Disclaimer: I don't own Digimon.

A/N: Another chapter finished! Glowmon's going to digivolve soon, and so are two others...Just so you know my next chapter won't be up till next week. Thanks.

Following the Footsteps of Destiny

Chapter 98: The Heart of a Digidestined

Masato 'Matty' Takaishi

Cyber, Western Hemisphere, Digital World

Matty carefully stepped through the weak point and glanced nervously at the narrow staircase that led to the fourth floor. He was pretty sure there was something waiting for them at the top, and this time he wanted to be prepared in case the guard turned out to be another dark shadow instead of an actual digimon.

I still don't understand what happened back there. How were Mickey and I able to destroy that thing so easily?

Apparently Dai wanted to avoid stepping into a trap, as well, because the goggle-headed leader waved his hand at the stairs and motioned for Embermon and Alopemon to join him. "Embermon, I want you and Alopemon to sneak up the stairs and find out what's guarding the fourth floor. You guys are less likely to be spotted because of your size. Both Harpymon and that dark shadow almost gave us away, and I'm not going to let something like that happen again."

"Who gave you the right to order my partner around?" Ryoko snapped, glaring at the goggle-headed leader. "Besides, what makes you think he's going to listen to you when he won't even listen to me?"

"I think you've got it backwards," Alopemon said dryly. "You're the one who won't listen to me, Ryoko, not the other way around! I will go along with Dai's plan. At least one of us has to be his friend, and since you're too stubborn to take that step I suppose I'll have to do so in your place. Come on, Embermon, let's find out what's waiting for us at the top of the stairs."

Ryoko's mouth dropped open, and Matty had to clap a hand over his mouth to stop himself from laughing. He had never seen his cousin look so shocked before, and the expression on Dai's face made him smile. The goggle-headed leader was staring at Alopemon as if he had never seen the little rookie before, and for some reason he seemed unable to meet Ryoko's blue gaze. Alopemon never said a word. He merely patted Dai's leg and quickly leaped up the stairs after Embermon.

"Well, at least one of you two has some sense!" Takara giggled, smiling innocently at Ryoko and sending a fond look in Alopemon's direction.

The golden-haired Digidestined's face turned bright pink, and he promptly began to act as if Dai did not even exist. The goggle-headed leader barely noticed. He was too busy sending the pale blue fox digimon a grateful smile.

Matty stood nervously next to his twin and waited impatiently for one of the two rookies to let them know what was going on. After a moment of tense silence, Embermon leaped quietly back down the stairs and motioned for everyone to follow him. "There's a spider digimon guarding the fourth floor. She didn't see us but we'd better get rid of her before she starts causing trouble."

"Stingmon, why don't you, Ibismon, and Angelicmon confront her," Ken suggested.

The three digimon fluttered up the stairs ahead of everyone else and joined Alopemon on the landing where the staircase suddenly curved abruptly to the right. Matty reached his partner's side just as Stingmon tackled the spider digimon to the floor.

"Dokugumon," Ken said softly, shaking his head at the female virus digimon.

Dokugumon let out a shriek of surprise, but her scream was quickly cut off by Angelicmon's bright yellow blast.

Ibismon hit the spider digimon in the face with her Emerald Flare attack and pinned the champion to the ground. At least, Matty assumed the spider was a champion. It was hard to tell sometimes. Dokugumon had been hanging from the ceiling in front of a large spiderweb that had blocked the entire corridor, but Stingmon's sudden tackle had ripped the web into shreds and left Dokugumon lying on the stone floor in a tangle of silky threads.

"Hurry up and get rid of her before she starts squealing again!" Embermon whispered, glancing anxiously down the corridor.

"Spiking Strike!" Stingmon shouted, shoving his glowing stinger directly into Dokugumon's heart. The spider digimon was lying on her back under Ibismon's foot, and she disappeared into data as soon as Stingmon's attack met its target. Everybody froze, but nothing happened. The corridor remained empty, and after a minute or two of fearful silence they were able to breath easier again.

