Now, as he was tossed roughly through the digiport from the Dark Ocean to just outside Primary Village, he winced as he saw the devastation. Everything now was shades of grey and dull black. Structures he once knew now had small spider webs reaching from them to the ground and other nearby buildings. There were no digimon visible. Appearing just behind him was one of the architects of this disaster.
June Motomiya, now the mind-controlled slave of Demon thanks to the Dark Spore implanted in her, smiled darkly as she surveyed the wasteland. "So, looks like someone took all the digimon. I suppose you'll just have to do as Demon's slave for now." Abruptly, her face twisted into a glare. "Where are they? Who took them all, was it Mewtwo? Azulongmon?"
"I don't know." Kyle stared straight ahead, unwilling to look at what had become of his fiancée.
Snarling, June grabbed Kyle by his collar and dragged him to his feet. "That won't work on me! WHERE ARE THEY?" When he failed to respond, she reversed her grip, and half-led, half-dragged him down the hill into the area that used to be Primary Village. "There used to be digimon and a Destiny Stone here. Demon has the other seven, where is the one HERE?"
Still no answer. "You're pathetic. At least TRY to fight me!"
"I will never fight you, June. But I will not help you in this." His next words were lost as June electrocuted him, bolts of bluish-grey electricity crackling through the whip that suddenly wrapped around his throat.
"Shut up."
"I…I know you won't forgive me when we get you back…"
"SHUT UP!"
--Pokemon World
Mewtwo's plan of bringing all the digimon in the Digital World to the Pokemon world was the best one any of the Guardians had been able to come up with. The environment was close enough to the Digital World, and the human population was less likely to call out massive military counter strikes when faced with an onslaught of unusual creatures that possessed unusual abilities and were capable of rapidly evolving their physical forms in response to external environmental stimuli.
This is not to say that everything was going smoothly. Despite the combined power of the four guardians, and Mewtwo's knowledge of his original home world, there were a few digimon that got misplaced in transit. Plus the fact that Mewtwo had created a warp, rather than spend time trying to open a digiport…
-Johto region:
"Hang on Marina, I'm coming!" Vincent yelled, tossing his cape off and leaping off the side of a hill to face the obviously threatening creature that was staring at the object of his affections.
This went as well as one would expect. He lost his balance as he was jumping, and landed in a heap in front of the Geckomon.
Marina massaged her head, accidentally knocking loose a lock of blue hair in the process. Ignoring Vincent, she turned to the other pokemon trainer with her. "So, Jimmy, what is it?" Beside her, a Misdreavus floated, keeping her eyes on the Geckomon.
"I don't know?" Jimmy replied, glancing at his Typhlosion, who shrugged helplessly.
"I told you, I'm a Geckomon, and I'm the chief singer of my village! Want a demonstration?"
-Goldenrod City
Toy Agumon looked down at the small furry creatures. "Umm…so, this is your place," he asked, looking at the massive stack of tires and other assorted detritus.
"Pichu?"
"Yes, your name is Pichu, we've established that. Is there any food I can eat, I'm kind of hungry?"
"Pichu?" The Pichu Brothers glanced at each other, confused by the strange pokemon.
"No. Food. Yummy." Toy Agumon mimed eating and rubbing his belly. A second later, the Pichu with the small tuft of fur on his head mimicked the action.
"Help…"
-Petalburg City, Houen Region
"Max, get away from that thing!"
"Come on, May, it's just a pokemon," the boy said, pointing at the somewhat disoriented Kabukimon. "I wonder if it's a grass type?"
"Umm, I think there's been some confusion…" Kabukimon started, making both Max and May jump.
-Kanto
"There, you see that?"
"Yeah, a whole bundle of pokemon I've never seen before showing up at Professor Oak's, and…hey, isn't that Mewtwo?"
"Yeah. And a big floating rock. The boss will pay us a bundle if we snag it." The second Rocket Grunt pointed at the Destiny Stone, currently hovering several meters over Professor Oak's house
"You will not be 'snagging' anything," said the Scyther that seemed to appear out of nowhere. He grinned, still exulting in the feeling of being so young again. And being able to add electricity to his normal attacks. "LIGHTNING BLADE!"
