Previously on Vengeance: Milleniumon has finally been created, from a DNA Digivolution between Machinedramon and Kimeramon. He then proceeds on capturing the older DigiDestined, holding them captive for his own diabolical need. Chaos Specter and his generals confront Milleniumon, but Milleniumon proves to be much more powerful for the Chaos Generals to handle. Chaos Specter decides to take the matter on his own hands, and transforms one step further into Veldusmon. The ultimate battle between two forces of evil is about to begin, but back in the safety of the Velvet Claw, Catrina makes a surprising discovery…
"Hey, who are you?"
Nine-year-old Ken Ichijouji stared in a mixed feelings of awe and confusion upon the larger-than-life green caterpillar that had popped out from the strange flower-shaped thing that he'd found while walking aimlessly in the Digital World. He had never seen anything like it before. Not only that this caterpillar was way bigger, hundreds time more compared to the ones he had seen, but also it looked more…cute. Plus, Ken was sure that no caterpillar on Earth weighted like the one on his lap right now. Wow, wait till Sam sees this, he thought silently.
The caterpillar stared back at him with a pair of curious, innocent blue eyes. "Hello, I'm Wormmon! And you must be my partner DigiDestined! I've been waiting for you!"
From that day on, Ken and Wormmon became best friends ever since. He would come everyday to the Digital World in order to meet his new friend. They played together and had various adventures, as well as meeting many other interesting Digimon. They had loads of fun, but it soon became apparent to Ken that meeting Wormmon meant much more rather than just fun.
One month after meeting Wormmon, Ken was approached by a very old, sentient digital human being. He introduced himself as Gennai, and told Ken that Wormmon meant much more to Ken that just a play mate. Together they had a destiny to fulfill, as no child was called from the human world for no apparent reason. Gennai also took the pink egg-like thing that Wormmon hatched from, and told Ken that it was actually the DigiEgg of Kindness. It represented the crest of Kindness, which was yet to be found, and served as a back-up means should the normal route of Digivolution was disrupted. After tinkering with the DigiEgg and Ken's Digivice, Gennai produced a small computer-like device. The DigiEgg vanished, absorbed by the console for storage.
For many more weeks to come, Gennai kept a close watch on Ken and Wormmon and coached them on the ways of the Digital World before deciding that Wormmon could defend Ken when time called for it. He left the pair, saying that he needed to now locate some strange stones which names Ken was not able to catch. One day, while exploring an exquisite tropical jungle, they tumbled path with a rogue Strikedramon. Strikedramon claimed to be sent by his master to destroy Ken and Wormmon. At first, not knowing what to do, the young DigiDestined acted upon instinct. He picked up Wormmon and ran away as fast as his leg could take him.
While running for his life (and Wormmon's), Ken crossed path with a wandering older boy. Delighted to meet another human, Ken hoped that this boy had a strong partner Digimon that could help them in their current state of predicament. Unfortunately, the boy had no partner. Even more strange, the boy didn't seem to want to run away. He replied with ease that he'd handle the matter. Ken thought that this boy was too cocky for his own good, but his tone suggested that he knew what he was doing, so Ken left him be and hid behind a nearby tree.
When Strikedramon caught up with them, the boy scooped up some soil and threw it into the dragon's eyes. Strikedramon retaliated and slashed the boy's chest in response. The boy then fell onto the ground unconscious. Shocked to see this, Ken felt compelled to help the older boy. Mirroring his desire, his Digivice glowed, and Wormmon Armor Digivolved…into a pixie Digimon by the name of Puttiemon. Puttiemon didn't match Strikedramon in terms of brute strength, but possessed enough magical powers to paralyze Strikedramon before striking him with a twin energy arrows coming from his extended ears. Having no desire to kill, Puttiemon merely made sure that Strikedramon was simply knocked out.
Surprisingly, while unconscious Strikedramon de-Digivolved into a smaller blue dragon – a Veemon. Veemon woke up and explained that he had fell under a dark spell. The spell robbed him of his consciousness, and from that moment his body seemed to be willed by another being. The dark power of the spell later consumed him wholly and Dark Digivolved him into Strikedramon. A voice then whispered to him, commanding him to kill a human boy with a Wormmon as a partner. Veemon was sorry for what he had done, and thanked Ken and Puttiemon for releasing him from the dark clutch of the spell.
The boy Veemon had struck earlier woke up not much later after Ken tried to clean his wound with water. Puttiemon then demonstrated another unique ability: he was gifted with a limited power of healing. He helped cure the injured boy, nursing the wound until it no longer proved to be endangering the boy. The boy then introduced himself as Ryo Akiyama, and told Ken that he was a DigiDestined, but without a partner.
