Digimon: Cyber Wars

by Thireven

Six DigiDestined and their digital partners find themselves as the only ones who can save both the Digital World and the Human World from the army of the accursed Demon Lord. It's going to be harder than they think.

58. 57 - A Battle of Great Valor

The doors to the throne room flew open with an accompanying shout of, "Master Laylamon!"

Laylamon turned to see that the source of the intrusion was none other than Datamon. His single organic eye was widened in fright as he scurried up to her. Waving his arms about, Datamon began spouting out incoherent babbles. The first few calm requests Laylamon made went unheard by the frantic Digimon. Thoroughly annoyed by him, she grabbed him by the arms and hoisted him into the air. There was a moment of silence from him before he began again. She bared her fangs at him, leaning close to his face as she spoke in a tone of voice that was low and angry.

"What is it?"

Sputtering, he attempted to answer. A pointed look from Laylamon made him swallow.

Finally gaining enough confidence, he shouted, "I-it's the Resistance! They're closing in on the island!"

Setting him down, she took in a deep breath.

She hadn't expected the Resistance to catch word of it so quickly.

Datamon had started rambling once again. Throwing his arms around dramatically, he shifted back and forth from muttering to shouting several times even when Laylamon narrowed her eyes at him.

Growing tired of his blubbering, she snapped. "Enough!"

It was enough of a shock to make him close his mouth for a few seconds.

His voice wavered as he struggled to remain calm. "What are we going to do?"

That was a question that she wasn't sure she could answer. She had known that ordering her troops to regroup on the island had been a gamble. The decision to recall her forces had been made when she realized that it was the only thing that could be done. They had suffered too many losses. If she had attempted to send out anymore groups, it would have led to another defeat. Yet the possibility of the Resistance taking advantage of it had slipped her mind when considering the risks. That mistake had further derailed her plans. The whole reason she had made the order was because of their recent losses. The Resistance leaders were competent planners who no doubt made numerous plans to secure their victory. She had all but ensured that they would lose once again.

At this point there was no hope that her forces would win. Still, the final stage of her plan was close to being ready to be initiated. She had come too far to surrender even if defeat was inevitable. She was not going to throw all her work away.

"Give the order to intercept them. Those restricted to land are to protect the island. We will not go down without a fight."

"A-as you wish, ma'am," Datamon mumbled. "Anything else?"

There was one other order she considered giving him. As tempting as it was, she decided against it; it served no purpose and would be detrimental. She shook her head and waved him off.

Deep down she knew that this would be her final fight. Either she would be captured by the enemy or killed. The least she could do was put up a fight.

~0~

A wave smacked against the ship, making it rock. Beelzemon inhaled and raised a hand to grab hold of the ship's railing. The longer he was on the ship, the more he wanted to be off it. He was used to being transported by other Digimon. The constant rocking of the ship was unsettling and making him feel nauseous. Though he was tempted to ask Garudamon if she would be willing to carry him, he knew it wouldn't go over well with her or her partner. With a resigned sigh, he leaned against the railing.

"Seasick?"

He raised his head and was surprised to see Mervamon standing there with her hands on her hips. Not once had he considered the possibility that the two would cross paths again. Now that he was face-to-face with her once more, he had no idea what to say. Though she didn't outwardly appear to be angry, he knew better than to make assumptions based on how someone carried themselves.

"I'm guessing you've never really been on a ship before," she said.

Unsure of how to reply, he grunted and looked down at the waves below.

"I was pretty surprised when they told me you were joining us. Never thought I'd ever be fighting alongside you."

"Likewise."

There was a frown on her face when she looked at him, but she shrugged. "Well, whatever your reason is, I'm glad you're on our side now." She paused for a moment, scrunching up her face. "Why did you change your mind?"

"Mikami made me realize I was fighting for the wrong side."

"That's good to hear."

Smiling, she placed a hand on his shoulder only for him to pull away. Tempted as she was to say something about it—maybe make fun of him for it—she decided against it and turned her head when she saw JewelBeemon approaching.

"Why are you talking to him?"

"Why wouldn't I?" With a playful smirk, she leaned over and nudged him in the side. "What's wrong? Jealous?"

Clearly flustered, JewelBeemon said, "Of course not! I have no reason to be."

As the two talked, Beelzemon turned around to lean his back against the railing. Mervamon shifted her attention back to him. Reaching out, she jabbed him hard in the chest with her finger.

"I still want a rematch with you someday. Just a friendly duel, of course." She narrowed her eyes as she leaned closer to him. "Unless you decide to pull any stunts."

As he moved back, he raised his hands but said nothing. Her attitude towards him had him too confused to respond to her.

Then, with a loud laugh, Mervamon slapped him on the back. "I'm kidding! What's on your mind?"

"I'm…confused by your friendliness. You should be angry with me, and rightfully so."

"I am angry at you for the things you did. Many innocent Digimon were hurt by you." Though she noticed him flinch, she continued. "But we're allies now, so there's no point in bickering with each other. We all need to be united for this fight."

"I suppose you're right."

"Of course I'm right."

"Mervamon," JewelBeemon said, exasperated.

"What?"

All conversation halted as BanchoLeomon yelled out, "Attention everyone!" Everyone focused their gaze on him as he shouted, "Enemies incoming! Prepare for battle!"

As everyone scrambled to their positions, Beelzemon headed to the front of the ship. Much to his surprise, both Mervamon and JewelBeemon joined him, with Mervamon standing at his side and JewelBeemon on her other side. She drew her sword and set it against her shoulder.

"Good luck."

"Same to you," he said.

With a smirk on her face, she tilted her head towards him. "I don't need luck."

