Chapter 13: Rush the Gate!

The castle was as evil looking as ever. The sight brought back terrible memories of what monsters had once lurked inside, and probably were there again. The whole idea of having to fight Myotismon all over again sent chills down my spine. I could remember how he had trapped everyone in the convention center, how he had mercilessly hunted for Kari, and how he had murdered Wizardmon. The thought that he could do it again steeled my mind; we had to stop him. We just had to.

"Sora, are you okay?" Biyomon asked.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Just a bit worried." I replied. We had stopped a few hundred yards from the castle for one last rest and to go over our strategy for taking out any guards that needed to be dealt with.

"Don't worry Sora. Everything will turn out fine, it always does," Biyomon reassured me.

"I know, Biyo, but somehow it's still frightening. Myotismon is really powerful. I have confidence in Izzy, but this plan is still really dangerous," I said.

"Remember, I'm right here. I'll help keep you and everyone else safe," Biyomon said.

"Thanks. I'll do whatever I can too," I said. I really wasn't sure that I could help very much, other than allowing Biyomon to digivolve. But, I suppose that was helping an awful lot. It was the only way we could help.

"Sora, we're ready to go," Matt said, tapping me on the shoulder.

"Oh, right," I said, standing up and following.

"Are you gonna be okay Sora?" Matt asked.

"Huh? Yeah, Matt I'll be fine, why?" I asked.

"Well, just, in case you need help or anything, I'll be there," Matt said shyly.

I laughed a little. "Oh, okay," I said. "I'll be there for you too." He smiled at me as we walked along.

"Alright everyone, here's the plan," Tai started. "First of all, Wormmon and Veemon are going to DNA digivolve so that we have an ultimate on hand if need be. Gatomon will then lead us to wherever Myotismon is hiding the cards that he used to open the gate. Once we have the cards, we go to the gate and Will's crest closes it. Then we split. All the other digimon will avoid digivolving unless they are needed, because it will be easier to sneak around while they're smaller, and we may need their strength for later. We may select some to digivolve and take out guards. Remember, we don't want to make any commotion, so stay quiet." Everyone nodded, and we headed straight for the castle.

There were no guards outside of it at the time, so we carefully snuck up to the doors. Tai slowly opened one just a little and peaked inside.

"Coast is clear," he whispered, and we all rushed in.

"Alright you two, digivolve," Tai said.

Veemon digivolve to…..:::::Exveemon!

Wormmon digivolve to…..:::::Stingmon!

Exveemon, Stingmon, DNA digivolve to…..:::::Paildramon!

"Alright everyone, this way," Gatomon said as we tiptoed through the castle.

"Shh," Tai said, and we all stopped. We could hear footsteps down the hall.

"This way," Gatomon said, leading us down another corridor. We entered a room with a Tyranamon on guard, but he was asleep in the middle of the room. We snuck silently past him and continued down another corridor.

"This place gives me the creeps," Gomamon said.

"Gomamon be quiet," Joe whispered.

"Sorry."

"Shh!"

We eventually found a room with several corridors leading out of it, but Gatomon didn't hesitate to pick the second one from the right. After scrambling into a room to avoid a group of guards roaming the halls, we continued our trek through the castle. We eventually came to a large wooden door at the very end of the hall.

"Myotismon keeps almost everything of great importance in this room," Gatomon said. "We should be able to find the cards in there."

The door was unlocked, and we all entered. The room was hardly lit at all, the only light coming from a single window high above many shelves filled with strange looking objects. But we had relatively little time to ponder the room.

"I've got them," TK said, holding up a small box. Inside were the nine cards that would open the gate.

"Now we can leave, right?" I asked.

"No, we need to find the gate next. Myotismon may have already opened it," Izzy explained. So far the plan was going perfectly. Gatomon once again proved herself very adept at sneaking around the castle. She knew all the places to hide from guards, and we didn't even need to attack any of them. We wound our way through the corridors until we reached the room with the gate. It was every bit as big as I remembered it, and it was already open.

