First, thank you to everyone who has already given their support to this story. Second, do not forget to check out Children of the Past though it is not a requirement. Third, as you might know, I am very busy so updates are probably going to take a while. Fourth, I made edits to Children of the Present, two chapters in particular have been given major changes. Those two would be Just Trust Me (Part 1) and Welcome Festival. And fifth, I hope you all enjoy!
-X-
December 21: Northwest Woods – 9:40 AM
"Original name," Korikakumon snorted when he arrived.
The Warrior slide evolved into his smaller form so that it would be easier to navigate through the forest. Not to mention, it would make things easier for him to sneak up on Arbormon, wherever he was at this moment. With each step that Kumamon took, he felt something odd, weight sinking into the ground that he could not see.
"Chamelemon…," he muttered to himself.
"Tongue Lashing!"
Kumamon jumped backwards and though he could not see it, he felt the wind rush past him directly in front of him and when he landed, he felt at least three tongues stuck to the ground for about another three seconds before they would retract.
"Crystal Breeze!" Kumamon breathed an icy wind on the tongues and he grinned with satisfaction when he heard the three Chamelemon groaning in distress. They turned themselves visible and the Warrior watched as they tugged in vain to release their appendages. "Where is Arbormon?"
"You won't be able to beat him!" a Chamelemon that was still roaming around laughed.
"Yeah! A puny little teddy bear like you wouldn't stand a chance!" added another.
Kumamon pulled out his snowball launcher, Romeo, and watched the trees patiently. It wasn't hard for him to sense movement, especially when he was in Digimon form, all he had to do was pinpoint the locations of his invisible foes and then aim. "Blizzard Blaster!" He counted at least five other enemies out here, waiting for the right time to strike, but they waited too long as they were hit with some powerful snowballs, knocking them out of the trees. The snow was also visible so the Warrior now knew exactly where they were. "Slide Evolution! Korikakumon! Frozen Arrowheads!"
Eight targets were destroyed all at once and as Kumamon, he intended to digitize their Fractal Codes but before he had the chance to, all the data particles floated away from him. He put on his skis and followed the data but before he could reach them, a fist came flying out of nowhere and knocked him right off his feet.
"Well, if it isn't the Legendary Warrior of Ice," said a familiar voice. Arbormon slowly stepped out of from his cover, absorbing the lost data of his own comrades. "I must admit, this data doesn't taste anywhere near as good as burgers but I guess I can't have those anymore after someone destroyed my base there!"
"I couldn't just let you continue terrorizing those Burgermon," Kumamon grunted as he pushed himself back up.
"Terrorizing?" Arbormon gasped, as if he was appalled to be accused of that. "No, no, I didn't see it that way. I was simply doing business."
"That would imply that both sides benefit."
"Don't smart mouth me teddy!"
Kumamon took on a fighting stance but he knew that he didn't stand much of a chance against this bigger Warrior in the form he was in right now. He wasn't very fast unless he was on skis and this guy could stretch out his limbs like Mr. Fantastic. But that didn't mean things were hopeless. The Warrior of Ice did not spend the last three years sharpening his mind and skills not to come up with the strategies that Takuya had during their first adventure.
"Blockade Seed!"
Kumamon jumped up, kicking off a nearby tree trunk and sticking onto the bottom of a branch. "Frozen Tundra!" That came as a shock to Arbormon, he hadn't expected the stout polar bear to be so limber and avoid his bullet-like saplings by hanging from a branch like his beast form would.
"The one thing I know about ice is that it's fragile!" Arbormon growled. "Roundhouse Punt!"
Kumamon smirked before turning back to his original form, Arbormon's leg whipping around the branch. It didn't get tangled but that didn't matter so much because this guy was going to get stuck to the tree anyway. "Crystal Breeze!" The Warrior of Wood's eyes bulged out from underneath his hat when he found his stringy leg frozen to the bark but his opponent wasn't through with the torment just yet as the bazooka came back out. "Blizzard Blaster!"
"No you don't!" he snapped. "Slide Evolution!" As he was encased in the spiraling cocoon, the ice that had immobilized his leg shattered and standing in his place was now Petaldramon, the plant-like lizard that caused so much trouble for Burger Town. "Petaldramon!" The snowballs harmlessly pelted his petal-like scales. "Try this! Leaf Cyclone!"
