You know what's tough? Trying to drag out things a bit without resorting to outright filler content.
It's not easy.
But, somehow, we managed it, and we got a clear path for things right now, so hope you enjoy this shocking chapter.
The Third Strike! Overturned Fate!
Oren frowned as he went over his systems top to bottom. It was frustrating beyond words for him, knowing that someone has been using his systems for evil purposes...and yet he couldn't find where and how they were taking over his systems repeatedly. He'd updated his software and defense programs...repeatedly...and in secret a couple of times...yet again and again, his programs were taken over. He'd tried to set alarms so he could find the mole. No dice.
If this was how Ironwood felt during the Battle of Beacon, he dearly sympathised with the man.
"Anything?" Terriermon asked.
"If I had found anything, you two would be the first to know," Oren groaned. "Not to toot my own horn, but considering my systems were good enough for ATLAS of all places, I'd like to think they'd be next to impervious. But somehow I can't stop whoever is infiltrating our systems," he groaned, to which Terriermon and Lopmon came over and patted his shoulders.
"You'll get them eventually. We know you will," Lopmon reassured.
"Besides, at least you've been able to keep them out of the main server with all your updates," Terriermon grinned...right before the alarm suddenly started blaring. The alarm for unauthorized access to the main systems. "...shutting up now…" Terriermon squeaked when Oren and Lopmon gave him looks that could dry an ocean.
Oren sighed, before he focused back on the computer "I guess it's time to try our hands at cyber-warfare with whoever this is." he said, starting to tap at the computer… except right as he did, the power in the room went out "... that wasn't me."
A laugh answered him as one of the monitors in the room came on "Of course not, it was ME!"
Oren turned to the monitor with a glare "Who are you?!"
The person on the other end laughed again "I suppose you could say I'm your worst nightmare Oren." the person said, before another monitor turned on, showing a map of Server, filled with the grey squares that showed Oren's territory… before they all turned black , quickly switching to show a live camera feed of a Crystal Tower going dark, the same happening to all the Crystal Rings being worn by the Digimon in the area as they all fell under the control of the person "I thought it was about time I took over your little operation."
"Why are you doing this?!" Oren growled. "I don't know what your problem is with me, but the Digimon don't deserve to be dragged into it!"
"So?" the person snorted. "If they can get me what I want, then I don't see why I SHOULDN'T use them!" they laughed. "And I should thank you, getting them all in line for me. Guess that makes me the new King...or should I say Emperor now!" the person laughed as the call was ended.
Oren and his partners were stunned at that...before Oren growled. "Like hell am I just giving this guy everything we've worked for!"
"If we directly access the main server, maybe we can regain control," Lopmon said.
"Good thinking, its our best shot," Oren nodded as both his partners got onto his shoulders and they were soon out the door, aiming for the main server room. However, this proved to be easier said than done, as with the controls taken, the Crystal Rings had become Dark Rings, and thus under their enemy's control. That was why Oren was forced to draw his sword, the three defending against the guards which had been forced to turn on them, but were able to knock them out without hurting them, even breaking the rings off of a few. Either way, they fought their way to the main control room, which was in fact the Throne Room. If they could just get Oren onto the throne, he'd be able to bring up the main controls that hopefully could allow them to regain control. And with the DNA locks placed on the controls, it was one of the most secure access points he had at his disposal.
Eventually they reached the doors to the throne room, and without hesitating, Oren pushed the doors open, his attention fully focused on going for the throne. However…
His eyes widened when he saw somebody sitting on the throne already, a smirk on their face, with his partners gasping in shock "You…!"
"Finally!" Nora sighed out explosively as she leaned out the window of the RV "Took us forever to get here!"
"Yeah, but we're finally in Mistral." Salamon said as she looked up while they went through the city gates.
"Been a couple months, even if we took it slow." Gyro sighed as he drove, before looking around "Though… that's strange."
"What's up?" Agumon asked him as he sat next to him.
"Sun said he'd be waiting for us with his team near the city gates when we'd finally get here." Gyro said with a frown, before parking on the side of the road and taking his scroll out. "Let me call him up."
A short call later…
"Vacuo? What the heck are you all doing in Vacuo?!" Gyro asked almost incredulously. As it turned out, Sun and his team were NOT in Mistral at the moment.
