Disclaimer: Why do they out these things here? What's the point in saying I don't own digimon when it's the equivalent of saying fish appreciate water?

Angeteen

This should be the last part to my saga considering that my muse doesn't start popping fresh ideas into my head to write a part five. So for those who are starting to hate this thing, this is the last chapter and for those who are eager for a chapter five to be wrote...oh well.

I was kneeling beside the spot where Shadowmon died, morning his death. It was hard to believe that someone that was so powerful had just died from a faint scratch. But I reminded myself that that scratch came from a bamon, and nothing could withstand even the slightest of cuts from one of them.

That was why he fought them. He knew we would have died if he didn't bare arms against them so he risked his own life just so we could live. It was ironic that he was worried about becoming evil. How could anyone willing to sacrifice his own life for the sake of his friends worry about becoming evil?

Walking up by my side, Izzy said "I've got some news that might interest you Tai. It seems that I've found the one who is responsible for the dark rings. He's in a castle twenty-five miles from here" he said, pointing north east. We should find and stop him. Shadowmon would've wanted us to do it weather he lived or died. Remember, he died so we would could stop him. Do you really want his sacrifice to be in vain?" Rubbing my eyes, I said "your right. Let's go."
 
 

Arriving at the castle, I saw that it was just as I imagined it. Huge, dark, and not at all welcoming. Five great towers were produced from the structure and a huge, scumy moat was at the base. The draw bridge was up and unguarded. This was an even worse sign. It being guarded would have meant we had arrived unnoticed, but it being left unguarded meant we were being expected...and what ever lay inside was surely worse than what lay out here.

Stepping onto the draw bridge, I expected it to fall, an ambush, or a tentacle to lift itself out of the moat and grab me. Surprisingly, neither happened. Walking off the draw bridge I made my way inside the building unchallenged.

Steeping inside, I saw I was in a huge room that served as a vast garden. Every type of plants I could think of lined the walls and floors. Ahead of me was a narrow archway that led to a hall way that was just plain black rock. Walking halfway across the room, dazzled by all the plants around me, I failed to notice the ground starting to part.

Suddenly, a giant vine shot out of the ground and grabbed me, Izzy, T.K., and Kari by the waist and chest and hauled us into the air like we were nothing more than marinate puppets. Looking down, I saw the plant unearth itself and saw what it really was. A plant that looked sort of like a common flower except it had an arid display of tentacles and a gigantic mouth!

Struggle as I might, I couldn't get lose. Those tentacles only tightened their grip on my chest more, diminishing my already small air supply. As my vision started to go blurry, I saw a figure running on the ground. Trying to get a look at it, I failed only to catch a glimpse of something black and humanoid moving at a fast pace. Next thing I knew, I heard a loud scream and the vine holding me letted go, dropping me to the floor. Looking up, I saw what it was. It was a soldier dressed in black armor. In his hand, he held a sword which he used to release the others from their imprisonment. Freeing the last one, he stabbed at the giant plant a few times, driving it back into the ground. Before the plant retreated back into the ground, he seared off a few tentacles and tied them together making a rope made of vines. Sheathing his sword, he walked over to meet us.

"Who are you" I asked, staring at this strange warrior who had come to our rescue. The man reached up to his helmet and removed it. Staring back at us was a face that was clearly unforgettable "Shadowmon!" I cried. "But how? You died didn't you?"

Giving a faint smile, he said "who ever said I was alive?" Getting another look at him I saw what he meant. From the neck down, armor covered every inch of him making him clearly solid. But from the neck up, his head shown clear and translucent as ever, and also there was the fact it wasn't Shadowmon anymore...he had somehow dedigivolved back into Angeteen. But even that had changed. He now looked four years older from the last time we saw him. Ignoring the fact he was now just a Rookie and his appearing to be a 19 year old, I decided to get down to business. "But how did you come back?"

"I never intended to leave. That bamon didn't kill me because of it's own skill, it killed me because I allowed it. I was never going to tell you this, but I knew that as I grew stronger I also became more evil. Every time I gained a little more power, I felt myself slipping away, becoming that which I feared. I knew what would have to be done so I planned to leave and do it alone. And then, after it was done, I'd come back to find you and explain it all in detail. It was only by fortune that the bamons came. They did it much quicker and I also didn't have to waste time finding you. So you see, it all worked out for the best.

"But why did you have to die? Couldn't you have waited until after it was done? At least then we would have more of an advantage." "No. I couldn't. If I did it then, I would have soon found myself tempted to take control of that power after we defeated who ever it is that's behind this, and then become evil myself. No, this way, I can not be tempted, at least for awhile. It's the only way I'm afraid, regardless of how brutal it may seem."

