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Chapter 10: Menoa’s Determination
“Aaaaaaaaaaaaargh!”
“What is that Digimon?”
“Stop it!”
The “Chosen Children” who lived alongside their Digimon were suddenly greeted by Eosmon in front of them.
The children and their Digimon were thrown into a panic, and the Eosmon pursued them without hesitation.
“N-No…”
In the middle of New York, a little girl was shaking, unable to get away.
She was holding a crying Digimon in her arms, but the Eosmon approached her without even flinching.
“Not so fast!”
Using the momentum from his silver wings, a Digimon with a symbol that looked like an “X” on his chest hit Eosmon with a hard punch.
The Eosmon was embedded in the wall, and the light in its eyes went out before it finally stopped moving.
“Nice one, XV-mon!”
Daisuke called out to his evolved partner, running in after him. He crouched down to the little girl’s height.
“Are you okay?”
“Yeah…”
Daisuke smiled at the quietly nodding girl, hoping that it would calm her down.
“Aaaaaaagh!”
A boy was running in from a different road, the screen on his smartphone glowing strangely.
An Eosmon-shaped light was coming out of his phone screen.
Daisuke remembered the warning that Koushirou had sent them, and gulped.
“So these guys really are Eosmon…”
“Daisuke!”
Miyako ran in, followed by Iori, Ken, and their Digimon partners.
“These Digimon are appearing out of nowhere, all over the world!”
“But there are far too many of them.”
Hearing Iori’s words, Ken clenched his fist tightly.
“Still, giving up is not an option for us!”
Hearing Ken saying this, Daisuke put on a huge smile.
“Of course it’s not! We’re not the only ones fighting, after all!”
It wasn’t just New York, where Daisuke and his friends were.
“Chosen Children” all over the world were courageously fighting against the Eosmon, in order to protect their precious friends.
But the only ones who could save the Digital World were the seniors that Daisuke and his friends admired.
“We’re counting on you, Taichi-san, Yamato-san!”
Daisuke sent them his cheers, and, alongside his friends, turned to face the Eosmon.
Meanwhile, back in Neverland in the Digital World, Taichi and the others had managed to flee the central island.
On a block that resembled a giant wing, made from the same crystal that had created the children’s “islands of memory”, Gabumon looked down at the central island.
“We’ll probably be safe here.”
“Yeah.”
Agumon nodded at Gabumon, and the two stood face to face.
“…Damn it!”
Agumon and Gabumon turned to face Taichi in response to his voice. Sitting on the crystal, Taichi and Yamato were hanging their heads.
“What are we supposed to do now…” muttered Yamato, looking at his Digivice.
“Was I that lacking in resolve…?”
The ring floating on top of his Digivice…had barely any left.
Their separation from Agumon and Gabumon was converging on them, right in front of their eyes.
“…Damn it!”
Taichi pounded the ground.
He could only be angry at himself for not having enough resolve.
He was ashamed at himself for letting his heart be tempted by Menoa’s words.
“It’s not just you.”
Yamato also had his head in a slump.
They’d decided to fight, and yet Taichi and Yamato’s hearts still had those wishes of “I don’t want to separate from my partner yet” and “I want to stay with him forever”.
“Let’s fight.”
Taichi and Yamato, whose eyes had been downcast, looked up.
Agumon and Gabumon were staring straight at the two of them.
“Hey, Taichi, let’s go.”
“Hey, Yamato, let’s fight, and save everyone.”
Agumon and Gabumon were pressing their partners on.
But Taichi still couldn’t gather enough resolve. “But if we do, you guys will…”
“Do you guys understand what’ll happen to you?”
Hearing Yamato ask this, Agumon smiled back, just a little.
“Of course we know.”
“But if we don’t do something, we won’t be able to save everyone!”
Taichi and Yamato could say nothing in response to Gabumon’s words.
Consciously, they knew.
Unless they fought Menoa and Eosmon, they wouldn’t be able to save the “Chosen Children”.
Their friends and family would never awaken.
But when their separation was waiting ahead, they couldn’t take even a single step forward, no matter what they did.
What were they supposed to do? Was there no other choice but to fight until they lost their beloved partners?
As Taichi and Yamato sat there, frozen…they heard Agumon’s bright voice.
“I’m really happy that I got to see you and your friends become adults, Taichi!”
Next to him, Gabumon added on his own cheerful words.
“Seeing everyone change is so exciting!”
Their smiles were from the depths of their heart, coming out all at once.
“Guys…”
Taichi looked directly at Agumon and Gabumon.
“And besides…” said Agumon, slowly, so that they would be able to take all of it in. “I get the feeling we’ll still always be with you guys.”
“…!”
Taichi and Yamato, startled, raised their heads a little.
Agumon and Gabumon were giving them a huge smile.
If they fought here, they might not be able to walk next to them anymore. Perhaps they would never see each other again.
But the link between them that had formed from the time they’d met would not disappear.
The adventure that Taichi and Agumon and their friends had overcome would surely become strength for Taichi and his friends.
From here on out, the Digimon would still be giving them the strength to push on towards their future.
