The group has been split apart, but they are slowly regrouping one by one. Blade and RD stumble into the home village of Victorygreymon, and the Darkness has decided to take the fight to them!


RD belongs to  Rainbowdragon
All other characters belong to me
Digimon is owned by Bandai-

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beast within


Victorygreymon AKA Blade, had grabbed onto RD's tail, but given how small the mon was he figured now that he had him, he better hold on. Protecting RD against the torrent of wind that sent them flying through the air. It wasn't for another hour that Victorygreymon slammed HARD against a large stone wall against his back, he let out a muffled growl but kept his arms wrapped around RD as if to shield him from the wind. After about an hour, the storm finally passed. The large mega was covered in dust when it all cleared


RD winced as he too slammed into the wall, the wings that were supposed to serve as help for gliding had worked against him. When he had tried to fold them up when the windstorm started up instead like a parachute they were spread wide by the wind and were stuck that way causing poor RD to catch even more of the windstorm than he figured he was supposed to. As they landed he felt as if both of his wings had been broken. Bent backwards due to the force of the wind.


When the storm died down, Blade opened one eye with a wince, staring down at RD. "Well...that was one wild right...Your wings look shredded..."


RD simply groaned in pain, wiggling out of Blade's grip. "I....I think they're broken" RD said touching one and then cringing in pain.


Blade cringed when he heard that, he slowly picked himself up, walking around RD to examine them. "Well...I think I can pop them back into place...the bad news is it might hurt like hell so bite onto something."


RD blinked as he realized he had nothing to bite onto, other than Blade himself, so when the time came he actually sank his teeth into the VictoryGreymon's thigh, thankfully being a rookie this didn't do much damage.


Blade blinked as RD did so, but he didn't object. After what he was about to do. "alright...one...two..." CRUNCH there was a loud popping like sound as one of the wings was pulled back into place, not all too pleasant an experience but once it'd been done RD would find he could move it again "alright...here comes wing number two..." The same popping sound ensued as he pulled the wing back into it's socket and groaned.


RD almost shrieked in pain but thankfully it was done, dear Yggdrasil that hurt! RD then looked around. "Where did we end up" RD asked looking around.


Blade sighed as RD's fangs came out, minor bite marks given his muscle mass and it didn't much bother him. When he looked around he looked grim. "The ruins of my home..." The victorygreymon replied in a low rumbling voice.


RD blinked at that realization. "So this is what happens when war breaks out, what a mess" RD shook his head.


Blade nodded a few times "We've been flown way out east..." He pointed a claw to all of the houses made purely out of stone, some were even carved out of rare chrome digizoid. "One day ZeedGarurumon and his forces surprised us in our sleep. We usually never went into battle during the night, it was an honor bound thing. But one night it just changed." He started leading RD through the ruined town, pointing to a large oval building made up of Sparkling chrome digizoid. "That was the chamber of the council. It's where I and my war council would devise our strategies. It's also where we kept our food reserves if something came up."


RD blinked, tilting his head to the side as he followed Blade down the ruined streets. "Wait so they ambushed you in the middle of the night even though you don't do the same thing to them? And from the looks of things they pretty much wrecked everything"


Blade shook his head "There was a mutual agreement that both forces would rest each night. It was so that everyone had due rest. Not for the other guys but for our own troops so they didn't overwork themselves to death." Blade looked at the building and slowly walked over to the dull red domed building. Despite the grey coloration around them it still seemed to shine brilliantly. "We didn't have a whole lot of warning. I think about one quarter of our entire force was wiped out that night. Since that night we had every mon carry their weapons with them wherever they went...if they were humanoid dragon types that is."


"So then they turned their backs on the agreement? That's nuts!" RD muttered as he kept up with Blade, looking at the buildings as they went.


