have mom make all you can eat if we get out of this." Cody
noticed someone else in the cage, sitting in a far corner. Cody went over to
check on the other being too. He had a tail, and was covered in what looked
like white fur..."Mewtwo?"
"Who...who is there?" Mewtwo's voice was weak, barely above a whisper. Cody
realized that Mewtwo was actually speaking, not communicating telepathically as
he usually did.
"It's Cody. What's wrong?"
"Help...help get this helmet off..." Cody pulled on the helmet, but it was
fastened too tightly. He beckoned Armadillomon over, and the two spent a few
minutes working on the helmet before it finally came off. Mewtwo started to
breathe, then fell over as if struck. "The pain..." he gasped. Hastily, Cody
placed the helmet back on. "It seems that this helmet is shielding me from the
energy that is powering this place."
Cody looked around. "Energy? Armadillomon?"
"I can feel something, but beyond making me all shivery under my shell, I
can't tell what it is."
"Can you digivolve to Digmon?" Mewtwo asked.
"They took my digivice and D-Terminal. They're about three meters from the
cage, in the direction you're facing now."
==
TK looked around the cavern. He and Angemon had been walking for several
minutes now. "How far down is this destiny stone supposed to be, anyway?"
"I don't know." Angemon replied. "Digimon know about the stones, but don't
normally live near them; the energy affects them in different ways; I think
that's why I haven't gone back to Patamon yet; I can feel the stone more
clearly now, but there's something else too, something evil that's drawing
power off of it."
"Probably the same thing that sent those Chrysalimon up." TK sighed
explosively. "I should have kept a closer eye on Cody." he berated himself.
"TK," Angemon said firmly, "he'll be fine. Don't go all Matt on us, 'cause I
really don't want to start fighting Exveemon."
TK looked up. "Did I really sound like Matt?"
"When he tried to clean Tai's clock, yes. During the fight against
Puppetmon."
"Don't remind me." TK shivered, remembering being held by the insane puppet
digimon. In a way, he was scarier than Piedmon, or even Apocalymon. He
decided to change the subject. "So, how did my mom find out about Crystal?"
Angemon looked straight ahead. "Angels don't lie." he said with as much
dignity as he could muster. "Besides, Gatomon told her."
"Great." TK muttered. "She thinks I've been dating her."
Angemon was about to reply when the two explorers heard a cry for help.
"Gatomon?" Angemon wondered. The voice did sound a bit like hers.
"Can't be. She's back in the Pokemon World." TK replied.
They both ran ahead, and found three more Chrysalimon attacking what looked
like a catgirl from one of Davis' anime series. "Help me!" the cat yelled,
swinging wildly. Beside her, there was a small pile of crystals. "I can't
hold them off much longer!"
Angemon flew over, and started swinging at the Chrysalimon. He got one, and
the other two flew off. "Are you all right?"
"I am now." the cat said, eyes widening. "My name's Bastemon. Are you
sing...I mean, what's your name?"
"Angemon." the digimon replied, shooting a sharp glance at TK, who was trying
not to laugh. "Why are you down here?"
"I sensed that something powerful was at work in this area; I know that there
is a large object of power nearby, so I decided to come down and have a look.
But those strange creatures attacked me and shattered my crystal ball; I need
it to focus my attacks." Bastemon looked at Angemon. "Can you escort me to
the top? I would be eternally...grateful."
Angemon regarded Bastemon warily. His earlier observation had been right.
Bastemon -did- sound like Gatomon. A little too much like her, Angemon
decided. And she seemed to be completely ignoring TK, focussing all her
attention on Angemon. "We have friends down here as well. If we delay, they
may be hurt. I'm sorry."
"Well, why don't I come along? You look like you could use some help. And I
never could resist someone in white." Bastemon took Angemon's arm and led him
down one of the tunnels. Trying not to snigger (aloud), TK followed them.
==
"I may be able to retrieve your digivice and D-terminal." Mewtwo said. "But I
will need your help."
"What do we do?" Cody asked.
"My powers are weakened, but I think I have enough power to telekinetically
summon your items to our location. However, I will need your help to remove
this helmet, and you will have to get me away from this place. The energy in
here is severely damaging to any psychic pokemon." Cody nodded, stepping
forward. "Come closer. It will be easier if I have an image to focus on."
Mewtwo placed a paw on Cody's head. "Focus on your digivice and D-terminal.
