A deadly puppet play and explosive clay

Tai, Sora, Agumon and Biyomon had been taken to another one of the Champion Hunter's Death Zone Stadiums, and as the Digidestined of Courage and the Digidestined of Love got out their Digivices, their Digimon moved in front of their human partners and got into protective stances, as on the other side of the stadium were two figures dressed in long, black cloaks with red clouds and were each wearing straw hats with small ornamental torques and tassels hanging down over their faces, but they knew exactly who they were, people with serious power, the Akatsuki.

"Agumon warp Digivolve to..." Agumon began to say, as Tai's Digivice filled him with energy, before Agumon Digivolved to his Mega form and roared out. "WarGreymon!"

"Biyomon Digivolve to... Birdramon!" The newly formed Birdramon announced, thanks to Sora's Digivice and her power, however, the Champion Digimon wasn't done yet as she then exclaimed. "Birdramon Digivolve to... Garudamon!"

After the pair had successfully Digivolved, Tai got into the role of the Digidestined leader and ordered. "WarGreymon attack Sasori and destroy his puppet!"

"You got it Tai! Hiruko is going down!" WarGreymon replied in a loyal tone, as the Mega level Digimon charged at the hunched Akatsuki member, however, it was then Sasori's scorpion-like tail emerged from his back and prepared to fend off the Digimon of Courage.

But Sasori was shocked when WarGreymon launched himself and began to spin around at an unbelievable speed, in which WarGreymon then exclaimed. "Great Tornado!"

It was then Hiruko's mouth opened up, unleashing a countless barrage of poisonous senbon straight at WarGreymon, but thanks to the speed and power of his Great Tornado attack, the Digimon of Courage remained unharmed, which couldn't be said the same for Hiruko, as his body was smashed to pieces, but as Tai's Digimon partner tore through the Human Puppet, Sasori quickly escaped from WarGreymon's destructive attack, before the Puppet Master turned to face his new adversary.

"Well played. You're an impressive creature, and you will become even more impressive when I add you to my collection." Sasori stated, in which WarGreymon snapped back. "You can forget that idea. I'd sooner be deleted than become your plaything!"

"I'm not sure what you mean." Sasori said, as he pulled out a scroll from the right sleeve of his cloak, before he was engulfed in a cloud of smoke, and just like his fight against Sakura, the Human Puppet of the Third Kazekage now stood beside Sasori. "But if you're wishing for death then I shall not make you wait long. I do hate to keep people waiting."

"Die!" Sasori yelled out, as the Kazekage Puppet lunged at WarGreymon, in which a series of poison coated blades emerged from the Puppet's right arm, however Tai's Digimon partner was quick to act and exclaimed, "Brave Shield!"

WarGreymon then removed the Brave Shield off of his back and used it to defend himself, which impressed Sasori from the Digimon of Courage's speed and reflexes.

"Not bad." Sasori said in an impressed tone, before he yelled out. "But how are you going to block this!?"

It was then the left arm of the Kazekage Puppet rose up, before it opened up and shocked Tai as countless arms emerged from the single arm, however, WarGreymon replied, as Tai's Digimon partner gathered all of the energy within the atmosphere and concentrated the energy ball above his head and replied in a determined tone. "This is how, puppet-boy! Terra Force!"

"WarGreymon!" Tai called out in a concerned tone as the large gathering of Puppet hands crushed WarGreymon, but it was then Sasori was shocked when every hand he had created was blasted to pieces and WarGreymon was unharmed, before the Puppet Master let out a frustrated groan.

'Well, well. This thing is more troublesome then I first anticipated.' Sasori thought to himself, before he smiled and thought evilly. 'But he shall make a Puppet of unbelievable power when I'm through with him.'

It was then the Third Kagekage Puppet opened his mouth, in which Iron Sand emerged from his mouth and circled around Sasori and his favourite Puppet, before Sasori exclaimed. "Iron Sand Scattered showers!"

The Iron Sand that had gathered around Sasori and his Puppet then formed into a series of large Iron Sand senbon that the Puppet Master then launched straight at WarGreymon, but just like before, Tai's Digimon partner then removed the Brave Shield off of his back again, in which not only was WarGreymon unharmed, but the Brave Shield received not even so much as a scratch.

