Digimon Fan Fiction ❯ Now, Forever and Always ❯ chapter 11 ( Chapter 12 )
[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]
By: moose_of_doom 
Anime/Manga: Digimon Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Adventure / Romance / Action | Type: Songfic | Uploaded On: 07.14.2005 | Pages: 6 | Words: 4.3K | Visits: 287 | Status: Completed
Anime/Manga: Digimon Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Adventure / Romance / Action | Type: Songfic | Uploaded On: 07.14.2005 | Pages: 6 | Words: 4.3K | Visits: 287 | Status: Completed
Chapter 11.
Now we're getting somewhere.
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Night closed on the digital world, the encroaching darkness sweeping over the land like a satin cloth. The six warriors moved close to the tower, weapons in hand. They could see a large door at the base of the structure, and no guards beside it.
Davis holstered his Berettas, and looked through a pair of binoculars at the doors. They were easily large enough for them to get through, but the question was, how strong were they.
"We'll soon find out."
The young paladin turned, and looked at Liam Dillon. The big Irishman was rummaging in one of the packs, and Davis looked on with heightened curiosity as he pulled out a tube, about a foot and a half long. He watched as Liam pulled the ends on the tube, extending it to the length of just under a metre.
"66mm rocket. Anti-tank missile. We'll see how strong that door is."
Just then, a huge pillar of light burst upwards from the top of the tower, arcing into the sky.
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Kari sat in her room, waiting for the inevitable. Paul had described the details of the ritual too them in great detail, and she knew that before the night was out, she would have to once again face the power of the dark crest. Her forehead burned at the very thought. She wished she had someone to talk too, Ken, Yolei, anybody.
For once, her wish was fulfilled, as a guard came and led her to a dining hall. Ken Ichijochi, and Tetsuo McKane sat at the table, and from the expression on their faces Kari figured out that neither was very happy.
"You can go, Sean." McKane said to the guard.
The man nodded. The n spoke in a Belfast accent, not dissimilar to Liam Dillon's.
"Right Boss. We're all ready for the show."
McKane nodded again, and the guard left the room. Kari sat down.
"What did he mean? The gateway ritual?"
McKane didn't reply, but instead, he placed his hands on the table.
"Sean's a good man. He's like me, we don't agree with what Paul is doing."
"Then why are you here?" asked Ken.
"Have you ever heard the phrase `Trojan Horse'?"
They nodded. McKane was speaking quietly, just in case the surveillance devices picked them up.
"Myself, Liam Dillon, and Sean out there were members of an elite section of the NIDF. Heard of them?"
They nodded again.
"After, let us say, an unfortunate incident, Liam left the force. He didn't want to be involved anymore. And neither did we. So we went our separate ways, but we always swore we'd help out if anyone needed us."
He sighed. And paused as food was brought in and placed in front of the two Digidestined, and they started to eat. The orderly left, and he continued.
"A little while ago, we were contacted by Liam, and he asked for our help."
He shrugged.
"None of us wanted too refuse. He was our commander. We don't walk out on each other. So here we are. We found out that his mightiness up there was advertising for security experts to add to his gang of trained monkeys, so we signed up."
He looked round at them.
"We're all around this facility, waiting for the signal to go. We've been trying to buy Liam and the paladin time, but it seems we've run out. You know Daisuke, don't you?"
Kari startled back to attention at the question. She grinned slightly.
"You could say that."
Ken looked at McKane.
"Are you saying that Davis is the paladin?"
McKane nodded.
"And unless he gets here soon, we're all good as dead."
Two guards appeared in the doorway, and saluted smartly.
"Sir, the lord has commanded that these two are brought to the power chamber."
McKane's face suddenly looked very haggard. They were out of time.
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The captured Digidestined were packed into the focusing chambers like sardines into a tin. The chambers were made from a see-through substance, and looked directly down onto the power chamber, with its two reclined seats.
Tai, Yolei, Sora and Matt could only watch as Kari and Ken were led into the room, and made to lie down on the seats.
"There's got to be something we can do!" Matt said.
He slammed his fist against the clear wall, to no avail. As they watched Paul stride into the centre of the chamber, Matt felt Sora's hand slip into his own, and grip tight.
Tai tensed up beside him, looking down at his young sister, as Paul raised his hands above them. The dark crests glinted dully in the bright light, and he brought them down onto the two people's heads.
A huge charge seemed to run through their bodies, like electricity, and as they watched, a beam of light blasted up from the centre of the room, out of the open roof.
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Liam lined up the sights on the rocket launcher, and gently squeezed the trigger.
