Chapter 4: At all costs
It had been going on the entire night and into the morning. A storm broke out and soaked the land as TK and Kari led the campers through the mountain trail. They never give up, do they? TK looked back at the end of the group of children. The army of digimon had almost caught up to them. They resembled fishmen, with their scaly skin. "Kari, they're almost at our rear!"
Kari wiped the rain from her face and looked back. "Indeed. TK, keep going, Gatomon and I will handle this." Kari ran down through the campers and stood at the base of the path. "Gatomon, digivolve!"
"Gatomon, digivolve to... Angewomon!" Angewomon soared through the air at the digimon army. The army gathered near the base of the path and prepared for her attack. "Celestial arrow!"
The army scattered as the arrow lit up the mountain walls as it exploded. Several of them vaporized in the blast while many others were thrown off the mountain by it. Those who weren't affected by the blast formed together and attacked, "Acid rain!" The digimon army raised their arms and summoned a red storm cloud. The cloud fell through the dark blue storm clouds and poured down yellow rain at Angewomon. The drops burned at her flesh causing her to de-digivolve to Gatomon.
Kari caught Gatomon in her arms, "The rain. What is it?"
Gatomon moved in Kari's arms and rasped in a weak voice, "It's acid! Kari, we have run! We must warn TK and the others!"
Kari turned and ran as the red cloud began to move up the path. The digimon army followed closely behind the cloud giggling as it destroyed anything alive it's rain touched. Puddles of water caused Kari to lose her footing as she ran to catch up to the others. Can't give up! I must escape! She got up and continued to up the path. She could see the back of her camp group rounding a turn. Shouting, she reached the rear of the group, "Everybody! We have run! Stay away from the red cloud!"
The kids began to panic as they saw the red cloud near them and the destruction it caused. The supervisors led them up the mountain at a faster pace. The children ran up the mud filled trail, not looking back at the red cloud. TK and Kari remained at the end of the group, watching over the cloud and the army behind it.
TK helped Kari over a large stone and struggled to get his feet out of the mud to run ahead. "There's no way we can escape, we have stop the cloud somehow." He looked back at the cloud, which had almost overtaken them. "Kari, go with the children, I'll hold them off."
Kari looked at her friend with shocked eyes, he stood tall, determined, and fearless as the cloud came closer with the army not far behind. She knew there was no way she could change his mind, he would fight to the end if only to help the others escape. She could only hope he survived. She turned and ran as the cloud flew over TK.
TK looked up at the red form. It's outer rim did not spew rain, so he remained unharmed. It's color over the normal clouds reminded him of blood floating in water, but he couldn't think about blood now. He had a job to do. Hoping against the odds, he held his crest to his heart, "At all costs."
"Tokomon digivolve to... Patamon! Digivolve to... Angemon! Digivolve to... MagnaAngemon!" MagnaAngemon landed above TK, shielding him from the rain. The rain dripped down his face and onto TK's. He smiled, "At all costs." He spread his wings wide and lifted his staff to the clouds. "Lights from the Heavens, I beckon you! Forces of the clouds come to me! Holy Judgment!"
The storm clouds above the red cloud opened up, allowing the shining sun to light the sky. The Army halted as the light blinded them. TK could feel the energy flow through his body and pass into MagnaAngemon. Beams of light shot into the red cloud and exploded. The explosion caused an avalanche to fall upon the digimon army. The bright explosion consumed TK and MagnaAngemon, blinding them as they held each other. The shockwaves caused wind to pick up and spin around them. Gusts of wind blew down trees and threw rocks in all directions. TK couldn't see anything, but it didn't matter. He stopped the army. He smiled and held tight as MagnaAngemon protected him from the chaos. "This is it my friend."
- On the far side -
Kari froze as she heard a loud explosion and felt the ground below her shake. She saw the red cloud break apart, but feared the worst. Bright light blinded her as she watched the chaos envelope with other side of the mountain. "TK!" Kari yelled, pouring out her breath.
The rest of the campers stopped to see what had upset Kari. They saw the hole in the mountain as the dust cleared and knew. TK had paid the ultimate price for their safety. He'd fought to save them at all costs. "Kari... I'm sorry." One of the supervisors said.
Kari trembled as she cried. She would have wiped her face had it not been for the rain soaking it already. She turned her hands into fists and tried hard to stop crying. They hadn't gotten off the mountain yet, and didn't know if they were out of danger either. She whispered under her breath "TK... I never got to tell you how I felt."
"Yeah! Look!" A voice cried out. "He's ok!"
Voices bustled out from the crowd of campers as more of them noticed what the first had.
Kari looked up and saw TK standing before her with Patamon on his shoulder. He held his head high and gave a big smile. Kari hugged him tight and brought him to the ground, pushing her tear covered face into his shirt. The landed in mud and sat there for a few moments.
TK let Kari go, "Gee. I'm gone for a few minutes and you break out crying." He helped Kari up. "Clear skies from here on." He pointed up at the sky and everyone looked up.
The campers cheered as the sky cleared and the sun shined over them. They walked down the mountain, where they hoped they could call for help. It had been nearly 11 hours since they evacuated the camp with the appearence of the strange digimon army. They ran through the night, never stopping for sleep or even to go to the bathroom.
TK smiled as he walked down the path. He looked
back at the hole in the mountain and grinned. He had faced the odds and came
out a winner. He knew that whatever challenge they came up against, they
would always succeed. He hoped that the others hadn't run into any trouble
as he and Kari had. And if they did, he hoped they were alright. We'll
need to stand together again to overcome this new evil.