Disclaimer: Digimon is a franchise owned jointly by Toei Animation and Bandai, and conceptualized by Akiyoshi Hongo. Doctor Who is a property owned by the British Broadcasting Company created by Sydney Newman. The concept of The Tamer v3.0 - Bold New Frontier is a fanfiction idea. Please support the official properties.
The Tamer v3.0 - Bold New Frontier
Chapter 29: Lux et Umbra
"I see you found Tomoki," Tamer said quietly, standing himself up steadily as he tried to not fall over. "Was that light you coming back from your world?"
"Yeah, I can't believe that actually worked," JP said first. "And that we didn't fall on the floor this time!"
"I can't believe we came back here," Koji added quietly, avoiding making any eye contact with Tamer.
"So we're at that part, huh?" Tamer said quietly.
"We can talk later. We have to get out of here!" Zoe reminded them all, hurrying towards Tamer and throwing his arm over her shoulder. She helped him away from the wall and moved towards the nearest hallway. "We need to find a way out of here!"
"Oh right. Those guys are still here, aren't they?" JP said, turning his head towards the many halls that led out of the entry chamber. The Dark Warriors could've been down any of those halls and could be coming at them.
"Any path out of this castle leads directly to a death battle between Lucemon and Ophanimon" Tamer said quietly, massaging his head.
"Well apparently you knew this was all going to happen since we told you it was going to happen so how about you tell us how to get out here!" JP fired back quickly. "I mean hell, the fact you knew it was going to happen meant you should've at least come up with a plan to avoid it happening. Or, I don't know, a plan to deal with it."
"I could've avoided it but that would've meant you never would've been able to tell me about it. I mean, if it didn't happen to you, then why would you tell me about it," Tamer answered. "But I had plenty of time to think of a solution to that problem after you told me. But it means we'll have to make the problem worse before we can start making it better. Reality is already crumbling and you've met two past versions of me. What's a few more cracks?"
JP sighed, "Yeah, I think the fact that we ended up back in the past before we got here just proves how bad the problem was. Speaking of which, how did you know we'd end up back here?"
"I didn't. I just figured that if you'd already encountered two incidents of being thrown through time, it was likely to work a third time," Tamer answered quietly.
"You didn't know!?" Tomoki gasped out in surprise. "So we could've ended up anywhere!?"
"Of course! Time travel isn't exactly something the Ancients were ever able to master. If we could, do you honestly think any of this stuff would've happened? Or I'd be the only one left alive?" Tamer stated quietly.
Zoe hung onto to those words. Tamer was the only Ancient left. That in itself was a surprising revelation and it was a small wonder why he never talked about it. He probably didn't want the reminder. It was even more of a wonder that he didn't break down in grief from being here - how many memories did he have of this place? What was it like to be here before it became like this? She was snapped from her thoughts by a loud howl echoing from somewhere deep inside the castle. The ear splitting cry made Zoe's hair stand up on end and sent chills down her spine. Was it the other Warriors? Duskmon? Or some other unknown terror making its way towards them?
"Tell me that wasn't what I thought it was," JP's eyes darted from hall to hall. He reached for his pocket, nervously reaching for his digivice…and it reminded Zoe to go check her own digivice. It turned back into a phone in their world…but would coming back here be enough to turn it back.
She reached into her pocket nervously, then breathed a sigh of relief when she pulled out her digivice. But that presented a problem of its own - if they had their digivices back, did that mean they had the Guardian Spirits back? And if they did…did that mean Lucemon was still present inside of their heads? If he was listening, he sure was being very quiet.
"So what's this plan of yours?" Koji asked quickly, producing his digivice.
"Duskmon is my plan. We bring him over to our side," Tamer answered with a half smile, his tone indicating even he wasn't comfortable with this plan.
"And how do you plan on doing that? Isn't he the big scary guy who went crazy as soon as he heard your name?" Tomoki asked him. "How exactly are you going to go talk to him?"
"Oh, not me. He'll kill me as soon as he sees me and I'm not going up against him a second time. I'm not suicidal. Koji will be the one to convince him," Tamer said with a finger pointed at Koji.
"Me? What do you think he'll listen to me for?" Koji asked in confusion, eyes wide in confusion.
