36
Maneuvers
"It will be ripe in a yeare's time to have up ye Legions from Underneath, and then there are no Boundes to what shal be oures." – H. P. Lovecraft, The Case of Charles Dexter Ward
There was no battle immediately following LadyDevimon's last exclamation. Each Digimon waited for the other to be the first to move. At last, LadyDevimon smirked again, and launched her attack.
"Darkness Spear!"
Her left arm was still changing as she charged toward them, but WereGarurumon guessed that by the time they clashed it would be needle sharp. Even as he leapt forward he had no idea how he would handle the situation. His first concern had been getting between Yamato and the enemy, but with that accomplished he was unsure of his next move. He knew there was no parrying that spear.
He instinctively solved the problem by lashing out with a low kick as he came. LadyDevimon faltered somewhat, and had to leave the ground again to avoid the attack. With an agility that surprised even his partner, WereGarurumon stopped dead and turned around, leaping into the air to follow her retreat. The demoness whirled about in midair, trying to bring her spike into a defensive position.
"Full Moon Kick!"
WereGarurumon's claws rang against the spear-arm, and he was deflected, but managed to grab hold of a balcony railing and hang from the side of the building. LadyDevimon ascended rapidly and, coming even with him, unleashed her Darkness Wave. Again WereGarurumon leapt, trying to clear the burning bats and strike again at their mistress.
It was just what LadyDevimon had needed. She dived.
Yamato realized what she meant to do, but no human could outmaneuver such a Digimon. He flinched as she rushed past, and had no time to react before she had slung her long chain from her position behind him. With incredible rapidity the chain struck his right side, knocking the air from his lungs, and began to coil, spiraling up his body, pinioning his arms, and beginning to tighten.
By this time WereGarurumon had landed, and was rushing back to aid his partner, but before he could reach Yamato the boy was dragged backwards and against LadyDevimon. Her monstrously long left arm swept out, swiping the charging WereGarurumon and knocking him aside. Before the werewolf could recover, she had taken to the air again, Yamato rising with her. He tried to wriggle free of the chain, but it seemed to have a will of its own, and soon he was too far from the ground for freedom to have been any use.
"Goodbye, then!" LadyDevimon called as WereGarurumon stood on the pavement looking up at her, his lips drawn back from his fangs. "Now you go on struggling, boy," she said to Yamato in a lower tone. "It's not like there's any chance of me dropping you." The tightening chain cut off any reply he might have made as she began her flight back the way she had come.
Meanwhile, WereGarurumon was scaling one of the apartment buildings as rapidly as he could. His hope was to get above the enemy, though he still had no idea as to how to rescue his partner. Had he been able to evolve to Ultimate he would have stood a better chance, but without the capability of flight there might be no solution. He forced the thought away, and put all his strength and speed into the climb.
LadyDevimon looked down and smiled.
"Your dog may try something stupid," she mused to Yamato. "Let's not give him the opportunity." Her ascent became more rapid, and Yamato shut his eyes and gritted his teeth to fight the dizziness that was coming over him.
LadyDevimon was grinning. It had been so easy. Now to return to the base and see how she would be rewarded.
But her good mood died with a burst of fiery pain in the back of her head. She was blinded for a moment by green light. The chain constricting Yamato went limp, and he plummeted. For a sickening second he was convinced that death was on its way, when he felt the embrace of WereGarurumon's powerful arms. His partner had leapt from the apartment building's top and caught him in midair.
"What happened?" Yamato gasped out as they landed on a lower roof, his breath not yet fully recovered. WereGarurumon pointed aloft.
"Piyomon."
Yamato looked up and saw the brilliant light that heralded Super Evolution.
"Let's get back to the ground," WereGarurumon continued. Taking hold of his partner again, he jumped off the roof and landed safely. Yamato stepped gingerly to the pavement, and looking up saw that Sora was running towards them, a portrait of concern. Soon she threw her arms around him, and he returned the embrace. Above them, Garudamon could be seen stretching her wings and facing off with LadyDevimon, who seemed to have regained her balance.
"I thought we would be too late," Sora said. "I didn't know if he was able to catch you."
Their reunion was interrupted by a message arriving on Sora's D-Terminal.
"It's from Jou," she said, reading the message. "Zudomon's in trouble."
"Go help him," Yamato said. Sora looked up at him, surprised.
"What about you?"
"We have a score to settle," WereGarurumon answered her.
"But—"
"It's alright," Yamato assured her, smiling. "We'll be careful, and WereGarurumon wouldn't be able to fight in the water anyway." He laid a hand on her shoulder. "Thanks. Who knows what would have happened if you hadn't come when you did."
Sora was silent for a moment, but eventually smiled thinly and nodded.
"Garudamon!"
"Crimson Claw!"
LadyDevimon attempted to get out of the way, but could not avoid being caught by Garudamon's swipe, which knocked her out of the sky. She managed to catch herself before hitting the ground, and would have launched a counterattack had she not been surprised to see her opponent leaving the battlefield.
"Where are you going!?" she yelled.
"I'm your enemy."
LadyDevimon turned to see WereGarurumon and the Chosen Child. Regaining her composure with an effort, she replied, sneering.
"Oh? Because things went so well for you the last time?"
"We won't fall for the same trick twice," WereGarurumon answered.
"Let's see!" The change in the left arm began, and the demoness plunged forward.
"We have another incident like Poseidonis in progress," Sato said offhand. He was sitting in the central control room, working on one of the smaller computers but occasionally glancing up at the main screen. He didn't know if there was anyone else in the room, but he had a feeling he would get an answer.
"Yes," the Dark Man said from somewhere behind him. "Pink Dot and Red Dot have interrupted our Cyclomon division. Green and Yellow are wandering around the marshlands. They may run into MasterTyrannomon or they may not."
"It doesn't matter," Sato said.
"No indeed."
"They can't patrol the entire Digital World, and before long we will have all the material we need."
"You don't need to reassure me."
Sato knew it, and accepted the jab. He kept going over the current situation in his head, trying to convince himself of their invulnerability. Last night the final seal had broken; Neptunemon was defeated, and now everything rested on the generators. Surely there was nothing the Chosen could—
Sato paused in his reverie to frown.
"Why is Ichijouji's signal so weak? The black marker keeps fading in and out."
The Dark Man chuckled.
"Nothing to worry about, Sato-san. I set up a special little surprise for him and Blue Dot."
Sato turned around.
"A Digimon with rather unique abilities," the Dark Man explained. "The encounter should prove most entertaining."
Sato didn't bother to ask the details, but got back to his work. He knew that there was an astonishing range of Digimon under his control. He had called forth the Dark Man earlier in the year, knowing that he would need help gathering Digimon sympathetic to the great cause. The Dark Man had not disappointed. The coven of Arkham, Lilithmon and her demonic followers, even the mighty Anubimon, had been bound to the Dark One's will.
Sato hadn't had much time for overseeing his growing army. Up until several days ago much of his effort had gone into the construction of the base, the perfecting of his group's inter-spatial technology, the designing of the generators, and mastering his use of the call to invade the dreams of others. But all the while, in the back of his mind, he wondered if somewhere, amid all the Digimon the Dark Man had recruited, there was a monster who could finally overcome the Chosen Children.