Broken Idols

Broken Idols
PART TWO (2)
A Digimon story
Written by Trey Tackett
mlepew@hotmail.com
Special thanks to Steven Savage, Alicia Ashby, and everyone else who
freely contributed assistance in the making of this story. You all
helped me with descriptions, plot points, and the over all theme of this.
Without your assistance, none of this would have been possible. Thank you.
All characters are property of their creators and no copyright infringement
is intended. Please don't sue.
------------------------------------------------

"DAD!" Matt shouted. "If you're here, answer me!" He looked around
and sighed. Izzy, Joe, and himself were at the remains of the TV station,
hoping to find his dad. They had gotten separated during the fight with
Myotismon, and Matt was worried. His dad's car was still there, so this was
the best place to look.

Gabumon hopped off a pile of rubble and ran over to Matt. "Any luck?"

Matt shook his head. "None, I hope he's OK...." He turned to where Izzy
and Joe had gone to look. "You guys find anything?"

"Nothing over here!" Joe shouted back.

"Sorry, Matt, but the probability of your father remaining here after that
battle is highly unlikely," Izzy replied. "My guess is that he might have
seeked shelter."

"Hey, Izzy! I think I've found something!" Tentomon shouted.


Shigeru Ishida slowly opened his eyes as he regained consciousness. "Ugh,
where am I?"

"You're at the TV station, dad," Matt replied. "Are you OK?"

Shigeru slowly stood up. "Yeah, I'm OK. Just a little bruised up, that's
all."

"Come on, we'll get you to a hospital," Matt said.

"No, I said I'm fine, Matt," Shigeru replied. "Where are the others?"

"We split up so we could each get our families to safety," Joe said.

"Did you beat Myotismon? Last thing I remember was Angewomon's arrow hitting
the building, and there being an explosion," Shigeru stated.

"Unfortunately, we lost," Tentomon said.

"Yeah, but we're trying to setup another attack," Gomamon chimed in.

Shigeru nodded. "Sounds like the best idea. I guess TK and Patamon are with
your friends?"

Matt frowned and looked at the ground. "No, dad..... TK.... TK was killed
during the fight, Patamon too."

Shigeru stared at Matt for a moment, before dropping onto one knee. His face
had a shocked expression as he stared off into the distance. "Takeru...."



"Mom? Dad? Hello?" Joe asked as he entered the apartment his family lived in.

"I don't think anyone's here, Joe," Gomamon said as he followed him inside.
"The place looks empty."

"Yeah, I think you're right," Joe replied. "I guess they got taken to the
Convention Center with all the other families."

Behind them, a cabinet door slowly began to open. A hand reached out and
grabbed hold of Joe's shoulder. Joe shouted in surprise.

"Marching Fishes!" Gomamon shouted as he unleashed a barrage of flying fish
at the unknown assailant.

Out of the cabinet stumbled a human a few years older than Joe. He
frantically tried to knock the attacking fish off of him. "Get'em off! Get'em
Off! OW!"

"Hey! It's Jim! Gomamon, call off your friends, its my brother!" Joe
exclaimed.

"Whoops! Sorry about that!" Gomamon apologized as the fish attacking Jim
vanished.

"Ugh.... S'okay, I think..." Jim said as he got back to his feet. "Where'd
those fish come from anyway?"

Joe shrugged, "I've been wondering that myself since this whole thing began,
but I've learned its just best to leave it alone."

"Right," Jim replied. "So who is this guy? Is he with those ghost things?"

"Um, same place, different team," Joe tried to explain. "We'll tell you
the whole story downstairs. For now, Jim, this is Gomamon. Gomamon, this is
my brother Jim."

"Wow, something Joe's not allergic too," Jim joked.

"Funny," Joe replied sarcastically. "Come on, the others are waiting
downstairs."



"Man, this is pretty serious stuff," Jim said as Matt and the other finished
explaining all that had happened.

