Part 11: We Fight to Win
Tai instinctively grabbed his little orange pebble. 'Let's go!" he called. "Everybody, it's time for us to work together!"
Mimi, Joe, T.K., Sora, Kari, and Izzy pulled out their stones quickly. Mimi's white gem floated up and hung there, suspended. Izzy heard a beep and looked down at his laptop, which he had never closed. On voice mail, Gennai's voice said:
"Hello! I'm very busy, but I do know what's happening! And here's a piece of advice: That little white jewel thing is always at the center of all of you kids. So beware, if one of you moves, the whole thing yanks you along with it!"
"That can't be good," Patamon said.
Salamon nodded, eyes flashing. "Let's fight!"
Suddenly a blue line of power traced its way to the sphere. Somehow, Matt had grabbed his stone. But black light was flickering around him...
Gavinmon narrowed his eyes as the determined children fed power into the chain. His prisoner was already limp. Perhaps it was time to take another one to torture...
He stumbled backwards when Agumon managed to aim a fireball at his ankle. Unfortunately, this dragged the other kids along. Sora's red pebble fell from her hand.
"Oh!" She reached out to grab it, but that one crucial link had caused the whole thing to vanish.
Soon, the flickering power-chain was back up. But--
"Beam of--"
And then, the wonderfully welcome voice shouted, "Digivolve!" The eight digimon began to glow brightly.
"If I didn't know better..." Izzy said, "I would say they're all going to digivolve!"
"Duh!" was the reply from six other voices.
"Agumon, warp-digivolve to...WarGreymon!"
"Gabumon, warp-digivolve to...MetalGarurumon!"
The two previous megas dove into battle with a Terra Force and an Ice Wolf Claw. But what happened next shocked everyone.
"Palmon, warp-digivolve to...Rosemon!" Now tall, Rosemon was green and red. She started to spin and cried, "Lily Whirlwind!" Petals surrounded Gavinmon in a thick cluster; now he couldn't see a thing.
"Salamon, warp-digivolve to...Magnadramon!" The angel now shouted, "Dragon Fire!" A flame burst from her gloved hands.
"Biyomon, warp-digivolve to...Phoenixmon!" The fire-bird's attack was Starlight Explosion, a red eruption of stars which sliced at Gavinmon.
"Tentomon, warp-digivolve to...HerculesKabuterimon!" The white beetle then chose, "Mega Electro Shocker!" This was a giant ball of energy.
"Gomamon, warp-digivolve to...MarineAngemon!" The water angel now released a tsunami wave called Ocean Love.
"Prodigious!" Izzy cried. "Your turn, Patamon."
"You can do it!" T.K. added.
"All right, I'll try. Patamon, warp-digivolve to...Angedramon!"
Angedramon's attack, Dragon Tornado, knocked Gavinmon over and sent Tigreromon flying backwards. Then Yokomon, Tanemon, Nyaromon, Motimon, Tokomon, and Bukamon landed at their partners' feet, exhausted. A few moments later, Koromon fell into Tai's arms.
"Keep going, MetalGarurumon!" Matt shouted. He had fallen to the ground during the assault. "Finish him off! Delete him! GO!"
"Metal Wolf Claw!"
The attack missed and shot back at its owner, who dedigivolved into Tsunomon just in time to avoid it hitting him. He fell to the ground.
"Uh-oh."
~Have to attack. Have to win. Can't hang on much longer. Gotta attack. But how?~ Tai wondered. ~I'm just a kid...but I have to attack...~
Then another voice, the same one that had helped them digivolve, spoke. ~Tai Kamiya, use the power. Feel it. You know what to do. It's in your heart. You just have to search a little more to find it.~
"Search! That's it!" Tai walked forward, intent on his purpose. "Hey, Gavinmon! Give up?"
The shadow struggled back to his feet. "I won't let some skinny kid beat me!" he growled. "Watch, there won't be an eighth child after this! Beam--"
The words slipped so easily from Tai's mouth: "Courage Fire!" A ball of fire shot from glowing hands.
