"GranDracmon! Destroy them all!"
JD's brows knitted together as GranDracmon shuffled forward, wiping out the buildings within his reach. The demonic centaur moved clumsily, his dead eyes set on all of them. JD wondered for a brief moment whether a zombie-fied GranDracmon was more dangerous than a normal one. He cast that thought away as his eyes fell on Adam, who was struggling to even breathe as faint wisp of air rose from the horrible scald on his cousin's chest. He's so much in pain, thought JD sadly.
Just to look at him, Adam seemed to be struggling. "Josh…" he asked, before coughing. JD winced upon seeing specks of blood spat out by his cousin.
"Shh…" He knelt by Adam. "Rest. I'll take care of him."
"Josh…" This time, his name was uttered by a different person, albeit a familiar, feminine one. From afar he saw a woman in green towards him, followed by three figures tailing her back. "Kak Lisha?" He called out, at the same time recognizing the others behind her. "Jade, Jas, Dr. Abu…what are you guys doing here?"
"Josh, where's…" Alisha stopped short upon seeing Adam's prone form. "Oh, Adam!" She quickly sped towards Adam and knelt by his side, wanting to hug him but was stopped when she saw the injury Adam had sustained. "What…how…" She looked up at him questioningly. JD however, was disinclined to answer – anything he could say would make the woman more worried than she was at present. He was then, grateful, for his older brother's interruption.
"When we saw the demoness saying that she had Adam's body, Kak Lisha wanted to come," supplied Jade.
"We can't stay in the hospital either," added Jas, answering his earlier question. "The demoness mentioned you and Adam, and some people at the hospital knew of you. Speculations spread like wildfire. We had to get out from there. So we tagged along."
"It's still dangerous for you guys to be out here," said JD, eyes trained on GranDracmon. Then he swept a gaze over the gathered people around him.
Jackie and Dina emerged from the mosque at the far end of the KLCC Park, and indicated for the others to hide there. It being a non-skyscraper made it a safer place for refuge in close range.
"Follow Jackie," he instructed. "Satriamon will fight GranDracmon."
Abu scooped up Adam and looked at him. "Can you fight that beast on your own?"
"It's not like I have any other choice," said JD grimly.
"GuardiAngemon," said Abu, looking at his and Alisha's DNA-digivolved partner.
"Understood," the angel said even before his partners relayed the request.
"No," said JD. "I'll stand alone. GuardiAngemon, you're more useful protecting the others. Make sure that no stray blasts come your way."
"But, GranDracmon being the leader of the Terrors, that makes him the most powerful of all," protested GuardiAngemon. "It took a lot from us to delete Murmuxmon and Deathmon. It took a lot out of Samudramon and Puspamon to wipe out Belialvamdemon. You alone can't…"
"I know," interrupted JD. "But you look like you're going to devolve any time soon. You're better off staying back out here. At least I can fight with ease, knowing that everyone's safe. Don't argue," he ended, an edge to his voice as he heaved hard, noticing GuardiAngemon's slightly opened mouth snapped shut. "I want you to stay back and protect everyone. More importantly, I want you to use whatever healing power you have to ease Adam's pain. He's suffering, and I know you can't vanquish the curse, but…try whatever you can. Please."
GuardiAngemon knew from experience – having lived with JD while he was in his composite Rookie forms – that JD rarely said 'please', so when he did he really meant it. His gaze shifted to Agumon, who stood by his partner with silent obedience, before nodding. "Alright."
"Thank you." It was even odder for JD to thank anyone so formally, that everyone around him knew how Adam's condition was killing him too.
JD fixed one look at Adam, his heart thudding with despair at Adam's bloodied cough. "Go," he said, turning away to face GranDracmon. "Agumon?"
"Right here with you, Josh," said Agumon.
"Then let's do it." JD raised his red and gold Juara Digivice up to the air. "Juara Access Digivolution! HAAAA!"
"Damn you," muttered Lilithmon, watching the ensuing battle between Satriamon Juara Mode and GranDracmon with disdain. "You're wrecking everything!"
She stared down at her dismembered right arm, now without its Nazar Claw – a souvenir from Satriamon. She managed to bandage it with some clothes she found curtaining the windows of the towers in her attempts to stop the data leakage. For a moment she was thankful that she wasn't human – the blood would have leaked out from the curtain and the hemorrhage would continue. Her being a Digimon however, the data leakage was aptly halted by the curtain.
"Everything's falling apart!" She snarled angrily, tracing the cursed tattoo on her left breast. It being there was like an ironic mockery to her – having inherited the curse from a long line of Persiamon. Deep inside, she knew that once the next full moon bloomed, she would be doomed by the blight. For generations, she had heard and watched the Blight of Bastet taking the lives of many of her and her ancestors' opponents. A sacrifice out of love, be it platonic or romantic, would transfer the curse, but she had never heard of an immunity for it before.
"Does it matter anyway?" she muttered. "Either way I'm going to die." She laughed out loud, her laugh so shrill that it echoed eerily around the emptied building she was in. "One way or the other, SkullSatamon's won. It's either he deletes me when he sees me, or he waits and collects my data."
Gazing down and hard towards the battling Digimon, a plan crept in her mind. "Well, if I'm going down it won't be without a fight. If I'm going to die, I'm taking down everyone with me! That wretched SkullSatamon and that blasted Satriamon; both will fall under my hands, and I can only do that if…" She paused, clutching her chest as dull pain throbbed from her heart. She frowned; she wasn't even exerting herself and the pain had already begun making its presence known. "Curse it," she snarled, and blasted the window open.
All that she needed to do now was to wait for the opportunity to present itself, right within the safety the Shield of Waja offered her.
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WIRA DIGITAL
Chapter 78 – Against All Odds
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"DRAGONFORCE SABER!"
Zipping through the air aided by his flaring wings, Satriamon hacked each crystal that GranDracmon sent his way, having realized that only a physical blow would destroy the crystals. As he hacked one crystal the others shot out lasers that burned through his thick armor. Knowing that he had to be quick, he sped towards the next crystal and hacked it into shreds of data, cursing every delayed moment the crystals was causing him.
