Radiant Sacrifice

Radiant Sacrifice, by MechaUltimaZero

This is an AU Digimon fic, centering on the author's alternate take on the Royal Knights. While set in its own universe, there are nods to being in the extremely far future of Adventure and Adventure 02.

"Gallantmon: (thinking to himself): This is my chance to get some points! Not that this is a game or anything, but you understand what I mean, right?"
 * A Day in the Limelight: Pretty much the entire point of chapter 4, a peek into the dark mind of Beelzemon.
 * Adorkable: Gallantmon, when speaking with and thinking about Sakuyamon.

"Magnamon: I make certain he'll never separate an egg from its family again. ... In other news today, it's raining wood chips."
 * All of the Other Reindeer: It's mentioned in the first chapter that, apparently, Gallantmon is an outcast among most mons aside from the Royal Knights, as a result of being a Virus Digimon.
 * Alternate Universe Fic
 * Angst: Magnamon, largely because of Love.
 * Anti-Hero: Beelzemon appears to be a Type IV. Loves trolling his comrades and gives Magnamon a brutal Hannibal Lecture, but given that he is a member of the Royal Knights and they all seem to genuinely trust him with their secrets to some extent, he does appear to ultimately be on the side of good.
 * As of Chapter 4, the author seems to be trying to paint him as a Jerkass Woobie Nineties Anti-Hero.
 * And on another note, Magnamon himself. On the surface and to the world at large, he appears to be a Knight in Shining Armor; in reality, though, he acts much differently.
 * Authority Equals Asskicking: The Royal Knights. The higher up in the chain of command, the more likely they are to kick your ass.
 * Beelzemon lampshades it with regards to the Demon Lords, even mentioning that "authority and asskicking go hand-in-hand."
 * On the heroes's side, it even extends beyond the Knights, with Beelzemon mentioning that Seraphimon is perhaps the most powerful beings he's ever run across.
 * Axe Crazy: Lucemon.
 * Badass: All of the Royal Knights. On a more villainous side, Lucemon definitely counts as well.
 * Badass Boast: Magnamon gets one in the second chapter before duking it out with Alphamon.
 * Berserk Button: Magnamon appears to have a few minor ones, like being overly intrusive in his private business, stalking him, sneaking up on him, normal things. However, a major one is pushed HARD when he encounters Hemlock the Woodmon, a Digi-Egg trafficker, and gibs him. Bear in mind that in this world, that's the equivalent of kidnapping children and then selling them to the highest bidder.
 * Crapsack World: Seems like it's shaping up to be one.
 * Crazy Prepared: Lucemon. Just in the event of enemy infiltration, he converts his factory into a giant gas chamber that's always turned on to permeate a virus through the air, and simply immunizes his workers against it.
 * Cruel and Unusual Death: Hemlock suffers a brutal one. Magnamon basically makes him explode.

"Beelzemon: (narrating) "Suddenly, it occurs to me that maybe we're both just fucked-up in the head and trying to deal with the world and our own neuroses as best we can.""
 * Darker and Edgier: Has a sort of Film Noir-style tone to it, and it keeps getting Darker still as the series goes on.
 * It's even worse than Tamers.
 * Deader Than Dead: Belphemon's fate at the hands of Beelzemon.
 * Expy: Beelzemon, of Hazama. And he's one of the good guys.
 * Also Belphemon Rage Mode, of a more bestial version of The Incredible Hulk.
 * For the Evulz: Beelzemon reveals in his narration that this was one of his motivations in talking Magnamon into a near-coma two chapters prior. He also remarks that while he believes amusement to be a very good excuse for tormenting people, however, he did have other reasons beside that.
 * Good Is Not Nice: Alphamon and Magnamon. In the latter's case, it almost borders on Light Is Not Good from time to time.
 * In the case of Beelzemon, one almost wonders if there's any "good" at all, or if it's just some kind of really long-standing Enemy Mine.
 * Gory Discretion Shot: Magnamon makes a Woodmon Mook explode. Only two sentences are said about it, and both are pretty tame.
 * Hannibal Lecture: Beelzemon gives Magnamon a scathing one in the second chapter, hitting on some of the latter's deepest fears about himself.
 * Heroic Sociopath: Good lord, Beelzemon.
 * He Who Must Not Be Named: The leader of the Demon Lords, or at least Beelzemon hates him so much that he refuses to provide a name. If it keeps with any of the Canon though, it's probably.
 * Incorruptible Pure Pureness: Subverted hard with Magnamon and Alphamon. Played completely straight with Seraphimon and Ophanimon, though.
 * It Got Worse: Steadily gets worse, and Magnamon even refers to the trope by name at one point.
 * Jerkass: Beelzemon, natch.
 * Jerkass Woobie: When you get inside his head, he seems to have a fair bit of this, too.
 * Knight in Shining Armor: Subverted/deconstructed with Magnamon. On the outside, he looks the part perfectly, and even tries to act it in public... but when alone with his enemy, he's definitely a Type III or IV Anti-Hero, and Beelzemon accuses him of being a Type V. Perhaps the only straight example of a Royal Knight introduced so far is Gallantmon.
 * Knight in Sour Armor
 * Knight Templar: Played with, using Alphamon. He's Lawful Neutral. Really, the only thing keeping him from being Lawful Good is that he becomes paranoid far too easily, and has no problem using Jack Bauer Interrogation Technique on one of his own subordinates if they do something notably out of character. In the chapter after that, though, upon recovering from said subordinate utterly kicking his ass, he staunchly refuses to name the mon who defeated him, and then logically explains that said mon isn't a security threat.
 * In Chapter 4, he gets another appearance, although it's from Beelzemon's perspective. Although Alphamon seems to be cemented as valuing Law over Goodness, this latest appearance paints him as being more firmly Lawful Neutral.
 * Large Ham: Lucemon, and perhaps moreso Beelzemon.
 * Gallantmon, but only when speaking Ye Olde Butcherede Englishe. The rest of the time, he's actually more of The Quiet One, or at least normal.
 * Light Is Good: Seraphimon and Ophanimon.
 * Lightning Bruiser: Magnamon himself is one, but Alphamon takes it to a whole new extreme - his "Alpha InForce" is evidently some sort of time compression, enabling his body to move faster than his own senses allow him to perceive.
 * Ludicrous Gibs: See Cruel and Unusual Death above.
 * Nice Guy: Gallantmon.
 * Nigh Invulnerable: Some of the Royal Knights have unique powers - Alphamon is Lightning Bruiser incarnate, Omnimon appears to have some degree of Clairvoyance, and when Magnamon's armor Shines Gold, he becomes Nigh Invulnerable.
 * Nightmare Fuel: An In-Universe example, and Played for Laughs as well - Seraphimon is arguably the most powerful Digimon that Beelzemon has ever met. He is also, unquestionably, the nicest. This utterly terrifies Beelzemon.
 * No-Holds-Barred Beatdown: After stressing himself out and having a few Berserk Buttons tread on, Magnamon goes apeshit and gives Alphamon - someone he's never beaten before in training - a horrific beating, and comes within a hair of killing him before regaining his senses.
 * Beelzemon gives Belphemon a variation on this trope centered on No Kill Like Overkill - a No Holds Barred Wave-Motion Beam Spam.
 * Not So Different: Pretty much the theme of Beelzemon's Hannibal Lecture.
 * Beelzemon even goes so far as to take this line of thought with Alphamon and himself, although in a different and more sympathetic way.

