A/N: A special thanks to Silver_Blayde, matt4ever, Reborn and Devidramon for kindly reviewing chapters one and two. Chapter Three is dedicated to you. I hope you like it! ^_^
Disclaimer: We do not own Digimon, we just like writing about them
The Dark Scepter—Chapter Three
By Fenris5000—Angelica
The troubled group followed Weregarurumon into a small clearing beside a fast flowing river silently. Each of them had three questions on their mind: what was going on with Kari, would Matt be okay, and how was Gabumon able to digivolve all the way to ultimate and maintain it while Matt was unconscious. Weregarurumon gently laid his digidestined down on a soft looking patch of grass and gave him a brief examination.
Joe cleared his throat nervously. He had been too shocked by the recent developments and then Weregarurumon's fury to recommend not moving Matt from the courtyard in case he'd hurt his neck or back. "Um, Weregarurumon, I've been studying first aide in school, um, would you like some um… help with Matt?" He cringed, waiting for the large irate wolf-type digimon to tell him to back off.
Weregarurumon's gaze softened somewhat. "Thank you Joe, I have not the skill or knowledge. All I know is that this did not have to happen." His eyes darkened as they flickered over the miserable children of Courage and Hope, who looked like they were not quite brave enough to approach Weregarurumon themselves.
TK stared at Matt through tear filled glassy red eyes. "Why hasn't he woken up yet?" He choked. "He's not hurt bad. He can't be. He just can't be."
Sora approached TK and put her arms around him comfortingly. "It'll be okay." She soothed hesitantly, hoping she wasn't telling a lie. She gulped as she watched Matt's still pale form.
Joe set to work. He squeezed Matt's shoulder hard and looked for a response in the other boy's face. "Matt! Can you hear me?" He shouted near Matt's left ear, then the right one. Nothing. Okay. Unconscious. They had already established that. This was probably the time he'd yell for someone to phone an ambulance if he was at home in Odaiba. Too bad they weren't at home.
"Well?" Mimi asked, joining Joe at Matt's side.
Joe scratched his head. "No broken bones, no open wounds. Just a lot of bruising, and he's going to have a humdinger of a headache when he wakes up."
Tai was pacing, his head hung low. He gaze flickered over his injured best friend. "I can't believe this has happened." He stopped. What exactly did happen? He sat down between Agumon and Izzy with a sigh. "Izzy, what happened?"
The red haired computer genius looked at his miserable wild-haired leader with some confusion. "Well Tai, my best guess is that Kari has, well for a lack of better words, joined the dark side."
"You take that back Izzy!" Tai frowned, grinding his jaw angrily. "She'd never do that."
Izzy shrugged his shoulders. "Hey, don't get mad at me, Tai. I saw her aim her attack right at you and TK. Her own brother and um… best friend. If Matt hadn't pushed you guys out of the way like he did, you'd either be dead, or in his condition."
"That's insane." Tai said weakly, fidgetting with his orange shoelace. "Kari would never hurt any of us. She'd die first."
Izzy nodded, "Yeah, I have a theory on that as well. I think she's under some kind of spell."
TK crawled over to Joe, Mimi, Weregarurumon and Matt silently, watching and hoping he was welcome to stay.
"What if he's in a coma?" Mimi asked shrilly, wringing her hands. "We can't help him here. He needs a doctor and a hospital."
"Wait, I think he moved his hand." TK said excitedly, hesitantly grabbing Matt's hand and giving it a gentle encouraging squeeze. "Come on Matt, please wake up. Please? I'll do anything." He just had to be okay.
Matt's eyes slowly flickered open in a painful squint. Everything hurt. He heard a pathetic far off groan as the fuzzy too bright images around him started to focus somewhat. He could hear some quiet murmuring and felt something squeezing his right hand painfully. A pink and white blur swung across his field of vision; and then more noise. He heard another groan. This time it sounded more like a painful whimper. Who was hurt that badly? He blinked a few times, hoping to clear his vision a bit, but all he could see was the colorful blurs. The murmering was starting to get louder, and some words were beginning to make some sense now. Someone was digging their fingers into his shoulders.
"Matt. Wake up."
TK? That pink blob was TK? He heard another groan. This time it was closer. It sounded like his own. He had not made a noise like that since that time he'd fallen off the tree fort at school years ago and broken his arm. That had hurt; but this hurt more. He clenched his eyes shut as he became aware of the pain in his head. His stomach churned as he fought to roll onto his side before the gagging started. He could feel some hesitant clumsy hands trying to support him on his side as his insides settled down. He had somehow managed to keep from throwing up. Now all he had to do was collect his bearings.