Kumamon yelped as he got caught up in the tornado, leaves cutting his fur and leaving marks on the skin of the human host inside. From inside, Tommy's eyes widened as he glanced at the arms blocking his face. Cuts? Blood? Was he bleeding?
"This isn't good," Kumamon muttered. "I knew I took damage even in Digimon form but my body is so much more sensitive now. I feel like I just got a thousand paper cuts."
Petaldramon laughed. "You can't win this battle! Now, Chamelemon!"
Kumamon's eyes widened. "There are more?!"
"Tongue Lashing!"
Just like before, several tongues came whipping out from the trees. Kumamon had been so distracted with the foe in front of him that he hadn't even noticed the stealthy lizards shrouding themselves in the foliage. And as if to make matters worse, he felt someone else coming and he knew who it was.
Shinya jumped out of the shrubbery and pushed Kumamon out of the way just a tongue wrapped around the boy's waist and yanked him right off the ground. "No!"
Petaldramon raised an eyebrow at the sight of the other human but even so, if it was a human, he was likely to be an enemy so he was going to rejoice in this unforeseen turn of events. But surprise had another fate in store when a gunshot rang through the forest, ripping through the air and cutting the tongue that had latched itself to the boy, dropping Shinya to the ground.
"Whoa, what just happened?" Shinya blinked.
Kumamon knew that his priority was to make sure his friend was okay but the source of the gunshot just made himself known, taking his attention away from Shinya for a brief moment. He kind of looked like an Agumon clad in wartime soldier gear, holding an assault rifle of all weapons. His skin looked like it was covered in camouflage painting though it looked much more pixelated than the warpaint from their home world.
Digital Analyzer: Commandramon is a Rookie Digimon, a cyborg designed specifically for battle but as wars passed, the creatures slowly began to gain sentience. Many of them still fight and protect the things that they were ordered to keep the peace for it is all they know. For such a low level Digimon, they are fairly powerful.
"M16 Assassin!" Commandramon shouted, aiming his firearm into the trees and firing rapidly. He had a sharp eye that was for sure, with every gunshot came the sound of a Chamelemon falling to the dirt with a satisfying thud. Though Kumamon was sure that he was the only one to hear it over the loud crack of the rifle.
"You again?" Petaldramon glowered. "Leaf Cyclone!"
"Slide Evolution! Korikakumon!" The newly formed beast Digimon jumped over Shinya and Commandramon's heads, landing in front of them and using his tomahawks to slice right through Petaldramon's attack. "No more playing around! Frozen Arrowhead!" His braids tangled themselves around the lizard, binding him on the spot.
"You're not the only one who can constrict movement!" Petaldramon grunted. "Thorn Jab!" He stabbed the ground with his tail and suddenly, vines sprouted out from under Korikakumon's feet, entangling him as well. They were now at a stalemate except for the fact that Petaldramon was all out of allies.
Commandramon cocked his rifle and then pointed it at Korikakumon. "M16 Assassin!" He didn't nearly have the power to do sufficient enough amount of damage of Petaldramon but he had just enough power to destroy the vines constricting Korikakumon.
"Thanks!" Korikakumon nodded before glaring down his enemies. The Chamelemon were starting to get back too and that was when the Warrior noticed that each of their eyes had been shot by a bullet; that was some terrifyingly expert aim. No wonder Champion level Digimon were knocked down by such a small cyborg. "It's time to finish this! Avalanche Axes!" The yeti threw his tomahawks and they mowed down the lizards one by one before finding themselves at a converging point on Petaldramon, cutting him in two.
The beast faded into an inky silhouette with his spirits lying out in the open for the taking. "Destroyed twice now! At least this time, it was by an enemy and not an ally!"
Korikakumon returned into Kumamon's small form who was holding up his D-Tector. "Fractal Code Digitize!" With that, the Warrior of Wood no longer stood in the middle of the forest, he now had a home inside Tommy's digivice. "Whew… Glad that's over."
While Shinya was gushing over how cool Commandramon had been and thanking the dragon-like machine for saving him, Tommy was checking over the cuts that had formed all over his skin. They were open wounds but they were healing fast, he wondered if that was also an effect from being a host to a Legendary Warrior. It might be something similar to how the main trio of Tamers heal so quickly despite taking so many hits.
