Author's Notes: Post secondary education eats up a lot of your time even though you have a ton of freedom. It's pretty intoxicating, that's for sure. At the rate I'm writing, this story may have to be on hiatus for a bit. Sorry.
Disclaimer: I don't own anything. Digimon belongs to Bandai, Fox, Saban and whoever else owns it.
Ascension – V 2.1
Beelzemon couldn't understand it. At first, those other champion Digimon were nothing but a minor amusement. Although they had a mega on their side, he was no where near as strong to the demon lord. But those other nuisances started to tap into a strength that he had never expected…the strength that came from a child's belief. Not to mention the fact that the Catalyst of Digivolution was with them as well.
Three of the children had transformed one of their playing cards into a blue card. Beelzemon had no idea what it represented…until the children decided to give it a try. "Digi Modify!! Matrix Digivolution Activate!!" The red mark on Calumon's forehead had begun to glow.
MATRIX DIGIVOLUTION….
"Guardromon digivolved to…Andromon!!"
"Dobermon digivolved to…Cerberusmon!!"
"Leomon digivolved to…Grapleomon!!"
Instead of a small brown machine, a lion warrior and a large dog, he faced a large android, a three headed dog and a lion warrior with armour. 'Wait a minute!! Since when can these clowns digivolve to ultimate?!?' Beelzemon had no time to ponder the answer to this question when the three ultimate Digimon came at him in a furious assault. "Lightning Blade!!" "Emerald Blaze!!" "Cyclonic Kick!!"
He quickly got out of the way but a final question was nagging at the back of his head. 'What about that other pipsqueak mega?' The virus saw the pixie Digimon a split second later with the heart on his chest glowing with power. 'Those three were just decoys!!!' MarineAngemon let out a huge 'Pu!!!!' before firing a blast of energy from his mouth. The next thing Beelzemon knew, he was trapped in a gigantic heart shaped bubble.
'I don't believe this!! Those kids were setting me up the entire time!!' He had no further time to think as he felt his energy slowly being drained. The three ultimate Digimon were standing in front of him in case he somehow burst free. At first, he couldn't understand how he was losing strength at for that matter, he didn't care as long as he got out. He took out the shotgun by his leg and fired multiple shots but the bubble still remained intact. Eventually, he was forced to transform back to his rookie form as the bubble had fulfilled its purpose and drained the former demon lord of his power.
"I told you that this plan would work!! Am I a genius or what?" Before Kenta could use this opportunity to make a sarcastic remark at Kazu's rhetorical question, he noticed the two smaller children regaining consciousness. "Hey, are you two alright?" The little girl didn't reply as she gave a small gasp of surprise at what was happening.
"Don't hurt him!! He's our friend!!" This greatly surprised the tamers and their Digimon when the two smaller children ran in front to protect the fallen Impmon. He wasn't sure what to make of it. "They just wake up and say I'm their friend even though I deserted them both. And they don't care about how scary those other Digimon are…none of this is making any sense!!"
Ai and Mako turned back to the small virus Digimon. "We know that you're angry because of us fighting over you and we're very sorry," said Ai softly. Her brother gave a small nod. "After you left, we talked to daddy about you and that we fought because I wanted you to be my very special friend and mine alone and she wanted the same thing. Then he told us that you chose the both of us to be your special friends and that we would have to share. Now we share a lot of things and it's a whole lot better than fighting over it!" (AN: Their father assumed Impmon was some sort of imaginary friend)
Before Impmon could start thinking again, a cold feeling washed over him as a new presence was felt in the real world. The other Digimon started to react to it too. "What is it?" asked Alice. Grapleomon simply growled as he looked outside. There, hovering in the air was a Ladydevimon but there was something not right about her. She gave a tiny frown. 'Great…of the four worlds that Lord Daemon plans to take over, I get to check out the most boring one.'
* * * * * * * * * * * *
Terriermon blinked when he saw the structure before his eyes. "So this is where the giant turkey lives? Kind of a funny looking birdcage." The tamers had split back to their normal forms and were heading to Zhuqiaomon's sanctuary along with the Digidestined on Imperialdramon. Grani had been following them, in case there was trouble. Lopmon had been going over a few things about the guardian of the Southern sector of the digital world, especially his grudge against humans and Digimon with human partners. 'I think I should add devas who had acquired a tamer to the list.' She gave a small sigh as she made the long journey into the lair of her former master.
