AN: Hey! Turned around on this chapter quick, huh? Well, it's all fighting and these are scenes I've had in mind and basically been writing since the start, even if I hadn't put them on paper yet. Lucemon vs the entire Gang, the unification of all his plans since the start and the last, best shot the team has to stop him. Fighting is easy – as long as you don't do anything completely absurd, it's difficult to write anything out of character. I mean, Takato isn't going to just run away after all.
Anyways, I hope you guys enjoy this chapter. I had a lot of fun writing it – I stayed up way too late one night unable to stop putting it down. I'm excited about the next chapter, but I think it will take longer than this one to write. Between its subject matter, needing to not burn out, and my master degree starting up again, I expect it will be at least a month before the next chapter is out. Probably.
Anyways:
To Wardragonmon: I'm glad that this story can always make someone happy! I hope this chapter makes you just as happy.
To Ironic-Chuckaboo:Hey, no one is completely immune to dogs being the best pet.
To smartalec121: I hope that I have MegaGargomon live up to the wait, but... eh, I don't want to spoil it. Anyways, I was slightly worried about the Old Tamers conversation before I was writing it and after. I went through a lot of rewriting there to try and make it as in character as possible. I definitely wanted them all to sound wrong, but I also wanted them to sound like they were right in the argument. I think that to an extent OOC acting I normal – in my experience, parents can both really want the best for their kid and fight/screw it up/act out of character when they argue about it. Still, maybe I put too much of that in without thinking about how other families might argue. I'll try even harder in the future to make sure it doesn't happen again. And thank you for the constructive criticism! I'm sure this is a broken record on this website, but I do want to write a book and an argument where both sides are right and wrong factors heavily into that story as well. And finally, I had a lot of fun with the Suzie bit: she's easy to write, honestly.
Episode 45: Presage of Doom:The Final Battle... Ends
As Jesmon, Alphamon, and I soared towards Lucemon with our Hyper-Wing cards activated, the old Tamers kept him busy with the defense systems of the tower. Lucemon cast a glance towards us, giving MegaGargomon an opening to swing a fist at him. "Power reduction engaged to 30%: POWER PUMMEL!" He brought his fists together in front of Lucemon, sending out powerful shockwaves that slammed into the Demon Lord and his tiny, injured passenger. Lucemon's wings struggled against the attack, blasting him backwards and sending him tumbling through the air. The world twirled about him, sky and ground a blur before he crashed into a wall of energy in the shape of a Yin-Yang symbol.
"Dash Blutgang!" Gallantmon shot forward, sword in his left hand glowing bright as he shot forward on blazing wings. Lucemon snarled and flared his wings, dashing up so Gallantmon sliced cleanly through the talisman instead. A vertical cut appeared on the talisman, which shattered as Gallantmon immediately changed his momentum and blasted at full speed after Lucemon.
"GAAAH!" Impmon screamed as he was buffeted by intense winds, dragged in Lucemon's left hand like a doll. Whatever it was he was saying after that, none of us could hear him.
Lucemon looked up and set his jaw, swinging back and over Gallantmon in a loop in order to avoid the tower's defenses. The beam of energy stopped, unnaturally quickly, in order to avoid Gallantmon. "Demon's Disaster!" I raised my spear above my head, then lashed out towards Lucemon with it. At this distance, the electricity would lose energy along its path, hopefully reaching that balance of stunning Lucemon and only hurting Impmon. The black energy cracked at the speed of lightning, but Lucemon was smart. He had already begun dodging before it could hit him head on. Instead, it vaporized the tails of his jacket, sending the debris into the sky as loose data.
"My turn!" Jesmon shot forward, spinning with his blades held out in front of him. He crashed into Lucemon and stabbed at his head as they plummeted towards the ground. "Good to see you again, Sir."
"Jesmon trying to kill me. What memories," Lucemon said mockingly. And then he slammed Impmon face first into Jesmon's head. Jesmon was more surprised by the attack than anything, but it still sent him reeling backwards. "Terrible Dance!" Lucemon's leg lashed out and slammed into Jesmon, blasting him backwards and giving Lucemon enough momentum to dodge Alphamon coming in with a glowing sword. Lucemon shot further up, glancing towards the tower. The tower's laser remained still for a moment, then began to suddenly advance at full speed again.
I flared my wings and looked over at Jesmon as he recovered. "You good?"
"I will be," he replied simply. His voice slid apart. "Digi-Modify! Swift Blue Wolf, activate!"
A half dozen illusory copies of Jesmon appeared, who shut his eyes and centered himself. "Well get him this time," he said, his twinned voices echoing all around me.
"Then let's go," I said impatiently. We both blasted towards Lucemon with a sonic boom at our backs. He turned and raised his hand to attack, channeling energy into a deadly assault. Jesmon and his illusions shot up ahead, coming in with a cut at his gut. Lucemon dropped his attack and brought his free claw down to grab the sword, only for it to pass harmlessly through him. He flinched, momentum faltering. The others circled him, jumping in when Lucemon tried to run. He cleaved one illusion in half, then blasted a hole in the next. They died one after the other, vanishing right up until the real Jesmon came up from behind, burying his sword in Lucemon's shoulder, his tail coming around and coiling around his wrist to yank it at an unnatural angle that forced his grip open. His job done, Jesmon yanked his sword from Lucemon and yanked his sword from Lucemon and dropped straight down.
