EPISODE 48 - DOWN FOR THE COUNT
Storm clouds blanketed the sky above, blocking out any sunlight that might have made its way through them. They cast the world in a dull gray color, befitting of the general mood, but they let out no rain, remaining instead as an ominous signal of what might come in the future.
In that sense, they were much like the dark-winged angel just a mile or two away, drawing ever closer.
Miguel and Flip had been at the beach for what felt like ages by this point. They’d done nothing but stand there, and sit down, and stand up again, and pace around a bit, and wade into the freezing water to keep themselves awake, and sit down again. There wasn’t much else they could do; they had to stay here and be ready for when the rest of the team was finally able to get Ordinemon closer.
It was, quite possibly, the most critical part of the entire plan.
And that sort of terrified Miguel.
He’d done pretty well recently in regards to his anxiety and general fear of the situation they were in. When Flip had evolved to mega for the first time, not even a week ago, Miguel hadn’t really been scared once he’d realized they could defeat Leviamon. When it had first appeared, far out in the ocean, a looming threat on the horizon, it had been scary, yes. But then he and Maya had helped everyone on the beach evacuate, and then Flip had held his own against the Demon Lord even in just his ultimate form, and then Miguel had realized he wasn’t scared.
Maybe it was because of Maya. Maybe it was because of Flip. Maybe it was something else. The point was, he hadn’t been scared after that moment.
Right now, though? He absolutely was.
It sort of made sense. Ordinemon was… exponentially more horrifying than Leviamon was. He was ten times as large and a hundred times as powerful, and he was a massive grotesque angel with no eyes or hands or feet or feelings for the world around him. And, somehow, they were supposed to be able to defeat him.
Not to mention Miguel was, like, the single most important person in this entire operation, and he’d never really had that sort of responsibility placed on his shoulders, and the fact it was for this made it a lot worse.
The last they’d heard from any of the rest of the group, Quinn had told them Ordinemon had attacked an ongoing evacuation. The backup team had been sent to help while everyone else worked on getting Ordinemon back on track and away from any more evacuations. That was the most recent call they’d gotten; Quinn had not contacted them since. Over the buildings in the distance, Miguel could see Ordinemon and some of the other partner Digimon fighting, but there was no way to know what was happening down on the ground.
I hope everyone’s okay.
They have to be, right? I’m sure Quinn or someone would’ve called if something happened. They’re probably just focusing on fighting Ordinemon. Doing their jobs.
Just like I have to.
Miguel sighed and leaned back on his hands, digging them deeper into the sand below. Flip was only a few feet away, curled up with his nose touching his tail. He was awake - he couldn’t afford to fall asleep, not when Ordinemon was so close to being here - he was just sitting in as comfortable a position as he could get in. If only they had some lawn chairs to set up out here, but who knew where they would even find those? It had been hard enough to scavenge for food and medical supplies over the past twenty-four hours; proper seating arrangements were a luxury they couldn’t afford.
Flip must have caught him looking, because he blinked and then stretched his neck out, ruffling his mane around a bit. “You good?” he asked, tilting his head, and it took Miguel a few seconds to register the question.
He responded by sighing again and placing his cheek in one hand, propping the elbow up on his knee. “I don’t know,” he mumbled, for once actually being honest and not dodging the question. “I think so. It’s just…” He trailed off, unsure of how to finish his thought, but Flip picked it up easily enough.
“A lot,” he suggested, and Miguel nodded. Flip smiled wryly and tapped his tail against the sand, sending a couple grains in all directions. “Yeah. I get you.” He lifted his head to sniff at the air, ears pinned back as a cold breeze washed over them. “I think I feel the same, too.”
“Yeah?” Miguel prompted, one brow raised. He knew how much Flip loved to talk, and if it would give him some insight into how his partner was feeling, as well as take his mind off of his own thoughts…
“I’m just really impatient, I think,” Flip said, chomping up the bait like a none-the-wiser fish in the sea. “Like, I’m doing alright. But I think I’d be doing better if we could just cut to the chase, you know? If Ordinemon was just here already and I could evolve and fight and not have to think about things.” He paused, his nose wrinkling. “Maybe that’s not the best mindset to have right now. But whatever.”
Miguel blew a raspberry, his face sinking deeper into his palm. “I think it’d be best for both of us if we didn’t have to think about things right now.”
Flip snickered and scuffed the sand in front of him. “Probably. But Ordinemon will be here before we know it.” He nodded out at where the angel was, slowly but surely, coming clearer into view from the distance, and Miguel’s stomach did a full somersault. “So I’m gonna take this break while I can. If only it actually felt like a beach trip. These clouds are killing the vibe.”
Indeed they were. Miguel had never been the superstitious type, but the fact that every time Plutomon/Ordinemon had appeared and, for lack of a more dignified descriptor, wrecked their shit, had been preceded by dark, heavy storm clouds, and a general feeling of unease in the air… Yeah. It wasn’t exactly lending credence to the idea that fighting him at the ocean would be easier than fighting him anywhere else ever had been in the past.
“I just… hope nothing goes wrong..”
It was Flip’s turn to sigh as he regarded his partner with lidded eyes. “Jeez, is the storm getting to you, too? We’ll be fine. Trust me.”
“I think you’re being too -” Miguel started, but Flip cut him off immediately.
“I’m trying to be reassuring. Not truthful or realistic or anything. Because if I was, then I’d be making everything worse for you. And that’s the last thing I want to do right now. Or ever, really, but especially right now.”
Miguel bit back the words rising in his throat and closed his eyes, taking a couple deep breaths.
It was good he did, too, because Flip wasn’t done talking. He shook his head out and looked over his shoulder, at the ocean behind them, as he spoke again. “I’m just as worried as you are. Maybe even more than you. But if I focus all my energy on that, I won’t be able to perform as well when the time comes. I gotta focus on the positives. Like the fact that I’m finally gonna get to kick Ordinemon’s ass.” He grinned, looking back at Miguel. “I mean, if the others evolved to mega, then surely I’m up next, yeah? It’s been a while. I think I can do it again. I’m ready for it. And even if not…” He shrugged. “I’m still gonna do what I can. That’s what matters, right?”
Even if we can’t win… we’re going to do our best! And that’s all that really matters!
“…Yeah,” Miguel said, because it was all he could think of.
He couldn’t help but be reminded of Maya, and the unwavering confidence she had in him and Flip and the rest of the team and their ability to save the world. It had been a week since meeting her at this point, and she had been on his mind every day since then. He hadn’t any idea about Ordinemon back then; his biggest concern had been the Demon Lords.
It felt strange, to be talking about the prior week as if it was half a lifetime ago, but it really seemed like it was. And not just because of Ordinemon’s appearance.
He felt as if he’d known Maya all his life.
What a strange person she was.
But she’d believed in them, and Miguel hoped she still did, even now, when the sky was painted black by an otherworldly angel that had already destroyed half the city, and they hadn’t been able to do anything to stop it. He hoped she still had faith in them.
He hoped she was okay, wherever she was.
In his pocket, his digivice beeped, ringing with an incoming call, and he nearly jumped out of his skin. He pulled it out and fumbled with it in his hands for a few seconds before successfully accepting the call, barely aware of Flip inching closer, what with how hard his heart was beating in his chest all of a sudden.
“Evacuation’s been dealt with,” Quinn said, over the sounds of… something in the background. Presumably Alpha and Ordinemon and the other Digimon calling out attacks, but it was too muffled to know for certain. “Everything’s safe now. We’ve gotten Ordinemon back on track, finally. Heading your way now.”
“Uh,” Miguel said, rather inelegantly, more an expression of surprise than anything else. “Okay. Um.”
“Ready yourselves,” Quinn continued, blissfully unaware of Miguel’s stutter and skyrocketing anxiety. “Be prepared to finish off the plan. Ordinemon’s getting closer. Your time’s almost here.”
