DISCLAIMER: I don't own Digimon or any video games, books, films, TV shows or pieces of music referenced in this story. Original characters owned by me are stated in my profile.
And here it is at last: the final fully-sized chapter of Exodus. And boy, is it a big one (about 14,000 words according to Microsoft Word). I'd like to thank everyone who read Exodus, with special thanks going to my reviewers. I truly appreciate every one of your comments - both compliments and criticisms.
While this is the end of Exodus, it is by no means the end of the Taming the Third Lion series. As soon as I'm done with the epilogue for Exodus I'll be starting on Book 2, which I'm still trying to come up with a title for. I'll be writing the first 20 or so chapters before starting to release them, but progress updates will be posted semi-regularly on my profile page, so you may want to keep an eye on that if you're interested.
Anyway, that's enough from me. Please enjoy the grand finale of Exodus, and thank you again for reading.
Chapter Thirty-Eight: Dragon
Sunday 21st November – 9:02a.m.
Digital World, Desert Level
"Ah, smell that clean desert air!" Kazu sighed and took a deep breath, looking up at the sky and grinning like an idiot.
"Smells like dust and sunburn to me…" Kenta muttered as he emptied what seemed like a whole dune's worth of sand out of his shoe.
"Well, it smells like victory to me!"
"Don't go celebrating yet," Ryo warned him. "Or have you forgotten what happened last time we did that? I'm sure Zhuqiaomon will be happy to pop up again if you keep this up…"
"For once, I gotta agree with Mr Perfect," Rika admitted grudgingly. "Something doesn't feel right about this whole thing."
"I know what you mean," Henry agreed. "I would have expected at least some trouble from Zhuqiaomon's forces on the way here, but it almost feels like he…let us go or something."
"That does not seem likely," Leomon began thoughtfully. "It is possible that the Sovereign is merely licking his wounds after the destruction of his prison fortress. The loss of so many of his soldiers must have hurt his military capabilities."
"It will have done, though not as much as you might think," Lopmon sighed. "The Genesis Guard alone have almost a thousand members and their numbers are always increasing. The destruction of the fortress did create a breach in his defensive line, however, and I would not be surprised if the Dramon Kingdom or Order of the Wyvern attempted to take advantage of the situation by launching their own offensives…though knowing Examon and Dynasmon, they would probably just end up fighting each other, giving Zhuqiaomon ample opportunity to outmanoeuvre and eliminate them."
"Why don't they just team up?" Takato asked with a puzzled frown. "I mean, Sage said that neither of them have the strength to stand up to Zhuqiaomon on their own, so why not join forces and take him out?"
"They're both too proud for that," Hawkmon scoffed. "Examon sees everyone as his subordinate, and Dynasmon isn't diplomatic enough to take much crap from anyone – especially from someone he thinks of as a rival for power. The one time those two actually tried teaming up Dynasmon challenged Examon to a duel in the middle of Fort Wyvern's great hall over the table manners of one of the Dragon Emperor's lieutenants."
"You're kidding, right?" Steph asked with an amused grin.
"They only finished rebuilding the place last year," her partner chuckled. "I don't know how Dynasmon expected MetalSeadramon to use a fork anyway – the guy doesn't even have hands!"
"Hey, not meaning to be rude or anything," Terriermon began in an irritated voice. "But would you guys GET A FREAKING MOVE ON ALREADY? We've got a schedule to keep to, ya know!"
"Terriermon's right," Takato nodded and drew a Digivolution card, Rika and Cam doing the same. "We should get going. You ready, boy?"
"Always, Takatomon," the red saurian replied.
"Then what're we waiting for? Digi-Modify! Digivolution activate!"
Tokyo Metropolitan Government Building, Japan, Earth – 7:14p.m. local time (11:14a.m. GMT)
"Dolphin, report," Yamaki ordered in his usual sharp, clipped tone.
"Everything's going on schedule," Rob 'Dolphin' McCoy replied with a small grin as he continued typing away on a sleek black keyboard. The man was in his early sixties, though he looked closer to forty-five. His auburn hair was neatly-trimmed, and a pair of browline glasses sat on his rounded nose.
"Something funny?"
"Yes, actually," the Monster Maker replied. "You using my nickname when you're talking in your super-serious 'Captain Picard' voice."
"Well, it's nice to know that I've been demoted to the post of office clown," Yamaki remarked drily, a small grin finding its way onto his face. "Just make sure that both of the Arks are ready on time. We don't want the children to be stranded waiting for them to arrive."
"Sir!" Riley called from her seat atop the large, crane-like arm at the centre of the Hypnos dome. "We've managed to get a lock on the Tamers' signals. They're moving through the Desert Level as we speak."
"Can we send a tracer to keep an eye on them?"
"I think I can find a way of anchoring it to the signal from one of their D-Arcs," the redhead's co-worker, Tally replied. "It should follow the person I attach it to until they leave the Digital World, giving us a real-time view of what's happening around them."
"Do it. Report anything out of the ordinary immediately."
"Mr Yamaki?" a rather breathless-sounding secretary called as she stepped into the massive, spherical chamber. "I have a video call for you from Tao."
"Put him through to my computer," the blonde-haired man commanded and stepped over to his personal computer console, giving a brief nod of greeting when Janyuu Wong's face appeared onscreen. "Janyuu."
"Yamaki," the Chinese man nodded in reply. "I've managed to temporarily widen and stabilize the England portal. It will be suitable for use by the Ark for the next twenty-four hours. All that's left is stabilizing the data of the Ark you had emailed to me, but I should easily be able to have that done on time with a little help from your end."
"Excellent. By the way, we've managed to get a tracer program into the Digital World and we now have a live feed of the children. If you want, I can have it transmitted to your computer as well. The transmitting will be done via the portal itself, so you can route it to a laptop and let your wife take it with her when she goes to meet the children at the portal."
"That would be wonderful, thank you. I'm sure Maria will appreciate it."
Digital World, Sovereign Level – 12:02p.m.
The thing that was once Majiramon rocketed out of the ruins of Zhuqiaomon's palace, tearing through the muddy red sky at incredible speed. Makuramon watched in wonder from the shattered remains of the palace's tallest spire, trying desperately to catch a glimpse of the form hidden inside the cloud of black mist. His efforts were in vain however, as his master's latest monstrosity quickly receded into the distance.
Such power! the monkey Deva thought as a wave of envy washed over him. Why does a fool like Majiramon get to wield such power? I'm the leader of the Devas! I should be the one trusted with such responsibilities by the Sovereign!
…no matter. When the Abominations are destroyed, I will find out how that miserable excuse for a dragon gained his power and then I shall seize the source of his power for myself! None will stand before me, not even that fool of a Sovereign Zhuqiaomon.
Desert Level – 12:55p.m.
"Are you sure we're going the right way?" Kenta asked Ryo nervously as he held on to Leomon's mane for dear life, his girlfriend's partner travelling significantly faster than he usually did when encumbered with passengers.
"I'm sure," the older boy replied with an easy grin from atop Andromon's shoulder. "I recognize that cluster of spires right over there. We're almost there."
"Hey, I recognize that one too!" Monodramon exclaimed as he peered at a particularly tall, flat-topped spire. "I nearly hit that one on the way in…"
"Yeah, quit worrying Kenta!" Kazu laughed as his partner leapfrogged a boulder, landing and continuing to run without breaking stride. "If anyone can get us home, it's the Digimon King!"
"Sure, he can't read a compass, but navigation between dimensions? No problem!" Rika muttered sarcastically and rolled her eyes, eliciting a small giggle from Sam.
"Be nice," Jeri warned her with mock seriousness as she gripped Kenta's hand tightly.
"It's best not to offend the tour guide in the middle of the safari," Leomon chuckled and shook his head slowly as he ran. "He might end up sending you to the lion's den."
"The lions would not stand a chance against me if he tried that," Kyubimon smirked, sparks of blue flame dancing around her tail.
"Pipipuhpapapipuh?" MarineAngemon chattered with an ear-to-ear grin as he poked his head out of his Tamer's top pocket.
"Yeah, I'm pretty sure the animal conservation guys would be made into rugs too if they tried that…" Kenta laughed as his partner ducked back into his pocket.
"I can see a crater up ahead!" Hawkmon called from his rather precarious perch atop Gaogamon's head.
"Sounds like we're here," Ryo declared, glancing back at Kenta over his shoulder with a playful grin. "And you doubted me…"
Minutes later, the children were stood at the edge of the massive crater that had resulted from the landing of the four Japanese Tamers and their Digimon partners. The harsh desert winds had begun to fill in the hole, but they still had a long way to go yet. The sides of the crater had, however, collapsed inwards slightly on one side, creating a much shallower, easier-to-navigate slope into the middle of the crater.
"You guys sure did make a pretty big bang when you landed…" Cam chuckled.
