Disclaimer: I don't own Digimon.

A/N: Yes, Glowmon finally digivolves! I told you I had to wait for the right moment and now it has arrived! Wait until the next chapter. I have a big surprise!

Following the Footsteps of Destiny

Chapter 103: Dragonfly

Sam Ichijouji

Cyber, Western Hemisphere, Digital World

"Please let me help them, Sam!" Glowmon cried, his glowing belly flickering with fear. "I can't just hover here and watch!"

Sam held the little rookie close to his heart and quickly shook his head. "No way. You're too small to fight them. One blow from DarkAngelicmon's spear could end up turning you into a pile of data!"

"Rookies are a lot tougher than that, Sam," Palmon said indignantly, her large eyes narrowing into a frown.

Sam ignored the plant digimon and turned his attention back to Spritemon and the guards. Every single digimon the mega had brought with her looked dangerous, despite their size in certain cases, and he had a horrible feeling they were going to be more than a match for ExVeemon and the others.

Poor Glowmon. I know exactly how he feels. If only there was something we could do to help...

"Um...who are we supposed to attack first?" one of the Vilemon asked, glancing curiously around the room. He looked a little confused about what was going on and so did many of the other digimon standing around him.

Spritemon kicked the little champion in the back and let out a frustrated scream. "I don't care who you destroy first just as long as they all end up back at Primary Village as a bunch of useless digieggs. Kill them all, except Ibismon. I'll deal with her myself!"

"You're going to have to catch me first," Ibismon snorted.

"Angelicmon, look out!"

Sam jumped at the sound of Gabrielmon's voice and turned just in time to see DarkAngelicmon regain possession of his spear. The dark weapon had been lying at Angelicmon's feet, but Spritemon's entrance had distracted everyone, including the digimon, and DarkAngelicmon had used the opportunity to his advantage. The fallen angel stood with his spear pressed against Angelicmon's throat, and the look he sent Spritemon froze the female digimon in her tracks. "Excuse me, Spritemon, but I believe you and I agreed earlier that I would be the one to give out orders, not you."

Spritemon gave herself a little shake and glared at the fallen angel. "Yes, and you've done a fine job of screwing everything up, haven't you! BlackGatomon, Bakemon, Raremon, all of you, bring Takara and her little friends to me!"

"No!" Luciamon cried.

"Fool!" DarkAngelicmon snapped, his green eyes flashing with sudden fury. At first Sam thought the fallen angel was talking to Luciamon, but then he realized DarkAngelicmon's green gaze was focused on Spritemon, and the look on his face clearly stated he was not pleased by the female digimon's attempt to disobey him.

"Let go of my partner!" Matty shouted, capturing DarkAngelicmon's attention.

Angelicmon tried to duck under the spear, but the fallen angel caught one of his wings and held him in a tight grip. "And just where do you think you're going?"

"You cannot win this fight," Angelicmon said quietly, his long golden hair spilling over the fallen angel's shoulder.

DarkAngelicmon smiled slightly and flicked one of the feathery ear-like wings sticking out of his vaccine counterpart's head. "Maybe not, but I will win the war, and that is what will decide the fate of the Digital World."

"Yes, but only if you live long enough to see your master's great plan through to the end. You may think you can decide the fate of the Digital World, but I disagree. How can you win the war when it is I who will be the one to decide your fate!" Gabrielmon snapped. "Leave my friend alone! Holy Sceptre!"

The angel's blast hit DarkAngelicmon in the back, and the room erupted into battle.

"Feather Darts!" Ibismon shouted, spreading her pink wings and sending a gale of razor sharp feathers in Spritemon's direction. The mega digimon leaped out of the way, and the feathers clattered harmlessly to the stone floor. Both digimon hovered in the air about six feet apart, and Ibismon motioned for Stingmon to join her.

"Do you really think you can defeat me with such pathetic attacks? You and your human partner will die for ruining my plans! Fairy Cannon!"