"Matt?" That sounded like Joe. Playing doctor again.
"Yeah." Matt croaked. He shuddered as his body was racked with a sudden pain. Somebody was smoothing his hair off his forehead. "…Don't." He whispered. His vision started fading. No! If he passed out, he'd just have to wake up again. There was something they were supposed to be doing. They didn't have time for this. He took a deep quaking breath to stave off the approaching blackness.
"Matt." A deep gruff voice said gently. "Are you okay?"
What? That voice! How could it be? Matt slowly shifted and tried to focus. There were two slightly fuzzy Weregarurumons in front of him; both wearing equally concerned expressions. "Weregarurumon." Matt gasped, trying to sit up very slowly. He was appreciative as Joe, Mimi and TK moved to help. He brought his hand to his head as a new unwelcome sensation that he was on a rollercoaster ride accosted him. Everything was spinning and the urge to throw up was still lingering, waiting. "Man, oh man." He grimaced. His skull felt like it was splitting open.
"Matt, I'm so sorry." TK choked out, careful to hug his injured older brother gently. "I never meant for this to happen."
Matt felt his younger brother's hot tears splattering all over his black shirt and arms. "Mmm. What happened?"
"You saved Tai and TK." Mimi said, giving him a smile he could just make out. "Kari attacked them. You got hit instead."
Kari! It was all starting to come back. Matt felt his breath quicken.
Joe of course noticed. "Come on Matt, settle down. You need to get some rest. Lie back. You took a pretty nasty hit to the head."
"No." Matt whispered, feebly resisting the hands trying to lay him down. "I'm fine, we have to start after the talismans. There isn't time for this." Tears of pain and frustration pricked at the corners of his eyes.
"Matt." Weregarurumon caught his digidestined's attention and was able to ease the injured boy back. "You have been badly hurt. You need to rest."
"How did you digivolve?" Matt mumbled finally. "I don't have my crest."
Weregarurumon shrugged his broad shoulders. "I don't know, maybe it has something to do with Ash Island. Maybe it was because you were hurt."
Matt craned his neck around slightly then relaxed. Ïs Tai here somewhere?"
Tai scooted over beside his best friend in a flash before anyone could answer. "I'm right here, buddy. Oh Matt, you were right. How could we have been so stupid? We almost got you killed." He hung his head as his own words registered. From now on, he would have to think things out better. He wouldn't be able to live with himself if anyone came to any harm. "Can you ever forgive me?"
"It's okay." Matt said quietly. "You couldn't have known." He closed his eyes briefly to see if it made any difference to his killer headache. He opened them again, somewhat dissapointed. "So, what now?"
Tai shrugged his shoulders. "I'm open to suggestions."
Gatomon cleared her throat. "Well as soon as Matt's able, I think we should get started towards the Crystal Gardens Temple for the first Talisman. The sooner we get them, the closer we'll be to rescuing Kari." She had a lost look in her eyes. "If Kari wants to be rescued, that is."
Patamon looked up at his friend with sympathetic eyes. "Of course she does. Those five creepomons just put her under their evil spell."
Tai chewed on his lip with an unsure look on his face. "Okay, I know our last meeting with Darknessmon and his cronies was a big screw up, but I still think going after those Talismans is a big waste of time. We weren't prepared the last time. This time we know about their secret weapon. They've lost the element of surprise."
Izzy frowned, swallowing. "Tai, I don't think I heard you right. Did you just say we are not going to collect the talismans?"
Sora's jaw dropped as she whirled around. "That is just insane, Tai. Don't you remember what just happened? Matt almost died. If your time is more valuable to you than your friends lives, then I would just maybe prefer not to be one of your friends." Her cheeks were turning a deep angry shade of crimson and her eyes were sparking dangerously. Biyomon was beside her, wearing nearly the same expression of disbelief in their leader.
Tai sighed sadly. "I'm sorry to make you feel that way, Sora."
Joe was shaking his head hesitantly. "No Tai. Sora's not the only one who is feeling that way."
"I agree." Mimi stated, folding her arms.
