Disclaimer: I don't own Digimon.
A/N: Well, the next few chapters are going to jump around a bit between all the groups of people, but I've tried my best not to make it too hard to follow, so hopefully you guys won't get lost! And yes, one hundred and forty-two chapters later and finally the next chapter is the one we've all been waiting for! (Including myself) I hope to post it next week! As usual, I will check the whole chapter over again to catch any mistakes I might have missed.
Following the Footsteps of Destiny
Chapter 142: The Power of a Mega
Mina Izumi
File Island, Eastern Hemisphere, Digital World
Mina Izumi stood next to her husband, her long, dark hair whipping out behind her in the breeze, and gazed upon the battle with fear in her eyes. Ibismon and Meramon had decided to take on Soulmon while Kabuterimon took care of Vampiramon, but so far the battle was not working out in their favour. As a champion, all Kabuterimon could do was try to avoid Vampiramon's attacks in the air and hope his own blasts managed to hit the vampire digimon in a vulnerable area. He was a quick digimon, fast in the air, and smaller than Dragermon, but even he couldn't keep up with Vampiramon's speed. As for Ibismon and Meramon, they weren't having much luck either in stopping Soulmon. Although the ghost digimon was only a champion, unlike the Bakemon, he did not fear the Digidestined or their partners, and he was willing to do just about anything to win, even if it meant being deleted. The odds of a victory didn't look too good at the moment and Mina was starting to feel extremely worried.
We can't hold on much longer. I hope Dai and the others have managed to find Sam because if they haven't, we're in big trouble.
"Look out, Ibismon! Don't let him drain your energy!" Takara shouted, bouncing up and down on the grass and waving her hands in the air.
"You can do it, Kabuterimon!" Izzy cheered.
Shaking her head, Mina glanced anxiously at the sun, which was starting to sink lower in the west, and let out a deep sigh. When she was younger, she hadn't had a chance to spend much time in the Digital World, virtually none in fact, and now that she was right in the middle of the action, it made her realize just how much effort it had taken for Izzy and his friends to save the Digital World. She had always had a lot of respect for Tai and the other Digidestined who had taken on more responsibilities than Digidestined like herself, but now her respect for them had just reached a new level. For the first time in her life since she became a Digidestined, she was finally starting to understand what a daunting task it was just to reach that point where you finally found that small sliver of faith you needed to have in order to increase your small chance of winning a victory over the darkness, and it scared her like nothing else had ever scared her before. She had been there to stop MaloMyotismon from taking over both worlds, and to help bring digimon back to the gate when Control Spires had started appearing in the human world, but she had never witnessed or experienced the amount of pain, uncertainty, sadness, and terror it had taken just to reach that point, nor the amount of suffering it had taken just to give them even a chance of defeating MaloMyotismon. She had heard the stories, but now that she was finally experiencing it for herself, she could not help feeling a deep sense of awe and admiration for not only her husband and the other adults, but for Daichi and his friends, as well. They were doing the impossible, and that was what made it truly possible.
I have to be strong. I need to believe in myself for my friends, my husband, my partner, for Taniko. She would never give up, and I won't give up either!
Lifting her chin, Mina turned to look at her husband and gently placed her hand against his cheek. Izzy immediately lifted his gaze from the laptop in his hands, and catching sight of her expression, his dark eyes began to grow cloudy with concern. "Mina, what's wrong?"
"We're running out of time, Izzy. We need to do something now before our digimon end up reverting back to their rookie stages."
"I know, but even MegaKabuterimon won't be-"
"It's still worth a shot," Takara pleaded, tugging on Izzy's arm. "One ultimate is better than nothing!"
Izzy slowly nodded and lifted the Crest of Knowledge over his head. He held it out in the palm of his hand and immediately it began to glow a bright purple, its thin, violet rays shooting into the sky. "Digivolve again, Kabuterimon! You might not be a mega, but an ultimate is still stronger than a champion!"
"You got it, Izzy! Kabuterimon digivolve to, MegaKabuterimon!"
