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Chapter Forty-One-The Undead Pt.2 (The Burning Dead and the Holy Dead)
In his house at R'lyeh the great Dagomon was fuming at the mouth. How could he have allowed this to happen? How had he not foreseen any of this? He'd lost control of the situation and worse he couldn't get it back. Within his personal chamber his titanic voice resounded through the metal walls creating a never ending maelstrom of furious curses and rattling. His tentacles lashed out in all directions either smashing through the metal walls or leaving dents the size of eighteen-wheelers. Anyone who'd been in the chamber at the time would have been pummeled to death by the ferocious storm that was the Sinful Priest of the Ocean Floor. Any second it might have been expected for the entire chamber to collapse on top of the Mutant Digimon. Not that it would have bothered him much.
Blinded by his fury Dagomon lashed out at anything and everything, his vision was nothing more than a red haze. In some ways it was actually quite ironic as he'd inflicted similar torture on those poor souls unfortunate enough to wonder into his realm in the past. If any of them were still around they would have mocked the Dark Ocean ruler for his temper tantrum. Somewhere in the back of his mind he realized that and it only made his fury all the greater. He could almost hear their laughter ringing in his head, along with that of Daemon. The thought of his mortal enemy laughing at him is what really drove the Ultimate-level Digimon over the edge resulting in this violent outburst.
Knowing Daemon he probably was laughing in his own fortress. He was sitting cross-legged in his private chambers filling the entire room with his thunderous laughter as Dagomon roared and raged in his. The flames that lit the room danced wildly as if they were alive and were celebrating the Demon Lord's apparent good mood. The black and white color scheme of the Dark Ocean was probably broken allowing all shades of black, red orange, yellow, and purple to decorate the chamber. As hard as he tried to fight it Dagomon simply couldn't block out the image.
He would not let that bat-winged demon win, he couldn't allow it. He was the god of this realm! He was its supreme ruler! Nobody challenged his rule and lived! Nobody denied him! Nobody mocked him! Above all else, nobody claimed victory over him.
The crime against such transgressions was complete and total annihilation.
He was Dagomon, Sinful Priest of the Ocean Floor, the Depraved Monk of the Deep. He was the God of the Dark Ocean.
It was high time he reminded his adversaries who it was they dared cross.
Calming his rage he refocused his mind and spirit then clapped his hands together as if he were in prayer. The storm ceased and in its place came an eerie clam that promised violence and destruction on a grander scale. His gigantic rubbery lips moved in ways no organic creature could comprehend and his rows of jagged teeth scraped against each other every so often. Any creature who tried to decipher the words he was chanting would have been driven mad and any machine trying to do the same would have crashed. Without a doubt like the entity he was based on Dagomon's existence was a black hole that warped and corrupted anything and everything that came near it. He was not natural yet everything he was he had been shaped by reality's desire to store away its collective sadness and misery. Those that had scorned his existence had learned to fear his power if they weren't destroyed by it.
If he had to sacrifice ten thousand of his followers to teach Daemon that lesson then so be it.
Tosamon wouldn't say she was terrified no, that would bring dishonor to herself and her father, yet given her opponent she felt there was no shame in feeling fear. Of all the warriors Daemon under his command the one she was currently engaging had been ranked number one on the "do not combat" list, and for good reason. If it wasn't for prevailing circumstances she would have fled the battle the minute she caught sight of Thymósmon slashing his way across the battlefield. As she'd found out he wasn't called the "Wrath of Lightning" for nothing.
"Box him in and annihilate him!" She screamed jumping from the burning ledge just as another bolt of bright crimson lightning struck her perch point. On her way down she saw the crimson mass of plasma and death speeding towards her only to be completely consumed by countless virus-infected flyers. "Otherworld Mist!" What came out of her lips was probably the biggest cloud of toxic gas she could muster at the moment it and it showed in its potency. The air seemed to howl and sizzle as the gas cloud moved through it until eventually it completely consumed the monster-ball resulting in dozens of Deep Ones screaming in agony. Ordinarily this would have been enough to bring an ear-to-ear grin to Tosamon's face except she didn't hear Thymósmon's voice anywhere in the mix. Hell, she couldn't even hear his breathing.
"Pathetic trick little princess." Suddenly came the warrior's voice.
SSSSLLLIIISSSHHH!-KA-LISH!
In one giant arc of red the Digimon were deleted down to their DigiCores and her poisonous mist was dispelled revealing an unharmed warrior garbed in red lightning zooming towards her. Panicking stretched out one of her tentacles to grab onto another ledge in order to pull herself to safety.
The raw heat from the near-impalement was enough to flash-fry her skin enough she almost lost her concentration. The second her feet were on solid ground she was running into the base's interior at breakneck speed moving through its collapsing tunnels with frantic urgency. There was no way he little trick was enough to stop the one-mon destroyer now currently on her tail and hiding was only prolonging the inevitable. "I need a plan! An escape plan! Something to get him off my ass long enough to slip away to some place he can't follow!" Her pride wasn't enough to hold the illusion of supremacy up any longer, Clooloo was done for and so was every Deep One in it unless they made a break for it. Given the current state of affairs that option was becoming less and less likely.
