Chapter 14

Willis's POV

My breath got caught in my throat and I tried to tear my eyes away from Diaboromon's, but I couldn't. There was something about his gaze that made it so I couldn't tear my eyes away. I stumbled backwards, trying to get away from him. He just laughed evilly and advanced towards me, his large yellow eyes burning holes into my head.

"Willis...Willis..." Diaboromon repeated my name, laughing in between the times he repeated it. I clasped my hands over my ears, trying to shut the laughter out but it echoed in my head. I couldn't escape him; he knew that I couldn't escape him.

Ever since Diaboromon's return when Tai and Matt went back into the internet to stop him I knew that I would, ultimately, never get away from Diaboromon. He would follow me until he was able to fulfill what it was that he was trying to do. The only problem was I didn't know what he wanted, which was what terrified me the most.

I turned around and sprinted down the beach as fast as I could. Without Terriermon or Lopmon with me I knew I wouldn't stand a chance at all if he decided to destroy me. Diaboromon laughed again and another chill ran down my spine.

"Web Wrecker!"

I glanced out of the corner of my eye and saw a ball of energy flying towards me. I was suddenly knocked off of my feet and landed face down on the sand. I felt heat on my back before a loud explosion reached my ears. I looked up and saw a large hole in a rock that was a few feet away from me. It was smoking and the edge of the hole was bright like in a fire.

My eyes widened in shock as I stared at the hole, which could've been me if I hadn't fallen. 'What had knocked me down anyway?' I looked back and saw Crystal lying on the ground, panting. Blood was dripping down from her hairline and she hastily wiped it away.

"Don't just sit there staring at me, you idiot!" Crystal snapped as she struggled to her feet. I glanced further back to see Diaboromon watching us, laughing in his taunting way. 'Why didn't he attack again when he had the chance?' "You gotta get outta here."

"Not without you," I responded as I started to go back to her. Diaboromon's eyes narrowed in anger once he realized what I was doing.

"Web Wrecker!"

I flung myself to the ground, landing on my arm wrong in the process. Tears of pain came to my eyes, especially when I put weight on my arm to get to my feet. I grasped Crystal's outstretched hand and pulled her to her feet as I tried to get away from Diaboromon.

"Come on!" I cried out as she stumbled next to me.

"I can't! I hurt my leg!" She responded in a strained voice.

"Lean against me," I said as I brought her arm over his shoulder and held her around the waist. The two scrambled up the beach as fast as they could. My heart was beating hard in my chest as blood rushed in my ears. I could hear Diaboromon moving quickly behind us. In only a matter of seconds he would be on top of us.

"Web Wrecker!"

I felt the sand beneath me disappear before I was launched into the air. Wind whistled in my ear as the ground sped up to meet me. I landed hard on my side and bounced once before rolling over. The salty sea air breeze reached my nose along with the sound of the tossing waves. I rolled onto my stomach and looked out at the ocean before looking down, only to see that we had landed at the edge of a cliff.

I turned back to check on Crystal when my eyes locked with Diaboromon's. A slow evil smile spread across his face before his limbs started quaking, shortly after his body started shaking along with his limbs. My breath got caught in my throat. I didn't know what he was planning on doing but I knew that it wouldn't be good.

"Lost Paradise."

I reached out to grab Crystal's hand when I felt a force, like a brick wall, hit me in the side and a deafening roar reached my ears. Before I could grab her I was sent flying backwards, over the edge of the cliff. The sky and the sea switched positions as I plummeted towards the churning water. Everything seemed strangely peaceful, it was quiet as the water rose up to meet me and I plunged through the surface with enough force to knock the wind out of me and cause me to black out.

I came to when I felt a sharp stinging sensation on my forehead. I groaned and tired to lift my right arm but stopped when pain exploded in it and shot all the way up to my shoulder. I forced my eyes open and blinked rapidly so they could adjust to the bright light. I was lying down next to a handmade fire in a cave. The crackling from the burning wood was the only sound that echoed in the cave.

'How'd I get here?' I sat up all the way and looked around. I glanced towards the mouth of the cave when I heard a scraping sound. "Terriermon!" I cried out as he came in, carrying a stack of twigs in his arms. "Lopmon!" Lopmon came in behind him, also carrying a stack of twigs.

"Willis!" The two cried out in unison. They dropped the twigs before rushing over to me. I reached out with my good arm and brought them close to me. I let out a sigh of relief when I felt them cling to me.

"Are you two ok? How'd I get here?" I asked them.

"We're fine," Lopmon responded. "Back at the school we felt like we were being pulled somewhere. Next thing we knew we were here. Terriermon and I went around trying to find a Digimon that could tell us where we were."

"There aren't any other ones here," Terriermon continued. "We found this cave as we walked down the beach. We stayed here for a little bit trying to come up with an idea on what to do. We heard some explosions and tried to find where it was coming from. Then we saw you falling into the ocean. We went out and got you and brought you back here. You've been out for at least twenty minutes. You have a cut on your forehead and your arm is broken."

"Well, I guess that's better than being destroyed," I sighed as I shifted so my back was resting against the cave wall and Terriermon and Lopmon were resting on my lap. "Wait a second, where's Crystal? What happened to her?" I cried out as I looked down at them.

