By: 7 of 11
Chapter One

Things looked bad for the Digidestined. They were squaring off against the mighty Cybermon, a Mega Digimon. The gigantic robot had already demonstrated his power, by annihilating a section of forest with his Pulse Cannon-and nearly annihilating Sora as well.

"T.K., Kari!" hissed Matt. "Get out of here! Quickly! We can hold him off!"

These words brought a dismayed expression to the two youngest Digidestined's faces. "But what about you guys?" protested Kari. "We can't just leave you here to get killed!"

"That doesn't matter! As long as we're here, we're responsible for you!" yelled Tai. "Now GO!"

The two little kids looked ready to protest again, but fortunately Patamon and Gatomon saw the wisdom in that situation. "Good luck, everyone!" said Patamon. "We'll see you after you beat him!" He didn't look too confident of those odds, however.

"Patamon digivolve to…ANGEMON!" The angel Digimon appeared where Patamon had been standing in a burst of light.

"Gatomon digivolve to…ANGEWOMON!" The holy beauty materialized where the cat Digimon had been a moment before.

The two angels picked up their respective Digidestined, and took to the sky. Cybermon noticed this, however, and diverted his attention to track them. Twin ports opened near his shoulders. "CLUSTER MISSILE!" he roared. Each of the launchers spat fire three times, and six missiles were speeding towards the retreating Digimon. A moment before they impacted, each of the missiles separated into seven parts. A gigantic red flower blossomed out of the sky into the angels' paths.

Nanoseconds later, the singed warriors flew out of the chaos created by the explosion, burnt but otherwise appearing unharmed. T.K. opened his eyes slightly and looked at Angemon. "Yeah! We did it!" When Angemon failed to respond, T.K. looked closer at his partner and friend. Angemon was tired; T.K. could feel it more than see it. A quick glance over at Angewomon showed that she was in much the same condition. He gulped. They would have to land soon or they would crash.

Matt exhaled in relief. He had thought that the cluster missile would have hurt T.K., but apparently it had not affected any of them. His mind turned to the task at hand. Cybermon was still distracted by Angemon and Angewomon! Now was the time to attack. He looked at Gabumon. "Let's go!"

"Gabumon digivolve to…GARURUMON!"

"Agumon digivolve to…GREYMON!"

"Tentomon digivolve to…KABUTERIMON!"

"Palmon digivolve to…TOGEMON!"

"Gomamon digivolve to…IKKAKUMON!"

"Biyomon digivolve to…BIRDRAMON!"

The six Champion-Stage Digimon prepared for battle. Birdramon especially seemed to want revenge on Cybermon. She flew high into the air. "Meteor Wing!" she screeched, sending huge jets of fire at Cybermon's back. They splashed off harmlessly.

Greymon charged through the forest to try and get a better chance of scoring a critical hit on Cybermon. The large Digimon finally saw his chance, as Cybermon turned to deal with the threat posed by Birdramon. "Nova Blast!" The huge fireball hit the android in one of the areas where it was unprotected by armor plating. Cybermon turned more quickly than Greymon would have thought possible, and raised its Pulse Cannon. The blue light spewed and Greymon felt himself being lifted back into and hurled back to the ground again.

"Howling Blaster!" Garurumon was following a different tactic than Greymon or Birdramon. He was going to hopefully knock out Cybermon's motor systems. If the robot was made immobile, they could attack him without fear of retaliation. A twinge of fear went through Garurumon's mind as he saw Cybermon fire his pulse cannon and he knew that one of their force was either in trouble or already downed.

Chapter Two

Kari felt Angewomon dip even lower in the air. She peeked at the face of her partner, who was clearly quite tired. Kari scanned the ground below them frantically, trying to find a good place to land. Suddenly she saw it. That cave looked awfully familiar… "Quick, Angewomon! Down there!" Kari pointed to the clearing below. Angewomon dove downward, a bit too rapidly than Kari would have liked, but they were still under control. T.K. and Angemon followed Angewomon's lead.