"Watch out!" Ibismon shouted.

Stingmon ducked under the blast to avoid it, and Ibismon fluttered towards the ceiling. Spritemon flew after the bird digimon, but Stingmon managed to come up behind her before she could get very far and he kicked her in the back with his foot. The evil mega landed face first on the stone floor, and Stingmon dived after her. "Spiking Strike!"

Spritemon rolled out of the way just in time, and Stingmon landed on the floor beside her. It took him a moment to steady himself, and reaching down he pulled the sprite digimon to her feet.

"Stay out of my way, Stingmon! This fight is between Ibismon and myself!"

"If you think I'm going to stand by and let you hurt one of my fellow digimon, forget it! No offence, but you're even more stupid than DarkAngelicmon thought you were! Spiking Strike!"

Stingmon's attack connected with Spritemon's hip, and the evil mega let out a squeal of pain. "You're going to pay for that and so will DarkAngelicmon! Fairy Cannon!"

Stingmon fluttered into the air again and watched the blast sail harmlessly into the wall. "You're going to have to do better than that, Spritemon. If you want Ibismon then you're going to have to go through me first!"

"Tirimon, we'd better get rid of BlackGatomon and the other guards before they try to help out DarkAngelicmon and Spritemon. Ibismon, Stingmon, and the angels can deal with those two, but keep an eye on Luciamon. She might try something when we least expect it," ExVeemon shouted over the noise.

"Right. Arctic Blast!"

A huge blue blast of ice and snow shot out of Tirimon's mouth and headed straight towards a group of Bakemon. The ghost digimon scattered in all directions, and ExVeemon launched himself at the poison plant digimon who was surrounded by a group of Vilemon.

"I'm going to enjoy watching you and your friends get turned into data," BlackGatomon smirked, leaping forward and slashing Tirimon in the face with her claws.

Tirimon stumbled into the remains of the pedestal and let out a growl of pain. "I won't be defeated by you and a group of useless Bakemon! Winter Inferno!"

BlackGatomon hastily stepped out of the way of his tail, and the blast flew towards the Bakemon again. Luckily for them Raremon slid in front of the blast and it sank into the sewer digimon's slimy skin and disappeared.

"That is definitely not good," Ryoko groaned. "Stop him, Tirimon, before the Bakemon can gang up on you!"

"Don't forget about me!" ExVeemon shouted, turning towards Raremon. "Vee-Laser!"

The blast never made it very far because the group of Vilemon tackled the champion to the ground and motioned for the plant digimon to join them.

"Hurry, Ivymon, attack him before he can get up again!" one of the Vilemon called out.

The poison plant digimon strolled forward and an unpleasant smile appeared on her face. "I don't know how Luciamon managed to get all of you into the castle without me noticing, but none of that matters anymore. You're here and I'm going to make sure you never leave! Berry Blaster!"

"Nightmare Shocker!" the Vilemon cried in unison.

Ivymon's roots came together to form a weapon, and a barrage of small white berries shot out of her arms and smashed into ExVeemon's face. The Vilemons' attacks quickly followed and their combined moves caused an explosion of energy. ExVeemon disappeared in a bright blast, and Sam let out a gasp of dismay. Ivymon's right. Our digimon are never going to get out of here alive, and what about the rest of us? We're going to be stuck here forever!

"ExVeemon, are you alright?" Davis said anxiously, his dark eyes travelling over his partner's injured body. ExVeemon let out a groan and did not reply.

"Zombie Claw!" the Bakemon shouted together, their slimy blue arms wrapping around Tirimon and pinning him to the floor.

Raremon used that opportunity to attack and sent a blast of stinky sewer sludge flying into Tirimon.

Sam put a hand over his nose to stop himself from gagging, but that did nothing to stop the fear in his heart, which was causing his stomach to churn even more than Raremon's disgusting attack.

Oh, Glowmon, if only you could digivolve...

