Old Ones Return (VI)

<You three, we need to go now!>

*Dianamon keeps flying, unable to fight with her hands full*
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*Ornismon tries to get out of the way and counterwith his mouth laser, then claws at the arms in an attempt to tear them to pieces*
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*Knightmon regresses to Kotemon and runs over to Lyra*

*Unable to fly away fast enough & unable to bend his neck that far around, Ornismon is blasted in the back & Diaboromon uses his claws to shred his wings while he's retracting them. Also, while he's restrained, Megidramon bursts out of the magma, delivering a flaming, acidic bite to Ornismon's stomach. They retreat, the Burst Aura taking some of the damage, but Ornismon still feels a pronounced pain in his stomach & back, & can tell from his difficulty flying that his wings have been damaged. They proceed to continue their attack by orbiting Ornismon, shooting fire & misiles.*
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E"Yes, please, come ON!"

*A Megaseadramon shoots the arrow away from Daemon as the Whamon is destroyed.*

Daemon<Ink Sakuyamon.>

*At his command, the Octomon start inking Sakuyamon's shield so that she can't see what's going on.*

Daemon<Perhaps we had better make a deal: You may keep your friends, provided you relinquish Malkuth to me.>

*He holds out his claw.*

Sakuyamon dispels the shield, sicing fox spirits on the Octomom.

*Dianamon looks back for a moment, then keeps going, hoping that Sakuyamon will stop being stupid and follow her*

<What are they doing?!>
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*Ornismon shrieks in fury. In an instant, he tucks in his wings and dives at Diaboramon, doing his best to avoid the blast coming at him while firing at Diaboramon with his mouth laser and clawing at him when he comes into range*

E"We have to go back!"
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*While Sakuyamon is busy with that, Daemon shoots her with a fireball, blowing up her armor to reveal that black suit or whatever beneath. By this point, most of the Seadramon-species Digimon are upgraded to MetalSeadramon, one of which starts coiling around Sakuyamon. In addition to the Whamon & hoards of smaller Digimon forming a ring around them, Neptunemon & MadLeomon Orochi Mode step in front of Daemon to defend him. Portals open up around Angewomon & MagnaAngemon, out of which emerge several Gizumon.*
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*Diaboromon dives out of the way. His arms separate into 3 as its spine shifts forward & elongates. After his body parts are done shifting around, he has Mode Changed into Armageddomon, at which point he fires a salvo of missiles from his back at her. Meanwhile, Megidramon closes in, breathing fire, her Digital Hazard ripping open holes in the sky along her flight path.*
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Merv<I will take her back to the Catacombs. The Dark Area is a huge place. I am sure there are still some Digimon to conscript into building the catacombs.>

*Mervamon starts towards Thiera.*

Th"I am not sure that I like the word 'conscript.'"

Merv<Your mission was to stabilize the Dark Area, was it not? This will require rebuilding my army, & laborers to rebuild my Kingdom.>

Everyone takes flight, humans of value in tow.

*Lyra crosses her arms*

<You were just willing to kill us and you expect us to help you just like that?>
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*Dianamon pauses, then starts moving back to meet up with Sakuyamon and company*
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*Ornismon moves to avoid the fire while firing on Armageddomon with his mouth laser. He tries to claw at him when in range*

*Mervamon picks up the unconscious Minervamon, holding her much like a child. She turns around.*

Merv<I did not ask for your help, although now that you mention it, this whole adventure has been utterly pointless if your former master assassinates me, has it not?>

*Impmon limps forward, holding his side, covered with dirt, & with a ragged scarf.*

Impmon<She's got a point there. I can stay with her. I know the Dark Area like the back of my claw.>

*He holds up his claw for emphasis.*

D<You're wearing gloves, moron.>

Impmon<Ah, whatta you know?>
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*Sakuyamon is moving sluggishly, so Daemon grabs her ankle with a smoking hand, hot enough to cause pain, but not damage. He also decides to smack her into the ground to help make his point.*

