If Darkness Could Befriend

by Zooming

Hotaru from Sailor Moon and Matt from Digimon are sucked into a new world. Now they must work together and defeat the evil in this world before returning to their own. Will they be able to succeed with the help of some new friends? -discontinued-

10. Knowledge

Disclaimer thing: I DON'T OWN DIGIMON OR SAILOR MOON!! LA LALALA LA! I feel so up, up, up! Do YOU own them? LA LALALA! Okay, sorry. I'm being happy. Shadow Matt and I just ate a bunch of donuts! WEEEEE!!! I wrote an angsty/ stupid poem when Lynn was mad at me. If anyone's interested please e-mail me about it at Sleepy_Shadow_Mistress@Hotmail.com...please? Okay, sorry for wasting your time.

Chapter 10! Yaaay! WOW!!! I'm on chapter ten!! WOW!! How are you guys? I'm fine! Today I learned my colors in Japanese! If you wanna know you can ask me! ^_^ I'd be very glad to teach you some...though I'm not too good myself. Japanese Level 1 is so fun at my school! We have a cool teacher. Tomorrow is a field trip! Whoopee! Are you not happy for me? I get to not run the mile! HAHAHAHAH! Blessed Museum of Tolerance, I promise to respect you and try my best to learn from you for providing me with an opportunity to miss school. *Bows* Okay, sorry. Just to let you know, THANKS FOR REVIEWING!!!! Also, this chapter will probably end up as a bunch of B.S., seeing as I have NOOO idea what to write. Gomen nasai. The before chapter was PAINFULLY short! It was like the first one, though longer, but it was STILL short. I'm sorry about that. I was really rushed. I mean, REALLY rushed. It was sort of stupid too. I know the quality versus quantity thing but the last chapter was lacking on both. I'm greatly sorry for that. Don't be mad at me....

SM: PUT ME IN THIS CHAPTER!!! YOU'VE PUT IT OFF LONG ENOUGH!!

Megumi: *Mutters* since when did minions command around their masters...*Clears throat while glaring at SM*

SM: Oh, sorry! PLEASE, PLEASE!! Put me in!

Megumi: Well, I don't know. I suppose I don't have much to do with this one, and I AM sort of down on brainpower, but I'm always low on that. I'm down on ideas. There we go. I guess I COULD put you in. MAYBE!! WE SHALL SEE!

SM: Yeah!

Megumi: Now, how to put SM in with an embarrassing way. I'm gonna make fun of you! *Laughs and points at poor little SM*

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If Darkness Could Befriend Chapter 10: Knowledge

They had been traveling through the forest for what seemed like a while. It was the night four days after the day the whole Delra incident had occurred. They had taken a long time to travel to the next ruins, though their road was somewhat untroubled. Everyone had been less talkative, all trying to forget the destruction. But the trio had been curious about what had happened. Matt had gotten some use of his fire magic, seeing as they had needed a fire to cook on. Kive played around with a stick, poking it into the fire over and over again subconsciously. He had lost his fire for arguing senselessly with Matt a while back. He felt horrible for what had happened of course. He wasn't a complete jerk. But there was something else. The ruler seemed familiar. Sure, he had heard of him, even heard him talk before at his home, but he had never seen him until the day before. Kive never pictured him as the guy he had seen, though now that Kive thought about it, the guy did fit the position. Well, that was what he supposed. He glanced over at Kiyon. 'Poor kid,' he thought, shaking his head. He knew what it was like to lose an older brother. He continued on his deep train of thought.

"Kive?" Hotaru warned, voice slightly panicked. Kive looked over at her, tilting his head in question. His eyes narrowed, seeing Matt let out a snicker in the background.

"Y-your sleeve." She said in worry. Kive glanced down at his sleeve and stared at it for a few seconds. His arm was awfully warm.... Then it registered! His sleeve was on fire!!!

"AAAH!!!! SOMEBODY HELP PUT IT OUT!!!! Kive shouted, dancing around the fire, slapping his sleeves madly. Kiyon and Matt had bursted out in laughter. Hotaru let out a giant sigh. "SOMEONE HELP!!!" He demanded. Matt stood up, still cracking up.

"H-hold s-still!" He quivered, his words shaky with laughter.

"No!!! Are you crazy?" Kive called out, still running around like mad. Matt sighed.

"Well, then. If you aren't going to stand still..." Matt said, smirking. He used a water spell, drenching Kive totally and completely. Kive felt himself get totally soaked. Matt didn't have to drench him completely! Now he was sopping wet! He sent a rage filled glare at Matt.

"Why did you do that?" Kive snapped angrily.

"I can't just hit your arm when your running around that fast so I had to hit all of you. I warned you to stop." Matt pointed out, voice filled with mirth.

"Ooh. I knew you wanted to do that." Kive growled in rage.

"Well, whether I did or I didn't I had to anyways. I mean, you were the one yelling for help." Matt chuckled. Kive clenched and unclenched his fists as he continued to narrow his eyes at Matt.

"I don't see what's so funny." Kive snarled.

"What? It was your fault. Though I must say, it was very funny seeing you just sit there as the fire went up the stick and onto your arm. You just sat there as your sleeve continued to smoke. I know that if it happened to me, you would laugh." Matt pointed out.

"It's only funny when it happens to you." Kive said, arrogantly.

"What ever you want to believe Kive." Matt shrugged. "So where are we headed to next, oh mister 'I know the land better than all of you since I live in it'?" Matt mocked.

"Where the map takes us." Hotaru said, pulling up the map Kiyon had gave them.

"I didn't know you had that! Where'd you get it?" Matt said.

"I gave it to her." Kiyon said timidly.

"Oh..." Matt said. "Can I see it?" Matt asked.

"I don't know Matt. Are you gonna let go of it this time. I recall giving you a certain bottomless bag and for some reason never getting it back." Hotaru teased.

"Aww.....come one Hotaru! I'll give it back." Matt laughed. Hotaru smiled and gave the map to him. Kive shot glares of jealousy over at Matt. He didn't hate Matt like he did when he first met him, but he wouldn't exactly call them friends either. Kive didn't get it. They could have only known each other for a few days because they didn't even know about Delra when he met them. How had Matt gotten so close to her? Sure, Kive liked her. He had liked her since the first time he saw her. He didn't know why. It was just sort of a spark he guessed. He had only known her for a few days too, but Hotaru really didn't seem to like him back. Sure, she was nice to him, but he was only just a friend to her. Not that she was head over heals in love with Matt but...

"Aha! I think we should go to the crest of Sincerity next since we're closer to that than anyone else." Matt said, showing them all on the map.

"If you knew that the ruins were that of your crest things then why didn't you tell us? Just hog the information to yourself why don't you?" Kive grumbled.

"Well, something is still confusing me. I only know of eight crests. Like I said, there are eight digidestined that I know off." Matt said. (A/N: This being season one Matt works to my plan perfectly, along with the fact that I love season one Matt! See, he doesn't know about Kaiser....what my friends and I call the Digimon emperor...and about Ken and the ninth crest and stuff. Wee! I didn't even realize how well that would work out!)

"Which one is it, Matt?" Hotaru asked.

"That one..." Matt said, finger extending to a purplish pink symbol above some ruins. Kive squinted at it and shuddered. "What's your problem Kive?" Matt asked. Kive shuddered again. Matt would probably say they had to go to that one after Knowledge, which was right after Sincerity, which was where they were going next! He sighed, staring at the little town besides it. He'd be returning home sooner than he thought.

"That's the ruins for Kindness." Kive sighed.

"Kindness? Never heard of that one...that's pretty neat. How did you know?" Matt asked.

