Disclaimer: I don't own digimon.

Yes, a short one this time.

It's been a long time. Gomen nasai, minna. I've been sick, pity me. Other fics will be updated... well... soonish. But this one's here now. Oh, and don't complain 'till you've read the footnote. Thank you.

Chapter 16 - Fire and water

After wasting a considerable amount of time lying around in the sun (Tai insisted that they had to 'dry out') the digidestined were finally ready to make another attempt at crossing the lake. It had to be done and there was no point wasting time, but the occupants were obviously going to be a lot more trouble than they had originally anticipated.

"So what are we going to do about her?" Sora demanded, once Taichi mentioned Kappamon's hostility.

"Well, I guess we just fight her again." he shrugged.

"Oh, like we did last time? That sure turned out well." Mimi snorted.

"Hey, that last battle wasn't all bad." Matt argued as he wandered up with Tsunomon tucked under his arm. "At least now Gabumon can fight too. One more digimon is something of an advantage."

"You got it." Biyomon agreed.

"I don't know." Izzy frowned. "We had three Mega digimon up against Kappamon earlier: Rosemon, MetalGarurumon and HerculesKabuterimon. Of those three Megas, Rosemon and HerculesKabuterimon retreated before they were beaten. MetalGarurumon exhausted himself before he even came into contact with Kappamon."

"Hey, I'd only just remembered my own name." Tsunomon protested. "How d'you expect me to fight a digimon like her in that condition?"

"Yes, I know," Izzy conceded, "but I'm trying to say that maybe we don't have the power to beat Kappamon. If two mega digimon can't beat an ultimate one..."

"We'll have more firepower next time." Tai assured him. "MetalGarurumon should be back to full fighting strength by now."

"And I'll be able to help next time too." Agumon added. "I would have before, of course, but I was all wet and I'd used up all my energy swimming - which is really hard!"

"I don't know, I really don't." Izzy shook his head. "If Rosemon and HerculesKabuterimon are defeated so easily maybe Kappamon is too powerful even for WarGreymon."

Tai immediately strode over to Izzy with a menacing glare. "Hey, WarGreymon's no weakling, you know."

"Of course, of course I know that, Tai!" Izzy hastily amended. "I'm just trying to explain the situation as best I can so we're all prepared."

"I don't see what all the fuss is, myself." Biyomon ruffled her feathers and looked up. "If I digivolved I could carry everyone across this lake in no time. It'd be faster than riding Ikkakumon and we wouldn't have to worry about what's under the water."

"Good point." Matt agreed. "Why fight her and risk losing when we could hitch a ride with Birdramon?"

"Because she's not going to go away." Joe answered. Everyone turned to look at him.

Joe had been listening to the whole conversation without comment. He hadn't been too talkative since they'd all been washed up by Kappamon. At that very moment he was sitting at the water's edge, just staring. It was as though he'd been trying to figure something out, something that none of his friends could help him with. Even he didn't really know what it was. But now it was as though he had just glimpsed the very edge of whatever it was he was trying to see.

"We can't ignore Kappamon now, because she'll only bother us again later." Joe repeated. "Do you remember when we were inside Mordremon's castle, only a few weeks ago? Remember the digimon she had with her?"

"Cronomon? And that creepy Phantomon?" Mimi suggested.

"Well, yes, there were those two," Joe admitted. "but I was thinking more of the four fighters. Remember the ones we met on the way up the mountain? They were in her throne room too. Tauromon, Serpentmon, Kappamon and Banemon. The first two we've already taken care of, but Banemon's still roaming around and we saw Kappamon just this morning."

"So? What's you're point?" Tai asked, sceptically.

"My point is that these four are extremely faithful to their master and would defend her by whatever means possible. If we let Kappamon go now then she'll only be back to fight us again when we finally reach the castle and try to defeat Mordremon herself. We can fight her now, while we still have time to spare, or later when we're hanging by a thread. I think I'd prefer to get it over and done with."

"He's got a point." Sora agreed.

"If we have to fight, I suppose now is as good as ever." Mimi sighed, reluctantly.

"I've got no complaints." Matt shrugged.

"So long as we get the job done." Tai nodded. "Izzy?"

"It's a good idea, Joe," Izzy said, slowly, "but it's the fighting itself that could be the problem. She's got so much power when she's in the water, but the only digimon we have that can swim is Gomamon."

