//------------------------------// // Showdown // Story: Digital Harmony // by Zennistrad //------------------------------// The air was thick with tension. Standing amidst the gathered digimon was Deputymon, eyes burning red with dark power. As he hovered his hands over the pistols holstered by his sides, Starmon stepped back. “You... you tricked us!” “That Ah did,” said Deputymon. “’Course, Ah can’t get all the credit. You and your folks were the ones eager to go chasing after a bunch of fake gems. Wouldn’t have worked had you ain’t been so dead-set on getting yourselves rich... not that y’all would find anything worth a damn!” Another deep, piercing laugh escaped from his throat. “W-what?” said Starmon. “Just what do you mean, fake?” “What’s the matter? You ain’t heard?” said Deputymon. “Those ‘gems’ of yours ain’t gems at all! They ain’t nothing but a bunch of worthless rocks!” With a sharp cry, Deputymon swept out his hand, causing all of the gathered digimon to flinch at the sudden motion. But instead of an attack, the amethyst that lay next to Rarity was encompassed by a shroud of dark energy. Rarity let out a gasp as the glittering, jewel-like body of the gemstone instantly disintegrated into computer data, revealing a dull, lumpy gray stone. “Ah don’t believe it,” said Starmon. “W-we really did come out here for nothing!” “Not for nothing,” said Deputymon. “Y’all had done a mighty good job of fighting the other digimon living here, making sure you were busy destroying each other. In time you would have made it all too easy for Vespimon’s forces to come in and conquer what’s left of y’all!” His eyes turned towards Kari, narrowing into a fierce gaze. “But then y’all Digi-Destined had to come in and ruin everything! Ah would have blasted y’all to smithereens if it weren’t for you and that stinking danger sense of yours!” Kari blinked. “Danger sense?” T.K. stepped forward, his lips curved into a scowl. “So it wasn’t a mistake when you shot at us. You really were trying to kill us!” Deputymon chuckled. “That Ah was. Nearly succeeded at it, too.” “But you didn’t.” Allomon’s voice cut through the air like a hot knife. The ground rumbled as he stepped forward, baring his teeth. “You’ve not only failed, you’ve revealed your treachery to all of us. Now you have given us every reason to destroy you for your crimes.” Deputymon laughed again, his gleeful chuckles turning into a deep, villainous guffaw. “And you think Ah ain’t come prepared for that eventuality? Ain’t no proper deputy that don’t have a plan B! Like so!” With a single smooth motion, Deputymon reached behind himself. From seemingly out of nowhere, he pulled out a massive dark spiral, clutching it between his fingertips. Before anyone else could appreciably react, he chucked the spiral with deathly accuracy. In less than a second, the dark spiral had landed onto Allomon’s arm. An earth-shaking howl erupted from his mouth as dark electricity pulsed across his body. “Father!” Braveheart cried out. Allomon’s eyelids screwed shut. Then, with a growl, they snapped open, revealing a pair of glowing, bloodshot eyes. “Allomon, dark digivolve to...” Wisps of writhing, twisting shadows vented up from the earth, encompassing Allomon’s entire body. As they smothered his form, he grew larger and more muscled, until he stood at nearly twice the height he had stood from before. The digimon from the nearby town backed away slowly, before breaking out into a full run, screaming as the they fled from the powerful, agonized roar. The Aquilamon could only watch in horror as their former chief morphed into an entirely unfamiliar shape. His new body was similar in shape and appearance as before, a massive dinosaur with sharp, predatory teeth. Now, however, his feathered headdress had disappeared, and his entire body had body was a deep grey, with rusted red stripes, a white belly, and scar-like markings shaped like the letter ‘X’ over his chest and left eye. “MasterTyrannomon!” ========== Digimon Analyzer: MasterTyrannomon Type: Dinosaur Attribute: Vaccine Level: Ultimate Special Attacks: Master Fire, Master Claw, Hyper Heat Blast ========== Braveheart looked up at the massive dinosaur, her eyes quivering. “F-father?” “Your so-called father ain’t here anymore,” said Deputymon. He reached up and snapped his fingers, and immediately MasterTyrannomon turned his attention to him. “Follow the settlers back to the town and kill them. Then burn the whole town to the ground, for good measure. Think you can do that?” MasterTyrannomon let out