"Yeah, it's… a bit crazy honestly. We got an SOS signal from Team NDGO, and we went through the Digital World to get there fast about a week ago. Sorry we forgot to tell you guys. Team CFVY's here too, so we had plenty of firepower at least." Sun explained.
"What happened exactly?" Agumon asked.
"Some crazy group called The Crown tried to take over all of Vacuo, one of the leaders had a semblance that let them control the minds of others. It was one hell of a mess, but we managed to win." Coronamon answered as he came up from behind Sun's shoulder.
"I'd ask for the details, but I imagine it's firmly in 'way too long to explain right now'," Gyro sighed.
"Pretty much yeah," Sun chuckled awkwardly. "We're handling the clean up right now, it MIGHT take us a while because they had some loyal agents that didn't need to be mind controlled, both humans and Digimon, so… yeah, no clue how long we'll be here."
"Right…" Gyro sighed. "Well, just be careful. We SHOULD be able to handle things over here just fine."
"Right. You guys be careful too. With all the stuff that's been happening, don't let your guards down," Sun nodded.
"Don't worry, we're staying focused," Agumon nodded.
"Right. We'll keep you posted if anything happens," Coronamon nodded as they soon ended the call.
"Guess trouble is a big of a magnet for all of us, huh?" Ruby couldn't help but say after a moment.
"I'm thinking it's contagious," Yang snorted. "How else does everyone else get caught up in something big even when we're not around?"
Gyro chuckled "Honestly, it just might be." he said "Anyway, for now, let's look for the house you guys stayed at in canon. I think it's like a rental cabin or something? The show never really bothered to explain, but it sure as hell isn't a hotel."
"Actually, I think I know this one." Qrow said as he came up to the driving area "I actually know for a fact that Glynda owns a house in Mistral for her vacations. That MIGHT be where we were in canon."
Gyro paused at that, before looking to the older man "Are you telling me you have her keys or something?"
"No, but I know where she hides them. She gave everyone the OK to use the place if she wasn't around and they needed somewhere to stay as long as they kept it clean." Qrow explained.
"Huh… might be the place from canon then." Gyro said.
"Only one way to find out, right?" Agumon told him, earning a nod, before they started to look for the house, Qrow telling them where to turn.
The group eventually found the house in question, to which Qrow went for a section of the porch, which revealed a loose board he easily removed, revealing a key hidden inside. Taking it, he quickly opened the door, revealing...the very same house that was used by team RNJR in canon.
"Yep, this is the house alright," Jaune said, recognizing it from when they'd seen the 'canon' world via the videos.
"Good to know then," Qrow chuckled.
"This...really is a nice place. I hope she won't mind us using it," Oscar frowned.
"Well, we kinda need it, so as long as we don't trash the place, I'm sure she won't mind," Huckmon said.
'Don't worry, she won't,' came Ozpin's voice from inside Oscar, reassuring him that things would be fine.
"Alright then, if you say so," Oscar said, even if he still sounded a little unsure.
With that said, they went into the house while the RV was parked in the driveway. Once inside, they wasted no time in basically preparing it to be their main base for the time being. So that meant that they got their supplies out, equipment too...and even a shield generator JUST in case. You never know when one of your biggest enemies is someone who probably will do ANYTHING to ensure she gets what she wants, and as it so happens, what she wants is probably going to destroy Remnant, based on what they could put together.
"Okay, so now that we're all set up, let's go over our plans moving forward," Weiss sighed, everyone now gathered in the living room.
"Alright, first order of business. We all know Leo's betrayed humanity to try and survive under Salem, so, we should try and see if we can't save any Hunters that he's sent on suicide missions recently." Gyro said.
"Got a list with me," Qrow frowned. "Hopefully we can get to some of them in time."
"From there, we'll need to play along with Leo to a degree. He doesn't know we're aware of his betrayal, so as much as it probably annoys everyone, we need to act like we've got no clue." Ruby added.
"That won't be easy," Palmon said with a frown.
"A LOT of us are angry with him considering he led Scarlet and Sage's families to their deaths." Gomamon said, some anger in his tone.
"In that case, it might be best if those that know for a fact they won't be able to play along just stay here instead." Agumon suggested.