"We didn't see her, we only saw you," Terriermon responded slowly, as if measuring his words.

"I have to go find her," I muttered as I tried to stand.

"No Willis," Lopmon said, stopping me. "You're in no condition to go out there. Diaboromon might find you and attack you again."

"Diaboromon went through the Internet and was close to finding me all those years ago. That same virus in Diaboromon tracked you down, Lopmon, and you were easily able to find me. I think if Diaboromon wanted to attack me again, he would've done so all ready," I explained.

"Stay, Willis," Lopmon said in a firm tone. "Terriermon and I will go looking for her. In the meantime, I'm sure your friends are worried. You might want to check if you D-Terminal will work."

"Ok." I sighed in defeat as Terriermon and Lopmon got off of my lap. They threw a couple more sticks onto the fire before talking quietly and Terriermon left the cave. Lopmon came back over t me and sat in my lap. I held onto hi with my good arm and rested my chin on his head, careful to avoid the three horns that were on his head. "I hope she's ok."

"I'm sure she is," Lopmon told me. I wanted to believe him, but I just couldn't. Uncomfortable silence stretched between us as we waited and waited. I tried to ignore the pain that was throbbing in my arm as I reached into my pocket to pull out my D-Terminal. I shook it, surprised that I didn't hear any water sloshing around on the inside. I flipped open the flap revealing the screen and pressed a button, smiling a little when it lit up. 'Who should I contact? I'll try Kari.'

I quickly put Hikari Kamiya in the receiver space before typing out my message. I held my breath and pushed 'send' waiting. A couple of seconds later it beeped, signaling that the message hadn't gone through. 'That's weird. I'll try Davis.' I tried to send a message to Davis but I got another signal telling me that the letter wouldn't send to him either. I tried everyone else in the group, including Izzy and Tai, but the message wouldn't go through.

"Arrrgh!" I growled before throwing the D-Terminal across the cave where it smacked into the wall and landed on the ground. I held my head in my hands as I gripped at my hair. "This is my entire fault," I groaned.

"This isn't your fault, Willis," Lopmon told me.

"Yes it is! I'm the reason Diaboromon is back! If I hadn't tried to create another Digimon on the web it wouldn't have been infected by a virus, it wouldn't have tried to destroy Japan and my summer home, it wouldn't have tracked you down and attacked you and-"

"And you wouldn't have met the friends you have now," Lopmon interrupted me, looking me straight in the eye. I blinked and stared back at him as his words sunk into my head. He was telling the truth, if this hadn't happened I never would have met and became friends with them.

"That's true, but we wouldn't be in this mess either," I responded after a few minutes of silence. Lopmon let out a small sigh as I leaned my head back against the cave wall. I guess I fell asleep because the next thing I knew I was being woken up by the sound of something scratching against the cave wall. I forced my eyes open and looked around until my eyes rested on Terriermon, who was scratching the walls with a twig. Lopmon was sleeping peacefully on my lap, his head resting on my chest. "When'd you get back?"

"About twenty minutes ago," Terriermon responded as he dropped the stick he held in his hands and walked towards me.

"You didn't run into any trouble?"

"No," he responded as he shook his head. "Why?"

"I was attacked by Diaboromon earlier," I admitted. "I was hoping you didn't run into him."

"Diaboromon?" Terriermon repeated. "But...I thought he was defeated."

"He was," I responded.

"And I thought he was defeated again."

"He was," I repeated. "I don't know how he came back this time. Maybe there was a stray virus or something. All I know is that this is my fault and I have to find a way to fix it. I don't even know what he's after this time." I let out the breath I was holding and took in the crisp sea air. "Did you find-"

"She's sleeping," Terriermon said as he pointed in Crystal's direction with one of his ears. I followed the direction his ear pointed and let out a sigh of relief when I saw her sleeping on the ground near the fire, her bangs were still damp and stuck to her forehead. "I found her washed up on the beach and carried her back here," he explained.

I nodded before lifting Lopmon with my good arm and moved over so I was sitting near Crystal. I placed Lopmon on the ground next to me, trying now to wake him up. I gently pulled Crystal over to me so her head was resting on my lap before I picked Lopmon up again and held him. "I almost lost her before," I told Terriermon as I continued studying Crystal's face. "It was after Kokomon came back and digivolved to Lopmon. We were playing in the lake in Colorado. She wasn't that strong of a swimmer and she fell off of the floating dock that was in the middle of it. She started panicking and I wanted to help her so badly, but I couldn't. Eventually someone from the shore saw what was happening and rescued her." Terriermon sat silently watching me. "Since then I promised that I would protect her, and look how we ended up: hiding in a cave from a Digimon that I created and I couldn't even protect her."

"That's what you think," Terriermon said as he climbed onto my shoulder and stayed there by wrapping an ear around my neck. "She was conscious for a little bit, she was telling me to tell you that she said thank you."

"For what?" I asked in confusion. "I didn't do anything."

"If you didn't do anything then she wouldn't be alive after Diaboromon attacked you," he pointed out. As his words sunk in a smile came to my face.