Author's Notes: A few minor details I would like to try and clear up. First, a lot of you thought that Armageddemon was just waiting around. That's not true. I mentioned in one of the early paragraphs in the previous chapter that Gallantmon could hear the sounds of a fierce battle. But to help drive the point home, I'll write in a little segment here. Second, I already mentioned that Gennai was revitalized and in the youthful form that we saw in 02. If you forgot, please go back to chapter 4 and take a look. Third, I mentioned the reasons why it was decided that each Sovereign should contribute some data. I hope this helps you to understand events better. Especially you, Alex. Now, I'm getting quite concerned with how I can't seem to be able to access the DMA Digi Dex lately. There's a Digimon I saw there that I was planning to use but now, I'm not so sure. I'll do the best I can though.
Disclaimer: I do not own Digimon in any form whatsoever. Bandai, Toei and ABC own the rights and all that stuff.
Ascension – V 2.9
Millenniumon felt the presence of his minion in the void. "Back so soon? And I see that you ran into a bit of trouble…" Armageddemon stumbled as he tried to walk. He had failed and now he was going to pay the price for failure. He looked up to see his master watching the battle that had ensued after the fog was created. The crimson knight and the demonic dragon had attacked as soon as they saw him.
These two mega Digimon were stronger than normal mega Digimon but Armageddemon should have been able to handle them. And he did…until the movements of the knight and the dragon became more synchronized and coordinated. Millenniumon just watched as the knight launched Armageddemon and slashed him several times in the air. Then the final slash knocked him straight into a deadly flamethrower attack by the dragon.
But after the dragon delivered that attack, he started to sniff the air as if sensing another presence. Then he flew back into the fog. By this time, Armageddemon was in a weakened state so that the crimson knight could finish the job. He knew this and tried to take advantage of the opportunity but Armageddemon had already retreated. "I apologize for my failure, master. I'm prepared to accept my punishment."
There was no reaction from the other entity. "So I see…but I will not punish you for this. The boy's ability to quantum bio-merge was unexpected even though I had a suspicion after he had been hit by all four beams. Besides, I still require your services. Ryo is leading a group towards the tower you had installed last night. And I believe that his partner knows how to dismantle the tower properly. I want you to stop them." Armageddemon hesitated before speaking. "Master…in my current condition, I would be defeated easily. And what use do you still have for the tower? It can only fire the beam once. You said so yourself."
"Indeed…the four towers can no longer fire the beam but their structure can directly change into the type of energy provided by the beam. Once I get all four towers together, they will shatter and then I can manipulate reality and create my new body. But this will only last for a brief moment and I need to make sure that nothing happens to those towers until that time. As for you, I can give you an upgrade. Once you're transformed, go and stop the group from reaching the tower." Armageddemon felt a familiar tingling as he began to transform.
* * * * * * * * * * * *
The holy knight found himself sprawled out upon a couch inside Gennai's home. His body was still sore but at least it was more bearable. "How did I get here? How much time has elapsed since I passed out?" Gallantmon heard a noise from behind and saw the crimson knight looking through a book. "I brought you here. You left the entrance open when you went out. I don't know about the time though. Are you feeling any better?" (AN: For the remainder of the story, I will refer Gallantmon Crimson Mode as GCM)
"Yeah but I'm a bit more concerned with Shadowgallantmon and…" He tried to remember the name that Henry and Terriermon had given to him when he was still back home. GCM knew where Gallantmon was getting at. "Don't worry about it. I've secured both Megidramon and Shadowgallantmon so they won't be able to do much without me knowing it. Besides, they collapsed right after you did since they wore themselves out from the fight."
Gallantmon buried his head in his hands. "This is so messed up…just what happened to me? Where did you come from? I remember when I took on your form, I was still me. Henry told me that I was blinded by anger as Megidramon. As for Shadowgallantmon, I've always considered him as someone else. If I did ever bio-merge to become him, then I don't know what I would have been like."
Before the other knight could answer, he felt a small tingling sensation at the back of his head. "Ah…the others have awakened." Gallantmon grew more worried as he followed his counterpart to another room. That worry quickly turned to something else as he saw Shadowgallantmon and Megidramon trying to fight each other. But without their great strength, the two Digimon almost fought like old men. It was kind of pathetic, really.
