Digimon Dark Worlds 02: Crests of the Sins

Daemon flew through the air like a jet, Lila riding on his back as she nervously looked behind her in the sky, trying to escape from the Digidestined after they had just defeated Rosalie.

‘Ugh... Did we finally get away from them?’ Lila thought to herself...

“DRAGON KING’S BLADES!!” But her thoughts were immediately cut off by a powerful attack from Ouryumon, damaging Daemon a lot as he and Ouryumon started flying closer to the mountains... Where they both crashed pretty roughly, but not before Blaine and Lila were both able to hop off their partner’s backs safely, landing on a small platform next to each other.

“UGH, GOD!! Would you Digidestined just leave me the hell alone already?!” Lila snapped at Blaine. “I saw what you all just did to Rosalie and Laylamon!”

“And you’re seriously surprised at that?!” Blaine snaps back. “You shouldn’t be, especially after what you all-“

WHAP!! Blaine was cut off by Lila roughly punching him in the face, causing him to stumble back, falling off the side of the mountain... But was luckily quickly caught by Beelzemon midair, who jumped up pretty high, slowly and carefully bringing Blaine back to ground level, where the rest of the group had now caught up to him and Lila.

“God, I am just so SICK OF YOU DIGIDESTINED!!” Lila screeches down at them.

“Yeah?! Well, were not exactly fans of you Demondestined either!” Taeka sassily remarks, everyone staring up at Ouryumon and Daemon fighting, feeling worry rising within them.

“Ugh, I can’t just stand here and watch everyone fight anymore...” Taeka looks down at Dracomon, with an angry, but determined expression. “Dracomon... You ready to Digivolve to mega now?” She asks, her partner nodding in agreement.

“...Yeah. Let’s do this!”

“DRACOMON WARP DIGIVOLVE TO...”

“...SLAYERDRAMON!!”

Slayerdramon immediately flew upwards, flying towards Daemon, who had Ouryumon pinned against the side of the mountain... “DRAGON’S SWORD!!” And immediately attacks Daemon, causing him to release his grip on Ouryumon...

“GOLDEN ARMOR!!” And Ouryumon also attacks, tackling Daemon pretty roughly, sending him crashing into the mountains once more.

“Oh, I am sick of this... DAEMON, JUST KILL THEM ALREADY!!” Lila screeches.

“INFERNO BURST!!” Daemon unleashes his extremely powerful attack, surrounding the area with a pure hot fire that does a ton of damage to Ouryumon and Slayerdramon, sending them crashing as well...

“SLASH NAIL!!” And Daemon attacks again, slashing at the two multiple times.

“Allison, I... I gotta help them!” Beelzemon says.

“Beelzemon, are you sure? You got hurt pretty badly during your fight with Laylamon...” Allison says, looking worried, but Beelzemon gives her a confident nod.

“Trust me, Allison... I know what I’m doing.” Beelzemon smiles at Allison, immediately hopping up the mountains, towards the three...

“HEARTBREAK SHOT!!” And fires a powerful shot at Daemon, who stumbles back from Ouryumon and Slayerdramon. Slayerdramon and Beelzemon then immediately start fighting with Daemon, Ouryumon panting with exhaustion, as he slowly floated down to the ground.

“Ouryumon! Are you alright?” Blaine asked.

“Yes, but...” Ouryumon panted heavily, trying to catch his breath. “Blaine, I... I know a really powerful attack now... That I think would be enough to defeat Daemon, but... I’m scared to use. I don’t know how to control it fully, and... I’m worried I might hurt the others...” 

Blaine paused, thinking about what Ouryumon was saying, as he looked up at the fighting, seeing Slayerdramon and Beelzemon getting their butts kicked pretty badly.

“...Do it, Ouryumon.”

“What?! Blaine, are you... Sure?” Ouryumon asked, looking nervous as Blaine gave a confident nod.

“Alright... Everyone, stay back...” Ouryumon stood up, the kids backing away cautiously... Ouryumon then stabbed his swords deep into the ground, focusing his power... His body started to shake a bit, a golden, glowing power welling up in him...

“...DRAGON OF THE SUN!!” As a gigantic dragon, made of a golden light, burst forth from his body, roaring loudly as it charged at Daemon... The dragon squeezed itself around Daemon’s body, before quickly throwing him into the air, tackling him roughly into the mountains, one last time...

