Shinsuke hums and stares up at the sky, a peaceful smile on his face as he curls his fingers over Coronamon's body gently. It's a calm day, thusfar, the group of them walking silently to the next pulsing blip on the map.

Mike is lingering behind him, but Shinsuke doesn't approach him about John again, in fact both seem content to just let the subject go for now. The others are all quiet, enjoying the day as well, the calm before the inevitable storm washing over all of them and leaving them in a fugue as they approach a scattered line of villages not too far from where Luke's hideout is.

"Any bets on what the mission will be today?" Ziggler asks, sounding somewhere between bored and honestly curious, Shinsuke tilting his head towards him for a second before facing forward, not truly interested in such petty things right now.

"Probably something dangerous that will only encourage my hair to turn grey," Mike mumbles, sounding displeased at the prospect as he runs his fingers through the gelled strands in paranoia.

Ziggler laughs and starts to mock him, but Shinsuke keeps his focus on the reality around them, listening, watching for trouble. He finally locks onto it and lifts a hand. "Shhhh," he beckons the two arguing men and, to their credit, they immediately fall quiet and tense, trying to see what attracted Shinsuke's notice.

He steps forward, graceful and wary, and Coronamon watches quietly as the village looms before them, quiet and oddly deserted at this time of day. "I don't like this," Mike mumbles, Ziggler making a scoffing noise next to him- when something shatters and a young digimon comes scrambling out of the depths of the village, aiming right for them.

"Help! Help us, please-" their cries are abruptly extinguished when they delete right before their very eyes, Shinsuke staring in surprise at the spot where this creature had once stood- now, just a faint dusting of data on the wind.

"Holy crap," Ziggler mumbles, pulling Impmon closer to him.

All of the partners group together, fear in their eyes, watching and waiting for something else to happen. But it remains quiet, unsettled, and Shinsuke knows if they're going to sort this out, they have to move. So he does, slowly. Step by step, inching closer to the little huts that house who knows how many digimon- or at least used to. He can't even keep track of how many villages he's seen destroyed or deserted since they all began this years ago, but it weighs heavily on him.

Finally reaching the outer edge of the village, he rests his hand on the smooth wall of the hut, feeling how warm it is in the sun. He closes his eyes and shakes his head, mourning those already lost, like the Petit Mamon they had only caught a glimpse of earlier. He exhales shakily and steps deeper into the village, trying to keep an eye out for something- anything.

Mike is behind him, with Ziggler, Aiden nearby too, but they're all quiet and tense, adding to Shinsuke's watchful anxiety as he does his best not to miss anything. So when something moves to their left, he sees it immediately and twists to apprehend it- but it's too late, a sharp pressure against his spine. Everything stops, Shinsuke even holding his breath as he looks up into the cold, cruel eyes of Phelesmon. Unlike some digimon, who look like a caricature of the demon, this creature looks like the honest recreation of Satan himself, pitchfork and all. "That was you," he manages, knowing enough about digivolution lines to know that Petit Mamon evolves into Phelesmon.

"Ooh, you're intelligent," he says with a sneer. "I like that. Most wouldn't have put two and two together so quickly. Too bad it will all be a waste." He presses his weapon in tighter against Shinsuke's spine, the threat very obvious as he breaks skin just enough to make Shinsuke gasp and flinch.

"Hardly," he forces out through gritted teeth. "Coronamon!"

His partner lights up with a surge of power that fills the area with intense light and pressure before it all eases away, Apollomon standing before them in all of his feral glory. "Let him go," he says, flames coating his fists before he lunges forward and punches the pitchfork away from Shinsuke, sending it careening into the sky where it rotates for what feels like minutes before embedding itself in the ground a fair distance away.

"Ah, you do have some fight in you," Phelesmon says with a cold smirk. "I appreciate that. Unfortunate that it too will all go to waste here."

As Apollomon directs the battle away from Phelesmon, Miz and Aiden rush up to Shinsuke, pulling his blood spotted clothes away to look at his back. "Sort of deep," Aiden mumbles. "But shouldn't be too bad." Mike blinks as he shrugs off a backpack and starts digging around in it, pulling out medical supplies. Catching his surprised look, Aiden chuckles and starts disinfecting the wounds, forcing out a hissed exhale from Shinsuke. "Hey, man, always be prepared. Maybe we all should start carrying this stuff, in case we get separated or something."