"What if we could get her out of the water?" Joe suggested.

Izzy opened his mouth to say something, then quickly shut it again. He quickly pulled out his laptop and began typing frantically. For once nothing seemed to be going too easily for Koushiro; he was frowning in concentration as he stared as the small screen. Whatever code he was trying to hack through must have been a real doozy.

"What exactly are you doing, Izzy?" Tai had always been curious about the workings of Izzy's mind.

"I think that there might be a way we can catch Kappamon out," Izzy informed everyone, his eyes not leaving the screen. "Remember how there are weak spots in the digital programming? Like we used at Etemon's pyramid?"

"Yeah, I remember." Sora nodded, shooting a dirty look at Tai. "You think we might have the same thing here?"

"I'm hoping so." Koushiro nodded. "There's an unusual power source emanating from inside the mountain. If we could get inside then we might be able to tap into it somehow and use it to defeat Kappamon and perhaps the other digimon as well. I'm scanning through the digital programming in those cliffs to look for weak points - but there don't seem to be any. This area is unusually well constructed."

With a loud splash, Gomamon dove into the water. Listening to Izzy's last comment he remembered something the Dolphmon had told him before. He hadn't paid much attention to it before, but now he realised that it might be of some value.

******

"Yeah, sure, I'll show you the place." Dolphmon conceded. "It's not too far from here. Why are you so interested, anyway?"

"Well, one of the humans reckons there's some sorta power source inside the mountain." Gomamon replied. "An' I thought that maybe we could get to it if you showed me this place."

"Don't see how." Dolphmon muttered. "The water can't go in, so I don't know how you could. But if you want to have a go, you're welcome. It's right up there."

"What are you waiting for, let's go have a look!" Gomamon cried, when the Dolphmon refused to go any further.

"No way, mate," his friend refused, "Kappamon hangs 'round there sometimes."

"She ever go in?"

"Nope. Don't think she knows it's there. You can't see it, Gomamon."

"How did you find it then?"

"Like this."

Dolphmon concentrated for a moment, then suddenly made a bunch of clicking noises. A moment later the sounds bounced back, and Gomamon realised that they made a sort of sketchy picture. There was a hole in the cliff, right ahead! But he was looking at a solid wall of rock. There must be some sort of passage there.

"How do you do that?" Gomamon gasped.

"Echolocation." Dolphmon replied, smugly. "Quite handy at times."

"Can you teach me how to do it?"

"'S not something you can learn. I'll bet you could figure it out if you really wanted to." Dolphmon winked. "Now, I'm getting outta here before Kappamon comes back. Good luck to you and your mates."

"Thanks." Gomamon yelled after him, and started speeding back towards the shore.

******

"I've got it!" Gomamon cried, leaping out of the water and crawling over to Izzy and his computer.

"Got what?" Joe asked, with a blank look.

"I know how we can get inside the mountain." Gomamon explained, jumping from foot to foot in excitement. "Izzy, scan the part of the cliff that's underwater. That part right ahead of us, below the cove." He pointed one claw towards the opposite bank, to a little section that had been worn down.

"Okay, I'll try." Izzy said, doubtfully, scanning through the code in front of him. "Let's see, there are some fish there, a Dolphmon nicking off, little cave there... is that what you're talking about?"

"No, you're too low." Gomamon shook his head. "Can't you use a picture out of all this techno-garbage?"

"I find it easier to work with base programming." Izzy sniffed.

"And I find it easier working with something I can see." Gomamon countered. "C'mon, I'm trying to help."

"Oh, alright." Izzy sighed, translating the foreign characters into a visual image.

Gomamon's eyes zipped back and forth over the image before him, trying to remember the features he'd seen just a minute ago. There was a ledge there, that seemed a little familiar... no, he was looking for something with vertical ridges, it wasn't flat... perhaps a little to the left...

"Try there." the digimon jabbed at a spot on the screen. "Look at the code there."

With a few clicks of the mouse Izzy had re-entered the bare bones of the huge program, a language only he could comprehend. He gasped as he reached what he was looking for.

"Yes, there's definitely a break in the programming here." he announced. "It's a little more complex than most, though. Almost as though it was put there deliberately. Quite unusual. Perhaps there's some sort of force field..."

"What makes you say that?" Matt asked, suspiciously. "Is there a problem?"

"You could say that." Izzy nodded, grimly. "See, the hole is underwater, but the water doesn't go in. That means that although there's no rock, there could be something holding the water back."

