I do not own anything.
Chapter Thirty: Devilish Life Pt.5
ExVeemon knew deep down in his heart he not even with Digmon and Stingmon backing him up didn't have a snowball's chance in hell of beating Gadreelmon. That didn't mean they were just going to stand by and do nothing. If he had been an Ultimate they might have had a chance. If he had been an average Mega then they might have lasted five minutes. But Gadreelmon wasn't just a Fallen Angel Digimon, he was a knight who served as Lucemon's personal warrior. Of course they all knew this, but that didn't stop them.
SLASH! SLASH! SLASH!
"Undisciplined fools." The fallen knight scathed as appearing behind the three Digimon. "It appears spending so much time around these human maggots robbed you of what little intelligence you might have had." Gadreelmon stated.
SPPPLLLLLAAAAATTTT!
"AAAAAAARRRRRRGGGGGGHHHHHH!"
The eyes of three youths widened considerable hearing the blood curdling screams.
"EXVEEMON!"
"STINGMONT!"
"DIGMON!"
The three lay flat on the ground, their faint twitching being the only sign of life. Each of the Digmon lay in pools of their own uniquely colored blood and data that merged together as they continued to grow. Pieces of skin and broken armor lazily lay on the ground as the three attempted to push themselves up. That in itself was something of a miracle-the fact they were actually not only still conscious but that they were still attempting to fight the fallen knight. What remained of the noble holy warrior might felt a deep respect for them as the demonic knight felt a spark of anger in his chest. To see the three still alive after his glorious sword had cut through their flesh lit the fires of anger inside of him.
"It seems I'm going to have to educate you three on dying, and I do hate stubborn students." Gadreelmon snorted
It wasn't surprising ExVeemon had made the most headway in getting up. His blue and white scales were painted deep red with blood cascading down like a waterfall while sky blue data rose and vanished into the night air. His horn was broken and his left eye was red from the blood running down it. By some miracle both of his wings were still attached to his body, that is if the tattered sheets of flesh could even be called wings. Despite the condition of his body the Champion's eyes continued to burn with the defiant fire that led him to tell off Gadreelmon.
Gadreelmon trembled with a silent fury he could barely contain. Its outlet came when ExVeemon made an idiotic charge at him with his left fist raised up. In the blink of an eye his punch was deflected and he found himself gasping for air as an armored knee drove itself into his gut. SMACK! A steel like hand sent him spinning towards the wet concrete. When he saw the draconic creature attempt to rise again Gadreelmon calmly walked over and stomped on his back. The sound of digital bones breaking were music to the Fallen Angel's ears, only to be interrupted by ExVeemon's strained voice. He could feel him attempting to push himself up in spite of the fact his body had been pushed past its breaking point. One of Gadreelmon's eyes twitched behind his helmet as he pressed down forcing ExVeemon flat against the ground again. "Trash, that's all the Digital World's become if creatures like you are looked at as heroes. As a knight of the new order that is to come it is my duty to eradicate it." Raising his two handed broadsword Gadreelmon waited for ExVeemon to beg as all his opponents at done before him. When he didn't he snorted before bringing Solanum down.
Seconds before the notched tip of the sword could make contact dozens of black objects slammed into Gadreelmon, throwing him off the crippled ExVeemon. The demonic knight snarled in pain as the jaws of the tentacles penetrated his armor; on one half he felt infernal pain he'd never none and on the other it felt like he was being flash frozen by an arctic wind. Along with the heat and cold came the sensation of having his digital bones pressed as the tentacles wrapped around him. Gadreelmon kicked and roared but there was no way to break free. He rose high above the battlefield watching the LithoRosemon painful tear through the Deep Ones who showed no fear of the stone demons. His eyes caught sight of Sthanomon patiently standing below him, hands in his pockets with steam rolling out of his mask.
KA-BOOM!
For a moment Gadreelmon was honestly disorientated as he was brought head first into the ground. In a matter of seconds his combat senses were sounding all the alarms. Snapping his head up from the ground he saw Sthanomon descending on him with his right fist coated in a cloud of sub-zero air. Grasping Solanum he rose to meet the attack but he was too late.
KA-SHIIINNNGG!
Davis watched a mount if icicles erupt from where Sthanomon had hammered Gadreelmon into the ground. He had a feeling the former holy warrior wouldn't be on trapped for long, but while he was he had to get ExVeemon out of there. He may not have been a doctor or doctor in train like Joe but he was smart enough to deduce one of his broken ribs had punctured something, a ling or some other organ. Just crawling along like a worm was taking all of his willpower, and that wasn't counting when he would jump at an explosion. To be honest the explosions were far and in between; with what he saw he wished there were more.
The Deep Ones, human and Digimon alike showed no hesitation in charging the LithoRosemon knowing full well they had no chance. That was why many of them were caring grenades or bombs strapped to themselves. Ordinarily the cursed statues swatted away everything that came close to them. Most of the Digimon were able to get back up and attack again to watch the LithoRosemon then either impaled them on their weapons or beheaded them with swift strikes. For the humans it was totally different, as Davis himself could attest to.
SMACK!
SMACK! SMACK!
CRACK! SMACK! CRACK! SMACK!
CCCCCCRRRRRAAAACCCCKKKKKK!
Even if the soul had been consumed by darkness the bodies of the human Deep Ones were just as mortal as the average person's. And as Davis, Ken, and the others saw they broke just as painfully easily as the average person's did.
Corpses with crushed heads, necks, chests, and limbs lay motionless on the ground in puddles of their own blood. The glassy looks in their eyes resembled those of dead fish fittingly enough. None of them paid any mind to their dead, instead they merely continued their suicidal attack drawing the ire of the LithoRosemon. Their Chrome Digizoid bullets left mere chinks in their stone skin if they left any impact at all. The humans converged on the LithoRosemon in squads keeping them pinned with suppressive fire. As usual their stone faces showed little emotion but that wasn't were one should have been looking. Each of the stone angels tightened their grip on their swords, axes, and polearms seconds before striking out with them.