"I know everything, Matt... you should know that by now." Kive said pompously. Matt rolled his eyes.

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"So this isn't a free village?" Kiyon whispered in awe as the four peaked from the bushes at the town.

"Isn't it obvious? Can't you see all the soldiers there in red and black uniform?" Kive hissed, rolling his eyes. Kiyon nodded timidly.

"Leave the kid alone Kive..." Matt commanded.

"Make me!" Kive challenged, each of their voice managing to raise with each new sentence.

"Be quiet! You're going to get all the guards to notice us!" Hotaru snapped in a whispered. Everyone fell silent.

"How about we go back into the forest and plot how to do things..." Matt proposed in a hushed voice.

"That's a stupid idea, Matt." Kive said, just for the sake of disagreeing.

"Kive, you know it's a good idea..." Hotaru sighed, rolling her eyes.

"Did I say stupid? I meant, it was a great idea...Matt! Why did you say it was stupid!" Kive said, falsely angrily. Matt stared at him in total aggravation.

"Kive, you know I didn't say that MY OWN IDEA was stupid..." Matt said, rolling his eyes. Kive just gave him a wolfish grin.

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"So maybe we can sneak by the guards to the ruins of Sincerity." Hotaru said. Matt and Kive nodded. "So either that or we fight them to get there, considering that they are probably guarding the entrance. Ahh! He wants us to collect the crests for him, but he's not going to make it easy for us! I don't get him.... So what do you guys wanna do?" Hotaru asked. They had gotten to a clearing in the forest where they had set up camp and they were all sitting down.

"What about me?" Kiyon shouted, waving his arms desperately.

"You can sit here like old squash..." They all stared at Kive in bewilderment. "What? It was the first thing that popped into my head!" Kive defended.

"I think what Kive meant to say was that you should wait here and we'll get you after we're finished, which isn't a bad idea, considering that it'll be dangerous and we don't want you to get hurt." Hotaru pointed out.

"Hate to disagree with you, Hotaru, but remember what happened last time? We were gone for a day and we didn't even realize it! We can't leave the kid here for a day! You don't want that, right kid?" Matt asked.

"Yea! I don't want to stay here for a day! What will I eat?" Kiyon groaned.

"Matt, stop coming up with stupid ideas. Kid, stop being so selfish. You can survive a day with out eating!" Kive said. Matt and Kiyon both rolled their eyes.

"Let's see how happy you are after spending a day with out eating." Kiyon grumbled.

"Kive! We can't starve the kid!" Hotaru protested, stopping Kive in the middle of his pounce to tackle Kiyon. She glared at him. Kive looked at her and slunk down low.

"I'm sorry! The kid gets all the food he wants!" Kive whimpered. Hotaru smiled. All of a sudden their little meeting was interrupted by a sudden crash in the bushes. Their gazes were all suddenly averted to the bushes and in an instant they were all standing.

"Shoot." They heard someone whisper from the bushes. The voice sounded awfully familiar to the four of them. They all rushed to the bushes, but no one was there. They all blinked.

"Uh...is somebody there?" Hotaru asked. No reply. Matt swung around sensing something go behind them. There was nothing. Matt blinked, tilting his head. He had sworn he had felt something go this way. Maybe it was just some weird fluke. He turned back to stare at the bushes again, but spun around glimpsing something suddenly disappear into the shadow. Matt drew his sword.

"I know you're there, whatever you are..." Matt growled, glaring at the shadow. Hotaru, Kive, and Kiyon all spun around and stared at where Matt was staring.

"Matt, there's nothing there...." Kive rolled his eyes and looked back. "I think we should search the forest." Kive proposed. Hotaru and Kiyon nodded.

"Matt?" Hotaru asked.

"Huh? What? Oh, I'll stay here. You know someone has to guard our camp, right?" He said, smiling at her. She stared at him, worried, but then turned to Kiyon and Kive and sighed, watching them argue.

"I get to go with her! I'm younger! I need protection!" Kiyon growled.

"Not a chance, kid! Go by yourself!" Kive demanded.

"No! You're mean! You go by yourself if you're so good!" He challenged.

"What, and you can't go by yourself? Stay here with Matt!" Kive shouted.

"You two go together." Hotaru spoke up. Matt snickered.

"Do we HAVE to?" The two chorused. Hotaru nodded. They both groaned. Then they headed off into the forest. As soon as they were gone Matt turned to the spot. He believed it was still there, whatever it was.

"Are you in the shadow?" Matt asked suspiciously. "Just come out and if it's a fight you want then we can just get it over with." Matt sighed. Suddenly it, or more like he, popped out. He was an all black mirror image of Matt. All the color contrast on Matt, were contrast in different shades of black and gray. Matt stared at his dark twin. His dark self eyed Matt's sword and backed away. Then looked down at his hand and squinted as if reading something.

"I...was...sent to...what's that word? Light? No....no.....right? It looks a lot like right, but I don't think that's quite it. Maybe it's tight. It could be that too. Naw, I don't think so. No, wait...fight! Yea, it's fight. I was sent to fight you.....by....the ruler." He said, squinting some more to see if he was right. Matt sweatdropped. It was almost comical. "I...cannot.....what does that say? ARG! I CAN'T EVEN READ MY OWN WRITING!!! What in the world does that say? It looks like aloe. Man, next time I should use a less smearable pencil." He sighed.

"Lemme see your hand." Matt offered. His mirror lifted up his hand and allowed him to read. "It says: I was sent to fight you by the ruler. I cannot allow you to get the crest of Sincerity. Battle me." Matt read unenthusiastically. The other Matt blushed.

"I have to fight you...." He said.

"Are you sure? You don't really seem like you want to fight me." Matt said, sounding skeptical.

"Man, I feel so useless." He groaned. "You know what. Let's just screw fighting. How about we just not fight and we can be friends. I'm Shadow Matt." Matt said, holding out his hand.

"Yea, sure. I'm Matt." Matt said, shaking his hand. "So why did you come here in the first place?" Matt asked.

"He sent me to kill you, but I can't. It's too horrible to kill someone else, especially if they're your unshadowed self." He sighed. Matt nodded.

"Wow! I didn't know there was a shadow me...so you can go into shadows?" Matt asked.

"Yeah. Special ability. Gosh, I'm such a failure. I'm a joke." Shadow Matt sighed. He began to walk over to a rock to sit down but slipped and crashed into another bush.

"So it WAS you! You're pretty clumsy!" Matt laughed.

"It's a curse." Shadow Matt sighed. "So when do you think your friends are coming back?" Shadow Matt asked.

"I think I see them now." Matt said squinting into the forest. Matt was right. Pretty soon Hotaru, Kiyon, and Kive emerged. Kive took one look at Shadow Matt and groaned.

"Not another Matt!" He moaned. Shadow Matt looked down dejectedly.

"Nice to meet you too." He sighed. "What's your name?" Shadow Matt asked him, trying hard to be nice.

"You don't deserve to know." Kive barked out. Shadow Matt sighed.

"Hi." He said to Hotaru.

"Hi. Ignore Kive. He's just being mean because, well I don't really know why." She returned.

"He's just sore because I beat him at rock, paper, scissors. He's a sore loser. My brother taught me that game. He said he learned it from Matt. It's a super fun game, except when you're playing with sour people like KIVE!" Kiyon accused.

"Rock, Paper, Scissors? What's that?" Shadow Matt murmured, curiously.

"Pipe down you little brat! I don't know how but I know you and Matt are both cheating!" He roared. Kiyon and Matt stuck their tongues out at Kive in unison. Kive glared at them.