"That's one impressive shield I must admit." Sasori stated in a complimentary tone. "But it won't be able to protect you now."

WarGreymon was about to ask what Sasori was on about, but it was then the Digimon of Courage dropped the Brave Shield, could feel his limbs tightening and groaned out, as he struggled to move. "Ugh...What's going on..?"

Sasori let out an amused chuckle, before he explained to WarGreymon. "The Iron Sand has crept into every crevice of your armour. And as long as I have the Third's magnetic power, you're useless."

"Now this time die!" Sasori yelled out, as a giant cube of Iron Sand formed above the immobilized Digimon of Courage, before it fell down and looked like it was going to crush him, but it was then WarGreymon managed to bring his arms into the air and prevented the cube of Iron Sand from crushing him into pieces.

"I won't lose... Not to the likes of you... As long as Tai has faith in me... I'll never go down...!" WarGreymon roared out, before he threw the Iron Sand cube at Sasori, who jumped out of the way, but was so distracted in saving himself, the Puppet Master forgot about his Kazekage Puppet and could only watch as his favourite Puppet was squashed by his own Iron Sand attack.

Although angered that another of his attacks had failed to dispose of WarGreymon, Sasori then said. "WarGreymon was it? You took down two of my best Puppets. I'm impressed."

"That's right. And since I destroyed your favourite Puppet, your Iron Sand trick no longer affects me." WarGreymon replied, as he picked up his Brave Shield, placed it onto his back, before the Digimon of Courage got ready to continue his fight, before Tai's Digimon partner stated. "Now it's just you against me Sasori."

"I couldn't agree more." Sasori replied, as he removed his cloak, revealing his Puppet body to WarGreymon and Tai, showing the blades attached to his arms, the thick cable coiled around a pole within his stomach that dripped with a purple, and no doubt lethal poison, and The only living part left of the Puppet Master on the left side of his chest, his 'core of living flesh', before he yelled out maniacally. "And this is where it ends!"

"Time to die!" Sasori then yelled out, in which the tip of his stomach cable launched out at an incredible speed, which slashed and tore through WarGreymon's left arm and caused Tai's Digimon partner to groan out in pain, as he fell to his knees.

"Nice try, Sasori. But every Digimon is immune to all known human created poisons." WarGreymon stated, as he got back to his feet, in which Sasori smirked and then replied. "But the same can't be said about your little friend."

It was then WarGreymon turned around and was shocked to see the tip of Sasori's stinger was lodged within Tai's chest, in which Tai fell to his knees, as the Digidestined of Courage began to cough up blood.

"Tai!" WarGreymon yelled out in a tone full of fear and concern, in which the Digimon of Courage ran over to his best friend and pulled the stinger out of Tai's stomach, which caused the Digidestined to groan out from the pain.

"Too bad for you, Tai. But your time is up." Sasori stated mockingly, in which WarGreymon clenched his fists as he could feel his anger taking control of him again, but it was then Tai got his attention when he said in a weak voice, as he slowly began to cry. "Don't listen to him... Pal..."

"Tai..." WarGreymon could only say, as the Digimon of Courage began to cry too.

"Listen... Whatever happens... Take Sasori down and never forget... I love you..." Tai told WarGreymon as a smile appeared on the dying Digidestined's face.

"I love you too, Tai." WarGreymon replied, in which the pair were then encircled in an orange aura, which confused Sasori as to what was happening.

But Sasori was confused even more when Tai got to his feet and the spot where he had been stabbed was slowly healing, in which the Puppet Master demanded. "What's going on!?"

"I'm not sure, but we're soon to find out." Tai replied, as he was just as confused as Sasori, until he could hear his heart start to beat, only it was beating faster then normal, in which the Digidestined of Courage thought to himself. 'My... My heartbeat? Wait, it sounds like there are two beats. Is one of them WarGreymon's?'

'I'm hearing and actually feeling Tai's heartbeat how come?' WarGreymon thought in a slightly confused tone, before Tai's Digimon partner then thought to himself. 'Wait. Veemon told me this is what he felt when he became Paildramon for the first time with Stingmon.'