GCM cleared his throat as both virus Digimon in front of him collapsed on the ground, breathing heavily. "If I wasn't…so damn tired…I would delete…you all…and load…your data," wheezed Shadowgallantmon. Megidramon tried to snarl in response but he was still trying to catch his breath. GCM gave a cold look. "Now is not the time to be fighting amongst ourselves. I believe I have found the cause for our predicament."
"Where did you find it?" asked the other holy knight. "I've been doing some research for the past while or so in Gennai's library. His library contains many files on the digital world as well as the human world. I was just looking through this particular file that may match our current condition." He held up the book that he was going through earlier.
"Hold it…how the hell did Gennai know...about this condition?" The dark knight was finding it a bit easier to breathe since he wasn't forcing his body to fight. "Gennai's library contains every bit of information from our digital world, including the type of chosen children who would represent humanity there. From how their Digivices, which are called D-Arks, interact with the Digimon to how the tamer can merge with his or her partner. He also has information about our world as well. I eventually found out that his library was divided into four main sections, each containing information from the Northern, Eastern, Western and Southern realms. My guess is that since Gennai is a faithful and trustworthy person, Azulongmon entrusted him with all this data from each realm."
"So…spit it out. What is wrong with us?" Both Gallantmon and GCM were surprised that Shadowgallantmon has been somewhat courteous for this long. The crimson knight gave a sigh. "I'll tell you as best as I can. Just remember that this condition of ours changes how we have to fight and live until we can find a way to fuse together again. Now this condition is classified as the essence fracture…"
* * * * * * * * * * * *
Lopmon chose her words carefully before speaking. "Just wait for a moment. How can I be of any use to Zhuqiaomon? If what you say about us is true, then I can't be of any use. I'm a data type Digimon and he is a virus type." Azulongmon gave a sigh. "I was the original one who supplied your data but Zhuqiaomon wanted to be the one instead. In the end, you had traces of both data and viral attributes."
"That means she can't replace Zhuqiaomon. Since you were the one who supplied the original data for her basic form, she would technically digivolve into you, Azulongmon," stated Gennai. Suzie gave a groan. "I dunno what dey are saying. My head is going spinny…" Lopmon had a nagging feeling in her heart about what may lie in store for her.
Then the rookie Digimon had a firm look on her face. "Before we decide how I'm to be involved in this entire situation, I need to understand everything about what has been going on with the Sovereigns." The dragon Digimon gave a small sigh. "During the crisis with Millenniumon, we have gathered several times in order to find a way to resolve this. But Zhuqiaomon did not attend the meetings. We found out that he had encountered some sort of chaos which was affecting his judgment."
He paused for a moment. "After we had thought that we cleansed him, we focused our efforts on finding a way for Ryo to help fight Millenniumon. He decided to try the Dark Ocean but apparently he was trapped as someone else came out of the return portal. We then spent all of our energies to create a temporary vortex to where Millenniumon was and then retreated to our realms to recuperate. But later, Zhuqiaomon revealed to us that a part of the chaos was eating at him from inside when he was trying to figure out why he had not recovered as quickly as the rest of us."
The trio below Azulongmon remained silent with two in deep thought and one wondering what was going on. "We were able to find the consciousness of one of the original Digimon programmers. With his help and our resources, we were able to flush the chaos out. But the damage had already been done. Now all Zhuqiaomon needs is a fresh infusion of his own data which you possess, Lopmon."
"What's going on?" asked Suzie. Lopmon turned to her tamer, wondering how she was going to explain this. "We're going to visit someone who is very sick and needs our help…" She decided to save the rest of the explanation for later. A hug from her tamer interrupted her thoughts. And for the first time, Lopmon wished that the hug would never end.
* * * * * * * * * * * *
"…I don't get it." GCM couldn't blame the other holy knight for not understanding the condition when he himself barely understood it. When it came to Megidramon, he simply said that this is a special thing and that in order to go back to normal, he must not do anything to hurt the others, especially Shadowgallantmon. To do so otherwise could be bad and could hurt Rika emotionally if something bad happened to all of them. At least, the dragon had a vague understanding as it would be impossible to explain the technical details to him. But Shadowgallantmon understood the technical details and he wasn't very happy about it. "This is ridiculous…I want freedom but not at this price. This is all your fault, you know!! If you hadn't taken the four beams at once, then we wouldn't be in this mess!!"