The rocket soared through the night, slamming into the doors like the fist of god, the resulting explosion reducing it to splinters of metal.
Davis looked at his friend.
"Overkill, Much?"
Liam shrugged.
"It's open isn't it?"
They ran for the square of light.
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The tower suddenly shook beneath them, and the beam of energy dimmed. Kari, and Ken's bodies went limp, and the charge that had arced through them faded. The guards ran for the doors.
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The six warriors ran through the open door, weapons in hand.
Davis ran to his left, and as the elevator doors opened, his Berettas coughed acrid smoke. The nine-millimetre bullets slammed into the black-armoured figures, dropping several before they could even bring their rifles to bear.
The remaining guards scattered as Flamedramon, his red armour shining, launched a burst of flame into them. One man was caught by the fireball, and it carried him backwards, crumpling the elevator doors behind him. Several more bursts of energy flared outwards, issued from Bahamamon's dragon-mouth.
Despite this horrific onslaught, the remaining guards managed to get behind what little cover the room offered, huge rock pillars that hid them from view.
TK and Tasha went left, to meet up with Davis, rifles spewing lead. The two blondes ducked behind one of the pillars, at the paladin's side. He was reloading his pistols as they dropped beside him. And as he leant out to get a better shot, a bullet ricocheted off of the pillar in front of him, scoring a line across his shoulder; he flinched back with a cry of pain.
"Are you okay?" asked TK.
Davis nodded.
"But we aren't gonna get anywhere near them at this rate. We need a plan."
A voice came over his earphones.
"No you don't, you need to be shown how to do it."
Liam's voice was calm, and even contained a hint of amusement at Davis's expense.
"Give me covering fire, right across the courtyard."
The circular rooms central courtyard didn't provide any cover, and Davis, TK and Tasha watched in amazement as Liam started to run over the empty expanse. They leaned out, and started firing at the pillars across the way, and watched as Mimi and Jun started to do the same on the other side.
Liam ran, his rifle clutched at his hip, and each step seemed like a mile. He could see the bullets from his friend's guns slamming into the tables, which the guards had now pushed over for cover, chewing into the wood. It seemed that this was almost the entire width of the tower. He leapt beside a pillar that was near to the tables, and waited until the firing had ceased for a moment, maybe because the guards were reloading. Whatever it was, it gave him a window of a couple of seconds.
He rolled out on his left side, and sprayed a hail of bullets into the huddled guards. The rounds chewed into the armoured men like the gnashing of teeth. The big Irishman pulled a stun grenade from his belt, and threw it at the next group of troopers. The magnesium and tiny explosive charge left them all with dazzled expressions, and they didn't have time to recover before the blast of energy from Pegasusmon's forehead slammed into their cover.
Then it was over. No more resistance met them as they moved towards the elevators. They packed into the car, and Davis pressed the button for the top floor.
The car moved swiftly upwards, and then stopped, at a floor halfway up. The Digidestined looked at each other.
"We can't fight in here. We wouldn't stand a chance." Said Liam.
The door opened, and they found themselves staring down the barrel of several rifles. They walked slowly out of the lift, weapons held loosely in their hands
"Drop them." Came the familiar voice.
Paul Miyomoto stepped out of the crowd as the warriors tossed their weapons too the ground. He looked into Davis's face.
"The sword too."
A momentary flicker of anger crossed Davis's face as he unstrapped the scabbard from his back, and tossed it to the ground.
"I'm surprised you got this far. I'm actually impressed."
The bearded man walked over to Tasha, and grabbed hold of her digivice, which she had left hanging in front of her shirt. TK moved to stop him, and was checked by the guards.
"What do you want with her?" the blonde man asked.
Paul looked at him, a slight smile on his lips.
"With her? Nothing. What I want are these."
He unclipped the crests of life and truth from the digivice, and placed them in his pocket. He laughed.
"I doubt you even knew that you were bring the final parts of the puzzle to me. These two crests are all I need to perform the ritual of the opening successfully. Thankyou."
Tasha's eyes widened in shock. She had brought him what he needed. All this time they had been playing into his hands.
"Why, Paul? Why are you doing this?"
Paul turned to look at his nephew. Davis seemed calm, detached from proceedings.
"Why do you think?"
"Well, personally I think it's because you're fucked in the head, but..."
Davis stopped as Paul slammed his fist across the young mans face.
"You always were mouthy, you and her."
He indicated Jun, and Davis's eyes narrowed.
"Even when you were kids, all you ever did was mouth off. You never knew how much I despised you. None of you did. Except your father."
Jun looked at her uncle.
"What do you mean?"
"What I mean is that I told him exactly what I think of him, right before I killed him."