He chuckled. "Sure."

All three of them moved back to get a running start and then jumped off the ship in different directions.

Beelzemon landed on the back of an Okuwamon. It immediately tried to get him off by rolling, but he grabbed a handful of its hair to hold on. As it flipped upside down during the second roll, he drew his gun and fired at the bug's head. Shoving his gun into its holster, he prepared to let himself drop into the water. Just let go of the disintegrating Digimon, he felt something crash into him. He caught a glimpse of the Parrotmon responsible before his vision was obscured by water. A brief wave of pain went through him at the moment of impact, but it was quick to pass. He righted himself and began swimming to the surface.

H stopped when he noticed something underneath him.

A shape passed by in the murky darkness. Then the face of a WaruSeadramon appeared. It slammed its head into him, throwing him out of the water and into the air. There was a moment of weightlessness where he briefly stopped moving, then he began to fall straight towards the WaruSeadramon's open mouth. Before it had a chance to eat him, a silver blur hit WaruSeadramon in the head. The stunned sea serpent swayed to the side. A hand grabbed hold of his wrist, making him come to an abrupt stop. Staring downwards, Beelzemon watched a MegaSeadramon wrap itself around the WaruSeadramon. While more WaruSeadramon began to surface, Zudomon and his forces surged forward to attack.

"You should be more careful."

He raised his head to see that Dorugoramon was the one carrying him. "Thank you."

"No problem."

When a loud squawk sounded near them, Dorugoramon turned to see the Parrotmon heading towards them.

Beelzemon frowned. "Throw me at it."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes."

Wrapping both hands around Beelzemon's arm, Dorugoramon nodded. He spun around and tossed Beelzemon at the green bird. Beelzemon grabbed hold of one of the red feathery tufts atop Parrotmon's head and used it to swing around. He slammed his feet into the bird's back, making it cry out. With energy built around his free hand, Beelzemon clawed through one wing. As the Parrotmon screeched and lurched, Beelzemon shot it through the head and jumped off. Dorugoramon circled around to catch him again.

"Want me to throw you at anything else?"

~0~

WereGarurumon leapt off the ship and landed on the back of a Plesiomon. Though annoyed, Plesiomon said nothing to WereGarurumon. His eyes landed on a nearby MarineDevimon charging at them. Jumping forward, WereGarurumon flipped and slammed his hind paw into its face. The hit didn't faze the MarineDevimon, who grinned. A tentacle wrapped around him. The MarineDevimon then flung WereGarurumon down, smacking him against the water. He had been pulled up into the air when the tentacle let go. He looked down to see the MarineDevimon recoiling as if it had been hit. Then the sound of a screech reached his ears, forcing him to cover them. It took him a moment too long to realize he was falling, but as soon as it registered in his mind he landed on the back of Plesiomon.

"Thanks."

"You're welcome."

Shoving himself up, WereGarurumon stood. The MarineDevimon shook off the attack and turned to them. Thick black ink flew out of its mouth towards the two. Plesiomon hurried out of the way. The ink seemed to fester as it floated atop the water. WereGarurumon sneered when he sniffed, as the smell from it was disgusting.

"That doesn't look good."

"It's poisonous," Plesiomon said. "Cover your ears."

WereGarurumon did as Plesiomon said, knowing what was coming. He waited a few seconds after seeing the MarineDevimon recoil to let go of his ears. He hopped onto Plesiomon's head and then launched himself forward. As he fell through the air, he reared his arm back and then swung. The spikes of his brass knuckles dug into the MarineDevimon's eye. A tentacle swung towards him. He jumped onto another tentacle to dodge. When the one he was on began to move, he leapt upwards to punch out the MarineDevimon's other eye. He dodged another tentacle and jumped into the air.

With one leg extended, he spun around mid-air and yelled, "Garuru Kick!" The energy blade cut through the MarineDevimon's chest. A moment later it exploded into data.

Before Plesiomon could reach him, a metal tail wrapped around him. A massive golden sea serpent rose from the water to tower over him.

"Are you afraid, little pup?"

The only thing WereGarurumon could do was gape before letting out a scream as the tail constricted.

Tadashi leaned over the side of the ship with a horrified expression. "WereGarurumon!"

Garudamon flew over the ship, startling Tadashi and Shizuka, and charged at MetalSeadramon.

"Wing Blade!"

The vacuum blade bounced off MetalSeadramon's plating, leaving the serpent uninjured. He swung his head around to her with a grin.

"How about I pluck your wings?"

A beam of blue energy fired out of the cannon on his snout. Garudamon moved to the left, but the beam nicked her right wing. Distracted by the pain, she was hit by the second beam. MetalSeadramon continued to fire, forcing her to keep moving out of the way. The longer it went on, the farther away she was forced to move to avoid the attacks. At the rate it was going, she would never reach the serpent. There was no way WereGarurumon was going to last much longer with how tightly MetalSeadramon was squeezing him. She had to find a way to get to him.

As he watched Garudamon's futile attempts, Tadashi squeezed the ship's railing.

"She needs to Digivolve to stand a chance," he said.

Shizuka reached over to put a hand on his shoulder. Her brother was right; Garudamon needed to Digivolve if they were going to beat MetalSeadramon.

"She will."

Tadashi turned to her, confused by her confidence. "What—"

Cupping her hands around her mouth, Shizuka shouted, "Garudamon!"

Though Garudamon was too focused on avoiding MetalSeadramon's attacks to look at her, Shizuka knew she was listening.

"Do you remember how we felt the first time you Digivolved? And when we fought against Pajiramon?"

