Chapter Six
Davis continued to scream as he fell... and it seemed to the boy as though he had been falling for a very, very long time. But strangely, it seemed to him as though the screaming was only in his head, never making it all the way to his lips. Nevertheless he could not stop, even though he suspected that there was no one to hear him. He was alone, in terrible pain, and plummeting into a darkness that his heart told him would be never-ending.
But then suddenly, after two days of falling... he stopped. It was not as though he had hit the ground or anything. Indeed, after such a time falling if he had hit the ground there would probably be little more left of him than a large, bloody... yet handsome, he reminded himself... splotch on the ground. No. Suddenly, to his surprise, the pain was gone and he was 'floating' (he didn't really know how better to describe it) around in the same inky darkness through which he had been falling.
And then the boy looked up, or at least in the direction that he assumed was 'up'. A single small, golden speck of light was falling through the darkness, looking both peaceful and unhurried. And somehow, though he wasn't sure just how, Davis knew that the snowflake-sized object would be the source of his salvation.
And then, when it finally reached his side, the tiny object flared into existence with an impossible golden light and a radiance so bright that the boy was forced to shield his eyes from its brilliance. After spending the previous days in utter darkness the explosion of light burned an image into his brain, an image that he could now see even with his eyes closed.
"Open your eyes and look, now, Davis Motomiya."
The boy would have been powerless to resist the baritone command even if he had wanted to. And so with a single motion he dropped the arm away from his eyes and chanced to look at the newcomer, who now appeared to him as a large, luminous man, clad all in white.
The boy's mouth fell open. "T.K.?"
The other did not move, and did not answer. The look in his eyes was terribly stern, and though Davis was not really afraid of the man, he did suddenly feel somewhat... inadequate? The other was judging him with those steely blue eyes, and the boy somehow knew that he had every right to do so. But he fought off the urge to bow to the other and instead straightened his back. Even though they were obviously not equals, the boy would attempt to meet him as such.
If this did not appear to please the other, he did not mention it. "I have a task for you, Davis Motomiya."
"Huh?"
"A great evil is about to be unleashed upon three worlds, child, and it has been given to you to stop it." And as Davis listened to the words a series of divergent images began to flash through his brain. Roan. Myotismon. The three crimson jewels, and three bulky creatures that seemed to be formed out of pure crystal. With a sudden flash of insight the boy learned what was about to occur, and what the purpose of their kidnapping had been.
"I'll stop it," he said angrily, gritting his teeth as he thought about his last encounter with Roan. He had a score to settle with that one, anyway. If he happened to save the world while settling it... well, so much the better.
The golden being frowned. "Beware, child. You have great courage, this much is true, but you must not return with a hateful heart. If you will fight, fight because you know that this is an evil must be stopped. Fight because you understand the great pain it will cause if it should come to fruition. Do not fight for simple human vengeance."
Davis looked closely at the other. "I don't know what you mean." He paused, then continued. "I'm sure that the others might. T.K. would, Kari might... I guess even Cody or Yolei might. But I'm not them. If you want me to help you and to fight Roan and the others, I can promise I'll do that. But I can't promise that I won't take some satisfaction in beating him."
The other looked saddened, and for a dreadful moment Davis was afraid that he had said the wrong thing. This man apparently had just saved his life, and he didn't want to offend him. But very rarely had Davis ever gone out of his way to do what others wished if it meant neglecting what he thought was right. Even if it meant that he was going to be unpopular or looked down upon or even ostracized, he would be those things for what he truly was.
The golden man appeared satisfied... at least somewhat. "Then return, Davis Motomiya. And return with the knowledge that Heaven has smiled upon you." And with that the man lifted his arms slowly upwards from his waist. At the gesture Davis started to rise, and seemingly he was rising much, much faster than he had fallen.
"Hey! Wait a minute!" he called down at the other as a thought struck him. "Wait, I gotta ask you something! How come you look like T.K.?"
"I don't," the other answered simply, and though Davis had left him far below when he had started to rise upwards the deep voice sounded as if it were just beside him. "Say instead that, perhaps, he looks like me."
*****
"Davis! What are you doing?" Yolei demanded of him as he stood looking at her, the locked cell door between the two of them. "Get out of there! Are you crazy?" The girl might have continued on, but she had noticed in that last question a peculiar fluttering in her voice... one that she was not prepared to allow him to hear just quite yet.
And then Roan was back on his feet, the two boys staring daggers at one another across the cell. The older teen's eyes held back none of his hatred. Here was one who reviled everyone and everything in the world, himself included, but now the full weight of his anger was focused on the dark-haired, younger boy in front of him.
