Lightning boomed within the Digital World, as a mighty thunderstorm was raging in one area of the virtual realm.
This area consisted of a number of mountains, each of them appearing alluvial due to the amount of grass and other things on them. Each mountain had a river running down it, keeping the land fertile and perfect for growing crops. Each river flowed into a lake located in the very centre of the mountain circle, which then flowed into another river running through the only gap in the mountains.
It was on this river that a raft of some kind was being ridden.
On the raft were three Digimon, which all looked the same. They were a trio of yellow rabbit-like Digimon, wearing red spandex pants.
On the raft with them were a bunch of barrels, tied to it tightly so they wouldn't fall overboard. The three Digimon each had a long stick, which they were using to try and slow themselves down on the fast flowing river. And by fast, the river was moving at a ridiculous speed. That was thanks to the storm, sending more water down the mountains, through the lake and into the river at high speed.
"Hold on!" One cried, as he did his best to keep the raft from overturning.
"I'm trying," another yelled. But as they continued to ride the waters between the mountains, part of said mountain suddenly broke away and fell towards the raft.
The last Digimon saw this and gasped. "Don't slow down!" He cried, "SPEED UP!" They didn't argue and lifted their sticks, letting the river take them as fast as possible. And eventually, they got out from under the rock moments before it crashed into the river.
But this caused a large wave to be thrown up and move towards the raft, the Digimon gasping as it overtook them.
They screamed as the raft was overturned and the barrels were dunked into the water, the wooden containers breaking apart along with the raft. This sent its contents spilling into the river, said contents being a bunch of different vegetables.
The Digimon tried to grab what they could, but they barely got anything before they needed to surface.
They gasped as they broke through the top, each grabbing a long or barrel part that had risen to the surface. "Our crops!" One cried, "they're all gone." They continued to wash down the river, "what do we do?"
"There's nothing we can do," the other Digimon looked up and saw the moon. It appeared almost full, but it wasn't quite there yet. "We've only got a few more days. Once the moon is full, it'll wake up and we'll have nothing to feed it with."
"Our home's gonna be destroyed!" The last one cried, as they rolled down the river and out from between the mountain.
As they did, they reached an area of open flat land. The river ran through it and towards a large dark forest, which made them worry. Something inside there was giving them the creeps and they quickly swam to the end of the river, pulling themselves up. They had to get back to the village. To warn them of what was coming.
Complete, unbound terror.
In Codex, Fluttershy and Terriermon had just arrived.
The pair looked around, seeing if they could find any of their friends. And after a moment of searching, she spotted some of them walking towards the Digi-Port. Twilight, Sunset, Trixie and their Digimon were heading her way, the six spotting them as they approached.
"Hey Fluttershy," Twilight smiled. "You just get here?"
Fluttershy nodded. "What are you girls planning on doing today?"
Sunset smirked. "I agreed to show them a pretty interesting area they haven't been to yet. Lots of different Digimon and locations to scan. You wanna come?"
Fluttershy turned to Terriermon, who nodded as she smiled. "Sure," she nodded. "What's this place called?"
"They're called the Mountains of Abundance," Sunset explained. "Twilight was telling me about a place called Berry Town and how much she and her friends love it there." Fluttershy nodded. "Well, the Mountains of Abundance are similar to that place. Large mountains surrounding a small town in the very centre of it. Every mountain grows a different kind of vegetable."
"Yuck," Trixie stuck her tongue out. "Vegetables."
"Oh grow up," Twilight told her. "They're good for you." Trixie rolled her eyes, as Sunset stepped up to the Digi-Port and sent them all a transport invite. They all accepted and pointed their Digivices up, transporting to the location in a flash of light.
Before Fluttershy could even blink, they were travelling through the tunnel of light.
They eventually arrived at the end of the tunnel and when it faded, Fluttershy's feet were suddenly wet. "Huh?" She looked down and found she was in ankle deep water. And she wasn't the only one.
They were in a flooded valley, surrounded by mountains. As they looked around, they saw the mountains were covered in crop fields. And in the centre of the mountain circle was a lake, with a bunch of houses built atop it.
The houses were basic huts, built atop platforms that had stilts raising them out of the water. But the houses were soaked and destroyed, looking like the lake they were on had risen and shrunk to completely drench them. And the area they were currently standing on, was wet and slushy.
"Ew," Trixie cried, "why?"
"That's weird," Sunset frowned. "This area isn't usually flooded." She took in the sights around them and frowned, "something's happened here."
"Sunset?" They looked around and spotted a bunch of boats, moving towards them. On it were a bunch of yellow rabbit Digimon. On the front most boat was an older version of the Digimon, with wrinkly skin and a white beard.
"Neamon," she gasped, "what happened here?"
"Oh," the older Digimon looked heart broken. "It was terrible. A rain storm, three days ago. It completely flooded the valley and caused our homes to be destroyed."
"That's awful," Fluttershy gasped.
"Well," Terriermon didn't look so sympathetic. "You did build your homes on a lake. You probably should have seen this coming." Lunamon leapt up and flicked the tip of his ear, "ow! I'm just saying."
