Later, the next morning, after enjoying the rest of the night having Davis satisfy her, Kari sat on her throne with a dark and pleased smile on her face, looking out from her seat as her enslaved puppets stood at attention in a row on her left, while Davis and Veemon knelt on one knee in front of her, having just returned from their latest conquest on their Queen's behalf, bringing four powerful individuals under Kari's thrall as Corrupted in the process.
"Fine work, my pets, you've served me well." Kari said to her champion.
"We live to serve you, and only you..." Davis replied, remaining in a mindless state of loyalty to his believed Queen.
Thinking that she should reward her champion for his work, Kari sighed a little, knowing that she would be busy in a little bit, before a devious smirk came across her face, where she looked at the four girls she had under her power, looking into their minds like an open book.
Yolei and Zoe she already knew were infatuated with their respective boyfriends, but there was a dark part of Kari that thought using Yolei in her idea would be an ideal punishment for her failings.
Examining Nene's mind, she seemed indifferent, not having a boyfriend, nor seemingly interested at the moment.
But finally, upon looking into Rika's mind, Kari was a mix of integrated and slightly annoyed, where she asked teasingly. "So the tough Rika Nonaka has a secret crush on my Davis?"
"Yes, my Queen..." Rika merely replied mindlessly, which caused Kari to smirk a little bit.
"Well then, I want you to take him to my bedchambers and... 'entertain' him for a while..." Kari said, before looking at Davis and saying. "Enjoy yourself, but never forget who you belong to, either of you."
"Yes, my Queen..." Both Davis and Rika said in unison as Davis stood up and Rika moved next to him, before they both left the throne room, where Veemon moved to take his place near Kari's throne, with Gatomon hopping off the side and circling around her pet, rubbing her body against him and purring with affection.
A moment later, Lilithmon entered the throne room, kneeling before Kari as she awaited to hear what her Queen desired of her.
Curious, Lilithmon asked, maintaining her respect for the corrupt Digidestined of Light. "You summoned me, my Queen? And if I could ask, where are the Gazimon?"
"Do not worry about them, I sent them on a special assignment." Kari replied, not going any further into it, before she then said. "You have been very loyal to me since this all started, and I do appreciate loyalty. So I'm holding up my end of the bargain. You will lead the next major assault."
At hearing Kari's words, Lilthmon's face lit up with a joyous smile.
"Thank you, my Queen!" She practically called out, calming herself down as she promised. "Unlike some, I will not fail you."
As much as Kari liked seeing how happy Lilithmon seemed to cause destruction in her name, Kari then waved her hand, causing the view pool to show a massive castle, one that surprised Lilithmon by its grandeur.
She was about to ask who it belonged to, before her eyes narrowed at seeing a familiar symbol on one of the tower's spires, the symbol of the Fusion Fighters, where all her feelings grew to hatred and disgust.
"This is Shoutmon's Castle, where most of his loyalist pawns have gathered to try and form a counter attack against me. You will crush them." Kari said as she gestured behind Lilithmon, who turned and saw Christopher, Nene, Marcus and his Agumon kneeling behind her, causing the Demon Digimon to smirk as she saw some of the soldiers at her disposal.
"Also..." Kari then said, causing Lilithmon to return her attention back to her Queen, who continued. "I am well aware that you aren't as powerful as you once were, so accept this gift from me."
Lilithmon then looked to her side to see two of the Dark Ocean creatures carrying a chest, which they set down before her and opened, causing the Demon Digimon's eyes to widen and her smirk to grow more wicked as she said darkly. "This will be so much fun!"
-DATS-
Inside the briefing room, everyone was chatting amongst themselves, with Yamaki, Sampson and Gennai communicating with Hypnos, having Thomas, Miki and Megumi work with Henry's father and his group to create an anti-virus, while on the other end of the room, the Tamers and their Digimon were sitting down with Takato and Guilmon, bringing them up to speed on what had been happening since they were in the hospital.
Meanwhile, watching Mikey talk with Tai, Matt and Takuya as they came up with strategies, Shoutmon remained quiet, too deep in thought to really focus on the conversation, blaming himself for everything that had been happening.
It was Shoutmon's suggestion and persuasion that brought about the Merger, believing that, with the worlds united and the heroes and heroines all working together, that there would be peace, but this Primal Virus was something he had never anticipated, and now, through corrupting one of the kindest humans he had ever known, it is destroying everything he had worked for.