Of course she remembered. Times like those would be hard for anyone to forget. The sheer amount of anger she had felt during those times had been ridiculous, but her and her partner's desire to fight to defend their friends overpowered that anger each time.

As she flew out of the way of another attack, she realized what Shizuka meant. That was the key to gaining the strength to achieve a new level.

"We can do this! We've got the strength to protect our friends!"

"You're right," Garudamon said, glaring at MetalSeadramon. "We do."

MetalSeadramon burst out laughing at the confidence the two were showing. Garudamon flew straight towards him, a fiery light exploding from Shizuka's Digivice to surround her.

"Garudamon Digivolve to…" The light dispersed to reveal a giant golden bird with two sets of wings. "Hououmon!"

Spreading her wings, Hououmon flashed MetalSeadramon with a dazzling white light. Temporarily blinded, MetalSeadramon closed his eyes and shook his head vigorously. His grip on WereGarurumon loosened enough that the werewolf slipped out. Hououmon swooped down so that WereGarurumon landed on her back. She craned her neck around to see him on his back.

"Are you okay?"

"I will be," he answered breathlessly.

"Good."

Changing directions, she flew to the ship and hovered beside it. WereGarurumon hopped down and stumbled. Shizuka caught him just as he began to shrink. As Hououmon headed back towards MetalSeadramon, Shizuka shoved Gabumon against Tadashi's chest. He wrapped his arms around the unconscious lizard.

"Go ahead and have Purimon heal him up," Shizuka said. "Hououmon will deal with the nuisance."

Tadashi nodded and hurried to the deckhouse.

Hououmon dived out of the way of another energy beam. Rising up, she circled around MetalSeadramon while releasing a steady stream of fire from her mouth. He lashed out at her with his tail. It hit her right side, leaving two cuts under her wings. She moved away from him as he tried hitting her again. By spreading her wings out and then flapping them, she rained small meteors down on him. Though scorch marks were left on the metal, no notable damage was done.

She narrowed her eyes. I'm not making any progress.

Just as MetalSeadramon prepared another attack, Mervamon dropped down from above and stabbed the serpent in the left eye. While he thrashed, Mervamon held onto her sword and pulled. When she finally pulled it out, she let herself drop. Vritramon positioned himself underneath her so that she landed on his back.

"Thought you might need a hand!"

"It's appreciated."

As Hououmon bathed him in flames, Vritramon circled around. Once they were behind MetalSeadramon, Mervamon lunged and swung her sword. With a loud clang, her sword rebounded. Vritramon caught her again and flew back around near Hououmon.

"That metal makes it hard to even scratch him."

Mervamon watched as MetalSeadramon opened his mouth to snap his jaws at Hououmon. "But not every part of him is plated. I should be able to stab him through the roof of his mouth."

"How do you plan on doing that?" Vritramon asked.

"Easy. If Hououmon can keep his attention on her, you can get me close to him the moment his mouth opens wide enough."

Vritramon snorted. "Alright. Sounds like a plan to me."

A brief pause came as MetalSeadramon began to charge up another attack. The dragon flew up to hover beside Hououmon.

"I've got a plan," Mervamon said. "Think you can keep him distracted for me?"

"I can. But what is this plan of yours?"

"No time to explain!"

Vritramon dove to one side and Hououmon to the other to get out of the way of the incoming blast, with Mervamon clinging to Vritramon's shoulders to stay on. The group turned their attention back to the sea serpent in time to see him dive into the water. Unable to see him below the surface, the only thing they could do was wait. With a thunderous roar, MetalSeadramon sprung out of the water. Hououmon was unable to move fast enough to avoid him. His serpentine body wrapped around her, pinning her wings against her. Incapable of escaping, she was dragged downwards into the water by him.

Jumping off Vritramon's back, Mervamon stretched her arms outwards. Vritramon managed a quick "Wait!" seconds before Mervamon disappeared into the ocean. Having heard the dragon's startled cry, Zudomon hurried over and dove down after Mervamon.

The darkness made it hard for Mervamon to see where MetalSeadramon had taken Hououmon. A shift in the water around her was the only warning of MetalSeadramon's presence before his mouth closed around her. She lashed out with her sword. It cut through the serpent's palate and then stuck, giving her something to keep hold of. His mouth opened a moment later. Flipping upside down, Mervamon pressed her feet against roof of MetalSeadramon's mouth and tugged her sword out. While she swam out of his mouth, his body uncoiled from around Hououmon. By wriggling the bird managed to slip out. Zudomon positioned himself underneath her and then began to swim up, carrying her on his back. Mervamon was quick to follow.

As soon as she was out of the water, Hououmon began to radiate heat. Once dry, she flew upwards. Mervamon then climbed onto Zudomon's back and then jumped up into the air. Water burst outwards as MetalSeadramon lunged at her, causing Zudomon to duck his head. Mervamon was high enough that he missed her, but she fell onto his back close enough to his head that she was able to grab hold of his hair. He went underwater and then leapt out again, this time aiming for Vritramon.

Before he could reach the dragon a red and white blur slammed into his side. Mervamon was sent flying but was quickly caught by Vritramon.

"Thanks for the save!" Vritramon shouted.

Gallantmon glanced at him before raising his shield. The triangles along the it lit up one by one.

MetalSeadramon attempted to fire a beam at Hououmon. When she dodged, he lunged at her with his mouth agape. Gallantmon moved in between them just as his entire shield glowed a bright white.

"Final Elysian!"

A brilliant blast of energy shot out of the shield directly into MetalSeadramon's mouth. The cry of pain from the serpent was cut off as he exploded into bits of data.

Gallantmon turned to nod at Hououmon before heading off.