Davis's eyes widened.
"No. That cant be true. Paul would never do that!"
Paul leaned close, and his eyes were covered in a black sheen. His voice came in a rasping hiss.
"Foolish Paladin. Did you think the man you knew still existed? This vessel is merely a body now! His soul is mine."
"NO!"
Davis struggled against his captors.
"That isn't true! There must be some of him left!"
The guards laughed, and Davis fell to the floor, as one of them slammed the butt of his rifle across the back of the young paladin's head. The last thing he heard was Jun's scream.
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Liam drifted slowly back into consciousness, as he felt a hand on his forehead. He opened his eyes.
He was in a cell, with featureless grey walls, and a sealed door at one end. He looked up, to see Jun bent over him.
"How long was I out?" he asked.
"Three hours. They took Davis off somewhere."
"Trust us to mess it up, right?"
He looked at the door, a cryptic smile creeping across his features.
"Don't worry, we've got inside help."
The door slid open, and a guard walked in, followed by Tetsuo McKane. The guard was the first to speak.
"The lord has commanded that you..."
He was cut off as McKane clobbered him over the head with his rifle.
"What kept you?" asked Liam.
"I should ask the same thing. I was getting worried"
He scooped up the guard's weapon, and tossed it to the Irishman. Then he tossed the guard's pistol to Jun.
"Two guards on either side of the door. Watch yourselves."
=============================================================
The four guards stood outside the door.
"What do you thing the boss is doing?"
"Dunno. But just remember, he isn't the boss. The lord is."
The first guard grinned.
"I'm looking forward to being in the new army. Apparently the lord is making us all commanders of packs of the Shadowmon. Might be cool."
"Yeah. Finally we can show those bastards on the other side what real power is."
The four men laughed. Then they were fumbling for their weapons as the three people burst from the room, spraying bullets at them. They didn't stand a chance. Liam, Jun and McKane picked up the rifles, and took the men's packs. McKane pulled a radio from his belt.
"This is McKane to squad two-two. The word is go. Switch too prearranged channel."
All over the tower, members of the guards suddenly switched the frequency on their radio headsets, and the guards who weren't in on the plot found themselves unprepared as they stared down their recent comrade's gun barrels.
McKane passed a headset to Liam. The big Irishman looked at his English friend.
"Where are they?"
"In the focusing chamber. The rituals about to start."
"And Davis?"
"Being held in a special cell two floors up, just underneath the main chamber."
Liam nodded, and spoke into the headset's microphone.
"This is Dillon, priority one. Anyone two floors up from my position, respond."
"Pallet here, boss." Came a cocky, London accent.
The three started to move down the corridor, towards the elevators.
"Nick, there's another prisoner from my group on your Level, get him free, ASAP."
"On it now."
Liam, Jun and McKane stepped into the elevator, just as the tower shook slightly, a deep rumbling.
"The ritual."
McKane said quietly. Liam spoke into the mic once more.
"All other unit's, disable the guards in your vicinity, and head for the ritual chamber. Go!"
The chirps of acknowledgement sounded in his ears, and he pressed the button for the ritual chamber. The elevator car started to move.
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Once more, the burning white energy arced up from the tower's top, but this time, the ritual was not interrupted. The energy traced over the digital worlds sky, scattering in twelve different directions, forming whirling holes in the sky. A thirteenth whole opened over the tower, and small forms began to fall out.
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The captured Digidestined looked on in horror as the first of the Shadowmon, like hunched balls, fell past them, into the collection bin below the platform on which Kari and Ken writhed in agony. The ball unfolded itself, revealing a malformed humanoid shape, hideously disfigured, a creature of nightmare.
On the platform below, Paul clenched his fists in triumph. He looked down at his army, as they started to gaze up at him. On was bigger than the rest, and Paul indicated for it to be lifted out of the pit and set in front of him. He spoke in that hissing voice that he had used to call Viramon, the language of the creature in front of him.
"The gates are open. But there are enemies within the tower. Destroy them first. There are weapons in the antechamber, off the pit. Swords and shields. Kill all humans you find beneath this level. But first you will feast on Digidestined flesh."
The creature replied in the same tongue.
"As you say, my Lord."
It leapt back down into the pit, and as it left to get the weapons, even more of the creatures were falling from the sky.
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Davis was chained, shirtless, to an upright table, his chest bruised from the beating he had received at the hands of his captors. The three guards stood in front of him, and moved in again, punching at the young mans chest, and stomach. Davis's senses were dulled. He couldn't even feel the individual punches anymore. They were like little bursts into the mass of pain he felt.
