Disclaimer: I don't own Digimon. (By the time this story is done, the amount of times I've said this...)
A/N: And another chapter! Whether or not it's decent I'll let you guys be the judges! Once again, a big thank you to everyone who has been reading and sending me reviews. I may not always respond because I'm so busy, but you can be sure I read each and every one of them. You guys are the reason why, after five years, this story is still going strong!
Chapter 194: Setting the Stage
Tai Kamiya
File Island, Eastern Hemisphere, Digital World
Shaking his head in despair, Tai quickly threw an arm over his eyes to stop the harsh rays of the sun from impairing his vision, and spotting WarGreymon weaving through the air in circles, Jestermon's deadly black spheres speeding towards the large mega from the ground down below, he let out a weary sigh, uncertain of what to do.
Without some more help, I don't think WarGreymon and the others will be able to stand up to BlackWidowmon and Jestermon much longer. It's just like with the Dark Masters. Our enemy is too powerful for us, but...that doesn't mean they're unbeatable. There's only one problem. If we're ever going to defeat them, we're all gong to have to work together as a team, but with the way Dai and Matty are acting now...
"Uncle, our digimon aren't going to last much longer. We need to think of something and fast," Ryoko warned, ducking as Dragermon came hurtling through the air towards them.
Tai let out a gasp of surprise, and quickly ducking as well, he turned his head just in time to watch Dragermon tumble over the side of the cliff, the sound of his body hitting the rocks down below echoing through the air.
"I know, it's just..."
"Without the rest of our friends, there's nothing we can do!" Dovemon wailed, burying her face against Ryoko's legs.
"And Dai and Matty aren't helping," Ryoko grumbled, rolling his eyes.
Despite the battle raging on, Dai and Matty were still screaming at each other, their insults becoming much more harsh with every shout, and with tears sparkling in his amber eyes, Matty looked ready to shove Dai over the edge of the cliff given half a chance.
Ryoko's right. If Dai doesn't come to his senses soon, this entire trip to the Digital World will have all been for nothing.
And with Kara's safety on the line, that was not something they could allow to happen.
As Tai watched in despair, Dai knocked Matty to the ground again, his fist connecting with the younger twin's ribs, and pulling his arm back for a second punch, the goggle-headed leader snarled, "Yeah? Well, maybe I don't want to be friends with you anymore either!"
"Like that would be a huge loss!" Matty shot back, shoving the goggle-headed leader away. "I don't need friends who are jerks like you!"
"Idiots," Ryoko muttered, glaring at the arguing duo.
Just like Matt and I used to be...
It was too much, but before Tai could do anything about the two rookie Digidestined, a stray black sphere suddenly headed in their direction, and leaping into action he quickly pulled Ryoko out of the way only to find that WarGreymon was also careening through the air towards them. He just had time to let out a yelp of surprise before flattening himself against the ground, his body acting as a shield to protect Ryoko's smaller form from injury. Luckily, WarGreymon landed just behind them on his stomach, and slowly turning his head to the side, the mega digimon said weakly, "Tai..."
"I think it's about time our little game ended," BlackWidowmon suddenly shouted gleefully, leaping out from behind the rocks and lifting her eight spider legs to the sky in triumph. "What do you think, Jestermon?"
"Does it have to?" the fool whined, shaking his head in disappointment. "Well, if you insist, but I was having so much fun."
"You might want to take back your words because this game is far from being over!" Tirimon growled, leaping at the spider digimon. "Winter Inferno!"
Dodging out of the way, BlackWidowmon scuttled across the ground on her eight spider legs, and leaping up behind Tirimon, she screamed, "Web Shackles!"
Uh oh. Not good!
Just as Tirimon turned to face the female mega, a mass of sticky thread enveloped him, and tumbling over onto his side he became encased in a large spider web, unable to escape no matter how much he struggled.
Now what?
At that moment, Dragermon appeared in the sky again and sensing Tirimon's need for help, he shot a huge blast of fire at BlackWidowmon, which she dodged easily, thanks to her speed and agility.
"Two unconscious digimon coming up!" Jestermon cackled, bouncing to his feet and flinging his black spheres high into the air. One hit the struggling Tirimon, immediately knocking him out, and the other two slammed into the back of Dragermon's head, sending him crashing to the ground.
Great. Just great...
Tai had to admit, he was getting worried, and despite the fact that Dragermon was clearly unconscious, apparently BlackWidowmon wasn't taking any chances because instead of leaving the dragon digimon to his fate, she quickly trapped him in her sticky webs, ensuring that he would not be able to escape once he regained consciousness.
