37

Shockwaves

"'You are becoming more psychic than I imagined. Was your apparition anything like one of these?'" – Clark Ashton Smith, "The Hunters from Beyond"

"Jumping Blow!"

The Dark Tower cracked at its base, and another punch was enough to split it open. The top fell heavily over, crashed into one of the sturdy trees, and broke in multiple places. There was no doubt that the tower had been put out of commission.

"Man, this place just goes on forever," Daisuke complained in the stillness that followed.

"Cheer up, Daisuke," his partner answered. "At least we aren't being attacked this time."

"Yeah, I guess that's true," he replied, not sounding much cheered. Kangaroomon hopped forward again, and Daisuke began to follow, but stopped suddenly in his tracks. He turned his head in the direction which he knew Ken and Shadramon to be in. Looking back at his partner, he saw that the Digimon had also stopped, and was looking in the same direction.

"Did you hear—?" he began, but broke off when he felt it again, stronger this time.

Help!

Hearing was really the wrong word for it. There was a voice in his head, faint but discernable. Even without his ears having brought it to him, he had an idea where it was coming from, and had the feeling that he had heard it before.

Help! Help!

It was coming much more clearly now, and soon Daisuke and Kangaroomon were both moving as fast as they could in the emanation's direction. They could now plainly recognize the voice of Shadramon. The wall of trees seemed almost to part before them, and within minutes they caught the bright splash of red that marked the location of Ken's partner.

Shadramon was hovering in midair, frantically twisting about as though in search of something. Daisuke took in the sight at about the same time it occurred to him to wonder where Ken had gone, and it was easy enough to figure out what the problem was.

"Ken-chan! Ken-chan!" Another twist brought him around to face his two friends. "Kangaroomon! Daisuke! Ken-chan is…"

"Where is he?" Daisuke asked. The fierceness in the human's voice helped to restore a measure of Shadramon's courage, and dropping to the ground he told them what had happened. There wasn't much to tell. An awful voice had called out of the air, pronouncing Ken's name. The boy had been behind Shadramon at the time, so his partner hadn't seen what happened next, but he had felt a blast of frigid wind sweep out from the forest and the sky. Upon turning around, he could not find Ken anywhere, and his panic had rapidly mounted.

"I'm so glad you came when you did. But we have to find him!"

The strangeness of their arrival temporarily forgotten, Daisuke and Kangaroomon joined Shadramon in calling for Ken. When there was still no answer, Daisuke suggested that they go in different directions to search for their missing companion.

Shadramon took to the air, rising above the trees to broaden the horizons of his search, while Daisuke and his partner took the forest floor. Daisuke did not try to stick close to his partner. Ken was his friend, and he was willing to risk his own safety to cover more ground. But the trees went on forever in every direction, unbroken, and nothing walked among them but the two searchers. The pair had drawn some distance apart before Kangaroomon decided it would be safer if they stuck together, and began to make his way back to where he could see Daisuke zealously hunting for his lost comrade.

But as Kangaroomon's hops brought him nearer, he saw that something strange was happening. The air around Daisuke seemed to be moving, as though ghostly ribbons were trailing through it. In a second Daisuke raised his head, startled. Kangaroomon cried out, but in another moment the ripples of wind picked up speed, and the boy vanished before his partner's astonished gaze.

"Shadramon!"

With a rustling of leaves, the insect Digimon was beside him.

"Daisuke is gone too?"

"He disappeared!" Kangaroomon exclaimed. "I saw him just disappear!"

Shadramon took a look around them. The panicked worry he felt for his partner had subsided somewhat into a sort of awe and dread. The quiet forest seemed almost sentient, subtly alive with menace. For the first time Shadramon wondered if something terrible were about to happen to himself.

Kangaroomon began to shout Daisuke's name, but the word was cut off by another sound, the first he had heard in these terrible woods that he had not made.

It was a dull, heavy sound, a measured thudding that was slowly and deliberately approaching them from out of the forest. The two Digimon could hear branches snapping nearby, and soon saw one particularly large branch ripped forcibly from a tree to fall to the forest floor without any visible cause. The thuds, now recognizable as titanic footfalls, stopped just short of where the pair stood in doubt and apprehension.

Slowly something swam into view out of the empty air. It was a dark form – humanoid, but only vaguely. Whatever was materializing dwarfed both of the Chosen Digimon – it must have stood well over twenty feet tall. Soon its color and details could be made out, and Kangaroomon felt the added shock of recognition.

"Wen…Wendimon!" The previous year he had encountered a Digimon of the same species, Wallace's wayward partner, in the vast open spaces of North America. This second specimen was much larger, and simply by the feel of its presence he knew that it was not confused as the first had been. This thing was evil.

Wendimon tilted its head upward and screamed. Its windy cry shook the leaves of the trees, and led Shadramon and Kangaroomon to step back in unwonted fear. Wendimon flexed its monstrous hands and raised them menacingly as the horrific sound died away. Then, with a speed rendered unearthly by its bulk, it was upon them.

