129

The Gathering

"And everyone felt that the world and perhaps the universe had passed from the control of known gods or forces to that of gods or forces which were unknown." – H. P. Lovecraft, "Nyarlathotep"

The spread of chaos over the face of the globe was rapid. The day had failed to come for some places, like Tokyo, while elsewhere the sun vanished as clouds of charcoal gray usurped clear skies. Electronics – anything computerized – worked now only fitfully if they worked at all. The darkness had begun to choke everything off.

If that were all, the disaster would have been complete enough, but there were other, even less explicable phenomena as well. The very laws of physics and geometry seemed to have been thrown off. Sections of cities disappeared, or could only be seen at a certain angle, while land features that should have been oceans apart could be walked between. It was as if space itself had been contorted into a tortuous new shape. And sometimes the windings of this strange new world led into alien scenes that did not seem to belong to the known world at all.

And out of the planet's oceans and waterways marched the Deep Ones. Millions of them, sometimes accompanied by other creatures, began to occupy heavily populated areas. Wherever they met with violent resistance they responded in turn, but their focus was on specific communities. In some of these areas they were forced to search, while in others the world's Chosen Children and their partners came out to meet them.

Those partner Digimon at the Adult level could tear through the ranks of Deep Ones with relative ease, but the hordes of black monstrosities seemed endless, and it was clear that the Chosen Children's defenders were fighting a losing battle. Fights became retreats, buildings became besieged, and where two or more Chosen happened to meet they made their stand as best they could, Child-level Digimon sticking close to their humans friends as a last line of defense.

Along the coasts of Australia and the United States, in Central America, throughout Asia, and on the shores of Europe the battle was joined. Humanity, handicapped by the loss of its vaunted technology, defended itself as best it could, and the Digimon who shared their world with them did what was in their power to stem the dark tide.

The serpentine creature roared, plunged, and ascended again, black wings beating the air. The six Chosen Children and the Agents had taken shelter as best they could under the overhang of a nearby building, but found themselves pinned there. At their current level the Digimon had no way to defeat such a creature. For that matter, the thing moved so quickly in spite of its size that what attacks they did launch tended not even to hit it.

Escape would be difficult. Before too long the Deep Ones would be sure to regroup and advance on their hiding spot. Even if they did manage to escape, the Chosen Children realized, they had no clear idea of where to go or what they could possibly do to solve such a widespread problem.

"I wonder if there's another way out of here," Sora said to Taichi. "Those things seem to be everywhere. I'm worried about our parents."

Taichi could only set his teeth and glare up at the gray sky, while Koshiro, overhearing, nodded in agreement. "It's possible that there's a rear exit through one of these buildings," he said, "but they may not be available to the public."

"Well, in circumstances like these…" Jou said. As his voice trailed off, Gennai (or, at least, one of the Agents) spoke.

"If necessary, the three of us can act as a diversion, but it won't do to act rashly. The safety of the Chosen Children is our top priority."

Taichi turned as if to make an angry retort, but—

"Look!" Yamato shouted, pointing into the air. Though listening to the conversation, his gaze had remained focused outward. Those who had been looking elsewhere turned in response to his exclamation, but saw only the winged creature wheeling in midair, lower than before but still too distant to be an immediate threat. But the next moment they saw what Yamato had meant. The monster was under attack.

Beams of red and green light pierced the monotony of the monochrome sky, striking the creature repeatedly. Smaller, brighter shapes had joined it over Odaiba, and to their astonishment Taichi and the others recognized them. At a distance details were hard to make out, but even the most pessimistic among them accepted the fact that those were Armor Digimon up there. And in that case…

"Hikari?" Taichi whispered.

"Takeru!"

Yamato squinted at the tawny form of what could only be Pegasmon, trying to determine whether the Digimon had a rider.

Though their brothers remained in doubt a while longer, Takeru and Hikari were indeed there, each perched atop their partner. The rush of air had braced them up a little. Combined with the joy of having their Digimon friends returned to them, it had helped them shake off some of their tiredness. The Digimon themselves seemed full of energy, fortunately. Deletion had had no lasting effects on them.

Seeing the Winged One shooting up towards them with a roar, Pegasmon and Nefertimon took evasive action, the greaves on their forelimbs glowing.

"Sanctuary Bind!"

The lasso of shining light closed upon the enemy as the two Digimon crossed paths, sinking into the black flesh like white-hot metal. As the monster writhed about in the air, hissing and snapping wildly at its enemies, Holsmon closed in on it from the front. Miyako clung to his back.

"Mach Impulse!"

Launched from the wings of his helmet, the red energy blade passed through its target like a sword through water, and the thing disintegrated. Miyako sighed with relief. She hadn't been sure that their Armor Digimon would be able to hurt a thing like that.

The three flying Digimon and their riders descended to street level. The older Chosen Children rushed out from the shelter of the building to meet them. Even if the street had been crawling with Deep Ones, they could not have kept themselves from doing so.

"Hikari!"

"Takeru!"

"Miyako-san!"

Tears stood in Hikari's eyes as she leapt to the ground and greeted her brother with a cry of "Onii-chan!" Takeru, maintaining a greater reserve, met Yamato's gaze with a loving smile as he tried to keep from tearing up. He might have jumped down as well if it weren't for the pain in his leg. The most demonstrative, as usual, was Miyako, practically wailing as she received the greetings of Mimi-oneesama and Izumi-senpai.

