Part 1: The Five Generals

Chapter 6: Dorulumon DX versus MadLeomon Orochi Mode

"Dorulumon DX. Adult Double Xros Level. Mythical Beast Type," read Akari with awe as she beheld their combined Digimon with a look of wonder. "Dorulumon!"

"Shoutmon!" cried Taiki as he looked at the Digimon before them, his eyes wide.

"We are no longer simply Shoutmon nor Dorulumon," said the Double Xros Digimon. "Now, we are one. Together, we will put an end to this conflict. The Bagura Empire will not hurt those that we love."

The stage was set. On one side of the tree-enclosed area stood MadLeomon, servant of the Bagura Empire, forcibly Xrossed with his own subordinate Orochimon to become the Adult Xros Level Digimon, MadLeomon Orochi Mode.

On the other, their backs to the wall - literally - were the two human children, Kudou Taiki and Hinomoto Akari. Two children wielding mythical Xros Loaders. Two children who held each other's hands as they faced down their opponent.

In front of them stood the Double Xros of their Digimon, Dorulumon DX. His eyes were narrowed as he stared down the would-be assailant of the Village of Smiles. "MadLeomon. Today, this battle ends."

MadLeomon snorted. "That is one thing we agree upon, miserable wretch! DigiXros all you want. You still won't be strong enough to defeat me."

"Dorulumon DX! You can win," said Taiki with conviction.

"I believe in you," breathed Akari. "Go get him."

"...Right," confirmed Dorulumon DX as he ran for his opponent.

MadLeomon began to charge as well, a vicious battle growl sounding as he prepared to ram his enemy, the two snake-head arms poised to strike.

They clashed; arms and fists and stinging blows rained down on both opponents, their faces taut with emotion: Dorulumon DX poised with an expression of focus and concentration while MadLeomon's was filled with rage and aggression. Whipping his foot out, Dorulumon DX managed to smash his enemy towards the forest. A swath of trees were decimated and a large gouge was scraped into the earth as he slid uncontrollably, his lack of actual hands restricting his ability to slow himself. Finally, with a dull rumble, he came to a complete stop, his eyes blinking in surprise.

"How?" he asked himself as he struggled to his feet. Dorulumon DX stood away from him, unmoving, unblinking, resolute. "How can you be so strong? It's impossible!" he cried as he charged into the fray once more. "Noxious Venom Darts!" he cried as the mouths of his eight snakes opened wide and a rain of poisonous projectiles were launched, headed right for Dorulumon DX.

"Dorulumon DX!" cried the children in unison as they saw the ranged attack.

They needn't have worried, however, for the Double Xros Digimon neatly sidestepped the assault, gracefully spinning out of harm's way. "You'll have to be faster than that!" mocked Dorulumon DX as he allowed himself a grin.

MadLeomon growled as he saw how futile his attack had been. This Double Xros is much more tricky than I would have originally assumed. I need a strategy, he thought as he began to formulate plots in his mind.

Dorulumon DX, meanwhile, wouldn't allow MadLeomon the time necessary to devise such things as he bolted towards the Bagura Army officer, his wolf-fists drawn back and ready. However, he miscalculated MadLeomon's ability to strategize. As he struck, MadLeomon wrapped his arms around the wrists of Dorulumon DX, effectively rendering him useless. "I have you!" declared MadLeomon as he opened his mouth wide. "Paralysis Fumes!"

Billowing purple plumes of poisonous gas spewed from MadLeomon's mouth, covering the Double Xros Digimon. "I...I'm feeling...really weak...all of a...sudden..." muttered Dorulumon DX as he felt his body seizing up, his strength sapped.

"Look at you! All that bluster, and now you're powerless," mocked MadLeomon Orochi Mode, his beady eyes lit up with mirth at his opponent's predicament. Rearing back, he let loose the snake-heads surrounding his body, blows hammering upon Dorulumon DX. With each hit, Dorulumon DX let out a cry of pain, his eyes squinted shut.

