DISCLAIMER: The following story contains various themes and subject matter that may not be suitable for children under the age of thirteen. Viewer discretion is advised.

A/N: So I made a poster for Godfall with some clever editing and my 'Gimp II' software. The poster contains SPOILERS, so if you wanna wait till the story's over before viewing it's your call. If you wanna go ahead, you can find the link on my profile page under the Digimon: Godfall synopsis. It should take you to my photobucket account.

Digimon

GODFALL

By. Sonfaro

Chapter 9

We've definitely been here before.

Which is kind of confusing me, because Rei's ruins aren't really anything specific. Honestly it's just a large pile of rocks with what looks to be an artificial entrance drilled into the side for the researchers. If I had to guess what we can see is about the size of a convenience store, though it does look like there's something going on underneath.

We lie flat on our stomachs to avoid being seen. Behind us, Rei stands with our Digimon holding Izzy's briefcase, waiting for a word from the two of us. Below, we see the lights from erect Gizmon everywhere, dotting the desert sands like stars in the sky. They stand between us and the ruble that makes up Rei's ruins, encircling them in a defensive posture. Whatever exists inside knows we're coming, and it looks like it doesn't want us in.

The problem isn't just the Gizmon though. It's the location. This place, like the ruins earlier (before we met Rei) is sending cold shivers up my spine. It's all just too familiar.

For some reason I remember the laugh of a terrible Elvis impersonator.

I try to shake it off. I don't think Etemon is still alive – at least not as Etemon. He's probably been reformatted by now. Whether he remembers his past life or not is doubtful – few Digimon ever remember much about what happened before they passed on. T.K.'s partner Patamon, who's experienced digital death first hand, said it was like dreaming: you never know what's real and what wasn't, you just roll with the punches and hope your memories are right.

Still though, this place is reminding me of him… and someone else.

Something about the way the pile of rubble dips below the surface of the sand makes me feel like I have a name on the tip of my tongue. But I'm not sure I can place it. I know the coliseum is still up, so that's out. And I remember the Pyramid being destroyed by MetalGreymon… just before a black hole vortex thing sucked me back to my world.

I frown. Servers' deserts have been encroaching deeper into the forests lately. If not Etemon, could it have buried Myotismon's castle?

I shake my head. Myotismon is dead dead. I'm sure of that. The rest of this line of questioning is just annoying. We've been through a lot of places over Server. A lot of them bad. Spending all day trying to figure out which baddie is trying to kill us would waste time we don't have. Besides have bigger troubles to worry about. We can't focus on the past right now. We've got enough problems in the present as it is.

"This is it?" Matt whispers.

"This is the place alright," Rei notes behind us.

"I knew I should have brought my mono-scope," I grumble. "How many of them are there?"

"Forty or fifty," Matt ponders from his position. "I'm not sure."

"Too many," I decide. "We have to figure out how to get rid of some of them."

"Nn…" Matt makes a sound. "I think we may need a distraction."

I frown leaning up to meet his gaze. "What are you thinking?"

He sighs, tugging at the collar of his thin designer shirt that's doing little to protect him in this cold. "We don't need two of us to input the codes. If Rei can get one of us in, then once we pass whatever inner defenses they've got, we can slip in and establish contact."

I groan. "That's a big risk."

Matt raises an eyebrow. "We could wait a little while longer for Davis and Ken."

I frown. "That's even worse."

"Then aside from outright charging in and getting our butts kicked I think that's the best option."

I sigh. "One stays out, one goes in?"

"Right." He nods.

I frown. "Whoever's the decoy's going to have to deal with a lot of Gizmon though. How are we supposed to handle that?"

"Nn… Their lines can't run forever, right? Maybe they run out of wire after a certain distance. If we can pull them as far as you can away from the ruins."

I furrow my eyes. "Or maybe they're only programmed to stop at a certain spot."

He sighs. "Either way, we've seen them stop when we didn't engage. I'm thinking we keep them engaged as long as possible before bolting. Jusst keep ducking and weaving. They'll follow, leaving a gap for the others to ride in with Rei and punch our way through."

"It's going to be dangerous."

"Yeah." He nods. "Like Etemon all over again."

I frown again. A lot like Etemon all over again.

