"What's going ON??" he shouted, squinting through the wind.
The gale swirled around him and TK, then, as quickly as it had come up, it was gone, replaced instead by Kurarimon's form. She stood tall before them, ominous and portentous in her crisp alabaster uniform, her cloak still swirling around her feet from the very wind she had conjured up to get there. Here eyes suddenly narrowed in a maliciously pleased expression.
"How quaint," she said softly, with an underlying tone in her voice that could have easily frozen a Meramon, "eight Digidestined with one stone..."
Yamato clenched his fists and took a step back.
"You won't get rid of us so easily, Kurarimon," he growled.
"We won't go down without a fight," Tai added. His voice never betrayed it, but inside, he was afraid...really afraid. How was he supposed to lead his friends in battle against an enemy he couldn't even see?
Kurarimon smiled, looking rather bloodthirsty.
"Your courage is noteworthy, children," she oozed. "The tales I've heard of your bravery were not exaggerated." She widened her crimson eyes. "Courage, however, will not save you." She slowly and deliberately folded her arms across her chest. "Your death is inevitable, Little Ones...you will be destroyed."
"You’re so confident," Yamato said. "Perhaps you shouldn't be..." He looked at Gabumon, and nodded. Gabumon grinned.
"Gabumon...digivolve to--"
There was a brilliant flash of bluish light, and a strange sound like that of an orchestra tuning up filled the air. Gabumon was enveloped in the azure brightness, and he suddenly seemed to morph into a new creature altogether. His short, thick legs lengthened to strong lanky ones, powerful and graceful, like a wolf's. Come to think of it, he did look rather lupine now...the horn on his head had vanished, and his snout had grown longer. His jaws opened in a fierce growl, revealing rows of razor-sharp teeth.
"--Garurumon!"
Tai clenched his fists.
"You, too, Agumon," he said. "Let's show Kurarimon what the Digidestined are all about!"
"Right!" the small orange creature called, his green eyes flashing. "Agumon...digivolve to--"
And Agumon, too, began to change, as the world flashed with a bright vermilion orange, as though the sun were setting, right there in Kurarimon's castle. Agumon's stout, stocky body grew taller, and his stub of a tail grew to a tapering length of several meters. Adorning the lizard's head was a huge brownish mask resembling an animal's skull, with a single horn on the snout, and a pair of horns on the crown of the head. Dark blue stripes streaked the muscular body, and the fearsome reptile gave a loud roar.
"--Greymon!!"
The other digimon were quick to follow suit, evolving to a higher, more powerful form than before: Gomamon to a huge, furry, white creature resembling a walrus, known as Ikkakumon; Palmon to the cactus-like Togemon, who sported a pair of boxing gloves and an attitude that was almost as threatening as the thousands of needles covering her body; Biyomon to the majestic Birdramon, a huge avian creature that looked much like a legendary Phoenix, and Tentomon to the fearsome, insectoid, Kabuterimon.
Most impressive, however, were the digivolutions of Patamon and Gatomon. Patamon's vermilion wings folded and shrank into his head to be replaced by long hair the color of a summer sunrise, and snowy white wings arched gracefully from his back as he grew to a humanoid form. Angemon, so he was called now, spun his angel staff and smiled confidently beneath the helmet that shrouded his eyes. Gatomon grew quickly taller, and her long striped tail vanished as a waterfall of cornsilk-colored hair flowed out from beneath the helmet she now wore on her head. Angewoman's eight feathery, white wings sprang from her back, and she plucked at the bowstring that helped her dole out one of her most lethal attacks. All the digimon turned to Kurarimon, who looked just as cool and confident as she had a moment ago, as though nothing had changed at all.
"Quite impressive, Digidestined," she said slowly, clapping her hands together in a slow and leisurely manner. Then her face hardened and she quickly dropped her hands to her sides. "However, your little friends shan't be able to save you." She lifted her eyes to them, and flashed a wicked grin.
"Wanna bet?" Greymon snorted. "Nova Blast!!"
A huge fireball flew from the dinosaur-like creature's mouth, headed straight for Kurarimon. Kurarimon's eyes widened, then began to glow a deep scarlet as she held up one hand in an attempt to deflect the attack. The fiery blast slammed into her hand, and parted to either side as though she had put up an invisible wall around herself. The children gasped as the attack scorched the walls of the corridor, but left Kurarimon barely ruffled.
