Author's Notes: Wow…three years since I joined FF.Net. Anyways…I don't know what my estimated time of completion will be so you'll just have to stay tuned. At the end of the chapter, if you don't understand how things resolved, just leave me a review and I'll try and find a link that explains the concept that I used. By the way, for some reason, the link to my journal didn't get published so just click on my profile and click on the website address I left.
Disclaimer: I do not own Digimon in any form whatsoever. Alright?!?
Ascension – V 4.8
"Where did all of the Digimon go? And all those other things that kept coming out of nowhere? It's not like they just disappeared or anything!" exclaimed Kazu. His Digimon partner had started to analyze the red blob along with the surroundings. "It's a safe bet that the red blob had absorbed every single invader, Digimon and non-Digimon alike. However this is only an assumption based on my limited scans of the area."
Alice addressed the Digimon in the group. "That means you guys should make yourselves scarce for a moment. I would rather not have the blob come after us." All traces of their frustration over their losing battle had dissipated with this new development. "And what of you? You heard Andromon's analysis. The blob can come after anything, regardless of whether it's a Digimon or not," stated Dobermon.
"The mutt's got a point. All the non-Digimon visitors that came here have been made up of both humans and other little freaks," said Impmon after fixing his scarf. Before Alice could argue any further, Leomon noticed that something…or rather someone is missing. "Where did Calumon go off to?"
Kenta frowned. "Didn't we tell him to go hide somewhere while we went into battle? I wonder if he actually stayed at his hiding place or if he kept moving?" Alice mentally cursed herself for her negligent actions. "We better find him fast. The last thing I want is for him to be attacked by that big red blob! Let's go to where we last saw him and then split up from there."
"Too bad we don't have a cream puff to lure the cream puff out," grumbled Impmon as he headed in one direction. Ever since he joined the group, Calumon had kept a bit of distance from him. It was understandable, considering his earlier attempts to delete the little white Digimon. He finally noticed him, standing on top of some rubble with a fearful look in his eyes. "Hey, there you are. Come on…we should get back to the others."
"It's been a long time since anyone was happy. Everything's so bad and sad…" The Digimon's ears shrunk back. Impmon joined him at the top of the rubble and gave a sigh. "That's true. That's why there's us to try and make things all better." He paused, finding himself surprised that he uttered those words.
"Wow…you sure have changed, Impmon." That was the understatement of the century…at least the little virus Digimon thought that it was the biggest understatement of the century. He gave a small smirk. "Yeah…surprised me too. Let's get outta here." Both Digimon hopped off the rubble and moved to reunite with their group.
Before they could get very far, a strange looking creature with a red wire attached from its bottom came into view. Calumon blinked once. "Is that guy friendly?" Impmon fought the urge to slap the little Digimon silly for even suggesting something like that. It was a good thing too because if he did slap Calumon, they would have probably taken a hit when the strange creature fired. "I guess not!!"
They ran as fast as they could with their stubby little legs but the creature had the advantage in terms of speed. Accuracy was another matter as the next shot exploded right behind the two Digimon instead of hitting them, sending them both sprawling on the ground. "Argh!! I think I got dirt up my nose!!" Impmon summoned the power of evolution to transform himself into Beelzemon before forming his weapon. "Corona Blaster!!!" The pink beam hit the other creature, changing it back into a tiny bit of red blob before disappearing.
As soon as the one creature vanished, more came from out of nowhere to take its place. The demon lord Digimon opted to run but he was effectively surrounded. And he had no idea how he could summon the others to his aid. He braced himself as the creatures closed in on him. 'This isn't…good?' The creatures had paused and focused themselves on something else. 'What are they looking at?'
They took off before Beelzemon could figure it out. "Beelzemon!! Are you alright? We all heard some fireworks going on around here!" Calumon grinned happily as he leapt into Jeri's arms. Her look of surprise turned into delight as she hugged the small Digimon. "Well, that's one less thing to worry about. Anyways, what did happen here?" asked Alice.
"Me and the cream puff nearly got done for with a huge swarm of freaks surrounding us. I think that they're part of the red blob. When I blasted one, it turned into a portion of it and then disappeared. I'm just wondering what got them so worked up." He was quite stumped. "There!" It was MarineAngemon's tiny voice who spoke up. Following the flight trajectory, the creatures were headed towards a pair of giant buildings.
"What's so interesting over there?" asked Kazu. Andromon had activated his sensors and begun scanning for anything in particular about the buildings. Then he found what he was looking for. But it wasn't his scanners that helped him find what he was looking for. It was his instinct. "There's a Digimon over there. With a large abundance of data!"
