Manny found himself surrounded from all sides by the other four DigiWira, all of them ready to strike with their deadly weapons.
"Please, don't do this," he pleaded, as the other DigiWira advanced at him slowly. He glanced sideways and saw Penguinmon, horribly beaten up, strained by the other four Digimon.
"Oh, you mean this?" Adam said, and from his black keris a beam of grayish purple laser shot out, slamming squarely onto Manny's chest.
Manny let out a pained shriek as the impact threw him off his feet, before JD followed with his nunchucks, firing both a black energy beam and several fireballs from the weapon. The beam and the fireballs surrounded Manny's falling form before grazing him brutally. A vicious crack followed; Manny's shirt tore upon contact with Gayathri's severe whip, before a buzzing metallic sound rang close to his ears, and his thighs were slashed by Liu Ying's deadly metallic fan.
"AAAGGHH!!"
Manny shot up, screaming as phantom pain shot out from all over his body. Then the pain vanished, and Manny heaved his breaths slowly. He looked down and saw that he was sweating profusely. The dream had been very real; he could imagine the wounds he had gotten, which were not actually there on his body. He was uninjured. Beside the mattress he was sitting on, his blue shirt and black jacket were folded neatly, placed above a flat stone which seemed to be a stool. Both clothes seemed to have dried. He still wore his pants, which was still somewhat damp but no longer drenched. Penguinmon was nowhere in sight, and Manny began to wonder where he was at right now.
"Where am I…?" he wondered, taking in his surroundings.
He seemed to be inside a very large blue and white tent with the roof arching upwards. Torches illuminated the inside of the tent, hung on five sturdy wooden pillars which were used to keep the tent up. The ground was carpeted by natural lush green grass which looked comfortable to lie on. There was a simple table and chair beside the mattress, their sizes a bit too large for his size. The entrance of the tent fluttered open as winds blew in, and Manny shivered as the winds blew against him, drying the sweat of his body.
Then he heard footsteps and subconsciously pulled the blanket up. A stout avian Digimon hopped inside the tent, and Manny's face broke into a grin. "Penguinmon!"
"Manny!" Penguinmon exclaimed happily and quickly tottered towards him. Manny saw that the bird was bandaged over his chest, otherwise he appeared to be in the pink of health. "You're finally up! I was wondering when you're gonna get up!"
Another figure, tall and lanky, stepped inside the tent, and Manny screamed in terror. Without even thinking it he let out a blast of water towards the humanoid.
"Whoa! Steady there, kid!" Shawujinmon waved his hand and Manny's waters coalesced around his palm in a form of a blue sphere before it harmlessly fell onto the ground. "I'm not gonna hurt you."
"Manny, wait!" Penguinmon cried as Manny shot back up to his feet, his hands pointed towards Shawujinmon. "It's not what it looks like!"
Manny's hands scrambled around his belt, trying to locate his Juara Digivice so that he could combat the Kappa General. To his horror he couldn't find it.
"I believe you're looking for this?" Shawujinmon inquired, and took out the missing Digivice from his belt. "What an interesting contraption, very different from the DigiWira's…"
Manny couldn't believe his bad luck. First he'd found out that his friends were now against him, up to the point of actually wanting to kill him. Now Shawujinmon had his Digivice, rendering him powerless.
"Give it back, Shawujinmon!" Manny blasted Shawujinmon angrily with another wave of water, before he swayed slightly, fatigued.
Shawujinmon merely shrugged off the attack, shaking his head. "You shouldn't do that, kid. You've exerted a lot of your powers, from what I've heard from Penguinmon."
Manny fell on his knees, sighing. There was no way for him to escape the Kappa General. Penguinmon went to his side and Manny leaned against his partner for support. They were doomed.
"Manny, it's not what it seems," Penguinmon assured as he helped Manny to sit down on the mattress. "Shawujinmon is a friend."
"Friend? Are you nuts?" Manny said hysterically, backing away as Shawujinmon approached him. "How many times has he tried to kill us before?"
"Not this Shawujinmon," Penguinmon said firmly, placing a wing on Manny's knee. "He's the one who has saved us from those evil DigiWira," he said bitterly.
"Evil? The DigiWira?" Manny was confused. He glared at Shawujinmon, pointing a finger at him while looking back at his partner incredulously. "He's the one who's evil, Penguinmon!"
Shawujinmon sighed. "You can't believe that; haven't you seen the way those delinquents treat people? Oh…yeah, I forgot…you just got here."
"I've seen you destroying houses, buildings, the town where I live!" Manny snapped. A painful memory of how Shawujinmon wrecked his fourteenth birthday began to resurface, and his chest heaved rapidly as he barely able to contain his anger. "You even trashed the wonderful birthday party my friends planned out for me."
Shawujinmon looked totally flabbergasted upon the accusations thrown at him, but didn't say anything.
"Relax, Manny, take a deep breath," Penguinmon instructed. "This Shawujinmon is a different one, and a friend. Trust me. You'd see me freaking out even more than you are if he's an enemy. He's the one who fixed me up. See?" The Rookie pointed at the bandage around his body. "Just listen to what he has to say, Manny. It's unbelievable, but it's also true."
Penguinmon, usually one who'd come up with sarcastic retorts and wry remarks, now sounded so earnest that Manny couldn't help but wonder about the change, amidst his doubt. Penguinmon nodded at him encouragingly, and he slowly analyzed what his partner had told him. He stared at Shawujinmon in wonder.
The humanoid aquatic creature didn't look any different from the Shawujinmon he had fought before, until Manny looked into his eyes. There was something missing in them. Manny couldn't point out exactly what was amiss, but he felt that there was no threat in those pair of orange orbs. In fact, those eyes looked somewhat warm, the way they twinkled from the light of the torches. He still had his suspicion as Shawujinmon took a seat on the wooden stool, cringing slightly as the shadow of the Ultimate washed upon him. The Kappa General then bent down and placed Manny's Juara Digivice on his folded jacket and shirt.
"This is just too weird…" Manny muttered, quickly taking the Digivice, as if afraid that Shawujinmon would take it away again. He felt slightly better with the silver and blue Digivice in his grasp.
"I understand your confusion, Manny, after hearing Penguinmon's story," Shawujinmon began.
"But…"
"Manny, hear him out at least. You owe him that," Penguinmon said, patting his partner's back. "He did save your life," the bird reminded with a dead-set tone.
Shawujinmon smiled and stood up. "Come, Manny. Put on your shirt, and let's step out. I'll explain everything as I show you around. The others are eager to meet you."
xxx
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WIRA DIGITAL
Chapter 55 – The Wild Wipeout, Part II
xxx
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As Manny stepped out from the tent with Penguinmon and Shawujinmon, the sight that greeted him made him gape in shock. 'What in the world…?'
It was night, but at the same time the surrounding, while not noisy, was at the same time lively and merry. A large campfire was seen not too far from them, illuminating tents of various shapes, sizes and colors set up in two lines. A large walkway was created by the space between the two lines of tents. Manny looked back and saw that the lines of tent stretched all the way towards the rock mountains, and scattered elsewhere all around the big flat land. Manny thought that he had been at this place before, but couldn't place exactly where. His eyes then fell on a semi-opaque dome not too far from the camps, and his eyes widened upon seeing the skull-shaped bastion inside the dome. He gasped – the bastion was the Horror Hall, which meant that they were now at the Shadow Realm.
"Welcome Manny, and to you too again, Penguinmon, to the main camp of the Brightmoon Brethren," Shawujinmon said as he beckoned towards the skull bastion. "That's the Horror Hall, the stronghold of our benevolent leader, SkullSatamon. Unfortunately he is trapped inside it by a dirty trick of his evil nemesis Grademon three hundred years ago, and nothing could be done to ensure his escape. Nevertheless, his will never falter and from inside his imprisonment he relays his wise teachings and orders to us, his five remaining generals – the Brightmoon Brethren."