That should be enough for me to work with." Cody closed his eyes,
concentrating.
Mewtwo extended what little power he had to work with into the boy's mind.
Immediately, he was struck by how disciplined Cody was. A shame Ash is not
more like him, he thought to himself. The images Mewtwo was looking for were
right there, waiting for him. "I have them. Now, removed the helmet." Mewtwo
gritted his teeth, trying to keep his mind's eye on the mental picture of the D-
3 and D-Terminal, as the pain tore at him. Dimly, he heard someone talking,
then the helmet was replaced.
"You got them back, Mewtwo. Now Armadillomon can digivolve to Digmon and get
us out of here." Cody looked at Armadillomon. "Are you ready?" Armadillomon
nodded. "Digiarmour energize!"
"Armadillomon, armour digivolve to...Digmon, the wisdom of steel!"
Arukenimon sat up sharply, hearing a loud explosion from the jail. She ran
over, and found a large hole in the floor, and the three prisoners gone.
"Down, huh? Well, I guess they'll meet my other friend."
==
After prying Bastemon off of him, Angemon scouted ahead a bit. TK followed
him. "Angemon? Are you alright?"
"I'm not hurt." Angemon replied. TK stared at him, waiting for the rest of
it. He knows me too well, Angemon thought. "It's just...I can't seem to
understand Bastemon."
"She is being a bit pushy, isn't she?" TK wondered.
"That too, but there's something...not right about her. Like I should know
who she is."
"Do you know any other Bastemon?" TK asked.
"No. Most Bastemon operate as wandering fortune tellers, but they're usually
fairly reclusive. One came to Primary Village once after it was restored. All
the baby digimon there crowded around listening to her tell stories."
"Not the same person?"
Angemon shook his head. "Not in the least."
"My ears were burning." Bastemon said, approaching. "You weren't about to
leave me behind in this terrible place, were you?" Bastemon sidled up to
Angemon.
"No. Look, I appreciate the attention, but..." Angemon trailed off.
"Oh?" Bastemon asked archly. "You mean that little brown hairball didn't
swipe that pathetic kitten from URK!" Bastemon trailed off as Angemon moved
away and jabbed his staff into her neck, not doing any damage, but pinning her
in place.
"Who are you?" Angemon growled. "You're not a Bastemon."
Bastemon grinned. "I see you've figured it out." Her form shifted into one
Angemon and TK recognized. Lady Devimon leered at Angemon. "But the offer's
still open, handsome. Ditch Gatomon and the little boy here and we could have
a wild time."
"Nice try, but no." Angemon replied. "TK? Your call." Before TK could
reply, Lady Devimon rolled away from Angemon and came up, ready to fight.
"Nice try, angel-boy, but I'm following my own destiny. I'm not going to have
some pathetic human tell me when to fight." She charged up an attack.
==
Digmon burst through a wall, Cody half dragging, half carrying Mewtwo with
him. They all fell to the ground, gasping for breath. "I think we are clear
of the energy." Mewtwo said, pulling the helmet off. "Yes. The energy is not
as painful here."
Cody recalled the digiegg, and tried to send a message. "Whatever's going on
up there, it's blocking my D-terminal as well. I can't contact any of the
others."
"Well, we have a large lake here." Armadillomon pointed out. "If we follow
the river that feeds it, it should take us out of here."
The water abruptly surged, soaking the three. A large digimon exploded out of
the water, tentacles waving around. "I beg to differ!" the digimon snarled.
"Gesomon." Armadillomon cried. "Cody, I'll have a better chance fighting him
in the water!"
Cody nodded. "Digiarmour energize!"
"Armadillomon, armour digivolve to...Submarimon, reliable guardian of the
sea!" Submarimon quickly went underwater, meeting Gesomon in his own element.
The water churned for a minute as the two digimon battled. As they watched,
Mewtwo looked around. Suddenly, he stiffened. "Something is happening. A new
evil force is emerging."
"What kind of power? Is it another control spire digimon?" Cody asked
"No. This is something far worse, on a level similar to that of Chimeramon."
As he spoke, he felt the power that affected his psychic abilities fade away.
He concentrated, building up his energy.
==
By the destiny stone, the control spire started to crack, then it shattered.
However, instead of disappearing, the shards were pulled into the cocoon that
had been leaching power from the Stone. There was a sharp cracking sound, and
a small figure crawled out.
Arukenimon looked at the figure. "I'm less than impressed."
