I will introduce a new character in the next few chapters, just like any of you who have read my past work probably expect I would. I am sad to say that Ryo will probably not be appearing in this fanfiction. Let me know in reviews if you want me to include him in this. And yes, Guillmon is not completely out of the action. He will have a part in this story. And is it just me, or does Gallantmon/Dukemon have an odd resemblance to Omnimon? :)

Now...onto the story!

Pyle

__________

Kazu looked behind himself, making sure that nothing was behind him. Terriermon was on his head, because he had been too tired from the battle earlier and that he refused to go another step, hence, was why he was perched on Kazu's head.

Kazu had a growing fear of the darkness. Beelzebumon could be anywhere, watching them, waiting for them, just waiting for them to get tired so he could tear them apart. Kazu still had the grenade launcher he had taken from Gardromon, but knew that he would probably run out of ammo for it soon.

If Beelzebumon were to attack, they would die for sure.

And it came unexpectedly.

Kazu sat down for a rest on a nearby rock, jerking Terriermon off of his head and tossing him to the ground, leaning against the wall while ignoring Terriermon's complaints.

He made sure it was safe to rest for a moment, then collapsed against the wall. Terriermon was already asleep. Just as he closed his eyes he caught sight of something red out of the corner of his eyes, somewhere in Terriermon's vicinity.

They were eyes.

Red crescent eyes. Beelzebumon's eyes.

Kazu was up in an instant, grabbing Terriermon and jerking him off the ground and running down the tunnel, Terriermon screaming at him to let go. Kazu let go all right. He threw him all the way down the tunnel like a football.

Terriermon spread out his ears in a glide and landed on Kazu's head, nearly folding in half at the speed he was going. Kazu was running with terrifying speed. He was horrified, finding out that Beelzebumon had been trailing them all along.

He threw a terrified glance over his shoulder. They were still there. Those glowing, red crescent eyes.

Kazu gave a terrified gasp and redoubled his speed. His energy was coming out of pure terror. Always he would look back, and he would see those strange red crescent eyes.

For another ten minutes he ran, nearly dead of exhaustion. Terriermon was asked what was the matter and Kazu would never reply, but keep running down the tunnel, screaming Gardromon's name.

"Guardian Barrage!" shouted a voice down the tunnel.

Kazu watching with satisfactory as two grenades in a line flew down the tunnel and smacked right into Beelzebumon, making him stop dead and flinging him backwards in a cloud of smoke and flame, bits of shrapnel crashing into the walls.

Beelzebumon gave a cry of pain, then staggered forward, regaining his speed while dodging a grenade sent at him by Kazu. Then he picked up speed and set his sights on Gardromon.

"Watch out!" shouted Rika, who was behind Gardromon.

"Darkness Claw!"

Three slices went through the air and slammed into Gardromon. He was sent flying backwards, slamming into Rika and pinning her to the wall as he cracked into it. Rika gave a loud cry of pain as a snapping sound came from her leg.

Gardromon's eyes flickered back on after a moment, then he said "I think we've got him on the run!" then tried to get up, but was pushed back down by Kazu, who also lay Terriermon down near Rika, who was holding her leg in pain. Kazu took up a defensive stance in front of them with his grenade launcher ready.

Beelzebumon smirked. This stupid kid was going to stand up to him? Then he disappeared as a grenade went flying in his direction, exploding at the spot he was at a moment ago. Beelzebumon ran towards Kazu from the side.

Kazu turned around and fired two shots in his direction. One of them exploded in front of Beelzebumon and he was forced to stop, lest he run right into the explosion. The second grenade slammed right into his chest, slamming him backwards into the wall and leaving him implanted in there for a moment.

Once he realized what had happened, he jumped out of the way as another grenade came roaring in his direction and exploded.

Beelzebumon disappeared from view and reappeared as about two dozen images. Kazu simply took aim at the closest one and fired.

Beelzebumon went flying backwards from the explosion that hit him. He managed to land on his feet but still went backwards, his feet sliding on the ground from the force of the explosion. It was time to try something different.

Beelzebumon grinned as he leaped into the air. This kid was good, but enough was enough, and he had a job to do. Playtime was over.

Beelzebumon reappeared above Kazu and dove downwards with his claws outstretched, ready to tear his head off. He was thinking of stopping and savoring the moment, but who knows how much damage Kazu could do to him with the grenade launcher.

Kazu looked upwards, knowing that Beelzebumon would attack at a different angle, and pulled the trigger, blindly aiming towards him.

Whether guided by luck or by the sight of the red crescent eyes, the blow struck home, blasting him right between the eyes.

Kazu watched with satisfaction as the explosion took place right on his face, effectively blowing him out of the sky. Then he aimed at Beelzebumon's shape. But by now, Beelzebumon was tired of doing it the hard way.

He pulled out both of his guns and fired one shot. The grenade exploded in midair, not going near it's intended target.

Kazu fired again, but Beelzebumon was too fast. He disappeared and reappeared in front of Kazu. His gun aimed upwards, but he was blasted backwards as a grenade slammed into him. But Beelzebumon was ready for him this time. He let the grenade slam into him, but braced himself against the impact.

Once the blast cleared, Beelzebumon's foot shot out and slammed into Kazu's stomach. Kazu gasped as the air went out of him, and he stumbled backwards, his hands clutching his stomach and his grenade launcher at the ground, forgotten. Kazu nearly fell over backwards in his gasping, trying to get his wind back.