"Looks like your plan didn't work out so well, Mervamon," Vritramon said with a chuckle.

Mervamon lightly kicked him and then turned her attention to Hououmon, eyeing the bird's wounds. "You should get healed up while you can. From the looks of it, we'll be landing soon."

Grinning, Mervamon patted Vritramon on the shoulder.

"Alright, let's go see if anyone else needs help."

"How did I get stuck with you?" Vritramon muttered.

"I heard that."

Hououmon rolled her eyes at the two and flew back towards the ship. She let herself revert, changing back to Biyomon when she neared it. Shizuka plucked her out of the air, holding her carefully.

"You okay?"

"My injures aren't serious, but I do need to get them healed."

Shizuka nodded and headed for the deckhouse. "You were amazing, Biyomon."

"I couldn't beat him alone," Biyomon pointed out.

"So? That doesn't mean you weren't awesome! Besides, the only reason you couldn't was that metal plating. If it hadn't been for that, you would've demolished him."

"Maybe."

"Definitely."

Raising her head, Biyomon stared at Shizuka as the human grinned at her.

~0~

From where he stood at the bow of the ship, BanchoLeomon was able to watch much of the fighting. They seemed to be making good progress, but he knew better than to assume since he wasn't able to see everything that was happening. Even though it hadn't been going on for long, the battle was intense. It wouldn't be a surprise to him if there were a sizeable number of losses on their side.

His ear twitched at the sound of buzzing above him. When he looked upwards, Silphymon destroyed the Cannonbeemon that had been nearing the ship. She glided down to the ship, landing beside BanchoLeomon.

"We've broken through. Before long the rest of Laylamon's air and sea forces will be gone," she reported.

"Good. Once we land, we need to see how strong the forces protecting the castle are. From there we can decide on how to approach the battle." He crossed his arms. "How many losses have we suffered?"

"Overall we seem to have lost only a handful. Though I doubt our luck will last."

"Spread the message that any who are injured are to pull back so they can be healed. The rest are to focus on finishing the remaining enemies."

Silphymon briefly bowed to him. "Yes, sir."

Wood creaking behind him made him turn. Angela stopped beside him and leaned against the railing, watching the ongoing battle.

"Do you think there's a chance Laylamon will surrender?"

"Doubtful."

"Yeah, you're right. She's too sure of herself to ever back down."

BanchoLeomon glanced at her to see her fiddling with her hair. "Am I right to guess you want to avoid fighting her?"

"Honestly? Yeah." Laughing nervously, she looked up at him. "I'm downright terrified just thinking about it."

"I understand. She was able to defeat the Royal Knights and caused the world to be thrown into turmoil."

"It's not just that. Being near her, it's like—" Pressing her lips together, she tugged at her shirt. "Ever since I first met her, I could tell something was off. It's like there's a dark aura around her. I thought I prepared myself to face her again, but…"

"You do not have to face her if you do not want to."

Looking away, she shook her head. "No. I'm going to see this through. She deserves to pay for what she's done. Besides, we're too close to the finish line for me to be chickening out."

"Keep that in mind and you will be fine."

"Do you really think we can beat her?"

"Who can say? All I know is that we must try."

"Right." Putting her hands together, she looked up at the sky. "We'll win. Then we'll fix all the damage she's done."

With a smirk on his face, BanchoLeomon turned away from Angela. "The DigiDestined have rubbed off on you."

"Maybe a little bit. I know it's probably wishful thinking, but I can't help myself."

"They are rather optimistic about winning."

"Who can blame them? They've had a few bumps along the way, but so far they've come out on top. At least they're not being too cocky."

BanchoLeomon closed his eyes. "They should be careful. It is easy to let your confidence run wild."

A rush of wind beside him alerted him to Silphymon's return. He opened his eyes just as she landed and turned to her.

"All the enemies have been dealt with. We can proceed forward. Should we go now, or wait? It will take time for our injured troops to be healed, but there are only a few."

"We should go ahead. Those who still need to be healed can be while we are fighting."

Within the following ten minutes the order had been spread. After another five minutes, they were making their way forward. It wasn't long before they were close enough to see how large the force protecting the castle was. Just as they were closing in, a hail of cannon fire of missiles rained down from above. Sakuyamon moved in front of the incoming projectiles and unleashed her Amethyst Wind attack. The storm of cherry blossoms detonated most of the missiles, the explosions filling the air with smoke. Some slipped past but landed in the water, doing nothing more than causing the ships to rock as they exploded. When the smoke cleared, Sakuyamon dropped the barrier around her. As another round came, she repeated her previous actions to stop the attacks from hitting the ships.

Thankfully there was a pause as the enemy force began preparing another volley of attacks.

"Sakuyamon!"

She turned. Dorugoramon, with Beelzemon riding on his back, stopped beside her. Ophanimon, Vritramon, and Mervamon joined them as well.

"We're going ahead," Ophanimon said.

"We'll try to draw their attention away," Vritramon added.

Beelzemon looked at Sakuyamon. "Can you defend the ships?"

Sakuyamon nodded. "Of course."

"Alright, everyone. Charge!" Mervamon shouted.

A groan came from Vritramon, though he held his tongue. With Ophanimon in the lead, the group sped off. By then the next volley of missiles were fired, forcing the group to dodge around them. They paid no mind when the missiles exploded behind them, their focus on the ones firing at their allies. Once above land, they split up, with Ophanimon going straight, Dorugoramon to the left, and Vritramon to the right. All of them began firing at the enemies below, but was only successful in drawing the attention of a few of them.

A voice from the crowd of enemies yelled out, "Focus on the ships!"

