HOPE NEVER DIES
As Mimi and the digimon got closer and closer to the entrance of the castle she couldn't help but feel a bit frightened. "The others should have all made it here by now" she said looking back toward the dark and gloomy forest path out of which they just emerged. "I agree" said Gabumon who's eyes were fixed to the same narrow pathway. "Maybe something has happened. Shouldn't we go back and look for them?" Palmon asked her Digidestined partner. "Or at least wait here a bit longer for them to arrive" added Gabumon. All three stayed looking back into the forest as the sound of two evil voices neared the end of the forest path. Being almost absolutely positive that the voices were not those of her friends, Mimi grabbed Palmon and Gabumon by the hands then ducked behind a nearby bush for safety. All the while her eyes stayed fixated on the pathway awaiting the arrival of the mysterious voices.
The evil laughter of Darkupidmon and the Doll Master rang loudly through the air as they left the forest and neared the castle walls. "Six Digidestined and five Digimon present and accounted for" laughed the Doll Master. "But what about the one in pink and the other two Digimon?" asked Darkupidmon. The Doll Master lowered his pouch to the ground and shook off his hood giving the spies in the bushes a shock at who they saw. "It's Matt!" Gabumon cried ready to run out towards his friend. "Shhhhhhh!" Mimi pulled Gabumon back behind the bushes. "It's Matt's face alright but that's definitely not Matt. This guy's evil." Mimi continued to listen to the conversation. "Let's get these dolls to Myotismon first and then we'll worry about that brat Sincerity and here Digimon pests" replied Matt as he retrieved his pouch from the ground and followed Darkupidmon inside the castle.
After making sure no one else was in sight Mimi and the Digimon left the bushes and tried to regain their composure. "I can't believe it! Matt's being controlled by Myotismon and he's helped Darkupidmon turn our friends to dolls!" Palmon sobbed. "Well, I guess it's up to the three of us. We have to rescue Matt and the others before Myotismon does something really terrible" said Mimi. As they started back towards the castle Gabumon tripped on something in his way. The girls looked back to see if he was alright and found six necklaces laying on the ground where Gabumon had fallen. "Their crests and Digivices! Oh no, my friends are really in danger!" Mimi sobbed. "Well, that does it!" she cried. "I'm not waiting any longer. We're going in" she said. Gabumon and Palmon nodded in unison. "Lead the way sister. We're right behind you" said Palmon as they entered the sinful looking castle.
Hundreds of Bakemon roamed the inner walls of the castle on the lookout for any intruders. It took all that the tiny group had just to stay undetected. "How are we ever going to find Myotismon in this mess of rooms?" Mimi whined as they tried their luck at the tenth door and failed once again. "Keep trying Mimi we can't give up! We have to stay strong for the sake of our friends" said Gabumon encouragingly. They continued their search through the rooms until Myotismon's evil laughter shook the foundation of the castle and gave his location away. The trio turned their attention to an enormous door down a long and dark corridor and made their way to what might be the final battle.
Inside the throne room Myotismon was pleased by the return of Darkupidmon and his Doll Master, but as he released the contents of the pouch his wicked smile turned to disappointment then to shouts of rage as the sack revealed only twelve dolls instead of fifteen. "Where is Sincerity? Where are the other two Digimon? WHERE ARE MY CRESTS?" Myotismon shouted at his minions. "Right here!" shouted Mimi as the door to the throne room burst open. Dangling from her hand were two of the crests. She wore her own as well as Matt's crest around her neck. Gabumon and Palmon held two more crests each and they stood on either side of the girl. The Digivices were tucked away inside the safety of Mimi's purse.
"You're a fool Sincerity. You managed to somehow avoid Darkupidmon and the Doll Master the first time but this time you won't be so fortunate." A wicked smile crossed Myotismon's face as he shook the contents of the sack onto the floor in plain view of the Digidestined girl. "You will suffer the same fate as your friends Sincerity." Darkupidmon armed himself with his Black Arrows and he and the Doll Master made there way towards Mimi. The evil Digimon took aim and fired.
"NO!" Mimi yelled as the crest of Sincerity burst into action and Lilymon was released. The Digimon took the arrow in stride once again saving her human friend then dropped to the floor in the form of a doll. The Doll Master then proceeded forward to add Lilymon to his collection until Mimi's crest which was still reacting wildly got his attention. "What is it doing?" the Doll Master asked in horror. "The crest of Sincerity shows all that is true. It knows that you're in there somewhere Matt and I'm going to set you free!"
Mimi held the crest away from her chest and as close to Matt as possible. Matt reached forward wanting so bad to touch it. He wanted desperately to break free from his prison inside the darkened heart of the Doll Master but Myotismon would not let him go that easily. He shot a red bolt of Crimson Lightning towards Mimi and sent her crest flying through the air. All at once Mimi, Gabumon, Myotismon and Darkupidmon took off towards the soaring crest each wanting to be underneath it as it fell to the floor and landed in the hands of the Doll Master.
