40

Breaking Impasse

"Darkness fell upon a stricken countryside too passive to organize for real defence. In a few cases closely related families would band together and watch in the gloom under one roof; but in general there was only a repetition of the barricading of the night before, and a futile, ineffective gesture of loading muskets and setting pitchforks handily about." – H. P. Lovecraft, "The Dunwich Horror"

The second battle was not going much better than the first had. WereGarurumon managed to keep Yamato out of harm's way, but never had an opportunity to launch a counterattack. For a while LadyDevimon had toyed with her opponent, not really fighting WereGarurumon so much as aiming to recapture her target. But—

"That's enough playing," she said after a while. "If you won't give up, I'll put you out of the game." So saying, she closed her right hand on the chain whip and slung it out again. It caught WereGarurumon in the side, the force of the blow wrapping it around him like a lasso. He caught hold of the length in front of him with his hands, but before he had a chance to jerk her off balance electricity surged through the chain. Every muscle in his body automatically tensed. The current was running through him where the metal links touched his torso and hands. The brass knuckles he wore on his left hand all but glowed; it was there that the pain was most intense.

LadyDevimon let out another of her shrill laughs.

"You know," she said, "you may have had a chance if it wasn't for that human dragging you down. He'll be almost as responsible for killing you as I am. Which reminds me…" She turned her red gaze on Yamato. "Why are you still here?"

Yamato stood as close to his partner as he safely could, teeth clenched, unable to help. He returned LadyDevimon's smirk with a stare that made his hatred plainer than any words could have.

"He won't run!" LadyDevimon remarked with amusement. "Determined to ruin my fun, I see. Maybe when his dog is gone I can have my chase." She leaned forward and addressed WereGarurumon again. "But, you know, the real fun doesn't begin until I've brought him back. I don't know what they want with him, but I can tell it's going to be something deliciously nasty! I may even get to join in. That boy last night didn't quite satisfy me. Kicked off to early. Maybe your friend will last longer."

WereGarurumon's tightly shut eyelids fought their way open, and his snarl broadened. LadyDevimon did not notice. She raised her long left arm above her head, and flexed her red claws.

"Goodbye, doggie. Poi—"

WereGarurumon's arms yanked explosively backwards. The demoness was dragged forward, to within feet of him, her claws now behind her opponent. There were signs of surprise in her expression, but they were quickly replaced with another cruel smile.

"Oh? Now what are you going to do?"

The muscles in the werewolf Digimon's arms bulged where not constrained by leather and cloth, veins clearly visible through the close fur. His right hand unclenched, releasing the chain, and his arm drew back with such suddenness that LadyDevimon had no time to react.

"Kaiser Nail!"

The arm swept forward. The claws on the hand trailed light behind them. With an unsettling ripping sound, those claws tore effortlessly through LadyDevimon's clothing and flesh. Her mouth hung open, but no sound came out. In another moment she had exploded into particles of data that dissolved in the air. The chain's electricity went out of it, and it fell slack. It evaporated like a fuse, the disintegration beginning where LadyDevimon had held it.

WereGarurumon dropped to one knee, propping himself up with one hand as Yamato knelt down beside him. In a few more seconds WereGarurumon had shrunk back into Gabumon, and Yamato wrapped his arms around his partner with a smile.

"You did great, Gabumon."

He looked up and cast a glance down the street.

"Let's go find Sora."

Hikari and Miyako stood side by side atop the fortress's wall, leaning on it and looking out over the fields below them. Tailmon and Hawkmon were inside, accepting the gifts of food foisted on them by the fort's grateful inhabitants.

The girls and their partners had spent the day in an area of the Digital World more densely populated than what they had cleared of Dark Towers on previous days. There were a number of towns that, like Arkham, were no longer inhabited, and the Chosen had wondered why until getting swept up in the rush of battle, after which the situation was explained to them.

After a while they had seen the hilltop fortress from a distance, and saw that it was under siege. Dark Towers ringed it in on all sides, and strange dragonish Digimon had been attacking, sweeping defenders from the walls with arms that seemed almost elastic. Knowing that the attackers must be allied with the enemy, the Chosen jumped right in in helping to rescue the fort.