Only three Digimon moved to intercept them. A Kimeramon charged Dorugoramon and Beelzemon, a Gigadramon went after Ophanimon, and a Megadramon flew at Vritramon and Mervamon.

Ophanimon weaved between the beams of energy being fired from the Gigadramon's hands. After nearly a dozen attempts, it clamped its hands shut. There was a brief moment before it sent two blades of air at her. She dodged them and launched her Sefirot Crystal attack at the Gigadramon. As the crystals pelted the cyborg, she surged forward. Before it could recover, she stabbed her javelin through its chest.

A short distance away, Dorugoramon and Beelzemon were being chased by the Kimeramon. A clawed hand swung at them, forcing Dorugoramon to move upwards to avoid it. The Kimeramon continued to take swipes at them, using each of its mismatched arms to try to grab them. For such an odd combination of Digimon parts, the Kimeramon was surprisingly fast. Beelzemon leapt off Dorugoramon's back to attack from above, only for the Kimeramon to snatch him out of the air. It then threw him downwards. Dorugoramon swooped down, grabbing Beelzemon by the arms.

"Mind if I throw you around again?"

"Go ahead."

Spinning around, Dorugoramon threw Beelzemon upwards. The Kimeramon raised its head to look at Beelzemon and was caught off guard when Dorugoramon lunged. He punched it in the stomach and then slammed his elbow against its head. Beelzemon landed on its back and began to shoot it repeatedly in the back. A skeletal hand wrapped around him and threw him into Dorugoramon. Knocked off balance, Dorugoramon barely had time to grab Beelzemon and move to avoid the heat ray coming from Kimeramon. Though they avoided the attack itself, the shockwave knocked them back.

Beelzemon grunted. "It's stronger than it looks."

"Here it comes."

It was closing in on them when Ophanimon slammed her shoulder into it. Knocked off course, the Kimeramon stopped once it recovered and turned to them.

"Dorugoramon, distract it. While you draw its attention, Beelzemon will cut off its wings. I'll take it from there."

The two exchanged a brief glance and then nodded to Ophanimon. Dorugoramon surged forward and punched the side of the Kimeramon's head. With the dragon pummeling it, Beelzemon jumped over its head. Energy gathered around his claws to allow him to cut through both sets of wings on the Kimeramon's back. As he fell, he grabbed hold of its tail. Moving to the right, Dorugoramon gave Ophanimon the opening she needed for her Sefirot Crystal attack. Beelzemon swung upwards. With both guns drawn, he shot the Kimeramon in the chest until it became unstable and dissipated.

Dorugoramon caught him again.

Meanwhile, the others were busy dealing with the Megadramon. Vritramon dodged each attack from the Megadramon, earning an irritated roar from it. As the Megadramon surged towards them, Mervamon launched herself at it and swung her sword. The blade cut through its center, bisecting it. She landed on Vritramon's back as he swooped down under her.

"I'm gonna jump down."

"No."

"You heard them. They're focusing—"

Vritramon cut her off. "You're not doing anything until everyone else gets here."

Instead of arguing, she shrugged. "Alright."

Before he could stop her, she jumped down. He growled in frustration and turned to see that the ships had finally reached land. Spinning around, he flew towards the boats. KendoGarurumon and KaiserLeomon jumped off of the ships to greet him. Asuramon and JewelBeemon joined them, with the bipedal bug locking eyes with Vritramon.

"Where is Mervamon?" JewelBeemon asked.

Vritramon motioned to where Mervamon could be seen jumping onto the back of a SkullGreymon. "Jumped down the moment she saw the ships."

JewelBeemon flew past the group to join Mervamon. When Vritramon turned to look at the other three, all of them shook their heads.

KaiserLeomon glanced at the enemies warily. "Certainly a large amount of enemies."

"There is definitely more here than we first thought," Asuramon said.

"That's not gonna stop us," Vritramon said with a grin. "Let's show them who's boss."

KendoGarurumon snorted.

Together the four charged forward and threw themselves into the fray.

~0~

Flanked by Rapidmon and Antylamon, Gallantmon made his way towards the enemy forces. He pushed through several Digimon in order to ram into the Machinedramon that was firing on the ships. The force of the hit caused the energy blasts from the machine's cannons to miss their intended target. In retaliation Machinedramon swung his left arm around and hit Gallantmon in the chest. The knight was sent skidding backwards, forcing him to dig his heels into the ground to stop. As Machinedramon charged at him, Gallantmon jumped up and landed behind the machine.

Rapidmon raised both arms to fire off missiles at Machinedramon, only for the tail of the nearby Orochimon to knock him to the side. He came to a sudden stop and pointed his arms at Orochimon.

He sneered. "Egh. Talk about ugly."

"What did you just say about me?" Orochimon asked with a hiss.

"I said you're ugly!"

The tail came swinging back around. Antylamon jumped up in front of Rapidmon to block it using her axe hand.

"Would it be hard for you not to rile up our opponent?" Antylamon asked.

Rapidmon grinned. "Way too hard."

Antylamon narrowed her eyes at him, earning a chuckle.

Side by side the two lunged at Orochimon. The two split up, with Rapidmon going left and Antylamon going right. As Orochimon swung his tail at her, she leapt forward and rolled underneath it. Rapidmon stopped to let homing missiles shoot out of the revolver on his back. The multiple heads moved until they formed a shield around the center black head, protecting it from the missiles raining down.

"The head in the middle is the real one!" Rapidmon shouted to his friend.

Nodding, Antylamon got to her feet. She jumped up to avoid the tail for the second time. The moment her feet touched ground again, she launched herself at the snake. One of the other heads swung around to slam into her side, knocking her to the ground. Rapidmon began firing missiles from his arms, drawing Orochimon's attention to him. Antylamon took the moment to spring forward and cut off the snake's lower left head. The black head turned towards her and breathed outwards.