Kana and Soun Izumi, Izzy's foster parents, were listening as well. "That's
horrible," Kana said. "And to think you kids are all involved...."

Izzy opened his laptop. "Well, it's not like we're trying to help Myotismon,
Mom. We're the good guys, remember?" He looked at his screen. "Hey, there's a
message from Gennai." He opened the file and a small animated graphic of
Gennai popped up on the screen.

"Ah, Izzy, I see you all made it back to your world safely. Otherwise you
wouldn't be seeing this, now would you? Anyways, there's something I didn't
get a chance to tell you all before you left. The Prophecy of the
Digidestined. Now, I know Leomon told you about it, but not the whole story.
It's pretty important, so listen up!"

The others gathered around Izzy as Gennai began to tell them about the
prophecy.



"How is the plan coming along?" Myotismon asked.

Demi-Devimon grinned proudly. "It's coming along great, Myotismon! We've
already gathered most of the required energy!"

Myotismon nodded, "And the Digidestined?"

"Our scouts have reported seeing them within the past hour," Demi-Devimon
stated.

Myotismon frowned," So, they still live. Hmm, no matter, you shall be in
charge of handling them."

"As you wish, sir!" Demi-Devimon replied. "I'll make sure those brats are
eliminated once and for all!"

"This is your last chance, Demi-Devimon. If you fail, don't bother coming
back," Myotismon stated.



"So that's what all this is about?" Soun asked as Gennai finished telling the
prophecy. "You weren't kidding, Izzy, this IS important."

"Yeah, the fate of both worlds rests on us defeating Myotismon and repairing
the seal between our worlds," Izzy replied. "If we can't do that, there's no
telling what will happen."

"How much time do you think we have left, Izzy?" Gabumon asked.

"Just enough time for the whole lot of you to die!" Demi-Devimon shouted.
Everyone looked up to see the evil Digimon standing atop the building.

"Demi-Devimon!" Joe exclaimed. "What do you want?"

"Oh, I want nothing more than to make myself look good by destroying you!"
Demi-Devimon replied. "And you got the name wrong, it's no longer
Demi-Devimon." He grinned as his body was enveloped in a thick black smoke.
The sky darkened as the evil Digimon began to transform.

"This is not good," Matt said as he watched. "This is definitely not good."

As the smoke vanished, the new creature grinned evilly. "It's Devimon,
no Demi, just Devimon!"

"What the heck is that?!" Soun exclaimed.

"Something that won't be around for very long," Matt replied. "Gabumon!"

"Right, Matt!" Gabumon shouted. He began to glow as his body absorbed the
energy from Matt's Digivice. "Gabumon, Digivolve to....."
In a flash of light, he transformed into his champion form. "GARURUMON!"

Garurumon charged forward as Kabuterimon and Ekakumon also completed their
Digivolutions.

"Now, where have I seen this before?" Devimon asked. "Oh yes, now I
remember." He backhanded Kabuterimon and then kicked Ekakumon into a nearby
building. "Same attack plan as our last encounter, except that pathetic
Angemon isn't here to save you this time!"

"HAND OF FATE!"

Everyone stared in shock as a beam of golden energy shot through Devimon's
shoulder. Devimon screamed in pain and clutched the wound. He turned to face
the new attacker, and couldn't believe what he saw.

"Impossible, you're dead!" Devimon shouted.

Matt stared in disbelief at the sight. "Angemon...."

Angemon floated in the sky a short ways off from where Devimon was. "You
can never destroy good, Devimon. It can only be created."

"Pheh, I'm gonna take pleasure in proving you wrong," Devimon replied. He
lunged toward Angemon. "Now, DIE!"

"You apparently didn't learn from out last encounter either," Angemon stated.
he dodged Devimon's attack and uppercutted him in the gut. As Devimon
clutched his stomach in pain, a golden staff appeared in Angemon's hands.

Devimon glared at his opponent. "I thought you good guys only played fair.
You have a weapon, I don't."