“FRAGARACH SLASH!!” “HEARTBREAK SHOT!!” And, alongside Beelzemon and Slayerdramon’s attacks, the golden dragon shot a powerful golden beam, right through Daemon... As the force of every attack... Poofed Daemon to dust. This didn’t stop the golden dragon though, who roared once again, wildly flying through the air in a violent rampage.

“HEY!! Look where you’re- WHOA!!” The golden dragon suddenly tackled Beelzemon, sending him flying and crashing to the ground.

“Ouryumon! You gotta stop him!” Blaine yelled, Ouryumon’s body shaking wildly as he tried to focus, but the dragon still rampaged. Slayerdramon then, on a quick whim, flew down to Ouryumon’s level... “DRAGON’S SWORD!!” And lightly attacked Ouryumon, throwing him off his balance, quickly making the golden dragon fade away, out of sight... All the Digimon huffed in exhaustion, Ouryumon and Slayerdramon reverting back to their rookie forms, and Beelzemon all the way back to his fresh from, Poyomon.

“Ryudamon, I’m sorry for attacking you!” Dracomon says. “Are you alright?!”

“Yeah, and don’t worry about it, I’m glad you did...” Ryudamon responds. “I think that was the only way my attack could be stopped...” Ryudamon then looked over at Poyomon, worriedly running up to him. “Poyomon, are you ok?! I’m so sorry... I didn’t mean to attack you like that, I just...”

“Hey, don’t worry about it, Ryudamon!” Allison smiles, picking up Poyomon who fit into the palm of her hands. Poyomon then yawned, closing his eyes as he quickly went to sleep. “He just needs to rest now, is all...” Allison says, Ryudamon sighing and smiling with relief.

“YOU GODDAMNED DIGIDESTINED!!” Lila suddenly screeched, hopping down from the mountains as she approached the group, with a furious expression.

“What the?! How the heck did you jump from all the way up there, and survive?!” Logan says, everyone having a shocked expression.

“DOES IT MATTER?! Damn you all, killing my partner... You know what?! I still don’t need Daemon to kill you all! I can just kill you all, with my bare fi-“ Lila tried charging towards them, with her fists cocked, but was stopped by the familiar shadowy hand grabbing her, the same one that grabbed and took Rosalie earlier...

“...YOU TOO, LILA? HOW DISAPPOINTINGLY PATHETIC...”

“W-what the hell?! LET GO OF ME!!” Lila furiously tried to wriggle from the hand’s grasp, but no to avail... As she gets quickly pulled under, out of sight.

“What the... That’s the second time that’s happened!” Blaire says, everyone exchanging concerned looks.

“It keeps happening every time we defeat them, too... What’s going on here?!” Blaine says, an awkward, nervous silence in the group, unable to think of an answer.

“...We really need to find the others.”

A day later...

Despite flying around on Maildramon’s back all day, the other group... Erik, Jake, Hoshi, and Batamon, still had yet to find the others. Now, it was getting pretty late in the afternoon, the sky a bright orange color, as Maildramon flew down to the top of some mountains high up in the sky to rest. The mountains also had a huge dam, protecting a small village that was way below them.

“Man... You guys think it’s possible that the others could be down there?” Erik asks, pointing down at the village.

“I’m not sure... That village could possibly be abandoned... But who knows.” Kudamon says.

“HEY!! ANYONE DOWN THERE?!” Batamon screeched, the sound of his voice echoing throughout the mountains.

“Hey! What the heck do you think you’re doing?!” Kudamon scolds.

“Yeah, come on Batamon! You gotta yell WAY louder then that! HEYYYY!! ANYONE HERE?!” Terriermon screeches, trying to outnumber Batamon.

“Are you guys nuts?!” Jake says, full of worry. “If the Demondestined are around here, you guys are gonna get us cau-“

“DARK DELUGE!!” Jake gets cut off by a powerful attack that nearly hits the group, everyone looking over to see Russell and MarineDevimon standing nearby.

“...Too late for that.” Russell hisses, with a low tone.

“Urgh, you...” Jake glares furiously at Russell, him and Terriermon stepping forward. “Guys, don’t worry...” He says. “Me and Terriermon got this.”

“TERRIERMON WARP DIGIVOLVE TO... MEGAGARGOMON!!”