"Wha -" Lucemon wondered, his surprise giving the tower's defenses just enough time to blast right into his back. He cried out, more in surprise than pain, but his smoking body was tossed away by the Vaccine program. Blasted right towards me.
I pulled my shield back and flipped under him, adjusting my velocity so my reaction and the force I used would be maximized. Then, I slammed my shield into his face, sending him soaring upward.
MegaGargomon was standing above us, fist glowing bright white. "MEGA PUNCH!" He brought his fist down at full force, crushing Lucemon and sending him like a comet towards the ground. Layer after layer of the Digital World shattered under the force, leaving behind wire frame that stretched in a pit. And, now that he was far from any of us, the tower's laser followed him into the pit, burning through the hole without stopping. Damn, he was resilient.
"You have Impmon?" I called to Jesmon, who flew up to me with Impmon coiled in his tail and on the verge of vomiting. "Well, I guess all that's left is to brutally murder Satan."
"Ugh... wasnluc... ugh..." Impmon mumbled, still trying to recover from his intense roller coaster.
"It... not... Lucemon," Impmon said after a few tries.
"Wasn't Lucemon – then what was it!?" I shouted, loud enough for everyone to hear.
"Wasn't Lucemon, but it felt as strong as a Mega then... No... Sakuyamon, is the D-Reaper still there?" MegaGargomon asked, his voice echoing through massive speakers. He was... terrified.
Sakuyamon, standing at the edge of the tower didn't ask any questions, instead focusing on her staff. Energy flowed out of her and into the ground of the Digital World, piercing deep into its core. The energy exploded and she threw it upwards instead. A massive dome with a yin-yang motif appeared even above MegaGargomon, right as a blast of golden energy flew at his head. The shield screamed all around us at the force of the attack, slowly cracking as it weakened under the assault. But it held, and slowly but surely the energy blast dissipated into nothing.
The dome stayed up for a few more seconds, but shattered like glass falling all around us when Sakuyamon fell to her knees. Her priestess robes shimmered for a moment, then the energy she had been using fell from her shoulders. She shrank slightly and armor appeared around her shoulders as she de-Digivolved from her Mode Change.
"Impressive! It seems that I underestimated you," a thousand voices said from above us. "I had believed that burning through a dozen of these D-Reaper drones would supply enough energy to break through your defenses. You really are worthy of the legends surrounding you, Tamers." We were surrounded. A thousand or more Lucemons floated above us, some identical to his rookie appearance as a child, some the same as we had seen him before, and some... twisted and horrifying, built from black and white cables with only his face to demonstrate it was him.
"I never took you for stupid, Gethen," MegaGargomon said after a moment. "Merging with the D-Reaper? This might destroy the Digital World and the Real World!"
"Might it?" One of the voices asked mockingly. "In the hands of a lesser being like Katou, perhaps you would be-"
"Hey!" Gallantmon snapped, causing all the thousand heads to turn to him. "You don't get to talk about our friend like that, Monster."
"Fine. I'll just cut straight to the point," a different Lucemon said. Then, as one, they descended upon us.
Dozens flew towards me and Jesmon, crashing into us and separating us from one another. I was sure even more were attacking the others, splitting us up... isolating us to be easier to deal with. I clenched my fist inside of my spear. "DEMON'S DISASTER!" I screamed, and dark electricity arced out in every direction. The Lucemon creatures on me screamed and were blasted away, some falling into sickly red data, others damaged, and a couple seemed nearly unfazed by the attack but retreated anyways. I turned midair in an effort to fly up to them for another attack, only to find that my wings had been destroyed by their assault. I growled and turned midair to face down instead. The horde of Lucemons was everywhere, blocking out everyone but MegaGargomon. Even then, there were enough that he still had writhing masses of the things all over him.
I glared down towards the mass of Lucemon creatures and readied my spear and shield, hoping this would work. I slashed with its tip at one of the drones coming in from the side, clipping its wing but still getting tossed to the side. I spiraled through the air, forcing my gut to calm – I couldn't screw this up if I wanted to live. I battered another drone away, spiraling again, but I was lucky enough to get tossed into the path I wanted. I steadied myself and aimed my spear down, crashing blade and shield first into a larger drone that was charging an attack to hit Alphamon. The thing screeched, an inhuman noise that definitely wasn't one of the Lucemon sound files, and thrashed around to toss me off. Too bad for it, the spear had pierced through its entire body and I was connected to it. I wrenched my spear to one side and the large things wings flapped in that direction, slowly descending to the ground as I charged up my shield. I wrenched it to the side again to avoid an incoming attack, then again to dodge another. When we were finally close enough to the ground, I turned my shield up towards the small flock following me. "JUDECCA PRISON!"
The face of my shield glowed vibrant purple as the ring of Zero Units on its edge flashed, and the energy shot out towards them. The destructive flash crashed into the small flock, and the creatures stuck within the expanding wave began to corrode and dissolve, burning away layer by layer until only data remained. I let the attack end and hunched over, panting heavily from the effort. The drone beneath my feet growled, so I tore out my spear and slammed it through the monster's head so I could fall safely to the ground.
"Kid! Look out!" I turned, only to receive a punch right to my face for the trouble. I hit the ground and tumbled, slowly making it to my feet after a moment. I grimaced beneath my helmet and looked out over the battlefield. The tower's defenses were carving lines through the drones, vaporizing swaths of the things to give the others breathing room. I saw flashes from somewhere in the horde, my friends, Gallantmon, and Sakuyamon doing their best against the countless enemies. But MegaGargomon was in his element: a war machine at war. Massive missiles were vaporizing countless monsters in Mushroom clouds, and even heavily damaging some of the larger ones while laser blasts shot from every inch of his body at everything around him. I guess being a computer was pretty useful when you needed to shoot something in your blind spots.
