Hi Everyone! Happy New Year, and hope you all had a wonderful Christmas! Here is the last chapter of 2013. I hope those who have been reading it have enjoyed the story up until now, and will enjoy it into 2014 as well!

Again, any and all feedback is appreciated - this chapter is very much a set up for what is to come next. Eluding to a few plot points too, and even more to come.

Please Enjoy!

X-X-X

As soon as we entered into the main chamber the only way I could really describe what I saw and heard was a mixture of awe and chaos.

"Wow..." I was amazed at the scale of this cavern. I had though the Gotsumon village was large but it was nothing compared to this! The room itself extended for thousands of feet on both side, and the roof too. Surrounding the walls, were small orbs of fire, barely contained in some kind of glass sphere – small but bright enough to illuminate the entire chamber.

The most striking part however was the 'Mega-Drill' in the centre however. This thing was aimed at an angle down into the ground, and must have been part way into making another tunnel. The drill head itself was the size of house! I could only imagine the sound it would make if it was actually operational...looking and seeing smoke rising from several parts of it though it would appear that Regas and Lorna had been successful in shutting the thing down.

The part which hit home the most however was the fighting going on all around it, the Gotsumon and Goblinmon in combat, throwing attacks at once another in an attempt to get the other hand. From where I was some seemed to be winning, others losing – but the vast majority appeared to be in a stalemate, with no one seemingly doing better than the other...but no sign of my friends...

"Over here!" speaking of them, I heard a voice and hiding behind a large metal container nearby was Lorna. Waving us over we moved on beside her, as I slipped down from BurningGreymon' shoulder and stood beside her, my partner kneeling down beside me in an attempt to use the cover offered.

She seemed to be doing well, a few cuts and scrapes but otherwise in one shape. One thing stood out though, and that was the lack of Regas...

"What's the situation? Where is Regas?" peering around the corner, I saw various Goblinmon running around nearby, chasing a group of Gotsumon away behind a barrier, where they quickly turned and began lobbing rocks at there would be attackers.

"Well, we got the drill down pretty quick. Me and Renamon took care of that fairly effectively...however Regas found out where LadyDevimon was, apparently in a chamber to the side and took it upon himself to make sure she stayed in there. That was about 10 minutes ago. I tried to stop him but he was adamant he could do it..." My eyes widened in shock to that, and shook my head

"Wait! He went after her!?" I had asked them not to engage...she had been stronger than us the last time we came across her, and I didn't want to risk anyone else having to go through what I did with Agunimon...not unless we could come at her with all our force.

"That's the last I heard, since then we have been holding the fort here – the Goblinmon aren't that organised, so the Gotsumon are taking care of them for the most part...I was waiting for you, and it seemed things went well for you too. It's good to have you back BurningGreymon" she bowed her head, and smiled to him

"It is good to be back – let's not waste any time, where is this chamber?" BurningGreymon also looked over to the top of the container, scanning the room, looking for any avenues of attack.

"It's one of the doors along the side of this chamber" she pointed to one not too far from where we were "In there, that's where Regas went – as I said, he was adamant, he even stubbornly locked the door – myself and Renamon couldn't break it down"

Thinking of what might have happened; various thoughts went through my head...the trouble Regas might be in. I knew he had been here in the Digital World longer than me, and in reality he was alot more well prepared for the dangers of this place than I was...but still, for him to run off like that, and to hold her on his own...it sounded exactly like something I would do!

"Let's go save our friend!" turning to BurningGreymon, I pointed over to the door "Think you could make us an entrance?"

"I would love to try – Ill clear us a way!" with that his wings un-furrowed from behind him, as he leapt out from cover, and made his way towards the chamber door.

"Renamon" Lorna called out, and a moment later she phased in beside her, almost making me jump out of my skin

"Yes?" she spoke softly, but clearly – obviously not fazed by what was going on around her, I knew she was cool under pressure, but...ice cold might have been a better way to describe it.

"Stick close to us, and cover BurningGreymon whilst he opens up the way" Lorna pointed over to him, as he charged forward, helping a small group of Gotsumon by taking out a Goblinmon who were trying to throw a bomb at them from above.

