EPISODE 43 - RAGE AND CRACK THE SKY
Rain colored the sky a miserable grayish tone. Clouds blocked out any view of the sun, as if they were helping it hide. It had been a dismal past few days; it had started raining the night after the Belphemon fight, the night that Ezra and Anna had returned to the motel, an hour after curfew. Quinn had been upset at first, but the looks on their faces had taken all the disappointment and irritation right out of her.
She hadn’t pressed further.
The rain hadn’t let up since then. There’d been times where it had mellowed out to a drizzle, nothing more than a fine mist at best, but the skies had not been clear since that day. There hadn’t been a single moment of sunshine in the past seventy-two hours.
Quinn wondered if it was foreshadowing something, despite logically knowing it couldn’t possibly be.
For whatever good it did them, the rain had, at least, seemed to have taken away the emergent Digimon. Whether it was the weather or something else at play - and it was probably the latter - nothing had shown up since Belphemon’s defeat. The last Demon Lord had yet to reveal itself; any other emergent, Demon Lord or not, was similarly hiding. There’d been no readings on Quinn’s digivice, no reports on the news. They could rest easy for now because of that, right?
…Right.
Truthfully, Quinn was growing more worried and anxious by the day. There shouldn’t be a reason for Digimon to simply stop showing up. Was it because there was only one Demon Lord left? Were they - or Plutomon - changing tactics? Even if so, surely there would still be other manic Digimon coming through; more champion levels, or maybe some ultimates.
Anything would be preferable over the silence they were receiving.
Quinn was pretty sure she was alone in that opinion. Save maybe for Alpha, everyone else was simply relieved that they were finally getting a break from the constant fighting. Three Demon Lords in one day had drained them all - even those who hadn’t encountered them - of any will to fight they’d had in them.
It was certainly a strange situation to be in, one where she was actively hoping for Digimon to appear and start wreaking havoc. She felt a little bad about it, honestly. But if the alternative was simply sitting and waiting for something to happen, something completely unknown to her and the others, something that may end up being worse than a couple emergent Digimon…
Yeah. She’d take those emergents any day.
It didn’t seem like she would get her wish anytime soon, though.
But everyone else had been doing well, all things considered. Sure, they may have been getting restless - Quinn could recognize that - and a bit worried about the lack of emergents - even though they seemed to believe her easily enough whenever she lied through her teeth and told them everything was fine - but for the most part, they were more at ease than they had been since arriving in this world. She’d been keeping a close eye on them over the past few days, half to make sure they were all feeling okay and half because it helped Quinn herself feel better. Just in case, you know?
Yet none of them could shake the feeling that they were just waiting for something - something big. That, even though everything was fine right now, soon enough it wouldn’t be.
None of them had wanted to go downtown much recently, both because of the rain and because talk of the Digimon had not died down. It had been difficult to avoid overhearing conversations about the rampaging monsters even before the triple Demon Lord incident. Now, though, it seemed like it was the only thing on anyone’s minds - not just the group’s.
Everywhere they went, everywhere they looked, it was the talk of the town. It made sense why it was, but it was… unsettling at best, and terrifying at worst. With all of their partners now in rookie form again, most of them being exceptionally difficult to hide or pass off as toys, it was nearly impossible for them to casually stroll about the city without having to leave their partners behind - and with the risk of that final Demon Lord, or even any other emergent, appearing at any time… that wasn’t something they could afford.
They’d been going out only when absolutely necessary - which consisted almost entirely of Quinn heading out to get food or other supplies. She’d had to leave Alpha behind each time, and he’d been extremely put out by it, but she had no other choice. He’d been assuaged by the promise that Quinn would call someone to ask for his help if she needed it, like she’d told him the morning she and Anna and Bunny had gone to check out the damage from the Belphemon fight. It wasn’t ideal, but it was better than nothing. There wasn’t anything else she could do.
The Digimon, for their part, had actually been astronomically helpful. It sounded bad when said like that, as if Quinn didn’t think they could be helpful, but truth be told she’d been expecting that they’d be a lot calmer than their partners, what with not having to evolve and fight and run around so much - a breath of fresh air, perhaps. The inverse was true, though; they seemed almost more anxious than the humans, which Quinn sort of understood, even if she wished they could feel a little more at ease. But maybe it was good that they weren’t?
For starters, Pop and Bumble - the ones who could fly in their rookie forms - had taken to patrolling the city, flying high above the buildings, far out of view of anyone down on the street, looking for anything suspicious or out of place or whatever. Though Quinn knew that the digivices would be a more accurate tell of whether there was an emergent nearby, they had a deceptively small range. Having someone who could explore beyond the boundaries of their digivices to see if, maybe, the reason they weren’t seeing any readings on their radars was because the readings were out of range, took a huge weight off of Quinn’s shoulders.
But they weren’t the only ones who’d been helpful. Ren and Dare, those with the best senses of hearing and smell, had been keeping a metaphorical eye (a nose?) out for any strange sounds or scents in the air. The rain had dampened their abilities somewhat, but they both insisted they’d be able to sense if something was wrong, though Quinn was half convinced that was simply out of pride. They were offering their assistance, though, for which she was grateful, and not going to turn down.
The other Digimon helped out where they could. Bunny had an almost otherworldly sense of when someone was about to appear, be they Digimon or human, friend or foe. The group had learned to look - and listen - to her whenever she perked up, or asked them to be quiet. Alpha, Ko, and Castor had taken it upon themselves to sort of protect the group, more so than they usually did in their role as partners. They’d been acting akin to guard dogs, which Quinn found endearingly fitting. For Alpha and Castor, at least. It was hard to picture Ko as a dog instead of the three-foot beetle he was.
But despite their best intentions, despite their focus, despite how hard they were trying to figure out what exactly they were waiting for, nothing had turned up. There’d been no whispers of Digimon on the wind; nobody mentioning in passing that there had been any other monsters that had appeared. They couldn’t do anything about it, and that stung almost more than the waiting around itself. If they’d been able to bait out the last Demon Lord or get some more information or do something other than sitting around waiting for the opportunity to present itself, they’d be able to busy themselves with that, distract themselves from the truth of the matter, try to ignore how helpless and afraid they really felt.
But they couldn’t.
It made Quinn sick.
Today had been a slow day. It was late afternoon; if the sun had been visible through the thick blanket of clouds above, it would have already been making its way back down towards the earth, turning in for the evening. The rain had turned to a sprinkle, which was somewhat of a relief, but the sky didn’t look any different for the change.
Regardless, the group was taking advantage of the relent, allowing themselves to actually sit around outside near the pool, instead of holing up in their rooms. They were still, strangely (and fortunately) enough, the only ones staying at the motel. Quinn half-wondered if the workers here knew about the Digimon and were warning any other guests that may be looking to book some of the rooms.
But if they did, surely they would’ve said something about it to them, right? Especially when Quinn had had to re-book their rooms for another two weeks, realizing they were going to be staying here for longer than she’d expected. Just as when they’d first arrived and she’d rented the rooms for the first time, the desk worker in the tiny little motel office had glanced up at her suspiciously, but hadn’t protested, which was the best possible outcome, honestly.
At the moment, she and Alpha were wandering between the small scatterings of mini-groups that had formed around the pool. Some of the humans were sitting with each other; others with their partners. They talked and laughed and frowned up at the sky, wondering when the rain was finally going to give up, and seemed for all intents and purposes to be having a grand old time.
Quinn knew that was far from the truth.
She and Alpha made their way over to where Moxie and Alex were sitting on - yes, on, not at - one of the tables, Pop perched next to Moxie and Castor laying on the ground. Alex lifted a hand in greeting as he noticed the two newcomers, and Moxie smiled, grimacing slightly as she moved. Her injuries from the Bombermon fight were still fresh. She’d been doing better day by day, with some help from Harmony and Ryan, and she was lucky to be able to take it easy, but she still had to be careful. Likewise, Alex’s own wounds were only just starting to mend. He’d been forced into inaction the same as the rest of the group, which was kinda for the best when it came to him, but Quinn could tell he wasn’t happy about it.
“I do think it’s suspicious,” Castor was saying as Quinn and Alpha reached the little group and came to a stop. Castor blinked up at Quinn, then pushed himself into a sitting position, dipping his head. Quinn bit her lip, finding the display of respect towards her like she was a ship’s captain a bit unsettling, but she held her tongue.
“Heya,” Alex said, folding his knees close to his chest and resting his arms across them. “Speak of the devil.”
“Talking about me?” she asked, crossing her arms. “What about me is so suspicious?”
“Not you,” Moxie said, shaking her head with a smile, and Quinn relaxed. “Plutomon. Castor and Alex think it’s suspicious that he hasn’t shown up yet.”
Ah, that. Quinn nodded. “Well, there’s still one last Demon Lord yet to appear. It would make sense that he wouldn’t want to show himself just yet.” She didn’t say it out loud, not wanting to worry them, but she assumed that Plutomon would wait to see if the Demon Lord could defeat the group for him, rather than do it himself. That was just how he worked.
“That’s another thing,” Moxie said. She frowned, tapping her cheek thoughtfully. “Isn’t it weird that we haven’t seen the final Demon Lord? I think that’s more suspicious than Plutomon not showing up. It felt like… they’d been appearing so regularly, to the point where there were three in one day, and now… nothing. Just radio silence.” She held her hands out palm-up, as if to indicate helplessness.
“Maybe there won’t be another,” Alex suggested, leaning back on his hands. “There’s seven of them, and we’ve defeated six, right? Maybe they’ve realized we’re stronger than they think and they got scared.”
“That’s not very likely,” Alpha mumbled, and Alex raised an eyebrow down at him.