Once the boy had finished his once-over, he marched towards his classmate with an angered glare.
"Hm?" Commandramon blinked, looking up at Tommy. "I must say, I was rather impressed by your skills. I can see why the Warrior of Ice had chosen you to be his host."
"Thanks," Tommy acknowledged before returning his narrowed eyes on Shinya. "Care to explain why you followed me?"
Shinya looked down in embarrassment. "It was weird. One moment, I was with Ai and this other guy heading towards the battleground where Takato and Taiki ran off to, the next moment, I get this feeling that I had to come to you. It was like I just knew you were in trouble and didn't want you getting hurt."
"…You're an idiot," Tommy sighed, causing Shinya to look up. "I'm the one who's supposed to be doing the protecting here, being the Legendary Warrior. What would've happened if you got seriously hurt? Do you know how painful that would be?" He had made a promise with his spirits that he wouldn't lose this friend, this guy who was able to make him feel normal despite his weird powers and abilities. "Next time, stay with Ai."
"Right, got it."
"One more thing."
"Yeah?"
"Did you just say that you left a ten year old girl alone with some guy?"
Shinya froze, realizing just how bad that sounded. Koh may have seemed friendly but you never knew a person's true nature, especially considering they met this guy less than an hour ago. What if he was a dangerous spy working for the Demon Lords? They had to get back to Ai and quick.
"We should probably go find her," Shinya chuckled nervously.
"Geez, you're such a pain," Tommy huffed before looking back at Commandramon. "You can come with us and explain your situation along the way. Because I'm sure everyone would like to know more about you and why you helped me out."
"Of course," Commandramon saluted. "Anything for one of the grand commanders!"
Tommy stopped mid-step. "Eh?"
"I am a private of the United Xros Heart Army," Commandramon explained. "Sanzomon and Gokuwmon, the main generals of the army, recruited millions of Digimon to fight against the evil Demon Lords. We've been in the war for the last few months but they told us that they would go to the human world and test the strength of the humans who would come to save our world. They also said that when we meet the humans, they will be our top commanders."
"Wait, back up a second," said Tommy. "Sanzomon and Gokuwmon?" Were they the same ones that had fought Henry and Suzie back in the human world that time? If so, why didn't they explain any of this? Were they really just testing them? "Man, this puzzle just gets more and more complicated."
"We can figure it out along the way," Shinya called back.
"Hm? Oh, right."
December 21: Sun-Wheel Army Base – 9:45 AM
From behind their cover of rocks, Taiki addressed the small but decently strong army they had compiled together, Gallantmon Crimson Mode, OmniShoutmon, Andromon, Monzaemon, Frigimon, Mojyamon, and Unimon. With Wisemon's words of advice, Taiki was made aware that he could use more Digimon from his X-Loader because they were no longer on Earth, the rules of the Hunt no longer applied.
"The rules of the Hunt?" Gallantmon repeated.
"One of the rules is that we can only use one Digimon at a time," Taiki explained. "Since we're in the Digital World, I can use more allies, like…" He raised his red X-Loader which immediately started releasing various Digimon. "Wisemon, Puppetmon, Spadamon, and Grademon. They're not much but they're all very powerful. To add to this, Digi-Xros! Starmon! Pickmon!" A massive sword appeared and landed itself into the General's hand. "I'll be fighting with you guys too."
Gallantmon wasn't too sure about this part of the plan. "Are you sure it's not too dangerous?"
"I'll be fine," Taiki assured the knight. "Besides, I need to get close enough to talk to Apollomon."
Gallantmon relented. "Then I'll join you when we storm the fortress. Just give us the signal."
The army they were up against consisted mainly of Champion level Digimon with only the ability to run so that wasn't much of a problem with their own forces as Unimon flew into the air, capturing their attention with a flurry of Aerial Attacks.
The Sun-Wheel Army turned tail and chased the winged equestrian, noticing too late that their return route was being blocked off by Frigimon's ice wall. Takato used his Frigimon's Subzero Ice Punch card to help out and the two of them created a partition between the army and their fortress. That was when the others made their appearance and started the attack, leaving OmniShoutmon, Gallantmon, and Taiki for the hard stuff as they ran into the castle.