"Plus that way we can make him think that there's less of us than there actually are." Gabumon added to the idea.
"Good call you two." Pyrrha said with a nod of approval "If he reports to Salem, she might think our group split up for some reason and feel like she has it in the bag enough to stop paying attention."
"Wouldn't put it past her. Still, we'd better be ready just in case she isn't," Pierce mused. As much as they'd like to believe that all the years of being basically in the lead have made her over confident, they don't want to risk the long term by assuming that.
"Right, so now that we've got a plan for the Remnant side of things, we'll need to think of the Digital World side of things," Veemon mused.
"Well...Oren's not really a problem, but whatever Yggdrasil has been holding back is," Yang said.
"So we'll need to prepare for that. Be it upgrading our equipment, or honing our skills," Biyomon said.
"Guess the best thing we can do for that is just train as much as we can." Penny said with a bit of a frown.
"Glynda's got a pretty big backyard behind the house, and there's even a dojo-like area in the back, you just need to go down the stairs since it's a bit lower." Qrow said "Perfect for you guys to practice your regular skills."
"We'll make good use of it," Ren nodded with a small smile.
"Okay everyone, we've got more work ahead of us," Jaune chuckled lightly.
"Not that that's gonna stop us," Nora added with a grin.
A few hours later had the group finish training, and stopping for dinner, to which everyone who knew how to cook was working together to prepare a nice big spread for everyone present.
"So, you getting used to well...everything?" Agumon asked Oscar, as he was sitting in the room where they'd set up a table for everyone to eat.
"Well… for the most part yeah." Oscar said "It's still a bit weird to have somebody else living inside my head… even IF eventually Ozpin will permanently fuse with me."
"I'm just wondering if the permanent merge will change you in any way." Huckmon frowned "Like, will you still be Oscar? Will you become Ozma? Or will Ozma become a part of you?"
'It's more along the lines of the third case. Even before the experiences of Ozma and all those after him merged with me, I was myself, Ozpin, but Ozma's lives became part of my own, his memories were added to mine. You'll still be you Oscar, you'll just have the experiences of the past added onto yours.' Ozpin explained in his mind.
"Well, Ozpin said that for him it was more like the third case, so hopefully, it'll be the same for me." Oscar said with a smile.
Huckmon smiled at that. "Glad to hear that. My only Partner is Oscar Pine. I wouldn't want anyone else," he said with a grin.
Despite himself Oscar smiled a bit at that. "Thanks, Huckmon."
Even within him, Ozpin couldn't help but smile at the exchange. Oscar was truly fortunate to have someone who would stand by him through thick and thin. Something he hoped Oscar would always have.
A few days later…
"Think we can make it this time?" Oscar frowned as he was doing his best to keep up with Qrow, Huckmon right behind them.
The last few days were anything but quiet for the group. Knowing that the lives of people were on the line, they were quick to find out as many Hunters as possible who'd been recently sent out on missions, specifically those that were issued by Leo.
So far they'd gotten lucky and managed to find and reach a few of the Hunters in time, but on the whole...Leo's had too much of a 'head start' and thus there was nothing they could do for most of them. Either way they weren't giving up and that was why they'd split up to try and get to as many of them as they could.
"I dunno," Qrow frowned. "But I know Heather's not one to go down without a fight, so we just might."
"Then let's give it our all!" Huckmon said as they kept running.
Eventually, they broke through the trees, and could see ahead a dark haired woman wearing silver armor with a metal skirt, holding a broken spear in her hands while her forehead was bleeding, surrounded by several Beringel that seemed ready to finish her off.
"Not this time!" Oscar shouted.
"I got them!" Huckmon shouted as he ran forward, Oscar's D-Core shining brightly, and conveniently the light ALSO served to draw the Beringels' attention.
"Huckmon, Evolution! BaoHuckmon!"
BaoHuckmon surged forward, claws raised. "Fif Cross!" he roared, decapitating three Beringels.
One of the Beringels roared in anger at the intrusion, quickly aiming to smash the Digimon, but BaoHuckmon was faster as he turned around and… "Teen Blade!" he called out and drilled a hole right through the Beringel's chest with his tail blade. Immediately ripping it out of the Grimm, he faced a few more of them and opened his mouth. "Burn Flame!" he called out, firing a blast of fire that incinerated the Grimm.
