Chapter Five

A drop of sweat fell from Matt's forehead directly onto his nose as he struggled beneath the weight of the unconscious man, further irritating the boy. He was beginning to seriously rethink his acquiescence to T.K.'s demand that they bring the other with them. If he had been left where they had found him he might have died, it was true, but the older boy was starting to look on that as a certainty anyway. The man had not regained consciousness since the seven had questioned him back where they had found him bound to the small tree stump in the middle of nowhere, save once when he had started to cough up the blood that was filling his lungs.

Matt tried to blow the drop of sweat away, but as the gust of breath hit the little drop it only caused it to shift positions, tickling the boy yet again.

But the others, particularly his little brother, seemed insistent about trying to save the man's life... what was left of it, anyway.

Well, not all the others, Matt amended, glancing down at Wizardmon. The little magician-like creature remained clearly unhappy about bringing the other along, though he too had yielded to the decision of the majority. After the revelation that the man had attacked Yolei, and that his wounds had been inflicted by little Cody, the ragged Digimon had been ready to strike him dead. Though the life that he and his partner now shared was a product of second chances on both sides, he evidently felt no urge to extend such a chance to the other.

It was then that Rio, who was trudging wearily alongside Wizardmon, reached over and ran a finger down Matt's nose, scratching the itch and clearing away the sweat in that one motion. It was as if she had known exactly what the boy needed, though he had not spoken of it. Matt was somewhat curious about that. It was becoming almost a regular occurrence since she had returned to him. As if she knew, without prompting, when something was wrong with him, and took immediate steps to remedy the problem. It was beginning to seem like...

His eyes fell on T.K. and Kari, a smile his brother's face even though he looked on the verge of collapse from the man's weight. To his credit, he had not spoken one word of complaint since they had started to carry the heavy man across the wastelands. At his side walked Kari, her eyes glowing with admiration as she stared unabashedly and continuously at the younger boy. Every so often, when T.K. looked as though he would stumble or the burden seemed to become too heavy, the girl would reach out and brush her fingertips gently against his cheek. And afterwards, perhaps as a result, the boy would look over and return the smile, then shift the man's weight across his shoulders and continue on.

And Patamon. Little Patamon, who still maintained his grip on the man's collar and continued to flutter for all that he was worth, trying to carry his share of the burden as well. Of course, Matt had noticed, his fluttering became increasingly heroic whenever Gatomon looked up at him, a thin smile on her feline lips.

A disconcerting thought struck Matt. Was it possible that they were all three doing this just for the sake of impressing the girls that they were traveling with? The idea was more than a little disturbing to the boy. He had, of course, already admitted that he loved Rio, but had at one time sworn to himself that he would never be manipulated into doing something that he was opposed to just for the sake of love. Was he now breaking that vow?

And then he felt T.K.'s eyes on him, and turned towards the younger boy. Probably, but you know you're doing the right thing anyway, his little brother seemed to say. And that brings its own rewards. Maybe she's just here to remind you of that.

Matt frowned. For some reason, his conscience had always sounded suspiciously like T.K.

"We're here," Wizardmon said, a tinge of nervousness in his voice as he raised his staff and pointed it directly in front of the group.

"Looks like a ghost town," murmured Patamon, frowning. Then his eyes opened a bit wider and looked down at Wizardmon. "Oops... sorry."

"Don't be," the other replied. "I suppose that's as true as anything else. After all... I am sort of a ghost."

"I don't like the looks of it either," said Rio, drawing closer to Matt, until the boy could feel her trembling hand pressed against his. "There's something wrong about it. It looks... it looks... wrong," she repeated, clearly trying for a better word but not finding it.

"No, you're right," Kari said sadly, looking across at the other girl. "Exactly right. It does look wrong, doesn't it?"

Everyone in their little group took a few moments looking at one another, none of them speaking the thoughts that were running rampant through their heads. "Come on," Gatomon finally said after a few moments. "No matter how it looks we'll end up going there anyway, so no sense in trying to scare ourselves." And with that the little feline straightened her back and marched on toward the little town in the distance.

And follow the others did, though each took a moment or so to glance at the predominant feature of the town, towering over the rest of the buildings. A feature that all but one of them recognized and that all, without exception, felt nervous at seeing.

It was an enormous, granite depiction of Myotismon, lord of the damned.

*****

Yolei was on her knees now, a horrid, lethargic feeling creeping throughout her system. Her knuckles were white as she tightly gripped the iron bars of her cell to keep herself upright as Roan continued his loud, infuriating laughter. The smell of burning flesh in the room was now overpowering, and a thin trail of grayish smoke was rising from the clenched fist of the white-haired teen as he glared down at her.

