shudder pulse shudder pulse shudder
The bolt of light was soundless as it came crashing down, hitting the D-Reaper mass and washing out, waves of light pulsing and out through the city, washing over us.
shudder pulse shudder pulse shudder
The D-Reaper mass writhed, and then stilled, vanishing into oblivion, cast out of existence by Gallantmon's attack.
None was spared. Nothing else was targeted. All of the mass faded away, the entirety of Shinjuku cleared of it in a mere second.
I turned my senses outwards, searching for even a single sign of the D-Reaper's presence, looking for a patch of reality that was even slightly distorted by the D-Reaper's presence.
I found nothing.
Anywhere.
Not in Shinjuku. Not in Tokyo. Not in Japan.
Not in the world.
Quo Vadis...
What a terrifying power.
"Did it work?"
"I can no longer sense any instances of the D-Reaper." I condensed my form a little, setting Rika and Renamon on a bed of Darkness. "Anywhere. On the entire planet." I looked at the Digital World, staring at the Hearts within. I saw...
A lot of confusion, for one.
"Good." He nodded. "Yamaki?"
There was silence for a few moments, before Yamaki's hesitant, shocked voice came again. "We're... not detecting any. According to the data from Azulongmon... even the D-Reaper in the Digital World is gone. What the hell did you do?"
"Quo Vadis." Gallantmon turned to MegaGargomon and me. "Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going to sleep for a week."
There was a flash of light as Gallantmon disintegrated, Takato and Guilmon beginning to fall to the ground.
I caught them before they could, bringing them up and depositing the pair next to Rika and Renamon.
All four were unconscious, dead to the world.
MegaGargomon came closer, examining them. "Will they be okay?"
"They'll be fine." I assured him.
I moved, heading back down to the rooftop.
I pulled Takato, Guilmon, Rika, and Renamon off of me, gently setting them down on the rooftop.
MegaGargomon floated down slowly, touching the roof before degenerating, splitting back into Henry and Terriermon.
Henry stumbled slightly as he stepped forwards, before shaking his head and coming to a stop next to his friends.
I shifted, returning to my cloaked, coated form.
"Well." Terriermon hopped onto Henry's head. "That was fun."
Henry sighed.
I looked over Rika and Renamon, carefully examining them.
They were a bit banged up, but their injuries didn't reflect the extent that Sakuyamon had taken.
Probably for the best. Sakuyamon certainly hadn't been in a good way.
Takato and Guilmon were fine, nothing wrong with either of them that I could see.
"Something wrong?"
"No." I shook my head. "They're just tired. Not surprising, since they apparently wiped out the D-Reaper, everywhere, across an entire planet and two dimensions."
A beeping sound caught my attention, and I reached into Takato's pocket, pulling out the communicator that Azulongmon had given him.
"Would somebody please explain to me what just happened?" The aforementioned Sovereign spoke, his voice remarkably brittle.
"Takato and Guilmon just happened." I shook my head. Not that Azulongmon could see that. "If what I sensed was correct... then Takato and Guilmon hit the D-Reaper with an attack that disintegrated it into subatomic particles, and then banished those particles into the space between dimensions, where they were obliterated."
"They did what?"
"They killed the D-Reaper." I simplified. "I can't sense it anymore, anywhere. Not in this world, not in the Digital World." I paused. "If you would be so kind as to make sure that they managed to get all of it, that would be much appreciated. I don't want to get caught off guard just in case it turns out that they didn't. Henry, Terriermon, we're going to see the others."
"I'll have it done." Azulongmon's voice boomed from the communicator. "Contact me as soon as you can."
"Shouldn't take too long." The communicator went silent, automatically turning off.
I turned to Henry. "You ready?"
He nodded.
I twisted space-
And we all appeared in the room housing the Monster Makers, a number of Hypnos' scientists, and Yamaki.
"Henry!" Janyu rushed over, looking over his son.
I picked up Takato, depositing him on a couch, and then did the same to Rika and Renamon. Guilmon, I shifted over to the foot of the couch that Takato was on- he was too big to fit on the couch. Yamaki walked over to me.
"Rika and Renamon are hurt," I pre-empted Yamaki's question. "Takato and Guilmon are unharmed, but tired."
He nodded. "What happened?"
