Episode 38:

“The Final Battle”

By

Jennifer Morton

and

Shelli-Jo Pelletier

* * *

~~~ Magimon's P.O.V. ~~~

Well, here we are. Ready for the final battle. It all started with the destruction of the firewall. Then came, get this, more humans! Our partners say that these are the original Digidestined. They explained to us a lot of stuff I tried to follow. Something about the human Intra-net and copying and pasting data files. Whatever. I don’t care about stuff like that, though it seemed to make the humans feel a lot better to have answers. One thing that is good is that our group has grown to nineteen humans and nineteen Digimon. Now we’ll really be able to kick this evil virus butt! Finally we’ll make sure to bring peace to the digital world.

* * *

The Digidestined and Digimon monitored every inch of the dark woods, with Jenn and Tai leading the way.

"Does anyone else feel like it got cold suddenly?" asked BabyBunnimon, shivering in Skye's arms. The blue-haired girl frowned and looked down at her little Digimon, then hugged her in an attempt to warm her.

"I think I'm starting to miss the hot desert we were in before," Nakomon replied, being carried by Alex, who was walking right beside Erica.

"Don't worry, you'll get use to it," Agumon replied with an assuring grin. "Besides, if all goes to plan, this should all be over soon."

"Thank goodness!" both Digidestined leaders said at the same time, stretching their arms over their heads. When they realized the funny coincidence, they just laughed a little in embarrassment.

“Maybe you guys should digivolve,” Tania suggested to her In-Training Digimon. “Who knows when some badguy is going to pop out from behind some tree. We have to be ready.”

“Good point, Tania,” said Munamon. “Let’s go, guys!”

"Junumon digi-volve to . . . Foximon!"

"Eekamon digi-volve to . . . Cunomon!"

"Bamboomon digi-volve to . . . Pandamon!"

"Cheemon digi-volve to . . . Cheekomon!"

"Dotremon digi-volve to . . . Diratimon!"

"Munamon digi-volve to . . . Yazumon!"

"Autumon digi-volve to . . . Jaymon!"

"BabyBunnimon digi-volve to . . . Magimon!"

"Kintermon digi-volve to . . . Huntermon!"

"Nakomon digi-volve to . . . Nerimon!"

“Kimon digi-volve to . . . Sunemon!”

The digivolving ended in just the nick of time. As the eleven new Rookies stood on their new feet and looked around, the deep sound of laughter came from the trees around them. Almost immediately the familiar forms of Devimon and LadyDevimon leaped out at them! Quickly DarkTyrannomon followed, his big feet crushing the undergrowth.

“Don’t let them get to the humans!” shouted Agumon. “Let’s go! Pepper Breath!”

“Blue Blaster!”

“Ring of Fire!”

“Spiral Twister!”

“Tanoblo!”

“Super Shocker!”

“Fire Ball!”

“Poison Ivy!”

The three evil Digimon merely snickered. The two devils wove in the air, dodging left and right. It didn’t appear that even one attack was hitting them, they were evading them so easily. DarkTyrannomon didn’t even flinch as the attacks struck his thick-skinned body.

“This isn’t working! You have to digivolve!” Jenn told the Rookie Digimon.

“We’re on it!” Foximon thrashed her tail, then jumped and tumbled to avoid a wave of bats sent by LadyDevimon. With her instructions leading them, the FDD Digimon digivolved to the Champion forms, while the original Digidestined Digimon did the same. Now nineteen Champion Digimon surrounded Devimon, LadyDevimon, and DarkTyrannomon.

The three dark Digimion smirked at the group of Champions. Then, without a word, they turned and fled into the woods.

“After them!” growled Garurumon as he knelt to allow Matt to leap up on his back.

The group of Digimon, with the human partners riding along, ran into the woods after the three evil Digimon. They weren’t going to let these three get away, knowing that they could tell how to find the virus.

The chase through the dark woods was harrowing, as the Digidestined Digimon fought hard to keep the villains in sight and to avoid the tall shadows of giant trees. The Digidestined clung to their Digimon, avoiding the branches that seemed to whip out and try to snatch them from their partners’ backs. Suddenly the trees vanished and the Digimon found themselves bursting out of the woods. They skidded to a sudden stop as the ground before them fell away. The group found themselves perched on the edge of a tall cliff. Far below they could see the figures of the three villains, the two devil Digimon flying while DarkTyrannomon slid down the cliff’s incline on his large clawed feet.

“Look, that’s where they’re heading!” Sora shouted, pointing from her perch on Birdramon’s back. They could see in the distance a tall castle rising up toward the sky. Devimon, LadyDevimon and DarkTyrannomon were heading straight for it.

“Why do evil villains always have to live in castles?” sighed Emily.

“Yeah, why not a fancy mansion or a nice condo?” Erica joked.

Joe, sitting next to the tall horn on Ikkakumon’s head, wasn’t in the mood for jokes. “If we’re going to catch them, we’d better start finding a way down this cliff,” he pointed out.

Tai and Jenn nodded, at the same time. They began looking for any paths down the side of the cliff and carefully easing their way over the edge.

* * *

As the evil trio returned to their master’s castle, they wasted no time in going to their master’s room to report on their success. “They are approaching the castle now, sir,” announced LadyDevimon.

“Good,” rumbled the dark cloud. “Now make sure they find their way to me. . . .”

“Of course, my Lord,” murmured Devimon. The three Digimon bowed and left the room.

* * *

It took time for the Digidestined to travel down the cliff and make it to the castle, but they traveled at record speed. Everyone knew this would be their final battle, and they wanted to get it started and over with as soon as possible. Silently the group of children and Champions gathered in the courtyard of the giant castle. They looked around for signs of opponents, but everything seemed to be deserted.