"Hey, how did you know what Harpymon's name was anyway?" Ryoko asked, gazing suspiciously at Dai. "I never told you."

The goggle-headed leader smiled slightly and shrugged. "I snuck a look at your D-Coder during the battle when you weren't looking. I happen to be more observant than you think I am, Ishida."

"What...what do you mean?"

"Nothing," Dai said softly, his dark eyes sparkling with sudden amusement.

Matty opened his mouth to say something, but Mickey elbowed him in the ribs, and he turned to look at his twin. The expression on Mickey's face told him exactly what his brother was thinking and he nodded quickly in order to make sure his twin knew he understood. Ryoko and Dai were so close, but in order for them to become great friends they needed to take that final step themselves.

There's only one question. Which one of them is going to be able to find the courage to say it first?

"T.K., you'd better tell Izzy to hurry up. This place feels like an igloo. Even my wings are starting to freeze!" Luciamon complained.

Matty hurried over to his father's side and let out a sigh of relief. "Don't worry, Luciamon, Izzy's on top of things, as usual. His next set of instructions must have come when we were fighting Dokugumon. Right, Dad?"

"Yes, I heard the beep as soon as I reached the top of the stairs, but Stingmon had already tackled Dokugumon by that time, and I didn't want to say anything until we'd gotten ourselves out of trouble. We have enough distractions as it is. The next weak point isn't far from here so hopefully we'll get to the fifth floor without too much difficulty."

Matty glanced at his father's D-Terminal and nodded in agreement. The email said:

T.K.,

What's this about a dark shadow? Your last email was really confusing. I'm expecting a full report as soon as you guys get back to the human world or else I'll sick MegaKabuterimon on you! The next weak point is actually quite close. All you have to do is head down the corridor on your right and make another right at the first corner. The weak point is on the left-hand side of the wall about thirty feet down the hallway. It leads to a staircase that will take you to the fifth floor. Good luck!

Izzy

"Well, that doesn't sound too difficult. We're almost there!" Palmon said happily.

Matty quickly followed the others down the hallway and gently wrapped an arm around his brother's shoulders. "Hey, Mickey, how are you doing? I'm guessing you're not too happy about what happened to Dokugumon back there."

Mickey slowly turned towards him, and he gave his brother a sympathetic squeeze. "I'm okay, Matty. I don't like having to destroy digimon, good or evil, but sometimes we don't have a choice. It does help to know they have a chance to start over at Primary Village. Many of them become good again, and that makes me feel a lot better."

"I'm glad. I always feel bad when you're sad about something."

"I feel the same way about you, Matty."

Matty raised his eyebrows and gently poked his brother in the chest. "Does that mean you're not going to avoid me anymore?"

Mickey blushed and lowered his eyes to the stone floor. "I wasn't avoiding you. I just...needed some time to think."

"Really? You're not just saying that, are you?"

"No. Matty...you know I would never lie to you. I never have before, why would I start now?"

"You couldn't lie to me even if you wanted to. I'm your twin, remember? I'd know if you were."

Matty felt his brother's arm go around his waist, and a faint smile slipped across the older twin's face. "It works both ways, Matty."

"I know. Um...you're not angry with me anymore, are you?"

"What?"

Matty grinned sheepishly at the startled look on his brother's face and shrugged his shoulders. "That counts as a no, right?"

"Matty! What in the Digiworld ever gave you that idea? Of course I'm not mad at you! Why would I be?"

"Well...you seemed mad before when you were shouting at me earlier."

"You mean at Dai's house?"

Matty slowly nodded and frowned at his twin. "Yes, what else would-"

"Matty, I am not mad at you," Mickey said firmly. "I'm worried about you, and I know you're worried about me. Why do you think I was so upset when you kept acting like DarkAngelicmon wasn't a threat to us? Mostly to you, I think. Look, Matty, I care about you a lot, and that's never going to change no matter what happens after today, alright?"

"You said you needed time to think, but that's just an excuse to try and hide the fact that you were avoiding me."