Not knowing of what else to do, Ryo and Ken agreed when Veemon expressed his desire to search for the one who had possessed him. He only knew of somebody who had placed him under a spell, and a certain other Digimon referred to as master. The other recollections Veemon had had been vague. Ryo deduced that the one who had placed Veemon under the spell must be a Digimon associated with magic.
Using Puttiemon's keen sense of detecting other magical Digimon, they were led to the village where Veemon remembered being at before the dark spell possessed him. They followed some tracks, and encountered a witchdoctor called Sepikmon. Sepikmon professed to be responsible for Veemon's mind enslavement, declaring it with glee when asked. He alleged working for a Digimon of powers unimaginable, and was proud of it. Angered, Veemon hastily took on Sepikmon, who beat him with ease. Puttiemon joined in the mêlée but Sepikmon knocked him down as well with some powder dusts. It was then that Ryo's blue Digivice glowed, energizing Veemon to ascend into his proper Champion form of Exveemon. The great Exveemon crushed Sepikmon, and in his dying breath Sepikmon called out for his master. Upon hearing the name, Ryo felt his heart nearly stopped upon hearing the shocking revelation.
"Lord Milleniumon!"
The battle caused Ryo and Veemon to become partners. Together they tracked down Milleniumon alongside Ken and Wormmon in a rather frenzied determination. For weeks they followed leads one after another, and battled more of Milleniumon's minions. With Exveemon's strength and Puttiemon's magic they were a strong team. Prior in meeting Milleniumon, they encountered one last obstacle: an Ultimate-level opponent by the name of Volcamon. Volcamon outclassed both Exveemon and Puttiemon, boasting of having the honor of finishing them off. Yet, when Ken and Ryo's hearts beat as one in a synchronized harmony, they had unwittingly unlocked another method of evolution - the DNA Digivolution. Exveemon and Puttiemon miraculously merged and formed Paildramon. With ease Paildramon turned the tables on Volcamon.
The final battle between Paildramon and Milleniumon then commenced. As a Mega, Milleniumon still had the upper hand. After defeating Paildramon Milleniumon made his way towards Ryo and Ken. Threatening to destroy the younger one first, Milleniumon aimed for Ken. Ken tried to plead to Milleniumon in sparing him, begging for him to show some kindness. Milleniumon however was a being void of kindness or any other positive attribute, thus he ignored young Ken's pleas for mercy. He fired a fatal attack, but in time the DigiEgg of Kindness sprung out of the device which stored it. Milleniumon's attack collided with the DigiEgg, which deflected the attack back onto its originator. Milleniumon was impaled with his own brand of attack and was unable to fight.
Before being destroyed, the DigiEgg of Kindness presented Ken with the Crest of Kindness. The crest healed and energized Paildramon back to health, and in turn Paildramon generated a phenomenal attack which destroyed Milleniumon with a spectacular explosion.
Yet, Milleniumon refused to part with the world of digital lives without a parting gift. He fired several dark seeds towards Ryo.
Ken saw the seeds coming, and pushed Ryo out of harm's way.
A feeling of excruciating pain ensued….before everything became black.
And several years later, a much older Ken Ichijouji woke up from his deep slumber, disturbed by the dream of events happening years before. He blinked momentarily, trying to remember all the details of his dream. He hadn't remembered the finer niceties of the battle, only some fragments. Yet in this dream, everything was so vivid and becoming clearer than ever. The fog which had plagued his mind ever since his parting with his Digimon Emperor persona seemed to have been lifted.
However before Ken could dwell even further into his recent dream, a series of beeping sounds coming from his Diginizer of Kindness caused him to jolt up from the bed. He accidentally knocked Wormmon to the side of the bed, waking the Rookie Digimon up. Upon Wormmon's questioning droopy eyes, Ken signaled the Diginizer.
"It looks like we're needed in the Digital World."
Vengeance
Chapter 35: Curiosity Kills the Catrina
…..
…..
"It's a Lilithmon!"
Catrina started upon hearing Nanomon's fearful exclamation. She took a few steps back upon instinct, to protect herself should she was struck. However her eyes gazed at the dark beauty that was standing in front of her…and she realized that there was nothing threatening about her that she had to be afraid of. Her trained eyes immediately saw through Lilithmon, literally, though it was not obvious upon first glance. Catrina took a few steps towards the slightly-transparent Lilithmon before running her hands through the Mega's body, and was not surprised when Lilithmon flickered as her hands ran through it.
"It's only a hologram, Nanomon."
Catrina continued to glaze over the Lilithmon hologram, taking a few steps back again to have a better view. She was fascinated, as Lilithmon was certainly a breathtaking beauty. Catrina wondered why Chaos Specter would keep a holographic image of Lilithmon hidden. It was not a trait of him to lust over female Digimon, as far as Catrina had known. It was part of the reason why she, while in her Bastemon form, would occasionally flirt with him. There must be something between master and Lilithmon, she thought. Frowning, she challenged her own speculations but was met with more questions due to that.