Beelzemon grinned. "And that may be my way of purging this data corruption condition of mine!" (AN: Recall that the golden wings are a result of the data corruption and that he needs to continuously load data in order to restore what is being eaten) Alice frowned. "Hold up for a minute. There's nothing there. Is it invisible or something? Because I haven't heard of any Digimon like that."
"So we have to conclude that there is something simulating a Digimon to trigger our senses along with those things that attacked Beelzemon and Calumon. Or that there is an invisible Digimon which may have popped out from another tear," stated Dobermon. His tamer crossed her arms before making up her mind. "Let's get to the bottom of this. Everyone be on guard." Her blue eyes looked back at the buildings and the small patch of green that was growing little by little in the night sky.
* * * * * * * * * * * *
Hasu found herself lying on the ground several kilometres away from the battle, courtesy of Zeedmillenniumon. She wasn't hurt but the question on how to defeat their adversaries weighed heavily on her mind. "Isn't there any way to kill them at all?" She didn't realize that she had asked the question out loud.
"Unfortunately, no. And there would be even more disastrous consequences if the two of them eventually come to that conclusion. Their plan of action would be to manipulate space and time to try and create a prison of some sort for the other. Something like the Dark Ocean but a dimension which could hold a God. Needless to say, it would be very messy. And weakening those two would take an extremely large effort with their high amounts of physical stamina." The Scion of Heaven flipped back on to her feet and confronted the stranger behind her, who was holding a package in his arms. "This package is courtesy of Amaterasu. She says you will know what to do with it."
He simply handed her the package before walking away and vanishing into thin air. A few seconds later, she heard a crash and saw Talon sprawled on the ground. He was grumbling as he rubbed his head. "I didn't realize that Daemon's attacks had that much priority over mine!! I'll have to revise my strategy…" The package then caught his eye. "What's that? An early Christmas gift?"
Hasu gave a small gasp when she saw what was contained within the package. "I don't believe this…" There was some commotion as she noticed her striker foxes running towards her with the others close behind. As soon as they got within hearing range, she spoke to them. "You guys have some good timing. I'll need you to try and stall Daemon and Zeedmillenniumon for a bit!"
"Are you nuts?!? How the hell can we hold off two super Digimon?!?" exclaimed Taichi. The guy did have a good point but still, there was something about this package that could help stop Daemon and Zeedmillenniumon for good. Hasu quickly gave a reply. "I don't know!! Do the funky chicken dance! Challenge them to a game of charades!! Anything! Just stall them!! Talon…come with me!"
Inside Henry's head, Terriermon scoffed. "'Just stall them!!' she says. Easier said than done! Especially because of the fact that there's no way to win a game of Rou Shambo against these guys!! Zeedmillenniumon doesn't have any equipment and Daemon could probably survive the hit and hit back twice as hard!!" "Again with Rou Shambo, eh Terriermon?" It wouldn't be too long until their enemies arrived. Talon and Hasu had sufficiently annoyed the two God-like Digimon to get them to momentarily forget about each other.
"So what's the big deal?" Hasu took out a container from the package and showed it to the Avatar of Chaos. "Wait a sec…this is…I know what this is but I just can't put my finger on it!!" Fortunately, he didn't have to think too long as Hasu provided an answer. "I recognize this energy pattern from a myth read by Princess Sakuya. The myth describes the energy used by the Takamagahara to create the universe. This container has a portion of that same energy!! Do you realize what this means?"
"No, I don't. If you recall, I just started remembering where this energy comes from and-" Before he could ramble on further, Hasu cut him off. "With our powers and this type of energy, we can create a pocket universe, one that has no connection to the rest of reality. Zeedmillenniumon and Daemon won't be able to break out of this pocket universe!! The legends that Sakuya had read also describe what the Takamagahara used to create the universe. It was some sort of ritual."
She paused for a moment. "There's a bit of a problem with getting those two near enough the entrance gateway to get sucked in. It also takes some time to close and it may be too much time for them to force their way out." Talon crossed his arms. "Might I mention that it's most likely that the ritual will exhaust us and leave us vulnerable to attack? Still…I guess this is our best shot. Now if we can just find enough time to actually try this out, then maybe we could be in good shape."
While Taichi and Megagargomon were struggling with Daemon, Zeedmillenniumon was obviously enjoying himself by toying with Imperialdramon Paladin Mode. One can't blame him too much. He did get vanquished by the powerful vaccine Digimon when he was still Lunarmillenniumon and well…he doesn't like to lose.
