Sorry for the wait with this chapter! I had a lot of work I had to do, but finally some free time allowed me to get this out.
I do not own anything.
Chapter Forty-Seven-Your Fear is Here Pt.2
The second Viledramon laid eyes on the emerging Digimon every fiber of its being screamed for it to be destroyed down to the last scrap of data. It wasn't just the demonic aura the beast carried, it was something else, something primal that called to Viledramon as a dragon. This beast was challenging it for supremacy of the oceans, it could not allow such a thing to stand no matter the consequences. If it meant burying all the surrounding land into the sea Viledramon would do it to eliminate the new threat. The blood-red eyes that glared at it through the heavy rain and crashing waves dared it to try. Roaring in acceptance of the challenge the draconic serpent released the all-cutting laser form its mouth.
All across the sound the sound of metal shuddering and turning could be heard by all creatures capable of hearing. Those with the ability to sense energy felt the buildup and promptly took cover knowing what was about to happen was to be a clash of epic proportions. A red light flashed on top of the strange creature seconds before a large red beam of energy with lightning cackling around it shot forth. It met Viledramon's laser beam in a violent clash that warped the space around them. Red and blue, the reptile and mammal, mutant and demon, they were opposing forces that refused to allow the other to gain the edge thus this explosive clash was the only outcome possible. Energized sparks and arcs of plasma erupted from the collision point as the two attacks pushed against each other bringing the temperature of the surrounding area up to monstrous levels. Viledramon snarled in the back of its throat while a snort left the huge nostrils of the shadowy beast obscured by the mist and darkness. Both creatures knew this clash of energy attacks was destined to end in a draw.
A multicolored sphere formed from the intersection of the two attacks and continued to grow until both Digimon cut off the flow of energy. The sphere shuddered for a moment then exploded outwards releasing gale-force winds and explosive shockwaves that were strong enough to break bedrock. The sea churned and raged as if a celestial object had just impacted sending monstrous waves rolling across the surface. The two beasts eyed each other with annoyance before firing another energy beam at each other only for the results to be the same.
Releasing a repressed snarl Viledramon directed its arrow-headed dreadlocks towards its mysterious challenger. They raced through the air with frightening speed towards the titanic creature. The snarl turned into an enraged howl when all of them bounced off a scarlet-colored barrier that manifested around the mysterious creature. A momentary jolt of pain ran up Viledramon's body as the recoil of the attack hit the Dark Ocean resident. If it want to pierce that barrier more power would have to be put into its next attacks; though a ferocious beast by nature Viledramon knew defense would play just as much a part in this battle as offense.
Something resembling a snorting laugh came from the shadowed creature, a taunt to its draconic opponent. Before Viledramon could give any sort of retort the creature dove beneath the waves, swift and nimble despite its incredibly size. Viledramon followed suit pursuing its prey into the shadowy waters below. Normally nothing could be obscured from the dragon's four eyes, but in this case its new opponent was able to hide itself extremely well. All of its radar-like senses were operating at full strength, yet none of them were picking up even the faintest sign of digital or demonic life. Though a creature of instinct and hunger, Viledramon wasn't immune to emotions such as fear and unease. There was only one creature capable of fully eluding its senses, and Viledramon feared that creature more than any other in existence. It couldn't allow this new enemy to possess that power, Viledramon wouldn't allow it.
Amusement played in the eyes of the demon hidden in the darkness of the ocean. Like the giant sea snake it was Viledramon jerked and twisted through the water in an effort to find its query. In a way it was almost laughable.
"DeviWhamon, attack."
Various ports and batteries on the creature's back opened up exposing tips of blood-red metal. From them countless metallic tubes the size of three-story buildings exploded into the water and zoomed through it with lightning-fast speed. They quickly homed in on their target leaving fiery trails in their wake. Viledramon sensed the attack immediately and turned in the direction of the assault.
The cackling laser shot forth from the dragon's mouth cutting a straight path through the black depths. It wasn't until physical contact that the missiles exploded, all-consuming clouds of blazing black and red hellfire that burned even underwater. It was mesmerizing and horrifying to behold: an underwater inferno that boiled the sea and raised the levels of the water to the point any sea life in the surrounding area was flash-fried instantaneously. Against his harder-than steel scales the heat was nothing to worry about, so long as Viledramon avoided a direct hit that was. Sweeping its head around the dragon cut apart the countless missiles creating a gigantic fire cloud that lit up the stormy ocean. From above it looked as if a massive fireball was building beneath the waves.
Even surrounded by flames Viledramon's senses were still working at full capacity. Feeling the shift in water pressure beneath it Viledramon twisted its body and fired its laser beam downwards. While it lit up the depths of the of the ocean floor it failed to hit anything, much to the dragon's ire.
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
Silencing the laser Viledramon consolidated cold energy around its body in the shape of a spherical barrier. Again, hellfire exploded around it cracking and heating the barrier to the point it seemed ready to break apart from a single hit. Before Viledramon could savior its accomplishment its opponent decided to make its presence known.
THUNK!
It felt as if a mountain had slammed against the barrier and was now pushing it, and Viledramon towards the surface like a giant bulldozer. Out of reflex the dragon maintained the icy barrier as its last line of defense while trying to get a beat on its target. When Viledramon finally got a good luck at what was in front of it all it saw were a collection of blood-red lights staring it in the face.