"Which would keep us out." Joe finished.

"Not necessarily." Izzy kept going. "There's a loophole that might let living things through. It could be designed so that the digital interpretations of biological makeup could bypass the preventive devices would be -"

"That means we can get through, right?" Tai asked, one eyebrow raised. "You can just say it in plain English."

"That was English." Izzy muttered, blushing.

"Forget it." Tentomon advised his partner. "What matters is whether or not we can stop Kappamon."

"Well, some of us will be able to enter, but it looks like this particular gate is only going to let half of our group through." the computer kid announced, at last.

"Bummer." Tai commented. "So, who gets the honours?"

"I bags not me!" Mimi yelled, immediately.

"That was quick." Sora said, dryly.

"Who else, though?" Gabumon asked.

"Perhaps not you, Gabumon, you're still not at full power." Matt advised.

"True." Taichi nodded, switching to leader mode. "Gomamon and Joe will have to go, because Gomamon's the only one who can swim. Izzy and Tentomon should go too, since Izzy knows all about this weird stuff. The power source and all that."

"Who else?" Sora asked. "Just me and you left."

"Does it matter?" Tai shrugged. "We'll just toss a coin."

"Can I interrupt?" Joe asked, raising his hand. "If it's okay with Sora, I thin maybe we should keep her above water, just for backup. If we need help, then she and Birdramon can get there the fastest. Can't you?"

"Sure." Sora nodded. "No problem. I guess you're it, Tai."

"Guess so." Tai agreed. "You got any objections, Agumon?"

"Um... yeah, I do actually." Agumon confessed. "How are we going to get there? Seeing as it's underwater and all..."

"Oh. Problem." Izzy realised. "How are we going to breathe down there?"

"I guess you'll just have to hang onto me." Gomamon said, slowly. "I can digivolve to Ikkakumon and you can all hang onto my fur while I find the spot. You'll have to hold your breaths down there, but I can be real fast."

"I guess it could work." Agumon said, still sounding doubtful.

"We'll be on call if anything goes wrong." Biyomon assured him. "Ikkakumon will send a Harpoon Torpedo up in the air if you run into trouble and the rest of us will be there right away."

"Oh, I suppose." Agumon sighed.

"Well, we're all set to go then." Tai grinned, rubbing his hands together with anticipation.

His thoughts, however, were interrupted by a harsh noise from Izzy's computer. The owner of the machine rushed over and began frantically working away, his expression becoming more worried with every passing moment.

"Gomamon, I think you'd better digivolve right away." he said, looking pale.

"Why? What's the matter?"

"We've got a fish on the line." he announced, grimly. "Kappamon's hanging around near our entrance. We've got to draw her in there with us, remember. And we may never get another chance this good."

******

Ikkakumon wasted no time in setting out for the destination. He had a fairly good idea where he was going and Izzy helped to navigate using various maps on his laptop. They carried on uninterrupted by Kappamon for most of the trip - but, strangely enough, there was no sign of any other marine digimon either. There was barely a ripple to break the surface except for those cast by Ikkakumon himself.

It may not seem like such a big thing to most people; we aren't water dwellers and don't really think of calm lakes as very lively places. But for the whole day Ikkakumon had been used to the myriad of signs - currents, temperatures and the like - that indicated the activities of the many creatures that lived below the surface. But for some reason things had become very quiet and they got more and more so the closer he got to the cliffs. He couldn't help remembering how similar it had been when Kappamon attacked; there was no warning whatsoever. She hadn't disturbed the water at all. It was almost as though the other digimon was part of the water, not just a creature living in it.

"We'll be there in a minute," Izzy warned, tersely. "I think we're getting near the entrance to Ikkakumon's cave. Just go to the left a fraction. Yep, that's the spot."

"Hang on tight, everyone," Ikkakumon commanded, "and hold your breath. I'm going under."

The water digimon could feel the tug of the five others clinging to his shaggy fur. In an instant he was painfully aware of how dependant they were on him. If he stuffed up down there then they'd drown, all five of them. He had to get this right, he just had to.

He submerged himself and felt Jyou's grip tightening instinctively. He scanned the forbidding wall of rock, searching desperately for the weak spot. It had seemed so simple when he was there with the Dolphmon, but now the whole thing just looked the same. Well, he was probably at about the right depth...