Manny restrained the desire to snort out loud at the ridiculousness of what Shawujinmon was telling him, but he'd promised Penguinmon that he'd hear Shawujinmon out, so he kept silence.
"SkullSatamon is generous to allow us and many innocent Digimon to seek protection here in his Shadow Realm after our stronghold – the Onyx Pyramid – as well as the villages and cities where these innocents resided were destroyed by the evil DigiWira," Shawujinmon said. "Here we are protected from them, and here we are able to protect the innocents. All victims of the DigiWira are welcomed to make Shadow Realm their home, and so far we are safe from the DigiWira, for they dare not infiltrate this place. SkullSatamon's soldiers, the MetalPhantomon, the Bakemon, the Soulmon and the Phantomon, guarded the borders of the Shadow Realm and they'd destroy the DigiWira should they even appear before their sights."
That at least had a ring of truth to it, Manny thought silently. "This is just too absurd for me to take in," he muttered.
"I take it things were the opposite back at your own dimension?" Shawujinmon inquired, and Manny reeled in shock.
"My own dimension?"
"Well, of course. Penguinmon's told me all about it," Shawujinmon said, as if it was the most obvious thing. "You come from a Digital World where you humans are the heroes, and we are the villains. For me, that is just absurd, but you don't hear me say it out loud now do you? But, I understand. Penguinmon also has told me that it was me…or rather, the alternate form of myself, who caused you two to end up here where everything is the exact opposites."
Manny's head hung down. "Great. First time travel, now alternate dimensions?" He realized that he had said it out loud and quickly gritted his teeth together.
To his surprise, Shawujinmon merely chuckled. "Come, Manny, Penguinmon. I'll prove it to you that here, the Brightmoon Brethren are the champions of good."
They walked along the path, where many Digimon paused to give them a second look, particularly towards Manny. They then arrived at a clearing after making a left turn from the walkway. There, with lanterns hanging down the branches of a Cherrymon, sitting on a rock was Doumon, the Shaman General. The priest fox was surrounded by a group of small Digimon of various shapes and sizes, all seemed to be listening to what the fox was telling them, not at all threatened by him. The Ultimate wizard seemed to be recounting a story to the eager In-Trainings, Babies and Rookies, his wizened laugh could be heard amidst the little ones' applauds.
"This is Doumon, the wisest amongst all of us generals, although Lucemon is the smartest," Shawujinmon said. "He's also the gentlest soul amongst us, but fight him and he'll show that he can hold himself decently, despite his age. Due to his age however, we seldom see him fight."
They then went back to the pathway and resumed their walk, and Manny began to believe what Shawujinmon was saying. The Digimon didn't seem at all threatened with Shawujinmon or Doumon, but rather they all seemed to respect them. They soon arrived at a crowd of Digimon who were whistling and clapping in admiration. Wondering what the commotion was about, Manny curiously tried to take a look, amidst the crowd.
"Ah, we might as well stop here for a while," Shawujinmon agreed. His voice seemed to have attracted the attention of everyone, and the crowd parted way so that they could see a small podium where a group of feminine Digimon was dancing beautifully. Manny gaped, he couldn't believe his eyes, upon seeing the center of attraction being the Virago General Persiamon, merrily dancing and singing along with the Floramon, the Lalamon and the Palmon. The groups that were gathering by the stage were cheering them as the dancing girls finished their number, before clapping loudly. Persiamon saw them, and threw a kiss towards their direction perkily, earning a round of oooh from the other Digimon, and Shawujinmon merely waved a hand back at her.
"Beautiful, nurturing Persiamon is always the most talented too and she is very compassionate, but her powers are the most dangerous amongst us," Shawujinmon noted. "Ironically, she hates fighting and only joins in when it is necessary, preferring to entertain the crowd, making them forgot momentarily of their gloomy situation. I think it's noble of her – all the Digimon here have lost their homes, as well as family members and friends, so they need Persiamon's marvelous talent to alleviate their worries, even if it's only temporary."
A tall figure suddenly zipped past them, and Manny and Penguinmon both sweatdropped upon seeing Astamon being chased by a horde of giggling Rookies and In-Trainings. The Majin General was screaming dramatically, as if pretending to be afraid of the younglings before he halted, and the younglings tackled him onto the ground. They all scrambled upon the ground, laughing, all seemed to be enjoying themselves. The In-Trainings yelled victoriously as they hopped above Astamon's chest.
"Tag! You're it!" a Bearmon yelled and scampered away along with another Rookies, leaving the In-Trainings (who obviously were oblivious to the rules of the game) with Astamon.
"Though he appears demonic, but never let it fool you. Astamon possesses a child's heart and prefers playing with the little ones here, although if needs be, he is a powerful fighter," Shawujinmon said, clearly amused of the situation as one particularly determined Nyaromon decided to pull Astamon's long hair by biting on the hair, causing the Majin General to yelp in pain, but at the same time made no attempt to stop the little feline In-Training.
The sights of the generals and the Digimon getting along made Manny smile; he now believed that Shawujinmon was telling the truth. Besides, the DigiWira had attacked him while the generals were the ones who had saved him. As Shawujinmon led him away from the crowd where it was quieter, Manny couldn't help but wonder about one thing.
Didn't the DigiWira mention about Manny, or rather, Emman, getting killed by Shawujinmon? Shouldn't Shawujinmon be wary of him then, instead of being so cordial to him and Penguinmon?
"You are very different from Emman," Shawujinmon said suddenly as he stopped by in front of an ivory tent decorated with gold linings. All of a sudden, Shawujinmon looked uncomfortable.
"The DigiWira thought that you've failed to kill him," Manny said, not wanting to associate himself with Emman. If the other DigiWira were villainous, Emman must be as well. He and Emman were two different people, and that way he began to dissociate the evil DigiWira and the good ones back at his home dimension.
Shawujinmon gave Manny and Penguinmon a long look. "I didn't kill Emman," he said quietly. "I only deleted his partner, WaruSeadramon, while saving a bayside village from their onslaught. I managed to corner Emman at a cliff and he fell, but he managed to grab hold on some of the protruded stones. The waves were raging under the cliff; WaruSeadramon had created a maelstrom prior to his departing, and it did not subside when he was deleted." Shawujinmon sighed. "I offered to help Emman. I extended my hand to help him up…but Emman refused to let me help him. Instead he let go of the stones, falling into the raging waves. He didn't survive the fall."
"He let go?" Manny's voice was hoarse. "Instead of letting you help him?"
"Unfortunately," Shawujinmon said, his eyes downcast.
Manny was stunned. He'd never thought that he'd commit suicide. 'No…that's not me. Emman and I are two different people,' he reminded himself.
"If this Emman guy is also a DigiWira, what makes the other DigiWira want to kill him off?" Penguinmon inquired curiously.
Shawujinmon thought about it before shaking his head. "I don't usually make it my business to know of their sordid affairs, but," Shawujinmon stopped, and beckoned towards the entrance of the white tent, smiling slightly, "if you want to know the details, I suggest you meet our leader, Lucemon."
xxx
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"Ninety-nine bottles of slime on the walls, ninety-nine bottles of slime," sang a boyish voice, as Manny, Penguinmon and Shawujinmon stepped inside the white tent. They saw a large swinging white hammock set up so high, the occupant remained unseen. "You take one down, you pass it around, ninety-eight bottles of slime on the wall."
"Ahem," Shawujinmon cleared his throat, gazing up at the hammock. The hammock stopped swinging abruptly. "Lucemon?"