"My purpose is to protect the Digidestined from scum such as yourself,"
Angemon stated. "By any means necessary." He raised the staff and struck
Devimon across the back. Angemon then hit him in the face. Swiftly he began
to strike Devimon in rapid succession, aiming for each part of the evil
Digimon's body.

Matt and the others got out of the way as Devimon crashed to the ground. His
body was bleeding in almost every spot. They looked up at Angemon in
stunned silence.

"You'll never spread your evil across the Digiworld, or this one, ever again,
Devimon," Angemon said. The glowing staff dissolved into his fist, which then
began to glow. "HAND OF FATE!"

if he had still been aware of what was happening, Devimon would have screamed
in agony as the energy attack engulfed his body and then began to
disintegrate it until the monster was no more.

Angemon floated to the ground near Matt and the others as the other Digimon
reverted back to their rookie forms. "Devimon will not bother anyone ever
again."

"Angemon, where's TK?" Matt asked. "Did he survive as well?"

Angemon nodded. "Yes, he did."

Matt waited, expecting more to be said. "Well, here is he?"

"He's here with us right now," Angemon replied.

Matt looked around, and gave Angemon a confused look. "I don't see him."

"You will momentarily," Angemon said, smiling. He looked toward the others.
"We must go to the Convention Center, and then I will explain everything."



WarGreymon looked up as he heard the sound of a car approaching. "Someone's
coming."

Palmon turned to look at the approaching vehicle as she dedigivolved from
champion form. "Hey, isn't that Matt's Dad's car?"

"Hey, you're right. Looks like they found him OK," Sora said.

Biyomon pointed at the sky. "Look! Angemon is with them as well!"

WarGreymon stood up, Gatomon still clinging to him. "Maybe they know just
what the heck is going on."



"And the next thing we know, Kari and Gatomon are fused together as well,"
WarGreymon explained.

"Odd, I've never heard of that type of Digivolution," Tentomon stated.

"Those with common goals often unite to better their chances," Angemon
stated.

Izzy typed on his laptop and thought. He looked up at the others. "Perhaps it
has to do with how they digivolve in the first place."

He turned his computer around so the others could see. On the screen was a
diagram illustrating the energy transfer between the Digivice and a Digimon.
"We know that for our Digimon to change, they require energy. That energy
is taken for the most part from us via the Digivices and used to cause
Digivolution. The stronger we are, the stronger they are as well."

"Sounds right to me," Joe said. "But that doesn't explain the whole 'merge
with the Digimon' thing."

"Well, why wouldn't it work in reverse?" Izzy asked.

"Us receiving energy from the Digimon?" Sora asked.

"Precisely," Izzy stated. "The energy is taken from both parties
simultaneously. My theory is that its like a salt water mixture of sorts.
Tai and Agumon, for example, were the salt, and the energy was the water.
When it all combined, well, you see the end results."

"So is it permanent?" Mimi asked.

"if my theory is correct, you could probably separate them the same way you
do salt and water," Izzy said. "Evaporate the water, and you leave the salt.
So if you remove all the energy they should theoretically separate back to
their normal selves. Unfortunately, to remove every last bit of energy would
require them to be dead." He thought for a moment. "Tai, can you try to
revert back to a lower stage?"

WarGreymon shrugged. "Dunno, let me see." He began to concentrate. His body
started glowing and then began to shrink. When the glow faded, Tai was
almost entirely back to normal. The only difference was that his skin had a
noticeable pink color, and he had a Koromon's ears on top of his head.

Izzy closed his laptop. "That solves my question on whether you could
Digivolve or not."

Matt looked toward Angemon as something dawned on him. "Wait, then does that
mean..."

Angemon smiled and nodded.

"What is it, Matt?" Shigeru asked.

"Angemon and TK, they fused together as well!" Matt exclaimed.