The group touched down safely. The angels let T.K. and Kari to the ground, then immediately deDigivolved to Gatomon and Patamon. They lay there panting, too tired to even move.

Kari was sure this was the place. "Jake!" she hollered. "Jake where are you? Come out, please! We need your help! Jake!" she almost screamed herself hoarse until she stopped. This wasn't the place after all. Now what could they do? Their Digimon were tired and they needed to get help for the others. Kari had all but given up when a voice spoke from behind her.

"What do you need now?" Jake sounded faintly exasperated.

"Please, Mr. Jake!" pleaded T.K., running over. "Everyone else is in a fight against Cybermon, and they need your help!"

Jake's ran his hand through his hair. "Cybermon, eh? I've heard of him. They don't stand a chance against him."

T.K. looked hopeful. "So you'll help us?"

"Nope."

Kari looked at him in disbelief. "What? But why not?" It wasn't fair. She had thought Jake would have had jumped on the chance to help the Digidestined.

He sighed. "I warned them, and they chose to ignore my warning. I'm sorry, but I won't risk my own neck because they thought they knew more about the Digiworld than me."

T.K. started to cry. "He already got Sora…and he's going to get Matt too…and Tai, and Mimi, and Joe, and Izzy, and Agumon, and Gomamon…"

Jake's face flickered for a second, but in moments he was indifference itself. "Why should I care about them? I only met them yesterday?"

Kari pointed an accusing finger at him. "You! I don't believe you! I can't believe I even thought that you would have ever been nice! I hate you! Do you hear me? I HATE YOU!" she started to sob uncontrollably, which caused T.K. to follow suit.

"Calm down! Stop crying!" Jake's attempts to quiet the two were unsuccessful. He looked at them, sighed, looked at them again, and sighed again. "Okay, fine, I'll help." The two little kids immediately stopped bawling. "The trouble is, how can we get there in time?" He pointed to the fatigued Gatomon and Patamon. "They're too tired to get us anywhere and I don't think we can run in time."

"Ahem." Zegimon was perched, unnoticed, on a tree branch. "I can get you there in time."

Jake grew puzzled. "You can? How?"

"It's simple. By Digivolving!" said Zegimon.

T.K. looked at Jake in amazement. "You mean you've been here for FOUR YEARS and Zegimon still hasn't digivolved to his Champion form yet?"

Jake suddenly became very interested in a rock on the ground. "Eh…heh heh…well we haven't had much reason to fight here. But anyway, Zegimon, can you do it?"

The lizard nodded. "I think so, Jake." Jake's Digivice started to glow.

"Zegimon digivolve to…KAMOMON!" Gone was the smallish lizard. In his place was another lizard, but this one of immense size. His wingspan was easily many times Jake's height. Inch-long, razor sharp teeth gnashed as the former Zegimon checked out his new form. "This seems…powerful."

Kari looked at Kamomon in amazement. "It looks powerful! We don't have any time to waste, though! Let's go!" She ran over to the tired Gatomon and scooped her up, as T.K. did with Patamon. Still holding Gatomon, she climbed onto Kamomon's back. His skin felt smooth, yet not slippery. It was a really cool feeling, she finally decided.

Jake climbed onto Kamomon's back in front of Kari. "Okay, let's see what you can do, Kamomon!" The winged giant flew into the air and towards the battle. Jake murmured to himself. "Those kids are probably going to kill me someday."

Chapter Three

MegaKabuterimon's two-pronged horn sparked with energy. "HORN BUSTER!" He dove at Cybermon, but the electrical discharge barely dented the giant. Things were really looking bad. Cybermon had forced all of the Digimon to digivolve to their Ultimate stages, and yet they were still being defeated. Garudamon was out of the fight already-knocked out of the air by a barrage of Cluster Missiles-as was MetalGreymon.

Cybermon looked straight at MegaKabuterimon. The Pulse Cannon flashed again, and the Ultimate felt the blow nearly hit him directly. "HORN BUSTER!" Again, Cybermon didn't even feel the hit. This was definitely not good.

