TK tried to yell for help as a Sukamon tried to sit on him. Matt was fighting off an Alraumon, everyone else was too far away, Shakkouomon was tied up fighting four Gesomon. What a stupid way to die, TK thought. Sat on by a Sukamon. Tai would laugh.
"SHINING NAIL!" The Sukamon was thrown off by a bright blast of energy. Looking up, TK saw a digimon he recognized. And with him..."Strabimon? Crystal?"
"You could have waited!" Around them, other digidestined showed up, relieving some of the pressure. Despite her tone, Crystal smiled and offered TK her hand.
We just might win this, TK amended as Crystal helped him up. I just hope Kyle, Davis, and Sora are doing OK. There were more shouts; Agnimon, Wolfmon, and Cyberdramon lit up the battlefield, taking some of the pressure off of the Japanese digidestined.
Unnoticed by any of the children, Metal Devidramon pulled away from the fighting, and sped back to the castle.
-
Digimon Digicross Episode 43 'Guardian Ascendant'
-
Sora tried to step forward, to say something, but found herself blocked, trapped behind an invisible force field. She hammered on it, as did Biyomon beside her. Kyle glanced back, frowned, and nodded, then returned to the progressively worsening situation.
At least, Sora told herself, it's not tentacles. That'd be overkill.
During this, Demon stepped back, savoring the reactions of the invading humans. "Well, I have worlds to conquer. June, don't take too long, remember."
A pause. "Of course, Master Demon."
The words hit Kyle like a knife in the gut. "June...how?"
"He put one of those Dark Spores in her like he did Ken," Davis snarled. "ExVeemon, tear him a new one!" ExVeemon shot forward, bellowing a wild battle cry. However, he was slammed to the ground by a well-timed swing from Chaos Leomon's naginata. The enslaved digimon then slammed his foot down on the dragon digimon's back, never taking his eyes off of Arcanine. "Let him go, Leomon! You don't work for that creep!"
"Yes he does," Demon replied. "Right, my dear?"
Another pause. "Yes." June smirked. "Come on, lover. Come and...talk to me."
Kyle stepped back, almost sickened by what he was seeing. "June, Demon's controlling you. Snap out of it!" To Arcanine, he said "GO! EXTREME SPEED!" The pokemon rammed into Leomon, freeing ExVeemon, who got up. "Now, Arcanine! Finish Leomon off with Fire Blast!"
Davis had about half a second to gasp before Arcanine's attack launched, blasting Chaos Leomon and flooding the room they were in with light.
-
Seth shook his head. "You guys always go running off without backup?"
Joe groaned, glancing over his shoulder to see Ikkakumon and Cyberdramon holding off three Gesomon and a Baromon. "Actually, we are the backup. The real fight's in Demon's castle. Fortress. Whatever."
"Lovely. HEY, RYO!"
Ryo, torn three ways (watching Agnimon fight, checking on Matt (who was watching Stuart help Mimi up), and trying to keep Caryl from drawing even more evil digimon to them), glanced at Seth. "WHAT?"
"CASTLE!"
"On it! Caryl? We gotta free Ken and Yolei now!"
"What do you think I'm trying to do?"
"YOU?" Agnimon yelled at Caryl. "I'm doing the fighting here!" Caryl stuck her tongue out at the DNA digimon. "Umm...why are you smiling?"
Caryl's grin widened. "'Cause I'm smart. Now, Aerodactyl!"
A bone-chilling roar cut through the battlefield. As the digidestined watched, the spires holding Ken and Yolei crumbled and collapsed. Aerodactyl flew in, Kyle Evanick and Casey catching Ken and Yolei.
"You...you had them sneak around and attack the spires while everyone else was busy fighting," Ryo gasped.
"Told you I was smart." She gulped as two flying digimon dove at her pokemon, then sighed as Pyroangemon, ordered to stay behind and help the others by Kyle, covered his retreat. "That's no fair. Kyle gets all the cool digimon."
"Hey, I'm cool!" Agnimon spin-kicked the second Gesomon into oblivion. "Both of us are!"
"Yeah, but Kyle's got an ANGEL! Ryoooo, are there any angel pokemon?" As they argued, Pyroangemon seemed to stop, look at the castle, and make a beeline for it. Seconds later, a red streak followed him, blasting Lady Devimon out of its path.
