Digimon Fan Fiction ❯ Digimon: Apocalypse ❯ The Book of Death: Chapter 1 ( Chapter 17 )

Greetings. My name is Keeya Genet, a Chosen from the Sudan in Africa. I was born in poverty and hardship, it was a miracle to have survived through childhood at all. I was five years old before I had a chance to use a telephone, I was ten years old before I had actually seen a television, and I was fifteen before I saw a computer. My youngest brother had become very sick, and, being the eldest, I took a job as a maid in the home of a wealthy landowner. I had been cleaning in his office where his desktop was resting. I, of course, knew what it was, but I must admit that my curiosity had gotten the better of me. I slowly approached the machine, and it exploded with bright light, shooting a strange creature into my arms. That ‘creature’ introduced himself as Mushmon, and explained that he was my partner digimon. I kept him hidden as well as I could, but, after a few months, I was infected with the Second Black Death. I was told by a visiting Chosen from Egypt that Mushmon required energy from the Digital World itself. That was why the infection was spreading so fast, we were not receiving the proper energy. I knew that I could not burden my family with this problem, and so Mushmon and I moved to the Digital World.

It was a strange experience to be in a world of such wonder and awe. We traveled mostly, but then we found Mina. She taught us what we needed to know about our connection, about being a Chosen. She even taught us how to live, despite our impending death.

But there were those that were not content to allow us to be as we were. The Digitalatri tried to force those Infected Chosen to believe in their Digital God. The leader, Chihi Miayag, was reveled to be Taichi Yagami’s cousin. This revelation sent her into shock and confusion, her loyal priestess, Tatum, formally of the New York Chosen, along with Sam and Vicente, marched to Tokyo to apprehended Taichi. Mimi, along with Noriko, Lynna, Anna, Yuri and Dingo fought to defend Taichi, and they were forced to end the lives of the Digitalatri soldiers.

Now, Taichi, Hikari and Jyou are preparing to enter Form Magnum Island, the capital of the Chosen Council, in order to locate the Council’s sinister partners, the Demon Lords, who are holding Sora and Catherine prisoners!

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Every act of creation is first an act of destruction.” Pablo Picasso

------------------------------------------------------------ ---- ---------------------------------- The Book of Death: Chapter 1: -------------------------------------

Catherine shivered as she rubbed her hands against her bare arms. “Why did it suddenly become so cold in here?”

“We’re in a prison cell,” Floramon responded, “It’s not exactly heated.”

She gave her an evil stare, “We’re in pwison well…” she muttered in a high-pitched imitation of Floramon’s voice.

Piyomon rolled her eyes. “You sound real mature..”

The French woman was about to respond when she noticed that Sora was staring blankly into the brick wall. “Sora?” she asked.

The red-headed woman turned to her, her eyes red and swollen. “H…have you been crying?” Catherine asked.

She quickly shook her head. “N…no,” she said.

The blond woman frowned, but then smiled comfortingly. “Sora,” she said, placing her hand on the other woman’s shoulders, “Taichi and Yamato are alive, zey have to be.”

“B….but…”

She shook her head. “No ‘buts’ Now come on, Sora, we have to be strong. When we zee ze others again, we can help zen defeat these Demon Lords and we’ll have peace again. Now be strong, for Taichi, for Yamato, for everyone.”

The redhead did not respond, only stared at her hands. Catherine frowned and was about to try again, when they turned their attention to their cell door, which was opening wider then it had before. Raven Osborn, the Secretary of the Chosen Council, stepped through the opening.

Catherine narrowed her eyes. “What do you want?”

Osborn took a deep breath. “Look, I know that ya all probably don’t like me, but…I’m sorry about how you’ve been treated.”

“What?” Sora asked.

The other young woman nodded. “Yeah. Ya might be our prisoners, but that doesn’t mean ya have ta be treated like dirt.”

“And why should we believe you?” Floramon asked.

Osborn sighed again. “We’re the government of this world, we should be followin’ the Geneva Conventions, and that means…” She mentioned to the dirty and dank brick cell. “…well, better conditions then this.” She shook her head, “But Victor…he’s become so greedy, he wants what Cahiti’ll give him. I can’t turn against him, but…I can give ya this…”

She mentioned over her shoulder, where her Lalamon partner was wheeling in a television on a small cart. “This is all I can do for ya,” she shrugged slightly, “Jus’ so ya don’t get too bored.”

Catherine stared at her as Osborn exited. “Merci,” she said.

Osborn only shrugged slightly and locked the door after she and Lalamon left. They traversed the halls of the temple before reaching the main audience chamber, where the remaining Demon Lords, and Victor von Schmidt, were waiting. “Well?” Schmidt asked.

Osborn smirked. “That was my greatest performance,” she chuckled, “I really shoulda been an actress.”

“And the television?” Asro asked.

“The only channel it can get is the Digital World’s news station,” she nodded.

“Perfect,” Schmidt grinned, “Now we just have to make certain that there’s something worthy on that station.” He glanced at Cahiti.

The Demon King nodded. “I am truly impressed with your manipulation and cruelty. Be assured, when Yagami’s X-Chosen arrive in Form Magnum Island, there will be someone waiting for them, but, now for other business…” He turned to the Demon General.

“Seiduka, are you ready?”

He nodded. “The invasion of Center Island can began at a moment’s notice.”

The Demon King nodded. “Then began, and drive the Digitalatri from that place!”

“Oh don’t worry,” he chuckled, “It’ll be a massacre!”

-----------------------

Hikari stared at her brother. “Mom was awake?”

Taichi nodded. “Yeah, but she’s unconscious again…”

“Well, d…did she say anything?”

Taichi glanced over at Agumon X, who was giving him an evil glance. The X-Chosen hesitated for a moment, then shook his head. “No, she didn’t.” He turned his head around so he did not need to see Agumon X’s accusing stare. He instead stared across the icy blue water to the island floating in the distance. He could just make out the top of the Curia Hostillia building, it giant flag blowing in the wind. Jyou walked to his side.

“We can get across the Island Channel without any trouble,” he said, “But I’m a little worried about the security.”

“We’ll get inside,” Taichi said, “Don’t worry. So, what’s your plan for getting over the channel?”

He pointed over his shoulder to a small dock. “Exclusive ferry. By the way, how much money do you have on you…?”

Half-an-hour later, the X-Chosen were seated on top of a Whamon as he shot through the ocean waters. “We’re making pretty good time,” Gomamon X said.

“Should be,” Taichi muttered, “It cost me everything I had…”

Hikari giggled. “Broke again, huh?”

He frowned. “Yeah, you might have to pay the rent again this month…”

“Hey,” Jyou said, “If you ever need money, you can always ask me…”

“That’s probably not a good idea,” Hikari frowned, “Money shouldn’t come between friends.”

“Yeah, you’re probably right,” he said.

Taichi smiled. “What?” his sister asked.

“Nothing,” he said. “Friends,” he thought, “Yeah, we’re finally friends again.”