"Ah! If it isn't my dear friend Shawujinmon!"
Manny and Penguinmon couldn't imagine the Hellion General to be this carefree, or that he sounded so youthful by the way he sang (or the fact that he actually sang), and were both taken aback when a boy with a cherubic face peered from the hammock – his eyes blue as the sky, and his curly hair so blonde that they could almost become white. The boy looked delighted upon seeing Manny and Penguinmon, and to their surprise twelve pairs of pristine white wings flapped out from the boy's back as he leaped away from the hammock, making a graceful flip while falling, and with a flap of his wings he was suspended in midair, the white toga he wore caught some air and he floated down slowly like one with a parachute. All the while, the smile never left his face.
"I've heard about you two," the angel said excitedly, caught Manny's hand and Penguinmon's wing simultaneously, and shook both limbs. "Travelers from an alternate dimension! I thought that those things are only stuffs out from books and lore. But, here you are!"
His overzealousness reminded Manny of his little sister Debbie. Height-wise, the angelic boy was around her height too, at his chest level, though his wings added to his height a little more than Manny's shoulders. Manny couldn't believe that this boy was Lucemon.
"Er…Lucemon?" Manny looked at Shawujinmon for confirmation.
"One and only," Shawujinmon said, and frowned. "You look surprised, Manny. Surely there's a Lucemon back at your home world too?"
"There is, but…" Manny searched for the right words as he looked down at the adorable face of the boy.
"It's a different Lucemon," Penguinmon finished, equally amazed as well. "Back home, it was an adult Lucemon, half-angel, half-demon."
"Ah, phooey!" the boy Lucemon said, waving his hands airily. "I know of that; that's my Ultimate form. Too much black to my liking, I rather stick in my Rookie form in all these pristine white glory," he continued in a haughty tone that was akin to a proud child. "SkullSatamon says I should remain in my Ultimate form permanently if I want to be at equal level of power with my fellow generals or those DigiWira's partners, but the old man obviously didn't see me making a fool out of BlackRapidmon and Kimeramon that day." Lucemon giggled, and Manny sweatdropped. "If it weren't for Megadramon and Gigadramon's interferences, I'd have beaten those two sluts." As angelic and as small as he was, Lucemon didn't seem to care for his choice of words too.
"Huh?" Manny wondered what Lucemon was talking about.
"Those four monsters that the DigiWira sent to kill you and Penguinmon," Lucemon clarified. "I saw everything from here." He tapped his temple and gave a cheeky smile, before a small frown appeared on his face. "If it weren't for the fact that I was injured from that particular fight, I'd have joined the rescue team to retrieve you today," he explained to Manny, and gestured at a bandage across his chest.
Manny and Penguinmon didn't notice the bandage beforehand; they thought that it was part of Lucemon's outfit, for the bandages were also as white as his toga.
"So," Lucemon said, clicking his tongue as his eyes twinkled. "You're here to know the full gist of everything?" Manny and Penguinmon nodded, looking amazed, and Lucemon laughed. "Don't look so surprised. I know what I want to know, and maybe some that I don't, but can't help knowing…the ups of having psychic power." He giggled again childishly, and sat down on the grassy ground leisurely while gesturing for his guests to do the same. "So…hmm, about these punks, I can say that your alternate self, Emman, was probably the evilest out of the five, but it was kinda hard to be sure though, as all of them have their own bad qualities."
Lucemon became silent for a moment, his blue eyes boring into Manny's russet irises. All of a sudden Manny felt that the small-boy image Lucemon had now was only a cover; his eyes, they told him of knowledge beyond his physical appearance. The Rookie angel's voice became somewhat grim as he inquired, "Ever heard about the seven deadly sins, Manny?"
"Yes," Manny nodded, slightly taken aback of the inquiry. "I've read about them," he clarified.
"Good," Lucemon said grimly. "Then you'll know what I'm going to say here. The five DigiWira partners, as well as their two partners-in-crime the Satanic Siblings, made up a team of seven deadly Digimon who have been bestowed the seven great sins from the Seven Great Demon Lords who have once terrorized the Digital World. They were the ones who give those who bear demonic physical features such a bad name; SkullSatamon and Astamon, as well as myself when I'm in my Ultimate form, and also many others, suffer a lot at first due to this prejudice."
Lucemon paused, his face reddened a little. He appeared to be somewhat furious, but with a sigh the redness began to dissipate.
"Anyhow, those seven deadly sins are pride, wrath, envy, sloth, gluttony, lust and greed – these traits are gained by their deceased lord Grademon, and these traits manifest themselves in form of weapons. I believe you have seen the DigiWira wielding them during your unfortunate encounter with them. You two are extremely lucky to be able to escape them with not so much insult to your body, for those weapons are their favorite items to torture any innocent that crosses their way. Many have fallen, including some of our own."
Lucemon looked away at a distance, where a framed picture was hung on one of the pillars that supported the tent. It showed all nine generals – and flanking Lucemon's sides, to Manny's now-not-so-surprise, were Karatenmon and Lilamon, the Mage and Dryad Generals. In the picture, Lilamon was seen ruffling Lucemon's hair while Karatenmon had one arm slung around the angel's shoulder while the other was making the universal victory sign. The others – the six Brightmoons – made up the rest of the people in the picture.
"Karatenmon and Lilamon, our fellow generals, have been brutally assaulted by these weapons, tortured into their deaths," Lucemon continued, his eyes twinkling. Manny thought that the boy angel looked profoundly grieved.
"The Satanic Siblings, hypocrites those two are, bearing forms of holy angels while actually having hearts of the devils, if they have any heart at all, they got the traits of Wrath and Sloth. But we don't have to worry about them any longer," Lucemon said slowly, his voice adapting a slight growl-ish quality in it. The sadness he displayed earlier was replaced by anger. "Two of our fellow Brightmoons, Mephistomon and Phelesmon, fought the Satanic Siblings to their last breaths, successfully killing them, but at the cost of their own lives. Their sacrifices brought us a key knowledge: the weapons were powering up their partners, all the way to Ultimate levels and probably Mega too, but we have yet to see a Mega from them."
'The Satanic Siblings?' Manny wondered. 'Could they be the same as the Saintly Siblings back home? Man, this is really weird.'
"The other five DigiWira gain the power of the five remaining sins. Adam gains a trait which is associated with my digivolved form – the Pride. This makes him the leader of the team, and the wielder of the Blade of Lucifer." Lucemon made a face upon mentioning the weapon's name.
"Liu Ying receives the trait of Greed, and her weapon is called the War Fan of Barbatos."
"Gayathri, the other girl, receives the power of Gluttony, and the vicious Lash of Beelzebub as her arsenal."
"JD gets the trait of Lust, and wields the fiery Nunchucks of Lilith."
"And Emman receives the trait of Envy, wielding the electrifying Trident of Leviathan."
Manny frowned; all of these weapons were named after demons in various beliefs, mostly in Christian and Jewish mythologies. He had read a bit about them from online encyclopedias, but hadn't the chance to fully divulge more on them.
"The DigiWira team itself seems to be cursed with the power of the sins, but they have at least maintained a respectable relationship in order to rule the Digital World. For Adam, the sin he had inherited made him extremely prideful, arrogant and uncaring to others, and these traits manifest themselves to his current physical appearances – scary as hell, if you ask me," Lucemon said with a shiver. "They say that out of the five, Adam is the most heartless, totally aloof and holds little regard to others' lives."
Manny pictured the Adam he knew, his innocent youthfulness clear in many ways that sometimes made Manny thought that the leader was a lot younger than he was, despite both of them born in the same year. Then he compared the Adam he knew, and the gothic-looking Adam he had encountered, who was the first to try killing him. Aside from sharing the same name, there was nothing else similar about the two boys.