"Do you think he's had enough, lads?" the leader smirked.
"I don't think so." Said one of the other two.
"I do."
The voice came from the door, and the three guards turned in surprise as Nick Pallet released a single shot into each of their chests. He moved quickly over to Davis, and unchained the young man. Davis slumped against him.
"Easy mate, easy."
"Who...?"
"I'm with Liam Dillon. Part of his old outfit. He sent me to get you. Let's get your gear."
They moved over to the table, and Davis picked up his sheathed sword. His shirt wasn't there. It was in tatters on the floor.
"No time to get you a new one. The ritual's started." Said Pallet
Davis strapped the scabbard over his shoulder, and to the Londoner, it seemed as if his bruised body regained a measure of it's strength. Davis straightened to his full height.
"Let's go." He said.
Pallet nodded, and started out of the door. He fell back suddenly, as a sword bit into the doorframe.
The Shadowmon's bulk filled the doorway, a shield on it's left arm, and the sword clutched in it's right hand. Pallet fell to the floor, clutching desperately for his dropped rifle.
But Davis got there first.
Leaping forward, the young paladin brought his gold-coloured sword around in a lethal two-handed arc, driving the creature back. They moved into the corridor, the Shadowmon falling back in shock at the strength in his smaller adversary. He brought his sword up, to counter Davis's next cut, and, losing his balance, left his shield arm open for Davis to quickly change the blade's direction, neatly severing the arm at the shoulder.
The Shadowmon howled in pain, and cut at Davis with his own blade. The two swords met with a thunderous clang, echoing in the enclosed hallway. Davis ducked under a cut that was aimed at his neck, spun around, and kicked hard into the creatures torso, knocking off balance, buying him a few seconds to finish the spin, bring the paladin-sword in an upward arc that cleaved the dark warrior's head from it's shoulders like a knife through hot butter. Another roar sounded behind him, and as he spun around, he saw a second Shadowmon leap from the ground. On it's left arm was the shield that the first one had dropped. Gennai's words echoed through his mind.
`You must kill one to stop it respawning.'
Davis raised the sword, but before the Shadowmon could move, It's head exploded in a spray of grey mucus.
Nick Pallet lowered his rifle to hip level.
"Nasty little bugger. Let's get out of here."
Davis reached down, picked up the Shadowmon's sword, and handed it to the Londoner. Pallet looked at him questioningly.
"You wont have enough bullets to stop them all. Take the shield as well. Where are the captured Digimon?" he asked
Pallet shrugged, and hefted the round metal shield. The two men set off down the hall.
"They're on this level."
"Then lets release them."
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In the energy chamber. Paul took his black Katana down off of the wall, and inserted it into the sheath at his hip. Now he was ready to lead the dark army. Even now they were clearing the lower levels.
The elevators around the hall opened, and the members of the 22^nd NIDF squadron stepped out, rifles levelled. Liam Dillon moved forward, looking up at the raised platform. There was no way up.
"Greetings, mister Dillon. I hope you and your friends are ready for the challenge ahead of you."
"More than ready you bastard!" McKane shouted up at him.
Paul ignored his former chief of security, and indicated a monitor above him.
"My Shadowmon army is working it's way towards the Digidestined, who have been moved into the lower hall. All except these two, of course. They have no Digimon to protect them this time."
Jun looked at Liam.
"They're defenceless..."
"You have a choice. You can stay here and kill me, or you can try and save them. The elevators are set to go all the way back down. You can have these two back now."
He pressed a lever, and the unconscious forms of Kari and Ken sank through the floor to their level. They started to stir almost immediately, opening their eyes. Liam looked up at Paul, then at his men.
"We don't have a choice. We've got to save these kids."
"A wise move, Mr Dillon. With a little luck, you might even be able to save them. But you cannot stop me, so you are merely delaying the inevitable."
Kari stood, shakily, and looked up at him.
"I'd get moving if I were you."
They moved towards the elevators. But Kari stayed for a moment.
The elevator on Paul's level, at the end of the gangway leading to him, opened. A single figure, and it's small companion stepped onto the metal, unseen from the NIDF troops viewpoint. A voice spoke out.
"Did anyone ever tell you, your speeches are really dull?"
Kari let out a cry of joy.
"Davis!"
He grinned down at her.
"You guys better go and help the others. Pallet's taking the Digimon down to them now."
"Gatomon's waiting for you, Kari!" shouted Veemon. "Wormmon too!"
"I wanna stay!"
Davis shook his head.
"This is my fight. They need your help."
Her face fell, but she nodded, and went with the NIDF men as they got into the elevators. Davis turned back to Paul, and Veemon crouched at his side.