"Anyways, I do have a name, and it's not BRAT or kid, like people around here keep calling me! I'm Kiyon." He said, cheerily.

"And I'm Hotaru. It's nice to meet you. Hey...you have something written in white on your glove." She said, peering at his hand in curiosity. "What is that....I.....have..." She began to read. Shadow Matt instantly his hand behind his back and began to wipe it furiously on his pants. He finally succeeded. Then he and Matt caught each other's glances and they began to laugh. It had been an interesting meeting. They gathered up again after some more introductions.

"Hey, Shadow Matt, do you have any ideas on how we could get in there?" Hotaru asked, after the meeting had been put underway once again. Shadow Matt nodded.

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"Wow! Traveling in the shadows is fast!" Kiyon laughed.

"It is? Yeah, you're right!" Shadow Matt said, smiling kindly.

"Kiyon's right...we're almost there. Just a little more." Matt said, looking up and seeing the real world. "That's cool. It's like the world from a different view."

"Big whoop." Kive muttered.

"Kive, stop being so sour. I don't know what's been getting you so down lately!" Hotaru commanded. Kive nodded and they reached the area and popped up. The guards all had their back to them. Hotaru heard Matt mutter, 'suckers.' She snickered. They were right in front of the big symbol that resembled a green teardrop.

"The crest of Sincerity. Now, I'm sure this is all for real. Man, I thought I'd never have to go through these kinds of things again." He whispered with a groan. They studied it, seeing what they had to do here. In the circle inside the tear drop there was an indentation for some sort of heart-shaped stone and in the teardrop was an indentation for some sort of dagger. They all stood there. "Shadow Matt, could you pull us back in?" Matt asked, voice hushed.

"What do we do now? I know something has to go into those weird indentations. I know we don't have anything. Or at least I don't think we have anything like that! Do we Hotaru?" Matt asked. Hotaru shook her head no.

"Kive?" Matt asked. "You're the only one I know has a dagger." Matt sighed.

"Don't look at me! Mine's smaller than that! Don't you think I checked? And I don't have a stone thing." He sighed.

"Shadow Matt?" Matt asked.

"Sorry. I don't think I have anything like that." Shadow Matt said, shaking his head. They all sighed.

"Wait! I was just kidding! I think I may have something!" Hotaru said. She motioned for Matt to give her the bag. He handed it over and she disappeared into it. Shadow Matt and Kiyon blinked in total confusion.

"Where did she go?" Kiyon asked.

"Into the bag." Matt and Kive both shrugged at the same time. They glared at each other.

"Don't copy me!" They both shouted in unison.

"Fine! Whatever!" They both said, sitting down in perfect harmony. Kiyon and Shadow Matt began to laugh.

"Do it again! Do it again!" Kiyon shouted in glee.

"No!" They both said again. The other two laughed even harder. Just then, Hotaru popped out.

"Huh? What's so funny? I don't see what's so funny!" She said. They all turned to her.

"Never mind." Matt said. Then he smiled.

"Aww, man! It stopped. That was pretty funny too!" Kiyon laughed. Shadow Matt nodded. Hotaru blinked.

"Nothing happened Hotaru. So? What did you get?" Matt asked. Hotaru held up a heart shaped, lavender stone. "Wow! Looks like a perfect fit! You're smart, Hotaru! So how did you get that?" He asked.

"Well, you see, it's part of my sailor uniform." She pointed out. They all blinked curiously. "Um...never mind; I'll explain later." She promised. They all nodded. Then Shadow Matt popped them up into the surface and Hotaru put the stone in, perfect fit. "I guess we need the dagger too." She sighed. No one noticed Kiyon peering inquisitively at the dagger indent.

"Shadow Matt...! Pull us back in." Kiyon demanded in a whisper. Shadow Matt pulled them back in.

"Guys! I've seen that dagger before! It's Hakiyo's!" Kiyon said excitedly. The trio's eyes fell down to the ground, leaving Shadow Matt to wonder, though he didn't ask. No use reopening wounds, right? "No you guys! Don't you understand? You need him to open this thing so he HAS to be alive, right? MY BROTHER'S ALIVE!!! YAAAY!!" Kiyon yelled in utmost bliss. They all couldn't help but smile. Then Kiyon turned to Shadow Matt.

"Yea, Kiyon?" Shadow Matt asked.

"Jump with me!" He commanded happily, whilst taking Shadow Matt's hands and jumping up and down.

"Uh...uh, do I have to?" Shadow Matt said, embarrassed. Kiyon nodded. Shadow Matt began jumping up and down with him, face totally scarlet with embarrassment. He let out a sigh. Kive began laughing his lungs out at them and Matt and Hotaru couldn't help but crack a smile.

"So, we have to find Hakiyo to open the ruins and to do that it means he has to be alive, right?" Matt said, bringing it up again. "So until we find him we can't open the ruins. So let's go to the others first and then, if we haven't found him then, then we search for him and then we can come back here. So let's go!" Matt said. Then he heard a crash and turned to face Kiyon and Shadow Matt and saw Shadow Matt, face flat on the ground.

"WHAT A LOSER!" Kive bursted out, rolling on the ground while occasionally pointing and laughing at Shadow Matt.

"Are you okay?" Hotaru said, trying to stifle a smile. "Kive, stop laughing so hard! It's not nice."

"You okay?" Kiyon asked, poking at Shadow Matt. Matt sighed and walked over, helping Shadow Matt up.

"I'm fine! I just...sort of.....tripped again." He said, humiliated. His cheeks were burning bright red and he was trying to look away in shame.

"You really are clumsy." Matt said, shaking his head, smiling. Shadow Matt smiled back and then turned to stare at Kive.

"Uh...no offense but you look sort of stupid rolling on the ground like that." Shadow Matt said, clearing his throat. Kive stopped and stood up.

"Are you picking a fight with me?" Kive growled. Shadow Matt shook his head, no. Kive glared at him. "That's right. You know I'd probably beat you in five seconds. It's too embarrassing for you." Kive said, giving him a pat on the shoulder. Shadow Matt sighed and shrugged his hands off.

"No...I think I can take you, I just don't want to embarrass you in front of your friends." Shadow Matt said. Kive GLARED at him. "BUT THE MAIN REASON...eheheh.....is because I don't like fighting." Shadow Matt pointed out, smiling nervously. Kive seemed to accept that. Shadow Matt let out a relieved sigh.

"You really should stand up for yourself." Matt said, pulling him to the side when Kive had gone to sit next to Hotaru.

"But you shouldn't fight, unless you have a good reason." Shadow Matt pointed out. Matt nodded.

"That's very true, but sometimes, as you'll probably come to learn, it's very hard with Kive." Matt sighed.

"Why does he not like me?" Shadow Matt asked.

"Probably cuz you look a lot like me." Matt pointed out. "And I KNOW he doesn't like me." Then he raised his voice for the others to hear, "We should go to the ruins of Knowledge." They all nodded.

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They had gotten there in six days. It would have been five, but they took a lot of breaks and Shadow Matt continued to trip. Also, they hadn't traveled in shadow because Kive had insisted that walking was better and that he liked seeing the world from this view better. The village around it was abandoned for some unknown reason. They decided not to hang around to find out why and they immediately went searching for the ruins. They had found it easily and in the centerline of the two circles was an indent for Matt's sword. Matt placed it in and there was a giant flash of light. This time they were all together, in the start of a giant maze.

"Great! A maze! I always hated these when I was a kid..." Hotaru sighed, stressed out.

'Excuse me, but may I ask why you have entered my sphere of influence?' Asked a smart sounding disembodied voice.

"Not this again!" Hotaru, Matt and Kive all groaned.