Stingmon and Aquilamon, still under the effects of Demon's mind control, fought on, rallying the Dark Ocean soldiers around them.
Watching the two former allies attack, Tai came to a decision. "Greymon, DIGIVOLVE," he cried, holding up his digivice.
"Greymon, digivolve to...Metal Greymon!" Around the battlefield, the other digidestined followed Tai's example, and were soon forcing the still-growing horde back.
-
Arcanine and ExVeemon were hurled away by Chaos Leomon's attack. Boosted by the addition of Demon's own power, June's digimon was now more than a match for his two opponents. Still...
"Davis." Kyle hissed, "I don't think-"
"Yeah, it's like a bad ventriloquist act," Davis replied. "June, we know Demon's pulling the strings! So cut 'em already and get over here!"
The whip sailed out and almost struck Davis, the snap by his ear sounding like a gunshot. "Over there? With YOU? I HATE YOU!"
Davis stepped back, not believing what he was hearing. "What?" Then, he smiled. "Right. Funny, June. That's just that thing Demon put in you talking..."
"Keep telling yourself that. I've ALWAYS resented you. You were dumber!" Another crack, this one grazing Davis' leg. "More stubborn!" A gash on Davis' face. "Slower!" One of the lenses on his goggles exploded. Davis fell backwards at the physical and verbal assault. "And a LIAR! How long were you planning to keep this from me, little brother?" Kyle stepped forward, trying to stop her; he was wrapped in greenish-grey electricity, and collapsed. "I've got something else in mind for you, lover boy," June whispered evilly. "And you had to drag poor, gullible, naive Kyle into your little web of lies. What, afraid Dad would take your digivice away? Or that I might screw up your chances with that little brat Kari? I guess the whole 'Imitate Tai' bit was just some way to impress her, eh?"
That got Davis' anger up. With a roar, he charged forward, ignoring Kyle's yell of warning. He took three steps before Chaos Leomon's Shadow Fist exploded. Amazingly, he wasn't hurled back. He just stood there for a second, dazed, and fell over, knocked out. A second blast put paid to ExVeemon, knocking him back to Veemon. "And for you, lover boy..." June advanced on Kyle, whip unfurled, dragging on the ground. "What shall I do with you?"
"Duck for starters. ARCANINE!" On command, the massive pokemon roared and fired a blast of flame, not at Chaos Leomon or June, but past Kyle, impacting and destroying the field holding Sora and Biyomon back. "NOW!"
"Spiral Twister!" The green tornado shot out and struck June, sending her flying. Sora winced; she didn't dare digivolve Biyomon; Chaos Leomon might be able to survive a Meteor Wing, but not the human he was partnered with. But with June clear of the battlefield...
Arcanine snarled, and tackled Chaos Leomon, both warriors snarling and clawing at each other. Arcanine's proximity prevented the leonine digimon fron using his pole arm, or his ranged attack; similarly, Arcanine was too close to use his fire attacks. So the two beasts wrestled, for lack of a better term. It was more visceral, fiercer than anything two humans were capable of.
Then a huger black hand picked up Arcanine by the scruff of the neck and hurled him aside. Metal Devidramon strode into view, regarding the attacking digidestined. "Pathetic. RED EYE!" The red beam of energy cut across the floor tracking towards Sora and Biyomon, both of whom dove out of the way. "Any last words?"
The wall exploded; Pyroangemon, already on fire and screaming, shot at Metal Devidramon. The red energy beam stabbed out again, striking the angel's shield and destroying it. Pyroangemon continued on, tackling and driving Metal Devidramon through the door Demon had stepped through.
"You...you are the ones that will be beaten," June croaked. "Leomon...DESTROY THEM ALL!"
Body crackling, Leomon strode forward and changed. It wasn't the normal process of digivolution. It was more like someone had taken Leomon through a computer morphing program. He was now a large black and white lion with huge front fangs.