"Hey, that reminds me," Terriermon began with a thoughtful look. "How come you guys didn't just slash Hyper Wing cards on the way in or something? I mean, you've done this before so you must have known what was coming."
"Meh, why waste the card?" Kazu shrugged with a grin. "And besides, it's fun being able to skydive without needing a parachute."
"Each to his own," Gaogamon muttered and glanced up at the sky, nodding in the direction of a bright white light that had appeared between the group and the strange earth dominating the sky. "Looks like the Ark's here."
The children and Digimon craned their necks in unison and watched with varying levels of awe as the glowing white portal widened and a pair of thin metal rails descended from it slowly until they struck the ground at the centre of the crater with a dull clang. A cube-shaped box four metres to a side and made entirely of glass emerged from the portal next, travelling down the rails at a snail's pace like a giant glass elevator. It eventually landed with a small puff of dust and a barely-audible thud, the side of the cube facing the Tamers sliding open with a musical chime.
"Three minutes to Ark departure," a computerized, feminine voice announced from inside the glass box.
"Well, I guess this is goodbye," Kazu said with a tired grin. "Nice meeting you all, take care of yourselves."
"Thanks for everything, you guys," Henry nodded to the Japanese Tamers and Digimon.
"Yeah," Steph added with a small smile. "Without your help…"
"It was nothing, fair maiden," Andromon replied with a bow, making the girl blush lightly.
"Oh, great, he's in 'knight in shining armour' mode again," the android's Tamer sighed and rolled his eyes.
"Bye, everybody!" Jeri called cheerfully, turning to Rika with a wide smile. "Try to keep in touch a little better this time?"
"I will," the redhead promised, catching the amber-eyed girl's arms and giving a small smirk as she suddenly tried to pull her into a surprise hug. "Nice try, Jeri. That only works once."
"Oh, really?" a voice chuckled in her ear as Rika felt a pair of strong arms wrap around her waist from behind, pulling her into a tight hug and lifting her several inches into the air. "I beg to differ, Wildcat…"
"Put. Me. DOWN!" the girl ordered as she felt her face turning beet-red with embarrassment.
"Your wish is my command," the Digimon King crooned and set her down gently, stepping nimbly aside to avoid the inevitable gut-punch thrown at him by the irate redhead. "Nice try, but that one really does only work once."
"Oh, I am going to make you scream…"
"Well, it doesn't look like we'll have the time," Ryo sighed with (mostly) mock disappointment, his grin suddenly transforming into a sad smile. "Take care of yourself, Rika."
The sudden change of attitude threw the girl off-balance just long enough for the boy to make his escape to the Ark, skidding down the side of the crater at what was definitely an unsafe speed and barely managing to come to a stop right outside the glass box. "Later everyone. Good luck with the rest of your journey home!"
"Humans," Leomon muttered with a small smile and rolled his eyes, offering his hand to Kyubimon. "Until we meet again, great kitsune."
"May your claws remain sharp," the vulpine Digimon replied and placed one of her forepaws in his hand. "And your blade strike true, Beast King."
Leomon released the kitsune's paw and leapt into the crater, joining his Tamer and the rest of his friends in the Ark. The doors slid shut mere seconds after he had stepped through the doors and the glass box started rising slowly into the air.
"Goodbye!" Suzie shouted and waved furiously at her departing friends. "We'ww miss you!"
"Bye!" Sam called, joining her friend in waving as the Tamers and their partners in the glass box started waving back. "Thanks very much for helping to free us and stuff!"
The children and Digimon stayed there until the Ark disappeared through the portal, with Takato, Cam, Terriermon and Growlmon joining their young friends in waving and shouting goodbyes at the glass elevator. When the Ark had finally passed out of sight, Takato lowered his tired arm and glanced at the screen of his D-Arc, wincing when he saw the time.
"Ah, crap…uh, guys? It's ten past one…" he began in a worried tone.
"Looks like we're gonna be a little pushed for time getting to our Ark," Cam muttered with a thoughtful look. "Hey, Takato? How about Digivolving Growlmon to WarGrowlmon? That should speed him up nicely, and he should be able to maintain his form until we get there."
"Yeah!" Growlmon nodded in agreement.
"If it'll help, I could Digivolve to Rapidmon, too," Terriermon offered. "That should let you guys move a bit faster since you won't be carrying me or Henry, and I'll be able to keep an eye out for any trouble from up in the air."
"I could do the same as MachGaogamon," Gaogamon added.
"I should probably Digivolve as well," Kyubimon declared. "My Taijitu disk is the safest way to transport Sam and the others at the speeds we'll be travelling at. I should probably warn you, I may have difficulty sustaining it for the entire journey if I have to carry so many people."
"A couple of 'em could join me and WarGrowlmon if you get too tired," Takato nodded. "So, I'll be on WarGrowlmon, Henry will be on Rapidmon, Cam will be on MachGaogamon and Rika and everyone else will be with Taomon."
"Hmmm…I wonder…" Steph mumbled and reached for the deck of spare cards Rika had let her borrow in case of an emergency. "Digi-Modify! Digivolution activate!"
"Hawkmon Digivolve to…Aquilamon!" her red- and white-feathered partner called out as he was encased in a red and white data sphere that quickly shattered to reveal his appropriately-aquiline Champion form.
Aquilamon was much smaller than Valdurmon, with a wingspan of around six metres. His body and long tail were covered with red feathers, as were his wings, except for around the edges where they were white with red at the tips. His neck was adorned with a ruffle of brown feathers, while those on his head his head were predominantly white, with streaks of red forming patterns that looked like warpaint on his forehead and around his eyes. A single long, red-tipped white feather rose from the top of his head and two dark grey horns curled forward from just above and behind his icy-blue eyes, matched in their sharpness by his short, yellow beak and taloned, blue-grey feet. The massive bird shook his head rapidly and blinked in surprise, looking around at his surroundings cautiously as he tried to get used to his new perspective.
"That was…ahem…" he coughed quietly, surprised by his new, deeper voice. "That was…surprising."
"Huh…I didn't think that would work," Steph grinned sheepishly. "Sorry about that."
"Just give me more warning next time," Aquilamon sighed and rolled his shoulders. "Ooh…I could get used to this…"
"Not if you still wanna be able to fit into the spare room…"
"Uh, I got a couple of questions," Terriermon began in a puzzled tone. "First off, why didn't that work when you tried it back at Sage's place? And what made you decide to try it now?"
"I dunno," the blonde-haired girl shrugged. "I mean, I knew that Taomon would be pretty tired out if she had to carry everyone all the way, so I decided to slash a Digivolution card."
"But how did you know it would work?" Growlmon asked with a confused look.
"I didn't. It just seemed…right."
"Well, that makes sense…" Gaogamon muttered sarcastically. "I should probably be used to this stuff by now."
"Probably," Aquilamon agreed. "Weird things always seem to happen around humans."
"As much as I hate to borrow a line from Rabbitmon," Rika began in an irritated tone, drawing a card that flashed blue as she closed her eyes and concentrated. "Would you hurry up? We've got a schedule to keep!"
"We really need to stop doing that," Takato chuckled as he, Henry and Cam drew their own blue cards. "Digi-Modify! Matrix Digivolution activate!"
Tokyo Metropolitan Government Building, Japan, Earth – 10:16p.m. local time
"We have Ark 1 on our short-range scanners!" Riley announced excitedly. "It's on target for emergence on the roof. Estimate twenty seconds to bio-emergence. Eighteen. Seventeen."
"Excellent work, people," Yamaki congratulated his team as the redhead continued her countdown. "Tally, inform the children's parents."
"Already done, sir," the blonde-haired woman replied with a grin.
"Good. Dolphin, Shibumi – get on the network and start helping Tao with the data stabilization. I want Ark 2 ready for launch ASAP."
"We're on it. Come on, Shibumi," Dolphin replied, heading back to the Monster Makers' personal office accompanied by a cheerful Japanese man with a mop of sandy-blonde hair and a rough, unkempt beard. "You know how Tao gets when he's kept waiting."
Roof of Tokyo Metropolitan Government Building – 10:17p.m. local time
A point of bright white light flared into existence over the southern tower of the Tokyo Metropolitan Government Building, less than ten metres above the heads of the half-dozen concerned parents gathered there along with about twice that number of Hypnos Agents. Twin metal rails emerged from the portal and were soon followed by the Ark, which touched down on the roof of the building with a soft thud and disintegrated into a cloud of free-floating data.
"Dad!" Jeri cheered and leapt into the arms of her father – a stern, severe-looking man with close-cropped dark hair whose harsh exterior evaporated immediately into a joyous, relieved smile as his daughter leapt into his arms. Kazu and Kenta showed greater restraint than their friend, though their mothers decided to emulate Jeri's excited reaction, each woman immediately grasping her respective son in a fierce hug and planting kisses all over their forehead. Ryo, meanwhile, simply shared a reserved, respectful nod with his father, who gave a brief smile and a glance at Monodramon.
