Amidst the ensuing chaos, Dorugamon caught a glimpse of a familiar draconic figure and opened her maw to speak, only to cringe as the noise of destruction of chaos briefly overwhelmed her hearing. From where she and Zei were standing, they couldn’t exactly tell what was happening, but both knew it couldn’t be anything good and they were running out of time.

Suddenly, she picked up a small gasp from Zei and, turning to look at her and the Digivice she was holding, that gasp turned out to be the joyous hymn of progress. Trotting to her side, she noticed the screen now devoid of the static that seemed to hamper their Biomerge and now they both were certain that they were ready to go.

“About fucking time,” the Champion growled, a fanged grin spreading across her white muzzle.

Taking a deep breath, Zei turned to Jordan and Nocturnomon, a grim determination on his face. “We won’t hesitate now. Too many things are at stake,” she calmly said to them. “I don’t know what you both would do, but Dorugamon and I have made up our mind.”

With that, Zei turned around and watched Dorugamon took to the skies. As if guided by her partner, she began to run, one hand outstretched to the sky. Dorugamon’s white paw caught it and, with a twist in the air in a display of finesse on Zei’s part and trust from both sides, tossed Zei up before letting her land on her back.

Moments later, Dorugamon and Zei were soaring back towards Millenniummon. They still had quite a bit of distance to close and the battle between him, Examon Mordred, Dynasmon, UlforceVeedramon and Parasimon made it very hard to Dorugamon to close that distance. However, it seemed that her focus wasn’t about reaching the rabid Digimon. Instead, she landed on a nearby rooftop of an office building and looked up at Zei’s Digivice, the white item being surrounded by ribbons of data waiting to be used.

“No regrets?” she asked the human as she dismounted, her dark brown eyes looking at Millenniummon, and smiled as she slowly nodded.

“No turning back,” she replied with a nod, her voice low and, this time, devoid of the hesitation she felt in the past.

Both man and Digimon closed their eyes as the ribbons of data burst from Zei's Digivice coalesced around them, engulfing them and combining two flesh into one. The mass of data then solidified into an egg-shaped form, barely the size of a small car at first, that quickly expanded into one that could rival the present Mega Digimon in size. Just before the device disintegrated, joining the newly forming 'egg', the screen flashed with a short message.

BIOMERGE ACTIVATED. NEW MEGA DIGIVOLUTION INITIATED.

CODENAME: DORUGORAMON

To the hymn of destruction, the ‘egg’ hatched, the ‘shell’ splitting and ‘blooming’ into sakura petals before being absorbed by the beast within as she slowly spread her wings, steel and purple glinting against the sunlight. Though not as large as the present draconic Digimon, there was no missing her considerable bulk, compared to the Digimon present, and her physique reflected the man and beast that made her whole. The red gem on her head was the only clue of the Digimon she used to be as the Digimon’s mass landed on the building, her yellow eyes already focusing on the dreaded artificial beast.

A daydream of power and existence. A desire for the strength to fight and protect.

No longer bound by the chains of regret and fear, she was freedom given digital flesh.

A loud roar was her birth cry.

And the Final Enemy finally descended upon the human world.

Nocturnomon winced as it seemed Jordan was about to make reply to Dorugamon, raising his hand slightly. However, whatever was about to transpire was cut short by the burning explosion that followed the audible crack of the two lance bearers piercing the inner depths of the vile dreadnaught, whose massive cannons now rained raw molten death.

The boy was rendered silent by the roaring destruction. However, the Ultimate level Digimon was able to notice something that he was unsure if Jordan had seen. The eyes of the young woman before them seemed… hollow, broken somehow. The bat Digimon shifted his gaze to his partner, only to see the boy seeming to have locked up.

A choked breath slipped from his throat. He shook his head, the locks of shaggy brown hair tossing about with the motion. It‘s not real… It can‘t be real. his mind repeated to itself as his vision blurred, and the shadows of the alley around them seemed to shift in his eyes. His breathing became irregular, and he turned away from the others, almost as if to run. Nocturnomon moved only subtly, but it seemed enough to stop the boy. After a few ragged breaths escaped his lungs, he turned again, only to see a shimmer from the Digivice in Zei’s hand as she and Dorugamon took to the air. He had not clearly heard what she had said before she left, but now the words came to him.


Stunned for a moment, Jordan then placed his hand upon the Bat Digimon’s hunched shoulder before scaling the lanky arm and settling between the leathery wings. In the relative silence, Nocturnamon began to lift off, clouds of dust and ash being pushed by the massive wing beats. Now headed towards the epicenter of destruction, where titans clashed, Jordan steeled his face, an expression mirrored by the Digimon on which he rode.
“All or nothing. No holding back!”
Jordan reached for his worn Digivice, only for a textured light to shine from above, mildly distracting him. The pink warping of reality began to accelerate, and he could feel the power build within.
“What is that?” he breathed, his voice pervaded by a bewildered terror.
Not letting it distract him now, he held out the green device in his hand, a light sparking from the screen as Nocturnomon stopped, a green texture field similar to the one above beginning to form.
"Let's give it all we got!" Jordan declared, his voice practically cracking with the ferocity with which he spoke.
Punctuating this declaration, he removed something from the bag he carried. It unfurled itself, but seemed to be obscured, either by its own motion, or something from within. The object went for a considerable length, clearing up to reveal a rather simple shape. which Jordan's hand gripped to white knuckles, ending in three fierce tips. The field around them began to gain intensity, and an orange flame like color overtook the original green, gaining a black inner texture.
Biomerge, Activate! Ascend, Matrix Evolution!
Biomerge, Activate! Ascend, Matrix Evolution!
The 'egg' sealed around the two as the boundary between partners began to reduce itself. The few screens and monitors which remained intact began to flicker with static and energy, some even appearing to be in the process of displaying a message. Visible Digivices in the area seemed to have a similar effect, flickering between various symbols and broken text, sometimes appearing as though an error message was being given from an alternate source. The strands of data that composed the outer shell began to shift around their core as the entire object slowly settled to the ground. After a few moments of increasing in size, a great tremor was unleashed, and the ground beneath shifted, sending cracks through the pavement.

In a moment, the outer shell dissipated into mist, leaving only the glowing of eyes visible within. Large grey feathered wings stretched themselves for the first time, breaking the dusty cloud. The shifting of armor could be heard as the being within stood, large clawed gauntlets flexing and releasing slowly. Earthy toned armor encased the massive beast, whose ears and fangs, along with the wings, seemed to be the only thing not plated in armor. The gauntlets took a black sheen to their rounded surfaces as the blade like claws set themselves into a more relaxed position. A step revealed the brown armor of the legs, and a long, short furred tail that moved in an almost serpentine way. Eyes flashed red as a clang of metal heralded the opening of its jaws, as a sharp, diaphragmic roar was unleashed, sparks of flame flying in its breath.

Rodendramon was born.

Five Minutes Ago

As it was, Dorugamon had been the first to see Zei in the building; the moment MirageGaogamon realized the girl was nearby, he’d already had a small, struggling Champion-level Digimon shoved into his arms and was struck dumb by the sight of Millenniummon.

“Well, shit.”

“What are you standing here for?! We have to get going!” While being shoved from one Digimon to another was never a pleasant experience, at least she was still in the hands of someone who knew what they’re doing, or supposed to. Still, seeing Millenniummon up close and personal was enough to send her into a state of panic.

Ranamon hardly needed to tell MirageGaogamon twice; less than a second after she protested his inaction, the Knight shot through the air away from Millenniummon and the collapsing building, ending up several hundred meters away in a few seconds.

Clinging onto him for dear life, she was fortunate that he had the sense of keeping her close lest her tiny frame was thrown into the wind like a leaf. Through the gaps in his hand, she peeked out once he had stopped moving, only to watch in shock as, out of nowhere, Parasimon suddenly came down like a lightning bolt to the Human World, materializing right in front of Millenniummon.

“Well, he keeps his word, at least-” MirageGaogamon muttered, as Parasimon launched his attack on Millenniummon. The first of the two remaining Knights had offered assistance in the human world the previous day, and that assistance seemed well-timed now. Bought them some time, at least; and for MirageGaogamon, he’d have to use that time to find MonoGigimon, his Tamer and Guilmon, and find somewhere safe to drop Ranamon.

“Hold on tight,” He instructed Ranamon, giving her a few seconds warning before he shot off in a streak of light again-

And reappeared nearby Siggy, MonoGigimon and Guilmon, around the back of the building they’d been on top of a few minutes ago.

“Fucking hell,” Siggy grunted, almost falling over as the canine knight suddenly appeared out of nowhere. MirageGaogamon shrugged and just let the clearly frightened Ranamon down onto the ground below whereupon a concerned Guilmon quickly moved to tend to her as best as he could.