another vicious roar, causing all of the Digi-Destined to flinch from its sheer volume. With thunderous footsteps, he quickly turned around and began running after the fleeing digimon, in the direction of the town. Several Aquilamon attempted to fly in to intercept, but MasterTyrannomon simply swatted them all out of the way one-by-one, sending each of them tumbling to the ground as he continued on his path. “He’s too strong!” Starmon cried. “Y’all are the Digi-Destined, ain’t you? Do something!” “You ain’t going to be doing anything!” Deputymon shot back. “Because all your miserable little lives are ending right here!” A second aura of darkness, much like the one that surrounded MasterTyrannomon, began to waft up from the dirt and surround Deputymon. Then, with a cry, his body transformed. “Deputymon, dark digivolve to...” The shadows enveloped Deputymon’s body. Before long, his shape began to change, the gun barrels that made up his torso twisting and expanding, and his head retracting into it as his form molded into a distinct, five-pointed shape. His body resembled a golden star, with a pair of arms and legs jutting out adorned with white boots and gloves, trimmed with gold and striped with brilliant red. Black sunglasses that curved upwards into a boomerang shaped adorned his eyes, and on the closest thing he had to a forehead was a single, gleaming diamond. Most notably of all, however, was the massive dark spiral that curled around his arm. “...SuperStarmon!” ========== Digimon Analyzer: SuperStarmon Type: Mutant Attribute: Data Level: Ultimate Special Attacks: Comet Storm, Galactic Eyes ========== “WHAT IN TARNATION!?” Starmon’s eyes bugged out at the sight, jumping back so quickly that he nearly fell on his backside. SuperStarmon let out a chuckle. “Looks like there’s a new sheriff in town.” “Eh, five out of ten,” said Pinkie. Everyone else paused, giving her an odd look. “Hey, that line’s really cliched, I’m just saying.” “Ah don’t care how cliched it is! Because y’all will be dead either way! Comet Storm!” SuperStarmon’s immense, booming voice called out as he raised both his hands into the air. In the skies above, more than a dozen streaks of blinding light appeared, swirling together into a vertical disk as their bodies coalesced into a dizzying display of blazing comets. Then, with a downward thrust of his arms, the swirling disk exploded outwards, sending each of the comets raining down onto the ground below. “Take cover!” Twilight screamed. The comets slammed into the ground with explosive impact, scattering debris as they burst into shards of searing rock. All around, people dived for cover, though several of the Aquilamon were too late to avoid the attack. In an instant, at least a dozen of them were destroyed, their bodies splintered into fragments of data by the force of the attack. As Twilight huddled to the ground, a fragment of burning rock passed by just over her horn, sending a sharp spike of pain down its length as its tip was singed by the heat. Slowly, she forced herself to stand up, her ears still ringing from the sound of the assault. “Is everyone okay?” Davis stood up and dusted himself off, quickly glancing around the area. All around, the others Digi-Destined and their partners were climbing to their feet, covered in scrapes and bruises. Nearby, Braveheart and Starmon were both lying unconscious on the ground. “Looks like it, yeah,” said Ken. “Blast Rings!” At once, the attack calls of several Aquilamon cried out. Taking to the air, they surrounded SuperStarmon from all sides, concentric rings of lighting firing from their mouths. The combined impact of the attacks collided with SuperStarmon’s body, and he was subsequently enveloped by an immense explosion. As the dust kicked into the air, another Aquilamon picked up Braveheart and Starmon with his horns, lifting them both onto his back. He looked over to the Digi-Destined, and though his gaze remained sharp, there was a deep sadness to his eyes. “I will bring them both to safety. You must find find our chief and free him from the dark spiral. Please, everything we have ever known is in peril.” As the Aquilamon took to the sky, Davis called out to the others. “Come on, let’s go!” “Galactic Eyes!” The attack call was followed by a great red beam from the center of the dust cloud. It scattered to the wind from the force, revealing SuperStarmon to be completely unharmed. The beam shot forward from SuperStarmon’s eyes, racing towards the Aquilamon carrying Braveheart and Starmon, but another