Despite being under Lilithmon's control, GranDracmon seemed to have not lost his battle prowess. Satriamon knew from observation how the demonic centaur was keener in observing the battle rather than participating directly in it, and when he did he would take on only those who he would win against. Aldiyamon, for example, was vulnerable to his voice charm and that was who GranDracmon would fight against. On several occasions he had Aldiyamon under his power, and recollecting the images he had seen at the destroyed KL Tower site, he wondered whether Seraphimon's destruction was due to GranDracmon's orchestration or by Aldiyamon's own accord.
A crystal came upon him and he delivered a forceful kick upon it. It cracked and vanished in specks of data.
"I'm getting nowhere," he grunted, realizing that GranDracmon was only tiring him out.
"Josh…"
His heart seemed to halt upon hearing the chillingly weak voice. "Adam?" He looked around. Adam wasn't around. Another call, and he realized that he was hearing Adam's voice inside his head. Telepathically? He wondered. Adam? He thought, but there was no reply. Instead he began hearing Adam's pained cry, echoing in his mind. There was no doubt then; he was hearing Adam telepathically. Adam…hang on!
"I'm through with this. Time for a different take for this battle." He brought the saber over his back and pressed it against the armor. A soft click was heard, meaning that the saber had been secured. Then he charged his right fist with flames that spiraled around his very being, before a fiery red dragon apparition materialized. His fist turned magma-like surrounded by fiery aura as he now hovered within the dragon apparition. The temperature around him rose drastically; this was a focused technique, just as powerful as the Firestorm Purification, but the force behind this technique was converged in his flaring fist.
"DRAGON FIST EXPLOSION!"
Speeding towards the crystals he punched them into dusts before looming towards GranDracmon, landing a sound punch onto the centaur's chest. A sharp audible crack resulted and GranDracmon staggered back, but the fact that he had four legs made him too sturdy for Satriamon to knock away with just one blow. Angered, GranDracmon slapped Satriamon away with his giant paw.
Satriamon somersaulted in midair before his wings stabilized him. He smirked and spread out his arms, seeing another chance to strike. "FIRESTORM PURIFICATION!"
GranDracmon summoned his crystals and the flames were absorbed into them. A fraction of a second later the flames emerged from the crystals, heading back towards Satriamon.
"Damn it!" Satriamon evaded the flames and was going to attack, before Adam's pained cry halted him. The distraction proved to be disastrous for GranDracmon chose that exact opportune moment to unleash lasers from his eyes and mouth. They slammed against Satriamon, pushing him back while denting his armor. Other than that, the Juara Wira Digital was unharmed.
An image suddenly invaded Satriamon's mind, with the same intensity he had perceived while at the KL Tower's destroyed site. He saw Adam writhing in pain, Alisha crying beside him, Jade, Jas and Abu looking so forlorn and the other DigiWira having the same worried looks on their faces. He saw GuardiAngemon devolving to Salamon and Gatomon, having used the lasts of their powers in attempt to ease Adam's pain. He saw the blisters on Adam's chest bubbling, Adam screaming and crying at the same time…and the image vanished.
Oh, Adam… His eyes stung. His hands shivered. Seeing his cousin suffering in his place was too heart-wrenching for him to bear. What if Lilithmon's right? What if…Adam's time is almost up? He's alive now but is suffering so much…
The image returned, only it showed Adam unmoving, no longer screaming, no longer crying, before it vanished. He was stunned. No, it can't be. Not now.
He blinked back tears, realizing what the vision had implied. The curse had taken its toll on Adam, having tortured him for the past few days without killing him. Underneath his mask, his brows knitted together.Adam, don't die on me now. I've just found out that you're alive. He remembered Lilithmon demanding from him the cure for the curse that rebounded back to her. I have the cure? He wondered, not moving to evade the lasers from GranDracmon. But…Adam's gone. What good is the cure if I couldn't use it to heal Adam?
His hands suddenly glowed crimson and took form of claws that sparked with bolts – psionic bolts. They seemed to be stronger than his other attacks, feeding on the sorrow that was slowly building up in his heart. Tears slid down from the mask that was covering the upper half of his face. They dropped onto his shaking claw-hands, resulting in the psionic bolts to crackle even wilder.
With choked voice, he uttered out, "Melancholic Bone Claw."
Then he charged, delivering a vicious swipe towards GranDracmon's incoming hand, and to his surprise, tearing away some flesh off the demon's palm. With a start GranDracmon jerked away, but that only gave Satriamon the opening to slash forward with his claws. One claw viciously slashed GranDracmon's chest in a vertical motion, the other added to the injury with a horizontal strike. Each strike tore more and more flesh off GranDracmon, but Satriamon continued inflicting more damage on GranDracmon. It was then he realized how powerful the Melancholic Bone Claw was; the attack truly lived up to its name – feeding on his sorrow and melancholy in order to create a force strong enough to rip fleshes way down till the bones. Such was the force of his psionic power which fed on his negative emotions, due to its dark attribute. He struck again and tore off GranDracmon's right arm that tried to flick him away, causing the centaur to scream in pain. A gust of dark gale was blown towards him, pushing him back. He had to evade this.
Satriamon backed away ever so slightly and delivered a forceful flying kick that struck the demon squarely on the chest. As the demon reeled back he raised the claws, roaring loudly before pressing them on the demon's injured chest. Bolts danced over GranDracmon's chest as Satriamon pressed on, forcing the demon to kneel. More and more flesh was torn amidst GranDracmon's scream, as data poured out from the wounds. Yet, GranDracmon was massive and defeating him with a pure physical attack was a difficult feat to achieve. He saw a looming shadow coming upon him – GranDracmon was attempting to strike him with his remaining good hand. He withdrew quickly, and loomed towards the ground where GranDracmon could not reach him. There, an idea struck him.
"Melancholic Bone Claw."
He slashed GranDracmon's right front knee, reeling back at the sight of digital liquid bursting out from the wound, spilling all over him. Snarling in disgust he backed away as the centaur wobbled down, having lost his balance. Satriamon made way towards the left knee in a swift motion, and when it too was struck GranDracmon instantly lost his balance and crumbled down, howling in pain. The Terror was now rendered immobilized – there was no way he could move with two injured legs.