The girl forced her eyes upwards that she might look at the boy. He was responsible for this, she knew. She didn't understand how, or even necessarily why, but he was stealing her life just as surely as he'd taken it from Davis and Cody, and she hated him for it.

She was dying... she was now certain of it. However he was sapping her strength, she barely had enough left to keep her heart beating within her chest. Sooner or later it would fail, and then she would slip into the same, peaceful death where Davis and Cody rested. The vision of the tall young man blurred in her eyes as the girl sat back heavily. She didn't want to die while looking at him, she decided, and so turned and crawled back towards the pair of boys inside the cell with her. She did not have enough energy left to make it those few yards, yet nevertheless she kept placing one hand in front of the other and dragging herself forward. She could see Davis just a few feet away, and as she neared him she reached a hand forward towards his prone body...

Then the searing heat in Roan's hand stopped as Yolei collapsed, her arm draped limply across Davis' chest. Just in time to save her life, her pent-up love for the comatose boy had overpowered her hatred towards Roan. While she no longer had enough strength left to stay awake, the small spark of life continued to flicker within her heart, refusing to be extinguished until she could own up to her feelings of the brown-haired boy resting at her side.

*****

"Oh, poor Jon," said the blond-haired woman as T.K. and Matt lowered the unconscious man onto what served as the bed in the barren cottage. The little girl standing next to the woman offered her a moist towel of some sort, which she placed upon the man's forehead. "I knew that he'd end up like this eventually. The rest of us are smart enough to more or less do what we're told and to stay out of trouble, but poor Jon here..."

As the woman trailed off, she slowly turned and looked at the group. Matt, T.K. and Patamon had collapsed backwards onto the floor after depositing the man's weight onto the bed, all three panting heavily and the little Digimon's wings hanging limply at his side. Kari checked first to make sure that T.K. wasn't as bad off as all the moaning made it sound, then addressed the woman. "You know him? Can you help him?"

The other looked grim. "All of us know Jon," she said sadly, placing a hand on the shoulder of the little girl at her side. "The rest of us are certain why we ended up here, in this world. We are the few who chose to accept the rule of Myotismon when he came to our world, all of us for our own selfish reasons. When he was defeated and banished here, we were as well. But Jon just doesn't have the intelligence to be selfish, so none of us really know how he came to be here. But he has no family or friends with him, so all of us more or less adopted and helped to take care of him."

Rio pursed her lips, analyzing the words. This woman certainly sounded trustworthy, and that last comment did make her seem honorable... "Speaking of friends--"

"Rio!" Wizardmon interrupted sternly, looking suspiciously at the honey-blond woman. But then Kari stepped forward, placing a calming hand on the little creature's shoulder. "Ma'am?" she started, her brown eyes studying the other intently. "We're here to look for some friends of ours who we think may have been brought here. We're wondering if you might have seen them."

Kari went on to describe Davis and Yolei in great detail, the woman frowning as she shook her head. While it was true that she had not seen either of the children that the girl was describing, she was increasingly afraid that the child's descriptions would turn towards...

"And then there's Cody. He's about this tall," Kari indicated with her hand, "with dark hair and green eyes. He's very serious sometimes."

The woman looked as though she had been stabbed through the heart at the girl's words. "C... Cody?" she repeated, her voice hollow. "I... I never even knew his name..."

T.K. was on his feet in seconds. "You've seen them? Him? Where? Are they okay?"

The woman and the little girl were silent, both of their heads bowed. "We've... we've seen him," the woman murmured quietly, then trailed off into complete silence.

Kari looked closely at her. "Was he okay?"

The woman looked up again, and tears were in her eyes. Over the past couple of days she had desperately tried to put the little child out of her thoughts, tried to convince herself that he would come to no harm in Roan's hands, though she had to have known that the truth was otherwise. But now the full horror of what she had done crashed over her with a surge, and she fell to her knees at Kari's feet, clutching at the girl. "Forgive me!" she wailed pitifully, crying freely. "I gave him over to the Master!"

Kari stumbled back in alarm as the woman clutched at her, and would have fallen had T.K. not been there to steady her. "You did what?" demanded Matt, his eyes flashing angrily.

The woman sobbed feverishly as the little girl knelt beside her, sobbing as well while she placed her arms around her mother. When the woman did not answer Matt's question, Rena looked up at them, her sea-green eyes red from crying. "It's... it's my fault. I tricked him into helping me while Mama stuck something into his arm to make him sleep." She paused, looking over the group suspiciously. "He's in the Master's jails right now. The man with the white hair wanted him for some reason."