Vampiramon waited until the light around MegaKabuterimon had disappeared before picking up her small knife and twirling it lightly in her hands. "Do you honestly believe one lone ultimate digimon is going to defeat me? Even Daichi's six champions can do a better job than you can! At least then I have to keep my eyes on several digimon instead of just one. How pathetic."
"All your talking is starting to get on my nerves," MegaKabuterimon growled, launching himself into the air and hovering confidently, although still with the right amount of caution, above the vampire digimon.
Vampiramon looked up at him and placed her hands on her hips. "You don't understand, do you. I haven't even fought against you with my full strength yet and you still can't defeat me! I'm sure the same is true for Jestermon, Spritemon, BlackWidowmon, and even that nuisance of a digimon, DarkAngelicmon, champion though he may be. We've been toying with you all this time, but now the game has come to an end, and it's time to show you what real power looks like!"
"That's not true!" Takara shouted, shaking her fist at Vampiramon. When the mega didn't answer, Takara turned to Izzy instead and gave him an anxious look. "It's not true, is it?"
Izzy's eyebrows narrowed into a frown, and Mina felt his fingers suddenly close around her hand. "I believe she's telling the truth. I remember what it was like when we fought the Dark Masters, and even Apocalymon. Without WarGreymon and MetalGarurumon, I don't think we could have won against such powerful digimon. Hope and determination can only get you so far. You still need to put in the work in order to win."
"Great, just what I needed to hear!" Takara moaned. "But still, I believe in our partners. Even if they can't win, they'll still get us safely out of here. The bond between humans and digimon is a lot stronger than Vampiramon!"
Mina nodded in agreement and pulled Takara safely into her arms. "Well said, Kara. It's easy to tell why the Digital World chose you to be a Digidestined."
Takara blushed and smiled at her. "Thanks, Mina."
"If there's one blame that can be placed upon us, it's the fact that we underestimated you," Vampiramon hissed, turning in a circle while still keeping her emerald eyes focused on MegaKabuterimon. "We thought six humans and their rookie digimon would be easy to defeat. How could they possibly be a threat to a group of megas and one champion? Even after Embermon and his fellow digimon were able to digivolve to the champion level, they still weren't a match for us. Why bother putting in more effort than what was needed to defeat a bunch of champions? That is what we believed, but I see now we were wrong. After all, Tai Kamiya's group was able to defeat the Dark Masters, all of whom were megas. Those digimon who have human partners seem to be stronger than the usual digimon you find in the Digital World, but they still aren't strong enough to defeat megas who are fighting at full strength. That could have been what did the Dark Masters in. I've often felt they were a little too easy on the Digidestined."
"What are you saying?" MegaKabuterimon asked slowly.
Vampiramon smiled at him and ran her fingers over the sharp edge of her small knife. "DarkAngelicmon tried to warn us. He didn't say it in so many words, but he hinted that Angelicmon and Gabrielmon were strong champions. I'm sure he believed the same thing about Embermon and the other digimon. He has known all this time, so why is he still putting very little effort into trying to stop the Digidestined..."
"Food for thought?" MegaKabuterimon suggested.
Vampiramon scowled and tightened her grip on the knife in her hand. "The point is, there's no holding back anymore. We know you're strong, but we're still stronger, and I'm going to prove it to you. And don't think you're going to get off lightly with my other companions. I'll make sure they take you seriously and fight with every bit of their strength, including DarkAngelicmon. Now, witness the true power of a mega! Dark Stiletto!"
The dagger in Vampiramon's hand started to glow with a bright, eerie red light, and she threw it at MegaKabuterimon as hard as she could. Luckily, the insect digimon managed to veer out of the way before its sharp tip could pierce him right in the middle of the forehead, just below his horn, but he had barely recovered before Vampiramon launched another attack.
"Watch out!" Izzy cried.
"Scarlet Lightning!"