"Beelzemon: "POINT BLANK, SHITHEAD!!""
 * Obfuscating Insanity: Beneath the Mask, Beelzemon's not as Axe Crazy in his head as he acts. Still a massive prick, though.
 * Pay Evil Unto Evil: Of the Royal Knights that we've seen, this is definitely the perspective of Magnamon and Alphamon.
 * The Power of Friendship: Possibly Deconstructed somewhat. Beelzemon muses to himself about this, trying to figure out how it works. Given that Evil Cannot Comprehend Good, he decides that The Hero being a genuine Nice Guy to his freaking enemy in the midst of battle (at least in his own case) borders on Uncanny Valley, which creeps the villain out so much that it compromises their ability to fight.
 * Precision F-Strike: "LUCEMON! I WILL HUNT YOU AND YOUR KAIZERS DOWN, AND I WILL FUCKING KILL EVERY LAST ONE OF YOU!"
 * Psycho for Hire: Lucemon comes off as this.
 * The Rashomon: May not quite be an example, but each chapter - in some instances, subsequent scenes within a chapter - are told by a different character. Thus far, the only mon to get screentime is (of course) Magnamon.
 * Reasonable Authority Figure: The King and Queen of the Celestial Kingdom, Seraphimon and Ophanimon. Within the Knights, Alphamon would be, except that he's far too paranoid.
 * Refuge in Audacity: In keeping his word to maintain Magnamon's secret, Beelzemon concocts a completely bullshit story to hide the latter's wherabouts, saying that Magnamon is at a funeral of his uncle... named Ralphmon.
 * Crowning Moment of Funny: What's more.... Everyone falls for it.
 * Schedule Slip: MechaUltimaZero is generally known by his fans for three things: high quality writing, really inventive Alternate Universe ideas, and a notoriously horrible update schedule.
 * Shout-Out

"Beelzemon: "YOU CAN'T HIDE WHAT YOU ARE IN THE DARK! NOT FROM ME! NOT ANYMORE!""
 * Sir Swearsalot: Beelzemon, particularly in his narration.
 * Stealth Hi Bye: Sakuyamon gets the drop on Gallantmon in this way, although she kind of stops at the "hi" part.
 * Token Evil Teammate: Beelzemon. Although he seems to be more of an Anti-Hero.
 * Trap Master: Lucemon.
 * Troll: Beelzemon. See Refuge in Audacity and Hannibal Lecture.
 * Shines Gold: Magnamon's armor. When it actually fails to shine in the third chapter, it's his first indication that something is terribly wrong.
 * Actually, it's somewhat ambiguous whether Magnamon's Nigh Invulnerability falls under this or some sort of Super Mode, given that he can apparently use it at will.
 * What You Are in the Dark: Beelzemon references this trope by name in his Hannibal Lecture.


 * World of Badass: The main characters are Royal Knights, and the first real villain who's introduced is the freaking Big Bad from Digimon Frontier.
 * Ye Olde Butcherede Englishe: Gallantmon gets in on a little of this, but not all the time. When the story briefly shifts to his perspective in the first chapter, he thinks using normal English, and when Sakuyamon gets the drop on him, he speaks normally as well.
 * Yin-Yang Bomb: Lucemon fights this way, as he did in Digimon Frontier.