“We’ll be ready when he shows up,” Flip said, with so much more confidence in his voice than Miguel could feel in his body. “Just watch. He won’t know what hit him! It’ll be a hammer, if you’re curious, but he won’t know that.”
“Good luck,” Quinn said. “Remember, we’ll all be supporting you, but it’s on you to get him out over the water. You’ve got this.”
Miguel nodded, then belatedly realized Quinn couldn’t see it, and scrambled to give an audible response. “Okay. We’ll do. Will. We. Yeah. Got it.”
Great job.
Flip quirked an eyebrow up at him, a strained smile on his face, and Miguel held his unoccupied hand out in defeat, trying to communicate “what do you expect me to do I am literally on the verge of an anxiety attack and can feel my heart inside of my stomach please give me a break”.
If Miguel knew Quinn any less, he’d think that she really didn’t have any idea how nervous he was - but he knew she was perceptive, and so he knew that she must at least have an inkling of a suspicion about his current mindset. So it made sense that, after a few seconds of a break from Miguel’s flubbering, she followed up with one last well-wish sent their way.
“We chose you for this for a reason. Because you’re the best suited for it. And you’re going to do well. I know you will.”
And with that, she hung up the call, leaving Miguel and Flip at the beach surrounded by silence on all sides except for the ocean waves at their back.
Miguel breathed out, slowly, shakily, and knelt down, digging into the sand as much as he could.
The panic had fully set in at this point. It didn’t wash over him gently; it didn’t consume him softly. It overtook him from every inch of his skin and sank into his flesh, burrowing into him as deeply as possible until it filled him from the inside out, until he felt as if he was nothing else but panic masquerading as a human. That was all he’d ever been, wasn’t it? Just the personification of fear and nothing more.
And yet Flip was at his side, just as he had been throughout the entire time they’d known each other, since the day they’d first met, all those months ago, in a world offset from this one by a time factor of more than a hundred. It hadn’t really been months that they’d been together. It had been two weeks, at most.
But it had also been months. And maybe it had also been years. Maybe Miguel had always known Flip, even if he hadn’t met him until recently, even if he hadn’t known he’d existed until that fateful encounter in Circuit County. Because wasn’t Flip an extension of Miguel, and he an extension of Flip? Wasn’t that what partnership was?
And if Flip was just Miguel, then he must also be piloted by fear and fear alone. Maybe that was why it had always taken him so long and so much to evolve. Maybe that was why Miguel was worried they couldn’t do this. Because if Miguel was scared, then Flip was scared, and if they were scared then they stood no chance against Ordinemon.
But if Miguel was just Flip, then he must be led by unending, undying courage, and confidence, and bravery. And the resolve to do his best, no matter what stood in his way, no matter what odds were stacked against him. Maybe that was why Flip had always come out the other side the victor.
Maybe that was where Miguel’s true bravery really came from - his partner.
“We’ve got this,” Flip said, still standing next to Miguel, and Miguel nodded and gathered himself and stood up, and Flip began to glow green, then white, and emerged from the light as Zudomon.
The two of them turned to face the city, and the storm clouds in the sky, and the Digimon in the near distance, drawing ever closer, and they waited, facing Ordinemon as he slowly approached.
The angel was not who reached the beach first. The other Digimon were not who reached the beach first.
Who reached the beach first were four humans, emerging from between the buildings down on the ground, just a few minutes later.
It was hard to tell at first who they were, from the distance and darkness and the slow pace at which they moved. They weren’t walking leisurely, just carefully, presumably trying to avoid detection by Ordinemon from above. If they weren’t with their partners, they would be an easy target, and Ordinemon had already proven - all too recently - that he was more than willing to attack defenseless humans on the ground if he saw fit. But as they drew closer, and as Miguel waved them down, they grew easier to recognize.
There was Harmony, in the front, breaking into a run as soon as she caught sight of Miguel and Flip. He assumed, then, that it was Damien and Anna behind her; the Damien-shaped silhouette lifted one arm to signal to Miguel, though neither of them picked up their pace like Harmony did.
She practically crashed into him, flinging her arms around his shoulders and giving him a tight squeeze of a hug. Miguel patted her back gingerly in return, and that was enough for her to pull back, though she kept her hands on his arms.
“I’m glad you’re okay,” she said, grinning, and Miguel smiled back, sort of confused as to why she would have thought he wouldn’t be okay, since he’d just been standing out here at the beach for the past two hours, but he appreciated the concern nonetheless.
“Same here,” he said, then looked out at the other humans, and indeed, two of them were Damien and Anna. The former had his sunglasses pulled down onto his face, even though it was plenty dark out, and one of the ears on Anna’s bunny headband was crooked, but they both seemed to be doing well. No major injuries, at the very least.
But the fourth human with them was not someone from their group, nor was it anyone else Miguel recognized. It was a man that he had never seen before, holding one hand close to his chest, the other resting awkwardly at his side, though it seemed more out of nervousness than pain. He stood just a bit behind Damien and Anna, as if not willing to get any closer, for whatever reason Miguel couldn’t tell.
Miguel tipped his head to the side, unable to hide the blatant confusion creeping onto his face, and Harmony stepped back to usher the man forward. He hesitated a bit, but eventually relented, taking a few steps forward to stand in line with her and Anna.
“There’s… been a slight change of plans,” Harmony said, sort of sadly, despite the fact she was smiling.
“Who’s this?” Flip asked, lowering his head to get a better look at the man. For his part, the man managed to not flinch or move away or really give any sort of reaction to the giant sea beast, other than some… dull recognition, perhaps.
“My name is Elijah,” he said, his voice somehow even more sorrowful than Harmony’s, but he didn’t smile, his only facial movement being a twitch of his lips. “I’m…”
He didn’t finish his sentence, but he didn’t need to. Miguel’s eyes had been drawn to that one hand he was pressing to his chest, curled into a fist, holding something.
Something that looked very, very familiar.
“He’s Ordinemon’s partner,” Harmony said quietly, and that was all the confirmation Miguel needed.
Elijah dipped his head in a nod, his glasses sliding a millimeter down his nose.
Next to him, Damien sniffed, placing a hand on his hip. “He hasn’t said much other than that,” he muttered, as if not intending for anyone to overhear, but it was loud enough that he clearly wanted them to. “‘Bout as evasive as Ordinemon himself. Makes sense.”
“I want to help with Pallas,” Elijah said, his tone completely unchanged. “…Ordinemon. Whatever you would like to call him.”
“Help… how, exactly?” Flip asked. Miguel couldn’t deny he had the same exact question on his mind - what on earth could he possibly do to help us with Ordinemon? Talk to him? That’s never done us any good, and I’m pretty sure Ordinemon hates his guts - but he definitely wouldn’t have been the first one to ask it aloud.
Harmony shuffled her feet, raising her own hands to her chest. “He’s… he wants to do something.”
She didn’t elaborate; she didn’t even look at any of the others, her eyes trained firmly on the ground below. Likewise, Elijah had shifted his gaze off to the side, pointedly avoiding everyone else. Even Damien and Anna looked a little nervous, but they didn’t offer any further explanation, either.
They all had very specific expressions on their faces, ones that gave Miguel a bad feeling in his stomach, but he didn’t have the chance to ponder it.
The rest of the Digimon came into view, cresting over the line of buildings further inland, lighting the sky up with all the colors of the rainbow as they launched attack after attack at Ordinemon. He was still following them, moving slowly, but he was moving, and that was good enough. Alpha leapt forward to slash out with his blade, aglow in white light, enough to illuminate the earth below him for a few brief seconds - and enough for Miguel to be able to spot two Digimon stepping out from between the buildings.
Castor and Pop, carrying their partners in their arms, and trying very hard to avoid Ordinemon’s sight.
“Over here!” Harmony called, waving her arms in the air to catch their attention, and they were quick to notice her. They headed over, hovering mere feet above the ground and moving as swiftly as they could without disturbing their partners.