BAH BAM! BAH BAM! SSSSSLLLLIIIIIISSSSHHHHH!
The stone weapons left jagged tears in the severed bodies no metal weapon would have. Fountains of blood sprayed into the air splattering across the ground and over more bodies. Screams from onlookers rose up further adding to the mayhem.
Davis clenched his teeth and continued heading for his downed partner. The moment his bloody fingers touched ExVeemon the Champion was engulfed in a bright light that faded away to reveal a beaten DemiVeemon. "Demi…Veemon." Davis croaked feeling tears gather around his eyes. "Come on buddy, please tell me you're still with me."
The In-Training Digimon gave a pained cough before replying with one eye lazy hung open, "S-S-Sorry f-fo-for…slacking off th-there Davis. I-I just need…to"
"DAVIS! BEHIND YOU!" came Yolei's frantic voice followed by the sound of stone cracking.
Hearing the sound Davis grabbed DemiVeemon and rolled to his left just before an axe the size of a car tire plowed through the ground. Daring to look up he saw a lone red eye glaring at him while the axe was lifted. Holding his partner tightly he began scooting back desperately searching for some way to escape.
The LithoRosemon's eye glowed ominously before it moved forward raising its axe for another downward sing. "Die." Its telepathic voice commanded.
"Gold Rush!"
A set of gray drills slammed into the LithoRosemon halting its attack long enough for Davis to crawl away with DemiVeemon half-awake in his arms. Propelled by his wings Digmon slammed into the level-less Digimon with as much force as his injured body could muster. Maybe if he had been at full strength he might have gotten it to budge a foot or so but in his current stat he barely got an inch. Without even looking at him the LithoRosemon knocked him into the air with an uppercut then followed it with an arm swing that sent the Drill of Knowledge rolling across the ground.
"Digmon!" The youngest of the DigiDestined cried attempting to crawl over to him only to be tackled to the ground by a Deep One. Out of the corner of his eye he saw a barrage of fireballs and bullets slam into the LithoRosemon, when the smoke cleared there were one or two cracks but nothing substantial. A pair of hands wrapped tightly around his throat and began squeezing forcing Cody to turn his attention to the woman attempting to choke the life out of him. "Gah! Le-Let…gah…go!" His arms were too short to reach her glazed eyes so all he could do was claw at her wet hands. He broke skin but her grip didn't ease up. "Sh-Shit!"
Then her grip went slack. Blood spilled from her lips before her body fell flat against Cody. Looking up he saw a knife stacking out of her back with Noriko staring at him with eyes the size of the body. In a panic she pulled Cody out and clung to his side, or rather she kept him clung to her. In front of them Grizzlymon fended off human and Digimon alike that came at them. Blood and data were licking from the bullet and stabs wounds he'd received during the course of their battle. He barked to Noriko to get moving just as a sniper round entered his shoulder then came out the other end. Noriko cried his name only for the martial artist to roar at her to get away.
"No…escape."
Spinning to his right Grizzlymon saw the LithoRosemon approaching him. Raising his Kuma Tsume he braced himself for the attack. The feedback of energy was too much, and it was just from a straight jab to the gut.
"GAH!" Grizzlymon gasped catching the LithoRosemon's hand in his gut. "That…really…hurt." He wheezed as the abomination tried to pull its arm free. Grizzlymon looked up at it with a pained grin that told the creature exactly what had just happened. "But thanks for not holding back. Maul Attack!" With a single strike he of his empowered claws the stone arm came off in a spectacle of rock and light. Throwing the arm away he struck with his other claw leaving a nice series of claw marks across the LithoRosemon's face and throat. "You guys really look better that way."
"I have an idea to make you all look better. Devourer of the Abyss."
From out of nowhere came Sthanomon's jawed tentacles, lashing and biting into everything and everyone.
SMACK! SMACK! BANG! CLING! SMACK! CLING! CLING!
Those LithoRosemon that were still hole came at Sthanomon with the intent to pulverize him just like they'd done to his underlings. Unfortunately there was a world of difference between the rank and file grunts and the master assassin that he was.
Steam rolled out of his helmeted head as he breathed the name of his attack, "Devourer of the Abyss."
CR-AAAAACCCCCKKKKK!
Hundreds of blackish-blue flashes lit up the night followed by the cascade of cursed stone hitting the ground. The DigiDestined stared in wide eyed shock at the steam covered Mega standing in the middle of the pile of pebbles. "Don't look so surprised." He snorted taking one step forwards towards Ken and Yolei. His demeanor didn't change even when Stingmon and Shurimon jumped on front of them. Fire began to gather in his right hand and water in the other, "I'll give you a quick send off, which is more than you deserve. Tsunami-"
"Infernal Quasar!"
"-Scorcher!"
The combined fire and water blast smashed against the two dark stars resulting in an explosion that literally threw back everything within a mile radius. The Digimon turned to cover their partners against the shockwave as well as the resulting debris that was blown their way. While those around them were blown back Gadreelmon and Sthanomon could see each other standing through the smoke. The first ran forward, both hands on his skeleton themed broadsword while the other came at him with his multiple limbs alight with fire and chilling the air with ice. No one could see their clash but the repeated sound of the Solanum being deflected was a sure sign the battle was even.
Davis could barely tell when he had stopped rolling for his entire body had already become quite numb with pain. That wasn't what he wanted, he needed the pain to fuel his adrenaline which was the only thing that gave his body the ability to move.
THUNK!
His eyes saw the LithoRosemon land in front of him and DemiVeemon like a meteor striking the earth. As it raised its sword Davis already knew the angle of the blade was aimed for DemiVeemon. "No…no…NO!" With a roar he shoved his body as hard as he could.
It wasn't enough to roll away.
