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 30: Vita et Mors
"Ugh! I can't stand this!" Neemon complained loudly, stamping his foot in a tantrum.
Bokomon sighed as the little digimon proceeded to pace angrily, producing a juice box from within his belt. He thrust it into Neemon's hands and pushed it up against his mouth, "Calm down! You always get cranky when you're hungry."
Neemon sipped on the juice box but his mood remained sour as he added, "That's not what I meant and you know it! I don't like sitting by like this while the others are in trouble."
"Why are you upset? They left us!" Bokomon pointed out.
"So we'll be the bigger mons if we leave them to die?" Neemon asked.
"They're not digimon and you know it," Bokomon answered.
"You know what I meant. Or maybe you're not as smart as you say you are," Neemon fired back.
Bokomon scoffed at the insinuation, although it was one of Neemon's better insults. Still, he decided to humor Neemon a little longer, "What do you propose we even do? Hurt them with my rapier wit and while you smash them with your hard head? We're not strong digimon! We're not even the strongest digimon here! Yes, I'm counting you Poyomon. We all know you were Seraphimon, but that's past tense. You're a baby level now."
Poyomon grumbled at the remark and turned it's blob of a body up as if it were looking away in frustration. Bokomon pinched the bridge of his nose and sighed in frustration, "Look, I understand you want to help, Neemon. But we have limits! Actual physical limits."
"So you want to sit here and hide?" Neemon asked. "Like we've always done."
"Yes! At least that way we'll survive!" Bokomon replied, frustrated and more than a little scared that he had to even explain this to Neemon. He figured that of any digimon, Neemon wouldn't have needed explaining - he of all digimon should've needed to be told the least why they couldn't just go out and fight. But it seemed like the digimon either had no sense of self-preservation or he just didn't care. And Bokomon wasn't sure which was worse. What did he have to say to the digimon? What did he have to do to make him understand that he was risking his life for nothing?
"All we do is survive. Didn't we go with those kids so that we could help them get back to their world? How are we going to do that from here?" Neemon asked.
Bokomon frowned, "I went with them because I thought there was a chance to go to the Hollow Bastion! The sanctum of knowledge of the Ancients!"
"Well if we go, you can look around at that place when we're done," Neemon countered.
"You mean if we survive! You've heard what the other digimon said! Lady Ophanimon told us to wait here while she went to save them! It's better for us to wait and stay than to die trying to be heroes!" Bokomon reasoned with the digimon, hoping that Neemon would finally understand the suicidal nature of running off to help.
"If I may interject," Sorcermon interrupted the two. "Staying here may not be as safe of an option as you might think. After all, the entirety of Cherubimon's grand army appeared without much difficulty so what is to stop the likes of Lucemon or his chosen champions? Another tear in reality could appear at any moment."
Bokomon hated the timing of pointing this out, especially knowing that Neemon would use that as his cue to run into greater danger. Thinking quickly, Bokomon turned this on Sorcermon with an accusatory, "If it's so dangerous here, then why didn't you go with Lady Ophanimon to rescue the digidestined?"
"Because who would stay here to protect Lady Ophanimon's liquor cabinet?" Sorcermon replied. Bokomon blinked and had to stare at Sorcermon in wide eyed disbelief. That was not the reason Gatomon had given before departing, and they all knew it. Before he could smack the sorcerer with his book, Sorcermon broke out in fits of laughter, wiping tears from his eyes. "I know, I know. It's not what she said but it is what she meant when she said 'try not to make a mess'. She is very protective of her alcohol, as you can tell by the copious amounts she consumes."
"Because that's all she was ever good for!" Terriermon remarked, helping bandage one of the injured children. "I mean, she's the one who promised to help but it feels like all she ever did was help find the bottom of a bottle."
"That's not a fair comparison and you know it," Sorcermon answered calmly. "We all have ways to deal with our stress. Hers is just more…harmful than others."
"That's not what I meant and you know it! The only one of them who ever did anything was Seraphimon!" Terriermon fired back, losing his calm as he got angrier with every word. He only stopped when the child he was bandaging winced in pain, and he quickly apologized for pulling the bandage too tight.
Now it was Renamon's turn to speak and she stepped forward with crossed arms, "What Terriermon means to say is that Gatomon's history hasn't done a lot to aid us. Gatomon seemed more than keen to look the other way when our kind were being killed. So Lopmon took matters into her own hands. She was the one trying to end the senseless slaughter before it got out of hand."
