Digimon Fan Fiction ❯ Digimon: Apocalypse ❯ The Keyes of the Heavens: Chapter 1 ( Chapter 23 )

My name is Keiko Shingu, and I was once a soldier of the Digitalatri. I joined them a few months after becoming infected with BD-2. I joined them because they gave my hope, I felt…so certain that the older Chosen had abandoned us. They had been modified by the X-Antibody, and we had not. I felt lost, but then Lady Miayag appeared and told me the message of the Digital God, He was compassionate, He would save us…that was a lie. The Digital God turned out to be GranDracmon, a vampire demon from the beginning of the Digital World. He used us, he used the Demon Lords too, just to get what he wanted. And now…now that we know of him, we are no longer needed. I am certain that he will do whatever is necessary to silence us forever.

While attempting to escape his Dark Area, Taichi Yagami, Yamato Ishida, and Lady Miayag were injured, and the one called Yuri Rutskoy was killed. His…companion, Anna Danika, is understandably devastated. However, I feel that he will be only the first in the war to come.

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“Self-sacrifice is the real miracle out of which all the reported miracles grow” Ralph Waldo Emerson

------------------------------------------------------------ ----------------------------------------- --------------------------------- ---------- The Keys of the Heavens: Chapter 1: ---------------------------------------------

Anna’s sobs could still be heard coming from the back room of Jyou’s apartment. The Chosen and the Digitalatri tried their best to ignore it, but with every heaved cry, a blade of ice shot into their stomachs. “Poor girl…” Lynna said, “losin’ him like that…”

Sora turned to Taichi, who was lying unconscious on one section of Jyou’s large couch, Yamato was on another section, while Miayag had been transferred to the guest room. The redhead walked over and gently rubbed his cheek. “He’ll be okay.”

She turned and saw Maria behind her. She momentarily thought how well the Latino woman was becoming with her wheelchair, she did not even hear her move. The redhead smiled. “Yeah…”

“I’m serious,” the younger woman said, “Taichi’s so strong, he’ll pull through, no matter what.”

Sora smiled. “Yeah…yeah, you’re right.” She looked over to where Yamato was lying. Noriko and Catherine both were staring intently at him. The redhead’s smile grew. “Yamato’s got quite a fan club…”

Before Maria could respond, Jyou exited from the guest room with the Digitalatri trailing behind. Hikari stood beside Sora and anxiously watched the older young man. “Well?”

He took a deep breath, “They are all suffering from exhaustion.”

“That’s all?” Michael asked.

“Yeah,” Betamon X said, “They got hit by GranDracmon pretty hard.”

Jyou shrugged slightly. “They’re pretty strong, even Miayag. Once they get some rest, they’ll be fine.”

Takashi turned to Betamon X. “Well, that brings up a pretty good question, what are we going to do about GranDracmon?”

The Chosen all fell silent and stared at the floor. Thoughts were floating through their minds, thoughts they did not wish to think of, yet, could not cease. Mimi then said what they had all been thinking. “He’s the strongest guy we’ve ever faced, I mean, not even Apocalymon was anywhere near as strong as this guy.”

“Yeah,” Palmon X sighed, “I don’t know how strong those angels were, but if they couldn’t stop him…”

“Angels?” Sora asked. Her mind flashed her a memory of the dream she had experienced earlier that day. She rubbed her forehead.

“Sora?” Piyomon asked.

“It’s…it’s nothing,” she said, “What about those…angels?”

Mina spoke up. “The three great angels were fabled heavenly warriors, Seraphimon of the Day, Ophanimon of the Twilight, and Cherubimon of the Night. The three moons that once orbited the Digital World are named for them.”

“That’s a great history lesson,” Dingo sighed, “But how does it help us now?”

Sora rubbed her head once again, unseen by all except for Maria.

“I’ve got a question,” Noriko said, “If the moons orbited the Digital World, then, without the actual Digital World there, then shouldn’t they…I don’t know, float off into space or something?”

“They…should,” Iduia said, “If…they…are…still…there…then…it& #8230;is…odd…”

“But aren’t we forgetting something?” Jyou asked, “That’s the Digital World, it’s doesn’t abide by the same laws as this world…I mean…the entire place was wrapped into a spiral!”