“Why not? Why else would the last one not have shown up already? What if they realized how easily we defeated the others and now they don’t want to die as quickly?”
“When was the last time you faced a Digimon - manic or not - who was actually scared to die?” Alpha shot back smoothly. He fixed Alex with a hard stare as the boy reluctantly shut his mouth, then shook his head. “Biding their time, maybe. Coming up with a new plan to deal with us, sure. But scared of us? When you’ve seen just how powerful they and Plutomon are?”
“Easy,” Quinn said, nudging him with a foot. He huffed and lowered his head, but kept his eyes on the humans on the table.
“The last one will appear. Whether we have to bait it out or not. We can’t assume that we’re in the clear just because it hasn’t shown itself yet.”
“I wasn’t,” Alex protested, and next to him on the table, Pop furrowed her brow.
“But what then? What do you think will happen when… it does?” At Alpha and Quinn’s confused expressions, she hurried on, wringing her claws together. “I know we’re going to fight it, that’s obvious, but… what about afterwards? If we defeat it, then what happens next?”
I don’t know, Quinn wanted to say. I don’t know what’ll happen next. If Plutomon will appear, or if he won’t, or if there’ll be more emergents we have to fight, maybe even stronger than the Demon Lords. I don’t know.
She didn’t know any of it, and that terrified her.
But she couldn’t say that. So instead, she put on her best smile, taking extra care to make it appear genuine, and looked down at Pop. “Then we’ll figure it out from there,” she said, and that at least seemed to appease the bird. “We’ll deal with… whatever happens next.”
Alpha glanced up at her, something in his eyes - something she recognized. She avoided his gaze, instead rolling her shoulders in a stretch and taking a step back. “We’ll be okay,” she said. “Just rest up for now. We don’t know when the next Digimon will show up. It’ll be good to be ready for when it does.”
The four of them murmured their assent, and Quinn gave them one last nod before she moved on, Alpha at her feet. She didn’t look down at him, and he didn’t speak.
Azure and Ren were sitting on the ground a couple yards away, looking down at Azure’s digivice. Nearby, Harmony and Ko knelt in the thin strip of grass between the pavement and the fence, making flower crowns out of dandelions and daisies. Ko seemed to be finding it a bit tricky, with his big blunt claws getting in the way, but Harmony was helping him out where she could, giving advice and offering to help braid together any particularly delicate flowers.
Azure looked up as Quinn and Alpha approached; Ren flicked an ear, her eyes firmly fixed on Azure’s digivice. “Hey,” Azure said, and Ren finally tore her gaze away to meet Quinn’s.
Quinn waved a bit, standing somewhat awkwardly above them, until Alpha cleared his throat quietly and she took it as a sign to kneel down next to them. “What’s up?” she asked, nodding at Azure’s digivice. “Looking at something?” She tried not to let the creeping panic that maybe there was an emergent on their radar overtake her, but it settled at the back of her mind anyway.
Fortunately, that didn’t seem to be the case. Azure nodded and scooched forward a couple inches, turning their digivice around so Quinn could see the screen. It was displaying a small pixel image of Barbamon - Quinn knew that only because she could read the name displayed in Digicode on the screen, not because she recognized the sprite, condensed and simplified as it was.
“We were talkin’ about the Demon Lords we faced,” Azure said, pressing the right arrow button on the digivice and flipping to the next profile - Beelzemon. “And how they were both acting strange before they died.”
“They both seemed to surrender at first,” Ren said, her voice low. “But they were both bluffing. Beelzemon wouldn’t actually have surrendered if I hadn’t attacked him. And Barbamon outright admitted they lied to catch Azure off guard.”
“They didn’t catch me, though,” they said, smiling. “I knew they were lying. I think it’s weird that they were, but I still knew it.”
Quinn tilted her head at Azure. She had been there for that fight. She hadn’t heard anything Barbamon had said to Azure, whether right before Ko had evolved or when she’d had to help Alpha calm the police down and Ko had chased Barbamon away, but Azure had relayed their conversation to her afterward. Barbamon had offered information in exchange for their life, but when Azure asked about the Code Keys, they admitted they were lying.
Beelzemon, likewise, had fake-surrendered. Ren hadn’t taken her chances with him, though, instead using the opportunity to deliver her finishing blows. He hadn’t seemed all that distraught when she had, instead welcoming his death with almost open arms - a stark contrast to Barbamon’s reaction.
“And it’s not just these two that were actin’ weird,” Azure said, cutting into Quinn’s stream of thoughts. They flipped to the next profile on the digivice, Belphemon. “Ezra told me that Belphemon didn’t seem to care when Ember and Bunny defeated him. That he just… laid down and accepted his fate. Just like Beelzemon.”
“But Barbamon didn’t,” Quinn said, frowning. “They attacked you once they admitted they were lying.”
“Sure,” Azure said. “But they didn’t really seem to mean it, y’know?” When Quinn just stared at them blankly, they smiled and switched back to Barbamon’s profile. “They told Ko that he was… ‘falling for the same tricks’. They easily could have attacked me before Ko reached them, but they hesitated, I think.” They shrugged, tapping the side of their digivice idly. “Maybe I’m overthinkin’ it. But even if they didn’t actually surrender, they didn’t seem all that upset by their defeat. Just like Beelzemon and Belphemon.”
“I think it’s worth something,” Ren murmured, crossing her arms. Quinn and Azure both looked over at her, and she carried on. “Beelzemon was… a very interesting opponent. Even when I fought him as Baalmon, something seemed a little off about him when it came to his dedication to his task.” She paused here, her brow furrowing as if remembering something, then shook her head. “As Beelzemon, he told me he was fighting for a better world. Very different from how he spoke and acted as Baalmon. Perhaps it was because he was no longer under Plutomon’s control, but even so, the discrepancy between him insisting he was doing the right thing, then surrendering and letting me defeat him without trying to stop me…” She sighed. “There has to be a reason for it. I just wish he’d been a little more forthcoming with information.”
“Don’t I know it,” Azure mumbled, staring down at their digivice. They breathed out slowly and leaned back, then looked at Quinn. “You got any thoughts on this?”
Quinn’s mind went completely blank for a few scary seconds, and then she brought herself back to the present. “I’m not quite sure,” she admitted, shaking her head. “I think you’re both right. That it’s connected, and that it’s important. But I wouldn’t know why.”
“Just keep theorizing then, I suppose,” said a new voice, and Quinn blinked, looking up to see Ko, Harmony, and Alpha approaching. Alpha must have gone over to talk to them while Quinn was talking with Azure and Ren; now, the three of them rejoined their partners, Ko speaking up as they did so. “That’s all we can really do at the moment.”
“Which sucks,” Harmony said, resting her head on Ren’s shoulder, taking care not to dislodge her flower crown. “I mean, until the last guy shows up and we can maybe ask more questions, all we have to go off of are week-old conversations with Digimon who wanted to kill us. I wish they’d been more helpful.”
“The ‘last guy’ is going to want to kill us, too,” Ren said, glancing down at her. “And who’s to say it’ll be any more helpful than the others have been?”
“Even if we don’t figure out the reason,” Alpha said, as Harmony stuck her tongue out at her partner, “this is a weak spot. Something they don’t want us to know. The fact we even have this information is helpful on its own.”
“Not if we don’t know what it means,” Azure countered, scratching their cheek. “We can make fun of them for being willing to die all we want, but if we don’t know why, it’s not goin’ to help us.”
“…I was trying to be optimistic,” Alpha said quietly, and Quinn laughed, placing a hand on his head.
They bid farewell to the four, leaving them to continue their theorizing and gentle debate. Quinn led the way around the perimeter of the yard over to where Ezra, Damien, and their own partners were relaxing on the lounge chairs next to the pool, talking to each other quietly. She raised a hand in greeting as she and Alpha approached; only Ember returned it, the two boys lost in their conversation and Bumble sitting with his eyes closed at Damien’s feet.
“Heya,” she said when she and Alpha reached them. Ezra startled, scrambling upright in his chair, while Damien simply raised an eyebrow. Quinn smiled faintly, loosely folding her arms. “Did I really scare you that badly?”
“Sorry,” Ezra said, hand pressed to his chest as he regained his composure. “I wasn’t paying attention. Wasn’t really expecting anyone to come over. Or to introduce themself by just saying ‘hey’.”
“I saw her before she said anything,” Ember said, tipping his head backward to stare up at his partner. “She tried to wave. You just weren’t looking.”
“Well sue me,” Ezra shot back, folding his own arms across his chest and wrinkling his nose. “It’s been a weird couple of days.”
“Tell me about it,” Damien muttered, pulling his sunglasses up off his face as he looked up at Quinn. “Sup. Need something?”
She shook her head. “Just checking in. What were you talking about?”
Damien huffed. “Same old shit. Belphemon and Lucemon, mainly. Nothing new.”
“Liar,” Bumble said, his eyes still closed. Damien arched a brow down at him. “Tell her.”
Quinn blinked. “Tell me what?”
“We noticed something,” Ember cut in before Damien could respond - not that it seemed like he would have. “About Lucemon and Belphemon. Well, Astamon, really.”
“Go on,” Alpha prompted.
This time, it was Damien who continued, though he heaved a melodramatic sigh as he did. “When Moxie and I fake surrendered to Lucemon, it asked for our digivices. That was the first thing it wanted. It didn’t even think about taking the opportunity to kill us until after it had them in its hands.”
“It was probably going to kill you anyway,” Alpha said, and Damien shook his head.
“But that’s the thing. Why wouldn’t it have just done that in the first place, when it had the chance? Why did it want our digivices? It’s not like it could’ve done anything with them. It’s the only Digimon we’ve ever come across that’s taken interest in them.” He paused, mostly for dramatic effect, and then looked at Ezra. “Or that’s what I thought, at first.”
