Marlene sighed as she watched Lopmon literally bouncing around her room.
It had obviously been a huge mistake to let her eat those vegetables earlier - and to let her eat so much! She was like a living ping-pong ball, for crying out loud! Were veggies like catnip to Lopmons...? To Digimon in general?
Marlene didn't know. All she knew was that now she had to deal with...this!
"Marlene look what I can do! Looklooklook!"
Marlene looked.
Lopmon puffed up her cheeks to absurd degrees, like two balloons, her ears spreading out like wings, and then she jumped from the high shelf in Marlene's bedroom and started floating overhead, flipping and twisting wildly. She drifted all the way over Marlene's head and hit the opposite wall with a loud oof, the air expelling in a rush, and then she dropped to land flat on the bed - on her face.
Marlene couldn't help but giggle a little at that one, admittedly...
She sat down on the bed and took Lopmon into her arms tightly. "Okay, I think you should calm down now. My aunt's not going to like it if you're like this for too much longer..." She felt bad about the lie, but she had to try something, didn't she?
Lopmon squirmed her way out of Marlene's grasp, hopping on the spot on the bed, her ears flapping with each bounce. Then she stopped, putting her tiny claws to her mouth. "I'm sorry. Alright. It's just something about your human food - it's like I'm so full of energy I'm going to burst open! I've never felt this strong as Lopmon before - not even when I actually was a Lopmon!"
"At least that's good for us...if Helena or any other Digimon show up again," Marlene murmured out, falling back to lay on her bed, flat on her backside.
"Exactly my thoughts." Lopmon crawled up to lay down with her, snuggling against her. "Unless it wears off before then...not that I'm hoping we are attacked again! I want you to be safe, Marlene."
"Thanks, Lopmon..." Marlene whispered.
Laying here like this with Lopmon, hearing those words from her like that...it made her feel safe. And wanted. And loved. And cared for. And it reminded her so much of the nights she used to spend with her mom, just like this... Not always doing anything, like watching TV, or eating snacks, but just...being together like this when Marlene had needed it the most...
But now that was gone. At least with mom.
Marlene hugged Lopmon again, kissing her head and shutting her eyes tight. For a long time, they stayed like that. And at some point, she fell asleep. And it wasn't like her time in this room for the past month, sleeping the days away out of numbness and apathy. It was...it was comfort, it was warmth and a feeling like peace, for once...
Marlene woke up again with a yawn, checking her phone to see that nearly four hours had passed. Lopmon was still laying with her - and still asleep. Marlene didn't want to bother her, but...
It was probably best if they both got up again today.
Marlene gently sat up, nudging Lopmon.
"Huh?" Lopmon mumbled, rousing slowly. She blinked her little eyes and rolled over. She looked up at Marlene. "Marlene...?"
"Hey..." Marlene said quietly. "I think we should get up. Come on."
"Why? Is something happening again?"
"No - but just in case something does..."
"Right...Okay." Lopmon stood, stretching and yawning. "I'm awake and ready for anything."
"I'm sorry," Marlene said. "I don't want to just put everything on you, but...you're kind of our only defense if any more evil Digimon show up."
"It's fine," Lopmon replied. "This is what I'm meant to do," she added earnestly.
"Thank you."
Marlene picked up Lopmon and left her room, wandering out into the living room. She found her aunt there - she was pacing.
"Auntie-" Marlene started quietly.
"Oh! You're awake. Both of you," Aunt Beth said, eyeing Lopmon with a little smile.
"Is everything okay?" Marlene asked.
Aunt Beth sighed. "No. No, there's a lot to think about now, isn't there? And, being honest..." She looked down, toying with that black card that Rachel's dad had given her. "I'm worried about Helena showing up again. If she tried to hurt you again..."
"I have Lopmon," Marlene replied.
"I'm grateful for that - but...still..." Aunt Beth shook her head, striding for the window to peer out of it anxiously. "God, Marlene, I couldn't even protect you from yourself!"
Marlene flinched, shocked at the sudden exclamation. At the contents of it. She looked away, as the now familiar shame and guilt rose in her again. Overwhelming. Suffocating. "I - that wasn't - your fault! And I won't- I won't do it again! I swear, auntie! I- I won't."
