Digimon Fan Fiction ❯ Legacy ❯ Apocalypse: Chapter 4 ( Chapter 17 )

Apocalypse:

Chapter 4

December 23, 2015

The city of Tokyo was under attack. This enemy was destroying everything within the boundaries. It smashed through buildings, it tore through streets and sidewalks, and most importantly, it killed hope. This enemy was not an unfriendly nation, nor was it a terrorist organization, it was a rouge computer program given physical form; the D-Reaper. This information destroyer had successfully assimilated the Hypnos mainframe, and used it to branch out into other areas of the city. The city was in danger, but the citizens were not. They had been safely evacuated and the city encased in an impenetrable shield. The D-Reaper was not leaving, unfortunately, neither were the Tamers, still trapped inside.

A large group of other Tamers were assembled outside the city, all from different portions of the world. Each city had its own Master Digidestined, and they were there as well.

One of the Master Digidestined, a woman with orange hair, stared at the translucent dome in front of her. She sighed and rubbed her arms. "I'm so worried."

A man with blond hair walked over and hugged her. "Don't, they'll be fine."

She sighed again. "All I can think of is my baby girl inside of there. I never should have let her come here."

The man spun her around to stare at her face. "Stop that!" he said forcefully.

"You don't miss her?" the woman gasped.

"Sora," the man said, "Of course I miss Kasumi, but remember she's Tai's daughter. And right now, with a threat that he has to face…I can't think of anywhere else she should be right now then at his side."

Sora shivered. "But Matt, I'm so worried, about both of them."

Matt nodded. "I am too, but there's no way to get inside, right Ken?"

A younger man with brown hair walked beside them. "No, I checked. Whatever this shield is, it's ingenious. I guess Tai figured that we weren't going to be coming to help."

"But we alienated him," a woman with raven hair added, "We just kind of forgot about him, didn't we? It's no wonder that he wasn't counting on us."

"I never forgot about him, Yolei," another man replied.

"Well, good for you, Davis!" Yolei snapped. She suddenly shook her head, "I'm sorry Davis. Jeeze, look at us, we haven't seen each other in nearly ten years, and we start acting like kids again!"

"We're just worried," Davis said, staring at the shield, "We just have to hope that whatever's happening in there, Tai's got it under control."

Inside of the shield, Tai and the remaining Tamers, along with Yamaki, were watching the massive ball of the D-Reaper when something caught their eye, like a rocket being fired from the top. It soared across the sky and slammed into the ground directly in front of the group. "Wh..what is that thing?"

"It's got to be one of the D-Reaper's agents!" Takato gasped.

"That thing is hideous!" Kazu exclaimed, "I mean, the others weren't that pretty either, but this thing is just disgusting! Oh man, it's making my skin crawl!"

The new agent was in the shape of a giant humanoid creature. Its head contained no eyes, nose or ears, but a head of red tentacles and was covered in mouths. It torso also contained a number of the same heads as well as its arms. Each of its palms contained one smaller mouth.

Tai stared at it. "Well, Kazu, got a name for this one?" Surprisingly, the creature answered instead!

"D-Reaper agent ADR-07 experimentation complete. Result of head formation…satisfactory for this level of agent. Uploading to Mother…."

Takato could not contain his surprise. "It's talking in Jeri's voice!"

"Probably because Jeri's part of it," Yamaki explained.

"What was all that other stuff it was talking about?" Kazu asked "It sounded like it was practicing making heads. And who's 'Mother'?"

"That's got to be the main D-Reaper," Tai said, "And if Jeri really is a part of it, I'll bet she's merged with that...Mother D-Reaper."

"Why Mother?" Ai asked, "Is D-Reaper a girl? When we fought it in the Digital World, it looked like a boy."

"Probably when it merged with Jeri, it took on feminine characteristics," Yamaki said.

"What about Practice Heads?" Impmon asked, "Did she forget about us, or what?"

"What about Jeri?" Takato shouted, "If she's inside of the D-Reaper, how are we supposed to find her?"

Yamaki began talking into his communicator again. "Riley, began a search of the D-Reaper. Try to find its Central Processor or whatever it has. I think Jeri Katou may be there."

"We'll get right on it. Riley out. Good luck sir"

Yamaki stared up at Practice Heads. "Thanks, I think we're going to need it."

Practice Heads turned glanced down at the assembled group. "ADR-07 analyzing enemies...analyzing attack pattern..."

"Should we attack?" Takato asked.

Tai stared at it. "No. Maybe we can leave before.."

Practice Heads suddenly slammed her fist towards the group. They quickly dove out of the way before the clenched hand smashed into the ground. "I guess we're attacking, huh?" Kazu asked.

"Digivolve!" Agumon ordered.

"Agumon warp digivolve to Wargreymon!"

"Gatomon armor digivolve to Nefertimon!"

Matrix Digivolution

"Guilmon matrix digivolve to Wargrowlmon!"

"Impmon mega digivolve to Beelzemon!"

"Snow Agumon digivolve to Veedramon!"

Tai grabbed his sword, which created a shield of energy around him and Yamaki powered up his internal mechanisms. "This thing wants to fight," Tai said, grabbed his handle, "Then we'll give it one! Attack, now!"

The Master Digidestined and the Hypnos Commander jumped onto Nefertimon's back and she and Veedramon shot towards the D-Reaper Agent from the left. Wargrowlmon and Beelzemon attacked from the right. Guardromon gave them cover by firing his Guardian Barrage at the front of Practice Heads. The D-Reaper agent countered by firing beams of lasers out of its mouths at the robot digimon.

