*CUE: crossing field -TV Ver.- (by LiSA)*
DIGIMON XROS WARS
THE SEVEN SWORDS
ACT 2
*cue Title Theme*
"XROS WARS! The Cascading Ultimatum!"
From the rooftop, the Code Crown was now framed perfectly with the distant shape of the earth just above it.
Silence fell among the "Scratch" group as they stared at it in horror while DarkKnightmon's eerie grin broke through his Baguramon mask for a single moment. "Checkmate."
And then Shoutmon dove into action. "HARD ROCK DAMASHII!" He flung two spheres of burning fire straight at DarknessBaguramon and then followed it up with a kick-thrown fire blast.
The Dark Lord raised his skeletal arm to block and resisted the flames, but it lasted just long enough as a distraction for ZekeGureimon and DeltAntylamon to get into the game.
"BUNNY BLADES!" DeltAnytlamon threw the bunny-ax weapons that began circling around DarknessBaguramon like satellites- Laughing and Giggling and Grinning satellites with explosive properties, but still satellites.
"RAIL GATLING " ZekeGureimon launched out a burst of bullets at his target- forcing DarknessBaguramon to raise his non wood-bone arm to take the damage.
OmegaShoutmon soared high up into the air and summoned a sword. "AQUA RESONANCE!"
The Water-enhanced blade slashed down, and smashed into the floor, forcing the Dark Lord to take several steps back...
He was laughing.
"Is that the best you've got!?" he taunted them. "Weak attacks like that won't harm me one bit!"
And then a tornado formed right on the spot he was standing on.
"RUUUNNN!" Yuu cried out as his team, "Mess Shit Up," vacated their attack zone as fast as they could- absconding from the Loading Docks as fast as possible.
Why?
"HIGHLAND FANG!" ...There was a Dinotigermon chasing them.
Twin fang shaped bursts of lightning soared out of the exit behind his group as they all dove for the dirt. Thankfully, the attack missed it's intended targets and soared straight on into a distant mountain.
The explosion that followed turned said mountain into dust and made the earth tremble beneath them all.
The Troopmon escorting the Dinotigermon slid to a stop just at the exit to the Loading docks and looked around the horizontal axis for their quarry...
"CAST-SHADE BOOMERANG!"
CascadeStarmon flung his energy boomerangs straight up from beneath them, cutting several Troopmon in half while decapitating many more all at the same time.
DinoTigermon looked down in surprise...
"SHOTGUN WEDDING!" FluteChessmon fired her shotgun straight into his armored face.
"RAAARGHH!" DinoTigermon reared back in surprise, leaving his vulnerable throat and chest open to attack.
"THIEF OF LIFE!"
"HANGING JUSTICE!"
Reena and Terezie threw their respective weapons forward- impaling the Massive Beast in the chest with a trident and then slashing his throat open with the cane swords- to add insult to injury, Terezie even threw a back-flip in for good measure, kicking the bottom of the Armored Digimon's jaw firmly, snapping his head up and breaking the spine that hadn't been severed already.
A one hit kill- the DinoTigermon was slain- he exploded into a shower of Data for their efforts.
"Damn that guy!" Reena huffed. "Came right outta nowhere!"
"N'Gah." AlturBallistamon nodded in agreement. "Out of nowhere."
"Guh..." Revolomon gasped for some much needed air. "Where did he come from anyways?"
"I think he was on one of the Whamon we dropped a lamp on." Terezie lamented. "Probably tons more like him just waiting to move on towards-"
"Earth!" ProblemChessmon pointed upwards at the static-tized sky.
"Woaaah..." CascadeStarmon was still lying on the ground staring up. "Why's it in the sky?"
Nobody had an answer as they all stared up at the approaching Earth.
Then the sounds of a distant battle caught their ears.
"I think a better question is..." Yuu frowned as he looked down somewhat, more towards the rooftops. "Who are Shoutmon and the other's fighting?"
"We're going towards earth, through the static storm..." Taiki growled as he looked at the navigation readouts on the console before him. "The engines are supposed to halt and hold our position at a midway point between Earth and the Digital World itself...But I can't figure out why."
"DarkKnightmon once said that the Code Crown had unique refractive properties." Kotone mentioned. "Perhaps he plans to fire some sort of energy beam between earth and the Digital World?"
"That'd make a whole lot of sense." Trompeaurmon huffed as she crossed her arms. "He arranged the lands specifically so that they'd have a similar composition to the Code Crown's crystal structure, but spread out." she rolled her eyes. "He said it was to help transfer the negative energy needed to corrupt the thing, but..."
