Author's Notes: Here we go with the Third Arc. I may have to put "Other Voices" on hiatus for a while with my busy schedule and the fact that I'm having a bit of writer's block on it.
Disclaimer: I do not own Digimon in any form whatsoever. Bandai, Toei and ABC own the rights and all that stuff.
Ascension – V 3.1
Reapermon dodged another barrage of attacks made by Shakkoumon. "It's so nice to run into all of you again. Now I can finish you all!!" Cody blinked at this revelation. "What do you mean? We've met before?" The cyborg Digimon focused on channeling his energy as he put some distance between himself and his opponents.
"We battled when I was Armageddemon. I was pretty strong before but my upgrade has elevated me to a level that you cannot match!! Serpent Flame Purgatory!!" The others had to once again back off as Reapermon performed his attack. Everybody had gotten back to a safe distance so the attack didn't inflict any casualties. "Alright, guys!! Let's waste this piece of trash!!" shouted Yolei enthusiastically.
'Easier said than done, Yolei.' Justimon transformed his right arm into a red blade. "Voltage Blade!!" His overhead strike was blocked by Reapermon's right arm. Then Reapermon grabbed the android Digimon's scarf to make escape difficult. He was about to make a counterattack when Silphymon and Imperialdramon blasted him both at the same time. "Static Force!!" "Positron Laser!!" Ryo gave a sigh of relief inside his sphere. "Thanks!!" Reapermon simply shrugged off the attack and went back on the offensive.
"So far, all of our attacks have done squat against this guy! How can we beat him?" Sakuyamon had to duck as another attack went over her head. As Rika prepared to her Dragon Helix, Renamon took this opportunity to speak. "In our current condition, we cannot defeat Reapermon but perhaps if we used Grani…"
"Huh?" This obviously caught the girl's interest. "When we traveled to Zhuqiaomon's realm, I overheard Guilmon and Grani talking about how the machine can graft itself on to other Digimon and enhance them in the process." Rika gave a smirk inside her sphere. "Now we're talking! Dragon Helix!!" She quickly fired off the attack to distract Reapermon even further before making her way to the glider. It had tried using its own weapons but they hardly made any effect on the cyborg Digimon.
"I need for you to graft yourself on to me." Grani started responding with beeps and other mechanical noises. "That would not be a good idea. Gennai is concerned about how the graft program may be affected from the four beams since the program was running during the collision. Although the diagnostics could not detect anything, he suggested not running the program for safety reasons."
Sakuyamon ground her teeth slightly. "Listen to me, you bucket of bolts. Reapermon has more weaponry and strength than any of us and we need to have more power in order to stand a chance against him. I don't really care if I get a Mode Change or not. I just want to make sure that Reapermon gets wasted!! Now graft with me already!!"
Another blast later and Silphymon and Shakkoumon were taken out of the battle. As Imperialdramon provided cover fire, Kari, TK, Yolei and Cody retrieved their partners. 'If he was the one guarding the tower, then it's obvious that he only obtained this upgrade through Millenniumon,' thought Ryo. "Look out!!" shouted Ken. Justimon gave a startled gasp as he saw something coming towards him.
"Dragon Helix!!" He noticed an energy attack completely nullify the projectile heading towards him. How was this possible? Rika never had this type of power before. He turned to see Sakuyamon but rather than the familiar yellow mask, armour and staff, they were all a dark red instead. "Is that Rika?" asked TK weakly. The new Sakuyamon twirled her staff briefly. "Show time." (AN: There was an LCD image of the red Sakuyamon from the Rumble Arena or something. In here, she is still the same Digimon but with improved speed, strength, etc.)
* * * * * * * * * * * *
"Power Pummel!!" ArcaDemon blocked the attack before leaping out of the way of Zero's Positron Laser. Neo frowned as he thought this wasn't going too well. Zero and Taichi are formidable adversaries and right now, this green giant was distracting them. ArcaDemon had to back off but Megagargomon sped up using the Goliath Rook and kicked him away. "And this guy is just an ultimate?!? Talk about being overpowered!!" Henry had to agree with Terriermon on that one there.
Taichi took out his notebook. "That's enough! We have to take out this overpowered Digimon once and for all!! Digi Scan!! Omega Sword!!" Neo gawked in surprise as Zero transformed into his Paladin Mode. Zero then prepared to make a slash at ArcaDemon. "Omega Sword!!" The other Digimon moved out of the way but in doing so, ended up eating missiles from Megagargomon.
Neo clenched his fists as he saw his partner being put on the defensive. "No…I won't let it end this way!! Get up!!! We cannot lose!! Not to them, not to anybody!! Do you hear me?!? You are the strongest one of all!! You will not lose to these trash tamers!!!" Zero growled. "Don't call Taichi a trash tamer!! Giga Crusher!!" He fired the beam before ArcaDemon could dodge it.
If the beam had been fully charged, then ArcaDemon would have probably been vapourized. Even though it was at a fairly low level, he was in quite a bit of pain as the beam came from an extremely powerful vaccine Digimon. "Let's finish this!! Gargo Missiles!!!" Megagargomon fired his two gigantic missiles straight at ArcaDemon. Zero formed the special cannon to fire his strongest attack. "Hyper Prominence!!"
