Author's Note: Back with another chapter. After promising it for so long, I guarantee we finally get the end of the Sigma fight. Among other things. So, I hope you enjoy the chapter!
After another minute of watching Shakkoumon and MegaSeadramon failing to land a hit on Piedmon, Michael had to admit the demonic clown was living up to his appearance. Normally, fights were serious business, but Piedmon was making a mockery of all that by letting attacks get within inches of connecting before warping away and retaliating with nothing more than a burst of laughter. And as the seconds ticked by, there was no way of knowing how much further into his plans Daemon was getting. He knew if he wanted to get back to the Digital World while it was still intact and he was still sane, he'd have to do something to shut Piedmon up. It wouldn't be easy, seeing as Sigma seemed to be able to do literally anything he wanted, but there had to be a way to get a plan together. It wasn't like he could just shout out orders to MegaSeadramon, but there had to be some way… Michael almost slapped himself. Here was Sigma, using a Digivice 01 to send commands to his Digimon without them being intercepted. The same type of Digivice 01 Michael had received from Whamon but hadn't thought of using as anything other than glorified storage. Still, if Sigma could use his Digivice 01 to send information, did that mean he could also intercept commands? It was time to test that theory out. Deciding on a simple code, he sent a command to MegaSeadramon.
"Let's do this like scene 7. See if you can sneak around behind Sigma, and then wait for an opening when Piedmon has his back turned." MegaSeadramon began swimming through the air off to the side, a feat only possible because Masks Square had even more questionable physics than the Digital World itself. From the command, MegaSeadramon immediately knew Michael's goal: in the current movie he was working on, Scene 7 featured a feint: a small army appeared to charge a castle, but the real objective was just seeing how the defenders would react. This whole order was a bluff intended to see if Sigma could catch their orders, but it was important MegaSeadramon follow the fake order in order to throw Sigma if he intercepted the message so he wouldn't suspect the real order.
In an effort to distract Sigma from his partner's motion, Michael once again started a conversation. "I guess I'm just having a hard time understanding you, Sigma. You've clearly got control over reality in here, but you don't seem to be enjoying yourself. I mean, your partner has been laughing uncontrollably as he uses our partners as toys, but I haven't heard anything but typing out of you." Sigma at least turned to Michael this time before typing a response. "Do you realize how feeble an attempt at a distraction this is? I've told you before, I control everything here, including all communications. Still, perhaps you need more tangible proof. Piedmon?"
Piedmon warped further away from Shakkoumon before pulling his swords out of the magic box on his back. The fours swords floated in front of him before he called out "Trump Sword!" and they all disappeared. However, MegaSeadramon's sudden gasp of surprise caused Michael to turn to his partner and locate the swords: they had warped directly into the sea serpent's body. It took a few seconds for the shock of suddenly having four swords appear within him to wear off enough that MegaSeadramon could actually feel the pain. Sigma merely responded by typing another response. "Good. I wasn't trying to hit anything fatal, but I wasn't quite sure with a sea snake what I could safely hit. It would be a shame for you to die so quickly."
Hearing this, Michael started seething with fury. He could tolerate a lot of things, but somebody torturing his partner was not one of them. Luckily, he had already come up with a plan that would allow him to vent his anger and hopefully beat Piedmon in the process. First, he sent another coded command to MegaSeadramon: "Scene 23. Just take it easy- you've taken too much damage." MegaSeadramon nodded, not at the unencrypted message but at the scene 23 reference. If Michael was really planning on pulling this off, MegaSeadramon would almost think it was worth getting hit by a Trump Sword just to see this happen. Then, Michael turned to Cody. "Listen, Cody, I know this isn't going to be easy, but you're going to have to take care of Piedmon yourself for a while. Maybe MegaSeadramon can come back into the fight after a while, but it will take me a bit to be able to help. You got this covered?"