Soaring to meet GranDracmon's eyes, Satriamon raised one claw in an attempt to finish the fallen Terror once and for all. The image of dying Adam was all he needed to supercharge his claws with more righteous dark energy. GranDracmon made an attempt to swipe him, but Satriamon quickly countered the massive paw with his psionic claw. Upon meeting his claw, GranDracmon let out a shriek as the flesh of his remaining good arm was ripped apart. Data liquid burst forth, followed by a series of sickening cracks as the bones that constituted the arm cracked into several little pieces before becoming shreds of data particles. GranDracmon was now without both arms.
Nevertheless, Satriamon took no pleasure in inflicting all those injuries to GranDracmon. He only wanted to be by Adam's side, to try whatever he could to vanquish the curse. The more time he spent battling GranDracmon, the lesser the chance it would be for him to ensure Adam's safety.
He flew over GranDracmon's head, the centaur only looking at him with his blank, dead eyes as he charged up his psionic power once again.
"Melancholic Bone Claw."
And with one powerful thrust of both claws over GranDracmon's head, it was over. The resulted psionic beam that escaped his claws created a pillar of crimson light that ripped GranDracmon apart, cracking the Terror's skull first before decapitating him. The Terror's humanoid body soon followed, bursting into data before the bestial half followed. For a while Satriamon watched the dark purple data particles that resulted from GranDracmon's deletion hovering around the city, before flying off towards the mosque.
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Lilithmon waited until Satriamon was completely out of view, before slowly soaring towards the place where GranDracmon formerly stood before Satriamon ripped him apart. Dark purple data still hovered around the area, along with digital liquids that were slowly vanishing.
If I'm going to have a fighting chance against Satriamon AND SkullSatamon, I'll need additional help, thought Lilithmon as she flicked her good hand upward. The purple data dusts began to converge around her as her body let out a soft glimmer. Data absorption was tricky and was rarely attempted, and she had seen how it had backfired on the Majin General when he absorbed D'Arcmon's data. D'Arcmon had rebelled, unwilling to be siphoned into Beelzemon's data constitution, and as the result she managed to escape and joined Rosemon instead. It was a good thing, then, since GranDracmon was killed while he was under my power. But then, I have to be so sure.
Gazing momentarily at her reflection on a window of a nearby building, she thought, This probably would be the last time I'm going to see myself in this beautiful form. Such is the price for power.
Closing her eyes, she began the process. The data was slowly absorbed into her body, and she felt her power increasing steadily.
Yes... more... more...
However, a strange jolt that coursed through her veins alerted her that something had gone wrong...
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"Adam?"
JD stepped in the open-air section of the mosque, where everyone gathered around Adam's still form. Alisha was crying, comforted by Jas, while Jade and Abu were talking quietly beside them. Dina too was sobbing along with Gayathri, while Manny and Liu Ying both looked up upon his arrival. Tear-stricken Liu Ying slowly shook her head, slowly backing away as JD and Agumon knelt beside Adam before joining the other DigiWira girls.
"He didn't make it," whispered Manny, placing a comforting hand on his shoulder. JD saw that Manny's eyes were shining.
JD nodded numbly as he reached for Adam's hand, grabbing it tight. It was still somewhat warm, but no longer had the warmth of life. His eyes stung as realization set to him. He'd lost Adam.
"I haven't seen Patamon anywhere," mumbled Agumon.
"Now's not the time, Agumon," snapped JD, before regretting doing so just a second later. As strong his bond with Adam was, so was the one shared by Agumon and Patamon. "Sorry, Agumon."
Agumon nodded understandably. "That's ok, Josh, but can I have Adam's Digivice?"
JD nodded and handed it to him without a word.
A thoughtful look crossed the raptor's face before he summoned slowly, "Patamon, Access!"
To everyone's surprise, it wasn't Patamon who emerged from the Digivice, but his In-Training form of Tokomon. But Tokomon was unconscious.
"Josh, look…"
JD stared at the sleeping Tokomon. Agumon was looking at him with wide eyes. "Josh, Tokomon's still here," he said urgently, grabbing on JD's other hand.
"I can see that."
"Don't you see, Josh?" said Agumon. "If Adam is dead, Tokomon wouldn't even be here. I've told you before, Josh, a partner can't live without his human. If Tokomon's still here, that means that Adam is still alive. Barely, but still alive. You still have time to heal him."
"Really?" Alisha scrambled towards JD, grabbing his arm. "Can you, Josh?"
JD swallowed a lump, meeting his cousin sister's tearful gaze. "I…Lilithmon said that I have the cure," he said, afraid to confirm, "I'll do whatever I can."
He crept closer to Adam as Agumon held Tokomon gently in his paws. He nervously placed his hand over the blistered tattoo, not knowing what to do but doing so by instinct. God help me, he thought silently, if I have the cure, please let it heal Adam. Please. I've never wanted anything so bad...if I can have only one wish, one wish throughout my entire lifetime, then let it be used to save Adam. He doesn't deserve to die like this.
He was expecting to see his hands glowing, expecting to see the cursed tattoo gone, but it never happened. Casting a look towards Tokomon, he refused to give up. Agumon was sure that with Tokomon around meant Adam was still alive, and Lilithmon was sure that he had the cure. The curse had rebounded back to her when she tried cursing him again, which had to mean something. He had to have the immunity against the curse – that was the only plausible explanation.
But how was he going to extend that same immunity to Adam?
"Josh…" Agumon's panicked cry caught his attention. Tokomon was glowing before shifting into a small, white blob. "He's Poyomon now – his Fresh form."
"Oh no," whispered JD, growing more frantic. Tokomon reverting to Poyomon was a sign that Adam was slipping away. What am I going to do? Please show me a way, any way, to heal Adam. I don't want him to die…I'd rather die myself. His heart skipped a beat at the silent proclamation. He did mean it. He's like my own brother and I love him…please, if it's the only way, let me take the curse back so that he'd live. Adam doesn't deserve this.
Nothing happened. A tear trickled down his cheek as his failure implicated something that he had dreaded for so long. The curse should have transferred back to him – did this mean that he didn't love Adam as much as Adam had? No! I do care for him. I do love him. Why isn't this working? Adam managed to take the curse on my behalf…why can't I do the same?
