(Author's Note: My apologies for making any mistakes on the flashback sequences. Those are meant to go word-for-word, action-for-action from the original series.)
"We were on our way to meet up with Matt's group in Oceanamon's territory, when we ran into heavy fog. Sora called Davis on Kari's D-3, and that led to a nasty argument between her and Matt. Nevertheless, Matt and Garurumon raced to our rescue. But then we met a new bad guy named Mephismon, who was an Ultimate digimon. When he digivolved to Mega, all looked lost. But then Agumon and Palmon warp-digivolved to their Mega forms, and then Metal Garurumon joined the fight! ...Boy, that was a long day..."
-Yolei
DIGIMON: THE DIGITAL KEEPERS SAGA
Book Nine: "Cruel To Be Kind"
------------ Flashback: Three or four years ago ------------
It was now or never.
The Digimon Kaiser had recently created a monster beyond comprehension called Chimeramon. It was, as put by some, a jigsaw puzzle Ultimate, with different body parts of some of the strongest Champion digimon ever created. This beast was not only powerful, but it was equally vicious, tearing through towns and forests, destroying everything in its path. It was by far the most challenging of foes yet. And the newest of Digi-Destined had to face it.
Thanks to a few allies, Davis, TK, Kari, Yolei and Cody- with their armored digimon Champions- snuck into the floating fortress of the Kaiser. In mere minutes, they were face-to-face with the powerhouse Chimeramon. Its "Heat Viper" attack was more than the armored digimon could handle- most of them di-digivolved back into their In-Training stages. All the while, the Kaiser himself- and his partner Wormmon- looked on.
Ken- it was Ken, no matter how much he denied it at the time- gasped with shock; "What.. What happened to them?" Wormmon replied, "They di-digivolved, Master." The Kaiser's eyes beamed with confusion, and curiosity; "...They're so little..." Wormmon nodded, "Yes, Master. They're just like human babies." No matter how corrupted by evil he was, the Kaiser found himself muttering, "I never thought of it like that before... Human babies...?"
But Davis and his partner DemiVeemon weren't ready to quit, despite their out-matched situation. Davis stood up and declared, "I'm not giving up until we finish what we came here to do!" To the human's surprise, his baby-like digimon climbed onto the top of his head and chirped, "I'm coming with you!" "Really?" smiled Davis; DemiVeemon smiled back, "Did you really think I'd say no?"
The deal was made, and the two heroes made their way- which wasn't as easy as it seemed- to the main chamber, in which a mysterious power was keeping the Kaiser's fortress alive. Davis and DemiVeemon soon met up with Wormmon, who instead of fighting them said, "I'll be willing to help you if that'll let me get the old Ken back." Davis and DemiVeemon had no choice but to trust him. Soon enough, the battery of the fortress was before them. That's when Chimeramon tore through a wall and charged at the heroes. But it was too late to stop Davis from receiving a new digi-mental: The Digi-Mental of Miracles.
This was unlike any digi-mental previously received; the others were based off of the original eight Crests. But Miracles wasn't a crest... at least not one any Digi-Destined has come across. But it sure did the trick, for Veemon used it to digivolve into a very powerful armor digimon: Magnamon.
------ End Flashback ------
"Here we are," Izzy smiled as he set foot on the edge of the town; "Metal-tropolis!" Izzy, Ken, Davis, TK, Kari, Tai and their digimon all stood at the gateway that would take them from a sandy beach to a glorious city of iron and steel. It almost looked as big as New York, but the buildings just several miles away sure put New York's towers to shame. And all other Earthly towers for that matter.
Tai gave a deep sigh; "...Look at the size of it. I can only imagine who lives here." Davis grinned, "If we can make it here, we can make it anywhere!" As much as she usually didn't take his silly jokes to heart, Kari couldn't help but chuckle at this. She smiled to him, "Very cute, Davis." TK stepped forward and said, "Well, what're we waiting for? Let's go in!" "Yeah," replied the whole team, and they all walked through the welcome gates...
Two minutes later, Wormmon found himself flying through the air- screaming- and crashed onto his side, right outside the city line. The impact almost knocked him out cold, as he laid there slightly bruised and let out a small moan. "WORMMON!" called out his human partner, as he rushed to his side. Ken fell to his knees as soon as he got to the little caterpillar and gasped, "Oh my gosh! Are you alright, buddy? ...Speak to me!" The little larva squeaked, "er... I... I'm okay." His eyes peeled open halfway as he winced. Ken gasped, "No you're not, you're hurt!" The others soon ran over, and tailing them was a group of Yanmamon.