Cody couldn't help but feel like Michael was trying to give a hidden message in his speech, as he was pretty much stating the obvious. Still, Michael couldn't really be any more explicit, so Cody decided just to trust in his fellow DigiDestined. "Right, fighting Piedmon is basically like running into a brick wall for how much progress we can make on our own. Luckily for you, I'm pretty stubborn. Shakkoumon and I will keep going until Piedmon eventually gives up!" Cody's crest started glowing a brilliant white, quickly followed by Shakkoumon as well. As Cody managed to mutter "I can't believe that worked" under his breath, Shakkoumon was much louder in shouting out, "Shakkoumon, Digivolve to… Vikemon!"
As Cody saw Armadillomon's Mega form, he couldn't help but wonder why it looked so much like it belonged to Gomamon's Digivolution line instead of Armadillomon's. Vikemon was essentially a cross between Ikkakumon and a Viking berserker. He was covered in white fur that almost appeared to be made of ice, and he wore two morning stars on his back. Vikemon seemed especially happy about the new weapons, as he now had something better than Shakkoumon's fist he could use to hit Piedmon. Calling out "Mjollnir," he grabbed a mace in each hand and charged towards Piedmon. The Demon Man Digimon managed to warp out of the way, but it was clear he was paying much more attention to his opponent now that he was facing a Mega level. With Piedmon distracted, MegaSeadramon went to work trying to distract Sigma in order for Michael to enact his plan.
"Hey, Sigma, you never answered Michael's question. Why is it that your partner seems ecstatic to be here, but you don't? Isn't playing around with us fun? Why don't you take off that mask and let us hear you laugh?" Sigma turned to the injured sea serpent, but responded with his program once again. "I'm afraid I can't do that. It's only by wearing a mask and not speaking that I can be myself. Just like an online chat room, here I am free to be myself." MegaSeadramon scoffed. "Is that what your life has become? You can't even exist without some cloak of anonymity? You have to go through your entire life using an alias and hiding behind a mask. I don't even know if I'd even call that having a life, let alone being free."
"Like I would expect you to understand. You've probably been surrounded by friends your whole life. You don't know what I had to live through." MegaSeadramon had to restrain himself both from rolling his eyes and having a small celebration. The eye roll was because he was sensing a monologue detailing exactly why an opponent came to be what they are now, and he had lived through quite enough of those after working in the movie industry for so long. The celebration was precisely because a long monologue was coming, and that would be just the distraction Michael needed to execute scene 23.
Luckily, Sigma didn't seem to notice MegaSeadramon's response and continued right on with his story. "I suppose my life started out fairly well. My mother was a German exchange student who met my father while studying here, and by all accounts we were all set to be a happy family until a horrible car accident when I was four. I lost both of my parents, as did a baby in the other car. However, while the other boy was taken in by distant relatives, I had nobody and was dumped into an orphanage. There, my obvious differences in both name and appearance marked me as a special target, and it isn't a surprise that I grew up to spend most of my time alone and had a difficult time talking to people. I made my first 'friends' when I was seven, but only because I'd offer to do their homework for them. Still, I just smiled and continued to hang out with these kids who pretended to be my friends, because they were the only ones who would bother playing with me. But the more I smiled, the more I lost sight of myself."
