Chapter Five - The Reckoning

Where are they? Roan fumed as he watched Tai and the Greymon continue to become acclimated to one another. It had now been over two hours ago since he'd sent Leiko and Ian out into the caves with instructions to kill the other four, whether they held Rio or not, and now he was becoming concerned.

Could they have failed? It seemed a possibility too remote to even warrant consideration. If he was to believe what Leiko had told him (an uncertain decision at the best of times) then the youngest boy had caused the death of Rio's Garurumon, but he could imagine no circumstances under which the four of them, alone and unarmed, could have posed any trouble for the other two creatures as well. And while it was true that Ian was almost literally brainless and Leiko treacherous, he couldn't honestly see either of them failing him in this. Nevertheless...

He looked over at Tai. The anger in the younger boy had been building steadily since he and the creature had begun working together. The fear and shame that he'd been feeling before had now dissipated and (thanks in large part to Roan's influence) reformed as a condemnation of all those who he felt had failed him. Everyone had failed him, but his 'friends' in particular had failed to help, and that left them more guilty than most.

"Tai!" Roan called from below, his head craned backwards. "It is time. Time to find the others and tell them of your decision!"

The boy looked down from his position on the Digimon's shoulder and nodded once. He and the creature had bonded firmly into a master/servant relationship, as it had never done with the faint-hearted Cole before it had consumed him. Roan had hoped to have the other boy teach him the secret of making his own creature evolve before forced to test his new loyalty against that of his old friends, but some things simply could not wait. At least he still knew where Daven was, and would have the slender boy at his side to help him in case anything should go wrong.

"Good. Then come on. Let's go and get Daven to join us, to help in gathering them all together."

*****

"Jeez this guy's heavy!" Matt complained as he and T.K. struggled to drag the unconscious brute (who Rio had reluctantly told them was named Ian) into the chamber where the girl was now confined. "What'd you hit him with, anyway?"

Sora smiled at the older of the two blond-haired boys, a makeshift and now very blood-soaked bandage wrapped crookedly across the cut above his eye. "Well I didn't think you'd want him waking up before you got him in there," she returned, self-consciously tossing a rather large chunk of rock to the side. As the two boys struggled to drag the limp form the last few feet into the cell, Kari closely examined the crest they had taken from him.

Ignorance. Brutality. She could feel the ugliness of the spirit as it struck out at her from within the stone; a spirit so completely opposed to Izzy's benign virtue of knowledge. With a shudder she hurled it violently against the wall, shattering it into pieces. They had now accounted for three of the crests, as well as their three masters and Digimon. She had seen T.K. elude and inadvertently cause the death of the Garurumon. The body of the Kabuterimon that Matt had bested had vanished in front of her eyes, and the older boy had told them that the Togemon and its mistress had fallen together into the crevice.

There was a great deal more complaining on the part of the two boys, but in the end the pair managed to drag Ian's prone form into the same room where Rio was already detained. At that point the dark-haired girl moved as if to make for the exit, but then took one look at Sora and slunk back against the wall, a hand covering her nose. She'd been hit plenty of times before, ofttimes by Roan, who was of course immeasurably stronger than the young girl. But there was something that she'd seen in Sora's eyes when she thought that T.K. had died that chilled Rio's blood, and the older girl was clearly nervous about another confrontation.

"Now tell," Sora demanded as she slammed the cell door shut behind them. "How many more of you are there? We know about Roan and Daven and Leiko. Are there any others?"

The older girl's brow furrowed into a scowl at the other, but after a moment she cringed back and shook her head once as a response. Kari almost sighed in relief at not having to face whatever perverse and twisted copies that this group could have come up with for the angels.

"That's still two more that we really can't handle," T.K. said glumly, and the others turned to look at him. He looked up at them. "Let's face it, there's only so many ways that we can stop them. It sure won't do any good to try to throw the Birdramon into that chasm, and Matt isn't going to be able to strangle the Ikkakumon."

