//------------------------------// // Dark Waves Rising // Story: Digimon Codex // by Banshee531 //------------------------------// To say Flash and his friends were worried would be an understatement. Things had seemed so great before. They had been enjoying a day at the beach with their friends, unwinding after all the insane situations they had found themselves in recently. But then, their friends had started disappearing one after another. And eventually, they discovered the beach they were one was actually connected to another world entirely. And now, after almost drowning, they had found themselves in that world. The place was lacking any form of light or colour, with even the lighthouse giving off a dark blue beam that spun around. The Digidestined and their partners had escaped from the ocean portal that had brought them there, thanks in no small part to a crystal necklace Flash had gotten from a Digimon named Jijimon. And now, they were inside this world of darkness, attempting to find the rest of their friends. "This place is kind of scary." Lunamon was walking close to Trixie, as they made their way along a beach. "Any idea where we are?" "Another world," Flash told them. "One that's full of nothing but darkness. At least, that's what Jijimon told us." Micro and their Digimon nodded. "This place is almost the opposite of the Digital World," Tentomon stated. "And it's dangerous to be in here. We have to get out." "How?" Sandal asked. "If you're saying we have to go back into that water, you're crazy." Flash had to admit, going back into the ocean wasn't something he wanted to try either. The ocean had sapped all their strength and even forced Veemon and Lunamon to De-Digivolve. If it hadn't been for Jijimon's crystal, they might have never escaped. Flash then sensed something and reached down to grab the crystal around his neck. He held it up and could feel a strong warmth coming from it. As he did, the crystal unleashed a bright light that flew forwards. That light suddenly stopped and spread out, forming a tear of some kind that seemed to split the dimension apart. Everyone staggered back and was shocked to see that through this tear, they could see the Digital World in all its glory. It was the beach this had all started on. They stared at the tear and were amazed by what they saw. "Is that home?" Lunamon asked, stepping forward. The others smiled, realising they had a way to escape from this terrible place. Trixie, Lunamon and Mangoramon stepped forward, about to leap through it. But then they stopped and looked back at the others. "What's wrong?" Trixie asked, "let's get out of here." "We can't," Flash told her. He held the crystal and it was as if some kind of understanding dawned on him. "This gem can get us out of here, but it won't be able to get us back in. If we leave, the only way back will be through the water again." "We need to find Shining and the others," Micro nodded. "They're here somewhere and we need to find them." They all nodded and stepped away from the portal, which closed up as they did. Hopefully, that wasn't the only time it could do that. "So what do we do?" Sandal asked, "how do we find them?" "That's a good question," Flash sighed. He looked around but the place was so dark and fog filled, it was almost impossible to see anything and figure out how big the place was. "I guess the only thing we can do is...look around." They marched up the beach towards the mainland and as they did, they thought about everything that had happened to them. "Any idea what those creatures that attacked us were?" Trixie's question made them all frown, as they remembered the Digimon that had been swimming through the water when they fell in. If the crystal hadn't saved them, there was no telling what they might have done to them. "It was too dark in the water to really get a good look at them," Tentomon stated. "And I'd rather live with the mystery instead of running into them again." They couldn't agree more and simply focused on finding their friends. But they quickly found themselves running into a roadblock, that being a giant wall right in front of them. The area of the beach they were on, had a twenty meter cliff overlooking it. They weren't sure what could be at the top and their Digimon were all still drained from being pulled into the water, so Digivolving just to get up a cliff would be a waste of energy. As such, they decided to keep walking along the beach in search of their friends. As they did, Trixie shuddered. "Anyone else still freezing cold?" They all nodded, the group looking themselves over. They were all still wearing their beachwear and were still soaked from their dip in the water. "There's no wind to dry us off," Micro held up his finger to feel the air was absolutely still. "And there's no sun to warm us up. I wonder if digital beings can catch hypothermia?" "I'd rather not stick around long enough to find out," Flash told him as they kept walking. They then found the cliff began to curve around towards the water, making them fear that it went out into the ocean. But as they followed it, they found the cliff came to a stop a few feet away from the water's edge and was like a giant arrow head. They looked around the tip of the cliff and found more beach as far as the eye could see, which wasn't very far due to the fog, the eight quickly making their way around it whilst keeping an eye on the water. And as they did, they found themselves coming across a large tunnel entrance. Said tunnel appeared like the ones trains would use, which went deep into the side of the cliff and had no lights to show them what was in there. Everyone got a sinking feeling as they looked inside the tunnel, wishing they had a flashlight or something that could illuminate it. They felt like any moment, something would leap out of the cave and attack them. "I'm not going in there," Trixie told them. The others agreed and all backed