The red head was taunting endlessly as the Digimon kept attacking to hear Imperialdramon's cries of agony. However, the blue head was chanting a mantra. "Win the war first. Extract revenge later. Win the war first. Extract revenge later." Finally, Zeedmillenniumon heeded to the mantra and tossed Imperialdramon aside before planning on how to deal with the two Avatars and Daemon.
He paused when he noticed Ryo, who had separated from Monodramon earlier. "You're enjoying every minute of this, aren't you? You know that no matter what, you come out as the final victor. Your fight with Daemon only helped to speed up your purpose…to eradicate all life." Both heads chuckled. "The way you state my purpose makes it sound so diabolical. I prefer to look at it as creating a new paradise for the next evolution of life, should it come along."
"The problem with that is that nobody was meant to be perfect and thus, nobody will be able to live in paradise. Nature demands that every sentient species be flawed in some way. You are truly a fool, Zeedmillenniumon. Even I acknowledge my flaws and work on adapting to them." Daemon had appeared from behind after tossing Megagargomon and Taichi away with a small amount of effort. The other Digimon snorted. "Tell me…what is the point of conquest? After conquering something, it becomes quite dull since you have so much administrative work to do in running your world of darkness. I would have thought that you would have had bigger goals."
Daemon crossed his arms. "I prefer to be a little more realistic. Besides, your goal of eradicating all life in every single quantum plane is ridiculous." Both heads of Zeedmillenniumon simply smirked. "Perhaps it is a ridiculous goal but I have the capability and the time to pursue it. I have also made the choice to pursue the goal and will crush anyone who opposes me!!"
Hasu came up from behind Ryo. "In making your choice to eradicate all life…" She paused to address Daemon. "…and your choice to pursue conquest, both of you have condemned yourselves. You see…the choices that you made for your goals attempt to smother free will and choice. That is too precious for us to give up." Both Digimon were startled as they noticed billions of white spectres coming from out of nowhere. "And so every single living sentient being…human, Digimon and others…every single life from this universe, from the other three universes and the other planes to which your battle has opened up rifts to…they have chosen to oppose you." The spectres then flew in two directions.
(Suggested BGM: Angel Sanctuary's "Astral Power")
Ryo then whipped out his blue Digivice and shot out a thick beam towards Zeedmillenniumon. He yelled out his surprise before struggling to get free. Daemon laughed to himself before quickly deciding that a tactical retreat was in order. However, he too found himself ensnared by a similar beam. "What?!? I have had no human as a partner!! How can this be?!?" He looked to where the beam was coming from and was shocked to find it originating from the two Digivices belonging to Neo Saiba.
Nobody knew how he came to consciousness again. The sadistic part of him which had ruled him since Rei was sent into a coma was supposedly broken when ArcaDemon was deleted. However the real Neo fought to come back…even for a brief moment. Why? So he could protect his sister. She may be in a coma but she's not dead yet. And besides…the opportunity to get the last laugh between him and Daemon was too great to pass up.
Yolei had freaked out when he woke up and Davis was the first one to confront him, in case he did anything out of the ordinary. But all he did was ask to get closer to the fight. Kari sensed that he had a change of heart and volunteered to escort him with Nefertimon while TK and Pegasusmon acted as extra bodyguards. The rest period had been enough to regain the energy needed to armour digivolve.
"As I recall, part of ArcaDemon's code came from you. Technically, he was your creation. Since ArcaDemon was my partner briefly, I decided to give this a shot and what do you know? You're stuck!!" Neo gave a dark grin. "This is going to be sweet…" At the other end, Ryo turned his attention towards the two. "Better hurry up with whatever you plan on doing!!"
Talon felt slightly uncomfortable as they had no idea how to properly perform the ritual. He hoped that Hasu's intuition was correct and that they can pull it off. 'This is it. This is where we either triumph…or die.' He glanced at his partner and nodded once. She then opened the container and let the energy out.
"Sleeping strength from within, we call upon you..." Both of them flared as the powers of Chaos and Heaven responded to the first incantation.
"...and the guidance of the Alpha Messiah…" (AN: I'll explain about the Alpha Messiah at the end) The sky had now changed with a gaping black hole forming above the captive Digimon.
"…we navigate the roads of destiny, and beseech you, listen…" Lightning had started to flash up in the sky.
"…hear our cry…and obey our command!!!" Now everyone's attention was focused on the formation in the sky.
"TWILIGHT OBLIVION!!!!"