Gallantmon glared at his dark counterpart. "And I take it that facing a reborn and revitalized Millenniumon is a better option?" The dark knight simply snorted, silently thinking that maybe facing a pissed off and revitalized god Digimon would be a bad idea. GCM decided to continue with his explanation after the other holy knight resumed paying attention. "The whole concept of bio-merging with a Digimon goes back to the early stages of the Digital Revolution project that was started by the four Sovereigns who are Zhuqiaomon, Baihumon, Ebonwumon and Azulongmon. The goal of the project was to have both humans and Digimon working together in harmony in each realm."
"Baihumon first started thinking of bio-merging when he saw how powerful the human spirit can become. Zhuqiaomon had objected to the idea as he exclaimed it would taint the purity of Digimon. But the fact was that the others saw that the lifeforce of a human…the essence can help the Digimon to unleash his or her true power. They saw how the presence of a human helped the Digimon reach new heights and they were excited about how far that this bio-merged Digimon can go. Perhaps it could go further than the mega Digimon who reached that level when in the presence of a human." He waited to make sure that Gallantmon was still listening.
"They turned their studies to the actual essence of the human. It can be altered due to what the human is feeling. Look at Megidramon. He was born when your essence changed due to your anger. And if you actually bio-merged to become Shadowgallantmon, then your essence would have changed due to dark and malicious feelings in your heart. After an extensive study, they've sorted out the various possibilities that could happen if the essence were altered in someway. Now that we've discussed the history, let's get down to the actual condition…" Gallantmon nodded. "You said something about the essence fracture."
"First, you need to understand evolution chains. You are already aware of the fact that each Digimon has several possible evolution chains. Depending on the circumstances, Digimon can change into different forms that don't fit their normal attributes and qualities. Now each Digimon has a normal evolution chain that they should typically follow." Gallantmon thought about that for a moment. "Like Agumon's normal chain would be Greymon, Metalgreymon and Wargreymon?"
"You actually got that? Unbelievable," muttered Shadowgallantmon. The other holy knights ignored the dark knight. "Then there are some evolution chains that are similar to their normal evolution chain but different. Let's take an example and use Renamon for a moment. She can follow her normal evolution chain and become Sakuyamon but she can also follow a different chain which consists of Youkomon, Doumon and Kuzuhamon."
Gallantmon quickly remembered the cards that Rika showed him back at home. "Those two chains are similar to each other in terms of forms and attacks at each level." GCM gave a nod. "Exactly. Now…I think when those beams collided, the essence started to split apart at a level beyond atoms and molecules. After the encounter with Amaterasu, it was possible to split apart into tamer and Digimon but the D-Ark changed and gave five bio-merge options instead of one. You already know what happened when you used the Quantum Bio-Merge Program. The other four programs were to change into Gallantmon, Megidramon, Shadowgallantmon or myself."
Now the look of confusion came back to the other holy knight. "With your essence in this state, you have more controlled access to each different evolution to mega. Once you activate a program, you focus on that part of the essence and change accordingly. You must be aware that you may have to control certain urges as a result of using certain parts of your essence. Of course, I wouldn't know which programs are which but I know for sure that you shouldn't be able to access my form without Grani's help. You would need to have more than the leftover traces of data in order to fully access my powers." "Then how are you able to exist?"
"During that unusual episode when you temporarily gained the ability to manipulate reality, a part of your essence wanted to take a form to reflect what it represented. Thus, I was chosen. When you quantum bio-merged, that part of the essence was unleashed and formed an independent form by using the leftover traces of Grani's data. The other parts of your essence did the same thing as your anger formed Megidramon, your darkness formed Shadowgallantmon and your sense of morality formed Gallantmon." GCM paused as he saw the other holy knight look at him strangely. "So what part of me do you represent?"
"What do you think?" The way GCM asked that question, it felt like that Gallantmon was talking to an older and more authoritative figure. The crimson knight continued. "We were all able to take independent forms because of the large amount of data that Guilmon possessed. He had uploaded the data of several Digimon over the past while. And his data increases exponentially when you bio-merge with him. When you quantum bio-merged, there was enough data to create four separate entities with their basic powers intact. But Megidramon got the short end of the stick in terms of size."