Aunt Beth frowned at her. "I don't even know what to do about it," she went on, as if she hadn't heard Marlene. "I'm supposed to take you to a hospital or something like that - to see a therapist or a psychiatrist-"
"I- I would, if you thought I had to," Marlene voiced swiftly, flushing. "I promise I want to get better. I want to!"
"I just..." Aunt Beth sighed again. She flipped the card over in her hand, then pulled out her cellphone. "I'm just going to call Daniel and see if I can't get any more information on all of this..." she decided firmly. Just as she began hitting the numbers on her cell, however, her phone started ringing. She glanced at it, then at the card, and then immediately answered it. "Hello? Daniel? I was just about to call you. I need more answers about my sister and-" She suddenly cut herself short, her mouth dropping. "Are you sure - okay. Okay. What should we do, then? Come to you or wait-? Alright." she hung up, and then she turned to Marlene.
Marlene could already tell the obvious: something was happening. Something bad. "What is it, auntie?" she asked. She wondered if Rachel was okay. Aunt Beth ran her hand through her hair. She strode over to the TV, flipped through the channels until she landed on the local news. As Marlene looked at the screen, she felt a cold horror grip her heart.
On the TV screen, a live feed was playing - reporters in what looked to be downtown. The heart of Wallgate. The camera was aimed upward, up beyond the skyscrapers boxing them in. The footage zoomed in...on a figure that could only be a Digimon of some kind! It was...a giant, gleaming, white-armored being, with blue markings on its chest. It had a golden shoulder plate on its left arm that looked like a medieval shield, and a helmet with a long white horn on it. It had long yellow claws for toes. But the most striking features of all had to be the fact that its arms were not in any way normal arms: they were massive cannons. One gold, one blue. Like Samus or Megaman on steroids! And lastly, there was a long, billowing cloth cape of white on the outside, and a bloody velvet red on the inside. It was also wearing some strange, black collar around its neck - with pulsing red lines on it.
It was hard to even tell how big this Digimon might really be, just from the footage, but Marlene thought it had to be at least...twenty feet tall? Twenty-five? More?
The Digimon was just...hovering there in the sky above the city, catching the sun like some majestic higher being.
Maybe Marlene could have thought that it was something less dangerous or threatening - but there was the fact that Helena was there, too, standing in the middle of a blocked off street. The woman was in her full on "evil empress" outfit - and physical appearance, too. Not that pale, short-haired young woman with green eyes anymore: she had that superhumanly gorgeous appearance, the extreme bustiness, the separately colored eyes, and that incredibly long, deep blue hair that made her look like an anime girl come to life. That black and red, complicated gown of jewels and ruffles swayed with the winds along with her absurdly long hair.
What was she going to do this time? Marlene thought in panic.
Time wasn't frozen; there wasn't some digital barrier around the area this time. It was just Helena, that Digimon...and this.
"Omnimon..." came the whispered, higher-than-even-her-usual voice of Lopmon.
"That's who that Digimon is...?" Marlene breathed, looking down at Lopmon.
Lopmon looked up at her slowly, and gave a tiny, tight nod. "Marlene...Omnimon is one of the strongest Digimon in our entire world - not just one of the strongest leaders of the Royal Knights. They've single-handedly defeated an entire army of thousands of Mega level Digimon before, who once came together in an attempt to overthrow the Empress's rule. Even if I were able to evolve into my final, Mega form - Cherubimon - and even if we had Mega forms for LadyDevimon and Angewomon too...we'd stand little to no chance of winning."
A single Digmion...strong enough to wipe out an army?
If other Digimon couldn't stand a chance against them, then what hope would any human militaries have...? And Marlene was sure they were going to respond to this Omnimon's appearance sooner rather than later! Unless there was the hope that human weapons were actually stronger than any kind of energy Digimon could put out in their attacks...
But the only way to ever find that out was to fight.
And if it ended up being a slaughter...
Why? What was Helena trying to do here, what did she even want out of this?
"Did Rachel's dad say where she is right now?" Marlene found herself speaking, as if from far away.
Aunt Beth answered immediately, quietly, jarring loose from her own fearful gazing at the TV. "They're...there. Downtown. Some government building, a couple blocks away. But Daniel said that they - that we - just need to-"
Marlene was heading for the door before she could stop herself. She really wanted to stop herself - this was crazy - it was terrifying - but it was...
"Marlene, where are you going?" Aunt Beth demanded.