"What about trying to stop the other kids?" Sora suggested. "That skinny one... Daven, was it? I think we could probably handle him if we could separate him from his digimon. If they use the crests to control them, couldn't we just take it from him and destroy it?"

The four all looked at one another for a moment, but it was Kari who finally responded. "I don't think that's the answer, Sora. They know we're out here and they're looking for us. If you were in danger, would you have left Biyomon's side? Those two are probably going to be attached at the hip with their digimon until this is all over."

Matt frowned, then looked at the younger girl and nodded. "Besides, we don't even know if we'd be that much better off having those things without someone to control them. It could be just as bad, or even worse, if they ended up going berserk or something like that. I think we really need Tai, whether he's still on our side or not."

The boy caught the sharp intake of breath at his side, and glanced down just as Kari turned her back on the rest of them. "He... he will be," she insisted in a quiet, wavering voice, closing her eyes and hiding her face against her shoulder.

Sora placed a sisterly arm around the girl's shoulders with care and lowered her voice as well. "We'd all like to believe that, Kari, but remember Tai's really never been the same since… since Piedmon. And Rio said that's been her brother's plan all along, to take Tai and manipulate his mind until he's little more than a slave to him. He's had a long time to plan this, and had to have thought he had a good chance at succeeding to even try. We just... we just have to be ready..."

The group fell silent for a few moments, each experiencing an uncomfortable moment of fear... both for and of their friend. Then Matt cleared his throat to break the spell that fear was threatening to complete over them all. "T.K.? I want you to stay here with Kari and make sure that nobody comes along and lets these two out of here, understand?"

The younger boy nodded, his blond hair falling in front of his eyes. "What about the two of you?"

Matt bit his lip and looked sideways to Sora. "We're going after Tai…"

*****

Roan clung tightly to the claw of his creature as it perched on the highest outcropping of rock near the ceiling of the cavern. There wasn't really much room for the Birdramon to maneuver in here, so he was forced to let Tai and his Greymon, as well as Daven, do most of the exploring.

I want you in his mind every second he's with you, he had told Daven, who was now riding on the Greymon's shoulder opposite Tai. He is not their friend, he is not their leader. All along, he was just using them to guard his own safety, and now he's done with them. He wants what I've offered him; nothing more, nothing less. Finish what I've started in him, understand?

The dark-haired teen grimaced impatiently as he watched the lumbering creature leave yet another of the corridors that led to other parts of the cavern and return again to this main one. That made four of the offshoots that they had checked, yet still no sign of Rio or Ian or Leiko or the any of the other children. Daven had confirmed that no one had left, and his creature still guarded the only exit to the place, so they had to be in here somewhere.

Then he heard a startled cry as two of the children emerged from the prison corridor. Got them, he thought with a smirk. "Over there!" he shouted to the pair riding atop the Greymon.

Tai turned the creature with a single nod and it started towards his old friends. Roan watched intently. He knew the bond between the three of them had been immeasurably strong in the past. Had they done enough to dissolve it? From the discussions that the two of them had in the other rooms, he felt certain that the boy was slowly coming around to his way of thinking. But this was the test. Would he actually be twisted enough to induce the creature to attack them?

Matt and Sora stared up at Tai, who sat in haughty security atop the enormous creature's shoulder. Roan could 'hear' Daven throw one final threat of danger into the short-haired boy's mind, then watched him slide nimbly down the body and off the tail of the creature, obviously wanting no part in whatever confrontation was to come.

Tai glared in anger at the two figures in front of his creature. It was these two, or those just like them, who posed the greatest remaining threat to this world. They were weak, and as such could not, or would not, defend it against what was destined to happen. They were going to allow an influx of otherworldly evil to return, and do nothing to stop it. And the evil... the evil would then have its way with him again...

The sweat was heavy on his forehead. "I... I won't let that happen!" he murmured fervently to himself. "I won't! Anyone not part of this solution is part of the problem..."