"It can fire lasers?" Kazu asked in disbelief.

Practice Heads swung her hand and Wargreymon, tumbling him into Beelzemon. Both of them twirled through the sky and smashed into a building wall. "Back off!" Tai shouted, "Nefertimon, Veedramon, move back before..!"

It was too late. Practice Heads turned her entire body to face the forces approaching her from the left. She attacked with her lasers again, which seared across Nefertimon and Veedramon, throwing them into the ground.

"I think we need a new plan," Yamaki said, rubbing his organic arm.

Tai propped himself up with his sword. "We've got to cut that cord!"

"We'll do it!" Kasumi shouted, "Come on, Veedramon!" The two girls ran towards the D-Reaper Agent.

"Kasumi, wait!" Tai shouted.

Practice Heads glanced down at Tai's daughter and her Veedramon. She raised her palms and fired a barrage of lasers in an attempt to destroy two of her enemies. Fortunately, to the forces fighting for humanity, Kasumi and Veedramon stopped with seconds to spare. Practice Heads' lasers destroyed the ground inches in front of them. The force of the small explosion was enough to cause them to tumble backwards.

"We're coming!" Wargrowlmon snarled as he and Wargreymon flew to engage the D-Reaper Agent. She turned around and started firing her lasers again, but this time the two dgimon were ready. Wargreymon brought his shield around to his front and successfully blocked the attack. This left Wargrowlmon free to attack.

"Radiation Blade Attack!"

Wargreymon quickly returned his shield and formed his own energy attack. "Terra Force!"

Wargrowlmon's Radiation Blade Attack wrapped around Wargreymon's Terra Force. The combined attacks ripped through the center of Practice Heads, causing a massive amount of light and smoke to cover the small battlefield. When it cleared, the group could clearly see that Practice Heads was not herself. She was missing the large ball on the top of her shoulder, her entire left side was gone, and she was missing her right arm.

Wargrowlmon and Wargreymon turned to each other. "Not bad!" Takato's digimon grinned.

Wargreymon would have responded if he had not had had noticed Practice Heads moving around. Her body quickly regenerated itself, leaving her just as she was before. "This is going to be harder then we thought."

"Attack!" Tai shouted, "All at once!"

The Master Digidestined, Yamaki, and the digimon began to attack Practice Heads. As they battled against the D-Reaper agent, Ai and Mako noticed that the cord connecting the agent to the main D-Reaper bubble, the one that they now know is Mother D-Reaper, was un-protected.

"Beelzemon!" Ai shouted, "The cord! Attack the cord!"

Their digimon jumped back far enough to where he could see the cord. He grinned. "All right!" He grabbed his guns and aimed right at the life sustaining string. "Double..."

He was cut off when a dark shadow suddenly fell upon him. He glanced up and saw a familiar D-Reaper Agent soaring towards him. "Pendulum Feet!" Mako shouted, "Look out!"

Beelzemon tried to jump out of the way, but Pendulum Feet began to twirl around quickly. His blades tore into him before throwing him backwards.

"Another Agent!" Yamaki shouted, glancing towards the Mother D-Reaper bubble.

"Look!" Takato shouted, "Move of them!"

"It's an entire army," Tai said in awe as the sky was suddenly covered with Searchers. The ground soon became infested with Creep Hands and Horn Strikers.

Kazu chuckled slightly. "Get the feeling we caught her on a bad day?"

"Get ready," Tai ordered, "This is going to be the fight of our lives."

Takato growled. "We need help! Oh, where the heck is Rika?"

Deep inside of the glowing red ball hovering over the Mother D-Reaper bubble, Rika and Renamon, still merged as Sakuyamon, were bound and unconscious by this computerized invader. Hovering in front of her was a clear bubble which held two beings, a small white digimon named Calumon, and the brown haired girl Jeri.

Calumon sighed as he looked at her. "Jeri, please, talk to me. You've got to talk to me! Please, I don't want you to be sad forever."

"Why?" she asked.

"Jeri!" he smiled, "You said something."

"Why don't you want me to be sad?"

Calumon started scratching his head. "Well, you see, um...because, you're so much happier when your happy! Um, that doesn't make sense. Why don't you just tell me why you're so sad?"

"Everyone I ever cared for leaves me, my mother died, no one cares for me."

"That's not true!" he shouted, "Everyone's fighting really hard for you! Mr. Kamiya, Henry, Takato,"

"Takato?" she asked, surprised, "Why would he fight for me? If it wasn't for me, he wouldn't have had to fight Rika. It was my fault."

"No it wasn't! Takato doesn't hate you. He loves you!"

Jeri blinked. "He..loves me?"

Calumon nodded. "Yeah! I can tell!" He smiled and rolled his head, "His voice gets all mushy whenever he talks about you!"

"Takato...loves me," she repeated, completely in a daze, "He loves me. He loves me.."

Calumon nodded again. "Yeah. Jeri, do you love him too?"

Jeri smiled slightly as tears slowly rolled down her face. "He loves..." She suddenly glanced around, as if she became aware of where she really was.

"Oh, Calumon, w..what have I been doing?" she dried her tears, "Have I been...?" She tightened her fists, "No, it was her!"

She looked up at the large red bubble covering her small clear bubble. "I know you can hear me! I thought I was worthless, that no one ever wanted to be near me, because I didn't have a digimon partner. You tricked me! You made me believe that you could be my partner, but you lied! And..and you made me think that I was worthless. No more! I'm not going to listen to you anymore! And I will fight you with everything I have!"

Calumon jumped into the sky. "Yes!"