"So how is she, Izzy?" Tai bent over Sora's comatose body. The two of them were staying with Sora to check out what was wrong with her and see if they could do anything. Since everything in the Digital World was made up of digital code, Izzy was using his computer to find any errors in the code regarding Sora-that is, to see what had happened to her.

"Well, the damage is mostly superficial. There is little to no internal bleeding, and all her bones seem to be in decent shape. However, she did suffer one major laceration here," he traced his finger over Sora's left side. "From the initial Pulse Cannon blast. The bleeding has stopped, but the loss of blood prior to that has caused her body to go into shock." Izzy glanced once more at his computer screen. "Also, she suffered some tissue damage in her right leg. After we get through this," Tai could hear the unspoken 'if' in Izzy's voice. "It might be a while before she can walk as well as she did before."

"So what can we do?" Asked Tai, concerned.

"We can't do anything about the tissue damage, but we can help the shock. Get me a blanket out of Joe's medical bag, would you?" Tai obeyed, and the two of them spread it out over Sora. "Now we just have to protect her from anything that might…"

He never got to finish that sentence. There was a flash of all-too-familiar azure light and MegaKabuterimon crashed through several trees and to the ground, skidding to a stop several feet away from the group. "MegaKabuterimon!" Shouted Izzy. He looked up to see Cybermon leveling the Pulse Cannon at the giant beetle, intending to finish him off. Izzy cringed. They were too close to MegaKabuterimon. A Pulse blast would hit them all, and he seriously doubted Sora could survive another one. He didn't even know if he or Tai could survive it. This was the proverbial 'it'. Izzy closed his eyes and waited for the blast.

There was a whine as Cybermon charged up. The whine built and built… "FLAME CLAW!" yelled someone. Izzy opened his eyes in surprise to see a gigantic flying lizard Digimon fly overhead, with several children riding on his back. Several children that looked very familiar, somehow…The Digimon opened his mouth and launched a huge jet of flame at Cybermon. The fire formed itself into a giant claw, which raked Cybermon across the face. For the first time, the gigantic robot stumbled backwards. Izzy saw two more Digimon leap off of the lizard; and these were two Digimon that he definitely knew. But how could they be here? Matt had told them to go to safety.

"Gatomon digivolve to…ANGEWOMON!"

"Patamon digivolve to…ANGEMON!"

Both of the fresh Digimon winged towards the battle, as the lizard turned back to where Izzy and Tai were. He landed with barely a thump, although he looked as if he weighed quite a bit due to his size. It was then that Tai recognized the third child on the back of the behemoth. "Jake?" he asked, confused. "I thought you were going to stay in your cave; you didn't want anything to do with us!"

Jake nodded. "That was my plan, but then T.K. and Kari showed up and they told me what was happening to you. So I came." He walked to Tai. "You should be proud of your sister, she's quite a persuasive speaker." He grinned, but the expression faded as he saw what had happened to Sora. "Cybermon's handiwork?" he asked. Izzy nodded. Jake clenched his teeth. "Well, I guess that's one more reason to fight this guy off."

Tai turned his attention to the Digimon that had brought T.K., Kari, and Jake to them. "Since you're Jake, that means you're…"

"Kamomon." The Digimon supplied. "I am Zegimon's Champion stage. Now if you'll excuse me, I've got a battle to fight." Kamomon sprang into the air and hurtled towards Cybermon. "FLAME CLAW!"

Matt, Mimi, and Joe watched the fight unfold from higher up on the mountainside. Joe looked at the new Digimon entering the fight. "Oh great," he muttered. "With our luck, those are probably some of Cybermon's friends come to help finish us off."

Matt grabbed his arm. "No, wait!" he said. "They're Angemon and Angewomon! That means Kari and T.K. are back!" He looked at the other one. "But who is that?" The lizard seemed very familiar to him, but why? As far as Matt could remember, he had never encountered that particular Digimon before. As the lizard flew closely overhead, dodging from side to side to avoid getting blasted out of the sky, Matt saw a glimmer of emerald in the lizard's eyes. It suddenly clicked. "Jake's here!"