"Understood, nothing will get close" with a nod she phased out once more, and appeared behind a container on the other side of the path I had entered into the room from. Motioning for us to follow with a wave of her paw, we took off in a run keeping our heads low, just in time to see another explosion come from the Mega-drill, this time from within the hole where it had been digging, the explosion itself rocking the chamber for a moment.

Taking in the situation as we got to the other side, pressing my back up against the cold steel of our cover, it was like something straight from a movie. Explosions, shouts...the Gotsumon fighting for their home, and the Goblinmon fighting to stay in control...I could smell the scent of smoke and gunpowder from where the bombs been hurled, as in the distance another one goes off. It was like a war zone.

"This is so surreal..." I muttered, Lorna leaning in to hear what I said, and nodding her head

"Yeah...I've never seen anything like it in my time here in the Digital World...I knew the Dark Lords were organised, but I could never have imagined to this extent...it's insane"

"I never thought I would be part of something like this" we slipped over to the other side as Renamon beckoned us over, and leapt us from behind a small pile of barrels, then over to some stone pipes. All the while Lorna stuck close in front of me.

BurningGreymon in the meantime had reached the door, and was in the process of removing the few Goblinmon who had taken up a defence around it, making quick work of them, as moments later all I saw as particles of data rising into the air and broker barricades.

I knew I planned all this, but it never really hit me how...violent it would be. Sure there was no blood, or bodies, but still death was death, and in this world the equivalent was one being turned back into raw data...I knew digimon could be reborn, so long as their core remained intact but still...I felt a pang of guilt inside for being part of orchestrating all this.

"Hey, come on – we got to keep up, focus" snapping me out of my thinking, Lorna nudged me with her elbow, then did something entirely unexpected – she took a hold of my hand, and pulled me across to out next piece of cover, just in time too as the stone pipes we were just behind were hit by a stray bomb going off nearby.

Feeling a blush rise on my cheek as I looked down to my hand – Lorna was looking around another corner, waiting for a signal from Renamon...and I felt my face go red in a mixture of embarrassment and shyness. Telling myself in my head she was doing it purely out of a need to get out of where we were before, and quickly, I tried to dismiss from my mind it could be anything else – I had only known her a few days! It was far too soon to even be thinking about anything like that!

Sighing internally to myself at that thought, she was right, I needed to focus, now was not the time to be thinking about this kind of thing...not when we could have an attack land on our heads at any time!

We slipped across the last couple of obstacles, keeping a low profile between each piece of cover. In the meantime BurningGreymon had cleared the barricade in front of the door, and backed up to a reasonable distance before blasting the door with his cannons, hearing the sound of metal crash, ringing through the room as dust surrounded the upper platform he was on...I guess it worked.

"Well...she knows we are here now..." I added sarcastically, pulling myself up a metal run ladder to reach where my partner was, Renamon just behind me as she covered our rear.

Stepping up onto the platform, the dust beginning to clear we could see a massive hole in the remains of the heavy door, smoke still rising from the hot edges – BurningGreymon literally having melted on through it to the other side, which was obscured by the rising heat, and dim lighting of the room beyond.

"I can sense her in there, she knows we are here" BurningGreymon pointed inside, walking forward as he knelt down by the hole, indicating for us to come closer.

'You think?' was what I wanted to say in response to that, but holding my tongue I approached, and took a deep breath.

"Be rude of us to keep her waiting...we got to find Regas, he might be in trouble" Lorna stepped beside me, and carefully peered inside

"I can't see anything, but if she is in there no doubt she has some kind of trap set up...Renamon" she turned to her partner, who backed up seemingly getting some form of hint.

"Digi-volve!" before I knew it, she had pulled out her digi-vice and Renamon was surrounded by a bright light. Lasting only a moment it grew in form, before finally dimming, leaving behind what I could only imagine was still her partner, a much larger fox, now walking all fours but with all the same yellow fur, and Taoist symbols as before.

