--o--o--o--
Chapter 13
Coronation
--o--o--o--
Zhuqiaomon didn't go easily. By the time he lay beaten and broken on the floor of his own palace, only two devas besides Kaliskamon and Kayamon were left alive and one had been knocked back to his Rookie form and was barely conscious.
Arisimon stood over Zhuqiaomon, poleaxe raised. "You--" he gasped up at her, "--you have no-- no right-- to do this."
"You had no right to invade Earth," Kaliskamon told him as he limped forward, the patches of color on his coat dull and sluggish.
Arisimon sneered at them both. "Rights? Rights are fantasies! Reality is power!" Her Poleaxe slammed into Zhuqiaomon's neck.
The Sovereign erupted into a roiling cloud of data that shocked them all with its volume and strength. The surge of energy that poured into them all immediately returned Elecmon and Kaliskamon to their Ultimate forms. Only Istaqamon had ever experienced downloading anywhere near the amount of energy that flooded them all and it was that experience that allowed him to keep some control of his senses while the rest were lost in an overwhelming rush of ecstatic sensation.
Istaqamon looked hard into the swirling data cloud for something out of the ordinary. Zhuqiaomon had been a Mega, theoretically the same level as Arisimon but much more powerful. There had to be something that made him different-- something that made him a Sovereign. Then he saw it. He forced his shivering legs to take two steps forward and fell to his knees as if overwhelmed by the strength of the data influx. His hand closed on a single, tiny packet of data that was different from all the other uncountable fragments, hiding its strange blue-white glow. It nestled in his palm, hard and vibrating with a strange harmonic that felt like fire and ice at the same time.
He glanced up at Arisimon but her eyes were squeezed tightly shut, her jaw open and trembling, the tip of her poleaxe scraping meaningless graffiti into the floor.
Istaqamon backed away from the rapidly vanishing cloud of data. He knew he couldn't hide an object of such immense power for long and to try and flee would only trigger Arisimon's instant suspicion and, most probably, a very deadly reaction.
He felt a nudge at his hand and looked down to see Kayamon nuzzling his closed fist.
"What is that, father?" she asked innocently.
That made up his mind for him. "You'll see sweetie-- I'm just about to do another monumentally foolish thing."
--o--o--o--
The destruction of Zhuqiaomon might have been rightfully considered the greatest battle ever to have been fought in the Digital Dimension were it not for one that began at nearly the same time and only a small distance away.
The clash of digimon battling for supremacy was something that had happened again and again but the desperate fight of a handful of human children and their partners against a Mega imbued with every strength and ability a Sovereign could grant was something that had never been seen before.
The reunited tamers and their digimon were doing the best they could.
Beelzemon didn't know that the deva who had commanded him and the Sovereign who had created him were dead and it was probable that he wouldn't have cared much if he had known. All he knew was that the ones he had resented for so long were now in his power and he intended to wipe out the memories of every humiliation he had suffered by destroying them all. But even now, one of them insisted on mouthing irritating nonsense at him.
"There's still time," Kyuubimon said, standing bravely before the barrels of his terrible weapon.
Beelzemon sneered at her as he pulled the trigger.
--o--o--o--
Istaqamon strode to where Arisimon was composing herself after managing to absorb the last of Zhuqiaomon's data. Her eyes glowed with energy and her fur crackled beneath her armor. She gave him a curious look as he boldly approached her, but didn't tense or instinctively prepare herself for an attack as she certainly would have only a short time ago. Her Captain stopped only an arm's length away and though he was gazing into her face with a warm smile, he spoke to the three other digimon in the chamber.
"Devas-- attend your Lady," he said in a soft voice that instantly captured their attention.
They all approached and Istaqamon raised his closed fist between himself and Arisimon. Her eyes narrowed just the tiniest bit.
"The Sovereign is dead," Istaqamon continued, opening his hand to reveal the tiny spark of energy he held. "Long live the Sovereign." Arisimon took a sharp breath of surprise and the other digimon murmured their astonishment. Istaqamon grimaced to himself. He'd hoped the devas would have had enough sense of ceremony to echo his proclamation or at least cheer or something. These provincials who'd never been to Earth just had no sense of style, he decided.
He glanced at Arisimon's helm and made a small gesture of his head to indicate she should remove it. He hoped she wouldn't need a long-winded explanation or choose this moment to distrust him but she understood immediately and reached up to lift off the massive piece of armor covering her head. The only sign that she was in the least wary of his intentions was a slight tightening of her hand that still gripped the shaft of her poleaxe.
Istaqamon lifted the tiny crystal of energy with a silent, unbelieving prayer to a long dead scientist, and placed it on Arisimon's forehead.
It blazed with light and sank into her-- and as it did, crimson radiance flared under Istaqamon's hand, now spread across the top of Arisimon's head. His other hand quickly came up to grip the chain of Calumon's cage so that he could hold her against him, preventing her from pulling back from his blazing touch. She screamed and fell to her knees and he crouched with her, forcing more of his carefully focused energy into her body. Arisimon dropped her weapon and helm as he poured data into her with all his strength and her powerful hands clamped down on his shoulders, buckling the metal of his armor beneath them.
The watching devas had no idea what was happening. Metal Greymon took a hesitant step forward, uncertain what, if anything, he could do to help or harm-- and even more uncertain of which of the two blazing figures he wanted to aid. Through the crackling and hissing of surging energy he heard a musical laugh from Kayamon who stood beside him. She looked up at him, smiling, and said, "Isn't this exciting?"