Zeedmillenniumon and Daemon fought to get out but could not as they started getting sucked into the vortex up above. Now the Digidestined were all standing together.
"Consider this a message…" shouted Davis.
"…from a world that does not want you or need you…" continued Ken.
Cody was the next to speak. "…a future that is ours to decide…"
Yolei kept the ball rolling. "…and from every child standing here…"
There was a look of satisfaction on TK's face. "…whom you disrespected…"
Kari finished up the sentence. "…and underestimated."
Finally, everyone's voice, be it human or Digimon, said the next two words. "YOU LOSE!!!!!!!!"
Amaterasu was touched at the amount of determination the children showed however she knew otherwise. 'Not yet. We have played our trump card but they still have one final opportunity to win this game.' Behind her, Ida-Ten was waiting anxiously for the final outcome.
Both Digimon let out a shout of frustration before passing the entrance. Talon and Hasu focused every single drop of energy they had into closing the vortex. The fatigue was visible on their faces. Even though they wanted to succumb to it, the encouraging voices of their friends kept them on their feet.
The red head was seething while the blue head was snarling. "On the contrary…victory is still within my grasp!! Daemon!! If we combine a focused beam with a dimensional displacement of 0.2 eps, we can escape back into the digital world and teach those children why they should fear us!!!" (AN: I made up the unit. Here, an ep is how beings with dimensional powers measure how much special energy is required for whatever they want to do.) Daemon growled once before nodding his head in agreement.
The two Digimon focused their powers towards the shrinking hole that was the gateway between the pocket universe and the normal universe. But as soon as they had charged up, they turned and fired upon each other, ensuring that there would be enough time to close the gateway. It was quite a twist of things since they were the ones who sealed their own fate. Being stuck for eternity with only the other for company.
Amaterasu could not conceal her gleeful tone. "Good. That went well. I'll have to make some arrangements to give John von Neumann and Oskar Morgenstern some reward in the future." Ida-Ten just gave a confused look. The sun goddess blushed briefly before beginning her explanation. "The two gentlemen I just described were the inventors of game theory which was quite helpful in predicting what Daemon and Zeedmillenniumon would do if they just got sucked into the pocket universe."
The guardian of justice frowned, indicating that he was still left in the dark. Amaterasu continued speaking. "What just happened is that Daemon and Zeedmillenniumon were placed in a situation similar to the Prisoner's Dilemma, an important concept of game theory. There were four scenarios that could have happened…"
Scenario 1: Both of them cooperate, fire their beams and open the vortex enough for both of them to escape.
Scenario 2: Zeedmillenniumon fires his beam at the vortex while Daemon fires his beam at Zeed. The beam that Zeed had fired would have opened the vortex enough for one to escape. Daemon would escape and Zeed would be too disoriented to try and escape again. Thus, he would be trapped and Daemon would be free.
Scenario 3: Daemon fires his beam at the vortex while Zeed blasts him. The beam fired by Daemon would be big enough for one to escape and so Zeed would get out while Daemon would be trapped.
Scenario 4: Both blast each other. The vortex closes and both become trapped.
"…assuming that both Daemon and Zeedmillenniumon are rational, they would undoubtedly be looking out for their own interests. Both of them defect and blast each other because the structure of the situation offers an incentive for each to defect. Any rational, self-interested being would defect under these circumstances. This is why sovereign states will often fail to cooperate even though cooperation offers the potential for substantial gains. We have seen this often in all four universes."
Ida-Ten thought about this and then gave a grave look. "What would have happened if the first scenario came to be? That was quite a gamble you had taken." Amaterasu simply smiled once. "A gamble which had the probability of them sealing themselves inside the pocket universe quite high. Now, there is much work to be done and we must speak with Talon and Hasu."
DONE!!!! Wow…this was a great pleasure to write. Anyways, my inspirations for this were Legend Maker (writer of Black & White, a very good Teen Titans fanfic), Silent Mobius and Angel Sanctuary music. A few minor tidbits to take care of…
The Flamedramon/Renamon situation will be dealt with in the V Tamers side story. I thought I mentioned this earlier.
Attacks for Talon and Hasu were made up from the various moves from King of Fighters and other fighting games.
The Alpha Messiah is the one being who created the early Gods and the early planes of Heaven. They were then sent to different points in the cosmos and used the abundance of Croso energy (a word I made up) to initiate the Big Bang and create as many universes as they can with that energy.
I think that's it. Anyways, I'll be off to Montreal on the 18th so if you live there, maybe we might meet up. Who knows?!? This is Epsilon Zeta signing off.