"He de-Digivolved again?" Gendo Akiyama asked in a neutral tone.
"Yeah, we were in a pretty big fight a while back and he still hasn't totally recovered," the boy replied, suppressing a spark of irritation at his father's habitual tendency to speak about his partner as if he weren't there. "Uh, dad…the Tamers from England still haven't got back from the Digital World yet. Do you mind if we hang around here for a little while? I wanna make sure they get home okay."
"I don't see why not," his father shrugged. "You've already missed enough school that one bad night's sleep won't do you any harm."
"Uh, dad? Please can we stay too?" Jeri asked, putting on her best puppy dog eyes.
"I thought you might want to stay," Tadashi Katou chuckled. "I'll call your stepmother and tell her we'll be home late."
"Uh, mum? Dad?" Kazu asked hopefully after finally escaping from his mother's death grip.
"Not a chance, mister!" his mother, Takako, snapped. "Your grades can't afford to sink any lower than they already are."
"Same goes for you, Kenta," the green-haired boy's mother Akemi said sternly. "Two weeks of missed school is more than enough."
Jeri giggled quietly as the two boys were practically dragged back inside by their parents, Leomon suppressing a chuckle and shaking his head in wonder at the sudden transformation of the Tamers.
"Five minutes ago those boys would have faced down a legion of Ogremon," the leonine warrior smirked as Andromon and MarineAngemon followed their respective Tamer back inside, Andromon struggling to squeeze through the door. "Now they're scared of a couple of humans who'd barely reach an Ogremon's chest."
"Parental Authority," Monodramon chuckled. "The ultimate special attack."
Digital World, Desert Level – 2:30p.m.
Taomon took a deep breath and wiped a paw across her forehead to try and remove some of the sweat that was gathering in her fur there. When we get home, I am going to find out exactly which sadistic moron decided to give me sweat glands under my fur and these ridiculous, thick robes, she thought as she flicked her paw to try and rid it of what little sweat she had managed to wipe off. And then I am going to smother him in my sleeves.
The group of children and Digimon were limited to travelling through the desert at the fastest sustainable speed the slowest of their group could manage. The two slowest Digimon were WarGrowlmon, who was moving at a light jog, and Taomon, whose Taijitu disk was heavily-laden with passengers. Normally she still would have been able to move faster than she was now, though only for a brief period of time. The desert heat certainly wasn't helping.
Why couldn't Suzie have been partnered with a Frigimon or IceLeomon instead? the kitsune moaned to herself. The knowledge that she was currently one of the slowest-moving members of the group was annoying her more than she expected, despite the fact that WarGrowlmon would have been slowing everybody down even if she had been able to move faster. I thought I was stronger than this…brought low by the weather. Ha!
The heat wasn't exactly doing wonders for her mood, either.
"Suzie, I really don't think this is a good idea…" Lopmon began as her Tamer rifled through the dozen or so cards she had 'borrowed' from her brother. "I don't think that you should have taken those cards withou-"
"Digi-Modify! Fwigimon's Icy Bweath activate!" the little girl interrupted as she slashed a card through her pink-ringed D-Arc. "Okay, Wopmon, time to coow Taomon down!"
"Ah…ah…AATCHOO!" the brown-furred rabbit sneezed loudly, a flurry of snow and ice being carried from her nostrils by a cold, biting wind. "Oh dear…erm, my sincere apologies, Taomon…"
"Oh, it's not a problem," the kitsune, who was now so covered with snow she looked like an oversized snowman, replied and shook her head to clear her vision of the cold, white powder. "Tell me, how many of those cards do you have?"
Suzie was the first to spot the landing site of the Ark at 4:30pm, when her keen eyes managed to pick out a series of craters in the distance just as they passed into view from behind a cluster of rock towers. She and Sam had been keeping themselves occupied by playing an on-again, off-again game to see who would be able to spot the craters first, and the half-Chinese girl celebrated her victory with her usual childish lack of grace. The Digimon reached the craters twenty minutes later, the children dismounting with a palpable sense of relief at having reached their rendezvous point on time. As soon as their passengers' feet hit the sandy ground, all of the Digimon apart from Aquilamon de-Digivolved to their Rookie forms, their energy reserves by travelling for so long in their Ultimate forms. The children's relief quickly turned to excitement as they saw a circle of bright white light flare into existence above their heads, a pair of metal rails poking out from the portal and slowly descending towards them.
Tokyo Metropolitan Government Building, Japan, Earth – 2:49a.m. local time
"Barrier/Desert Portal forming in five…four…three…two…one…portal open!" Riley announced.
"Excellent," Yamaki said crisply. "Transfer control of the Ark to Tao as planned. He should have a reduced communication time between his systems and the Ark's."
"Aye, sir," the redhead replied with a small grin. Everyone in the room (with the exception of Ryo, Jeri, their partners and each child's respective father) knew exactly why Yamaki was transferring control – he had been over it with them all at that morning's briefing. Repeating it was just his way of reassuring himself that relinquishing control – something he was loath to do in the best of circumstances – was the right thing to do. "Control transferred. Your controls should be starting to respond any second now, Mr Wong."
"Roger that," the Chinese man replied over the video link that dominated a small portion of the Hypnos dome. "Rail touchdown in five…four…three…"
"Sir!" Tally called out suddenly. "I'm getting some pretty strange readings over here…"
Digital World, Desert Level – 4:50p.m.
Rika allowed a small smile to appear on her face as the Ark's twin rails struck the ground and a blurred outline began to become visible in the centre of the white portal. Come on… she thought impatiently. Can this thing move any slower?
The redhead nearly jumped out of her skin as a low growl suddenly rose over the whistling of the desert wind and she turned to see Guilmon sniffing the air suspiciously, his pupils reduced to feral slits.
"What's up with…" she began, trailing off as she felt a sudden sense of alarm flood her link with her partner. "What the hell's going-"
The girl was cut off as something large and heavy slammed into her back and the world shattered around her.
Kirkfield Park, England – 4:50p.m.
Maria Wong almost let out a loud cheer of pure joy when she saw the Ark's twin rails touch the ground, the image surprisingly clear on the screen of the laptop her husband had given to her. She and the other parents of the Tamers were gathered in the tunnel holding the portal to the Digital World, eagerly awaiting the return of their children. The only ones not present were her husband Janyuu, who would be guiding the Ark in from his computer at home, and Cam's father (though the boy's mother – a short, lean, nervous-looking woman with curly black hair – was present). Also accompanying Maria were Jaarin and Rinchei, who had momentarily set aside their usual sibling bickering in favour of silent, nervous anticipation of their siblings' return.
The portal itself was much wider than it had been on the day the children had left for the Digital World, thanks to Janyuu's efforts to widen and stabilize it enough for the Ark to pass through without any problems. The ragged tear in reality had been converted into a neat, circular window six metres in diameter, and noticeably fewer motes of light dancing around it were dancing around it.
"Not long, now," Takehiro Matsuki whispered to his wife and gave her hand a reassuring squeeze, to which she responded with a small smile and a squeeze of her own. "Soon we'll have our boy back, and-"
All those assembled let out simultaneous cries of horror as a black blur suddenly darted across the screen and struck the ground just in front of the children and Digimon, sending a wave of darkness washing out in every direction. When the darkness reached the tracer program transmitting the images, the laptop's screen suddenly flared white and started belching sparks and smoke, the rest of the computer bursting into flames seconds later.
"Oh, no…" Maria croaked, tears streaming down her cheeks as the implications of what she had seen sunk in. "No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no…"
Tokyo Metropolitan Government Building, Japan, Earth
Yamaki uttered a stream of curses as the darkness reached the tracer and every single screen in the Hypnos dome disintegrated into a haze of static. "What the hell is going on?"
"Unknown, sir," Tally replied quickly as she typed away at her keyboard frantically. "I can't access any of the systems, it looks like they've all been infiltrated by an un-"
The blonde-haired woman was cut off as her console exploded in a cloud of black energy, tearing her torso to ribbons and catapulting her mangled corpse through the air. The force of the blast ripped the crane-like armature she had been sat on almost completely in half, sending Riley tumbling a dozen feet from her console to the floor below.
"RILEY!" Yamaki roared in horror as the woman landed hard, her left leg breaking with an audible snap. He quickly called for a doctor and rushed to her side, glancing over towards Tally's corpse with a twinge of guilt at having all but ignored her demise in favour of attending to her wounded co-worker.
What he saw froze him in his tracks. The blonde-haired woman's corpse had landed on top of Monodramon and the purple dragon's back was arched as black mist billowed from his snout and mouth. The little Digimon started to glow with an intense white light that suddenly flared to painfully-bright levels, fading to reveal the massive form of Cyberdramon.