"Halt!" a voice boomed as soon as they entered.
"Sethmon," OmniShoutmon growled. "Not you again. Taiki, you and Gallantmon go on ahead, I'll handle this one."
Digital Analyzer: Sethmon is a multi-colored quadrupedal beast who is known to be the god of the desert. He is evolved when a Veemon is energized by the Digi-Egg of Love. They are loyal beasts, with power that exceeds most other Digimon and a speed to be coveted by the fastest of land Digimon.
"I shall not lose to you again," Sethmon snarled. "Heat Storm!"
Gallantmon picked up Taiki in his armored arms and flew right out of the room and up the stairs while OmniShoutmon took the full blow of the miniature heat wave. "Huh, your morning breath doesn't smell as bad as you look," the golden Digimon smirked.
"Gr, Tusk Buster!"
"Flame Cannon!" OmniShoutmon released an onslaught of fireballs which blasted through his foe's projectiles and continued on with the intention of destroying Sethmon. But the quadruped lived up to his description as he raced backward, using the back wall as a springboard, and propelling himself over the attack and landing right in front of OmniShoutmon. "Damn it!"
"Heat Storm!"
OmniShoutmon crossed his arms in an attempt to block the blast wave and he did so for the most part, he was just pushed back a few meters, feet skidding across the stone floor. "Heh, you're a lot stronger than you used to be."
"I am the captain of the Sun Army," Sethmon glared. "I need to be."
"Yeah? Well I'm the Digimon King," OmniShoutmon smirked. "Don't think you'll get the best of me, you nuisance!"
"That's my line."
Sethmon was quick on his feet as he jumped from wall to wall, using his claws and fangs in order to try and cut down his foe. But OmniShoutmon had been a part of the Hunt for three years and he's faced bigger problems in his life. And more importantly, his partner was on his way to fight a Digimon that was likely to have a higher power level than a Royal Knight. He was needed elsewhere so he couldn't waste any time fighting a lackey.
After Sethmon missed his target for the umpteenth time, OmniShoutmon swung a back kick that got the quadruped in the stomach, sending him flying into the chandelier hanging in the center of the room. "The finisher! Victorize Banking!"
"Wait, no! Not again!"
The explosion cleared up soon enough to reveal OmniShoutmon soaring through the stairwell to try and reunite with his partner, an egg securely in his arms. When he made it up to the next floor, he realized that the fortress was shaking, shocks and tremors were being sent through the entire structure.
"What's going on here?" the Digimon king blanched.
He found his answer on the rooftop where Gallantmon was locked in combat with a familiar Olympian, but not Apollomon. Sethmon was not the only captain to have been revived, Marsmon was there too and he wasn't pulling any punches in his fight against the bio-merged Digimon.
Digital Analyzer: Marsmon is a member of the Olympos XII, he is a digital god of war with the appearance of a panther-man. Marsmon is familiar with all the ways to fight dirty without weapons in the world, and has absolute confidence in battles with others in the same weight class. He uses basic wrestling techniques, but is fixated on victory and glory, so when push comes to shove he won't hesitate to use concealed weapons like his "Tria Knuckle" or "Metal Cothurnus". However, he exhibits his real power when he uses his bare hands and feet.
Gallantmon hadn't expected to come into contact with an Olympian, at least not this soon. One moment, he was flying up the stairs with Taiki in his arms, the next, a muscular man engulfed in flames with the head of a panther breaks through the wall and tackles him.
Taiki was okay but was in shock when he saw Marsmon, once an ally of the United Xros Heart Army, now a mindless slave to the Demon Lords. It took a few moments of battle for them to figure it out but they realized he must've been under the influence of a Black Gear hidden from view because he only spoke in unintelligible growls and snarls. It was just like when Leomon had been a mindless follower to Devimon's orders.
In the show, they were aware that it was the light from the digivice that got rid of the evil inside of Leomon but it seemed like the same trick wasn't going to work twice. Either that or the D-Power and X-Loader models didn't pack the same punch as the prototype models did.
"Royal Saber!" The angelic knight released a bolt of powerful lightning at Marsmon who tucked and rolled right out of the way. The Olympian was fast, he avoided both of Gallantmon's weapons and using only his bare fists, was able to place multiple dents in his armor. "Crimson Light!"