It was then WarGreymon turned to Tai and asked. "You thinking what I'm thinking, Tai?"

In response, Tai smiled and nodded his head, before he and WarGreymon shouted in a loud and determined tone. "DNA Digivolution!"

"Tai Kamiya..." Tai called out strongly, before MetalGreymon called out just as Tai did. "MetalGreymon..."

"DNA Digivolve to..." The pair called out strongly, in which their inner strength, Courage and friendship gave them the power to Digivolve, in which Sasori was speechless to see out of two formed a new Digimon, a Digimon known only as... "VictoryGreymon!"

"Impossible! How can you be this strong!?" Sasori demanded in confusion, in which VictoryGreymon replied in a mixture of Tai's voice and MetalGreymon's voice, as he shattered his Dramon Breaker sword into pieces, before equipping the shattered pieces of his sword onto his right arms, in which the newly created Mega level Digimon gathered as much energy within the atmosphere and concentrates it into the tips of its sword. "It's because we believe in each other and you on the other hand care only for yourself."

"Trident Gaia!" VictoryGreymon then roared out and fired a massive orange beam from the tip of the sword, which struck Sasori directly, in which all he could do was watch as his 'core of living flesh' was destroyed and in turn, so was he.

-With Sora, Garudamon and Deidara-

As WarGreymon's Great Tornado attack tore Hiruko apart, Deidara jumped out of the way as the C1, C2, C3 and C4 Master watched as the Hiruko Puppet was smashed to smashed to bits, before he faced Garudamon and placed his right hand into the pouch on his right hip, in which each mouth on his hand began to feed on the clay within.

"You know something, girl? You're kinda cute." Deidara said to Sora, before the explosives expert told the Digidestined of Love, as the mouth on his palm licked its lips. "When the Champion Hunter revived us, he said we had to kill you all. But I'm sure he'd look the other way if you were to surrender and join me."

"You can take that offer and stuff it up that mouths of yours!" Sora snapped back in a disgusted tone, as she was sickened by the sight of Deidara's mouth hand, what she had heard about him from Naruto and would never betray Tai or willingly join a force of evil.

"Wing Blade!" Garudamon then exclaimed, as she then used her wings and fired a bird-shaped flame at Deidara, who in turn removed his right hand from the pouch and threw a wave of tiny clay spiders, which collided with Garudamon's inferno and created a moderate sized explosion.

"Not bad." Deidara commented, before he stated, as he placed both hands in the pouches on his hips, feeding more clay to his hands "But let us see if you can handle this."

It was then Deidara removed both hands, before he held them in the direction toward Garudamon, in which his hands then each coughed up a large quantity of clay, splattering two large piles of gunk onto the floor, which then began to grow and mold themselves until a pair of repulsive clay figures, which looked like human sized Garudamon.

"This is going to get messy." Deidara called out, before the clay Garudamon ran toward the real Garudamon, who in response exclaimed, as her fists were encircled in flames. "Crimson Claw!"

Garudamon then sliced the clay copies in half, however, it was only seconds later that the clay remains began to mould and reshape before four smaller clay duplicates of Garudamon stood around her.

Deidara then began to laugh in amusement as he watched as Garudamon started to dodge the attacks of the imitations of her, but there were times Sora's Digimon partner had to strike in order to defend herself, which only caused the clay to regenerate and make smaller copies of the Digimon of Love.

But it was then every clay doppelganger jumped at Garudamon, in which Deidara then rose his right hand, as his index and middle fingers were in the air, while his thumb was holding down his ring finger and pinky, before he yelled out. "Time to roast this bird!"

It was then every Garudamon clay double exploded, in which Sora yelled out in concern. "Garudamon!"

However, Deidara was shocked when the smoke cleared and showed Garudamon was encircled by a powerful wave of fire, in which Sora was happy to see that her Digimon partner's Fire Hurricane attack had managed to protect her from the explosives.