The black-armoured dragon looked Yamaki straight in the eye, opened his mouth and let out a bestial roar as he pounced at the man with claws outstretched.
Digital World, Desert Level
Rika fell to her knees as Renamon re-materialized and the world came into focus again. That had been the most violent, uncontrolled Kohenkyo teleportation she had ever seen Renamon use – it had been enough to seriously disorientate both the girl and her partner, despite them both being well-accustomed to the experience of teleportation. A strange coughing sound came from the redhead's left, and she turned to see Sam retching violently on her hands and knees about a metre away.
"Wh…what happened?" Rika stammered as she stood up, her nausea slowly receding. "Renamon, why did…oh, gods…"
The Tamer trailed off as she turned back to look at her partner and saw what lay behind her. A strange cloud of black mist that covered a dome-shaped area over thirty metres high and wide was slowly dissipating, revealing a scene of total devastation. Aquilamon had been blasted back to his Rookie form of Hawkmon and he lay atop the motionless form of his Tamer. Guilmon, Gaomon, Lopmon and Terriermon were laid on the floor groaning in agony, their data fizzing periodically. Henry and Suzie looked like they had managed to get away from the mysterious attack with only minor cuts and bruises, though both of them looked severely shell-shocked. Suzie let out a scream of horror when she saw her wounded partner and ran to her side, while her brother seemed torn between tending to his own partner and checking to see if Steph was still alive. Eventually, he chose the latter option, an expression of indescribable relief appearing on his face when he pressed two fingers against the girl's neck and found a pulse. Cam and Takato were better off than Steph, though not by much in Takato's case. The begoggled Tamer's right arm was obviously dislocated at the shoulder, and blood welled out from a nasty cut on his chest. Cam, on the other hand, had managed to escape with just a long gash on his upper arm that sent blood dripping down all the way to his wrist as he struggled to reassure Takato, who was letting out periodic screams of agony as his arm was jarred by even the slightest movement. A sudden flicker drew Rika's eyes to the Ark, which was being held in place by a web of darkness that covered the mouth to the portal and had wrapped itself around the rails.
"Who…who could have done this?" she croaked in horror, flinching as a booming laugh echoed through the desert.
Tokyo Metropolitan Government Building, Japan, Earth
Mere milliseconds before Cyberdramon's claws eviscerated Yamaki, Leomon barrelled into the dragon from the side with a massive roar, slamming him into a row of computers on the far wall and crushing many of them into unrecognizable piles of scrap metal and plastic. The leonine warrior let out a low growl and climbed to his feet, drawing his Shishiou-maru sword and holding it underhanded in a guard position. Cyberdramon quickly tore himself free of the wreckage and glared at his attacker, flexing his claws and emitting a low growl of his own.
"I suggest you all evacuate this place," Leomon began, circling around to place himself between the dragon and the defenceless humans. "I shall keep him busy while you make your escape."
Almost before he had finished talking, the lion leapt into action, summoning a fireball around his empty left fist as he swung his sword at Cyberdramon's head. The dragon blocked the blade with his left claws, barely even flinching as Leomon exploited the gap in his defence by launching a Fist of the Beast King attack into his armoured chest at point blank range. Cyberdramon replied by headbutting his opponent square in the face and slashing at his chest with his right claws, cutting a series of parallel, stinging cuts in the lion's flesh.
Most of the humans in the spherical room had started retreating as soon as Leomon launched his attack, though several of them remained behind. Yamaki was the last to leave, taking a good, long look at the ruins of his life's work before rushing out of the door with a delirious Riley in his arms. Jeri had barely moved a muscle since the fight had begun, immersing herself in her link with Leomon so totally that she became all but oblivious to the world around her. The only time she did move was to slash a card every so often, her usual shouted announcement of the card she was slashing escaping her lips as barely more than a murmur. Her father also remained, and although he didn't understand what his daughter was doing, he understood instinctively that he shouldn't interfere. Ryo, meanwhile, was all but frozen with shock, his father's attempts to rouse him from his stupor and convince him to run having no effect. The boy watched helplessly as his partner landed blow after blow on Leomon, Jeri yelping or screaming with every cut as she felt the pain inflicted on her partner. Eventually, the agony became too much for her and she fell to her knees with a gasp, pulling free of the link and clenching her fists around her D-Arc in a white-knuckled grip.
"Jeri, are you-"
"I'm fine, dad," she lied, fixing Ryo with a desperate look. "Ryo, you have to do something! Slash an Alias card – we can deal with him if he's back as Monodramon!"
"I can't, it doesn't work when he's like this!" the boy replied, clenching his fists by his side as he continued to ignore his father's pleas for him to leave.
"Why not?" Jeri demanded.
"I…I don't know! It just doesn't!"
The girl narrowed her eyes and fixed Ryo with a glare that managed to communicate more than words ever could. "You're lying," it said. "I know you're lying. I know you have your secrets. I don't care about that. If you do something, your secrets can stay secret. But if you don't do something, Leomon is going to die. If you let that happen, I will make it my life's work to find out exactly what that secret is, and why it was important enough to let my partner die."
That glare terrified Ryo more than anything else in his entire life.
As Cyberdramon knocked Leomon to the ground with a ferocious backhand and stood over him poised to deliver the killing blow, Ryo did the only thing he could think of doing. He threw himself between the two battling Digimon.
"ENOUGH!" the boy roared at the top of his lungs as he threw himself into the link he shared with Cyberdramon.
Digital World, Desert Level
"What…what is that?" Renamon gasped as she finally found her voice.
The creature was enormous, at least twenty-five metres long and shrouded along its entire length with black mist. Eight long, barbed tails snaked away from a serpentine body, each one tipped with a feather-shaped blade of black iron. Eight long necks branched off from the top of its body, the back of each one covered along its entire length by segmented, angular armour plates of subtly-different styles. Each neck was tipped with a unique head, the only common features shared by all of them being their grey-black skin, mouths full of razor-sharp teeth and glowing red eyes.
One of the heads was identical to the head of a rattlesnake complete with oversized fangs, while another looked like the head of a traditional Japanese dragon, with long whiskers and sharp spines growing from its head. Another head had a long, thin snout with straight grey horns growing back from its forehead, while yet another had a flatter snout with flared nostrils and curling black ram's horns that grew from just behind its eyes. The fifth head had a short, rounded snout and a spined crest extending from its chin back to its throat, while the sixth had a short, square jaw and bone-coloured horns that pointed forwards in a manner reminiscent of Aquilamon's. The seventh head was shaped like an elongated tetrahedron, with a split lower jaw that reached out well past the end of its snout. The last head was one that looked very familiar to Rika – it was almost exactly like the head of Majiramon, the only difference being in the skin colour. Without really thinking about it, Rika pulled her D-Arc out of its holder on her belt and scanned the eight-headed dragon, glancing at her screen and swallowing a fresh surge of fear.
Name: HiOrochimon
Level: Mega
Attribute: Virus
Special Attacks:
Unknown
"HiOrochimon?" the redhead mumbled and glanced up at the unfamiliar Digimon, who was wearing a malicious grin on each of his eight heads. "But how…"
"His Divine Majesty Zhuqiaomon, may his life be filled with victory and profit, has powers beyond your wildest dreams," the dragon cackled, all eight of his voices speaking as one. "I was once the weakling known as Majiramon, but the Sovereign blessed me with strength born of agony, with power born of rage and despair. In his infinite wisdom, he transformed me from a weakling and a failure into his greatest weapon!" HiOrochimon swept one of his bladed tails around, indicating the devastation he had wrought. "See how the mighty Tamers and their Abominations are laid low, crippled and defeated by just a single blow! But don't worry, child, I am not a cruel Digimon," he sneered, leaning down so that his Majiramon head was only about a dozen metres from Rika. "I will end their suffering soon. I'll even let you watch, so that you can make sure my killings are swift and merciful before I end your life as well."
As the dragon descended into roaring laughter at his little joke, Rika turned and surveyed the scene that lay in front of her with a sense of numbness. A spark of some familiar yet alien emotion flared into life deep within her chest as she set eyes upon the first of her friends, the spark growing and growing as her gaze fell upon each friend in turn.
There were Steph and Hawkmon, both unconscious and unmoving.
There's Steph, who always looks out for everyone and would never hurt a fly.
There's Hawkmon, who gave everything he had to help us.
There was Henry, holding Terriermon in his arms. The rabbit stirred briefly and mouthed a word that Rika guessed was "Momentai" from the brief smile and tears of relief that streamed down his Tamer's face.
There's Henry, who always keeps a level head and never stops worrying about his friends.
There's Terriermon, who makes me laugh inside more than I'd ever let him know.
There was Cam, struggling to comfort an agonised Takato even as his own arm was soaked through with blood.
There's Cam, who never gives up on a friend.
There's Takato, the only person in the world who could put up with the Ice Queen for long enough to thaw her out a little.
