Ok, second time's the charm!
Yeah, this is the second time I'm doing the final edits of the chapter, you know, the cleaning up part.
Yeah, FF thought it would be a good idea to log me out right as I'm doing this shit, so now I have to do it twice, at least I don't have to write the whole chapter again like what would happen in my early days.
Oh well, hopefully it goes well this time.
Pursuit! Hurry to Remnant!
An ominous castle loomed before them, dark, foreboding...and honestly looking every bit like something out of a horror movie.
"...okay, he's REALLY milking the Dracula vibe…" Gyro deadpanned at the sight before them, before shaking his head.
"So, what's the plan?" Blake asked as they were hidden in the edge of the trees.
"We'll need to find a way to sneak inside, best to avoid raising any potential alarms and get the drop on them instead." Gyro explained, holding his chin in thought.
"I really hate that we have to do this." Weiss sighed.
"Except we don't have a choice." Ren said simply.
(Flashback start)
"Would you like to hear the good news or the bad news first?" Gennai asked.
"Honestly...give us both at the same time," Weiss sighed.
"Oh?" Gennai mused.
"We're gonna need to hear all of it, so why not just give it straight," she clarified, the others nodding as well.
"Alright then," Gennai nodded. "Put simply, there is a way for you all to return to your world, a gateway that can send you back to Remnant. However, it's located in Myotismon's castle," he said. "Not just that, Myotismon plans to use this gate to leave the Digital World himself, and bring his army to your world."
"Wait… what's he planning?" Ruby asked, feeling she wouldn't like the answer.
"From what we've been able to gather? An invasion. He plans to take over your world and rule over it." Gennai said grimly.
"That's… REALLY bad." Jaune said nervously.
"We have to stop him." Pyrrha said seriously.
"Looks like we're going to save Remnant a bit earlier than expected then." Pierce couldn't help but say.
"We're all in agreement then?" Gyro asked, receiving nods all around "Alright, time to head home."
(Flashback end)
Scanning around, it was at that point they noticed an entrance that was guarded...but for some reason had a banner on it. Using his goggles, Gyro zoomed in...and sweat dropped at what he was reading. "New Recruits Accepted. Join Myotismon's army for fame, glory, and three square meals a day," he read, his voice conveying his incredulity perfectly.
"...they seriously put that on an advertisement?" was Gomamon's deadpan question.
"That's really just inviting someone to take advantage of…" Salamon said dryly.
"Oh it gets better," Gyro stifled a laugh.
"How so?" Palmon asked.
"I'm seeing mainly Numemon coming for the applications," Gyro said, his tone perfectly flat despite clearly holding back laughter.
All of them had to try to hold back their laughter at that, knowing that if Numemon were showing up, whoever set this up was scraping the bottom of the barrel. "50 Lien says its DemiDevimon who had this 'brilliant' idea, one we're about to exploit the hell out of," Pierce smirked.
"No deal," everyone else said in amusement.
"Though...how are we planning on using this without being recognized?" Patamon asked.
"By abusing two things. Their stupidity, and one of the oddest parts of the Digital World," Pierce smirked.
"If this was anywhere else, I'd call this a horrible idea. But here? This could actually work," Gyro chuckled as their little 'infiltrators' got in without any issue.
Inside the castle, a bunch of Numemon, Vegiemon, along with a Sukamon and Chuumon were lining up, eager to join the army for fame, glory, and three square meals a day...but mostly the three square meals.
Before them was DemiDevimon who looked...less than confident in the new recruits. "They all look like useless bums…" he sighed to himself. He was on thin ice as it was, so the fact that his attempt to recruit more followers for Myotismon had netted these guys...yeah…
"Nothing to worry about!" came a new masculine voice from behind him, causing him to turn around and see a new Digimon coming down the stairs… and the sight did not inspire that much confidence in him, as the Digimon was mainly round with short, stubby, but muscular, arms and legs. He lacked a torso, as his body was just a head with limbs, and he had the face of an old man, sporting a beard, and with a head of balding hair, the last notable thing he was wearing being a pair of sunglasses. "I'll whip them into shape!" he said once he got down the stairs.
"I'm counting on you, coach Nanimon," DemiDevimon said. "Only someone with years of military experience like you is fit for this job," he said, before flying away.
"Leave it to me!" Nanimon nodded.
Digimon Analyzer: Nanimon
Nanimon. Virus Type. An Adult Level Invader Digimon. Not much is known about this Digimon, other than it comes from another world, in which others referred to it as 'Old Man' all the time. He rather acts the part as well, being very much like the annoying uncle you want to avoid at family parties. His special attack is… Poop Dunk… that's it, I'm done, call me when we get a non poop throwing Digimon.
"Now then, time to whip you lot into shape!" Nanimon started.
"Hey, this where the tryouts are?" came a new voice.
"Who's there?" Nanimon asked.
"We wanted to see if we could join," came another voice as the figures stepped into view.
"The name's PunkAgumon," the first introduced. It was Agumon...wearing a puffy wig, and a cloth around his neck like what cowboys in a western movie would use.
"I'm ReggaePalmon, yay!" the second said. It was Palmon...wearing some beads around her neck, with a Bob Marley style hairdo made with...stuff…
"And you can call me, ThugGatomon," the third smirked. It was Gatomon...wearing a cap and sunglasses, giving her the image of the internet meme of 'Thug Life', while on her tail her Holy Ring had been removed, which would allow her to maintain the form for prolonged time.
Nanimon looked at them, before turning to the rest of the recruits, then back again. "...these guys might be better than the rest of these dorks…" he muttered. "Okay! Come on over!"
"Right on!" the three cheered.
And somewhere in the background, Gyro had tapped his mouth shut as he was at risk of laughing his ass off due to observing the scene with his goggles. For once a paper thin disguise was actually a viable disguise.
Meanwhile, deeper in the castle, Myotismon was sitting in a library illuminated by candlelight.
Silently, he turned the pages of a book, looking for something in it, until he rose an eyebrow "Is this…?"
He scrutinized the page, before nodding to himself "Yes, just what I needed." However, at that moment, a knock on the door was heard. "Enter," he said without looking up from the book. The door opened, revealing DemiDevimon.
"Reporting in, Lord Myotismon," DemiDevimon said. "Potential soldiers are streaming in from everywhere."
"Will they be useful?" Myotismon asked immediately. Quantity was well and good, but without quality it was pointless, especially against the Chosen Children. His one battle against them told him enough of them to know they would only become stronger.
DemiDevimon gulped a little at that. "P-probably, my lord."
At that moment, a giggling laughter echoed through the room. "In other words, they're hopelessly useless and will never amount to anything beyond cannon fodder," came a new feminine voice.
"Who's there?!" DemiDevimon shouted.