"Ah, payback truly is its own reward," one of the Lucemon said, brushing off his knuckles with his other hand. He looked behind him, where Impmon was muffled by two more drones. He looked exhausted, body's color less vibrant and his bandana in tatters as he glared at the Lucemon drone with unbridled hate. Or maybe... was this the real one? "It's good to see you again, Hazard. Did you enjoy your time in the Digital World? Probably more than the people on Earth have been enjoying it. There's a MetalSeadramon in Tokyo bay, after all."
I ignored him, getting my feet on the ground and pushing off as hard as I could. I could kill him later – for now, Impmon. My spear lunged forward, piercing one of the drones. "Demon's -!" My cape was grabbed and I was yanked back, the energy blast shooting straight into the air instead of its injured target.
"DID YOU IGNORE ME!?" Lucemon – because it had to be the real one if he acted like this – snapped as he stood above me. He bared his fangs and slammed his foot into my head, then once into my gut. He growled at me, then looked at the drones and took a deep breath. "Fine. Allow Beelzemon some final words."
"Stop!"
Lucemon tossed a bored smirk down at me. "Oh, now I have your full attention? Then: Grand Cross."
"No!" I snapped. I unmade my shield and slammed my fist into Lucemon's ankle, but it was too late. The ten shining planets had arrayed into the final attack and hot through the air in the form of a cross of burning light. I could only watch, helpless, as it approached its target.
""Kid, it'll be-"Impmon said as the drones released his face, just to be cut off by the arrival of Lucemon's attack. It vaporized both drones... and Impmon between them.
Impmon's data began to congeal in the air. A massive sword, easily twice my height, was forming where Impmon had been. A yellow, glowing circle began to etch itself into the air above its hilt to form the Seal of Gluttony. "NO! DigiModify – Apollomon activate!" I screamed, reaching out to swipe the card. Thankfully, Lucemon was too close to avoid the attack even while BG and I became ChaosGallantmon again. "Solar Flare!" Red energy built up in my armor, turning it a dull red before the energy exploded off of me. Lucemon's sneer of contempt turned into a surprised yell and he was blasted off of me, smoking and burnt by my attack.
I didn't let up, charging towards him as I recompiled Balmung and Gorgon once more. He glided to the ground on his singed wings, conjuring energy onto his fists to deflect my spear as he landed. "Too slow," he mocked, easily deflecting Balmung and slamming his foot into my midsection. I refused to let that stop me and rebounded to attack again, now with Gorgon in front of me to block him. He simply waited a moment and looped his fingers around the shield's edge, yanking my guard open to slam the side of his hand into my throat. I gagged and doubled over, flipping even further as he tossed me away. "Always too slow. Too slow to save Mayumi from Agent Estevez, too slow to save Dr. Wong from Reapmon, and too slow to save Beelzemon. And on top of that too stupid to realize what you've done." I charged him again, launching a Demon's Disaster that he dove to avoid, rolling to his feet as an entire section of his drones were vaporized in the resulting explosion.
"I'll kill you!" I snarled, already on top of him by the time he reached his feet. "Shield Attack!" I brought Gorgon around, its edge glowing, and slammed it into his head. He was sent flipping backwards, and I myself followed him into the air. It was too fast to charge another attack, so I slammed my shield into his chest so we landed together on the ground. I pulled Balmung back and black lightning began to spark from the lance. "Demon's -"
"Paradise Lost!" His fists flew up before I could react, and Lucemon began juggling me into the air like I was a dummy in a fighting game. Left, right, left, left, right: glowing fists collided with me one after another, light and darkness exploding against my armor as we ascended. Then, he grabbed me by the throat and turned us in the air, slamming his other fist over and over into my face as we descended.
Through the intense, painful beating, I barely had enough clarity to dissolve Balmung and place my fist at Lucemon's gut. "Chaos Shot." I recompiled the weapon and it shot through his stomach, blasting energy into the sky. We separated and hit the ground hard, rolling apart as we did. I slammed my shield into the ground to push myself up and aimed it at Lucemon, who slowly stood up himself. He grimaced, but brushed off his shoulders and forced himself to stand tall; even with a hole in his gut, he looked better off than I did.
"You will have to do better than that," he mocked, barely wincing as his data glitched. I definitely winced when mine did, but I hoped between my helmet and having to lean on Gorgon that my eyes were hidden. "Weak. Disappointing."
"Still standing," I retorted as the battle raged around us. Drones were being massacred by the hundreds everywhere, but it was a losing battle. I frowned as something crossed my mind. Why wasn't he Ogudomon yet? He'd killed Impmon, he had everything he needed so why not just -
"Do you think Wong will enjoy being the reason the world is ending?"
My brain froze. "Wanna ask that again, Fairy Boy?" I growled, all thoughts gone other than him trying to insult Henry. "How's this his fault?"
"Not his fault. That would be you," Lucemon retorted. He clasped his hands behind his back. "But he is the reason. You unleashed the Digital World in his name. When he sees that, how do you think he might feel about that? Every dead city, every child soldier... blood on his hands. And all because of you. He'll hate you."
"Shut it!" I snapped, my feet suddenly steadied by my hate.
