Angler moved his head as far as it could go, trying to see the chaos that was enveloping the world. He, along with several other Trailmon, were hastily taking on as many digimon passengers of all shapes and sizes as they could manage. Not for the first time, he was reminded of rats deserting a sinking ship.

Angler shook the thought off; it wasn't fair to the digimon who, overall, wouldn't stand a chance against Cherubimon, as powerful as he was now. Not to mention the one who was pulling his strings. He noticed one Trailmon, sleek, dark grey, one red eye watching all of the commotion. None of the digimon seemed willing to board that one, nor did he appear to be offering space. "Yo, Shadow, you going to lend a hand?"

Shadow didn't move. "I know my duty, Angler, as do you. Twilight and I will meet you at the rally point." As they spoke, they could hear a distant rumble, no, a series of explosions. The ground beneath them trembled slightly. Ignoring Shadow and Angler, Twilight pulled out, headed towards the battle now well underway. "When the digimon are safe on the moons, Twilight and I will be ready."

Filled to capacity, Worm and Buffalo called out "Astral Rail" and headed skyward, their cargo of terrified digimon bound for a trio of moons just visible in the daylight. "Next stop, Ophanimoon!"

--

Digicross Frontier

"Sayonara, Neemon"

As always, Digimon created and owned by Bandai, Pokemon created by Satoshi Tajiri and owned by Nintendo (IIRC).

Other sources of inspiration include:

King of Braves Gaogaigar

Brave Exkaiser

Mobile Suit Gundam SeeD/SeeD Destiny/Astray

Super Robot Wars

And other series that I honestly cannot recall right now. A lot of anime, safe to say, that has been viewed by yours truly over the years.

I would like to apologize for the extreme delay in posting this story, as well as the quality. I've found that I have to re-find my 'voice' with this series, so this chapter might be a bit rougher than usual.

--

The rage the three combatants felt precluded any need for attack names. The angel swung a comically oversized hand, flinging bolts of purplish-pink lightning at the two attackers. The humanoid wolf dodged the attack, launching a barrage of missiles in reply.

Screaming incoherently, the massive...viking, for all appearances, ignored the attack, taking several bolts to the chest, charging forward and taking a mighty swing with a double edged axe. The angel howled as both attacks struck, dealing massive damage. In their rage, the two Chosen Children failed to notice the streams of digicode coming up from the land, giving Cherubimon a constant stream of energy. To be fair, almost all of that energy was being spent keeping the two hybrids from tearing Cherubimon apart, with almost none left to mount an effective counterattack.

Some distance away, the other children and digimon watched the battle, seeing Cherubimon feed of the digicode of the land around him in order to continue the battle. Ophanimon struggled to get up. "We have to stop them...they are weakening the seal!"

"Huh?" Junpei glanced at the angel.

"As the digital world grows weaker, as more digicode is lost, the barrier holding Lucemon weakens as well." Ophanimon grimaced under her mask. "He planned this out well."

"And we can't do anything," Takuya added. "I'm too..." he collapsed, drained. Looking around, he could see that the other chosen children were similarly exhausted. He took out his D-Scanner, trying to contact Kouji and Tomoki directly. "Kouji, Tomoki, listen-" He grimaced as only static came out of the digivice. Ryoko tried as well, with similar results. "Great," Takuya snarled, "If Cherubimon doesn't tear this place up, Lucemon will."

Kouichi got up. "Maybe I can get through."

"Oh, no," Takuya protested. "No offense, but Kouji's not going to like it if his twin brother gets killed. You don't even have..." he trailed off as Kouichi held up a small black object that everyone recognised immediately.

--

"Kouji," a voice in Magna Garurumon's ear buzzed. He ignored it at first, thinking it a trick of Cherubimon's. "Kouji!"

Magna Garurumon snarled as he spun to avoid another attack. "Busy right now...Kouichi?"

"Hit the digicode stream underneath him! That's how he's recovering from your attacks!" Magna Garurumon pulled back a bit, and could just make out the streams of white energy feeding into Cherubimon. He glanced at Kaiser Vikemon, decided that Tomoki had a few too many issues with Cherubimon to resolve (with a very large axe, he noted to himself) for any chance of a co-ordinated attack.