“GET EM, MEGAGARGOMON!!”

“GARGO MISSILE!!” MegaGargomon fires immediately, the pure force of the missiles sending him flying and crashing, immediately reverting back to Syakomon. However, this didn’t break Syakomon’s spirits at all, who immediately stood back up, like nothing had happened.

“We are NOT going to be taken down that easily...” Russell says, his voice a low growl, as a powerful dark aura starts forming around him, and Syakomon...

“This time... YOU’RE THE ONES WHO WON’T GET BACK UP.”

“SYAKOMON WARP DIGIVOLVE TO...

...

...

...”

“LEVIAMON... X!!”

The size of Leviamon’s body couldn’t possibly even be measured by the human eye, looking like he could easily rival the size of a skyscraper. Leviamon slowly flew into the air, his huge body casting a shadow over the area, that filled the group with nothing but dread, and horror.

“Whoa... Amazing...” Russell stared up at his partner, with a smile of genuine happiness. “I actually... Did it...”

“HAHAHAHA!! LOOK AT ME NOW, BABY!!” Leviamon cackled and roared loudly, the pure volume of his voice shaking the land.

“Guys, come on...” Kudamon says. “We gotta help MegaGargomon!”

“LABRAMON WARP DIGIVOLVE TO... ANUBISMON!!”

“KUDAMON DIGIVOLVE TO... REPPAMON!! REPPAMON DIGIVOLVE TO... CHIRINMON!!”

“Don’t worry everyone, we’ve got this...” Anubismon says. “GOLDEN RAY!!”

“SHELL SHOCK!!” Leviamon effortlessly smacks Anubismon’s attack away, barely taking much damage.

“MEGA BARRAGE!!” MegaGargomon fires next...

“TAIL STRIKE!!” But Leviamon blocks these attacks as well, smacking the missiles midair, causing them to strike MegaGargomon instead.

“WIND CUTTER SWORD!!” Next, Chirinmon attacks...

“SHELL SHOCK!!” And just like the others, Leviamon blocks the attack...

“TAIL STRIKE!!” As he slams his tail into the three multiple times, slamming them roughly into the ground, as they struggled to stand up...

“Time to finish you off...” Leviamon growls, eyeing Chirinmon. “SHELL SHOCK!!”

But as he attacks, Anubismon quickly steps forward, taking the attack for Chirinmon... As he instantly reverts back to Labramon, flying and crashing into Erik’s arms.

“Oh god, he’s so powerful! Our Digimon can’t win against him!” Jake whimpered. “No... I-I don’t wanna die...”

“Jake, don’t worry... I-I’m sure MegaGargomon and Chirinmon can still... Do this...” Erik tried to reassure Jake, but the stutter in his voice showed that he was just as nervous as the others were.

“Come on, MegaGargomon, let’s attack together! WIND CUTTER SWORD!!”

“GARGO MISSILE!!” Both attacked at once, doing a bit more damage... But it wasn’t enough.

“TAIL STRIKE!!” Leviamon striked Chirinmon, causing them to revert back to Kudamon. Now it was just MegaGargomon left, who stared up at Leviamon with a nervous expression.

“HAHAHA!! Might as well just give up now, MegaGargomon!!” Leviamon cackled, MegaGargomon glaring fiercely at him.

“...I’D RATHER DIE THEN SURRENDER TO YOU!! MEGA BARRAGE!! GARGO MISSILE!!”

MegaGargomon let out a barrage of attacks, actually doing a good amount of damage to Leviamon, but exhausting him heavily, the two both breathing heavily... Then, a current of electricity started forming around Leviamon’s body...”

“Leviamon...” Russell growled. “DESTROY THIS PLACE NOW!!”

“...SEVENTH LIGHTNING!!” Gigantic blasts of blue lightning strike everywhere from Leviamon’s body... One strike hits MegaGargomon, causing him to revert... Another strikes the dam nearby, causing it to completely crumble, setting a huge tide of rushing water to flow out... And another hits the side of the mountain, crumbling the side as it causes everyone to lose their balance... Everyone falls off the mountain, falling into the rushing water... Everyone struggled, unable to fight against it...

...As they got swept away.

The next day...

It was late in the afternoon the next day, as the main group continued walking through the mountains, still looking for any sign of the others.