"He's probably planning on using earth as a staging ground then." Hephaestus deduced. "Fire an attack up from Earth at the Code Crown, defract it into the Lands, and then...What? Out into space?"
"Or time." Nene snapped her fingers, or rather, Echinda did.
"Milleniumnmon is one of the few God-Class Digimon that control time." She explained. "If that's what the Darkness Loader stuff back in Dust Zone was a trial run for, then maybe he's planning on reviving a deadlier version of that Digimon here in the present?"
"It's possible." Taiki took in a sharp breath as he ran his hand through his hair. "But something doesn't add up...I don't know what it is but something just does not add up."
"The Time storm maybe?" Sparrowmon offered as she shot at a re-grouping piece of Frozen Gravimon-pop. "If he fires the attack into the storm, what'll happen if it hits all those other worlds out there that you guys saw back when we got split up?"
"That's got to be it then." Nene nodded in agreement. "DarkKnightmon's planning on firing this attack of his into all of time and space at once."
"Every dimension, every world..." Taiki paused for a second as he realized something. "Cyber Land."
"That Shinjuku we visited!" Hephaestus said nearly simultaneously. "It had to have been another world under attack by DarkKnightmon's attack!"
"Then that means we lose?" Nene panicked for a second. "That means we don't stop him? He fires the attack off and wins?"
"Green Miles of energy..." Taiki frowned. "What if we reversed it?" he started pressing buttons on the console. "Input a command into the Code Crown that tells it to reverse the energy attack back onto its origin the moment it tries to hit something?"
"That could work...!" Hephaestus agreed. "If we get it so that the energy attack folds in on itself, then we'd..." They both stopped.
"But then that would destroy the Code Crown." Taiki vocalized the thought they both were thinking. "It'd collapse from the strain of having so much energy filtered through it that it'd explode and then...?" he looked to Nene/Echidna. "What would that do to the Digital World?"
"It'd die." Echidna said sorrowfully. "Or shatter again with no hopes of reuniting. One or the other."
"Then that's not an option!" Hephaestus declared. "We can't just risk both worlds like that, the shock wave alone would-"
"Unless someone pulls that energy inside them instead of the Code Crown." Taiki cut his Denizen off. "All of that extra energy from the Beat Mesa and all of that Negative energy that the Empire pumped into it and someone takes that energy into themselves so that the Code Crown isn't holding that excess energy so that way it can reverse the energy flow and stop DarkKnightmon on the spot."
The room went silent.
"That's suicide." Trompeaurmon said after a few precious seconds. "Anyone who would do that would die from the strain of having that much negative energy pumped through them, let alone whatever's stuck in there from that 'Beep Meta' thing."
"I could do it." Kotone volunteered.
"No!" Taiki and Nene said simultaneously.
"We've already had corrupted data pushed through our system on a regular basis- our DNA can handle it thanks to DarkKnightmon's meddling." Cetus insisted.
"But that would still-!" Echidna tried to start.
"No." Kotone shook her head. "I've got to do it. Tsuwamon would do it, but since he's not here, I've got to do it. It's only fair-"
Nene launched forwards and hugged her sister tightly. "I can't let you do that!"
"Damn it." Hephaestus huffed. "We're not getting anywhere with this, are we?"
"Nope." Taiki replied curtly.
"NEEDLE MESA!"
Finally, they broke out the big-guns. ZekeGureimon's giant Record sprung out from the very bottom of the castle, shooting upwards and upwards, tearing up the central tower of the castle and everything inside of it- thankfully having been evacuated at this point due to Mess Shit Up's influence- until it reached the height that they were dueling on- and then continued upwards higher and higher.
"What the-?" DarknessBaguramon glanced around in confusion as the record continued to ascend and ascend...before it finally stopped at a height still somewhere just beneath the Code Crown. "Oh- Clever. You destroy my castle with a giant record. I applaud your efforts, A Plus for mayhem, but utterly useless against me."
ZekeGureimon spared a return remark. Unlike his previous summons for this attack, there was a faint Z shape etched on the surface of the record. Taiki must have been right about it doing something. He nodded at OmegaShoutmon, standing somewhere behind Baguramon, who dove for the center of the Record.
"BEAT-!"
He surged past DarknessBaguramon, much to his surprise, and kept on going for the center.
"SLASH!"
Shoutmon hit the center of the Record and dropped down into the pit that had just suddenly opened there. Then his legs turned into the same drill-like shape they always did... and locked into place right at the center, as if the Record's base had been designed for him. He instantly began to spin.
The Record began to turn, slowly at first, but then faster, and faster...!
For those who could fly (namely Kiriha, DeltAntylamon, and ZekeGureimon), this wasn't much of a problem.