"Uh oh, I think we might have a bit of a problem," Ryoko said weakly, taking a step back and glancing quickly to his right. "Daichi, stop acting like a stupid fool and get over here right now! You too, Matty!"
"What do you want?" Dai snapped, glaring at the golden-haired Digidestined.
"Look, you idiot!" Ryoko shouted in exasperation, gesturing towards their digimon.
Taking a look at his partner, Dai froze in mid punch, his dark eyes growing wide at the carnage. "Dragermon!"
"See? Now look what you've done!" Matty wailed, smacking the goggle-headed leader on the back of his head. "This is all your fault!"
No. It's all of us. Dai, why can't you see? Why couldn't I see?
There were so many memories of the past flashing through his head, it was hard for him to think straight, but somehow he managed to kneel next to WarGreymon, his hand coming to rest against the mega digimon's massive shoulder. "Are you still okay to fight?"
"For now, but even my energy won't last forever."
"That bad, huh?"
Lifting his head, WarGreymon said seriously, "I'll do what I can, but without the others..."
"We're not going to win this fight, are we."
Instead of responding, WarGreymon merely shook his head, and quickly launching himself into the air again, he called back over his shoulder, "Even the strongest cannot always win the fight without a little bit of help."
"Two down, one to go!" Jestermon cried gleefully, doing a little victory dance. "Care to join your friends, WarGreymon? It's nap time for you. Shadow Spheres!"
Swooping beneath the three deadly black balls spinning through the air towards him, WarGreymon just managed to avoid Jestermon's attack, but unfortunately BlackWidowmon was already in position waiting for such an occurrence. As soon as the court jester's black spheres disappeared over the side of the mountain, BlackWidowmon screamed, "Web Shackles!"
"Look out!" Dovemon cried, anxiously flapping her wings.
WarGreymon managed to avoid the first barrage of sticky thread, but before he could recover a web that was already almost fully formed, came flying towards him from behind. Turning, the large mega let out a gasp of surprise, but just as it was about to entangle him, a voice shouted, "Celestial Star!"
Angelicmon!
Out of nowhere, a blast of golden sparks surrounded by brilliant white light that resembled a shooting star shot straight through the centre of BlackWidowmon's web, sending little bits of silky thread floating to the ground, and soaring over BlackWidomon's head, his glowing spear held securely in his hands, Angelicmon threw the weapon at the female mega and shouted, "Litany Spear!"
BlackWidowmon let out a cry as the spear nearly lodged itself into the top of her right foot, having been caught off guard, and stumbling backwards she tumbled unceremoniously over the circle of rocks behind her, landing in the centre on her back.
"Nice timing," WarGreymon called out, relief in his voice. "We're having a bit of trouble here."
"I noticed," Angelicmon replied, his green eyes taking in the unconscious forms of Dragermon and Tirimon. "The others should be arriving shortly, at least as far as Mickey's group is concerned. Gabrielmon's presence is moving closer even as we speak, as well as Angewomon's."
"Finally, some good news for a change."
"Oh, I hope they get here soon," Dovemon moaned, hiding her face beneath her right wing.
"Angelicmon!" Matty shouted, waving to get his partner's attention.
Diving out of the sky and landing gracefully in front of the golden-haired Digidestined, Angelicmon smiled and said softly, "I told you I would be back."
"Angelicmon, what happened? DarkAngelicmon, he..."
"Later. First we have a friend to rescue and a Spirit Chip to acquire."
"I know, but..."
Reaching out, Angelicmon gently ran his thumb over Matty's tear-stained cheek, and tilting his head to the side, he said quietly, "It seems I am not the only one who has a bit of explaining to do."
Matty quickly looked away in embarrassment, his cheeks turning a bright shade of red, and avoiding the celestial digimon's eyes, he mumbled, "Only if you promise to tell me what happened between you and DarkAngelicmon."
"It's a deal then. Forgive me, I hate to leave your side when clearly you are quite distressed, but I must go help our friends. Unfortunately, the battle does not look to be going in our favour."
"Go," Matty said softly, giving the celestial digimon a gentle push. "I'll be okay."
"How dare you interfere!" BlackWidowmon suddenly snarled, leaping out of the circle of rocks and crossing her arms over her chest. "The nerve of you!"
"Yeah! We were just about to destroy these three," Jestermon complained, motioning towards WarGreymon and the two fallen champions.
"Oh, really?" Angelicmon's bright green eyes narrowed into angry slits, and swooping towards BlackWidowmon he launched another shining star at the female mega, fueling her anger. She retaliated instantly by sending streams of silky thread spinning through the air towards the celestial digimon, her face a mask of rage.
"Check it out, Angelicmon wasn't lying," Ryoko suddenly spoke up, holding out his D-Coder Digivice. "Mickey's group should be arriving any minute now."
