AJ is still cradling Shane close, feeling his blood coagulating through his shirt and AJ shakes his head, watching as Ophanimon and Tankdramon fall into battle with Chaosmon, the sky lighting up with the force of their powers. "Oh God," he mumbles. "We're all gonna die." He can still see the shards of his digivice scattered around nearby and buries his face in Shane's soft hair, biting back sharp waves of anger and helplessness. "I just wanna go home..."
"We... will," Shane says weakly and AJ gasps, pulling away just enough to look him in the eye. "We will." He's pale, his lips bloodied, but he manages a smile, squeezing AJ's arm with weak, trembling fingers. "All of us..."
"How- how do ya know?" AJ demands, his eyes prickling with tears as Shane falls limp in his arms once more. "Shane, c'mon! Don't give me that much and then just leave me... here... all alone... Please!"
Ophanimon and Chaosmon clash overhead and a few other digidestined cry out in shock, AJ trying to shield Shane's prone body as sparks and other forces exuded by the ridiculously powerful creatures rain down upon them. Tankdramon adds in and only seems to make it all that much worse, none of them sure they're going to make it out of this in one piece... when Tankdramon lunges forward, Ophanimon struggling to time her own attacks right to match him. Finally, they accomplish it, missiles and shards of crystles working together to explode and embed inside of the wild digimon.
"AAAAAH NO!" Chaosmon suddenly screams as overwhelming pain takes him over, the two powerful digimon's attacks embedding in his flesh and leaving him with very little recourse. "NO I STILL HAVE SO MUCH TO DO!" he continues yelling, absolutely distressed as Ophanimon and Tankdramon approach him, already preparing their death blows. "NO!" But it's too late, his pleas falling on deaf ears as Ophanimon steps even closer, slashing straight through him. Tankdramon merely watches, smirk on his face, as his fellow guardian sends the evil, trecherous creature somewhere where he can't hurt anyone else.
Ophanimon's face then softens as she lands amongst the shaken, injured digidestined on the ground. "Let me look," she requests, resting a hand over Shane. "Alright. Hold still for me please." She lifts her arms carefully, pale blue eyes fixed but seeming like they'd be looking far in the future, not at the current reality they find themselves in.
AJ holds his breath, hoping... hoping that this will be enough, that Shane will be alright... when the man gasps for oxygen in his arms, hands gripping the back of his shirt. "AJ," he mumbles.
"Yeah, man, I'm right here," AJ whispers back, closing his eyes in relief when Shane pulls away, looking confused and weary. "You're ok. You're good." His shirt is blood-soaked, and AJ's shirt looks even worse, Shane blanching when he sees it. "Hey, nothin' a little dry cleaning would do, huh?"
Shane shivers. "I... I almost died," he mumbles, pressing his hands to his sternum. "Holy shit."
AJ grabs him, hugging him tightly. "Yeah, but you didn't," he whispers. "You're fine. You're here. It's fine."
Eventually, the group get up and walk back to Louis', relieved to find Shinsuke and Seth back on their feet, looking much stronger than they had the last time everyone had seen them. "So the Digiports are repaired?"
"Yes. You all can go home now," Luke informs them quietly. "I apologize for allowing this all to go on for so long, I wasn't sure who exactly I was fighting. Thank you for your patience and for helping where you could while you waited."
The digidestined all mumble some sort of acceptance, trying to make it seem like no big deal, before heading to the portal, eager to see home, their families, everything. Even so, Luke looks about as grim as he sounds, so AJ feels like turning towards him. "We'll see you again next week, huh, old man?"
"Haha," Luke says. "Yes, next week. See you then. Try to relax and not get too overwhelmed by everything."
Too little too late, AJ thinks as they transfer back to Florida and gets a good look around at the beautiful weather, none of them sure what to do next or where. "Ugh, great," he mumbles, scrubbing his face even as he looks back up, determined to readjust to earth as quickly as possible.