Memories began to flash rapidly in his mind, of their time together. Their previous enmity, ignited on his behalf; their slowly re-forging friendship at the Dark Ocean; the discovery of them being a family after the ordeal with the Puaka Generals. The fun times they had as their bond strengthen to a brotherly one, one that JD had seek out for a long time, and one that Adam had lost. They complimented each other well, like yin and yang, foils of each other due to their opposite natures. He'd thought that he was slowly getting over Adam's apparent death, but now, seeing him dying before him, he realized that he wasn't willing to lose Adam again.
You coming back alive after these few days is already against all odds that have been stacked against you, he thought, tracing the light scar on Adam's right index finger – the result of their blood oath. It has to mean something. You didn't stay alive all these while just to die again…it has to mean something. I can't bear to lose you again. Kak Lisha can't too.
Suddenly he stopped, staring at the blood oath scar on Adam's finger, and then at his own. I have the immunity…it means that it's in my blood…
His thoughts raced wildly, as something suddenly clicked in his mind. It was like he had finally been able to join all the scattered jigsaw puzzle pieces to see the big picture.
Everything happened after we made that oath. I began channeling Adam's power, I can combust and teleport stuffs…
He thought of GranDracmon's voice charm over Aldiyamon, and how frazzled the Terror had been when it was his voice that had recovered Aldiyamon from the effect of the charm.
I even broke that damned Terror's charm on Aldiyamon. Can it be…? GranDracmon was so sure that his charm was flawless, yet I broke it without any difficulty when everybody else failed to make him see reason.
Lilithmon was damned sure that her curse would kill me or anyone who took the curse in my place. Yet, Adam's still alive…She coudnt be lying; the Persiamon Manny met at that alternate Digital World confirmed that the curse has no other cure.
I met Adam at that strange white place…when it was clear that I was at the hospital and he was around here, fighting Lucemon, Lilithmon and the Terrors. He took the curse while we were there.
I saw Aldiyamon's battle in a series of…psychic images…
I heard Adam calling out to me, telepathically, while fighting GranDracmon…
These all can't be coincidences, he thought, looking at the mark on his finger. Could it be that all of these are caused by our oath? And if the immunity's in my blood...
He reached for his pocket. Damn…I don't have my pocketknife.
His eyes fell on Agumon's sharp claws, and grabbed it before impaling the raptor's sharp claws into the fleshes of all his five right fingers. Agumon yelped in surprise, everyone else gasped, screaming at him to control himself. Stupid! I'm not committing suicide! He thought, before reaching up for Adam's right hand and punctured the same wounds on the fleshes of his fingers. JD then joined his bloodied right fingers with Adam's, while his left was left hovering over Adam's chest. This has to work!
"Adam," he said strongly. "I love you, bro. Come back to us. Come back to me, bro. Kak Lisha needs you. Everybody needs you. I need you."
His fingers began to tingle. They stung too, but JD didn't care. Alisha crept beside him, looking at him with tearful curiosity, but did nothing to stop him. He dared to glance at her once, and saw the hopeful look from those familiar gray irises. She trusted him, he realized. He squeezed the blood out of his bleeding fingers.
"JOSH!" Both Jade and Abu protested, when droplets of blood fell on the blistered tattoo.
"No, wait!" Jackie stopped the two men, looking at JD curiously. A look of dawning comprehension graced his face, before he closed his eyes. When he opened them again, his cerulean eyes were sparkling with mirth. "Incredible... You two share a bond… a psychic rapport! That's so rare…" He looked around, his voice high anxious. "There's a chance that JD can save Adam!"
"WHAT?" Immediately everyone scrambled closer to them.
"How?" Liu Ying asked. "The curse..."
"Just let he do what he's intending to do," advised Jackie. "He might not be able to explain what he's doing, but I know that deep down he knows what he's doing. Trust him."
Everyone else nodded and watched JD and Adam with anticipation. JD nodded at Jackie, appreciating his confidence on him before he focused on Adam.
"Please, Adam...come back to me," he whispered. A tear dropped on his hand that was joined to Adam...and to his surprise the two hands glimmered.
"JD...your hands, they're glowing!" gasped Manny, despite JD was able to see that clearly.
Can it be? He thought, his heart swelling with hope. Come back to us, bro...
He saw light orbs emerging from their joined hands, colored crimson and white which gave them a slight pinkish hue, spiraling around Adam from head to toe, slowly and miraculously cleansing the boy from all the dirt, sweat, soot and injuries. His bloodstained shirt became clean white; his jeans lost the dusts and dirt that accumulated from his days of captive. Soft winds caught his dark hair, and they looked like Adam was just fresh out of shower. From dying, Adam now seemed to only be sleeping. JD felt the warmth of life returning to Adam as the orbs converged towards the boy's heart...
A bright flash of light took place and Adam gasped. His eyes fluttered open as the blisters on his chest began to heal. The black cat tattoo faded in a blink of the eye, leaving his chest unmarred as it had been. JD, speechless upon witnessing the miracle, only gazed as the gray orbs searched around him, adjusting to the amount of light that hovered within the mosque. Looking around him, he saw that there was no dry eyes there, human or Digimon.
In Agumon's hand, in swirls of light Poyomon digivolved to Tokomon, and then again to Patamon before opening his eyes. Patamon's awakening erupted a series of joyous cries from the other Digimon.
And finally, the orbs healed the wounds on JD's and Adam's fingers, but left the original blood oath scars on their right index fingers intact before they simmered down to nothingness. Their hands slowly part as Adam got up, JD assisting him quietly, still too numbed to speak.
"Adam?" Alisha said with a quivering voice, looming over her brother's prone form, sounding as if she didn't dare to believe that Adam was alive.
Adam smiled as his eyes met hers. "Kak Lisha, hi…why are you crying?" he asked softly.
Alisha immediately pulled Adam into an embrace, crying with joy and happiness before finally planting a kiss on each of Adam's cheek. "You're alive…thank God I didn't lose you…I was so worried, with all the nightmares I had about you..."