"Do you think running will help you escape my wrath little princess? You truly are the spoiled brat I envisioned you to be!" Thundered Thymósmon's voice which bounced off the dark walls. "I'll show you there's nowhere in this little fort you can hide where you will be safe from me! Blood of the Stars!"
Once Tosamon heard that her digital heart froze for a solid moment in fear. In the moment her body began responding to her she covered her body with all her tentacles while strengthening them to their maximum limit. There was no escaping what came next nor did she have a desire to see the red flashes that were about leave her feeling very sore. Briefly she prayed to her father to give her strength to survive the assault that came barely a second after she'd braced herself.
In total it was hard to tell how many lightning bolts there were, all anyone inside Clooloo knew was with the power they were packing they were more like Hellfire missiles then standard lightning bolts. Lightning didn't completely and utterly annihilate everything they touched down to a near atomic level nor did it cause this much pain if touched. Heads turned to the red flashes and mouths had one minute to scream in total agony before oblivion claimed the lives of any caught in the blast. By wrapping herself up in a defensive curl Tosamon escaped the fear brought about by seeing the red light; what she end up with was feeling the unfiltered raw paw the superheated plasma inflicted upon her.
"RRRAAAAAAAAAGGGGGHHHHHHH!" One of the two princesses of the Dark Ocean screamed until she felt as if her lungs were on the verge of exploding. Her mind itself nearly completely shut down from the pain overload until she felt the cool droplets of rain pounding against her seared flesh. "F-Father? I-Is that you?"
"Yes my child, it is I. Rise, rise and prove yourself worthy of my name! Stand before this heretic and make him rue the day he crossed the House of Dagomon! Stand my daughter! Stand!"
"Finally found some courage eh princess?" The warrior mocked.
Shouting in fury Tosamon launched all her tentacles at her opponent hoping at least one would graze his jet-black Chrome Digizoid armor.
SLISH! SLASH! SLASH!
"If that was your best attempt at deleting me, then this is going to be a short and boring fighting." Thymósmon snarled amidst the amputated limbs falling at his feet. With the slightest expansion of his cackling aura the severed pieces of flesh were incinerated leaving black patches on the ground. Planting his spear into the ground the seven-foot tall armored warrior looked down on Tosamon's huddled form with immense disdain behind his crimson eyes which were often hidden behind his Greek war helmet.
Name: Thymósmon
Level: None
Attribute: Data
Description: There are few warriors in the Digital World one should ever challenge, these are Digimon whose combat prowess has engraved themselves into the Digital World's history as one-mon armies. They've earned the title as each and every one of them have destroyed armies. Thymósmon is one of them, perhaps the most famous one. A Demon Warrior who's lived through countless battles, slaughtered thousands of Digimon, and carved his name into the recorded history of the Digital World as the ultimate warrior. A hot-tempered and volatile being he lives an isolated existence leading many to doubt he still exists, or that he ever existed period. The countless ruined cities and mass graves on the other hand, tell a different story. Wielding his god-killing spear Metéoro Kynigós he can slay anything be it gods, angels, or demons. On top of his combat ability and near invulnerability he's rumored to be one of the fastest creatures in the Digital World, so fast he can outrun lightning and in some cases has been compared to shooting stars for the glow he gives off while doing so.
"Don't mock me Thymósmon," Tosamon seethed getting to her feet despite the residue pain she was still tangling with. "You think you've seen my best! Please! I haven't even begun to fight! True Blue!"
SLASH! SLASH! SLASH!
"If this is all you're capable of then I have every right to mock you." The warrior chided from Tosamon's backside. From where he was standing he had a perfect view of the severed tentacles that had yet to hit the ground.
SWWOOOSSHH!
"Gundramon now! Destroy him!"
With all he speed Tosamon dashed through the ruined insides of the fortress then jumped straight off the ledge into the burning abyss another level down. Thymósmon watched with abysmal interest as the armored dragon appeared at the end of the ledge aiming all its guns at him. If it attacked it'd take out the remaining support beams and cause the entire complex to topple down. There'd be a lot of collateral damage and casualties, many of them being Dagomon's own forces. It couldn't be helped though, he'd lost this battle and thought he'd at least take some of their own with him to ease the defeat. Thymósmon was going to have to disappoint the old squid.
"Der Blitz!" Sounded the mechanical dragon's voice moments before all its guns began rapid firing.
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! SSRRRR-KIIIIIANNNKKK!
"STUPID MACHINE!"
A crimson mass shot out of the resulting explosion and bulldozed towards the startled iron dragon. The beast's scanners and sensors where desperately trying to analyze what the new threat was with every second it grew closer and closer. Acting on whatever instinct it possessed Gundramon fired up its thrusters and attempted to move out of the oncoming projectile's way/
WARNING! WARNING! WARNING! THREAT IMM-
SWOOOOSSSSHHH!
Looking up as if they'd been ordered to by the simultaneous flash of lightning and cry of thunder the Deep Ones and on lookers went slack jawed at the sight of the entire left half of Gundramon's body falling away. The Chrome Digizoid metal was still burning hot from where it had been both cut and melted through. Still paralyzed by the electric surge that came with the attack Gundramon was helpless while Thymósmon twirled his five and half foot demonic spear, ready to deal the finishing blow when he wanted to.