"For the girls, their sins are more or less the same thing – Greed and Gluttony both fall along the same line, and thus their personalities became more or less, the same. They recognized the benefit of them working as a team and together they are fairly powerful, able to overpower their male counterparts should they get on their bad sides. I've heard less-than-honorable achievements which they have gained in their home world, earning successes via underhanded means, doing whatever it takes to get what they wanted. I'd rather not explain all of them to you, lest your views on your friends are affected, which I hope won't be the case, for they are different peoples."
Both Liu Ying and Gayathri that Manny knew could never act like the two deadly nymphets that he had met at the Forest Sanctum. Liu Ying was a girl who, to him, carried an aura of elegance wherever she go, dealing with situations with the maturity of an adult which made Manny admired her. And Gayathri, vivacious and sincere, not to mention very pretty in his opinion, was probably the sweetest girl he had ever met, and also captured his heart.
"For JD, the sin of Lust which he's gained has made him…" Lucemon looked extremely uncomfortable, and took a moment to gather himself before continuing, "well, it makes him view anyone who strikes him fancy as objects to…uhh….well….satiate his needs. And he'll stop at nothing to get whatever he wants, although he has enough sense not to pursue his fellow teammates should they don't return his desires. I won't go any further; I'm just a kid, I can't be describing all the stuffs he had done, and I have heard a lot of his evil deeds at the human world."
Manny nodded, blushing himself, easily interpreted the underlying meaning of what Lucemon had said. Pushing that notion aside, he thought that the JD he had encountered in this dimension, while having the same aggressive temperament that the JD he knew had, severely lacked the hidden caring personality that the blonde boy had towards those he really cared about. This was what made the two JDs remarkably different – one was purely evil, and the other was just misunderstood by his peers.
"And what about Emman?" Manny asked the little cherubim, curious about his evil, alternate self. "And his…Envy?"
"I thought you'd ask that," Lucemon said knowingly, gazing at Manny, as if trying to differentiate him from Emman. "Emman's sin is Envy, and true to this it's made him extremely jealous and envious of others' achievements. Words have it that there was a falling out between Adam, Gayathri and Emman several days before Emman met his doom. I'm not sure why, but it had turned both Adam and Gayathri against him, and he didn't exactly have a good rapport with the other two DigiWira, for his jealousy nature had continuously annoyed every other member of the team to no ends. For instance, he'd get jealous if Adam appeared to have more power than he was, or if JD managed to easily tackle some unknowing human preys for his needs, or if Gayathri – the one he'd got involved with at a much personal level – showed any sign of interest to the other two guys in the team. Truth be told, he was wholly consumed by the sin of Envy that he barely has hold on his true self any more. Adam and Gayathri became the receiving ends of his relentless jealousy most of the time, and at one time, several days ago, things got out of proportion. I heard they were actually plotting to kill off Emman – their sins made them less than caring about their fellow teammate."
"But I thought Shawujinmon's the one who deleted WaruSeadramon…and Emman killed himself afterwards?" Manny asked in bewilderment.
"Yes…but it was Adam and Gayathri who drew Emman to Blue Bay Village, setting up a trap for Emman and WaruSeadramon to wreck havoc at the village to draw the attentions of the Brightmoons," Shawujinmon said slowly. "I heard of the news, and by the time I got there were only Emman and WaruSeadramon."
Lucemon nodded. "When Shawujinmon and the others managed to destroy the Trident of Leviathan and delete WaruSeadramon, it seems to me that Emman realized that he was doomed. Without his power weapon and his partner, he was helpless against the other DigiWira. I believe this was the actual reason driving him to kill himself, instead of accepting Shawujinmon's help."
The three of them became quiet, and Manny processed the information in his mind. It wasn't so hard now that he was able to distinguish Emman as a totally different person, and Lucemon's boyish appearance made it easier for he was not reminded of the cruel Hellion General he and his friends had faced just a week before.
Ruffles were heard, before three tall figures stepped inside the tent. Manny softly gasped as Persiamon, Astamon and Doumon looked at him and Penguinmon questioningly. Their expressions unreadable, Manny wondered what was on their minds. He remembered seeing them covering for Shawujinmon when the latter rescued him and Penguinmon earlier this day.
"Golly!" Persiamon squealed in delight and grabbed Manny's hand, shaking it happily. "You're much better-looking than your dead evil twin, I have to say! You actually look very presentable!" she gushed as she inspected Manny's face. This Persiamon sounded very much like a giddy schoolgirl, completely different from the vicious Virago General from his home dimension. "Nice hair, nice outfit," she hummed happily before taking a step back, and grinned sheepishly. "Sorry if I invaded your personal space or anything, it's just that…wow, it's just unbelievable! Let me be the first to tell you that your evil twin is one insane guy!"
Manny managed to let out a small smile as he replied, "Actually they've just told me about him."
"Really?" Persiamon didn't sound perturbed at all. She cocked her head sideways, letting her lustrous red hair cascading down her shoulder, giving Manny a very adorable feline-like expression. "Then I guess I'm the second one who has told you that!"
"Now, now, Persiamon, keep that up and I'll sic those Rookies and In-Trainings at you," Astamon said with a laugh.
"Oh, why's that?" Persiamon challenged, her tone playful.
Astamon grinned back. "For being excessively cute," he said evenly, before both of them broke into a hearty laugh. Manny and Penguinmon sweatdropped at their exchange, before realizing that these two generals must be an item, when they held out their hands and clasped each others' affectionately.
Doumon went to the good DigiWira and placed his fox paw on Manny's shoulder. "Don't mind them," he said with a wizened voice. "They are always like that, once they've found companionship in each other. I heard that a DigiEgg is on the way for both of them, if you get what I mean." Old as he was, Doumon surprised Manny by giving him a wink.
"Oh…" Manny and Penguinmon looked at each other, obviously having quite a time to digest everything.
"Something on your mind?" Shawujinmon asked Manny. "Perhaps it's a bit too confusing for you to take in all at once? Since our counterparts are the villains in your home world."
"Villains are an understatement," Penguinmon muttered. Then he laughed. "All this cuteness you have is downright scary, though! You'll probably frighten all of them away with all your love and caring."
"I wish it could be that simple here," Doumon said, taking in Penguinmon's sarcasm at face value. "That way we won't have lost our dear fellow generals. SkullSatamon is especially depressed of their premature departures, he's been keeping himself solitude inside his castle, mourning for their deletion. He felt that it was his fault that the four generals were deleted; he could have protected them, but he had failed, and it's getting to him until now, especially when all he could do is watch as events unfold here from the confinement of his stronghold."
Roused by curiousness, Manny asked the one thing he had been wondering about ever since he escaped the SkullSatamon in his world's evil influence. "Maybe if you find a way to get rid off the barrier surrounding his castle, SkullSatamon can escape and lead you to victory?"
"We're working on that," Lucemon deadpanned. "So far, we're half-successful."
"What do you mean?" Manny asked.
"Three centuries ago, the evil Grademon used the power of the seven sinful weapons to erect the barrier around SkullSatamon's Horror Hall. To destroy the barrier we need to destroy the source, which is the weapons. So far we have destroyed the Trident of Leviathan, the Demon Crossbow and the Shield of Belphegor," Lucemon explained, mirth sparked from his eyes. He held up seven fingers, and brought down three with a grin. "Three down, four to go."