“When he told me about it later,” Ezra said, picking up the reins, “I remembered that when Ember and I came across Astamon, the first thing he asked for was my digivice. He didn’t even try to attack me until I refused.”
“He asked for your digivice?” Quinn echoed, frowning. She hadn’t heard this - maybe he hadn’t thought it would be worth mentioning. “What did he want with it?”
“To destroy it,” Ezra said, and Quinn’s heart skipped a beat. “He didn’t get to, though. It seems like it’s indestructible?” He pulled the device out of his pocket, cradling it in his hands as he stared down at it. “He stomped on it pretty hard, but it didn’t do anything. The screen isn’t even scratched.”
“And Lucemon didn’t even bother trying to destroy ours,” Damien said, holding his digivice up. “It probably knew that Astamon had already tried and failed. Instead it said it wanted to see what would happen to them once Moxie and I died. And then it attacked us.”
“What the hell,” Quinn said, subconsciously patting her back pocket, where her own was buried. The fear overtaking her mind was too hard to ignore at this point, worming its way into her chest and heart. Why on earth would the Demon Lords be interested in their digivices…?
“Didn’t Mephistomon also say something about the digivices?” Ember said then, drawing Quinn’s attention. He frowned, tapping his chin with a claw. “Something like… when Astamon tried to destroy it, it didn’t work the way it was supposed to?”
“Right,” Damien said with a nod, seeming so much calmer about this than Quinn was. She wondered how he was managing it. “Jokermon did, too. He said something like… if he was able to, he’d destroy Anna’s digivice.”
“Well, Plutomon’s partner must have had a digivice,” Ezra said. “That’s probably how he knows that they help us evolve. It makes sense he’d want to destroy them.”
“But he can’t,” Ember countered. “No one can. Astamon tried and he couldn’t. But Mephistomon and Jokermon both said they should’ve been able to, and Lucemon said something would happen to them if you and Moxie died. So why couldn’t Astamon destroy it?”
“I think a better question,” Alpha cut in, the first thing he’d said in quite a while, “would be… how do they know it should be possible?”
A frown tugged at Quinn’s lips.
Even aside from the obvious - that these Digimon had tried to destroy their digivices, the physical manifestation of their bond with their partners, the means for those partners to evolve to their higher forms - there was something off about this whole situation. Many things.
That the digivices were seemingly indestructible. That they shouldn’t be. That, perhaps, something would happen to them if their human owner died. How would they - Astamon, Mephistomon, Jokermon, Lucemon, Plutomon - even know that? Had something happened to Plutomon’s digivice? Someone else’s in the group?
If they tried again, and they did manage to destroy one of the group’s digivices… what would happen then?
Alpha seemed to notice Quinn’s fear, the way she had gone silent and locked up, and his eyes softened as he took in her face. He didn’t say anything to her, but turned back to the other four, tilting his head ever so slightly. “Our digivices are resistant to damage. Something in their composition wants to protect them and keep them safe. Likely for reasons such as this.”
“I guess,” Ezra said, looking down at his device again. “I just wish we knew why.”
“As do I,” Alpha agreed, dipping his head. “Perhaps we’ll find out one day. At the very least, we know they’re safe. We’re safe.”
Though he didn’t look back at Quinn, she knew that that last part was directed at her.
She didn’t have much else to add after that, and neither did the others, it seemed. She and Alpha took their leave, Quinn’s head practically spinning with everything she’d just learned. The dread that gripped her still had not dissipated, but at least it hadn’t gotten any worse, nothing more than an undertone of despair. She tried not to focus on it too much. She couldn’t give in to it.
The two found Ryan, Miguel, and Dare sitting near the pool, while Flip drifted about in the water, belly-up with his paws folded over his stomach. As they approached, she caught notes of what Ryan was in the middle of saying, his cheek propped up with one fist as he sat cross-legged.
“It’s just boring,” he lamented, barely paying Quinn any mind as she came to a stop next to him. “I don’t wanna go downtown when it’s pouring rain any more than you do, but we’ve been stuck here for the past three days. Would be nice to be able to actually do something.”
“Something like fighting another Digimon?” Dare suggested. She was curled up in front of Ryan at the very edge of the pool, one paw dipping into the water while she rested her head on her tail. One of her ears flicked back toward her partner, but she didn’t lift her head to look at him. “Since that’s pretty much all we ever did even when we could leave?”
“You know that’s not what I’m saying,” he said, and she stuck her tongue out. “Just being able to walk around downtown and actually look at things other than this pool and the inside of our rooms was nice. Even if we did have to fight in order to get that.”
Miguel frowned, biting at his knuckle gently. “I mean… I’m kind of glad we haven’t had to fight. We fought so many Demon Lords… I don’t know if we’d be ready to fight more.”
“Especially since we don’t know how consistently we’ll be able to evolve to mega,” Dare said with a nod. “I’d love to actually fight a Demon Lord, though. It’s not fair that you guys got to, while I was stuck with a crazy cat lady who wanted me to die a slow and painful death.”
“The Demon Lords wanted that for everyone else, too,” Ryan said, unamused.
“You know what I mean,” she shot back, the self-satisfaction in her voice matching the smug grin she donned, and Ryan groaned.
“Personally, I agree with Ryan,” Flip said, still floating in the pool. “I’ve been feeling way too cooped up here recently. I’m small enough to get carried around. Why can’t we go out?”
“You’re allowed to leave,” Quinn said, finally making her entrance, and that drew their attention. She didn’t like what she was saying - it made her nervous, at the prospect of any of the group leaving the motel while everything was so weird - but she said it anyway, because it was true. “But none of you like the rain enough to want to stay out in it for more than, like, five minutes at a time.”
“I do,” Flip said.
“Okay. Flip does. But none of the rest of you.”
“You’ll get your chance eventually, I’m sure,” Alpha said, tapping his claws against the concrete. “Our fight is far from over. For now, we’re simply waiting for the other team to make a move.”
“But all the waiting is driving me crazyyyyyy,” Dare groaned. If it had been possible for her to flop any flatter onto the ground, she would have done so. “Why are they wasting our time like this? Trying to bore us into giving up?”
“More like making themselves even stronger so they can kick our asses easier,” Ryan said, and Miguel went pale.
“That’s a possibility, yes,” Alpha cut in before Miguel could say anything. “But they may be waiting for something just like we are. I’m sure there are other things at play.”
“Would be nice if we knew what Plutomon wants,” Flip said. He rolled over so he was upright, seemingly able to (mostly) float where he was without having to tread water, and blinked big yellow eyes up at Alpha. “Other than us being dead. He hasn’t told us anything about what he actually wants to do. What we’re supposed to stop him from doing.”
“I think him sending mindless assassins after a group of teenagers is enough for us to need to stop him,” Ryan said dully, but Miguel hummed to himself quietly.
“I don’t know,” he said, chewing on his lip. “I don’t think he’ll tell us if we see him again. He didn’t say a lot last time.” He looked up at Quinn here, eyes brightening slightly. “Do you know what he wants?”
Quinn felt very put on the spot by his question, especially since the other four - Alpha included - also turned to look at her. She hesitated for a couple seconds, thinking of what to say that wouldn’t be an outright lie (“yes, I do, and here’s what it is”) but also wouldn’t be overly pessimistic (“no, I don’t, and we’re all fucked”).
She settled on what she hoped was a good middle ground. “He hasn’t said anything about it,” she said, shaking her head. “So I don’t know exactly what it is. But considering the portal he opened, and the Digimon he’s been sending through… it’s probably something here in the real world.”
“Figured as much,” Flip muttered. He sighed long and loud. “So we really do just have to wait for him to make the next move. Which means more waiting.”
“It’s nice that we don’t have to fight right now, though,” Miguel said quietly, and after a moment of hesitation, everyone murmured their agreement.
Quinn plastered a smile onto her face. “It is. It’s good to be able to relax for the first time since we got here. You should use this time to rest up. Take the break while you’ve got it.”
Dare peered up at her. “Why? Is something bad going to happen soon?”
Quinn didn’t reply immediately. She felt everyone’s eyes on her, but all she did was bite her lip and avert her gaze. When she finally spoke, it was hesitant. She wasn’t entirely sure of what she was saying, but she had to say it, even if only to ease their worries - even if it was a lie.
“No. I just think… there’s been a lot going on recently. You deserve a rest.”
That seemed to be enough to satisfy them. She and Alpha bid farewell and moved on, circling around the pool to head back to the rooms, where they’d started. There, Anna and Bunny were sitting at one of the tables, talking and laughing together quietly, away from everyone else.
Anna was the only one in the group that Quinn hadn’t managed to get a good grasp on quite yet. Her mood seemed to change on a dime; whenever Quinn thought she’d figured her out, she’d do a complete 180° and completely subvert every one of Quinn’s observations. The night that she and Ezra had returned after their talk had been one of the only times that Quinn had felt she’d fully understood her. Though she still didn’t know what exactly they’d been discussing, and most likely never would, there’d been a look in her eyes that Quinn had just… felt.
And yet, whenever Quinn looked at Anna, all she could think of was what she’d said to Bunny, alone in the forest behind the garden in File City, when they’d thought nobody had been listening in.
“They were supposed to be some great leader. Once we found them, everything should have been easy. But it’s not. Nothing has gotten any easier.”
Quinn understood it. Really, she did. She herself knew that she was in no position to lead this group, or help them in their goal. They weren’t even supposed to be here in the first place.
But hearing Anna say it aloud, so clear and unfiltered in her true thoughts…
It hurt more than she wanted to admit.
