Disclaimer: I don't own Digimon.
Digital Manifest
Keepers
Chapter: 29/ Dawn
Henry held his sister's hand as they ran, trying to put some distance between themselves and the darkness that continued to press forward throughout the city, engulfing it within its depths. In his logical mind, Henry knew that darkness was simply the absence of light, and thus could not hurt them in any way outside of deprive them of their eyesight, but for some reason, when he looked at this particular darkness he felt a fear so intense and irrational that he also knew that no matter what, he did not want to be inside its shadow, let alone be so much as touched by it, which was something that surprised him.
When he was younger he, like most children, had been afraid of the dark. For him, he suffered from this far less then most kids his age had, and would venture out into it even when his nerves screamed at him to do otherwise. He outgrew the fear rapidly as he aged, and it had ceased to bother him by the time he was done with the first grade (something that none of his other siblings had ever managed to do), but even so he was keenly aware that a little piece of it always remained, buried in layers of the subconscious and within memories from when he was young, ignorant, naïve, and otherwise vulnerable to the dangers of the world in which he, like Takato, had peopled with monsters and demons of the like who's home was wherever darkness lay, be it in the closet or under the bed.
Funny… That was what Henry would have thought if he ever wondered about the possibility that he would one day see that fear revitalized with enough force to nearly overwhelm his analytical mind, and if asked he would have taken a moment to consider the question and do some soul searching to make sure before replying 'no' in response. Even when he set out on his adventures as a Tamer this did not occur to him, and never in his wildest dreams would it have (after all, dreams were more or less Takato's department while he was the thinker, the more logical of the pair). Now however, the question was not only brought out to be scrutinized, it practically screamed at him in the face to be recognized and considered.
And now, here he was. Trying to find safe harbor for his little sister, who was making sounds that one normally associated with agitation, fear, and general upset all the while facing an inner terror that he thought long forgotten. The goblins and gremlins that he had once believed to lie under his bed and reside in his closet burst forth from their hiding places, demanding payment for all the night horrors that they had missed out on with this particular, intellectual child of reason; with interest.
In just a few short minutes, those old nightmares of childhood would be visited upon him in the literal sense as well as the figurative.
Suzie cried out as her foot tripped on pavement, bringing her up short and would have brought her all the way to the ground if it hadn't been for the fact that Henry had been there to hold on to her and support her against her sudden loss of balance.
"Ahhh!"
"Suzie!" Exclaimed Henry as his grip on her tightened and he brought his other hand around to grab her before she fell. "You okay?"
"Ah…ah…ah…" Suzie looked over her shoulder, her mouth working in an effort to try and speak, but as things stood it didn't look like she was going to be able to manage it any time soon.
She's too scared, thought Henry as he followed the young girl's gaze to the encroaching darkness as it slid over a parked car and devoured a house like some sort of pitiless liquid. Poor thing. I can't say I blame her either. That thing…whatever it is…it's making my skin crawl just looking at it. Whatever this thing is, it's about as bad as the D-Reaper. I can't remember the last time we saw something expand so effortlessly. I don't dare send Rapidmon and Antylamon into it until we get a better understanding of just what it is. Hmmm…
Henry frowned as his mind raced in an attempt to understand what he was seeing. Wishing that the others were there with him, Henry, upon seeing that Suzie had regained her feet again, led his little sister away from the shadow once more.
It looks like it's starting to slow down a bit…but why? Never mind. That as far as I can tell is a good thing. I don't know what it is, or how to even begin to describe it, but so long as it stops advancing then that means that we'll have time to pull regroup and come up with some sort of plan. I wonder what happened to that…whatever it was that appeared before the darkness began spreading. So far I haven't seen so much as a single bit of movement or any sign that it's even still there. But then, I have all this darkness to thank for that. What I need is a little bit of light…
Wait a minute…that's it! Light!
Henry moved a little bit faster so as to put some more distance between himself and the darkness, now decreasing its rate of encroachment upon the city of Shinjuku, so that he could put a little experiment into action. Looking up, Henry's eyes tracked the sky until he found what he was looking for.
"RAPIDMON!" Henry called, shouting as loud as he could. "ANTYLAMON!"
"You don't have to yell Henry," spoke up Rapidmon's voice from the communication link through Henry's digivice. "Or did you forget about Suzie's discovery?"
"Sorry," said Henry as he and Suzie came to a stop and he took out his digivice from his waistband. "Force of habit."
"Not as much of a habit as Takato's when he shouts at the top of his lungs during battle," chuckled Rapidmon as he came in for a landing seconds later. "I tell ya, one of these days that kid is going to make my ears bleed."
"Rapidmon, do I even need to point out that your ears are usually cybernetic when something like that happens? They can't bleed…"
"Okay, so it'll be oil instead of blood. What's the difference?"
"Rapidmon…"
"Maybe you should get serious for a moment Rapidmon," said Antylamon as she somersaulted down to the streets next to the machine bunny. Upon seeing the much larger, Ultimate level rabbit Deva Suzie broke away from her brother's grip with surprising force and ran over to her partner, wrapping her arms around one of Antylamon's legs as best as she could with their difference in sizes. Antylamon gave a light laugh before focusing her attention on Henry.
