Digimon Fan Fiction ❯ The Shadow War ❯ Chapter 8
[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]
By: moose_of_doom 
Anime/Manga: Digimon Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Action / Adventure / Romance | Type: Other | Uploaded On: 07.31.2005 | Pages: 6 | Words: 3.0K | Visits: 331 | Status: Completed
Anime/Manga: Digimon Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Action / Adventure / Romance | Type: Other | Uploaded On: 07.31.2005 | Pages: 6 | Words: 3.0K | Visits: 331 | Status: Completed
Chapter 8:
********
The Digidestined ran through the suddenly smoke filled streets of Coast town, and Davis’s heart was sinking with every step he took.
How could the Shadowmon have got inside? It was impossible! All of the entrances had been sealed off…
His thought train suddenly derailed.
Oh no… not the tunnels… they CANT have gotten in through the tunnels!
But in his heart he knew that was precisely what had happened. He knew that the rabbit-warren of tunnels underneath the Digi-world must have been the Shadowmon’s entrance to the city. He turned to his people.
“Kari, TK, Sora, Tasha, Matt, Tai, come with me. The rest of you get to the boats. Get out of here while you still can. I’m gonna help the people at the medical post.”
Liam Dillon, Nick Pallet, and a few of the troopers detached themselves from the crowd. They hefted their weapons, slapping fresh magazines into their slots.
“You’re gonna need help, whatever you’re doing. We’re coming with ya.”
“Liam…”
“Shut it, Davis.”
The big Irishman looked around at his troopers.
“Bring only weapons and ammunition. If the rest of you guys can spare some rounds, hand them over.”
The troopers helping the Digidestined to the docks tossed some magazines to the small platoon. The group slung their shields on their backs, and sheathed their swords. Davis nodded.
“Lets go. I don’t know how much time we have.”
The small group detached itself, running for Jun and Mimi’s last position. Their Digimon landed beside them, their energy expended, and yet they ran with the rest, trying to salvage what they could from the day.
=============================================================
Doctor Jun Motomiya bent over a young trooper, and plunged one of the Morphine Syrettes that all of them carried into his arm. She watched him carefully for a few more minutes, noting the change in his pulse rate and breathing. At this rate, there was nothing more she could do for the guy. She turned away.
“Mimi!”
The pink-haired woman ran up to her.
“Give me a hand getting them onto the stretchers. Michael’s warming up the ambulance to get them down to the docks.”
Mimi nodded, and took hold of the troopers legs, helping her friend lift him onto the stretcher. Together, they carried the young man to the waiting ambulance. Michael called down from the drivers seat.
“How many more?”
“Just the one!” Mimi shouted back. She looked down at Palmon.
“You think you’re up to digivolving?”
The little plant-Digimon smiled impishly.
“Ask a stupid question, Mimi.”
“Okay, ready?”
She pulled her D3 from her belt, and pressed the activation stud. Bright light surrounded Palmon’s form, and she started to grow.
“PALMON DIGIVOLVE TO – TOGEMON!!!”
And then there was a huge cactus towering over the two friends. Jun looked up at her.
“You know… I have NEVER understood why it takes that form.”
“I don’t think that now is the time to ask, Jun. Lets go.”
Jun shrugged, and grabbed her bag. Moving quickly, she threw a few casualty packs into it, and hopped into the back of the ambulance. She grabbed hold of the shotgun that she had taken to keeping just inside the door, and braced herself against the seat behind her and the walls beside her. She banged her fist against the wall.
“LETS GO!”
The ambulance surged forward, Togemon running alongside. Michael steered through the abandoned streets, the screaming and howling of the Shadowmon always at the edge of his hearing.
‘This is my fault…’
He shook the thought away, concentrating on his driving. Suddenly he slammed on the brakes. Mimi, who had been digging in the glove box, looked up at him.
“What are you doing? Keep going!”
he continued to stare through the windscreen.
“That might be a little difficult, Mimi…”
she looked out of the front window, and silently drew the Beretta Liam had given her from her waistband.
The street was swarming with Shadowmon. They stood there, in silent ranks, shields and swords ready. There was no rush, no sudden charge of blades and claws. They were just standing there.
“Reverse… slowly.” Said Mimi.
“You don’t have to tell me twice.” Michael replied, gently putting the ambulance into reverse, and pushing down lightly on the accelerator.
The ambulance slowly crept backwards, as Togemon covered their progress. Jun swung around on the rear footboard, sighting her shotgun one handed at the Shadowmon. She used her free hand to pull lose her doctors coat, revealing a black jumpsuit underneath.