He held back for a second, waiting for the massive ice hybrid to finish his attack, then charged, the cannons on his flight pack chattering away.

--

Ryoko gasped as she saw Kouji make what appeared to be a suicidal dash at Cherubimon. "Kouji," she yelled as the wolf digimon crashed into Cherubimon, resulting in a massive explosion. Everyone gathered there watched as the explosion blossomed out, enveloping the mad angel. Kaiser Vikemon, on the opposite side, did not see what had caused the explosion.

A second later, Magna Garurumon, missing wings and weaponry, flew out the opposite side of the explosion, a pair of beam sabers stretched out. The wolf hybrid did a forward flip, using the flat of Kaiser Vikemon's axe as a kick-off point, then flew back at Cherubimon, swords cutting into the angel's side.

--

"He weakens, sire. As you expected."

"It's always the way of these things. Go, and slay the Chosen Children."

"We are not waiting for the end of the fight?"

The tiny angel looked up at the massive rose-coloured digimon. "The fight was decided before it started. I tire of this useless flailing. Kill them all, Rhodo Knightmon. And...give my regards to your brother."

Rhodo Knightmon bowed. "As you will, lord Lucemon."

--

"I think we're winning," Kaiser Vikemon growled, axe held in one hand.

Magna Garurumon nodded, relieved that Tomoki was back in control, again. ``One more pass should do it. On my mark, we-``

He never finished the plan. Cherubimon was wrapped in a whirlwind of silver and pink, screaming in agony. "No, my lord, I have not yet been-"

"Silence, dog," a voice commanded. It was higher pitched than Cherubimon`s, fair sounding if not for the undercurrent of disdain and arrogance. "Your failures have troubled Lord Lucemon enough."

Back where the humans were gathered, Bokomon stared in horror. "Rhodo Knightmon," he whispered. "Lucemon has sent the Royal Knights into battle. We are all doomed."

"But..." Junpei looked around. "What about Magna Garurumon and Kaiser Vikemon? Those two can take him, right?"

"I do not know..." Bokomon blinked as Neemon, who's unusual behaviour already had him wondering, stood up and started walking towards the battle. "You idiot! What are you doing?"

Neemon looked back, that irritatingly familiar smile on his face. "I'm sorry, but I have to go save everyone now."

"HAVE YOU LOST YOUR-"

"Bokomon," Ophanimon commanded. Confused, everyone, human and digimon looked at the angel, then at the small, seemingly harmless digimon that had accompanied them all this time. Then, to Neemon, "there's no way I can-"

"It's alright."

None of the humans liked where this was going. "Wait...Neemon, what's going on here?" Hiroki looked at him, then at Ophanimon. "Are you...going to digivolve?"

Neemon's smile seemed to twitch, as if he were hiding back a laugh. "Something like that." With that, he strode towards the fight, paying no heed to the calls and cries of the other Chosen children.

"He's going to be destroyed..." Ryoko whispered.

"He knows," Ophanimon said. "But there is no other way. Good luck, Neemon."

The pink-clad digimon was little more than a blur to the two hybrid digimon. Magna Garurumon watched as the attacker toyed with Kaiser Vikemon, casually avoiding the giant axe being swung at him with an irritating grace, not even seeming to need the oddly-shaped shield it wore on one arm. Snarling, he drew his beam sabers, waited, and flew in at the attacker, hoping to catch whatever that...thing was off-guard. He saw his moment, shot forward at incredible speed, swung his blades...

And screamed in agony as a pair of -roses- struck his arm, knocking one of his blades out his hand, no, falling out of his grip as his arm went numb. "P...poison?"

"Please," the attacker said, mockingly. "A Royal Knight has no need of such crudities." In a more formal voice, he addressed both hybrids. "Know that Lord Lucemon has decided that you are such a nuisance that he has dispatched Rhodo Knightmon, that being me," at this, he bowed, then continued, "to dispose of you two, then take care of that rabble that has accompanied you. And then witness as Lord Lucemon rises again to remake the world in his own image. I'm told that it is to be quite a majestic sight." He stopped, confused by something. He looked around, as if sensing something out of place. Then, looking down, he saw it. "Hm, what is this? Some whelp trying to challenge me?" Idly, Rhodo Knightmon backhanded Kaiser Vikemon with his shield, sending the massive warrior flying into the ground far below.