"Have you thought of a plan for us?"
"Maybe," said Henry as he pulled out his cards from his pockets. "It's a little risky, but we need to see what's going on inside that dark matter, and I'm worried about sending either of you inside of there to check out the situation…"
"You're worried?" Exclaimed Rapidmon incredulously. "Join the club! I don't know about you guys but that thing is creepy! I may be just a machine in this form but that thing makes my fur stand on end worse then Beelzemon did when he was trying to kill us, and the fact that I don't even have fur to stand on end in this form should tell you just how bad that thing is. On a scale of one to ten on a level of creepiness, that's things a twelve followed by six zeroes…"
"I know," nodded Henry as he brought out the card that he was looking for. "But we still have to do something about it."
"Great. So while we're waiting for the rest of the team to show up and lend us a hand?"
Henry frowned at that, wondering why it was that the others hadn't shown up yet but quickly pushed the thought aside. He had a job to do first.
"Well, we know that this aura is darkness surrounding that creature that bio-emerged," said Henry as he raised the card that he had chosen and showed it to Rapidmon. Rapidmon's mechanical eyes widened as he saw it; the gears in his mind automatically clicking in the metaphorical sense as he caught on to what Henry was thinking on doing.
"What say that we shed a little light on the situation?"
Rapidmon nodded his head.
"You got it Henry."
With a returning nod, Henry brought the card to his D-Arc and swiftly slashed it through the slot in the side. Sparks flashed as the card was fed through the reader and scanned.
"DIGI-MODIFY! RADIANT FAITH ACTIVATE!"
Rapidmon leapt up into the air as his engines roared to life. A golden glow enveloped his body as he rose into the air and flew off towards the dark aura that had enveloped the city. The light that surrounded the android digimon as he flew closer to the bubble of darkness, and the shadows retreated from him, as though afraid of he light that Rapidmon shone with. Rapidmon smirked beneath his helmet, feeling that he now had an advantage against the intruder. Loading his missile launchers Rapidmon came to a halt in mid-air and took aim at the inky, black void in front of him
"Rapid Fire!"
Twin missiles rocketed from their compartments in his arms and soared through the air towards the shadows ahead, light surging off of their surfaces like miniature suns, illuminating the darkness around them as they flew onwards. They did not impact with the shadowy barrier, as Rapidmon had expected due to the complete solid appearance of the blackness ahead. Instead the light illuminated it in a way reminiscent of a flashlight in a thick fog, giving the area within the enshrouded areas a ghostly appearance. Rapidmon frowned as his sensors took in the dark area of the city. So far there was nothing to indicate that there was anything wrong. He was still picking up the usual signs of human and animal life (though oddly enough, the lack of any response from either of them was more then enough to disconcert the cybernetic digimon), and the only thing that had changed in any physical way was the luminosity. Everything remained…undisturbed.
Huh, thought Rapidmon as he continued to watch the missiles race through the shadows. Henry wasn't kidding when he said that we'd shed some light on the situation. I had an idea that he wanted to try and illuminate the place, but I didn't think that it'd be so easy. I wonder why it wa…
Rapidmon's thoughts were cut off as the lights from his missiles suddenly vanished, and the darkness regained the complete and total wall-like solidity that it had prior to Rapidmon's attack. The light that Rapidmon himself was emitting was more then enough for him to continue to observe any changes in the surface of the shadow bubble however, and as Rapidmon watched the surface warped and sent out ripples across it. Rapidmon tensed, wondering what Henry was thinking about this. He was tempted to ask…
You know, thought Rapidmon sarcastically. In the movies this is usually the scene where a character that stares too long and stupidly at something like this would end up having a clawed hand grab at their face…
As though the thought had been a signal, a black stream surged out from the ink-like surface, forming into something akin to a fist that slammed into Rapidmon's midsection, sending the mechanical flying hound tumbling end over end, his combination jet pack and missile pack on his back firing for all he was worth to stabilize him. While he was doing that the shapeless stream of shadow fell back a bit and began to condense and take shape. Great, bat-like wings burst from its surface as it began to take on a roughly humanoid shape to its features. A large, bulbous sphere materialized between a pair of clawed arms and turned towards Rapidmon. A thin line appeared in the center of the creature's head and spread open, revealing what looked to be an eye that was the same color through and through as the rest of its body. Finally, Rapidmon stabilized himself and found himself staring at the creature. A shiver ran down the android's mechanical spine as he saw a second line appear on the makeshift eye (such as it was given the singular color that it had obscured the eyes features).
Okay…now I'm really creeped out here…
As if to emphasize the point, the eye now opened like a jaw, revealing multiple rows of razor sharp, serrated teeth. A series of clicking noises that made Rapidmon think of insects for some reason was emitted from the depths of the mouth like apparatus and it began to pull itself forth from the shadows. More ripples began to appear from other areas on the dark wall and Rapidmon retreated, bringing his cannons to bear on the figure that was emerging like some kind of mockery of the butterfly from its cocoon.
