Dear lord this chapter is huge!
And that's not even the full reason as to why it took so long to get out.
Timeless had to leave again for a few days starting on wednesday, and he came back on saturday.
From what I know, we should be good for now though.
Hope you enjoy the climax of the Etemon arc!
Miraculous Wings! AeroVeedramon!
"Just a bit more and...done," Gyro nodded. "Took us a while, but looks like we finally managed to finish these."
"Finished what?" Jaune asked, looking up from where he was sharpening Crocea Mors's blade.
"I was curious about the tech that went behind Gyro and Pierce's pouches, and with a lot of work and analyzing, I was able to replicate it." Weiss said as she held up a small pouch.
"And we made some for everyone!" Ruby said as she started passing them around.
"It's a little project we started working on after we reached Server, just so Pierce and I aren't the ones carrying everything." Gyro explained.
"Well, that will certainly be convenient in case any of you ever end up seperated." Wizardmon said as he looked at the pouches.
"After our last incident, yeah. It'll definitely pay for all of us to have these," Yang nodded while Gyro and Pierce started dividing their supplies between everyone.
Once the task was done, everyone had a brand new pouch at their hip, full of supplies, including some of the things the twins had in their pouches when entering the Digital World. "So how far are we from the Crests of Hope and Light again?" Blake asked.
"We shouldn't be too far. In fact, the first landmark should be coming up. Its one of Etemon's Network Terminals," Wizardmon said.
"One of his terminals, huh?" Weiss mused.
"Do you have something in mind?" Pyrrha asked.
"I just might. Think we could do a quick stop?" Weiss asked.
"No problem," Pierce said, flashing a thumbs up.
Minutes later found the group crowding around one of the large boxes that served as the terminals for the Dark Network, Weiss tapping away on her scroll, before pulling out a cable from the terminal and plugging it in "Let's see what kind of information we can get out of him." she mused as she downloaded information she knew would be the least guarded. After a few moments… "Wow...his security is almost non-existent," Weiss blinked at how easily she was downloading information. However, as she did, she noticed a mail icon appear on her Scroll. "Hm?" she blinked, and out of curiosity, pressed it. What she got… "Everyone, you all may want to see this."
"What is it?" Tentomon asked as he buzzed up and looked over her shoulder "Help me?"
"Someone needs help?" Agumon asked as he hoisted himself up a bit and looked over from the edge of the network box.
"Come and save me, I am a prisoner of Etemon, I will help you find the Crests in exchange." Pierce read aloud, raising his eyebrow "Well that sounds suspicious."
"They have coordinates in the message as well." Blake pointed out to a lower line in the mail.
Wizardmon looked at them closely "That… matches with the location of the Crest of Light." he said, blinking in surprise. "...okay scratch that. Its CLOSE to where the Crest is, but not quite there," he amended after looking closer. "However, that's well into Etemon's territory. I believe that's where the core of his Dark Network is located."
"Well, I suppose it was bound to happen eventually. Though I was hoping we would have ALL of the crests before challenging him." Pyrrha said with a frown.
"I'm sure we'll be fine Pyrrha." Gabumon said, trying to reassure her.
"Does the message have anything else?" Jaune asked as he tried to look as well.
"There's a program as well, but besides that, nothing else." Weiss said, looking over everything.
"This thing reeks of a trap honestly." Gyro said with a frown.
"Tell me about it, it's almost like it's got a big neon sign that says 'Come over here so I can kill you!'" Nora added.
"For once, the analogy makes sense." Salamon agreed with a nod.
"But considering the information they sent us is correct, they could be helpful." Ren mused.
"And we would have them outnumbered if things go south." Wormmon added.
"So...do we go for it? Or do we ignore them?" Patamon asked.
That is a good question," Agumon frowned, folding his arms.
"Maybe...we should go for it," Yang suggested. "I mean, we've gotten this far, and we ARE going that way so we might as well. Besides, we can take them. We DO have an active crest now."
"Yeah! We can kick their butts!" Biyomon agreed.
"Well...alright," Gyro nodded slowly. "Since we ARE going that way, we might as well see what this is about I suppose. Any objections?"
Nobody had any real reason to refuse.
"Right then, we'll check on this as soon as we retrieve the Crests of Hope and Light," Wizardmon nodded.
With that said everyone got back in the RV and started heading in the direction of the Crests, eventually entering a canyon area with the RV having some slight trouble in maneuvering through, but they managed to reach their destination nonetheless, getting out of the RV to continue on foot.
As they walked, they were mostly confined to a straight path, until Blake's Tag started glowing "Well, I guess this confirms it's going to be my Crest." she said, before they followed the glow of her tag.
"Blake, over here!" Patamon said as he suddenly turned a corner. Following him, they saw a large slab with a symbol on it, one that seemed like a ray of light coming down from the heavens.
The slab started to glow a yellow color before shrinking down, and floating over to set itself into her Tag.
"8 down, only 2 to go." Gyro said, before everyone looked on in surprise as Nora's Tag started to glow, but there didn't seem to be anything obvious around.
"That's strange." Wizardmon said "The Crest of Light is supposed to be hidden deep in Etemon's territory, yet we are still a few hours away from that."
"Strange, perhaps this is some sort of shortcut?" Weiss wondered as they stepped into the tunnel, the only light being the one coming in from outside.
"Hey, are these the same symbols from Centarumon's ruins?" Palmon noticed as she looked at the walls.
"Huh, so this is the stuff you're always analysing?" Gomamon asked as he looked at some of the coding on the wall.
"Yes, I'm positive that with these we can learn far more about this world, how it came to be, and possibly even how its connected to our world," Weiss nodded as she began deciphering. However, as she worked, her eyes widened. "This is…!"
"Something wrong?" Tentomon asked.
She shook her head "No… just, watch." she said, touching a few keys while also rubbing off one of the symbols, causing them to blink when lights came on in the tunnel, and then a holographic map appeared.
"Woah… what is that?" Ruby asked in awe.
"A map of the Digital World, it's gigantic from what I can see, but, if I do this…" she said, hitting another key, causing the map to wrap around itself a bit until it was a globe "We can get a better scale of things."
"Wow, it looks as big as Earth, and as Remnant as well." Pierce noticed.
"And that brings me to my next point." Weiss said, hitting a few more keys, making several lines appear on the globe of the Digital World, "This is the Digital World's network, and this…" she trailed off, making another globe appear, this one having fewer continents "Is Remnant, as well as it's network." she said, the lines appearing a second later.
"Ok… where is this going?" Yang asked with a raised eyebrow, knowing there was a point to this, but she didn't know what that was.
In response, Weiss hit a key, and the two maps overlaid one over the other, and at least half of the lines of the Digital World matched with all the ones from Remnant as they became highlighted in red "Remnant's network makes up half of the Digital World's own."
"Then… where's the other half?" Jaune asked, already feeling like this was a big revelation, even though he didn't fully understand it.
Gyro looked at the map closely "I… may have an idea." he said, before looking to Weiss and holding out his hand "May I?" he asked, and she passed him her scroll, looking it over a little before starting to tap away, though he was going more slowly than she did.