Paradoxically, as the whole world seemed to swirl into white and blue around him and expand, Tomoki was able to see just what had gotten Rhodo Knightmon's attention. "N...Neemon," he groaned faintly. "Get out of here, he's too powerful."

Neemon shrugged as Rhodo Knightmon pulled his shield arm back, called out "Argent Fear" and dove down, gold-coloured streamers trailing behind him. He tuned out the cries of the other humans, the desperate gasp of the Light Hybrid behind him as that fool tried to stop him...

Then came to a dead stop as the yellow dolt seemed to flash, grow, then stop him dead with only an open palm. More, Rhodo Knightmon recognized the figure now.

"Wh...Wh...DYNASMON?" Gobsmacked, Bokomon stared at his friend, then back at Ophanimon. "How?"

He didn't get a reply; Takuya had darted out from cover, making a run to grab Tomoki. Dynasmon and Rhodo Knightmon hadn't moved; the two Royal Knights seemed to be hanging there, not sure how to react next. The rest, including Kouichi, waited tensely. They knew that, if Neemon or Dynasmon, whatever he was now, if he couldn't take down Rhodo Knightmon, they had no chance, not after the ease that the pink and gold digimon had taken down Kouji and Tomoki's new forms. The standoff continued as Takuya helped Tomoki up, and half-carried, half dragged Tomoki back to cover. "Was...was that really Neemon?" Tomoki asked, still groggy.

Takuya nodded, still awed at the power the Royal Knight, no, Knights, he corrected himself, could display. He nearly fell over as the ground shook; he could pick out the area of ground that Tomoki had impacted earlier spin into a whirl of digicode, then vanish.

Twilight increased his pace; while not commonly used anymore, all Trailmon were capable of creating their own tracks to travel on; it was that ability, the Astral Rail, which had enabled the other Trailmon to effect the massive task of evacuating all the surviving inhabitants of the Digital World to the nearest safe havens, namely the three moons orbiting the decaying planet.

--

To his left, he felt Shadow's presence. "This might be the final one, brother," the other Trailmon said grimly. "We appear to have failed in our duty."

"No," Twilight replied. "Not yet." Ahead, more explosions could be seen in the distance. "We still have one duty to perform."

--

The stalemate broke, the two knights suddenly launching attack after attack. The humans watching were struck by the grace the massive Nee...no, Dynasmon showed; while not as fast or agile as Rhodo Knightmon, there was an economy of movement that allowed him to avoid the worst of the pink and gold attacker's blows.

"Wait," Junpei demanded. "That's Neemon's...true form? Why didn't he-"

Bokomon startled everyone else. "You knew," he snapped at Ophanimon. "All this time, I thought that he...he..."

Ophanimon smiled softly. "That he was a random digimon that I took in out of pity? No..."

--Ophanimon's castle, ages ago

Ophanimon stared in horror as Dynasmon staggered into the castle, still being rebuilt after Cherubimon's betrayal and most recent assault. "You are hurt...where are..."

"Gone. Alforce went home to die, as will I soon." He ignored Ophanimon's startled expression, and continued on. "The rest...all are under his control now."

"No. You're the -Royal Knights-. You would never betray the Digital World to...him."

"They did...He took down Alforce with a single attack, and the rest...he controlled them somehow, affected their very digicode. Alforce and I escaped. I...we failed. Lucemon will soon be freed."

Behind her mask, Ophanimon frowned. To see one of the strongest of the Royal Knights not just beaten, but broken like this... "You cannot die, yet, Dynasmon." She glanced off down one of the hallways, to where the younger attendants were resting. "You are still needed."

"Not...not like this," Dynasmon replied.

--Present

"I allowed Dynasmon to devolve back to Neemon, with the promise that he would become Dynasmon again should he be needed."

Returning, Kouji nodded, having heard the tail end of Ophanimon's story. He remembered how he felt when he'd seen Junpei and Tomoki turned into Arbormon and Grottomon. It would have been ten times worse if...he glanced at Kouichi, who smiled a bit and waved back, and shuddered.