As she and Alpha approached the two, Anna caught sight of them and fell quiet. Bunny mirrored the action, looking back over her shoulder from her seat on the tabletop as Quinn came to a stop. She flicked an ear up at her, then turned back to face Anna.
“How are you doing?” Quinn asked, folding her arms across her chest and trying to appear as casually conversational as she could.
Anna waited a few seconds before answering, her eyes searching Quinn’s face and then Alpha’s, down on the ground at her feet. “We’re fine,” she said eventually, and Bunny nodded in agreement. “Nothing’s wrong, if that’s what you’re worried about.”
Quinn shook her head. “Just wanted to see how you’re doing. It’s been a couple days since we really spoke.”
Anna shrugged, fidgeting with her hands on the table. “Well, I’m fine.” She paused, then shook her own head. “…I’m glad we’ve been getting a break. Not having to fight or run all over the place or anything. It’s… nice.”
“It is,” Quinn said, even though she felt the exact opposite. “I think it’s been long enough. You all deserve the break.”
“So do you,” Bunny said, finally speaking up. She turned around again to face Quinn directly, tilting her head to the side. “You deserve to rest as much as we do.”
“I am,” Quinn said, choosing not to examine why Bunny seemed to know exactly what was plaguing Quinn’s mind. She put on another smile, trying to really sell it. “This is a break for me too. I’m resting like all of you are.”
Bunny frowned. “No you’re not. Not right now, at least.” She sighed, looking out over the courtyard, and Quinn followed her, gaze sweeping over the assortment of kids and Digimon scattered around the area. When Bunny spoke again, Quinn’s eyes instantly snapped toward her. “I’ve been watching you. You haven’t had a break at all in the past few days. Whether it’s checking up on all of us, or looking at your digivice, or getting food. You’re the only one who’s not resting.”
Quinn opened and closed her mouth a few times, trying to think of anything she could say to deny it, or dissuade her, or change the subject, but nothing surfaced. She bit her lip and looked down at Alpha for help, but his gaze was fixed firmly on Anna, who in turn was staring at Quinn.
“…I can’t,” she murmured, not bothering to look back up. “You’re the ones who really need the break. I’m fine. I… I have to make sure you’re all okay.”
“We all seem to be doing fine,” Anna said, peering up at Quinn curiously. “As fine as we can, at least.”
She said it like it was obvious, like it was the clearest thing in the world that everyone would be doing perfectly fine in this situation. In a sense, they should be. This was likely the longest break from battle they’d had in the entire past three months that they’d been caught up in all of this - of course they’d be fine, they were finally not having to fight for their lives every day.
But there was something else in Anna’s tone and words that stuck out to Quinn. Something like an accusation, almost. As if she was implying that that wasn’t why Quinn wasn’t taking a break, and there was instead some reason other than simply a concern for their wellbeing.
There was, of course, but Quinn hadn’t said anything about it, not even to Alpha, and Anna should have no way of knowing it.
Maybe she was imagining things.
Instead of responding to Anna directly, she changed the subject. Deflecting was better than answering. “You in particular seem to be doing well,” she said, and now it was Anna’s turn to look away. “You’ve seemed a lot… happier, lately. It’s good to see.”
“It’s nothing,” Anna said quietly, and down by where her feet dangled inches above the concrete, Alpha huffed, the first noise he’d made since arriving.
“It’s not nothing,” he said, voice low. “It’s important for you to be doing well. All of you. You’re just kids, after all.” He broke off, looking down at his claws, and then shook himself out. “Even though you have something important to do, you have a right to be happy. It’s probably for the better that you are.”
Nobody spoke for a while. Quinn watched Alpha intently, trying to read his expression, but his eyes were a mix of emotions that she couldn’t pick apart. Eventually Bunny spoke up, looking down at Alpha with something like concern.
“You should be too, then.”
He didn’t reply. Neither did Quinn or Anna; it seemed as though they’d said all they had to say, and so they parted ways quietly, Anna and Bunny jumping back into happy conversation with each other as Quinn and Alpha made their way to the other side of the pool.
They sat down a ways away from the rest of the group, on some of the unoccupied lounge chairs pushed away from the pool. Quinn was only half-listening to the others around her as she pulled her phone out, scanning the slew of texts her parents had been sending her over the past couple days.
She must have sighed or made some other sort of sound of despair, because Alpha blinked up at her, seated at the foot of the lounge chair. “Your parents?”
“Who else would I be so despondent at the thought of talking to,” she replied noncommittally. She sighed again and leaned back, propping one hand up behind her head as she unlocked her phone to fully read their messages. “I wish they’d just stop.”
Alpha hummed quietly. “Have you spoken to them?”
“I told them I’m not dead.”
“That doesn’t really count.”
Quinn chewed on the inside of her mouth, about halfway through one of the paragraphs her dad had sent her in the past twenty-four hours, and that was one of the shorter messages. “I texted them a couple days ago. Only because I had to tell mom I had one of her credit cards. …I told them that I’m not in the Digital World, but that I’m not coming home for a while. If they cared even a smidgen more, they probably would have sent out a missing person alert for me already.”
“But they didn’t?” Alpha asked.
Quinn shook her head. “They don't care that I’m not coming home. They’re perfectly happy to be away from me. But they’re upset about the fact that I’m with you. And that there’s Digimon showing up in this world.”
“The news has reached them, then.”
“It’s all over. I’m surprised none of these guys’ families -” she gestured at the rest of the group around the poolyard “- haven’t managed to catch on that this is where their kids are. Or maybe they have. At least they haven’t shown up in person.”
“We can be grateful for that,” Alpha said, but Quinn was already looking back down at her phone. Takota hadn’t texted her again since the first message he’d sent her, over a week ago at this point, and she likewise had not responded. She felt guilty about it every time she opened her messages and saw his name and the four words he’d sent right below it, but… what could she even say to him that wouldn’t just make everything worse? Their parents had always made it very clear to her that she was not to get him involved in her business. She didn’t want to anyways, of course, but…
A notification flashed at the top of the screen, and without even reading it, she opened it. Thankfully, it took her to her messages with Reagan, and relief flooded her entire body upon realizing that it wasn’t one of her parents or even some dumb spam email.
How are things going today?
fine Quinn typed back without even thinking, then decided to elaborate, but only because it was Reagan. still nothing. it’s annoying as fuck but i guess better than something showing up and wrecking downtown even more
Reagan’s reply came just as quickly. That’s good. Not that you’re annoyed, of course. But good that nothing else has shown up yet.
Quinn sighed and considered whether to respond, to tell her that actually it wasn’t good, because it meant more sitting around and waiting for something to happen, punctuated only by incessant worrying and fretting, but she didn’t get the chance, because Reagan sent another message while she was deliberating. Your parents have been calling my mom a lot.
“Goddamnit,” Quinn muttered, vaguely aware that Alpha perked his head up to look at her, but she wasn’t focused on him. of fucking course they are she said instead to Reagan. tell her i’m sorry about that. and also that she’s free to tell them to fuck off
It’s alright. Reagan said, and Quinn frowned. She doesn't mind. She gets it.
Quinn wasn’t convinced. does she?
Yes. Her parents are just as bad as yours. You know this.
For another moment, Quinn wondered if she could continue, but once again, Reagan beat her to the punch.
You know, I would have come with you if you’d asked.
Quinn closed her eyes and let her head hit the back of the lounge chair.
That was a text she’d sort of been dreading over the past week. She couldn’t say she had been expecting it, because it was just about the exact opposite of everything Reagan (and Macy) stood for, but the feeling had still been there, taking up residence in the back of her mind.
She knew what it was about. She didn’t need any further context for it. For what “coming with her” meant, and what “if she’d asked” implied.
It honestly made it kind of worse.
there is no way in hell i would have asked you to come with us. The period was necessary, Quinn felt, even if a little aggressive. you said it yourself the night i fought grademon. you chose to sit this out. that’s what you signed up for.
And I’m free to sign myself out if I wish. Reagan replied, just as resolute as Quinn’s own message. Even if I haven’t been with you every step of the way, that doesn’t mean that I can’t join you halfway.
you couldn’t ask lily to do this. she’s never evolved. she’s never even fought
You know that’s not true.
she’s never fought something of this magnitude before
Have you?
Quinn started and deleted a couple different messages, trying to come up with a proper rebuttal to Reagan’s question - a rebuttal, not an answer, because they both knew the answer.
Though Quinn had faced Plutomon many times over the past couple years, the power he held now far surpassed anything Quinn could have ever imagined of him.
But you didn’t ask me to join you. Reagan said, cutting Quinn off for a third time tonight. So I didn’t come with. And it turns out I didn’t really need to. You have a far better team now than you would have if it’d been just me and Lily with you. I know you think you won’t be able to lead them, but you did a fine job with me, all those years ago. You’ll do even better with them.
She’d said that before, on the first night Quinn had been here. She’d so effortlessly deduced just what was worrying Quinn so much and driving her nearly over the edge. The reassurance then had been good to hear, and it was now, too, but… all throughout the past week (and god, had it really been only a week?), it had lingered in the back of her mind. The anxiety. The fear. The desperation to protect them, to lead them the way they needed and wanted her to. It hadn't left. Reagan’s words had helped a little, but not entirely. Not enough.
Just as she had last week, Quinn didn’t know what to say. She didn’t know how to put her thoughts and fears into words. She’d never really been good at that, not like Reagan was. Maybe she’d picked it up from her parents, or Alpha, or maybe it was just who she was. Try as she might, she’d never been able to.
So she just said the same thing as last time. i’ll do my best
That was, at least, the truth. She was going to do her best. That was all she’d ever done - the best she could, no matter the situation, no matter how much it took out of her.