Mimi looked hopeful. "Maybe now we can beat Cybermon! Look! We're starting to win!" It was true. With the addition of three new Digimon, the tide of the battle was turning. Cybermon was showing serious damage at various parts of his mechanical body. This inspired some of the fallen Digimon to have an extra boost of energy. The telltale glow of MetalGreymon's Giga Blaster missiles impacted at the base of Cybermon's neck, and Garudamon and MegaKabuterimon appeared from the forest, ready to fight.

Cybermon, although battered, was not about to succumb that easily. As Kamomon was making another run, the android suddenly turned its torso around 180 degrees to face the lizard Digimon. Its hand came up and around, slamming into Kamomon's face. The Digimon started to fall to earth. In the same fluid motion, Cybermon brought its Pulse Cannon around, targeting WereGarurumon. Bolts of sapphire energy flashed and the Ultimate-stage Digimon collapsed. Cluster Missiles spewed from the launching ports, and the flying Digimon were tossed around like toys in the resulting explosions.

Chapter Four

"Oh, no." Jake and the others watched what, moments before, had been a winning battle turn into absolute chaos. There was a bone-jarring thud, and Jake saw his partner fall into the forest not 100 feet away. "No! Kamomon!" He sprinted to the spot where the Digimon lay, gasping for breath. "Are you hurt?" Jake asked, concerned.

Kamomon shook his head slowly. "No…" he breathed. "Just very…tired."

"Hey Jake!" Tai ran over, a serious expression on his face. "We're getting crushed by this guy! We've decided to get out of here while we still have our legs!"

Jake looked at him, infinite sadness tainting his voice. "That won't work." He sighed. "If even half the stories I've heard about him are true, he'll keep following you until one of two things happens."

"And what would those two things be?" interrogated Tai.

"The two things?" Jake turned back to Kamomon. "Either you destroy him, or he destroys you. So running away is about the equivalent of laying your head out on the chopping block."

Tai was visibly horrified. "So you mean either he dies or we do?" Jake nodded. "Well we aren't going to die! At least, I hope not."

There was a faintly audible 'whoosh' sound, and Jake looked up, startled. Suddenly, he dove at Tai. "Get down!" he yelled. The Cluster Missile Jake had spotted burst into the smaller missiles, and a hail of destruction rained down upon them. When the smoke cleared, Tai was unharmed, and Jake was singed. "I'll be…all right." Coughed Jake. "But that really does a number on your back." He rolled over and closed his eyes to rest.

Kamomon saw all of this, his mind not really understanding this until he saw Jake lying, obviously hurt, on the ground. His brain started to focus on that one thought. Jake was hurt. Jake was hurt protecting a friend. Jake was hurt. And out of the corner of his foggy vision, he saw Jake's crest beginning to glow.

"Kamomon digivolve to…" Kamomon stood up. Metal armor appeared covering much of his large wings. His right arm glinted with chrome as the metallic shielding spread across his torso, and half of his head. A glowing red sensor replaced the eye covered by metal, and circuitry spread across the steel like a patchwork quilt. Kamomon's mighty jaws were coated in the metal, and energy flowed from steel tooth to steel tooth. Power flowed across his entire body as the transformation was completed. "…METAL KAMOMON!" MetalKamomon took to the sky to resume the fight.

Lillymon looked into the sky. The last thing she remembered was fire all around her. What had happened? Why was she now on her back lying on the ground, pain wracking her body? The answer came to her. She had been defeated by Cybermon. She had failed. What use was there in continuing the battle against an enemy who she couldn't beat? Suddenly, she saw a glimmer of steel flash over her. If her mind wasn't playing tricks on her, she had just seen Kamomon pass, but he was covered in metal. Maybe he had Digivolved! So perhaps there was reason to fight on! With great effort, she picked herself up off the ground. It was time to see if the Digidestined could really triumph over this evil creature.

