I have no excuses for the length of time you had to wait for this chapter. The best I can come up with is that I was hit by inspiration from a million different directions and topics. I couldn't escape and was sucked into a bunch of new stories. The biggest threat to my sanity was the newest Transformer movie, which sparked off a new story that completely captured my attention for almost a month without relief. Finally, however, I managed to wrestle myself back to this fandom and this story. I deeply apologize and hope you can forgive me.
On a slightly different note, this story currently has the most reviews of any of my stories. Which is fairly exciting for me. So thank you wonderful readers and, again, I'm sorry about the unforgivably long delay.
Not possible. Every variable, every mistake from the past, and every probable scenario had been taken into account this time. The plan was flawless. His program was to be his greatest asset, the main guarantee that none of digidestined would gain the upper hand this time.
And now, the programming he'd embedded in himself and his clone copies to empower them was turning into poison in his very data. Guardian was meant to drain power from everything it encountered and transfer it to himself to provide strength and a high resistance to damage. Now, it felt like it was trying to tear the copies apart. That pain was distant and easy to ignore, but it was even affecting his mega form. He could feel a burning sensation throughout his armored body as the mist shifted slowly from blue to a more reddish shade. His ultimate guarantee of victory was being turned against him.
Ragnamon also knew who the cause of the shift in battle was. His discarded tool, Tamiko Mizutani, had gained access and altered his hidden lines of code. She'd rewrote Guardian and he'd let her. He'd been too concerned with the obvious threats to be overly cautious of someone he'd used so easily. And now he would pay the price.
Not the permanent price, however. He still had his failsafe. This plan might have failed, but he would try again. And he could still destroy some of these interfering obstructions first. Perhaps even Willis…
"Something's happening," Sakuyamon shouted suddenly. "He's weakening. I can feel it."
As she spoke, a change in color was becoming visible. The blue fog and blue-shelled digimon was closer to purple now and the shift was growing more apparent to even the most oblivious. And if their resident shaman claimed the change was hurting their opponent, Fatemon couldn't be happier.
"No," growled Ragnamon, swinging his head around and scanning the ground. "Willis. I must destroy the Programmer. Stop interferring."
"Not happening, Big Blue. I kind of like interfering," called the Biomerged virus. Drawing his sword, Fatemon announced, "Equal Suffering."
The swift motion of swinging the blade produced a black arc of energy that struck the giant creature across the chest. This time, not only did Ragnamon flinch, he didn't immediately seem to shrug off the damage. For a second, no one knew how to respond to the fact he was no longer invulnerable. Then…
"Blast Rings!"
"Ice Wolf Claw!"
"Wing Blast!"
"Ring of Truth!"
Every Digidestined and tamer still standing started launching their attacks at the same place Fatemon struck. Amazingly, it seemed to be working. The formerly-unstoppable mega was flinching with each impact.
Opening his mouth, he began, "Catastrophic…!"
"Holy Sword!" a tired voice interrupted, a shape erupting from the highly-demolished rubble and slicing the enormous creature's face. The figure was a thoroughly-pounded GuardiAngemon. Apparently the angelic digimon had been hit by one of the previous attacks, but wasn't quite destroyed yet. Again, he announced, "Holy Sword!"
The attack, this time hitting Ragnamon's chest, produced a rather pained snarl. Each successful strike raised the group's optimism. They were winning.
"Flower Cannon!" shouted a floral fairy, racing skywards. "Flower Cannon!"
"Electro Shocker!" added a large insect, following her.
Deciding to add his own firepower to the mix, Fatemon announced, "Chaos Destruction!"
The fairy's attack, the bug's lightning, and the virus' energy-based weapon combined into a rather impressive blast that struck, once again, Ragnamon's chest. This time, after the accompanying hiss of pain and the smoke had passed, Fatemon spotted a new detail. The protective shell was no longer perfect. More red now than blue, it had a thin crack where the previous attacks had struck.
"Pineapple-head," he shouted.
