Godzilla vs. Digizilla: A Storm's Rolling In (Alicia) [DONE]

The call of another roar managed to snap Isaac's ironclad focus. He turned away from the rampaging Kaiju, only to notice a human standing on top of a building and making strange noises into a megaphone. The boy wanted nothing more to charge over and get her out of the way. What the hell was she doing? Didn't she know she was about to get herself killed? The jump-jets of the Greymon species primed, lighting up in a fire of green phosphorous as he desperately rocketed towards the building. He focused intently, pushing himself to go faster, faster, faster yet. Despite his strongest attempt, though, he was far too late. He could only brace himself as the atomic breath bared down on the building, incinerating it to atomized dust.

Surprisingly, it wasn't the shrapnel Isaac found himself having to worry about. Beyond a few particularly sturdy steel beams and minuscule wooden splinters, the majority of the house was basically reduced to vapor. No, the force of the beam itself was the real issue. Even without direct contact, the pressurized air smacked into Isaac viciously and left him pinned to the grounded. He was forced to take a knee and brace himself with his blades just to avoid being crushed under the move's overwhelming power. In that brief moment he considered his failure. The beast had already claimed first blood, snuffing out an innocent before he could even move in to engage in battle. He could only hope others had evacuated already, so a similar fate wouldn't befall them.

Then the beam finished falling, the sheer force of its impact knocking Isaac flat on his back. That's when he looked up and saw that the girl wasn't gone. In fact, she had changed.

He watched in awe as she took the fight right to the monster, blasting him with all matter of cannonades as he was left reeling by her powerful blade. As he reacted, Isaac knew there was hope. This monster was beatable, even if it was going to take a herculean effort. He slowly forced himself onto his feet as the other spirit landed near him, 12 feet of armor and pointy edges. "I could say the same for you. The hell were you thinking with that plan? How are you even alive?" he demanded, equal parts impressed and concerned with the girl. He had no clue if he had the guts to make a gamble like she did, but he was absolutely sure he lacked the talent to spin it into a successful win. "Still, you're right. I don't know how much of a chance we have to pull this off, but if we're a team we've got a way better shot at tipping the scales."

Then the monster began to charge. Plans weren't really Isaac's style. He was more about improvisation, and right now he had one hell of a pickle to worm his way out of. He turned to the girl, raising his voice slightly to be heard over the thunderous cacophony of the beast's footsteps. "Try and keep him running! I'm gonna see if I can shut him up." With that the phosphorous jets on his back lit up once more, sending the Samudramon hurtling into the air. He sheathed one of his swords, muttering chants under his breath as he gripped the other with all of his might. Slowly it began to glow red, energy crackling off of its curved surface. He had no idea if this was going to work, or if he'd be able to even reach the beast's throat before getting cut off. Nonetheless, if the other spirit user was as good at surviving at she seemed, he'd have just enough time to give this a shot.

The monster was even more monumental up close. Each of his green-black scales was the size of Isaac's head. His hands looked big enough to reduce him to mulch with a single grasp. The spines lining his back, swaying in and out of view with each footstep, shone more brightly than the entire city of Tokyo. But every beast had his weak point, and Isaac knew the throat was always a safe bet. He flew upwards and backwards, desperately trying to keep pace with the creature as he scaled up it's immense form. Finally he reached the pit of the throat, putting all of his effort into one vicious stab. "Sword of Seals!" he roared, jamming the sword between a pair of giant scales. The energy flowed from the blade to the beast, red cracks seeming to form along his throat. If everything went according to plan, that horrifying laser would be locked and unusable. The only question was for how long.

Unfortunately, that was far from the only tool in Godzilla's arsenal. With hands powerful enough to bare buildings he swiped for Isaac, the Samudramon letting out a yelp of shock as he thrusted himself downwards. Unfortunately, giant hands looked far easier to dodge than they actually were. While he managed to duck one claw swipe successfully, a second one aimed lower proved to be a direct hit. With that single, solid blow, the Samudramon was sent spiraling into the distance. His jets flickered as he tried to remain airborne, the dazed samurai not wanting to risk a fall over one hundred feet high.