There was Gaomon, climbing unsteadily to his feet before tying his headband tightly around Cam's wound to staunch the bleeding, falling to his knees and passing out as soon as he had finished the task.
There's Gaomon, who fights for everyone but himself.
There was Guilmon, trying desperately to climb to his feet and go to his Tamer's aid, eventually settling for just crawling towards the boy when his legs continually failed him.
There's Guilmon, just a big kid with a heart of gold.
There was Suzie, holding Lopmon tightly in her arms and sobbing profusely. The rabbit was comforting her as best she could despite her injured state, struggling not to pass out so as not to scare her young Tamer.
There's Suzie, the only girl who'd make friends with the sad, lonely new kid in her class.
There's Lopmon, who was strong enough to stand up to a Sovereign but is too soft to stand up to her Tamer.
And there was Sam, staring up at the massive dragon with tears of terror streaming down her cheeks.
And there's Sam, who's been through enough already.
They've saved my life a dozen times in a dozen different ways. Without them, my life would be as cold as it was before I met Renamon, before Jeri and Leomon opened our eyes.
I will not let him hurt them.
"I'm gonna give you one chance," Rika began softly, turning and fixing HiOrochimon with the most fiery, rage-filled glare she could muster. "To walk away from this. You will give up your power. You will leave Zhuqiaomon's army. You will dedicate your life to undoing the damage you have caused. You will never hurt another living thing."
"Oh?" the dragon chuckled. "And what if I refuse?"
"Then I'll destroy you," the redhead said matter-of-factly. "I'll go through every last shred of your data and delete it one byte at a time until every trace of your existence is gone from this world."
"Hmmm…" HiOrochimon sighed, a thoughtful look appearing on each of his eight heads. "I think I'm going to have to decline your offer."
"Then you brought this on yourself," Rika and Renamon spat as a sudden wind picked up around the girl and violet light blazed out of the screen of her D-Arc.
Oh, crap. This is bad. This is very, very bad. Cam thought as he stared at Takato's arm, mumbling hollow words of comfort as much for his own sake as for his friend's. What do I do? Somebody tell me what to do! I've got no idea how to help him, I hate feeling so USELESS!
Okay, okay. Calm down, Cam. It could be worse, he took a deep breath and glanced at the unconscious forms of Steph and Hawkmon. At least you're still around to panic. If Aquilamon hadn't taken the brunt of that attack for us…oh, come on! Snap out of it! the boy berated himself mentally. Never give up, no matter what. As long as you're still breathing, there's always a chance.
As the thought rattled around in the massive Tamer's brain two familiar voices called out two wonderful, glorious words that rekindled the fires of hope in his chest. A sense of pure joy washed over him and he had to fight to stop himself from whooping and cheering as he turned to watch Rika and Renamon's transformation.
"Bio-merge activate!"
A brilliant, golden-white light shone from Rika's eyes as she rose slowly into the air, her arms moving out to either side of her in a cruciform shape. The light soon spread across her whole body like a shroud , concealing it as her clothes dissolved right down to her hairband, allowing her hair to spill down around her shoulders. When the girl had risen several metres above the ground, Renamon leapt into the air behind her, mirroring her pose with her arms out at her sides and her feet together. The two partners moved together, their bodies overlapping and merging into one in a flash of pink light that faded to reveal the form of a woman, eight feet tall and shrouded in golden light. Suddenly, a number of motes of pale pink light winked into existence to her left, quickly growing and solidifying until each one had formed itself into a cherry blossom. The blossoms washed over her body, coiling around the limbs, torso and finally the head before turning back into floating pink lights and merging into the golden light enshrouding her form, changing its colour to be the same pale pink as the individual lights had been. When the last trace of golden light had turned pink, the shroud of light flared brighter and suddenly dimmed to reveal Rika and Renamon's Mega form of Sakuyamon in all her glory.
She was magnificent. Her body was encased in a black, skin-tight bodysuit, with golden armour plates strapped over her chest and solar plexus. Two oval-shaped plates of metal hung from the back of the armour, dangling down to her mid-thigh and looking like the wings of a sycamore seed. A pair of purple elbow-length gloves similar to Renamon's adorned her hands, each glove emblazoned with a taijitu symbol that sat on the back of her hand. Similar items of clothing were worn over a pair of high-heeled boots that were made of the same golden metal as her armour. The taijitu motif was repeated on the tops of Sakuyamon's feet, as well as on the armour on her solar plexus, on the flexible golden rings protecting her knees and on her spherical golden shoulder pads. A black leather belt with a golden fox's head buckle adorned her waist, four cylindrical canisters resting on the belt. Her eyes were hidden behind a golden metal helmet reminiscent of Renamon's head, with two ears on the top and a small, white-tipped tail-like protrusion on either side of the helmet. One detail that was definitely not similar to her Rookie form, however, was the two lengths of segmented metal that framed her face like Rika's forelocks. Sakuyamon's own hair, however, was definitely unlike that of her human half – it was silver in colour, and pulled into two white-tipped ponytails that each look like the tail of a grey fox. A massive golden khakkhara staff rested in her left hand, the bottom ending in a vicious spike that wouldn't have looked out of place on a spear. The top of the staff consisted of a single, large gold ring with six smaller rings attached to it and with another spike mounted on top of the main ring, two medium-sized rings hanging from loops in the metal to either side of the spike. The shamaness spun the staff over her head several times before planting it into the ground, sending a small wave of lightning arcing across the surface of the desert.
"Dude…" Cam breathed as he stared in awe at Sakuyamon. "Go, Rika…"
The boy flinched as a throaty chuckle rumbled from all eight of Orochimon's throats at once. "So, you Digivolved? This should make things interesting…"
Tokyo Metropolitan Government Building, Japan, Earth
As Ryo's mind connected with that of his partner, two sensations flooded his consciousness. The first was pure, unadulterated rage so powerful it threatened to eclipse every last shred of his sanity. The second was pain. Pain that wracked every inch of his body, flooded every corner of his mind as his partner fought to free himself from the link. Pain so intense that Ryo vowed to do everything in his power to forget it, as he doubted that his mind could survive the memory of the sensations he was feeling now, the indescribable agony of the deep wounds being gouged in the very core of his being.
For a second, Ryo thought his mental assault had been in vain as his partner's claws continued on their path, arcing downwards to cleave through both his flesh and Leomon's. When the claws were mere inches from the boy's head, however, they stopped as if they had struck a brick wall. A mirthless grin spread across Ryo's face as Cyberdramon roared in indignant rage, the roar echoing through their bond and shaking the Tamer's consciousness like an oversized plate of jelly.
You can't do it, can you? Ryo chuckled to himself. You can't break my hold over your mind. You should know better than to try and fight me in battle of wills, you old bastard. You've never beaten me before, and you won't beat me now. Granted, our battles have never been as…literal as this one, but that changes nothing. I won't let you hurt anyone.
Cyberdramon suddenly ceased his roaring, standing stock still as he diverted all of his energy into a renewed mental assault on his Tamer. The boy stood his ground, taking a single step forward as he weathered the shockwaves of agony tearing through his mind and body. He responded by pushing himself further into the link before the pain had faded, sending aftershocks rippling through the dragon's mind. Cyberdramon withdrew slightly with both a verbal and a mental groan, instinctively erecting barriers to keep his Tamer at bay before launching into a counter-attack. The move caught Ryo off-balance, and he retreated back into his own mind before launching into a second counter-attack of his own.
This cycle repeated itself again and again, each pseudo-telepathic parry and riposte taking less than half a second. Despite his earlier boast, Ryo began to feel his mental defences weakening almost-imperceptibly, while his partner's mind remained as strong and secure as it ever was.
I'd better think of something fast, the boy thought to himself after a particularly-vicious assault on his mind, lashing out with an equally-cruel blow at his partner's psyche. I don't know how much longer I can hold him off.
Digital World, Desert Level
This is…incredible! Rika gasped as she looked around at the blue data sphere encasing her. She was somehow managing to see through Sakuyamon's eyes at the same time as her own, the image appearing overlaid on the surface of the data sphere and on the far side of it simultaneously. The sensation was slightly disorientating at first, but the girl grew accustomed to it after just a few seconds.
She doubted, however, that she would ever be able to get used to the sudden surge of intense emotion that had flooded her body as soon as her transformation was complete, and had now appeared to have taken up permanent residence in her consciousness. It was the familiar-yet-alien emotion she had felt shortly before her transformation, but intensified a million times over. The only word in Rika's vocabulary that came close to describing the feeling was "compassion", though the word failed so completely to describe the intensity of the feeling that it was rendered almost totally inadequate.
It's too much… the redhead groaned mentally as the wave of emotion flooded every corner of her mind and soul. I can't…I can't take much more of this…
"No, but we can," Renamon's voice whispered soothingly in her mind, and Rika felt the intense emotional pressure diminish to about half of its original intensity.