"I'm sorry this happened," Sunset frowned. "What happened to the Jagamon?"
"They're fine," the older Neamon pointed his cane at one of the mountains. Said mountains looked as muddy and soaked as the valley below, the girls all fearing a mudslide might be imminent.
It was then that a bunch of Digimon appeared from out of the mud. They were a four legged Digimon whose bodies were made entirely out of rock, with an ugly face sticking out of their rock covered head. On their rears were a single green sprout, that looked like a tail.
The Jagamon stared down into the valley and noticed the humans. "Sunset!" One waved, with Sunset waving back.
Twilight stared at the houses, seeing how damp the wood that made them up was. "Those houses are gonna need to be completely rebuilt," Twilight stated. "That wood's soaked to the bone. It's a perfect breeding ground for mould, fungus and rot."
"That shouldn't be too hard to get," Sunset smiled. "There's a forest behind one of those mountains. We can just ride the river down to it."
"Absolutely not!" Elder Neamon announced. "Nobody is going into that forest" This worried them, wondering why the forest was forbidden. "Sunset. Things are not the same as the last time you were here." Sunset raised an eyebrow. "A beast has appeared. It has taken up residence within the forest."
"A beast?" Twilight asked. "What kind of beast?"
"We do not know," Neamon replied. "It comes to us at night. Every month, when the moon is full. It appears inside the forest and attacks. The only way we've found to quell it is with food. We farm as much as we can, save as little as we can for ourselves and send the rest to the forest."
Sunset suddenly looked very angry. "It's attacking this town to get a free lunch."
"What kind of Digimon do you think it is?" Fluttershy asked, looking rather worried.
"A full moon," Twilight looked up. "I'm guessing it's some kind of wolf-like Digimon. Maybe a WereGarurumon, or a variant of it."
"Who cares what kind of Digimon it is," Trixie yelled. "It's terrorising these Digimon and we've gotta stop it."
"Please, don't do anything that might anger the beast." The Neamon elder looked worried. "It'll already be angry enough, because it won't have any food."
"Why won't it have any food?" Sunset asked.
"The rain," another Neamon replied. "We tried to deliver the food to it in the rain and it made our raft capsize. All the vegetables we made for it are gone."
"So it's gonna attack you either way," Sunset pointed out. "Why not let us deal with it. We'll save your home and make sure you never have to worry about this thing again. I promise."
Neamon stared at them, as if trying to determine whether or not he should believe they could do something. Then, he nodded. "Very well. We will let you defeat this monster. But be warned. It's power is incredible. The four of you together might not be enough to overcome it."
"I'm sure we'll be fine," Coronamon smiled. "After all, three of us can Digivolve to the Ultimate Level." He turned to the Digimon in question, Tawnimon, Lunamon and Terriermon nodding. They had no idea what was awaiting them, but they would find it.
And so, the four girls and their Digimon prepared to head towards the forest.
Twilight, Sunset and Fluttershy took out their Digivices, but Fluttershy was still worried. "A powerful beast. What if it's more than we can handle?"
"Do you wanna stay here?" Twilight asked, "with the Neamon and Jagamon?" Fluttershy didn't seem sure.
"I...I don't wanna just leave my friends to go into a dangerous place on their own. But do we have to go in there. Can't we find another way to stop this creature."
"Maybe," Sunset told her. "But we need to know what we're dealing with. There's no way I'm letting that thing near the village, so I'm not waiting around here to see what it is." She turned to Fluttershy. "You can stay here and be scared if you want, but I'm going in."
"Sunset," Twilight frowned, "it's not a crime to feel fear. Fluttershy has every right to be scared."
"Maybe," Sunset nodded. "But letting your fear control you should be a crime. You think I'm not scared to go into that forest, not knowing what the heck's inside?" She took out her Digivice and pointed it at Coronamon, "but I'm more scared about what'll happen to these Digimon if we don't stop it." The light exploded from the device and flew into her partner.
"Coronamon, Digivolve to..." He burst into flames and grew, taking his quadrupedal form. The flames then extinguished and revealed his Champion form. "Firamon!"
Sunset rushed over and leapt onto his back, Trixie and Lunamon doing the same.
As Firamon spread his wings, Sunset turned back to Fluttershy. "You know, the scariest thing in the world is the unknown. Whatever's in there might be terrifying, but probably not as terrifying as whatever your brain's cooking up to fill in the gaps. You wanna not be scared, go into that forest and see what's waiting for you." With that, Firamon ran forward and took off.
As Fluttershy watched them go, she looked upset at being called out on.
"You shouldn't let Sunset upset you," Twilight told her. "I know you. You're the bravest person I know."
"Maybe," Fluttershy huffed, "but sometimes I wish I didn't have to be so brave. If I wasn't so scared, I wouldn't need to be brave so often."
"Maybe," Twilight took out her Digivice, "but fear is useful. Helps you stay sharp and focused. Sunset was right about not letting your fears control you, though she could have found a better way to say it." She held up her Digivice and it unleashed a blast of light, which swirled around Tawnimon.
"Tawnimon, Digivolve to...HooTawnimon!" The giant owl spread his wings, allowing Twilight to climb up on his back.