Isaac regained control over his hovering just in time to see Alicia get buried. He swore a little in frustration. How in the world were they supposed to mount a coordinated offense if they kept getting picked off one by one? The whole point of teaming up was that they got to attack in unison, instead of just having a series of successively futile one on one fights. As much as he wanted to score some solid hits on the Big G himself, Isaac knew he'd have to run interference and distraction without getting hit. It would be the only way to ensure Alicia could get back up for some proper two-pronged striking.

He slammed his swords together, a green string of plasma snaking out between them. He plucked the string a few times to test its firmness before aiming it at the living colossus, a few arrows of atmospheric energy gathering in his other hand. "Phosphorous Bow!" he shouted, the green arrows letting out a steaming hiss as they fired one at a time. As he fired Isaac tried to fly in orbit around the beast, hoping to attack from as many sides and angles as possible. Isaac wouldn't be the knife cutting into his flesh, but instead the tiny itch that spreads like wildfire across his body. Harmless, but irritating enough to be a suitable distraction.

This was normally the part where the king of monsters would rely on its devastating breath weapon, but the red lines on its throat only seemed to glow more brightly as it tried, and failed, at using the attack. A few more gasping attempts lead to greater frustration, until eventually the monster gave up entirely on trying the attack. Instead it furiously stormed past Isaac, charging so hard that it nearly blasted the boy away with the sheer force of motion. Desperate attempts at bringing the creature back with more arrows to the spine were met with a distinct lack of reaction, and when Isaac tried chasing the beast down he found it impossible to keep pace. If he wanted to start tearing the city to bits, Isaac was powerless to stop him. Unfortunately, that was exactly what the beast sought to do. Fortunately, though, he only wanted one piece.

Doubly unfortunately, that piece was heading right toward Isaac.

The Samudramon could only stare in terror as the monster stalked to the city's outskirts, plucking up a suitably large building before returning back to the battle on the beach. Before he could even comprehend what was going on, the building sailed through the air with all the grace of a bag of cinderblocks. Panic set in, but quickly Isaac realized that if it was a building, it would have to have windows and doors. Naturally, when the building came closer Isaac dove into the first open window he saw. This was going to get interesting, really fast.

Normally, houses were built to be navigated easily. However, this didn't apply when said houses were being used as projectile weapons. Isaac had to throw up his hands to block flying pottery and furniture as he barged through the reception room of a humble office. A particularly heavy desk sailing at him was met with a desperate cry of "Oh hell no!" before being sliced in thirds with two swings of his blades. With the next room came a deluge of incoming computers, exploding into showers of sparks as each crashed into his armor. A toilet from the company bathroom smashed right into the side of his head, dazing him badly as he searched for the last door out of the building. By the time he exited the thrown home, he was covered in dents and dings from various high-velocity objects. It was nothing badly damaging, but enough to daze him.

In a way, that put him and the monster on the same page. The two moved in a circular fashion, neither willing to give the other an inch. Isaac hung uneasily in the air, while the beast's uneven footsteps kicked up waves at an irregular tempo. They stood like gunslingers in a western, each waiting for the other to draw first. Whichever means this ended up being through, Isaac sure hoped it didn't involve more projectile buildings. Thankfully, that didn't seem to be on the kaiju's agenda either. Instead it charged at Isaac, lunging forward with a fist raised to try and smash the dragon samurai beneath the waves. However, just as the fist prepared to drop, the monster suddenly stopped and shouted in pain. A smaller, white dragon, around 9 feet tall, hung next to the monster's other ear.

"Phantom Blade" Elliot proudly shouted, kicking up a sonic boom right to the ear canal with each swipe of his claws. As the monster angrily swatted at his ear, the Dynasmon swirled around the claw and swooped next to his brother.

"What are you doing here, Elliot?" Isaac demanded. "I told you to leave! I can't risk this thing hurting you!"