Tai motioned for the group to go to the front doors, and the gang quietly moved inside. The hallways in the stone castle were wide and empty.

The Digidestined and their Digimon slunk down the corridors carefully, looking for any indication of life. As they approached each corner they cautiously looked around it before continuing forward.

Suddenly everyone froze. The air had changed. It was suddenly colder, and tension ran between them like electricity. The humans looked at one another, confused and nervous, wondering what was going on.

“Humph. Those Digidestined brats sure are taking their sweet time.”

“Yes, I’d be surprised if they could tell their heads from their tails.” The loud, noxious voice cut through the silence like a knife, making everyone jump and look down the dim hallway. There stood Devimon and LadyDevimon, posed together in the middle of the wide corridor, daring them to approach.

“Do you think they’ll be able find us in this castle? They barely managed to follow us through the forest, after all,” Devimon commented to LadyDevimon, taunting his foes.

“Hey, we took down your little firewall, and you’re next on the list!” Jenn called to the evil Digimon angrily. The Champion Digimon lunged forward as a group, and the two evil demons turned and fled down the hallway.

“Don’t let them get away!” yelled Lina, urging Dracomon forward. For a while it was a nightmare in the castle. The two demons flew at an amazing speed, with the group of Champions right behind. The hallways twisted and turned, sometimes plunged into total darkness before a window would shed more light inside. With the twisting of the walls around them, the Digidestined Digimon couldn’t get off a single shot. And all the time the mocking laughter of the two evil Digimon rang down the halls.

The next turn in the corridor revealed a long stretch of darkness, and the Champion Digimon stumbled to a halt, their mad dash cut off because the taunting laughter had suddenly stopped. Although they looked into the darkness, searching carefully, nothing could be seen.

“Now where did they go?” whispered Tania, clutching Djarumon’s furry neck as she sat on his shoulder.

“Uh, maybe they ran away. We are pretty scary,” Sartomon pointed out, a trifle smugly.

“I doubt it. This smells more like a trap,” growled Kabuterimon.

“It won’t work, we know it’s coming,” Tai said confidently. He slid down Greymon’s back and landed on the stone floor, looking around for clues. Jenn jumped down from Glorymon and joined him.

Gatomon, sitting next to Kari on Greymon’s back, spotted something and tugged her Digidestined’s arm. When Kari looked, she saw a faint light coming from under a door set in the side of the hall. “Look there!” said the small girl, pointing to the door.

Tai and Jenn looked at one another and nodded. Together they stepped up to the door and pushed. For a moment nothing happened. Then Glorymon and Cheetormon walked up and helped them push. With a dry creak the huge door swung open, and thumped into the wall with the force of the swing.

It was no wonder the two Digidestined leaders had trouble, considering the door was large enough to allow all the Champion Digimon to walk inside, one by one. They could now see the light was coming from torches set along the walls, the only light in the dark room. It was huge and empty, like a wide throne room, leaving plenty of room when all nineteen Digimon had gotten inside.

Matt whistled. “Take a look at that,” said the blond, pointing to the front of the room. There was a huge black platform, seeming to be made of shiny black stone, reflecting the torchlight with an orange shine. Along the sides were carved hieroglyphics and some disturbing scenes of what looked like fire and destruction.

Dani gulped. “So, uh, where’s the party?” She grinned weakly, trying to joke. The large room was cold and empty. The group of Digimon and Digidestined huddled in the center of the room, not daring to spread out just yet. They were waiting for the trap to spring.

Then there was a rumble like thunder at the front of the room, and they turned their attention to the platform there. “Your time has come, human Digidestined and traitorous Digimon!” boomed a large voice, which reverberated off the walls, distorted and echoing. They watched carefully in the flickering torchlight as something began to take shape on the platform. It seemed like a dark cloud, like a thundercloud, with forks of lightning crackling over it. It continued to grow, spreading to cover the entire platform.

“Oh, you have got to be kidding me!” snarled Samee.

“Are we supposed to be afraid of a rain cloud?” added KiSunemon disdainfully.

“Don’t take my appearance so lightly,” rumbled the dark cloud. It was still spreading, albeit slowly.

Lexxy and Izzy were standing close together, each holding their identical laptops and typing furiously, trying to find information on this thing in front of them.

“Don’t bother,” sneered the cloud, seeming to be able to see what they were doing, even without eyes. “You won’t find any information on me in that Digidex of yours. I am no Digimon, nor do I have a name. I am a force greater than any Mega Digimon, and with each piece of data I acquire, I become even more powerful. You have no chance.”

“I think we hit the jackpot,” muttered Tai.

The still-growing cloud began to extend tendrils of smoky appendages. One headed straight for Skye. “Digi-Princess. . . .” hissed the rumbling voice.

Jenn dove in front of Skye without hesitation. “You’ll have to get through me first!” said the goggle-headed redhead.

With an amused voice, the virus cloud said, “Very well.”

The tendrils of cloud reached out to the torches lining the walls, and a sudden breeze kicked through the room. All at once, the torches were blown out. The room went black.

TO BE CONTINUED. . . .