“No,” Sora said “I think that’s right.”

“What?” Hikari asked.

“I had a dream last night, about angels fighting demons. I didn’t understand it, until you told me about GranDracmon. The three angels, they…they sealed the demon into some kind of…of prison or something, and then they started to orbit around that prison! What if those three angels…I…I don’t know, became those moons or something like that!”

James lend over to whisper into Hiroshi’s ear. “Precognitive powers? Amazing…”

“That’s certainly an interesting theory,” Keeya said, “But, if that is true, what should we do?”

Michael lightly rubbed his chin. “Could we plan an expedition or something? Do those moons have an atmosphere?”

Iduia nodded. “I…believe…they…do.”

The American pondered for a moment before speaking. “Why don’t we check them out?”

“Wait a second,” Keiko interrupted, “You’re going to waste time looking over a moon just because Takenouchi has a dream?”

Catherine narrowed her eyes. “Sora is ze Second Messenger, if zhe has dreams about ze three moons, zen zat is were we shall go!”

“Second Messenger?” Hiroshi asked.

“Something you don’t need to worry about!” Noriko glared.

“That’s enough!” Mimi shouted, “We have to work together right now!”

The room was quiet for a few moments before Jyou adjusted his glasses. “All right, well, if we are going to proceed with this plan, then we’re going to need to split into three groups…”

“You mean four, right?” Sora asked, “Someone has to stay behind and watch Taichi…and Yamato and Miayag and try to convince the Digitalatri to stop worshiping GranDracmon, right?”

“All right, four groups…” he hesitated a moment.

“What?” Hikari asked.

“I don’t want to sound selfish or anything, but I do need to keep a certain amount of hours in the hospital to get credit for my university classes…”

Hikari frowned. “Yeah, I know what you mean. I think I’ll be looking for a new job after all this is over…”

Sora stared at the two of them, then glanced over and Michael and Mimi. She smiled warmly. “Hey, don’t worry, we’ll search those moons.”

“We’ll? Piyomon asked.

“Yeah,” the redhead smiled, “Us, Noriko, Catherine, Iduia, Keeya, Lynna and Maria, we’ll look at those moons.”

Mimi blinked a few times. “S…sora, a…are you sure?”

“Yes,” she said, “I’m serious.”

The brown-haired woman stuttered. “B…but Sora…you…you…”

“What?” she snapped.

“You…” Mimi took a deep breath, “You and Maria can’t even walk…”

The redhead sighed. “Look, we haven’t been much help, have we? We’ve just had to be rescued and protected, again and again. Well, now its our turn to protect you. Hikari, Jyou, Mimi, Michael, you all have lives to get back too. We don’t know when GranDracmon’s going to strike, and time can’t just stop because we’re waiting. We’ll investigate the moons.”

Mimi was about to protest again, but Keiko interrupted her. “You know, she’s right. What good are you going to be in the end?”

“Hey!” Noriko shouted, “Sora might have to use crutches to get around, but she can still beat your ass before you even blink!”

Hikari rose to her feet and held out her hands. Once Keiko and Noriko had turned from each other, the short-haired woman looked to the redheaded woman. “Sora, do you truly think that you and Maria will be able to handle this?”

Sora did not answer. She recalled a conversation she and Taichi had early that day, after Mina had arrived but shortly before the others began to appear.

Sora gently pushed open the door to Taichi’s room and found him lying on his bed, staring up at the ceiling. She was about to call out to him, but found that he was once again asleep. She limped inside with her crutches, trying to be as quiet as possible, but she was not use to Taichi’s room, so she smashed her crutches into the side of his bed. He shot awake and stared at her.

“I’m sorry!” she gasped.

He blinked. “No...it’s okay. I fell asleep, didn’t I?”

She nodded. “But it’s okay, you and Agumon are both really tired after fighting Cahiti.”

He yawned and stretched his arms above his head. Sora placed her crutches against the wall and climbed into bed with him. She lay her head next to his and stared at his face. He smiled.

“What?” she asked.

“I just…can’t believe I never realized before how beautiful you are, like an angel…”

She frowned. “I never saw many angels with red hair…”

He reached over and gently brushed her spiked hair. “I love the color of your hair, I always have.”

