Chapter 11

The Power of Love

By this time, the rest of Digimon had recovered and closed in on Myotismon in great anger. Angewomon was the first to speak. "Myotismon, you've tried to destroy us, attempted to conquer the Digital World, and murdered Christine's Digimon partner! In doing so, you have ruined the lives of humans and Digimon alike! How can you justify yourself?! TELL ME!" she said fiercely.

"Don't you DARE get high and mighty with me, wretch!" Myotismon spat back, "You should have thought about this before casting me aside like I was nothing and ruining MY life! Quite simply, you played with the fire, and now you will feel the burn! NIGHTMARE...!"

But this time, Angewomon was faster. "HEAVEN'S CHARGE!" she shouted, spreading her arms out and raising them up in unison. At her command, a golden ring of pure light shot up from her arms, widened and released a bright rainbow-colored light. As the light rapidly fell over Myotismon, he cried out in shock and pain. He couldn't move a muscle, and his strength was draining!

"QUICKLY, EVERYONE! Lend your power to Angewomon!" Kari commanded. Immediately, the other Digimon began firing off their attacks.

"GIGA BLASTER!"

"WOLF CLAWS!"

"WING BLADE!"

"FLOWER CANNON!"

"VULCAN'S HAMMER!"

"ELECTRO SHOCKER!"

"HAND OF FATE!"

As all this was going on, Christine was watching intently. She looked at her friends, then back at Myotismon, who appeared to be in great pain and panic. For just a short moment, Christine felt some anger towards him for killing Angelina. But then, she remembered how he had told her of all the ways he had suffered. And she thought of the good times she'd had with him. Myotismon may have not intended for them to be that way, but Christine had been very happy. And would killing Myotismon ease any pain, bring back Angelina, or fix any other damage that had been done? Certainly not...nor did this seem like the way of the Digimon Tamers and the rest of the Digital World Organization of Peace!

Christine looked up. Angewomon was putting all her loaned attack power into a Celestial Arrow attack! Christine gasped in fear! That attack would SURELY be enough to kill Myotismon...maybe even all by itself! And who knew? Maybe the others just wanted to give Myotismon as slow and agonizing a death as they could give him...all in the name of revenge and judgement. Not good!

Adrenaline shot through Christine's body as she leaped to her feet and dashed towards the vampire. "Christine, WAIT!" called Tai. But Christine would not wait. "Please stop! No more fighting!" she begged as she ran towards her friends' captive.

"CELESTIAL ARROW!" shouted Angewomon as she fired a sparkling, golden arrow at Myotismon.

"NOOOOOOO!" Christine shrieked as she dived forward with her arms stretched toward Myotismon. With every last bit of strength she had at that point, Christine pushed Myotismon out of the path of Angewomon's deadly missile.

The next thing the two of them knew, they hit the floor with a splat...with Christine on top of Myotismon. Luckily, she had also managed to dodge Angewomon's attack. She looked down at Myotismon. "Are you all right?" she panted. Myotismon glared and shoved Christine. "Will you get OFF of me?!" he fumed. Christine exhaled. "You're welcome." she said wearily, and began to climb off onto the floor.

"What did you do that for, Christine?!" yelled Angewomon, "I HAD him!" The other Digimon and DigiDestined also began to speak angry words of disapproval.

Quickly, Christine jumped to her feet, moved in front of Myotismon and spread her arms out to the sides. "STOP!" she screamed, "Enough! PLEASE stop! Don't fight anymore! This is not right!" "Christine, are you insane?! You saw what he did to Angelina!" Lillymon fumed. "Killing him won't ease the pain, nor will it fix any other damage that's been done! It will only leave you with regret that will last for the rest of your lives! It could even lead to something worse! This is NOT you, guys! Don't become what you despise!" Christine protested.

"Christine, PLEASE! Myotismon is DANGEROUS! He tried to kill you!" cried Kari. "The reason he's dangerous is because he was judged before he was even KNOWN!" Christine shot back, "Don't you guys see? Myotismon has been without his parents since a VERY young age and been shunned and hated by others all because of what he is! That's why he's so dangerous...because he feels nobody cares about him! If we misjudge the wrong person, he or she can become a great threat! And that is what all of you have done! I tried to tell you about Myotismon before, but you would NOT listen! The reason he attacked us...is because you guys and everyone else never gave him a chance to show who he really was. If we could give him that chance, he wouldn't be so evil."

Matt sighed. "Christine, are you forgetting? People and Digimon have every right to fear Myotismon! He's a VAMPIRE!" "That's no excuse to spit his face like you have!" Christine said firmly, "We're supposed to be a peacekeeping organization! That means trying to get along with EVERYONE no matter what race or species they are...nosferatu included! Tai, you even said it yourself: we're Digimon Tamers, not Digimon Executioners!"

"You are seriously messed up there!" Tai said angrily, "What we're doing is a means of self-defense and defense of others!" "NO, IT'S NOT!" Christine snapped, "This whole thing could have been prevented if you'd just listened to me and given Myotismon a chance! You all brought this down on yourselves, as has anyone else who suffered under Myotismon! He hasn't been kind to others because no one ever gave him reason to! Don't you get it? He's acting so evil...because he's in so much pain."

