I do not own InuYasha or Digimon Adventure in any way!
Speech Key:
"The" – Oral/Normal Speech
'The' – Thoughts
PLEASE READ THIS BEFORE BEGINNING!
AN: Well, the end of the first half is nearing…I just can't believe Adventure 1 is already done…
Anyway, enjoy the chapter!
Review, but if you don't have anything nice to say, then don't say anything at all!
-The Ninth Child-
xX-The Jester's Final Performance-Xx
"Stop," Kagome told Reppamon as they stopped in front of a cave. "He's in there…"
"Who?" Reppamon asked.
"He who has allowed despair to take hold of his heart and soul," Kagome answered, still in the layered, but matured voice.
"Should we go in?" the masked Digimon asked.
His only response was a light pat on top of his head. Reppamon took this as a 'yes' and stepped into the cave cautiously.
'Where could this lead to?' the Digimon thought to himself. 'Better yet, who is Kagome looking for?'
Suddenly, out of nowhere, a beam of light shot itself from Kagome's crest straight into the cave, much deeper than where they were at the moment.
"Kagome?" Reppamon asked, stopping from surprise. "What was that?"
"Help," was all the raven-haired girl said.
"Should I go on?" the masked Digimon asked hesitantly. The entire cave seemed to be giving off a sort of dark feel that made the Digimon highly uncomfortable.
"No need," Kagome replied, "His heart has let go and his soul is cleansed."
'Who is he, anyway?' the Digimon wondered. 'It has to be someone we know or she probably wouldn't be like this. But why is she in a trance in the first place? Was there something else about her gift she didn't tell us?'
Just as she said that, the cave began to ripple before disappearing with a 'swoosh', as though it were never there in the first place. It was then that Reppamon found out just who Kagome had been speaking of.
Matt and Gabumon stood there a few metres away from them, looking around in confusion.
"Uh correct me if I'm wrong on this one," Gabumon spoke, "But weren't we just in a big, dark cave a minute ago?"
"Yeah," Matt looked around, "We were completely lost." His cobalt eyes continued to gaze around at his surroundings until they landed on Reppamon with Kagome on his back just a little bit away from them. "And I definitely don't remember Kagome and Reppamon being here…"
The blonde and his Digimon stood there, watching as the masked Digimon and his partner came up to them. "Hey, guys, what are you doing here?" Matt asked.
"To find you, I assume," Reppamon replied. "Though it was Kagome who did everything…I was only the transport."
"Kagome?" Gabumon said worriedly. "Kagome!" The striped Digimon turned to Reppamon. "What's wrong with Kagome?"
Matt looked up at the raven-haired girl at this and gasped when he saw the brightly glowing icy orbs. 'Something's not right…'
The masked Digimon shook his head when both Digimon and partner looked up at his own. His voice was somber as he spoke of what had happened and how he and Kagome came to be there.
"Unfortunately, I don't know what caused this and I don't know how to snap her out of it," Reppamon finished.
"Hey! Matt!" Came a familiar voice.
They all turned in the direction of the sound and saw the lanky figure of Joe Kido running up to them, waving his arms. "Over here!"
"Joe?" Matt said, surprised. 'What's he doing here? I thought he was with the others?'
No one noticed how Kagome had snapped out of whatever trance she'd been in, her eyes no longer glowing. 'What's going on? And where the heck are we? Where are Kari and Tai?'
The blue-haired teen came to a stop in front of Matt, bending over to catch his breath. Suddenly, Joe stood up straight and burst out into laughter, leaving the preteens confused.
"I told you I would find him!" the blue-haired teen exclaimed to Gomamon.
"I never doubted you for one minute," the white Digimon replied.
"What's going on?" Kagome asked slowly.
"You're back!" Reppamon sighed in relief.
"I didn't realize I went anywhere," Kagome said lightly. "Speaking of, where are we? I thought we were being chased up and down a sewer by WaruMonzaemon?"
"I'll explain later," Kudamon said once he de-digivolved, "But just know that it's a relief to have you back with us."
"Are you alright?" Gabumon asked Kagome while Matt and Joe spoke to each other.
"A little tired, but other than that I'm fine," Kagome assured the striped Digimon.
"Oh, hi, Kagome," Joe said, finally spotting the raven-haired girl. "What are you doing here? I thought you were with Tai and the others?"
"I don't know why I'm here, but I could say the same for yourself, can't I?" Kagome returned. "Weren't you supposed to be with Mimi?"
"I was, but I left to find Matt when we found Elecmon with his harmonica," Joe replied.
"So you left Mimi alone?" Gabumon asked.
Joe shook his head. "Nope. You see, while Mimi and I were traveling, we met up with Ogremon and Leomon again, but Leomon was badly hurt from an attack MetalEtemon sent at Mimi. Anyway, after Ogremon joined us, we found Gekomon and Otamamon who came along with us, too. Eventually, we just started going around trying to find any Digimon left out there willing to help us fight the Dark Masters."