Rio swallowed hard. This was all coming together now. Roan, undoubtedly working alongside Myotismon, had taken the children away, but just for what purpose she was uncertain. But at least her purpose and that of Wizardmon was to be intertwined with that of the others, who were concerned only with finding their friends.

"You serve Myotismon?" Gatomon whispered sadly at the pair.

The woman looked crushed as she peered at the cat. "I would not, except that if I were to die, there would be no one left for Rena. I brought her to this in my ignorance, and I am her mother. To keep her alive... yes. I serve the Master, and I worship him, for her sake. We have life here. A poor, trivial and empty life, yes, but it is all that we have."

A strange look came over Kari as she listened to the other, and she slipped over to the woman's side. "Be strong," she said kindly and with an assuring nod, placing a hand on her shoulder. "This will all come an end soon."

Nine pairs of eyes turned to the young girl. "Uhm... Kari?" T.K. started, looking confused. "What... ah... what do you mean by that?"

The brown-haired girl seemed ready to answer, but was interrupted by a loud knock at the door. "Clare!" a man's deep voice shouted, rattling the handle. "Damn it, Clare, where are you?"

And then the door slammed open and a pale-skinned man burst into the room, his eyes looking about wildly. When they fell on the large crowd gathered therein he frowned, then addressed their host. "Clare, what are you doing? You were supposed to be at the monument ten minutes ago!" Then he looked at the others, his frown deepening. "Who are you? ...Wait, nevermind," he said when Matt stepped forward to answer. "You're here now, and all who are in this town must pay homage to the Master, else we will all suffer the consequences. Clare? Hurry up and get yourself and your friends over there!"

The skittish man was gone before Matt had a chance to say a word. "What was that all about?" he demanded of the woman.

The other sighed, and stood. "He's right. We have to go."

"Go? Go where?"

"Every other night," the woman explained, "all of the residents of this village are gathered in the center of town to bow down and pay homage to the statue of the Master. If any of us are not there, all of us are punished. The Master's Digimon guards will check the entire city during that time, to make certain that all of us are indeed there."

"But... what about Cody?" piped Patamon.

"Your friend will have to wait," the woman said. "All of us must be there. I cannot risk having you be the cause of further suffering."

"And what about him?" Kari asked, indicating the prone body of the man on the 'bed'.

"He will have to come as well," the other answered sadly. "Though I'm afraid that moving him anymore will kill him. There are no exceptions when it comes time to worship Him." She turned to T.K. and Matt, a pleading look in her eyes. "Can the two of you bring him with us?"

The two boys looked at one another, each looking to his brother for the answer. When none was forthcoming from either of the two, T.K. turned and nodded. They had to trust this woman, much as they all hated to do it. She had already turned Cody over to Roan and Myotismon, yet she was also the only one who could guide them to him...and undoubtedly the others as well.

But even as the two once again hoisted the unconscious man onto their shoulders, Kari continued to look around strangely, though none of the others noticed it. There was something that the woman had said... something that did not sit well at all with the girl, but she did not want to bring it up in front of the others. Worship. They were being taken to worship Myotismon. Again the girl had a feeling inside of her chest, that feeling which had made her speak so reassuringly to the woman before. This would come to an end, and it would happen soon. The brown-haired girl was not certain just how it would happen, but all of a sudden she knew just what her role was to be...

*****

The woman Clare and her daughter led the little group past a great many of the dilapidated houses to the center of the town where a large crown was gathered, numbering about two hundred to Rio's eyes. Most were adults, though her eyes did catch glimpses of one or two other children about the age of their host's daughter who were running amongst and about the legs of their parents.

The girl craned her neck upwards to look at the massive stone statue of Myotismon, shuddering as she did so. Matt had described the creature to her once or twice in the past, but as she saw him now she finally understood why Wizardmon felt such trepidation about having to confront him. Even though it was simply a statue, the dark-haired girl was almost overwhelmed by his awesome presence.

Wizardmon clenched his teeth together, trembling as he walked between Rio and Gatomon. He could feel Myotismon's presence here, and it terrified him. He did not have much of a life here, it was true, but he was alive, if only as a little more than a corporeal ghost. Yet he knew that if he should fail against his former master this time... there would be nothing else for him.

Gatomon could feel the other quivering at her side, and slid her clawed hand in between his fingers, squeezing gently. She, more than anyone, knew what he had to be going through.

Patamon looked down from T.K.'s shoulder, a sad look in his eyes as Gatomon comforted the ragged creature. The blond-haired boy felt his partner sag a little bit and heard the faint sigh, then turned his head and reached up, giving the other a comforting squeeze. "Trust her," he murmured quietly.