Davis stared back, not flinching a bit. Roan towered over him, and the insane fury in his eyes was a bit unnerving, but the younger boy was in full control of his faculties now. He would not be cowed. "Now, you wanna call for your help again? Or do you really want to go at it this time?"
The furious sounds of Roan's grinding teeth matched the suddenly insane look in his eyes and a large vein stood out on his forehead. "I... am... going to tear you apart..."
Cody had his hands folded over his chest as he nodded once at Davis' back. Confused, Yolei glanced at the younger boy as she listened to the pair, then stomped her foot in frustration as she fidgeted with the collar of Davis' coat. "Oh, I knew it! This is some sort of stupid macho thing."
*****
Outside, the people from the village wandered about in a daze, each of them slowly taking in the devastation that the brief battle had caused. Virtually all of the shabby hovels that made up their town had been smashed into kindling by the rage of Myotismon. Now they truly had nothing.
Kari had her back to the village as she gazed quietly at the sky, her hands clasped in front of her. Wordlessly, T.K. approached her from behind and placed a gentle hand upon her shoulder, not quite certain of how it would be received. "You knew?"
After a moment the girl nodded but still did not turn, continuing to stare out into space. T.K.'s face fell. He was in trouble, and he knew it. His faith had released the golden rain from heaven, the rain that had given them the power to overcome the stone giant, but the price that he had been asked to pay for it... "Eavesdropping is a bad habit to get into, you know," he said, trying his best to smile.
Now Kari did turn and though she was still silent, her eyes were red from crying. She too had heard the charge from Heaven to the boy, and what she had heard was not good for him. "That's... that's not... funny," she said, her lips quivering.
In a moment she would be crying again, she was certain of it. She was doubly certain of it as she looked at the boy. He was trying his hardest to force a smile onto his lips, to keep the tears from his eyes and the terror from his voice. Somehow he always seemed older to her, but at that moment she became very aware that he was still just a thirteen-year-old boy... one who was threatened to be buried by the monumental task that had just been laid upon him.
The vision had been for T.K.'s eyes only, but apparently Kari had enough insight... or perhaps she was linked closely enough with him to 'see' what he had been 'told'. He had been shown what Myotismon and Roan were making. Three soldiers of pure evil. Three warriors of unimaginable destructive power, born of the iniquities of the human race since the beginning of time, now brought to life by their friends' failings. Yolei's hatred. Cody's cruelty. Davis' fear. Within those creatures lie the strength and fury of all of Hell.
Kari tried to be angry with him, even though she knew it was irrational. But she had to be angry with someone. Clenching one fist she moved closer to the boy, ready to yell at him, to scream her fear and frustration in his face. But after one look in his eyes, the sad blue eyes that said that told her that he had not been given a choice... that told her that he was just as frightened, maybe more, than she, and all of her anger just melted away. "Oh T.K.!" she cried, falling to her knees and clutching at him, burying her eyes into his legs as she exploded into a torrent of tears.
The boy's brave facade fell with the girl, and he drew her head forward against his leg with a trembling hand. "Hey... hey, Kari?" he said soothingly, trying his best to keep the fear from his voice. "Don't worry. I mean, maybe Davis will come through."
The other looked up, trying to hold back a further gush of tears. "That's... that's not funny... either," she sniffled.
T.K. stopped as he stared at the girl, finally understanding. He hadn't really until now. All those years ago when Angemon had poured out his life against Devimon. T'Kai's act of self-sacrifice against Dassan, the demon lord who had threatened the land of the a'ladon...
He had never understood the reason, not really. Oh, over time he had learned to accept it, but in his eyes it had always been simply to defeat the evil that those two had represented. But now he had been shown the truth. He had been shown the suffering that would occur if those three creatures were released. He had been shown the devastation... the loss of life. And despite all the power that could be brought against them in those two worlds, he had been shown that it would not be enough. All that was left was him, or else two worlds would be plunged into an perpetual darkness. One single, righteous soul to stand against an evil that had been forming since time out of mind. It had never been about the evil... instead, it was to defend the innocent.
T.K. was afraid. There was no doubt about it. It was not a fear that he could easily pass off, to just laugh off and go ahead and do what had been required of him anyway. No. This was a fear that started in the pit of his stomach and crept in to paralyze his limbs, to keep him from going into that place. Angemon had died in his duties, T'Kai had died in his. Did that mean...
Now T.K. dropped to his knees in front of Kari, clenching his hands into fists and pulling the sobbing girl tightly against his chest. He wanted nothing more at that moment than to leave, than to take her and to return to their world. He had (like Angemon and T'Kai before him, though T.K. did not know it) been tempted with the knowledge that he could escape the wrath that was to come. But how many would die, how many would suffer if he were to make that choice? He clenched his teeth. "Kari... I have to go..."