Jeri turned to him. "Calumon, how do we get out of here?"

"I don't know, but she does." He pointed out of the bubble.

Jeri turned to where he was pointing and gasped. "S..Sakuyamon?"

"Don't worry!" Calumon smiled, "She's here to help."

"She is?"

"Yup! She helped me in here, we've just got to wake her up." He started shouting,"Sakuyamon, wake up! Sakuyamon!"

Jeri joined in. "Sakuyamon! Sakuyamon! Wake up! Please, wake up!" She started pounding on her bubble. "Sakuyamon..please, help me..."

Rika suddenly opened her eyes. She tried to glance around, but all she saw was red. "R..Renamon? Renamon!"

A few second later, she heard the familiar voice of her digimon. "Rika."

"Renamon, where are we?"

"I..I think we're inside of the D-Reaper. Rika, we're still in our Sakuyamon form."

"I know, but, who was calling to us? I thought I heard a voice."

"Sakuyamon! Wake up! Sakuyamon!"

"That was Jeri and Calumon!" the redhead shouted.

"Yes," Renamon smiled,"I wonder why we can't see them?"

"It's gotta be the D-Reaper. It's messing with our senses, but I remember now. We were helping Calumon get inside. We must still be there. We've got to get out."

"I agree, but how?"

"Try with all our your might to break these cables that are holding us. Jeri and Calumon are counting on us."

"You got it."

On the battlefield, the Tamers were fighting against legions of Agents. The Searchers were easily destroyed, but the Creep Hands and Pendulum Feet were more difficult. The Horn Strikers were almost indestructible, and Practice Heads was still dominating the field.

Wargrowlmon destroyed a Searcher with his front claws, then spun around and fired an Atomic Blaster to destroy another group of Searchers. He stomped on another one. "There's no end in sight!"

"We can't give up!" Kazu shouted over the roar of the battle,"Besides, I think we're making a dent in her army."

"Correct," Guardromon agreed, "We definitely are progressing."

Kazu sighed. "You've got to stop talk so nerdy."

Guardromon was going to respond, but a Creep Hands seemingly appeared out of thin air. It hopped around on the ground before latching itself onto Guardromnon's shoulder. It raised one of his hands and began slapping to the robotic digimon in the face.

"Guardromon!" Kazu cried, "It's humiliating you!"

"Do not worry, Kazu," he said. He managed to lift his arms and fire his Guardian Barrage, which tore through the Agent, causing it to explode apart.

"All right!" Kazu cheered, running to his partner,"No one can beat us! We're unstoppable!"

"Kazu," his partner said, "I'm reading strange energy signals from the cord."

They both glanced down to where the cord was flopping around like a snake. It suddenly leapt into the air and the end opened to a tremendous size. It shot down and enveloped both of them with a muffled scream. The cord flung backwards into the Mother D-Reaper.

The others witnessed this horrific capture. "Kazu!" Takato shouted, "Kazu!"

Ai was horrified. "She..she ate them!"

"Assimilated!" Yamaki gasped, "That must be what happened to Wong, Artemis and Orion!"

The legions of Searchers suddenly stopped their attack. They hovered over the group and began to shift and change, turning into a group of grey, jellyfish type creatures, with a flat center, and four cylinders handing from the middle.

"Oh great, more of them?" Beelzemon sighed, "We never get a break, do we?"

The new agents lifted their cylinders and pointed at the group. "I think we're in trouble," Wargrowlmon said.

"Run!" Tai shouted, "Now!"

The group charged for cover as the agents fired streams of energy beams at them. When the energy attacks hit the ground, they caused a small explosion that twisted the group around in the sky. As Yamaki was twirled through the air, he was un aware that the key to unlocking the energy shield fell from around his neck.

The metallic key twisted in the air and landed on the ground. A rare case of good luck for the forces of Earth occurred as Takato landed next to it. He realized at once what it was, and placed it around his own neck. "I'd better keep my eye on this until I find Mr. Yamaki."

Inside of the new Hypnos base, the remaining Monster Makers, along with Alice and Lopmon, watched the war zone below them. "I should be out there helping them," Lopmon said.

"Please don't," Alice said, "You may think that your digivolving powers are as good as the others, but they're sporadic. I don't want you to get hurt."

"She's right," Babel said, "Nothing against you, but I don't think you'll be much help, they seem to be doing everything they can, and you'd just be one more thing they have to worry about. The D-Reaper got Kazu and Guardromon, how long before she gets everyone else?"

Lopmon just stared out the window. "I hope they're all right."

"Hey Babel!"

He turned around and saw Tally waving to him. "Guys, you've got to see this!"

The Monster Makers ran over to Tally's computer terminal and looked over her shoulder. "What's up?"

"When Kazu and Guardromon were absorbed, the energy spectrum suddenly spiked. I analyzed that with the other out-coming energy and I think I found out where the D-Reaper's energy single is coming from."

"Where?"

"That giant red ball between the towers of the Hypnos building!"

The others glanced out the window to the giant red bubble of the Mother D-Reaper. The two towers of the Hypnos building were sticking out of the top, with another, separate, red bubble situated near the top. "There?" Daisy asked.

Tally nodded. "Yeah, I started examining that bubble closer, and I found that a lot of energy waves were flowing from it. I bet that bubble is the center of the Mother D-Reaper's core."

"Hmm," Curly said, rubbing her chin,"The Kernel of Intelligence?"

"Exactly!" Tally nodded, "That red bubble seems to be just a shield of some kind. If we could just break through it..."

