Disclaimer:  We do not own Digimon, we just like writing about them.

A/N:  Many thanks to Reion and Jewel for your patience and kind reviews for chapter 6.  Sorry it has taken sooooooooooo long to get this up, I was waiting for my proofreader to correct all my mistakes (there were too many to count…), and I have crossed over to the dark side.  I have discovered the Lord of the Rings (so many fics to read….  so little time…  but I will get the rest of this story up!  ^_^)

The Dark Scepter—Chapter 7

By Fenris5000—Angelica

"TK, when is he going to wake up?"  Mimi whispered, resisting the primeval urge to grab the sleeping boy's shoulder and shake him silly.

TK wasn't one hundred percent awake either.  "He'll wake up when he's ready Mimi, now go back to sleep.  No one else is up yet.  Why do you want to wake up my brother?"

She blushed.  "That is none of your business."  She huffed, turning away to pout.

The blond boy folded his arms.  "Fine, have it your way.  As long as he's resting, I'm his guardian.  I won't let you wake him up for something stupid.  Run it by me, and if I think it's worth waking him up, I'll do it myself.  Otherwise, go back to sleep."

The pink haired girl glared at TK.  "Oh why do I even bother?  You wouldn't understand."

"Shhh."  TK hissed angrily.  "Keep it down."  He whispered hoarsely.

"But I want to know about my Talisman."  Mimi wailed as quietly as she could.

The rest of the camp stirred.

TK rolled his eyes.  "Who says you even get a Talisman?  There are three of us left and only one Talisman to go."  He turned back to his brother and was not too surprised to find Matt's bloodshot eyes open and watching the two with a patient lack of expression.

"Oh goody, you're awake."  Mimi smiled, all charm.

"I am now."  Matt admitted, slowly sitting up and resting his head in his hands.

The digidestined child of hope gave Mimi a dirty look.  " Sorry Matt.  I tried."

"Whatever."  Came Matt's muffled reply.  "Well, what do you want?"

Mimi watched the pale boy nervously.  "Um, well, gee Matt, you look awful this morning.  Maybe we should get you something to eat or drink.  Do you feel all right?  Does your head still hurt?"

Matt looked up and shook his head gently, his deep blue eyes amused.  "I feel like I was run over by a bus, thanks.  You didn't wake me up because you thought I might be hungry.  Now why did you wake me up?"  He yawned and rubbed his eyes.

"Well...  um...  er...  I was just...  um...  wondering if you could...  er...  tell me anything about the next Talisman."  Mimi bit her lip and started drawing figure eights on her leg, unable to look him straight in the eye.  "TK said I might not even get one."  She felt her eyes start to water.  Why was she crying?  This was ridiculous!

Matt sighed, closing his eyes as a wave of dizziness washed over him.  "I'm sorry Mimi, I wish I could tell you, but I don't have the answers."

"Okay, that'll do for now."  TK whispered brusquely, moving to ease his older brother's head and shoulders back.  "Come on, lay down Matt.  You need a bit more rest before I let you start walking around again.  We're just lucky we didn't wake up Gabumon, or he'd have a fit."  He would probably have a fit anyway once he saw the dark circles that had formed under Matt's eyes

"You really don't know?"  Mimi continued anxiously.  "Or you won't tell me?"

"Mimi."  TK said in an exasperated tone.

Matt smiled; his eyes were already closed.  "I won't know until we get to the Cliffs of Shadow."  He muttered sleepily, and then relaxed as his breathing deepened.

"He's exhausted."  TK worried out loud, patting his brother's hand gently.  He turned to the ashamed girl beside him.  "So was it worth waking him up?"  He asked acidly.

Mimi flinched.  "I'm sorry."  She barely whispered, avoiding eye contract.  "I thought he knew more and I honestly thought he'd be feeling better.  I'll...  I'll...  go now."  She sniffed, wiping her eyes with her hot pink sleeve.  It left a darkened stain, but she didn't care.  She got up, pausing in surprise as TK grabbed her wrist.

He had a sorrowful smile.  "For what it's worth; I'm curious too."

*     *     *     *     *     *

A few hours later, TK was watching the blackened clouds roll in, bringing with them the promise of rain.  A few odd drops already sprinkled.

