43

Between the Buildings

"'Dagon an' Ashtoreth – Belial an' Beelzebub – Golden Caff an' the idols o' Canaan an' the Philistines – Babylonish abominations – Mene, mene, tekel, upharsin –'" – H. P. Lovecraft, "The Shadow Over Innsmouth"

SkullSatamon waited until the partner Digimon had finished evolving before he made his move. At the Child or Adult level, they were no threat to him, and he wanted to face them at their best. Once Garudamon and WereGarurumon stood before him, he leapt into action.

"Let's see what you can do!" he yelled, leaping into the air and slicing his staff downwards at Garudamon. He struck her in the shoulder with enough force to drive her down to one knee, then landed to see WereGarurumon leaping towards him.

"Skull Hammer!" The sweep of the staff caught Yamato's partner full-on. Knocked away, he slammed into the apartment building and rebounded, hitting the pavement and rolling to a stop.

"You'll have to do better!"

Garudamon knew that it would be a bad idea to use Shadow Wing with so many residential buildings nearby. As an alternative, she lunged forward with a clawed hand. SkullSatamon brought his staff up and managed to block the attack in time.

Meanwhile, Yamato and Sora had run to the fallen WereGarurumon.

"I'm fine," he said in response to his partner's concerned question. "You two stay back. He's not as strong as the last one, but—" The wolf Digimon got slowly to his feet, them charged forward again without finishing the thought.

"Garuru Kick!"

SkullSatamon, more or less pinned by Garudamon's strength, could not avoid the attack, which came in low and knocked one lank leg out from beneath him. He fell, but slashed with the staff as he went down, the hooked end tearing through Garudamon's descending hand. A mad laugh bubbled up from within his exposed black Digi-Core. From the looks of things, the evening would not disappoint him.

The sounds of the buildings being hit were enough to alert the Yagami siblings to the situation outside. When their parents had gotten home earlier in the day, Taichi and Hikari had finally let them know that there was another struggle in process. Whenever possible they had avoided going into detail about what exactly had happened and was still happening. Taichi and Hikari had discussed before the question of how much it would be good for the adults to know. The strange dreams weren't brought up, and no mention was made of attacks specifically targeting the Chosen Children. The random nature of the previous night's incidents gave credence to the idea that the evil was an impersonal one.

When the commotion began outside, the siblings and their partner Digimon were first to the door. Seeing the situation, Taichi warned his mother and father back from the door. There were the usual parental protestations, but the children were firm. The thought had crossed both their minds that the enemy would be looking for any opportunity to threaten their loved ones.

Taichi and Agumon began racing down to ground level, but Tailmon had space enough to evolve on the balcony.

"Tailmon, Super Evolve! … Angewomon!"

"Do your best, Angewomon!" Hikari shouted as her partner took wing and began her descent towards the fighting Digimon below.

Somewhere above, Daisuke heard her. Like the Yagamis, he was alert to the danger, and had just left his parents, sister, and a wide-eyed Caprimon behind to join the battle. Now that the Motomiyas were aware of his partner's existence, there were full meals each night for Daisuke's partner, and Chicomon had already used the energy of tonight's food to evolve back up to V-mon, who now stood at Daisuke's side.

"Hikari-chan's already fighting! Alright! Now for XV-mon!"

Daisuke raised his Digivice, and V-mon readied himself, but before the evolution could take place a whitish blur dropped from above, flashing past Daisuke's floor. With an exclamation, Daisuke rushed forward to the railing and looked down to follow the object. It was a Digimon of some kind, though not one he had seen before. Its cape billowed out behind it as it fell.

Angewomon was a ways ahead of the newcomer. All her attention was focused on SkullSatamon and her friends, and it looked to Daisuke as though the strange Digimon would fall short of her position. Then a long arm shot up, grasping a red club-like object. This was swung downwards, and as it descended it lengthened, losing its rigidity and becoming a segmented whip.

"God Beating!"

The weapon crashed down between Angewomon's shoulders, but the pain of the attack somehow radiated through the entirety of her body. That included her wings, all eight of which went limp. The rest of her descent was straight down and much faster than she had intended. She smashed through the branches of one of the trees between the buildings and hit the ground winded. It was a painful fall, but the other Digimon's attack had been more painful, its effects lingering long after the blow had landed.

The assailant had a much more controlled landing, floating slowly to the pavement. His weapon had retracted to its original length. He looked down at it appreciatively.