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On the other side of the Digital World, in the recently liberated city of Ausata, Yamato and Michael were eagerly awaiting the return of Mimi. When she appeared through one of the Digital Gates, Michael ran to his wife, but he was slightly surprised when she embraced him tightly.

“W…what’s wrong?” he asked.

She sniffled. “Michael, it’s…..Tatum and Sam, th…they’re dead!”

The blond man felt a sharp pain in his heart. “W…what?”

The young woman stared at her husband with tear-stained eyes. “T...Taichi had some kind of…of fight with Miayag, and M…Miayag lost, and Tatum and Sam came to kidnap him! He was with his mother, so I wouldn’t let them near him, and…and…Y…Yuri and Anna killed Sam, and….and I killed Tatum!” She began to cry again, burying her face in his shoulders.

“Oh Mimi,” he said, hugging her tightly, “I’m sorry that you had to do that.”

“Yeah,” Yamato said, stepping closer, “It’s never easy when you have to kill to begin with, but one of your friends...”

Michael continued to hug her. “But, hey, you saved Taichi, right?”

Her crying slowed. She pulled her head back to look him in the face. “Yeah, I guess….”

“There,” Palmon X said, lightly patting her on the back with her long vines, “See, Taichi might be being tortured right now if we didn’t do what we had to. And with Taichi free, then we probably got a better chance of finding Sora and Catherine. We didn’t need more people to rescue.”

The young woman sniffled and wiped her nose. “Y…Yeah, I guess so…”

“Did Taichi come back to the Digital World too?” Yamato asked.

Mimi nodded. “Yeah, he and Hikari and Jyou should be trying to get into the Chosen Council’s base right now.”

Yamato glanced at his watch. “All right Taichi, you told us to wait here until you found out where Sora and Catherine are, but I’m not waiting forever.” He turned to the other members of his team, “I’m giving him two hours, if he doesn’t contact us by then, we’re going to help, sound good?”

The others nodded.

-------------------------’

Noriko hesitated as she stood on the wooden porch. She nervously fingered the hem of her dress with her left hand while her right hand hovered over the door. “Aren’t you going to knock?” her Plotmon asked.

“I….I’m just a little nervous…”

“Why?” she asked.

The brown-haired woman sighed. “You wouldn’t understand…”

“Then don’t try to explain, just knock.”

Noriko frowned and knocked on the door. There was a shuffling of feet and the door opened a moment later to reveal an elderly Chinese woman. “Yes, can I…Noriko?”

“H…hi, Mom,” she smiled.

The elderly woman grinned. “Come in, come in. Oh, I see Plotmon is with you.”

“Hello Mrs. Kawada,” Plotmon grinned as she trotted after her partner. Noriko’s mother led them into the living room, where they sat down on a red plush couch.

“Your father is with his friends at a baseball game. I swear, sometimes that man acts like a teenager,” she chuckled slightly, “So, it’s been a while since we talked, what have you been up to?”

The young woman sighed. “Well, there’s something that’s been going on in the Digital World, and…and with me…”

Her mother raised an eyebrow. “What do you mean?”

“Well, this weird….energy from inside me, the power of darkness…”

“Darkness?” her mother asked.

“Nothing bad,” she smiled, “It’s not evil, just…the opposite of light, but, listen, I think I got it from Grandma….”

“My mother?” Mrs. Kawada asked.

Noriko nodded. “Yeah, I...well, there’s more then just me, and…and we think that we got our powers from our grandparents, who were the First Chosen. Did…did grandma ever go to the Digital World?”

Her mother shook her head. “I don’t think so, why are you saying these things?”

“It’s nothing bad, Mom!” she protested, “I’m just trying to figure things out! Please…”

Her mother shook her head. “I don’t know, if she did, she never told me.”

She frowned and scratched what was left of her hair. “Um….ah, in the Machina Codex…”

“What?”

She shook her head. “Nothing, um, how about Yuushi?”

She thought for a long moment, then her eyes opened wide.

“You remember something?” Noriko asked.

Her mother nodded. “I….I remember when we first moved to Tokyo from Beijing, I was scared and afraid that I would never fit in, but, my mother said she knew someone, and that he had a daughter my age. She brought me over to their home and introduced them as Jiro Kaji, and his daughter, Toshiko…”

Noriko gasped. “Sora’s mother is Toshiko! Holy fucking shit!”

Mrs. Kawada gasped at her daughter’s language. Noriko blushed. “S…sorry….”

“Anyway,” she said, glancing sideways at her daughter, “Whenever Toshiko and I would see each other, my mother and her father would be downstairs talking. We could hear them, though, and he would always call my mother, “Daiyu,” and she called him, “Hidokoro.’ We didn’t understand what they were talking about, but they usually talked about someone named, “Yuushi.”

Noriko nodded. “Yeah, we think that Yuushi might be Taichi and Hikari’s grandfather, judging by the fact that the rest of the First Chosen were the other’s grandparents.”

Her mother nodded. “Well, whoever this “Yuushi” was, they talked like he was no longer with us.”

“I’ve got a question,” Plotmon chirped in, “If you and Sora’s mother were friends, how come Noriko and Sora didn’t meet until the whole Dark Spore thing?”

Mrs. Kawada smiled slightly. “After our parents died, we just kind of lost touch. But, what does this mean?”

The young woman sighed and turned her head to the side. “I don’t know, but it could be tied to the end of the Digital World. I just wish Grandma was still alive to ask her.”

Mrs. Kawada frowned. “Yes, but why don’t you ask your friends’ grandparents?”

“I can’t,” she sighed, “They’re dead too. They all died right before Taichi and the others entered the Digital World.”

“Really?” her mother asked.

Noriko nodded. “I just wish we knew what they did, what kind of heroes they really were.”

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Due to the lack of directly sunlight, the prisoners of the Demon Lords could not tell night from day. They slept in odd interviews and schedules, each partnership staying awake so the other could sleep. However, their fatigue soon got the better of them, and all four females collapsed into sleep. That was, until Sora shot awake, screaming in unseen terror.

“Sora?” Piyomon shouted, “Sora!”

Floramon stood to the side, only staring in horror. Catherine ran to Sora, who was screaming and thrashing her arms about. The French woman grabbed the Japanese woman by the shoulders and shook her forcibly. “Sora!” she shouted, “Sora! Sora!”

The redhead’s screams slowly stopped and she blinked a few times. “C…Catherine?” she asked.

The other woman nodded. “Oui.”

Sora shook for a moment before hugging her tightly. “Oh Catherine!” she gasped, “It…it was horrible!”

“What?” Catherine asked, “What is it?”

“A nightmare!” she shouted, “Horrible, terrible images! There was fire, and….evil! There was evil everywhere. Catherine, I…I saw a dragon, an evil dragon, and he was holding the Digital World in his hands!”

“It iz okay,” Catherine said, hugging her, “It waz only a dream.”

“Wait,” Floramon said, “Catherine, didn’t you have dreams too?”

“Oui,” she nodded.