The boy reluctantly released his grip on the girl, whose arms in turn slid from him like ice. In another moment he was on his feet, and looking over his shoulder at Matt and Rio, who were busy gathering the villagers into some semblance of order. He would not tell Matt what he was about to do. The older boy would not understand, and would almost certainly try to prevent him from going.
"Kari?" T.K. asked, looking down at the girl as he prepared to head into the structure on his own. The others would have to find Cody, Yolei and Davis without him.
The girl didn't answer. T.K.'s face fell, but he nodded in acceptance. Her silence hurt him, threatening to rend his soul, but he knew it to be for the best. This was likely the last time that he would see her. Better to allow her to start breaking their bond now. How much had Kiara suffered for loving T'Kai past the moment of his death?
T.K. stiffened his back and forced himself to walk towards the inky blackness that was the opening of the massive building. He knew where to go. It had been burned in his mind as if with a red-hot brand. Patamon was there waiting for him. The boy smiled. He might very well have to tie that one up when it came time for him to go on alone.
Just one step. One foot in front of the other, the boy kept repeating to himself. As he kept echoing that mantra in his mind, he found that it became easier and easier with each passing step.
"T.K.?"
The boy bit down on his lip. He couldn't stop, even at her call. If he did, he'd never start again.
"T.K.? Wait..."
The sound of love in her voice brought him up short like a chain around his neck, though this was a chain made of the softest velvet. In a moment the girl was at his side, staring at him through the huge pools of brunette that were her eyes. Reaching out her hand, she caressed the boy's cheek with her fingertips... the emotions of a thousand words and more in that simple gesture. It spoke of love, a love so deep that it stretched the limits of ordinary human comprehension. Of admiration, the respect of one who sees a task being undertaken that she can only imagine being done in her most noble dreams. And also an unspoken promise, the promise that said that for her, there would never be another.
Kari's other hand sought out the boy's and, finding it, pressed something into his fingers. T.K. looked down, confused. "Your crest? Kari? I don't underst--"
The girl silenced him by moving her fingers from his cheek to his lips. "It won't ever shine as brightly as my love for you does, I can promise you that. But I hope that it will remind you that, wherever you go, a piece of me goes with you."
T.K.'s heart was wrenched by the raw emotion in the girl's voice, and he leaned over to kiss her in farewell. But Kari smiled and placed her fingers between their lips, interrupting the gesture. "Save that for later, T.K. Now you owe me a kiss, and I expect you to come back and give it to me when you're finished." And with that she gave him one last smile and turned around, returning to where Matt and Rio had just now noticed that they were missing.
"Girls are weird," Patamon piped at his back, and T.K. jumped at the unexpected sound. Then, with a smile on his face and his heart beating rapidly, the human boy responded, "Yeah, but we love them anyway, right?"
Patamon blushed a bit, but wordlessly nodded his agreement. And then the creature settled on the boy's shoulder, and together the two set off to where T.K. had been called to be. Straight into the mouth of darkness and closer to Hell than he'd even been before.
*****
"Davis!" Yolei screamed, watching as Roan's fist slammed into the much younger boy's jaw and sent him reeling back against the iron bars of the cell. And then, with cat-like quickness, the white-haired teen was on the other's back and had his heavily muscled arm wrapped tightly around Davis' neck.
The boy struggled to breathe as Roan tightened the stranglehold around his throat, the hatred on his face making him appear almost demonic while blood poured freely from his nose and into Davis' hair. "I'm going to enjoy this," he growled, an insane smile on his lips as the younger boy's face started to go from red to purple. "Are you ready to die, runt?"
Davis hands balled up into fists as he gasped for air. "For what you did to her... I'm gonna kick your a--" the words trailed off into a grunt, for which Yolei was grateful as she spared little Cody a brief glance. But even as she looked away, Davis reared up and slammed the back of his head into Roan's face.
The teen stumbled back, howling in agony as the blow smashed into his already broken nose. His face was now a bloody mess, and while he stared daggers at Davis he once again tried to staunch the bright, crimson flow. Tears of pain welled liberally from his eyes.
Yolei blinked. The action had been loud, the words garbled, but... did he just say 'For what you did to her'? Meaning me? she puzzled.
Roan readied himself to once again attack the boy, but then stopped as Davis lifted his fist up so that the older teen could see what he held in his hand. "I think you lost something," he said, a triumphant smile in his eyes.
The white-haired young man's hands flew to his throat where the crimson jewel of hatred had been dangling, only to find that it was no longer there, of course. In spite of odds that said that he was more than overmatched, Davis had once again, somehow, succeeded. Roan's eyes were wide as he stared at the jewel, his quivering hand reaching forward for it. "Give... give me that," he almost begged, his voice desperate.