Jake staggered back to the others, Tai helping him stand. He saw that Mimi, Matt, and Joe had all rejoined the group. He felt hands helping him to lie down by Sora. A roaring battle cry pierced the air, and everyone turned to watch MetalKamomon fly overhead, followed by Lillymon, Angemon and Angewomon, Garudamon, and MegaKabuterimon. MetalGreymon, Zudomon, and WereGarurumon sped past on foot. Jake smiled. "Go, MetalKamomon…you can do it." He whispered.

Chapter Five

"Shock Jaw!" MetalKamomon snapped his jaws shut. Ripples of energy emanated from the clash and added to the growing collection of holes in Cybermon's armor.

Lillymon and Angemon were right behind him. "Flower Cannon!" Lillymon charged up and shot three bursts out of her weapon.

Angemon's hand grew a bright gold. "Hand of Fate!" A red and white beam of power tore through the air in front of the Holy Warrior. The Flower Cannon and Hand of Fate both hit Cybermon exactly where MetalKamomon had punctured the armor. The giant robot screamed an electronic-sounding roar of pain.

MetalKamomon turned back for the coup de grace. He created a ball of blue energy between his hands. The sphere grew larger and started to spark as excess power couldn't be contained. "ARMAGGEDON BLAST!" yelled the Ultimate, tossing the energy. It hit, and a gigantic explosion knocked Cybermon to the ground.

However, the shock waves could not tell the difference between friend or foe, and so they sent all of the friendly Digimon for a serious loop. MetalKamomon, being the closest to Cybermon at the time, was thrown back into the air, out of control.

MetalKamomon glowed, and suddenly he was MetalKamomon no longer. He had reverted back to Zegimon. The Rookie-stage Digimon fell to the ground right in front of the recovering Jake.

Jake sat upright, ignoring his condition. "Zegimon! What happened, Zegimon? Are you okay? Can you fight?"

Weakly, Zegimon shook his head no. "No…energy left…can't fight…" he hissed. "It's over…"

Jake looked at Zegimon in disbelief, then to the battle. Although Cybermon was badly damaged, without MetalKamomon to assist, they started to lose once again. Right before Jake's eyes, Angewomon was knocked into MegaKabuterimon by a Pulse Cannon, and the two of them crashed to the ground together. "Do you see them, Zegimon? They need your help! They're counting on you! The Digidestined are counting on you!" Jake looked into Zegimon's eyes. "And I'm counting on you. Can you do it?"

Zegimon lacked the strength to move. "No…I cannot…I cannot fight any longer…must rest…" The small lizard closed its eyes.

Jake stood up, then doubled over and coughed uncontrollably. When the fit was over, he looked at the resting Zegimon. "If you can't help them, I will." And he ran off.

Mimi ran to where they had left Sora and Jake. When she arrived, she immediately knew something was wrong. Sora was right where they had left her, yet Jake was missing-and Zegimon was in his place. Mimi rushed to Zegimon, and shook him awake. "What happened to Jake? Where is he?"

Zegimon opened his eyes. "Jake…went to help others…fight Cybermon." Then he went back to sleep.

"What?" Jake had gone to fight Cybermon, in his condition? That wasn't good. That was absolutely downright bad.

Jake ran as fast as he could to where the battle was taking place. With luck, Cybermon wouldn't notice him. With luck, he could find a way to hinder the robot's massacre of his friends. With luck, they could defeat Cybermon. And with luck, Jake could become the ruler of the world.

Cybermon was turned away from Jake at the moment, firing at Zudomon, who retaliated with multiple strikes from his Vulcan's Hammer, but who was really no match for the Pulse Cannon; and Jake knew that the moment wouldn't last. He would have to act now.

Jake reached to the ground and picked up a large splinter of rock, which had apparently been dislodged by a missed attack. Holding the natural dagger in front of him, Jake charged to Cybermon's foot.

MetalGreymon had luckily opened a hole right within Jake's reach, exposing the circuitry inside. If Jake could damage that, it could possibly disengage some of Cybermon's functions. Jake began to slash. Sparks flew as the rock blade sliced deep into the core of Cybermon's leg.