Angemon began to glow and then the Digimon started to shrink. The glow faded
and TK grinned. His face look relatively normal, except that he had the same
markings as Patamon's, he also had the bat-wing like ears that were at the
moment sticking out from holes in his hat.

Shigeru blinked. "Takeru?"

TK laughed, "Hi, dad!" He looked at Matt. "Miss me?"

Matt leaned down and hugged his little brother. "You have no idea, TK."



Myotismon let go of the human as he felt her body go limp. He licked the
blood off of his fangs and smiled. Finding those to feed from was much easier
in this world than his own.

Devimon had failed, again, but that didn't matter now. Soon everything would
be in place, and he would rule both worlds. Climbing back into his carriage,
Myotismon smirked. Soon it would be the final battle, and the Digidestined
would be no more.



"Hey, what's going on?" Mimi asked as her Digivice began to blare its alarm.
Seconds later, Joe's, Matt's, Izzy's, and Sora's started as well.

"Something's going on, and I doubt its good," Tai stated.

"Quick, what time is it?" Shigeru asked.

"Five till six," Izzy replied.

"The hour of the beast...." Shigeru said. "We've got less than eleven minutes
before then."

"The Prophecy! He's right, we don't got much time!" Izzy exclaimed.



Myotismon laughed evilly as he felt the energy circulate around him. His
bats flew from all sides of the city, gathering energy from his henchmen. It
was only a matter of time now.



"But we don't even know where to look," Joe stated. "How do we even start
trying to find Myotismon?"

"This may be a hunch, but maybe if we follow all those bats in the sky, we
could find him," Gomamon replied.

"Sounds like a plan to me," Tai said. He turned toward the group. "Let's get
going!"



The car sped toward the direction the bats were flying.

"Faster, Dad!" Matt said. "We're losing them!"

"I'm flooring the pedal already!" Shigeru replied. "Time?"

Izzy checked the clock on his Digivice. "Approximately one minute!"


"Yes, there's enough power now," Myotismon said to himself. His body began
to glow.


"Six seconds," Izzy shouted as the clock reached 6:06pm "5, 4, 3, 2, 1....."

The ground shook and a building exploded in the center of the city. A
horrific creature grew from the explosion, laughing evilly.

"People of Earth, allow me to introduce myself," the creature said. "I am
your now master, VenomMyotismon!!"

Tai leaped out of the car as Shigeru brought it to an abrupt halt. Matt, TK,
and the others got out as well.

"My god, he's huge!" Shigeru exclaimed.

"he did it.... I can't believe he did it!" Gatomon exclaimed.

"What do you mean?" Tai asked.

"He got enough energy to Digivolve to his Mega form," Gatomon stated.

"Mega form?" Izzy asked. "Can our Digimon handle him like that?"

Gatomon shook her head. "Not in champion form, and I'm not sure about
Ultimate, but Tai might have a chance. WarGreymon is Koromon's Mega form."

"OK then, I'll see what I can do, but be ready just in case, guys," Tai
said. His body began to glow and he closed his eyes. An aura appeared around
him and he shouted, "WARP DIGIVOLVE!"

A column of energy erupted around Tai and he rapidly transformed through the
carious forms, Rookie, Champion, Ultimate, and finally the Mega form of
WarGreymon.

"Gabumon, he's gonna need some back-up," Matt said.

Gabumon nodded and charged after WarGreymon, changing to Garurumon, and
then WereGarurumon.

"Ah, you're just in time, Digidestined!" VenomMyotismon said. "Right on
time for your doom!"

As he got closer, WarGreymon was able to get a better look at the monster.
It was something out of a horror movie, appearance wise. Long lanky arms
with gigantic hands, wings, fangs, multiple eyes on the front of it's lower
torso, not to mention it's amazing height! The beast stood taller than
everything in the city!

WereGarurumon leaped onto WarGreymon's back and used him as a springboard
to launch himself higher. "WOLF CLAW!" he shouted as he fired a fist shaped
energy blast. The attack didn't even cause VenomMyotismon to flinch when it
struck him.