“And didn’t your dream say there was going to be another one….?”

The French woman gasped. “Oh my! Sora,” she gasped, “Y…you’re the Second Messenger!”

Neither Sora nor Piyomon gave much thought to Catherine’s statement. The redhead was still shaking from her dream, and the pink bird was comforting her as best she could. Catherine turned her attention to the television set. “Here, why don’t we take our minds off of zat.” She powered on the device and began to flip through the channels. She frowned. “Ze only zing zat is on is ze news,” she said.

“That’s fine,” Sora said, “Just…please….”

Catherine nodded and placed her hand around the redhead’s shoulder. “It will be okay, it will…be okay…”

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When Taichi’s group of X-Chosen arrived on Form Magnum Island, they were slightly surprised to notice that there were very few Chosen and digimon wandering around. “Maybe it’s a holiday?” Gomamon X suggested, “Or they closed down for a few days?”

“Maybe,” Taichi said, “But I’d bet this is some kind of trap.” He turned to his team, “Keep your eyes and ears open, if anything looks out of the ordinary, speak up!” He nodded, “All right, let’s move.”

They walked through the open gate and marched through the deserted streets. They passed by a young woman with a Bakemon for a partner. “Taichi,” Hikari said, tugging on his arm, “Why don’t we ask what’s going on?”

He nodded. “Yeah, all right.”

Hikari wandered over to the young woman. “Excuse me, why are there so few people here?”

She looked at her strangely. “Don’t you know? The Council Senate has been closed for the past few days to do the fact that both Osborn and Schmidt have taken time off.”

“Oh, sorry,” Hikari smiled, “I…uh…was out of the Digital World for a few days.”

The other young woman nodded. “I think they’ll be opening again next week, but I’m not sure.”

“Oh, that’s okay. Um, do you know where Schmidt and Osborn are?”

She shook her head. “No, I don’t. Sorry.”

Hikari nodded. “Okay, thank you.” She walked back to the others. “Okay, the place is closed because Schmidt and Osborn are gone.”

Taichi smiled. “All right, we should be able to walk right inside. But it could still be a trap.”

“It probably is,” Jyou muttered.

They walked in silence until they arrived at the large wooden double doors that comprised the entrance to the Curia Hostilia, the main building of the Chosen Council. Taichi grabbed the metal handle bars, and pulled back, but the doors would not open. He pulled again, this time hearing a clanging noise. “It’s locked,” he said, “Damn it.” He ran from the front door and began to look around the concrete building. He was scanning every window, every inch of space, but found no opening.

“Shit,” he swore, “How do we get inside now?”

“Taichi!” Agumon X exclaimed, “Look!”

The young man followed his partner’s pointed claw to a window on the second floor, which was opened slightly. “Cool,” Gomamon X, “There’s our way in.”

“Yeah,” Taichi said, “It seems a little…too convenient.”

“Someone probably just forgot to close it before they went on vacation,” Plotmon X said, “Come on, let’s go.”

The bushy-haired young man nodded. “Yeah, all right, let’s go.”

Plotmon X evolved to Tailmon X, and she easily climbed up the side of the building before reaching the window. She sneaked inside and lifted the window entirely open. She then attached one end of the rope she had been carrying to a thick desk inside the room and threw the other end to the ground. Taichi and the others quickly climbed to the window and jumped inside.

“Where are we anyway?” Agumon X asked.

“Some kind of office,” Jyou said.

“How do you know?” Hikari asked.

“Because I just slammed my foot into a metal safe,” he groaned. He hopped forward on his uninjured foot but tripped over the desk and fell onto the floor. For some reason Taichi and Agumon X joined him, and pulled Gomamon X with them. Hikari ran her hand along the wall until she found the light switch and flicked it up, illuminating the room. She found the male members of her group tangled in a mess on the floor, along with a pile of paper, office supplies and the desk chair. “What happened?” Tailmon X gasped.

Taichi growled as he rose to his feet. “Jyou tried to get to his feet but grabbed my leg and pulled me down, then I grabbed Agumon and Gomamon.”

“It was pretty cool though,” the orange dinosaur chuckled.

Hikari shook her head. “Boys are still boys,” she sighed.

After the males untangled themselves, they exited the office and began to wander through the darkened halls. They chose not to turn any lights on for fear that they would be seen from the streets. “What are we looking for anyway?” Agumon X asked.

“Well,” Taichi began, “I’m betting that reason Schmidt and Osborn aren’t here is because they’re where ever the Demon Lord’s base is, and since they’re the two highest ranking members of the Chosen Council, they’re location is probably logged somewhere, like the travel department or the expense department…”

“Not a bad theory,” Jyou said, “But how are you going to find that information?”

Taichi was scanning the words printed on the doors as they past them in the hall. He stopped in front of a door that displayed the words “ACCOUNTING.” He grinned and pointed to the door. “Here.”

Taichi opened the door and peeked inside. There were shelves lined with stacks of papers, books thrown about and a messy pile of cd’s and even floppys on the desk. A small desktop computer was covered with food stains and dust. “Jeeze,” Jyou said, “The Secretary of the Treasury isn’t very organized, huh?”

“Just start looking for information,” Taichi ordered.

Hikari and Taichi and their partners began to search through the stacks of papers while Jyou and Gomamon X examined the computer files. “They sure spent a lot refurbishing this place,” Taichi said, looking through the first book of papers, “Looks like they just paid the digimon workers with food…”

Hikari flipped through a few books before she pulled out a rectangle designed with an image of the four Sovereigns, Qinglongmon in the upper left, Xuwanamon in the lower left, Baihumon in the lower right, and Zhuqioamon in the upper right. In the center was the symbol of the Chosen Council, two C’s interlocked with each other. “Looks like they’re thinking of making a currency for the Digital World...”

“What are they calling it?” Agumon X asked.

She looked over the notes and frowned. “The Digi-dollar.”

Taichi rolled his eyes. “Yeah, this is a real good administration…”

Jyou called to them. “Hey, I think I found something…”

The others ran to him and looked over his shoulder. On the computer screen was a spreadsheet that contained lists of information. Jyou pointed to a line, “Here, it says that Schmidt and Osborn have been taking trips, almost four or five times a day, to a place in the Asharlara Desert.”

“That’s in the middle of the Eastern Continent,” Taichi added.

“Right,” Jyou continued, “And, according to this, that’s where they are now.”

“That’s go to be where the Demon Lord’s base is,” their leader grinned, “And since I had the foresight to keep Yamato’s group in Ausata, they’ll get to the desert before we’d get there. All right.” He used his cellphone to inform Yamato where his group would be heading before pocketing his communication device.

“Let’s hurry up and get out of here,” he said.

They quickly exited the room. “How do we get out?” Tailmon X asked, “Through the way we got in?”

Taichi thought for a moment. “Why don’t we try the front door this time?” he said.

“But it’s locked,” Hikari protested.

“From the outside, we might be able to walk out from the inside. Come on.”