"You decided Henry was worth the lives of a thousand children. You put all that blood on his hands. Do you think he would ever forgive himself once he understands that?" Lucemon continued instead. He raised his hand and began to channel his energy, aiming it at MegaGargomon in the distance. He was slamming his feet down, kicking through the drones like he was stomping on ants, even as more of the drones were destroyed by missiles. "I'll just put him out of his misery before that can be a problem. Besides, without him the drones will easily overrun all of you."
"GALLANT CHARGE!" I screamed, channeling the last of my energy into my feet and spear. I shot forward, stabbing with Balmung right into Lucemon's chest. Then, knowing that I would be letting myself fall apart... I used one more attack. "DEMON'S DISASTER!"
Black lightning exploded from my spear, shooting into the air like a pillar of violet plasma around us. Energy burned through Lucemon's body and the ground beneath us cracked and shattered. My armor wasn't even unscathed, scorching every inch of my silvery-gray Digizoid. The cracks and dents Lucemon had given me were melted and warped, but I forced myself to hold on. I had to hold on. I had to -
And then, my form shattered. The attack vanished instantly and I hit the ground beside BG. Lucemon, charred and stunned above us... but standing nonetheless. He looked down at us and moved his hand towards us. His face erupted into a wide grin, making me and BG both sure he was about to vaporize us. Instead, his arm shattered into data that spiraled upward, congealing above. My eyes widened. Congealing... into the final seal of Ogudomon. "You figured it out. Too slow, yet again," he said. Data began to spiral from all of the drones, clearing the way for everyone to see what was happening. A yellow beam shot from Beelzemon's seal, colliding with a red crest forming above Lucemon. A violet beam shot up, piercing the ground and arcing to collide with the crest. Orange, blue, sky blue, and green shot down from the sky. Lucemon chuckled and raised his remaining hand to the sky. "Lucemon DNA Digivolve to..."
"TAJ!" BG snapped, jumping in front of me. A blast of energy slammed into us and we were sent tumbling across the ground, rolling across the empty wireframe our final attack had created. Above us, the seven sword seals had appeared, moving in a slow circle around a growing egg as large as the Sovereigns' tower. Within was the very clear wireframe of a monster. A real... monster.
It was massive and twisted. Seven legs each ending with a three pronged claw a quarter the size of MegaGargomon. Each leg ran up to a mouth containing a glowing red sphere, with an evil red and black eye at the base of each leg. From the top of this massive slab of monster rose a draconic head with a single huge, green eye and two pairs of huge green horns, one like antlers of a deer and the other like those of a goat. Red, black, and purple began to form on top of the wireframe while the swords slowly stopped their movement. "OGUDOMON!" A soundless voice screamed. The Digital World shook beneath our feet as the massive egg was pierced by all seven seal swords. First was Barbamon's, then Lilithmon, Leviamon, Daemon, Belphemon, Beelzemon... and finally Lucemon. Ogudomon stepped from the crumbling egg and turned towards the tower, already firing at it. The blasts caused the creature to hiss in pain, but it didn't seem to be anything that would bother it.
It opened its mouth on its lower half and reared up to aim at the tower... and simply vaporized it. "Cathedral." A stream of energy, a coiled rainbow made of the seven glowing seals above its legs, toe through the tower with no resistance. One second, the top of the tower was there. The next... only a scar that crossed the sky of the Digital World further than we could see.
My Digivice began screaming at me and I slowly picked it up, reading the words on the screen. "The Super Demon Lord Digimon bearing the weight of all the Digital World's sins. If a being with even a minimal amount of malice attacks it, no attack will harm it. It holds the power of all Demon Lord Digimon, and its appearance is a presage of the end of both worlds."
X X X
Every day, the Tamers had woken up in HYPNOS along with their families. The Tamers were then brought together and spoke about what they believed was best regarding the multiple Digimon that were invading. None had any idea what to do about the MetalSeadramon in Tokyo Bay, but it had yet to go out of its way to attack the city so responses to that one were mostly academic. They had done plenty to help with the other Digimon however, offering ideas on how best to fight them, ways for the new government Tamers and Digidestined to aproach, and often helping prevent fights through their unique understanding of Wild Digimon after their travels.
Jeri stared out the window as they talked about the large number of Children and Partners that had appeared throughout the entirety of Japan. Some had already been drawn into gangs and warfare was breaking out in the streets. On top of the invasion of another world, Tokyo was in chaos. Trains were late, if they ran at all, and the city was locked down as no one wished to leave and risk death at the hands of Digimon. Hard times were coming. Jeri was more concerned about her patients, though. How many of them had gained partners? How many were safe? Since the invasion began, most had been stuck inside with their families and had not seen Jeri for their sessions. She could only hope they were safe.
Jeri was torn from her thoughts when two of the people in the room began to scram at the top of their lungs, blood curdling sounds of loss and horror. Jeri was next to Ai and Mako before anyone else... she knew this noise. It had accompanied her to sleep for years, and even still she could hear it in her darkest moments. "What's happening!?" Kazu shouted, eyes wide with fear. Jeri didn't blame him... it wasn't good.
"IMPMON!" Ai screamed, clutching her chest as she fell to her knees. One of her hands grippd the edge of the table, knuckles white and nails digging into the plastic. "No, no!"
Mako was heaving on the ground. "Impmon, Impmon, what happened? Nonono!" He grabbed their Digivice and stared at the screen, offering just enough in his blind horror for Jeri to see the screen covered in static. He took a breath and screamed, as if part of his body had been torn off.
