Digimon Fan Fiction ❯ Digimon: Apocalypse ❯ The Book of Armageddon: Chapter 2 ( Chapter 27 )

My name is Yamato Ishida, and to put it quite frankly, this is the end of the world. We tried to stop the Four Horsemen from summoning GranDracmon, but we failed. Me, Miayag and Taichi fought Asm, the Horseman of Pestilence, and killed him. The Daughters of the First fought against Oiri, but that Horseman of Famine killed Maria. We tried to stop Kirahi from summoning GranDracmon, but it wasn’t any use. He’s here!” ------------------------------------------- The Book of Armageddon: Chapter 2 ---------------------------------------------

Wargreymon X, Metalgarurumon X and Kuzuhamon flew over the carnage of the battle between the X-Chosen, the Daughters of the First, the remaining members of the Digitalatri, and the Infected Chosen. The trio shot over the war, and Wargreymon X’s eyes drifted to the sight of Nefertimon X battling a group of Infected Digimon. “Should we help them?” Kuzuhamon asked.

“No,” he responded, “We have to stop Kirahi, if GranDracmon gets here, this whole world’s going to shit!”

Weregarurumon X gasped and pointed to the sky. “I think it already is!”

The small webs of energy, which had been snaking across the sky, suddenly and mysteriously gathered together above the Horseman of Death. The webs exploded, illuminating the night sky.

The trio was forced to shield their eyes as the nova grew in intensity. The eyes on all combatants had to shield as well, that is until the light faded. Now, all beings assembled, both human and digimon, both Infected and non-Infected, stared with horror at the terrifying creature towering over Kirahi.

“Yes!” the Horseman shouted, “My lord, you have arrived!”

GranDracmon grinned as he surveyed the surrounding area. “Yes, my faithful servant, I hath arrived…”

A deep silence spread across the battlefield, that is, until Dingo shouted out to the Infected Chosen. “Ya see! Ya see, that’s the great and powerful god that’s gonna save ya! Ya’ve been tricked!”

“No!” the boy missing his arm and with an Armadimon as a partner shouted, running forward, “No, this cannot be! Where is the mighty and powerful Digital God, the one that’s supposed to save us?”

GranDracmon turned to him. “You have been mislead, I am afraid, for you see, I am the God of the Digital World.”

“He speaks the truth,” Kuzuhamon said, descending to stand before the Infected Chosen, “He is the foul and evil beast that has deceived us all.”

“How do you know?” a girl missing her right foot shouted.

Kuzuhamon glowed brightly for a moment before reverting to her two primary forms: Miayag and Plotmon. The boy with the missing arm gasped. “P…Priestess…”

“Yes,” she responded, “I know of GranDracmon’s treachery, because I have been the unwilling victim of it for two years! He has used me for the sole purpose of gathering you together, why? So that he may use your energy to bring himself here. Yes, I am sorry to say, it is we that have brought this demon to Earth!” She swung the Staff of Yuushi before her, “Now, we must band together, and defeat this devil before all of humanity faces his power!”

GranDracmon began to laugh, his deep voice echoing across the park, “Fight all you want, it will not save you, humanity will vanish in a sea of blood, and I will be what remains. I will stand upon the ashes of the Earth, and from it, I will build a new world order: a world of human and digimon hybrids, an army of unstoppable might!”

“And then what?” Jyou shouted, “What are you going to do then? Huh? In case you didn’t notice, in your grand plan, your enemies are all dead! Who are you gonna conquer then?!”

“Jyou…” Hikari said, “Be careful, I can feel his evil…its…overpowering…”

GranDracmon smiled a twisted smile, “Do you think that Earth and the Digital World are the only dimensions in existence? Your view is truly limited.”

“I’ve had enough of this!” Wargreymon X screamed, “You think you’re so fucking important with your fucking big impressive words, well you know what? You’re nothing! Nothing but a fucking jack-ass who thinks he can do whatever the hell he wants! I am fucking sick of it!”

He shot into the sky, flying directly towards GranDracmon. He ignored Sora’s screams of caution, and continued forward. Metalgarurumon X growled. “That idiot’s going to get himself killed!” He shot into the air as well, following closely behind his fellow warrior.

Wargreymon X placed both of his arms above his head and began to twirl at such an incredible rate that a tornado of force appeared around him. “Great Tornado!”

Metalgarurumon X fired a large projectile from the missile carrier within his chest. “Garuru Tomahawk!”

GranDracmon only smirked as he watched the two attacks head towards him. He raised his hand and a force wave of energy exploded forth, striking Wargreymon X, halting his Great Tornado and throwing him into Metalgarurumon X. The metallic wolf’s missile had been deflected by the demon’s attack as well, and it twisted about and struck the two mega digimon, throwing them into the center of the Infected Chosen.

“Aw, that is it!” Dingo shouted, raising his arm into the air, “Let’s go!” He and Gesomon X charged forward, and they were soon joined by the multitude of other Chosen; even Hikari, Jyou, Mimi and Michael became caught in the charge. Only Miayag, and the Digitalatri remained in place. The Priestess was furiously attempting to call the others back, claiming that they needed a battle strategy to overcome one so powerful. The remaining Daughters of the First had been fighting Oiri near the rear of the battleground, and they were slow to catch up, and when Sora and Noriko passed Wargreymon X and Metalgarurumon X, they did not want to go any father.

GranDracmon stared down at the hundreds of Chosen and digimon charging towards him. He chuckled. “You still do not yet understand, do you? Then I believe I will have to show you the error of your judgments! Take my Crystal Revolution!”