TK's gaze wandered over the rest of the group.  Agumon was keeping their little fire burning while Tai, Sora, Mimi and Izzy were sitting around it eating their little piles of fruit and nuts.  Joe and Gomomon were repacking the supplies bag.  Tentomon, Biyomon and Palmon were foraging for more food to bring along on the journey since they had managed to seriously deplete Joe's never-ending supply of energy bars yesterday.  Gabumon, Gatomon and Patamon were sitting closely by Matt, who was trying to get some fruit down but was shaking like a leaf.

"Cold?"  TK asked, trying not to sound too much like a fuss bucket.

Matt shrugged his shaking shoulders.  "I guess so."  He muttered, putting the rest of his fruit on the ground beside him and dropping his head into his hands and leaning forward against his knees.

Gabumon put his paws around his digidestined's thin shoulders worriedly.  "Come on Matt, you need to sit closer to the fire."

Matt shrugged.  "Whatever."

"Are you okay, Matt?"  TK asked tentatively as his brother made no movement to comply with his digimon's suggestion.

The older blond nodded slightly.  "Yeah, sure.  I feel okay except for the headache.  And it's a bit cool today."  He shivered, bringing his head up and leaning against Gabumon.

Tai got to his feet and regarded the sky, biting his lower lip gently.  "Well troops, are we about ready to hit the trail?  We've got one more Talisman to go."

"And then what?"  Sora asked, shivering slightly.  A fat raindrop plopped on her head and rolled down her cheek.  She wiped it away and tucked a stray piece of crimson hair behind her ear.  "We'll have the power apparently, to beat the five Evils and hopefully their minions, but how?  I doubt there's an instruction guide that comes with the last Talisman."  She got up and moved to help Joe and Gomomon finish packing.

Tentomon, Biyomon and Palmon returned from the forest with handfuls of fruit and nuts.  "Did we get enough?"  Palmon asked, dumping her load into the supply bag.

"Looks good to me."  Joe confirmed as the others added theirs as well.

"Great!"  Tai clapped his hands eagerly.  "Then let's get going.  This'll be a snap."  He joined TK to get Matt to his feet.  "Well, I guess slow but steady finishes the race.  Still a little bit wobbly I see Matt, what are we going to do with you?"  He chided, shaking his head.

Matt raised an eyebrow.  "So I'm slow and wobbly, huh?  Well at least I'm not loud and annoying."  He draped one arm over Tai's shoulder and the other over TK's.

"Hey, I'm not that loud."  Tai growled with a grin.  "Just you wait until you're feeling better Ishida, you have no idea just how annoying I can be when I really put my mind to it."

Matt rolled his eyes.  "Oh no.  Quick TK, put me out of my misery right now."

"You guys."  TK said, pulling the two along as they took the rear guard.  "Less talking and more walking.  That last Talisman isn't exactly going to come find us now, is it?"

Tai shrugged his shoulders, meeting TK's steps.  "Who knows?  In the Digiworld, anything is possible."

A big raindrop nailed TK in the eyes.  He wiped it away with his sleeve and watched the looming cliffs ahead as they slowly approached.  The dark cloud hung lazily above, obscuring their view of the top of the mountain, and the sounds of thunder mixed in with another mournful wailing sound coming from the top of the craggy stone cliffs.

Sora and Mimi stopped abruptly and looked at each other with equally frightened expressions.

"What did you stop for?"  Tai asked in an irritated tone of voice.

"That noise."  They both said at the same time.

Tai rolled his chocolate brown eyes and shook his head impatiently.  "It's the wind.  Now let's get a move on before it really starts raining.  We probably have to climb the cliffs to find the Talisman.  If they are wet, one of us could fall off or something.  I'd kind of like to get this all over with before that happens."  No one moved.  "Okay, Agumon, Gabumon and Izzy take the lead.  Let's go."

"You heard him everyone."  Agumon said proudly.  "Let's go."  He took the point and was flanked by Gabumon, Izzy and Tentomon.  The rest of the group picked up the pace somewhat and trailed closely behind.

"It's only the wind."  Mimi muttered, biting her nails worriedly.  "My foot."