"Saber Leomon," Sora gasped, remembering Mimi's description. "Kyle, Arcanine, he's a Mega level digimon now!" Off to her left, Growlithe, semiconcious, staggered to his feet. On reflex, Kyle recalled the pokemon into his pokeball. Somewhere in the background, there was a colossal fight between Pyroangemon and Metal Devidramon. Sora wanted to digivolve Biyomon, but couldn't; Phoenixmon was too large to be able to fight effectively in these closed quarters; plus the least of her attacks would incinerate everyone in the castle, if she wasn't careful. And she could feel Demon somewhere in the area.
-
Outside, Scizor flew around the castle, looking for the quickest way in. He had no idea where Demon was, or if he could take him, strong as he was. No matter. He had to save them.
"Where do you think you're going?" Lady Devimon's black wave of energy streaked in front of the pokemon.
"Through you." With a snarl, Scizor flew at Lady Devimon.
-
With a flash, Shiryumon appeared and added his own serpentine strength to the battle, teaming up with Seadramon to take down as many of the Control Spire created digimon as possible. Edward, Crystal, and Melody hung back, Crystal calliong out Misdreavus and Rapidash to help keep attackers away from the humans. Several of Ryo's stronger pokemon joined in.
"This is getting us nowhere," Mimi gasped as Lillymon blasted another opponent; the shockwave from the blast knocked her over. "Thanks," she said as Stuart offered her a hand up. Stuart stammered a reply as Matt caught him with a glare, which turned into a sigh of relief as Matt's expression softened. Mimi snickered, calling "Matt, stop it! He's just trying to be polite! You could learn a thing or two from him!"
Tai ignored them, staring at the castle. "Sora, where are you?"
-
Okay, Davis thought to himself. Growlithe's down, Pyroangemon's busy with Metal Devidramon, Demon's somewhere in the background, Veemon's almost out of it, and Saber Leomon's about to eat us.
He glanced at Kyle, just coming to. Then at Sora. And a plan emerged. Crazy, reckless, but a plan. He cast his mind back on what he knew of Sora, all the times he'd met her. Quiet, loving, devoted to Tai, almost eternally patient. Kind of like Mom, but cooler. And a good friend. For a girl. "Veemon?"
"Ready," Veemon croaked.
"Alright. This is gonna be weird. But really cool if this works. SORA!"
Sora glanced at Davis, wondering what was going on. Then she gasped as she saw a small black and blue object flying towards Biyomon, just as Veemon started armour digivolving himself.
"Veemon, armour digivolve to...Flamedramon, the fire of Courage!"
"Biyomon, armour digivolve to...Unimon!" This Unimon was different from the ones Sora had seen before. She was bright red, a bit sleeker, the helmet was blue, and there were small pieces of armor on the legs and hooves that resembled metallic lightning bolts jutting out.
The two armor digimon charged at Saber Leomon; they were clearly outclassed by the mega digimon, but they used their smaller size and better agility to keep clear of his attacks. This went on for a full minute, the two digimon landing several blows on Saber Leomon, before Metal Devidramon flew through the hole he and Pyroangemon had made, slamming into Saber Leomon. June, angered by the sudden reversal, stepped back, digivice clutched in her hand. "Get up, Saber Leomon. GET UP!"
"It's over June," Davis called. "Give it up."
As he spoke, Pyroangemon staggered out of the hole. One arm hung limp at his side. His sword bit into the ground, the only thing keeping the angel standing. Sora noticed first that his mask had gone missing; Pyroangemon's face was pleasant, with sharp features. Bishounen, almost. Nothing like the viking-like visage she had once pictured. "That...that was easy enough," the angel said, falling to one knee. He groaned, became Eevee, and passed out. Sora ran over to Kyle, just now getting up, and recalled Eevee into his pokeball, passing the ball back to Kyle.
"It's not over yet." June held up her digivice, crackling with dark energy. "I will beat you, Davis."
"How," Davis challenged. "Saber Leomon's out, and he can't digivolve any further."
"Who said I was going to digivolve that failure?" Davis stepped back, suddenly realizing what she was talking about. "Metal Devidramon, DARK DIGIVOLVE!"
"Metal Devidramon, dark digivolve to...WAR DEVIDRAMON!" Stunned, War Devidramon hesitated, startled by this sudden transformation.
In an instant, Kyle sized up the situation, and knew what he had to do.
-
"Out of my WAY!" Scizor brought his claws down, striking Lady Devimon across the face. Injured, the fallen angel flew back, making several more strikes with her claws. "Rrr...I don't have time for this!"
