Author's Notes: Christmas is coming soon!! Get those gifts and share the love!! Now that I've said that, on with the story!!

Disclaimer: I don't own anything. Digimon belongs to Bandai, Fox, Saban and whoever else owns it.

Ascension – V 2.3

Ryo Akiyama gave a small groan as Cyberdramon stiffened. Like he always did whenever he sensed a great battle. His partner couldn't help himself though. That instinct grew on him when he merged with Millenniumon. Or perhaps it was something else. Every time his partner fought with an enemy, he fought viciously as if he were facing Millenniumon himself.

Cyberdramon always blamed himself for being unable to contain the consciousness of their nemesis but then it is difficult to try and contain the conscious mind of a god. They thought they had nothing to worry about since the conscious mind would just roam forever without a physical body. But when the conditions for creating the body are met, then an emergence would take place and the one known as Millenniumon would have returned to life. At least there was only one Millenniumon to worry about. Should conditions be repeated when Millenniumon is already in existence, a body would not be formed.

Ryo broke the silence by asking Cyberdramon where the battle was being fought. The Digimon just indicated a direction and waited for Ryo to hop on before running off. They would have to bio-merge before actually entering the battle if Cyberdramon's instincts were right. And those instincts usually turned out to be correct.

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Gallantmon started to cough up some of the dust that went by as he focused on holding the shield to protect himself as well as Suzie and Lopmon. "You two alright?" The rookie Digimon gave a weary blink. "Just a little shaken up. What's happening out there?" The holy knight tried to get a good view but the impact of the blast threw them quite some distance.

"I'll have to go and check things out. Maybe take out Chaosdramon. You stay here. It's the only way that I'll be certain that you're safe." Suzie didn't really give a reply as her heart was still racing from what had previously happened. Gallantmon mentally summoned Grani. Moments later, it came down from the sky at his side. "Let's go!!"

Chaosdramon was slightly surprised when he saw his opponent still standing after he had fired his attack. But what was more surprising was that he had undergone a rapid growth spurt. A giant black machine stood in front of him with red faces that popped out of shoulder missile launchers. His face, which resembled a dog's, was made out of a brown alloy. And that face was radiating with pure rage.

As Zero flew towards the source of the light show, he saw a familiar shape in the distance. "Am I seeing things? I thought we killed him back in our world!!" Taichi took out a small telescope and looked through it. "He looks a bit different. The last time we saw Umegagargomon, he had yellow faces on his shoulders but these are red." (AN: If you don't remember me ranting about my name for BlackSaintGalgomon, go back to chapter 2)

"So what you are saying is that this is a different one. Are you sure about that? He could have altered his code and gotten a few new changes." The boy lowered his telescope. "That may be true. Get in closer so we can see what happens. If he really did come back to life, we can jump in and take him out!!"

Umegagargomon had delivered several powerful blows to Chaosdramon before kicking him away. Then he focused his aim before firing his attack. "Giant Missile!!" The other mega Digimon quickly dodged one missile and used his body to deflect the other one onto another path. "Chaos Crusher!!"

The vaccine Digimon was forced to step back a bit to block the attack with his arms. Chaosdramon gave a grunt before charging his cannons again. He lost his focus when the other Digimon dashed towards him at a speed that someone his size should not be able to attain. Moments later, Umegagargomon had knocked Chaosdramon into the air. "Burst Shot!!" Several small missiles hit the virus Digimon over and over to keep him vulnerable up in the air.

Finally, when he stopped firing missiles, he punched Chaosdramon as he fell back down. The mega Digimon struggled to get up and was able to do so but he was quite dizzy. Umegagargomon prepared to unleash his final assault on the other Digimon. "Gargo Barrage!!!" Both the giant missiles as well as many smaller ones were shot out of their launchers. Chaosdramon's body couldn't take the stress from all the attacks and he exploded into data.

"Whoa!!" Umegagargomon turned to face whoever was behind him. Gallantmon looked at his friend with a slightly nervous look in his eyes as he was hovering in the air with Grani. Who wouldn't be nervous when your friend has transformed into a darker version of himself and becomes unpredictable? "Henry, it's me!! I've been able to protect Suzie from Chaosdramon and she's safe." "Ta…ka…to?"

"Positron Laser!!" Umegagargomon gave a shout of pain as he was shot from behind. The holy knight gave a gasp when he saw Imperialdramon in his Fighter Mode with a smoking barrel from his arm laser cannon. "Imperialdramon?!? What are you doing?!? You should be with the others trying to take down that tower!!" The other mega Digimon blinked in confusion. "I don't know what you're talking about…" Gallantmon turned to the direction of where the other voice came from and nearly freaked out when he saw a copy of a younger Tai Kamiya speaking. "…so if you don't mind, stand back and let Zero finish the job!!"

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"Darkness Wave!!" Beelzemon weaved in and out of the city as he dodged Ladydevimon's assault. He wasn't sure how he could effectively fight her. After all, he needed time to adjust to flying but she wouldn't let him. As a warrior, she would use every advantage that she had to complete the kill. The problem was that he was fighting on her terms in the sky. He had to try and combat her using his own tactics.

