Sorry about the horrible cliffhanger last time. That was just a little mean of me. I should probably address that and relieve your poor distressed minds.

Unfortunately for you, I am not going to be discussing events in the Digidestined's universe this time. We're checking back in on the group fighting Apocalymon. So, if you're still worried about Gallantmon or anything, you'll just have to wait.

I have also been considering the idea of including a speech by one of the characters; the kind of inspiring and heart-warming speeches that earn actors an award because of how moving it ends up being. The kind of speech that is passed down through the generations in history books due to how important and amazing that speech is. The type of speech that takes an ordinary person from hopeless and despondent to a confident state that is ready to lead the charge into battle. A speech that will leave readers stunned by the breath-taking brilliance of it. I decided to include that type of speech and it delivered by the one individual whose gift of language and ability to fit so much meaning every phrase would be able to truly take advantage of this speech.

Now that I have wasted enough of your time with an introduction, it's time to get on with the show. Enjoy.

For a split second of horror, the bespectacled tamer felt positive his heart had stopped. The claw had apparently crushed Suzie, Ryo, and their respective partners. Kenta's mind raced, trying to identify a point where he could have prevented it. Should he have run after the girl? Would that have saved her? What would he tell Henry? Her parents? How would…?

"Cyberdramon Crest Biomerge to…"

"Lopmon Crest Biomerge to…"

A miracle, in Kenta's opinion, had struck the group in the nick of time it seemed. In addition to the revived Digimon King not being dead again, he didn't have to explain to Henry how his little sister was crushed by the final villain of season one. The twin lights of digivolution materialized on either side of the claw. One grew fairly large while the other was only growing to the size of several familiar mega forms, like Gallantmon or Sakuyamon. The dark-haired boy could guess fairly easily which digimon was which.

The smaller digimon was clearly the combination of Ryo and Cyberdramon. It was as if the silvery shape of Justimon had gained an edge. Sharp, retractable blades appeared on his forearms. On his back was a folded set of short, dark red, angular wings that reminded the bespectacled tamer of the yellow ones of MetalGarurumon. Turning his head slightly, he could see that his faceless mask was just as emotionless as before. His flowing red scarf was shorter and was a darker shade, almost maroon, but still wrapped around the mega's neck. Turning further, the boy could make out a starburst shape enameled across his chest in a similar dark tone of red as the scarf and propulsive wings. The rest of the metal that covered his body was now a dark shade of grey in color instead of bright silver, but without losing its shine. The entire creature gave off a sense of impending victory.

"…Justimon Determination Mode!"

The larger one was rather pretty, for a giant angelic bunny. Truly, the former Deva had out done herself. Her new mega form had lost the clown-like collar and her bright, cheerful colors had muted to a softer shade of rose and cream. Her large hands had taken a more elegant, slimmed appearance and grasped two thin sticks. Attached to the sticks were long, lavender ribbons. Her tall ears were still upright and had a Holy Ring at the base of each one, but were smoother and more rabbit-like than Cherubimon's normal look. Around her neck, tied by another lavender ribbon was a golden amulet engraved with the symbol of the Crest of Innocence.

"…Cherubimon Innocence Mode!"

Then, Suzie's voice remarked in stunned delight as the angelic bunny examined the objects in her hands, "I'm a wibbon dancer."

"Do you want your big brother to kill me? What were you thinking?" the coppery-metal humanoid Kenta had spotted earlier shouted in Kazu's voice from on top of Behemoth…

Wait, Behemoth?

He'd seen the vehicle earlier, but had been too distracted to properly identify it. What in the world (human or digital) was his friend doing on the mind-controlling psycho bike? It was crazy, stupid… and kind of cool. So, while the bespectacled tamer was stuck in the ocean and nearly killed by MarineDevimon, his best friend was riding a demonic motorcycle. Not to mention he activated his crest and Biomerged into a new mega form. Thus, his suspicions that he was one of the weaker tamers present were proven once again since everyone present except for Yamaki were ahead of him once again.

"Scold her later," advised Justimon. "We have more pressing problems."