"Tai!" the boy on the floor shouted up at him, and he gave a brief pause at the familiarity in the voice that broke through the anger and panic that had been clouding his thoughts. Matt. That... that's Matt. And somewhere in the back of his mind he had vague impressions of a fierce rivalry with the blond-haired boy, yet also a sense of a deep and abiding friendship. Here was one with whom he had stood toe to toe at times, but with whom he had more often stood back to back. He had shown him what it meant to be an older brother, to be a friend, when at times it seemed he would have forgotten.

"Tai, please listen!" the girl shouted, her brown hair falling over her shoulders. The boy atop the Greymon's shoulders concentrated on her now, his eyes absorbed totally by her. Feelings of fear and of the need for action that seemed so important just a moment ago now suddenly felt almost inconsequential to him. The girl... she was missing something... what was it?

The hat. She wasn't wearing that ridiculous hat... "Sora..." he exhaled her name in a single breath, feeling a keen sense of heartache that a moment ago she had been out of his mind. He had known her seemingly forever, and had loved her almost as long... and yet still had never spoken of it. In his mind she had always personified both beauty and grace, yet it would have embarrassed him mightily to ever discuss such a thing with her.

My friends. His nerves calmed and his heartbeat slowed, and for the first time in what seemed like an eternity a lucid thought worked its way into his head. Afraid...? Why? What do I have to be afraid of if they're all with me? Friends. Family. My sister. My love. Those were the important things. They'd all protected one another from the fear in the past, why should it be any different now? How had he ever forgotten…?

From the far side of the cavern, Roan teeth snapped shut in rage. Just like that, it was over. All this time spent trying to conceive the most perfect plan, ruined in that single moment. For even from his position at the crown of the cavern he could see the look of adoration on Tai's face as he stared intently at the one called Sora. Almost two years of planning on how to bring this about had been foiled by that? Damn!

I should have known… should have seen… He's in love with her.

He sighed, the looked up at his enormous avian beast with a single thought in his mind. The firebird soared off its perch in response to his desire and started to circle about the ceiling of the cavern, its master clinging tightly to its claw.

"I commend you, then!" Roan shouted down to the trio beneath him. "You three have overcome what has brought ruin upon dozens of people since we escaped from that camp so long ago. I regret that we couldn't come to some sort of arrangement, but I now see that it would be impossible. So I'm afraid that I must bid you all farewell!"

Matt, Sora and Tai looked up at the other, somewhat afraid but also defiant and secure in knowing that they were all together again. Roan smiled evilly and gave the claw which he was holding a slap. "Birdramon! Meteor Swarm!" he called to the bird.

Flaming balls hurled down towards them, and Matt snatched Sora's hand and dove for cover behind a rock as the barrage was unleashed. The girl gasped in astonishment before Matt pulled her head down and shielded her body with his own. This was not the Birdramon's attack that she was used to, the simple but still dangerous Meteor Wing. This was a deadly and continuous bombardment of flaming rock and debris. The missiles shattered the cave walls and boulder around them, sending chips of stone flying into their hair and skin. "Tai!" screamed Sora at the boy who still sat atop the Greymon in the middle of the maelstrom.

He turned and winked at her, then gave a smile of confidence as her heart went out to him. She could see that he was once again whole, once again the leader that they had known during their time in the digital world, no longer tainted by Piedmon or any trace of insanity or fear.

"Roan!" Tai screamed out a challenge, and the Greymon did the same in an unintelligible roar. One of the flaming missiles clipped the creature on the shoulder opposite where Tai sat, but it merely seemed to enrage him further. "Nova Blast!" he shouted to his new partner, and the creature exhaled his fiery assault in response. Roan and his Birdramon nipped to the side, but the shot had not been aimed at them. With an earshattering explosion the blast ripped into the roof of the cave and sent a cascade of rocks showering down within the cavern. One particularly large boulder clipped the firebird on the wing, and with a cry it started to spiral downward... each desperate flutter bringing it closer to its enemy.

Roan leapt from the bird's claw as they passed near the ground, rolling to a stop near the battlefield. Tai also left his perch to confront the older boy as their two partners now went into battle on a more equal footing.