"DEMON PULSE!"
An entire portion of the sea seemed to erupt upwards in that very moment illuminated by crimson light and flanked by shards of broken ice. Viledramon's smoking body was blasted out of the water as if it'd been curled up then shot out of a barrel. The pain rocking its body was immense and numbing, almost as painful as Dagomon's lashings. Viledramon couldn't keep the howl of pain it'd been surprising from leavings its lips giving its unknown attacker a sick satisfaction. In the backs of its mind the dragon vowed to make its attacker pay in blood and data for doing so.
Viledramon was almost thirty feet above the water when it was finally able to right itself and shake off the waves of burning pain that had once torn through its body. With angry in its eyes it turned its murderous gaze towards the water. "Requiem of Mu!" Three times stronger and larger the bright beam of energy cuts through the water and penetrates all the way down to the ocean floor sending shockwaves through the water. Dragging the beam along the water's surface Viledramon waited for its prey to resurface so it could go for an up close attack just as it had done.
THUMP!
From the left came a monstrous wave tall measuring in the hundreds thus easily casting a shadow over Viledramon. Regardless, the dragon was far from worried.
SWOOOSH!
For a great many the sight of Viledramon using its Requiem of Mu attack as a makeshift sword or knife was terrifying to behold, more so when they were on the opposite end of the attack. Cutting the wave in half was child's play for the dragon, but it was only a distraction to cover up the real attack. From the rear another storm of lasers came shooting out of the sea towards the serpentine dragon.
"Despair of Aegean!"
Four towering twisters sprung up from the sea to intercept the oncoming attack. Azure lightning cackled around the fierce twisters adding an extra layer of power to them as well as defense against the demonic energy beams speeding towards them. Jumping from the whirlwinds to the beams the arcs of lightning corroded and warped the beams, slowing them down as well as draining of them of their explosive power. Now with their power cut in enough the beams were unable to pierce the fierce water twisters Viledramon had summoned, and were even pushed back when the dragon commanded them to advance. The swirling blades of wind cut through the red beams and pushed forwards pushing the water aside. They continued onwards until they were out of sight and later dissipated leaving Viledramon once more alone in the middle of the storm.
Vowing not to be on the receiving end of another surprise attack Viledramon began gathering its energy as evident by the compound red and blue aura forming around it. Various portions of the dragon's body lit up while the air around it began to turn into frozen crystals that fell to the ground. The patch of sea beneath Viledramon quickly froze off becoming something akin to a miniature iceberg in the middle of the Arabian ocean. The same sphere of icy energy it'd called forth before to protect itself returned, only twice as large and with arcs of light-blue lightning bouncing off the surface. For the next few seconds the sphere pulsated and cackled as if it were a living thing. "ABYSS BREATH!"
CRA-ACK!
Lasting only a second the thunderous explosion was quickly overtaken by a deafening silence that washed over the surrounding area followed by an unimaginable loud snapping sound. The sphere exploded outwards as a wave of light blue that fell over anything and everything within the next five miles. All of it was frozen solid in the blink of an eye: water, solid, rock, steel, flesh, data, and even the air itself, flash frozen into icy blue sculptures. As quickly as it began it was over leaving behind a desolated wasteland of ice and cold air which Viledramon reigned over. Viledramon's undamaged form was reflected in the cold-as hell icy floor the sea had become. For as far as the eye could see it appeared the Digimon's attack had not only frozen the surface of the water, but a good chunk of the area beneath it. Save for Viledramon's command the ice was near unbreakable, requiring nothing short of a meteor from space being strong enough to break it and only the hottest of flames such as those of a volcano to melt them. In one swift move Viledramon had forever changed a section of the Arabian Sea.
Or so it had thought.
Viledramon couldn't believe at first, didn't want to believe it at all, but it was.
There were almost sixty of the red spots forming in the ice, each one of them the size of a double-decker tour bus. All at once they broke through the ice creating legions of cracks in the previously thought unbreakable frost. From the cracks and holes came more missiles that all homed in on Viledramon. Snapping itself out of its shocked stupor the dragon retaliated with a blast of its signature laser. Again, the dragon was shocked as this time the missiles twisted and jerked out of the path of its attack. Even with the speed Viledramon was moving its head to cut them down only a few were destroyed while the rest continued on their path.
"Trident Rain!" Switching tactics the dragon ceased its laser attack in favor of launching nearly all of its empowered dreadlocks at the missiles.
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
In its haste to prove its strength Viledramon had overlooked one critical factor in the battle-its opponent had more than just is size and physical strength to rely on. Instead of hellfire the missiles carried hell-lightning, demonic thunder that invoked by demons and devils to strike down their enemies as if they were divine beings. That same lightning raced up Viledramon's dreadlocks into is head then down the rest of its serpent-like body. Its body seized with a new kind of pain the dragon howled in agony. More missiles slammed into it or exploded within its proximity encasing Viledramon in a literal cloud of black and red lightning. Cracks appeared in its proud red and green scales in some places while in others they were outright seared off by the lightning. Like millions of thumb-sized knives they dug into Viledramon's scales and continued digging until they penetrated the flesh beneath, and beyond that the various data bits that made up the digital dragon. Once there they exploded, destroying and corrupting any piece of data they touched like a virus. The pain of this process was enough to break down Viledramon's concentration causing it fall on top the frozen ocean creating a fairly strong tremor.