As the Biomerged mega finished the sentence, the planetoid-sized Apocalymon struck towards the angelic rabbit, snarling, "Crimson Lightning!"

"Pure of Heart!" she shouted back, a beam of golden light erupting from her amulet and smashing the jagged bolts of red electricity.

"Pii," gasped MarineAngemon. "Puh-pi."

"It is impressive," his tamer had to admit. "And pretty."

Cherubimon's attack had been directed towards blocking her opponent, not trying to harm him. Justimon, however, was skipping the defensive to go directly on the offensive.

Activating his new miniature wings, he launched himself skywards, steering towards the closest twisted-chain limb. This limited flight pushed him higher and faster than even his impressive leaping skills. He was able to reach his target before Apocalymon could crush him.

"Razor's Edge!" he shouted, the blades on his arms extending and gaining a bright green glow.

He slashed the strange, twisted limbs, producing a pained hiss and a flinch from Apocalymon as he yanked back from the smaller mega. As the planetoid-sized creature tried to retaliate with another claw, Justimon briefly employed his small wings again to back-flip in mid-air out of the way.

"Nice one," yelled HiAndromon as he rode to a better position. His arm transformed and he aimed it upwards, "Ion Cannon!"

The android's attack struck the same point that the cyborg's blades had struck, producing another growl of annoyance. Lashing out with another limb, Apocalymon's claw transformed into a swarm of dark, bat-like creatures.

"Evil Wing!" announced the planetoid-sized digimon as they swarmed Justimon.

"How'd he…" Kenta began

"Pi-puh pu-pu-pi," interrupted MarineAngemon, gesturing towards the battlefield.

The dark-haired tamer blinked, "What do you mean 'go out there'? This is Apocalymon. He's huge, powerful, and definitely not in a good mood. I know you're a mega too, but it would be like a remote control car playing chicken against a monster truck. He'll crush you."

"Momentai," responded the pink creature. "Pi. Pu-pii."

"No, I won't take it easy and, yes, I do have faith in you," he assured quickly, barely noticing the battle anymore or the confused expression on Yamaki's face as he tried to follow the conversation. "I just don't think you could handle this alone. And I…"

MarineAngemon rolled his eyes as the boy trailed off, "Kenta. Pi-pi-puh-pi. Pu-puh pu-pii. Puh. Pii?"

"I know," he muttered, trying to ignore how much sense the little digimon's words were making. "But…"

"No," interrupted his partner. "Quiet. Pii-pi-pii-pi puh pi pi-pi pu pii. Good tamer." The little pink entity waved his flipper-like arms empathetically, "Pi-pii-pii-puh puh puh-pi pi pi! Puh pii-pi? Pii-puh pi pii? Puh-puh-puh. Pii-pii-pi. Pu-puh-pu pii-pu-pii. Pi-puh puh pii. Pi-pii-pii puh pi." Pausing in the middle of the longest continuous and rather moving speech Kenta had ever heard MarineAngemon make, the mega floated over and rubbed his head affectionately against the boy's in a way rather reminiscent of a cat. "Puh-pii. Believe in you. Always."

He grinned at the rather heartwarming support, "Thanks. And you're right; I can do this. We'll figure something out. We'll find a way."

"Fearless leader," agreed MarineAngemon, using Kazu's amusing nickname for his friend. "Pi pi pii."

"Not quite 'fearless,' but I think we can help anyway. Even if I'm not one hundred percent certain of how to Biomerge again, I'll put all those hours playing cards against Kazu and Takato to use." he smiled wryly, "I never won a game, but there's always a first time. And you're absolutely right; I'm a tamer because I have the potential to do amazing things if I chose. We can be the heroes that save the world even. We just have to go out there and prove it."

"Pii-puh-pii," the pink mega cheered.

Abruptly, a ringing sound erupted in his ears. In addition, a blinding light emanated from the card-like object around the dark-haired boy's neck. While he didn't remember the noise last time, the glowing was exactly like what happened to Suzie's crest. Lines of a lighter shade of pink, the color of the ring on his D-arc that his mother had referred to as "rose," ran across the surface to form an image. A pair of parallel lines formed, curving away from each other at the end slightly until they were J-shaped. On the curved tipped end, a triangle was nestled between the two. In a way, it vaguely resembled an object resting on a pedestal.