Akari felt each blow like a dagger through her heart. "Dorulumon DX!" she cried as she felt a particularly insidious blow rain home. "Please...? Don't die..."

"...Akari..." whispered Dorulumon DX.

"I won't let it happen again! Never again! Dorulumon DX! Show this pretender the true power of DigiXros! The power of friendship and trust!" shouted Taiki, his eyes hard, his expression stony.

"...Taiki...Akari..." mumbled Dorulumon DX as he began to struggle against his bonds, his eyes blazing.

"What is this?" snarled MadLeomon, the surprise evident in his words as he felt the Double Xros Digimon strain against his bonds. "Where is this strength coming from?"

With a savage cry, Dorulumon DX ripped his arms free of MadLeomon's grasp, inadvertently severing the two snake arms, the heads falling to the ground to splinter into packets of harmless data while MadLeomon was left to cry out in agony.

Dorulumon DX leant forward and smashed his wolf-fist into MadLeomon with extreme force, sending the large Adult Xros Digimon flying through the air before he crashed down to earth with a deafening thud. "You want to know?" he asked of the Bagura Army officer. MadLeomon looked at him in confusion. "Where our strength comes from? Our strength comes from the fact that we will protect the ones we love, no matter what the cost! Howling Fang!"

An intense force began to expand from Dorulumon DX, focusing itself until it settled over his fists, giving them a tint of gold. The mouths on each opened and a beam of energy shot from both, zooming right for MadLeomon's prone form. There wasn't even time for him to scream obscenities about hating humans before he was consumed. An implosion occurred, the devastation focusing inwards until it disappeared in a speck of light and was no more.

"You did it!" smiled Taiki as Dorulumon DX split into its two components, Shoutmon and Dorulumon respectively. He and Akari ran to the side of their friends. Akari wrapped her arms around Dorulumon's neck, cuddling him.

"You were amazing!" she said with admiration.

"Kyu!" agreed Cutemon as he jumped onto his perch atop Dorulumon's head. Dorulumon didn't answer, but his face gained a slight blush. Taiki, on the other hand, grabbed Shoutmon's hands and began bouncing on the spot.

"I knew you could do it."

"Heh!" was all Shoutmon said in response.

Beyond them, unseen to the group, Amano Nene stood impassively, watching their progress. "Perhaps Red will be the one I choose. Things are becoming very interesting." A grin came to her face, one that would terrify most people. Turning her back to them, she walked away, heading for her next target, the General of Blue Flare, Aonuma Kiriha.

oOo

"Oh my...it looks as though your subordinate has disappointed you again," came the snide female voice of one of the Bagura Empire's Generals.

A large Digimon with gemstones adorning his body moved into the light. "I wonder whether the Green Zone is beyond your power to conquer. What do you think, Lilly-chan?"

"I think that it would be wise for you to be patient, my dear Generals," spoke the third. "I have yet to fail in any task given to me by Baguramon-sama. I can assure you that this shall not become my first blemish on an otherwise spotless record. Green Zone will be mine. It is only a matter of time."

oOo

"Double Xros is extremely powerful," said Taiki as they all rested, some lying down, others with their backs to the giant stone wall that for so long had been a major obstacle.

"It felt like we had limitless energy inside us," said Shoutmon as he sat between Taiki and Akari, his eyes drooping a little.

"It seems like all that energy has disappeared," Akari joked, getting a bristled Shoutmon angrily defending himself. "Relax!" she amended hastily. "I was only joking. You were wonderful." Akari's praise forced a blush onto Shoutmon's face and calmed him down immediately.

She absently stroked her hand through Dorulumon's fur. It was an action he allowed, simply because he could see how much this human girl needed the reassurance. Between the rock-slide and MadLeomon, Akari's new-found status as Xros Loader wielder and human partner to a Digimon had been sorely tested. Now, she needed to discover herself and her future role in the battle to come against the Bagura Empire.