His sister agreed and followed him as they moved through the darkened halls. The walls were covered with paintings of various council members. Taichi grumbled. “I wonder how much money they wasted commissioning paintings when they could have spent it finding a cure for BD-2.”

“You don’t like governments too much do you?” Jyou asked.

“That’s not true,” he said, “I just don’t like corrupt governments, and the Chosen Council’s a bunch of self-serving bastards.”

Hikari smiled. “And you were going to change all that, right?”

He nodded. “That’s right.”

They continued on until they arrived at the giant double doors that comprised the entrance. There was a giant lock attached to the right door, with a simple twisting knob. “Oh, I get it,” Jyou said, “The actual lock is on the outside. Whoever has the key just comes by and opens it in the morning.”

Gomamon X gave him an odd glance. “So all we have to do is turn that lock?” His partner nodded.

“Great,” Taichi grinned. He walked over and twisted the knob, releasing the bars that held the doors firmly in place. However, once he did, an alarm began to sound and blast throughout the halls. He turned to the others and gave a sheepish smile. “Oops.”

“Let’s get out of here!” Hikari shouted.

They pushed open the doors and ran down the stairs as fast as they could. However, once they stepped onto the courtyard, a burst of black light appeared a few feet before them, revealing the Demon Watcher, Enk, and his curled up, snoring partner, Belphemon. The Demon Lord gave a slight wave. “Hey.”

“Oniichan,” Hikari said, “Yamato said that’s the Demon Lord of Sloth.”

Taichi nodded, then turned his attention back to him. “What do you want?”

Enk shrugged. “You know, I’ve got orders to kill you, bring in your heads…that kind of thing.”

“Right,” Agumon X laughed, “And what’re you gonna do about it? It looks like your partner hasn’t woke up from his nap yet…”

Enk only shrugged again. “Well, I guess we’ll just have to wake him up then.” He raised his hand and snapped his fingers. The curled digimon slowly unfurled, rising to his feet revealing a giant, horned creature with massive wings and razor claws.

Gomamon X gulped. “I wished he would have stayed asleep…”

Enk smirked. “You have no idea.” He held up his wrist, which contained a green glowing crystal.

“That’s Keeya’s energy, isn’t it?” Hikari asked.

Enk nodded slightly. “That’s right, and since I don’t really want to fight you, I’m just gonna make sure that I win this fight as quickly as possible.” He twisted his arm around and jabbed himself in the stomach with the glowing crystal. The object slowly disappeared into his stomach. Bolts of green energy began to flow around him, quickly picking up speed to create a whirlwind of energy. This cyclone grew in size until it enveloped Belphemon as well. There were burst of energy and force as the whirlwind grew in intensity until it exploded. In the place of Enk and Belphemon, there now stood a combined version of the demonic duo, a larger, more muscular version of the Demon Lord of Sloth, with long claws, sharp horns and tattered wings.

“Oh crap,” Taichi muttered, “Not again.”

Enk/Belphemon roared and shot forward, raising his massive fists. The X-Chosen jumped from harm’s way with seconds to spare as the fused human/digimon’s fists smashed into the stairs, sending sharps of pavement into the air. The X-Chosen evolved to their highest forms and surrounded their enemy. Enk.Belphemon studied his opponents carefully: Anomalocarimon X was to his right, Metalgreymon X was towering over him to the left, and Nefertimon X was hovering over head. He raised his arms to attack Metalgreymon X, when Anomalocarimon X charged forward, swinging his pincers into Enk/Belphemon’s leg. The fused human/digimon swung his arms around, smacking the giant crustacean onto his back. Metalgreymon X stomped forward, but Enk/Belphemon twisted around in time and punched the dinosaur as hard as he could.

“Metalgreymon!” Nefterimon X shouted, swooping down from the sky. Enk/Belphemon twisted around and grabbed the angelic feline by the hind leg. She struggled as hard as she could to escape, but the fused human/digimon was stronger and smashed her into Metalgreymon X without much effort. While they were attempting to free themselves Anomalocarimon X came in from the left to attack with his Twin Blade technique. Enk/Belphemon growled as pain shot up his back. He twisted around with surprising speed and backhanded him into the fence around the building.

“Crud,” Taichi muttered.

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Deep within the Demon Lords’ temple base, Catherine lazily flipped through the channels. “Zere is not’ing on to watch.”

“That’s always the problem,” Piyomon muttered, “Right Sora?” She looked over her shoulder and saw that her partner was seated against the back wall, her head resting on her bended knee. The pink bird walked over and hugged her. “Sora, what’s wrong?”

“That dream…that nightmare,” she answered, “Something really bad is going to happen, really bad.”

Catherine paused in her channel surfing and turned to the red-headed woman. “I have never seen her like this before,” she thought, “That nightmare must have been really bad. A dragon, I wonder what that means?” She shrugged slightly and was about to turn the channel again when Sora called out to her.

“Catherine, stop!”

The French woman turned to her. The Japanese woman hobbled over on her remaining foot so she could stare at the television screen. It was displaying an image of the Curia Hostilla, but the red head was focusing more on the giant cybernetic dinosaur. “Taichi!” she shouted, “H….He’s alive!”

Piyomon looked over Sora’s shoulder. “And there’s Hikari and Jyou. They’re all alive!”

“Bâtard!” Catherine sword, “He lied to us!”

Sora watched the television screen closely as the fused Enk/Belphemon bashed and punched the three X-digimon. “They need our help!”

“Sora?” Piyomon asked.

“Come on!” she shouted, “What are you waiting for!”

“And what exactly are we going to do?” Catherine shouted.

“We’ll give them our energy,” she said, “Just like Noriko and the others did.”

“I don’t know,” Catherine responded, “Do you really think that’s a good idea?”

“They need our help!” the redhead shouted again, “I thought they were dead before, I don’t want them to be killed for real this time! Catherine, please!”

The French woman did not completely agree with the Japanese woman, but she complied non-the-less. “How are we even going to do zis?” she asked.

Sora thought for a moment, then held up her digivice. “This always worked before. Just concentrate and focus…” The other young woman nodded and closed her eyes. Both of them thought of only helping their friends, of giving them the power they would need. Catherine and Sora began to glow, Catherine a bright white and Sora a bright red. They energy flowed down their arms and into their digivices. The light shot to the television, but before it smashed into the screen, the light suddenly twisted directions and shot through the top of their cell, easily passing through the thick concrete.

“There,” Sora smiled, “Taichi, that’s for you.”

The prisoners did not see, however, that the energy they had sent for their friends had been redirected to the very top of the Demon Lords’ temple, specifically the energy-siphoning Soul Catcher device that was attached to Cahiti’s wrist. The Demon King watched in near-glee as Sora and Catherine’s energy swirled around him before slamming into the two dull crystals on the ancient device. Now, all eight crystals began to glow with fierce intensity.

“Yes!” Cahiti shouted, “All the energy is mine at last! This world is doomed!”