"She certainly is gorgeous," Nanomon commented, breaking Catrina's thought. "But I think her eyes reflected melancholy. She is beautiful, yet sad at the same time. I wonder why?"
The BlackGatomon didn't reply. As the hologram rotated slowly, Catrina too walked around the circular platform, examining the hologram. She never remembered Chaos Specter mentioning anything about a Lilithmon, so there was no connection that she could think of. However she did know that Chaos Specter never really told any of his minions of his past history, or how he came into being in the Digital World. A digital human, whom she had known of, except for Gennai and the deceased Order of the Light, was her master himself.
While she was deep in her thoughts, Nanomon moved silently towards the computer console and examined the simple machine. It was nothing like the modern, state-of-the-art equipments that were built on the other parts of the Velvet Claw, particularly the throne room. It was a basic computer, with only optic drive slots, keyboards and some buttons that seemed to serve specific functions. Naturally as a machine Digimon, the feminine Datamon wanted to use the machine but remembering her place, she turned to ask Catrina for permission.
"Miss…is it alright for me to take a look at this computer?"
"What?" Catrina called back, looking distracted. She walked towards Nanomon. "The computer? Well…since we're here, why don't we?"
Nanomon switched on the computer, and the first thing that came out from the screen was an instruction to insert a CD inside the optic drive slot. Catrina walked towards the tall CD rack and scanned the aptly-labeled jewel cases, trying to find anything that sparked her interest.
"Digital World, Epsilon-Zeta dimension?" she said as she took the said labeled jewel case.
Catrina was familiar with the Epsilon-Zeta dimension of the Digital World. It was the dimension where Chaos Specter once mentioned as the home dimension of Catrina. Chaos Specter told her that he had found her DigiEgg in an abandoned village, and had decided that since there was nobody to take care of the DigiEgg, and that it might be in danger of being deleted by the wild populaces that inhabited the dimension, Chaos Specter had decided to take care of the DigiEgg himself.
And as for the Epsilon-Zeta dimension of the Digital World, it was a Digital World ruled by three Ultimate Digimon. As the Digital World was a relatively small one, and rather peaceful with the exception of some small scuffles, nobody there had ever, or needed to, reach past Ultimate level. In fact the only ones that had attained that level were deemed of having achieved perfection, and were named as the rulers. Knightmon, Asuramon and Matadormon made up the triumvirate of leaders representing the three types of Digimon of the Epsilon-Zeta dimension and led the inhabitants there towards a peaceful life…until calamity befallen the entire dimension, wiping out the entire populace in a mere matter of one night.
Curious to know more about her inopportune home dimension, Catrina inserted the CD inside the optic drive and waited fervently as the computer read the data that came from the CD. The screen flickered to life, and Catrina marveled upon seeing how beautiful her home world had been. She was about to take a seat, when three familiar faces appeared from the screen.
"MetalGreymon, WaruSeadramon and SkullSatamon?" Catrina recognized the three as the Ultimate forms of the Chaos Generals.
Catrina then watched with building astonishment as the generals challenged the leaders of the Digital World for a one-on-one fight. The generals fought smartly, taking on the opponents in which they had more advantage upon. MetalGreymon fought Matadormon; SkullSatamon battled Knightmon while WaruSeadramon took on Asuramon. The three leaders were defeated, marking the beginning of the destruction of Epsilon-Zeta dimension. The three generals terrorized the whole small dimension, destroying each and every one of Digimon they encountered. Catrina then saw a fourth figure appearing which made her shudder.
"Master…"
Chaos Specter led the three generals in the mass destruction of the dimension, until dusk came and they reached the Primary Village. The protector of the Primary Village, a Mikemon, immediately blocked the four Digimon from entering the village of the beginnings. The small Champion feline fought bravely, but he was no match for even the generals and was thrown away. It was then Mikemon began to glow, aided by the deceased rulers of the dimension, becoming the first Digimon in that dimension to have Warp Digivolved…into a formidable SaberLeomon to protect the Primary Village from suffering the same fate as the rest of the world.
Yet even a Mega Digimon could not match the combined powers of the brazen generals of Chaos Specter. SaberLeomon was forced to watch the destruction of the village which he had sworn to protect. Every DigiEgg there was destroyed right in front of his own eyes. Feeling sad and sorrow, SaberLeomon regressed back into Mikemon and darted towards where he believed the DigiEggs could still be saved. However the generals followed him and destroyed each and every DigiEgg that Mikemon tried so hard to save. Mikemon sprinted away again and got hold of one DigiEgg, hidden behind a toy block, and dug a hole to hide it out of desperation.
"I hope that you will survive this destruction, little one…and one day you will rise to avenge the death of our great rulers, the entire populace of our world, your fellow unborn brothers and sisters, and…me," Mikemon said sadly, sending shivers to Catrina's spine.