"Don't worry, Tirimon, I'll help you!" Palmon cried. "Poison Ivy!" The little rookie's roots latched onto one of the Bakemon and sent him flying into the stone wall. The other ghost digimon were quick to scatter again, and Tirimon slowly got to his feet.

"Palmon!" Ryoko sighed, shaking his head and placing a firm hand on the plant digimon's green arm.

"Ryoko, I have to help. Your mom never liked to fight, but there were times when she knew she had to, and this is one of those times. Mimi would want me to help my friends. I know she would, even if it is dangerous."

"I promised my mother I would take you to her, and I can't do that very easily if you end up getting yourself turned into data!"

"Mimi would understand, especially if she knew I was trying to help you and your digimon."

"Palmon's right. I want to fight, too!" Glowmon cried.

"Hey, what about me?" Embermon complained.

Sam glanced frantically at his father and felt his dad's strong arms slip around him in a comforting hug. "T.K., has Izzy sent another e-mail yet?"

"No, but don't worry, Ken, he'll send one soon."

"He'd better or our digimon are done for," Davis muttered. "What's taking him so long?"

T.K.'s D-Terminal let off a sudden beep, and Sam nearly jumped out of his skin at the unexpected noise.

"Please tell me that's Izzy," Mickey moaned, gazing fearfully at his partner who was trying to help MagnaAngemon knock DarkAngelicmon off his feet.

T.K. managed a weak smile and nodded. "Who else would it be? Let's see what he has to say."

Sam crept up to Mickey's side and leaned over the older twin's shoulder for a closer look at T.K.'s D-Terminal. It was indeed an e-mail from Izzy, and the message said:

T.K.,

I'm sorry about what happened with Luciamon, but we don't really have time to get into it right now. If you want to know the truth, my escape plan doesn't go anywhere near the dungeons, but don't worry, I've changed it! Well, Taniko did actually. In fact, it looks nothing like my original escape plan did, and don't worry about Luciamon and the others trying to follow you. It doesn't use any of the original weak points we used to get you guys to the crest room except for the one that led you into the room itself. Taniko and I are going to lead you guys to a weak point on the first floor that will lead you to the dungeons. It's on the northeast side of the castle. Once you've rescued Gennai, we're going to get you guys back to the first floor using a weak point on the southeast side of the castle and that way you'll be able to escape using the East Tower. Make sure Embermon saves his strength because he's going to need it to digivolve later in order for you guys to make it back to the gate. He'll have to alter his course a bit once you guys get back outside in order to head southwest again, but everything will work out. Okay, here's what you guys have to do. Like I said before, the only original weak point we're going to use again is the one that led you into the crest room to begin with. I know you guys are in a big battle, but somehow you're going to have to make it back through that weak point, and once you do I want you to head right until you reach a four-way intersection and then head left. Five feet down the hall on the right is a weak point that will lead you back down to the fourth floor. As I said before, don't worry about Luciamon. It will take her and the others some time to figure out where you've gone, even if Luciamon tells DarkAngelicmon about the weak point. (If she hasn't already) They will have to search the walls to find the new ones and that will give you guys some time to get a head start. Who knows? Maybe we'll get lucky and Luciamon will think you've followed your old route back down to the first floor. Whatever you do, be careful and get out of there safely or Yolei will strangle me to death!

Izzy

P.S. Don't thank me. Thank Taniko!

"Yes! Thank you, Taniko! I'd kiss you right now if you were standing in front of me!" Matty cheered.

"You can think about kissing Taniko later. Right now we have work to do," T.K. said dryly.

"Hey, it'd be a lot more fun than kissing Izzy!" Dai muttered.

Mickey smiled in amusement, and Matty glared at the goggle-headed leader. "Hey, you should be grateful I'm letting you get anywhere near my cousin because I certainly don't see you objecting to the idea of kissing Ta-"

"Will you boys be quiet and help us find a way to get past DarkAngelicmon?" Takara snapped, her face turning bright pink. She slapped Matty on the back of his golden head, and the younger twin let out a cry of protest.