"To say that Ophanimon did nothing would be disingenuous. I would've thought that you would understand this better. She merely took a different, more proactive approach to the problem," Sorcermon answered, still trying his best to remain calm although Bokomon could hear his voice beginning to break under the tension.
"You say it was proactive but if we're just being completely honest, all that really means is that she tried to jump start a prophecy. And we see how that went," Renamon said, gesturing to the many maimed and injured children around her. "How many children did she bring into the human world with one reckless action. And how many of those children do you think are still alive? In the end, all she did was throw more death at a problem she couldn't be bothered to try and solve."
Sorcermon fell silent and made no attempt to justify Ophanimon after that. Perhaps Renamon's words struck a chord with Sorcermon. Or perhaps Sorcermon realized that talking wasn't going to get anywhere with any of Cherubimon's digimon.
"Help! Help!" Poyomon said cheerily, bouncing in Bokomon's arms. "Me want help!"
"I'd advise against that little one," Renamon said calmly. "You're young and have your whole life ahead of you. You shouldn't be so eager to throw it away."
"Sor-mon help!" Poyomon said again, bouncing ecstatically while bobbing his head towards the wizard.
"I don't think that's a good idea," Renamon said quietly, phrasing its words delicately.
"Tel-por!" Poyomon finally managed to say. "Tel-por!"
Realization dawned on Bokomon as he put together what Poyomon was trying to say, "Sorcermon. Could you teleport them back to the Hollow Bastion?"
Terriermon's ears twitched slightly at those words and Sorcermon shifted uncomfortably as multiple eyes were suddenly on him. Sorcermon looked at the many children and digimon present before asking, "All of them?"
"No! Just the ones willing to go! Why would we send children back into that mess?" Bokomon said quickly, trying to dispel Sorcermon of any ridiculous ideas.
Sorcermon hummed for a moment before answering, "I suppose I could in theory. But I've never tried to teleport so many all at once. I'm not even sure if it would work. Some of them might only get halfway. And those that do might not get there in one piece."
"How many of us could you safely teleport?" Terriermon asked earnestly.
Sorcermon put a hand to his chin as he contemplated an answer. "Probably one at a time at most. Any more than that and I have no idea what will happen. You have to understand that I've never tried to teleport so many all at once over such a great distance."
"But you teleported the both of us, plus the digidestined," Neemon finally found his voice.
"Yes, and that was exactly seven over a short distance. Not an army of a great distance," Sorcermon answered plainly.
"But you can do it?" Renamon asked.
"I can try," Sorcermon shrugged.
"Then get us back there," Terriermon said. "Lopmon is by herself. She's strong but she won't last long against whatever that was!"
Sorcermon's tone became more serious as he turned towards the others, "I want you to understand that I've never tried a teleportation over that distance before. I can't guarantee what will and won't happen."
"Is that a threat?" Terriermon barked, baring fangs through his tiny mouth. It would've been intimidating if it weren't for his small stature and puppy like face.
"That was not a threat, it's a reminder. If you don't calm down, I will teleport you ten stories over the entrance to the castle. That is a threat. Try to understand the difference," Sorcermon said calmly, as if he were giving a lecture to a misbehaving child instead of a digimon prepared to outright attack him.
Terriermon didn't take kindly to Sorcermon's condescending attitude and growled, "Are you going to help us or not?"
"Right now I'm leaning towards no since you're all acting so hostile," Sorcermon said. "I really hope this isn't how you ask for help because it makes for a poor attempt."
"Are you guys done? Every second you spend arguing with each other is another second our friends are in trouble," Neemon finally asked the two groups of digimon, ears twitching in a way Bokomon knew meant he was really annoyed. And when he got annoyed like this, Bokomon knew better than to try to dissuade him from whatever thoughts were going through his mind. But there was another reason Bokomon chose not get in Neemon's way like this. When he was truly upset like this, he would have his sudden deep and clear insight that he rarely ever demonstrated. "Honestly, it seems like none of you actually want to go help. If anyone else dies, it'll be because of your constant bickering! Now can we go or not?"
All the digimon stared at each for a moment, although Bokomon couldn't tell if it was because they were reflecting on Neemon's words or if they were getting ready to pounce on each other. The silence between their stares was broken only by the occasional whimper from one of the injured children. Eventually, Poyomon began bouncing in Bokomon's arms ecstatically to cheer, "Help! Help! Go! Help!"
