The final bout in the starlight tournament is set to be the largest match to date. As such it couldn't be contained in a single chapter alone. I'm sure you'll all enjoy it just the same! Kiya belongs to  dragonsurfer and though only mentioned... RD belongs to  rainbowdragon

ENJOY! ^^ And comment!

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Starlight Final- act 1



Max let out a small burp, groaning as his body worked on the digiegg inside his belly.
Due to the barrier being wrecked completely due to Zeedgarurumon's mere presence he was given a chance to relax. And further process the digiegg inside of him and integrate it into his system. All that would remain is devouring and absorbing Grapleomon. IF things went that way at all.

"This is what the whole tournament was about...Making it to the royal knights. And now our goal of reviving you is at hand. Do you think we have a chance, even with all of our preperations?" Max spoke out, the only one still in the waiting room was Grapleomon, who just gave him a confused expression upon asking such a question.


Within Max's inner conciousness, Leo was rubbing the digiegg that had formed within it, or rather the pieces that were finally forming inside. "Everything you could do has already been done. Your body is already fighting just to keep awake. Your body may have healed but you've not rested even once. We can only hope that all of your training and our sparring pays off."


"Hey!" Grapleomon gave Max a small pat on the shoulder, grinning. "You prepared as much as you could for this tournament. We both did. We can only wait and see how things turn out."


Suddenly, looking at Grapleomon's face he couldn't help but laugh. Though he said it differently, Grapleomon told Max the exact same thing that Leo had conveyed inside his head. "YOu two are definitely the same guy..." When Grapleomon tried to inquire about who he was talking about, he stretched his arms out. "You'll find out...One way or another everything will come to light." He held a paw out, giving a innocent smile that all Guilmon's seemed to carry.


Out in the stands, Kiya and Scav finally had time to relax in their seats. Though the other digimon looked nervous by Jesse's armored form, none protested to his presence. "Do you think Max's plan is going to work? I mean...We're talking about a guy who can bend gravity." Kiya called out, looking in Scav's direction, his orange scaled friend staring intently at the repairs going on with the shield, trying to will itself to power back on.


After some time, Scav finally let out a breath he'd been holding in. "There's a trick to his power. He's not a master of gravity, but he's very good at manipulating it to a point. If Max can figure out the trick behind his attacks, he just might have a chance."


"Max can be a goof as a Guilmon. Especially after a celibration as we've seen at Zhuqiaomon's lair. But he's a brilliant tactician. Be it as a pokemon trainer or as the digimon he is now." Jesse pointed out, stretching his limbs out and shifting into his Lobomon armor form. "He'll win. Trust me."


A couple of Gabumon had taken RD away by stretcher, while a few Bearmon carted Blade away. On the way past the waiting room, Blade had motioned Max forward, grabbing his claw tightly and smirked. "You better win this. I don't get chummy often but I'd rather save the world with you folks than have to handle things alone."


Gasping, Max gripping Blade's paw gently, before nodding. "You couldn't get rid of us even if you tried. We're doing this for our world just as much as this one. To us, they are both our homes...after all we've been through."


Watching the medics drag both dragons off, Max took a deep breath, stretching his limbs when he heard the hum of the barrier kicking back on. "I guess now's the time. You ready Grapleomon?"


"Let's give em a good show!" Grapleomon gave Max a thumbs up, grinning childishly as they both stepped out.


Smithy started making his way back to his table in the corner of the arena, sitting just outside of the ring alongside Drill the Dorulumon. "Well after some repairs to the energy shield we're back in buisiness folks! We have our final two contestants Grapleomon! And Max the Guilmon entering the fray! This battle could truely go either way, both proposing strategy and battle prowess worthy of the Mega class!"


The crowd roared their excitement, both Max and Grapleomon stepping out together, waving at the mass of digimon. Max did a couple of hand stands, walking into the ring on his forepaws while Grapleomon summersaulted into the fray, both of them grinning from ear to ear.


"I think Max found someone he can joke around with..." Jesse smirked, watching the two hit it off infront of the crowd. It threw most of them for a loop but Jesse knew that once the fighting started things would get serious.


"I'll start things off with everything I've got!" Max cried out, grinning as he started digivolving into Weregrowlmon right from the start. Pulling free his two katana's from their sheaths and stared intently at Grapleomon.


Grapleomon nodded, grinning wide as he charged right at Max, fists up in defense. "I wouldn't have it any other way from the digital disaster that brought down Triceramon!!"


"Already have a nickname do I?" Max chuckled, giving clean, precise swipes that Grapleomon would just barely manage to slip by, ducking, turning, and even bending to avoid those sharp katana's that could rip him in two. This went on for a good minute into Grapleomon grabbed one of the steel blades and yanked it out of Max's hand, giving the ultimate dinosaur a kick in the stomach that sent him sliding several feet away.


Tilting the blade to the side, Grapleomon lifted it into the air and caught it in a single fluid motion by the hilt and held it forward, as if he were well trained in sword play. "Nope! My own title for ya! I doubt I could have brought down Triceramon like you did. Everyone believed he would be the one to leave with the title but you proved them wrong. In that respect, it's an honor to be pited against you in the final round."