KA-DING!
Roaring in fury and defiance Gundramon forced its systems back on. Its auto-targeting was off but it still had its firing controls. It went wild firing in all directions: forward, back, left, and right. Bullets and artillery shells the size of tanks began shooting off in all directions, most of them hitting nothing but empty air or stray flyers who'd flown too close to the action. For every shell and bullet Gundramon's targeting systems came a second closer to coming back on online. Its radar was up and working just long enough for it to catch sight of Thymósmon appearing in front of its head with Metéoro Kynigós drawn back in one hand.
KA-THHHUNK!
The pain was so unbearable almost every one of Gundramon's bodily functions shutdown, its brain in particular wanted to go offline completely if it meant ending the unholy agony. Red lightning arched over the mechanical dragon's body as its wounded cry resounded through the inferno. Oil and data spewed out in gushes from the eye that Thymósmon had so casually pierced, desperate to end the pain Gundramon began shaking its head back and forth hoping to dislodge the Demon Warrior. To the virus-infected Digimon's ire the warrior did not disengage, he calmly and patiently held on as if there wasn't hundreds of tons of pressure being forced upon him.
With a dispassionate sigh Thymósmon ripped his spear free then delivered a truly vicious roundhouse kick to Gundramon's jaw sending the creature rolling through the rainy sky. "It's time to bring this little execution to a finish. Since your mind is long gone you shouldn't feel too much pain." There was a sudden sonic boom and the warrior Digimon was positioned directly in front of the mechanical dragon. Drawing Metéoro Kynigós back he funneled all the lightning into the red spear tip with a fierce snarl. "Blood of the Stars!"
KA-THHHUUNNNKKK!
Half of the spear was embedded in the dragon's body sending countless waves of demonic electricity coursing through the beast's body. The tendrils of red lightning converged on the spear's tip and continued to grow until arcs of lightning were breaking out of Gundramon's body.
A ten by ten foot circle covered Gundramon's backside seconds before the lighting forced its way through tearing a solid hole in the Mega-level dragon's Chrome Digizoid body. The beam continued shooting outwards until Thymósmon ceased the energy flow. Gundramon's entire body went dead still even as the level-less Digimon hosted it up then threw it down towards the ground arc with red lightning still snaking its way over the body. Still carrying the same dispassion in his eyes Thymósmon opened his mouth and boomed, "KILL EVERY LAST DEEP ONE! NONE ARE TO BE SPARED OR TAKEN PRISONER!"
Coming up beside him was another dragon, this one slightly larger than the mechanical one he'd just slain. Like Gundramon it too was mechanical, granted it had a few more organic traits that marked it as a cyborg rather than a total android. Unlike the fallen dragon this one's body was covered in jet-black armor with red highlights that glowed brightly amidst the orange and black flames now burning the fortress. Looking closer one might have been speechless to find the armor had seemingly been fused directly with the dark scaly flesh of the dragon. Even the wings, two giant bat-like appendages had been fused together with technological giving them a sickeningly unnatural appearance that only added to the terror the main body exuded.
In addition to its already supernatural eyes its cybernetic left eye was more than capable of scanning the hundreds of square miles the citadel covered in seconds. Upon seeing the hundreds of rotting hands claw their way out of the dirt the supercomputer that had been built into the dragon's head began running calculations. Beside the beast Thymósmon came to the same conclusion as the cyborg dragon would come to. "Scourgedramon, you know what to do."
Flipping across the back onto the shoulders were two gigantic rectangular-shaped cannons which began humming with dark energy. All over the body the sound of metal sliding back and missile ports being armed accompanied the hum of energy. Inside the dragon's cybernetic brain all the ground-level targets were locked onto and the energy output for the attack was set. It was time to commence the attack.
Name: Scourgedramon
Level: Mega
Attribute: Virus
Description: Once a powerful dragon-type Digimon this beast has almost completely mechanized itself to become a cybernetic death machine at the beck and call of Daemon. Word is he was the one who had Scourgedramon turned into a cyborg dragon to serve his own plans. In a time long before this one this unholy beast laid waste to the Digital World using its DISASTER weapons system to wipe entire countries off the map. It is said if this beast to were to ever join with its "brother" it would bring about a cataclysm the looks of which the Digital World would scarcely be able to recover from. The DISASTER weapons system grants it a whole number of deadly weapons and abilities such as its World of Cinders, Ruination Rain, and Bane Breaker attacks just to list a few. If you ever meet this nasty piece of scientific work it's heavily advised you run before its starts firing.
"Ruination Rain!" Roared the Cyborg Dragon with its aim fixated solely on the ground where the Daemon Corps were now engaging virus-fueled reinforcements.
From the shoulder cannons came twin red energy beams encased by black lightning. From the ports over the body including the wings hundreds of missiles rocketed out of their silos. The energy beams and missiles, all of them had the same target, or at least targeted area.
