A Shadow Falls Long
888
Wallace staggered backward. The wind was cold around him and he fell and his bottom bounced and he looked down to see his butt sitting on a plush brick. He looked up the shadow of the monster was standing above him. Wallace slid slightly backward.
The beast slowly reached forward with its massive paws. "Wa-lul-ace…"
Wallace's blue eyes narrowed. "That's…my name-"
"Wa-lul-ace!" the beast crowed as he lifted his round head and his floppy ears flapped back and forth.
"Is…is it you?" Wallace asked as he stood up. He slowly reached forward. "Lop-mon?"
"So that's where you went?" a voice rang out from above Wallace. Wallace spun around to see a man standing on one of the towers of blocks. He wore black robes, his arms were folded behind his back. The man's icy eyes glared down. "I didn't tell you to get another one." The man leapt landing astutely on the bouncy ground the long ponytail landed over his shoulder. He walked forward, glaring down at Wallace. "Ah I see, so you retrieved this one then?"
"What did you do to Lopmon?" Wallace growled glaring up at the man.
"The digimon was introduced to a virus a mutation occurred-" The man said as he walked closer.
"The Kuramon-" Wallace said as he turned and looked back to the monster. The beast was looking down at him like a massive puppy.
"The virus of course freed the digimon from the deepest evil there could be." The man said as he lifted a hand. "Now it is no longer suffering." The man stood before Wallace and looked down at him. Wallace gulped slightly. "Now, let's free you, dear little human!"
"N-O!" the monster behind Wallace growled. A massive forearm smashed down between Wallace and the man. The man growled and took a step back. "Wa-lul-ace - MINE!"
"I see-" the man said quietly. He narrowed his cold eyes. "Somehow there's still a little fragment of attachment inside of you, hmm? Some residual-"
"Lopmon, are you still in there?" Wallace said looking up at the monster, his eyes tearing up as he looked up at the beast. "You can fight it! I know you can!" Wallace fished the D-3 out of his pants' pocket. "See, remember, it's me Wallace! You have to fight it!"
"You cannot resist." The man growled to the monster. He glared at the beast. "You know better than anyone, what you are, what this is. You know there's no winning, there's no losing, there's no fighting. You know that this foolish display is futile…be calm!"
Wallace yelped as he was grabbed up in the creature's massive paw and the monster leapt away from the man. Soon enough they were standing on a high tower. The man was standing down on the ground staring at them. He lifted his hand, a finger pressed against his thumb. The crack of the finger snap echoed through the village of plush toys. Almost instantaneously two digimon appeared at the beast's sides. One some kind of llama with kendo swords, the other a star shaped digimon. The two launched themselves at Wallace and the beast. Wallace was again grabbed by the beast, a wind so cold and pure burned across him and the next thing he knew he was on the ground and the beast was roaring loudly as two more digimon rushed him, one was a Monochromon the other Coelamon. The beast's heavy arms whipped forward extending, grabbing the two digimon and lifting them into the air, smashing them together and tossing them away. Balls of fire exploded downwards and Wallace looked up to see a murky crimson man composed of flames tossing fire at them. The beast shielded Wallace and lifted its head opening its maw and belching black blast of energy up to the Meramon. A zebra charged them with a sparking horn. The beast snarled and slapped the horned equine away.
"Lopmon, are you ok?" Wallace asked looking up at the creature.
"Wa-lul-ace, mine-mine, WALULACE MINE!" the monster roared loudly. Wallace covered his ears from the volume as the monster roared almost as if in a tantrum.
Pteramon and Airdramon roared from on high. The beast howled and leapt into the air, grabbing the flying digimon and tossing them angrily to the ground. The monster then came roaring to the ground smashing down in front of the man in black robes. The beast glared at the man and roared loudly in the man's face. The beast clenched a massive fist and swung. Wallace blinked, the man stepped aside of the fist and forward, forcefully putting his palm on the beast's head.
"Enough of this." The man said calmly.
The monster whined loudly as something dark an powerful swarmed over him, covering the beast before disappearing. The monster seemed to slump slightly forward as the man looked straight into the beast's eyes. The beast turned looking at Wallace. Wallace gulped and in the swallowing the beast materialized in front of him. Wallace turned to run but the paw of the monster had him by the waist and was lifting him up.
"Lopmon! Lopmon! Help! Please! Stop this!" Wallace screamed as he struggled in the monster's hand. "You have to fight it! It's me! It's Wallace!"