The LithoRosemon's stone sword painfully scrapped his against his back side introducing Davis to a world of pain he never knew existed.
"Aaaaaaaaggggggggghhhhh!" The fourteen year old screamed to the black smoke filled sky. White pain raced up his spine directly into his brain blinding him to the world around him. The instinctive arching of his back caused an even worse reaction.
The LithoRosemon raised its sword for another swing when a pair of dark shurikens grazed against its backside. With remarkable speed it spun around sword out stretched at the green colored blur speeding towards it. The blur jumped upward like a spring above the LithoRosemon. Shurimon landed in a couched position, he grabbed Davis before diverting his strength to his spring like legs. His free hand was buzzing like a saw when he swung it at the exposed Digimon's side.
SSSHHHHRRRRIIIII!
All he knew was his attack hadn't the slightest effect on the level less Digimon, as he'd suspected. Shurimon came down in the presence of a bewildered Ken and Yolei. Both teens sent into silent shock upon seeing the condition of their goggle wearing leader and friend. To see the fresh blood running down his back gave both of them pause enough for DemiVeemon to wiggle his way out of Davis's protective grasp.
"K-Ken…Yo-Yolei," the bruised Digimon spoke in short breathes. What little strength he had regained was barely enough to get him to the Rookie level, let alone Armor-Digivolve or DNA-Digivolve which was what they needed. More important than his strength what they all needed was Davis period. "P-Ple-Please…D-Davis is…"
Before either of the two could act a spotlight blinded them. Snapping their heads up they saw what had to have been hundreds of helicopters appearing over the beaten and broken battlefield. Their searchlights illuminated the shattered landscape the apartment area had become during the span of the surprise attack. The light was blinding and searing to the eyes of the DigiDestined as each of them had grown accustomed to the darkness and scattered light produced by lasers and fire blasts. The copters scanned the area in less than a minute before the weapons attached to them began firing.
BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG!
Thousands of bullets rained down on the Digimon and cultist without a moment's notice. Sharp cries of pain went up and were silenced just as quickly.
The illuminated LithoRosemon that had been approaching Ken, Yolei, and the wounded Davis didn't pause when the spotlight fell on it. That might as well have gone for all the LithoRosemon who kept attacking even with the sudden intrusion. The viral demon only paused in its advance towards them when hundreds of lead bullets brutally slammed against its stone skin. The constant chip, chip of small fragments being blasted off reverberated through the block. What was being blown off weren't chunks but shards the size of pebbles, and that was when the bullets actually did any damage at all. The LithoRosemon turned its head to the helicopter currently unloading its entire arsenal on it. Missiles and bullets constantly assaulted the demon yet there wasn't any major damage the pilots or DigiDestined could see.
The cursed statue's eyes pulsed red as blood began to ooze from the various cracks in its eight foot tall body. "Lamination of Roses." Was the psychic voice that rolled off of the LithoRosemon.
Inside the cockpit the pilots could feel something was wrong, not wrong, more like something awful was coming their way. They increased squeezing of the trigger couldn't have been harder; unfortunately there was nothing in their power they could do to stop what came next.
At least they had the time to scream.
A literal haze of rose-like pelts manifested around the helicopter almost entirely obscuring it from vision. In the span of a second a horrid twisting sound, like a tree snapping in half, boomed over the sky. The pelts condensed into the helicopter, once they disappeared only a crushed, compressed ball of blood stained wreckage remained that quickly fell to the ground.
"Lamination of Roses." A chorus of unearthly voices rose up.
There was no escaping the noise as it was omnipresent. Countless red clouds filled the black sky before they each disappeared revealing blood stained balls of wreckage plummeted to the ground. Each impact was a miniature earthquake that further jolted the young adventurers. Quickly what little hope for backup they had disappeared.
The LithoRosemon came at the assembled Ken, Yolei, and Davis. Shurimon jumped to their defense knowing he stood no chance in hell at stopping the assault.
"Davis! Ken! Yolei!" Cody and Noriko cried watching the pile up.
"Steam Bomber!"
A row of steam explosions erupted along the street cutting off the LithoRosemon. Each of them turned their heads to see either the steam empowered fists or jaws heading for them. Unlike the mortal weapons the damage they did was visible and significant.
In a flash Shurimon found himself facing the steaming face of Sthanomon. "You guys have put me through one hell of a night…and I'm not happy about it." His right hand was ablaze with fire and his left with ice. Shurimon had just enough time to brace himself before the attack's name came from Sthanomon's unseen lips. "Cold Nova."
Cody and Noriko couldn't see anything through the red and blue smoke explosion that resulted from the attack. They shouted the names of their comrades frantically until they saw a collection of figures roll out of the explosion. Shurimon rolled across the ground with countless tears in his ninja uniform and cracks in his shurikens. Ken was already pushing himself up despite the visible burn wounds on his body. Behind him lay a near motionless Yolei and a totally motionless Davis. Silent shock welled up in them before they saw Sthanomon dash towards them with fire and ice gathering around his fists.
A blue blur moved between the two kids and the advancing assassin.
Sthanomon's four eyes coldly stared into Grizzlymon's determined gray orbs. "Idiot."
"You would never understand." Came the bear's gruff reply raising his Kume Tsume up.
Noriko wasn't a veteran like Cody or the other first generation DigiDestined. She'd only seen so many horrible things, seen how much punishment a Digimon could take before they went down for the count. For that reason the older DigiDestined considered her and the rest of her batch "pure". In the time frame of twenty-seconds Noriko knew she was no longer "pure" in any sense.
"GRIZZLYMON!"
Sthanomon moved on from the armless Champion to the two of them next. In a flash he was on them, one of his tentacles lashing out at them from the right.
Both Noriko and Cody acted on instinct; they latched onto each other turning so they would take the blow. Quickly bracing themselves for the attack they each whispered a silent prayer so that the other would survive.
SMACK!
The two went skidding across the pavements like bowling balls.