She began to giggle slightly. Her smile slowly faded. “What’s going to happen next? The Demon Lords are gone, but Digitalatri’s still out there, but what if it’s not even them? What if it’s something…worse….”

Taichi smiled. “Hey, don’t worry, no matter what, we’ll be just fine. The good guys always win.”

Sora stared at him. “Taichi, I’m only blind in one eye you know.”

He stared at her, studying her face, specifically, her bandaged eye. “You mean…?”

She nodded slightly. “Yeah, I lost that eye sometime when I was prisoner.”

Taichi turned his head away. She stared at him for a moment before reaching over and gently placing her hand on his shoulder. “Hey, I’m not going anywhere for a long…long time.” she smiled. “You’re not gonna get rid of me that easily.”

She wrapped her arms around his shoulders. “Whatever happens, I’ll always be here, right by your side, forever.”

“Sora!”

She blinked for a few moments, bringing her back to reality. “I’m sorry, what?”

Hikari sighed. “Sora, do you honestly think you and Maria can handle this?”

The redhead looked to Taichi. She nodded, “Yes, I do.”

Mimi smiled and clapped her hands together. “Okay, then I guess there’s nothing left to talk about, right?”

The redhead smiled. “Thanks guys.”

Catherine stood by her side. “So, what’s the plan?”

She blinked. “I…um…I guess…”

Keiko snickered. “Didn’t think that through, huh?”

Noriko glared at her. “I’m warning you, say something like that one more time, and you’ll be hanging from the roof with your thong wrapped around the flagpole!”

The room fell silent. Noriko’s temper had certainly become worse over the past few days. Hiroshi turned to Keiko and shook his head. The slightly overweight woman frowned. “Fine.”

Sora took a deep breath. “I guess we can split up into three groups, this way we can look at all the moons at once.”

“That’s a good idea,” Maria grinned. The idea of exploring a new place was exciting her. “But who’s’ going?”

Sora eyed the Digitalatri. “I think they should go too.”

“What?” Noriko and Keiko shouted at the same time.

The redhead stared at Hiroshi, Keiko, Takashi and James. “Well, we can think of something else if you have other plans…but I’m betting that your weekend plans got canceled when GranDracmon revealed himself.”

Noriko smirked and lend over to Catherine. “She can fling the insults pretty good.”

The French woman blinked. “Zat was an insult?”

The Japanese woman sighed. “I’ll explain later.”

Sora spent the next few minutes dividing the group into three teams. However, Keeya had noticed that one was missing. “What about Anna?”

“I…I don’t know, do you think she should come?”

“Yes, I do.”

All eyes turned to the hall, where the Russian woman was walking towards them. The African woman ran to her side and helped her into the room. Once she was settled, she turned to the direction in which she had heard Sora’s voice. “I would like to come.”

Sora hesitated. “Y…you don’t have to….”

“Yes I do,” she said, “Because I have to avenge Yuri’s death, if not by destroying GranDracmon, then by helping you locate the keys to his destruction.”

The redhead turned to Noriko, who only shrugged. She nodded slowly. “All right.”

Anna began to smile. “Great,” Jyou said, “But right now, what are we going to do about Taichi and the others?”

“We can bring Taichi back to his apartment,” Hikari said.

Jyou nodded. “But Yamato doesn’t have anyone to watch him…”

“Keep ‘im here,” Dingo said, “Then you and I can take turns or somethin’.”

“And we’ll watch Miayag,” Mimi said, “My parents are out of town, so we can use their apartment.”

Keiko was going to make a comment, but decided against it.

“All right,” Sora said, glancing at the clock that was hanging on the wall, “It’s pretty late, why don’t we head out in the morning?”

The other young women nodded As they began to disburse, Sora hobbled over to Noriko in the corner. “Thank you, for sticking up for me.”

She grinned and shrugged slightly. “Hey, no problem. I’m watching out for you.”

“Thanks,” she said, “I think I’m going to need all the help I can get.”

The younger woman glanced around before speaking. “Hey, I mean, I think we’re gonna have to stick together from now on.”

She blinked. “Why?”

“Because of you and Taichi…and me and Yamato…”

Sora slowly smiled. “Ah, I get it. Since our…significant others are best friends, we might as well be friends?”

Noriko nodded. “Yeah.”

