DISCLAIMER: I do not own Digimon, but I do own the plot, and DRAGOON.
Digimon Continuity
Quest for the Digimon
Chapter 26
Return of Chaos, Blades of Power
:. Digital Plane - Sovereign Plane
Ruins of Zhuqiaomon's Palace
05:42 PM JST
That hurt… Takato, inside his crimson sphere, winced slightly when he rolled off his injured arm, an action duplicated by Dukemon. Lucky, he still held on to the Aegis. Still, that was the only good thing. Pain attacked the entirety of his body, pain that he would not have thought possible. And that's with Guilmon sharing it too… "You okay, buddy?"
Takato heard Guilmon's groan echo in the darkness outside his sphere. "I hurt everywhere, Takato…"
Takato winced. "Yeah, I feel it too."
The boy shifted his vision to look through the eyes of Dukemon, and struggled to get to his feet in that large crater he had made in the ground. He felt Guilmon pouring what strength he had into the task as well. Never had Takato thought such a simple task would be so darn hard.
"Justimon?" Dukemon asked aloud, his dual voice blending the tones of two different beings so well that it sounded more like one voice to outsiders who didn't know the two. While doing so, Dukemon placed one end of his shield on the ground, holding onto the other side to push himself to his feet. The shield cracked the ground beneath it even further, sinking slightly.
"I'm here," Justimon's voice answered warily. Dukemon barely managed to discern that there were more of Ryo's tones in it than Cyberdramon's. "Just not in one piece."
Panicking, Dukemon turned to see Justimon get to his feet as well, looking to be whole, much to the contradictory image that Dukemon had of Justimon in two pieces. That gesture also earned him a sharp jab of pain and some pained laughter from Justimon at his reaction.
"Now I know why Rika calls you Gogglehead," Justimon said jovially despite their situation. Dukemon could practically hear the smile on Justimon's face.
Dukemon began to shake his head at his companion, only to stop the gesture when pain began to spike. "I can't believe you can still joke at a time like this, Justimon. You're either very brave or… well… uh…" Dukemon stammered in the way of the legendary Takato Matsuki when he tried to look for the right word.
"Dumb? Stupid? Too idiotic for my own good?" Justimon asked, before his voice turned hard and serious. "Enough of joking around. But, for the record, I'm neither. It's just that Zhuqiaomon's a little distracted right now," he said, jerking a thumb in the said phoenix's direction.
Dukemon doubted that Ryo Akiyama was dumb, stupid or idiotic… though he doubted that the latter wasn't brave. However, Dukemon turned his attention to Zhuqiaomon only to find that Justimon had been right. The Sovereign had seemingly frozen, though his wings were flapping and his fires blazing. He took completely no notice of the two Megas… or of anything that was currently happening on the battlefield. Dukemon had a feeling that if he chose to attack Zhuqiaomon at the moment, the latter wouldn't even dodge or block. This would make for an easy victory…
But his conscious didn't allow him to take this strike, and neither did Justimon suggest doing so even though he had noticed the Sovereign being oblivious to his surroundings long before.
Before Dukemon could make a choice on what to do, Henry's voice suddenly cut into the sides of his head, as though he had headphones in his ears and they were adjusted at maximum volume.
"Takato! Ryo! You guys alright?!"
"Ow… you don't have to yell…" Takato said, his view through Dukemon's eyes fading to show the barely visible lines of the sphere he was in again.
"Agreed," came Ryo's voice, baring only the slightest indication of pain in it.
"Sorry to pop in on ya like that fellas," Impmon's disembodied voice said.
"How come Impmon's on this channel too?" Takato asked in curiosity.
"Well duh!" The virus Rookie's voice snapped. "Yamaki's good old, custom D-Terminals of course! Have you forgotten what they can do already?!"
Before Takato could give an answer, Rika's irritated tones coated with her usual sarcasm joined the chatter as well. "Enough talk! Anyone has any suggestions on why our good buddy Zhuqiaomon is like Takato when he's thinking of Jeri?"
