Chapter Thirty-Five

"Agumon digivolve to…Greymon!"

"Palmon digivolve to…Togemon!"

The two huge Digimon snarled down at the small group—Nanimon and the others all gulped as they slowly backed away.

"You guys still sure you wanna fight?" Kyubimon asked menacingly as she stood by Greymon.

"M-Make for the hills!"

"Run for it!"

"Gabumon digivolve to…Garurumon!"

"Gomamon digivolve to…Ikakumon!"

"Tentomon digivolve to…Kabuterimon!"

"Uh…" Nanimon backed away, his eyes wide with unease as we all glared at him. "Eh heh…you're big!…Anyone want a wrestling coach?"

"Hey!" Demidevimon yelped. "You can't quit!"

Nanimon whirled around to glare at him. "Think again twerp, when it comes to having my butt kicked I draw the line!"

"We're coming through!" Tai shouted as Greymon roared angrily and charged forwards.

"Don't let me stand in your way!" He replied as he bolted after the others.

I smirked as I cracked my knuckles. "You're MINE, bowling ball…"

"I'm outnumbered! Good help is so hard to find…"
"Just admit you picked the wrong side and give it a rest already!" TK scoffed.

Demidevimon glared at him, his eyes shining slightly. "If you're trying to frighten me it won't work!" He shrieked.

"You haven't dealt with me yet!" hissed a female voice.

My eyes widened and I face-palmed with a groan. "Yggdrasil…HER!"

"Lily?" Tai asked in confusion. "What are you-.." But he was cut off as a white flash of fur streaked towards us.

It slammed hard punches into both Greymon and Ikakumon, slamming them both down into the ground.

Gatomon giggled as she dropped back to hind paws. "That was TOO easy!"
TK blinked. "…A cat?"

"What's that little runt doing here?" Joe muttered. "Go on! Scat!"

I sweatdropped. "Uh…Joe?…You might not wanna do that…"

It was too late. Gatomon's eyes had already narrowed to sapphire slits. "Still underestimating my strength…? Lightning Paw!"

She slashed her claws across Kabuterimon's face, leaving deep, nasty-looking gashes.

"Gack!"

"What the CRAP?" Matt exclaimed in disbelief, his eyes widening as he tried to take in what had just happened.

"Guys, meet Gatomon…" I said with a sigh. "She's one of Myotismon's kiss-butt lieutenants…"

"Excuse me?"

"You heard me!"

She growled at me before her eyes flickered back to Garurumon, who charged forward with a snarl.

Smirking, she easily leapt out of his way, dodging every one of his attacks.

"Try this, you little twerp!" Togemon hollered, drawing back a punch before swinging out of the way.

No luck. With a snicker, Gatomon easily leapt out of the way and Togemon punched Garurumon right in the head, sending him crashing back to the ground.

"Hey!" TK prostested. "That's playing dirty!"

"Of course…" she purred. "What do you expect? I'm no prissy angel like…" her gaze flickered to me. "certain others…"

O-hhh that DOES it. "Kyubimon…."

Kyubimon snarled before charging forward. Gatomon leapt to the side like she did the others—but Kyubimon was quicker and sank her teeth into her back.

"ARGH!"

She shook her the way a dog would a chew toy before tossing her to the side, still snarling under her breath.

"GUYS!" We all whirled to see Izzy's eyes widen with horror. "The-The Gate! It's closing!"

"WHAT?"

Sure enough, the two giant stone gates were slowly creaking shut again…

"GO!" Tai shouted desperately, bolting forwards with the other close behind.

Gatomon snarled, her eyes narrowing down to furious slits as she slowly got to her feet. "I…don't…think so…" she hissed. The ring around her tail suddenly started to shine a brilliant shade of gold.

Eerie roars echoed on all sides of us, and the dragon statues slowly morphed into something more…real…

Stone became leathery, reptilian skin, and the next thing we knew we were surrounded by
angry snarling Devidramon.

"Devidramon…' Gatomon said smugly. "The Guardian of the Gate. If you want a real surprise, look into his eyes! You'll be hypnotized…"

Did I mention how much I LOATHE that cat?

Matt growled under his breath as he looked from side to side. "There's too many of them!"

"But if we don't go now…" Joe glanced desperately back at the Gate.

Greymon snarled as he tackled one of the Devidramon, who angrily slashed razor-sharp talons at him. However, Greymon managed to dodge.

"Nova Blast!" He roared, spitting out a giant fireball that struck the Devidramon right in the face.

Another one swooped down at him, and he whirled around to face it head on with a snarl.

"NO WAIT!" Kyubimon yelped. "Don't!"

The snarls of the Devidramon filled my ears as they circled around the Digimon, cutting them off from their partners, their eyes glowing an eerie shade of red…

"What the?"

"Guys…" I kept my head down, not daring to look into their faces. "Whatever you do…don't look…"

"Ahh…" I glanced quickly to my right before facepalming. Kyubimon's head was slumped downwards—oblivious to what was going on. She looked half-asleep. And it didn't take a genius, by the sound of the other Digimon, to know they were in the same kind of trouble.

"What the?…"

"YEAH!" Demidevimon cackled as the Devidramon swooped at our Digimon, one of them grabbing Garurumon by the scruff and shaking him like a kitten.

"NO!" Matt bolted forward. "Let him go! NOW!"

Patamon glared at Demidevimon, swooping in front of his way just as the talking-bowling ball dove for the gate.

"Move it runt!" He snarled.

Patamon's blue eyes narrowed. "Boom Bubble!" he spat angrily, sending Demidevimon spiraling out of control.

"This way!" Tai shouted, grabbing me by the hand and yanking me towards the Gate; just as a Devidramon swooped at us with a snarl, drooling hungrily.

Greymon's eyes snapped open at the sound of Tai's scream, and he charged forward with an angry roar. "Hey lizard breath! Over here!"

He tackled the virus, the two of them wrestling desperately as they tried to sink their teeth into each other's necks.

"TAI!" Izzy shouted. "We gotta go!"

Tai just stood there, frozen, his eyes fixed on his Digimon, his fists clenched and shaking slightly.

"Go…through it!" Greymon groaned with the effort of forcing the dragon back.

Tai's Crest burst into an orange light that surrounded Greymon…

"Greymon digivolve to…MetalGreymon!"

"Whoah…" I breathed as Greymon's height increased, his face became covered with a steel helmet, and purple wings sprouted from his back along with a robotic claw. "…Not bad…'

"You're the MON!" Tai shouted, clutching his glowing Crest. "Teach em a lesson!"

"Giga Blaster!" MetalGreymon roared, the metal shield on his chest opening to release two large rockets that spiraled towards the Devidramon.

Their screams echoed loudly inside the basement….

"He did it!" Matt exclaimed. "It's a clear shot now!"

Tai grinned before narrowing his eyes. "NOW! Let's go!"

"All right!" Demidevimon screeched as Patamon sank his teeth into his leg. "Just—get off of me! Get off get off get off!"

Gatomon rolled her eyes before slashing her claws at Patamon, sending him flying.

"Ack!"

She giggled before turning around to face us with a smirk. "Sorry! You're too late! I'll miss you in Japan!"

"Gatomon, don't even THINK about it!" I shouted, bolting forwards with Tai.

But it was too late.

Inches before we reached the door…the sliver left of an opening finally closed.

"Bye-bye!" I heard her obnoxious singsong voice call as the doors slammed shut….

"NO!" Tai screamed, pounding his fist against the closed door, angrily, desperately. "Open up! It can't be! No…NO!"