Roan was on his feet as Tai approached, the older boy wiping a trail of blood from his lips with the back of his hand. "You could have had anything… everything!" he hissed, springing upon the other and pummeling him with harsh blows to the body and chest.

"Tai!" Matt and Sora shouted, rushing to their friend's aid. Roan glanced back over his shoulder at the pair, but as he looked away Tai gave an ugly grimace and from his position on the ground caught the teen with a kick to the back of his knee. Roan's leg folded up underneath him and put him down, but the older boy's punches had left Tai weakened and momentarily unable to follow up.

Over on the far side of the cavern the two Digimon remained locked in deadly struggle for life. On equal footing now the Greymon seemed to be getting the better of the fight, but its left arm was dangling uselessly by its side, the flesh on its shoulder seared by the Birdramon's initial barrage.

Then the evil avian creature caught a lucky blow, as its wing swept the Greymon's feet from underneath it and sent the saurian behemoth crashing to the ground. Within a moment the Birdramon had pounced on its fallen opponent and started to shred the dinosaur's rough, knobby flesh with its horrendously sharp beak. The Greymon exhaled a roar of pain and turned to look about in desperation for its new master. Tai was still down, unable to offer any assistance, and the creature knew if it should lose the fight that its new master, its first friend, would be beyond any assistance.

Then the monster did the only thing it could think of, or had strength left to do. With a mighty blast of breath it unleashed a last bolt of fire towards the ceiling of the cavern. Once again the flames shattered the roof and brought down a crash of boulders, burying both it and the Birdramon in a ton of rubble. The evil avian creature was killed in an instant, but the Greymon still had the strength to crane its head, the one part of its body not crushed by the tons of rock towards the first, and only, friend that it would ever had. The last thought that it had before it released its spirit was that it had finally found someone to love…someone to die for.

*****

Matt crashed hard into the back of Tai's opponent, grabbing him around the waist with both arms and tackling him off the boy. Roan careened backwards and bounced once on the hard floor before rolling to a stop at the cavern's stone wall. He had seen his creature buried below the massive stone avalanche, and could not hope to fight these three all at once, alone. He thought briefly of calling for Daven, but was sure that the other would not come to his aid. The scheming dipsomaniac had never been a friend, only an opportunist... and he was unlikely to see any benefit to self in continuing to serve Roan now.

Then a perverse thought started to percolate in the dark teen's twisted mind. He could no longer hope to win this fight or seize the power that had offered, but he could have his revenge. With a sharp gasp of pain at finding one of his ribs cracked the boy dragged himself to his feet and started a slow limp towards the last corridor from the main cavern. The three children watched him as he went... at least until Daven appeared in the cavern with his Ikkakumon in tow. He snorted as he looked down at the pile of rubble that had buried the two champion Digimon, though their bodies were already beginning to dissolve.

"I guess that leaves me to clean up the mess," he leered at the three, a wicked glower adorning his face. It had occurred to him now, even in the midst of his drunken haze, that he was the only one left with a digimon. And that put him firmly in charge at the moment.

Then an explosive burst of red flames burned from the corridor down which Roan had run, permeating the cavern with the thick, sickening smell of hot sulfur. Moments later the oldest boy's terrified scream was cut short by a horrendous gurgle. Daven gaped at the hallway in sotted disbelief and terror. "He didn't!" he gasped incredulously, his knees buckling and collapsing underneath him. "For the love of God, he couldn't!"

The eyes of Sora, Matt and Tai were locked in an unblinking apprehension on the thick, caliginous air billowing forth from the corridor. It was only a few breathless moments later when the unspoken fears of each became a nightmarish reality as two wraithlike forms wafted forth from within, a ghastly evil radiating from the pair and pervading the cavern. Sora gave a cry of terror and involuntarily collapsed to her knees while the boys at her side could do little more than stand quite still in a hesitant sort of inaction.