Strangely, the ringing sound began to morph into a voice. Or maybe voices. Either way, words began to emerge from the previous noise. And while he was used to making sense out of odd forms of communication, turning ringing into comprehensive words was a new one for him.

Confidence. A knowledge of your potential with no doubts of its range. Belief in one's self and abilities without conceit or arrogance. The power to remain calm and collected in dire situations against impossible odds because you know you are capable of success. In circumstances that seem beyond your grasp, remaining confident is the key to overcome.

Beware of losing your faith in yourself. No outside force can weaken a person's abilities as much as the internal power of self-doubt. If confidence is allowed to erode away, then your capabilities fade and diminish as well. Believing in yourself gives more strength than any tool.

Just as dangerous, however, is too great of confidence. Without sense to balance it out, you will march forward blindly into failure. Faith in your abilities must be supported with truth or you may reach far beyond your personal capabilities. Neither too little nor too much will bring you success. Only when you have belief in yourself without your ego expanding beyond reason will you be at your greatest power.

Confidence.

"That was weird," confided Kenta. "Did anyone else hear all of that?"

"Pi," nodded MarineAngemon.

"No more than I heard when Suzie's activated," Yamaki admitted. "I assume you are heading out there now."

The boy took a deep breath and nodded, "We are. Stay here with Calumon and be careful."

Without another word or giving himself an opportunity to change his mind, the bespectacled tamer broke into a run away from the protective cover of the forest and straight onto the battlefield. A brief thought about the irony of how his current actions mirrored those of Suzie popped into his head. With the pink mega by his side, Kenta waited he was far enough across the torn-up terrain before sliding the card-like object through his D-arc.

"Digi-Modify! Crest of Confidence Activate!"

He briefly saw his partner revert to a small grey creature, Bukamon, before they were both enveloped in light.

"Bukamon Crest Biomerge to… Plesiomon Confidence Mode!"

She was sorry to have worried everyone, but she had to run out to Ryo and help him. And even with the complaints that Henry would not have been happy if she was hurt, she would have done it again anyway. He was back and no one would take him away again. She would make sure of that. That included facing the giant evil digimon in the sky.

Of course, she was also a giant digimon now and she would prove that she was just as effective a good guy as anyone else. She was a big girl, after all. When Apocalymon fired the creepy, bat-like things, she refused to be scared of them. Instead, she stared at the swarm with her beady eyes and met the attack with her own just as she did against the lightning.

"Pure of Heart!" she announced, releasing another burst of golden light that tore through the dark shapes.

"That was LadyDevimon's attack," pointed out HiAndromon. "The Apocalymon on the show didn't use that attack against the Digidestined. This is bad."

Perhaps responding to the android's words and wishing to confirm them, the planetoid-sized digimon slammed another claw directly in front of the motorcycle-riding mega. Only a last second adjustment of direction prevented HiAndromon from gaining a far flatter appearance. Reacting quickly, the android opened fire on the limb that just tried to kill him.

"Ion Cannon!"

Launching himself at the ground-level target, Justimon slashed swiftly and shouted, "Razor's Edge!"

Snarling in annoyance, Apocalymon ripped his claw away, transforming it into a large wooden X-shape. He hurled it through the air like a killer boomerang.

"Flying Cross-cutter!"

"Not again," complained Kazu's voice as the motorcycle reversed direction and raced out of the way.

Cherubimon, whipping her lavender ribbons around her in a way that quickly shifted from graceful to deadly, focused carefully on the flying, spinning object. The streamers of flowing fabric in her hands began to crackle with purple electricity along their lengths. When they were completely charged, she smiled.

"Lightning Lash!" called the angelic rabbit.

One of her streamers snaked out and caught the flying object. She yanked it down, burying the wooden shape into the ground. The other ribbon lashed out and struck the closest limb of Apocalymon, cracking loudly like a whip or thunder.

