The Crystal Gate
Part Twenty-two: Collaboration
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Standard Disclaimer Thingie: Digimon is not mine. Plot is. Don't steal, don't sue, don't forget to moo.
Moo.
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A blast of lightning slammed into the ground, followed shortly by another bolt, sending dust clouds into the air and obscuring everything for a few moments. Takeru got to his feet, working hard to keep himself from losing the contents of his stomach. Crackling bolts of light and electricity were hitting the ground all around, and he came to the suddenly frightening realization that if he was unlucky enough to be struck by one of those bolts, he'd probably feel far worse than he did at the moment. He spared a brief glance upward to see that his partner was still battling Lady Devimon. All around him, he could hear the sounds of activated digivices, and then he spotted a dark shadow coming toward him.
"Bone Club!" shouted a growling voice, and he was able to clearly make out the shape of an Ogremon coming every closer to him.
"Not so fast," said a deep, commanding voice, and the green bug digimon that was Ken's partner stepped in front of the Ogremon, easily blocking his attack.
The ogre roared his frustration and tried swinging his fist rather than his club toward the bug's face. Again, the bug blocked the attack, and now he swung his own fist into the stomach of the Ogremon. "Spiking Finish!" he called out, and Takeru spotted a sharp spike emerging from the fist and burying itself into the ogre, which deleted, screaming in pain.
Takeru felt his head spin with questions more than dizziness, but he shoved them aside in the heat of battle, aware that it would be best to focus. The dust was fading swiftly, revealing a crowd of at least twenty Ogremon and twice as many Gotsumon. A few Bakemon were floating in the midst. Standing near them was the sorceress, Arachnemon.
She was tall and thin, dressed as always in a long, sleeveless red dress, a hat of the same shade atop her head. Her eyes were covered with a pair of dark-tinted glasses, and her hair, white and silvery, fell down past her shoulders. With one gloved hand she was twirling a few strands in a deceptively simple and unassuming manner.
Neither Ken nor his partner wasted time with words, and the bug launched himself through the air, wings buzzing furiously. Arachnemon laughed as though she thought the whole thing quite amusing and effortlessly leapt back. "I'm afraid you still aren't strong enough to defeat me on your own, little boy," she said in a sing-song voice, grinning.
"How about with my help?" a different voice questioned. "X Laser!"
A blast of white light hit the sorceress head on, causing her to fall back a few steps. She sat down hard, and then, gritting her teeth and clenching her fists, got to her feet. "Even then, you're no match!" she shouted, her carefree attitude suddenly disappearing.
A dark haze had settled over the sorceress, and as they watched, long red horns grew from the space where her ears should have been. The sunglasses disappeared and her eyes grew wide and huge in her face, as it expanded to include a vicious, hungry smile. Her arms grew longer and her fingers and hands stretched until they were long claws. The torso and legs expanded, and from the wide torso she now grew four more long, pointed legs, each blood-red in color.
She was no longer human-looking, but instead had taken on the ferocious form of a huge spider. "And now," she said, her voice deeper and more menacing than before. "You have no hope of survival!"
Takeru became aware that his mouth had fallen open and his eyes were wide. "Whoa…," he breathed.
"Get back!" the green bug digimon shouted, waving one arm toward his partner. "You're too close!"
"There's no use trying to run!" Arachnemon shouted. "Spider Thread!"
Her long hair spread out, growing ever longer and longer, until the sticky mass had spread over the ground of the entire square. Takeru tried to lift his legs and found that he was stuck to the ground, unable to move.
"Who's running?" Ken demanded, and Takeru found that he was hearing this question in stereo, for someone else was shouting the same thing.
"Stingmon evolve!" called the bug digimon, and at the same time….
"XV-mon evolve!"
There was a bright light that blinded everyone present for a few moments. "Paildramon!" shouted a new voice – perhaps two voices at once.