"We see it," the dual-voiced knight responded.
"No. Where's Willis? He's mine," roared Ragnamon, trying to hit the flying digimon out of the way. "He's my partner. I must destroy him."
"No, you won't," Gallantmon stated firmly. "You've caused enough harm. It is over."
"Crawl back under a rock and never set foot in either world again," both speakers in VictoryGreymon's form ordered. "Trident Gaia!"
"Royal Claymore!" added Gallantmon, holding his sword forward.
The Digi-code writing began to glow along the blade with a white light. The rest of the edged weapon swiftly followed suit. The Biomerged knight aimed the point of his sword in the same direction as VictoryGreymon's enormous energy orb. The blade, crackling with energy, fired the gathered light like a beam.
The bright glow merged with the other mega's attack, creating a single blast of power with incredible potency. The combined strength of the two goggle-headed boys and their reptilian partners struck the target perfectly. Ragnamon screamed in agony as his formerly-impenetrable shell shattered upon impact. It raised one clawed-limb and clutched his chest, staring down in disbelief at the sight of data floating away. Honestly, Fatemon could barely believe what he was seeing either; the giant unstoppable force was dying.
"No," hissed the stunned creature, turning his eyes back towards the ground. "Please. Willis is mine. Let me destroy him first. It is my right. He is my partner."
"There is definitely something wrong with his head," Impmon muttered to the twins. "Hope he never comes back."
"Willis!" bellowed the beast again, his body wavering and disappearing into data more quickly now. "I'll find you again, even if I must destroy both worlds first."
"You'll never have the chance," stated VictoryGreymon firmly.
Ragnamon laughed harshly, "Destruction is guaranteed. This is only a delay. I will never stop and I will never leave him alone."
And with that final lovely thought to comfort them, the last remaining portion of the digimon dissolved apart. Approximately half a minute after that, the odd coloration faded from the mist, leaving it as regular fog, and the victorious digimon and humans began to cheer.
His copies, his deadly mist, and even his most powerful body were gone. In fact, the only reason he remained at all was because of careful planning. A back-up. He'd left a back-up on the DADP systems in case of an emergency and, now, it was proving useful.
He was a Kuramon again, small and weak, but it was only a matter of time before he regained power once more. He could work on his next plan until then. He would not fail again.
He would keep trying, no matter how many times he was stopped. His whole purpose was to destroy. If he was not causing destruction or planning how to cause it, what was he? From the moment he hatched from his virus-infected digi-egg, he attacked the internet and destroyed every shred of data he could find. Then he found ways to attack the human world. Even broken into his separate components, left as little more than a rogue virus, he possessed another creature and caused more destruction. He was pure destruction.
The only thing beyond absolute chaotic annihilation that he cared about was Willis. He couldn't get the boy out of his mind. The Programmer was his partner and must be destroyed. He would be destroyed. It was everything that he was: destruction. It was all that he knew how to do.
Once more, he wondered about the strange difference between his own behavior towards his partner and the other digimon. They protected. They guarded. They placed themselves in danger to keep their partner safe. He was the only one that tried to harm. Was it… wrong? Was he supposed to be like them instead? Was he supposed to be more than destruction? Could he have been more than what he was now; could he have been like the rest of them? What would he have been like without the virus? Would he have been with Willis? Would he have been… happy?
It didn't matter. He was that virus. It was a part of him. He could not change what he was. He could not change. A small virus-infected digimon, currently at the baby level, and intent on destroying everything.
"There you are," a smug female voice remarked.
The one-eyed digimon glanced up, spotting the floating square of a computer screen. This small window to the outside world displayed a blond woman and a winged-humanoid digimon. It took only a few seconds to realize that he was seeing Tamiko Mizutani, the discarded tool that had proven to be dangerous, and a Darcmon. She'd already rewrote the Guardian program and ruined his plan. And they'd located his back-up now.
No… This cannot be.
"Never mess with a DigiDestined," she stated, hitting a few more keys. "It never ends well."