Shoutmon was then brought out of his thoughts when the alarms began to blare, where Miki, who was on one of the computer terminals with her PawnChessmon, suddenly called out. "We're getting a distress call from the Digital World."
The monitors then turned on, causing the gathered heroes and heroines to look in horror as they saw the Corrupted attacking Shoutmon's Castle, seeing Dorulumon, Knightmon and the PawnChessmon under their command holding the line.
But what shocked the Fusion Fighters the most were who Shoutmon's forces were fighting, seeing Corrupted Gaossmon and Troopmon attacking them, while in the distance, they saw the three main Digimon of the former Blue Flare army, with Cyberdramon on one side, Deckerdramon on the other, and MetalGreymon in the middle, with Christopher on his right shoulder and Nene on his left as JetMervamon flew close to them.
But what shocked the group the most, especially the members of DATS, was when the familiar form of ShineGreymon: Ruin Mode flew above the enslaved Fusion Fighters, letting out a beastial roar as he hovered over the sky, while Marcus stood on his shoulder, the same vacant expression on his face as Christopher and Nene.
Concerned at seeing the latest of Kari's servants, Shoutmon showed the most worry, where he faced Mikey with a seriousness on his face.
"Mikey, I need to get back, they need me." He said, feeling it was his duty to return and stop Kari's evil, not only as the Digimon King, but also as a friend, feelings Mikey shared as he nodded in agreement, drew his Fusion Loader and replied. "Then I'm coming with you. With Kari basically having the power to Digifuse, you might need my help."
"And you can count us in!" Tagiru called out as he and Gumdramon stood up and ran next to Mikey, determined expressions on both their faces, where Gumdramon added with a revved up grin. "You can't have a fight without us on your side."
"We'll help too." Yuu said as he, Airu, Angie, Jeremy, Damemon and Opossumon came up, ready to help the Digimon King protect those he swore to protect, as well as fight off Kari's army, hoping to halt her progress.
"And we're coming along." Yoshi proclaimed as she, Keenan and Thomas, along with their Digimon partners, came up, were the auburn haired woman said. "The Digi-Ports have been repaired enough to allow all of us to go through and come back safely."
"Plus, we have seen ShineGreymon in this form before, and know how Marcus fights, so that should give us some advantage, regardless of what Kari has done to them." Thomas added, before he looked at Sampson, hoping that the DATS Commander would approve.
"Alright, but be careful, Kari most likely knows you are all coming, so keep your guard up for any surprises." Sampson replied, getting a nod from the group as they headed towards the Digi-Port room, before Mikey stopped, flicked his Goggles as an idea came to mind, where he took his cellphone out, getting everyone's attention.
"Mikey, who are you calling at a time like this?" Jeremy asked in confusion as the Fusion Fighter General dialed the number he was looking for.
"Someone Kari won't be expecting." Mikey replied with a grin, waiting the answer on the other end of the line, hoping his contact would prove a trump card in their favour.
-Several minutes later-
The Fusion Fighters and DATS members appeared right inside Shoutmon's throne room, just as the room began to shake from the attacks from outside, causing them to try and steady their balance.
"My King!" A familiar voice cried out happily, causing them all to turn and see Lunamon run up and hug Shoutmon, a sight that made Angie and Yoshi smirk, seeing the blush on Shoutmon's cheeks, while Airu tried to hold in a squeal at how cute it looked, before Angie's face turned to anger at seeing Beastmon come up and hug Mikey.
"Oh, it is so good to see you again, my Mikey-wikie!" Beastmon said with a great joy, continuing to embrace the brunette, while nuzzling her face against Mikey's cheek, the actions of which embarrassed Mikey, while Angie felt a continued annoyance at seeing the beast Digimon so affectionate toward her friend.
It was at that moment that Beelzemon came flying through the window, turning and firing a few shots out his arm cannon at his assailants outside, before looking back at Mikey and Shoutmon as he said. "They're too many of them, and they have reinforcements inbounded. She is leading this attack."
Hearing the venom in the demon Digimon's voice as he mentioned her, Mikey and Shoutmon knew exactly what who Beelzemon meant, before the brunette noticed a weapon's rack near the wall, walking over and grabbing a sword.
"Guys, here, we'll need these." Mikey said as he handed one to Thomas, Yoshi, Tagiru, Yuu and Jeremy, where he then looked at Angie and Jeremy as he said. "Guys, please help out here with the evacuations, we'll keep them busy."