The remaining Beringels seemed to stop short...but that moment of hesitation gave Qrow the time he needed to get close and cut two of them apart, while Oscar ran forward and delivered a rapid staccato of strikes with Ozpin's (his?) cane, one of the few moves that he'd managed to master so far, before ending it with a strike to the head while fully charging the cane with Aura, caving in the Beringel's head.
"Not bad, you're starting to get the hang of things," Qrow said, having finished killing the last Beringel, BaoHuckmon coming up as well, dusting off some Grimm dust off of his cape.
"Qrow? That you?" Heather asked in surprise.
"Hey Heather, been a while huh?" Qrow said with a smirk "How you holding up?"
Heather looked around for a moment, before turning back to him "Well… could be better I guess, but I'm alive thanks to you guys. How'd you know where to find me?"
"Just looked for what was the last mission you took and rushed out here as fast as we could." BaoHuckmon said "Glad we got here when we did."
"Yeah… you all got here just in time I guess." Heather sighed, leaning on what was left of her spear "Those Grimm almost got me."
"Yeah… that's because Leo sent you into a trap." Qrow said with a frown.
Heather stopped short at that "...What?"
"Leonardo's working to cut down how many Hunters are in Mistral, we've learned he's working with the same people who tried to destroy Beacon last year." Oscar said, using the cover story they had thought of to avoid mentioning Salem, Besides, it WAS still the truth.
"I… and to think I…" she gasped, trying to process what they'd just said, but Qrow put a hand on her shoulder.
"Easy there. None of us took the news well either. For now, let's get you back to Mistral. We're working on dealing with Leo AND hopefully saving anyone else he nearly got killed. Until then, just...lay low for a bit," he said with a frown.
"I...I think I'll do that," she said, feeling VERY tired as the mix of the news and the adrenaline wearing off hit her.
"Take it easy, you've been through a lot," Oscar said with a concerned look, before looking at BaoHuckmon who nodded.
"I'm not the most comfy, but if you need a ride, feel free to use me," BaoHuckmon said.
"I appreciate the concern, but I can still walk on my own," Heather sighed, albeit with a wry smile.
As the group walked though, none of them noticed the figure in the shadows of the trees, a pair of red lights that acted like eyes igniting as they focused on the retreating form of Oscar.
Oscar frowned as they continued to walk, looking towards Heather who had partially taken up BaoHuckmon's offer and was now using him as a support. They may have been able to save her from her 'original' fate, but even then she'd been badly hurt. And all this was because of Lionheart's decision to put his own life ahead of others.
'Hey...Professor Ozpin?' he mentally asked.
'Yes?' Ozpin responded.
'Lionheart was part of your inner circle, and he knew about Salem, right?' Oscar frowned.
'He...did, yes,' Ozpin sighed.
'Then why? Why did he give in to her? He should have known more than anyone what was at stake, but...why did he still choose to sacrifice others just to save his own hide?' Oscar asked angrily.
'I...don't know. He wasn't always like this. He was once a brave and noble Hunter…' Ozpin said...but what he didn't say was how he felt the sting of betrayal once again, how for all his words...this really wasn't the first time something like this had happened. That familiar sting went through not just him, but through the remnants of all their previous incarnations, the pain that made him feel isolated many times…and Oscar felt it, and on an almost instinctive level...he understood.
'This...isn't the first time someone's betrayed you and sided with Salem...isn't it?' Oscar asked, and in the real world, his expression became much less determined and much more...angry yet mixed with sadness.
Ozpin's silence told him all he needed to know, and the feeling of despair that the remnants of the previous incarnations were feeling as well was...infectious to say the least. The feeling of fighting an impossible war for centuries, having to put some form of trust in people...only for those same people to betray him again and again.
It was as he thought this that a dark mist suddenly exploded into the area, earning alarmed gasps from the small group as they looking around in confusion.
"What the-?" Oscar gasped, before feeling a metallic arm grab onto him and pull him back "Aah!"
"Oscar!" BaoHuckmon turned around at the sound of his partner's alarmed shout, even as the mist disappeared just as quickly as it showed up, yet without hesitation, he ran into the darkness of the forest.