Eventually, another map appeared next to the two overlaid ones, this one familiar only to the twins "This is Earth." he explained to the questioning looks, before tapping away a little more as the network lines appeared on it "And I think it's the answer we're looking for." he finished, before the map of Earth was added… and all the network lines matched up now, the ones from Earth highlighted in blue.
"Wait… so, the networks of both our worlds make up the one in the Digital World?" Pierce said in confusion as he looked at the sight.
"What does that mean then?" Veemon asked.
"It means the Digital World exists between Earth and Remnant, created from their overlapping shadows in a sense." Weiss answered simply.
Her response from the others was a stunned silence for a good while, all of them trying to wrap their heads around the information, until finally, Pierce broke the silence.
"...do you think that's why?" Pierce blinked.
"Why what?" Jaune asked.
"Why Remnant saw the battle between Greymon and that other Digimon 11 years ago," Pierce clarified.
"That...makes a lot of sense actually," Pyrrha mused. "If the worlds really ARE connected in some way, maybe that's how it was possible."
"Maybe that's why we were able to get to Remnant without too much hassle then." Gyro realised.
"Yeah, thinking about it, it sounds like you guys got to our world pretty easy, even though travelling between worlds should probably be harder than that." Ruby said with a nod.
"Still...at least now we know for sure that there's a connection. Where there's a connection, there should be a way to get from one to the other," Weiss nodded.
"Then let's keep on hoping we manage to find that way back." Yang said, crossing her arms as she sighed a bit.
"I'm sure we'll manage." Biyomon reassured with a smile, earning a grateful nod from her partner.
"And not just that," Nora added, holding up her Tag. It was glowing brighter. "We're getting closer to my Crest!"
"Looks like its at the end of this tunnel," Salamon noted.
"All that's there is a wall though." Gabumon noticed.
"And it isn't one that has an obvious Crest on it." Gomamon added.
"Only one way to find out I guess," Ren mused. "Nora, try holding your Tag up to the wall."
"Got it," Nora nodded, moving up to the wall, and holding her Tag in front of it. She stayed like that for a few minutes, before moving away from it and pouting "Stupid wall."
"Maybe this is what the program this mysterious person sent is for?" Tentomon said, looking up at Weiss.
"I think it just may be yes." she said with a nod, before running said program, and a moment later, the wall at the end of the tunnel faded away… revealing another wall, this one with an image that looked like a flower shaped crystal. Reacting to the Tag, it glowed pink, and soon shrunk down and inserted itself into Nora's Tag.
"That's 9 down, only 1 more to go," Ruby grinned.
"Yes, only the Crest of Love remains," Wizardmon nodded, looking at Yang.
"R-right, guess mine's the only one left," Yang said, though if one looked closely she wasn't meeting his gaze.
"Looks like the path is opened now as well." Gyro said as they went up to the newly opened exit, peering out of it… and gaping at the sight off to the left.
"Ok… who mentioned an upside down pyramid again?" Blake muttered incredulously.
"Yang did." Patamon answered as they all looked at the huge, and very much upside down pyramid.
"Dear Oum, I was freaking joking." Yang said in a bit of annoyance.
"Well...look at it this way. At least we didn't tempt the universe with something worse…" Agumon said. Right as he said that, they heard a familiar horn, and there was Etemon's trailer. "...shutting up now…" he said, while Gyro pat his back.
"Hm...this is interesting…" Wizardmon mused.
"Why is that?" Ren asked.
"Etemon doesn't usually come around here. Perhaps something is wrong with the Dark Network. This IS where the core is. Hm...maybe that's why we haven't heard from him for a while. If his network is having a glitch, he wouldn't be able to find us," Wizardmon said...then started to ramble.
"So...is that a good thing or a bad thing?" Wormmon asked.
"Considering whoever sent us the message is in that Pyramid...I think its bad," Weiss sighed...until she noticed something else. "Hm?"
"What is it?" Palmon asked.
"Our mysterious prisoner of Etemon's just sent me the coordinates for a secret passage into the pyramid." Weiss answered as she looked at the new information.
"This looks more and more like a trap honestly." Gyro said with a frown.
"Maybe they're just using us to get free." Jaune said, trying to think of any good reasons for this mystery being to be so helpful.
"That's...a very good point," Pyrrha nodded.
"So should we help them or just ignore them then?" Gabumon asked.
"Normally, I'd consider ignoring them, but we can't forget one VERY important detail," Blake pointed out. "They claim to have information on the Crest of Love. We can't exactly ignore that on the hope that it's a bluff."
"I think it may be worse than that actually." Wizardmon said, looking at the pyramid with narrowed eyes "From what we've been able to figure out, the Crest would be somewhere in that pyramid, so it's possible that when they say information, they outright have the Crest itself."
"Damn...guess we don't have a choice then…" Veemon groaned.
"Looks like it," Pierce sighed. "Okay, so how do we do this then? Frontal assault or scouting?"
"Scouting," Gyro said. "Assuming whoever this guy is is just aiming to use us, it'd be bad if we all went in. We should split up into two teams. One team scouts the Pyramid, while the other team hangs back, and if things get hairy, they come to rescue them. How's that sound?"
"Pretty good plan if you ask me." Ruby agreed with a nod.
"Whoever is on rescue duty better be fast at least." Nora pointed out.
"Right, that's why I was thinking that at least you Ren and Pyrrha should be on that duty, Salamon, Wormmon and Gabumon have the fastest Adult forms after all." Gyro said, earning nods all around.
"We'll stay out as well, Angemon would be good for a distraction." Blake suggested.
"Right, in case Etemon needs to be drawn out. That's why I was going to propose that I hang back for this one, what with Agumon having hit the Perfect Level, we'd be able to hold him off more easily." Gyro reasoned.
"It's a sound idea, so, I guess the rest of us are going in?" Jaune asked.
"Yeah, Weiss is a given considering you'll need tech support, Yang because this is her Crest we're getting, Pierce on the hopes his semblance helps you out, Ruby for her speed, and you for any tactics they may need." Gyro explained himself, and the others couldn't argue the logic.
"Right, so do we do this now, or…?" Jaune trailed off.
"No, we'll do this tomorrow morning, not only does this let us be rested enough for it, but it also gives us a chance to catch them off guard as some of them are bound to be just waking up." Gyro said as he shook his head.
"Right," everyone nodded.
"Speaking of which, I'd like to volunteer to join the scouting group," Wizardmon said. "I may not be the strongest, but my magic should be able to either buy us some time if not help us escape."
"Right, that sounds like it'd be a big help," Ruby nodded.
"Alright then. Get some rest everyone. We've got a long day ahead of us," Gyro said as they retreated back to the other side of the tunnel, back to the RV, with a campfire between the RV and the tunnel entrance.
Pierce yawned a little as he and Veemon kept watch. Big day or not, they needed to maintain night watches, lest the possibility of some evil Digimon catching them off guard. "Looks like our shift will be over soon," he mused...and idly noticed Veemon had fallen asleep in front of the fire, if the way his head was slumped was any indication. Despite himself he chuckled a little. "Guess you were more tired than I thought."