Sora shrugged, hugging her arms in closer.  "He has a point.  What else could it be?"

Mimi paled as an intense howl broke through the air.  "Oh, how about the ghosts of all the evil digimon we've ever defeated?"  She suggested, wiping her face as she was hit with the sudden downpour of rain.  "Now I'm getting wet.  That is just great.  Did anyone think to bring an umbrella?"

"Quit whining Mimi or we'll leave you home next time."  Tai said grumpily as he pushed his wet hair out of his face.  He should have worn a rain slicker.  He could already feel his shirt sticking to himself uncomfortably.

"I would like to see you try, Taichi Kamiya."  Mimi spat, crossing her wet arms across her chest, shivering.  "Let's turn around and go back to the desert."  She moaned.  "I can't believe it could go from so hot to so cold in the span of less than a day."

Sora hunched her shoulders and trudged beside the soggy pink haired girl.  "If we went back, then we'd never get the next Talisman."

Mimi snorted as her sandals started to make squishing noises.  "I'm beginning to think it may not be worth all this."

"You mean rescuing Kari may not be worth a few uncomfortable obstacles?"  TK asked incredulously, speeding up a bit and giving Mimi a dark look.

"That is not what I meant, okay?  I want to rescue Kari as much as everybody else does.  I'm just feeling a little bit cold and wet and home-sick."  Mimi cried.  "You've got to believe me.  I'll stop complaining, honest I will.  I just need to talk to keep my mind on something besides those scary noises which are getting louder and louder."

"Relax Mimi."  Matt said breathing hard.  "Those noises are probably just there to scare us.  Nothing more."

Tai turned a critical eye on his soggy shivering best friend.  "Something else scary.  How is it possible that you seem to know so much about what's going on around here?  Which Talisman is which, where they are, how to use them, and who they're for.  What's up with that?  And don't give me the old I can't explain it excuse because I'm not buying it."

Matt sighed.  "Well I can't, so back off Tai.  I don't know anything; I just get these strong feelings when we are near them.  I don't know why."

"Maybe it has something to do with that black light Kari hit you with."  Izzy said slowly.  "You were the only one hurt by it, maybe you absorbed some of that power and it makes you sensitive to the Talismans."

Tai snapped his fingers.  "You know Izzy, you just may be on to something there.  I knew we kept you around for something."

"Thanks Tai."  Izzy said dryly.  "It's nice to feel needed."  He was clutching his laptop securely under his brown windbreaker, hoping the weather wouldn't fry its circuits.

Joe took his fogged up glasses off and squinted ahead with an irritated frown.  "I can't see without my glasses, and I can't see with my glasses.  Can somebody please give me the heads up if you notice me wandering over towards a ravine?"  He said sourly.

"I'll lead you Joe."  Gomomon piped up.

Gatomon was on the other side.  "Your new job:  Seeing Eye digimon."

"Yeah."  Gomomon agreed enthusiastically.  "So should I charge by the day or by the hour?"

"Hey, you aren't supposed to charge your friends."  Joe spluttered, readjusting the heavy bag over his shoulder.  "Are we nearly there yet?  This bag is starting to get really heavy."

Tai wiped his hair out of his face again and looked ahead.  The rainy misty air distorted his sense of distance somewhat.  "Hey Izzy, are we getting any closer?"

Agumon looked back with a confused expression.  "Of course we're getting closer Tai, we are walking towards it."

"Ha, good one Agumon."  Gomomon cheered from behind him.

"What?"  Agumon scratched his head.  "What did I say?"

*     *     *     *     *

It was raining harder.  TK's arms were covered in goose bumps, even under his long sleeved green cotton T-shirt.  He wiped at his eyes trying to dry them somewhat.  Matt was still shivering, but walking without faltering.  He squinted ahead through the cold hazy rain.  He didn't know what he should be looking for anymore.  He just hoped they would reach it before Matt's spurt of adrenalin waned.

"Hey, look up ahead."  Gabumon said pointing excitedly.  "Just beyond the trees there.  Could that be the base of the Cliffs?"

Tai reached into is pocket and pulled out his prized mini-telescope and brought it up to his eye.  Miracle of miracles he was able to see through it.  "Yes!"  He yelled.