"MetalEtemon?" Matt blinked.
"Yeah," the blue-haired boy shook his head. "A real big mess right there. It turns out that when MetalGreymon destroyed Etemon, his data scattered, but he kept a good hold on it until he leveled up to Mega, which is when he decided to come back and get revenge on us for having a hand in his defeat."
"What kind of Digimon was he?" Kagome asked suspiciously. She'd already deduced that Leomon must have been the lion Digimon she saw in a previous vision, but she didn't know who the second was. However, from what Joe was saying, she felt that MetalEtemon just might be the second Digimon.
Joe looked at Kagome for a moment before shaking his head. "Sorry, I keep forgetting that you weren't there with us when Etemon was around. MetalEtemon's a metal monkey with a huge Elvis complex."
'At least I know who the gaudy looking monkey was now,' Kagome thought dryly.
"Sora!" Came a faint shout. "SORA!"
"That sounds like T.K!" Gabumon's ears perked up.
"Then let's go!" Kagome told them, running in the direction of where the young boy's voice was coming from.
"T.K!" Matt shouted to his little brother when the young boy in green came into view.
"Hey, that sounds like Matt," T.K said happily.
"It sure does!" Matt grinned, kneeling on the round to take his brother into his arms.
"Oh, Matt," T.K hugged his brother as tightly as his little arms allowed, "Where've ya been? I was really worried!"
"Sorry, T.K," the older blonde apologized, "I just needed time to get my head straight. But I promise that I'll never leave you again."
"You look…different, Matt," T.K tilted his head. "Did you cut your hair or something?"
"No," Matt chuckled, "I just haven't been using as much gel."
"T.K," Kagome spoke up, "Where is everybody? You didn't get separated, did you?"
"Kagome!" the young blonde exclaimed. "You're back to normal!" He turned around in Matt's arms and held them out to the raven-haired girl.
The raven-haired preteen gave a light smile as she stepped forward to gave the young boy a tight hug. "I'm sorry if I scared you, T.K, but now isn't the time for that. Where is everyone?"
"Tai and the others are up on Spiral Mountain fighting Piedmon; he told me and Sora to get you guys to go there," T.K reported. "But some black thing got Sora and pulled her into that hole!"
"What?" Joe ran up to the edge of said hole. "Is she okay?"
"Hey, Matt," Gabumon looked up at his partner, "Doesn't this remind you of anything?"
"Yeah," Matt nodded, "It looks exactly like that cave we were lost in before. The same black thing must've gotten Sora!"
"You've seen it?" T.K looked up at his brother.
"We can't just stay up here chatting," Joe looked into the hole, "We've gotta help her!"
The~Ninth~Child
"Somehow, I don't have a good feeling about this," Joe said nervously as they all climbed down the sides of the hole as carefully as they could.
"It was your idea," Kagome reminded the older boy. "But I understand what you're getting at; this place doesn't feel right…"
"I'm scared," T.K whimpered.
"It's all right," Matt soothed, "just don't look down and you won't have to be scared, just remember to stick together and we'll all be okay. I realized that it was your fear and sadness that feeds this darkness."
"That's easy for you to say!" T.K retorted.
'It's just like last time,' Kudamon thought as he kept himself wrapped securely around Kagome's neck. 'Only, it seems that while Kagome feels the darkness, she doesn't remember what happened.'
The group continued to climb down until Joe suddenly lost his footing, causing him to land on his bottom with a sound 'thump'. Luckily they weren't too far from the bottom of the hole, so Joe had only fallen from about six or seven inches from the ground.
"You okay?" Matt asked the blue-haired teen.
"I'm fine," Joe waved off the concern, "Luckily, I landed on the one part of my body that has built-in airbags."
"Very funny," Matt said sarcastically.
"Careful now," Kagome said reaching her hands up to guide T.K down when she stood firmly on the dirt floor.
"So which way do we go?" T.K asked, looking both ways, finding that the cave extended into two different directions. "How do we find Sora?"
It was then that Kagome's crest lit up once more, though this time no light shot out of it. Unnoticed by anyone other than her own partner, Kagome's eyes began glowing once more as she walked into the cave extending on their left.
"Kagome?" Matt asked, walking up to the raven-haired girl. "What was—" he cut himself off when he noticed the preteen's glowing eyes.
"Uh-oh," T.K murmured. "She's doin' it again…"
"This happened before?" Joe asked.
T.K nodded. "One minute we're running through the sewers from WaruMonzaemon and the next, Kagome's eyes get all glowy and she just leaves. We don't know why, but Sora thought it might be because of her gift."
"Hey, listen!" Patamon spoke up. "I hear someone talking."
"Sora!" Came Biyomon's voice. "Please tell me what's wrong! Sora!"
"That's Biyomon!" Gomamon said running ahead with T.K and Patamon. "And where one is, that's where the other'll be!"
