Chapter 4 – Brave New World
Gallantmon dodged and weaved his way through the air with his nine remaining wings, protecting himself from a rain of fire from Beelzemon's shotguns. The demonic Digimon seemed totally unreachable, his mind imprisoned behind walls of rage and hatred, and his cries of anger with every blast were furious and bestial. Though concerned for their friend, Takato and Guilmon knew they didn't have time for this. Spinning his two blades in his hands, Gallantmon sent the two swords helicoptering in Beelzemon's direction and then with huge effort from his wings, threw himself after them.
As Gallantmon had been hoping, Beelzemon stopped firing to dodge the first blade. Good, Takato thought, he wasn't completely reasonless. Next Beelzemon dodged low, letting the smaller of Gallantmon's blades go flying over his ducked head. As he rose and attempted to raise one his shotguns again, Gallantmon put everything he had into a punch to Beelzemon's jaw.
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Sakuyamon watched as Justimon lifted the exhausted Terriermon and Henry into his arms. Turning to Sakuyamon, he said "I think they're out of the fight for now, where should we take them?". Sakuyamon had watched Henry's father and mother flee from their apartment complex when Machinedramon and several other Digimon had attacked the area, falling into a large crowd heading south to where the police and military had begun to set up medical triage. Pointing in that direction, she said "We need to find Henry's dad, he might know what's going on!"
It was just then that Sakuyamon heard an almighty crash behind her. Turning, she saw a crater in the centre of the street, from which crawled an obviously injured Beelzemon. "Beelzemon, are you ok?!" Lifting her staff, she advanced to the edge of the crater where Beelzemon now lay on his knees. Reaching out, her hand was less than an inch from his shoulder when she heard Gallantmon shouting from above "Watch out guys, he's being controlled by Barbamon!". But it was too late, Beelzemon's hand shot up and seized Sakuyamon's wrist with an iron grip, twisting it painfully as he put his full weight into hauling himself above her. With his free hand he lashed out, raking his claws down the length of Sakuyamon's body. Inside, Rika Nonaka screamed in pain. She was vaguely aware of Justimon dropping Henry and Terriermon and diving towards her and Beelzemon. It was then that Beelzemon wrenched her wrist again and threw her at the advancing Justimon. With everything Sakuyamon had she wanted to tell him to either dodge her, or let her fall, but with limited time and her mind still reeling from Beelzemon's attack all she could do was let out a half-formed "Don't…" as Justimon caught her in his arms. She knew what Beelzemon was going to do next before he did it. With a snarl he ripped one his shotgun's from its holster and aimed it right at Justimon's face. Time seemed to stop. Gallantmon was still a few feet from the ground, his arms extended. Beelzemon pulled the trigger, the shotgun ignited, and Justimon was sent flying back, the face-plate of his mask shattering. Sakuyamon flew back too, with them both landing a few feet from Henry and Terriermon. Sakuyamon attempted to reach out to the prone form of Justimon for a sew seconds, before with a flash of light they both split apart- Sakuyamon again becoming Rika Nonaka and Renamon, and Justimon again becoming Ryo Akiyama and Monodramon.
Staring at his injured friends for a moment as if they were strangers, Beelzemon then turned to look down at his shotgun. Turning it over in his hands and examining it, a moment later it shifted in size and shape transfiguring into his large blaster cannon he had previously used in the battle against the D-Reaper. Meanwhile, Gallantmon touched down amongst his injured friends. Leaning down, he examined them all in turn. He had to finish this now and get them all medical attention. Shifting back to his knight form, Gallantmon walked a few feet to his left in order to gain a safe distance from them before calling out to Beelzemon.
"Beelzemon, I know deep down you don't wanna do this, I know you're our friend. So, the kindest thing I can do now is stop you from doing anything you'll regret later." Raising his lance and shield, Gallantmon assumed a fighting stance and awaited Beelzemon's attack. From the lip of the crater, Beelzemon raised his cannon. Drawing a pentacle in the air, he prepared a devastating blast of energy. Gallantmon hugged himself close to his shield, when at the last moment, Beelzemon turned the cannon and aimed it towards the unconscious forms of their friends.
"CORONA DESTROYER!"
No. Not that. Without time to think. Gallantmon dived forward and threw himself in the path of Beelzemon's attack. For a moment he was consumed in a sea of light and pain, and then there was only darkness.