"Don't waste any time!" Daisuke was shouting, and Takeru turned his head and saw that he was glaring toward the massive spider, fists clenched at his side, leaning forward as he fought against the sticky web.
"Get rid of her!" Ken shouted a moment later, and Takeru turned the opposite direction and saw that he had adopted almost the same pose.
"No problem," Paildramon responded. "Desperado blaster!"
A bright blue light sped through the air, and slammed full force into the spider sorceress, forcing her to take a few shaky steps backward. She shrieked in pain, but did not appear to be too badly harmed. Spreading her two front claws wide, she shouted, "Spider Thread!"
The web spread wide, the sticky threads engulfing the ground so that even the army of Gotsumon and Ogremon was unable move. Takeru turned and saw that the others were behind him, the smoke having cleared entirely now, also struggling against the sticky thread.
"Excellent," said a different voice. Mummymon was standing on a safe pedestal that had once been part of a building. "It's so easy to hit a target when it's standing still." He hefted his weapon at his side and began to fire.
"Mega Flame!" called the loud, commanding voice of Greymon, and a massive ball of fire slammed into the mummy.
"Takes more than that!" Mummymon shouted, apparently unharmed, and then the air was full of tiny explosions as he fired his weapon once more.
"Prickly Bang Bang!" Togemon shouted, and a thousand tiny needles collided with a thousand tiny bombs. Small splashes of light appeared in the air. A few needles reached the mummy, but he appeared to be unharmed by the attack.
"Unbelievable!" Yamato half-screamed in frustration. "What kills this guy?"
"Nothing!" the mummy replied, laughing. He fired his weapon once more, causing all present to duck for cover. They could not run, for the web was too sticky, but they could duck low and avoid it as best they could.
Suddenly, the explosions halted, and a pained cry could be heard as Ankylomon slammed his heavy, armored tail into his back, sending Mummymon flying into the ground. "What the?" he demanded.
"Are you ready?" Angemon called from the sky.
"Ready whenever you are!" Ankylomon replied, having allowed his passengers to disembark. "Ankylomon evolve!"
"Angemon evolve!"
"Shakkoumon!"
Again, the light was blinding, and when it had faded, the powerful, mostly mechanical, armored form of Shakkoumon stood on the ground not far from Mummymon. He seemed to be largely unaffected by the sticky webs covering the ground. Undaunted, Mummymon got to his feet, parts of his bandages remaining behind, stuck to the webs as he stepped forward and hefted his weapon.
For a few moments the sound of his weapon firing was all that could be heard, and then came the sound of the bullets bouncing, uselessly off the impenetrable armor of Shakkoumon.
"Harmonious Spirit!" Shakkoumon intoned with a voice of power. His claw-like hands spun rapidly in their sockets, and emitted a powerful white light which shot forth and slammed into the mummy, sending him flying. With a loud thud, he slammed into the side of a building and fell silent.
The triumph was short lived, however, for almost before Mummymon had hit the wall another attack came from the sky. "Darkness Wave!" shouted Lady Devimon, and the night air became even blacker. Shakkoumon was forced backward, legs scraping loudly on the stones of the courtyard. Unable to take to the skies to defeat her, the armor-covered digimon was apparently at a disadvantage.
"Desperado Blaster!" shouted Paildramon, and once more his attack connected solidly with the spider. For all the power of this attacks, however, she seemed unaffected, and periodically sprayed even more of the sticky webs out. Though this attack only halted Paildramon for a few moments before he was able to break through, it was still a setback.
"This doesn't seem to be working," Mimi muttered. "Let's help. Togemon?"
"Right," the cactus answered, nodding. "Prickly Bang Bang!" A barrage of spines flew from the tall green digimon and connected solidly with the spider. Though she moaned in pain, Arachnemon easily removed the spines from her body.
"Spider Thread!" she called, and Togemon found her arms bound to her sides by the sticky substance. While she struggled against the bindings, Greymon forced a mighty foot claw from the sticky ground and stepped forward.