"Ah!" declared Shoutmon as he bounded to his feet, ignoring his earlier fatigue for the present.

"What is it, Shoutmon?" asked Taiki whose own eyes were beginning to grow heavy.

"I've been forgetting something important." As he was speaking, he rushed off, his words hanging in the air. The children watched in bemusement as he returned moments later, a long stick held in his hands. He began deftly carving into the dirt at his feet. "We have to decide upon a symbol for our army."

"A...symbol...?"

"It's the mark that will be seen first by everyone," he explained as he continue to draw. "It needs to be something instantly recognizable. Something that will cause your allies to cheer and your enemies to shrink in fear. There!"

Taiki and Akari stepped forward to have a closer look. "What the...?" replied Akari in surprise as she recoiled.

In front of them was a replica of Shoutmon's head, scratched into the ground. Shoutmon looked at his creation with pride, while Taiki simply scratched his head in apparent confusion.

"So, so? What do you think, General?"

"What do I think...?" Taiki was lost for words.

Akari took it upon herself to help him. "It's...different..."

"That...isn't exactly the response I was hoping for..." said Shoutmon mournfully. "Come on, Taiki! Be more excited. This is the symbol of our army. It's important!"

Taiki forced himself to concentrate upon the image before his eyes. "Well, it could be worse, I guess," he replied.

Shoutmon faltered at his words. "Fine! I think it looks really good. Are we in agreement that this will be our symbol?" When Taiki aired no complaint to the contrary, Shoutmon smiled. "Okay! It's decided then. We still need to think of a name for our army. I'll leave that to you, Taiki, since I designed our symbol."

"A name..."

"It has to mean something. Something to do with your army. An idea or philosophy that you follow."

"What do you think, Akari?" asked Taiki.

"She can't help you with this, Taiki," said Shoutmon suddenly, drawing Taiki's critical eye to him. "Don't get me wrong!" he added, noticing the glare. "It isn't because I have a problem with her. She has a Xros Loader now, just like you. She is now a General as well. She will have to design her own symbol and come up with a name for her own army, just like we are."

"I'm a...General...?"

"That's right," continued Shoutmon, his eyes now fixed upon Akari. "Dorulumon is the first Digimon of your army, just like I am for Taiki. When you came to the Digital World with Taiki, it wasn't so he had some moral support, or someone from home he could relate to. Akari. You were destined to become a General. You are destined to help us in the war against the Bagura Empire."

Akari was gobsmacked. She hadn't been thinking of that when she had cried out for Dorulumon to be saved. She wanted to help him. It was as simple as that. Now, she faced the prospect of many battles like this, many of them far more ferocious. She faced the potential horror of watching her friends die before her eyes.

It was a responsibility she wasn't prepared to comprehend yet.

"I...need a minute...okay...?"

"Akari...?" started Taiki.

"Just leave me alone a minute, okay, Taiki?" she burst out, startling Taiki to non-movement. Akari turned on her heel and ran away from the group, her mind in turmoil, her eyes leaking.

"Akari–" Taiki started to follow, but was cut to the quick by Dorulumon.

"I'll follow after her and make sure she's safe. You stay here," he said with finality, before he left to watch over Akari.

Taiki stood stockstill, watching where his friend had disappeared, feeling utterly wretched.

"What's the matter, Taiki?" asked Shoutmon, noticing his General's sour mood.

It took a moment for Taiki to grind out his words, but when he did, Shoutmon was left wishing he had never asked.

"We should never have come here."

To Be Continued...

oOo

A/N: The responsibility of a General falls into Akari's lap and she finds herself incapable of bearing it. With a divide threatening to fracture the group, will Taiki and Akari be able to remain the same as before? Or is it a necessary prerequisite for a General to sever all emotional ties?

And what of MadLeomon? Will his hatred of humans allow him a third and final chance of victory? Or is this the last we will ever see of him? As usual, find out in upcoming chapters.