away, though they were a little worried their friends might have been dragged inside there. It was in that moment that the water beside them began to shift and move. Mangoramon was the first to hear it, the plant Digimon turning to it and seeing a bunch of red eyes in the water. "Look!" They all turned to see them and quickly jumped away from the water, the Digimon standing protectively in front of their partners. "Who are you?" Flash called out. "Show yourselves!" Slowly, the creatures began to step out of the water. As they did, they were finally able to take a better look at them. And as they did, they couldn't help but feel like they had seen these Digimon before. "Divermon?" Micro asked, seeing the almost ambitious form they had. But there were several differences between these Divermon and the ones they had seen before. These ones were without any colour, with only their red glowing eyes looking at all vibrant. Plus, they weren't carrying the scuba gear Divermon where known for having. Their bodies also appeared to have stitches running through them. The Divermon stepped up onto land and as they did, something started happening. Their bodies started turning to more shadowy forms, as they grew taller with lankier arms and legs. "What's going on?" Trixie asked the others, as one of the Divermon walked towards them. "You will come with us!" He wasn't asking. He was demanding. "Yeah, no thanks!" Flash took out his Digivice. "The only place we're going is home, once we find our friends." "Your friends are with us," a Divermon told them. "We'll take you to them." Those words put everyone one edge, but they refused to let it scare them. "Then bring them to us," Trixie cried. "And they better be unharmed." The Divermon drew closer, the eight all feeling like they had no intention of bringing their friends to them. Flash was about to make Veemon Digivolve, but something happened first. The crystal around his neck started glowing, making them all look down as the light it gave off spread out. And when it touched the Divermon, they all cried out in pain and backed off. "They hate the light?" Micro asked. "No surprise," Tentomon stated. "If this is their home, they're probably not used to bright light. They're basically vampires." The Divermon staggered back to the water and as they did, they let out cries and noise of some kind. "What is that?" Sandal covered his ears, the noise being quite loud and sounding almost like a dial up modem mixed with a fog horn and TV static. They were all getting headaches listening to it. When the noise finally ended, they stared at the Divermon like they were nuts. But then, they felt something. A presence. An aura that was coming from beneath the waves of the ocean. Something was coming. Something big. "Master!" Divermon cried out, "help us! Squash this light!" And sure enough, something exploded out from the water and began to tower above them all. It was a massive Digimon, halfway between a Therizinomon and Nidhoggmon in size. Its form was a giant octopus-shaped head with a large mass of tentacles below it, twisted around one another to form a body, arms and legs. Chains, belts and gold bands were used to keep them together, whilst a necklace of beads around its neck. It had two dragonic wings that looked too small to allow flight, whilst its head had red markings on it along with having a massive lower jaw. On its back, between its wings, was a massive trident. Everyone stared at the monstrous creature and could barely believe it. They had seen larger and stronger Digimon before, but something about this one trumped them all in terror. "What is that thing?" Lunamon asked, as the creature slowly began to move close through the water. "Whatever it is," Flash held up his Digivice. "We can't let it get us! Veemon, time to Digivolve!" Veemon nodded and the device unleashed a bright light. But as it cocooned around Veemon, the giant squid-like monster unleashed a roar and a wave of cold energy swept over the beach. "Veemon, Digivolve to..." The wave struck the cocoon and suddenly, it shattered and Veemon fell back to the ground. "Ow...Veemon?" He looked himself over, shocked his Digivolution had stopped. "What the heck?" "Huh?" Flash asked, as Sandal held up his Digivice. "Go, bro!" The light exploded out of the device and around his partner. "Mangoramon, Digivolve to..." But then the cocoon exploded off of him and he was still his Rookie form. "Mangoramon?" He also fell to the ground, horrified to not be his Champion form. "My turn!" Tentomon yelled, as Micro help up his Digivice and unleashed the light. "Tentomon, Digivolve to..." The cocoon exploded off of him and he hadn't changed a bit. "Kabu...never mind." "What's going on?" Micro asked, as the Divermon all laughed. "You fools," one stated. "Our lord Dagomon rules this world. So long as he commands something, it will be so. And he commands no Digivolving to your next Level." Everyone was horrified by this, as Dagomon and the Divermon all drew closer to them. "Um..." Trixie looked at the others, "what do we do?" "The only thing we can do," Flash realised. "RUN!" They turned and began to leg it, the Divermon roaring at them to come back. But they didn't and ran up the beach, towards the mainland. Dagomon let out another bizarre sound and thrust its hands towards them, the tentacles that made them up shooting forwards in an attempt to grab them. The Digimon considered firing at them, but knew their attacks wouldn't even scratch the beast. All they could do, was continue to run and pray the tendrils didn't catch up. And to their relief, they managed to reach the edge of the beach and found the tentacles no longer following them. They then found themselves coming across a large fence, which seemed to run the entire length of the ground before the beach. Luckily, there was an opening in the fence and they rushed into it. But as they did, they found themselves in a large fenced