Old Ones Return (V)

<Well, I don't think they're just going to let us Digivolve long enough to take them out. But maybe, if we fly far enough away, then we'll be able to Digivolve again.>
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Mummymon<Should we put them in a cage?>

Etemon<Nah, the concert's about to start. All of my fans will need to be in the audience.>

*As Etemon is putting the new D-Powers with the others, a broad-shouldered man with graying black hair wearing a coat like King Drasil's walks out from deeper within the hall.*

<Be sure to dedicate a song to me.>

*Etemon waves his hand dismissively at the man.*

Etemon<Yeah, yeah, got it, Voldemort.>

<Volund.>

Etemon<Yeah, whatever. Just get me my perfect fans.>

Volund<Your fans have finished setting up the machines that I brought with me. Barbatos's troops will be here shortly with more equipment. Once we have enough, I assure you, the conversion process will clear their minds of anything other than their love of your music & desire to please you. Now, the D-Powers?>

Etemon<Not so fast! You'll get 'em if your gizmos do what you say they'll do.>

*He holds out a hand. Etemon hugs his bag of swag like it's a teddy bear. Volund clenches his jaw.*

Volund<...Fair enough.>
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Gekomon<We stopped counting after the first year.>

Otamon<This place was ours before Etemon loaded ShogunGekomon's data & enslaved us all.>
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*The Orcamon deflects his blow & tail-kicks him. The other Orcamon just blasts at Gladimon without approaching. Gomamon spits out some fishes at them.*

Lunamon:<Won't we just dedigivolve again? Anyway, I don't have any better ideas.>
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Biyomon:<Don't worry, we'll bust you out of here.>

*Kylie tries to pat Otamon on his head*
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*Gladimon dodges then uses Sword Rush*

Strikedramon recovers and attacks with Darkness Wave.

*Let's say they destroy the Orcamon, but these are followed quickly by a group of several Ebidramon & a duo of Zudomon. Meanwhile, the Mammothmon are destroyed, allowing the Triceramon & Birdramon to corner the Tamers. Just when all hope seems lost, a huge pillar of blue light erupts from a seemingly inconspicuous pile of rubble as a [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] emerges from it. When the Birdramon open fire on it, the flames fizzle out over an invisible shield & it fires red lasers out of its eyes, instantly reducing all of the Birdramon to data.*
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*Otamon shrinks away.*

Gekomon<You can't break out of here. I heard that Etemon frees anyone who can beat him in a music contest, but no one ever has.>
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Etemon<Right, Mummymon, get the rest of my fans, Arukenimon, take these knuckleheads inside. I'mma go get ready for the show!>

*He heads off with a distinctive laugh. Arukenimon straightens up, brushing off her skirt & putting her hat back on.*

Arukenimon<Right then. You heard the King, follow me!>

*Mummymon heads off & starts unlocking cages.*
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D<I don't know. We could wait for them to use Digi-Modify on us, but the D-Powers were stolen. And last I knew, Thiera was wrapped up tight.>

*Lyra and Gladimon stare in wonder*

Lyra:<Hopeit's friendly.>
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Kylie:<I'm not going to hurt you.>

Cameron:<Well, I don't have any musical talent.>

Biyomon:<You play the trumpet?>

Cameron:<Right.>
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Lunamon:<Then what should we do? I don't think we can find help around here.>

They follow.

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Strikedramon Darkness Wave's a Zudomon.

D<I don't know. I told you my idea.>
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*The Zudomon bats the Darkness Wave away with its hammer, but nothing protects it when the strange construct begins blasting converted Digimon left & right, destroying each with a single blast.*

"Either way, now's our chance to get out of here! Use this!"

*Tsune hands the Aero Wing card to Lyra.*
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<Alright, come on, keep going, keep going!>

*They see Mummymon opening cages & gesturing with his gun. The Gekomon & occasional Otamon march in an orderly fashion to doors that lead deeper into the structure. Mummymon then comes over & unlocks the cage that the humans are in.*

<You too. Hurry up, the King doesn't like to wait!>
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*It is in fact a concert hall, the stands & mosh pit awash with smoke, & colored spotlights dancing along the domed ceiling. From that & the backlighting, it's bright enough that they can make out the general features of the stands & crowd, as well as those within a few yards of them.*

Arukenimon<You should count yourself lucky. Since you're with me, you get front row action.>

*Sure enough, the Geckomon shuffle away to make room for Arukenimon to head up right in front of the stage.*

They all file along or follow out. Whichever they're doing.

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Strikedramon and Hideki begin to make their way away from the Data Stream.

Lunamon:<Well I don't have anything better so...>
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*Kylie, Cameron, and Biyomon exit the cell and follow along*
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*Lyra nods and uses Aero Wing. Gladimon then picks up the group, then starts flying back toward Hideki*

*Up above, the Birdramon fly around, creating a smoke screen while down below, a Triceramon stands in Hideki's & Strikedramo's way, firing a triangular energy beam at them. The strange construct clears up the invading Digimon & then blasts the data stream, causing it to dissolve.*
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*Once the area is packed, Etemon's band rises out of some elevator concealed within the floor. He grabs the microphone stand with both hands.*

Etemon<Are you ready to rock & roll!?>

*The crowd screams with forced enthusiasm.*
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*So DemiDevimon begins flying out of the desert.*

Strikedramon stands in front of Hideki to shield him.