"Together?" he suggested, glancing upward, toward where Birdramon was hovering, unaffected, in the sky. "Mega Flame!"
"Meteor Wing!" the flaming bird shouted at the same moment, and a barrage of fire hit the spider from two directions. Miraculously, some of the sticky thread around her was destroyed, burning to a crisp and flaking into pieces, but Arachnemon was still largely unharmed.
"She's too powerful," Sora gasped, shaking her head. "If all of this does no damage…."
"It's too early to give up," Yamato disagreed. "Look, the fire broke the spider webs. That means…." He turned toward his partner, who nodded, and breathed hot blue flame on to the space around their feet. The threads disintegrated into nothingness. Relieved, Takeru moved to where he would be less likely to be damaged by one of her swinging claws.
From the edge of the battlefield came a shout that caught Miyako's attention. When she turned, she could see Iori hurrying through the clouds of dust and the darkness, feet now freed from the webs, paying little attention to the fighting raging on nearby. Even from a distance, she could see that he was in a hurry, and that he was obviously upset.
"We need more power," Taichi muttered through clenched teeth. He glanced up at his partner. "Do you think…?"
"If you can do it, I can do it," the dinosaur digimon's booming voice replied. "I'm ready."
"I'm ready, too," Birdramon said before Sora could ask. The sound of squealing digivices and bright lights blazing filled the area.
"Greymon evolve! Metal Greymon!" The already large orange dinosaur grew a pair of large, ferocious wings. Armor covered his chest and snout, and one arm became metallic and mechanical, thousands of times sharper and stronger than his already dangerous ordinary claws.
"Birdramon evolve! Garudamon!" In place of the fiery bird, there was now a tall, powerfully muscled bird covered in feathers rather than flames, with huge wings that would block the sun when spread to their full span. "Let's go!" the giant bird called, taking to the air.
"Giga Destroyer!" called Metal Greymon, and the armored plating on his chest opened in order to launch a set of missiles. They slammed into Arachnemon, and the sounds of the spider crying in pain could be heard.
"Shadow Wing!" cried Garudamon, and the sky grew darker than before for a moment. A gust of strong wind, strong enough to root whole trees from the ground, blew through the half-destroyed town and caused the giant spider to slide backward in the dirt, her powerful claws floundering about to get a hold of the ground.
"The dark…wizard…," Iori gasped out, panting heavily, stumbling to a stop a few steps from Miyako. Without pausing to breathe, he plunged on, speaking hurriedly. "Koushiro…he's…magic…help him!"
"Slow down," Miyako advised. "What's going on?"
Before he could answer, however, the sky was suddenly lit up and the ground shook as a huge bolt of lightning slammed into the ground. The form of a huge beetle-like digimon could be seen amidst the smoke and dust that rose up in billowing clouds.
The sound of three successive explosions behind them caused another cloud of dust to rise, and for a few moments it was impossible to see. "I think...," Mimi called over the noise, "…that might have done it!"
"Don't be so sure," Togemon warned.
"No, I'm pretty sure she's gone," Sora said, squinting through the fog. "I don't know if that's because she ran away or…."
"Or if she was actually destroyed," Taichi finished. "I'd guess that she ran."
"She's not what we should worry about," Hikari said, pointing toward the massive beetle that had appeared in the opposite direction. "I think what Iori is trying to say is that Koushiro is battling the one behind all this."
"On his own?" Miyako gasped, glancing toward Iori.
"Yes!" Iori answered, breathlessly, nodding. "Help…!"
"I think we can do that," Hawkmon said, glancing toward his partner. Miyako nodded, and the sound of squealing digivice announced his evolution. "Hawkmon evolve! Aquilamon!"
"Bone Club!" called three ferocious Ogremon in unison and, now that Arachnemon and Mummymon had disappeared, they leapt forward, their huge clubs waving and swinging.