"Huh? Oh, sure," Davis said with a smile, taunting the other by seeming to offer it to him. But at the last moment, the younger boy allowed the stone to fall from his fingers to land on the floor with a tinkling sound. And then he gave Yolei a quick wink as he stomped down heavily upon it.
"NO!" Roan cried in horror, diving at the boy's foot. Davis moved to the side, looking down with disdain as the older teen frantically tried to rearrange the fragments of the gem into their previous form. When it became evident that the slivers could not be made whole again the white-haired villain began to weep, gathering the crystal fragments into his hands and clenching his fists tightly.
And then Davis looked at Cody and nodded once. "Cody, the door," he instructed. The younger boy looked a bit uncertain for a moment, but then did as Davis had bid him and used the keys to unlock the cell door. In the past he might have been wary about taking such a seemingly unwise action with only Davis to recommend it, but right now the older boy seemed... well, to know what he was doing, quite frankly.
The audible click that came when Cody unlocked the door seemed to snap Roan awake, and in a moment he was on his feet and out the door, darting like a madman back down the shadowy tunnel. Davis was on his heels in an instant, grabbing Yolei's hand and dragging her along with him. "Hey! You don't have to pull my arm off!" the girl protested as she half ran, half stumbled alongside the boy.
"Then hurry up!" Davis returned irritably. "I've got to find out where he's going. The others are depending on me!"
Yolei chanced a sideways look at Cody, who managed to shrug in response. This was becoming more chaotic by the minute.
*****
There were three doors which led to the room where the crystalline beasts were being held. Of the creatures, two already shimmered with life as the crimson stones of Cruelty and Terror pulsated deep within their massive chests. The third, the one in the center, still waited on Roan to bring to him his heart.
And then all three doors burst open, almost at the same instant. Through the center door dashed Roan, blood covering his face as he glanced about with his dark eyes. Through the door on the far left floated the ghastly spirit of the defeated Myotismon, thrown from his giant stone body by the three warrior Digimon. And through the last door came T.K., Patamon on his shoulder and ready to fight the battle that Heaven had thrust him in to.
All three knew what the others were there for, and none of the three wished to see his opponents succeed in what they were doing. Briefly, very briefly, each of the three took a moment to look at his adversaries.
It was Myotismon who moved first. He alone had no questions about what he was doing and how he was to do it. He had possessed the stone giant enough times to understand how it was accomplished, after all, and now he drew upon that knowledge. In a moment he was at the side of the first Fiend and pressing forward into its yielding shell. The creature had already been given life, and now Myotismon would give it consciousness.
Then, slowly, the massive Fiend of Cruelty turned its horned head to look at the others in the room, Myotismon reveling in the power that he could feel throbbing throughout the massive body. Never in his life had he felt so invincible. He felt nearly, very nearly, godlike. And on the far side of the room the soulless Fiend of Terror also lived, just waiting for someone to give it the command to kill. Myotismon now gave that order. "Destroy them," he ordered the beast, his voice sounding like the grating of shattered glass. "Destroy them all." And with those words still hanging in the air, Myotismon and his host vanished into thin air. He had waited years for his revenge. He would not wait one second more. The digital world would once again be his.
T.K. flinched. One already gone. And now the eyes of the Fiend of Terror locked on him. The boy swallowed deeply, saying a silent prayer that he could actually do as he had been told. "Patamon, stay here," the boy whispered, then shut his eyes tightly and darted forward into the embrace of the beast.
"No way!" the other returned, fluttering along right at his partner's back. The little mammal didn't know exactly what was happening here, but he was not going to let T.K. face it alone.
And then Cody, Yolei and Davis burst into the room at Roan's back. One look told Davis that he was too late. He had seen the vision of the three, but now only two were left. And T.K. was there as well, throwing himself headlong into the outstretched arms of the second. "T.K.!" the boy cried to his friend, certain that he knew what the other had planned.
T.K. was engulfed by a nimbus of holy light as he rushed headlong into the embrace of the crimson fiend, his feet barely touching the ground as he moved. As he neared the creature the light surrounding him started to swell until it became so bright that the other humans in the room were forced to shield their eyes against the glare. And then with a golden flash the two collided... and when the others could again look, T.K. and Patamon were gone.
"T.K.!" Yolei screamed in heart-wrenching anguish, dropping to her knees. Cody's face was blank with horror as Davis grimaced. That had been faster than even he had imagined.
But they had no time to weep as the massive crystalline creature now turned towards them. Roan moved out of the way, smirking triumphantly. This promised to be very entertaining...
But then, to his horror, the white-haired teen noticed that the creature was advancing on him. The boy frowned. "Wait! Stop, damn you! Get them, not me!"