The group ran ahead towards Biyomon's voice with Matt and Joe having to pull Kagome along with them.
"Sora!" they heard Biyomon shout once more.
"Hang on, Biyomon!" T.K called out. "We're comin'!"
They all came to a stop before a worried Biyomon standing next to Sora who was surrounded by a dark glow sitting with her arms wrapped tightly around her knees, her faces hidden within them.
"Hey, Sora, come on," Matt said, trying to jostle the girl. But when that didn't work, he gently grabbed a hold of her arm and tried pulling her up. "It's time to get up, Sora."
The blonde shook his head after a few failed attempts. "I can't pull her up, it looks like she's stuck or something."
"Stuck?" Joe blinked. "Here, let me help." He walked over and took one arm while Matt took the other.
"On the count of three," Matt nodded.
"One…"
"…Two…"
"…Three!" The two boys pulled as hard as they could on Sora's arms, but the orange-haired girl just didn't budge, no matter how hard or much they tried.
"What's wrong with her?" the young blonde asked after Matt and Joe failed to pull the orange-haired girl up.
"That which strengthens this darkness holds her heart and soul," Kagome spoke.
"And that's supposed to mean…?" Gomamon said slowly.
"She means that Sora is lost in her own fear and doubt," Kudamon clarified.
"Just like me," Matt muttered.
"Hey, I think she's sayin' somethin'," T.K said putting his head closer to the orange-haired girl.
One by one everyone quieted as they listened for whatever it was that T.K had heard. For a few moments, they began to think that she'd said nothing at all and that T.K was just mistaken. But soon enough, they heard soft mumbling that grew louder and louder with each second that passed.
"I have to find Matt, Kagome, Mimi, and Joe," Sora mumbled, "I have to help Tai or the world will be destroyed! There's no place like home. There's no place like home…"
"That's all she's saying now," Biyomon said anxiously. "She won't even talk to me anymore! It's like she doesn't even see me!"
"Sora," Joe placed his hands on the girl's shoulder and jostled her a bit. "It's me, Joe. I'm right here, and so are Matt and Kagome!"
Slowly, Sora lifted her head, though her eyes were a blank maroon. "Joe? You're really here…And Matt and Kagome are with you, too…"
"Just relax," Matt soothed, "Everything's gonna be just fine."
"I'm afraid not," Sora said desolately, "I haven't be trying hard enough. I have to get to Tai right away and help him fight, because if I don't, the world will be completely destroyed!"
"Sora!" Joe all but shouted. "You can't believe that you're responsible for saving the world!"
"Sora, you have to realize how strong your negative feelings are," Matt tried reasoning with the orange-haired preteen. "They produce a powerful destructive energy. Sora, it's the darkness in your heart that created the cave in the first place! Don't you get it?"
"Really?" Joe looked up at Matt when he said this. "Is that why you told T.K not to be scared?"
Matt knelt down before the girl. "Sora, listen to me; There's only one way to make this cave disappear. You've got to reach deep into your heart and erase all of your negative feelings. It's the only way!"
No one noticed how Kagome's crest began to glow brighter with each passing moment with Joe's and Matt's individual crests glowing as well. Suddenly, a bolt of light shot out from the raven-haired girl's crest to engulf Matt, Joe, and Sora.
-Inside Sora's Mind-
"I don't know if I can," Sora spoke, "What should I do?"
"That's something you need to figure out for yourself," Matt answered as he delved deep into the orange-haired girl's mind to reach her. "Sora, this isn't the kind of thing you do because you have to. If you're going to do it, then it has to be because you want to."
"You mean if I don't want to, I don't have to?" Sora asked.
Matt nodded, "That's right. It'll only work if you want to do it."
"But I'm confused," Sora shook her head, "How will I know what the right thing to do is?"
"When our whole adventure started, do you think we had any idea what the right thing to do was?" Joe asked as he joined Matt to help bring Sora out. "Of course not; But that didn't stop us, now did it? Maybe we're here for a reason. Maybe we're the only ones who can do it!"
A white aura engulfed Matt and Joe, adding to the golden glow that already enveloped them. "What's this?" Joe asked. "It feels warm and calm…"
"I think it's Kagome," Matt said in realization, "The same thing happened when I was stuck inside my cave; she helped Gabumon pull me out of my darkness and now she's helping us to get Sora out of her own!"
"We're the only ones who can make a difference," Sora said.
"We're getting through to her!" Joe grinned.
"We're the only ones," Sora said again, "That's why we're here!"
It was then that Matt and Joe reached the orange-haired girl, who'd already begun to unravel herself from the fetal position she'd been in. They grabbed her hands and the white-gold aura spread around Sora.
"I get it now!" Sora grinned up at her friends as they helped her up, her eyes no longer blank. "But, Matt, how did you know?"
"I kinda went through the same thing myself," Matt rubbed the back of his head.
