Chapter 59: Crimson Lightning and Golden Flames

Zelda

Marigold Spire

 

“Crimson Lightning!” Dynasmon quickly but gently placed us down on the mountain before catching Myotismon’s attack with his claws before it hit us. “Who is this miscreant that dares defy me?!” Myotismon asked.

“His name is Dynasmon,” Sephyrus said. “He’s a Mega level Digimon, and a master of both hand-to-hand combat and combat from afar, as well as in the air.”

“Master, eh? Dynasmon, you may call me Master!”

“I think not! Breath of Wyvern!” As Dynasmon summoned forth a gigantic dragon, Myotismon snapped his fingers. The flames of Dynasmon’s attack dispersed, much to the surprise of the Digimon Spirit.

No way! Dynasmon…is so powerful! How could Myotismon have done that?!

“There is nothing a Digimon like you can do to defeat me! Nightmare Claw!” Myotismon sent out a black, ghost-like entity that turned Dynasmon’s pure white armor a faded black. The Spirit, unable to stay airborne, fell to the ground, landing on his head before vanishing. “When you take me to Lilithmon, Sephyrus, tell her to expect an earful for letting SkullCaliphmon die! I might be the strongest Digimon among the twelve of us, but I’m not as strong as I could be without all twelve of us! Thanks to her, that might not ever happen!”

“Duly noted,” Sephyrus replied.

“And as for you,” Myotismon turned to face us. His face was scrunched with wrath, and I felt my knees tremble as his pale blue eyes glare down at us. “Expect an even worse fate for slaying my comrade! Grisly Wing!” Without hesitation, Statch jumped out in front of us and help up his shield.

“Dimensional Shield!” Myotismon conjured up a countless number of bats, and each and every one of them found their way into Statuedramon’s shield. When he swung his sword, his Sword of Dragon’s Soul attack took on a black hue before it struck Myotismon, who held up his cape to protect himself.

“Crimson Lightning!” Myotismon struck Statuedramon across the face and head multiple times until the Rookie Digimon lost consciousness, with blood slowly pouring from his nose and mouth. “You two are next!”

“Zelda, get down!” Thomas ran in front of me just as Myotismon’s attack struck him across the back.

“Thomas!” He fell to a knee briefly, and I ran over to him. Myotismon attacked again, and Thomas leaped back up to protect me.

“Don’t worry…I’ll…protect you,” Thomas whispered, grinning weakly at me before Myotismon attacked him once again. His face contorted with pain each time Myotismon attacked him, and I could hear his breathing grow more and more labored with each attack. Still, he did not falter, and through each attack, he held me tightly in his strong arms.

“Thomas, please…”  His breathing grew more and more labored, and he looked to be on the verge of passing out. In all my life, I had never felt as helpless as I do now, seeing the love of my life ruthlessly attacked.

“How is this Human still not dead yet?!” Myotismon asked, panting.

“This one has always been quite stubborn about clinging to life. He didn’t even die when I stabbed him in the chest,” Sephyrus said. I saw Myotismon’s expression turn from annoyance and exhaustion to surprise.

“How many times must I attack him until he dies?!” Out of the corner of my eye, I saw the sunlight glinting off something. It was nearby, and I could easily reach it…

“It shouldn’t take too much longer,” Michalis said. “The back of his shirt’s all torn up, and his back is bleeding like crazy!”

“Then this will be the final attack! Crimson—”

“No! Please, don’t do it!” I worked my way out of Thomas’s limp arms and placed myself between him and Myotismon, my arms outstretched, as Thomas collapsed to the ground. “Please, don’t hurt him anymore!”

“Are you volunteering to be my first Human victim in over two hundred years?” When I didn’t reply, the Ultimate Digimon shrugged. “Suit yourself.”

“No…Zelda…”

This Digimon…Please, be strong enough to protect the man I love! “Come forth, Gigasmon!” A tall, large-armed Digimon appeared between me and Myotismon.

“You call me?” Gigasmon asked, looking at me over his shoulder. “Me help you if you want.”

“Ridiculous; you really think this grammatically-challenged imbecile can defeat me?!” Myotismon asked.

“Me not smart, but me strong!” Gigasmon cracked his knuckles.

“We shall see; Grisly Wing!”

“Quagmire Twister!” Gigasmon spun and spun, knocking away almost every bat Myotismon sicced on him while smashing all the others with his fists.

“Not bad, I suppose,” Myotismon said. “But if you are the best they have, then there is no hope for them to win! I will burn Arcadia to the ground as the sound of thunder resonates in the sky! And you shall be the first to be burned, Spirit!” Myotismon shrouded himself in swirling golden flames that roared as fiercely as the lightning from his Crimson Lightning attack. “This will hardly be a battle at all; simply an end!”

“You kill me, me keep coming back! Me Digimon Spirit! Me can’t die! Me loyally fight for whoever summons me! Tectonic Slam!” Gigasmon leapt up high into the air, and was followed by the flames.