Maybe it's friendly? Thought Rapidmon, though the questioning tone in his mind revealed all the doubts that he had on the objectivity of the being in front of him. As the creature began to come close to pulling free, Rapidmon's right eye twitched as he saw a clawed hand tear free from the dark area directly above it. Rapidmon's nerve snapped and his cannons glowed brightly from the effects of Henry's Radiant Faith card. Rapidmon took aim and fired without a second thought.
"Rapid…FIRE!"
"RAPIDMON!" Shouted Henry as he gripped his digivice harshly as it displayed him everything that his partner saw. He had seen the creatures that had begun to emerge from the shadow wall, and had seen Rapidmon fire off his attack at them upon seeing them. Frankly he couldn't blame him. Had he been there himself he probably would have reacted the same way. They were unlike anything he had ever seen, and given the sort of things that he had experienced that was saying quite a lot. And now that there looked to be multiple versions of it emerging, apparently looking for a fight in response to Rapidmon's firing his missiles earlier to light up the shadow barrier's interior (to say nothing of the fact that Rapidmon had let loose a pair of missiles on one of the creatures when it had appeared), Henry's worries became heightened.
"Rapidmon," spoke Henry, taking a breath to calm himself. "Are you there? Talk to me…"
"I'm still here Henry," said Rapidmon, sounding somewhat ruffled now. "So momentai already."
Thank you, Henry's mind whispered.
"Rapidmon, pull back to my location. I have a feeling that we're going to need to go all out for this one."
"Ten-four buddy! But what about Suzie?"
Henry looked over at his little sister and the massive Antylamon. Suzie was looking at Henry with wide eyes. Her mouth opened as if she could guess what was on his mind.
"No…"
"Antylamon?"
"I understand," said the tall rabbit Deva as she scooped Suzie up into her massive paws. Suzie began to struggle and squirm, causing Antylamon to worry about her falling to the ground, or she herself possibly hurting the little girl in her attempts to keep her from escaping.
"No! Henwy needs ouw help Antylamon!"
"Suzie…" began Antylamon.
"No! I'm n-n-not leaving my bwoth…"
"Suzie!"
Suzie's eyes went wide once more as she turned to look at Henry. The boy's gray eyes were blazing and hard as stone, but after a few seconds they softened. The sound of Rapidmon approaching them could be heard now.
"Suzie…I know that you want to help, and I know that you're a Tamer, and that because of that you carry the same responsibilities as I do. But…and I know that you're tired of hearing this, but you're still too young for this. We don't know what's coming, and Antylamon won't be able to protect you and fight at the same time. The best thing that you and Antylamon can do right now is find Takato and the others and get them down here to help out before the situation goes out of control. And if you can't find them, go down to Hypnos and tell Yamaki what's going on. He'll be able to help and Dad should be there with him. Do you remember how to get to Hypnos?"
Suzie nodded slowly.
"Good. Can you do those things for me? Please?"
Henry said this last in a tone that was far softer then he had ever remembered using towards his little sister, and it caused Suzie's eyes to tear up and she sniffed.
"O-Okay…I will…"
Henry smiled as Rapidmon came to a landing next to him.
"That's my Suzie." Henry looked up at Antylamon as she rose to her full height. "Make sure that she stays safe for me, okay?"
"I will guard her with my life," said Antylamon in a solemn voice and a second later she turned and began sprinting away rapidly from the soon to be battlefield.
Henry turned to Rapidmon. Clicking sounds filled the air and Henry could even now see dark, winged figures flying in the air towards them.
"Are you ready Rapidmon?" Asked Henry as he gripped his digivice.
"Any time, anywhere!"
"All right then. Biomerge Activate!"
Jeri Katou ran through the streets of her home, her eyes intently focused on the burst of light that had appeared not too long ago. She no longer needed to use the compass function of her digivice to look for Leomon. The bright, pulsing light was all the X marks the spot that she needed to find him. Fear slammed home in the girl's chest as she continued at her furious pace, concern for what was happening to Leomon all but overriding her thoughts. She had lost Leomon's viewpoint of what was going on at precisely the moment that the light show had started up, which was cause enough for her to be even more concerned then she already had been given her own unspoken fears about losing the lion digimon that was her partner again. For some reason though she felt that Leomon hadn't been harmed. Something deep inside of her assured her of that (though how that could be she had no clear idea), but she did feel that Leomon was in some form of danger. Hence, her reasons for racing through the streets as though her life depended on it, ignoring Kazu and Kenta's shouts as they pursued her, and keep her from running into something that could potentially harm her person.
Suddenly, the bright light flared once, and in time with it Jeri felt something pulse in her heart, causing her to draw to a stop, her gaze still fixated on the area where the light was coming from. Distantly she heard Kazu and Kenta saying something as they came to a stop next to her, but she ignored them. For some reason it seemed much more important to stay focused on the…
Oh! Jeri's heart fluttered a little as once more the light pulsated and then surged upwards like a rocket, a tremendous roar tearing through the air as it launched itself away from the ground and towards the…Jeri blinked as she saw that the light's course took it in a straight line towards the direction of the bio-emergence from earlier, something that so far they had unable to deal with up until this point. But that light? What was it? Jeri narrowed her eyes, trying to get a clearer view of it…
…And then suddenly Kazu's hand obscured her vision.