Aquilamon flew out and intercepted the blow. He let out a cry of pain, and was suddenly silenced as his body exploded into nothingness. More than a dozen other Aquilamon swarmed SuperStarmon, circling him in the air, but the star-shaped digimon followed up with a flurry of optic blasts. One by one, the Aquilamon were disintegrated. “No!” Yolei shrieked. Her body trembled, tears pooling at the edge of her eye. “They’re being slaughtered! Please, someone make it stop!” “We need to split up!” Ken called back. “Kari, T.K.! You two fly out and take care of MasterTyrannomon, we’ll stay behind and deal with SuperStarmon!” “Ah’ll head out and help, too! Pinkie, you’re with Kari, right? Why don’t you help us out!” “No problem! Let’s get digital, everyone!” The other ponies nodded in agreement. A brilliant display of lights shone from their digivices, and all at once they shouted the words of power as the glow enveloped their bodies. “Execute! Harmonic Evolution!” “Espermon!” “Irismon!” “TimberGarurumon!” “Kelpiemon!” “Shinobimon!” As the transformations completed, the human Digi-Destined joined in as well, the light from their digivices glowing brightly as they channeled the bond they shared with their partners. “Patamon, Armor Digivolve to: Pegasusmon!” “Gatomon, Armor Digivolve to: Nefertimon!” “Veemon, Digivolve to: ExVeemon!” “Armadillomon, Digivolve to: Ankylomon!” “Wormmon, Digivolve to: Stingmon!” As the chaos unfolded, SuperStarmon continued to assault the tribal digimon that desperately fought to avoid his blasts, each being picked off one-by-one by flurry of attacks. Amid the confusion, both Pegasusmon and Nefertimon carried their human partners on their backs, heading in the direction of the town, while Shinobimon hopped across TimberGarurumon’s back. “This is the end for you, SuperStarmon!” Espermon cried out. “We’ve got you outnumbered!” A low chuckle escaped from SuperStarmon as faced off the remaining digimon. “Well, ain’t this getting a bit redundant? Do y’all even think a whole army of you folks could stop me?” As Yolei watched the standoff unfold before her, her body continued to tremble softly. Dampness stained the edges of her glasses as she looked her partner in the eye. “I...” “Yolei!” Hawkmon cried out. “We need to help them! What are we waiting for?” “I...” Yolei let out a deep, shuddering breath. Sweat crossed her palms, and her fingers wrapped tightly across her digivice as she held it closer to her chest. “Hawkmon. Please, I...” She inhaled again through her nose, sniffling at the congestion that had suddenly built through the tears. “I’m just... y-you’ll be safe, won’t you?” Hawkmon’s beak opened. His eyes shone gently beneath the sunlight as he met his partner’s gaze. “...Yolei. You know I would never leave your side. I promise you, no matter what happens, I’ll always be with you.” Yolei hesitated for a moment. As she closed her eyes, she breathed in deeply. “...You really mean that, huh?” “Galactic Eyes!” “Blast Rings!” Towards the battle itself, the attack calls rang mightily through the air. Though only three Aquilamon tribesman remained, they fought valiantly against SuperStarmon’s attacks. As they countered with their own bursts, several other attacks called out from the chosen Digimon, and the scene descended into a flurry of chaotic movements, explosions, and counterattacks. “It’s now or never, Yolei!” said Hawkmon. Yolei’s lips gently curved upward. “Alright. I believe in you, Hawkmon.” She held her digivice outward, pointing the screen towards her partner. “Just to make sure I don’t confuse you for those other digimon, let’s do this a bit differently. Digi-Armor Energize!” A bright light erupted from Yolei’s digivice, enveloping Hawkmon in its power. “Hawkmon, Armor Digivolve to... Shurimon!” With a flying leap, Shurimon approached the scene of battle, brandishing his weaponry. Looking from afar, Yolei gazed upon the battle with tense, watchful eyes. “Please... be careful.” ———————— “Up ahead! Look!” Shinobimon called out from atop TimberGarurumon’s back. Pointing a finger forward, she led the eyes of her companions to the image of the town ahead. There, MasterTyrannomon’s form stood tall above the buildings, his eyes glowing red-hot with rage. “Master Fire!” A stream of of blistering flames fire from MasterTyrannomon’s mouth. The attack swept across the town with wild abandon, and within seconds, the buildings around him had caught aflame. As they smoldered, several dozen digimon emerged; mostly Bakemon, but with a few others as well. One