"Then I'll kill you quickly, bug. DARKNESS WAVE!"
Scizor dove under the blast, and shot past Lady Devimon, making a wild dash for the castle. Lady Devimon started to follow then stopped as she sensed a massive surge of energy. Scizor continued down, ignoring the red and blue blur that left just ahead of the explosion. He was lost to view seconds later as the blast cloud encompassed him.
-
Everyone saw the blast; the digidestined assumed Demon had been defeated, and rallied, forcing the attacking monsters back. The wave broke, and the attackers retreated. Cody and Joe, helping Ken and Yolei recover, looked up to see Aquilamon finally get taken down as Angewomon and Lillymon forced him to revert to his rookie form, then shattered the control ring on him. Stingmon was stopped when Greymon, in a more direct mode of attack, threw Ankylomon at him. Getting a nearly flattened Wormmon';s control ring off was comparatively easy after that.
"You OK," Joe asked Yolei.
"Yeah...ohmigod, JUNE!" Yolei looked sick. "We have to stop Demon, he's-" She glanced at Ken, who was, now that he remembered what had happened, on the verge of passing out.
Matt pointed at the incoming figures. "It's alright! Demon's castle blew up and..." Matt trailed off as he saw Sora on something that looked like Unimon, Davis, and Veemon. "Oh no."
Unimon landed, glowed, and reverted to Biyomon, the digiegg going back into Davis' D-Terminal. Sora nearly fell into Tai's arms, sobbing. "We...we were too late!"
Tai tried to ask what Sora meant, then saw what she was carrying.
Growlithe and Eevee's pokeballs.
-
War Devidramon, still a bit lightheaded from the rush of power, stood over Kyle's unconcious body. He should kill the boy, War Devidramon decided. Safer that way.
"Wait." June staggered to her feet, uniform slightly tattered. "He's mine."
"We should kill him now," War Devidramon stated. "This may be a trap." Kyle stirred. "Bah, I'll do it right now, I don't need your permission." He drew in some energy-
"STOP!" The command slammed into War Devidramon, halting him.
The massive digimon regarded June. "Perhaps 'Lord' Demon's conversion of you was not a success. Perhaps I should end both of your lives now. You humans seem to have a perverse attraction to this sort of end."
"Now, now War Devidramon," Demon said, walking into the ruined chamber. "After all that June did for you, granting you your new Mega form. I'm sure June has her reasons for wanting this," he indicated Kyle, "alive. Well, boy? Any heroic speeches? Defiant last words."
"...I surrender."
"I..." Had Demon's face been visible, the whole room would have been treated to seeing the overlord's startled expression. "You -surrender-?"
"I won't fight June. No matter what."
"Where is he!" Lady Devimon streaked into the room. "Scizor, he got into the castle!"
Demon extended his supernatural senses, scanning Kyle. No pokeballs. Digivice was dormant. Nothing. "Interesting. But he is not here."
"He can't have been destroyed...what happened to you?" Lady Devimon sized up War Devidramon, and then made the connection. "Oh, you have GOT to be kidding me. With HER?"
"Shut up, ice-cat!"
"Make me, Larva-brain."
Demon ignored the byplay, staring at Kyle. He was, he admitted to himself, a bit confused.
-
"Kyle WHAT?" Tai shook his head, stunned at what Sora had just told the group.
Sora bowed her head. "He...he put Growlithe and Eevee's pokeballs in my hands, then told me to get Davis out of there. Then War Devidramon attacked and...Tai, I'm sorry!"
Tai calmed down, holding Sora. "It's alright. But why would Kyle...?"
"Because his place is with June." Davis looked back at the castle. "It's weird, but I'm not mad about it. I thought I would be, but..."
Kari smiled knowingly. "They love each other." Kari walked over to Ken. "Are you alright now?"
"No," Ken replied. "It's happening again, and-"
"It is NOT your fault." Yolei grabbed Ken by his shoulder, turning him around and forcing him to face her. "It wasn't your fault when you were turned into the Emperor, and it isn't June's."
"But-"
Yolei leaned forward, silencing Ken with a glare. "If I want to hear an apology, I'll go get Kyle. Got it? Now put a sock in it, we've got work to do."
