For those of you who have caught up with Children of the Past, you all know what the other Monster Makers are now. They are the characters of a JRPG, that's what they are. Anyway, I hope you guys enjoy this newest installment because I don't have much more to say except thank you to everyone who's been supporting me and this story.
-X-
December 21: Tokyo Bay – 10:57 AM
"Olegmon Speaker!"
The force of the sound wave blasted both Chosen Children back but their glowing crests were still there, protecting the grounded trio from those midair blades. Finally, the tomahawks slowed down enough to stop spinning and fall to the ground as the crests found a new home in Zenjirou's X-Loader, showing the symbol for alpha.
"What is…?" Zenjirou gasped.
"It looks like the belief you have in your partner and the belief we have in you, has opened up a brand new path," Babel chuckled.
Olegmon marched towards them, reaching down to pick up his tomahawks when Zenjirou pointed the screen of his X-Loader upwards which emitted a powerful teal glow that blinded Olegmon and enveloped Ballistamon.
"Ballistamon! Super Evolve!"
"Ballistamon Super Evolve to…" The robot visibly became larger as he towered over Zenjirou and was practically the same height as Olegmon. Three large metallic claw-like things protruded from his back as his limbs extended, giving him a much more humanoid form. From every nook and crevice in his body, he was brimming with electrical energy. "AtlurBallistamon!"
Digital Analyzer: In this new form, AtlurBallistamon has assimilated electromagnetic armor into his thickened metallic body, allowing him to reduce damage with magnetism and attack using electrical discharges. Along with his kind personality, he stands as an impenetrable fortress between his foes and his comrades on the battlefield.
"Fascinating," Izzy remarked, looking at the holographic encyclopedia on Babel's D-Sync. "So this is where that modification on the Tamers' D-Powers came from. Truly astonishing. Captain Babel, you wouldn't mind if I studied your digivice, would you?"
"Shibumi and Janyu have already done all the studying they could," Babel chuckled.
"Is this really the time to talking about this?" Joe huffed.
Babel waved it off. "Ah, don't worry about it. AtlurBallistamon's totally got this, right Zenjirou?"
Zenjirou nodded to Babel with a confidence that hadn't been there before. He saw what experience had done for all the older Chosen Children though none of them could really be called children anymore. They had strong belief in their partners and even themselves. Even when Gomamon came up with that absurd strategy, Joe didn't exactly try very hard to talk his partner out of it.
"AtlurBallistamon will definitely win, I'm certain of it," Zenjirou told them.
Olegmon, angered by the fact that his opponent had just received another upgrade, picked up his weapons and started swinging. The two ghosts living in his shoulders exited his body and they each grabbed one of the tomahawks and flew upwards, causing AtlurBallistamon to keep two eyes in two places at once.
"Olegmon Speaker!"
AtlurBallistamon's arms extended and shot upwards, punching the guts of the ghosts before grabbing the massive tomahawks. He used the two weapons as a deflector to shield himself and his allies from the sound wave.
"Olegmon, in order to bring out your golden heart that beats for love and friendship, I will defeat you," AtlurBallistamon resolved.
"I will never let that happen!" Olegmon snarled. "Surtr! Jormungandr!"
The ghosts planned on using their special attacks to take AtlurBallistamon away, into another world but before they reached the robot, the partnered Digimon copied one of their master's attacks. He used his own version of the Dual Tomahawk Boomerang which involved effortlessly hurling the weapons right for the Dark General who tried to use his Olegmon Speaker attack to protect himself. But if he did, it would hurt his comrades as well.
"Captain!" Jormungandr gasped.
"Protect him!" Surtr added.
They both flew backwards and grabbed the tomahawks when they were inches away from lodging themselves into Olegmon's shoulders. But AtlurBallistamon wasn't done yet. "Rocket Bunker!" At blinding speed, the robot's arms extended and landed countless punches onto Olegmon's face and torso, causing the foe to fly backwards and hit the pavement.
"Olegmon, you no longer have the power to defeat me, please stop this nonsense!" AtlurBallistamon begged.
"Arg… You're wrong!" Olegmon shouted before touching his chest where DarkVolumon's armor was. He pushed himself up as he retrieved his weapons and asked the ghosts to go back into his shoulder chests. "So long as I have my comrades by my side, I won't lose. Not to you! Not to anyone! Dual Tomahawk Boomerang!"
AtlurBallistamon stood completely still, causing everyone behind him to watch with their hearts beating in their throats. Well, aside from Babel who was still watching with a smile and Zenjirou who seemed to know exactly what his partner was going to do to avoid getting sliced open.
It happened in slow motion, the tomahawks were an inch away from tearing into AtlurBallistamon's shoulders, an inch away from amputating his arms, when they seemed to stop in midair. The Digimon wasn't doing anything though, or at least, it didn't look like it. But it occurred to Thomas and Izzy that AtlurBallistamon used magnetism to repel the weapons because the next thing to happen was the spectacle of the tomahawks spinning in reverse.