"Hey! Hold up!" Qrow shouted after him. Unfortunately BaoHuckmon was already gone, and with Heather still injured, there was no way he could go chasing after them like that...meaning he only had one option left. Quickly taking out his scroll he dialed the others, and hoped someone was available to get here ASAP.
Oscar wasn't fully sure how long he was being pulled along, but eventually he felt the pull stop, the arm letting him go, which left him to fall to the ground with an 'oof!'. Shaking his head to get the cobwebs out, he looked around and realized he was deep in the forest judging by the trees around him, but more worryingly was the unnatural mist surrounding him...and of course the Digimon that had dragged him here. It looked like a floating rib cage and spine with a skull and a pair of arms, made completely out of metal and attached to a glowing orb at the bottom of the spine, a black cloak with a hood on it, and a large energy scythe in hand.
"Wh-who are you?" Oscar gulped.
"Ah yes, where are my manners. I am MetalPhantomon," the Digimon chuckled. It wasn't a nice kind of chuckle either, but rather one that sent chills down his spine.
Digimon Analyzer: MetalPhantomon
MetalPhantomon. Data Type. A Perfect Level Cyborg Digimon. A Digimon that was created by fully mechanizing a Phantomon, operating by using an energy supply that is said to be from another dimension's Digital World. It shrouds its body in a dark mist before attacking enemies, either to drain their power, or to drag them into another world, never to be seen again. Special attacks are Soul Predator, using its scythe to reap out the soul of the enemy before devouring it, and Grave Scream, emitting a banshee-like scream that forces others to fall unconscious.
"Okay...what do you want?" Oscar asked carefully. Every single one of his instincts were telling him that this was a bad situation, but he had to remain calm...or he might end up worse.
"Why, it's very simple really. I'm quite interested...in you," MetalPhantomon smirked, getting uncomfortably close.
Oscar suddenly felt himself in a whole other kind of danger "I need an adult."
"One Adult coming up!" BaoHuckmon roared as he reached them and rushed right into MetalPhantomon, pushing him back a bit and getting him away from Oscar.
"Gah! Annoying insect! How did you find us so quickly?!" MetalPhantomon growled.
"I'm his partner! Of course I came running full tilt!" BaoHuckmon growled. "And like hell am I letting you touch him, you pedo!"
MetalPhantomon actually stopped at that one...before he laughed uproariously...and it wasn't a good laugh. "You thought…! Oh that is just rich!" he laughed. "Why in the world would I be interested in a human body? Especially when he has a much more...delicious...prize…" he said with a sinister...and downright hungry tone. "It's not often I get to feast on a soul that has so much darkness in it...let alone one that smells of hundreds of souls. Not only would such a feast be exquisite, but I can only imagine the power it would give me!"
The moment he said that, both Oscar and BaoHuckmon's eyes widened in realization. MetalPhantomon was aware of and after Ozma's reincarnating soul!
"Like hell you're getting it!" BaoHuckmon roared.
"I'm not letting you get Ozpin." Oscar growled, standing up "I may not have wanted this, but he's a part of me now, so I'll keep him safe from you!"
MetalPhantomon chuckled at that. "Isn't that just cute. You both act like you have a choice in the matter," he chuckled, readying his scythe. "But by all means, do make this more interesting. It works up my appetite."
'Oscar, I think it might be best if I take over for this,' Ozpin frowned. He may not have had much if any experience fighting Digimon, but he was quite sure that this wasn't something that Oscar was ready for.
"No, I'll fight. I don't want to keep hiding behind you when things get tough," Oscar said.
"And don't forget, I'm here too,"BaoHuckmon said, not that he heard Ozpin.
Ozpin blinked before nodding. 'Alright, I'll trust both of you then,' he said.
"Now then...Burn Flame!" BaoHuckmon roared, as MetalPhantomon had actually been 'nice' enough to wait for them to finish.
MetalPhantomon tanked the attack, and while he was still apparently on fire, Oscar charged forward and slashed at him with his cane. However, MetalPhantomon swung his scythe, forcing BaoHuckmon to pull Oscar back, and at the same time dispersing the flames revealing...he'd taken no damage whatsoever.