They set Alex and Moxie down gingerly; Alex stumbled a bit as he put weight on his legs for evidently the first time in a while, but Damien reached over to steady him as he lifted one injured leg into the air. Moxie held her arm in a strange position, gripping it with the opposite hand, and Miguel could see trails of blood dripping down and from between her fingers.
Harmony reached out for Moxie somewhat hesitantly, fear and concern and relief clashing in her gaze, and Moxie stepped closer to press their shoulders together. Damien tilted his head, silently regarding her, and she rolled her eyes and pulled his shades off of his face to tuck them into her pocket.
“We’re fine,” she said before he could protest, finally letting go of her arm to wipe her hand on her pants. Across the mini gathering, Alex nodded and lowered his leg, barely suppressing a wince, but he put on a brave face anyway, even if it wasn’t very convincing.
“It’s mostly old wounds that have been reopened,” Pop said, folding her wings in close. On her shoulder, her golden bird chirped, eyeing each of the humans on the ground in turn. “They will survive until we have time to rest. But we must leave them with you so we can fight.”
“That’s alright,” Harmony said. She hadn’t moved from where she stood next to Moxie; if anything, she seemed to be trying to nestle even closer to her. “Ren’s just escorting Bunny and Bumble back to the fight right now. She’ll be back soon. Not happy about being relegated to the human protection task force, but she’ll also survive.” She stuck her tongue out in light jest, and Moxie giggled.
“Um,” Alex said then, drawing all eyes to him. He frowned and raised a finger, staring directly at Elijah. “Who is… that?”
“We’re just gonna have to introduce him to everyone one at a time, aren’t we,” Damien mumbled, making a gesture with his hand as if he wanted to fidget with his sunglasses, but they were still in Moxie’s pocket, so he settled for crossing his arms. “This is Elijah. One of the original destined. Ordinemon’s partner.”
He said it so matter-of-factly, like he was describing who the Queen of England was, that, for a second, it seemed to Miguel that it didn’t really register to the four newcomers. A few silent seconds passed, broken up only by the distant cries of their allies, and then Moxie’s eyes went wide and Alex sucked in a breath and Castor and Pop both looked out at where the angel was fighting their friends.
“Well, shit,” Alex said.
Elijah still wasn’t looking at anyone. He might have been fully unaware that Alex had even asked anything, or that Damien had told them who he was; his gaze was fixed firmly behind him, on Ordinemon. The hand holding his digivice twitched slightly, and his brow creased almost imperceptibly.
For a couple more moments, nobody said anything. Behind Miguel, Flip shifted his feet, shaking the earth below him a little bit, and Miguel bit his lip. Some fun revelations we’ve had today, I guess…
And then Elijah lifted his head, his eyes hardening, and said, “He’s coming.”
As he said it, Ordinemon came fully into view.
He took out the line of buildings below him as he flew, unable to avoid them entirely, not like he would’ve cared to do so anyways. His roars pierced the air, louder than any words the partner Digimon shouted or any attacks they flung at him desperately, drawing his attention the best they could, leading him closer and closer to the sea. Ordinemon was only a hundred feet away at this point, so close to them that Miguel could almost feel the energy radiating from him. His feathers, which up until now had been far enough away not to reach them, came floating forward, carried by the wind he generated simply by moving through the air. They landed on the sand below and burned holes into the shoreline, disappearing not quick enough.
“It’s time to go,” Pop said, spreading her wings to encircle the humans, except for Miguel. She looked down at him, nodding once. “Good luck. We’ll join you shortly.”
“Okay,” he said, voice pathetically small, but nobody seemed to notice. Pop and Castor picked up their partners once more, and Harmony and Anna waved goodbye to Miguel, and then they were off, heading back into the city, where they would be safely out of Ordinemon’s reach for now, guarded by the half-destroyed buildings.
He watched them go for a few seconds, then took a shaky breath in, pulling his digivice out of his pocket. Almost immediately, it rang with a call, and he picked up, heart beating in time with its beeps.
“Almost gottem,” Azure called out, the air rushing past them muffling their words. “You gonna be ready?”
Miguel tightened his hold on his digivice and nodded. “Yeah. Flip’s evolved already. We’re… we’re ready.”
“Good,” Azure said. “Remember, if you need our help, call Quinn. Don’t take anything you can’t handle. And be ready for anything.”
“I know. I will be.”
He said it with more confidence than he really had. He felt a bit better than he had initially, but he could actually see Ordinemon up close now, and that was enough to almost send him spiraling again.
He… really is the end of the world, isn’t he?
When he’d first met Flip, when he’d first found out they were partners for a reason, this had been the furthest thing from his mind. He’d imagined they would fight some powerful Digimon in the Digital World and save it that way. Maybe an ultimate level, or a mega, at the very most. But it would be over and done with; just one battle that they’d emerge victorious from.
This was… not that.
Fighting him as Plutomon in the clearing outside File City. The mini battle within the city itself, when he had opened the portal. The first confrontation with Ordinemon. The one after that. And now this one.
It has to end eventually, right?
That’s what we’re here to do. We have him at the ocean. …Almost.
Now, we just have to… defeat him.
I…
Miguel took a deep breath in and closed his eyes.
We’ll be ready for anything that comes our way. Because this is what it’s all led up to.
This is our moment.
“You’ve got this,” Azure said from the other side of the call, bringing Miguel back to the present. He blinked and looked down at his digivice, then gave a small smile - just for himself.
“Yeah,” he said. “I do.”
The call ended and he pocketed his digivice, looking back up at Ordinemon, now only fifty feet away, inching closer with every second. Beside him, Flip gripped his hammer tighter, curling his lip back in a growl.
“Don’t worry about me,” he said, glancing down at Miguel. “I can handle myself.”
Miguel allowed himself one more smile. “I know you can.”
With that, they parted ways. Miguel moved further down the shore, away from Flip and Ordinemon and the rest of the Digimon, to give them more room to fight and to avoid any stray attacks. When he came to a stop, he turned back around to see Flip wading deeper into the water, walking backwards, his eyes never leaving Ordinemon. When he was a good ten yards away from the shoreline, he roared, raising his hammer into the air as it began to spark.
The Digimon in the sky, still fighting Ordinemon, heard him, and they parted to the sides to give Flip an opening.
“
The lightning shot forth in a straight line, arcing only slightly off course, and impacted Ordinemon directly in the chest. It lit up his face in a flash of light, then dissipated, leaving nothing behind except for Ordinemon’s anger as he finally turned upon Flip.
Flip grinned as ice began to coalesce around his horn.
“
The lance of ice didn’t have enough time to shoot forward to hit Ordinemon. The angel swooped forward in a second, drawing closer to Flip and ignoring all the rest of the Digimon around him, and the attack instead struck one of his legs, splintering into shards that fell into the ocean below. Ordinemon sneered, his fangs flashing in some nonexistent light.
“Finally,” he said, voice dripping with disdain, “you have moved past your cowardice to face me. I was wondering where you were.
He aimed the attack right down at Flip, seven shining lights each shooting one beam of energy at him. Flip raised his hammer to protect himself, and some of the beams refracted off of it, but not all. Miguel clenched his fists and his jaw, trying to resist the urge to run forward, because he knew it wouldn’t do anything but put himself in more danger.
Come on, Flip…
When the attack faded, Flip dropped into a kneel, one arm sinking into the water to brace himself. His breathing was heavy and ragged; his hammer lay, discarded, in the waves beside him. For a few seconds, he did not move.
Until Ordinemon moved forward, wings scattering feathers everywhere, and Flip picked himself up, grabbed his hammer, and flung it up at him.
“
It burst into electricity mere seconds before it struck him, and the effect was so dazzling that even Miguel had to shield his eyes. Once the light faded, the hammer flew right back into Flip’s hand, as if summoned by telekinesis.