maze. They came to a stop to catch their breath, all panting in exhaustion as they tried to figure out what to do next. As it turned out, Dagomon and the Divermon had chosen not to follow them. Why was a mystery, but they weren't ones to look a gift horse in the mouth. "Okay," Flash sighed, "let's review. We're in another dimension, our friends are being held prisoner and a giant sea demon has somehow blocked our Digimon from Digivolving to Champion and probably Armor. Did I miss anything?" "Only that we're totally screwed!" Trixie cried, the others feeling just as worried. "How are we supposed to fight like this?" Veemon asked, nobody having any idea. Flash could tell they were all starting to worry and knew he had to do something. "We're not screwed yet," Flash told them. "We just have to find the others and get them out of here before those things show up again." "And how are we supposed to do that?" Micro asked, Flash thinking as he took out his Digivice. Then, an idea popped into his head. "We know our friends are in this world, so we just have to track them down." He brought up his friends list and hoped it would work. And sure enough, "yes!" He showed them his Digivice and they all saw a dot on it. "Twilight's Digivice. She had it when she was pulled in here. Which means we can follow it." His friends smiled and they all began to make their way through the maze, following the dot as it lead them towards the location of Twilight's Digivice. Whether or not Twilight's Digivice was with Twilight, they wanted to hope was yes. "I wonder what those things even want with our friends?" Sandal asked, with everyone frowning at the many possible thoughts that might be happening to them right now. "You think they wanna eat them?" Trixie asked. "The Divermon maybe," Micro gulped. "But that giant Digimon would barely make a snack out of them. Besides, I don't think Digimon eat humans." "Are we even sure those things are Digimon?" Flash asked. "We're not in the Digital World anymore, so would those things still be classed as Digital Monsters?" "Good question," Tentomon nodded. "If this dimension is Digital, I guess it's still possible. But if we've somehow appeared in a non Digital dimension, I'm not sure." "It felt like a Digimon," Veemon told them. "But it didn't feel exactly like one. It was weird." They all gulped, fearing what might happen if they stayed too long in this nightmare realm. "Humanoid fish creatures," Micro hummed. "Capturing humans and worshipping some kind of demonic sea god. I think I saw a movie about that once." "Really?" Flash was surprised by this. "Yeah. It was a mashup of two old horror novels, written by that really messed up author. I can't remember his name, but this is giving me serious deja vu." "How's the movie end?" Sandal asked. "What did they want to captured humans for?" Micro thought about it and suddenly went very pale, making his friends realize it probably wasn't something pleasant. "You don't wanna know." That just spurred them on to find their friends faster, the group continuing to follow the signal as it got closer. "Looks like they're on the beach somewhere," Flash told them. This didn't sit comfortably with them, since it could mean running into those Digimon again. But they had to risk it. Finding an exit to the maze along the beach, they carefully looked out and saw no sign of the Divermon or the giant eltrich beast. Flash gestured for them to hurry and they rushed out across the beach, making their way along it towards the spot on the Digivice. "They're not too far now." Flash looked worried, fearing they might just find a pile of Digivices and nothing else. It was then that they spotted something further up. A bunch of rocks, sticking out of the sand, all looking like half-buried eggs made out of a black substance. Flash checked his Digivice and sure enough, the signal was coming from those rocks. "Oh, I don't like the look of this!" He rushed forward, the others following his lead. And as he got closer, he saw that whatever the eggs were made out of was some kind of see through material. And then, Flash saw the closest one had a humanoid form inside of it. "No," he whispered at the sight of who it was. "Applejack!" It was the cowgirl, wearing the swimsuit and hat she had had on when she went missing. She was sealed inside the rock and it was acting like some kind of cocoon, the girl being completely unconscious within the rock. And she wasn't the only one. Labramon was inside another rock beside her, with Rarity, Salamon, Thorax and Grubmon around her. The rest of their friends were there too, all encased in black rocks and also unconscious. And it wasn't just them. There were other Digimon there as well, mostly aquatic Digimon, who were all trapped and unconscious just like their friends. Flash soon found Twilight and Shining, the two side by side, their Digimon near them in the same state. When he placed his hand on the rocks, he noticed something about them. The bottom part of the eggs weren't as transparent as the rest of it, their legs and feet clouded from view. When Flash looked down at their legs, he realised it wasn't the rock clouding his vision. There was some kind of dark shadowy cloud, filling the egg. Shining's egg had more of it inside, but Twilight's wasn't far behind. When Flash checked the others, he found they were all had the same dark cloud inside of them. "What's it doing to them?" Trixie asked. "I don't know," Flash stepped back. "But I'm not just gonna stand here and let whatever it is happen. Veemon," he pointed at the rock, "break it open!" Veemon nodded and took several steps back, then charged at Shining's cocoon. "VEE-HEADBUTT!" He smashed into the rock, but bounced off it without doing a scratch. He fell to his feet and staggered around, his eyes becoming swirls. "Too much V, not enough headbutt." He fell to the ground, Flash rushing to his side as the other Digimon tried their