This is the last in the Menace Arc, but it is a bit longer than the other three. Not much else I can say at this point...

Sora hated this. Well, they all hated it, but this wasn't the same for her as it was for everyone else. Tai had done this for her; It was her fault. Again. Her presence had put all the others in danger, and now Chip's partner was about to die.

She had to fix it.

Albatramaromon felt the same and launched over to help Holomon as Sora ran to Tai. MetalGarurumon did the same, as well as most of the other digimon. The other digidestined, were too far away to help Tai. Sora hadn't run away when the others did. She was much closer to her love and hustled over without the help of her friends. Matt noticed and called for her, but she didn't hear.

"She's gonna get herself killed." He grumbled, turning to gather the others to help.

She moved as quick as the rough winds and digital disruption would allow her, which was not all that fast, but simply could not get close enough to reach Tai. She called out to him, but Tai wasn't there to answer. He had told her before of what had happened to him when he turned dark the last time: how he was trapped inside, watching in pain as the inner rage ruins all he loves. It made him sick, but all his disgust did was make him stronger. None of this stopped her from trying though. She loved him too much.

She struggled through the torrent, closer and closer. 'Almost there...' she thought, not 10 feet from his body. 'Almost...'

-/-

If Holomon's life were to be measured by miles of rope, he had but inches left. Furemon looked at him with almost a questioning stare as he prepared to finish the soldier off. Holomon closed his eyes as all his power was being used to keep his mind alive. With all his bravery, he was noticing that certain death did make him fear, and he closed his eyes out of fear of the end as well. With his free fist in the air, the monster let the final strike fall...

But it never arrived.

Holomon opened his eyes to see the cause of the delay and honestly found himself surprised, for standing overtop of him with Furemon held above his head was BlackWarGreymon. Holomon was not one to gawk however, and quickly got to his feet. The shadow in his hand evaporated, making BlackWarGreymon awkwardly stumble, looking around for his foe. Holomon joined him in his ocular search by turning the other way to look. Albatramaromon landed hard next to them and addressed Holomon and inquired as to his condition, but he was preoccupied.

"Where are you going..." he mumbled to himself as he caught sight of a trail of smoke streaking across the field.

And he didn't like to whom it lead.

-/-

The wind was enough to force her to the ground, lest the gale blow her away. She put her one hand above the other, slowly dragging herself through the storm to her love. She couldn't let him face this alone. Not again. She was so close; just five feet left. Soon she would be with him and all this would be over. The wind picked up in speed and a clump of dirt lifted up and flew towards her face. She Quickly put her head to the ground and covered it with her arms as the loam was thrown far overhead. She lifted her head, relieved at her escape, but the feeling quickly flead as she saw what had appeared in between her and Tai. A ghastly black foot blocked her path.

Slowly, her vision moved up as she followed the leg to it's source. A tall, thin body of black stood, bent over and pushing its bug-like eyes in her direction with a slight tilt to it's head. Furemon wasn't too keen on the idea of being removed from the world by Sora. Tai's rage would do its best to preserve itself.

Suddenly, all the strength left her as the monster raised its voice in a blood-curdling screech that penetrated right down to her deepest fears and left her in full and complete terror. She closed her eyes as the beast was too much to look at. Just as she had given up, however, a body slammed into her from the right side, throwing her to the ground and sealing her in a temporarily safe space. She opened her eyes and saw a broad arm pressing into the ground holding up the frame of the one who brought her to the ground. He wasn't looking, however, as he was focused on his partner in green who flew into view quickly and side tackled Furemon in the same way that Chip had tackled Sora. Before she could comment or even thank him, he was on his feet, struggling through the wind to lift her up.

"You can calm him down?" he yelled as he managed to get her into his arms. They both knew that it Sora wasn't able to stand, let alone walk in this wind. She nodded and he started to trudge the rest of the way to Tai, slowly putting one foot in front of the other.

-/-

Once again, after the initial contact, Furemon got the best of Holomon and prepared to end it much quicker this time. With his fist back, he let out a snarl at the pinned soldier. But yet again, the hit never came.