It was enough of a signal for the rest of the Digimon to rush back into battle, and so they did.
Shouts echoed through the air and attacks lit up the sky; they pummeled Ordinemon with all they had, driving him further out over the ocean, practically physically shoving him with the force of their attacks. Every time Flip aimed an attack at Ordinemon, he retreated deeper into the water, and every time Ordinemon floated forward to get a better shot at him, he backpedaled even more, slowly but surely luring him forward.
Ordinemon still had not caught on. He wasn’t an idiot; he knew they were at the ocean, of course, and he knew that he had moved from his initial position, far into the city, miles away at this point. Miguel knew he knew that.
But he still hadn’t seemed to realize that it was all intentional.
We’re so close.
Ordinemon’s wings stretched out, the gems beginning to shine, and Miguel braced himself.
“Flip!” he cried out, cupping his hands around his mouth to help his voice carry. He had no idea if Flip could hear him from this far away, but he still yelled as loud as he could from where he stood, one lone human figure on the beach. “It’s the area attack! Deflect it!”
Whether Flip had actually heard him was impossible to tell, but regardless, he lifted his hammer in front of him just as Ordinemon called “
The back-and-forth continued for what felt like ages; Flip and the other Digimon taunted Ordinemon relentlessly, in what seemed like the most deadly game of ping-pong Miguel had ever watched. Ordinemon got a few good hits in, of course - most of his attacks were simply undodgeable - but for the most part, the partner Digimon were far and away doing much better than they ever had before.
Maybe it was practice. Maybe it was the last dregs of their strength. Maybe it was because they knew they were finally, at long last, almost done.
Whatever it was, it was working. And that was all they needed.
The sand behind Miguel crunched, and he turned around to see the rest of the humans coming up behind him, led by Quinn and Alex. They spread out around him, forming a rough semicircle, sand and ocean spray and feathers falling all around them, and they watched the battle.
“How do you expect this to work?”
Miguel blinked, craning his neck back to see Elijah, at the very back of the group, with a frown on his face. He didn’t react much when the rest of the group also turned to look at him, some of them confused and others shocked, one or two of them even looking a bit offended.
“Excuse me?” Ryan said, folding his arms, but Damien beat him to the punch.
“Who asked you?” he snapped, his lip curling in contempt. The lack of swear words in his sentence was the only indication that he was holding himself back, because Miguel knew if Elijah was anyone else, Damien would be going a lot harder. “You’re not exactly in a position to be giving us advice about this shit.” (Okay, scratch that.) “It’s a better idea than letting him wreck half the city and kill god knows how many civilians.”
“I’m not saying it’s a bad idea,” Elijah said, apparently unperturbed by Damien’s hostility - if anything, he seemed almost accustomed to it. “But he will figure out what you’re doing eventually, and that’s just going to make him mad.” His expression darkened and he looked down at his feet. “I don’t think you want to see him when he’s mad.”
“Yeah, great, he’s already mad,” Damien shot back. “Don’t think him going all ‘no more mister nice guy’ is going to make much of a difference if he’s trapped out over the ocean.”
“You think he can’t simply move away if he wants to?” Elijah said simply, and Damien snapped his mouth shut. “Maybe he’ll stay out there. Maybe he won’t. But even if he does, he won’t take this sitting down. I hope you came up with a plan for what happens after you get him here.”
Damien inhaled, ready to speak again, but Ezra sighed and shook his head out. “We don’t really have any other choice. It’s either fight him in the city, where we’re in more physical danger from collapsing buildings and there’s more of a chance he kills civilians, or we bring him out here where we can fight him without worrying about that. That is our plan. We fight him here, on our terms, where we can keep him where we want him.”
“I know he’s probably gonna figure it out soon,” Azure added. “But I was actually sort of betting on that.” When they were met with visible confusion from everyone around, including Miguel, they smirked. “If he’s got somethin’ to be mad about other than us, then… maybe we can use that against him. He’s clearly very emotionally driven, even if he’d like to pretend he ain’t. And that might just be his downfall.”
Miguel tilted his head and looked back to Elijah, awaiting his response - but he didn’t have one. He simply breathed out quietly and chewed on his lip, tightening his hold on his digivice and looking at the fight. He didn’t say anything else. He didn’t look at anyone else.
He was, once again, focused firmly on Ordinemon.
“
Miguel’s attention, too, was drawn to his partner as soon as his voice hit his ears, and he took a couple steps away from the group to catch sight of Flip. Tension still hung heavy in the air, but when Miguel moved away, it mostly dissipated from his head, and he breathed a quiet sigh of relief.
Flip had circled around Ordinemon, now focused more firmly on pushing rather than pulling. When the icy attack struck Ordinemon’s side, Flip turned to face the gathered humans, and his eyes quickly fell on Miguel.
“Doing good!” he called out, pausing to launch his electrified hammer up at Ordinemon, whose attention was then quickly stolen by Bunny and Ember launching a joint attack. “Things are going well! I don’t know how much more I can do, though!”
Miguel was moving forward before he even realized it, his feet making their own indents in the sand to match the ones that Ordinemon’s feathers had created as he ran toward his partner. A couple shouts sounded out from behind him, but he ignored them entirely. Bad, stupid, stupid, dumb idea, I know, but…
Flip leaned down as Miguel practically skidded to a stop in front of him, kicking up sand and salt everywhere. “We have to keep going,” Miguel said, raising his fists. “We have to do as much as we can! Get him as far as we can before he realizes! That’s all we can do right now!”
“I’ll do my best,” Flip said, one ear twitching, “but it’s like I said. I don’t know how much more I can do. Or how much longer I can go for.”
Miguel shook his head out, scattering a few droplets of seawater from his hair. He was feeling something in his chest that he’d felt a couple of times before - some sort of fire, burning bright, enough to keep him warm and alive throughout this endless night.
“That’s alright! Because I… I’m right here! I’ll go with you! Just like always!”
When facing Calamaramon - Ramona - in the Forgotten Sea, he’d had to hold tight to Flip so that they wouldn’t forget each other. He’d been perched up on his shoulder, so high up he could see the whole world below him, and he’d felt… strong. Powerful. Brave. It had only grown fiercer when Flip had evolved to mega for the first time, fighting against Leviamon, and Miguel - alongside Maya, of course - had once more been up on his shoulder. He’d been so close to his partner. He’d felt as if they could take on anything.
So if we do it again… then surely Ordinemon wouldn’t be a match for us!
Flip barked a laugh and swept his hammer in a wide arc, sending more lightning toward Ordinemon. “That’s the spirit!” he crowed, just as he, and the world around Miguel, were consumed with a white light.
When it faded, he stood in his mega form, hammer replaced with morning stars, and he flung them up at Ordinemon, wrapping them around his midriff. The angel shrieked, flaring his wings out to dislodge them, and Flip roared in victory, raising one fist to the air.
He turned to face Miguel and lowered one hand, and Miguel wasted no time in dashing forward and scrambling onto it. Flip scooped him up with ease and placed him down on his shoulder, where Miguel immediately dug his hands into the soft fur of his animal pelt.
“Hang on tight,” Flip said gruffly, a dangerous glint in his eye. “
He was not the only one who sent an attack toward Ordinemon; around him and Miguel, the other Digimon rushed in, readying blades and arrows and flames and lightning. They unleashed everything they had, pushing Ordinemon back over the ocean, inch by inch, giving him no room to breathe or recuperate. Flip led the charge, each attack he sent Ordinemon’s way being followed by those of the others around and above him, waiting for his signals. Miguel held firm to his shoulder the entire time, calling out encouragement and warnings to him and the rest of the Digimon.
It’s working. We’re doing it.
He noticed, as he looked around, that all ten of the Digimon were evolved to mega.