“Man, this is so annoying... We’ve been walking all freaking day!” Taeka groaned. “Ugh, I wish we could just find the others already...”

BOOM!! Suddenly everyone hears a giant explosion, that shakes the ground a bit, seeing smoke rising in the near distance.

“Looks like you got your wish.” Lily says sarcastically.

“Oh no, that must be from the Demondestined!” Veemon says. “Let’s hurry!” Everyone quickly starts dashing over to the source of the explosion, and upon finally arriving... They spot two of the Demondestined, Alec and Elijah, as their partners, Belphemon and Myotismon, has just finished destroying a village, which was now completely on fire.

“Dangit... We’re too late...” Blaine grumbled.

“HEY!!” Taeka yelled, catching the Demondestined’s attention. “I am DONE letting you guys destroy these innocent villages!!”

“Pfft! And what are you gonna do about it?!” Elijah scoffed, smirking. Taeka looked over at the group... Allison’s partner was still in his in-training form, Tokomon, but everyone else... Lily, Blaine, Cora, Axel, Logan, Blaire... They were all ready.

“You know what we’re gonna do...” Taeka grumbled. “...OBVIOUSLY, WE’RE GONNA KICK YOUR BUTT!!”

“DRACOMON WARP DIGIVOLVE TO... SLAYERDRAMON!!”

“LOPMON WARP DIGIVOLVE TO... CHERUBIMON X!!”

“BLACKGABUMON DIGIVOLVE TO... SANGLOUPMON!! SANGLOUPMON DIGIVOLVE TO... MUMMYMON!!”

“RYUDAMON WARP DIGIVOLVE TO... OURYUMON!!”

“VEEMON DIGIVOLVE TO... VEEDRAMON!! VEEDRAMON DIGIVOLVE TO... AEROVEEDRAMON!!”

“DORUMON DIGIVOLVE TO... DORUGAMON!! DORUGAMON DIGIVOLVE TO... DOREGREYMON!!”

Chaos completely erupted, as all the Digimon charged at one another... Fighting with all the strength they could possibly use. The mega Digimon all charged at Belphemon, and all the ultimates, including ExTyrannomon, all attacked Myotismon... With all their strength, the ultimates combined all their attacks, instantly sending Myotismon flying, as he reverted back to his rookie form, Demidevimon. The ultimates then helped attack Belphemon, who seemed like he was corned...

“SEVENTH PENETRATE!!” But he quickly let out his powerful attack, shaking everyone off as they were sent flying into the mountains. Everyone hissed in pain, slowly standing up, but... They saw something. That familiar dark aura, which was forming around Demidevimon...

“DEMIDEVIMON WARP DIGIVOLVE TO...

...

...

...”

“BARBAMON... X!!”

Barbamon’s new form was now atleast twice the size of the original, both him and the Demondestined smirking with delight at his new form...

“DARK INFERNO!!” As Barbamon wastes no time attacking the group, blasting out a powerful dark flame...

“PANDEMONIUM LOST!!” And blasting out yet another, even more powerful attack, everyone getting slammed into the ground...

“SEVENTH JEWELRIZE!!” And letting out one more powerful attack, the Digimon all struggling to stand up, Barbamon not even breaking a sweat.

“Whoa... That’s some impressive power, Barbamon!” Belphemon says, in awe.

“Haha, of course only my partner could do some damage like that!” Elijah boasts, cackling. “It really is amazing, isn’t it-“ Elijah was suddenly cut off by an unexpected move from Barbamon, who suddenly stepped behind Elijah, grabbing him by the neck as he lifted him up a bit.

“Oww, what the heck are you doing, Barbamon?” Elijah grumbled, trying to wriggle out of his partner’s grasp. “Put me down!”

“Shut it, child! Now that I finally have my powers back, I have no reason to listen to you, anymore...” Barbamon growled.

“Are you nuts, Barbamon?! Put my brother down already!” Alec snapped.

“Whats Barbamon doing...?” Blaire worriedly mumbled, everyone cautiously backing away. 

“You pathetic child, did you seriously think I would suddenly become best friends with you just because we were partners?! All I did was use you to get my powers back, and now that I’ve done so...” Barbamon smirked, raising a clawed as he aimed for the Elijah’s back. “I can finally dispose of you.”