:A moment,: Demon's voice echoed in her mind, :Larvitar's body must adapt to
the power filling it. Ah, now he is evolving.:
Growling in pain, Larvitar rolled on the ground, body glowing with a sickly
green light, instead of the usual white associated with pokemon evolutions.
Larvitar's body shifted, twisted, and reformed itself into a humanoid figure,
which vaguely resembled an armour digimon Arukenimon had seen only once, when
the Digimon Emperor was beaten. Blades snapped out of the armoured plates on
the digimon's forearms, these bone white, in contrast to the greenish gold of
the armour it wore.
==
It was a running battle. Angemon was much more experienced in fighting than
Lady Devimon, but Lady Devimon had more power. The battle had run all the way
back to the surface, Angemon carrying TK with him.
"Cody's still down there!" TK yelled as they exited.
"And Lady Devimon's right here! We'll be no use to anyone if she kills us
both! Now get to cover!" Angemon replied, before turning back to face the
fallen angel.
"If you're that eager to find your little friend, I can arrange that. When I
bury you all under this mountain! Darkness Wave!" Lady Devimon fired her
attack at Angemon. He managed to deflect it, but the force of the attack drove
him back. "Give it up, angel boy!" she taunted. "You should have joined me
when you had the chance. Shame you'll have to go now!" Leering, she brought
her red-clawed hand up. She then made a dismissive gesture, pointing her hand
at TK and firing her nails at him!
"TK!" Angemon yelled, trying to get to his partner before the attack did.
Horrified, he saw the attack strike, kicking up a cloud of dust. It cleared,
but neither digimon saw the boy impaled on Lady Devimon's spear-like nails.
Instead, his image shimmered into view a few feet away. At his feet was a
small, purple, catlike creature.
TK looked at the pokemon. "Espeon? Then..." He looked back and saw Crystal
there, sighing in relief.
She ran over to TK. "Are you alright? I got worried, so I came looking for
you." Her gaze then switched to Lady Devimon. "Espeon, Psyblast attack!"
Lady Devimon parried the attack. "Fool! I evolved from a Dark Type Pokemon.
Your precious psychic powers are useless!"
:Indeed: a voice echoed in everyone's mind. The ground opened up, and Mewtwo,
levitating Cody and Armadillomon with him, floated into view. :That explains
much of what has happened here.:
The fallen angel smirked. "The last time I checked, you were a psychic
pokemon too. You'll fall even faster."
Mewtwo said nothing, setting Cody and Armadillomon down. He then looked from
Lady Devimon to a small outcropping of rock. Part of it broke off, then shot
at Lady Devimon, as if fired from a cannon! Panicked, Lady Devimon dodged.
:You are shielded against direct assaults,: Mewtwo agreed, :but there are many
ways to use psychic abilities.: Mewtwo's aura glowed blue, and the rocks and
sand at his feet floated up, the were also launched at the digimon, pelting her.
"Enough." Arukenimon stepped out of the cave entrance, eyes on Lady Devimon.
"You've done enough for today. We should let our newest friend out to play."
"I can take them." Lady Devimon snarled.
"I said return!" Arukenimon barked. She and the fallen angel glared at each
other. "Now then, I believe I was about to destroy you all?"
"No, I was about to destroy them all." a deep voice said. A figure slowly
walked out of the cavern.
TK blinked. "Magnamon?" he said, thinking he recognized the figure.
Arukenimon laughed. "Close, but not quite. We had a long time to study the
golden digiegg while it was in our possession; enough time to create this fine
specimen. Let me introduce Magnatar."
Angemon didn't recognize the name, but he could feel the power coming from
this newcomer. Quickly, he fired his Hand of Fate, trying to end the fight
quickly. The blast hit, but Magnatar was unaffected. Espeon fired another
psyblast, with similar results.
"I'll leave you to it, then. Try not to have too much fun." Arukenimon said.
"Fun has to be interesting." Magnatar growled. "This won't even be a light
workout. Let's see. First...you!" he said, looking at Espeon. "Devil shot!"
A swarm of missiles launched from Magnatar's shoulder pauldrons, aimed at the
pokemon. Espeon dodged the first few, but was quickly knocked out by the rest
of them. He glowed and reverted to Eevee. Crystal ran over, gathering up
Eevee. TK tackled her, knocking her clear of a second salvo of missiles.
"Pathetic."