Horrible primordial roars suddenly echoed from outside, followed by terrified shrieks. The earth seemed to rumble as rapid movements were detected coming from outside the tent. Immediately Manny and Penguinmon, as well as the Brightmoon Brethrens rushed out from the tent, seeing explosions coming from a distance at the mountains. Two airborne dragons were engaged in a battle with various ghostly guards stationed to protect the border of the Shadow Realm. From another end of the mountains, a black-armored humanoid and a grotesque creature with various mismatched body parts were blasting volleys of energy towards incoming Bakemon and Soulmon, successfully deleting them, before the MetalPhantomon engaged them in a fight.
"It's them!" Shawujinmon said in disbelief, as the four evil DigiWira appeared from a distance, walking side by side, weapons in their hands. They blasted everything and everyone in sight, watching with mirth as many Digimon weaker than their sin weapons disintegrated into data particles. The flames from JD's nunchucks caught some of the tents, setting them ablaze. Liu Ying's war fan zipped past many others, tearing them apart as well as some of the fleeing Digimon. Gayathri leaped forward and lashed out at any Digimon that stood her way; they were no match for her whip. And Adam, looking as if he was bored with the whole ordeal, sent out bladed energy projectiles from his keris as he slashed through the air, his attack destroyed anything they came into contact with – tents, trees, Digimon, all of them.
"How violent," Persiamon whimpered.
"I was afraid that this would happen soon," Doumon stated in disbelief. "It would be only a matter of time before they gain enough power to outclass our defense." He winced as Megadramon and Gigadramon destroyed many Phantomon and MetalPhantomon with their combined attacks.
"What should we do…?" Astamon asked, nervous evidence in his voice.
"This is too bold, even for them," Lucemon said grimly. "My friends, we have no choice. We have to fight them."
"Fight?" Persiamon sounded so afraid. "What do you mean…fight? They are the ones who killed our fellow generals. How can we hope to best them?"
"We have no choice," Lucemon said. "They've come this far, we can no longer hide from them. And this time, I won't take any chances too." With a bright glow, Lucemon morphed into a taller adult, with half of his wings angelic and the others demonic. He was now in his Ultimate form, wielding greater power than his Rookie self.
"You…you digivolved!" Astamon said in disbelief. "You hated this form…this can only mean…"
"You're dead serious," Persiamon finished.
Manny and Penguinmon looked at each other, reaching a silent agreement. In this world, these Digimon were the defenders of good, and Manny and Penguinmon were at the side of good. In this world the DigiWira were the enemies, and Manny would never align himself with enemies again.
"We have a friend who might be of some help," he said, his eyes raptly assessing the situation.
"Manny," Shawujinmon said, placing a hand on his shoulder. "Can you make sure that the refugees are protected from the DigiWira? The five of us will fight off the partners, but we'll need you to protect the defenseless Digimon around here. They don't know how to fight; they'll need you more than we do."
"But…" Manny wanted to protest; Samudramon would definitely be an asset to the fight.
"Don't worry," Lucemon said, his voice hadn't lost its warmth displayed by his Rookie mode, which made Manny relieved. His eyes might look icy, but Manny could also detect compassion behind those eyes. The iciness was directed towards the enemies. "Come, Brightmoons. Let's finish this off once and for all," he said determinedly, before his eyes softened as he added, "then we all can live in peace."
The angel-demon's word seemed to have wiped out the fear from his comrades, and the five Brightmoons charged towards the assaulting Black Rapidmon, Kimeramon, Megadramon and Gigadramon. Manny watched them with awe, never thought even once that he'd be rooting for them when he was back home. He watched as Lucemon tackled Megadramon while Shawujinmon battled Gigadramon. Persiamon, Astamon and Doumon banded together to fight off Kimeramon and Black Rapidmon.
"Hey, stop daydreaming and start fighting!" Penguinmon exclaimed as he slapped Manny's legs urgently. "Look who's coming!"
Manny blinked as he saw the four evil DigiWira approaching him, with their sin weapons at their disposal. 'Lucemon says that these weapons are the source of SkullSatamon's imprisonment. Never thought that I'd be working on freeing SkullSatamon…'
JD smirked at Manny, the strange wild look he had given Manny back at the sanctum now glazed upon his hazel irises. "Hide and seek is over," he said.
Adam stepped forward and gave Manny a superior look. "See the deaths around you?" he asked with a chilling calm voice. Explosions were heard; from the background a blast from Megadramon collided with Lucemon's beam of energy. At the same time, combined blasts from Persiamon, Doumon and Astamon had struck Kimeramon. Gigadramon was fighting a winning battle against Shawujinmon, who was trying his best to stop the dark cybernetic dragon from approaching the Horror Hall, where the innocent Digimon were taking refuge.
The bloodlessly pale Adam chuckled. "If you're not here, then all of these wouldn't have happened." His note was especially nonchalant as he continued, while twirling that twisted blade of his: "Those deleted Digimon, their blood's on your hands, Manny."
Manny blinked; these evil DigiWira knew who he was, finally differentiating himself from Emman. But then again, he had told them that during their first encounter.
"You still owe me that dance…" JD's voice was sickeningly twisted as he pointed the red stick of his nunchucks towards Manny. "So…DANCE!"
Flames shot out from the nunchucks and Manny quickly countered it with a stream of high-pressurized water blast, pushing the flames back. Instantly, taking advantage of his current situation, Adam, Liu Ying and Gayathri quickly launched their own attacks towards Manny, but Penguinmon leaped up and a cool azure energy beam erupted from Manny's Digivice, quickly digivolving Penguinmon into his Armored Champion form of Depthmon. The armor Digimon shot energy pods made out of water which threw off Liu Ying's fan and Gayathri's whip, but he was struck by the bladed energy projectiles from Adam's keris. Depthmon growled and fired his Bubble Bombs towards both Adam and his keris, determined to get rid off the leader first.
"We've destroyed Ultimates with our weapons," Adam said softly as he countered the bubble bombs with his bladed projectiles, nullifying Depthmon's attacks. "What makes you think that you can beat us, with your pathetic Armor form?" Suddenly the boy's face broke into a sinister smile. "Oh, I nearly forgot. Look behind you…oops, too late."
Depthmon felt a sharp strike on his back; the girls had struck him with their weapons. Gayathri leaped and sent her whip towards him, and to Depthmon's surprise she attacked exactly the same way he had seen Rosemon used her Roses Rapier technique. Her profound skills confounded him; he had forgotten to defend himself. The whip elongated, straightened and emitted pink energy spirals that struck him squarely on his chest, sending him flying with a sharp cracking sound.
"What are you doing, floating there and taking in my attack like that?" Gayathri snorted. "You hoped that your armor could resist it? Fat chance, fish face."
Liu Ying chortled and raised her hand towards the sky. Her flying fan returned to her, floating and spinning rapidly above her raised arm. "Time to break that armor," she said, and with a loud grunt she made a slashing motion, and the fan flew at top speed towards the falling Depthmon. It connected with Depthmon's armor, and broke it into data particles.
Depthmon cried out in pain as Gayathri's whip slammed on his unprotected body again, and the force of the attack was enough to dedigivolve him back into Penguinmon. The Rookie was slammed onto the ground right beside Manny, causing the boy to gasp.
JD saw an opening and pointed the black stick of his weapon towards Manny. "Y'know, I feel bad for going to finish you off, since I've other plans in mind," he said with a smirk. "But then again, I'm already bad to the bones, so…see ya!" The nunchucks' black stick fired a stream of black laser which coalesced with the flames, providing an even greater attack from JD's side.
Manny was pushed back; his waters alone couldn't resist the combined attack from JD. He glanced sideways; Adam, Liu Ying and Gayathri slowly approaching them. Penguinmon rose back to his feet, a bright gash evident from the white tufts of his body, the bandage Shawujinmon had put on him soiled with blood. Fury shook him; and to his surprise crackles of electricity began to form around his outstretched hands. Blue thunder became wilder, before from his hands where the waters continuously being fired out, one shining blue thunderbolt struck straight towards JD's nunchucks, electro-shocking it since the weapon was purely made out of metal, and also the one who was holding the metallic weapon.