“Barbamon, what are you doing?! Knock this off!” Belphemon says, concerned.

“STOP IT!! PUT MY BROTHER DOWN!!” Alec screamed and pleaded. Everyone was screaming at Barbamon, a mix of desperate, angered, and upset pleas, horrified with disbelief... But Barbamon ignored everyone...

“Barbamon, stop this! Put me down and- GUH!!” 

Barbamon stabbed directly through Elijah’s chest, his bloody, clawed hand protruding out of Elijah’s chest. Elijah’s body fell limp to the ground, as blood sprayed out everywhere. Everyone screamed in absolute horror, some shielding their eyes at the horrific act Barbamon just did... Stabbing and killing his partner Elijah... Without a single care in the world.

“ELIJAH, NO!!” Alec screamed, tears trickling out of his eyes, as he ran over to his brother’s body.

“Barbamon, why the hell would you do that?! What’s wrong with you?!” Belphemon asked, clearly freaked out at his friend’s actions. “We never planned on doing this to our partners!!”

“Oh come on, Belphemon! You knew we were using these kids to gain our powers back!” Barbamon says casually.

“I mean, that’s technically true, but... We didn’t need to go this far!” Belphemon snaps. “Barbamon, you know humans don’t come back to life the way we do! This is going way too far, even for you!!”

“Is he... Really dead...?” Logan mumbled. Everyone was frozen in fear, watching Alec check Elijah’s pulse to really confirm that he was dead.

“Oh god, why...” Alec sobbed, wiping some tears off as he stared up at Barbamon, his sadness quickly becoming confused by pure rage. “HOW DARE YOU KILL MY BROTHER!!” Alec screeched, turning over to Belphemon. “BELPHEMON, KILL HIM NOW!! AVENGE MY BROTHER!!”

“Oh, come on Belphemon...” Barbamon smirked. “There’s no way you’d actually choose that child over me, right?”

Belphemon’s eyes darted nervously back and forth between everyone, thoughts swirling around in his head for a bit, making up his mind...

“LIGHTNING HORN!!” As Belphemon attacked Barbamon, Barbamon staring at him with a shocked expression.

“Barbamon, I’m sorry, but... You’ve gone way too far this time... I can’t support you anymore!” Belphemon says, Barbamon’s expression quickly turning to anger.

“Belphemon, you... Urgh... PANDEMONIUM LOST!!”

Meanwhile...

Leviamon was flying around in the mountains, Russell riding on his back, the two looking around the land for a sign of the others.

“Man, I can’t wait to find the others already...”Russell says, with an excited smile. “They’ll be so proud to finally see you in your mega form!”

BOOM!! Suddenly an explosion is seen in the distance, the two seeing the power from Belphemon and Barbamon’s fight. “Woah... That must be them.” Russell says. “Let’s hurry!” Excitement runs through the two as they get closer... But that excitement fades away when they finally arrive at the scene, seeing the horrific fighting going on... And their blood running cold when they see Elijah’s dead body.

“W-what’s going on here?! Is Elijah dead?!” Russell yells, staring down with a horrified, wide eyed expression.

“Ah, nice to see you, Leviamon...” Barbamon stares up, with a smirk. “But this here...? Don’t worry about it.” Barbamon then roughly kicks Elijah’s body, sending him flying down the mountain, out of sight, everyone screaming in horror.

“Barbamon, what have you done?!” Leviamon screamed. “You two, stop fighting now!!” Leviamon tries to step in between the two, only getting roughly tackled out of the way.

“Guys, we gotta get out of here, now!” ExTyrannomon pleaded, the Digidestined Digimon all trying to lead everyone out of the area.

“A-are you sure? Maybe we should...”

“No! We need to get you kids out of here...” Ouryumon cuts off Blaine. “We don’t want you kids to die too!” The Digidestined take this moment to leave the scene unnoticed, right in time, as Leviamon blasts out a powerful attack...

“SEVENTH LIGHTNING!!”

A day later...

It was later on in the afternoon, as the group starting making their way out of the mountains, walking alongside a beach... Since the incident they saw yesterday, the group was in an absolute depressed horror... They all walked with an awkward silence, wanting to get the image of the murder out of their minds... But it was all they could see, and think about. Everyone still didn’t know the whereabouts of Hoshi, Erik, and Jake... And at this point, all they wanted to do was find them, so everyone could finally be together again... And get all this fighting done and over with.