"Why the swords?" Tagiru then asked, where Thomas replied. "For when we run into Marcus, Christopher, and Nene. with the Digimon fighting each other, they will most likely come for us, and from what we've seen before with Davis and Nene, they should not be taken lightly."
"Got it, we won't let you down." Jeremy said, before Lunamon grabbed Angie's hand and began to drag her in the opposite direction as she said. "We're sending everyone through a Digi-Port we have on the lower levels, hurry!"
"Lets go, we need to stop them before they can get any further." Shoutmon then said, not wasting any time as he headed off, where Mikey and the others followed the red dragon Digimon out to the battlefield.
-Outside-
Just outside the castle walls, Lilithmon watched with a wicked smile, loving the sight of seeing how Mikey's friends were now under her command and destroying everything the Fusion Fighters had worked so hard to create.
"Keep up on the attacks. Serve your Dark Queen's will!" Lilithmon commaded as she floated above the army, looking down and watching the three main Digimon of Blue Flare continue to march forward.
The Demon Digimon then took a moment to admire her 'gift' from her Queen, seeing the new armour she wore, and feeling the dark energy surge through her from it.
The first noticeable thing was a suit of armour that covered most of her body, jet black in colour, stopping just over her cleavage, while leaving her upper arms and thighs exposed.
Her right hand, her Mystic Claw, was now silver in colour, but was fitted with several black gems, while wrapped around her left arm was a chain like whip, with razor sharp edges and a spiked tip.
A black cape flowed down her back, allowing her wings to pop out, while over her head, leaving only her face open, was a black helmet with bat wings on it's sides sticking upwards.
"Giga Destroyer..." MetalGreymon then declared, mindlessly obeying Lilithmon's orders and firing several large laser beams out of his back towards the walls, cracking them in most places, while breaking through in others, causing the Digimon that were defending them to run as the walls began to crumble.
"We can't hold out much longer!" One of the PawnChessmon said in panic.
"At this rate we're as good as gone." Another declared.
"Crocodile Cannons..." Deckerdramon then called, firing several dozen missiles out of his back, hitting the various towers and spires that made up the castle.
With another section of castle lost, the Digimon defending continued to lose hope, even Knightmon was losing his fighting spirit.
"Even if we are destroyed, we will go down with honour." He said, drawing his blade to the air as he called. "For our King!"
At that moment, however, the wall began to crumble, and, faster than most could see, Cyberdramon was amongst them, quickly closing the gap between him and Knightmon, his Twin Lancer ready to strike at the knight Digimon.
"Cyber Talons..." The Cyborg Digimon declared as he prepared to attack, before his lancer was blocked by the drill-like tail of Dorulumon, who called out in reply. "Drill Toronado!"
Increasing the size of his drill tail, Dorulumon caused a large tornado to appear out of it, pushing Cyberdramon back, who landed right next to MetalGreymon and Deckerdramon, with JetMervamon floating right next to them.
From seeing Dorulumon hold him back, Lilithmon snarled.
"Get back in there! Can't you handle a little wind?" She questioned with bitterness in her voice.
"No need to be so harsh, Lilithmon, Dorulumon isn't some pushover." The voice of the Dark Queen said, causing Lilithmon's eyes to widen as she turned and saw Kari's Shadow floating right next to her.
Kneeling in the air before the shadow form, Lilithmon informed Kari with respect in her voice."Forgive me, my Queen. I only wish to see your enemies destroyed."
"Then show me, because here come the real fighters." Kari replied, looking back at the castle with a smirk as she saw a familiar red dragon Digimon, as well as his friends and the DATS Team, come rushing out the castle gates.
"Bellow Blaster!" Shoutmon called, yelling into his mic and sending a shockwave that blasted back a group of Corrupted Troopmon, before keeping his weapon drawn, swinging it around as to deflect any shots fired at him, as well as clobber any Corrupted Digimon close to him.
"Not bad." Tagiru said, looking at Gumdramon and grinning. "But let's show them what we can do."
At Tagiru's words, Gumdramon nodded back, before leaping forward and attacking.
"Ran-gum Break!" Gumdramon announced, shooting himself forward, where he began to swing and slam his tail into a set of Corrupted Gaossmon, avoiding their sharp jaws and bursts of flames with his nimble speed.