"I have to find Rachel - I have to...try to talk to Helena again," Marlene answered. Gave both answers on her mind right then. "She said she was going to give me time to think. She didn't say she was going to come back with some kind of super powerful Digimon and- openly terrorize the city. Maybe if I can talk to her, convince her not to do this-"
"NO! Marlene, you're staying put! You can't just go right up to this woman and-" Aunt Beth started, crossing the apartment and seizing Marlene's arm. Really tightly.
"I'm probably the only one she'll even listen to - or let get near her," Marlene argued, suddenly having an argument - with a thought. With...something like a stupid, insane plan. Or, part of a plan. "What if Lopmon and I go, and I talk to her, and I distract her or get her guard down - and then...Lopmon can...go for it?"
"Marlene, no. That's crazy, it's s-"
"Suicide?" Marlene choked out, somehow feeling the urge to giggle. What was wrong with her? Was she really going insane? Becoming as crazy as Rachel? "Maybe. But I've already been there and done that, haven't I, Aunt Beth?"
"And is that why you want to do this?" Aunt Beth responded, her face paling. "Do you want this woman to- to kill you?"
"She won't," Marlene said, shaking her head. She knew that. She was...certain of it. Helena's actions so far concerning Marlene, her first reactions on meeting her at the school...no matter what, it all added up to the fact that she didn't want Marlene dead because of her relation to- to mom. And if Marlene could see that, and if she could use that...to stop this, to save...then she had to try it. She'd already faced the woman before, and come out of it unhurt, hadn't she? She could do it again! And maybe just Marlene's presence would stop the woman from ordering that Digimon to hurt anyone - or worse - for fear of hurting Marlene...
Maybe...maybe...it was so many maybes. But it was all Marlene had. And she knew she just had to.
"I'm not letting you go," Aunt Beth said fiercely. "I lost my sister already, I almost lost you last night and I didn't even know it - I can't risk that again!"
"I know - but I can," Marlene murmured, looking down at Lopmon. She drew a deep breath, and then she sprang into motion, tearing her arm free and shoving out at her aunt - sending her stumbling back to fall flat on her butt in pure shock! Marlene turned and bolted for the door, wrenching it open and sprinting out onto the street.
"MARLENE, STOP!" her aunt's voice yelled after her.
Marlene ignored it, racing off down the block, out of view of the apartment. She went around the corner to the right, ran on, and then she turned and went left down an alley (in case her aunt tried to track her down by car).
Marlene knew she'd arrived too late when she started hearing the sounds, a few blocks over still.
It was gunfire! Loud, booming sounds one after another - so much louder than the movies made them seem like!
There were yelling voices and screeching metal - the buildings shook around her.
Marlene stopped, panting with exhaustion, leaning against a wall and closing her eyes.
Lopmon shifted in her arms, hopping down to the ground with a little puff of air. "Marlene, there's absolutely no possible way I can win against Omnimon - or the Empress. There's nothing you can do, either...I'm sorry."
"No, I can still do this, I can talk to her, I can get her to go back to the Digital World and at least not- bother any of us here," Marlene bit out, even as she felt guilty about the idea of just shoving the problem back into some other world. The Digital World hadn't asked for this any more than her world had! "And maybe that would - give people here time to figure out a way to beat her. Or disable her powers. Or something? If she got this way by making computer programs and stuff, then what if some really smart hackers or something found a way to do the same thing? Or to- to infect her with a virus or-"
"Marlene..." Lopmon said gently, cutting her off.
"What...?" Marlene said, looking down at her.
Lopmon frowned intensely. She blinked. She looked down, away... Then she shook her head. "If this is what you want, I'll support the plan. I hope it works. But if I'm going to support you in this, then you need to support me too. I need you...to bring up some very strong emotions for me."
"What? Why?"
"That's how a Tamer helps their Digimon Partner evolve. Human emotions are so powerful, they give us a limitless energy - a burst of unlimited power - that lets us instantly Digivolve. What naturally takes us years and decades of life to achieve can be done in an instant. Like flipping a switch. It's the bond between us, Marlene. I need you to feel it for me, and I need you to feel for me...and help me Digivolve. Right here and right now. At least then, I could be a little less useless in protecting you."
Marlene stared down at Lopmon, as more loud booms echoed through the streets, and the buildings quavered again. Dust and little rocks came loose, landing nearby. Car horns and screeching tires were heard - and then several vehicles went racing by!