The redhead shrugged. “Sure, why not? You’re pretty cool.”

She smiled. “Thanks.” She then hesitated a moment and looked to the floor.

“What?” Sora asked.

She fidgeted. “Well…um…d…do you remember when, right after Oikawa took the Dark Spore from me, and…and I was really…I don’t know, sick, because of it?”

The redhead nodded slowly. “Yes…?”

“Well, you were the one that was holding me and kept telling me everything would be okay. And…” She took a deep breath and said very quickly, “I kinda always looked up to you!”

Sora’s face began to slowly turn red as well. She only managed a ‘thank you’ before both young women became too embarrassed and turned away. As she did, she found herself staring at Jyou, who was carrying Taichi on his back. James was carrying the unconscious Miayag on his back.

The redhead cleared her throat. “Um, I’m going to head back with Hikari and Maria…”

She nodded. “Right, um, uh, since Yamato’s staying here, I guess I’m here too. I’ll see you tomorrow morning.”

“Yeah, good night.”

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The Digital World may have died, but the Second Black Death still remained, and the Chosen not modified by the X-Antibody where still at risk for infection. Despite the destruction of the digital domain, the Infected Chosen awaited the word from their prophetess, the Lady Chihi Miayagg. They had no knowledge of the events that occurred in the Dark Area only hours before, and while the X-Chosen and the Daughters of the First had made plans to warn them of GranDracmon’s deception, but it was already too late. For while they worried over their injured leaders, the great vampire demon’s servants had appeared on Earth, specifically New York City, where a large number of the Infected Chosen had gathered following the destruction of the Digital World.

The young woman that stood in the midst of Central Park was definitely not Chihi Miayag, and she appeared to understand their confusion, for she raised her hand and began to speak.

“Hear me, children of the one god,” she said, “I am Kirahi, and I speak the word of the God of the Digital World!”

“Where is Lady Miayag?” a young man asked. The Second Black Death had taken away his right arm and a few fingers on his left hand.

“Chihi Miayag…is no longer of the faith.”

There were horrified gasps and roars from the crowd. Many Infected Chosen protested in shock. Kirahi raised her hands and the crowd silenced once more. “It is with a heavy heart that I must inform you of this, but Miayag has been sighted within the company of Yagami, Ishida, and the rest of the X-Chosen!”

“No!” a girl without arms shouted.

“I don’t believe it!” an older man said, “She was our savior!”

Kirahi sighed deeply. “I am sorry, truly sorry, from the bottom of my heart, but believe me, I have been appointed by the Supreme God Himself! I am your new leader.”

“How do we know what you’re saying is true?” another Infected Chosen asked.

“You dare question the will of the Digital God?” she shouted.

The assembled group hesitated for a moment, before shaking their heads. The boy missing his right arm stepped forward. “We shall follow you.”

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“You’re leaving?”

Sora stopped at the door to Taichi’s bedroom. She slowly glanced over her shoulder and saw Taichi, sitting up in his bed. The redhead twirled to face him. “Oh, you’re awake!”

The bushy-haired young man struggled to climb out of bed, but the redheaded woman rushed to his side, despite her crutches. “Don’t get up. You need to rest.”

“I don’t even remember what happened,” he said, rubbing his forehead, “I guess we got out of the Dark Area…” He stared directly at Sora, “Did everyone make it out?”

She hesitated a moment. “Y…yuri….”

Even though she did not finish that sentence, Taichi knew what she would say. He frowned. “How’s Anna?”

“Holding together.”

He nodded, but eyed her suspiciously. “Where were you going?”

“I…uh…um….”

Before she could stall for more time, they heard the front door open and Noriko stomp inside. “Sora, Maria!” she shouted, “We ready to go? We’ve got to hurry, Yamato’s awake and he’s about to…” She trailed off as she reached the door to Taichi’s room. When she saw that Taichi was awake, she gave a slight smile.

“Oh, h…hey Taichi, h…how are you feeling?”

He eyed both young women. “What’s going on here?” he demanded.

Sora hesitated, but Noriko turned to her. “You might as well tell him, he’s going to find out when Yamato calls him, although we might be able to leave before Yamato finds out that I unplugged his phone.”