"Are you done picking on small fry Sea Food?"
"Like you're one to talk demonspawn."
A focused beam of yellow and black light raced across the pavement directly towards Sthanomon. Spinning to the side he barely avoided the laser that literally blasted through everything in its path: people, Digimon, and vehicles. The laser swung itself in Sthanomon's direction forcing the Dark Ocean native to continuously move from place to place. Gadreelmon observed the other worldly creature with keen eyes, in his left hand Solanum waited at the ready. Sthanomon looked at his enemy from the side of with an annoyed grunt.
From all sides came possessed Digimon and humans silently screaming their intent to kill the demonic knight.
"Maggot." Gadreelmon snarled immediately ceasing his attack. SWOOSH! Each of his attackers fell to the ground dead in severed pieces. "Now how about you try to-"
THUMP! THUMP! THUMP! BOOM!
Fire and ice exploded from the impact zone. A bright red slash mark appeared shattering the ice and fire surrounding him. Dozens of red slash projections flew out only to be met by Sthanomon's empowered jaws.
Gadreelmon came jetting out of the smoke sword in hand ready to decapitate his hated enemy. His supernatural eyes were able to see Sthanomon clearly preparing his strongest attack, and he couldn't let that happen. Both of Sthanomon's hands were cupped together, in a manner similar to a certain wave motion beam attack. The intense hot and cold air were being forced together creating a constantly growing mass of violet colored thunder. Snarling his fury at Sthanomon he came down with an overhead swing that was parried by one of his accursed tentacles. DING! DING! His second and third attacks were parried leaving him too far away to get in close enough.
"Grrrrrr….rrrrrrraaaaaaahhhhhhh!" The once noble knight roared wildly swinging his demonic broadsword.
Sthanomon remained perfectly calm as hic tentacles masterfully deflected each attack. True he could feel the pain cut into them, even hiss when one was severed, but he could endure it while preparing his Blue Inferno. "I have to admit Gadreelmon," he started sensing the energy output of his attack approaching the targeted ratio. "Out of all the annoyances I've had to put up with tonight you're one of the worst. And that leaves me extremely steamed. Blue Inferno!"
The blast of thunder was as loud it was almost deafening. Chunks of the ground were torn apart as it crossed the short distance to Gadreelmon. He barely had time to put his sword up in defense when the beam of charged thunder slammed into him, and he wished like hell he was faster.
"Aaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhh!" Gadreelmon screamed flying backwards as the beam carried him across the parking lot, through the vehicles and into another building across the street.
Sthanomon had little time to bask in the glory of his latest fit before the LithoRosemon were upon him. Surviving one of their Lamination of Roses attack was one thing, taking five at once was enough to make him scream in pain, especially since performing his Blue Inferno had left him greatly weakened.
Vision came back to Noriko and Cody slowly and painfully. Between the two of them Noriko had taken the brunt of the attack and it had resulted in at least two broken ribs and a possibly fractured back bone. The only thing that didn't hurt were his hands, which were almost as numb as the rest of her body. Cody had been spared a good deal of the pain as he regained his senses faster than Noriko did.
"N-No-Noriko?" his voice whimpered as he tried to move. "Pl-Please…say…why?"
As painful as it was Noriko felt herself laughing. "Be-Because…b-be-besides D-Davis…you…were the one who had th-the biggest impact on m-me." She coughed up blood as she managed to roll off of him. The act itself sent a wave of pain up her body. "Y-Yo-You…remind me…a lot…of a…person I u-used to love. H-He was always serious like you…but…you could tell he…really loved the people around him. Th-That's why…I have to…protect you…and Grizzlymon." Her numb hands were suddenly balled into determined fists she used to push herself up. Her pale skin was matted with blood just like his was, her right shoulder looked like it had been dislocated from what Cody could tell. "I-I've…let down too m-many people…including myself. I refuse…to let another person…down!" The older girl defiantly proclaimed somehow making it to her knees. To Cody's eyes she was the most spectacular thing he'd ever seen. Reading all the signs she shouldn't have been able to move yet she was kneeling in front of him, protecting him from the trio of LithoRosemon making their way towards them.
Due to Sthanomon's previous attack some of the LithoRosemon were missing a few chunks of their bodies, limbs even. Blood oozed down in rivers from their various cracks further adding to their nightmarish appearance. Those that stood in their way found themselves splashed with it, not a minute later and they were screaming in horror as their souls and minds came under heavy assault. Within seconds they were lifeless corpses.
In about a minute or two the same fate was about to befall Noriko.
The lead LithoRosemon, one that had several chunks of its body missing from which blood gushed out creating puddles with every step. Its soulless eyes were fixated the two youngsters yet neither of them wavered.
It took one step forward when a blur and white blur slammed into the statue only to be thrown aside. The armless Champion landed in front of Noriko on his hind legs.
"Are you…take Cody and get the others out of here." Noriko commanded.
Stepping infront of her the bear grunted. "Sorry partner…but that's not happening." To her surprise he laughed a joyous sound that reminded her of her cundly Bearmon. "Do you…remember when I first Digivolved into Bearmon?"
"Yeah…" she said with a small smile. "You were so scared I couldn't get you to come out of the room."
Nodding the Champion continued glaring at the approaching killing machine with determined eyes. "You taught me how great the outside world was, and thanks to you…I got to meet some awesome people. People who I'm willing to lay down my life for." Grizzlymon proclaimed planting his feet firmly in the ground. "The love and courage you showed me…"
The LithoRosemon lunged at them.
"It's time I paid it back!"
Luminance light exploded from Noriko's waist side as a brilliant blue orb of energy enveloped Grizzlymon. All eyes turned to the spectacle with baited breath and wide eyes.
THUMP!
"Grizzlymon Digivolve to…"
"STOP HIM!" cried the two Megas still locked in heated battle.
At once dozens of Digimon and humans converged on the Digivolving Grizzlymon and Noriko.