Smiling, he lifted his helmet, and covered his head, completing his suit of armor once more. "Now then, it seems that we have a job to do. I believe our destiny lies through that door over there" he said, pointing in the direction of the open archway.
 
 

The archway we were walking through twisted and turned in many different directions. I really wasn't concerning myself with the passages itself, I was more concerned about Angeteen. He died as Shadowmon but came back as Angeteen. It seemed that the time of his death had little to do with how he looked on the outside but more with his exact age.

It seemed that he was still a teen on the outside but when it came to the inside he had the mind of a trained warrior. I could only imagine how it would be to have control of such power and only be a teenager...power that had enough destructive force to decimate an entire city if he wanted. No wonder he feared of becoming corrupted by it.

What he had done was only necessary. A true warrior would have done no different. A warrior? Another concept of his life! It seemed that not only power was his only problem but so was the knowledge he had obtained from his years of being in battle. He was permentatly changed by that knowledge and despite the loss of power, he still had a trained warrior's mind and remained a threat regardless. This was an even deeper concern of his. The loss of power only guaranteed that he would be less of a threat...but wasn't a threat still a threat? What would he do next now that he's already one of the dead?

The next thing I knew I bumped into Tai. "Oomph!" he said upon impact. I disengaged from my brother and saw that a door was in front of us. Walking over to it I tugged on it but it didn't budge. I tried pushing on it the other way but to no avail. The thing was locked!

"Move aside for a moment Kari" Angeteen said. Moving aside, I saw him turning around and walk towards the end of the cavern. Reaching the end, he turned around, faced us, and began to dig his feet into the dirt. Knowing what was coming next I moved a little farther away from the door.

After grinding his feet in the dirt for the last time he charged at the door at full speed. As he hit the door it gave a loud splintering sound as he bull dozed right on through it. As he charged on ahead, I saw that there was darkness ahead in the next cavern. Grabbing a torch from the wall, I walked inside to see where he was.

Suddenly I heard a muffled scream from the edge of the cliff and we ran over there hopping to see him. Reaching the edge I peered down into it's depth and saw that he was about 15 ft below us, hanging onto the rocky surface.

"Are you all right!" I screamed down at him. "Fine unless you count me dangling on a cliff's rocky surface" he screamed back up at us, sarcasm dripping from his voice. "Just grab the rope vine I dropped up there, tie it to a rock, and lower it down to me so I can climb out of here."

Looking around I found the rope vine he had made from that giant plant laying a foot away. Picking it up we did as he said and he hauled himself up. Reaching the top he brushed himself off...and fell to the floor with a sword in his chest dripping blood onto the ground. Blood? He was possessing a suit of armor, what blood could he lose!

Turning around I saw another Angeteen walking over to us. He ignored us completely and pulled his sword out of the suite of armor. "So that's where I left it" he exclaimed in a way that made me sure that if he could have smiled, he would have.

Starting at him in amazement, I said "Angeteen?" Looking at me, he said "sorry about that. Some kind of mimic digimon jumped me, stole my rope, and jumped over the side of the cliff while his partner held me. They must have been trying to lead you into some kind of mischief. Fortunately I dispatched the one holding me in short order and came over here to stop this one before it was to late. Now then, there's there's only one more thing we need to do now." "What is is?" I asked. Taking a deep breath, he screamed at the top of his lungs "RUN FOR IT!!!"

Looking over his shoulder I saw what he meant. In the dim light I saw at least a dozen or so digimon that looked human but instead had white faces and wore black suits. As they advanced, they began to change into varies types of digimon, each barring a look that told us they were intent on stopping us. Then I realized that just before they changed, they looked like a mime...and mimes mimic things don't they? Talk about taking thing literally!

Angeteen ran over to the rope, grabbed it, and slid down it. Wherever he went, there was bound to be a good reason for it. Running over to the rope, I jumped and slid down it's length. As it happened, I didn't have more than a few feet to go before I stopped. Looking down past Tai (T.K. was above me so it was easy to see Angeteen) I saw he was looking around.

"Well what now!" I hollered down at him. "I don't know! I never planed beyond this point!" "WHAT?!?!" Everyone, including me, screamed. He didn't say anything. Instead, he started to look around as if hoping to find a way out of this situation. Suddenly he brightened, and swung forward into the side of the cliff. Glancing a little harder, I saw it was a hole he had found. Lowering ourselves, we each made it through.