Maybe turning into a lime-green not-quite-a-Ledyba wasn't so bad, after all.
Davis and Matt watched as Scyther and a still somewhat confused Tracey Sketchum drove off the two members of Team Rocket. "He seems to be getting the hang of it," Matt said. "Gotta admit, that Scyther's a pretty intense pokemon."
"Heh. Imagine if Izzy had that Tentomon as a partner," Davis commented. Matt smirked, imagining the intellectual Izzy trying to keep a handle on a fight-happy Tentomon. As they watched, Scyther glowed for a second and went back to being a lime-green Tentomon. "Wonder what his Ultimate form would be?"
"Supaa Scizor," Matt answered, mocking Dragonball Z. Davis cracked up. Then, becoming serious, he asked "how's Kyle's dad taking all this?"
"Not so well," Matt replied. "Your folks?"
"I told them June's been captured, but not about…" he trailed off, not really comfortable with the idea of June being evil now.
"Yeah." Matt glanced over his shoulder, and saw Mr. Ellison and his mom together. Davis opened his mouth, but Matt clapped a hand over it. "Davis. This is serious, alright? Do NOT tell TK, alright?" Davis, puzzlement in his eyes, nodded slowly. Then more quickly, as Davis realized what Matt was talking about. "Look. Mom and Kyle's dad are, well…I know TK's cool with a lot of stuff, but I don't think he'd understand, alright? Certainly not at a time like this."
"Yeah…"
In Professor Oak's lab, Gennai was leaned over a table, deep in conference with Mewtwo, Professor Oak, and several of the digidestined. "So, what happened," Cody asked, straining to see over the top of the table. Smiling, Yolei helped him up onto a stool.
"As far as we can tell," Izzy replied, "When June opened a digiport from the Dark Ocean to the Digital World, Demon was able to broadcast something which was able to overlay the surface of the Digital World."
"Arukenimon," Mewtwo answered. "The entire Digital World is now covered by her psychic signature. Way too big to catch in a pokeball."
"Right," Izzy replied. "And now, this…veneer is starting to work its way through the Digital World's foundation, making it a part of the Dark Ocean. I guess that's why he wanted a digidestined under his control after all."
Kari shivered. "But why didn't he do this when he had Ken?"
Ken sighed. "You said that Arukenimon had changed during your rescue of Josh, right? That change must have altered Arukenimon's dimensional warping abilities to be able to allow this. She's probably serving the same purpose as the Control Spires did when I was the Emperor."
"And the Destiny Stones," Cody asked.
"Except for the one at Primary Village, all taken over." Izzy sighed. "Professor, will the digimon be safe here?"
"My research lab is large, but not enough to contain all the digimon here," Oak replied. "And I'm getting reports of digimon showing up all over the place. I've instructed the Gym Leaders that I trust, as well as the authorities, to try and steer trainers away from the areas we know that have digimon in them. But there's no way to keep track of them all." Oak glanced at Mewtwo. "No human way, at any rate."
"Indeed," the pokemon replied. "I have already set the Destiny Stone to emit a psychic wave. All digimon that do not have a human partner will be drawn to it. But there is still Team Rocket, as well as other…organizations that will want to capture some of the digimon while they are vulnerable."
Melody and Crystal entered the room. "My father just called," the shrine maiden said, "it looks like Zhuquiamon and Ebonwumon have taken up residence on two of the Legendary Islands."
"So far, the weather's kept trainers from reaching the islands, so the digimon there are safe," Crystal added. "Maybe we should add those islands to the safe list?"
"Agreed," Mewtwo replied, concentrating for a second. He frowned, and then opened his eyes. "We have another problem. It seems that some of the digimon that have appeared are partnering up with humans."
"Great, it's starting all over." Yolei sighed. "That's how Davis, Cody, and I became digidestined. And there's no time to organize them, or even get in touch with them."
"It's probably for the best," Cody spoke up. "At least if they have human partners, they'll be safe."
"We're going to have to rewrite the League rules. We can't have two War Greymons fighting it out for the Indigo League cup, they'd wreck the stadium. Again," Oak moaned, getting a small laugh out of everyone.