"Not so loud, Tai."  Matt whined with a look of disdain on his pale face.

Tai grimaced.  "Oops, sorry Matt.  But we're almost there.  I'm just excited, okay?"

The blond nodded, rolling his eyes.  "All right, well let's pick up the speed a little bit then, I'm getting tired of all this walking."

TK kept his pace the same, shaking his head.  "Forget it Bro.  I'm not letting you overexert yourself."

The digimon and digidestined lapsed into an uneasy silence as they approached the base of the craggy Cliffs of Shadow.  The moaning sounds were louder, seeming to be originating from the mist shrouded peaks of the mountains.

Agumon stopped shortly and gazed at the barren solid stone mountain and scratched his head.  "Tai, what do you make of that?"  He asked, pointing his clawed orange scaly arm at the spot of the sheer wall.

Tai slipped out from under Matt's arm and joined his digimon partner, brushing past Izzy on the way.  He rubbed the rain out of his eyes and stared with his mouth agape.

Sora cringed.  "What is it?"

"Stairs."  Tai said in a curious voice.  He turned to the group.  "Um, you guys think we should take them?"  They were steep and slick with rain.

Izzy shrugged.  "Beats climbing a rope or a ladder."

Matt sneezed.

"Okay, we take the stairs."  TK said hurriedly with a concerned glance at his brother, whose face was beginning to look a little flushed.  He put his free hand up to Matt's forehead.  "Oh no."

"Oh no what?"  Tai repeated warily, already guessing the answer.

"Fever."  TK muttered, earning a blood shot glare from his older, shivering brother.

Tai sighed in frustration.  "Matt, wasn't it bad enough you had a concussion?  How are we supposed to get anything accomplished around here with you always being such a burden?"  He smiled, walking back to his best friend and ducked the half-hearted fist that came at him.  "Hey, just kidding."  The big-haired boy rolled his eyes, slipping back into position under Matt's shoulder.  He scowled with worry.  TK was right; Matt's skin had gone from cold and clammy to hot and clammy.

"Remind me to knock your block off when I'm feeling better."  Matt muttered as they mounted the steps slowly.

"Yeah, yeah."  Tai mumbled, keeping his eyes on the stairs in front of him.  "You getting any um, signals from the next Talisman yet?"

Matt sighed, blinking rapidly as a large water droplet fell into his left eye, leaving his vision half blurry.  "Um, well I can tell we are going the right way."  He admitted.  "I don't know who it's for or what it is though."  He was breathing heavily.

"No more talking."  TK said, giving his older brother and their fearless leader the evil eye.  "We need to conserve our strength for the climb."

"Talking isn't exactly an exertion TK."  Tai laughed.

TK pointed to his drooping brother.  "Maybe it isn't for you Tai, but it is for Matt."

They walked on in a nervous silence for about a half hour.  The pace had become as a snails.  The moaning sounds had been temporarily forgotten as lightening streaked across the unnaturally black midmorning digital sky, and thunder rumbled and crashed around them fearsomely.

Mimi and Sora stopped and looked back at the others.

"What did you stop for this time?"  Tai panted, wiping his droopy wet hair out of his eyes and trying to plaster it back like Dracula's; it "boinged" back into his face.

"There's a ledge."  Sora said, pointing.  "We thought it might be a good time to take a little rest."

Tai readjusted Matt's arm over his shoulder and nodded.  "I totally agree."   He said.  "But we can't stop for long.  The sooner we get the Talisman and get off this mountain the better.  But we could use a little rest.  Matt isn't exactly getting any lighter."

"So put me down already."  Matt moaned, swaying a bit.

TK tightened his grip around his brother.  "Hold on Matt, we aren't at the ledge yet.  Just a few more steps, okay?"

"Lead on Mimi."  Tai said, giving his best friend a hard stare.  "Come on Matt, you love climbing stairs.  Just a few more."

Mimi and Palmon took the lead.  The pink haired girl was muttering something about the uncouth noises her ghastly imitation Italian sandals were making.  Squish, squish, squish.

"Oh Mimi." Palmon said in her singsong voice watching her soggy digidestined affectionately.