Jeri clutched them both tight. "Impmon just died," she told the room, forcing her voice not to break. Another of her friends, dead. Another of the Tamers' partners, killed. What the hell had happened?
Her blood ran cold as another thought came to mind. Yamaki pulled her up as Kenta rushed over to Ai and Mako. The twins were sobbing on the ground now, the Digivice between them still displaying nothing but static. "Are they going to be okay?" Yamaki asked Kenta as he checked them over.
Kenta shut his eyes. "Physically there's nothing wrong with them. But..." he trailed off and opened his eyes to look over at Jeri.
The psychologist shut her eyes. "Part of them died," she said simply. She looked at Yamaki, then pulled him to the side. "Yamaki... Impmon was one of the strongest Megas in the world when he left. We need..."
Yamaki took off his sunglasses, looking exhausted but clearly on the same page as her. "What should we do if it happens again?"
Jeri looked at the ground, thoughts racing. "I... Long term, therapy. Today? They would need privacy, safety. Family and friends. I have a terrible feeling that tomorrow we'll either be dead, or this will be over."
X X X
Ogudomon was unstoppable. I knew that before anyone else tried anything, but that didn't stop them. "Tasuke!" Sakuyamon had grabbed me and BG the moment Ogudomon had appeared, barely keeping us from being crushed underfoot as the monster walked. Just walked.
The tower's weaponry was gone, and I knew so was our last chance of injuring the thing. "We need to run!" I told Sakuyamon. "We can't hurt it, even if we had the power to do it! Nothing that wants to hurt it can hurt it at all!"
"Yeah, the D-Reaper said it was invincible, too. We can figure this one out." Sakuyamon placed me a distance from the fight. "Run. We'll find you." Then she turned and shot away, summoning four fox spirits to attack with her.
Ogudomon didn't even bother with attacks as it walked, not even feeling push back as it was hit by our group's strongest attacks. Gallantmon threw his spear, using an attack called Quo Vadis. Even as far away from him as I was, it felt like the air in front of me was on fire. The air itself detonated from the force, blasting data past BG and me. But for Ogudomon, at the epicenter of the explosion, it was as if nothing at all had happened. He kept waking, moving like a horrifying spider thing. One leg came up and slapped Gallantmon through the tower, nothing but a red shooting star that vaporized a chunk of the upper tower. It kept moving as Alphamon and Jesmon climbed up its body alongside one another, using cards and helping each other reach its back. Alphamon peppered the head on top with glowing green energy, distracting it so Jesmon could get in close with his five swords. I had hope for a moment – Jesmon had been the last Digimon to defeat Ogudomon.
The hope didn't last. His swords were clearly doing nothing. Even when he paused long enough to use the Dramon Killers it didn't improve at all. The seal of Barbamon glowed bright. "Pandemonium Lost." An explosion of burning, dark energy shot from the seal towards Jesmon. The glowing At, Rene, and Pol chained together into a wall that deflected the energy away.
Belphemon's seal glowed and black chains coiled under Jesmon's feet. "Lampranthus." Black flamed vaporized the three sub-Digimon, then grabbed Jesmon. It strangled him tight, then when Alphamon rushed over to help tossed him right at her. They flew off of Ogudomon's back. It didn't take long before the pair was hitting the ground and demerged in flashes of light.
"No..." I clenched my fists and glared at my feet.
BG looked over at me. "Let's help them."
"How?" I asked.
MegaGargomon ran up and grabbed hold of Ogudomon. Pushing him back with his size was doing something at least – it wasn't an attack, it was just... slowing him down. But compared to a massive, seven legged super demon, MegaGargomon even was weak. "Gradus." The remaining six legs rose up and slammed down one after another. The claws raked across MegaGargomon, pummeling his armor down. The wings on his head snapped, his horn was pulverized, and one of his missile silos exploded on his shoulder from the force.
"I... I don't know," he admitted. His right claw glitched for a moment and he tried to hide it. "We need to help somehow."
I saw Ogudomon finally slam MegaGargomon into the groun, slamming all feet into him until he demerged. Then it advanced on the tower once more. Sakuyamon finally arrived, one Mega against a DNA Digivolution of seven Megas. The foxes she summoned danced around one of its legs, channeling elemental data to freeze one in place or buffet winds to make it unstable. But tripping something with seven legs by removing only one was never going to work. The mechanics were impossible, and Ogudomon proved that by walking ahead with no difficulty, shattering the ice and ignoring the winds. Beelzemon's crst glowed bright. "Double Impact." Bullets of energy exploded from the seal, a wall of attacks that flew towards Sakuyamon. She threw up a shield to block it, managing to deflect a few before...
Before the last of our fighters fell, demerging in a flash.
Ogudomon moved on without another moment, pushing one of its legs up onto the tower, pushing it deep into the core and pulling out a chunk of the building. "What do we do?" I asked. I shut my eyes tight. "BG, what do we do?"
"I don't -"
"Tell me, Hazard," a familiar voice said, echoing all around. My blood went cold, and the voice – Lucemon's voice - laughed. "Reapmon implied that you value this creature, yes?"
I looked up at Ogudomon, whose gaze was stuck on me. Barbamon's Seal began to glow, and he began to walk towards me and BG. His massive steps brought him over quickly, as well as everyone else he was holding. Henry, Terriermon, the other Tamers, my friends, Calumon... even Momentai. Ogudomon's eyes fixed on me, and he chuckled. "All of them, of course. But this one especially." He shook Momentai, who was whimpering and screaming.