The speaker came in through the door that DemiDevimon had left open, and her appearance was of the rare Digimon that could pass for a human, with blonde hair that reached her chin and blue eyes, and a rather… developed feminine figure. She wore a tight red dress, a few zippers part of the design, with detached sleeves covering her arms all the way to her hands, with her fingers looking more like large claws. She wore a black cape on her shoulders, and a classical red witch's hat on her head, holding a broom in one of her hands.
"Oh how far you've fallen, DemiDevimon. If you seriously think those hicks could possibly be of any use to Lord Myotismon beyond meat shields then the holder of Love must have punched you harder than I thought," she laughed.
"Nobody asked you, Witchmon!" DemiDevimon growled.
Digimon Analyzer: Witchmon
Witchmon. Data Type. An Adult Level Demon Man Digimon. A powerful sorceress, she has mastery over wind and water, being able to cause storms with ease to help cover her more grand spells. She is cruel, and is well known to torture her enemies, and treat those she sees as beneath her like dirt. Her special attack is Baluluna Gale, creating a sharp wind to strike at her opponents.
"What's this? Is the wittle batty boo angwy? Careful, or you might hurt yourself," Witchmon chuckled, not the least bit concerned with DemiDevimon.
"Enough!" Myotismon boomed, wanting to end the argument before it began. "I sent you to gather troops as well, Witchmon. How did it go?"
"Splendidly, my lord. I found many valiant Mon who are willing to fight in your name, and I can guarantee they're not just here to mooch off of our food supplies," she added the last bit while giving DemiDevimon a snide look, much to the imp's ire.
Myotismon actually smirked at that. "Then I look forward to seeing what they can do. But until then, ready the troops. The time is soon approaching," Myotismon said. At that moment, a Bakemon phased through a nearby bookshelf.
"Lord Myotismon, sorry to intrude, but the stone room is ready for your inspection," the Bakemon reported.
"Splendid," Myotismon smirked, before turning to DemiDevimon and Witchmon. "You two can go."
"Sir!" the two of them nodded before turning to leave. Once they were gone, he went to fiddle with an apparatus, putting it into the combination required to open a passageway behind the bookshelf.
Silently, Myotismon descended down the long staircase, the Bakemon keeping a respectable distance behind him.
Eventually, they reached the end of the stairs, entering a large chamber where several Bakemon were polishing different parts of it, before the moved to the edges of the room when they noticed Myotismon. Myotismon went up and inspected a platform/pedestal of some kind with 9 spots on it and ahead of it was a massive stone doorway.
"Pardon me, my lord," one of the Bakemon started. "But what is this door?"
"This is the door of dimensions. With it we will invade the human world and take it over!" he declared, before pulling out what appeared to be cards from his cloak. "I've studied these cards well, and I've figured out the combination required to open the correct doorway. We will depart soon," he ordered.
"Understood, my lord," the Bakemon nodded, before phasing through another wall.
Back at the training area, the various new recruits were worn out, having performed...rather poorly earlier, to the point Nanimon had punished them with no dinner for the night, much to the dismay of the various Numemon who had flat out let spill that they were only in it for the part about the food.
As it was now, Nanimon was getting his shoulders massaged by a couple of Vegiemon, while the Numemon were in a pile. The only ones not looking completely worn out were Agumon, Palmon, and Gatomon, all of them silently thanking the times they'd either joined in or been roped in to a training session with their partners every now and then in the last couple of months. It made it possible for them to endure Nanimon's attempts to 'whip them into shape'. However…
"At this rate we won't have an opening to sneak everyone in…"Agumon frowned.
"And we can't exactly fight him either…" Gatomon frowned. Doing that would no doubt raise the alarms.
"But we can't play along like this forever either…" Palmon frowned.
"You guys trying to do something crazy?" One of the Numemon whispered to them.
"Something like that, but we can't do it with Nanimon around." Agumon said, not wanting to give too much away considering this Numemon was joining Myotismon, even if it was for the food.
"Leave it to us then, that jerk is gonna learn what happens when you deny a Numemon food." the Numemon growled.
"You evolve into another kind of Numemon?" Gatomon said with a raised eyebrow.
"Well that yes, but you also piss them off!" the Numemon whisper shouted, before clearing his throat "Anyway, we've heard about how he has a weakness to alcoholic drinks, so I'll slip off into the kitchen to grab some, he won't notice me missing anyway with how many of us Numemon are here."
"Well then, we're counting on you," Gatomon smirked. Seems their chance just fell into their lap. With that said, the Numemon soon snuck away...and crawled up the wall, using the slime that came from his body to get up the wall and into the kitchen. The rest of them all made sure Nanimon wasn't looking...and before long, a bunch of bottles flew out the window. Literally, as the Numemon had somehow found a way to make several makeshift parachutes for the bottles to fly out, and land near Nanimon.
"Hm? What's this?" Nanimon asked as he grabbed a bottle...and immediately brightened. "Is this...it is! Sake!" he grinned before he started drinking, and soon drained the bottle before grabbing another...and another...and soon he was even drinking multiple bottles at once.
"Wow...I've heard of heavy drinkers but this is ridiculous," Palmon blinked at how much the mon was drinking, but before long...they could see his face becoming flushed as the alcohol took effect. And what an effect it was as Nanimon was soon doing a weird drunken dance much to the amusement of the mon watching. Once they were sure all attention was on Nanimon, they snuck away from the group. It was time for the next phase of the plan.
"Looks like their in. Come on, let's go to the window." Gyro called to the others after he saw the trio enter the castle, as they made their way back to the decided on entry point, arriving just at the same time as Palmon dropped her vines.
"Normally I'd say ladies first… but too many skirts are present." Pierce said as he glanced at the girls, who all laughed a bit.
"Well, me and Yang are wearing pants at least." Blake said as she and the blonde went up first, getting pulled up by Palmon.
In short order everyone was soon inside the castle, the Digimon dropping their disguises as Gatomon got her Holy Ring back and reverted to Salamon. Not wasting any time they made their way into the castle. They had to stop Myotismon. However...that proved to be...easier said than done. Turns out the castle had some...strange physics.
"How did you guys get down there?" Weiss and Tentomon couldn't help but ask as they were looking at Ren and Wormmon who were upside down yet still standing somehow.
"No, you guys are the ones upside down!" Wormmon shot back.
"He's right, from where we're looking, you're the ones down," Ren nodded.
"Physics be damned!" Gyro could be heard from… somewhere else.
"Wait...how did we end up here when we went the other way?" Jaune asked as he'd gone through one door in a hall of doors...only to come out of a door on the opposite side of the same hall.
"You think that's weird?" Gabumon asked. "Try going back through a door and coming out a different a door than before…"
"Who the heck designed this place?" Blake groaned as she looked at the path she was on...and saw that it was winding, going up and down, and generally defying all rules of physics.
"Okay that's it! Everyone regroup!" Gyro shouted, having had quite enough.
A few moments later, everyone had gathered back up in a plain looking room.
"Ok, gravity seems normal here." Ruby said, remembering how she'd been walking on the ceiling only a few minutes ago.
