I looked up from the body of the lizard and turned my gaze over to that traitorous human. The heat of battle steal flowing though my veins, I threw the spear at him with so much force behind it that it could have only been seen as a mere blur.

It landed with a satisfying thunk as it tore through the center of his throat and emerged on the other side, blood flying everywhere. His eyes were left open in a wide stare of surprise as his now lifeless form fell to the ground. Walking over to the corpse, I turned it over with the tip of my foot. His eyes, now in death, were closed shut.

It figured. It was amazing how weak these humans tended to be. Could such as race possibly be worth saving? No, they weren't. They were fit only for slaves or dead. This one here of such young age thought he could have took over the digiworld. How wrong he turned out to be. Glancing up, I strided away from the fallen body of a fool and looked over at the scum who called themselves human.
 
 

We had won, but I knew it was only a small victory. We steal yet had to face our true foe, who ever he might be. I looked up at Angeteen and said "good going but I hope you have enough energy left for another round. We steal have the one behind this to defeat."

"I don't think you have to worry about that. All you have to worry about now is just staying alive." I stared at him, barely believing what he had just said. "Angeteen? Are you all right?" "I'm okay, but you won't." I looked into his face and was shocked at what I saw. His body was positioned as if he was about to enter a major battle. His hand was positioned over the hilt of his sword and was twitching violently, ready to draw it from it's encasement at a moment's notice.

It took me a moment to figure it out, but at last I did. He had finally forgotten. The power he had once used to serve him, had finally come to dominate him. The last shreds of his mortal existence were finally cast aside and he had become what he had feared...a monster.

Just as the writings had predicted. 'But be warned, with his death your true foe will appear.' Angeteen himself wasn't our true foe, it was what was controlling him. Power had now became the only objective in his life and without it he was nothing. This was what usually corrupted most people.

He advanced on us, eying us with a certain hostility. He looked around, seeing something that only he could see. "There close" he said to himself, nearly muttering the words out. "Very close. I'm going have to do something I know I might as well get used to."

His attention turned to us, his eyes fixed on Tai. Suddenly, from the armor that served as his body, a slight mist arose from it. It hovered in the air for a moment, getting it's orientation while the armor dropped to the ground in shambles. Suddenly, without warning, it shot down like a bullet headed straight for Tai's chest.

Tai through up his arm, trying to defend against it. The mist hit his arm...and passed right through it and did the same to his chest, except instead of leaving, it stayed there. Suddenly, Tai bent over, mumbling as if he was in pain. I was about to walk over to see what was wrong with him when he suddenly jerked upright and turned around to face us.

The look on his face said it all. His eyes regarded us with such distrust and hate I didn't even think it was humanly possible for it to get any worse. The set of his mouth was in a tight snarl, looking as if he would bite someone's hand off if it got close enough. Angeteen did exactly to Tai what he had originally done with the suit of armor...he possessed him.

Keeping his eyes on us, he retreated a couple of feet away. After he was at least 20 ft away, he stopped and began to speak. He spoke in a voice that was a mixture of Tai's and another. The other voice sounded like Angeteen's except it was noticeably changed. It was cold and hard as if it came from a person who's only intent was to kill or be killed himself.

"So it seems that your the one's I have to face in order to succeed." He smirked. "A simple task and one undeserved by my standards. But still, I will be merciful." Walking over to the fallen suit of armor, he recovered the sword he had once used and threw it at as. "Use this. Who faces me first is of no concern of mine. You shall all be dead in due course" he said, baring a wicked grin.

We looked around at each other, clearly none of us wanted to face him alone in armed combat. It would have been suicidal! It was well known that anyone who faced him would have exactly as much chance in defeating him as he would confronting an angry god of wrath, clearly not the kind of person anyone would want to fight.

But one of us had to do it, the only question was who? Izzy couldn't do it, owing to the fact that he was good with computers, not fighting. Kari couldn't do it neither, her being a girl, that only left me with one choice...me.

Stepping forward, I picked up the sword. It wasn't heavy. It felt well balanced and easy to swing. Angeteen's smile widened even more as I picked it up. For a moment I expected to see horns sprout out of his head at any moment.

