Digimon Fan Fiction ❯ Dragon Morphs: A Digimorphs Tale ❯ Rebirth and Renew ( Chapter 26 )

Digimon / Digital Monsters and all related trademarks belong to Bandai. The story, its original contents and ideas, and any original characters belong to the author and cannot be used or reprinted without the author's permission.

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It shocked Sekata that her body was covered in cuts, scrapes, several burns, and a lot of ash.

"I'm OK...don't worry..." She panted. "I just got a little singed. But it's Janet that's the problem. We managed to drain off Megidramon's virally infected data...but she's in bad shape. One of the nearby towns sent out a search party after they detected the abnormal energy waves our methods used, and they're taking care of the others."

Sekata realized that a lot more of his casing had come off during the time AncientGreymon was 'telling' him his story, and he struggled to wiggle his neck free.

"Be careful there! We don't need another injured." Zoe said, bringing out more of the dissolvent. "Here, I'll apply some more."

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"How is she?" Aero asked, looking up from Janet's 'bed'.

More specifically, it was a transparent glass cylinder large enough to accommodate her Guilmon form. It looked like it could've belong to some high tech medical facility if it were from Earth, but here these were standard devices for treating injured Digimon.

The nurse standing nearby was an armored Digimon, Swanmon, naturally resembling a white and silver swan that stood upright.

"Her condition still seems to be unstable, and it's lucky she's even alive." Swanmon replied. "Especially after that terrifying beast out there."

"Yeah, true." Aero bit his lip.

As far as the search party that had come was concerned, Megidramon was dead and Janet had been injured in the fight. It was probably better that they continued to believe that anyway.

Zoe had gone back for Sekata and Siavon to look for Steve. That left him here to watch over their wounded comrade.

Aero grimaced a little in pain, trying to flex his injured left wing, which was wrapped in bandages.

"You need to heal up too, so try to rest. We'll do our best for your friend." The nurse assured. "I have to go check on the other patients now, but I'll be back soon."

"Yes, thank you." Aero nodded as she departed.

Janet moaned softly as she turned within her healing cylinder. Parts of her red scales occasionally flashed and flickered with Digicode. Her condition was probably much worse than the doctors were letting him know, but there was nothing he could do about it.

The blue dragon leaned his exhausted head against the cylinder, and suddenly heard a thud by the doorway.

"Who's there?"

"Just me Aero. I could use a hand here."

It was Zoe, stumbling through the doorway...dragging a freed Vritramon along with her.

"Sekata! Man, I'm so glad you're all right!" Aero immediately dashed over and pulled Sekata's arm over his shoulder.

Sekata looked up and opened his jaws if he were going to say something, but only a gargled moan came out.

"He can barely move or even talk." Zoe told him. "It's been months since he's been able to."

"I hate to think of it, but it could've been me as well. Help him lie down here." Aero gestured towards an unoccupied bed.

Sekata motioned a 'thanks' as he dropped down.

"I'm really sorry about what happened to you." Aero placed a claw on his shoulder. "I got you into that mess in the first place."

Once again, Sekata struggled to get his words out. However, he had to settle for shaking his head.

"I don't think he blames you." Zoe nodded. "Well, he's all right, but Jan..."

"Yeah..."

Both blue dragons turned towards their wounded comrade.

Zoe's explanation had been brief to say the least, but judging from their faces, the situation wasn't good. Sekata then closed his eyes for a moment...and found himself somewhere...different.

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The graveyard... Sekata blinked glancing around.

This place was getting all too familiar. Added to the fact that he was standing upright and had no problems moving at all, it certainly showed that he'd entered his 'Dream Realm' again.

And that could only mean one thing...

"Up and running again? Finally, I was running out of games to play with your mind." Right on cue, AncientGreymon stepped out of the mist shrouded path, walking up the steps of the temple to where Sekata stood.

"What do you want this time?" Sekata growled, folding his arms.

"Ah, it's not what I want this time. It's what you want."

"Huh?"

"Haven't you seen the condition your friend lying in the next cylinder is in? It's a wonder she's still holding on."

"What? Now you want to mock my inability to do anything about it?!" Sekata accused. "Even for you, that's low!"

"Do you always have to act as if I'm the bad guy all the time? I'm going to be a little...helpful this time."

"What do you mean?"