Joe, Izzy, Gomomon and Tentomon were right behind them.  Izzy let his fingertips trace along the stone guardrail between them and the long drop into the hazy nothingness beyond.  He peered over the edge and whistled in wonder.  "Prodigious!  We are already so high up that the clouds are obscuring our view of the ground."

Joe kept his eyes straight ahead.  "Thanks Izzy, that is something I really did not want to know."

Izzy rattled the railing.  "Hmm.  Well here's something that could come in handy for you.  Don't lean over the railing; it's falling apart."

Joe moved closer to the mountain wall.  "I have no intentions of going near that shoddy thing."  He patted the wall with a nervous grin.  "I like it here just fine."

They stopped on the ledge and moved under the natural canopy of stone over the slight indentation in the side of the rock face.  It was too small to be called a cave, but it was close.

Joe sat with his back to the wall and watched as Mimi perched herself on the railing with a gusty sigh.

"Er, Mimi..." Tentomon said hesitantly.

"What?"  Her eyes widened and she let out a screech as the railing crumbled under her and she disappeared over the edge.

"Mimiiiiiiiiiiiii!"  Palmon leaped over after her digidestined, managing to avoid Izzy and Joe's scrambling hands to stop her.

"Noooooooo!"  Sora was right behind them, her face a mask of horror.

"What?"  Tai demanded as the three stragglers and their digimon joined them.

Sora started to cry, falling down to her knees.

Joe was shaking his head firmly.

Izzy frowned up at Tai.  "Mimi just fell over the cliff."  He barely whispered.

"What?"  Tai demanded, his jaw hanging open in shock.

"She's gone Tai."  Sora sobbed.  "What are we going to do now?"  She asked in a tremulous voice, looking at the ground.

Tai took a deep breath; his eyes lost their usual sparkle.  "A...  are you sure she fell off...  the cliff?"  He stammered, moving to help Matt sit down for a break while the rest of them figured out what was to be done.

"The railing gave away."  Izzy stated in a small voice.  "She went over.  Down.  Palmon followed her."  Hi wiped the tear-mingled rain out of his eyes with a harsh swipe of his hand.

"How could you guys let her fall over the cliff?"  Tai asked through gritted teeth.  This wasn't right.  How could he lose another one:  first Kari, and then nearly Matt.  Now Mimi.  At the rate he was going, he'd be down to just Ken and Cody when he got back to Odaiba.

Joe sat up straighter and looked over his shoulder at their forlorn big-haired leader in disbelief.  "We didn't let her fall.  She just fell.  It all happened so fast we didn't have time to react."  Hi eyes were red as tears flowed freely.

TK made a choking noise in his throat and collapsed to his knees next to his brother, who was sadly staring off at nothing.

"What about your digimon?"  Tai continued.  "Why couldn't you guys digivolve?"

Sora got up and started pacing.  "Quit trying to put the blame on someone Tai.  It won't help anything anyway.  It wasn't anyone's fault.  It was a bad accident that we couldn't prevent, but are going to have to live with."  She buried her head in her hands and her shoulders shook with pain.

"What am I going to tell her parents?"  Tai mumbled miserably.

A loud boom shook the mountain as lightening zigzagged across the sky.

"You won't have to tell them anything, my dear digidestined."  A deep voice from above them said silkily, shocking the teenagers and their digimon from their reflections.  "Because soon, you are about to share her fate."  His booming laughter chilled the air around them as he raised his ebony staff and smashed it to the ground five times.

"Agumon digivolve!"  Tai yelled automatically as the rest of the group snapped back to attention and followed suit.  The bright blue light and pulsating strobe light effect obliterated the rock face as the digimon evolved to their next levels.

"Agumon digivolve to Greymon.  Greymon zipdigivolve to Dynamogreymon!"

"Tentomon digivolve to Kabuterimon.  Kabuterimon zipdigivolve to Kinetickabuterimon!"

"Gomomon digivolve to Ikkakumon.  Ikkakumon zipdigivolve to Maximikkakumon!"

"Biyomon digivolve to Birdramon.  Birdramon zipdigivolve to Cyberbirdramon!"

"Patamon armordigivolve to Pegasusmon!"