Daisy sat down in her own computer terminal and started typing, "Wait a minute, wasn't there a vaccine program that Hypnos created....Hmm, here it is..Yuggoth. Hey, wasn't that the name of a robotic machine?"

"It was both," Riley said, walking up behind them, "But what do you want with that program?"

"Maybe we can use that to break through the shield."

Riley nodded. "Do it."

Back on the battlefield, the armies of Agents were still wreaking havoc across the city. Pendulum Feet and Creep Hands slashed and tore through the buildings, while the Horn Strikers took a less delicate approach and simply smashed through the concrete walls. As they continued their destruction of the city, the Tamers tried their best to curb the tide of darkness, or in their case, redness.

Practice Heads continued to stomp across the city streets with a dozen of the newer Bubble Agents and Pendulum Feet guarding it. The Tamers were still trying to overcome the towering agent, but the other Agents also held their attention. They were certain that if Practice Heads could just be destroyed, they would have a much easier time with the other Agents.

Unfortunately, the price of battle had separated them across the large city. Tai and Kasumi fought against the ground based Agents, while Yamaki and the twins rode on Beelzemon's motorcycle as he leapt across building roofs. The Hypnos Commander used the demon lord's guns to blast as many Searchers and Bubbles as he could. This left Takato and Wargrowlmon to battle the powerful Practice Heads alone.

Wargrowlmon swung both of his fists at the towering Agent, but she caught his fists in her large hands. Takato's digimon struggled to move out of the way, but she held him tight. After a few minutes of struggling, he used his rockets to support himself as he swung his two feet out and pound Practice Heads in the chest area. Her hands released his, and her shot back to a safer distance.

Practice Heads was still recovering from the powerful kick in the chest, so Wargrowlmon needed to strike before it was too late. The two circles next to the hazard sign on his chest began to glow. "Atomic Blaster!" His energy attack blew the agent apart, leaving on her feet and a small section of her back. This left her still connected to the Mother D-Reaper, and this connection enabled her to regenerate her entire body.

"Oh man!" Takato sighed, "Isn't there anyway to get rid of this thing?"

"Don't worry, Takato," Wargrowlmon growled,"I'm not going to give up!"

"Look out!"

Veedramon ducked as she felt Wargreymon fly above her and destroy a Creep Hands before it could harm her. She smiled slightly. "Thanks."

A Horn Striker dashed between them. "Woa!" the dragon gasped. She jumped back, but saw that Wargreymon was busy with another Horn Striker, so she began her battle with the villainous Agent.

Above them, Tai and Kasumi were riding atop Nefertimon as the angel digimon used her Rosetta Stone to destroyed as many Searchers and Bubbles as she was able. Kasumi held tightly to the white digimon until she noticed her partner fighting below. "Veedramon!"

Tai looked to the ground and saw his daughter digimon partner engaging in a battle with a Horn Striker. "She's not strong enough to find a Horn Striker on her own! Nefertimon, we've got to cut that cord."

"I'll do it!" Kasumi shouted. She jumped off of Nerfertimon and soared to her partner.

"Kasumi!" Tai shouted.

The teenager missed the Agent's cord, but was able to reduce her injuries by rolling with the momentum. She could have caused herself a broke bone, but she emerged with only a few scrapes.

"She looks okay," Tai said with relief.

Nefertimon chuckled as she flew to the ground. "That's your genes you know. Kari use to be the same way."

"Hey, Sora's did plenty of stupid things when she was a kid."

"Not as bad as you! You Kamiyas are nuts."

Back on the ground, Kasumi found that she had landed in an alley filled with garbage that had not been taken out before the evacuation. She saw a large piece of glass sticking up inside one of the dumpsters. She yanked it up, thankfully that she was wearing her thick winter gloves, and charge at the cord. She was about to slice it apart, but it suddenly flopped into her. She dropped the piece of glass and was flung into a pile of garbage bags. She watched as Nefertimon fired her Rosetta Stones at the cord, leaving the Horn Striker vulnerable. Without its connection to the Mother D-Reaper, the Agent was easily destroyed by Veedramon's V-breath Arrow. Her father ran up to her a second later.

"Kasumi!" he shouted, "Are you okay? What were you thinking?"

She did not respond. Tai sighed as he examined her cuts and bruises. He sighed. "Well, at least you'll be okay."

There was a loud explosion a few blocks away. "We've got to find the others."

"Like Takato?" she snapped.

"What?"

"Go ahead, find him, and leave me here because I'm not a boy. That's why I live with Mom and Matt, right?"

"What?" he asked, completely shocked and confused.

"I heard what you said," she growled, "That you wished Takato was your son."

Tai sighed. "Kasumi, I just meant that he reminded me of myself at his age. And I look to him like a son, just like I look to Henry and Kazu as sons." He lightly brushed a strand of her hair out of her face, "And we decided that you should live with your mother, because I wouldn't know the first thing about what a young girl goes through. I couldn't help you with stuff like.." He stuttered for a second, "like Tampons or boys. In fact, I'll probably kill anyone you bring home, so you'd better watch out for that."

He saw that she was starting to smile, so he placed both of his hands on her shoulders. "There isn't a day that goes by that I don't think or worry about you. Kasumi, I have never regretted having a daughter."

"Oh, Daddy," she said, hugging him, "I'm sorry." As she embraced him, she could see the cord from the destroyed Horn Striker moving closer to them. It suddenly leapt up, like a serpent ready to strike.

"Dad, look out!" she called, shoving him aside. The mouth of the cord swallowed her whole body.