"Let them all go!" I snapped impotently.
"We'll kill you!" BG agreed.
"Oh, you want me to let it go?" Ogudomon dropped everyone except Momentai and Calumon. "No." And they flew into his open mouth, devouring them in a single bite.
"Momentai!" I screamed. Me and BG rushed forward, only for Henry to grab me and stop me as I got close.
Ogudomon waited a moment as Zero Units began to appear all over his body. Each glowed bright crimson before slowly vanishing. "Nothing?"
"What?" Davis asked, panting and out of breath. He was hurt. They all were. "What are you talking about?"
Ogudomon was silent, all of his eyes fixed on me still. "Then..." Barbamon's seal still glowing, the seven eyes turned to Davis. "Perhaps this will help." Davis rose into the air.
"Davis!" Huckmon shouted. He growled and turned towards Ogudomon. "Hey! Let him go! Baby Flame!" Green flames shot uselessly towards Ogudomon, splashing against his scales with no damage.
Ogudomon ignored that and snapped Davis' arm with his telekinesis. Davis let out a sharp cry but buried his pain. "Stop it!" I snapped.
"Then stop me," Ogudomon countered before blasting a force of energy at May. She was blasted back, leg twisted the wrong direction. She hadn't been an agent as long as Davis, so she was screaming on the ground while Dorumon was held feet from her by Ogudomon. "Stop me, Hazard. If you were able."
"Biomerge!" I shouted, clutching my Digivice tight. It refused, telling me that we were too injured. I tried again, knowing it was useless. "BIOMERGE! DIGIVOLVE, PLEASE!" Nothing. I couldn't do anything. I was worthless! I was ruining everything!
"DO SOMETHING!" Ogudomon snarled, tossing Henry away with Terriermon. I watched him fly and tried to follow, only for Ogudomon to toss Rika into the ground in front of me. She couldn't stand, her leg injured. Renamon appeared, standing protectively over her without a word.
"STOP!"
Ogudomon's eyes snapped towards Takato, narrowing on Guilmon. Around him, fire was...
"Ah." I was suddenly in the air. "I see I was wrong."
The pain was white hot when my arm snapped. "TAJ!" BG shouted before being blasted into the ground. The flames around Guilmon got larger.
"Takato, stop!"
"Stop hurting my family!" Takato snarled. My Digivice began to scream in my hand, red light shooting from its screen. And then my leg was broken at the femur and I forgot about the fire.
"Stop doing that?" Ogudomon asked. He laughed, the noise smug. "Or this?" He slammed me face first into the ground. "Or do you mean this?" I was screaming again, electricity running along my body. "What should I stop, Hazard? And why? Make me."
"Takato, don't do it!" Rika shouted, but it was falling on deaf ears. He was enraged by my torture. Protective, I guess. It made me feel a little bad for how I'd been treating him. He did care, after all.
"NO!" Takato screamed. Hate was dripping from his voice, and it almost felt alive. Like it was pushing through the fabric of reality. Like it was going to kill us."GUILMON, KILL HIM! Destroy him! Tear him apart!"
"GUILMON... DIGIVOLVE TO..."
The flames shot up, hiding Guilmon from view. At which point a massive dragon shot out, crashing into Ogudomon. It coiled its legless tail around one leg, wrenching it to the side before breathing flames on Ogudomon's face. Flames that did nothing."MEGIDRAMON!"
"I had thought you stabilized the hazard," Ogudomon said, unconcerned by the dragon that was attacking him. I watched the dragon and... the Digital World. It was melting. All the data around us was being pulled in, absorbed by Megidramon in time with the brilliantly glowing Digital Hazard on its chest. It gnawed on one of Ogudomon's legs, slobber melting the data below them but doing nothing to Ogudomon himself.
"We need to run." I looked up. Renamon had BlackGigimon in one hand and Rika on her shoulder. Rika looked at Renamon. "Take him, get away. I need to get to Takato and stop this."
Renamon clearly didn't like that idea. Abandoning Rika probably meant abandoning her to die. "Please," Rika whispered, tightening her grip on Renamon. "Please help him first and come back for me later."
"... Of course, Rika," Renamon finally agreed. She grabbed hold of me, trading my place with Rika. "I will be-"
"Not happening." Ogudomon's claw slammed into the ground beside us. "You think a monster of pure malice can hurt me? I am safer now than ever before." A mouth grew on the base of the foot. "No, you imbeciles. But I can hurt you." The mouth slammed down on top of Rika before she could move.
"RIKA!" Renamon screamed. She nearly dropped me and BG, but shook her head. "She wanted us to leave. We're leaving." She sounded like she was dead inside. She'd lost everything. And now she couldn't even get justice? She held me and BG tight and began to run off, running only on her partner's last orders. She thought she had to succeed in that.
"Henry and my friends. Where are they?"
Renamon shut her eyes and kept running in silence, so I looked behind her. Megidramon was crashing uselessly into Ogudomon, a creature born of hate attacking a monster immune to it. And to make matters worse, the data of the Digital World was melting away around us. The ground spreading out from the fight was mostly wireframe now, and even some of that was gone now. Devoured by the dragon. "What the hell is th- ach – that thing?" I asked as my arm was jostled by our running.
"The end," Renamon said., voice even and dead.