Blade nodded solemnly. "Things changed. Both parties wanted this war to end. I guess at the time they just wanted it over bad enough that they would do such a thing." He opened the door to the large domed building, not looking at all surprised as the door slipped out of it's frame, dropping with a thud. He looked at the dust covering the round table inside "Older Dynasmon and Ulforceveedramon stood in this very chamber with me. I still remember how the two of them fell..." His hands clenched as they touched the table..


RD's eyes went wide. "Two royal knights and they were beaten?! Woah..."



Blade chuckled "Back then they weren't Royal knights...Imperialdramon hadn't founded the group yet. But Zeed had Kentaurosmon and Leopardmon on his side. The history books don't quite depict THEM though. They only mention Zeed and myself." He gave the table a good smack, surprisingly breaking it in half "Let's gather what resources we can in here then be on our way. With how far the wind took us we'll need the extra supplies we can salvage."


RD blinked and nodded, searching the room for any supplies they could gather, if he found something useful he'd store it into his digivice. "With all the trouble they went through to separate us you'd think there'd be an ambush."


Blade growled in response. "I'm expecting it. There were 5 royal knights back with Hilt...I'm wondering about the remaining knight...As far as I could see...Craniamon, Dynasmon, Crusadermon, Examon and Kentaurosmon were all at the meeting place. Expect any one of them to have followed us down here. But where was Gankoomon..."


RD's eyes widened. "Exemon was there? I....didn't get a really good look before we were blown off. I've only seen pictures, what's he like?"


Blade scratched his chin "How can I explain it...well...Have you ever seen those so called...monster movies that the humans seem to get all crazy about? I think it's called Godzilla? He's a massive red dragon...with a large spear like weapon that can deal considerable damage. He was our trump card in the old wars. And desolated several of ZeedGarurumon's camps back during the old days. It cost more than half his troops simply to take down the behemoth."


RD blinked "I....I didn't think he was that big, and wasn't he rather noble despite....being so huge?"


Blade nodded a few times "He has the most destructive power out of the royal knights. But yes he was and is a Noble dragon. It was only through my command that he went into battle. Otherwise he remained out of the enemy line of fire. But like I said, after the surprise night raid things changed."


"I only saw a picture I had no idea just how enourmous he was" RD said with awe trying to imagine a godzilla sized dragon with a weapon. "The weapon is just overkill due to exemon's size. I also hear he commands an army."


Blade nodded, grinning under his helmet as if reliving the old days. "A good chunk of ours back in the day. Now he rules the entire Dragon empire. Though he follows Azulongmon's commands. Though I suppose now I'll have to prove myself worthy of commanding his loyalty with all that's happened."


"Yeah honestly Blade from the sound of things it almost sounds like he trumps YOU when it comes to power........though being in between two positions at once by the time the new world was made....must've been confusing" RD said thinking about it, Crossing his arms.


Blade chuckled softly, hand raised at his chest. "It was Examon back in the old world that backed my leadership. He nominated me as the supreme commander of the dragon fleet. I'll have to prove to him NOW that although I'm different than I used to be, that he can still trust in my leadership."


"Wait, he NOMINATED you, that makes him sound almost self-sacrificing given his power and new leadership responsibilities. I wonder if he felt that he didn't have the qualities that it takes to be a leader."


Victorygreymon nodded. "He wanted a dragon type that wasn't too big, but at the same time could command the respect of the troops Someone who would be able to think clearly through most situations... Most everyone would come to me for advice before my ascension so Examon put me in charge of everything."


RD blinked then sighed. "I wonder if he hated his size, I can't imagine being that enormous is helpful for the self esteem..."


Blade rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "He probably felt too large. he certainly intimidated a fair bit of the troops." He sniffed a bit before growling "I know this stink...Be on your guard..." He stepped outside to look around.


RD froze and nodded also looking around "Who did you smell?" RD asked "My sniffer isn't as good as your's"


"I'm still wondering...Why Gankoomon wasn't there. He's usually the first knight in the fray." He spotted a blur of pink and growled, lifting an armored arm into the air as a yellow blade came flying at him, with Crusadermon pushing him back slightly. "The cruelest knight is in our presence it seems."