Weregarurumon stood up from Matt's side and eyed the digidestined child of courage warily. "Haven't you learned anything from your past mistake?" He growled menacingly. "You waited for input from Gennai, possibly the wisest person you'll ever meet, ignored his advice, paid the consequences,"--he gestured to Matt's pained form-- "and are prepared to sacrifice whoever and make the same stupid mistake." He advanced a step, clenching his massive paws into fists.
Agumon stepped in front of Tai protectively. "Hey, now, Tai is doing the best that he can. He wouldn't hurt anyone on purpose."
Weregarurumon growled, advancing another step.
"Hey." Matt was trying to sit up again. "You guys cool it. This is no time to fight." He still felt dizzy, but it wasn't as bad as the first time. "Weregarurumon, settle down." It was kind of weird, in the past he was always the one in the middle of the fight. Now he knew how Sora felt.
Weregarurumon nodded. In a flash of blue light, he dedigivolved all the way back to Gabumon and ambled over to support Matt's attempt to stay sitting up.
Gatomon hopped up onto the stump to take over where Weregarurumon had left off. "In ten words or less Tai, it comes down to this. This time, we're doing it right. We are going after the Talismans like Gennai told us to. I think they hold the key. Maybe they'll even break the spell they have over Kari."
"If that's the way you feel about it, then I guess there's no use in trying to change your minds." Tai stated defeatedly, noticing the not too subtle sighs of relief of all the Digimon and digidestined. "But I still think it will take too long."
Izzy approached Tai and put his hand on their leader's shoulder. "Tai, I hate to be the one to break it to you, but our last encounter with Darknessmon and his cronies was a waste of time. If we'd just gone after the Talismans to start with, we'd probably already have the first one, and we probably would not be hampered with an injured digidestined." He paused to glance over at the blond who was leaning against Gabumon wearing a weary expression. "No offense Matt."
Matt rolled his eyes. "All this talking is wasting time too."
"Well it's time you need to heal." Joe stated, taking Matt's wrist. "Hmm. Pulse seems normal enough, but I don't like your color."
"Blonds have more fun." Mimi smiled cheerfully.
Joe grimaced. "Not that color. Look at his face. I've seen white table linen with more color than this. I think we should get Matt home right away. He's got a mild concussion at the very least. Worst case scenario is a fractured skull."
"Feels fractured." Matt muttered, wincing.
Joe laughed. "I'll bet, but I'm leaning towards concussion."
Izzy opened his laptop and turned it on. "I'll have the Digiport program up in a second. TK, do you have your D3 device handy?"
TK reached into his pocket and scrambled to his feet to join the red haired computer genius. The screen flickered and the gate back home materialized. The younger blond silently aimed his palm sized digivice at the laptop and waited for the gate to open.
Nothing happened.
"Izzy…" TK began.
Izzy frowned. "That's odd. Something seems to be jamming us. The Digiport won't open. Hmm. Maybe if we tried it again it would work. Go ahead TK."
TK pointed the D3 at the computer again with a feeling of apprehension niggling away at his stomach. He bit his lip. If the Digiport wouldn't open, that meant they would be stuck in the Digiworld. Again the window of the laptop stayed the same. The gate remained closed.
Izzy sat in front of the computer and started opening programs. "There must be some glitch or something. Don't worry, I'll get it working. I just have to check the settings and make a few changes." This had never happened before. Everything looked okay. Nothing was wrong. No viruses. No erasures. What was going on? Did it have something to do with Ash Island? Maybe there was some sort of barrier keeping them from electronically contacting the outside world or escaping from the prison. That had to be it. So they were going to be stuck until they had defeated the Evil Ones, rendering Ash Island free of prisoners?
"Uh, guys, I think we're being blocked electronically, it must be a… um… security measure to keep the Evil Ones prisoner here." Izzy said finally after trying everything he could think of. "E-mail isn't even functioning right now."
"Great." Tai threw up his hands in frustration. "We've come all this way." He complained. "Now we have to go all the way back to the Digiport across the lake? We may as well just forget about rescuing Kari by then."
"We don't all have to go." Matt said through gritted teeth. "Gabumon and I will go…"
"No way." TK shook his head vigorously. "You can't go alone, what if the five Evil Ones decide to pick us off one by one. We have to stay together."
Biyomon pulled on Sora's hand. "I could digivolve to Birdramon and we could fly Matt and Gabumon back to the digiport."
"No." Tai shook his head. "TK's right. You guys would be easy pickings. Come on, let's go, we should make it by nightfall." His face had a defeated aura to it. The expression did not suit him.