Olegmon's eyes widened into saucers as he sidestepped his own weapons and watched them lodge themselves into the side of a building, too far away for him to retrieve them before getting hit. So instead, he decided to use his rage for a different attack. "Olegmon Speaker!"
AtlurBallistamon was one step ahead though. While Olegmon was busy dodging his own weapons, the robot had extended his arms to the point where they were right underneath the pirate. He latched onto the General's ankles right before he launched his sound wave attack and swept his legs out from under him, causing him to fall on his back before releasing his attack, making him sink into the cement.
"Unbelievable," Thomas said in awe.
"Not only did his power increase, but so did his strategizing and skill-level," Izzy nodded.
"But I guess that's a given when it comes to robot Digimon," Joe muttered.
Olegmon, immobile in the dent he had created, was positively fuming. "I am… actually… losing. I'm losing to a twerp? The person, whose friends, destroyed my own. How can this… happen to me? Shouldn't my side always prevail?"
Babel opened up his mouth to lecture when Zenjirou did it for him. "If you're a pirate, then take responsibility for your own actions!"
The Monster Maker chuckled before rubbing the boy's head. "Someone's a fast learner," he remarked. "Now, why don't we finish things up?"
"You heard the man, AtlurBallistamon!" Zenjirou called out. "Let's Hunt him!"
From his main horn, AtlurBallistamon charged up a massive ball of electrical energy which seemed to make the very air crackle. It was unlike any power they had ever witnessed and the more energy he stored up, the more nervous his own allies were becoming.
Izzy checked his laptop for information and realized something. Supposedly, the finishing move that AtlurBallistamon was about to use, rivaled the power of Susanoomon's own Heaven's Thunder attack. And from what he had heard from the Legendary Warriors, this was the only other Digimon in existence to rival the power of a Demon Lord.
"Don't use that attack!" the redhead shouted but it was too late.
"Plasma Crack!"
Olegmon burst into data particles before coming back together on Zenjirou's screen but everyone watched as the ball of lightning demolished an entire building and left a crater about forty meters in diameter and ten meters in depth. And from what they could tell, AtlurBallistamon wasn't even at full strength yet.
"Digimon… capture complete…," Zenjirou murmured.
Thomas sighed, pressing his palm to his forehead. "This is bad. No matter how you look at this incident, the public is going to be outraged and pin the blame on Digimon as a whole. Hopefully, we'll be able to spin the 'no one was hurt' angle on this one."
"I just got a call from Daisy," said Babel, despite the fact that he didn't have his phone out, or any communication device at all for that matter. "It seems like Sapporo is practically in ruins. It looks like the Digimon are just digging a hole for themselves at this rate."
What could they do about it though?
AtlurBallistamon returned to his original form but he collapsed, causing his partner to fret over him. "Sorry, it was my fault," the machine creaked. "I don't know my own strengths yet and thought I needed more energy."
"It's okay," Zenjirou told him. "You need your rest, go back into the X-Loader and talk to Olegmon for a bit. I'm sure he's going to need a friend with him."
The group got together on the dock, overlooking the sea while Babel disappeared before their eyes. He told them that everything would be explained when they returned to Hypnos. As for right now, they were just trying to figure out how to deal with this chaos.
"Mermaimon and the others didn't return to being eggs," Gaomon remarked.
"So does that mean… we really deleted them for good?" Tentomon said.
"My army was ninety-nine percent fake," Olegmon suddenly said from inside the X-Loader. "Most of them were reborn and living peaceful lives, like I was. But then I was deleted by a revived Gravimon and reborn with a Dark Chain virus inside of me. If it hadn't been for you, Zenjirou, I would've done worse things."
"What do you mean by they were fake?" asked Izzy.
"They were made from large black towers; I don't remember the name…"
Gomamon looked up at Joe. "You don't think…"
"Control Spires, it's the only logical explanation," Izzy sighed. "But that means that Arukenimon has been revived as well. Given the chance, they could probably have her manufacture hundreds of Mega level Digimon like BlackWarGreymon which would mean bad news for us."
"Uh-oh, what if she creates a Demon Lord replica?" Tentomon shuddered.
"I doubt it," said Izzy. "She couldn't control BlackWarGreymon at all, so the likelihood that they would run the risk of her creating a Digimon as strong as a Demon Lord would be a dangerous bet. It could easily turn on them and I'm sure they wouldn't want that."
"Plus, it'd probably take her entire mop of a head!" Gomamon added.
The others started laughing with that comment with Zenjirou watching them. He knew that the joke was made to calm them down from the battle and from whatever was happening to their friends in the Digital World. But all Zenjirou could think about was how bad it was to be behind everyone. Not in terms of strength, but in terms of his bond with Ballistamon and the others.