A blue-pointed, purple spiral collided with the monster's chest and yet again sent it flying away, this time like it was hit by a truck. His body landed with a bounce and was immediately pinned by MetalGarurumon. ImperialDramon can over very quickly and followed up with another Positron Laser to the face of Furemon as MetalGarurumon dug into his core with his teeth. Furemon flailed his head and screamed, but fought back by throwing off MetalGarurumon and flipping a kick up and into the giant ImperialDramon's face. MetalGarurumon returned to his feet with a growl and ImperialDramon stumbled back, but both quickly attacked again. Soon, Holomon caught up and joined, as well as Albatramaromon, MagnaAngemon and Silphymon. They formed a loose circle around the monster and alternated their fire on the unfortunate center of the circle.

"Fist of the Free!" cried Holomon as he launched a series of punches which turned into fireballs in the air and splashed onto Furemon like napalm, both burning and blinding the demon.

Around they went, peppering Furemon with more and more fire, slowly bringing him to his knees. He screamed with pain, but didn't seem to be affecting him on an injuring level. They closed in, pushing him further down, until he exploded in a cloud of darkness, sending all the others flying back and away. He stretched up and into the sky with a tremendous roar, drawing the terrified eyes of everyone.

The humans finally arrived to this tremendous scene and struggled to force themselves through the storm to help their partners who now had joined in the attack. For the most part, they stood in a line with no specific order, but an order at that. Davis was on the far left, flanked by Kari and TK, who were flanked by Matt and Mimi, then Joe, Izzy, Ken and Yolei. Blake brought up the back, not really looking for a place in the line and being quite content to sit out. Furemon flailed out in protest of the newcomers, sending a tendril shooting down a the center of the line, above TK, Matt and Mimi.

TK turned quickly to cover Kari, but Davis had already grabbed her and pulled her out of the way, leaving TK at risk and Matt in a very uncomfortable position. Without even thinking it over, Matt lunged to the left and into his brother, throwing them both away and leaving Mimi in the direct path.

Of course, she expected him to save his brother, but it didn't get him any brownie points as she now was the only one in the way. As the tendril slowly fell, she looked up and screamed, frozen in fear. Suddenly, two thin arms wrapped around her and pulled her with surprising strength to the right. The two bodies flew through the air and landed on the ground just as Furemon's new fist connected with the earth they were just standing on and sent it flying up and into the air. As they hit the dirt, Mimi' head met the shoulder of her savior and her world started to spin. Her head dropped back as she struggled to stay awake. The boy who saved her wasted no time evacuating the area as he picked her up and retreated back to let the others fight.

He set her down gently behind a boulder that had been unearthed and launched during the initial impact and gently shook her into consciousness.

"Matt?" she muttered as her eyes slowly opened. Much to her surprise, however, it was not Matt holding her.

"Shh slow down, Mimi." the doctor order in response to her urgent motion to sit up. Loud noises echoed in her head like thunder through mud, but she couldn't tell if the noise was from her bump on the head or from the battle. Never the less, she wasn't having a good time deciphering what Joe was saying. Her face must have shown such confusion as Joe gently grabbed her shoulders and worked her down onto her back.

This wasn't Matt: the one she lusted after for so long. He was out saving his brother, leaving her alone and in danger. She understood, but still a single tear ran down her chin as she remembered.

Joe quickly wiped it away while smiling at her. 'Oh God, what do I do?' he thought frantically. 'She's sitting here crying! She must be in a lot of pain! You gotta help her, more than just rubbing tears off of her face...her beautiful...perfect...FOCUS! Get it together, man! You're a doctor, not a child. She still is bleeding from the back of the head and has a concussion of unknown intensity. You gotta wrap that cut up.'

He gulped and pulled out his white tie from his party attire and his handkerchief from his breast pocket and tied the makeshift bandage around her head, slowly pulling it taut and tying it in the front. "That feel better?" he asked as he lifted her and leaned her against the rock. She nodded, but her eyes stared past him. He lifted himself up to watch the battle, hoping that she would be alright when this was over.