"I think Cody's right, though," Kari said, making the younger digidestined blush slightly. "We need to focus on getting the Digital World back. We'll have to deal with the digimon that have partners here later."
Gennai nodded. "As has already been said, the Destiny Stones, excepting the one here, have been corrupted by Demon; they form the foundation of the Digital World. I think that if we can get the Primary Village stone back where it belongs, we can clear the other Stones out without too much trouble. It is the strongest of Destiny Stone of them all. Has to be; how else could we draw all the digimon that have been defeated back to Primary Village to be reborn?"
"So, what do we do first," Cody asked, "save the Digital World, fight Demon, rescue Kyle, or free June?"
"June," Kari said. "We need Imperialdramon, or we won't have a chance against Demon, War Devidramon, or Lady Devimon."
"Hopefully, when we free June, Kyle will follow. Even with everything that's happened, I can't see June hurting Kyle." This time, Yolei shivered.
"She won't," Ken said softly. Seeing Kari's arched eyebrow, he went on. "Kari, remember when I captured Davis, when Yolei and Cody got their digieggs?"
"I did wonder why you clamped him to the side of the cliff," Cody said. "I thought you had just watched too may cartoons."
Ken smiled. "Yeah. Now that I think about it, I can see all the flaws and mistakes I made in my plans. Almost…"
"Like you wanted to be defeated," Izzy completed. "Yeah. So what you're saying is that there's still hope."
"Then we'd better get going." Melody said. "I'll start rounding up everyone." She glared at the digidestined there. "What, we're not good enough or something? There's no way I'm letting Davis go back into a fight without me along!"
Crystal nodded. "This is our fight too, guys. We're as involved as any of you are."
"Hey, the more the merrier, right?" Kari smiled, as the meeting broke up. "I just need to run an errand, there's someone else we need to bring in."
-Oak compound
Ash watched, awed, as two Sabirdramon streaked overhead, heading towards the Destiny Stone. On his shoulder, Pikachu gaped, sharing his friend's mental state.
"It's something, isn't it?" Gary Oak walked over; smirking at his long-time rival's baffled expression. "Of course, only someone with my intelligence could understand that he's witnessing history."
Beside him, a small grey and blue digimon sighed. "This is serious! We don't have time to go picking fights with old rivals, no matter how badly we might be able to trash them!"
Ash turned around, retort ready, and saw Bearmon. "A digimon? Like those ones in Johto?"
It was Gary's turn to blink. "You've encountered digimon before?" He fished in his pocket. "Got one of these?" he asked, showing Ash his digivice. "Well, I guess that, once again, I've managed to one-up you. I've had this for a few weeks now."
"Like me?" Misty asked, wandering over, her own digivice in hand.
"Or me?" Tracey and Tentomon wandered over.
"Heh, better hurry up Ash, or you'll be left out again!"
"Hah. Maybe Pikachu and I don't need one," Ash replied confidently.
Some yards away, Benjamin, one of the Gennai clones summoned from Earth, smirked. You have no idea how right you are, Ash, he thought. He glanced up as several calls came from Professor Oak's. "Looks like it's starting."
-Johanneson residence
Josh opened the door. "Kari? What's up?"
Kari blinked. "You haven't heard?"
Josh sighed. "No. Jake got into a fight with Kristen and managed to put a ficus plant through our new TV. Don't ask me how."
-Digital World
June looked from the mountain, formed from the ruins around Primary Village, shooting towards the darkened sky, and twisted at the top to form a castle, gothic and foreboding. Demon flew above her, heading towards his new residence. Already, several twisted pseudo-digimon were appearing from the ground, crawling up the mountain to serve their new master. Some more made their way to June, and gathered around her, awaiting her commands.
Above her, Lady Devimon and War Devidramon watched. "Hmph. To be enslaved to that miserable human. It disgusts me," the mega digimon growled. Glancing at Lady Devimon, he continued, more sarcastically. "Though at least she's not splattered over the Digital World like someone's art project."
Lady Devimon frowned. She knew that that was Demon's style, he had made no secret of it. Still, she had felt some perverse loyalty to Arukenimon.
She shook off the emotion. "It was part of Demon's plan." She saw a flash of light in the distance. "I see the fools are back."
"Do not tell me you're surprised," War Devidramon said sardonically.