But the other did not stop. It was by its very nature a creature of destruction. Once it had started, it would never stop.
Roan crept back slowly, until he found that he was stopped by the stone wall in the room. Beads of sweat had broken out on his forehead and his heart was pounding frantically as the terror that the creature emanated gripped his soul. His hands were trembling as if gripped with a palsy, his knees knocking together uncontrollably.
And then, with a dexterity that would have put a creature half its size to shame, the Fiend shot forward one of his massive crystalline claws and grabbed the teen by the face, lifting him into the air. Roan howled in agony and kicked out feebly at the creature, but the other appeared to give no notice of the resistance and hurled the boy's body across the room like a rag doll. With the sickening sound of splintering bone, the evil teen slammed into the stone wall and tumbled limply to the ground.
Slowly, deliberately, the creature turned to look at Davis, Yolei and Cody. The girl gulped, her eyes wide with terror as she looked at the massive biped. It was as though she were frozen where she stood. And although she wanted nothing more at that moment than to turn and run from the room, she just could not force her feet off the floor. Then, heedless of just exactly what she was doing and only conscious of the fear lashing against her soul, the girl reached forward to take Davis' hand in her own.
If this upset the boy he did not mention it, only giving her hand a reassuring squeeze as the crimson-colored creature advanced deliberately upon the three of them. In its dark eyes they could see their deaths, but at that moment they seemed powerless to prevent it.
But then, on the far side of the room and through the same door that T.K. had come, a new group appeared. "K... Kari!" Davis stammered.
The monster turned dispassionately around and looked at the newcomers. "Come on!" the young girl leading the group shouted at the trio that he had already cornered. "This is the way out!"
With the creature's attention off of them for the moment, Davis and the others suddenly found themselves free of the terror that had been encroaching on their souls and broke for the door that the others had come through. The crystalline beast followed after them, slowly and deliberately. There was nowhere that they could run to that it could not follow, and there was always the chance, of course, that they would lead him to more and more victims.
But what the Fiend failed to notice was that there was still one alive in the room at its back room. With the sound of labored breathing, Roan dragged his shattered body across the room towards the lifeless creature which still remained. Blood mixed with saliva was drooling slowly out of his mouth as he moved, each inch that he covered bringing with it a lifetime of agony. He was dying... there was no question of it. Even now he could feel his soul trying to pull itself away from his body...
"Not... like... this!" the teen gasped as he continued to inch towards the last creature, the slivers of the crystal that Davis had shattered still firmly clenched in his hand. Indeed, the boy was holding them so tightly that their sharp edges had already shredded the flesh of his palm, some of them becoming deeply embedded therein.
And then, almost miraculously, the white-haired teen reached the body of the creature. He was seething with fury by the time he arrived. Not only from the knowledge that he was dying, but also from the fact that Myotismon had betrayed him. The fact that he himself had been planning a similar betrayal mattered little to him. His fury... his anger... his hatred was a fire that burned deep within him, hotter than ever, keeping him alive when his life should have passed from him.
Roan grabbed the creature's arm and pulled himself to his feet, staggering as he did so. The crystal was broken, yes, but he would be damned if he was going to die without first trying to create an instrument of destruction to avenge himself.
The teen placed his hand with the crystal shards against the creature's chest as he had seen Myotismon do when the other had brought the first two beings to life. His hand shook with a palsy as he did so and a surge of pain nearly dropped him to his knees, but still he tried to force the little bits of the gem into the Fiend's massive torso.
But nothing happened. Angrily the teen conceded that the one called 'Davis' had done what he had apparently set out to do. He had somehow figured out the secret of the gems, and had rendered the final gem, the most powerful of the three, useless.
"Damn you!" Roan cried hatefully, with his dying breath spewing out that last curse upon everything and everyone in the whole of creation. Davis. Matt. Rio. T.K. Tai. He knew them all, and oh, how he hated everything about them. "Damn them all!"
But at his last cry of abhorrence for the world, the little shards of crystal within his flesh began to burn with a fire that came straight from his soul. A searing pain tore through his hand, and the boy's cry of hatred became a scream of agony as he finally became one with his fury. And then that fury was drawn inside the torso of the crystalline warrior, bringing with it both life and consciousness.
With a quiet sigh Roan's dead body slumped to the ground at the feet of the massive biped, his pale skin almost matching the pallor of his hair. There would be no one that would mourn his passing. Not now, not ever. But though the body had died Roan's soul lived on, and now with a new pair of eyes he looked down upon what had been his mortal flesh. And he, too, did not mourn.
*****
The trio of girls led Davis, Yolei and Cody down a long corridor which turned sharply to the left. After several moments of exhausting flight, the young, blond-haired child with Kari and Rio stopped the group. "Here," she said, grabbing the handle of a wooden door and cautiously pushing it open.