I watched the fight go on, knowing we were doomed. Ogudomon's foot slammed down on Takato as he screamed Rika's name, horrified at the woman's death. He was gone, eaten. Megidramon seemed stunned by his sudden death, the data around him a mere trickle now. So Ogudomon's main mouth came down and ripped his head clean off using he glow of Leviamon's seal: "Shell Shock."
As Ogudomon loaded Megidramon's data, massive Digital Hazards appeared to glow along his body like the Zero Units had before. The flow of data stopped completely... and suddenly flowed even faster. "Finally. Finally, I have the Hazard once again! I can Load it all! It's all mine!" The ground shook and a pulse shot out from Ogudomon, moving so fast that Renamon was blasted up. Me and BG hit the ground away from her and I shouted in pain as both my leg and arm were hit with the full force of our fall. "I still need you, are not getting away, Taj."
"Run!" Renamon snapped just as Ogudomon's foot devoured Renamon.
I felt my stomach run into my feet and I rolled onto my good elbow and knee, heaving at the ground. What the hell was this? What was happening? What was he trying to do with us? What did he want with us now? Was this... the end?
BG crawled over to me, his short and stubby legs barely moving. His entire form was glitching, data nearly broken apart. "Taj..."
"WONG? Where are you!?" Ogudomon screamed as the data of the entire Digital World flowed into him. "Dammit... DATAMON! I will make you pay for this! You will suffer beyond the universe, you will never learn anything again! You will never see beyond your filthy laboratory ever again, you moronic little creature! I'm going to devour the Digital World soon, and then you will never see anything again!"
Henry was gone? He was okay? That was good. But it also meant... he had my friends, didn't he? They were eaten. They were dead. I rolled onto my back and reached over, grabbing my partner with my good arm. I clutched BG tight, trying to comfort myself just as much as him. We were next. And I realized there was nothing we could do. We were gonna die. Not how I saw our journey ending five months ago at the start... But I guess going out with all you had wasn't the worst way to go. Just close.
I looked down at BG. "I'm... sorry," I told him. "If it weren't for me... he wouldn't – we wouldn't..."
"I'd do it all again. You couldn't stop me, Partner," BG told me. And then Ogudomon's foot slammed down on us. And the world was over.
X X X
Jeri was fighting off the urge to cry as she watched her other friends begin to scream in agony. Guardromon and MarineAngemon, dead. Gone. Yamaki was listening to a dozen terrified reports at once, forcing the agents to quiet down and speak one at a time. "Sir, the Digital World has been vanishing at a rapid rate. For a moment, there was the Digital Hazard sign, but now it has intensified. We do not have even until the end of the hour before the entire Digital World is gone -"
"Barriers between the Digital World and real world are falling apart. Whatever is happening to the Digital World is going to spread here. We need to prepare all of the Tamers and Digidestined -"
"Sir, our probes into the area between the Digital and real worlds are sending back fragmented images. We aren't sure what we're seeing, but it's larger than anything we've ever seen. Stronger than any Digimon on record -"
It all fell away as Jeri walked over to the window. "Dr. Katou?" Yamaki asked, cutting off his agents. "Dr. Katou, what is it?"
She remained silent and simply pointed to where a huge claw was pushing through the sky itself. Digital Fog began to spread everywhere, covering the entire city in a Digital Field. Buildings began to turn to data, their pieces flowing into the sky. "What the hell is that?" Yamaki asked, horrified. A huge, human like head with small horns head began to push into the sky itself now along with one more claw pushing to the right of the first. Flames began to rain from the sky.
"Get every Tamer we have out there!" Yamaki snapped, turning on his heel and shouting at his agents. "We need to do as much as we can right here and now!"
Jeri looked down at the static of her Digivice's screen. "Leomon..."
X X X
When Henry Wong woke up, he had to admit he had never really expected to. Ogudomon – Lucemon – whatever he wanted to be called now, he'd been tearing them apart. He was going to kill them all, and yet Henry was alive. He'd been tossed into the air while trying to get to Tasuke, to save him and do... and do... He didn't know. But something. Anything.
"Ugh... you get the bible verse we need to exorcise that bus that hit us?" Henry rolled onto his back, seeing Terriermon beside him also just waking up.
"Ah, good, you are finally awake. I had worried that my attempts at healing you may cause problems, but it appears scanning ChaosGallantmon's body helped in my research."
Henry sat up slowly, head swimming, and looked at a small, pill shaped Digimon. "Datamon? Where are we?"
"My laboratory. I moved you here when it was obvious that Lucemon planned to devour you all. All of your friends, all of your family – they have been devoured, their data and power added to Lucemon's," Datamon explained. He moved past Henry and began to access a console, showing what was happening outside the lab. Nothing. Literally nothing. "The Digital World is gone, now. As soon as Gallantmon decided to become Megidramon once more, the fate of the Digital World was sealed. He was a fool."
"Stop." Henry pushed up to his feet. He was hurting, broken even. Taj was gone... forever... but he couldn't let any of their memories be trampled by Datamon like that. Especially not when the last things he'd said to Takato were so... confrontational. "Don't talk about him like that. He was trying to protect his family."
"In the worst manner possible. Simply put, a foolish decision. Sacrificing them would have prevented Lucemon's plan from working at all, and Megidramon had no chance of hurting Ogudomon, fueled by malice as he is," Datamon said clinically. "Knowledge he had been given, if my observations were anything to go by. He let his temper destroy the world. Perhaps even both of our worlds."
"Thinking clearly about your family isn't that easy."