Poyomon's happy bouncing finally made Sorcermon sigh, "Okay. We'll go help. But I'm only going to attempt this with one of you. Anymore and who knows what will happen."
"I'll go first," Terriermon said quickly.
"No, I'll go," Renamon said, stepping in between the two digimon. "I'm faster. I've always been faster. If I go, I can hurry towards aiding Lopmon."
"Are you sure?" Terriermon asked. "This could be a trap."
"No trap. If it works, I'll come right back and take the rest of you. One at a time," Sorcermon answered plainly, offering his hand towards Renamon. "We'll leave as soon as you're ready."
Renamon took his hand, yanking Sorcermon close and whispering something Bokomon couldn't quite hear. Sorcermon whispered something back, and Renamon made something like a scoff. Sorcermon snapped his fingers and the two digimon disappeared in a flash.
"What do you think they said to each other?" Bokomon asked, scratching his head in surprise.
"You don't want to know," Terriermon and Neemon said in unison. The two glanced at each other in surprise, before gesturing at each other's ears and nodding. Of course, not knowing only made Bokomon want to know more and there were few things he disliked more than not knowing.
After a moment's silence, Sorcermon reappeared back in the center of the hall and sank to his knees. He coughed for a second, taking a moment to collect himself before pushing himself back up to a stand, "That really took a lot out of me. Okay, who's next?"
Everyone watched in shock as Lucemon floated gracefully into the entry way of the Hollow Bastion. The radiant light emanating from his body illuminated the room, outshining even the ceiling lights. If it wasn't for the visor over her face, Kazemon was sure she wouldn't even be able to see the angel digimon - or the injured Gatomon he was held in front of him as a warning.
Ranamon, Mercurymon, and Dynasmon lowered their heads upon his entrance - not out of respect or admiration but fear. It was plain on their faces that they were all afraid to be the one who angered Lucemon. He smiled at everyone in the room, "Finally, a room where I'm not exalted as some kind of god for walking in. You had your chance digidestined but I think it's time that we-"
He paused when he noticed Duskmon laying on the floor with Lobomon kneeling over him. The angel's expression soured, twisting into anger which he directed towards Dynasmon, "Why are those two together?"
"I did as you asked and eliminated him," Dynasmon answered sheepishly.
Lucemon laughed manically, covering his face with his hand. "Did you now? Then why is his body still down there? If he were eliminated, I would expect there to be no body."
Dynasmon stumbled over his words as he tried to offer up his excuses, "I was distracted by the digidestined! I will take care of it now."
"No, you've proven yourself inept too many times. I'll just deal with it myself," Lucemon interrupted, pausing to look at the injured cat in his hand. "But first I need to take care of this pest."
He threw Gatomon up into the air and clasped his hands together, creating ten spheres of light that arranged themselves into a cruciform. Kazemon acted purely on instinct, launching herself into the air to catch Gatomon just as Lucemon began his attack.
"Grand Cross."
It was a race between herself and literal light - one she couldn't hope to win. But Kazemon couldn't do nothing while Gatomon was in danger. Not after the digimon threw herself in harm's way to help them escape, even if it was only for a little while. She reached out her hand to protect Gatomon when the ten balls of light struck the cat digimon - each one ripping through her like stones through paper.
Kazemon didn't even have time to fully close her hand around Gatomon as the digimon turned to data before her eyes. Kazemon's hand tried to catch some of the data, but there was nothing to hold - nothing to grasp. She turned her attention back towards Lucemon - his smile even wider than last time as he cackled and laughed mockingly.
"Don't tell me you actually thought you could do it? Save Gatomon?" Lucemon asked once he finally stopped laughing long enough to get some words out. He started laughing again. "Let me make this clear so that there's confusion. You are not fast enough and you never will be."
"Oh yeah? I'd like to see you laugh about it to my face!" Beetlemon shouted defiantly at the angle. He'd barely finished speaking when Lucemon was suddenly in front of him, so close that his nose was nearly touching Beetlemon's helmet.
"Ha! Ha! Ha!" Lucemon said with all seriousness, daring Beetlemon to follow up with his threat.
Perhaps now realizing just how outclassed they were, or perhaps having a new understanding of how unprepared he was for this fight, Beetlemon quickly backtracked his earlier challenge. "There see? Now we can laugh about it together."