He felt it hit him, like the worst antivirus software he'd ever encountered. Normally he could shrug off such mundane pieces of programming. The virus embedded in his data had evolved with him, becoming more complex and dangerous over time. But she was an expert programmer and had a dangerous weapon already. One he'd provided her, the Guardian program, but she'd combined it with something else. Whatever she was using was ripping him apart. The modified Guardian program attacked his digimon portion and the virus that was an integral part of his existence was hit by a more standard program, simply a very powerful piece of antivirus software. He might have survived one or the other, but not both and definitely not in his weakened state.
"Good-bye," he sighed, acknowledging his final defeat as he broke apart.
Willis stared at the empty space in the sky. Ragnamon was gone. The product of his mistake, his attempts to create another digimon like he might simply program a computer game, was destroyed. Again.
Was he really gone this time or, as he'd claimed, only delayed? Could he be stopped permanently or was the American digidestined doomed to an endless cycle of watching the shadows of his past return in a new form? The boy didn't know. He honestly didn't know if it would ever end, but he knew that he and his partners would not run and hide any longer. If Diaboromon, Armegeddemon, Ragnamon, or even that virus ever resurfaced again, they would face him together. And, judging by all the powerful beings who had appeared, they would not have to fight alone.
"Aw… There's no one left to fight. That's no fun," commented Minervamon, her tone identical to a child informed that playtime was over. She leaned against her oversized blade, pouting. "Is there any other targets to crush into data? Please?"
"You are one scary mon," Matt muttered.
"Willis," shouted Gargomon, running across the destroyed landscape with his blade-wielding sibling. "You're all right. And we won."
The blond young man grinned as the pair reached him, dedigivolving back to their rookie form, and took up positions on each of his shoulders. Both of his partners were unharmed. Terriermon and Lopmon were perfectly fine. They were alive and the monster was gone.
"Whoa, look at that, Henry," a strange voice laughed. "Another me."
A dark-haired boy approached Willis with a wry smile on his face and a very familiar-looking digimon on his head. The strange young man waved slightly and the American returned the gesture.
"Hi, I'm Willis," remarked the blond digidestined. "This is Lopmon and, as you probably know, Terriermon."
The dark-haired boy smirked, "Yes, I did guess. Well, my name is Henry and the rabbit perched on my head like a hat is also Terriermon."
"This could get confusing," Willis' Terriermon commented. "Do you have a twin brother too?"
"No, the only twins on our side is Ai and Mako," Henry's partner explained. "Though Suzie, Henry's sister, has a Lopmon for a partner. She's a girl, however."
Willis smiled at the pair of white and green rabbits. They were likely contemplating some form of switching trick. Or his partner was at least. He didn't know Henry's well enough to know for certain. Though, judging by the way the dark-haired young man rolled his eyes knowingly at the conversation, his Terriermon would likely enjoy the idea.
After several moments of discussion, the quieter twin finally entered the conversation with a small question. Lopmon, tilting his head curiously, leaned forward.
"What does 'momentai' mean?"
The danger was gone. Miko could sense it. She was near the really big puddle, the one that she couldn't walk around and was full of yummy fishy smells. It was as far as she could get from the mist, the mist that smelled like a powerful storm. But it was gone now.
Her white and reddish fur smoothed back down, the feline calm once again. She didn't feel hunted anymore. She was safe.
Miko began the long trip back home. Most of the humans and the not-humans were gone from the city, fleeing from the ominous sense of danger that made the feline flee, so it should be easy to get home. Hopefully, she would avoid any dogs. And maybe the tall female would have food waiting for her there.
It took almost half an hour, but all the combatants finally managed to converge. Plenty of them were hurt and exhausted, but the only one unlucky enough to suffer a direct hit from Ragnamon turned out to be Marsmon. He was their only true loss.