"Okay, Will, shut it so we can get out of here," Tai said. Will walked toward the gate. In retrospect, we should have known that it wasn't going to be that easy.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you," said a voice from down the hallway. We all froze, fearing the worst. Myotismon stepped out of the darkness. "I bet you thought that your little plan was perfect. You failed to account for the surprising intelligence of my guards. The Tyranamon you thought was sleeping actually was only pretending, so that he could catch intruders and report to me. I must admit, you've managed to evade me very well until now, but unfortunately for you, there is no escape from this room, save the portal behind you." Several digimon began to come out of the shadows behind him. Two Dokugamon were the worst of them, but there were also several Redvegemon, a Skullmeramon, and a Cherrymon.

"Tai, we've got to retreat through the portal, we can't fight him now," Matt said.

"We came here to close that gate, and that's what we'll do. We fight through them and clear the way to the exit. Leave the gate open just in case," Tai said. "Let's go everyone!"

Agumon digivolve to…..:::::Greymon!

Gabumon digivolve to…..:::::Garurumon!

Tentomon digivolve to…..:::::Kabuterimon!

Biyomon digivolve to…..:::::Birdramon!

Gomamon digivolve to…..:::::Ikkakumon!

Patamon digivolve to…..:::::Angemon!

Hawkmon digivolve to…..:::::Aquilamon!

Armadillamon digivolve to…..:::::Ankelomon!

Drakamon digivolve to…..:::::Hydramon!

Angemon, Ankelomon, DNA digivolve to…..:::::Shakuamon!

Aquilamon, Gatomon, DNA digivolve to…..:::::Silphymon!

Paildramon mega digivolve to…..:::::Imperialdramon!

"Well, this may be entertaining after all," Myotismon smiled. With his left hand, he pulled from under his cloak a small ball of bright blue fur with a big eye n the middle.

"Jikanumon!" Davis exclaimed.

"Oh, then you have heard of him? In that case I'm sure you realize how pointless it would be for you to fight me."

"Imperialdramon, help take out all of his minions first, then we'll worry about him!" Davis yelled.

"What an interesting strategy. I am curious to see how miserably it fails!" Myotismon laughed. "Grisly Wing!"

Imperialdramon stepped in front of the attack, and it didn't affect him much, but the other digimon were attacking also. He couldn't block all of the attacks. Birdramon tried her best, but she was no match for the ultimate level digimon. None of the champions were. They all were beaten and returned to their rookie stages.

"Biyomon, are you okay?" I asked, picking her up.

"I'll be . . . fine. Just stay safe Sora," she replied.

Tai, we can't take them! We have to retreat!" Matt yelled as he picked up Gabumon. Tai stared at the battle. He didn't want to fail, but he knew we couldn't win this time. We had to fall back.

"Crimson Lightning!" Silphymon took a direct hit. It had already been double teamed by both of the Dokugamon, and Myotismon's attack was too much. They returned to Gatomon and Hawkmon.

"Everyone go through the gate!" Tai yelled. "Hurry!"

"We can't just give up!" Gatomon yelled as she quickly stood up. She was a champion, so she still had strength left while Hawkmon didn't.

"There's no other choice! We've got to go!" Tai yelled.

"Yes you fools, flee! There is nothing you can do to stop me!" Myotismon laughed. "Grisly Wing!" the attack left Patamon and Armadillamon lying weak on the ground. Imperialdramon, Hydramon, and Gatomon were the only ones left still standing. Everyone started running for the gate. Everyone but Will.

"There's got to be something. There's always been a way, and there's got to be one here," he said. "Hydramon, do whatever you can to help us!"

"Soul Fang!" The five-headed dragon roared. Myotismon brushed off the attack as if it were nothing.

"This is becoming quite entertaining," Myotismon laughed.

"Will, get over here! There's nothing you can do!" Matt yelled.

"Wait," Kari said. "Will's right. There's always been a way, and there's got to be one now, too."

"Kari stop acting like that, we've got to . . . what the?" Tai was stopped short by the glowing light that was spraying out of Kari's digivice. Will's digivice suddenly lit up with a brilliant light as well.