"Hey!! I-"
"I believe so, Wildcat," Ryo's calm tones cut his protest mid-sentence, though the practicality of him using one of his several nicknames for Rika could be debated. "Cyberdramon's senses are detecting something… off." Takato could practically visualise Henry straighten up. It is not often that Cyberdramon would detect something that was, in Justimon's words, 'off'.
He then felt Dukemon's body shift to look the Sovereign by Guilmon's will, so he looked through Dukemon's eyes once more, only to realise that Zhuqiaomon was shaking for some reason.
The reading could have been from the Sovereign… But somehow… I doubt that…
"Yeah," Dukemon heard Henry's voice in both his ears. "I have checked DRAGOON's sensors and I've detected a spike in a strange energy reading…" While Henry talked in his ear, Dukemon's eyes caught DRAGOON circling over the two Megas' heads. "Odd…" Henry suddenly said. "That's weird."
"What's weird, Brainiac?" Rika's voice inquired, though more in curiosity than irritation this time.
"This energy reading… it can't be…"
"Spit it out already, Henry!" Terriermon added. "Don't keep us in suspense!"
Dukemon heard Henry swallow. "The reading is akin… to that…"
"Henry!!" Terriermon's half joking tones exclaimed, much in the imitation of the way Henry would say the dog-bunny's name when the green Rookie said a badly timed joke or the equivalent.
"Of the D-Reaper…"
Silence filled the air as Dukemon and Justimon turned abruptly to face each other as though to confirm that they had both heard what Henry had said.
"WHAT?!" Takato unknowingly screamed aloud. "But I thought that we had defeated the D-Reaper already!! How…"
Takato Matsuki's words faded away as he realised something. Zhuqiaomon was shaking for a reason, and as Dukemon looked closely, he found to his horror that Zhuqiaomon was struggling… and that reason for his 'shaking' was that he was fighting the grip of some invisible enemy.
As inside Dukemon, Takato was opening his mouth to tell the others of his discovery, Dukemon's gaze almost absentmindedly shifted to the hole under Zhuqiaomon, the hole which had been created during the battle between SaintGargomon and the said Sovereign, the hole which had not yet been repaired.
The hole which Zhuqiaomon was now conveniently hovering over.
Before any of them could say or do anything, a large blob of red and gold mass reached out from the large hole under Zhuqiaomon…
And swallowed the phoenix whole.
:. Digital Plane - Unknown Location
05:45 PM JST
"My lord… what do you believe we should do?"
The third and most powerful of the three Megas, excluding the Sovereigns, that survived the battle of the Chaos, closed his eyes in thought.
However, it was hard to think at the moment, given that his mind was occupied in a certain task.
"How long?" he asked, only barely finding enough concentration to even utter the words without stammering.
"Mere minutes ago, my lord," one of the other Megas answered, though he could not find enough concentration to tell between the two at the moment.
He bit his tongue painfully to prevent himself from crying out as an abrupt spike of energy was released due to the lack of sufficient focus. Then, grinding his teeth, he brought that energy level back down to more comfortable levels… and safer ones as well. The power, which he was wielding, was deadly… at best.
At worst… he didn't want to think about it.
But there were both boons and banes to everything. The power came from the energy he generated within him. This energy, in small doses, was able to restore and heal. However, in massive quantities, it could easily disintegrate next to anything. Even Chrome Digizoid, given time. However, it was impossible to keep a steady flow outwards, as this energy was much like a wave. The output would sometimes drop tremendously before abruptly soaring to heights so great that it might even damage him, its host. Thus, using the power for either healing or fighting was risky. If he tried to heal someone, the energy levels might leap sky high, deleting the one he wished to heal instead. If he tried to use the power for fighting, the energy levels might drop drastically, thus healing his enemy instead.