Just as he finished that statement, he noticed the RV door opening, and out came Yang and Biyomon. "It's our turn to keep watch," Yang said, though he also noticed that it lacked her usual energy. Heck, she'd been a bit out of it all day really, especially after they figured out the final Crest was hers.
"Right. Thanks," Pierce nodded, getting down, while Biyomon went over to the fire. However, as Yang was about to walk past him, he placed a hand on her shoulder. "You know you can talk to me, right?" he said, giving her an encouraging smile.
"Huh?" Yang blinked. "I...I don't know what you're talking about," she said quickly.
"I'm not stupid Yang." he said with a sigh "I'd be a pretty crappy boyfriend if I didn't notice how you react whenever we talk about your Crest."
She looked away at his words, staying silent.
"Yang… just because your mom did what she did, doesn't mean YOU should feel bad." he said, having an idea what the source of her problem was.
"How can I not though? She didn't want me… she didn't love me." Yang said, getting more glum by the second.
"Then she sucks as a mom," Pierce said suddenly. "I may not remember my mom, but even when the doctors said I was gonna die, she never gave up on me. That's what mothers are supposed to do. Your mom didn't even try, so as far as I can tell, it's all on her," he said, before placing a finger on the side of her face. "And honestly, that's her loss."
She looked at him for a good long moment, a bit at a loss for words, before eventually managing to smile, leaning into him as she rested her head on his shoulder "Thanks… that… that does help a bit."
Pierce hugged her. "Just remember, even if things are hard, no matter what, you're not alone. You don't have to take it all by yourself. I'm here. So is Ruby, Biyomon, and everyone else."
She nodded slowly in the embrace, and after a few minutes, they separated...and Pierce let out a small yawn. "Sorry, I think I need to catch some shut eye too," he chuckled awkwardly.
She laughed a bit at the honesty "Right, go get some sleep then. I'll see you in the morning."
He nodded, before picking up Veemon and walking into the RV to get to sleep.
The next morning saw everyone is position. Once everything was set, the scouting group made their way across the sand, using the dunes to stay out of sight, while Wizardmon used some of his magic to give them some extra cover. "Okay, ready guys?" Jaune whispered.
"Ready as we'll ever be," Biyomon said.
"Okay. On three. One...two...three," Pierce said, before they dashed across the sand and were soon pressed up against the Pyramid side.
"Alright, according to the data, the secret passage should be around...here," Weiss said as she examined the side of the pyramid.
"I think you might wanna hurry in finding it," Yang said a little urgently, before gesturing at the side, the group peeking out a little to see Etemon coming out of the Pyramid's main entrance, looking like he'd been up all night if the yawn was any indication. "The monkey's here."
"Right," Weiss nodded. Unfortunately…
"Hm? Is someone there?" Etemon suddenly said, and they didn't need to peek to know that he was coming their way.
"Hurry," they all whispered urgently, trying as best as they could to NOT give Etemon a reason to come faster.
Eventually Etemon rounded the corner and found...nothing. "Hm...was I hearing things?" he blinked, scratching the back of his head, turning around a little. Though when his back was turned, a hand came out of the wall, and promptly flipped him the bird, before pulling back in, right as he turned around. "I don't know why, but I feel like someone just insulted me," he frowned. "Ah whatever! I'm in a bad mood now, so I'll go sing a song or something to make myself feel better!" he growled, doing a few punches before walking back to his trailer.
"That...was a little too close for comfort…" Tentomon sighed as they sagged against the walls of the hidden passage.
"Though...was that last bit REALLY necessary?" Weiss asked, unimpressed at Pierce who was snickering slightly.
"Come on guys, TELL me that didn't feel good," he chuckled. Nobody could refute that that was pretty funny.
"I certainly can't deny that it's nice to poke fun at him." Wizardmon said, laughter evident in his voice.
"That's true," Gomamon chuckled. "Still, we should probably keep moving. Don't want him to come back and maybe find this way."
"Good point. We'd better get going then," Biyomon said. With that, the group continued down the passage, Weiss consulting the data regularly to make sure they were on the right track. Along the way though, they found another translucent wall...and noticed a pair of Gazimon walking down the other side.
"Oh this is gonna be good." Veemon muttered so low no one heard him as he rubbed his hands with a grin, before waiting for the Gazimon to be pass the wall, as he ran out, quickly kicked one in the butt, and then ran back into the wall just as quickly. Unsurprisingly, the Gazimon started arguing...not that Veemon had long to enjoy his little prank, as Pierce pulled him into a noogie.
"And what in Oum's name did you think you were doing?" he frowned as he continued to lightly grind his fist on his partner's head.
"They freaking deserved it for being jerks to the Koromon!" Veemon whisper shouted.
"That may be, but that was incredibly reckless." Tentomon said, and if he could show expressions on his face, he would likely have narrowed eyes and a frown. "What if they'd seen you?!"
"Well they didn't, right?" Veemon defended.
"Well they could have," Jaune sighed, before finally Pierce let him go.
"Just don't do that again. We don't want to attract unnecessary attention to ourselves," Pierce said.
"Right right," Veemon shrugged.
The group continued on their way, eventually reaching a mildly intimidating sight.
"Maybe we should have brought Nora. She would have been better suited for this in the end." Ruby said nervously as they looked up at the large electrified grid in front of them.
"Why would she be good for this?" Wizardmon asked, despite still looking at the grid, which for some reason completely obscured whatever was behind it.
"Well, you weren't there for this, but we each explained what our semblances do to each other. Nora can absorb electricity to power herself up." Weiss answered, looking back at her scroll and tapping away.
"So… what do we do now?" Pierce wondered.
"I guess the first thing to do would be see if there's a way around this thing." Jaune said with a frown as he looked at the grid.
"That won't be necessary." Weiss said "There's a part of the wall which is fake, just an illusion… right… here." she said, suddenly sticking her hand onto, and through the wall.
"Well, you don't see that everyday." Palmon said, blinking in surprise.
"This is starting to get weird, even by our standards." Gomamon added.
"Yeah well, I'll take it over shock therapy," Jaune shrugged helplessly as Pierce walked past him and right into the illusion. When they got through, they were met with a large metal and spacious room, with the most notable feature being the glass pyramid in the center of the room. It appeared to be replica of the larger pyramid, with a smaller one that was right side up inside. Inside that smaller pyramid was a platform/pedestal and standing on it was what appeared to be a miniature robot with a glass dome covering the the circuits on top of his head, an organic left eye, and a mechanical right eye that was yellow in color.
"Ok… who's this?" Yang asked, finding the obvious Digimon had a somewhat odd shape.
"That's Datamon. The only thing we know is that he's apparently a really smart Digimon." Biyomon answered.
Digimon Analyzer: Datamon
Datamon. Virus Type. A Perfect Level Machine Digimon. Rumored to have once been a Vaccine Type, Datamon became a Virus through unknown means. Not much information is known about him, other than the fact he has all the skills of a great hacker. His special attacks are Plug Bomb, firing several small missiles from his fingers, and Nano Crush, unleashing several small viruses to corrode away at his foes.