“I’ll assume there’s a reason you haven’t biomerged already?” MirageGaogamon was quick to the point on this one, and he got a very on-point answer from an unexpected source.

Yeah, that beauty over there is screwing around with his Digivice. Everyone’s Digivice, really. The Hazard still didn’t sound perturbed by that. That said, I’d give it about a minute tops before that wears off.

“And not a moment too soon,” MonoGigimon muttered to himself, as the tiny In-Training heard the roar of carnage and destruction from Millenniummon a distance away. Every moment Siggy and himself couldn’t Biomerge was a moment that Millenniummon would exploit to the fullest to level everything around him; and besides, if he was going to be shown up by anyone, it sure as hell wasn’t going to be Parasimon of all people.

“”Lord MirageGaogamon! Where are Lady Zei and Lady Dorugamon?!” By this point, Guilmon’s own composure was already at the brink of snapping. This situation wasn’t unique to him as Ranamon, now panicking from the Dark Area and back, looked at the unfolding destruction. “Someone please say we can at least get that… thing away from here!”

“Don’t worry, I’ll make damn sure we will even if it kills me.” Siggy was the first to reply to Ranamon in an uncharacteristically dark tone, one so dark it made both Rookies shudder for a moment. Not that anyone would get the chance to dwell on it- the moment after, MirageGaogamon cut back in over him.

“I lost track of them after that thing emerged- I can’t feel them right now, but they can’t be far.” He wasn’t getting any help from the Hazard at the moment; the second the eldritch bastard had chipped in, he’d promptly left off somewhere. With Millenniummon filling the air with a violent fug, he couldn’t rely on his senses, Hazard-enhanced or otherwise, to find them.

“Why were they there to begin with? I thought we have agreed that they would sit out of this,” Guilmon asked, then turned to Ranamon, a sharp look in his eyes. “You… I believe you are Lady Dorumon’s former partner-in-crime. Why are you all here? For that matter, why was Lady Zei here?”

“Okay, first off. One, I’m Ranamon, not just “Dorumon’s former partner-in-crime”. Two, we’re here because Zei knew the head of this organization… At least, she said she did.” The blue Rookie paused for a moment, recalling their conversation the night before, then added, “... To be fair, I don’t think either her or Dorumon were in any state of mind to stay back anyway.”

Siggy’s already dark expression only darkened- but a loud electronic whine suddenly distracted him from his thoughts.

“And not a moment too soon.” MirageGaogamon said, relief clear in his usually flat tone as he saw the young man’s digivice resume regular function- the moment of Biomerge was upon them. MonoGigimon’s body began to glow with a potent light, and MirageGaogamon chose that moment to take a step back.

“I’m not in the best state to fight that thing- but I can cover the ground and do what I can from there.” He saw MonoGigimon’s form morph into that of NeonGuilmon, and he paused. “Give that abomination all the hell you can bring, I’ll worry about everything else.”

“Let’s do it.” NeonGuilmon and Siggy spoke in unison as their bodies became fully emerged by light; and a moment later a massive mass of black data emerged, congealing and coalescing into a physical form.

MirageGaogamon hardly needed encouragement; as the data forms of his master and his tamer began to contort and twist, he snatched up Ranamon and Guilmon and once again blasted away at high speed.

“Hold on tight, you’re in for one hell of a ride!” MirageGaogamon roared to the two Rookies hanging on for dear life to his body, ignoring whatever protests they put forwards as, behind him, the vast form of Examon Mordred emerged and took into the air.

Nobody noticed the golden sheen that emanated from the Biomerged Mega as it formed, and as he lunged down at Millenniummon it faded as quickly as it appeared.
_____
PRESENT DAY, PRESENT TIME

A few minutes had passed since MagnaGarurumon had slide-evolved; the streets were clean of people for hundreds of meters around, and he could hear sirens in the distance as the city’s authorities responded the best they could to the scene of horror that was unfurling.

Ranamon and Guilmon had quietened down after a while; the grim scene of destruction around them helped in that regard, as did the occasional corpse of those that hadn’t made it. It served to keep MagnaGarurumon resolved and quiet, too. He had a job to do, a moment’s hesitation could cost him even more lives.

A few more minutes passed, and he weaved out further and further from the battle. A powerful blow to the front of a building freed a small group who had been trapped when the shockwaves collapsed the entrance, and he watched as they fled-

And froze as he saw what entered his field of vision.

Beelzemon cackled as he aimed at a group of fleeing civilians, firing the Berejena as BanchoLeomon leapt in between them to take the hit, roaring in pain. The lion hit the ground hard, struggling to rise to his feet before Beelzemon fired again, this time hitting his mark. Half a dozen people were blown apart by the sheer force of the shotgun shell, and the Demon Lord laughed in glee as he turned his gun to the head of the man he was clutching.

“Had me worried there for a second, you know!” He snickered as he jammed the barrel of his shotgun into the head of the whimpering salaryman. “Too bad you can’t seem to hit me now, can you? The way I see it, all I need are a few more random idiots still hanging around before I finish you o-”

The Demon Lord was suddenly and brutally silenced as something struck his face with a loud and vicious explosion of speed.

Beelzemon hadn’t been wrong about BanchoLeomon being unable to hit him- in the state the Lion found himself, recovery time stood between him and his mark, recovery time the Demon Lord would be all too happy to deprive him of.

But in the moment he had chosen to gloat, he had neglected to comprehend the other figure present.

“You piece of shit.” MagnaGarurumon’s voice was a low, inhuman growl of fury as his supersonic slug to the face shattered Beelzemon’s jaw and launched him clean across the street, and after snatching him up with all the speed he could muster, he lowered the terrified salaryman to the ground.

“How severe are your wounds?” This time, he addressed BanchoLeomon; addled with fury and still unable to focus with Millenniummon in the background, the Knight couldn’t make a decent approximation of the lion’s state.

A bestial snarl answered him as the space around BanchoLeomon exploded into a swirl of black flame, tearing off in the direction Beelzemon was launched in. In no time at all, BanchoLeomon Ruin Mode caught up to Beelzemon, slamming a fist into his face with one arm before hurling him to the ground with the other, planting a foot on his chest.

“...The sad thing is, I can’t call you wrong.” BanchoLeomon hissed, his fury directed at both the being before him and himself. “Sixteen people. I let sixteen people die. That number could’ve been taken down to one. Time to make up for my mistake.” The lion raised a claw, plunging it down towards Beelzemon’s chest. But Beelzemon had been prepared. With a herculean grunt of effort, he exploded in a blaze of sickly yellow aura, giving him the strength to yank himself to the side. BanchoLeomon’s black claw punched through Beelzemon’s left arm instead of his chest, separating his forearm from the rest of his limb at the elbow. Screaming in pain, Beelzemon rolled away, gasping for breath as the aura around his body faded.

BanchoLeomon narrowed his eyes, picking up the limb that he had severed from Beelzemon. He glanced at the still glowing Crest on the hand and smiled sadistically. “Well, well. Was that the source of your power?” The black lion tightened his grip, crushing the arm in his hand and loading its data into his body, including the Crest.

“NO!” Beelzemon roared, clutching the stump of his left arm with his right. “No! Damn it!” The black-clad Mega sunk to his knees. “Bastard…” He snarled as a black circle began to envelop the ground around him. “I hope you take that power and choke on it.” And without another word, he dropped through the circle, disappearing entirely as it closed above him.

BanchoLeomon stopped in his tracks, scowling as Beelzemon managed to flee from him. He moved to punch the ground in fury, but paused as he felt a new stream of power running through him. Good. At least something positive had come from this entire mess. It didn’t matter to him where his source of power came from. If he could use it, he would. More power never hurt. As these thoughts flowed through his head, Beelzemon’s former Crest appeared on his torso, and the power BanchoLeomon felt from it grew. He could use this power. Use it to kill that abomination in the sky. He would make that thing pay for hurting his friends. Nothing threatened those he cared about and lived. Nothing.

But as these thoughts went through BanchoLeomon’s head, the well of power that had been rushing through him suddenly faded away, and the Crest on his chest did so as well. Confused, BanchoLeomon slumped to the ground as he let Ruin Mode fade.

There were footsteps from behind him. A voice spoke up before he turned.

“I’ll save questions about this later.” MagnaGarurumon sighed, audibly strained from what had just happened. The last time he had seen Beelzemon, he had been headed into the Tokugawa building; he had been far from fond of the Demon Lord, but there was a definite disparity in behaviour between what he had seen then and the practical inhuman monster he had seen slaughter the humans he had tried to save. He shook his head, cleared himself of those thoughts. “Don’t worry yourself with this; Examon and the others need all the help they can get with that monstrosity right now, let me take care of things on the ground for now.”