He raised his arms above his head, and a sphere of white light began to form within his palms. The light continued to grow in intensity, until the demon threw his arms open, and the light transformed into a wave that engulfed the Chosen. As the humans and digimon were struck, they felt the energy adhere to their bodies, transforming their skin into hard, sparkling material. Each Chosen and digimon that were struck by GranDracmon’s attack had been transformed into crystal statues.

Miayag, Hiroshi, Keiko and the Daughters of the First stared with horror at their morphing comrades. They only had moments to do so, as the wave of GranDracmon’s attack continued forward. Miayag held up her left arm in a feeble attempt to shield herself, but as she felt the rays of the strange light strike her arm, she was suddenly hoisted into the sky by Wargreymon X, as he and Metalgarurumon X grabbed the remaining survivors and flew to safety. Now out of the energy wave’s reach, they watched as it continued through the park, transforming everything, animals, trees, grass, into glass sculptures.

GranDracmon roared with laughter. “Well, it is finally quiet, those blasted humans make far too much noise.” He glanced at his three remaining Horsemen, “Come, let us see how well this city of Tokyo will fare against my coming!”

The group of evil floated into the sky and disappeared into the night clouds. With their adversaries gone, at least for the moment, Wargreymon X and Metalgarurumon X descended to the center of the glass statue park. The two mega digimon, their energies exhausted, reverted to their primary forms.

An eerie and ghostly silenced filled the air. Anna placed a hand on her partner’s shoulder, “Is it as bad as I think it is?”

Penmon nodded. “Yes, for once, be glad that you cannot see it…”

Taichi stared at the statue of his sister, still frozen in the expression of fear that she wore when the wave struck her. “Hikari…” He reached out and gently touched her face.

Agumon X was staring at Nefertimon X, who had been frozen while attempting to run to her partner’s side. He turned to Taichi, who was now clenching his fist in rage.

“This is terrible,” Noriko said, staring at the silent, lifeless statues, I…I’m so fucking sad that I…that I can’t even cry…”

Lynna had found her way to Dingo’s statue. He was in the pose of running forward, his arms raised above his head. “Ya stupid ass,” she said, shaking her head, “Why do ya have ta run into things like that? If ya just listen ta Miayag, then maybe…”

The Priestess of the Digitalatri, upon hearing her name, turned her head to the Australian woman, only to find her crying slightly. She turned away, her head hanging low, as she did, she noticed her left arm.

“Wait!” she cried, “Wait, there may not be any need to despair!”

“What?” Yamato asked.

“Yeah, what are you talking about?” Noriko’s Plotmon asked.

Her face appeared to struggle between joy and caution. “When GranDracmon performed his technique, I had lifted my left hand in an attempt to shield myself…”

“Yeah, so?” Sora asked.

The Priestess held up her forearm, which was completely covered in the same crystal material as the others. “Your arm…” Miayag’s Plotmon said, “I…I didn’t realize…”

“Yes,” she nodded, “And I am able to move my fingers slightly…” She demonstrated by slowly moving her index finger. The strain was clearly visible on her face, yet the digit could only slightly wiggle.

“So what does zat tell you?” Catherine demanded.

Miayag smiled. “I believe that our comrades may yet live.”

“They’re still alive?” Lynna gasped, staring at Dingo’s statue.

“I believe so, yes.”

“Then how do we free them?”

She thought for a moment. “If we were to defeat GranDracmon, then perhaps…”

Taichi stared at her. “You’re not sure?”

She shook her head, “Sadly, I am not.”

“It’s still the best we’ve got,” Gabumon X added.

“But where will we find GranDracmon?” Piyomon asked.

Miayag frowned. “I fear it will be far too easy to locate them.”

“That’s right,” Keiko said, “Because GranDracmon said he was going into the city!”

Taichi glanced over his shoulder to the see the lights of Tokyo shining into the night. “All right, we’ve got to hurry. We’ll split up to cover more ground: the Daughters in one group, the Digitalatri in another, and me, Yamato and Miayag’ll be in the third. Keep in touch, and if anyone finds GranDracmon, wait until the others arrive; there’s no sense in getting annihilated by trying to fight that ass by yourself.”

The others nodded and began to disperse. Sora, who had been leaning on Noriko’s shoulder to compensate for the loss of her crutches, called out to Taichi. “There’s something you need to know…”

He stared at her face and saw the sadness in her eyes. He twisted around quickly. Sora continued, “Maria didn’t get turned into a statue, she’s…”

Taichi’s shoulder began to shake, but stopped shortly. “No…don’t…not now….I….I can’t right now, okay?’

The redhead nodded. “Sure, Taichi…sure…”

Noriko mentioned to Lynna and Anna, who were both climbing onto Unimon. “Birdramon can give us a ride, right, since Black Tailmon’s just a little too small for us, well, maybe for you and Catherine….”

Sora did not respond.

“Sorry,” Noriko said, “I…I was just trying to make a joke and…”

“I know,” the redhead said, “But…Yuri, Keeya, Iduia, and now Maria….” Tears began to form in her eyes.

Noriko hugged her friend. “I know, I miss her already too…”

Sora sniffled. “Yeah…but…she was like a little sister to me…” She turned to Taichi, who was talking to Yamato and Miayag, “And now I’m worried about Taichi, I know that Maria meant more to him then he lets on, if he’s holding that pain inside right now, and everything with his mother and now Hikari…”

“Hikari’ll be fine,” Noriko said with a slight smile, “And so will Jyou, and Mimi and Michael and Dingo and all of the rest…”

“But how can you be so sure?”

“Because,” she frowned, “I don’t want to think about what it means if I’m wrong.”

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The city of Tokyo was not aware of the events that had just transpired within their city park, the citizens continued on their daily lives, they had no reason not too. A group of teenage girls were walking down the sidewalk on a less-then-used street. The crowd on the sidewalk was non-existent until they arrived at a popular dance club, at that point, the sidewalk became completely congested, filled to the brim with similar young adults, waiting in a line to gain entry to the club, which seemed to loom before them like a prized castle.