And just like last time, Reagan said the same thing in response. I know you will. You always do.
Quinn shut her phone off, placed it in her lap, and closed her eyes.
“Do you think I’m doing the right thing?”
She didn’t need to look at Alpha to know the expression that crossed his face - confused, concerned, worried. She could just sense it. His question in response only served to solidify that knowledge.
“What do you mean?”
She hesitated before continuing. She hadn’t really meant to ask it aloud, or at least not in such a pitiful way. She raised a hand to her mouth and bit down on a knuckle.
“Just… with the group. I don’t know if making them do all of this is… the right thing. They’re just kids. They weren’t even supposed to get involved in any of this. Is me letting them continue… the right thing to do?”
“It doesn’t matter if they weren’t supposed to get involved,” Alpha said instantly, and Quinn finally opened her eyes to look down at him, stifling a sigh. He peered up at her with calm golden eyes and tipped his head to the side. “I’ve told you this. They already are involved. They want and need to do this just as much as you do. They wouldn’t be here - wouldn’t have gotten this far - if they didn’t.” He trailed off, looking down at his claws, and then heaved a sigh of his own. “I know you want to keep them safe. But you’ve been doing that. You can protect them and let them fulfill their role in this at the same time. That’s how it is with you and me, after all.”
Quinn bit her lip and averted her gaze once more. She didn’t reply for a few long moments, long enough that Alpha settled back down with his head resting on his paws. When she finally spoke, though, his ears perked up; clearly, he’d known that she wasn’t done.
“I more meant about… me leading them. I don’t know what made them think I’m - we’re - supposed to lead them. I mean… we didn’t even know they existed, at first. And then, as soon as we meet them, we’re just supposed to… lead them into battle against a Digimon that even you aren’t strong enough to beat.”
“Thank you for your confidence,” Alpha muttered dryly, and despite herself, Quinn managed a smile.
“But… you know what I mean. We’ve always done things alone. It’s not that I don’t want their help. It’s just… I can’t let them get hurt. They’re just kids.”
“They’re barely younger than you.”
“You know what I mean,” Quinn said again, and Alpha just sighed.
He stretched himself up and turned to look back over at Quinn, his brows creased. “They were searching for us because they need us. Not just to lead them, but to show them that this is possible. That they’re not alone in this. They’ve already been hurt, time and again, months before they knew we existed. They were strong enough to stand up against Plutomon before they even found us. The same goes for us.”
He trailed off, staring out across the yard, and Quinn absentmindedly followed his gaze, looking around at the rest of the group scattered about. Talking, laughing, theorizing. Living. Waiting for whatever would come next, ready to meet it with fervor and open arms and each other by their sides.
“I think,” Alpha said then, drawing Quinn’s attention, and when she looked at him, she could have sworn that his eyes were shining, “that we need them just as much as they need us.”
Quinn wished she could disagree with him, but when she dug within her heart to find the words to do so, she came up empty-handed.
She left to pick up dinner about fifteen minutes later.
She’d left Alpha back at the motel. As always, he’d protested, but not as strongly as he used to, at the beginning of the week. He’d gotten used to it. It wasn’t a pleasant thing to get used to, and Quinn wasn’t happy about the situation either, but they didn’t have any other options.
The lonesomeness of her journey brought with it an uneasy silence. It was eerily disquieting, in a way, having nobody with her to talk to or take her mind off of the matters at hand. It gave her time to think, really turn everything over in her head, without distraction.
This time, those matters were mostly Anna and Bunny’s words from earlier in the day, as well as, to an extent, Alpha and Reagan’s. That she should also be taking a break. That she deserved to be happy. That she was doing a good job with them.
That she needed them.
Try as she might, she couldn’t convince herself that she didn’t. She wanted to say that she and Alpha could do everything on their own, that they could defeat the last Demon Lord and find Plutomon and end him for good and then everything would go back to normal, but she knew now, just as she always had, that that wasn’t possible. She’d always known that she and Alpha were nowhere near strong enough to stop Plutomon, but she’d never had to face it head-on the way she did now.
But Reagan had said she and Alpha were doing a good job. She wanted to think they were, but it was just another thing she couldn’t quite believe. What had they even done for them so far? Alpha had helped only marginally in the fights with Lilithmon and Barbamon - and Quinn herself? What had she done? Almost nothing.
She didn’t know how anyone could ever think she was fit to be a leader.
But she didn’t have a choice in the matter, and she still wasn’t sure if that was for the best or not. She certainly didn’t know how she felt about it.
Though she knew it would never come true, she wished she could close her eyes and awake to discover this had all been a dream.
When she returned to the motel a short while later, sandwiches in hand and despair in her heart, she spoke as little as possible. The rest of the group ate their dinner and chatted together, at peace with themselves and the world around them. Quinn wanted to feel the same, but she couldn’t bring herself to even try.
Without knowing what they’d all been through and what was to inevitably come, they seemed like a group of high schoolers on a field trip. It was insane to Quinn that they were all so young and yet were being put through this all the same.
Whatever had chosen them for this task had some sick sense of humor.
She responded to the others when addressed, mustering up all of her energy to appear as calm and carefree as they were, but she was lost in her own thoughts. Everything that had happened so far and would happen eventually was playing on repeat in her head, from first meeting the group in the field with Plutomon to the conversations she’d had with them just earlier in the day to what they’d do when the final Demon Lord showed up. Try as she might, she couldn’t take her mind off it entirely, and she was trying her best.
Eventually, everyone finished their meals and headed off, retreating to their rooms or spreading out along the pool for another hour or two of social interaction. Quinn remained where she was, half-eaten sandwich in front of her and Alpha laying at her feet. He tried talking to her a bit, but she could only manage weak responses, and eventually he took the hint and dropped it.
For hours, she just sat there, poking at her food every so often and checking her phone when she grew sick of that. It pinged with another text - from who, she wasn’t sure, and didn’t want to check - and she activated her digivice, if only to shut it up. Those in the yard had already headed inside to go to bed, once their yawns had become too frequent to ignore. She knew she should go, too. She hadn’t been sleeping well recently, for obvious reasons, but it would still be good to get some rest, even if “rest” just meant closing her eyes for six hours.
But she couldn’t bring herself to stand up.
Sitting and listening to nothing except her own flurried thoughts wasn’t doing her any good, either, but…
Quinn closed her eyes and sighed, then pushed her chair out from the table to stand up. Alpha was immediately on his feet, looking at her with his eyes almost glowing in the dark of the night. Quinn grabbed her jacket off the back of the chair and started toward her room, Alpha following close behind.
She only made it a few steps before her digivice beeped, and she stopped in her tracks instantly.
For a few seconds, she just stood there, clutching her digivice and jacket and trying to still her thrumming heart. Alpha stood resolute at her side, and she could feel his eyes on her, waiting for her signal. He knew what that sound meant just as much as she did, but he wasn’t going to act on it if she wasn’t.
She was silent as she lifted her hand to get a look at the radar, and as she turned around to head toward the poolyard exit, shouldering her jacket on as she moved. Alpha followed, sticking to the shadows the best he could.
“What are we doing?” he asked once they’d crossed the street, though not out of confusion. It was a request for clarification - an inadvertent way of asking if Quinn actually knew what she was doing with this, if she was sure about it.
She bit her lip and plowed on ahead. “What we should have been doing all along.”
They followed the marker on her radar as they went. It seemed to be moving, but not quickly, and it was sticking to the same general block or two. They walked in silence, having nothing to say and not wanting to draw attention to themselves even with it being this late at night. Eventually, though, the radar became less useful in gauging its location than the sound of distant shouting and crashing, and the two of them steadily picked up the pace until they broke into a run.
They emerged onto a very chaotic street, with people running and screaming, cars thrown about the road, buildings crumbling into dust, and a tall beastly Digimon.
Its skin - where it was visible, as most of its body was covered in deep red fur, save for its forelimbs, chest, and face - was a sickly pale purple, only a few shades lighter than the deep violet of its wings. Where the fur ended at its knees and elbows were rings of teeth, and strange pixelated belts encircled its waist and upper arms. Wicked red claws grew from its feet, fingers, and wings, a sharp contrast to the two twisted white horns on its head. Its eyes were a deep russet orange, matching the star markings on its chest and left shoulder, and its mouth was pulled into a grin as it surveyed the destruction it had already caused.
Before it could even turn around to look at them, Quinn lifted her digivice toward it, activating the analyzer and praying that this was what she needed it to be.
“Daemon. Mega level Demon Lord Digimon. It has vowed to one day conquer the Digital World in revenge against the being of goodness that banished it to the Dark Area.”
So it was.
The voice of the digivice drew Daemon’s attention, and he finally turned to face her and Alpha, blinking a few times as his eyes focused. He frowned in confusion for a brief moment, his head tilting to the side, and then he spoke.
“This is interesting,” he said, tapping his claws together absentmindedly. “You’re not who I was expecting. Where’s Ryan? I still have a deal to make with him.”
Quinn, likewise, frowned, about to ask what the hell he meant, but then she realized it didn’t really matter. So did Daemon, apparently, because he shook his head and grinned.
“Oh well,” he said, stretching his arms out together to crack his knuckles. “That’s alright. I don’t really care either way. At least someone’s finally here.”
“
Quinn didn’t even realize Alpha had evolved before he sprang forward, fresh in his ultimate form, with claws cutting through the air to release energy beams aimed straight for Daemon. They crashed into his midriff, and he furrowed his brow, raising one hand to brush at the area as if it had been nothing more than a clod of dirt.
“That’s a bit rude,” he said, peering up at Alpha, and the cyborg dragon growled as white light overtook him and then Quinn’s vision.