"Crap! I was worried this might happen!" BaoHuckmon growled. "He IS a Perfect level…"
"That's one level higher than you. Any ideas?" Oscar gulped, holding the cane at the ready.
"For now? Either we escape or we survive till help comes," BaoHuckmon growled, firing more flames, but this time MetalPhantomon batted them away.
"You two won't escape. Nobody has ever escaped me when I set my sights on them," MetalPhantomon chuckled, brandishing his scythe. "But since that's clearly all you can offer and I'm feeling nice today, I'll at least make it painless. Grave Scream!" he called out, releasing the banshee-like shout, which caused both of them to buckle, the effects trying to put them both to sleep.
As they fought to stay awake, MetalPhantomon moved closer to Oscar, scythe at the ready. "Welp, it was fun I suppose. Now then, time for the main course," MetalPhantomon chuckled, raising his scythe. "Soul Predator!" he called out, swinging down, aiming to literally reap Oscar's soul and with it, Ozma's soul.
However, right before the scythe hit, BaoHuckmon managed to regain his wits and throw himself in the way, taking the hit meant for Oscar.
"BaoHuckmon!" Oscar shouted in fear as his partner fell aside, weakened, but thankfully still looking alive, albeit with a deep scar in his tough armor.
"Well, he's pretty sturdy, I'll give him that. I suppose he might make a nice snack after the main course." MetalPhantomon laughed "Still, you really MUST be a fool to think you can stop my attack when you're so much weaker than me!"
Oscar growled, before glaring up at MetalPhantomon "Just… shut up! You don't have the right to speak like that to my friend!"
"Amusing sentiments. But ultimately futile," MetalPhantomon said dismissively.
"Like hell is it going to be futile!" Oscar roared. "I'm tired of people like you...people just like her who think you can do whatever you want and call everyone else's efforts futile! Maybe I didn't originally want this...but now I know I'm NOT letting people like you run free anymore!" he said, and at that moment his D-Core glowed brightly, and right before his eyes as he held it up, it transformed into a D-Ark with a dark grey colored ring and strap, while a Blue Card manifested from the screen.
His eyes widened in surprise...before they became determined. "Are you with me, BaoHuckmon?"
"Always," BaoHuckmon grinned despite the pain.
(Play 'Slash!')
The Blue Card spun in the air for a moment, before Oscar grabbed it and brought it to his D-Ark and scanned it. "Card Slash!" he called out right before he finished scanning it. "Matrix Evolution!"
(Change to 'EVO')
"Matrix Evolution!" the drone-like voice of the D-Ark declared, before waves of energy were unleashed from the D-Ark. Oscar then held it to his chest, to which the light grew brighter and soon released the Matrix Crystal, colored the same dark grey as his D-Ark. The Crystal flew into the air, a reflection of Oscar's determined face on it, before flying into BaoHuckmon's chest. "BaoHuckmon, Matrix Evolution!" he called out as he began to transform. His body glowed brightly before shifting to a more bipedal position, crimson blades forming from his arms which took on the form of arm-like claws, his tail becoming longer and gaining it's own crimson blade at the tip, while more armor formed over his body, ending with his cloak becoming a more proper cape-like form, a glowing blue crystal now present on his chest. "SaviorHuckmon!"
Digimon Analyzer: SaviorHuckmon
SaviorHuckmon. Data Type. A Perfect Level Dragon Man Digimon. BaoHuckmon's evolved form, achieved after meeting countless Digimon on his journey and participating in many fierce battles. He seeks to end strife in the Digital World, coming to the aid of those in need where he finds war, doing his best to end the battles. Special attacks are Trident Saber, assaulting the enemy with his crimson blades, cutting them apart even if they have Chrome Digizoid armor, and Meteor Flame, rapid firing flame bullets from his mouth like a machine gun.
"You're in trouble now," SaviorHuckmon grinned as he stood up, MetalPhantomon taking an involuntary step back from the light, while also surprised at the sudden evolution.
"Tch! So you Evolved. No matter, it won't change anything!" MetalPhantomon growled.
"No, this will change everything. I know it will!" Oscar said, a strong feeling of hope filling his being, and not just him. Ozpin and all the remnants of his previous lives...they all felt the light from the strengthened bond fill them, a feeling like nothing any of them had felt before. And once again Ozpin just had this feeling...a feeling that this eon long war...was soon to reach its end thanks to these strange...yet wonderful new creatures.