"Fox Fire!" called Garurumon, stepping between the monstrous ogres and his partner. Togemon stepped forward and delivered a solid punch to the face of two separate ogres.
"Darkness Wave!" came the voice of Lady Devimon, and the sound of metal grating on stone could be heard as Shakkoumon was forced backward by the attack.
"Desperado Blaster!" shouted Paildramon, but this attack didn't seem to have much effect. With a flick of her hand, another wave of darkness sent the combined digimon flying, tumbling head over heels and crashing into a half-demolished building in a cloud of dust.
"No!" shouted two voices at once, but before either Daisuke or Ken could make a move, they found that the Bakemon, who had previously been few in number, hovering at the edge of the square, had suddenly multiplied and moved in, surrounding them.
"Harmonious Spirit!" called Shakkoumon, sending a blast of white light through the ghostly digimon crowds. Though they dispersed momentarily, none deleted, and they immediately returned when it was safe to do so.
"Darkness Wave!" called Lady Devimon once more, causing the armored digimon to take a step backward. The Bakemon moved, closing the crowded circle tighter.
Mimi shivered, stepping away, but immediately found another ghost in every direction that she turned. Their white faces and big, black eyes stared at her, and she took shelter behind Togemon.
"Prickly Bang Bang!" called Togemon, sending a burst of sharp needles into the crowd. When this tactic failed to work, the large cactus punched and kicked at the ghosts, sending a few of them flying, but doing little to discourage the rest.
"Fox Fire!" shouted Garurumon, and a few of the ghosts caught fire. As before, however, this seemed to have little effect on them. Rapidly, the fire began to spread through the crowd of ghosts, so that soon it was as bright as day.
"That's not good," Yamato muttered, watching the fire spreading through the crowd of ghosts. "How do we stop these things!"
"If we set them all on fire," Sora theorized, "they might eventually delete, right?"
"Eventually," Taichi agreed, "but we might be on fire, too."
There was a rustling noise from within the crowd, and then, as one, a whispery voice came from the Bakemon. "Hell's Hand," rasped the ghosts and a thousand, mummified, rotting arms came out from the white sheets.
"Shadow Wing!" called Garudamon, and a burst of wind blasted aside a large section of the crowd before the attack could do any damage.
"Fox Fire!" called Garurumon, the force of his claws aiding in his attack as he swept a few away. Yamato drew his sword once more and sliced a few grisly hands off before they could do harm.
"Get back," Miyako advised, and raised a shield around herself, Hikari, and Iori, who were standing nearest to her. The arms of the Bakemon collided harmlessly with the invisible wall.
"You can't hold that forever," Aquilamon reminded her. "Blast Laser!"
Surprisingly, this attack, a blast of powerful red light, pierced through the center of a ghastly hand and then through the sheet of the Bakemon attached to it, thus causing the ghost to delete.
"Impressive," Tailmon noted. "Now do that about a thousand times."
"Maybe not that many times," Hikari stated, frowning in thought. She removed then the sword that she had been carrying on her back and drove it into the ground. Planting her feet for support, she placed both hands on either side of the hilt and shut her eyes.
"Hikari? What are you - ?" Miyako began, but broke off, seeing that a pale glow had appeared around Hikari.
As Miyako and Iori looked on, the glow grew to a more intense white light and then spread out over the ground beneath the Bakemon. The ghostly digimon began to moan and cry out in pain, and those closest to Hikari deleted immediately. As the light spread out across the town center, more and more of the Bakemon deleted – some directly upon contact with the light and some as a result of that combined with the fire.
"Whoa," was all that Iori could manage to say. The light faded, and now the crowds of Bakemon were mostly gone, save for a few small pockets which were greatly weakened.
"Are you all right?" Miyako questioned, lowering the shield. "That was…."
"Impressive," said a voice, all turned to see the dark wizard standing nearby. "It will not be enough to stop me, however."
Not bothering to waste time with words, Metal Greymon opened fire on the dark wizard immediately. "Giga Destroyer!"