"If I'm right, he'll listen to you because you're you," Tamer said with a half smile. He stepped away from Zoe and took a moment to steady himself on his own two legs.
"Are you okay to stand on your own?" Zoe asked him.
"I'll have to be," Tamer managed to say, still massaging his temple. "Of course the real trick will be getting him to listen to you on account of the fact that he does go rabid whenever I'm around. And I think it'll be best if I keep my distance."
"Will this plan even work? I mean, if Lucemon is in all of our heads - won't he know the plan and automatically know of a way to counter it?" Tomoki asked. "What if he's coming up with that plan now?"
"Unless he's got a way to communicate with the digimon on his side, I don't see how that'll matter. He's locked out of the castle which means the digimon on his side won't know our plan," Tamer said matter of factly, occasionally pausing to massage his temple. Just then, another roar echoed from far inside the castle walls and they heard the unmistakable voice of Duskmon.
"TaMeR!"
"What's your history with that guy anyway?" Zoe asked just as another roar echoed once again, this time just a little bit louder and closer.
"I'm CoMiNg To KiLl YoU tAmEr!" Duskmon's voice echoed from within the castle depths as he came closer.
"Would you believe that I have no idea at all?" Tamer answered.
"Not even a little," Tomoki said. At this point, they probably should've expected every digimon to have some kind of history with Tamer - whether it was good or bad.
The sound of footsteps began began echoing. A digimon was charging forward through the halls straight towards them. But the sound reverberated through the halls, and it was hard to tell which direction it was coming from.
"Be ready to fight," Tamer said, massaging his temple quietly and raising up his digivice. Seeing that he was ready to fight, the others followed his lead and raised up their digivices in unison.
"EXECUTE! SPIRIT EVOLUTION!"
Light shone forth from their digivices, wrapping around their bodies and enveloping them as they spirit evolved into their respective Guardian Spirits.
"Agunimon!"
"Lobomon!"
"Beetlemon!"
"Kumamon!"
"Kazemon!"
Once all five of them were in digimon form, they stood in a circle facing towards every path leading from the entry area - the stairs and the adjacent hallways - for whichever entrance any of the digimon came from.
"Just for the record, once we're out of this, I am going to find my brother. Once I find him, he and I are getting out of here," Lobomon stated, drawing his swords and taking a fighting stance.
"If you find your brother," Beetlemon said, earning him a growl from Lobomon.
"And what about all the others?" Kumamon asked sheepishly. "We weren't the only humans who came here."
"Guys, can we not fight each other when the big bad monster is racing towards us!" Kazemon pleaded with them, annoyed that they were already fighting and they hadn't even been back in the Digital world for a few minutes. "Honestly."
"Hey! He started it!" Lobomon began to continue when a loud roar echoed from the top of the stairs.
"RAAARGH!"
Duskmon took a running leap off the top of the stairs towards them, moving on all fours and howling as he charged at them. "I'lL kIlL yOu TaMeR!"
"PYRO PUNCH!" Agunimon shouted, throwing a ball of fire from his fist towards Duskmon. Kazemon couldn't tell if he'd just throw his punch too hard or if he was still suffering from his headache. Whatever it was, Agunimon spun on his heels after he threw his punch and ended up falling backwards onto the ground. The fireball he threw hit Duskmon square in the face and sent him crashing into the castle door behind them.
While he was down, Kazemon rushed to Agunimon's side and helped the digimon up, "What was that?"
"Sorry. I'm still dizzy from everything that's happened," Agunimon answered apologetically, trying to massage his head. "I was hoping I would be able to last a little longer than I did."
Kazemon didn't like this idea and hurried to help Agunimon to the side when they heard Duskmon hiss again. Even though he'd just crashed into the gate, the digimon was already up on all fours and more aggravated than before.
"Crystal Breeze!" Kumamon shouted, blowing a blast of cold air from his mouth that froze Duskmon to the ground. For a moment, the digimon appeared immobilized but their jubilation didn't last long as one of its long spindly arms broke through the ice and started clawing at them. Its head jerked and twisted unnaturally as it kept its eyes focused on Agunimon, hissing and gnashing his teeth with every breath.
"TaMeR! i'Ll KiLl YoU!" Duskmon roared angrily.
