Magnamon moves first, landing right in front of the beam heading towards Enzo and Cass, the taller man gripping his tag partner tightly. "No, no, no," Enzo chants, his face buried into Cass' chest as the danger comes ever close. "C'mon, man, not this way-" Cass just watches quietly as Magnamon starts to glow, fed by light from Enzo's digivice and his own determination to save his partner. Buraimon stands by helplessly and watches as the light approaches Magnamon, burning through the pure energy shielding him. "Cass," Enzo hisses, voice only just audible over the destruction going on around them.
Cass pats his hair, soothing a hand down his back, unable to look away as Magnamon takes the beam head-on, and... gets thrown back. But miraculously enough, the beam disappears too, in a sharp, dark explosion that stops abruptly at a crater in the ground. Cass inhales. Exhales. They'd survived. Enzo's shaking. Buraimon looks ansty. And Magnamon hasn't moved.
Enzo seems to notice this because he pulls away from Cass and abruptly runs toward his other partner. "Magnamon!" He skids, lands awkwardly next to him and gingerly touches his face, the shoulder armor. "Magnamon... c'mon, man. You gotta be ok," he's babbling when Cass' blood runs cold.
Arkadimon has pushed his way through the others and is now standing in front of Enzo and Magnamon, sneering down at them. "I'm unsure how you could defend against my attack," he says lowly. "But it will not stand." Tentacles surrounding his body start to writhe and wrap around Enzo and Magnamon, lifting them and slowly squeezing the life out of them, when Buraimon flies up and slices through each appendage like it's made of paper, Arkadimon howling out in anger and agony. Magnamon can barely stand, though this latest brush with death seems to have revived him somewhat, and he stares at Arkadimon, Enzo on his hands and knees next to him, struggling to catch his breath.
Cass and Buraimon join them, defending both of them as Enzo leans against Cass' legs and Buraimon braces Magnamon with a solid shoulder. "Ya may think ya got us beat," Enzo gasps out, staring up at Arkadimon. "But you're wrong. We... we ain't goin' down like this."
Cass nods. "My man Zo's right. You're the one who'll be goin' down." Neither seem that bothered when Arkadimon laughs at them, both all too used to being mocked and underestimated. It was their accents, the way they dressed, the way they looked. No one saw the intelligent, strong, brave men beyond. Enzo and Cass have just exchanged a glance when their digivices go off. Something glowing in the nearby crater attracts their attention and they watch, confused, as it splits into two, one fusing with Enzo's digivice and the other with Cass'. "Wha...?" Cass whispers, staring down at the crest.
But instead of the normal digivolution sequence, Magnamon and Buraimon both fade into two data streams just to mix together and create a different digimon entirely. Buraimon's swords remain but they're covered in gold, as is the new creature's body, as though Magnamon's armor had melted for this exact purpose. A blue cape drifts away from his tall, lean body and he lands heavily with a bellow. "Grademon!"
Enzo and Cass gape at each other, not sure what's going on. "Our partners digivolved... as one? Wha?"
"Jogress evolution," Metalseadramon offers helpfully, examining the creature with a beady eye. "Only digimon with digidestined who are very close can achieve this."
"Wow," Enzo mumbles, getting to his feet with some help from Cass. "Guess this makes us pretty special."
Cass laughs weakly, nodding. "Guess so, Zo."
All they can do is stand around and watch while Arkadimon and Grademon battle. Grademon is fresh and full of energy, still thrumming with power from their digivices, and Arkadimon can't keep up. When he falls, he falls hard and his begging lands on deaf ears as Grademon impales him with the sword, again and again until his data scatters into the wind.
The area is still greatly damaged and the digidestined set in to help where they can before returning to Luke's hideout.
-x
Seth steps forward with a list of the brands for Raw and Smackdown, watching as Luke reads it. "I see," he says finally. "This doesn't really change the teams up much. The only change I see is Miz is now on Dean Ambrose's team."
"What about me?" Heath whines, pulling his sunglasses off and showing his swollen, bloodshot eye to all in attendance.
"Man, put that away," Seth snaps at him before turning back to Luke. "He wasn't drafted by Raw or Smackdown. He's a..." He crinkles his nose up in some disgust. "Free agent? So what does that mean for his being a digidestined?"
Luke stares at Seth. Glances back at Heath. "Well, if he can't get to a digiport with the rest of you, then I guess he'll be an earth bound digidestined."
"Wha-?!" Heath's face falls as he looks down at Lopmon. "Aw dammit!" he whines, kicking at the dirt before turning and stomping off.
Seth almost feels bad for him.