They were golden dragonfly-like creatures with four, big green eyes. Tai turned to them and yelled, "What did you do THAT for!?" One of the Yanmamon pointed to a nearby sign and lectured, "Don't you read the signs? 'No Virus Digimon Allowed!'" Ken growled, "Wormmon's not a virus!" He paused, then looked to his little digimon; "...are you?" As his antennae drooped, Wormmon sighed sadly, "...Yes I am." The Yanmamon added harshly, "And we all know the virus types are on the side of The Sin Digimon, and therefore, all virus types are bad!" Kari called out, "That's prejudice!" Davis added, "Yeah, it's racist too! Just who do you think you guys are!?"
------------ Digimon Card: Yanmamon ------------
Level: Champion
Attribute: Data
Type: Insect
"We're Yanmamon, and we advise you not to mess with us. We're as fast as jets in the air, and our 'Thunder Ray' attack is much quicker!"
-Yanmamon
-------------------------------------------------------------
Davis kept on arguing, "Oh, you think you're so hot! Why don'tcha pick on somebody your own size?" Yanmamon growled, "Hey, we don't make the town rules, okay? Only Vaccine and Data types are allowed in town. You don't like it? Leave!"
"FINE!" Ken blasted, then he picked Wormmon up in his arms and cradled him. "Come on, Wormmon, we're not welcome here," he frowned angrily. Wormmon shook a little bit, but then nodded, "If you say so." "Wait," TK suggested; "maybe we can work this out." The group of Yanmamon grinned and started giggling. "You wanna work it out?" one of them replied sternly; "You'll have to take it up with the boss of the town." "Oh yeah? And who's that?" Davis asked. The Yanmamon pointed upward. The Digi-Destined looked to the air... and gasped.
------------ Digimon Card: METAL SEADRAMON ------------
Level: Mega
Attribute: Data
Type: Cyborg/ Dragon
"That's Metal Seadramon! He's a Mega digimon who can move through the sea and sky. If anybody wants to mess with 'im, they're gonna have to face his 'River of Power!'"
-Yanmamon
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
For the older Digi-Destined, it was like facing an old for again, for one of the four Dark Masters they had faced in the past was a Metal Seadramon.
Tai gulped, "We faced him before. Of course, I doubt that's the same one, but still... He is tough." Davis crossed his arms and huffed, "We can't let some bully digimon tell us who should and shouldn't be in town. We're a team, and we all do our part in saving the world. I don't care who's a Virus, or Vaccine, OR Data! We're all good guys, and that's final!"
Ken bowed his head in defeat and sighed, "...No, forget about it." "Why?" Tai asked. Ken shook his head, "I don't feel like fighting. We're in enough trouble taking up fights with all those Ultimate and Mega villains out there; we don't need to start any more." Wormmon's sad eyes gleamed, "I'm sorry, Ken." Ken sighed, "It's not your fault."
Kari wondered, "Where're you gonna go, you two?" As Ken started walking away, he replied, "We'll just hang out at the beach. No big deal. But if you need us, just call okay?" Davis sighed, "...Okay." The remaining Digi-Destined watched in sorrow as the two outcasts walked away. Veemon quickly called out, "I'll give 'em a Vee Head-butt for ya, Wormmon!" "Thanks," his friend called back.
Little did the Digi-Destined realized that they were being watched through a bubble-like crystal ball, in the treasure chamber of the evil Greedmon. He cracked a few knuckles from a few of his claws, and he grinned, "Only Data and Virus types are allowed in Metal-tropolis, eh? ...This could be fun!" With a wave of one of his many hands, he changed the image of his crystal ball, from the opening gates of Metal-tropolos to the outer gates of the digital world itself.
In a vast, space-like atmosphere, twelve soldiers were resting. Each one was resting peacefully; each one shadowed with secrecy. Just then, a small red light, like the sun itself, appeared above them. That's when their shadows were lifted, and they all took their true forms. One, a dragon; another, a tiger; a third, an ox; a fourth, a sheep; a fifth, a dog; a sixth, a rooster; a seventh, a rat; an eighth, a snake; a ninth, a boar; a tenth, a monkey; an eleventh, a horse; and a twelfth, a rabbit. Each one opened his or her red eyes in curiosity, and they all heard his voice... Actually, it was a voice whom they automatically assumed to be another's.