"I was afraid that…" Taichi began, but rather than finish the thought he hugged Hikari tightly. It was not something he usually did, but after all that had happened they both felt in need of it. He let go of her quickly so as not to embarrass her, then took a quick look around. "Where's Daisuke and the rest?"

"Daisuke-kun and Ichijouji-kun are coming on Lighdramon," she answered. "They were going to make their way over the rocks while we flew on ahead."

"Iori-kun should be getting to the beach soon in Submarimon," Takeru said, though he added, a little grimly, "I hope they don't run into too many enemies in the water."

"Those things," Taichi said, frowning, "Are they…?"

Hikari nodded in answer, her lips pressed firmly together. She'd yet to encounter one of the beings at close range – she and her partner had taken to the air not long after the group had decided to head for Odaiba – but she knew what they were, and shuddered at the thought of them. She'd had her fill of them in her dreams, and was in no hurry to meet them in the flesh. Though perhaps less dangerous than the winged creatures, the memory of the words one had once spoken to her rendered them a hundred times more horrifying to her mind. She thrust the thought aside.

"Are Mom and Dad alright?" she asked.

For the first time Taichi thought about the rest of his family, and the families of the others. Just how widespread was this problem? Would those who stayed indoors be safe, and for how long?

"Dad's at work," he said, uneasily. "Mom is still at home, but…" His voice trailed off. The others looked occupied with their own uncomfortable reflections.

"Hey!" In the unusual stillness, Daisuke's yell reached them from a distance that normally would have been impossible. "Taichi-senpai!"

Lighdramon was approaching in long bounds from the direction Taichi and Yamato had come. Besides his partner, he carried Ken, and Ken carried Wormmon. Within the next few seconds they closed most of the distance between them and the group standing in the street.

"Where are they coming from?" Yamato asked, looking at his brother in puzzlement. "Where have you guys been all this time?"

"We've been in the World of Darkness," Ken answered, having overheard the question. "Those black creatures are from there. The worlds are going to merge into one!"

The older Chosen reacted with surprise. "How do you know?" Jou asked. But before Ken could answer, Gennai stepped forward. He and the other Agents had been hanging back for a minute or two in deference to the emotional reunion.

"Based on what we've seen, that would make sense," Gennai said. "The Dark World and the Real World have merged to some extent. The only reason the Digital World hasn't been swept up in this is that the Four Holy Beasts are devoting all their power to preventing it. With the Seeds of Light not yet grown and the barrier seals gone, they're the Digital World's last line of defense."

"So what can we do to stop it?" Daisuke asked.

"That's the question," Gennai nodded, "but I'm afraid I don't know. It may not be possible to stop it."

"We shouldn't say that until we've done everything we can," Taichi said. "There has to be something we can at least try."

"If you were able to stop this process at its source, that might work," Gennai said. "The problem is that we have no idea what the source is."

"No," Takeru said, speaking slowly, "I think we do."

Hikari knew what he meant, and nodded, her eyes haunted.

"Their god," she said quietly. "The thing that he…"

"Dagomon, right?" Ken said, keeping his own voice low. Again Hikari nodded.

"Oh, look over there!" said Mimi, breaking in on the brief silence that followed. Looking to where she pointed, the others saw a dull yellow shape rise into the air from beyond the trees screening the beach.

"Digmon and Iori," Koshiro said. "Good, they've made it, then."

Before long Digmon landed in the street, depositing Iori, who greeted Jou and the rest without any trace of his usual reservedness. It was clear that he was glad to see them again. On top of everything else, the journey through the dark waters of the bay had been nerve-wracking, too reminiscent of one of his recent nightmares. Several times Submarimon had evaded the swimmers that stared at them with yellow eyes.

"Now we're all here," Daisuke said. "Now we need to find this Dagomon guy."

"But how?" Yamato said. "Dagomon could be anywhere."

"Excuse me." It was one of the Agents – Ilya. "There's something that strikes me as significant. If this entire world and the World of Darkness are in the process of merging, why did Miyako and the rest appear so near to their homes? They could have been transported anywhere at random."

"Yes," Koshiro agreed. "There does seem to be some kind of will guiding all of this."

"So maybe stopping this Digimon really would return things to normal," Sora said.

"Yes," Ilya said. "But what I don't understand is why the enemy would want you all gathered in the same place. It would be more to their advantage to separate and overwhelm you."

They considered this for a moment, but before anyone could think of a possible explanation their thoughts were interrupted.

"Look!" Benjamin said. "Something is happening."

The others, following his gaze, looked down the street towards the southeast. They saw what he saw, but the Chosen Children could hardly believe that the thing was actually happening. It was like a fadeout – a large section of familiar Odaiba fading into a vista of nothing but waves. As they watched, Palette Town vanished entirely, and the huge Ferris wheel stood no longer stood against the gray sky.

"W-What happened!?"

"Is this part of the distortion?" Ken wondered. "Ah!"

The earth began to shake in an earthquake more violent and more lasting than those that had gone before. The Chosen Children and bipedal Digimon struggled to keep their footing, while the Armor forms braced themselves with legs wide apart.

"Now what!?" Miyako moaned.

Hikari was the first to realize what was about to happen, but the shock prevented her from saying anything. She felt it again – a great dark consciousness turning not only towards her this time but towards them all, reaching up for them from the depths. Something was rising. She knew it even before the waters began to churn in the distance. It was not chance that had gathered the twelve of them in one place. At long last, He was about to reveal himself, to face his enemies, and to crush them all at once.