Moving agilely, Cherubimon brought her first ribbon, still crackling with electrical power, towards the same clawed-limb of her opponent. This time, it wrapped around and she pulled the limb down. Justimon, seeing the opportunity she'd just created, jumped onto the twisted limb and began to sprint up the length as she held it still.

"Get him, Wyo," encouraged Suzie from within her pink bubble.

"Ion Cannon!" HiAndromon shouted, firing at the other limbs that Apocalymon was attempting to use to dislodge the running cyborg.

"This is growing annoying," growled Apocalymon.

Ripping free of the ribbon binding his limb in place, he jerked hard enough to dislodge Justimon. The Biomerged mega managed to activate his miniature wings long enough to remain in the air and close to the DNA-like limb.

Throwing the heel of his foot into the long, twisted limb, Justimon announced, "Seismic Kick!"

The force of the impact actually knocked the limb away and resulted in another aerial back-flip. Justimon didn't have time to reactivate his short-term flight capabilities before the angelic rabbit caught him with her slimmer, but still large enough, hand.

"Typhoon Geyser!" a new, dual-voiced entity shouted, resulting in a large and forceful stream of water slamming into another of the planetoid-sized creature's limbs.

"Wow," Kazu's voice commented as they quickly glanced in the direction of the attack. "Go Kenta."

The general shape of the mega matched that of the sea monster, Plesiomon, that Kenta and his partner once turned into, but there was still plenty different. The white creature with the blue markings now sported armor from his head down his spine that hid the lines and the sections of red hair on his back. The dark blue, segmented metal plates reminded her of the style that a knight's horse would wear; it didn't inhibit the legs (or rather, flippers) or cover the stomach, but it offered some protection. Since it only covered the top of his head, she could still see his bluish-grey eyes and he could open his mouth easily. On the strip of metal on his forehead was a weird symbol consisting of two curved lines and a triangle. Somehow, a large sea monster had managed to become even more impressive looking.

"It doesn't matter how many of you try to face me," declared Apocalymon. "I know for a fact that only one of you stands a chance of stopping me. After I kill her, there won't be a force in either world that could stand in my way."

"Did he say 'her'?" asked HiAndromon, the bike turning to race towards the angelic bunny. "As in… No, he is not killing Cherubimon."

"Aren't I?" chuckled the planetoid-sized digimon. "She's a threat. She dies." Another limb shot out towards her. "Evil Wing!"

"Neptune's Blessing!" retaliated Plesiomon, creating a vast wave of water that swiftly swirled around her like an aquatic wall or bubble that blocked the cloud of bats.

"No one," Justimon stated firmly, "touches Suzie."

Inside her mental bubble, the little girl smiled a little. Even if the big, scary Apocalymon wanted to hurt her, she wasn't very scared. She was a mega, the other tamers and their partners were also megas, and her substitute big brother was here. He even declared that he wouldn't let her get hurt. Ryo wasn't Henry, but he was close enough. With him, the other older kids, Lopmon, and her together, they would beat the giant digimon.

The small creature shivered in his partner's arms, his ears pulled as tight and small as possible as he tried to ignore his surroundings and the scary wrongness from earlier. He was especially trying to forget the bad, bad, bad thing that made the red spinning triangle screech. The digivolution that was just completely wrong and made his head hurt. Even the right kind of digivolution by his friends and the warm glow that the spinning triangle produced in response wasn't enough to erase the memory or to undo the scariness. He could usually bounce back from scary situations, especially if a yummy creampuff was offered to distract him after it was all over. But the utter badness and the fact that the source of the wrongness was right above him, Calumon couldn't help shivering and even whimpering in the relative safety of Yamaki's arms.

The blond adult didn't say anything, but the fact he kept the frightened in-training digimon in his arms was enough for the moment. Even if he wasn't saying any type of comforting words to Calumon, the little digimon felt mildly safer while the generally slightly more aloof human was present. Riley, Tally, Jeri, Takato, and even Rika were generally more likely to hold him protectively. Tally loved hugging him like a stuffed animal and feeding him snacks and Riley would always compliment his drawings and feed him muffins. And almost all the tamers and digimon would play with him at least occasionally. Jeri was especially nice to him. They also made him feel safe when big meanies were around. They came and found him when the bad monkey took him after all.