"Then, I discovered the wonder of online chat rooms. By taking on an alias and wearing the mask of anonymity, I was free! I could say everything I couldn't in real life, everything I had been holding back! By putting on a mask, I could finally reclaim myself. And then, four years ago, I found something even better. The Digimon video game was released, and I quickly found myself absorbed into online tournaments with Piedmon. While chat had allowed me to find myself, Digimon allowed others to see who I had become. Taking on my usual chat alias of Sigma, I became a top ranked player, winning just about every tournament. I managed to unlock secret techniques only known to the game designers, and became invincible with my Masks Square attack. Neo realized this, and sent me an email telling me my skills could be used more effectively and asked me to help him build a perfect world outside of Masks Square. To be recognized by the undisputed Digimon world champion thrilled me, so I agreed to work with him. And I was the one who inspired the name of our organization- my alias of Sigma became Alias I of the Alias III! Now, prepare—"
Sigma had continued typing a message, but whatever it was supposed to say was buried behind MegaSeadramon's uproarious laughter. "Seriously? That's the whole 'this is why I'm evil' monologue? I spend a lot of time around the sets of cheesy action movies, and I have to say this is one of the lamest speeches I've ever heard. I get it, your childhood sucked since you were alone. But do you honestly expect me to take you seriously when your response to that was to become a 22 year old shut in who only lives online? Great, we're fighting against the most stereotypical ubernerd: only interacts with others online, obsesses over a videogame, and seems to think he's entitled to whatever he wants. You know, I'm almost glad you decided to help Neo, because at least it gets you outside, even if it is in the Digital World. Otherwise, you'd probably still be living in a basement somewhere. How does it feel to be the person that makes everybody else afraid to admit they like anything that would make them seem like a geek? Still, I guess this is more sad than funny. You'll see the real reason why I'm laughing in a little less than a second."
Just as MegaSeadramon predicted, Sigma became painfully aware of the reason for laughter courtesy of Michael's fist slamming into his face, managing to crack his mask. As Sigma picked himself up, he saw his laptop in Michael's arms as the DigiDestined stood over him, a look of pity and rage on his face. "Listen, I'm not going to tell you how you should live your life. If you want to spend all of your time online and not interact with others in real life, I guess that is your choice. But one thing you can't do is decide to rewrite the world just so it fits your idea of perfection. When you start choosing how other people have to live, you've crossed a line! And when you cross that line, there will always be people like us to stop you. You can claim you are all powerful, but you're really just blinding yourself. You couldn't even pick up on the fairly blatant hidden messages in my commands- why would I bother including movie scenes when the next sentence was the command MegaSeadramon followed? It's because we've spent time together, and can know exactly what we mean with so few words. Scene 7: sneak around and launch a fake attack to see how the enemy reacts. Scene 23: the hero gets injured trying to save his partner, but he distracts the villain for long enough that his partner can save both of them. You'll never be able to have a bond this powerful if you always hide yourself behind a mask!"
As Michael finished talking, multiple things happened at once. First, his crest and MegaSeadramon both began glowing a bright cyan. Second, Piedmon dodged another of Vikemon's attacks and saw his partner on the ground. Wanting to retaliate, he magically recalled his swords, but without Sigma's help he couldn't warp them precisely enough to attack MegaSeadramon the same way as before. Instead, he merely threw his swords toward his Digivolving foe. MegaSeadramon had managed to shout out, "MegaSeadramon, Digivolve to…" before they impacted, but instead of hearing any reaction of pain, all Piedmon heard was a strange metallic clang. When the glow faded, he could see why. MegaSeadramon was now covered in golden armor that had deflected the swords without taking as much as a scratch. The only clear reaction was a look of extreme annoyance in his eyes as he responded by growling out "River of Power!"
The aqua colored stream of energy blasted towards Piedmon while he was still recovering from the surprise of his failed Trump Sword attack, sending the Demon Man flying backwards upon impact. It was clear the attack had done some damage, but perhaps the better news came when cracks started to appear throughout Masks Square, indicating the attack was falling apart. Not one to pass up an opening, Vikemon immediately used his Viking Flare attack, sending both of his maces rocketing into Piedmon's back, doing further damage to the clown and his dimension. The force of the impact was enough to send Piedmon flying back toward the metal sea serpent, who responding by lashing out with his twin spiked tails. This last impact proved enough to completely shatter Masks Square, returning the group to the craggy landscape where Piedmon had first ambushed Imperialdramon.
As Piedmon struggled to get off the ground, Michael's partner took the time to speak. "Well, since I was so rudely interrupted last time, let me continue. MegaSeadramon, Digivolve to… MetalSeadramon! My armor is made of Chrondigizoit alloy, and your puny swords aren't enough to pierce it. I'm the fastest aquatic Digimon, and I've been perfected for interception on land, sea, and air. See, if you had just let me finish my introduction earlier, I wouldn't have had to beat you up and then give the full details of who I am."