Daemon<The only way they leave here is if Malkuth doesn't. What will you say in defense of why you chose to save a heinous war criminal over one of your own?>
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*Swerving away puts Ornismon away from the Bio-Hybrids & allows him to see what's going on with the others. Armageddomon leaps out of the way & fires more shit at him. The distortion that Megiddramon's Digital Hazard formed starts shooting lightning at him as the familiar sight of a digital black hole starts forming in the air.*

Sakuyamon fox spirit's Daemon in the face to try and make their escape with apparently not Euryale.

Lyra:<Yeah, I think that'd be best for all of us.>
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Dianamon:<Then let Sakuyamon go first, then we'll give you back Malkuth.>
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*Ornismon swerves away from the others and the attacks coming his way, hoping to distract them from the confrontation. He turns his head and fires on Megidramon as he flies*

*The fox spirits are too weak to really do much to Daemon. He grabs her arm & Sakuyamon's data proves to be so damaged that he is able to literally rip Renamon & Taiyo apart, holding Taiyo by the ankle & Renamon by the right wrist. He cools his hand so that he doesn't burn Taiyo's leg off.*

Daemon<As if I would ever fall for that ruse.>

E"Daemon, behind you!"

Daemon<That is not amusing.>

*He eventually does turn around when he hears the rushing wall of water as Plesiomon returns from the Land of Forgotten Characters, launching a massive tsunami at the enemy from the vantage point of the water.*
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*Similarly, Cherubimon flies around Armageddomon, blasting him with lightning.*

Cherubimon<I received some additional power from the Sirenmon, but it won't last for long!>

Armageddomon<So you are only delaying the inevitable! Activate Program: Magical Game!>

*The rune pattern of Wizardmon begins glowing gold on Armageddomon, shifting to orange as he opens his mouth & collects the magma in front of it before firing it in a huge wave at Cherubimon. Megidramon, of course, evaded the initial attack.*

Megidramon<Armageddomon has the right idea, we'll never get anywhere just trading projectiles. Activate Program: Training Grips.>

*Said Training Grips materialize around Ornismon's wings.*
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Th"But someone needs to help us reunite with the others!"

D<Yeah, you OWE us, lady!>

Merv<It would seem that you do not realize the kind of power that you hold either. The data streams will respond to commands from any computer: Including ones that fit in the palm of your hand. On the contrary, I will need YOU to show me the way back to the Dark Area.>

*Hoping the angels grab Taiyo while Daemon is distracted, Dianamon takes off again towards Ornismon and Cherubimon*
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*Assuming he can do nothing to avoid the grips fastening around his wings, Ornismon squawks and flaps his wings harder, trying not to drop like a rock*
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*Lyra gets out her d-power and fiddles with it*

They do. Which ain't easy with their own partners in tow.

*Fortunately, Daemon & his army being swept out to sea by a riptide makes this a lot easier. Seeing the tides turn, Megidramon & Armageddomon slip back into Space Oscillation portals, but not before firing last minute attacks at Ornismon, who is also falling into a pit of lava. Cherubimon seems to have survived her ordeal by surrounding herself in a sphere of lightning.*
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Th"I believe we need to be near the data stream that we intend to manipulate."

Merv<They should give you some kind of medal.>

*Mervamon starts walking back to the data stream. Impmon hobbles along behind her. Thiera tries to pick him up, but he pushes her away. LadyDevimon regresses to DemiDevimon & parks herself atop the blond's head. Some things never change.*

*Following*
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*Ornismon regresses to Cameron and Karatenmon in an attempt to get rid of the braces. If that fails, Dianamon flies towards them as fast as possible*

Dianamon:<Cherubimon! Grab them!>

Not much the two can do with their arms full of people and a fox.