But for DarknessBaguramon?
"Whhaaaaa...!" He fell forward onto his face as he tried to maintain his balance. "OOF."
...He just couldn't cut it.
"NOW!" Typheus roared.
The glowing circle appeared around the edges of the Record already, thanks to the Beat Slash attack, giving DeltAntylamon the timing needed to Zip across the record's surface.
"RECORD SCRATCH!"
OmegaShoutmon spun the record at just the right speed so that she made the classic Z shape with only one dash across it's surface.
The resulting explosion of golden light shot up through the sky, striking the Code Crown Chamber and engulfing it in it's light as the contained energy within the light wave continued soaring upwards and upwards where it reached the void and began to spread out into said void, clearing away the static, but leaving behind the rift itself.
And for a single incomprehensible moment, spread across multiple moments spread across all time and space and every fictional universe, all life on all worlds on all planes of reality wondered if there were life on other worlds, in other dimensions, in other time lines...
And then they promptly dismissed it as not being possible and went about their daily lives.
BRIGHT LAND_ _ _|
The static was cleared away by a wave of golden light, leaving behind a nebula filled night sky, much to everyone's surprise (It was only just past noon), and yet at the same time, the whole of Bright Land was lit as if the sun were still high in the sky.
In that sky, Planets of varying shapes, designs, and possibilities floated harmlessly through the rather beautiful void space. There were stars as well- Blue, purple, green- all impossible under earth's laws of astrophysics.
Tairru's jaw dropped open from shock, Wisemon whistled in appreciation, and Beelzebmon nearly fainted.
"What the hell!" Marcus exclaimed as he spotted a set of two worlds floating parallel to each other- almost crashing into each other but separated by an amber tree. "That looks like my world!"
"If that's what's on the other side of all that static..." Zenjirou mused aloud. "Then things must be really bad if we're seeing it so clearly!"
"Oi!" ShineGreymon called out to the tower as they finally reached the tower. "We're here!"
"Woah..." Hangyomon did a double take as he looked over everyone there. "Team's gotten big!"
"Hey!" Mervamon waved at them. "About time you guys got here!"
"Hey!" ShineGreymon huffed as he landed on the deck, and immediately shrunk back down into Agumon, dropping everyone else down onto the floor rather suddenly. "I've been flying almost nonstop since we left Honey Land! We got here as soon as we could!"
"Not soon enough!" Spadamon shouted as he ran up the stairs, Lunamon at his side. "The Transportalizer's gone dead! I don't know what happened, but it's not working anymore. We can't follow them through!"
"Well then how the hell are we supposed to go after them then?" Marcus grumbled.
"We've got a floating boat?" Zenjirou pointed at the Good Friday. "Can we use that?"
"But we're not going to make it in time if we use it!" Tairru protested. "Taiki wanted us to go after them the moment you got here! But now we can't if it's really dead!"
Silence over came them for a moment...
Then Lila pointed straight up. "What if we use that?"
THE PANDORICA_ _ _|
The Spinning Record flung OmegaShoutmon out the moment the attack finished, landing him squarely in the glowing scratch running across the Record's surface...where he immediately shrunk down back into his human form.
As this branch of Xros Heart recovered from their temporary blinding from the bright flash of light, they all realized one important fact:
The attack had done nothing but clear they sky of static- leaving that starry expanse behind.
"It didn't work!" DeltAntylamon yelped with Lopmon's voice. "Why didn't it work!?"
DarknessBaguramon got unsteadily to his feet as the record continued to spin on its own momentum. "Heh...That's because you opened the gate for me...Your attack was nothing but a signal flare for the void to open and allow us to see everything at once from the Digital World and earth as well." he chuckled. "All of time. All of space." and that chuckle started to morph into pure evil laughter. "And I have you all to thank for it!"
"There's got to be something more...!" ZekeGureimon grit his teeth...
And the whole record jumped as it started to spin off of the top of the needle it rested upon.
"What the-!?" Kiriha glanced around in surprise as the record continued to remain balanced.
"I didn't do it!" ZekeGureimon protested immediately as the record began to ascend into the sky.
And that distraction was all DarknessBaguramon needed.
"BONE TWIN SPEAR!"
He threw his right arm out towards DeltAntylamon and fired a burst of green lightning...
KZAP!
The Evolved DigiXros Broke up immediately, sending both components away from each other in opposite directions- It happened so fast that Kiriha didn't even realize that Lopmon was flying right towards him until it was too late and...
smack!
They both went tumbling over the edge of the Record.
"KIRIHA!" ZekeGureimon dove after them immediately...
And that was exactly what DarkKnightmon wanted.
