Presently,

Near Space-Time Towers

Bolts of lightning, as thick as the towers themselves, rumbled across the blackened skies of the strange dimension.

Forced to wake up from his healing state, Palkia roared, waves of power pulsating out of him, shaking the entire teleported Alamos Town.

In front of him, flying in the sky, was Darkrai, ready to enter into a bitter fight with the Space Pokemon.

Most of the town’s people had already been caught off guard by the sudden reveal of another Pokemon in the sky; a sky that had also turned into a swirling mass of blackness.

However, it was Ash and his friends who suffered the worst surprise.

Just as Palkia had revealed himself, dissipating the fog surrounding the town, and ending the strange spiritual sightings of dreams turning real, blood and gore had painted their faces red.

Stunned in pure horror, Ash, Pikachu, Brock, Dawn, Tonio, and Alice looked through the redness and saw a massive sword made of black-red hardened flesh... running through Dr. Desmond’s torso.

Then, as if the horror wasn’t done with them yet, the upper half of Desmond’s body fell over the blade, fleshly tendrils failing to keep the structure intact.

This was a dream...

This... must be a dream...

The words rang in all minds.

However, the events that happened next turned the strange, dreadful, bloody sight even stranger and realer.

As Palkia and Darkrai began fighting in the sky, ignoring the happenings below them, a VROOM rumbled across the town.

Out of nowhere, Beelzemon, riding Behemoth, appeared behind Baron Alberto.

The Digimon’s speed was so fast, in fact, that all the houses and buildings behind him disintegrated under the shockwaves, the VROOM hiding the sonic boom within it.

Beelzemon was already carrying his signature shotguns, Berenjana, their mouths aimed at the Contestant.

Then, with no smile on his face, the Mega Digimon fired.

The BANG was so loud that it attracted even Palkia’s gaze, both he and Darkrai coming to a standstill in the sky.

However, despite the gap of mere feet between the guns and the target, the shots missed.

They rumbled past Ash and the others, sending them flying in different directions, and landed at the edge of the town.

"..."

Everything in that direction was annihilated, countless people and Pokemon dying instantly as a massive, black mushroom cloud appeared.

Robert Alberto reappeared far in the sky.

But he hadn’t come out unscathed, it seemed.

Half of his body on the right side was mutilated, organs hanging, punctured by his broken bones.

It was then that another figure appeared next to him, like a ghost who had already known his arrival right at this location.

This ghost had a head full of golden hair and round, golden glasses over his eyes.

He was wearing a long, red overcoat, and the tip of the gun he carried was aimed directly at Baron Alberto’s head.

For the first time, Baron Alberto’s eyes popped out in shock, his pupils shaking. Time hadn’t stalled, though, unlike the moment from his unusual burst of speed before he had used Critical Pain Devastator.

That finishing move, which was strong enough to one-shot any 11th Floor and even some 12th Floor Contestants, consumed almost all reserves and couldn’t be used repeatedly—at least not without getting a breather.

Red Sun, with Inheritance of The Humanoid Typhoon from Vash the Stampede, couldn’t afford to allow the enemy a breather anyway.

When time stalled now, it happened for Red Sun, not for Baron Alberto.

His entire arm, carrying the gun, exploded, becoming a massive gun with angelic wings.

A black spot of energy gathered at its tip, becoming a shining black hole, blinding all eyes with its eerie whiteness.

Then, Red Sun fired the Angel Arm.

The ray of white light disappeared into the nothingness of the dimension, leaving behind a buzz that made the ears bleed.

With blood pouring out of his missing left side, Baron Alberto appeared in the middle of the destroyed town again, barely standing on his one leg.

Suddenly, a sun appeared overhead.

In the sky, under the dark swirls of the dimension, ShineGreymon held his hands toward Baron Alberto, an insane amount of fiery light hissing out from his back, becoming wings hundreds of meters large.

Not giving the Contestant even a moment to think properly, ShineGreymon fired the Glorious Burst, gathering all the energy in front of him.

This was the defining move.

This was the defining moment.

This was the opportunity Captain Red had given them, to begin with. 𝒻𝑟ℯℯ𝑤𝑒𝑏𝑛𝘰𝓋𝑒𝓁.𝒸𝑜𝘮

Once the attack landed, it would finish the Contestant, no matter how strong he was.

By acting as a decoy-Red Sun, and letting the enemy attack him with his strongest move, Captain had practically made sure that the assassin wouldn’t have reserves to dodge the well-placed attacks completely.

All Red Sun and the two Digimon had to do now was to follow through with their attacks and finish the enemy.

ShineGreymon’s Glorious Burst would turn him useless for days. Still, momentarily, it was even stronger than Red Sun’s Angel Arm, and was indeed enough to finish the 12th Floor Contestant...

... if it hit.

If it hit, that would also destroy half of Alamos Town.

Red Sun had never cared for that, though.

There was a reason for the rumors of him leaving behind nothing but death and destruction in whichever timeline he appeared, because when it came to not holding back, he didn’t.

Unfortunately, there were some things that even the Captain couldn’t predict.

The Timeline might not interfere, as long as characters essential to the plotline were unharmed, but... what about the Half-Deep One’s Avatar?

Before the light of Glorious Burst could incinerate all and everything, along with the Contestant, it met a blob of purple light.

With a suppressed boom, the attacks canceled each other out, Palkia revealing itself in the sky, eyeing ShineGreymon with a menacing growl.

Red Sun, Beelzemon, and ShineGreymon’s eyes dimmed, their hearts skipping a beat.

On the ground, the bloody, butchered, but alive, Baron Alberto... smiled.

Then, with another BOOM, a mass of black gas exploded out of him, instantly covering the entire town from horizon to horizon!