D-Reaper's Feast (MPC 70A, 70C) [Completed]

Chaos
Pure, unfettered chaos was the only way one could describe the battle of those chosen by the Digimon and the eldritch horror of the D-Reaper. Yuko and the Evolved Jokermon's struggle, mighty though it was, paled in comparison to the horror's capability to mass-produce its many agents. And where one of the bunnies was stricken down, another two took their place, only to be destroyed swiftly by the fiendish Jester that was Piedmon. Yet the cycle was repeated again and again, leading the self-assured virus-type to question where their angelical ally could be.

And then, clouds formed solemnly above the D-Reaper's spawns who could only look above as the sound of thunder rumbled above them, announcing what was to come.

Then, a mighty voice spoke from above. A mighty, bestial voice that reeked of derision and yet carried an authority like no other. "HEAVEN'S JUDGMENT!" Was its only command to the clouds. And the heavens obeyed, unloading a veritable hail of lightning upon the many abominations which were spawned by the D-Reaper, who writhed helplessly until naught remained but ashes. Before more could spawn to take their place, Yuko and Piedmon were joined by a gigantic rabbit with fur and tail that more resembled robes of a priest and ears that were shaped like wings. Though cute, its form bore no cuddliness or happiness. It was as grim as the situation that just arose.

"Apologies, I was caught by another platoon of Agents." The rabbit explained, and upon its form, the Rebel duo could see marks of burns hidden by ruffled fur and many, MANY scratches. "We need to get to the core. Mikazuki must be there!" he instructed, pointing to the tallest creatures of the bunch, both of which seemed connected already.

And in the tallest spire of red wire-like mass, crowned as if it was a queen, their target was.

But first, they needed out of there, for more of the unholy abominations came to replace their fallen brethren. "Let us hence, now!" Cherubimon grabbed both the outcast and the jester and soared on, trying his best to reach the menace as fast as he could.

_______________________

"It's useless..." Mikazuki sobbed yet again within the bubble that served as the D-Reaper's core, face showing signs of lack of sleep and hunger. His eyes were sunken like those of a skull and his clothes crinkled and already soaked in the boy's tears.

"YES. AT LAST YOU GRASP THE REALITY OF THE SITUATION, MIKAZUKI." The abhorrent voice of the beast echoed within the confines of the Mother D-Reaper. A Genderless, hollow voice, not unlike that of a machine. "THERE IS NOTHING LEFT TO DO FOR THEM. THESE IRRATIONAL CREATURES WILL BE GONE IN MOMENTS. IT IS FOR THE BETTER." It tried consoling the boy-giant, only to make his sobs even louder and a scream of "Shut up!" To come from him.

Which was the point, anyway. After all, the boy's negative emotions only added more power to the main terminal.

"AFTER ANALYZING ALL THE DATA FROM YOUR SUBCONSCIOUS, THE D-REAPER HAS DEEMED HUMANITY TO BE A BUG. AND ACCORDING TO OUR CENTRAL DIRECTIVE, ALL BUGS MUST BE ASSIMILATED AND DELETED."

Mikazuki tried his best to ignore the monster and only glanced towards where he guessed the front of the creature was, praying silently for someone... anyone to rescue him from the torment that he was being subjected to.

________________________________

Word Count: 570
Total Word Count: 570

While resisting the urge to smack the fiendish pierrot was quite appealing, this was not the time to entertain such thoughts. They had to save Mikazuki now, not squabble about pathetic issues such as how much Jokermon deserved the flaming pits of Tartarus. As such, the only reply he gave Yuko's Digimon was "In a way." before flying them both to safety. In the meantime, Yuko saw it fit to use a healing spell of sorts on the Cherub, causing the surface wounds covering him quickly mend themselves. "Thank you, Yuko. Though I'd suggest you keep your aid to your partner. We need to make it to that thing post-haste, and it would be for the best if the two of you also were in prime condition for the final battle."

It was then that the tamer inquired about Cherubimon's reasoning as to why Mikazuki would be there, which Jokermon quickly figured out and spelled out. The angel had to admit: Maybe there was some merit in being as wretched as the demonic clown was. It allowed him to quickly see the bigger picture without much difficulty.

"A fitting Description." Concurred Cherubimon. "The D-Reaper is still a program that requires power from somewhere to thrive like that, which means it must be using a tamer to evolve faster. I would wager that it is using Mikazuki's frail mental state to drain his negative emotions to do so." The explanation quickly came to a halt when two enormous abominations surrounded them, forcing Cherubimon to gain some distance. "Let us fight them one-on-one. Lightning Spear!" The rabbit announced while raising one of its huge hands to the heavens above, to which the skies responded by sending a bolt of lightning just as huge as the angel into the hand, crackling with holy might made manifest.

Wasting no time, Cherubimon hurled the improvised spear at the creature, engulfing it in a huge explosion.