"Hey! Rock Cracking!"
"Shuriken Star!"
A rain of boulders came down upon the LithoRosemon and other attackers while a sharp dark blue shuriken raced through them leaving trails of blood and data in its wake. Shurimon came up standing in front of Grizzlymon arms outstretched. The LithoRosemon regarded him for a second before it smacked him out of the way.
"Lamina-"
The earth shattering roar silenced the creature's attack as did it all the other voices. Looking deeply into the light Noriko and the DigiDestined could see Grizzlymon's transformation into his new Ultimate form. For Noriko the surge of power and life was unlike anything she'd ever felt in her life. What she saw happening inside the cocoon also blew her mind.
Grizzlymon threw back his head in a roar as his body was broken down into a spirit like essence that at first took the shape of a bear before it transformed into a roaring lion. Fierce whirlwinds whipped up around his DigiCore converging into a humanoid body that was punching and kicking the air around it. The bright blue colored winds condensed around the arms and legs turning into brilliant metal that shimmered as it spun at high speeds. The figure kicked itself into the air then came down in an explosion of silver colored air. Once the whirlwind subsided Noriko and the others could clearly see what had once been a slightly oversized blue furred bear was now a seven foot tall humanoid lion clad in Chrome Digizoid armor. What really drew their attention were the beast-man's arms and legs-they were spinning turbines that held the spun with the force of tornadoes.
"GrapLeomon!" The newly emerged Ultimate roared performing a perfect spin kick that carried enough force to blow back the attackers. Upon setting eyes on the LithoRosemon he kicked off the ground, and in a flash his turbine fist had rammed its way through the LithoRosemon. CRUNK! Freeing his head GrapLeomon looked from his allies to the motionless LithoRosemon and Deep Ones. "I hope you monsters have had your fun, because now this ends."
Name: GrapLeomon
Level: Ultimate
Attribute: vaccine
Description: Behold the end result of hundreds of data amassed from fighting games focused into one badass package. GrapLeomon is one of the toughest martial artists in all the Digital World and its got more than enough skill to told the title. What powers the various turbines on his body is the sheer fighting spirit of his own DigiCore, a fighting spire that is enhanced by the inherited will of the noble Leomon. All his attacks: The King of the Fist, Cyclone Kick, and Shishi Senpu Kyaku (Lion Cyclone Leg) are fueled by GrapLeomon's turbines which also posse the power to distort gravity if pushed to their maximum limit.
Gadreelmon took one look at the kung-fu warrior before snorting through his mask. "Another one, kill him quickly then bring the master to me." He held up one hand in GrapLeomon's direction, dark light gathering in it. "Glorious Fever." Boom! The yellow and black beam went shooting out from his palm directly towards the downed Cody and Noriko.
SWEEP!
The Fallen Angel snorted again, to the naked eye it seemed like they'd disappeared but to him what happened was painfully obvious. The turbines GrapLeomon wore weren't just stories, they indeed possessed the speed and power that had won them their fame.
"You shouldn't have taken your eyes off of me Gadreelmon." Sthanomon snickered alerting Gadreelmon. "Cold Nova!"
BOOM!
Sthanomon turned his head to face the armored lion only to find himself facing down four LithoRosemon. "Shit."
"Lamination of Roses."
At the moment GrapLeomon wasn't just the fastest of the group, he was also the strongest. Dropping his charges down GrapLeomon stomped his foot into the ground while holding up his tornado incased fist. "King of the Fist!" He growled throwing himself forward.
BANG! BANG! BANG! CLING! CRACK! CRACK! CRACK! CRACK! CRRRRRAAAACCCCCKKK!
"You seriously should have done that earlier." Yolei muttered watched the silver blur that was GrapLeomon smashing apart the LithoRosemon. She'd seen fast Digimon but GrapLeomon's speed seemed to be on another level, no doubt thanks to the supernatural turbines built into his body. Tearing her eyes away from the battle she turned back to her leader and her boyfriend. "Ken? Please tell me he's going to be okay, please." She pleaded looked at the ugly scar now running down Davis's back. To say the wound was ugly before was an understatement, now it just looked sickening given how Ken had had to perform such amateur and last minute treatment on it.
Ken sat almost totally motionless for a second while the sound of GrapLeomon destroying Digimon and humans around him boomed. His twitching fingers were covered with blood from stitching and cleaning the wound. It was far from his best work, even adding in his inexperience, and he couldn't even assure himself he'd done the right thing. Shurimon had loaned pieces of his vine-like limbs that he promised would hold up well but Ken couldn't shake the fear any second the wound would split open. Odds were it would if Davis got back up and began running around. "H-He'll…b-be…" he tried to respond to Yolei's question; it was near impossible due to his own whirlwind of emotions. It took DemiVeemon grabbing his stained fingers to bring them under control. "It-It'll do until we're able to get him to a hospital."
SMACK!
Snapping to the left he saw Sthanomon coming at him full stop with his elemental powers at the ready. Ken could feel all his killing intent was being directed at him and him alone. "Run. He's after you so if you run now he'll-"
"King of the Fist!"
A majestic gust of wind smacked against Ken's face bringing him out of his thoughts. One minute Sthanomon was seconds away from tearing them apart and the next he the aquatic assassin was gasping for air courtesy of the iron fisted jab he'd just received.
"GAH!" Sthanomon gasped stumbling back for a fraction of a second GrapLeomon exploited. Following the jab came a barrage of crosses that was followed by two back-to-back butterfly kicks. "You little-"
"King of the Fist!" This time it was an uppercut, one that was practically a miniature tornado with the force of a steam train behind it.
THUMP!
"Spiking Strike!"
"Kusanagi"
"Rock Cracking!"
GrapLeomon's division had drawn the attention of most of the LithoRosemon. As hard as each of them could manage they attacked the stone demons with whatever reserves of power they had left going into the blows.