"Kasumi, no!" Tai shouted. He heard a muffled cry from behind. When he spun around he saw that Veedramon had been captured by a cord as well. Both of them were flung back to the Mother D-Reaper. "Kasumi!"

On the rooftops, Beelzemon's motorcycle roared across the building tops. The small group had decided that attacking the Agents themselves would be too time-consuming, so they attempted to blast as many cords as they could. Yamaki operated Beelzemon's guns, and was surprised at how easily the digital bullets blasted through the connections between the Mother D-Reaper and her agents. Beelzemon drove the motorcycle with experienced ease, which left the twins between the two of them.

"Are you two okay down there?" Yamaki asked.

"We're fine," Mako said, grabbing his sister tightly.

Ai held onto Beelzemon's back, "Just don't drop us."

Beelzemon grinned as he pulled his machine across a gap between two alleys and landed on the ledge. "Don't worry! I've been doin' this a long time now! I'm perfectly in control!"

Yamaki shouted. "Beelzemon, look out!"

The demon lord spun around and saw a Searcher flying towards the motorcycle. He was in mid-leap, so he could not move out of the way in time. The D-Reaper Agent slammed into the front wheel, causing the machine to spin around in the sky. Beelzemon was able to get the motorcycle onto the next building, but he had lost his past finesse, so he skidded out, scattering his passengers across the roof.

Yamaki groaned slightly as he sat up. "Oh man." He looked around and saw the others lying across the roof. He got up and started to walk toward Ai and Mako, when he heard a noise behind him. He spun around and saw the Searcher staring at him. He still had Beelzemon's gun, so he quick blasted the Agent to pieces. It seemed this was what it wanted, however, as the cord swallowed him as well.

"Oh no!" Ai gasped,"Mr. Yamaki's gone too!"

"Now whada we do?" Beelzemon asked.

The trio suddenly became aware that the building they were standing on was shaking. Before they could react to that, however, a loud explosion sounded from behind. On instinct, they fell to the ground and covered their heads. They were able to see that a large white beam flew over their heads and smashed into the giant red bubble hovering between the two towers connected to the Mother D-Reaper. A massive crater appeared at the point of impact, and it caused the rest of the ball to shatter like a piece of glass.

Inside, Jeri and Calumon noticed that they were suddenly able to see the outside world. They watched the red ball shatter around them, moving to where Sakuyamon was trapped. The shattering also destroyed the wall to which the merged mega was attached.

"Woa!" she cried as she suddenly found herself in the night sky. She had lost too much power to keep herself afloat, so the power of gravity took over and pulled her towards the ground. Unfortunately. the Mother D-Reaper was in between. She used her remaining strength to fire a burst of magical energy that propelled her away from the Mother D-Reaper bubble and into the top floor of a nearby building.

Back on the roof, the twins and Beelzemon were in shock. "What the heck was that thing?" the demon lord digimon asked.

Ai turned around and saw a curious object on a building a few buildings away. "That thing looks like a cannon."

"Commander Yamaki! Commander Yamaki!"

"That sounds like Miss Ootori!" Mako gasped, "But where's it coming from?"

The young boy ran across the roof, following the sound of Riley's voice like a homing beacon. He reached the spot where Yamaki was before he was absorbed and he saw a small, rectangular shaped object lying there. "It's his cell phone," he gasped. He ran over and answered it. "Hello?"

Riley was silent for a second. "Yamaki?"

"Yamaki got absorbed by the D-Reaper!"

He heard Riley swear. "Who is this?"

"It's Mako."

Inside of the new Hypnos headquarters, Riley swore again. "Yamaki just got absorbed by the D-Reaper and Mako's got his cell phone."

The Monster Makers and Tally groaned. "Does he know where Kamiya is?" Babel asked, hopefully.

"Mako, do you know where Kamiya is?"

"No, I don't. We all got separated."

"Perfect."

"Wait a minute!" Alice snapped her fingers, "Mako and his sister Ai are partnered to Beelzemon, a Mega digimon! He could do it!"

Riley smiled slightly. "I'm glad you're here." She turned her attention back to her cell phone. "Okay Mako, listen carefully. You saw that white beam in the sky, right?"

"Yeah?"

"That was our Yuggoth Blaster. We used it to destroy the red ball that was suspended between the two towers next to the Mother D-Reaper. Do you see anything else there instead?"

Mako squinted his eyes and stared at the two towers. "No I..wait, yes I do! It looks like a smaller ball."

He could hear the excitement in Riley's voice. "Yes! We think that's the D-Reaper's Kernel of Intelligence. Listen, Jeri Katou is inside of that bubble."

"Jeri's in there?!"

"Yes, can your digimon rescue her?"

Mako turned to where Beelzemon was towering behind him. "Can you do it?"

He nodded. "I'm sure-as-heck gonna try!"

"He'll do it," Mako answered into the transmitter.

"Okay, good luck."

"What's going on?" Ai asked, running back over.

"I'll tell you later," Mako said. He turned to Beelzemon, who was already climbing onto his motorcycle.

"Listen, I want you two to get to the street. Ya'll probably be safer there then up here."

"What about you?" Mako asked.

Beelzemon grinned and lightly rubbed his head. "Don' worry, kid. I'll be back!" He gassed his engine then took off. The two children watched as he drove along the building ledge until he reached the edge, where he jumped onto the next building and repeated the cycle.

He jumped a few more buildings before he arrived at one of the few remaining buildings in close proximity to the Mother D-Reaper bubble. He drove along the roof, looking for something to propel himself closer, when he spied the entrance from the inside of the building to the roof, the door was on one side, but the back resembled a ramp. "Hey, great luck!" he chuckled, "Maybe I'll pull this thing off after all!"