Snarling, Mewtwo fired a Hyper Beam, which did hit Magnatar on an unarmoured
part of his body. "So, you've figured out that I evolved from a Dark Type, did
you?"
"Yes," Mewtwo growled, "your aura is similar to that of Sneasel's when she
becomes Lady Devimon."
Magnatar snorted. "She's nothing compared to me." Idly, he launched another
Devil Shot, striking Angemon full force. The angel was hurled away by the
blast, coming to rest near TK.
There was a shout as Armadillomon digivolved to Ankylomon. The dinosaur
digimon tried to overpower Magnatar with his Tail Hammer. Magnatar went
flying, landed, and quickly got up. "Get away from him!" Cody yelled.
Magnatar snorted again, unimpressed. "Ankylomon, you can beat him!" Ankylomon
charged again, but Magnatar was able to dodge the attack.
He's toying with us, TK realized. "Crystal, you have to get out of here."
"TK-"
"No arguments! This isn't a pokemon battle, that digimon is trying to kill
us! Please!" TK locked eyes with Crystal. "Please." he repeated in a quieter
voice.
"How touching." Lady Devimon said, ignoring Arukenimon and attacking again.
"I turn my back for a few minutes and you humans get all sappy on me.
Darkness-"
"Monodramon, digivolve to...Strikedramon!" Another digimon tackled Lady
Devimon, knocking her clear of the two humans before she could attack them.
"Flamedramon?" TK gasped, startled. Wait, he thought, there's no armour, and
he's at least half again as big as Flamedramon.
Stuart ran up. "Nope. That's Strikedramon, Champion level Dragon Man
digimon. At least, that's what he told me on our way over." He looked at
Magnatar. "Ugly. We should have called Seth, he and Wizardmon could have
helped out." A blur of white and yellow ran past Stuart as he talked. A
second later, Caryl also ran up, panting for breath.
"She's so fast." Caryl wheezed. "She helped us find you when we came through
the portal."
Kyuubimon jumped, twisting in midair. "Dragon Wheel!" she shouted, turning
into a flaming comet and striking the fallen angel. "Strikedramon and I will
take care of Lady Devimon." Kyuubimon yelled to Ankylomon and Angemon.
Cody ran over to where the other humans were gathered. "TK, Angemon needs
you!" he said, grabbing TK by the arm and dragging him back to where Magnatar
was fighting the two champion digimon.
TK ran over, and gasped at what he saw. Magnatar was easily controlling the
battle. He had Angemon by the throat in one hand, and was in the process of
launching another Devil Shot at Ankylomon. Ankylomon was too slow to evade the
attack, and was hit, the missiles doing damage even through the dinosaur's
tough armour. Angemon tried to make a swing with his staff, but Magnatar
caught it in his other hand, pulled the rod out of Angemon's grasp, snapped it
in half, and tossed the weapon away. He tossed Angemon away next, the angel
landing near his shattered weapon. "Angemon!" TK yelled, running down the
slope to his partner.
Mewtwo looked around. He realized that they could not win against Magnatar,
much less him and Lady Devimon. All this power, he thought...A desperate hope
came to him. Desperately, he tried to remember which guardian oversaw this
area. :Azulongmon!: he mentally shouted.
:I hear you Mewtwo. And I can see what is happening. But I do not have the
power to assist you. I..." Azulongmon's voice trailed off as he saw Mewtwo's
plan unfold in his mind. :It is very dangerous, Mewtwo.:
:I know. But unless I try, we are all doomed.: Without waiting for another
word, Mewtwo teleported away, unseen by the combatants.
==
Mewtwo appeared by the Destiny Stone. Even though he was not a digimon, his
psychic senses reeled under the power he could feel from the stone. He placed
his hands on the stone, and began concentrating.
==
Lady Devimon snarled as she dodged another Strike Fang from Strikedramon, then
twisted wildly to avoid Kyuubimon's Foxtail Inferno. She launched an attack at
Strikedramon, trying to keep him between herself and Kyuubimon.
Some yards away, Stuart and Caryl watched the fight. "I hope they can do
this." Stuart whispered. "We'd better hope Izzy was wrong when he said
Ultimate digimon were a lot more powerful than Champion digimon."
"Kyuubimon, go left!" Caryl yelled. "They'll be fine." she replied. It's
just about timing, that's all." She hadn't kept up with Lorelei when she went
all philosophical on her (as she thought of it), but she was able to understand
the value of timing. "Now!" she yelled. Kyuubimon jumped, unleashed another
Dragon Wheel, which allowed Strikedramon a chance to attack again.