Was it getting closer?
"Marlene!" Lopmon snapped, her little face scrunched up. Her eyes blazing. "Can't you get angry about this?! She's going to ruin your city, she's going to destroy your people - she's probably going to try and do here what she did to my world! Maybe she wants to expand? Aren't you frustrated and angry about all this talk about her and your mother? The idea that your mother could hurt your father like that, that she could secretly just go and spend her days with another lover behind his back? That your mother was-"
"SHUT UP!" Marlene shrieked, stomping a foot and whirling away. She shoved out and hit at the wall! Concrete. She didn't care. She hit and hit, throbbing, bursting- bleeding- She growled and smacked her palms to the wall, watching her scraped, bloody knuckles drip. She heaved a gasping breath, her vision blurring...
Suddenly her Digivice began beeping and whistling in her pocket, startling her out of her foggy state of mind! Marlene reached a shaking hand down to pull it out - and saw the screen was on. It was glowing pure green. She turned around again-
And saw Lopmon suddenly shoot up into the air, surrounded by a swirling pillar of green energy, like twisting serpents. The energy formed around Lopmon high in the air, like a cocoon, and it began to change into solid green digital cubes. The cubes glowed brightly and exploded outward, dissolving into nothingness. As the light faded, Marlene found herself staring up in disbelief at what used to be Lopmon. It wasn't anymore: it was Antylamon now! Her form from when they'd first met, in her world. That tall, lanky, bipedal bunny...woman. Person!
"A-Antylamon..." Marlene whispered, staring up at her. She was so big now. Marlene had almost forgotten. She was definitely twenty, twenty-five feet tall. In that range. A lumbering monster. But she was so light on her feet, so graceful and fluid, even here, as she knelt down in front of Marlene, resting her arms on her knees. Marlene noticed it immediately. Antylamon moved so effortlessly for her size, like she weighed so much less or something... "S-sorry for snapping at you..." she squeaked.
Antylamon shook her head, her small mouth forming a smile. "No, I'm sorry for hurting you like that. Even if it was to make you feel strong enough emotions for me to Digivolve...I'm sorry, Marlene."
"It's okay!" Marlene assured. "Now - um - let's go and..."
Antylamon leaned forward, placing her hands cupped together on the ground. "Would you mind if I carried you for a change?"
Marlene hesitated. But it was fair enough, she knew. Lopmon had to have just...trusted her every time she picked her up. Now Marlene had to do the same. So she nodded, stepping forward carefully onto Antylamon's hands. Antylamon gently lifted her up, bringing her to her right shoulder. Marlene shakily stepped off onto Antylamon's shoulder. Then, one of Antylamon's long, straight ears went limp, falling down next to her.
"Grab on tight," Antylamon told her, turning her head slightly to look at her with one eye.
"It won't hurt?" Marlene asked.
"It might, but not enough to be a real problem for me," Antylamon replied.
"Okay..." Marlene hesitantly reached out, and gingerly grabbed hold of Antylamon's long ear.
Antylamon stood up slowly with her, then turned to look down the street. "Are you ready?"
"Yeah...I am."
"Alright."
Antylamon started to move - slowly at first, but then picking up speed. It was a surprisingly smooth ride, even as terrified as Marlene was about it still. She realized it was almost like Antylamon was gliding more than walking. Each step was long and easy, like slow motion but not. It was hard to describe, or even try to understand. Marlene thought it was like the idea of Antylamon somehow being lighter than she should have been - it was something to do with physics.
Mainly, the fact that it was just plain impossible.
But then, everything about Digimon was like that, wasn't it?
Antylamon ran through the streets, and as they did they started to see drifting smoke, to smell burning fire, and to see more and more people fleeing in every direction but the one they were going in. A running crowd of people saw Antylamon and yelped at the sight of her, darting off to the side and ducking into a building. Marlene winced, berating herself - she should have expected that to happen! Antylamon was just another "monster", to anyone else! At one point Antylamon had to jump over a speeding truck; she soared over it, in that strange slow motion way, so gentle and graceful, and when they landed on the street again Marlene hardly budged from her position.
They rounded a corner, and at last - things came into startling view.