Her sensitive nose picked up the smell of alcohol in time for her to move out of the way.

"Avoid its breath attack. It seems to be alcohol-laden."

"What will it do?" Rapidmon asked, confused.

"Make you drunk and completely useless."

"Well, that's gonna make this a bit more difficult."

Two heads lunged forward to snap at them. While Rapidmon moved back into the air, Antylamon jumped up and sliced off the head closest to her. The other one clamped down on her leg and slammed her into the ground. Rapidmon rammed into it, forcing it to let her go. She climbed to her feet in time to jump out of the way of a blaze spewing forth from the main head. Rapidmon fired off more missiles, but they were once again blocked by the dummy heads.

Antylamon moved to stand beside Rapidmon. "We're going have to get rid of those other heads first."

"He's not too bright, so it shouldn't be too hard."

"Keep firing. I should be able to cut more off while he's preoccupied."

Moving to hover in front of the snake, Rapidmon let loose another round of missiles. Orochimon began to laugh as he shielded himself with his fake heads.

"How many times are you going to try that? It isn't going to work!"

Antylamon leapt onto the snake's back. With both hands in the form of axes, she cut through two more heads. Shocked, Orochimon turned to look at her. She landed on one of the remaining dummy heads and then hopped upwards to avoid the snake's alcoholic breath. When one went to bite her, even more missiles came, forcing Orochimon to ignore her in favor to shielding himself. She dropped down, cut through the neck of the head she had been standing on, and then propelled herself forward to decapitate another.

Rapidmon slammed into Orochimon's main head with both feet. Antylamon took a moment to cut off the final dummy head. Moving backwards, Rapidmon stretched his arms outwards.

"Tri Beam!"

A green triangular energy beam fired from his body. Orochimon attempted to push the beam back with his blazing breath, but it pushed through and slammed into him. The moment the snake shattered, Rapidmon let out a triumphant laugh and landed by Antylamon.

"Alright! Now let's go help—"

Rapidmon cut himself off as a group of SkullGreymon surrounded the two.

"Okay. Let's deal with these guys first."

Antylamon looked at him with a mixture of exasperation and amusement.

~0~

The machine's clawed hand shot out towards him. Stepping to the side, Gallantmon dodged it, only for it to suddenly swing. The jolt as it wrapped around him caused him to drop his shield, and he found his lance arm pinned to his side. The chain began to retract, dragging him towards Machinedramon. When he was a foot away, Machinedramon swung his head downwards to bash it against Gallantmon's head. Dazed, Gallantmon stopped struggling and went limp. Machinedramon released the knight from the chain and then lowered his right arm to grab Gallantmon by the leg.

Machinedramon picked him up, swung him upwards in an arc, and then slammed the knight into the ground. After repeating the process several more times, Machinedramon threw Gallantmon through the air. With a pained grunt, Gallantmon landed on his back.

Leveling his cannons at Gallantmon, Machinedramon chuckled darkly. Energy gathered in the cannons until the insides began to glow brightly.

"Farewell, Royal Knight."

Just as he fired, both Sakuyamon and BanchoLeomon dropped down in front of Gallantmon. A barrier formed in time to cut off the energy blast. Once the stream of energy stopped, Sakuyamon lowered the barrier. BanchoLeomon grabbed hold of Gallantmon and helped the knight to his feet.

"Think you can manage your Final Elysian attack?" BanchoLeomon asked.

"It will take time for it to charge."

Sakuyamon glanced back at him. "Leave it to us."

She leapt into the air while BanchoLeomon ran forward.

Unleashing a storm of cherry blossoms with her Amethyst Wind attack, Sakuyamon forced Machinedramon to raise his arms to shield himself. At the same time, he pointed his cannons at her and prepared to fire. Just as he prepared the fire, the blossoms stopped. He lowered his arms, only for BanchoLeomon to swing a flaming fist at him. The punch hit him in the jaw, knocking his head upwards and throwing him off balance. The beams fired from his cannons but missed Sakuyamon by several feet. She circled around and swung her electrified foot, kicking Machinedramon in the side of the head. BanchoLeomon jumped up onto Machinedramon's back and ripped at the exposed wires on the machine's cannons.

Frustrated, Machinedramon used his retractable left hand to trap Sakuyamon. Pulling it, he dragged Sakuyamon through the air. The chain swung and caused Sakuyamon to slam into BanchoLeomon. Machinedramon swung his arm the other way, throwing Sakuyamon towards Gallantmon. She stopped herself just short of Gallantmon. Machinedramon turned to BanchoLeomon and swung his right hand at the lion. The hand dug into the ground as BanchoLeomon leapt out of the way. As he rolled to a stop, Machinedramon tugged his hand free.

"Sprit Strike!"

Four mystical fox spirits formed around her. All four sped toward Machinedramon and circled around him, avoiding the swinging of his arms. BanchoLeomon lunged forward, wrapped his hands around the wires on the machine's chest, and pulled. The wires ripped, earning a pained scream. As Machinedramon swung his arm at BanchoLeomon, Sakuyamon wrapped her arms under the lion's shoulders and pulled him upwards.

With a shout of "Final Elysian!", Gallantmon unleashed the energy built up in his shield. The machine was engulfed in a burst of white that tore him apart until his body could no longer be held together and shattered.

Letting out a sigh, Gallantmon stood straight. Sakuyamon dropped BanchoLeomon, the lion landing on his feet, and settled down beside him.

"Do you need healed?" Sakuyamon asked.