As they were walking, Lily stopped, looking over the surface of the water, as she saw something bubbling, like something was about to rise to the surface.

“Guys, look over there!” Lily pointed at the bubbles, everyone carefully watching...

POP!! As Jake’s head suddenly popped out of the water, everyone gasping. Then, more bubbles starting floating upwards... As more heads popped out of the water. Terriermon, Erik, Labramon, Hoshi and Kudamon, and Maildramon and Batamon. They all looked like they were being carried, as they were slowly carried over to the shore, being plopped onto the sand.

“Oh god, Jake!” Lily and everyone else ran over to everyone, the group all coughing, spitting up water, and gasping for air, everyone helping them up.

“Oh god, Erik... What happened to you guys?! Are you alright?” Blaine asked.

“Well, we’ve all been better...” Erik says, coughing, as he turns over to the water. “We got attacked by Leviamon, and... I’m sure we all would’ve drowned to death, if it weren’t for them...

Suddenly a tiny pink Digimon pops out of the water, a face that especially Blaine recognizes. “MarineAngemon?!”

“Hiya, Blaine! Nice to see you again!” MarineAngemon happily waves.

“Um... Did you carry all of them to shore on your own?” Ryudamon asks.

“Come on, you think I could carry all this weight on my tiny little back?!” MarineAngemon says. “Nah, I had these guys help me!” MarineAngemon motions to three other Digimon, faces that Axel, Allison, Lily and Logan recognize.

“Jellymon?! And the two Submarimon?!”

“Nice to see you all again...” Jellymon says, bowing. “We’ve been swimming for days, just to help bring your friends back to shore...”

“Yup! If it wasn’t for us, their lifeless carcasses would’ve been swept away in the ocean!” MarineAngemon says cheerfully.

“Wow, uh... Thanks for that imagery.” Blaine says sarcastically.

“Oh god, I haven’t eaten in days...” Jake groans, clutching his stomach as he puked up some water.

“Oh my god... Come on guys...” Lily says. “Let’s go find somewhere to rest.”

Sometime later...

The group said goodbye to MarineAngemon and the others, finding a small cave to rest in for a bit, making sure that the boys were all rested and taken care of, finally feeling a bit better. While the group was resting, everyone told Erik, Hoshi and Jake everything that’s happened so far these past few days that they’ve missed... Everything, from Elijah’s death, to Lila and Rosalie now being defeated... Clearly freaking out everyone.

“Umm, I think you guys are forgetting to tell them something clearly important here...” Lily speaks up, glaring and pointing to Tsukaimon. “Tsukaimon is literally Beelzemon! We’ve had a Demon Lord fighting for our side this entire time!” She states, earning a few gasps from the boys.

“If Beelzemon’s one of the Demon Lords, um... How come nobody else but Lily recognized him?” Logan asks.

“Lily’s the only one who’s battled and defeated Beelzemon, so she’s technically the only member of our group who’s seen him...” Axel says.

“Come on guys, how is no one else freaked out by this?!” Lily snaps.

“It is a bit strange...” Blaine says. “Tsukaimon, you mind explaining to us why you did so?”

Tsukaimon looked away for a bit, looking embarrassed as thoughts swirled in his head.

“It’s alright Tsukaimon, you can tell us...” Allison gives a sympathetic smile, patting Tsukaimon on the back. “Nobody’s gonna be mad at you...”

“Speak for yourself.” Lily grumbles, earning a quick glare from Allison.

“...Well...” Tsukaimon took a deep breath, finally ready to explain. “It’s a... Bit of a long story. The other Demon Lords, all of us are supposed to be a team, fighting against everything together, but... All they do is belittle me, always acting like I’m the weakest of the group! That day when Cherubimon and Lily defeated me... Barbamon could’ve helped me, but all he did was absorb my data for his own use! After that, I realized how much they really didn’t care about me, so... After that, I made my own plan. I was gonna find a way to revive myself, find my own human partner, and come back so I could get revenge on them all... Show them that I wasn’t the weakest one of them all. 

Little did I know that they were planning on doing the same thing as me... Allison, when you accused me of hiding something from you, you were right... I’m sorry. I’m sorry to all of you.”