CCCCRRRRAAAACCCKKKK!
"What in Lucemon's name!?" Cried Gadreelmon moving from out of the rumble. Right before his eyes the LithoRosemon shattered or lost entire portions of their bodies like they were pieces of clay. He could feel it through his demonic senses, something had nerfed their powers. "Wh-What!? What did you maggots do?" He took one threatening step towards them before GrapLeomon stood before him. "Out of my way!"
THUNK!
A shock-wave of air went out from Solanum's collision with the Beast Man. GrapLeomon was pushed back but he didn't fall to his knees or show any visible sign of pain. The demonic blade may have cut into his Chrome Digizoid armor but not enough to critically wound him. Gadreelmon broke off then swung again, GrapLeomon met the sword with a right swing that released another shockwave of air. THUNK! THUNK! THUNK! THUNK! THUNK! They went on and on until Gadreelmon's face twisted into a snarl.
"What!? Can't you….no! No!"
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
The explosions were visible for miles away, the exact same distance the unearthly moan reached. No save for the remaining LithoRosemon felt a shiver go up their spines.
"Wh…What…what is that?" Cody whimpered feeling his arms turn into jelly as the sound continued echoing in his ears.
"Another annoyance. One bigger than you lot." Gadreelmon answered turning away from the DigiDestined. "Thank your stars worms, your executions have been postponed. My lord, I apology for the delay as well as the unsightly abomination destroying your garden, I will remove it as soon as I can." The skull headed knight proclaimed before he took flight into the black sky. Not a second later and the remaining LithoRosemon were following him towards the towering figure that now stood over the cityscape.
The five DigiDestined watched the demons head out with twitching eyes and gaping mouths.
Recovering first was Yolei who quickly took stock of the situation. "Hey wait! Where're the Deep Ones?"
"They must have decided to regroup with…whatever the hell that thing is." Cody deduced as Noriko helped him to his feet despite the great pain she was in. "Whatever is happening…we've got to regroup with the others."
"Regroup? Cody, look at us!" Yolei cried slamming her already injured fist into the ground. "We can barely stand let alone go help anyone."
"Have…to."
All eyes immediately went to the struggling Goggle Head beside Ken. Shrugging off his best friend's attempts to settle him back down he met each of their eyes with a determined fire that hadn't been dulled in the slightest. "We…got…a job….to do. Be…sides, we're the only ones…who can." He managed to spit out climbing to his legs. His face was pale from blood loss and matted with sweat, but the look in his eyes might as well have been carved from a piece of rock.
Beep! Beep! Beep!
"Oh, so that's the famous Goggle-Head stubbornness we've heard so much about eh?"
Matt liked to believe without Tai they were still a capable fighting force, but when he saw his best friend's condition as well as that of his partner's he felt like they might as well been a gaggle of street performers. "What the hell happened to you two?" he asked rushing over to meet with group of rookies carrying the original Goggle-Head.
"We…stepped on a snake." He solemnly answered with a grimace.
That was all Matt needed to hear before the sharp crank of gunshots exploded through the street.
"What the hell was that?"
"Guns? Seriously!"
"Run! No matter what keep moving!" Matt screamed urging the group of eight rookies and Tai further down the street.
Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!
Even if he wanted to Matt couldn't tell who it was that was shooting at them; what he knew for a fact was they were aiming for T.K. Since both sides were gunning for his little brother Matt couldn't figure out rather it was the Seven Deadly Demons or the Deep Ones. In the long run it might not have matter because what both of them wanted he couldn't afford to lose. T.K. had come to the same conclusion he did as every so often he tried to struggle free or break out of Matt's grip, and his hold on his brother was iron like a vice. Sweat beading down his neck to the point he was soaked all the way through, his very eyes were clouded with not just black spots of exhaustion but droplets of water as well. Since he had to keep his hold on WereGarurumon he contented with shaking his head from side to side; it only made things worse.
Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!
Both brothers could hear eerie laughter as they weary band raced through the streets dodging fire and energy beams from on high. It reminded them of the cruel, sick laughter of Devimon, Pidemon, and Myotismon. They could feel it following them no matter which way they turned; it was their own private satellite. The skies were too hot for Angemon to fly, and even if they weren't the angel was reluctant to leave his partner's side.
Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!
"Vulcan's Hammer!"
Boom!
Never did T.K. think he'd be so grateful to see Zudomon's arrow-shaped thunderbolt racing across the skies. There was a booming explosion that proceeded the flapping of countless wings. Matt looked straight ahead to see Sora and Joe, a light gray aura faintly outlining them. The closer they got the more intensely Matt and T.K.'s crests seemed to glow. He wished the slowly forming smiles on their faces could have lasted; however, the minute they saw Tai's condition their grins sharply turned into horrified frowns.
"TAI!" Sora screamed breaking off into a dead sprint for the brown haired teenager.
"Joe, take care of him first." Matt ordered though Joe was already on it. While the future doctor examined their leader Matt faced the remaining DigiDestined that had assembled before them. There were twelve of them, all of them rookies who had less than a year of training in…whatever the hell they called the qualifications of a DigiDestined. Only four of them had partners who could Digivolve to the Ultimate-level which was as close as they were going to get. The dirty blond flashed a single look at WereGarurumon who immediately read his mind. "Newbies!" his voice boomed. "Perimeter around Tai now! You want to prove you're worthy of being DigiDestined, this is the moment!"
He may have been no time but when the time came Matt knew his voice carried just enough to get those under him into line. Often he and the others had joked about how the chain-of-command in their group went, and how unorganized it was. Matt was glad the newbies were able to find enough courage to do as he ordered them to. They stood along with their partners in a loose circle around Tai and Joe in the middle of the street.
"W-Wait! Wait! Damn it Joe stop!" Tai roared sitting up. "Can someone tell me where my parents are!? Where the hell is my sister!?"
"The princess is in good hands, our hands to be exact."
!