Matt struggled to stand up, leaning on TK slightly for balance. "Which way to the Crystal Gardens, Izzy?" He asked in a quiet, even tone. Izzy frowned, remaining silent. Matt sighed. "Now look, if you guys think I'm going to let you give up, and later on use me as your excuse, then you've got another thing coming. Let's just go collect the Talismans, defeat some evil digimon, and rescue Kari so we can all go home, okay?" He was breathing hard. "I'll be okay. We need to start moving. Right now."
Tai smiled ruefully. "You are some best friend, Matt."
"Yeah, I know." The blond grinned cheekily. "And you are going to owe me big time when this whole mess is finally finished."
* * *
The little orange dinosaur type digimon stopped walking and craned his neck so he could see around the tall stone gate post that was the entrance to the Crystal Gardens courtyard. "It looks… um… safe… I guess." Agumon said doubtfully. Izzy, Gomomon and Tentomon joined him. There wasn't a soul to be seen.
"Prodigious." Izzy said excitedly. "Look at all the crystallized formations. Some of them look like rose quartz and hemmatite." He turned back to the rest of the digidestined. "If only I'd downloaded that geology program." He lamented whistfully.
"We don't have time to study the flora, fauna and crystal formations Izzy." Tai stated sternly as he and Joe stepped up beside him, supporting Matt between them. "So let's just go in there and do what we've got to do."
Izzy frowned. "I wasn't going to study it for the sake of studying, Tai. What if some of those crystals are dangerous? Maybe they are alive and start attacking us? We can't take anything for granted in the Digiworld. You know that."
Tentomon buzzed beside them. "I can go try to have a conversation with one of them if you'd like. If they were alive, I'm sure they would have many interesting things to tell us."
Mimi came up beside them for a look. "There are pink ones!" Tears of rapture sprinkled down her cheeks.
"Rose quartz." Izzy stated.
"Some of those crystals look kind of sharp." Sora said apprehensively.
Biyomon and Palmon nodded. "We'd better not touch them, or we could get hurt." Palmon said, glancing at her pink-obsessed digidestined child of sincerity, who looked like she would be unable to resist just one little touch. "Right, Mimi?"
Mimi pouted. "Right."
"Maybe we should rest up for a few minutes before going in." TK said slowly, watching his older brother with concern. Matt's face was ashen and his hair was darkened with sweat. It was probably a miracle he'd lasted this long.
Tai caught Matt's eye. "You think you can go a little further, Ishida?"
Matt nodded faintly.
"Right. Let's keep moving then." Tai said, urging Matt and Joe into the lead. "There's the temple over by the pillars." They entered the gardens.
"Man." Matt groaned, averting his eyes.
Joe shielded his eyes with the back of his hand. "It's awfully bright in here. Where are my sunglasses when I need them?"
Izzy squinted around in awe. All the crystals had a prism-like quality to them, even the stones underfoot were shining awesomely. Sparkling reds, pinks, blues, purples, greens, and yellows were sprouting out of the crystal beds like flowers. Every abstract shape imaginable, every size from the smallest raindrop to the huge tree-like pillars. The temple itself was a speckled sparkly dark grey marble.
Sora leaned near a blood red crystal cluster adorned with paper thin delicate jade green crystals like stems and leaves. She breathed in deeply, surprised an exquisite smell did not accompany the visual delight.
"They don't smell like flowers." Palmon said dissapointedly. "But they sure look like flowers."
"I wonder if they need to be watered." Sora said, following Biyomon. "I'd love to pick one, if only they weren't so sharp."
Tai nodded. "My mom would love these. She hasn't got a single green thumb. She's even killed our dandylion plant. Without pesticides."
Izzy smirked. "Your mom was actually trying to grow a dandylion plant?"
Tai made a face. "Yeah, she read somewhere that dandylion roots are good for your liver." He shrugged. "You know my mom." He looked at Matt, who was leaning heavily on him, his head resting forward. "Hey Matt, you still awake there?"
"Yeah." Came the soft whisper.
Gabumon was right there. "Tai, Joe, I think you had better set him down or he will pass out on you." His bright crimson eyes were wide with concern.
"Set him down where?" Tai demanded. "He'll cut himself."
Sora came over, looking around. "How about the stairs leading to the temple. They don't look sharp. Hard yes, but not sharp." And they were large enough to sit comfortably on and at a very gentle slope.
Tai let Matt and Joe over to the side of the stairs and let Gabumon take the child of friendship from their grasp. They watched as Matt leaned forward, resting his head in his hands.