RD blinked as he was suddenly hiding behind Victorygreymon like a frightened child, but Crusadermon simply shook it's head. "This has gone on too far"


RD blinked, listening in to the knights comments. "Wait a minute, I know your digivolution path. You digivolved from knightmon right? Those digimon are supposed to be super noble!"


Crusadermon kept muttering, not paying attention looking at something only it could see "My comrades, brainwashed, taken into this....evil....contaminated....THING!" Crusadermon shook it's head "It's all I can do to keep from deleting myself but there is one hope, to push the situation so far down the line that even yggdrasil takes notice and resets the digital world!"


RD froze "What?!?" RD had an inkling of what crusadermon was babbling about but crusadermon was already on top of them.


Victorygreymon's eyes went wide, before growling wide "Cease this at once Crusadermon!" He grumbled a bit, thinking on it for a moment "Crusadermon listen to me! The world's already been reset! The war is over!!" He growled out, using his other hand to pull free his new great sword, swinging it in an attempt to get Crusadermon away.


Crusadermon effortlessly pulled a pair of backflips. "Heh not this world you fool! The digiworld, don't you see....the darkness has already corrupted parts of the digiworld so entirely that the world will not be able to keep itself together! Between royal knights defecting in our digiworld where WE were supposed to be safe, how far will it GO?!?"


RD actually was wandering off in a daze "This guy isn't with the darkness?" RD was rubbing his head "He was just acting?" RD's eyes widened "The way you react to this place....WHO DO YOU WORK FOR?!?"


Crusadermon almost did a curt bow "Why the order of light, the order of celestials that are dedicated to eradicating the darkness wherever we can find it. But most of the celestial order has grown complacent, they won't ACT!"


RD blinked "Oh dear lord Crusadermon's with the light templars!"


Blade growled a bit, staring at the two of them for awhile. "Crusadermon...I would have thought you'd have brushed up on your history. The Darkness is NOT the only enemy. Those too sucked into the light can lose their way too! Now cease and surrender! I don't want to have to cut you down when I can have you as an ally!"


RD held up a claw "Sorry Blade but honestly I think I have an idea on what might get crusadermon's attention. Only beings of light can get the attention of a light templar" RD said going all the way through his special digivolution phase, all the way to prismdramon . "Crusadermon, your fights always struck true, you fought the darkness but you also were careful not to become consumed by it, what has changed?"


Crusadermon was gaping at the new dragon knight before him, well ,gaping as much as someone without a face could gape anyways, but then he responded "The darkness and us being here has changed! Before the royal knights were a unified front, anything we focused on they at the very least heard us out before we were forced to take action but the darkness isn't that, it's mindless, formless, it's worse than the parasitimon that once were scuttling around the digital world!"


RD sighed as he looked away but then nodded "Yes and it is understandable to be hurt by the fact that even the most powerful royal knights have succumbed to it, BUT YOU HAVEN'T! Please reconsider, the last thing we want to do is fight a friend who's only crime is succumbing to grief!"


Blade sighed, before driving his greatsword into the ground, as if it were a flag and stripped his left shoulder plate so the crest of light was visable "I am not a creature of light but I pledged to it. Listen...The Darkness may be formless...but as is the light. Those light templars...While not as many wielders of light exist we still have enough. This Prismdramon is one of them. And there are three others just as proficient as him. They hold the key to saving this place. Put your trust in them like we have. Alphamon is still leading the charge, he may not be as he was last you saw him, but he hasn't given up. and part of his power lives inside of this one." He gestured a hand to RD. "The few knights that haven't corrupted still stand strong and fight as one. Alphamon believes in the power of this group, he surrendered his knighthood in that belief."


RD nodded as he extended his hand, from the way crusadermon had just frozen up they might have been getting through to him, of course that was all shot up to hell as something else came along and destroyed Crusadermon right in front of the both of them.