"Say that once you've won!" MetalPhantomon growled. "Soul Predator!" he swung his scythe, but SaviorHuckmon raised his blades, and stopped the attack cold. A short struggle later, and he broke the lock, and opened his mouth.
"Meteor Flame!" he called out, rapid firing the fireballs, which impacted MetalPhantomon with greater force than before, pushing him back considerably.
"Impossible!" MetalPhantomon gasped. "Even if you Evolved, how do you have so much power?!"
"Because it's not just MY power. Oscar is with me too. Together, our power is far more than anything you can bring forward!" SaviorHuckmon declared.
"He's on the ropes! Finish him off!" Oscar added.
"I'm not going down THAT easily!" MetalPhantomon roared as he charged forward, but SaviorHuckmon was ready, and met the charge.
"Trident Saber!" he called out, right as they clashed, his blades flashing as MetalPhantomon's scythe came down, and a short flash later the two had seemingly passed each other, neither moving...before MetalPhantomon dropped his scythe, which broke apart on impact with the ground, and shortly after his entire body started falling apart having been cut apart.
"Such power…!" he gasped, before he shattered into data.
(Song End)
With the fight done, SaviorHuckmon relaxed, his body glowing...and soon shrunk down till what was in his place was...a Koromon.
"Huh...so THAT'S your Baby form," Oscar said with a touch of amusement.
"Pretty much," Koromon 'shrugged'. "Not every Digimon gets to have a unique Baby Form ya know," he snorted.
"Yeah, I guess it's just a bit funny. It's the same as Agumon." Oscar chuckled before he picked up his partner.
"Or maybe Agumon is the same as me," Koromon countered with a good natured glare, causing both of them to chuckle in amusement at the banter. Right as they did though...the sound of a cavalry horn was heard.
"Don't worry Oscar we're...here?" Penny declared as she, along with Rusty, Aile, Nora, Blake, and all their Digimon arrived, all evolved into Armor Level, though Monodramon had evolved into Adult Level (probably to avoid any commotion), and ready for a fight.
"Um...sorry, we kinda already took care of it," Oscar sweat dropped.
"Oh…" some of them deflated.
A short while later saw everyone back in the 'safe house' in Mistral, going over what had been happening through the day. "Looks like you two had one heck of a day," Gyro couldn't help but say.
"Yeah...that's one way to say it," Oscar sweat dropped.
"But still, you both handled yourselves really well. Good job," Pierce grinned.
"Thanks." Koromon grinned "It was a bit scary at first since he had the upper hand, but once we realised he was just a smug bastard, taking him down was cathartic."
"Yeah, that tends to be how these things go." Gomamon chuckled.
"Still though, I'd say today was quite productive," Rusty said.
"We managed to save more Hunters, and we took out lots of Grimm along the way. I'm sure this'll improve Mistral's chances in the future," Hawkmon said.
"Now all that's left is for us to stay the course and we'll reach our next-" Weiss said but didn't get to finish as they were receiving an emergency call...via the Digital World access.
"What's going on here?" Tentomon said, activating it, before they had to quickly turn the scroll away as Oren and his partners fell out of the Digital Gate, the three looked rather bruised.
"What the-?! Oren! What happened to you?!" Gyro asked in shock at seeing their… acquaintance would be the best term in this case, bruised up like this.
"Never mind us!" Oren groaned, struggling to get up. "More importantly, my Kingdom's been taken over! And a maniac is at the helm! Every Crystal Tower and Crystal Ring/Spiral has been turned into a Dark variant!"
"What?!" Weiss gasped. "How?! I can understand a Tower or two, but your entire Kingdom?!"
"He bypassed my main security, and I WISH I could say I didn't know how but… it's easy to see how he did it…" he trailed off, before starting to explain in more detail.
"You…! Why do you have Oren's face?!" Terriermon shouted at the person sitting on the throne.
The person laughed, as it was the truth, they had the same face as Oren, with eyes of the same color, though his hair was darker in tone, and he sported wolf ears on top of his head instead of having a tail, wearing a black and grey outfit similar to Oren's own, albeit with a whip resting at his waist "Don't tell me you didn't know? I would have thought it rather obvious by now. I mean, I hacked into his network, and the only way to do that…"
"Is to have the same DNA as him…" Lopmon frowned "Then what are you? Some kind of clone made by the one behind this?"