"Knowledge Lightning!" A purple stream of electricity shot from Izzy's gloved hands. Gavinmon was really getting mad...
"Tai, look out! Love Flare!" Red flames crackled toward the monster.
"Reliable Sea!" A wave swept Gavinmon over.
"Sincerity Bloom!" Petals surrounded Gavinmon and cut into him.
Two small figures stepped forward; two small pairs of hands were held up; and two small but triumphant voices yelled, "Hope Light!"
The yellow and pink beam of light smacked into the enemy, completely knocking him over. One beam escaped his hands and hit the ground. The digidestined ran backwards--except for Tai and Matt.
"Courage Fire!"
Matt opened his glittering indigo eyes. "This is for what you've done to me and my friends! Light Blade!" A blue and white sword shimmered in his hands, and with one perfect throw he sliced Gavinmon worse than ever before.
"May I?" Tai asked.
"Be my guest!"
"Courage Fire!"
"Light Blade!"
The two looked at each other, both thinking, If they can do it, so can we!
"Friendship Fire!"
Gavinmon vanished into dust, but not before knocking them both flat!
"Tai, Tai!" Sora screamed. She ran to his side. Neither boy moved at all. Blood was already soaking both of them.
"We can handle it, Sora," a soft voice said. Sora looked up to see Mimi and Joe, smiling.
~*~
An hour later the two returned to the rest of the group. "They're going to live!" Mimi said joyfully.
"YES!" everyone shouted.
Kari suddenly said, "Hey, who's that?"
The remaining six digidestined found themselves staring at a young girl with long light brown hair and blue eyes wearing jeans and a green long-sleeved shirt. She grinned. "My name is Litemon," she said.
"You're a digimon?" T.K. asked.
"Of course she is!" Tokomon said.
"I cannot come to you in my real form, so I chose this one," Litemon said. "I have been helping you through the stones."
"Where'd Matt get them?" Tsunomon asked.
"They were given to him by Tigreromon, before he was captured and made evil. Matt joined the evil willingly enough, knowing that once he had you children with him he could give out the stones and defeat Gavinmon, therefore rescuing his friend, Tigreromon, from the evil side. Unfortunately, when you called him a traitor, he had to run. He was forced to be on opposite sides with Tigreromon in order to help you."
"Man," Koromon said, "were we ever wrong!"
Litemon nodded. "At any rate, Tigreromon hypnotized him--and you know the rest. Except this: Now that Gavinmon is gone, his servants--none of whom actually wanted to work for him--are free. Tigreromon is a good digimon now, and Masakimon, Arachnamon, Glebimon, and Eaglomon will be in Primary Village as soon as you fix it. Find Tigreromon, and you'll have Piedmon's weakness. He cannot fight this tiger for some reason that not even I know. You have gained a lifelong friend in defeating Gavinmon, King of the Shadows."
Mimi suddenly started to dance. "Gavinmon's gone! Now I don't have to worry!"
"Nay, little queen. Before leaving, you must defeat Piedmon. Worry about him, and then be free evermore."
Litemon vanished as quickly as she had appeared, leaving the digidestined very confused, and very, very joyful.
~*~
That night, Sora leaned against a tree, watching the full moon and the bright stars and hoping that Tai and Matt would get up soon. Everyone else, including Yokomon, was asleep. Sora started to sing softly.
"Out here in the quiet of the night
Beneath the stars and moon
We both know we've got something on our minds.
We won't admit, but it's true.
You look at me. I look away.
I wanna tell you what I'm feeling,
But I don't know how to start
I wanna tell you, but now I'm afraid
That you might break my heart
Oh, why should anything so easy
Ever be so hard to do?
I wanna tell you what I'm feeling
And to say that...I love you.
I practice all the things that I could say.
