Disclaimer: I don't own Digimon.

A/N: Sorry it's a bit short. I've been getting distracted by the Olympics. Definitely not good for my writing. Also, one of Vampiramon's attacks is called Lamia Transformation. I've only been able to find that word in old dictionaries, and it means female demon or vampire. Anyway, please review!

Following the Footsteps of Destiny

"I'm not afraid of protecting my friends. That's what real friends do!" -Beetlemon (Season Four, Episode 49: Lucemon on the Loose)

Chapter 57: Flying High

Takara 'Kara' Kamiya

Text, Southern Hemisphere, Digital World

"Vampiramon," Takara whispered, staring at the female digimon with wide frightened eyes.

Vampiramon crossed her arms over her chest and smiled. "Greetings, Digidestined. I'm sorry. Am I interrupting something?"

Takara's face turned red, and she quickly pulled away from Dai. "No," she mumbled, glaring at the vampire digimon.

"Crystalmon never did know how to keep her mouth shut," Vampiramon said, sounding bored. "You're right, human. I am Vampiramon. I'm a mega level virus type digimon, and my special attacks are Scarlet Lightning, Dark Stiletto, and Lamia Transformation. You and your friends have been causing me a lot of trouble, Daichi Motomiya, and I'm afraid I can't allow that."

"What have you done with our friends?" Dai shouted, his eyes sparkling with anger. "I know you're responsible for all this darkness, and that means you're responsible for Ryoko and the others disappearing, as well!"

Vampiramon shrugged. "I have no idea where they are, but I will catch up to them eventually. In the meantime, it'll be easier to destroy the two of you and your digimon without those other fools hanging around."

"This does not look good," Takara whispered, moving closer to Dai again.

"I guess you're not as stupid as you look!" Vampiramon smirked.

Dai's face turned red with anger, and he gave the vampire digimon a dirty look. "If you think I'm going to let you get away with insulting my friend-"

"Dai, it's okay," Takara murmured, placing a restraining hand on the goggle headed leader's arm.

Vampiramon's emerald eyes narrowed into angry slits, and she tightened her grip on the knife in her hand. "My master has sent me to steal your D-Coders, and that's exactly what I'm going to do."

"Not if I can help it!" Dai snapped, pulling out his Digivice. "Embermon, digivolve right now! We're not going to give up our D-Coders without a fight!"

"That's for sure," Embermon snorted. "Embermon digivolve to, Dragermon!"

"Don't forget about me!" Dovemon shouted. "Let's get her, Dragermon!"

"Dragon Fire Spin!" A huge stream of fire shot out of Dragermon's mouth, and it headed straight for Vampiramon.

The vampire digimon managed to avoid it and sent a fork of red lightning straight at the dragon digimon.

"Be careful!" Takara shrieked.

Dragermon tried to fly out of the way, but Vampiramon's attack hit his wing and sent him crashing to the ground.

"Dragermon!" Dai shouted, scrambling out of Takara's arms and racing towards his partner.

"Dai, no! Come back!" Takara cried, her eyes growing wide with horror. She tried to grab his hand, but he pulled away from her, and she almost fell on her face.

Dovemon fluttered over to the goggle headed leader's side and grabbed onto the edge of his shirt with her beak. The little rookie tried to pull him backwards, away from the battle, but Dai jerked his arm out of her grip and gave her an impatient look. "Quit it!" the goggle headed leader snapped, glancing anxiously at Dragermon.

"Dragon Fire Spin!" Dragermon shouted, leaping into the air again and diving at Vampiramon.

"Scarlet Lightning!" Vampiramon shrieked, holding out her hands. A blast of red light shot straight through Dragermon's attack and hit the champion digimon in the forehead. Dragermon fell to the ground again, and Vampiramon turned to glare at Dai. "You are the leader of the Digidestined, and it's your fault my plans have failed so far. I cannot allow you to continue getting in my way. It's time you were destroyed, Daichi Motomiya, and once I get rid of you, the rest of your friends will be easy prey."

"No!" Takara shouted, her heart pounding with fear. "Leave him alone, you evil witch!"

"There's no way I'm going to let you destroy him! " Dovemon cried, landing on the ground in front of Dai and glancing fearfully at Dragermon's unconscious body.

Vampiramon smirked at the little rookie and glared at Dai. "Victory will be mine!" she hissed, raising the knife in her hand and stepping towards the goggle headed leader.

"No," Takara whispered, tears filling her eyes. "You can't do this!"

"Be quiet!" Vampiramon snapped. "I would like to enjoy my victory in peace!"

Takara froze and stared at Dai in horror. "Dai, get out of there!" she managed to shriek.

"Stay back, Kara!" Dovemon warned, keeping one eye on Dai and the other one on Vampiramon. "Opal Laser!"