“Final evolution engaged.”
When the light burst apart, Alpha stood tall in his mega form, brandishing his sword at Daemon, now towering over him. It didn’t do much to ease the fear that the few remaining onlookers were still filled with, which Quinn had kind of failed to notice up until now, and she hissed between her teeth as their shouts started up anew.
“Someone’s a bit eager,” Daemon commented, raising one eyebrow.
“
Alpha slashed out in front of him, once more sending a blade of energy at Daemon. This time, the demon had a harder time shaking it off - he stumbled backward half a step, gritting his teeth as he glared up at Alpha. He didn’t remark any further, though, instead simply curled one hand into a fist and slammed it into the pavement. “
From the point of impact, a rumbling began, and shot straight for Alpha in a neat line, cracking the asphalt as it traveled. Alpha only narrowly avoided it by leaping into the air, his cape fluttering with the force of his jump, and the earthquake came to a halt when it slammed into the building behind him, shattering windows and knocking bricks from their place in the walls.
“
“
Quinn darted away from the pillars of fire that erupted from the ground in front of Daemon and swirled around the area, on a crash course with both Alpha and anything in their way - or even anything that wasn’t. She grit her teeth as pain flared up across her body - clearly, Alpha hadn’t managed to dodge that attack. The rain didn’t do much to combat the fire, the flames flickering unhindered by the water pouring upon them. That probably wasn’t a good sign.
Around them, the onlookers’ fear had reached a peak, and their shouts and cries had turned to screams and shrieks. Quinn resisted the urge to yell back at them and tell them to get the hell out of the way unless they’d like to die, but she certainly thought it very fiercely as the sounds of their distress mingled with Alpha and Daemon’s own calls.
“
“
As Daemon sent another shockwave toward Alpha, he vanished from view, only to reappear a moment later directly behind Daemon. The Demon Lord didn’t have time to turn around and greet him before Alpha fired another beam directly into his back, and he cried out, tripping over his feet as he was shoved to the ground.
Alpha took a step forward, the air in front of him beginning to shine as he prepared to summon his blade, but Daemon leapt to his feet and swept his wings out. He whirled around, gaze alight in fury as he lifted his hands.
“
Alpha didn’t take the flames as well as he’d taken the previous attacks, and he recoiled, looking as if he was about to fall into a kneel, but he remained standing through sheer willpower. He glared up at Daemon, breathing heavily as he regained his composure.
Daemon smiled again, reaching a hand out to place on Alpha’s chest. The knight frowned, clenching his fists and preparing to step away, but Daemon tightened his claws and stilled him in his tracks.
When he spoke, it was not to Alpha, but rather Quinn, perched just on the sidewalk a couple dozen yards away. “You know,” he said, not taking his eyes off of Alpha, “he’s been wondering why you got other humans caught up in your mess.”
Quinn’s eyes narrowed. She knew what Daemon meant. It was what Plutomon had asked her, the first time she’d seen him again after she’d gone to the Digital World this last time - why she’d been so cowardly as to call more humans for backup. She hadn’t understood what he was getting at, but he’d been insistent on it, and over time she’d intuited what he meant: there were other humans in the Digital World. Time and again, she’d told him that she had no say in those humans being there, but he’d never believed her.
And now Daemon was asking the same thing.
“I’ve told him before,” she said, despite knowing it didn’t make a difference whether she replied or not. “I didn’t. I didn’t choose them and I didn’t call them to the Digital World. Whatever it was, it wasn’t me.”
“It must have been someone,” Daemon hissed, one eye twitching even as he kept his gaze fixed on Alpha. “They didn’t choose themselves. They didn’t take themselves to the Digital World. Someone had to bring them there, and it must have been you. You’re the only one it could be.”
“We didn’t even know there were more humans until Plutomon told us,” Alpha grit out. Daemon’s brow furrowed, but he didn’t get to respond.
“I don’t want them involved in this any more than he does,” Quinn said, ignoring the pain that gripped her heart. “You have to believe us. I never wanted anyone else to get involved. It was just supposed to be the two of us.”
For a moment, Daemon was silent, his eyes finally flicking toward Quinn. She clenched her jaw, prepared to run if he decided to attack, but he didn’t. He just looked at her. He… almost seemed to be considering something.
And then he said, “That’s not possible.”
“
Alpha threw Daemon off and struck out at him with his sword, leaving glowing streaks in the night. Daemon roared and flared his wings out, taking to the skies, and Alpha was quick to zip up and follow him. The two began to exchange blows, Daemon summoning flames to contend with Alpha’s blade of light.
At least they weren’t damaging the street any further…?
But Daemon was attacking with a ferocity that he hadn’t exhibited up until now, as if he’d been holding back beforehand, and Quinn wasn’t sure what to make of the implications of that. When he managed to knock Alpha back down to the road, the impact cracking the asphalt and sending tremors throughout the area, he turned his eyes upon Quinn, the fire in his palms lighting them up.
“I’m not stupid,” he said, and Quinn squared her shoulders. “Neither is he. You should have realized how futile it would be to attempt to drag others into the mess you made. How spineless of you to have them do everything while you sit back and let them suffer!”
“We’re right here!” Alpha shouted, rushing back into the fray and drawing his sword. “This is our duty as much as it is theirs!
“It’s no duty of either of yours,” Daemon spat as he dodged Alpha’s slash and swept his arms out to summon more flames. “It never has been.
Alpha blinked out of the way of the pillars of fire, reappearing behind Daemon and striking out with his sword once more. “
Daemon was sent spiraling to the ground, and the flames dissipated as he crashed onto the road. Alpha landed next to him, holding his sword out, but Daemon knocked it aside with an arm and bared his teeth at Alpha. “You must be truly naive to think you stand any chance against him. Especially if it’s just the two of you.”
“It won’t be,” Quinn said, even though the mere thought of having to face Plutomon again alongside the others sent fear coursing through her veins. “We’ve been doing a pretty good job at taking down the rest of you. The others can evolve to mega now. He won’t be much more of an issue.”
She was exaggerating, trying to fool Daemon into thinking she was more confident than she really was, and any amount of confidence at all would be a significant amount more than she actually had. She knew how powerful Plutomon was. How he’d nearly wiped the others out when they’d fought him last. He would only be stronger when they faced him again. But she had to say something.
Or… maybe she didn’t.
At Quinn’s words, Daemon’s face contorted in rage, his pupils pinprick-thin in their copper irises. He threw his arms out, shoving Alpha aside and knocking his sword from his hands. “Is that really what you think,” he growled, the anger evident in his tone. “What a fool you are to believe we were meant to be anything more than hindrances.”
…Hindrances?
“What?” Quinn asked, genuinely bewildered. “What are you talking about?”
Daemon rolled his eyes. “You still haven’t figured it out. I never should have expected more from you. I suppose it’s my own fault.”
“Quit talking,” Alpha muttered, “and fight me properly.
“
It was stronger than last time, much more potent; Quinn supposed that was due to it not dissipating instantly upon hitting a proper target, but the how and why of the matter wasn’t important. What was important was that the asphalt and concrete and brick that the flames washed over were nearly immediately incinerated, reduced to nothing but a reddish-black ash. Quinn stumbled backward, putting as much distance as possible between herself and the raging inferno, and she heard Daemon cackle from somewhere beyond her.
Alpha darted down closer to street level, sweeping out with his blade as he flew through the fire. When the light of his sword touched the flames, they died down, shrinking until they were a more manageable size and then puttering out completely.
When that was dealt with, he whirled around and lunged for Daemon, not even bothering with calling a proper attack as he grabbed the demon by the neck and slammed him into a nearby building. He held his sword at his throat, and Daemon laughed again, even more fiercely when Alpha pushed it deeper into his fur to the point it would have drawn blood if he’d had any.
“How funny,” he hissed, bringing his own claws up to grasp the sides of Alpha’s head, “that you care so much for a world that is not your own.”
Alpha didn’t reply, but Daemon wasn’t really looking for one. He bashed both of his hands against where they held Alpha’s head, and while he was disoriented, Daemon slipped out from under his grasp, coming to hover just a few feet away from where Quinn stood in the center of the road.
“
“
Alpha narrowed his eyes, but held his position, and Quinn - still recovering from her mad dash to escape Daemon’s attack - cautiously crept forward.
Daemon reached one hand out in front of him, palm-up, and in the air above it glowed a small orange orb.
Quinn knew what that was.
“The Code Key,” she said, and Daemon tipped his head toward her. The Code Key of Wrath, if she had to guess, judging by the ones they’d already come across. The final one.
“Congratulations,” Daemon drawled, voice dripping with sarcasm. “What an astute observation. But that’s not the entirety of it.”
He closed his hand into a fist and the Code Key vanished, nothing left behind to indicate it had ever been there at all. He didn’t elaborate on what he meant, and though Quinn was desperate to know, needed to know, she knew she wouldn’t get an answer even if she asked. Instead, he turned to Alpha, lifting his chin slightly.
“I wonder if you’re going to keep falling for the same old tricks.”
“
Alpha vanished and reappeared in front of Daemon before he could attack, lifting his own hand and aiming the beam of light directly at his face. Daemon cried out and scrabbled at his eyes, his claws digging deep into his flesh, and without even looking up he raised one arm.
“
The pillars of fire circled Alpha for a few brief moments, and he tensed, ready to attack once more - but then they spun away from him, heading further down the street, aiming right for -
Right for Quinn.
Alpha warped to Quinn’s side as soon as he noticed the change in direction, scooping her into his arms and darting down the street. Daemon’s laugh echoed after them, but they ignored him, only giving him their attention once they were a safe distance away and Alpha had set Quinn back down. He looked down at her, a silent question of “are you okay?” evident in his eyes, and she nodded in response. He returned the gesture, then glowered up at Daemon as the fire towers died out.