On the ground the various factions had a minute to contemplate their situation then make a choice on what to do. Some quietly accepted their fate while others made a break for it. It didn't matter, Scourgedramon's payload hit its mark within seconds.
KA-BBBBOOOOMMM! KA-BOOOOMMMMM! BOOOOOOOOOMMMMM! BOOOOOOOMMM!
By Scourgedramon's estimates almost one hundred and fifty feet of dirt should have been destroyed in his attacks, fatalities were excepted to be rather high which brought grim satisfaction to the dragon. As the miles-long string of explosions lit up the rainy sky Scourgedramon raised his head and released a triumphant roar that could be heard for thousands of miles, possible by his master and the Sinful Priest himself.
Thymósmon allowed himself to take in one last good whiff of the flames and his eyes one gaze long enough to sear the memory of carnage into his brain before he felt it was time to return to business. "Now that you've had your fun Scourgedramon, bring the tower down. The sooner we get this over with the sooner we can move on to more worthy prey!"
Giving the Demon Warrior a short snarl in answer the towering Digimon turn its back to the blaze then fired up its thrusters. The jet thrusters carried the huge creature forwards with speed rivaling that of jet fighters leaving Thymósmon alone in the sky.
"Thymósmon! Commence the mop-up operation! We have the fishies running scared so now's the time to strike! If you don't I'm not leaving any for you!" Sounded the Daemon Corps' commander in his head.
"Understood sir, believe me I plan on getting my fill for the day." Static electricity exploded from the armored warrior's person then condensed into his legs causing them to glow as if they were solid plasma. Taking a stance with Metéoro Kynigós held low with his right hand on the lower shaft and his left towards the end he envisioned himself zipping across the battlefield like a brilliant bolt of lightning traversing the sky. "Silent Thunder."
BOOM!
From a bird's eye view Thymósmon resembled a meteor soaring across the sky leaving a blood-red trail of lightning and severed limbs in his wake. With speed known only to deities he zipped through the flaming maelstrom, freely blowing the hellfire away using nothing but the wind pressure created from his movements. Those who were suffering under the burning flames found their lives mercifully ended when the warrior's unholy spear tore into their bodies. Some remained conscious enough long enough to silently thank the blood-thirsty warrior for ending their suffering. If Thymósmon heard them he would have scuffed at their dying words for their peace was not his desire, still, if they found oblivion to be their desire he had no ill feelings about sending them there. As usual he lost track of how many enemies he fell using his beloved Metéoro Kynigós; all that mattered to him was the gratifying rush that came with each life he took. It fueled him to keep the momentum up and pray for Dagomon to send him more enemies to fight. For all he cared he could have sent his entire army to this burning cesspool and he'd gladly taken them all on.
Placing one foot on top the burning husk of Gundramon while raising his axes into the air with pride Caassimon laughed and laughed. His lord and master couldn't have chosen a better mission for him, given him a better duty than the one he had now. What he was seeing was beautiful, unfiltered beauty that left him feeling as if he'd been blessed. Before the Black Ocean was nothing but a black and white world of dull unhappiness he'd been forced to march through, but now, now it seemed like heaven made real. The hellfire was painting the world all shades of red, black, yellow, and orange to his delight. Licking his lips he fired up his chain axes knowing there were still plenty of prey left for him to hunt.
For better for worse Dagomon answered the werewolf's wish in the most appropriate way possible.
Higher up than the flames of the inferno could reach a mile long rift opened in the sky, starting at first as nothing but a thin black line before opening up into a dark abyss. From beyond the abyss the sound of crashing waves could be heard along with the inhuman moan of a creature whose very existence invited chaos and madness. Overpowering the moans came the sharp cries of a gigantic creature riding the waves as well as several other beasts of equal size. Bit by bit the darkness gave way to reveal a torrent of jet-black water rushing towards the rift's end. Riding it was an enormous crustacean screaming bloody murder along with every other creature behind it.
Hundreds of metric tons of sea water cascaded down from the rift forming an immense waterfall. With it came the aquatic legions of the Deep Ones, summon riding the waves while others hid themselves within the black waters for a surprise attack once they made landfall.
Said landfall proved to be positively shocking and powerful.
The raging flames howled and hissed in fury at being challenged by the despair-heavy waters that washed over them. For a moment it seemed as if the fire itself was screaming at the contact before it began to die down, its essence being eaten away. The demons reacted in much the same way, many not being able to get out of the way in time were directly caught in the onrush and were subsequently washed away. All manners of debris was dislodged and moved by the crushing waves which continued spreading to all corners of the fortress effortless pushing aside broken monuments. It was only when the water reached the half destroyed walls did the flames shoot up in defiance boiling away the inky water that had once overtaken them.
It was an unusual sight, a miniature lake forming yet at the same time being boiled away by several pillars of red and black flames that seemed to be attempting to reach the clouds. Overhead the rift closed cutting off the flow of water, but it had served its purpose. Even though the flames remained the eye-widening inferno was gone as were many of the demons that had caused it. The water was receding and the flames were dying, but that didn't mean either side were ready to give up just yet.