“Uh, guys. I hate to be the one to mention it, but we don’t actually have that much gas in this thing.”
“No shit. Any other stunning observations?” snarled Michael.
A Shadowmon stepped forward from the crowd. When it spoke, Jun found that she could understand it perfectly.
“They are Digidestined! The Lady Taythe wants them alive! SEIZE THEM!”
They started to rush forward, and Jun pulled the trigger on the shotgun. The blast was inaccurate, but with a shotgun, you don’t need to be that accurate. Several of the Shadowmon went down, and the rest paused, as Togemon aimed at them, needles on her gloved arms, growing in preparation to scythe at the hoard. But the creatures snarled, and this time, they didn’t advance slowly. They broke into a mad, howling run.
Michael slammed his foot down on the accelerator, sending the truck careening backwards past Togemon. But then yet another disaster played against the group of Digidestined. The rear tyre on the ambulance burst without warning, sending the vehicle into a screeching turn, spinning madly out of control. The front of the ambulance slammed against a wall, coming to a halt. Jun found herself facing the hoard alone. She turned, and pulled herself up onto the roof of the ambulance, as Togemon battled alone against the insurmountable odds.
The huge cactus-Digimon was slowly but inexorably being forced into a retreat, moving backwards in the face of the Shadowmon onslaught. One of the creatures leapt at her, clawing for her small eyes. She slammed her huge gloved fist out, sending the foul beast sailing headfirst into the wall. But still, step-by-step, she was moving backwards. They leapt at her, slashing with blades and teeth. Togemon raised her arms, and sent blasts of needles out, neatly stapling her enemies to the walls.
But there were too many of them. Howling their triumph, the Shadowmon piled on top of the huge Cactus-Digimon, even as she tried to batter them away. One of them raised it’s sword high above it’s head…
A beam of pure light, accompanied by a vaguely human looking figure, slashed through the morning light, snow sizzling as it evaporated against the blade of the Paladin-sword. The Shadowmon with the raised sword toppled silently to the right, as it’s head and the better part of its neck toppled in the opposite direction. Black blood sprayed onto the pure white canvas of the snow, like some demonic painting.
Daisuke Motomiya, his eyes glowing with inner power, landed softly in front of Togemon, as the Cactus from dissolved into the smaller shape of Palmon, her energy reserves depleted. The few Shadowmon that had been standing on her back lunged at Davis.
Faster than seemed possible, his arm shipped around, neatly cutting another one of the malformed spectres heads from its shoulders. Without even looking, he spun the blade in his hand, and lunged backwards, under his left arm. The Shadowmon that had been driving down onto his back neatly impaled itself on the glowing golden metal. He let go of the swords hilt, and as the Shadowmon charged, pulled his twin Berettas from their holsters. The Rest of the Digidestined charged from the entrance to the street behind him. He raised the guns in his hands, and fired, sending a stream of leaden death blasting out at the creatures.
“Liam, Help Mimi and the others!” he yelled.
The big Irishman nodded, and picking up Palmon unceremoniously, he ran towards the ambulance.
“Are you okay?” he asked through the window.
“We’ll live! Get us out of here!”
Liam nodded, and drew his sword. He swung the blade once, neatly slicing off the door handle. He kicked the rest in, and pulled open the ambulance door.
“C’mon, lets go!”
Mimi turned back to the rear of the ambulance.
“Help me with the wounded!”
Liam started towards the doors, and then he noticed the stream of gasoline running from underneath the vehicle, towards the Shadowmon, just as Veemon launched a fireball. The flame raced along the path the gas had created for it, as the Liam, Mimi and Michael dived out of the way, and the truck fireballed, bright flames arcing into the snow.
The snow-strewn street echoed with the group’s rifle fire, punctuated by the individual shots of Davis’s handguns, and the resounding boom of Jun’s shotgun. The Digimon were too wiped out to fight, their energy expended in the earlier battle. All except Veemon. The small blue Digimon seemed to be drawing his strength directly from Davis, blasting fireballs at all he could see. Kari watched them both as she fired her rifle.
Despite the days defeat, Davis was fighting on. The guns in his hands bucked, spewing acrid smoke, and through the snowy air, she could see the light radiating from his soul. He was a focus for all their potential, turning it into a narrow beam that he blasted against their enemies.
He burned bright. But it wasn’t enough. She called to him.
“Davis! There’s too many of them!”