"Does anybody have any objections to just making a hole and going deeper?" Gyro asked everyone.
"Nope." Yang said, popping the P.
"It'll piss off Myotismon." Nora agreed to the idea with a grin.
"Our turn then." Jaune said, grinning a bit while Gomamon cracked his neck.
"Gomamon, Evolution! Ikkakumon! Ikkakumon, Super Evolution! Zudomon!"
"Next stop, basement!" Zudomon smirked, before raising his hammer, and bringing it down, causing a large shockwave, and caving in the ground, to which he did again and again, slowly but surely drilling a hole through the ground.
Myotismon looked up when he felt the tremors, already the gate was open and most if not all his troops were already through. Now all that remained were the weaker members, nothing he really needed. It was time to make preparations to move himself too. "Hm...could that be...no, that's impossible. Someone would have reported something if they were here," he shook his head.
"Cowabunga!" and then Gyro's voice was heard shouting as he was on Greymon's head, who was running down the stairs, leading the pack of 9 Adult levels and a Perfect.
"Okay Bat-man, bring it!" Pierce added as the Digimon all landed at the bottom of the stairs, and the hunters all had their weapons out.
Myotismon narrowed his eyes at them "How did you get in?"
In response, Gyro lifted up… the recruitment sign.
Myotismon took one look at it, before turning to DemiDevimon with a glare that could have melted titanium "You advertised it?! Any idiot could have used this to their advantage!"
"B-But, my lo-!" DemiDevimon started, but didn't get to finish, as he found himself hit with a full on Night Raid, the bats mercilessly swarming him, and within seconds, nothing was left of the little imp.
"Silence. I have no need for fools who are only a liability," Myotismon said coldly at the spot where his moronic follower had once been.
As for the Chosen and their partners, they were all looking at the spot where DemiDevimon had been just a few short seconds ago with wide eyes "Well… that puts things into perspective." Pyrrha said slowly.
"Well, at least we won't have to worry about him anymore...even if that was pretty brutal..." Yang said awkwardly.
"Well...uh...we're here to stop you! You're not getting to Remnant!" Jaune said, trying to sound tough...not easy after they'd just seen that bit of stone cold murder. Zudomon offered his support by raising his hammer threateningly.
Myotismon however seemed to find the gesture amusing. "I commend you all for reaching this far, but I'm afraid you're too late. As much as I'd enjoy dealing with you now, I have a world to take over," he said, before entering the carriage next to him, which soon began rolling towards the gate.
"Hey! Don't just ignore us!" Gyro shouted, being slightly annoyed at getting brushed off like that.
"And don't turn your back on an opponent either! Mega Flame!" Greymon added as he launched his attack towards the carriage… only for the fireball to be stopped by a barrier.
"Now now, it's not nice to throw a tantrum." Witchmon chided, before laughing as she sat on her broom and floated upwards.
"Hey, that's the same broom we saw the other night!" Ruby said.
"So you're the one who made that barrier," Yang frowned. "Well, then you should know we can smash this easy."
"True, but can you smash it in time?" Witchmon asked with a smirk as the gate began to close.
"Damn! No time! Full power everyone!" Pyrrha said urgently.
(Play Brave Heart)
"Greymon…"
"Garurumon…"
"Birdramon…"
"Kabuterimon…"
"Gatomon…"
"Togemon…"
"Stingmon…"
"Veedramon…"
"Angemon…"
"Super Evolution!" all of them called out at the same time.
"MetalGreymon!"
"WereGarurumon!"
"Garudamon!"
"AtlurKabuterimon!"
"Angewomon!"
"Lillymon!"
"JewelBeemon!"
"AeroVeedramon!"
"HolyAngemon!"
When the light subsided, all 10 Perfects stood together. "Time for this barrier to go down!" MetalGreymon growled as they all readied their attacks.
"Not so fast!" Witchmon smirked as she snapped her fingers, before several statues of Devidramon in the room suddenly came to life and began attacking.
"Tch! Out of our way!" Gyro growled as the hunters all pulled out their weapons, and opened fire or lunged for the animated statues.
"Bring the barrier down first! We'll keep these guys busy!" Nora told the Digimon, earning a few reluctant nods, before they opened fire with their attacks.
Witchmon grunted as she felt a notable strain trying to maintain the barrier. Realizing it wouldn't hold for long at this rate, she sent a mental command to the Devidramon, causing them to become more frenzied. As expected, the Digimon all turned their attention to the humans at the frenzied roars...however, they weren't gonna break off THAT easily.
"Tag team! We'll crack the barrier, you guys deal with these guys!" Pierce quickly said.
"Right!" The Digimon all nodded, and the two teams seamlessly switched places, the hunters now hammering away at the barrier, keeping the pressure, while the Digimon fought, and soon tossed around the Devidramon.
"Let's not prolong this more than necessary!" JewelBeemon said.
"Good idea," WereGarurumon nodded, before they all looked to HolyAngemon.
"Get ready, cause here they come!" Garudamon said, earning a nod from the angel, who soon raised Excalibur.
"Heaven's Gate!" he called out, forming the gate, just as his comrades threw their opponents his way, the Devidramon soon caught in the suction, and were promptly pulled in, the gate closing once they were all through and vanishing.
At the same time, Witchmon had reached her limit, and the barrier broke. However, she'd managed to buy time and quickly went for the gate, but not before turning around to smirk at them as it was closing. "See ya ar-" she didn't get to finish taunting, as at that moment, Ruby aimed her sniper rifle and fired, the bullet flying through the remaining gap, and grazed Witchmon's cheek, stopping her taunt dead, as for the first time her smirk was gone, and she looked at the bit of data leaking out of her wound in shock, right as the door closed.
(End song)
"There's a time to talk, and this wasn't it." Ruby said with a firm nod as she returned Crescent Rose to it's compact state.
"Hopefully that'll shut her up for a while." Yang said, glaring at the closed gate.
"Let's just hurry back for now, we need to find a way to open it back up, and our best bet is Gennai." Gyro said, and while they were all reluctant, they had no choice but to turn back, despite the worry they all felt for Remnant at the moment.
"Wait, what's this thing?" Weiss stopped everyone when she saw some sort of pedestal rise up from the ground.
At that, everyone gave it a quick look, but they didn't want to stay too long and be caught, so Weiss took a few pictures to have a better look at it later once they were safe.
"I see...that is unfortunate, but it is what it is right now," Gennai frowned from the projector they were using.
"Maybe, but as it is our only chance is to go after him. Is there any way to open the gate again?" Blake asked.
"Yeah, there's gotta be a way to open it again. If we leave things as is, it'll be big trouble in Remnant!" Ruby added.
"Right, we need to get you all home quickly so he doesn't have a chance to try anything." Gennai said with a nod "I'm going to need you to come to my home, we'll make a plan of attack there, just look into the sky and follow the light." he said, before the projector turned off, and a second later, they all saw a light shining in the sky.
