Disclaimer: I don't own Digimon.

A/N: And here's another chapter! And just so you all know, I'm hoping to post a oneshot story next week which will focus on Tal Kuroki's gang. It won't feature any of their digimon yet, since the contest is still going on, but it will give you all a chance to get to know some of their characters, which I think will also help for those who may still want to contribute some OC digimon. And of course, once the contest is over, there will be more oneshots that will feature the digimon with their partners. Not sure how many, but I'd like to do at least two. Enjoy!

Following the Footsteps of Destiny

Chapter 173: A Game of Hide and Seek

Daichi 'Dai' Motomiya

File Island, Eastern Hemisphere, Digital World

"Greetings, Digidestined! Lovely afternoon, isn't it? A perfect day for stealing one of your Spirit Chips, if I do say so myself," Vampiramon said smugly, her lips twitching into a nasty smile. "Oh, come now, don't look so surprised. You knew we'd be here. Don't tell me you've forgotten about us already."

"Not likely," Ryoko snorted, glaring at the female mega. "What do you want, Vampiramon? If you've come here to capture either Daichi or myself, you're wasting your time."

"We're not handing the Spirit Chip of Bravery over to you without a fight!" Embermon snapped, darting suddenly in front of Ryoko, his small body dropping into an offensive crouch next to Alopemon.

Gazing calmly at the vampire digimon, Daichi gently untangled himself from Takara's grip, and taking a small step towards the two evil digimon blocking their escape route, he glanced curiously at the fallen angel standing just slightly behind Vampiramon's left shoulder. Normally, DarkAngelicmon was a surprisingly talkative digimon, and after enduring several of the fallen angel's clever insults himself, Daichi knew full well he was never likely to forget the way DarkAngelicmon always had a few insightful words of wisdom for any occasion, but today the fallen angel seemed unusually quiet and the blank expression on his face did nothing to emphasize just exactly how he was feeling at the moment. As a general rule, DarkAngelicmon usually focused most of his attention on either Mickey or Matty, but considering his current behaviour and the way his emerald gaze kept flicking between all the members of the group assembled on the mountain, never settling on one particular digimon or human for long, with the exception of Vampiramon, that no longer appeared to be the case anymore. If anything, he looked like he was trying his best to ignore the Takaishi twins.

Doesn't he care at all about Mickey and Matty anymore? I should be relieved, but instead I feel like there's something not right about the way he's acting. And his lack of interest in the twins isn't the only thing that's bugging me. I don't really know how to explain it, but he looks like he no longer has any interest in the Spirit Chip. No...that's not it. It's more like...like he wishes he was somewhere else. I get the feeling he doesn't even want to be here, but that doesn't make any sense at all. Which reminds me, why is he here? I thought the Ruler of Darkness wanted him to find and capture Lucemon, but if that's true then why is he here on Infinity Mountain helping Vampiramon steal the Spirit Chip of Bravery? I know what Izzy said, but still...why would the Ruler of Darkness send DarkAngelicmon here instead of ordering him to seek out Lucemon?

Matty must have been having similar thoughts because the younger twin crossed his arms over his chest, and glaring at the fallen angel he said coldly, "What are you doing here? Shouldn't you be looking for your old friend, or do you want us to find him for you?"

"Why?" Sam suddenly wailed, gazing sadly at the fallen angel. "After everything you've done, what is it about you he can see that I can't see? Why did he want to be your friend in the first place? I just don't understand. Is it the same thing Mickey sees because all I see is darkness..."

"What are they talking about?" Vampiramon asked slowly, glancing suspiciously at the fallen angel.

DarkAngelicmon quickly lowered his bright green eyes to the ground, and although Daichi couldn't read the expression on the fallen angel's face he had a feeling DarkAngelicmon was doing his best to stop Vampiramon from finding out about what was really going on with Lucemon. "It's nothing."

He sounds so...so lifeless. It's like he's given up. I don't get it. What's wrong with him?

"I can't believe you, DarkAngelicmon," Sam whispered, his deep blue eyes welling up with sudden tears. "You are such a fool."