He seemed not to hear her, and when she saw his face as he gunned down the Shadowmon, she saw it contorting in rage, twisting with hatred. As he pulled the triggers faster, barely stopping to reload, his mouth opened, a roar of anger and hate erupting from his lungs. Tai rushed past her.
“Assholes gonna get himself killed…”
At that precise moment, Davis’s bullets ran out. Without even stopping, he holstered his guns in one smooth motion, and spinning, pulled the golden-coloured katana from the body of the impaled Shadowmon. He charged at them, a one-man killing machine, and no thoughts in his brain but cutting down these hateful creatures. Tai grabbed hold of his arm before he got more than five paces. Davis spun, raising the golden blade above his head. Tai punched him in the jaw, knocking him to the ground. The young paladin stared up at him, incredulously.
“Get a grip on yourself, Motomiya! We can’t fight here!”
“Jesus, look at them!” yelled Sora, aiming her rifle at the horde of Shadowmon. The creatures were staring at Davis, and making no move forward. If anything, they moved further back.
Daisuke Motomiya, himself again held out a hand. Tai hauled him to his feet as Kari and Jun ran to them.
“Are you okay, Davis?”
“I’m fine, Kari. I just let it get to my head.” He grinned, and then glanced at the wary Shadowmon. “Lets get out of here. They wont stay like that for much longer.”
The group back off slowly, into the alley from which they had emerged. Then they turned and ran, as the Shadowmon burst after them. Nick was in the lead, dodging around corners, hardly looking back to make sure they were still with him. Finally, he turned round the last turn in the Alley, the howls of the Shadowmon loud in their ears, onto the high street that ran across the length of the city. The trooper stopped, and stared down at the docks as the others caught up with him. Matt came last.
“I think we’ve lost them.”
No one replied.
“What’s wrong?”
Belatedly, he followed their gaze, looking down at the boats. They were steaming away, moving towards the horizon. The docks were thick with the black shapes of the Shadowmon. Sora groaned.
“Oh no… how are we gonna get out now?”
Davis didn’t turn as he stared at the ships.
“There’s only one way. We have to go through the tunnels.”
He looked round, and pointed to a building.
“There’s an entrance in there. C’mon.”
He headed for the doors.
“PALADIN!”
The small group on the street spun, and looked up. Taythe stood on the roof of one of the taller buildings, her longsword in her hand. She looked down at them, her eyes burning with malignant fury. Her long black hair spun in the snowstorm, whipping like the heads of a hydra.
“You thought you could resist me Paladin. You thought you could win, and rule this world. You were wrong! This is my world now, Paladin!”
She raised her hand, revealing a D3, pointing it to the skies.
“AND NOW, YOU SHALL SEE MY POWER!”
With those words, energy lanced up at the sky, arcing into the snow-filled morning, splitting like the branches of some unearthly tree, lancing out in twelve different directions. When Davis saw that energy, he knew precisely what was coming.
“Davis? What’s going on?” Kari said.
He closed his eyes, and spoke quietly, but loud enough for all of the Digidestined to hear him.
“She’s summoning the twelve dragons. The twelve dragons of the old world, the origins of the crests.”
His eyes opened, and he looked up at the shapes that were forming in the sky. From the energy, heads were forming, tails, scaled hides, the size of buildings. The dragons swooped through the sky, their roars shaking the very earth beneath the digidestined’s feet. He looked up at them.
“We can’t fight them. RUN!”
He turned, and kicked open the buildings door, unceremoniously pushing Kari through, all the time staring at the twelve huge Digimon that filled the sky with their presence. The rest needed no help. They ran through the door and down into the basement, where the sealed tunnel waited for them. Liam hastily punched in the code, turning the heavy handle, pulling open the big door.
“Get inside, quick!” he yelled.
Davis was the last down the stairs, and he glanced once more through the open door to the street. He saw the dragons rear, energy drawing to their mouths. He turned, and dived through the tunnel door, as the blasts slammed into the building around him, pummelling it to the ground.
The darkness surrounded them, cloying and dank. The air reeked with the smell of Shadowmon. Davis drew his Katana once more, and the golden light cast around the tunnel. He looked down at the ground. Then he pulled a penknife from his pocket, and flipped open the blade. He knelt by the pile of rocks that had been the building above them, and that now sealed the way out. Placing the blade of his knife on his hand, he closed his fist and squeezed.
“All of you see this. I swear by my own blood that the people who died today will be avenged. I swear that we will take back the digital world.”