“Let’s do it, Taichi.”
“Let’s go, Yamato.”
Agumon and Gabumon looked up at their partners.
“…Yeah. Let’s go and save them, Gabumon!” said Yamato, with cool-headedness and yet with passion.
“Let’s show them what a real bond looks like!”
Taichi took the goggles hanging on his neck, stretched them up, and snapped them on his forehead.
The Taichi who could push straight on ahead, the same as the child who had once gone on a grand adventure through the Digital World, had returned.
“Nothing else but to get it done!”
Hearing what Taichi had said, Agumon, Gabumon, and Yamato nodded firmly.
And so, Taichi and Agumon, and Yamato and Gabumon, bumped fists together.
They would always be together. Taichi carried those words on his back.
Taking that single step forward, Taichi and Yamato would no longer waver.
Eosmon were still flying around Neverland, keeping watch around the surroundings.
Menoa was riding one of the Eosmon, and it lowered her down above the lake.
“All right, everyone. Return to your own special places!” said Menoa, gently, to the children and their Digimon. “Soon, there will be even more ‘Chosen Children’ coming. Tons of them, from all over the world!”
Menoa spread her arms wide, and the children looked up at her with a smile.
“Once that happens, we’ll be able to have even more fun here! This will be a place where everyone can smile, all the time! And you’ll never have to part with your most important friend! You’ll always be with them…”
As she said those words in a bright voice…Menoa’s memories returned to her mind.
Morphomon’s smile as she pulled her along by the hand. Whenever they played together, ate together, studied together, slept together, woke up together, she was always smiling.
Her time with Morphomon was her most precious treasure.
Up until the day Menoa and Morphomon’s sudden parting had torn them apart.
“…Let’s all stay here together, forever…” said Menoa to the children, as if she were entrusting them with her own wish.
Thump.
Four sets of footsteps could be heard from behind Menoa.
“…Since you’re the ones coming here, does that mean you’ve changed your mind?”
Menoa turned towards them, slowly.
Taichi and Yamato, and Agumon and Gabumon, stared straight at Menoa.
“No, we haven’t,” said Taichi, in a clear voice.
“We’re gonna save everyone,” said Yamato, who also had his eyes fixated on Menoa.
Menoa laughed with a small hmph, shrugging them off.
“Nonsense.“
Menoa spread out her arms, as if to protect the children.
“This is our utopia, for all of us!”
A large swarm of Eosmon looked down at Taichi and his friends, who were now a danger to Neverland.
“Let’s go, Agumon!”
“Yeah!”
Taichi and Agumon’s hearts became one.
“Let’s go, Gabumon!”
“Yeah!”
Yamato and Gabumon’s hearts became one.
And, in response to their feelings, their Digivices started to glow with light. Taichi and Yamato started to rise up into the air.
Agumon and Gabumon became balls of light.
When the lights died down, Omegamon, clad in his cape, had appeared before the swarm of Eosmon.
Even more of the rings of lights on the Digivices in Taichi and Yamato’s hands began to disappear.
But Taichi and Yamato would no longer waver.
“Go…!”
Omegamon flew into the swarm of countless Eosmon. Twisting his body, he took the Grey Sword on his left arm and swung it at a speed faster than the eye could follow.
Cutting down the Eosmon, Omegamon then took the Garuru Cannon on his right arm and started firing multiple shots at them.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
More and more Eosmon were getting caught up in the explosions, and Omegamon, who had formed from the force of Taichi and Yamato’s will, caused a large number of Eosmon to scatter.
“…Why are you getting in the way…?”
Below the smoke from Omegamon’s explosions, Menoa was murmuring in a daze.
“Because this is a false utopia, that’s why!” said Taichi definitively.
Tears were slowly welling in Menoa’s eyes, and Menoa turned to face Yamato.
“…Why are you trying to destroy this place…?”
Yamato stared right back at Menoa.
“Because as long as they’re here, nobody will be able to move on!”
Boom!
Omegamon had used all of the power in his Garuru Cannon to blow up an Eosmon and one of the “islands of memory”.
The island made of crystal was fragile, and shattered all too easily.
Menoa’s expression began to twist.
Every time an Eosmon was defeated, the pain in Menoa’s chest came up again.
It was the feeling of loss that she’d suffered when she’d had to part with Morphomon, like a part of her body had been torn away.
The same thing was happening, even with the Eosmon that Omegamon was taking down.
Beads of light formed into a single line, and lines gathered into a pillar…and the pillar formed around Menoa.
“I’m the only one who understands this pain…”
From within the pillar, Menoa looked up at the sky.
“I’m going to save everyone. I’m going to become everyone’s goddess!”
As Menoa shouted this out, she was enveloped in light.
“Aaaaaagh!”
Taichi and Yamato averted their eyes.
The pillar of light split the huge island into two parts, forming a wall.
The lake’s water was flowing and chugging into the rift formed by the wall.
The water surface vanished, and the wall opened up on the left and right sides. Taichi’s gaze was drawn to the Digimon that had just appeared.
“…That’s…!”
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