Piedmon stayed on the ground, but started chuckling. "Well, excuse me for having to rely on my swords while running Masks Square. It isn't the easiest attack to maintain, you know. Now that you've told me exactly what you are and I don't have to worry about keeping my attack active, however, I'm afraid I'll have to end this little fight. Ending Snipe!" From his position on the ground, he sent a stream of electricity from both of his hands into the sea serpent. While Chrondigizoit alloy provided a strong defense, it still conducted electricity, and MetalSeadramon's status as a sea creature made him especially vulnerable to electric attacks. He was blasted back into a small, white slimy form that must have been his Baby level.
Piedmon groaned at the survival of his enemy. The barrage of attacks he had taken must have weakened him more than he thought if something as weak against electricity as MetalSeadramon managed to survive his Ending Snipe. It would be a simple matter of attacking again in order to delete his foe, but Piedmon decided against this maneuver. He had never intended on deleting his opponents from the start, and MetalSeadramon had merely forced his hand. Besides, he still had to worry about Vikemon, and it would be best to save his energy for the far more dangerous foe.
Unfortunately for Piedmon, Vikemon had no designs of saving his energy, and managed to freeze the demonic clown before he even had time to pick himself up off the ground. As Piedmon lay helpless within a block of ice, Vikemon let out a feral snarl. "You hurt my friend. You'll pay for that. This is the first stage of my Arctic Blizzard attack. By flash freezing the air to absolute zero, I render foes helpless. Then, one tiny hit from Mjollnir and what was once your body becomes indistinguishable from a snowstorm."
Even Cody was caught off guard by the sudden ferocity of his partner, who had always been more easygoing in his earlier stages. However, before he could even tell Vikemon to control himself, somebody else beat him to the punch by calling out "STOP!" The voice was a bit shaky, almost as if it hadn't been used in a long time. The shock of hearing a new voice was enough to get through to Vikemon, who snapped out of his berserk rage and stopped himself just before he finished the Arctic Blizzard attack. Turning to see who it was, he saw Sigma kneeling on the ground, with the bottom half of his mask broken off. Even Sigma seemed shocked at the sound of his own voice, but he continued speaking in a much quieter manner.
"Please, don't hurt Piedmon. He's the only one who was really with me when I was all alone. He's not just my partner, he's my friend. I lost this battle, but I don't want to lose him." Cody walked over to Sigma and helped him off the ground, as Michael had gone to collect his partner. "I guess when you really have something to say, it just comes out no matter how hard you try to bury it behind a mask. Maybe you could try talking from the heart more often? I'm sure you'd have a lot in common with our friends Izzy and Willis."
Sigma merely walked over and picked up his laptop from where Michael had dropped it and then responded, "Why would I talk with your friends?" He went over to the thawed Piedmon and hopped onto his partner's shoulder, and Piedmon started flying away to Daemon's Castle. With the battle over, Vikemon reverted to Upamon, leaving the DigiDestined in no position to chase after Sigma. However, after a minute both Cody's D-Terminal and Michael's Digivice 01 gave off a beep that signaled they had received a message. "I suggest you go back to Holy Angel Castle. I don't know exactly how much time has passed, but Neo was planning to attack it while the Alias III stalled you. And thank you. Sigma."
Omegamon landed in the courtyard in front of Daemon's castle and set Rei and Hideto on the ground. Hideto was surprised that Rei didn't seem to react to the castle, which was basically the most stereotypically evil lair in existence. "Are you okay, Rei? You've been awfully quiet lately." Rei seemed to shake herself out of something. "Sorry, I guess I'm just not used to seeing Digimon fighting up close. It was bad enough with the SandYanmamon and Scorpiomon, but that went too quickly and was more running for our lives than an actual battle. Plus, I was sort of invading on their nest so I can understand why they attacked. But this time, it was like watching my friends try to kill each other. I guess I just need some time to cope with what I saw, okay?"