She glanced back at Fluttershy, as if asking if she was coming or not. And after a few seconds, Fluttershy ran up and leapt onto HooTawnimon's back. "Before I change my mind!" HooTawnimon leapt into the air and flew after Firamon, the pair flying over the mountain and following the river towards the forest.
As they did, Fluttershy stared down at the tree and moaned at how dark and scary they looked.
As they reached the forest and flew over it, Lunamon and Terriermon leapt off and fell towards them. Trixie and Fluttershy quickly held out their Digivices, the light exploding out of them.
"Lunamon, Digivolve to...Lekismon!"
"Terriermon, Digivolve to...Gargomon!"
The pair landed atop the trees, as Sunset and Trixie jumped down off Firamon. They were quickly caught, Gargomon putting Sunset down and offering to catch Fluttershy, but the girl had other ideas and scrolled through her Digivice.
Once she had what she was looking for, she pointed it down. "Biomerge!" The cube of light appeared below her, Wormmon materialising within. Fluttershy then took a deep breath and slid off HooTawnimon, falling into the cube as it merged with her. "Wormmon, Digivolve to..." The light exploded and Fluttershy had taken the form of the insect princess. "Hudiemon!"
Everyone watched as Hudiemon spread her wings and flew down towards the trees, looking a lot more confident now that she was in Digimon form.
Twilight leapt down and was caught by Gargomon, the girl glancing up at HooTawnimon. "Stay above in case we need aerial assistance."
"You too," Sunset told her partner. They both nodded as the group began to climb down the trees, Lekismon and Gargomon jumping down and checking the place out.
"Place seems clear," Gargomon pointed out.
"That doesn't mean it is," Twilight stated. They reached the ground and Twilight quickly took out her Digivice, bringing up a Digimon and summoning it. "Biomerge!" An image of a fox-like Digimon appeared with a cube, Twilight running into it. In a flash of light, she transformed into the humanoid fox with purple arm binders. "Renamon!"
Trixie took out her Digivice and summoned a cube as well. "Biomerge!" She leapt into the cube, transforming into her Rookie stage. "Impmon, Digivolve to...Sorcerimon!" The ice themed wizard appeared, as Sunset summoned her own cube.
Inside was a Candlemon scan, Sunset stepping into it. "Biomerge!" She transformed and quickly began to change. "Candlemon, Digivolve to..." She burst into flames and grew taller, forming a humanoid figure. When the flames vanished, it revealed a red skinned woman wearing obsidian armor.
Her chest was covered in triangular black stone breast armor, that covered her shoulders and upper back before stopping just above the stomach. Similar V-shaped armor was around her waist and went between her legs, with a red cloth flowing down from under it that covered her legs. She also wore high heeled boots made of the same material, with obsidian arm bands between her hands and elbows.
From her shoulders, an obsidian rod stuck out to the sides and had a black stone skull on the end of it. Coming out of the skull's mouth was a long chain that ended just below her hip, with a spiky black lantern hanging from the end that was filled with fire. She had a pair of elf ears and on her head, was an eye blocking helmet similar to what Angewomon wore. Only it was made of obsidian.
The Digimon was floating in the air, looking like the only thing keeping her from floating off was her heavy armor. "LAMPAMON!"
The other Digimon stared at her, impressed by what they saw. Renamon then turned to look around the forest. "See anything that might give us a clue?" The others began to look around, but couldn't find anything that might help them figure out where this Digimon was hiding.
Sorcerimon then realised something. "Maybe somebody should have asked the Neamon where they leave the vegetables. I'm assuming there'd be a clue there or something." The others frowned, realising they were right. But before anyone could complain, HooTawnimon squawked out from above.
"I think I can see something. Due north." Everyone except Sorcerimon turned in that direction, the winter wizard turning south by accident. Once she realised her mistake and turned the correct way, she and the others looked into the trees.
"What do you see?" Renamon asked.
"An empty line in the trees," Firamon replied. "Some kind of path. It's possible this creature made it." The others headed in the direction and sure enough, they discovered an area with a bunch of logs scattered about the place. Some were laying on the ground, whilst others had been thrown into trees and knocked them down too.
The path was filled with tree stumps, making a line that headed straight in the direction of the Abundant Mountains.
They head in the opposite direction to the path, careful in case whatever this creature was decided to attack. HooTawnimon and Firamon continued to fly overhead, as they followed the stumpy path until they came to a large cave in the forest. "Of course," Sorcerimon sighed. "Does every real world forest also have a cave in it?"
"Not sure," Renamon shrugged. "Come on." They headed inside and Hudiemon looked rather terrified, Lampamon leading the way so the flames of her lamps could light the cave.
Said cave wasn't very large. it was about the size of a normal house, with a pool of water taking up one section and stalactites hanging from the ceiling. The place was dark, damp and didn't look particularly appealing. But it was home to something and that something, was laying in the back of the cave curled up in a ball.
As the Digimon got closer, the light from Lampamon's flame allowed them to get a better look at it. But due to how it was curled up, all they could tell was that it was large and covered in a yellowish fur.