"Renamon…" the girl sighed in gratitude as she wrestled the emotion into an isolated corner of her mind. "This is so…I can…I can feel everything! It's like I'm linked to every single living thing for a thousand miles, like I can feel their hearts beating in my head, feel their life flowing through my mind."
"I feel it, too," the kitsune replied. "Though perhaps we should discuss it at a later date…"
"Kyoubou no Kage!" all eight of HiOrochimon's heads roared in unison, interrupting Sakuyamon's internal dialogue. A bolt of black fire erupted from the dragon's Majiramon head, slamming into the ground where the shamaness had been standing a fraction of a second before.
Whoa, Rika gasped in surprise at her newfound speed and agility. Her mind could barely comprehend the speed with which her body was moving, the surrounding desert dissolving into a blur as she twisted in mid-air to avoid a second shadowy dart. As she dodged a third bolt with equal ease, the girl noticed a strange sensation tugging at her limbs with every movement. It was almost as if she was being guided by Renamon into every motion, while at the same time it felt like she was the one guiding the kitsune. The feeling was barely noticeable unless she concentrated on it – something that the Tamer decided not to do as she struggled to dodge a fourth and fifth bolt, then found three more fireballs bearing down on her from multiple directions.
"Crystal Sphere!" Sakuyamon shouted in the twin voices of Rika and Renamon, neither voice holding even a trace of fear as a transparent, spherical shield appeared around her. The shadowy projectiles smashed into the glass-like barrier, black flames washing over its surface before dissipating without breaching it. A split-second later, the sphere also disappeared, leaving Sakuyamon levitating a dozen metres above the ground.
"My turn," she spat contemptuously and threw her arms out to her sides, dozens of motes of violet light materializing all around her. "Amethyst Wind!" the gold-armoured Digimon called out as each point of light flared brighter and resolved itself into a nine inch-long, two-inch wide amethyst with a razor sharp tip.
The storm of crystals, which by now numbered close to a hundred individual shards, rocketed through the air towards HiOrochimon with a high-pitched keening, the amethysts weaving between each other in a mesmerizingly-complex display of aerobatics. They slammed into the toughened hide and metal armour along several of the dragon's necks before detonating in a symphony of explosions, rending armour and gouging flesh but failing to do more than superficial damage. The crystalline barrage was still painful for HiOrochimon, feeling akin to dozens of needles being driven into his flesh. A roar of pain and rage left the serpentine Digimon's eight throats as he lunged at his opponent with surprising speed for such a large creature. Those heads that could reach the Bio-merged Digimon snapped at her viciously, each set of jaws slamming closed on thin air as Sakuyamon danced around them with ease, hovering behind the dragon as she prepared another attack.
"Ame no Murakumo!" HiOrochimon roared and lashed out with his eight tails, the blade-feather at the end of each one glowing with a deep, bluish-purple light. Sakuyamon cut off her attack when she realized her mistake, launching into a series of rolls and mid-air "jumps" in a desperate attempt to dodge the surprise attack. She almost succeeded, managing to dodge seven of the tails only for the eighth to slam into her chest armour with a deafening thunderclap, sending her plummeting towards the ground. The shamaness managed to regain enough control over her fall to land on her feet, leaping back into the air after a half-second pause with the pointed butt of her staff held out in front of her like a lance aimed at her opponent's heart. One of HiOrochimon's tails came up to knock her aside and Sakuyamon shifted her grip on the staff so that it was pointing down towards the top of the bladed appendage, the razor-sharp tip biting deep into the flesh just behind the feather-blade as she used the golden implement like a pole to vault over it, catapulting herself feet-first towards the dragon's square-jawed head. Her booted feet struck the massive, bestial visage just below its left eye with a sound like two mountains colliding, dislocating its massive jaw and eliciting an agonized roar from the wounded head as it whiplashed to the side and the shamaness soared past. This risky move put her within easy reach of the rest of HiOrochimon's heads, however, and four of them closed in on Sakuyamon with jaws wide open and ready to tear her limb from limb.
"Spirit Strike!" she bellowed, the four canisters on her belt flipping open and unleashing the fox-like spirits stored within.
Each of the four kuda-gitsune was made up of different-coloured flames and had a different kanji emblazoned on their forehead – one was red with the kanji for fire, one was blue with the kanji for water, one was green with the kanji for wind and one was yellow with the kanji for lightning. Despite their aesthetic differences, they all struck their targets with equal force and accuracy, each fox-spirit targeting one of the heads attacking their mistress and knocking it aside with the force of a speeding Humvee. Thanks to the opening created by her familiars, Sakuyamon flew right past the rest of the heads, pivoting in mid-air and coming to a halt ten metres above the ground and just out of HiOrochimon's reach.
"You actually managed to injure me," the dragon growled incredulously, the words leaving the mouth of his wounded head in an unintelligible slur. "You will die slowly for that, Abomination. Any last requests before I end your miserable life?"
"You're awfully confident," the shamaness noted as her kuda-gitsune formed up around her. "But now that you mention it…tell me, how did you find us?"
"Oh, wouldn't you like to know…" HiOrochimon chuckled.
"Since we're apparently going to be dead soon, what harm could it do to tell us?" Sakuyamon asked with a smirk. "Unless you're scared that you won't be able to defeat us after all…"
"Don't try to manipulate me," the mutated Deva snarled. "How dare you, an Abomination and a pathetic little girl, insult my intelligence?"
"Awww, did we hurt the big, nasty dragon's feelings?" the Bio-merged Digimon mocked.
"ENOUGH!" he roared furiously, the eyes on all eight of his hideous heads suddenly starting to glow brighter as the black mist around their mouths thickened. "I think I'll keep you alive and give you to my lord as a gift. I will enjoy watching the torments he inflicts upon you as we burn your world."
"I think you may have pushed him a little too far," Renamon noted as her Bio-merged form dodged nimbly around six streams of black fire, deflecting two more with a well-timed Crystal Sphere.
"He just needs to grow a thicker skin…" Rika muttered telepathically in reply.
"Perhaps not – we're having enough trouble killing him as it is…"
"Amethyst Wind!" Sakuyamon cried as her internal dialogue ended, sending a storm of dagger-like crystals whistling towards her opponent's heads in an attempt to distract while her kuda-gitsune attacked from above and below. The gambit failed, two of the dragon's heads obliterating the crystals with bursts of shadowy fire as the other six repelled the fox spirits. "Amethyst-GAH!"
Sakuyamon abandoned the attack she had been preparing and leapt desperately to the side as HiOrochimon suddenly leapt into motion, flying at her with his many maws opened wide and ready to rip her in two. The shamaness barely managed to avoid the snapping jaws, dodging past them and flying straight over the corrupted Deva's massive back. She realized her error a split second too late as HiOrochimon's tails lashed out at her, one of them defeating her desperate attempts to dodge and cutting a long, painful gash across the backs of her unarmoured thighs.
A strangled yelp escaped Rika's throat from within her data sphere, the girl feeling the blade-feather's attack as if it were her own flesh being cut. As a few droplets of blood drifted through the zero-gravity of the data sphere and into her vision, the redhead and her partner let out twin snarls of fury, Sakuyamon turning to face the eight lashing tails and spreading her arms as if she were inviting them to attack her.
"Crystal…" the shamaness began, tiny flickers of white light appearing around her outstretched hands as HiOrochimon took the bait and lashed out with all eight of his tails. "SPHERE!"
She had timed it perfectly. A transparent spherical shield appeared around Sakuyamon a split-second before the attacks struck home, slicing through the bladed appendages as it formed. Screams of agony left HiOrochimon's eight throats as each of his tails suddenly lost a good five feet in length, their severed tips flaring white and disintegrating into data as they were consumed by the energy of the Bio-merged partners' shield.
"What's the matter, big boy?" Sakuyamon teased as she floated out of reach of the mangled, wildly-thrashing tails. "Did the nasty little girl give you a booboo?"
"YOU WILL DIE SCREAMING AS GOBLIMON FEAST ON YOUR ENTRAILS!" the enraged HiOrochimon shrieked, flickers of black lightning appearing in the shadowy cloud that enshrouded him.
"Bring it on," the shamaness spat as she summoned more balls of violet light and her quartet of kuda-gitsune took up position in front of her.
"We cannot keep this up for long," Renamon admitted reluctantly to her Tamer. "We are approximately equal to him in power but I believe that he has greater stamina. He is hurt, but not badly enough to tip the balance in our favour."
"Don't worry – I have a plan," Rika replied as she watched the dragon's body language closely, searching for clues as to the direction his attack would come from. "This guy's based on the original Orochimon, right? Well with the original, only one of his heads was real and the others were just decoys. If you destroyed the real head then you destroyed Orochimon."
"And you think that the same rule applies to this Digimon?"
"It's worth a shot."