"My warriors!" cried out Greedmon in an omniscient voice; "It is I, your sovereign, the Phoenix guardian Zhuqiaomon! Arise, my loyal Devas! Majiramon the Dragon Deva! Mahiramon the Tiger Deva! Chatsuramon the Dog Deva! Vajiramon the Ox Deva! Makuramon the Monkey Deva! Shinduramon the Snake Deva! Vikararamon the Boar Deva! Kunbiramon the Rat Deva! Indaramon the Horse Deva! Santiramon the Rooster Deva! Pajiramon the Sheep Deva! And Antiramon the Rabbit Deva!" One by one, they arose to his voice command.
Greedmon paused to take a breath; he mutters softly to himself, "Who came up with those names, anyway?" After clearing his throat, he went on: "We are faced with a grave danger, my warriors. It seems that there are trespassers in our world. They call themselves 'humans.' Every moment they tread on our land, they rip at its core. They are a virus- the worst of all viruses. They, and their blind followers, must be destroyed at once!"
All twelve Devas saluted he whom they thought was another; Antiramon swore an oath, "We shall thwart all those who dare threaten our digital world!" "Go now," Greedmon's voice commanded, and with that, they departed from this vast, space-like atmosphere.
------------ Flashback: Three or four years ago ------------
Magnamon was unlike any other armor digimon; he was powerful enough to go up against an Ultimate! A few of his "Magma Blasts" and "Magma Kicks," and he sent Chimeramon flying out of the Kaiser's steel base. The fortress had crashed in the middle of a desert, and this is where the rest of the battle between Chimeramon and Magnamon took place.
On the back of an enslaved DeviDramon, the Digimon Kaiser and Wormmon watched the fight. The Kaiser roared, "Get him, Chimeramon!" while his timid caterpillar servant called out, "You can do it, Magnamon!" Angered, the Kaiser gave him a swift lash of his whip.
Wormmon cringed with pain, but then he turned to face his human partner and finally had the guts to say: "I hope you're satisfied... You've become as much a monster as the ones you've created." Oh, but he didn't finish there; "What happened to the sweet little boy that had dreams taking over the digital world? –Sure they were sick dreams, but we had a few laughs! …What happened to the boy I was proud to call Master? –Course, you made me call you that…"
Wormmon would say more, and once his speech was complete, he concluded, "I'm gonna do this, not for the Ken that bosses me around, but the Ken who's my friend… And only a true friend would do this!" With that, he had thrust himself at the Kaiser, knocking him off balance. That was the little caterpillar's cue to make a jump for it.
It came to the point where, in the fight, Magnamon's power was fading fast. Chimeramon had him in a deadly, suffocating grip. No other digimon was able to help him... or else they might die. And Wormmon, above all others, was willing to take that chance. After escaping from the Kaiser, he and DeviDramon took to the air. Then, when he was close enough, the little Rookie digimon leaped from the head of DeviDramon, crying out, "Here, Magnamon! This is what's left of my energy. Use it!"
Like that, Wormmon's body unleashed a ray of pure light, which hit Magnamon's like a laser. All at once, a beautiful aurora surrounded Magnamon like a halo. The amazed hero muttered to himself, "Wormmon's power... is re-energizing me!"
------ End Flashback ------
Ken tossed (another) pebble, sending it flying across the lake. It skipped across the water a few times, which impressed the little digimon sitting nearby; "That was a good one," Wormmon smiled. Ken wasn't amused; in fact he looked depressed. His little green caterpillar friend looked to him and frowned, "...What's wrong, Ken?" The young man just replied, "It's just not fair..."
"They kicked you out too?" said a scratchy voice. Ken and Wormmon gasped and looked around. Then they realized who was behind them: five little digimon that resembled gray rabbits, plus razor-sharp claws and lion-like tails. Ken blinked, "...Gazimon?" "That's right!" one of them replied. Another one of the fuzzy little Rookies frowned, "We got kicked out of Town too, 'cause we're virus digimon." A third added, "It's not fair; we don't even know The Sin Digimon and yet we're accused of helping them."