He turned his fist upright, and a few drops of blood dripped from between his fingers onto the rocks. He pulled a bandage from his pocket, and wrapped it around his palm. Then he turned, and smiled at them grimly.
“C’mon. We’ve got a long, dark road ahead of us.”
And he set off down the tunnel, Kari close beside him, the light from his sword showing the way.
********
The Digidestined ran through the suddenly smoke filled streets of Coast town, and Davis’s heart was sinking with every step he took.
How could the Shadowmon have got inside? It was impossible! All of the entrances had been sealed off…
His thought train suddenly derailed.
Oh no… not the tunnels… they CANT have gotten in through the tunnels!
But in his heart he knew that was precisely what had happened. He knew that the rabbit-warren of tunnels underneath the Digi-world must have been the Shadowmon’s entrance to the city. He turned to his people.
“Kari, TK, Sora, Tasha, Matt, Tai, come with me. The rest of you get to the boats. Get out of here while you still can. I’m gonna help the people at the medical post.”
Liam Dillon, Nick Pallet, and a few of the troopers detached themselves from the crowd. They hefted their weapons, slapping fresh magazines into their slots.
“You’re gonna need help, whatever you’re doing. We’re coming with ya.”
“Liam…”
“Shut it, Davis.”
The big Irishman looked around at his troopers.
“Bring only weapons and ammunition. If the rest of you guys can spare some rounds, hand them over.”
The troopers helping the Digidestined to the docks tossed some magazines to the small platoon. The group slung their shields on their backs, and sheathed their swords. Davis nodded.
“Lets go. I don’t know how much time we have.”
The small group detached itself, running for Jun and Mimi’s last position. Their Digimon landed beside them, their energy expended, and yet they ran with the rest, trying to salvage what they could from the day.
=============================================================
Doctor Jun Motomiya bent over a young trooper, and plunged one of the Morphine Syrettes that all of them carried into his arm. She watched him carefully for a few more minutes, noting the change in his pulse rate and breathing. At this rate, there was nothing more she could do for the guy. She turned away.
“Mimi!”
The pink-haired woman ran up to her.
“Give me a hand getting them onto the stretchers. Michael’s warming up the ambulance to get them down to the docks.”
Mimi nodded, and took hold of the troopers legs, helping her friend lift him onto the stretcher. Together, they carried the young man to the waiting ambulance. Michael called down from the drivers seat.
“How many more?”
“Just the one!” Mimi shouted back. She looked down at Palmon.
“You think you’re up to digivolving?”
The little plant-Digimon smiled impishly.
“Ask a stupid question, Mimi.”
“Okay, ready?”
She pulled her D3 from her belt, and pressed the activation stud. Bright light surrounded Palmon’s form, and she started to grow.
“PALMON DIGIVOLVE TO – TOGEMON!!!”
And then there was a huge cactus towering over the two friends. Jun looked up at her.
“You know… I have NEVER understood why it takes that form.”
“I don’t think that now is the time to ask, Jun. Lets go.”
Jun shrugged, and grabbed her bag. Moving quickly, she threw a few casualty packs into it, and hopped into the back of the ambulance. She grabbed hold of the shotgun that she had taken to keeping just inside the door, and braced herself against the seat behind her and the walls beside her. She banged her fist against the wall.
“LETS GO!”
The ambulance surged forward, Togemon running alongside. Michael steered through the abandoned streets, the screaming and howling of the Shadowmon always at the edge of his hearing.
‘This is my fault…’
He shook the thought away, concentrating on his driving. Suddenly he slammed on the brakes. Mimi, who had been digging in the glove box, looked up at him.
“What are you doing? Keep going!”
he continued to stare through the windscreen.
“That might be a little difficult, Mimi…”
she looked out of the front window, and silently drew the Beretta Liam had given her from her waistband.
The street was swarming with Shadowmon. They stood there, in silent ranks, shields and swords ready. There was no rush, no sudden charge of blades and claws. They were just standing there.
“Reverse… slowly.” Said Mimi.
“You don’t have to tell me twice.” Michael replied, gently putting the ambulance into reverse, and pushing down lightly on the accelerator.
The ambulance slowly crept backwards, as Togemon covered their progress. Jun swung around on the rear footboard, sighting her shotgun one handed at the Shadowmon. She used her free hand to pull lose her doctors coat, revealing a black jumpsuit underneath.
“Uh, guys. I hate to be the one to mention it, but we don’t actually have that much gas in this thing.”
“No shit. Any other stunning observations?” snarled Michael.