"Impressive..." was all I could manage to say as I looked upon the beautiful beast, feeling the power from her partner, who bowed its head to me

"This is Kyubimon...we can introduce each other later, but for now..." she jogged up beside her, as Kyubimon kneeled down and Lorna jumped onto her back, using the rather large item around her neck to hold onto her "...let's go!" and with that she jumped through the smoking hole and into the room beyond

Breaking myself from my stupor, and shaking myself off I smiled to BurningGreymon as he helped me up onto his shoulder once more and climbed past the hot remains of the door ourselves, and followed behind Lorna into the dark chamber.

Stepping inside I got the feeling of a cold chill run past us, making me shudder gently. I put my spare arm around myself, feeling it run down the length of my spine. This didn't feel like a normal cold wind however, the feeling of pure malice was attached to it, giving it an edge which made every hair on my neck and arms stand on end as goose bumps ran up the length of my arm too.

Immediately I could feel fear rise up inside me, the rational part of my brain telling me to run away, my other half telling me to ignore it and continue onwards. I have to admit if I didn't have BurningGreymon here I may well have done the latter. Holding on tighter to him, he must have sensed something was amiss, as he turned his head towards me

"Don't worry – She won't get the drop on us again" he was confident, and I have confidence in him, just my own demons I had to come to terms with now...however he was right, I wasn't about to let her get the drop on us again.

"She must be in here somewhere..."

My vision starting to grow accustomed to the dim light around is, I got a better feel for the room we were in. The closest thing I could compare it to would be a cathedral. A tall, angular roof, with pillars running alongside us, a red, faded and frayed carpet leading deeper inside up to an elevated platform which had a large stone table at the top, which was likely some form of altar.

The most striking feature however was what was on the wall to the far end – a large, round stained glass window. Light from around the window illuminated it only barely but I could see the outline of someone, or thing in the centre, hand out in such a way as if inviting people forward...something about it felt off...I didn't feel as if it was inviting us forward for a friendly communion .

As we stepped forward slowly I kept looking between each pillar, expecting at any moment for LadyDevimon to jump out and attack us. We had gotten about halfway down, the sound of combat growing dimmer as we got deeper into the room when all of a sudden a cackle filled the air, echoing off the walls, all around us.

"Well, well – You broke free of my spell, impressive" we turned ourselves around in an effort to spot her, BurningGreymon had already began charging his weapons as he pointed one of them in front of him, ready to fire the second he saw her...Kyubimon giving a low growl in response.

"Come out of your hiding spot! This doesn't need to end in violence!" if she would give up, if she would just hand herself in, we could work something out...I knew the chances were slim, but I wanted to try.

There was silence for a moment, an eerie silence. Each second that passed I could hear my heart beating in my chest, going a mile a minute...waiting for her response, be it in words...or actions.

"You are so naive human..." again her voice, echoing off the walls around us continues to taunt us, unable to locate her! "...the strong exist in this world, to control the weak, the use them as they, see, fit. You make digimon weak with your presence – partners, human and digimon? More like parasites! My master would see you laid low for your crimes!"

"That's not true! Your heart is so full of hatred you can't see it! But the friendship, the bond we share with our partners, makes us both stronger!" the passion in my voice was undeniable, but I felt like this was going to be a losing battle...I wasn't the only one too...

"There is no point in trying to rationalise with her Snow, she serves the Dark Lords...she has nothing but hatred and blackness in her" Lorna spoke up, having jumped off from Kyubimon and standing beside her now.

Again, silence – we stepped forward further towards the altar as the sound of wind blowing through the chamber continued filled our ears, getting louder and steadier.

We got closer to the other side; we could see something laid beside the stone altar. Immediately we recognised what it was and ran over, jumping down from BurningGreymon' shoulder, as both I and Lorna knelt beside the unconscious body of Regas and Guilmon.

"Hey, wake up Regas, wake up" I shook him by his shoulders as we tried to get a response, however nothing. Lorna reached for his neck, and took his pulse, letting out a sigh of relief

"Hes alive, pulse is steady..." she looked over to Guilmon, with a smile "Would seem both of them are...but what happened?" I was about to try and make a response myself, but we both jumped and turned around as a familiar presence appeared behind us.