Clooloo was a lost battle for the Deep Ones, and the Daemon Corps and DigiDestined it was a victory. That was a fact; that was why for one girl, her digital partner, and their ghost tag-along it was time to get the hell out.
"I don't think I ever gave you enough credit Jun, you've got an evil mind."
"It's not like I knew all of this was going to happen. I was just expecting a little fireworks, but hey, Daemon surprised me. At this point I'm surprised Dagomon's still willing to waste resources like this."
"Trust me, this is nothing new for him. What is new is someone challenging his reign like this and actually winning. This is probably driving him up the wall."
"Good because that's what my plan was. Now that's it's succeeded it's time for us to get the hell out of here. Any objections?
"Yeah," Harper said pointing a finger at the water. "I think she has one."
Bursting from the black waters came LadyDevimon, her pale skin both severely scorched and in some places frozen solid with the ice cracking. Data trailed from the countless wounded on her body as well as her severed wing. "You think I'm just going to let you escape after all of this! Think again little girl! Black Wing!"
Sighing in annoyance the teenager waved the oncoming attack off. "Onimon, if you'd please."
Easily deflecting the demon woman's spear-like nail with a single swing of his kanabō then he sent the Fallen Angel skidding across the water with a well-placed punch. Turning his back to the seething demon he leaped off the floating piece of debris onto another piece that came within view. The muscular oni groaned in irritation when the familiar harpy-like cry of LadyDevimon reached his ears. "Azulongmon's Thunder she's annoying as hell." Focusing his mind he detached the jeweled beads around his neck and ordered them to hold off the increasingly berserk LadyDevimon while they charted an escape.
Jun truly felt like she'd outdone herself, or rather Daemon had truly kept his end of their deal. Clooloo was fallen, even with the tidal flood Dagomon had called in the fortress was still collapsing. All the floating rocks and citadels were gone and the central complex was breaking apart, hell, half of it had already fell in on itself scattering debris and dust everywhere. Scourgedramon was still blasting the broken tower apart with a combination of overwhelming firepower and melee strikes. That was good, the longer it spent demolishing the tower the longer they had to get away before the cyborg dragon carpet bombed the area again. They'd just barely survived that last one.
Though the water level was decreasing by the second it was still deep enough to hide countless unknown dangers. That was why Onimon made sure to keep moving, even if it meant going through something or someone. Tetsuhono quickly became tainted with blood stains courtesy of the multitude of creatures that seemed intent on blocking their way. Most tedious were the near endless waves of Cipactlimon that seemed to lunge from out of the water every five seconds when they weren't fighting off something else. Usually two or three of them came at them at once, all suffered the same fate.
Towards the far west they saw a massive gaping hole in the once impervious wall they'd had to burrow through in order to enter Clooloo. Over half the wall had collapsed yet the distance between the trio and their escape was littered with conflict. The Deep Ones were attempting in a rather pitiful manner to turn the tide of the battle though the Daemon Corps had more than enough fight left in them. Fireballs and blood-colored energy beams cut the water apart and in some cases left boiling towers of steam on contact. Demons were viciously tearing into marine-life, humans, and virus-infected Digimon without mercy. Body parts floated freely through the water as did blood and oil. The scene eerily reminded Jun of her history classes, the wars of the ancient and medieval times in particular coming to mind when it was said entire fields were filled with bodies and rivers damned with corpses.
Every so often Onimon would jerk his body to the side to avoid an attack coming from their rear end courtesy of LadyDevimon. She too was fending off stray attackers though nothing seemed able to distract her long enough to put sufficient distance between her and the trio. Her voice continued screaming for them to stop running over the constant explosions and battle cries.
Snarling in annoyance Jun turned herself around on her partner's shoulder and took aim with one of her rifles. She supposed she was going to have to get her hands dirty at some point. At last the Fallen Angel didn't try to evade her bullets, granted her weapons were only able to do minimal damage. That was fine though, they slowed her down, each headshot electing a frustrated shout that slowed LadyDevimon's pace. Despite the constant motion Jun was able to keep her rifle steady and her mind focused on the black she-devil hunting them.
"Hold on for a sec!"
For a split second Jun diverted her attention to the upper right just in time to see a giant burning body heading for their location. Bracing herself she felt the air smack into her face as Onimon's frenzied evasion saved them from being knocked by the resulting impact. A thick eruption of water shot up from the impact zone then become a little shower that fell over the trio.
"Onimon!"
"I know!"
Recalling all his prayer beads to form a protective barrier the trio watched the dozens of demons and Deep Ones cry out in anger as they surprise attack was stopped. With a thought the eight-foot oni switched the orbs from defense to offense; all of them shot off towards a different enemy blazing its way through their stomach then doing the same to their head. Amongst the clouds of bursting data and gore Onimon spotted a familiar face charging in.
KA-LING!
"Seriously? Don't you have anything better to do beside chase after us?" The Ultimate-level Digimon barked easily fending off LadyDevimon's attack then parrying her next one.
"You really think I'm going to let you rats get away after all the humiliation you've caused me!" LadyDevimon roared continuously thrusting her spear-hand at break neck speeds only to have each one parried. "I won't rest until both of you are gone and I have my honor!"