"Damn it!!! I've raised you…I poured every ounce of energy I had to ensure that your incubation was a success, to ensure that you have every advantage in battle and I know that you can do much better than this!! Don't prove me wrong!!" Neo had to shield his eyes as the two attacks hit their target. "Nailed him!!" But when the smoke cleared, they saw a giant grey and red Digimon with demonic wings on his back. Taichi gasped. "W-what?" Henry pulled up some new statistics before reporting the grim news. "This is his mega form…"
* * * * * * * * * * * *
"Megido Flame!!" Marinedevimon moved out of the way to avoid Megidramon's attack. The dragon then tried to deliver a punch to the other Digimon but Marinedevimon quickly blocked it before punching the dragon right in the snout. Normally, it would have hurt, especially since that Marinedevimon had more strength than usual thanks to his master's blessing. But in order for the dragon Digimon's brain to register pain, it would have to hurt a lot worse than Marinedevimon's punch. Having a rather small IQ does have its advantages after all. How Megidramon could still continue to fight after receiving a punch from a Digimon who was larger and stronger greatly puzzled Marinedevimon.
'This is going to be tough. He's fighting like a caged animal and is going all out.' If Marinedevimon were smart, he would have figured out a way to use this to his advantage but then again, Taichi did defeat him back in the Northern Realm. He never had time to finish his thoughts as the dragon brought him down and started pummeling him with everything he had. It was quite amazing as the dragon Digimon was by far smaller than Marinedevimon.
Shadowgallantmon winced as he felt several blows…not by Ladydevimon though. He quickly dodged her Darkness Wave attack before checking on the others. 'Casanova seems to be doing fine. Dragon boy is beating the living crap out of Marinedevimon…that means dork face over there is getting outmaneuvered by Skullsatamon. He's got crazy speed but he takes and deals damage like a wuss.' After forcing Ladydevimon back with a good kick, he gave a shout to Gallantmon. "Dork face!! Switch!!"
Gallantmon was irritated that his dark counterpart continued to refer to him as 'dork face' but he quickly leapt back to face Ladydevimon. Shadowgallantmon flipped over the holy knight before taking on Skullsatamon. "Nail Bone!!" The dark knight used his lance to parry the attack but could not launch a counterattack as Skullsatamon had already moved. He focused his senses on the shifts in the wind that were made by Skullsatamon's movements. "Obsidian Lance!!" He thrust the lance in a direction and right through Skullsatamon's chest. He burst into data, which was quickly uploaded by the dark knight.
Shadowgallantmon gave a small exhale as he finished the uploading sequence. "One down, three to go." He looked over at Megidramon, who was still tangling with Marinedevimon. The ultimate Digimon had his back turned to the dark knight as he was too focused on Megidramon. Shadowgallantmon took advantage of this opportunity and unleashed a vicious barrage of kicks and attacks with his lance to the head before his final blow sent Marinedevimon flying straight into Megidramon. At that moment, the dragon performed an uppercut and Marinedevimon was up in the air. Megidramon quickly soared up, grabbed his opponent and drilled him back to the ground for a devastating slam. (AN: Kind of like the drill slam in one of Yugo's Hyper Beast Attacks from Bloody Roar: Primal Fury)
Satisfied that Marinedevimon was out of the picture, Megidramon flew in the direction where Daemon and GCM were fighting. The dark knight watched as the dragon departed from the area. 'He forgoes loading data to make him stronger to take on a far superior enemy just to get more fighting time. Talk about having the IQ of a bulldozer. Well, I guess that means more for me then.'
Marinedevimon's body was shimmering in and out, trying to hold itself together so it won't shatter into data. But Shadowgallantmon had other plans. "Demon's Disaster!!" An explosion later and the dark knight was uploading the data of another minion. Not only did he feel his strength increase but he could feel some of his injuries subside. He silently wondered whether the others would be affected like this as well.
"Haven't you ever heard of a manicurist?!?" Gallantmon was trying to avoid being scratched by Ladydevimon's long nails. The fallen Digimon prepared to fire her attack. "Darkness Wave!!" The holy knight raised his shield and felt the full impact of the attack slam him backwards. He quickly aimed his lance at the other Digimon. "Royal Sabre!!"
With a swing of her arm, she deflected the beam into the sky and noticed that the holy knight was charging at her. The virus Digimon stepped to the side just as he went by her and almost collided with Shadowgallantmon, who at the last minute used his fragment of the Goliath Knight to phase out momentarily as Gallantmon went by. "Watch where you're going, you moron!!" The holy knight wondered how his dark counterpart was able to finish off Skullsatamon so easily. "She's going to be hard to beat! Her attacks feel like that of a mega rather than an ultimate!!"