But the serious Yamaki, who never did anything really fun unless both Riley and Calumon begged him, felt so dependable and safe right now. The blond adult with his dark glasses was familiar and the small white creature knew he would fix things. The man wasn't playful or lots of fun usually, but he was steady and constant. His boring job and unchanging life meant everything was always right around him. Something this bad, this wrong, couldn't be around Yamaki since he made everything right, neat, dependable, and unexciting. If he stayed close to the adult tamer, eventually the bad, bad, bad, bad, badness would leave him alone and maybe even go away.

Cautiously, the shivering in-training digimon opened his eyes a crack. He didn't dare look at his friends since they were close to the source of wrongness. He didn't want to see the scary thing that digivolved wrong, making the spinning triangle screech so painfully. He looked instead towards the face of Yamaki. Even with his eyes hidden by the sunglasses, the man looked frustrated. Not the normal frustrated like when Calumon had eaten lots of yummy candy and ended up running all over the room at Hypnos, but a really angry frustrated. And since the white digimon hadn't eaten that much sweet stuff since and the adult was staring towards the sky, he knew Yamaki wasn't upset about him. It was about the bad wrongness. That meant he'd fix it anytime now and make it right again.

He closed his eyes again and tried to ignore everything by imagining all the creampuffs he'd eat once they were home again.

Besides the one riding it, there were now three allied digimon helping to face the extremely powerful Apocalymon. And regardless of how strong they might be together, Behemoth held serious doubts of the likelihood of success. Not only was the size of the creature impressive, but he was also very high off the ground. The group of Biomerged digimon was so far just able to strike the long limbs of the mega and hadn't managed to really strike the large central shape, let alone the humanoid portion on top. In addition, it could feel the power of all the digimon and the huge one directly overhead was radiating it like a forest fire. He wouldn't be going down easily at all.

When the giant digimon announced the angelic rabbit was the only threat, the other megas had immediately gone into protective mode of her. Granted, after witnessing the little girl's suicidal dash earlier, the motorcycle could see why she might need that extra level of guarding in case she tried some other crazy stunt worthy of Kazu's insanity. But the demonic bike wondered, while racing all across the damaged and now wet landscape, how she was supposed to be a threat to the monstrous form overhead. She might be an angelic digimon and those generally tended to be more powerful than normal (especially against anything dark or evil), but she still didn't seem dangerous enough.

One of the odd, twisted limbs on the planetoid-sized creature morphed into a long staff with a yellow orb clutch by a red claw on the end. This time, he aimed for the armored aquatic digimon.

"Bone Blaster!"

"Typhoon Geyser!" retaliated his target, blasting water at the light attack and creating an explosion of steam as a result.

"And that's SkullSatamon," murmured Kazu's voice. "Who else's attacks does he have?"

The demonic bike, lacking any shoulders to shrug, decided not to respond. Instead, it focused on avoiding a rather deep crater without dislodging its passenger or moving behind the few remaining wall fragments which would block HiAndromon's aim. Stuck on the ground without any ability to get close to his target, the android was just peppering the creature's limbs with blasts as best he could. Unfortunately, no amount of speed or maneuverability could make up for the fact that Behemoth couldn't get HiAndromon close enough because they couldn't fly.

"Ion Cannon!" shouted the coppery-metal being, managing to partially hit one of the DNA-like limbs.

As much as it hated to admit it, Behemoth did not believe they would win. Unless Cherubimon had some unexpected ability or powerful attack she hadn't unveiled yet, Apocalymon would eventually kill them. Of course, it could always possess HiAndromon properly and simply drive away. It could race away from the battle and maybe even find Beelzemon. The idea was so easy and Apocalymon probably wouldn't even care enough to try pursuing. It really didn't want to suffer another unpleasant defeat like the last one.

But, unfortunately, its new-found loyalty to individuals other than just its master and the uncomfortable morality that came with that concept wouldn't let the motorcycle go through with it. It had to stay and help, even if it was likely a lost cause. Perhaps Kazu's insanity was contagious and it had gone mad from listening to him all day. Regardless, the demonic bike was staying. Revving its engine in a rather aggravated and resigned growl, Behemoth concentrated on increasing its speed further.