TK nodded. "Davis is right. Kyle's probably counting on us to stop War Devidramon and Demon."
"Problem," Ryo pointed out, "is that our digimon are tired. I don't think we can take on two mega level digimon and June."
"Let's go then." Davis glanced at everyone. "We head back, make a plan, and save June."
"And Kyle," Melody added, smacking Davis on the back of his head.
"And Elecmon," Veemon said, junping up and adding his own hand imprint on the back of Davis' head.
"Ow, alright." Davis glared at Veemon, rubbing the back of his head. "But...why June? I mean, why not..."
"Why not what," Yolei demanded. "You'd rather KEN was left there? Shut up," this last was aimed at Ken, who was about to say something.
Davis backpedaled. "That didn't come out right."
"Actually, you do raise a good point, Davis," Izzy mused. "Ken, you were..." It was Izzy's turn to trail off as Yolei speared him with a glare.
"An emotional wreck, yeah," Ken completed. "June would be a lot harder to convert. But then, I wasn't given a lot of attention after becoming the Emperor."
"Demon was putting a lot of effort into controlling June." Veemon glanced at Davis, who nodded.
Sora also nodded. "There was a pause every time she spoke, like she was waiting for orders. Ken, did that ever happen to you?"
Ken shook his head. "No. When I had an idea, it was usually in a dream or just a sudden inspiration."
"I'm confused. I thought Mr. Oikawa gave Ken the Dark Spore."
"Yeah, but Demon was the one who created them." Kari sighed. "That might give us a chance."
"If I know June, yeah," Davis said confidently. "He'd have to be using a lot of power to control her." His expression darkened. "For a while, anyway."
-
A few minutes later, everyone was leaving. Plans had been made, the digidestined just needed some time to rest up and gather some needed things. The digimon needed to eat. Lots.
Tai saw Davis heading for his home. "Hey, Davis?"
"Yeah?"
"Sora told me what happened. Quick thinking, giving your digiegg to her. How did you pick the Digiegg of Friendship?"
"Well, Sora's just...well, she's a friend. She's cool. I mean, for a grown up and all."
Tai's eyes narrowed. "And just how good a 'friend' are we talking about, anyway?"
"Tai!" Sora stepped forward, grabbing Tai by the ear. "Honestly, they should give you the Digiegg of Jealousy!"
"I was just teasing," Tai protested as Sora dragged him off. Davis shook his head, and went back to coming up with a good explanation for what had happened.
"We'll get them back." Melody said, standing behind Davis. Davis turned around, startled. "I know we will."
"Divine inspiration?"
"You...I'm NOT a priestess!" She was about to say more when her digivice, and everyone else's across the worlds, went crazy.
-Dark Ocean
A black portal opened up just outside Demon's castle. Arukenimon stood in front of it, still twitching, parts of her vanishing and then reappearing. Bound and forced to his knees, Kyle watched June appear from the castle, Saber Leomon and War Devidramon escorting her to the gateway.
Demon followed a few steps behind them. "You may be wondering," he addressed Kyle, "why we're doing this. The answer, you see, is simple. We don't simply want to take over the Digital World and the other worlds connected to it."
War Devidramon's ears pricked up. From the shadows, Lady Devimon frowned, curious.
"What we wish to do is a little more ambitious. We wish to convert the Digital World into an extension of the Dark Ocean."
Kyle was unimpressed. "What does that have to do with June?"
"Oh, everything. Our original plan was to use the Control Spires to act as a massive antenna and flood the Digital World with the Dark Ocean's essence. Which is why we recruited a friend of yours. One Ken Ichijouji. Oh, that fool Myotismon thought he was being clever, thinking Ken was his ticket to go back to the digital world and take over. The fool never realized he was doing my bidding. Of course, I had to destroy him; I do so detest incompetence.
"And then I thought I could corrupt the delightful Kari Kamiya; the bearer of the Light crest would speed my own work immensely. But you interfered. And then this happened." He gestured at Arukenimon. "Dear, dear Arukenimon. She's quite mad now, her mind blasted by her immersion in a Control Spire." Lady Devimon stiffened. "And then I find your fiancee, June. Quite the charmer, she fought to the bitter end. Love really is a weakness, you should learn to do without."
"Your point?"