Mina watched in horror as six huge bolts of lightning streaked through the sky and connected with all four of MegaKabuterimon's long arms. The force of the blast was so strong, it caused Izzy's partner to roll over several times through the air in a downward spiral before he hit the ground with a large crash. Normally Vampiramon's lightning bolts were long and thin, and they glowed with a pale red light. This time, they had been thick and huge, and the light shining from them had been so bright, it had hurt the eyes to look directly at the glowing bolts crackling with energy. On the ground, MegaKabuterimon still hadn't moved, and even at a relatively safe distance, Mina could almost feel the electricity swirling around the insect digimon's large, red body. There was even a bolt of electricity crackling between the two points on the end of the oddly shaped horn sprouting from MegaKabuterimon's forehead.
"We are in big trouble!" Takara gasped, gripping the end of her dark ponytail tightly in her hand. "Vampiramon's finally starting to show her true strength, and if we don't get out of here soon, our digimon are done for!"
Mina nodded in agreement and turned to look at her partner. "Meramon, listen up! MegaKabuterimon needs some help. You and Ibismon had better get rid of Soulmon right now!"
"Right!" Meramon shouted. "It's time to heat things up! Roaring Fire!"
Immediately Soulmon was engulfed in a blaze of fire, and a moment later Ibismon's swirling tornado of pink feathers sent him careening through the air. He landed in a tangle of bushes at the edge of the forest, and realizing the top of his hat was still on fire, he let out a startled cry and began to bang his head against the trunk of a tree in an effort to put out the flames.
"You're going to pay for trying to drain our energy!" Ibismon snapped, her green eyes blazing with fury. Using one of her emerald green, knee-length boots, covered in an intricate design of pink armour, she darted through the air towards Soulmon and kicked the ghost digimon directly in the back of the head. Fluttering backwards a few paces, she spread her bright pink wings as far as they would stretch and let her attack fly. "Feather Darts!" A storm of pink feathers flew through the air and embedded themselves into Soulmon's back, and thanks to her swift kick, the streams of fire trailing along the edges of the ghost digimon's hat abruptly went out.
"Take that, Soulmon! You make a lame ghost!" Takara cheered, pumping her fits in the air.
"Nice one!" Meramon commented, giving Ibismon a high five.
"Come on, you can do better than that!" Soulmon cackled, whirling around and zooming towards the two champions. "Let's see how you survive my next attack! Finishing Trance!"
"Move! Get out of there!" Izzy shouted at the two champions before glancing anxiously at his own partner. MegaKabuterimon was only now just starting to stir and Vampiramon was slowly advancing towards him.
"You heard him, move!" Meramon ordered, nudging Ibismon one way and racing off in the other direction.
Mina stared at the forest in shock and wrapped her arms around Izzy's waist for support. Right before her eyes, several of the trees at the edge of the grove began to uproot themselves and hurtle towards Ibismon and Meramon. Next came thick tangles of bushes and they were immediately followed by fallen branches, twigs, several good-sized rocks, and a variety of other debris that moments ago had been lying motionless on the grass. A large, jagged rock hit Ibismon between the shoulder blades, and she fell on her face in a tangle of pink wings and twigs. One of the uprooted trees smashed into Meramon and pinned him to the ground hard enough to knock the wind out of him.
"Do something, quick!" Takara shrieked. "Come on, guys, you have to get up!"
"I won't let you down, Kara!" Ibismon cried, twisting around and pointing her fist at Soulmon. "Emerald Flare!"
Ibismon's bright green beam of light wasn't strong enough to turn Soulmon into data, but it did stop the ghost digimon from uprooting more trees.
"What a cheap trick!" Meramon growled. "Fire Blast!"
The tree pinning the fire digimon to the ground exploded into flames, and Meramon quickly leaped to his feet, ignoring the flaming pieces of bark shooting into the air around him.
"Meramon, we have to combine our attacks! It's the only way to defeat him!" Ibismon called out, leaping to her feet.
"I'm ready when you are."
"What are you doing?" Soulmon asked suspiciously, glancing left and right between the two champions.
Ibismon smoothed out her short green skirt, which was covered in pink feathers, and quickly leaped into the air, leaving a trail of pink feathers floating leisurely to the ground. Long, emerald hair streaming out behind her, she glared at Soulmon and began to twirl around in a circle. "You'll find out. Cyclone Fury!"
