In Devimon's claws, Patamon's eyes filled with tears of pain. "Why? Why am I the only one who can't digivolve? I want to digivolve—I have to protect T.K. Why can't I?"
Tai's scanner readout showed Patamon was just a sliver away from evolving. "So that's why, in the original, Angemon had to be reborn from a Digi-Egg afterward—forcing the evolution wrecked his data, and only a full reset brought him back. We don't have a choice. To minimize losses, we still need Angemon's power." He keyed a command. Far below, the underground city's energy tower lit up. A lance of light shot skyward.
"What's that?" The upheaval drew every eye on the battlefield.
"A holy aura? Impossible…" Devimon trembled—the sacred presence was so strong it made him shudder.
Tai smiled. Using the construction principles of the Digivice he'd found at the Centarumon-guarded ruins—and Metal Empire schematics—he'd designed a converter that transformed the underground city's energy into data Digimon could absorb to promote digivolution.
The Digivice on T.K.'s chest finally exploded with its own blinding light. A cataract of data chains poured out like a waterfall. In Devimon's disbelieving stare, white light burst from the Patamon clenched in his hand. The radiance burned his palm; he recoiled and loosened his grip. Three pairs of vast white wings unfurled behind a bright, expanding silhouette.
"Patamon digivolve to… Angemon!"
The evolution light ripped open the black sky. Golden hair streamed; a cross-marked mask gleamed; six white wings shed waves of holiness. Sunlit hair flying, a perfect, serene face hidden behind the mask, six snowy pinions flaring—robes pure as light itself. Tall, lithe, and strong, he radiated power and grace. A warrior of light—the Digimon said to bring blessing.
"Look—Patamon digivolved!" Joe shouted, beaming beside his partner.
"That's T.K.'s partner… Angemon," Matt said, stunned, staring at the angel blazing in the air.
"Like a real angel," Mimi murmured.
T.K. gaped up at his partner. "Patamon… digivolved." He'd never even imagined his partner would become an angel.
"Damn it—so close!" Devimon snarled.
"Darkness," Angemon intoned, "in the name of the light—be gone." His voice was clear and melodious—hard to tell if it was male or female. His radiance brightened.
"Together!" Greymon rose and fired; the others hurled their techniques in unison.
"Fist of the Beast King!" "Magma Bomb!"—attacks roared from behind the children as well.
They turned. Leomon and the allies he'd rallied had arrived.
"Yes—reinforcements!" Izzy cried.
"Curse this light!" Devimon, dazzled, couldn't open his eyes. A storm of strikes hammered him from all sides.
Tai knew this was the moment. "All batteries—full attack." The laser emplacements dropped their safeties and cycled without cooldown, lancing Devimon again and again.
Angemon lifted his holy staff. The Digivices in the children's hands shot beams that gathered at the sigil blazing on Angemon's right hand rather than sinking into his body like in the original timeline. Which made sense—things were far better now; Angemon didn't need to overstrain himself. As the devices' glow dwindled, the saintly staff grew shorter and shorter, until all its light condensed into Angemon's fist. Power complete, he drew back to strike.
"Devimon—your darkness has grown too great. I will erase you from this world!"
"Can you?" Devimon roared.
"Hand of Fate." A golden blast punched straight through, holy shockwaves spearing Devimon's chest, tearing into the sky—beyond File Island, out into the heavens.
A vast hole opened in Devimon's torso, rimmed in white light that gnawed it wider and wider.
"Did you think beating me was the end? Across the sea, darkness greater than mine awaits you! You're finished!" Devimon howled, still trying to scar their hearts. His form scattered and was gone.
Darkness lifted from File Island. Light washed everything clean.
"T.K.!" Angemon fell back to Patamon and fluttered into his partner's arms.
T.K. hugged him tight. "Patamon digivolved—into Angemon. That's amazing!"
Watching boy and partner spin in giddy circles, everyone finally exhaled. Devimon was down. The crisis was over.
The allied Digimon waved their farewells and departed. Everyone was exhausted. After a battle that savage, the summit had been shaved flat—nothing left but bare rock.
When the quiet returned, the children's thoughts turned to what came next.
"Devimon said there's a darkness stronger than him across the sea," Matt recalled.
"I thought we could go home," Joe said, deflated.
"Do we really have to keep fighting? I don't want to," Mimi grumbled.
While the others talked, Tai's mind stayed on Angemon. Among the partners, Agumon and Gabumon would climb highest—on to Mega, even merging as Omnimon in the movies. But Angemon was the most mysterious.
In the original, Patamon couldn't digivolve at all—not with Izzy's program, and not with Tai's now, without tapping a huge external power source. More striking: Angemon could actively wield the Digivices' holy power without the children channeling it—something only MagnaAngemon/Angewomon would do in the fourth series. Even if Angemon wasn't quite at their level, he wasn't far off.
Even at Champion, Angemon could tilt a fight against Megas—proof of his strength. And when he reached Ultimate as MagnaAngemon, he erased the Mega-level Piedmon.
As the debate heated up, the ground trembled. Rock cracked. A glowing pedestal shoved free of the rubble. A seven-colored beam speared up, and a hazy figure formed in front of the children. Gennai—right on schedule. He must have been watching all along.
The pillar of light resolved into a skinny old man. The topknot sprouting from his bald head was… a choice. What even was that hairstyle?
"So these are the DigiDestined. Beating Devimon—impressive," the old man said flatly from within the projection. Everyone stared. The tone didn't sound like praise at all—more like he was commenting on a nap.
"Who are you?" Joe asked warily.
"Are you with Devimon?" Matt added.
"Don't worry. I'm on your side," the old man said quickly.
"So there's another human here?" Sora asked, puzzled.
"I only look human. I'm not," he explained.
"A ghost?" Mimi squeaked.
"You may call me Gennai. That is my name." He glanced at Mimi, then continued. "Devimon kept me from contacting you. Now that the darkness over this island has lifted, I finally can."
"Contact us—from where?" Izzy asked.
"I live across the sea from File Island—on the Server Continent."
"Since when have you lived here?" Sora asked.
"Since the beginning," he said. The answer startled everyone—how old was that?
"Were you the one who called us here?" T.K. asked.
"No," Gennai replied.
"Then who?" T.K. pressed.
"I don't know."
"Then how do we get home?" T.K. asked the biggest question of all.
"Well…" Gennai paused. Everyone except Tai leaned in. "I don't know."
"If you don't know anything, why contact us at all?" Mimi said, losing patience.
"I want to ask a favor."
"What is it?" Sora asked.
"Come to the Server Continent and defeat the enemy there. You're the DigiDestined. You can do it."
"You want us to go—but where is the Server Continent?" Izzy said.
"Right. I'll transmit a map to your laptop now."
"How are we supposed to beat something stronger than Devimon? He almost wiped us out," Joe said, worried as ever.
"You can—if your Digimon keep digivolving." As he spoke, the 3D image flickered out. In its place, a pendant-like object spun in the light. "Insert a Crest into a Tag, and you can evolve further."
"Where are the Tags and Crests?" Gabumon asked.
"The Crests are scattered across the Server Continent. You'll have to find them. As for the Tags, Devimon sealed them away somewhere…" The beam warped. Gennai's voice jumped. "No—interference! I'll be waiting on the Server Continent." The image vanished as suddenly as it had appeared.
Izzy flipped open his laptop. The map had arrived.