"What is it?" Sorcerimon whispered, but they couldn't figure it out.
Renamon hummed. "I think there's only two ways to figure out what it is. Wake it up..." The others shook their heads panicking. "Or scan it."
"You'll need to return to human to do that," Lampamon pointed out. "You sure that's a good idea?" But in that moment, a stray ember flew off her shoulder lamp and landed on the creature's fur. Only Hudiemon saw this and gasped, as the ember turned to a trail of smoke.
"We have to leave," she cried. "I think you just woke it up."
"Huh?" Lampamon turned to it and noticed the smoke, which was followed by its fur catching alight. "Uh oh."
"RUN!" Sorcerimon screamed, as they all rushed out of the cave. At the same time, the creature began to move and a loud roar echoed out of the cave.
Outside, Firamon and HooTawnimon heard the roar and noticed their friends running out. "What happened?" HooTawnimon asked, but got their answer when something came smashing out of the cave after them.
It was a giant yellow beastly Digimon, the size of an elephant if not a little larger. It was covered in yellow fur and its head was bat-like, with a brown face and two sets of ears, two large and two small. Its feet and hands were covered in metal gauntlets and boots, with long claws on the end of them. Coming out of its arms were a set of gray feathered wings, with a smaller set of wings on its back. And on its lower back was a metal case, with two sword handles sticking out the ends.
The Digimon roared as the others turned to stare at it. "That's a Lamortmon," Renamon cried. "Ultimate Level. This isn't good." The Digimon spotted them and charged forward, its claws glowing as it attacked.
"CALAMITY CLAW!" Its target was Sorcerimon, who gasped as she slammed her staff into the ground.
"Ice Illusion!" A blast of frozen wind exploded out of the staff and shot towards Lamortmon, spiralling around it to trap the beast. It roared as it slashed its claws, trying to remove the snow trapping it. "I can't keep this up forever."
"You don't have to!" Lampamon leapt up, the flames from her torches flying into her hands. "Torch Magic!" She thrust her hands forward and the fire shot towards Lamortmon, as the snow tornado vanished from it.
Lamortmon looked up and the flames slammed into it, exploding and trapping the Digimon in a column of fire.
"Nice!" Firamon cheered, only for the pillar to suddenly explode. The reason it did was because Lamortmon had drawn a pair of large swords from its back holster, though they only looked like daggers in its hands, and swung them around to cut through the fire. "Oh no."
Lekismon and Gargomon charged forward, both preparing to attack with their close range strikes.
"Moon Night Kick/Bunny Pummel!" They charged, but Renamon gasped.
"Don't do it!" But it was too late.
"STRIKE AND DESTROY!" Before either could land a hit, Lamortmon raised its swords and brought them crashing down on the pair. The flat of his blades slammed into them and they were smashed into the ground, both Digimon crying out. As Lamortmon raised its swords, the pair glowed and reverted back to Rookie Level.
"NO!" Hudiemon cried, as Lamortmon prepared to crush them. But before he could, HooTawnimon flew down.
"Sky Strike!" He slammed into Lamortmon and pushed him back, away from the Rookies and allowing Hudiemon and Sorcerimon to grab them.
Lamortmon was using his swords to block the Sky Strike, as HooTawnimon's power was beginning to wane. "Get out of there!" Renamon cried, but it was too late.
Lamortmon roared as it swung its swords apart, knocking HooTawnimon back before they glowed. "Wind Fangs!" He swung the swords around and unleashed blades of pressurised air, which shot towards HooTawnimon and slammed him in the chest.
"AUGH!" He cried, getting blown backwards until he crashed into a tree. Smashing through it, he reverted back to Tawnimon and fell to the ground.
Renamon saw the tree beginning to fall towards him and rushed forward, managing to pull him out from under the tree before it could crush him. As it did, Firamon flew down to try and fight. "We have to get out of here!" The others turned to see her revert back to human and take out her Digivice. They all did the same and as Firamon dodged Lamortmon's blade, they all brought up the Abundant Mountains and ported away.
The beast watched them all vanish and roared, still enraged that it had been awoken, burned and not given anything to eat. It would make them pay for this.
Back at the village, the girls had rushed their Digimon to the hut in the best condition.
Once there, Coronamon used his fire attacks to dry the place off as best he could. They then laid the Digimon down as the Neamon did their best to start treating them.
"Are they gonna be okay?" Fluttershy asked, turning to Terriermon with worry.
"They should be alright with some rest," the elder replied. "But I thought you said you would make sure this creature never hurt us again?" He was looking concerned and the girls shared a shamed look.
"We're sorry," Twilight told him. "But we're not giving up. Now we know what kind of opponent we're up against."
"A crazy strong one," Trixie cried. "He took our Digimon down in one hit. How?"
"Lamortmon is a powerhouse Digimon," Twilight explained. "Compared to other Ultimates, his power is in the upper levels. It would take a Mega to outpower him." The girls looked worried. "But in return for all that power, it lacks a lot of reasoning and strategic abilities. All it knows how to do is attack."
"And that helps us how?" Coronamon asked.
"We can beat it," Sunset told him. "We just can't attack it directly. We just need a plan."