"Am I now? You're certainly one to talk."

"Huh?"

"Tell me, Sam, how is your father doing? I hope you haven't hurt him too terribly," DarkAngelicmon said dryly, a hint of his old personality flickering quite unexpectedly in his tone of voice.

"It's none of your business how he's feeling!"

Slipping a comforting arm around Sam's shoulders, Mickey ignored the angry red blush on the raven-haired Digidestined's cheeks, and turning to gaze solemnly at the fallen angel he said softly, "Actually, Ken is doing pretty well, all things considered. I...DarkAngelicmon, you shouldn't be here. You...you don't look well."

"Mickey! The fate of the Digiworld could be at stake if we let them get their hands on the Spirit Chip of Bravery and you're worried about how he's feeling?" Matty groaned, shaking his head in amusement. "That is so like you."

"Not that it's any of your concern, but I'm fine," DarkAngelicmon said shortly, avoiding the older twin's amber eyes. "Say what you will, but I doubt my well-being is at the top of your priority list."

"That's not true!"

"It is as it should be, nothing more. You would do well to worry more about yourself than to waste your time on me."

"Why?" Mickey whispered, gazing uncertainly at the fallen angel. "Why are you here? You never answered Matty's question. He's out there somewhere and you're doing nothing to locate him. I don't understand. Isn't that what you were...I mean...we thought...and Jestermon said..."

DarkAngelicmon slowly lifted his head, and the look he gave Mickey was clearly a warning. As soon as their eyes met, the older twin quickly snapped his mouth shut and DarkAngelicmojn turned to gaze uneasily at Vampiramon. Daichi wasn't exactly sure what was going on, but to him it looked as if DarkAngelicmon was attempting to hide something from Vampiramon.

Is he trying to stop her from finding out about his orders to capture Lucemon? That doesn't make any sense. He must know Vampiramon suspects what he's up to so why would he try so hard to stop her from finding out something she could probably easily figure out all on her own? Unless...could Lucemon be somewhere on or near Infinity Mountain? That would explain why the Ruler of Darkness would send DarkAngelicmon here with Vampiramon, and that would also explain why it looks as if he doesn't want us to talk about Lucemon, but that doesn't make any sense either. Maybe he's trying to prevent Vampiramon from figuring out just how close Lucemon is, but why would he do that unless he was trying to stop the Ruler of Darkness from capturing Lucemon? Wait! Could...could DarkAngelicmon possibly be trying to protect Lucemon?

Whirling around in surprise, Daichi glanced at the path up ahead, fully expecting to spot a male version of Luciamon standing behind him, but to his extreme disappointment there wasn't a single new celestial digimon in sight. A quick glance at the rest of the Digidestined proved to Dai that the possibility of Lucemon being on Infinity Mountain had not yet occurred to any of the others and despite Izzy's earlier logic, all of a sudden he found himself wondering why he hadn't questioned DarkAngelicmon's presence on Infinity Mountain back when Angelicmon and the other celestial digimon had first informed the group about the fallen angel's whereabouts.

I wonder if...

Frowning slightly, Daichi glanced suspiciously at the three celestial digimon, all of whom were pointing their weapons at DarkAngelicmon and Vampiramon, and studying their faces he let out a sigh of frustration. All three of their expressions, though with Angewomon it was hard to tell, lacked any kind of emotion whatsoever, but there was something about the look in Angelicmon's emerald eyes that made Dai wonder if maybe they knew more than they were letting on.

Angelicmon and Gabrielmon have been acting a little weird lately. Could they possibly be hiding something about Lucemon? Wait, forget I asked. My brain is starting to hurt. I wonder what Ryoko thinks. Maybe I'll ask him later. He's better at figuring these sort of things out than I am.

"You're afraid," Mickey whispered, staring at DarkAngelicmon in shock. "I can't believe it..."

"Will you quit your incessant babbling?" Vampiramon snapped, glaring at the older twin. "As much as I'd love to continue this conversation, I don't have time for your nonsense! There's a Spirit Chip waiting for us at the top of Infinity Mountain, and we need a catalyst, so to speak."