"Either that's a gigantic beam of light, or he's been living under Myotismon's nose all this time." Pierce noted.
"The second one would be pretty funny." Veemon said with a small laugh, before they all started following the light.
Roughly 10 minutes later, they reach a large lake, and the light seemed to be coming from inside of it.
"Does he expect us to swim?" Salamon asked as she looked at the water dryly.
"I don't think that would go well for quite a few of us." Tentomon added.
"It's probably deep underwater too, so we wouldn't be able to hold our breath that long." Biyomon noted.
"I'll check how deep it is." Gomamon said as he dived into the water… only to resurface a second later "Hey guys! There's some stairs here!"
"So we walk?" Jaune said in confusion… and then the water started to shine.
"I didn't do it!" Gomamon said quickly before, surprisingly, the water parted down the middle.
"Does he have Moses down there or something?" Pierce muttered, shaking his head.
"Now you've got me wondering if there are Digimon based on actual named biblical figures." Gyro added from next to him before they all started to walk down the exposed stairs.
"This is surreal, even beyond anything before," Pyrrha couldn't help but say in wonder as left and right they could see the fish swimming around like nothing was happening.
"You can say that again," Patamon agreed from on top of Blake's head.
"And now it feels like we're in the Dragon Palace," Gyro added as up ahead was a japanese style home, complete with a zen garden.
"The what now?" Nora asked with a raised eyebrow.
"Just an old tale from one of the countries back home, has to do with a turtle and a mermaid princess from what I remember." Pierce explained simply.
"Yeah, that's pretty much the gist of it for important characters at least." Gyro said with a small laugh as they stepped into the garden after walking through the front gate.
After a few moments of looking around, a door on the main house slid open, and out of it walked Gennai, though he was favoring his right leg and had to use a cane from the looks of it. Upon seeing them he smiled. "I see you've all arrived safely. Welcome, Chosen Children, to my humble home."
"Nice to finally meet you face to face." Gyro said as he went up to the man as they shook each other's hands.
"Indeed it is. Now, I know you're in a rush, but why don't you take a bit of time to relax a bit? You've been running around for quite some time now after all." Gennai said, before his gaze seemed to linger for a moment on Ruby and Yang. "And my associate even prepared something you might all enjoy. She's quite the baker," he added. "Also...you may want to be inside when the water goes back to normal. It's not exactly harsh, but not something you'd want to be outside when it happens."
At the last one, everyone soon got in, and closed the door, the sound of water moving reaching their ears once they were inside.
They all looked out the door, which had become see through after the water came rushing back "What happens if the door is open?" Ren asked.
"Honestly? Nothing, the water stays there, some nice bit of coding if I do say so myself." Gennai said proudly. "I even added a few robotic saltwater fish for extra scenery when the water comes back. Speaking of which..." Gennai went over to the table that had a food cover on it, and lifted it off, revealing a plate of freshly baked cookies, and ones that the smell soon permeated the room.
"Those smell delicious," the Digimon all said, soon salivating at the smell.
"They also LOOK pretty delicious." Jaune added with a small laugh, before taking one of the cookies and biting into it "Yeahp, really good."
Ruby and Yang had wide eyes when they took bites. "This is…!" Yang started.
"These taste just like…!" Ruby was also speechless.
"Is everything ok?" Palmon asked, pausing as she was about to take a bite.
"Oh, uh...no, the cookies are great," Ruby said.
"Why thank you, I had made them just for all of you," came a familiar voice, as the hooded figure walked into the room. "I'm happy to see you've all made it this far," she said, a smile in her voice.
"You made them?" Yang asked slowly.
"Yes I did, why?" the figure said.
"Because these taste just like…" that was when it hit the girls. So many clues, suddenly staring them in the face and it all came together. "Your voice felt so...familiar...we felt like we could trust you so quickly...and this...you...are you...our mom? Are you...Summer Rose?" Yang finally asked, while Ruby looked like she was at a complete loss of words at the realization.
In response, the figure laughed lightly, before pulling her hood down, and revealing a face that looked very much like an older Ruby "Well, it sure took you girls long e-" she didn't get to finish however as she was tackled to the ground by the two sisters.
"We thought you were dead!" Both of them shouted/cried at the same time.
Summer smiled gently, hugging them back. "There there...its alright now...I'm here…" she said soothingly. "And I'm sorry I disappeared for so long...I didn't have a choice in the matter and by the time I might have had a chance to come back...I was needed here too...it wasn't an easy decision…" she said, a few tears leaking out of her eyes too.
"Didn't help we got driven away from the one way home she had." Renamon said as she entered the room.
"Driven away?" Biyomon asked as Summer continued to console her daughters.
"Myotismon's castle? It actually used to belong to our group, but due to some annoying circumstances, we had to abandon it." Gennai said with a sigh.
"Seriously?" Jaune couldn't help but say.
"Seriously," Gennai nodded. "At any rate, while I don't mean to intrude on this reunion, I believe it would be prudent for us to make our preparations immediately."
"Unfortunately, he's right," Summer sighed, as the three got up, and soon the group was gathered at the table.
"Now, the way the gate works is a little...odd...but suffice to say, it follows a certain frequency that we were able to pinpoint where the latest use would lead," Gennai said, as a screen came down, and he revealed a map of Remnant, before it soon zoomed in on Vale. "Currently he should be in Vale."
"Well, that's craptastic." Gyro groaned out.
"How does the gate work exactly? I mean, what makes it open?" Weiss asked.
"Right, you're going to need those." Gennai said, before turning to Renamon "If you could? They're on the top row, 4th from the right."
"Right." Renamon nodded as she stood up and went up to a set of drawers that lined the wall, opening the indicated one and pulling out a small box from within it, placing it on the table in short order.
"Here we are." Gennai said as he opened the box, and pulled out a few cards from within "These are the keys to opening the door." he said, before laying them out on the table, letting everyone get a good look at them.
5 cards had a red background, 3 had green, and the last 3 had blue, and all of them depicted a digimon.
Kuwagamon, Agumon, Gazimon, Andromon, Elecmon, Unimon, Digitamamon, Drimogemon, ShogunGekomon, Gomamon and Veemon.
"Cards?" Nora blinked.
"Yes, these are cards. They're also the keys to opening the Gate," Gennai nodded.
"Wait...are these supposed to go on the pedestal we saw?" Weiss asked, before pulling out her scroll and opening the pictures for all of them to see.
"That is exactly correct. However, there is a certain combination required to open the correct gate," Gennai sighed.
"Not to mention I'm counting two extra here," Tentomon pointed out.
"Yes, unfortunately there were two extra cards added to the mix, which in turn mean that if they are not placed correctly, you may find yourself in the wrong world...assuming you get through without something horrific happening to your bodies…" Gennai said.
"You could word that better you know." Pierce said dryly as everyone had sadly pictured something horrible happening to them as they passed through.
"At any rate, its fortunate you had these pictures," Gennai said. "With these, its possible for us to decode the likely combination required for the gate."