"What plan?" Trixie asked, with Sunset and Twilight looking just as confused. "We've gotta think of something fast. That thing could be here any minute."
"I don't think so," Twilight shook her head. "Lamortmon are night time hunters. They're very sensitive to light, which is probably why it was in that cave."
"So we have until sundown to come up with a plan?" Sunset asked. "Great. That's still barely any time."
"Maybe we should head back to Codex," Fluttershy suggested. The others looked at her in shock. "I don't mean stay there. What if we went back and got our friends? Flash, Micro or even Shining."
"I don't need someone else to bail me out," Sunset announced. "If you're scared, then leave. But I'm not gonna run away." Fluttershy frowned and stood up.
"What chance do you have against that Digimon?" Sunset looked surprised by this sudden statement. "Out of all of us, you're the weakest person here. You're stuck at the Champion Level. At least we can go Ultimate."
Sunset looked shocked by this. "You can go Ultimate?"
"It's true," Twilight nodded. "She hasn't been able to go for very long, but she can Digivolve Terriermon to Rapidmon or one of his other Ultimate Forms. Not that that's much use now." She looked over at the three Rookies, none of them looking in the right condition to Digivolve into anything.
Trixie then spoke up. "Hey, don't forget we can go Ultimate as well."
"You can," Twilight stated. "Going Ultimate on our own is a lot harder than Digivolving our partners."
"But we still can," Trixie stated. "If we Digivolve to Ultimate before Lamortmon gets here, we'll stand a chance."
"Are you sure?" Sunset asked. "Do any of you have an Ultimate form that can overpower that thing?" They all frowned and took out their Digivices, trying to find a deck they could use. But none of them had anything that could match Lamortmon's power."
"Maybe we should go find Flash," Trixie frowned. "AeroVeedramon and Paildramon would come in real handy at this point."
"We don't need power," Twilight told them. "We just need to think of a plan." She stepped out of the hut and looked towards the mountain between them and the forest. "Lamortmon can glide, but it can't fly. That means it'll have to cross the mountain to get here." She smiled, "I have an idea. But we need to do a lot of prep work."
"What do you need?" Neamon asked.
"Buckets. As many buckets as you can get. In fact, anything that can hold water." Neamon nodded as Twilight turned to the others. "Use Digimon that can fly. I don't want any of us falling into our own trap." They nodded as they began to get to work, whilst the Neamon continued to look after the injured Digimon.
Hours passed and the sun began to set.
Within the forest, Lamortmon stepped out of its cave. The beast unleashed a mighty howl towards the full moon, ready to go on a rampage and destroy anything that got in its way.
As the moonlight shined down on the forest, he began to charge through it towards the open field. He roared and snarled, his voice echoing into the night. And eventually, he arrived outside the forest. And he was met by five other Digimon.
Unimon, Hudiemon, Firamon, Lampamon and an IceDevimon, the five all flying just above the ground.
The sight of Hudiemon, Firamon and Lampamon made the Digimon roar, as it charged towards them. But when he got close, the five Digimon flew upwards towards the top of the mountain.
Lamortmon roared and with all its strength, leapt into the air and spread its wings. It glided towards them, but they flew backwards towards the mountain. And Lamortmon followed after them with its claws at the ready.
"Almost," Unimon cried as it drew closer and closer. "NOW!" They all flew in a different direction and Lamortmon flew between them, its gliding wings forcing it to fly towards the mountain.
The beast spun around and prepared to slam its feet into the mountain, attempting to push off and glide once again. But as soon as its feet hit the soil, the dug into the earth and Lamortmon found itself unable to move. And to its horror, it found the earth sliding away and it lost its balance.
The beast roared, as it slammed into the mud covered mountain and began to fall towards the base of it.
"Yes!" Unimon cheered, seeing the Digimon rolling down the mountain. It tried to dig its claws into the ground, but the mud just gave way and it couldn't hold on. All it could do was roll down the mountain until it reached the very bottom, And then, it splashed into a massive puddle of mud.
Everyone watched him flail around in the mud, smiling as they watched the beast attempting to pull itself out.
It was so large, the puddle only covered half its body. But it was so strong and sticky that the beast couldn't pull itself free. "Nice," IceDevimon smiled. "It's like quick sand."
Unimon nodded. "The trick is getting the right water to soil ratio. Not enough water and it won't sink. Too much water and it just becomes a soil filled swimming pool. Get just the right amount of water, and the soil becomes impossible to free yourself from."
Lamortmon pulled on one of its arms, attempting to break free, but the mud was like silly putty and bounced back with its arm still inside of it. "So what do we do now?" Hudiemon asked, the others turning to her. "We can't just leave it there. Eventually, the mud will dry and it'll just break free and attack."
"She's got a point," Lampamon nodded. "I hate attacking a defenceless Digimon, but maybe we should destroy it whilst we've got the chance."
"I don't know," Unimon frowned.
"He hurt Lunamon," IceDevimon stated. "And he planned on attacking the village. To heck with letting it live." The Digimon flew down, spreading her wings. "Avalanche!" With a mighty beat of its wings, icicles shot towards the Digimon and started slamming into it.
