Disclaimer: I don't own Digimon.

Following the Footsteps of Destiny

Chapter 35: Without A Leader

Ryoko Ishida

Server, Eastern Hemisphere, Digital World

"I guess we're going to have to do this the hard way," Gnomemon muttered, heading towards the centre of the room.

Ryoko slowly got to his feet and started to make his way towards the door that Gnomemon had used earlier to enter the room. He was doing his best to move as quietly as possible, but it was hard because he had to keep his head lowered. If he straightened up too much, there was a chance that Gnomemon would spot him over top of the boulders.

It's a risk I'm going to have to take. Dai and the others need me!

"That dumb kid couldn't have gotten too far ahead of me," Gnomemon grumbled, glancing first to the left and then to the right. "So where is he?"

The virus digimon was now standing on the opposite side of the room, and Ryoko took that opportunity to make his escape.

He hurried towards the door, keeping as close to the wall as possible, and his foot suddenly hit a small rock that was lying on the floor. It clattered against the wall, and he let out a gasp as the sound echoed through the room.

Gnomemon immediately turned in his direction, and he let out a gasp as the virus digimon's eyes met his.

"There you are," Gnomemon said, giving him an evil smile. "You can't trick me that easily!"

Ryoko's heart sank, and he stared at Gnomemon with fear in his eyes.

I was so close! If only Gnomemon had gone through the other door! So much for my brilliant plan!

"You're going to pay for trying to make me look like a fool!" Gnomemon growled, leaping over a rock and heading straight towards him.

His back hit the wall, and he let out a whimper of fear. He was in big trouble, and there was not a single soul around to help him.

Makiya 'Mickey' Takaishi

Server, Eastern Hemisphere, Digital World

Mickey raced towards the right-hand tunnel, heading straight for the blue dot that was suppose to represent Ryoko.

What if Matty's right? What if he is dead?

The intersection that they had passed earlier finally came into view, and he let out a gasp as several shapes suddenly burst out of the left-hand tunnel and ran right into them. One of those shapes hit him in the chest and the other one stumbled into his legs. He fell to the floor with a grunt of pain and looked up to see Halomon sitting on his stomache. Alopemon was lying across his legs, and he let out a huge sigh of relief.

"Mickey, you're okay!" Halomon cried, hugging him tightly around the neck.

He hugged his partner back and gave the little rookie a fond smile. "I'm fine, but I was really worried about you."

Halomon's small cheek came to rest against his own, and the digimon smiled softly. "Same here. I'm glad you're okay."

"I feel the same way about you," he murmured.

"Sorry, Matty," Angelicmon said, giving his partner an apologetic look. The angel digimon had fallen on top of Matty, nearly crushing the younger twin.

Matty scrambled to his feet and hugged Angelicmon tightly around the waist. "I'm so glad you're okay. I was afraid that you wouldn't be able to get free and find us in time!"

"It looks like Kara was able to help you guys out," Sam said happily.

"That's right," Embermon replied. "She's still back there with Dai. They're safe at the moment."

"It's Ryoko we're worried about," Angelicmon said softly, stroking Matty's hair.

"Where is he?" Alopemon demanded, glancing anxiously around the tunnel.

"He's somewhere in there," Mickey replied, pointing towards the right-hand tunnel. "Our D-Coders have picked up his signal."

He quickly showed Alopemon his Digivice, and the little rookie let out a sigh of relief.

"Well? What are we waiting for? Let's go!" Ogremon shouted, charging down the right-hand tunnel.

Mickey quickly followed after Ogremon with the others and bit his lip.

Please be okay, Ryoko.

Ryoko Ishida

Server, Eastern Hemisphere, Digital World

Ryoko tried to race for the door, but Gnomemon grabbed his arm and shoved him back against the wall.

He let out a gasp of pain, trying his best to wriggle free, but Gnomemon's grip was too strong.

I'm really sorry, Alopemon. I shouldn't have run away like that. Now I'm never going to have a chance to get to know you.

"Give me that!" Gnomemon snapped, snatching Dai's D-Coder out of his hand.

The virus digimon shoved him to the floor, and within moments Gnomemon had a hand on his D-Coder, as well.

The evil digimon yanked it free from his pants and smirked at him. "Now that I've gotten what I came for, I have no use for you anymore," Gnomemon said. "Your time is up, human. Once I destroy you, there'll be one less Digidestined running around and getting in the way of our plans! BlackWidowmon's definitely going to be happy about that!"

"I don't think so!" he snapped, kicking Gnomemon in the leg and trying to scramble to his feet. "I'm not going to let you kill me off that easily, at least not without a fight! Have you forgotten that I'm a Digidestined? You guys have enough trouble trying to stop us from finding our partners without getting yourselves killed! What makes you think that you can destroy me when you can't even manage to keep me away from my digimon?"

"Die, human!" Gnomemon screamed, pulling out one of his knives.

The knife headed straight for Ryoko's heart, and he let out a cry of fear.

"Arctic Slash!"

Gnomemon suddenly stumbled backwards, and Ryoko turned to see his friends standing in the doorway.

Alopemon had knocked Gnomemon off of his feet, and the little rookie was now standing on one of the boulders, looking very determined. "No one hurts my partner and gets away with it!"

Gnomemon's knife clattered to the floor, but Ryoko ignored it. He was too busy staring at his friends in surprise. "What are you guys doing here?"

"We couldn't just stand by and let Gnomemon kill you," Mickey said softly, gazing at him with obvious relief.