Ren and Dare, who had done so not that long ago, the last time they’d confronted Ordinemon; Castor, the first to evolve to his mega stage to take on the angel; Alpha, who’d been the one to always lead the charge in fights against him; the others, pouring everything they had into this fight, all their fight and willpower and hope.
Ten Digimon, all of them at the peak of their strength.
It reminded Miguel of when they had encountered Plutomon outside File City, and the Digimon had all evolved to ultimate together, as one, a whole unit, for the first time ever.
They hadn’t stood a chance against him. Maybe they wouldn’t ever, even if they’d had their mega forms back then. Maybe they didn’t stand a chance against Ordinemon, either.
But we’re still doing our best.
If we ever had any chance to defeat Ordinemon… it’s now! This is it! I know it is!
Ordinemon knew it, too.
He stilled in the air, his wings flaring outward and scattering feathers everywhere. A few of the Digimon leapt forward to deliver attacks; he paid them no mind, not even moving to swipe them away. He was focused very firmly on the group, clearly staring each of them down even without visible eyes, but he did not move for a long, long while.
Miguel felt as if Ordinemon was looking straight through him when he opened his mouth, the miasma around his wings beginning to swirl harder.
“
He was furious. No doubt he, too, had realized that all ten Digimon he was fighting were in their mega forms. No doubt he recognized that this was the strongest they had ever been, and possibly ever would be. That this was the best shot they had at defeating him.
Of course it’d make him mad.
The Digimon weaved and bobbed between the feathers, trying to avoid the burning energy, letting them fall into the waves below, but Ordinemon did not care. He sent attack after attack their way, whether it be a whirling mass of miasma or a shining beam of energy, never stopping to catch his breath. The Digimon were hit countless times, unable to avoid most of his attacks; they dropped from the sky and righted themselves moments before hitting the water, or fell backwards in a daze, or clung to each other in a desperate attempt to stay aloft. Flip worked to shield Miguel from Ordinemon’s attacks the best he could; Ren cast her mandala to protect the others, and Castor summoned his familiars to take the brunt of the attacks.
They had to focus on taunting him more than fighting back. Though Miguel could feel every burning inch of pain covering Flip’s body, and he knew the others back on the shore could feel their partners’, too, there wasn’t anything they could do about it. Their priority was to move Ordinemon as far as they could. They would fight him later, after they had recovered and come up with a better plan of attack; right now, all they could do was push back and pray that he would not strike them down for good.
They scattered from his attacks, but did not falter or lose formation. They knew their positions. It was almost second nature to them, by this point - even for Miguel. When one of them staggered, another took their place, and then when that one fell, yet another replaced them. They held Ordinemon off while they recovered, and clung to the last reserves of their strength, pushing onward for as long as they could. It was a cycle. It was all they could do. It was all they needed to do.
And, despite Ordinemon’s overwhelming power, the Digimon did not devolve.
Maybe…
Miguel glanced up at Ordinemon, one arm held to his forehead. The angel still had not relented, growing more determined by the second, flooding the sky with darkness and cutting through it with light.
He opened his mouth in a silent scream, lifting his wings to block out more of the sky.
Maybe we actually have a chance…!
The partner Digimon’s attacks still had no visible effect. Ordinemon did not react to them; it was as if he didn’t even feel them. But despite this, despite his continued assault, despite everything…
He’s struggling.
It wasn’t that they were hurting him. Not physically, at least. Try as they might, each of their cuts and blows and beams were nothing more than brushes against his skin. The spray of the sea below them seemed to be having more of an impact on him than any of their attacks had.
But they had something more than brute strength.
Our resilience.
How long had it been at this point? Thirty, forty-five minutes? An hour? Two hours? Miguel didn’t know. He hadn’t been able to keep track of time ever since Ordinemon had first appeared. No matter how ironic it sounded, there simply hadn’t been the time to. They’d all been too focused on fighting, then running, then resting, then fighting again, an endless cycle of war. With Ordinemon’s wings and the storm clouds above blocking out the sky, they barely even had the sun or moon or stars to help them keep track.
But Miguel knew that, right now, they had been fighting Ordinemon for a very long time.
And in that time, they hadn’t given up. They’d pressed on, refusing to stop for even a second, unwilling to give Ordinemon that advantage. At this point, they should be exhausted. The Digimon should have devolved by now, surely, or if not, at least run out of the energy and will needed to fight.
But they hadn’t.
They were done with running away. That was what Ordinemon wanted them to do, after all, and since when had they ever been willing to give him what he wanted? If their perseverance alone was enough to irritate him, enrage him, hell, maybe even weaken him…
Then we have to keep going.
He was still fighting back. Of course he was. He attacked without regard for the surrounding area, despite there not being much surrounding them, and he fired attacks every which way and didn’t care about who he did or didn’t hit, and he was tireless, and he was unyielding and unforgiving, and he was going to keep fighting until he or they were dead, and he was the end of the world, and -
And he was struggling.
“
Flip continued to press the charge against Ordinemon, followed by the rest of the Digimon around him. They drove him deeper out into the ocean, the waves lapping at their feet and rearing up to scrape their underbellies and sending brine and saltwater everywhere, as far as they could get him. Miguel chanced a glimpse behind him, looking out to the beach, and he saw it so far away it was like a star in the night sky, there but not there. The rest of the humans, the rest of his friends, still standing along the shoreline, were nothing more than barely-distinguishable specks. A couple of them were jumping and waving and, if he strained his ears above the sounds of battle, he could’ve sworn he heard them… yelling. Shouting. Cheering. For him, and Flip, and all the rest of the Digimon, and the world.
He laughed and raised an arm to wave back, even though he knew they also couldn’t see him.
“
When Flip’s cries faded away, Miguel noticed his digivice was ringing, and he pulled it out to accept the call. It took a couple of seconds for him to be able to make out any voices, considering the Digimon around him and the humans back on the beach were still shouting, but Quinn’s voice came through soon enough.
“That’s it,” she said, and Miguel would have been worried if not for the relief and pride in her voice. “The feathers aren’t reaching us anymore. We’ve done it.”
We… we really did it.
They’d driven Ordinemon away from the city. They’d brought him to the ocean. Out here, he couldn’t destroy anything or hurt anyone else. Out here, they could fight him properly.
Out here, they could do anything.
Miguel couldn’t help but cry out in excitement, dropping to his knees and burying his face in Flip’s fur pelt. They’d done it. They’d done it. Their plan had succeeded. They had Ordinemon right where they needed him. The city was safe.
“We did it,” he told Flip, voice muffled from the fur in his mouth, but his partner heard him anyway and bellowed a victory roar, rumbling throughout his body and shaking Miguel to his core.
We did it.
Around them, the other Digimon began to halt in their movements as the news rippled through them. They cheered and whooped and shot a couple attacks at Ordinemon in celebration. The triumph was palpable, thrumming through the air like a heartbeat of its own, and even Miguel could feel himself being swept up in the exhilaration. His mind was a constant loop of those three words, over and over - we did it.
Miguel lifted his head from Flip’s back and looked up at Ordinemon, hovering motionless midair, something like defiance coursing through his veins.
And you didn’t notice a thing.
Some end of the world you are.
Ordinemon remained where he was, the feathers of his wings ruffling oh so faintly in the gentle sea breeze, the only movement across his entire being.
And then he tilted his head, looked at Alpha, and frowned.
“So this is your plan.”
It was the first time he’d addressed any of them in a long time - since Quinn had first reappeared, Miguel was pretty sure.
It made sense that the first words he’d say to them since then would be dripping with disdain and boredom.
The Digimon in the sky quickly moved to form a barrier between Ordinemon and the shore, nearly a mile away at this point, in an effort to keep him from retreating back to land - but he didn’t. He just hovered where he was, the waves below him churning, and he did not move.
Until he turned his head to look straight at Miguel and Flip, and dipped ever so slightly lower in the sky, and Miguel felt as if his heart was going to burst out of his chest.