Mikemon left the DigiEgg half-buried when he heard the generals coming, and led them away from the only DigiEgg that had survived the mass destruction. Catrina continued to watch the video with growing suspicion of the fate of the DigiEgg, and felt sorrow when she saw Mikemon being slaughtered by SkullSatamon brutally. Then to her horror, Chaos Specter walked straight towards the spot where Mikemon had buried the DigiEgg, and found it. She had a suspicion of what would happen next, and waited with a feeling of dread.
Chaos Specter bent down and picked up the DigiEgg.
"Please let me be wrong…"
The DigiEgg hatched, and a SnowBotamon popped out innocently onto Chaos Specter's hands.
"No…This can't be…I don't…I can't…"
Catrina bolted out from the hidden chamber, a mixed feeling of anguish and betrayal welled up inside of her. Tears fell freely from her eyes as she made a beeline towards her own room. She had never expected to find out that her master was the one responsible for the destruction of her own world. But then again, why should she be surprised, as her master was the inter-dimensional Digital World conqueror? She just could not accept the fact that her own world too suffered the same fate. She had been deceived.
And as she made her ways to her own room, inside her head Mikemon's parting request kept playing inside her mind over and over again.
Back in the deserts near Machine City, the titanic battle between Milleniumon and Veldusmon had been going on for half an hour and still it hadn't reached farther than a stalemate. Veldusmon, the combined form of Chaos Specter's warrior and bestial dark spirits, gave his all against Milleniumon. He had cast a minor sandstorm by flapping his buzzard wings, hoping to obscure Milleniumon's sight. Seeing that Milleniumon did not retaliate, Veldusmon kept his act while energizing his hands to deliver his second attack – by firing two streams of dark flames and ice from his black skull-endowed knuckles.
The flames and ices surrounded Milleniumon, burning and freezing him at the same time. Laughing, seeing that Milleniumon couldn't seem to keep up with his attacks, Veldusmon gathered more strength and increased the intensity of his attacks. The streams became beams of tremendous power, and Veldusmon marveled upon the sight of Milleniumon's shocked expression. It was obvious that his effort was fruitful; Milleniumon was in pain.
"You are certainly strong as they say you are, Chaos Specter…but I cannot be beaten this easily!"
Sensing that perhaps he had underestimated Milleniumon's power, Veldusmon roared for his Chaos Generals to help him. Chaos Piedmon, Chaos Seadramon and Chaosdramon instantly jumped in their master's aid, attacking Milleniumon from various sides.
"Ah, how quaint! Even the rabbles have decided to join in their master's pitiful attempt on my life! Yet, I no longer feel that I want to keep this up."
"We'll see how you feel when you are captured with my Chaos Rings!" Veldusmon called out, and instantly seven Chaos Rings materialized in a flash of green light. "Capture Milleniumon!"
"Tsk, tsk… I shan't fall for that again," Milleniumon sneered. "Time Unlimited!"
Instantly the whole area flashed with violet lights, coming from Milleniumon's menacing eyes. To Veldusmon's horror, everything had stopped dead around him. The Chaos Rings froze in midair, while he and his generals were immobilized.
Veldusmon tried to move his arms and legs, but his efforts seemed to bear little result. Waves of green and violet seemed to contradict each other as Veldusmon attempted to use his own power to cancel out Milleniumon's hold on him. Then another bright flash ensued, and Veldusmon slumped onto the ground, de-Digivolved back into Chaos Specter. He heaved his breathings slowly, feeling strangely weak.
"You are stronger than what I have expected, for a human," Milleniumon jeered. "Your minions, Mega level as they are, cannot escape the effect of my Time Unlimited. Perhaps it is because that you are not a Digimon, that my attack cannot hold you for long?"
"A weakness you shouldn't expose," Chaos Specter spat as he stood, calling up his serpent staff.
"Pah! What harm could a mere human do to me? You are of no significance, and I shall prove it to you. Watch."
By merely flicking his long arms upwards, all the Chaos Rings exploded in bits of data particles. Seeing Chaos Specter's expression of disbelief, Milleniumon roared with laughter.
"Why…perhaps you are wondering why the Digiranium liquid metal that you have embedded on those rings has no effect on me? It is relatively simple; actually…I am affected, or was, now that the rings are destroyed. But, affected as I was I still can fight relatively well. Now, I can see that you are going to try contradicting my answer. After all, weren't the four Harmonious Ones affected severely by the rings? Why, I am much, much, STRONGER than any of them…though it is thanks to you that I will not have to worry about them anymore. Combined, perhaps they are a match to me. But on one-on-one, even the strongest of them all, the great Zhuqiaomon, cannot hope to match my strength!"