The little orange Digimon gave a rueful smile in response, then went back to examining the crowd as they approached. All of them were milling aimlessly about the large, desolate area at the foot of the statue that apparently served as the village square, as if waiting for a signal of some sort. The humans all looked very weak and tired, much like the woman who was leading them now. The whole scene was really quite sad. These people had no lives to speak of... they were just waiting out whatever few days or months or years that they had left until they died.

Matt and T.K. stopped in the center of the crowd, leaning the limp figure of the man that they had aided from the house up against a nearby building. The woman called Clare was quickly at the man's side, sitting down beside him and holding the wet cloth against his head once again. Matt shook his head at the futility of her actions. The man was barely breathing at all now, and the flow of blood from his mouth and nose was continual. The brothers looked at one another. "So now what?" Matt asked with a shrug, taking in the crowd around him. "We just stand around and wait for everybody to start praying to that statue?"

The younger boy didn't respond, instead keeping a close eye on Kari. There had been something about the way that she had been speaking back at the woman's house that he wasn't entirely clear about. It had been some time since she had been like that, as if she had a deeper understanding than the rest of them about what was happening... or perhaps what was going to happen. He had never asked her about it, figuring that she would bring it up when she was ready, or not at all. But still, when she did get like that, it never failed to make the boy somewhat... uneasy.

*****

Myotismon's spirit strained as he struggled to force his essence into the large stone replica of himself that the villagers had created upon their arrival in that place some four years ago. He had discovered that, in this place, being dead had its advantages... if one could learn how to use them. Now he had learned to force his spirit into this statue, and it had increased his dominion over these people one hundred fold.

But now, that would all come to an end. He had no further use for these puny creatures now that his plans were nearing their fruition. This gigantic stone form had its usefulness, no doubt, but it had its limitations as well. Despite his awesome powers, he did not have the strength to open a gate back to the real world that would be large enough to allow the giant through it. Thus, his need to create the three Fiends. They had as much, if not more, power than this huge body did, without its constricting size. When he possessed one of those bodies, he could finally return to the other worlds with power.

That, of course, meant that he no longer required the services of those whom he had taken with him to this place. Tonight he would see all of them dead, and their blood left pouring into the ground would be his final gift to the one true Master who had given him the power that he had needed in his lengthy sojourn here.

The creature gave a stifled sigh as he was finally able to force his essence inside the granite object. It felt cramped as always, his spirit having flown free for so long, but he was more than willing to suffer the discomfort in order to obtain his desires.

And then he settled in, taking control of the beast's mouth and projecting his deep voice through its lips. The cavernous insides of the creature provided a deep, echoing pitch to his words. "My slaves!" he boomed, the announcement undoubtedly audible from a mile away. "Kneel before me! Grovel at my feet... I, who have kept you alive when you should have passed from this world long ago!"

Far below him the crowd feel to its collective knees, as they had done countless times before. One mother pulled her son down with her, the little boy not heeding the command as quickly as he should have. Myotismon smiled, the stone lips of the giant curling into an ugly sneer. On the borders of the crowd, two of the few remaining Digimon forced the faces down of several who they deemed were not bowing low enough. Little did they know that their fate would be the same of those whom they had been allowed to torment. In the awesome, invincible body of one of the Fiends, he would no longer need servants.

Then, out of the corner of his eye, he saw movement. It was hard to tell exactly what was happening so far below, but it appeared as though a pair of the humans had failed to fall at his feet. Myotismon frowned. He had been so certain that he had stamped out any rebelliousness in the creatures some time ago.

Finally, his eyes were able to make out the forms far below him. Children? A boy and a girl, both barely into their teens? What in the name of the Unholy?

"Myotismon!" one of them, the girl by the sound of it, shouted up at him.

"Kneel, child!" the giant boomed, moving a step closer. Just one small step for him, though it covered dozens of feet. "Kneel, or all will suffer for your defiance!"

"But you're going to kill them all anyway, isn't that right?" the other shouted bravely in return, showing no fear at the proximity of his massive stone body. Myotismon was taken aback. How had she...?

No. The giant felt his spirit run cold as he examined her closely, and then his mind saw her as she had been four years before. And the other... the boy who stood quietly at her side, his arm enfolding her. Four years ago... "You!"

But now others were on their feet as well, muttering angrily as if they had heard the child's words and believed. From the moment that the accusation had left her lips, his hold on them had been broken. But it mattered little. Now, though, he could have the additional satisfaction of seeing the eighth child dead. How odd that fate would bring them together again at this moment...

*****

"Get out of the way!" Matt shouted, shoving people aside left and right as the enormous figure of Myotismon slammed his foot down in their midst, just inches away from the blond-haired boy as the crowd scattered around him, many of them screaming wildly.