The young man raised an eyebrow; "...I don't understand. What's the difference between Vaccines, Viruses, and Datas anyway?" One of the Gazimon smiled, "Well, it's our attributes. It's kinda like our DNA; it's the basis of how each digimon treats and is treated by this world. The Virus and Vaccine types were all originally meant for fighting- especially each other. I guess most Virus types were created by the Digi-Keeper of Darkness, 'cause most of 'em are bad. But not us!"
Ken nodded, "And the Vaccines were meant to fight them?" The Gazimon nodded, "Yeah, and the Datas were designed first, as bystanders and such. But over time, all the attributes just sorta co-existed with each other, making all of us capable of good and evil." Ken added, "Just like in my world; there's good and bad people, but not all one race is one or the other." Another Gazimon giggled, "The real world sounds stranger than ours! More complicated! We should all just live here." Ken smiled, but then something in the air caught his eye.
He saw them coming through the sky like comets. Twelve of them, all large in size. He gasped, "What's that?" The curiosity was fed upon by the digimon; they all looked to the sky, awestruck at the sight.
Davis and Veemon bravely entered the main chambers of Metal Seadramon. It was designed like an icy cave, with sparkling stalactites and stalagmites that gave off a turquoise glow. One would be proud to call this home, if one were perhaps a member of a royal family of polar bears, or something.
"Hello!?" Davis's voice echoed throughout the superdome of a room. "...Anybody here!? .....Metal Seadramon! We need to talk to you!...."
Suddenly, the great beast appeared wrapped around on a stalagmite fit to be his throne; he spoke in a calm yet chilling voice, "Ah... You are the one they call Davis, right?" Davis took a breath and gave a nod, "Y-yeah, I am. And this is my digimon, Veemon." "Hello," Veemon politely waved.
The cyber serpent then said, "I've heard a lot of stories about the both of you. You were the first to armor digivolve. The ones who used the golden digimental of Miracles, and by using it restored the one called Ken back to his true self. And you were the one who defied the power of temptation by MaloMyotismon." Davis started smiling proudly; "Nah, I was just doing my job." Metal Seadramon replied, "You are truly a great hero in your own right. I can see why the Digi-Keepers would choose you." Veemon elbowed Davis joyfully, "You should see him play soccer; it's one of the few times he actually uses his head!" "Veemon," Davis softly growled.
The Mega digimon then said, "I have also heard that you have a problem with one of my city rules." "Oh yeah!" Davis remembered and then commented angrily, "My friend's digimon can't come in here 'cause your rules say no Virus types allowed!" Metal Seadramon gave a solemn nod, "Yes. For the sake of my city, I have abolished all Virus digimon." "But WHY?" Davis roared suddenly- it made Veemon jump back. Davis went on, "Wormmon's not a bad guy, and it doesn't matter what kind of type he is!" "On the contrary," the great beast before him argued, "it matters to the safety of my city."
Davis huffed, "It just sounds like you're being prejudice!" The beast's eyes flared, and he let out a small, inhuman growl. This made both Davis and Veemon step back, and they stepped back even more once the Mega beast started to uncoil himself from the stalagmite, down to their level. As he did this, he said sternly:
"...Prejudice...? You think I don't know prejudice? .....A long time ago, long before you even knew what a digimon was, there was another Metal Seadramon before me. An evil one; a Dark Master. He terrorized this world, along with three others. He was merciless, heartless and power-hungry. He ruled the seas like he was a god. Thousands... Millions.. feared him. He's gone now... But his memory hasn't diminished just as easily.
"After he left his mark in the world, we Metal Seadramon have struggled to make new names for ourselves. No one would trust us for over a decade. We were fighting wars we've never even started. Outcasted, labeled, all because of One.... Oh yes, Digi-Destined. I know prejudice."
Davis replied angrily, "Then answer me this, big guy: what's the difference between the prejudice you went through and the kind you're showing now?" Metal Seadramon replied, "You think I want to be unfair to certain digimon, but you're wrong. The reason why I have banned the Virus types from this place is because they will open the doors for the Shadowmon and Sin Digimon. Perhaps they don't do it on purpose for the most part, but that's what happens. Nearly twenty times it has happened. I'll allow one innocent Virus type in here. At first nothing happens. And then they show up, those mutant freaks. I don't know why, but they do, and they always threaten my friends, my home."
Davis shook his head, "I doubt Wormmon'll do that! He doesn't work for the bad guys." "Young man," the serpent answered, "this decision has not come easy for me. I am only looking out for my city. I must shut out those villains and those treacherous viruses. But in order to do that, I must shout out them all." Davis frowned, "...But that's not fair." The beast growled, "Did I say my rules would be fair?"