--------------------------

Back at Form Magnum Island, Taichi’s group had not received the energy from Sora and Catherine, as all of it had been taken by the Demon Lord. They continued to defend themselves as best they could against the onslaught of Enk/Belphemon’s savagery.

Anomalocarimon X charged at his back, his twin pincers swinging in front of him. He managed to slash a gash in the fused human/digimon’s back, but he shot around, once again displaying surprising speed and sent him careening into the air with a two-punch combo. The large crustacean attempted to twist around before he slammed into the pavement. Enk/Belphemon was waiting for him as he fell, grinning maliciously. Before the fused human/digimon could attack, Metalgreymon X bashed his head into Enk/Belphemon’s back, forcing him to fall onto his knees. Anomalocarimon X fell down at that moment, smashing onto the demon’s back and bouncing onto the ground. The demon rose to his feet, but Nefertimon X cam around and fired a barrage of her Rosetta Stone attacks in quick succession, smacking him in the face and knocking him onto his back.

“Yeah!” Taichi cheered, “That’s teamwork! Yeah!”

Enk/Belphemon jumped back to his feet and roared loudly. He charged at Metalgreymon X. The dinosaur threw his hands up at the last second, locking into Enk/Belphemon’s large hands. The two behemoths pushed and struggled to overpower the other.

The X-Chosen cheered on the dinosaur. “Come on Metalgreymon!” Taichi shouted, “Come on!”

Enk/Belphemon roared and pushed against Metalgreymon X. The dinosaur felt himself sliding backwards, so he dug his giant feet into the pavement. Both giants struggled with all of their might, trying to overpower the others with all of their strength. Enk/Belphemon glanced down to Metalgreymon X’s legs and grinned maliciously. He brought his leg up and slammed his knee into the dinosaur’s lower abdomen. He groaned and slowly fell to his knees. Enk/Belphemon punched his metal nose with all of his might, knocking him to the ground.

“Hold on!” Anomalocarimon X shouted. He crossed his twin pincers then threw them apart, sending two blades of energy into Enk/Belphemon’s back. He stumbled forward, then twisted to face the crustacean. He spewed out a blast of dark mist that struck Anomalocarimon X in the eyes.

“Take my Gift of Darkness!” he laughed.

The crustacean squirmed around on the floor. “What’s wrong?” Jyou shouted.

“I can’t see!” he shouted, “I can’t see!”

Enk/Belphemon laughed and stomped after him. Nefertimon X shot around and fired her Rosetta Stone attack again, striking the demon in the back of the head once again. He spun around and growled. “I’m getting tired of that!” He shot his arm up to grab her hind legs and swung her into the ground. He do so again, this time with more force. He was about to repeat his attack, but Metalgreymon leapt to his feet and backhanded him with his metal arm. Enk/Belphemon stumbled backwards, and Metalgreymon X charged over, swinging open his metal chest plate to reveal his hidden missiles. He grinned wickedly and fired his Giga Destroyer attack at point-blank range. The force threw the fused digimon onto his back and he skidded into the concrete building. He attempted to rise to his feet, but Nefertimon X’s Rosetta Stone attack threw him back to the ground. Before he could rise again, Metalgreymon X smashed his foot down on his chest, forcing him to remain on the ground.

“All right!” Taichi cheered.

Nefertimon X hovered over the fallen demon lord. “All right,” she said, “Where are Sora and Catherine?”

Enk/Belphemon chuckled. “I’m not going to tell you…”

“Why not?” Metalgreymon X demanded.

“Just….just because I don’t feel like it,” he laughed, “I’ll only tell you this…you’ve been played all along…”

“What?” Metalgreymon X shouted.

“We’ve…been using you from the beginning. The only reason you’re still alive is because we were ordered to hold back. And right now, I was ordered to kill you, just because we needed Takenouchi and Rupert to give us what we needed.”

“What are you talking about?” Nefertimon X asked.

He ignored her and continued speaking, “You’re all nothing but pawns!”

He flexed his muscles and threw Metalgreymon X’s foot off of him. Enk/Belphemon raised his fists to attack when Anomalocarimon X suddenly appeared in front of him. He executed his Tail Blade attack, sending twin beams of energy at the fused digimon, specifically his neck. The energy beams slashed through his thick muscles. He twitched for a moment before falling backwards, his head separating from his shoulders. His body exploded into data and dissolved into the air.

The three X-digimon ran to their partners and regressed to their child levels. Jyou lifted Gomamon X and lifted rubbed his head. “Good job buddy.”

Taichi glanced over his shoulder at the damaged building. The alarm had been destroyed during the battle, but he was certain that the Chosen Council would be arriving shortly. “Let’s get out of here,” he ordered.

The others nodded and they quickly disappeared.

--------------------------------

After vacating Form Magnum Island, Taichi’s group of X-Chosen had run far from the coastline. Once they were certain they were far from any searching on the part of the Chosen Council, they began to discus the speech made by Enk.

Plotmon X shook her head. “What did he mean, we’re all pawns?”

“Isn’t it obvious?” Jyou asked, “They were using us.”

“But how?” Hikari asked.

“They needed us,” Taichi said, “Probably so they could get the energy from Noriko and the others. And then…” He shook his head, “Someone having us alive meant that Sora and Catherine gave up their energy too. Shit, does that mean Cahiti can….do whatever it is he wants to do? And…if they got the energy from Sora and Catherine, does that mean they don’t need them alive anymore?”

The others all felt a chill up their spine as well. “T…they’ll be fine,” Hikari said, trying to sound hopeful, “I mean, Yamato’s going after them now, right?”

“Let’s just hope he gets there in time,” Agumon X said.

Taichi frowned and glanced up at the sky. “Sora…”

----------------

Cahiti, the Demon King, was still on the temple roof when the Demon General approached him. Seiduka stared at the fully glowing Soul Catcher and nodded to himself. “I assume it worked?”

“Yes,” the Demon King grinned, “We have full power!”

“All it took was the lost of Enk…”

“Enk was a lazy slob,” Cahiti responded. He turned to his general, “Is your army ready?”

He nodded. “Yes, we can move at a moment’s notice.”

“Then go,” the Demon King said, “Purge the Castle of the First Chosen of those religious fanatics, the Digitalatri. Claim the Center Island so that I may remake this world in my own image!”

-------------------------------

The Desert of Asharlara was a mysterious and wondrous place, even for the Digital World. Countless legends spoke of it, and the earliest artifacts were discovered there. Scientists agree that it was once a lush and tropical garden, but due to overuse and poor agricultural practices by the earliest digimon, it transformed into an arid and dry desert. Folklore spoke of ancient and extinct civilizations that once thrived there, but science and story alike both agree that the Asharlara Desert could very well be where life began in the Digital World.

Mimi was not admiring the mystery of that desert, she was more concerned about the sand being blown into her hair. “Man,” she whined, “This is just like when we fought Etemon, it took weeks to get it all out.”

Michael rolled his eyes. Somehow, Mimi saw him. “What was that for?”

“Uh…nothing,” he quickly said, turning his head away.

She crossed her arms. “If you got something to say, then just say it.”