As the group waited, they noticed a young woman had entered the line behind them; she had short brown hair and was dressed in a cloak of dirty pink color. One of the girls turned to her and smiled. “Hey, you waiting to get into the club too, huh?”

The young woman nodded. “Yes.”

Another girl asked, “Have you ever been here before?”

She shook her head, “No.”

The first girl frowned. “Yeah, we tried to get in here three times before, but we weren’t able to, I hope we get a chance this time.”

She nodded. “Yes, I hope so too…”

“My name’s Sumiko,” the first girl said.

“I am Kirahi,” the young woman said.

A third girl stared at her and blinked. “Hey, aren’t you hot?”

“Hot?”

She nodded. “Yeah, you’re wearing that cloak, I’m dressed in this miniskirt and tube top and I’m still sweating.” She smiled, “Or are you wearing anything under there?”

The young woman chuckled. She threw open her cloak, revealing that she had been wearing a simple pink dress, however, their eyes shot to the sharp object that was in her hand.

The first girl felt her spine turn cold. “Is that a kni…”Before she could finish her thought, the young woman charged forward and jabbed the blade into the first girl’s neck; she fell to the ground covered in blood.

The waiting crowd began to scream and started to run as fast as they could. Kirahi was able to slash two more girls before they crowd moved out of her reach. “Deathmon!” she shouted.

The crowd turned their attention to the sky and saw a demonic creature illuminated against the stars. He opened his hands, which revealed two glowing eyeballs. These misplaced-orbs began to fire arrows of red energy that assaulted the group, easily decimating them, Kirahi finished the massacre herself, ending the lives of the first girl from the group.

“Why?” she asked.

Kirahi grinned. “Because, my lord needs a ceremony before he assumes control of this plane of existence, rejoice, for you are but the first to fall in the blood that will soon cover this world!”

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A series of screams and explosions caught the Chosen’s attention as they flew over the city. “Looks like they already started…” Lynna muttered.

An explosion of black energy erupted like a geyser from the left. “That’s Galfmon’s attack,” Birdramon said.

“I hear shots being fired directly ahead of us,” Anna said.

“Matut,” Takashi gasped.

“We want Oiri,” Sora said.

“Matut is ours,” Hiroshi added.

Taichi turned to Yamato and Miayag, “Then Kirahi’s ours.”

The five remaining Daughters of the First flew to confront the Horseman of Famine, while the four Digitalatri journeyed to the Horseman of War. Taichi, Yamato and Miayag then began their search for Kirahi.

The Daughters had discovered Oiri with surprising ease. His Galfmon partner was so massive he could be spotted from miles away. The Horseman was seated on his partner’s back as he trotted through the city streets, screaming a high-pitched howl that was so deafening that the humans running from the demons were screaming in pain; their eardrums had either burst or the sensitive tissue within their heads had ruptured, resulting in their deaths.

Catherine had to hold her hand over her mouth as she stared at the sea of bodies below them. “I…I cannot believe such…such death!”

Sora narrowed her eyes. “Just more lives for him to answer for,” she clenched her fists tightly, “Keeya, Maria…he’s gonna pay for it, I swear, I’ll make him pay for it!”

“Easy,” Noriko said, “We’re all here, remember?”

“Yeah…yeah…”

“What should we do?” Anna asked.

“Get him from behind,” Sora said, “We’ll have the advantage.”

“Maybe…” Noriko muttered.

Birdramon and Unimon flew to attack Galfmon in the rear, but the Demon Beast quickly spun around, firing a blast of dark energy from the mouth on his torso. Unimon and Birdramon quickly shot out of the way; their passengers quickly held tighter and were saved from being thrown to the ground.

Oiri grinned. “You thought that was going to work? You all make so much noise, you’d wake the dead! Hey, why don’t we see if we can wake up Maria?”

“Ya bastard! That’s it!” Lynna screamed. She and Penmon leapt from Unimon’s back.

“Lynna!” Anna shouted.

The Australian woman held out her digivice. Her partner began to glow and he evolved to his Fully Evolved level of Waruseadramon, firing out a wave of icicles from his mouth, which struck the back of Galfmon, but to no damage at all.

“That idiot!” Noriko exclaimed. She turned to her own partner, “Ready, Black Tailmon?”

The chocolate-colored digimon nodded. “Ready.”

Catherine was riding atop Birdramon with Sora and Noriko, and ordered her partner into battle as well. Black Tailmon evolved to Ladydevimon and Floramon evolved to the Fully Evolved Blossomon. Both digimon fired their energy-based attacks, but once again, Galfmon was unharmed. He swung his arms around and grabbed both digimon and smashed them into one another.

“They need Garudamon,” Birdramon said.

Sora nodded. “All right, everyone off!”

The giant bird dropped to the ground so Sora, Noriko and Catherine could leap to the ground. Unimon descended and Anna soon joined them. Birdramon then evolved to Garudamon, and Unimon to Hippo Gryphomon.

Oiri chuckled as he crossed his arms, staring at the five Fully Evolved digimon standing before him. “You think this makes us even? Ha! Galfmon, show them!”

His demonic digimon took a deep breath and ushered forth a deafening sound wave that shattered windows and bowed in the building walls. The Daughters had to hold their hands over their ears to protect them, but the force of the attack was more then enough to throw them backwards, tumbling into a ball. Their digimon partners were thrown back as well, but were able to reposition themselves to attack.