"We should hurry," DarkAngelicmon murmured softly in the vampire digimon's ear, his gaze darting uneasily towards the forest down below. "Our master is waiting for us."

The nervous gesture was so unlike the fallen angel's normal behaviour it was enough to make Dai wonder if perhaps he was stuck in some sort of bizarre dream.

"Wait!" Sam suddenly gasped, stepping forward as if to take the fallen angel's arm. "I...I didn't mean it! You know...what I said about...about my friend. It's not true."

What the...

"Now, Vampiramon," DarkAngelicmon said firmly, ignoring the raven-haired Digidestined's desperate attempt to communicate with him. "The Ruler of Darkness is waiting."

"I know that, you idiot! Well? Don't just stand there, make yourself useful! Our prey needs to be captured and since you seem to have plenty of time on your hands to chat you might as well put it to good use. Bring the catalyst to me!"

Stepping away from the vampire digimon, DarkAngelicmon moved quickly towards Ryoko, but a swirling blast of fire suddenly erupted at the fallen angel's feet, stopping him in his tracks.

"If you get any closer to Ryoko or my partner, there will be more where that came from!" Embermon warned, his bright green eyes narrowing in concentration.

"You, a rookie, dare to stand in my way?"

"You think he's alone?" Alopemon said quietly, his pale blue fur bristling at the insult. "As a champion your strength is no greater than ours. We have digimon of all levels on our side. Together we can easily take down both you and Vampiramon."

"If you want to fight, bring it on!" Veemon shouted, shaking his fist at the fallen angel.

Hurrying over to stand next to Ryoko, Dai glanced around the raven-haired Digidestined's shoulder at his father, and raising his eyebrows he gave his dad a quick smile. "You think they got it from us?"

"Well, we might have helped a little bit, but I think they'd be like this even if they weren't our partners!"

"Great, this should be interesting," Ryoko said sarcastically.

Shaking his head, Dai couldn't help himself from smiling in amusement, but before he could scold his partner, he suddenly felt his dad come up behind him, the former leader's arm slipping around his shoulders in a tight embrace. "Stay close to me, Dai. This could get pretty nasty."

"Remember what I said earlier, don't let your guard down," Tai said quietly, having already moved into position next to his fellow former leader.

"You keep your hands off my son!" Matt warned, his Digivice already in his hand. The former musician was hovering protectively in front of Ryoko, next to Alopemon, and Gabumon was standing on his right. Somehow, the three angel digimon had managed to get behind Vampiramon and DarkAngelicmon, and all of their weapons were pointed surprisingly at the the fallen angel's back, not at Vampiramon. Kari, Noriko, Mickey, Matty, and Sam were standing off to the side with Glowmon and Penguinmon, and both rookies looked just as eager to fight as the group crowded around Embermon. Joe, Kara, Dovemon, and Gomamon were in the rear behind the group that had materialized around Ryoko, Dai being a member of that group, and they too seemed to feel DarkAngelicmon was on the verge of doing something drastic.

Are Vampiramon and DarkAngelicmon really going to try and capture both of us?

Gazing calmly at Embermon, DarkAngelicmon took another step forward, but this time he was stopped by a glowing slash of pale blue light across his face, courtesy of Alopemon's tail.

Clapping a hand against his cheek, the fallen angel stumbled backwards a few steps, nearly knocking Vampiramon off her feet.

"Watch where you're stepping!" the vampire digimon snapped, tugging angrily on her long skirts.

Flipping over backwards in the air and landing lightly on his feet, Alopemon scowled at the fallen angel and said quietly, "You're making a big mistake."

"You do realize your behaviour will not go unpunished, I assume?" DarkAngelicmon said mildly, smiling in amusement.

"What's so funny?"

The fallen angel snapped his fingers and the dark spear he often wielded in battle appeared suddenly in his hand, the intricate gold pattern covering its dark surface sparkling brightly in the sunshine. Pointing the spear straight at Alopemon's heart DarkAngelicmion said coldly, "Don't make me hurt you."