"Well, I'll get down to business. From what I've heard from in here, they've managed to draw out the corrupted data from the Guilmon and are bringing an antibody down to help with her recovery. And a rather potent antibody I might add, one not so easily obtained."

"And your point being?"

"Think about the flaws of that plan. The main one being your runner either not being able to obtain the X-Antibody or not being able to return in time. What if the Antibody alone is not enough to help? And think about it hard, also considering the wounded one's data is rapidly falling apart."

"My..."

"Don't give me any speeches about how you believe your friends will be able to accomplish it. You don't know for certain, don't you? Besides, you have a little way to help, a small tip I'm offering you. Like to hear it out?"

Sekata grimaced, thinking about what the ancient dragon had just said. Finally, he nodded and gestured for AncientGreymon to carry on.

"Remember one thing, the Spirit of Vritramon and your own Cyberdramon body are separate in terms of data. Put it this way, you have two sets of Digital DNA, your friend's only one is dying out. What do you do then?"

"I could...give Janet one?" Sekata looked down at the Digivice strapped to his right claw. As he held it up, a life sized hologram of Cyberdramon appeared, standing beside him in a battle stance.

"Indeed. You can survive with just one." AncientGreymon nodded. "Ideally, I could just let you give her the Spirit and be rid of me..."

"NO!" Sekata snapped. "I will not let you get to any of the others! Not if I have any say in the matter."

"Then, you have one option left." AncientGreymon grinned.

"My Cyberdramon Digital DNA..." Sekata closed his eyes. "How can I manage to do that?"

"That Digivice of yours can do many things, but I suppose I could give you a little boost to help move you that couple of feet across the room."

"Grrr...." Sekata clenched his fists, taking one last look at the Cyberdramon image of himself. "Let's do it then."

"Well, the gate's in that direction." AncientGreymon pointed with a claw. "Get moving and go through it if you want to get back to the real world."

As Sekata strode past, AncientGreymon leaned close to his ear and spoke in a much softer tone.

"Without a second form, you know what happens to you if you lose the Spirit, don't you?"

Sekata froze for a second, but he turned his head away and continued walking.

"Humph, just like any self righteous hero would. Sacrificing your own self to save another." AncientGreymon chuckled. "You always were easy to read my boy."

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"Sekata? Hey you shouldn't be getting up." Zoe said.

He'd apparently been asleep in the real world and Sekata noticed that some time had passed. The room was definitely brighter with the glowing rays of the morning sun streaming in through the windows.

Aero was slumped back in a nearby couch while Zoe was still standing between him and Janet.

Janet began moaning again, as Sekata managed to pull himself up with some effort. His body felt like a dead weight and his muscles were stiff and cramped, but Sekata forced himself against all the protests screaming through his draconic body.

"To...help...her..." Sekata indicated. "My Digivice...."

Zoe looked puzzled, but she helped Sekata up. She'd apparently strapped his Digivice back on sometime while he was asleep, explaining why it had appeared in Sekata's 'Dream World'.

With Zoe supporting him, Sekata moved over to Janet's healing cylinder and reached out with his right claw. A miniature image of Cyberdramon flickered into existence, hovering above his Digivice, as he reached out and touched Janet's shoulder.

Zoe watched in awe as purple and red lights of energy flowed between the two. Aero started as both began growling in pain, falling clumsily off his seat before running over.

"W...what's going on?"

"I don't know." Zoe shook her head.

The energy beams had been slowly accumulating and suddenly, exploded in a bright flash, causing everyone to shield their eyes and jump back.

"Ggarrghh...ugh...what's...going on?" A soft voice moaned.

"Jan?!" Zoe sat up and stared. "You look...different."

Her new form was a familiar one to them. It was in fact, Strikedramon, the Champion form of Cyberdramon. Though smaller that Cyberdramon, both dragons had the similar, humanoid body structure.

Strikedramon was covered in purple scales with a white chest and a helmet similar to Cyberdramon's. She had reddish hair went down past her shoulder level and claws similar to Flamedramon's three-clawed structure.

Armor consisted simply of various metals armor plates that adorned the shoulders, ankles, tip of the tail and claws. Janet now had a pair of green pants on, together with leather straps tied at random places, including the waist and upper leg.

Janet pulled at the choker around her neck and ran her other claw over the tattoos on her body.