As the dragon moaned in numbed pain as series of red lights lit up the ice beneath it. "Demon Pulse!"
All at once the ice, and Viledramon, vanished in an eruption of eye-searing red light that broke apart the ice. Within the pillar of raw demonic energy Viledramon became engulfed in a world of unbearable pain that temporarily caused the digital dragon to black out in an effort to escape the agony it was experiencing. Even that failed as seconds later an invisible force dragged its mind back to the waking realm where it was forced to endure the feeling of its harder-than diamond scales being completely distengrated slowly and painfully. Amongst the roar of air and cackle of plasma Viledramon's pain-filled cry was lost, as was the rest of its body.
"Enough playing around, DeviWhamon. It's time we ended this." The child within the command center of the demonic beast barked. Her cold eyes stared at all the monitors relaying the status of the battle of Kochi. The battle had dragged on long enough and they were simply wasting time and manpower. "Ascend so we can finish this."
Heeding her commands the demon slowly began to push against the frozen covering Viledramon had created. Raw demonic energy outlined the Digimon's body giving it more than enough power to crack, burn, and tear through the ice block its path. Above the sound of ice cracking and breaking and melting could be heard for miles as was the unearthly sound of the demon forcing its way to the surface.
The first thing to break the surface was the black horn that protruded from the creature's noise. It was a titanic jet-black appendage that easily stood out at almost one hundred and fifty feet in length. Piecing the ice it like a spear it created a hole big enough for the rest of the body to follow further breaking apart the ice.
Free of any obstruction the titan-sized beast was on full display for all the world to see. First and foremost it was a whale, without a doubt the largest anyone, human or Digimon, had ever seen before. Large enough to host what could have been a small island its surfacing sent tremors through the ice that surrounded it further intensified when it opened its gapping mouth to row. It's deep black and gray body was comparing in shape to the Pacific gray whale, only quadrupled in size, and decked out in near magitek armor from the snout to the tail. Red flame-like markings cascaded across its exposed flesh flashing bright red as proof of is demonic nature.
The back of the creature was the real-eye catcher. For any nerd, otaku, or weapons developer what lay atop the whale's back was their wet dream come to life. Rows upon rows of double and even triple barreled gun torrents and missile pods, radar dishes, and energy cannons, all stacked on top of each other in a literal mountain of steel and metal and was bolted on top of the whale's back. Sea water and ice trailed down the array of weapons which glowed red with energy as the various cannons readied themselves for another attack. The largest of the cannons were two rectangular-shaped barrels in the center. Anyone with a knowledge of sci-fi weaponry would have immediately categorized them as particle cannons, and they were. Each of the oversized cannons had enough power to cut a clear path of destruction through a city or obliterate a mountain if targeted.
As with many of the demons the whale possessed an abnormal set of eyes, three, arranged in a triangular formation on both sides of the head. All of them were pools of bloody red that saw nor understood anything more than destruction and carnage. Enhanced by cybernetics they easily spotted the mid-air form of Viledramon momentarily suspended high up in the air. All scans showed the dragon's defenses to be down meaning all the whale would need was a one hit kill to eliminate its target.
It had just the attack in mind.
Name: DeviWhamon
Attribute: Virus
Level: Mega
Description: Without a doubt the backbone of the naval forces of the Seven Demon Lords as well as Leviamon's grandest creation. In the past DeviWhamon and its kind decimated entire navies at the order of Leviamon turning the seas red with the bloody data of all who opposed the Seven Demons. A "living fortress" and a "living weapon" in every sense it's easier uprooting a mountain with a shovel than it is in attempting to harm DeviWhamon. The AHAB weapons pack on its back is has enough firepower to level a densely populated city in less than ten minutes tops. Its full power is on display when using its Final Bombardment attack in which it fires EVERYTHING it's got in one move. For beams its Demon Pulse can pierce almost any defense, and is both beautiful and terrifying to behold. In total its twenty-eight or so missile pods can open up for its earth-shaking Atlantis Fire move, the same move that's wiped entire populations out and reshaped landscapes. For a grand finish its final ultimate attack, Ishmael's Demise can distort and annihilate anything in DeviWhamon's sights. Simply put, if you see this creature on the opposite side, either flee or start writing your will.
DeviWhamon's jaws opened open revealing the endless black tunnel that was its mouth. "Ishmael's Demise!"
The space between and in front of the demon's jaws warped and twisted like a piece of paper being wrinkled then balled up. In seconds a spatial distortion, a black hole, had formed and was sucking in everything in front DeviWhamon. Under the force of the distortion Viledramon's custom-made ice began to crack and eventually break apart before large chunks of the frozen sea were sucked into the warp. After that came the sea water and anything in it.
The feel of its entire body being pulled in another direction snapped Viledramon out of its stupor long enough to realize what was happening. Shooting a fierce death glare in the direction of the Demon Beast Digimon the dragon called up all its remaining strength for one last attack.
"Requiem of Mu!"