The battle had been long and hard-won. Though the enemy Digimon were unable to fly, their arms really were capable of stretching to great distances, and it was all Holsmon and Nefertimon could do to avoid the clawed appendages that shot up to swipe at them. The things did not go down without a fight, absorbing an incredible amount of firepower before being deleted. When their ranks had thinned somewhat, Holsmon dropped Miyako off in the fort and changed to Shurimon, who had held off the remaining attackers while Nefertimon turned her attention to the Dark Towers. Eventually the enemy retreated just as Iori and Submarimon had seen them do at Poseidonis: with the destruction of the last Dark Tower, the remaining attackers blinked out of existence in an icy light.

In the aftermath of the fight, the Chosen Children and their partners had spoken with the survivors of the fort, and learned from them the reason for the abandoned towns. In the past several days a great number of heavily populated areas had been attacked. One or more Dark Towers would appear, followed quickly by an invasion of strange Digimon. Survivors of these incidents reported that these mysterious adversaries would capture a town's inhabitants before disappearing as suddenly as they came. Digimon taken by the attackers were not seen again, and entire towns, such as Arkham and Kingsport, had been completely depopulated.

As might be expected, nerves were on edge. A number of Digimon had willingly left their homes to move to more densely populated areas, relying on numbers to prevent themselves from sharing the same fate as those the enemy took, whatever it was. The fortress was one such place where Digimon had gathered for protection, the Gladimon who lived there opening up its doors to the surrounding communities.

Stirring from idle reflections on the battle, Miyako straightened and stretched.

"The sun should be setting pretty soon, Hikari-chan."

Hikari nodded, but remained expressionless.

"Should we head home when the Digimon are done eating?"

"Mm." The other girl roused herself and gave her friend a smile. "We got a lot done today. I'm sure Tailmon and Hawkmon are tired."

Miyako could go along with that. Now that the excitement of the battle had worn off, home sounded good, even with the menace of the previous night's events still hanging over it. She chose to ignore what the future might bring. Without thinking about it as such, she knew that it would be best to focus on the present.

Sato Katsu was pacing about the main control room. He had said nothing after repeating aloud the message he had received informing him of the destruction of Neo- and LadyDevimon. The Dark Man sat in a corner of the room, leaning back in his chair and observing the ceiling. To all appearances he was occupied with his own thoughts, and he didn't interrupt.

"Ridiculous," Sato muttered at last. "Every advantage. The other Digimon were fighting with their partners as a handicap. And we still didn't get them. At least I was right in stopping the mercenary from attempting it. The Chosen have survived everything we've thrown at them. If Millenniumon were still alive…"

"Millenniumon's not dead," the Dark Man said. "Or… not exactly."

Sato stopped and looked at him, placing his hands on a table and leaning forward.

"Well he isn't here," he said irritably. "And there are no signs that he's ever coming back."

Sato resumed his pacing.

"If I had a Digimon of Millenniumon's caliber things would be much easier. These demons and demigods that we've been throwing at the enemy are not up to the task. What I need is a true God of Darkness."

For a moment there was silence except for Sato's footfalls, then the Dark Man nodded to himself and sat up.

"Wisemon could help you there," he said.

"Who?" Sato asked, jerking his head around to look at the speaker. "Oh, that Digimon you found. What do you mean he could help? What could he possibly do?"

The Dark Man's smile returned, somewhat slyer than usual.

"It's what I picked him up for. He's an opener of ways, like Anubimon. He wasn't at first, but I've turned his natural talents into useful channels."

Sato considered the new information. It explained to him why the Dark Man had bothered recruiting Wisemon, who had not left his unusual study since the first and last time Sato saw him. Sato had thought before about using Anubimon to summon something up, but the jackal-headed Digimon had insisted it was beyond his ability to open a gate for the required length of time.

"You're sure he could do it?" he asked at last.

"Not certain, but it couldn't hurt to test his abilities."

Sato nodded.

"We'll do it tonight, then."

The Dark Man's smile broadened.