"That it is. I assume you have a theory as to which head is the real one?"
"The Majiramon head," the girl replied confidently. "If this guy really was Majiramon at one point, that's gotta be as good a choice as any."
"Agreed."
A wordless scream of hatred tore from HiOrochimon's throats along with another octet of fireballs. The barrage was poorly-aimed, however, and Sakuyamon twisted out of the way with contemptuous ease as she commanded her kuda-gitsune to attack with a thought, the attack not even managing to interrupt the charging of her Amethyst Wind attack. The fox spirits shot into action almost faster than HiOrochimon's eyes could follow, each fox rocketing towards a different head with fangs and claws ready to rend flesh and bone. Each of the targeted heads – the square-jawed one, the ram-horned one, the snake head and the odd, tetrahedral head – unleashed quick sprays of black fire, falling straight into the trap Sakuyamon had laid.
"Amethyst Wind!" she cried and launched over three hundred crystalline daggers at the Majiramon head, which now lay vulnerable and exposed as its fellows turned to snap at the passing kuda-gitsune. The amethysts flew out in a wide spread, their formation swiftly tightening as they closed on their target. Rika cursed to herself inside her data sphere as the dragon noticed the attack at the last possible second and the head with the round snout and fin on its chin whipped around into the path of the crystals, masses of black mist spilling from its open maw as it prepared to vomit up a stream of black fire.
It never got the chance. The tiniest flickers of flame had barely begun to appear around fin-chin's tonsils when the cloud of amethyst daggers slammed into the vulnerable flesh of its mouth. The round-snouted head slammed its jaws shut and jerked back, the remainder of the crystals embedding themselves in the unarmoured underside of its neck. An intense violet light spilled out of its mouth as it opened, letting out a horrendous scream that was mercifully cut short as every single one of the crystalline shards exploded simultaneously and reduced the wounded head to a fine, bloody mist. Seven more screams quickly tore from the throats of the remaining seven heads, however, as the agony of the head's destruction washed through HiOrochimon's nervous system, paralyzing him for a split-second.
A split-second was all Sakuyamon needed. Exploiting the miniscule window of opportunity, the shamaness set her vulpine familiars loose on the Majiramon head. The yellow kuda-gitsune took advantage of its newfound freedom from attack and darted away from the dragon's massive form before launching into an attack run, granting itself an extra ten metres or so to gather momentum before slamming into its target. The fox-spirit plunged into the side of the Majiramon head's neck at (appropriately enough) lightning speed, emerging from the far side in a spray of blood and shattered bone and all but severing the head in the process. A trio of vicious attacks from the other three spirits finished the job, sending the decapitated head plummeting to the ground with a look of shock frozen on its face. Sakuyamon let out a shout of triumph as the head struck the ground with a wet slap, watching eagerly to see if her theory had been proven correct.
For a few seconds, it looked like HiOrochimon was going to collapse, his remaining heads falling silent and jerking spasmodically as the black mist around his body grew thin. Just as Rika was starting to believe that her plan might have been successful, the six remaining heads turned to glare at her with indescribable malice.
"That…hurt…" they croaked in unison as their shadowy shroud began to thicken again.
"Good," Sakuyamon snapped in reply, a cold smirk appearing on her face as she fought to disguise her exhaustion. Overcharging her Amethyst Wind attack like that had cost her dearly, and the energy required to maintain her kuda-gitsune was taking its toll. "Maybe losing a couple of heads will cut your ego down to size, as well."
"Oh, you just keep laughing, little girl," HiOrochimon chuckled as the mist around the stumps of his wounded necks suddenly thickened until it was completely opaque. "You won't be laughing for much longer. Kyoubou no Kage!"
Six bolts of black fire tore from the dragon's mouths, hurtling towards the exhausted Sakuyamon too fast for her to dodge. The shamaness let out a desperate cry of "Crystal Sphere!", deflecting two poorly-aimed fireballs and blocking three solid hits. The sixth bolt broke through the overstrained shield and slammed into her chest armour, sending the Bio-merged Digimon flying through the air with a scream of pain.
"Rika, are you alright?" Renamon asked as her Tamer clutched her chest in agony, coughing and wheezing inside her data sphere.
"I'm fine," the girl gasped in reply as their kuda-gitsune faded away, the energy required to sustain them having been drained by the Crystal Sphere spell. "If that hadn't hit us on the armour, though…"
A sudden burst of maniacal laughter brought Sakuyamon back to the present, and she looked up at her opponent with a sense of horror. "What…but that's…" the shamaness gasped as new vertebrae suddenly materialized at the end of each of HiOrochimon's neck stumps, more following in quick succession until the entire skeletal structure of his missing necks and heads had been reformed. Cordlike muscles soon started to emerge slowly from the cloud that now ringed the skeletal neck like a collar, entwining themselves with the bare bones as they reconstructed the musculature.
"Now, you see the hopelessness of your situation," HiOrochimon cackled with his six flesh-covered heads. "This is the true power of His Divine Majesty Zhuqiaomon! Gaze upon the awesome might of the Holy Sovereign, and weep, for soon I shall lead Him to this portal and your world shall tremble before Him!"
A small smirk reappeared on Sakuyamon's face as the implications of the last section of HiOrochimon's inane rant struck her, the spark of hope granting her limbs renewed strength. "So, you're saying that Zhuqiaomon doesn't know where the portal is?"
A growl of irritation left the dragon's throats as he realized his mistake, a wave of darkness washing out from his body to wrack his opponent with agony.
"I'll take that as a yes," the shamaness said through gritted teeth, her smirk growing wider as the pain receded. "So, all that I need to do to stop him from getting to Earth is kill you?"
"Hah!" the Deva scoffed as his wounded heads were returned to full health. "That is not likely to happen any time soon. Every time you remove one of my heads, it will simply grow back. Not only are you incapable of killing me, you are also unable to reduce my fighting strength in any meaningful way. Such are the blessings bestowed upon the righteous! So long as one head remains to preach the virtues of the Sovereign, his brothers shall rise again before you can slay him!"
As the dragon cackled maniacally, Sakuyamon rose slowly to her feet, using her staff as a crutch. Remembering Sage's earlier advice, Rika and Renamon turned to the last source of power left to them – the ocean of compassion that was wearing down their emotional barriers and threatening to engulf their minds.
"Then the eight shall fall as one before the Twin Blades of Beauty…" she chanted, twin rings of pink light appearing around her waist as she floated into the air. HiOrochimon's laughter cut off suddenly as he realized his opponent was still very much in the fight and that her chant was in fact an attack. Black mist gathered around his mouths as he charged an attack in a desperate attempt to interrupt the shamaness's spell.
It was too little, too late.
"…and Truth!"
The twin rings of light flared brighter and snapped where they overlapped behind Sakuyamon, leaving two blades of light overlapping in a stretched-out X-shape over a dozen metres wide. The blades slammed into HiOrochimon, tearing through all eight of his serpentine necks like paper before he could even announce the name of his attack. As the dragon's decapitated heads fell to the floor and his body thrashed in its death throes Sakuyamon gripped her vajra khakkhara in both hands, tendrils of amethyst light coiling around her hands and the massive golden staff.
"AMETHYST MANDALA!" she roared as she dropped out of the sky, slamming the pointed butt of her staff into the ground as she channelled the compassion inside her through its golden form.
A wave of violet light flowed out from the shamaness and washed over everything within a hundred metres, including HiOrochimon, the mist-shrouded rails of the Ark and the wounded Tamers and Digimon. As the light faded, an intricate mandala pattern formed entirely of pink and violet light materialized on the desert sand centred on Sakuyamon, covering the area the initial light wave had washed over. Everything within the mandala started to glow with a violet light, the wounds of the Tamers and Digimon sealing themselves in a matter of seconds.
After Lopmon's wounds were healed, the light around her concentrated itself around her forehead, an inch-wide ball of angry orange fire suddenly emerging from the skin beneath the concentrated light. Suzie and Lopmon stared wide-eyed at the fireball, the Digimon hearing Renamon and Rika's voices whisper softly in her mind as it disintegrated into data.
"This thing calls out to Zhuqiaomon, allowing him to track your movements. It is how he has been following us."
"I…I didn't know…" the rabbit croaked, horrified that she could have brought such pain to her friends, intentionally or not.
"We know. It is not your fault, Lopmon. You could not have known."
The light flared brightly as it covered the shadowy corpse of HiOrochimon, the violet radiance dissolving and purifying the mass of corrupted code until it had been reduced to the free-floating data normally left after a Digimon's demise. The rails leading to the Ark began to glow too, the shadows covering them dissipating along with the web of shadow holding the Ark in place high above the ground. A lone tendril of light snaked away from the rails and towards a seemingly-random point in the sky, the air blurring around it as it found the tracer program sent by Hypnos and crossed the great divide between the worlds.