Flip growled and raised his morning stars, his pupils slit and aimed directly at Ordinemon, clearly ready to attack if need be. But Ordinemon made no move of his own other than that lowering; it seemed as if all he wanted was to get closer to them. Closer to Miguel.
Miguel had no idea why he would want that, and it terrified him inside and out, but all he could do was watch as Ordinemon drew nearer and then, finally, came to a stop.
Though he had no eyes, it was clear he was looking straight at Miguel.
“None of this matters.”
Miguel blinked, stunned and scared and frozen in place, unable to really register Ordinemon’s words fully, or respond in any way other than simply staring, but he didn’t need to anyways, because Ordinemon wasn’t done.
“What a fine job you did of leading me all the way out here.” He tipped his head downward to look at the waves below, then over his shoulder, then finally back at Miguel. “But it doesn’t matter. I’m still going to kill you. All of you.” Miguel swallowed a lump in his throat that immediately reformed twice as large, and something on Ordinemon’s face twitched. “I’ll kill you all, and then with no one to stop me, I’ll raze the land, reducing this world to the nothingness it should be. I’ll destroy the worlds, just as I’ve always been meant to do.”
Meant to do…?
This wasn’t what Ordinemon was meant to do.
He’d had a partner once. He still did. Ordinemon, Pallas, whatever he’d been back then - he’d been a partner. They’d saved the world, hadn’t they?
Wasn’t that what he was meant to do?
Just like how Miguel was supposed to save the world.
Miguel gathered himself up, placed a hand on his chest, and, with his heart beating against his fingers, he glared up at Ordinemon.
“I… I don’t care.”
Ordinemon’s mouth curled upward in a snarl and he swooped closer, his wings fully blocking out Miguel’s view of the sky. “Excuse me?”
“I don’t care.”
Why am I doing this, said Miguel’s brain, the exact opposite of the words falling from his mouth. This is stupid, he’s going to kill me, why am I even doing this, it’s not going to accomplish anything -
Maybe not.
Maybe it wouldn’t do anything. Maybe it really was useless. Maybe he should just hide behind Flip’s shoulder and let the rest of the Digimon keep fighting. Maybe doing literally anything else would be monumentally better.
But he still said it, and he kept on talking.
“You… you can try all you want, to… destroy the world.” His hands were still shaking; he didn’t think he could calm them if he tried, but he pressed on anyway. “But… the fact that we led you th-this far… and you didn’t even realize… I think…”
Miguel swallowed harshly again, trying to work some feeling back into his mouth, his face, his entire body. Ordinemon still hadn’t moved or said anything else, just watched Miguel carefully.
Well, if he’s giving me the go ahead…
“I think we stand more of a chance against you than you think.”
We stand more of a chance than even I think we do.
It was true, wasn’t it? Throughout all the fear Miguel had harbored… they’d still managed despite that. Him especially. He’d always done the right thing, even when every sane bone in his body had been screaming at him to run away or give up or surrender. Because they always had a better chance than they thought they did.
And that was why he stared Ordinemon down, and took a breath, and, somehow, miraculously, managed to keep standing.
“You can… knock us down. Send us… running and falling and forcing us to retreat, you can do anything you want to us, but… we’re not going to back down. Even if we’re forced to. We’re…”
With one last deep inhale, he reached a hand out, grasping at the air in front of him as if he could grab hold of Ordinemon himself, and shouted as loud as he could.
“We won’t give up! Not until the world is saved…!”
Ordinemon regarded him curiously, raking his nonexistent gaze up and down across Miguel, piercing through him with eyes that were not there. He knew that Ordinemon could tell he was scared. It was obvious, from the way his hand was shaking and legs were nearly buckling and voice was close to giving out.
Miguel had never been more scared in his life, and Ordinemon knew it, and he hated that.
But he stood where he was. He kept himself upright. He didn’t sit, or kneel, or fall down. He kept standing. Kept staring at Ordinemon, his teeth grit and hand held outright and heart going into overdrive, and he kept standing.
I’m not going to back down.
Miguel faced off against the end of the world, and he did not move.
A second later, Ordinemon breathed out and pulled himself back upright.
“Pathetic.”
The word shot straight through Miguel’s chest and out the other side, splitting him apart at the seams. He felt as if he’d just been ripped open for everyone around him to see - all the fear and terror and anxiety and despair that he had swimming within him was spilling out and over his sides, dripping down into the ocean below, swirling and mixing with the black water, and there wasn’t anything he could do to stitch himself back up.
Tears pricked at the corners of his eyes.
And yet, still he stood.
I won’t back down.
“I wonder,” Ordinemon said, and if Miguel didn’t know any better he’d think Ordinemon was smirking at him, “how you can say any of that. It’s so obvious just how terrified you are. Everyone can tell.” He stretched his wings out as far as they could go, the red gems glinting in the dim, dead light from the overcast sun. “Because they’re all scared, too. They’ve always been scared of me. Now and then and forevermore.”
“I don’t care!”
Ordinemon reared back again, but Miguel shook his head and curled his still-outstretched hand into a claw.
“I don’t care that we’re scared! That I’m scared! None of it matters! Because it’s not going to stop us! We’re still going to do it and you can’t stop us!”
“He’s right,” Flip rumbled from beneath him, and Miguel dipped his head. “I wouldn’t expect you to understand, but this is what courage is. Doing the right thing, no matter what, despite how scared you are and how much it will take out of you.” He raised his chin, staring Ordinemon down. “Do you truly know nothing of the tenacity of humans?”
Ordinemon didn’t respond. Flip and Miguel both watched him for a couple more seconds, waiting to see if he was simply conjuring up words, but he gave no indication that he was going to speak again - nor that he was going to attack again.
So they took that opportunity for themselves.
“
Flip was the first to jump back into the fight, but he was quickly followed by the others - Castor’s blades, Pop’s arrow, Ko’s lightning, Dare’s red-hot energy. They acted in tandem, attacking together, as one.
Ordinemon knew their plan, now; he did not fall for their tricks anymore. He remained in place, refusing to follow them when they leapt forward and then retreated, moving only as much as necessary to launch his own attacks. They would not lure him any further out into the ocean at this point.
And yet, despite this, he made no moves back towards the shore. He seemed perfectly content to stay out here and keep fighting them. That was as good a win they’d get, especially since some of the Digimon were beginning to tire. They hung on, though, fighting as hard as they could with all the energy they had left, refusing to give in.
But they didn’t have much longer - Miguel could tell. Ordinemon was battling more fiercely than ever before, clearly still enraged about the plan and Miguel’s own little monologue. His attacks were more difficult to dodge and forced longer rest periods for those hit.
How much longer can we take?
Would Ordinemon follow them if they retreated? Right now, he was making no effort to return to land - but if they left, and gave him that opening, would he seize the opportunity? What if he was waiting for them to turn their backs? Would everything Miguel said fall apart if they left? Would it be the same as giving up, or…?
“
The beams converged and hit Castor square in the chest, his familiars too far away to protect him. Time stretched into infinity as the dragon’s eyes widened, and his familiars flickered out, and he plummeted from the sky like a comet.
“No!”
A flash of orange shot past in a blur - Ember, lunging for Castor, diving to catch him before he hit the waters below. Miguel braced his legs against Flip’s shoulder, holding tight to his ear as his partner readied his morning stars, swinging them around and eyeing Ordinemon closely.
He wasn’t quick enough, though.
“
This time, it was Ember who was struck, mere meters away from Castor, his arms outstretched and mantles blazing with desperation. The force sent him flying directly into Castor, where the two collided with each other and plunged downward, sinking below the waves with the weight of two dying stars.
Miguel’s heart skipped a beat.
“
While Ordinemon stared after the two downed Digimon, Flip hurled his weapons up at the angel, tangling them around his chest and one arm. The angel shrieked, flaring his wings out and dislodging the morning stars as he refocused on Flip.