"Hm…" Gyro mused, looking at the pictures...before noticing some carvings in the rock. "There! There are 3 carvings on top and 3 on the side. The top are a lion, and archer, and a monkey, while the sides are stars, going from one to three."
"Wonder what it's supposed to mean?" Agumon said as he looked at the image on the expanded scroll.
"That's what we're gonna need to figure out," Jaune said.
"Hm...while you're working on that, I just recalled," Summer suddenly said. "Keenan told me you'd gotten your hands on some Chrome Digizoid, and even hoped to use it on your weapons back in File, correct?" she checked.
"Yeah, we did. But Vermilimon said it wouldn't be a good idea to use that yet," Ruby nodded.
"Well then...I can upgrade your weapons if you want," she offered. "I haven't lived the last decade in this world without learning how to use metal like Chrome Digizoid. I needed to keep Sleeping Rose well maintained after all, and when I had to start fighting Perfects...well, it was time for an upgrade," she said.
"Well, if you're offering, we'd appreciate it." Gyro nodded gratefully as everyone took out the Chrome Digizoid they had.
"Oh! Can me and Yang help? I've already worked with everyone's weapons, and, well, it'd be fun to do a project with you." Ruby asked, looking at her mother hopefully, with Yang trying not to show it too much.
Summer laughed a bit in response "Of course you can. Come on! Let's do some upgrading!" she said as she stood up, the girls doing the same as they gathered everyone's weapons and the Chrome Digizoid before heading out of the room.
"I'm surprised you two aren't following." Gomamon said to Biyomon and Palmon.
"They looked like they really needed to spend some alone time with her." Biyomon shot back simply.
"They only just found out their mom was still alive after years of thinking she was dead. They deserve some quality time," Pyrrha said with a smile.
"Well, while they're busy with that, we should work on these cards," Ren said, though he also had a small smile.
"Right," the others nodded, looking at the cards.
"Well...I think the stars are pretty obvious," Pierce mused. "They remind of the stars in that card game, the one that used them to denote levels, and looking at the cards...I'm seeing Child, Adult, and Perfect levels, so I'm guessing that's where they go."
"You can say it's Yu-Gi-Oh, it's not like we'll get sued for saying it." Gyro muttered.
Ignoring the additional comment, Jaune thought about the idea...and nodded. "Huh...that sounds fair. So the row with one star are for Child levels, two stars for Adults, and three stars for Perfects. That narrows it down."
"Now how to determine which cards go where based on the columns…" Salamon mused.
The group looked at the symbols intently...before Veemon started glaring a bit at the monkey.
"What's up?" Wormmon asked.
"Huh? Oh nothing, just thought...the monkey kind of reminds me of Etemon's ugly mug," Veemon said.
Everyone nodded at that, seeing his point… and then Weiss's eyes went wide "That's it!"
They were all a bit startled at her sudden exclamation, but that passed relatively quickly "What's it?" Tentomon asked.
"The monkey! It represents Etemon!" Weiss said, and the others found that it could make sense.
"What about the lion and the archer then?" Gabumon asked.
"I think the lion's Leomon, he's the only lion Digimon we've met after all." Nora said with a shrug, and again, it lined up well.
"Then who would the archer be?" Blake wondered.
"It's not an archer, it's a centaur." Weiss said "Remember? Centarumon, we met him on File.
"Alright, so, Leomon, Centarumon and Etemon, what's the difference between the three of them?" Gyro said.
"I think you'll find the answer to this one in the Digimon Analyzer. It certainly helps that your scrolls are all connected, thanks to that you all have access to it and it has the information of every Digimon each of you have met." Gennai said.
Hearing that they all nodded, and looked them up. When they did… "This is what the symbols mean. Their attributes are Vaccine, Data, and Virus respectively," Weiss said.
"So if we go by that logic…" Nora started, arranging the cards accordingly. "Here we go!" she said, as now they'd arranged all the cards into their correct spots...save for one spot. The Child level Vaccine card, as the Agumon, Gomamon, and Veemon cards all fit that criteria.
"Okay, good news is we've cracked the code for 8 slots...bad news is we have no idea how to crack the last slot, seeing as all the excess cards have the same attribute…" Gyro frowned.
"Kinda funny how it's Agumon, Veemon and Gomamon considering I lived with the two of you for a few months." Jaune said as he looked at the twins in amusement.
"Yeah." Gyro said with a smile before shaking his head "Now we just have to figure out which card is the right one to get us to Remnant."
"It could be any of them." Pierce said with a sigh.
"And if we get the wrong one we might end up in a completely different world." Weiss added with a frown.
"Indeed, it's highly possible that one of these cards might end up taking you to Earth instead of Remnant." Gennai added.
"So for now...I think if push comes to shove...we should have Pierce decide which one we use," Blake said.
"Me?" Pierce blinked.
"Your Semblance is literally luck. Of all of us, you're the one with the best chance of picking the right card, but we should do that right when we're about to use the gate, if nothing else so the odds of your Semblance activating is at its peak," she explained.
Gyro suddenly gave her a thumbs up "Now you're talking!" he said before laughing.
"Well, glad to see that was taken care of," Gennai nodded.
"And now that that's done, aren't you forgetting something?" Gyro said.
"I am?" Gennai blinked.
"Oh yeah, you promised you'd explain everything to us when we meet face to face," Agumon said.
"And here we are," Biyomon added with a chuckle.
Gennai laughed "I did say that didn't I? Fine, a promise is a promise."
"Just a second." Weiss said before touching a few keys on her scroll and placing it back down "Recording it for Ruby and Yang."
Gennai nodded at that "Right. Now, I suppose the best place to start would be WHY the Digital world needed heroes. You see, it all started long ago, millenia ago at that. The great Server had seen the first signs of darkness to come, and as such had begun preparations to counter that. The first of which was the Digivice, or D-Core as it's known in its most basic form."
"We've heard about him a few times now, this Great Server. Is HE your boss?" Pierce asked with a raised eyebrow.
Gennai nodded "That's right. Though he prefers to remain semi-anonymous, I suppose you've earned this much. He is known as...Yggdrasil."
"Well… that definitely sounds like an important name." Jaune said after a moment.
Meanwhile, the twins blinked slowly, recognizing the name from several old myths from earth, most notably, one about a giant tree. "So...Yggdrasil, huh?" Gyro mused.
"That is correct. After foreseeing the great danger, he formulated the plan that would become legend. He has many abilities, and among them he was able to foresee the arrival of several humans who would bear the holy power that could save the world. He realized that the dangers that would come could not be conquered by Digimon alone, no only when a human and a digimon's hearts connected, could the power necessary to save the world be born."
"So… that's why the Digital World needed humans to help them at least… but why us specifically?" Blake asked.
"Because of one VERY specific event you all witnessed." Gennai answered easily.
It took a moment, before it all hit them "Greymon VS Parrotmon." they all breathed at the same time.