“Whoa... Tsukaimon, let me ask you one more thing.” Allison says, with a serious tone. “This whole time, you’ve been manipulating and using us, but... Do you truly care about us now? About me?”

“Yeah, of course I do!” Tsukaimon responds. “Look, I honestly was just using you all at first, but... The more I got to know you guys, I just... You were all so patient and kind to me, no matter how much of a jerk I was... I was never given that sort of kindness from the Demon Lords... You guys are my friends now. And I can’t leave you all behind.” 

Everyone took in Tsukaimon’s words, with a mix of different expressions on their faces.

“Um... You’re all not... Mad at me, are you?” Tsukaimon asks.

“Of course not, Tsukaimon! You’ve always been a part of our team, and that doesn’t change today...” Veemon says, smiling. “We’re just glad you’re being honest with us now.”

“Honestly, after all that you’ve said to us... Even I can’t be mad at you anymore.” Lily says, everyone smiling, giving nods of reassurance, Tsukaimon smiling back as he felt a new sense of relief and happiness.

“Labramon, what are you looking at?” Erik asks his partner, who’s eyes were fixated on the outside of the cave.

“I... I think I hear someone coming.” Labramon whispers. Everyone quickly goes quiet, turning their attention outside, where they could hear the footsteps getting closer...

...And they see Russell and Syakomon come into view, everyone gasping quietly in a nervous shock.

“Whoa, calm down everyone!” Russell puts his hands up defensively. “Relax, I’m not here to fight anyone...”

“Um... So why exactly are you here then?” Lopmon asks, Russell nervously rubbing his arm, looking away a bit.

“Well, I actually, um... I wanna join you guys.” Russell says, everyone’s eyes widening with shock, exchanging hushed voices and expressions.

“Woah, um, sorry I asked... Um, maybe I should just-“

“No, don’t go!” Tsukaimon steps out, stopping Russell before he tries to walk away. “Guys, we gotta let them stay... They can really help us out!”

“Um, no offense Tsukaimon, but... You seriously think that’s a good idea?!” Terriermon says.

“Of course I do.” Tsukaimon responds strictly, him and Syakomon smiling at each other. “Leviamon... Or uh, Syakomon... He’s always been one of the only other Demon Lords who understands how I feel.”

“Yeah! We’ll kick their butts together, Beelzemon! Or uh, Tsukaimon...” Syakomon happily says, the two Digimon giggling.

“Russell, if you’re going to join us... We really need to know if we can trust you or not.” Blaine says strictly.

“Of course... I can tell you guys everything I know... And answer any questions you have.” Russell says, sitting down on the ground next to everyone.

“Ok, well... Here’s my question... What made decide you wanna join us in the first place?” Axel asks.

“Honestly... Since the beginning, I’ve never really felt like I fit in with all the other Demondestined.” Russell explains. “Never been as malicious as them, never got along with most of them, besides Alec... I just always felt out of place, like I didn’t belong there, and... Honestly, seeing Barbamon just... Kill Elijah like that, I... That was enough for me to prove this was too much for me to handle, so... I left.”

“Yeah, that makes a lot of sense... But now I have a question!” Labramon speaks up. “Since the beginning of all this... I’ve sensed a stronger, darker presence. Is there another, more powerful Digimon that’s helping you guys out?”

“Yes, there is... You’re right about that.” Russell answers. “Since the beginning, the Demon Lords have all had another Digimon that’s been helping them...”

“Do you know what kind of Digimon it is?” Blaine asks.

“Well, my answers gonna be a bit disappointing, but... I have no idea who it is.” Russell states. “Whoever this Digimon is, they... They never reveal themselves to any of us. For some reason, Lucemon’s the only one who’s allowed to see and speak to this Digimon... This Digimon lives in it’s own pocket dimension between both our worlds, so I’ve never seen what it physically looks like... Whoever they are, though, they’re incredibly powerful... They see everything that goes on between both worlds, and was able to scout out the whole of our world... Which is how us Demondestined arrived here, and was able to revive the Demon Lords...”

“Well, everyone except for Lucemon. Lucemon never wanted a human partner for some reason, even though the rest of us were on board with the plan...” Syakomon adds.

“Whoa... That Digimon must be the one who dragged Lila and Rosalie out of this world, when we defeated them...” Lily says.

“Russell... Where are the others right now? Where’s Alec, Barbamon and Belphemon?” Kudamon asks.