To Viledramon's credit the resulting laser beam was the largest DeviWhamon or anyone else had ever seen. Twisting and turning before assuming a straight path it sped towards the center of the distortion superheating the air as it passed. There was blow back when the laser beam met its target, the expected result of two great powers clashing against each other.
Arcs of black and red lightning exploded from the point of contact between the two. Beneath and around DeviWhamon the sea boiled while the ice cracked under the energetic pressure generated by the clash of power. Despite the impressive show of strength DeviWhamon's body concentration didn't falter; the demonic beast was actually amused his prey had shown such spirit in the face of certain death.
But this was war, and there was no place for mercy in war.
The ball of spatial distortion grew larger expanding its suction radius to the point it began to pull in Viledramon once again. In retaliation the dragon increased the energy output of its laser hoping the influx of power would be enough to dispel it.
At best it was a pipe as Ishmael's Demise's true power didn't lie in its ability to suck everything into oblivion.
"NOW DEVIWHAMON!" The whale's young master roared slamming her hand on the armrest.
CRUN-NUCH!
The best description was the air being pulverized, maybe because that's exactly what happened. The snapping came in near perfect sync with DeviWhamon shutting his jaws. No matter how small or durable all things within the distortion's suction wave was crushed into oblivion. And Viledramon was no exception.
The entire process was relatively quick and painless, which was more than what Viledramon deserved. Its already mutilated and burned scales were instantaneously crushed into digital powder. In seconds its body was crushed, section by section until the once mighty dragon's fearsome form was little more than a shriveled up mass of broken flesh and data. Shortly after the last signs of life left Viledramon's body pieces of its serpentine form began to fall towards the water. Each piece hit the water with a resounding crash then sank beneath the waves where they quickly began disintegrating into meaningless data fragments.
Victorious DeviWhamon let loose a dominating roar that reverberated throughout the remains of the city. All demons who heard the sound knew it was their moment to push back in full, and that's exactly what they began doing.
Joe knew in his heart the day belonged to the Demon Lords when he heard the crunch-like thunderclap roll over the landscape. From the looks of things Raandaimon knew it too.
"If you true to withdraw, we won't pursue you." The blue-haired teen said from atop Vikemon's shoulder.
"What!?" The shark-man roared. "You expect me to retreat after all you've done!? After the humiliation you've inflicted upon me?"
"It's not like staying here to fight us is going to change anything." The white-furred Mega-level Digimon rumbled. "At this point all you're doing is wasting everyone's time and energy. If you keep going at this pace, I will delete you."
Across the frozen battlefield Raandaimon flinched, and Joe and Vikemon definitely took notice of it. The truth of their words was hard to deny as it permeated the battlefield in the form of twenty-foot sized craters and pillars of pure, unbroken ice. The frozen corpses of demons and mutants alike littered the landscape along with the broken remains of weapons and armor. The legend of Vikemon's maces being strong enough to annihilate mountains had proved oh so painfully true for his many enemies. The forest area that once surrounded the mountainside battleground had been completely blown away, either on purpose or on accident. Raandaimon had truly come to fear the famed Mjollnir morning stars his opponent used in battle; the various broken bones he'd received were testament to their power. Even glancing blows had done a fine job in pulverizing the shark-man's digital bones and organs leaving him in a constant state of agony. All that was saying nothing of the white-furred beast's cyrokinetic abilities.
Raandaimon's right arm was gone, a frozen stump at the elbow and if he kept moving his left leg would meet a similar fate. Three out of the five fingers on his left hand were gone leaving trails of dead and bloody stumps behind. Moving his right leg reconfirmed his earlier belief it'd been broken sometime earlier on and any further aggravation would only heighten the damage. Simply attempting to move an inch caused the Mutant Beast Digimon extreme pain.
Vikemon had barely taken any kind of punishment. His thick white mane had shrugged off nearly everything Raandaimon and the demon Digimon had thrown at him, and he dished it all right back at them with twice the force. His twin morning stars dripped with blood forming pools at his feet; across his body were bloodstains not from Vikemon but from other creatures he'd decided to get physical with. For all the might Raandaimon had thrown at him the newly evolved Mega wasn't even breathing hard.
"If you choose to stay, we won't have to delete you, just simply let you do it yourself."
"What was that human?" The mutant snarled.
Rather than answer himself Joe let the resounding victory cry of DeviWhamon speak for him. He felt no joy watching Raandaimon's face become a mask of unfiltered terror; the mutant knew perfectly well what the unearthly cry meant for all of them, that the Seven Demons had won the day. The tension that had been keeping Raandaimon standing fled leaving him a state close to collapse. In a single glance Joe saw what fight remained in him had been drained out. Turning to the sky he could have sworn he saw red arcs of lightning jumping between the storm clouds; his ears picked up the faint, but very much victorious snarls and shouts of various demons. All across the mountain side a sudden and unexplainable heat wave had rolled over dramatically raising the temperature. For a fraction of a second Vikemon shivered, and with good reason.
Raandaimon looked at Joe with eyes filled with hate. "This isn't over human, before this war is over I'll tear the flesh from your bones, and you walrus," Vikemon snorted at his taunt. "By Dagomon's name I'll have your fur pelt as a trophy, I swear it!"
"Tough talk fish-breath, now run back home before I decide to delete you myself." The towering dual-attributed Digimon barked.