Lucemon stared at him curiously, and Kazemon mentally prepared herself to watch another person die. She figured if anyone's brash behavior would get them killed, it'd be Tomoki acting violently or Tamer doing something completely unexpected. Not JP. And she couldn't figure out why he'd done it - he'd made it clear more than once that he didn't actually want to be here. So why? What did he have to get out of it.
"I like you. You made me laugh and that's not been an easy thing to do for a lot of digimon for a long time," Lucemon finally said, floating away from Beetlemon. Beetlemon sank to his knees, shaking at his brush with death.
Lucemon floated slowly towards Duskmon, raising his arms up in preparation for an attack. Lobomon was quick to react, circling behind the angel and holding his sword to Lucemon's throat. "Do anything to him and I will end you!"
Lucemon looked over his shoulder to stare back at the wolf digidestined and smirked, "Oh? And what makes you think you think that you specifically can do anything to hurt me?"
"I've got a blade to your neck!" Lobomon answered, pulling the edge of his sword closer to Lucemon's neck. Lucemon gave no reaction beyond laughing mockingly and pressing his neck against the blade to cut himself.
"What're you doing!?" Lobomon said in surprise, watching as Lucemon slid his neck up and down the blade without drawing a single drop of blood.
"Making a point," Lucemon said, spinning around so quickly that he backhanded Lobomon backwards into the door so hard that it came off its hinges.
"Lobomon!" Kazemon managed to gasp out in surprise as she watched the wolf fall forwards onto the floor, as what remained of the wooden door collapsed on top of him. She tried to hurry to aid Lobomon when she heard Lucemon's voice from behind her.
"Allow me to bring you closer together," Lucemon said at just above a whisper. A sharp blow struck Kazemon square in the back and she was sent crashing straight into the door on top of Lobomon. She tried to scream in pain but the force of the strike knocked all the air out of her, and crashing into the wooden door on top of Lobomon didn't help. Her ears rung and the world around her spun violently as she tried to regain her senses but everything was just an unbearable mess in the moment.
She cold vaguely make out shouting from the others but it was all distorted through the immense pain she was feeling. There were several loud bangs around her too, but she felt the vibrations through her more than she heard the noise. And truth be told, she was in so much pain that she couldn't properly focus on what was going on around her.
Seeing Kazemon sent crashing into the floor with a slap to the back finally snapped Beetlemon out of his stupor. He was terrified Lucemon, alarmed that such a small digimon had enough power to so casually end Cherubimon. But there was more to it than that. Something about Lucemon made the air feel that much heavier, filling him with so much dread that Beetlemon felt himself become frozen in fear of even the prospect of having to face him in a fight.
But now that spell was broken and Beetlemon felt only anger and rage. He ran until he was directly underneath Lucemon and shouted with a single loud voice, "LIGHTNING BLITZ!"
Lightning arced down through the ceiling towards Beetlemon's horn - passing through Lucemon on its way down. The angel convulsed for a moment and then froze, his body smoking slightly from the sudden unwanted blast of electricity. But then he looked up at the digimon who dared who attack him and a wicked smile dawned on his face. "I didn't think you had it in you!"
"LIGHTNING BLITZ! LIGHTNING BLITZ! LIGHTNING BLITZ! LIGHTNING BLITZ!"
Beetlemon shouted again and again, getting angrier and angrier as every lightning bolt passed through Lucemon on its way to Beetlemon's horn. With every blast, Lucemon would stop and convulse for a moment before continuing downward. But that didn't stop Beetlemon from repeating the phrase over and over again. Every time, he became a little bit angrier and a little bit louder until he was screaming his throat hoarse in rage at the angel digimon.
He was about to repeat the phrase one more time when Lucemon finally closed the gap between them. Beetlemon tried to throw a punch in defense but he felt a sharp blow knock the wind out of him. He sank to his knees as Lucemon mocked him, "I just want you to know I held back my punch because I wanted to make a point."
He flicked Beetlemon's horn and that sent him sliding backwards into the stairs so hard that he managed to roll up a few steps before coming to a stop. Beetlemon's head ached as he gasped for breath, trying to focus his vision on Lucemon who hovered in place in the air. "Have we learned how useless we are? Or does the point need to be made again?"
