Disclaimer: I do not own Digimon. I do not own Heroes. There goes a fighter...

Author's Note: Written for the Novel with Prompts Challenge found on the Digimon Fanfiction Challenges forum. The prompt for this chapter is "last".

Also written for July's Camp Nano. This chapter brings me to 11,500/40,000. So, I use a few verbing words in today's chapter. I actually was a bit concerned, because my Word was telling me that these words do not exist, and somehow, I ended up using a few of them in one chapter. So, I googled them, and it turns out they're just one of those words that exist in fiction but not exactly appropriate for nonfiction. I don't mind using slang-ish terms in my writing, so hopefully you all don't either. And more importantly, hopefully you...

Enjoy!

Chapter Forty-Four

When WarGrowlmon's armor broke, Davis knew they were dead.

The battle had started well enough. Takato's instincts had seemed to kick in immediately, and he'd pulled out his cards to assist in the battle the best that he could. WarGrowlmon had size and strength, but it also meant he was slower – so Takato rectified that by using his cards to give him a little bit more speed. ExVeemon was weaker, but he was quick. Davis knew that they just needed to pace themselves, wear out Barbamon, and avoid getting flame-broiled.

ExVeemon dodged through the air away from a cone of fire and got the first hit in with a well-aimed Vee Laser to Barbamon's back. Barbamon stumbled forward from the attack, right into WarGrowlmon's Pendulum Blades. Chunks of Barbamon's snowy white beard fell and exploded into data.

Barbamon roared with anger – but not really pain – and blasted fire toward them. Davis was forced to scramble away, rolling behind a boulder, so that he wasn't barbecued. ExVeemon took the distraction to hit him with a Critical Crunch.

It went on like that for seconds, minutes – it was hard to judge. Davis heard the combat across the clearing – monsters shouting, rocks crashing, creatures roaring, things exploding. He heard Ken and Yolei yelling back and forth, which meant they were still alive. He knew that they would both give their lives to protect Kari and Cody, which meant they were probably okay too. But Davis tried not to think about it. He knew he couldn't afford to get distracted.

A line of fire missed him by millimeters. He patted at the sleeve of his shirt to put out the smoldering cotton before a full-blown fire erupted right on his body. Davis leapt up to keep dodging around the tree and boulders, but the ground stuck to his feet. Huang was getting stronger, and Barbamon was getting faster. The Demon Lord of Greed also apparently wasn't very dumb. He was going out of his way to aim for Takato and Davis, forcing ExVeemon and WarGrowlmon to fall into protecting them instead of attacking him. Anytime they were able to slip through the attacks to get an attack off, it didn't seem to hurt him – it just enraged him more.

"I'm not some minor minion," Barbamon growled. "I am a Demon Lord, created to destroy all that lays in my path. Your pathetic attempts to fight me will end in vain."

ExVeemon and WarGrowlmon didn't reply. They were probably trying to save energy. Already, they were looking tired. They'd both been through hell and back the last few days; the lack of a good rest and good food was starting to show. Davis was right there with them. The ground clung to his feet, making him feel like he weighed an extra hundred pounds. The air was full of smoke that burned his lungs. He'd had to pull down his goggles to protect his eyes. Fires roared around him, stoked by the winds, and the temperature continued to rise turning the clearing into an oven.

"We need to get that staff out of his hands!" WarGrowlmon said.

"Yeah, before we melt!" ExVeemon agreed.

They dodged another intensely hot spout of fire, and Davis rounded the clearing to try to catch up with Takato. He turned to watch ExVeemon's movements just as he made a big mistake: he swooped around the arena before making a dive for the staff. His hand closed down around the rod before his body seized up, spasmed like he was being electrocuted, before being thrown back by an invisible force.

Davis skidded to a stop. "ExVeemon!"

ExVeemon crashed into the cliff wall to Davis's left, causing a deep crack to run up the side of the mountain. Davis watched as the crack continued to lengthen up the last overhang and then traveled along the ridge's edge. A loose rock groaned and then broke free from the overhang. Davis threw himself backwards to avoid the falling debris and tripped over a burning log just as the boulder hit the ground, splintering into a dozen pieces that flew in every direction.

Davis shook his leg free of the heat that had started to travel up his leg and looked around the clearing. He and Takato had to delay as long as possible – to keep the Demon Lord's attention fixed on them while the rest of their friends dealt with the Devidramon and rescued Tai. They couldn't fail. But Davis wasn't sure if they could win either – not that he was going to say that aloud.

He crawled over to ExVeemon's side. "You okay, buddy?"

