Things had seemed quiet at first. Peaceful, even. That should've been their first sign. But Zack and Dolph had been lost in conversation about NXT and Dolph's stand up shows and only the Digimon had noticed a change in the atmosphere around them. By the time they had their human partners' focus, it was too late. Multiple blasts of lightning strikes at their feet, sending them all flying backwards. "Zack!" Patamon cries.
"Dolph," Impmon hisses, turning to look for the creature responsible. When he spots it, he freezes. "You..."
Patamon reacts in much the same way, his ears drooping as he floats helplessly to the ground, staring at the creature before them. "Cherubimon," he murmurs, barely able to look into the corrupted Digimon's face. "What happened to you?"
There's no sensible response, just more pure power gleaming from his massive paws as he looms over them, the dark evil on his face leaving both rookie digimon shuddering. Once so pure and good, he's now clearly demented and eager to destroy everything in his path. Lightning streams from the sky, shooting towards them when they're tackled away, the ground scorching where the bolts strike. Cherubimon snarls, turning towards where Zack and Dolph had recovered in time to tackle their partners to safety.
"Digivolve," they tell their partners together, watching the rapid chain of evolution as Patamon grows into Hippogriffomon and Impmon morphs into Wisemon, Zack's partner now flying around the wizard-type Digimon. Whatever momentum they have, however, fails when Cherubimon laughs darkly, seeming unimpressed by them. Zack and Dolph exchange uncertain glances but it's too late to change their attack strategy, such as it is, when Hippogriffomon rushes at the much larger creature, Wisemon behind him.
"Sonic voice!" Hippogriffimon attempts, squeeching out something awful that shoots off waves of energy, Wisemon floating up behind him on his book and waving his hands, using his control of time and space to repeat Hippogriffomon's attacks again and again, blasting Cherubimon back a few steps.
Before long, however, the attacks fade into nothing and Cherubmon snarls at them. The lightning storm that follows slams down all around HIppogriffomon and Wisemon, stabbing through the book and their bodies, leaving them twitching and sizzling on the ground, nearly seizing from the intensity of it all.
"No!" Zack and Dolph cries as one, only succeeding in attracting Cherubimon's attention. He sneers at them and approaches, leaning down and reaching out for them with one massive fist. Dolph pushes Zack forward, trying to get away, but there's no time. They're both held tightly in his fist within moments. It's hard to breathe, hard to see, hard to focus. They're dangling limply as Cherubimon lifts them up and stares dispassionately at them both. "No," Zack groans, his head falling back against the fingers of the mega level digimon. "Please no..."
Dolph is limp, seemingly unconscious, and Zack worries about his past with concussions, before turning his attention back to the Digimon who is now face to face with him, examining him. "You weak human," he says slowly, as if each word hurts him. "I will kill all of you." His free hand lifts, a lightning bolt growing in size and intensity on the tip of his finger, the power and control even more scary than anything else Zack's seen.
Hippogriffimon is still struggling, but Wisemon is conscious. Floating slowly back into place on his book of time and space. Zack struggles to look away from the lightning bolt that is approaching his midsection, relieved for a moment that Cherubimon is focusing on him and leaving an already unconscious Dolph alone. But it doesn't stop the reality- this bolt of lightning will soon be stabbing through his chest, and he more likely than not will die... He closes his eyes and tries to find Dolph somewhere in the tight grip that Cherubimon has them in. Only manages to find Dolph's fingers, squeezing them, when...
"PANDORA DIALOGUE!" Wisemon cries, controling everything carefully and stopping the lightning bolt just inches from Zack's upper body. Time slows, the bolt of lightning disappearing before Zack's very eyes, leaving only an after-glow imprinted in his vision, before time seems to speed back up and the attack stabs through the sky before implanting into Cherubimon's furry back, through his body. He screams in pain and arches away from the devastating attack, data raining down upon them.
"Heat Wave!" Hippogriffomon yells out, sending out blasts with high levels of heat from his mouth. They muse with the lightning bolt tip and Cherubimon's screams turn more desperate, almost... normal sounding, when he flickers pure, pink and soft, before turning black and purple once more. It doesn't last, however, as the effect of his attack, Wisemon's control of time, and the heat making the lightning bolt even more unstable causes the elemental attack to pulse, close to exploding. The pain stabbing through his chest and midsection is enough to make him drop the men, Wisemon acting quickly to slow time around them, make their descent onto a waiting Hippogriffomon nearly like floating.
They've only just landed on the ground safely when Cherubimon lifts his head and cries out terribly, more data streaming from his wounds. When he deletes, it's a relief to all of them, the quiet and peace strange to them after so much activity. Dolph releases a shaky breath, just to realize that Zack's still holding onto him. He coughs faintly, glancing down pointedly, and Zack quickly releases his hand. "Let's get out of here."
"Yeah, let's."