Hideto let out a sigh. "Yeah, it does take some getting used to. I hate forcing Warg and Melga to fight, but we don't really have a choice. Besides, I made sure we wouldn't do any lasting damage. Digimon are a lot tougher than they look- Omegamon's attacks did some damage, but nothing a bit of time won't heal. It'd be even faster if they could do this. Partition!" He crossed his wrists, and Rei was shocked to see Omegamon split into two Digimon: a wolf covered in metal and a dinosaur wearing armor. Hideto then slammed his fists together and called out "Jogress," causing the two Digimon to return to their combined form. He then repeated the partition, causing a small smile to come to Rei's lips. "So, this is what Warg and Melga really look like? Now that I've seen them, I see exactly how bad your art skills are. That's nothing like the picture you drew for me."
Hideto smiled at the old memory from when he and Rei first became friends. "Hey, I never claimed to be a great artist, and Neo pointed out how bad those pictures were right away anyway. But yeah, the wolf is Melga and the dragon is Warg. Though, now they spend most of their time fused together as Omegamon anyway. Usually they are only separated here at the castle, partly because it's easier for them to fit through the hallways when they're smaller and partially because Daemon doesn't really like having someone as powerful as Omegamon in his castle. He doesn't fully trust us, but I can't blame him for that- we don't exactly trust him either. He and Neo always seem to be struggling for power, and Daemon knows we wouldn't take his side if it came to a fight."
Rei seemed to shrink into herself a little bit. "Is it really that bad? From what the others told me, Daemon isn't somebody you'd want to work with. Maybe you going against him would be good news. I won't try to tell you what to do, though. I'm sure you know what's going on a lot more than what I do, though you'll have to fill me in. Promise?"
Hideto nodded. "Of course I will. I remember how hard it was when I first came to the Digital World, and that was after years of experience playing with Digimon. Still, it's a long story, so we better get inside first before I give all the details." Rei nodded. "All right, but would you mind answering a quick question? I understand why you split Omegamon into Warg and Melga, but why did you do it twice?"
"Yeah, I guess that would look funny if you didn't know the reason. Have you ever heard Neo or me talk about Infinite Jogress before? Basically, it's possible to combine two Digimon into a stronger one with a technique called Jogress. When you combine two Digimon, they get healed to full health also. Omegamon may not have looked like it, but he actually took a fair bit of damage in that last fight. So, I split him apart and then fused him together again to fully heal him, and then I split him again so Warg and Melga would be at full health."
"Now I wish I had paid more attention to you and Neo before. I thought that would be a simple question, but all these game mechanics are still a bit over my head. Let's try something a little simpler: how did you know Omegamon had taken a bunch of damage? I haven't seen many fights, but it didn't look like any of the attacks that managed to hit him really did anything."
Tapping one of his Digivices, Hideto responded. "Well, it's pretty easy to tell how much damage a Digimon has taken when you have a Digivice 01. It can scan a Digimon's data and reveal a bunch of information, including health. And I'm actually glad you didn't notice Omegamon take any damage- that's one of the best weapons we have. If you make your opponent think you are unbeatable, they are more likely to give up or screw up trying too hard. If we win the psychological aspect of the battle, we are less likely to have to resort to deadly force." Having reached the main door to Daemon's castle, Hideto paused for a second to dig a key card out of his pocket. Passing it in front of a scanner shaped like Daemon's face, he turned back to Rei. "You'd think a castle like this would have a more complicated security system than an ID scanner, but this world sometimes doesn't make sense. Just watch your step- the entryway is basically nothing but an unnecessarily long staircase heading down. If you need to take a break, just let me know."