Firamon followed suit. "Fira Bomb!" He fired a powerful fire blast, which shot towards the Digimon and exploded upon contact.
Lampamon flew down and summoned the fire from her lamps. "Torch Magic!" She unleashed the fire blasts, burning Lamortmon along with Firamon's attack.
Unimon frowned, but decided to fly down with them. "Aerial Attack!" She launched the sphere of light, hitting Lamortmon as well. All the while, Hudiemon watched feeling bad for the Digimon.
But then, she noticed something the others weren't noticing. Every attack slammed into Lamortmon, unleashed a lot of heat. And that heat was causing the water in the mud to evaporate. "Oh no." She flew down, "STOP!"
Lampamon pulled her arm back to fire again, but Hudiemon grabbed her and pulled her back. "What are you doing?"
"You're making the mud dry out!" She cried, catching the other's attention. "If it gets too dry-" A cracking sound filled the air and they looked down, just in time to see Lamortmon's claws break through the now rock hard mud.
The girls gasped, as the rest of the mud was broken out of and Lamortmon pulled itself free. "Oh no," Unimon gasped.
"Calamity Claws!" The beast leapt into the air and before Unimon or IceDevimon could blink, they found themselves getting slashed down the chests.
Both girls screamed as their Digimon forms exploded, the humans falling towards the ground. Luckily, Firamon managed to catch them on his back seconds before they crashed into the mud. But this caused Lamortmon to chase after him, pulling his blades out to cut them to ribbons.
"Flying Kick!" Before anyone could react, Hudiemon shot down and slammed her foot into the Digimon's head. The surprise impact knocked him away from Firamon. "Go!" She called out to the Champion, who nodded and took to the air. He had to find a safe place to let the two recover, leaving Lampamon and Hudiemon to battle Lamortmon.
Lampamon flew up to Hudiemon. "You're actually gonna fight?"
"I never said I wouldn't," Hudiemon told her. "I don't like fighting, but I'll do it if I have to." Lamortmon picked itself up and growled at the girls, Hudiemon flying forward. "Stand back!" As the beast charged forward, Hudiemon spun on the spot with her arms crossed. "Infinity Dream!" She swung her arms around and unleashed a green mist, which flew towards the Ultimate.
Lamortmon found itself flying into the mist, breathing it in and causing the Digimon to cry out.
"What did you just do?" Lampamon asked, as Lamortmon started moving more sluggishly. As it did, sparks appeared around it.
"Paralysed it, apparently."
"I can work with that!" Lampamon flew up, her torches swinging around her as she summoned their power. "Infernal Madness!" The flames exploded off the torches and flew down towards Lamortmon, morphing into a flaming copy of the Ultimate.
Lamortmon saw it coming and quickly drew its swords, the fake doing the same. Both Digimon slashed at one another, but Lamortmon's blades just passed through the fire clone's. But the clone's blades sliced across its chest, burning it as it did.
"Ha!" Lampamon cheered, as Lamortmon fell to the ground and slid along. "How'd you like that!? You want some more!?" The clone flew down to attack again, but Lamortmon pushed itself back up before throwing its blades right at the clone as hard as it could.
The blades spun through the air and flew into the clone, moving right through it without causing any damage.
Lampamon laughed as she dived down behind her clone, only to suddenly find the blades flying out the back towards her. A gasp escaped her lips, as one of the blades slammed into her and she was knocked back. This also caused her clone to fade away, allowing Lamortmon to leap up.
The Ultimate caught its swords before flying up to Lampamon and spinning around, slamming one of its metal feet into the Digimon and making her scream out in pain.
"SUNSET!" Hudiemon cried, as Lampamon exploded and the girl fell out of the light.
Lamortmon would have continued its attack, but the paralysis kicked in and it froze in the air. As such, Hudiemon was able to fly up and catch Sunset. She flew back towards the ground and put her down, as Lamortmon landed whilst still paralysed.
"Are you okay?" She asked, as Sunset coughed.
"You...need to get out of here." Lamortmon roared as it began to move again. "You can't beat him on your own." Hudiemon stood up and watched as Lamortmon began to charge forward, the Champion standing tall.
"You're not gonna hurt her," Hudiemon stood firm before charging forward. Lamortmon roared again and swung both its blades towards her from either side, Hudiemon leaping up and curling her wings up as she spun.
She spun between the blades like a video game quick time event, uncurling once she was out from between the blades.
She then leapt straight up and kneed Lamortmon in the chin, knocking it back as she back-flipped and landed in front of Sunset. The girl saw this and was amazed. "I'm giving you a choice. Leave now and never attack the village again. Promise to do that and this'll end now. I don't want to hurt you."
Lamortmon regained its balance and slammed both its fists into the muddy ground, roaring as it prepared to charge again.
"Very well," she sighed. "You leave me no choice." She brought her hands together, like she was about to pray, as Lamortmon charged. She then leapt forward as her wings spread wide. And as she did, light exploded off her body.
Sunset was blinded by the light, whilst the sensitive Lamortmon roared and covered its eyes. As it did, Hudiemon flew into the air.