The huge missile collided with an invisible wall, which rose into the air almost immediately.
"Harmonious Spirit!" called Shakkoumon, and this attack had slightly more of an effect, for although it did not pierce the shield, it did force the dark wizard to step back, feet scraping against the dusty ground.
"I'm afraid that still won't be enough," the wizard said, brushing his long, greasy dark hair from his face with a swipe of his hand. "I'm simply too powerful for you, you see. Now then," and now he raised both hands above his head, "witness the power of a true dark wizard!"
The ground shook and the sky opened up, causing a score or more of red lightning bolts to slam into the ground, shaking the ground even more. Miyako quickly raised a shield once more, but was aware even as she did so that she would not be able to protect all the Chosen. Turning, she saw that Shakkoumon and the other evolved digimon were doing their best to shield Taichi, Sora, Yamato, Mimi, and Jyou. Another strange white light, similar though not as strong as the one Hikari had produced, had formed a shell around Takeru, Daisuke, and Ken.
"Who - ?" Miyako wondered, but Hikari only smiled.
"Takeru," she said, nodding. "He's finally learned to trust the magic."
"I thought it was only the crystal that could do that," Iori said, eyes wide. "It's gone now, isn't it?"
Before this question could be answered, a blast of white, ordinary-looking lightning slammed directly into the center of the dark wizard, throwing him into the dirt and knocking him out for a few moments. It was not difficult to determine the source of this attack, for an enormous beetle-like digimon, crackling with energy, stood not far away. At his feet stood Koushiro, looking tired, his clothes tattered, but with a determined sort of expression.
"Koushiro!" Miyako and Iori called in unison, and Iori breathed a sigh of relief, for he was beginning to think the worst. Ignoring the danger, Iori quickly ran to help, and the others soon followed, taking advantage of a momentary pause in battle whilst the dark wizard recovered.
"I'm fine," Koushiro said dismissively, waving aside concerns with a casual hand. "I'm afraid I'm not much a match for him, though."
"Don't say that!" Iori scolded, thinking Koushiro was merely being modest, but he shook his head.
"He's a dark wizard," he explained, with a grave sort of expression on his face. "My sort of magic isn't the right sort to stop him."
"What do we do?" Mimi wanted to know.
"We have to use the right sort of magic," Takeru answered. "Right?"
"Yes," Koushiro answered, nodding, "and you need to stop his partner."
"His…partner?" Mimi echoed blankly. "There's no…."
"Isn't there?" Sora said, then, glancing back toward where the dark wizard was easily defending himself against the attacks of the numerous digimon. Not far from where he lay, Lady Devimon had landed, and was staring in the direction of the Chosen with a murderous sort of expression.
"You mean she's - ?" Yamato said, eyes wide. "How is that - ?"
"Wait," Miyako said, interrupting before he could finish the question. "Lady Devimon appeared after he obtained the second crystal, right?"
"I think so," Sora answered, nodding.
"That is, after the portal had opened," she continued.
"Wait," Iori interrupted. "You're saying that Lady Devimon was in the shadow world?"
"And she came through the portal to this world when he opened the portal?" Yamato added. "Why would he…how could he have been separated from his partner for so long?"
"And yet she's still at a very high level," Taichi put in, frowning in thought.
"That does explain why he wanted to open a portal to the shadow world," Tailmon muttered. "Why he wanted the crystals."
Before anything further could be said, a Darkness Wave sent by Lady Devimon blasted past Metal Greymon and Garudamon, causing both of them to crash into the ground and de-evolve to Agumon and Piyomon once more. The wave continued onward, toward the spot where the Chosen had gathered. Miyako prepared to raise a shield, but before she could, Takeru stepped forward, holding up a hand.