The shark-man's left eye twitched before his free hand summoned a twisted sea horn. Blowing into it he released a mind-boggling sound that Joe and Vikemon knew was an order to retreat. As the sound waves traveled throughout the remains of the city inky black water began to rise up to overtake Raandaimon. Before he was completely covered he shot one last venomous glare in the direction of his opponents. In seconds the black bubble melted back into the ground then disappeared into the cracks as if it were being soaked up like natural water.
"Next time I'm squashing him." Vikemon snarled.
"No complaints here."
A silver and orange object descended to the ground beside the two. Neither Joe nor Vikemon were surprised at the state WarGreymon and Tai were in, if anything, they'd fared better than they'd expected.
"We're finally pulling out?" Joe began making his way over towards Tai to examine his wounds.
Slinging his free arm over his old friend's shoulder Tai tried to give him something of a chuckle, instead he was pretty sure what he gave Joe was a pain-filled cough. "Y-Yeah, we're done here for the day. L-Listen Joe, there's something you need to know. There's someone-"
"Save your breath Tai, we all know you're going to need it." A harsh voice barked at the two teenagers. The level of coldness in it had the two humans flinching and their Digimon partners readying themselves.
Directly across from the four a watery portal opened up revealing an abyssal black. It rippled for a moment before a figure stepped out. She was perhaps two years or so younger than Tai and Joe, a middle schooler at best. Dark pants, track shoes, and a stylized hoodie; bright red with black wavy designs flowing from the bottom up to the upwards. The hood was down revealing the girl's face to the boys. Her hair went straight down to the middle of her back and was as dark as the night itself. Red, that was the dominant color of her eyes, and it was indeed of the frightening kind. It seemed as if the red veins were infecting Chiyo's once crystal blue eyes, attempting to overrun them and turn them into the same sort of soulless orbs possessed by the various demon overtaking the sky. What little blue remained was surrounded by encroaching red stains giving her a sickly yet at the same time horrifying appearance. Her face was block of stone that had been carved from the hardest rock imaginable.
"C-C…Chiyo?" Joe spoke clearly too stunned to believe who it was that stood before him. "W…What…what…is this? What…happened to you?"
"What do you think happened to me Joe? I know it's been a long day, but I'm sure your eyesight hasn't gone that bad yet." Even her voice had changed, it had grown deeper, darker. A rather dark fit for her new persona. "Don't make this anymore painful than it has to be, you guys have evacuated as many people as you can, so just pull out already. Even if you think there's nothing here of value-"
"Leviamon's on the loose so even if this place is flooded, the Demon Lords can still make use of it." Tai interrupted already seeing the pieces fall into place together. "You win, we'll pull out."
"Then we won't pursue you." Chiyo responded without a hint of emotion.
Tai narrowed his eyes. "Is that because you don't think we're a threat or…"
"Don't get the wrong idea." She snapped, her eyes flashing crimson red with malice and power. "By all rights I should just kill all four of you right here and now." As she expected Vikemon and WarGreymon moved into defensive positions, their bodies spook volumes of their readiness to attack at a moment's notice. In WarGreymon's case it was quite miraculous since he no doubt was using all his strength to maintain his Mega form. "The only reason I'm giving any of you the chance to leave with your lives…is because I want to see the despair on your faces. The same kind of despair I've cared with me my life. When the time comes make no mistake," Holding out her right hand Chiyo summoned unexplained bubbles of water and darkness. They converged into the palm of her hand forming a shape that chilled Tai and Joe's bones-a Digivice, a demonic Digivice. It was shaped like a human skull's with a dark blue color scheme with some red highlights. "Next time we meet I won't stop until all of you are dead."
"Does that include Davis?" Beside him Joe whispered for him to keep quiet so they didn't press their luck, but Tai wasn't in the mood to hear it. What he saw standing before him was going to haunt him for the rest of the week, perhaps even for the rest of the war. "Are you letting us go so we can tell Davis you're…you're…"
"Alive? Resurrected? An enemy? A partner to one of the Seven Deadly Demons? Tell him whatever the hell you want Tai." Her voice was a stone's throw away from becoming a passion-filled shout. "Just tell him next time he sees me he's going to pay in blood for what he did to me. That's a promise. Now get the hell out of my sight before I change my mind!"
There wasn't anything else to be said at that point, or could be said between the two sides. With sorrowful looks Tai gave the signal to the other three. Gathering the two humans in his arms Vikemon turned his back on the transformed human girl he once knew. WarGreymon was the last to turn, his green eyes turning one last sad glance at Chiyo before joining the others.
Thanks to her newly expanded senses Chiyo was able to tell when the last of the DigiDestined had left the area. It had taken almost six minutes, but eventually they kept their word and pulled all of their forces out. It was now just demons and mutants battling it out in a storm-ravaged city.
No, that was inaccurate. The truth was it was more like now the demonic hordes she'd commanded had no secondary target to go after so they'd have to content themselves with finishing off the remains of Dagomon's decimated invasion force.
"Destroy them all, leave no mutant breathing." Her voice sounded carrying for miles upon miles on end thanks to the unholy power flowing through her. At first it was strange feeling Leviamon's power coursing through every portion of her body; Chiyo truly felt disgusted and revolted when she realized exactly what kind of beast she'd let into her heart, but eventually she'd grown used to it.