"You know lady," Harper sounded from the shadows. "You're taking a pretty big risk here. I mean these two have already beat you what, twice? You sure third time's the charm?"
"Shut up you stupid sh-"
BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG!
LadyDevimon had about four seconds to register the pain the Chrome Digizoid bullets brought her before Onimon drove his right fist directly into her jaw sending her skidding across the water and into a piece of debris.
"YOU LITTLE SHITS! HOW DARE YOU! HOW DARE YOU DO THIS TO ME!" The she devil screamed jumping back to her feet with a dark aura surrounding her damaged body. "I won't rest until I've torn every last one of you to shreds with my bear hands!" Rather than give some snappy back talk the human girl and Digimon were staring at her with shocked, almost fearful expressions. "What? Terrified that I'm about to…release…my true…" Slowly it registered with the Fallen Angel they were looking at her, they weren't terrified of her, it was what was behind her. Suddenly absolute dread and terror washed over her freezing her body. Only the higher ranked warriors of the Daemon Corps had been able to install this level of fear in her, and last she checked they were all preoccupied. Fearfully the female demon began to turn her head around to catch a glimpse at the figure responsible for this sudden fear.
What met her eyes was a pair of blood-red eyes and what nearly shattered her ears was a feline roar so loud it created countless shock-waves along the water and air. The next thing LadyDevimon knew a set of jet animalistic jaws filled with black teeth moved towards her and then her entire world was filled with nothing but venomous, nail-biting pain.
"Ah, so that's what heaven's light looks like." Were Matt's thoughts as the glorious light of Cherubimon continued to grow now encompassing a decent sized portion of the sky. For the first time he saw clear blue skies in what seemed like years and he couldn't have been happier for it. At that moment Matt could say he'd never seen a Digimon more divine or angelic than Cherubimon, not even MagnaAngemon and LadyAngewomon could come close to the kind of radiance the long-eared creature was producing. "We…we're…we're saved." The blond rocker choked out completely mesmerized like the hundreds of other DigiDestined who'd momentarily halted their advance to stare in awe at their now fully revealed trump card.
Rising until he was practically floating amongst the clouds Cherubimon held out both is hands, white and gold-colored light radiating from both his palms forming lustrous orbs. A solid ring of starry light encircled the angel then rose to the tips of his ears where its rays began to strike out across the sky. The jet-black clouds and smog that covered the air instantly evaporated on contact revealing the blue skies of a time long before darkness had descended onto the Human World. For the demons who'd come to enjoy the warped landscape the light was toxic, it was poison, it was annihilation. Shrieking and screaming many turned tail and immediately fled before the light shower could fall over them, many couldn't make it in time. Once the light touched their skin they spontaneously combusted into masses of white-hot flames that continued burning until the only thing left were their purified Digi-eggs.
The humans who'd been so wrapped up in their greed and vice took a moment to admire the brilliant radiance. A moment became two, and before long it was as if all of them had been hypnotized. The jewels and gold fell from their arms and those that had been engulfed in bloody combat stopped. Each person touched by the light felt the veil of sin thinning allowing their reason and sanity to return at last. Many broke down into tears as evidence of their returning humanity while others simple continued staring numbly at the light. At their feet the bloody gold cracked and broke apart releasing dark mist which evaporated almost instantly.
Far from the eyes of mortals on top the angel's shoulders stood Willis, his body glowing the same radiant yellow as his partner. "This…is definitely different from the first time." He mused in a voice that suggested he was only half conscious. Regardless, he knew they didn't have a lot of time left so they had to act fast. "Cherubimon."
"Yes," Answered the divine voice. "I understand." As the light in both hands intensified thunderclouds began to form at the rims of the ring of light. White and blue lightning arched between the gray and black masses angrily demanding to be released. In seconds the clear blue skies were gone and in their place were storm clouds teeming with heavenly fire waiting to be unleashed. Cherubimon's voice boomed across the city of Bangkok reaching to the furthest ends of the city, "HEAVEN'S JUDGEMENT!" Clasping his open hands into fits he unleashed the clouds' payload having auto-targeted the enemies below him.
Divine fire fell from the sky in droves connecting the earth and the sky. Each bolt hit the ground resulting in a fiery explosion of white and gold that consumed everything within a three-mile radius of their landing zone. Hundreds of gleaming-white eruptions shook the ground kicking up gale force winds as a side effect. Even the heaviest Digimon were forced to dig their limbs into the volcanic earth to keep from being knocked back or blown away like leaves in the wind. Few beings could properly open their eyes to see what was happening, the searing flash that each lightning bolt produced was enough to sear the coronas of all organic life while the electronic sensors of machines and cyborgs were overloaded. Blinded and nearly deafened ninety-percent of the ground-level combatants could do nothing but silently hope they were spared the Celestial Digimon's divine judgement.
Hidden from the peering eyes of the battlefield within his fortress the King of the Wicked was seething with rage. His goldmines, his treasure troves, his vaults, his glorious kingdom of treasure and avarice had just been decimated right before his eyes. "I knew we should have wiped those insufferable pigeons off the face of the Digital World millennia ago!" Thundered the Demon Lord of Greed. A scarlet aura encased the bearded old man's body, seconds later and he was blasting his way upwards through his own palace's floors until at least hitting open air. Leaving his decimated palace behind he homed in on the white and pink-furred angel that was surveying its handy work. "YOU!"