Rei was thankful for the offer, but she didn't want to be a burden to Hideto. Besides, while it wasn't obvious, she could just tell that something about this place really bothered Hideto. To an outsider, Hideto wouldn't seem to be acting any differently than he was on the flight over here, but she and Hideto had been close friends for so long that she knew he was putting more effort into acting nonchalant. Trying to lighten the mood, Rei smiled. "Okay, don't worry. I'll be fine. Look, I can even jump!" After jumping up and down for a while, she managed to get Hideto chuckling with genuine amusement. Having succeeded at that, she continued. "In all seriousness though, I think Melga would be fine carrying me if I need a rest." She reached out and scratched Melga's back where he wasn't wearing armor. Much like a dog, Melga clearly enjoyed the attention and nuzzled closer to Rei.
Hideto could barely hold back laughter. "You really are something else, Rei. You see a wolf that's barely shorter than you are, covered with armor and blades, and you still treat him like he's a big puppy. From the looks of things, he'd be more than happy to carry you if you need it. Alright, let's go." Despite the length of the staircase, Rei managed to make it into the large room at the bottom that served as the greeting area of sorts. However, before she could take in many details, Hideto quickly pulled her aside, and Warg and Melga rushed in front of the two Tamers, clearly prepared for danger.
Hideto sent a glare at the robed figure sitting in the throne-like chair in the center of the room. While the castle did belong to Daemon, this room had essentially been taken over by Neo, and this was the designated meeting place for the Alias III upon return from their mission. Daemon usually spent his time locked away in his true throne room, so the fact that he was here while nobody else was could only be bad news. Still, Hideto wasn't foolish enough to immediately jump into a fight without trying to understand the situation, so he tried to keep his tone civil. "I have to say I'm surprised to see you here, Daemon. It's been a while since you stepped out of your throne room. Where are Neo and the others?"
Daemon let out a menacing chuckle. "Oh, you needn't worry about the others. Neo recently finished his attack on Holy Angel Castle and Sigma was just defeated by the DigiDestined, so they are both on their way here. Mari has pretty much locked herself in her room after Arkadimon ate her partner, so she's here but not in the mood to talk to anybody. As for why I'm here, it would be rude for the ruler of the castle not to greet a guest, wouldn't it? Especially a guest as important as Rei Saiba, sister to my oh-so-aggravating general."
The clear malice in Daemon's voice caused Rei to instinctively duck behind Hideto, who had pulled out each of his Digivices and was ready to fuse Warg and Melga at any moment. The Digimon themselves shifted position so their weapons could be used against Daemon at the slightest provocation. However, this only seemed to amuse Daemon, who laughed as he burned off his cloak but otherwise made no threatening moves. "You really should watch that temper of yours, Hideto. Don't forget I'm the Demon Lord of Wrath. Your anger makes you an open book to me. Go ahead, try to attack. If you leave your monsters in their current form, they stand no chance of winning. Your Omnimon might be able to match me in power, but I've seen all the recent battles and know how to exploit the weakness of Jogress. Try to fuse them, and they will be helpless against my attack."
Hideto didn't offer any response, mostly because he had already known everything Daemon just said. Strategically, he was at a disadvantage if it came to a direct fight with Daemon as long as Warg and Melga were fighting instead of Omegamon. Daemon took Hideto's silence as agreement and continued. "Still, I suppose I really must thank you, Hideto. I was starting to wonder if I would ever be able to salvage this situation. My army has seen the Alias III and Neo both fail their missions with no repercussions, and it is starting to reflect poorly on my leadership. Now, in the cases of Sigma and Mari, there isn't an issue. After all, their failures were losing to the DigiDestined in battle. Admittedly not the ideal situation, but I myself have also been defeated by the DigiDestined so I won't punish them for that failure. Besides, they both managed to stall for longer than the needed time, and Mari managed to feed Arkadimon. While they failed to achieve a perfect victory, they still managed to accomplish enough that their fights cannot be considered a punishable failure."