'Oh, I see. You are the ones I am to put through trial, is that satisfactory?'

"Yeah. Are you going to go easy on us? We're tired from walking." Matt sighed.

'No. Oh yes, and you may meet an unexpected guest of mine. I did not request him, but he had passed my maze so I must permit him to remain here. You must understand. Good luck.' Then it was gone.

"Let's get started." Matt sighed.

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Hotaru breathed heavily and clinging tightly to Kiyon's hand. How they had all gotten captured, she did not know. At first they had been wandering aimlessly through countless turns. No one knew where they were going and how they could find out. They figured they were doomed to wander in the corridors forever. Then from the tops of the maze walls had sprung down three massive yellow cats that Hotaru would have loved to cuddle had they not been gigantic, covered in spikes, and absolutely dangerous. It was all the group could do to dodge random bolts of lightning that came from the beasts. They were being chased by the three when they came across a three-way fork. She wasn't totally sure. They had no ways of reading each other's minds. But she believed she had noticed Matt go left, Kive and Shadow Matt go right, and her and Kiyon had just kept on running straight. She was dead tired after darting this way and that to keep from the creature. She thought they had lost it, but she was sure that they had lost themselves too. How were they ever going to find the others? All of a sudden she heard Kiyon shout and she felt his hand start to tug her arm. She looked down and saw some sort of beetle pulling at him. She began to shriek at the sight of it and plummeted it with her glaive until it went limp and dropped off Kiyon. Kiyon breathed hard, but then he let out a sudden gasp.

"Hotaru! Watch out!" He cried and shoved her away. Hotaru felt herself hit the ground, but with no extra weight from Kiyon. She looked up and saw Kiyon continually being shocked as he was carried away.

"HOTARUUU!!!" Kiyon cried, flailing his arms at her in a desperately plea. "Hotaru! Hotaru! Please save me! It hurts!" He howled.

"KIYOOOOOON!!!! She shouted in anger and sorrow! "NOOOOOOOOOO! YOU STUPID BEETLE!!!!! BRING HIM BACK RIGHT NOW!!!!!" She screeched, but it buzzed off carrying Kiyon away screaming. "Kiyon? KIYON!!!" She sobbed. She was all alone now. She had failed to keep him with her. She had no idea how to get back to the entrance or to the exit. What was she going to do? She looked around frantically. She had to find a way in the direction that Kiyon had gone. She blasted off. She tried her best to stay in that direction. A right here, a left there, just to balance each other out. She took what seemed like an endless amount of turns, heart racing and adrenaline pumping. Which was the right way? How could she ever find her way in what seemed like an endless maze? Her mind was clouded with doubt and many more of her negative feelings. Suddenly she skidded to a stop, her inch a centimeter away from a wall. A Dead End. 'NO! NO! It's a dead end! I'll never get out! I'll be doomed to wander these paths for the rest of my forsaken life! I wont ever be able to find any of them! I wont be able to rescue Kiyon! I'm such a fool! I should have marked my trail some how. I should have thought of some plan! Why oh why is this happening to me? I'll never get out. I'll be stuck here forever. Either that or I'll be killed by a monster. Why was I so stupid?' She screamed in her mind. She could feel the negative emotions starting to take over her. Her dark feelings began to make the atmosphere dense with fear. She plopped onto the ground, clutching her head in her hands. Then a single thought raced through her head and she wiped away her tears of fear and stood back up.

"I can't let it conquer me! I've got to think that somewhere there's a way out. I'm letting something get me carried away. Dampen my thinking. I must get through this. I'm going to find a way!" She said, finding a bit of courage to build on. She smiled. She felt a lot better. Now she had to continue searching for her friends and pray that nothing horrible had befallen Kiyon. She treaded on, taking random directions. Sometimes reaching dead ends, but she refused to let it drive her mad.

Then she heard a familiar buzzing sound. She spun around and skewered a beetle that had been about to pounce upon her. She then heard much more buzzing sounds. She gulped and decided to run. She raced around in a panic; the many sounds of buzzing seemed to flood in from all directions, forcing her always down one certain path. The hum had gotten much louder. She turned around and saw about twenty zipping after her. She screamed and sped off full blast. And with every new junction of paths one came from most of her paths, always giving her one place to run. She didn't like this at all! It was like she was being herded like a cow to the slaughter house, but she kept on running, praying that the next turn would not be a dead end. She knew she'd have to fight them sometime though. She feared for the number of bugs pursuing her now. She had been through many junctions now. She was sure the number had at least doubled. Her heart was leaping out of her chest and she breathed hard, throat completely dry. She could feel her energy leave her. It seemed like she had been running for ages. Then she was herded to the right and she screeched to a stop once again. Well, she couldn't run anymore. She gulped and turned around, her chest heaving with fatigue. What she saw made her eyes widen with terror. She gawked at what seemed like an army of beetles. She held her glaive at ready, trembling at what seemed to be about fifty. Then she felt a slight spark of hope. They were weak, like the monsters at the ruins of Reliability.

"I c-can take y-you!" She stammered, trying to sound as brave as she could, though it was obvious that she was at her nerves end.

They all sped at her. She swung her glaive in quick sweeping motions, telling herself to be confident. And her confidence grew. She swung her glaive around and hacked and chopped, cutting down as many as three beetles as a time. They were, only over sized bugs, after all. She had a ruthless sense of duty smitten in her eyes as she cut off one's head, impaled another and sliced yet another in half. She never let her blade movement stop. She was surprised at herself. She supposed it was true that people become stronger when in fear.

"I can win." She murmured. She could feel sweat trickle down the side of her face. But she couldn't stop to wipe it away. The only thing important to her right now was staying alive, meaning that she HAD to defend herself. After what seemed like hours she felt her glaive hit nothing. She snapped out of her trance like state. She looked around and saw that all the beetles had fallen. There bodies had been scattered all around her. She gasped. How and why had she done this? She looked at herself seeing that she had been cut and parts of her outfit were torn from a few times where the beasts had gotten through. How come she hadn't felt them before? She dropped to the ground, completely and totally beat with not an ounce of energy left in her body and there she sat trying to clam herself down. She was so tired. If something came right then and there she refused to get up. So when the massive lightning cat rounded the corner to stare at her she didn't have the strength to get up. She just stared at it in agony. The cat let out a massive roar, casing her to back away and cower against the wall. She would never be able to take it in her state. She prepared for it to lunge at her, closing her eyes. She couldn't call upon a silence wall. She hadn't the strength. But the lion didn't come at her and after a few minutes she dared to peek and opened one eye. It just sat there, growling at the wall. She blinked and she began to turn her head to the wall but all of a sudden a pair of hands shot out from behind her and wrapped around her head, covering her mouth, preventing her from screaming. She struggled and struggled. But the grip was too strong for her. All the while, the cat sat there with its cold stare locked into a glare. Then she felt herself bound and she looked down and saw many hands had wrapped around her, covering the length of her body. The hands around her mouth let go.

"WHO'S DOING THIS???" She demanded to know.

"Too bad that such beauty was wasted on a pitiful little rat like you." She heard someone say. Her eyes widened at the sound of the voice. It was obviously Matt's, but there was something different about it... something evil...

"You're not Matt." She spat in hatred.

"Wow...big surprise." He answered. Slowly a figure appeared out of the shadows in front of her. The lightning cat let out a growl.

"Shadow Matt? But I thought you were on our side! Why?" She asked, horrified.