"You're pretty good." Deidara admitted, as he summoned his C2 dragon and jumped onto its back, before he turned to see Sasori's favorite Puppet destroyed by WarGreymon and thought to himself. 'And if you're anything like that monster Sasori is fighting, then I'd better stop playing around.'

It was then the C2 dragon opened its maw, revealing a smaller dragon within, before the dragon was fired at Garudamon, who launched into the air and dodged the dragon, before it exploded.

"Wing Blade!" Garudamon then exclaimed, as she then fired another bird-shaped flame, which struck the C2 dragon, in which Deidara quickly jumped off the dragon and landed on the ground, in which the C1, C2, C3 and C4 Master watched as his C2 dragon was blown to pieces.

"Damn you!" Deidara yelled at Garudamon, as he was infuriated that all his art had been ruined, before the explosives expert then yelled out manically. "Now I'll kill you. I'll kill you all!"

It was then Deidara tore off his cloak, revealing his chest and a sewn up mouth on the upper left portion of his body, in which the explosives expert tore the threads that bound the mouth, before he reached into the left pouch, pulled out a large hunk of clay and fed it to the mouth.

Sora and Garudamon then watched as black veins covered Deidara's entire being, before he told the Digidestined and Digimon of Love, as his skin turned from flesh to clay. "This is my ultimate art. I'm going to detonate myself."

"What!?" Garudamon questioned in disbelief, as Deidara's body became transparent while the black veins grew thickly throughout his body, in which he replied in a maniacal tone. "This explosion will cover the entire arena and then some. There is no escape. And in death, I shall become art itself!"

'Sora, I'm sorry. I failed you.' Garudamon thought solemnly as the Digimon of Love closed her eyes, while Sora closed her eyes and thought to herself. 'Garudamon, this is my entire fault we're in this mess. I just wish I had the strength to help you.'

But it was then, as if someone had heard Sora's plea, the Digidestined and Digimon of Love were both encircled in a light pink aura, before Garudamon thought to herself. 'I can feel my heartbeat, but that's not all. I can feel Sora's heartbeat too and I can feel her strength with each beat.'

'My heartbeat? And Garudamon's heartbeat?' Sora questioned herself, before the Digidestined of Love thought to herself. 'I can feel them both and it feels like I'm in sync with her, like we're becoming one.'

It was then Sora and Garudamon faced each other at the same time, before they both nodded their heads, in which the Digidestined and Digimon of Love shouted in a loud and determined tone. "DNA Digivolution!"

"Sora Takenouchi..." Sora called out strongly, before Garudamon called out just as her human partner had done. "Garudamon..."

"DNA Digivolve to..." The pair called out strongly, in which their inner strength, Love and friendship gave them the power to Digivolve to a new Mega level Digimon, which let out a proud cry before she called out in a mixture of Sora's voice and Garudamon's voice. "Phoenixmon!"

The living explosive, formally known as Deidara was speechless at the sight of Phoenixmon, in which he thought to himself. 'They fused together!? Well, it doesn't matter. There's nothing they can do to stop my art.'

However, Deidara was proven wrong when Phoenixmon then flapped all four of her wings, causing it to rain golden grains that poured upon Deidara's explosive form, in which the C1, C2, C3 and C4 Master ceased to further undergo his ultimate art transformation or explode.

'What is going on here?' Deidara questioned himself, before he demanded. "How... How come I'm not detonating!?"

"It's because of our attack." Phoenixmon replied, before she explained. "Our power has purified your body and has prevented you from exploding."

Hearing Phoenixmon's words shocked Deidara and caused him to yell out in disbelief. "What!?"

"But since we robbed you of your explosion you can have ours'." Phoenixmon replied, as the golden grains that surrounded Deidara began to glow brightly, before the newest Mega level Digimon to join the Digidestined of Odaiba exclaimed. "Star-Light Explosion!"

Deidara's body was then consumed by light, before every single gold colored grain exploded, creating a devastating, but controlled explosion, which caused Deidara to scream out as he was blown to bits and was put to rest again.

It was then VictoryGreymon and Phoenixmon turned to see that they had rid the stadium of both evils at around the same time, however, it was then the Mega level Digimon were both taken out of the arena as they were both enveloped by the same old dark red energy.