"This is weird, but sort of neat." Janet muttered. "Isn't this Sekata's form?"

"Looks like he somehow passed it on to you, right Sekata?" Zoe asked.

"Yeah..." Sekata manage a weak nod, leaning against the wall for support. "My...Digital DNA. You were...injured, it was...the...only...way..."

"Me? When did I get hurt? And where is there? What am I doing here?" Janet clutched her head. "My memory seems so foggy and...ggaarrgghhh!!!"

Janet suddenly dropped out of her bed and onto the floor, rolling over in pain.

"She must be meeting with some rejection of the Digital DNA." Aero gasped, running to her side. "I've heard it can happen."

"What exactly?" Zoe asked.

"Transfer of Digital DNA is risky and techniques are still in development." Aero explained. "It's hardly ever done because it involves passing on your coding source, the data that makes up your blood, flesh, everything that you are. In other words, you're dead without it."

"But Sekata..."

"The Spirit..." Sekata spoke. "Is my second source."

"That's probably the explanation, added to whatever those Digivices of yours can do."

"It's like an organ transplant." Zoe muttered. "The host body can reject the transplanted part of it isn't compatible."

"Guys!"

At that moment, Steve as Gargoylemon burst into the room, stared at the scene and stopped short, unsure of what to do.

"Give her the...antibody." Sekata burst out. "Now!"

"Jan, here!" Steve dashed over and held out the shimmering blue sphere.

Janet reached a claw out and managed to grab onto his hand. It seemed to hurt her even more as the blue sphere began to dissipate into rays of energy that flowed through her body.

"RRRAARRGGGHHH!!!"

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"Jan!" Steve cried.

"She has to bear with the pain." Siavon spoke, having entered the room as well.

"Can't...take...it..." Janet's body was trembling violently and drenched in sweat.

"Come on! I won't ever forgive you if you quit now!" Steve knelt down and took one of her claws in his own. "After what I went through to get that thing for you, don't you dare die on me! Not now!"

Just holding her hand sent shocks through his body, but Steve moved closer and threw his arms around her shoulders.

"Hold on to me..." Steve whispered. "Don't think."

Janet's grip seemed to be slowly weakening, but with a sudden spur of energy, she latched on tight, grabbing with such strength that her claws cut into Steve's scales. Steve bit his lip and cringed. He was supposed to be comforting her, but he was on the verge of screaming out as well.

Then, it all ended. Janet's shaking stopped and the pain subsided. The entire thing couldn't have been more than 2 minutes, but every second of it had seemed like hours.

Exhausted, Steve dropped back against the floor as the others gathered round.

"You...all...right Jan?" Steve panted with his eyes closed.

Janet suddenly snapped up, grabbed his shoulder with one hand and slapped his snout with the other.

"What the hell did you think you were doing you crazy fool?! You couldn't gotten yourself killed or something!" She roared. "And if you ever dare to do that, I'm the one who won't ever forgive you!"

"You're welcome..." Steve managed sneaky grin.

"Well, at least that's over..." Janet sighed, dropping herself back against the bed. "Huh? This is..."

Despite her original Digivice having being destroyed in the Megidramon incident, Janet now found a new D-Dragon strapped to her left wrist. This one had the same structure of the old one, resembling the head of a dragon with a pair of horns at the top, glowing eyes and a small screen where the open mouth of the dragon would be, all lined with the fangs to match .Only now, it was purple in color with silver eyes and teeth.

"Looks like whatever forces brought us here just gave you a new one." Zoe smiled, holding out her own D-Dragon, sapphire blue in color with green eyes and teeth.

Sekata nodded, walking over and holding out his black colored D-Dragon with red teeth and eyes.

"You'll probably want this back." Aero called, tossing a Digivice to Steve.

The young dragon was pleasantly surprised to find his Digivice now as a D-Dragon like the others. His was orange in color with golden eyes and teeth. Happily, Steve strapped his onto his left claw.

"WOOHOO!! I finally have one like the rest of you!" Steve shouted in glee.

"One thing though, I think we overloaded them during the whole Megidramon thing with the data draining." Zoe informed the others. "I was trying mine out just now, while Sekata was asleep. Well, after evolving myself a few times, I realized the D-Dragons lost most of their functions."

"Lost some functions?" Janet asked. "You mean..."