Power was power, who cared where it came from and if it corrupted her from the inside out. It wasn't like she had anything else left to lose by this point, did she?
It was obvious between the two of them Onimon was physical stronger, and that fact infuriated Malthamon more than he carried to admit. When his axe and Onimon's club met he felt like an entire mountain was being thrown at him. "How can he still have so much power after everything he's gone through!? It's impossible!" By all accounts of reason and logic he should have been winning, yet Malthamon wasn't.
"WHY!"
CLANG!
"WON'T!"
CLANG!
"YOU!"
CLANG!
"GO!"
CLANG!
"DOWN!?"
CLA-LING!
Driving his right fist directly into Malthamon's gut Onimon grinned at the pained gasp that came from his opponent. "Because I'm having too much kicking your medieval ass all over this place." With a simple push he sent him the helmet-wearing demon skidding across the ground. When he got to his feet Onimon was laughing his ass off at the heated glare. "Come one Malthamon, I know you can do better than that. Where's all the fire you had when we first fought? I thought you were one of Daemon's strongest commanders?"
Screaming a horrific battle cry that would have frightened lesser creatures the axe-wielding demon ran straight at Onimon with his weapon ablaze with hellfire. Doing the same Onimon met his enemy in another clash of hellfire-clad Chrome Digizoid metal.
Despite being in the thick of what could only be described as an undead monster battle royal Jun was doing perfectly fine, better than fine actually. Between MadLeomon and SkullBaluchimon Jun was not only surviving but racking up a kill count that would have turned the head of even the strongest hunters of the Digital War.
Though he was the larger threat a handful of the SkullBaluchimon went after her believing they at least be able to bring back the good news they'd captured the human girl their lord had taken a shine to. To their surprise they found the human girl they pegged for "prey" was just as vicious as they were. With a knife in each hand, her white blade in one and a stolen knife in the other she slashed and stabbed at the bones of the Ultimate-level Digimon that attempted to stomp her into the ground or scoop her up with their claws. They howled with unfathomable pain when her knives plunged into their boney limbs and tore through their digital make-up. So deep and severe were so of the cuts and slashes that a few of the SkullBaluchimon went down into the dirty unable to stand on their own. Their brethren didn't attempt to help them or even put them out of their misery as such a thing wasn't in their programing. That just made them easy prey for the rampaging MadLeomon who gleefully devoured the wounded Digimon without a moment's hesitation. The dark data that flowed through them was like sweet nectar to the undead beast-man who feasted like a king.
When faced with the SkullBaluchimon's Deadly Fear attack Elafris showed its true power by erupting in a burst of burning light. Like the flames of the sun it burned away the shadows and even stunned the bone-composed demons giving Jun the window of attack she needed.
SLISH! SLASH! SLASH! SLASH! SLISH! SLISH! SLISH! SLISH! SLISH! SLISH! SLASH!
The older Motomiya's face remained natural as the demonic beasts collapsed into howling lumps of bone and data. Their death cries meant nothing to hear nor did their pleas for mercy when MadLeomon began devouring them. Turning around with her arms outstretched she faced the towering undead beast daring it to come at her. A regular-sized Beast Blaster was launched at her, and she dodged it with expected ease. More followed with predictable results.
One of the SkullBaluchimon began following behind her, hoping to use the human girl as a cover for a surprise attack on the animated corpse that had laid waste to the area earlier. In a few heartbeat's the beast was upon her ready to clamp down on her with its jaws when suddenly an unexplainable force propelled the girl some twenty feet into the air leaving the demon beast face to face with MadLeomon.
"Poison Claw!"
"Grave Bone!"
June tossed two specialized grenades into the struggle as Harper slowed her decent enough she didn't break any bones upon landing. Through the explosion she heard the sound of bones violently snapping and a straggled cry for help.
"Harper, remember that thing we talked about earlier?" Jun spoke twirling her knives.
"Again, you're turning into one hell of a soldier Jun. Almost like a one-woman special forces team." He said from her shadow. A wicked one-eyed grin appeared beneath her as she took off again at MadLeomon screaming a near barbaric war cry.
This time MadLeomon decided to get up close with its poisonous claws believing a close-range attack would finally kill the human girl that had continued to elude him.
As the shadow of the Digimon's massive claw fell over Jun gave the order.
CRU-UNCH!
SLISH! SLASH!
"AARRAAAAHHH!" Pain shot up through both of MadLeomon's legs it he fell to his knees forcing him to use his massive arms to support. Spying a red blur out of the corner of his eye he lashed out seeming to hit his target.
SLISH!
Snapping to the side the zombie was shocked to find Jun burying her knife down to the hilt into his right forearm drawing digital blood and corrupt data. Raising its free hand MadLeomon channeled its horrific power turning his clawed hand a poisonous black that would have punched clean through Chrome Digizoid armor.
A white flash and squirt of bloody data ensued before MadLeomon was screaming again, this time having lost feeling in its left hand. Briefly looking down he was shocked to find his wrist had been slit and the wound wasn't healing as fast as he would have hoped.
None of this made any sense, the humans weren't capable of being in two places at once no matter how well they'd trained their bodies. Dumbfounded MadLeomon looked up to find two Juns standing before it, a knife covered in black blood in one of their hands.