Ikkakumon shot forward and pressed himself against the rocks. He browsed up and down, becoming more panicked as he went along. The huge digimon found his thoughts chasing themselves in a feverish circle. It was going to be the next spot he tried, or the one after that... any second now his paw was going to go right through and his friends would breathe again...

The big guy faltered as one foot went right through, sending him way off balance. He'd found the entrance! But he barely had time to celebrate before something slammed into his side with incredible power. Ikkakumon was winded, all the carefully stored air forced from his lungs. Struggling to see, he laboriously made his way to the surface and gulped in the fresh air. Those buried in his fur did the same, relieved to be free of what must seem like an airless prison. He'd found the spot, but what had hit him? Who would want to attack him from there?

Who else?

"What just happened down there?" Kappamon demanded, appearing right before the shaggy monster's eyes.

"You hit me." Ikkakumon gasped.

"Oh, don't play dumb," the ultimate snapped, "I saw you step through the cliff. You went right through solid rock! How did you do that?"

"I guess you don't know this place as well as you'd like to think." Jyou commented.

"Nobody knows the lake like I do!" Kappamon defiantly proclaimed. "Nobody!"

"But do you know what it is?" Izzy asked. "Do you know how it got here, or why it is here? Do you know why we came, Kappamon? Why did you?"

"I... I never..."

"There are still many mysteries, my dear," Ikkakumon told her, with a touch of sarcasm.

"I don't understand." Kappamon looked downright miserable now.

"You have to look beyond the rocks and the waves," was the reply, "there's more to it than that."

"Like what?"

"Why don't you come and see?" Ikkakumon growled. The challenge hung in the air, taunting the confused and scared Kappamon.

"You're on." she whispered, and promptly disappeared.

"Ready, gang?" Tai yelled. He nodded his approval to Ikkakumon. "Well handled, mate. Now, let's move!"

For the second time, Ikkakumon dipped into the lake. He look around carefully as he made his way to the cliff's weak spot. Kappamon had to be in here somewhere; she couldn't have gotten away that quickly. But why couldn't he see her? Why was she always invisible when his eyes were clouded by water?

Couldn't worry about that now. Ikkakumon found the weak spot in the cliff and hoisted himself away from the water and into dry air again. The shaggy monster had carried them to a narrow stone passage that seemed to stretch far back into the mountain, dimly lit by an unseen light source. His surface-dwelling passengers quickly dropped away, exhausted. They all lay there for a few minutes, recovering from the rather severe oxygen deprivation. He de-digivolved and waited patiently for them to calm down.

"What happened to Kappamon?" Tai asked at last.

"Beats me." Gomamon shrugged. "She's a funny one. Maybe she decided to give us a head start. Who knows?"

"I don't think she'd give up that easily." Agumon disagreed, looking slightly uncomfortable.

"Oh, she's out there alright." Izzy had somehow managed to find a watertight case for his laptop and had already begun to work with it again. "Just taking her time. Or perhaps she wasn't watching and she couldn't see where we went -"

The red-head and his computer were interrupted by a loud hissing noise. Agumon had spat a fireball at the wall of water behind them and it erupted into an angry cloud of steam. Kappamon, who had been trying to make a quiet entrance, realised her cover had been blown and lunged from behind the curtain of vapour. Her intended victims scattered in confusion, trying to avoid her seeking claws.

There was a brief moment of chaos before Taichi banded all the digidestined. They were pressed against one of the tunnel's roughly-hewn stone walls, eyeing the lithe sea monster warily. Kappamon was almost as fast on land as she was in water, but she was far easier to keep an eye on. She was slinking back and forth in the darkness as though trying to taunt and intimidate her opponents. She seemed to have completely forgotten her uncertainties on the surface only a few minutes before.

"Well, here we are, Kappamon," Gomamon spoke up.

"Some mystery," the female snorted, "a tunnel with spooky lighting. I should have known better than to expect to get any excitement from you."

"We're not done yet," Gomamon shook his head. "We haven't seen what's down the tunnel. Don't you want to know what other mysteries this place holds?"

"What does it matter?" Kappamon sounded angry, but also a little resigned. "I don't need to know. I'm here to do a job and it's not to explore some rock. I can't waste time on curiosity when I should be fighting you!"

The sinuous one made a sudden lunge towards the digidestined group but her charge was halted as Greymon and Kabuterimon stepped up to retrain her.