"Pepper breath!"

"Blue Blaster!"

"Opal Laser!"

"Glow Beam!"

"Ice Prism!"

Gazing in surprise at the display of colourful blasts, all of which mingled together to cause a small explosion, Daichi watched the fallen angel disappear in a cloud of smoke. When the dust finally cleared, the fallen angel was still standing, and although he did not appear to be hurt, the look on his face seemed to suggest he had lost some of his earlier confidence.

Wait a minute, that's not right. He definitely still thinks he can beat us, which means the way he's acting now doesn't have anything to do with lack of confidence. If anything, he looks disappointed about something. It's almost like he's disappointed in our behaviour. Obviously he didn't think we would be so quick to attack him. What's going on here? Ryoko probably knows, but I don't have a clue what all of this means...

"Hey, DarkAngelicmon, maybe you should take your own advice. Don't make us hurt you!" Agumon warned, wisps of smoke still streaming from his mouth thanks to his Pepper Breath attack.

"You'd better watch what you say or I'll sweep you over the side of the cliff with my Marching Fishes attack!" Gomamon threatened, scowling at the fallen angel. "Tell him, Joe!"

"Uh...can't we all just sit down and talk about this?"

"Joe!"

"Will you hurry this up?" Vampiramon snarled, tugging vigorously on the fallen angel's dark wings. "We don't have all day here!"

"You're not taking my son away from me!" Noriko shouted, clutching her D-3 Digivice tightly in her hand.

"Why?" Kari said sadly, her arms wrapping protectively around both of her sons. "Why are you doing this?"

Turning on his heel, DarkAngelicmon frowned at Kari, completely ignoring the Takaishi twins in the process, and studying the female Digidestined's face he said flatly, "So...you're the last one. There are too many of you. Your celestial digimon are starting to make me feel ill."

"That's not true!" Mickey protested, shaking his head in denial. "You don't mean that."

"If you don't leave Ryoko and Dai alone, your health will be the least of your problems," Angewomon warned, pulling back the string on her bow. "I do not wish to delete you, but I will if I have to."

"I can digivolve any time," Veemon informed the fallen angel, glancing hopefully at his partner. "Davis and I will never let you do anything to hurt Dai or Ryoko."

"Do you dare to fight against us?" Angelicmon demanded.

Turning his back on the group of celestial digimon, all of whom were watching his movements very closely, DarkAngelicmon sighed and said softly, "It never ceases to amaze me just how much you digimon and your human partners ignore the obvious. Daichi and Ryoko are not my concern. Their fate will rest in the hands of another of my companions. I came here for one purpose only and if you don't want her to get hurt then I suggest you cooperate with me."

Wait...her? What the...

Before Daichi could even attempt to make sense of the fallen angel's words, DarkAngelicmon suddenly launched himself into the air, his unexpected take off stirring up a cloud of dust and dark feathers. Hovering menacingly in the air, he dived right over Matt's head, and stretching out his arms he caught Takara around the waist, his momentum taking the female Digidestined right off her feet. Ignoring Takara's sudden screams, DarkAngelicmon quickly launched himself back into the air again, and hovering several feet above the group with the female Digidestined's smaller body held securely in his arms, he smirked at the stunned group standing below him. "Mission accomplished."

"Excellent work, DarkAngelicmon," Vampiramon said approvingly, looking surprisingly pleased with the fallen angel's performance. "That was better than I expected."

"It was too easy. I'm actually a little bit disappointed. I was expecting our mission to be a little bit more of a challenge."

Takara? What? Why? I don't understand...I don't understand what's going on! Kara...No! Kara!

"Kara!" Dovemon cried, hovering anxiously next to Joe's shoulder. "Leave my partner alone, DarkAngelicmon!"

"Let me go you big oaf!" Takara shrieked, hitting the fallen angel hard in the chest with her fists.