"Hudiemon, Digivolve to..." She started to grow taller and seemed to mature, as the blue parts of her wings and skirt turned pink. Her eyes and the other yellow parts of her body turned aquamarine, as the white and silver parts of her outfit changed to yellow.
Her wings changed shape, looking more elegant than before, whilst her skirt grew longer and connected at the front and back to look more like a dress.
Suddenly, a flash of light occurred and a second set of arms appeared beneath the first, that looked just like them. The top part of her helmet then changed, shifting to look like she was wearing a tiara of sorts, with a butterfly gem on the front. She finished growing and was now a foot or so taller, with a more regal look to her. She spread her wings and struck a pose, as the light faded. "GREATHUDIEMON!"
"GreatHudiemon?" Sunset asked, as the beautiful butterfly Digimon floated down towards Lamortmon and looked ready for a fight.
Lamortmon growled before swinging its swords around. "Wind Fang!" The air blades flew towards the Digimon, but GreatHudiemon danced around without getting a single hit. She then spun in the air, as her wings began to glow.
"Silver Wind!" She beat them and the light flew off, carried on a powerful wind that shot towards Lamortmon.
Lamortmon tried to dodge, but the paralysis kicked in again and it was frozen. This allowed the Silver Wind attack to smash into it, the light blades it carried cutting into the Digimon's skin.
Sunset picked herself up, amazing by what she was seeing. She never expected Fluttershy to be this strong, even if she was in an Ultimate's body. "You go girl."
Lamortmon pushed through the pain and leapt into the air, spreading its wings as it glided towards GreatHudiemon. The Digimon snarled as it pointed its swords at her, attempting to impale her on the ends of the blade. But before it could land the hit, GreatHudiemon flew upwards and he missed.
All four of her hands then did the Spider-Man motion, "Silk Thread!" White silk exploded out of her wrists and shot towards the Digimon, hitting it on the wings and causing them to become useless for flying. And before Lamortmon could try to cut itself loose, GreatHudiemon flew down and wrapped the silk around its body.
She began circling around him, over and over again, whilst continuing to fire the silk that coated itself on the Ultimate Digimon's body. Eventually, everything but its head and the tips of its feet were wrapped up in a silk cocoon. GreatHudiemon then let it go and it fell to the ground, crashing into the muddy land.
"Nice!" Sunset cheered, as Lamortmon struggled against the bindings "Give it up. There's no way you're gonna get out of that." But just as she said that, Lamortmon's sword suddenly pierced through the cocoon. "Oh." The blade tore through it, as GreatHudiemon flew down to shield Sunset.
The beast ripped itself free, though several parts of its body were still covered in webbing.
It charged and GreatHudiemon picked Sunset up, lifting her up into the air and the monster charged. Sunset had to pull her legs up to avoid getting them bitten off, GreatHudiemon's lower arms holding her whilst the top ones fired more silk.
Lamortmon's face was covered in the webbing and it roared, as GreatHudiemon flew back down and put Sunset back on the ground. She then flew towards the beast, as it ripped the webbing off its face and charged forward. As it did, its eyes turned completely white and it started swinging its blades around wildly.
"Great Grudge Killer!" They swung towards GreatHudiemon, attempting to rip her to shreds.
The butterfly Digimon flew straight up and the blades barely missed her, as Lamortmon attempted to fly up after her. But its berserker state caused it to miss the fact its wings were still webbed up, so all that happened was it fell back towards the ground.
As it crashed into the ground, GreatHudiemon seized the opportunity and dived towards it.
She swung her legs around and kicked the blades out of Lamortmon's claws, shooting her webs at them and pulling with all her might to lift them into the air. And as Lamortmon picked himself up, she started spinning in the air to swing the blades around and around before letting go.
Sunset and Lamortmon watched, as the twin blades went flying off above the forest. They eventually disappeared into the trees, lost and leaving Lamortmon completely defenceless.
"Sunset!" She heard Firamon's voice and looked around to see him flying to her, having dropped Twilight and Trixie off somewhere safe. He then noticed the Ultimate and looked surprised, "who's that?"
"Firamon!" Sunset cried, "give her a hand!" He nodded and flew up, summoning as much fire as he could into a sphere above his head.
"FIRA BOMB!" The attack launched and the fireball flew down towards Lamortmon, who saw it coming and roared before thrusting his claws up and into the flames. As it exploded against him, GreatHudiemon flew straight up.
She started spinning, as both her boots started glowing. And as the flames began to die down, she dived down towards the Ultimate Digimon.
The beast pushed the last few flames away and as it looked up, it was greeted with the sight of the butterfly Digimon spinning around. "GREAT FLYING KICK!" She screamed before slamming her boot into the Digimon's chest, causing an explosion. She then slammed her other booth into its chest, another explosion following, then stomped with the first then the second and so on.
The kicks were moving like lightning, a hundred of them landing in only five seconds.
The hundredth kick allowed her to push off and do a back flip, landing on the ground and sliding along it until she stopped right in front of Sunset. She struck a pose and watched as Lamortmon exploded, causing it to stagger back and eventually fall to the ground.
Firamon flew down and landed in front of the girls, as GreatHudiemon suddenly started swaying and fell back.