The monster trudged slowly, silently towards the man in black. The monster lowered Wallace to the man's eye-level. The man looked at Wallace and then to the D-3.
"Could it be? We never took the devices…" The man said. "We simply took the children, but once they were ours it was simple, could it be that this is what led my dear friend astray…"
"Lopmon's not your friend, you've done something to him!" Wallace shouted, he looked up at the beast. "Lopmon, please! Help, you did it before, fight it!"
"Silence, you mewling cancer." The man growled, he grabbed Wallace by the front of his shirt and Wallace was yanked forward and looked at the man. The man took a deep breath. "There is nothing left, no more to fight, the digimon is free, it is one with me, and you will be, too. Now look deep into my eyes-"
"GARGO LASER!" shouted the familiar voice of Gargomon.
The man released Wallace and leapt backward as pellets of green energy strafed the ground between Wallace and the man. The rabbit in jeans rushed forward and leapt spinning and landing a kick on the beast. The monster staggered backward and in doing so released Wallace from its grip. Wallace was caught as he fell and looked up to see his own face, or rather the face of his twin.
"Willis!" Wallace said quickly.
"Are you ok?" Willis said as he looked up. Gargomon was firing on the monster.
"Yeah, I'm fine…" Wallace said as he looked up. "But-it's Lopmon-"
"Lopmon?" Willis said as he looked at the monster. "You mean that thing?"
"I think it's him!" Wallace said sharply. "He got transformed by that guy and those Kuramon…"
There was a loud smashing as the beast drove Gargomon crashing through a tower of plush blocks. Gargomon exploded out of the pile of blocks and landed in front of the twins.
"He's stronger than he should be!" Gargomon grumbled as he looked up at the beast as it weaved back and forth towards them, its arms dangling limply in front of him, its tongue lolling as it tilted its head left then right. Gargomon lifted his left arm, the machine gun clicked.
"Take them, take them both!" the man in black robes shouted. The boys looked back to see the man lift his arm and snap his fingers. The digimon from before that were lying beaten on the ground rose to their feet. The llama swordsman and the star leapt to the man's side.
"Right, this isn't looking good." Willis said looking around him.
"I can't fight them all." Gargomon said frantically pointing his gun arm at the gang of digimon, vaguely centering his attention on the beast that was lolling towards them.
Wallace looked at the monster. "Please, Lopmon you have to snap out of it!"
"WA-LUL-ACE!" the monster roared. "Get Wa-lul-ace!"
The gang of digimon charged the twins. Wallace felt his arm jerk as he was pulled. Willis was pulling him along. Gargomon opened fire blowing a hole in the ranks that Willis rushed through in the chaos. Gargomon leapt over the Monochromon, using its frill as a push off and sailed over the monster's head. The rabbit then ran after Willis and Wallace.
"There's a digi-port nearby!" Willis shouted, as he pulled Wallace. "We can use it to get home!"
"But it's Lopmon!" shouted Wallace.
"No it isn't, not anymore!" shouted Willis as they pushed through underbrush. "Whatever that thing is, it's only trying to hurt you!"
"No, he tried to protect me!" Wallace cried as they emerged into an opening. Wallace pulled free of Willis. "Lopmon tried to fight it, we have to try and get him back!"
"We don't have to try and get him back, he's coming right for us!" Gargomon yelped as the rabbit burst into the clearing turning and firing back in the direction he'd come.
"We don't have time for this!" Willis shouted lifting his D-3 to the computer monitor lying haphazardly on the ground. "Digi-port open!"
The light flooded around Wallace, Willis was already diving into the screen, Gargomon was right behind him. Willis turned and leapt for the screen; he was nearly there and then the massive paw of the monster caught him by the ankle. Wallace was yanked upward dangling from the noodly arm of the monster as it looked up at him with a most uncanny smile. The light from the port faded as the monster's arm retracted and Wallace was brought in close.
