Chapter Nineteen

Deus Ex Machina

I understood that we were surrounded by four Devidramon – aka demon-dragons-of-death-and-darkness – and a deranged super-cat, but still, when someone sentences you to death by said demonic creatures, even if there was literally nowhere to hide and no hope of running to safety, you do not walk towards the giant dragons of doom, you just don't.

Josh must have been suffering from a lapse in sanity for he trod towards the Devidramon, one of them raising an enormous hand with blood stained claws.

"Josh! Run!" Jessie screamed.

But he didn't. It was as if he was in some sort of fugue state, dozily walking towards his doom. He didn't respond to Jessie's cries or when Brian darted forward and snatched him by the wrist. Despite Brian's efforts to try and haul him away, Josh wretched his hand free and emitted a stream of incoherent speech.

"Josh! Snap out of it!" Brian said.

Like a falling anvil, Devidramon's hand was coming towards them. If they didn't move soon there was no doubt they'd be some of the first humans ever to experience what if felt like exactly to be crushed by a giant palm.

Time didn't slow down. Things just happened. The hand fell. Brian threw his weight into Josh. They both hit the ground. The hand struck the earth. And like a scene out of a Hollywood film, nobody died.

Hurrah! Josh lived another thirty seconds.

Struggling out of Gatomon's grasp, Wizardmon broke away and darted for Brian. The Devidramon slowly lifted its hand and Josh snapped out of his stupor and let out a belated shriek. He scrambled to his feet and made a break for it. Splintered sticks and fallen trees hindered his flight, and he tripped and fell into a bundle of broken braches. The progress he made was so miniscule that the Devidramon hardly needed to take step to swipe at him again.

Jessie let out a scream loud enough to piece my eardrums. Sarah was curled in a ball with her head between her knees. Wizardmon had finally reached Brian and tackled him to the ground to keep him from chasing after Josh. Gatomon took two steps towards them and froze, eyes widening as she gazed into the distance. She then, inexplicably, turned tail and fled. I scanned the skyline back to the smoking Primary Village and through the gray clouds, I saw a little something zip towards us like a miniature jet.

Wood snapped as Devidramon's crimson claws whipped through the vegetation.

Out of the heavens, came hurling an eight winged angel. It was as if some divine force was bending whatever rules governed this universe for the sole purpose of saving Josh. The angel struck the earth, throwing up dust and leaves in his wake. A dark skinned teenager dropped from the angels back.

The Dividramon wasted a split second to stare at the angel, and then their wings were beating but no matter how fast they attempted to flee, the angel was faster and with two swipes of his sword he rendered the beasts into millions of digiparticles. The two remaining Devidramon, who had previously been circling overhead like a pair of vultures, where now little black specks on the horizon.

I hadn't even noticed they'd left. Perhaps it was because I was a bit distracted watching Josh almost die. Twice. It was an almost deal right? I glanced back at the place where he had fallen and saw nothing but debris.

Well, shit.

"Josh!" Jessie shrieked again and I flinched. She dropped Demiveemon and stumbled through the vegetation to where Josh had previously been. Frantically, she attempted to remove fallen branches twice her weight and when she obviously failed at that, she settled for digging through the smaller brush. All the while, she screamed his name over and over as if she'd temporarily forgotten any other word.

Brian shoved Wizardmon off him and ran to Jessie's aid. The digimon curled into a fetal position and there he remained quivering on the ground.

"I'm-his-digimon," Wizardmon said through gritted teeth. Each word seemed to cause him a great deal of effort.

The angel turned his helmeted head and his lips turned down in distastes at the sight of Wizardmon. However, with a gesture of his wrist, the angel released Wizardmon from whatever holy spell he'd cast. Wizardmon relaxed and lay panting on the ground.

"Is this everyone?" asked the teenager that had arrived with the angel. He spoke with an African accent and had a wide flat nose. The whites of his eyes were jaundiced and his clothes were well-worn and faded.

I met his stare. Did he not hear Jessie screaming over Josh? The angel certainly did, for he flew over to where Brian and Jessie were frantically moving brush, and tapped his sword on a fallen tree trunk, which then erupted into bits and there we beheld Josh curled with his hands over his head.

Josh was scrapped and bleeding, but breathing. He opened his eyes and gasped at the sight of the angel.

"Am I dead?"

Cliché, but an understandable response, considering his close run in with death and the first face he saw was that of an angel.

"Not yet," the angel said. With one hand, he grabbed Josh from the brush. At the angels touch, all of Josh's scrapes and booboo's nit themselves together and as he was set to his feet, Josh did not waver.

"Whoa," Josh said.

"Is this everyone?" the teenager asked again.

"My digimon," Josh gasped.

The boy nodded and the angel took flight once more and began to scan the field of debris. "If your digimon is alive MagnaAngemon will find them. Is this everyone? Did they take anyone?"

I shook my head.

The boy sighed. "That is good." He then walked over to Sarah, who was still huddled in a ball crying, and placed a hand on her each of her shoulders. "It is all right."

She looked up and croaked: "Who are you?"

"My name is Gift. I am a digidestined and I hold the Crest of Hope. You are safe now." There was something very comforting about his deep African voice and Sarah seemed to warm right up to it.

"They're gone?"

"They are gone."