"And I couldn't bear the thought of you being hurt, either," Elliot replied. "I may be your little brother, but I'm a spirit user too. We're a team. And maybe together, we've got the power to make things better here."

"I had a feeling you wouldn't listen. But hell, you're here and that's that. And you've got a good point, too. Now let's do this!"

Until the dizziness passed, the king of monsters' offense dwindled greatly in accuracy. Instead, it made up for it in unbridled fury. The airspace around him was a mess of claw swipes, snapping jaws, and occasional tail swipes, making it almost impossible for either brother to approach. Instead they hung out of reach, Elliot in front of the monster and Isaac to its back. They watched and waited for an opening, trying to plot some sort of pattern out of the chaos. There was no time to count up, or synchronize. There was only the time to take an opportunity and seize it. Only when a wild haymaker set him off balance did the two brothers strike. Isaac swooped down to charge the back of the knee, while Elliot dashed for the bottom of his jaw.

"Wrath of the Wyrm!."

"Imp-act!"

In theory the plan should've worked out great. With all the force shoving one leg forward and thrusting his chin back, he should have been horribly imbalanced and forced to fall. Unfortunately, what the brothers failed to take into account was the king of monsters' other leg. His tail swooped down to brace himself in lieu of the pushed leg, while his other leg remained firm and strong. Instead of downing the beast, they only made him angrier. He turned his head back down, and Elliot could swear the monster looked straight in his eyes and grinned.

A headbutt from a monster many times one's size was like being hit by a speeding cargo ship. That was exactly the level of pain Elliot experienced as Godzilla ducked down and smashed him skull-first. The Dynasmon was left sailing skywards, flaring out his wings to try and catch himself. It worked, but the large cracks in his chest armor were a sign that this hit might have done some serious damage.

Isaac was there when the titan first emerged from the ocean, for all the world looking like an insurmountable force of nature. Now he was there to see first blood, the water staining red as their new friend cut deep into the kaiju's leg. He stared in awe as Alicia did her work, the blade striking with a force that Isaac highly doubted any of his attacks could match. Elliot looked overjoyed, letting out a small cheer as the beast finally took to a knee. Even as he stood, he was very wobbly. Now was as good of a time as any to get introductions out of the way, as well as start hammering out an impromptu battle plan. Who knew how long they had before the king of the monsters got really mad?

"You're so cool!" Elliot cheered as Alicia flew over to them. "How'd you do that? My name's Elliot, by the way. It's really great to meet you."

"And I'm Isaac. Now, plan?" he asked. "Elliot and I tried knocking him over before, but while he had both legs working there was no chance we'd be able to pull it off. Now? I think we've got a shot. So how about we try knocking him down, and then you take advantage to probe a weak spot?"

Once more, Isaac and Elliot flanked the flailing monster. However, blood loss made the beast more conservative with its strikes. Last time, the duo had to deal with an impenetrable mass off claws and swipes. This time, the attacks had more gaps in them, and they found it rather simple to repeat their earlier dive bombings. Isaac jabbed at the uninjured knee with another heavy shoulder tackle, while Elliot focused all of his energy into a new rising palm strike. The kaiju's head snapped back and his leg kicked out, leaving him with nothing to rely on for balance but his tail. Despite his best attempts at keeping upright, soon the king of monsters was left fallen right on his back.

Now came the time for Phase 2. Isaac jetted upwards towards his brother, extending his hands for Elliot to catch. The Dynasmon responded in kind, catching Isaac by the hand and pulling him back. The samurai dragon sailed in a graceful circle, Elliot finishing the motion to send his brother hurtling down to Earth. The Samudramon activated the thrusters on the back, speeding himself up until he began pushing up against terminal velocity. He extended out a bladed elbow as he crashed down, getting ready to unleash the elbow drop of a lifetime on the monstrosity. If this went well, he could potentially do some huge damage. If it went badly, he could be the kaiju's next meal. But who had time for worrying? This whole fight was a risk, and he was making sure that he'd commit to it.