He then calmed down and sighed, "I am sorry, and I will personally apologize to the Wormmon. But understand this, human. It took me a long time to build this place, and with it I made a new name for myself. I have a reputation now- maybe it's not as good as yours, but it's good enough. I am no longer labeled as the enemy, as a Dark Master. I have friends now. Respect... And I refuse to risk all of that for one small Rookie."
Suddenly, there was a roll of thunder, and the ground seemed to fall off balance. A fear-stricken Gotsumon- a Gotsumon resembles a small rock-formatted gargoyle- ran into the room, yelling, "MASTER! WE'RE BEING ATTACKED! YOU GOTTA COME HELP US!" Without giving it a second thought, Metal Seadramon charged. Davis and Veemon exchanged confused expressions, and then decided to follow.
"BOAR BOMB!"
"SAMURAI TIGER TAIL!"
"DEVA BLADE!"
"TREASURE ARROW!"
"HORN OF DESOLATION!"
They LEVELED the city. One Ultimate attack after another demolished two or three of those once beautiful towers of Metal-tropolis. Panic swept the streets, as most of the resident digimon charged for the exit gates. Many fell on their way out; a few were even, sad to say, trampled to near death. But the Devas seemed to care less about them. They wanted the humans.
Ken and his newfound gang of Virus types all charged into the city, thanks to Stingmon. They, along with the rest of the Digi-Destined and Metal Seadramon, met at Town Square. All around them there were walls of rubble and desolation. And above them, in mid air, stood the Devas.
Tai turned to the creature that he once saw as a Dark Master and exclaimed, "What ARE those things!?" Metal Seadramon, gazing at them in shock, replied, "They're the Devas... Loyal servants to the Phoenix Digi-Guardian Zhuqiaomon." Yolei gasped, "B-but... Why are they attacking us?" "Are they Virus types?" Izzy wondered; Metal Seadramon replied, "No... They're Vaccines and Data types. ...And I have no idea why they're attacking."
Then, another Deva- Antiramon- pulled out her ultimate weapon: The Treasure Axe. She aimed it at the humans, when- "STOP!" roared Metal Seadramon. All of the Devas paused. The cyber dragon growled at them; "Why? Why do you attack us!? We're all on the same side!" The rabbit Deva hissed, "We've been sent by our sovereign to destroy the threat of our world;" she aimed the axe directly at them, "the humans!"
"Threat!?" Davis called out; "We're not the threat! We're trying to save this world." Then the ox Deva, Vajiramon, stepped forward and declared, "Our master would never lie to us." Sora then turned to Matt and muttered, "...I thought the guardians all wanted us to come here." Matt agreed with her, and called out to the Devas; "You've been deceived! Whoever told you to kill us wasn't the Phoenix guardian at all!" Pajiramon, the sheep Deva, stepped forward even closer and growled, "Lies! We'll show you why nobody messes with the Devas!"
Metal Seadramon started to float to them, pleading, "Please... My friends, you know me. I would never harbor an enemy in my city. And it's true that these humans were sent here to be our allies." The Devas paused, and looked to each other curiously. Then the tiger Deva, Mahiramon, approached the humans to observe them up close. He even went as far as sniffing Mimi's hair. "Hey!" she cried out, swatting at him; "It took me hours to get it unfrizzed!" The tiger backed up, startled; then he let out a mighty roar, sending most of the fear-stricken humans to their knees.
He then turned back to his flying brethren and growled, "They're definitely not of our world. And it is our duty to make sure that nothing unnatural poses a threat." Tai balled a fist and argued, "I'm telling you, we're not the threat!" Mahiramon snorted, "Take it up with our master."
Metal Seadramon then blocked the tiger from the humans, hissing, "...Fools. All of you! The last thing we want is to fight, especially those who could very well help us. Don't you see? The true enemies are the Sin Digimon, and the Keeper of Darkness. And as you all can plainly see, they are neither one, nor the other." There was a long pause; the Devas took one long look at these strangers to their world. There command was clear; there was no mistake. These were the present enemies.
Antiramon, the rabbit Deva, raised her axe and roared, "Our orders are to destroy the humans. STAND ASIDE!" Metal Seadramon angrily narrowed his eyes... "Not a chance. RIVER OF POWER!" A great force of energy erupted from his robotic snout. He fired it at the rabbit Deva, thus making her lose her axe.