"And Sam's group isn't too far behind!" Matty added, holding out his own D-Coder for evidence.
"Three, two, one...and here they are," Ryoko said, sighing in relief.
Tai glanced towards the entrance to the peak and he smiled as Angewomon, Gabrielmon, and MetalGarurumon came bursting over the rocks, instantly launching their attacks at BlackWidowmon, and a moment later Kari, Matt, and Mickey came racing up the path behind their digimon, concern evident on their faces.
"I hope we're not too late!" Kari called out, waving her hand in greeting.
"You're just in time!" Matty called back, racing towards the new arrivals and flinging his arms around his mother's waist. "I'm so glad to see you, Mom. I was afraid..."
"Same here, sweetie," Kari murmured, hugging the younger twin closely. "Thank goodness you're safe."
Unlike his mother, Mickey was not fooled in the slightest, and staring at the younger twin he said quietly, "What's wrong? What happened?"
"Nothing!" Matty snapped, a sharp edge to his voice.
Mickey stared at the younger twin, and pulling away from Kari, Matty slowly sank to the ground, his forehead coming to rest wearily against his knees.
Matty...
It was almost as if Mickey could sense what was going on in the younger twin's head because he suddenly knelt next to his brother, his arm going around Matty's trembling shoulders in a comforting one-armed hug. Like Matty, his amber eyes were dark and stormy, and lifting those eyes to his leader, he sent Dai an extremely disappointed look.
A look Dai apparently didn't like one little bit.
Immediately sensing Mickey's eyes on him, the goggle-headed leader whirled around and snapped, "Don't look at me like that!"
"Would you rather I looked at you with hatred in my eyes the way you've done to Matty?" Mickey asked quietly, his amber eyes never wavering from the goggle-headed leader's face.
Wincing, Dai quickly turned his face away, and muttering under his breath, he said shortly, "Don't act like I'm the only guilty one around here."
"I never said you were. How would both of you like it if I were to look at you with the same eyes you've been directing at each other ever since the moment you two met up again."
Wait...how could he know? He wasn't even here...
This, of course, elicited a small gasp from Matty, and mouth dropping open in surprise, Dai stared at Mickey in astonishment. "How did you..."
"I know my brother and I know my friends," Mickey said quietly, turning his face away. "I might not always speak up, but that doesn't mean I'm stupid."
Not quite sure what to say to that, Dai and Matty merely stared at the older twin in silence, and kneeling next to Matty, Matt whispered something into the younger twin's ear before moving off quickly to join his son. Whatever he'd said must have had a huge impact on Matty because instead of continuing to stare at his knees, the younger twin suddenly jerked his head up in surprise, his lips twitching into a small smile.
Leave it to Matt to find the right thing to say.
At Mickey's questioning look, Matty merely shook his head, and beaming in his uncle's direction, he said softly, "Later."
"Dad!" Ryoko shouted, running to meet the former musician half way.
"Staying out of trouble, are you?" Matt asked, gently ruffling his son's golden hair.
"I am, but I can't speak for the rest of my idiotic friends!"
Laughing, Matt said disapprovingly, "That's not a very nice way to speak about your friends."
"Maybe not, but that doesn't make it any less true!"
Ouch! It's like Matt all over again!
Smiling in amusement, Tai quickly motioned for the Ishida clan to join him, and strolling over with Ryoko trailing along behind, Matt said smoothly, "Dai causing trouble?"
"Something like that. Listen, Matt..."
"He'll pull through. Don't start giving up now. That's not the Tai I know."
"Sorry, it's just...it's harder when it's your kids, you know?"
"Right...only, last I checked, Dai wasn't yours."
"No, but he might as well be."
Matt stared at him for a moment, and glancing at the rookie leader, the former musician said quietly, "Guess we all can't help feeling that way. It must come with the territory. You know, being a parent."
"Plus, it helps to have such a great group of kids."
Smiling softly, Matt nodded in agreement. "It doesn't hurt, that's for sure. Funny...now that I'm a dad myself, I finally understand my own dad a little bit better. I used to always think about myself and T.K., but...my parents didn't have it easy either. It must have been hard for them, especially after they found out about the Digital World."
"Tell me about it."
"Look, here come the others!" Dovemon suddenly cried, flapping her wings in greeting.
Tai glanced up just in time to see ExVeemon and Dracomon soaring through the sky over his head and turning to face the group standing near the entrance to the peak he spotted Joe, Davis, Noriko, and Sam talking excitedly to Kari, Sabirdramon hovering above their heads with Gomamon riding on his back. Mickey, who had clearly been worried about Sam, had his arm around the raven-haired Digidestined's shoulders, and judging by the way their heads were bent close together, it looked like the two of them were having a serious conversation. Occasionally both boys would turn to look at Matty, the expressions on their faces indicating they were quite worried about the younger twin.