There were crumbled up, torn apart, sliced in half vehicles all around the area. There were scorch marks on the sides of nearby skyscrapers - one of which had its entire front blown out, glass and twisted metal littering the sidewalk. There were a few police officers hanging around the corner, and a whole lot more military people. Three dozen soldiers, with army trucks and heavy weapons. More seemed to be coming in down the streets on all sides. There were helicopters overhead, loudly vibrating. There was a blown out news van, too, with a camera crew hiding behind it.
Marlene's eyes found Helena. Helena, who was standing there in the middle of the street, unbothered by anything around her. Every bullet fired at her seemed to just hit some kind of rippling, invisible forcefield, falling harmlessly to the ground. She had her arms folded across her large chest, looking almost bored. Helena lifted her wrist and gave it a flick; half a truck suddenly just zoomed off down the street, striking several soldiers and sending them rolling across the ground with a horrible sound!
Was Helena...playing with them? Like it was...just a game or something to her?
"HELENA STOP!" Marlene yelled out, as loud as she could over all the sounds of this terrible fight in the middle of her home city.
Helena startled, her gaze rising, and finding Marlene - and Antylamon, too. She looked genuinely caught off guard, and confused, too, a bit. But then she smiled. She lifted up off the ground and flew forward, stopping in front of Marlene in less than two seconds!
Antylamon stepped backwards, raising an arm in an instant, a green light swirling around it as it morphed into some double-ended blade weapon!
Helena half-raised one of her arms, and Antylamon's blade struck an invisible wall, sparks flying at the point of impact. She ignored Antylamon, looking squarely at Marlene. "It's nice to see you again. It's been-"
"Longer for you?" Marlene cut across, trying to glare. To be strong. To be at least some kind of not...totally panty-pissing terrified. "You said that last time. I know. I get it. Why are you here? What are you doing?"
"Well...I realized, of course, that the only way I could ever make you come around to my view of things was to..." Helena tilted her head left, then right, as if searching for the right way to phrase things. "...was to be more proactive with you than I was with your mother. I waited too long, and now she's gone, and neither of us can ever get her back. I won't make that mistake again."
"What are you even talking about?"
"Your mother made the smart choice not to fight me," Helena spoke on - as if a hailstorm of bullets weren't still pelting the barrier around her...around Marlene and Antylamon, now, too. "But I still hoped to convince her. I wanted her to see the Digital World the way I do. The potential it has for life. It can be a paradise. A paradise where we could have ruled over it together as queens - goddesses. She could have had everything, anything she wanted: all she could have ever imagined, given to her with a snap of my fingers! I would have given her anything! And now I'd give anything to have her back! But that...that's beyond me, apparently. But, as I said, I'm not making the same mistake twice."
"Get- get to the point," Marlene tried to bite out, like she was brave. Like some kind of heroine from her favorite video games. But for those heroines, it was always effortless to be so brave. For her...it was like moving through concrete just to try. And she was terrified of the backlash, as pathetic as that sounded...
"The point..." Helena's smile grew wider. She drifted closer still, and her hand found Marlene's cheek. "The point is that I'm going to give you the offer I was going to give her. Come with me: to the Digital World. I'll give you paradise. I'll give you anything you desire. I'll make you queen of the world, alongside myself. I'll give you eternal life, eternal youth. Twenty-thousand years and I haven't aged, I haven't fallen ill, I haven't had to suffer and choke in weakness and pain! And you can have all of that, too. I'll give it all to you...if you'll stay by my side - like your mother used to. You can leave this world behind, all the pain and grief - boring days at school and teenage drama - all of it can be over for you. Instead, you can have everything in the world, you can have adventure, power, pleasure-"
"I just want this to stop," Marlene whispered out. "I want you to stop. Just go back - go back to your Digital World and...leave us alone. Leave me alone. Okay? Because I'm...I'm never going to join you or anything like that. The- the heroine doesn't accept the villain's offer to do that. It just doesn't happen."
Helena chuckled with amusement, letting her hand fall away. "You think you can fight me, then? That you can be the 'hero'? Not as smart as your mother, then. You could at least choose to stay out of my way. But if you're going to make this into a fight - a war - then I'll...be more than prepared to wage war against you in return. I'd rather not - I wouldn't want to disrespect Jessica that way - but if you force this...I'll treat you no differently than I did the others."