"However, you and Neo are a different story. Both of you have been in battles against the DigiDestined and had ultimate victory within your grasp, yet you have chosen to let them survive without as much as decreasing their overall strength. By letting my enemies survive, I cannot help but question your loyalty. However, unlike most of my minions, you are not so easily replaced. If I were to destroy you, who wields a power almost equal to my own, I would be severely crippling the strength of my army. Worse, if I destroy Neo, I lose access to Arkadimon, and I have devoted far too much energy into this project to turn back now. So, I needed to find a way to ensure your cooperation other than the threat of elimination. So, once again you have my gratitude. You have just brought me someone who is in no way necessary to my plan, yet means a great deal to both you and Neo. So, are you willing to cooperate, or will I have to just torture Rei for your failures?"
Hearing this, Warg and Melga didn't even bother waiting for Hideto's orders and charged at Daemon with their Mega Claw and Metal Fang attacks. However, the Demon Lord easily countered with his Double Dust attack, punching right through the attacks of the weaker Digimon and sending them flying into the wall on the far side of the room. As they started standing up, Daemon turned to Hideto. "Well, I see such a threat even gets to your partners. These bonds of compassion are really quite a marvelous thing, both as a source of strength and a glaring weakness. Now, you have a few options. You can try Jogressing your partners and let Omnimon be struck down before he is fully formed, you can try fighting without Jogress and watch your partners be deleted, or you could try running away. Of course, I can always summon either you or Rei back to me, so both running and fighting are useless. So, how about we just skip over the part where you futilely try to resist? If you can capture or destroy the DigiDestined, I may just decide to let Rei go back to Earth."
Hideto hated the situation, and especially hated Daemon for causing it. Still, he had made his decision a long time ago: no matter how despicable the methods, he was willing to go as far as was needed to help Rei. If he was already willing to kill everything in a world in order to create a paradise, even if everything that was killed would be reborn in said paradise, he could handle killing a few more Digimon. Still, that didn't mean he had to enjoy being Daemon's servant, and he also didn't have to enjoy his task. Staring at Daemon with as much hate and defiance as he could muster, Hideto responded.
"Alright, fine, I'll take care of the DigiDestined for you, but I'll still do this my way. First, I'm going to escort Rei down to Mari's room, and she'll be able to stay here comfortably instead of being a prisoner. Second, I get to pick my opponents. I want another shot at the two I fought earlier, and that should at least eliminate their strongest. After that, you will let Rei go, and I will then work on going after the others. Third, let me fly out there myself. I'll be more effective fighting if I have some time to prepare than if you throw me directly into the fray."
As Hideto started leading Rei down the hallway towards the rooms the Alias III stayed in while in the Digital World, Daemon couldn't help but smirk. This confrontation had worked out perfectly, but it really had been impossible to fail: no matter what happened, Daemon would be rid of a nuisance. If Hideto tried fighting, he would eliminate a powerful enemy in Omegamon. If he agreed to fight seriously against the DigiDestined, then either Omegamon eliminates the DigiDestined or the DigiDestined eliminate Omegamon, causing his enemies to weaken each other without Daemon even having to get involved. Still, the best part was testing out exactly how this little maneuver would affect his human 'allies'. Just as he expected, it was very easy to manipulate a human into doing his bidding just by threatening a loved one. The intense surge of anger Hideto felt was also reassuring. If Hideto reacted this way, Daemon couldn't wait to see Neo's reaction. Either Neo would finally be put into his place, or he would do something even better and play right into Daemon's hand. Apparently, Lilithmon had had the right idea all along that the best way to attack humans was not to target them directly, but to attack the ones they loved instead.
Author's Note: There we go. Shorter chapter, but we still get two new Mega forms. That means everybody except Veemon and Terriermon have their Mega forms unlocked. The we see more of Rei, and Daemon forcing Hideto to get serious. Which is a major problem, since he beat Davis and Willis pretty easily when he WASN'T being serious. So, once again I'll ask you to leave a review or a PM, and I'll try to update again tonight!