The latter situation, he believed, had happened once, which was why the True Enemy was still in existence… or parts of it anyway. Even though with the help of the other he had managed to destroy most of the Chaos, even the other could not command full control of the power. The other could only help him in keeping the energy flow as consistent as possible… which was not a hundred percent.
If he could master control of the power without the aid of the other, he was certain that it would be able to let him master the full potential of the power without undesired consequences. He had originally intended to do so for some time already. However, now that the humans had come, he had to push forward his schedule and do it as soon as possible. He predicted that a battle might commence soon. Who knew when the mastery might come in handy? Also, mastering the power would also allow him to finally finish off the True Enemy once and for all without the risk of accidentally reviving it again.
Which is ironic… really, that it decides to show up now, while I am trying to master it. He mused, before the power lashed out again and he had to force his focus back to regain control. Urgh. This is much more difficult than I have imagined… alone.
But he then diverted some of his focus to concentrate on the uprising situation, hoping that his current amount was sufficient… if only for a little while.
"Then… you have to fight it," he managed to gasp before he had to force his attention back on maintaining the balance and control of the power.
"How? We barely stood up to it before. It is you that is needed in this battle, my lord."
Grinding his teeth so hard that he thought that a bone or two might begin to crack, the Mega gave a quick reply. "Because I'm right now focused on my training." An energy spike was released yet again, but he ignored it and the pain it brought for now, as it did not yet pose a threat to the inhabitants of this chamber. "And it would take a long while before my body is attuned to the effects of it again. Thus-"
He let out an involuntary gasp as the power overwhelmed him slightly for a moment. Part of him could sense the other Megas' urge to come to his aid, but this was a battle that only he could fight… as well as the fact that the energy spikes were extremely dangerous to anyone who ventured too close. If he had sweat, he would have been drowning in it.
"I must complete this training first." He finished at last, thus being able to return his attention to managing the energy spikes.
"But how are we able to fight the True Enemy then?" One of the other Megas of which he was certain was Darkdramon asked in doubt.
In reply, he straightened his back slightly, unfolding the top two of his wings and opened two outlets for his power, one to go through the left and the other to go through the right. Calling on the aid of the other, he summoned his two swords, known as the Holy Victory and the Ancient Trident, causing them to materialise.
The blades were complex in design and beautifully forged… if that was how they came about. Both had similar lengths of a metre and a half and were double-edged swords as well, an ironic representation of the power. The Holy Victory had a hilt with a diamond engorged in one end, and it was long enough to hold comfortably with two hands without upsetting the balance of the weapon. The crossguard comprised of two golden angelic wings sprouting from the sides of the weapon, with a single gold gem in the middle. One could almost compare the wings to that of a Seraphimon's, so similar were they.
The blade itself bore the name of the weapon in Digicode, which could be read from top down. It had a layer of sharpened gold Chrome Digizoid surrounding the core of the blade, giving the weapon a deadly edge… literally. It also possessed a unique property, which allowed it to act much like a booster, multiplying the power coursed through it. That meant that a little spark of energy channelled through one end of the weapon could come out the other end the power of a lightning bolt. It would be unwise to be on the wrong side of this weapon. It appeared whatever magic the Angel Digimon possessed that made them so powerful was present in this weapon as well.
However, it had a slight drawback. It would take time to recharge the gem in the crossguard that was the main source of the multiplication effect of the weapon. Thus, the more powerful the blast, the longer it took before this ability could be used again.
The Ancient Trident looked anything but ancient. Its hilt was similarly designed to that of the Holy Victory, with the same designs to maintain balance and allow for a double grip. As for the crossguard, however, there were no fanciful designs like its companion. It simply consisted of a wide V that separated the two sides of the weapon.