"Let me," he said, and then the Darkness Wave was upon them, split in half like a river when it finds a stone in its path, forced to alter its course. Behind them, the force of the darkness slammed into two mostly-destroyed buildings with an impressive amount of force. Takeru lowered his hand, dimly aware of a distant sense of weariness and the wide-eyed stares of the others. In the back of his mind was the same disbelieving, astonished feeling, but he silenced it.
"That's it," Koushiro said, nodding. "That's exactly what you'll need."
Takeru shook his head. "I don't know how to…," he began.
"I do," Hikari answered, once again pulling the sword she carried from its space on her back.
"Harmonious Spirit!" called Shakkoumon, and a blast of white light sent Lady Devimon fleeing to the skies, out of reach. The dark wizard raised a barrier shield around him, deflecting the attack in much the way that Takeru had. Miyako could almost see the anger in his eyes.
"Are you sure that's a good idea?" Taichi questioned of his sister, glancing nervously toward the pile of rubble in which Agumon had landed. "Do you have the strength to do that again?"
"Without exhausting yourself, that is," Sora added.
"Darkness Wave!" shrieked Lady Devimon, her anger and frustration clear. A split second later, Shakkoumon called out his attack, and a blue-white light collided with the black wave.
At almost the exact moment, a third voice cried out, "Desperado Blaster!" and a darker shade of blue light collided with the black wave from a different angle. A massive explosion occurred, filling the air with smoke.
"What the - ?" Yamato shouted over the sound of debris falling. "I can't see a damned thing!" He threw up his hands to shield his face, and then turned his body away from the smoke. The others were doing the same thing. Mimi coughed, having inhaled some of the smoke.
"I don't think we have much time!" Takeru shouted over the commotion. "You'd better do it now!"
As the smoke spread, it became more difficult to see. The sounds of battle, of distant explosions and other thuds and crashes, could be heard nearby. Despite the smoke beginning to see her eyes, Hikari drove the sword into the ground. Immediately, the magic began to spread, clearing away some of the smoke and traveling through the ground across the clearing. It was obvious, however, that the glow was of less intensity than before.
She's not strong enough to do it again, Takeru thought, and stepped forward, placing both his hands on the hilt of the sword. He shut his eyes, preparing for something, and then felt the same distant, strange weariness once more.
Almost immediately, the glow of magic grew brighter and began to spread faster. The sound of screaming echoed in the empty, half-destroyed town. Slowly, the smoke began to recede, and then the glow of magic faded until there was only the light of fires burning and the moon above to see by.
"Hikari?" Taichi questioned, squinting through the darkness.
At almost the same time, Yamato, voice only slightly quieter than a frantic scream, called, "Takeru!"
They seemed fine, although Hikari had fallen down to her knees beside the sword and Takeru was drenched with sweat.
"Did that work?" Iori questioned, squinting through the smoke and the dim lighting.
"Maybe…," Mimi said hopefully.
"It doesn't look like it," Sora said after a moment, pointing to a dark something hovering in the air nearby. Although it was hard to make out features in the darkness, the shape was undoubtedly that of Lady Devimon.
"I don't understand," Miyako said, shaking her head. "Why wasn't that enough? That was the right sort of magic, wasn't it?"
Koushiro was shaking his own head, frowning in thought. "I don't know, I don't know," he answered rubbing at the bridge of his nose with two fingers as though he were developing a headache. "I know too little about dark magic."
The sound of laughter – gleeful, triumphant, slightly insane laughter – came from the ground then, the laughter of the dark wizard. Though his cloak was torn and his clothing was covered with dust and dirt, he appeared mostly unharmed. "As I said, fools! You aren't strong enough to beat me! Give me the remaining crystals and I might spare your lives!"
"Not a chance!" Daisuke shouted across the space. He had taken his crystal from his pocket and was holding it in his hand now, quite determined that no one and nothing was to take it from him.
Jyou, the possessor of the other crystal, was seeing to Hikari and Takeru, but his partner Gomamon answered this question on the doctor's behalf. "Eat dirt, jerk!"