Marsmon made a front flip right over the attack, landing behind Gallantmon. "Endless Surge!"
In the blink of an eye, Marsmon launched a flurry of maybe one hundred blazing punches against Gallantmon's eight wings, causing him to scream out in agony. In the next blink, Marsmon's fists made contact with the ground, sending a pillar of fire out from underneath Gallantmon's feet and sending the bio-merged Digimon sky high.
"No!" Taiki shouted. He clutched his sword in his hand. "Marsmon, stop this!"
The General launched forward, swinging his blade around but Marsmon avoided all the slashes with expert ease, even stopping a downward strike with two fingers on one hand. His free hand closed into a fist and he aimed a punch for the boy's stomach but OmniShoutmon blocked the attack with his own body, sending both Digimon and partner flying into the wall.
"He's strong…," OmniShoutmon grunted.
Taiki was helped up to his feet as he coughed up blood. "Who would've thought he could be this ruthless."
Gallantmon suddenly appeared beside them, surprising them all, even Marsmon. He was clear of all injuries and burn marks. "Sorry, I didn't scare you guys, did I?" the crimson knight said sheepishly. "I had used a Doppelganger card so Marsmon was only fighting a fake version of me. I wanted to see just what he was capable of before going in myself."
Taiki and OmniShoutmon couldn't help staring at the crimson paladin.
Here was this powerful and majestic Digimon with five years of experience as a Chosen Child under his belt, obviously he wouldn't be beaten so easily by such an opponent. However, despite that, his attitude in which he is apologizing profusely for not giving them forewarning of his strategy does not reflect that.
"Look out!" Taiki shouted.
Gallantmon pivoted his head and found Marsmon's fist coming right for his face. In a nanosecond, the fist made contact, not with its target, but with WarGreymon's Brave Shield. "Invincible Sword!" Marsmon leapt over the blade but with one swift swipe, stones that made up the foundation of the fortress broke apart and exploded.
"What power…," Taiki gaped.
OmniShoutmon was impressed too. "Let's leave this to Gallantmon. We've got a friend to save."
The General looked back at the two powerful forces, swords against gauntlets, both foes glaring each other down. "Gallantmon, are you okay with that?"
"I'll be fine!" Gallantmon called out. "Just go!"
Taiki and OmniShoutmon wished him luck as they tried to run off. For the first time, Marsmon said something coherent which was for them to stop. That didn't make them halt of course. But it was that moment that a cage suddenly fell down in front of them, the shock blowing them back a meter or two.
"What the…?" OmniShoutmon coughed.
Taiki rubbed the dust out of his eyes and he gasped when he saw what was in the cage. It was Apollomon shackled to the bars, and standing on top of the cage was another Sun God Digimon except he was much darker colored. This was Whispered; the evil version of Apollomon as created by Bagramon because without the virus, the Olympian would not follow orders.
"Whispered!" Taiki snapped. "What have you done with Apollomon?!" The better question would be how are they two separate entities?
Whispered cackled triumphantly. "My dear red General, I have done nothing to this phony." He hopped down and grabbed OmniShoutmon by the throat. When Taiki tried swinging his blade, the evil General deflected it with a flick of the finger. "I am only siphoning the energy that rightfully belongs to me."
"Siphoning energy?" Taiki repeated.
"The fool had vanished after that final battle with Bagramon," Whispered explained. "He went back to his happy little life in Digital City with his Tamer." At that word, Taiki's eyes widened. "Oh that's right, you didn't know, did you? Apollomon, just like this pitiful Digimon, is a pet to a human!"
"We're not pets," Guilmon snarled.
Gallantmon pulled himself away from Marsmon and flew right for Whispered. The God man didn't get hurt but he was forced to let go of OmniShoutmon just as Marsmon took his right side. The armored Digimon glared back at the two members of the Olympos XII.
"I don't like our odds," Takato muttered.
"Taiki," OmniShoutmon called. "Since the rules of the Hunt no longer apply, that means you can fuse more than two Digimon at a time, right?"