Jou could do nothing more than watch, horrified, as Zudomon remained immobile amidst the arcs of energy. The Chosen Digimon's screams had grown shriller for a time, but he was quickly becoming hoarse. NeoDevimon had not yet moved either, or even spoken since his "experiment" began. Jou had not tried to reason or plead with the demonic Digimon; he knew he could expect no mercy from this thing.

"I am certain," NeoDevimon said at last, "that this would not be taking so long if my claws were still hooked in him, but this is more entertaining. There has never been a Digimon to escape from this attack once it has begun, though some took a good while to die."

"You…"

But Jou couldn't think of anything else to say. He looked out again over the luminous water to his tortured partner.

"Zudomon!"

There was no reaction. Jou knew that with the pain and distance his partner would never be able to hear him, but the situation demanded some reaction from him. He would have thrown himself on NeoDevimon, as he had once tried to remove the Black Gear from Unimon, or rushed to his partner's side, but the bay prevented both. He yelled again, louder.

"Zudomon!"

This second cry was actually answered.

"Shadow Wing!"

Down from the sky dived a bird-like shape of flame. The waters of the bay erupted, hiding NeoDevimon from sight. With the suddenness of the attack and the spray it threw into the air, there was no way of telling whether he had been hit or not, but it could be plainly seen that his attack had ended. The water ceased its glowing, and the first great splash was followed by another as Zudomon, released from the attack's grip, toppled slowly backwards and sank silently into the bay.

"Jou." Sora had appeared beside him.

"Sora-san!" he said, a little surprised by her sudden appearance. He turned quickly back to the bay and searched the sky. "Where's the enemy?" He could plainly see Garudamon high above him, but there was still no sign of NeoDevimon.

"Maybe she got him," Sora suggested, but she had no time to say more before the both of them detected movement near Garudamon's position. Approaching the giant bird Digimon at bullet-like speed was a much smaller shape. The Chosen Children couldn't make out what it was at that distance, but they had knew what it had to be.

Garudamon could see NeoDevimon's approach, but had little time to react. One of his arms was outstretched, barbed claws extended towards his target like harpoon ends. Garudamon managed to get her hand up. It wasn't much of a shield. The claws effortlessly pierced through the skin, and Garudamon's natural reaction was to sling her hand out, dislodging her enemy, whose grip was ripped loose, leaving ragged holes in her scaly flesh. Garudamon wheeled around in the air, trying to follow NeoDevimon, but he had already disappeared from view.

In fact, he had recovered quickly from being thrown, and his superior speed and small size allowed him to get under Garudamon and behind her without being noticed. Again the reddish-brown wings were spread. NeoDevimon was ready to unleash their full fury.

"Deep Sorrow."

The wings thrust themselves forward, and a steady stream of frigid shadow blasted Garudamon in the back between her own wings. Propelled forward by the force of the attack, she was able to stop herself only by colliding with one of the Aqua City buildings, leaving a network of cracks in the structure's surface. NeoDevimon continued to pour forth his black energy. By now the air had congealed around him into a sphere of foggy darkness, and the poisonous atmosphere came with him as he moved forward to close the distance between himself and his opponent.

Garudamon dug the talons of her hands into the rooftop before her, trying to push back against the stream. It was a slow, painful process. She was beginning to worry that NeoDevimon might be able to keep the attack going at the same strength indefinitely.

But he did not intend to do so. Coming within close range, NeoDevimon allowed the darkness around him to disperse. He prepared to strike with Guilty Claw, but was surprised when Garudamon managed a weak backhanded strike. He dodged it with little effort, but had to give up on his attack. Garudamon turned to face him, propping herself up on the damaged building with her elbows. She was panting heavily, and it was quite possible that had she not had the building for support she would have been unable to stay upright.

NeoDevimon hovered just before her aquiline face. At such a close distance she could make out the details of his form, particularly the gold mask through which three pairs of eyes watched her coldly. Yet behind him, she saw something else. The green spines of Zudomon's shell slowly and silently broke the waters of the bay. No sooner had she seen them than she locked her gaze again on NeoDevimon, willing him to focus solely on her, to not notice the suddenly purposeful waves washing below him. NeoDevimon's voice emanated unimpaired from behind the mask.

"I had expected more from the Chosen Digimon. Farewell."

He raised his claws once more, as Zudomon's head surfaced.

"Guilty—"

"Thor Hammer!"

The silver weapon shot up out of the water, its grip reversed. NeoDevimon was caught in the upswing. A shock ran through his entire body, up from his broken legs to the gold mask which shattered to reveal the horror of his face. There was a shrill scream, the first trace of emotion the demon had ever shown, and by the time gravity reversed his upward momentum, he was beginning the process of deletion.