"Wizardmon!" cried Rio, having been separated from her partner sometime during the mad rush.

T.K. snatched the Digivice from his side and pointed it towards his partner. "Pata! Can you Evolve?"

The little winged mammal clutched his paws together tightly, straining with all of his might, yet nothing came of it. The benign power of hope simply would not flow within the depths of the Void. A crushed look was in the little creature's eyes. "Sorry, T.K.," he said apologetically.

"Gatomon? How 'bout you?" Kari cried as the world exploded around her, the massive stone figure crushing the wooden houses left and right as if they had been made of cardboard. The girl clutched her Digivice tightly in her hand, willing it to come to life. "Oh, come on!" she shouted at it, shaking the object as it rested lifeless in her hand.

The little feline looked momentarily troubled as her partner was unable to effect the change that might enable them all to survive the stone giant's assault. But then, realizing that it had failed, she turned and dropped to all fours in front of Myotismon's enormous foot, the hair on her back rising as she readied to fight her former master as she was.

But then Patamon was at her side, and soon thereafter, Wizardmon scrambled up to join them as well. Towering well above the three, Myotismon stopped his rampage for a moment and glanced down, paused for a moment, then started to roar with laughter. "You three?" he boomed gleefully. "This is going to be more satisfying than I thought!"

But then, as the enormous stone creature lifted his foot to try to crush the trio, they separated to avoid the deadly blow. Patamon fluttered upwards, nipping with almost unheard of agility under, over and around the clumsy fists that the giant was directing at him. The gusts of wind that were created by the other's arms almost threw the little mammal off course, but he valiantly kept his wings going as he darted upwards at the beast's face.

Gatomon, meanwhile, seizing on Myotismon's distraction, had nipped behind him. "Lightning Claw!" she shouted, slamming one of her fierce gauntlets into the stone skin of the giant, digging it in deeply. Then, again and repeatedly, she continued to shout, "Lightning Claw! Claw! Claw!", with each additional shout digging the opposite gauntlet into the giant's granite flesh, going up his back hand-over-hand like a mountain-climber.

Myotismon roared in fury, trying to reach his arms behind his back to grab the little feline but finding himself unable to reach her. Turning and twisting about in the center of town as he tried to dislodge her, he stepped on, and through, several of the little wooden houses. People screamed at the sight, scattering everywhere. One of Myotismon's guard, the huge, bear-like BlackGrizzmon was taking random stabs with his vicious claws at those who passed him, nearly decapitating one man who passed too close.

Wizardmon, still on the ground, leveled his staff upwards, one eye closed as he took careful aim at the stone face of his former master. "Magical Game!" he cried, though his voice wavered with fear. At his call several dozen small sparks flew from the tip of the weapon, then swirled and discharged with small explosions and puffs of smoke around the giant's head.

"Hey! Careful!" Patamon shouted, fluttering past the gray wisps of smoke that the detonations had created.

Myotismon snarled, irritated but not really in pain. He would crush this little uprising, humans and Digimon both. With a sneer on his stone lips, he raised his fists and then spread his fingers towards the rapidly scattering crowd. "Granite Hurricane!" he shouted, his booming voice echoing across the barren landscape.

At his call hundreds upon hundreds of stones, rocks and boulders ripped themselves from the ground and started to swirl about the village, propelled forward by gale-force winds. Several more houses were smashed instantly to kindling, and the splinters added to the winds only made things worse. The crowd was pelted by small stones and slivers of the woods, and one woman just missed being crushed as a gust of wind threw her to the ground just in front of a huge boulder.

BlackGrizzmon moved to attack the woman, baring his teeth and snarling ferociously. It seemed as though he would run her through with his one of his massive claws, but then Matt was there. Heedless of his own well being, the blond boy rushed the beast and slammed his shoulder into its midsection, knocking it backwards and senseless with that one single charge.

Gatomon had now reached the apex of the stone giant's back, and was just now realizing that she had no idea what she was going to do while atop the creature. It had seemed like a good idea while she had stood on the ground, but as she dangled from Myotismon's back, she realized that there was very little that she could do while just hanging there. Then, snarling, she started to swing back and forth, slowly building momentum. "I didn't... climb... all this way for... nothing!" she shouted, then hurled herself from his back towards the nearest shoulder.

And she would have made it, too, if the beast had not chosen that precise moment to turn the opposite way. Gatomon suddenly found herself with nowhere to go, and gave a cry of surprise as she plummeted down from the massive height towards the ground far below.

Patamon caught the scene. "Gatomon!" he piped shrilly, his heart aching with terror at her plight. Without a second thought he pointed his nose towards the ground and stopped flapping, folding his wings across his body to streamline himself as he fell though the air, much like a diver launched from a board. "Gatomon! I'm coming!" he cried, praying that she could hear him as she wildly flailed her paws.