"Let's dance."
He raised the paladin-sword in his hands. But Paul shook his head.
"I'm picking this battlefield, Daisuke."
He pressed a button behind him, and the section of floor on which he stood suddenly shot upwards, a hidden elevator. It was going to the roof.
Davis followed.
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Now we're getting somewhere.
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Night closed on the digital world, the encroaching darkness sweeping over the land like a satin cloth. The six warriors moved close to the tower, weapons in hand. They could see a large door at the base of the structure, and no guards beside it.
Davis holstered his Berettas, and looked through a pair of binoculars at the doors. They were easily large enough for them to get through, but the question was, how strong were they.
"We'll soon find out."
The young paladin turned, and looked at Liam Dillon. The big Irishman was rummaging in one of the packs, and Davis looked on with heightened curiosity as he pulled out a tube, about a foot and a half long. He watched as Liam pulled the ends on the tube, extending it to the length of just under a metre.
"66mm rocket. Anti-tank missile. We'll see how strong that door is."
Just then, a huge pillar of light burst upwards from the top of the tower, arcing into the sky.
=============================================================
Kari sat in her room, waiting for the inevitable. Paul had described the details of the ritual too them in great detail, and she knew that before the night was out, she would have to once again face the power of the dark crest. Her forehead burned at the very thought. She wished she had someone to talk too, Ken, Yolei, anybody.
For once, her wish was fulfilled, as a guard came and led her to a dining hall. Ken Ichijochi, and Tetsuo McKane sat at the table, and from the expression on their faces Kari figured out that neither was very happy.
"You can go, Sean." McKane said to the guard.
The man nodded. The n spoke in a Belfast accent, not dissimilar to Liam Dillon's.
"Right Boss. We're all ready for the show."
McKane nodded again, and the guard left the room. Kari sat down.
"What did he mean? The gateway ritual?"
McKane didn't reply, but instead, he placed his hands on the table.
"Sean's a good man. He's like me, we don't agree with what Paul is doing."
"Then why are you here?" asked Ken.
"Have you ever heard the phrase `Trojan Horse'?"
They nodded. McKane was speaking quietly, just in case the surveillance devices picked them up.
"Myself, Liam Dillon, and Sean out there were members of an elite section of the NIDF. Heard of them?"
They nodded again.
"After, let us say, an unfortunate incident, Liam left the force. He didn't want to be involved anymore. And neither did we. So we went our separate ways, but we always swore we'd help out if anyone needed us."
He sighed. And paused as food was brought in and placed in front of the two Digidestined, and they started to eat. The orderly left, and he continued.
"A little while ago, we were contacted by Liam, and he asked for our help."
He shrugged.
"None of us wanted too refuse. He was our commander. We don't walk out on each other. So here we are. We found out that his mightiness up there was advertising for security experts to add to his gang of trained monkeys, so we signed up."
He looked round at them.
"We're all around this facility, waiting for the signal to go. We've been trying to buy Liam and the paladin time, but it seems we've run out. You know Daisuke, don't you?"
Kari startled back to attention at the question. She grinned slightly.
"You could say that."
Ken looked at McKane.
"Are you saying that Davis is the paladin?"
McKane nodded.
"And unless he gets here soon, we're all good as dead."
Two guards appeared in the doorway, and saluted smartly.
"Sir, the lord has commanded that these two are brought to the power chamber."
McKane's face suddenly looked very haggard. They were out of time.
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The captured Digidestined were packed into the focusing chambers like sardines into a tin. The chambers were made from a see-through substance, and looked directly down onto the power chamber, with its two reclined seats.
Tai, Yolei, Sora and Matt could only watch as Kari and Ken were led into the room, and made to lie down on the seats.
"There's got to be something we can do!" Matt said.
He slammed his fist against the clear wall, to no avail. As they watched Paul stride into the centre of the chamber, Matt felt Sora's hand slip into his own, and grip tight.
Tai tensed up beside him, looking down at his young sister, as Paul raised his hands above them. The dark crests glinted dully in the bright light, and he brought them down onto the two people's heads.
A huge charge seemed to run through their bodies, like electricity, and as they watched, a beam of light blasted up from the centre of the room, out of the open roof.
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Liam lined up the sights on the rocket launcher, and gently squeezed the trigger.
The rocket soared through the night, slamming into the doors like the fist of god, the resulting explosion reducing it to splinters of metal.
Davis looked at his friend.
"Overkill, Much?"
Liam shrugged.
"It's open isn't it?"
They ran for the square of light.