His tone wasn’t particularly authoritative; but it wasn’t intended to be. Rather, the Knight just seemed tired, and it seemed he was trying to address BanchoLeomon like he would any other comrade. Any other friend.

BanchoLeomon glanced up, nodding at MagnaGarurumon. Then he glanced up at the scene in the sky above them, and slowly turned back to the wolf.

“...You realize I can’t fly, right?”

The battle raged around Dynasmon but he was focussed on his attack, so focussed that he was unable to notice the death of Beelzemon or the birth of the massive dragon digimon over the battlefield. He shivered, as he watched his attack barely even cause the abomination to flinch while the other digimon managed to deal much more damage than his own greatest attack could. With a roar of his own, Dynasmon's attention snapped upwards to the greater dragon. "OH HELL!" he roared "More enemies or a friend?" He wondered aloud.

He withdrew within his mind for a moment, letting Elle and Wizardmon converse again.

"What do we do?" Elle asked her partner "Even IF the others are in better shape than us, I don't think we can take on that abomination AND this newcomer if it attacks us."

"You're such a downer sometimes." Came the reply "You know we have another level, we can become stronger. Besides we're not the only ones around, there's plenty of us to fight that thing if it attacks us. But for now it's doing nothing while the abomination kills people." Wizardmon gave Elle a grimace and winced, he was still injured, much like Elle herself was.

"We wouldn't last long in a second fight, we would probably die" Elle tried smile and started to say something else.

Dynasmon suddenly and instinctively snapped out of the conversation so that they could dodge stray blasts that the abomination had fired, they could only watch, not fast enough to save any of the pedestrians who disintegrated from the blasts. Though they saw a blue flash fly past the location they only logged it as yet another attack of some kind.

"Okay" Elle said "The abomination first, then the dragon, let's end this." Wizardmon nodded and began glowing, releasing the last reserves of his energy and combining it with Elle's own life force. It took them significant effort but they managed to release the energy into their combined form. Dynasmon eventually began glowing himself. He started growing larger and obtained a green tinge to his armour as well as additional parts, giving him a more regal look. "DYNASMON SAGE MODE!" He roared aloud as he finished the transformation and blasted the energy barrier that had surrounded his change aside.

"Okay, time for this to end." He muttered to himself, lowering his gaze to the abomination and quickly calculating. "I'm gonna punch that fucker." He drew back his wings, causing a blast of wind behind him as he launched himself as fast as he could and drawing his hand back "DRAGON COLLIDER!" He roared, gathering energy in his palms in preparation of the impact.

Ulforceveedramon continued to circle and fire strafes into the beast, but they were overall very ineffectual. When large strikes came from Dynasmon, then Parisimon, then Examon, UlforceVeedramon flew a fair distance away and helped MagnaGarurumon move away people from the damage, his speed more useful at this task than direct assaults. Although the battle had only gone for a couple minutes it already seemed like a mountain compared to the hills they all faced less then a few days ago.

Taking a few moments to look over their best scenerio, UlforceVeedramon sighed.

Well we aren't Duftmon you know. Strategy isn't our main thing.



Say that to me when we're all dead because none of us have a plan but MON SMASH! Look, I'm just going to use as much logic as I can on this one, alright? You guys tell me if I'm right or wrong.

Fine. Okay.

Minimizing damage. Fuck buildings, we need to save lives. We also don't know what the power level is on this thing, even if it CAN run out of energy. So, containment?

Yep. Agreed.

There are three ways to go. Up, Down, or Away. So either into orbit, underground, or away from any life we can get it from

Fair. Agreed.

So best overall direction would be higher in the air and closer to water, which the bay is like... four or five miles South East of here?

...It's a plan at least. Best option of a very shit pile.

Thanks for the vote of confidence.

Looking around UlforceVeedramon heard another loud yell from the sky. Another Dragon Digimon of some sort just appeared, along with a winged digimon. "Well, shit. I hope their friendly," said the Blue Knight, dashing back up into the sky. There he found Examon, Parisimon and Dynasmon in the air, the last of them beginning to charge an attack. Bolting towards Examon and Parisimon the Blue Knight called out to Dynasmon, then the others. "Dynasmon! Hold your attack! Hey Hazards!"

Flying as close as he could to speak to Examon and Parasimon, hopefully Dynasmon too, if the attack was possible to stop. "If any of you have a better idea I'd love to hear it, but here's something: Get this damn thing higher in the sky, away from civilization, and move Southeast at the same time, getting it closer to water. No idea if it can drown, but at least damage will get minimized," UlforceVeedramon explained as quick as he could, but slow enough so they could understand his words. "If not, we can just keep trying to blast it with all our energy and make a goddamn black hole while we're at it and really give it to Tokyo the hard way."

The moment the terrifying scream of fury filled the air, it took more than a little effort for Examon to resist flinching. Only the urgency of the fight before him kept him from turning back to face whatever it was that had chosen to join the battle, as well as-

“It’s not important!!!” Parasimon yelled at him, as the insect knight shot into the air to avoid an attack from Millenniummon, throwing out a storm of strikes with his lance that were all deflected by the raging monstrosity, “Just keep fighting and we can deal with that thing later!”

Examon didn’t offer a reply, only gripping his lance tighter before joining Parasimon in his attack. Whilst the two would fare poorly on their own, their teamwork was turning out effective- with similar styles and almost identical abilities, the two co-ordinated well in battle and managed to leave lasting damage, no matter how small, on the monstrosity before them.

But it just wasn’t enough, and for every slight wound they inflicted on the beast, it gathered more and more power to level the city with.

They doubled back, avoiding multitudes of sloppy attacks from the enraged Millenniummon-

"If any of you have a better idea I'd love to hear it, but here's something: Get this damn thing higher in the sky, away from civilization, and move Southeast at the same time, getting it closer to water. No idea if it can drown, but at least damage will get minimized.”

When UlforceVeedramon got himself involved again.

“You think it’s that fucking easy?” Parasimon just about snapped at the blue knight, as he pointed to the berserk Millenniummon. “It doesn’t matter how strong we are, we can’t make that thing move by ourselves!”

“He’s right, Ulforce,” Examon muttered, in reluctant agreement with Parasimon. “We’re going to need more power than the two of us to drag that thing anywhere, let alone a few miles into the sea-”

Examon didn’t quite get to finish his sentence. As the Royal Knights argued among themselves, Millienniummon roared, firing the cannons on its back, sweeping across the sky as he tried to hit the gnats before him.

Examon and Parasimon were quick to respond, priming their shields and overlaying them before the torrent of destruction. They held fast for a few seconds, as they had before, and then as it finally gave way and the attack burst through, the Knights had scattered in different directions.

“Shit…” Examon hissed, as he saw Parasimon dive down towards Millenniummon with a primal scream of fury, and as he lost sight of UlforceVeedramon. This was going nowhere fast, he’d lost track of half their number, and- “Is that Dynasmon?”

As Dynasmon rushed in with his Dragon Collider, Millenniummon screeched in alarm, desperately trying to swerve out of the way of the Knight’s fist. Dynasmon’s massive punch only managed to clip the abomination, but the sheer force behind the attack interrupted Millenniummon’s flight, knocking him towards the ground before he righted himself in midair, screaming incoherently in fury.

And he was joined a second later by another incoherent scream, this time as Parasimon saw his opportunity and blasted downwards to tackle the startled Millenniummon head-on, throwing the entire weight of his body and all the force he could muster into the Digimon’s chest and knocking him several hundred meters back through the air.

“WRYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY” The insect continued to scream, absolute fury fueling every movement he made as he tore through the air after Millenniummon again, not content to give him even a second’s respite.

Startled for a moment, Examon just shook himself and prepared to jump back into the fight-
Just as Dorugoramon, having taken the time to fly into the fray, made a beeline charge right from behind Examon’s gigantic wings, an equally incoherent primal roar and flames of fury trailing as she tackled Millenniummon in the chest.

‘... So that’s what made that noise,’ Siggy thought to himself, within the union of minds. The dragon was massive- still smaller than Examon or Parasimon, and Millenniummon by proxy, but still large enough that it utterly dwarfed everything besides them. Not helping were the vivid, violent flames blazing across its claws, but worst was-

‘Something about this thing feels off,’ Examon grumbled, also within the link, to Siggy. It was more than the Digimon’s sudden appearance- there was a feeling it was giving off, familiar but utterly wrong. It made both of them feel distinctly sick to their stomachs, perhaps even worse than Millenniummon had.

“... Just keep fighting...” Examon Mordred muttered to himself, readying his lance again as he began to move through the air. As horrid as everything seemed, all he could do was keep fighting- there was too much at stake to falter for any longer.

Chaos, noises, smoke and fire.