"I love you," said Adam, effectively stopping Alisha's rambling, only to proceed in making her even more tearful out of joy.
Adam smiled again before his eyes met JD's. JD had been too shocked and too enthralled that he was rendered speechless. Alisha, noticing their exchanged gazes, released Adam from her embrace and grabbed JD's hands, thanking him profusely while Adam fondly nodded.
"I knew you'd save me, eventually," said Adam. "All these while, while I was held captive—"
Adam was interrupted however, when JD pulled him into a bone-crushing hug. "I've told you once…don't scare me like that ever again!" He mumbled, referring to the incident after their victory over Gulfmon several months ago. "Scratch that," he said, withdrawing from the hug and gazed at the young boy before him with a mixture of fondness and the desire to frown. "You're never going to listen to me."
"It did work out for the best," said Adam, smiling, but his eyes searched JD's. "I still don't know how all of these happened…I just thought, that day, I was going to perish anyway when the Four Terrors surrounded me, and I wanted to see you one last time so badly that somehow we met. And now..." His eyes fell on their blood oath scars. "Is this how you healed me?"
"I...I'm not sure," he admitted, inclining towards Jackie for assistance. The digital man seemed to know something from the way he told everyone to trust what he was doing earlier.
"You two share a unique psychic rapport," said Jackie, approaching the two boys, two fingers pressed on his temple. "I hope you don't mind me reading your minds, but the discovery I've made from it is staggeringly surprising!"
"Just share what you've found out," said JD, chuckling before messing up Adam's refreshed dark hair, causing Adam to protest halfheartedly.
"It all seems to begin when your psychic powers were awakened. While they grew to be two different kinds of powers they still had the same fundamental base. It instigated a stronger bond between the two of you, but it would have never developed into a strong link if you two didn't make that blood oath. When your blood was joined, so were your powers, and thus a strong, unique psychic rapport was created. JD began having the ability to somehow harness Adam's power, while Adam began picking up on JD's emotions even more strongly than from the others, despite being separated by distance.
"This is further proven when JD became the only person who could snap Aldiyamon out of GranDracmon's voice charm, which apparently could only be broken by this rapport. Furthermore, it is also what that has saved Adam from death, because his mind was still psychically connected to JD's, enabling Adam to survive the curse. In layman' s term, JD had become Adam's anchor for survival. As long as Adam was strong enough physically to withstand the curse, he would live – the rapport gave him a fighting chance to survive. And then, after he was rescued, as we all have witnessed just now, the rapport plus the immunity JD has against the curse, not to mention love, too – a strong driving factor – all these worked together in expelling the curse from Adam without having to resort to another sacrifice. But of course, all of these are just...well, theories. Speculations. I'm not sure just how viable they are, but they're what I've managed to pick up..." Jackie looked around; apparently noticing the blank looks on almost everyone's faces. He smiled sheepishly. "I've lost you all, haven't I?"
Everyone laughed, including JD and Adam. "Ah, no worries, Jackie," said JD easily. "I'm sure we'll figure it all out sometime later. What matters now is that Adam's alive."
Adam nudged JD. "I really have to thank you for forcing me to do that blood oath," he murmured. "You convinced me that it wasn't ridiculous."
"Heh. I did, didn't I?" He playfully messed up Adam's hair again, somewhat amused that the fact that they were always able to return looking neat and straight after he had messed them up. "But you took the curse on my behalf. I'm the one who should be thanking you."
"But you cured me back," argued Adam. "If you didn't figure out how to cure me, I'd be dead by now."
"If you didn't take the curse, I'd never have developed the immunity against it," countered JD. "We both lived because of your bravery, bro. I'd have died if it weren't for you."
Adam frowned, as if trying to think of a way to reply, before Alisha pressed his shoulder gently as well as grabbing JD's at the same time. "How about you boys call it even?" she suggested. "In my eyes, you two saved each other's lives. How does that sound?"
"I think that pretty much summarized the whole thing anyway without getting too technical," Gayathri quipped, resulting in another round of laughter.
"Yeah…" JD nodded, and looked at Adam who smiled back. "How about it?"
"Yeah," nodded Adam.
"Good, now we can celebrate--"
The ground rumbled and a horrifying shriek was heard from outside. It was nothing like they had ever heard before.
"Looks like you've spoken too soon," said Manny, wincing slightly at the shriek's horribly high pitch.
"What was that?" Adam wondered.
"Couldn't be the Four Terrors, we've beaten them all," said JD, craning his neck to see what was going on.
"The Four Terrors beaten?" Adam gasped.
"You missed out a lot," said JD. "Now it's only Lilithmon…and probably SkullSatamon too. And don't look so worried; I saw you, as Aldiyamon, destroying Seraphimon. That's one badass version of Aldiyamon if you ask me."
"You saw? How?" Adam frowned. "You weren't there!"
JD thought about Jackie's explanation, which probably made the most sense because he didn't know what to make out of the psychic images he had received earlier. They were like visions of some sorts, but he wasn't sure. So he tapped his temple and grinned as he tapped Adam's. "Psychic rapport, remember?" His face became serious. "You're ready for action or do you need to lie down a bit to rest?" He cast a look at the other DigiWira, and saw that they were still drained from battle. Adam however, despite having just being brought back to life, looked radiant and rejuvenated. There was something about his cousin that sparked power beyond what he had ever seen.
"I've never felt better," replied Adam, before stopping to consider it. "Maybe once or twice…umm…"
"Okay, so you are better," said JD. "How about we…" He stole a glance towards Alisha, seeking her permission. "Uh…"
"You two look out for each other, that's all I'm going to ask," Alisha said, nodding.
"That goes without saying," said JD, handing out Adam's Digivice to its rightful owner. "I believe this is yours."
"My Digivice!" said Adam, taking it, looking profoundly relieved. "I remembered forcing Patamon inside it and 'ported it to someplace safe before Lilithmon took me away. I'd hoped that you'd find it, and see that Patamon was inside it, and realized that I was still alive."
"It never occurred to me that he was in there all this while," said JD wistfully. "I should've known…"
"How could you have known? As far as we had known then, I'd be dead after midnight," assured Adam. "I just hoped that you'd try calling for Patamon, thinking that I was still alive."