Once he got his first breath, he looked up at Beelzebumon with murder mixed with rage in his eyes. "How can you be so cold? You don't even show any remorse for killing Takato!" Kazu screamed, his eyes closing tight.

Beelzebumon smirked again, then pulled out his gun and aimed it at Kazu's stomach.

Kazu's rage overpowered him. Beelzebumon had enjoyed killing Takato. He had enjoyed nearly destroying Takato. And he had done it all without any regret. Kazu leaped forward and came zooming at him. "Your not even sorry for what you diiiiid!!" he shouted, running towards him, ready to kill him with his bare hands.

Beelzebumon looked at him in surprise as Kazu's fist connected with his lower jaw. He shut his eyes tight for a moment, then he roared in anger and shouted "Poison Impact!", pulling the trigger on his gun.

Kazu stood there for a moment, waiting for something. Then the pain hit.

He roared loudly, his cry of pain echoing throughout the tunnels. He clutched his would, purple toxin and red blood spilling out. This attack was designed by Beelzebumon himself to give a long, horrible, agonizingly painful death.

Kazu fell over backwards on his back, landing on the ground and sending white hot pain through his body.

He was being killed in the same fashion as Leomon.

He hit the ground, a whole torn through his stomach. The same pain that had torn through everyone's hearts earlier would rip right through them tenfold.

Gardromon watched, unable to do anything as Beelzebumon leered down at the suffering Kazu. A huge whole was ripped through Kazu's stomach, toxin leaking out of the wound and spilling onto the floor.

Kazu closed his eyes, then opened them, a moment later. He hardly felt the pain now. The spot above his head that contained what was left of his life slowly became smaller and smaller. Kazu was kind of sad to see it go. But he had always wanted it to end this way.

If he was going to die, he would go down protecting his friends, and he would never go down without a fight.

He was dimly aware that Beelzebumon was knocked aside, because when he stopped for one last look at Beelzebumon before he died, he saw that something flew at him and he was knocked aside.

Beelzebumon growled for a moment, then an arrow flew into his side and he was flung down the tunnel.

Kazu looked at his savior, who was girl with shining blue hair and glowing green eyes. He was dimly aware that she had wings, because she leaned over him and scooped him up in her arms, then flapped her wings for a moment, creating a breeze that woke him up a moment.

She hugged his head to her chest. "Come on Kazu, stay awake" she chanted, trying to get him to stay alive. "You can't die right now...your friends need you"

Kazu looked up at her through his eyes, blood leaking off of his stomach. "Sakuya..."he murmured faintly. "Help them. Keep the others alive. Kill Beelzebumon"

Then his eyes closed, and the world became black around him.

___________

"Jeri! Boy am I glad to see you!" said Kenta, nearly hugged her with relief. Jeri completely ignored him, continuing on her way down the tunnel.

"Jeri, wait up!" said Kenta, jogging to keep up with her fast pace. Jeri only sped up, getting more eager to leave them behind. "Renamon, go get her. She's gone nuts"

Renamon disappeared and reappeared in front of Jeri, gripped her arms with her claws then held Jeri firmly. Jeri struggled feebly, but nothing could ever get out of Renamon's strong grip. To Kenta's surprise, Jeri broke down and cried.

"Don't you get it?! I am trying to get away from you" she wiped the tears from her face. "Wherever I go, my friends get killed! Leomon, my digimon, was killed. So was Takato! My two best friends are dead!"

"Jeri it's not your fault. You can't blame yourself for things that happen to other people that you have no control over" Renamon said thoughtfully.

Jeri broke out of her grip and turned to face Renamon. "See?! Leomon was killed because I was too weak! Takato was killed because I just sat by and watched"

At this point, something slammed into Renamon, tossing her into the wall like a rag doll. Renamon was on her feet in an instant searching for her opponent.

"Double Impact!" a voice from her side shouted.

Automatically, Renamon leapt into the air. The bullets zipped below her and crashed into the wall, scattering rocks in all directions that stuck to the cavern floor. "Diamond Storm!" her attack lit up the cavern as the white particles zoomed through the air.

She saw their enemy. It was Beelzebumon.

Beelzebumon charged at her with his claws outstretched, a sneer on his face. Renamon dodged out of the way, the slashed at him with one of her claws. Her claws didn't hit what she wanted, but she was able to slash his arm.

Something small, flexible, soft, and red came off in her hand. "Nice move, fine and foxy!" said Beelzebumon. Renamon didn't have the time to put two and two together and come up with a hypothesis, because Beelzebumon was attacking again.

Beelzebumon pulled a magnum off of his back and aimed it at Renamon. He fired half a dozen shots, two of which hit Renamon. Renamon flew backwards and slammed into the wall, collapsing to the ground, the red handkerchief still clenched in her hand.

Beelzebumon aimed down at her. "Say goodbye, pineapple head" he said. His trademark insult. Renamon found that Beelzebumon had been knocked away, because when she looked up, Beelzebumon was kneeling on the ground in pain, wheezing. Then he leaped up and disappeared.

It was a girl with shining blue hair, glowing green eyes, and a bow in her hands with an arrow knocked in it.

She knelt down beside Renamon and said "Don't worry, everything will be all right now"

__________

Spoiler for the next chapter(Character death). FONT>