"Do you think he's the one who sent us the message?" Palmon asked.
"Correct!" came a new voice...coming from Weiss's scroll.
"What the…?!" Weiss gasped in alarm, before the group looked at Datamon.
"Are you doing that?" Palmon asked.
"That is correct. I am speaking with all of you through this device. Welcome, Chosen Children!" Datamon said jovially...or as jovial as the mechanical sounding voice could be.
"Okay...why did you call us here? Aside from you being Etemon's prisoner and all that," Pierce asked.
"I once fought Etemon a long time ago," Datamon said. "But unfortunately I lost and my body was heavily damaged. Etemon left my broken body sealed here, and on top of having my ability to formulate stolen, I was made into the supervisor of his Dark Network against my will," Datamon explained, by now they could hear the sheer anger and hate creeping into his voice. "However, one day I finally regained my memories, and from there I began repairing my body in ways that Etemon wouldn't notice. Once my repairs were complete, I began tapping into the Network to learn everything that was happening outside. Eventually I was even able to meddle with the information processed through the network, including information regarding all of you."
"Wait, what?" Yang blinked in surprise.
"Etemon's network is extensive. Had it not been for MY intervention, he would have sent his followers after you every day and night," Datamon said.
"Uh...thanks?" Pierce blinked.
"Now then, I won't beat around the bush. Despite what I'm capable of doing in here, I still require outside assistance to escape this prison," Datamon said.
"And you want us to do it, right?" Veemon frowned.
"Of course. I believe it is only fair. And as promised, I will be sure to help you find the Crests," Datamon 'nodded'. "More importantly, you and I share a common enemy in Etemon. It would be only logical that we aim to defeat him."
The group looked at him skeptically for a few moments, before they all turned to each other and huddled up, speaking in hushed whispers, Datamon somehow managing to sweatdrop despite being a machine.
After a few moments they broke the huddle. "Okay...so we were discussing and well...no nice way to say this. What guarantee do we have you won't turn on us once we let you go?"
Datamon's lone organic eye blinked at them "Well… that's very cautious of you. I suppose I can commend that, only a fool would trust a stranger so easily."
"Yeah well, where we come from, doing that tends to end with people dead, so the question still stands," Jaune said flatly.
However, before Datamon could say anything, a familiar and VERY unwelcomed voice cut in. "Well well, so this is where you brats have been snooping around. Shoulda known that you had a hand in this, Datamon," Etemon growled as he came in.
"What the?! How'd he find us?!" Gomamon gasped.
"We have security cameras you jackass!" came the two Gazimon...the same ones Veemon had kicked. "You got some nerve doing that to us!"
Everyone, even Datamon, looked at Veemon with dry stares. "You just HAD to kick them, didn't you?"
Veemon had the decency to look apologetic as he laughed sheepishly "Sorry about that."
"I had wondered why my Network was acting strangely since you all landed here. I knew it wasn't like the usual sabotage your group kept doing, so I was getting more and more suspicious," Etemon said. "I guess it makes sense now. So you've finally regained your memories, Datamon."
"I had completed my maintenance shortly before they arrived. It was your own fault for not noticing. Now I intend to have my revenge," Datamon glared.
"That so? Fine then, once I've dealt with these brats, I'll be sure to smash you so badly you won't be able to fix yourself again," Etemon said, before turning to the hunters, the Digimon all getting in front of them.
"We don't have a choice it seems. Datamon, how do we free you?" Wizardmon said, before adding. "You all get him out. We'll distract Etemon."
"No way, we're not sitting this one out," Yang said, as she, Pierce, and Ruby all stood alongside the digimon.
"You guys follow whatever Datamon asks," Ruby said as the Digimon all evolved into Adult form, ready to fight.
"Right, hopefully it's nothing complicated." Jaune said, as Datamon, glaring for a moment longer at Etemon, turned to the important matter and transmitted instructions to Weiss's scroll.
Weiss gave it a quick read "It's simple thankfully, go flip that lever over there." she instructed him as she went in front of a panel, Jaune going up to the lever and quickly pulling it down, having to duck under a stray missile from Ikkakumon who uttered a quick "Sorry!"
When the panel slid down, Weiss started turning the small wheel that would be more at home on a safe "Right-5… Left-8…" she started, before looking up as Birdramon and Kabuterimon slammed into the wall above her, the two of them looking down and giving her a certain look "Hurrying up now!" she said as she entered the rest of the combination quickly and pushed the button before giving the OK sign to Jaune who flipped the lever back up. When he did so, the mechanisms began to work. Good thing too, as Etemon had just blasted everyone into walls, Ruby narrowly managing to avoid being crushed by Togemon, while Pierce and Veedramon hit the wall hard, Pierce's aura breaking in the process. Seeing what happened, Yang's eyes bled red as her hair seemed to ignite, before she punched Etemon on the face. Hard. Etemon stumbled back, but soon punched her back, knocking the wind out of her.
"Ya know what, I think I'll start with you! Dark Spirits!" he growled, throwing the attack at Yang, but before it hit, a fiery red form got in the way, Birdramon taking the brunt of the attack, causing her to hit the ground in pain.
"Birdramon!" Yang shouted in worry. At that moment though…
"Take this! Taste the prison you put me in!" Datamon roared, as the parts of his prison went flying towards Etemon, smashing into the two Gazimon, while the large piece aiming for Etemon was destroyed by his punch. Too bad that also meant Yang and Birdramon were in the way, and acting quickly, Birdramon pushed her out of the way...leaving her to be slammed by the glass panel, flattening her against the wall before she reverted into Biyomon who fell to the ground, completely unmoving.
"What gives?!" Jaune shouted, honestly angry at the double crossing.
"You were quite right to show caution around me. Now that I'm free, I don't need you children anymore. I'll just handle this myself now." Datamon said coldly.
"Heh," Etemon chuckled, not at all surprised. "Boy does this bring me back. That's just the kind of mon Datamon is," he grinned, enjoying the looks of the Chosen at the machine's betrayal.
"Blabber all you want, I'll destroy you this time!" Datamon snarled. "Plug Bomb!" he called out, his fingers opening and he fired what appeared to imp-like viruses from his fingers like missiles.
Etemon grit his teeth before countering. "Dark Spirits!"
The two attacks met, and exploded, a force strong enough to dig a hole right to the surface, which released a pillar of fire from the explosion...and alerting the others.
"Okay, if that's not a sign the others probably need our help, I dunno what is!" Nora blinked in alarm.
"We'd better hurry!" Pyrrha nodded in agreement, before the rescue team sprang into action.
Back underground, Yang had, despite her broken aura, ran to her partner's side, frantically shaking her to try and rouse her, but Biyomon was completely unconscious, and she prayed to whatever god there was out there she was just seeing things when it seemed as if Biyomon's form was flickering every now and then. "Biyomon! Biyomon! No, please! Please wake up!" she said frantically, tears in her eyes as in her mind she was replaying the sight of her partner taking not one, but two major hits for her...because she'd been stupid and thought her semblance would be her secret weapon, as she'd thought so many times before coming to this world.