The Digi-Destined all looked to each other, and nodded. There was nothing else to do; it was either them, or the Devas... And they just didn't feel like dying this day.
------------ Vision: Digivolution- Ultimate and Mega ------------
"GARURUMON, DIGIVOLVE TO..............................WERE GARURUMON!"
"IKKAKUMON, DIGIVOLVE TO................................ZUDOMON!"
"KABUTERIMON, DIGIVOLVE TO........................... MEGA KABUTRRIMON!"
"AGUMON!"
"PALMON!"
"WARP-DIGIVOLVE TO...............................................
"WAR GREYMON!"
"ROSEMON!"
------------ End Vision ------------
The Devas didn't look at all impressed. They all fought off the Ultimates and Megas with all their might. Being rested up for quite a long time certainly helped; not to mention the fact that it was twelve on six. Ken then looked to Stingmon and muttered, "Should we try it?" Stingmon frowned (that is, if one could see his mouth), "I don't wanna fight them. They're probably not that bad." "I know," nodded Ken; "But..."
"LOOKOUT!" Sora screamed out of nowhere. Sure enough, a nearby tower was falling towards the lot of them; the digimon who weren't fighting took this moment to take as many humans as they could, and booked it out of there just in time! Then, taking refuge atop a nearby wall of rubble, they witnessed the battle raging on.
War Greymon, Rosemon, and Metal Seadramon all fought their hardest, but also tried not to fatally wound their opponents. The Devas, on the other hand, saw these Megas and Ultimates as traitors; they kept up their most massive of attacks, all the while the ground below them was getting deeper and deeper holes.
Ken and Stingmon in particular grew annoyed at this. "We've got to stop this," Ken informed his Champion partner. Stingmon replied, "I agree... But it's gonna be tough, since all the Devas wanna do is fight us.... Unless..." "Unless what?" Ken blinked. Stingmon then fluttered his dragonfly-like wings and muttered, "Unless I can do something drastic." With that, he took to the air; Ken called out to him, "Stingmon? ....STINGMON!"
The Devas worked like a team against their enemies; soon they had the three opposing Ultimates and the three opposing Megas surrounded. They were about to unleash all twelve of their attacks as one. Stingmon charged like a lightning bolt, just when the attacks were about to be fired. None of his friends saw him coming; just when the Devas prepared to fire, Stingmon charged right through and into them. The attack was fired, but in all directions. Most of the attacks hit the sky and ground... But some hit Stingmon.
"STING-MO-O-O-O-O-O-O-N!" howled many of the Digi-Destined and digimon; but it is certain that the loudest of them was Ken. The Devas finally stopped attacking; they were all just as shocked as their opponents.
Ken jumped out from his hiding spot, and rushed quickly to where Stingmon was to crashed. When the Champion did crash, he di-digivolved back into Wormmon. "wormmon..." Ken weakly muttered as he kept running toward his fallen Rookie partner; "....not again.... please, not again....."
------------ Flashback ------------
"MAGMA... EXPLOSION!" Magnamon's combustion of pure energy was enough to make Chimeramon slowly disintegrate. Their greatest foe- well he was the greatest at the time being- was defeated at last. But there was no time to celebrate, for as soon as he di-digivolved back to DemiVeemon, the Kaiser was also di-digivolving... back to the young boy he used to be. Ken.
That's when he heard Kari call out, "Wormmon!" He himself looked up, from bowing his head in utter shame; "...worm-mon?" He forced himself to his feet and staggered over to the crowd that was gathered around the fallen caterpillar. All at once, it came to him. He was a Digi-Destined, and Wormmon was his partner... his friend.
The little fellow opened his eyes and muttered, "...You did it, Ken. You came back to your true self..." He fell to his knees and cradled Wormmon in his arms. "Wormmon..." he sputtered as tears started to fall; "Please don't go..."
------------ End Flashback ------------
"WORMMON!" screamed his horrified human partner. Everybody gazed in shock as this scene unfolded. Ken ran to him as fast as he could, but when he got there, he fell to his knees in utter despair. His fallen friend was lying on his side, his body battered and bruised and his eyes squinted shut. Very much like the time he gave up his last ounce of energy for the golden armor digimon, Magnamon, years ago. And just like that moment in time, Ken can see that his digimon partner was... dare he think it... close to death.