JD roared in pain as electricity shocked him, throwing him into the ground, writhing wildly in pain. His hands were blackened entirely, and he was lucky enough that Manny's lightning bolt didn't outright kill him. He looked up and gasped as his nunchucks combusted into data particles. "What the f---"
He couldn't finish his words, for streams of water blasted onto his face, as Manny stepped forward, heaving his breath. The focused blast of water had knocked JD out, possibly drowning him at the same time, but Manny was careful not to let it kill JD. The evil DigiWira probably deserved it, but Manny was no murderer.
He was also overwhelmed with surprise of the sudden appearance of his ability to project lightning from his bare hands. He had thought that his ability was only limited to water-bending capabilities.
Then, realization hit him. Adam, Liu Ying and Gayathri – the ones from his home dimension – all had two sets of abilities at their disposal. Adam could teleport and purify attacks sent his way to use them to his advantage. Liu Ying was able to move things with her mind, and project energy barrier to shield herself and others from harm. Gayathri could run at top speed, and let out a supersonic scream.
'Super-cool,' he thought, confidence growing within him as the remaining evil DigiWira looked flabbergasted at JD's sound defeat.
"That…was impressive, Manny!" Penguinmon said, staring at him admiringly. The avian Rookie let out a smile. "I knew you had it in you!"
From the distance, there was a loud combusting sound. Following his partner's defeat and the destruction of the Nunchucks of Lilithmon, Gigadramon had lost his power and had devolved just as Lucemon's volleys of dark and light energy orbs were sent his way. Devolved into his Champion form of DarkLizamon, he was no longer a match for Lucemon, and was deleted. Megadramon roared in shock and backed away from Shawujinmon, staring at his decomposing comrade with his yellow eyes.
The Brightmoon Brethren were surprised themselves, but Shawujinmon cheered loudly when he saw what had happened – Manny had successfully destroyed JD's power weapon.
"That's four down, three to go!" he said laughingly at Lucemon, who grinned back.
The battle between the Brightmoon Brethren and the remaining three partners of the DigiWira ensued, while on the grounds of the Shadow Realm Manny found himself being attacked by Adam, Liu Ying and Gayathri simultaneously. The bladed projectiles, the glowing fan and the deadly whip struck the place where he and Penguinmon stood just as they barely leaped away, causing an explosion of smokes to follow.
"Is he gone?" Gayathri wondered, withdrawing her black whip.
"I think so," Liu Ying said, calling back her spinning war fan.
Adam smirked, watching the thick smokes. "Let's be sure." He resumed firing out bladed projectiles from his keris, wanting to be on the safe side. To his disdain however, he heard clanging sounds from within the smokes – his bladed projectiles seemed to have come into contact with something metallic. The smokes gradually subsided, and an impressive figure in blue appeared within it, surrounded by cool blue aura, wielding a metallic trident. The figure's lower extremities were surrounded by a watery tornado which subsided, and a sleek fishtail was revealed before it morphed into a pair of sturdy legs in dark blue light armor.
"Deep Ocean Submerge!"
Samudramon sent waves of water towards the three shocked DigiWira. They didn't have time to counter back; their bodies were drowned immediately by the large splash of water. The sudden burst of water had also caused them to let go of their weapons, which was exactly what Samudramon had in mind. He quickly detected one of the weapons – the whip – lighter than the other two, and used his water-bending skill to call upon the whip. The waters brought the whip to him, and Samudramon generated a pillar of water to propel the whip towards the sky. Another flick of his arm, and the waters rained back onto the flooding ground, the whip hovering in midair.
"Cosmic Thunderstrike!"
Two streaks of lightning shot from the heavens and struck the black whip, destroying it into data particles. Samudramon looked up and saw Black Rapidmon devolving into a smaller black bunny in brown trousers with guns as arms. Persiamon's crimson energy ribbons struck through it, and with a loud shriek the bunny – Black Gargomon – combusted into data particles. A loud roar came from Kimeramon as she slashed the air with her multiple arms, haphazardly striking Doumon away before seizing his paintbrush. The chimera seemed to be glowing with the residual data from the deleted Black Gargomon, and Samudramon realized what she was going to do.
"Look out!!" Samudramon yelled, wanting to warn the Brightmoons. "The monster…Kimeramon…she's going to…"
But it was too late. Kimeramon had consumed the data of her fallen comrade, and with it she grew twice as large before a golden glow enveloped her very being. An avian screech was heard and Kimeramon had mega-digivolved into a great bird Digimon covered in golden armor. The bird was also surprisingly quick; with a mere kick she had struck both Astamon and Persiamon away, before generating a golden orb of power from her beak. Another screech, and the orb was blasted towards the fallen forms of Astamon and Persiamon.
'No!' Samudramon's heart skipped a beat; a thought crossed his mind. He couldn't let this bird destroy the Brightmoons, and more importantly, he couldn't let Persiamon be deleted. He didn't know why he hadn't thought about it before, but at this moment of emergency the inspiration was practically shoved into his mind.
He could ask her about the cursed tattoo, the Blight of Bastet. The Persiamon from this dimension was a champion for good. She would surely know about it, and she would be willing to share it with him.
"Double-Edged Thunderblades, Powered Up Mode!"
His thunder-based dragon shot towards the attack generated by the giant bird, snarling all the way. It collided with the golden orb from the bird, now identified as Eaglemon, and the explosion ensued sent huge shockwaves all over the Shadow Realm. The force of the collision between two Mega-class techniques was very powerful; it had actually forced Eaglemon back as Samudramon, acting purely through instinct, generated water pillars to catch Persiamon, Astamon and Doumon's fall.
"You should have destroyed our weapons when you have the chance, boy," said a cool feminine voice, and a sharp ripping pain coursed through Samudramon's back.
"AAAAGGHH!!"
Crying out painfully, Samudramon caught a glimpse of a very drenched Liu Ying, who was smiling cruelly as she fanned herself with her weapon, streaks of blood that remained on the fan didn't seem to bother her at all. Samudramon didn't even register when the girl had appeared behind him – he was too focused on dealing with Eaglemon. The pain was brutal; it was a powerful strike and due to it Samudramon lost his control over his humanoid form, reverting back to his merman form. He limped onto the ground and saw Adam approaching him with a chillingly calm face, despite being soaked all over. His keris was in his hand, and Adam looked like he was going for the kill, again.
"Karatenmon and Lilamon made the same foolish mistake," Adam stated, in a tone that was used to remark a dull weather, watching as Liu Ying's fan grazed Samudramon from many sides, inflicting injuries which, while superficial, were still excruciating. He relished upon hearing the painful cry let out by Samudramon, the smile never left his face. "And they both fall due to the might of this keris only. Oh yes, the other weapons played a role in weakening them, our partners were instrumental as well, but it was this keris which had the ultimate power to destroy Digimon, by corrupting their data wholly beyond repair…well, I suppose it's easier to just show you how it's done."
Adam laughed, for the first time Samudramon had heard him doing so, as he slashed the air in multiple directions, forming a black energy star from the trails of power left by his keris. The star was no ordinary star – it was the symbol of a demon. It blazed with unholy fire, its dark glow washed over Adam, illuminating his face in a dark, twisted way.
"Goodbye," Adam said softly. "Say hi to Emman for me."
Samudramon, unable to move, his fish tail was horribly injured by Liu Ying's blade, froze in terror, but he let out a gasp as a white blur crossed in front of him, intercepting the attack while roaring something indiscernible. A sickly sound of tearing flesh was heard, followed by a sharp blazing sound of the fiery star Adam had generated. Then a shriek from Liu Ying was heard as she backed away, as comprehension dawned upon Samudramon of what had just happened.