A feeling told Jake to look up. He obeyed the urge, and saw a gray blur driving forward to slam into his body, and knock him back about 50 feet into the forest.

Cybermon's face twitched-a smirk, perhaps?-as it brought its foot down again from kicking Jake. Jake found himself looking right into the cavernous maw of the Pulse Cannon, unable to move. He managed to get one deep breath. "ZEGIMON!!!!!!!" he screamed.

Chapter Six

Zegimon's eyes opened in an instant. Jake needed him. Jake was in trouble. He suddenly felt new life spurt into his muscles, his nerves, his brain. Jake needed him, now. Zegimon began to glow.

"Zegimon Warp Digivolve to…" Kamomon's bulk flashed in a golden light, and his mighty jaws snapped together. Suddenly, Kamomon was gone, and light gleamed off the polished surface of MetalKamomon's chrome-plated body. And now, the Digimon was beginning to grow, to get larger. His neck elongated to over twice his previous body length, and every inch of it was covered in gleaming metal scales. MetalKamomon's whiplike tail grew until it was almost the same length as the new neck. His wings were entirely covered in steel, and they, too, increased in size. They were no longer the stubby, finlike wings that the previous Digivolutions had possessed, but these were more elegant, larger. His head accumulated twin ridges along the sides, and the snout stretched to become thin, yet powerful. What parts of the body weren't covered entirely in the metal scales grew scales that were a fiery red color. The new Digimon shot a jet of flame from its mouth, as befitting its name. "…DRAGOMON!!!"

Dragomon covered the ground between his original spot and the battlefield in mere seconds. Interposing himself between Cybermon and the downed Jake, his wings were surrounded in a bright golden aura. "Wing Shield!" Dragomon used his wings as a cape, covering both of them completely. Cybermon's Pulse Cannon spat energy multiple times, but each time it dissipated harmlessly on Dragomon's shield.

Dragomon got up from the crouch in a springing tackle, which knocked Cybermon completely off balance. This was his chance.

Storm clouds suddenly gathered overhead, with no warning. Lightning struck down from the clouds, yet did not flash in random spots. Each bolt hit exactly in the same spot, between Dragomon's wings. Likewise, the rain funneled to that spot, and no other. However, this didn't seem to bother Dragomon at all. On the contrary, he seemed to be gathering energy. It wasn't long before a ball of energy started to appear there. The winds started to pick up speed. A virtual tornado surrounded Dragomon, and yet he was only focused on Cybermon, in front of him. The winds started to shape the ball into a glowing rod of storm energy.

All of a sudden, all was calm again. The rain no longer fell, the wind was not blowing anymore, and no more lightning strikes came down. Dragomon braced himself. "HURRICANE BEAM!!!" The rod shot out into a beam of tremendous force, which sparked with lightning as it sped towards Cybermon. The beam collided with Cybermon's chest, and ripped its way through, coming out the other end.

Electricity started to play all over Cybermon's body, and then something exploded. Cybermon fell to its knees. It shimmered, and then dissolved.

A cheer went up from the Digidestined. They had won. Against all odds, they had survived the battle.

Dragomon seemed to sigh, and then he shrank back into a small ball covered in fur with a little tail and two tiny forepaws.

Chapter Seven

Jake, who was still carrying the worn-out Liquamon, looked at the group. "I've changed my mind. I have decided to come with you guys after all. I mean, I now know that I have the courage to take on supremely powerful evil Digimon, and besides, you need Zegimon and I to help you out."

T.K. smiled. "Yay! Jake's coming with us!" he said, jumping into the air.

Jake cracked a grin at this. "Oh, and Sora's doing much better!" he mentioned. "There are some herbs in this forest that make wounds heal much faster. However, she's asleep right now, so I wouldn't go talk to her. I left Tai with her to keep an eye out for anything…"

Tai looked at Sora lying there on the ground. It was good that she was getting better. "You had me very worried, Sora." He confided in her. Not that she could hear it, but it made him feel better to talk about it. "I thought for a second that I had lost you. Please don't ever make me worry like that again." He didn't know why he did this, but he bent over, and ever so gently kissed her. He sat back against the wall and watched her beautiful face. Was that his imagination, or did she smile in her sleep?