"Good work-" The forest seemed to part as the man walked into the clearing. Wallace struggled in the monster's grip and as he did his D-3 fell from his pants' pocket, falling to the ground. The man walked forward and picked it up. He turned to the beast. "Come now, then, let us show our guest to his friends…"
888
"No, Willis, calm down!" Koushiro said into the phone. He held out the phone as a burst of broken Japanese shouted from the speaker. It was interspersed with English that Koushiro could only assume wasn't polite. Koushiro looked up and saw the others walk into his office. The older kids looked around for their partners as the younger kids had theirs in their arms, some of the younger kids' digimon seemed to have difficulty getting into the server such that only DemiVeemon and Minomon were still in the server, so he had sent the other younger kids' digimon home with the kids, only Agumon and Gabumon had a similar issue from the older kids and Taichi and Yamato had opted to leave them with Koushiro. He swallowed as he listened to the phone. Koushiro took a deep breath. "Willis, we'll find him, we'll get him back, we're going over now…"
Koushiro hung the phone up and slumped into his chair.
"What's going on?" Yamato asked as he walked forward.
"Wallace, they came for him." Koushiro said.
"Oh no…" Mimi gasped.
"Willis went after him on his own, Wallace apparently developed some kind of D-3 tracer program to follow D-3 signals through to the Digital World…" Koushiro said as he held his head in his hands. He slowly shook his head. "I don't think I quite believe it."
"What?" Taichi said the brunette walked forward.
"If what he said is true." Koushiro looked up at Taichi. "I think, Gennai might be behind this…"
"Wait, Gennai, like Jedi knight, Obi-wan Kenobi Gennai?" Daisuke said as he looked at the older kids.
"He has to be mistaken, right?" Iori said as he sat down, Upamon rested at his feet.
"I thought Gennai was one of the good guys?" Miyako said, as she looked down at Poyomon who had come in with her.
"He is!" Koushiro said fervently. He took a deep breath. "but-"
"But what?" Yamato asked crossing his arms.
"It just would fit…" Koushiro said as he looked up. "The silence and everything."
"But would it be this sudden?" Sora said the auburn haired girl looked at everyone else. "You said he was very chatty until recently…"
"It's hard telling, Gennai has always been…" Koushiro looked up and waggled his hand in the air.
"He has a past of having plans that he doesn't let us in on." Ken said the lavender haired boy looked to the computer monitors that filled the office. "And the Digital World's modus operandi has been to kidnap kids with no warning…"
"Not like this…" Everyone turned to see Jyou walking forward.
"You came after all." Mimi cheered.
"I didn't have a choice once this one bounced out of my dad's work computer." Jyou said pointing to Gomamon hopping at his side. He turned his attention to the screens. "From what I can gather from the papers, and the news, this doesn't feel like the Digital World…something about it feels more sinister than that."
"I don't know, the Digital World kind of snagged us at camp…out of the blue." Taichi said.
"Yeah but we were given the choice…" Sora said. "The digivices may have chose us, but we chose to grab the digivices…"
"And we were at school." Miyako said.
"But again, we chose to take the D-3s…" Iori said.
"And I was at my bedroom when it came for me…kinda like these kids…" Ken said as he lifted his black D-3. "But it was ultimately my choice to go…"
"Yeah but that was the Dark Ocean and it wanted to turn you evil!" Mimi said in a cheery voice.
The other kids looked at Mimi like she had stabbed someone. Ken tightened his grip on the D-3.
"I think that may have been his point, Mimi…" Koushiro said quietly.
"I agree with Jyou-" Hikari said walking forward Salamon was resting in her arms. "This feels…cold in a way that the Digital World just isn't…"
"Nor does this feel like the Dark Ocean-" Ken said narrowing his eyes. "I don't know why I feel that way but it just doesn't feel like that kind of thing, I was lured, these kids I can almost be assured were taken."
"Either way, it sounds like we're not just going in to find Gennai, it sounds like this may be a rescue mission." Takeru said, looking to the others, he held Tokomon in his arms. "Any ideas?"
"Well, Willis has been tracking the D-3 signature since he returned." Koushiro said as he turned. A map blinked onto one of the monitors. "Willis found his brother on File Island…and now the D-3 is all the way over here…"
"That's halfway across the world!" Iori gasped looking at the screen.
"On the Continent of Server…" Jyou said adjusting his glasses.
"That's near where Myotismon's castle was…" Sora said looking at the map. The others shivered.
"It was Gennai's people's castle first, Myotismon just took up residence when the Order was disbanded-" Koushiro said looking back.
"Disbanded? You mean slaughtered right?" Yamato said, frowning, before Sora jabbed him in the ribs with an elbow.
"So we go to the castle!" Daisuke said as he pulled out his D-3.