"Somehow we have to get our digimon to distract DarkAngelicmon and the guards long enough for us to make an escape," Mickey murmured.

"What about Luciamon?" Takara asked quietly.

Sam glanced at the female angel and realized she had not moved from her position by the door. The other digimon were engaged in fierce battle, but so far she had done absolutely nothing.

I guess you were right, Dad. I knew I should have trusted you.

"Don't worry, Mickey, Luciamon's not going to try and stop us," his father said slowly, interrupting his thoughts.

"Easy for you to say," Embermon muttered.

Sam slipped his arms around his father and let out a soft sigh. "I believe in you, Dad. I'll always believe in you."

The two of them held each other close for a moment, with Glowmon snuggled between them, and Sam felt his father's hand press gently against his cheek. "Thank you, Sam, your approval means everything to me."

What a strange thing to say. I wonder what he meant by that.

"We'll make it," Davis said, clenching his right hand into a fist. "ExVeemon!"

The champion digimon looked over at them, glanced at the weak point, and slowly nodded his head. Davis never even had to say a word. The two of them had been partners for so long that ExVeemon knew instinctively what Davis was trying to tell him, and as a result he knew exactly what to do. "Tirimon, Stingmon, MagnaAngemon, keep them busy!"

"Right, Arctic Blast!" Tirimon shouted, sending a stream of ice and snow at BlackGatomon.

"Now do you see why you can't be involved in the fight?" Dai said triumphantly, looking down at his partner. "We need you to digivolve later."

"It's still not fair!"

"Wait, didn't that group of Bakemon say they were going to the East Tower?" Palmon piped up.

Ryoko smirked and nodded his head towards Tirimon. "Yes, but I don't think we're going to have to worry about them. Those same Bakemon are two of the ones Tirimon's keeping busy. Taniko's plan will work. You'll see."

"Now we wait," Davis said, his dark eyes flicking back and forth between the three battles going on. Stingmon and Ibismon were rolling around on the ground in a two on one wrestling match with Spritemon, and Tirimon and ExVeemon had recovered enough to send Ivymon and the others running for cover. Angelicmon had managed to slip away from DarkAngelicmon, thanks to MagnaAngemon and Gabrielmon, and the three vaccine digimon were shooting blasts of orange and gold light at the fallen angel. No one was watching the weak point, not even Luciamon whose pale blue eyes were focused on DarkAngelicmon. It was the perfect opportunity to escape.

"Now!" Davis shouted, grabbing Ryoko and his son and pushing them towards the weak point.

Sam caught hold of his dad's sleeve and the two of them raced after the Motomiyas with T.K., Takara, and the twins on their heels.

"MagnaAngemon, gather the others and follow us!" T.K. shouted. ExVeemon, Tirimon, and the three angels immediately abandoned their positions and started to head towards the weak point. Davis and Dai had almost reached the wall when DarkAngelicmon and Spritemon suddenly realized what was going on, and both digimon immediately leaped into action.

"Wrath of Hades!" DarkAngelicmon shouted, leaping into the air and shooting his blast at the five digimon in the rear. Tirimon, ExVeemon, and the three angels disappeared in a large explosion of dark purple light, and when the smoke cleared the five digimon were no longer standing. All of them were sprawled on the floor in what looked to be a state of unconsciousness.

"You humans will never get away!" Spritemon shrieked, glaring at Takara and thrusting her hands out at Ibismon and Stingmon. "Pixie Dust!"

A shower of green sparks descended on the two champions, and Ibismon began to scream. "It's draining our energy! I...can't...hold...on..."

"No!" Stingmon groaned. "My power..."

Sam watched in horror as the two digimon turned back into their rookie forms and fell to the ground.

"Ibismon!" Takara gasped.