"Get moving," Greymon growled, moving to block off one side of the tunnel.

"No, not to the water." Kabuterimon grunted as Gomamon got ready to digivolve again. "Head the other way. Down the tunnel. See what there is to see."

"No!" Kappamon cried, a crazed look on her normally calm face. "No, I'll get you this time digidestined. I'll kill you all!" She lashed out at Greymon with her tail and moved towards the humans again, but the two champion digimon moved to block her off.

"Hurry!" Greymon urged, a tiny flame trickling from his mouth.

Tai and Izzy set off down the tunnel without another word. Joe scooped up Gomamon and pelted after them, panting heavily. He was terrified. What if they were trapped down in this tunnel forever? He'd never been underground before but he must be developing claustrophobia. Oh, how could Tai and Izzy keep up this pace? Joe was already out of breath and the end of the tunnel didn't seem to be getting any closer. That is, if there was an end to this thing. Although, the air they were breathing seemed pretty fresh, so there must be an exit somewhere, or at least a vent.

Hey, he'd just cheered himself up!

As they rounded a corner there was a particularly loud roar from one of the battling digimon. Feeling something cold on his ankle, Joe looked down to see a hissing wave of water creeping up the tunnel from behind them. Had they broken the force field (or whatever it was) keeping the lake water out? No, they'd all be crushed by now if that were the case. Kappamon must have used one of her water attacks on Greymon and Kabuterimon.

"Doesn't look good!" Taichi yelled from up ahead. "If she can do that then she could flood us all out. This mightn't have been a very good plan after all. We have to keep going and find another way out."

"What if there isn't another way out?!" Joe demanded, sounding panicky.

"Then we're all gonna die." Gomamon answered, impatiently. "So don't think about it, okay?"

"That's really not very comforting," Joe grumbled. "Would it cost you anything to be sympathetic for once?"

"It'd cost me my pride."

"Such a tragedy."

"Yes, it would be, wouldn't it?" Gomamon stopped and sniffed the air suddenly. "Hey, did you feel that?"

"Feel what?"

"The air's getting warmer." the digimon informed him. "I think we're getting somewhere."

The tunnel began to widen as the water lapped against Joe's feet again. The group finally found themselves in a huge cavern with a floor sloping slightly upwards and receding far back into the darkness. Nobody could see the other walls, but you could just tell that it was a big area.

"Keep going!" Tai ordered. "There might be a way out on the other side."

But the leader had to halt his fearless charge when a wall of fire sprang up in front of him halfway across the cavern (well, it seemed like halfway - it's a little hard to tell when you can't see the other side). His eyes were wide with shock as he realised how close he was to getting roasted.

"What the..." Izzy stared blankly at the flames for a moment before pulling Taichi away.

"I-I don't know, it came from nowhere." Tai babbled, watching the flames die back before flaring up again.

"We can sort that out later." Joe yelled. "Let's try to head back the other way. We obviously can't get through here."

No sooner had the humans (and Gomamon) started to turn back than Greymon and Kabuterimon. came barrelling up behind them. They stumbled into the cavern, their huge bulk giving the illusion that even the solid stone walls trembled a little as they ran.

"Sorry, we just couldn't hold her off any longer." Greymon panted. "There was no room for us to digivolve back in the tunnel."

"But we could go all the way to Mega in here." Kabuterimon suggested, as he and Greymon dwindled back down to Tentomon and Agumon.

"I don't think so." Kappamon whispered, looking almost vulnerable in the bright light from the flames. "I don't know what's going on here. I've come through what looked like solid rock to some weird tunnel and now there's a fire that just popped out from nowhere."

"You're scared." Gomamon taunted. "Kappamon, you're scared 'coz you don't understand. None of us get it either, but you don't see us taking it out on you, so shut up, will ya?"

"I will not, you insolent creature." The wraithlike digimon hissed. "I'm here to destroy you fools, and that's exactly what I intend to do."

She raised her grey, scaled arms upwards, stretching towards the roof. In the background an ominous roaring and crashing sound could be heard. Water began lapping at her feet and speeding up as it reached the cavern. Kappamon's eyes were reduced almost to slits as she regarded the digidestined again.

"I control the waters here. They do what I command. And in just a few moments they'll rush in here and kill you all. My only job is to destroy you, but I intend to do it well."