He drove back as far as he could, then shot towards the ramp like lightning. He took a deep breath as he flew off the edge and sailed towards the translucent ball between the two towers. His incline was not too high or too low, he was right on target. He felt a surge of energy within him, he was going to do it! He was going to rescue Jeri!

His luck started to chance, however, when the Mother D-Reaper sensed his approach. She sent part of her own red mass up to protect the Kernel. It took the form of a ring around the ball, making it resemble the planet Saturn. This thin ring formed into a series of sharp spikes, with four balls at every ninety degrees.

Beelzemon's eyes opened wide with shock. "Uh oh."

This Gatekeeper fired a barrage of sharp spikes which tore through Beelzemon. The force of the attack sent him soaring to the ground. He crashed onto the pavement and skidded a full mile before finally stopping. He raised his head slightly, but could not maintain the effort and fell back to the ground.

Ai and Mako had reached the street level and witnessed their digimon's defeat. They ran to his side, and saw, to their horror, that his body was beginning to scatter apart.

"Beelzemon!" Ai cried, "Beelzemon, you can die! We need you!"

The two children suddenly noticed that a swarm of Bubbles were heading towards them, but they would not leave their digimon friend.

"Beelzemon!" Mako called, "Beelzemon get up! Get up!"

Above them, those assembled inside of the Hypnos Headquarters watched Beelzemon's fall as well. "I can't believe he failed," Alice sighed.

Lopmon looked to her, then back out the glass. She used her Blazing Ice attack to shatter the window. While Alice and the others watched in shock, she jumped onto the ledge.

"Lopmon!" Alice gasped, "What are you doing?"

"Beelzemon's near death, Wargrowlmon can't hold out much longer against Practice Heads, Mr. Kamiya and his digimon are near exhaustion, and everyone else has been absorbed. Unless we all do everything we can, the D-Reaper will win. I have a power that can help them, but it won't come without a sacrifice."

Alice stared at her. "Lopmon, you don't mean that..?"

The small digimon looked over her shoulder. "Goodbye Alice. Thank you for everything that you've done for me. I'll never forget you."

"Lopmon!" Alice cried as her friend jumped out of the window.

"Lopmon digivolve to Antylamon!"

The massive rabbit landed on the street and charged to Beelzemon's resting place. She jumped over the fallen Mega and leapt to the sky. The horde of Bubbles turned their attention away from Beelzemon and followed her. They fired all at once. Antylamon never had a chance, her body exploded into its data. A large portion was caught in the force of the impact and sent flying to a farther part of the city. The rest slowly trickled down to where Beelzemon and the twins where lying.

"Antylamon's gone too!" Ai gasped,"This can't be happening!"

The Bubbles headed back towards them. "Beelzemon!" Mako shouted,"Get up now! Beelzemon!"

The Mega digimon did not hear him, however, for he was trapped in a world of darkness. He knew that Antylamon had died, and that his partners were in trouble, but he could not make his body move.

"Beelzemon...Beelzemon!"

He looked up and saw an image of Lopmon standing over him. "L..Lopmon? But, you're..."

"Yes, but in death I can help you. I was given a gift by the Sovereign one that can give you the ability to change to a more powerful mode, Blast Mode!"

"A more powerful mode?" he gasped, "But what are you..?"

Lopmon smiled slightly. "You will find out shortly. Use this new power to safe Jeri. Goodbye Beelzemon." Her image faded.

"Lopmon, Lopmon!" He called, but it was no use. He was beginning to fall into despair, when he suddenly felt a surge of energy exploding across his body! Lopmon's data, it was merging with him! A large portion formed around his right hand, while another portion attached itself to his back, the rest spread out across his body. He was gaining more power!

He suddenly opened his eyes to the real world and saw a swarm of Bubble Agent zooming towards him. He grabbed Ai and Mako with his left arm and used his new wings to fly into the air, seconds before the Bubbles' attacks would have incinerated them.

"You're flying?"Ai gasped, "You're flying!"

Beelzemon grinned. "That's not all I can do!" He pointed his right arm, which now came equipped with a large bazooka shaped gun, at the swarm of Bubbles. "Corona Blaster!"

A massive surge of energy exploded from him and destroyed the entire horde of Bubbles.

"Cool," Mako said in awe.

Beelzemon chuckled. "Now, let's go save Jeri!"

Across the city, Wargrowlmon stopped his battle with Practice Heads when he felt a strange burst of energy. "What's wrong?" Takato asked.

"Someone's Digital energy is gone."

"What do you mean?"

Wargrowlmon sighed. "A Digimon is dead."

Takato felt his heart sink to his stomach. "D..dead? Who was it?"

"I don't know. I.." He could not finish speaking as Practice Heads swung at his head with her massive fists. He stumbled off balance and the Agent fired her lasers, which caused him to tip over and land on his side. With agility and strength that she had not used before, Practice Heads leapt into the air and forcefully slammed into Wargrowlmon side. The might dinosaur screamed out in pain, then shrunk back into Guilmon.

"Guilmon?" Takato gasped, "Guilmon, w..what happened?"

"I'm too tired," he panted, "I can't keep fighting."

Practice Heads stomped over to them. Takato and Guilmon stared up at the towering Agent. "I think this is the end of the line," Guilmon gulped.

"It can't!" Takato shook his head, "There's got to be something that...Hey, is it snowing?"

Human and digimon looked around and saw that small white particles were falling from the sky. They were puzzled, with the shield in place, it should not be able to snow inside. Even the Agent was confused.