Adam's innocent answer suddenly made JD felt a bit ashamed. He saw Alisha flushing a little, and for a moment was at a loss of how to respond to Adam. Had they really been too quick in thinking that Adam was dead, while Adam had suffered for five days, waiting for them to come to his rescue? How difficult was it really, to call out for Patamon. The Digivices had the ability to store Digimon inside them. Why didn't it ever occur to him that Patamon could actually be inside there? Just because Patamon never called out for him? But then again, Agumon seemed to realize that Patamon was in there…he was the one who'd called Patamon out.
"You're blaming yourself," said Adam slowly. "Please don't."
JD frowned. "How did you…?"
Adam grinned. "Psychic rapport, remember?" He said, mimicking JD's earlier words.
JD was going to retort before another shriek ensued, reminding them of the situation at hand. Adam blinked, before looking up to him.
"It's Lilithmon," he said grimly. "But there's something…different. Kinda like GranDracmon too…"
JD gazed at his cousin briefly, wondering whether Adam's power had evolved to a point where he could determine the source of the emotions he was picking up with his empathic ability, before pushing the thought away. They got a situation in hand.
"Have you seen my Juara Mode?" he asked, jerking up his eyebrows in a provoking sort of way.
"Have you seen my Burst Mode?" Adam returned, and raised his Digivice up.
"Burst Access Digivolution, HAAA!"
Adam and Patamon merged, and became Aldiyamon, and then Aldiyamon Juara Mode, before a column of silvery white light enveloped him. Feathers spiraled around the column of light before it siphoned into a white armored figure with ten wings made out of silver-white energy. He was pretty much the same as the Juara Mode form of Aldiyamon, but with one remarkable difference: his hair was once again dark, similar to the angel's Ultimate form and more importantly, to the DigiWira half of him. It was long and sleek, and tied to the back. Much to JD's relief the Heavenstar Gladius materialized within Aldiyamon's right hand, while on his left hand there was a glowing shield that looked so much like the shape of a bird with its wings stretched wide. Completing his transformation, the winged white visor covered the upper half of his face as a white firebird aura shone around him. He then declared his newest form as…
Aldiyamon, Burst Mode!
"Burst Mode? What kind of a name is Burst Mode?" JD mumbled, making a face as he took out his Digivice. "This is so unfair. I've just gotten my Juara Mode today!"
"Juara Access Digivolution, HAAAA!"
xxx
xxx
Flying side by side, Aldiyamon and Satriamon saw a huge monstrosity wrecking damage against the buildings around the towers.
"Oh man, check it out," said Satriamon. "An unholy offspring to Lilithmon and GranDracmon!"
"Don't give me any idea," said Aldiyamon, "but that's a good description of that…that thing."
One look at it and they could see Lilithmon's features – her head and upper body was of hers, but her lower body was nothing but a huge blob of purple with dark patches of hair that seemed to be from GranDracmon's body, along with what looked to be the mangled extremities that belonged to the dark centaur jutting out in a random manner from the purple blob. On her back there were her dark sleek wings as well as GranDracmon's bigger pair of wings. The way she moved was clumsy and sluggish; Satriamon couldn't help but comparing this monstrosity to how GranDracmon had been acting before his deletion. They both looked the same. Looks like she's paying a heavy price for power, he noted silently.
Aldiyamon looked at him. Despite masked, it was apparent that he was confused. "How did she get the curse?"
"Oh, you didn't know?" Satriamon asked, before suddenly stared at the angelic knight deviously. "Hey…the only way you'd know about that is if you were checking her out!" he teased.
Aldiyamon flushed. "I did not! It's just there, I can't help but notice!"
"Heh, heh, relax there. I'm just messing with ya," Satriamon snickered, feeling all too glad that things were getting back to normal. "She tried to curse me, but it rebounded back to her. I was glad that it happened, because then she told us all about you being alive and that I have the cure. That's how I got the idea on how to heal you." He snorted upon gazing at the monstrosity before them; Lilithmon didn't seem to realize that she had company.
"It seems to me that she's taken more than she could handle," said Aldiyamon. "Something was worrying her, I can't read her mind clearly, but she's absorbed GranDracmon's data and has failed to siphon it perfectly with her own…resulting in this monstrosity."
"Well she did mention of SkullSatamon betraying them," noted Satriamon. "She told us that the reason why Grademon entombed them instead of outright deletion was that SkullSatamon would've gotten their powers if they were deleted."
"You mean…"
"Yeah. SkullSatamon now has the powers from all the Digimon we have deleted. Lilithmon's kinda freaked out too, I think. She thought that SkullSatamon's coming after her."
Aldiyamon's mouth thinned into a line. "That was his plan then," he muttered. "To power me up so that I'd destroy Seraphimon, and he'd get Seraphimon's power."
"Hey, look at the bright side," said Satriamon. "You're now one level higher than any Mega. Earlier today, we were on the losing side. Now, the Terrors are all gone, save for GranDracmon maybe, and we even got you back. This might sound a bit cliché, but seems like the good guys always win in the end."
Lilithmon suddenly rumbled; she had seen them. Her dark eyes focused on them, and a snarl escaped her. She screamed and wordlessly blasted out energy hearts towards them. Aldiyamon extended his glowing shield but Satriamon had unsheathed his saber, eager to take this monstrosity on. He hacked through the hearts, destroying them before advancing towards the monster. Looking back, he knew that by level alone Aldiyamon was more powerful than him, but the big brother nature inside of him couldn't resist a bit of showing off. After all, hadn't he made quick work out of GranDracmon earlier? Maybe he could deal with Lilithmon just as quickly too.
"Watch my back," he requested, and smirked. "And be amazed."
Aldiyamon merely chuckled. "Got it."
He stared towards Lilithmon, who reeled back at the heat he was producing. He called upon his psionic power. "This is for TobuCatmon. MELANCHOLIC BONE CLAW!"
He began slashing towards Lilithmon, but the mutated demoness was able to parry his blows easily with a series of crazed energy hearts attack. He caught sight of one hand – apparently Lilithmon's dismembered hand had recovered when she took GranDracmon's data as her own – swiping towards him and slammed his psionic claw towards it.