"Wow." was all Stuart could say.
Caryl shrugged. "Ms. Lorelei told me about pokemon battles and the Elite
Four. Sounds like something Renamon and I should go for."
==
Angemon, panting for breath, got to his knees, one of the broken halves of his
staff in hand. TK swallowed as he saw the extent of Angemon's injuries. His
mask had been partially shattered; one of Angemon's eyes was visible. Same
colour as mine, TK noted. One of his wings was bent at an odd angle, causing
Angemon to wince when he tried to move it. There were numerous cuts, many
severe, around his torso.
"T...K...wait here." Angemon said, standing. "I have to stop him."
Cody ran over. "You're too badly hurt!" he yelled. "Both of you are!" TK
saw that Ankylomon was in little better shape. "We have to get the others
here."
"It's alright." Ankylomon growled. "We can take this jerk." Magnatar stood a
short distance away, waiting for the next attack to come. "And that's 'we',
Angemon."
Angemon nodded. "Of course."
"But-" Cody started.
"They can." TK cut Cody off. "As long as we believe in our digimon, they can
beat anyone. "Sure, Magna Angemon was able to finish off Piedmon, but he
needed the other digidestined to help."
"Cody," Ankylomon said, "I'll come back, if that's what you want." The ground
chose that minute to erupt again, this time allowing Mewtwo, aura almost
blinding. With a shout, he unleashed two beams of energy, which entered into
Cody and TK's digivices. TK saw Angemon's injuries heal, then was nearly
floored by what happened next.
"Ankylomon...Angemon...DNA Digivolve to... Shakkoumon!" The new digimon
looked...odd, TK decided. Silvery, it had a large head, a separate torso, what
looked like jet engines for legs, and arms that ended in claws. On its back
were two stubby wings.
"Shakkoumon?" Cody whispered.
"I'm less than impressed." Magnatar said (slightly impressed -ed). "Devil
Shot!" A hole opened up on Shakkoumon's torso, releasing several dozen
spinning blades. Each blade struck one of the missiles, negating the attack.
Angered, Magnatar flew at Shakkoumon, claws extended.
Shakkoumon's eyes glowed red. "Justice Beam!" he called, firing two beams of
power from his eyes. They struck, knocking the evil digimon away, slamming him
into the ground for a change. "Take our advice, give up now!" Shakkoumon
commanded.
"Never!" Magnatar roared. He flew up, missile ports opening all over his
body. However, these openings didn't release missiles. Instead, they started
to glow a bright yellow. "I'll destroy you and everything in this area! HYPER
JIHAD!"
"No!" Shakkoumon yelled, getting between the energy beam and the humans. He
flung his arms out, intercepting the attack and, to TK and Cody's surprise,
absorbing the full power of that awful beam. Magnatar, exhausted from using
that attack, backpedaled in midair (odd image, no? -ed)
"This yours?" Shakkoumon casually asked, eyes now glowing yellow, the same
colour as Magnatar's attack. "Harmonious Spirit!" The twin beams hammered
into Magnatar, sending the digimon flying.
"No!" Lady Devimon shouted, seeing this happen. As she turned, she left
herself open for Strikedramon to land a powerful Strike Fang attack on her,
driving her to the ground. Kyuubimon followed up with another Foxtail Inferno,
and Lady Devimon collapsed, becoming Sneasel again.
"Wait!" Caryl yelled as Kyuubimon moved to attack again. "I think we beat
it." She looked again, and her eyes widened. "That's a pokemon!"
"Gwah?" Strikedramon and Stuart said simultaneously.
Kyuubimon looked at Sneasel. "She's right, it was in the pokedex Caryl got
from Lorelei. A Sneasel." Kyuubimon looked at Sneasel. "Didn't Izzy say that
there was a Sneasel working for the Dark Ocean?"
"I'll never tell." Sneasel growled. A second later, Arukenimon appeared,
grabbed Sneasel, and escaped.
==That night.
Natsuko Takashi looked at the wall clock. 6:30pm, she thought. I wish he'd
call or say something about when he would be home. Doesn't he know how much I
worry about him?
A knock on the door disrupted her reverie. She got up, and walked over. "Who
is it?"
"It's me, mom."