"You've given too much away now, Milleniumon," Chaos Specter sneered back. "Perhaps you've forgotten the fact that I hold the key to release the Harmonious Ones against you?"
Milleniumon snorted. "I look forward on that day, actually. I have not the chance to test my power against the four of them combined. But my ZeedMilleniumon form should suffice against them. I have nothing to be afraid of. But enough about me…how about now, I prove to you to not mess with me?"
Before Chaos Specter could answer, suddenly Chaos Seadramon howled and hissed in what sounded like a pain beyond belief. His metallic serpentine body glimmered with blue aura as he writhed and trashed about. Chaos Specter thought that somehow Chaos Seadramon had managed to escape Milleniumon's clutch as well, but he soon was proved to be horrendously wrong.
"Your snake is strong and very loyal…" Milleniumon mused. "I wonder what will happen should you lose him?"
"Don't you dare!" Chaos Specter hissed venomously, Milleniumon's intention dawned onto him.
"Oh, but I do. And there is nothing that you can do that can stop me. Goodbye, Chaos Seadramon!"
Before Chaos Specter could stop him, Milleniumon flicked his right arm and in a mere matter of a second, Chaos Seadramon exploded into bits of data. His blue data particles swirled around Milleniumon's long arm, but Milleniumon merely flicked his arm again somewhat lazily, refusing to take Chaos Seadramon's data.
"One down, two to go…how about the clown now? I have always hated jesters."
Chaos Piedmon's eyes shot out wide, but it was down to his luck that a strong crimson beam jetted straight from behind him, catching Milleniumon's arm before the dark Digimon could do his deed. And somehow, it was just his stroke of luck once again that Milleniumon's hold on him and Chaosdramon was suddenly lifted.
Surprised, Chaos Specter looked at the distance where the crimson beam came from. He could make out a massive pink dragon coming from the horizon. Not wanting to remain there any longer, Chaos Specter shot a look at Milleniumon, who was grazing his burnt arm onto the sands to put the fire out.
"The day will come," he vowed, before in a glitter of violet lights he and his remaining two generals vanished from sight.
Magnadramon – the fused Mega form of d'Arcmon, Piddomon and Angemon – led Wargreymon, Paildramon, Dinobeemon, MagnaAngemon, Angewomon, Sylphimon and Valthrumon towards the battlefield as soon as they were teleported a few kilometers away from Machine City. For a moment they were stunned to see Milleniumon's absolute cruelty in deleting Chaos Seadramon. Against the wishes of some of the DigiDestined, Magnadramon released a powerful torrent of his Fire Tornado to stop Milleniumon from killing Chaos Piedmon as well.
The eight of them soon reached Milleniumon. Tai got down from Magnadramon and stood beside Wargreymon, while the other DigiDestined stood in a line, bracing themselves against the upcoming fight with Milleniumon.
"Ah, DigiDestined…" Milleniumon drawled. "How enthralling to see you again. Though this is not our first encounter, I believe there are some fresh faces around here. Surely you are surprised, are you not, Tai? You think Omnimon could put me away for long? Well, you are severely wrong. And Ken…it's so nice to see you alive and kicking. How has the Dark Spore been treating you?"
Dinobeemon gritted his teeth in anger. "It has been extracted."
"Really? Shame. It could give you many means to achieve greatness, Ken." Milleniumon laughed evilly. "But of course, a child of Kindness can never hold such dark power for long."
"Enough!" Paildramon roared. "What have you done to our friends?"
"Ohh…the rookie-made-leader, I see. Cocky, arrogant, a quality trait I see among the leaders, no doubt. Well, your friends are safe for now…no need to worry." Milleniumon then crooned his head forward to take a closer look at the DigiDestined. "A Magnadramon, yet I sense three different personalities inside the body. A Paildramon, I sense that while I have never met the human behind the mask, I surely sense an aura of familiarity in the Digimon that compassed the half of the body. But I have no interest in you. A Dinobeemon…your weak Wormmon has finally able to Digivolve to Ultimate level? MagnaAngemon, Angewomon and Wargreymon, we meet again, though I actually hope to see you three and Dinobeemon inside my green dome as well…but it shall all be in due time, no? And…hmm, the last two of you are unique, I have never seen a female Silphymon before. And you…why, a Valthrumon is absolutely a rarity."
"Let our friends go!" Dinobeemon demanded.
"Surely, you already know the answer to that, Ken," Milleniumon replied calmly. "But…I shall make a deal with you. Defeat me, and your friends shall walk free. Be defeated, and you see there? Machine City…once a glorious home to various mechanical Digimon, shall be NO MORE, and your precious friends shall be mine."
"No deals!" Magnadramon shouted. "Fire Tornado!"