But it's a solid enough plan. One of us will draw the enemies' fire away from the ruins while the other makes a mad dash to the target. The problem comes with numbers. When we executed this plan on the crazy Elvis impersonator and his henchmen we were six Digidestined strong. We had three launching long range attacks and drawing out the armies while me, Izzy, Agumon and Izzy's partner Tentomon managed to slip inside a crazy upside down pyramid unnoticed. From what I hear the kids outside got thoroughly thwacked.

That was seven years ago. And we don't have six Digidestined. We could probably wait for Imperialdramon to show up, but I don't want to sit on my but while people are suffering. The last time we were worried about one girl – Sora. And yes, she was/is important to me. But this time we've got a whole team to be concerned for. And they've been inside far longer.

We don't have time to wait. We just don't.

I crawl backwards until I believe I'm out of the Gizmon's line of sight and rise up. "Right. It's us then."

Matt blinks on the ground. "Tai?"

"It's alright. Garurumon's faster than Greymon, so you two can reach the ruins in no time.

And besides, Greymon is tougher."

Garurumon glares at me. "I don't know about that…"

"You're both equal over all," I turn to explain. "But Greymon is better at long range bombardment, and that's what we need if we're going to clear enough of a path for you guys to get through. Besides, his scales are tough enough to resist laser fire for a while in case we get swarmed."

"See," Greymon snorts.

"Doesn't make you better," Garurumon growls.

"Enough you two!" Matt's voice is stern and quick.

Our Digimon catch the hint from Matt's tone and hang their heads sheepishly.

"Sorry."

"Sorry…"

Matt sighs. He backs away from the ridge and joins the rest of us, dusting off the sand from his shirt. "We're all a little tense. It's alright. Tai, I think you and Greymon should set up on that hill and start your assault. Try to keep them confused."

"Alright. We'll attack from different places at once," I smile.

"Right."

"While we're doing that, you and Rei will make a beeline to the ruins and find a way in."

He nods. "One goes in, one stays out."

I grin and slap my friend on the shoulder. "This is why you're my XO."

"But… Um… What if we can't?"

We turn to Rei, who looks more than a little worried. Matt regards her. "Then we retreat and wait for Davis and Ken."

"Don't worry though," I tell her through a smile. "You'll get in. I believe in you."

She blinks. "I… Okay. If you say so."

I nod and gather my breath. "Alright. We've got a plan, and we've got the advantage this time. I say we quit letting these things sneak up on us and we get the drop on them for a change."

"Here here!" Greymon chuckles.

"Mnn!" Garurumon nods.

"Alright fearless leader," Matt gives me a grin. "You give the signal."

I nod. I turn towards Greymon when I notice Rei smiling at me, still clutching the phone. I offer a hand. "Oi, Rei. You don't have to carry that heavy thing. Me and Greymon can hold onto it."

She blinks. "Um… It's okay. I-I can carry it."

"Oh?"

"I want to be helpful and… I don't mind Taichi."

I raise a mocking eyebrow at her, and her face turns flush. "Hey, just Tai is fine. You sound like my mom."

"Hnn… T-a-i,"she attempts. But her face scrunches up when she says it, as if my name suddenly sounded hollow to her. She makes a face when she looks back up at me. "B-but, then we can't be zero and one…"

"Eh?"

"Rei and Ta-i-chi."

I blink. She's starring at me with those hazelnut browns. Ah, what the heck. "Oh, alright. Rei and Ta-i-chi."

She smiles. "Right. I won't let you down!"

"We've got to get going," Matt interrupts us, his blue eyes clearly passing judgment. I make a face, but I don't say anything. No time to be mad.

We split up, moderately confident that the plan should work – in theory. Greymon dips low for me and I take a step up, once again resting on the back of his neck. Matt climbs up Garurumon's fur, then turns to offer a hand to Rei. She hesitates, spinning on her heel to face me. "T-Taichi… If… If this doesn't work, I wanna say that I-"

"Uh-uh! Don't say it," I yell down to her. "You'll jinx the whole thing."

"Eh?"

I lean over Greymon's neck, smiling down at her. "You can't have any doubt in us Rei. You've got to have the courage to trust us. Believe me, it'll work."

"Taichi…"

I flash her a 'thumbs-up'. "Don't worry, I won't let you down either."

She smiles and nods back, before taking Matt's hand and mounting the back of Garurumon again, holding the metal briefcase snuggly in her hands. The desert sun has completely disappeared from the world, and our only light now is coming from the Digi-moons and the floating orbs of Data that look like stars. When everybody appears ready for this, I raise my hand.