It's not a bad idea, and Shinsuke is mulling it over even as he keeps an eye on his partner and Phelesmon constantly going back and forth with their attacks, Phelesmon reclaiming his pitchfork and trying his best to skewer Apollomon through the waves of fire he keeps sending out through punches, arrows, anything he has at his disposal. Shinsuke imagines he's trying to power up his ultimate attack, sending a firey orb out from his back, but it can't be easy with Phelesmon constantly keeping him busy.

Phelesmon starts screaming when it's clear Apollomon has him cornered and, even from this distance, it leaves Shinsuke, Aiden and Mike cringing away and holding their ears. He can only imagine how awful that must have felt to Apollomon at such a close distance, but his partner shakes it off quickly and volleys back with more fire. "Should we join in?" Aiden asks as the battle carries on and on, all of them uncomfortably aware that, should Apollomon get hit just right, they could easily lose this.

Even so... "No," Shinsuke decides. "Apollomon will be fine."

Phelesmon does not make it easy, however, lunging forward and landing a solid strike across Apollomon's chest with his weapon, causing the beast to yell out in shock and pain as it nearly slices him in two. Punching out to get some distance, Apollomon lands heavily a few feet away and looks up at his partner. "Shinsuke," he says, a strange reflection in his voice and Shinsuke nods, holding his hand out to Apollomon.

His digivice thrums, suddenly, and Shinsuke closes his eyes, looking without seeing as Phelesmon approaches and lets out another scream, sending his partner to his knees. Aiden and Mike, Dolph, everyone starts to scramble, as Apollomon's data starts to destabilize. "Shinsuke!" Miz snaps, trying to get him to snap out of it, but it's impossible. Shinsuke is where he needs to be.

Apollomon is warm, his strength pulsing against Shinsuke's essence, and Shinsuke embraces this warmth, holding it together as Apollomon stands, still close to deletion, but finding the inner fortitude to hold himself together as he approaches an amused looking Phelesmon. "Maybe I should just turn you to stone now, hmm?" he wonders, almost sounding bored with the proceedings now. "Then I will have to find another village to play with... the digimon always look so amusing as they're turned into stone. Sometimes I catch them midscream, those are my favorites."

"Shut... up," Apollomon says, and if the voice sounds a little more like Shinsuke's than the digimon's, no one really seems to notice. Gritting his teeth, digging his feet into the ground, Apollomon bursts with a sudden wave of flame, the orb on his back pulsing with power. His data destabilizes further, cracks appearing in his body, but he ignores it as he finalizes the attack and urges it on with his arms, holding it in mid-air before slamming it forward- where it burns straight through Phelesmon's body, leaving nothing but a massive hole where his midsection used to be.

His pitchfork clatters to the ground, Phelesmon no longer strong enough to hold onto it, and he looks down at himself in perplexed disbelief. "How... how did something as lowly as you do this to me?!" He lets out one last scream, but this one is a death cry and contains no strength as he shatters into pieces and starts to drift over the village behind them.

Apollomon exhales shakily, body cracking apart even faster now, and Shinsuke opens his eyes, once more back in his own body. He immediately scrambles to his feet and runs over to his partner, unworried about the flames flickering around him as he grips Apollomon's arms. "Devolve," he orders him, gazing up at him. "This is not how this ends. "Now, Apollomon, NOW!"

"I don't think I can," he says quietly, and Shinsuke shakes his head.

"Yes you can, now do it!" A healing wave of light pulsing from Shinsuke's digivice and Apollomon lets out a whimper before his body is engulfed, changing shape, growing smaller. Shinsuke catches Mokumon out of thin air before he can hit the ground and hugs him close. "You're safe now, rest as long as you need," he tells the unconscious creature with a fond smile. "Thank you." He looks over at where Mike, Ziggler and Aiden are standing, and inclines his head, dark eyes locked on Aiden. "Thank you as well." He stretches his back and hums as vague pain creeps up his spine, but the bandages hold, the disinfectent seemingly working well, and he nods in relief.

Aiden scratches the back of his head, grinning almost sheepishly. "Hey, man, no problem. Glad it all worked out."

They're about to go look into the village, see if anything can be spared, anyone saved, when groups of digimon, confused and whispering, start to poke their heads out of the huts, wide eyed and as startled as the digidestined watching them. "Huh," Mike says. "Do you think Phelesmon's power faded when he died? So those who he turned to stone were able to break free?"

It's as good a reason as any of them can think of off-hand. "I think that is highly possible," Shinsuke nods, the group of them heading into the village to make sure everything is alright before returning to Luke's to get Shinsuke's back checked, and Mokumon fussed over.