From Shoutmon and Gumdramon showing up and striking back, it gave the other Digimon allied with the Fusion Fighters the confidence they needed to fight, where the Digimon already on the battlefield gave it their all.
Their moral then improved as they saw three Mega Digimon, each in Burst Mode, appear out of the castle as well, as Rosemon, Ravemon and MirageGaogamon landed in front of the group, facing the three enslaved Digimon of Blue Flare, while the DATS Team moved close to them with Mikey, Tagiru, Yuu and Airu.
"So nice of you to finally show up, your Majesty." Kari said in a mocking tone, which caused the Digi-heroes to look up and glare at the shadow, while looking at Lilithmon with surprise at seeing her new form.
"As a former friend, I'm only giving you one warning, leave and never come back here, or you'll regret it." Shoutmon said to Kari, who just chuckled lightly, right as ShineGreymon: Ruin Mode landed to the right of the assembled group.
At seeing ShineGreymon, the Digimon all readied themselves, each drawing their respective weapons and taking to their fighting stances, while the Fusion Fighters readied their Fusion Loaders, only to stop as the DATS Digimon got between the conflict.
"Leave him to us." MirageGaogamon said as he, Rosemon and Ravenmon, moved to combat their former ally.
Beelzemon, meanwhile, pointed his cannon at Lilithmon, where he then asked. "With your permission, my King, Mikey, I wish to deal with this witch once and for all."
"Go for it." Mikey replied, causing Beelzemon to nod as he lunged at Lilithmon, while Mikey readied his Fusion Loader, certain it would take a lot more to take Lilithmon down this time as he called. "Beelzemon, take some back-up!"
Bringing his Fusion Loader up, the screen glowed as it called upon the Digimon Mikey believed would be best suited to assist his friend.
"Beelzemon!" Mikey called, accessing Beelzemon's power.
"Deputymon!" He followed up, calling out the revolver Digimon, who shot forward, giving his power to Beelzemon, where the pair called as one. "Digifuse!"
Combining their Data into one being, Beelzemon maintained control over his body, where his left arm digitized and was replaced with a massive revolver, obtaining Deputymon's firepower as he announced with a great voice. "Justice Beelzemon!"
With his Digifusion completed, Beelzemon wasted no time, where he drew up both guns, gathering energy within and aimed at Lilithmon.
"Twin Cannons!" He then called out as he fired off the energy within as two great blasts at his nemesis, only to look on in surprise as Lilithmon merely smirked and rose her left hand, causing a black energy barrier to appear before her, negating the attack.
"No way!" Mikey called, part of him shocked to see Lilithmon unharmed, which made the Demon Digimon smile at seeing her foes in awe at her power.
"Now this will be a pleasure!" Lilithmon declared with a sinister smile, swinging her left arm as the chain unraveled around from it as a black flame consumed it, where she swung it at Beelzemon, who dodged out of the way, before seeing the chain cut through one of the minarets of the castle like it was butter, causing it to crash into the ground below.
"This is not good." Mikey commented as he looked upon the destruction, before facing Lilithmon with a frustrated expression. "She's even stronger than before."
"Mikey, we'll help him out when we can, we've got bigger issues here." Shoutmon suddenly called, where he and Beelzemon saw MetalGreymon, Cyberdramon, Deckerdramon and JetMervamon move closer to them.
"Deal with them, I can still hold her off." Beelzemon said as he flew straight at Lilithmon, who brought her right hand forward as she fired off several blasts of dark energy at him, causing Beelzemon to dodge them as he continued to fire back at her.
Respecting Beelzemon's words, Mikey turned his attention back to Shoutmon, holding up his Fusion Loader as he asked. "You ready, partner?"
"Go fo it!" Shoutmon replied, knowing what was coming next.
"Shoutmon!"
"Ballistamon!"
"Dorulumon!"
"Starmon!"
"Pickmons!"
"Digifuse!" The Digimon all called as one, combining their strongest attributes into one being, with Shoutmon as the centre, the heart of the Digifusion, where he grasped his weapon, the Star Sword and announced with a great bellow. "Shoutmon X4!"
As impressed as most were to see the Digifuse form of the Digimon King, not wanting to be left out, Tagiru spoke up.
"That's a pretty cool Digifuse, but let's see how it fares against a Superstar Digimon!" Tagiru stated as he, Yuu and Airu each held out their Fusion Loaders and used their power to Digivolve their partners.
"Gumdramon Digivolve to... Arresterdramon!" The purple dragon Digimon called, ready to fight and show his strength.