Gomamon could feel the hair rising on his back. He was so furious just then he thought he could have defeated Kappamon if only he were stronger. He knew he probably didn't have a chance; after all, the wench had beaten two Mega digimon single handed so even Zudomon wouldn't have a chance.

He looked up at Joe and was shocked to see the same determination in the human's eyes. All traces of fear or hesitation were gone from Joe's face, replaced by total confidence in his ability to face this new challenge with all the courage he could muster. Gomamon suddenly found himself thinking that maybe - just maybe - they could win.

"We can win." Joe muttered to his digimon partner. "There's a way. There's always a way out."

"Then what is it?" Gomamon asked, quietly. Joe's newfound confidence was reassuring, but he still didn't know what hope they could possibly have.

"I'm not exactly sure." Joe murmured. "I have a feeling that this place... it's important somehow. We've been here before, or at least been told about it..."

The waters were creeping further and further up the cavern. The raging torrent had filled most of the tunnel, which they could now see by the light of the fire, but Kappamon was holding them at bay. She seemed to like keeping them in suspense. She was the sort of digimon, Joe guessed, that liked to be in control. Just like a lot of humans. But nobody could control everything; you can't hold back the tides. Not even Kappamon had that sort of power.

Joe snapped out of his little reverie, trying to think. Whenever he tried to plan something out his mind just sort of went blank. He could see Izzy bending over his computer as Tai fed him steady stream of instructions, Agumon and Tentomon discussing battle options... but Joe was sitting there doing nothing.

"Just relax," he said, quietly, to Gomamon. "This is out of our hands now."

"Yeah. I know." Gomamon admitted. "Something's going to happen, isn't it?"

Something did happen, just at that moment. The first tentative wave of water washed gently over his claws. Then a slightly stronger surge dampened his legs and belly. A third, much stronger one (Kappamon was getting bored) covered Gomamon's back and clashed against the forbidding wall of flames, hissing violently and sending huge clouds of steam rolling over the group.

There was something uncanny about that fire. And that water. Gomamon coughed as the heavy vapour rolled over him, almost burning the fur on his head. An angry buzzing sound filled his ears as he hunkered down so that only his eyes were above the surface. He took a deep breath, drawing energy from the water around him, and squinted through the haze at Kappamon. He saw her thrust her arms forward, ordering the waters to come down and crush them at last. Gomamon wouldn't stand for it. It was his turn this time.

"Gomamon, warp digivolve to..."

As the water rushed forward like an army released to battle, Gomamon grew. He flicked his long, rapidly growing tail away from the fire that now stretched across the cavern, a forbidding barrier. His paws were flippers now, long and broad. A domed shell covered his back, rimmed with spikes around the edge. And his long neck arced upwards and then curled back down, bringing his elegant head towards the water. The waters had stopped rushing into the cave now as Kappamon stared at him in alarm. This new digimon shuffled forward and peered at his enemy (who now looked a lot less threatening) through his dark eyes and grinned a toothy grin.

"Plesiomon!"

Plesiomon was only about the size of Zudomon, maybe a little smaller, but his long neck and tail made him look huge. The water wasn't bothering him much now; a lot of it had been evaporated by the fire anyway. He curled his tail protectively around his friends and bent his head towards them.

"Hey, do me a favour and climb on my back, will you? I don't want you lot getting crushed or anything." the gigantic Mega grinned. As the smaller ones clambered onto the shell a dome of blue light surrounded them, just like when they had ridden Imperialdramon last Christmas. His companions taken care of, Plesiomon turned back to Kappmon.

"You don't scare me." the watergoing demon snarled. "I can still beat you,"

"It's quite strange, Kappamon," Plesiomon said, pleasantly, still with that infuriating grin, "When I first met you I thought you were such a calm digimon. It seems when you're scared you have less control over your anger than Tauromon did. How... disappointing."

"Don't you talk about Tauromon to me," Kappamon ordered, her voice dangerously quiet.

"What's the matter? You two have a fight or something? Mordremon like him better than you, did she?" Plesiomon taunted.

Kappamon clenched her webbed hands into fists and glared at him defiantly. "I thought you were one of the good guys," she shouted, a tiny tremor in her voice, "Have you no respect for the dead?"

"What the..." Plesiomon drew back in surprise, as did his friends. "I-I'm sorry, Kappamon, I didn't realise you were so... um... that you cared so... well..."

