Miyako Inoue… One of the so-called "02 chosen" having first gone to the digital world to fight the Kaiser. Weak, requiring jogress for her digimon to reach even the perfect level, never having had reached its final stage… And of course, also flirtatious and utterly insane to a degree never seen in any others needed to protect either world.
Miyako Inoue, the sole remaining light in the digital world, even after events that brought Hikari herself to sorrow. Miyako Inoue, the protector of the light. Miyako Inoue, the digital world's savior.
And it was Miyako who stood watching over Factorial now, finally showing what she was known for once again… "Dark forces of the digital world, hear me! You don't stand a chance, I'll crush anyone who tries to hurt Hikari or disturb the peace of the digital world!" Miyako yelled excitedly, pointing a finger at the darkness… To the left of her, Hawkmon sweatdropped and wondered why he had to be stuck with the mad one among of the chosen…
"And to think when I first met her, she didn't even want to fight… This world has truly changed her…" Hawkmon mused, and then was berated by Miyako for not perching by her side as she began her dramatic poses needed to ward off evil…
From the room adjacent to the balcony, Hikari rested, pleased that at least Miyako would fight… "She did make a promise… I'm glad Miyako-chan stuck to it, we'll need her…"
"That's right… At least she won't slip, even if I haven't always liked her… I do fear for Angemon though…" Angewomon said sadly, understanding more then anyone what those gazes at the bearer of hope meant… "And I could easily have ended up the same way…" She added, smiling as she glomped the wounded Hikari…
"That's right… Fallen Devimon will take the first chance he gets, and when that happens…" Angewomon said, not wanting to think of what would happen after that… "It's odd, but it seems he's willing to even give Angemon a bit of happiness before he finally exacts his revenge…"
"It's because of Hououmon. It seems that love really does triumph over all." The bearer of light said, smiling and kissing her digimon, as Angewomon lost herself in bliss…
But for all the happiness they felt, all the others could do was merely drown in sorrow… And though the battle would not soon come to factorial, the world above was badly ravaged, and the tundra of freezeland and the canyon to the east both came under the control of Fallen Devimon, with all the benefits enslaving the Yukidarumon race would give added to his mighty army, and it seemed Angemon would back fall to darkness with even the slightest push…
And for that reason, Miyako energetically leaped over to Takeru's digimon, and so they met once more, the old and new protectors of the light, so very similar in so many ways…
"Miyako-chan… You've fought well…" Angemon began, as Miyako scratched her head and wondered what Takeru's digimon was being so serious about… "I'm not sure how much longer I can last… Please, protect this world's hope…"
"Ne? Isn't Sora-chan protecting him?" Miyako asked, and Angemon sweatdropped…
"I didn't just mean Takeru-kun. When it comes to Devimon, even he's not that hopeful…" Angemon responded, a brief look of sadness coming when Sora's name was mentioned… "I want you to always keep fighting, to always provide hope to this world's digimon even when Takeru fails…" Angemon said, pulling something out from within his wings… "Here, take this."
"That's the Digimental of hope, isn't it? I can't take that, it belongs to Takeru-kun… His hope's not gone completely, I mean, you're still in adult form, right?"