hands at it. "Super Shocker!" "Bloom-Arang!" "Luna Claw!" They attacked different cocoons, but nothing happened. "Whatever these things are, they're tough." Lunamon rubbed her aching claws, as splashing sounds filled the air and they looked around to see the creatures from before appear again. "Get back!" Flash held up his crystal and the beasts hissed at the light, staggering back into the surf. "Now I want some answers. What are you doing to our friends!?" "They are to join us," one of the Divermon stated. "They will become like us." "What are you talking about?" Micro asked. "What the heck even are you?" "We were once like you," the Divermon replied. "We lived in the Digital World and swam in the ocean. We lived carefree lives. But then, we fell through a portal and found ourselves in these dark waters. We tried to find our way out, but the portal closed before we could escape. We were trapped here." "So you guys were victims of this place too?" Sandal asked, the Divermon nodding. "We were trapped here for so long, the dark power that makes it up altered us into what we are now. And one day, another portal opened up and we could return to the Digital World. But when we did, it was like acid to us." Micro frowned. "I get it. They were altered by this world and became creatures of this world. So if they leave it, they can't survive." "What does that have to do with our friends?" Trixie asked, Divermon hissing. "We hate this world. We wish to leave it forever, but we can't! Our only hope is to make our old world more like this one. And our master promised to make that happen. Once we have more soldiers, we will invade the Digital World and make it a place where even we can live." Their eyes went wide as they realised what the Divermon were doing. "You're gonna make Twilight and the others like you?" Flash glared at them, "that's evil!" "We're only doing what we must. When they are like us, they will be willing to help us take over the Digital World. We can make it like this world and finally leave this hellish place." "I don't think you've thought this plan of yours through," Micro told him. "If you make the Digital World like this world, you'll still be miserable there. The only difference is everyone else will be miserable as well." The Divermon all roared as they ran out the water. "A partly corrupted world is better than this one. We will return to our home and make it fit for us to live!" As he said that, the water behind them exploded. Everyone staggered back, as Dagomon appeared out of the water. The giant beast rose from the surf and roared, the Divermon appearing to understand this and charging at them. Flash held up the crystal, but Dagomon roared and unleashed a wave of darkness. When it washed over them, the crystal's light began to vanish. "No way!" Flash gasped, as the Divermon leapt towards them. The Digimon charged forward as well, whilst their partners tried to Digivolve them. But it was no use, as Dagomon once again unleashed a wave of darkness that prevented them from Digivolving. "This is bad!" Sandal gulped, as Mangoramon was grabbed by the chest and slammed into the ground. Tentomon tried to zap the Divermon, but they dodged before taking out some harpoons and throwing them at him. "Augh!" He was hit in the chest and knocked to the ground, several Divermon dog-piling on top of him whilst Lunamon ran around tried to hit the Divermon with water. But the Divermon deflected the attack with one kicking her in the chest. "Vee-Shot!" Veemon threw the energy sphere at a Divermon and the explosion knocked it back, but another quickly took its place and tackled him to the ground. Digimon incapacitated, the other Divermon moved towards the humans and looked ready to take them down. The four all realised that any moment, they were gonna be trapped inside the same cocoons as their friends. "Stay back!" Flash cried, but the Divermon weren't scared. Things didn't look good for them. They were in a dire situation and nothing appeared to be coming to save them. Or so it seemed. It was in that moment that the crystal around Flash's neck, suddenly started glowing. "Huh?" He looked down at the gem, as the light shot off it and hit the air. This created a tear made of light, making Dagomon hiss due to the light filling his eyes. And from that tear, something fell out of it and floated down to the ground. "Jijimon?" The Mega Level Digimon stood there, using its staff as a cane as he landed on the beach. "Howdy," he waved, "I see you kids managed to get yourself in quite the pickle." The Divermon stared at him, whilst Dagomon didn't look happy. The next thing they all knew, Jijimon turned into a blur that shot past them all. When he did, the Divermon were thrown away from their victims and splashed back into the water. "What are you doing here?" Micro asked. "Saving you, obviously." He then spotted the cocoons and frowned, "looks like Dagomon's up to his old tricks. My fault. If I hadn't fallen down and hurt my back, I would have been able to seal the breach before he could do anything." He looked up at Dagomon and sighed. "You never learn, do you?" The beast let out a bunch of noises and sounds, that the others still couldn't understand. "I don't care what you believe." "He can understand all that?" Trixie asked. "He is a caveman," Sandal pointed out. "Maybe he speaks beast." Micro suddenly remembered reading something and based on Dagomon's apparent design, that could be it. "Or maybe Dagomon's language is so advanced, our limited minds can only comprehend them as growls and roars." "Dagomon!" Jijimon announced, "you will release these poor souls and allow us to return to our world. I will not allow you to do more harm than you already have. Balance must be kept." The Digimon replied, with only Jijimon able to understand it. "If you don't, then you leave me no choice." He looked back at the others, "I'd step back if I were you." They all moved