"Unreal. This is definitely not like Azulongmon's place," mumbled Davis as he walked through the hallway with the others. The group found themselves in a large, not to mention hot, cavern. There was fire almost everywhere. "Hey! I think I see something!!" exclaimed Ken.
Moments later, a giant phoenix appeared out of nowhere. "How dare you humans trespass in my domain!!" Rika, Henry and Takato instinctively placed their hands on their Digivices and prepared to biomerge when Lopmon stepped forward. "My lord, they are not trespassers. I have brought them here…"
Zhuqiaomon examined the smaller Digimon closer and faintly recognized the trace of power lying within. "Antylamon? I had thought that you had died fighting Millenniumon. You dare to show your face in my presence after you had become a…partner with a human?!? Explain yourself!!" Lopmon looked upon her former master. "Millenniumon had ambushed us during our search and he had recovered sufficient strength to defeat all of us. Everyone except Majiramon and myself had been deleted and uploaded. He was about to delete the both of us when an unusual portal had opened, one that he had not generated. It had seemed that it was destiny that had thrown me into the life of the little girl behind me for when the day was done, we were partners."
The phoenix remained silent as Lopmon continued to speak. "I'm certain you are aware of the situation that is spreading throughout all four realms. We require transportation to Azulongmon's realm to try and prevent the fourth tower from being erected. Will you allow us to transport through your gateway?" Takato blinked. "Um, I don't think that Zhuqiaomon would be willing to help us anytime soon…"
Lopmon had a sinking feeling in her stomach with the fact that Takato may be correct but she continued to try and persuade the phoenix. "This is not the time to be holding grudges, my lord. Time is of the essence." Zhuqiaomon began to speak. "I understand the fact that there is a time and place for everything. You do not have to remind me. Unfortunately…I do not have sufficient energy to direct the gateway to your destination so you can end up in any human or digital world." This was a difficult statement for him to make, especially with a human audience.
"I believe I can assist with that. I can feed in the proper coordinates to this realm." The humans weren't able to understand what Grani just said but their partners were relieved that the problem had been taken care of. Zhuqiaomon seemed to erupt into flames for a moment but when the fire died down, a giant door had appeared. Grani found a small interface and input the data. At the same time, the giant door began to slide upwards. Moments later, the group as well as Grani had disappeared, leaving the phoenix alone in his chambers. 'Apparently Azulongmon has been recovering well if he was able to send his chosen to my realm. What's wrong with me?'
* * * * * * * * * * * *
"So your world is on the road to unity between the humans and the Digimon. That's good stuff…it'll be a while before we catch up." Henry brushed some of the dust off of his orange vest. "Hey, I don't know about you but I'm starved!! Let's grab some lunch!!" shouted Terriermon.
The Digidestined had confused looks on their faces. "Actually, it's time for dinner. Our Digivices say that it's about 6 PM," said TK. Terriermon's face fell. "What?!?! That means that I've been denied a meal!! I want justice!!! I demand retribution!!" "Shut up, rabbit!!" I'll let you guess who said that.
Veemon could feel his stomach rumbling. "It's been a busy day and we could all use some food to recharge ourselves. Hey, I know a place in Digi-Chinatown that serves absolutely amazing stuff!!" Takato's face brightened. "Is it that Destiny Stone noodle soup or something…oh, wait. Digitamamon…I shouldn't have brought that subject up." But nobody had heard him as they were already following Veemon. "Wait for me!!"
"These guys serve teppanyaki since they knew that human customers may be coming to the digital world soon. But the major sweetness factor was that they recognized us as celebrities since we all defeated Lunarmillenniumon so our meals should be on the house!!" A small drop of sweat appeared on Rika's forehead. "Um…will they be able to handle 20 mouths for free? And how do they know that we beat Lunarmillenniumon?"