The monster let out a pained, gasping roar as Isaac slammed right into his throat, prompting Elliot to turn to Alicia. "Now! Hurry, while his mouth's open!" he advised, hoping all of that firepower previously mentioned by the girl would be applicable in this situation.

"Okay, how the hell?" Isaac demanded as Alicia sliced a building clean in two. To think all this time he took on such an attack the hard way, while other spirit users were strong enough to just bypass such a step entirely. It was becoming increasingly clear to the boy that there was still so much about the power of Digimon that he had to learn. Maybe he could ask Alicia for some pointers once the dust had settled. At this point, the terror of death he had experienced when the beast arose was the last thing on his mind. It was disarmed. It was staggered. It was bleeding, and if it could bleed it could be killed. There was no reason for him to stay hopeless in the face of such success!

Then he noticed the web of red cracks around the beast's throat start to erode. Just like that, all of his hopes came crashing down.

Maybe the King of Monsters was able to sense such a change. Maybe there was a pressure on his throat that suddenly lifted, cluing him in as to his trademark weapon returning. Maybe it was just a matter of luck. Whatever the reason, Elliot and Isaac found themselves forced to dive out of the way of another round of atomic breath. The pressurized air alone was enough to send them off course, further widening the cracks in Elliot's armor and almost shorting out Isaac's jet propulsion. The kaiju looked shocked for a second, then gave the trio of spirit users an evil smile. The King was back in full force, and now it was time to bow down.

"Agh! My blade's not ready yet! And there's no chance we're surviving until it's charged again!" Isaac shouted, desperately. The atomic breath was by far the beast's best attempt at swatting the would-be heroes like flies, and without being able to just shut it down the group didn't seem to have an answer for it. Isaac flew off to try and distract Godzilla with more Phosphorous Arrows, but as he fired the monster didn't even seem to acknowledge his attacks. It only turned around and let loose another blast of atomic breath, sweeping from high to low to ensure Isaac couldn't dodge in time. While the Samudramon was able to escape by lunging to the left, his right arm was hit bad. One of his swords went clattering to the ocean floor, Isaac angrily giving his arm a few punches to try and get the feeling back into it. With his offense practically halved, he squeezed his eyes shut and focused all of his energy into his blade.

Seeing his brother struggle, Elliot tried to snap into action. He flew in front of the kaiju's face, wings spread wide in an attempted intimidation display, but he was practically laughed off. Instead of being scared off, the monster inhaled deeply for another round of atomic breath. Elliot flew to the right to try and avoid it, but when the beam was fired the kaiju began sweeping his head to follow the Dynasmon. It was moving far faster than Elliot was. He knew, at some point, he was going to get hit. Rather than waste energy running, he shook his wings into the form of a cape and swing it in front of him, hoping it would at least provide him shelter. "Absorption of the Ten!"

Thankfully, only the tail end of the attack actually landed. That was only a small comfort, though, as Elliot felt his entire body become overwhelmed with heat and pressure. He was sent flying back, afraid to even move a single muscle because each twitch only made more pain shoot through his body. Steam rose from his armor, superheated to red-hot temperatures, and as he stabilized his wings could only muster up droopy, halfhearted flaps. However, there was something else different. His eyes had turned the same shade of red as the monster's breath, and atomic flame seemed to be crackling off of his wings as he flapped. He may have been in a world of hurt, but he had successfully absorbed the elemental properties of the attack.

He raised an arm to his mouth, weakly and defiantly, as he turned to Isaac and Alicia.  "I'll try and by you time. Think of something, quickly!" he shouted. "Wyvern's Breath!" Flickering red flame, kind of like a heavily incomplete version of the atomic breath, spewed from his gaping jaws in the direction of the ocean. That got the kaiju's attention almost immediately. Firstly, when he noticed the sudden upswing in delicious, delicious radiation. Secondly, when he realized that it was, in fact, his radiation. Elliot flew behind the beast as he fired, causing it to turn around in pursuit of the energy. If any brainstorming was going to happen, now would be the best time.