She wiped her eye with a dirty hand, smudging grime over her cheeks. Gift helped her to her feet.

Out of the mess of fallen debris and a good forty feet from where we stood, Leomon busted out, throwing up twigs and broken branches. He let out a roar, throwing his hands out to either side of him in a remarkable imitation of wolverine. MagnaAngemon laid his hands upon Leomon's shoulders, and his digibody was once again returned to homeostasis. The angel proceeded to reach into the mess of vegetation and pulled out Terriermon by one ear.

The floppy eared digimon groaned and slowly opened his eyes. The trio then rejoined the rest of us. Josh accepted Terriermon into his arms, who then said in a scratchy little voice:

"I'm glad you're okay, Josh."

"Right back at cha little man."

Everyone hand their turn at MangaAngemon's healing hands. When he came to me I stiffened as his hands enveloped my head. He wore thick cloves that crinkled my hair. A wave of unfamiliar giddiness flew through me and I felt all warm and fuzzy inside. It was strange enough to be feeling anything at all, but warm and fuzzy was bordering on the bazar. My singed hair even returned to its normal length and slickness.

The last to be healed was Demiveemon. The three scratches upon his face zipped closed like open coats and Jessie retrieved the little guy. Wizarmon was the only one left out and no one spoke up on his behave, not even himself.

It wasn't an easy return trip to Primary Village. There were sinkholes everywhere in the broken brush. Sarah twisted her ankle twice and had to be healed by MagnaAngemon's holy touch again and again. Leomon ended up carrying her to keep her from twisting it a third time.

The Village was no longer smoking and the majority of the fires were put out. Elecmon was gathering the un-smashed Digigeggs in a padded wheelbarrow. There were other digimon on the scene helping aid in the town's recovery, among them where the Numemon and Impmon, who was running towards us.

He stopped a few paces short, green eyes scanning over us and at last settling on Sarah as Leomon set her down. "Umph, it's a shame you weren't killed."

And like a sputtering spigot, Sarah was at it again. Her eyes brimmed with tears and she stammered: "W-w-why would you say that?"

Impon's cocky expression fell and he ran to Sarah, taking her by the hand. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean it. Don't cry. I uh," he shot a glare at us and then continued in a mumble, "I ran all the way here when I heard about the attack. I was afraid…that…" He released Sarah's hand and twiddled his fingers.

"What?" Sarah sniffled.

"That… that I'd never see your stupid face again and then I wouldn't have anything to laugh at!" Impmon then scurried away, leaving behind a very perplexed Sarah.

"Well, this couldn't have gone any worse." Justin had rejoined us, carrying Koromon under his arm. His clothes were torn and bloody, but his skin was surprisingly unmarred. I suspected some angel touch to be the cause of that. He smiled warmly at Gift. "Thanks for showing up man, if you hadn't they'd be toast."

"Today was your lottery," Gift said. He put a hand over his eyes and scanned the horizon. "I don't think they'll be coming back." Letting his hand fall, Gift returned the smile. "Hopefully, we will not meet again." He then climbed onto MagnaAngemon's back.

"You're taking off already?" Justin said. "Can't you stick around and beat the shit out of Myotismon for us?"

"I'm sorry, my friend, there are other fires and I have twelve gates to maintain, and six mega's to regulate. This is Primary Village. A threat to this is a threat to the digital world. But I have faith in all of you, my friends." He waved as MagnaAngemon spread his eight wings and took flight.

"Hey, there is a potential tamer in Mexico City that might need help," Justin called folding his hands over his mouth as Gift rose higher into the air. "Last I heard you were guarding a gate in Mexico from Piedmon! No idea how close the gate is to the city, but when you get the time, better make sure he isn't dead!"

Gift nodded and off they flew until they were a mere speak in the sky and then nothing at all.

"Right, how about some lunch? Any requests?" Justin asked.

"Oh, oh, I want some Cheese Burgers!" Koromon said.

Everyone else stared blankly at Justin. After the emotional roller coaster of so many near death experiences, food was the last thing on anyone's mind. Justin's smile remained in place for a few seconds before faltering. When he spoke again it was in a far more sober tone.

"I guess we can start by heading back to my house. I'll send a message to Caroline and figure out a place to relocate. How many more of you still need digimon?"

After a few seconds I belatedly raised my hand, rolling my eyes under my bangs. My lips quirked in a half smile. Sarah, gazing where Impmon had run off to, slowly raised her hand and as Jessie started to raise hers, Demiveemon gasped and looked up at her with watering eyes.

"I," Jessie stammered, meeting the little digimon's stare.

"I fought for you," Demiveemon said. "I'll always fight for you, I promise!"

Jessie bit her lip. "I know you did. I-I-I don't want you to get hurt anymore."

Demiveemon frowned at her. "Bond with me and I can digivolve and protect you. If you don't I'll protect you anyway."

A moment they stared at each other, Jessie's brown eyes boring into Demiveemon's determined stare and then a brilliant light engulfed Demiveemon, shining so bright it blew out Jessie's arms and I once again closed my eyes against the glare. After the light had faded, a larger version of the creature hung in Jessie's arms and she dropped him in surprise along with her new digivice. The three foot tall blue and white digimon picked the device off the ground and offered it to Jessie with an open palm.

"Partners," he said.

"O-okay," Jessie said at last accepting her fate.