The original DigiDestined finally got to experience a true reunion. Riku and Hiro brought a trio of strange digidestined with them, two girls, a boy, and their partners DoKunemon, Gaomon, and Kotemon, that they'd encountered during the battle. The younger ones quickly excused themselves from the meeting of old friends. Tammy had assured them that she had made certain that their enemy was truly gone and apologized to her long-lost human companions and digital partners for her actions in recent days. Without question, they all forgave her and steered her away from that topic. The collection of varied adults and digimon shared stories of the years since their separation, explaining what had become of the divided DigiDestined as they grew, reminding each other of their past adventures, and discussing what they would do in the future. Considering their members included a public speaker with a future in politics, an ex-DADP member with a talent for computers and experience with government agencies, a successful businessman with plenty of loyal customers and business connections, a young man who Destiny knew would someday create a digimon card game for this reality with the talented teenager to do the artwork, they would be the perfect team to help smooth out the tense relationship between humanity and the digital beings. It would be hard work to change so many negative opinions, but the prophetess knew they would help pave the way for a brighter future. Adults have more faith in the opinions of other adults and would be more receptive to unpopular ideas if they came from adults instead of children.
The Digidestined were also in the middle of reuniting and assuring themselves that they were alive. Tai, Matt, and Sora had converged, smiling in relief that all three of them and their partners had emerged in one piece. The three close friends had quickly filled the musician in on some of the most recent events and planned a trip at to the (hopefully still intact) theater together in the same breath. The Digidestined of Sincerity had reunited with her vegetative partner after Ragnamon's destruction, murmuring that her petals looked a little wilted. Shortly after spotting Izzy with his own partner again, Mimi, much to the shock of the Digidestined of Knowledge, had thrown herself at him in a tight hug. A second later, she'd let go, apologizing that it was a habit she'd picked up in America. He had stuttered out a quick "its okay," but he was blushing and smiling slightly as he spoke. Joe had arrived at the location a short time after Destiny arrived with her group, bringing Cody with him. Apparently Submarimon had brought the possessor of the Digi-Eggs of Knowledge and Reliability across the water to the city just a short time before the battle was over. Neither the bespectacled young man nor the Digidestined with the bowl-cut knew the full story yet, so they were speaking with Kari and T.K. with an excited Davis trying to share the great news about the Digi-Egg of Miracles. Yolei had swiftly zeroed in on Ken.
"Really, you couldn't take five minutes to call me?" she asked, her voice carrying over the other conversations easily. "I was on a family trip to see my mom's side of the family. Do you know what that is like? I had to deal with not only my brother and sisters, but all my cousins. My mom's family is known for being big. I couldn't get a moment's peace. My youngest cousin didn't seem to realize that Poromon is not a toy. I would have taken any excuse to get out there. All of you are facing the end of the world again and you couldn't bother to let me know so I could help? You could have been killed, the world destroyed, and I would be going insane while remaining ignorant of what was happening outside my Aunt's home. I am not forgetting this."
Ken raised his hands apologetically in defense, but was smart enough to remain silent. Anything he might say would only dig him in further and he knew it. The impulsive and passionate Digidestined would eventually calm down and forgive him for not calling her. Besides, the Digidestined of Kindness knew her well enough to recognize that part of her rant was due to the fact she had worried about all of them.
GuardiAngemon and his surviving followers had requested to return to the digital world. He felt that they had undone the damage they had wrought by assisting the malevolent digimon and, though they no longer felt that all humans were evil and intent on destroying all digital beings, they preferred to remain in the human world no longer than necessary. Destiny opened a portal for them, though Minervamon paused long enough to shout that she "loved fighting with all the fun digimon who partnered with humans who weren't actually traitors after all since she wasn't supposed to destroy them anymore" and that she hoped to "meet up and play a game, sing some karaoke, or combat all enemies of GuardiAngemon sometime." Everyone gave the mega an uneasy grin at the cheerful and violent suggestion, but she left skipping into the portal without a care in the world.
