___________

Chatsuramon glared down at the group. They were beaten, exhausted, and had the strength of rats compared to him. He paced up and down them, trying to decide who should go first. Lopmon was the appropriate choice, given the fact that she was a traitor to the sovereign, but she was not in the group.

Strange, he wondered where she went.

"Lopmon" he growled. "You had so much potential. Your power could have been used for the good of the digital world, but, instead, you used it to help our enemies! Where is she?!"

Kazu, who was holding Jeri in his arms, glared up at him. "You didn't know? She's dead"

Kenta, who had ben hugging his knees and leaning against the wall, stood up. "Why do you want to kill us so bad anyway? We haven't done anything to your world"

Chatsuramon stared down at him for a moment. "You humans created us to satisfy your need for destruction. After you had destroyed your world, you began to come to ours. The only way for us to survive was to destroy what threatened it"

"What do you mean? We were just looking for Calumon!" Lee shouted.

"How dare you raise your voice at me!" shouted Chatsuramon. His tail flew over, smashing Lee on the side of his head, then smacking into his shins and tripping him to the ground. "Don't interrupt!"

"You humans are so arrogant. After you had finished with your world, you began to pollute ours. We couldn't allow it. And now you are trespassing through our world! It is unforgivable! You must all be destroyed!"

Chatsuramon leaped through the air, spinning into the shape of a hammer, then came flying down on top of Rika. Rika closed her eyes, then waited for darkness. Instead of hearing the crack of her skull opening, she heard a loud voice. A voice that she almost leaped up in joy to here.

"Desolation Claw!"

A huge blast of blue energy slammed into Chatsuramon, sending him spinning away and slamming into the wall, then falling out and crumpling to the floor.

"Hey guys!" shouted Ryo from across the cavern. Below him was a hulking beast known only as Cyberdramon. It had its hands pressed together, smoke curling off of them. Ryo jumped off of him.

Cyberdramon charged away, running in a straight line at Chatsuramon. Chatsuramon leaped up, then turned to face Cyberdramon. He was rewarded to have Cyberdramon's fist slam into his face, and he was sent spinning across the cavern again.

He slammed into another wall, then began to fall to the ground. He never reached it because Cyberdramon kicked him on his chin, sending him flying upwards into the ceiling, then falling back down.

Cyberdramon jumped up to meet him, preparing to finish him off. But he had not anticipated having Chatsuramon strike back. Everyone watched, filled with hope as he leaped upwards. Their hope soon turned to sadness however.

Chatsuramon curled once again into the shape of a hammer, slamming down hard onto Cyberdramon's face. Cyberdramon went flying away, smashing hard into the ground, then began rolling across the floor as Chatsuramon kicked him with his back paws.

Beelzebumon watched silently in a dark corner, wondering what to do about the fight. He strongly wanted to kill Chatsuramon, but knew that the sovereign would kill him when he found out.

He looked at the group, then at Chatsuramon, then stared at the floor.

Ryo took out his digivice, pulling out the goliath card, then preparing to swipe it through. He didn't have time to however, as he had to duck. Cyberdramon went flying over him, slamming into the wall and sliding to the floor.

Ryo dropped his digivice, then ran towards Cyberdramon to check on him. Chatsuramon stepped forward, annoyed greatly at the group for how much trouble they had caused.

Chatsuramon walked forward, stepping on top of Ryo's digivice and crushing it apart.

Poor Guillmon, clueless to what was happening, was looking around through the group for Takato. "Where's Takato?" whimpered Guillmon. Lee and Kazu looked at each other sorrowfully.

"I'm sorry Guillmon" said Lee. "Takato is gone. He isn't coming back"

Guillmon looked at him questioningly, not sure what he meant. He whimpered for a moment more, then his ears drooped, and he lay down on the floor, closing his eyes.

"You fools. You know you can't fight me, yet you persist as though you think you can win! I think it is long past time that you paid for your crimes against digimon!" he stepped up next to Kazu, then raised a paw, ready to squish him.

"Well? Get on with it" muttered Kazu, holding Jeri in his arms. He closed his eyes, then waited for Chatsuramon to bash his head. The last thought on Kazu's mind was hoping that his friends would live.

And his wish was granted.

Chatsuramon stood stuck in place. A gun was at his head, Beelzebumon attached to it. He was edging his finger on the trigger, a grim look on his face. His dark red eyes were focused.

"Stand off, Chatsuramon" he murmured, pressing the gun against his head.