The General hadn't tested it out but it made sense. Could the Digimon King be saying that he wanted to fuse with the Star Sword and Gallantmon at the same time? But Takato was in there, what would happen if you threw a human into a Digi-Xros? They've never tried it before.
"Whatever you're planning to do, just do it before it's too late for us," Gallantmon urged.
"Whispering Arrow!" "Endless Surge!"
"OmniShoutmon! Gallantmon Crimson Mode! Starmon! Pickmons! Digi-Xros!"
In a bright flash of blinding light, OmniShoutmon, clad in the crimson armor of a brilliantly shining knight, swung his vibrant Star Sword and Gungnir to block the arrows of the darkened Sun God and the fists of the God of War. The swings were far from graceful but they were fast and efficient, defending his body magnificently.
Inside this new Digimon, Takato opened his eyes to see the ghost-like forms of his own partner, OmniShoutmon, Starmon, and the little group of Pickmon. It was like a surreal dream to be in that digital space, sharing it with several other beings rather than just Guilmon.
"It's warm," the Tamer remarked.
"Yeah, a Xros with a human feels…," OmniShoutmon couldn't find the right word so he had to settle for different.
Guilmon cheered happily as the Pickmon began to dance around him. "But we have more friends here now, Takato! This means that we'll definitely win!"
"What makes you so sure?" OmniShoutmon questioned though that's what he'd like to believe.
The red raptor had a rather simplistic answer to this question. "Easy, because when Takato and I are together, I feel like we can do almost anything! So that means with even more great friends, we'll surely accomplish anything!"
Takato smiled at his best friend. "Come on, let's focus on the fight."
"MedievalShoutmon!" the new Digimon bellowed.
Whispered and Marsmon both took a step back in surprise but it was clear that neither of them planned on backing down as they both charged for the knight. But as expected, this new Digimon was still capable of taking flight which is exactly what he did.
"Victorious Light!" By crossing his two blades together, he sent a dazzling flash of crimson fire and shining light at the Olympians. Marsmon, being a member of the fire attribute broke through this attack easily enough by coating his own body in flames.
"Corona Sanctions!"
"Let's see if this still works," said Takato, having his D-Power and a card materialize in his hands. "Digi-Modify! Formation Gamma: Torrential Wall Activate!"
MedievalShoutmon splayed his hands out in front of him as a burst of water shot out from the ground, creating, as one would guess, a wall. If anything, it was like a reverse waterfall and when Marsmon leaped through, the flames on his body had been doused and his temperature had been cooled.
"What?!" the beast gasped.
"Crimson Cannon!" This time, by pointing the Star Sword at the airborne God, he released a powerful cannon that rocketed the foe back onto the floor, creating a crater. That directed MedievalShoutmon's eyes to their other enemy who was charging up for a powerhouse move.
"Rising Sun of All Sorrows!"
A ball of blazing black energy was sent flying at them and if it made contact, it would definitely incinerate his armor. MedievalShoutmon crossed his swords in front of him again and blocked the attack but was having a power struggle against Whispered who was trying to push it forward.
"Marsmon!" Whispered commanded. "Destroy the other human!"
"No!" MedievalShoutmon snapped. But there was no way they could move, not unless they wanted the black sun to delete them from existence. "Taiki, run!"
Taiki swallowed when Marsmon got out of his crater and looked to the boy with empty eyes. Now the General was wishing he had kept the Star Sword for some method of defending himself. Then again, it's not like he's never been in a dangerous situation like this one, he wasn't completely defenseless when it came to fighting.
Marsmon charged forward, fist raised as Taiki started running. He was grateful for all his time helping out various athletic clubs because he was agile and physically adept enough to dodge the flaming punch, grab onto the shoulder, and flip over the God. He continued running until he made it to Apollomon's cage.
"Apollomon, wake up!" the teenager shouted. "It's your friend, Taiki Kudo!"
The Sun God stirred, eyes opening up slowly as Taiki moved away from the cage to avoid another one of Marsmon's punches. "T-Taiki… Kudo…?"
"Yes!" Taiki gasped. "I'm in danger! My partner is in danger! If you wake up and break out of that cage, Whispered won't be able to siphon any more energy from you." The General ducked and slid under Marsmon's legs. "I know you can do it!"