"He's not the one you need to worry about!" Lobomon slid in front of Duskmon, drawing his swords and aiming them at Duskmon. The digimon roared and hissed through Lobomon's words, ignoring him completely as his attention was focused entirely on Agunimon. Lobomon glanced back at Agunimon with a frown. "Are you sure this will work?"
"I'm sure that you'll be make it work," Agunimon answered him, completely frustrating Lobomon.
"Hey! The real star of this show is behind you!" Ranamon's voice called out from behind them. All five spun around to see Ranamon at the top of the staircase, striking what she thought must've been a cute pose with her arms stretched towards the ceiling and one leg slightly raised. In practice, it just made her look silly.
"Must you always announce our presence every time we go somewhere?" Mercurymon grumbled from beside her. "We could have easily snuck up on them and ended this fight early."
"I wasn't about to let that jerk Duskmon hog all the credit! All eyes should be on me!" Ranamon proclaimed proudly, leaping down to the bottom of the stairs and squaring off against the five of them. "Now then! I think a little pay back is in order for what you did to me!"
"And Arbormon," Mercurymon added.
"Huh? Oh, yeah. Arbormon too, I guess," Ranamon said.
"What we did to Arbormon? He attacked us! That was self defense!" Kazemon protested at the two digimon. "Besides, you guys all attacked first! You always attack first!"
"Enough!" a new voice called out from the side hallway. All eyes turned towards a new digimon in silver armor with a horned helm and leathery wings growing from his back. The silver armored digimon stepped forward and threw his arm forward towards Agunimon. "Ranamon! Mercurymon! Enough games! Lucemon has given us our orders, and those orders are absolute! Why aren't they in the Human World?"
"Oh stuff it, Dynasmon! We did send them to the Human World!" Ranamon said angrily, stamping her foot on the ground childishly.
Dynasmon grunted disapprovingly, then pointed at the digidestined. "Really? Then what are they doing here?"
"How should we know?" Ranamon said with a shrug.
"We did everything as we were told and opened the gate as soon as they were in the main chamber," Mercurymon said quickly, trying to prevent any possible fight between the two digimon. Dynasmon tilted his head to the side, then eyed the digidestined carefully. There was something oddly familiar about the digimon but Kazemon couldn't quite place what it was. Who was he and why did he seem so familiar?
"You were given a way home!" Dynasmon began, pausing to stare at the digidestined more intensely. "And yet you're back here! Is this another of the Digimon Tamer's tricks?"
Those last words echoed in Kazemon's mind. Had Tamer tricked them into coming back? No, of course not. He gave them a choice. And they chose to come back on their own. But what if he hadn't? What if it was the illusion of choice and he was going to send them back either way. She traded glances with Agunimon and could see him frowning. She couldn't read what he was thinking based off his face.
Whatever was going to happen, it didn't change what did happen. They had chosen to come back. There was no denying that. She looked at Dynasmon and said, "We're here of our own free will."
"Then you've chosen death," Dynasmon said, gesturing to the others. "New orders - kill them!"
Ranamon and Mercurymon didn't need telling twice - Ranamon paired off against Beetlemon while Mercurymon squared off against Kumamon. That left Dynasmon alone to face off against Kazemon and Agunimon. Although Kazemon wasn't sure they'd be able to actually fight the digimon on her own, especially since Agunimon was barely able to stand after only throwing one punch.
Dynasmon noticed this and scoffed as he laid eyes on Agunimon, "What's the matter, Tamer? Are you unable to stand after all the damage that's happened to reality? Has the diversion from predetermination debilitated your-"
"Are you just reading words out of a dictionary?" Agunimon interrupted the silver knight, taking the digimon aback.
"What?" Dynasmon asked through narrowing eyes.
"Oh, wait. I'm thinking of a thesaurus. You're just looking up all these words in a thesaurus," Agunimon corrected himself. Dynasmon grunted again while Kazemon just buried her face in her hands.
"Tamer, can you not?" Kazemon pleaded with the digimon still leaning on her for support. It seemed like he was trying to bait Dynasmon into attacking him, even though he wasn't in any condition to actually fight himself. Which meant Kazemon was probably going to have to protect him herself. Kazemon quietly weighed the pros and cons of helping Agunimon if Dynasmon did attack him first. She'd probably be better off just abandoning him. Then again, she didn't see any issue with using Agunimon as a shield for trying to bait Dynasmon to attack her.
