OoC: CCX again. Sorry it's been so long; I lost focus. I'll be doing the headings a bit more like ChaosChampion's, as we should be writing as though we were one author. Er... I'm losing focus again, aren't I?

Chapter 7: The Last Barrier

"What are we supposed to do about the Crests?" Taichi asked.

Hikari replied, "I don't see what use we have for them any more. Get rid of any that are no longer needed."

"Incorrect, my dear; they will be quite useful with a bit of modification," Myotismon told them, "Yours will be the most useful when ready, but as of right now it is the most dangerous."

"Dangerous?"

"Before I took you under my wing, you were to receive the Crest of Light. This, and probably all of the Crests, will need to be reversed. I assure you, the Crest of Darkness is a powerful one indeed. Taichi's does not need to be reversed, as its opposite is one of weakness, but the others will also need these accommodations."

"So how do we reverse them?" Yamato asked, wondering what his crest would become.

"A good question. We shall have to return to the Dark Masters to find the answer."

"Back so soon?" Piedmon teased.

"Yes, and with a powerful new force; the Chosen Ones corrupted."

"Impressive. Still at a loss for a home, though, are you?"

"That isn't the point," Myotismon said. "We must reverse the polarity of most of their Crests."

"I see... Well, I'll have to run it by Apocalymon first; he's in charge of everything around here." He took the Crests.

A few hours later, Piedmon returned with the new Crests. For Yamato was the Crest of Animosity; Sora received the Crest of Hatred; Mimi the Crest of Insincerity; Takeru the Crest of Despair; and, of course, the Crest of Darkness for Hikari. They took the Crests and left.


"Next, we must get back the Digimon could not become vampires," Myotismon told them. "First, we must find the traitor Gatomon and bring her back to us."

"Already taken care of, my lord," Hikari replied.

"What?"

"I said it was already taken care of. During my training, she came back to the castle, obviously searching for me. Phantomon ordered me to destroy her again, to prove that I would not grow weak when faced with reminders of my past life. I instead showed the cunning to force her to Digivolve, allowing me to sire her."

The others all looked at her. "Well, that's one less thing to worry about, right?" Mimi asked.

"Yes, that's correct. Next, we must find Greymon. I believe he is about ready to reach his Mega stage, at which point we will have BlackWarGreymon. " The others looked intrigued at this name, as they hadn't yet seen WarGreymon. "If not, then we will Dark Digivolve him to SkullGreymon, more powerful even than the virus-type MetalGreymon. Now, as for Garurumon...I believe there is an Ultimate-level Digimon named ShadowWereGarurumon; it'll be easy to create that. The problem, then, lies with finding a suitable version of Birdramon. Perhaps the Champion-level known as Saberdramon, although a Champion-level is hardly fitting for you, Sora."

"Indeed," Hikari agreed, "we should all have Ultimate-level Digimon or higher." Although in the future Takeru's Crest would feed on the despair of his victims, right now he was awfully disheartened himself; like Hikari, he was more strongly tied to the light than the others and was still adjusting to his new life. He was also the only one whose Digimon had never Digivolved to Ultimate, and only had Digivolved to Champion three times before he had become a vampire. This sadness fueled his Crest, and Angemon Digivolved to MagnaAngemon. "You see what I mean?" Hikari gestured to the newly Digivolved Ultimate.

"Yes. You certainly have grown quickly." He laughed. "As arrogant as a born vampire. I knew I saw the proper spark within you, if it were caressed the proper way," he enhanced his words with actions, gently stroking his bride, "and nourished it could grow into something truly evil. It was a lucky chance that I could find it. Everyone has equal potential on both paths—it is just a matter of making sure they choose the correct one. I helped you find your path."

"...And you'll never let me forget it, will you? You overbearing bastard," Hikari retorted.

"I see my charm has rubbed off on you, Hikari."

"And your arrogance."

"Are they for real?" Taichi asked.

Sora reminded him, "You must remember that Hikari's been a vampire for ten years now, and that they have had a considerable amount of time to bond."

"Yes, I know," Taichi replied. "It's just..."

"You still haven't completely lost touch with your human self. Not where Hikari is concerned. I understand; I haven't lost touch entirely yet, either. Hikari's the only one who has fully been given time to embrace vampiracy."

"I dunno, Yamato and Mimi seem to have adjusted pretty quickly."

Sora rolled her eyes. Yamato interrupted, "We're going now, so if you don't want to get left behind, you'd better move it!"


Myotismon was pleased. "Very good. We have properly corrupted all of the necessary Digimon." Saberdramon, ShadowWereGarurumon, and BlackWarGreymon had all joined the team. "Now, we will need as much backup as we can get. Any ideas?"

"One question: What is it that we're doing?"

"A good question, Takeru," Hikari replied. "We plan to overthrow Apocalymon and gain the favor of the Dark Masters."

"By destroying their leader?" Mimi asked.

"They don't seem too pleased with this leader," Myotismon told them. "Now, I'll be needing more power; I can tell that merely becoming VenomMyotismon will not be enough. Now, as for backup..."

"The whole Digi-world hates Apocalymon. They'll all help us if we persuade them properly," Yamato replied.

Hikari replied, "Good, but no, they don't know of Apocalymon. They hate the Dark Masters, who we are in fact helping, so we may have some trouble. We should stick to virus-types, possibly data-types."

"No problem," Sora said. "Last I checked, at least half of the lackey population of the Digital World was in love with Mimi. Like the Numemon.

"And the Gekomon and Otamamon," Taichi added. "We might even be able to swing their leader, ShogunGekomon, over to our side."

"And then there's Sukamon and Chuumon," Mimi threw in. "I guess I had quite a fan base, didn't I? Well, if they liked the old me, then I'm sure they'll find the new me irresistible." Indeed, her vampiric transformation was all too evident. The alluring tone of voice and gleaming eyes were signs of any vampire on the prowl, and she also had the sexy swagger often used by the females as an additional measure. As well as being ready to cast aside any moral integrity she had to charm her victims into doing what she wanted, she also had the arrogance and inflated ego that were so readily seen in Myotismon and Hikari. Yamato feigned sadness at her departure, pretending to be hurt that she'd even think of making the moves on anyone else. This only further proved Taichi's proposition that the two of them had both adjusted quickly; these displays were to some degree akin to those put on by their leaders. After a large army of weak Champions had been assembled, including the Bakemon under Phantomon, they set off to attack Apocalymon.


Back in the real world, another army of Bakemon was floating idly about Japan. Phantomon's army had taken out the entire country before he was summoned back to Myotismon's side, and he had orders to take with him all of the strong fighters and half of the Bakemon. The remaining half were to guard the conquered territory, and in a surprise move, Myotismon actually gave control of the guards to DemiDevimon. "Why do I always get the boring jobs!" the bat-like Rookie loudly complained to no one in particular, and he of course went unanswered.