He turned to her. “I don’t have anything to say.”

This time, she rolled her eyes. “Typical man…”

“What’s that suppose to mean?” Michael asked.

She gave a sarcastic smile. “Uh…nothing,” she said, her voice deep in an imitation of his voice.

“Oh come on,” he sighed.

She sighed. “You men are all alike you know, every one of you.”

“What the hell did we do?” Yamato asked, mentioning to Betamon X and Gabumon X.

“You’re men that’s what!” she shouted, “Oh, I wish Hikari was here…”

The fours males tried to image Hikari with Mimi’s attitude, but found it to be a funny sight. They each smiled slightly at their mental image, which only enraged Mimi more. “Arg!” she screamed, throwing her hands into the air. “You’re all impossible!”

This time, Michael’s grin was at her expense.

They continued on in silence, trekking through the desert. “Do we have any idea where we’re going?” Betamon X asked.

“Taichi just told us to come here,” Yamato answered. He stopped to stare at the sand dunes and jagged black mountains that stretched for miles. “But this could be a needle in a haystack, huh?”

Gabumon X began to sniff the air. “What’s wrong?” his partner asked.

“I smell something, someone scent…”

“Hey,” Palmon X said, “I hear something….something loud…”

Michael began to look around quickly. He mentioned to one of the large jagged rocks sticking up out of the sand. “There!” he shouted, “Get behind it!”

The X-Chosen dove beyond the large stone and hid in the shadow. They kept their eyes strained to the horizon, and soon a large black shadow erupted over the horizon, spreading out across the sky. As it moved closer, the X-Chosen could see more clearly that the shadow was actually comprised of dark, winged creatures. “Devimons!” Mimi gasped.

“And Devidramons,” Palmon X added, “And Evilmons and…”

“It’s a demon army,” Michael interrupted.

Yamato scowled as he stared at two humans riding two Devidramons. “Seiduka and Asro are leading them. Where are they going?”

“Back to their base?” Mimi suggested.

He shook his head. “They’re heading out of the desert, which means…” He turned around to the distance, “That must be where their base is. Come on.”

They continued through the desert heat until they were able to see a structure in the distance. They grinned to one another and began to move at quicker pace across the dunes and jagged mountains. When they were close enough, they soon realized that the object seen had only been a large mountain.

“Damn it!” Yamato swore, dropping to his rear. “Shit, I’m exhausted. I need some water…”

Gabumon X threw him a bottle from his waist. The blond man squeezed a stream into his throat. He wiped his mouth and looked up to the burning sun. “Ya know,” he panted, “Maybe Taichi sent us out here on a wild goose chase. He’s trying to get rid of me….that bastard, I knew he hated me…”

Mimi chuckled as she collapsed onto the ground. “He probably wasn’t alone. I always knew Hikari was jealous of me.”

Michael panted and she sat next to his wife. “Jyou’s probably laughing his ass off right now.” He turned to the others smiling, “We’re gonna get them back for this. Let’s send them somewhere really cold…”

“I like the way you think,” Yamato smiled. The X-Chosen glanced at one another, then started laughing. Their digimon partners looked at each other nervously.

“Great,” Betamon X said, “They’ve lost their minds…”

Palmon X turned her head around, glancing up at the mountain. She thought she saw an odd protrusion near the top, almost like a small balcony. Her eyes opened wide and she ran around to the other side of the mountain. Gabumon X turned to Betamon X. “Where is she going?”

He was going to respond that he did not know, when the plant digimon called out to them. The X-Chosen jumped to their feet and ran around to join her. Palmon X was pointing up. They turned their attention to the sky and gasped loudly. Etched into the side of the mountain was a series of horrendous, evil statues, below that was an arched structure, overlooking two stone doors.

The others looked to Yamato, who only shrugged. “Works for me, let’s go.”

They cautiously approached the stone doors and slowly opened them to reveal a long, dark hall. They nodded to one another and ventured into the darkness. “Let’s keep it slow and quiet,” Yamato whispered, “And hopefully we’ll get to Sora and Catherine and get out before anyone knows we’re here.”

“You really think that?” Gabumon X asked.

“No,” he said, “But it sounds good, doesn’t it?”

----------------------------------

Yamato’s group was not aware of it, but they should have been running through the mysterious building as fast as they good, for down below in the prison cell, Sora and Catherine had received an unwelcome guest, Cahiti, King of the Demon Lords, and Victor von Schmidt of the Chosen Council.

“What do you want now?” Sora asked.

Cahiti smiled. “Just thought I should let you know, we will be leaving this location soon.”

“What?” Piyomon asked.

“We’re going to the Center Island,” he replied, “And you will be journeying with us.” He slammed the door shut and they began to walk back through the halls.

“Are you sure it’s a good idea to leave them alive?” Schmdit asked, “Now that you’ve got what you wanted.”

“They can still serve another purpose,” Cahiti said, “By keeping them alive, the X-Chosen will come to where ever we are, but if we kill them now, then they might come up with a better plan to defeat us.”

“I guess,” he responded.

“We will be leaving within the hour,” he said.

“Got it,” he said.

--------------------------

A few floors above, Yamato’s group continued in silence as they journeyed deeper into the darkness. The scene became so pitch that they could not see anything before them. They had brought flashlights, but were reluctant to use them as they did not want the Demon Lords to know they were trespassing in their territory.

The tunnel they were traveling through eventually came to an end and the darkness parted. Stretching before them was a large circular room, with seven seats attached to the far wall, the one in the center being the largest, and the height of each chair decreased through the line. In the center of the floor was a bright red circle. “What do you suppose this place is?” Gabumon X asked, finally breaking their silence.

“Looks like their throne room,” Yamato replied.

Michael and Betamon X began to look at the mural which adorned the circular walls. It contained images of frightening creatures, born of nightmares and evil intentions. “Look at this.”

The others walked over and were equally as horrified at the pictures before them. “They’re demons,” Gabumon X said, “All of them.”

Mimi looked to their digimon. “Do you know them?”

“Yeah,” Palmon X said, “We heard about them in stories since we were really young.” She began to point to different images painted on the walls. “Look, there’s Devimon, and Devidramon…”

“Myotismon’s over here,” Gabumon X added, “And here’s Apocalymon…and Diablomon…”

“Look over here,” Betamon X said, mentioning to another set of painted images, “These are digimon we’ve never seen before, Mephistomon, Gulfmon, Deathmon, GranDracmon, Ornithmon…Wait, who’s this?”

He paused before a painting of a large human-like digimon, with giant wings, and covered with black armor. The others walked over and studied the image carefully until Betamon X deduced the identity of the mysterious painting. “It’s Murmixmon, and he’s got the Soul Catcher on his arm.”

“How can you tell?” Palmon X asked.

He mentioned to a scribbled set of symbols beneath the image. “I just read it.”

The flower digimon glared at him while the humans began to converse. “What’s an image of Murmixmon doing here? Murmixmon was the emperor of Ceria, but their capital was Nightsun, all the way on the other side of the continent.”