"Too bad, Lilithmon. Looks like you're gonna lose your new hand too!"
"We'll see about that!" Lilithmon slurred for the first time; her voice sounding like a tape recorder played at a very slow speed.
Their claws slammed, but to his surprise Lilithmon had exuded a powerful force against his claw that it pushed him back instead.
"What the hell?" He balked, as his hand was numbed. The psionic claw had vanished without even hurting Lilithmon, whereas it had torn apart GranDracmon's thickset arms without much effort. Something was wrong here. He knew that the Melancholic Bone Claw was powerful, but somehow it barely could injure the mutated demoness.
"Do you need help?" Aldiyamon asked.
"Not yet, I…" He gazed at Aldiyamon, and then realized what was wrong.
Of course, he thought, resisting the urge to laugh out loud. The Melancholic Bone Claw feeds on my sorrow and sadness. I thought Adam was dead then, I was too damned sad...that's why the claw was so powerful. Now Adam's back with me. I'm not sad at all…the claw's no longer as powerful as it had been. Heh…
"Look out!" Aldiyamon warned, as Lilithmon delivered another furious swipe towards him. He managed to jump away just in time. "Now do you need help?" Aldiyamon asked him.
"Not yet. Both of us could kill her, which is not what we want," said Satriamon.
"The cure!" Lilithmon suddenly shrieked. "Give me the cure, or suffer the consequences!"
"Hmph. Just looking at you makes me suffer," retorted Satriamon, and Aldiyamon giggled at that. "I've got a better idea."
He soared high, and Lilithmon furiously howled before attempting to follow him. He charged his fist with flames, a fiery dragon glowing about him This time around, his jubilance and elatedness of having his cousin brother with him seemed to charge this attack with more power than it had ever demonstrated before.
"DRAGON FIST EXPLOSION!"
A deafening dragon's roar echoed all around the destroyed city as Satriamon loomed towards Lilithmon. Lilithmon retaliated with her Serpent Shadow Sutra, which took the form of a cobra that was ready to strike, but Satriamon sped faster, his right fist extended as red glorious flames licked the black cobra menacingly. The cobra let out a hiss and reeled back before dissipating into data particles, and Satriamon pushed on. His fist slammed against the center of Lilithmon's chest, causing her to stagger back as the flames from Satriamon's fist erupted all around her. However, to his dismay he saw that she was unhurt - a bronze bell barrier glowed about her.
But then, the barrier crackled and was destroyed when a holy-charged sword was impaled upon it. Glancing sideways, Satriamon saw that Aldiyamon had used the Heavenstar Gladius to destroy the barrier. He was momentarily amazed; this meant that Aldiyamon Burst Mode was more powerful than Lilithmon.
The sword then reappeared in the angel's hand. "Thought you might need that," said Aldiyamon.
"Sure did. Thanks!" Satriamon unsheathed his saber and charged it with both fire and dark powers."DRAGONFORCE SABER!"
He made a series of rapid slashes, further injuring Lilithmon, but was careful not to delete her. He doubted that as a regular Mega he was able to inflict too much harm on the demoness; having absorbed GranDracmon, Lilithmon would be stronger than any Mega. Aldiyamon Burst Mode was a better match for her, but he was wary that Aldiyamon could actually destroy Lilithmon if push came to shove, and thus opted to fight Lilithmon on his own, employing strategy as well as raw power.
"FIRESTORM PURIFICATION!"
He left Lilithmon no chance to strike back. The blast of flames further burned the demoness' blob-body, causing Lilithmon to howl in pain. Then she shrieked and her face craned towards him. Before he knew it she let loose a black hurricane gale from her wide-opened mouth, cackling as he was sent crashing against the park.
"Satriamon!" shouted Aldiyamon. The angel held on his sword to his far right side as white holy bolts danced about the blade of the sword, calling out mightily as he brought the sword to his left side, "Heavenstar Gladius!" His visor flashed with white radiance that blinded Lilithmon for a moment, before he slashed the sword forward. "FINAL STRIKE!"
The resulted bladed energy blast made a cut on Lilithmon's body. Lilithmon shrieked as digital liquid poured out from the gash.
"Whoa!" said Satriamon, joining Aldiyamon's side. "That's one badass attack, lil' bro."
"She's strong," replied Aldiyamon grimly. "I really think we should work together to beat her. And…"
"And what?"
"Firestorm Purification?" asked Aldiyamon, clearly indignant. "Copycat!"
Satriamon was about to return a playful retort before Lilithmon let loose another black hurricane gale against both of them. Aldiyamon raised his shield and managed to protect himself, while Satriamon resorted to folding his fiery wings before him, forming some sort of a shield as well. They pressed forward, resisting the foul-smelling hurricane with their saber and sword flaring with flames and light power.
A black energy orb was formed inside Lilithmon's mouth. She shrieked, and the orb exploded into a beam of dark energy that headed towards them.
"Let's cross our swords," he suggested quickly.
Aldiyamon nodded, and the Heavenstar Gladius was crossed with the Dragonforce Saber just as the beam hit the crossing point between the two blades. The blades shimmered with crimson and white before deflecting the dark beam back towards Lilithmon.
"Now let's show her some purification power!" he shouted, when Lilithmon was distracted from the first attack.
"You're on!"
"FIRESTORM…"
"ETERNAL LIGHT…"
"…PURIFICATION!"
The two attacks were released simultaneously side-by-side, before crackles of lightning bolts danced around the two attacks as they converged into one fearsome blast of flames and lights, hitting Lilithmon squarely on her face and body. She shrieked as the two attacks burned against her body, before an explosion of light resulted. Satriamon and Aldiyamon immediately stopped, fearing that they had exerted too much power that could have killed Lilithmon.
"Oh, no, where's she?" Satriamon wondered worriedly, when the blobbed Lilithmon had vanished.
Aldiyamon placed two fingers on his temple and began concentrating hard. "She's not deleted yet," he said, pointing towards a direction. "There!"
Satriamon followed Aldiyamon's direction and saw, to his surprise, Persiamon, lying prone over the edge of the park. While still alive, she looked worse for wear, and he noted that her right arm was missing a hand. Slowly the two of them descended down as Persiamon staggered to get up.