Tokyo Metropolitan Government Building, Japan, Earth
Ryo's mind was literally seconds away from collapsing and giving in to his partner's repeated assaults when it happened. The static-filled screens of the Hypnos dome suddenly went black and then erupted with a violet light so bright that it should have been painful to look at – yet Ryo, Jeri, Leomon and the adults felt nothing but an odd sense of calm as the light washed over them.
Cyberdramon, on the other hand, was in agony.
Tendrils of light snaked their way down from the screens to wrap around the dragon's head, his mental defences weakening rapidly as roars of agony escaped from his fanged mouth.
"Now, Ryo," two voices the boy recognized as Rika and Renamon's whispered in his mind as Cyberdramon fell to his knees. "Strike now, while his defences are weak. Drive back the darkness and help him take back control."
"Rika? Is that-"
"No time! Do it now, we can't keep this up for long…"
Ryo did as they ordered and launched an all-out assault on his partner's mind through their bond, shattering his defences with ease and reaching out to the single spark of light floating in the darkness that lurked beyond them. The teenager felt the violet light wash over him and flow through him as he made contact with the spark, which suddenly flared brighter and started growing rapidly.
"Cyberdramon? Cyberdramon, can you hear me? Cyberdramon?"
"R…Ryo?" the massive dragon groaned as he struggled to stand up.
"CYBERDRAMON!" the boy cheered and ran to his partner's side, slashing a Seed of Health card with barely a thought. "You're back! I can't believe…I thought I'd lost you…"
"How could you lose…something as big…as me?" the massive dragon chuckled wearily as he de-Digivolved to Monodramon, collapsing into his Tamer's arms and sinking into unconsciousness.
Digital World, Desert Level
As the light from Sakuyamon's mandala faded away Takato climbed carefully to his feet, regarding his right arm with a sense of wonder. The limb had popped back into its socket of its own accord as soon as the light from Sakuyamon's spell had washed over him, the pain rapidly fading away to nothing.
"Whoa…" the boy breathed as he rolled his shoulder and flexed his fingers experimentally.
"TAKATOMOOOOOOOOONNNNN!" Guilmon called excitedly, his voice overflowing with joy as he barrelled into his Tamer and knocked him to the ground.
"Guilmon!" Takato laughed as he struggled to throw his partner off of his chest, the saurian's weight making it difficult for him to breathe. "Can't…breathe…"
"Oh, sorry…" the little dinosaur apologised and climbed off of the boy. "I'm so glad you're okay, Takatomon! When I saw you on the floor and with your arm bent all funny I got really scared and I wanted to come and help but I couldn't…but then Rika and Renamon made that pretty light and that made us all better!"
"Hey, slow down boy," Takato chuckled at his partner's excited babbling, patting him on the nose affectionately. "You should try taking a breath every once in a while, or at this rate you're gonna run out of air!"
A flicker of movement out of the corner of his eye caught the Tamer's attention and he turned to see Sakuyamon limping towards him and the rest of the Tamers. The shamaness looked exhausted – her chest armour was cracked and deformed, her bodysuit was torn in several places and she was walking stiffly, favouring her right leg and leaning heavily on her staff. The battered Digimon wore a tired smile on her face despite her wounds, a smile that remained in place as her form was illuminated with a brilliant white light and she fell to her knees, her outline blurring and reforming until it had resolved itself into the twin forms of Rika and Renamon. The two partners appeared side-by-side, both of them kneeling on the ground in the same position as their Mega form had been. Renamon swayed dangerously forwards but managed to keep her balance while her Tamer leaned forwards, supporting her weight with her arms while she fought against a sudden wave of dizziness and nausea.
"Rika?" Takato called as he approached the girl and her partner, a hint of concern clouding his mind. "Are you okay?"
"Better than you could ever imagine, Gogglehead," she replied, trying to rise to her feet before falling drunkenly onto one knee. "Good to see you walking around again."
"Yeah, thanks for that," the boy chuckled as he helped her to her feet, feeling mildly surprised when she didn't protest or insist that she could do it herself. "Looks like you patched me up again…"
"I thought I told you not to make this a regular thing…" the redhead said with a mock glare.
"Well, at least your bedside manner's improved a little," he joked, earning a small smile in reward for his efforts.
"RIKA!" a voice suddenly cried out ecstatically as a vague blur about three and a half feet tall dashed across Takato's vision, colliding with the girl's legs hard enough that she would have been bowled over had Renamon not reached out with one paw to steady her. "I was so scared! First I was in one place and then I was somewhere else, and then that big snake thing appeared, and then it started talking and-"
"It's okay," Rika whispered softly, dropping to her knees once again and pulling her younger sister into a hug. "He's gone now, we beat him. We can all go home now."
Right on cue, a soft thud followed by a faint chime echoed through the desert as the Ark touched down at last. "Three minutes to Ark departure," a computerized voice announced, prompting the redhead to quickly extricate herself from the hug and rise shakily to her feet.
"I believe that's our ride," Renamon noted as the two girls set off toward the glass box at a jog, her sensitive ears pricking up as she heard Cam describing to Gaomon, Steph and Hawkmon exactly what they had missed in an awestruck tone.
"It sounds like we made quite an impression," the kitsune chuckled telepathically to her Tamer, shaking her head in irritation as she realized that the strange fuzziness weighing down her thoughts and her limbs was also clouding her mental link with Rika.
This feeling of…intoxication is most unpleasant, she growled to herself. I will never understand how humans could enjoy willingly inflicting sensations like this on themselves. I can barely even walk straight!
Kirkfield Park, England – 4:59p.m.
"Try calling him again!" Jaarin suggested to her brother Rinchei as he paced nervously outside the old sewers containing the portal, staring intently at the screen of his mobile phone. The two teenagers had been sent out of the sewers by their mother about a minute ago to try and call their father, as nobody's phone could get a signal from underground and none of the adults were willing to interrupt their vigil of the portal. Unfortunately, leaving the sewers did nothing to aid their attempts at communication.
"There's still no signal," he sighed, taking deep breaths in an attempt to retain some semblance of calm. "It's like there's something jamming us. It's gotta have something to do with that darkness we saw on the…hey, wait! I've got signal now!"
"Then what're you waiting for? Call dad!" his sister ordered, but Rinchei had already pressed the redial button.
["Hello? Rinchei, is that you?"] Janyuu Wong's voice asked from the other end of the line.
"Yeah it's me, dad. What the hell's going on? We were watching Henry and the others on the laptop and this weird black thing just exploded in front of them!"
["I know, I saw it too. Whatever it was, it took out the tracer and froze up the Ark. I've regained control of the Ark, but I don't know what-"]
"Dad?" Rinchei asked with a worried frown as the man suddenly fell silent. "Dad, are you there?"
["THEY'RE ALIVE!"] came the joyous reply, shouted loud enough for Rinchei to flinch away from his phone instinctively before his father's words sunk in.
"They're okay? Are you sure?"
["They're okay! They're all okay!"] Janyuu laughed down the phone. ["The Ark will be lifting off in just under three minutes and from the looks of things, it'll take them about five minutes after that to cross the barrier plane."]
"Alright!" the eighteen-year-old cheered and turned to his sister. "They're coming home, Jaarin! They're all coming home!"
A massive smile split the girl's face as she turned and ran back into the sewers, cheering and laughing every step of the way as she went to give her mother the good news.
The Tamers arrived home to a hero's welcome. Whoops and cheers greeted the Ark as it emerged from the portal and disintegrated into data, tears of relief streaming down the faces of many of the assembled parents.
Maria Wong ran forward to embrace her two youngest children with a shout of joy, Suzie swiftly joining her in crying tears of happiness as Jaarin and Rinchei joined in on the group hug. Steph's parents – a clean-shaven man with short, dark hair and a tall, blonde-haired woman – gave a similar reaction to their adopted daughter's return, embracing her in a fierce hug that was punctuated by tearful, nigh-incomprehensible babbling. Sam rushed eagerly into the arms of her adopted grandmother, while Rika found herself robbed of the ability to breathe by the iron grip of one of her mother's infamous Death Hugs. As the redhead tried to return the hug as best she could, Takato found himself being practically bowled off of his feet by his own mother, who showered his forehead with kisses while babbling on about her "baby" coming home. Cam, meanwhile, was pulled into a much more gentle and tender embrace by his mother, the two of them simply standing there in silence for a while.
The family hugs began to break up one by one. The Wong family's group hug lasted the longest, somehow managing to entrap both Lopmon and Terriermon before Maria finally disentangled herself from her children. A few minutes later the children were back in their respective homes being interrogated by their parents and tucking into their first real, non-digital meal in two weeks.
They had stood against the self-proclaimed overlord of the Digital World and won. They had defeated everything he had thrown at them in their quest to rescue their friends. And best of all, every single one of the children had been promised another week off school to recover from the ordeals of the past week.
Life was good.