"Hey. Jeri? You in there? Hellooo…. A little confirmation that you're still with us would be helpful sometime in the near future…"
Jeri frowned in irritation and grabbed the boy's hand and forced it down, away from her eyes.
"Kazu!" Jeri hissed angrily, causing the boy to stare at her, dumbfounded by her reaction. "Not now!"
"Whoa! Take it easy there Jeri…"
"Jeri," began Kenta tentatively, raising one hand in an uncertain motion as though in debate as to whether or not he should place it on her shoulder to get her attention. "Are you feeling okay?"
Jeri made a shushing motion with her hand as she focused once more on the bright comet of light that soared through the air. Already a shape was starting to form within it.
It kind of looks like a lion…thought Jeri as her eyes continued to trace its path through the sky. A lion with wings…
"Mega Barrage!"
The large, overbearing mechanical form of MegaGargomon unleashed a massive volley of missiles, bullets, and lasers from the weapons held within hidden compartments all over his body as he struggled to take apart the oncoming wave of shadow creatures as they emerged from the dark barrier. Their numbers seemed endless, and while they more or less appeared to be invulnerable to the detonation of the numerous missiles that impacted with them, the flashes of light that were emitted upon their explosion, as well as that of the lasers as they smashed into their targets were more then enough to disperse them, something of an interesting occurrence, Henry noted from within his emerald data sphere as he continued to fire away. Moving one of his legs, Henry manipulated his and Terriermon's combined Mega form's leg to begin retreating. As much as he was destroying the creatures as they rushed towards him, murder plainly evident in their motions (especially since one of them had taken a slash at their eyes when it had gotten too close), their number appeared to be without end, and they continued to advance towards him relentlessly without any regard to their own safety. Henry couldn't help but feel more then a little bit of déjà vu about this fight. It was almost as though he were back fighting D-Reaper again.
Suddenly Terriermon gave a cry of alarm and looking down to see what was the matter Henry gasped as a black void materialized from beneath his feet and began to flow up their body like some form of living ink.
"Aaaah! Terriermon!" Henry cried as he felt a burning coldness tear through his body wherever the blackness touched him. Struggling against the darkness, Henry diverted his attention away from the encroaching mass of creatures as they surged towards him…
That was a very big mistake.
The army of dark monstrosities smashed into MegaGargomon like a tidal wave, their combined force upsetting the Mega level war machines balance and sent him toppling backwards. Pin wheeling his biomerged forms arms Henry struggled to maintain his balance while Terriermon sent a mental command to the thruster jets that were on their back, and activated them so that they could gain some loft against the nigh resistant force of gravity that called upon them to join the earth beneath them. The thrusters burst to life, and the two partners felt the grip of the shadow that held them weaken a little from the burning light that the engines emitted, but the darkness continued to hold fast. The swarm of creatures pounded on the emerald armor of MegaGargomon's body and scratched at it, but up to this point they showed themselves completely unable to so much as put a dent on the Mega, something for which both Henry and Terriermon were immensely grateful for. However, that didn't leave them in the clear just yet. Gritting his teeth, Henry fought against the searing cold that he felt from when the dark shadow had grabbed him earlier. It was spreading like wildfire up his limbs, and already he could feel his legs start to buckle from the pain and numbness that were seeping in. They had to break free, and soon or else they would be rendered incapable of defending themselves and the city from…whatever these things were.
MegaGargomon pulled his legs upwards relentlessly as his arms shook off or brushed off any of the creatures that continued to cling to him, his vast arsenal no use to him at this close of a range.
"This is starting to get ridiculous," muttered Terriermon as both he and Henry continued to bat away at the wave of shadow creatures that clung to them much the same way that flies cling to a tasty treat. The mental imagery made Henry cringe from within his data sphere.
"Well if you have any other ideas I'd love to hear them…" answered Henry sarcastically, grunting as he finally broke an armored leg free from the darkness beneath them, growling in frustration as the shadow grabbed hold of it once more, this time with a firmer grip then earlier while the rest of it continued to crawl up their body, as though it sought to devour them. "Let's face it; we're going to need to be a bit more direct if we're going to get out of this one in relatively one piece. We can't afford to play nice here!"
"I'm with you on that one Henry, but if we damage ourselves we'll be leaving ourselves vulnerable in case things don't pan out right. But…considering the circumstances it doesn't look like we have any other choice does it?"
From within his green colored data sphere Henry shook his head.
"No. No it doesn't. Okay. Get ready to fly us out of here as fast as you can Terriermon. I'm going to cut us loose in about one second!"
Pointing their gun-barreled arms downwards, Henry rolled through their magazines and reloaded, getting ready to fire on the roots of the shadow that continued to hold them fixed to the ground in spite of their engines roaring at full power.