Everyone already seems to have gained an understanding of each other. Whether they've known each other for more than a year or less. Yet Zenjirou wasn't exactly like that. Not even Ballistamon. Sure, he did maintenance on his partner and they ate together but Zenjirou felt some distance between them, unlike when it came to Taiki and Ballistamon. It was easy to figure out why though. Zenjirou talked big on justice but for a long while, fighting Digimon was almost like a competition to catch up to Taiki and Kiriha.
But not anymore. From now on, he was going to follow through on big words.
"Hey, Ballistamon," he said.
"Yeah?" came the reply.
"When this is all over, you want to go ice skating, like you wanted?"
"Really?"
"Yeah. It'll be fun."
"With you, I'm sure it will be!"
December 21: Flame Terminal - 9:36 AM
Kazemon bit her lower lip as she tried to maintain her umbrella made of wind whilst flying towards the sound of her nemesis's laughter. It was multi-tasking with three things on her plate, the umbrella, the flying, and the trying not to rip her eardrums out. She'll have to be honest, the last part was the most difficult task to perform.
She finally made it to the place where the laugh was coming from but she couldn't find the owner of it anywhere. That is, until she spotted a small black box on top of one of the roofs. She landed with a light tap before picking it up.
"A recorder?" Kazemon muttered to herself.
A geyser of water shot out from her right and Kazemon quickly one-hand cartwheeled out of the way of the blast. The fairy expected to see Ranamon standing there but then more geysers started blasting out at her from other directions.
Ranamon cackled. "Try to keep up, windbag!"
Kazemon tried to move around as much as she could and unfortunately for the Warrior of Water, Kazemon had excellent hearing. Once Ranamon had said that one statement, the Warrior of Wind had her exact location. Now the problem was closing the gap between them.
"Tempest Twist!"
Kazemon got onto her hands and started spinning extremely fast, creating a miniature twister that repelled all the water from coming at her. When the tornado stopped spinning, Kazemon was nowhere in sight. Ranamon peeked out from the streets to check too.
"Eh?" Ranamon blinked. "Wh-Where did she go?"
"Up here!" Kazemon shouted before drop kicking Ranamon in the back. The flying warrior took to the skies once more but she didn't have to create the umbrella over her head because the kick had apparently made the rainmaker lose concentration. "Someone's been slacking off."
Ranamon quickly pushed herself back to her feet as she glared at her airborne opponent. "Not only did you leave your nasty boot print on my beautiful visage and break my nail, but you have the audacity to insult me? I will make sure you pay for that humiliation!"
"Honey, you're the one providing this material," Kazemon struck back.
"Why you lousy!" Ranamon snapped. "Whipping Waves!"
"Hurricane Wave!" Kazemon split the manipulated water right down the middle, giving her easy access to Ranamon. "Love Tap!" With a slight bump to Ranamon's torso with Kazemon's buttocks, the Warrior of Water was left stunned and dreamy.
"Kazemon! You beautiful thing, you! Would you mind if I baked you some cookies?" Ranamon asked in her love-induced trance.
Kazemon giggled at the sight of her nemesis talking that way but she didn't want to waste her opening to strike Ranamon hard. So with a little twist of her hips, she kicked Ranamon under her chin and sent her foe flying into the air. But her assault wasn't complete as the wind around her began circulating her body. "Hurricane Wave!"
"Ah! Ooh! Ow!" Ranamon shouted as she tumbled through the air and crashed through the roof of a hovel.
Bokomon and Neemon had left the mansion when the rain had stopped, determined to check up on their old friend. To be completely honest, they expected her to have some trouble while fighting against Ranamon but it seemed as though their worries were completely unfounded. Not only had the Warrior of Wind gotten stronger over the years but she had beaten her enemy without taking so much as one single acidic drop on her pretty little head.
"Ready to surrender?" Kazemon inquired sweetly.
"Never sweetheart!" came the reply. "Slide Evolution! Calmaramon!" As the Warrior grew in size, the structure she was in exploded, being incapable of holding her inside. Thus, once again, she had blessed onlookers with the unique sight that is the hideous squid.
"This is a good way to get on a no seafood diet," Kazemon stated. "Hurricane–!"
"Zoey, stop!" Bokomon shouted.
Kazemon froze up when she heard her human name being called. For a moment, she couldn't understand why her friend didn't want her to fight. But then she heard it, tear drops falling to the ground and when she looked up, she could see a Pagumon in the arms of a Gazimon, both of whom were being held hostage in one Calmaramon's tentacles. They must've been the ones living in that house.
"Leave the civilians out of this!" Kazemon yelled.
"Oh? And miss the distraught look on your face?" Calamaramon cackled. "I don't think so! Now, if you don't want these two charming little fellows to get hurt, I suggest you plant your feet on the ground and return to being a blonde."
"Zoey, don't do it!" Neemon called out.
