When my eyes cleared I was standing in a room that was laden with dull red brick. The room was at least 12 ft wide, and and only 6 ft long. In front me, engraved inside of the wall, was five faces that seemed to be twisted in pain. They were all moaning "free me." The moaning was steadily increasing by the minute and was nearly deafening me. Looking around at them I suddenly noticed the room seemed a bit smaller.

Taking another look I found that it was! The walls were closing in on me! I had to think fast in order to get out of here alive. Raising my voice so that it was above theirs, I suddenly yelled "quite!" The heads were silent for a few moments and that gave me time to ask "who are all of you?"

The first one cried "free me. I'll love you forever, for I am the truth of the heart." "Free me" the second one commanded. "I'll give you ssssso many things. I'll give you all the wealth you ssssseek, all the power you dessssserve, for I'm the ssssstrongest truth of all, the truth of the hand."

"Free me" the third begged. "I'll give you all I know, weather happy or sad, or pleasant or sorrowful, for I'm the voice of the mind. "Free me" the fourth replied. I'll shower you with mystery and more, for I'm the truth of the unknown. "Free me" the fifth said plainly. "I don't have much to offer except peace and wisdom, for I'm the truth of the spirit."

By now the room was only three feet wide. If I didn't make a choice and fast, then I never would. Concentrating, I tried to think. Heart...Hand...Mind...Unkown....Spirit...all the voices offered something that was a truth, and each was precious, but only one of them was the real voice...but which one? They all seemed to be part of the truth, but only one voice was the true voice. Then I realized the answer.

Raising my hands I shouted "they all are!" The walls suddenly quite sliding, and began to back up. The wall shimmered with a light of it's own as the heads sunk into the wall. As they sunk into it I raised my hand to shield my eyes from the glow of the light.
 
 

As it cleared, I saw that I was looking at Angemon except this time the bandages were gone, showing his face. In his right hand was a bottle half filled with some liquid. Bringing it up to his lip, he drunk a few swift gulps.

Suddenly light glowed around him, illuminating the surrounding area. And as soon as it came, it left, revealing that he was now gone, as if it had killed him leaving no traces behind except for the cloths he was wearing that were now in a heap.

Suddenly I saw something move from beneath the pile of garments. It moved on the ground like a snake, except it was so flat that it seemed as if was part of the earth itself. Getting a better look, it also seemed to be made of water and fire, and had the out shape of an angel.

The figure, getting it's bearings, started to lift itself up from the ground. It looked like water flowing in reverse and as it piled itself up. It still looked like an angel, except now it was solid. It turned it's head about, getting a look at it's wings, and upon seeing them, they shrunk down into his body.

'This must have happened when he first became Shadowmon' I thought. I then watched as he ran to the battle where he fought VenomenMyotismon, and from there, the rest of the scene played out as we had seen it. Then, the surrounding images started to darken, having shown what was needed.
 
 

I opened my eyes, and as I did so, I saw I was in a barren landscape. Black rock was underneath me and the plains were barren, not even a weed grew. In front of me was Shadowmon, but he had seriously changed from the last time I had seen him.

His body was of a snake but only from the waist down, above the waist he was human with scales over his arms, face and torso, out of his back were two wings sticking out that looked like a doves. His face, once a friendly sight, was now dark. He looked at me with such hatred that I could tell that the Shadowmon I once knew was now dead.

His eyes narrowed at me, and he spoke it a voice that was of a demon. "I see you made it hear. Impressed with my work?" he waved his hand, encompassing the bitter landscape. "It's amazing what power can do to a person once it takes hold. All you see before you was done with power, much like my present form suggests. Peace, love, caring, humanity, all have died" he said, with a triumphant sneer. "Good riddance to them all! Now there is only one true presence in a person's life, power. Much like the dark rings you might say. It couldn't control him because he was already becoming evil, so it was useless. So, boy, this is the only life there is to live, and I dare you to say any different."

"I do say different!" I shouted at him. "Because of power it has caused many their very lives. Do you realize exactly how many have died because of it?" "Oh yes, I do" he paused for a moment, and then spoke again. "But still, wasn't it power itself that has ensured your victories? Or did you merely talk them into given up, or make them fell bad about themselves? No. You did not. If it were not for power, you would have long since been killed. So do not blame me if you yourself can be condemned for the same thing.