"No no, this needs to be said. Look, using a bunch of big words like that doesn't actually make you look or sound smarter. All it does it make you sound pretentious," Agunimon stated to the silver knight digimon. "So how about you drop the pretense and just say whatever you're trying to say?"
Dynasmon closed his eyes and sighed, grumbling to himself quietly as he tried to find the words he wanted to say. After a moment's silence, he finally looked Agunimon in the eye. "You're as frustrating as ever."
"I get that a lot," Agunimon replied.
Not even a second passed before Dynasmon leapt into the air and threw himself at Agunimon. "NOW DIE!"
Agunimon pushed Kazemon away and threw his arms together to shield himself from Dynasmon's strike. Dynasmon quickly pinned Agunimon to the ground. "By Lucemon's command and with all my power, I will strike you down Tamer!"
"Oh come on, use some pattern recognition! So many have…tried to do exactly that and the…only one's who managed to do it weren't even trying!" Agunimon said quickly under Dynasmon's hold. Kazemon hurried towards the digimon and gave him a sharp kick to the side. The hit connected but only managed to push Dynasmon onto his side, letting Agunimon roll on top of him so that it was his turn to pin the silver knight underneath him. "Thanks Kazemon!"
"You can thank me by not antagonizing him!" Kazemon answered. "Seriously! Can we finish this already? We still have to worry about Lucemon on the other side of the door!"
As she said, she saw Dynasmon's eyes dart towards Ranamon and Mercurymon. He gestured towards the door and roared, "Ranamon! Mercurymon! Open the door! Let us grace ourselves with Lord Lucemon's presence!"
"He really would hate to hear you talk like that," Mercurymon said quietly.
"Why can't Duskmon do it?" Ranamon hissed, ducking and weaving through Beetlemon's punches. Her answer came in the form of Duskmon's loud roar as he finally broke out of the ice. He made a mad dash straight towards Agunimon only to be stopped by Lobomon swinging his swords at him. Duskmon stopped in his tracks, grappling onto the swords in Lobomon's hand.
"Hey! I am right here!" Lobomon said. "And if you wanna get to him, you'll have to go through me!"
Duskmon answered by howling.
"Because he's busy doing that!" Dynasmon shouted. "Now open the door!"
"FINE!" Ranamon shouted, charging for the door.
"Stop them!" Agunimon said just as Dynasmon finally threw him off onto the floor. Kazemon hurried to stop Kazemon but felt a pull on her hair. She was yanked backwards onto the ground and hit it so hard that she saw stars. When she finally got her vision back, she could see Dynasmon staring down at her.
"You will not interfere," Dynasmon said.
Beetlemon charged after Ranamon as she rushed for the door, "Oh no you don't! THUNDER FIST!"
He slammed his fists together and threw a blast of lightning in the direction of the fish digimon. It struck her square in the back and paralyzed her in place. She shrieked as her body convulsed from the electrical currents until she fell to the ground. This gave Beetlemon the change he needed to catch up to her and hold her down. "Gotcha!"
"Get off me you creeper!" Ranamon managed to say when she finally managed to speak, kicking at him in anger.
Beetlemon's grip loosened and his face flushed underneath his helmet at the accusation, "I am not a creeper!"
"You grabbed little me against my will! You're a creep and a monster!" Ranamon said, bashing her fists against her head in protest. "GET OFF! GET OFF! GET OFF!"
With each slap and scream, Beetlemon became more flustered. But he did everything he could to hold on, reminding himself what was on the other side of the castle door. No matter what she said, he couldn't let her go and let Lucemon into the castle. As she struggled, he felt a sharp kick to his side that sent him rolling along the floor. His world spun as he tried to scramble back to his feet to see Mercurymon helping Ranamon up.
"These human boys are so uncivilized. Perhaps they need lessons on how to treat a lady," Mercurymon mocked him.
Ranamon clicked her tongue in disgust, "As if you could ever talk. I'm going for the door! Keep them off me!"
She rushed for the door but was stopped as Kumamon summoned a wall of ice in her path to block her from the door. The little bear charged towards her, punching blast after blast of ice at her. "We won't let you open that door!"
