Chapter 3

Matt sat in a chair, taking in deep breaths. "What is he?" He finally says. He stared up at Gennai. "What is he?"

"He's human, Matt. Nothing more, nothing less. He's not even DigiDestined like yourself."

"It was like… looking at myself when I died."

Tsumi and Roma walked out, followed by Tai. "Matt," Tai says softly, "He's not dead. He's… nearly dead."

"Yeah, well you try walking in on someone lying there motionless that just happens to look like you. See what you're doing then."

"Matt, come on. It's not you." Tai sat by him and rubbed his arm. "He's just a kid that lives here. Total coincidence."

Matt nods. "Yeah… I know, I know."

Tsumi tossed a few locks of hair from her face. "I don't understand what you're talking about."

Matt looks at her. "He looks like me. He's the next thing to dead."

"So? That shouldn't mean anything to you. You're not Shūri. Shūri is a 16 year old prodigy. All you have in common is appearance, nothing more, and don't you forget that." Tsumi told him bluntly.

Matt watches her. "You're right. He needs our help…"The thought of himself being dead still plagued his mind, and it made him determined to help the boy. "What do we do?"

Gennai's smile is small and apologetic. "Do you remember Myotismon's castle?" Both of the boys nod. "Good! Myotismon and Devimon teamed up to take over our world. Everything they plotted, at first, could be deprogrammed by Shūri. As long as Shūri was around everything they did was a no go, so they hatched a plan to get rid of Shūri. The problem is that Shūri knows everything about anything digital, which will come in handy later on for them, so killing him just wouldn't do. They needed a way to make sure he wouldn't get in the way, without destroying him."

"They needed his information?" Tai asks.

Gennai nods. "Exactly. So they took his being, and left his body."

"How?"

"Well… we aren't sure. The first thing we need is for you to get his…"

"Essence?"

"Yes. That's it, his essence."

"Why do you care so much?"

"He's like my son." Gennai said with a nod.

"Is he?"

"No, he's not. Besides that, all the secrets of this world are in his mind. He's been raised here for most of his life."

"Let's go."

"How do we get there?"

Tsumi sighed. "You can ride on me. Well, one of you and Roma can. The other can ride Sam."

The boys look to Tsumi. "You'd let us ride you?"

"One of you. I would let you both, but I'd rather have Roma on me, since she can't fly."

"I'll take Sam." Matt says. He looks at Tai, "Sorry, man… but you're a bigger guy."

Tai nods. "A dragon fits my size better anyway."

Sam finally comes out and looks at them. Her eyes sparkle with fresh tears that have just been pushed from her eyes. She held her head high and looked them squarely in the eyes. "What did I miss?"

Tsumi looks to her. "You carry the blond on your back. I get Roma and the big guy."

Sam nods and looks at Gennai. "When do we go?"

"Now."

Sam and Tsumi nod. "Great." The boys watch, suddenly entranced. They pull their tops off and fold them neatly. Sam slips off her capris, and the boys realized that they wore nothing under their clothes. Both turned their backs, feeling a sudden urge to prove they're not complete perverts.

They hear Roma sigh. "Why am I always the one to pack your clothes."

Sam picks up a leather pouch, that Roma just slipped her clothes into. "Because you're the one that always thinks ahead, I suppose."

Tsumi rolls her eyes. "I'll be outside when you're all ready." With those words she disappeared out the door.

"Come on, boys." Sam said, as she made her way out the door.

The boys followed Roma out the door. They stood frozen. In front of them stood a vicious looking dragon, whose eyes sparkled in emerald green and her scales glistened with purple. She was long, almost snake like, with four legs, each ending in three razor-sharp claws. They watch as scarlet wings burst from Sam's back, and a tail grows from her. She grows in size, becoming twice the size of an average horse. Her fur and wings shine in the sunlight. The brown leather bag hung at her side and fit snugly. She looked at them, violet eyes immaculate.

"Come on." Roma said, going and climbing up onto the Japanese dragon that is Tsumi.

Tai went to her and looked. Her tail was long, nearly as long as her body. "Do I…?"

Roma reaches her hand out. "Give me your hand, I'll pull you up." Tai took her hand, and with a little pushing with his legs, she pulled him on.

Matt strokes Sam's mane. It was soft and put him in mind of freshly washed hair. He remembers riding a horse once, but it took him ten minutes to get on it, and then he fell off. "If I hurt you, I'm sorry." He whispers to her. He lifts his leg and tosses it over as best as he can. He reaches around her neck and pulls himself the rest of the way on. He breathes, it was easier then he thought it would be.