The dark knight remained focused on his target. "Yeah, I've noticed. I have an idea for an attack plan." Before Gallantmon could ask what it was, Shadowgallantmon grabbed the edges of the holy knight's armour. "Just land on your feet and charge her with your shield." Then he raised the struggling holy knight high. "It's away!!" He hurled Gallantmon towards Ladydevimon with all of his might. She easily ducked but didn't expect the holy knight to land on his feet and dash towards her. Before she could figure this out further, she was slammed on two sides by two shields.
Both knights kept moving and sandwiching the fallen Digimon with their shields until she just collapsed in pain. "We did it! Wait…what are you doing?" Shadowgallantmon wasted no time and immediately deleted Ladydevimon. "Hey!! What was that for?" The dark knight loaded the data of the Digimon and felt himself being rejuvenated. At the same time, Gallantmon felt his senses sharpen and his energy levels replenished. "Did you have to ask?" asked his dark counterpart in a cold tone.
"Evil Inferno!!" Megidramon was about to charge the attack head on when GCM tackled him to the ground. Then both Digimon got up to attack. "Megido Flame!!" "Invincible Sword!!" Daemon easily blocked the flame but he dodged the sword attack. GCM was still able to get a small bit of Daemon. He hissed in pain as the crimson knight landed and prepared to attack again.
"You are still able to injure me…even though I have unlocked Millenniumon's secrets from the Dark Spore, I am still vulnerable to your attacks." GCM's eyes widened in alarm before narrowing again. "The likes of you will always fall to those who are blessed with holy power!!" He charged again and Daemon flew out of the way while shielding himself from Megidramon's attack. 'This shouldn't be possible…even with my attributable weakness to holy knights and beasts, my new abilities should be able to make up for it!!'
"What do we have here? Casanova is still fighting with Daemon while I already wasted and uploaded his three stooges!" Shadowgallantmon smirked underneath his helmet. Gallantmon rolled his eyes. "If I recall, you did have some help in defeating Ladydevimon." "Oh, will you just shut up?!?" The holy knight sighed.
'He uploaded the data of Marinedevimon, Skullsatamon and Ladydevimon? That explains why this holy knight is injuring me. His strength has increased due to the uploading process.' Daemon remembered how uploading worked since it was possible to do that while in the Northern Realm. In fact, he had intended for ArcaDemon to upload as much data as possible to digivolve faster. 'This attributable weakness may be my downfall. I have to find a way to neutralize it.' He started to turn in the other direction. "We've got to strike now while he's weak!!" shouted GCM. All four Digimon focused their energy into their respective attacks.
"HAZARD CRUSH BLOW!!!"
As the four energy attacks combined, the beam took on the shape of the Digital Hazard before flying straight at Daemon. He knew he couldn't outrun the beam so he did the only thing he could do. He ripped open an escape portal and jumped in. The beam missed the portal by milliseconds and kept flying off into the distance. Then all four virus Digimon had to shield their eyes as a massive explosion took place. When the smoke cleared, they saw much of the landscape ruined and beyond recognition. GCM went pale. "By the Sovereigns…is this the full extent of our power?" While the others just stared at the destruction before them, Shadowgallantmon crowed with delight. "Hot damn!! What a rush!! Let's do it again!!"
* * * * * * * * * * * *
She heard a sigh and then a soft female voice. "A pity that he cannot be saved." Then there was laughter. It was not carefree laughter or laughter that one would expect to hear from a diabolical villain. It was somewhere in between. Not really villainous but it carried a cold tone with it. "He attacked first. He was the aggressor. After he is destroyed, the data must be uploaded to ensure that he is not revived."
When the fight between her and Reapermon had first started, she could hear whispers in her head. She wasn't sure where they came from so she tried to ignore them as she fought with the cyborg Digimon but they started to get louder. Rika had asked Renamon where those voices came from but Renamon didn't respond. Now she was getting quite worried. The cynical voice came back again. "You're worried about her? Don't be. She's nothing but data anyways."
"Skull Whirlwind!!" Sakuyamon barely dodged the attack as the voices started to crowd her head. She could hear Justimon and Imperialdramon attack Reapermon, in an effort to give her some relief from the battle but the relief would not last long. The cyborg Digimon easily dealt with both Digimon, regardless of the obvious size difference in Imperialdramon's case. "I don't know what type of power you have been given but I'm afraid that you must be disposed." She didn't hear him as her mind was echoing with the voices again. Finally, she poured her power into her next attack in an attempt to silence everything. "Fox Drive!!!" The foxes attacked the other Digimon and within moments he was deleted.
"Alright!! Way to go, Rika!!" cheered Kari. But that moment of celebration turned to concern when they saw Sakuyamon collapse to her knees and drop her staff. She held her head protectively, trying to protect it from something. 'Shut up…leave me alone…Takato, help me…'
If the voices had a form, then one of them would have a look of pity and the other would have a look of disgust. "There's no one here to help you. In reality, all you can count on is yourself. And in reality, love is dangerous. It's not like anything in stories. No…if it were anything like that, dad would never have left. Besides, why did you immediately jump into the relationship with goggle head anyway? Were you afraid of having nobody to love and dying alone? Weakling…"
Well, sorry if the chapter didn't end right. I had a tough time figuring out how to end this properly. Nothing much to say this time so see you in the next instalment.