-/-

Furemon screamed as he lashed out again to the empty ground as ImperialDramon dove out of the way. While the monster's face was impossible to read, they could tell that Furemon was getting bored and annoyed. His actions became more intense and sped to the earth with new vigor as his anger multiplied both his strength and the storm on the ground. He began to make a guttural sound from his very core and he began to compress, drawing all his power into himself.

Just as he was about to release the power he had just stored inside, his scream turned from rage as he quickly shrunk and shriveled with pain. His body twisted in a gaseous cloud and limbs contorted at painful angles from the mass as all the warriors looked around for the source of the monster's pain.

Off in the distance and at the base of the storm, Sora's hands gripped Tai's face as her lips met his. Even through the darkness and pain, her kiss brought him back into reality. Color began to fill his eyes and face as the winds slowly began to die out. He began to kiss back, letting the human side of him take over once again. Chip set her on the ground as soon as the wind was gone and she pushed even more into him. Even if he could do all this, she still loved him. And she always would.

Tai slipped into his body and into the kiss, not wanting it to stop.

Chip, rather awkwardly, covered his mouth and turned away with a cough. He lifted his eyes up and put to see what had become of Furemon. The once powerful monster was shrinking into itself, but not returning to Agumon. Chip frowned as he thought about what this meant.

The other digidestined all cheered and their partners sighed in relief, including Holomon, who had suffered the brunt of the dark digimon's rage. Like his brother, however, Blake look cautiously at the dark mass that withered before them.

"They are foolish to celebrate so quickly." a voice said behind him. He turned to see BlackWarGreymon towering over him and looking out to Furemon's body, watching it as intently as the Swansons were. Blake took a short breath, but nodded.

"Bastard's not even dead yet, and they're already dancing on his grave." he stated coldly. It was not a figure of speech, either, as some of the more optimistic digimon had already dedigivolved, leaving only Holomon, Albatramoromon, ImperialDramon, MetalGarurumon and MagnaAngemon to stand in battle ready positions as they were dancing around in celebration.

"I suggest you stand behind me." BlackWarGreymon said. Blake looked up surprised, but the dragon didn't flinch. "I can tell that you are not the one to fight. Let me protect you so that I may learn from your pacifism."

Blake was stunned, but pushed the surprise past him and focused on the problem. He was not in the most danger if the monster lashed out again, but the others wouldn't trust BlackWarGreymon to protect them. It was the best idea for him to use the dragon as a shield, so he gulped and took a step behind the massive legs.

ImperialDramon was the closest to the monster and was quite certain that Furemon was defeated. He turned to his digivolved comrades in an expression of joy and friendship, but in the process, blocked the other digimon's view of the downed Titan. Holomon called out to him.

"ImperialDramon, we can't see him!"

"Why do you need to? He's out cold!" ImperialDramon looked over his shoulder as Holomon and the others moved past him, but Furemon was gone. At this realization, a collective sigh and cheer came from all but Holomon and MetalGarurumon, who both thought that this was too easy.

-/-

Chip stood with his back to the couple, half-heartedly watching Furemon's wriggling body. 'Something must be wrong with me' he thought. He didnt know why, but seeing Tai and Sora together like that all of the sudden made him ill. He had only known them a month or so, but he had never had this feeling before. Maybe it was just too 'cutesy' for him, but something about Sora and Tai kissing upset him. He, of course, had his own ideas, but he would not reduce himself to that low a quality. It was downright against his crest to lust after another man's women, and even thinking that was taking way too many liberties. He turned his head over his shoulder to look at them again.

Tai had fully come to and was now wrapping his arms around her body as they made out. Both their eyes were closed, but Chip could see deffinitive looks of contention on their faces. He also could feel his stomach and heart fall.

He forced his head back around and repeated in his mind: 'I am NOT in love with Sora.' But each time the montra was repeated, it was followed by: 'Even as beautiful as she is.'