"Mega BarraAAAAH!!!
Both Henry and Terriermon cried out in pain as a pair of massive, black hands suddenly clamped down on their wrists and squeezed at the exact moment that the magazines went off, exploding within their barrels and leaving their arms a smoking, burning ruin of what they once were. Trying to force out the possible ramifications of how such an act would affect them once they separated from their Mega form Henry's head snapped up to see what had been the source of the unexpected attack. Henry's blood ran cold as he saw the shadow barrier rippling once more as a massive form began to emerge from it. A form that was connected to the arms that still held him by his smoking wrists. It was a quadruped entity, resembling a centaur in some aspects, though with far less grace then that mythical creature and far larger as well. Easily the size of if not larger then MegaGargomon himself, who already towered over most digimon when standing at his full height. Its lower body was covered in fur while the upper took on more of a demonic humanoid shape, complete with an animal snout on its face and a pair of bull-like horns protruding from the sides of its skull. Henry suddenly found himself perplexed, and he could sense Terriermon's confusion match his.
Something's not right here. This…doesn't match up with what we've seen up until now, thought Henry, until earlier memories from the past week came to mind. Henry gulped from within his data sphere, not liking the ramifications of this development at all.
The new creature that he was looking at was a digimon that he recognized all too well. It had, after all, been the first Mega he and his friends encountered prior to their visit to the digital world to rescue Calumon. It was Gulfmon, a pure black, Gulfmon.
"This guy's just like that Apemon that we encountered the day after Ryan and Chris showed up," piped in Terriermon. Henry frowned and nodded. There was little else to add to that observation. If experience were any indication, this new version of Gulfmon (if that was what it actually was) would be immensely powerful. Suddenly retreating and regrouping was starting to sound a whole lot better.
The Gulfmon opened its mouth as it began to approach him, a deep, echoing voice emerging from it and reverberating on the air in a way that sounded as final and as certain as the grave.
"Yes…you shall do for a servant. You are not what I am looking for, but you contain great power. Power that I can use…"
Henry grimaced.
"If that's a job offer, I'm not interested. Gargo Missiles!"
With little to no warning, the two missile tubes that sat on top of MegaGargomon's shoulders roared forth as their engines kicked to life, the smiling rabbit faces transforming into smiles as they surged towards their targets. In order to increase the point that Henry was making, his chest plate sprung open, revealing a series of hidden laser cannons that flared with light as they began to fire. Both attacks held enough destructive force to level a city block, and against a digimon like Gulfmon the missiles would normally have been enough to delete it, but again, as experience had taught him when confronting creatures such as the Apemon from a week ago, every little bit counted.
The attacks didn't even come close to touching Gulfmon.
With even less warning then MegaGargomon had given the massive, demonic digimon, a dark aura flared around Gulfmon's body for a moment, and the missiles along with the laser blasts burst into shards of data before they could even touch him. Gulfmon smiled a thin, sick smile as he locked his gaze on MegaGargomon's shocked expression.
"Lord Ahuramon offers no choice. He commands."
No sooner had Gulfmon finished saying that, the dark barrier behind him began to reabsorb his body. Gulfmon, still holding onto MegaGargomon's arms jerked him forward. His balance, already made precarious by the debilitating effects of the shadows that still held fast to him, gave out, causing him to crash to the ground, setting off tremors as he impacted with the street beneath him. To Henry and Terriermon's horror they found their own, still firing thrusters working against them now, making Gulfmon's job easier as he began to pull them into the dark barrier up ahead.
"Embrace Lord Ahuramon. Embrace… the darkness…" Gulfmon's voice whispered as his face disappeared into the barrier.
"No…it can't end like this…"
As if in answer to a prayer, a shining white light cut across Gulfmon's arms, severing them at the base of their wrists, freeing MegaGargomon from their clutches. Screaming in pain Gulfmon pulled his stumps back, vanishing entirely into the shadows. Although Gulfmon had ceased to pull on him, the shadows that held MegaGargomon continued to try and push him into the inky void ahead of him. As though it were in disagreement, the light that had torn through Gulfmon's limbs earlier shone even brighter, rays acting like needles and blades as they burned the shadows that held the Mega, destroying them with the utmost ease. Now free, MegaGargomon struggled to a kneeling position and looked up, trying to see what it was that had rescued him. Within his data sphere, Henry's eyes widened in surprise as they lighted upon what looked to be a quadruped lion with angelic wings, a bright, rainbow like aura surrounding its form and giving off a radiance so bright that it was almost impossible to look at, even with a set of mechanical eyes.
I've never seen a digimon like that before, thought Henry in awe as he took the creature in. Before Henry could call out to it and ask it any questions, the light that surrounded the being flared suddenly and died down. A second later, the limp figure of Leomon began to tumble through the air. Reacting instantly, MegaGargomon reached out with his damaged hands and deftly caught the proud, lion warrior as best and as gently as he could.
"Did he just digivolve?" Wondered Henry as he looked at Leomon as though with new eyes.