"He was my friend," Kappamon choked; peering closer, Plesiomon was amazed to see tears in her eyes. "We're all friends. And we were all wanderers before Dar... before Mordremon brought us together. We all love her, and each other. We were happy."

"I never realised." Plesiomon whispered. Kappamon went on as though she hadn't heard him.

"Now you digidestined are breaking that up. You've killed Tauromon and Serpentmon, and now I suppose you're going to try to kill me." she spat.

"It doesn't have to be that way. This is the digital world, remember? Tauromon and Serpentmon will be back one day. That is, if your friend Mordremon didn't insist on her cockamamie plan..."

"Maybe it would be better if she did. Why is it such a great thing to be able to live forever?"

Plesiomon wriggled his flippers, the closest he could get to a shrug. "That's the way the digital world is. Nobody has any right to change it, least of all Mordremon."

Kappamon laughed, a derisive, humourless chuckle. "That's what everyone says. That's what Mordremon's trying to show all these foolish digimon. They'll get sick of it one day, you'll see."

"But if it weren't that way, you'd never see Tauromon again."

"If it weren't that way, Mordremon wouldn't have to make it that way and he wouldn't have died anyway."

"If Mordremon hadn't tried to -"

"Just stop it!" Kappamon cried, exasperated. "Why talk about the 'if's? Tauromon died serving Mordremon, who helped me just as she helped him and all the rest of us. All of us - Tauromon, Serpentmon, Banemon and me - do whatever we can to help her, including supporting her 'cockamamie' plan. Like I said before, I have a job to do."

"Have you no will of your own?" Plesiomon whispered, swinging his head down to look her in the eye.

Kappamon's expression melted into the calm, blank face that Plesiomon had seen the first time he met her. She seemed relaxed now, but Plesiomon could still see her hands trembling slightly. Nevertheless, the girl held her ground. She was a game one, all right.

"You're out of line, Plesiomon." she informed him in a neutral voice. "Nobody plays mind games with a virus type." Kappamon raised her arms and closed her eyes, taking a deep breath. "Whirlpool!"

The rush of water started again, thundering down the tunnel and crashing against Plesiomon's body, though his friends were protected by the blue shield of light on his back. He knew that it would evaporate eventually with the fire barrier behind him, but it was hard to bear the brunt of all this pressure. He didn't have to sit there and take it any more, though. He was powerful now, he was a Mega.

"Ocean Blue!" He roared, deadly serious now. A sea of blue light welled up around him, forcing the water back. He and Kappamon shot through the tunnel, pushed by the sheer pressure of Plesiomon's odd attack. They were plunged into the water, but before Kappamon could disappear he clamped his jaws around her and propelled himself to the surface with his powerful flippers. It was time to finish the job.

******

Birdramon was patrolling the skies above the lake with Sora, Yamato, Gabumon, Mimi and Palmon on her back. The other half of their group had been gone for several hours and they were becoming a little concerned. Exploring a cave that was way below sea level with a murderous demon chasing after you isn't the safest of pasttimes.

Of course, they needn't have worried.

And none of those present that day would ever forget the sight of that battle. It was one of those images that just burns itself onto your mind. A digimon shaped like a prehistoric monster, with two digimon and three humans in a capsule on its back, rising from the depths of the lake was truly magnificent. The way it held the elusive but deadly Kappamon squirming in its mouth was truly satisfying.

But nothing compared to the way Plesiomon flicked his head back and flung Kappamon high into the air and blasted her with a blindingly white beam of light from his mouth.

It was the death of a daunting and deadly opponent, one that had teased and taunted them for what seemed like much longer than a day. She would come back one day; all digimon did. For now, however, she was defeated, and it was a glorious victory indeed.

~~~~~~

I know what you're thinking: Hey, I thought Gomamon's mega was MarineAngemon! Yes, in the card game that's one digivolution of Zudomon. However, the D-terminal thingy says that the actual mega, for Joe's Gomamon anyway, is Preciomon or Plesiomon, based on a prehistoric marine animal called Plesiosaurus. I don't know what it looks like or what the attacks are, but I made them up by combining my knowledge of dinosaurs with some imagination. I suppose I could have used MarineAngemon, but I think it looks pretty wimpy. It doesn't suit Gomamon. Or the fic. If you have any more jibes about this little problem, please e-mail me and I'll tell you why I did this in three hundred pages instead of a paragraph. Thank you and goodnight.