Below, June also saw the flash. "A digital gateway. Our former friends are brave. And stupid."
"They care about you, and want you freed from Demon's control." Kyle felt some hope. Davis, he prayed, don't screw this up.
June sighed, exasperated by Kyle's belief that she, the Empress of the Digital World, could be 'redeemed'. "Go," she ordered the digimon around her. "Wipe them out." She frowned, wondering why she was hesitating in giving the order. "War Devidramon, focus on the DNA digimon, they're the bigger threat. Take out Shakkouomon first, he can absorb Mega-level attacks. After him, the rest should…should…"
"I go." War Devidramon grunted. She's slipping, Demon you fool!
Lady Devimon watched as War Devidramon shot towards the front line of the battle, already lining up a shot at the massive metal…thing that was Shakkouomon. She then glanced at June, staring fixedly ahead.
-
There had been a flood of shouts as those digimon that could DNA digivolve did so. "He's coming," Ken said to the rest of the group as he spotted War Devidramon.
"I see June," Sylphimon called. "She and Kyle are up on that…mountain."
TK ran forward, squinting into the blackness. The clouds cleared to reveal…"Infinity Mountain." Almost on instinct, he took a step forward.
"This isn't the time, TK." Angemon's voice said from Shakkouomon. "He's just trying to psych us out, that's all."
TK sighed, still shaken a bit. He still had nightmares about that mountain, where Angemon had been killed fighting Devimon. Intellectually, he knew that it wasn't his fault, but part of him still blamed himself for the events.
Matt's hand settled on his shoulder. "Come on, TK. Let's do it right this time."
"Yeah."
-
War Devidramon saw the assembled DNA digimon. Pathetic. No sign of Phoenixmon. There was only one digimon that could pose a threat, and War Devidramon was fairly sure that-
He skidded to a stop, landing and tearing long furrows in the ground, barely avoiding a collision with the massive silver and gold warrior. "What," Omnimon taunted, "don't like a fair fight?"
-
June frowned as Omnimon started attacking. "Desperate, bringing Omnimon out this early. Everyone knows that he can't hold that form forever."
"You'd be surprised," Kyle said, slowly inching towards June. Seeing this, she shied away. "June, please stop this. You know this is wrong."
With a snarl, June shoved Kyle away, returning her attention to the battle. Kyle saw the small mark where the Dark Spore had been inserted on the back of her neck.
As did Lady Devimon.
-
The plan had been simple enough. Omnimon was to ambush War Devidramon, Shakkouomon would help out, and the rest of the digidestined would make a break for June and free her and Kyle.
They were stopped part-way by a small horde of spider-like digimon, vaguely resembling Arukenimon, all at least Ultimate level. The charge bogged down.
"NOW!" Kari's yell cut through the din of battle.
On cue, Ken took out the laptop he had borrowed from Professor Oak and opened it, allowing the first generation of digidestined to pile through, adding their own Ultimate digimon to the mix. And in with them…
"Agumon, digivolve to…SIGMUNMON!" Josh had to smile, still taken aback by his partner's new evolution. He was a massive mechanical angel digimon, looking like he had stepped out of an episode of Gundam Wing. Quickly, Sigmunmon pulled out a massive sword, one end covered in red light, and he charged in, sword swinging, sending spider-creatures flying left and right.
-
"Keep FIGHTING!" June roared. "War Devimon, stop fooling around with Omnimon and TAKE OUT THOSE OTHER DIGIMON BEFORE THEY GET HERE!"
Now, Kyle decided. He got up, grabbing June by the arms. "June, you have to stop this! Can't you see that we won't give up?"
"Neither will I!" June punctuated this with another electrical surge. For the first time, Kyle noticed that Elecmon was the one doing the attacking; he was currently sitting motionless by June, feeding his own attacks into her digivice, which she could then channel wherever she willed. "I will not stop, Demon will not stop, War Devidramon will noAUUGHHH!" June screamed and pitched forward into Kyle's arms. Kyle was confused, then horrified as, feeling something odd on one of his hands and moving it to have a look, saw blood on it.
Smirking, Lady Devimon held the Dark Spore she had taken out of June. "I tire of this melodrama. You want her, you can have her. She might heal up."