“I suppose you are,” the Demon Lord called out to them, opening his mouth as if to continue, but Alpha cut to the chase by teleporting toward him and slashing out.
“
Just as before, when he struck Daemon, he continued his assault, only letting up with the attack when Daemon shoved him backward, forcefully severing the connection of blade and demon. As Alpha recovered and his sword faded away, Daemon took a step back.
“You never learn, do you?” He grinned and flicked his wings. “Well, I suppose that works out for everyone here. If this is how you want to play, I’ll abide by your rules.
The two rushed back into battle, light clashing with fire in the most destructive way possible. They’d been doing a decent job of minimizing property damage up until now (not counting Daemon’s previous Algol’s Flame attack and what that had done), but Daemon was finally unleashing everything he had, and that included wreaking havoc on the area around them as they fought. The only blessing they had was that most of the bystanders had left by this point, though that couldn’t be too much of a good thing when Quinn knew it meant the police were surely on their way. Whenever Alpha tried to (quite literally) draw Daemon’s fire away from the surrounding buildings, Daemon would humor him for maybe five seconds, then go right back to summoning more fire or cracking the pavement with another Hammer Knuckle.
And that was only when his active target wasn’t Quinn.
He aimed attack after attack at her, trying to trap her and trip her up whenever he could. She darted back and forth across the area, avoiding the attacks to the best of her ability, but more often than not Alpha had to swoop in and take the hit for her, before rounding on Daemon and attacking twice as hard as usual. With each instance, though, Daemon seemed to grow more and more frustrated, which in turn led to him fighting more fiercely as well. Things were spiraling out of control - if they didn’t get a handle on the situation soon, before the cops arrived, this was going to go from bad to worse.
…Quinn noticed something, after a while of watching Alpha and Daemon’s song and dance. Daemon seemed to purposely be taunting Alpha by targeting Quinn and putting her in direct danger. In return, Alpha struck back with even more force, not because he’d been holding back beforehand but because the fear and adrenaline from the thought of his partner being hurt was spurring him on.
But… why?
Wasn’t Daemon here for a reason? The same reason every other Demon Lord had come through to this world? To kill the chosen and prevent them from defeating Plutomon. Why would Daemon only be pretending to want to kill Quinn? That was just going to make Alpha angrier and want to kill him. The other Demon Lords hadn’t done this.
…Had they?
Lilithmon and Barbamon, Quinn had been there for. Lilithmon had said something about not actually intending to hurt Kiki or Alex. She’d openly admitted that it had been a feint, just to draw Castor’s attention, and it had, and he’d killed her.
Barbamon hadn’t been much different, now that she thought about it. She hadn’t witnessed their defeat, no, but Azure had told her they’d faked a surrender, and when Ko had landed the finishing blow, they’d chided him for falling for the “same old tricks”.
Hadn’t Daemon just said something like that, too?
And the other Demon Lords… Beelzemon had faked his surrender just as Barbamon had, trying to taunt Ren, and she too had killed him. Leviamon had the chance to escape before Flip finished it off, but it hadn’t really tried, it seemed. Belphemon had said his death wouldn’t be a setback, and that he’d already served his purpose. Even Lucemon had said it didn’t matter if it was defeated.
Because now, they didn’t stand a chance against him.
It hit Quinn like lightning.
The Code Keys were what let the Demon Lords control other Digimon by turning them manic - and it seemed Plutomon could utilize them, too. But the Demon Lords needed the Code Keys to be Demon Lords, right? Meaning Plutomon couldn’t have them.
Each time they’d defeated a Demon Lord, their Code Key had disappeared along with them, but not in the way their own bodies had. It had simply flickered out of view. Quinn had assumed it had just disintegrated much like their data had, but… she had a feeling it wasn’t that simple. If it was, then when the Demon Lords in the past had been defeated, their Code Keys would have ceased to exist, too - but the Code Keys were here. So if the Code Keys didn’t disappear when their holder was defeated, then where did they go?
Quinn had a sinking suspicion that she already knew.
Plutomon would be able to control Digimon again if he regained the Code Keys. That was what he’d always done in the past: sent manic Digimon out to do his bidding rather than waste his energy or put himself at risk by doing it himself. It made sense that he’d want them back - but then why had he given them to the Demon Lords in the first place if he didn’t want them to be their true holders? It was like he’d planned for them to die from the start.
…Planned for them to die…
Was it possible that the data of defeated manic Digimon - Digimon under the influence of the Code Keys, thus including the Demon Lords - went directly to Plutomon himself…? He’d said that Digimon “giving their lives to him” strengthened him. Quinn had assumed he’d meant it in a metaphorical sense, about the manic Digimon following him blindly and thus giving up their lives, but… what if he’d meant it literally?
What if he’d meant that, when they died, their data went to him and strengthened him, giving him more energy and power?
Just as the digivices were able to do for their partners.
(…Just as… the digivices helped the partners evolve to their higher forms more quickly…)
Oh, this was bad.
“ALPHA!”
Both Digimon turned toward her when the scream ripped out of her throat, her feet hitting the pavement so hard as she ran that she could barely feel them. She had to get to Alpha, had to tell him what was going on, what Daemon meant by his riddles. They had to get out of here, had to tell the others, had to warn them of what was -
Daemon saw the look on her face, and his own split into a grin.
“
He threw the flames directly in her path, and she skidded to a stop so quickly she fell on her ass. The inferno flared to life in front of her and she scrambled to her feet, her head whipping around to try to find a way around it so she could get to Alpha. She had to get to him. They had to leave. If they didn’t - if Daemon died - if Plutomon got the last Code Key back -
“
“NO!”
Alpha’s sword cut through the fire, and it vanished instantly, but he continued his attack, grabbing Daemon and tossing him further down the street. He crashed into a building and sank to the ground; Alpha was quick to follow up, blinking to Daemon’s side so quickly that he couldn’t react before Alpha grabbed him and slammed him into the wall.
Quinn was still running - when had she started? - aiming for Alpha. Her throat was raw from the yelling, trying to get Alpha’s attention, to tell him to stop. To tell him to stop. To stop. “STOP!” She was too far away, she was never going to make it in time -
Alpha froze for a moment, his attention flicking toward her briefly. Something like confusion crossed his face, and then it vanished, replaced by nothing but a resolute fury as he looked back down at Daemon.
It was almost like wrath burning within his eyes. If she’d had the capacity for it, Quinn would find it ironic.
Instead, all she could do was cry out in fear and dread and panic and fear and fear and fear
“
and fear
as Alpha lifted a hand and fired at point-blank range into Daemon’s chest.
She collapsed to the ground.
She wasn’t sure how long she laid there, fingers grasping at the pavement like claws and chest heaving and heart pounding so fiercely she was sure it would burst out of her ribcage. When she finally mustered the energy to push herself up, still on her knees, the cracks in the asphalt digging into her palms, she looked up at her partner and saw Daemon already fading into pixels.
The fear the fear the fear the fear—
Daemon was smiling at her again. Even as he was dying, he was smiling, staring right at Quinn, like he knew exactly what was going on in her head. Like he knew that she’d figured it out.
“Thank you,” he said, speaking to both Quinn and Alpha at once. “You’ve done so well. But this is it. The beginning of the end.”
With another wave of glitchiness coursing across his body, Daemon disappeared, the last remaining pixels drifting away into the night like stars.
The orange Code Key floated in the air above where he’d lay for a few seconds. It seemed to remain for longer than usual, or maybe that was just the warped sense of reality that Quinn was left with when it, too, faded out of existence, leaving no trace of the demon behind.
In a flash of light, Alpha devolved, and the surge of energy Quinn was granted in exchange was enough to startle her out of her delirium. She shoved herself to her feet so ungracefully that under normal circumstances she would’ve fallen right back over, but the adrenaline and fear and fear and the fear overtaking her entire body and sending her spiraling through darkness gave her the strength she needed to get to Alpha’s side.
She still couldn’t take her eyes off of where Daemon had just been.
“We need to go,” she said, her entire mouth and head and body feeling numb, like she’d been injected with anaesthesia when she hadn’t been looking. “Now. We need to go now. We need to GO!”
She hadn’t meant to shout. Really, she hadn’t. Had she even shouted? She couldn’t really hear herself over everything spinning through her head and the fear that was piloting her.
She didn’t even wait for Alpha’s response before she turned and ran, back the way they’d come, not even twenty minutes ago, before any of this had happened and before things had gotten even worse and before -
“Why did you tell me to stop?”
Alpha was still next to her. His voice came as a start, enough that she actually stumbled and fell to the ground again, but - but he’d pulled her out of whatever she’d been trapped in, and when she looked up at him, coming to her side with so much concern and worry and fear of his own in his eyes, she couldn’t do anything but throw her arms around him.
“The - the Demon Lords, and the manic Digimon,” she stammered, trying as hard as she could to speak when her heart was racing four times its usual pace and her face was pressed into Alpha’s fur. “When they die, their data - it goes to Plutomon, and it makes him stronger - I figured it out when Daemon, when he - he said he was tricking you and - we’ve just been helping him the whole time. That’s all we’ve been doing. I thought we were doing something good but all we’ve been doing is making him stronger.”
“No we haven’t,” Alpha said gently, pulling back from Quinn so he could place his paws on her arms and stare at her. The fear was gone from his face. How? “Even if that’s true - even if us defeating the Demon Lords strengthened Plutomon - we were doing something good. How many people would have been hurt if we hadn’t done anything? If we’d simply given up and let them defeat us?” He sighed, closing his eyes for a brief moment. “I know you’re scared. I know Plutomon is strong. But this wasn’t our fault. We had no way of knowing. And if we hadn’t done anything… I don’t want to imagine what would happen if we’d let the Demon Lords run free.”