Beetlemon stared. Sure, Lucemon's body was smoking. But all his attacks did nothing to the angel. In fact, perhaps to mock his efforts, Lucemon began brushing some dirt off his shoulders as if to say all Beetlemon managed to do was dirty him a little. But whatever anger and rage he felt towards the angel was now overshadowed by the overwhelming display of might. Even after throwing everything he had at Lucemon, he'd only managed to slightly annoy the digimon. He wanted to slide evolve to MetalKabuterimon. To bring the full force of his might to bear against the rogue angel digimon. But he was simply too exhausted to do it. He just lay there, watching as Lucemon turned his attention towards Kumamon.
Seeing that he was in trouble, Kumamon used his ice powers to create a dome of ice around him. Then the dome began expanding outwards, perhaps in an attempt to make it as thick and hard as possible to keep Lucemon out. But that did nothing to deter the angel who lightly tapped on the ice with his knuckles like he were knocking on a door.
The ice shattered like glass - flying in every direction as Korikakumon leapt forward wielding both of his axes. It seemed he'd only used the ice to buy time to slide evolve
He swung wildly at Lucemon, taking every opportunity he could to strike at the angel but never able to properly connect a blow or a strike against the angel digimon. And through the whole attack, Lucemon just laughed at Korikakumon's efforts. When the angel finally stopped trying to dodge the attacks, it was because he caught both of Korikakumon's axes between his fingers. Korikakumon mouth fell open, stunned at the ease which Lucemon could stop him dead in his tracks. Then Lucemon flipped the beast digimon over his head and slammed him into the floor with such force that it cracked the tiling and made a small dent.
Korikakumon had no time to scream or yelp in surprise at the impact, as he hit with such force that the whole room shook and small bits of loose dust fell from the ceiling.
And this left Agunimon as the only one of them still standing. Agunimon positioned himself between Duskmon and Lucemon, seemingly preparing to defend the fallen Dark Warrior against the angel digimon.
"Digimon Tamer," Lucemon said, greeting him with the same tone one uses for an old friend.
"Lucemon," Tamer replied quietly.
"I would've preferred if we'd met on the battlefield. Like soldiers. We could've settled this a long time ago," Lucemon said, his voice remaining as calm and polite as ever. He folded his hands behind him patiently.
"I can't say I feel the same but I understand the sentiment. It's too bad that we find ourselves here," Agunimon replied quietly, raising up his fists in preparation for a fight. But Lucemon appeared content to talk things out a little longer - a stark contrast to the way he so effortlessly assaulted the rest of them.
"Indeed. How long has it been since we last saw each other?" Lucemon asked with a smile.
"A little over a hundred thousand years," Agunimon answered curtly.
Lucemon closed his eyes, his expression practically serene when compared to how effortlessly he'd wiped the floor with all of them just moments ago. He nodded along with Tamer's words before finally answering, "That explains the new face of yours. Your people were always so long lived. Then again, they weren't ever really your people were they? Not with how they treated you. But you still fight for their cause even after all this time."
"It's better than your cause," Agunimon replied.
"What? I should lie down and die because some prophecy says I should? You seem perfectly content to ignore your part in that prophecy," Lucemon said. "And what? These children should fight in another world far from home because a prophecy says so? Did you even give them a choice in the matter?"
"He did," Korikakumon growled, trying to crawl his way out of the hole in the floor that he'd crashed into. "When your…guys sent us back to our world…he gave us a choice to stay…we chose to come back."
Lucemon scoffed at the sight of the digimon, "I'm sure he made you think you had a choice. Let me ask, did he give that choice before or after you'd been in this world long enough to get invested in its affairs?"
"You're trying to destroy our world!" Kazemon added as she rolled off of Lobomon.
"Oh right. I guess he told you about that part," Lucemon nodded understandingly. "Then again, you'd do anything to avoid your fate too, wouldn't you? Allow me to demonstrate. Right now, I'm going to kill you."
He was on Korikakumon before anyone had time to react, and he lifted the digimon up by the horns on his head. Agunimon rushed forward to help but stopped when Mercurymon and Ranamon grabbed a hold of his arms, securing him in place. "Let me go! Korikakumon!"
"I'll get back to you in a minute," Lucemon taunted, turning his attention to Korikakumon.
With a wave of his hands, the ten balls of lights appeared behind Lucemon as he held Korikakumon up, "I'm going to unleash my Grand Cross in about ten seconds. You can live but all you have to do is get out of the way. But the moment you do, my Grand Cross will hit your friends over there instead - the fairy and the wolf thing. And they won't survive. So…will you act to save yourself? Or will you let your friends die instead?"
"You're sick," Korikakumon managed to say, struggling with every word he spoke.