Unsurprisingly, this remark greatly angered the dark wizard. He raised his arms over his head, collecting his magic. The air grew dark around him, even to ordinary sight, and colder. The wind gained strength and power and blew through the area, scattering debris, dust, and small stones. Lady Devimon added to this attack, sending a wave of darkness across the area once more.
"Harmonious Spirit!" cried Shakkoumon, and his attack diverted the darkness away from the humans. The rest of the wave collided with the ruins of a building and sent even more debris and dust into the air.
"Maybe he's right," Hikari said, only loud enough so that Takeru could hear her over the sound of the roaring wind and the explosion of the building. "Maybe we're simply not strong enough to beat him."
"No," Takeru answered, raising his voice. "That's not true. We can stop him, we have to."
"Desperado Blaster!" called Paildramon, and this attack slammed into the side of the female devil digimon, causing her to fall back a bit. She didn't crash to the ground, however.
"Prickly Bang Bang!" Togemon stated, and a few trillion needles flew through the air toward the dark wizard, forcing him to halt his attack of cold wind to shield himself. Although none of the spines pierced his barrier and connected with the target, the wind stopped for the moment.
"He is right," Ken said then, startling Takeru, who had forgotten he was there at all. "You don't have enough to kill him. You have to send him back where he came from."
"Where he came from?" Takeru echoed, but Hikari seemed to know what he was talking about.
"I don't know if I could do that," she confessed, shaking her head. "Not without…."
"I could," Ken interrupted, and when she looked toward him she saw that his eyes had narrowed into an expression of determination. She didn't ask any further questions, and simply nodded.
"Wait a minute," Miyako interrupted before Takeru could say the same thing. "Send him where? Do what?"
"To the shadow world," Koushiro stated, nodding his approval. "It's the best solution."
"How do we get him there?" Takeru demanded. "The only time we've ever been there," and here he glanced toward Hikari, "was by accident!"
"The only time you've been there," Ken answered, looking toward the dark wizard, eyes seeming to see something completely different. "I, however…."
"You can open a portal?" Miyako interrupted before he could finish. "Are you sure that's a good idea?"
Ken was silent for a few moments before finally turning to face her. He shrugged, as though the matter was of little importance to him. "You have a better idea?" he questioned. Miyako didn't answer, but nor did she seem pleased with his plan.
"It's an excellent idea," Koushiro stated, once again nodding in agreement. "If you could open a portal, and keep the portal open long enough for an attack to force both the dark wizard and Lady Devimon through the portal..."
"I could," Ken replied.
"Then let's do it," Takeru stated, nodding.
Togemon let out a cry as a loud explosion sent a strong gust of wind and a large amount of debris through the air. Over the sound of the strong, cold wind, a thud could be heard as the giant cactus slammed into the ground some distance away. A pale white glow signaled the de-evolution back to Palmon. Mimi gasped and hurried toward her partner – only Jyou and Sora's restraining arms prevented her from running into danger.
"There's no more time!" Koushiro shouted over the sound of the roaring wind. The battle with Lady Devimon had resumed, and an explosion sounded every few seconds as it fiercely raged on. "Now or never!"
Hikari wrapped both hands around the sword hilt and shut her eyes. Takeru, an expression of determination on his face, narrowed his eyes and placed his hands atop hers. Almost instantly, a pale glowing light appeared around them both, and then spread out over the empty space that had been the town square.
The cold wind stopped blowing; the debris settled once more on the ground as the dark wizard stopped his attack. Once again, he screamed in pain, and his cries echoed in the night. Then, the pale glowing light grew suddenly more intense, so that it was necessary to shield one's eyes in order to see anything. The screams of the dark wizard grew louder.
Through the bright glow of white light, Miyako could see the wizard, waving his arms and legs about as though to extinguish some flame. He was screaming, his breathing coming in short, quick breaths.