"Damemon Digivolve to... Tuwarmon!" The ninja Digimon announced, taking a proud stance before Yuu, ready to attack at his partner's word.
"Opossumon Digivolve to... Cho Hakkaimon!" Airu's Digimon let out as she swung around her hammer, looking forward to letting out some of her pent up rage as a form of fighting for the greater good.
Kari, meanwhile, laughed lightly at the sigh, waving her hand as she addressed the three Digimon of Blue Flare and JetMervamon, commanding with a dark tone. "Destroy them."
At once, the four enslaved Digimon charged forward, with MetalGreymon rushing at Shoutmon X4, causing the Digimon King to use his sword to block MetalGreymon's large claw as it swiped at him.
"Alright you big, dumb lizard, let's do this!" Arresterdramon called out as Deckerdramon charged at him.
"Cyclone Crusher..." Deckerdramon just declared as he began to spin quickly, knocking Arresterdramon back as the larger Digimon struck him with his tail, causing him to crash into the wall behind him.
But shaking it off, Arresterdramon got back into battle, his sight set on Deckerdramon as his opponent for the time being, where he rushed at Deckerdramon, ignoring the size difference between them and attacked.
"Spiral Shredder!" Arresterdramon called, rotating his body as he began to spin around, his being taking to a purple cyclone-like form as he slammed himself into the enslaved Digimon's head, where he bounced off of Deckerdramon, but refused to call it quits.
Meanwhile, Tuwarmon and Cyberdramon were amongst one another, combatting at high speeds, trying to get in a clear hit as Tuwarmon's Mantis Arms continued to clash against Cyberdramon's Twin Lancer.
Likewise, Cho Hakkaimon was groaning in frustration as she swung around her Rocket Rake as hard as she could, smashing and tearing up the ground, but found each swing missed her target, JetMervamon.
"Would you just hold still!?" Cho Hakkaimon yelled, getting further frustrated, which caused her attacks to become more and more unstable as her anger was getting the better of her.
And it didn't help that Airu felt the same way as she continued to yell alongside her partner, causing Yuu to sigh and sweatdrop, thinking. 'They have no idea how dangerous they can get, or can get in.'
-Meanwhile-
As the Fusion Fighters began to fight their opponents, MirageGaogamon, Rosemon and Ravemon all took offensive poses as they stood in front of ShineGreymon, two dark, flaming swords forming in his hands as she walked slowly towards them.
"He's a lot calmer than the first time he went into Ruin Mode. We better be careful." MirageGaogamon said as he rose his weapon.
"We still have the advantage, it's three to one." Rosemon pointed out as she held her whip, ready to fight the moment ShineGreymon made a move.
However, the next moment, something crashed into the ground of ShineGreymon's right, causing a shockwave of dust as the three DATS Digimon covered their eyes.
When the dust cleared, they opened their eyes, only to look in shock and horror at seeing two Corrupted Digimon on either side of ShineGreymon, two Digimon they knew all too well.
"Craniamon!? Leopardmon!?" Yoshi questioned, before noticing the purple glow in their eyes, where she growled in frustration and warned. "Watch out, guys, I think Kari has gotten to the Royal Knights too!"
At that moment, ShineGreymon let out a loud roar, before charging right at MirageGaogamon, while Craniamon charged at Rosemon and Leopardmon set his sights at Ravemon, splitting the three up and breaking up their original place to work together.
"Looks like we'll have to change tactics." Thomas commented, before calling to MirageGaogamon. "MirageGaogamon, attack with formation Delta F!"
"Sir, yes, sir!" MirageGaogamon replied as he swung the bladed end of his weapon of light at ShineGreymon, forcing ShineGreymon to bring his arms up and defend himself against MirageGaogamon's barrage of timed swings.
But even with his calculated attacks, ShineGreymon managed to get some distance between them and countered.
"Glorious Burst..." ShineGreymon then declared, spreading his dark wings out and gathering dark energy into them, before sending it out towards MirageGaogamon, forcing him back as he groaned in pain from the attack's collision.
Concerned, Thomas asked. "MirageGaogamon, are you alright?"
"I'll be fine, sir." MirageGaogamon assured, focusing on ShineGreymon. "Just see to it that you look out for yourself as well, sir."
While MirageGaogamon fought ShineGreymon, Rosemon was caught off guard as Craniamon attacked her.