T.K, while happy that his friend was better, was watching Kagome and how the bright glow of her icy eyes dimmed until they returned to their original cool hue.
Kagome blinked. "So did we help Sora? Is she going to be all right?"
'She doesn't remember?' T.K thought in shock. "Yeah, she's okay, you, Matt, and Joe brought her back to normal."
It was then that the cave disappeared as quickly as it must have come.
"When the darkness in your heart disappeared," Matt explained, "So did the cave."
Sora's expression turned into alarm. "What are we doing? We can't just stand around here! Tai sent T.K and I to find you all! He's up at the top Spiral Mountain holding off Piedmon with WarGreymon!"
"Then let's get going!" Matt nodded.
-Sometime Later on Spiral Mountain-
"Tai! Where are you?!" Matt shouted as he sat atop Garurumon with T.K and Kagome beside him.
"Tai!" Sora shouted, clutching Birdramon's leg tightly.
'Please let us get there on time…' Kagome prayed silently.
"He's over there!" Joe pointed at a few figures in the distance. He squinted to get a better look. "WarGreymon's down and so is Tai! It looks like Piedmon did a number on 'em!"
"Hang on, Buddy," Matt called out to the brown-haired preteen. "We're coming!"
"Just keep holding on, Tai!" Kagome yelled out to her brother worriedly.
It hadn't been even five minutes before the small group reached Tai. Matt and Kagome leapt down from Garurumon and hurried over to the fallen boy.
"Matt," Tai rasped, "You're here." He glanced around and saw Kagome 'And she's safe, too…'
"Yeah," Matt nodded. "I'm here now, buddy."
T.K tried going forward, but found himself held back by Kagome. He looked up at the raven-haired girl in confusion. 'Why can't I go over to Matt and Tai?'
"Matt and Tai have some things they need to get out of the way first," Kagome explained quietly. "We shouldn't get in between that."
"I never doubted you for a second," Tai managed to get out; "I know it didn't always seem that way, but I've always believed in you."
The blonde's eyes filled with tears. "Thanks, Tai; for believing in me. I'm just sorry that I was so late! Tai, you have to know, your friendship and everyone else's means a lot to me, more than I say it does. And I swear, nothing'll ever come between us again; not if I have anything to do about it."
It was then that Matt's crest glowed a bright blue hue, surprising everyone in the vicinity. They watched as Garurumon walked up to the fallen WarGreymon and nuzzled his head lightly before a multicoloured light engulfed the dragon-knight Digimon.
When the light died down, there stood WarGreymon, good as new, as though he'd never been injured in the first place.
"WarGreymon!" Tai's eyes widened.
"Now what?" Piedmon's smirk fell.
Garurumon looked at Matt before gesturing to WarGreymon. "Matt, your Crest of Friendship gave me strength and helped heal WarGreymon."
"Thank you," WarGreymon nodded at both Matt and Gabumon, "The both of you."
"Come on, guys!" They heard Izzy shout. "Get out of there!"
"Come on," Matt grunted, lifting Tai up and slinging on arm around his neck while Tai's other was slung over Joe's. Together, the two boys helped their third over to where Izzy and Kari were.
"You okay?" Joe asked.
"I think so," Tai said, slightly dazed.
"Kagome!" Kari tackled her sister in a tight hug. "You're okay!"
"Of course I am," Kagome said, slightly baffled. "Why wouldn't I be?"
"My first thought was to destroy you all together in one nice little package," Piedmon's smirk was back on his face, "But now, I believe I'd rather do it individually, so as to prolong your suffering a little longer!"
"You talk way too much for a clown!" Matt shouted at Piedmon.
"Silence, you insolent fool! Trump Sword!" The clown Digimon drew out four sharp swords and launched them at where Tai and the others were.
"Gabumon Warp Digivolve to: MetalGarurumon!"
"Now he'll see what we're made of!" Kari exclaimed from within her sister's arms, T.K standing beside the two.
"Terra Force!"
"Metal Wolf Claw!"
The attacks from both Mega Digimon merged together, in a dangerous swirling force of fire and ice, heading straight for Piedmon. The blast was so large that the swords Piedmon had launched were caught up in the merged attack and disintegrated before they could hit the children.
"They were able to break through Piedmon's attack!" Joe exclaimed. "All right!"
"Well ,well," Piedmon grinned maliciously after leaping over the remnants of the attack headed straight for him. "It's seems that I may have just found a worthy adversary…"
"We have two Mega Digimon on our side and he's only got himself," Tai announced. "It's time for this clown's final performance! Go WarGreymon!"
"You, too MetalGarurumon!" Matt ordered.
"So I'm a clown, am I?" Piedmon sneered. "Then I'll act like one! Clown Trick!" He formed a small ring of maroon fire with his hands. "Try jumping through this hoop!" He tossed the ring out towards the two Mega Digimon.