Willis knew Cherubimon hadn't quite finished recharging nor did he have the strength to maintain his Mega form much longer. Rapidmon moved in front of his brother ready to intercept the oncoming demon much to Willis' sorrow. "Rapidmon, no." He solemnly ordered causing the Armor Digimon to turn on him.
"Willis are you crazy? There's no way in hell I'm letting that bastard get close to either of you!" He yelled. "I know I don't have a chance, but if I can distract him long enough for you to get a clear shot then maybe we can take one of these bastards down! It's worth a shot!"
"No, it isn't brother." Cherubimon's angelic voice sounded with a firm shake of the head. "Brother, we have much to do after this battle, none of us can avoid to fall here."
"Th…then what are you saying?"
Tightly gripping his Digivice Willis steeled himself for the soon to be collision of two immensely powerful forces "It's going to be mutual KO, at the very least Barbamon will be off the board long enough for the others to finish the battle. It'll hurt like hell, but we'll still be alive and able to fight another day." Only when he actually heard the words coming out of his mouth did Willis realize how ridiculous his plan sounded. When did he get this tactical? When did he become so willing to offer his life for the greater good? And lastly, why in the hell was he sitting on the shoulder of a digital angel about to have a beam-o-war with a digital Archdemon? "You know…when I hatched you two I never thought I'd end up in this kind of situation."
"…Do you wish…" Cherubimon began.
"That you'd never met us?" Rapidmon finished.
"…No, in fact, not a day goes by, even now, that I'm not grateful I met you guys." The American blond laughed.
The Golden Armored Digimon and Celestial Angel joined him, and just for a minute they were back home in the mid-west. There were no rampaging demons, no brainwashed citizens, no fire, and no threat. It was just the three of them enjoying a calm day.
And then the image was gone with the long awaited arrival of Barbamon himself.
"You know," The old demon began visibly smearing with rage. "If you hadn't crossed me I would have considered letting you live, only taking those gold rings of yours as trophies, but now…" He let the thought hang in the air as he brought his wand up, demonic energy cackling around it forming a dense orb of red, black, and gold-colored fire. "You've shown these people an angel exists, and now they will see it fall to the earth as a charred corpse."
To his credit Cherubimon wasn't fazed by the threat. "Bold words Schemer, but you should know you've lost this battle." In his right hand multiple bolts of white lightning converged and condensed into a skyscraper-sized bolt of white plasma that cackled with energy.
"You may have won this battle, but I promise you rabbit, you will not win this war!" Twirling his wand around his arm Barbamon allowed the energy to build until a gigantic unholy fireball was burning at the end of his beloved wand. Pointing it directly at the Mega-level angel his voice boomed, "Evil Inferno!"
Hefting the javelin back Cherubimon's face changed from one of pure to calm to thinly veiled contempt and fury. "Lightning Spear!"
The concentrated mass of lightning left the Angel's hand almost two seconds after the Hellfire-composed sphere was released from the Demon Lord's wand. The distance between the two attacks could be counted in miles yet they were already within distance of each other within seconds. Both attacks lit the up sky as they soared towards the other with the air itself seemingly parting just to allow them clear passage.
The two attacks, one divine and righteous and the other infernal and malefic met each other in the sky where all could see them. After the initial collision no one was quite sure what happened next.
What everyone was sure of was that the resulting explosion could probably be seen from space, a titanic dome of energy that violently pushed the clouds in the atmosphere to the side as two opposite energies violently battled each other to the bitter finish.
"Don't look at it Matt, whatever you do don't look!" MetalGarurumon roared at his partner while he floored it to the distorted Wat Phra Kaewi. "Remember the mission!"
"The mission," Matt's mind mused over the words as he firmly kept his head down against the hard metal frame of his partner. "I'm pretty sure the mission's been accomplished. Hell, even though we won exactly what the hell did we win?" Hundreds of feet above his head Cherubimon and Barbamon had recreated the bombing of Hiroshima-that was the one clear thing in his mind. Though he and the others were presumable safe down on the ground the resulting shock-wave was more than enough to make it feel as if a hundred pounds had been dropped on every bone in their bodies. He supposed that was the upside, Willis and Cherubimon had met Barbamon high enough that their explosive collision wouldn't damage reach the ground where thousands of humans and Digimon were still fighting. He couldn't believe the command had worked such a thing into their plan. "While everyone's busy staring at the nuclear-sized explosion in the sky, we're supposed to bring this battle to a finish once and for all."
"Quite a plan if I do say so myself. I didn't think a bunch of punk kids could come up with a plan this daring and precise, even with the Digimon's help." An uninvited voice buzzed within Matt's skull. "What? You thought you could shake me that easily? Sorry pretty boy, I still have use for you."