TK bit his lip as he watched his brother. He hated seeing Matt hurt. It was all his fault. Maybe Matt was right, maybe they should have left TK behind. Would this still have happened?
"Do you guys hear some weird chattering, or is it just my head?" Matt asked quietly, looking up.
They all heard it. "It's the Acolytemon!" TK said urgently. He'd never forget that rusting noise they made in their throats.
"Okay, it's showtime." Tai exclaimed grimly. "Agumon, digivolve!"
The bright glare of the Crystal Gardens was amplified sevenfold as each digimon capable of digivolving was engulfed in the pure blue light of power, called upon by each of the digidestined. The kids all covered their eyes until the dazzling spectre was complete.
When Sora opened her eyes, she stepped back in revulsion. The chattering noises which had heralded the appearance of the Acolytemon had changed to the grunting growling noises Davis had for once not been overexaggerating about. Greymon sent a novablast that obliterated two Acolytemon before smashing into the bed of blue crystals, sending a rain of fine blue powdery dust around them.
"Try not to damage the crystals guys!" Izzy shouted, shaking the dust from his hair agitatedly. "We don't know if this stuff is harmful or not yet!"
"Sorry Izzy." Greymon said gruffly.
Garurumon blueblastered a rough retaining wall of ice around the crystal beds, then turned his attention to a nearby cluster of Acolytemon who were approaching the digidestined on the stairs.
"What is their attack, Izzy?" Tai asked with a tremor in his voice.
Izzy had his laptop open and was frantically typing. He stopped with a worried frown.
"Well?" Mimi, Sora and Kabuterimon said in unison.
The red haired computer genius gulped and looked up. "Acolytemon are followers of digimon who possess great power." He wiped at a sweat droplet that was running down his face. "It's because they mimic their master's power."
Tai paled. Did this mean each Acolytemon potentially possessed the powers of all five Evil Ones? Or did it mean they had no powers because the Evil Ones were under bannishment?
"Harpoon Torpedo!" Ikkakumon shouted, aiming at and striking one of the Acolytemon who was glowing a sickly green color.
Another two Acolytemon took it's place at the foot of the stairs, glowing that same green color. Both had their silver eyes trained on the digidestined. They seemed to be ignoring the champion level digimon altogether.
"Um, maybe we should go into the temple." Joe said smiling nervously as he stood up. "I don't really want to know exactly how powerful these guys are. I don't need a demonstration."
Tai and TK helped Matt up. They backed into the temple, watching as Birdramon swooped in. "Meteor wing!" A shower of fire balls obliterated the little evil black digimon.
"Yay Birdramon!" Sora shouted, raising a triumphant fist in the air before following the rest of her friends into the temple. Kabuterimon and Gatomon followed, keeping an eye behind them for Acolytemon.
The roof of the temple was of a clear crystal, like a skylight prism, forming tiny rainbows dancing all over the grey speckled walls. The floor was pink crystal tiles. A center platform that could have been an alter dominated the room. Four pillars that shone with a mirror-like quality appeared to support a silky black canopy over the alter. In the center of the alter was a giant smokey pale stalagmite growing out of the floor. The mirrored pillars reflected the light to hit the stone like a spotlight.
Everyone froze.
"It's the Talisman." Matt whispered, shielding his eyes from the intense glare coming off the array. "Strength."
Tai cocked an eyebrow at his best friend. "You actually sound like you know what you're talking about, Matt." He laughed. "Now let's just sit you down here against the wall."
TK knelt down beside his brother and took a piece of tissue from his pocket and gently blotted some of the sweat from Matt's forehead. "Are you okay, Matt? You're not hot are you?"
Matt's eyes narrowed as he focussed on something over TK's shoulder. TK whirled around and stood up protectively in front of his brother. The tall ugly digimon in the dirty brown cloak looked so out of place in the bright purity of the temple. The grotesque green and black snake digimon wrapped around Poisonmegamon's left forearm watched the digidestined and two champion level digimon disdainfully, hissing menacingly.
"Poisonmegamon!" Tai exclaimed, clenching his fists in anger. "What have you done with my sister?"
The digimon smirked at them. "Ah, you remember my name. I'm flattered."
"Kabuterimon. Attack!" Izzy shouted.
Poisonmegamon laughed darkly. "Oh, how brave. You would attack a poor unarmed digimon. Here, I'll make it even easier; I will turn my back."