A tremor shook the ground as the six exited the building, and Cody grabbed onto the frame of the door so that he would not lose his footing. "What was that?" the boy questioned in alarm to the girl at his side. He turned, awaiting a response...
...and felt his blood run cold. "You?" he demanded, seeing the little blond-haired girl at his side, the one who had aided in his kidnapping earlier. His eyes narrowed darkly at the other, who did not respond and only kept staring at him, lips quivering. "Well? Go away!" he shouted, waving his arms in the air.
Now the little girl did turn and run, hands flying to her eyes as a distressed cry broke from her lips. Cody looked around as another small tremor shook the land. Over to the side Kari, Yolei and Davis were gathered in a circle, talking to a tall girl that he did not recognize. The little boy also noted that Yolei had still not released her grip on Davis' hand, though both of them were taking pains to ignore the fact that they were still touching in such a manner.
"Kari... I'm... I'm so, so sorry," Yolei said, placing an arm awkwardly around the other girl's shoulder. Now that Cody could see her face, it was evident that she had been crying quite a bit, and of course he knew why. T.K. He tried to close his eyes to keep from seeing it again, but the image mercilessly continued to play itself over and over again in his mind. The brief, golden explosion between T.K., Patamon and that crystal monster, and then... nothing.
Cody looked around as he moved to join the group. Something did not look right here. He rubbed his eyes. Either something was wrong with them or...
No. As he looked again, it did appear as though the air around them was becoming distorted. It was not unlike seeing a mirage in the desert, only instead of being far in the distance these images were very close and there was no heat to cause them.
Kari looked anxious, as if she were waiting for the crystal monster to explode from the building at any second and was anxious to move away from the spot. But she had to know what the others were talking about.
Davis frowned and dropped Yolei's hand, moving forward to embrace the girl. Kari pulled back slightly, really more out of instinct than anything. In the past this would have been just another way for the boy to make a move on her, but he hadn't done anything like that for some time now. Over his shoulder, Kari noticed that Yolei appeared to be very upset as the boy embraced her, though she wasn't sure just why. Davis frowned. "Kari... it's about... about T.K..."
"What about him?"
Another tremor, this one more severe than the first two.
Davis gulped as he regained his footing. He had no idea just how to say this. "Kari? He's... he's... dead."
The girl looked ready to respond, but at that moment her eyes fell on the smallest boy. "Cody? Where's Rena? Wasn't she with you?"
The boy frowned. "She went off over that way, I think," he said, waving his hand towards the area where Matt stood in an evidently heated discussion with the villagers.
"Did you accept her apology?"
Cody was taken aback. And then Kari's eyes found the girl, on her knees and weeping in broken-hearted anguish at her mother's side. "Cody?" the brown-haired girl started. "What did you--?"
And then the world exploded all around them in several different places. From their back the crystalline monster tore out of the building, shattering an enormous stone wall as he did so. But at the same time another massive tremor rocked the ground at their feet, sending them all stumbling forward and to their knees. "What's happening?" Yolei screamed, now pulling Davis away from Kari so that she might find some sort of reassurance with him.
That question, apparently, even Kari did not have an immediate answer for. But then one voice rang out over the rest, and though the words were slurred, their meaning was not. "Goodness and Light have been introduced into this world of Evil and Darkness!" someone shouted, and the others looked for the speaker. "This world will now come to an end!"
Cody gasped as he looked. For atop the ruins of a once proud stone building stood the man that had attacked Yolei, the one that he was certain that he had killed only days before to avenge the older girl. But now, though his face was encrusted with dry blood, he seemed much more in control of his facilities. His voice was strong and everyone, from the smallest of the villagers to the Digimon to the massive creature who was now bearing down upon them turned to listen.
"An End!" the man shouted again, and now the crystalline creature gathered a small ball of crimson death and hurled it at him in response. But though the energy tore through the man and sent his body crashing to the ground, his call had evidently had some sort of effect upon the world. The distortions that were all around them were now becoming clearer, and within the fractured images Kari could see disjoined visions of other worlds... of both their own and other, darker places.
"Angewomon!" Kari shouted, and in response a bolt of light flew from the sky and smashed into the crimson fiend's chest. But the creature was not even phased by the sudden attack, and quickly hurled a bolt of searing fire from his hands into the sky in response.
Over on the other side of the village, Matt frowned and pointed at the beast. "Kari! Rio!" the older boy shouted. "He's blocking the way home!"
Rio's eyes narrowed. Yes. She could see, behind the creature, a sort of gash in the air where the distortion was no longer as pronounced and beyond which she could see what looked to be a town in the real world. The tremors were now coming one on top of the other, and few of the people managed to keep their balance for very long. "You've got to move him!" Matt cried out again.