"Do you really think Calmaramon will leave those two alone even after you leave yourself defenseless?" Bokomon added.
Kazemon didn't listen to them as she landed on the ground. She also ignored the shouts of both her spirits, telling her that it was too risky, that it was too dangerous, that if she complied with Calmaramon's orders, she would just get needlessly hurt. But then Kazemon returned to being just Zoey.
"There… now let them go," Zoey stated.
"Oh, not yet sweetie," Calmaramon giggled. "Drop the D-Tector to the ground."
Zoey did as she was told, albeit with a heavy breath. She stood still as she stared into the eyes of her enemy but had to squeeze them shut when she felt a raindrop hit her pupil. It burned, it felt nothing like ordinary rainwater. And it got worse as she felt her entire body being pelted by acidic raindrops, burning into her skin. It was only raining on her, she could hear it. So she was glad that Bokomon, Neemon, and the hostages were safe from this torture.
"Anything else?" Zoey growled through grit teeth.
"It looks like your clothes are melting, honey," Calmaramon cooed. "Your birthday suit fits better on a girl like you anyway." The beast took a moment to think about what else she could do to make Zoey pay her back when the human girl didn't respond to her taunting. "I know! How about this? Acid Ink!"
Zoey, looking down, watched as a splatter of black ink landed in front of her toes, splattering onto the hem of her jeans and dissolving it, it burned her skin and she winced. Now, there was just a puddle of darkness in front of her and her heart leapt to her throat as she wondered what method of heinous torture Calmaramon had in store this time.
"Bow down to me, and be sure to have your head of pretty hair in that puddle," Calmaramon ordered.
"No…," Bokomon whispered. It was hard to watch.
"Warrior of Wind, please don't worry about us!" Gazimon shouted.
"Defeat this witch and save this world! Forget about us!" Pagumon added desperately.
Zoey tilted her head just a little bit to look into the eyes of determination in those young ones. She was one of the dozens that were brought to this world to save it, to protect it. If she died there, hope would fade away by a margin. But if she could not save those two, how could she hope to save a whole world of them?
"Zoey, don't do it!" Bokomon shouted as she got down on one knee. "Don't cast away your pride as a Warrior!"
"I'm not casting away anything!" Zoey snapped, causing everyone to stare at her in surprise. But then Zoey looked up, glaring at Calmaramon. "It's Calmaramon who's casted away her pride as a Legendary Warrior. She gave up protecting this world in favor of working for the very being her past life worked so hard to defeat, a Demon Lord. She is so afraid of death and holds petty grudges and that is what led her to this life of treachery and wrongdoings. I bow my head in pride of being the kind of warrior who has never strayed from her path! A warrior who protects the youth of the Digital World because they are the hope, not me."
Calmaramon was trembling, eyes narrowed, eyebrows stitched, and her body quaking as she screamed to the heavens. It was an unholy sound and one that evoked terror in the hearts of all. And they watched as Calmaramon's spiked tentacle came down on Zoey, ready to flatten her.
"Zoey!" Bokomon shouted.
"Look out!" Neemon called.
Zoey jumped backwards, out of the rain and out of the way but then she back flipped right back onto the tentacle. Everyone gaped as they watched the human girl race up Calmaramon's arm and when she reached the main body, she twisted around and landed a drop kick on the squid's face.
Gazimon and Pagumon were freed and they landed on Bokomon and Neemon who tried to catch them but only ended up as their cushions. But as their pupils looked upwards, they saw that Zoey had picked up her D-Tector earlier without anyone noticing as she used it to wrap herself in a data cocoon.
"Execute Beast Spirit Evolution! Zephyrmon!" In her beast form, she flew right back into Calmaramon's face at a speed that could give anyone whiplash. "Plasma Paws!" She crashed into the larger foe which pushed Calmaramon straight to the ground.
"This… humiliation…," Calmaramon huffed as she pushed herself up. "I will never forgive you… for this… humiliation."
"I'm not looking for forgiveness," Zephyrmon responded. "But I do hope the Sovereigns forgive you."
Calmaramon's breathing became heavier as she stared daggers at the floating beast Digimon. It was clear at that point that the provocation was the coolness in her foe's voice, the way that she behaved as if everything was going according to her plans, as if nothing could go wrong even when she was pushed into a corner. The nerve of the girl!
"I will not lose to you!" Calmaramon screamed before flying upwards. "Titanic Tempest!"
Zephyrmon watched as she drill came spinning down from above her but once more, using her superior speed, she moved out of the way; one nanosecond before getting struck. One moment, she was supposed to be ripped to shreds and in the next, she was turning back into Kazemon and launching a flurry of kicks into Calmaramon's main body.
"Rosy Thunderstorm!"