"Gabumon digivolve to Garurumon!"

The black cloaked tall willowy digimon with the stark white skin laughed evilly as the digidestined and their digimon soon found themselves trapped from above as well as below by a sudden influx of the little spiny black Acolytemon, summoned by their master.

"You are going down Darknessmon!"  Tai yelled with blind rage.  This demon had taken his sister and one of his friends away from him.  He was going to stop one of these evil ones once and for all!

"Incinerator attack!"  Dynamogreymon growled, aiming a wide burst of intense flame from his jaws like a fire breathing dragon.  The Acolytemon from above scurried up the next steps in retreat.

The digidestined pressed themselves back against the face of the mountain in the hopes of keeping out of the way.

"Go Cyberbirdramon!"   Sora yelled, waving madly as she watched her digimon who looked like a cross between a bird and an android, spread her wings and glide gracefully off the cliff.  She came back up with a loud swooping noise.

"Comet blaze!"  She yelled as her eyes glowed and fired off a laser beam like energy that forced the Acolytemon further up the path.

The Acolytemon below the ledge were starting to charge up their energy, emitting an evil black glow.

Kinetickabuterimon zipped through the air with a soothing hum and charged up for his own attack, letting loose a microsecond before the Acolytemon were ready for their attack.

"Galvanic zapper!"  The nearest black beasts were fried to a crisp and then reduced to a pile of digidust.  The Acolytemon formerly behind them started making wild chattering noises and backed down, charging up their energy as their predecessor had.

"Tornado tusk!"  Maximikkakumon bellowed in his deep voice, shooting a bright swirling multi-purple colored fire from his long golden trident spear at the next line of Acolytemon, who were forced down the steps further before succumbing to the force of energy and exploding.  The Acolytemon behind them fired a black vibrating blast towards the digidestined, taking cover on the ledge.  Maximikkakumon moved like lightening and caught the blast with his black and gold shield.

TK leapt onto Pegasusmon's back and ducked as a blast of pure blackness swept towards them.  It was time to take out the leader.  The gold winged horse kicked off the ground smoothly and soared into the misty sky, dodging the spurts of evil energy that chased them.  Pegasusmon turned about and hovered above.

"Star shower!"  The starbursts sped like missiles towards Darknessmon.

Tai watched from the ledge.  A direct hit!  They were going to have a direct hit!  Finally, things were finally starting to go their way!

TK watched with some satisfaction as the attack approached the evil black demon; and then pass right through him.  "What?"  He spluttered.

Tai's jaw dropped.  No, no, no.  He was supposed to explode into a fabulous ball of fire and crumble into digidust, but no, Darknessmon was still levitated above them with that smug, evil, ugly, disgusting smile plastered across his corrupt, heinous, wicked, malevolent, repugnant despicable, odious pasty white face.  Tai's shaking form turned to their resident genius,  "How do you explain that, Izumi?"

Izzy flinched under their leader's venomous stare.  "Hologram?"  He suggested with a shrug.

"And if you say prodigious, I'll have you flogged."  Tai growled.

Izzy frowned.  "There is nothing prodigious about this development Tai.  I am very insulted that you would insinuate that I say the word prodigious under every circumstance possible."

TK and Pegasusmon made another pass, this time upping the ante.

Sora, Matt, Joe and Gatomon watched dumfounded as the spray of intense energy fazed through their evil adversary a second time and crash into the mountain instead, sending a rain of tiny rock chips down on the rest of the grounded digimon and digidestined.

Garurumon charged into position.  "Howling blaster!"  The icy blue flow of energy erupted from the large dark blue and white striped digimon's strong jaw.  The energy shot straight at Darknessmon, passing right through him and slamming into the mountain just below the spot Pegasusmon's attack had hit.  A chunk of wall came away and hurtled down towards the ledge, bursting into a million pieces as it hit the ground.

Matt sat up with a start and looked up.  "The Talisman."  He whispered.

"Which one?"  Sora inquired, chewing her lip as she watched Cyberbirdramon shooting intense yellow laser beams from her eyes, obliterating Acolytemon from above their ledge one by one as if she were on a shooting range, hitting pop bottles.