"You boys are all so annoying!" Ranamon hissed as she leapt and weaved through the attacks. As Kumamon pursued Ranamon through the entryway, Beetlemon noticed Mercurymon had his back turned - aiming some kind of strike to hit Kumamon square in the back. Seeing an opportunity, he stumbled up onto his feet and charged a small electrical current through his arms until he had a surge of electricity in his arms. Then he charged Mercurymon.
Thankfully, his punch connected just as Mercurymon turned to look at him, "THUNDER FIST!"
Mercurymon convulsed and was thrown backwards into an opposing wall, landing just beside Duskmon who was squaring off against Lobomon.
"TaMeR!" Duskmon howled again, gnashing his teeth violently as he wrestled with Lobomon for the swords in his hands. "DoN't InTeRfErE!"
"Look, let's just talk about this, okay! I get it! Tamer's annoying and I don't like him all that much either so let's start with that!" Koji began, still not entirely convinced that this insane plan was going to work. How was he supposed to talk to a digimon who was entirely focused on its rage for Tamer? And how was he going to use that to convince it to switch sides? More importantly, how intense was Duskmon's hatred for Tamer that he was willing to hold the swords by the blades? His grip was so tight that he was practically cutting into himself and drawing blood. His hands hissed as the heat of the blades burnt away the blood as he gripped tighter - yet the digimon was completely indifferent to its own suffering.
Duskmon snarled, splattering spit all over Lobomon's face, "HeLp Me KiLl HiM!"
"Or we could talk about this," Lobomon said, trying not to gag at either the digimon's breath or all the saliva splattered across his face. In fact, he really wanted to do both of those things but couldn't bring himself to do it out of fear that he would only manage to anger the digimon more.
"I'd SoOnEr DiE!" Duskmon howled at the top of his lungs.
"What did he even do?" Lobomon asked, still trying to keep his grip on his swords. Duskmon didn't answer, pulling on Lobomon's swords so that his wrists twisted at an awkward angle. Lobomon winced but tried to fight through the pain to keep his grip on his swords.
"He SeNt Me To My DeAtH!" Duskmon hissed. "I dIeD bEcAuSe Of HiM! ThIs Is My ReVeNgE!"
Lobomon was taken aback, blinking in confusion by Duskmon's statement. In that moment of surprise, Lobomon's grip weakened briefly on his swords and Duskmon was able to pull them away - throwing them into the air and leaping onto Lobomon.
Lobomon threw up his arms to protect himself as Duskmon knocked him to the ground, preparing to get mauled by Duskmon's claws. "OuT oF My WaY!"
Instead, Duskmon rushed past him towards Agunimon who was busy fighting off a silver knight digimon with Kazemon. Lobomon reached out towards them with his hand, hoping to warn them of any possible danger but he could only manage a gasp to warn them of Duskmon's approach. Both digimon turned in time to see Duskmon coming, but neither was ready to try protecting themselves.
Thankfully, they were saved when Ranamon crashed into Duskmon and the two fell to the floor with a grunt.
"Hey! Watch it!" Ranamon began to protest until Lobomon's blades landed beside her. That was when she realized who she was speaking to and her annoyed expression turned to fear. Unfortunately for Ranamon, she'd fallen between Duskmon and Agunimon. And she realized this just as Duskmon grabbed her in his clawed hands.
"OuT oF mY wAy!" Duskmon howled as he threw her aside and continued barreling towards Agunimon. Lobomon pushed himself up on to his feet, trying to ignore the pain of being tackled before charging for his swords. He grabbed them as he dashed past Ranamon and hurried through the fray.
He dodged blasts of ice, water, and electricity as he hurried towards Duskmon - catching up to the digimon just as he was about to tackle Agunimon. He aimed the canon on his wrist towards the digimon and fired a blast of light. "Howling Laser!"
The beam struck Duskmon in the back and sent him tumbling along the floor so that he crashed at the bottom of the stairs. As Lobomon rushed to confront the digimon, he heard Agunimon call out to him, "I take it the talk is going well?"
"It's going great!" Lobomon shouted back, sliding to a stop in front of Duskmon. Just as the digimon was about to get back up, Lobomon lunged forward and dug both of his blades into the digimon's hands - pinning each of Duskmon's hands to the floor. "ENOUGH!"