Still, he tried talking to him; "....wormmon? .........wormmon, can you hear me? on, open your eyes." At this point, the other humans and their digimon partners ran to the scene. Following them were the Gazimon, a few Yanmamon and Metal Seadramon. Kari bent down to Ken's level and asked worriedly, "...Ken, is he okay?" Not saying a word in response, Ken gently picked up the small caterpillar and cradled him in his arms.
This was another familiar scene- right after Ken was freed from the dark spore's control. The young man's mind was racing- thinking about the past and the present all at the same time. In his mind, there was no difference between what he experienced then, and what he was experiencing now.
Wormmon's eyes slowly started to open, but only opened halfway. "....ken...." he weakly whispered. Ken's eyes were already filling up with tears; "...worm-mon..." was all he could get out. Wormmon cringed in severe pain, but the forced himself to speak, "...i'm.....i'm sorry..... i tried-" "Sshhh," the human replied softly; "Don't speak; save your strength..."
A nearby Yanmamon muttered sadly, "...He... He saved us..?" Tai frowned, "Yeah... Not the first time either..." Metal Seadramon looked down on Ken and frowned, "...Is... Is he doing alright, human?" Ken looked up to the cyber beast and sniffled, "I don't know... He stopped talking." "Wormmon!" cried out Kari's voice. Tai looked around for her, and saw her running to Ken and Wormmon. He then joined the group, which had to back up a little for Ken and his digimon to breathe. But alas, Wormmon's breathing was growing all the weaker.
Majiramon, meanwhile, was ready to charge; "Let's finish them now!" he snarled to Antiramon. The rabbit Deva, on the other hand, looked down on her opponents with intrigue. "Wait..." she said, lifting a hand to Majiramon. The dragon Deva gasped in shock; "W-wha!?" Still, the rabbit Deva looked on...
Ken could no longer hold back the tears as he looked into Wormmon's weary eyes and begged, "...please don't leave me.... There's.. There's no more Primary Village... How'm I supposed to find you a- ..after all this?" Wormmon squinted his eyes and weakly replied, "...please, ...k-ken... don't cry....." Ken's lip trembled; "...I can't help it... I don't wanna lose you."
The company around them started to cry silent tears. Tai, Kari, TK, Izzy, the Gazimon, the Yanmanon- even Metal Seadramon was getting a bit misty-eyed. One Yanmamon looked to another and muttered, "We were way too hard on that poor guy." The other nodded, "Yeah... I wish we can do something."
Just then a Gazimon rose his ears and gasped, "You guys, we can do something!" The Yanmamon and Gazimon all looked to him as he continued, "Every digimon has energy that they can transfer to another. I've seen it happen! If we all work together and give Wormmon our power, he won't have to be deleted." The Data-attributed ones looked to each other, and to the Virus-attributed ones. For once, they all agreed on something.
"...w....wormmon," Ken sniffled, now hugging his caterpillar friend. Neither he nor the humans nearby noticed the approaching Yanmamon and Gazimon. They gathered around Ken and Wormmon, forming a circle. "Okay you guys," commanded a Yanmamon, "let's all give Wormmon some of our powers."
"Huh?" gasped the surprised Ken. All the humans looked up from their sorrow, and with wide eyes they witnessed the miracle. Yanmamon and Gazimon alike, they started glowing with a golden halo around each of them. Then the golden light beamed from their bodies and fell on Wormmon's. Ken kept the small caterpillar in his arms as the fallen digimon received the power of the many Yanmamon and Gazimon. Wormmon himself started to glow with a golden halo.
Little by little, his cuts and bruises were starting to fade. The humans all let their jaws drop as they gasped in amazement. Ken blinked a few times, not believing what he was seeing.
Wormmon's body began to levitate, and started to float out of Ken's arms. Ken tried to say something, but no words escaped his mouth. All eyes were glued to Wormmon, as he was gently lifted in the air, taking in all this newfound energy. His eyes finally opened wide; he blinked, and realized where he was. "...hmm?" he hummed, looking down at Ken who was still kneeling on the ground.
The caterpillar turned his body over on his stomach, showing the fear and shock in his bright blue eyes. The group of Yanmamon and Gazimon stopped the power transfer, and joined everyone else in their amazement. Wormmon was still glowing- this time in bright green- and still suspended in the air. He blinked, "...That's funny... I never felt this powerful before!"