"I don't think so," spoke up Terriermon's voice from the void surrounding Henry's data sphere. "I didn't sense him giving off any digivolving energy…"
Henry was about to pursue the question when he was reminded that they still had a situation on their hands. Realizing that he was most likely not in any condition to continue the fight against whatever it was that dwelt within that dark barrier, MegaGargomon increased the thrust power of his engines and began to lift off from the ground.
"We'd better get Leomon to a safe place…"
WHAM!
Gallantmon's head rocked as Kuzuhamon smashed her staff across his face in a swift, brutal motion. Had he not had that much vital extremity protected the way it was with his armored helm there stood a very good chance of Kuzuhamon taking his head off. Of course, he imagined that she knew that fact, and it no doubt explained why she was hitting him as hard as she was even though she claimed that it was not her intention to harm him. Seemed like a conflict of interest from Takato's point of view, but then again he had arrived to fight Kuzuhamon despite the fact that she was possessing the bodies of two of his closest friends, risking their safety while at the same time trying to free them. At least, that was how it seemed at first…
Within his crimson data sphere, Takato winced as Kuzuhamon delivered a swift, powerful blow to his midsection, causing him to bend forward where the demon woman's awaiting foot greeted his face. The powerful kick that followed and sent him flying backwards belied the appearance of gracefulness that Kuzuhamon had, but that didn't surprise Takato in the least. Digimon tended to be stronger then looks led others to believe (after all, he had MarineAngemon to serve as an excellent example of that), and as he had once told Guilmon nearly a year ago, he was quite certain that Rika would be able to kick his butt anyway. It was almost ironic that they were here now, even if it wasn't really Rika fighting him, which in a way, it was.
Great, now I'm confusing myself, commiserated Gallantmon as he struggled to his feet. Kuzuhamon was flying towards him again, staff drawn back and glowing with a dark blue aura, promising a world of hurt for him if he didn't do something to defend against it…
"EEEYAAAGGGHHH!!!"
Suddenly, Kuzuhamon was plowed into by the heaving form of MegaTerradramon, the Ultimate vaccine struggling to remove her staff from her person only to be slapped aside contemptuously.
"Stay down Keeper's dragon," snapped Kuzuhamon angrily. "You've battled enough for one day, and I don't want to have to harm you any more then I already have…"
Kuzuhamon halted in her berating of the orange dragon and suddenly leapt up into the air, executing a back flip that narrowly dodged Gallantmon as he charged her with his shield, attempting to execute the same maneuver that his companion did.
"About time that you started fighting back," said Kuzuhamon coolly as she came to a landing behind the Royal Knight. "You were starting to bore me. Tell me something. Are you holding onto the thin hope that one of your friends inside of me are going to find a way to break free of my hold over them and prevent me from fighting you any further? Because if you are, you'd better discard such notions now because it's not going to happen!"
"Yeah…right…" gasped MegaTerradramon to Gallantmon as he struggled to his feet. "You'd think that if that were the case…she would take advantage of that and take you apart. I think she's lying…"
Gallantmon looked at his comrade worriedly.
"Either way, she is telling the truth about one thing. You've gotta take a rest now. She's taken a lot out of you already, and MetalDracaramon's already down…"
MegaTerradramon growled.
"I'll be fine. Normally I'd agree with you but…somehow…and don't…ask me to explain it…but somehow I feel as though…Ryan's helping me in some way. I don't feel as roughed up as I know I am. I can stay in this…a little bit longer…"
Takato frowned within his data sphere. He didn't like the idea of MegaTerradramon continuing in this fight. He was already badly hurt and was plainly exhausted (though he had noticed that a strange aura that had surrounded him earlier seemed to revitalized his fighting spirit a bit) in addition to being at a level and type disadvantage against Kuzuhamon, but they didn't have the time to argue about it. Hopefully MegaTerradramon had enough common sense to sit out of the fight when he was too hurt and tired to continue but given how he had stayed in thus far Takato felt that he was going to have to keep a close eye on the Ultimate level dragon.
"Enough of this," growled Kuzuhamon as she slashed her silver staff in the air like a blade, letting loose waves of azure energy crackling upon the air. "It's time to end this battle. Ahuramon is already too close and with night coming closer his power will soon be at its zenith. I cannot allow him to claim you Gallantmon, and I will not allow anyone or anything to get in my way! Womb Realm Mandala!"
Gallantmon and MegaTerradramon both dashed to the side, attempting to dodge the attack. MegaTerradramon for his part was far more successful then his Royal Knight partner in this venture, though a blast of energy still impacted with him hard enough to knock him down to the ground. Gallantmon however, was far less fortunate and he took the full brunt of the attack, and soon enough found himself caught as the energy waves folded themselves around his body, constructing bands of imprisonment that he could not escape from, try as he might. Dismissing MegaTerradramon as being of no consequence to her mission now, Kuzuhamon began to walk towards Gallantmon, her body taking on a silver glow around her as she stared at the Exalted Knight, seeing past the layers of data and finding the boy that lay within the digi-core within. All she had to do now was extract him like she had before and then she could get out of here with her prize intact…
Kuzuhamon raised one hand to accomplish this deed when suddenly she felt herself hesitate. Her hand was shaking, as though struggling against some inner force that was preventing her from following through with her mission. Frowning at it, Kuzuhamon gasped inaudibly as she heard a voice grate from within her mind, as fierce as a lion and as hard and unyielding as stone.