"YOU!" She gasped in disbelief, looking at Aldiyamon. "How did you…" She cast a look towards Satriamon. "You do have the cure."
"Guilty," he agreed. "You lose, Persiamon. You couldn't kill me and my bro, and you got cursed instead. Karma bites you back hard." He snickered, enjoying taunting the weakened Virago General whom had caused him so much grief for the past one month.
"Kill me, then!" challenged Persiamon. "What have I got to lose?"
"What, and let your dear Master gain the lasts of the power he needs?" Satriamon asked. "Not a chance. You still have one month. As long as you're alive we still have time to hunt down that bag of bones and wipe him out. And who knows…" He shrugged. "Maybe you'll find someone who'll love you enough to take the curse for you."
"Stop mocking me!" shouted Persiamon, rising to her feet before falling to her knees. "Don't mock me!"
"I'm not mocking you," said Satriamon calmly, casting a look towards Aldiyamon. Realizing that whatever strength Persiamon had with her at present was only enough to sustain her in her Ultimate form, he let go of his power and devolved into his composite selves. Aldiyamon followed suit.
JD gazed towards the weakened general. "Although you nearly killed us both, but at the same time you've made me realize that I have a lot of people around me who actually loved me. You made me appreciate life even more, and you've strengthened the bond Adam and I have. For that, I should thank you."
Persiamon however, had obviously misinterpreted his sincere words. "Damn you, JD! Are you that much of a coward, resorting to taunting me until I meet my end rather than killing me? Huh?" She spat at him, her saliva landing several inches from his feet. She glared at him, pure hatred glazed from her green eyes. "Coward," she hissed.
JD shrugged. "Sorry if you feel that way. I don't feel like fighting you, because we all know that I've won."
"You won with the kitten's help!"
"Exactly," said JD. "I have people watching my back, and I'd do the same to anybody else who needs me to do so. We're never alone, unlike you. You know…I almost feel sorry for you."
"DAMN YOU!" Once again she spat at his feet. It actually landed on his shoes now.
"But then again, maybe I don't," said JD, his voice hardened. "You better go at the deepest corner of the Digital World and hide, Persiamon, if you value what's left of your life."
"Stop pretending that you care!" snapped Persiamon. "If you care so much you'd cure me as you cured him."
JD chuckled as he slung an arm around Adam's shoulder. "That's impossible," he said. "I can't cure you, because I sure as hell don't love you!" From the distance, he saw the others approaching, obviously having seen the battle from afar and knowing that they had beaten the Virago General. "C'mon, Adam, let's go."
xxx
xxx
"Don't you DARE walk away from me!" Persiamon screamed, watching as JD, Adam and their partners met up with the other. They ignored her screams, rejoicing over their victory that day.
She couldn't believe her misfortune. JD was saved from the curse, Adam was healed from the curse, and she instead had been inflicted with the curse. The Blight of Bastet could only be removed, or healed, with a strong love. JD was saved when Adam took the curse on his behalf, and Adam wasn't even killed by the curse. GranDracmon had suggested that it was a deep psychic bond between those two boys that prevented Adam from being killed by the curse, and now the said boy was alive and well, the theory was proven true. JD had the immunity against the curse, and through their bond the immunity was extended to Adam, eradicating the curse.
There was no way that JD would heal her. Despite his kind words she knew that deep inside JD hated her guts. She had caused him to suffer for one long month.
"IT'S NOT FAIR!" She screamed, thumping the grounds angrily. Looking up at the moon that was now emerging from the darkened sky, she was reminded of the times when she actually enjoyed watching the moon, waiting for the full bloom to see JD's demise with her own eyes. Now, all she was feeling was dread as the next full moon would spell her doom. She cursed her ancestor, the one that had created the blight and passed it down to all the next Persiamon lineage.
"You've gotten your just desserts, Persiamon..."
"Now you know how we've felt, Persiamon., when you cursed us with that wretched blight."
She didn't know how this was possible, but she began seeing apparitions of various Digimon whom she had cursed centuries ago, swirling around her, laughing and mocking at her repeatedly for the irony of her downfall.
"I've told you that one day you would pay for your evilness!"
"How does it feel, to be at the receiving end of your own curse?"
"Youre going to die a horrible, painful death, just like us..."
"STOP!" She shouted angrily. "Don't mock me!"
Clutching her head, she shrieked to cast out the ghostly voices from her mind, but they would not go. They continued tormenting her with their insults and laughs, and from a distance she saw the DigiWira looking at her oddly.
"What is wrong with her?" wondered Liu Ying.
"I don't see anyone mocking her," said Manny.
"I think she is hallucinating," said Jackie.
"Ignore her. She's gone mad..." said JD, looking at her with a frown.
Fools, seethed Persiamon. Didnt they see them? They are right here!
She suddenly felt fatigued and collapsed face-up onto the ground, with no energy left to even retort to the ghostly figures that were circling above her. Let them insult her as much as they wanted, she didn't care. She couldn't bring herself to care anymore.
Suddenly, a thunderous crack was heard from the high heavens and the ghosts vanished, their laughs slowly diminishing. She would have laughed if she wasn't too weak.
The barrier that she and Seraphimon had cast around the city crackled. Waves of flames engulfed the barrier from the outside before it combusted into data.
Her heart nearly stopped. That particular Shield of Waja was created from the combined powers of her and Seraphimon, meaning that it would take a Digimon with a greater power than what Seraphimon and she had to destroy it. Yet there it was, destroyed.
From the heavens a fiery whirlwind descended, landing in between her and the DigiWira. She saw to her horror, a familiar skull head with gleaming red eyes gazing at her. A body formed under the skull, armored in gold and black, with a blaster perched on one arm and a blade of a scythe as the other. He chuckled at her astounded face. She thought there was a hungry look from the way he was staring at her.
"My, my," the Digimon said, "The proud Virago General… reduced and broken. Never thought I would see the day."
"SkullSatamon…"
"Correct, Persiamon, but not quite there," said the demon, sounding so falsely pleasant. "I'm now Reapermon."