Gallantmon shook his head. "No."

"Your two friends are in a bit of trouble," BanchoLeomon said. "I'll give them a hand."

As BanchoLeomon ran to help, Sakuyamon placed a hand on Gallantmon's shoulder.

"Coming with me?"

"Yes."

~0~

A rapier shot out of the Matadormon's sleeve. WereGarurumon stepped to the side to avoid it. This continued on until the werewolf felt like ripping his fur out. No matter how many he dodged, more seemed to materialize, and he hadn't been able to get a single step closer. The fact that Matadormon was laughing at his misfortune was making him even angrier.

How many swords does this guy have?

Tired of dancing out of the way of flying swords, WereGarurumon ran forward. Another sword flew towards him, so he swung his fist and knocked the sword out of the air with his brass knuckles. As Matadormon continued to fire swords at him, WereGarurumon kept punching them out of his way. Though a few left small cuts on his fist, he managed to avoid any vital spots being hit.

Having gotten close, WereGarurumon lunged. Startled, Matadormon faltered and failed to dodge the incoming punch. Blue flames poured out of WereGarurumon's mouth, forcing Matadormon to shield his face with his arms. The moment Matadormon lowered his guard, WereGarurumon slammed his knee into the side of Matadormon's head. He stepped back and then swung his foot upwards. The blade of energy cut Matadormon in half, resulting in the Digimon's data dispersing within moments.

"Finally," WereGarurumon mumbled.

Then a black blur slammed into him. A clawed hand wrapped around his throat and slammed him down, breaking the ground underneath him.

He found himself staring up at a spindly, demonic Digimon. Its yellow, sunken eyes locked onto him and a twisted grin spread across its face, showing off its mouthful of pointed teeth.

The hand tightened. WereGarurumon let out a chocked gasp as he clawed at the hand. He lashed out with his foot, hitting the Digimon in the chest. He kept kicking in the hopes that he would be released from the death grip he was in.

Despite the force behind each kick, the Digimon didn't even flinch.

Instead, it chuckled.

~0~

One moment he was fine, the next a sharp pang went through his chest like a bolt of lightning. It startled enough that he pressed his hand against his chest. Logic would assume it was just natural—random pains happened from time to time—but he knew it wasn't. Even though he didn't know for sure what had happened, he knew in his heart that his partner was hurt and struggling.

He lowered his hand and shoved himself away from the railing. When he ran past his sister, she spun around to stare at him. Though she called out his name, he ignored her as he made his way down the ramp. Finally realizing what he was doing, she rushed after him to stop him from heading for the battlefield. A hand reached out to him and missed him by a hair. For the first time in their lives, he was outrunning his sister.

"What the hell are you doing?" Shizuka shouted.

Tadashi looked over his shoulder at her. "WereGarurumon is in danger!"

"Running into danger isn't going to help him, doofus!"

From behind them they heard Yoko shouting for her partner. A rush of air behind him was the only warning he had before he found an arm wrapped around his waist, making him let out a startled yelp. He looked up to see that Ophanimon was holding him tightly as she raised into the air. Below, Shizuka shouted for them to come back, but the armored angel paid no attention.

"Hold on. I'll take you to him," Ophanimon said.

Grabbing onto her arm with both hands, Tadashi mumbled, "Thank you."

Like a missile she sped through the air and dived down to where WereGarurumon was being chocked by the strange Digimon. She let go of Tadashi, causing him to drop down to the ground and roll. He slowed down until he stopped and winced at the ache spreading in his legs. The Digimon raised its head to see Ophanimon just before her foot slammed into its side. It hit the ground and slid to a stop a few feet away. Ophanimon crouched in preparation to attack, but a hoarse shout from WereGarurumon made her turn. Seeing the Arukenimon that was closing in on Tadashi, Ophanimon lunged and stabbed the spider through the chest.

She turned to Tadashi and then looked away. "I'll keep them off you."

Grateful, he nodded and then focused his attention on WereGarurumon. "Can you stand?"

The werewolf rubbed his throat. "I think so." He struggled to his feet. "What are we going to do?"

Tadashi frowned. I don't know. What can we do?

Everyone had made a promise to one another to see their mission through to the end—to save the world together. They had already lost one of their group.

He refused to lose his partner—his friend—when they were so close to their goal.

"We're going to fight."

WereGarurumon gaped at him. "But I don't have the strength."

There was a glimmer in his eyes when Tadashi turned to WereGarurumon. "I have faith in you. We can do this do together."

The sincerity in his partner's words made WereGarurumon clench his fists.

Tadashi raised his Digivice to hold it near his chest. As WereGarurumon moved to stand in front of Tadashi, light poured out of the Digivice that bathed him in a brilliant blue and obscured him from view.

"WereGarurumon Digivolve to…" He dropped down onto all fours, his body shifting from bipedal to quadrupedal. The light faded to reveal a large, mechanized world with yellow blade-like wings. "MetalGarurumon!"

Holding up his Digivice, Tadashi glanced at the information being displayed. "Diaboromon. The rest of the information is glitched. We're going into this fight blind."

"We'll manage," MetalGarurumon said.

A green energy blast burst out of Diaboromon's chest. MetalGarurumon intercepted it with a missile. The resulting explosion sent up a mass of dust and smoke that hid the fighters from each other's sight. Through the smoke a hand shot out and grabbed one of MetalGarurumon's wings. Diaboromon pulled itself to MetalGarurumon, slamming a fist into the wolf's head. In then took hold of his other wing and flung him upwards into the sky well above the battlefield. There was a moment where he stopped moving, and then he was being dragged back down by Diaboromon as the Digimon threw him to the ground.