Max felt along his gut, making sure that there was no trickery but was pleased when he felt nothing out of place. He lifted his one remaining katana and formed his leo blade with the other. "At least there's one weapon you can't take from me. If it means anything, I'm happy it was you." Leo gave a short nod with what little he could do in his present form. Being a disembodied head with nothing but a blade punching through your mouth made it difficult to do much of anything afterall!


With that, Max sprang forward, claws pulling up a bit of the ring with it as he surged into Grapleomon. With a single swipe, he set forth a beast king head flying from his Leo blade. "Slash of the beast king!" He growled out, then leapt up, both blades poised to strike Grapleomon from above.


Rolling out of the way of the beast king wave slash, Grapleomon looked up and lifted his hands forward, and suddenly Max's movements were slowed. His descent to the earth slowed down to a fraction of his original speed. "I win!" Grapleomon grinned.


Max opened his mouth wide in that moment, a glass ball shooting into Grapleomon. "Inceneration blast!" Roared out Max, as a wave of flames engulfed the duo.


In order to avoid the incoming destructive blast, Grapleomon shoved back, using his gravitational powers to send him flying into the opposite end of the ring while letting Max suffer the brunt of the attack. "I told ya!"


As the smoke cleared, Max picked up the blade that Grapleomon had dropped in the heat of things. Though it certainly saw better days, thanks to his attack it had melted halfway. He set what remained into it's casing and sighed. "Your turbines. When you want to lessen the gravity in a given area your turbines rotate in one direction. And if you want to repel something, such as yourself they rotate counterclockwise." Max's eyes glinted in the sunlight, a rare grin spreading on his face. "Physical contact is nearly impossible as long as those turbines on your arms continue to rotate. But I'm sure keeping them at the right speed is taxing on your body. I doubt you can move quite the same way you did before."


"You're perceptive. They say that most Guilmon are childish, unable to plan their next move even in their evolved stages. Yet you have a sharp mind, even amid the flames and the danger you were able to keep an eye on my arms and legs." Grapleomon called out, he sighed and scratched the back of his head. "It's true! Making the turbines spin faster than their normal operational levels is a challenge. And using it too much can cause some serious complications for me. But as long as I can finish this match before any of the turbines give out then I'll be able to recover."


Max set his remaining Katana into it's sheath and pointed a claw at Grapleomon's right arm. "One of them already has." He pointed out the cracks in the lion's right turbine and smirked. "I doubt you can use it again without it going boom." Max released his grin and sighed. "Five seconds...I bet that's as long as you can keep your own gravitational space without breaking the turbine. As long as you stay within five seconds then you're golden."


Then Max did something unexpected, he charged forward with his bare claws. "If you figured all that out then why would you come at me so boldly!" When Max came within arms length, he lifted his left arm, the turbine kicking into overdrive, slowing Max's movements.


Just as Grapleomon's fist was coming toward Max's chest, the dinosaur started glowing, shrinking down into Guilmon just before the punch could connect and left him missing his mark. When gravity returned to normal, a hard smack with Max's tail sent Grapleomon face first into the ground.

"It's like I said. Five seconds...All I have to do is out smart you. I had a feeling you'd go after the most sensible target. Ones that you could finish me off in a single blow, even a glancing one." He lifted a paw, chuckling as it started glowing. "Now that I know exactly how your power works I can do this..."


Grapleomon groaned, swirls in his eyes one moment then he pulled himself off the ground. He stared at Max and blinked when he spotted a wink from the saurian digimon. "What is it you're going to do?"


"Why! I'm going to warp digivolve!" He held a claw at Grapleomon, as if giving him a thumbs up then started glowing. "GUILMON WARP DIGIVOLVE TOO!" Suddenly it all became clear, the whole crowd watched in a mix of awe and amazement as Max's form started shaping into that of a Leomon, a short one, but a Leomon none the less but it didn't stop there. While the light faded to show a Leomon, the area around him started freezing over as his normal tan form started forming into a snowy white. Frigid breath coming from his jaws as his left paw clenched tightly while the right grasped at a sword at his waist. "ICELEOMON!"


Smithy himself looked confused. He didn't expect this sort of developement whatsoever. "Well folks...It seems a Guilmon has transformed into my own species! How it's happened I'm not really sure!"


Without any sort of approval, or warning, Flare jumped out of his seat and startled Smithy enough that the leomon fell out of his seat as the Agunimon took the mic. "Max here's displayed a Leomon evolutionary path only once in the human world! He's never used it in combat since then. Will it be enough to counter Grapleomon's powers of gravity."


With a growl, Smithy grabbed ahold of Flare's arm, grumbling. "That's my line you know. And what do you mean Max became a Leomon before?"


The two's faces pressed together cheek to cheek as there wasn't enough room at the booth for the two of them to sit comfortably. "It was back in the human world. His friends were in danger of an evil Growlmon threatening my home! Thanks to him we were able to drive it back. Nobody expected a Guilmon to evolve into the Leomon species. I've never personally seen him use it since then but if he's improved upon it then there could be a chance."