"Futile tricks," she chortled, then looked to where Greymon's attack had blackened the walls of her catacombs. "Such destructive little children," she chided. "If we keep this up, you shall surely destroy my beautiful catacombs." She narrowed one eye menacingly. "What say you we take this to someplace a little more"--she snapped her fingers--"appropriate?"
The children gasped in astonishment. No longer were they within the walls of Kurarimon's catacombs...no, now they were...where WERE they? It was like a huge indoor courtyard, and the Digidestined stood right in the center of it. There were two large structures off to their left, resembling low, flat buildings, and to the other side, there was a patch of small, thick-trunked trees.
Yamato looked up, and a small cry escaped his throat.
The ceiling--! There was...no ceiling?? What the--?
Upon hearing Yamato's startled gasp, the others lifted their eyes skyward and saw, much to their surprise...nothing.
It was as if the ceiling didn't exist...but neither did the sky. There was nothing but pitch blackness above them...not even stars or clouds. It was like a Black Hole had opened up over Kurarimon's castle. Yamato supposed that a Black Hole would be rather appropriate. To match the one in her heart, he grumbled to himself.
"Where...where are we?" Sora asked, her voice trembling.
Jyou's glasses slid down on his nose and he looked overtop the lenses.
"I'd say it's a safe bet we're not in Kansas..." he muttered.
"You all look so shocked," Kurarimon laughed. "Do you really find all this so fantastic? You seem so surprised, but it would appear you had forgotten that this mountain is an extension of my own power. Surely Pipermon told you about that? All I need do is command it, and it will obey. I think, and it does, I command, and it responds. This mountain bows to my every whim, all I need do is snap my fingers, and it does what I ask!"
"I'll bet Spring Cleaning is a breeze!" Mimi grumbled.
"She sure talks a lot," TK said softly.
Kurarimon looked at the children, a gleam in her eyes.
"So, what do you think of my little...recreational area?" she sneered.
"It could use a few lamps," Mimi continued to mumble sourly, and she poked the toe of her shoe into the dirt beneath her feet, "and maybe some new carpeting..."
"Why have you brought us here, Kurarimon?" Yamato shouted.
Kurarimon's expression hardened.
"Why, to destroy you, of course," she said, as if that were no big deal at all. She twitched her long fingers. "I figured this might give you more room to run," she went on, "make things a little more...interesting." Her eyes narrowed. "Don't you think?"
"You're a sick mon," Tai growled.
Kurarimon grinned.
"Ah, my myopic little friend," she snickered, and Tai refused to give her the satisfaction of seeing him wince, "you have no sense of humor."
"Is everyone’s sense of humor supposed to be so sadistic," Yamato challenged, "or is it a specialty of yours?"
She glared at him.
"Do not try my patience, Child," she hissed in warning, "for it will only expedite your inevitable deaths."
"Well, then," Garurumon snarled, "let's get expediting! Howling Blaster!"
A wall of blue flames shot from Garurumon's mouth toward Kurarimon. The flames, as before, seemed to part around her, shooting to either side as water slides around a rock in the riverbed.
"You call that an attack?" she jeered. "Pathetic!' She drew her hands up near her face, then thrust her arms forward. "Clown Trick!"
A sort of rippling distortion purled through the air toward the children. The distortion wave slammed into Yamato and Garurumon, hurling them backward, tossing them like toys.
"That one is an old favorite of yours, isn't it, Digidestined?" Kurarimon taunted, advancing on them slowly.
With a grunt, Yamato pushed up to his hands and knees.
"Try your hand at Trump Swords again," Yamato growled in response.
"Yeah, maybe you'll hit your OTHER eye," Tai spat acridly. "That might even the odds a little."
Kurarimon reeled back, furious, narrowing her one good eye.
"I see Pipermon has been telling you my little secrets, now hasn't she?" she hissed. Then a crazed grin crossed her face, and she threw her head back in wild laughter. "Oh, but you children made a fatal mistake in pushing Pipermon away," she cackled. "She was hopelessly devoted to your cause before you decided she was the enemy." She stopped laughing, but the wild smile never left her lips. "With Pipermon on your side," she added quietly, "you might have actually stood a chance against me..."
"She wouldn't have helped us fight you anyway," Jyou shouted trivially. "She felt she owed you something."
"Aside from a kick in the--?"
"Tai," Sora chided before he could finish, "petty insults won't help."
"Yeah, but it'd sure make ME feel better..." he grumbled.
Kurarimon straightened her back, and glared down her nose at the Digidestined.
"I grow tired of your loquacity," she said coldly.
"Our what?" TK asked.