“Maybe when the Demon Lords built this place, they put his image there because they admire him?” Michael suggested.

“I don’t think so, this place seems pretty old.”

“I don’t know,” Mimi said, sniffing the air, “But, doesn’t it stink in here?”

“Yeah,” Yamato said, “And come to think of it, didn’t it get colder in here?”

They each glanced at Murmixmon’s picture and shivered. “Come on,” the blond man said, “Let’s keep going.”

They walked past the images and exited through another tunnel in the rear. They continued through the maze of halls before arriving at a step staircase. They cautiously descended the shallow steps and arrived in another hall, this one had walls of cold, jagged rocks. “I think we’re at the bottom floor,” Mimi commented.

“Just be careful,” Yamato said, “There’re sharp points everywhere.”

They walked for a few moments more before they arrived at a section of the hall where there were doors running along both sides, doors with a small barred window. “This must be the prison section,” Yamato smiled. “Start looking.”

They began to peer into the barred windows of each room, but found each one to be completely empty. The last door they examined was unlocked, so they began to examine the small cell. “There’s a television here,” Mimi said.

Yamato began to look at the ground and found a pile of reddish orange hair, along with a collection of pink feathers. “They were here,” he said, “Sora and Piyomon were here.”

“What about Catherine and Floramon?” Mimi asked, “Were they somewhere else?”

Gabumon X began to sniff the ground. “No, I have their scents. Catherine and Floramon were here too.”

“They wouldn’t leave any hair anyway,” Yamato added.

“Why?” Palmon X asked.

“Because Floramon is made of vines and Catherine doesn’t have any hair.”

Mimi’s eyes opened wide. “She’s…bald?”

Yamato narrowed her eyes at her. “Yeah, BD-2 took her hair away…”

The young woman shook her head quickly. “I didn’t mean it like that…”

Before an argument could erupt, Gabumon X began to sniff the air. “What?” Yamato asked.

“The scents are fresh.” He ran out of the room, followed closely by the others. They ran down the hall until they arrived at an intersecting tunnel. They slowed to a stop as they heard loud voices echo across the walls.

\ “Stop struggling!” a voice with a German accent shouted.

“Subdue her at once!” another voice shouted, this one deep and commanding.

“No!” a high-pitched female voice screeched,” Stay away! Vous bâtard! Permettez-moi d'aller!!”

“French?” Mimi asked.

“Catherine!” Yamto gasped. He charged around the corner and entered a large cavern with layers of cliffs along the walls. Standing on the other side of the large room, in front of an exit doorway, was Cahiti and Schmidt; slung over their shoulders were Sora and Catherine. Behind them were their digimon partners, with Piyomon and Floramon over their shoulders. Each of the females had their hands and feet bound and tied tightly.

“Schmidt!” Michael shouted loudly.

Sora and Catherine perked their ears when they heard Michael’s voice. They twisted their heads to stare at Yamato’s trio of X-Chosen. “Yamato!” they both shouted in unison.

“Help us!” Sora shouted, “Please!”

“Silence!” Cahiti ordered, shaking his shoulder forcibly.

The X-digimon evolved to their highest forms and charged forward, but came to a stop as an arrow shot into the ground in front of them. Two more arrows joined it, and soon, they were surrounded by a circle of the projectiles. They turned to the ceiling and saw a large centaur-creature with a bow and arrow in his hands standing on one of the ledges. He used the lower ledges to leap to the ground, where a young man with a crew cut of blond hair leapt from his back.

Yamato stared at him. “You…”

Samuel Sterns smirked. He looked over his shoulder at Cahiti and Schmidt. “Go head, I’ll handle this.”

They nodded and charged out the exit, ignoring Sora and Catherine’s screams. The X-Chosen tried to run after them, but Sterns and his Sagittarimon blocked their path. “Get out of my way!” Yamato ordered.

Sterns only chuckled as he held up a small sliver of a brown-glowing crystal. “Maria…” Mimi said.

The Chosen Council member did not respond. He jabbed the sliver into his chest and his body quickly began to glow with the same brown light. Sagittarimon was pulled into his partner and the two exploded in a mesh of brown light and energy. When the whirlwind died, there stood a lone figure, a creature comprised of a metal body with a small volcano on his back.

Yamato narrowed his eyes. “New look, huh?”

He chuckled. “Call me Volcamon.” He swung his large fists into Weregarurumon X. The wolf brought his own hands up to block, but the force of the attack still threw him back. Megaseadramon X and Lillymon X leapt to the side, swung around and began to assault him with physical attacks. Volcamon swung his arms open, knocking the back of his fists into their noises before swinging around and grabbed Megaseadramon X by his tail. Before the serpent could protest, he began to swing him around in a tight circle. Weregarurumon X fell to the ground and Lillymon X shot into the air and Megaseadramon X passed harmlessly between them. They two digimon tried to move closer for an attack, but Volcamon continued to swing Megaseadramon X around. Every time Weregarurumon X tried to rise to his feet, every time Lillymon X tried to swoop in, Volcamon swung Megaseadramon X into their path. The large serpent tired to squirm free, but due to the force of the swing, he could not even lift his head.

Weregarurumon X readied himself on his hands and knees, timing Volcamon’s swinging of Megaseadramon X. He sprang up, missing the swing of the serpent, executing a perfect back flip before positioning his hand to execute his Kaiser Nail attack. However, the small volcano on Volcamon’s back erupted, sending a blast of heat into his face, throwing him back onto the ground. Lillymon X came in to help, but he released Megaseadramon X at that moment, smacking him into the flower woman, tangling them into a pile on the floor.

Volcamon chuckled and flexed his muscles as he stared at Weregarurumon X. “Take this, Big Bang Tackle!” He shot forward, throwing the wolf to the ground. The mutant digimon began to pound his face with his massive fists.

“Weregarurumon!” Yamato shouted.

“Megaseadramon!” Michael called to his own partner, “Help him!”

“You too!” Mimi ordered to her partner.

Lillymon X charged forward placing her hands together to form her Flower Cannon attack. Volcamon stopped his assault on Weregarurumon X and braced himself for Lillymon X’s attack. However, she darted out of the way at the last second, and Volcamon followed her. He did not see Megaseadramon X snake up out of the ground and slam his horn into his side.

Volcamon stumbled backwards as Megaseadramon X whipped his tail around, striking the mutant digimon in the side once more. Volcamon made a grab for the serpent’s tail, but Lillymon X executed her Flower Cannon at that moment, striking the mutant digimon’s hand at full force.

He roared in pain, and stumbled back. Megaseadramon X and Lillymon X leapt in to continue their attack. The serpent flicked and whipped his tail, striking and bashing Volcamon’s head while Lillymon X executed a series of kicks and punches, only a few at a time, before fleeing higher into the air. Volcamon braced himself during the assault before finally swinging his arms, punching the flower child directly in the face.

“Ahh!” Mimi shrieked.