"Is that all you got?" the beast asked.

WereGarurumon growled and swung a kick at the monster. VenomMyotismon merely
backhanded the Digimon, sending it slamming into the ground with a fierce
impact.

WarGreymon dodged the eyebeams fired from VenomMyotismon's lower torso. He
shot forward and began stabbing at the monster with his metal claws. The
attacks barely even scratched the monster, but WarGreymon didn't let up. One
of the eyes turned toward him and fired a blast at point blank range.

"TAI!" Gatomon shouted as she saw WarGreymon slam onto the ground near
WereGarurumon.

"This isn't looking good," Shigeru said.

"Come on, they need our help!" Gomamon shouted. He charged toward the
battle followed by Biyomon, Palmon, and Tentomon. They all transformed
into champion forms along the way.

"More sacrifices to the fire?" VenomMyotismon asked. "So be it!" He
laughed evilly as the Digimon began their assault. Explosions of energy
rocked his body, but he returned fire.

TK watched as the champion Digimon tried desperately to hold off the
monster. "I've gotta help them."

Shigeru looked down at his son. "TK, no, stay here, it's safer."

TK took off running. "Sorry, dad, but they need me!" His body began to
glow and in a flash of light, Angemon took the air.

Kana looked down at Gatomon. "Aren't you going to join them?"

Gatomon shook her head. "I wouldn't be any help. I can't digivolve because
the Digivice was destroyed at the Convention Center."


WereGarurumon slowly got back to his feet, as did WarGreymon. "Sucker packs
a punch, doesn't he?"

WarGreymon nodded, "It's not over yet though, come on!"

He took to the air as they charged toward the monster once more.

Birdramon and Kabuterimon dodged VenomMyotismon's eye blasts as they
continued their attack. The blasts struck a near by building, which
promptly disintegrated.

"They're not strong enough, they need to go to ultimate forms," Sora stated
as she watched Togemon slam to the ground.

Izzy shook his head. "They don't have enough energy."

"What do you mean?" Joe asked.

"Look at them, VenomMyotismon is two levels higher power wise. He's wearing
them out twice as fast," Izzy explained.


Angemon dodged VenomMyotismon's attacks and unleashed his Hand of Fate blast
directly into the monster's face. The monster yelped and stumbled back a bit.
Angemon darted out of the way to dodge the monster's giant fist, but was
nailed head on by the other one. Angemon yelled in pain as he was slammed
into a building and fell to the ground.

Matt watched on as the Digimons' attacks proved worthless against
VenomMyotismon. He yelled in surprise as WereGarurumon landed with a
sickening crash onto the pavement in front of him, and reverted back to
Gabumon form. Matt rushed to his friend's side. Gabumon was still alive,
but very beat up. There was blood soaking through the fur coat the
Digimon always kept wrapped around himself. Matt stared in anger at
VenomMyotismon. "That does it...."

Matt clenched his fists as he stood up. This wasn't going to happen,
they couldn't lose. he wouldn't let his brother down again, not now, not
when he had just got him back. He didn't notice his Digivice and crest begin
to glow, however, VenomMyotismon did.

"What in the world?" the monster asked. There then was a sudden blinding
flash of light that engulfed the immediate area.

Together as one, two voices cried out, "WARP DIGIVOLVE!!" A column of blue
light erupted to the sky. Gabumon could be seen inside, rapidly transforming
through Garurumon, WereGarurumon, and finally into something completely new.

"Gabumon, Digivolve to......"

The light vanished leaving the new creature floating in the sky. It was
bent down on all fours and looked to be one or two feet shorter than
WarGreymon. For the most part, it looked as if someone had mechanized
Garurumon, leaving only a few places with fur. His tail extended, revealing
a double edged blade, and wings folded out from his back. "METALGARURUMON!"

The others watched in amazement, and Izzy's eyes suddenly widened.