"Our evolution features still work. And so do the wide-scanning map and the communication features that allow us to speak when we're closer and send e-mails at further range." Zoe explained. "But that's it. Apparently any card slashing features or anything else doesn't."

"Bummer, no more getting quick boosts from cards it seems." Steve sighed.

"Doesn't matter..." Sekata pulled himself up. "We're back...together again..."

"Finally too." Zoe smiled, holding out her hand.

Sekata, Steve and Janet joined in, piling their claws on top of one another.

"Humph, mushiness." Siavon rolled his eyes. "I'll be outside."

"Hey don't be so anti-social you old grump!" Aero called chasing after him.

Mushiness indeed. AncientGreymon's voice rang out in Sekata's mind.

Can't you just let me enjoy a moment of peace? Sekata growled.

No rest for the weary as they often say. I'm just here to warn you though, the next battle is right around the corner. And this will be your true test boy.

What do you mean?! Sekata asked.

You'll either be the one worthy to hold my Spirit, or you'll lose it. AncientGreymon didn't answer directly. And remember, the Spirit is your body now, your lifeline. Without it, hahaha, you're dead.

Although it went unnoticed by his friends, Sekata swallowed hard.

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Outside the medical center, a couple of shady figures stood on a hill, carefully observing the unknowing group.

"See that taller blue one ya? The girl standing outside." Beelzebumon pointed, lowering his binoculars.

"You sure about it?" A Cerberumon stepped up beside him. This creature certainly resembled the mystical guardian dog of Hades his name was derived from. A black dog with two 'false' heads at either shoulder and a set of long claws protruding from his front paws.

"Definitely, I saw the way she beat into the fool Vija, ya. Besides, we got plenty of info from Dynamo before that little runt decided to run over to Lucifer's side. Boss wants someone with her special talents, and there's one right here."

"Dynamo got on Master Daemon's bad side, both for two timing him and Lucifer." The demon dog growled.

"What? I've been sticking around with you guys, ya?"

"I was actually referring to the other point, the fact that Dynamo messed up a large number of missions. Something you're getting close to."

"Shaddaup little doggie." Beelzebumon pointed. "You don't do much either ya!"

"Humph, better go redeem yourself this time." Cerberumon said, completely ignoring his companion's comments.

"I will, ya? Just gotta wait for the right moment..."

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"So, the shield and the dagger. Two of the Dragon artifacts we're looking for." Zoe nodded.

"These just might be our ticket back home." Steve nodded. He was back to his standard Flamedramon form here.

The pair was standing outside the medical center examining the two artifacts they'd acquired so far during their battles.

"But even if we do get all four together, how's it supposed to work?"

"Well, erm, that's the part we haven't figured out yet." Steve scratched his head. "I was sort of hoping you could actually."

"Me?" Zoe stuttered.

"I heard all about you having psychic powers in this world. Maybe you could, you know...."

"I've barely even practiced. I can't really control them yet, but they just seem to come out when I really need them somehow."

"You can figure out, can't you?"

"Perhaps..." Zoe closed her eyes.

I don't even know if I want to. The more they come out, the more they scare me.

"Hey there you are!" Janet in her new Strikedramon form stepped out from around the corner. Besides the normal stuff, Janet had also put on a black, sleeveless vest over her previously bare dragon body.

"Whoa, sure it's all right for you to be up Jan?" Steve asked.

"Of course! Thanks to you guys, I'm better than ever." She grinned, showing off a few kicks and punches. "I like the new look, and definitely the new form a lot better! And next time I see Dynamo....I'm gonna make him hurt. Very, very much..."

Janet cracked her knuckles and growled.

"You know, you're scary Jan." Steve chuckled.

"Oh, wanna see something real scary, short stuff?" Janet raised her D-Dragon. "Strikedramon evolves....Cyberdramon!"

"Hey are you sure that's such a good idea?" Steve asked. "What if you lose control?"

"Grrrrr....." Snarled the newly evolved Cyberdramon.

"Uh oh...Jan...that....you?"

Janet only stared straight into his eyes.

"Fresh meat..." She growled with a nasty look on her face.

"Eeek...argh!" Steve backed away. "Jan...try to...ugh!"

He was suddenly grabbed and held upside down by his tail.

"Gargh! Jan! Wake up! Snap out of it! Do something! WWAARRGGHH!"

"Food..." Janet tossed him up into the air, and opened her jaws.