"I was never on your side. I just mislead you, and now you all shall lose. I'll get all your pitiful friends, even the pitiful excuse for a human I was made after, and I'll turn you over to my master. I've already got you." He laughed sinisterly. The lightning cat let out a roar. "Shut up you over sized stuffed animal. I don't care if you like me or not. There's nothing you can do about it." He spat.

"Were you the one that took Kiyon away? Bring him back! It's not fair to leave him all alone. He's so small and helpless!" Hotaru shouted desperately.

"Yeah, I took him away. He's fine for now, but we'll see. You should be worried about yourself after what my master is going to do to you. But I'll capture the rest of your pitiful gang to take away your last hope." He snickered.

"Why, Shadow Matt? Why are you doing this? I thought we were friends!" Hotaru cried.

"Oh? I never liked any of you. Why? I serve my master and my master alone. You mean nothing to me and you never did. I have no friends." He murmured.

"That's sad, having no friends. I'll be your friend, you know that. We all will be." She said, eyes downcast.

"SILENCE! I do not need your pity!" He shouted. He turned and stared at the lightning cat. "Well? Do your stuff you mangy beast!" The lightning cat glared at him with its wise, coal black eyes. "HURRY IT UP! I don't have all day here." The lightning cat stared at her and then shot out a bolt of lightning. Hotaru felt the hands around her release. She cringed back, shutting her eyes tight as she anticipated the blow...but it never came. She opened one eyes and saw that bars of lightning encased her in a cage. She backed up and slammed into the lightning bars behind her getting shocked. She instantly recoiled.

"Shadow Matt! Let me out! Please?" She pleaded. He smiled evilly at her.

"Aww...I'm sorry, but I really must be going now. Tight schedule getting rid of your friends." With that Shadow Matt motioned with his hand and Hotaru felt herself get whisked away.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ *~*~

Kive had no idea where Shadow Matt had gotten to. He wasn't really paying attention. Then when he had turned around to check if the cats were gone he realized that Shadow Matt was gone. Kive could care less about the whereabouts of his teammate. As far as he was concerned, Shadow Matt was just another annoying Matt to deal with, except more useless, and he was glad to have the loser off his hands. But he wondered where Hotaru was. He had always felt that he had to keep her safe ever since he had first met her for some reason. He had never felt like that before, towards anyone. He shook off his thoughts and stared ahead. He hadn't run into a dead end yet, thankfully. He came across a junction. A light green arrow pointed straight ahead of him, a blue arrow pointed to the right, and a purple arrow pointed to the left. He stood there and thought. What did the arrows mean?

'I'm not supposed to help you, but, they symbolize your friends. Something is very amiss. Watch your back.' The maiden's disembodies voice sounded again. Then it was gone.

"What? What do you mean by that?" Kive shouted. He sighed. After a few minutes of waiting he decided that he wouldn't get a response. He thought it over. Then it popped into his head. Matt always seemed like a blue person. Hotaru was clad in all purple. And the light green must have symbolized Kiyon. It all made sense to him now. He decided in an instant. Hotaru. He moved down the purple path and continued down a series of twists and turns. Then he came to another junction. But this time he was very confused. A black arrow pointed down each of the paths. He sat there once again, thinking hard. Finally, after about ten minutes he decided to just wing it and go down the right path. He headed down the right path; through a long walk filled with turns that seemed to never end. He stopped and stared at a dead end.

"Shoot. I guess I was wrong." He sighed. Then he saw a little purple button on the wall. He walked up and pressed it. After about five minutes of nothing Kive shrugged and gave it up for a lost cause. He turned around and began to head back when he heard a strange noise. He looked to the side and his eyes widened in terror at what he saw. There, before him, spikes had emerged out of the wall and began to move in to crush him. "SHOOOOT!" He shouted and dashed ahead. The walls were closing slowly, but he was so far from the junction. He ran as fast as he could, seeing the path begin to narrow. Then he heard another of the weird noises he had heard when spiked had come out of the walls. He didn't like that sound. He stared around frantically, wondering where it had cam out, he continued moving. He still had to get out. Suddenly, something in his brain told him to jump forward so he did just that. And it was a good thing. Right where he had been standing a spike protruded from the floor. He stared in terror and began to blast ahead. He ran and ran, spikes popping up right behind him and spikes enclosing from the side. He could feel his heart racing and sweat trickled down the side of his face.

"WHY IS THIS HAPPENING TO ME?" He shouted, stopping. Then he suddenly rolled away from where he had been standing. Right where he had been another spike poked out from the floor. He stood up and began to run. He could see the junction. Then, suddenly, he could feel something dragging him in the opposite direction. He pulled with all his might, opposing it with all his might. This maze must have really wanted him dead. It was like there a was a vacuum trying to suck him in. He was so close to the junction. He cringed as he saw the barbs were only half a center away from piercing his skin. Then he remembered the perils coming at him from below and he attempted to jump forward, but only got pulled back more. Luckily, he was pulled back just enough to dodge the spike that popped up at his former position. He raced forward to gain back his distance. He continued to push against the force so eager to seal his doom. He was almost there. Just a few more feet. He felt the thick needles poke his shoulders and tear through the fabric. He flinched but continued ignoring the pain of scraping his skin against the spikes. He had to make it. Only a little more. Just five more feet! Then pain shot up his shoulder and he realized the spikes had pierced his first layer of skin. He knew he would have spikes deep in his shoulder by the time he got through. He instantly tried to shift sideways to make it so he had more room. He was successful, but he had also increased the length of the scratched on his shoulder by turning. He winced but continued on. Then he felt a sharp pain sear up his right leg. He stared down in pain, realizing he had neglected to think of the floor spikes. The whole length of his leg had a long red gash. He instantly moved away from the spike and covered the rest of the distance, great pain from walking ripples up his slashed up leg. He was more dragging it along than walking with it. Finally he pulled his way through. And crumpled to the ground. He swore that his heart was about ready to jump out of his chest at the rate it was beating. He stared down at the nasty slash and gulped. His blood had soaked onto his pants. He reached in his bottomless bag, which he had never told anyone about, and retrieved a long bandage. He was always being lectured to bring medical supplies around, just in case an accident happened. He admitted now that he was glad of it. He bandaged it, ignoring the pain. He knew it was for the best. He sighed, realizing that his arms were a bit cut up too. But his leg was way worse off and he decided to pay more attention to it. Plus his leg HURT! Then he suddenly felt his stomach churn as he heard the sudden grind of the spikes closing together. Kive gulped and stared back over at them, realizing that he could have been sandwiched between those same spikes. He turned back to his leg and sat there, waiting for the pain to die down a little. After a long while he felt a bit better. He made an attempt to stand up and felt his leg again crumple below him, causing him to stagger a few step forward before he collapsed onto the ground. His face landed straight on the arrow that had been pointing to the left when he had first came into the junction. But now it was different. It was shining purple. He decided that pushing that button had done more than start up the spikes. He shuddered, thinking about the path he had just gone down again. He hoped he'd never have to do that again. He stared at his right leg, which was once again throbbing again. Then he stared down the path the glowing purple arrow was pointing to. What would he do? What if the path was another death trap? He doubted he'd be able to get through again. He admitted it. He was afraid. Truly afraid. And even if he could go down the path, would his leg even support his weight the whole way? Suddenly he decided.

"If I just sit here then nothing will happen. It'll probably take forever for my leg to heal and I have nowhere else to go and nowhere else to turn, so I might as well go down that stupid path. It might lead to Hotaru. I can hope." He grumbled. Then he willed his leg to walk and he made his way down the path, pain pulsating through his leg. He cringed with every step and forced his way on. Sometimes his leg would give in and he would fall, but he kept forcing himself up. He thought himself a fool on a wild goose chase. It probably just led to another junction, but he could hope. Finally, after what seemed like an eternity of forcing himself to walk forward he reached a large room. His eyes lit up.