Sora took a deep breath. “Taichi…we’re going to explore the moons of the Digital World…”

“You’re what?” he gasped. He struggled to climb out of his bed, but pain shot through his body and he fell back onto his mattress.

“Stay in bed!” Sora shouted, “You need to rest!”

He ignored her comment. “You’re going to the moons? Wh…what the hell for?”

Without any choice, the two young women told him of their plan. He was not happy.

“And why are you going?” he gasped, “Sora, you can barely walk!”

“And what about you?!” she shouted, “You can’t even hold your head up straight!”

Taichi did not respond. He took a deep breath. “But Sora, I…”

“What, Taichi, what?”

He hesitated a moment. “All right, just be careful, and as soon as I’m well enough, I’m coming to help you, understand?”

She grinned and nodded. “Yeah. Come on Noriko, let’s get Maria and go.”

The black-haired woman nodded and exited the room. Sora turned back to Taichi. “Thank you.”

“Just get back here in one piece, okay?”

She leaned forward and kissed him on the cheek. “You bet I will, I’m not leaving you alone.”

They hugged each other tightly before Sora exited the room. Taichi closed his eyes and breathed deeply.

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Deep within the Dark Area, the last surviving remnants of the Digital World, GranDracmon stared down at the three kneeling figures before him. He closed his eyes and smiled. “They have arrived.”

“Who, my lord?” the only female asked.

“The Chosen, my dear, Matut,” he replied, “They have arrived on the three moons…all three moons to be precise.”

“What shall be done, my lord?” Asm asked.

“While Karihi continues to draw those pathetic Infected Chosen into my web, you will ensure the destruction of the Chosen on the moons. Use the power that has been given to you as my servants, for you have been Marked by GranDracmon…” He waved his arms, “Go, my children, go and annihilate them!”

They each bowed. “Yes, My Lord.”

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The Daughters of the First and Digitalatri had used Jyou’s computer to arrive in the Digital World. Since they had split into three groups, it had been their plan to use the desktop one at a time to arrive at the locations. However, once Sora pointed her digivice at the monitor, the gate activated and pulled all of them inside. While they traversed through the dimensions, waves of unknown energy flowed around them forcing them to twist and tumble in the void. They struggled to hold to each other, but the force was too great. Light and energy swirled around them…

“Sora! Sora!”

The redhead groaned to herself as she slowly opened her eyes to find Piyomon staring at her. “Sora, you’re finally awake! Look, she’s awake!”

Sora pushed herself into a seated position and glanced to her right, Maria was moving forward on her wheelchair, while Keeya was leading Anna behind her. “Are you okay?” the Latino woman asked.

“I think so,” she said. Her crutches had landed beside her. She used them to struggle to a standing position. Keeya ran over and helped the Japanese woman.

“Where are we?” the African woman asked.

Sora glanced over at a blue, barren landscape. The sky was black save only for the thousands of stars shining above. “I guess we’re on one of the moons.”

“Which one?” Piyomon asked.

“Does it really matter?” Maria’s Patamon asked.

“Where are the others?” Anna asked, “Are they near?”

“No,” Keeya answered. She spied the other two moons in the distance, “Let us hope they have arrived on the other two. In the meantime, we should determine what it is we are searching for and where it could possibly be on this…wasteland.”

The others quickly twisted their heads around as well, surveying the land stretching before them; in all directions was nothing but blue, crater-filled soil. Patamon frowned. “Well, pick a direction, it all looks the same…”

Piyomon hovered into the air and squinted her eyes. “Guys, I see something!”

“Where?” Sora asked.

The pink bird pointed forward. “There some kind of mountain range or something over there, it’s a few miles…”

“Not like we have a choice,” Maria frowned. She suddenly started to blush and she turned to the redheaded woman. “Sora, I’m sorry! That wasn’t a complaint, I…I was just….”

Sora smiled. “That’s okay, we really don’t have anywhere else to go, so, let’s just go for it.”

Sora began to limp forward on her crutches while Maria pushed herself with her wheelchair. Their digimon partners fluttered beside them. As they traveled forward, Keeya realized that Anna had not said a single word since arriving on this strange, blue moon. She studied the Russian woman curiously. She had kept her hand on her Penmon’s head to guide her, but her face was kept ever-forward. She remembered the strong, confident woman she had seen in Nightsun, and wondered how she had turned into the broken, scared woman beside her. She took a deep breath and approached her.