Bakemon, slightly larger than the others, floated forward and hovered in front of the group. “It’s no use hiding! We’ll have to fight back! Everyone, swarm him!” With a chorus of yells, the digimon charged forward, surrounding MasterTyrannomon from all sides. His body stood firmly planted in the ground as he was tackled from all directions, the bodies of the other digimon covering the entire surface of his body. As they crawled atop his skin, he let out a vicious cry. “Hyper Heat Blast!” A burning heat radiated from MasterTyrannomon’s body. All at once, the crowd of digimon covering disintegrated, blasted into oblivion by a shower of super-hot embers. Little flames rained out from MasterTyrannomon’s skin in all directions, scorching the ground and further stoking the fires that surrounded him. “We have to stop him!” Kari called out from above. “The town doesn’t stand a chance!” “Try to keep your distance!” T.K. called back. “That looks like that could hurt!” “We’ll see if we can bind him!” said Pegasusmon. “Ready?” “Ready!” Nefertimon called back. “Golden Noose!” Nefertimon’s anklets glowed alongside Pegasusmon’s, and the two digimon flew outwards, a stream of golden light connecting them. At the sound of their combined attack call, MasterTyrannon swiveled around to face them. A startled growl came from his throat as the noose wrapped itself around him, pinning his arms to his midsection. As Pegasusmon and Nefertimon released the noose from their anklets, Shinobimon stood to her feet, standing atop TimberGarurumon’s back. “Alright, we can do this! Let’s go!” “Master Fire!” Another powerful stream of flame erupted from MasterTyrannomon’s mouth. It swept across the ground, heading rapidly towards TimberGarurumon, and she was immediately forced to dive to the side. Her coat and branches became singed as the flames licked at the air beside her. She tumbled onto the ground as she somersaulted away, sending Shinobimon flying backwards. The two digimon, now apart from each other, both climbed to their feet. “That could’ve gone better,” said TimberGarurumon. MasterTyrannomon let out another roar. His massive, sinewy muscles surged with strength at his cry, as he struggled against his bonds. With a loud snap, the golden noose binding him broke open, and disintegrated into nothingness. “Oh, no!” said Nefertimon. “He broke free!” “Master Claw!” With a vicious yell, MasterTyrannomon rushed forward, claws brandished. With force enough to shatter boulders, he charged toward Shinobimon, thrusting his claw with the clear intent to impale her. “Ninja Spinner!” With her sword extended, Shinobimon spun rapidly across the ground, kicking up a cloud of dust as she whirled in place. Sparks flew as she was struck by MasterTyrannomon’s claw, retaining her spinning motion as she skidded backwards across the ground. Continuing to spin like a top, she once again rushed forward. MasterTyrannomon followed with a second claw strike, and Shinobimon was sent spinning backwards once again. The process repeated several more times, with repeated claw strikes clanging and grinding against the spinning of Shinobimon’s sword. Finally, MasterTyrannomon gave one last downward swipe of his claw. This time, Shinobimon stood her ground as the attack collided with her spinning blade. Her feet began to drill rapidly into the ground, a noise like a sawblade piercing through the air as her attack ground against the claw, the heat force of friction sending little embers spraying out in all directions. “Now’s our chance!” said TimberGarurumon. “Everyone, attack! Forest Fire!” “Equus Beam!” “Rosetta Stone!” The three digimon aimed their attacks at MasterTyrannomon’s arm. He roared in pain as the projectiles converged on the dark spiral, and stumbled backwards from the impact, causing Shinibomon’s spinning to begin slowing. The dark spiral cracked, and subsequently shattered into countless specks of ethereal data. MasterTyrannomon let out one last roar, and his body glowed, shrinking and de-digivolving, before falling face-first onto the ground with a massive thud. As Shinobimon’s spinning finally came to a stop, her sword dropped from her grip, and she held onto her head with both hands. Her feet danced as she teetered back and forth, struggling to stand upright. Finally, she managed to steady herself. “Whoo! Talk about dizzying!” “We should head back and help the others,” said TimberGarurumon. “Ain’t no telling how much trouble that SuperStarmon’s giving them.” The others nodded in agreement, and began heading back to the hills.