On the other hand, the blade's design was focused more on the blade itself. The Ancient Trident also had its name carved in Digicode on the flat of both sides of the blade while the centre portion of the blade jutted out from the sides a quarter metre from the tip, much like how a skyscraper's lightning rod stood out against its rooftop. It possessed a mechanism that allowed it transform itself into an even larger broadsword when needed by a simple manipulation of the lower half of the hilt, causing the sides of the blade to separate from the centre and shift up the V-shaped crossguard. This made the sides more or less level with the centre, while golden energy crackled between the sides and the centre. Once it came in contact with an enemy's weapon or the enemy himself, the energy would flow through the Ancient Trident and give the enemy a nasty shock, making it more than just an average broadsword.
Well, I never said my weapons were simple. He mused when the swords appeared.
Feeling drained after producing the two powerful weapons, he beckoned his fellow Megas to take up the arms. Darkdramon wielded the Holy Victory while TigerVespamon wielded the Ancient Trident. He could sense the surprise and awe in them as they took their new weapons.
"With this," he said weakly, feeling more drained than ever. "You will be able to combat the Chaos much more effectively. However," he stiffened at the power going out of control again, "take note that some attacks involving the weapons would sap your energy. Thus, try and maximise these attacks by only dealing blows when you see openings to take advantage of."
While he gave them advice, he felt more like a worried father lecturing his children on what to do and what not to do. He was on the verge of laughing at the thought when he lost control of the power again.
Darkdramon nodded, while TigerVespamon held his new weapon at his side and straightened himself, both seemingly proud to be the bear the weapons.
"When will you be able to join us, my lord?" One of them asked.
"I do not know," he replied. "But I'll come to your aid as soon as I can." His eyes narrowed, however. He knew that he would not be able to make an appearance in this battle. He hoped that he would be able to make the next, though.
"Now go!" He commanded.
The two Megas nodded and gave a proper bow, one that he did not lecture them on as he barely had the strength to talk anymore, and they left, keeping their head down the whole time and never showing him their backs as they exited the chamber.
He sighed, and returned to concentrating on mastering control of the power, hoping that he was making the right choice.
:. Real World - Japan, Shinjuku
Nonaka Residence
05:45 PM JST
Two women sat on their legs at a short table, both watching the setting sun as it descended slowly behind the tall buildings of Shinjuku and the land beyond, silent and deep within their own thoughts. One was preparing a cup of tea as usual, never spilling a drop as she poured the boiling mixture into a cup. However, if one looked closely, one could see her hand shaking slightly, the only marker of the impact the recent events had on her.
"Tell me something, Mom," the other woman otherwise known as Rumiko Nonaka said, breaking the silence, her tone indicting the seriousness of the conservation about to take place and holding slight sadness as well in contradiction to her rather emotional one not so long ago. "I was a bad mother, wasn't I?"
Seiko shook her head in reply, putting down the pot with both hands before taking the cup of steaming liquid and putting it to her lips. She took a small sip, allowing her daughter's words to seemingly echo in the silence of the room before replying, "No, Rumiko. You were as good a mother as your career allowed… and as Rika herself allowed. You have tried your best to sympathise with her as best you could already-"
"But it wasn't good enough," Her daughter cut. "She had gone through something so horrible… yet when she needed me most, I wasn't there for her. I was a horrible mother…"
"That isn't a good judgement of your motherhood, Rumiko," Seiko said, ignoring the younger lady's self-doubting words. "I remember that Kiyoyuki and yourself were at loggerheads at that time. I think that even Rika sensed that something was wrong with both her parents subconsciously, but was too young to be able to do anything." Rumiko sat in silence, trying hard to listen to Seiko's words and not interrupt in impatience. "You wouldn't have trusted Rika's words at that time because they were ridiculous and you yourself had believed that Kiyoyuki might have some other woman out there."
Seiko gave her daughter a small smile before putting down her cup. "If it helps, I would have believed the latter explanation as well. Rika had just returned from Kiyoyuki's trip to the fun fair… brought to us by the police. The events had lead us to believe that Kiyoyuki had somehow convinced Rika of the story that a monster had turned him into tiny bits and made him disappear, dumped her somewhere for the police to find and bring to us, and went off with some other person. That was the logical conclusion, Rumiko. He just disappeared without a trace."