The one on the throne laughed even louder at that "A clone? Me?! No, I'm the real deal, I was born just like you were Oren, on the same day, the same hour, just minutes before you, to the same parents." he said with a smirk.
Oren looked at him with wide eyes "You're… my brother?" he asked in shock.
His apparent brother laughed, clapping his hands "Exactly, your twin to be exact. Mom and dad didn't want two babies though, so they abandoned you to the family that ended up raising you, while keeping me instead. As for my name… you can call me Nero. Ironic, I know." he introduced himself with a smirk.
"But...why? Why are you doing this?" Oren gasped.
"For someone so smart, you're a real broken record," Nero snorted. "As for why…" he paused before smirking. "I think I'll let you mull it over while you rot in your own dungeons!"
"...but we don't have a dungeon," Terriermon blinked.
"Then I'm adding one," Nero cackled. "Guards!"
At his words a group of controlled Digimon suddenly marched in, but thankfully, Oren wasn't caught as flat footed as his brother would believe.
"Digimental Up!" he shouted as he held up his D-Core, with Terriermon and Lopmon jumping out in front of him.
"Terriermon/Lopmon! Armor Evolution! Speedermon!"
"After that we just barely managed to escape from the palace, my controlled soldiers bombarding us on our whole escape until we found one of the TVs you use to enter the Digital World. I just had to use the signal from Penny's own systems to track you all and, well, here we are." Oren finished with a sigh, now sitting on a couch in the living room, his partners leaning against him as they rested after giving it their all to escape while Jaune used his Semblance to help them all recover and Yang used her Maiden magic to heal them up as well.
"So now every last one of your territories is under the control of your apparently evil twin brother…" Gyro frowned as true enough when they checked the Digital World, the territory map was now full of black spaces.
"Yes…" Oren sighed. "I am SO sorry for this...if I hadn't…" he started but Ruby stopped him.
"Hey, none of that now," she said. "Look, I know we haven't really seen eye to eye, but none of us doubted for a second you had good intentions. If anyone is in the wrong now, it's Nero. So what's important now is what we're going to do about it."
"Well… I can't believe I'm going to say this, but… we need to tear down all of my towers." Oren sighed "It's the only option at this point… destroying my whole kingdom…" he said, before looking at Gyro "I suppose in the end you were right. What I did… it just rocked the boat in the Digital World, and now Nero took advantage of that."
Gyro winced at that "Not exactly what I had in mind." he said, before shaking his head "Look, you had no clue this was gonna happen, you thought you were an only child until today. And we KNOW you're a good person and that you just wanted what you thought what's best." he said, before holding his hand out to Oren "That's why this time I'm the one asking you: join us. We need to be a team, all of us together."
Oren looked at the hand for a moment, before he gained a determined look and took it without hesitation. "I'm in," Oren said.
"Welcome to the team then," Agumon smiled.
"But before we start, let's make one thing clear," Gyro added. "We're not destroying your Kingdom. A Kingdom is more than just the structures. Its the people. And I think we can all agree that in that area...you aren't going to lose anything," he grinned.
Oren's eyes widened in surprise at that...before he closed them, a small smile on his face. "Thank you...yes...I want to save them. They put their trust in me...and I won't leave them in Nero's hands!"
And there!
Bet none of you expected us to pull this card huh?
That's right, all this time, Oren had a twin brother, Nero.
So to those who actually thought I was going to make Oren turn full evil, you might want to hang in your wanna-be detective badges for being so utterly wrong.
You all know who you are.
I'm fine with speculation, but when you act like you absolutely know how MY story will go, you're just pissing me off.
So, yeah, don't do that again, speculate all you want, I don't mind, but if you act so damn sure of yourself, you can just bugger off.
Anyway, sorry about that little rant, I just really needed to get it out of my system.
Of course, the other big thing in this chapter is Oscar becoming more confident in himself and helping his partner achieve the Perfect level, so SaviorHuckmon is now available as a fighter to the team.
And, of course, Oren is now officially a part of the team, and now...
The Adventure Evolves