I can't blame them. I'm worried too...
Turning, Noriko immediately spotted her son standing a little apart from the Ishida duo, and letting out a cry of relief she quickly hurried over and flung her arms around the goggle-headed leader's neck in a tight hug.
"Hey, careful! Not so tight," Dai complained, struggling to loosen her grip on his neck.
"What were you thinking?" Noriko shrieked, burying her face against the goggle-headed leader's dark, spiky hair. "You are so grounded after this!"
Dai was about to answer, but spotting his father coming towards him, he quickly snapped his mouth shut and glanced warily at the former leader, guilt written all over his face.
Davis, what will you do?
Tai couldn't help feeling a little bit curious, as were the rest of the Digidestined, he was sure, and coming to a stop next to his wife, Davis gently pulled Noriko away from the rookie leader, the expression on his face giving no indication as to how he was feeling inside. He merely stood there looking down at his son, and shoving his hands into the pockets of his jeans he regretfully shook his head, at a loss of what to say.
Davis, of all people. At a loss for words.
"Dad, listen," Daichi blurted out, a pleading look on his face, "I..."
"Guys, sorry to interrupt, but I think maybe we should hurry up and break that seal surrounding the Spirit Chip," Joe called out, coming up suddenly behind Matt and gesturing towards the Spirit Chip of Bravery. "The sooner we get Kara away from Jestermon, the better."
"Is she okay?" Noriko asked anxiously, frowning suspiciously at the court jester, who was launching black spheres at the new arrivals.
Tai had to swallow a lump in his throat, and unable to look at Noriko, he mumbled, "I think so, but it's hard to know for sure. Jestermon got her with one of those black balls of his. According to him, she's been knocked unconscious, but other than that she's fine."
"Yeah right!" Dai shouted furiously, his face turning red with anger and his hands clenching into tight fists. "Her head hit the back of that pedestal pretty hard! How do we know she doesn't have a concussion or something?"
"Good point," Matt said seriously. "There's only one problem. In order for us to break the seal we're somehow going to have to get past Jestermon, and how are we supposed to do that without him threatening Kara?"
Tai was about to answer when Dracomon suddenly crashed into their midst, nearly knocking Davis, Noriko, and Daichi backwards onto the ground, and looking up in surprise, he let out a soft groan, his heart sinking at the sight that greeted him. Not only were Tirimon and Dragermon still down, but Angelicmon, Gabrielmon, ExVeemon, and Angewomon were also out of commission, covered in the same sticky webs that had Tirimon and Dragermon trapped, and on top of that Sabirdramon was struggling to stay airborne, his right wing hampered by a stream of silky thread. Gomamon, who had digivolved into Zudomon while they had been talking, was trying unsuccessfully to slow BlackWidowmon down with his Vulcan's Hammer attack and WarGreymon and MetalGarurumon were circling the female digimon, trying their best to land a direct hit while still avoiding BlackWidowmon's deadly webs.
"Oh no!" Dovemon gasped, letting out a soft moan. "All of my friends are in big trouble. If only there was something I could do to help them..."
"Sending reinforcements isn't going to help you!" BlackWidowmon snorted, scuttling out from beneath the two mega digimon and shooting a large sticky stream of thread at Dracomon's unconscious body.
"Look out!" Davis cried, pulling Noriko and Daichi out of the way just as BlackWidowmon's web engulfed Dracomon's still form.
"What are you waiting for? Get them!" BlackWidowmon snapped, glaring at Jestermon and launching more silky threads at the already incapacitated Sabirdramon, knocking him clean out of the sky.
At first, Tai thought BlackWidowmon was talking about Zudomon and the two megas, but instead of launching black spheres at the three remaining digimon, Jestermon sent them careening through the air towards the group of Digidestined who were still standing near the entrance to the peak. Sam and Mickey tumbled to the ground in a heap directly on top of Matty, who'd also been knocked unconscious by a black sphere, and Kari collapsed next to the three boys on her side, her dark hair spilling out across the ground like a pool of discoloured blood.
Staring at his sister's unconscious body in disbelief, Tai managed to gasp, "Kari!"
"Mickey, Matty, Sam!" Ryoko cried.
"You're going to pay for that!" Dai shouted, whirling around to glare at the spider digimon.
"Am I now? Well then, why don't you make me?" BlackWidowmon hissed, smiling in triumph. "Now, how about you hand over your Spirit Chip to me?"