"We only used it because we had to. We didn't want to, but we did for the good of the cause. Not only for ourselves, but for Earth." "And what of those you killed? You tell me that power itself is evil when it kills an innocent life, but when you use to guarantee your existence, you call it good." His face then darkened as he said his next line of words. "I use mine in the same manner. They were weak so died under my power, just as the ones you killed. You are no better than I am. You use power only because it meet your ends, but used in any other you see it as evil. But it does not matter. This talk bores me and you to shale be as all the others who have died under my might!"

Before he could move I screamed out "wait!" Reaching inside of my pocket, I pulled out the mirror, ready to use it. "I have something that will convince you that what you are doing is wrong. Look here, into this mirror and tell me what you see." Shadowmon walked over to me and removed the mirror from my hands. Holding it up to his face I saw that the mirror started to turn black. Then, it turned blacker still as images played across it's surface of countless battles. Men, women, and children died at his hands. Cities and great nations themselves were destroyed by his power, and as he moved from one place to the next, he left behind a trail of death in his wake. Buildings were half destroyed, bodies were lying on the ground, their blood coating the soil.

As these images played I noticed he had a cruel, sadistic smile on his face. He was actually enjoying this! All the deaths, all the tragedies, and he enjoyed every minute of it. I then realized, that this was the true nature of power. Unguarded, it created a monster of limitless power and destruction. All it left behind was a mere shell of the person who once was there, but was now long dead. That's when I noticed that he was oblivious to me. He was to busy watching the mirror, smiling as each person and each nation fell. That would probably give me just enough time to get my job done.

I placed my hand on his torso and prayed he wouldn't notice. He didn't. Turning my attention towards him, I concentrated. I looked for that place were the fire and water combined, becoming a single thing. Except this time I wasn't going to make him solid, I was going to make him expand. If I was right, all that power gathered up and stretched out till he could no longer control it, should cause him to explode just like an atom bomb. It would mean that I, to, would die, but if I didn't do something soon I was going to be dead anyhow.

Tuning my thoughts on his body I concentrated on expanding it. Soon, it did. It was slow at first, but it was still enough. I kept concentrating on him until he was at least three times his regular height. But at that exact moment, he decided he had enough of the mirror, and raised his head from it.

When he saw what was happening, he roared, and looked down right at me. Suddenly my hand started to feel warm. The warm sensation turned into a small burn, and the burn turned into unbearable pain. I screamed, and removed my hand from his side.

Pulling it back was a big mistake, I soon learnt. As soon as my hand was gone, he started to shrink back down to size. Seeing this, I reapplied my hand, ignoring the pain. It only served to slow him down. He was still shrinking, but at a much slower rate.

'It can't all end like this' I though to myself. 'Not after I've come so far.' Then I remembered what I've been through, facing each aspect of Shadowmon. I learnt from Angeteen that Shadowmon wasn't eternal, but he would soon die. What then, would it matter what he would have done?

A lot actually. If he was indestructible, then he could level the planet if he wanted. But then I remembered what Angemon had taught me. The mirror. It wasn't the mirror that replayed a person's life, but the exact conciseness of that person. It seemed that the mirror itself was useless, considering all a person had to do was look deep within themselves to find out who they were.

Then there was the barrier. All of those voices, yet they were all just one. Much like a person. They were made up of different emotions and mysteries, but still, they were just one person. And Shadowmon. He had taught me the greatest lesson of all. Power itself was neither good or evil, but was merely a tool. Much like a saw or a hammer. They were meant for good, but they could also be used for murder. So when a person used it for evil, it didn't make the tool evil, it only made the person evil.

And now, I knew what I had to do. I could never take him down all at once. Nothing that powerful could be brought down in one fowl swoop. Instead, it had to be attacked separately, individually.  I put my hand against his side and concentrated on him becoming unsolid. Not all the way, but just enough to allow me through. Suddenly my hand went through him, but met only a little resistance. I then climbed my through.

Inside was a place that words could not describe. The water splashed across my face and cloths soaking me, and the fire blazed across my skin. I would have greatly preferred to have died right there and then and been free of it all, but I had work to do.

I concentrated on just the bottom half of his body, making it expand. As I concentrated, the flames seemed to ease slightly, but they still tore at my flesh. When I felt resistance, I concentrated on his upper torso. When I met resistance there, I struck somewhere else. I made my choices at random, making it possible for him to have to wait before he could counter against it.