These were all nothing but peripheral events outside of Dorugoramon's feral focus, inconsequential and unimportant. She could see other Digimon around her, all fighting the same enemy she was engaging, but they didn't matter; none of them mattered. She couldn't care less about what they chose to do as long as they didn't get in her way. To her, all that mattered was Millenniummon and her sinking her fangs into said Digimon. A primal thrill and fury, something of a deep-seated bloodlust, were her only drives and they were more than sufficient to motivate her.

With a feral snarl, the dragon glared right into Millenniummon's eyes and suddenly crouched down, keeping her body low in comparison to the others. She began to stalk and circle the abomination, her eyes completely glued to him, and would occasionally lunge at him to feign an attack, though she would still slip real offensive strikes every now and then to keep the monster occupied and to keep him from catching on to her ruse. Her roars and screeches only served to make her look even more animalistic, even compared to the likes of Parasimon.

Strangely enough, when her behavior was examined from an outside view, it was almost as if... she was herding him towards the open body of water nearby. While there was no doubt about her ferocity and seeming lack of higher intellect, she wasn't completely dumb and, as it turned out, she had been listening to what the other Digimon around her were saying. Why she chose to assist them was a question only Dorugoramon knew the answer to.

As the stupor of evolution ceased, the armored beast took a slow step, asphalt boiling under his feet. The blank expression of glowing eyes swept over the city, sharpening as the abomination that was Millenniummon came into view. As the god beast took its first step in the Real World, the earth and stone of the besieged city seemed to resonate with their newfound master. Even at the sight of the battle, where the mysterious, blade adorned Dragon circled the colossal beast, the layer of dust and debris that had gathered began to rise into the air, creating a low hanging mist.

With a mighty leap, Rodendramon's grey wings unfurled, feathered dragging against the black armor upon his back which resembled some form of aeronautic ducting. The Beast Digimon rushed down the empty street before taking to the sky, a cyclone of dust drawn along in his wake. Claws spread, glinting with sparks of light and flame, a shimmer of data appearing on the beast's right arm as a kite like shield emblazoned with a dual counter spiral Crest appeared. His assent made pause in the sky, glints of data forming in each outspread hand, and the ground began to tremble. Raising his hands, the Digimon looked down upon the beast it looked to slay. With what seemed like a snap of realization, the sparks of data ceased to exist. Rodendramon could not effectively fight Millenniummon here, and he very well knew that.

In mere moments, he was careening forth, falling from the sky, wings tucked back, wind rushing past his face. He knew he would have to strike somewhere fast- where he would be able to do the most damage with the least effort, at least for now. No, that wasn't an option, not with the way it was moving. Drawing the abomination towards a large, open area would be the only option, and the only such area would be the ocean. The fight, at that point, could be conducted well enough, but controlling Millenniummon's path would be the more difficult matter, for the time being. Rodendramon sailed past the other combatants, roaring with a primal fury as he latched himself upon the beast's upper arm. Digizoid claws slashed and tore at the joint, as the Biomerged Mega sank sharp teeth into synthetic flesh. The Earth God gripped and tore, as though trying to remove the beast's arm altogether.
A loud roar broke out from the attacking Digimon, wings beating as it retreated, making himself amply visible as he retreated past the synthetic Digimon's head, and past its back. Landing once again, Rodendramon roared once more, gathering the floating debris to himself. Then, he simply, stood, waiting, eyes locked on the colossal abomination before it.

He was using himself as bait.

Millienniummon roared. With no greater intelligence beyond that of a mere animal, the beast fell for Dorugoramon’s ruse, chasing after the irritating pest that was chipping away at it. As Rodendramon charged it, the abomination howled in pain as the Mega tore at its arm. Enraged, Millienniummon dove straight for Rodendramon and the open ocean behind him.

Which was all the opening that Parasimon and Examon needed to throw themselves into the fray.

The two Hazard Knights readied their shields, and dived into Millenniummon’s back with all the force they could bring to bear. The hideous flames, strong as they were, couldn’t perforate the shield quick enough to scorch the two, and their assault sent Millenniummon further and faster towards the water.

Screaming his cry of war, Parasimon continued to dive after Millenniummon, continuing to slam into the monster with his shield raised as he was finally forced over the bay from the city. Even as Millenniummon turned with a roar and prepared to open fire on the insectoid knight, it was only greeted by a full-force tackle into the slowly-cracking crystalline mass on its chest-

And by a white-hot volley of fire from above.

Roaring the same deranged war cry as Parasimon, Examon’s lance released countless burning shells onto his target, the bullets distracting Millenniummon as the other Knight forced it further and further downwards into the waters waiting below.

And then from high above, MagnaGarurumon hurled BanchoLeomon down towards the falling beast. The lion rocketed down through the sky, cocking his fist back as black aura surrounded his body.

“Blow him to pieces!” MagnaGarurumon screamed from up high as he threw the lion with all the strength he could muster, before he joined Examon in opening fire on Millenniummon.

The abomination’s reaction was as expected- too caught up in its rage and the sharp pain from the rounds, it covered its face with its massive talons-

Playing straight into the plan the two had formed as, unimpeded, BanchoLeomon reached its crystalline chest and smashed his fist deep into it.

“Hit him!” BanchoLeomon bellowed as he raised his other fist and started smashing his way towards Millenniummon’s core. “Kill him now!”

Millenniummon was almost silent as the crystalline growth was demolished by the assault, and as BanchoLeomon began to tear his way through- simultaneously overwhelmed by rage and pain, all it could do was let out a low, psychotic snarl as the barrels of the cannons on its back began to swirl with power even greater than what it had unleashed earlier-

But it was futile.

“WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGH” Examon roared, diving down and driving his lance’s blade into the now-strained flesh of the abomination’s upper-right shoulder. Not even a moment later, the attack became twofold as Parasimon took the opportunity to drive his own deep into the space between Millenniummon’s body and lower left arm.

The energy swirling around the cannons grew static, and then began to struggle before sputtering out. The flames on the monster’s back became less acrid, and then began to recede.

It was working. Millenniummon was one foot in the grave.

With a zealous, primal fury, Dorugoramon chased the weakened Millenniummon while the other Digimon were laying relentless blows one after the other. Her gold eyes glistened with hunger like a predator ready to close in on its tired prey. However, as the concrete landscape was replaced by the familiar sight of the blue above and below, the dragon suddenly stopped following the battered and seemingly dying abomination. A soft growl escaped her glistening maw as her yellow eyes took upon the watery landscape that was the addition to their ever-expanding battlefield and the gears inside her seemingly beastly mind began to click and turn...

"SKREEEEE!!!"

Within seconds, what bravado and primal rage she had in her was suddenly replaced by what seemed to be abject terror, judging from how she suddenly flinched and shrieked, then refused to go anywhere near the oceanic terrain. Even though swimming shouldn't be that much of a concern to a flying dragon, for some reason, the otherwise powerful Mega Digimon refused to go near the water where she had worked to lure Millenniummon to.

She latched onto a miraculously still-intact roof and roared at the weakening enemy, clearly eager to have a piece of it herself yet, for unseen reasons, too scared to even fly above the ocean to get to it. She could be seen glancing back and forth between Millenniummon and the aquatic terrain fearfully with every agitated noises she made. Given her shape and physique, swimming shouldn't be such a big issue for her, yet it was as if she refused to even entertain the notion of having to do so. It was a stark contrast to her earlier animalistic tendencies. It was a fear that was almost human...

... something that one of the other combatants might find suspiciously familiar; in particular, a certain mad dragon.

Hearing the attitude and what almost sounded like fear from Parasimon made UlforceVeedramon want to punch him. Preparing a retort as Examon spoke the conversation quickly ended with a roar from Millienniummon. Turning his head around to face the beast's stare Ulforceveedramon was greeted with a pair of energy blasts from it's canons. With a quick dive downwards the blue knight separated himself from the pair, growling in annoyance. "Fine. I guess I'll do it myself."

As Dynasmon's Dragon Collider knocked the beast down a few stories UlforceVeedramon chose to fire a few quick bursts into it's face, then moved towards the direction of the bay. He was quickly joined by two other unique digimon. One the form of a draconic humanoid, the other an earthen warrior. Both of them, while aggressive and wild with their attacks, seemed to be goading Millienniummon in the direction he wanted: the open water.

Wow, there actually seems to be a decent amount of progress.

You don't have to sound so surprised. I'm halfway decent at planning.

I think it's warranted. Our last couple of plans didn't turn out well.

Plans are meant to be adapted!

Well, adapt it now. It's over the water. Suggestions? Or should we go ask for council from Duftmon's remnants inside BanchoLeomon?

...Disabling. Eyes, Guns, Limbs. Tear it apart until its no more.

Gross. I like it!