"Wait!" Koushiro said sharply. "Undoubtedly they've worked out that Willis tracked the D-3…"
"Oh…" Daisuke said.
"So the D-3 signal could be a trap." Iori said, narrowing his eyes.
"Quite possibly." Koushiro said quietly.
"Doesn't change anything." Daisuke said finally. He looked over at the others. "That's the only lead we've got; right?"
"Hold up…" Taichi said, putting his hand on Daisuke's short brown hair. "Maybe we shouldn't go in all guns blazing…" Taichi looked to the others. "Us older kids, we'll go, if things get iffy, we'll send an SOS or something, then you guys come in…"
"But…" Daisuke started.
"He's right, if we all go in, and things go south, there won't be anyone who would know where to look…" Ken said looking at Daisuke, putting his hand on Daisuke's shoulder.
"Right then…" Yamato said as he looked at the younger digi-destined. His eyes met Takeru's. "Hopefully we won't need you, but if we do…then…well…I trust you to come for us."
"I've got a position for us to meet up with our partners. Earlier I sent Agumon and Gabumon in to scout out stuff for our planned expedition, so they are already there." Koushiro said, turning to the screens. "Ken, it's up to you to get the rest of our partners to that location. Biyomon, Tentomon and Palmon are in the server with Minomon and DemiVeemon. The program's designed to be idiot proof…Daisuke could use it…so I think you should be more than capable…"
"HEY!" Daisuke yelled.
"He's not wrong…" Takeru giggled slightly. "Last time you tried to play solitaire on your computer you nearly deleted the entire operating system…"
Koushiro turned and opened the files for the Digital Port program. Taichi pushed forward and lifted his D-3. Koushiro took a deep breath and the light blazed from the screen as the portal opened.
888
The children stood up and walked forward into the clearing. Taichi looked around and frowned.
"What happened to this place?" Sora asked as she walked to the edge what had been a lake. The water was gone, replaced by a thick ooze of black sludge. The surrounding shoreline was brown with dead grass and rotting flowers, the brown was spreading from the center.
"Then we can confirm, something bad is going on with Gennai…" Jyou said as he knelt down next to the lake. "I mean this was the lake with the house."
"Is it possible, could Gennai have turned bad?" Yamato asked.
"Or has something got to him?" Mimi asked looking up at the sky. She hugged her shoulders. The sky was gray and dismal looking. "Is it me or does it feel…"
"Cold-" Taichi said looking around.
"Tai!" came a delightful voice. Taichi turned to see Agumon running towards him arms open. The little dinosaur leapt up and hugged Taichi. Taichi staggered backward as the dinosaur hugged him.
Yamato was soon in a similar condition. The digi-port flared to life and soon Mimi, Koushiro and Sora were equally afflicted. Jyou was still kneeling next to the lake, Gomamon was at his side, staring at the ooze. Jyou slowly and gently lifted his hand and put it on Gomamon's head.
"But he was building a dam…" Gomamon said looking up at Jyou.
"I know, buddy…" Jyou said.
"I told him to get out of here, told him it was silly to dam up a lake…he should've found a stream…" Gomamon started to blubber. "Jim, you dummy! Why didn't you go somewhere that needed a dam!?"
Jyou hugged Gomamon as the little seal cried into his chest.
"We searched out the area, but we didn't find anything." Gabumon said, he looked around. "No sign of a fight or a struggle, just…this."
"It's like someone or something is sucking the life out of the Digital World." Koushiro said as he knelt down and pulled at the brown grass. The torn grass sparkled and fizzled into a black and white static before melting into brown goo that slipped through Koushiro's hand.
"EWW!" Mimi yelped watching as Koushiro looked in horror at his hand.
"What could cause this?" Jyou asked as he looked up. "Where's Gennai?"
"Who knows…" Koushiro said, frowning. He took out his D-3. He stood and pointed into the forest. "Wallace's signal is this way…"
888
Wallace walked slowly forward. To his side was the man in the dark robes. Behind him the group of digimon that had helped apprehend him, foremost of them the beast that had been Lopmon. They had arrived at a castle, old, thick brick walls. Towers and flying buttresses reaching into the sky on the outside on the inside, dust, spider webs, shadows.
"This was at one time the hub of the Digital World…" The man said as he pushed open a pair of heavy rout iron doors. That swung open with the sickening whine of rust and age. "This place connected this world to all the others…every corner of creation attainable from this room." The man stopped as he turned to Wallace. The gloom from the outside bled into high windows barely showing the man's face. "In the wrong hands, this room could be the most dangerous place in all of Digital World."