Anna heard the African woman’s feet scuffle over the cracked surface and she turned to face her. “Yes Keeya?”

She blinked at the blind woman, staring directly at the cloth covering her eyes. “How…how did you know that…?”

Anna shrugged. “I know Sora’s is leading us because I can hear Piyomon’s wings flapping at the front, while Maria’s wheelchair is squeaking slightly right before me, besides, neither of them could approach so silently, and the sound of your stride was too large for Mushmon.”

She focused on Anna’s last statement, and hoped to lighten the mood somewhat. “So, my footsteps were too large for Mushmon; are you saying that I am overweight?”

“No, nothing like that, I know that when your feet touch the ground, it is softer then Sora, but louder then Lynna.”

She smiled. “Yes, that Lynna certainly appears to not eat as well as she should.”

“Yes, she does not eat as much as she should, and she attempts to hide it. I can hear her stomach rumbling, as well as smell food that is in the trash bin after she has dumped her plate.”

Keeya nodded, amazed. She had met a few people that had lost their sight, but none of them had mastered their remaining senses so perfectly. However, since her plan to make Anna more comfortable had not worked, she decided to go straight to the point. “Anna, I am…”

“Sorry about Yuri?” she interrupted, “Yes, I know that you are, I know that you all are sorry that he had to die, I am sorry too, but what can be accomplished by being sorry? What must be done is action, to make those that killed him pay dearly for that!”

She gasped, “A…anna, you…you know that you cannot be so…so vengeful! That will not bring him back!”

“Then what am I suppose to do with this pain?!” she shouted, “No, they must suffer, like they have made me suffer!”

Keeya did not know what more to say to her, so she silently, and sadly, continued to march forward. A head of them, Sora kept limping forward on her crutches until she had to stop for a moment.

“What’s wrong?” Maria asked.

The redhead forced a smile as she panted. “I…I hate to admit it, b…but maybe Taichi was right…I…I’m exhausted…”

“Then let us take a rest,” Keeya suggested.

Maria sighed deeply as she stared at the mountains in the distance. “They still seem so far,” she said.

“We will get there,” the African woman said, “Do not worry.”

The younger woman nodded. “Yes, I know, but I’m afraid that….” She stopped abruptly as she stared into the sky. The others quickly twisted their head to the heavens as well. Hovering within the sky, was a massive creature, one with a four-legged furred body, and a human torso with a horned head. Standing on its back, was a figure draped in a green cloak, his hood was hanging on his back. The Daughters and their partners had heard that GranDracmon had created four more doubles, yet, they could not remember what his name was, so Sora called out the person he resembled. “Iori…”

“’Fraid not,” he said, “The name’s Oiri, the Horsemen of Famine, and my partner, Galfmon.”

Keeya could feel Anna’s energy start to grow. Sora and Maria seemed to have not noticed. “Why have you come here, Horseman?”

Oiri smiled slightly. “I have my orders, you must be destroyed, nothing personal.”

Each of the Daughters grabbed their digivices and their digimon partners charged forward.

“Piyomon evolve to Birdramon!”

“Patamon evolve to Centarumon!”

“Mushmon evolve to Veggiemon!”

“Penmon evolve to Unimon!”

Anna leapt onto Unimon’s back as he and Birdramon floated into the sky. Oiri stared at them for a moment before chuckling slightly. “I don’t feel like getting dirty right now, so I’ll give you someone else to play with.”

He waved his hand and an explosion of dark green light erupted from the ground, revealing a hulking dinosaur-creature. “Triceramon!” Veggiemon gasped.

“This is not good,” Birdramon said, “Triceramon was strong enough to cause Daisuke and Ken’s Paildramon difficulty!”

“Exactly,” Oiri chuckled, “Triceramon, tear them apart.”

The dinosaur digimon roared and charged towards Centarumon. The centaur held out his hand and a small gun barrel emerged from his palm. “Hunting Cannon!”

His attack struck Triceramon on the face, but the dinosaur continued forward. He swung his large fists into the centaur’s face, throwing him into the ground. Veggiemon leapt to his aide and began to pound the dinosaur’s side with his elastic arms. Triceramon grabbed the arms and started to swing the vegetation digimon around over his head. He released his grip, sending Veggiemon crashing into Birdramon before she could execute her Meteor Wing attack.