Before she could think on it further though, she felt a shocking pain travel through her, eliciting a scream from her lips, before she fell unconscious.
Datamon smirked as he retracted a taser into one of his fingers. It seemed fighting Etemon directly was pointless as he was still more powerful than him. With that in mind, he went for an alternative plan. "These two will come in handy for my revenge." he said, before grabbing Yang and Biyomon and flying (somehow) away.
"Get back here with my girlfriend!/sister!" Pierce and Ruby shouted respectively as they ran after him, Weiss and Jaune quickly following while the remaining Digimon did their best to hold back Etemon.
The sight there were met with was a rather annoying one "Great, another one of these. Weiss! Where's the entrance?" Pierce asked, some anger creeping into his tone.
Weiss ignored it though, understanding why he was asking so rudely, and she couldn't blame him as she started tapping away, before her face turned into a frown, then a scowl, and then a nervous look. "I can't find it! It's like it has layers upon layers of coding over it to keep it hidden!"
"So… nothing but luck to rely on, huh?" Pierce muttered, looking nervous as he gazed upon the grid, and knowing someone important to him was behind it.
Hoping for the best, he was about to step towards it, before the wall behind them exploded, the Digimon all getting thrown into the room and reverting to their Child forms (save for Wizardmon of course), with Etemon stepping in, dusting off the small debris that fell on him "Now then, I think I'll start with you lot since Datamon got away." he said, forming a Dark Spirits in his hand, before the pyramid shook, and this time, the ceiling burst open, and several rocks fell on Etemon.
"The cavalry is here!" Nora cheered as she lifted Magnhild in the air.
"We have to be quick. There's no telling how many of his forces are heading our way." Gatomon said.
"Where's Yang?" Ren asked as Stingmon and Angemon were bringing everyone to the current floor.
"Kidnapped." Jaune managed to say, everyone noticing how angry Pierce and Ruby looked.
Blake cursed at how badly the mission went "There's no time to save her right now, we have to retreat and think up a plan as a group. Gyro, Pyrrha, Greymon and Garurumon are outside right now and keeping the bulk of Etemon's forces distracted."
"Dammit!" Ruby shouted, tears in her eyes as they started running, carrying their partners in their arms, while Ren carried Wizardmon on his back.
"We'll get her back. We won't stop until we do!" Pierce said, knowing that while it was a failure for the moment, they'd come out on top later.
"So...how best should we get into the Pyramid, find Datamon, then ram Pandora so far up his metal ass that it'll make whatever Etemon did to him look like a NICE memory?!" Pierce was basically seething as they were now back near the RV, trying to formulate a plan.
"I want second dibs!" Ruby added as well, the normally nice girl was already entertaining all manner of ways to make the robot pay for kidnapping her older sister. Funny thing about knowing a lot about how to build machines, she knew how to take them apart too.
"Don't worry you two, you'll get your revenge, but only if you keep a cool head." Gyro said as he sat cross legged on a table.
"We know…" Ruby sighed sadly.
"But every time we remember what that double crossing little spark plug did, I just want to take him apart with my bare hands," Pierce grumbled.
"You'll get your chance soon enough," Weiss said as she continued to work on her Scroll. "Thanks to the data we already got from Datamon, it's only a matter of time before I decode it, and we should be able to find him. So far I'm pretty sure he's still somewhere in the pyramid at least."
"At least he didn't get far." Jaune sighed in relief.
"Who knows what he's doing though? Whatever it is, it can't be anything humane." Ren said with a frown.
"I swear to god if he tries to dissect her, I will tear off his limbs and shove them up his nonexistant-!" Pierce started, before Blake put her hand over his mouth.
"We get the picture." she said dryly.
"That aside...we have another bigger problem," Pyrrha said, having come back from the Sphinx mouth. "Etemon's forces have completely surrounded the Pyramid, so before we can even start to get back into it, we're going to have to deal with them first."
"Our top priority is saving Yang and Biyomon, so it'd be pointless to try and beat all of them," Wormmon said.
"Think we could try a diversion tactic?" Salamon suggested.
"That could work. Some of us could make a LOT of noise, while everyone else gets in while everyone is focused on the distraction," Nora nodded in agreement, fully serious right now.
"That means a majority of us this time are going to get his attention, right?" Agumon asked, looking to his partner.
"Right, and I think I've figured out the mentality I was in when I first activated my Crest, no promise on starting the day off in Perfect though." Gyro said with a nod.
"If it helps, I have learned illusion magic, so I should be able to hide us from Etemon to make him even more annoyed." Wizardmon supplied helpfully.
"That'd help," Gomamon nodded.
"Okay, so needless to say, Pierce and Ruby are definitely on the infiltration team...seeing as I doubt they'd take no for an answer…" Jaune said, earning sounds of approval from the two.
"I'll make up for my blunder today, it was my fault we were caught, so this time, extra careful, and I only kick ass when told to." Veemon said, clenching his fists, a bit angry with himself.
"Yeah, you probably should, cause I think we can all agree Weiss is gonna be leading the rescue, seeing as she's the only one with a means of navigating the Pyramid," Gyro nodded.
"And the rest of us will make sure to keep all of Etemon's attention," Blake nodded.
"So, evolving from the start?" Patamon asked.
"It's definitely our best bet." Gabumon answered with a nod.
"And I've got better news. I just cracked part of the code," Weiss added, before creating a visual of the Pyramid, and revealing a new section underground. "I'm positive he is hiding in this additional section, hidden from even Etemon's database," she explained.
"Clever," Pyrrha frowned. "He's hiding right under Etemon's nose, and using him as a shield without him even knowing it."
"So he's in the safest place from us, and in the perfect place to start an attack on Etemon too," Blake mused.
"Well, he gave it a good try. Too bad for him, its not good enough," Ruby said with determination.
"Hold it, the biggest problem is the area is surrounded by electrified walls. Getting in is one thing. Locating the way into the sanctum is another issue. I can't tell where the opening is, only that one exists," Weiss frowned.
"I'll handle that part." Pierce said "If there's ever a time for my stupid semblance to turn on, it would be now."
"Can't say I like having to bet it all on your semblance even though it always does come through when it counts...but doesn't look like we'll have a better plan than this," Gyro sighed. "Alright then, get ready everyone, we'll begin this plan at dawn."
"Right!" Everyone nodded.
The next morning saw Etemon's forces dealing with a night without sleep, as even some of the Gazimon who were manning the control room seemed to be half asleep. However, they were soon wide awake when one looked at a monitor...just in time to see a missile flying right at them, before it hit the Pyramid with a loud 'boom'.
"What the heck is going on here?!" came Etemon's angry voice as he stepped into the room...for some reason wearing a bathrobe which he threw off just like that.
"Hang on sir, getting a visual…" the Gazimon started before more attacks impacted the Pyramid, causing it to shake more before they finally could see what was happening. "It's the Chosen Children! They're attacking!" one of the Gazimon reported.
Etemon growled as he looked at the screen, seeing missiles, fireballs, spikes and more being launched at the Pyramid "So, round 2 is it? Alright then, I'll go handle it myself!" he said, stomping back out and heading for the exit.