"Behemoth!!" The motorcycle roared before speeding off to its master. Beelzemon swooped down and landed on the seat of the motorcycle before driving it up a building and onto its roof. Ladydevimon had an amused expression on her face. "What is it with you biker types anyway? You are obsessed with those pieces of junk."

Beelzemon drove faster and faster until he drove the motorcycle off the roof, aimed straight at the other Digimon. Ladydevimon quickly flew up to avoid the motorcycle and right into where Beelzemon wanted her to be. He took out his shotgun and fired. "Double Impact!!" She was blasted back to another building. He carefully landed his motorcycle and dismounted before forming his blaster and drawing a star pattern. "End of the line…Corona Destroyer!!!"

"I'm not through yet!! Darkness Wave!!" When the two attacks hit, they cancelled each other out. "A stalemate…" observed Alice. The tamers had decided that this would be a good time to recover and come up with a new plan to take out Ladydevimon, should Beelzemon be unable to kill her. Grapleomon had slung Andromon over his shoulders while MarineAngemon used a bubble to contain Ceberusmon.

Both warriors were waiting for the other to move but then Ladydevimon's attention seemed to be focused on something else. Of course, Beelzemon wasn't able to tell since she was wearing a black mask over her demonic visage. Finally, she spoke. "Looks like we'll have to play again some other time." Beelzemon snarled as he prepared to fire his weapon again. "Later, cutie." She gave the other Digimon a wink before something on her waist glowed, enveloping her in a light and making her vanish into thin air.

"Wow!! You were great!!" Beelzemon noticed Ai and Mako running towards him. Calumon was on top of Ai's head. "You sent that evil lady away!!" Beelzemon frowned. "Not quite, kid." He turned his attention to MarineAngemon, who was prepared to trap Beelzemon again in another bubble. "Get these guys home, pipsqueak." The demon lord then hopped on Behemoth and drove away.

"He's still mad at us, isn't he? That's why he doesn't want to come home," murmured Ai with tears in her eyes. Grapleomon came up from behind. "He cannot return until he has discovered himself. You two have given him a lot to think about and now he has to look at some things again but from a different point of view." The twins just gave the Digimon a confused look. "Let's get the two of you home."

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"Positron Laser!!" Armageddemon moved out of the way before he fired his own attack at Shakkoumon and Silphymon, who were trying to destroy the tower. Sakuyamon quickly used her staff to deflect the attack before preparing one of her own. "Dragon Helix!!" It hit the other Digimon but he quickly shook it off.

"Just what does it take to destroy this thing?!? Imperialdramon in Paladin Mode and Gallantmon in Crimson Mode combined?!?" Davis had a look of frustration on his face. The other Digidestined weren't sure of how to help in this situation. Cody took out his D-Terminal. "I just hope Henry and Takato can help us out here!!

"You're beginning to annoy me. Mega Flare!!" The mega Digimon unleashed his attack at Sakuyamon, knocking her back and sending her into a freefall. Just before she hit the ground, she felt someone catch her. 'Takato?' But her saviour's face was much different and definitely not the holy knight's. To be honest, her saviour really didn't have much of a face at all.

She didn't really like the fact that she was saved by a complete stranger. But it could have been worse. It could have been Ryo. By the way his body looked, he looked like a mega Digimon. She quickly started analyzing the Digimon. 'Justimon…mega android Digimon. Vaccine type. Specialty attacks are Justice Kick, Voltage Blade and Thunder Clap…' (AN: Rika is so going to hurt me with the BAM. T_T)

Before she could think of something to say, Justimon began to speak. "I don't think I'm cut out to be saving damsels in distress." The blood in her veins just froze when she heard that voice. Yes, it was distorted and merged with someone else's voice but it was definitely there. That irritating voice that annoyed Rika Nonaka to the ends of the earth. Suddenly, she had just realized that her worst nightmare came true and that she had been rescued, like a damsel in distress, by the one and only…Ryo Akiyama.

"AAAAAUUUUUGGGGHHHHHH!!!!!"

Justimon winced as the Digimon in his arms gave a loud scream like someone in a horror movie. "Traditionally, you should just say thank you instead of screaming out like that." "Just shut up, Mr. Perfect!!!" Sakuyamon jabbed the other Digimon in the chest with her elbow as hard as she could before hopping out of his arms. Slowly, Ryo remembered who used to call him that name. "Well, it's nice to see you too, Rika. And you're welcome by the way."

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"Tai!! Imperialdramon!! Just what is wrong with you two?!?" Gallantmon was utterly confused beyond belief. The Tai look-a-like narrowed his eyes. "I'm assuming you know Tai Kamiya? Look, buster. I'm not him. This Imperialdramon has been with me for quite some time. I'm guessing that there's another Imperialdramon out there." "Who are you?"