There were perhaps only a dozen feet left to go when Patamon's paws snatched the little feline's tail from midair. Then the little creature unfurled his folded wings like twin parasails, slowing their fall somewhat. Despite his heroic efforts, however, the two still slammed into the ground with a heavy 'thud', dust flying up from the ground at the point of impact.

"Pata!"

"Gatomon!"

T.K. and Kari rushed towards their partners as one, dodging and ducking under the rocks that continued to swirl around them. Myotismon moved to step on the little group, but Wizardmon was faster. "ThunderBall Attack!" he cried, throwing a huge burst of lightning into the stone creature's chest. The blow did little real damage, but did cause the other to turn in his direction, a cold look in the equally cold granite that formed his eyes. "This time..." he snarled, a deadly monotonous sound in his words, "... this time, there won't be enough left over of you to come back even as spirit!"

Then the winds and the rocks stopped, the boulders rolling to a stop as a deadly silence filled the air. No longer were people screaming, no sounds of struggle could be heard from Matt and BlackGrizzmon. Rio had moved to Matt's side, but she said nothing, only looking at the boy as a trickle of blood rolled down his cheek from a small cut above his eye. Everyone seemed to be waiting for something, everyone dreading what they could all sense was about to occur.

The stone giant that was Myotismon clenched his granite fists tightly together. Yes. Yes, how much more satisfying to deliver all of them at once to his own Master, to give Him leave to do as He pleased. A low growl built up slowly in the monster's hollow chest, sounding almost like a canine snarl. T.K. and Kari continued frantically to try to revive their partners, but no one else was moving.

"Soul Blight!" Myotismon hissed with a deadly intonation as he slowly raised his hands, palms upward towards the sky as if he were lifting a heavy object from the ground.

And then the earth seemed to crack and split open, and a thousand small, dark yet transparent orbs seeped up from below. Like bubbles blown from a child's toy, the spheres started to drift lazily about the village, while all of the humans (save T.K. and Kari) watched on in terrified curiosity. Then one of the smaller children broke free from his mother's arms and ran up to one of the globes, reaching out a tiny hand to touch the object of fascination.

In an instant and without a sound the child was gone, as if into thin air. His mother gave a single, shrill cry, then ran towards the same globe. But in her haste, her arm brushed up against another of the dark spheres, and she too vanished without a sound.

These two globes started to slowly move back towards the chasm in the earth from which they had all come, their cousins now beginning to stalk the remaining humans, drawn forward by the life which dwelt inside of each of them. Matt grabbed Rio's arm, yanking her away as one of the dark globes passed within inches of her elbow. A few feet away a man vanished as one of the spheres brushed against his head, and then a woman on the other side of the splintered ruins of her house, then another...

Rio watched in horror then as Wizardmon vanished as well, touching one of the globes in his haste to reach her side. She felt Matt's arms hold her close as the wails of the townspeople echoed in her ears, the warmth of his skin against her own her only solace at that moment. She had failed... and her failure would cost those that she loved, as well as these hundreds of strangers, their lives.

Silhouetted against the grayish light of the sky, Matt could see that Wizardmon's body was actually inside of the globe, curled up into a fetal position. Then he looked at the other spheres, which had also captured people, and found that if he looked hard enough, he could see their forms wrapped up inside of them as well. But then, as he watched, one of the things struck him on the shoulder, the boy finding himself swept up into a forceful current and unable to move as his world suddenly became dark.

"Matt!" T.K. heard Rio scream, and the boy was on his feet, Patamon held tightly in his arms. He just now could see what was happening across the way. Kari was at his side, and together the pair watched the horrid egress of person after person after person.

But these two, of course, were not like any who had come before. T.K. could see clearly, as could Kari when the boy mentioned it, the true nature of the dark globes. They were, in reality, demons. Inferior, minor demons to be certain, but Myotismon's dark power had somehow opened a portal to the depths of Hell at their feet, and from therein had come the little imps, who now sought to capture each and every living soul in that place and take them to their Master's feet.

Now almost all of the people were gone, and the hundreds of imps which had already made a capture were gathering in the place from which they had burst from the earth, ready to return to their plane with their prizes. T.K. looked down at the lifeless Crest of Hope in his fist, his blond hair falling in front of his eyes as he did so. He felt almost unable to think, powerless to prevent the horrid tragedy which was occurring before his eyes.