“Holy Shot!”

He turned around in time to be struck in the face by Unimon’s attack. Keeya had only moments to notice that Anna’s lips were curled into a snarl before Triceramon attacked. “Tri-Horn Attack!”

His triple horns fired beams of pure energy at the floating unicorn. He was not able to flee in time and was struck in the side. He hobbled for a moment, but remained in the sky. Triceramon was about to attack again, but Birdramon recovered from her assault and fired her Meteor Wing technique, striking the dinosaur on the back. He twisted around, but that left him wide open for an assault fro Centarumon’s Hunting Cannon and Veggiemon’s Unchi Nage technique.

The dinosaur roared loudly and slammed his fists into the ground with such force that it sent the Daughters, Centarumon and Veggiemon to the ground. He ran over and swung both of his fists into the centaur’s side.

“Centarumon!” Maria screamed.

Tricermon heard Unimon flying towards him from behind. He grabbed Veggiemon and threw him into the unicorn. This time, however, he was aware of the trick and flew out of the way, firing off another Holy Shot. Triceramon countered with his Tri-Horn Attack, which Unimon once again maneuvered out of the way. This time, Triceramon’s attack smashed into Birdramon’s chest, throwing her to the ground.

“Bridramon!” Sora gasped, “What the hell is Anna doing? She’s…it’s like she’s not even caring!”

Keeya frowned, worried.

Anna held tightly to Unimon as he dove at Triceramon. The dinosaur roared loudly and used his legs to jump high into the air, he swung his firsts into the unicorn’s face, finally throwing them into the ground.

High above them, Oiri was watching and laughing. “This was much easier then I thought it would be. Is this all the power that the Daughters of the First have to offer?”

“They’re just not strong enough,” Maria gasped, “How can it be that we’ve got so much power that Cahiti could use it to destroy the Digital World, but we can’t even beat one digimon?”

Sora gasped. “Wait, that’s it! Oh man, why didn’t I think of it before!”

“What?” Keeya asked.

“Our power!” she gasped, “We could use it to make Taichi and the others evolve, why can’t we do the same?”

The African woman nodded. “It seems…reasonable enough…”

Sora looked to Maria, who nodded. “Anna!” she shouted, “Use your power to make your digimon evolve!”

Anna was silent for a moment, then said something in Russian.

“What?”

“Da…da…”

Oiri grinned and crossed his arms.

Each of the Daughters focused on their powers, which bubbled to the surface. However, each one could feel their BD-2 infection creep further across their bodies. They ignored it and continued to push forward using their connection to their digimon to give them the ability to evolve once more.

“Birdramon evolve to Garudamon!”

“Centarumon evolve to Insekimon!”

“Veggiemon evolve to Jureimon!”

“Unimon evolve to Hippo Gryphomon!”

The Horseman of Famine raised his eyebrow at the newly-evolved digimon. “Very interesting, very interesting indeed.”

Sora grinned at her partner. “Great to see you again, Garudamon.”

Maria was staring at her partner, who resembled a silver-colored Gotsumon, Keeya was also amazed at how small Veggiemon was compared to the large, tree-shaped Jureimon. Anna, however, seemed completely uninterested that her partner had evolved into a white-colored gryphon. She leapt onto his back and he took into the air. They executed a perfect spin and came back to attack Triceramon. HippoGryphomon spit out a blast of super-heated air. “Heat Wave!”

This time, when the attack hit the dinosaur, he actually grimaced in pain. He flipped around, ready to execute a counter-attack, but Garudamon was ready. She fired a flaming bird from her body which shot towards the dinosaur. “Shadow Wing!”

Triceramon roared. “Tail Slap!” He twisted around, his tail acting like a bat, sending the energy wave rebounding. Garudamon was able to shoot out of the way, and Jureimon was ready. He began to spit out a barrage of black pits.

“Cherry Bomb!”

Triceramon attempted to dodge the assault, but was not fast enough. He focused on the towering tree and screamed. “Tri Horn Attack!” He fired triple beams from the horns on his head. Jureimon braced for impact, but Insekimon leapt in front of him.