"Shut up! Whoever said I was your puppet!" The DigiDestined roared back trying his hardest to push the Demon Lord's voice out of his head. "Are you not seeing this? You're in my head so you should be seeing this! We won! You lost! Your bearded bastard of a friend lost! You lost Bangkok! So why in the hell are you laughing about this!?"
"First off brat, NEVER call Barbamon my friend, comrade yes, ally most of the time, but that old fool will NEVER be called my friend." As if to prove a point the demon tightened his mental grip on the teenager's mind to the point Matt felt like someone was attempting to crush his brain inside his head. "Second, while you may have won the battle you didn't exactly take back Bangkok. Quite the contrary, thanks to your friend's little light show the city's going to be sporting several impact craters I imagine will hurt tourism. That is if this wounded shell of a city ever has tourism again."
"Block him out. Block him out. Block him out. Block him out. Block him out." Repeating the phrase like a mantra the youth hoped it would be enough to keep the Demon Lord out of his inner most thoughts. Desperately he focused his mind on everything going on around him, his allies, his partner, and the wild ride they all went on towards Wat Phra Kaewi. A myriad of particle beams and projectiles sailed over them and past them slamming into the demonic fortress with extreme prejudice. In minutes the bombardment was in full swing and the fortress' defenders were still spinning their wheels or staring in awe at the explosion high in the sky. He felt no hesitation in ordering MetalGarurumon to open fire on them, the cybernetic wolf did so almost gleefully leaving his own trail of frozen bodies in his wake which were then blasted to smithereens.
It was when they were all floating above the hole Barbamon had left ready to attack that Daemon made his voice louder and stronger forcing Matt to acknowledge it. "Even if you destroy all the Control Spires and destroy Barbamon's sit of power what will you get? The volcanic wastes will disappear, but the damage will have been done. This city, these people, they will never be the same again. Do you honestly believe things will go back to normal once you win?"
"People can rebuild."
"Only when they have the strength to. We broke these people just as in time we will break your world human." The Digimon hatefully laughed enjoying the mental scowl on Matt's face. "I'm sure pretty soon Davis will be wake; it's pity Willis won't be there to greet him. Instead he'll be waiting for Willis to come out of his coma. That is if he ever does. Don't worry he's alive and so is his loser bunny rabbit. Granted I don't think they'll be seeing action for quite some time. How do you think Davis is going to react to seeing one of his closest friends hospitalized? To matters worse he still hasn't heard from his dear old sister." Daemon paused, breaking off into a fit of vile laughter that made the boy's head spin. His laughter filled every corner of Matt's mind which began to warp and turn to Daemon's liking. He was sitting on a throne with the blond teenager staring wide-eyed at him. "At this moment I guess you could say…Jun's having a blast. Make sure to tell Davis that for me, I'm sure he'll love to hear the news."
After that Matt could no longer hear the Demon Lord's voice at last giving his mind the peace he'd sought. The problem was his words had unscrewed something inside of him. He remained deathly still and quiet while MetalGarurumon and the others blasted Barbamon's palace into rumble. They created glorious multi-colored explosions followed by showers of jewels, rock, and metal that scattered in all directions. Matt was deaf to all of it to the point he looked as if he'd been frozen in place.
Looking away from the explosions he found his hands were shaking against the metal frame of his partner.
"Jun's having a blast." Daemon had laughed.
Combined with his previous knowledge of the wrath lord the young rocker felt his imagination go mad trying to decipher the demon's message. "Jun…"
After a while LadyDevimon's screaming stopped and her body went limp. In a way that meant her suffering had finally come to an end.
SSCCRREEECCHHH!
Nearly the entire neck of the slain Digimon was taken off and swallowed by the foul beast now standing before Jun, Onimon, and Harper. Jun felt her stomach churn in disgust and her bile rise in her throat only to be forced down. She'd seen some truly twisted things in this world, but the sheer cannibalism of the creature before made even her hardened heart waver just for a moment. Harper was reminded of the nature documentaries he'd watched in school, another stray memory that had been dragged up from the abyss. Whereas before he never thought much of it, what he saw was the way of nature, what he'd just witnessed couldn't be called natural. The creature standing before him was anything but natural. He'd seen some of Dagomon's more monstrous creatures at work; however, this one was entirely new and fresh. That didn't make it any less hideous.
Last of the trio was Onimon who'd gone completely white. "N-N-No…no…no…no…no..n-no…" Tetsuhono fell from his grasp as he took in every detail of the humanoid beast before them right down to the familiar mane of wild hair and muscular body.
Grrr…RRAAARRRGGGGHHH!
While Jun and Harper heard only a mindless beast Onimon heard something different. The roar brought back memories, both treasured and cursed. Taking one step forward he reached a hand out towards the malformed creature that stared at them with eyes devoid of any sentient life. "L-Le-Leomon?"
To be continued…
CLIFFHANGER BABY!
One battle ends while another reaches its climax, thus is the nature of a war being fought on multiple fronts. This chapter is my Christmas gift to you guys since this is going to be the last one I post before Christmas Day. Don't worry though, I'm going to try to pump out one more chapter before December ends which will also close the book on the "Battle of Clooloo", expect it to be up maybe two days or so after Christmas.
Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays readers! And may the Force be with you!