Slowly, Kyle put June down on the ground. Rage took over then, blotting out reason. Snarling, Kyle grabbed the nearest heavy object he could, raised it, and charged at Lady Devimon.
Despite the pain of the Dark Spore's violent removal, June was not knocked out; half dazed as the psychic emanations from the Spore were abruptly cut off, she staggered up, trying to remember what she was doing. She staggered to her feet, hearing a shout of pain, and saw Kyle, blood red spears shooting through one shoulder into the ground.
-
Davis stopped calling orders to Paildramon and started running. Somehow, he knew that something bad had happened.
He had to find his sister.
-
The haze was clearing as June made her way over to where Kyle was. Lady Devimon withdrew her claws, allowing the trainer to fall to the ground. "Kyle? Kyle?"
"Post-Spore comedown, 'empress'," Lady Devimon asked. Ignoring the two, she opened her mouth and swallowed the spore.
The sheer power tore through her. So, this is how War Devidramon did it, she realized as she felt her form shift. "Lady Devimon, digivolve to…Selenemon!" The body of the leather-clad fallen angel shimmered and was replaced by a much more regal figure. Pale white skin, platinum blonde hair, blood red fingernails dripping fire, bodysuit and skirt matching her claws, along with black accents. Translucent wings extended behind her, tinting what light was there with a faint red haze.
"Now, what to do with you two…"
-
Caught up with his battle with Omnimon, War Devidramon staggered as he felt a spike of pain through the back of his neck. He realized what had happened as the feeling of control dissipated. "Nicely played, cat." He regarded Omnimon. "You're too late. My compatriot has finished off your friend."
The cannon coming out of the wolf's head spoke twice, driving War Devidramon back. "For your sake, you'd better hope June's alive," Omnimon replied, attacks becoming more savage.
-
Cody stepped back, thrusting his shinai into the gut of one spider-creature, forcing it back. Some of the other digidestined had questioned Cody's wisdom in bringing a training sword, but relented.
Cody was now proving his critics wrong, managing to force back another monster, using the few elements of kenjutsu his grandfather had deemed him mature enough to learn.
One monster spat a ball of webbing into his face. Blinded, Cody staggered back, unable to defend himself.
"FARFETCH'D!" a pokemon cried, striking the attacker with his onion stalk. Distracted by the unorthodox weapon, the monster stepped back.
Noriko ran over to Cody, helping him up and clearing the webs from his eyes. "Are you alright?"
"Noriko? When did you get here?"
Noriko smiled a bit. "I wanted to return the favour I owed my knight in shining armour." Cody stammered a thank-you.
A few feet away, Mimi giggled a bit. She knew bringing her along was a good idea.
-
Selenemon waited for a minute, exulting in the feeling of power she had now.
:Ah, good: Demon's voice echoed. :I was wondering when you would get around to that.:
"D-Demon?"
:Of course. I was expecting something like this to happen. Now both you and War Devidramon have a Dark Spore in you. You may dispose of our Empress, if you wish. I no longer have a use for her.:
"Finally. I think it's time an example was made." She swept down and picked up Kyle, June and Elecmon, carrying them high into the night sky. Then, aiming at the knot of humans closest to her, she hurled the three as hard as she could.
-
Shiryumon, Melody riding him, had picked up Davis moments earlier, flew towards the area that Sylphimon had spotted June and Kyle at the beginning of the battle. The three of them saw Lady Devimon do something to June, then digivolve, fly up, and throw her, her partner, and Kyle at the leading group of digidestined. "GO!" Both he and Melody roared, urging the dragon down on an intercept.
-
Kyle came to, aware of the numbness in one arm and something clutched tightly against him. "June…" he croaked. Something was roaring in his ears.
Twisting his head, he saw something large and solid coming up at him. With his good arm, he reached into June's belt, took out the small pokeball he had planted there when War Devidramon had first appeared, and opened it.
Scizor appeared, not quite sure what had happened. His last memory was of flying into an explosion, and seeing a red beam of energy lancing at him-
He saw Kyle and June falling, and raced down, grabbing the two in his arms, wincing as he saw Elecmon fall free. His wings buzzed, but he knew that, even with his enhanced abilities, there was no way he could slow the two humans down enough to make the fall survivable.