Ladydevimon quickly swung her hands apart, sending out a wave of bats that swarmed around Oiri and Galfmon, blocking their vision. Waruseadramon and Blossomon began to attack his head with a mixture of Evil Icicle and Spiral Flower; without his vision, the Chosen Digimon thought they would have an easy target, however, they were wrong. Galfmon’s Black Requiem tore through Ladydevimon’s bats and struck Waruseadramon and Blossomon with such force that they were thrown into one of the buildings surrounding the battlefield.

It was only a diversion, however, as Hippo Gryphomon came around from behind, aiming for Oiri. Galfmon suddenly spun around and grabbed the digimon by the next. “Do you think we’re stupid?!” Oiri shouted. His partner threw the Wind Guardian into the pavement.

“Hippo Gryphomon!” Anna shouted, squeezing into Lynna’s shoulder, “Is he okay?”

The Australian woman hesitated. “Well, he’s looked better…”

Garudamon dove from the sky and screamed, “Eagle Talon!” At the last moment, she twisted her body around, striking Galfmon’s face with her talons, ending with a quick upper slash to his chin. Before she could even recover after her combo, Galfmon grabbed her leg and swung her around, slamming his other fist into her face. He punched her once again and threw her into a building at his side.

Waruseadramon leapt up from the ground and opened his mouth at Galfmon’s head, ready to fire his Evil Icicle, but Galfmon fired his Dead Scream, throwing him into a tangle with Ladydevimon, who had swooped down from the sky to attack his underside. Blossomon managed to avoid the tangled-ball and charged forward. She swung her vines into position and began to fire her Spiral Flower technique.

“Magnifique!” Catherine shouted, “He iz not zo tough! Kill him!”

Oiri glared at the French woman. “Galfmon,” he said, “I grow tired of this, take care of her first.”

The demon grinned and grabbed Blossomon around her neck, easily lifting her into the air.

“Blossomon!” Catherine shouted.

Her partner continued to fire blast of light from her flower-tipped vines, but to no avail, the demon simply ignored the pain. “Finish her now!” Oiri ordered.

Before the other digimon could come to her rescue, Galfmon threw Blossomon into the ground, directly before his second mouth. His Black Requiem hit Blossomon at full force, incinerating her.

“Blossomon!” Catherine shouted, running forward.

“Catherine!” Sora shouted, “Get back here!”

The French woman did not hear her, she continued forward until she was standing before Galfmon.

“Vous meurtrier!” she screamed, tears pouring down her eyes, “I…I…”

Oiri sighed. “Just get rid of her before she says something really stupid.”

The demon chuckled. His hand suddenly grew like elastic, grabbing Catherine, her body easily disappearing in his hand.

“Catherine!” the Daughters shouted.

Galfmon lifted Catherine into the air. He maneuvered his thumb so that it was pressing up against Catherine’s face, the tip of his digit was easily as large as her head. He gently began to push forward, forcing her head back.

She twisted her eyes and saw the other Daughters gathering below them. “Sora…Queen Sora, Princess Noriko, Lynna, Anna…I wish you all luck, and I pray zat you will find peace at ze end of this…this war! Au revoir Papa, Momma, Alexandrie soeur, je vous aime, adieu…”

Galfmon’s thumb fully extended, snapping the French woman’s neck. He threw her to the ground, her lifeless body smashing into the pavement. The four remaining Daughters of the First could only stare as another one of their friends had passed to the beyond.

Galfmon started to laugh. “This gets easier every time.”

Oiri nodded. “Yes, I’d have to agree, first Keeya, then Maria, now Catherine…we’ve become the exterminators of the Daughters of the First. I wonder who should be next…” He glanced at each young woman until he focused on Anna.

“Miss Danika,” he said, “Myotismon killed your lover, why don’t we send you to meet him?”

The Russian woman tensed, but Lynna leapt in front of her. “If ya want her, ya got ta go through me!”

Galfmon chuckled and raised his palm. “Small threat…”

Both Lynna and Anna felt a sudden increase in the intensity of Fire and Darkness. Anna glanced to where she assumed Lynna was standing. “What…what is happening to them?”

The Australian woman shook her head. “I…I can’t describe it ta ya, ya’ll just have ta trust me.”

Lynna could find no words for what she saw, red light was pouring from Sora’s body while black light was erupting from Noriko’s. Both Daughters were shaking with rage. The Digitama of Seraphimon rose from the pouch on Sora’s hip and the Digitama of Ophanimon rose from the bag around Noriko’s shoulder. They both floated into the sky, resonating with Sora’s power and Noriko’s power, until they exploded with light, enveloping Anna, Lynna and their partners as well.

The Digitama of Seraphimon glowed with the red from Sora’s Fire and the dark blue from Anna’s Wind. Both Daughters were pulled inside the sphere, along with Garudamon and Hippo Gryphomon. Seraphimon’s digitama exploded, and a large radiant figure emerged, a bird with four golden wings. “Hououmon!”

The Digitama of Ophanimon glowed with the black from Noriko’s Darkness and the light blue from Lynna’s Water. Both Daughters were pulled inside the sphere, along with Ladydevimon and Waruseadramon. Ophanimon’s digitama exploded, and a white figure emerged, a dragon with a four large flippers. “Plesiomon!”

Oiri stared at them, his arms crossed. “So, you evolved, big deal! That doesn’t mean a thing!”

“Shut the fuck up right now!” Plesiomon shouted, “You’re about to get back all the shit you’ve done to us!”

He rolled his eyes. “Oh please, you think you scare me?”

“We’re going to!” Hououmon shouted.

Galfmon opened his arms. “Then come and get me!”

Plesiomon flew forward. “You like to scream out sound as a weapon, huh? Well, how do you like my attack, Sorrow Blue!”

Plesiomon screamed, a wave of energy erupted from her mouth. This wave slammed into the demon digimon, forcing him to skid backwards, much to his surprise. Before he or his Horseman partner could even react, Hououmon flew in to attack.