Mickey stared at him for a moment, and he jumped when his twin suddenly reached out and held both of his hands in a tight grip. He could feel Angemon's feather between their fingers, and its soothing presence brought a smile to his face.

"We will fight together, Matty," Mickey whispered softly in his ear. "As individuals we can hold our own against the darkness, but together we make up the most powerful force against evil this world has ever seen. Our parents are strong, too, but Mom only had the Crest of Light and Dad only had the Crest of Hope. I think...well...I think I have both, and so do you. That makes us twice as strong as our parents. Look at our D-Coders. Mine is orange, but it's still glowing with pink and yellow light, and so is yours. Think about it, Matty. Pink and yellow. The Crests of Hope and Light."

Matty let out a gasp and stared at his brother in shock. "You mean...you really believe our D-Coders are responding to the crests?"

Mickey nodded solemnly and smiled at him. "Yes, I do. What do you say, Matty? Will you help me fight the Powers of Darkness? We'll help Sam together. I know we can if we try hard enough."

Matty felt his eyes fill with tears and he held his brother close in a tight embrace. Angelicmon, Gabrielmon, and their father were all beaming at them, but he barely noticed. At that moment all he cared about was reassuring his brother. "I will always fight by your side, Mickey. I want to help Sam, too, and I promise I won't let DarkAngelicmon get his hands on me, but only if you promise the same thing."

"I promise. Thanks, Matty. Your words mean a lot to me."

Matty knew things were still not completely back to normal between them, but at least they were on the right track, and that was better than nothing. He had seen his father give Mickey Angemon's feather, but he still had no clue exactly what it was they had said to each other. The only thing he knew for sure was that their discussion had been about him.

Well, at least Mickey's acting more like his usual self again, and it's all because of a feather. My dad's words must have been pretty powerful because Mickey's whole attitude has changed completely. Now, if only we could say the same thing about Sam...

He liked Sam a lot, and he knew how much Mickey cared about the raven-haired Digidestined. If they could find a way to help their friend then maybe Ken would not seem so sad anymore.

"The weak point is right here," Luciamon said, interrupting his thoughts.

He looked up in surprise and realized they had already made it to the stairwell without him realizing just how far they had actually come. It was a good thing there were no guards around because he could have ended up walking right into one without realizing what had happened until it was already too late!

"Who wants to go first this time?" Davis asked, grinning at the digimon.

Dai quickly ordered Palmon and Glowmon to scout ahead, and the two digimon slowly made their way up the stairs. A moment later Glowmon fluttered back down and glided effortlessly into Sam's arms. "There's another digimon up there. He's pretty scary."

"Great, that's just what I needed to hear," Dai muttered to himself. "Alright, Embermon, you and the others go ahead of us, and get ready to fight. We have to get rid of him before he starts causing trouble. I don't know about you guys, but I definitely don't want to get caught when we're this close to getting our hands on the crests!"

Matty nodded in agreement and silently followed his brother up the stairs. The two of them managed to duck under Angemon's wing for a better look, and Matty spotted a dark dog digimon pacing restlessly beneath the torches hanging directly above the fifth floor landing.

"That's Dobermon," Mickey whispered, holding out his D-Coder and placing his hand over its glowing surface to prevent the dog digimon from catching sight of them. "He's a champion level vaccine type digimon."

"Let's take him out," Alopemon said shortly.

Ibismon, ExVeemon, and Angemon leaped around the corner of the staircase and tackled Dobermon to the ground just as the champion digimon turned to face them. Dobermon let out a snarl of rage, but ExVeemon sent him crashing into the wall before he could clamp his teeth around Angemon's left wrist.

"Emerald Flare!" Ibismon shouted, her green blast hitting Dobermon directly in the face.

Angemon's Hand of Fate attack hit the dog digimon in the stomach, and ExVeemon quickly motioned for Angelicmon to step forward.

"Celestial Star!"

A large blast of bright yellow light slammed into Dobermon, and he exploded into tiny pieces of data before Matty even had a chance to blink.

I hope there aren't anymore guards hanging around because there's no way anyone could have missed hearing all the noise we've been making!