“I know,” Quinn said, her voice cracking, and she lifted a hand to wipe at her eyes. They were dry, somehow. “I’m just… I should have realized it sooner. I should have known he’d do something like this. What happens when he shows up again? If we couldn’t defeat him before…”
Alpha dipped his head, staring at the ground for a couple seconds. When he looked back up, his gaze was… not reassuring, because nothing could reassure Quinn right now, but it was comforting. “We’ll have to deal with that when it happens,” he said. “For now, we’re back to waiting.”
He looked out into the sky, where the stars and moon hung, just as they always did, and Quinn followed his gaze. Somehow, some way, just the sight of the night sky was enough to soothe her a little bit. It had always been there. It always would be.
They’d just have to take things as they came.
The trudge back to the motel was a slow and silent one. Neither of them said a word; they didn’t have it in them to speak, whether it be about the fight, what Daemon had said, Quinn’s realization, or anything else in the world.
It didn’t mean Quinn wasn’t thinking.
Now that she had calmed down, she couldn’t help but turn Daemon’s words over and over in her mind. This is it. The beginning of the end.
The others had said there was another Digimon who’d said something like that to them - the last Digimon they’d fought before encountering Plutomon. The thought of that sickened Quinn a little bit. Did it mean that Plutomon would show up soon? She wasn’t sure how to feel about that, now that she’d learned what she had.
Funny how, just earlier that day, she’d been wishing that he would just show his face already.
After the fight, it was very clear that the sight of any monster, no matter the size or appearance, would invite a lot of suspicion. They stuck to empty streets and back alleys, and Alpha hid in the shadows when he could, doing his best not to stay out in the open for too long. There was a close call at one point - someone dragging their garbage cans in at the very last minute after pickup day - but he was quick to duck behind a mailbox.
The sound of sirens in the distance filled the space and silence between them. The rain had stopped almost as soon as Daemon had disintegrated, and now there was no ambient noise to block out those blaring alarms. There was no way that nobody had been injured in the incident, whether it be before Quinn and Alpha had shown up or after, not with how careless Daemon (and, to an extent, Alpha) had eventually gotten during the fight. She tried not to think about it too much, but the shrill wailing of the ambulances drilled into her head regardless, and it was easier to just let the thoughts come and pass than try to block them out entirely.
If only she could let the same happen to every other thing she was worrying about.
As they approached the motel, she wasn’t surprised to see a couple houses across the street lit up. The fight hadn’t been that far away, after all; any light sleeper would have been awoken by the booming and crashing of the Digimon’s attacks, or the sirens that still rang out in the air. Fortunately, when they entered the poolyard through the back gate, it seemed as if the motel itself was dark and silent - that was good.
The door to her room slid open and Quinn stepped inside, closing it behind Alpha as quietly as she could. The TV was on, the volume low but still audible, but she couldn’t see what was playing from the angle she was at. She set her digivice and keys down on the desk, letting her jacket slide off her arms onto the chair.
When she turned around, she saw Anna sitting upright on the edge of the nearest bed, her legs pulled up against her chest. Bunny was laying next to her, her chest rising and falling rhythmically - she was either asleep or really good at pretending to be.
Anna blinked over at Quinn, expression unreadable as always. Hesitantly, Quinn raised her hand in a two-fingered salute before stepping over to sit next to her. Alpha followed her, jumping up and curling into a tight ball next to Quinn.
“Was that you?” Anna said in a hushed voice, grasping her legs tighter. “On the news?”
Quinn clenched her jaw, averting her gaze from Anna and letting it fall on the TV - which she could see now was playing a breaking news segment. About the fight with Daemon. Shaky phone videos of Alpha firing an attack at a building, of Daemon crashing into another one, of a blurry zoomed-in shot of Quinn herself all played, before it cut back to the reporter, looking exhausted and entirely displeased to be giving a report this late at night.
Quinn sighed, rubbing the bridge of her nose.
Anna seemed to take her silence as a yes, which it had been. There wasn’t any way around it.
“You didn’t have to go out alone,” she said, and Quinn felt a pang in her chest. “We could’ve come helped you. Even if we don’t fully know how to get to our mega stages yet. You didn’t have to do it alone.”
“It was late when I got the reading on my digivice,” Quinn said, already trying to defend herself - to explain and excuse her bad decisions. “You were all sleeping. I didn’t want to wake you.”
Anna shook her head, letting her legs go and instead turning to picking at the hem of her shorts. “I’ve woken up in the middle of the night almost every day this past week. Tonight wouldn’t have been any different.”
Quinn stayed silent for a moment, trying to conjure up the right words, but her mind was coming up blank. Next to her, Alpha shifted slightly, and she reached over to pat his side.
“You’ve already done so much,” she said, her fingers digging into the duvet. Maybe it was Daemon’s words worming into her brain, telling her what a coward she was for letting everyone else take the fall for her, or maybe it was something else. Who could tell? “All while I sat back and let you put yourself in harm’s way. Tonight had to be us. I had to - I had to do something. If nothing else, then to prove to all of you that I’m not going to sit by and let you do all the hard work.”
“You already have,” Anna mumbled. “It’s just…” She sighed, breaking off for a minute while she stared at the TV. Quinn turned to follow her gaze, watching as more footage of the fight and the aftermath scrolled by.
…Maybe things would have gone better if she’d taken even just one more person with her.
It was too late now, though.
Anna shrugged, placing her hands in front of her. “You don’t… you can’t keep doing things all on your own. I know why you do. You don’t want us to get hurt. But… you’ve already proven yourself to us. We can help you. We’re all in this together, right?” She sighed, reaching a hand up to wipe at her nose. “I sure hope at the very least that when we find Plutomon, you’re not going to try to take him on alone.”
“I won’t,” Quinn said, but she knew it sounded weak.
The fact that it was Anna saying this to her - Anna, who had secretly confessed to Bunny, not even an hour after meeting the two of them, that she had no faith in them - made her feel something she wasn’t able to discern. She’d proven herself to them, apparently. She’d already done enough.
…No she hadn’t.
She opened her mouth to say something, maybe to reassure Anna further, or lie and thank her for her faith, but she couldn’t get the words out - and not because she couldn’t find any.
Slowly, carefully, sounding like it was both too far away and too close, a roaring noise filled the room, and then it began to tremble.
The distortion in the air that seized their lungs came quicker than usual, more violent and choking than typical. Quinn braced herself with a hand on the bed, clutching at her chest as if it would help. When it finally faded after far too long, the rumbling noise persisted, and the room shook more fiercely.
In lieu of the constriction, dread built in Quinn’s chest, solidified only when the roaring grew louder - and then it stopped completely.
From outside, something like a massive cracking sound rang out.
Quinn didn’t even look back at Anna or Alpha as she grabbed her digivice and jacket from the table and ran outside. She didn’t bother trying to be quiet or stealthy - everyone was going to be woken up anyways. Anna and Alpha followed her out, the former clutching her now-alert partner to her chest and the latter sticking close to her heels.
They followed her gaze up and outwards, at the sky that was no longer the sky, and the rift that had opened up within it, looking much like the one that had been in File City but so, so much bigger.
And the first thing she saw was stars.
Hundreds, thousands, millions of them, speckles across the rip in the sky like paint droplets on a canvas. Twinkling, shimmering, shining, winking in and out and glowing every color of the rainbow.
And then, one by one, they disappeared. The tear was left empty, black and dismal and lifeless for a split second, completely still - and from the bottom upwards spread a rich shade of deep cobalt, expanding until it covered the entirety of the once-darkness.
From the corners of the rift came fluffy white clouds, drifting into the expanse and hanging there for a moment, before a dazzling blinding light filtered through them, rendering them unseen before it settled and left the sky pale blue once more.
Then it was green, lush swathes of grass flowing in an apparent breeze, with nothing to break them up save for rolling hills and gentle valleys. A forest sprung up from the edges of the vale, leaves swaying in time with unheard music, underbrush clinging to the few rays of light that peeked down from between the branches.
oWaves crashed onto a shore, pristine cream sand bordering the sealine. The water retreated, then lunged forward, soaking the beach and leaving its mark only temporarily before it sank back once more. When the waves shot towards the sand again, they did not recede; instead, the view turned to that of the ocean, a deep blue almost richer than the sky it reflected.
The waves disappeared in a slow fade, becoming the sky once more - darker, harsher, filled with storm clouds that crackled with lightning. Thunder rumbled, shaking the ground beneath their feet even from its distance, and after lightning flashed once more to fill the sky with a pure blinding white, it was left an empty black, nothing to illuminate the sky save for the white cracks emanating from the edge of the rift.
It seemed much less like a portal and more like someone had reached their hand through the fabric of reality and torn open a hole between the worlds.
Presumably, that was exactly what had happened.
Quinn stared at it for a moment longer, paralyzed, as, slowly, the others followed her outside. They all knew what it was. Quinn knew what it was. She wished she didn’t. She didn’t want to believe it.
And then, as she watched, as the fear took over her body once more, something appeared from within - a figure, nearly as large as the rift itself. It descended into the sky, and as it did, two wings, each pitch-dark and over ten times its size, followed it, blocking out the tear entirely.
When it stopped its descent and flared its wings out, the portal behind it sealed back up, and half the stars in the sky disappeared as the figure - the Digimon - Plutomon, but not - obscured them.
The night sky was gone.
Without another word, Quinn gripped her digivice tighter and began to head towards him, knowing they stood no chance but not even caring.