A Shadowmon stepped forward from the crowd. When it spoke, Jun found that she could understand it perfectly.
“They are Digidestined! The Lady Taythe wants them alive! SEIZE THEM!”
They started to rush forward, and Jun pulled the trigger on the shotgun. The blast was inaccurate, but with a shotgun, you don’t need to be that accurate. Several of the Shadowmon went down, and the rest paused, as Togemon aimed at them, needles on her gloved arms, growing in preparation to scythe at the hoard. But the creatures snarled, and this time, they didn’t advance slowly. They broke into a mad, howling run.
Michael slammed his foot down on the accelerator, sending the truck careening backwards past Togemon. But then yet another disaster played against the group of Digidestined. The rear tyre on the ambulance burst without warning, sending the vehicle into a screeching turn, spinning madly out of control. The front of the ambulance slammed against a wall, coming to a halt. Jun found herself facing the hoard alone. She turned, and pulled herself up onto the roof of the ambulance, as Togemon battled alone against the insurmountable odds.
The huge cactus-Digimon was slowly but inexorably being forced into a retreat, moving backwards in the face of the Shadowmon onslaught. One of the creatures leapt at her, clawing for her small eyes. She slammed her huge gloved fist out, sending the foul beast sailing headfirst into the wall. But still, step-by-step, she was moving backwards. They leapt at her, slashing with blades and teeth. Togemon raised her arms, and sent blasts of needles out, neatly stapling her enemies to the walls.
But there were too many of them. Howling their triumph, the Shadowmon piled on top of the huge Cactus-Digimon, even as she tried to batter them away. One of them raised it’s sword high above it’s head…
A beam of pure light, accompanied by a vaguely human looking figure, slashed through the morning light, snow sizzling as it evaporated against the blade of the Paladin-sword. The Shadowmon with the raised sword toppled silently to the right, as it’s head and the better part of its neck toppled in the opposite direction. Black blood sprayed onto the pure white canvas of the snow, like some demonic painting.
Daisuke Motomiya, his eyes glowing with inner power, landed softly in front of Togemon, as the Cactus from dissolved into the smaller shape of Palmon, her energy reserves depleted. The few Shadowmon that had been standing on her back lunged at Davis.
Faster than seemed possible, his arm shipped around, neatly cutting another one of the malformed spectres heads from its shoulders. Without even looking, he spun the blade in his hand, and lunged backwards, under his left arm. The Shadowmon that had been driving down onto his back neatly impaled itself on the glowing golden metal. He let go of the swords hilt, and as the Shadowmon charged, pulled his twin Berettas from their holsters. The Rest of the Digidestined charged from the entrance to the street behind him. He raised the guns in his hands, and fired, sending a stream of leaden death blasting out at the creatures.
“Liam, Help Mimi and the others!” he yelled.
The big Irishman nodded, and picking up Palmon unceremoniously, he ran towards the ambulance.
“Are you okay?” he asked through the window.
“We’ll live! Get us out of here!”
Liam nodded, and drew his sword. He swung the blade once, neatly slicing off the door handle. He kicked the rest in, and pulled open the ambulance door.
“C’mon, lets go!”
Mimi turned back to the rear of the ambulance.
“Help me with the wounded!”
Liam started towards the doors, and then he noticed the stream of gasoline running from underneath the vehicle, towards the Shadowmon, just as Veemon launched a fireball. The flame raced along the path the gas had created for it, as the Liam, Mimi and Michael dived out of the way, and the truck fireballed, bright flames arcing into the snow.
The snow-strewn street echoed with the group’s rifle fire, punctuated by the individual shots of Davis’s handguns, and the resounding boom of Jun’s shotgun. The Digimon were too wiped out to fight, their energy expended in the earlier battle. All except Veemon. The small blue Digimon seemed to be drawing his strength directly from Davis, blasting fireballs at all he could see. Kari watched them both as she fired her rifle.
Despite the days defeat, Davis was fighting on. The guns in his hands bucked, spewing acrid smoke, and through the snowy air, she could see the light radiating from his soul. He was a focus for all their potential, turning it into a narrow beam that he blasted against their enemies.
He burned bright. But it wasn’t enough. She called to him.
“Davis! There’s too many of them!”
He seemed not to hear her, and when she saw his face as he gunned down the Shadowmon, she saw it contorting in rage, twisting with hatred. As he pulled the triggers faster, barely stopping to reload, his mouth opened, a roar of anger and hate erupting from his lungs. Tai rushed past her.