Demon grinned under his hood. "I see she has rubbed off on you, Kyle. Arukenimon, you see, is now a walking digital gateway. Thoroughly unique. So, I will have our new Empress open a digiport. The strain should kill Arukenimon, of course, but some sacrifices are necessary." Unnoticed, Lady Devimon shivered a bit, for what reason she couldn't fathom.
"The Digital World is huge," Kyle protested. "There's not enough of her to go around."
"You'd be surprised. June, or rather, my Empress, if you please?"
Kyle watched as June stepped forward, D-3 out and energized. She stood behind Arukenimon, who herself was almost inside the portal. "Di...Digi..." June started to shake. For a wild instant, Kyle though she might break free, then it passed. For a brief second, he knew of one other way to stop her, and tried to bring himself to do it. She'd understand, he told himself. Her or the world, easy choice.
"Digiport Open!" The beam from June's digivice shot through Arukenimon, who was pulled into the beam.
As Kyle sank down, he marveled how easy the choice was.
"Davis. I'm sorry. It's up to you now."
-Digital World
Primary Village was crowded, virtually every digimon in the area having been drawn towards it by a certain psychic call. Demands of what was going on rumbled through the throng, which continued to grow.
Mewtwo glanced upwards. "Guardians, we must act now! I fear-" He stopped, and pitched over, falling in a heap on top of several digimon. "No, not yet. I will not permit it." He levitated up, aura flaring up.
"Mewtwo, be careful!" Azulongmon floated down, adding his energy to Mewtwo's. The pokemon did not reply, all his concentration focussed on the massive task at hand.
The Desiny Stone under Primary Village appeared -above- Mewtwo. Then, with a terrific shrieking noise, the other Destiny stones dragged themselves towards the village, taking every digimon with them. Only inches ahead of a wall of darkness.
"The Dark Ocean!" Zhuquiamon gasped, hovering beside Azulongmon. "They've won."
"Not yet." Azulongmon regarded Mewtwo, blinking as a tiger-shaped ghost appreaded behind the pokemon, glanced at the dragon, and nodded. "It's not over yet. Come. We must move."
-Pallet Town, Kanto Region
It had been a horrendous battle. Pikachu was still a little unsteady after all this time, a testament to the amount of power he had thrown against the Johto Region's defending champion. Ash scratched his friend's head between his ears, relaxing as small zaps of static electricity tickled his fingertips. Somehow, that simple action crystallized the thoughts he had about his future. He'd won, but it had been a very close win. Too close, in fact.(1)
He, Misty, and Brock had returned to Pallet Town to recover. Besides, Misty had recieved a mysterious call from her sisters. And Ash was finding it increasingly hard to say no to the Cerulean Gym leader...
"So, what now," Misty asked. "Follow Gary to the Houen region?" Gary had, a week after the Johto matches had finished, announced that he would be leaving the field of pokemon battles and start doing research instead. The three had stepped outside of Professor Oak's lab, needing a bit of air and calm after the rather noisy 'welcome back' party Ash's mother had insisted on throwing for him.
"Well-" Ash started, then stopped. "What is THAT?" Misty, then Brock, stared up at the sky, which had turned orange.
Above the three, small blue lights appeared. A few at first, small. Then bigger. Then it got truly, freakingly, HUGE!
Brock saw it first. "Rayquaza?" He pointed at a giant serpentine figure floating in the sky.
Mewtwo appeared in front of them. "I need your help."
"Mewtwo," Ash gasped. He stopped. Mewtwo seemed different since he'd last seen him.
"No longer. I am the Guardian of the Western Realm of the Digital World. And now, we need all its defenders." There was no hesitation or doubt in Mewtwo's voice or thought. Now, the pokemon realized, he had truly accepted his role as Guardian, and he was prepared to do whatever it took to defend his part of the Digital World.
Or win it back, in this case. "This world has seen several of it's residents become digidestined. They will be needed."
Misty shivered a bit as Mewtwo took that opportunity to look right at her. "Who, me?"
Next Episode:
-Kyle's plan revealed
-Lady Devimon's fate
-The Digital World under Demon's Control
-A world suffused in digimon.
Digimon Digicross: Empress' Fall.
(1)Note: Yes, this is a change from the canon Pokemon series.