backwards, wondering what was gonna happen. "Jijimon!" Flash cried, "you really think you can take that guy? You might be a Mega, but he's more than ten times your size!" Jijimon laughed, "let me show you why I've been able to keep the Dark Ocean from invading until now." With that, he stamped his staff into the ground as he started glowing. "Time to get...supersized!" Suddenly, his body and staff began to grow larger and larger. "WOW!" Everyone cried out, as they watched Jijimon eventually match Dagomon in size. "Did you guys know he could do that?" Veemon asked, everyone else shaking their heads. "OH YEAH!" The massive Jijimon announced. "NOW WE'RE PLAYING HARD BALL!" He started running forward, jumping into the water that barely covered his feet. He and Dagomon began their fight, Jijimon swinging his staff around Dagomon staggered backwards, avoiding the pawed fist on the end of the stick before swinging his tentacle arm around. But Jijimon was about to avoid the attack before his fist glowed. "Gentle Punch!" He threw it into Dagomon's face and it was anything but gentle. Dagomon was knocked backwards and as it was, it reached back and grabbed the trident off its back. "Oh, you wanna duel with weapons now?" Dagomon thrust his fork at the Mega Level, but Jijimon simple blocked it with his staff. Dagomon kept thrusting at him, but again and again Jijimon blocked. Dagomon then tries to swing it at Jijimon, but the caveman ducked under the attack and thrust the end of his staff into his chest. Dagomon staggered back again and Jijimon laughed, the squid-like creature quickly diving into the water as Jijimon kept his guard up. "Marco," he stated, "polo. Marco...polo. Marco..." Tentacles suddenly shot out of the water to his left and grabbed him around the arms and leg, making him grunt as they tried to pull him deeper into the water. "Gyah!" He struggled against them, the tentacles proving quite the formidable foe. It was then that the trident flew out and attempted to stab him again. But he was able to dodge it and as the trident was pulled back into the water, Jijimon raised his staff as the paw spots began to glow. "Last chance!" He cried, as the light grew larger. "Let us leave or I end this!" But the tentacles continued to hold him tightly. "Very well. Hung on Death!" The paw unleashed a blast of light from each spot, which flew down into the water and caused it to boil upon contact. The tentacles pulled away, Jijimon attempting to blast them with the heat of the lasers. But at the last moment, the trident shot out and hit him in the side. "Augh!" He staggered back, clutching his side as data began to leak out of the gash in it. This stopped his attack and Dagomon exploded out of the water, attempt to constrict him by wrapping his tentacles around Jijimon's neck. But Jijimon wasn't letting Dagomon beat him, quickly grabbing the tentacles before they could get a good enough grasp on him. He started spinning around and pulling Dagomon around, the movement causing waves to fly towards the beach. "Move!" Flash told his friends, who rushed up the beach so that the large wave would crash down upon them and pull them under the water. They didn't want a repeat of what had almost happened when they first arrived in this accursed land. And with the crystal powered down, they weren't sure it could save them again. Jijimon glanced back at this and nodded before using his staff to punch Degomon in the chest, knocking it backwards. He then raised his staff and prepared to fire another blast towards him, one that would hopefully destroy him. But Dagomon had also noticed the eight on the beach and seemed to realise something, the Ultimate Level Digimon raising one of its tentacles before swinging it around and slamming it into the water. This sent a powerful force into the water and pushed it towards the beach, creating a tsunami that threatened to flatten everything on it. The Divermon saw this and rushed back into the water, diving under it to avoid getting crushed. Flash and his friends all gasped and were about to run, but then they realised the cocoons would also be hit by the wave. None of them had any idea what that would do to their friends and they soon found themselves in a catch twenty-two. Save themselves and possible lose their friends, or stay there and hope the crystal's power would be enough to protect them all. "Hang on!" Jijimon rushed over and threw his staff towards the beach. It shot over the wave and crashed into the beach in front of the humans and their Digimon, morphing into a giant wave shield that the water crashed into. The water slammed into the beach and around the staff's fist top, Flash and his friends hiding behind it and praying the impact wouldn't knock it over. But the staff managed to protect them and the cocoons from the wave, the water pooling around their feet but quickly pulling back into the ocean. They all smiled, but then they heard something that made their heart's sink. "GYAAAAAH!" They rushed around the staff's hand and saw Jijimon, with Dagomon's trident sticking out of his chest. Dagomon roared something as he pulled his staff out of Jijimon's chest before spinning around and smacking his tentacles into the wounds. Jijimon was knocked flying backwards and as he was, he began to shrink back down. "JIJIMON!" The Mega Level slammed into the beach, its body now back to its normal size whilst the holes in his chest began to grow larger. They all rushed over and gathered around him, seeing the growing injury whilst the Divermon laughed as they rose out of the ocean. "Hang on!" Micro cried, the lot trying to see if they had a HP Capsule or some other way to save him. "No," Jijimon told them, "it's too late. Don't waste your efforts on me." "But we can't just let you die!" Flash cried, "you saved us. You're the only one who can stop Dagomon. You can't let it end like this." "I'm not the only one who can stop Dagomon," Jijimon