Sam flaps her wings gently runs a few steps and Matt feels himself lifted from the ground. After a moment he decides that if it wasn't for the wings, it wouldn't be any different then riding a furry MetalGarurumon. The dragon seems to glide beside them. She has no wings, so how she flies is a mystery to Matt.

They fly in silence until they reach a looming black castle set against a grey sky with dying trees sprinkled in front of it. "That's it!" Roma yells. Both boys stare at it. Since they'd seen it last, it had changed.

They landed feet from the castle. "This is such an inconvenience." Tsumi complains. "Having to change clothes each time we change form. We never had to when we wore our other clothes."

"Our other clothes were rags." Sam told her, slipping her shirt on.

"They may have been ragged, but it never bothered me." Tsumi told Sam, slipping into her skirt. "It wouldn't bother me if we had to run around naked, I mean honestly, it's just more convenient that way, isn't it?"

"Well sure," Sam says, putting the leather bag on, "but Gennai wouldn't let us, you know that." The bag hung at her hip and she adjusted it to hang slightly above. "Ready?" The boys nod.

"Good."

"All we have to do is get in, find the safest place."

"Last time Myotismon hid the crest in his… casket."

"Then we'll look there first."

"You know how to use the powers you get with you gear, yes?"

"No…"

"Just say the attack you want to you and… throw it. Except certain attacks. You get to breathe certain attacks, like your Digimon."

"Breathe it?" Before Matt could get the words out Tsumi was already moving towards the castle, followed closely by Roma.

"Go." Sam pushed Matt forward and ushered Tai along. "Follow Tsumi." She told them.

The doors were large, too large for them to push open. The windows were high, but had no glance. "Did you pack the rope?"

"Of course."

"Sam, you're the smallest, you'll go on top. Matt, come here."

Matt stood in front of Tsumi. "What?"

Tsumi held her hands out. "Grab my hands." Matt knew what she was doing. He grasped her hands and held strong. "Roma, climb up." Roma stepped up onto the hands. If she was 4 feet taller she knew she could reach it. "Tai, pick Sam up, keep her somewhat straight, because with their combined weight, this will be heavy." Tai picked her up. With skill that she'd used many times before she pulled herself onto Roma's shoulders quickly, grabbed the window and lifted herself in.

"Here it comes." She says, dropping down the end of the rope.

"Can you hold it?" Roma calls up.

There is a moment of silence, where she wasn't to bee seen, followed by a small grunt. "Yeah, I got it. Send Roma up first, that way we can hold it while the rest of you come up."

From her perch on Matt and Tsumi hand Roma grabs the rope and climbs up it like a squirrel. After Roma's feet hit the ground softly the two girls call for the next up. Tsumi pulled her hands from Matt and pointed him up. Matt grabbed the rope and started to climb. His climbing wasn't as graceful as the girls, and definitely took a few minutes longer then Sam or Roma had. "Tai, you're next," he heard Tsumi say. He finally reached the top and looked around. The walls were bare, grey stone, just like the floor.

He heard the girls groan as they pulled back to increase their strength for his friend. Matt grabbed up the end of the rope. Tai wasn't fat, but he couldn't be called a light guy. He's 234 pounds of pure muscle, putting Matt's 194 to shame.

Tai was a faster climber then Matt, which made all three of the ones holding the rope happy. He reached the top, leaped over and looked around. "We can handle Tsumi, thanks, Matt." Matt let go, and it seemed like the moment he let go Tsumi was jumping into the cold hall. Sam pulled the rope up, had it wrapped, in her bag, and down the hall before Matt could utter surprise. Tsumi took after her, Tai followed her, Roma gave him a shove, making him go, and followed at his heels.

Matt wondered if he was viewed as the child of the group. When truth be told, he was the oldest. He was only months older then Tai, but he was still older, and the girls were created for a video game. They may appear to be older then the boys, but they weren't. Shūri could have been 10-years-old and still be older then the girls.

"I was starting to think Tsumi was the leader." Matt whispered to Roma.

"Sam knows the castle. She's been here before… nearly got herself killed, but she learned the layout."

"Ahh…"

They made their way down stairs, barely making any noise, and no conversation. They reached a hall of the room. On one wall hung a vibrant tapestry and a long table was in the middle. "It's a dining room." Matt said, slightly confused.