Isaac's eyes snapped open as he felt the sudden pressure on his injured hand. By now a swirling aura of green had materialized around his blade, and splitting his focus between maintaining the energy and listening to Alicia was quite difficult. Still, he listened to her to the best of his ability, mentally jotting down her last request.

Wait, last request? Was this woman mad?

"What do you think you're doing?" Isaac demanded, voice equally concerned and infuriated. "What if this doesn't work, huh What if you just end up throwing your life away for nothing?" He had just gotten to know her, and already she was marching toward her death. Digimon could be so weird sometimes, even the ones that were human. They just marched into battle like they were experts, even if every odd was set against them. In a way, he envied her bravery. In another way, he lamented her sure demise. "There's another way. There's gotta be. We just need to think of something. I know it," he muttered, more to himself than to Alicia. Maybe it was weak of him, but he didn't want to bear the death of another on his conscience.

"It's okay."

Elliot's voice seemed to cut in out of nowhere as he emerged from behind the duo. The red tone to his cape had by now long dissipated. In a moment of ingenuity, he decided to release all of his stored-up atomic energy in a single burst. The resulting cloud of energy would make a perfect distraction for the king of monsters, at least until it vanished on the winds. His flight was even more haggard than before, as if even bearing the beast's energy took a toll on him. "She's going to be fine. I'm sure of it," he added, putting a gentle hand on Alicia's shoulder. Perhaps in the heat of battle, the severe nervous tremble he had would go unnoticed. Maybe the slight white glow to his hand would as well. "You've been right up until now, and I know you're right about this, too. I believe in you." He then let go, drifting back to Isaac's side. Sometimes, words were better left unsaid.

These two words were Paladin's Sacrifice.
The two brothers prepared to fly off, but first Elliot reached out and grabbed his brother in a tight hug. Needless to say, the Samudramon was perplexed. "What? Elliot, is this really the best time?" he asked.

What could Elliot say? There was no chance in hell he was telling Isaac his plan. Instead he simply offered a sad smile. "Sorry. I'm just nervous, I guess." With that last parting hug, they separated and flew off to their respective battle stations.

Isaac threw his head back like a berserker, howling "Ronin's Rage!" Every muscle in his body tensed up as bloodlust took root in his mind. Right now, the big, bloodied kaiju looked like an amazing target. He dashed forward, both hands on his blade. As he did this, Elliot watched.

He watched as Isaac smashed past the monster in a series of vicious shoulder tackles, each kicking up sparks as his bladed shoulderpads scraped against its scales. As he watched, he took in everything he'd be losing.

He watched as Isaac weaved around claw swipes, barrel rolling to ensure he wouldn't be caught off guard and stopped in the middle of his assault. As he watched, he wondered how he was supposed to explain himself. Would there even be time?

He watched as Isaac delivered a vicious hammerfist blow to the back of the beast's head, sending it reeling. As he watched, he thought about all the friends he would be leaving behind, forcing them to grieve so that another's would be able to stay happy.

His heart felt funny. His breath was short. His head was pounding. Everything in his body screamed for him to turn back.

Would it be cold or warm? Dark or radiant? Heavy or weightless? Would there be anything at all?

He wasn't ready. There was no way he could be. But he knew he had to be.

There was no more turning back. Only acceptance.

He watched as Isaac finally drew his blade from his holster, jamming it one more time into the monster's throat. The atmospheric energy seemed to explode from his sword as it impacted, almost masking the victorious shout of "Terror Blade!" Both sounds, however, were deafened by the thunderous noise of pain from the kaiju. In a fury it grabbed Isaac, leaving the second of the Samudramon's blades embedded right in its throat. Elliot could barely hear Isaac shout over the roars. "Come on! Is that the best you've got? At least try to make this one hurt!" he defiantly spat as the great beast began squeezing its hand ever more tightly.