"Shock Ringer..." The corrupt Royal Knight declared with no emotion in his tone, spinning his weapon in his hand and sending a shockwave of energy at Rosemon, who let out a cry of pain, but held her ground as she then counterattacked.
"Jewel of Heart!" Rosemon announced, gathering up several pink orbs of energy around her and casting them off at Cranimon, only to see her attack falter as the Royal Knight blocked with his Omni Shield, taking no damage whatsoever.
"Extinction Wave..." Leopardmon declared as he swung his blade at Ravemon, who easily dodged the attack, but quickly found himself on the defensive as he tried to fight back.
"Crimson Formation!" Ravemon called, releasing a stream of purple light from his wings, soaring at Leopardmon with a great speed, only for the attack to clash against Leopardmon's blade.
Cutting through the energy, Leopardmon remained defensive as Ravemon shot forward, striking with his wings, which clashed against the Royal Knight's sword, locking the pair in a stalemate.
"Black Aura Blast..." Leopardmon suddenly announced, where his blade glowed with a dark energy, before erupting, throwing him and Ravemon back.
"This isn't good. It seems Kari is willing to do anything to win, even sacrifice the Digimon she is controlling." Keenan warned, which continued to concern and frustrate those fighting against Kari, finding it hard to believe the brunette would treat Digimon as mere pawns on a chessboard.
The Fusion Fighters, DATS members, and though watching back at DATS HQ, were all watching the Digimon fight one another, even watching as Beelzemon tried to fight Lilithmon, only to see that she was more amused then actually caring to fight, finding her new power far greater than she had ever expected.
Turning his head to his right, however, Mikey quickly took up the sword he got from the throne room as he got the rest of the Fusion fighters and DATS members attentions as he said. "Guys, get ready."
The rest then looked in Mikey's direction, where Yoshi, Thomas, Tagiru and Yuu each took up the blades they received as they saw Christopher and Marcus walking towards them, with the blond resting his sword on his shoulder as he approached them.
Noticing Marcus lacking a blade, Keenan looked with confusion as he asked. "Did Kari not give him a weapon?"
Thomas, however, noticed the gauntlets around Marcus' arms, seeing parts of them glowing purple, where he then said, warning his friends. "She did. Keep your guards up and don't let him hit you."
Yoshi and Keenan were confused until they saw what Thomas was seeing, getting ready to combat Marcus, while Christopher shot towards Mikey at alarming speeds, who was able to block the attack with his sword, remembering the fight with Davis when this all started, before he began to trade blows with his enslaved friend.
"Christopher, I know deep down you can hear me, and I promise I will save you, no matter what it takes." Mikey said, pressing his blade against Christopher's, before the blond managed to push Mikey's weapon aside and ran his sword down, leaving a long cut along the Red General's arm, which made Mikey wince at the pain.
"Ok, that hurt..." He admitted, before tearing off the sleeve of his shirt and wrapping it around the cut. "But I won't stop fighting."
"Hold on, Mikey, I'm coming!" Tagiru called, joining Mikey's side, where the Superstar begun to swing his blade, repelling Christopher a little, allowing Tagiru to take a protective stance before the Red General.
And while he knew he was not as great a swordsman as Mikey, having undergone rigorous kendo training from his Kotemon, Tagiru's eyes lit with determination, where he made the first strike and began to exchange blows with the blond.
Meanwhile, Marcus continued to walk slowly towards his former friends and teammates, before Yoshi acted first, rushing towards the brunette as she swung the blade in her hands at him, only for Marcus to duck under the first swing, before using his right gauntlet to block another, pushing Yoshi back as she was thrown a few feet.
'He's not just rushing us like he normally would... we need to be careful.' Thomas thought as he moved in, swinging his blade at Marcus, who moved back and dodged it, bringing his right hand into a fist as his gauntlet glowed brightly, a sight that caused concern for Thomas.
The blond then moved out of the way, just in time as Marcus' fist slammed into the ground, causing a massive shockwave that sent him, Yoshi and Keenan flying back, each crying out in pain as they hit a wall or a rock, before the dust cleared, showing a crater where Marcus' fist had impacted.
"Now you see why we have to be careful." Thomas said, examining Marcus' gauntlets as he added. "I'm not exactly sure what those things are, but they seem to amplify Marcus' strength to immense levels."
"No kidding." Keenan replied, pulling himself back up, knowing that if they got hit by a single punch, it would wipe them out for good.