Meanwhile, outside it was complete chaos as the group had attacked when the guards were at their weakest. After a long sleepless night, and thus they were easy pickings for the well rested group. "Okay, so far so good," Jaune mused as he and Ikkakumon were in the middle of a tactical retreat to lure some of the guards away and into a trap.
"Yeah, now the only question is, how long before…" Ikkakumon started, but didn't get to finish as…
"Dark Spirits!" came Etemon's voice followed by a large explosion.
"That happens…" Jaune and Ikkakumon finished together lamely. "Guys, the monkey's in the house!" he warned through his scroll.
"Right, we need to keep his attention divided as much as we can. Weiss's group still needs time," Ren responded, as Stingmon fired a barrage of spikes, further peppering the battlefield.
Meanwhile, deep inside the pyramid, Yang stirred...and woke up to a less than enjoyable situation, seeing as she was restrained on what looked like a metal operating table, with what appeared to be a scanner over her waist. "What the?!" she blinked...before she noticed Datamon working on a nearby console...and remembered what happened. "You motherfucker!"
"I don't know what that is, but it sounds like an insult." Datamon stated as he turned around to her.
"What was your first clue you double crossing tin can!" she growled, trying to get free.
"You can forget about trying to escape. I made sure those restraints would be able to hold any of you," Datamon said.
Yang continued to struggle, but it was no good. It was also at that moment that she saw Biyomon restrained against the wall, still unconscious. "Biyomon!" she called out in alarm, but her partner didn't respond.
"She won't be waking up just yet. It was fortunate I managed to put her in a stabilizer in time, or she may have become useless to my plan," Datamon said, before working on the console again. "After all, I need her to defeat Etemon for me."
Yang stopped at his words "Stabilizer?" she repeated in confusion.
"Yes, her data was unstable after taking so much damage yesterday, but I managed to fix that issue quickly." Datamon answered as if talking about the weather.
Yang however had stopped short, her anger dying a cold death when she heard that. She knew Digimon were made out of data, and if Biyomon had been unstable that meant she'd...she'd…
Datamon didn't seem to notice or care about her distress as he continued working on the console. "Honestly," he started. "It's pathetic. Out of 10 of you only one has actually drawn out the powers of the Crests, and of all the ones who could have entered the Pyramid, he wasn't one of them," he said in annoyance. "No matter, I will simply need to draw out the powers of this Crest to defeat Etemon," he said as an arm emerged from the machine, revealing in its grasp a red Crest depicting a stylised heart, followed by another arm emerging, holding her Tag, as the Crest was inserted into it.
Yang didn't even notice as the scanner moved, too lost in her own mind about what her recklessness had nearly caused to see that as the scanner slowly moved up her body, a replica of it was being formed on a table opposite of her. "Once the replica is complete, I will make use of it to draw out the powers of this crest so that this Digimon may defeat Etemon in my stead," Datamon said. "For the memories I lost and can never regain, I will make sure Etemon suffers an utter defeat," he said, his voice lowering into a growl as he continued to work, the girl strapped on the table unable to do anything but look at her still unconscious partner, guilt weighing too heavily on her heart, robbing her of her usual defiance.
"Well… this is just about how I pictured it honestly." Pyrrha said as she fired at Etemon, the monkey bending out of the way of her shots while still fighting off the Adults.
"He's kicking our butts to the curb." Nora added as Etemon kicked one of her grenades into the sky where it exploded right in Stingmon's face.
"Honestly, did you kids really think you could fight me with just a few Adult Level Digimon?" Etemon asked, laughing at what he assumed was stupidity.
"Honestly? No, just needed enough space for our secret weapon." Gyro said as Greymon shook his head after being thrown, getting back up as his partner's crest started to glow.
(Play Brave Heart)
Gyro's D-Core shot the beam of light through the Crest, releasing the projection which soon sent down a blast of energy right into Greymon, triggering his next stage of evolution. "Greymon, Super Evolution! MetalGreymon!"
Etemon looked up and up, before sweat dropping as he saw the new Perfect level Digimon that now towered over him. "Okay...that's new…" he admitted.
"What? Did you really think we were gonna stick to being your punching bags forever?" Gyro smirked.
"Hope you're ready monkey man, cause this is sweet sweet payback," MetalGreymon growled, before launching his Trident Arm right at Etemon, who managed to jump out of the way at the last second.
"Oh yeah? Well didn't anyone tell you bigger isn't always better?" he growled. "Dark Spirits!" he threw his attack, the ball of destruction sailing right towards MetalGreymon...who promptly slapped it away, causing it to explode harmlessly in the sky.
"Oh boy…" Etemon gulped as the large Perfect and the Adult level mon who still had some fight in them were now stalking towards him, all of them having eyes that promised him a LOT of pain. This...could be a problem…
(Song end)
"Here we are," Weiss said as they once more stood before a mass of electrified walls. "The chamber Datamon is in, and hopefully so are Yang and Biyomon, should be right past these walls."
"So, the entrance is right in here then." Pierce said, looking up at the wall that had blocked their entry last time.
"At the very least, let me see if I can't TRY to remove all the coding and make the entrance obvious." Weiss said, starting to tap away at her scroll.
"This is probably going to take a bit." Ruby said, glaring at the wall.
"I know you're both worried, but we're not going to be able to help Yang and Biyomon if either of you end up roasted...actually I think that'll only make things worse for her…" Palmon said.
"...fine…" Ruby and Pierce sighed, admitting the logic to the statement.
Too bad for them, they didn't notice the security camera that was hanging near the ceiling.
"H-had enough?" Etemon panted as he'd narrowly dodged a Giga Destroyer...which had just dug a good trench in the sand from the sheer force of the explosion.
"Not even close," MetalGreymon growled.
"Okay...this isn't working out as well as I'd hoped…" Gyro frowned. So far they'd ended up in a stalemate, as while MetalGreymon was stronger than Etemon for sure...the monkey was faster than MetalGreymon, meaning while Etemon couldn't actually hurt him...he couldn't hurt Etemon either. Nearby, the others were slumped on the ground, as Etemon had had a chance to use his Love Serenade...and quickly found that while it worked on the Adult level Digimon, it didn't work on anything Perfect and above.
Etemon growled, wracking his brain as he kept avoiding the cyborg dragon's attacks, before blinking as the VERY loud PA system of the Pyramid came on "Lord Etemon! Some of the children snuck into the Pyramid again!"
"What?!" Etemon roared as he turned towards the Pyramid, before it clicked in his brain "So you were-!" he started, whirling back to the others, only to stop short as he saw they were gone somehow "Well… they don't matter right now! I'll show these kids to stop messing with me!" he growled, as he started to run back towards the Pyramid as fast as he could.
Once he was out of sight, the area where the fight was taking place seemed to shimmer, before every appeared again, Wizardmon sighing as he rested his staff on his shoulder.
"Hate to admit it, but that was really lucky…" Blake said.
"Why do you say that?" Nora asked. Blake shot her a dry look before looking at the tired Koromon in Gyro's arms. Had they been fighting for any longer...they'd probably have been in trouble.