Blade's eyes went wide, before growling "Who did that?! Come out!" He then blinked as the ground suddenly started crumbling around him. Instinctually he took flight, looking around for the Saboteur

RD did the same looking around all over the place "From underground? It's like they blasted Crusadermon from underneath!"


Blade shook his head, growling "I don't think so...it happened just as soon as Crusadermon was deleted..." He watched as everything started crumbling, dissapearing just as it had for Max's group "I think...each section of this world is tied to the royal knights here. We're being forced to kill off our own comrades to save them!"


RD's eyes widened "But then who took out Crusadermon? I didn't attack. And you didn't either!"


Blade looked around, before his eyes went wide as a formless blob started emerging from the empty space, massive hands forming and gripping the ends of the earth and forming into a wolfish appearance, great black jaws agape in an terrifying howl "It's...as large as Examon!!"


RD blinked as he looked at the huge thing "What the heck is that?!?"


Blade growled a bit "I'm...not sure. but I think it's a part of the darkness. As if it's trying to take physical form to slaughter us!" as a massive goo like hand came at him, Blade swung his greatsword around, but just as he cut it off another just took it's place


RD blinked. "I don't think we can simply attack the stuff" RD shot some lasers at it.


The lasers went through it's body as if it were nothing, this got Blade a little nervous, growling in anger "So what do we do..." He sniffed a bit and growled "HE is here..." He looked to the side and saw that near the newly formed cliffside, Zeedgarurumon sat with two passengers "Where's..."


Max suddenly leapt into the fray, flying towards them as Nikkoumon, or rather, using his light step to approach them in the air. "We caught up to you! What IS that thing?"


RD landed "Apparently some crazy physical manifestation of the darkness, it's big and attacking it doesn't do anything, then again I remember that the darkness can't be destroyed it has to be contained I think, but how do we contain something THIS HUGE?!?"


Max grumbled, smacking his fist with a palm "This part of darkness CAN be contained and destroyed. Baihumon told me about it but it's very precise. You guys watch over my body in a couple minutes alright..." Max pulled out his digivice, a new type of digiegg swirling in place before Max caught it and they could catch a glimpse of Baihumon's fur detailing bits and pieces of it.


RD blinked "Hrmm so that might be what they felt earlier" RD muttered when he remembered one of their group saying that they felt the presence of lord Baihumon


Max nodded a few times "I was taught a couple of new tricks...I guess now's as good a time as any. I'll have to Soul charge first though...I need you to hold that thing back for at least a minute so I can gather all the light energy I need."


"What the heck is a soul charge!" RD felt increasingly frustrated but he had little time to think as the physical bits of darkness began attacking.


MAx groaned "I'll explain later! Just do it!" He sat cross legged and eyes closed. His body glowing brightly as he took a meditating posture.


Blade snorted a bit as he fired a blast of fire at the darkness, and flew back towards it "It's a special form of powering up. It's dangerous too. If the user isn't trained then he could end up destroying his soul in the process. but if he can do it right...then well...you'll see."


RD looked down but again decided not to argue as he tried to use his prism prison to try to make a wall for Max. "Just got to keep these tendril's away"


Blade nodded a few times, charging forward and hacking off a limb every now and then "He said only for a minute. I think we can manage that." He then blinked as a few tendrils smacked against the prism prison that Max was situated in, but to no avail, but slowly cracks began to surface. The wolf shaped blob howled once more, opening it's jaws as if to take in the Prism prison into it's jaws.


"Wait....that's actually effective?!?" RD suddenly began focusing on the wall and trying to reenforce it "Hrmm a prism let's light through....then seperates it into all of it's colors..." RD blinked as he suddenly went to the opposite side of the wall "This should buy all the time be need" RD suddenly began charging something very big "Special attack. Light spectrum split!" A massive laser, easily twice as large as RD was hit the prism wall, when it did every light split into the colors of the rainbow and took off in multiple directions, shooting huge rainbow colored lights in every direction like some sort of demented version of the northern lights. The thing was the light never seemed to run out, constantly going back into the prism prison then back out the way it came in, none touched max since none of the light beams exited the prism in that direction.