"I think Azulongmon broadcast our victory or something because when that crazy Digimon was around, I've heard that every other Digimon was getting the willies or something since Lunarmillenniumon's power could be felt almost everywhere. Besides, once the news spreads out that they've served a meal to the heroes who saved everything, they should get lots of customers!!"
Veemon was feeling exceptionally proud. "There's enough for everyone so you can stuff yourselves silly!!" Terriermon and Guilmon gave loud cheers. "Hey, Renamon. If you're not comfortable with anything in that place, I can go talk with the manager or something and he can fix it up!!" The fox Digimon had another concern on her mind. "It would be impolite to 'stuff ourselves silly', seeing how much it would probably cost to serve all of us."
At that moment, fate had decided to mock her as her stomach growled just as she finished that statement. Almost everyone burst into laughter. Veemon had a gigantic grin. "It looks like someone is disagreeing with you." Renamon shot a glare at the other Digimon. "Shut up, lizard."
* * * * * * * * * * * *
Neo's eyes widened at this new revelation. "That's impossible!! Imperialdramon obliterated you right after you hatched!!" ArcaDemon looked at the human with a puzzled look. "As I recall, the first thing I saw was…yes. It was you and another Digimon. Then a Piedmon appeared out of nowhere and took you both by surprise. After he finished with the both of you, I reacted. The next thing I knew, I had uploaded his data and transformed to my rookie stage."
"Extraordinary!! An in-training Digimon able to defeat a mega Digimon so easily! And I could have raised that Digimon if it weren't for Daemon!!" ArcaDemon ignored Neo's rantings. "What was the nature of the relationship between you, me and that other Digimon?" The boy crossed his arms. "Daemon was the one who created you. He poured a large amount of energy into your development as did I. I was supposed to be the one who would have you as a partner and raise you to the best that you could be but it was because of Daemon that everything got ruined."
"This whole concept of having a…tamer is confusing. Partners, bonds…none of this makes sense. How can a Digimon draw power from a human?" Neo gave a small shrug. "Nobody really knows. The only way to try and understand this is to have a partner in the first place."
"Very well then." At that moment, both of his Digivices started glowing. "It is done. You are now my partner." Neo looked at ArcaDemon in amazement. "How…? I don't believe this!! How can you just come out of nowhere and become my new Digimon without even blinking?!?" The ultimate Digimon never gave him an answer as he was trying to understand the nature of the bond between a Digimon and a tamer.
* * * * * * * * * * * *
"I'm hungry…sheesh. I didn't do anything wrong and I still don't get any supper." Zero just kept complaining but neither his tamer nor his counterpart were paying much attention. Taichi was trying to get all the details of the Omega Sword into his notebook while Tai still had to wait for any sort of result from what had previously happened. It was rather quiet, save for Zero's complaints.
Then the silence was broken by a familiar voice. "So there you guys are!! Sora just called and she was babbling about how there were two of you and everything…whoa!!" Matt had just seen Taichi with his own eyes. "My other self is here because of a similar mission that the other Digidestined had to take to the tamers' world. How is she anyway?" asked Tai.
"Uh…she'll probably need some time to settle down before trying to talk to the both of you again. You gave her quite a scare." Gennai couldn't help but chuckle. "Having two versions of the person who can drive you insane can be extremely scary." Tai gave the other man a glare. "And what is that supposed to mean?" Matt slowly approached the other boy who was still sketching in his notebook. He heard Tai shout "Don't ask him who he is!!" but the boy still fired the question to Taichi anyways. He immediately regretted it afterwards.
"Since there is technically supposed to be one of me, you get the one!!" "And my name is Zeromaru so you get two zeros!! What does that make?" The duo immediately struck their trademark pose. "THE 100% COMBINATION!!!" Matt just stood there while Tai was shouting at him. "I told you not to ask him!!!"
This was a bit of a filler chapter but things should get rolling off in the next few chapters. With December exams around the corner, I'm gonna have to hit the books soon so I'll do as much as I can before that happens. Anyways, here is my five word response for Frontier appearing in Canada: it is about damn time. Catch the show Fridays at 3 PM on YTV. The theme has a Native American beat to it. Must be because of the spirit evolution concept replacing the partner Digimon.