"So the fabled Shoutmon lie defeated before me." He chuckled as he walked calmly over the spinning record surface towards where Akari had landed. "The boy exhausted from a failed attack, and the girl weakened from taking a surprise assault."
Akari grit her teeth as she tried to force herself up to her feet. "Damn you...!"
"Oh it should come of no surprise to you..." DarkKnightmon smirked at her through Baguramon's face. "After all, there was no other way that this could end, with the future King and Queen of this world dead, they will have no-one to turn to for leadership besides me."
"Future...?" Akari scoffed. "Please. As if you'd know anything about the future."
"Oh but I do." he put his fingers together on his right hand, almost turning it into a spear of sorts. "Too bad you're never going to learn about anything I've learned."
He threw his arm forward...
shick!
Blood flew through the air...
EYE CATCH!
The camera zoomed onto the right side of a disk, showing Shoutmon in his Digimon form, then panned over to the left side, showing him in his Human form.
The camera pulled out and the disk flipped over, revealing an red cut out of OmegaShoutmon holding a sword and a shield, with the Greek letter "OMEGA" behind him.
EYE CATCH!
"..." DarknessBaguramon scowled at the body that was now impaled on his arm. "You weren't who I was targeting yet. But I suppose you will have to do for my first kill."
"S...Shou..." Akari stared up at the "Mon who would one day become king," her best friend, her lover, her soul mate... "SHOUTO!"
Kiriha and ZekeGureimon had returned that very second to watch in horror as the Shoutmon mouthed a set of words at the girl behind him...and then fell apart into data almost instantly afterwards. Through the golden burst of data remained two objects... falling downwards on a single trajectory...
The Omega Necklace landed squarely around Akari's neck as the Red Xros Loader fell into her lap with a clak.
"YOU BASTARD!"
DarknessBaguramon turned his head just in time to get a face full of frozen ice blasts, courtesy of Lopmon, who was flying towards him at a speed that shouldn't have been possible for her size.
He stumbled backwards as Lopmon flew up into his face and whisked into a miniature tornado, powered up immensely by Typheus' own powers.
THWAM!
Then his foot got caught in the scratch on the record...
And DarkKnightmon suddenly found his mind back in time, in the place of that poor GrapLeomon whom Lopmon had hit with a very powerful hammer- Somehow, the force of that impact transferred into reality, and the body of Baguramon went flying up into the air and into the distance, falling downwards towards his own castle- much to Lopmon's confusion.
"Meh." She shrugged, assuming that the Scratch Energies actually did something against corrupted souls when they touched it.
"AKARI!" Kiriha ran over to the girl. "Akari! Are you okay?"
"Shouto..." She whispered, orange eyes staring blankly ahead of her.
"C'mon..." He growled as he looked at the blood lying allover the ground from DarknessBaguramon's attack. "Damn it!" he turned his attention back to the frozen girl before him. "Akari! What did Shoutmon say just before he died?"
"Kicking and screaming." She whispered, barely even recognizing the question. "I'll drag them back kicking and screaming..."
And then it hit Kiriha what Shoutmon had just done...
And a grin began to break out on his face.
'What are you doing!?' Typheus asked, shocked. 'He just died! That's completely wrong!'
"Not for long..." Kiriha replied. "He's coming back, Akari!" He put his hands on her face and brought her up to look her in the eyes. "He's coming back, Akari! He's just got to get everyone else together! You'll see!"
She sniffed, eyes watering up. "He's dead...Why are you smiling for?"
Kiriha brought her into the biggest hug he had ever given to anyone in his entire life. "He's dragging them all back to us, Kicking and screaming if he has to!" he started to laugh a little. "Shoutmon, you...!" he broke the hug and pushed her back slightly so he could grasp the golden amulet that had landed squarely around her neck. "Just look at it!" he brought it up in front of her eyes. "He's coming back, Akari! He wouldn't have left this for you if he wasn't!" The amulet even seemed to glow as he said it. "And he's bringing them all back with him!"
*cue Umbral Ultimatum*
The camera then panned up dramatically towards the Code Crown Chamber, and began zooming in towards it, zipping in through the doors, and then into the chamber inside.
All of Taiki's group had been knocked to the ground by the blast of energy from the Triple attack, and were partially paralyzed there on the spot, forcing them to watch helplessly as Kotone forced herself up off the ground and over towards the Code Crown as it pulsed and sparked, already starting to overload from the energy fed through it just minutes before. "Sorry...everyone..." she said as she reached out for the crystalline diamond... "But we have to do this."
[00:17]
They touched it, and Cetus commanded the Code Crown. "Release your energies at once!"