The tamers had clumped together, discussing their experiences with their crests and what they might mean when they made it back home. From the way Rika kept looking at Takato and how Renamon kept a paw on the red-haired girl's shoulder, the Tamer of Trust was struggling to not begin ranting at the goggle-headed boy in a way that would make Yolei's attempts look pathetic. She apparently didn't appreciate the near death of Gallantmon earlier. Jeri was actually smiling, happy everyone was safe and her success at protecting the group of humans providing her with greater confidence as a tamer. Henry, after dragging his partner away from an undoubtedly interesting conversation with Willis' partners, had filled in a mildly confused Impmon about why Dianamon and the other megas who previously attacked them ended up on their side. And during all of these conversations, Ai and Mako were excitedly talking about how cool the whole event was, from their new mode change to the final moments of the fight itself.
Destiny wanted to join them, but she couldn't quite bring herself to do it yet. Her mind was too busy turning over the implications of her recent realization. The tiny fragments of memory had suddenly aligned, providing her the answers that she had wanted for so long and yet never expected to turn out this way. So many things made sense, however. That one memory that had evaded her for so long told her why she lost him and how. And, armed with that knowledge, she could find a way to regain Fate.
But first, she had one last task. She stepped over to Kari. The girl and her feline partner broke off from their conversation and turned their attention towards the prophetess.
Glancing down at her current outfit, Destiny began, "I want to thank you for loaning me some clothes. I haven't worn t-shirts and jeans since… I don't know when. I should give these back now since…"
"Keep them," interrupted the Digidestined of Light. "Consider it a gift from all of us in this reality."
"You look better in a purple shirt than a cloak. Even if it isn't as mysterious-looking," Gatomon added.
Kari nodded in agreement before asking, "You're leaving soon, then? All of you?"
"Yes, we have to return now. It is time for reunions," the blue-eyed girl confided, "for everyone."
"I hope we'll meet again someday," smiled the Digidestined of Light.
Destiny remarked, "I don't know if we will or not. Traveling through realities and timelines make it hard to know for certain and this is my last prophecy." She was quiet for a moment before acknowledging, "But it would be nice."
With that final statement, the prophetess turned towards the tamers. Somehow, the humans and digimon sensed her change in attention and met her gaze.
"We're leaving, aren't we?" observed Henry. "We're heading back to our own universe."
After Destiny nodded in confirmation, Takato decided to say one last thing to his idol.
"Hey, Tai! Just wanted to tell you that getting to meet you and even fight beside you was like a dream come true. You're a great guy and I was lucky to meet you."
The older Goggle-head smiled back, "You're not half-bad yourself, Takato. You and Guilmon take care of yourselves."
As she expected, they began to fade into blackness as the final syllables left the Digidestined of Courage's mouth. They were disappearing into another reality.
Yep, Ragnamon is dead. Taken out by the combined effort of VictoryGreymon and Gallantmon. Behold the might of the Goggle-heads! …And a little help from the computer expert, Tammy Mizutani, to keep him dead this time. But you know that it is the right of the Goggle-heads to beat the creep. I intended for these two Biomerged beings to be the ones to make the final blow since I began this story almost two years ago (wow… has it really been that long?).
And, just in case anyone was worried about her, I made sure to demonstrate that Miko is fine. The cat lives through the disaster, perfectly unharmed.
In case you haven't noticed, we are drawing near the end. I still have to tie up a few more loose ends and finish off Apocalymon in the tamer's universe. But we are almost finished. And, while I have a plan for a third story for this series (entitled "Predestination"), it will almost certainly be a long wait for that one. I intend to go through both this story and the previous one to do some serious editing first. I'll fix spelling errors, flesh-out and smooth over rough spots in the plot and characterization, and try to make everything better. Then, I'll make sure that I have all the problems for the next story ironed out before I start. So, I have to hope you are patient about waiting for the third part of my intended trilogy.
And, once more, I am so impossibly sorry about how long this chapter took. I know you must be upset about it. But I hope that you'll forgive me. Thanks.