Disclaimer: I don't own Digimon.

A/N: Unfortunately I won't be updating anymore stories until next week, but I'll be back! Oh, and whether Sam or Takara finds their partner next depends on the reviewers! In other words, please review!

Following the Footsteps of Destiny

Chapter 36: Live To Fight Another Day

Ryoko Ishida

Server, Eastern Hemisphere, Digital World

"Halomon?" he whispered, staring at the angel digimon in shock.

Mickey's partner smiled at him and nodded. "That's right. I digivolved. My name is Gabrielmon. I'm a champion level vaccine type digimon, and my special attacks are Holy Sceptre and Heavenly Vortex."

Gabrielmon looked a lot like Angelicmon. He had long blond hair, and his skin was pure white. Two feathery ears stuck out of the top of his head, and he had bright blue eyes. His wings were made up of white and gold feathers, and he had a very serious expression on his face. He wore knee-length boots, elbow length gauntlets, an Egyptian style skirt, and criss-crossing bands of armor over his chest. Gold bands circled his upper arms, and his outfit was several shades of white, gold, and orange.

Ryoko stared at Gabrielmon in amazement and sudden tears filled his eyes. "You digivolved for me," he murmured.

Gabrielmon held out a hand to him and turned to smile at Mickey. "Your cousin really cares about you, and so do I. Besides, I had to digivolve for you. Alopemon would never have forgiven me if I had let something happen to you!"

Ryoko laughed and accepted Gabrielmon's hand. The angel digimon quickly picked him up, and Gabrielmon flew him over to where Mickey and the rest of his friends were standing.

"Ryoko!" Mickey gasped, racing towards them.

Ryoko gave Gabrielmon a quick hug, and the angel placed a gentle hand on the back of his head.

They smiled at each other, and he turned just in time to see the tearful expression on Mickey's face.

The older twin ran into him and nearly knocked him off of his feet. He managed to keep his balance and got a face full of golden hair.

"I thought you were going to die!" Mickey wailed, hugging him tightly around the neck.

He wrapped his arms around his cousin in a warm embrace and sighed. "Why am I always the one in danger?"

Mickey let out a shaky laugh, and Ryoko rested his cheek against his cousin's shoulder.

"Look on the bright side," Mickey whispered softly in his ear. "You'll never have to doubt the fact that there are a lot of people out there who love you."

"Thanks," he mumbled, his cheeks turning pink. He hid his face against his cousin's golden hair and smiled softly.

"That includes Dai," Mickey added.

It was almost as if the older twin had read his thoughts.

You might think he cares about me, but I'm not so sure.

He wished that he could be as positive about Dai's feelings as Mickey was.

"Don't forget me," Sam said softly. "I care about you, too."

Ryoko blushed at his friend's words, and he stumbled as Matty suddenly ran into him from behind.

"So do I," the younger twin mumbled.

Matty's cheek came to rest against the back of his head, and he felt the younger twin's arms go around him in a tight hug.

"Careful, Matty," Mickey said, looking amused.

"What? I felt left out!" Matty replied, pretending to look hurt.

Ryoko laughed and gently held Matty close, taking comfort from the warmth of his cousin's body.

Now if only they were right about Dai...

"Gnomemon, you fool! Now look what you've done!" BlackWidowmon shrieked, interrupting his thoughts.

Apparently she had only just become aware of what had happened, since Angelicmon had taken up all of her attention earlier.

Mickey reached out and gently touched Gabrielmon's arm. "I think you'd better go help the others. We're going to need them to defeat BlackWidowmon and Gnomemon."

"Of course," Gabrielmon said softly.

Ryoko glanced anxiously at his partner who was still trapped under the pedestal.

What if he's hurt really bad?

"Do I always have to do everything myself?" BlackWidowmon snapped. "Venom Darts!"

Gabrielmon leaped into the air, avoiding BlackWidowmon's attack, and flew over to Angelicmon. The angel quickly pulled Angelicmon out from under the rocks and helped him to his feet.

"Are you okay?"

Angelicmon stared at Gabrielmon in surprise and smiled slightly. "I am now," Matty's partner said softly, placing a hand on Gabrielmon's arm.

Gabrielmon nodded and turned to frown at BlackWidowmon. "We'd better free Alopemon and the others."

Angelicmon bowed his head and gave the other angel a solemn look. "Lead the way, my friend."

"Gnomemon, stop them!" BlackWidowmon shouted, leaping onto one of the pillars and climbing towards the ceiling.

"Twin Knives!"

The angels flew into the air and quickly darted around Gnomemon's knives. They managed to avoid another one of BlackWidowmon's attacks and landed on the ground next to their fellow digimon.

"Hurry," Embermon groaned, his eyes fluttering open.

With help from Angelicmon, Gabrielmon was able to lift the fallen pillar off of Alopemon, Ogremon, and Embermon.

The three digimon slowly got to their feet, and Alopemon let out a gasp.

"Ryoko!" the little rookie cried.

"I'm fine," he replied, giving his digimon a warm smile. "Halomon digivolved and saved me. Right now you have to concentrate on Gnomemon. He still has my D-Coder, and he has Dai's, too!"

"Don't forget about BlackWidowmon!" Sam added.

Alopemon stared at him for a moment and finally nodded. "Come on, guys! Let's stop them!"

"Right! Litany Spear!" Angelicmon shouted, throwing his weapon towards the ceiling.

BlackWidowmon scuttled out of the way and glared at him. "Web Shackles!"

"Be careful!" Gabrielmon called out, pulling Angelicmon out of the way.

"That D-Coder belongs to my partner, and I'm not going to let you get away with stealing it from him!" Alopemon shouted. "Arctic Slash!"