"You won't have him. I don't care who you are but you are not touching Takato. Not him, or any of my friends! As long as I'm around, and still breathing, you will not hurt any one I care about!!!"
"Shut up," Kuzuhamon whispered as she gripped the sides of her head in agony, her staff clattering on the ground noisily, completely surprised by this unexpected event before forcing the voice down to a distant echo.
I had thought that I had silenced that girl's spirit, but it's still as strong as ever! I'm going to have to do something about that if I'm to remain in this body…
Shaking her head and setting her mouth into a grim, thin line, Kuzuhamon pulled back her arm once more, her motions stiff and erratic as Gallantmon watched her, still struggling against his bonds. It was pointless though. The bands of energy refused to budge so much as an inch…
As Kuzuhamon's hand descended, an obstruction suddenly altered her plans.
Ryan felt as though he were floating in a stream, feeling water ripple around his body as he listened to the silent trickle as it flowed by. It was strange; it felt as though his partner was with him. He could hear his heart beating, and it was almost like it was beating in his chest as well. It felt…nice in a way. It almost made him feel complete…like he was a part of something greater. Slowly, Ryan began to open his eyes, for it felt as though they had been closed for a long time. There was a light flitting through the cracks of his eyelids. Something was in that light…something was…
Ryan's eyes snapped open as he saw for an instant a gloved hand flying right towards him, and then white-hot agony burst through his skull.
His screams tore from his throat and echoed upon the night air as his digivice fell from his fingers.
Kuzuhamon felt as though she had received a jolt as her hand tore through MegaTerradramon's right eye. The Ultimate had dashed in the path of her hand at the last minute in an attempt to stop her. Wounded as he had been he had timed his launch wrong and his balance had been shot to pieces, resulting in his placement of where he was instead of the intended plan to crash into her as he had before. MegaTerradramon roared in pain with a voice that strangely sounded as though two were screaming as one, and a bright, orange aura flared about him once before running up the length of Kuzuhamon's arm and blasting her backwards. Landing on her back with a grunt, Kuzuhamon felt her body go rigid as energy surged through her form. Gritting her teeth, it felt as though the world was becoming strangely distant to her. She was no longer aware of MegaTerradramon lying on the ground inert, or of Gallantmon's painful cry. Instead she was only aware of…a presence.
The world slipped away from her grasp as the feeling of presence grew stronger…
Takato now fought with renewed energy against the bands that held him imprisoned and helpless as he looked down upon the unmoving form of MegaTerradramon, and he felt Guilmon struggling even harder with him. Rage just seemed to boil up inside of him, the rings of data that surrounded his data sphere spinning even faster in response to his growing emotions.
Why does this keep happening? Why do my friends keep getting victimized by those who think that they have the right to do whatever they want with the world? No more…NO MORE! I…WON'T… LET IT CONTINUE ANY MO…
Takato halted in his ranting as he suddenly felt a gentle hand fall on his left cheek and a soft, oddly comforting blue light cascaded over him in a way that instantly brought to mind Jeri's face whenever she smiled. It was as if all the light in the world had gathered in this one moment, this one place, and time fell still and silent. Opening his eyes, Takato gasped in surprise as his gaze met that of the cerulean eyes of…
"Rika?" Takato shook his head. Something wasn't right here. Rika's eyes were violet for one thing, not blue, and…what's she doing with her hair down? Wait…why's she even here at all? Last I checked she…
Takato frowned mentally as he looked at the girl in the eyes again. For some reason he felt as though they were trying to draw him in…pull him in and never let him out. A small, gentle smile that he couldn't recall her ever having even at her happiest drew up on her face as her thumb rubbed against his cheek softly before she lowered her hand and placed it on his shoulder.
"The one and only, Gogglehead."
"But…how? You were biomerged with Renamon and…"
"We still are. And you're still merged with Guilmon. I'm not sure how I can explain it but…we're talking on a completely different level here. A spiritual one I think. Right now we're seeing each other's essences in their purest form." Rika tilted her head to one side, her gaze still fixated on Takato's eyes as though something about them fascinated her. As though she were seeing something in them that she hadn't noticed or thought to look for before. Takato felt much the same way. From just her eyes alone in the azure light that surrounded her Takato saw the endless strength that made her the Rika that he knew, the care that she showed to her friends and family whenever she saw them and the care that they wouldn't normally see and how far and deep those bonds ran. There was still more…an endless plateau of feelings and emotions, good, bad, pain, love, friendship…all of it was held in the eyes of the girl that he had first seen in a dream so long ago before his Tamer days even began, and within the azure light that was beginning to flow in tune with his own, crimson one. Everything she was was laid bare for him to see just like everything he was had been laid bare for her to see. Strangely enough he felt no shame in this. And if he had the frame of mind to even think of that sort of thing, he would have been too entranced by what he was seeing to even think about it. Tears began to well up in Takato's eyes as he looked into Rika's, the nimbus of warmth and light that surrounded her intensified in response and Rika once more brought her hand up to Takato's face.