"It's a polite way of telling us to shut up," Izzy said matter-of-factly. TK scowled.
"Oh..."
Kurarimon's ruby eyes flashed wickedly.
"Enough playing around, Digi-dimwits," she said, an insane undertone in her husky voice, "your time is up!"
"Not yet, it isn't," Yamato shouted, leaping to his feet. He turned to Garurumon, and shouted, "Digivolve!"
"Garurumon...digivolve to--"
"Greymon...digivolve to--"
"Ikkakumon...digivolve to--"
"Togemon...digivolve to--"
"Birdramon...digivolve to--"
"Kabuterimon...digivolve to--"
"Angemon...digivolve to--"
There was a blast of light as the children's digivices began to glow, stronger still than they had been before, gleaming with the light of the strength of their spirits. Their respective digimon were engulfed in a colorful brilliance, and they began to change again.
"--Weregarurumon!"
"--Metal Greymon!"
"--Zudomon!"
"--Lillymon!"
"--Garudamon!"
"--Megakabuterimon!"
"--Magna Angemon!"
Kari and Angewoman stood aside to watch as the others achieved their fully digivolved forms. Gatomon, for some reason, was stronger than the others, and was able to remain constantly in her Champion form. Most digimon retained their Rookie form during downtime, as they had not the energy to keep their Champion evolution, but Gatomon had always seemed to have an aura of strength. Perhaps it came from working for an evil digimon in the past...that was bound to make anyone harden her spirit.
Metal Greymon flapped his torn pewter-colored wings and roared, "Giga Blaster!", sending twin missiles shooting toward Kurarimon from a metal breastplate he wore on his body. Weregarurumon adjusted his brass knuckles, then did a practice roundhouse kick before heading toward Kurarimon for his special Garuru Kick attack. The turtle-shelled Zudomon added his Vulcan's Hammer attack, and the elfin Lillymon threw in a Flower Cannon. After the huge Garudamon attacked with Wing Blade, and the mighty Megakabuterimon flew in with a Horn Buster, Angewoman and Magna Angemon garnished the onslaught with a Heaven's Charm and Destiny's Gate attack, hoping to drive the enemy into the same abyss her creator had been trapped in.
"That's done her for sure!" TK exulted, jumping up and down as a fantastic explosion erupted from the spot where the attacks had conglomerated. His joy, however, was a tad premature. Much to their dismay, the Digidestined watched as the smoke parted and the dust settled, only to see Kurarimon step out of the fray like one of the very nightmares she created. The look on her face was almost as though she was daring the children to try and stop her again.
She paused, and deliberately brushed some dust off her sleeves.
"Pathetic," she hissed, throwing her arms out at her sides. "What a joke." She thrust her arms up in the air, and the two nearest digimon, which happened to be Metal Greymon and Weregarurumon, were lifted from the ground. They let out startled yelps as Kurarimon snapped her hands back out at her sides and the digimon were flung backward. They slammed into the stone wall, and slid to the floor, both enveloped in light as they seemed to shrink, reverting to their Rookie forms. "You honestly believed that eight Ultimate level digimon could defeat ME?"
"Gabumon!" Yamato cried as his digimon hit the ground. "Oh, no!"
"Agumon!" Kari yelped, rushing over to her brother's fallen digimon. She took the little dragon's head in her hands and he attempted to give her a reassuring smile. It looked more like he was wincing.
Agumon.
Tai cursed his sightless eyes, for the millionth time since they had become as such. More than just the blindness itself, he hated the feeling it gave him...the feeling of helplessness...of uselessness. He couldn't even move, for fear of hitting someone or something. He felt dejected and worthless. What good was he as their leader if he couldn't lead the battle? he scoffed. Forget LEADING it, he thought to himself, I'd settle to be a PART of it... But he couldn’t...he had been reduced to a statue, more or less...unable to move, unable to participate... Unable even to see what was happening to his friends. Some leader I've turned out to be, he fumed. They're all in danger, and I can't do a damn thing!
He clenched his fists.
This is ridiculous! he thought. This is no time to be feeling sorry for myself! I won't let her beat us. I won't let her beat ME. Not like this...no way! He turned his head. There had to be something he could do...there had to be some way...
"Agumon!" he called, and Kari glanced up at her brother. There was a look of fierce determination in his eyes, one like she hadn't seen for a very long time. Agumon staggered to his feet, then, after regaining his composure, walked faithfully to Tai's side. Gabumon got up, and followed Yamato and the other children to where their leader stood. Tai dropped to one knee to stroke Agumon's head, silently apologizing for his own inability to help. He narrowed his eyes in dauntless resolve. "Agumon," he said after a moment's hesitation, "do you think you have the strength to digivolve again?"