The little rookie's tail hit Gnomemon in the chest and sent the virus digimon stumbling into one of the pillars.

"Bone Cudgel!" Ogremon shouted, hitting Gnomemon in the side.

"Eathquake Cha-"

"We're not going to fall for that again!" Embermon shouted. "Ember Blaze!"

Burning embers shot out of the little rookie's hands and hit Gnomemon in the stomache. The virus digimon hit the floor with a groan, and the D-Coders he had attached to his clothing clattered to the ground.

"No!" BlackWidowmon shrieked, leaping off of the ceiling and heading towards the D-Coders.

"Don't even think about it! Celestial Star!" Angelicmon shouted.

"Holy Sceptre!" Gabrielmon called out, holding up his weapon.

The top of Gabrielmon's sceptre looked like a small glowing crystal ball, and there was a bright orange halo hovering around it. It reminded Ryoko of the planet Saturn.

BlackWidowmon let out a cry of pain as the huge orange blast from Gabrielmon's sceptre slammed into her, followed by Angelicmon's golden star.

Angelicmon quickly grabbed the D-Coders and flew into the air again. "Alright! Let's get rid of them once and for all!"

"Now you're talking!" Alopemon replied. "Frozen Specter!"

The rookie's shadow raced towards Gnomemon, and it froze the virus digimon in his tracks.

"Bone Cudgel!" Ogremon shouted, hitting Gnomemon with his weapon as if the virus digimon was a baseball.

Gnomemon flew into the wall, and Embermon held out his hands. "Ember Blaze!"

The blast hit Gnomemon, causing the ice to melt, and the virus digimon fell to the floor.

"Give those D-Coders back!" he managed to snarl. "Twin Knives!"

Ogremon, Embermon, and Alopemon leaped out of the way, and the angel digimon flew over to join them.

"Maybe next time you'll learn not to join up with evil digimon like BlackWidowmon!" Angelicmon said quietly. "Celestial Star!"

The blast hit Gnomemon with a flash of golden light, and the virus digimon let out a cry that echoed through the room.

"I believe the score is now three to zero!" Gabrielmon said, holding his sceptre high into the air. "Better luck next time, Gnomemon! Let's hope that you've changed your ways by then. At least you'll have a chance now that I'm about to give you a one way ticket to Primary Village! Heavenly Vortex!"

"No, don't!" Gnomemon screamed.

Gabrielmon's sceptre began to glow, and he traced a circle in the air with it. A huge glowing portal appeared in the sky, and Gnomemon was lifted off of his feet. The virus digimon was sucked into the portal, and there was a blinding flash of orange light. A few seconds later, the portal disappeared. The only thing left to show where it had been were a few small sparks of data that drifted slowly towards the ceiling and disappeared. Gnomemon was gone.

"How dare you destroy my servant!" BlackWidowmon screamed, leaping to her feet. "I'll kill you all for this!"

Gabrielmon rolled his deep blue eyes and smiled in amusement. "You talk too much. It's starting to get on my nerves! Holy Sceptre!"

The angel pointed his weapon at the ceiling, and there was a huge explosion. Large rocks came crashing down on top of BlackWidowmon, pinning her to the ground.

"Come on! Let's get out of here!" Ogremon shouted, motioning for everyone to follow him.

"Where are we going?" Ryoko cried, racing after the virus digimon.

"We're going to go round up the rest of your friends, and then we're getting as far away from BlackWidowmon as possible! This cave has a secret entrance, and I just happen to know where it is! It's actually more of an escape route than a secret entrance!"

"Why didn't you say something earlier?" Sam shouted, giving Ogremon a dirty look.

"Sorry, it slipped my mind. Besides, I had other things to worry about. It's not everyday that someone interrupts your nap, and then you find yourself involved in a huge battle with evil digimon!" Ogremon shot back.

"Will you two quit arguing? We've got to get out of here before BlackWidowmon recovers!" Ryoko interrupted, holding Alopemon tightly to his chest.

Ryoko raced back into the main corridor of the cave with the others, and they quickly headed down the left-hand tunnel that led to the room with the pedestal.

Takara leaped to her feet, as they stumbled to a halt in front of her, and she stared at them with wide frightened eyes.

"Ryoko! You're okay! I was so worried!" she whispered.

"Yeah. How's Dai doing?" he asked, glancing down at the goggle headed leader's pale face.

Takara hugged herself and gave him a shaky smile. "I'm not sure. It's hard to tell."

"Listen, Kara. We've defeated Gnomemon, but BlackWidowmon is still after us," Mickey said glancing anxiously at the door. "Ogremon knows of a way out of this place, so we're going to take advantage of it."

Takara glanced over Mickey's shoulder, and her mouth fell open. "Is that Halomon?"

"Yeah, he digivolved. Now let's get going," Ryoko said impatiently.

"Gabrielmon, you'd better carry Dai," Mickey said softly.

The angel quickly picked Dai up, and they headed towards the back of the room.

Ogremon pressed his fingers against a small rock that was sticking out of the wall, and the virus digimon stepped back with a smile.

Ryoko let out a gasp as the wall began to open up, and he found himself staring down a narrow passageway.

"Come on," Ogremon said, motioning them all forwards.

Ryoko quickly followed Ogremon into the new tunnel, and they all started walking as fast as their legs would carry them.

They had only been walking for several minutes when Ryoko felt a sudden breeze against his face. He pushed his way to the front of the group and almost fell on his face when he stumbled out of the tunnel.

He glanced up, and his eyes widened in shock.

Where are we?

"Amazing!" Mickey whispered.

Ryoko nodded in agreement and smiled. He and his friends were no longer standing in a dark cave. Instead, they were standing in a shady forest.