Inside of the hole, Angeteen stood at the entrance, motioning for us to go on. Running ahead, I glanced back and saw that Angeteen started to follow us only after everyone was ahead of him by several feet. Then, moving his hand to his scabbard, he pulled out his sword and started to slice at the walls as he ran.

At first I thought he had lost his mind in this pointless pursuit, but then I understood what he was doing. Behind us, the mimic digimons followed us in full pursuit. Suddenly rocks started to fall where he had previously sliced. Even though rocks were falling at a fast rate, he kept on hacking at the walls, literally, bringing the place down. After about halfway through he stopped, reseathed his sword, and hurried up to catch up with the rest of us and to escape the rock fall.
 
 

On ahead through the passage, we came to a room that was brightly lit with torches. Felling glad that we no longer had to depend on the light from Kari's torch, I stepped into the room to inspect what it had to offer.

Inside it was barren except for a sheathed sword that was laying on the ground in front of us on the other side of the room. Above the sword was a door way that had some writing wrote in bold letters. The only problem was that it was composed of those annoying glyph characters. Impossible to read at all except for Izzy who would, undoubtedly, translate it with his computer.

Just as I was about to turn to Izzy and ask him to translate it, Angeteen walked forward, looked up at it for a couple of moments and muttered "all right now...try saying it again, except this time make it make some more sense this time." My jaw nearly dropped. How could Angeteen read it without the aid of a computer? Then I realized how. He was native to this land, so of course the writing should make some sense to him.

"You guys come here and see if you can't make some sense out of this" Angeteen said, while scooping the sword of the ground. "And Tai, catch!" he shouted, tossing me the sword. "I already have one and have no need of two. This may help you out just in case anything happens to me." Taking the sword, I put it around my left hip, doubting that I would ever need it. Out of curiosity, I pulled out the sword to admire it for a moment.

Turning his head around, Angeteen said "all right guys, this thing..." he broke off abrubtly and glared at me. "You!" he suddenly growled. "I have no idea how your alive, but I plan to take care of that little problem right now."

Backing up, I asked "what's wrong with you?! It' me, Tai!" Advancing forward, he said "if your trying to disguise yourself as Tai, Myotismon, your doing a lousy job of it. You don't look a thing like him." He's gone crazy! For some reason he thinks I'm Myotismon.

Suddenly he swug his sword straight at me, but fortunately, I lifted the sword in my hand and blocked it just in time. If I was just a few seconds late, I would have had the shortest hair cut in my life! Backing up, I tried to reason with him.

"Wait! I can prove I'm Tai, just give me a moment." He sword thrusts lessened, but they still remained on target. "Prove it" he said, clearly doubting that anything I would say could change his mind. "Back in the forest, your death, I know how it happened. You died when a bamon grazed your right cheek. How would I know that if I wasn't Tai? That happened four years after you defeated him."

He was not impressed. "You could have seen that battle yourself or have heard about it from another digimon. I bet news of a species that was suppose to be extinct but wasn't would spread fast, especially when I killed the last one of them. You'll have to do better than that or you life is over."

Still trying to barred his attacks, I tried to think back to another scene. Finally I came up with one. It was the scene I remembered seeing in his mind. "What about the time before we even met? You left your kind and tried to fight against him." This was a bad choice as I soon found out. His blows became harder and I had more trouble than ever trying to defend against them.

"That's because *clang* you tried to kill my kind, *clang* and you nearly *clang* did the same thing to me!" Realizing that this topic would only hasten my demise, I tried to think of something else but nothing seemed to come to mind. Being under a barrage of attacks didn't exactly help with thinking.

With nothing else to bring up, I realized that it was only a matter of time until he quit toying around with me and delivered the final death blow. Sighing inwardly, I dodged the last attack and tossed the sword aside, knowing that it couldn't help me. Already my arms were tired from defending against his blows. I knew if he reverted to full force I would never be able to keep up so I might as well have it end here. And besides...if I was lucky, he might even give me a quick death.

Just as he was about to ram his sword through my torso, he froze for a moment. Gazing at me for a moment, he sheathed his sword and looked at me. "Tai?" he said, with surprise in his voice. "Is that really you?" I sighed with relief, knowing that he was finally back to normal.

"Yes it's really me" I said, slightly agitated. "That's what I tried to tell you before you tried to cut my head off." Angeteen just stared at me for a moment and then glanced over to the sword that I tossed onto the ground. "Tai" he said calmly "please pick that sword back up for a moment."

Doing as he said, I lifted the sword off the ground and held it in my hands. Nodding his head, he then said "please hand it to each one in the group." Wondering why he would give out such obscure commands like this, I did as he requested. After the last one held it, I reclaimed it.