"Hotaru!" He shouted and plopped down on the ground with relief. Then he stared at her, realizing she had been encased with lightning.

"Kive! What are you doing here? Oh my gosh! What happened?" She cried, realizing that blood had soaked through his bandage. "Come here!" She demanded. Kive scooted forward. Hotaru carefully reached her hand through the lightning bars and put it over Kive's gash. Kive blinked and stared at her. He watched her concentrate hard, hands trembling. After a few more minutes Kive's leg felt much better, though it still hurt terribly. She sighed and rested her head on her knees, eyes drooping.

"I'm sorry. That's all I could do. It was a nasty gash." She said, voice raspy.

"Hotaru! You shouldn't have used up your energy to heal me! I would have lived." He said, worried. She smiled at him.

"You came here for me. Thanks. I'll feel better soon. I just feel drained again." She sighed.

"Hey, don't worry about it. And don't think this was your fault. You made it feel a lot better." He assured her.

"The bleeding has stopped a little, I think. And I tried to close it a bit. I didn't get to do too much. I was already sort of tired. I'm sorry, Kive."

"No problem. I got the wound out of my own stupidity. Now we have to figure a way to get you out of there." Kive stated.

"I don't think so." Shadow Matt said, popping up by his right side.

"Shadow Matt? Go away. Don't bother us right now." Kive growled. Hotaru was glaring at Shadow Matt. Kive ignored him. Then Shadow Matt pulled his foot back and slammed it into Kive's right leg. Kive instantly recoiled in pain, face twisted in agony as he clutched at his leg.

"Shadow Matt! Please! Leave Kive alone! Can't you see you're hurting him?" Hotaru begged desperately. Shadow Matt stared at her and kicked Kive's leg again. Kive let out a pain filled shout and whipped out his sword. Shadow Matt set his foot on Kive's leg and shoved down. Kive let out another cry of pain and dropped his sword, too hurt to hold it.

"You don't think you can fight me in your shape, can you?" Shadow Matt laughed. He was enjoying Kive's pain. Hotaru stared at them in horror and fear for Kive.

"LEAVE HIM ALONE!" Hotaru cried. Shadow Matt pressed harder with him foot. Kive bit down on his lip hard to keep from crying out. He pulled out his dagger quickly and hurled it straight at Shadow Matt's face. Shadow Matt saw it and tried to dodge, but it barely got him, grazing his cheek.

"Daring move." Shadow Matt growled. Moving away from Kive. Then he whistled. A cat bounded down from the tops of the maze to rest by Shadow Matt's side, growling at him. He just rolled his eyes at it. "Do your job already, stupid feline." He roared. The beast let out an angry roar before caging Kive like Hotaru. Kive sat there, eyes squeezed shut in pain. Hotaru stared at Kive in pure fear and worry.

"Kive? Are you going to be okay?" She whispered.

"I-I'll be fine." He croaked, continuously clutching at his leg. Shadow Matt stared at the both of them and whisked his hand in a motion and Kiyon appeared in a cage next to Hotaru, looking like he had been shocked the whole way over. He was sitting up, looking severely tired.

"Now, I only have to get Matt. Let's go find him!" He laughed and whisked them all way.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ *~*~

Matt sat there in a dead end, a lightning cat lying besides him, extremely injured. It had chased him the whole way and when he ran into the dead end he had been forced to fight it. It had not been easy. He had been electrocuted and he had three gashes across his chest from when it lunged at him while shocking him. He had not been prepared at all when it had attacked him and he ran into the dead end. He hadn't even had his sword out. He also had a bad scratch on his face and a deep cut on his arm from where massive claws had almost raked him. Along his other upper arm was a long slash, though not too deep. He breathed heavily, recalling the battle.

~*~*~

Matt felt the electric current go through his whole body, shocking him. He was in major pain as he was shocked. Then all of a sudden the cat came at him. It lashed him across his chest and stopped shocking him. Matt staggered back, clutching his chest in pain. He leaped away from the cat's range and stared down at his hand. Blood. He felt his head spin. But then he shook it off and decided that he had to fight. He pulled out his sword and charged at it. The beast dodged all his slashes with its swift nature, leaving Matt tired. Then it suddenly spring upon him, leaping for his head, but Matt quickly dodged as best he could, but one claw got him across his cheek. Then he slashed with his blade at the beast and left a nasty gash. The beast roared back in pain. Matt then slashed it again. Then it leaped at him again, knocking the sword out of his hands in a quick pounce while getting him on his arm. Matt gulped and backed away trying to get to his blade, but the cat hopped in the way, cutting him off. Matt let out a gulp and continued backing away as the cat got closer. He could fear his fear start to overtake him, but he pushed it away. He wouldn't let this cat toy with him. But then the cat sprung at him and slashed, leaving a cut along his whole arm. He clutched it in pain, but ran back and faced the cat, chanting his magic words and concentrating as the beast dashed at him. Then an ice beam shot out and hit the beast square on, freezing him in an instant. Matt let out a sigh of relief and dug through his bag and bandaged his arm. It didn't hurt too much. He'd survive and he could still sword fight since the cat had slashed the left arm and he was right handed. He made his way to his sword. But, as soon as he picked it up he heard a cracking sound behind him. His eyes widened as he saw the beast break out and then start to dash at him to impale him with its long spikes. It did not seem like a very happy ending! "OH SHOOT!" Matt shouted, seeing the beast's eyes glow red with rage as it charged to tackle him. Matt jumped to the side, the spot where he had been back from electricity. Then held out his sword just as the beast charged by. His sword raked the whole length of the beast's side and fell to the ground in pain. Matt wiped of his sword and sat down and that was where he was at now.

~*~*~

He stared at the beast. It had been a while now and the beast's breathing had become shallow. Matt felt a pang of worry for the massive, spiked cat for some reason. It wasn't like killing off a Digimon. These didn't come back. That's what he believed at least. He reached out to touch it but withdrew rubbing his fingers in pain. The spikes were as sharp as ever. The beast roared at him for attempting to touch it. Matt sighed and backed off a little. Then it let out another roar, except this time in pain. Matt felt a wave of guilt shoot through him. This was his fault, after all. But if he hadn't beat it it would have killed him! Then he tried to shrug off the guilt. This was his ENEMY! It wanted to KILL him. But now it looked so helpless. He sighed. Well? How could he help it anyways? The damage was already done. Matt sighed and looked at his arm, thinking that the cat's wound must have felt worse than the cut on his arm, which wasn't troubling him too much. Matt sighed. This was the second pair of clothes he had to replace. Then he stared back at the beast, feeling guilty again. He wanted to help it, and he didn't care if helping the enemy made him a softy or a traitor. It wasn't right to just leave it and let it die. He searched through the bag with his good arm and retrieved the green vile that Stacey had given him. He popped off the cork and held it to the creature's mouth. The cat roared and backed off from it.

"Drink it. It's good for you." Matt commanded. The cat stared into his eyes and decided to trust him. It began to drink some of the potion. Then, when it had drunk about a quarter it refused to drink it anymore. Matt stared at it worried, but then stared where the cut had been and saw that it had significantly healed. The cat obviously thought that it should drink just enough so that it could walk around and act normal. Then its spikes retracted and it began to rub up against Matt, purring. Matt smiled. It had been a good decision to help it. "It's okay, it's okay. I guess we're friends now!" He laughed. Then he put away the vile. He'd save it for a time he'd really need it. All of a sudden Matt felt something start to approach. He signaled for the cat to stop and he stared at a part of the shadows.