He held out his arms and shouted, “Guard Rock!” Triceramon’s beams impacted him, but surprisingly, he was not injured at all. He raised his arm into the air. “Take this, Cosmo Flash!” A group of shooting stars flew from the heavens and smashed into Triceramon, throwing him left and right. Once the assault was over, the dinosaur roared with rage.

He trampled forward, his rage overtaking him. Jureimon fired another Cherry Bomb, throwing him off balance. Triceramon began to pant heavily. HippoGryphomon swung in from the sky. Anna held tightly as her partner opened his mouth and spit out waves of heat. “Heat Wave!”

Triceramon was thrown completely onto his back, and was helpless as HippoGryphomon used his claws and talons to rip and tear into the dinosaur’s stomach. Anna held on tightly, her face completely emotionless.

“What’s wrong with her?” Sora gasped, “Anna’s looking so…so…

Keeya stared at her friend and frowned. The Russian woman had become so entrapped by her rage and vengeance. She sighed with sympathy, that is, until she saw Triceramon’s tail snake up from the ground. Neither Anna nor HippoGryphomon was aware of it. The African woman ran forward, followed closely by Jureimon. Triceramon’s tail pulled back, ready to strike.

“Anna!” Keeya shouted just as her partner knocked HippoGrypomon off of Triceramon’s stomach. The dinosaur’s tail did not strike its target, but he leapt onto his feet and pointed his head at Keeya and Jureimon.

“Tri Horn Attack!”

The African woman and her partner suddenly stiffened as Triceramon’s attack shot into the backs and continued through the stomachs. Keeya slowly fell to the ground, while Jueriemon collapsed, regressing to Mushmon.

Anna could feel Keeya’s power decreasing greatly. “Oh no…no…Keeya!” She raced to the African woman’s side, although due to her rapidly decreasing power, she almost could not find her. Unimon tended to Mushmon.

Sora and Maria stared at the fallen Keeya, then glanced to Triceramon. They could feel their rage growing. The redhead twirled to her partner. “Garudamon! Tear him apart!”

“Insekimon!” Maria shouted.

Maria’s partner leapt onto Garudamon’s back as the giant bird soared into the sky. Triceramon stared up at her and readied his Tri Horn Attack. Insekimon raised his hand. “Cosmo Flash!”

A barrage of shooting stars fell from the sky and smashed into the dinosaur, flipping him right to left. Insekimon leapt from the bird’s back and slammed his foot into Triceramon’s horn, throwing his head to the ground. Garudamon’s body began to glow with red flame, which she fired in the form of a giant bird. “Shadow Wing!”The giant bird’s attack smashed into Triceramon’s already injured face. He screamed as his body exploded into data.

As Garudamon and Insekimon began to pant, Oiri began to clap his hands. Sora and Maria turned to him, each one had anger and rage in their eyes. The Horseman started to chuckle. “You defeated Triceramon, not bad, but I haven’t lost either. My mission was to kill you, and I have succeeded…at least partly, so I will take my leave of you now. Farewell.” He bowed and he and Galfmon vanished in a burst of green light.

Sora’s mouth twisted into a snarl. “That bastard…”

“Keeya, no!”

The redhead suddenly remembered her fallen friend. She charged to Keeya’s side and fell onto her knees. “Keeya….”

The African woman smiled slightly as she turned to her. “Lady Sora, please forgive me, I will not be able to assist you any longer.”

Before the redhead could say anything, Keeya turned to Anna. With great effort, she grabbed the Russian woman’s hand. “Please, my heartbroken friend, I know you grieve for Yuri, but please, do not give yourself into vengeance and rage, please.”

Anna nodded. “Da…da… I promise…”

Keeya smiled, then slowly closed her eyes. The others waited, but when they saw Mushmon vanish in a burst of his data, they knew that their friend had passed. They each and everyone cried, sadness over whelmed them, but they allowed it only momentarily, for they knew that time was short, and they had to keep moving forward. They laid her to rest beneath the surface, covering her body completely. Anna was silent, but Maria gave a silent prayer. Sora would have said more, but she found that she could only speak one sentence, “May you rest in peace, Daughter of Forest.”

And so, the group reluctantly moved forward.

To be continued…