"I did – the fool thought he could defeat me, ha-ha...oh, don't worry though, once I have finished you all of – I shall make you my new thralls...you shall serve me!" floating in the corridor from where we had come, by the first rows of pillars was LadyDevimon, that same cocky smirk on her face, as she placed her hands on her hips are stared over at us.

Lorna and I pulled ourselves to our feet and instinctively reached for our digi-vices, as both BurningGreymon and Kyubimon took up a position between us, and the witch.

"We will never serve you! BurningGreymon!"

"You are about to enter a world of hurt, Kyubimon!"

Both our partners nodded, needing no further encouragement and jumped forward to attack LadyDevimon!

X-X-X

Ensuring Snow and Lorna were kept behind us; Kyubimon and I launched our attack forward at that witch, LadyDevimon

Firing off several shots at her, I let Kyubimon get close as she attempted to headbutt her.

The first volley of my shots hit the pillar behind her, the stone falling to the floor harmlessly, and Kyubimon failing to score a direct hit, only just grazing her side slightly, knocking her away and forcing her to change position as she evaded our initial attacks.

"Hold it right there!" not giving her the opportunity to evade once more I charged up my weapons, the end of my barrels glowing red as I took aim with both of my cannons..."PYRO BARRAGE!"

Several small energy rounds erupted from my Rudri, covering the short distance as they hit the mark and dust filled the air around her as the strikes decimated the surrounding area, the sound of stone shattering and a sharp, shrill cry.

Kyubimon moved up alongside me, as we waited to see what remained of her, from the dust cloud however we heard the familiar cackle and prepared ourselves as several small creatures, similar to bats were fired out from the fog, and directly at us!

"EVIL WING!" from behind her cover her attack caught us both off guard, throwing my arms up in an attempt to free myself from their grip, swiping from side to side to clear them.

I growled in frustration as flames began to spit from my body, and warm the surrounding air – this had to end, now! And I knew just how to do it...

"WILDFIRE TSUNAMI!" the wisps which were erupting were now full scale flames as my whole body was surrounded in fire, lighting up the chamber as the flames spanned my body, and rose up into the air, all the way to the ceiling. Waiting for the dust settle, I saw the smug look on that witches face, I watched it drain as I let out a loud, primal roar and fired my flames towards her!

Kyubimon doing the same, as her body began to spin rapidly, and surrounded in blue flames, a dragon appearing, and launching towards LadyDevimon at the same time as my attack, joining and mixing with my flames.

"DRAGON WHEEL!"

Both attacks converged on LadyDevimon, who rose up her arms in a futile attempt to block them as they connected hard with her. We watched as she was knocked backwards into the wall behind her, slamming into the stone, seeing it indent as she hit it with such force as to make the whole room shake, several of the glass orbs on the wall falling, and shattering to the floor from the impact.

Then, there was silence...no cry out, no cackle...nothing.

"Is she...is it over?" Snow, who along with Lorna had stuck close to the altar and their fallen friends spoke up, stepping forward a little as we all looked at the wall.

Not wanting to take any chances, I stepped forward first and listened for any indication that she may have survived our attack...doing so, I began to get the feeling of darkness returning, stronger than before, more dangerous. I back up slightly, and growled...what had she done!?

"Get back!" I yelled as large blast wave emanated outwards from the indent. Digging my claws hard into the ground and flapping my wings back against the blast kept me steady, however Kyubimon had been knocked from her feet, and flown backwards into a pillar.

"Kyubimon!" I watched cracks appear, as it began to break down, tearing from the roof as it started its collapse to the floor, and directly onto Lorna' partner! Not wanting to risk losing anyone else, I ran beside Kyubimon and picked her up, quickly moving her away from the pillar as it crashed with an almighty bang, dust throw up everywhere, coughing as I held the unconscious Fox in my arms.

Placing her down carefully, I saw Lorna run on over to attend to her partner, who opened her eyes groggily, obviously still out of it from the blast, but at least still alive.