The sudden gust of air froze the assembled children. Simultaneously all their hearts froze as they took stock of the Lovecraftian creature that now stood above them.
"Lucky me," came the monster's voice through the curtain of tentacles that obscured its ungodly face from the world. "All my targets are in one place. Eldritch Edge."
Tai's eyes were too small to fully reflect the immense sword Yathomon held up. His words were almost of equal size, "EVERYONE MOVE NOW!"
SSSSSWWWWWOOOOSSSSHHHHH!
Nothing but darkness was left in the wake of Yathomon's attack, no technicolors or ominous sparkles, just empty darkness. The impact area, a collection of seven and eleven story buildings and skyscrapers, had been sliced through, entirely sliced through. The cut was perfect, surgical almost in its precision. Unlike the ragged edges of the sword the edges of the building didn't look like they had been cut, more like erased completely in the form of a cut.
To everyone's horror the damage showed them Ythomon's attack wasn't one they could parry or overpower-it was one that cleaved through space itself.
On his Ghoulmon Valére felt his eyes twitch as he watched the row of buildings come crashing down on top of the DigiDestined. The crashing was like an earthquake that kicked up mountains of dust and rock hundreds of feet into the sky. "Not that it gets you off the hook Chiyo but you may have had a point. All forces focus on eliminating our two primary targets: Ythomon and T.K.!" he ordered throwing his arm to the side.
"Death Arrow!"
"Explosion Eye!"
It was hell, the hell that was called war. In one way or another they had had relatives describe what the American bombs had been like. Wild, destructive, chaotic, and most of all terrifying.
They couldn't see anything, only feel what their years of adventuring had taught them to feel which was the adrenaline and fear that came with running for survival. Fear kept their feet moving in all directions while their desperation kept their senses so alert they could feel almost everything going on around them. It was never pleasant. Some nights it kept a handful of them up-the nightmares that were born from the sheer terror they felt with every second.
Acting on brotherly instinct Matt threw himself over T.K. as they ran. While the gunshots had stopped it had only been replaced by the nonstop sound of the earth being torn asunder. Through contact each could feel the others nonstop trembling but could do nothing to alleviate it.
Bang! Bang!
"Damn it Matt let go! I'm the one he wants! I-"
"Shut-up! There is no way in hell I'm going to let you die! Not as long as there's a breath of life in my body! When you were born I made a promise to protect you and I plan on doing that until the day I die! And that's not going to be today!"
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
Suddenly cold air assaulted the DigiDestined crawling along the ground. Daring to look up they saw half a dozen frozen Ghoulmon descending to the ground where they broke into a thousand pieces. Blue colored clouds of smoke rose above the black and gray ones coated the area indigo blue. Small snowflakes began softly touching down on the ruined city street while a thick chill rolled in. The cyborg wolf that was the cause of all this had all the weapon ports on his body open and about to fire another volley of rockets when a black and yellow laser nearly split him in half. Seeing the laser heading straight for Matt and T.K. he disengaged and dashed straight towards them. Matt saw the outline of MetalGarurumon coming and he promptly threw his hands up. The Ishida brothers watched the laser follow them for half a second before it was out of sight.
"Hang on you two!" MetalGarurumon barked growling at the oncoming bogey. "Angemon break off! This one's too strong for you!"
THUNK!
Gadreelmon looked up from the small crater his sword had made to see MetalGarurumon giving him his best death-glare. Returning it he lifted his sword high above his head where red energy coiled around it like a snake. The Mega-level knight was mere seconds away from calling his attack when a fierce roar sounded off.
"Mega Flame!"
The fireball didn't so much leave a scratch on the demonic warrior, but it did draw his attention away from the two brothers and their partners.
Eyes wide in shock and disgust Gadreelmon turned his full attention to a heavily winded Greymon and his equally winded partner. "You…" he began eyes sparking with black fire. "Filthy reptile. You…dare to strike me! I who once stood on top of the heavens!" he roared slamming the tip of his sword into the ground. Miniature stars blazed to life on both his hands; so bright were their intensity that everything and everyone within a mile radius were illuminated by their impure light. "I'll teach you your place mongrel! Infernal Quasar!"
Everyone could see Greymon was too weakened to move out of the way of the attack just as they were too far away to help. From everywhere mouth opened in silent screams as the two orbs came closer and closer to their target. Of them all none could match that of the bearer of the Crest of Love.
Boom!
Like a hockey puck Tai came out of the smoke battered and beaten, in his hands was a scratch covered Koromon who was barely holding onto consciousness. The pink creature rolled out of his grasp up against a piece of rumble. Snapping his head to his partner Tai crawled over to him and threw his body over the In-Training Digimon while Gadreelmon angrily stocked towards them with Solanum cackling with demonic energy.
The distance between Sora and her closest friend might as well have been a mile from what her distorted vision perceived. Her eyed went from Solanum to Tai's near broken form. Inside her chest her heart exploded with rage, horror, and sorrow. "TAI!"
Above her Garudamon felt a surge of power course through her body as she dodged Ythomon's toxic tentacles. She saw what Sora saw, and she felt the firestorm of emotions within her. "WE WON'T LET YOU!"
THUMP!
There was a spectacular burst of flames in the sky followed by an ear-shattering boom.
"What?" The Fallen Angel had time to say just before something heavy and hot slammed into his body at Mach speed.
The demons and monsters looked up to see Lucemon's personal knight being carried into the sky by a literal ball of heat and light. Just looking at it made the eyes of the insidious Digimon turn their eyes away. Even Ythomon who had shrugged off hundreds of Death Arrows and Explosion Eyes from the Ghoulmon screamed in terror at the burning light that touched his skin. Screaming his terror he launched his tentacles at the glowing sphere only to be rewarded with white hot pain surging up the tentacles and into his brain. Their once slimy surface was now charred black with flames licking at the edges.