As the group of Fusion Fighters and DATS members continued to fight their enslaved friends, Mikey quickly noticed something wrong, looking all over, before he asked with great concern. "Where is Nene!?"
-Inside the castle-
Remaining in the lead of the Digimon that were too weak to fight, Angie escorted the group through the castle, making their way to the lower levels, where she looked upon the frightened Digimon and tried to keep their spirits up.
"Don't worry, everything is going to be alright. Mikey and Shoutmon are outside right now and defending us. If anybody can stop this evil, they can." Angie said, confident within her friends, while she and Lunamon lead them into the Gate Room, ushering them through, feeling relieved to see that they would all be safe and out of the reach of the Corrupted.
"Please take care, Angie. We're all thankful for yours and Mikey's help." Lillymon said with a sincere smile.
"I hope we can end this soon. I was planning to take a catnap." Beastmon yawned, smiling as she asked. "Do you think Mikey would like to join me?"
At the question, Lillymon noticed Angie's jealousy and quickly pushed Beastmon through the gate, quickly following after, ready to help the Digimon on the other side.
Angie felt herself smile happily, glad to be able to help so many Digimon.
However, the redhead then felt a chill down her spine, quickly turning just in time to see Nene's blank expression as she drew her blades, ready to cut her down.
"By order of the Dark Queen, you are to submit yourselves and become her slaves or I will destroy you..." Nene said in an empty tone, before she quickly brought her blades down, causing Angie to close her eyes and let out a shriek.
However, much to Angie's relief, the attack never came, as Jeremy quickly got between her and Nene, using the sword Mikey gave him to block Nene's blades.
"Sorry, Nene, but you're not going to..." Jeremy started to say, his tone filled with nobility, before stopping as he felt a huge rush of pain surge through his body, looking down to see that Nene had just kneed him in the one place he would rather remain unharmed amongst his entire body, causing him to fall over from the pain.
Seeing Jeremy down, Angie quickly let out a shirek as she grabbed Lunamon and quickly ran out the room, with Nene right behind her as she left Jeremy groaning in pain on the floor.
"Even for the bad guys, that was low..." Jeremy groaned, still in a fair amount of pain and knew he wouldn't be getting up anytime soon.
Meanwhile, Angie quickly rushed through the now empty hallways of the castle, carrying Lunamon in her arms, before eventually finding herself at the dead end of a hallway, where the redhead then to see Nene slowly walking up to her.
"You are not who the Dark Queen desires, Angie... just surrender and you will not be harmed..." Nene said, confusing Angie and causing her to think. 'If Kari doesn't want me, then why is Nene chasing me!? I don't have...'
But feeling Lunamon embracing her, hugging her tightly, Angie realized what Nene had been commanded to obtain.
"No, No! I won't give her up, I won't let Kari use Lunamon for her sick games!" Angie yelled out, know realizing that Kari wanted Lunamon as a way to get at Shoutmon, to turn the Digimon he loved against him.
"You refuse to relinquish Lunamon...? So be it..." Nene said back, as she began to slowly approach the redhead, keeping her twin swords aimed at Angie, which scared her, but for Lunamon, Angie remained strong.
Nene then brought her blades up, ready to strike down the redhead and take her and Lunamon captive for her Queen.
However, just as she brought them down, Nene's blades were blocked by two wooden swords, causing Nene, Angie and Lunamon to look up, surprise filling those with free wills to see Yasyamon blocking Nene's attack, causing her to jump back and get into a fighting stance before the puppet Digimon.
"Sorry I'm late, there's no real maps around this place." A confident voice said behind Nene, causing Angie to look over and see Ren standing behind her.
"Ren! Thank goodness you're here! I wasn't certain you'd come!" Angie said happily to the dark blue haired boy.
"Better late than never." Ren replied, resting his arms behind his head as he continued to give off a confident smile.
Hearing the sounds of running Digimon, coming to aid Lunamon, Nene was forced to retreat as a dark portal opened behind her, where she jumped back into as it closed, just as Jeremy and a few PawnChessmon came up, the brunette still panting with pain.
"What happened to you?" Ren asked Jeremy, noticing him slouching.
"Don't... ask..." Jeremy replied through his panting, while Angie did her best not to giggle at his expense.
-Outside-
Kari, meanwhile, sensed what had happened, knowing that Nene was forced to retreat, as well as the unexpected ally that came to the Fusion Fighters aid.
