This chapter is very heavy on exposition, but I think I do a good job balancing it with action and emotional impact. The deaths of the Five Regions' Guardians is brutal, and the heroes feel the impact of these losses as much as they can in the heat of battle. John feels them the most, since it was his advice to Machinedramon which set them on the path that led here.
But there is still hope, and that's really the only thing that keeps the heroes going at this point: the hope that they still feel. The hope that they can still bring Protectormon back and end the threat of Tyranterramon for good.
Chapter Sixteen
Birth of a New Power
MetalSeadramon was first to fall. He fired, but Tyranterramon simply held the blast back with his hands, wading through it, and raised his wing and released one of his Feather Shard attacks. He was confident in his abilities now, and his attack hit its mark. The top third of MetalSeadramon’s body was cut to bits. Pharaohmon was next. He tried to make the best of his ally’s demise and catch Tyranterramon with a killing attack while he was unaware. He twirled his staff, but before he could strike, Tyranterramon caught the staff and pushed with his palm, impaling the staff through its wielder’s abdomen.
“You monster!” cried the still-angry Phoenixmon. “I’ll make you pay!” She wreathed her body in flames and rushed Tyranterramon, who caught her head, crushing it against the ground. Oberomon and Rosemon tried to save their friend, but they were too late to save her, or themselves. Tyranterramon summoned up a mighty aura and swung his fist, vaporizing them both.
Millenniummon was speechless. Finally he managed to choke out, “You’re truly a fiend, and if it’s the last thing I do, I’ll kill you for what you’re done today.” His cannons flashed, and he called out, “Dimension Destroyer!”
“Too late,” said Tyranterramon, arrogantly. Before Millenniummon could fire Tyranterramon punched the ground, sending seismic waves at Millenniummon, throwing him into the air. Tyranterramon ran at him, punching with both fists at once. The force of the attack crushed Millenniummon's cannons and turned their energy inward. The resulting implosion rippled the air and tore Millenniummon apart.
No! I thought. I pinched myself to make sure I was awake. I realized that I was, and the situation suddenly became much more real. The same three words kept screaming in my mind, It’s my fault!
I shook my head vigorously, and thought, I was wrong. I was wrong about what the Prophesy meant. I told Machinedramon and the others that they had everything that they needed to win, but I was wrong, and now the Guardians are dead! They depended on what I told them. They trusted me!
I was stunned, I only stared while Amanda cried and Jen, Jeremy and Sarah tried to pull me to my feet and out of Tyranterramon’s path of attack. There turned out to be no need, however, because as Tyranterramon bore down on us, time seemed to stop, and spectral images of the six Guardians appeared before us.
Digitestined, came the voices of the Guardians in tandem, making my heart ache for my fallen friends, who I had a feeling I wouldn't be speaking to again after today, despite the odd nature of this world, do not feel guilt over our passing. Our time has long since passed, and now that we have died and become pure data, we have access to the pure data within us, left by Protectormon, including the data of his memories. We now know that it was our destiny to parish in this battle. Long ago, after Protectormon sealed Tyranterramon away, he consulted the Azulong Crystal and saw what would happen to this world when Tyranterramon broke free. He saw that no choice he made could save us, but that one choice could save this world. He could not retrieve Tyranterramon from the border between worlds without damaging those worlds, and only he would be able to defeat the Tyrant when he reemerged on his own. But Protectormon saw that he would be centuries gone by the time of the Tyrant's return.
He saw, they continued, that we would live on, but that only one of us, MetalSeadramon, would be unchanged enough to pass a Legacy Code as complex as the Protector's to the champions of this world, the Digidestined who had been summoned to defeat a previous threat, without perishing first. So he split his Legacy Code amongst us, knowing that when we died, this moment would occur, and he split his very Fractal Code amongst the seven Neo Crests, and a pair of unborn Digimon, ones which would not awaken in this world until the modern era. These Digimon would serve as the core upon which the Protector's rebirth would be built.
The Prophesy said that when the Greatest Power came together again, it would unlock a power beyond what it had known, which would lead to Protectormon’s rebirth. We, the 'Greatest Power', will now give our data, including that belonging to Protectormon, to you. It will unlock a power that you possess beyond anything we could ever hope to achieve, and the prophesy will have come true. With that power, all you will need is the two core Digimon to facilitate Protectormon’s return.
“Who are the core Digimon?” I asked.
We do not know, the Guardians answered, because Protectormon himself did not know. All we do know is that only you, John, will be able to find them. Their possession of the Protector's data will assure that they are drawn to you, the possessor of the most of the Protector's code. Their fates, human, have been intertwined with yours. They hold the key to defeating Tyranterramon, but they can only succeed if you first discover who they are!
And with that the images of the six Five Regions’ Guardians changed, becoming six strands of code. Those codes flew towards us and were absorbed through our clothes and into our Digiplayers. We took then out of our pockets and watched as they changed shape. Now, instead of miniature disk players, they were some sort of chip readers, each with two slots in the top just big enough for a crest. There was a flash in front of each of us, and six small crest-sized chips appeared floating in the air. We each reached out and grabbed one. I turned the chip over in my hand. On it was a picture of Millenniummon firing his cannons. Jen’s chip depicted Oberomon raising his staff, Sarah’s depicted Rosemon summoning her killing attack, Amanda’s depicted Pharaohmon, his fist alight, Kris’ depicted MetalSeadramon, his cannon nose glowing, and Jeremy’s depicted Phoenixmon with her wings ablaze.