It was then that Shiryumon coiled around them, Melody and Davis taking the two humans on board. Below, Caryl's Aerodactyl snatched Elecmon out of the air, dropping the digimon near where Shiryumon landed.
Tai ran over. "How is-" he stopped, stunned by the sight. Melody had some torn strips of cloth pressed over Kyle's shoulder, already red with blood. Davis cradled his sister, vest bundled up under her head and neck. Caryl started to get up to see what was going on, but was stopped by Ryo, who shook his head.
Scizor ignored all of this, eyes fixed on Selenemon. "This ends now," he growled, flying right at the mega-level digimon, not caring if the act cost him his life.
"Oh, this should be amusing." Selenemon floated back, easily dodging the pokemon's first strike. She kept dodging, mocking Scizor all the while. Then, tiring of this, she called up a ball of energy, shouted "Fallen Wing", and slammed it into the pokemon, driving him into Infinity Mountain.
"Not…smart…" Scizor managed. "Lucky I'm…a fast learner. Swords Dance!" Selenemon feigned a yawn. "HYPER BEAM!"
The attack was batted aside; down below, Tai was reminded of when he and the other digidestined had faced the Dark Masters. He was shoved aside as Joe ran over, medical kit already out. Matt ran up as well. "Omnimon's almost out of power. Where's-"
"Starlight Explosion!" was heard in the distance. "Never mind. How-" he stopped, seeing Kyle and June, then looking up and seeing the fight in the sky. "He needs help!"
"From who?" Tai demanded. "All of our digimon are tied up. Whatever Lady Devimon's become, she's a Mega level now, and a really strong one."
"Hold him down," Joe yelled as Kyle tried to get up. "Lie still, or you'll make that stab wound worse."
-
"You know, this is getting a bit boring," Selenemon drawled. "You show up, we dance around a bit, I get away…" Her backhand sent Scizor flying back several meters. "Maybe you're right. We should end this now." Two globes of murky darkness formed in her hands. "Let this be my way of thanking you, for all the lovely memories…FALLEN WING!"
The two spheres shot out and swallowed up the bug pokemon. There was a loud crack, and the sphere dissipated, leaving Scizor badly injured, barely able to stay aloft. "You're lucky. I decided to hold back a bit of power at the last minute. Call it…professional courtesy; we are alike, after all."
"What do you mean?" Scizor tried to focus, regain some of his energy. His eyes widened as he saw several cracks on his body, the chron-digizoid impregnated skin giving way under the assault.
"We were both normal pokemon, given power by the Digital World. SHADOW TALON!" Inky-black darts ripped through Scizor. "I think I'll dispense with tradition and not offer you a position.
"W…wouldn't be interested. RRAHHHHR!" Scizor shot forward, sudden surge of energy catching Selenemon off guard.
"Why won't you DIE?"
-
"S…Scizor…keep fighting…"
Blast it, Kyle! Stop fighting and let me help!" Joe nodded to Tai and Matt, who had run over and were helping to hold the trainer down. Some distance away, Cody and Mimi were tending to June, who was less injured, but almost comatose from shock.
Out of Tai's pocket came two flashes of light; Eevee and Growlithe appeared and scrambled to Kyle's side.
"Send us in!" Eevee demanded. "Scizor's getting killed up there!"
"We can't stand by and-" Growlithe started.
"N…NO!" Kyle forced himself up. "I can feel…Scizor, I know you can win this."
"He's fighting a Mega level digimon!" Tai snapped. Ignoring him, Kyle raised his digivice.
Davis saw what he was doing. "Kyle, Scizor can't…" His eyes widened. "Tai, tell everyone who has a digiegg to use it now! Scizor needs our help!"
"Davis, have you…" Tai stopped, realizing where Davis was going. "Like with Sora…" He got up and ran to where Ken and Yolei were.
-
Selenemon had had enough. Frustrated by Scizor's continued refusal to fall, she powered up one more Fallen Wing. She watched as the ball of dark energy flew at Scizor, enveloped him-
And watched, startled, as a streak of light flew into the cloud, bursting it before it could kill the bug pokemon. Her surprise turned to terror as she recognized the small object floating in front of Scizor.