Nodding again, he picked the sword's sheath off the ground and tossed it to me. "Please conceal this." After doing what he said, I finally had enough. "What's this accomplishing?" I asked, clearly annoyed. "Hold on for a moment, Tai, I need to check just one more thing. Please hand me the sword, and each of you tell me what you see."

Handing the sword over to him, we all gave the same answered: "we see only you." Nodding his head in appreciation, he said "I finally figured it out. This sword makes the strongest person in the group see their worst enemy. It's effect is limited though. Only the person holding the sword will look like that person's enemy, other wise the entire thing will fall through when he see several different copies of the same person. Quite a clever trick actually. I shudder at what might happen if Tai hadn't thrown his sword down just in time."

Sheathing the sword, he handed it back to me. "Keep this thing sheathed at all times. The sheath is what nulls the effect of the sword." Accepting the sword, I did as he said, not daring to hold that thing in my hands again for just about anything. Only a fool would have thought other wise. Turning to the immediate subject, I asked him "what did the writings say?"

"Nothing but a bunch of nonsense. What it said was this: so far eight have died and the final one, different as ever, remains waiting for his own demise. But be warned, with his death your true foe will appear. Run all who oppose him! Only the one from within can halt but not stop him. The shadows are the only ones that can. But victory, alas, will have it's price to be paid. The lives of three shall be forever lost and the very world itself shall lose one of it's treasures."

Shaking his head, he said "see? Pointless. How can any intelligent person make sense out of this?" Shrugging, he continued. "At least some of it make sense. It seems that you guys have already defeated eight other guys out there, and the one I have to fight is nothing more than a puppet who's strings is being pulled by it's master. Also, three of us will die but I have no idea who it will be."

"The one from within could mean you" Izzy pointed out. "Your not really made of armor, your just using it to serve as a physical body." "True, but if I'm going to fight him, he will be dead or I will, and it clearly won't be me cause I'm already there. And as far as I know of, they are no other Shadowmons in this region. That's the problems with these phrophase...you never understand them until it has already happened, and by then it's to late to do anything." Sighing, he walked out through the door way, leaving us only to follow.
 
 

Walking though the twists and turns of the passages that lay before us, I suddenly found myself wondering about Angeteen's life. Surely there must have been times when he wasn't fighting and just sat down and talked to other digimon besides Wizardmon, back when he was still alive of course. Walking up to him, I asked "Angeteen, besides fighting, what else did you do?"

He paused for a moment, and looked over up at me. "I...I don't know." He lowered his head, staring at the floor. Suddenly, jerking his head back up, he slammed his fist into the wall and there was a sound of metal against stone. "I don't remember! Why don't I remember!"

I looked up at him, startled. "Calm down Angeteen!" I shouted, trying to calm him down. "There's nothing wrong with forgetting a couple of details about your past!" "You don't understand, Izzy. It's not just a few details, it's all of it. My entire past is erased from my mind, all that I can remember is the battles I fought and nothing else. I can't even think of one time when I wasn't fighting. I know there's been plenty of times when I had to talk to succeed, but for some reason I can't think of any."

I looked at him ashen. "You mean you can only remember events that you had to fight to get out of?" "Yes, that's what I mean. I can, however, remember some events that didn't have to do with fighting though. The crossing over into your world, when I first met Tai and then through him the rest of you, the chase through Myotismon's hideout, and, after I had won the final battle...I can't remember. Why can't I remember what happened those four years after the fight!?"

"Because while they were nonviolent, they still did have to do with fighting in the end. I guess the reason you can't remember what happened those four years afterwards was because you didn't do much fighting back then." He didn't say anything after that. He just shook his head, lost in thought for the moment.

"I see. Each time I fight or became more powerful, I pay a price. That price is that I forget one of my memories. No wonder I couldn't remember. I already knew I had trouble recalling certain events after I became Shadowmon, but I shrugged it off as simple forgetfulness. If only I had known..."

"But what's a few memories? I'm sure you'll have more to replace them." He shook his head in negation. "I don't think so. I've been in battle to long, the toll is already far to great. With a few more battles, what then? Memories themselves provide a lot more than what happened in the past.

Suppose a person steadily keep forgetting right up to the point they finally forgot they were even human. What then? I can answer that. They lose their humanity, that's what. With the loss of their humanity, their very being, what's to stop them from going on a rampage? I fear greatly that's what's bound to happen to me. This ghostly stage only slows the process down, but it doesn't stop it."