If this was to be its final fight, it would make it worth remembering. It would be so fast, so agile, so destructive, and so impressive, the stories of the vehicle's last stand would make the tales of its past exploits of terror and chaos pale in comparison. The name Behemoth would become even more legendary than before.

And it would have fun before it was over.

Waiting for Apocalymon to try another attempt to crush Justimon with his clawed-limb, the bike exploded forward with a new burst of speed as soon as the taloned-limb smashed to the ground. Hoping its tires could find enough traction for the insane, Kazu-styled plan to work, Behemoth drove up the extremely steep surface of the DNA-like limb of the planetoid-sized creature. The actual claw might have been overly-large, but the twisted length that ran upwards was not relatively very thick. Its tires managed to travel up the colorful connectors between the double helix like a freaky ladder. The limb was only a few degrees short of a perfect ninety degrees and it was only able to make the insane stunt work due to the extreme speed and luck. Behemoth knew it wouldn't be able to escape gravity long like this, especially once the momentary shock wore off and Apocalymon moved again. It had no chance of keeping the trick up, but it already had climbed several feet with this method and was still managing.

HiAndromon, equally shocked initially by the bike's actions, managed to adapt to the situation faster than Apocalymon. Laughing excitedly, he transformed his hand into the glowing blade and leaned over. The act made balancing on the very problematic terrain even more difficult, but the wobbliness of its ascension was rather unimportant. At the moment the planetoid-sized digimon tried to jerk away, HiAndromon made his move.

"Laser Sword!" he cried, slicing through the connectors between the twin twisting strands of the limb.

The act resulting in a true snarl of pain from Apocalymon as he jerked away, removing the surface Behemoth was driving on and ending the already unsteady climb by tossing the bike and mega through the air. Rather than leave the motorcycle helpless and tumbling away, HiAndromon maintained a tight grip on the handlebars and stayed on the bike. In return, it did its best to land upright and not roll on top of the mega in a rougher landing. Thus, they could almost instantly hit the ground running, if slightly unsteadily due to the shock of impact on its poor tires. This quick movement out of the way was necessary since Apocalymon chose to retaliate against them.

"Crimson Lightning!"

"Neptune's Blessing!" answered the aquatic mega, sending a wave swiftly between the fleeing pair and the red bolts of electricity.

"That was beyond awesome," cackled Kazu's voice gleefully. "I can't believe we did that. Let's do it again."

"Let's not be hasty," sputtered Guardromon's voice uneasily. He sounded a little shook up by the stunt. Maybe it overloaded his logic circuits or something, though it would have thought Kazu would have done that a long time ago. Either way, the motorcycle was agreeing with the digimon half of the Biomerged entity; it was not trying that again immediately. At least until its tires stopped aching from that landing. "He will not fall for it again and it cannot be easy for Behemoth to achieve such an act. Not to mention the recklessness the bike demonstrated trying in the first place, regardless of how 'awesome.' Perhaps we could remain on the ground for a time? At least until we consider a more reliable option?"

"You've been talking with my inner Rika, haven't you?" the boy's voice muttered. Louder, he remarked, "Fine, we'll go the 'saner' way." He transformed his hand back into a cannon. "Ion Cannon!"

Was I just channeling a little "Ghost Rider" with that improbable driving? Yes, I think I was. And it was fun. Behemoth might not be able to drive straight up buildings or across water, leaving a trail of flaming tire marks behind, but it is still a sentient motorcycle with a talent for chaos and destruction. And it is so fun to write as that bike, I couldn't pass up the opportunity. And Kazu had a good time. So, everyone wins.

And yes, the wonderful speech I mentioned earlier? Spoken by MarineAngemon. I thought it was a funny idea at the time. No one but Kenta (and me) will ever know what the little pink mega said. But you can probably guess the gist of it.

I've revealed the appearances and attacks of three digimon with this one and I activated Kenta's crest. The battle continues, however. In this universe and the other.

I always appreciate reviews. They make me happy and motivate me to write faster. Thanks.