The battle had continued during the conversation, neither Knight gaining an edge over the other. Frustrated, Rhodo Knightmon made a wild dive, which jarred against the memories Dynasmon had of the Elegant Knight. The Rhodo Knightmon he knew would never have made such a reckless attack, even after such a prolonged battle.

Dynasmon, who was comfortable with his role as the Adamant Knight, played to his strengths. He allowed the attack through.

Rhodo Knightmon's shield slammed into Dynasmon's torso, emitting a blast of energy that staggered the massive knight, but did little else. He heard the gasps of the humans who had accompanied him, Bokomon's gasp of horror. He recalled the times he had spent both as a Knight, and as Neemon, and came to a decision. He moved his free arm, hand placed against Rhodo Knightmon's torso. "Farewell, brother. WYVERN THROWER!"

The blast tore Rhodo Knightmon in half, not even giving the Knight a chance to react. His digicode appeared, but was sucked into the ground before it could dissipate. Despite the grief he felt, Dynasmon forced himself to get up and move as quickly as he could towards the Chosen Children and their allies. "Run! Get out of here!"

Ophanimon felt it too. A surge of power that she hadn't felt since..."Lucemon."

"Huh? You mean he's free? But I thought..." Takuya shook it off. Always something, he sighed mentally. "Where to?" Train whistles sounded, along with an odd, tearing noise. "If Lucemon's as powerful as you say, then nowhere is safe." He started to say more, but was drowned out as the ground exploded where Dynasmon had fallen.

The humans could hear it, the sound of something crawling up through the earth, hear that odd almost electrical sound of the digicode of the ground being sucked away by something powerful. Sneasel bristled, that part of him that carried Seraphimon's digicode screaming a warning.

Then, it all ended. The noise, the digicode vanishing, only Sneasel's heightened senses remained tensed. Everyone blinked at what had crawled out of the earth.

It was a baby. Well, more of a cherub, Izumi thought. Innocent looking, even had the angelic wings. She, Takuya, and Junpei alll grabbed their D-Scanners, double spirit evolving and attacking before Lucemon could even start his speech.

The fallen angel arched an eyebrow, raising a hand. The wave of energy that shot out slapped Jet Sylphimon and Aldamon out of the sky. Shifting to Knight Mode, Rhino Kabuterimon opened up with his cannons, trying to simply blast the angel out of existence before he could attack. Plus, he reasoned as Lucemon marched through the barrage and sent him flying with a single punch, it gave Ophanimon a chance to recover Izumi and Takuya before they could get stomped by My Little Angel over there.

Kouji forced himself to get up, D-scanner in hand. "We need Magna Garurumon and..." Ryoko grabbed him as his strength failed and he collapsed. As he did, Ophanimon, carrying the three chosen children in her arms, returned, placing them gently on the ground.

"The battle with Cherubimon and Rhodo Knightmon took too much out of you," Ophanimon whispered. "And...you are not at your full strength yet."

"Not yet?" Tomoki looked confused.

"You must go to the three moons. You can unlock Kouichi's evolutions there and..." She flinched as Dynasmon roared in agony; Lucemon had managed to rip one of his wings off, tossing it aside. The train whistle sounded again, and Tomoki could make out two Trailmon approaching rapidly. No, more than two. Five. Ten.

No...All of them, he realized, even ones he had never seen before.

"You must go. Take the rest of the Chosen Children and head to the Ophanimoon. Bokomon, these children are the future of this world and your responsibility now."

"Wait," Kouji said, not liking the tone in her voice. "You can't mean to-"

"There's no more choice," Ophanimon almost snapped, then winced. "I am sorry, Kouji. We should never have dragged you into this" She got up, hands glowing. "But now both of our worlds are in jeopardy. I only hope Dynasmon and I can buy you enough time to get clear as the Trailmon perform their last duty." Angler roared by as she spoke, followed by Worm, Kettle, Buffalo, and more.

Into their midst walked the last angel of the digital world, hands rimmed by silver crystals of energy.