"You're really annoying me you know that?" Smithy grumbled in irritation. Trying to push Flare away but the firecracker digimon wouldn't leave well enough alone.


Drill sighed, a sweatdrop forming on his head. "You think you've got it bad? I have to hear the two of you banter..."


In his seat, Coronamon groaned, covering his face with a paw. "I'm so ashamed...I hope Rex never finds out about this." He sank into his seat.


"Well...he is your partner. Where were you keeping him tied down?" Fang calmly asked, sweat forming in his face as he heard Coronamon groan even more. "Hey hey now...least he's not out on the ring causing trouble..."


"I'm just trying to give the viewers some insight on this new form! Isn't my information valuable to the match at hand?!" Flare cried out, shouting over the mic and leaving the crowd, including the two contestants dumbfounded, who stopped their match just to watch what was going on.


"Not when you're disrupting the match at hand! Get back in the stands before I eat you! I won't hesitate to stuff you inside my gut!" Smithy roared back.


"Uhm...I'm sorry about that." Max scratched his cheek. "That's one of my friends...He can get a bit riled up."


Grapleomon snickered, shaking his head. "He's funny. We need more digimon like him. Long as they don't break the rules..."


With that, both fighters went back to the task at hand. The tension couldn't be greater, both stepping to the side, claws digging into the stone floor as they waited for the other to make a move. Icy mist coming from Max with every breath. Both Smithy and Flare ceased their arguing as they watched the continuing battle. And just like that, both Grapleomon and Max sprang forward at one another! "Fist of ice!"


Max roared out his attack, his fist colliding with Grapleomon's, freezing it over rather easily and stopping the turbine within quite easily. "Now for the next one..."


Before Max could set up for the next fist, Grapleomon used the turbines on his legs to repel him to the other side of the ring. Growling as he tried to thaw out the ice but it just wouldn't go away. He caught sight of Max sprinting towards him, then stopping halfway in the middle of the ring. He placed a hand on the ground and the entire ring froze over. Causing Grapleomon to slip up a bit. "How are you doing this? How long have you had this form?!"


With a smirk, Max watched as the ice enveloped Grapleomon's legs, trapping him there. "Only for a few hours believe it or not. I'm just a quick study."


Kiya watched in amazement, then started using his light energy to heat himself up. "Yikes...He's pretty harsh in this form wouldn't you say? He's quick to the kill...already disabling Grapleomon's escape route and his one good turbine. He could try using his right arm...but with the damage already sustained when he escaped the Inceneration blast, it might blow off his arm."


"That's the plan." Scav smirked, watching with renewed curiousity. At this point Max was just leasurely walking over to Grapleomon. "He doesn't want to take any chances losing here. He has to win if he wants Leo to be resurrected. He's cutting off Grapleomon's options bit by bit. At this point he can either give up...or risk becoming a kamikaze."


"T-t-that's cold!" Flare started shivering at the announcers stand.


"You're the legendary spirit of fire how can you be cold?! Just use your flames to heat yourself up!" Smithy roared out, facepalming and groaning. "My nephew keeps strange company..."


Grapleomon watched Max approach him, looking calm and collected. As if he'd already won, and it left Grap worried. "Don't step any closer!" He lifted his one good arm at Max then turned it toward his legs.


"No wait!" Max's eyes going wide, he made a rush for Grapleomon. "You might hurt yourself!"


But it was too late. Grapleomon's turbine started supercharging, with a wince, Grapleomon gasped. "This might not have been a good idea..." The ground started caving in. Cratering around Grapleomon as the force of gravity started crushing the ice with it's overwhelming pressure until he was free. With great effort he started willing the turbine to shut down, eventually going to the extreme of smashing it into the ice.


"That was reckless..." Max growled out, noting how the entire ring was now sloped, as if they were in a bowl due to the malfunctioning turbine. "And now you've got nothing but your two legs to fend me off with."


Grapleomon panted a bit, his arm hanging limply. "I have more tricks than simple gravitation...I guess we were both holding back."


This got Max's attention, as well as everyone elses. Then, came a deep throated roar as Grapleomon started glowing, indicating digivolution. "GRAPLEOMON DIGIVOLVE TOO!"


Suddenly, the ice enveloping his arm dissapeared, shattering along with the turbines that decorated his limbs. White bandages starting to wrap around his wrists and the soles of his feet as well as his lower stomach. A red scar shaped like an X forming over his chest with a GAKU RAN draped over his shoulders, and a short Tanto blade in his left paw. Lastly a pale white mane started forming on the back of his head as well as purplish gray pants docorating his lower body. "BANCHOLEOMON!"


Max cringed, watching the fully evolved Bancholeomon standing before him. He chuckled softly and slide evolved into Weregrowlmon. "So the last round has me fighting a BanchoLeomon in disguise huh? This will be my toughest match yet." He clenched his teeth, growling out his next few words. "But I can't lose here. Too many are counting on me to win this. And I can't let you stand in my way even in Mega form."


"Then the warm up is over...yes?" Bancholeomon inquired calmly, chewing on a twig and stretching his limbs out. "Now the real fight can begin."


(To be continued)