"Shield above city prevents escape, precipitation cannot be falling...Non precipitation, data particles."

Guilmon sniffed the air. "They are data. Lopmon's!"

Takato nodded. "You mean, Lopmon's..?"

As if to answer him, a transparent image of the rabbit appeared."Takato, Guilmon, I have a gift for you."

"Lopmon?" Guilmon gasped, "Are you?"

She nodded. "But in death, I can help you. The Sovereign foresaw such a problem and gave me a great gift. My data will merge with you, granting you the ability to Bio-merge once more. Use it to defeat the D-Reaper. Goodbye." She vanished.

The two watched as her particles merged with them. "Thank you," Takato said. He turned to Guilmon. "Ready?"

The dinosaur nodded. "Do it."

Bio-merge activate.

"Guilmon bio-merge to Gallantmon!"

Practice Heads seemed unaware of the change, but her internal sensors were registering the power surge from the might mega. Gallantmon pointed his lance at her.

"En Garde!"

Back in the skies, Beelzemon soared to the Kernel. Unfortunately, the Gate Keeper was still guarding it. The Agent fired its razor blades again. "Look out!" Ai shouted.

Beelzemon grinned. With simple ease, he now dodged and twisted past the flying razors. "Ya can't stop me now!" he shouted with glee. He pointed his bazooka arm at one of the floating balls. "Corona Blaster!"

The ball exploded and took out the rest of the agent. Without the Gate Keeper, the Kernel Sphere was left unprotected. "That wasn't so hard."

"Behind us!" Mako shouted.

He glanced over his shoulder and saw a swarm of Bubbles zooming towards them. "Gotta work fast." He took a deep breath and landed on the transparent ball. Inside, the trio could clearly see Jeri and Calumon.

The brown-haired girl grinned. "Ai! Mako! Beelzemon!"

"We're gettin' you out!" the digimon said. He dropped his bazooka and started pounding the bubble. "I'm gonna free ya! Just hang on!"

The Bubble Agents came ever closer. "Beezlemon!" Ai gasped.

He knew the Agents were coming, but he kept pounding. "If I can just get her out, she'll be safe!"

Mako held her sister, certain that they were going to be joining Lopmon soon. The Bubble agents hovered above them, ready to attack. However, they were suddenly destroyed instead. The two children grinned when they saw who was responsible. "Nefertimon and Mr. Kamiya!" Ai called.

"And Wargreymon!" Mako grinned.

"Here you guys are!" Tai said, landing on the transparent ball. When he did, he was able to see who was inside. "Jeri?!"

"Mr. Kamiya, help me!" she cried.

"We've got to get her out!"

"Whadda think I'm tryin' ta do?" Beelzemon snapped.

Tai just grabbed his Master Digidestined sword. He was about to try and shatter the bubble, when he narrowly missed being incinerated by a blast from a Bubble. He grabbed the twins and jumped onto Nefertimon.

"Wargreymon, you and Beelzemon work on freeing her, we'll by you some cover."

Nefertimon flew into the air and began blasting the Bubbles.

Gallant and Practice Heads battle continued. The mega was having a much easier time against the villainous agent this time. He now had an agility he did not have as Takato or Wargrowlmon. He was now able to execute leaps and twists, all to dodge Practice Heads' attacks.

The Agent began firing her lasers all at once, but Gallantmon leapt out of the way. The energy blasts tore through an apartment, ripping a giant hole in the wall. Gallantmon leapt towards her and attempted to kick her, but she blocked with her right arm, and slammed him with her left. He was able to roll with the attack and bring his other leg up and across the large ball on her shoulders.

Inside of Gallantmon's body, Takato floated in the haze of light red. "Guilmon," he said, "We'd better hurry. I think something bad is happening."

"Right, Takato!" Guilmon called.

Gallantmon leapt into the air and trusted his lance at the towering Agent. He held his shield out, intending for her to counter with lasers, but she reached up with her hands and grabbed his lance.

"Ah!" Takato gasped, "Guilmon!"

"Don't worry, I've got it under control."

Gallantmon leapt over the Agent's head and used the edge of his shield to sever the umbilical cord. With the connection between the Agent and the Mother D-Reaper destroyed, Practice Heads no longer had the ability to regenerate herself. Gallantmon knew this and pointed his shield directly at her center.

"Shield of the Just!"

A mighty blast of energy exploded from his shield and tore through Practice Heads' stomach. She exploded a second later, sending a red slime all over the alley. Gallantmon breathed a sigh, then regressed to Takato and Guilmon.

"She was tough," Guilmon sighed.

Takato panted. "I know, but we'd better find the others. Come on."

Back in the sky, as Nefertimon did her best to destroy the Bubbles that were attempting to attack the two mega digimon atop the Kernel Sphere. Beelzemon and Wargreymon pounded into the transparent bubble with no success.

"Come on!" Wargreymon shouted, "Put your back into it!"

"Whadda think I'm doing over here?!" he snapped, slamming his fists into the transparent bubble. "Come on, come on! Shatter, crack, chip, do somethin' ya stupid bubble. Damn you!"

The demon digimon was so attentive to his desire to shatter the sphere that he did not notice a Searcher slowly crawl up to his leg. The Agent moved back, then wrapped itself around Beelzemon's ankle. The mega was suddenly yanked into the air.

"Beelzemon!" Wargreymon shouted.

The demon digimon tried to free himself from the Agent that was wrapped around his ankle, but a swarm of Bubbles wrapped themselves around his entire body. "No, no!" he moaned, struggling to get free, "I'm not gonna let you take me! Not before I do this!"