stated. "You eight can defeat him, so long as you believe you can." As he said that, Dagomon stared down at them and looked ready to attack again. But before he could, Jijimon reached up and grabbed the crystal around Flash's neck. The necklace unleashed a powerful blast of light, which flew up and struck Dagomon. The beast roared as the light formed some kind of barrier around him, preventing him from attacking. "That won't hold him for long. You need to defeat him, so the crystal's full power can be unleashed and save your friends." He coughed, as more of his body began to dissolve. "But how?" Veemon asked, "we can't even Digivolve. How are we supposed to win when we're stuck as Rookies?" "The Dark Ocean's power is fuelled by doubt. The more you doubt you can win, the more power it has over you. You must believe you can win, even if things look impossible." Most of his body had disappeared. "Believe in yourselves, like how I believe in you." His arms and legs were now beginning to fade away. "Save your friends. You can do it. You just have to believe." With that, his entire body disappeared into digital dust. As it did, the crystal began to glow and a small light appeared above them. A light that the dust flew into. They all watched this happen and couldn't help but start crying. But as they did, the light around Dagomon started breaking and the eltrich Digimon was pulling itself free. Flash heard this and knew Jijimon was right. They had to fight and save their friends. "Guys," he stood up, "you all ready?" They nodded, wanting to get payback for their fallen friend and save the ones they could still help. In the water, the Divermon creatures watched and laughed. "How can you hope to fight against our lord? He is the most powerful Digimon in this world and you can't Digivolve. What makes you think you can win?" "Because we believe we can," Flash told them as the others stepped up besides him. "We believe in Jijimon's words," Micro continued. "We believe in our Digimon partners," Sandal stated. "And we believe in ourselves!" Trixie finished. Their Digimon stepped forward, as Flash held up his Digivice. "So what if we can't Digivolve to Champion or Armor? We'll find a way!" As he said that, Dagomon shattered the barrier containing him. He roared something they couldn't understand, Flash smirking. "Yeah, yeah! Whatever. You don't scare us!" With that, their Digimon rushed forward, as their Digivices began to glow. "You guys ready to do this?" "YEAH!" The other three yelled, as their Digivices unleashed a blistering light. That light had the same effect as the crystal, burning the Divermon and irritating Dagomon. And as their partners reached the water, the four yelled out in unison. "DIGIVOLVE!" The light flew off their Digivices and shot towards their partners, hitting them and encasing the four in cocoons of brilliant light. "Veemon, Warp Digivolve to..." The cocoon flew high into the air, as it began to grow larger. Not as large as Dagomon, but still large. It then exploded to reveal a large blue and white Dragon Digimon, who took to the air and flew up high. "AEROVEEDRAMON!" "Tentomon, Warp Digivolve to..." The cocoon also shot into the air and grew larger, eventually breaking apart to reveal a giant red hercules beetle with what seemed to be a rocket thruster in its rear end. The thruster ignited, sending to the Digimon upwards. "MEGAKABUTERIMON!" "Mangoramon, Warp Digivolve to..." The cocoon remained on the beach as it grew larger, eventually breaking apart to reveal a giant plant lizard with two tails. "PETALDRAMON!" "Lunamon, Warp Digivolve to..." The cocoon flew out over the water and as it broke apart, it revealed a tall humanoid rabbit wearing armor and carrying a larger shield and double-edge scythe. She fell down to the water and started running across it, spinning her weapons around like she was performing an elaborate dance. "CRESCEMON!" Dagomon stared down at the four Ultimate Digimon, who all prepared to do battle against him and save their friends. The Divermon was all shocked by this. "How?" One asked, "master stopped you from Digivolving." But the Codex players simply smirked, although they were just as surprised. "He might have stopped us from Digivolving to Champion or Armor," Flash stated. "But if we go all the way to Ultimate, he can't stop us." The Divermon were shocked, unable to believe they could skip one evolution and go straight into the next. "Go get'em, guys!" The Digimon charged into action. AeroVeedramon was the first to attack, flying at high speed around the Digimon as the blades on his arms glowed. "Twister Sabre!" He slashed at the air and unleashed a barrage of wind blades, which flew down and slammed into Dagomon. The Sea Animal Digimon roared in pain, as it staggered back in the ocean. This gave MegaKabuterimon the opening he needed to attack. "Horn Buster!" Electrical energy flew around his body and formed a sphere on the tip of his horn, which flew off and exploded against Dagomon. The beast roared again and tried to reach out and grab MegaKabuterimon. "Lunatic Dance!" Crescemon leapt into the air and spun around, swinging her blade to form a razor sharp tornado that cut into the tentacle and sliced off to ends. Dagomon staggered back, then reached back and grabbed the trident. But before it could attack, Petaldramon stabbed his two tails into the beach. "Thorn Jab!" Multiple vines exploded out of the sandy beach and extended over to Dagomon, grabbing the trident and locking it in place. Dagomon tried to pull the weapon free, but AeroVeedramon flew down and bit his arm with his large mouth. Once again, it roared in agony and dropped its trident. Petaldramon quickly used his vines to throw it as fast as possible, whilst AeroVeedramon let go of Dagomon's arms and started slashing at it. As they two fought against each other, Crescemon and MegaKabuterimon prepared for another attack. "Super Charge!" His body