Chapter 4

Only a few hours after resuming their search the next morning, the digidestined came upon a fortress hidden deep in the forest.

"Do we think it's Talya's?" T.K. asked no one in particular.

Ken nodded. "The readings are as strong as they were the last time we found her."

"Who built this place?" Yolei wondered.

"Talya could have found a way to build it using the Key," Izzy said.

"But the real question is: how do we get in?" said Gatomon.

Ken frowned. "If she has security cameras, she probably already knows we're here. Maybe we should just try to break in."

"I think we should try to sneak in," Cody countered.

"I could burrow under a wall," Armadillomon offered.

"Maybe there's a back door," said Davis.

Kari gave him a derisive look. "Or we could walk right in the front door."

After some discussion, they decided to scout around looking for a secret entrance like the one Talya had on her last hideout. They found one concealed behind overgrown vines. They broke through the door and found themselves in a long, ill-lit hallway. The walls and floor were made of metal that clinked hollowly with each footstep.

After a few minutes of walking, Kari paused and looked around.

"What is it, Kari?" T.K. asked.

"I don't know. I'm just getting a weird feeling. Do you feel that?"

"No."

"I do," said Ken. "It's the Key. Talya's getting closer. I think the digimon should digivolve."

"You're a little too late," came an ominous, inhuman voice from above them.

They looked up. Nimbusmon and Dokuhebimon floated above a balcony near the ceiling.

"Why are you here? I have what I want. Just leave me alone!"

"The Key doesn't belong to you, Talya!" said Izzy.

"My name...is NIMBUSMON! Lightning Net!" Her attack wrapped around Izzy. She plucked him off the ground and flung him against the wall.

"Izzy!" Tentomon flew to his partner.

The other digimon digivolved.

"Golden Noose!" Nefertimon and Pegasusmon flew at Nimbusmon.

"Rattle attack!" Dokuhebimon's attack knocked them both against the wall, which rippled with the shock wave. They both de-digivolved.

"Thunder Staff!" Nimbusmon's attack struck Aquilamon, who tumbled backward, but managed to maintain his form.

Tsukiyo noticed Nimbusmon flicker. "Concentrate your attacks on Dokuhebimon!" She said. "Ignore Nimbusmon."

"Vee Laser!"

"Grand Horn!"

"Spiking Strike!"

"No! Lightning Net!" Nimbusmon's attack came too late. She flickered out like a candle at the end of its wick, and dedigivolved to Talya, falling a couple of feet to the balcony.

When the three simultaneous attacks hit Dokuhebimon, she dedigivolved, but Talya managed to catch Hebimon before she fell to the ground.

"I may have used too much of the Key's energy to stay a digimon, but I still have plenty left for this." She spread her hand toward them and an energy field appeared above them, which she slowly lowered.

Exveemon flew toward it and tried to force his way through, but when he hit it he dedigivolved and fell to the ground.

"Careful," Talya said smuggly. "It's very dangerous."

Tsukiyo stepped forward. "You don't have to fight us. Just return the Key, and we can all walk away, Miss Kuznetsova."

Talya stared at her angrily. "You're the ones who attacked me. I haven't done anything wrong since stealing the Key. And who are you anyway? You don't even have a digimon."

"I'm Tsukiyo Nishiyama. Listen, Talya, I know you've had a hard life, but that's no excuse for what you've done. I understand what you must have been through..."

"You do not understand!" Talya yelled. "How dare you presume to understand me? How dare you presume to pity me!"

"I don't pity you," Tsukiyo replied coldly. "So you're an orphan. Probably abandoned by your mother. Big deal. I was raised by my biological parents, and I bet my childhood was worse than yours. They beat me, they ignored me, the barely spoke to me after their precious son was born. They made me feel worthless. It was my fervent desire to get away from them that gave me the drive to succeed, which I have. We all suffer, maybe some more than others, but we can become stronger for it. We don't have to be enemies, Talya. We could be your friends."

Talya had listened to her speech, but now she replied in a chilly voice. "I don't need your friendship any more than I need your pity." She began contracting the energy field around them. "This is just a warning. I could destroy you right now, but I won't. But it is a warning: don't come after me again." She slowly backed up through the door, Hebimon followed her. A moment later, the energy field faded away.

Tsukiyo ran to Izzy, who was just sitting up. "Izzy, are you okay?" she asked.

"I'm not a doctor or anything, but I think so."

One side of Tsukiyo's face smiled while the other side looked like it was about to cry.

"I'm okay, really," he said comfortingly. "It was brave of you to stand up to her like that."

"I had to do something. She hurt my boyfriend."

A goofy smile bloomed on Izzy's face. "Boyfriend? Did you just call me your boyfriend?"

"It's possible," she answered evasively. "That is, if you don't mind having a burakumin for a girlfriend."

"Of course I want you to be my girlfriend! What did you expect?" As if to emphasize his point, he kissed her. It was their first kiss. They drew apart a few seconds later. "I'll have to drag you along more often."

"Hey guys, let's go! She's going to get away!" Davis shouted at them from down the hall.

They searched the entire mansion and didn't find Talya or Hebimon. They hadn't expected to.

"She couldn't have gone far," T.K. said, though he didn't sound convinced.

Kari put her hand on his shoulder. "T.K., it's time to go home. She'll show up again, and we'll be ready for her."

"But the longer we wait, the more powerful she'll become."

"And the longer we chase her, the weaker we'll become," Cody argued. "We lost this round."

T.K. sighed. None of them liked letting Talya escape with the Key, but they were right. Talya had won, and had chosen to let them go. "All right. I just have the feeling that we haven't hear the last of her."

The End

Have the digidestined seen the last of Talya? Will Ken ever tell Yolei how he feels about her? And what other dangers await our heroes? Find out in the next installment of Frost Deejn's Digimon fanfiction!

Coming soon: Dark Pyramid.