I see Rei tense up and Matt hold tighter to Garurumon's fur. Greymon breaths a cloud of smoke: his gut already building with energy for the coming battle. Below us is a swarm of metallic digital life-forms that have shown us no sentience but only calculated menace. Beyond, is something alive.

We're only gonna get one shot at this, I remind myself. Whatever happens, we've got to get beneath that ruble. We've got to find out what this thing is, and what it wants. We've got to save the Digiworld. I close my eyes. I take a deep breath.

I drop my hand.

"Nova Blast!"

Garurumon is off to the side and out of the way, his precious cargo in tow. Greymon's big ball of fire hurtles down towards the Gizmon horde, landing dead center among them and deleting whole groups of them at once. My partner fires another blast, his digital attack acting like mortar shells being lobbed at an encroaching enemy. The Gizmon finally take notice and begin dropping below the desert floor.

"Move it Greymon!"

He grunts and leans forward. We hurtle across the dunes at twenty to thirty kilometers an hour, charging as close as we can. The red lights of Gizmon across the sand light up, and I have to duck to avoid getting blasted. Greymon roars; satisfied that he's ticked off enough robot bumble-bee things, and starts looping outwards, across the perimeter and away from Matt and the others. I look back to see a swath of Gizmon speeding after us, both above and below ground. Good. They've locked onto us.

Time for Matt to work some magic.

Most of the Gizmon are after us when he makes his move. Out of the corner of my eye I see Garurumon hurtling like a rocket at full speed towards the ruins, dashing through the smoke of Greymon's attack and crossing for the most part undaunted. He's still got a long way to go, but if this keeps up they'll make it in no time. I grin. "Let's keep it up buddy!"

"Mnn!" Greymon grunts and fires another Nova Blast from our new position, the ball of flame landing just ahead of Garurumon and dashing more Gizmon before they even notice. A few survive long enough to aim their fire on Garurumon but he's past them before it comes of anything, and another ball of flame hits them square.

"Here they come," I warn my partner and he grunts in preparation.

The first few pop out behind us laying out fire. Greymon takes off running back towards the hilltops. The Gizmon give chase until we pass the hills. They promptly freeze then, cords shaking in the desert sand with the sudden friction. I grin. Maybe Matt's right. Maybe they're too far removed from their cables to keep going. I nod to no one in particular and pat my partner on the neck. "Alright Greymon, fire!"

Greymon turns and opens his jaws, spitting flame. "Nova Blast!"

The ball of fire would be dead on – if the Gizmon didn't swing away to avoid it. I groan. So our hunch that the point that the Gizmon stopped at was some kind of intelligence override is wrong; for the insects dodge all over to get away from the flame.

That's when I notice that the Gizmon that were following us have switched directions. I tell Greymon to aim at them, and he does, destroying a couple. The problem is they're not responding to us. Which means that they're not stopping because their line is low.

They're intentionally stopping for…

I turn my head to see how Matt's doing, suddenly very worried. Garurumon's slowed down considerably. The Gizmon who aren't tracking us are swirling around him preparing to fire. I see his Howling Blaster shoot towards them, and because there are so many he manages to score direct hits on some. But he's getting overwhelmed.

"Keep firing Greymon!" I order, and my partner lets l oose more of his flame. But it isn't doing us any good anymore. The Gizmon are locked onto their new target, and even through Greymon's Nova Blast is scoring directs on several of their number, they refuse to even turn our way.

They're after her, I realize. They're after Rei.

I don't know why – if it's true then my suspicions aren't as accurate as I thought. But we're in serious trouble now.

And they know it too.

I try to get Greymon to distract the horde more but we both know it's useless at this point. Our Gizmon escort has completely turned away from us and are heading for Matt and Rei who aren't even halfway across the expanse yet. The Gizmon catch up to them quickly, pelting them with laser fire. Garurumon tries to keep going but he's swarmed. One of the Gizmon get lucky and strike Garurumon in the foreleg, running him off balance. He slips in the sand, his riders tossed into the air and falling hard into the desert below.

Ishida isn't getting up.

"Matt!" I call. I know he can't hear me, but I can't help it. He won't move!

"They're gonna get pinned down!" Greymon rumbles in shock.