The man lifted his hand and snapped his fingers. Suddenly torches flashed to life ringing the room with the shafts of wavering firelight. Wallace gasped slightly as he looked around him. The room was populated by children. They were standing heads bowed, eyes closed. Wallace ran up to one, a boy, he recognized him from a year ago.
"Simon!" Wallace said grabbing the boy and shaking him by the shoulders but the boy didn't rouse, didn't respond. He continued to limply stand as if in some stupor. Wallace spun around. "What did you do?"
"I have done nothing." The man said as he walked past Wallace, towards a podium in the middle of the room, a huge door framing him as he walked towards it. "Nothing has been done to these children. The man stood at the podium and laid his hands on its surface. "All that has happened is a change of perspective. They have seen the truth…and it was terrific."
"Release them!" Wallace shouted. "Give everyone back!"
"More of this, this…aggression." The man sighed quietly. The man took a deep breath and then looked up. "I will never understand this, but fine, if you wish…"
The man lifted his hand and snapped his fingers. Almost instantaneously the children dropped to their knees. Each and every one of them, crying, bawling, screaming. Their hands grabbing the sides of their heads, or their stomachs. Some fell over, sobbing in terror and fear and grief.
"What…?" Wallace turned looking at them. He dropped down next to Simon. The boy was dark haired, was wearing a red shirt, Wallace knew him from a year ago, they had repelled dragons from the city hall of Salt Lake City, protecting a camp of refugees. Simon had then been sent off with the refugees to escape to the north. They'd lost touch but Wallace always remembered him. He reached out to the boy. "Simon, what's wrong?"
"Please…please…stop it! STOP IT!" Simon cried almost thrashing under Wallace's touch. The boy grabbed his head and buried his face into the ground. "LET ME GO BACK!"
"Stop what?" Wallace asked in confusion. Wallace shook his head. "Go where?"
"Stop the suffering…" The man said, walking from the podium, towards Wallace. The man looked sadly to the children as they thrashed. "To return to the state of peace and silence…"
Wallace looked up at the man and stood to his feet clenching his fists. "What did you do?"
"I did nothing but show them the truth, and that gave them peace and quiet." the man said. He swept his hand out to the children. "Listen to them, listen to the pain, to the aching, the fear, the rage and the suffering, what you ask of me is to continue that. This is what you asked for…will you allow it to continue?"
Wallace turned and looked around him, to the children listening to them crying in pain and suffering. Wallace narrowed his eyes. "Put them back…to the way they were when we came in…."
The man nodded slightly and snapped his fingers. The children's screaming ceased, they calmed and within seconds they were standing again, in limp silence.
"See, isn't that much better?" The man asked as he looked at the children in peace. "All I am doing is giving out truth and offering endless peace. Yet you would interfere…Digimon, humans, all things, constantly suffer. Constantly under stress, in pain, pain you don't even recognize you are so used to it…that you become numb to its existence; you have to become numb to it, lest it turn you mad from the constant bombardment. Each existence is nothing but suffering, from a pebble to a person…you delude yourselves into such nightmares of existence…"
"And I suppose you have an answer for it?" Wallace growled, glaring at the man.
"No, my dear boy, I am the answer for it." The man said as he took a step forward reaching towards Wallace. "Let me share the truth with you, it won't hurt…"
"You stay the hell away from me!" Wallace shouted taking a step back.
"Lopmon, yes, that's what you called it." The man said as he looked up. A breath of wind later the beast was standing behind him. "Its sorrow is because of you, just like all these other digimon."
"What are you talking about?" Wallace growled.
"I can hear it, even now, even though it knows the truth it strives and hungers to be with you." The man said, looking up at the creature. "All of its desire is to be at your side, to see you safe. It knows your pain, your suffering, your strife….it is horribly pained by it."
"Lop-mon…" Wallace looked up at the creature.
"I can rejoin you with Lopmon, I can end that pain, I can end it all…" The man said, as he looked down at Wallace. "All you have to do is look into my eyes…"
"No, it's a con, Lopmon!" Wallace shouted.
"No, it is not." The man said calmly, quietly. "You saw it with your own eyes. I do not lie, I bring only truth…"
Wallace turned looking at the children peaceful in whatever stupor they were in. Their digimon likewise calm. Even the beast looked calm, if pained as it looked at him.