"Sakuyamon got hit by something that the D-Reaper spawned." I turned to him. "I destroyed it, the D-Reaper formed another, Sakuyamon took that one down, and then gave the last of her power to Megidramon." I looked at her for a moment. "Megidramon turned into another Digimon -a variant of Gallantmon- and then wiped out the D-Reaper."
"Gallantmon?" Gorou asked. "I've heard of it- a Mega Level Digimon species nearly as old the Sovereigns." He frowned. "Guilmon sure does have a weird Digivolution line. Megidramon and Gallantmon..."
"And after that?" Yamaki asked.
"Azulongmon contacted us, I asked him to check if the D-Reaper survived, then I brought them back here."
He nodded.
He reached into his pocket, pulling out his phone, dialling a number.
"Dad, I'm fine." Henry pushed away. "It was Rika and Renamon who got hurt, not me and Terriermon."
"Lay off, Tao." Gorou walked up to him, smiling. "Your kid's fine."
"I know, it's just..."
"Miss Nonaka?" Yamaki spoke. "Yes, your daughter is okay."
"That's it then?" Babel asked.
"Unless they missed a part, the D-Reaper is well and truly dead." I responded.
"It cannot come back?" Aishwarya asked.
"It really shouldn't be able to." I looked at her. "That said, I'm not taking any chances. Until we know for certain that not even a single bit of it survived, we should stay on our guard."
"Of course." She nodded.
"Mrs Matsuki?" Yamaki asked. "Yes, your son is okay."
It was only a full week later, after absolutely no sign of the D-Reaper appearing anywhere, that we finally relaxed.
By all indications, the D-Reaper was well and truly dead and gone.
I glanced at Takato and Guilmon, noting that the two were currently chatting with Rika, Renamon, Henry, Terriermon, Jeri, and Leomon.
Rika and Renamon were doing well, considering the injuries they'd had only a week ago. Renamon had healed completely within the first three days, while Rika had healed within six.
Neither of them had anything to show that they were ever injured in the first place. Not scars, not discoloured patches of skin, not even the tiniest remnants of the damage remained.
It didn't escape anybody's notice that she had healed far faster than Humans were capable of, and that she didn't have anything to show for it.
"The preliminary estimations are in." Yamaki said, walking into the room, promptly cutting off all the conversation in the room.
"Do tell."
"In terms of property damage;" He dropped a folder on a desk, taking a seat. "Estimations range anywhere between several billion to several trillion yen. Most lean towards the upper end of that scale. And that's just Shinjuku, alone, as direct result of the D-Reaper." He frowned. "In terms of lives; estimations of casualties range anywhere between several hundred to tens of thousands, again as a direct result of the D-Reaper, in Shinjuku, alone."
For a moment, a solemn silence stretched throughout the room.
"And the rest of the world?" I asked.
"Estimations begin in the hundreds of thousands." He looked around. "The only reason they are that low is because of the D-Reaper's slow rate of growth, and the speed at which it was dealt with."
"I got word from Azulongmon earlier." Gorou began. "According to him, approximately seven percent of all inhabitants of the Digital World were deleted. On top of this, approximately eighteen percent of the Digital World itself was deleted."
I hung my head.
So... so many lives lost.
"Well... at least we stopped it quickly?" Takato gave an odd smile.
"Indeed." Gorou nodded. "A few more days, and the casualties would have mounted exponentially. That the D-Reaper was stopped as... well, as quickly as it was, is incredible."
Went far better than canon, at least.
The thought didn't cheer me up too much, but it was something.
"It could have been far worse."
Gorou nodded.
"Still, it's over." He picked up a sheet of paper, staring at it for a moment.
Silence rang out through the room.
"Now what?" Rika asked.
"Life continues." I shrugged. "The D-Reaper has been dealt with. There aren't any more looming threats to deal with. There isn't anything to do."
I leaned back. "Now is the time when you take the nice, relaxing vacation you earned when you saved the world. I imagine that, now that the apocalypse has been cancelled, everybody in this room has some catching up to do."
I looked up.
"What about you?" Rika looked at me. "What are you going to do?"
"I guess I go back to doing what I came here to do in the first place." I didn't fancy my chances, but I probably should at least attempt to find the Keyhole to this World. "Now that I didn't an excuse to drag me away from it, anyway."