He felt suddenly warm inside and smiled at his cousin. "Where's BlackWidowmon?"

"She should be here any minute now," Matty snorted. "Either that or she's not as smart as we thought she was!"

"What about Dai?" he asked, his heart filling with sudden fear. "Is he okay? What about Kara? Where is she?"

"Kara stayed behind to look after Dai," Sam said softly. "Don't worry, they're both fine. She even managed to free our digimon."

"That's a relief," he mumbled. "Otherwise I'd be dead right about now!"

"That can still be arranged!" Gnomemon growled, leaping to his feet again.

Ryoko glared at the virus digimon, and then he let out a gasp. "Alopemon! You and the others have to stop him! He has my D-Coder, and he has Dai's Digivice, as well!"

"You heard the kid!" Ogremon shouted. "Let's show this evil digimon that we mean business!"

"You got it! Celestial Star!" Angelicmon shouted, fluttering into the air and directing his blast at Gnomemon.

The virus digimon leaped behind a rock, and the golden star fizzled out when it hit the boulder.

"Your attacks aren't going to work very well in this room!" Gnomemon cackled. "Twin Knives!"

The virus digimon had managed to grab his other knife, when he had jumped behind the boulder, and he sent both of them flying at Angelicmon.

The angel digimon dived behind one of the pillars, and the knives clattered to the floor.

"Our turn now!" Halomon shouted, hovering in the air above Gnomemon. "Halo Rings!"

"Ember Blaze!" Embermon shouted, moving behind Gnomemon and hitting the digimon in the back with his attack.

Gnomemon fell over one of the rocks, and Ogremon hit the virus digimon in the stomache with one of his attacks.

"Arctic Slash!" Alopemon shouted, leaping off of the rock that he had been standing on and hitting Gnomemon in the face.

"Ryoko!" Mickey cried. "You'd better move out of the way before you get hurt!"

The older twin was about to run towards him when BlackWidowmon suddenly burst through the door. She let out a cry of triumph and pointed her finger at Gnomemon. "Gnomemon! Finish them off once and for all!"

"Consider it done! Earthquake Chaos!" Gnomemon shouted, hitting the ground with his fist.

"Look out! Everyone cover your heads!" Sam shouted.

Ryoko staggered into a rock as the ground began to shake, and he realized in horror that the ceiling was starting to break apart. Rocks were raining down on them, and he quickly covered his head.

"I don't know how you digimon managed to free yourselves, but I do know one thing. You're going to pay for trying to save your human partners! " BlackWidowmon shouted. "Venom Darts!"

"Alopemon, look out!" Ryoko cried.

Alopemon quickly turned around to face BlackWidowmon, but the little rookie was not fast enough. BlackWidowmon's attack hit Alopemon in the chest, and he slammed into one of the pillars. The pillar started to shake, and Ryoko let out a cry of terror. It's going to fall right on top of my partner!

"Halomon! You and the others have to help Alopemon, right now!" Mickey gasped.

It was almost as if the other boy had read his thoughts.

Halomon and the others raced towards Alopemon, but the ground was still shaking, and it was making it hard for them to move without falling over.

Embermon reached Alopemon first and grabbed the other digimon under the arms.

Unfortunately BlackWidowmon chose that moment to intervene. "Oh no you don't! Venom Darts!"

The blast hit the pillar sending stone chips flying everywhere.

Embermon and the others tried to move out of the way, but they were too late. The pillar fell directly on top of Alopemon, Embermon, and Ogremon. Angelicmon and Halomon just barely managed to fly out of the way in time.

"Alopemon!" Ryoko shouted, racing towards his partner. At that moment, he did not really care what happened to him. All he cared about was saving his digimon.

"Ryoko, come back!" Mickey screamed.

He had almost reached Alopemon and the other digimon when Gnomemon suddenly grabbed him by the back of his shirt. He tried to wriggle free, but the virus digimon pushed him up against a large rock and clamped a hand around his neck.

"Let go!" he shouted, hitting Gnomemon with his fist.

"Ryoko!" Angelicmon shouted, turning in the air and heading towards him.

"I'm not going to let you interfere this time!" BlackWidowmon shrieked. "Venom Darts!"

Several of her small darts sank into Angelicmon's wings and sent him crashing to the ground. The ceiling was still crumbling around them and several large rocks fell on top of the angel digimon.

"Angelicmon!" Matty shouted, looking very scared.

"There's no one to help you anymore!" Gnomemon smirked, squeezing him tightly around the neck. "Time to die!"

Ryoko found himself unable to breath, and his eyes widened in horror as one of Gnomemon's knives headed straight for his stomache.

"Ryoko, no!" Mickey screamed in terror.

There was a sudden flash of orange light, and Ryoko managed to turn his head just enough to see Mickey's body disappear in an orange glow.

"I'll save you, Ryoko!" Halomon shouted.

The little rookie's whole body began to glow so brightly that even Gnomemon looked up.

"I won't let you hurt my friend!" Halomon cried. "Halomon digivolve to, Gabrielmon!" (Ga-bree-el-mon)

"Holy Sceptre!"

Ryoko managed to let out a yelp as a huge orange blast shot over his head and hit Gnomemon in the face.

He fell to his knees, gasping for breath, and someone landed on the ground next to him. He slowly looked up and found himself staring at an angel digimon.

"Don't worry, Ryoko," the angel said softly, placing a hand on his shoulder. "You're safe now."