Enraged at the loss of her target, hoping to have used Lunamon to force Shoutmon's hand, Kari let out a cry of rage, raising her hands as portals opened around the battlefield, where Christopher, Marcus and the corrupted and enslaved Digimon all retreated into, leaving just Kari's Shadow and Lilithmon.
"That's right, run away." Tagiru teased and was about to revert Arresterdramon back to Gumdramon, thinking they had won their fight.
However, the group then felt the ground beneath them shake, before looking out in the distance, seeing a long row of Corrupted Machinedramon lining up, along with two massive Digimon, ones that the Tamers knew all too well.
"Lord Zhuqiaomon! Lord Baihumon!" Lopmon cried out from DATS HQ, seeing two of the Digimon Sovereigns now Corrupted and under the Dark Queen's thrall.
"Burn it all!" Kari commanded in rage.
"Phoenix Fire..." Zhuqiaomon declared, opening his mouth as a stream of fire shot out towards the castle.
"Bronze Cannon..." Baihumon followed up, gathering light within the orbs around its being and launching off a line of shots.
Along with the two Sovereigns, the Machinedramon army began firing energy blasts out of their cannons at the castle, which began to buckle and break apart from the continued attacks.
"We need to get out of here, now!" Thomas called out with a great seriousness in his voice, where the group turned to see Angie, Jeremy, Ren and Dracmon quickly running out of the castle.
"Everyone is safe, Lunamon was the last one out." Angie said, causing Shoutmon to let out a sigh of relief, before all the Digifused Digimon returned to their Fusion Loaders, while the DATS Digimon returned to their Rookie forms.
"Then let's get out of here." Mikey said as the group quickly left the castle grounds, just as it fell apart, leaving nothing but ruins and ash.
Lilithmon, while feeling satisfied to see Shoutmon's castle destroyed, kept her joy to herself as she looked at her Queen, feeling the rage coming off of her.
"I am not mad at you, Lilithmon..." Kari said, causing the demon Digimon to let out a sigh of relief, where the Dark Queen continued as she said. "Mikey merely caught me by surprise, the next time, no more games. Next time, they either bow to me, or we end them."
"As you wish, my Queen." Lilithmon said with a bow, smirking at the idea of finally ending Mikey and Shoutmon once and for all, watching the Dark Queen's Shadow disappear, before Lilithmon returned herself to the Dark Fortress, smirking as she watched the Dark Storm spread overhead.
-DATS-
"That was close you guys." Tai said to the group once they were back and resting in the briefing room, though each of the guys silently took pity on Jeremy as he placed an ice pack on his lower region, each shivering at the thought of being hit there.
"We seem to be lucky that Kari's new personality has such a short temper, though I'm not sure if that'll work in our favour or make things worse." Mikey replied as he sat back in the chair, where Angie was resting next to him, exhausted from the ordeal she went through.
"Well, if you guys need me again, and I'm sure you will, give me another call." Ren said as he walked out, ready to head home, while the other's rolled their eyes at his overconfidence.
"I'll get back to work with Hypnos, see what we can do with the Antivirus." Thomas said, before Miki informed. "They've had help since you left."
This confused Thomas, before he looked and saw Suzie at his computer terminal, talking to her father, deep in conversation as she asked. "Dad, wouldn't this equation work better?"
"I... yes, actually..." Janyu replied from his end in surprise, amazed at how his youngest daughter was picking up on coding, remembering that only five years ago, all she wanted was to play with dolls.
Feeling eyes looking at her back, Suzie turned and saw most of the group looking at her, each surprised to see how smart she really was, before she asked in a frustrated and annoyed voice. "What!? I'm not going to just sit back here and wait, Kari has control of two of the Sovereigns now, and we don't know where Azulongmon or Ebonwumon are. Kari almost has the entire Digital World under her control, we can't keep delaying here!"
"We're doing what we can, Suzie..." Takato said as he approached the young girl, placing a gentle hand on her shoulder as he continued. "And as much as I hate to say it, we can't wait around much longer either, soon we're going to have to hit Kari where she lives, with or without the Antivirus."
"Let's hope it doesn't come to that." Tai said, not wanting to resort to the most extreme means of dealing with his corrupted sister, as well as knowing that, despite the victories that they have had, the group was still out matched by Kari and her slaves.
Little did any of them know, however, help would be coming soon, in a way they never even imagined.