Chatsuramon was breathing steadily, bursting his mind to think of a way to get out of it. He was about to shout out what a traitor he was, then thought better of it.

"Beelzebumon...my bold friend" he forced out.

"Stand off Chatsuramon" Beelzebumon put up his other gun and aimed the second one at his head also. "Or I'll trim the walls with your brains" he growled.

Chatsuramon slowly stepped away, then turned to face Beelzebumon. "I can't believe you. Here you are, offered your one and only chance to get back at the humans for all of the trouble they have caused you, and you have wasted it!" he growled.

"You guys, get out of here. Get as far away as you can! Get back to the real world! Just GO!" shouted Beelzebumon.

Most of them had a hard time believing any of this was happening. Here was their mortal enemy, the one who had been killing off their friends left and right, and here he was, trying to save them. Kazu rose from where he was, carrying Jeri in his arms, then turned around and trotted down the tunnel, followed quickly by the others and their digimon.

"How can you let them go?!" roared the furious Chatsuramon.

"Because..." Beelzebumon paused then said "Because their my friends! Thats why!"

The other, who were still running down the tunnel, were quite shocked to hear this. Shaking off their surprise, then continued running down the tunnel, Sakuya pointing out which way the closest exit was.

Chatsuramon slowly began to walk towards Beelzebumon. He glared into his dark red eyes, wondering what had come over this now human-loving digimon. He had just destroyed the digital world with no care, and just let a group of humans go.

"Your not afraid of me with a weapon in your hand, are you?" muttered Chatsuramon.

Suddenly his tail shot upwards, and before Beelzebumon even knew what was happening, both guns were knocked out of his hands and clattered to the floor several feet away. Robbed of his weapon, he as suddenly afraid.

Chatsuramon barreled into him, sending Beelzebumon rolling away across the ground, screeching to a stop at the wall. Beelzebumon slammed into the wall so hard that rocks up above came collapsing down on top of him, burying him in a pile of dirt and stone.

Chatsuramon, convinced that Beelzebumon was no longer among the living, quickly rushed off to deal with the tamers.

Behind him, a black, clawed hand poked out of the debris of rocks.

__________

"Up here!" said Sakuya, then jumped into the narrow opening of light. She sailed through and disappeared.

Most of them had not seen the light for quite some time now, and it took them a lot of blinking to get used to it. Gardromon let Kazu set Jeri on an arm, then leaned over and allowed Rika to lay on his shoulder.

Then, his jets flared to life, and he zoomed upwards, smashing right through the thin ceiling and into sunlight. Kazu, Kenta, and Lee scrambled up easily. Renamon picked up Terriermon, then simply leaped through the opening.

Sakuya looked back down into the tunnel for a moment, then turned around and looked at the group. "I think we lost him"

A big mistake.

Chatsuramon burst up from the cavern behind her, smashing into her back and sending Sakuya flying forward, rolling across the ground. He landed gracefully on the ground, then looked at the group. He glared at Renamon, Terriermon, and Gardromon.

"I shall destroy you right now! You have caused me much pain and annoyance, and I shall be pleased to make your death as painful as possible. Prepare for your death!" he shouted then leapt into the air.

Terriermon eyed him strangely. "You've said that to us, what, three times now? Forgive me if I seem a little skeptical.

Renamon quickly changed into a wolf with several tails, fire glowing on the ends of her tails and paws. Terriermon turned into a large upright dog with guns on the ends of his hands, and Gardromon raised his hands, firing grenades at Chatsuramon.

Chatsuramon dodged the grenades, then changed into a hammer one more, bashing into Gardromon and sending him flying backwards, tumbling head over heels on the ground.

"You will be next!" shouted Chatsuramon, turning to face Gargomon. He reared upwards, then prepared to stomp down on top of Gargomon.

"Dragon Wheel!" shouted Kyuubimon. She formed into a large circle, then rolled quickly so that a blue flame built up. It swept forward and tied itself around Chatsuramon, dragging him to the ground with a loud grunt.

"Bunny Pummel!" shouted Gargomon, whacking Chatsuramon across the face with his gun, and watching in satisfaction as he flew several feet away, slamming onto the ground and rolling. Gargomon raised his lasers and fired.

Chatsuramon leaped upwards, then broke out of the fire chain that had wrapped around him. He flew upwards, swishing his tail outwards, then ran forward and took a gigantic leap.