"What do you think of my Dashenbian?" he asked in a loud voice. "Dark Digimon are usually at a disadvantage against holy-types, but my whip deals more damage to holy Digimon than any other kind."

There was activity aloft as he spoke. Hikari had started on her way down, knowing there was little she could do, but wanting to be present to support her partner. Meanwhile—

"V-mon, Evolve! … XV-mon!"

"Alright," Daisuke said, "Let's get down there!"

Taking his partner up in his arms, XV-mon leaped from the balcony as Angewomon had before him. He wasn't the most effective flyer, but Daisuke was in a hurry, and his wings would be enough to get them down safely. Daisuke looked up to make sure there was no new enemy ready to drop on them as the first had, but saw nothing.

Baalmon heard XV-mon hit the ground behind him and turned his head about to judge the threat. XV-mon set Daisuke down and charged toward his enemy, but well before he could reach striking distance the demon's right arm came up. There was a flash of red light in the wide sleeve, and the sound of a gunshot. XV-mon stopped in his tracks and reeled back from the power of the shot, and a second knocked him clear off his feet and onto his back.

"You must be joking," Baalmon taunted. "An Adult-level Digimon may as well be a range target."

"You—" Daisuke began, but stopped when a hand fell on his shoulder.

"It's okay," Taichi said. "Leave this to us. Agumon!"

"Agumon, Evolve! … Greymon!"

"Greymon, Super Evolve! … MetalGreymon!"

Agumon had been standing just far enough away from the apartment building for his huge evolved form to keep from displacing a chunk of it. He now loomed over Baalmon. The demonic Digimon's mouth was out of sight behind his scarf, but his eyes were smiling with the expectation of the game to come.

MetalGreymon took a single step forward and jabbed at the enemy with his Trident Arm. If Garudamon couldn't even use Shadow Wing in such a place, Giga Destroyer was absolutely out of the question. Baalmon jumped upwards, easily dodging the thrust of the claws and landing atop the metal arm. MetalGreymon lifted it again, ready to shake the demon off, but was caught off guard when Baalmon leapt directly towards his face.

Baalmon's cape fanned out behind him, and MetalGreymon could see that the inside of it was lined with paper talismans. A strange ripple ran through them all, and several tore free of the fabric, speeding like missiles through the air toward the hulking cyborg. In the last second it seemed that they truly were missiles, that the paper had been suddenly replaced with something bulkier.

The projectiles struck against MetalGreymon's armored head, and exploded on impact like bombs. Taichi's partner staggered backwards, surprised again, this time by the force of the attack.

"MetalGreymon!" Taichi cried out. The exclamation was a timely one, reminding the Digimon that he had to tread lightly here. He stopped his movement and shook his massive head to clear the ringing of the explosions.

By this time Hikari had arrived at ground level, and had stopped just short of where her brother stood. XV-mon had picked himself up from the ground, and was looking to Daisuke for instructions.

Baalmon landed on his feet. He started to say something, but was struck silent by the sudden appearance of Hikari. Remembering that there were three Digimon he had to deal with, he whirled around, Dashenbian raised defensively. His reaction had come too late, however. Angewomon was already on her feet, and just as her target turned she released her Holy Arrow. All Baalmon could do was brace for the impact.

The arrow found its mark, bursting in a flash of light, and Baalmon slid backwards along the pavement due to the force of the attack. Skidding to a stop, he had to go down on one knee. Angewomon had summoned another of her arrows of light, and was drawing back the bowstring. Baalmon knew that it wouldn't take many of those arrows to finish him. Baalmon dived to one side – towards Daisuke.

XV-mon started forward, and Angewomon adjusted her aim, but neither was quick enough. Before Daisuke had time to react he was pinned by Baalmon's long left arm and held up before the demon as a shield. Angewomon hesitated. The three Chosen Digimon and the two remaining Chosen Children were immobile, their eyes locked on Baalmon and his prisoner.

"Bastard!" Daisuke was trying to pry Baalmon's arm loose with his hands, and kicking with feet that had left the ground, but could do nothing against the Digimon's strength. "Let me go!"

"This is why you should never make friends," Baalmon said. "In the end, caring about what happens to others will always bring you down." He raised his right arm and fired the concealed gun. Angewomon was hit, and the second Holy Arrow dissipated as she lost hold of it. Baalmon's gun arm swiveled, blasting XV-mon in the chest before strafing MetalGreymon with a spray of energy bullets. Daisuke's partner fell once more.

"I guess the fun must end sometime," Baalmon continued. "I never run out of ammunition. I won't stop shooting until you three stop standing back up."