The Jun to the right fizzled and cracked, like an optical illusion. A slasher smile spread over her face while the other's morphed into a feral snarl. Together they leaped at their wounded prey bringing their knives up in joint slash.
SLAAASSHH!
Seeing MadLeomon off-balance and in pain MadLeomon knew he wasn't going to randomly deflect it into a random direction. Angling Tetsuhono he swing it at the exact right moment so when the flaming axe was deflected it was sent directly at the now blinded zombie lion. With his eyes slashed out MadLeomon was unable to see Scarlet Spade heading straight for him nor could he sense its incoming danger.
THUNK!
Hellfire spread out from MadLeomon's back where Malthamon's axe had made impact. His already slow regeneration was outright halted as the demonic flames began to eat away at every fabric of MadLeomon's existence. This new pain was unlike anything MadLeomon had every experienced. A single thought formed in his empty mind: finding the creature responsible for this pain and killing them in the most painful way possible. Eyes settling on the two demons engaged in melee combat MadLeomon decided he'd crush both of them in retribution for the agony he was experiencing.
"Your old friend wants to say hi." Malthamon snarled throwing off Onimon's kanabō and readying his hellish chains.
"Yeah, but I think he'd love to meet you!" Around Malthamon Onimon's prayer beads materialized flashing bright red with arcs of black lightning jumping between them. Malthamon's chains shot forth and few managed to entangle Onimon, but by then he'd already been constrained by Onimon's prayer beads leaving the two Digimon trapped while MadLeomon continued his warpath towards them.
"At least I'll be taking you with me!" Malthamon screamed attempting to tighten his chains.
"Not likely Helmet Head!"
A bright burst of light blinded the two demons. The sound of chains being broken apart was music to the ears of one and cause for ranting and raving for another. Now free Onimon pulled back along with Jun while Malthamon mentally commanded his axe to return to him. Summoning a fiery aura he forced away the prayer beads, took hold of his weapon, and readied himself to meet MadLeomon.
CLANG! CLANG! CLANG! CLANG!
Parrying Onimon's kanabō was easier than parrying MadLeomon's poisoned claws. Also with Onimon, one wrong move didn't equally a near fatalistic poisoned wound. Forced to keep his attention on his new opponent Onimon and his human partner faded from the mind of Malthamon.
With flames still consuming his body MadLeomon rained down blow after blow upon his demonic enemy steadily wearing him down until he saw a break in Malthamon's defenses. "Poison Claw!"
SLISH!
"Damn…it…all." Malthamon groaned through his helmet feeling the poison spreading from MadLeomon's claws into his stomach than to his body. Momentarily he felt all of his senses go numb and his grip on Scarlet Spade falter. The only thing that kept him from completely dropping his weapon was sheer strength of will. "I'm…going to rip you apart you overgrown fur ball!"
Half of MadLeomon's face had been melted off revealing a rotten misshaped lion skull. It wasn't any less horrifying or disgusting than his flesh and blood appearance. With the flesh attempting to regenerate it truly was a sickening sight that Malthamon refused to let be the final image of his life. "CRIMSON STYX!"
Beneath the two the ground erupted into a towering geyser of flaming barbed chains that wrapped around the two of them. Condensing into something of a metal cocoon with several vent-like holes in it both the demon and zombie disappeared from view. Jets of blackish red flames exploded from the holes preceding the pained screaming of MadLeomon.
CRA-UNK!
The cocoon burst and Malthamon was blasted out forced to use his axe for support while his other hand fell over his wound. MadLeomon lumbered out of the remains, half his body scorched down to the bone by Malthamon's desperate attack.
Outside the hearing and seeing range of the two combatants the unlikely trio plotted and planned. Seeing the hatred between two they finalized their plan.
Malthamon looked from his wound to MadLeomon who continued glaring at him with one full eye and another empty eye socket. Roaring a challenge it took up the initial charge with Malthamon soon preparing to meet him mid-way.
It was just as they were about to clash that two objects, a grenade and a baseball-sized prayer bead, seemingly materialized in the space between them. Both evil creatures had about a second to realize what happened, but by then it was already too late.
Combined their produced a blinding flash that actually hurt the eyes of the demon and zombie so much they had to stim the pain with their eyes. In MadLeomon's case it was doubly painful since he only had one working eye. Lasting only an instant second the two began to recover though it would be a while before their vision was what it used to be, longer in MadLeomon's case.
"Hey! Shit-face!"
"Hellfire Banshee!"
"Beast Blaster!"
The flaming axe and corrupt energy blast blew apart nothing but empty ground and continuing doing so as neither Malthamon nor MadLeomon knew where Jun was, only that she was mocking them. So wild in their retaliation they forgoed falling back and waiting until their wounds healed and their senses were back at one hundred percent operation.
For the demon this would be a fatal mistake.
"If it's any consolation you gave it a good shot." Jun's voice sounded from behind Malthamon causing his digital heart to skip a beat.
"GIRL!"
The demon's free arm flew out while her left arm swiped at Malthamon's stomach, burning white object in her hand. The sound of flesh tearing was the last thing the Ultimate-level Digimon wanted to hear.
THUMP!