“Probably fighting to the death. I ran away from them last night, since it was too dangerous to go near them or try to help.” Russell says.

“Whoa, you guys... This is awesome!” Taeka says, with an enthusiastic smile. “Now that we’re all together, we can finally take out Belphemon and Barbamon with no problem... Then all we’ll have left is Lucemon, and that other Digimon!”

“Honestly, with the way Belphemon and Barbamon are acting right now... They’ll end up doing our job for us.” Russell says, catching everyone’s attention. “Ever since what happened yesterday, those two have been constantly fighting, not stopping until one has defeated the other... And with the way those two are fighting it out, they’re probably gonna end up killing each other... In fact, they might’ve done so already.”

Rrrrrrrrrummmmbleee.... Then, as if on cue, a sudden rumbling sound was heard somewhat close by.

“That must be them fighting right now.” Russell says.

“Guys, we gotta hurry and catch up to that fight! Let’s go right now!” Taeka says, everyone packing up their stuff as they get ready to leave.

“You two should probably get out of here...” Blaine says, turning to Maildramon and Batamon.

“You... Sure you don’t need our help?” Maildramon asks.

“We’ll be fine, but whatever battle is going to happen next is going to get pretty intense...” Blaine says. “So you guys should go find somewhere safe to hide out until it’s all over.”

“Aww... Alright then! But we’ll come back the second the fights over...” Batamon says. “Goodbye! Good luck to you all!” Batamon hops on Maildramon’s back, waving goodbye as Maildramon flies away, into the distance. Everyone then gets up, leaving the cave as they start making their way up the mountains, getting closer to the rumbling sound that shook the mountains... Until they finally arrived at the scene, where Alec, Barbamon and Belphemon were at. Belphemon and Barbamon were too busy fighting to even notice the group, who still ducked behind some rocks just in case. Barbamon and Belphemon were horribly damaged, their bodies covered in scratches and cuts, barely able to stand as their breath was shaky... Despite how tired Belphemon was though, this didn’t stop Alec from still screaming at him to kill Barbamon.

“Come on, Belphemon... Aren’t you... Tired of this yet?” Barbamon panted, a forced smirk on his face. “You know... You can’t... Beat me...”

“Urgh... DARK FIRE!!” Belphemon ignored him, attacking Barbamon, who’s face quickly twisted into a furious glare.

“...I have had ENOUGH of you now, Belphemon...” Barbamon growled, strong powers welling up in both of them...

“SEVENTH PENETRATE!!”

“SEVENTH JEWELRIZE!!” The pure force of both attacks created a huge explosion, everyone shielding themselves from the attack, which created a huge cloud of black smoke, and... When the smoke faded away, all you could see was Belphemon and Barbamon’s unconscious forms... Which both quickly poofed into dust, swirling slowly into the air... Alec and the others stood in frozen shock, watching the dust swirl around... As the familiar dark hand grabs ahold of Alec.

“...HOW PATHETIC. I THOUGHT YOU WERE ALL BETTER THEN THIS.” The dark hand growled.

“HEY!! LET HIM GO!!” Russell and Syakomon quickly run out of cover, trying to grab him from the hand’s grip... But to no avail, as Alec is pulled under, out of sight... Then, out of nowhere, everyone sees Lucemon slowly float down from the sky.

“LUCEMON!! Why does the dark one keep grabbing ahold of the others like this?!” Russell snaps.

“Oh, relax child! He’s not killing them or anything... Just simply bringing them back to your human world. No reason for them to stay here if their partners are defeated.” Lucemon stares up at Belphemon and Barbamon’s swirling data, grumbling to himself. “God, these idiots... We’re already outnumbered here, and they decided to kill one another?! Useless, but... Maybe I can put their data to use now.” Lucemon raises his arms, absorbing every bit of their data... Then, a dark aura forms around him, Lucemon’s form changing...

“Lucemon! Why would you take their data for yourself?! That’s selfish!” Syakomon snaps.

“Oh, shut up Leviamon!! The dark one knows you and Beelzemon are working for the Digidestined now... Goddamn traitors...” Lucemon grumbled, power welling up in him ready to aim at Russell and Syakomon. “And if that’s really the case... I’m taking you out first... DEAD OR ALIVE!!”

... And Lucemon fires.