"Well…technically, there is supposed to be one of me, Taichi Yagami, so that's where you get the one!!" Imperialdramon then got into his speech. "And my name is Zeromaru so that's where you get two zeroes!! What does that make?" The duo struck their trademark pose. "THE 100% COMBINATION!!!!"

Their speeches and posing didn't help to alleviate the holy knight's confusion. In fact, it made his confusion even worse. "What? One hundred percent combination? Taichi Yagami? What is this?" Taichi stood up. "We can explain later but first we have to delete this Digimon. Zero…do your stuff." Umegagargomon had not been able to get up since he used up a lot of energy fighting Chaosdramon.

Gallantmon flew in front of Imperialdramon. "Hold it!!! I don't know what's your story but this is my friend and I'm not about to let you delete him!!" Zero looked at Taichi. Once he saw the look on his tamer's face, he turned back to the virus Digimon. "You obviously have not seen the beast that this Digimon could become. When I saw his face, he had the exact murderous look that I saw when we met back in my world. Now step aside. I promise that we'll explain everything after but we need to finish him while his guard is down."

"You guys come from another world or something? Just tell me everything now!! Please!! Before someone does something rash without knowing all the facts!!" Zero ignored the holy knight and fired his Positron Laser at the fallen body of Umegagargomon. "Oh no, you don't!! Yuggoth Blaster!!"

The blast collided with the attack and neutralized it completely. "If you want to try and kill my friend, then you're going to have to get by me!!" Zero narrowed his eyes while Taichi scanned the holy knight. "Gallantmon is going to be tough, Zero. That glider gives him extra speed and agility in the air and he also gets additional attacks. Plus that shield of his gives him a strong defense. Uplink!!"

'This is crazy!! Why can't they just tell me what's going on?!?' Gallantmon quickly dodged Zero's attack before swooping around to counter. He had to stay close and make sure that Imperialdramon doesn't get a clear shot at his friend. 'I just hope that Henry can change back and end this whole mess!!' "Dragon Driver!!" Zero was knocked back but he was far from out of the fight. "Positron Laser!!"

'Zero!! Try making a shift to change the wind current to knock him off balance!!' The mega Digimon started focusing but Gallantmon had thrust out his lance and knocked him off balance. In fact, he had to keep dodging that long range weapon. "This isn't going well…Taichi!! A good weapon would be helpful!!"

"I'm on it!!" The boy took out his notebook and flipped through the crusty pages. 'I just hope that my Digivice is good enough to scan the stuff!!' "No, no..." He kept flipping through for drawings, writing, anything that could help. It wasn't until he came across a really messy sketch of a particular weapon.

"Digi Scan!! Omega Sword!!" Gallantmon's eyes nearly bulged out when he heard Taichi shout that out. A sword started to appear in Zero's hands. "This ought to even things up…huh?" He didn't notice that the sword was having a particular effect on him. Taichi and Gallantmon had to shield their eyes but when the show was over, Zero stood up in the air, in his Paladin form.

"Alright!! Now you can take out that guy and Umegagargomon too!!" Zero didn't say anything for a while. "My quarrel is not with you, fellow holy knight. Leave now and I will not harm you." Gallantmon was stunned to say the least but quickly got over this to ponder his dilemma. Taichi had a confused look on his face. Zero noticed this and faced him. "As we are both holy knights, we are bound by a certain code of ethics. It's quite a change from what I used to be." The boy nodded slowly.

"You understand that as a holy knight that I will always defend my friends," stated Gallantmon. Imperialdramon nodded. "And you understand that I must destroy those who have committed great evil." Gallantmon narrowed his eyes. "Since when has our judgment system changed from 'innocent until proven guilty' to 'guilty until proven innocent'?"

Zero sighed. "I am not certain but that is the new concept that must be adapted because of the current situation. Now please step aside." Gallantmon did not flinch. Then he started hovering above his glider. Grani transformed into a brilliant red light before enveloping itself around Gallantmon. When he emerged, he was in red armour with wings on his back. A sword was in one hand with a staff in another. "This is my friend. You must listen and consider what he had to say."

"Time does not give me that luxury and he is drawing power from a forbidden source, which does not bode well for him. You know that I must do my duty." The crimson knight in front of Zero adjusted his focus. "And you know that I can't let you do that." Zero raised his sword. "I see…well then. Good luck." He took a battle stance. Gallantmon did the same. "Same to you."

I've made a slight change to chapter 5 but it shouldn't really affect things. Anyways…I'm now officially a little older and maybe a little wiser!! In about 17 days, I'll be celebrating my second year anniversary being on this site! My writing days started around October, November of 2000 but things messed up and I got kicked off. I discovered this on Christmas Eve of 2000 and had to register again. I even set up my alternate e-mail address just to get a new account. And thus…Epsilon was born!! Now that you know the legendary story of how I came to be on the site, you can all shout HAPPY 2ND ANNIVERSARY, EPSILON when Christmas Eve rolls around. I didn't get lot of feedback when I posted chapter 12 and so I'm a bit unsure of whether I'm on the right track or whether I should change some things. Reviews fuel inspiration and fire up the spirit so please add in your two cents and review!!