"Hopefully we learn how to master the Perfect forms before we have to do any long drawn out fights…" Jaune sighed. As it was, the Perfect level really was their Ace in the holes...in a way that made them need to use them carefully, especially since they only had one right now.
"Hm...no, that's not it...maybe...no…" Weiss frowned as she worked on her scroll, TRYING to crack the code.
"Any luck?" Pierce asked dryly.
"Not yet," Weiss sighed.
"...I vote we use Pierce's semblance…" Ruby deadpanned.
"Seconded," Palmon sighed, utterly bored.
"Thirded," Veemon agreed.
"Now hold on," Tentomon started. "Come on guys, let's not-" he tried to talk but…
"Heeere's Etemon!" Etemon grinned as he literally smashed through the wall….face first, flashing the closest thing to a slasher smile his goofy face could manage.
"Nevermind, go go go!" Weiss and Tentomon said frantically.
"I'm going! I'm going!" Pierce nodded, before they ran to the wall.
"Let's go!" Veemon shouted as he ran behind Pierce.
"We'll try to hold him off, get Yang out of there, and kick Datamon's butt hard for me would ya?!" Ruby said as Palmon and Tentomon both evolved and started doing their best to stop Etemon's advance.
Pierce nodded, staring at the wall as he kept running, getting closer and closer, and just as he was about to run headfirst into the wall, his crest started glowing softly, and he ran right through it, Veemon hot on his trail.
What he saw when he got pass the wall was… confusing.
Yang stood there, with a lifeless look in her eyes, still as a statue.
And Datamon was right behind her, tapping away at a computer, seemingly not noticing him entering as he spoke to himself "Now that the copy is finished, the original is worthless to me, I suppose it's about time I dispose of her."
Veemon nudged Pierce's leg, making him look down, before following his finger as he pointed at Biyomon stuck on the wall, who was nodding frantically and silently at the real Yang who was still stuck on the table. Nodding, he slowly crept to the table. Getting Datamon could wait.
When Yang saw him, she smiled, but looked like she'd been through mental hell, making him smile back at her as he discreetly shifted a piece of Pandora open… and a lockpick came out.
He worked on it for a few moments, but just as he was about to get her out, Yang's eyes widened. "Look out!" she shouted, right before Pierce turned around...just in time to get a haymaker to the cheek.
"Hmph, so you managed to reach this room," Datamon said with a frown. "Unfortunately I have no intention of letting you escape with her. As long as she exists, the ownership of these will be contested," Datamon said, looking at Yang's Digivice and Crest.
Pierce rubbed his cheek with a wince after getting that punch, looking at the Yang Copy that was standing in a rather sloppy boxer's stance. Obviously Datamon didn't have the power to copy the skills of the original, so when it tried to punch him again, he grabbed it by the wrists, where Ember Celica had been placed, and swung it around, slipping the weapons off as it got flung into the wall, putting them in Yang's hands while dropping Pandora into Veemon's and running up to Datamon, picking him up before he could hit any keys on the computer, and throwing him at the wall, his glass dome cracking at the action.
"Trust me, there's a lot more where that came from." Pierce said with a small growl as he grabbed the D-Core and Crest from the hands that were coming out of the computer as he walked back to the table, seeing Veemon fiddling around on the first lock, and managing to open it after a few moments, moving over to the other hand and freeing it as Yang rubbed her wrists and slipped Ember Celica back on and accepted her D-Core and Crest from Pierce while Veemon freed her legs.
"Did he hurt you?" Pierce asked her as he hugged her, relieved to have her in his arms again.
"I'm fine… just… I realised something I guess." she said with a sigh, returning his hug.
"Normally I'd ask what it is, but I think we should save it for when we're NOT with a killer robot...and your new evil twin sister," Pierce half joked.
"You miserable brats, I won't allow you to get away so-" Datamon didn't get to finish as Veemon had evolved, with Veedramon slapping him aside with his tail.
"Nope, we're taking our friends and getting out of here," Veedramon said as he freed Biyomon who jumped into Yang's arms and hugged the girl tightly...though Pierce noticed she wasn't returning it quite as strongly as she normally would…
However, any musing was cut off when the door suddenly exploded, with Kabuterimon and Togemon flying in having been thrown, but fortunately reverted to their Child forms before they hit anyone, Ruby and Weiss running in after them before Etemon soon entered the room. "Found you all," he smirked.
"Not for long," Pierce grinned. "Veedramon, bring the house down!"
"V Breath Arrow!" Veedramon aimed upward, and fired a blast right through the roof, creating a big hole, big enough for something to fly through.
"Yang!" Pierce said, earning a nod from his fellow blonde, as despite her doubts, she quickly grabbed her D-Core, allowing Biyomon to evolve into Birdramon, and wasting no time, they made their escape through the hole, Veedramon hanging onto Birdramon's legs while everyone else was on her back..
"Oh no!" Datamon gasped, a look that only grew more profound when Copy Yang was crushed by more falling rubble.
"Well well well, looks like its just you and me," Etemon smirked. "As much as I'd like to deal with those brats, you just hit the top of my shit list for today."
"Fine, I don't need them! This room is fully under my control!" Datamon said, before a hole opened where Etemon was standing, but the monkey was faster and jumped forward, managing to land a strong blow on Datamon, causing parts of him to break off as he landed a bit further away with a clatter.
"Nice try, using my own Network against me, but unfortunately for you, I win again," Etemon smirked.
"Damn monkey! I swear I will defeat you, even if it KILLS ME!" Datamon roared, before the hole grew bigger, Etemon gasping in surprise before jumping for the console, but right as he was about to grab hold of it, Datamon grabbed his leg and tried to pull them both down.
"What are you doing?! Let me go!" Etemon growled as he was being pulled down.
"I told you fool, if I'm going to die, I'm dragging you with me! Plug Bomb!" Datamon said as he fired his attack...into the mass of cables in the pit. "This virus will amass the evil powers and cause it to go out of control, sucking in everything nearby as its amassed into a massive ball!" Datamon laughed.
"What did you say?!" Etemon gasped, realizing what this meant.
Outside, the Chosen had by now managed to get away from the Pyramid, Ruby all but clinging onto her sister, who smiled weakly as she returned the hug. However, any mood for celebration was dampened when they noticed how all the nearby Digimon were being pulled into the Pyramid, as if something was sucking them in. "I don't like the looks of this…" Pyrrha frowned when they saw that.
"I think we all share the sentiment," Gyro nodded.
Back inside the pyramid, the mon being sucked in flew into the pit, vanishing into the darkness as they were absorbed instantly.
"THIS IS THE END FOR YOU, ETEMON!" Datamon laughed maniacally as the monkey was losing his grip little by little.
"Damn, damn, damn...DAMMIT!" Etemon cursed as he finally lost his grip, the two falling into the mass of twisted cables, yet when he made contact, he was only half submerged, cables starting to attach to his body. "Not...like...this!" he growled as he continued to struggle.
Outside…
"Look! They Pyramid!" Nora said, as they noticed what appeared to be dark energy being released...before the Pyramid exploded.