"I don't see that as any excuse!" Sora fumed, and everyone else agreed. "Then you are fools!" Christine shot back, "It's PLENTY an excuse! If you judge the wrong person before you even know him or her, you're asking for trouble...trouble that could easily have been prevented!" At this point, more tears slid out of Christine's eyes. "Don't do this." she begged, "Don't kill Myotismon. Let him live...please! I'm begging you, have mercy!"

"Oh, the kind of mercy HE'S shown!" fumed Zudomon. "Why should we?!" snapped Brian, "And don't you give us that "tried in court" crap! You give us one good reason other than that as to why we should spare Myotismon!"

Christine quickly prepared herself. She did not know how the others would react to what she was about to say, but she knew she had to say it if it would keep Myotismon alive. "Because I love him!" she declared.

Shocked yells shot up from everyone else, Digimon and DigiDestined alike. Even Myotismon didn't know what to think. "You've seriously got to be KIDDING!" cried MegaKabuterimon. "Be serious!" demanded T.K. "I AM being serious!" Christine said sharply, "Myotismon may or may not believe me by this point, but I don't care! I love him...I don't care what happens to me, even if he decides to kill me out of unbelief...I don't care."

Garudamon shook his head. "How?" he asked, "How can you possibly love him...a vampire...a dangerous creature?" "I'm going to answer that with a couple questions of my own." Christine replied, "How can I not? He and I both know what it's like to be cast aside and hated, all for being different. Why not be bonded to each other when we can share in each other's pain and do what we can to bring joy into each other's lives? It makes perfect sense...and it should."

Angemon looked at the vampire. "Myotismon, is this true? Does Christine love you?" he asked. For a lot of the time, Myotismon had been absolutely silent and looking at Christine in amazement. He wasn't sure how well that was going to let him respond, but it was worth a try. "Well..." he began, "...I didn't think she did. It is true what she has told you about my past. At the very young age of three, and before I Digivolved...I did lose my parents. We were under threat from hunters and trying to escape...and they caught up with us...and we were separated. And yes...I have lived for centuries. But never during that time has anyone bothered to try and get to know me. It's either been running away or shrinking back in fear or rejection...all because I am one of the Un-Dead. Yes, I cannot help but think that perhaps Imperialdramon was unnerved about me, too...otherwise he would have expelled the brats who mocked me all the time. So as I've told Christine, I see no reason to believe why anyone would accept me now after all the painful time I've had."

Myotismon paused to look at Christine. A tear rolled down her cheek as she looked back at him. And how curious...the look in her eyes seemed to have such sympathy and empathy. A pensive look came onto Myotismon's face as he quietly thought for a moment. Then he continued, "However...if she is standing up for me like this...and has even saved my life...I cannot help but wonder..." He looked back at Christine curiously. "Do you really love me?" he asked her. Christine sniffed and nodded. "Of course I do. And I always will. I don't care if you're a vampire. You're beautiful and intelligent and skilled...and no less in need of love than anyone else."

There was silence for a moment. Then Angewomon sighed and said, "Christine...it makes sense that you were made the keeper of the Crest of Compassion. But there is still such a thing as being TOO compassionate. Optimus Prime is known to find that out the hard way...and we don't intend for that to happen to you."

A angry frown came onto Christine's face. "Very well!" she said with a little anger in her voice. Then what she did next again sent Myotismon into a state of amazement. Christine walked up to Myotismon, embraced him and looked back at Angewomon, this time glaring and with more harshness in her voice. "Fire your stupid arrow! But if Myotismon is going down...I'm going down with him!"

More cries shot up from Myotismon's attackers. "Christine, don't be a fool!" cried MetalGreymon. "I'm NOT a fool!" Christine snapped, "YOU are all fools, because YOU were too stubborn to listen to reason! Well, tough luck on YOUR accounts! I love Myotismon! If you want to kill him, you'll have to kill ME!"

The other DigiDestined and Digimon pleaded to Christine to move away, but she would not budge. Even as Angewomon finally readied another Celestial Arrow attack, Christine did not flinch nor show any desire to release Myotismon and step aside. "Oh, Christine, will you PLEASE MOVE?!" Angewomon groaned angrily. "NO!" Christine snapped back, "I'm NOT moving from this spot! Either you spare Myotismon, or you kill both him and me! The decision is yours! What will it be?!"

But the others were in no mood to give into Christine's demand and let her make another heroic sacrifice. They kept on demanding that she move away. Finally, Rex threatened to snatch her away if she didn't move. Seeing that her demand was of no use, Christine looked at Myotismon. "Can you teleport?" she whispered, "If you can, we REALLY need to get somewhere safe." For just a moment, Myotismon seemed hesitant that he could do it in his weakened state. But he said, "I...I'll try. Hold onto me tightly."

"THAT'S IT!" snapped Rex, and started forward to grab Christine and drag her away. But as he did, Myotismon began to glow with a dark aura. It sent out a shockwave that knocked down Christine's friends and stopped them in their tracks. However much they tried, they could not attack Myotismon nor get near him. Then a great sphere of dark energy engulfed Christine and Myotismon, spreading out and pushing down all the more on their opponents.

When the dark orb subsided, Brian and the others began to panic, for neither Christine nor Myotismon were anywhere to be found.