"What?"
"Ah, don't concern yourself about it. I just have to search for something that will be exceedingly hard to find."
I really did not fancy my chances.
A light chirping sound caught my attention, and I held my hand out. "Need help?"
The DigiGnome landed in my hand, smiling.
"Hello again." I greeted it.
"What are you looking for?" Gorou asked.
To tell or not to tell...
"Have you ever heard of something called the Keyhole?"
The DigiGnome sprang up, letting out a loud trilling sound. "I know!"
I looked at it. "You know what that is."
It floated upwards, spinning in a circle.
"Do you think you could lead me to it?"
It rapidly nodded, grinning.
It grabbed onto my hand, and p̢͝ų͜͝ļ̛l͞e̢͜d́.
We drifted through a blank, white corridor, the DigiGnome tugging me through it.
"You're certainly excited, aren't you?"
Again, it rapidly nodded.
I looked around, staring at the dimensions around us.
We were in a connection between dimensions, similar, in function alone, to the Corridors of Darkness. One end was connected to the dimension that we had just been in, and the other end was connected to a place that I hadn't been before.
It was a short trip.
We appeared in a strange place.
Floating objects of many shapes and sizes moved throughout the area, with no rhyme or reason to them.
Splotches of green, blue, pink, and yellow formed the colour of this dimension, with lines of black stretching to and fro.
It was weird.
I recognized it.
This place was the world of dreams.
The Keyhole was in the world of dreams.
The Keyhole was in a place where dreams and wishes became reality.
In hindsights... that made a terrible amount of sense.
The DigiGnome floated off for a moment, grabbing a small object and bringing it back to me.
Its eye brimmed with delight as it showed the small key to me, holding it up.
My head tilted to the side, and I held my hand out.
In a flash of Darkness, my Keyblade materialized.
shudder
I turned around, the DigiGnome zooming to my shoulder.
A small section of the world of dreams was shifting, changing. The black lines moved around, coming together and forming into the Keyhole.
I pointed my Keyblade at the Keyhole.
Connection.
I twisted.
Click.
Twice, now. A second cornerstone.
A Gummi Block tumbled out, floating towards me.
I caught it, letting both it and my Keyblade vanish.
I turned to the DigiGnome. "Thank you."
It chirped. "I helped!"
"Well, that takes care of that." We reappeared inside the room everybody else was gathered in.
"What just happened?" Rika asked.
"The DigiGnome just took me to where the Keyhole was." I sat down. "They really are such wonderfully helpful creatures."
The DigiGnome chirped.
"And... what is this 'Keyhole'?" Gorou asked.
"No longer a concern for anybody." I began patting the DigiGnome, causing it to giggle.
"You're not going to tell us, are you?" Rika asked.
"Nope." I shook my head. "This is one of those things that you don't want to know about."
"Right..." Takato muttered. "So what are you going to do now that you've found it?"
"Good question." I leaned back. "I probably won't be sticking around as much, for one. The reason that I came to this dimension in the first place was in search of the Keyhole. Of course, that particular task got derailed when I learned of the D-Reaper."
It was technically correct. Which is the best kind of correct.
"You're going to leave?" Rika frowned.
"You make it sound so permanent." I shook my head. "I will be coming to visit occasionally, but I can't stick around forever." I looked up. "Well, I could, but even I have other things-"
"Sir!" Riley called. "We have a problem!"
We turned to her.
"What?" He asked.
"Our information suppression efforts?" She winced. "They just failed."
He frowned. "Projector three, now."
She nodded, turning back to her computer.
A few moments later, one of the projectors turned on, displaying what was on Riley's screen.
Showing us all a somewhat shaky video of MegaGargomon, Gallantmon Crimson Mode, and the three optimisers in the distance.
I noted that the video was halfway through. The battle that we'd had hadn't lasted that long.
"This video is spreading everywhere." Riley explained. "Without access to the Hypnos Mainframe, we can't take it down. Orders?"
Yamaki sighed. "Leave it. After the D-Reaper, we lost all hope of suppressing the existence of Digimon. All this will do is accelerate the United Nation's plan to reveal them."
On the screen, Gallantmon was throwing the Gungnir spear into the sky.
The Quo Vadis came down a few moments later, bathing Shinjuku in red.