"Takeru's hope is hanging by a thread, and I assure you my becoming Pegasmon won't be needed in the near future… But Hawkmon, he can't fight much to begin with, and hope always has a way of triumphing… I'm sure you can make the Digimental glow, and maybe, just maybe, it will bring us victory…" Angemon responded, flying off… "Goodbye, Miyako-chan, and please save this world…"
I've done what I must… At least now, even if I bring about Takeru's fall, there's still hope for this world… At least this way, I can afford to fail…
He doesn't even trust himself, and he's deceiving Takeru to get this to me, afraid he'll destroy the one source of hope Takeru has left… I can't say why he trusts me so much, but… I'll use this well, though I pray I'll never have to… Miyako thought sadly, remembering the horrors of war, remembering their former leader… "I guess Daisuke's death never really hit me until now… All we can hold these days is factorial, and in the halls of Overdell, I'm sure something horrible is afoot!" She cried, tears flowing down her long purple hair… "We can't win… Without Mugen Dramon and Lady Devimon on our side, we never stood a chance… He'll break them, and when those cannons are turned on the digital world, it will be exactly as we once feared, only this time with all of evil united… The way things are now, the barriers broken, the gods themselves couldn't stop them!" She yelled, as the tears still flowed…
And in the halls of the grey lord's mansion, a horrible thing indeed occurred… Mugen Dramon tried to stop it, but his cannons were moved, and if he fired the only one killed would be Lady Devimon. And Lady Devimon herself was going through horrible pain indeed, bats ripping at her pale skin… It would only be a matter of time until they broke, black gears weren't the only method Fallen Devimon used to control others… Seiryu himself was barely holding on, the chosen had retreated to factorial, and none would save her… "Fire!" Lady Devimon yelled, prepared for her end… "Mugen Dramon, strike me down, and use those cannons to level this place! It's this world's only chance!"
The mechanical dragon stood silent, refusing to shoot… "What the hell are you waiting for!" Lady Devimon yelled out, a tear dropping from her eye… "If you don't fire, we'll all be killed!" She added, and then a thought soon came to her… "That time… Kabuterimon… What if that wasn't just a missed shot? Is it possible he's not entirely under my control?" She thought, and the ultimate-level digimon shut down, despite her constant protests…
"Now, traitor, I wonder what your fate shall be…" Fallen Devimon mused, a clawed hand grasping her face, and Lady Devimon let out one final, horrible shriek.
And as the demon lord made yet another triumph secure, Takeru recoiled in fear, and then leapt to his feet, determination clear on his face. "I must…" Takeru began, and then shook his head. "No, this isn't about what I must do. I intend on confronting him regardless. There will be no more running away, no more appeasing his bloodlust with the lives of innocent digimon! I will face Fallen Devimon today, and as long as I am able, I won't let him run away again!" He yelled, bursting out the door…
"Takeru-kun…" Sora said calmly, in sharp contrast to Takeru's rare burst of emotion. "Say what you like, but I know what's behind this… Hikari-chan did the same thing with Vamdemon after all, even if she didn't hide it like you do."
Takeru did not seem to hear her, as he merely turned and left the fortress, prepared to meet his fate.
I have to stop him… I can't let him die. I have to do something…
A hopeless battle that could not be won. One human child, alone, against Fallen Devimon's vast army? It might as well have been suicide, for how good his chances were.
And as he left, unbeknownst to him, an angel digimon trailed him from above, as it seemed Miyako would indeed be the digital world's last hope.
"I must do this… Forgive me, Sora-chan, forgive me, Angemon… For the sake of the digital world, please… Let me do this, only then can Fallen Devimon be stopped." Takeru silently wished, prepared to meet his fate.
"Devimon-sama?" A Bakemon asked meekly, knowing full well of Fallen Devimon's reputation.
"What is it?" He asked lazily, clearly annoyed by the Bakemon's slowness.
"The bearer of hope has arrived." The undead digimon said gravely, and Fallen Devimon stood up.
"So be it… This doesn't seem like the right day for revenge, but I don't mind it much." The demon responded, getting to his feet and walking slowly out of the Grey Lord's mansion.
Takeru… We'll see what your foolish hopes are capable of. After what you and Angemon put me through, you too shall know my suffering, I swear it.
Devimon… For the sake of this world, you must be stopped!
And so, as a chilling wind blew by the graveyard at Overdell, Takeru and Fallen Devimon faced each other, each prepared for the confrontation ahead of them, as Angemon and Sora raced to the field of battle.
"Even your appearance has been sacrificed, is their anything you won't do in your lust for power?" Takeru said, glaring at Fallen Devimon's hands, one tentacled and the other metallic, and neither having any flow with the body behind it.
"Do you plan on insulting me, or are you going to attack?" Fallen Devimon taunted, and Takeru put a hand to his sheath, and a small, silvery edge could be seen as he opened it.