Elliot couldn't listen anymore. Instead he tuned it all out, squeezing his eyes shut and preparing himself for a journey there was no coming back from. He sat, half here and half on Charon's great boat, watching as Isaac was left behind on the pier. He couldn't tell if the oceans gray waves or the furious combatants were roaring more loudly. He couldn't tell if the wetness was from the storm still pouring down on him, or from the tears he was fighting his hardest to keep back.

The wind was howling.

Isaac wormed his way out of the kaiju's grip as its attention shifted from him to Alicia. To say he wasn't in great shape was putting it lightly. The blades lining his armor had all snapped on the titan's scales, the tiny slivers of metal clattering into the ocean below. His shoulder pads were pushed deep inwards. His arm guards, as a result, popped and jutted out at weird angles. The web of cracks spreading up his armor would have been unnoticeable against its black color, if not for the eerie green grow slipping through them. If he stayed in that deathgrip longer, he would've been a goner. Instead, he was alright. Now it was just a matter of sitting back and watching the plan. He flew to his brother's side, only to notice something was wrong.

As the atomic breath slammed into Alicia, Elliot seemed to violently jerk in place. He looked as if he was being slammed against an invisible wall, each impact more severe than the last. There seemed to be a light pink tint to his armor, which over time started to intensify into the bright red of the kaiju's atomic breath. All the while, the boy kept his teeth firmly grit. His wings flapped intensely to try and keep him hovering in place, but even then he started to slide back from the sheer force being unleashed upon him. As the red-hot glow of his armor began to give way to a blinding white, he couldn't take it anymore. He screamed, the warrior's cry of a Dynasmon giving way to its true nature of a scared, sad little boy.

Isaac was speechless. "Elliot?" he asked, voice so small it couldn't even be heard over the scream. "Elliot, what happened? What did you do, damnit? What did you do!?" His shouts of desperation were at a fever pitch, as if the boy hoped yelling loud enough would somehow snap his brother out of this strange trance.

The beam stopped, and so did the strikes against Elliot. However, he knew what the next part of the plan was. A brilliant, explosive move, strong enough to result in mutually assured destruction for both the hero and the beast. He only had a little bit of time left before Alicia went through her end of the deal. He turned to Isaac, sadness and pain in his eyes even as he forced a smile.

"You should be happy," he choked out, weakly. "You're going to be safe."

The tears that rolled down his face evaporated instantly against his white-hot helmet. It was fitting, as far as Elliot could tell. There was no more time for tears. He made his choice, and now he had a few precious minutes left to make peace with it. Once more he grabbed Isaac for a hug, and this time the other boy didn't fight it. "Please, be strong for Mom for me, okay? She needs you more than I do right now." With each word his voice seized up more, the boy not sure whether he'd burst into bawling or burst into flame first. Then Alicia shouted the name of her attack, and Elliot shoved Isaac away. If he had any idea what the girl had planned, this would get explosive really fast.

"No. No, this isn't happening!" Isaac shrieked, voice quivering with desperation. "You're not dying on me! Not today! Not after I did everything to keep you safe!" Elliot ignored him, though. Instead the boy slowly brought himself airborne, eyes squeezed tightly shut. He was enveloped in a small ball of white light, which soon expanded into a massive explosion. Even with Elliot's best attempts to move out of range, the blast still had enough force to knock Isaac back as he shielded his eyes from the bright light.

When Isaac's vision returned to him, there was only one trace of his brother left. The Human and Beast spirits of Order floated in the air where the Dynasmon once stood. They hovered in place for a bit, and then exploded into brilliant shards of light. As they fizzled out into the atmosphere, so, too, did Isaac's hopes of ever seeing his brother again.

He let himself crash down onto the beach, slowly regressing from his own Digimon form to his true human self. By the time he had finished transforming he hit the ground, on his hands and knees and trying not to let anyone see the flood of hot, raging tears pouring from his face. He wished he could relish in their victory today, but all he could feel was numb.