Lucemon laughed at the remark, "I'm sick? This is the same exact position I've been in for the last hundred thousand years! I know the choice I made, and you all stand in judgement of me. But will you be able to make a different choice? Can you make a different choice under the same circumstances?"
"Korikakumon! D-" Agunimon tried calling out to the white beast, but his mouth was covered by Mercurymon before he could finish. With a push, they managed to get Agunimon down onto his knees as Lucemon continued charging his attack.
Beetlemon tried to push himself up, hoping a well placed attack would free Lucemon but then he felt something press on his head and push him back down. He adjusted his head to see Dynasmon standing over him with narrowed eyes. "Don't worry, your time will come."
Beetlemon struggled under the weight of Dynasmon's foot but he felt like his head was going to be split open. He could already hear the armor cracking as it buckled under Dynasmon's weight. It was all Beetlemon could do to shout at Korikakumon, Kazemon, and Lobomon to run. But the words were lost under the weight of Dynasmon's leg.
Kazemon finally managed to get back up on to her knees, but the pain was so intense that she could barely do more than that. She could also see the look of fear on Korikakumon's eyes - the tears streaming down his face as Lucemon readied his attack. But she also noticed Lucemon's hand loosening. If Korikakumon wanted to, he could break free and flee for his life. But he made no effort to try, unwilling to sacrifice Kazemon and Lobomon to save himself.
But Kazemon couldn't bring herself to watch another digimon die. She took in a deep breath of air and said, "Korikakumon! Save yourself!"
"Don't…make my decision…for me," Lobomon said from behind her, trying to crawl out from under the weight of the massive wooden door. Neither she nor Lobomon were in any condition to try getting out of the way if Korikakumon were to save himself. It reminded her that she wasn't the only one on the line - if Korikakumon survived, it would only because someone else was going to die. And would she be okay with that?
She looked back at the white beast, and saw the pleading look of horror in his eyes. She could see his mind racing as the pressure of the situation got to him.
"I-" Korikakumon began, only to stop as he fell. She couldn't tell if it was because he'd slipped out Lucemon's grip or if it was because Lucemon let him go. Either way, he was now out of the way of Lucemon's attack - putting herself and Lobomon in harm's way.
"GRAND CROSS!"
The ten balls of light rocketed towards them. Kazemon instinctively through herself in front of Lobomon and closed her eyes - she was okay with this. She didn't mind if she died, as long as no one else did. She didn't want any more death on her account. At least this way, she'd be saving one more person - and that was more than enough for her right now. She could feel the heat of the spheres of light as they came closer, her skin burning slightly as they were about to strike her.
She was ready for this.
She wasn't ready to feel herself pulled by the waist to the side and she yelped in surprise. Lobomon also shouted, cursing wildly. Kazemon's eyes darted open to see herself in the arms of an armored yellow fox, who slid to a stop at the foot of the stairs along side Beetlemon. It took her a moment to recognize the fox digimon - she had been one of the guards of Cherubimon's army. Tucked under her other arm was Lobomon, whom she dropped at the foot of the stairs along side Beetlemon. "It's you!"
"Yes! Where's Lopmon?" she asked, slowly helping Kazemon come to a stand.
Kazemon wasn't sure how to answer, quietly turning her head towards Lucemon. The angel digimon had an almost amused smile on his face as he put a hand to his chin, "Now this is interesting. You're not supposed to be here. Digimon Tamer, would you like to comment on this?"
Agunimon did answer something but it was muffled by Mercurymon's hand. Lucemon rolled his eyes and pointed a finger at the fox, "You…who are you?"
"Renamon. Who are you and where is Lopmon!?" the yellow fox answered
"I am Lucemon. And as for Lopmon? Don't worry, I'll send you to her soon," Lucemon answered, darting towards the fox digimon. He slammed into the ground where Renamon stood a moment ago, but Renamon had sidestepped the attack and crossed her arms. Both movements were so fast that Kazemon couldn't even track it with her eyes.
"If you can hit me," Renamon remarked.
"I've got time," Lucemon answered, spinning in place to strike Renamon with the back of his hand but the yellow fox managed to side step that attack as well. Seeing that Renamon dodged him not once but twice, Lucemon began to cackle and laugh more childishly. "Oh, it's been a while since I've fought someone who could actually avoid my attacks. I hope you can keep this up. I could really use the entertainment."