Kyle's Digiegg of Loyalty. It glowed, and then merged with Scizor. "No!" Selenemon flew forward, striking Scizor. The blow did some injury, but she could tell that something was re-energizing the pokemon.
"Yes," Scizor whispered. "Kyle's loyalty to me is my strength, as is my loyalty to him and his friends." Another digiegg appeared, merging with him. Then another, and another.
"Fool! You think Armour evolution will save you? I'm a MEGA LEVEL DIGIMON!"
"Yeah? I can think of one armour…" Scizor grinned, feeling the power surge through him, surrounded by a golden glow.
Down below, Davis watched it, recognizing the aura appearing around the pokemon. "No way…"
"It can't be…the Golden Armour?" Ken gasped, hand going to his pocket. The Crest of Kindness he carried was still there. "I thought…"
-
In his new castle, Demon frowned. This was an unexpected turn of events. He got up, hand going to the silver and bronze medallion at his neck. With a yank, he pulled it off, letting it, then the robes he wore that concealed his entire body, fall to the ground.
-
The digidestined watched as the Golden Armour, once worn by Veemon when he had beaten Chimeramon, now appeared, piece by piece, and clamped onto Scizor's body.
"I still say it looked better on me." Exveemon's voice rang from Paildramon.
"I think you're a little big for it right now," Silphymon sighed. "Huh?" As Silphymon watched, the spider-creatures started retreating. "I don't like this."
"What's not to like?" Paildramon asked. "Scizor's powering up IN MY GOLDEN ARMOUR and is about to kick major butt! In my armour. Which looked better on me."
"VEEMON!" Everyone chorused.
Above, the two combatants stared at each other. "I'll peel that armour like a banana. Fallen Wing!"
"Steel Swarmers!" Dozens of small silver missiles were released from the shoulder and leg guards on Scizor's new armour, intercepting and cancelling Selenemon's attack.
"You…you won't win!' Selenemon started drawing all the power she could from the Dark Spore she had captured.
"Yes we will!" Scizor did likewise, pulling all the power he could into his new armour. "You're not just fighting me anymore. You're fighting all of us, and the power of the Digital World itself!"
"ENOUGH!" Surrounded by an aura resembling a massive black dragon, Selenemon charged forward, fingers sharpening into talons, pulled back to strike.
Scizor shot forward as well, his aura so bright it was impossible to look directly at him. Which was a shame, as no one saw the exchange of blows that followed.
A few seconds later, the light died down, and Scizor and Selenemon could be seen on opposite sides of the battlefield now. They both held still for an eternal second. Light glinted off Scizor's armour, revealing a trio of claw marks.
Selenemon started to laugh, then moaned in pain. "No…no, I cannot have lost! Not to that!" Below, there were cheers as everyone saw that Selenemon had been defeated. She crumpled up, and started to float down to the side of Infinity Mountain.
Back at the group of humans, Kyle leaned back. "Good job, Scizor."
Above, Scizor nodded. "Not bad, for a last battle as a pokemon."
-
War Devidramon stopped, almost forgetting to duck Phoenixmon's Starlight Explosion, on seeing Selenemon defeated. "Fool," He muttered, breaking off the battle and speeding up to Demon's castle.
-
Scizor landed by Kyle, now somewhat conscious, shoulder and numerous other minor wounds taped up. "Dude," Davis grinned, "you totally owned her!" He glanced at Matt. "Super Scizor, like you said."
Matt nodded. "Now, it's just War Devidramon and Demon."
"There goes War Devidramon!" Cody tracked the massive digimon as he sped back to Demon's castle. "Is he giving up already?"
"I doubt it," Ken said, staring up the mountain to the castle at the top. "What about her," he asked, indicating Selenemon. Despite her injuries, she had not de-evolved.
His question was answered a second later as she was swallowed up by a ball of sickly-blue energy, and lifted partway up the mountain. At about halfway up, a large blue scaly hand smashed out of the rock and grabbed the sphere. "Thank you my dear. Your negative energies managed to finish the spore's evolution." The hand opened up, and Selenemon screamed as the Dark Spore was now taken from her, just as she had done to June. Instinctively, Scizor shot upwards, flying for Selenemon. To his surprise, he encountered no resistance, smashing through the bubble and grabbing the evil hybrid digimon. He turned, expecting an attack, but saw none coming, instead witnessing the hand withdraw into the mountain.