And yet, Kari was still at his side, smiling at him with trust in her brown eyes. She did not despair, and did not fear, because she believed in him... believed that even when all seemed lost that he would not fail. She knew him to be chosen... to be Paragon... It had been given to him to bring hope to the forsaken, to bring life to the lifeless. Great evil was at work here, yes, but there had been a time when the angel Cheyne had shown her the truth. Even that evil could not stand against him.

Hand in hand, the pair stepped forward, the boy's blue eyes drifting skyward. Past the stone giant Myotismon, past the dull gray sky that was the ceiling of the Abyss. And then, as a single ray of golden light shown down upon a face that had never known evil, for the first time ever life came to that world.

His eyes fluttered once in awe before he spoke. "I understand..." he whispered quietly, the words a response to a command that only he had heard.

And then again... silence. Just as before, there was nothing. No sound of wind, no words, not even any breathing. It was as if everything in the Void were waiting for something, and that world would not allow any sound to be made that might have interfered with its hearing of the signal.

And then, with the ear-splitting sound of a rock breaking through an enormous pane glass window, the gray sky shattered.

Upon the boy's upraised face, a single drop of golden light fluttered down to land squarely upon his nose... a kiss sent from heaven. And then its silvery twin, like a lone piece of glitter, floated down to include Kari in its greeting as well. And then others of their kind, both golden and silver alike, started to fall to that land much like the beginning of a winter's snowfall.

A bursting sound echoed from across the village as the little imps came into contact with the sudden rain of holy light, each being vanquished with a single touch of the glittering radiance, and the people who had been taken were suddenly freed. Matt and Rio ran to embrace one another, and soon Wizardmon was there as well. Across the village, parents ran to find children and husbands searched out wives, all marveling in the fact that, for the first time in years, none of them were in the least bit tired or sad.

The blizzard of golden and silver light was almost blinding to him, and Myotismon stumbled backwards as he tried to shield his granite eyes. What was happening here? He had been on the verge... on the very cusp of victory, but he no longer felt in control. And then, from somewhere below, he heard the words that he had been most dreading...

"Patamon! Digivolve...!"

"Gatomon! Digivolve...!"

"Wizardmon! Digivolve...!"

He blinked open his eyes. The rain of holy light had trailed off to a trickle, but it had evidently done its job.

"Angemon."

"Angewoman."

"Pharaohmon."

The two angels hovered in the air in front of the beast, the male with his long rod held out in front of him, the female staring down a notched arrow at his heart. Both wore grim expressions in their eyes, as if they alone were the both jury that had decided his guilt and the executioners that would deliver his punishment.

Far below them, Wizardmon was now cloaked in a loose-fitting white robe which fell to his knees, a golden mask covering his eyes and an ornate headdress serving as his crown. On his feet he wore leathery sandals, whose straps criss-crossed his legs all the way up to the hem of his cloak, and a staff topped with a golden ankh rested confidently across his shoulder.

Myotismon snarled, unwilling to give up the fight. He had worked to hard and too long to allow his plans to be spoiled by three such as these. Pointing his hands forward, he once again summoned his strength. "Granite Hurricane!" he called, spitting the words into their teeth.

Down below, Matt and Rio started to corral the humans away from the battlefield. The boy had seen the kind of damage that could result from a battle such as this, and knew that the further that they could get everyone away, the better.

Up above, Angemon shattered a large boulder with his staff, then gathered his energy together. "Hand of Fate!" he called, sending a bolt of golden light smashing into Myotismon's chest and then quickly gathering himself again to dodge several more good-sized rocks which were headed his way.

Angewoman quickly followed up with two cries of "Celestial Arrow!", and the pair of deadly projectiles slammed into the chest of the beast, causing chips and splinters of rock to rain down upon the ground below. Myotismon roared in agony, swiping at the female angel, who responded by fluttering back out of his reach.

Down below, T.K. held Kari close as they watched the battle. Oddly enough, neither of them were concerned about the outcome any longer, though they could both sense the power that was coming from the stone giant. They understood that this was something that had to happen, and that the power of faith and love would shelter them from harm when nothing else could. Faith was their armor and love their shield as they stood at the feet of the combatants, no longer afraid.

Pharaohmon raised his staff, the golden ankh on top starting to shimmer with a golden power of its own. With a cry of "Nile River Rush!" he slammed the rod into the ground, releasing a powerful torrent of pure energy at Myotismon's chest.

As the violent flow of energy struck the beast he started to topple, barely able to retain his footing in the face of the three attacks one on top of the other. But still, despite the agony and the force of the blows, it seemed that he would not go down. At least, it seemed so until another pair of attacks slammed into the back of his knees from the hands of the angels, buckling them and sending the beast to the ground with a crash. At the earth-shaking collision, Myotismon's borrowed body shattered into a hundred pieces, the head tumbling from the shoulders and rolling to a stop right in the center of the village.