"Haha...you really think such simple Digimon such as you could defeat me so easily!?" turning around, I saw still floating in the air, however now with a dark purple aura was LadyDevimon. Somehow having survived our attack...no doubt with the help of the Dark Lords...similar to how Coredramon had been tainted...seemed she had more tricks up her sleeves! Taking up an aggressive stance, I charged up my cannons and prepared to pepper her back to where she belonged!

"You are going back to whatever hell it is you came from!" I growled, firing off a volley to which she dodged to the side of...letting me see that at her side, she had a hole in her side, as data slowly began to leave her form, I could see she was on her last legs.

"You might...think you...can beat the Dark Lords...but, I am...nothing compared to my...master" she wheezed and help her side with her hand, her expression pained as I saw her turn her attention to Snow "You really have no idea what is ahead of you...you...haha...fool!" watching her spare arm turn into a long sharp spike, a dark grin across her face as she launched herself forward at him! "If I die, I'm taking you with me! BLACK WING!"

Letting out a loud roar, I moved to block her attack before she could hit Snow who had throw up his arms in reaction to the oncoming attack. Throwing out my arm, I reached out and grasped at her spear...with every intention to stop her before she could injure my partner! If she thought she was going to be taking anyone else with her she was wrong!

"You're finished!" I grasped out, and took a hold of her spear arm, just inches away from Snow' face – frozen for a moment on the spot as she glared over at me, my own eyes locking with hers, fire burning bright as I brought over my other arm, and aimed it towards her head...and then a flash...

X-X-X

Seeing her spear mere inches away from my face, I stepped back slightly, the fear in her eyes as she finally saw her end coming at the end of BurningGreymon' cannon. I closed my own and covered my head as a moment later I heard a single shot, and then something heavy hit the floor.

I knew what it was, and I knew what had just happened, and why, but still for a few seconds more I wanted to pretend it wasn't the case, that in front of me someone had not just been...deleted. It was false though, and the reality was...LadyDevimon was gone.

Opening my eyes, the sight in front of me was one I expected – the form of LadyDevimon on the ground, laid there on her back as she looked up to the ceiling, still alive however data streaming away from her body. I felt a pang of regret run through me as she just seemed to lay there, not moving

"You..." I jumped slightly as I heard her speak, well wheeze out and turn her head to the side to look me straight in the eye. Feeling compelled I approached her, just as BurningGreymon stepped forward, putting his arm out in front of me.

"Its, ok...please" I placed my hand on his arm, shaking my head to him. For a moment he simply stayed there, baring my path...but seeing I wasn't going to back down he relented and lifted his arm back up. "Thank you" I smiled to him, and moved beside LadyDevimon, kneeling beside her, looking down her form as she slowly began to disappear from this place.

"He is not what you think he is – the Dark Lord, he is more powerful, more...manipulative than you know" she struggled to speak; I could see she was in pain. Her good arm rose into the air, and held up an item on a chain. "This key will let you go to Devimon' castle...you must, confront him before you can take on the Dark Lord"

I examined the key in her hand, it had a skull head, and the shaft looked to be made of bone...seeing no reason why not, I reached over and took the key from her, feeling cold in my hand as I clasped it, letting her arm fall back down.

"Why...why are you giving this to us?" I was confused, wasn't she one of the servants of the Dark Lord? Why would she betray the one she was working for?

"I failed; I failed in my task and can see why...you must confront the Dark Lord, in order to know the truth. This is...no act of kindness, but fulfilling a destiny. You will know soon enough" the sorrowful smile on her face began to fade as soon all that was left of her now was her head..."Goodbye, My love..." and with that, she was gone, the final pieces of data fading away into the air of the chamber.

I simply knelt there in silence for a moment, looking down at where her body had been moments ago, the only sound being the distant clash of battle far behind us. Tears were in my eyes as I clenched my fist hard around the key I held, feeling it dig into my skin and send a bolt of pain up my arm...in the end she had been no different to us really...she had feelings; she had ambition...just, for something much different than us...