"AAARRRGGGHHH!!!"

"Hargh!" Janet caught Steve and snapped her jaws shut inches away from his face.

Steve was trembling so much that Janet dropped him...and suddenly burst out laughing.

"Now that was scary, huh Steve?" She asked between breaths. "Man, it was so funny seeing you scream like a sissy little schoolgirl! Hahahahha!"

"What?! You...you...were in control the...whole time?!" Steve panted. "Dammit! I thought you were gonna eat me!!"

"Nah, Zoe knew it was me too, right Zoe?" Janet turned around. "Zoe?"

The XV-mon was nowhere to be seen.

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I'm glad some people are partially back to normal. Zoe thought, walking further down the trail.

The pathway outside the medical center led out into a large garden which surrounded the three story building. Zoe was aimlessly walking along that path now, turning the two Dragon artifacts around in her claws. It was at least much more peaceful around here, without Janet and Steve constantly beating on one another.

I wonder...can I really get my powers to tell me anything about these artifacts? I was told that I had to discover the answers on my own, in Ophanimon's words. Perhaps this was what she meant.

Zoe found a quiet spot under a tree and strapped the shield to her belt. Taking the dagger in both hands, she closed her eyes and focused. Like the other times she'd used her powers, this was a strange experience.

It was as if she were looking and asking if it could show her anything.

She was about to give up and let go when a series of images suddenly shot into her mind. Zoe saw a dark room, like the torture chamber of a castle. She was in it, and she was on some sort of altar, struggling.

A dark figure above her raised a dagger...the same one she was holding right now. Zoe wanted to scream, but as much as she tried no sound came out as the dagger came down.

Then, she was back, standing on the grass beneath the tree.

Panting, she dropped to her knees.

"What the...?! What...was that?" She asked herself.

That was when a shadow blocked out the sunlight, and Zoe looked up just in time to see it hitting her in the face.

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Sekata started, suddenly wide awake. Something was wrong, he'd just felt it somehow.

The second story room he'd been moved to was quiet and empty. The others were probably somewhere else in the building right now, but...

There was a window nearby and Sekata pulled it open...to see Beelzebumon slinging an unconscious Zoe over his shoulder. Instantly, his instincts screamed.

Letting off a fierce roar, he threw the window wide open and leapt out, spreading his wings. Despite them still feeling stiff and weak, Sekata took the chance. And they failed him, dropping him like a brick against the concrete flooring beneath.

"Who? Wha...?" Beelzebumon spun round.

"You!!" Sekata pulled himself to his feet and fired a burst from his arm-mounted lasers.

The blast was both weaker than usual and off target, hitting the nearby tree and sending splinters flying everywhere. Beelzebumon was still startled by the attack. He stumbled, dropping Zoe and giving Sekata some time to close in them.

Blindly rushing in spite of his weakened state, Sekata tripped over his own tail and tumbled forward, taking a brutal upper cut to his lower jaw. His vision was still spinning as Beelzebumon attacked him again and again with a series of quick kicks and punches.

Sekata kept trying to raise his claws and defend himself, but the attacks just seemed to be too swift. Beelzebumon was constantly shouting something Sekata couldn't make out in his state of shock.

He wasn't even aware that he was receiving multiple dents and cracks in his armor.

Part of his helmet was then shattered, revealing he had a gray colored, Greymon style head beneath. Sekata tasted the blood in his mouth as much as he saw and felt the red fluid it flowing down his face. The other half of his helmet fell to the ground as a final kick tore a hole in his chest armor.

Though the scales beneath were red, his white chest and belly were covered by blood.

Sekata hit the ground, back first, barely aware of what was happening any more. However, he could still feel the force of Beelzebumon's boot pressing against his chest. He felt the shot fired into his now unarmored stomach.

And he saw the smirk on Beelzebumon's face as the dark biker raised his other gun, aiming it straight at Sekata's head.

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"Hey Siavon wait up!" Aero waved, running down the path. "You're just going to leave like that? Without even saying goodbye?"

"I was never good at farewells." Siavon huffed as he continued walking.

"And what am I supposed to tell them?"

"That it's for the better."

"Siavon wait, let me ask you something first." Aero jogged up in front of the armored dragon-man. "What do you think of them? Being from another world? And that old legend and all?"