"But-"
"No buts, Rumiko," Seiko said firmly. "Stop pushing all the blame to yourself. We did not know of the existence of Digimon, though several events had hinted at it for a long time. There was no way we could have done anything. You've tried your best, and Rika was simply not ready for you. That is all."
Rumiko sighed. "Or perhaps she does not want me…" A single tear began to form in her eyes, which was a rarity. Seiko moved over to her daughter's side, embracing her. Rumiko put her head on her mother's shoulder and allowed her tears to flow freely. Seiko put a hand on the back of Rumiko's head, much like how she used to do a long time ago when Rumiko was still young.
"There, there," Seiko comforted, patting the back of her head with one hand and rubbing her back with the other. "I am sure that Rika will realise soon enough how much she needs you. Or she has already realised that. Either way, I am certain that she will not reject you or hate you. I understand Rika enough to know that."
Wiping off her tears, Rumiko regained her composure and released herself from her mother. However, her tears had caused her makeup to smudge slightly. Wiping it had only caused it to dry up on her face, giving her two black marks down her face.
Seiko smiled slightly at the sight. It was as though Rumiko were a kid again, getting her face smudged with either paint or ink. But Rumiko took her smile as a smile of encouragement, which Seiko didn't mind, and smiled back.
"But… maybe I should become a better mother…" Rumiko considered.
"Perhaps…" Seiko said in reply, before adding jokingly. "But don't forget, you are still this household's breadwinner."
Rumiko nodded. "Don't worry about that. But I will just make my schedule more… flexible."
"I think Rika would like that a lot. I know for a fact that she hates you to leave abruptly whenever she gets to spend some quality time with you, even though she doesn't admit it."
Rumiko's eyes lit up. "You mean shopping?!"
Seiko shook her head in amusement. "No. I simply meant mother-to-daughter time. I think that a nice heart to heart would be good for the both of you when Rika returns. At least then you can debate about your issues about shopping with Rika."
"I don't have issues!" Rumiko said astonished denial to her words.
Seiko chuckled. "Well, I think you'll see from Rika's point of view soon enough."
The model began to smile, before it turned into a frown. "But…" she looked away. "What if Rika doesn't come back?"
Seiko rested a hand on her daughter's shoulder. "I think that Rika can take care of herself. We, as her family, should have faith in her abilities. After all, she had stopped a world crisis. Not to mention the fact that Renamon would not leave Rika to face danger alone, as well as the presence of her other friends."
A look of relief passed Rumiko's face. Seiko was certain that her daughter's doubts would return, but for now, everything looked like it wasgoing to be all right.
:. Digital Plane - Sovereign Plane
Ruins of Zhuqiaomon's Palace
05:45 PM JST
"Holy…" Impmon began.
"…Crap cow!" A certain dog-bunny finished.
"Terriermon!!"
"I agree with the Impmon and Rabbitmon…" Rika said, half in shock, half in horror at the scene that was unfolding before her eyes.
"Uh… guys… give me something to work on here…" Ryo Akiyama's slightly shaken, but still confident voice emerged from Henry and Rika's D-Terminals.
But, as quick as its attack on the Sovereign, the mass of red and gold proceeded to attack Justimon and Dukemon by simply slogging itself toward them at a rapid pace.
Both Megas panicked and began to run in the opposite direction from where the modified D-Reaper was approaching.
"Heeeenrrrrry…" came Takato, in a tone that sounded as though Rika Nonaka herself was in a rage and hot on his tail.
"I am entering the battle," DRAGOON announced shortly before he put on a burst of speed, causing everyone who was not secure to hit the back wall as the g-forces came into effect. D-Terminals hit them a second later as they were not anchored to the mainframe. Only Henry was where he was, as he had buckled himself into his seat.