The Gizmon are swirling over head, circling like buzzards for the kill. From my vantage I can see Rei stirring and finally slipping over to check on Matt. Garurumon is back up and growling and snaps his jaws at them, but unless he does something spontaneous they're all in trouble. Seemingly realizing this, I see Garurumon take a deep breath.

"Ice Wall!"

Garurumon opens his mouth and spins on his paws, and a thick sheet of Ice builds around his party, forming a semi-circular wall for protection. It's not the best defense, but the wall is thick enough that laser fire only chips away at it instead of destroying it outright, and forces the Gizmon to swing around where there's less of a chance to dodge for them. It also paints their group in a corner, and when Garurumon's cornered there's no one nastier.

Greymon growls. "That's not gonna hold them forever…"

I nod. "C'mon Greymon!"

"Mnn!"

We dash towards them, throwing caution to the wind. Below, the Gizmon swarm around Garurumon's ice wall, but he shoos them away with his ice breath. He can't keep that up forever. At least, not by himself.

He does have a pretty girl with hand grenades with him though.

With determination, Rei tosses the robe again. It settles in the sand in front of her. I see her reach for the strap across her torso and hurl another grenade at the swooping insectoids. One of them is caught directly by the blast, briefly being engulfed in flame before evaporating into thin air. The rest react like schools of koi if a rock is dropped in the middle of their pond – disperse, only to focus once more. Rei takes several steps back, but the Gizmon strangely don't assault her again. That gives us a little time to swoop to their rescue,

"Nova Blast!"

Greymon takes out another with pinpoint accuracy. It sputters out formation before disappearing in the sand. We roar into battle, flame pouring from his gaping maw and throwing Gizmon left and right. It takes us a few moments to reach our friends, knocking away Gizmon left and right until we too are nearly covered by Garurumon's Ice Wall.

"Fire Wall!"

As soon as we're within the corner, Greymon opens his mouth and sets the ground in front of him aflame. A ring of fire encircles the rest of the Ice wall, sealing us off. The Gizmon have to withdraw from the heat, and we're given a much needed breather from their assault. I take a deep breath and turn to find Matt conscious, clutching his chest in obvious pain but very much alive.

"T-Tai!" He struggles.

Rei clasps her hands together in joy. "Taichi!"

Garurumon is less than thrilled to see us though. "Greymon you idiot!"

Greymon blinks. "What? I just saved your life!"

"You attached a wall of fire to my wall of ice! You're melting our defenses!"

Greymon snorts smoke. 'Well it's not my fault your element is weaker than mine."

"I am sooo gonna freeze your tail when we're done!"

"Knock it off," Matt struggles to an upright position.

"Matt! Are you alright?"

He grunts, a pale hand clutching his left side. "I'm fine… T-take Rei and get to the ruins. Go!"

I blink. "Are you crazy? I'm not gonna leave you out here alone!"

"Go! I can handle this. Rei, give me your robe!"

She blinks. "Why?"

"I don't think they're tracking you," he tells us. "Just what you look like."

She blinks. "Eh? But why?"

"They were aiming at the robe just now," he points out while taking the robe from Rei's hands. "Not you. They've been programmed to take out anyone with this I'll bet."

She hesitates. "B-but before."

"Standard defense protocol. These things must be reactionary by default. If something gets too close they attack. We were okay till they saw this. It's only when you wore it that they actively went after you. Something about it must be triggering a hunting mechanism. Once there's no stimulus…"

"There's no need to attack," I nod. Sounds plausible.

"Right. They think Rei's part of the research team. I'm gonna turn that against them."

I blink and then, realizing what he's suggesting, grab hold of his collar. "Are you insane! You're hurt!"

"Nn… Busted rib wiring. It'll be broken when I get home I bet. Nn…" He pushes me off of him, wiping sand from his face. "But that doesn't matter. We have to get in there, and I'll just slow Rei down like this. Go!"

"My wall is dying," Greymon warns us.

"My wall is melting!" Garurumon reminds us as well.

I nod a short acknowledgement, but I can't just let him go through with this by himself. What he's suggesting isn't just popping up into the Digiworld for an adventure, this is an injured Digidestined taking on an army by himself. And now I feel like such a dunce for coming up here without backup. "I can't just leave you here!"

I make a move to retrieve him but he raises a hand, halting my progress. "One goes in, one stays out! We planned for this," he reminds me. "I'm not going to have you ruin two plans in a row!"

I shake my head. "There's no way you can handle all of them by yourself."