"Yeah, Henry never thinks clearly when it comes to his family!" Terriermon offered dryly.
Henry glared at him, but nodded. "He's not wrong. We have to do everything we can, even if it's useless. Because when there's no chance, that's all we have. We have to do something."
"Nothing would have been the correct something." He typed for a fw moments. "Now, I would like to test my hypothesis, Tamer. Can you save the Digidestined from Lucemon?"
Henry snapped straight. "Save them? But you said they were loaded," Terriermon wondered. "How can we do that?"
"Yes, but not in a traditional sense. For now, their data is incorporated solidly. They and their Digivices are being used to stabilize Lucemon's new Digivolution from Ogudomon. Revelamon. If he succeeds in devouring the human world, he will become Gaiamon and remake reality in his image. Or at least, that is his plan. If he is even mentally capable of creation rather than corruption and destruction is another matter entirely. Potentially, you can break through to them while they are still solid. Help them break out and fight back. You simply need more power to stand up to him." Datamon typed some more. "Of course, the cost is quite high."
"I'd pay any price for Tasuke," Henry said resolutely. He felt revitalized by this news. He could save them all. He could save the world. They could win and go home.
Terriermon jumped on his shoulder. "Saving our friends? Well, I was in if Henry was in but now I'm definitely in! What's the nasty medicine, Pillbug?"
Datamon finished typing and turned one eye to his guests. "The bond of a Digimon and their partner is potential energy. It I released, stored, transformed, and grows. But by examining the lives of Omnimon, I found that it is possible for that energy to be spent all at once." Henry's heart hit his feet and his blood ran cold. What Datamon was talking about, what he meant... It couldn't be... "A final Digivolution that gives enough power to stand up against any opponent at the cost of all the time that pair shall ever have. The end of their friendship forevermore."
"Wait... you mean... you mean we'd never see each other again?" Terriermon asked, jaw dropping. He couldn't imagine life without Henry, not right after they got back together? That wasn't fair...
Datamon looked at Terriermon. "No." Terriermon' face softened. "I mean you would be dead."
Terriermon looked surprised, the color draining from his face. "D-dead?"
"And unlike Omnimon, it would truly be the end. You would die, with no egg to be reborn," Datamon explained, no empathy in his voice. This was a fact, and he only wanted to see if it would happen..
Henry stared at Datamon, horrified. Lose Terriermon? Forever? Could he... could he do that? Terriermon wasn't just his best friend. Shibumi's theory was that the Digimon were basically a part of their human. And given that Biomerging existed, it was definitely true now. Could he really lose that bond? Would he survive it?
But his mind turned to Tasuke. To every memory. To scrambled eggs in the morning, the kid always running late. Riding a bike. Naming Momentai. Every moment of every day. His... his son. How could he leave that behind? Could he choose Terriermon over that?
Terriermon watched Henry with a sad gaze. "You know,Henry, the gears in your head are louder than Guilmon's stomach," Terriermon cut in suddenly. He looked at Datamon and winked. "We're in, Pillbug!"
"Terriermon!" Henry admonished. He grabbed the Digimon and held him out in front of him by his armpits. "What are you saying? You'll die!" He felt heat rising in his eyes, burning down his cheeks as he cried. "We... we just found each other again... We're best friends... We're family!"
Terriermon grabbed Henry's arm with his ear and swung around, flipping up onto his shoulder. "Hey. So's the kid, right? If he means half as much to you as you do for me... then I'm behind you, one hundred percent. And Momentai – I never thought I'd live forever. I'm way too bright a candle to burn that long, right?" Terriermon was crying now too, fighting the tears running down his fur by wiping them away with his ears. "I mean, what kind of hero doesn't want to go out fighting a big monster and saving the world, huh? Imagine, me, the... the big hero. Saving kids ev-everywhere..."
Henry hugged Terriermon tight, refusing to let go as they both cried. "I... I won't know what to do without you..."
"Without me? C-come on, Henry! Jeri still has Leomon, and you'll always have me. You know, even if I'm not there, I'll be making you Momentai till the sun goes out even if you have to ask the dog to stand in for me!"
Henry let out a laugh. He would, too. "You are the best friend I could ever have gotten, you know that?" he asked, his laughter fighting off his sobbing.
The silence of their goodbye was only a few seconds long before Datamon brusquely interrupted. "Yes yes, goodbyes and valedictions. We do not have the time for that, Tamer. You must give me your Digivice before Revelamon succeeds in Loading your human world and becoming Gaiamon. Or would you prefer to fight after the universe has been devoured?"
X X X
Revelamon: The Second Beast of the Apocalypse born from a demon devouring the Digital World. A massive beast with the voice of a dragon and the horns of a lamb, wielding wings etched with the Crests and powers of all Demon Lords. It is crowned by the Crest of Pride, and holds itself as a god. Its power is comparable to a being that calls itself a god, wielding influence and strength to Load the Real World. Those who deny its Will face its Voice of the Dragon attack that burns away all resistance either mentally or physically. If one can resist its control and survive its fires, the beast will unleash the Blade of Stars to carve even their souls apart.
18-12-6: Compiling... Compiling... Compiling... Data loaded. Biomerge data updated, secondary energy upload completed... Terriermon and Henry Wong Biomerge process beginning. Human Digicore generation complete... Data incorporation complete... Compiling... Compiling... Compiling...
Terriermon Biomerge to...!
Ha! Gotcha. You'll see what I become next time on Digimon: Digital Monsters!