"You guys all right back there?" Henry asked, looking over his shoulder.
"A little more of an advance warning next time would be nice," Rika snarled in irritation. Now I really wish I could Biomerge… to fight along side Akiyama and Gogglehead. Or if nothing else at least escape this accursed wreck!! That was one reason why she never liked to travel in cars too much. The one at the wheel couldn't be trusted at times.
"Agreed," Renamon said, untangling herself from the bundle of bodies that lay at the back wall and getting to her feet.
"Yeah… that hurt!!" Terriermon whined.
Impmon was about to launch his own protest when DRAGOON's next warning came. "Hold on."
Predicting what would come next, Rika and the other Digimon quickly threw themselves into a seat and buckled on just in time as DRAGOON went into a dizzying dive at the modified D-Reaper.
"Yuggoth Blaster!!"
Everyone aboard DRAGOON Express felt the recoil of the attack as the Zero-Arms let loose the most powerful weapon in its arsenal. However, only Henry knew of the results of DRAGOON's attack.
Rika merely grind her teeth and sent a tendril of thought towards Renamon as she heard from both the D-Terminal and from DRAGOON's speakers as they received the sound of Dukemon declaring a Final Elysium attack.
"I wish we could do something other than be burdens to the others, Renamon!"
"Me too, Rika," Renamon's voice sighed within the confines of her mind. "I wish I could help too… but just now… I felt so helpless. There was nothing my attacks could do to Zhuqiaomon at all. And now… the D-Reaper is back." Rika heard Renamon make a noise of frustration. "I wish we could Biomerge!!"
But DRAGOON's hull was suddenly filled with sounds of scrapping and Rika was thrown into her crash-webbing, only barely a hair's breath from hitting her head on the hard metal of the seat in front of her and knocking herself out cold. Something had suddenly pulled DRAGOON's speed from high to zero.
Something big.
Something red.
"Heeeenrrry…" Terriermon began, his tone a little too alike to Takato's for her liking.
More scrapping sounds filled the humid and dense air of DRAGOON's interior. All of them stiffened, listening to the screech of metal on metal. Rika recalled the destructive properties of the Chaos she had seen in the Digital World, deleting on touch. The question was:
Why weren't they digital dust?
The answer was simple.
And Rika didn't like it one bit.
Well, what do you know…
A little bit of an anti-climax one this time instead of my standard cliffhanger, as it was this or I ended the chapter at the Nonakas' scene, which I, being me, did not want to do. Also, I thought that this chapter was long enough and decided to save the rest for the next chapter. I'm evil, aren't I?
Okay, I'll admit that perhaps the description of the two swords was a bit too much, but I wanted a clearer image of it (for my own benefit as well mind you), since they would be more significant in future. Anyway, I decided to add a nice little scene with Rumiko and Seiko, which I thought, turned out better than I expected.
Well, now on to other stuff. First, for the reviewers…
- Guess what Canis? You guessed right!… or a third right… or a third party… or…
I'm confusing myself, aren't I? Anyways, you hit the jackpot about a third party. And guess who's the party crasher(s)? As for your next question, I will say that you will have to wait and see to see who Takato really is. The Takato from Brave Tamer? Or another Takato from some other world? And thanks for the ideas… though whether or not I use them is a completely different matter… *chuckles evilly*
- Don't worry, SpookyButt, I agree with you too. A personal sorry to you for taking so long to update. I'll try to comply with your request and update a little faster next time. But when you're busy with school life, you're too busy to do anything else, sadly.
- Too bad, Lans, you guessed wrong on this bit. Glad it was only imaginary money… but it is still pretty close. No Biomerging or Crimson Mode here, but I'm not sure about the next chapter… XD
And that is the intention of cliffhangers in the first place! To get readers frustrated! I'm glad I managed to do that to you. *cue evil chuckle*
And now, I thank Crazy
Anyways, review!!