"Magma Blast!" Meramon shouted from the ground. The fire digimon's flaming rocks connected with Ibismon's feathery cyclone, and the two attacks combined together creating a huge, fiery tornado. Swirling through the air, it engulfed Soulmon before he had a chance to vanish and it exploded on impact. The ghost digimon managed to let out an ear-piercing scream before he exploded into data and finally disappeared.
"Now that's what I call a victory!" Takara cheered, twirling around in a circle. "Wait until Dai hears about this one."
Mina let out her own cheer and pulled Takara into a quick hug. "We did it! Ibismon and Meramon were wonderful!"
"That's what teamwork is all about!" Takara said softly, beaming at her and returning the hug.
"It's not over yet," Izzy warned, nodding his head towards MegaKabuterimon.
The insect digimon had gotten himself back into the air again, and he was weaving between Vampiramon's bolts of lightning, trying desperately to avoid them. Realizing what was going on, Ibismon and Meramon quickly joined in the battle and proceeded to shoot their attacks at Vampiramon from the ground.
"I've also just gotten an e-mail from Taniko," Izzy added, pointing at the screen on his laptop. "She wants to know what's going on. Apparently Miya, and I'm sure Nao as well, are really worried about Sam. They know he's heading towards the ocean and Taniko wants to know why he's wandered off on us. She says she can tell Dai's group has gone after him. She also wants to know why we're not going after him."
Mina wearily rubbed her eyes and rested her cheek against her husband's shoulder. "You'd better write her back and let her know what's happened. I don't want Tay and a few of the others to let their imaginations get the best of them."
"Good idea."
As much as I'm glad about the fact that Taniko is still safely in the human world, I almost wish she was a Digidestined, just so she could be here to help us out. She has many of my qualities, but she's also a lot like her father, and with my daughter and my husband working together, I'm sure they could come up with a way to get us all out of this mess. I can't even imagine what Sora and the others are going through, wondering every moment of every day if their children are still safe in the Digital World, but as much as I would never ever want Taniko to be in danger, she would make an excellent Digidestined...
"Mina? Izzy? We've got trouble."
Mina turned to look at Takara and frowned in confusion. "What's wrong, Kara?"
Takara bit her lip and she held out her Digivice, which she had obviously just pulled out of her pocket only moments ago. And yet, despite the fact that Dovemon had already digivolved, for some odd reason it was still glowing. "Dai, Ryoko, and Mickey have broken away from my dad's group and they're heading towards Sam and the ocean. For some reason my mom, my dad, Matt, and Matty have stayed behind. You don't think they're in trouble, do you?"
"Maybe they've met up with some of Vampiramon's allies," Izzy suggested, settling himself on the ground and frowning at his laptop. "I'd better put this in my e-mail, too."
Mina let out a gasp and sat down next to her husband. "You don't think they've met up with DarkAngelicmon, do you?"
"I doubt it. I was thinking more along the lines of Jestermon and Spritemon. If DarkAngelicmon has gone after anyone, it's probably Sam. The only other people I could see him wanting to torment are the twins, but according to Davis, for some odd reason DarkAngelicmon seems to be ignoring them."
"Maybe they've met up with BlackWidowmon?" Takara interrupted, putting her D-Coder away. "Soulmon said Vampiramon sent her off to do something."
"That's another possibility."
"She's too quick and powerful!" Meramon suddenly shouted, capturing Mina's attention. "We're not going to be able to defeat her if she won't stand still long enough for us to hit her with our attacks!"
"Watch out for her lightning bolts," MegaKabuterimon warned.
"You will never stop me!" Vampiramon hissed. "Lamia Transformation!"
"Get her, MegaKabuterimon!" Izzy shouted.
"Horn Buster!"
MegaKabuterimon's blast burst from the horn on his head and flew towards Vampiramon. In her bat form, the vampire digimon easily avoided the attack and flew between Meramon and Ibismon.
"Emerald Flare!"
"Magma Blast!"
Both attacks missed Vampiramon and collided with each other, causing a huge explosion. When the smoke cleared, Mina spotted Vampiramon standing behind the two champions in her human form, a twisted smile on her face.