The blond frowned, clutching his head, "Oh man, this isn't good."  He sighed deeply.  "It's harmony.  It's Mimi's."

"Oh no."  Sora moaned.  "So that's it, isn't it?  The journey is over.  We have to fight with only four Talismans."

Darknessmon's deep booming laughter filled the air, mingling with the crashing of thunder that shook the entire mountain.  "Give it up Digidestined, you will never beat us.  Your precious eighth digidestined has willingly joined us.  So do yourselves a favour and admit defeat."  He levitated closer.  "You see you can not win unless you possess all five Talismans and acquire the knowledge to wield them."

"Who says we don't have all five Talismans?"  Tai challenged, shaking his fist at the demon-like creature.  "And we are kids, it won't take us long to figure out how they work."

"Yeah!"  A voice yelled from out of nowhere.

"Who was that?"  Joe demanded, spinning around.

A dainty hand crawled up onto the ledge, followed closely by a grungy tattered hot pink sleeve.  Mimi's smiling face popped into view.  "Hi, didja miss me?"

Joe and Izzy raced to the edge of the ledge and grabbed her hands to haul her up.  Palmon's smiling face followed.

"Palmon digivolve!"  Mimi ordered.

The little green digimon with the exotic pink flower on her head started to glow blue.  "Palmon digivolve to Togemon!"

All the digimon attacked at once, firing their attacks at the last of the Acolytemon who remained above and below the ledge.

"Incinerator Attack."  Dynamogreymon growled, aiming his fireball at the last three, disintegrating them to crisp black digidust instantly.

Darknessmon's eyes narrowed as he regarded the digidestined and their digimon's triumph.  They were going to get the fifth and final Talisman, there was no way a mere hologram was going to be able to stop them.

"What's the matter, Darknessmon?  Run out of stooges?"  Tai jeered.  "You know, you could always teleport your true self here now and fight like a real digimon instead of hiding behind a little girl."

The pasty-faced black-cloaked digimon snarled at them as his form dissipated to nothing.  The promise of his vengeance to come hung heavily in the air.

The digidestineds looked around at each other and let out a collective sigh.

"Mimi!"  Joe was the first to find his voice.  "You're alive!"  He grabbed her and gave her an enormous hug.  "I don't know how it happened, but I sure am glad it did."

Mimi smiled.  "You may thank Palmon for my survival.  She caught me and we landed on the stairs below."  She paused as TK and Pegasusmon landed and joined them.  "We had to climb because all those icky Acolytemon things were between us and you"

"New rule."  Tai said, taking his turn hugging the pink-haired girl.  "No one touch that rail."

"Good rule."  Sora rolled her eyes.

"Hey, aren't we forgetting about something?"  Joe asked, taping his foot.

Matt smiled, pointing straight up the mountain where the rock had chipped.  "Right there.  It's the Talisman of Harmony.  It's for you, Mimi."

Mimi gazed up with her jaw open.  "Well how am I supposed to get way up there?"  She demanded shrilly.  She put her hands on her hips and pouted.  "Unless...  Do you guys think you could give me a boost of something?"  She batted her eyes at Pegasusmon.  "Or maybe a lift?"

TK shrugged.  "Sure, climb on.  We can't get very close though." 

Mimi looked over the group as the rest of the digimon started dedigivolving.  "Palmon can come and reach the Talisman in the wall for me."

"Right."  Palmon agreed, joining Mimi and TK on the golden Pegasus.  "Well let's get cracking.  I'd like to see what these Talismans could really do."

"Oh, I can't wait to see mine.  Do you think it'll be pink?"  Mimi chirped with glee.

Matt shrugged.  "Probably."

Pegasusmon kicked off the ledge and slowly approached the damaged rock face.  "This is as close as I can get."  He informed them as he hovered about six feet from the chipped wall.

Palmon got into position and aimed her little green fingers to the spot.  "Poison ivy."  She said.  The pink tendrils flew across and clutched at the Talisman, wrapping around the chain.  She tugged it free and retracted her ivy.

Mimi's eyes shone as Palmon placed the newest Talisman into her eager hands.  "Oh I'm soooooooooo happy!"  She squealed.  "It is pink!"

TBC