Using his speed UlforceVeedramon down above from below the crippling beast. Getting in front of Millienniummon's face the blue knight charged his energy into his chest plate and bracelets. After BanchoLeomon tore through his chest and both Examon and Parasimon's dual stabbing to each side UlforceVeedramon released his trinity rays into Millenniummon's roaring facing, aiming all three purely for one eye at a time, hoping to blind the beast. Dodging the flailing of all the arms Millieniummon had was a difficult task while firing beams into said beasts eye sockets.

"You all hated the plan SO much, huh?! Here's another one: take off his fucking cannons!", UlforceVeedramon shouted particularly to Examon and Parasimon, but knowing there were at least five other Digimon attacking, hopefully one of them could attempt to separate the fused flesh and metal.

"OUAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!"

A mighty bellowing roar sounded from the bay as the colossal behemoth closed in. Arms spread, claws at the ready, the earth hewn beast welcomed the abomination's entrance into the open area. Behind the monstrosity that was Millenniummon, the vortex that had followed Rodendramon closed in. The mass of turbid air slammed itself through the battle, seeming to flow mostly indiscriminately, at least at first. On further inspection, however, the streams of dust and debris seemed to be filtering through Millenniummon's wounds, tearing past its synthetic flesh, stinging its eyes with course grains.

As the torrent of dust subsided, seeming to gather and fall into the sand at Rodendramon's feet, the Beast Digimon dropped, loping forward, snarling as he approached the fight. Thought it lasted only an instant, an upward glance showed the figure of the Dragon Digimon upon a nearby rooftop, shrieking at the fight below. The pause in the pounding gait was barely noticeable, but soon the pace quickened. A swift jump, and Rodendramon was soon clambering up Millenniummon's arm. Once he reached the top left shoulder, no doubt after a few close calls, the God Beast Mega began to slash and tear, feet pressing against the monstrosity's body and wings beating as his grip on the limb strained.

He was trying to take the freak of data apart, one piece at a time.

‘Mouthy little cunt, isn’t he?’ Parasimon mentally grumbled to Examon over the Hazard link, his tone implying he’d like nothing more than to clock the Biomerged Knight with a good solid blow as UlforceVeedramon started lecturing them. With the two Hazard Knights working on disabling Millenniummon’s arms, they couldn’t move far from their current positions, leaving the cannons to sputter out and begin to lose traction with the creature’s body by themselves.

‘Don’t you even start,’ Examon grumbled back, far from in the mood for the attitude from Parasimon or even UlforceVeedramon himself. “Shut up and get to work yourself!” He started, yelling at his fellow Knight as he drove his lance deeper into Millenniummon’s flesh. With Rodendramon seizing and savaging the other arm on Parasimon’s side, only a single arm of Millenniummon was left unimpeded by attack. UlforceVeedramon’s own contribution seemed effective enough, as the beast began to scream as the Trinity Rays made successful contact with its eyes.

“Quit your whining, I’ve got it!” BanchoLeomon roared over at the two as he delivered one last punch to Millenniummon’s ridiculously hard Digicore before vaulting up the beast’s body and onto its shoulders. From there, he gripped the right cannon with both hands and pulled. With a herculean grunt of effort, he started to rip the cannon out inch by inch.

The abomination in the sky screeched in distress as it was ripped apart from all sides. UlforceVeedramon’s attempt to blind it seemed successful, distracting it with pain to severe for it to pay attention to the efforts of Examon, Parasimon and Rodendramon. Bit by bit, Millienniummon began to come apart. As BanchoLeomon tore both cannons out, he leapt back down towards the beast’s chest and went back to trying to smash its core.

And that was when the arms came off.

A raging torrent of black, burning blood came bursting out of the mangled stumps of three of four of Millenniummon’s arms, and myriad screams filled the air; one of mortal and overwhelming rage and pain from Millenniummon, and two deep roars of triumph from the two Hazard Knights.

Examon doubled back as he dropped the arm he had torn from Millenniummon’s body into the ocean below, dodging a clumsy, futile swipe from the blinded abomination as it was further crippled. Setting down on the edge between the Tokyo mainland and it’s bay, he saw Parasimon grip another of Millenniummon’s limbs in two of his own four arms, and saw Rodendramon disappear from sight.

“SKREEEEE!!”

He was about to leap back into the fray when he heard the sounds of fear from behind him.

Out of instinct, he turned, and was greeted with the sight of Dorugoramon, perched on a rooftop with no intention of heading over water to try and savage Millenniummon as it had done earlier.
He narrowed his eyes, staring at the Mega.

The feeling from earlier returned. Millenniummon had been within the realm of expectation, but this new Digimon was a complete anomaly. Furthermore, every Digimon he knew had come to the Human World to prepare for battle had been accounted for-

All but one.

As gears turned in his head, Examon wondered why he hadn’t realized it sooner- the distinct feeling of wrongness about Dorugoramon had been one thing, the logic of its appearance was another- but now the sound of its fearful cries at the sight of the water before it...

‘... Hydrophobia.’ Siggy whispered to himself, within the union of minds.

Meanwhile, the scene over water was far less solemn.

As he tore the limb free of Millenniummon’s body and dodged its furious counterattack, the air was filled with a deranged, triumphant chorus of laughter from Parasimon. The Insect Knight’s body began to darken with a sickly black aura as he tightened his grip on the severed arm- the destructive power of the Hazard coursed through the limb, breaking the super-dense data down.

Millenniummon had been an abomination, no doubt. But now that he was able to sample some of its data, Parasimon could see that it was an order of abomination far above even him- the data in the artificial Digimon’s arm alone felt like several whole Digimon torturously and hideously forced together into a form they didn’t belong in, and the sheer quantity of different data types was horrifying. It had been a challenge enough newly-formed- Parasimon shuddered to think what it could have become given time.

But that feeling of horror was nothing before the sense of power he felt as he absorbed the mass of broken-down data from the abomination’s arm. His body began to overflow- the temporarily-stable mass began to feel the tell-tale signs of degradation, much like what he had experienced the day before.

It was too much data, and he had to get rid of it somehow.

Thankfully, he had a way.

With a clear view of the empty distance behind Millenniummon with his position in the bay, Parasimon’s body began to glow as he called on the reservoir of Spirit Elemental energy within him.

He considered calling on the Brahmastra again- but he thought better of it. He was here to stop Millenniummon, not ruin the city more permanently than the abomination ever could. So he reached deeper into the reservoir, seeing what his years of using the spirits had to offer him before-

‘Perfect’, He thought to himself, as he found and settled on the very technique that the Brahmastra had been derived from. Inefficient and unwieldy, but absolutely perfect for the situation.

“GET CLEAR!” Parasimon roared to everyone that was still within range of Millenniummon, as a distinctive golden diamond formed before him.

Nodding up towards Parasimon, BanchoLeomon kicked off of Millenniummon’s chest, firing off a black-tinged Fist of the Beast King at the core as he did so. The blowback from the blast pushed him clear out of range of whatever Parasimon was about to unleash, and the lion plummeted towards the ocean as gravity took hold.

As above him, Parasimon let loose a savage, raging blast of heat and light from the diamond, the entire world seeming to become nothing more than a tremendous inferno as the Knight forced every bit of the data he’d taken into the attack.

And as the Omega Burst hit Millenniummon head-on, a piercing scream of rage, pain and fear filled the air, loud and desperate enough to cut over both the roar of the blast and the sound of the water below boiling.

A torrent of primal, but mixed feelings swirled within Dorugoramon.

On one hand, the crippling fear she experienced at the sight of the expanse of blue meant that she was stuck on her perch, crying like a frightened hatchling. She didn't seem to care why that feeling of terror existed; to her, it was just there. She could just flew over the water, but that idea only fed her hydrophobia and made her even more agitated. It was clear that she wasn't going to cross the Tokyo Bay anytime soon to get to Millenniummon, even though it was clear that the others were taking it apart, something she had been dying to do the moment she opened her eyes.

On the other hand, it frustrated her to be unable to reach the abomination and that frustration was building up, fueling the inner fury she was born with. She wanted it dead just as much as the other Digimons around her and it pissed her off to see them able to trash the weakened monster while she was stuck here, her body unwilling to move towards it. Examon Mordred, BanchoLeomon and UlforceVeedramon were all doing their part in utterly and completely savaging their common enemy. Even Rodendramon, which she nearly thought of as food at first, and the annoying pest-like Parasimon were being more useful, and inflicting more damage, against Millenniummon than she ever did. That sense of helplessness and weakness didn't sit well with the feral Digimon, even though she didn't fully comprehend why she was so angry about it.

The burning flash, followed by Millenniummon's desperate roar, was the straw that broke the angry camel's back.