Line by line, every word,
I tell myself, today could be the day.
But every time I lose my nerve
I look at you. You look away.
I wanna tell you what I'm feeling,
But I don't know how to start
I wanna tell you, but now I'm afraid
That you might break my heart
Oh, why should anything so easy
Ever be so hard to do?
I wanna tell you what I'm feeling
And to say that...I love you.
Why, why do you turn away?
It must be you're afraid like me.
I try, but I can't pretend that I
Don't feel for you the way I do
Can't you see?
I wanna tell you what I'm feeling,
But I don't know how to start
I wanna tell you, but now I'm afraid
That you might break my heart
Oh, why should anything so easy
Ever be so hard to do?
I wanna tell you what I'm feeling
And to say that...I love you."
The last words of the song were spoken aloud. Sora gasped when Tai shook his head a little and opened his eyes.
"You're awake!"
"Sure...hey, Sora?"
"Hmm?"
"I love you, too."
Sora blushed and looked away. But it was obvious from the way her crest was glowing that every word of her song was true.
~*~
The next day, Matt also woke up. Though both he and Tai were very tired, they agreed that Piedmon had to be defeated.
"I'm not going with you, though."
"Why, Matt?"
"You know...we have all the megas now...you don't need *me* for this battle..."
Mimi spoke up. "Please, will you stay and listen to the song I wrote?"
Matt hesitated for only a moment. "All right."
"I guess I don't need a microphone...well, here goes!
Somewhere in the darkness
There's hope and light.
Somewhere in the darkness
Let there be sight.
Somewhere that no one's been
That's where we shall go
We'll find each other and hand in hand
Rid the world of sorrow.
Climb till the end is near
Climb for love to fill the land
We fight to win, it's our only goal
To decode the knowledge that's in our hand
Somewhere in the darkness
There's hope and light.
Somewhere in the darkness
Let there be sight.
How can we travel when we're apart?
How can we break this sense of dread?
We've got to be more reliable
And stay together like our friends all said.
To be so courageous, we know it's hard
But we can do it if we're all friends
We can stay sincere as we change and grow.
It's time for us to make amends.
Somewhere in the darkness
There's hope and light.
Somewhere in the darkness
Let there be sight.
Sometimes in the future
We may fall away.
But if we try we can defeat this evil
Somehow...someday...
Somewhere in the darkness
There's hope and light.
Somewhere in the darkness
Let there be sight...
Someday."
Everyone clapped--hard. "Three years paid off!" T.K. whispered.
Matt smiled. "Okay, okay, I know you meant to convince me, so...I'm convinced. Let's go beat Piedmon together!"
All the others clapped and they headed off down the road to Spiral Mountain. Kari started to sing...again.
"You've been such a good friend.
I've known you since I don't know when.
We've got lots of friends, but they--come and go."
The other girls joined in.
"And even though we've never said it
There's something that the two of us both know.
Together forever, no matter how long.
From now until the end of time.
We'll be together, and you can be sure
That forever and a day
That's how long we'll stay
Together and forever more."
The boys took up the second verse.
"Always gone that extra mile
Depended on you all the while.
Even in the good and bad times, you will see.
From now until our journey's end
You know you can always count on me."
Then, all together,
"Together forever, no matter how long.
From now until the end of time.
We'll be together, and you can be sure
That forever and a day
That's how long we'll stay
Together and forever more.
No matter where our destiny leads
I'll be there for you, always come through
And that you can believe..."
Singing as they went, the group of sixteen wandered toward their destiny, a battle at Spiral Mountain. Together, forever, trying not to say good-bye, but when the time has come it's inevitable. Even though the eye of the tiger is always watching, the digidestined, at least, will be ready. Mask to mask, they can fight. Fear to fear, they can overcome--together. As a team. And in the dark of the night, working together, no one will sneak up behind. The roads they follow may be different, but eventually, all paths lead home. They have proven that they can love...and live.
Together...forever.