And so their dance began, with Lucemon swinging wildly after Renamon as she sidestepped and dodged. At least, the parts that Kazemon could see. In truth, the fight was moving so quickly that Kazemon could barely follow it with her eyes. But her attention was pulled back to Beetlemon who coughed and gasped for air as Dynasmon continued to step down upon his head. He was under such intense pain that it seemed almost cruel to watch him be treated that way.
That was when the pink knight digimon appeared. The one who killed the elder Floramon back in the village and framed Kazemon for murder. It approached Dynasmon and asked, "Dynasmon. What are we doing?"
"Defying destiny," Dynasmon said triumphantly.
"Is that what's happening?" Crusadermon asked. "Or are we fulfilling it?"
"What do you mean?" Dynasmon asked.
Crusadermon gestured around her, "Are you not seeing what I am? Whenever destiny goes wildly off course and reality starts to fall apart, there are cracks! I don't see any cracks! Are we defying destiny or fulfilling it?"
"I'm sure it's all a part of Lucemon's plan," Dynasmon said.
"That's what worries me most. That this is all a part of the plan," Crusadermon said quietly. "And if that's the case…forgive me."
Before Dynasmon could ask what she was doing, Crusader drew a sword and sent it through the silver digimon's chest. The digimon gurgled and coughed up blood, clutching at the wound to staunch the flow but still falling over backwards in pain. As Dynasmon sank to his knees, another crack in reality appeared between her and Dynasmon - preventing her from making it any further strike against him.
"I knew it," she said.
"BUNNY BLAST!"
"GRENADE DESTROYER!"
A stream of green bubbles and rockets flew through the door and blew away Mercurymon and Ranamon - sending them careening back into the walls and freeing Agunimon. He stood himself up and massaged his wrists, "I know those voices."
Through the remains of the castle door charged Terriermon and Guardromon - more members of Lopmon's army. They stopped just after the entrance to survey the entry way in front of them. There was no doubt that they were just as lost and confused by what they were seeing. "What the hell happened here?"
"It's a long story. Get the others out of here!" Agunimon said.
"Nuts to that! Where's Lopmon? We came to help her!" Terriermon snapped back.
"She's gone. So is Gatomon. Now we need to get out of here! We don't stand a chance against Lucemon!" Agunimon answered, gesturing towards the angel digimon who still relentlessly pursued after Renamon. Every attack was a miss, but the damage it was doing to the room was clear - holes were blown through walls, craters were made into the floor, and dust was shaken loose with every impact.
"No way! If she stopped Lucemon then we-" Terriermon began to say only to be stopped by Agunimon.
"LISTEN TO ME! Do you remember the D-Reaper? The thing that you guys had so much trouble with? Well Lucemon is the only digimon in existence who could fight it to a stand still! He's the reason why it spent so much time buried under the Digital World! So if you want to have any hope of seeing living to fight another day, we need to go now!" Agunimon said.
Kazemon was surprised to see Tamer bring up the D-Reaper again and looked back at Lucemon. It wasn't hard to register the surprise on the little digimon eyes before he hurried over to Kazemon and Lobomon. "Guardromon! Get these two! I'll get the beetleborg!"
"Beetleborg?" Beetlemon repeated in confusion.
"Some dumb show my human watched. Now come on," Terriermon said, displaying an alarming amount of strength by slinging Beetlemon over his shoulder and dragging him back towards the entrance.
"Who knew…right?" Kazemon said, turning towards Lobomon in complete shock but he was reaching out towards Duskmon.
"No! Duskmon! Get Duskmon!" Lobomon coughed out.
"I've got him," Crusadermon said, dashing towards the fallen warrior of darkness and slumping him over her shoulder.
"And I've got Korikakumon!" Agunimon said, helping to carry the big guy over his own shoulders. He'd barely made it a few steps when Korikakumon vanished in a flash of light and turned back into Tomoki. Agunimon adjusted the little boy so that he was cradled in his arms and led the way towards the castle entrance. "This way! We've got to get out of here!"
"But what about Renamon?" Terriermon asked, still dragging Beetlemon behind him.
"She's doing fine!" Agunimon said. Behind them they could see the cracks in reality getting larger as Renamon continued to dodge around Lucemon's many strikes. All the while, the boy angel cackled and laughed maniacally.
"This is fun! Amazing! It's been so long since I fought something that could avoid being hit!" Lucemon said, growing more and more confident with every strike. Renamon was still staying ahead of the strikes although Kazemon couldn't say for how much longer. The fox digimon was obviously getting tired and the blows were getting closer with each dodge.