"It's about time you got home." Natsuko sighed, opening the door. She was
about to go on, when she saw that TK was not alone. "And who is this?" she
asked her son.
"Well...this is Crystal." TK said, trying not to sound too silly.
"It's a pleasure to meet you, Miss Takashi." Crystal said, smiling. On her
shoulder, Eevee yipped happily.
"Well, why don't you come in, both of you? I'm sure there's a lot TK hasn't
told me about you."
"Mom!"
Next Episode:
Davis, Ken and Cody are brought to Celadon Hospital, where they meet Ukyo
Oikawa. On meeting the digidestined children, Oikawa's memory starts to
return, and he is able to tell the two about the fate of Myotismon, who had
possessed him years earlier. The story is cut short as Magnatar appears over
Indigo Plateau, and starts destroying the stadium. Can the digidestined
children stop Magnatar, especially when he has drained the power of a third
Destiny Stone? Next time on Digimon: Digicross...
'Magnatar and the destruction of the Indigo League.'
Digicross TV short
'A Davis at the beach'
The Digiport opened, revealing Davis, Ryo, Ken, and Yolei, who was busy trying
to get through Ken so she could throttle the aforementioned Ryo.
"I'll give you a big date, you creep!" Yolei shouted.
"Hey, I was just joking! A little help Davis?" Ryo begged.
Davis shook his head. "Oh no. This is one time I'm staying out of a fight."
He and Veemon nodded.
"Yolei, please!" Hawkmon started pulling on Yolei's ankle. "Strangling Ryo
will not solve anything. All he said was that you liked Ken!" Ken
concentrated on becoming invisible.
"Well he doesn't have to blab it all over the place!" Yolei shouted at
Hawkmon, face reddening as she spoke.
"She's not denying it." Veemon whispered to Davis, who started sniggering.
"What was THAT?" Yolei demanded, switching her attention to Davis and Veemon.
The door to the pokemon center opened. "Are we intruding?" Melody asked, as
she and Edward Silver stepped in.
==
Outside, the digimon were playing on the beach. It was empty today, so there
were no worries about being seen by trainers or, worse, said trainers trying to
catch one of them.
Hawkmon sat under an umbrella, watching as the two Veemons played in the surf.
Melody's Veemon had adapted to life in the Orange Islands fairly quickly.
Hawkmon had to admit, he had never expected to see a tanned Veemon; V-mon (as
Melody's partner had insisted on being called) had a fainter shade of blue skin
now, and was currently swimming circles around Davis' Veemon. Penguinmon
waddled up to Hawkmon. "Not coming in? The water's great."
"I'm a bird, not a fish. But thanks." Hawkmon replied.
"Hey, I'm a bird!" Penguinmon protested. "How about you?" he asked Wormmon.
"Sorry. Salt water's bad for my complexion." Wormmon looked at Hawkmon.
"Something on your mind?"
"Oh, just wishing I was back in Stone Town." Hawkmon said absently. "I'm not
much of an ocean type."
"I think he wants to stay near Kyle's Pidgeot." Wormmon whispered to
Penguinmon.
Hawkmon heard this. "I'll have you know she is a most enchanting creature."
he replied, trying to recover some of his dignity.
==
The humans had gathered in a large, open-aired hut, which Melody said was
usually used for traditional ceremonies by the islanders. Yolei had suggested
that they start with some introductions. Davis, eager to hit the beach, went
first.
"My name's Davis, and I'm in charge of the digidestined in Japan! It'll be
great to be working with you." Melody chuckled at that. "My partner's Veemon."
Yolei sighed. "I'm Yolei. Just ignore Davis, he has delusions of grandeur on
a fairly regular basis. Hawkmon's my partner, and this is Ken, he joined our
group just recently."
Beside her, Ken nodded. "My partner is Wormmon, but I'm sure you all know
that by now." Ken shifted a bit, as if uncomfortable.
"Ryo Akiyama, but I'm sure Ed's told you all about me." Ryo glanced at
Edward, who shook his head. "Should have figured. He is a rotten liar, so I
guess it's for the best." He leaned over to Yolei. "If you want any dirt on
Ken, I know everything you could ever want to know."
Yolei's face went bright pink, and she smacked Ryo on the back of his head.
Ken just wished he could turn invisible.
"My name's Melody, and I live here." Melody nodded to Davis. "So, any
initiation rituals, oh fearless leader?" Davis' face reddened a bit, getting a
laugh out of everyone. "I've lived here all my life." she added.