"Shadow Matt?" Matt asked. Then a few long shadow hands shot out in an attempt to grab him. Matt slashed them all down. "I thought you said you didn't want to fight me, Shadow Matt." Matt growled.

"I lied. How did you know it was me?" He asked popping up out of the wall's shadow.

"You can't be Shadow Matt. The Shadow Matt I know is nice and not to mention, clumsy." Matt growled

"Well, I fooled you then. It was all an act. You fools are so gullible." He laughed. "How did you know it was me?"

"Why should I tell you?" Matt snapped.

"Because, if you don't do whatever I tell you I'll kill her." He reasoned. He made Hotaru and her cage appear.

"Matt!" She called. All of a sudden Shadow Matt held the blade to her throat.

"Hotaru! Leave her out of this, bastard." Matt snarled.

"It'd be so easy to kill her. If I just press a little bit more." He taunted. Matt's eyes widened.

"Leave her alone! I'll do whatever you want!" He pleaded. Shadow Matt stepped away from Hotaru and smacked Matt with the flat part of his blade. Matt cringed back. Then the lightning cat sprung forward to his defense, spikes appearing once again. It clawed and slashed, leaving scratches all over Shadow Matt, pushing him away from Matt. Finally it had driven Shadow Matt a safe distance away from Matt and stood its ground firmly in front of him. Then Matt noticed Shadow Matt was right next to Hotaru. He held his blade to her neck again.

"How dare you use me like this! Matt, don't listen to him. When he has you he has us all! I'd rather die than have him listen to you!" She shouted. Matt's eyes softened.

"Call off your cat or I'll kill her." Shadow Matt snarled with rage.

"You heard him..." Matt sighed, defeated. "I don't want to get Hotaru hurt. Her safety goes before mine." The cat stared at him, worried, letting him know it had his back and that they should fight. "No, I have to listen to him. I want you to listen to him too."

"You're smart." Shadow Matt said. "Tell your little pet to form an electric cage around you." He demanded. The cat let out a ferocious roar and got in a position to spring at him when Matt stopped it.

"No, listen to it." Matt sighed.

"Matt! Don't do it!" Hotaru called. Shadow Matt hit her, not affected by the bars.

"Leave her alone." Matt snarled. "Go on, listen to him." Matt told the cat. The cat stared at him, pleadingly but when it saw the finality in Matt's eyes it submit and caged Matt. Then Shadow Matt covered it in shadow hands, blocking off its electric attacks.

"You better not hurt either of them." Matt snarled.

"Oh, don't worry. My master will take care of that. But first, I have a little unfinished business to take care of here. Then we can all go and I can turn you in." He mocked. He whisked them away and they landed in a large room that Kiyon and Kive were in.

"Is this still in the maze?" Matt asked.

"This is the exit." Shadow Matt pointed out.

"What kind of unfinished business do you have?" Matt asked.

"Well, for one thing I have to get the crests and I need you worthless rats for that. But there's something else, and I'll wait here as long as it takes." He said darkly.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ *~*~

Shadow Matt continued on. He wondered what had happened to everyone. He couldn't say he wasn't worried. The cat chasing him had just disappeared and now he was alone. The only sound was the sound of his own footsteps and that creeped him out. But he felt a pull in a certain direction and for some reason he always knew where to turn. Sometimes he'd start thinking about what was going on really hard and he'd crash into a wall, but he had not run into a dead end yet. He continued on and on, but nothing happened. He felt the pull get stronger. He was confident he was going straight to the exit. Finally he emerged in a room, facing the back of a familiar figure. In the far end of the room were Matt, Hotaru, Kive, and Kiyon all in lightning cages. Next to Matt's cage was a lightning cat encased in shadow hands. WAIT! Shadow hands? But...

"I've been waiting for you." He heard his own voice come from the figure. He turned around revealing himself

"What? How can this be?" Shadow Matt asked in horror. All of his friend's eyes turned to him.

"Shadow Matt? What? There are two?" Kive asked.

"I knew you were a fake!" Matt shouted at the evil Shadow Matt.

"He's the fake." The evil one growled.

"I'm glad to know that you really didn't betray us." Hotaru said, smiling slightly.

"You're gonna save us right?" Kiyon said, hopeful.

"Hey guys... Shadow Matt? How can there be two of us? I just don't understand!" Shadow Matt, said, confused.

"The master thought you were a worthless traitor so he created me. I don't know how an error like you came about, but I suppose since the master is human he makes mistakes. He sent me to right that mistake. There can be only on Shadow Matt in existence." He said icily. Shadow Matt glared at him.

"Let my friends go!" Shadow Matt shouted.

"I'm afraid I can't do that. But it wont matter much what happens to them after you're dead, am I right? Let's fight." He demanded, unsheathing his sword. (A/N: I'm going to call the Evil Shadow Matt Dark SM and Shadow Matt, well, Shadow Matt..... or SM, it quite depends.)

Dark SM ran forward, sword unsheathed. Shadow Matt pulled out his sword just in time to meet the other sword. Shadow Matt and Dark SM pushed against each other, neither winning. They both jumped back. Then Dark SM came in with a side cut, but SM met it. And he met every other attack that Dark SM threw at him. Then Dark SM came in with a downward cut. Shadow Matt caught it and jumped back. They circled each other, searching for a weakness. Then Shadow Matt came in with an upper slash, which was blocked and they met each other's swords continually as SM started going on offense. Then Dark Shadow Matt tripped him. Shadow Matt fell to the ground and Dark SM switched his blade from sword fight to stab and plunged it down at SM. SM quickly rolled away heart beating intensely. He had never liked sword fights. The stakes were always too hard and it was too dangerous of an activity for him to enjoy. On false move and... He got up and charged Dark SM. They met each other's blade again, but Shadow Matt was in the bad position and was force to jump back. Dark SM attacked him in a fast flurry of swings, keeping SM too busy to busy to take advantages of his openings. Dark SM swung his sword in a confusing movement but SM managed to parry it. SM swung his sword forward at the same time Dark SM did. Then SM and Dark SM once again met their identical swords head to head. They both jumped back and waited for the other to make a move. Shadow Matt felt something wrap around his leg. He looked down and saw a shadow hand and cut it. Dark SM used this opportunity to land a slash on SM. SM tried to dodge and missed having himself being chopped in two, but he had a gash along his stomach. He cringed back in pain. He stood there, clutching his stomach, a look of deep pain engraved on his face. Dark SM raised his blade, ready to plunge it into SM when he suddenly felt a swift pain in his leg. He looked down and he saw SM had swung and had cut into his leg slightly, though not very deep. SM pulled his sword out and away.

"Gotcha." He mocked and jumped back. Dark SM took a step forward and winced in pain. "Hey? Did I get you too hard? Sorry...." SM said sincerely. Then Dark SM jumped at him and knocked his sword out of his hands and stabbed at SM. SM tried to dodge, but it still caught him in his shoulder. "Come on. Let me get my sword." SM grimaced.