"He's toying with us." Tai exploded.
The sounds of battle outside were waning down.
Gatomon leapt towards the greenish skinned evil Poisonmegamon with her claws extended. "Sounds like your Acolytemon are nearly finished, now where's Kari? Lightening…"
Poisonmegamon bowed and was engulfed in a cloud of sickly green haze.
"… Paw?" Gatomon landed right where Poisonmegamon had just vacated. "Now where did he go? I wasn't finished with him yet!"
Izzy shrugged, letting his eyes wander the room. "Well, he doesn't have the power to fight us, and his Acolytemon were losing. It's only natural that he would retreat."
Gabumon, Gomomon, Biyomon, Agumon, Palmon and Patamon entered the temple, looking hungry, as usual.
"Is there anything to eat in here Tai?" Agumon asked. "Fighting Acolytemon sure works up an appetite."
Tai shook his head with a smile, walking up to the crystal stalagmite. "Not unless you want a crystal on a stick." He peered into the depths. "Hey, there's an orange rock or something in there." He stated excitedly.
TK and Gabumon brought Matt over as Kabuterimon dedigivolved back to Tentomon now that the threat was temporarily over with. "That orange rock is the Talisman of Strength, Tai." Matt said through clenched teeth. "If you can figure a way to get it out, it's yours."
Tai blinked. "Really? How do you know that? Did it tell you?" He sneered.
"No." Matt sighed. "I don't know. I can't explain it, okay? Just trust me on this."
Tai took another look inside the case. "Hmm. Strength, huh? Hey Agumon can you break this thing?" He looked at Matt to see if the blond would object.
"Maybe if I digivolve to Greymon." The little orange dinosaur like digimon said uncertainly. "But I'm hungry."
Joe handed Agumon a powerbar. "Here, I brought plenty."
Agumon stuffed it into his mouth, package and all. "Yummy. Chocolate and Tinfoil flavour. My favorite!"
Tai's digivice went off and Agumon transformed into Greymon in a flash of bright blue light. "Okay, everybody stand back." The large orange dinosaur with black stripes and the brown tri-horned mask growled, stepping up next to the stalagmite. "Great Horns Attack!" He yelled, ramming it with his head. The sharp horns shattered the crystal instantly.
"Well that was easy." Sora said as she watched Tai sift through the sharp rubble carefully. He picked up the fiery orange stone and brushed it off with his sleeve. It was as large as a small plum, but flat, inlayed in tarnished silver with a long chain.
"Oh it's lovely." Mimi squealed in delight.
"A necklace?" Tai asked, his lip curling in contempt. "Real men don't wear necklaces."
"So put it on your belt and pretend it's a pocket watch then." Matt said irritably.
"Come on guys, it's time to get a move on anyway." TK stated firmly, repositioning his hands around his brother better so he could support him easier. "We wouldn't want to be here if Poisonmegamon comes back with some reinforcements." Greymon dedigivolved.
"Right." Tai agreed, taking Matt's other side and leading them out.
The retaining ice walls Garurumon had put up were melting artistically around the crystal beds.
"I can't wait to get out of here." Matt moaned, once again averting his eyes.
"A couple more steps bro." TK said. The stark brightness strained his eyes, he could only imagine what it must have done for Matt's headache.
They exited the garden and continued down the path. "Echo Lake is next." Izzy stated resourcefully. "According to my map program, we should stick to the path and we can be there after a few miles of walking."
Sora halted. "No way."
Tai stopped and turned to face the red head in the red t-shirt and blue jeans. "What do you mean: No way?"
Sora sighed with chagrin. "Tai, it is time for a rest."
"We just had one at the temple." Tai said, scratching his head with his free hand. "It's only a little bit further. Come on, we can make it."
"Am I the only one here who notices that Matt isn't even walking anymore?" She hissed, pointing to the injured member of the group, who's head had lolled forward. "His feet are dragging. He's got to rest. Now."
Mimi came up beside them and lifted Matt's chin. "Sora's right Tai. He can't even hold up his head anymore. And he's icky and sweaty."
"And pale as a ghost." Joe added from the rear.
Tai rolled his eyes. "Aw come on you guys, he's not that bad, are you, Matt?" He glanced at his best friend as Mimi let his chin go and his head sagged back down, groaning.
TK peered up at his brother and didn't like what he saw. "Let's make camp for the night guys. Matt's not going anywhere but to sleep."
TBC