MetalGarurumon took a chance and leapt up towards Piedmon, but was caught within the ring the clown Digimon had created. The ring shrunk until it closed tightly around his midsection. The metal wolf Digimon struggled for a few moment, but to no avail and crashed to the ground instead, the ring dissipating with the harsh landing.
"Are you all right?" WarGreymon asked MetalGarurumon.
"Why don't you join us?" Piedmon asked mockingly. "We're having a ball!"
WarGreymon yelped as he found himself trying to balance atop a rather large green and red ball.
"Sorry if I caught you off-balance," Piedmon cackled, "Round and round he goes…where he lands, nobody knows!"
Unfortunately, the dragon-knight Digimon couldn't keep himself balanced and found himself falling off and crashing into the already fallen MetalGarurumon.
Piedmon couldn't resist and burst out laughing at the sight; what with his malicious sense of humor and all.
"This is just a game to him!" Izzy observed worriedly. "He's playing around with them like toys!"
"Well, I'm tired of playing around!" Tai growled.
"Hold on," Matt reasoned, "Let's not be hasty; He wants us to make a mistake."
"What's the matter?" Piedmon asked. "Don't want to play with Uncle Piedmon anymore? Trump Sword!"
The children and the rest of the Digimon cried out when they saw Piedmon's swords heading for the two Mega Digimon, but gasped when they saw that not all the swords going around were solid; they were merely illusions.
"Some of those swords aren't even real!" Tai exclaimed.
"WarGreymon, I'm picking up the real swords on my sensors," MetalGarurumon reported, "Over to your right!"
"Cover me!" WarGreymon ordered as he headed for the swords his fellow Mega had indicated and blocked them with his gauntlets, shattering the swords into tiny shards that dissipated soon after.
"Metal Wolf Snout!" MetalGarurumon shot four energy beams from his snout at the remaining real swords, making them dissipate into tiny particles as well.
Piedmon's grin fell from his face as a furious growl slipped through his painted lips.
"Looks like the joke's on you, Piedmon," MetalGarurumon said mockingly, to which Piedmon only sneered.
WarGreymon took that time to attack. "Terra Force!" the great ball of energy hit the clown Digimon, sending him flying back a few metres with a shout.
"Nice shot!" Matt nodded.
"Izzy," Tai turned to the aurbun-haired genius. "Have everyone digivolve and attack!"
"Caution," an android Digimon known as Andromon spoke.
Piedmon stood with a curious look about his face as he held up a square piece of plain white cloth.
"A white flag?" Joe asked, perplexed. "Is he trying to surrender?"
"Someone like him won't go down that easily," Kagome said grimly. "He's probably got more tricks up his sleeve…"
The clown Digimon said nothing as he turned the cloth, showing his audience the front and back as an ordinary magician would.
"Playtime's over!" WarGreymon shouted running to Piedmon, MetalGarurumon right beside him.
"But I'm just getting started!" Piedmon smirked, holding the cloth aloft before tossing it down towards the approaching Mega Digimon.
Everyone watched in horrific awe as the cloth grew larger and larger until it was big enough to cover WarGreymon and MetalGarurumon. The moment the cloth had covered the two Mega Digimon, lavender static ran across and over the fabric. When the currents died down, the cloth flopped to the ground as though nothing had been under it, the two Mega Digimon gone.
The children gaped at the sight and hadn't noticed that two of their own were gone until they heard their voices shout.
"WarGreymon!"
"MetalGarurumon!"
"No!" Sora shouted. "Come back; there's nothing we can do now!"
Piedmon only cackled before tossing down one more piece of cloth. Like before, it enlarged to fit over the two boys. Lavender static was once more seen as the cloth once again flopped to the ground, both boys gone as their Digimon were.
"What happened to them?" Kari asked worriedly.
"They just disappeared!" T.K exclaimed.
"Tada!" Piedmon hopped down to lift both pieces of cloth to reveal nothing left underneath. "Thank you for coming; next show's at seven-thirty. You've been a great crowd. Goodnight!"
"At least he didn't saw them in half," Tentomon commented, trying to lighten the mood a bit despite their situation.
"What did you do to them?!" Kagome all but shouted. "Where are they?!"
Piedmon's grin widened. "I hold the keys to their existence. And I need a place to put them, so I made a couple of keychains." He opened one hand to reveal two keychains that looked like Matt and Tai. "I was thinking that these would look nice hanging from my backpack!" he opened his other hand to reveal keychain figures of WarGreymon and MetalGarurumon.
"What kind of sicko turns people into keychains?" Sora asked, alarmed.
"The kind that aren't sane or good," Kagome muttered, looking at the four tiny figurines.
"Oh, but I'm not a 'sicko', as you say," Piedmon replied, "I'm a collector, and these new items hold such sentimental value to me." He laughed as he hooked the keychains onto his waist. "Now, who wants to be next?"
"Run!" Joe shouted.