"This doesn't have to be a fight! Why can't you just - stop? Stop enslaving Digimon, stop hurting people, stop-"
"The Digital World is mine - and mine to do with as I please," Helena said simply - casually. "And if you're going to try and pursue me there, put yourself into the middle of my-"
"I- I w-will!" Marlene stammered out, trying to look the woman in the face. To raise her chin, to be...strong. Bold. "Because you're right: I'm not my mom! Maybe mom couldn't fight you, for whatever reasons she had, but I'm not her, and I don't give- two- stupid shits about you as a person! You're just an evil empress who's hurting innocent Digimon, and now innocent humans, and you have to be stopped! And if I'm one of the only people with the power to do that, then fine! I'll do it! I WILL! I DON'T CARE! BUT I WON'T LET ANYONE ELSE DIE IN FRONT OF ME!"
"Hell of a speech, goth goddess! You get her, girl - WOOH!"
Marlene lifted her gaze, staring past Helena. Helena turned, too, rotating in the air.
LadyDevimon and Angewomon were soaring down the streets toward them, with armor and wings and all just looking - as magnificent as ever. And, of course, Rachel was riding on LadyDevimon's back, clinging to her neck, with a look of utterly giddy joy on her face.
The two Digimon came to a stop, hovering before Marlene, Antylamon, and Helena.
A black car came speeding down the street below them, screeching to a halt. Out of it came several figures - Marlene only recognized Rachel's parents. But there was another girl her and Rachel's age (the sister that had been mentioned before by her dad?), and a tall, broad-shouldered man in a longcoat, with dark messy hair hanging over his eyes. There was also...another Digimon! It was half the height of the girl who Marlene presumed to be Rachel's sister, and looked like some kind of...jellyfish thing. With big eyes and a wide mouth, and long, thin arms. It hovered a few feet off the ground, bobbing in the air gently.
"THIS IS COMMANDER SAMPSON OF THE D.A.T.S. MILITARY DIVISION: ALL ACTIVE COMBATANTS HOLD YOUR FIRE!" the broad-shouldered man shouted out, in a booming voice - aided by a small megaphone he'd taken out of his coat. He raised a badge with a strange symbol on it up into the air as he ran forward, right into the thick of it all! Toward Antylamon, Marlene, and Helena.
To Marlene's surprise, the soldiers in the area all slowly began to obey! They stopped firing, hunkered behind covers and tending to their wounded instead. Taking their chance in an ordered moment of silence. They all seemed to have recognized what this Commander Sampson guy had said. But Marlene had never even heard of it before. Not that she was a big military buff or anything, though, so that probably counted for...nothing.
Helena stared down at the tall, intimidatingly muscular guy - this Commander. Marlene saw recognition on her face. And total surprise. Then, she gave a little smile and a shake of her head. "You really can't help sticking your nose where it doesn't belong, can you, Detective?"
"It's Commander, now - especially to you," Commander Sampson responded loudly - but coolly. He strode forward down the street, stowing his badge away and tossing the megaphone to the side. He then...pulled out a pair of sunglasses and put them on.
Was this really the time for that, Marlene wondered, baffled.
"Well then, by all means, Commander: do something to stop me," Helena mocked him. "You couldn't stop my Digimon before - and there's nothing you can do this time, either. If these new Tamers can't do anything against me...you're even less than helpless in the face of me. And...in the face of them..." She raised an arm, pointing a finger up into the sky - to the looming, hovering figure of Omnimon. "So tell me what you're going to do, Richard. Are you going to order a nuke strike on me? Are you going to destroy this entire city, just to try and hurt me - or them?"
Command Sampson simply gazed up at her, unfazed. Unamused. "Enough posturing, Helena. Tell me what you want."
Helena turned back to Marlene, and gave an absent little gesture. "I want her. And I want the rest of you to agree to stay out of my way for the rest of your short lives in this miserable world we call Earth. Don't come after me, don't try anything. If I see even a hint of you in my Digital World, I'll send everything I have after you." Her eyes found Rachel's parents, as she went on. "The mercy I paid you last time - simply booting you out of my world and letting you live - was obviously a mistake. And I don't intend to repeat my mistakes."
Commander Sampson considered her for a long moment. Almost ten full seconds. Then, he raised his head skyward, leaning back slightly. Looking to Omnimon. "And that?" he said idly, almost casually.