Raising the sword, I brought it up, ready for a battle I know I would lose. Angeteen's hand went to the hilt of his sword and drew it out so fast I thought it had simply jumped there. He approached me, his form relaxed but still he remained alert.

"Think you'll survive?" he said with mock concern in his voice. "I would if I knew how to handle a sword, coward." He shrugged. "That's life. It's never fair. You should know that already T.K. Though if it makes you feel any better, I'm only as strong as Tai. Whatever I take over I also have their original strength. Tai is no where near as strong as I once was so you have a bit of an advantage there. Also, unlike when I was in the armor, I can feel pain. If I fell off a cliff in that dusty old suit I wouldn't have even noticed, so now I'm bound by the rules of mortality. Make use of them the best way you can for you surely won't out live the hour." The smile on his face was gone, now to be replaced by a stern look that told he was ready to fight.

He jumped at me, bringing his sword down to bear at me as he landed. Quickly I lifted up my own sword to try and bard the attack. There was a loud clang as his sword and mind connected as I nearly stumbled backwards from the blow.

Before I had time to recollect myself, he lashed out a second time, this time at my throat. I had expected sudden blackness at first, but instead I only felt something...warm? Looking down I saw it was blood. Then reaching to my throat, I found a light scratch there, nothing much to worry about.

Suddenly pain lit across my right hand and I dropped the sword. It was another cut, a little deeper than the last but still nothing to worry about. "Falling asleep on the job can kill you in this business" Angeteen said with a smirk.

Before I could even move he kicked me square in the chest, knocking me towards the ground. He raised his sword, ready to bear down on me. I quickly rolled aside and not a moment to soon. That last attack nearly took off my earlobe!

I rolled aside again as he brought it down, and rolled yet again. Something seemed to be wrong. If he could take out the bamons, creatures that could kill you with just one bite, then why was he having trouble fighting me? Then I realized why and I did not like it.

He was toying with me! He could have ended this match a long time ago if he wanted but then there wouldn't be much left to do. Just like torturing a bug I thought. First let's tear off it's wings and then it's legs. After that, beat it in the head with it's own legs until it goes unconscious, and when we finally get bored, we'll squash it. This was not the way I was planning to go out. Looking aside I saw that my sword was near by, I just needed to get close enough to it without him realizing it.

Rolling aside on the next sword thrust I kept right on, promptly to my fallen sword. I kept on and as soon as I came within range, I scooped it up, and finally steadied myself and stood up. Angeteen was still standing in his original place. He hadn't even moved!

"Very well" he said in monotone. "I agree with you. Enough with the fun and games, we shall end it now." He charged at me, sword outstretched ready to give me the shortest haircut I've had in my life. He brought it down but this time I didn't stumble. Instead I was knocked back several feet by the blow and my hand felt like it was about to fall off.

He came at me again, not seeming to tire as the fight went on. I was having problems just keeping the sword in my hand let alone bare against his attacks. In a couple of moments I knew I would be dead if I didn't think of something.

I searched around in my mind, frantic for even the simplest answer. None came. Then I realized why not. Angeteen was unbeatable. The only way he would stop fighting, that is if you lived more than two seconds, is if you pulled his sword out of his cold dead fingers and that wasn't bound to happen without a price.

I knew what it was. It was the same price we all had thought he had paid when he had defeated VenomenMyotismon. On the next sword lunge, I did something new, something that took him by surprise. I attacked.

Suddenly I felt cold steel as it sliced into my chest, centimeters away from my beating heart. My vision became blurred and darkness threatened to overwhelm me. Falling to the ground, I managed to I looked up and noticed that Angeteen had a wound but mine scored right in the center of his heart. Clearly he was dead before he had even hit the ground. As my life's blood spilled around me, I mused on what he had said earlier. He was right. I wouldn't out live the hour, the funny thing was, he wouldn't have out lived it either.
 
 

I stood in mute horror. T.K. and Tai/Angeteen, were both lying on the floor dead. The swords sticking through their chests didn't help with the scene either. Suddenly, I saw a wift of mist rise. It hung in the air and started to change. First arms, legs, a head, and then, at last, a face. I stared in horror. That face was the last one I ever wanted to see right now.