A long jump it was. Far enough to land right on top of Gargomon and squash him to the ground. Chatsuramon flew upwards, turning into a hammer once again, then slamming down on top of Gargomon. He was slammed into the ground , making a large imprint in the rocky wasteland around them.

A glow encased him and he returned to Terriermon, the small, dog-eared bunny rabbit. He closed his eyes and tried to go to sleep.

Chatsuramon leaped upwards, preparing to finish him off.

"Pyroblaster!" shouted Growlmon. A jet of flame flew forward and slammed into Chatsuramon, once again sending him off his feet and stumbling away. He turned around and jumped in Kyuubimon's direction, but she was ready.

"Foxtail Inferno!" a dozen small blue flames flew at him, blowing him out of the sky and sending him back to the ground. Chatsuramon stood up, tired of playing games. He rushed at Renamon, smacking her with his sharp tail and slapping her with his huge paw. She went flying away, landing next to Gardromon.

He turned around just in time to see Growlmon charging at him, and leaped into the air just in time to be slammed down again by Growlmon's sharp claw. He stood up off the ground, then leaped upwards, taking the form of a hammer one last time. He curled downwards, anticipating Growlmon's defeat.

"Dragon Slash!" he shouted.

A blue claw raked across Chatsuramon's underbelly, burning the deva's stomach and causing him to fall down faster then usual. Unintentionally, he did hit Growlmon, right on the head.

Chatsuramon, dizzy with pain, slowly stood upwards, looking at the now Guillmon sitting in front of him. "You all have one chance to survive"

Chatsuramon grinned, even though his jaw made it appear as a grin all the time. "Join us, and the kingdoms of earth will be ours. You will have unlimited power, and complete control over the human race. There is no price for this. The other choice..." he raised up a claw.

"Well what do you say?" he asked.

Kazu stood up. He had finished checking Gardromon and assessed that he was okay. "I say that you can bite me!" he shouted.

Chatsuramon glared at him. "Your loss" he said in an uncaring tone. Then he leaped upwards, transformed into the familiar shape of the hammer one last time, then began to come down in a swift death for Terriermon.

"Darkness Claw!" shouted a heavy voice. Three strikes, two claws, one flash.

"NO!" shouted a now dying Chatsuramon. "Long live the Sovereign!" then he was turned into several small white particles that slowly floated away.

Kazu sighed then looked up at them as they disappeared. "Thats the end of the devas" he murmured.

Renamon was looking at Beelzebumon with a new interest. "Your eyes...!"

Terriermon was gawking at him to. "Their...green" Terriermon sat up and rubbed his eyes, then looked again. "A welcome change"

Beelzebumon swayed for a moment, as if drunk, then fell over backwards. A red glow encased him, and he began to shrink. Inch by inch, his size became smaller, until he became Impmon again, evil digimon at your service.

Kazu stepped forward slowly, trying to decide if Impmon was evil or not. "We don't have any intention of helping you. You have killed most of my friends and their digimon. We don't trust you either, even though you just killed our worst enemy" Kazu leaned down next to Impmon and glared at him.

"I want you to go far, far away. And I don't want you to come back, understand?" Kazu said.

Impmon slowly nodded, then began to drag his battered body upwards, crawling away in the opposite direction of which they were going.

Renamon watched him go, more disappointed then mad at him. She was the only one in the whole group who had ever understood him, who had known why he did things the way he did. Renamon slowly closed her eyes, then turned away and gave her attention to Rika.

Her velvet ears pricked up, and for a moment she thought she heard Impmon calling her.

But perhaps it was only an echo.

__________

Twelve years later...

Renamon was sitting on a large comfy couch, curled up like a cat when it sleeps. Her tail was twitching on the end of the couch, falling off. She was annoyed to here the doorbell ring. Since she was the only person in the house, she would have to get it.

She gracefully leaped off of the couch, stretched her paws out in either direction, then walked up to the door peering outside. She saw nothing, not even a child running away behind a fence. But she knew somebody was out the door. She could feel it.

She put her paw on the knob and pulled it open.

She was shocked to find a familiar face in front of her. A small white face on a purple body. It was Impmon, someone she hadn't seen in twelve years. For a moment, she was angered, and then uneasy, thinking that Impmon had come to kill her.

But then her heart softened. Those battles had happened years ago. How could Impmon possibly feel the same way after all this time?

"Hi Renamon..." he said weakly. "Remember me?

Renamon nodded. "Where have you been all this time? Come in, come in" she gently began to ease him inside.