With that, Calmaramon became a silhouette and a data ring surrounded her waist. Kazemon could hear it, the Warrior of Water's whispers into the air, telling her fellow warrior that she was sorry. Because in the end, it was all true, she was afraid of death at the hands of the Demon Lords and she hated Kazemon for being so certain of her path. For possessing the righteousness that the Warrior of Water lacked.
"I hope the wind blows you to a better tomorrow," Kazemon stated before pulling out her D-Tector. "Fractal Code Digitize!"
When the fairy had completed her job, she landed on the floor with an exhalation of relief before getting pestered by her friends. Bokomon was commending her on an excellent job well done while Neemon was asking for the whereabouts of Zoey. Thus, the little rabbit creature received a pants snap for his density.
"I'm amazed you did all that in your human form," said Bokomon.
"I've been taking rhythmic gymnastics courses and dance classes," Zoey told them. "Not to mention, with my wind powers, I could make myself lighter and even push myself to move faster." She wondered if she should add that she needed to learn how to defend herself due to certain incidents back home. But she supposed there was nothing wrong in omitting those parts of her past. Besides, she needed to regroup with the others and help Kouichi.
But first, she needed to sheepishly accept the extensive gratitude of Gazimon and Pagumon.
"Eh?" Kazemon murmured when she heard the sound of a flag flapping in the wind. She turned to look and noticed a red banner above their heads with a rather familiar symbol on it though she could not remember where she had seen it before. One thing was for sure… "That flag wasn't there last time."
"You're right, I've never seen that flag before either," Neemon nodded.
"It's been there for months, you imbecile!" Bokomon snapped.
"Owie!"
Bokomon cleared his throat before addressing the human. "Yes, that flag is just to show that this area is protected by the United Xros Heart Army." That's why Zoey recognized it! It was the symbol Taiki drew to represent his army. "There's actually a base set up right here. I assume Ranamon was sent here to make the rain and keep us occupied from helping Kouichi. Either that, or they were preparing to attack the Fire Terminal but their plans were stopped thanks to you being here."
"That is likely to be the case," Zoey nodded. "I guess that's what they mean when they say a lucky coincidence."
"Who are 'they'? Neemon asked.
Another snap. "It's an expression, you numbskull!"
December 21: Ruins of Light Entrance – 9:42 AM
The colossal size of Gravimon's army was as overwhelming as it had been three years ago. They were probably up against hundreds and if it weren't for the fact that Kiriha had so many powerhouses in his army, they might've been pushed into a very tough spot. Deckerdramon, Cyberdramon, and Volcdramon were enough to keep the lackeys at bay.
As for Gravimon, the Dark General had to answer to MegaGargomon and ZekeGreymon. Kiriha was worried about his other partners though, despite their massive strength. They were vastly outnumbered and they would need more assistance if they had any hope in winning.
"Oh, I see Deckerdramon's risen from the dead," Gravimon laughed.
Kiriha stiffened as he dug his nails into his palm. "Shut your mouth, Gravimon."
"Ooh, looks like I struck a nerve," Gravimon grinned. "Don't think that you'll be able to beat me with just power. Don't you remember my specialty?"
Kiriha did a quick once-over on his body to make sure there was no part of him that had the Dark General's core. It was the thing that kept Gravimon's heart beating but it could move around from body from body. Unless you destroy the core itself, Gravimon could essentially continuously revive forever no matter how many times you try to delete him. They were going to have to be cautious about that and caution wasn't something Kiriha practiced well.
"This won't be like last time, Gravimon," Kiriha growled.
Digital Analyzer: Gravimon is a brilliant tactician with the ability to freely manipulate gravity and with such powers, he is able to survey an entire situation and control the course of the battle at will. He is known to weave hundreds of creative tactics that allow his powerful army to nearly dominate the battlefield almost every time. He is a cruel Digimon who acts as if war is a research laboratory in which he studies the questions of, which tactics will elicit the most screams, which scheme will surprise the enemy as they die, or which method will cause every opponent to die without shedding blood, and so on.
"I am getting major creep vibes from this guy," Terriermon muttered inside of MegaGargomon.
"I am in no position to dispute that," Henry agreed.
Kiriha didn't want to dawdle, he just wanted to get things over with, especially with his partners in danger. The best way to protect them, was to take out the General of the enemy army as quickly as possible. Without the lead tactician on their side, the underlings will be at a loss and overtaking them will be a cinch.
"Don't hesitate to hit him with your best shots!" Kiriha ordered. "No holding back against him!"
"Got it!" MegaGargomon replied before his blazing artillery made itself known. "Mega Barrage!"
ZekeGreymon released a hellfire from his mouth. "Zeke Flame!"
Gravimon laughed as he watched the attacks come at him and to their surprise, he shot upwards as if gravity decided to start pulling instead of pushing. This allowed the General to avoid the attacks before floating over their heads and increasing the weight of gravity on his foes.
"This trick again?" MegaGargomon grunted as he was pushed to his knees.