Mostly naffected by the light, which came up through the ground, Lady Devimon, angered by the damage caused to the dark wizard who was apparently her partner, attacked with darkness. In the bright white light, the Darkness Wave she sent out seemed ever darker than before.
"Harmonious Spirit!" called Shakkoumon, his attack seeming to be an even brighter white than before. Though it had previously seemed as though this was evenly matched with the devil digimon's wave of darkness, this time it easily overpowered the darkness, carving a thin line through the middle, blasting directly towards Lady Devimon. The rest of the darkness evaporated into nothing and the blue-white light crashed into her chest, sending her flying.
Shrieking in pain, Lady Devimon landed with a loud thud on the glowing white ground. Now, her screams mixed with those of the dark wizard. Black light surrounded her body as she de-evolved, first to Black Tailmon and then to a pale, sickly looking Plotmon.
"Now!" Takeru shouted over the sounds of screaming, his voice hoarse.
Miyako turned toward Ken, and saw a brief flicker of uncertainty in his eyes before he nodded. Pushing aside whatever doubts and fears she guessed he must have, he nodded, and removed his digivice from his pocket. He grasped it tightly in both hands and held it out in front of him, then shut his eyes and appeared to be concentrating.
Almost immediately, a dark glow similar to that which had surrounded Lady Devimon before her de-evolution began to form in the air nearby. Slowly, it spread so that a large, dark cloud was hovering in the air. It grew steadily larger until Miyako could make out flashes of red lightning in the midst of it, and the portal began to open up.
"No!" screamed the Plotmon that had been Lady Devimon. "No! I won't go back there! No! No! You can't make me!"
Apparently, however, they could make her, for a stream of darkness slithered from the portal that had opened in the sky and gripped hold of the small digimon around the waist. Shrieking and clawing with every ounce of energy in her reserves, Plotmon fought against the binding. Had she been Lady Devimon still, or even Black Tailmon, these efforts might have had more of an effect, but now she was too weak for this to be of any consequence. Within a few minutes, she was pulled within the portal, and there was only the dark wizard, staring with wide, red-rimmed eyes at the space where his partner had once been.
His struggles were quieter, for he had worn his voice out with his screams, but they were of more use, for he was stronger, better able to resist the pull of the portal.
"It's no good," he shouted, his voice crackling and breaking. "You aren't strong enough for this! I'm a far better wizard!" The slithering stream of darkness that had bound his partner gripped both of his ankles and his wrists, and yet the dark wizard struggled against the bindings and was not even lifted from the ground more than a short distance.
Miyako tore her eyes away from the scene to glance toward Ken. His eyes were shut tight in concentration, and she could see that he was struggling even more than the dark wizard. For some reason that she could never quite explain to even herself, she stepped forward and laid one hand on his shoulder. There was a brief pain in her palm, as though she had touched something hot, but this shortly faded.
She then allowed her own magic to release, to aid in the effort. Though it was, as Koushiro had stated, entirely the wrong type to open a portal to the Shadow World, it seemed to aid in some way, for Ken suddenly seemed slightly less pale. After a moment, Daisuke also placed a hand on Ken's opposite shoulder.
Then, Ken opened his eyes, the dark blue color suddenly almost glowing in the bright light, and the dark serpentine bonds pulled stronger.
"No!" gasped the dark wizard, grasping at the air, and then, with a final, sharp tug, he was pulled into the portal, which disappeared and faded into nothingness with a sickening thud.
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An abrupt ending, but that's it.
Sorry about the insane delay on this. It was much more difficult to plan out than I originally anticipated, and then between work (everyone taking vacations means more work for me) and then my own vacation (in the midst of which I caught a cold on my birthday) and some various other issues in the midst of this, it meant that it took a month to write and post.
There's at least one more story in this universe, and I've already started it, so expect that soon. I originally intended for Silphymon to appear in this, but never got to it, and there are a few other loose ends to tie up that would be best addressed in a completely new story.
Thanks for reading and reviewing. Feel free to be brutal in your critiques.