The Viking raised one fist into the air and bellowed.
A flapping of wings wrenched Miguel’s own attention away - not Ordinemon’s. They came from above, and he looked up to see Pop, descending to get closer to him. Miguel frowned, confused and worried and a little frightened, but he didn’t have time to wonder what she was doing before Flip picked Miguel up with his opposite hand and lifted him toward the valkyrie. She accepted him carefully, holding him in both arms as Flip immediately turned to dive below the surface, following their fallen friends.
For ten long, tense, terrifying seconds, Miguel’s brain was consumed only by fear and the ocean waves below and the beating of Pop’s wings against the air. She tightened her hold on him and he sucked in a gasp, waiting with bated breath for his partner to reemerge, ideally holding both Castor and Ember and all of the, looking no worse for wear, because if any of them were hurt -
Sea spray flew into the air, cascading all around and sending water everywhere, enough to soak Miguel’s entire body and fill his mouth with salt. He hacked a cough, struggling to sit upright in Pop’s embrace as his partner breached the surface, Castor and Ember in either hand.
They lifted into the air - a little cautiously, not nearly as confident as they were previously, but they were alive - and Miguel reached out for his partner, needing to be back with him -
“
- and then Ordinemon attacked, and Miguel looked up, up, up, at where one of the beams struck Pop in the wing, and she faltered, unable to keep herself aloft, and her arms fumbled and dropped him, and Miguel was falling down, down, down, from her grasp, towards the sea below -
Cold.
Darkness.
That was all that surrounded him at first. So familiar. So comforting.
So dangerous.
He didn’t open his eyes. He didn't dare. He remembered, all too vividly, the last time he had been drowning - the very day he had met Flip. He’d struggled back then, trying to rescue himself, trying to prove that he could rescue himself. If Flip hadn’t been there, he would have died, he was sure of it.
And right now, he wasn’t sure if Flip was here.
So it’s time to actually save myself.
He knew where the surface was. He didn’t know how - he could just feel it, in the same way he could feel all the pain Flip was feeling, somewhere far above him. He kicked his legs gently, gracefully, pulling himself upward with his arms, repeating the process like he had so many times in the past when he’d swam.
He opened his eyes and saw a light.
A second later, his head broke the surface, and he inhaled sharply, pulling in as much air as he could.
He’d almost forgotten how loud it was up here, with all the Digimon shouting and firing attacks and calling out to each other - the noise was the first thing that hit him, even before the actual feeling of air on his face or in his lungs. He treaded water, looking around carefully, trying not to panic too much even though he was in the middle of the ocean with possibly no way of getting out.
But then Flip was there, reaching a hand down to grab him, and then he was in his palm and then up on his shoulder, and he collapsed into the fur pelt, digging into it like a rodent carving a burrow, and he heard Flip rumble a laugh below him, and then he laughed too.
“After all this time,” his partner said, still chuckling, “and you finally did get the chance to prove it.”
They didn’t have the chance to dwell on it - there simply wasn’t the time. Ordinemon screeched again, and Miguel snapped his head up, remembering all too belatedly the situation they were in. The angel wasn’t attacking - he had ceased all movements, hovering in the sky, ignoring all the rest of the Digimon that leapt forward to slash out at him (which wasn’t as many as previous).
His attention was fixated firmly on something out in the distance, far behind them, and as Miguel turned around to see just what it was, a crack formed in the faraway sky.
Bright white. Vivid against the evening sky. Stretching out like a spiderweb, ripping the world apart with its light.
Miguel knew what it was even before his digivice began to beep.
Emergents.
Azure called him only a moment later, and he picked up instantly. “I know,” he said, cutting them off in the middle of whatever they were saying, because he did know. “He did it on purpose. He figured the plan out.”
“He what?” Azure said, their explanation immediately forgone. “But he’s not moving back to land, is he? Why’s he still out there?”
Miguel shook his head. “I don’t know. He’s mad, but… I don’t think he cares enough to come back? Unless he’s waiting for us to leave…”
Azure audibly groaned, and there was a pause as a couple other voices spoke in the background, too indistinct for Miguel to make out. Eventually - just as Ko fired a Giga Blaster straight at Ordinemon - Azure spoke again. “We have to deal with ‘em. Come back. All of you. Even those that don’t go deal with ‘em deserve a break.”
Miguel bit his lip. “What if Ordinemon follows us…?”
“Then we deal with it if it happens. But you especially need to retreat. You’ve been out there for nearly an hour.”
Has it really been that long…?
“…Alright,” he relented, casting one last glance over his shoulder at the portal in the sky. “We’ll be back soon.”
He ended the call and looked back at Ordinemon, expecting some sort of smug grin on his face, or for him to be preparing another attack to fire at them - but there wasn’t, and he wasn’t. The partner Digimon had slowed down their attacks, running on fumes at this point, but it didn’t really matter.
Because Ordinemon was… retreating.
Miguel blinked, and frowned, and blinked again, wondering if he was seeing things.
No. Ordinemon really was retreating, heading further out over the ocean, ignoring the rest of the Digimon entirely. Even when Alpha raised a palm to fire one last ray of energy at him, he acted as if it hadn’t even touched him. Only the sky reacted, the white rift sealing back up as if it had never been there at all.
Ordinemon watched them, just as he always did, but he did not attack, and he did not speak, and he kept floating backwards, further and further away from them.
…Okay…?
Miguel didn’t have enough energy left to question it, or wonder if it was a feint, or take it as anything other than a sign. With a sigh, he reached over to pat Flip’s ear, drawing the walrus’ attention away from Ordinemon and back toward him.
They didn’t need to exchange words; Flip simply nodded, and called off the rest of the Digimon, similarly exhausted and spent of energy. Together, they too retreated, heading back to land but keeping a wary eye on Ordinemon as they went.
The angel did nothing the entire trek back to shore.
“He likely needs time to recover,” said Alpha, voice cutting clear and loud through the tired tension hanging above all of them. He floated higher than them all, focused firmly on Ordinemon but speaking to his allies. “Though he does not appear worn out, he was probably a lot more overwhelmed than he let on. Mental exhaustion has a part to play as well.” He swept his gaze over the Digimon around him, his eyes coming to a stop on Miguel, soft and warm. “It’s hard to fight ten Digimon at once, even if you are far stronger than all of them combined.”
Miguel nodded, feeling a bit numb. Maybe it was just the seawater that still covered him from head to toe; maybe it was Flip’s residual pain; maybe it was something else. Whatever the case, he said nothing and just stared down at his hands until they struck land and Flip lowered him down onto the sand, before going up in a bright green light and shrinking down to rookie. Around him, most of the others did, too; some simply reverted to their champion or ultimate forms, ready to take off again to deal with the emergents. Alpha devolved only once everyone else had, and he seemed a bit hesitant, looking out over his shoulder at where Ordinemon had faded into a black cloud on the horizon.
Miguel immediately scooped Flip into his arms. He was exhausted, and his entire body ached, but it was his own soreness; Flip’s pain had dissipated along with his mega form, and it was easy enough to power through his tiredness to carry his partner. Flip blinked up at him, a slight smile curling onto his mouth, and Miguel met it with one of his own.
“I think,” Quinn said, drawing everyone’s attention away from their partners and each other, “that Ordinemon retreating is a good sign. It means that this wasn’t all for nothing.” She gave a strained smile and crossed her arms tightly across her chest; next to her, Elijah’s brow creased, but he said nothing. “We should keep watching him, just in case, but… I think this is the best possible outcome.”
She was right. Ordinemon was out over the ocean, which had been their plan from the get go, and they were all back on land, able to rest and recover and deal with everything else, which they needed desperately to do. There was still the possibility that Ordinemon would follow them, of course - but right now, he wasn’t, and they had to be grateful for that.
Miguel certainly was.