It was interesting to watch, from that perspective.
"So that's what happened." Rika said, watching. She frowned. "Where are we?"
"The contrast isn't great, but right next to Gallantmon, there's black smudge." The low quality of the video didn't help either. "That's me. When Sakuyamon degenerated, I caught you. You're right there."
"Oh."
A few seconds later, Gallantmon degenerated, leaving two visible, tiny specks.
"Your identity wasn't compromised, good." Yamaki turned to them. "That would have been a disaster."
"Having the world know who you are right after you killed the D-Reaper." I shook my head. "Disaster doesn't even begin to cover the kinds of things that could result from that."
I paused for a moment, before looking to the side, spotting the Heart coming towards us.
Tally entered the room a few seconds later. "Sir? The Chief Cabinet Secretary is here."
Yamaki took on a particularly sour expression. "I'll be out in a few minutes."
She nodded, leaving the room.
I looked at Takato, noting that he was frowning. He glanced between Rika, Renamon, Henry, Terriermon, Jeri, Leomon, and myself, before nodding to himself.
He stood up. "Thanks for telling us." He nodded at Yamaki.
Turning to the other children, he gave a cheerful smile.
"I have an idea."
"I told you I could bake." Takato smirked. "I mean, really, I grew up in a bakery!"
"I'm not going to say it, Takato." Rika frowned.
"Yeah, Rika would never admit she was wrong." Henry grinned.
"I seem to remember that you said the same thing." Jeri lightly said.
"That's-"
"How are you all doing in there?" Yoshie called.
"We're fine, mom!" Takato responded. "Just about done!"
"Why did I agree with this?" Rika wondered.
"Something about having a little fun for once, if I remember correctly." I pulled another tray of pastries out of the oven, holding it out for Takato to examine.
He smiled as he did. "Perfect. Mom, we're ready!"
Yoshie and Takehiro came in a few seconds later, both of them holding several containers.
"One 'saved the world' celebration coming right up." I helped them pack the pastries away.
"Hopefully, there won't be another one." Yoshie murmured.
"You don't want them to save the world next time?" Takehiro grinned.
"That is not what I meant, and you know it."
"Guilmon, Renamon, Terriermon, Leomon, come down. We're finished."
Takato, if the way that everybody in the room was enjoying the pastries was any indication, was surprisingly good at making confectioneries.
I didn't know, myself. No sense of taste and all.
I'd saved a few of them for Yoshino, Tsubaki, and Koroko, so I guess that I'd ask them later.
"So how long are you going to stay?" Rika asked.
"Not that much longer. Probably for the rest of the day or so." I looked at her.
She was... sad?
"Cheer up." I told her. "I'll be visiting quite a lot. Besides, today is a happy day. Don't let it get you down."
She frowned, before nodding. She moved off, heading to Takato.
I watched her go.
She sure has come a long way.
All of them have.
"Hey!"
The DigiGnome chirped as it hovered over to me.
"Something you need?"
It shook its head, grinning. "Gift!"
It spun around, glowing slightly, a little ball of light appearing in its hands.
I looked at it, mildly confused.
It came to a stop, dropping the ball of light into my hand, which faded away to reveal a small, blackened piece of armor.
Which was absolutely brimming with Darkness.
I held it up, examining it.
Carefully, My Darkness reached out.
And its Darkness reached back.
I saw.
And learned.
The fourth in a set of Keyblade Armours. The first three were forged from Light. The last three were forged from Darkness. The artificer who made them possessed excellent skill in manipulating Light and Darkness, but was incompetent when it came to fighting.
Later, those who wore this set of Armours met on the battlefield. At the end of a long, intense fight, this was the only Armour that was not destroyed. The same could not be said about the Keyblade Wielder who wore it.
In the end, the battlefield that the six fought and died on eventually became a part of This World.
Huh.
It hummed in my hand, before going silent.
Keyblade Armours are just as complicated as the Keyblades themselves.
I held out my left hand.
A pulse.
Darkness burst out. Once again, I felt the drain, a part of My Darkness pulled out of me.
The end result was the same, too.
A concept bloomed, and I held the left pauldron of a piece of Keyblade Armor in my hand.
"You DigiGnomes... really are such wonderfully helpful creatures."
The DigiGnome chirped. "I helped!"