Chapter 14
Matt came to with a moan, every single part of his body hurting and he slowly sat up to look around and see how the others were doing.
He rubbed his arms as the memories of pain and exhaustion came back to him, but he pushed it away as several groans made him turn.
He could see several of the others shattered around him and crawled to Joe, who was closest as the older man sat up.
"Are you all right?"
The blue-haired man shook his head. "My head hurts. What about you?"
"I'll live. What made it stop?"
"I don't know. But whatever did, I'm grateful."
They helped each other to their feet before making their way to the others and Matt knelt down beside Sora, who was facing the ground and unresponsive.
"Sora...Sora, wake up," when there was no reaction, he turned her around so that she'd be able to breathe easier and stumbled back with a scream.
Sora's eyes were glassy and wide open, but clearly unseeing and Matt turned around just in time to throw up as Joe scrambled to his side.
"Oh god," turning from her body, Joe stared at the others.
A few had sat up and were trying to put themselves back together, but most were laying motionless on the ground and Joe's heart clenched as he saw Mimi among them.
"No...check to see if the others are still alive!"
He ran to her and turned her around, already knowing the moment he touched her that she was gone.
"Mimi...no..."
"Everyone...they are all dead!" Davis cried out as he hugged Ken's lifeless body close to him.
Joe swallowed thickly, for the first time seeing that beside him and Matt only Davis and Kari had sat up.
"Everyone..." his gaze fell on Kari as she was softly stroking Tai's head while sobbing.
Matt wiped his mouth and made his way to her unsteadily, pulling her into his arms and away from her brother's body.
Kari choked on a sob before bursting into tears and clung to him so Matt tightened his grip and rubbed her back, not knowing what to say.
"This is not the time to cry over those who are lost, Digidestined. We need to get Faith back before it is too late."
Davis turned to Gennai. "Give us a break! We just lost all of our friends because we're trying to save your damn world. Why the hell is Izzy so damn important to you!"
"Stop it, he's right. We can mourn them later, right now we need to continue or they'll have died for nothing," Kari said as she pulled back from Matt's arms to wipe her tears away.
"We can come back for their bodies later but we need to do the right thing right now. It is what they would have wanted," she glanced down at her brother, who looked more like he was asleep than dead.
"But Izzy..."
"Izzy didn't do this," Joe cut Davis off as he joined Matt and Kari.
"What? But I thought he gave his powers up?" confused Davis looked at him.
"He gave up because he felt us take his powers; he was fighting them to give us more time. I could see it."
"He was helping us take his power more quickly. It is the last thing I remember before waking up again," Kari confirmed.
"This isn't Izzy's work?" Davis asked hesitant.
"Izzy wouldn't hurt a fly, least of all Tai," Joe said.
"Trust in him, child of Courage," Gennai added and Davis slowly nodded.
"Then we've got to save him."
They all nodded and turned to Spiral Mountain when it suddenly erupted and Davis gasped.
"The mountain will burn!...What?"
They all saw a red wall appear when lava began to stream down and screams of pain and fear were heard from inside it.
"Izzy's holding them there while they burn," Matt swallowed.
"But Izzy is locked up, how can he be doing this?"
"He must have gotten free. That wall is his, I remember him using it to save us all in that last fight."
Kari opened her mouth to say something, but was cut off by the beeping of Matt's and Joe's communicators and they pulled it out simultaneously.
"It's Izzy, he's asking us to meet us half way to Spiral Mountain. He's going to stop Arukenimon and asks for our help."
"Let's go then. It is about time we get involved properly," Davis grinned and with a nod they all made their way there while Matt send a confirming message back.