With a savage snarl, Dorugoramon stood up on the slowly crumbling roof, pulled her arms back and felt nothing but heat as the metallic forearms and sharp claws were completely cloaked in raging fire that seemed to increase dramatically in intensity with every passing second, yet the raging flames didn't seem to bother her. She then took a strangely human fighting stance, her feet split while her knees bent to support her body, with her eyes completely glued onto Millenniummon's ravaged form within the beam of light. In a split second, the fire coating her forearms receded into the palms of her claws as she took flight once more.

Letting out a furious roar of her own, said roar acting as a warning to nearby Digimon to stay away and some sort of feral proclamation at Millenniummon, Dorugoramon unleashed her DORU Din, expelling an explosive shockwave of fiery fire in a condensed, beam-like form. With the air around the abomination already sizzling from Parasimon's attack, the resulting draft easily carried the attack over to further sear the battered monster.

Dynasmon had spent a small few minutes recovering from his attack. Clipping the massive digimon had thrown him off and his almost unstoppable speed caused him to continue on through several buildings before finally landing in one. It was there he lay, people around him, poking him and being curious as people often are. Those people, had managed to get out of the way of him and were also trying to wake him. For even though Dynasmon and his team had been destroying the city, they knew, somehow that it was MIlleniummon who would kill them all. Internally, it was Wizardmon who had taken on the job of trying to bring Elle back from her blank state. It was so worrying that he DeDigivolved from Sage Mode until he became plain old Dynasmon again, hoping to use the lasting power to revive his partner and keep them together as a digimon.

Inside Elle's mind, however, she was reliving all of the times she had run away, the times she had done nothing and hid like a coward while her friends had put themselves in danger. She had even Dark Digivolved and ruined so much once, she had had so much anger. She was still angry now but not in the same way. Suddenly, Elle's thoughts changed, she remembered when they had all first met. She remembered meeting DemiMeramon, and taking him to the beach. She remembered meeting everyone else there and then moving to the small beach house where they had had alcohol and laughter, it had been a good day. Elle smiled and finally woke, she hadn't run away this time and she wouldn't again. Though she would consider retirement eventually, with more times like that one hopefully.

"Sorry Wizardmon, I must have overslept." she said with a pained grin and looked at her partner, he looked terrible and was too tired to even come up with a witty retort. Outwardly, she thought of her current body, Dynasmon was damaged and scratched and she had no idea how they were still going. They just weren't quite as strong as their friends, even though they were Dynasmon together. With an audible effort, they sat up, scattering the humans aside. Dynasmon looked around and, out over the water, was Milleniummon being attacked and beaten to a pulp. "Let's go, I want to get this asshole." Said Elle, who watched as she saw the massive attack that the new, strange digimon threw out over the water and somehow knew that they only had one attack left.

"You know this one might kill us" Wizardmon cautioned, he knew what she was thinking and he'd calmed a lot. He was mostly thankful that she was alive even if they might die now.

"Aren't you supposed to be able to tell the future or something?" Elle remarked, causing Wizardmon to laugh

"If I am, I've never done it. I'll try it if we live, how about that?" He retorted and then they merged together, giving all of their anger, and strength to Dynasmon, who picked himself up and jumped from the window, spreading his wings and flying to the top of a building at the edge of the harbour.

"It's time." He muttered, absorbing the energy from Elle and Wizardmon and dragging the last of his own energy to his hands and being he brought them up to the sky and aimed at Milleniummon. He hoped the others would be out of the way, however. "Breath of Wyvern!" He roared, his voice carrying over the city as he released his energy into his greatest attack. The area above him glowed as, borne from his hands, spirit and strength, a massive flaming wyvern was born. Dynasmon did all he could to keep it steady and it's mind trained on only Milleniummon but he needn't have bothered, the semi-sentient attack was more than happy to go for something of that size and strength.

With the release of the attack, it was almost too much for them to hold together and they lay down on top of the tower, too exhausted to even check the damage that their attack had done. It was a miracle that they hadn't died and even more so that they hadn't split apart. They needed energy. Food mainly, but anything would do at that point.

As Dorugoramon added its outbursts of power to the assault on Millenniummon, Parasimon braced himself; before forcing the last of the data he’d taken out into a final explosion of flame that engulfed Millenniummon alongside the other attack.

Just one of the attacks would have been devastating to the crippled Millenniummon; as both ravaged it, the screams that had filled the air before fell silent. The Omega Burst and DORU Din scorched it, burning it’s already-ruined body down into a skeletal mass of charred flesh and data.

When the Breath of Wyvern came crashing in from above, it was just the final straw.

The world around the Digimon in the bay- already a chaos of heat, light and the scream of the seawater boiling beneath them- was filled with a tremendous noise, as if it was being torn asunder around them. Shockwaves blasted out as Dynasmon’s attack made full impact, and within the inferno of combined attacks, Millenniummon’s body could be seen shattering.

Slowly, the world returned to normal. Steam rose up through the air from the ocean below, but the harsh light and heat faded. The abomination’s corpse- mangled and unrecognizable after the onslaught it had been subjected to, and in countless pieces besides- fell down into the boiling water below, like a black rain.

The dark aura in the air faded. Millenniummon was dead.

BanchoLeomon leapt off of Millenniummon’s corpse as it was blasted, landing on the solid ground of the harbor as he watched the abomination fall.

“...Why hasn’t he exploded into data fragments yet?” He questioned, staring out at sea. “It should be happening by now.”

“... We never killed Kimeramon, did we?” Examon had watched the spectacle that had been Millenniummon’s destruction from his spot at the docks too- he’d lost sight of Dorugoramon amongst the chaos. “If we’re lucky, it’s down to a quirk of synthetic Digimon. If not- you had to leave Takeda alive, right?”

“In my defense, Beelzemon shoved me out the window before I could finish him off. Want me to go fix that right now?” BanchoLeomon folded his arms, grumbling.

“... What I meant was we can interrogate him for details on Millenniummon if you go get him.” Examon replied, slightly caught off-guard by BanchoLeomon’s killing intent. He wasn’t sure why, he’d come to expect this kind of thing from him- maybe he had too much on his mind at that moment. “Questions first, then we can see about putting one between his eyes.”

“I figured that was implied. Someone should probably keep watch here, though. Just in case he’s not dead.” BanchoLeomon shot back dryly as he leapt off back towards the Tokugawa Heavy Industries building.
---
With their victory secured and their enemy taking a well-deserved dive into the Tokyo Bay, in pieces no less, Dorugoramon let out a loud primal roar, the fire cloaking her arms raging into a torrent of inferno. However, the celebration was over as quickly as it started. As the fire abated and eventually disappeared, she switched to an equally feral, yet calm composure, like an animal pondering about its next path.

With Millenniummon now six feet underwater, she was now at a loss about her desire. All she had known up to now was an unquenched bloodlust to slay Millenniummon and it was that desire that precipitated her existence and drove her actions. Now that that desire was fulfilled, the Mega was left wondering about what she should do.

She neither had the desire to fight the other Digimons around her nor the desire to hunt for anything. For the first time in her existence, she felt a strange void inside her head. She could feel things within the recesses of her mind, buried under untold emotions, feral instincts and crumbling rational sanity. It was a strange feeling she was only just aware of now that her fury had been quenched, yet she couldn’t quite grasp what it was and she certainly didn’t seem to care too much about it. Still, that emptiness left her unable to come up with a new purpose for her existence.

Her claw slowly clasped at the cooling, yet still-tense air around them, as if trying to reach for something, yet not knowing what she was trying to grab onto. Looking down at it, she found it empty, as expected, yet she felt that there was something she still had yet to do, but she didn’t know what.

With no purpose in mind and with the hollow feeling nagging at the back of her feral mind, Dorugoramon let out a growl-like hum as she began to fly away, more than content to wander aimlessly until she found anything worthy of notice.
---
The steamy haze over Tokyo Bay began to clear as the assembled Digimon navigated their way out of it- and as Examon took into the air, the beating of his massive wings helped fan it away.

Now that Millenniummon was dead- or at least incapacitated- they had a small amount of time before some kind of chaos descended on them again. Many of them were quite winded after the fight and would most likely need to rest in case they were needed again.

One of them, however, had no such intention.

A loud roar pierced through the momentary calm. With the fog gradually clearing away, Examon could see the silver sheen of Dorugoramon’s body, the latter clearly losing interest in staying with Millenniummon gone. With a flap of her wings, it looked like she was going to move to wherever she saw fit, uncaringly leaving her allies behind.

And with BanchoLeomon going off to find Takeda and everyone else tending to themselves, Examon spread his wings and took after Dorugoramon.

One way or another, he was going to find out what had happened to her.

Masashi Takeda smirked ruefully to himself as the heavily-fortified door to his safe room was suddenly blown apart. BanchoLeomon lowered his fist as he stepped through the ruined doorway, glowing with light as he split apart into Lucas and Leomon.