Gallantmon then understood just how GCM was able to drag the dragon into the house. The three knights were their typical size while Megidramon had shrunk to about the same height as the others. "Any specific powers we had were taken away, such as Shadowgallantmon's hypertime ability. As for the Goliath Knight, we can't use its full powers. We can only teleport short distances so the only worth it has is as an evasive move to confuse the enemy. We are also all connected to each other so we all feel each other's pain." The holy knight was going to ask a question but GCM had anticipated that question. "Since my armour is stronger and I have more endurance to pain, I won't fall so easily."
He paused before continuing. "There is also one final negative side effect. We have to stay within a certain distance of each other or otherwise…we fade away. Because of the essence's fragile state while sustaining all four of our forms, if we stray too far away from each other, the connection that that particular piece of the essence has to the rest of us will snap. Without the rest of the essence to support it, the result is total fragmentation."
"Anything on the bright side? This whole quantum bio-merge program seems to be a big headache." GCM remembered what happened from before after he had awakened. "We also gained new attacks that can be unleashed while fighting as a team. I know because me and Megidramon were able to defeat Armageddemon when we first awoke by a combination attack. By using different partners and varying team sizes, there could be dozens of combinations out there!"
Shadowgallantmon finally snapped. "It's bad enough that I have to stick around with you losers but I will not work with the rest of you as a team!! I hate hearing all that crap about how teamwork can overcome any obstacle!! But if I have to do this, I might as well be the commander since I'm the only sane being around here!" GCM looked at the dark knight with a calm expression. "There is no 'I' in team…but there is a 'we' in weapon." (AN: The preceding quote was borrowed from Wizards of the Coast) The others froze at his comment. "If we combined our powers together, who knows what type of ultimate combination attack we may unleash? Now that we've all rested up, we have to get going."
The dark knight was now thinking of what capability this new combination attack could have as he started walking up the stairs after GCM used the control to activate the stairway. "Just where are we going?" asked Gallantmon. "I believe we should fuse back into one being and perhaps Azulongmon can assist us. I wouldn't count on Amaterasu since she is a divine goddess and that she shouldn't directly interfere with the affairs of mortals. There are too many risk factors involved in this quantum bio-merge program."
Shadowgallantmon voiced his opinion. "I agree with the ladies' man over there. This type of freedom stinks like hell and I would rather be in oblivion than associate with the rest of you in person." GCM and Gallantmon exchanged confused looks. "Yeah…let's get this done quickly before I get even more freaked out…"
Megidramon started to sniff the air and started to snarl. The attention of the knights focused on the dragon who was pointing towards a direction in which there were tiny figures moving to another location. "What is it?" asked Gallantmon. The dragon spoke only one word in a raspy voice. "Daemon." All three knights gasped…the two holy knights at the shock of Daemon's presence and the dark knight at something else. "I don't believe this…you can talk?!?!?"
And another chapter is finished!! I'll try and focus on the others next chapter but I felt I needed to explain how the essence fracture and the quantum bio-merge program worked. I hope you understood it. It took me a while to figure out how to explain the theory. Here's how I look at it.
Each different mega form requires a different part of the essence except for GCM who only needs the normal essence plus Grani's data.
Now under quantum bio-merging, all aspects that create different mega forms split up and become independent entities. Darkness creates Shadowgallantmon, anger and primal instincts create Megidramon, morality creates Gallantmon.
GCM becomes an independent entity as a different part of Takato's essence emerges. It's a part of him that he had never really given thought of. What part of him is it? I'll tell you in another chapter. I think I gave a clear explanation about how they are able to maintain their forms. Now check out my pros and cons list of quantum bio-merging.
PROS: Various combination attacks when in teams of two or three, ultimate attack when all four combine powers.
CONS: Feel each other's pain, stripped of any specialty powers, have to stay within distance of each other to avoid fragmentation, different personalities clash, grudges (Megidramon and Shadowgallantmon, Gallantmon and Shadowgallantmon), size difference in Megidramon's case.
Other bio-merge programs can turn Takato into one of the following: Gallantmon, Shadowgallantmon, Megidramon and GCM (this program can only be used with Grani present).
And don't start asking me about other possible evolution chains as written on Guilmon's card in the real Digimon card game. I spoke about evolution chains earlier. Megidramon, Shadowgallantmon, Gallantmon and GCM are direct mega forms of Guilmon's normal evolution chains so that's why they are being used. Besides, the tamers aren't supposed to know that Guilmon has the potential to go to other mega forms using other evolution chains. That's it for now. See you next time.