"So this is the simpleton that has lost me my prey," Milleniumon said silkily, slapping the beam of fire away, causing it to be redirected towards the Machine City. An explosion ensued over the remains of the city before Magnadramon stopped his attack. "Oops. Looks like you have destroyed more of the city than me. And as for messing up my plan…Dimension Destroyer!"
Magnadramon was hit at close range by Milleniumon's powerful cannons, and devolved back into his three composite selves.
Wargreymon stepped forward and released his Terra Force towards Milleniumon, but the dark Digimon avoided the attack. He then froze Wargreymon in place, and slashed the warrior Digimon severely, causing him to devolve as well to Agumon. Tai quickly made a beeline to grab Agumon, rolling on the sandy ground to avoid Milleniumon's long appendage from grabbing him. He caught Agumon's claws and was about to make a run for it before Milleniumon put a stop into it.
"Ah…one more pair for my collections!" Milleniumon grabbed both Tai and Agumon and threw them inside the dome. "Now I have six DigiDestined and six Digimon! Dinobeemon, MagnaAngemon and Angewomon…watch out. You three are next in line."
"Not if I can help it!" Paildramon flew forward. "Desperado Blaster!"
"Hell Masquerade!" Dinobeemon followed, splitting himself into three. Each fired streams of poisonous needles towards Milleniumon.
Angewomon flew upwards and aimed an arrow of light, while MagnaAngemon energized his knuckle. Together they shot the Celestial Arrow and the Hand of Fate. Their attacks were joined by a crimson energy ball from Sylphimon and several clay bombs from Valthrumon. The six attacks from the DigiDestined were about to merge together to form one strong attack, when Milleniumon's eyes shone with eerie green light and suddenly, everything around him was stopped in motion as well.
"I win," Milleniumon said softly, and willed the six attacks to be redirected back towards their originators. Six explosions followed.
One by one, the Transdigivolved DigiDestined devolved back into their composite selves and fell onto the sandy grounds. It was lucky that they were in the desert; the large mounds of sands spared them from the pain they would've suffered should they fell onto more solid grounds. The freezing effect from Milleniumon was lost once they were hit by their own attacks, but it had left them helpless and weak.
"Poor simpleton fools. All of you are really naïve fools, thinking you can defeat me…ME…the ultimate form of evil! Well, though I'd love to have the six of you as part of my collections, but on second thought, no…I'd rather enjoy seeing all of you DIE!" Milleniumon let out a loud mocking burst of laughter as he moved closer to the lying forms of Ken and Wormmon. "Shall we begin with the destruction of the duo of Kindness; it shall serve as a perfect revenge for that trick you managed to pull off last time…"
"KEN!" Yolei screamed. "Get out of there!"
"Can't…" Ken groaned, watching in fear as Milleniumon was about to stamp his foot onto him.
Yet, as fate had decided to intervene once again, Milleniumon was not successful when a surge of electricity came from the sky, electrocuting him on the arms and legs. Milleniumon was forced to draw back from attacking Ken and Wormmon.
"Who dares to attack ME!" he roared, looking up above the sky.
There, within the clouds, a figure robed in dark crimson descended down slowly and landed on the tip of the highest heap of sand nearby. The heap of sands didn't seem to be affected by the newcomer's weight, suggesting that he or she possessed a limited ability of flight. It was impossible for anybody to discern the identity of the newcomer, as the face was covered by a hood. And against the moonlight which was directly above the stranger, shadows were cast beneath the hood, obscuring the face even further.
"You, stranger, identify yourself!" Milleniumon demanded.
"Aww…Milleniumon, surely you haven't forgotten all about us," two dual voices replied confidently from beneath the hood.
Milleniumon started slightly upon hearing the voices. "YOU…."
"Well, glad to see that you remembered after all."
After letting a couple of seconds passed, the stranger pulled down the hood, revealing a face covered by a shining metallic helmet, which seemed to glitter against the moonlight. The helmet was almost similar to Angemon or Angewomon's helmet, but lacked the intricate design and jewels. Beneath the helmet, unlike the angels whose lower half of their faces were revealed, was another white mask lined with blue at the sides and on the chin, covering the lower half of his face.
"That voice is really familiar," Kari said thoughtfully, looking at the tall blonde beside her. "It sounds like him…do you remember, TK?"
TK nodded. "I remember. It's that boy who helped free us from Milleniumon's castle. Ryo…Akiyama."
Ken, weakness forgotten, immediately shot up from the ground. He looked closely at the stranger. "Ryo?"
The stranger acknowledged with a wave of his hand, and undid the clasp which held his red robe on place. He threw the robe away, revealing a heroic figure in blue suit with white trims. White armor protected his broad chest, shoulders, abdomen and extremities. His right arm was different; instead of a normal arm, it was fully mechanical. Lastly, a long red scarf was tied around his neck, blowing along with the winds, completing his gallant outlook.
"We're Ryo and Cyberdramon, Biomerged. You can call us Justimon."