ExVeemon groaned and sat up. "Good as ever," he claimed as he forced himself to his feet. Davis tried not to let his fear show all over his face as ExVeemon swayed on the spot and had to catch himself on the cliff wall. They didn't have a choice; ExVeemon had to get back in there. WarGrowlmon was powerful, but he couldn't do this alone.

WarGrowlmon was slowly trying to lure Barbamon further away from the middle of the clearing, to give Kari and the others as much distance as possible to escape. But even from where Davis sat crouched, he could see that WarGrowlmon was already getting tired. Barbamon grinned in a way that told Davis that he could sense WarGrowlmon's weariness, too. He bared his fangs.

"Oh, how the mighty have fallen," Barbamon taunted. "Yes, we know about you, Tamer of the Digital Hazard. The one who defeated and shamed the newly born Demon Lord of Gluttony. The one who single-handedly slew the D-Reaper and pushed back the chaos."

Takato stumbled backwards. His body flinched but not with recognition; it was like the names were inciting a reaction out of him but his mind was having a hard time catching up as to why.

"What are you talking about?" he asked.

It was nearly a fatal mistake. Barbamon pointed his staff right at Takato. "Crimson Flame!" Fire shot out of the mouth of the skull. Distracted, Takato moved too slowly. He evaded the blast, but he cried out in pain from the heat as he dodged. He slammed into the ground, his clothes smoking. He coughed and choked on the smoke, struggling to breathe.

"Takato!" WarGrowlmon cried. "Atomic Blaster!"

The laser clipped off of Barbamon's staff, causing the next spout of fire's aim to be completely off as it shot into the air. Takato crawled toward cover.

ExVeemon managed to take flight.

If ExVeemon and WarGrowlmon could manage to get one good combined attack – but they were both already drained, and Barbamon was still looking no worse for the wear. What was this guy's deal? It was like fighting a machine. And to make it worse, even if ExVeemon and WarGrowlmon could coordinate the perfect attack, Davis wasn't even sure if they'd be able to hurt the Demon Lord at all.

We have to win, Davis thought to himself. We're the good guys. The good guys always win.

Except that wasn't true, not in real life. Davis wasn't naïve enough to think that there was no way that they could lose; he knew it was a distinct possibility, but it wasn't one that he could actually allow himself to consider. Even if right now that was looking more and more likely.

WarGrowlmon and ExVeemon caught each other's eye and nodded. They were going to go for one last try. Davis held his breath; they charged.

Barbamon let them both approach, grinning with anticipation. At the last second, ExVeemon faked a strike and dodged around Barbamon. "Vee Laser!" Barbamon spun to block the attack, and WarGrowlmon took the opening. He flew toward him quickly, charging up his irradiated Pendulum Blades, and thrust with all his might, ready to stab the Demon Lord in the back, but Barbamon anticipated the maneuver. He stepped aside with too much speed and agility, as if he had eyes in the back of his head and the earth itself were helping him move.

He spun and his staff connected with the front of WarGrowlmon's armor – and with a snap like a shotgun blast, the heavy duty breastplate protecting WarGrowlmon's heart shattered.

The explosion was hotter than any focused fire attack. The force knocked Davis off his feet and squeezed the breath out of him.

When he regained his focus, he was sitting at one end of the crater while WarGrowlmon ended up on the other end, unmoving. ExVeemon had been thrown back too, and Davis couldn't tell if he were still conscious or not. The blast had released so much energy, it had created a perfect cone-shaped pit thirty feet deep, fusing the dirt and rock into a slick glassy substance. Other debris had been completely destroyed and disappeared into the air as loose data. Davis wasn't sure if he was supposed to have survived that, but he was just glad he had. Takato barely seemed to notice that his clothes were still steaming as he shouted for Guilmon and ran to WarGrowlmon's fallen side.

And in the middle of it all, Barbamon stood, having not even been touched by the explosion.

This was how the digidestined were going to die, Davis realized. With no energy, no weapons, no digimon, and no hope.

Davis got up on shaky legs, his entire body feeling like lead. Barbamon laughed as he turned toward Takato and WarGrowlmon. "Impressive attempt. Unfortunately, that was your last play, tamer."

Barbamon took to the air, and Davis tried not to cry out in frustration. How could he have not even been slightly hurt in all of that!? He crossed the crater in a single bound and landed in front of Takato and WarGrowlmon. He raised his staff, its tip hovering six feet over Takato's unprotected chest.

"And now," Barbamon said, "the first of the twelve shall fall!"