As he did so, the darkness seemed to deform, dissapating everytime the light hit, every second or so respawning only to be knocked back down. Max grunted, taking a few deep breaths as his body was wrapped in a thin veil of light "I hope this works...now....." He let the egg float infront of him and roared out. "Soul cross!" Suddenly within the prism everything lit up, blinding those outside and even sending the darkness scurrying behind the cliff. Iron vembraces formed over Max's wrists, styled much like Baihumon's along with a thick tail ring surrounding the end of his with four sharp spikes covering all four corners. Each foot was wrapped in what looked to be fur but was actually chrome digizoid fashioned in Baihumon's fur pattern. Lastly a headband formed over Max's head, with two spikes one on each temple forming with the symbol of the west on it. He lifted his hands up as a great white mane surrounded his neck "Nikkoumon wild beast mode!" He cried out.


RD stared mouth agape "That....is....amazing...." RD blinked and sweatdropped as he realized that by using his special attack he had used too much energy and was back to dracomon as he stepped back, falling on his back.


Max stretched his body out, smiling "Soul Cross...it's a pretty powerful technique...you could say it's an advanced method of Shine evolution. But it requires TWO digimon to be in sync with each other. Otherwise you'll get a missmatch and burn out of your energy. Given I only had a week to train, most of it was spent learning Soul charge so that I could gather the extra energy to do the transformation without becoming an in training level digimon after."


RD nodded slowly "Still amazing and awesome" RD sighed and laughed "All I learned how to do is get to my mega form, nothing beyond that, but that's beside the point. The darkness just took off!"

Max let out a deep breath, before leaping out of the Prism sphere, crouching down in a feral hunting position, teeth clenched with a low growling sound vibrating through his chest before he sprang forward, leaping just over the cliff and using his light step to approach the cowering darkness. "You are yet incomplete! Incorporeal and longing for a physical body of your own! As long as I exist you won't HAVE IT."


The dark wolf let out a screeching howl in response, as if trying to communicate to the transformed Max. It enveloped the Nikkoumon in it's claws, grapsing him firmly in finality, then snarled as a bright light enveloped it's arm, completely destroying the limb, this time it didn't seem to regenerate.


"Beast claws!" His body stretched outward as the claws on his armored hands extended a few inches, glowing and vibrating as it cut into the Darkness. Removing large chunks and tearing into it senselessly. "Wait for me! I'll seal you up in 24 hours!!" He howled.


everyone could hear the sounds of combat before Max roared out "Wild strike!" The Figure of darkness was somehow flung into the air with Max following it, several swift precision strikes were made over the course of it's body, until both of his claws started shining, and he beared down on the strange beast with an X shape beam. There was a shriek as the attack went through it, before the darkness began crumbling, turning to dust scattered in the wind*


RD nodded, looking genuinely impressed. "It's done, that is amazing" he shook his head "I don't think i'll ever learn something like that, not yet in any case"


Max sweatdropped, before smiling as he reverted back to his base guilmon form. The digiegg returning to his digivice "Maybe Baihumon can teach you when we get back. Honestly...It doesn't just apply to him. Anybody I grow intimately close to I can link up to...It was a little easier to do in such a short time because of what happened in the human world. I didn't KNOW it...but Pyre and I forced a Soul Cross and became WereArcaninemon."


"So that's why that happened, in any case we just got done with a royal knight, turns out he wasn't converted by the darkness at all, the whole royal knight takeover had caused him to go crazy. Then when we just about had him convinced to stop fighting us THAT THING just went and took him out" RD said shaking his head. Upset by the loss of a potential comrade.


Max looked serious for a moment then blinked as Duke stepped over, which would be kind of Awkward for RD seeing as last time in the human world they were enemies "The royal knights were all made to hold key componants of this world. In order to bring an end to the Darkness...at least right now...we have to destroy the source. Which it's strongest source is the strife done in this world."