"Let's show him why he can't use it against Tamers!" Terriermon called out.
Henry agreed but as soon as he materialized the card he needed and his D-Power, gravity became exponentially lighter as he and ZekeGreymon suddenly flew upwards like rockets. It was such an abrupt transition but Henry slid the card through and they were suddenly falling from the sky. Before either one of the Digimon could keep themselves airborne, they saw boulders coming from the ground and coming at them like bullets.
"He's manipulating the gravity of the rocks now?" ZekeGreymon growled.
"Where are they even all coming from?" MegaGargomon added.
The answer was shown when two of the boulders that had already passed them, changed direction and came falling back down. The two Digimon were stuck in a small space in the air, attempting to avoid getting pummeled to death. And when they tried to get out of the gravity field, a flying boulder would stop them. They tried destroying the boulders but they would suddenly compress and dig deeper into the bodies of their victims.
"Maybe if we get the golden snitch, this game will be over," Terriermon muttered.
"This is not the time for your jokes!"
"Momentai, Henry."
It was also definitely not the time to relax but Henry didn't say anything about that. As for Kiriha on the ground, he could do nothing but watch as his comrades flew around in figure eights as the giant rocks grazed their bodies, leaving scratches in the armor.
"Think Kiriha, what should I do in this case?" Kiriha huffed to himself.
He looked over at Gravimon, the one conducting the flying rocks and it seemed like the only way to help out his teammates was to attack Gravimon. But his main army was fighting against the enemy. Then again… He looked at his army and formulated another tactic in his mind.
"Cyberdramon, clear a path that leads into the center of that army!" Kiriha commanded. "Volcdramon, that's where you will be positioned before releasing the fumes. Deckerdramon, stay back and cover them as best as possible with your artillery!"
"You got it!" Deckerdramon replied.
Gravimon watched the scene below in his periphery because he couldn't break concentration lest he wanted MegaGargomon and ZekeGreymon on his back again. It didn't take long before Cyberdramon was flying out of the chaos and Volcdramon was being assaulted from all sides.
"Now!" Kiriha ordered the volcanic dragon.
Volcdramon roared before covering everything within a ten kilometer radius with sulfur. "Circle of Death!" Deckerdramon and Kiriha covered their noses and mouths to avoid the sulfuric fumes while everyone else, meaning the Earth Spirit army, fell unconscious.
"Everyone finish them off!" Kiriha called out.
"Volcanic Fount!" "Eraser Claw!" "Smokey Fang!"
The following explosion wasn't supposed to happen, at least, not to the magnitude that Kiriha had been anticipating, and not his partners either. The rocks suddenly stopped flying around MegaGargomon and ZekeGreymon before hailing down in the blink of an eye and crashing into the three Digimon down below. They were all stunned speechless when the smoke cleared and they saw Deckerdramon, Voldramon, and Cyberdramon all on the ground with stones lodged into their skin and burn marks everywhere.
"You set bombs in your subordinates?!" Kiriha shouted, his tone accusatory.
Gravimon laughed as he shrugged innocently. "What was I supposed to do? Your army may be smaller but they are all incredibly strong, I needed something to balance things out. So Apocalymon offered to imbue their codes with a kamikaze line, meaning when they die, they take others with them. The only issue is that they will never be reborn. A minuscule price to pay, really."
The Dark General floated down and landed on top of Deckerdramon, sitting down and crossing his legs, making Kiriha palms tremble and bleed as his nail broke skin. MegaGargomon and ZekeGreymon joined the boy though they wished they could've attacked the cruel monster seated in front of them but they knew that he could easily destroy one of their injured friends if they made the wrong move.
"What? You're afraid of a fair fight?" Kiriha accused.
"Scared?" Gravimon chuckled. "Oh yes, Kiriha, I am deathly terrified. But not of you, I assure you. Of the Demon Lords… of the Master… and they want this job done. What job, you may ask? Simple, the death of one Henry Wong."
MegaGargomon stiffened. "Why? Why do you want to kill me so badly?"
"Are we not all threats to the Demon Lords?" Kiriha added.
"Of course you are," Gravimon nodded. Cyberdramon and Volcdramon attempted to stand back up but were pushed right back into the ground, without the General even having to move a muscle. "However, Henry seems to be their biggest concern. Something to do with… a spore?"
Inside the bio-merged Digimon, Henry touched the back of his neck. Seriously, he couldn't comprehend why it was so important! What made his spore different from Sora's or Takuya's or Kristy's? They mentioned something about his homicidal tendencies, the ones he had buried a long time ago. Did that have something to do with it? But why? Why was he such a big threat to them?
"Momentai," Terriermon whispered to his partner. "We'll figure it out."
"So I have a simply proposition for you," Gravimon continued. "Kiriha, kill Henry and I will spare your friends."
"What?" Kiriha gasped.