The golden bird began to flap her wings, and a blast of fire erupted from her mouth, enveloping Oiri and Galfmon. “Starlight Explosion!”

Galfmon executed his Black Requiem technique, clearing away Hououmon’s flames. However, Pleisomon was waiting. “Take this, you bastard, Water Tail Blaster!” Her tail whipped up from behind and fired a geyser of water with such force that the giant demon nearly lost his footing.

Hououmon was ready for Pleisomon’s attack and she swooped down, knocking her talons into Galfmon’s head, being already off-balanced, he fell onto his side, Oiri crashing into the ground. The Horseman of Famine pounded his fists into Galfmon’s side. “Get up! Get up, you fucking bastard! Get up, we’re sitting ducks!”

“Make that cooked ducks!”

Oiri twisted his head to the sky and saw Plesiomon and Hououmon hovering above them. The Horseman of Famine stared at them with a mixture of horror and fear. “It’s payback time!” the giant phoenix shouted, “Starlight Explosion!”

Pleisomon’s tail whipped around and exploded forth with a stream of intense water. Both attacks merged together, completely enveloping Oiri, but ripping a hole through Galfmon. The giant demon’s body exploded, his data dispersing into the air. The Horseman of Famine was no where to be seen, he had been completely incinerated.

Hououmon looked up to the night sky, “Keeya, Iduia, Maria, Catherine, Mushmon, Kokuwamon, Patamon, Floramon…please, rest at peace now…”

Pleisomon floated next to her. “What now?”

The Holy Beast turned to the Deep Saver, “GranDracmon.”

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The four members of the Digitalatri had discovered Matut and Zanbamon right where Anna had said she would be; the demon digimon had been using his Cross Slash technique to slaughter a group of young children who had been leaving summer activities: dance club, singing lessons, tutoring. These pre-teens had not yet even entered secondary education, now they were lying dead in a sea of bodies, chocking the streets.

“I can’t believe this!” Keiko exclaimed, “How…so much death!”

James frowned. “It’s probably what we would have done…if GranDracmon was still manipulating us…”

“That’s enough of that!” Hiroshi ordered, “That is in the past, we must move forward.” He glanced at Matut and Zanbamon, “And we’ll take them out first!”

“Yeah!” Takashi shouted, holding tightly to Metal Tyrannomon as he charged forward.

“Wait!” Hiroshi shouted, “You’re too loud!”

It was not any use; the giant metallic dinosaur stomped forward, rattling the ground. Matuat and Zanbamon spun around, and the Horseman of War grinned. “Looks like they sent in the second-stringers, huh?”

Takashi growled and Metaltyranomon swung his left hand around, firing a beam of red light. Zanbamon quickly brought his sword up to his face; Metaltyranomon’s beam splintered into multiple beams, deflecting away from Matut and Zanbamon, but impacting into buildings.

“Well, that was certainly productive, wasn’t it? the demon warrior laughed. He was about to attack the metallic dinosaur, but his eyes noticed Blue Meramon leaping towards him from a nearby building’s roof. The Nightmare Soldier pulled his fist back and fired a ball of blue fire. “Ice Fireball!”

Zanbamon used the flat side of his sword like a bat, deflecting the attack backwards. Blue Meramon quickly leapt to the side, the attack narrowly missing his shoulder. Before the Nightmare Soldier hit the ground, he fired another Ice Fireball, which managed to strike Zanbamon in the nose, spinning him and Matut into a circle. They spun in a 180, and when they stopped, they were staring at Megaseadramon and Garbamon.

Megaseadramon pulled his head back then shot it forward, his horn firing a bolt of energy. “Thunder Javelin!”

Garbamon fired from his weapon. “Poop Bazooka!”

Zanbamon darted out of the way, managing to dodge both attacks. He held up his sword and fired a series of bullets into Garbamon. “Cross Slash!” He shot higher into the air, twisting around and slashing across Megaseadramon’s face. “Prison Gate of Beheading!”

While the two digimon fell to the ground, Metal Tyranomon pointing his right hand at the demon’s back. “Giga Destroyer II!”

Zanbamon swung around quickly, but not quick enough to stop the dinosaur’s missile attack. The demon was struck at point black range, throwing him backwards. Matut had to grip to her partner tightly as he was tossed through the air.

“Nice job!” Takashi shouted.

Hiroshi turned to the other three digimon. “Go, now!”

Megaseadramon flicked his head, firing his Thunder Javelin technique, sending waves of electricity across Zanbamon and Matut’s bodies. Garbamon then shot up from behind and fired waves of Poop Bazooka into the demon’s side. He flinched in pain, but no where near the pain he felt when Bluemeramon, powered by his Ice Phantom technique, bashed and slammed his fists into Zanbamon’s face. He then leapt out of the way so Metaltyranomon could strike.

The dinosaur readied himself for his Giga Destroyer II technique, but before he could, Zanbamon shot forward at surprising speed, jabbing his sword deep into the Cyborg’s chest. “Prison Gate of Beheading!”

Takashi stared in horror as Metaltyranomon stumbled backwards. The demon glanced over his shoulder and saw Megaseadramon sailing towards him. He whipped his sword around and fired a barrage of bullets directly into the serpent’s eyes.

“Megaseadramon!” James shouted, watching as his partner fell to the ground in pain.

Keiko wanted to console her friend, but when she saw her digimon partner charging towards Zanbamon, she called out to him. “Garbamon! Watch out!”

Her Mutant digimon positioned his bazooka for another attack, but by now Zanbamon new his attack, and fired a barrage of bullets into the weapon just as Garbamon was about to fire. The weapon overloaded and exploded in his arms.