"Snow..." I felt a hand on my shoulder, shaking slightly I reached up and wiped away my tears, trying my best to keep my composure. Turning I saw Agunimon beside me, giving me a nod I took his hand and he pulled me to my feet with ease. Casting my eyes down, I glanced behind me

"We killed her...we actually did it...but after all the evil she had caused, the pain she inflicted...why do I feel sad?" looking back up to Agunimon, I should have felt happy for what we had done, we had rid the world of this witch, and saved the Gotsumon and their home. In realty though...I felt, nothing, just...emptiness.

"Because you have a heart, and that is what makes you a better person. We did what we have to, and though it won't make it any easier for you...know that we did the right thing...you tried, that's all anyone can ever ask for" Agunimon spoke clear, and confidently, looking down at me with a softness in his eyes and putting his arms around me, holding me tightly as I put my head against is shoulder and cried silent tears in mourning as well as joy.

I don't know how long we stood there for like that, but after a while after pulling myself together we stepped back, reminding myself we still had a job to do. Opening my hand, I looked at the key once more...how were we going to use this? I had never seen anything like it before, and although it felt like metal, it was...warm to the touch

"Is that what she gave you?" Lorna approached from the side, Renamon holding her arm around her waist, looking a bit worse for wear but at least standing.

"Yeah, what do you make of it?" I handed it on out to Lorna, who picked it up and examined it for a moment, before smiling "It's no normal key, I have seen something like it before. It opens a portal...not a door" she looked around the room, scanning the surroundings before finally locking her eyes on the altar. "Watch this"

She threw the key forward at the altar – as it sailed through the air I could see it hum with the same dark energy that had surrounded LadyDevimon before finally coming to a stop directly over the top of the altar. For a moment, it hung in the air and simply span slowly on one spot, as if held in the air on invisible strings

"What is it suppose-" before I could finish my question key gave off a bright flash, momentarily blinding us, I rubbed my eyes, seeing spots as my vision began to focus once more.

In front of us was indeed a portal, it looks like a pond of shimmering water surrounded by a border or purple energy, just hanging in the air over the altar. The other side wasn't clear and only showed shimmers of what awaited us, glimpses of wherever this thing lead to – but it seemed to be dark, I thought I could see a candle on the other side but I wasn't sure...

"You and Agunimon should check it out – if it does in fact lead to Devimon Palace, this might provide us with a unique opportunity"

"Wait, what? On my own?" surprised by her comments, we had only just barely beaten back LadyDevimon, but taking on her boss? On our own, was she mad!? Her expression said otherwise however

"Renamon is injured, and will be out of action for a while – plus Regas is still unconscious, so someone needs to look after him. Then there are the Gotsumon, we got to clear out the last of the Goblinmon...Devimon might not know right now that she is gone, but that won't last for long – I saw you two fight, you can do it...Agunimon is legendary, which makes the same for you...finish this, for all of us Snow" she gave a smile, and walked up to me, placing her hand on my shoulder "In the days you have been here, you have already matured, and learned so much – time to put that to the test" putting her arms around me, she then hugged me lightly

"Lorna...I" not really knowing what to say, I returned the hug, and smiled myself "If you believe we can do it..."

"I know you can! After seeing what you have done today – you broke the powerful spell over your partner, and bested LadyDevimon in combat" she leaned back, and punched me playfully in the arm "have confidence and be brave. You might be surprised what will happen" stepping back, she walked over to Regas, and pulled her bag from her side "We'll see you soon, don't worry"

Sighing in resignation as I watched her attend to our friend, she was right...today I had done things I never thought possible...who was to say I couldn't go further?

"Well, partner?" turning back to Agunimon, and looking at the portal, I put my hand on my side, and took a deep breath "You ready to take down a dark Lord?"

"We were born for this" he stood beside me, and patted me on the back "Let's go show them what a human and a digimon working together can do!"

With that, and knowing I had the support of Lorna, and the others we walked forward, and jumped on into the portal with no hesitation – unsure what was waiting for us on the other side, but knowing that we were ready...this was our destiny.