"You're too lazy to complete your own mission?" ZekeGreymon snarled.
"It's not that," Gravimon replied with a yawn. "It's just not fun without an army to boss around. And I've already answered my question, how many hostages can I retrieve with the sacrifice of the most allies? But more importantly, I know that I won't stand much of a chance against both you at once. So how about ZekeGreymon and I fight MegaGargomon together?"
"What makes you think I'll accept such an absurd offer?" Kiriha scoffed.
Gravimon smiled as he placed a flimsy hand on Deckerdramon's head. "First of all, I can crush these three instantly if I really wanted to and I'm sure you don't want that. Second of all, Henry is supposedly dangerous to you as well. I heard from the Demon Lords that he could potentially turn on the Chosen Children and destroy both sides."
"One person shouldn't have the potential to do all that," Kiriha spat. "If he was going to betray us, then we would just have to put him down. But seeing as I have no reason to distrust him but plenty of reasons to distrust you, I don't think I'll be destroying him anytime soon."
Gravimon's smile turned downwards. "Then I guess you should say goodbye to your army."
"Goodbye friends," Kiriha smile. "Get better soon."
"What?"
Dracomon suddenly popped out of the ground near Kiriha's other partners, holding the blue X-Loader which suddenly sucked in the injured trio before diving back underground. Gravimon, who had been sitting on Deckerdramon, started falling to the ground but when he caught himself, ZekeGreymon was suddenly right next to him.
"Trident Fang!"
Gravimon quickly changed his own gravity to fly upwards where MegaGargomon aimed at him with his massive missiles. "Gargo Missiles!" The Dark General changed the gravity of the attacks and made them strike the ground instead but the assault wasn't done as ZekeGreymon showed up behind him. "Plasma Railgun!"
"Did you think only Taiki came up with the big battle strategies?" Kiriha smirked. "While you were playing around with MegaGargomon and ZekeGreymon, I gave a battle plan to Dracomon who relayed it to those two after you had finished implementing your plan. I knew that I just needed to keep you talking long enough to execute my own scheme."
"How dare you make a fool out of me?!" Gravimon yelled as he dodged the gunfire. "I will have you pay for–!"
MegaGargomon grabbed the enemy from behind before spinning around at a speed that would make tornadoes dizzy. "Mega Twister!" At some point, when Gravimon had become exceptionally nauseous, he was let go and he crashed into the ruin's caved-in entrance. "Gargo Missiles!"
"Final Trident Strike!"
Both attacks collided into Gravimon's body, leaving behind a swirl of data. Kiriha bit the inside of his thumb as the others regrouped with him. There was no way that the battle was over just like that, not with Gravimon's ability to regenerate. So where was the core? Where did that General hide it?
"It'll take time before he comes back," Kiriha told them as MegaGargomon returned to normal. "We should join up with Kouichi, first and foremost."
Henry was rubbing at the back of his neck while his partner tried to tell him to stop it. Kiriha noticed as well but what could he say to the other boy? Don't worry about it? There was definitely plenty to worry about but they just didn't have the time at the moment.
Just then, Kazemon came flying in, a welcome distraction from the spore in Henry's neck. "Hey, I got everything sorted out on my end." She glanced at what had been the war zone and noticed craters, rubbles, and debris everywhere. "Either a battle ensued or the ruins have gone downhill since the last time I visited."
"We took care of things, don't worry," Terriermon told her.
"But not the main enemy just yet," Henry added. "He has the power to regenerate himself so be on the lookout." He pulled out his D-Power and showed the Legendary Warrior an image of the foe they had just temporarily eliminated. "He's a dangerous and crafty one so don't try taking him on alone."
Kazemon saluted. "Yes sir." She then glanced around. "Where are the others?"
"In the ruins," Kiriha answered before addressing Dracomon who gave back the X-Loader. "Can you reopen the entrance?"
"Henry, let me help out to!" Terriermon added.
"Huh? Oh, right," Henry nodded.
As they got to digging, Kiriha kept looking around as if Gravimon would suddenly spring back to life while Kazemon took to the skies to make sure everything looked okay from above. As for Henry, there was a theory brewing in his head. And as he touched the back of his neck, he was almost certain he'd be right.
December 21: Ruins of Light – 9:44 AM
When Ken and Relena made it inside, members of the Earth Spirit army tried to get in as well so Bearmon quickly caused a cave-in which trapped them inside but at least kept the enemies out. In the darkness, Ken had to light up a torch while Wormmon took a headlamp, like the one he used back in Mexico. And once again, Ken had no idea where it came from, but at least it provided him with the light he needed to make his torch.
As they walked through the dark halls, they listened for the sound of combat or even just a voice because at the moment, they were just making random turns in hopes that they'll find someone. Ken tried looking to his D-3 but Yolei's signal wasn't showing up. That meant that they still weren't in range.
"How big can this place be?" Ken muttered to himself.