MetalGarurumon flipped around, stopping just short of hitting the ground as he hovered a few inches in the air.

Charging forward, MetalGarurumon rammed his head into Diaboromon's stomach. He clawed through Diaboromon's side with his claws. A fist hit him in the jaw, knocking his head back. Another burst of energy fired from its chest, the blast sending MetalGarurumon flying backwards into the ground.

Diaboromon stretched both of its arms upwards, clasping its hands together while it did so. It then swung its arms downwards. MetalGarurumon had yet to get back up when the fists slammed into his back, causing him to howl in pain. Once both of its arms had been retracted, Diaboromon launched itself forward. It reared both arms back and swung them forward to hit either side of MetalGarurumon's head with each fist. Stumbling, MetalGarurumon tried to back away only to fall onto his stomach.

Jumping over the wolf, Diaboromon prepared to fire another energy blast.

It was Ophanimon who intervened once again, swooping in to knee Diaboromon in the stomach. She then spun around and kicked it. The energy blast fired but missed both of them, instead destroying a portion of the land a few feet away. MetalGarurumon raised his head and let out his Cocytus Breath attack to freeze Diaboromon. He pushed himself up to his feet to jump back alongside Ophanimon.

A crack spread outwards from the center of the ice until it shattered. Freed from its temporary prison, Diaboromon shook itself. Ophanimon flew forward and swung her javelin. Diaboromon sidestepped and grabbed hold of her arm. Spinning around in a circle, it gathered speed until it was a blur and then threw her at MetalGarurumon. The wolf moved to the side to avoid her. She recovered and dug her feet into the dirt, coming to a stop just behind him.

Instead of attacking them again, Diaboromon stopped. It curled into a ball as a gigantic green sphere encased it. Confused, the two stared until they saw the air begin to ripple. Blasting outwards from the sphere was a shockwave. The few enemy Digimon caught in the blast simply disappeared. Both spun around, with Ophanimon scooping up Tadashi, and then flew upwards. The shockwave continued to spread outward, forcing them to head farther up into the air. When it finally stopped and faded, many of the Digimon that had been around the area were gone.

"When the sphere disappears, fire," Ophanimon said.

MetalGarurumon nodded. "Got it."

The angel looked down at Tadashi with an awkward smile. "Sorry about this."

"About what?"

Tadashi proceeded to let out a fearful shout as Ophanimon tossed him upwards.

"Sefirot Crystal!"

"Garuru Tomahawk!"

A mixture of crystals and missiles rained down on Diaboromon the moment the green sphere faded. Several energy blasts intercepted the attacks but couldn't stop all of the missiles. While MetalGarurumon caught his partner, Ophanimon flew towards Diaboromon with her javelin pulled back. Its spindly arms stretched towards her while energy blasts were fired at her, but she managed to avoid each attack. It then lunged, only to miss again. She swung her javelin and stabbed Diaboromon through the green center of its chest.

Eyes glowing red, MetalGarurumon gathered energy. The compartment in his chest opened. "Giga Missile!"

Pulling her javelin out, Ophanimon moved back and flew into the air. The giant missile fired from MetalGarurumon detonated upon hitting Diaboromon. The resulting explosion destroyed the Digimon and sent Ophanimon reeling backwards.

She stopped and frowned at MetalGarurumon. "You could have given me enough time to get out of the way."

"Sorry!" the wolf said. "I wanted to finish the fight as fast as I could."

~0~

Hands grabbing hold of the bazooka, Beelzemon disarmed the Gerbemon by pulling the weapon out of its hands. He then swung it around to bash the Gerbemon upside the head. As the trashcan wobbled back and forth precariously, he dug his claws into its neck and ripped its head off its shoulders. Another trash Digimon leveled its bazooka at him and fired. He leapt over the missile and kicked the Gerbemon in the face with both feet. It tipped over, falling down. Beelzemon drew his gun to shoot it in the head. He turned away when it began to dissolve.

Holstering the gun, he looked around.

The Resistance had made progress, but at that moment they had stalled and thus were unable to break through the enemy forces. It was hard to say how much longer it would take.

As he raised his head, he spotted a far off shape that caught his attention.

Standing on a balcony near the highest point of the castle was Laylamon. Though he could barely see her, he felt the all-too-familiar chill caused by her gaze.

She turned away and walked into the castle.

His eyes landed on the castle doors. A thought crossed his mind that made him turn to stare at his partner.

He made his decision and jumped onto the back of a SkullGreymon. From there he jumped from Digimon to Digimon, weaving through enemies and dodging attacks aimed at him. With one last leap he landed in front of the doors.

As she watched him with widened eyes from the ship, Mikami leaned over the railing. "Beelzemon!"

She ran up to the ramp and stopped when she heard Judai ask, "Where are you going?"

"Beelzemon is heading into the castle alone. I have to go."

Judai blinked and rubbed his neck. They both jumped when Dorugoramon dropped down at the end of the ramp.

"I just saw Beelzemon—"

"We know," Mikami said, cutting off the dragon and making him frown. "Mind giving us a ride?"

"Alright. Jump on and I'll take you."

The two hurried down the ramp and climbed onto his back. Stretching his wings out, he leapt into the air. As he flew to the doors, he smacked away the various Cannonbeemon around him with his tail. When he landed in front of the door, both Judai and Mikami jumped down. The dragon moved into a fighting position as enemy Digimon began to move towards them.

"Go ahead. We'll take care of the Digimon here," Judai said.

Mikami pulled him into a hug. "Be careful."

"You too. We'll join you as soon as we can."

Dorugoramon turned around and pushed the doors open for her to run inside. The doors slammed shut behind her.