I knew that I was winning. Soon it would all be to late. I knew he was at least five times his regular height but I didn't know that with my eyes. I couldn't. The flames had reduced them to a pair of useless glazed out things that would see the world no more. I knew it by instinct. I could actually feel it in my very bones. Then, after a few more moments, I heard a loud scream telling me that I had won. Yet as I sunk to the floor, knowing that I was going to die, I couldn't help wondering why it sounded as if they were two voices.
 
 

Pain shot through ny head, but that was only to be expected after having a ton of rocks fall on top of you. I looked around, letting my eyes slowly adjust to their scenery. I was in a room. A building it looked like. Computers lined the wall. 'I must be in the real world' I thought to myself.

"Your awake!" T.K. cried, running over to me. Sitting up, I began to rub the back of my throbbing head. Suddenly I felt something scrap against it. Feeling around a bit, it turned out to be...a bandage? "After the rock slide" he began, "we were worried that you were hurt, so we tried to mend your head."

I was stunned. I could never remember anyone showing mercy towards me. I've lived most of my life fighting to make myself better, stronger, pushing myself to the limit and beyond, so I had never felt any remorse towards me.

"You all right?" T.K. asked, peering closely. I quickly turned around. I chaded myself for being foolish. As my name suggested, I lived alone, sticking close to the shadows, using it towards my advantage, and in turn, I will one day die as a shadow. I clearly had no business around people like him, or any other for that matter. My feelings will only make it more hard to say good buy.

"I'm okay" I said, turning around. I need to see Tai though. I'm worried about him. T.K. took my arm and led me through the group, and over to the table where Tai's body lay. "What happened to him?" I asked. "He went in to save you. All went well for awhile, but later he started to scream and thrash around as if he were in some kind of great pain. You, to, were doing the same thing. It was all we could do in order to keep both him and you still.

Taking everything in I turned towards him. "I think he'll make it, though he will be weak at first." Pausing for a moment, I looked back over to Tai's body. "By your description, I wasn't to late." "Wasn't to late for what?" Smirking, I said "do you think you can really go through someone's mind without them noticing. I managed to follow Tai since he came across the barrier, and I followed him from there till he met what was killing me. Not the physical kind though, he was killing me from the inside. Tai managed to defeat him but he would have also lost his life. Fortunately I was there with him so I took most of the pain into myself, knowing that it wouldn't hurt me as bad as it would him. Still...he is weak from it. He needs rest." Lifting my head back up, I look over at T.K. "I will see you guys again tomorrow, before we cross back over to the digiworld. From there, we each go our own separate ways."
 
 

We were back in the digiworld saying good bye to Shadowmon. It still surprised me that something so calm on the surface could actually be so out of control on the inside. "Well...hope to see you again sometime" I said to Shadowmon, expressing false hope. Shadowmon only shook his head sadly. "I'm sorry Tai, but I don't think so. I'm more suited to live by myself. It's only for the best. I need time to myself so I can try and fix my life. Thanks to you, it will now be easier. But still...I'm worried what will happen if I stay. I've lived in constant battle all my life that I'm afraid if one of you would scare or startle me, I would react the same way I would against an enemy. No. It's to high a stake to risk. I must leave, the sooner the better."

"If you can't stay with us, then you could at least help us with the current problem." Laying a hand on my shoulder he looked into my eyes. "Don't you think I've already seen enough deaths in my life? I've seen friends and enemies alike come and go, and I still have many more yet to come. I'm sorry, but my fighting days are one thing I'm trying to stop but can't. It's a part of me. Both a blessing and a curse. So for the better of us all, I need to go.

He was smiling a low, sad smile. Not with his mouth, but more with his eyes. Holding back a tear, I waved good bye. As Shadowmon was turning around, he suddenly stopped and seemed to be looking at something very far away. "What is it?" I asked. "It seems to be..." he didn't finish, he was still looking at whatever object that only he could see. "No it can be!" he suddenly screamed. "They were all suppose to be extinct!"

Looking where he must have been looking, I finally made out the shapes myself. They were mere specs at first, but as they flew on, they became easier to see. At first I thought they were human with capes around their sides, but as they got closer I saw I couldn't be more wrong. They were giant bats! Six of them in all with brown fur on their bodies, and only three sharp fangs in their pointed little heads.