Gennai nodded "You all witnessed the battle, along with many others true, but the 10 of you were chosen specifically, because you had the best qualities that would help Digimon grow."
"The 10 Virtues?" Pyrrha checked.
"That was one thing. Another was you each as a person. You had your own challenges to deal with, some of you even going through a life that would normally stifle that which made you chosen...yet you still held onto it. There was nobody better suited than the 10 of you," Gennai smiled.
"Well… thanks for that." Gyro said with a small laugh.
"So, what exactly IS the 'Dark Force' that needed us here to help?" Ren asked.
"I can't give you an exact answer, as I hadn't been created back then, all I know is that Yggdrasil had been unable to defeat whatever it was and had to seal it beyond the firewall, though it's darkness has managed to spread beyond it and cause chaos in the Digital World." Gennai answered with a sigh.
"And no doubt Myotismon is just the tip of the iceberg…" Weiss sighed, already realizing where this was going.
"Sadly that is correct," Gennai sighed.
"Alright, what's next then?" Pyrrha asked.
"Honestly, I hope you won't have to fight them, they are beings born from the darkness that Yggdrasil sealed, and we ourselves had to seal them, though for how long that will hold, I can't tell." Gennai added seriously.
"Then hopefully they either stay stuck or we just have to get stronger to fight them," Blake frowned.
"You'll want to get stronger anyway, just as a precaution in case anything else comes up." Gennai admitted.
"We'll keep that in mind," Veemon nodded.
Gennai nodded. "Speaking of which…" he started, before looking at a nearby door. "How is the situation?" he asked.
In response, the door opened, and in stepped Keenan, Falcomon, and Wizardmon. "The situation is quiet. Seems he really did take most if not all his troops," Keenan reported.
"However, I wouldn't suggest trying to retake the castle. I sensed a strange magic when we surveyed the area. I think he might have set some kind of trap," Wizardmon cautioned...before turning to the group and well...they couldn't tell if he was smiling, but they assumed he was. "I'm glad to see you're all safe."
"Nice to see you as well." Weiss said with a nod.
"We were honestly worried about what happened to you since it was impossible to look for you, you know, since you don't have a human partner." Pierce added.
"I appreciate the concern, but don't worry about me. This is ultimately an...occupational hazard," Wizardmon reassured. "I'll be fine."
"And how've you been Keenan?" Gyro asked the younger boy.
"I've been well. Still training under my teacher." he said as he sat down.
"We know who she is now, so you can say Summer's name." Blake said, making him nod.
"We also know about something else." Pierce said, looking at Keenan seriously.
"What are you talking about?" the boy asked with a raised eyebrow.
"We know the reason you got angry when you saw Yang. She IS the spitting image of her mother…" Gyro sighed.
At that, Keenan snarled, anger spreading on his features. "I am well aware of who it is I'm looking for," he growled. "I am well aware that the one who destroyed my village, and murdered my parents, was Raven Branwen," he spat her name.
"Are you fine with explaining, or…?" Pierce asked, leaving the question hanging.
"It's fine. I'm angry and want revenge… but I'm not obsessed with it." Keenan said with a sigh. "I've had 10 years to work through it. Mo-er, I mean, Frigimon, helped me a lot through it at first, and Teacher helped me learn to temper my emotions on the matter."
"You know, we won't judge you for calling Frigimon your mom, she's the one who raised you after all." Gyro said in amusement.
"I can't do that...It would be...unfitting...for a warrior," the boy blushed. Though to them it honestly just looked like he was trying to act tough. It was almost adorable really.
Falcomon looked at him dryly, before flicking Keenan's ear as he turned to the others "You'll have to excuse my brother, he wants to grow up too fast if you ask me."
"Its cool, we've all been there," Jaune chuckled a little, much to the human boy's embarrassment.
"Ahem…" Keenan coughed, trying to regain his composure, and hopefully steer the conversation away. "At any rate, while I wouldn't advise retaking the castle, now is as good a time as any for an assault if you wish to use the Gate. As it is, it may be your only chance to return to Remnant."
"We would… but I think the upgrades for all our weapons is going to take a good while, I doubt it'll be done by nightfall." Ren said.
"And more importantly, you sound like its only us going through," Nora mused. "Aren't you gonna come along with us?"
"Well..I was planning to accompany you all, but actually using the gate…" Kennan seemed a little unsure.
"Look, it's clear that you NEED to take care of your unfinished business back on Remnant, besides, do you actually think Summer will stay here after reuniting with Ruby and Yang? She probably still has a lot more to teach you as well." Gyro reasoned.
"Well...if you put it that way...I guess you've got a point…" Keenan sighed, scratching the back of his head.
"And I intend to tag along as well," Wizardmon chuckled.
"Wait, what?" Falcomon blinked.
"Come now, aside from the fact Myotismon uses a number of mystic arts which I should be able to counter with how long I've been studying on the subject, this is also a chance to see the human world! How could I possibly pass up on that?" Wizardmon smiled, to which the others sweat dropped.
"...is he a resistance fighter or a tourist?" Blake whispered in a deadpan tone.
"Wizardmon aside, as Summer is no doubt coming with you, I will come along as well," Renamon said simply, though nobody was surprised. She IS Summer's partner of course. Speaking of which.
"Hey, I just had a thought," Palmon said. "If our partners are the chosen children, what's with the D-Arks?" she asked.
"Ah...that," Gennai nodded. "Its true that there are a limited number of Crests...but I never said there was a limit to the number of Digivices. The original function of the Digivice was to connect the heart of a human and a digimon. As such, should any human and digimon form a bond with one another, a Digivice Core may appear to them," he explained.
"So its less Chosen Children, and more anyone who can bond with a Digimon is destined to get a Digivice?" Pyrrha mused.
"Huh...that's actually not a bad term, seeing as it's not just kids who can have a Digimon Partner and Digivice. I guess something like… 'Digidestined' would better fit us as a whole," Gyro mused.
"That's not an incorrect term," Gennai nodded. "Chosen Children WAS intended to refer specifically to the ones who would be able to bear a Crest after all."
"Heh...so I guess that makes me, teacher, and anyone else who could connect with a Digimon a 'Digidestined' then," Keenan said in amusement.
A few nods of approval went through the group before… "So...now what?" Gomamon asked. As if to answer his question, a few growling stomachs were heard.
"Dinner?" Gennai offered in amusement.
A few hours later, the group had finished dinner (Summer, Ruby, and Yang joining them before going back to the forge when dinner was over to finish working on the weapons), and currently they were all relaxing around Gennai's home, taking the time to unwind before they returned to battle tomorrow morning. Everything was set and ready, with everyone memorising the combination they'd decoded so that everyone could easily set it up. All that was left was the weapons and they'd be set. Currently Gyro was sitting at the porch, looking at the fish swimming around.
"Yo," Pierce said from behind him, moving to sit next to him. "Nice night, huh?"