"No!" Samudramon cried out. "Shawujinmon!"
Everything had taken place so quickly. He watched in shock as Shawujinmon slowly decomposed into data particles, the crescent end of his black staff was thrust into Adam's stomach. Adam's face was contorted in a look of pained disbelief; it was clear that he was no longer alive. Shawujinmon turned around as the flames set his body ablaze, his expression remained calm. His beaky mouth seemed to smile at Samudramon.
"Thank you for everything, Manny, Penguinmon," Shawujinmon said with a pained voice. The flames had subsided but the damage had been done.
"Shawujinmon…why…?" Samudramon croaked. "Why sacrifice yourself?"
The good Kappa General smiled again. "You've helped us a great deal. My death is a small price to pay for your safety…good luck, and may you find your way home…" With that said he burst into data particles, along with his staff that had ended Adam's life.
Silent tears flowed down Samudramon's face as he watched Adam's body limped down, blood pooling under his body as Liu Ying's shrieks echoed the entire area. He was saddened by the fact that Shawujinmon had died protecting him, and also a small part of him – the conflicting part inside of him – thought that though this Adam was evil, he reminded Samudramon too much of the good Adam, despite the distinction he had made between the two.
With Adam gone, Megadramon too burst into data particles, leaving the generals with only Eaglemon to take care off.
Samudramon crawled towards Adam, silently turning him around and closed the boy's eyes – this boy bore too much resemblance to the Adam he knew and Samudramon couldn't help but to give the boy the final act of respect. He was after all, still a human, and the human half of Samudramon wanted to do this, even though the boy was his enemy here. The waters on his hand washed away the dark eye-makeup around Adam's eyes and for once, Samudramon thought that finally he could see the real Adam's face on this pale, cold boy.
With a deep sigh, he took Adam's keris, threw it towards the air, and destroyed it with the Cosmic Thunderstrike. Now there was only one sin weapon left, and the wielder was running away from him.
"Eaglemon!" Liu Ying called, her expression glazed with fear. She was attempting to flee. Her comrades had fallen, one had died, and she was the remaining one standing.
Eaglemon broke free from the generals' assault and zoomed towards her partner. The generals, enraged upon seeing the fall of their fellow general, all blasted Eaglemon's retreating back with all they got, not holding back one bit. The combined assaults from the four Brightmoons broke Eaglemon's golden armor, ripped her wings, and finally dedigivolved her back into ChaosLabramon. Liu Ying went to retrieve her partner as the generals descended around her, trapping her from any way of escaping.
"Don't hurt me…" Liu Ying pleaded. Seeing Adam being killed in front of her had caused her to lose her battle prowess, overwhelmed with fear. JD and Gayathri were both unconscious, drowned by Samudramon's waves. She and ChaosLabramon could not fight.
Doumon, Persiamon and Astamon observed Lucemon, him being their leader so he would be the one to pass the final judgment. Lucemon stared at the evil DigiWira and her partner, blazing fury reflected from his eyes before with a sigh he regressed back into his boy-angel form.
"As long as you surrender your sin weapon, the War Fan of Barbatos, for us to destroy, we won't harm you," Lucemon deadpanned.
The evil nymphet looked stricken. She and ChaosLabramon shared a glance.
"If you don't, I will not guarantee what my brethren will do to you," Lucemon warned.
"Fine," Liu Ying sighed, defeated. She threw the fan onto the ground, and Persiamon seized it with her energy ribbons quickly, lest the evil nymphet changed her mind. She flicked it towards the air, and Doumon destroyed it with his magical scrolls. "You destroyed all of the weapons, happy?" she muttered.
Lucemon's eyes narrowed. "You don't even feel guilty of your heinous crime," he said coldly, the fury returned in his eyes. "You and your friends shall be imprisoned inside the dungeons under SkullSatamon's Horror Hall. With the destruction of the sin weapons the spell around the Horror Hall will be lifted and SkullSatamon will be freed. I'm sure our benevolent lord will be more than willing to accommodate you." He nodded at the other generals. "Seize them."
"What? But you said…" Liu Ying struggled as Persiamon bound her and ChaosLabramon together with her crimson ribbons, and Astamon clutched her wrists so tight that she flinched horribly.
"I won't harm you, yes, but I didn't say that I won't imprison you, girl," Lucemon replied.
"Some good guy you are!" Liu Ying spat.
"Tough," Lucemon simply said, uncaring of the villainess' opinion. He made a shooing motion, and Astamon dragged her away.
Samudramon watched everything with mixed feelings, as he devolved back into Manny and Penguinmon. He didn't know what to feel, actually. This had been one very strange day, and he was so tired, physically and mentally. His body ached all over – both he and Penguinmon suffered grave injuries from Liu Ying's fan. He became fatigued while watching Astamon dragging the kicking and screaming Liu Ying and ChaosLabramon away, while Doumon picked up the unconscious JD and Gayathri. He could hear panicked gasp from Persiamon when once again his vision became blurry.
xxx
xxx
"How long was I out?" Manny asked the first thing after he woke up. He looked down at his body and hands; somebody had done a clumsy, but a good job nonetheless, in fixing him back up. The bandages didn't look as neat as the one Shawujinmon had done, but they did what they were supposed to do. Then he looked beside him, by the wall – Penguinmon was still sleeping. Then he gazed at the one he'd asked the question, who was standing by the entrance of the tent he was in.
"One whole day," Persiamon replied, a tray of food in her hands. She set the tray by the bed and sat down at the edge of the bed. "Healing is never my specialty, but Shawujinmon had taught me some basic parts of this." She smiled fondly at the memory of the deceased general.
"One day?" Manny couldn't believe he had passed out for one day. But then, his throat was dry and his stomach was growling softly. He blushed when Persiamon giggled.
"I can assure you, though my healing skill is less than spectacular, my cooking skill is not as bad." She rose from the bed and smiled. "I'll leave you alone so that you can enjoy your meal."
"Persiamon, wait," Manny said, immediately reminded of the idea that had come up to him during the previous day's battle. He must ask Persiamon about this right now, before he forgot about it. "I've got something that I must ask you."
Persiamon raised a curious eyebrow and gave Manny a nod. "Sure. If I can answer it, I'll do so to the best of my knowledge and ability."
Slightly assured of Persiamon's promise, Manny decided to go straight to the point. "What do you know about the Blight of Bastet?"
Instantly, the feline woman's expression froze in horrified shock. Her green eyes widened and she actually flinched, somewhat horribly, as if thunder had just roared upon her. Slowly she sat down again, her eyes gazing at Manny curiously. "How…how do…" She cleared her throat – her stammering showed Manny that she was very nervous. "How do you know about that? I've never told anyone but Astamon…and I doubt he told you about it. It's a terrible curse that I have in my hands and I wish no one would know about it. I suspect Lucemon also knows, but…" She stopped, realizing that she was rambling.
Manny shook his head. "No…it's just that…"
"Oh, no!" Persiamon gasped. "It's the evil Persiamon from your world, am I right? She…she attacked you with it?" She was actually trembling as she said all these, and Manny felt sorry for her. How different this Persiamon was compared to the viciously cruel Virago General from his home dimension.
"Not me, but a close friend of mine. JD, from my world. He now has only three weeks left to survive…"
Persiamon's eyes became tearful. "Oh, my stars!" she cried, genuinely disturbed by the news. "How could she…how could she…"
Manny took in a deep breath and decided that now would be a good time to press for some answers. "It's indeed horrible, and we found nothing that could cure JD from it," he said, his own voice sorrowful as he gazed at Persiamon. "You must know something, Persiamon. I need to know the answer, please," he pleaded.