"You have?" Edward asked. "I'm Edward Silver, I'm originally from the Johto
region, but I've traveled a lot since then. Actually, I've been looking for a
pokemon that's been seen in this area. Have you ever heard of Lugia?"
"What?" Melody gasped, standing up. Edward blinked, confused by Melody's
reaction. Melody spun on her heel and walked out of the room. Davis went
after her.
Edward blinked, still confused. "Huh?" was about all he could manage.
==
"Melody? Hey, wait up!" Davis yelled, running to keep up with the girl.
"What?" Melody snapped, turning around. Davis, startled, tried to stop before
he collided with her, slipped, and landed on his backside, eyes squeezed shut
from the pain.
"Ah! Sorry!" Melody said, running over to Davis and helping him up.
"Forget it." he replied. "Happens all the time. So, why'd you leave?"
"Because..." Melody started to snap, then trailed off. "I'm sorry." she
started again. "It's just...The last time I came across someone trying to
catch Lugia, he was a demented nutcase, remember?" Davis nodded. Melody
sighed. "I guess I overreacted."
Davis shrugged. "It happens. Hey, even I put my foot in it sometimes."
The two Veemon had seen Melody and Davis leaving, and followed them. "Yeah,
like last week, when-"
"Veemon!" Davis hissed. "I thought we agreed not to talk about that!"
Melody chuckled, her mood lightening. "Why don't I show you around?"
==
Edward sighed. "Looks like I stuck my foot in it again." he muttered. "I
should have known."
"Known what?" Yolei asked.
"That Lugia is seen as a...well, not quite a god, but he is given special
regard out here." Ken answered. "I read about it at Professor Oak's." he
admitted.
Edward nodded. "All the legendary birds are; Lugia, Zapdos, Moltres, and
Articuno. Ho-oh would be too, if he lived in this area."
"Why Lugia?" Yolei asked, curious.
"It's silly." Edward said. "Ryo and I saw Lugia one day when we were about
six. We were at a beach with our families, and we were just looking out over
the ocean and there he was; Mom and dad thought it was a cloud, but I just knew
it was Lugia. When I was ten, I got my license to train pokemon, and started
searching."
"And he's been casting about ever since." Ryo added. "You never did go into
the Indigo or Johto league, though."
Edward shrugged. "Never was interested in battling pokemon. Now that I have
a digimon partner, I don't know what I'll do. Keep looking for Lugia, I guess."
"And when you catch him?" Ken asked.
Edward and Ryo shook their heads. "We never wanted to catch Lugia, just see
him. Y'know, so we know that we weren't seeing things. If I hadn't met
Baihumon and Ken here, I might be poking around here, too." Ryo nodded to Ken.
"And speaking of digimon, weren't we supposed to be talking about who we're
fighting THIS time?"
"Shouldn't we wait for Davis and Melody?" Yolei asked.
"Wait for Davis?" Ken asked. "I thought Hawkmon was in a hurry to get back."
It took everyone else a second to realize that Ken was making a joke.
==
Eventually, Davis and Melody did make it back, Melody apologizing to Edward,
then explaining how she had met Lugia. After that, Ken and Yolei told the
other digidestined about the Dark Ocean, Sneasel, Arukenimon, and the best way
to deal with Control Spires (knock them flat -ed).
"A whole dimension...whoa." Edward whispered when everyone else was done.
"Ah, we can handle it." Davis told him. "Any trouble, just call and we'll
come running."
"If Mr. Hero can find the way." Yolei remarked.
Davis groaned. "You see what I have to put up with?" he said to no-one in
particular.
Melody smiled. "Poor baby." she said. "Oh, I almost forgot." She walked
over to Davis, still smiling.
"F...forgot what?" Davis asked, suddenly nervous.
Melody took that as her cue to lean forward and kiss Davis. "The traditional
welcome kiss. All the great heroes get one." Yolei was caught between trying
not to laugh and elbowing Ryo to keep him from making a smart remark. She
managed both, somehow.
"Ouch." Ryo managed. "And you've been here *how* long, Edward?"
"Not long enough, I guess." Edward replied.
V-mon hopped over to Hawkmon, who was watching the whole thing. "Maybe you
should try that on Pidgeot." he whispered.
"Quiet, you." Hawkmon replied, hoping Yolei hadn't heard. Sadly, she had.
The end.