Agumon sadly shook his orange head.
"I really don't think so, Tai," he replied honestly. Tai could hear the despondency in the digimon's voice.
"Me either," Gabumon groaned. "Whatever Kurarimon did to us, it totally drained all our energy."
There was a pause, and Tai felt a sick sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach. For the first time in a very long time...Tai didn't know what to do.
He jumped when he felt someone squeeze his shoulder.
"Don't worry, Tai," Sora said softly, "we'll figure something out."
"We always do," Mimi added with a big smile.
"And whatever happens," Kari concluded, "we'll all get through it together."
"Time to end the little pow-wow, children," Kurarimon's icy voice said, cutting into Tai's thoughts and snapping him back to the task at hand like a blast of cold wind. "Enough discussion," the evil digimon added, cracking her knuckles. "Time to get down to business..."
Tai whirled, and turned his head back over his shoulder to glare sightlessly at the enemy he had yet to truly lay eyes on. I will never let her win, he thought. No way, the Digidestined will not be brought down by such a deplorable creature.
"I won't have it!" Tai shouted, taking Kurarimon slightly by surprise. "I refuse to be beaten by a heartless monster such as you!"
Kurarimon smiled.
"Perhaps you are blinded in more than merely your eyes, Little One," she hissed, and Tai forbade himself to flinch at her words.
"We won't be defeated as easily as you may think, Kurarimon," Yamato growled.
"We may be just kids..." Sora began.
"But we will fight you all the way!" concluded Mimi, narrowing her large eyes.
Kurarimon's grin widened, and she lifted her chin.
"Oh, really?" she said softly. "Well, I do love a good challenge..." She raised her left arm at the elbow, and spread her spidery fingers. A dark orb of misty black energy began to form in her palm. "I am afraid, however," she went on, after the orb had grown to about the size of a plum, "that I do not have time to play with you right now, children. I really wish I could destroy each one of you, one at a time, slowly and painfully,"--she squinted at them over the ebony sphere--"but I'm simply too busy for that. You know, taking over the Digital World and all...it tends to take up a lot of one's time..." She chortled as the globe of darkness crackled and popped in her upturned palm as though an electrical current ran through it. The orb grew larger still, now about the size of a grapefruit.
"Heaven's Charm!" Angewoman shouted, attacking in a rather futile attempt to stop Kurarimon from doing whatever she was planning on doing. Kurarimon merely raised her other arm, and turned her palm inward, toward her face, stopping Angewoman's attack with no problem.
"She's just too powerful!" Jyou moaned.
"And too fast," added TK, a look of horror on his face.
"You're right," Kari agreed, looking at Angewoman, "she seems to see every one of our attacks coming and stops them before they reach her."
"We'll just have to be faster, then!" Izzy shouted, and looked at Megakabuterimon.
"Horn Buster!"
"Vulcan's Hammer!" Zudomon added.
"Flower Cannon!" Lillymon threw in her attack, too, hoping that Kurarimon would have a little more difficulty brushing off three attacks at once with only one hand free.
But she easily deflected the attacks, and her face had contorted with anger when the dust cleared.
"You weaklings dare to attack me?" she bellowed. "Your puny attacks couldn't hurt a Flymon! Do you honestly believe you can defeat me??"
"Wing Blade!" Garudamon cried, swooping low behind Kurarimon and catching her off-guard. With a cry, the evil digimon lurched forward, momentarily having lost her equilibrium. The dark orb she still held in her left hand was now larger than a soccer ball, and arcs of dark lightning curved through the air above it as she turned to face the children again.
"It is time to bid farewell to the Digidestined," Kurarimon growled menacingly, drawing back her left arm. Her ruby eye was an angry slit, and her dagger-sharp teeth were bared in fury. "Sayonara, children," she laughed, "the curtain is falling, and you won't be coming back for an encore." She gave a bloodthirsty smile, and her good eye flashed. "Obsidian Sphere!"