"I…," Apollomon's eyes fluttered opened and he saw what was happening around him. "I'm too weak… If I… If Koh…"
"Koh?" Taiki repeated. He accidentally hesitated in one of his steps which was a mistake as Marsmon was able to catch the boy in one of his hands. It was big enough to hold around Taiki's entire body. "Gah! M-Marsmon, stop! I'm not your enemy!"
"Do it, Marsmon!" Whispered ordered. "Crush him!"
But Marsmon didn't, with his captive raised over his head, he stared at the General with those blank eyes that were starting to gain color again. But only Taiki could see this. "Marsmon… You are a loyal friend of Apollomon's. The two of you trust each other greatly and most importantly, you guys are on the side of good. You know what the right thing to do is."
"The… right… thing…," Marsmon repeated slowly. "Tai… ki… Ku… do…"
Taiki nodded, a smile breaking out on his face. "Yes, that's my name. I am Taiki Kudo and you are Marsmon. You might be a digital God of War but you have a warm spirit that wants to protect the innocent. I know you don't want to hurt me."
"Marsmon, what are you doing?!" Whispered snapped. "You are loyal to me!"
"He is not!" MedievalShoutmon snapped, slowly starting to push back against the ball of energy. Inside, Takato and Guilmon could both see inside of OmniShoutmon's memories, they could both see how Marsmon was loyal to the real, virus-free Apollomon, and not this fake. "You are the phony here, not Apollomon!"
At the same time MedievalShoutmon threw the ball of energy at the cage, Marsmon let go of Taiki and threw a flaming fist at the same object. Whispered's eyes widened as he quickly flew forward, protecting the cage with his own body and taking both attacks.
"We got him!" the others cheered.
Marsmon was not as happy as they were though. "No!"
When the debris cleared, they could see that Whispered was completely fine, injury-free whereas Apollomon suddenly howled in pain, covered in bruises and burns. It became clear to them then that not only was Apollomon's energy being drained but any damage that was taken by his dark counterpart was being shared.
Whispered started laughing menacingly. "Do you see now? You cannot defeat me! Unless you want Apollomon to suffer then I suggest you stand back and be destroyed."
Taiki wasn't sure what to do in this situation now. Kiriha would probably tell him that it would be best to destroy Whispered anyway. Trying to get the best of both worlds just wasn't possible sometimes. And besides, Apollomon would be reborn again, right? There was just one outlier…
"Who is Koh?" Taiki asked. If Koh was Apollomon's partner then...
Marsmon had finally regained full control of his voice but his body was still refusing to listen to him. "Our Tamer. Apollomon was Koh's original partner and three years ago, City researchers discovered the chunk of Digital World that became Shoutmon's domain. We were sent there as volunteers to scope things out when Bagramon captured us and made Apollomon his Dark General. Thankfully, time moved differently so Koh didn't have to worry about us for that long, about a day or two passed for him."
"But this time, you're here," Taiki concluded. "Koh's partners vanished into thin air for months and he's probably worried sick."
MedievalShoutmon shook his head. "We can't destroy him if he has a Tamer. Koh would be devastated."
"But, as a Tamer," Marsmon grunted. "He would probably want what is best for the benefit of the Digital World. You have to destroy us!"
"What, you too?!" Taiki blanched.
"I can't control this body for very long!" the War God snapped. "I'll kill you if you don't kill me first!"
"Enough!" Whispered shouted, grabbing Marsmon by the throat and smashing his head against the metal bars of the cage, causing his enemies to gasp angrily. "You will pay for your insolence soon, Marsmon. For now, I must delete these two." The Sun God slowly approached them as they tried to come up with a feasible plan to counterattack but nothing came to mind. "Be good little kiddies and hold still."
"As if," MedievalShoutmon scoffed.
Just then, a shadow passed over them. They all looked skywards to see Unimon flying above them and as Whispered raised a hand to shoot a Whispering Arrow at the equestrian, something jumped off from the horse's back.
"Whispering Arrow!"
"Shining Sword!"
Much to their surprise, it was a human teenage boy who had leapt off Unimon, carrying a golden blade that was used to deflect the arrows. The stranger landed on top of Whispered's head and he used that as a springboard to jump down beside Marsmon and in front of the cage.
"Koh!" both Gods gasped.
"That's Koh?" MedievalShoutmon and Taiki gaped.