No one could agree more as they all dashed away from Piedmon as fast as they could. "Quick," Andromon told them, "Into that cave!"
"But, Andromon—" Sora protested while everyone went inside.
"Don't worry!" Andromon nodded. "I'll hold him off for as long as I can."
"Come on," Kagome grabbed the orange-haired girl's hand and dragged her inside said cave. "I know you don't want to leave him behind, but we need to get away and he's offering us a way out! I don't like doing it anymore than you, but in this case we need to make exceptions!"
Sora looked back and watched in worry and fear as the android Digimon fought against Piedmon.
"Kagome's right!" Joe ran back to help pull Sora along. "Andromon's buying us more time and we should take advantage of it!"
The group ran until they reach the edge of a cliff in a large cavern with two trapeze swings hanging from the ceiling.
"What kind of place is this?!" Gomamon asked.
"It looks a lot like a circus tent," Sora said, looking up at the trapeze bars.
"Whatever it is, I don't like it," Izzy shook his head. "Hey, look! There's an exit over there!"
"But how do we get there?" Joe asked.
"The only way to get across is to swing," Tentomon flew across to the other side with Biyomon. "But don't look down, there's no net!"
'And that's supposed to make us feel better?' Kagome's eyes twitched.
"Hold on tight, Kari," Gatomon told her partner as the girl wrapped her arms around her Digimon, "Don't let go!"
Gatomon leaped up and reached one of the trapeze bars and swung across to the other one before landing on the other side, setting Kari down safely before leaping back up to swing on the second bar to help the others across.
"Go, on T.K," Kagome helped the young boy onto the trapeze bar while Patamon flew across right beside him.
"What do you have in that backpack?" Gatomon asked when she grabbed T.K and let him down beside Kari. "Bricks?"
"Go, Sora!" Joe urged the orange-haired girl on.
Sora nodded and leaped up to the first bar, swinging across before letting go to grab onto Gatomon. "Ow! Gatomon, you need to trim your claws!"
"You're up next, Kagome," the blue-haired teen told the raven-haired girl, "And here, take Gomamon with you! Now go!"
Kagome gave a nod as she leaped for the first bar, swinging across with Gomamon holding tight around her waist and Kudamon steadied around her neck and shoulders. She let go when she was close enough to Gatomon, grabbing onto the feline Digimon's paws before feeling herself being let down beside everyone else who'd made it across.
"Don't you want to take your friend along?" Piedmon asks, suddenly appearing behind Joe, who'd helped Izzy onto the trapeze bar, holding out a keychain of Andromon.
Unfortunately, before Joe could do anything, he was covered by the same white cloth from before and within seconds, he was gone and another keychain was added to Piedmon's collection.
"Joe!" Izzy shouted from the trapeze bar.
"Oh no you don't!" Piedmon threw out another piece of cloth, this time at Izzy.
"No!" Tentomon flew off to help his partner. "I'm coming, Izzy!"
Piedmon cackled as he threw off another piece of cloth, this time landing atop Tentomon. "Now you see them, and now you don't! They're dropping like flies!"
The rest of the group didn't stick around for Piedmon's little statement, choosing instead to run off in an attempt to escape the clown Digimon, not noticing that Gatomon and Biyomon hadn't followed right after.
The four children and three Digimon found themselves in a room made of stone bricks and a wooden floor that only lead deeper into another stone hall.
"Well, this is no help!" Sora said worriedly.
"Hey!" Patamon called out to them, "there's a door here!" He pointed to a small latch in the wall and triggered it, opening up a small passageway that closed as soon as they stepped through.
The followed the small stairway only to find themselves a wade space with a small heigt and a wooden ceiling. "Where are we now?" Gomamon asked.
Kudamon's eyes narrowed up at the ceiling. "We haven't gone anywhere," he answered, "We're still in the same room, but just underneath the floor."
"Hush," Kagome shushed them, "Keep quiet." The two older girls huddled around the younger two children and the Digimon, intending on keeping them safe.
Silence reigned around them until they heard footsteps approaching. "Ahh, so you want to play hide and go seek, hmm?" they heard Piedmon speak. "All right, I love a good game! Now, let's see, if I were a little pest, where would I hide, hmm? Maybe you're in this room over here…"
The group held their breath as they looked up at the ceiling, listening and watching. Soon, Piedmon's footsteps were gone and they let out a sigh of relief.
"I think we're safe for now," Sora said softly.
Unfortunately, that wasn't to be as a sword suddenly plunged into the middle of the group without warning, courtesy of the clown Digimon. "Peek-a-boo!"
"Run for it!" Kagome ordered as everyone scrambled to do just that.
"Olly olly oxen free!" Piedmon laughed as he plunged the swords into the wooden floor over and over.
"Celestial Arrow!"
A brightly-hued arrowed knocked Piedmon's sword from his grip. The clown Digimon looked up and growled at the two ultimate Digimon before him.