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The tower suddenly shook beneath them, and the beam of energy dimmed. Kari, and Ken's bodies went limp, and the charge that had arced through them faded. The guards ran for the doors.
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The six warriors ran through the open door, weapons in hand.
Davis ran to his left, and as the elevator doors opened, his Berettas coughed acrid smoke. The nine-millimetre bullets slammed into the black-armoured figures, dropping several before they could even bring their rifles to bear.
The remaining guards scattered as Flamedramon, his red armour shining, launched a burst of flame into them. One man was caught by the fireball, and it carried him backwards, crumpling the elevator doors behind him. Several more bursts of energy flared outwards, issued from Bahamamon's dragon-mouth.
Despite this horrific onslaught, the remaining guards managed to get behind what little cover the room offered, huge rock pillars that hid them from view.
TK and Tasha went left, to meet up with Davis, rifles spewing lead. The two blondes ducked behind one of the pillars, at the paladin's side. He was reloading his pistols as they dropped beside him. And as he leant out to get a better shot, a bullet ricocheted off of the pillar in front of him, scoring a line across his shoulder; he flinched back with a cry of pain.
"Are you okay?" asked TK.
Davis nodded.
"But we aren't gonna get anywhere near them at this rate. We need a plan."
A voice came over his earphones.
"No you don't, you need to be shown how to do it."
Liam's voice was calm, and even contained a hint of amusement at Davis's expense.
"Give me covering fire, right across the courtyard."
The circular rooms central courtyard didn't provide any cover, and Davis, TK and Tasha watched in amazement as Liam started to run over the empty expanse. They leaned out, and started firing at the pillars across the way, and watched as Mimi and Jun started to do the same on the other side.
Liam ran, his rifle clutched at his hip, and each step seemed like a mile. He could see the bullets from his friend's guns slamming into the tables, which the guards had now pushed over for cover, chewing into the wood. It seemed that this was almost the entire width of the tower. He leapt beside a pillar that was near to the tables, and waited until the firing had ceased for a moment, maybe because the guards were reloading. Whatever it was, it gave him a window of a couple of seconds.
He rolled out on his left side, and sprayed a hail of bullets into the huddled guards. The rounds chewed into the armoured men like the gnashing of teeth. The big Irishman pulled a stun grenade from his belt, and threw it at the next group of troopers. The magnesium and tiny explosive charge left them all with dazzled expressions, and they didn't have time to recover before the blast of energy from Pegasusmon's forehead slammed into their cover.
Then it was over. No more resistance met them as they moved towards the elevators. They packed into the car, and Davis pressed the button for the top floor.
The car moved swiftly upwards, and then stopped, at a floor halfway up. The Digidestined looked at each other.
"We can't fight in here. We wouldn't stand a chance." Said Liam.
The door opened, and they found themselves staring down the barrel of several rifles. They walked slowly out of the lift, weapons held loosely in their hands
"Drop them." Came the familiar voice.
Paul Miyomoto stepped out of the crowd as the warriors tossed their weapons too the ground. He looked into Davis's face.
"The sword too."
A momentary flicker of anger crossed Davis's face as he unstrapped the scabbard from his back, and tossed it to the ground.
"I'm surprised you got this far. I'm actually impressed."
The bearded man walked over to Tasha, and grabbed hold of her digivice, which she had left hanging in front of her shirt. TK moved to stop him, and was checked by the guards.
"What do you want with her?" the blonde man asked.
Paul looked at him, a slight smile on his lips.
"With her? Nothing. What I want are these."
He unclipped the crests of life and truth from the digivice, and placed them in his pocket. He laughed.
"I doubt you even knew that you were bring the final parts of the puzzle to me. These two crests are all I need to perform the ritual of the opening successfully. Thankyou."
Tasha's eyes widened in shock. She had brought him what he needed. All this time they had been playing into his hands.
"Why, Paul? Why are you doing this?"
Paul turned to look at his nephew. Davis seemed calm, detached from proceedings.
"Why do you think?"
"Well, personally I think it's because you're fucked in the head, but..."
Davis stopped as Paul slammed his fist across the young mans face.
"You always were mouthy, you and her."
He indicated Jun, and Davis's eyes narrowed.
"Even when you were kids, all you ever did was mouth off. You never knew how much I despised you. None of you did. Except your father."
Jun looked at her uncle.
"What do you mean?"
"What I mean is that I told him exactly what I think of him, right before I killed him."
Davis's eyes widened.
"No. That cant be true. Paul would never do that!"
Paul leaned close, and his eyes were covered in a black sheen. His voice came in a rasping hiss.
"Foolish Paladin. Did you think the man you knew still existed? This vessel is merely a body now! His soul is mine."