The boy had just jumped down from several meters in the air and blocked several high-speed arrows in midair, this was no normal human being, they could tell that for sure. If Takato and Taiki remembered correctly, their classmate, Keenan, had such exceptional skills as well. Were humans raised in the Digital World that much more physically blessed than those raised in the human world?
"I'll get you out of there, buddy," Koh said to Apollomon.
Whispered charged forward, ready to squash the newcomer when MedievalShoutmon took his chance. Takato used a speed boost card and the Xrosed Digimon flashed into Whispered's line of sight, pushing him back from the cage.
"No!" Whispered shouted.
Koh raised his Data Burst Digivice and in a flash of light, both of his partners were gone and safely tucked inside the rectangular device. Almost immediately after, Whispered's data started dissipating. Without the original to take life energy from, the modified version had no more means of existing.
"You will pay for this! All of you!"
Unimon landed on the rooftop just as the fighters from before all collapsed and reverted back to their original forms. Ai dismounted from Unimon and ran up to Takato to make sure her fellow Tamer was okay while he proceeded to wonder if she was the one hurt.
"Didn't Miss Jeri tell you to stay at Primary Village?" Takato said.
Ai looked down, like a child in trouble for talking in class. "Yes…"
"We don't tell you these things because we don't want you involved," Takato continued. "We just want to make sure that you don't get hurt because if you do, then Impmon will make sure to hurt us because he loves you that much."
"I'm not five," Ai remarked, puffing up her cheeks in offense.
Takato straightened his back and laughed a little. "Right… Sorry…"
Koh walked over to them, raising his Data Burst Digivice so that Coronamon and Marsmon both came out. Once that was done, all three of them bowed down. "We are so sorry for causing you all of this trouble! Please forgive us!"
Takato and Taiki were surprised by this other boy's formality. Not only that, but they were just surprised to see Apollomon's Rookie form in general. They quickly got things settled as they marched back down to the battlefield where the Sun-Wheel Army had been changed back into eggs. Shoutmon added Sethmon's egg into the pile.
"We are victorious!" Andromon announced.
Monzaemon ran forward, causing the Digimon he passed (Frigimon and Mojyamon), to start spinning on the spot as the massive teddy bear gave cuddly hugs to Taiki and Takato. "We did it! We won! I'm so happy right now!"
"Yeah, we're happy too, big guy," Takato laughed.
"You can put us down now," Taiki added.
"Monzaemon's sorry…," the bear said.
Centarumon clopped over to them and they could see Tommy and Shinya were with him. It looked like the Warrior was able to defeat his enemy as well. Not only that, but they had made a new friend as well, Commandramon, who saluted the humans.
"Private Commandramon, at your service!" the dinosaur said.
Koh made his way to the front of the group. "You're from the United Xros Heart Army, aren't you?" Taiki froze up when he heard the name of his army coming from this stranger's mouth. "Have you made any contact with Sanzomon or Gokuwmon recently?"
"I'm afraid not, General Koh," stated Commandramon.
Shoutmon quickly interjected here. "Whoa, wait a second! Sanzomon and Gokuwmon? Do you mean the same ones under my command?"
"Hold on," Takato breathed. "Those are the names of the two Digimon that attacked Henry and Suzie a few months ago."
With every statement made, the group was getting progressively more confused with who was the enemy and what was going on. Finally, Taiki called for quiet amongst them and despite he being the human with the least experience, he exuded the aura of greatest authority so they obeyed.
"Let's wait until we reunite with TK, Jeri, and Kristy," the General told them all. "Then we can untangle this story from the very beginning."
-X-
Tommy, Takato, and Taiki were all successful in their individual missions so that just leaves two other big baddies to take care on File Island. But despite the fact that they've defeated more of their foes, how is it that the puzzle gains more pieces? Just who are Sanzomon and Gokuwmon? What part does the United Xros Heart Army play in this? And what battles will we see take place next? Find out on the next Digimon: Children of the Future!
So, I apologize for the extensively long wait. But as I've mentioned, busy, busy, busy! I'm still swamped with a ton of work so don't expect speedy updates. But of course, I hope you guys enjoyed and don't forget to leave a review down below! I hope to see you guys in the next one! Adios!