Milleniumon, frustrated beyond belief, shot hastily towards Justimon. Justimon jumped down, narrowly avoiding Milleniumon's energy spheres. He landed not far from the DigiDestined, and as Milleniumon fired several more energy balls and beams toward him, Justimon had to avoid them by making several back and forward flips as he reached closer towards the DigiDestined. Then, as Milleniumon stopped Justimon seized the chance to retaliate with an attack of his own.
"Justice Burst!"
The electrical surge that came with the attack paralyzed Milleniumon momentarily. Justimon knelt towards Ken and helped him up.
"Ryo…how did you--"
"I'll explain later, we gotta go NOW!" Justimon insisted. "Come on."
"But what about Tai and the others? We have to rescue them!" Davis protested.
"Stay here and we'll never get a chance to do that. We have to retreat, and regroup."
The DigiDestined, their Digimon and the three angels immediately got up, and began to run as far away as they could. They tried punching on the teleportation buttons on their Diginizers, but to their horror the teleportation button didn't work. Their Diginizers were malfunctioning at the wrong moment.
"Oh no!" Cody exclaimed. "Mine's not working!"
"What do we do now?" Yolei panicked.
"The traditional way…RUN!" Veemon shouted.
Everyone immediately paid heed to the little dragon's shout and followed suit. They headed towards the ruins of Machine City, planning to seek refuge there.
Milleniumon however, wasn't going to let the DigiDestined got away like what Chaos Specter and his minions did. He energized his cannons and fired his biggest attack towards them, hoping to kill all of them at one go. He didn't care that Justimon was actually Ryo; he just wanted to eliminate everyone before they had the chance to regroup and attack him later on. His Dimension Destroyer cannonballs streaked past the desert plains, aiming towards his enemies…when suddenly bright white light engulfed them wholly. The cannonballs however shot past through the white light and towards Machine City, while the good guys were no longer anywhere in sight.
That night, the remains of Machine City was gone without a trace. Milleniumon had claimed his part of the deal.
Chaos Specter leaned slowly against the back of his throne. The outcome of the day's battle was not what he had expected. He had never foreseen Chaos Seadramon's untimely deletion under the hands of Milleniumon. The event left him shaken. Milleniumon had proven to be far stronger than any of them alone or combined. It didn't even look like he had put in any effort to fight him and his generals.
Both Chaos Piedmon and Chaosdramon, his remaining Chaos Generals, were inside their own chambers recuperating. Chaos Specter shuddered once again, remembering that if it weren't for the timely interruption they had gotten from the DigiDestined, perhaps even Chaos Piedmon would be deleted. It would leave him with the least experienced Chaosdramon. While not incompetent, Chaos Specter generally favored his two elder generals as he had trained them since they were young.
He was going to close his eyes to have a bit of rest when he heard delicate footsteps coming from the throne room's entrance. Sitting up, he cocked his head towards the entrance and saw Catrina, in her Bastemon form, walked in slowly. Beside her a Nanomon trotted along, and while Catrina made her way straight towards the throne, Nanomon turned towards the computer panels and stood silently a few meters away from the other Datamon. She then had her eyes fixed on Catrina.
"Why, Catrina," Chaos Specter relaxed, leaning back to his throne. "Why are you in your Ultimate form? Were you in a battle?"
Catrina snorted, and glared upwards towards Chaos Specter. Green flames seemed to blaze with fury inside her eyes. There was no mistaking that Catrina was furious. Chaos Specter had seen it before, but somehow, he had gotten a gut feeling that her anger now was directed solely towards…him.
"I have seen forrr myself, how you've taken me in from the dimension Epsilon-Zeta, rrrowww," Catrina hissed slowly. "I've found yourrr hidden chamber, rrrowww."
This started Chaos Specter. Nobody was supposed to know about the hidden chamber. "What have you discovered?"
"You lied to me. You've told me that a calamity had destroyed my dimension wholly, and that I was the only sole survivorrrrr. Howeverrrr, it turrrns out that YOU are the so-called calamity!"
Chaos Specter shot up from his throne. He was surprised and began to feel anger upon hearing the accusations. "How did you get in there? You are not supposed to know about that chamber. It's MY private chamber!"
Catrina smirked. "It's a good thing I found it, otherrrwise I won't know that you've LIED to me."
"I will not be talked to in such a manner. Alright, it's true that I have destroyed Epsilon-Zeta. But I've given you much, much more in return. You have gained a place in my army. You have great powers, thanks to my training. Should you remain there, do you think that you could achieve your Ultimate form now?"
"I don't care!" Catrina snapped back. "I've had enough of this. I'm not going to follow you arrround again! I won't be yourrr pet anymorrre, rrrowww. You should just find yourself a Lilithmon to become one instead, forrr all I care. I KNOW for a fact that you fancied herrr! Maybe you even lust overrr herrr! What's with the holo-.."