"DoN't InTeRfErE!" Duskmon snarled, his voice echoing as if three voices were coming out of his mouth.
"Sorry, but no! I need you to talk to me!" Lobomon said in answer to the digimon who gave no reply.
"DiD tAmEr TeLl YoU tO dO tHaT?" Duskmon asked with a fiery stare. "To TaLk?"
Lobomon didn't answer, training his sword on Duskmon as he tried to think of something to say to the digimon. There was an opportunity here since Duskmon actually seemed willing to talk, but Lobomon was still reeling from the revelation earlier of Tamer's role in Duskmon's death.
"If He ToLd YoU, tHeN yOu'Re GoInG tO dIe! LiKe Me!" Duskmon growled. "I dIe! YoU dIe! TaMeR bRiNgS oNlY dEaTh!"
"What exactly did he do?" Lobomon asked Duskmon calmly. "I know you died…but how exactly did that happen? What did Tamer do?"
The question prompted Duskmon to howl angrily, shaking furiously to get his hands free of the swords but Lobomon held firm, doing his best to keep the digimon pinned to the ground. Still, Duskmon continued trying to break free so he pushed the swords harder into the ground to keep Lobomon pinned. "I'll let you go if you answer my question! What exactly did he do?"
Duskmon finally stopped struggling, but only because all of the grotesque eyes on its body shifting to stare at him. It was admittedly quite unsettling to watch, especially with the vacant empty gaze on its face. "FiNd HiM! HaD tO fInD hIm! TaMeR sAiD hE WoUlD cOmE! He WoUlD bE hErE! FiNd HiM!"
With each word he spoke, Duskmon began to struggle harder against the blades and Lobomon could see his hands actually starting to tear as they tried to break free of the blades.
"Find who?" Lobomon asked, trying to keep Duskmon talking. It was admittedly harder to do as Duskmon continued pulling on his hands and Lobomon had to hear the flesh tearing and sizzling against the heat of the blades.
"FiNd HiM!" Duskmon answered. "MUST FIND HIM!"
Finally, Duskmon gave a mighty yell and ripped both of his hands free of the blades that had him pinned to the floor. Lobomon cursed his luck and tried swinging his weapons upon Duskmon. Just before his weapons could make contact, Duskmon let out a loud howl and released a wave of black energy that threw everyone in the room against the walls of the entryway. Thankfully, Lobomon was able to dig his swords back into the floor and anchor himself just a few feet away from Duskmon. Once the black energy dissipated, Lobomon looked up to see Duskmon slowly making his way forward.
"FiNd HiM! FiNd HiM! Be ToGeThEr!" Duskmon said under his breath, growling between words and breathing heavily. "No! CaN't SeE mE lIkE tHiS! No! KiLl TaMeR!"
"Together with who!? A friend? Family? Who are you looking for?" Lobomon demanded, pulling his swords out of the floor and training them on the slowly advancing digimon. In truth, he wasn't sure what good they were going to be against Duskmon since none of them actually had a decent fight record against this guy.
Duskmon stopped to stare at Lobomon again, and all of the eyes on its body focused in on him. No matter how many times that happened, Lobomon still couldn't help but find it very unsettling. Duskmon continued to growl under his breath without answering the question which only continued to unnerve Lobomon. After a long silence, Duskmon finally uttered a single word. "BrOtHeR!"
Lobomon felt a chill run down his spine and he froze in place upon hearing that one word. It couldn't have been. He looked back towards Agunimon who was picking himself up from the floor, mind reeling as he wondered if Tamer knew. So many thoughts and ideas raced through his head that Lobomon couldn't quite rationalize. He didn't want to accept it, but there was no reason it couldn't have been possible. Just as the others started fighting again, Lobomon looked straight ahead towards Duskmon and asked a single question. "Koichi?"
Duskmon froze, locking eyes with the Lobomon. Lobomon prepared himself for the worst, that Duskmon would answer to that name. That he would call Lobomon by his real name. And if that was his brother, Lobomon could only contemplate what Duskmon meant by being sent to his death. When Tamer spoke with his possible brother in the Human World…did Tamer say something that got Koichi killed?
Duskmon shrieked like an animal caught in a deadly trap and Lobomon had to cover his ears to protect them from the high pitch. Had he guessed wrong? Duskmon sank back down to all fours and charged towards Lobomon with his teeth forward. He screeched and howled as he charged forward, "DiE!"