He backed up, onto the walk at their house. "I gotta request to make from ya" he said.

"What can I do?" she questioned, wondering what he could possibly want after all this time. She scratched her chin with her paw, then looked down at him thoughtfully. His green eyes were sincere, full of friendship.

"Please..." he closed his eyes tight. "Kill me!"

Renamon stepped backwards, taken aback with the ferocity of which he said it. He sounded serious. She looked down at Impmon and saw him shaking with his fists clenched. On his outside she saw a small purple demon shaking with anger, but on the inside, she saw a small digimon, lost, scared and alone.

"Impmon...! Why?" she replied.

"Because...I can't possible go back and face them after what I did. I killed all you guys' friends! I figured you'd be happy to kill me" Impmon murmured.

Renamon picked him up by his handkerchief, still not believing what she was hearing. "Are you serious?" she finally choked out. She looked into his large green eyes and saw an intense feeling inside them.

"Please do it...Renamon" Impmon looked at her with tears in his eyes. "Do it for me, please"

Renamon set him back down on the ground, the looked at him one last time. "Impmon...are you sure..."

Impmon looked up into her dark eyes. "Please...make it quick....I'm a little scared" then Impmon bent his head down and closed his eyes, anticipating her attack.

Renamon closed her tight also, thinking hard. Impmon wanted her to kill him. Why? Could he actually feel some remorse for everyone he killed? Did he actually feel bad about the horrible things he had done?

Renamon opened her eyes and looked down t his shaking form. If this was what he wanted...

Renamon closed her eyes and leaped into the air. She spread her arms outwards, and several white flashes appeared. Impmon still stood on the ground, looking downwards and shivering uncontrollably.

The flashes flew downwards, slamming into him and sending him rolling away, landing in a heap about a foot away, even more battered then before. He coughed for a moment, then opened his eyes and looked at Renamon for a moment.

"Renamon...don't forget me"

Then he closed his eyes and his body went limp. He transformed into a large amount of small white particles. They floated upwards, then swirled around Renamon. She looked at his data, bewildered.

"Goodbye..." his voice said, carried away with the wind. Then the data floated away, disappearing out of her site and remaining gone forever. Renamon watched it go sadly, wishing that Impmon had just decided to stay weak instead of being powerful and becoming a monster.

She closed her eyes tight, and a warm tear fell out of her eyes, dripping off the end of her nose and disappearing into nothingness onto the concrete below.

__________

Outside, a small boy played on a swing set with a long-haired redhead girl. The boy was about 7 years old, the same age as the girl. They were both laughing, giggling about nothing apparent. The world seemed so much simpler when you were laughing.

The boy was pushing the girl on the swing set, having fun in his own way. He had brown hair that stuck up from his head, and a good-sized blue sweater as on his chest. The girl had a long green dress that went down to her knees.

They had been playing outside for most of the afternoon. A man with short blue hair was watching them a short distance away, leaning against a tree and trying to guess what was for dinner by the smell in the air.

A woman with long red hair was stirring a pot of soup, adding in a few seasonings every now and then and tasting it every once in awhile. She had light purple eyes that sparkled when you looked into them. Her name was Rika, the digimon queen.

The man outside was named Jenrya Lee. He was a policeman, unlike his father, who had become a computer programming expert. He was enjoying watching the kids play. It reminded him of a very long time ago when he and his friends used to do the same thing all afternoon, until things started getting serious.

But that was all a long time ago. This was now.

Rika finished stewing the soup around, sure that her kids would like it. She set the pot on a cooled part of the stove, then put the spoon that she used to stir in the sink.

She walked down the hallway, towards the sliding door near the end of her house. She could remember sometimes when she was a kid, her grandmother would be making a soup, and Rika wouldn't even bother to try it. She now realized how foolish she had been..

Then she leaned out the door, cupped her hands to her mouth and shouted "Jeri, Takato! Dinnertime!"

The two children jumped off the swing set and began to run back inside as fast as their legs could carry them. Lee chuckled, then swung himself off of the ground, and walked back inside.

________

Kazu walked alongside a long graveyard. The tombs were unbearable for him to see. Several of them contained his friends whom he had lost a long time ago...

He walked into the middle of them, swaying through the eerie stones and trying to ignore the silence around himself. He continued walking with one hand in his pocket, and one hand holding several flowers.

He came at last to a great clearing. There were three tombstones there, all separated from the rest. He had asked t