Digimon Adventure Tri: Echo

17) Devolution to Disaster

The scream pierced the air an instant after Taichi expected it to, and he was on his feet in the blink of an eye. In a way, he had known that this was coming no matter how much he tried to swallow back his nerves. It was clear as could be that there was something wrong that day, and if everybody else had picked up on it as well, then that was all the evidence that he needed. 

"It's a Digimon," Gabumon confirmed without a moment of hesitation. He was already looking over to Yamato in preparation for the Chosen Child of Friendship to start using his Digivice to kickstart the evolution process. Sure enough, Yamato had already taken firm grip of his Digivice between tense fingers, and Sora was in much the same boat. It didn't take long for Taichi to join them on that front. 

"Do you know what it could be?" Taichi questioned, wondering what evolution level would be necessary for the coming fight. Deep down, part of him already knew the answer, but he was going to try and avoid it with everything that he had. He couldn't possibly be correct about this, right? If he was, then what was that going to mean for him and the rest of the Chosen Children? He was going to have to find the answer out one way or another, but would he even want to?

A few moments later, a creature slid into view, and Taichi let out a gasp before he could stop himself. "Dorbickmon," Agumon replied. "He's at the Ultimate level. We have to get ready to fight back as soon as possible!"

That was what Taichi had feared he would say. He had known in advance that this was how it was going to go, but that didn't stop the red-hot angry bile from rising inside of his throat. Of course it was going to be an Ultimate level. After all that had happened recently, this was the next natural step of progression. 

Still, all of it felt too fast as far as Taichi was concerned. Had their enemies really decided to unleash their full force so soon after starting the attacks on Odaiba? Did it matter in the first place? They were going to have to fight whether they liked it or not, and there was the chance that thinking was only going to hold them back in the long run. 

Taichi shoved his thoughts as far away from the forefront of his mind as he could stand, and he held up his Digivice in front of his torso. "Let's go, everyone!" he cried out. Yamato and Sora followed his lead, and light began to overwhelm the area, creating a bright inferno that temporarily stole Taichi's vision. He couldn't have cared less, so he simply decided to press on with his goal. 

"Agumon, warp evolve to... WarGreymon!"

"Gabumon, warp evolve to... MetalGarurumon!"

"Piyomon, evolve to... Birdramon!"

"Birdramon, super evolve to... Garudamon!"

Taichi smiled to himself at the sight of WarGreymon once again. It had been quite some time since he saw his partner take up this form, but it never stopped being amazingly impressive. WarGreymon's armor was just as sleek and shiny as he remembered it being, and Taichi felt his heart skip a beat in his chest. He and the rest of the Chosen Children were used to fighting, and even if they were going up against Ultimates, they were going to find a way to come out on top. After all, their main objective was just to get rid of the dark data patches, and that couldn't be too hard even with the disparity in power, right?

Yamato had pulled out his phone when Taichi wasn't paying attention, and Taichi glanced over to him in confusion and curiosity. It was only after Yamato put his phone away that he dared to explain his actions to Taichi. "I don't know if everyone else knows about this yet. It's better that they hear it from us instead of having to find out on their own," he explained. "I hope that all of them are with their Digimon. I don't know if we have the time to spare right now."

Sora frowned to herself. "You can feel it too," she commented, her tone dejected and shaking with anxiety. Taichi looked to them nervously, and Sora went on to elaborate as soon as he did so. "I feel like there's more than just Dorbickmon around here... I don't know. It just feels like this isn't something that we're dealing with alone."