"No." He said plainly and pushed it harder, trying to pierce the bone. SM felt MAJOR pain shooting down his arm and through his shoulder. He gulped. Then he decided he had to take action. He kicked forward and slammed Dark SM straight in the stomach. SM saw he lost grip of his sword and it dropped to the ground. SM crumpled down, Pain searing through his shoulder as the blood flowed freely out. Dark SM stood up and picked up SM's sword, hate burning in his eyes. SM shrunk back and stood up trying to back away, only to trip and fall again. He scooted back as Dark SM scooted forward, sword glinting dangerously. As soon as he got close enough he tried to stab Shadow Matt again, but Shadow Matt lashed out his leg and tripped him again. Shadow Matt stood up and kicked Dark SM's hand do that the sword flew out of it. Then he kicked Dark SM as he tried to get up. Dark SM felt the blow to his side and cringed, but didn't hesitate to bounce right up. Shadow Matt reached back to grab Dark SM's blade and Dark SM reached to grab SM's blade. They faced each other and threw their swords to their rightful owners. Dark SM thrust his sword at SM's head, but SM pushed it down with his own blade. Then he kicked Dark SM away. All of a sudden he started to feel light headed and the pain in his shoulder was intensifying. He dropped his sword and fell to the ground. Dark SM stepped forward and SM attempted to get up or scoot back, but his arm strength failed him and he sat there staring at Dark SM in horror as his arm gave out.

"Please don't kill me..." He whispered. Then he got an idea. Since they were both Shadow Matts......... He concentrated on the shadow hands around the cat and made them disappear. Then he stared at Dark SM defiantly.

"What? Any last words?" Dark SM mocked, not noticing the giant cat hurtling at him at lightning speed.

"Yup, bye bye!" SM said waving. Dark SM stared at him in confusion, withdrawing the blade as he turned around to see a lightning cat in his face.

"SHOOOOT!" He shouted as the lightning cat rammed into him sending him flying across the room and shocking him at the same time in an attempt to kill him.

"Let him go. He can't do anymore now..." Shadow Matt said, staring at Dark SM, sprawled on the ground with many wounds from the cat's spikes and blacker than he was before from being continually shocked. He slipped into the shadows.

"Just watch Shadow Matt. You think you've won. I'll get you. Just watch. You haven't seen the last of me!" His voice echoed through the room. The lightning cat released everyone in the cages. They all shouted to him, but he couldn't quite hear them, he fell to his knees clutching his head. His vision had gone fuzzy on him and he couldn't get a hold of himself. The next thing he knew everything went all white and SM went unconscious.

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"Shadow Matt!" Hotaru called and ran to him. He was unconscious, shoulder and stomach bleeding freely. He had lost a lot of blood. Hotaru looked at him in pure worry. Everyone ran over.

"He's way brave." Kiyon said in admiration. "Do you think he'll be okay?"

"I don't know. He's lost a lot of blood." Hotaru said, vexed.

"Here we were, thinking he was evil." Kive sighed. "He's a better person than I thought."

"He saved us all. I didn't think that he would do that to us." Matt said. The lightning cat nudged Matt's hand, spikes withdrawn. "What is it?" He asked then a white light engulfed them.

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"I'm sorry. I didn't test you myself but I see that you are worthy." A girl said. They all turned to look at her. She had long, black hair with purple streaks pulled into a tight braid lace with purple flowers, and light purple eyes. She was dressed in a yellow Egyptian robe with purple lines that traces around her robe making it look like a computer chip, and with purple sandals, gloves, and hems. "You're friend has a very strong will to fight against himself." She added, handing Matt the crest of knowledge.

"Can you heal him?" Matt asked.

"No, I do not have healing powers. Ask your friend." She said, signaling over at Hotaru. Matt stared at Hotaru.

"I never knew that..." Matt said.

"Don't ask her to do it, if you really care about her Matt. She's already drained." Kive said, staring down at his leg. Matt raised an eyebrow at him.

"Hotaru, I don't want you to over exert yourself." He sighed. "There's got to be another way." He sighed. The cat nudged his bottomless bag. "Oh yea! You're smart!" Matt smiled. "I guess I forgot about it with all the action and drama and stuff." Matt laughed.

"Look at him. He's just as perky as ever as his copy just sits there on the ground unconscious." Kive said, shaking his head at Matt.

"Geez...it's not like I don't care. It's just that I just realized something that can help thanks to my animal friend here." Matt said, rolling his eyes. He walked over to Shadow Matt. "Shadow Matt...wake up." Matt said nudging him a little. Shadow Matt groaned and peeked at Matt with one eye.

"What Matt?" He rasped. Matt pulled out the green vile.

"Drink this." Matt ordered, handing it to him. SM began to drink it and instantly felt much better. He stopped and handed it back to Matt. He had drunk about another quarter. He wasn't healed all the way but he was healed enough.

"That's like miracle potion or something. I didn't want to drink it all. We should save it and use it sparingly." He pointed out, sitting up.

"Where'd you get that Matt?" Hotaru asked.

"The girl who taught me magic gave them to me." He informed, putting it away in the bag.

"What's that Isis?" The girl asked. They looked to her as she stared into the cat, now known as Isis' eyes.

"Isis says you use the potion to save her and that she's eternally grateful and that she wants to repay you in anyway she can. My little kitten is so sweet." She said, petting Isis. "Well...I still need to give you my gift, right?" They all nodded. She stared down at Isis. "Well, I don't know. Your mother wouldn't be happy if I did that." Isis stared at her pleadingly. "Isis wishes to go with you...but Isis? You will make them stand out looking like that." She sighed.

"How are you talking to her?" Kiyon asked, pulling at her robe. She smiled at him.

"Telepathically." She said. "Well, Isis. I suppose I could do that." She sighed. "Just for your happiness." She started concentrating and her eyes glowed purple. The whole room flashed white and standing before them was a black haired girl with red eyes and a long yellow robe with many Egyptian looking embellishments that looked to be about fifteen.

"Wow, I'm human." She said dumbfounded, in a soft sweet voice. "Thank you so much!" She said, hugging the maiden of Knowledge. The maiden flashed her a warm smile.

"Go out and help them okay. You now have the ability to change back and forth between cat and human. Make me proud." The maiden nodded. The there was a flash of white and they were back outside.

"Thanks for helping me Matt. I'm sorry for attacking you." She said, blushing as she stared at Matt.

"No problem. It's not like I'm dying." He shrugged.

"Thanks for setting me free SM." She nodded at Shadow Matt. "I thought you were very brave."

"Like Matt says, no problem. Anyways, you're the one who saved me." Shadow Matt answered. They all began to talk and introduce themselves, walking back to where they had set up camp. Shadow Matt lagged behind sensing that he was being watched. He turned around and saw nothing.

"Shadow Matt. You shouldn't fall behind, you might get lost!" Isis called back. Shadow Matt took a final glance back and ran over to where they all were. Meanwhile, in the shadows, Dark Shadow Matt watched his twin in loathing. Then he stared at Isis. So she was the lightning cat? Well he'd get rid of her too.

"Just watch Shadow Matt. I'll make sure you have a slow painful death, and I'll be the one causing it. And then I'll kill that cat. Take out all nine of its lives slowly and painfully as well." He growled, voice seething with hatred as he watched the group disappear into the forest.

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Wow! Did you like it? It's 18 pages on Microsoft Word! Please review! It's my longest Chapter yet! I don't know if it's a bunch of B.S. cuz I haven't read it yet. I really abused everyone in this chapter...I hope they aren't mad at me. Ehehehe.

SM: HOW COULD YOU DO THAT TO ME! I THOUGHT YOU LIKE ME!

Megumi: ehehehehe...see you folks! Got to go! Don't forget to review! Eheheh

SM: WAIT MEGUMI! ANSWER ME!!!

Megumi: Bye!

P.S. I corrected some REALLI obvious spelling errors. Hey, Lynn? If you want to read my fanfics and correct the errors then just tell me. I need someone to do that. I don't know if you're the best one to ask, though...JUST PLAYING. I know you'll at the least catch the worst spelling errors and plot holes. But remember~! DON'T BE CHANGING THE PLOT BEHING ME BACK!! o.O;;;;