His attention was now fully on the pile of darkness, or rather lack there of. In the brief moment he had taken his eyes off of it, it had disappeared, putting him on alert. He knew it wasn't over. Even though Tai was severed from it, the rage inside Furemon kept it in form.

He calmly looked around to find it without startling the others and their celebrating. Just then, he felt something blow past him and he spun to see Furemon towering five feet above Tai and Sora, who had just realized that the monster was there and gripped eachother tighter. Furemon drew it's right arm back and prepared to strike it's new anger, Sora, who had severed the connection.

Like a flash, Chip seemingly teleported in the way, with his legs spread slightly and his arms extended down and out in a protective stance. Equally as fast Holomon appeared in-between Chip and the monster in a similar pose. There was now a straight slope from the top of Furemon's head down to Sora's as Chip spoke quickly to Holomon.

"Finish this." he said in a near whisper, and Holomon nodded.

He threw up his left hand up and in a very Karate Kid way, blocked Furemon's strike. He then fell down to his right knee and lifted his right arm and closed fist out. A bright blue light began to poke out of his fist as he spoke the final command.

"Particle Insurrection."

The field was filled with a brilliant light that caused all the digidestined and chosen digimon to be temporarily blinded. When their vision returned, they saw the now unconscious body of Agumon lying a few feet from the kneeling Holomon, who picked up the dinosaur and easily set him down next to the shaken Tai.

Chip nodded at his partner in satisfaction. Holomon nodded back and returned to his rookie form and plopped down on the ground, too tired out to celebrate. After checking on Agumon, who was unharmed, but exhausted, Tai stood up and put his right arm around Sora and watched as the other digidestined hurried over to see them. Kari nearly tackled the two of them with tears in her eyes.

"Please, Tai, don't make me see you that way again." she cried into his shirt. He wrapped his other arm around her.

"I won't." He then looked Sora in the eyes. "I promise." She swallowed hard, but nodded, the strain of holding back tears making her face red and contorted. He himself felt a tear in his eye as he kissed the top of his sisters head.

Matt was next to arrive, and he gave the three their space. He stood in front of Tai, slightly out of breath, and shook his head.

"Shit man, you nearly killed us." he said with a small laugh. Tai gave him a half smile and sighed.

"Not today."

Matt then looked around frantically and swore. "Aw, shit. Where's Mimi?"

"She's...*huff*...here!" Joe panted as he caught up. Upon turning around, Matt and the others saw the skinny man carrying the dazed girl in his arms.

"Dude! What happened?!" Matt yelled as he carefully took her from Joe's arms, freeing him up to bend to his knees and catch his breath.

"She...sorta...hit her...head on...my shoulder...small cut...maybe a...concussion. We better get her looked at in the real world."

Matt nodded. "Thanks, Joe." He nodded back as he stood back up.

"You know, she was mumbling your name the whole time."

Matt smiled and set her down on the grass, looking into her tired face. "Hey baby." He pushed a piece of hair our of her face as she looked at him.

"Matt?"

"Yeah its me."

She blinked. "Thank you for saving me." He quickly looked up at Joe, who nodded to say to accept. Matt gave him a small nod of thanks back and smiled at her.

"Oh course, Baby doll. I can't live without you." He leaned down and kissed her gently. Something inside Joe refused to let him watch and he turned away, masking it with stretching his supposedly sore back.

Izzy, Ken and Yolei had been watching though and all struggled to quiet their laughter. They didnt have any trouble, however, when the giants hands landed on Izzy and Ken's shoulders. They both looked up and gulped upon seeing Chip's angered smile.

"When we get back, the three of us need to have a little sit down and talk about some rather important things." They both gulped and nodded, and Izzy slowly went back to looking at the couples.

Tai holding Sora.

Matt kissing Mimi.

TK comforting Kari.

Yolei holding Ken's hand.

And off in the distance, he could see Blake riding over on now docile BlackWarGreymon.

Izzy sighed as he knew that their battles were only just beginning. But for now, they could rest in peace.