"Right!" Rio called back. "Wizar--! Uh, Pharoa--! Uhm... Whoever you are now! Blast him!"
Pharoahmon nodded, the ankh atop his staff glowing with a burst of colors. Slamming the symbol once upon the ground the golden Digimon pointed the artifact at the creature that was blocking their way home. "Nile River Rush!"
The surge of violent energy burst from the ankh and slammed into the creature but again it did not move, did not even flinch as the blast dissipated against its diamond-hard shell. "Careful!" Kari shouted, still on her hands and knees. "T.K.'s in there!"
All at once Matt, Rio, Davis, Yolei and Cody turned to stare at the girl. "What?" Davis demanded.
And then the Fiend of Terror gathered another ball of crimson light in his hands and hurled it into the midst of the people at Matt's side, a massive explosion ripping through the ground as it landed. Bodies were thrown everywhere, and the cries of both the dead and the injured filled the air.
Matt evidently did not notice, as he continued to stare at Kari for her last words. Davis, however, saw that the large gathering presented much too good a target for the creature, and in a moment he was on his feet and racing towards them. "Spread out!" he shouted, waving his hands wildly as he ran. "Find some place to hide!"
And then the world exploded at the boy's back and he was thrown forward by another blast from the monster's hands. As he landed heavily on his face he tasted blood in his mouth and his vision was suddenly very blurred, but he could still see the terrified looks from the rest of the people standing in front of him. "Hide, damn it!" he ordered, waving his hand at them.
But for some reason the people only stood and stared, their knees knocking together as the looked at the massive creature behind the boy. And then Davis remembered the terror that he had felt grip him as the beast had borne down upon him and the others in the room where they had watched T.K. disappear. It was as though the crystalline monster had created in them a paralyzing fear just by locking his eyes upon theirs. "Don't look at it!" he shouted now, again stumbling to his feet and rushing at the group. "Look away!"
Davis could feel the heat building at his back again that told him that another bombardment was on the way and he threw himself at the villagers, tackling a pair of them to the ground as the energy again exploded behind him. Landing heavily with the others underneath him, shielded by his body, the boy gave a quiet groan. "Now hide!" he shouted, shaking the two whose eyes he had averted from the creature.
"We're not even hurting it!" Angewomon shouted down to Kari after watching several more of her vibrant attacks dissolve harmlessly against the other's shell.
It was utter chaos. The ground was still shaking and the air around them still fluctuating wildly. The crimson balls from the creature's hands continued to fly through the air at an alarming pace, destroying what was left of the village and sending bodies flying through the air. Davis had managed to get a few of the people hidden behind partially fallen brick walls, but he could only save two or three at a time. Angewomon and Pharoahmon were fighting back with everything that they had, but their crystalline foe was simply ignoring their attacks, allowing them to evaporate against his 'skin'.
And then a hand grabbed at Kari's sleeve and the girl looked down. The man, the one whom Matt and T.K. had saved earlier had crawled to her side, just barely alive. His skin was badly burned and dried blood still encrusted his face. But in his eyes she found unexpected wisdom, and with a smile the man spoke again. "Remember," he whispered, his voice coarse. "They cannot be destroyed from without until their evil is destroyed from within." And then the man gave another soft smile and collapsed to the ground, breathing his last.
Kari blinked. It was the exact same words that she had heard being given to T.K. before he had left. In a moment she was on her feet, knowing what had to be done. Stumbling forward, trying desperately to keep her balance on the rapidly shifting ground, the girl charged towards the crystalline beast. "T.K.!" she shouted, her voice ringing out clearly even over the sounds of battle. "T.K., please! Stop him!"
The beast looked at her, fury in its eyes as it gathered another crimson ball in its fist. "Kari!" Angewomon shouted, diving from the sky towards her charge. But as fast as she was, it was clear that the crimson death would get to the girl far faster than she could.
Kari dropped to her knees, closing her eyes and clasping her hands together across her lap as she prepared for death. But then she smiled. No. Not death... because whatever else he was, T.K. was her champion. He would not fail her.
"T.K.," she breathed silently, his name almost sounding like a prayer.
And then the creature stopped, grabbing at its chest as the crimson fire vanished inches from Kari's face. Those people who had been frozen by terror finally found that they could move again, and quickly leapt for the nearest hiding place. Davis pulled away the final two, a blond woman and her weeping child and ducked with them behind a fallen building. He didn't know what Kari was doing, but it sure seemed to be working.
With the sound of shattering glass, the crimson, crystalline heart of the Fiend of Terror exploded within its chest. And over the deafening noise there came a voice that was somehow louder still, a voice that the children knew quite well.