"NO!"
Davis struggled against his captors.
"That isn't true! There must be some of him left!"
The guards laughed, and Davis fell to the floor, as one of them slammed the butt of his rifle across the back of the young paladin's head. The last thing he heard was Jun's scream.
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Liam drifted slowly back into consciousness, as he felt a hand on his forehead. He opened his eyes.
He was in a cell, with featureless grey walls, and a sealed door at one end. He looked up, to see Jun bent over him.
"How long was I out?" he asked.
"Three hours. They took Davis off somewhere."
"Trust us to mess it up, right?"
He looked at the door, a cryptic smile creeping across his features.
"Don't worry, we've got inside help."
The door slid open, and a guard walked in, followed by Tetsuo McKane. The guard was the first to speak.
"The lord has commanded that you..."
He was cut off as McKane clobbered him over the head with his rifle.
"What kept you?" asked Liam.
"I should ask the same thing. I was getting worried"
He scooped up the guard's weapon, and tossed it to the Irishman. Then he tossed the guard's pistol to Jun.
"Two guards on either side of the door. Watch yourselves."
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The four guards stood outside the door.
"What do you thing the boss is doing?"
"Dunno. But just remember, he isn't the boss. The lord is."
The first guard grinned.
"I'm looking forward to being in the new army. Apparently the lord is making us all commanders of packs of the Shadowmon. Might be cool."
"Yeah. Finally we can show those bastards on the other side what real power is."
The four men laughed. Then they were fumbling for their weapons as the three people burst from the room, spraying bullets at them. They didn't stand a chance. Liam, Jun and McKane picked up the rifles, and took the men's packs. McKane pulled a radio from his belt.
"This is McKane to squad two-two. The word is go. Switch too prearranged channel."
All over the tower, members of the guards suddenly switched the frequency on their radio headsets, and the guards who weren't in on the plot found themselves unprepared as they stared down their recent comrade's gun barrels.
McKane passed a headset to Liam. The big Irishman looked at his English friend.
"Where are they?"
"In the focusing chamber. The rituals about to start."
"And Davis?"
"Being held in a special cell two floors up, just underneath the main chamber."
Liam nodded, and spoke into the headset's microphone.
"This is Dillon, priority one. Anyone two floors up from my position, respond."
"Pallet here, boss." Came a cocky, London accent.
The three started to move down the corridor, towards the elevators.
"Nick, there's another prisoner from my group on your Level, get him free, ASAP."
"On it now."
Liam, Jun and McKane stepped into the elevator, just as the tower shook slightly, a deep rumbling.
"The ritual."
McKane said quietly. Liam spoke into the mic once more.
"All other unit's, disable the guards in your vicinity, and head for the ritual chamber. Go!"
The chirps of acknowledgement sounded in his ears, and he pressed the button for the ritual chamber. The elevator car started to move.
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Once more, the burning white energy arced up from the tower's top, but this time, the ritual was not interrupted. The energy traced over the digital worlds sky, scattering in twelve different directions, forming whirling holes in the sky. A thirteenth whole opened over the tower, and small forms began to fall out.
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The captured Digidestined looked on in horror as the first of the Shadowmon, like hunched balls, fell past them, into the collection bin below the platform on which Kari and Ken writhed in agony. The ball unfolded itself, revealing a malformed humanoid shape, hideously disfigured, a creature of nightmare.
On the platform below, Paul clenched his fists in triumph. He looked down at his army, as they started to gaze up at him. On was bigger than the rest, and Paul indicated for it to be lifted out of the pit and set in front of him. He spoke in that hissing voice that he had used to call Viramon, the language of the creature in front of him.
"The gates are open. But there are enemies within the tower. Destroy them first. There are weapons in the antechamber, off the pit. Swords and shields. Kill all humans you find beneath this level. But first you will feast on Digidestined flesh."
The creature replied in the same tongue.
"As you say, my Lord."
It leapt back down into the pit, and as it left to get the weapons, even more of the creatures were falling from the sky.
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Davis was chained, shirtless, to an upright table, his chest bruised from the beating he had received at the hands of his captors. The three guards stood in front of him, and moved in again, punching at the young mans chest, and stomach. Davis's senses were dulled. He couldn't even feel the individual punches anymore. They were like little bursts into the mass of pain he felt.
"Do you think he's had enough, lads?" the leader smirked.
"I don't think so." Said one of the other two.
"I do."
The voice came from the door, and the three guards turned in surprise as Nick Pallet released a single shot into each of their chests. He moved quickly over to Davis, and unchained the young man. Davis slumped against him.
"Easy mate, easy."