“You bastard!” Megaseadramon X screamed. His horn began to grow in size and sharpness. “King Javelin!” He shot at Volcamon at full force, using his horn to slice the mutant digimon in half right above his waist. Volcamon flinched for a moment before the upper half of his body slid away from the lower half, his data scattering to the wind.

“Nice job,” Weregarurumon X said, rising to his feet.

“Thanks,” the serpent panted.

“What are you two doing?!” Lillymon X asked as she and the humans ran to the exit doorway, “Come on, we can still catch them!”

They grumbled and quickly dove through the doorway and into a hall with another set of step stairs. These seemed to go on forever but eventually the stairs ended and the group stepped onto flat ground. A quick examination of their surroundings and they concluded that they had stepped onto a long, flat ledge near the pointed summit of the building. Cahiti, Schmidt and their prisoners were not anywhere in sight.

“Damn it!” Yamato swore.

“Now, now, there’s no need for that kinda language…”

The blond man growled as he turned his head to the sky. Standing on the pointed top was the Demon Hunter Karetu and his demonic partner, Beelzebumon. “Where did they go?”

“Who?”

“You know damn well who! Where did they take Sora and Catherine?”

“Tell ya what,” Karetu chuckled, “If ya beat us, then we’ll tell ya.”

“Fine!” Yamato snapped, “I’ve been waiting to kick your ass since you started using my brother’s face!”

“Gung ho aren’t we?” the Demon Hunter laughed, “Well, guess what? All those other times, we were ordered not ta kill ya, but now…”

“We’re not scared!” Weregarurumon X shouted, “Come on!”

“Your funeral,” Beelzebumon chuckled. He turned to his human partner. They both nodded, and Karetu held up his hand to reveal another brown-glowing crystal. Like the others, he jabbed it into his chest, causing his body to glow with brown light. This light pulled Beelzebumon into his partner, causing an explosion of brown light. When it faded, a new figure stood in place of two, with the appearance of Karetu, except with Beelzebumon’s long claws, his leather jacket, and his twin shotguns. Karetu/Beelzebumon whipped his weapons out of their holsters and held them into the air. “Let’s rumble!”

He jumped off of the building’s roof, pointed his guns at the X-Chosen and began to fire. A steady stream of bullets erupted from the weapons, striking Lillymon X in the chest. She was thrown back from the impact, but Karetu/Beelzebumon continued to fire. Megaseadramon X shot up from behind, his horn ready for his King Javelin attack, but the Demon Lord, continuing to assault Lillymon X with the shotgun in his left hand, he twisted his upper body around so he could fire at the serpent with the shotgun in his right hand. Weregarurumon X ran up to assault him, but the Demon Lord quickly twisted his hands around so he could fire both shotguns at the wolf, striking him dead center.

The three X-digimon charged at the Demon Lord, who only grinned. He waited until they were close enough before jumping to the right, firing another round at Weregarurumon X. He jumped into the air, executing a perfect back-flip while continuing to lay a stream of bullets into Lillymon X and Megaseadramon X. He landed gracefully on the ground.

“You fucking bastard!” Weregarurumon X shouted. He charged at him, his fists clenched together tightly. Karetu/Beelzebumon spun around, his shotguns pointed directly at the wolf.

“Try this on!,” he shouted, “Double Impact!”

He fired two bullets from his shotgun that twisted and spun as they shot through the air, impacting the wolf with enough force to send him tumbling backwards. Karetu/Beelzebumon threw his shotguns into the air, then held up his long claws which began to glow with red energy. The Demon Lord shot forward, slashing across the wolf’s chest. Karetu/Beelzebumon then caught his falling shotguns and fired another Double Impact attack into Weregarurumon X’s back. The wolf stumbled forward and fell onto his face.

“Weregarurumon!” Yamato shouted.

“Help him!” Mimi shouted.

Lillymon X placed her hands together to create her Flower Cannon, but Karetu/Beelzebumon quickly leapt out of the way and fired another round into the flower woman. She winced in pain, but managed to fire her Flower Cannon, which struck the Demon Lord directly in the face.

He growled, but still managed to jump into the air and fired another barrage of bullets into the in-coming Megaseadramon X. He then turned his attention back to Lillymon X. The flower woman braced herself. “Well, come on!” she shouted, “I’m not running!”

Karetu/Beelzebumon grinned. “Good. Double Impact!”

His spinning bullets smashed into her stomach, causing her to lurch over. The Demon Lord threw his shotguns into the air and charged forward with his claws ready. “Crimson Claw!” He slashed across Lillymon X’s stomach, then grabbed his falling shotguns and fired another Double Impact into her back. She stumbled forward, her dress in tatters. She tried to stay on her feet, but she fell into the ground.

The Demon laughed as he turned to face Megaseadramon X. “Ya the only one left. Wanna just surrender before I make ya suffer like yar friends?”

Megaseadramon X panted heavily as he struggled to remain conscious. “I’m not going to give up…”

“Glad ta hear it,” he chuckled, “Now prepare ta die!” He fired another Double Impact, striking the serpent in the chin. The demon once again threw his shotguns into the air and executed his Crimson Claw, slashing across the serpent’s body. He turned his head skyward and waited for his shotguns to fall into his hands, but gasped out loud when he was Weregarurumon X and Lillymon X each grab one before they could fall into the Demon Lord’s hands.

He glanced to the right and saw Lillymon X pointing a shotgun at him, while Weregarurumon X was aiming one of the guns on the left. He grinned. “Clever.”

Both X-digimon fired, striking Karetu/Beelzebumon on both sides of the head. The demon was clearly injured, as he stumbled for a moment before falling onto his back. Weregarurumon X ran over and pointed the shotgun at the demon’s face.

“All right,” he said, “Where are Sora and Catherine?”

Karetu/Beelzebumon chuckled. “Sure, ya beat me, what the hell do I care? Miss Takenouchi and Miss Rupert are on the Center Island.”

“Center Island?” Lillymon X asked.

“That’s right,” Karetu/Beelzebumon replied, “Seiduka is leading an army to take the Center Island from the Digitalatri. And once Lord Cahiti had control of that island, he’s gonna use the power from the Daughters of the First and destroy this world!”

“What?” Weregarurumon X demanded.

Karetu/Beelzebumon laughed. “Ya all doomed! Dead…dead!”

Weregarurumon X growled and pulled the trigger. The bullet pierced Karetu/Beelzebumon’s head, silencing him. His data exploded, scattering through the air.

The three X-Chosen turned to each other. “Destroy this world?” Michael asked.

“Shit,” Yamato said, “We’ve got to get to the Center Island right away.”

“Wait,” Mimi said, “If…if the Demon Lords and Digitalatri are fighting, then we’re gonna be a little outnumbered, right?”

The blond man frowned. “I think we’re gonna have to bring in some help.” He reached for his cell phone, “I’m calling Taichi, then I’m calling Noriko.” He put the phone to his ear and looked out over the barren desert.

“Hang on guys,” he said, “We’re on our way.”

To be continued...