*So Lunamon follows*
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*Kylie winces, causing both Cameron and Biyomon and grab a hand*
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*Gladimon uses Aero Wing on the Triceramon*

*Triceramon falls over. There are deep scratches in its carapace, but its armor is a bit too deep for it to be finished off. Strikedramon is knocked backwards, knocking them both over. The smokescreen is ineffective because of the Aero Wing, but it is rendered moot when the construct plows past the Birdramon, deleting them on its way to a cloud of smoke in the mountains.*

"Give me my card back."
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D<Well, here goes nothing.>

*DemiDevimon is enveloped by the Light of Digivolution & emerges as Wizardmon.*

D<Well...it sort of worked....>
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<Alright! Tell me if you've heard this one before: DIGI-MON, DIGITAL MONSTERS, DIGIMON ARE THE CHAMPIONS!>

T"Hey!"

*Thiera, Euryale, & Agumon shoulder their way through the crowd, holding hands. Euryale is still gagged, & is now sporting a swollen eye & bruised arm. Her healthy eye looks relieved, but her wounded eye just sort of waters.*

T"...She tried to pick a fight with Phantomon. I'm sorry you were all caught, too. Wait...where is DemiDevimon!?"

Cameron:<She disappeared. Lunamon's gone too.>
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*Lyra does this, then Gladimon dives down*
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*Lunamon tries to digivolve as well*

Azuma: "Try to knock the spires down is my guess."

Taiyo hugs Euryale before trying to remove the gag.

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The two get up, Strikedramon attacking Triceramon with Darkness Wave.

Etemon<CHAAAANGE INTO DIGITAL CHAMPIONS-->

*Thiera & Euryale both reach up to stop her.*

A<She doesn't want you to get in trouble, & we don't particularly want her to get beat up again.>

Etemon<TOOOOOO SAy, what's the big idea! ...Everybody, SHUT YOUR YAPS!>

*The crowd goes silent & Etemon points at the humans.*

Etemon<I asked what the big idea was, talking during my show! Do you know how rude that is? And here I am, slaving all day to prepare a nice concert for you! Is that how you show your appreciation?! It's like you're not even really my fans at all!>
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*After Triceramon dies, Tsune swipes the Aero Wing card on Gomamon.*

Ts"Do we keep going, or try to go another way?"
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*Likewise, Lunamon can only digivolve to Champion. She feels as though the bulk of her power is somewhere very far away, like a numb limb, or a far-off source of warmth that can just barely be felt.*

Taiyo looks disappointed.

Cameron:<(I wonder why that is.)>

*Kylie wipes the tears from her eyes*
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Lekismon:<Damn it, I can't digivolve any further.>

T"Because...we want to challenge you to a music battle!"

*Gasps all around. Euryale & Agumon look at Thiera like "what the fuck?"*

Etemon<Huh?>

T"If we win, we get to leave, right?"

Etemon<Yeah, but did anyone tell you what happens if I win? You have to clean the Digi-Toilets, that's what!>
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D<Oh well, no use crying over spilled milk. The others are waiting for us to rescue them, so let's go.>

*She waves her staff, sending a bolt of lightning at the nearest Spire. After a large chunk is blown out of it, it snaps & falls over.*
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Ts"Answer me, you jerks!"

Lyra:<I guess we keep going.>
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*Lekismon uses Tear Arrow on the next closest tower*
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Cameron:<Can we, like, use any instruments?>

Azuma: "Can any of us sing?"

Etemon<Yeah, yeah, it can be any kind of music you want. Rock band, karaoke, fiddlin', whatever.>
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*The tower falls. Wizardmon walks further inward, releasing a storm of fireballs to destroy several towers when they start getting to the point where they're closer together."
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*With no other input, they continue onwards. The smoking object turns out to be a castle, with 1 of its towers demolished. The construct turns into a beam of light & shoots into it. Outside, MadLeomon grabs a Triceramon's horns & jumps on its back. It tears at the beast's neck, its hands & claws dripping with black fluid. Eventually, the Triceramon falls to the ground, where it joins several others that twitch feebly as they slowly erode into data from their wounds. It is orbited by a group of Chikurimon, which bash into the Troopmon surrounding it, trying to keep them from swarming. MadLeomon swings a wild haymaker, sending a dark phantom lion to rip a wide swath of the Troopmon apart. He starts running towards the castle, but an Ankylomon bursts out of the ground in front of it, almost landing on MadLeomon until it rolls out of the way. MadLeomon lets out a growl that doesn't seem to stop as it speaks.*

<At this rate, we'll never stop them in time!>

Cameron:<Kylie and I can both play.>

Kylie:<I haven't been playing the flute for very long.>
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*Lekismon follows, blasting in towers as well*
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*Gladimon attacks the nearest enemy with Aero Wing*

Azuma: "You play the piano, right?"

Hitomi: "Yes...."

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Strikedramon Darkness Wave's a Troopmon or whatever.

*As they're destroying Spires, they eventually notice within the dust that Guardromon have been dispatched, & are combing the desert searching for them.*

<We need a faster way to blow these things, before we get caught. I have an idea, keep doing what you're doing. And watch me.>

*So she waves her staff, whipping up a sandstorm for cover. Then she glows & levitates into the air.*
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Arukenimon<Guess we might as well take this off. Unfortunately.>

*Arukenimon slips her fingers under the fabric around Euryale's mouth & wrenches it free.*

Etemon<You heard them! Get to work!>

*The group of Geckomon that Etemon points to scampers off back into the corridors of the concert hall.*
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<DNA Digivolve!>

*They kill the Troopermon in the area, because I have no idea what these things do. Meanwhile, MadLeomon fuses with his comrades, gaining a chainsaw on 1 arm & a bracer on the other, which he uses to block Ankylomon's tail attack.*

<Are you all there is of the reinforcements? Because I don't think it will be enough.>

*He points to where a Kimeramon soars overhead, blocking out the sun & letting loose a terrible roar.*