Alicia exhales, stretching out her back and trying not to think too much about the twinge of pain she's feeling from Nia Jax's attack the week prior. Better than before, that's the important thing, she decides, smiling down at Palmon. "Ready to go?" Her partner nods and together they step forward to catch up with the others who had continued on, though still in sight. Alicia chuckles as she grips Palmon's hand and skips with her, relieved that it seems to help her back stretch out even further.
They've almost reached them when something explodes at Alicia's feet and sends her down, the girl crying out as her back spasms anew. "Alicia!" Palmon cries, the others turning to look. They try to move into action when a dragon shaped creature comes out of nowhere, slamming through them, sending them flying before hitting the ground in front of Alicia and easing into a white armored humanoid with purple wings, staring down at them.
"I am a knight, after all," he says. "I will allow the lady the opportunity to digivolve before I attempt an attack."
"How kind of you," Alicia whimpers, struggling up to lean against her elbows. "Palmon," she beckons, clinging to her digivice.
"Got it." Palmon exhales as she's stripped into data and grows into Lotusmon, a sweet scent filling the late afternoon sky as Alicia struggles to get to her feet. Her partner joins her and pulls her up before facing off once more with the evil digimon. "Dynasmon," she says lowly. "Your cheap attempt at being chivalrous will be your doom." He laughs until she waves her staff at him, a bright colorful beam washing over him and sending him back a few inches.
Unfortunately, he recovers quickly and shoots his own energy attacks at her, sending her flying away to avoid. Alicia gnaws on her cheek as she watches, desperate to go check on the other unmoving digidestined but she's too sore and scared to move, forced to remain and watch as Lotusmon and Dynasmon fight, warily flying around each other and taking shots at every opportunity. "Come on, come on," she pleads, finally finding the strength and courage to inch past them and kneel down next to Seth. She can just see Enzo and Cass from here, Cass half-sprawled across Enzo like he had tried to save him at the last possible second, and Owens is a few feet away, but none of them are moving. She rests her hand on Seth's arm and waits, hoping for some reaction, but getting none. "Dammit, you guys have to be ok," she breathes out.
Dynasmon roars as Lotusmon gets a good hit in with energy from her caduceus, the dark glow suffusing along his body. She laughs at him before something in the wind changes, grows dangerous, and Lotusmon screams out, "Alicia, move!" Her partner clearly doesn't understand, gaping at her in confusion as she looks helplessly at the other wrestlers and their partners scattered in front of her, and Lotusmon cries out, flying between them and Dynasmon, spinning her caduceus once more and sending a beam of pure energy towards the downed group, gritting her teeth and holding on until they start to stir.
Alicia thinks things might be ok when there's a flash of light behind her, an intense burst of heat against her back, and then everything goes dark.
Lotusmon struggles to stay upright, Dynasmon laughing at her as they stare out over the destruction before them. "What have you done?" she chokes out, gripping her arm as data streams from it. "What have... what have you done... ALICIA!" He continues to laugh at her until she finds her caduceus in the rubble, pulling it up and aiming it at him. "Serpent RUIN!" she screams.
He chuckles. "You've tried that before, my dear," he's just said when he realizes that she's not releasing the attack as soon as she did prior, instead letting it build up as her hand shakes at the pressure of containing it. "You will kill yourself!" he exclaims, for once worried about her actions.
"Worth it if it kills you," she chokes out, raising the staff high and thrusting it forward, releasing the energy and allowing it to strike him, the abrupt loss of energy sending her crashing to the ground as her wings lose all strength, watching him slowly delete from the brutal attack.
"Do you still think so?" he asks, watching with a sneer as she glows dimly, her form failing as she crumbles further. He laughs. "Your partner is dead as well, so I suppose it doesn't matter." His final ugly words as he fades away entirely, Lotusmon's tears drifting away and mingling with his data as she disappears too.
Lost in a mountain of rubble, Alicia scrambles to get free, spitting out dust and dirt from the explosion she'd been caught in. Her body hurts, her entire essence hurts, but as she gets up, she spots the others and grabs Seth and Enzo, watching Cass and Owens struggling to come to. "Guys, guys!"
"m'ok," Enzo slurs out as Cass crawls to him.
"So'm I," Seth offers dazedly, wiping some blood from his forehead. Their partners are coming back to consciousness as well, re-joining them, and Alicia chokes as she remembers.
"LOTUSMON!" she cries, scrambling back down the uneven piles of rubble, looking for her partner. Tears drip down her face, making it hard to see, but when she spots a flicker of green among the darkness, she grips it and pulls it up, feeling breath against her cheek. "Nyokimon," she breathes out, nuzzling into Palmon's baby form. "I'm so glad you're ok, but I'm so sorry you got hurt. I should've listened to you and moved... I should've moved the others, I should've done something..."
Nyokimon makes a soft little purring noise and then reaches up, using her soft leaves to brush Alicia's tears away, smiling up at her. Alicia sniffs and stares down at her, her lips twitching up too. "Nyo," the creature chatters.
"You forgive me?" Alicia murmurs, kissing Nyokimon on what she thinks must be her forehead and smiles as Nyokimon squirms, probably something resembling a nod for a creature without a proper body. Alicia chuckles painfully and hugs her tighter. "Thank you."