"Well, that wasn't so bad," Palmon commented.

"Hey, Uncle T.K., you'd better tell Izzy to hurry it up. We're almost there," Ryoko said anxiously.

Matty tugged nervously on his father's arm and jumped when his dad's D-Terminal let off a sudden beep.

"No need, Ryoko. As usual Izzy's one step ahead of us."

"What does it say?" Mickey asked quietly.

Matty quickly read the email and let out a sigh of relief. It said:

T.K.,

One more step and you guys will have made it to the crests! All you have to do is walk straight down the corridor you're currently standing in until you reach a dead end. The hallway turns left and right, but I don't want you guys to head down either one of those corridors. The dead end is the next weak point, and it leads directly into the room with the crests. Leave as soon as you get your hands on all nine of them and head back the way you came. It'll be easier for all of you to get out of the castle in one piece if you follow my original route back to the first floor because you've already managed to get rid of all the obstacles that were in your way earlier. Just so you know, there are weak points leading to the dungeons, as well. I think we'll take a chance and try to rescue Gennai if you guys can make it back to the first floor without getting caught. If you do get spotted, remember I have an escape plan already worked out. Let me know what you think.

Izzy

P.S. Keep and eye out for Leomon and the others.

"I say let's do it," Dai said firmly, glancing at Ryoko as if expecting the golden-haired Digidestined to disagree.

"I don't know. We're already stretching our luck as it is," Ryoko said slowly.

"Well, we've come this far, haven't we?" Takara said nervously.

Davis frowned and slowly turned to look at T.K. "What do you think we should do?"

"I'll let Izzy know what we've decided as soon as we get back to the first floor. That'll give us some time to think about the risks and just exactly how much danger we'll be putting ourselves into. How does that sound?"

"Great. You'd better e-mail Izzy and let him know we'll make our decision later," Luciamon whispered, glancing fearfully down the corridor. "Come on. Let's hurry up and steal the crests back. I want to get out of here as soon as possible."

Matty quickly followed the female angel down the hallway and gazed curiously at the anxious look on her face. She had seemed quite at ease with her surroundings when they had first started making their way through the castle, but now, all of a sudden, her entire attitude had changed, and she looked ready to jump out of her skin with pure terror. For some reason she kept glancing nervously over her shoulder as if she expected to see a dark shadow materialize out of thin air and leap at them before they had a chance to defend themselves.

I wonder what's gotten into her?

"She's hiding something. I know she is."

Matty jumped at the sound of Ryoko's voice and turned to stare at his cousin in surprise. "What do you mean?"

"Matty, when you're around Luciamon, do you...feel anything? I mean...do you feel the Powers of Darkness more strongly when you're around her?"

Matty frowned and gently rested his hand on one of Luciamon's wings. She was so busy trying to hurry them along she did not even notice. "No, I don't feel anything. Why do you ask?"

Ryoko managed a weak smile and shrugged his shoulders. "No reason. I just...I don't know. I just think Luciamon isn't really who she appears to be."

Matty wrapped an arm around his cousin's shoulders and slowly nodded in agreement. Now that he thought about it, it did seem kind of strange that they had conveniently met up with Luciamon as soon as they arrived in the Western Hemisphere.

Wait a minute. Does Ryoko think we're stepping into a trap?

"Alright, guys, this is it," Dai whispered, interrupting his thoughts. "ExVeemon, you and the other digimon had better go first."

Matty quickly hurried over to his partner's side and stepped through the weak point with Angelicmon's arm around his shoulders. He found himself standing in a large circular room, and his eyes immediately came to rest on the wall directly across from the weak point. Eight glowing objects were embedded into the stone wall and a ninth one was embedded into a large stone pedestal.

Dai slowly stepped forward, and the goggle-headed leader pointed at the pedestal. "Is...is that what I think it is?"

Davis smiled at the look of awe on his son's face and wrapped his arm around the goggle-headed leader's shoulders. "Yes, Dai, that little object right there is the one and only Crest of Courage."