Sunset gasped and rushed forward to catch her, as her form exploded and Fluttershy landed. "Are you okay?" She noticed how exhausted Fluttershy looked.
"Digivolving to Ultimate without a partner...really hard."
"Yeah, I guess it would be tiring." But as she said that, movement caught her attention and she looked over to see Lamortmon pick itself up. "No way. It can still fight, even after all that?" They watched as Lamortmon made its way forward, staggering as it growled at them.
Firamon stood protectively in front of them, as the Ultimate got closer.
But just as he was about to attack, Lamortmon fell to the ground as his body started breaking down. Fluttershy forced her eyes open and saw this, feeling sorry for what had happened. "I'm sorry, but you left us no choice." Lamortmon's form slowly began to fade away. "May your next life be a more peaceful one." Those were the last words it heard, before it disappeared into a million tiny lights.
As those lights floated up into the air, Firamon returned to the girls as Sunset helped Fluttershy up. "I guess the Neamon don't have to worry about Lamortmon any more."
"I guess not," Sunset nodded as she smiled at Fluttershy. "And it's all thanks to you."
"I didn't do much," Fluttershy stated.
"Are you kidding? You were awesome! Digivolving to Ultimate like that, all on your own. You totally beat him." Sunset frowned. "I'm sorry for what I said before. I was wrong. You're not a coward."
"Maybe. But I do get scared an awful lot." Firamon let the girls climb up onto his back. "And it takes a lot for me to get over that fear."
"Like seeing your friends in danger," Sunset nodded as Firamon took off. "But I guess your fear let you be more focused. You were the one who noticed we were ruining the plan. I guess I should have picked another Digimon."
They flew up towards the top of the mountain, then down towards the village. When they arrived, they saw Twilight and Trixie standing on the porch of the hut. Their Digimon were also there, finally awake.
"Ms. Sunset!" Elder Neamon cried, "what happened? Lamortmon. Is it..."
Sunset smiled as she jumped down off Firamon. "Lamortmon is no more. You can rest in peace, knowing your village is once again safe." The Neamon all cheered, whilst Twilight and Trixie looked amazed.
"Oh, thank you Ms Sunset. You've done us a great service."
Sunset smiled as he wrapped her arm around Fluttershy, who had just climbed down off Firamon. "I'm not the one you have to thank. Fluttershy's the one that defeated Lamortmon. She protected me after the beast beat me and fought it single-handedly." Fluttershy started blushing, as Twilight and Trixie looked impressed. "Three cheers to Fluttershy!"
The Neamon and Jagamon all cheered three times for the girl, as Terriermon ran up to her and jumped onto her shoulder.
They hugged one another and the Neamon applauded, happy that the beast was no longer going to cause them any problems. Twilight then stepped up to Fluttershy.
"I know that couldn't have been easy for you. Destroying a Digimon like that."
Fluttershy nodded. "I didn't have any choice. If I didn't, this village would have been destroyed." She sighed, "I just wish there was another way. Why do some Digimon have to cause harm to others?"
"Digimon are the embodiment of concepts from your world," Elder Neamon announced. "If mindless beasts exist and have been documented in your world, Digimon with the same mindless savagery will be born. It is the way of the Digital World. A mirror, giving life to all the concepts that your world holds."
"He's right," Twilight nodded. "As much as we want the Digital World to be a peaceful place where everyone gets along, that's not the world it's meant to be. Everything has both a good and bad side to it. And if you want to enjoy the good parts, you have to be willing to accept the bad with it."
Fluttershy nodded, knowing she was right.
The next day.
Crescemon, now recovered and Digivolved to Ultimate, swung her blade around to cut down several trees. Those trees would be used to repair the Neamon's huts, HooTawnimon and Firamon carrying them to the village.
The humans, Neamon and Terriermon watched them work, Neamon turning to Sunset. "Thank you again for this. It would have taken us forever to cut down all that lumber and get it to the village. With your help, it'll be done by the end of the day."
"No need to thank us," Twilight smiled. "We're happy to help."
Sunset nodded. "And if you ever need help again, just let us know. We'll do what we can."
"Thank you," Neamon nodded. "I pray we will never need your help, but we appreciate your offer of help." They watched, as Crescemon swung her blade around again to cut another long down. As they did, Trixie smiled and turned to the others.
"Well this has certainly been an interesting trip." The girls all nodded. "Gotta wonder what our real world selves are thinking right now. We've been gone for over twenty four hours." They realised she was right. They would need to return to the real world soon, or their other selves might think they'd been deleted or something.
"You four are welcome to return whenever you like," Neamon assured them. "The Abundant Mountains will always be here for you." The girls smiled and nodded, happy they were able to help when they could.
The Digital World might have some bad aspects that were hard to accept, but the good ones more than made up for it. And no matter what, they would help protect those parts from anything that threatened them.
In a large canyon, somewhere in the Digital World, a bright flash of light had appeared.
That light came from the very centre of the canyon, deep within the sunken section. And when the light began to fade, it revealed the final Dragon Soul Stone. The final thing standing between the Digital World and utter destruction.