They had seen and beaten devilish and demonic types of Digimon in the past, but none of those battles could have prepared them for the horror that they now saw: the twisted and wicked replicas of the angels that had saved their lives so many times in the other world. The wings of both were a dull metallic gray in both color and substance, and the eyes of each were not so much dark as they were hollow or empty... two skeletal pairs of unblinking sockets that existed completely without being.

"The f…fallen angels!" gasped Daven, staggering backwards in horror as he reached vaguely towards his digimon partner. "Stop them!" he commanded.

The mammoth sea creature obeyed and unleashed an airborne torpedo upon the pair, but the male angel simply glanced back in a bored sort of contempt and brushed the explosive projectile to the side with a single claw-like appendage. A tangle of filthy hair and saber-like fangs framed the creature's cruel visage as his vision narrowed on his attacker. "Hades Thorn Barrage!" the female screeched at his side, extending each of her cruelly barbed claws at Daven. Wave upon wave of darts of vile darkness sprung from those digits and struck the fragile boy repeatedly in the chest, hurling his body some dozen feet into the air before finally petering off and allowing him to crash limply to the ground.

"Sheol Nebula..." the male intoned in a low, sibilant voice while pointing at the Ikkakumon. The creature stood motionless for a moment, helpless without the direction of its master. But at the call of the angel a throbbing pentagram of darkness opened at the feet of the sea creature and enveloped the beast into a black, bottomless abyss.

With Daven and his partner gone, the two angels then turned and advanced on Tai, Matt and Sora. The odor of sulfur in the air that surrounded the three was almost overpowering now, gagging them, and together they shrunk away from that foundation of ultimate evil... but then, quite suddenly, Tai was on his feet and standing protectively in front of his friends, his knees quivering beneath him. Without any hope of withstanding the creatures and with his body still aching he stood and spread his arms out wide. "Get... get back! Get out of here!" he shouted futilely.

A booming laugh emitted from the swollen lips of the male angel, then was echoed by the sinister, banshee screech of the female as well. "Naive fool!" he hissed, then pointed his index finger at the three. "Sheol--"

"Stop!" a sharp, clear voice challenged from the side of the cavern, and quite suddenly Tai, Matt and Sora found the dark angels' line of attack barred by a radiant light. A calming, beautiful feeling permeated Tai's entire being as the glow from the light that guarded them washed over him, and he knew that had seen it somewhere before…

The three turned as one and looked to the source of the shouted command. T.K. and Kari had entered the cavern and were standing, hand-in-hand, at the exit to the corridor that they had been guarding. Even at the great distance Matt and Tai could see the bands that held the crests of Hope and Light dangling from their sibling's conjoined hands, and Tai instantly recognized the significance of the fusion as an absolute ward against evil. The one time he had seen it before, it had served to exorcise Piedmon's spirit from his own body.

The eyes of the younger boy flitted over to the fallen angels, who glared back in hatred. A deafening silence fell over the cavern as the creatures stared down the younger pair, though they were obviously loathe to attack. "Begone!" T.K. suddenly demanded of the pair, and through some trick of acoustics or for some other reason his soft voice suddenly took on the intensity of a shouted command that was punctuated with great authority. The angels reared back at the sound, as if in pain.

"We defy you!" called Kari, the look in her brown eyes turning from affectionate to abhorrent as they left T.K. to fall upon the dark creatures. "And you know that we are proof against you. Abandon this place! Leave us alone now!"

At the exact instant of the girl's words and with a great howling of desperation from the angels, the light from the fusion flared brightly, exploding out from the clasped hands of the young pair.

It was only a moment later when a short period of bedazzlement from the light passed for the group and they were again able to open their eyes. Tai glanced around in fleeting alarm, only to find that the dark angels (along with the sickening odor) had vanished. T.K. and Kari waited another moment to be certain the danger had passed, then allowed their hands to drop to their sides. Slowly and solemnly they replaced their respective crests around their necks while the young boy sighed in relief and inched closer to the girl. He glanced sideways at her, his knees trembling so violently at the risk that they'd just taken that he thought he might collapse. "Did you really know that was going to work?" he murmured to her as they approached the others.

The girl only smiled in response.