"You can help me, Wallace." The man said. "Just like all the children. You can help bring everyone to the truth, it can start with you. All you have to do is look into my eyes and accept the truth…"
Wallace gulped and looked up at the beast. It seemed to reach out towards him, as if beckoning him forward. Deep in his heart, Wallace missed Lopmon. He looked at the man, he took a step forward.
"You can reunite me with Lopmon?" Wallace asked.
"Yes, I can bring you closer in a way you have never been before." The man said quietly, reaching out. Wallace reached out and took his hand. The man smiled. "Now, look into my eyes…and see the truth…"
Wallace looked. The man's eyes were dark, and then they were darker. Wallace felt the wave of it wash over him, no, not him…not…anything in his head he knew he knew…There was a jolt. Wallace staggered falling to the ground. He turned his head.
The heavy doors they had gone through blew off their hinges as a tyrannosaur with a horned face mask belched fire. Between its legs six teenagers were running. Behind the dinosaur was a blue tiger-striped wolf, a walking cactus, a white walrus, a blue rhinoceros beetle. A flaming bird rose up filling the ceiling. Wallace spun turning to the man, a wry grin played on his face.
"Wallace!" he heard a girl shout and before he could react he was deep into Mimi's chest, blushing bright red.
"Are you ok?" Koushiro was asking but Wallace was still in a daze as the other boys that stormed in marched towards the man. Koushiro looked up. "It is Gennai…why?"
"These other kids, look ok, physically speaking…but…" the oldest boy was looking at the other kids, "but they aren't ok, I mean they aren't normal…"
"What the hell, Gennai?" The older blonde boy shouted.
The man turned to the newcomers. He folded his arms behind his back as the beast that was Lopmon growled menacingly. Wallace soon became aware that other digimon were now in the room. The kidnapped kids' digimon had evolved.
"I am not Gennai." The man said quietly. "Though I can see where you would be mistaken, I am…borrowing Gennai for the moment."
"Then who are you?" Koushiro asked standing up, and looking to the man.
"It doesn't matter." the brunette with the goggles slung around his neck said. "You're going to give up the kids, you're going to return the digimon, you're going to leave Gennai, and you're going to stop whatever plan you are working on and go away!"
"I see." The man said turning and staring down the brunette's glare. The man's dark eyes sliced over to Wallace. "Am I? And if I don't?"
"We'll make you." The brunette said.
"Tai…" The auburn haired girl said looking over at him.
"I was in the process of sending the children back to the human world when you smashed in on us." The man said turning from Tai and walking towards the podium. "If you would've only been patient…"
"Don't…" Wallace said as he slowly got to his feet. He could still half remember everything when he stared into the man's…no, he wasn't a man, into its eyes. The other digi-destined looked to Wallace as he staggered to his feet. "They're infected…"
The man narrowed his eyes and lifted his hand and clenched it into a fist. Wallace felt his throat tighten and he dropped to his knees.
"Now you've ruined the surprise." The man said as his free hand slid over the podium, cards slid over the slots. The massive doors at the back of the room washed open a great wind swirled.
The kidnapped children suddenly snapped from their dormancy and turned slowly. They started to walk towards the opening gateway. The digi-destined moved to get in the way only to find themselves blocked by the kidnapped digimon. Wallace winced as he saw the beast that was Lopmon drop down in front of Mimi. As if by instinct the giant cactus smashed its gloved fists into the beast which snarled and brought its club like arms up pummeled the cactus. The other kidnapped digimon advanced, the digi-destined's digimon were outnumbered but with a little fanfare the group of destined digimon glowed, evolved and emerged at a higher level.
Wallace felt his throat loosen he yelped. "Please stop!"
The digimon fought. Wallace went unheeded. Wallace turned and saw the man lift his hand, he saw his own D-3 held high, the color sucked from it. The kidnapped kids' digimon became fuzzy with static and then melted lifting into the air as a sickly static cloud that swirled and twisted and then fell crashing over the beast that had been Lopmon. The beast roared loudly, it was a howl of pain and suffering and everyone backed away as the monster grew and changed.
"It looks like a Cherubimon-" Koushiro said, as the creature re-emerged from the static.
The monster had huge Popeye-like arms, with large fleshy clawed hands. A frill with jangles on their tips wreathed its neck as its simple oval head snarled. Large ears flopped from the peak of the head. The top heavy body was dark purple and sickly green.