"They...are here in case you all force me to have to show you just why it would be a mistake to come after me - to try and interfere with my rule," Helena replied.
Commander Sampson shook his head, putting his hands in his coat pockets. He began stepping forward again, slowly, casually. "No. We both know that isn't true. That Digimon wouldn't be here at all if you weren't already planning to make some show of force. You've had a long time to plan this - six to eight months now, if my calculations are correct - and you've planned to demonstrate your power today...regardless of the choices we do or don't make here today."
Helena gazed at him in surprise. Then she began to laugh. "Still as annoyingly perceptive as ever, Detective. That mind of yours...it's annoying. But - it's true."
Marlene felt her breath leave her lungs.
"One swing of their sword...and Omnimon can cleave a swathe through this city," Helena spoke on. "One offhand blast of their cannon, and there will be a several hundred blocks wide crater in the middle of this city. A few more blasts and they can turn this entire city into smoking ruins. If they were to use a charged attack, they could probably wipe it all out in one shot."
"And that is what you're planning to do."
"I won't repeat my mistakes," Helena uttered, her voice tight. Her different colored eyes narrowing. "Especially not when you've all gathered yourselves here for me like this - it's so convenient. So perfect. All the threats to my rule...I can get rid of you in one fell swoop."
"If you do this, you realize you're likely going to unite the entire Earth against you," Commander Sampson said firmly. "Think it through, Helena. Threats aren't deterrents. Terrorism like this isn't going to make us all back off - it's going to make us come after you with everything we have. All the humans of the world will find a way to cross over, and they'll work with all the Digimon of the Digital World, all united against and focused on bringing down you. Your power is overwhelming, compared to normal humans, and compared to even the most powerful Mega Digimon. But...do you think it will always be that way? Do you think you're the only one who can use the power of that dimension? You've seen it before - Daniel, Jessica, and the others. They were able to exert their will onto the Digital World, and the place it was before it was the Digital World, and change it. Change themselves. Eventually, too many people will learn to harness that power like you have, and they'll destroy you with it. You won't be able to handle an equal fight."
"Are you done?" Helena said mildly. She turned her gaze to Rachel, LadyDevimon and Angewomon, now. Her eyes flickered to Angewomon, widening slightly in surprise. "A Holy Knight? Partnered to a human Tamer?"
"I didn't want this to happen! I don't even know how it happened," Angewomon immediately spoke up, drifting forward on the air. "Empress, this human, somehow she-"
"Quiet, quiet," Helena said with a sigh, waving a hand. "I don't care; I don't need to hear it. I'd thought all you Royal Knights were loyal to me, but apparently not. Somehow you fell through the cracks. Did that LadyDevimon convince you to betray me? She has a nasty habit of causing me trouble...apparently even more than I ever realized."
"I can still-" Angewomon started, loud and desperate.
"I said quiet!" Helena yelled, clenching her fist before her. Angewomon suddenly seized up, a pained shriek emerging from her, as green cubes of light floated off of her body. Helena slashed her arm down in front of her, and Angewomon was slammed down onto the street - flat on her face! She hit so hard the asphalt cracked, shattering under her. Helena took a deep breath of air, lowering her arm. "I'll just have to make a new one when I get back," she murmured to herself, turning back to Marlene now. "I'll just make sure the new one knows to be more properly devoted to her empress."
"Helena!" Commander Sampson shouted out.
Helena stopped, whirling back again. Her face was etched with fury, her long blue hair flying out around her. "The name is Empress Aine, thank you, Richard!" She raised her hand, fingers curled into claws. Commander Sampson was lifted up into the air...and then with a swipe of her hand, Helena sent him flying off to one side to strike the side of a truck!
"Bad move, bitch!" Rachel yelled out. LadyDevimon surged forward, with Rachel on her back! LadyDevimon conjured a long black scythe, glowing with red energy. She slashed it for Helena. And in that same moment she did, Rachel jumped up off of LadyDevimon and threw herself at Helena with a fist swinging!
Helena raised her hand, and LadyDevimon's scythe hit an invisible barrier and bounced off, sending her floating backwards.
Rachel's fist struck that barrier, her voice yelling out, her face twisted with raw rage and fury, her blonde hair billowing around her. For a moment, she just seemed to hang there, defying physics just like Helena - and then a golden light glowed from her hip (her Digivice?), and her body itself started to glow! Energy surged through her visibly, a light rippling within her, traveling down her arm and straight into her fist. Then, her fist sank into the barrier, causing cracks to appear in the middle of the air. Like cracks in reality.