The orb in her hand started to glow, a deep indigo sheen that engulfed the entirety of the globe of darkness. The children gasped as a shockwave of the dark purple light erupted from the center of the sphere, knocking them all off their feet and sending their digimon sprawling. Tai managed to find Kari's wrist as they fell to their knees, and he hugged her shoulders close to his chest. She tightly clung to her brother’s arms, frightened but strangely calm. A strange feeling had come over her, as though someone were trying to tell her not to worry...that everything would be all right. Whether that was the work of some outside force or her own mind trying to console her, she could not tell, but it really didn't matter anyway...what would happen would, inevitably, happen. Kurarimon thrust her arms forward, and the sable-colored globe of black energy sprang forth like a cannonball, headed right for the children. It sparked and crackled loudly, as though it was having trouble keeping its energy contained within the walls of the sphere.
"No!" Yamato cried, pushing TK the rest of the way to the ground in a last futile attempt to spare his little brother’s life, shielding the younger child with his body. Is this it? he wondered. Does it all end here? Now? Like this?
I'm sorry, you guys, Tai thought silently, hugging Kari close to him. I'm sorry. I failed as your leader, and I failed as your friend. I couldn't even help you fight... I'm so sorry...
As his thoughts trailed away, there was a strong blast of hot wind, and an electrical sensation rippled through the gale as the sphere slammed into the air surrounding the children, enveloping them in a deep indigo brilliance. With a cry, Tai felt himself slammed to the ground, and he twisted with lightning speed to avoid crushing Kari beneath him. He heard his sister’s horrified shriek, and Sora's scream of fear and the blue-black shadow of Kurarimon's attack enveloped them.
And then suddenly, the electric current ceased its serpentine writhing in the air, and the hot wind seemed to slow. The sound of the energy sphere's crackling complaints quieted.
"What happened?" Kari whispered, as though afraid the very air might shatter if she spoke above a hush. She lifted her head.
Yamato pulled himself from the ground and turned to look at TK, pushing up to his hands and knees. He made sure Takeru was all right, then looked up. He gasped, and got slowly to his feet.
"Pipermon...?" he asked, hardly believing his eyes. TK and the others moved to stand, slowly rising to their feet to stare, flabbergasted, at the equivocal digimon who had seemed so reluctant to choose sides.
They were now surrounded by a pale pinkish shell, and Kurarimon's wicked black lightning crackled all around them, but did not touch them. Pipermon was crouched just in front of them, one knee on the ground, her right hand up near her face and her left arm extended in front of her as she struggled to keep the protective shell up around them all. Her twin ponytails blew behind her in the tepid wind that swirled all around them, and filled the air with a soft jingling sound as the bells at the ends bounced in the blustery haven she had created.
"Pipermon?" Tai said softly, letting go of Kari's shoulders as he stood up. "What's...what's going on?"
She didn't reply. Her eyes were closed as she concentrated on fortifying the shell, her lips moving as she chanted the words to the spell over and over, "Patronus Liberum, Patronus Liberum..."
"Is that Latin?" Izzy asked quietly, perplexed and intrigued.
"Of course it is," Jyou said matter-of-factly. He prided himself on his knowledge of medical terms, many of which were in Latin. He had no idea what Patronus Liberum meant (not that he was going to tell anyone ELSE that...), but he knew that it was Latin.
Mimi's eyes got all watery.
"Oh, how NEAT!" she gushed. "Magic spells in Latin are supposed to be like ancient magic, like in fairy tales!"
"Mimi..." Izzy and Tai moaned in tandem.
"Well, they ARE..." she grumbled, pouting.
The children's attention quickly moved back to Pipermon as the chanting stopped, and she snapped her chin up, glaring directly at Kurarimon, whose face reflected something amid fury and sheer horror. Pipermon's eyes blazed with a white-hot rage, like cerulean flames, and she stood up straight, snapping her arms out to her sides. The pinkish shell exploded, sending Kurarimon's deadly Obsidian Sphere hurtling back at her. With a startled cry, Kurarimon leapt into the air, where she hovered several feet above the ground as the backfired spell shot past beneath her.
"Just exactly what do you think you are doing, Little Piper?" Kurarimon demanded, dropping back to the ground. Her cape ruffled as she rolled her shoulders backward, as though trying to brush off the fact that she had just been attacked by one of her own.
Pipermon's arms dropped back to her sides, and she narrowed her eyes angrily.
"Something I should have done a long time ago, Kurarimon," she shouted in reply. "I'm stopping you."
Sheesh, it's about time Pipermon got her head on straight, ne? Please review, I've been going through reader-comment withdrawal lately... ::sigh:: But, then, I suppose that's my own fault for taking so godforsaken long... -__- Well, hope to hear from you all soon! Chotto matte!
~~hikari
Back to the First Part of Chapter 14