"So what you're saying" I said, afraid of what was to befall him "is that all it will take is a few more battles, then you forget everything?" "No. All it will take is just a few common memories. A few faces here, a few names there, just enough to fog up my memory enough to forget who is friend and who is foe. In other words, the next battle could be the one that makes me forget who you guys are and make me side with the enemy."

I had never thought of this realization. No wonder he was scared! "But you said your ghost stage, sense it is only at rookie level, should slow it down. Maybe it won't be this battle. The only true way to find out is to wait and see."

"Your right, but still I fear it. I can't even remember the name of the one that had traveled with all those years before I had even met you guys. All that I know is that he had been a great friend." It was even worse than I had thought. He couldn't even remember Wizardmon and they were like brothers. What was to become of him soon after when he eventually forgot who we were? Noticing that a door was coming into view around the next curve, I pointed it out and we proceeded on towards what ever lay beyond it.
 
 

Walking through the door, I felt tension racing through me. I couldn't afford to fight no matter what, and considering what we were facing, I doubted that would even be possible. Inside, I looked around surveying the surroundings.

There was not much to notice, really. It was barren except for a couple of torches in the center of the room casting a dim glow around the area. For a moment, I wished that for just once I could have met an evil overlord who liked fresh air, and wide open spaces.

In the center was...a human? What was a human doing here? He was probably nothing more than a prisoner. To his left was a humanoid lizard holding an impressive spear in his hands...exactly the kind needed to make someone into a human pincushion. Now what was their name again? I distinctly remember meeting a lizard digimon somewhere in my travels, but I couldn't think of their name. This lost of memory was getting annoying!

Walking towards him, I saw he was at least 15 and was wearing a purple cloak around his shoulders, a strange pair of glasses over his eyes, and cloths suggesting royalty. "Stop right there" he said, holding up a hand for emphases. Doing as he said, I waited, seeing what the reason could be. He couldn't have been an enemy, having no dark ring on him that I could detect.

"So you are the one that's destined to fight against me." This took me back. I suspected he was a prisoner but now I thought better of it. 'Different as ever' I thought to myself, remembering the writings. I was expecting something more of a giant multi-tentacled monster with a bad attitude or someone being forced against their will...but a human?

He made a gesture to the giant lizard on his left, who, unfortunately, had a dark ring around his neck. He lunged at me, making a huge swipe with his spear. Only my reflexes kept me out of harm's way. As he was about to pull his arm back, I landed a quick punch to the side of his head. I didn't even bother with my sword, knowing that if I did, I wouldn't be able to stop. Back when Tai picked up that cursed sword, I was only able to stop because he had defended, rather than attacked. If he had fought back I would have been unable to stop once I've joined in the the heat of battle.

The lizard, after having delt with the impact of the blow, suddenly looked over my shoulder. The only thing behind my shoulder was the gang. The gang? I now knew what he was up to! But before I could have acted, he had chargerd right past me and headed straight towards them before I could have even thought of what to do next.

Raising his spear, he threw it dead center at the group. Thankfully, everyone managed to dodge out of the way. No, I was wrong! Everyone did dodge, but when Kari did, the spear had sliced through her right pant leg reversing her motion from escape to becoming a captive as the end of it pinned her to the floor.

The lizard ran to her and reclaimed his spear, but before Kari could have escaped, he slammed his foot against her chest, nearly squashing her flat in the process. He raised his spear, about to do to her what I had nearly done to Tai except the outcome would be different this time.

I had to stop him no matter what. I knew that I was risking the few remaining memories I had left, but if I didn't, she would be dead. Either way, I lose. Rushing over to the lizard, I tackled him to the floor as the spear fell out of his hands.

It made a brief clatter as it struck the ground but that was all that was needed to get us scrambling over each other to get it. A flurry of kicks, punches, and head butts commenced as we scrambled towards it, neither of us seeming to gain the advantage.

After it was about in arms reach, the lizard bit down on my right hand, hoping to distract me. The thing started to scream out in pain as several teeth ended up falling out of it's mouth. I figured it hadn't quite learned yet that all my hand really was was cold hard steel.

Taking the opportunity, I grabbed the shaft of the spear and lifted it over my head and swung as hard as I could. The lizard moved aside and I missed the shot, but not by much as the hilt made a gash on the side of it's face. The lizard screamed in pain, throwing one hand up to the scar and reaching the other for the spear.

It grabbed it and tried to retch it from my grasp, but it proved to little avail. Kneeing him in the stomach, his grasp weakened and I pulled it free. Before he had completed getting up, I rammed it down the center of his spinal column, making sure that if he lived, he would at least be neutralized.

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