In response, Ken's Crest of Kindness blinked in hot pink. Then in a flash...
------------ Vision: Digivolution- Mega ------------
"WORMMON, WARP-DIGIVOLVE TO................STINGMON ..............DINO BEEMON ...............GRAN KWAGAMON!"
------------ End Vision ------------
------------ Digimon Card: GRAN KUWAGAMON ------------
Level: Mega
Attribute: Virus
Type: Insect
"Gran Kuwagamon- the largest of all insect digimon! His enemies must be crazy to challenge his 'Dimension Scissors,' 'cause they're strong enough to cut through the atmosphere."
-Metal Seadramon
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
His six bulky legs landed on the ground, causing a huge tremor in the process. He was towering over three stories high; he was almost the length of a football field- counting those forbidding tusks of his. He was gargantuan; in jet black, silver and fiery red. The red was mostly coming from his massive wings, and evil-looking eyes.
There wasn't a closed eye or shut mouth spotted for miles. TK fell to his knees; Tai sat down. The beast looked down to his human partner, who was two seconds away from fainting- not just because of the shock, but because the blood was rushing to his head very quickly, from looking up at the Mega beast!
The giant insect slightly lifted his massive head, took a deep breath, and in a bass voice that seemed almost completely inhuman, he muttered, "...At last..."
Not too far from the action stood the dragon-like shadow of Greedmon. His eyes blinked, looking as stunned as his enemies were; "...So, that's his Mega form... Such a shame he's no longer one of us." Then he disappeared.
The Devas as well were impressed; they've never seen a digi-volution quite like this. Finally, after staying calm and silent, Antiramon stepped down from the sky and approached Gran Kuwagamon. Ken saw her coming and warned, "Don't!" "Relax..." the rabbit Deva hummed calmly. The other Devas as well stepped forward, one by one.
The Digi-Destined looked to them in awe and wonder; was this a trick? Antiramon looked up to Gran Kuwagamon and nodded, "....Now I see that we were deceived. A digimon's evolution usually requires very little, besides natural energy. But to digivolve at the hands of a human... That is something I have never before seen... or expected from an enemy." "She's right," agreed the monkey Deva Makuramon; "If it is written that humans can participate in a digimon's evolution, then the Guardians- even our own sovereign- would also agree to it."
Davis smiled to them, "So are you not gonna fight us anymore?" Majiramon shook his head; "No... We were wrong, and we're sorry." Antiramon added, "We will return to our base outside the digital world, awaiting orders from the true sovereign. And should the unknown deceiver ever call us again... Zuqiaomon help him."
With that being said, the Devas took their leave of what remained of Metal-tropolis. Davis, as well as the others, looked around the area; he huffed, "Hmph! ...Didn't even pay for the damage."
All was not lost for Metal-tropolis. In hours, digimon by the thousands- Vaccines, Data, AND Viruses- pitched in to rebuild that which was destroyed in battle. Looking on were Metal Seadramon and the Digi-Destined. He turned to them and grinned, "Thanks to you, Digi-Destined, this city will no longer be threatened by evil. For as you see, digimon of ALL types are now working together to rebuild it. Perhaps in time, the Sin Digimon and Shadowmon will attack again; but when they do, they will have to face these new resident friends of ours."
Tai smiled, "Well, we're glad to help shaping up this world." Matt added, "And we learned to not judge a digimon by his or her appearance. You're alright! ...For a Metal Seadramon." The cyborg beast replied, "Thanks... I guess."
Yolei turned to Ken, who noticeably cradled the baby form of Wormmon- known as Leafmon- in his arms. She smiled to him; "...Are you okay?" "Hmm?" he looked to her, as if snapping out of a dream; "...Oh, yeah. I'm okay. I'm just relieved I didn't lose Wormmon again." "I know," she sighed. S
he then looked down at the little green creature- shaped like a bubble, tiny beady eyes (now shut), a small pacifier for a nose, and a tail that curled up into a big leaf (hence his name)- and smiled, "Do you think that when he got hit, he knew he was gonna be saved?" Ken let out a small smirk; "I dunno... He might have. He's done a few things that have surprised me..." "Life," concluded Yolei, "is just full of surprises..."
Leafmon slept on through the evening, and into the night. Gran Kuwagamon's moment of heroics would have to wait another day.
TO BE CONTINUED