Then, as Fallen Devimon was fixated on the sword-draw, he flicked an exploding pebble towards the distracted evil one.
"If you intend on attacking me, do it with a weapon that can actually harm me." Fallen Devimon answered, as the pebble was a direct hit on the face, but when it detonated Fallen Devimon was no more weak then before it was shot.
"I'm the bearer of hope, desperate attacks are what I do." Takeru responded, as Fallen Devimon prepared to at last avenge himself.
"Quickly, Angemon, there's not much time!" Sora yelled, desperate to save the one she loved…
"I'm flying as fast as I can!" Angemon shouted.
But even if we get there in time, I've never seen Takeru this determined, and victory here is impossible… He's doomed, no matter how hard we try to avert it… We can't win…
And from far away, they heard the attack… "Hell's beam of destruction!"
"Heaven's Knuckle!" Angemon cried out, desperately firing into the darkness… "Can Piyomon warp evolve?"
"Not enough energy…" Sora answered sadly, shaking her head… "He doesn't have a chance…"
"He knows…" Angemon answered… "He knows he'll lose, but he's still throwing his life away!" He yelled, tears flowing freely…
"An orange light?" Takeru asked, looking up at the beam that saved his life, as he lay on the ground helpless before his adversary. "Angemon… He came… Why couldn't they just let me die in peace? His defeat is impossible, our only chance would be that granting him revenge would appease his spirit!"
At that moment, Angemon returned to his batlike child form, and Sora plunged from the sky, landing painfully on the ground below…
"He's lost all hope…" Sora said, looking sadly beyond… "I'll have to save him, I'll take his crest upon myself if I have to!" She yelled, holding out her digivice.
"Piyomon, warp shinka! Hououmon!" The digimon yelled, and a bursting light emanated from the phoenix. "For the sake of Sora's love! Starlight Explosion!"
And with Fallen Devimon shielding his eyes from the bright flames, Hououmon put her golden wings above Takeru, then grasping him in her beak… But Angemon, Fallen Devimon's desire for revenge was certainly great enough for him to immediately recognize the six-winged angel's form…
And so it happened, a digimon who ended up not being needed in the slightest to save Takeru, a digimon who could have, and should have returned, were it not for the desire not to protect the light, but to atone for his own momentary fall to darkness… But heroic or merely driven by regret it ended just the same…
A piercing black claw, rushing towards him… Angemon brought his staff up half-heartedly, almost welcoming death's sweet release, no matter who's hands the death was brought by…
Then the claw pierced his neck, blood dripped down his white robes and wings, blue trim, and golden hair, and the digimon's form was annihilated, with only feathers left behind…
"Angemon…" Takeru said, taking one look at the remains of his digimon, and then softly began to gather up his feathers…"We've gone through so much…"
"When I first saw him… Patamon, struggling so much against those same horrible claws, and then the light burst through… And then, his first death, but at least that time Devimon was defeated…
Those happy memories… Few and far between, then again, he only did appear when he was needed… Devimon, Vamdemon, Piemon, he protected me from all of them… Still, frolicking around with him as Patamon, or even just calling him to show off against a Guardromon…
He's dead now, the very thought that troubled my sleep back when Black War Greymon was destroying the Holy stones… I couldn't bring myself to fight half the time, not really until he jogressed into Shakkoumon, which had enough armor to survive almost anything… At least he fought this battle against my wishes, at least it's harder to blame myself for this… But still, it was to rescue me…
Angemon… If not for you, I don't know what I'd have become… For forging me into who I am, and for all the memories you've given me…" He thought, and then in a barely audible whisper, he spoke…
"Arigatou, Angemon." He added tearfully, as he flew away from Overdell, flew away from the place where he died, a heavy sorrow in his heart… "Angemon… I'll never forget you… And I will make Devimon suffer for this!"
Someday… But for now, it remains far beyond my ability… He thought, as the mansion passed out of sight, and then lay down to rest, knowing he would forever remember this day…
And with Angemon dead and Takeru sure to feel an all-consuming sorrow, Miyako truly would be the digital world's last hope…