Angeteen strided forward with a surprising calm look on his face. For someone who had just been ran through with a sword, he didn't seem angry. Brushing a couple of stray hairs aside, he spoke in a voice that was calm and collective. "It's been awhile since someone tried to use that technique on me." He looked over at the pile of bodies and smirked. "I most be loosing my touch. Well...that last battle was refreshing. Anyone for seconds?"

From behind Angeteen, the spirits of Tai and T.K. stepped up, and out, of their previous bodies, looking as they did in life but minus the hole in their chests. "Haven't enough people already died Angeteen?" Tai asked, sounding hurt that Angeteen was planning such things.

Angeteen only laughed at this remark. "The deaths from before are only the beginning! With the new world I shall create, you will have plenty of time to know what death really is. By the time I'm done, bodies will be lined up like cork wood and the rivers themselves shall run with blood. A perfect order where power and fear over rules all. You humans have been asking for your kind's destruction from the very beginning, I'm sure I can find support rather easy."

"Your crazy!" Tai shouted. "You can not be killed but you can be stopped." "And just how do you plan to go about it?" "You are weaponless and cannot fight back." He was right. Angeteen was just a ghost now. He no longer had a suit of armor or any other human he could possess that had a weapon. He had only the cloths on his back and nothing more.

Which explained why Tai would probably win. He died with a sword by his side, or rather though his chest. Angeteen died, but it was as Shadowmon, and his sword went through the bamon that did him in. Besides which, that sword had been constructed out of the molecules of water that were in the air so it didn't count as a real sword.

Tai drew the sword from it's sheath and he and T.K. charged at Angeteen. I wasn't sure how a sword could be with them even in death but it made sense that since their clothes were, then the same should apply for a weapon.

As Tai approached him, he suddenly jumped aside avoiding the attack. Before Tai could have time to correct himself, Angeteen grabbed his hand and forced it up and towards Tai. The pain from his wrist made Tai drop the sword which Angeteen seized in his other. Throwing Tai into T.K. he leaned on the sword with a smile on his face.

Waggling his finger, he said "now hadn't your mother ever told you not to carry sharp objects? You might hurt yourself. Or, more appropatly, someone might take it from you and use it against you." His jest gave Tai and T.K. just enough time to pull themselves apart and face him once again.

"I'd love to stay and fight, but if I do they would come and get me. I need a new body to keep them at bay you know. Now then, who shall it be..." Snapping his fingers, he pointed at me. "I think Kari over here would be as good as any, wouldn't you say?"

"Don't even think about fooling with my sister" Tai said through clenched teeth. "And who's to stop me? You? I don't think so. I managed to claim your sword remember? Or is it my sword, now that I once possessed you?"

Enraged, Tai charged at him but stopped when Angeteen pulled his sword arm back, ready to strike him down like a stalk of grass. "I thought so. Now if you excuse me...destany calls." He turned around and faced me, his eyes, though now misty, still burned with an inner fire.

Walking towards me, he abruptly fell to the ground. Looking at him for a moment, I saw why. Tai was busy trying to pin him to the ground. Angeteen's face lit up and the flames in his eyes became instead a raging fire. He opened his wings and started beating them like he was about to take off. This, obviously, caused Tai to lose his grip on him and caused him to land on the ground.

As Angeteen turned around, he was pinned back to the ground as T.K. slammed into his chest. This, to, failed. Angeteen may have looked like a regular nineteen year old human except for the wings, but he was a digimon and had at least three times the strength of a normal human.

He grabbed T.K. around the neck with a free hand and lifted him off of his chest. Standing back on his feet, he raised the sword to T.K's neck. "Now then" he began "either you back off and let your sister come here like a good girl, or I can see how many holes I can put into him before he passes out."

I wasn't sure what would happen to a ghost if it got stabbed, but I was sure that if it didn't kill him, it would have at least been enough to put him through a lot of pain. Slowly, I nodded and approached him, head turned towards the ground.

Halfway to him, I noticed something in the shadows moving. At first I thought it was my mind playing tricks on me, but taking a closer look that wasn't the case. In fact, it wasn't something in the shadows that was moving, it was the very shadows themselves!

As the shadows moved, they pulled themselves off the floor to about half the height of a man. Their silouts looked more than anything like holes that were cut in the air. As one, they all orintened on Angeteen and gave out an unearthly moan that no creature could have made.