He pointed his one arm out, which twisted and changed into a massive gun. "Wargreymon!" he screamed, "Get outta the way!"

The dinosaur mega saw what was being pointed his way. "Woa!" he called, jumping into the sky.

Beelzemon struggled to keep his bazooka aimed at the transparent bubble. "Corona Destroyer!"

A tremendous surge of powerful energy exploded from his gun and smashed across the top of the Kernel. Beelzemon grinned to himself before he allowed the D-Reaper agents to pull him into the Mother D-Reaper's red mass.

"Beezlemon!" Tai and Mako shouted.

"Hey!" Tai gasped, staring at the crater in the Kernel Sphere, "He did it. Take me down."

Nerfterimon lowered Tai to the sphere. He jumped off and caught the edge of the crater to keep himself from falling to the ground. He looked inside and saw Jeri trying to jump up to catch the edge of the hole, but it was too far for her to reach. "Mr. Kamiya!"

"Hang on!" Tai shouted. He pulled himself up with his left hand and reached down with his right hand. Jeri jumped up and caught Tai's hand with her's. "Gotcha! Hold on, Jeri, we'll get you out of here." He looked over his shoulder to call to his Digimon, but found to his horror that they were already being assimilated by the D-Reaper. Ai, Mako, Nefertimon and Wargreymon were now part of the Mother D-Reaper.

"Fine," he said to himself, "I'll get her out myself."

He pulled her hand as hard as he could, but he was not able to get the leverage he needed. He was only able to lift her into the air, but that was as far as he could. "Save me Mr. Kamiya!" she called, "Please!"

"I'm...trying..."

She looked at him with such hopeful eyes that he felt a renewed surge of determination. "I'm getting you out!" He pulled harder, but she was too heavy for his one arm alone. He suddenly noticed something that caused him to pull even harder, the crater on the Kernel was starting to repair itself.

"We've got to hurry!" he shouted. Underneath of Jeri, Calumon was pressing him back against her rear, trying to use his powers of flight to push her into the air, but she was too big for him.

"Calumon, push!" Tai called. He suddenly felt something pulling him from behind. He turned and saw that a Searcher had wrapped itself around his leg. It was trying to assimilate him as it did the others, but he would not let Mother D-Reaper do it before he freed Jeri.

He felt that his grip on her hand was starting to slip. "Jeri, don't let go!"

"Mr. Kamiya's I'm loosing my grip!"

"Jeri, don't!" he shouted, "Jeri!"

Her hands slid down to his fingers, before finally slipping out of his grasp. She and Calumon fell onto the bottom of the bubble. She looked up but saw that the crater had been repaired. "No!" she shouted, tears starting to fall down her cheeks,"Mr. Kamiya!"

Outside, Takato and Guilmon watched in horror as the Searcher that was attached to Tai's ankle pulled him into the Mother D-Reaper bubble. "Mr. Kamiya!" he screamed, "No!"

Guilmon was in total shock. "She got Mr. Kamiya."

A low, loud groan suddenly sounded throughout the city. "Where's that coming from?" Guilmon asked.

"It's her!" Takato growled,"Look at the Mother D-Reaper bubble!"

Both human and digimon watched as the massive red bubble started to pull every single agent in the city back to it. After the Agents returned to it, the bubble began to twist and change into a more human looking shape, with a head that had two yellow blades attached to its side. The new figure was slightly smaller then the combined mass of the bubble form, but they suspected that it was far more dangerous.

"I guess the Mother D-Reaper wants to take care of us herself!" Guilmon gasped.

"She must have been waiting until she absorbed enough people before she could change like that! We're the only ones left."

"Not the only ones."

They turned and saw Rika and Renamon running towards them. "Where the hell have you been?" Takato snapped.

"Trapped inside!" Rika snapped. She mentioned to the silver dome covering the city. "What the heck is that thing?"

"An energy dome," he explained, "It keeps the D-Reaper trapped inside of here. Unfortunately, that means we're trapped her too. The only way out is to deactivate the main generator with an electronic key and since Mother D-Reaper has both Mr. Kamiya and Mr. Yamaki, she knows that neither of them has it."

Rika raised her eyebrow. "D-Reaper's female?"

He nodded. "We think that when it merged with Jeri, it took on female characteristics."

"Oh," she nodded,"Hey, if neither Mr. Kamiya or Mr. Yamaki has this key, who does?"

Takato just turned and grinned at her.

"Oh great!" she snarled, "The person that the D-Reaper is coming after, and I get stuck with him."

"Rika," Renamon warned, "I think we need to focus on what needs to be done."

Rika sighed. "She's right. Well Goggle Head, any ideas?"

He nodded. "Yeah, Jeri's in that transparent bubble over there. I think that the reason Jeri's in a separate place then the others that D-Reaper absorbed is because Jeri acts as D-Reaper's partner! Just like our partners can't exist in this world without us, I bet D-Reaper can't exist here without Jeri! If we can free her..."

Rika nodded, a smile crossing her face. "Not bad."

Takato sighed. "The only flaw is that we're probably going to have to get past Mother D-Reaper first."

Rika nodded. "Well, I'm game, ready Renamon?"

"Always."

Takato turned to his partner. "Guilmon?"

"Let's go!"

Bio-merge activate

"Renamon bio-merge to Sakuyamon!"

"Guilmon bio-merge to Gallantmon!"

The two megas stood firmly as they stared at Mother D-Reaper. "This could be our final fight," Sakuyamon said.

"I'm ready," Gallantmon growled, "This ends now!"

to be continued...