“What’s the matter, Okada-kun?” Takeda chuckled as he lay back in his seat, relaxed even as Lucas leveled his pistol at the man, flipping the safety off. “Afraid that I’ll pull the same trick I did with your friend? Don’t worry. You saw how much electricity that machine took to power. From what I’m told, the building’s capacitors are blown out. Call it a drawback that R&D wasn’t able to fix before you came.”

“That’s nice.” Lucas spat as he placed his finger on the pistol’s trigger. “Tell you what, I’m going to make you a deal here; you tell me what I want to know, and you die clean. One headshot. You keep quiet or I think you’re lying, well, who knows. My aim might be a little off. You might take a while to go.”

Takeda laughed. “Vicious, yet strategic. How ironic that Hideki-san’s bastard is the one that’s the most like him.” Lucas snarled, raising his pistol, only for Leomon to lay a hand on his shoulder, shaking his head.

“Don’t let him bait you, Lucas. We’re here to get answers from this scum. Don’t let him get off easy just yet.”

Lucas exhaled, nodding. “Well, either way, I’m pretty sure I already know why you’re doing all this, considering your political affiliations, but I’d like to hear it out of your mouth. Just to clarify.” He said coldly.

“You’ve obviously looked me up. But you’d be correct: I want Japan to return to the height of its imperial majesty.” Takeda said, no longer smiling. “We were respected as an international power once. When I was a boy, before the war, we were raised to believe that we were a superior people. Asia was our birthright to take. Then we lost the war.” He spat bitterly. “And then came our humiliation. For over sixty years, we’ve bowed before the Western powers, tried to make ourselves look as harmless as possible. Now the rest of the world regards us as spineless salarymen and sexual deviants.”

“So what, you thought Digimon would make Japan a superpower again?” Lucas questioned, raising an eyebrow. “That’s not technically wrong, but what you’re doing here is almost as bad as Unit 731.”

“You imprisoned and experimented on sentient, intelligent creatures.” Leomon scowled, clenching his fists in anger. “And even held one of your own kind prisoner. How would you justify this?”

“Simple, really.” Takeda responded smoothly. “Anything to ensure Japan returns to the prominence it deserves. Compared to that, what are the lives of a few meaningless artificial intelligences and one insignificant girl?”

“No remorse, huh? I figured as much.” Lucas sighed. “Fine. Let’s get down to the real business then. Just one more thing until you can go.” He said.

___

“That’s everything, then.” Lucas said, satisfied with what he’d gotten. “You’ve kept your side of the bargain, so I’ll keep mine.” He raised his pistol to Takeda’s head, who simply nodded and smiled.

“Thank you for keeping your word.” He said, closing his eyes as Lucas pulled the trigger.

Bang.

Takeda’s brains splattered against the safe-room walls. Shaking his head, Lucas flicked the safety back onto his pistol, unloaded the magazine, cleared the chamber, and tucked it away, nodding at Leomon.

“Are you alright?” Leomon asked in concern, laying a hand on Lucas’s shoulder. “That was the first kill you’ve made on your own, without being Biomerged. I can’t imagine it was easy.”

“It wasn’t.” Lucas said with an uncharacteristic terseness. “But we’ve killed plenty already, haven’t we? First all those Digimon, and then we as good as killed those two dozen people earlier. Let’s just go. I’ve got one last thing to do in dear old dad’s office.”

By the time Rodendramon returned to where Millenniummon had been, after traveling quite some distance from the momentum of the arm's dislodgement, the beast was caught in a concussive blaze. Parisimon Mordred was releasing a violent torrent of flame, while a wave of pure energy, which seemed to defy all logic, was launched from the dragonoid Digimon, of which nothing was certain.

As the charred remnants of the abomination fell, the ascended Biomerged Mega dove after them. There was a flicker of driven madness in Rodendramon's eyes as he entered the frothy wake, falling with the defeated horror into the sea.

---

The water darkened quickly. All that time, the Earth Titan was struggling for control beneath the waves. Disoriented, Rodendramon drifted helplessly downward, barely able to see. Soon, however, the trail of bubbles and desiccated flesh became apparent. With his arms moving in great, scooping arcs, the Mega sought its target. Landing amongst the debris, Rodendramon began slashing and tearing, rending the mangled digital flesh asunder beneath the waves.

From the moment of her existence, Dorugoramon wasn’t a creature of peace and capable of elevated enjoyment of sensory stimuli, but the overall silence of what was left of the warzone seemed rather pleasing to her. It certainly didn’t distract her from wandering aimlessly and not having to worry about any other threat was also a bonus.

Despite the fact that she was covered from head to paw in a set of clearly hard and metallic armor, she could still feel the force of the wind weaving past her. There was something about the wind blowing past her that felt pleasant, if not a tad calming, and she let out a soft chatter like a chirping bird... if said bird was a giant, feral dragon incapable of speech, rational reasoning and higher thinking.

Having seen nothing of interest thus far, Dorugoramon decided to make a quick stop on an office building, devoid of the salarymen and employees that had promptly fled for their lives the moment Millenniummon went to town with its destruction galore. A hushed growl escaped her metallic maw as golden eyes scanned for any signs of life, human and Digimon. While she didn’t find any other living creature in her vicinity, she found something else of notice: an abandoned grocery store full of food.

Not even caring about how she knew the things inside were edible, the giant dragon swooped down and landed right in front of the sliding door, said door promptly ripped apart by a strong claw. Because of how big she was in comparison to the available entry she had opened up, the Mega proceeded to just chuck her claw inside and grab the first thing she could get. She then pulled it out and examined what she grabbed.

Whatever they were, they were green, round and crunchy to the touch. They weren’t meat, she could tell that much, but something about them was familiar to her and she somehow knew they were edible. After making sure that she didn’t end up ingesting pieces of broken glass, the round, green iceberg lettuces soon found a home in the Mega’s digestive tracts and were soon joined by more lettuces and a bevy of other vegetables and fruits, Dorugoramon apparently neither a discerning nor selective eater.
---
The slow flight over Tokyo was fairly sobering, Examon had to admit. Now that the battle with Millenniummon was done, all that was left was a damaged city; even as his pursuit of Dorugoramon led him further and further away from the ground zero Millenniummon had emerged from, the signs of destruction and chaos were plain to see. Cars were abandoned and overturned with their windows shattered, buildings likewise had been abandoned and shattered in places by the shockwaves, and whatever people he could see coming out of their safe places turned and hid themselves again as they saw his tremendous form pass over them.

Examon and Siggy travelled in silence. There wasn’t any need to say anything, their thoughts were all the same and kept them quiet and contemplative besides. This is what happened when the battle went well- a painful sensation gripped their stomachs as they thought of what a less successful battle might have wrought on the city.

But a loud sound cutting over the quiet ruin was enough to pull them out of those thoughts briefly- pausing mid-flight and turning, they caught sight of a form in the distance. Large enough to be seen from a few hundred meters away, but only just in the way it was resting-

“Found you.” Examon whispered to himself, as he pressed forwards towards the sight of Dorugoramon, sending his lance back into the aether as he approached.

As he got closer, he could see more of her- sitting by herself, gorging herself on abandoned food. He set down about a hundred meters away, placing his gigantic feet down carefully and trying not to crush anything on the street surface as he did.

He engaged his shield, but left his lance dispersed. With all the care of a man approaching a wounded wild animal, he took his first few steps towards her, staying quiet and keeping his body language restrained.

While she licked her claw clean, an image moved at the edge of her view, causing Dorugoramon to turn towards the incoming Digimon. Needless to say, she wasn’t happy about being approached and quickly snarled at him, lashing out with her tail against Examon’s powerful shield.

All that her tail met was a crackling shimmer of orange as Avalon blocked it; though Examon stopped in his tracks, electing to stand his ground against Dorugoramon without crossing into her space.

Now that she knew he was well-prepared to handle her, she began to wonder why he came here.

Did he want to devour her?

Was he going to challenge her?

Either option would require a weapon of sorts. For all of Examon’s strength, he only had his shield on, his prized lance nowhere to be seen. This confused her, but it didn’t change the fact that she currently saw him as a threat. Roaring at the larger dragon, she tried charging him head on, only to be pushed back by Avalon’s protective barrier.

Realizing that she couldn’t get rid of him, she snarled and flicked her tail at him before, in an attempt to shake him off, flying away towards higher ‘ground’ in the shape of many abandoned office buildings.

… Well, that happened. Examon wasn’t completely sure what to make of this, though it didn’t stop him for long. He continued his approach, staring up at Dorugoramon as she glared down at him from the nearby cluster of buildings-

And promptly just stopped and stood there, crossing his arms.