"Pretty much yeah," Gyro nodded.
"Big day tomorrow. Finally gonna get back to Remnant...man...Azure must be worried sick…" Pierce said.
"He would be. But man...it's been a crazy ride, hasn't it?" Gyro couldn't help but say.
"Two months of being constantly on the move, fighting evil Digimon, and trying to save the world… if I was told this before we ended up here, I'd call the other guy crazy." Pierce said with a dry laugh.
"And we have our clothes to show for it." Gyro added as he gestured to how dirtied, torn and patched their clothes were, the same was true for all the others.
"Thank Oum Azure stocks the pouches weirdly and we had needles and plenty of thread." Pierce said, shaking his head with a sigh.
"But hey, we got through it all...against all odds. We'll just have to try to salvage the situation as much as possible, and knowing Azure, he's probably done his best to keep the plan in play," Gyro said. "Now we just have to figure out how to keep the Digimon hidden from anyone we don't want to find out...like tin man," he sighed.
"I know what you mean. That guy is WAY too militaristic. I bet he'd take one look at Digimon and see a possible new weapon…" Pierce nodded in agreement.
"We're not even going to let him try." Gyro said seriously.
"I'd sooner rip that half metal body off myself than let him so much as touch one of Veemon's scales," Pierce growled in agreement.
"Easy there, he's STILL technically one of the good guys, but yeah. I'll dice him like an onion if he tries anything," Gyro agreed...before they both let out a yawn. "Well...I guess its time for bed. Wouldn't want to be too tired for the fireworks," he sighed.
"True. Night, bro," Pierce nodded as the two went in for bed.
The next day saw the group preparing themselves thoroughly. Weapons were checked and double checked, the cards were secure, and everyone was well fed and rested.
"Huh… the blade's a bit darker in color… kinda neat." Gyro said as he inspected Ascalon more closely before sheathing it.
"That's due to the Chrome Digizoid. The darker color is due to the denser metal. Ideally I'd have made the blades full Chrome Digizoid, but the amount you had was only good for a coating. They'll still do the job, but if they had to handle a full Chrome Digizoid weapon or armor from a high enough level, the weapons might be badly damaged," Summer explained.
"Right, so avoid attacking Digimon that have Chrome Digizoid somewhere on them." Jaune said with a nod.
"Overall, these weapons should cut through Adult level Digimon without issue, but Perfects are a toss up depending on the individual as some are stronger than others, and needless to say, most if not all Ultimates are out of the question. The most you can do against an Ultimate is distract it," Summer explained.
"Got it. These will still help a lot though," Blake nodded.
"We put a lot of work on these babies, so don't break them," Yang chuckled, testing out her new gauntlets, and was surprised by how light Chrome Digizoid was. There was barely any difference in the weight to her original gauntlets.
"Seeing as most of Myotismon's forces are already through the Gate, we should be able to cut through anything that gets in our way then," Weiss nodded.
"Alright everyone, let's go!" Gyro said, earning cheers of agreement from the others.
"Wait!" Gennai suddenly said, before walking up to Summer. "Before you go, I need to give you this," he said, before pulling out something and handing it to Summer, though they couldn't see what it is.
"This is…!" Summer's eyes widened when she saw the object in her hand.
"It's still a prototype, but it's finally at a working level," Gennai explained. "Be careful, we don't know what might happen if or while you're using this."
"Understood. But I'll have to test it out either way," Summer nodded, before storing the object away.
When she moved to rejoin the group, Ruby came up to her. "Mom? What was that?" she asked, a little worried at how Gennai was talking.
"It's...nothing you need to be worried about, dear," she reassured, though it was clear she didn't do too well a job, from Ruby's reluctant nod.
"Hey...don't do anything crazy okay, Mom…" Yang said. "We just got you back…"
"Don't worry. I didn't wait over a decade just to leave you again," Summer smiled at that.
"Right," Yang nodded, before the group was on its way. Making it to the castle was...easy...so was getting back to the room, seeing as the majority of the soldiers were gone, and the few that remained were basically cannon fodder.
And then they ran into a problem.
"So… we can all feel the hairs on the backs of our necks rising… yeah?" Nora asked, glancing at everyone.
"Yes." was the universal answer. They soon got their answer when several Devidramon suddenly manifested from the statues that were hidden through the castle.
"Not these guys again!" Blake growled.
"I'll handle them!" Tentomon said, as Weiss's D-Core glowed.
"Tentomon, Evolution! Kabuterimon! Super Evolution! AtlurKabuterimon!" the rapid evolution went through quickly, and the Devidramon was suddenly rammed by the large beetle.
"We'll handle these guys first. Get to the stone room! We'll catch up!" Weiss said, pulling out Myrtenaster, and spearing a Devidramon through with a burst of fire Dust.
"Not alone you're not!" Keenan said, before throwing his boomerang, hitting another Devidramon, and quickly raised his D-Ark. "Falcomon!"
"Right!" Falcomon nodded. "Falcomon, Evolution! Peckmon!"
A Devidramon trying to blindside them was promptly plowed into a nearby wall as Peckmon kicked it aside. "Go!" he shouted, to which they complied, knowing they'd catch up one way or another.
Eventually, they soon found their way into the stone room once more, the gate closed and pedestal still raised.
"Alright, time to use the cards," Pierce nodded, before they took out the cards and placed them in the code they'd uncovered, leaving only the Vaccine-Child slot open, Pierce looking at the three remaining cards. "Now...which one to use?" he frowned.
"Would it be in bad taste if I said 'pick me'?" Gomamon half-joked.
"Probably," Jaune sighed. "Sorry buddy, but we have no way of knowing if your card is the right one or not.
"Perhaps we should investigate this room...maybe there's some kind of clue Myotismon had…" Pyrrha suggested.
"That might be a pretty good idea," Gabumon agreed, as the Digimon soon went around the room, looking for clues. However…
"I'm getting that hair raising feeling again," Nora frowned...before Blake's ears perked up.
"Something's above us!" she shouted, causing them all to look up...and saw hundreds of eyes lighting up in the dark.
"So you saw us," a voice said, before the owners of the eyes stepped into the light, revealing an army of spider-like Digimon with golden masks on the upper halves of their faces and a skull on their abdomens.
"Watch out! That's Dokugumon!" Renamon warned. "They're highly venomous!"
Digimon Analyzer: Dokugumon
Dokugumon. Virus Type. An Adult Level Insectoid Digimon. Originally a completely neutral Digimon before being infected by a powerful virus that took control of its body like a parasite. Due to its eight legs, it's a very fast Digimon that never stops chasing its prey. Its special attack is Stinger Poration, firing a poisonous gas from its mouth.
"The smaller ones are also Dokugumon?" Ren asked as he noticed that only one spider was huge, while the others were roughly the size of a small dog.
"Those are KoDokugumon, its children so to speak." Summer answered.