"If I didn't believe that, do you think I'd be leaving the two Dragon artifacts with them?"

"Yeah, well, point taken." Aero nodded.

"One thing that worries me a little is that they may have made some dangerous enemies."

"But you..."

BANG!!

"What was that?!" Aero jumped.

"Grrr...a gunshot." Siavon growled. "It came from over there..."

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Get up you fool! Defend yourself!

Sekata didn't know what went through his mind, but it must've been some desperate survival instinct that forced him to roll to the right side. With his left claw, he took a swipe that knocked Beelzebumon's gun off target.

"Sekata! Zoe!" Janet suddenly sprang onto the scene, knocking the startled Beelzebumon aside.

"Gargh...damn!"

"You again?!" Steve growled. "What you do want this time?!"

"That ain't any of your business kid!" Beelzebumon yelled.

"We're making it our business!" Jan raised her claws. "Erase Claw!"

"Double Impact!" Beelzebumon drew his other gun and fired, the two attacks colliding in a loud bang that threw Janet backwards.

"Guys! What the?!" Aero came running around the corner, and his eyes instantly darkened upon seeing his old nemesis.

"Time for me to get outta here." Beelzebumon holstered his weapons, grabbed Zoe's unconscious form, and ran.

"NO!!" Sekata sprang up, despite Steve trying to calm the wounded dragon down.

A loud roar broke out the next instant as Beelzebumon's bike zoomed into the area. The biker mounted, and with Zoe captive, sped off.

"V-Wing..."

"Don't you'll hit Zoe!" Janet stepped in front of the Aero V-dramon.

"Follow him, he won't get far!" Siavon ordered.

The three flyers took to the sky as Steve watched from below. Sekata was breathing heavily as he tried to stand.

"Sekata you can't! You're bleeding all over, dammit!" Steve held out his arms. "Let me call the medics."

"Can't...Zoe...can't...leave..." Sekata growled. "RRaarrghhh....no...."

"Don't man! You won't be able to save her if you can't help yourself first!"

Sekata definitely couldn't do any more because he passed out on the spot.

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"How do we see him through these trees?" Janet wondered.

"Keep watching for the dirt trail! He'll have to come out of the forested area some time." Aero muttered. "Look there!"

Beelzebumon raced out from within the trees, making a turn off the dirt road and down a slope. The area he seemed to be headed for was a dusty dirt canyon. However, the off road route he took slowed his bike down, allowing Aeromaru to close the gap.

All of a sudden, the biker whipped out a gun, turned his body and fired. Aero was forced to dodge the shots and got his wing caught in a nearby tree.

With a scream, he spun off course and slammed his head into an adjacent tree.

Siavon and Janet were suddenly attacked by another Digimon, a Cerberumon. The demon dog spewed out green flames, covering Beelzebumon as the biker dropped off a ledge.

"Hell Fire!" Cerberumon continued firing.

"I've got him." Janet spun in the air and charged forward. "Atomic Blast....dammit! Wrong attack...gagrh!!"

With nothing to block the green flames, Janet took a blast in the face and hit the ground with a splat.

"Gaia Force!" Siavon launched the trademark BlackWargreymon attack, hurling a huge ball of energy towards the ground.

Grinning, Cerberumon jumped off the ledge, disappearing in the cloud of dust that the energy blast stirred up.

"Aw crap!" Janet pulled herself to her feet, clutching her side in pain. "Where did they go?"

Siavon flew off the edge of the cliff and spotted a concealed ledge just below. Jan and Aero quickly joined him, standing on the ledge that led into a small cavern in the walls of the canyon.

"We've got them now." Aero snarled.

The trio stepped into the cave...and stopped short. It led to a dead end, with no traces of their opponents, or Zoe, at all.

"What in the world?" Aero stuttered.

"This is really bad." Janet sighed, walking to the wall and running her claws over it. "Wait, look at these!"

Engraved on the wall were a series of odd symbols resembling the ancient hieroglyphics of Egypt. While it was hard to make out most of the pictures, one seemed to stand out.

The carving of a swirling doorway, leading to an unknown area beyond.

"These must be one of the ancient Waypoints." Siavon said softly.

"Waypoints?" Janet asked.

"Long ago, it was written that some areas were linked by magical teleportation points there could be used to travel between each other in the blink of an eye. Nowadays the secret of activating them has been lost to all but a few."