"That's never a good sign." Koromon said nervously.
"Betcha Etemon is still kicking." Veedramon said dryly, before they all heard a very familiar laugh "Called it."
When Etemon appeared from where the Pyramid once stood, they all noticed how he looked… buffed up, the cables of the huge ball of Dark Network connected into him and seemingly being the reason for his larger muscles.
The monkey laughed, juggling a Dark Spirits like a basketball "Let me tell you, I was honestly worried at first, but now? Now this is a whole other ball game!" he said, throwing the ball at the sphinx, and to everyone's shock, it was like the sphinx started to warp in on itself.
"Great, that was our way out." Jaune said nervously.
"And the RV was still back there." Weiss added with some slight annoyance.
"We can find the RV again later. For now we gotta deal with the monkey on steroids over there," Pierce said.
"Are you STILL planning on fighting?" Etemon laughed. "I'll tell ya this much, with this power you guys are 100% guaranteed...to DIE!" he roared before throwing more Dark Spirits, warping more and more of the landscape.
"Ok… this is getting worrisome right now." Tentomon said, leaning on Weiss's leg as he was still a bit sore from the trashing Etemon gave him and Palmon earlier.
"It doesn't help that Koromon just reverted back from MetalGreymon a few minutes ago." Gyro added with a frown.
"Now would be a good time for one of our Crests to activate," Pyrrha said, sounding a little nervous.
"Only one question. How?" Gabumon said as they were running to avoid the attacks.
"This...is really bad…" Ren frowned. "Most of our Digimon are tired, and Etemon's stronger than ever. Even if we do awaken a Crest, do they have the energy to keep fighting?"
Pierce looked at all of them, before looking towards Veedramon, who met his gaze, the two nodding after a few moments "It doesn't matter that it's impossible, we'll just MAKE it possible. If Etemon is so strong, then we'll become stronger!" he said, the glow of his Crest slowly growing.
"Taking this lying down isn't in our style." Veedramon added.
"So no matter what sort of fate we get told we have, we'll just kick it to the curb!" Pierce finished, as the glow of the Crest reached its peak. "Let's go, Veedramon!"
"I'm with you all the way, Pierce!" Veedramon nodded as the two charged forward.
(Play Brave Heart)
Pierce's D-Core vibrated as it changed color, becoming a bright gold color with light blue buttons, before a beam of light shot out of the screen, going through the back of his Tag, releasing the projection of the Crest of Miracles. The Crest flew through the clouds, gathering energy as it ascended, and at its peak, it spun and glowed brightly, releasing a burst of energy that produced a powerful beam of light with what appeared to be a DNA helix in it, flowing into Veedramon. "Veedramon, Super Evolution!" Veedramon called out as he began to change. His limbs became more robust, with a pair of blades growing out of his elbows, and shoulder armor appearing on his arms. His horns grew longer and gained a more metallic sheen to them, armor covering the top of his snout as the horn at the tip turned as sharp as a sword, and his body seemed to become more aerodynamic in overall build. Topping it off, a pair of wings grew out of his back, and despite their tattered appearance, they still exhumed a sense of strength that promised the power of an apex flyer. "AeroVeedramon!"
Etemon was more than a little drunk on power, but his moment was cut short as a blur suddenly rammed into him, knocking him back a little, before following up with a strong kick...to his back. "W-what the?!" he gasped, looking around till he finally spotted the cause.
"This ends here monkey boy!" Pierce and AeroVeedramon growled.
Digimon Analyzer: AeroVeedramon
AeroVeedramon. Vaccine Type. A Perfect Level Holy Dragon Digimon. Gaining wings upon evolution, AeroVeedramon is one of the fasted Digimon in the Digital World, appearing as a blur shooting across the sky. His body has not only become more aerodynamic, but also more robust and flexible, making him into a far better fighter than before. His special attacks are V-Wing Blade, an attack that can only be used when in flight, ramming through his enemies while energy is generated from the tip of his front horn to the end of his wings in a large V shape, and Dragon Impulse, becoming coated in a shroud of energy shaped like a dragon and firing it at the enemy.
"Looks like Pierce really got through for us," Ruby grinned at the sight of the new Perfect level.
"But do you think they can win?" Blake frowned.
"They can win," Gyro said with absolute confidence.
Back in the fight, Etemon growled. "Just cause you've evolved, don't think this means you have a chance," he said before throwing another Dark Spirit, but AeroVeedramon evaded without issue. "Okay...how about THIS?!" he said throwing a volley of Dark Spirits, but not one hit.
"Heh, you may have gotten power, but you lost in a ton of speed," Pierce chuckled.
"And that means you won't be able to stop us from doing THIS! V-Wing Blade!" AeroVeedramon called out, before Etemon was soon assaulted by a number of cuts from the Digimon that was darting all over him with his wings and horn generating energy.
"Why you…!" Etemon growled and tried to fight back. However…
"Missed me! Nope! Ooooh, so close! Nothing but air! No cigar for you! Whohohohoho!" AeroVeedramon evaded every last attack, all the while clearly toying with the monkey.
"Okay, I think that's enough messing with him. Time for the Coupe de Grace!" Pierce ordered.
"You got it!" AeroVeedramon grinned, before his body ignited with energy, which soon formed the image of a dragon. "Dragon...Impulse!" AeroVeedramon called out as the image was launched at Etemon, slamming into the mass of wires from the bottom and started drilling its way through, much to Etemon's horror, and before long, the image emerged from the wires, plowing into his chest, and blowing a hole right through it.
"N...no way...I...lost?! Etemon choked and gasped, grasping his head, before his body started to fold on itself, his form imploding. "Damn you...DAMN YOU!" he roared before he was swallowed by the mass of evil energy, which soon turned into what looked like some kind of black hole...and then it started to suck everything in…
(End Song)
"Not good! Not good! Not good!" Pierce and AeroVeedramon said together as the winged dragon flew away from the hole, still being pulled back a bit at first before reaching his top speed, slowly gaining distance from it.
"I think this is what dust feels like under a vacuum." Gyro said as he got low to the ground and held onto Koromon tightly while trying to dig himself into it, the others copying his actions, yet they were still slowly being pulled towards the hole.
"Hang on! There can only be so much power behind this vortex! As long as we outlast it, we should be fine!" Wizardmon said...before he noticed something emerging from the shadows, a figure in what appeared to be a cloak/cape.
"Y-you?!" Wizardmon gasped, eyes wide, as the figure seemed to spread their cape, and a black mass flew into the portal, and had the winds not been rushing, one would have heard the chitter of bats. The attack entered the vortex and suddenly it became utterly unstable, and in a flash of white, exploded, the sudden force blowing everyone back, and scattering them to the winds.
All that remained was the figure, who smirked to themselves triumphantly.
Ok... a LOT just happened here.
But we can all agree one of the biggest is about the Digital World being linked to both Earth AND Remnant.
Then we gained the remaining crests, and our second Perfect Level was obtained, AeroVeedramon.
And for all the Digimon fans who read this, you all know who the figure at the end is.
And now, with the Etemon arc over, it's to move on, because...
The Adventure Evolves.