Frowning in annoyance, DarkAngelicmon caught one of the female Digidestined's hands in a tight grip and nodding his head towards the rocky cliff beneath their feet he said dryly, "Be still, young human. If you don't want to fall to your death, then I suggest you stop struggling. It would be a shame for both of us if you suddenly slipped out of my grasp. You would lose your life, and Vampiramon and I wouldn't be able to proceed with our plans. It would be in both of our best interests if you came quietly. And if you don't mind, I'd like to savor my victory in peace."

"Did you forget? I have a name!" Takara shouted indignantly, smacking the fallen angel's left ear for good measure.

"You humans certainly are a violent species."

"Hey! Don't make me hit you again!"

Although Daichi couldn't be certain, it looked as if the fallen angel was actually enjoying himself, and glancing frantically at Tai, he swallowed a sudden lump in his throat. Much to his dismay, the former leader's face had turned a ghostly shade of white and the fear in Tai's eyes was almost unbearable to witness. As far as Dai could tell, Tai hadn't even uttered a single cry at his daughter's sudden capture, not because he hadn't wanted to, it was mostly due to the fact that he had clearly lost his ability to speak. Never in all the years Daichi had known Tai had he ever seen the former leader looking so scared before, and despite his own fear he knew he could never even imagine what could possibly be going through the former leader's mind at that moment.

If something happens to Takara, what will I do?

Tai's behaviour must have somehow rubbed off on him because all of a sudden he felt like his heart was going to explode with fear. "D-Dad?"

His voice came out as a croak, and taking a step back he felt his father's arm suddenly slip around his shoulders. "It's okay, Dai. It's okay. We'll get her back. Somehow everything will work out. You can't give up now. We've been through this kind of thing before and somehow we've always managed to save everyone. Why should this time be any different?"

Whipping around, Dai buried his face against his father's chest and shaking his head he mumbled, "No...we can't...Kara...you don't understand."

It's not the same! It is different this time. Kara, I can't...I can't lose you...

"Now that we've accomplished what we've set out to do, it's time we were leaving," Vampiramon smirked, tossing her long red hair over her shoulder. "DarkAngelicmon, if you would please do the honours."

"What do we do?" Embermon cried helplessly.

"No! Kara!" Dovemon wailed.

Had Joe not been holding her back, the little rookie probably would have tried to take on DarkAngelicmon all by herself, but thanks to the cobalt-haired Digidestined's quick thinking, Dovemon had no choice but to remain where she was.

"Tai, we have to do something!" Agumon gasped, tugging anxiously on his partner's leg. "They're going to get away!"

Overcome with fear, Daichi yanked himself out of his father's arms, and avoiding his mother's attempts to grab him he raced towards the edge of the cliff, his gaze never leaving Takara's face.

"Kara!"

"Be strong, Dai!" Takara cried, her arms wrapping around DarkAngelicmon's neck and her head coming to rest against the fallen angel's shoulder. "I'll be fine. Please, take care of my dad for me!"

"No! Kara, I..."

Blinking back tears, Takara smiled at him and waving her hand she said firmly, "I know you'll find me again. Don't let them get to you, Dai! Whatever you do, don't let them steal your heart! If you do, we...we'll fail..."

"Enough of this, let's go!" Vampiramon snapped impatiently, tugging angrily on her skirts.

"I won't let you get away with this!" Veemon threatened.

"No!" Mickey and Sam shouted at the exact same time. "DarkAngelicmon, don't do this!"

"You fool," Gabrielmon murmured.

Something about the look on DarkAngelicmon gave Gabrielmon and the two humans seemed to radiate sadness, and regretfully shaking his head he once again summoned his spear and held it high up into the air. "If you want to see Takara again, you humans know what you must do. Follow me, Daichi Motomiya, if you dare. The top of Infinity Mountain awaits. Dark Teleportation!"

The mountain around Daichi suddenly disappeared, along with his mother, Ryoko, and several of the others who had come up behind him, and all of a sudden he found himself standing in complete darkness. He thought he heard Takara shouting something, but before he could make sense of what she was trying to say, the darkness enveloped him and he lost consciousness.