"Yep."

Sam looks around, trying to remember where they have to go. "Myotismon's room is downstairs, but watch out for LadyDevimon. She guards his room, and nearly killed me last time."

She took down the hall again, and led them down another flight of stairs. They took off through the corridor and turned a corner. Sam stopped and rushed back around the corridor, causing everyone else to run into her. "What?"

Sam peeked around the corner, and everyone else looked with her. The woman was tall, and wore a black helmet with long white hair coming from it. Her skin was white, she wore a small slip across her breasts and a black loin cloth. She wore boots up to the middle of her calves, and one hand looked long and deformed. "LadyDevimon." Sam whispered.

"Love her hair." Tsumi said absently.

Sam glanced at her then shook her head. What goes on in Tsumi's head is between Tsumi and herself, no one else really wants to know. "We can't fight her directly." She says. "She has major advantages over these forms, like flight."

"I can't fly at all." Roma says, irritation radiating from her voice.

"Don't worry about it. None of us can heal."

"Then how do we get past her?"

She stood still, watching LadyDevimon and studying her. "The boys." She looks at them. "We can fight in these forms, but as long as she can fly we can't get past her… We need a distraction. Hit her with one of your attacks, either one of you."

"And how do we get in then?"

Tsumi grins. "I can take care of that."

Tai steps around the corner, the claws on his arm guards out, long and edges shining. He lifts his arms and yells, "Nova Force!" A great golden ball appears in his hands and he throws at the tall lady.

"Oh, Shit!" Matt shouts in surprise.

The women screamed as the blast hit her. She wasn't destroyed, so she was ticked. Tai took off down the hall, giving the girls, and Matt, a chance to make it into the room. Tsumi ran after LadyDevimon as the others disappeared into the room. She took a leap and landed on her back. She grabbed her hair and gave a yank. "Get in!"

Tai raced into the room and closed the door. Leaning against it he caught his breath. "Have you found it?"

Roma looked up from the casket. "No, not yet."

Sam looked on a shelf, moving different jars around. "This place is too fucking big."

Matt tugged at a cabinet and cursed. "It's locked."

"Blast it."

Tai opened the door and looked out. Tsumi was still on the woman, only now her hair was being pulled as well. He closed the door back and moved into the room. "What about Tsumi?"

"What about her?"

"Aren't you worried she'll get hurt?"

"Tsumi? No…she'll kill before they kill her."

"Blue Blaster." Matt whispers. A stream of blue comes from his mouth. It hits the key hole and vanishes. Matt closes his mouth and opens the cabinet doors. "Hey, is any of this it?" He stared into the cabinet. Small bottles full of a oddly colored liquid sat in it, and discs. Roma moved next to Matt and looks.

"Grab the discs. All of them." She reached out and picked up a teal blue vial and swirled its contents. "This one's Shūri." She looked at it, her face lit up by her smile. "Sam, come here."

Sam runs to her and crouches by her. "Yes?"

Roma gives Sam the bottle. "Here, it's Shūri." Sam took the bottle and looks at it, her eyes soft. She works into her bag gently. Matt hands her the discs, and she sets them into her bag.

"Okay, let's-"

The door breaks open then. His blond hair fell over a red mask. He wore a blue suit trimmed with gold. His cape was long black on one side, red on the other. "Busted." Tai say on automatic.

Myotismon looks around the room, taking in the mess. He didn't yell, or swear revenge on them, just looked. He smiled a toothy vampire grin. He pulled his cape around himself. "Grisly-"

The purple dragon slammed against him. She motioned her head for them to climb onto her. Her claws set roughly on Myotismon's back, pushing him to the point of nearly being crushed. His curses were violent and descriptive. All four of them scrambled up onto her. In a flash she was flying through the castle, up the stairs and through the same window that they entered.

"We did it."

"What's wrong with Myotismon?"

"Well, after you defeated him he was reborn, that's what Digimon do. He's held a grudge against you since then…that's really all we know about his problems. He's almost as secretive as Shūri."

"How do we use it?" Matt asks.

"Use what?"

"Shūri's… essence. How do we get it in him?"

"I'll make a potion for him." Roma says. "We might have to inject it into him."

"Or hold his nose to make him drink it."

"How come we couldn't ride like this when we came over here?"

"Because we're a lot of weight and she's still a slim dragon." Sam strokes Tsumi. "It's okay, we're almost home." She leans close to Tsumi's head. "Thank you."