sparked before he charged forward, whilst Crescemon brought her shield and scythe together to form a rudimentary crossbow. "Ice Archery!" A large ice arrow forward before firing, shooting passed MegaKabuterimon and slamming into Dagomon's back. The impact created a large gash in the beast's back and the ice began to form around it. And as MegaKabuterimon got in closer, the heat from his electrical charge melted the ice. This meant when the attack landed, it struck the water and allowed the lightning to fly into the beast's body. Dagomon roared at this attack, AeroVeedramon leaping backwards as he began to flail around in a wild way. MegaKabuterimon grabbed Crescemon and flew her to safety, whilst AeroVeedramon dived down and rammed his body into Dagomon. The demonic Digimon fell backwards and crashed into the ocean, AeroVeedramon flying back as he tried to determine whether or not Dagomon had been defeated. But he had a feeling this wasn't the end. And sure enough, a bunch of tentacles shot out and attacked him before he could respond. "GYAH!" He cried, as his arms, legs and wings were wrapped up. They squeezed him tightly, making him roar in pain as he was slowly dragged towards the water. "AeroVeedramon!" Flash cried, as MegaKabuterimon flew in to help him. He threw Crescemon so she could try and cut him free, but more tentacles flew out of the water and grabbed them both. They cried out, getting squeezed just as tightly as AeroVeedramon. Crescemon couldn't move an inch, so she couldn't cut herself free. And MegaKabuterimon could having trouble breathing, which meant he could channel electricity. They were all being pulled down towards the water. "Petaldramon!" Sandal cried, his partner nodding before thrusting his tails into the beach again. "Thorn Jab!" The vines exploded out of the sand and shot towards his friends, more tentacles flying out of the water to stop them. But there were so many roots, the tentacles couldn't grab them all and the free ones were able to grab the tendrils. They squeezed them tightly and forced them to lose their hold on the others, AeroVeedramon being the first to pull himself free. Crescemon was next and managed to slash MegaKabuterimon free, the insect letting her land on his back as they all flew up. And once they were safe, Petaldramon had his vines lift the tendrils up and slowly pull Dagomon back out of the water. The beast roared as it was pull from the Dark Ocean, the Digimon glaring him down. "It's time to end this!" AeroVeedramon stated as the others nodded. "Petaldramon, send him up!" Petaldramon nodded and with all his strength he threw the eldritch Digimon up into the air before leaping up onto his back legs. At the same time, the other three prepared their attacks. "Leaf Cyclone!" He unleashed a leaf filled tornado and sent it flying towards Dagomon, slamming into it and spinning it in the air as the leaves slashed into its skin. "Horn Buster/Dark Archery!" The pair launched their attacks and as the tornado ended, Dagomon was slammed by both attacks and sent flying higher into the air. And as it did, AeroVeedramon's body became surrounded by energy. "Here comes the big finish!" He roared as Dagomon began to fall back towards the water. He flew forward, as the energy formed a V-shaped slipstream around. him. "V-WING BLADE!" Dagomon saw this attack coming and roared as it tried to unleash it tentacles to knock him away. But AeroVeedramon was able to avoid the attacks and finally smash into Dagomon's chest, causing it to scream in agony as it was burned. The impact was so great, it ripped into Dagomon's chest and allowed AeroVeedramon to blast his way through it. He shot out the other side of the Digimon and left a massive hole in its chest, Dagomon falling back towards the water as the hole grew larger and larger. More of its body began to dissolve and when it hit the water, all that was left was a giant head. It crashed into the ocean and sank below the waves, let out one final roar before it disappeared and was deleted. The four Digimon stared at the spot he had disappeared, not letting themselves be taken by surprise again. But nothing happened and the water became clear. And then, a bright light made them look towards the beach. Flash was glowing. More specifically, the necklace he was wearing was glowing. With Dagomon gone, the crystal's power could finally be unleashed and it was spreading out across the beach. And when it hit the others, the cocoons around them started melting away. The darkness that had already enveloped them was also disappearing, as they all fell to the ground. The Ultimates flew back to them as their partners raced over to their friends, Flash rushing next to Shining as he let out a moan. "Shining!" He knelt down besides him, then heard Twilight and Tawnimon let out a groan. "Are you guys okay? Say something." Their eyes began to flicker open as they came around, the others following suit as they rolled them onto their backs. Shining finally sat himself up and held his head, Twilight doing the same as she tried to remember what had happened. "Flash?" He looked over at the teen, "what's going on?" "It's a long story," Flash told him. But as he said that, he noticed the waters beginning to move. "And I'll have to tell you later. AeroVeedramon!" His partner flew over and glared at the water, as the Divermon shadows picked themselves up. "Back off! You're master's gone!" "You think you could defeat him so easily?" One of the creatures asked, everyone feeling a chill run down their spine as they spoke. "You are not the first to come here. You are not the first to fight our master. He has fallen before, but alway he rises again." "Guess that makes sense," Micro frowned. "He is a Digimon. Guess his Digi-Egg doesn't go to Primary Village." "So we went through all that for nothing?" Trixie asked, as a Divermon tried to rush up and grabbed Fluttershy. The girl screamed, but Terriermon