"Madam?" Bearmon said, looking up to his partner. "Are you scared?"
"No, of course not," Relena answered. "Why do you ask?"
"Because you are not allowing me to walk on my own two feet."
Relena had been hugging Bearmon like a teddy bear while frantically looking around for the last couple of minutes. It was hard for her not to be scared though, she had gone through a lot in terms of danger but at least then, she was always in the human world. This time, not only was she in a foreign dimension, but she was in the dark. She was terrified of the dark.
"Sorry," Relena murmured.
"You don't have to put me down," Bearmon stated. "Just don't squeeze me so tightly."
"Okay…"
Ken glanced backwards at his companion before holding his hand out to her, causing her to stop moving. "I know we have two light sources already but it's still dangerously dark. We should make sure that we don't get separated."
Relena nodded before taking it as they started walking. She had put on such a big a show too during Armageddemon's second coming with the rampaging she did on Grizzmon's back. She had wanted to make a big impression on the other Chosen Children attending but here she was, in the dark, clinging on to her partner and the hand of her classmate.
"I must be quite the burden, being as inexperienced as I am," Relena said into the echoing hallway.
"No, you're not," Ken replied. "And I'm not just saying that to be nice. You're levelheaded and you think ahead, you've already got traits that Davis and Yolei didn't have when they first started." This caused her to giggle a little. "Besides, there's no better training than the hands-on kind. Being in the Digital World is the perfect place for that. Just… be a little more cautious. You brother would probably have a heart attack if something happened to you."
"No, I'm sure Thomas would spontaneously combust if something happened to me," Relena smiled. "But I don't want that to happen of course. I'll stay safe."
"I'll keep you safe," Bearmon assured her.
"Thanks," Relena nodded.
Wormmon tilted his head upwards when he realized he ended up moving the light so he quickly shone it back down the hall while speaking. "Out of curiosity, how did you and Bearmon meet exactly? I don't think you ever told us."
"Hm… You're right. I don't think I ever did," Relena replied. "Well, here's how it happened…"
It was sometime in early October, Relena had finally gotten the okay from her doctors to start walking but after the first week, she had given up. Kristy, Keenan, and her big brother all tried to convince her to keep going but she wouldn't listen. The medicine may have cured her, but she wasn't used to using her legs at all and no matter how much she tried, she'd fall over. It felt genuinely hopeless to try.
One day, in her wheelchair, she was going through a private botanical garden. It was one of her favorite places to be because she didn't have to worry about reaching for anything nor did she need someone to chaperone her. Though just in case, her father always had servants around to keep watch from a distance.
Relena had just wheeled herself over to some orchids when she noticed something underneath a rosebush. It looked to be an animal of some sort and her curiosity got the better of her as she tried to get a closer look. She ended up leaning over too far and tumbled out of the chair but her face never hit the dirt.
"You could've crushed the flowers," a childish voice stated.
Relena thought it was Gaomon at first because whoever had caught her was small and furry. But the voice was unlike the canine's. When she was put back into her chair, that's when she saw him, her partner, Bearmon.
"You're a… Digimon. Aren't you?" she asked.
Bearmon glanced down at himself. "Is that what I am?"
"You didn't know?"
"I was born in this garden."
Born here? So that meant Bearmon had been in that garden since he was just an egg, without any knowledge of what he was or what anything was for that matter. Well, it certainly explained the fruits and vegetables that had been going missing recently. But wait, didn't it take months, sometimes years for a Digimon to evolve? How did this one grow up so quickly?
Relena cocked her head to the side. "When did you get here?"
Bearmon shrugged. "I don't know, madam."
"Madam?"
"That's what those scary-looking men call you every day so I thought that was your name," Bearmon said. "Should I call you something else? Because I really like calling you madam… It feels right for me. Especially because that's what I've been referring to you as for a while."
"Madam is fine," Relena giggled.
Bearmon nodded before averting her eyes. "Are you going to kick me out now? I'm sorry for stealing your food."
Relena examined the bear closely and she couldn't help thinking that he was awfully cute with his big innocent eyes and bit fluffy paws. She then looked down at his feet to notice how careful he was about not stepping on the stems.
"You saved me and those flowers," Relena told him. "I think that warrants some forgiveness for the lost food. Besides, anyone who seems to love flowers as much as you do can't be a bad person."
"Thank you, madam."
"Of course."
Bearmon reached for his cap and pulled it off, showing a rose that had been hiding there. He plucked it from the top of his fuzzy head and put it in Relena's hands. "For you! To commemorate you being my first ever friend!"
-X-
Zenjirou and AtlurBallistamon succeeded in taking down Olegmon as Zoey did against Ranamon! But their troubles aren't over as Gravimon is still on the loose and they still haven't found Kouichi and Yolei. How will the tide of the battle between good and evil turn? Find out on the next Digimon: Children of the Future!
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