All of the negative energy inside the Code Crown Flared up and began to rise above it like a multi-headed snake staring down at its dinner.
"You heard us!" Kotone insisted. "Come right here! Into us!"
The energy hissed curiously, much like a snake...
[00:30]
'C'mon...C'mon already...'
The energy lurched forward, diving straight in through her eyes.
"KOTONE!" Nene cried out in horror as her sister began to let loose a pained scream.
[00:38]
But they weren't the only ones watching: Gravimon's data essence stared at all of that negative energy flowing straight into the Girl who Saw the Light, and now saw nothing but void...
He had to do something to stop this- wanted to- but couldn't. He was just data floating in the room, unable to pull himself back together- yet.
[00:48]
But she stopped screaming. No, she was mastering that negative energy and taming it. Even as that negative energy ripped through her data and tried to scatter it to the far corners of the universe, she grit her teeth into a smile.
"You don't get it do you?" she asked of the energy, which hissed in torment. "Pure Water doesn't conduct electricity- It grounds it! So What makes you think you could go and explode on the Denizen of Water, Hm?"
She threw her hands out to her side as she soaked all of that energy in with laughter.
"Well? IS that all you've got?"
All of that Negative energy escaped from the Code Crown and circled around her body, unable to enter her, but at the same time unable to resist the draw.
"Well then." she began to float, and turned towards the doors. "Let's go for a ride, shall we?"
[01:13]
The Doors burst open as she shot through them like a bullet encased in a sphere of dark energy. She began to ascend, trying to gain as much height as she possibly could before she let all of that negative force out.
She kept ascending higher and higher as the Negative Energy tried to force itself out of the girl- and failed.
And then... "RAHHH!"
She let it explode outwards in all directions like lightning, using Cetus' water powers to filter all of that energy and purify it into something harmless.
It was beautiful, like a blue star radiating purple lightning in all directions like an aura, all those viewing it saw it, and beheld it with awe and astonishment. Even Akari was pulled out of her brief depression at the sight, staring up at it and seeing the one thing that it represented in this Pandora's box of hellish things.
[01:43]
From the ruins of his stolen Castle, DarkKnightmon stared upwards through Baguramon's eyes at the sight of his own hand crafted weapon undoing all the hard work he had done over the last six months. All of the work towards corrupting the code crown... all of the work tricking his brother... all of his efforts in making Kotone who she was always meant to be...!
His breathing slowed as he tried to keep his anger in check. His borrowed heart quickened...
And all that he could hear was the nagging thought that came from the body and soul that he was possessing, echoing his own words from twice before that day.
"Such Sweet Irony."
And so the camera shot back up into the sky...
[02:08]
The light show ended, and Kotone found herself exhausted... And so she fell from the heavens... "...nap time..."
"Kotone!" Nene and Sparrowmon cried out as they finally got the motivation to snap out of their induced palatalization jumping out of the Code Crown Chamber, and diving towards the falling girl.
Taiki groaned as he forced himself up. "Damn it. This is going to hurt, isn't it?"
And with that he broke into a run and jumped out after them, leaving a confused Trompeaurmon behind alone with the Code Crown and the slowly regenerating Gravimon.
"Guys...?" She blinked at the left open doors.
[02:18]
For several precious seconds, they all fell towards a single goal: Catch Kotone.
Sparrowmon repeated her Board Jump trick from back in Heaven Zone, shifting from human to Digimon form to gain more distance than she could otherwise.
Taiki's wings were being forced to his limit as he pushed to catch up to them.
And Nene just fell, arms outstretched as she fell down towards her Sister without any aid at all...
And despite it all, somehow she was going faster.
Everyone below watched the sight, Yuu with his fingers crossed for both of his sister's safety...
...Kiriha and Akari both wishing that nobody else would die...
...DarkKnightmon wishing with all his might that they all would hit the ground and paint it red...
[02:38]
Trompeaurmon was staring out the door with her attention held so firmly on the situation at hand that she failed to noticed Gravimon fully reforming behind her, a grin already brimming beneath his hidden eyes.
Elsewhere, high up in the void, the ship Good Friday soared vertically through the impossible space, trying to reach Earth as fast as was impossibly possible, and use it as a sling shot to fire back around towards the Pandorica, hoping that the now static free storms would warp them back in time to just the right moment.
[02:59]
And so this critical moment was held in suspense- Four falling, many dead, an Empire ascending, and heroes racing against the clock- all off it occurring as many watched helplessly from as many possible vantage points as the multi-verse allowed.
For a single moment...Everything faded to white as time seemed to stop.
TO BE CONCLUDED.
A.N.: Heh...heh...heh...