Chapter 16

"Kari, move!"

Matt turned just in time to see Izzy push her aside as an electric thunder wave hit him in the side as he moved to duck himself.

"Izzy!"

Joe called out as smoke came up to cover them all and screams came from their direction before a bright light suddenly broke through the smoke and they all saw Kari stand in the middle with her crest held up.

Izzy had gotten to his feet again and was staring passed them so Matt followed his gaze to see several Digimon surround them.

Arukenimon appeared before them with an evil glare. "Attack."

"Digivolve!"

"Gomamon Digivolve into…. Ikkakumon!"

"Gabumon Digivolve into… Garurumon!"

Davis and Kari looked at each other and nodded.

"Digi Armor Energizes!"

"Veemon Armordigivolve into…Flamedramon!"

"Gatomon Armordigivolve into…Nefertimon!"

The four Digimon stood before them and attacked the Gazimon.

"Harpoon Torpedo!"

"Howling Blaster!"

"Fire Rocket!"

"Rosetta Stone!"

Soon all the Gazimon were destroyed and the Digimon turned their attention to Arukenimon and fired their attacks.

But she pushed them away like it was nothing and counter attacked.

"Can't you do better than that? You're weaklings! Acid Mist!"

Their Digimon screamed as they de-Digivolve into their Rookie forms and the Digidestined ran to them when they collapsed.

"She's gotten stronger," Matt said.

Arukenimon moved to strike again when Izzy stepped before them.

Arukenimon growled as she saw him. "You killed Mummymon."

"He had it coming to him," Izzy shrugged.

Arukenimon screamed in outrage as Izzy easily blocked her attack.

"Tell me, how does it feel to watch someone you love die?"

The bitterness in his voice surprised Matt for a moment before he remember Tai telling him that Izzy had seen him die time after time and he gasped as red lines appeared in Izzy's hands.

"Don't worry, you'll join him soon."

Arukenimon's eyes widened as she fired several Acid Mists towards Izzy, but he blocked them all with some sort of shield that blew every single attack back towards her.

"What's the matter? Feel like a fly trapped in a web?"

Matt wondered why he didn't just finish her off as Izzy side stepped another attack before a big web was thrown at him that Izzy couldn't avoid and he was trapped inside it.

"You've got to break free!" Davis yelled as he ran forward.

"Stop right there."

Davis stopped even though Izzy hadn't raised his voice and shook his head.

"But..."

"No. If I move against these then they will slide through my skin like pudding. She designed these specifically to bind me."

"But..."

"No more buts."

"You know it is no use to fight these off, Faith. You should give up and come with us," Arukenimon laughed as she slid her hand through her hair.

Izzy looked up at her sharply.

"I see you remember what happened last time," she turned to Matt and the others. "Did you know that he would kill you all if I asked him to?"

"Izzy would never willingly hurt us," Joe said.

Arukenimon laughed as she pulled out one of her own hairs and Kari shifted uncomfortable.

"There are no control spirals around that you can use for your sick plans."

"What a confidence that you have in yourself there. I realised the flaws in my special power and worked on it," she turned to Izzy, who tried to shift away.

The webs closed around him and Matt could see blood sliding down his side as they cut into him.

"Let him go!"

"Matt, stop!" without a second thought Matt stopped, even though he didn't want anything more than to run and free Izzy and realised Izzy was stopping him.

Black electrical wires left the web and surrounded Izzy as he screamed in pain.

"Stop it! Leave him alone!"

Kari moved forward but surprisingly it was Davis that stopped her.

"We can't, we'd only get hurt and I think Izzy would feel it too, hurting him even more than he already is."

"We have to do something!"

Matt saw blood coming from Izzy's clenched fists as he tried to stop himself from screaming.

"You want me to stop, Faith?"

Arukenimon laughed as Izzy sank to his knees but frowned when red wires appeared around him and the web melted away.

The black electrical wires disappeared and Izzy breathed out as he got to his feet again.

He was bleeding and Matt moved to his side, but didn't touch him as he knew Izzy would reject it.

"You're getting weak, even your stupid Gazimon were stronger than that," Izzy laughed, but it sounded strained.

Izzy took a step forward at the same time Arukenimon grabbed hold of her hair again.

"I can make you turn against your friends. You will kill them for me."

"You will never turn me against my friends again," Izzy growled and red streams of energy surrounded him as he spoke.

"You fool! Your friends are gone. You've been here for thirty-five hundred years. There is no way they'd still be alive!"

"Thirty...you've been here for thirty-five hundred years?" Matt choked out as he looked at Izzy.

"You didn't know?" there wasn't emotion in his eyes any more as the red wires slowly disappeared and Izzy turned to Matt completely.

"No, ten years...you've been gone for ten years. It's only been ten years for us," Matt stared into Izzy's eyes, knowing he'd be able to see the truth in them.

Izzy reached out and Matt carefully places his fingertips against Izzy's like he's seen Joe and Kari do at times and took a deep breath as several memories of the past ten years flashed through his mind before Izzy stepped away.

"Ten years. Is that truly all the human years it has been?"

He didn't seem to be talking to Matt, but he answered anyway.

"Yes. The gate closed the day you were taken and didn't open again until ten years later, the day we finally found you. We had no idea time moved differently again in the Digital World as you appear to be our age."

"Oh," Tears sprung to Izzy's eyes but there were still no emotions in his eyes as he turned to Arukenimon.

"Time to finish you of before he gets here," Izzy held up a hand and Arukenimon stumbled back in fear.

"You believe him? Who says he tells the truth? Who says he's not lying and they left you for death!" she screamed hysterically.

"I'm Empathic. I can see when people lie to me. Didn't you know empathy works two ways?"

"I can help you against him," she suddenly changed her tone.

"Who's him?" Matt asked confused.

"Someone stronger and higher in rank than her. Time's up Spider woman."

"I wouldn't want to have you around when he gets here."

Her sunglasses fell off to reveal two black eyes filled with fear and shock as she exploded into data before Izzy destroyed that too.

"What's he doing?" Davis asked.

"Ensuring she can't be reborn," Matt replied as he stepped to Izzy's side, placing a hand on his shoulder.

"Now she can be with the one she loves," Izzy whispered and Matt pulled him into a hug.

"I couldn't keep him save...I am so sorry I failed you," he whispered as he still remembered his promise from long ago clearly.

He had spend the last ten years trying to keep Tai from doing anything stupid and the one time the other had needed him he'd failed.

"It wasn't your fault. I killed him, I killed all of them," Izzy whispered.

"What do you mean?"

"I tried to call out for help. If I hadn't done that then you guys would never have come here in the first place. And then I gave up, despite the fact that I should have known better than to believe her when she said he was dead. I was willing to hand over those stupid powers if it meant she'd kill me. Kill me so..."

He trailed off as Matt pulled him back into his embrace.

"You are not at fault. They were torturing you, have been doing so for many years. All you wanted was to be with the one you love, there is nothing you did wrong. Even now they are all gone; you are not the one to blame. Arukenimon is and you took revenge for them...for us. You got that?"

"How touching, does anyone have a tissue?" they all turned to the harsh voice in shock...

TBC