"R-Rika…"
"Yeah…I know. It's…something else isn't it? You…this…it's not what I would have expected, that's for sure…"
Rika's gaze softened for a moment before her grip on the boy's face became firm.
"Takato…I know that you're not going to like this, but…I'm going to have to go away for a while. Something's happening right now. You already know that of course, or at least you have an idea of it. Anyway, what happened earlier with MegaTerradramon…I don't know what it was that he did but he gave me just enough of a reprieve to regain control over my and Renamon's body. It won't last long, and sooner or later the spirit that's in us…Kuzunoha…she's going to take control again and when she does I can't be around for that. She'll keep trying to come after you if we're still here, and the others are going to need you to help take out that thing that bio-emerged earlier. Ahuramon's Shadow I think it was called…"
Takato was about to protest against Rika's course of action when suddenly the words died in his mouth. He couldn't explain it, but he felt as though they would have been useless regardless. Rika smiled seeing his realization dawn in his eyes. He saw…
"Don't worry about MegaTerradramon," continued Rika as her smile became a comforting smirk. "He's getting some help right now. I don't know who or from where, but I can sense it. He'll be fine. Same for Ryan when you see him next. I've got to go soon, so when you see the others…and my family, give them my regards. Tell Jeri that I'm sorry about her party. I wish things could have turned out differently. I…
Rika paused and furrowed her brow as she brought up her other hand and cupped Takato's other cheek with it, causing the boy to gasp lightly at her touch. Her expression was such that she looked as though she were debating something. Unconsciously Takato brought up his own hands and clasped Rika's hands into them. He felt a strange, yet comforting warmth spread through him as he did so.
"Just… take care of yourself Takato. Until next time…" With that, Rika leaned forward and her warm lips joined his own. A surge of energy suddenly seemed to explode within the boy's chest at the connection and the light that surrounded them increased in intensity, drowning the world in a mixture of blue, white, red, and orange…
Takato gasped as his eyes flew open and he looked around him uncertainly. On the ground beneath him, Richoemon lay battered and bruised, but otherwise appeared to be okay. The bands of energy that had surrounded him were long gone, as was Kuzuhamon…
Takato's eyes widened as he searched frantically for any sign of the shaman priestess, but so far none revealed themselves.
"Guilmon! Rika…she…where…?"
"I'm sorry Takato. I don't know either. I can't even smell her scent. It's like she wasn't here at all! I don't understand it…"
Takato became crestfallen. For a moment, a brief moment he felt…emptiness joining the fear and sadness that he had earlier for his friend and fellow Tamer, and with it a brief, unconscious memory from their meeting in spirit though it was now long forgotten except in that part of himself that time could never touch. Gallantmon's golden eyes traced up to the dark sky as sorrow filled them.
"Me neither boy. Me neither."
Takato frowned in his data sphere as he noticed the rather strange intensity of darkness in the depths of the city. The lack of light, the solidity of it all. It was odd. Normally lights were on in Shinjuku no matter what hour it was, and besides he himself was certainly emitting more then enough light to pierce through that darkness…
Takato gasped in surprise as yet another unconscious memory came to him, though it went unnoticed. Looking down at himself, Takato found that his armor had changed, becoming what he had only transformed into a few times before. Red armor replaced the white that had been his previous form, and gold trim in place of the red. His armor became sleeker, more dragon like towards the waist and his hands held two weapons. In one hand, a double bladed spear with a spiked ring around the handle and a long, straight bladed sword in the other, both glowing with a light that shone brighter then any sun, yet at the same time in a way that was made it appear gentle. A glowing feather floated past him and Takato looked over his shoulder to find one of the ten wings that he had whenever this form made its appearance.
"It's our Crimson Mode…" Takato whispered to himself, and soon awe transformed into a look of purpose as he returned his gaze to the shadows. Guilmon's hyper acute senses were already telling him that danger was there, and that it needed to be challenged and defeated. As he looked, the darkness swelled up, taking on a form that was disturbingly similar to the Cable D-Reaper that had emerged from the digital world during their last battle with the entity all those months ago.
Gathering himself, Gallantmon Crimson Mode took to the air with an easy grace that would make one think that he was in no hurry, as though all the weight of the world was not on his shoulders. The light from his wings and weapons intensified until they became as fire on his body. The shadow creature turned towards him and opened a huge, gaping maw as he approached it. Undaunted, Gallantmon flew towards it, his pace quickening as his body grew even brighter until it obscured the red and gold armor that was his namesake.
A second later, with a cry of Final Justice echoing upon the wind like a god's last judgment, a blinding explosion blanketed the shadow creature, its light spreading throughout the city, engulfing all of its shadows within its purity before finally dying back, revealing the last rays of the setting sun as evening fell and the first stars appeared.
The rest was silence.
18