had recovered enough to fire a Bunny Blast at it and push it back. Flash stepped forward and held up the necklace, making them all scream as they staggered back. "Yeah, that's right. You don't like this, do you? Well back off if you know what's good for you." "You cannot defeat us," a Divermon hissed. "No matter what, darkness shall always be a part of your world. And so long as it is, we will always exist and will continue to search for our way into your world." "So what?" Flash told them. "So long as there are those willing to fight against you, there'll never be a chance for you to invade our world. Your evil ways will never be allowed into the Digital World. Because we and all those that fight against evil won't let you!" The others nodded as the crystal unleashed a brilliant light, which made the Divermon scream as they were forced to return to the sea. Flash then swung the crystal around and when it did, it created a tear of light in the fabric of space. Micro got everyone to go through the tear, the four and their Ultimates being the last to go through. The four Digimon soon glowed and reverted back into their In-Training Forms, their partners picking them up and carrying them through the portal. Flash took one final look at the dark place and nodded, knowing he would need to keep a watchful eye out in case these creatures ever tried to invade again. He stepped through the portal and it quickly closed up, the light of the crystal working to reinforce the dimensional barrier. Once again, the Dark Ocean was sealed off from the Digital World. But one day, another tear would occur. And the evils of that realm would attempt to escape once again. As soon as they were back in their world, the heroes all returned to Codex and contacted the Commanders. "The Dark Ocean," Gennai frowned as he scanned them. "I thought we had sealed up all the breaches leading to that world. Guess there was one that we missed." He finished his scans and nodded. "On the plus side, it looks like none of you were permanently affected by your time there. But a lot of you were close to becoming creatures of that realm." "Good thing you got us out of there," Thorax sighed. "I like living in this world a whole lot more than that depressing place." They all agreed, though Flash didn't look so happy. "Thank Jijimon." He held up the crystal the Mega Digimon had given him. "If he hadn't given us this crystal, we would have been in the exact same situation you guys were in." He remembered Jijimon's sacrifice and sighed. "Gennai, what happens to a Digimon that's destroyed in that realm?" Gennai smiled. "Don't worry, Flash. Based on what you told me, Jijimon's data returned to Primary Village. He might not remember the heroic deeds he performed, but he'll be reborn and hopefully remain the hero he was." They all smiled at this, glad Jijimon would one day return. However, they couldn't get the memory of that horrible place out of their heads. "To think that such an evil place could exist," Twilight sighed. "And have a connection to the Digital World like that." "The Dark Ocean is a dark reflection of the Digital World," Gennai explained. "They're both two sides of the same coin. A light side and a dark side. Though the Digital World has its own darkness, you've all seen that it's far outshined by the light. The Dark Ocean might be similar, with the darkness shrouding the little light that exists there. So long as the Digital World exist, the Dark Ocean will counter it and maintain the balance." "I guess that makes sense," Shining nodded. "Doesn't mean we have to like it," Monodramon frowned. "If we never see or hear about that place again, it'll be too soon." They all nodded, unable to deny that. The Dark Ocean was truly a place of doom and none of them had any intention of going back there, if they could help it. Pinkie sighed. "I'm sorry guys. I wanted us to all have a relaxing fun filled day in the sun. But it turned into a total nightmare." "Hey now," Applejack patted her on the shoulder. "Remember what I told ya'h before. It ain't ya'h fault. Ya'h didn't know that beach was connected to the Dark Ocean. And who knows what might have happened if we didn't go there." "Yeah," Flash nodded. "Jijimon would have stayed stuck in that pit and the crystal would be stuck down there with him. Who knows how long the breach would have stayed open." They all agreed, knowing that Pinkie taking them to that beach might have actually prevented an even greater disaster. Pinkie smiled and Dilemon hugged her leg, making Pinkie feel a heck of a lot better. "Still, I wish our day of fun didn't get ruined." "No problem," Rainbow smirked. "This just gives us all an excuse to have another fun filled day." The others nodded, as Fluttershy spoke up. "And if that gets ruined, we'll have another until we get it right." They all laughed at this, but knew Fluttershy was right. They deserved a day to relax and have fun. And until they got that day, they would keep trying. Their experiences in the Dark Ocean were ones that would likely haunt them for the rest of their lives, but they wouldn't let themselves give into its despair. It was as Flash had said. As long as they had the light to look towards, they would never give in to the darkness. And the evil of that realm would not get its greedy claws on their world. No matter what, they would fight to overcome it. Humans and Digimon, together, could overcome anything. Back in the Dark Ocean, within the tunnel Flash and his friends had chosen not to go into, a light was emanating from within it. That light was coming from the very back of the tunnel, where something was sitting atop a section of the ground surrounded by rubble and random pieces of rock. That something was an odd-looking device, that appeared to be a bunch of blue tendrils cupped together to form a goblet design. And on the very top of that goblet, with the tendril ends grasping around, was a blue orb.