“Garbamon!” the young woman screamed.

Hiroshi stared at the defeated digimon, then turned to his partner. Blue Meramon was standing at his side. “Looks like it’s you and me.”

The Nightmare Soldier grinned and nodded. “I’m ready.”

Hiroshi turned back to Matut and Zanbamon, “Just like Taichi and Daisuke said, when you’re up against the wall, that’s when miracles happen.”

Blue Meramon nodded. He clenched his hand into fists, gave a scream and charged forward. Hiroshi ran after him.

Keiko suddenly felt an odd sensation on her back. She twisted her head and watched as the Digitama of Cherubimon rose from her backpack and shot into the air. The Digitalatri and the Horseman of War watch in awe and wonder.

The Digitama of Cerubimon glowed with a reddish light that pulled all four Digitalatri and their partners into the mysterious sphere. Cerubimon’s digitama exploded, and a massive figure emerged, one with a large cubed body and half a dozen claws. “Apocalymon!”

“Apocalymon?” Matut and Zanbamon gasped in unison.

The Dark Area digimon said nothing, only quickly fired a barrage of projectiles from the front of his cubed body, striking Zanbamon at full force. “Virus Grenade!”

The Horseman of War was nearly thrown from Zanbamon’s back, but she held tight. “Damn it!” she shouted, “Attack!”

The demon readied his sword, but before he could attack, Apocalymon swung his chained-claws around, smacking him in the underside. He was spun around, but as soon as he stopped, he saw another one of Apocalymon claws pointing directly at him. The claw suddenly morphed into a likeness of Mugen Dramon and fired blasts of energy from his cannons. “Infinity Cannon!”

Matut and Zanbamon was thrown back again, but another one of Apocalymon’s claws, morphed into Metalseadramon, was waiting for him. “Infinity Stream!”

The Horseman and her demon digimon screamed in pain, but it was not over yet, another claw, this one changed into Pinocchimon. “Bullet Hammer!”

By this time, Matut and Zanbamon were severely injured, and it was taking everything Zanbamon had to remain floating, but the worst was yet to come. Another claw floated before them. It twisted and morphed like the others, changing into an image of Piedmon. Apocalymon chuckled, “You like playing with swords? Let’s see how you do against mine!”

The Piedmon-transformed-claw whipped his sword out and shoved it deep into Zanbamon’s chest and out his back, piercing Matut’s chest as well. Both Horseman and demon shuddered for a moment before their data exploded and vanished into the night.

Apocalymon’s claws wound back into his body. The giant digimon turned his attention to the center of the city, where a cloud of black energy was forming. “GranDracmon.”

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

Taichi was riding atop Greymon X, while Yamato was on Garurumon X’s back and Miayag held to Witchmon’s back while they rode on her floating broom. The blond man called up to his friend. “Any idea how we’re going to find GranDracmon or Kirahi?”

Taichi did not respond, his mind lost in thought and memory…

Taichi pushed open the door and flipped the switch, illuminating the apartment. “And here we are…the lovely castle Yagami.”

The girl resting on his back chuckled as she leaned forward so he could bring her inside easier. “Thank you for hospitality.”

Hikari ran over and turned the air conditioning until to off, then walked into the kitchen. “Uh, Maria, are you hungry?”

Taichi placed Maria down on the couch, where she was soon joined by her Patamon. “W…what do you have?”

Hikari opened the refrigerator. “Well, we have chicken, pork, fish, leftover pizza….”

The Hispanic girl’s eyes opened wide and she stared at her partner. “Wow….Patamon, when we were on our own before we went to live in the Digital World, we never had that much food in our refrigerator…”

The other girl shrugged. “Well, if it’s not too much trouble, some fish would sound good.”

“What are you doing?” Maria asked, “Y…you have to cook it?”

She nodded. “Yes…oh, did you want sushi? Well, I don’t really have the stuff for that….”

“No, I…I thought it was leftovers,” she explained, “If you have to cook it, then…please do not go to that much trouble…”

“Oh, it’s no problem at all,” she said, “Really…”

Taichi reappeared from the hall and approached the Hispanic girl. “Okay, the bath is ready and I got some of Hikari’s clothes for you.”

“Bath?” she asked.

“Yeah,” he said, “No offense, but you really need one.”

Hikari appeared from the kitchen. “What my brother means is, you are our guest, please, relax and enjoy yourself.”

Maria smiled warmly. “Thank you.”

Taichi hoisted her onto his back and carried her into the bathroom. “Um…will you be okay, or should I…?”

She blushed. “No, I…I will be okay,” she said, “Thank you.”

“I’ll be right outside if you need anything,” he said, closing the door….

…

“…No, it’s….it’s okay…” she began, but stopped when Taichi held up his palm.

“No, it’s not okay. I know you have BD-2, but it’s not going to help you get any better if your open wounds get infected.”

“He’s right,” her Patamon said, landing on her shoulder, “Let him help you.”

She smiled and nodded. “Okay. Thank you.”

The young man carried her into the living room, where he placed her on the couch, her leg stumps near the edge. Hikari and the Yagami’s digimon were watching the television, so the Latino girl decided to join in while Taichi journeyed to the bathroom to get the medical supplies.

She was missing almost half of her knees, and everything below them was completely gone. There was only a mesh of red, spongy tissue at the edges. “Well…I’m not Jyou, but I’ve bandaged up enough injuries to know when something’s infected or not.”

“And?”

“I think this looks okay. I mean…not as bad as it could be….” He cleared his throat and began to wound a thin strip of white bandage around her bare legs.

Maria turned her attention from the television to the brown mop on the top of Taichi’s head. She hesitated a moment before speaking up. “Um, Taichi, do you mind if I ask you a question?”