Whatever they were, Shadowmon seemed to be terrified, but as usual, it never lasted long. "Keep back!" he shouted at us. "Those are bamons, they feed upon whatever energy their is. The worst part is they usually prefer life. Even the slightest cut from one of them is enough to drain the life right out of you. Which is why the dark rings are having no affect on them. If one attached itself to it, it would drain the energy out of it and have itself a new accessory item. The only thing that can kill them must have no life or energy, and I already have that at hand. Stay here. I'm the only one fit for a fight like this."

As he ran their he curled his hand, and slowly a sword made of ice appeared in his hands. It took me by surprise at first, but then I reminded myself that all the sword really was was water moisture frozen from the surrounding air. He could command fire and water itself indeed!

He approached the swarm and planted his feet on the ground swinging his sword in the air, ready to slash anything that got near him. The two leading bamons dropped down to attack him. Shadowmon stood their not moving until they were a few feet away from his face. At the last instinct he dodged and swung his sword, slicing one of them across the throat, while the second one hit the ground.

Getting up, it jumped at him, fangs extended. He nimbly side steeped the attack and managed to gorge a hole in the back of it's heart, killing it before it could feel any pain. The other bamons, enraged at their companions untimely demise, charged at him.

He faced them, preparing for the oncoming approach. Before they reached him he sliced though the air killing one, and clipping half of an ear off another. The others seeing this, broke off the attack, and huddled together at a safe distance from sword point. It seemed that resistance was one thing they didn't meet to often.

After talking to each other in shrieks and high pitched voices, they seemed ready to take action. Two of them flew within 15 ft beside of Shadowmon, one on each sides, and the one with the clipped ear landed directly in front of him but a little farther away then the others were.

As one they all charged at him, ready to take him down no matter what the cause. He spun around in the air and slashed the two at his side down to the waist, but the third, since he was farther, missed the blade entirely. He crashed into his chest, throwing him against a tree.

Shadowmon seemed to dazed to move. The bamon walked over to him, his mouth watering, ready to remove him from this life as he had done to his other companions. As he pulled his head back, ready to deliver the death blow, Shadowmon seemed to regain some conciseness.

Seeing what was lingering over him, he moved out of the way as the bamon brought his mouth down, missing him by centimeters. Pulling his sword back, he threw it into the air at the bamons face, knowing that if he missed he would die. The bamon moved it's head aside, avoiding the blade of the sword.

It let out a loud laugh at Shadowmon's failure, it then bended over about to complete the deed. In mid-way it stopped and rolled over onto the ground screaming in pain. Out of it's stomach produced the point of a sword. A sword of ice. It seemed that when the sword fell, it spun around at just the right time to stab it in the back. Shadowmon removed the sword from it's back and stabbed it one final time, ending it's suffering. After that, he fell back onto the ground and didn't move.

Running over to him, I looked to see what could be wrong with him. He seemed to be in good health. He didn't have any major injuries, maybe he just had a couple of broken bone? No. He would be awake and in great pain if it was a broken bone. What could be wrong then? Then, that's when I noticed it.

On his right cheek, just below his right eye, was a faint scratch. It wasn't nothing to worry about for a creature of that size, but it had been done by the fang of a bamon. I lifted his head up, which I noticed to my great surprise, that I didn't have to concentrate this time.

I rolled his head over so he could look at us. "Are you all right?" I asked gently. "I don't think so" he said in a low voice, signaling that he was near death. "Did I get them all?" I nodded my head. "Good. Now I can die without any regrets. Please do not feel sorry for me. I've seen friends and enemies come and go, and through each and everyone of them, never once did I shed a single tear. Now that my own death is upon me, still no tears. Like I've said before, I live only to fight. It's the only way, the only life, that I have. I knew right from the beginning that I would lose my life in battle. Don't worry over it, it's the way I wanted it, and I always get what I want. With that said, he closed his eyes, leaving behind only the bandage that was used to bind his head together. He was dead, and this time there will be no bringing him back. *******************

This fic is actually the longest one I've ever wrote so please review. Even if it's a couple of words long I'd at least like some kind of review so I can know what you think of my fic. And as always, if you have any requests e-mail them to me at ome02192@mail.wvnet.edu *******************