The green blast hit Vampiramon in the stomache, but it appeared to have no effect. The mega digimon knocked Dovemon out of the sky with her right arm, and the little rookie crashed into a tree trunk.

"She's too powerful," Takara whispered, tears filling her eyes. "We'll never be able to defeat her with only one champion."

How many evil digimon does she have on her side? What if we're totally outnumbered? There's no way we'll be able to beat them if they all gang up on us!

"All humans and digimon who oppose my master will be destroyed!" Vampiramon shrieked, grabbing Dai by the shirt and dragging him away from his partner.

She's going to kill him!

"No," Dovemon gasped, struggling to get back into the air again.

"You'll never cause me trouble ever again!" Vampiramon snarled, raising her knife and plunging it straight at Dai's throat.

"Dai!" Takara screamed, falling to her knees and reaching out a hand towards the goggle headed leader. Tears were streaming down her cheeks, and she covered her face with her hands. There was nothing she could do to help him because he was too far away from her. There was no way she would be able to reach him in time to stop Vampiramon.

Takara held her Digivice tightly against her chest and let out a sob. "I'm sorry, Dai," she whispered, gazing helplessly at the goggle headed leader. "I'm sorry I couldn't help you."

"Let go!" Dai shouted, struggling in Vampiramon's grip.

I can't just sit here and let her destroy him! I have to do something!

"Dai!" she shrieked, leaping to her feet and racing towards him.

I have to tell him how I feel, and I can't do that if he ends up dying on me!

It was almost as if her D-Coder could hear what she was thinking because a bright beam of green light shot out of it and lit up the forest.

"Don't worry, Kara. I'm not going to let that evil vampire hurt Dai!" Dovemon shouted, disappearing in a ball of emerald light. "Dovemon digivolve to, Ibismon!"

Ibismon dived out of the sky and tackled Vampiramon to the ground in a flurry of pink feathers. Dai ended up falling to the ground on his hands and knees, and he quickly backed away from the two digimon who were trying to pin each other to the ground.

"Dai," Takara whispered, tears streaming down her cheeks. She came to a stop next to the goggle headed leader and collapsed on the ground beside him. Before she could stop herself, she wrapped her arms around him and hugged him tightly. "Are you okay?" she whispered in his ear.

"I'm fine," Dai replied, staring at Ibismon in astonishment.

Takara nodded and buried her face against his neck. She could feel his pulse throbbing against her lips, and the feel of his heart beating against her hand brought a shaky smile to her face. "Dovemon digivolved for you," she said softly, gazing directly into his eyes.

Dai gently placed a hand against her cheek and smiled softly. "Thanks," he murmured, his eyes sparkling with happiness.

Takara blushed and smiled back at him. "You're welcome."

"Dai, are you alright?" Dragermon mumbled, gingerly lifting his head and glancing anxiously around for his partner.

Dai turned to look at his digmon and nodded. "I'm okay, thanks to Takara. Dovemon digivolved just in time to help me out."

All three of them turned to see Ibismon flutter into the air again.

"You stupid little rookie! I'll kill you for this!" Vampiramon shrieked, leaping to her feet and glaring at the champion digimon.

Ibismon crossed her arms and gave the vampire digimon a cool look. "In case you haven't noticed, I'm no longer a rookie. My name is Ibismon. I'm a champion level data type digimon, and my special attacks are Emerald Flare, Feather Darts, and Cyclone Fury. You shouldn't be so upset, Vampiramon. If you hadn't decided to go after Dai, none of this would have happened! If you want to blame someone for another failed attempt to stop us from digivolving, blame yourself!"

Takara gaped at her digimon, unable to speak. Ibismon had rosy coloured skin, sparkling, green eyes, and long, green hair. The bottom of her face was covered by a green mask, and pink feathers stuck out of the top of her head. She had bright pink, feathery wings, and a body that made her look human in appearance. She was dressed in a short, green skirt, green gloves, green boots, and a short, green top. Most of her outfit was covered by pink armor, and the feathers on her skirt and boots were also pink.

"You're not having very much luck when it comes to destroying us, are you," Ibismon said quietly, glaring down at Vampiramon who was standing beneath her on the ground. "You and your evil buddies have held onto Gennai long enough. After we've destroyed you and the rest of your friends, we're going to come after your master, and he's going to find out just how powerful the Digidestined really are. Did you really think I was going to let you get away with hurting one of my friends? Forget it, Vampiramon. You've earned yourself a trip to Primary Village, and when you get there, say hi to Crystalmon for me. I'm sure you two will have a lot to talk about. Come on, Dragermon. Let's turn this evil mega into a pile of data! The Powers of Darkness will never defeat us, and we're going to make sure these evil digimon never forget that very important lesson!"