Helena looked shocked out of her mind, staring at Rachel in that moment. And scared. "W-what is-"
"You hurt Commander Underwear Model, you hurt my bitchy angel, you threatened to blow up my city, and...you want to kidnap my girlfriend!" Rachel listed off furiously. "Top five reasons why someone should have warned you not to fuck with Rachel Kreissberg!"
Rachel's fist suddenly tore through the barrier completely, continued on, and struck Helena in the face!
Helena gasped, spiraling out of the air and hitting the ground hard. She rolled and slammed up against a piece of debris. She breathed rapidly, raising her head, her eyes jittery as they found Rachel again. "Y-you...you...wha- you're j-just some- little girl- this isn't- no one ever- did anything like that before..."
Rachel landed on the ground on bent knees with a thud. She let out a woosh of air, then stared down at herself. At her still glowing body. She curled her fist, then smacked it to her palm, setting her eyes on Helena. "Hah! Poor, confused bitch! There's no use crying about it. Just take the ass-beating with some dignity, why don't you?" She stalked forward, raising her fist before her threateningly. Tauntingly. "Let me tell you: it's going to be one for the ages."
Helena's jaw clenched, and she suddenly shot up to her feet. She flew straight up, up, up into the air - hundreds of feet in seconds! She shot up to hover next to the giant armored Digimon. "OMNIMON: DESTROY HER, NOW! DESTROY IT ALL!"
Rachel froze, her face changing. The glow evaporated as she blinked up at the sky. Her arm slowly fell to her side. "What...?"
Omnimon lowered their head, and extended their long right arm - the huge blue arm cannon. Megaman cannon. And like Megaman...it began to glow from within. A small light that became a large, swirling blue sphere of energy at the end of the barrel!
"A-Antylamon, whatdowedo?!" Marlene rattled out, feeling herself becoming distant and detached again - from her own self...
"I..." Antylamon hesitated, her voice breaking. "I'm not sure-"
What could they do, what could they even hope to do...to stop this, to avoid it...? If it was like facing a nuclear blast...? If it was really going to just...destroy the whole city...and they only had a matter of seconds left...?
Marlene's brain was mush. It was cold. It was gone.
She couldn't even-
"DIGIVICES!" Rachel yelled out. She yanked out hers, turning and racing over to the car - to her family. She pressed a button and held it out: a golden light pillar flew down in front of them. "Digital World - go - now! At least we can-"
"RACHEL-!" her dad started to yell out.
"DAD, DON'T HAVE TIME TO ARGUE-" Rachel shouted back over him.
"ONLY HOLDERS OF DIGIVICES, OR DIGIMON THEMSELVES, CAN PASS THROUGH THE GATES!" her dad yelled on, even as she yelled at him.
Rachel fell silent. She stumbled back. "Wh-what...?"
Her dad grabbed the other girl, Rachel's sister, and pushed her right into the light. The girl vanished instantly. Her Digimon didn't hesitate to quickly float in after her, vanishing as well! Rachel's dad looked at her mom - at his wife. "Go," he said, hard. "Keep them safe. I love you - I've never regretted meeting you."
"Hang on a second, dad, you can't be- this is f-fucking-" Rachel's shaking voice emerged.
"I love you too - you and your sister. More than I can ever say!" Her dad seized Rachel, spun her around, and shoved her into her mom - knocking them both into the golden light pillar.
LadyDevimon swooped down to seize Angewomon's arms, picking her up and flying into the "Gate" with her, going after their Tamer. After Rachel.
"MARLENE!" Antylamon yelled. "Open a gate for us! Hurry!"
Marlene startled, plunging her trembling hand into her own pocket. She took her Digivice and fumbled with it badly, but managed to hit the right button. A large pillar of light flew down in front of them. Antylamon wasted no time in just...jumping straight forward, right into it.
In the exact moment that Antylamon made her leap, a massive blue light erupted in the sky, on the edge of Marlene's vision, and the skyscrapers around her began to shine with the reflection of a brilliant blue light that enveloped everything...
Marlene's mind came back to her again in full, filled with a single, paralyzing thought: What about Aunt Beth...?