The monster lifted its fist and smashed it down in front of the children. Instinctually Metal Greymon and WereGarurumon reverted to their Rookie forms and within seconds were launching forward as Metal Garurumon and WarGreymon. The dark Cherubimon roared in rage and flung the two Mega Digimon away from it and reached again for the children. Wallace gasped as the other children's digimon DNA digivolved and blasted the monster.
"Face it!" Taichi shouted loudly to the man. "You are outnumbered! Don't make us do something we'll regret!"
"Outnumbered you say?" The man smirked as he looked up. WarGreymon and Metal Garurumon were launching themselves once more into the fray. "I think you need to count…"
The man lifted his hand up and snapped his fingers. WarGreymon and Metal Garurumon froze in place. They groaned. WarGreymon held his head, Metal Garurumon was shaking his head.
"WarGreymon!" Taichi shouted.
"Metal Garurumon!" The blonde yelled.
"Those Kuramon were a near perfect vector…" The man said quietly. "A trojan horse, inside the trojan horse. I assumed you creatures would appreciate the needless complexity." WarGreymon and Metal Garurumon landed behind the man faces blank as if mesmerized. The man walked from behind the podium. "Unfortunately, for whatever reason your digimon showed a resistance to the infection, I couldn't summon them from a distance, nonetheless the infection laid dormant but present waiting for me to get close enough. Lopmon, however, not only was he pliant, he served to be the most ingenious incubator for the virus, unfortunate in that it mutated him. But better yet was its compulsion to get its partner, and with him a D-3…which has opened a whole new world to me!" The man turned and pointed to the giant turtle and the massive phoenix in the spacious room. "Capture them, infect them."
Before anyone could react WarGreymon had smashed a clawed fist into the face of the turtle digimon knocking it off its feet. The phoenix likewise found an exploding canister in its face icing its entire torso and bringing it crashing to the ground.
"JumboGamemon!" shouted Koushiro
"Valdurmon!" Mimi cried.
With a breath of air the Cherubimon appeared above both Mega digimon. Its massive arms smashed down pressing its hands onto the Mega digimons' heads. The man walked forward and stood in front of Taichi.
"Now, my monster, secure the Chosen Ones." The man said, looking down at the teenagers. Taichi took a step back.
"Lopmon don't!" shouted Wallace but to no avail.
The massive digimon pointed and black spheres flew grabbing the six children, engulfing them. The man turned and walked to Wallace.
"I think, we have more truth to see." the man said as he grabbed Wallace by the front of his shirt and lifted him to eye level. "Look into my eyes."
888
"It's been too long." Miyako said pacing.
"It's only been a couple of hours." Iori said as he sat in one of the chairs.
"No message, no check in though!" Miyako retorted hotly.
"Calm down, it's fine." Daisuke said waving it off. "I mean how bad could it be…"
"All of this world will fall-" Everyone turned as the words came from Hikari's mouth. The children and digimon winced as the room filled with a light glow.
"Hikari…" Daisuke started.
"No-" Takeru said. That was when the door to Koushiro's office opened.
"It's you!" The children turned to see Maki Himekawa standing in the doorway.
"The Chosen Ones are compromised-" Hikari's body stood up.
"See, something did go wrong! We gotta go!" Miyako yelped.
"No!" Hikari's head turned and she looked at Miyako. "Destiny has failed. It is now time for direct intervention."
Suddenly the light disappeared and Hikari collapsed.
"Kari!" Daisuke yelped as he dove to catch her. "What the hell was that?" Daisuke yelped as he looked at Kari's unconscious face.
"It happened last year, remember-" Iori said as he looked down to Daisuke.
"It happened, when we were in the Digital World the first time, too-" Takeru said, furrowing his brows. "We never did know what it was only some kind protecting spirit…"
"It's the being that maintains balance and promotes growth and evolution, it is the steady heartbeat of existence, the life breath of life itself, it is the homeostasis of Digital World." Maki said as the woman walked forward and examined Hikari. "It usually only reaches out in the form of a possessing spirit to a person most pure of heart."
"It said direct intervention-" Ken said looking at the computer screens. "What does that mean?"
"Shakamon is materializing herself…" Maki said.
888
AN: Sorry for the wait peeps. This chapter was really hard to get out because it was at the fork in a road. Again sorry for the wait!