The female Digidestined made an attempt to run to her partner's side, but Mickey grabbed her hand and pulled her back towards the weak point. "No, Kara! If you go over there Spritemon will kill you!"

"But-"

"Wormmon, no! You can't die again!"

Sam jerked around at the sound of his father's voice and gasped when he realized the man was no longer standing beside him. Instead his father was racing directly into the path of Spritemon's fury in an effort to rescue Wormmon. "Dad, no! Come back!" Please don't die. You can't...

"Sam!" Mickey cried.

Sam barely heard his friend. He was too busy chasing after his father to worry about anything else.

"Ken! Sam! Get back here!" T.K. snapped, glancing frantically over his shoulder at DarkAngelicmon.

Sam ignored the golden-haired Digidestined and grabbed onto the back of his father's shirt in an effort to drag the raven-haired Digidestined back towards the weak point, but unfortunately his dad was a lot stronger than he was and he found himself being pushed away.

"Sam, go back. Get out of here!" his father snapped, shoving him roughly towards T.K. and the others.

Sam stumbled and would have fallen if Glowmon had not caught him by the sleeve of his green shirt. "No! I'm not leaving you!"

"Go before you get hurt!"

"No!"

Sam realized there were tears running down his face, but he did not care. All he could think about was protecting his dad who had done the same for him so many times in the past.

"You want Wormmon then come and get him!" Spritemon snarled, stomping hard on the rookie and crushing him beneath her foot.

Sam watched in terror as his father made an attempt to grab Wormmon and was promptly knocked to the floor by a hard blow to the side of his head. Spritemon was small for a mega, but her fist had knocked the raven-haired Digidestined unconscious.

No! I can't let this happen. I can't let her hurt my dad. He believes in me. He told me I'm a good person. He loves me. He loves me even though Wormmon, his own digimon, was one of the ones who had compared me to the Emperor...

"I'm sorry, Ken. Our master may need Daichi and his friends, but I'm pretty sure we can do without you! At first I thought you might prove to be a valuable possession, but I've changed my mind. DarkAngelicmon might think you'll be of some use to us, but I don't! Prepare to face eternal darkness, human!"

"No!" DarkAngelicmon screamed, turning in the air and fluttering towards the female digimon. "Spritemon, you idiot! What are you doing?"

"Stop!" Sam sobbed, ignoring the fallen angel. "You can't do this! He's my dad. I love him..."

"Oh yes I can, little Emperor! Say goodbye to your father while you still have a chance!"

"No!"

"I won't let you hurt Ken. I won't!" Glowmon shouted.

There was a flash of blinding purple light, and Sam gasped when he realized it was coming from his D-Coder. Glowmon disappeared in an explosion of violet sparks that was so bright he had no choice but to close his eyes.

"Time to die, Ken Ichijouji! Fairy Cannon!"

I'm sorry, Dad. I'm sorry I couldn't protect you after everything you've done for me...

"I'll save you, Ken! Glowmon digivolve to, Dracomon!"

Sam's eyes popped open and he watched Spritemon's green blast fly harmlessly towards the ceiling. A bolt of purple lightning sent the evil mega flying across the room and Sam found himself staring at an impressive champion digimon who was kneeling next to his father. The insect digimon had a human form, and his whole body, including his entire head, was covered with dark green armour. The only part of his face they could see were his large violet eyes. His long hair was the colour of pure, untainted snow, and he had two pairs of fragile, transparent wings that glimmered in shades of purple, blue, and green. He resembled a dragonfly, and he was absolutely beautiful.

Sam stared at the digimon in shock and held his D-Coder tightly against his chest. "Glowmon?"

The digimon turned to look at him and slowly nodded. "My name is Dracomon now. I'm a champion level data type digimon, and my special attacks are Zephyr Strike, Dragon Stingers, and Lightning Spark. Yes, Sam Ichijouji, I am still your digimon partner."