“Perish, flawed one!” Myotismon screamed. Gigasmon fell through Myotismon’s golden flames as they soared upward into the air and surrounded him, not wincing once as they seared and burned his skin. After remaining airborne for what felt like an eternity, Gigasmon crashed down onto Myotismon, with his large hands placed around the evil Digimon’s neck as they crashed into the mountain, delving deeper and deeper through it until they popped on the other side and landed on the sandy, rocky ground below. As we weren’t very high up on Marigold Spire, I could easily see Myotismon’s sharp fangs when he opened his mouth to scream one final time before he died.

“Me do good?!” Gigasmon hollered up at me, wearing an expectant smile on his face.

“…Yes…you did just fine, Gigasmon!” I smiled back at the Digimon Spirit, who gave me an eager thumbs-up before vanishing.

“Well…Lilithmon certainly is going to be quite upset about the loss of Myotismon,” Sephyrus said calmly, and as he bent down to pick up the stone, a sword flew through the air, with its blade landing in the ground between Sephyrus’s hand and the rock.

“Myotismon’s soul is no longer bound to the rock…meaning it is no longer a Horcrux,” Thomas said as he limped over to pick up his sword. I gasped when I saw his back; his coat and shirt were completely torn up, and he was bleeding quite badly. “And yet, there you go, taking the time to pick it up, or rather, try to. Just like the Necklace; it no longer has SkullCaliphmon’s soul bound to it, and it is no longer a Horcrux, either…meaning it should be of no value to you. So why, then, do you take the time to retrieve them when they are empty of souls?” Sephyrus closed his eyes and smiled.

“You are right, Thomas. The Stone and the Necklace are no longer Horcruxes, yet it remains prudent that we keep them safe and intact for our lady.”

Thomas picked up the rock and placed it in his pocket. “Might you be willing to tell us why?”

“I would, but I’m sorry to say the details remain a mystery even to me. So, go right ahead; take the stone, if you feel that you must. Alone, it will not do you any more good than it will us…and when the time comes…whenever we wish it…we could easily take it back from you. Your trials are far from over; we are already in possession of the Jewel and the Silk. Once Lilithmon is finished with them, you will have two Mega Digimon to deal with in addition to Lilithmon…as well as us Bio Hybrids.”

“We will stop you.”

“I know you will, at the very least, try,” Sephyrus said. “Whether or not you are successful…It is entirely up to fate to decide who will win this. You or us. Good or evil. Light or darkness. Whichever of us the world deems to be more worthy of existing…that is who will survive.”

“We will not fail in stopping you,” I said. Sephyrus regarded me with interest for a moment.

“Michalis, are you ready to go?”

“Yeah, let’s get out of here,” the younger Bio Hybrid said. Sephyrus nodded and began his descent from Marigold Spire.

“Wait!” Thomas grabbed Michalis’s arm before he could follow Sephyrus. “…Lilithmon told me you were the one who murdered Victoria. Is this true?”

“…I’ve got no reason to deny doing it,” Michalis shrugged. I saw Thomas’s grip tighten around the boy’s arm. Michalis grinned through the pain, and even began laughing.

“How could you do it?” Thomas asked quietly, almost inaudibly. “She was your mother! She loved you! She…she was pregnant…”

“Yeah, she mentioned all of that before it happened,” Michalis said. “So? Is there something you were going to do about it? You wouldn’t actually go as far as to…kill me…would you?”

“…A few days ago, when I first learned what you had done, I swore to myself that I wouldn’t kill you, that I wouldn’t let myself fall to your level,” Thomas said. “She always told me not to let anger, revenge, and hatred get the best of me, not to let them guide me. Revenge is simply another name for murder, and there is no forgiveness for wanton murder. Any good man must always condemn it. Michalis…you will be my one exception. Victoria…please forgive me…but your son cannot be allowed to live…”

“You can do whatever you want; I will never regret killing her! She wasn’t my mother! Lilithmon is!” Michalis said. “Now, if you’re done speaking to that dead woman, there’s a profane bishop I need to catch up to.” After a moment, Thomas released his grip on Michalis’s arm. “See you later…‘bro’.” Michalis slid down the spire after Sephyrus.

“Why did you let him go?” I asked.

“I couldn’t do it…not with you watching…”

“We could have covered our eyes,” Statuedramon suggested.

“No; you’d have still heard it.” Thomas reached back into his pocket and pulled out the stone.

“Hey…wasn’t that rock purple a few minutes ago?” Statch asked.

“It was purple when it had a soul bound to it; it isn’t now that it no longer has a soul attached to it,” Thomas said. “But why would they still need it if it was devoid of souls?”

“Do you think Apollomon will know?” I asked.

“We should hurry back; if he does know, we might be able to use that knowledge against Lilithmon.”