"GAH!" The seven-foot demon gasped falling back holding the gaping wound Jun had created. "What…did you do to me?" He growled staring at Jun who remained in a crouch like a feral cat.
"Sign your death warrant." She coldly replied.
"I am going to-"
CLI-INCH!
Slowly Malthamon rose off his feet with a set of five poisonous claws protruding from his chest. From the wound inky black veins began to spread out covering his entire body in a manner of seconds. All the pain he'd been feeling earlier was magnified tenfold in that instant. If he was wise he would have killed himself right then and there.
MadLeomon bit down on Malthamon's helmeted head with the force of a trash compactor, bending and tearing the metal like it was nothing. Scarlet Spade fell to the ground as the demon's nerves went dead. From three different directions Jun, Harper, and Onimon watched MadLeomon chew and swallow the Ultimate-level Nightmare Soldier who'd moments ago been trying to kill them all. With every bit another portion of MadLeomon's body was restored. By the time he was finished almost all the flesh, even if it was black and charred.
"You know big guy," Harper began folding his arms. "You really should watch what you eat."
"You never know." Jun added twirling her beloved whit knife. There was something unsettling about the smirk on her face that gave MadLeomon a reason to pause in his movements. "You're so busy pigging out you lose track of what it is you're stuffing into your mouth."
Having had enough MadLeomon roared then charged at her. The teenage girl did nothing to get out of the way of the attack, in fact she seemingly welcomed the undead Digimon to attempt to kill her.
"The game's over kitty cat." She deadpanned as the Digimon raised its claw to strike her down.
Indescribable pain rocked the lion-man's body bringing it to a sudden and painful stop. Tearing at his chest MadLeomon looked for the source of the unexplainable agony but came up with nothing. Not its outer wounds or some device attached to its outer body. No, the source of its pain wasn't external. It was internal.
From within his chest one of Onimon's prayer beads glowed bright illuminating the zombie's insides. It ignited burning MadLeomon's digital organs with its unholy fire furthering the beast's pain. In a berserk frenzy he began tearing at the ground in a mad attempt to get the pain to stop. Jun and Harper backed away while Onimon began walking towards the contorting creature with a sorrowful look in his eyes.
"Leomon," he began holding up one of his hands flat. "I don't know if there's any part of you left in there, but if there is, please forgive for this." Materializing around him the prayer beads lit up with hellfire and demonic kanji, each one representing a deceivingly negative thing such as death, carnage, despair, and chaos. Forming into a circle above him they reacted with the prayer bead embedded within MadLeomon's body. "May you find peace in deletion my old friend! KIMON BLAST!"
Burning through the color coding of the Dark Ocean the orbs zoomed towards MadLeomon with the speed of the wind. The first that impacted created a decent-sized explosion, and then the rest came piling on. So great was the heat that the soil around MadLeomon not only burned but was superheated into icy black glass that inevitable cracked under the pressure of the continued explosion. MadLeomon's howling became lost to the crescendo of fire and pooping like a lone voice in a storm.
An eternity seemed to pass before Onimon's attack ended and all of his prayer beads returned to their necklace form around his neck. In the ashes of the smoke and dust neither Jun or Harper could make out MadLeomon's hulking form. Eventually it became obvious there were no remains of the undead Digimon, Onimon had been quite thorough in his attack.
The cackling of the fire was the only sound in the clearing along with the heavy breathing of the Nightmare Soldier who stared at the smoldering crater with downcast eyes.
"Onimon,"
Placing his oversized hand above hers' he forced away the few tears that had been gathering at the corners of his eyes. "I'll…I'm going to be fine Jun. I will be." Looking down he gave his partner a reassuring smile she returned.
Harper maintained a respectful distance from the pair realizing what they were sharing was a private moment. Quietly he mulled over the Digimon's words, "I'm going to be fine. I will be." A flash of light and slight pain brought forth another memory from the abyss that was his mind.
"I'm worried about you Dylan."
"Don't worry Mom, I'm fine. I'm going to be fine."
"…Dylan…heh, not a bad name." He whispered to himself. The ghost looked down at his pale white hands then back over to the pair he'd bonded himself to. When he said the words they turned out to be untrue and hollow. For the longest time he'd wondered why. Seeing the two of them realized what Onimon had that he didn't. He knew why when he spoke them, he felt no sense of dread or fear on behalf of his digital companion.
So, the spotlight fell on the stories two…heroines (or anti-heroines if you want). Let me know what you all thought. I wish I could say things will be slowing down after this chapter, but they won't be. The ball's still in the Demon Lords court and for the next few chapters they're going on the offensive, with a familiar face acting as their spearhead.
DeviWhamon is based off the mythical Devil Whale, a legendary sea monster said to be, well, a whale so big it could swallow ships and in some cases pass for an island. Basically it's the mythical counterpart to Moby Dick. In 1908 Japanese whalers coined the term "kukekua kugira", literally "Devil Whale" to describe the California gray whales they hunted because they were so dangerous and difficult to hunt. In this case it's that with virtually a military fortress strapped to its back with every kind of cannon or gun torrent you can think of. You could say its Leviamon's…equalizer to anything Dagomon might throw at him. Do not expect the DigiDestined or Dagomon to have an easy time bringing this guy down.
Later guys!