"Crap," Lobomon managed to say as he raised up his swords to block Duskmon, only for Duskmon to tackle him to the ground. Duskmon raised his arms up as two red blades extended out of his palms, shimmering a crimson red color.
"BrUtE sTrIkE!"
Duskmon brought the swords down on Lobomon, but he was able to block them with his swords, locking their weapons against each other. Duskmon hissed and snarled at him from above, pushing the swords down on Lobomon from above. It was all Lobomon could do to keep the swords from piercing him but he couldn't hold back Duskmon's strength forever - especially as the blade inched closer to his armor.
"Stop! Koichi! You don't want to do this!" Lobomon said, still unsure if he was actually speaking to his brother or not. Duskmon hissed and thrashed more violently at the sound of the name. If Duskmon wasn't his brother, then it really hated being called that name. But that was the thing, why would it care if he was calling it Koichi if Duskmon wasn't Koichi. Still he tried again and shouted, "Koichi! It's me, Koji!"
Duskmon stopped trying to drive the swords through Lobomon, leaning back away from his silently. Then it stood up and stepped away from him. Lobomon sat up, keeping his swords ready in case Duskmon went on the attack again. Duskmon's arms slid to his side as he stared at him disbelievingly. "KoJi?"
"It is you, isn't it? Koichi?" Lobomon asked Duskmon, wondering if saying his name was finally what snapped Duskmon out of his rage. He could see a calm sweep across Duskmon's many eyes as the digimon finally stepped backwards, but there was also a deep longing on his eyes now. Lobomon finally got onto his feet, still trying to process the possibility that Duskmon was the brother he'd never met. May questions raced through his mind as he tried to rationalize it - his brother died. But when? Was it when he first came to the Digital World? When they were still in their own world? When had he died and why did it fill him with so much indescribable rage? He reached out a hand towards the digimon, inching slowly as he tried to think of what else to say to the digimon.
"DRAGON THROWER!"
A blast of energy struck Duskmon in the chest and he fell over backwards onto the ground.
"KOICHI!" Lobomon said, turning in the direction of the shot to see Dynasmon standing with his palm facing towards Duskmon.
"You…why would you attack him!? You're on the same side!?" Kazemon gasped in shock.
"Orders," Dynasmon answered quietly. "You needn't concern yourself with why for I faithfully serve!"
Lobomon reeled, looking back towards Duskmon who laid on the ground unmoving. Was Duskmon his brother? He still had no answer to that question. If he was, then Lobomon just had his brother taken from him before he'd ever actually met him. If he wasn't…no, Duskmon had to be Koichi. But then Duskmon was just killed. Lobomon's heartbeat had never felt so loud in his ears. The only thing that seemed louder was the ringing in his ears. And in that moment, Lobomon screamed.
Kumamon and Beetlemon did everything they could to keep Ranamon and Mercurymon away from the door. But all they really were able to do was slow the pair of digimon down.
"THUNDER FIST!" Beetlemon shouted at the top of his lungs, unleashing a blast of electricity that arced through the air towards Ranamon. Before the attack could hit, Mercurymon leapt in front of her and used the mirrors on his body to deflect the attack away towards Kumamon. The little bear digimon just had enough time to leap out of the way of the blast, but not before he threw an icicle at Mercurymon. The icicle hit its mark and Mercurymon toppled backwards, the glass of his mirror chipping from the strike.
"Bullseye!" Kumamon cheered at his hit. But his victory was short lived as they heard a beep, followed by the creaking of the large wooden door.
"It's open!" Ranamon declared. "The door is open!"
As she said that, they all heard Lobomon give out a great big shout that echoed through the entry hall. The entire hall fell silent, as a single bang came from the door.
Author's Notes: Will the digidestined survive whatever awaits them on the other side of the door? Did Duskmon survive being attacked? What about Ophanimon? Find out all this and more in the next chapter of The Tamer v3.0 due out in six weeks on April 14th at 8 PM CDT! Let me know what you guys think in the reviews section. And don't forget to follow the story to keep up with all the latest updates and to favorite to show support! That's all I have for now! This is Leonardo1123581321 signing out!