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Takato awoke several hours later lying on a gurney looking at the canvas of a tent ceiling, his clothes torn, and his body covered in cuts and bruises, but otherwise relatively fine. As he lay there for a few moments, reflecting on everything that had happened so far today, Guilmon stepped into his field of view. "Takato!" yelled the crimson lizard, jumping forward and burying his nose in Takato's still sore chest. "The men said you needed to sleep, so I didn't wake you!". Rising shakily, Takato gave Guilmon an affectionate scratch on the head "Thanks buddy.." he said croakily. It was at that moment that Henry's father Janyu Wong stepped into the tent.
"Mister Wong…" said Takato uncertainly. Janyu's face was covered in dry dust and ashes, but beneath his eyes were the fresh streaks of tears. "Takato…" he said. Immediately panic began to rise in Takato's chest, why was Mister Wong so upset? "Mister Wong, please tell me everyone is ok…"
Taking off his glasses, Janyu half-sat and half-collapsed onto a gurney across from Takato, for a moment he was silent, then he spoke "You were all partially buried beneath the street when the soldiers found you, whatever hit you tore up the entire surrounding area. Henry was…Henry was stuck underneath a large piece of concrete, it broke two of his ribs, which pierced his lungs…"
Takato could barely breath, he could barely think. "He's not…" said Takato, unable to finish the sentence. Looking up, Janyu met Takato's gaze for the first time. "He's alive…but just barely…he just got out of surgery…".
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Takato watched from a distance as Henry was aided in breathing by a series of machines and tubes. Sitting on desk chair beside Henry's bed, Terriermon stared at the ground, his two little paws crossed. Takato wished he knew what to say to the normally irrepressible Digimon, but could think of nothing comforting. He had just come from seeing Rika and Ryo, who though less injured than Henry were still in pretty bad shape. "Come on Guilmon…" Takato said suddenly. Turning, he stepped out of the tent and into the massive shantytown of tents that had formed in the south of the city. The military had set up a perimeter and were managing to keep the wild Digimon away. As soon as he was out of Terriermon's sight, tears filled Takato's eyes. Leaning on Guilmon, the boy thought the heavy feeling in his chest was going to drag him to the ground. "Don't worry Takato, it's going to be ok. It always works out when we're together," said his partner. Though he appreciated these words and hugged his friend all the tighter, for the first time Takato began to doubt them.
It was then that Takato felt it. A slight vibration in the ground, tickling his feet. The vibration then became stronger, rising up to the point that he felt it thrumming in his chest. Then the lights began. Turning towards them, Takato saw a vibrance of lights coming from what he instantly knew to be the headquarters of Hypnos. The flashes seemed like some kind of weaponry mounted on the roof, attempting to keep a storm of advancing digimon at bay. Looking at Guilmon, no words needed to be exchanged between them. They knew who was there and they were the only ones who could stop him. Gripping his Digivice, Takato ran with Guilmon beside him. As once, they jumped.
BIOMERGE ACTIVATE: GUILMON BIOMERGE TO…GALLANTMON!"
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LadyDevimon was enjoying herself supremely. She had heard humans were significantly more fragile than even the weakest Digimon, but she had never imagined the kinds of things that would happen to them when she slashed at them with her claws. Such fun. Herself, Datamon and Vademon had just about dealt with all the humans in the research area except three, not that the rest had put up much of a fight. In fact, once Barbamon's forces had gotten past the inital defences and penetrated the building, they had surrendered almost immediately. But Barbamon wanted information, two pieces in fact, and so far, every human they had "questioned" had not known the answer to either of her master's questions. Oh well, she thought, hope springs eternal. Perhaps the last three would be different. Kneeling in the centre of the room were Mitsuo Yamaki, Riley Ohtori, and Gorou "Shibumi" Mizuno.
"Now," said Datamon, who was connected to Hypnos' central computer, "As I said before, and please remember that I tire of repeating myself- we know you have developed technology for travelling between dimensions, and we know that you have been using digital probes to map dimensional pathways between universes- all our master seeks to know are these two details- how we activate these devices…" he said pointing to the three goldens bands that Vademon held. "…and how do we use them to travel to this dimension?" suddenly on the central computer screen an image flashed up.
All three humans knew instantly what it was, it was the incomplete and confusing information Hypnos had collated and mapped onto a 3D space by sending data- collecting probes outside their own universe using a form of quantum-tunnelling. The probes, conceived by Shibumi and designed by Yamaki, had sent back terabytes of data, which supercomputers had spent weeks interpreting in order to form the map they were now looking at. One dimension in particular was being highlighted in green by Datamon, the dimension marked with the serial number DG-41-898. The last dimension to be mapped before Hypnos lost contact with their probe.