"Now!" T.K. shouted, and the two Digimon attacked as one.
"Celestial Arrow!"
"Nile River Rush!"
The creature's crystalline form shattered into a thousand pieces as the crushing blows burst together upon its chest, scattering what had been its body in every direction. A thin trail of whitish smoke drifted lazily upwards from the stump that remained... and Kari was certain that if she looked hard enough within that smoke that she could see the form of T.K. astride Pegasusmon. But if it had been only her imagination or just her wishful thinking, in a moment the image was gone. There were, after all, still another two of those things out there.
And then Matt was at her side, his arm around her thin shoulders in a strong, brotherly embrace that the boy usually reserved for T.K. Kari felt almost comforted by that arm, were it not for the fact that she was still terrified as she remembered what T.K. had to be going through. In order to stop those creations of evil, he would have to facedown and defeat all that was wrong with humanity... the very essence of demonkind.
"Kari? What's... what's happening to him?" the older boy whispered.
Kari closed her eyes, hearing again the charge that had been laid upon T.K.'s young shoulders. A spear of righteousness, cast from my hand to strike down the evil. That is what you will become. But the girl did not know how to explain to Matt what she knew to be happening at that moment. She only knew what her part was to be. "Come on, Matt, let's get the others. We've got a lot of work to be done."
After a moment Yolei joined the pair as well. "Matt?" the girl asked, looking somewhat flustered. "Can I... uhm, borrow your coat? It's kind of an emergency."
The older boy's eyebrows went up at this, but he did as the girl requested and shrugged off the heavy jacket. In truth, it was becoming quite hot outside and he wasn't certain why he had kept the thing. "Thanks," Yolei said, darting back towards the others.
"This is so embarrassing," Davis complained as he stood with his back to the cool stone wall of the shattered building.
"Well, just be thankful that you had your back to that thing when it threw the fire, or it could've been a lot worse," murmured Cody, his back to the other boy and steadfastly refusing to turn around. "As it is you've just got a fairly nasty sunburn and a cut lip."
Davis rolled his eyes in exasperation. "And I'll be sleeping on my stomach for weeks," he muttered.
And then Kari and Yolei joined the pair, the older girl with Matt's coat dangling from her arm. "Oh good. You found one," Davis exclaimed, reaching his hand forward to demand the jacket from her.
Kari looked confused, her eyes going from Davis to Yolei and back again. "I don't understand. What's the emergency?"
Then both of them blushed a dark red. "Well..." the boy said, snatching the coat and tying it tightly around his waist. "You see... it seems that those little balls that the thing was throwing around had quite a lot of energy inside of them... and..."
But now Yolei grabbed the boy by the shoulders and turned him around, making a further explanation unnecessary. From the front, Davis looked the same as ever. Quite dirty, but uninjured. But in the back, the heat from the Fiend's assault had burned away almost everything, singeing the tips of his hair and completely incinerating what the boy had been wearing in the way of clothes.
Kari was alarmed. "Oh my God! Davis! Does it hurt?" she demanded, gingerly running her fingers over the pink flesh of his shoulders.
"Nah," Davis replied nonchalantly, then stopped. "Well," he amended, "maybe a little bit whenever I sit down."
"Just be glad that it was Yolei that noticed it before you walked off into that crowd of people," Cody reminded him.
Kari looked at the older girl, whose blush became even more pronounced at the little boy's reminder of what she had seen. Chuckling nervously, she rolled her eyes. "Though I would have given a lot to die before having Davis' butt flashed in front of my face."
"Well excuse me for getting most of my clothes burned off!" Davis snapped back in embarrassment, and it was possible that another fight might have ensued if Kari had not stepped in between them. "Well at least you're all safe," she interrupted with a nod.
Davis still looked ready to retort, but after a moment swallowed his words and looked at Kari. "Kari? I'm... I'm sorry that I wasn't able to stop them before T.K. had to... you know... had to..."
The girl shook her head. "Davis, he's not dead. You must have seen Myotismon enter into the body of one of those things. That's just what T.K. did. We can't stop them unless he destroys the gems first. And you did just fine, if I understand correctly. Now, since you broke his gem, instead of Roan controlling the hatred it controls him." And by way of thanks, the girl leaned forward and placed a sisterly kiss on the boy's cheek.
Of course, none of the other three noticed the suddenly insane, jealous look in Yolei's eyes as Kari did so, though the older girl had to recognize the kiss for what it was. She was prepared to snap at Kari, to say something very mean and very unYolei-like when another small tremor shook the ground, reminding the four that their time in that world was drawing to a close.
"Come on!" Matt shouted at them from the shimmering doorway in the air where he was continuously ushering the villagers past. "It's time to go!"