"Now I understand!"

Kana looked at him. "Understand what?"

"The prophecy!" Izzy exclaimed. "When the Light of Hope and the Courage
of Friendship unite, it meant Tai, Matt, TK, and Kari all joining with their
Digimon!"

"But, why do I play a part in it?" Gatomon asked. "I can't Digivolve,
remember?"

"The Digivice isn't.... needed to cause Digivolution," Angemon said
painfully as he staggered back to his feet. "The secret lies in one's
heart, not some device." He took to the air once more, summoning his staff.

VenomMyotismon back up as MetalGarurumon launched a massive barrage of
missiles. The missiles collided with his body and instantly began to
encase him in ice.

WarGreymon too this chance to attack once more. Placing his claws together,
he began to spin like a top till he was nothing more than a blur. He
then dove straight toward the monster.

VenomMyotismon broke out of the ice just in time to see the incoming attack.
He cried out in pain as WarGreymon literally burrowed through his lower
torso and out the other side of his body. VenomMyotismon dropped to
his knees in pain. A spherical creature began to try and claw its way out
of the wound.

"What in the world is that?!" Soun exclaimed.

"It must be VenomMyotismon's true self," Izzy stated.

"Well, it's ugly, that's for sure!" Mimi exclaimed.

The Sphere shaped creature cackled. "You Digidestined have no idea of my
true power!" VenomMyotismon stood back up and his hands began to glow. "But
you will soon find out! DOORS OF HELL!"

Instantly, the entire area was enveloped in a blood red light and all
the Digimon began screaming in pain.

Through the red light, the digidestined watched in horror as bolts of energy
repeatedly struck their Digimon. The screams of pain were like those of
dying animals.

Gatomon cried out as the attack continued. Pain wracked every part of her
body from head to paw. She couldn't take much more, the end was fast
approaching.

No, she couldn't give up. Not like this, she had to fight. Slowly, she began
to get back up to her feet, trying to ignore the pain as the assault on her
and the others continued.

The Crest of Light began to glow, shining visibly through the red light of
VenomMyotismon's attack.

Gatomon couldn't give up. She'd fight, not for herself, but for her friends.
Kari and Wizardmon gave their lives to save hers, she would do the same
for the others if she had to. She closed her eyes and crest began to glow
brighter.

The Sphere shaped creature stared at Gatomon in shock. "WHAT?!" How are
you still standing?! Why aren't you screaming in pain like the others?!"

Gatomon cupped her paws around the crest and tag as it glowed even brighter.
A bolt of energy rippled off the tag and across her body. It extended away
from her back and formed wings. "Gatomon, Digivolve to....."

There was another flash of energy as Gatomon transformed into her ultimate
form. "ANGEWOMON!" Angewomon raised her arms into the air, and a gold halo
appeared above her head. Instantly, the red light vanished and the energy
bolts ceased.

Sora and the others watched as all the Digimon except for WarGreymon,
Angemon, MetalGarurumon, and Angewomon, collapsed and reverted back to
Rookie forms. They ran toward their fallen friends.

"The destruction of innocent lives, this city, and the Digiworld, all
crimes that have gone unpunished far to long," Angewomon began. "Now it is
time for justice to be served. VenomMyotismon, you've taken the lives of
to many, including my friends. Your reign of terror ends here!"

VenomMyotismon cackled and reached out to capture Angewomon. Fortunately,
WarGreymon intercepted the monster and knocked his hand upward.

"Miserable Digimon," the monster sneered. "I should have destroyed you
sooner."

Suddenly, Sora's crest fired out a beam of energy. The beam wrapped around
VenomMyotismon's arm and held tightly. Izzy's, Mimi's, and Joe's each
followed suit, each beam trapping the monster till he could no longer move.

Angemon channeled his staff's energy into his fist. "Now, while he's
restrained!"

"Channel your power through me!" Angewomon shouted.