"Angewomon!" Kari shouted in relief.
"Garudamon!" Sora smiled.
"Wing Blade!" the burst of fire was aimed straight at Piedmon, but when the smoke cleared, he still stood there unharmed, not a scratch or injury upon him.
Garudamon gave a shout as she charged forward, trying to grasp the clown Digimon in her talons, but he dodged her at the last minute, causing the bird Digimon to get lodged into the floor.
Piedmon waved his hand as a white cloth covered Garudamon, subjecting her to the same fate may of their friends have already succumbed to.
Angewomon fared no better as her wing were impaled by several of Piedmon's swords, nailing her to the wall. Another white cloth appeared and covered the angel Digimon before nothing was left underneath.
The children in the meantime, had found a way out from underneath he wooden floor up through to a stone hall. Kagome and Sora looked at each other before nodding.
"T.K," Kagome knelt down to the young boy's height. "We need you to do something for us, will you do it?"
T.K looked hesitant, but nodded all the same.
"We need you to take Kari and get out of here," Sora told the young boy.
"But what about you two?" the young blonde asked.
"Listen to me, there isn't much time," Kagome took a hold of T.K's shoulders as gently as she could with the rising panic of the situation. "Sora and I will hold off Piedmon for as long as we can; he already has our friends and if he gets the both of you then we're all doomed! Please, T.K, you're the only one that can protect Kari now." She looked into frightened cerulean eyes with her icy-blue ones. "You need to be brave, T.K. But no matter what, never forget that we'll always be with you. Now go! GO!"
"I won't leave you!" T.K refused.
"We'll be fine," Sora told the young boy, though she knew it was a lie. "Don't worry about us, now go!"
"No matter what happens keep running and never give up!" Kagome shouted as T.K grabbed Kari and ran away with Patamon by their side.
"Kudamon," Kagome said, "You're up."
"As you wish," Kudamon nodded. "Kudamon Digivolve to: Reppamon!"
"Reppamon Digivolve to: Chirinmon!"
"Sora, Kagome," Gomamon sidled up next to the girls, "I wanna stay here and fight with you!"
"Don't be silly!" Sora snapped. "Without Joe you can't even digivolve! Now go before Piedmon gets you, too!"
"But—" the white Digimon tried.
"But nothing," Kagome added. "Joe risked his life to protect us, and if Piedmon turns you into a doll, it'll all have been in vain! Now, please help T.K. and Kari, there's not much time!"
Gomamon hesitated.
"So the kiddies want to play, do they?" Piedmon cackled. "Oh well, too bad it won't last; I only need seven more keychains to make my collection complete!"
"Not if I have anything to do about it!" Gomamon leapt at the clown Digimon and snagged a specific keychain off and threw it. "Sora!"
"T.K!" Sora shouted, tossing the keychain to the young boy once she'd glanced at it.
The young blonde turned to catch it before continuing to flee with the girl by his side and his Digimon.
"No!" Kagome shouted when she saw Sora disappear underneath another white cloth.
"Sometime in order to succeed, one must step on other along the way!" Piedmon chuckled.
"You won't get your hands on those kids," Kagome growled. "Chirinmon!"
"Heaven's Gale!"
The dragon-like Digimon charged at Piedmon with his glowing horn, but to both his and his partner's disappointment, the attack only grazed the clown Digimon.
"Oh well, that was disappointing," Piedmon yawned. "I think it's time you joined your friends as part of my collection!" He threw out a cloth that headed straight for Kagome.
"Kagome!" Chirinmon rushed to his partner and curled up around her, hoping to spare her from Piedmon's tricks, but to no avail.
The last thing both Kagome and Chirinmon heard was Piedmon's malicious laughter before all went dark.
The~Ninth~Child
When Kagome came to, she found herself looking out at the outside of Piedmon's domain once more. "Uh, what just happened?"
"I had a weird urge to carry some keys…" she heard Tai mutter.
"Tai! Kagome!" Kari came up running to her siblings.
"Kari!" the two preteens caught their little sister up in a tight hug.
"Matt!" T.K shouted.
"T.K!" Matt ran up to his younger brother and hugged him tightly.
"You did a great job," Matt told his brother "I'm proud of you."
"If it wasn't for your advice, I don't know what I would've done," T.K grinned up at his brother, despite the elder sibling's look of confusion.
"Wow!" Tentomon buzzed. "When did Angemon digivolve? You look great! Turn around and let me see!"
"Very well," MagnaAngemon answered, turning, only for his wing to knock Tentomon out of the air.
'We missed a lot,' Kagome blinked in surprise at the Angemon's Ultimate form.
"Foolish DigiDestined," Piedmon smirked. "Did you really think the Dark Masters that easy to defeat? Well think again! You're not the only one with an army!" He waved his arms as hundreds of small winged Digimon popped out of the ground.