“Sure.”

She hesitated a moment longer before speaking again. “I...like a lot of Chosen I know, really look up to you and have the greatest respect for you, so if this is out of line I’m sorry, but, why did you decide to become a diplomat?”

“Instead of a Chosen general?” Taichi asked with a smile. Hikari and Plotmon X began to giggle.

She blushed. “What…?”

He waved his hand. “Never mind. Um, to answer your question, it was really because of the Christmas invasion back in 2002. I knew it was only a matter of time before the Digital World would become common knowledge to Earth, and I wasn’t going to let the governments try to take it over. I was going to make sure the Digital World could be protected, and that meant it needed someone to represent it.”

“Really?” she asked.

He looked at her. “Why?”

“I…um…just heard something different…”

“Really? What?”

She hesitated again. “Um….”

“No, it’s all right, tell me…”

She hesitated again before spurting quickly, “I heard that after you were modified by the X-Antibody, you didn’t care about us anymore.”

Hikari and the digimon turned to them in silence. Taichi slowly lifted his head to look at Maria, who was blushing feverously. “I…I never believed in it….” She stuttered.

“Nah, I can see why everyone thought that,” he said, “Yeah, after BD-2 hit the Digital World, what could I do about it? I wasn’t a doctor...” He turned his head back down to continue bandaging Maria’s legs, “Besides, I couldn’t say Koushiro or Daisuke…”

Hikari frowned. “Oh Oniichan…”

Taichi finished his wrapping of Maria’s legs and stood up to stretch his back. “All right…”

The Latino girl glanced at her leg stubs, which were securely wrapped in white bandages. “ Thank you.”

“So, time to eat?” Taichi asked.

Hikari nodded. “Yeah, come on.”

Taichi hoisted Maria into his arms and carried her into the dinning room. Maria lightly kissed the young man on the cheeks. “Thank you for everything. And I still think you’re a hero.”

Hikari giggled slightly at her brother’s embarrassment….

…

…Taichi ran through the crowd of Infected Chosen. “Maria!” he shouted, “Maria!” He ran into the damaged gas chamber. “Maria!”

“Over here, Taichi…”

He strained his eyes and saw the young woman in the corner, crawling towards him. He ran over and lifted her into his arms. Once she was safely in his grasp, he body went nearly limp.

“I knew you’d save me,” she weakly said, her eyes slowly closing…

…She hung her head low. “I’m sorry.” She looked back up and smiled, ”I can try harder if you want…”

Taichi returned her smile and placed his hands on her shoulders. “No, that’s okay. We’ll find them and rescue them…” He sighed deeply, “But first we’ve got to deal with the Demon Lords…”

Maria grinned. “You can do it, Taichi, I know you can.”

He frowned. “We should bring you back to Earth, but I don’t want to take the chance of leaving and having Shiokuro go on a rampage or something like that.”

The Latino woman shook her head. “I don’t want to go back to Earth, I want to stay with you.”

He smiled slightly. “I know, but as soon as we take care of Shiokuro, you’re going back to Earth….”

…

…She nodded. “I…I thought that maybe…if you…” She took a deep breath, “If you didn’t want to talk to Hikari, then maybe you could talk to me.”

Taichi raised an eyebrow. “What?”

The young woman began to blush. “If you need to talk about your mother, then why don’t you talk to me?”

The slightly older man stared at her for a moment, then smiled slightly. “Well, um, I really don’t know what to say. I mean, I’m worried about her, but…what else can I really do?” He brought his hands into fists, “I just want to help her so badly, but…once my father gets here, I’m going back to the Digital World. I need to focus on bringing down the Demon Lords and saving Sora and Catherine.”

Maria’s heart flinched slightly at the mention of the redheaded young woman. She took another deep breath. “T…taichi, wh…what do you think of Sora?”

He blinked. “What do you mean?”

She fidgeted in her wheelchair. “Um, I…I just was wondering how you feel about her?”

Taichi smiled slightly. “Did Hikari put you up to this? Or was it Mimi? Noriko?” He frowned, “My mother?”

She shook her head. “N…no, I…I was just….”

Realization slowly dawned on Taichi. He stared at her with a mixture of curiosity and wonderment. “She really is cute, and just so…innocent...But she’s only 18, she’s still just a kid. I don’t want to break her heart, but….”

He took a deep breath. “Listen, Maria, I…I think I know how you’re feeling, but…I…I really don’t want to hurt you, but, it wouldn’t work…”

She blinked a few times. “But…w…what are you talking about?”

He frowned. “You know…the way you’re feeling about me?”

Maria was confused for a moment, then blushed even more. “Oh no, you think that….that I….I have feelings for you?”

Taichi raised his eyebrow. “Don’t you?”

The Latino woman smiled slightly. “I…I don’t think of you like that. Y…you’re more like a big brother to me.”

Taichi smiled slightly as well. “Well that’s good,” he exhaled, “You’re more like a little sister to me…well, a littler sister.”

Maria giggled slightly….

“Taichi!”

He blinked and glanced down to Yamato, who was staring up at him from Garurumon X’s back. “Taichi..”

“What?” he asked.

“I think we’ve found something.”

He raised his eyebrows. “What?”

Witchmon hovered beside him and Miayag pointed forward. “There.”

He turned to stare forward; atop a tall building, he could see a cloud of black energy funneling in from the sky. “Okay, that’s weird.”

“But what’s up there?” Garurumon X asked.

“One moment,” Witchmon said. She made a quick movement with her hands, then pointed her right hand at the building and held open the palm of her right hand. An image of the top of the building appeared over her palm, an image of a red demon gathering black energy within the palms of his hands.

“GranDracmon!” Miayag gasped, “He is there.”

“That’s where we’re going, right?” Greymon X asked.