Quinn led the way back into the city proper - they needed to sleep and eat and treat their wounds and just recuperate from everything. Today had been far too long a day, for everyone involved. They would deal with the emergents shortly. Right now, all they could focus on was keeping themselves alive.
“I’m still nervous.”
Miguel hadn’t really meant to say it out loud. He was walking some distance behind Ryan and Dare, near the far back of their line; the only ones behind them were Azure and Ko, bringing up the rear. Nobody was close enough to them to hear it.
But he still felt guilty for it.
“I know it’s a good thing that he didn’t come back.” He didn’t think he needed to specify who “he” was. It was obvious enough. “But… isn’t it worrying? He knows our plan. We were trying to corner him. And we did. And he seemed angry about it. So… why is he okay with it?”
He shook his head out, his shoulders drooping along with the sigh he let out. In his grasp, Flip buried his head deeper into his arms.
“Is there something else he’s planning?” Miguel asked, barely above a whisper. “And if he is… what is it?”
He didn’t know.
He probably never would.
The group came to a stop in an empty, untouched street; Ordinemon’s feathers had not reached this part of town, and whatever evacuation had taken place here had apparently gone smoothly. They almost collapsed onto the ground as soon as they realized they could stop walking, gathered together, sitting with their partners and each other. Miguel checked the clock on his digivice and saw it was only just getting to evening. They hadn’t even been awake for a full day yet, but it felt like they’d been up for weeks. They were hungry, and thirsty, and tired, and sore, and so, so exhausted.
But they were alive. They were all alive.
Quinn told them to sleep if they could, to get as much rest as they could manage; they were going to need it. She and Alpha left to collect supplies for them, food and drinks and anything to patch up the (thankfully minor) injuries they’d sustained. Ryan and Dare took first watch, heading a couple streets over to keep an eye on Ordinemon, while some of the less-tired partners divided themselves up to go take care of the emergents.
Miguel knew he should sleep. He could feel it dragging at his eyes, weighing him down, singing soft lullabies into his mind, and he wanted nothing more than to lay down, curl up next to Flip, and drift away into dreams.
But there was something he had to do first.
He headed over in silence, holding Flip close the entire way. The group had spread out somewhat, some of them settling down to sleep and others gathering to talk quietly, but Elijah was alone, leaning against a lamppost and staring at his digivice. He glanced up when he heard Miguel approaching, but didn’t make to put it away.
“You did a very brave thing today,” he said, before Miguel could speak. “You were the ones out on the front lines, correct?” He smiled weakly. “Thank you. I… apologize for my negativity earlier. You were right. It did work. Thanks to you.”
“We were just doing our job,” Miguel mumbled, feeling a bit put on the spot. He lifted his shoulders in a shrug and stared down at his feet, past Flip’s nose still tucked into his arms. “It… wasn’t anything special.”
Elijah scratched his chin. “Well. Even if that’s the case, I’m still impressed by your teamwork and resolve. Truthfully, I… don’t know if I would have been able to do something like that. Even if it had been back when…”
He trailed off, once more looking to his digivice, and Miguel bit his lip.
“…What… happened?” he asked softly. “Between… you and Ordinemon? Or… Pallas?”
He tried to phrase it the best way he could, but Elijah’s smile still disappeared anyway as he wrapped his arms around his chest. It was a couple moments before he answered, and when he did, he looked up at the sky, out in the direction of the sea. Of Ordinemon.
“We had a lot of difficulties, back in our day,” he said. He spoke slowly, each word coming out gentle but clipped, as if he was picking and choosing which ones to use right before he said them. “A lot of complications. I… I was scared the whole time. But I had to do it. I didn’t have any other choice. Cherubimon… he didn’t let us go home until we’d won.”
His gaze hardened and he squeezed his digivice. “But by then… the damage had already been done, and the fear never really went away, even after it was all over.”
Cherubimon…
Miguel had never heard of that Digimon. From the way Elijah said his name - quietly, cautiously, like he was afraid speaking it aloud would summon him - it was clear he was someone of importance. Someone Elijah did not trust.
Someone, clearly, who had had a lot of power over them.
Surprisingly, it was Flip who picked the conversation back up, his ears flattening as he glanced first at Elijah, then down at his digivice, held tight in his hands.
“Is that why you destroyed your digivice?”
Elijah closed his eyes and smiled.
“…So you figured it out, huh?”
Miguel frowned, mouth halfway to opening so he could ask something, but he quickly closed it. He snuck his own glance down at the digivice - faded, dull, nearly broken to pieces. It was white and orange; many years ago, it had probably been a lot brighter, but now, stained with dirt and wear and time, it was closer to shades of brown, painfully clashing with each other.
With the way it was nearly snapped in half, it was clear that whoever had destroyed it had done so deliberately.
Elijah finally loosened his grip, and lowered his hand, spreading his fingers out so it could rest gently in the center of his palm. He stared at it for a couple more seconds, then shook his head.
“I wouldn’t have done it if I’d known things would turn out this way. If I’d known any of what I was about to inflict. This is…” He breathed a long, heavy sigh, and looked over at Miguel, his eyes shining with regret and guilt. “This is the exact opposite of what I wanted.”
…What was it that he did want, then…?
“I’m sorry,” Elijah said, bringing Miguel back to the present before his mind could wander. He hummed quietly, then - hesitantly - placed his digivice in the pocket of his pants, patting the outside as it settled within. “I… didn’t mean to get so introspective. Please don’t worry about me. I’ll… I’ll be alright.”
“It’s fine,” Miguel said, and Flip nodded his agreement. “Um. I… if you need anything, you can ask us. It’s only fair.”
Elijah waved a hand around dismissively, finally smiling with some genuine happiness. “Like I said. I’ll be alright. Go get some rest.” He nodded over at where some of the others were laying together, further down the road. “You deserve it.”
Miguel nodded, not really sure of what else he could say. He and Flip both waved goodbye to Elijah as they parted ways, turning to go join the rest of the group and, hopefully, get some sleep of their own.
They curled up together a ways away from everyone else. Miguel held Flip close to his chest, feeling their hearts beat in time with each other, a small comfort amidst everything else. His entire body still ached; he was still drenched in ocean spray that wasn’t drying quickly enough; he was hungry and thirsty and exhausted; but he had his partner, and that was all he really needed.
“He’s right, you know.”
Flip said it so quietly that at first Miguel wasn’t sure if he meant to say it at all, but then the little sea lion shuffled around in his arms so he could look into Miguel’s eyes. He blinked, tilting his head in confusion.
“Right about… what?”
Flip smiled, showing off all of his fangs. “We were really brave today. And we’re gonna keep being brave. Because until this is over, we’re gonna keep fighting, and we’re not gonna give up.”
Miguel couldn’t help but smile back, energized by Flip’s own excitement.
He’d never been one for praising himself. He’d never had the greatest self-esteem; the fact he wasn’t very good at many things only added to that. He could count on one hand the amount of times in his life that he’d ever actually been proud of himself.
But right now… he might need to add another hand. Because he was proud of himself for everything he’d done today.
Even if standing up to Ordinemon like that didn’t do anything… I still did it. I still tried. And that counts for something, right?
“I… kinda like this new version of myself,” he murmured, burying his face in Flip’s mane. “Y’know. The Miguel that’s… still anxious and scared and everything, but doesn’t let those things stop him. The one who still does the right thing no matter what.”
Flip giggled, pushing his head upward into Miguel. “That’s not a new version of you. It’s who you’ve been all along. It just took some time - and, okay, maybe a couple of pushes in the right direction - for you to realize that. But you finally got there.”
In the end… I made it.
We all did.
Whatever was to come in the next few days, they would deal with together. As a team. And Miguel was going to give it all he had.
Everything was going to work out fine. And if it didn’t… then that was okay, too. Because things rarely worked out for Miguel, but he was still here. Still alive. Still fighting.
Still brave.