"How did you guys even get here so fast?" Agunimon asked just as they made their out into the courtyard.
"Sorcermon teleported us," Terriermon said, just as the white wizard digimon appeared in front of them. The wizard was on all fours, gasping desperately for breath beside another digimon. This one was a small purple dinosaur with wing like appendages growing out of its arms.
"Monodramon!" Terriermon said excitedly as he caught up to the little purple dinosaur.
"You guys are alright! Who are they?" the purple dinosaur said excitedly, gesturing to the digidestined behind them.
"Okay…that's…the last one I can do for a minute. Teleporting over this large a distance is not good for me," Sorcermon said, gasping for breath. He didn't get much time for reprieve as Agunimon lifted him up.
"Sorcermon! You need to get as many digimon out of here as possible!"
"What? Why?" Sorcermon gasped out, trying to catch his breath. His answer came in the form of a blast from behind them, followed by the ground beneath their feet. Everyone looked around behind them to see Lucemon floating their way with Renamon in his hands. He cast her to the ground as if he hadn't spent the last few minutes playing a high speed game of tag against her.
"Well that was a nice distraction. Now for you," Lucemon said, clapping his hands together to get the dust off. He turned his attention towards them. But the sight of Renamon sent Terriermon into a rage.
"RENAMON! NO! BUNNY BLAST!"
Terriermon blasted another stream of bubbles at Lucemon, who stood there watching in bemusement as every bubble burst on his surface. "Heh. That tickles."
"We have to go! Now!" Agunimon said, urging Sorcermon to teleport them now. Sorcermon shot him a confused look before he saw the angel approaching him. Then he cursed.
"I can't. I've never moved this many people before!" Sorcermon protested.
"You have to!" Agunimon countered.
"Use your digivice!" Sorcermon spat back.
"I can't control where we'll land!" Agunimon said. "You need to teleport us!"
"I…I'll try," Sorcermon said, holding out his hand. He closed his eyes and snapped his fingers. In that instant, Kazemon felt herself start falling again.
They crashed onto the hard floor of Gatomon's Castle. Kazemon hated falling but she was glad to be out of harm's way for once. But the sound of groans and whimpering around her meant the others were at least alive. At least that was what she thought, until she rolled over to see Agunimon kneeling over Sorcermon's upper half.
"You did good Sorcermon. You got us all out of there," Agunimon answered.
"Not all of us," Terriermon growled, hurrying back towards Agunimon. "Why did you do that!? I could've saved Renamon!"
"You would've gotten yourself killed! You would've gotten all of us killed!" Agunimon said at just above a whisper. "We did what we could. Thank you for coming in to save us but there really wasn't anything else we could do."
"I tried," Sorcermon said weakly. "There were too many of you. The distance was too far. I'm sorry."
"Sorry doesn't bring Renamon back!" Terriermon snapped.
"I know," was all Sorcermon managed to say before he too burst into an explosion of data. Agunimon kneeled there, staring down at where Sorcermon has been for the longest time. But she could see the rage plainly on his eyes - a fire burning deep inside. Kazemon prepared herself for the real possibility that the D-Reaper may make another appearance.
But instead Agunimon took a deep breath and stood back up. "Is everyone okay?"
"I'm fine," Beetlemon remarked.
"My head is still spinning," Tomoki added.
"I'm fine too. Where's Duskmon?" Lobomon asked, turning his head to see the unconscious dark digimon. He reached out his hand to the unconscious digimon who stirred slightly at the sound of his name.
"What happened to Sorcermon?" Kazemon finally asked.
"He burnt himself out teleporting that many of us all at once. It's a miracle no one else was hurt," Agunimon said quietly. He folded his hands and bowed his head in a moment of solemn respect for the fallen digimon.
"Hello everyone."
Kazemon turned her head to see Bokomon and Neemon standing before a large group of injured human children and digimon. A small white blob bounced happily in Bokomon's arms so excitedly that Kazemon thought he was going to drop it. Neemon waved, "It's good to see you."
Author's Notes: Ophanimon and Sorcermon have fallen! Renamon may be as well! Will the digidestined be able to move past the losses? Will Cherubimon's forces be willing to accept their apology? And is Lucemon still after the digidestined? Find out all this and more in the next chapter of The Tamer v3.0 due out in six weeks on May 26th 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!