A stricken cry burst from Myotismon's incorporeal lips as his spirit was thrown from the stone body of the giant. He had not anticipated such pain at this defeat, having used the statue to shield his own form. But there was no time for pain now. Now there was a greater victory to be won. Without hesitation or another thought the now bodiless creature darted through the town and back to his dark fortress, where the invincible bodies of the Fiends waited for him to take possession.

T.K. let the breath that he had been unconsciously holding gradually escape his lips as he watched the creature flee, then knelt down at Patamon's side. "You okay, Pata?" he asked, placing a hand on the other's forehead.

The little orangish Digimon closed his eyes as he rolled over on his back and placed his paws in the air, playing dead. T.K. allowed a small grin to pass own his lips. "Oh, stop that," he murmured. Then he placed a single index finger on the other's upraised belly and started to tickle the little creature.

Patamon nipped to his feet, shaking his ears in protest. "Hey, no fair T.K.!" he whined in his piping voice. "I'm in pain here!"

And then Kari joined the two, the girl carrying Gatomon in her arms. As soon as she saw the pair, the little feline looked up at the girl. "Put me down," she ordered. When Kari complied, her partner marched over to Patamon's side and looked down at him. "Don't ever, ever yank my tail like that again," she said sternly, holding the appendage in front of the other in case he had forgotten what it looked like.

With that pseudo-threat still hanging in the air the cat-like Digimon turned her back on the two boys, ready to march back down to survey the battle scene. Poor little Patamon looked crushed at the words, his long ears drooping down limply at his side as he watched her go. T.K. placed a comforting hand on his partner's forehead in sympathy with his sudden heartache.

"Gatomon."

The little feline stopped short at Kari's remark, then looked at the girl with a sigh. It was not really in her nature to be anything but sharp, but her human partner had been trying as of late to explain to her the complexities of the fragile male ego and she had to defer to her judgment. She frowned, biting down on her lip. Surely Patamon knew how she felt... didn't he?

At the insistent look in the girl's eyes Gatomon again turned around and marched back to Patamon's side, then leaned over and gave his furry cheek a brief lick with her tongue. "But... well... thank you for saving my life, Pata" she said, running a clawed hand over his back before once again turning and walking towards Kari.

"Now see. Was that so hard?" the girl asked in an 'I told you so' sort of voice.

"I still don't think it made any difference. Pata knows how I feel about him."

Of course, neither girl bothered to look back at that moment, so neither of them was witness to Patamon's limp ears suddenly shooting straight up in the air like an energized pair of antennae and the perplexed yet ecstatic look in the little creature's eyes. "Wa...wa...wow..." was all that the orangish Digimon was able to mutter.

"First kiss?" asked T.K., to which Patamon could only nod dumbly. The blond-haired human smiled again, his hand still on the other's back. "See? I told you it was fun..."

*****

Roan dragged Cody's body over to the door of the cell to join Davis', ignoring the shower of silver and golden glitter that was suddenly coming from everywhere. He didn't really care what it was or what it signified, any more than he cared that Myotismon was now destroying several hundred human lives just outside the walls of the palace, and having quite a bit of fun with it, to judge by all the noise that he was making. No. All that mattered now was that he was able to get rid of the bodies and go to meet Myotismon that they might finish making the third Fiend.

Still, the glittering light was really quite irritating. As he went back to get the body of the girl he stopped, waving his hands in front of his face to try to clear the air. Shaking his head, he turned around for a moment...

... and ran right into Davis' fist. The white-haired teen stumbled backwards into the corner of the cell, more in surprise than any real pain. Still, he did drop the keys that he had been holding as his hands flew to his nose, trying to inhibit the crimson gush of blood starting to ooze from it. Roan's mouth was open and his eyes wide as he looked at the pair, both staring at him with undisguised disgust evident in their gazes.

And then Yolei sat up as well, breathing in the bright mist with a deep sigh. Blinking her eyes open and suddenly realizing where she was, the girl turned and ran to Davis' side, throwing herself into his arms with a joyful cry.

Davis looked surprised for a moment, and then the girl remembered that he had not actually heard any of the romantic declarations that she had spoken over the past couple of days, and so released him. Free from the surprising... yet somehow enjoyable embrace, the boy marched across the cell and retrieved the keys that Roan had dropped, never once taking his eyes off of the other.

And then he ushered both Yolei and Cody out of the cell, giving the keys to the younger child. Yolei turned as the two left, fully expecting Davis to be right behind them.

And he was, but with a strange expression in his eyes as he stared at her. Then he flashed her a little smile and reached forward to close the door, locking their tormentor inside the cell with him...