A vortex of energy began to form around Arisimon and the powerful flux pushed Istaqamon away from her. In the last instant before he lost contact he twisted the cage's chain with all of his might, snapping it, and Arisimon's claws ripped through his chrome digizoid armor and into his shoulders, as she tried desperately to hold him against her.
Istaqamon was flung away from the transforming Arisimon, sliding across the floor and groaning at the pain in his torn shoulders. Kayamon calmly trotted over to him and healed his wounds with two casual swipes of her tongue.
He winked his thanks to her and he reached out and scooped up Calumon's cage. "Are you okay, creampuff?' The little digimon nodded slowly.
"Okay. You just hang in there for a little bit. We're going to try and get you out of here."
"How are we going to do that?" Kayamon asked him.
"Well," he said thoughtfully as he looked up at the still growing vortex surrounding Arisimon, "that depends on how successful my little upload was. I sure hope it doesn't come down to just grabbing Calumon and running like scared rabbits."
--o--o--o--
Kyuubimon leaped over the handlebars of Beelzemon's massive motorcycle, slamming into him with such force that he was ripped from his seat to tumble across the rocky ground. He staggered to his feet and drew both of his weapons but, incredibly, Kyuubimon still had the strength to launch a Dragon Wheel attack at him that knocked the guns from his hands.
But a single Champion, no matter how strong, could never equal the power of a Mega and Kyuubimon collapsed to the ground in exhaustion as she reformed from her attack.
Beelzemon cursed and clutched at his ribs where Kyuubimon had hit him. He took a few steps to her prostrate form and slammed the spiked toe of his boot into her belly.
From where he watched, something inside Takato turned like a switch and his appalled expression became one of unforgiving rage. "I don't care who he used to be-- he's nothing but a monster now!"
Kyuubimon gasped in pain and used what little energy she had left to plead with Beelzemon, trying one last time to save him from himself. "Don't be so blind!"
Beelzemon lifted his long razor claws for a gutting strike. "I said, SHUT UP!" he screamed. An instant before he ripped the life out of her, Leomon lunged forward and caught his arm. Beelzemon turned with the speed of a striking snake and the claws of his other hand tore up through Leomon's unprotected stomach. The huge lion Champion gasped and fell to the ground, bits of data already beginning to separate from the edges of his mortal wound.
Kyuubimon cried out in horror and tried to regain her feet to reach out to Leomon but Beelzemon savagely kicked her in the head until she collapsed again.
Jeri couldn't believe her eyes. It had been all so sudden. It just couldn't be happening. "Leomon!" she cried out to her dying partner.
Leomon was a true warrior. He had always known that this was a fate that might await him and had accepted it. But he had been Jeri's partner for so short a time he had never realized what impact his passing might have on another-- another whom he had come to respect and care for. Now he had only seconds left to ease his partner's grief and leave her something of himself.
"Be brave Jeri!" he called out to her, "Part of me will always be with you." He flung out one hand, wincing in pain, and the shining bits of his remaining data flowed in a tight stream from his palm, whisking across the plain and striking Jeri in the chest. As she lost consciousness she heard her partner's last words, muffled as if through a golden fog, "Remember-- you have a lion's heart!"
--o--o--o--
"I am Yasuramon, Sovereign of the South." The huge creature announced to her awestruck audience in a voice of steel, silk, and smoke. She was utterly magnificent. Her form was that of a huge winged fox with a long, luxurious banner of a tail that stretched behind her for nearly double her body's length. Each strand of her fur seemed to be a line of molten metal-- silver, gold and copper, all burning with energy and twining in intricate patterns.
The most important detail, as far as Istaqamon was concerned, was the symbol on her forehead. It was something that had been missing from all of her evolutionary forms since she had left her Kunomon body behind. It was the symbol of balance-- the joining of yin and yang to form a harmonious whole-- the taijitu.
Istaqamon stepped forward and bowed to Yasuramon. It wasn't a deep bow of humility such as a servant might make to a powerful lord, it was almost casual-- an acknowledgment from a respectful peer. Yasuramon's gaze held such power that the others felt compelled to look away from it even though it wasn't focused on them. Kayamon only had eyes for her father and she watched him carefully.
"I have helped you to achieve your rightful place, my Sovereign," Istaqamon declaimed, not able to resist emphasizing the word Arisimon had objected to earlier, "and now, in return for all I have done for you, I ask a favor."
Yasuramon didn't speak immediately but let her gaze continue to fall heavily on Istaqamon. He slid his tongue slightly to one side in his mouth and bit down on it to distract himself from the rising doubt within him. Finally, she spoke.
"Istaqamon," the sound of her voice speaking his name sent shivers down his back. He was glad that his armor hid the rise of his hackles. "Remain here with me," the Sovereign continued. "The rest of you, leave me. Silphymon, go to the South Gate and stand guard."
"I want to stay with my father," Kayamon said.
Istaqamon wondered where she got the courage to defy a creature like Yasuramon. "It's okay, Kayamon, I'll be alright."
As he spoke, Yasuramon's long tail began to move, curling around with the liquid strength of a deep ocean wave until its very tip brushed across the cage that held Calumon. The chrome digizoid bars dissolved away and the tiny digimon looked around with a disbelief that was mirrored in Istaqamon's face.
"Take him with you," Yasuramon said to Kayamon, "take him back to Earth and keep him safe. Go now." The last two words held such power of command that Kayamon made no protest. She let Calumon climb onto her back and left the chamber with only one backward glance at her father. He winked at her with a confidence he didn't feel as the massive doors of the chamber swung shut between them.