"So…who feels like being helpful?" said Vademon. "No one…how disappointing…LadyDevimon…" from behind, LadyDevimon snatched up Riley Ohtori, who screamed. Almost instantly, Mitsuo Yamaki rose from his feet and dove for a handgun on the floor that had belonged to a guard. Turning, he fired several shots at LadyDevimon, but found the bullets simply bounced off her smiling face. With a laugh, she swatted his face, sending Yamaki flying. He slammed hard against the wall, blood pouring from his left eye and pooling around his head. Riley cried as LadyDevimon raised her above her head, pulling back her other arm to impale Riley on her claws.
"Stop!" yelled Shibumi. "Stop, I'll tell you everything you need to know!". Instantly, LadyDevimon dropped Riley. From the centre of the room, the silent form of Barbamon descended from the ceiling, with Beelzemon beside him. "Good…very good."
Shibumi sagged. From his pocket he took out a small remote. With the click of a button, the ring devices in Vademon's hands activated. "We call them Digi-Bands. If you key in the correct serial number, they convert your body to pure digital information and beam it across dimensions. An index of available dimensions is viewable under on the device display…"
"Excellent, and the dimension I requested?" Barbamon inquired. Shibumi gulped, his pale features somehow becoming even more pale. "Unavailable. We create the data signature by examining something that's physically been in that dimension…and our probe for DG-41-898 never came back…"
For a moment, Barbamon seemed absorbed in thought. "Hmm, an impediment…but I think I can see a way to make this work…" Turning to Vademon and Datamon, he gestured to Shibumi "Take him with us, we may have need of him." He then turned to LadyDevimon and Beelzemon. "And you two…"
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Gallantmon wasted no time, smashing through walls and ceilings of the Hypnos building looking for his enemies. The alarms indicated the building had been mostly evacuated. But it wasn't long before he started finding human bodies. Suppressing a deep feeling of sickness and terror, Gallantmon followed the slowly increasing trail of destruction all the way to the research department of Hypnos. Gallantmon turned a corner into a large computer room just as the far wall was blasted away by Barbamon, who turned slowly to Gallantmon. "Hello abomination," the dark Digimon said merrily "I would of course love to stay, but yet again pressing business takes me elsewhere!"
Gallantmon charged forward, attempting to spike the mega level monster on the end of his lance, but Barbamon was able to easily bat the attack aside with his staff, as if it was no effort for him at all. "What a weak Digimon, who needs a human to be strong…" said Barbamon. Raising his free hand, he stepped forward and pushed against Gallantmon's chest. Gallantmon felt as if he'd been hit with a freight train. Smashing into the back wall, he did not rise again.
"Goodbye abomination…" said Barbamon absently before flying away. Gallantmon lay there for what seemed a long time before Riley Ohtori stumbled over to him. From her jacket, she pulled two golden rings and a small remote. "Listen to me…" she said.
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"And so I followed LadyDevimon and Beelzemon to this dimension…I didn't know exactly what they wanted, so I had to wait for them to strike…I'm sorry about that." Said Takato to the room of digidestined.
"Wait, so why Kari?" said Davis, obviously confused.
"Riley told me Barbamon needed someone who had physically been to the dimension he was looking for…" said Takato uncertainly. "Our digital world maybe?" asked Yolei. Ken gripped the knees of his trousers uncomfortably as everyone around him talked. Finally, closing his eyes, he spoke "I know what dimension it is, it has to be The Dark Ocean."
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Kari awoke in what could only be described as dark and dank cell. Rising to her knees, she confusedly rubbed her eyes, unsure of what that had just occurred had been real. Suddenly reality snapped into focus and she remembered it all so clearly. LadyDevimon. Tai. Oh god. Tai.
Tears began to brim from her eyes. It was then that she felt a hand touch her shoulder. Screaming, she wheeled around and lashed out. Pulling away, a faint figure raised his hands, "I'm sorry…" said the voice from the dark. "…Please, I didn't mean to scare you I swear. I'm a prisoner here, same as you."
"W-who a-are you? said Kari through tears.
"My name is Gorou, but everyone calls me Shibumi."
See you all for Chapter 5 whenever I manage to write it. Some feedback would be seriously appreciated in order to tell me if people are actually reading this/what I'm doing right.