"Meet the Vilemon," Piedmon's smirk widened, "their Nightmare Shock will gave you a rude awakening!"
"We're surrounded!" Joe exclaimed.
"And there's no way to escape, either!" Izzy added.
"Don't give up now!" T.K told everyone.
"I'm with T.K on this one!" Matt nodded.
"The only way we can even hope to defeat them is for all of us to be together!" Tai exclaimed. "But it looks like some of our friends aren't here!"
Just then, as if on cue, they heard a familiar voice. "Sorry we're late!"
They all looked into the distance and saw Mimi riding in on a Unimon with Figimon, Meramon, Ogremon, Elecmon, and a whole gang of Geckomon and Otamamon right behind her.
"Are we too late to party?" Lillymon winked.
"All right!" Tai nodded determinedly. "Let's give 'em the full digi-attack!"
That said, all the Digimon jumped into the fray, beating back Vilemon and turning them into microscopic particles.
"That's it!" Gomamon hopped up. "I'm not waiting anymore!"
"I'm with you!" Tentomon nodded.
"Gomamon Digivolve to: Ikkakumon!"
"Tentomon Digivolve to: Kabuterimon!"
"Ikkakumon Digivolve to: Zudomon!"
"Kabuterimon Digivolve to: MegaKabuterimon!"
"Vulcan's Hammer!" A thunderbolt headed straight for a cluster of Vilemon, destroying them immediately.
"Very impressive," Piedmon simpered, "But let's see how you do against this! Trump Sword!" He threw four swords at Zudomon.
"Horn Buster!" MegaKabuterimon launched a charged stream of electricity at the swords, turning them into dust.
"Flower Cannon!" Lillymon shot off an energy ball at Piedmon, only for it be blocked by said Digimon. He tossed up another white cloth, intending on capturing Lillymon.
"Celestial Arrow!" Angewomon's arrow pierced through the cloth, sending it floating harmlessly to the ground, though the arrow continued on, narrowly grazing Piedmon.
"Wing Blade!"
"Heaven's Gale!"
The firebird hit Piedmon, sending him reeling back with a shout of surprise before Chirinmon sent the clown Digimon flying towards WarGreymon and MetalGarurumon.
"Gate of Destiny!" MagnaAngemon drew a lavender circle in the air with his lavender-glowing blade. The circle eventually turned into a golden gate that opened to reveal a white-blue void that sucked in everything in its vicinity.
The DigiDestined watched in awe as the Vilemon screamed and shouted, slowly being sucked into the Gate.
Piedmon watched in horror as his army was reduced to nothing but himself. He heard a sound behind him and spun around to face two angry Mega Digimon.
"Remember us?" WarGreymon and MetalGarurumon said in unison.
Suddenly, Piedmon found himself adopting a horrified expression.
"Terra Force!"
"Giga Missile!"
The force of the two attacks together sent the clown Digimon soaring through the sky, straight into the Gate of Destiny, which closed shut and dissipated the moment the clown Digimon was sucked in.
Suddenly there was a slightly trembling beneath everyone's feet. "What's going on?" Sora asked.
"The last remnants of Spiral Mountain are disappearing," Izzy reported. "The Dark Masters' hold on the Digital World has finally been brought to an end!"
"Good riddance!" Tai nodded as everyone cheered.
'But why do I get the feeling that it's not over just yet?' Kagome wondered, looking up into the sky.
The~Ninth~Child
Soon the DigiDestined found themselves saying goodbye to the friends and Digimon that had helped them in the battle against Piedmon and his Vilemon army.
"I'm starting to think we have some strange looking friends," Tai commented off-handedly.
"They might not have the best fashion sense," Mimi nodded, "But they're the best friends we'll ever have."
"Oh Mimi," Kagome smiled.
"Hey," Izzy said, getting everyone's attention. "We have e-mail from Gennai!"
"Oh not now," Tai sighed, "I need a na—ow! Kagome!" he turned to his sister.
"Shush and listen," Kagome told her brother. "Gennai wouldn't have e-mailed if it wasn't important; besides, I have a really bad feeling that it's not over yet…"
"He says," Izzy announced, "that the Dark Masters were never the real enemy!"
"What?!" everyone looked at Izzy in shock.
"The real enemy is an evil force whose very existence warps the digi-world and created the Dark Masters," the auburn-haired genius told them. "So according to this, I don't think we're out of the woods just yet!"
"Then who are we fighting next?" T.K asked.
It was then that the ground began trembling violently, leaving behind large chasms and deep gouges in the earth and the sky turned dark.
"What's going on?" Mimi whimpered.
"Spiral Mountain is disentigrating!" Kagome shouted to everyone.
"Hold on everyone!" Tai shouted once the ground beneath them disentigrated as well, sending the DigiDestined plummeting into a black and dark-red void, their Digimon falling after them in an attempt to get to their partners before they were hurt.
Ciao,
TsukiyoTenshi