"W…why…?"
Under his helmet, Scizor smiled. "Professional courtesy."
"Valiant, but late." Demon's voice echoed around everyone, but no one could see the speaker. "I have everything I need now. War Devidramon, please wait at the castle. It is time I got involved."
The mountain collapsed. A huge blue skinned monstrosity stepped out, towering over the digidestined. Demon, true form revealed, made the best impression of a demonic smile his fang-filled maw could manage. Three-fingered hands ending in needle-sharp talons the size of flagpoles flexed. Black and blue electricity crackled between haphazardly placed tufts of blue fur. Two rippling pools of gold floated in lakes of red, the eyes of Demon, uncovered at last.
"Now then…" Demon grumbled, leaning over the humans. "Where to begin…?"
-Professor Oak's lab, Kanto Region
Mewtwo's eyes flashed with blue light. "The final battle has begun. Azulongmon, we must be ready."
Above, the massive dragon hovered in the clouds. "Yes, but there is still one more act that must happen before we get involved. Demon must fully reveal his power."
"And he is about to." Mewtwo concentrated his might. "As I am about to."
-Digital World
Davis wasn't sure who yelled 'attack'. It might have been him, or one of the others. All he knew was that every good digimon that was still able to rallied and started hurling whatever they could against Demon.
All to no effect. Scizor, still standing by the fallen Selenemon, was waiting, seemingly in communication with someone.
Demon waited for the smoke to clear, and smiled, as if it were all some grand joke. "Now I shall stand fully revealed. This Dark Spore has been fully energized. The Digital World is covered with my power." As he spoke, everyone could hear a faint roaring noise. The sound of waves pounding against a beach, specifically. Opening his hand, the Dark Spore glowed one last time and sunk into Demon's palm. There was a moment of silence, then Demon's body was wrapped in a black and red vortex, screams and tearing sounds coming from within.
When it finished, the vortex simply vanished, leaving a massive red and blue skeletal beast. It raised a hand, brought it down, flinging a massive shockwave at the digidestined. All of the DNA digimon were knocked down, even the airborne ones feeling the strike.
Only Scizor was left, a field blocking the wave from hitting him, Selenemon, and the humans, who had somehow been transported to the pokemon's side. A second later, Mewtwo appeared.
"So, the newest of the Guardians has come to play, yes?"
Mewtwo shook his head, then glanced at Scizor. "No. I have come to set right what you have tried to destroy, Skull Demon." His eyes closed, and the last Destiny Stone appeared over the wreckage of Primary Village. "Scizor! Lend me your power!"
"Right!" Scizor concentrated, and the digieggs he had absorbed appeared around him, then flew to separate points around Primary Village. A golden field appeared, and the small haven was restored, warded against the Dark Ocean's power.
"Digidestined, there is a portal ready inside. Use it!" Mewtwo didn't quite flinch as another power bolt slammed against the screen he and Scizor had erected. "You will not be safe here much longer!"
Everyone took the hint. Joe and TK carried Kyle, Davis helped his sister, and everyone piled in, the digimon switching back to their rookie forms. Inside the field they found a floating circle, spinning slowly, Professor Oak's lab visible on the other side.
When the last human had made it through, Mewtwo and Scizor retreated inside. "This changes nothing!" Skull Demon thundered. "Now or later does not matter! I still have the power of the Dark Ocean, the other Destiny Stones, and a fully energized Dark Spore inside me!"
"And we have Primary Village." Mewtwo shot back. "And soon, the rest of the Digital World too. You will lose, Skull Demon. Come." Scizor bent over, picked up Selenemon, and followed Mewtwo through the portal.
"Very well, Mewtwo. Then let the last act of this farce be played out. But know that I, Skull Demon shall be the one to bury you. And I will save you for last."
Next Episode:
The fate of the Digital World is decided as Skull Demon faces the combined forces of three worlds. It all comes to a head on the FINAL CHAPTER OF DIGIMON:DIGICROSS.
"Digital Paladin!"