"And how about you?" Aero looked up.

"If I knew, do you think I'd be standing here talking to a couple of intellectually-challenged individuals?" Siavon huffed.

Everyone else moaned.

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"You were pathetic kid, absolutely pathetic!"

Sekata opened his eyes and rolled over. Once again, he was back in temple of the 'Spiritual Graveyard', only now without his Vritramon helmet or upper body armor.

AncientGreymon stood there, intimidating as even. Though this time, Sekata didn't really care.

"Will you just shut up for once?!" Sekata roared.

"Why? Couldn't save your girl? Sad, but cry me a river for all I care."

"And how do you think I feel about it?! And you just keep mocking me for every mistake I make!!"

"I think you were more useful as a statue..."

Sekata suddenly charged in a fit of rage, which AncientGreymon sidestepped a couple of times before catching Sekata with his tail and hurling the smaller dragon head over heels. The Vritramon rolled down the stairs and smacked his jaw against the stone ground with a painful crunch.

"RRRRAAARRGGGHHH!!!!" Sekata was screaming in pain, not entirely because of his fall, but because a vision had just snapped into his mind.

Zoe was there in a torture chamber in some dark place. There were equally shadowed figures standing around, all chanting in some strange language. She was in pain, crying out to the endless void.

Someone raised a knife, and the pain suddenly became his own.

The weapon stabbed him over and over again, spilling his red blood like a river. He felt more weapons, tearing into his scales, flesh and muscles.

Sekata felt as if his arms were being ripped off, and then his legs when he could no longer feel his arms. Another blade was cutting into his tail, pulling that off. Hands grasped onto his helpless body, tearing his wings off. More blades came for his neck, his face, his eyes...

"Stop it!!! STOP IT!!!! AAAAAAAARRRRRGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!"

The pain and visions subsided, but the mental flashes lingered in Sekata's mind.

He was back, relatively unscratched, but at a different part of the graveyard. Sekata realized it was the section with all the gravestones.

"You felt that, didn't you?" AncientGreymon asked. "That's her powers acting up. Her subconsciousness begging you to save her."

"How...how would you know...?" Sekata panted, still on his hands and knees.

"How? I'm telepathic too in case you haven't figured out yet." AncientGreymon replied. "Perhaps not nearly as strong in that field, but yes, it's my gift too."

"Will that happen?" Sekata glanced into his eyes. "Will she die?"

"Hard to see." AncientGreymon closed his eyes and shook his head. "The future can always change in an instant. All it takes is one simple action, and an entire series of events is altered."

"But how....how do I fight....in this state...." Sekata breathed, dropping his head against the ground. "I can't...take it..."

"Just look behind you."

Sekata turned and saw the gravestone with his name carved on it. Everything about AncientGreymon's offer slowly crept back into his mind.

"That's what you want, don't you? No it's what you need." AncientGreymon spoke. "Power...the power to destroy your enemies. Burry them within the blades of your hatred. You already know the consequences, and well, recent events have pushed you further towards them. You've got almost nothing left to lose now..."

Sekata clenched his fists. The thoughts, the anger welled up in his mind. About everything that had happened, about Zoe, about his constant failures.

"I want that power..." Sekata stood up. "But not just that. I want to power to not only destroy all who oppose me, but completely annihilate them! Wipe them off the face of existence forever!! It's not just the other Spirit I want! It's more...."

"Hmmm...this?" AncientGreymon produced a gigantic sword in one of his fore claws.

It was silver in color, with a beautifully decorated blue core at its hilt. Several gold markings ran along its blade as the weapon seemed to give off a glow of its own. Notably, and Sekata knew it too, it was the Ryuukonken (Dragon Soul Sword), the weapon of a certain Digimon known as Kaiser Greymon (Emperor Greymon).

"The offer is the same as always." AncientGreymon continued.

Silently, Sekata walked over to his gravestone. He reached out a hand and hesitated only for a moment before extending his fingers. With his sharp claws, he slowly and carefully carved his signature (in Japanese) below his name.

"Welcome to my world boy." AncientGreymon chuckled. "See I told you that you'd make the right decision eventually."

Sekata took the sword and held it up. Flames surrounded his figure as the energy coursed through his body. Sekata took a moment to let the mystical forces around him settle, before raising the Ryuukonken.

"Hyper Spirit Evolution!"