"Who...?"
"I'm with Liam Dillon. Part of his old outfit. He sent me to get you. Let's get your gear."
They moved over to the table, and Davis picked up his sheathed sword. His shirt wasn't there. It was in tatters on the floor.
"No time to get you a new one. The ritual's started." Said Pallet
Davis strapped the scabbard over his shoulder, and to the Londoner, it seemed as if his bruised body regained a measure of it's strength. Davis straightened to his full height.
"Let's go." He said.
Pallet nodded, and started out of the door. He fell back suddenly, as a sword bit into the doorframe.
The Shadowmon's bulk filled the doorway, a shield on it's left arm, and the sword clutched in it's right hand. Pallet fell to the floor, clutching desperately for his dropped rifle.
But Davis got there first.
Leaping forward, the young paladin brought his gold-coloured sword around in a lethal two-handed arc, driving the creature back. They moved into the corridor, the Shadowmon falling back in shock at the strength in his smaller adversary. He brought his sword up, to counter Davis's next cut, and, losing his balance, left his shield arm open for Davis to quickly change the blade's direction, neatly severing the arm at the shoulder.
The Shadowmon howled in pain, and cut at Davis with his own blade. The two swords met with a thunderous clang, echoing in the enclosed hallway. Davis ducked under a cut that was aimed at his neck, spun around, and kicked hard into the creatures torso, knocking off balance, buying him a few seconds to finish the spin, bring the paladin-sword in an upward arc that cleaved the dark warrior's head from it's shoulders like a knife through hot butter. Another roar sounded behind him, and as he spun around, he saw a second Shadowmon leap from the ground. On it's left arm was the shield that the first one had dropped. Gennai's words echoed through his mind.
`You must kill one to stop it respawning.'
Davis raised the sword, but before the Shadowmon could move, It's head exploded in a spray of grey mucus.
Nick Pallet lowered his rifle to hip level.
"Nasty little bugger. Let's get out of here."
Davis reached down, picked up the Shadowmon's sword, and handed it to the Londoner. Pallet looked at him questioningly.
"You wont have enough bullets to stop them all. Take the shield as well. Where are the captured Digimon?" he asked
Pallet shrugged, and hefted the round metal shield. The two men set off down the hall.
"They're on this level."
"Then lets release them."
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In the energy chamber. Paul took his black Katana down off of the wall, and inserted it into the sheath at his hip. Now he was ready to lead the dark army. Even now they were clearing the lower levels.
The elevators around the hall opened, and the members of the 22^nd NIDF squadron stepped out, rifles levelled. Liam Dillon moved forward, looking up at the raised platform. There was no way up.
"Greetings, mister Dillon. I hope you and your friends are ready for the challenge ahead of you."
"More than ready you bastard!" McKane shouted up at him.
Paul ignored his former chief of security, and indicated a monitor above him.
"My Shadowmon army is working it's way towards the Digidestined, who have been moved into the lower hall. All except these two, of course. They have no Digimon to protect them this time."
Jun looked at Liam.
"They're defenceless..."
"You have a choice. You can stay here and kill me, or you can try and save them. The elevators are set to go all the way back down. You can have these two back now."
He pressed a lever, and the unconscious forms of Kari and Ken sank through the floor to their level. They started to stir almost immediately, opening their eyes. Liam looked up at Paul, then at his men.
"We don't have a choice. We've got to save these kids."
"A wise move, Mr Dillon. With a little luck, you might even be able to save them. But you cannot stop me, so you are merely delaying the inevitable."
Kari stood, shakily, and looked up at him.
"I'd get moving if I were you."
They moved towards the elevators. But Kari stayed for a moment.
The elevator on Paul's level, at the end of the gangway leading to him, opened. A single figure, and it's small companion stepped onto the metal, unseen from the NIDF troops viewpoint. A voice spoke out.
"Did anyone ever tell you, your speeches are really dull?"
Kari let out a cry of joy.
"Davis!"
He grinned down at her.
"You guys better go and help the others. Pallet's taking the Digimon down to them now."
"Gatomon's waiting for you, Kari!" shouted Veemon. "Wormmon too!"
"I wanna stay!"
Davis shook his head.
"This is my fight. They need your help."
Her face fell, but she nodded, and went with the NIDF men as they got into the elevators. Davis turned back to Paul, and Veemon crouched at his side.
"Let's dance."
He raised the paladin-sword in his hands. But Paul shook his head.
"I'm picking this battlefield, Daisuke."
He pressed a button behind him, and the section of floor on which he stood suddenly shot upwards, a hidden elevator. It was going to the roof.
Davis followed.
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