Kouji tried to get up again, but was stopped by a wall of blackened steel. Before him were Shadow and Twilight, the two Trailmon who had transported Takuya and Izumi briefly out of the digital world, then back. "Get in," Shadow's voice ordered, tone allowing no disagreement. With one last look at Ophanimon and Dynasmon, the remaining digidestined helped those who had fallen into the two Trailmon. "You too, Bokomon." The little digimon, who had watched Dynasmon get taken apart by the returned Lucemon in silence, didn't move.

"I SAID IN," both Dark Trailmon roared simultaneously, chilling the souls of those humans still concious. "You have a duty given to you by Ophanimon and you. Will. Fulfil it." Eyes still locked on the scene, Bokomon got in, making his way over to a window where he and the other children could watch. An Astral Rail lanced out, up, and towards one of the moons in the sky, propelling the children clear of the battle.

Lucemon sighed as he slapped Dynasmon, sending the massive digimon into one of the few remaining pieces of land; as the one sided battle had prgressed, Lucemon had steadily drained more and more digicode into himself, increasing his power with every blow. "Such a waste," he whispered. He didn't look up or around as the Trailmon flew around him, laying new tracks into the empty spaces around him.

No matter. He could take a little more confinement. He glanced up as Ophanimon neared him. "Somehow, I knew that it would be you to last the longest."

"I always was your favourite, father," Ophanimon replied. "You made this world, then us to manage it."

"And the three of you led the betrayal against me. Endowed these-" he waved a hand as another Trailmon roared past, "with the power to bind me. Created knights to battle me. Brought chaos into this world that I had built."

"We brought life to a barren wasteland," Ophanimon replied. "Life that you corrupted. Devoured to make yourself more powerful."

"Yes. I suppose I should thank you." With a snarl, he hurled a blast of energy at Ophanimon. She batted it aside and charged.

The Trailmon ignored the fight, focussing on the task at hand; all of them wove a web of steel around the battle site, then began to stretch it across the whole of the digital world, making the most of the battle between Ophanimon and Lucemon.

"This tangle of steel and noise will not hold me forever, Ophanimon. I have the other knights, and they will break free, they will find those children, and I will leave their broken corpses on your grave."

"Well, good luck with that," Ophanimon growled, suddenly cutting off the blast of energy she was flinging at Lucemon. The smaller angel stumbled, giving Ophanimon to fly forward and body-check him into the side of Angler, then grabbed him and hurled him downwards, back towards the core of the digital world.

Her body exploded in pain as a sword appeared from out of nowhere and ran he through. Sensing another attacker, she whirled around and saw-

"Knight Wargreymon? You-"

"I serve Lord Lucemon," the knight replied dully.

"As do we who remain," another voice added. Beside him, the brothers Fighter and Paladin Imperialdramon appeared. And, from the depths, Flaknightmon and Dukemon ascended.

"And your lord commands you to kill Ophanimon," Lucemon ordered, grinning at Ophanimon, relishing her pain.

Gritting her teeth, she pulled the sword out of her body, letting it drop. Behind her mask, her eyes closed as she made her choice.

Her mask cracked, stopping the advancing knights. "What are you doing," Lucemon asked, eyes widening.

"You gave us these masks to limit our power, Lucemon, and rings for Cherubimon to control his. Cherubimon broke his and he went insane." A second crack formed, then a third. "I break mine...well, let's find out what happens, father." Forgotten, Dynasmon got back up, shimmered, and vanished, his digicode flowing into Ophanimon, pushing her power ever so slightly over the breaking point.

"NO!" Lucemon lunged forward, then vanished as everything went white.

The other children had come to, and joined Bokomon in watching the Digital World retreat. "What are the Trailmon making," Ryoko asked.

"The tracks act as a means to keep Lucemon contained," Shadow's voice answered. "The Trailmon travel the rails, always looking for breaks in the line. Until Cherubimon fell under Lucemon's control, he was kept safe and harmless in the core of the digital world."

Izumi gasped. "There," she called, pointing out a flash of light.

"It's over," Bokomon whispered.

"Not yet," Shadow growled. "Next stop, Ophanimoon."

Next episode:

-Strike, Inazuma Vamdemon!