"Don't TALK about Lilithmon that way!" Chaos Specter thundered, losing his temper quickly after hearing Catrina's snide remark. Out of anger he accidentally aimed his serpent staff towards Catrina, and fired two streaks of purple beams towards the unsuspecting Bastemon. Catrina was thrown towards the console and slumped down onto the ground. Chaos Specter was surprised of what he'd done and quickly regretted his harsh act. "Oh no! Catrina…are you alright?"
Catrina got up silently, and Chaos Specter saw that trickles of blood trailed out from her mouth. Her face no longer reflected the anger she had demonstrated a while ago. Now it was replaced by a solemn, determined look. Her eyes now hard and cold, losing their sparks which Chaos Specter was so familiar of looking at.
"Nanomon, get me and yourself out of this place. I don't even want to see his face everrrr again!"
"As you wish, miss!"
Nanomon instantly knocked away the Datamon that had been working on the console with the teleportation function. She keyed in several codes quickly and before the other Datamon could get up to stop her, Catrina turned and blasted all of them away with torrents of orange energy bats. Soon, white lights engulfed both Ultimate female Digimon and they vanished, leaving a very dumbfounded Chaos Specter and several malfunctioning Datamon.
Chaos Specter slumped down on his seat, thinking of what had just happened. Scanning the damaged Datamon, Chaos Specter groaned out of frustration and blasted all of them away with his serpent staff. He shouted loudly, out of anger and grief for his losses of the day. Black aura seemed to glow out from his body as he shouted, and remained glowing until Chaos Specter had calmed down completely. As the aura vanished, Chaos Specter got up from his throne and walked down the stairs.
"Chaos-AI, set the Velvet Claw on auto pilot. I will retire for the night."
…..
…..
Author's Note:
Correction I: I've fixed the last line that contains that jumbled-up sentence. Didn't notice it when I looked through it using Ms Word, must be FFnet's editing features causing it. Thanks to Dark Qiviut for pointing that mistake out.
Correction II: I edited some parts of the opening chapter which stated that Ken's Digivice is a D3. That sentence has been deleted. Thanks to DTV for pointing that out.
I'm sure all of you could see Ryo coming. And I'm really glad that all of you enjoyed the previous chapter. It was really a difficult chapter to write. I wanted an opening for Milleniumon to make his debut on this story.
And speaking of an opening, the opening for this chapter may sound…redundant, compared to the storyline, but actually I have plans on writing Ryo and Ken's adventures with Milleniumon as a separate story. It was way before I started Vengeance and Legends of the DigiDestined, but seeing that I'm going to be so busy with my two fics, and the upcoming sequel for Vengeance (which may not be written until Legends reached three-quarters towards the end), I have decided to narrate the whole story into a compact opening chapter. Lots of details have been left out but I think it would suffice, as Ryo's going to be starring in this story as well, at least until Milleniumon's gone.
I don't think there's actually any harm of replying to reviews, so I'm replying again from now on.
Dark Qiviut – Thank you. Really, you really are raising my spirits up to write more and better. Hopefully this chapter does not disappoint.
Bluesv20 – Now why am I getting a deja-vu after reading your review there? And to reply to your previous review, yes, Valthrumon is created to fit in the gap between Ankylomon and Vikemon.
Jack the ripper – Shocking indeed.
Yami Vizzini – Yeah, I wondered about that too. But it's no problem. And the Lilithmon is not Catrina's namesake, I can give you that.
Quinton Notwen – The mysterious figure is…Justimon. :)
Arking – There will be something of that sort. The four guardians will play a part very soon.
Dark672 – Short and sweet comment, thanks.
Gerjomarty – Catrina's going on to have her own adventures from now on, as you can see from this fic. I enjoy writing about her too, and yes, I also think that she brings out the best in Chaos Specter, though now, I'm not so sure. The secret room does contain an archive of Chaos Specter's past, but I've chosen to exclude it from this chapter as not to spoil Legends. But…I really think that future chapters will spoil Legends anyway, but until then… And as for your previous review, the birthday party will be after several chapters. According to the timeline, Cody's tournament happens on Sunday, and the night when the DigiDestined are kidnapped are still on Sunday, and this chapter happens in between Sunday and Monday. The birthday party will be on Wednesday.
And to reply to some reviewers of Reliable Knowledge, part III
Change in heart – Well, yes, there are some connection between those two.
CustomMagnum - There will be, and that's what I'm afraid of. It will spoil my other story. I have to be really careful not to give a lot away.
The anonymous reviewer – Those are big names in the Digimon fan-fiction world. And as for your question…no, there will be no Takari, or Daikari. I really think of TK and Davis as Kari's best friends, though I enjoy reading both Takari and Daikari stories.