Two days later, the Digidestined, now with Jake and Zegimon added to the team, continued their journey. It was a very rare moment, when, Tai and Sora found themselves being the only ones awake. Sora looked up at all the stars. "I wonder if our parents in the Real World are seeing these stars too." Tai just shrugged. "You know, Tai, when I was asleep after the battle, I dreamt about our parents. They were really worried about us, yet at the same time, they knew that they had done the right thing by letting us go back to the Digital World, and they are very proud of us. Do you think that's true?"

Tai nodded. "I know it's true. Our parents love us. They would have realized, then, that we had to do this, at no matter the cost. We have to save them, and they know that we have a big enough responsibility already. They wouldn't want to add to that."

"And Tai?" ventured Sora.

"Mmm?"

"Also, when I was asleep, I dreamt that you kissed me. I know it sounds stupid and everything, but it seemed really real and…" she broke off as she saw Tai's face glowing a bright crimson. "You DID kiss me!" She said. "You did do it, didn't you?"

"Look Sora, I didn't think. I'm really sorry--" He was cut off as Sora flung her arms around his neck and kissed him. Out of surprise, he resisted, then when he realized what was happening, kissed back.

After she broke off the kiss, Sora looked at him. "I was going to say that I enjoyed the dream."

"Oh."

A muffled laugh came from behind them. They both spun around, and Tai pulled out a flashlight. He turned it on to reveal Jake crouched on the ground a few feet away. He had been listening to the entire conversation. "Why you…" Tai got up and started to walk over to Jake, who looked incredibly dismayed. Neither of them noticed the black hawk Digimon circling overhead, watching the two scuffle, with Sora trying to break it up. The hawk suddenly flew off into the horizon.

Chapter Eight

A lone figure shrouded totally in black stood alone in a castle room. Footsteps echoed through the hallway and a large creature, which looked strangely like a more powerful and built up Ogremon stood at the doorway. After a long time, a woman's voice spoke from under her ebony cloak. "Yes, Goblinmon?"

Goblinmon sank to one knee and presented her a parchment. "The latest reports from the spies, highness."

A slender hand somehow appeared from in the many folds of the robe and took the parchment. The woman read the document. "So Cybermon failed, the fool. I knew he was worthless. And, apparently, the Digidestined have added another to their number. This news is not good, Goblinmon, do you understand?"

"I do, your highness." Goblinmon understood all too well that he could be killed for bringing her this bad news.

"Have the miners found the Crystal of Power yet?"

He shook his head. "No, they have not found it. Your highness…may I ask why finding that crystal is so important to you?" This was thin ice he was treading on. Not only could he be killed for bringing her even more bad news, but daring to ask such a personal question of her highness would be like asking her to kill him.

Apparently, however, the woman was in a good mood. She laughed coldly. "Because, Goblinmon, the ancient legends say that the Crystal of Power is the one thing which can defeat me. So if I can find it and destroy it before the Digidestined get a hold of it, I will be invulnerable!" she laughed again, but stopped as a plan occurred to her suddenly. Goblinmon waited for a long time as the woman worked out the details. Finally she spoke again. "Goblinmon, get a squad of your fiercest warriors and have them report here. Tell them I will have special orders for them once they arrive. You are dismissed."

Goblinmon nodded and bowed again before walking out the door.

The woman waited until the footsteps faded into the distance. Then she smiled and threw back the hood of her cloak, revealing an exquisitely beautiful face yet bearing glowing red eyes, and fangs poking from her mouth. "When my plan is set into motion, the Digidestined will be doomed. For they shall pay for what they have done to Lord Devimon. And right before they die, they will know that all hope is lost, for nothing shall survive the wrath of the Dark Queen Tsunonrimon!"

To be continued….