“You going to come down from there any time soon, grumpy?” He called up to her, his tone more a deadpan, teasing one than anything antagonistic. Fuck it, if it was Dorumon in there after all, maybe a change of tactics was in order- “Come on, then shorty, what’s it gonna be?” As he spoke, he remained on the ground- best to keep the non-threatening tactic for now.

Dorugoramon listened to Examon’s taunts. Though she didn’t fully comprehend what he was saying, there was something about his tone and the words he used that irked her. Something at the back of her mind seethed with familiar anger, yearning with a desire to exchange the banter. Predictably, she snarled at him in response for his taunts. What was unpredictable was her then flying down to where he was, snarling and glaring at him. She opened her maw, as if trying to say something, but all she could muster was angry chirps.

“Gonna have to speak up there, I can’t quite hear you!” Examon responded, remaining where he was as his taunt brought Dorugoramon back down to the ground and instead following it up with more teasing. With a smirk, he cupped his hand to his ear and leant towards her a little- a little gesture to go with the verbal teasing. “Gatomon got your tongue? Or is it just indigestion?”

Dorugoramon didn’t understand. All Examon was doing was talking to her, yet she wanted nothing more than to just chew on his head and make him stop speaking. The seething anger grew stronger and slowly began to cut away from the cloud that stormed her mind and rendered her as nothing more than a feral Digimon. She slammed both claws against the ground, leaving a pair of indents on the asphalt road, and screeched at him with a barely restrained fury. Amazingly, in her fit of irritation and anger, a muffled, faint word began to come out of her steel maw. “Ex.... Exa… mon…!”

If Examon had been smirking before, it was completely eclipsed by the one that stretched further over his face now. It was working.

“Ohhhh, there was almost something there!” If it was working, there was no sense in stopping now- if he could coax her out of her feral shell- “Still, no need to be mean to the road, little miss grumpy! What’d it ever do to you, eh? Eh?” Very briefly, Examon’s eyes flashed green as the more oblique humour was scattered in.

The taunting pushed the thing over the edge of the feral clout within Dorugoramon’s mind. That alone seemed to be altering how the Digimon comprehended Examon’s words, but the last straw was the sight of a pair of green eyes. It evoked a very familiar image within her mind, one that she felt she knew for the longest time.

Suddenly, a flood rushed against the feral clout as Dorugoramon let out a loud roar, fire suddenly coating her claws and erupting like a jet fuel being ignited. With the flames burning like the ignited fury within her, she stomped on the ground and roared at him.

“DO I LOOK LIKE I GIVE TWO SHITS ABOUT THE FUCKING ROAD, YOU SON OF A ROYAL BITCH?!“

And there was the short-tempered, familiar Digimon Examon had known for a long time.

“Well, if you’re throwing such a huge tantrum over it-” Out of both relief and amusement, Examon couldn’t help but burst into a raging torrent of laughter, both consciousnesses in the Biomerge just about losing it as Dorugoramon went from a very angry feral to a very, very angry Dorumon.

While Examon was internally celebrating her return, Dorumon, now back in control, was reeling from all the headache she was now feeling. “If you can stop laughing at meeeeeeeee RIGHT NOW, it would be really, reeeeeeeally nice,” she slurred with a sense of irritation. “Zei, fucking say something already,” she muttered softly, expecting to hear the human woman’s more even voice rather quickly, but something felt off. While she was back in control, it felt as if she was standing in the middle of a storm… with her human partner nowhere around her. “Zei?”

“Pff,” Examon bit down on his tongue as Dorugoramon hissed at him to stop laughing. He’d had his fun, now came the serious business. “Alright, well- mind telling us what happened back there?” As much as he was relieved at seeing the Digimon back in her right mind, there was still the question of just what the hell had happened to trigger this; “Look, you didn’t hurt anyone, and we’re not angry- we just want to know.”

“Good to know,” Dorugoramon mumbled quietly, then straightened herself out as she tried to recall the last few things she remembered. “In all honesty, I remembered absolutely jack shit about what happened after I Digivolved until now,” she replied, then looked up at Examon, a grim look in her eyes.

“After she confronted Takeda, I picked Zei up and went to have a chat with our favorite mousy and his boy. We were planning to Biomerge from the get-go, aside from whatever the fuck happened that delayed it. However, something’s definitely wrong with Zei, but I kinda put that on the sideline with the whole ‘artificial-Digimon-outta-nowhere’ issue. Right as we Biomerged, I heard the sound of glass shattering… and then everything went black,” she said to him. “As we speak, I can’t even sense her inside my own head and there’s also this urge to just tear everything apart. Suffice to say, I think something’s fucked up with me, with us, right now, as crazy as that sounds coming from me...”

Contrary to Dorugoramon’s fears, Examon seemed to listen quietly and intently as she told him all she could. A far cry from the way he’d teased her back into coherence before, he seemed about as grim-faced as she did as she filled him in on the dark reality of the situation.

“So you did experience a Dark Digivolution…” It may have sounded obvious, but it went a significant way to clarifying the situation they were in. At the very least, it brought up one important point- “Think back on everything that happened before Millenniummon showed up. Can you think of anything that might have happened to Zei to set her off like this?”

Another flash of green shot through Examon’s eyes; Siggy knew there had to be something more than it seemed to the situation. Millenniummon’s appearance had been terrifying, but they’d all held strong through it; he doubted Zei would have crumbled to that fear any faster than he himself or any of the others would have.

Dorugoramon growled softly, trying to sort out her still chaotic mind, until she came upon something that could go a long way in explaining the precursor to their Dark Digivolution, or whatever Examon called it. “We were trying to get into the office where this apparently head guy was, the one responsible for all the fuck-up we went through in the human world. After we finished talking about it back when we got back to the human world, something inside Zei seemed to click,” she replied, then realized that there were holes in her own story. While Zei certainly was hit hard by the revelation, she was certain she had yet to snap at that point.

“Come to think of it, when we snuck into the office with Ranamon, Zei suddenly asked us to be on the lookout while she went in. Before we grouped back up, I felt as if something had snapped inside my head. Something must’ve snapped her while we were split up, but I don’t know what.” Still feeling something was amiss, she growled and dug deeper into the dark maelstrom before hitting a realization. “Zei jumped from the same floor Beelzemon came into... She said she saw Takeda kill Dirk. That must have fucked her up!”

“... What?” It took more than a fair moment for Examon to process what he’d just been told- Dirk was dead?

No, come to think of it- it made all too much sense. Beelzemon had entered the building after MirageGaogamon had failed to restrain him, and he hadn’t seen him at all during the fight against Millenniummon- in the terrifying chaos of the situation, he’d hardly thought anything of it at the time, but now he knew why.

“... I hope Lucas paints the walls with that bastard’s brains,” Examon hissed, his eyes flashing green again and remaining in that burning emerald shade.

“I think Zei would’ve done it herself if he didn’t. She had a weapon with her: a sharp one, called iaitō or something,” Dorugoramon sighed. “Had a gut feeling she knew the guy too. There was a hurt look in her eyes when you guys talked about him.”

“... You said you can’t feel her in there with you, right?” A moment after his little outing of anger, Examon spoke in a more quiet tone. It seemed the dark news had him melancholy too, now that he’d been given a moment to process it.

Nodding her head, Dorugoramon chattered sadly and looked down on the cracked road. “Nope. Not even a peep. It’s like I’m all alone."

"I can’t hear Alphamon either.”

"Fuuuuuuuuuuuuuck."

This was all the speech Elle could manage. There she was, atop a building and in complete agony. It felt as though her entire being was being ripped apart, atom by atom. She struggled to remember something, to pull herself together. All she could see were faces, the faces of those she had spent so long with: Her parents, her brother, her friends, their partners, Leon, Veemon and someone else. The face was fuzzy but close. Almost as if it was right next to her.

An instant later she realised that he was. Elle's eyes snapped open to see Wizardmon disintegrating beside her, as her eyes cleared she remembered more and more, everything that had happened.

"Wizardmon... don't you dare... leave me... If you die, I'll kill you." She managed to gasp, tears appearing at the corners of her eyes. Even as she tried to move she almost blacked out. The toll on her had been too great. The shockwave from her own attack had separated the pair finally, and it seemed that the toll had been worse on Wizardmon than it had been on her. He was fading.

"Hey, no kids before I get back okay?" Wizardmon gave her a sly grin before the last of his face evaporated. Elle tried to move again, to grab any part of him, but she had almost nothing left. With a grunt she managed to grasp her digivice, no longer beeping, and tried to check on her partner, to grasp for some hope. It was black. Slowly, her world turned to darkness as it slipped from her fingers and she fell into unconsciousness.

She heard nothing as the small device began to glow orange and a single moving picture appeared on it's display. A digi-egg.