You can't just end strife though that's crazy" RD said blinking "Even the smallest arguments can be considered strife"


Blade shook his head "There wasn't ever any bloodshed as the calibur that this world created. We need to destroy this world I think is what he's saying. It's like an all you can eat buffet for the darkness and will severely cripple it."


RD nodded "And in order to do that we need to beat the royal knights that are in here" RD concluded "But wait" RD rounded on Duke "Weren't we fighting you a while ago?!?"


Duke blinked and held his arms towards RD. "That was over a year ago! I'm not your enemy anymore! Besides...We're all on the same side now."

RD's eye's narrowed, growling softly. "You'd be surprised how long I can hold a grudge"


Duke raised an eyeridge "Hey look I get it. I killed off one of your friends and then I come back in this place. It sounds like a cheesy science fiction flick. But!" He pointed a claw at RD then waved a dismissive hand "I won't apologize for all of my actions. What Delta and I did we did in trying to fight Daemon and the Darkness. Imagine trying to keep Jesse out of that demon lords grungy sweaty little creepy hands!"


RD groaned "Hey I fought his nidoking and besides which how is acting like you did fighting daemon anyways!" RD sighed "Well whatever as long as max is ok with it."


Max nodded a few times "It's a long story...despite their actions...I trust them. Fang any ideas on our next move?"


The Zeedgarurumon nodded, replying gruffly as he sniffed the air "I smell...Jesse..."


Ok....." RD blinked "He was coming along though right?"


Fang shook his head "His scent...is above..." He looked upward "In the sky." Though there was nothing but gray clouds "Victorygreymon!"

Blade nodded as if in understanding. "The sky palace..."


RD blinked "The sky palace? I don't know about that. There's an actual palace floating in the sky?"


Victorygreymon nodded a few times "Neither of us knew where it came from only that it was in the old world during the war. Eventually...a lone digimon...a Gabumon actually...discovered it while being caught up in a heavy storm"


RD blinked "How did he reach it though if it was in midair?"


Fang laughed "The current blew him upward. Above the clouds...when the Gabumon made it up top he sent a distress signal as best he could...and the flyers from both our sides immediately flew to it's location...see...despite being enemies we never denied a soldier in distress. When we arrived, we decreed it would be neutral ground. A place where both parties could relax and study it's mysterious origins."


"That would make sense then that it would practically be untouched, it's a symbol." RD nodded "We should go there.


Blade and Fang both nodded "Those of you that can fly us there will have to be transportation. He eyed both Blade and RD "Max doesn't count. His light step would burn all of his energy before he makes it to the sky palace."


RD blinked as he sighed and digivolved to coredramon as he began to fly up "One of you who knows where the place is will have to lead us.


Fang de-digivolved into a Gaomon, though almost immediately after he started materializing his armor, taking a deep breath "whew...that takes a lot out of me...His presence is so overwhelming..." He climbed onto RD before he took off, as did Max.


Blade grabbed ahold of both Delta and Duke "I'll lead us. It looks like Fang's personality becomes absorbed by Zeed's whenever he assumes that form. Guess that explains the armor..."


"Yeah that's kinda concerning but cool too." RD remembered that they once considered HIM to be Zeedgarurumon's vessel before he bluntly told them that he being a dragon and Zeed being a wolf it wouldn't work.


Blade nodded, crossing his arms. "One doesn't take up the mantle of an ancient digimon without understanding the consequences. I am Blade still...but at the same time I'm not. I guess to keep your head from spinning you could say now we're one and the same. Fang will have to learn to accept that and just let their individuality meld together."


"Yeah like merging, almost like biomerging but not quite" RD nodded as he kept flying a bit behind Blade.


Blade nodded "IT's a perminant transition...anyway let's not dilly dally!" Blade kicked up the speed slightly, flying into the clouds with his cargo, along with RD as they dissapeared from the earth's view. The last thing mentioned was Blade's whispers to himself. "Where WAS Gankoomon..."


(To be continued)