"YOU WON"T TOUCH HIM!" Came the goddess-like voice on the ground. Where Sora had once stood was now a localized tornado of red wind-like flames that blew in all directions.
Each of the first generation felt their crests practically cry out in joy as the Crest of Love burned itself above Sora's head while the younger ones felt themselves enveloped by a hot warmth that continued to grow by the second.
Lying on his stomach Tai could feel most of the warmth being directed at him. He could clearly see Sora through the maelstrom. Her auburn hair which he had always been so attracted to was now a scarlet red mane of flames. At the edges he saw the red transform into various shades of color. Their eyes met for a brief second. Tai saw the accumulation of over five years of friendship and affection reflected in those eyes. It gave him the strength to push himself up just it gave Koromon the strength to Digiovle back into Agumon. With the light flooding his face he called out to Sora, "SORA DO IT NOW! ATTACK!"
His voice reached her as the teenaged girl looked up to the sky. In Garudamon's place a brightly colored bird whose feathers glistened with all the colors of the rainbow cried out. "HOUOUMON!"
"Crimson Flare!"
There was an iridescent flash that came before the jaw-dropping blast of pure heat that blew apart everything in its path. Seconds before they too were forced to shield their eyes the DigiDestined saw the rainbow colored phoenix that had just turned the tide of the battle in their favor. It was beautiful and powerful at once, exactly like love was when in its purest form.
"ENNNNNOOOOOOUUUGGGGHHHH!"
Calling her back to the realm of reality Sora saw the monstrous figure of Yigmon holding up Mr. and Mrs. Kamiya in each of his scaly hands. Almost a mile done the street, still under the radiance of Huohuomon's light the snake god stood. His skin was burning away yet the monster remained firmly where he lay.
Holding up both parents into the light for her to see he hissed, "TTTTTTuuuurrrnnn off ttthhh light show oooorrr kiiis your in-laws goodbye!"
Though she wasn't sure how Sora closed the floodgates as quickly as she'd opened them. In the skies the iridescent light began to fade away allowing the moon to reclaim its place as the night's sole illuminator. The sphere of heat and light descended back done in front of her to reveal an extremely frustrated look Biyomon. The pounding in Sora's chest slowed up until it was back at its steady pace despite the situation.
All round her the attacking demons completely stopped. Either they recognized the gravity of the situation or they were lost without Gadreelmon leading them. Speaking of which the charred knight lay in a sizable crater nearly three blocks away from them with smoke coiling out of his cracked armor. With thunder-like footsteps Ythomon trudged over until he was standing behind the grinning Yigmon. Though his face couldn't' be seen the DigiDestined had a feeling he too was grinning in satisfaction.
One by one the rest of the DigiDestined assembled around her wearing equally grim expressions. Just as Matt was the one holding Tai up he was also the one holding him back as the young man looked ready to take off at the drop of a heat. Beneath them Agumon was looking like he wanted to do the same thing save for the impeding paw MetalGarurumon had next to him. The cyborg wolf's lips were pulled back in a tight snarl as he had analyzed Yigmon's posture as well as that of Ythomon.
In the sixteen seconds it would take him to clear the eighteen yard distance between them Yigmon could kill both the Kamiyas while MetalGarurumon might have been able to kill him before Ythomon even knew what had happened. A pyrrhic victory he held no desire to sample.
"What?" Tai pleaded nearly falling to his knees as Matt tried to hold him back. To see tears at the edge of his eyes was a sight that broke the hearts of everyone save for the demons and monsters watching him. He didn't care if they laughed at him, hell, every last one of them could have used him for a human punching bag if it meant saving his parents. "Whatever it is…whatever you want…I'll do it. Just please let them go." Tai spoke falling to his bloody hands and knees.
Blood red eyes scanned the teenager with sick satisfaction that was reflected in the sickening smile on Yigmon's face. "Ahhhhh, what gooooodddd little children you are. Here's what I want to happen-bring us Ken and we'll calllllll it a night." Yigmon proclaimed flicking his eyes to the far right.
The other DigiDestined followed the snake's gaze to the desolate remains of another skyscraper. Climbing over the rumble was a white Ken, his face devoid of all emotions except cold shock. Behind him came Yolei carrying a heavily injured Davis and Noriko carrying Cody by the shoulders. Behind them were their partners in equally damaged condition. Collectively their eyes searched the destruction around them before falling on the Kamiyas lying unconscious in the snake god's hands.
Being a genius Ken only needed to take one look at the battlefield to deduce what was happening. Looking back at his girlfriend and friends with a solemn frown he shook his head in dismay. Before any of them could say a thing he took his first step over the rumble, his words breaking the silence like a hammer to glass, "You have a deal. Me for the Kamiyas."
To Be Continued…
It's kind of sad I couldn't go with my original cliffhanger for Part Five of Devilish Life, it actually involved a heroic rescue by the only DigiDestined that hasn't shown up yet. Anyways I think I had the Apartment battle scene take up too much of this chapter which is why things didn't go as I original planned in my outlines. Still, here's hoping I made it pretty good with Grizzlymon Digivolving into GrapLeomon, one of my favorite evolutions of the Leomon family. Now you may all torture yourselves wondering if he's going to fall to the series' Leomon curse! Hahahahahahahahaha!
Now yes I know Hououmon's grand entrance was way too short and miniscule but that was for story reasons. Given the nature of her power she'd be something a game breaker and I can't give the good guys one of those just yet. The reason is partly based on the analogy Nancy made a few chapters earlier about the giant bird, giant lizard, and octpus. In future chapters she will be making a much grandeur and impactful appearance. Eventually all the Adventure 01 cast will have their partners Digivolve to the Mega-level but it'll be at critical story points, and boy are they going to need them for what's coming. Looking at my notes this battle's going to have two more chapters containing a boat-load of surprises. By the end of this battle the balance of power will have dramatically shifted, and that will have deadly consequences for certain characters.
Speculate and review! Until next time reader!