Whether they were demons from Hell or something else I did not know, but whatever they were, they held Angeteen in a grip of fear. He lifted T.K. higher still and threw him at them, perhaps hopping to buy himself some time.

It didn't work. They walked right through T.K. like the ghost he was, and continued straight for Angeteen. For the first time I or anyone else in history would ever remember, Angeteen did the one thing I never thought possible...he retreated.

The shadows, however, followed him still. In desperation, Angeteen opened his wings and soared off the ground. This soon turned out to be a bad idea. One of the shadows that was laying docile on the ceiling now decided to take shape like the rest of the others and pursue him.

As soon as Angeteen was close enough, it dropped down on top of him causing him to head towards the ground. The other magnifications had finally gathered underneath him and pounced on top of him with such ferocity I felt kind sorry for him. Almost.

Angeteen's head somehow managed to break through the surface of what was covering him and I wished he hadn't. His face had giant strips of flesh torn away, revealing the mussels underneath. He tried desperately to escape and even a couple of times to fly out but it was no use. His once glossamore wings were now reduced to nothing more than a few feathers and the bone makeup that created the frame.

Having failed to break free, the shadows bent down for a moment and started to carry him away. His screams were all that gave evidence that he was even in there. As they carried him away, they started to flatten themselves against the floor, becoming what they originally once were. Angeteen's scream however remained telling that whatever that was happening to him wasn't pleasant. Soon his scream became wails and his wails became moans until, they to, faded away.

I stared at Tai in shock. "What were those things?" Tai shrugged. "I have no idea, but they must be what he was referring to earlier. No wonder he seemed scared." Now I remembered. He needed a live body to guard his spirit. Whatever they were could only touch that which was dead, and clearly none of us fitted that profile. A plant wouldn't do, it being rooted to the ground, so it only made sense that he wanted to get at one of us. That answered one of my questions, but I still had two that were left unanswered.

"But in the last part of the writing it said 'and the very world itself shall lose one of it's treasures.' Nothing has been lost except Angeteen and that other human's life. Your death is a great lose to us, but I'd hardly count either of them as one of the world's treasures."

"The world indeed did lose one of it's treasures. When Angeteen possessed me, our two minds overlapped. All I saw were countless battles with unnamed faces. He didn't remember who we were outside of battle and sense he had only seen us in battle, he assumed we were out to get him. But through all of that chaos, I found something that surprised me till this very day; Angeteen was the last of his kind."

I couldn't believe it. No wonder Angeteen had so desperately wanted to get at Myotismon! The last of one's kind...how could anyone cope with something like that? It now dawned on me why it was so easy for him to have forgotten. He had trained his mind, as well as his body, to fight. All for the grand fight that lay ahead of him. .

Since he had gained victory what was he to do now? Taking over the world would have brought many battles for him to face, so instead of wanting to take over the world, his main plan was to satisfy his great lust to fight. And by the way he described it, even after he had achieved his goal, the fighting, and the deaths, would still continue. I wondered briefly just how many lives were saved now that he was beyond the mortal realm.

"But what about you guys? What are you going to do now that there's no longer a threat to face?" Both Tai and T.K. shrugged. "I guess" began T.K. "since every thing is taken care of, the only thing left to do is go where spirits usually go when they die."

I stared at them aghast. "You can't be talking about leaving us! What will we do without you?" T.K. reached forward, trying to put his arm around my shoulder but stopped, realizing the impossibility of it.

"Live Kari, that's all I can tell you. Our mortal existence is over, but yours has yet to begin. Don't worry about it though, we shall meet again shortly." He smiled slightly, making me fill a little better but not much. I realized that they're death was only necessary. What was more important, the life of three people or the life of a few billion? They had chosen principle before anything else. Principle tasted like ashes.

T.K. and Tai waved good bye and started to fade away into nothing. I wished for more than anything to stop it but knew I could do nothing. As they were finally gone, I felt a sudden emptiness in my heart. My brother, my best friend, and our worst enemy and yet our greatest ally were gone.
  ****************

A sad ending I know but what else did you expect? Power isn't just physical strength, sometimes it can be wealth, political position, and so on. As I wrote chapter three, I decided that this saga would end up having a moral to it before I finished it. Please tell me what you think.