*He may be able to wriggle out of them before they adapt to the new size of his wings, if he acts quickly enough.*

G<"I assume the plan is to follow Ceresmon?">

L<She's made it pretty far already.>

*Cherubimon points to the figure retreating into the rising to the northern horizon. On their east, night begins to change to day. Finally, in the distance behind them, a gigantic pillar of steam erupts from the ocean. Euryale is ignoring all of this, wriggling & holding her arms out towards Taiyo. Koromon just kind of hangs around her neck by his ears, covered in bruises & looking ill as his eyes & mouth begin to swell shut.*
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*Once they get to the data stream, Thiera starts fiddling with her device (heh). Eventually, it shoots a beam into the data stream & her D-Power displays a map of the Digital World.*

Th"I suppose Mervamon should go first, then."

*She selects the Chaos Area from her map. Mervamon & Impmon head inside, turning around as the data stream starts to pass over them.*

Impmon<Later! Maybe I'll see ya again before this is all over!

Merva<Maybe, by that time, there will be a new Lilithmon--and a new Mervamon.>

*She looks down at Minervamon & Impmon waves. They are then spaghettified & sucked up into the beam.*

*Karatenmon does that, then flies up to meet Dianamon. The pair then return to the others*

Dianamon:<Euryale, can you stop wiggling? I might accidentally drop you.>

Karatenmon:<Looks like there's trouble behind you all, so let's move.>
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*Kotemon waves at the departing digimon, Lyra just kinda standing there, staring at the ground. She does nod at Impmon though*

Hideki: "Did we do the right thing?"

Th"I cannot say. I believe we were correct to negotiate, rather than resort to violence, and we did prevent the Demon Lords from gaining power in this world. Perhaps we would have been able to reach Apocalymon as well, had King Drasil not insisted on destroying him, but perhaps we needed King Drasil's help in order to survive. Then again, we may have just provided him another tool with which to manipulate us. In any case, it seems as though the others are still battling in Olympia. We may be needed."

*She then selects Olympia from her menu.*
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E"But I need to get to Taiyo & Renamon!"

*Cherubimon looks back.*

L<It is good to see that you were able to free yourself.>

*The lava begins to harden as they leave the area, but the wormhole remains there. Plesiomon eventually looks away from it.*

G<"We need to catch up with Ceresmon & then go somewhere that Daemon can't easily catch up with us.">

Angewomon & MagnaAngemon have them, so they're good in that department.

Dianamon:<You can as soon as we land! Let's get to Ceresmon before Euryale tries to fly.>

*She flies off in the direction of Ceresmon, and Karatenmon follows*
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*Lyra sticks her hands in her pockets and stares at the ground as she enters the data scream with Kotemon*

*Instead of listening, Euryale tries to pull Dianamon's arm off of her. When they catch up to Ceresmon, Gizumon are attempting to back her in. Assisted by support fire from the Digimon she's carrying--enlarged due to the Sirenmon--she fires bulbs at them that explode into sticky goop, clumping the Gizumon together to be battered by attacks. Curiously, they soon stop emerging from the data stream nearby.*
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*Down below, soon after they exit the data stream, DemiDevimon takes flight.*

D<Look out!>

Th"Owowowowowwww!"

*She pulls Thiera out of the way, the latter grabbing at her hair as she's dragged to the ground. A second later, a trio of glued-together-&-banged-up Gizumon land where she was previously standing. Their limbs fall off & twitch uselessly on the ground. One spots Thiera & fires its eye laser at her.*

*This causes Dianamon to grip Euryale more tightly. Since she has no free arms to fire arrows with, she instead tries to put some of the Gizumon to sleep. Karatenmon uses Feather Flare on the Gizumon clumped together*

Dianamon:<You're going to kill yourself!>
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*Kotemon tries to digivolve to Knightmon. If this succeeds, he runs forward and attempts to cleave the Gizumon in two. Lyra tries to pull Thiera out of the way*

Hideki swipes the Darkness Wave card which Monodramon attacks with.