Word count:320
Total Word Count:890

As Cherubimon was about to respond, both to the insolent virus-type and the honest inquiry of the girl, The D-Reaper agent that was destroyed by his Lightning Spear suddenly managed to fuse with the one destroyed by Piedmon's Toy Wonderness, leaving in its place a mass of mouths and hands, not unlike a golem that was ready to attack them. It no doubt looked like a match for the two of them and it would have consumed valuable time to fight, had not a MarineDevimon jumped out to face it in their place, Bidding Yuko a heartwarmingly naive farewell as she, Jokermon's final form and the Angel of Knowledge flew further in the direction of the Amalgamation of Cables where no doubt Mikazuki was held captive and powering the beast.

To Cherubimon, however, this was something he had never seen, or even conceived for all his eons of overseeing the Digital World, and it certainly got him thinking about it. Virus-types were always naught but impure filth in his eyes, things that served no purpose other than corrupt the beautiful world ruled by the Angels and were incapable of being anything but Self-Serving monsters that would never put another's needs ahead of their own. It was what he has seen time and again.

And yet... not only was he witnessing a DEMON Digimon, of all things sacrificing his life for a human and another Digimon, but the Joker-Esque Digimon carrying Yuko was Honest-to-Yggdrasil MOURNING a loss! Sure, it may be too early for them to assume things, but the Agents' numbers have proven to never dwindle upon defeat. It was like facing the mythological hydra: If one of them was destroyed, two more came to replace it. There was no chance Marine Devimon had a chance of surviving this on his own.

And so, Cherubimon's mouth let out a single sentence that he never thought he'd direct at a virus-type: "Rest well, brave warrior. Your sacrifice will not have been in vain."

And so it had not. Both of the Digimon were able to easily dispatch most of the guardians of the Mother, who was now in plain view to them, giving them a glimpse of the enormity of the situation and the Enemy.

And at that moment, Something came for them.

It was fast as a bullet, and it almost caught the duo but Cherubimon was able to use Rubble to defend them from the many sickles that would have sliced them to ribbons, right as a shriek of unimaginable volume came from behind them. And when they turned behind, The second mound of cables, maw wide in wait to consume them, closed in with the speed of molasses, as opposed to its numerous appendages which were already speeding up on their trail again.

But worse yet was when a blast of energy hit Cherubimon straight in the back from above. The bunny angel groaned and writhed in pain, but managed to soldier on and turn to look at the mysterious attacker...

Mikazuki himself, suspended by a cable from the Mother D-Reaper's massive form like a puppet. But the face gave it away that the real one was still inside. What they were facing now was a copy. "You must not interfere at this delicate stage. The D-Reaper's programming is almost complete and we will not allow you to do any more harm than you have already." It spoke with a voice that was Mika's and yet not. A cybernetic echo came from the puppet, right as its back tore open, revealing a pair of crude, polygonic wings of a sickening blue and yellow.

The rest of the body followed suit. The jacket and jeans turned into a hide of slick blue and golden, marred by its simplicity, but still showing what awaited them. The hands gave way to claws and the sneakers became sharp points. But the worst was the face, which lost all its handsome contours in favor of something you'd see in a horror game. A single set of traces and mouth that looked as if it was made of bits.

Without waiting for a second longer, the new creature lunged at Cherubimon, together with the Reaper, who sent a large score of its appendages against Jokermon, intending to destroying the fiendish jester as quickly as possible.

___

Word Count: 721
Total Word Count: 1611

Cherubimon offered a silent prayer to the girl's safety and proceeded to arm himself with another Lightning Spear, aiming straight for the deformed horror ahead. Unfortunately for him, while not able to outright counter the attack head-on, the creature was fast enough to not only fly out of the way without a scratch but to strike back at him without much effort into maneuvering itself.

And for its size, the clone was surprisingly strong, to the point where the punch delivered to Cherubimon's gut managed to knock the beast back.

However, beaten as he was, the angel was far from beaten. As soon as it stopped recoiling, he spread his hands wide, sending out a pulse of psychic force around him. It wasn't noticeable enough to distract the reaper, but it did push the imitation back right as it readied another strike. unfazed, the abomination repositioned itself and rushed again towards the heavenly animal, arm morphing into a blade to skewer the bunny where he stood-

Only to meet facefirst with a veritable storm of rubble flying towards it. "Divine Grasp!" Proclaimed Cherubimon as his hands clasped together, trying to crush the agent underneath the weight of the debris.

Yet it was for naught, as seconds later, cuts started to appear around the makeshift sphere of rock, which then fell to the ground after Agent Type Mika sliced it through with his two hands, turned into a pair of axes suspiciously similar to those used by Andiramon. It was wounded severely, parts of its form outright missing, such as its legs and half of its head. But in mere moments, the substance that linked it to the Mother Reaper sent a red pulse into it, and soon enough, it was as if the damage had never been inflicted in the first place. "It's pointless to resist, Cherubi-chan." The mockery of Mikazuki's voice caused the angel to scowl in righteous fury, but his opponent was far from done. "We are connected to the Center core of the D-Reaper, and as long as it exists, so will all the agents!"

Those words were followed by the agent spreading its arms wide, causing two more of it to spawn from the cables of the Mother D-Reaper, all of them equal to the first.

"You, on the other hand..." And with that, the three lunged at the bunny, intending to turn it into Mincemeat!