Simultaneously, WarGreymon, Angemon, and MetalGarurumon launched their most
powerful attacks at the halo above Angewomon's head. She raised her hand
into the halo as the combined energies were channeled into a single arrow.
Angewomon readied the arrow and took aim at VenomMyotismon.

"The purity of light, hope, courage, and friendship are things you lack,"
Angewomon stated. "For Wizardmon, Kari, and all the other lives you've
destroyed, may this arrow pierce what darkened soul you have, Demon!"
She fired the arrow directly at VenomMyotismon.

"A single arrow will guide the way," Izzy said, remembering the prophecy.

VenomMyotismon screamed in pain as the arrow struck him. His body began
to convulse and then disintegrate until he was no more. The fog over the
city began to lift, and the sun was visible once more.

Angewomon wavered and began to fall toward the ground. As she reverted back
to Gatomon, Angemon swooped down to catch her. The battle was over, and the
monster was no more.

Angemon flew toward WarGreymon and handed Gatomon over to him gently.
"She's weakened right now, but she'll be OK."

The group floated to the ground near their friend, and both WarGreymon
and MetalGarurumon reverted back to their in-training forms.

For the most part, the Tsunomon and Matt fusion looked exactly like Matt
normally did. The only obvious differences were that he had Tsunomon's
face colorings and markings, and the small horn protruding from the
top of his head.

Tai looked at Angemon. "Is it over? Did we truly beat him?"

Angemon nodded, "Yes, the prophecy has been fulfilled. Myotismon will
no longer be a threat to either world."

"hey, look at that," Matt said as he pointed at a large group coming
from the Convention Center.

"Huh, whoah, that's a large crowd," Tai replied. "Hey, I think I see our
parents!"

"Mom!" Sora shouted as she ran toward her mother.

Tai, Matt, and Angemon watched the small family reunions and couldn't
help but to smile. They noticed a group of people, however, who
looked as if they couldn't find who they were searching for.

"Man, I wonder how they're gonna react when they see us," Tai said.

Gatomon frowned and hopped out of Tai's arms as the group of parents
approached them.

"TK, Matt! You guys did it!" Shigeru exclaimed. "Whoah, Matt, looks like you
went through that fusion thing too."

Matt chuckled, "Yeah, pretty much."

Shigeru smirked. "Heh, guess I'm gonna have to get used to seeing you and
TK like this."

A woman walked over to them. "TK? Did someone find TK?" she asked, concerned.

"Um, hi.... Patsy," Shigeru hesitated. It'd been a while since he and her
had last seen each other.

"Shigeru, where's TK? I can't find him anywhere..." Patsy said.

Angemon stepped forward. "I'm right here, mom."

Patsy gave Angemon a confused look. She looked at Matt, then
Shigeru, and back at Angemon. "What? How can you be TK? Shigeru, this is
serious. TK ran off with Joe on top of some... monster! What if something's
happened!"

"Patsy, please, listen," Shigeru interrupted. "TK's safe, he's right here
with Matt."

"Matt? Oh god, what happened to him?!" Patsy exclaimed, panicking.

"Whoah, whoah, it's OK. It's a complicated story, Patsy. But you need to
understand, that despite what they may look like, that IS Takeru," Shigeru
explained.


Tai walked toward his parents as TK's and Matt's mom tried to understand
the situation. "Mom, dad, it's me."

Umi and Ryosuko looked at him and blinked. "Tai?" Umi asked.

Tai nodded. "Yeah, it's me, mom. I'm glad you two are OK."

"Oh, Tai... what happened to you?" Umi asked.

"I'm not really all that sure myself, mom, but don't worry, I'm OK,"
Tai replied.

"Where's you sister? Is she safe?" Ryosuko asked.

Tai remained silent. He looked toward Gatomon, who was sitting with her
back turned to the group a short distance away. He turned back to his parents
and tried to tell them a condensed version of what had happened.