"Any who dare to invade Lord Myotismon's castle must pay a truly heavy price! Their lives!" Dokugumon declared as the KoDokugumon descended from the ceiling. However, before they could go far, Renamon suddenly jumped in the way, while Summer's D-Ark started to glow.
"Renamon, Evolution! Kyubimon!" in a flash the area was hit with a small torrent of flame, catching several KoDokugumon and burning them to data.
"You all take care of figuring out which card to use! We'll handle these guys!" Summer said. At the same time, an explosion occurred as Keenan, Weiss, and Tentomon came down, all riding on Peckmon, though the ostrich-like Digimon seemed to be having trouble supporting the weight.
"We took care of the Devidramon!" Weiss reported.
"But I think we might have taken out an important support beam," Tentomon said.
"The castle isn't stable anymore! Its starting to collapse!" Peckmon finished urgently before reverting to Falcomon.
"On it!" Pierce nodded as he pulled out the three remaining cards.
"Not happening!" the KoDokugumon screeched as they descended again, but were met with a variety of attacks, yet more kept coming.
"There's too many of them!" Jaune growled.
"Then we'll evolve!" Agumon said.
"No! You all need to be ready to go through the gate when it opens!" Summer said, stopping them.
"But-!" Ruby tried to argue.
"No, Kyubimon and I will handle this!" Summer said, before looking at her partner. "Well...looks like we'll have to give 'it' a test run after all."
"Are you certain?" Kyubimon frowned.
"Yes, I'm certain. It's time you got back your old powers," Summer nodded, before reaching for her card holder and pulled out a card...and not just any card. The card was completely blue, with a pixelated D visible on it.
(Play 'Slash!')
The card spun in the air for a moment, before Summer grabbed hold of it. Readying her D-Ark, she soon scanned the magnetic strip, the card seemingly splitting open to reveal a massive amount of data and parameters that were off the charts. "Card Slash!" Summer declared as she felt arc of energy run through her as she scanned the card, before the card passed through, her putting so much force behind it that it almost flew out of her hand. "Matrix Evolution!"
(Song change: 'EVO')
The screen of her D-Ark once more began spelling out a new declaration. "Matrix Evolution," the drone-like voice declared, before it zoomed out to show Summer holding the D-Ark to her chest, before the screen released a massive burst of energy, and from Summer's chest, something emerged and soon flew to the sky. As it slowed down, it revealed to be a silver crystal, shaped like an upside down triangular pyramid which spun in the air for a moment, an image of Summer's smiling face reflected on it, before it flew away, towards Kyubimon who was running towards it and soon entered her forehead. "Kyubimon, Matrix Evolution!" she declared before rearing up on her hind legs a little, the yin-yang symbol on her forehead glowing as her spectral flames ignited. She soon jumped upward, before pulling into a spin as her flames enveloped her like a cocoon. A flash occurred and when they dispersed, the flames revealed a new form that had taken her place, spinning in the air as behind her the image of a sun and moon began to overlap, before finally stopping once they formed an eclipse, the new form landing on her feet, and standing up. It was obviously bipedal, wearing onmyouji robes, with long sleeves that hid her hands, her face more stern than before, and somewhat more human like as well, looking honestly more like a mask now. "Taomon!"
"That's…!" Gyro gasped in surprise. There was no doubt about it, that was an evolution to Perfect.
"But how did she do that? She doesn't have a Crest!" Biyomon said in surprise, voicing their collective thoughts.
"It's the power of the Blue Card," Keenan said. "It was something Gennai was making to give us who hold the D-Arks a means to go beyond Adult to make up for our lack of Crests. He only just finished it."
"Well he sure picked a good time to finish it," Yang commented.
Back at the fight, Summer let out a sigh. The 'secret ingredient' to the process was more taxing than she'd thought, but she'd manage for now. "Let's finish this, Taomon!"
"Understood," Taomon nodded firmly.
Digimon Analyzer: Taomon
Taomon. Data Type. A Perfect Level Demon Man Digimon. Her appearance isn't just for show, as she fights usings talismans and spells like a true Onmyouji. She is a master of hidden weaponry, concealing everything in her long sleeves, and is said to carry a small army of Shikigami with her everywhere she goes. Her special attacks are Bonhitsusen, chanting an incantation while writing a character in the air with a giant brush, hurling it at the opponent and catching them in a giant explosion, and Kofusatsu, trapping her enemy with a flurry of talismans like a mummy before blowing them up… she really likes explosions.
Taomon stood strong even as the army of KoDokugumon came rushing at her, before lifting her hands, revealing them from her sleeves and forming a hand seal. "Om!" she chanted, and suddenly the KoDokugumon ran head first into a barrier that now covered all of them, protecting them from any of the spiders.
"W-what?!" the spiders gasped, trying to break through but to no avail.
Taomon ignored them, before readying her sleeves. "Kofusatsu!" she declared, releasing a flurry of talismans which all attached to the many KoDokugumon...before they all went up in a blaze of glory, the swarm being destroyed in an instant.
"Holy shit…That's some serious power…" Nora whistled at the destruction.
"Y-you!" Dokugumon growled, before lunging forward. "I'll kill you!"
In response, Taomon drew from her sleeves a MASSIVE brush, which she soon traced a character in mid-air. "Bonhitsusen!" she declared, the character flying right into Dokugumon, before exploding the moment it hit him.
"Lord Myotismon!" Dokugumon managed to shout before he was deleted.
(Song end)
"What is it with villains crying out the name of their leader when being defeated?" Ruby couldn't help but ask.
"It's a silly trope that makes things funny." Gyro said with a shrug.
And THEN the room started to shake.
"I think you put too much power into that last one Taomon." Wizardmon said with a wince.
"It doesn't help that we knocked a lot of pillars over earlier." Falcomon added.
"Pierce!" Yang said urgently.
"Working on it!" he shot back, still trying to figure out which card was the right one.
"Give me that!" Weiss said as she took the cards from his hands shuffled them in her hands, and then presented them to him with the back facing him "Now pick one! Leave it to your Semblance!"
"In that case… this one!" Pierce said, grabbing the middle card, and slamming it facing up on the pedestal, showing the Veemon card, his crest giving off a glow for a moment as he did, and just like that, the door started to open.
"Double time people!" Gyro shouted as they all picked up their partners, save of course for Summer as Taomon reverted to Renamon, everyone running towards the gate.
Quickly, they all ran into it, disappearing into the light beyond the gate, and when the last of them passed through, the door closed behind them, as what remained of the castle collapsed on itself.
As for what was happening on the other side of the gate…
"Not this thing again!" the 10 hunters in training all shouted together as once more, they fell through the middle of a rushing wave.
But even then, their faces remained determined, as they all had the same goal in mind.
Stop Myotismon, and Save Remnant.
Alright, done!
And I'm not highlighting everything that happened this time, because I did it the first time I was touching up the edits, and I don,t feel like writing all of that again.
I just hope you enjoyed this chapter, because...
The Adventure Evolves.