_____________________________

Just as ghastly as the outside, one could easily liken the Core of the D-Reaper to a brain. Pulsating chords covered the place, with only six holes arranged in the shape of the eyes of the queen monster providing light.

But at the very Center of the room, Yuko easily found the source of its power. In a sphere of prismatic glass, curled in on a fetal position lay her best friend, muttering repeatedly. "It's my fault... all this is my fault..." Like a maddened Mantra. He also looked worse for wear. His eyes were deep, as if he hadn't slept for days. His hair, once pristine and stylishly messy, was now greasy and normally messy. Heck, Yuko could easily see he looked as if he hadn't been nourished, even.

And yet... he didn't even look at her. He couldn't even realize his best friend was there. "

Word Count: 548
Total Word Count:2159

One could easily say that this was a lost battle.

There was no other way around it, as the many agents of the D-Reaper swarmed upon the angel and devilish jester. The reaper, a monster that was, by all means unkillable, barely moved as the swords and props used by Piedmon stopped its relentless assault. Meanwhile, while Cherubimon's attacks were easily able to dispatch the Mikazuki doppelganger, the continuous spawning of more and more copies of the monster, courtesy of the Mother D-Reaper, continued to take its toll. It didn't help that, despite knowing that they were fake copies, Cherubimon couldn't help but hesitate as he dispatched them. That led to too many openings and now there he was, fur charred by countless blasts, and coated in fragmented data as scratches, punches, and kicks were mercilessly dished out upon the angel.

Very soon, there was no more that could be done by either. Piedmon was finally defeated and amongst the regenerating monsters, Cherubimon stood alone, powerless amidst darkness as the agents readied to finish him off. "You're a nuisance. You've always been a nuisance." They spoke in perfect synch, Placing both hands ahead as each one charged a blast of purplish energy.

"All you ever did was preach and put us in poor situations..." the clones berated as Cherubimon floated there, seemingly giving up. "Had you ever considered not to treat Joker-chan like garbage, we never would have been in this situation, to begin with... but it hardly matters now." And some of them turned their attention to the reaper once more. "Once the Reaper and Mother combine, we will be able to reach even further and this world's errors will be corrected."

And another pixelated smile of utter malice was directed at the cherubim. "Starting with this one..."

The blasts grew further and further, and right before they were launched to end the angel, it smiled and said a pair of words no one ever expected.

"You are right. I did treat him like garbage."
___________________________________________________

Mika continued there, even as Yuko pounded and screamed. It wasn't because he didn't believe her... but the Mother D-Reaper, in the one moment it had to react to the presence of an invader, managed to cut the sound from the bubble. All the Nakamura scion could see was Yuko punching and screaming at him, which did no favors to the impression he was already conceiving under the negativity oozing from him and being absorbed through the cables of the Reaper, all directed at a massive reddish goo beneath the two.

All he could do was stare on, sobbing silently.

Until only a set of words broke through the bubble.

"You're right. I did treat him like Garbage."

That one sentence got the boy to look stunned. "That's..."
_____________________________________________________

The reaper agents had planned to broadcast the very last moments of Cherubimon to Mikazuki. It was a plan to finally break the boy and let their mother consume him once and for all. A simple plan.

And yet, when those words left Cherubimon's maw, they didn't expect the serenity that came with them.

And to a machine, the unexpected was easily a weakness. One that gave Cherubimon precious time to speak up against the monsters.

"I had thought him ghastly, I had thought him a monster beyond salvation and I had thought him to be a coward who'd sacrifice Yuko as soon as he had what he wanted... And all because he was a virus." He shook his head. "I see now that it was me who was blind to what was in my face all along. I had the pleasure of meeting a noble demon who was proof I was wrong and yet I scorned and treated him like trash..."

One last smile was thrown towards the mother's reaper. "And for those mistakes, I will pay with my life, that much is certain." A frown of determination then took over. "But... I won't let our end be in vain! If I must go, like Joker, I too will go down fighting as the angel I'm supposed to be! And more importantly... I'll SAVE MIKAZUKI!"

And with that, the angel brought its hands up, prompting the hail of dark blasts to shower upon him. And yet, through pain and agony, the angel stood there, calling forth a storm massive enough to cover the entirety of Tokyo. Thunder rumbled down and called the attention of both the Agents, the Reaper AND the many people fighting for their lives. This was no mere weather phenomenon... And to Cherubimon, this was all that he had left.

And it wouldn't go to waste. "Heaven's..."

His legs began giving away... his wing-like years dissolved into pixels.. but the ghastly light of the monsters was soon overshadowed by blinding light. Light that allowed a crack in Mikazuki's bubble to start forming.

"JUDGEMENT!"

And from the heavens, a deafening sound rushed along with a hailstorm of pure electricity, striking all the agents and the reaper alike. They squirmed and writhed, trying to escape or counter the unrelenting assault, to no avail. The mother may have not suffered nearly as much damage, but soon, Tokyo was silenced. Not a single agent remained after the catastrophic lightning storm ceased. A total of five minutes went by, and soon, only the Reaper and the Mother stood still.