The glowing crest was hot to the touch and scorched Matt's hands upon contact. Feeling the burn he retracted his hand and allowed the crest to fall through his fingers to the floor below. Upon hitting the floor a blast of green light flooded the room and sent the evil Digimon cowering in search for a dark place to hide. The light travelled to the centre of the room and encircled the Digidestined dolls. "Wow!" Mimi and Gabumon watched in awe as cotton limbs became real human flesh once again and the Digidestined kids were restored to their normal selves. The green light returned to it's home inside the crest and left the room dark and cold once more.
"I feel much better" said Tai who turned to face Myotismon. "And I'm ready to kick some evil Digimon butt!" shouted Kari, her clenched fist in front of her. The other Digidestined all nodded their heads in agreement as Mimi handed back the Digivices and crests to their rightful owners. All that remained was the crest of friendship which still hung around Mimi's neck. "Well, at least all of them are back to normal" she whispered to Gabumon while pointing across the throne room at the rest of her friends. "Uh huh" Gabumon nodded his head in agreement. There was a big disappointment in his voice as he gazed deeply into the eyes of the Doll Master wishing that Matt could be the one looking back at him.
"I've had enough of waiting Digidestined" Myotismon and Darkupidmon resurfaced out of the dark corners of the room. "The time has come to get rid of you bothersome kids once and for all!" "Come and get us Myotismon! We're ready" shouted Tai who stood ready for the evil Digimon's advances. "Yeah, come and get us" shouted Tk who then braced himself for the digi-attacks which were sure to follow.
Sure enough a thousand black bats and arrows came flying towards the Digidestined as Myotismon unleashed his Grizzly Wing attack accompanied by Darkupidmons attempts. "Scatter!" shouted Joe and kids and Digimon went scrambling in all different directions trying to avoid the oncoming attacks. At the same time the Digimon were fighting back as they managed to digivolve to ultimate.
In the mess artillery flying in every direction, no one noticed a Black Arrow pierce through the heart of the Doll Master. By the time anyone had even seen it the battle had been won for now as the form of Darkupidmon disintegrated into digital dust and Myotismon had vanished to regroup. Izzy's eyes were the first to widen in horror as he turned to see his friend lying lifelessly on the ground. The other's soon followed suit as Matt's lifeless form was revealed to them. Mimi ran to her boyfriend and knelt beside him. Tears flowed from her eyes making it almost impossible to see. The others watched in disbelief as Mimi removed the friendship crest from her neck and laid it to rest on the chest of its rightful bearer.
In the midst of all of the confusion a voice echoed off the hollow walls of the throne room. "Remember Digidestined, all is never lost. Hope always lives on." The grieving children turned to see the familiar holographic form of Genni with a smile on his face. "Why are you smiling Genni? Can't you see that something terrible has happened?" asked Sora in between sobs. "You're wrong my young friend for a great thing has happened. The Doll Master has been destroyed and peace may now be restored." Mimi stared angrily at the apparition floating in front of her. "Matt is dead and you want us to rejoice?" Mimi cried. "Are you nuts?" yelled Tk who was rubbing his face on his brother's blood soaked shirt. Joe placed a comforting hand on Mimi's shoulder as Sora rushed over to Tk in wipe his tear streaked face.
"The Doll Master is destroyed but Friendship lives on" explained Genni. "Myotismon stole Matt's body but, his heart, soul and existence lay dormant deep inside." Kari looked confused. "Then how do we wake him?" she asked still with a puzzled expression. "That can only be done when the bonds of friendship and love are sealed through the combining of the crests" Genni continued. "What?" Joe asked still confused. "We must combine the powers of the crests and make one source out off all eight beams of light" offered Izzy. "Let's do it!" shouted Tai.
The seven children encircled Matt while the Digimon watched anxiously from the side. The children joined hands and began to unleash the light which was contained in their crests. Gabumon laid beside Matt in the centre of the circle. The crest of friendship and the Digivice placed in between the two. Tai let out a giant sigh before setting the power of his crest free.
"Courage!" he shouted followed by Sora's cry of love. Izzy was next, followed by Joe and the lights of knowledge and reliability joined the two already in the air. The two youngest Digidestined unleashed their powers of hope and light while Mimi followed with a blast of sincerity. "Unite!" they cried simultaneously.
The crest of friendship sprung to life and joined the mess of light in the centre of the circle. The combined power of the crest and Matt's Digivice filled Gabumon with enormous amounts of energy and cause him to warp digivolve to Metalgarurumon. The lights then returned to their homes and the children and Digimon alike waited in anticipation for Matt to awake. "I can't believe it! It didn't work" Mimi cried then turned towards the door. "Hope lives on" a weak voice came from the boy in the centre of the room and sent Mimi spinning around and rushing towards her boyfriend. Tears of joy flooded the room as the rest of them ran at him all at once.
The couple laid under the sun on the beach gazing up at the clouds. "I would have died if I had lost you" Mimi said as she shifted her head to a more comfortable position on Matt's shoulder. "Shhhh." came the boy's reply as his squeezed her hand gently. "Hope never dies" he added before he closed his eyes to sleep. Mimi felt his warm breath on her neck as she too closed her eyes. "And neither does love" she murmured before fading into a peaceful darkness.
The End
Author's Note: There you have it, the conclusion of what was my first ever Digimon fic. I have grown a lot since then and have written some more mature stories, but this one remains one of my favourites out of them all. I hope that you enjoyed reading. Don't be afraid to review with your thoughts. ~MPF