Persiamon looked at Manny, a tear trickled down her eyes. Manny's heart went to her – she wasn't responsible for what her alternate self had done, but still she was disturbed by the news as if she was the one who had inflicted the curse on JD. She began trembling again, before with a heavy voice, she whispered, "There is a way, but…I don't know whether you or your friend JD will like it."
"We'll do anything!" Manny said, barely able to contain his excitement. Finally, he'd get the answer he was looking for. JD would be so happy.
"Don't…don't look too happy," Persiamon said sadly. "There is a way to save JD's life. In fact, it's the only way….but I'm afraid….the cure itself is as cruel as the curse…"
xxx
xxx
With a heavy heart Manny walked his way down the beach where he had arrived the day before, Penguinmon trailing him from behind, and the Brightmoon Brethren and their master SkullSatamon behind them. He stopped just by the edge of the sea waters, letting the water touch his boots, before turning back to face the crowd that was sending him off.
"Are you sure it will work?" Manny said to SkullSatamon, feeling weird for talking towards the being who was the DigiWira's hidden arch-nemesis back in his home world.
"Of course it will," SkullSatamon said with a wheezy voice. "I know of the Nine Negations Dark Arts like I know the back of my hand. The question is, are you absolutely positive that you heard your enemy right? Did he really mention of the Nine Negations as the source of his ability to send you here?"
Manny nodded stiffly.
"Then, we have nothing to worry about. If he used the Nine Negations to get you here, then the Nine Negations will be your ticket way home," SkullSatamon said.
Manny was reassured of his chance of going home, and took the time to bid his friends goodbye. He exchanged handshakes with Lucemon, Doumon and Astamon, before pausing in front of Persiamon. Without warning, Persiamon pulled him into a heartfelt embrace and her eyes became moist.
"I'm so sorry for your friend JD," she whispered tearfully and pulled back from the embrace. "And I'm sorry for my evil twin's action too. I really don't know of any other way – all the Persiamon species are conditioned with a warning before using the Blight of Bastet, for the cure is, as I've said…as cruel as the curse. I'd never use it, not even to my greatest enemies. It's the cruelest thing any of us could have done to anyone. I'm…I'm sorry."
Manny sighed. "It's not your fault, Persiamon. Don't apologize. I just wish I have good news to tell JD instead of this."
"Remember the other thing I've told you about, Manny?" Persiamon asked. "It's the next best thing I could offer."
Manny nodded. "It must've been hard for you, giving away such private information about yourself," he stated with a low voice.
"It's not like you're gonna use it on me," Persiamon replied with a small smile. "I wish you the best of luck, Manny, you and your friends."
He forced a smile towards the friends he had made in this dimension, thinking that how ironic it would be that these band of Digimon were evil in his dimension. He and Penguinmon then assumed their Wira Digital form of Samudramon, and went into the sea as SkullSatamon lowered the tip of his bone staff into the waters. The sky thundered as Samudramon swam inside the sea, feeling the currents picking up before the waters burst towards the heavens in form of a maelstrom, Samudramon trapped within it.
He felt dizzy from all the spinning and he didn't know when the maelstrom would stop. Thunders continuously rumbled, before Samudramon detected that the waters began to subside. He was pulled back into the sea, and his heart throbbed in anticipation as he emerged upon the surface. Looking around, he saw that everything was the same. But the Brightmoons were gone. Nobody was around.
"What in the world?!!" a voice screamed at Samudramon in frustration. "Why didn't it work?"
Samudramon could barely contain his smile, he recognized the voice. Looking up he saw Shawujinmon, and realized that he was back. SkullSatamon – the good SkullSatamon – his plan worked. The Brightmoons had successfully sent him back.
"What didn't work?" he asked Shawujinmon, thinking that the Kappa General must be frustrated. SkullSatamon had also told him, as they made their way towards the beach earlier, that he could also send them back home just seconds after they were sent to the alternate dimension in the first place. That way, nobody would miss them. He had spent one day at the alternate Digital World, but he had only left his own world for less than a minute.
"You…you…"
Samudramon quickly recalled his trident, wanting to finish Shawujinmon off once and for all. For a brief moment he was reminded of the good Shawujinmon, the one who had sacrificed himself to save him, and the memory fueled him of strength. He rose his trident towards the sky, and called out, "Divine Rain!"
Showers of energy-leeching rain poured upon Shawujinmon, causing the general to groan in frustration. He had been at the receiving end of this attack for a few times already.
With a smirk, Samudramon continued, "Cosmic Thunderstrike!"
This came off towards Shawujinmon unexpectedly. He hadn't expected Samudramon to be able to strike him with a different attack while unleashing another. His wet body only caused the lightning to electrocute him more heavily than it would have done when his body was dry. As he was weakened from the lightning, his power was rapidly sapped away, and he knew that he would be finished if he stayed around any longer. Quickly he called out the gateway to escape and fled the sea.
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"Damn…" JD said, after Manny had finished recounting his adventures. "Damn, damn, damn!!" He thrust a fist into the sands, sending some flying Manny's way.
Manny lowered his head sadly. He knew this would happen. JD wouldn't be happy with the revelation he'd brought from the alternate Digital World.
"That bloody bitch!!" JD yelled angrily, finally stopping his assaults towards the sands. His chest heaved up and down slowly, and he took a few deep breaths to calm himself down. He was kneeling, his head hung down, before his whole body trembled. When he looked up, Manny gasped softly; JD's eyes were moist. Even Agumon and Penguinmon let out whimpers.
"JD…" It broke his heart upon seeing his strong friend like this.
"So this is it, then?" JD said bitterly, a tear trickled down his cheek. He would never display any sign of weakness before anyone, but now, he didn't care. "There's no way I'd ask anyone to do that for me…Persiamon's one damn smart bitch. She knew that her plan's flawless from the start. That's why she's been gloating about it every time I saw her blasted face."
"There has to be another way, JD," Manny said quickly. "We'll look for other possible ways. We still have three weeks."
"I still have three weeks, you have your life ahead of you," JD said, staring hard at his younger friend's face. "What's the use, Manny? You've asked the source herself for the cure, and if even she doesn't know of other way than that, then…I guess I'm doomed. Really, Manny, I'm screwed." His tone hardened as he wiped the tears away. He stood back up on his feet and gazed up towards the moons.
"Do you want to tell the others about it?" Manny asked softly.
JD didn't reply – his thoughts were in disarray. Manny was right; the cure was as cruel as the curse itself. No way he'd ask anyone to do it for him, and to make sure of that, nobody must know about it.
"No. Don't tell anyone," he said. "We'll do as what that good Persiamon has told you. It's the best we could make out of this mess." His eyes glinted; Manny saw the same burning anger that he'd always seen in JD while the latter was under Karatenmon's spell. JD clenched his fist tight, so tight that Manny thought that his fingernails would pierce through the flesh of his palm. JD didn't seem to care, though, as he vowed, "If I'm gonna go down, I'll take her along with me!"
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Author's Notes:
Sorry for being so cryptic about the whole thing with the cure. If I reveal everything flat out, there's no more mystery to it. I've also added foreshadowing to things that will come the Wira Digital's way soon enough with the whole 'seven deadly sins' thing. This chapter might be too graphic to some people's liking, with the deaths and all. By this time, I think the story has now adapted a darker feel to it. We can only wait and find out of what will happen to JD, but seriously speaking, the outcome to the whole thing isn't going to be pretty…
How do you all like the good versions of Darkshadows? I couldn't focus on everybody in one chapter, so I chose only Shawujinmon and Lucemon, with Persiamon being a close third. More about this in my blog.