"Oh no!" Takara shrieked.
"Scarlet Lightning!"
"Run!" Izzy shouted.
Vampiramon's new and improved attack rained down on the three digimon and once again knocked MegaKabuterimon out of the sky.
Mina let out a gasp as Meramon and Ibismon flew towards her, and to her dismay, both digimon landed on the ground in front of Izzy in their rookie forms. Somehow, MegaKabuterimon hadn't reverted back to his rookie stage, but unfortunately that wasn't very reassuring because the ultimate was currently unconscious.
"Dovemon, speak to me!" Takara wailed, gathering her digimon into her arms and burying her face against the rookie's small wings.
Mina quickly pulled Candlemon into her own arms and tugged anxiously on the sleeve of Izzy's rust-coloured dress shirt. "I think it's time for us to leave."
"You're right. MegaKabuterimon, get up! We have to get out of here!"
Vampiramon twirled her glowing red knife in her hand and aimed it at MegaKabuterimon. "I don't think so. Once I'm through with you fools, your precious leader and his little blond sidekick will be mine. They can run all they want, but that won't stop them from becoming my prisoners. What in the..."
Mina turned to see what Vampiramon was looking at and spotted a dark shape in the sky moving steadily towards them. As the digimon came closer, Mina felt her heart sink. "That digimon riding on Airdramon can only be BlackWidowmon..."
"Soulmon wasn't lying. BlackWidowmon really was with them in the forest at some point, but if Vampiramon sent her on a mission, then why is she here now?" Takara said thoughtfully. "She couldn't have finished what she was supposed to be doing already."
"I guess we'll find out," Izzy muttered.
BlackWidowmon leaped off Airdramon's back and landed on the ground in a crouch, but before she could straighten up, Vampiramon was upon her. "What do you think you're doing here? I thought I told you to wait for us on Infinity Mountain!"
BlackWidowmon rolled her eyes and let out a loud snort. "I was going to, but I had a feeling you might need me so I decided to follow you instead. Looks like I was right. It seems you have a bit of an issue on your hands. If you ask me, I think I came just it time."
"I'm not the one who's in trouble!" Vampiramon snapped. "It's the Digidestined who are in trouble."
"For once."
"Yes, well you would know, wouldn't you. Come on, now that you're here, you might as well make yourself useful, and if you ever disobey my orders again, I'll have you deleted along with DarkAngelicmon!"
"It sounds like Vampiramon and her allies are fighting amongst themselves," Izzy murmured. "That could definitely work in our favour."
"Who cares!" Takara wailed. "Let's just get out of here!"
"Hurry!" Dovemon moaned.
"Oh right. MegaKabuterimon!" Izzy shouted.
MegaKabuterimon slowly got to his feet, and taking advantage of BlackWidowmon's sudden distraction, he quickly flew over to Izzy's side.
Mina followed the others onto MegaKabuterimon's back, and placing Candlemon in her lap, she clung tightly to her husband's waist. Takara was sitting in front of Izzy with Dovemon in her arms, and she glanced at the computer expert over her shoulder. "Let's go."
"Takara's right. In our current state, we can't hope to defeat one mega, let alone two," Izzy shouted to his partner. "Let's meet up with Tai's group. I'd better tell Taniko about BlackWidowmon, and while I'm at it, I might as well tell her what our plans are. This e-mail is going to be longer than I thought!"
"Hey, where do you think you're going?" BlackWidowmon shouted.
"Great, now look what you've done!" Vampiramon snarled, tugging hard on one of BlackWidowmon's eight spider legs and hitting her in the ribs.
Mina felt the wind rush through her dark hair as MegaKabuterimon took to the skies and she buried her face between Izzy's shoulder blades. Sam was in trouble, but what could they possibly do to help him?
"It'll be okay, Mina. Sam will be fine," Candlemon said quietly, lifting his head just enough to smile at her.
She managed to nod in agreement, but deep down inside her heart was still pounding with fear. She wanted to believe Candlemon, but what if they were too late?