“Assholes gonna get himself killed…”
At that precise moment, Davis’s bullets ran out. Without even stopping, he holstered his guns in one smooth motion, and spinning, pulled the golden-coloured katana from the body of the impaled Shadowmon. He charged at them, a one-man killing machine, and no thoughts in his brain but cutting down these hateful creatures. Tai grabbed hold of his arm before he got more than five paces. Davis spun, raising the golden blade above his head. Tai punched him in the jaw, knocking him to the ground. The young paladin stared up at him, incredulously.
“Get a grip on yourself, Motomiya! We can’t fight here!”
“Jesus, look at them!” yelled Sora, aiming her rifle at the horde of Shadowmon. The creatures were staring at Davis, and making no move forward. If anything, they moved further back.
Daisuke Motomiya, himself again held out a hand. Tai hauled him to his feet as Kari and Jun ran to them.
“Are you okay, Davis?”
“I’m fine, Kari. I just let it get to my head.” He grinned, and then glanced at the wary Shadowmon. “Lets get out of here. They wont stay like that for much longer.”
The group back off slowly, into the alley from which they had emerged. Then they turned and ran, as the Shadowmon burst after them. Nick was in the lead, dodging around corners, hardly looking back to make sure they were still with him. Finally, he turned round the last turn in the Alley, the howls of the Shadowmon loud in their ears, onto the high street that ran across the length of the city. The trooper stopped, and stared down at the docks as the others caught up with him. Matt came last.
“I think we’ve lost them.”
No one replied.
“What’s wrong?”
Belatedly, he followed their gaze, looking down at the boats. They were steaming away, moving towards the horizon. The docks were thick with the black shapes of the Shadowmon. Sora groaned.
“Oh no… how are we gonna get out now?”
Davis didn’t turn as he stared at the ships.
“There’s only one way. We have to go through the tunnels.”
He looked round, and pointed to a building.
“There’s an entrance in there. C’mon.”
He headed for the doors.
“PALADIN!”
The small group on the street spun, and looked up. Taythe stood on the roof of one of the taller buildings, her longsword in her hand. She looked down at them, her eyes burning with malignant fury. Her long black hair spun in the snowstorm, whipping like the heads of a hydra.
“You thought you could resist me Paladin. You thought you could win, and rule this world. You were wrong! This is my world now, Paladin!”
She raised her hand, revealing a D3, pointing it to the skies.
“AND NOW, YOU SHALL SEE MY POWER!”
With those words, energy lanced up at the sky, arcing into the snow-filled morning, splitting like the branches of some unearthly tree, lancing out in twelve different directions. When Davis saw that energy, he knew precisely what was coming.
“Davis? What’s going on?” Kari said.
He closed his eyes, and spoke quietly, but loud enough for all of the Digidestined to hear him.
“She’s summoning the twelve dragons. The twelve dragons of the old world, the origins of the crests.”
His eyes opened, and he looked up at the shapes that were forming in the sky. From the energy, heads were forming, tails, scaled hides, the size of buildings. The dragons swooped through the sky, their roars shaking the very earth beneath the digidestined’s feet. He looked up at them.
“We can’t fight them. RUN!”
He turned, and kicked open the buildings door, unceremoniously pushing Kari through, all the time staring at the twelve huge Digimon that filled the sky with their presence. The rest needed no help. They ran through the door and down into the basement, where the sealed tunnel waited for them. Liam hastily punched in the code, turning the heavy handle, pulling open the big door.
“Get inside, quick!” he yelled.
Davis was the last down the stairs, and he glanced once more through the open door to the street. He saw the dragons rear, energy drawing to their mouths. He turned, and dived through the tunnel door, as the blasts slammed into the building around him, pummelling it to the ground.
The darkness surrounded them, cloying and dank. The air reeked with the smell of Shadowmon. Davis drew his Katana once more, and the golden light cast around the tunnel. He looked down at the ground. Then he pulled a penknife from his pocket, and flipped open the blade. He knelt by the pile of rocks that had been the building above them, and that now sealed the way out. Placing the blade of his knife on his hand, he closed his fist and squeezed.
“All of you see this. I swear by my own blood that the people who died today will be avenged. I swear that we will take back the digital world.”
He turned his fist upright, and a few drops of blood dripped from between his fingers onto the rocks. He pulled a bandage from his pocket, and wrapped it around his palm. Then he turned, and smiled at them grimly.
“C’mon. We’ve got a long, dark road ahead of us.”
And he set off down the tunnel, Kari close beside him, the light from his sword showing the way.