Gatomon looked back to the group and sighed. She didn't belong with them,
she couldn't belong to them. Yet, Kari's memories tried to tell her
otherwise. Memories of parents, of a mother, a father, but those were Kari's
memories, not hers. If that were true though, why did they feel like they
were her own? Why did she feel she should be over there with Tai instead
of by herself?

Gatomon looked up as she felt on a hand placed on her shoulder. She looked
back to see Umi kneeling down beside her.

"Kari, are you OK?" Umi asked.

Gatomon looked away. "I'm not Kari.... I'm sorry."

"If I understand what Tai said correctly, she and someone named Gatomon
merged together into one being like he and his friend," Umi said. "I
don't know the full effects of what that means, but I do know that you
ARE Kari, whether you believe it or not."

Gatomon looked back at Umi, her eyes beginning to become moist with tears.
One memory kept playing over in her head, and she was beginning to
understand what it meant.

'Take care of our family,' Kari had said to her during the fusion.

At that time, she didn't know why Kari had said 'our' instead of 'my', but
she was starting to understand it now. Kari had known she wasn't going
to make it. She had given Gatomon her memories, her feelings for a reason.

In essence, they were right. She was still Gatomon, but she was also Kari
at the same time. She had been given what made Kari... Kari.

"Momma...." Gatomon said softly. She latched onto Umi, hugging
her as she cried.


Matt spoke up above everyone. "I hate to be the bringer of bad news, but
our work's not done yet."

Patsy looked at him, "What do you mean? What's there left to do?"

"The Digiworld," Angemon said bluntly.

"He's right...." Izzy said. "We have to go back."

"Why? I thought you defeated Myotismon?" Kana asked.

Izzy looked at his foster parent. "Yes, but the Digiworld is still in bad
condition. When we first left it to come back, Myotismon's power was
corrupting it."

"But with Myotismon gone, shouldn't it be undone?" Shigeru asked.

Tai shook his head. "Time moves faster in the Digiworld than it does here.
Years have passed by there in just the short time we've been here."

"And with years of corruption, the Digiworld just kept getting worse, and
worse," Izzy finished the statement.

"And the longer we stay here, the worse it'll get," Sora stated.

"So how do we get back?" Mimi asked.

"I can try and teleport us back," Angemon said. "It'll take me a minute to
gather the necessary energy, though."

Tai nodded, "Go for it, Angemon."

Kana hugged Izzy, "Be careful, Izzy"

Izzy hugged back, "I'll be OK, you'll see."

"It was a pleasure meeting you, Izzy's parents," Tentomon bowed and flew
toward Angemon.

"Tai, come back safely," Umi said as she watched Gatomon and Tai walk
toward Angemon. "And take care of Kari."

Tai looked down at Gatomon, and smiled. "Don't worry, mom, I will."

Angemon looked at Patsy, "I'm sorry, Mom. Just when everyone was back
together again too." He then looked back at the others. "I'm ready whenever
you all are."

"All right then," Tai said. "Please keep you hands and feet inside the
ride at all times, and please, keep all loose items in a safe place. Next
stop, the Digiworld!"

Angemon raised his staff above his head as it began to glow. Energy began
to swirl around the digidestined and a pillar of rainbow colored light
erupted beneath them toward the sky.

"Bye Momma!" Sora shouted, as she and the others began to float up through
the column of light.

"Jim! Tell mom and dad I'll be OK!" Joe shouted at his brother.

"Come back safely!" Jim shouted back, waving.

Patsy watched the group slowly floating toward the sky. "TK! MATT! WATCH
OUT FOR EACH OTHER!"

"They'll be OK," Shigeru said. He looked toward Patsy. "Just look at what
they've already accomplished." He hesitated, but then slowly put his arm
around her. She returned the gesture and they watched together as the
group vanished into the night along with the column of light.


The future is unknown for the digidestined. They now return to the Digiworld
to set things right there once and for all. But that, dear readers, is
another story.

THE END