Time resumed, and Tyranterramon approached us. But our hopes were restored, fueled by our anger and grief, and by the seven traits that gave us power. I remembered Babamon and Jijimon telling us that the power of unity was the key to beating Tyranterramon. They'd been right all along, but it would be a different form of unity that would win the day. Despite not yet knowing how to facilitate that unity, I was feeling the unity pretty strong at the moment, and so were five of my friends.
Tyranterramon reached us and stopped, looking me in the eye, “Any last words Human?”
“Yeah,” I said, looking up at him, my eyes burning, Jen and Sarah stepping up beside me, joined by Serpentmon, Coltmon, and Ponymon. We spoke in unison, our auras burning around us, “Initiate Bio-Merge!”
“Serpentmon, Bio-Merge to…”
“Coltmon, Bio-Merge to…”
“Ponymon, Bio-Merge to…”
My new golen armor disappeared as we merged with our Digimon partners. I felt my heartbeat synchronize with Serpentmon’s, and we became one vastly powerful being, more powerful than InfornoKnightmon, as powerful as Millenniummon. Jen and Sarah merged with their Digimon as well, becoming Digimon who were not much weaker, despite being much smaller.
“…Vipramon!”
“…Samuraimon!”
“…Druidmon!”
The three of us stood atop the cliff, our stances relaxed, as we stared down our massive foe.
“Jeremy,” I said, “take the others and fall back. Keep resting and rebuilding your strength. Find some Digimushrooms. We’ll fight him as long as we can.”
“Is this a joke?” Tyranterramon demanded. “I withstood these forms once before. What makes you think you can win this time?
“We can win,” I said, “because we have something you never will. We have hope. Hope that gives us a purpose. Our purpose to make this world better.”
“Hope,” said Tyranterramon, “purpose. These things are only the foolish ideals of the naive. They cannot help you in the face of power. Power is the only thing that really matters.”
I smiled, “We’ll see.” Then to my allies I said, “Attack!” Samuraimon and Druidmon jumped into the air like two rockets.
Samuraimon’s sash extended, ensnaring Tyranterramon’s right arm and leg. Druidmon waved her staff, and vines sprouted from the ground, ensnaring Tyranterramon’s left arm and leg. Druidmon and Samuraimon reached the apex of their jump. They brandished their weapons, preparing to attack. They released waves of red and green energy, and landed at the foot of the cliff just as the blasts hits. I raised and pointed my double-pointed snake fang lance and called out, “Vipra Strike!” My attack, the massive serpent made of acid green light, erupted from the lance. It wrapped Tyranterramon’s torso and wings, smoking against his skin. Then it opened its mouth and bit down on Tyranterramon’s right shoulder, but Tyranterramon wouldn’t be beaten so easily.
Tyranterramon roared at the sky and threw open his arms and wings, breaking the vines and sash and dissipating my serpent. He raised his fist and punched, but we jumped out of the way, moving so fast that we seemed to disappear. I shot right past Tyranterramon, calling, “Venom Lance!” I was wreathed in green light, shooting through the air like a green comet. I slashed with my lance, and a gash appeared crossing Tyranterramon’s chest and left shoulder. He cried out and grasped at the wound. Samuraimon landed beside me and jumped back up, slicing Tyranterramon in the face, leaving a gash over his left eye. He stumbled back.
I jumped up and flipped, kicking off of the cliff side and propelling myself through the air. I stabbed, but Tyranterramon backhanded my, throwing me to the ground. Druidmon and Samuraimon combined their power and caught Tyranterramon in the chest, but he didn’t seem hurt so much as enraged.
Tyranterramon spread his wings, calling, “Feather Shards!” We deflected the resulting red projectiles with some effort. Samuraimon looked over at me and said, “Well, he was right about one thing. Power is a pretty big deal.”
“No matter how much power he has,” I said, “we have to keep fighting. We’ll try and surround him. Hit him from all sides.” Samuraimon and Druidmon nodded and the three of us seemed to disappear, only to reappear in a triangular formation around our foe.
I jumped up, dodging a burst of energy from Tyranterramon’s fist. The three of us struck. Tyranterramon raised his arms and his wings, using them to protect his body. So we attacked again. This time the snake that I conjured was twice the size. I poured everything I had into it. The others did as well. The attacks hit, exploding so bright that for several seconds I couldn’t see. When I could, again, Tyranterramon was most obviously still standing, and more furious than ever. His aura flared forming a pillar that reached up into the sky. The ground shook, and the cliff behind us collapsed. Good thing the others were long gone, hidden somewhere in the surrounding forest. Rocks fell toward me, but I avoided then with ease and looked up at Tyranterramon, who was still alight with power.
“He’s stronger than us,” said Driudmon. “I don’t think we can win.”
I ignored her and looked directly into Tyranterramon’s eyes. He looked back into mine. “Tyranterramon,” I said, “I’m going to destroy you!”
I jumped at the enemy, my two allies joining me reluctantly at my side. We summoned our attacks and prepared to strike.
No comments:
Post a Comment