"Don't be ridiculous," he glares as if offended. "It's like you said. Greymon and Garurumon are equal. Give us both the same job, and we can get it done. Right?"

"Mmn!" Garurumon nods.

I stare at him, worried. "Matt…"

"Hurry up you idiot!" He's yelling at me, but he can't help smiling. "You want to live forever!"

My breath catches in the back of my throat, and I can't help but stare in amazment at him. His blue eyes are on fire right now, blazing from the pain in his chest and the will to see this through to the end. A long time ago I couldn't stand this prettyboy. And now he's willing to risk his life to keep our mission going. I smirk in spite of myself. Matt Ishida is one of a kind.

"Jerk." I tell him. "That's my line."

Matt smiles. No more words need saying to each other. We've got this.

Still, it's nice to have insurance.

"Garurumon."

"Nn?"

"You keep Matt alive and I'm buying you the biggest Reese's cup I can find. I promise!"

Briefly, the giant wolfs long tongue falls from his jaws, and his eyes roll back in ecstasy. Matt pops him just above the knee with his good arm and I laugh, in spite of it all.

Beyond our wall of fire and ice I can hear the Gizmon churning around, awaiting their turn. Rei runs over and hands her robe to Matt. He needs help getting is on, but when it's done you can hardly tell the outfit beneath it costs almost as much as my college textbooks. "You gonna be okay?"

He shoots me a cocky grin I could be proud of before turning to my partner. "Greymon."

"Yeah?"

His humor disappears somewhere. "…Keep an eye out would you?"

"Hmm…"

The look on his face tells me I'm missing something, but that's alright. I think I have an idea what he meant… and I'm actually not that mad at him anymore. He reaches for Rei again. "Hand me the phone. It'll only slow you two down."

She blinks and nods. "Nn… Alright," she says as she hands it to him.

"Be careful," I tell him as he mounts his partner.

"You too."

Garurumon trots in front of the wall of fire, which has died considerably since it started. We can see the Gizmon on the other end, their eye flashing through the flames. So what happens to them next is totally their fault - they should have gotten better camo.

"Howling Blaster!"

The ice ray runs through the flame and still manages to take out a Gizmon with little effort. The flame falls low thanks to the cold blast, opening a path for the giant wolf. Matt kips the side of Garurumon and then they're off, Rei's robe hung tight around Matt's body. It's about time we put his scrawny, girlish figure to good use. And amazingly, my XO's right. The main contingent of Gizmon is after them, firing at Garurumon's legs, trying to keep him still. That leaves enough of a space for us. I grab Rei's hand. "C'mon!"

She nods and runs with me. Ahead, Greymon rams straight through Garurumon's ice wall headfirst, shocking a few Gizmon who were in the way. We rush past them, their focus still on Matt and Garurumon, who appear to be making good time away from the ruins. Gizmon buzz above us, their lines draging through the sand and threatening to take us down. I have to let go of her hand briefly when one comes between us, but she reaches out and catches me as soon as she can. Meanwhile, Greymon is loving his target practice.

We finally reach the entrance pipe, jutting from the ground like a straw from a milkshake. The door at the edge of the pipe is down, which is a bit disheartening, but I'm more worried about its size at the moment. It's big enough so that me and Rei can comfortably run, but there's no way Greymon would fit. Which means we're going to have to reduce his size…

"Greymon!"

He grunts. "I got'ya. Low bridge!"

He dedigivolves to Agumon: my partner trotting to my side and standing protective guard of me and Rei while we sort things out. The Gizmon are still off with Matt, but we have no idea how long that will last. We look around for a means of entering and find a small key lock device at the door. I frown. "A eight key lock. Okay. We can figure this out..."

"Move," Rei pushes me out of the way.

I blink. "Eh?"

She presses a few buttons manically and pulls me back when she's finished. There is the sound of ancient motors churning around old gears as the door slowly pulls itself open. Agumon gulps and I raise an eyebrow, turning to the girl. "What was it?"

"Password."

I make a face. She smiles at me. "C'mon Ta-i-chi. Let's go save the world together!" She takes my hand in her own, and I feel the warmth of human skin. We slip inside the darkness, Agumon right behind us; rushing towards a creature that already knows we're coming. The door closes behind my back. It's an adventure alright. A real grade-A adventure.

I just hope we have a happy ending.

GODFALL

9

Digimon