Shinsuke feels better. Stronger, more focused. Things hadn't been easy after everything that went down in the Dark Ocean, sleepness nights following restless days, but he is back in the Digital World now, Coronamon resting sedately on his arm, and the other Digidestined are surrounding him, and he just feels at peace with himself and everything around him. It feels good as he inhales and looks over at Carmella, Ziggler, Miz and Aiden. "Let us go," he finally says and they make the short journey over to the cave to see where their next adventure will lead them.
Luke greets them with a calm, grateful sort of smile and Shinsuke relaxes even more at this bit of normalcy. He tries to listen as Luka describes the mission, but it's difficult, his senses focused on every odd noise or movement around them. Finally they go for the digiport and Shinsuke takes in a deep breath once they rematerialize on the other side. He nods at Carmella when she rests a hand on his arm, quietly asking if he's ok.
Once he settles and takes a few steps forward, things ease, he adjusts, but his abilities aren't still quite there. It's frustrating to him- he's been a digidestined a long, long time, and now to be off of his game to this extent... He hums under his breath and continues to lead the way, comforted by the warmth of the others close by. Carmella is softly talking with Aiden, everyone clearly on guard and watching everything around him- picking up the slack just in case he fails, Shinsuke assumes with some frustration and worry- but things appear to be going alright, nothing too severely out of the way, yet-
When Shinsuke feels fresh data brushing his skin, fluttering around in a gust of wind. He holds an arm out, stopping the others, and he knows when the others feel it too, a distressed look crossing Carmella's face as she lightly brushes her fingers against the particles surrounding them. The attack comes out of nowhere, blasts them all back and Shinsuke gasps into the dirt, sitting up and staring as SkullSatamon approaches, a vicious sneer on his face. His body is little more than a skeleton, some of the bones red and others black. Holding on tightly to a blood red staff, he barely seems bothered by there being five of them staring back at him. In fact, he laughs before sending out another sharp blast from the staff he's now holding up over his head. "DIE!"
"Guys-" Carmella begins.
"DIGIVOLVE!" Shinsuke commands, listening as the digidestined scramble to regroup, get ahold of their digivices.
Within moments, they're surrounded by Apollomon, Rosemon, DeZipmon, Justimon and Beelzebumon, and even with all of that strength, Shinsuke still finds himself worried in the face of SkullSatamon's pure, vile power. Carmella is still by his side, and he shakes his head, trying to focus on the fight ahead. DeZipmon gets taken out early, one harsh swipe of the staff enough to send him flying back into Aiden's arms, knocking them both a decent distance away, as DeZipmon dedigivolves. Justimon, to Miz's frustration, is the next to go down, thankfully not losing his digivolution entirely. Rosemon and Apollomon are trying to discuss strategy with Beelzebumon, but he's not listening, old pride welling up within him as he stares down his fellow demon-type digimon.
"Damn you," he scoffs, lunging forward to slash viciously at him. His face twists from anger and hate to shock and fear as SkullSatamon meets him halfway and slams his staff up into his face, darkness washing over Beelzebumon and sending him flying with the sound of an explosion.
"BEELZEBUMON!" Dolph cries out, racing over to his limp partner.
"And then there were two," SkullSatamon offers, speaking for the first time since all of this.
"I think I liked ya better when you didn't talk," Carmella says, barely blinking as Rosemon dashes at him. She gets relatively closer to landing an attack than Beelzebumon did, but it doesn't matter- she meets the same fate, crumpling to the ground between Beelzebumon and Justimon, Carmella quickly skidding over there to try to check on her partner.
Shinsuke clenches his fists against his sides and stares up at SkullSatamon, fresh memories from the Dark Ocean running through his mind, reminding him again and again of the things he saw there, the death and destruction that seemed never ending. Apollomon tries, but he's as unsettled as Shinsuke, and he falls to SkullSatamon's attacks too.
"You have been a digidestined for a very long time," SkullSatamon muses. "I've heard stories, long ago, of the one named Shinsuke." He cackles. "Ah, to be the digimon who finally rid this world of you!" His staff is approaching- Shinsuke is frozen in place, awaiting his fate, and-
"Get away from him," a calm, steady voice commands. "I won't allow you to harm Shinsuke." Carmella is glowing with some sort of power, her eyes fixed, her lips pressed tightly together. "Or anyone else. We have been through ENOUGH!"
Just like that, Rosemon is back in the fight, and it all happens so fast, Shinsuke only gets a glimpse of petals breezing past him before she's there, electricity glimmering off of more rose petals as they swirl and surround SkullSatamon, causing him to scream out in shock and agony.
"What is this?!" he roars, trying to attack just for Rosemon to evade and attack again, her powers steadily overwhelming him as Carmella continues to exude strength, enabling Rosemon to fight as hard as she is.
"Your death," she says callously. The jewel at her throat begins to glow, and more roses fill the air around them, the pollen shaken from their pistils clinging to SkullSatamon and leaving him struggling as his body begins to destabilizing.
"What have you done?!" he wails, feeling everything within him slowly starting to deconstruct. "How-"
"We will not allow scum like you to tarnish this world any longer," Rosemon informs him coolly. "Begone." One last strike with her whip and his body shatters into fragments of data, joining the remains of the innocent digimon he had destroyed drifting in the wind before it too fades away entirely.
Shinsuke looks up when Carmella kneels by him, a concerned look on her face as she rests her hand on his arm. "I'm ok," he says slowly. "Thank you for saving me." He reaches out for Coronamon and she helps him by placing the digimon in his arms. "It's going to be ok. I'll be strong again soon."
She smiles a little and shakes her head. "I think you're already very strong, Shinsuke."
He doubts it, but the sentiment is appreciated anyway, and he smiles at her as she helps him stand once more. Perhaps...