Taichi nodded. “You got it. Let’s move!”

The three humans quickly merged with their digimon, creating Wargreymon X, Metalgarurumon X and Kuzuhamon. As the three mega digimon flew towards the building roof, they were able to make out GranDracmon on the roof. He was drawing in immense amounts of blackness.

“What’s he doing?” Wargreymon X asked.

“I have no idea,” Kuzuhamon said, “It would appear that he is gathering energy for some reason…let us hope it is to power himself.”

“Why?” Metalgarurumon X asked.

“Because, then it would mean that he is not yet at his full strength, which increases our odds of defeating him…if only slightly.”

“The best we’ve got,” Metalgarurumon X sighed, “Well, who wants to live forever, right?”

He was suddenly struck in his shoulders by beams of red energy. He was shot backwards, passing by Wargreymon X and Kuzuhamon. Once he was able to get control of himself, he flew back to the others.

“Are you harmed?” Kuzuhamon gasped.

“I’m fine,” he growled, “Who the hell sucker-punched me?”

Wargreymon X sneered. “Deathmon.”

The trio turned their attention to the sky once more and saw a demonic creature with an eyeball in each palm and a single eyeball on the forehead, riding on his back was the Horseman of Death, Kirahi.

“Get out of our way!” Wargreymon X shouted.

Kirahi chuckled, “And you expect us to simply move?”

The dinosaur clenched his fists and his energy swirled around him. “Get the fuck out of my way!”

“How rude,” Kirahi said, “That is not the manner to address a priestess.”

Kuzuhamon began to growl. “You are not a priestess.”

“Why not?” she asked, “Is a priestess not one that has been ordained by her God?”

The fox woman narrowed her eyes and gripped her staff tightly. “You will be vanquished, I will see to it personally!”

“Do whatever you wish,” she smiled, “but if you wish to see the Almighty, you must pass me first! Deathmon!”

Her demonic partner fired arrows of energy from the eyeballs in his palms. Kuzuhamon whipped her staff before her chest, deflecting the energy blasts. Wargreymon X shot up behind Deathmon and pulled his arm back, ready to jab the blade on his gauntlet into the demon’s back, but he twisted his arms backwards and fired more arrows of energy from the eyeballs in his palms.

“Death Arrow!”

The armored dinosaur winced as the attack struck him in the chest. Deathmon continued his assault by blasted an intense beam from the eyeball in his head. “Explosion Eye!”

Wargreymon X whipped his arms over his head to protect his face as the blast threw him backwards, slamming him into a building.

“Juukeitei!” Kuzuhamon exclaimed.

As the fox woman floated to inspect her injured cousin, Metalgarurumon X hovered in front of Kirahi and Deathmon. “And look who’s here now,” Kirahi chuckled.

“That’s right!” the metallic wolf shouted back, “Here, and ready to kick your ass!” He whipped his arm around and began to fire from the shotgun attached to his wrist. Deathmon twisted out of the way, firing more Death Arrows from his palms. Metalgarurumon X was able to dodge these attacks as well. He pulled his head back and expunged a blast of cold air from his mouth. “Cocytus Breath!”

“Look out!” Kirahi shouted.

Her partner leapt to the side, but Metalgarurumon X’s attack struck his leg, freezing it instantly.

“Damn you,” the demon growled. He raised his palms, “Death A…”

Before he could finish, Wargreymon X smashed his fists into the frozen leg, shattering it. Deathmon roared in pain, which left him open for a missile to the face by Metalgarurumon. Kirahi clenched tightly as her partner was thrown about. In the matter of mere moments, she had lost control of the battle. A punch by Wargreymon X in Deathmon’s stomach caused him to lurch, a kick by Metalgarurumon X caused him to flip. As they were tossed about, she wondered where the third mega had gone, when Kuzuhamon appeared before them.

The fox woman narrowed her eyes, “Reverse Rice Cord!” She began to twirl her staff in a circle before her, creating four glowing foxes that leapt into the air. Each fox slammed into Kirahi and Deathmon, dispersing as they did. The fox woman completed her combo attack by jabbing the tip of her staff into Demon’s eye, through his head and into Kirahi’s chest. Both Horseman and Digimon exploded moments later.

“Excellent job,” Wargreymon X said, hovering next to her.

Kuzuhamon swung her staff in a practiced maneuver. “She was outmatched before the battle began.” She turned to the building roof, “Come, we must finish this.”

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

GranDracmon stood atop the building roof, staring up the night sky, the mysterious cloud of energy above his head. He grinned. “Tell me Seraphimon, Ophanimon, Cherubimon, can you see me from your graves, and know that I won? That your brilliant schemes failed, that I survived! I live on, I am immortal!”

He blinked and turned his head slightly. “So, I am to assume that my Horsemen have fallen?”

He turned completely around and saw six Mega digimon hovering in the sky before him. He glanced at each one, “Wargreymon X, Metalgarurumon X, Kuzuhamon, you I know, but Hououmon, Pleisomon and Apocalymon? Truly unique evolutions…”

“Shove your compliments up your ass!” Apocalymon shouted.

Kuzuhamon mentioned to the cloud of dark energy in the sky. “What have you been doing?”

The demon chuckled. “As you probably are aware, I have been trapped within the Dark Area for untold years, my strength is diminishing, so I have been gathering energy to recharge, it is not yet complete…” His mouth twisted into a grin, “But I still have more then enough power to defeat you…”

Each Mega digimon prepared themselves to attack. “This is it!” Metalgarurumon X shouted.

Wargreymon X pointed his bladed gauntlet at the demon, “You fucking vampire, you’re going down!”

GranDracmon laughed and stretched out his arms. “Then let us see who will survive!”

To be concluded…