Disclaimer: I know it's been a while, but I still don't own Digimon. Big surprise, I'm sure.

Chapter 9

"You guys ready?"

Matt looked over at the others that would be following him through the tear. Kari had insisted that she and Tailmon go to retrieve her brother, not that Matt blamed her. If TK were the one trapped, nothing could have kept him from going. She nodded firmly. He then looked at Ken who had both Wormmon and Veemon at his side. The boy had been chosen to go as well in order to help out the small group if things didn't go exactly as planned. Matt wasn't sure how he felt about going into a world of darkness with the two Digidestined that seemed to be effected by it the most. 'Then again, I guess I'm not really one to talk,' he thought, remembering what had happened to him a few years back in the DigiWorld. He shook his head, and quickly looked down at the last member of the group.

"I'm ready when you are, Matt," said his faithful digimon.

"Right," he said with a nod, "Then let's not waste any more time." He turned to look at the black oval hanging before him. "Ken?"

The younger boy nodded, and he and Wormmon stepped forward. It had been agreed upon that they would enter the gate in pairs to avoid any unnecessary crashes on the other side. Ken suddenly gasped as he feet were yanked out from under him. In no time, he had been completely sucked into the other world.

Matt looked at his digivice. They were told to wait about thirty seconds before sending in the next pair. He glanced up at Kari, who seemed rather anxious to find her brother. When enough time had passed, he looked up and nodded. Gripping Tailmon tightly, the young girl took a deep breath and ran at the opening. She quickly disappeared from sight as well. Thirty seconds later, Veemon was also gone, leaving only Matt and Gabumon.

"Our turn," said the boy with a smile.

His partner returned the smile. "Are we walking in, or taking it at a run?"

Matt laughed. "Well, I'm not sure how feel about suddenly having my feet sucked out from under me at all, but running seems at least a little better. I'll race you!" At that, the boy sprinted towards the gate.

"Hey! No fair!" cried Gabumon as he ran after his partner.

As Matt drew closer and closer to the opening, he felt the wind pick up. When he was almost to the tear, he felt himself lifted into the air and hurtled towards the darkness. He closed his eyes and awaited the impact that was sure to come. The boy soon crashed onto a cold, stone floor, and he heard another thud next to him which he knew had to be Gabumon.

"You guys okay?" came Veemon's voice.

The blonde sat up, holding his head. He was now not only dizzy, but had a rather large headache. He looked over to make sure Gabumon was okay, and, seeing that he was, he turned to get a better look at his surroundings. As expected, they had all landed inside some kind of building made completely of stone with a few random torches lining the walls. He then turned back to the others. "Yeah, we're fine. Have you picked up Tai and Davis' signals?"

The younger boy nodded and held up his digivice where Matt saw the two flashing lights representing their friends. He then pointed to the left and said, "It seems that they are over in this direction."

"Alright," replied the older boy as he stood up. He turned to look back the direction they had been flung from. An identical tear hung a few feet away. "Gabumon, I'm going to need you to stay here. That way, all I have to do is pick up your signal in order to find our way back here."

"But, Matt..." began the protective digimon.

"It'll be okay, Gabumon," Veemon spoke up, "I'll keep an eye on him for you."

"Well, alright..." he replied, still not liking the idea of his partner going off without him.

"We'll be back before you know it," Kari reassured him, Tailmon nodding her agreement.

"Perhaps he should digivolve just in case something happens," suggested Ken.

The older boy nodded and held out his digivice. It flashed wildly, and the rookie was suddenly engulfed in a bright light. Moments later, WereGarurumon stood in his place.

"Come on, let's go," said Matt suddenly as he headed in the direction Ken had pointed earlier. Personally, he didn't want to leave his partner behind, but he doubted either Kari or Veemon would have stayed, and they may need Ken later. 'Sorry, Gabumon,' he thought to himself, looking down at his digivice, 'We'll be back soon.'

"Tai! Are you okay!?" cried Davis as one of the many Vilemon knocked his friend to the ground. The younger boy let out a yelp as he noticed two more flying his way. He ducked just in time and heard a the sound of heads bashing together and then two thumps next to him. "Yeah! Score two for me!"

Tai slowly got back to his feet. His head was pounding, and his arm was very sore. He looked at it and noticed that the scrapes from holding on to the tree earlier were starting to open up. He dove out of the way as another Vilemon flew at him. He wanted badly to call out to his digimon partner, but every time he glanced over at him, he would remember just who else was there. WarGreymon's strength was running out, and fast. There was no way he could take care of all these Vilemon and Piedmon.

"This is bad," muttered Tai through clenched teeth as he dodged another Vilemon. He looked up sharply as he heard the familiar cackle of the hideous creatures. He then heard another laugh come from behind him, and then one from the left. "Great."

The boy quickly ran to the right, ducking under and jumping over the other digimon that flew at him. But he wasn't quite fast enough, and one slammed him into a nearby pillar. Tai grabbed his head, and quickly turned to face the rest of his attackers. Four more had joined the earlier three that had chased him. He gulped, but stood his ground.

"Bring it on!" he shouted at them, his fists ready.

They laughed harder as one of them flew at him. The Vilemon stretched out his claws, ready to tear them through the Digidestined's skin. Luckily, Tai's arms were longer. With all his might, the boy punched the creature in the eye, and it fell to the floor screaming and clutching his eye.

"Yeah!" cried Tai at his victory, "Anyone else want to try me?" The remaining six immediately made for him. "I had to ask..."

"Tai!!"

As the nearest Vilemon scratched his face, he couldn't help but think that Davis' voice had suddenly gotten a lot higher. He was startled to see several bright lights not too far away from him. He was even more startled to hear a familiar voice cry out, "Celestial Arrow!" Almost instantly, the Vilemon that had come at him a few short moments earlier flew at the new attacker.

Piedmon glanced over as the lights faded. A cruel smile slid across his face. "Well, well, it looks as if your little friends have finally come for you."

Exhausted, WarGreymon breathed a sigh of relief. He didn't know how much longer he could keep this up. He gasped as in that moment Piedmon came at him, his swords drawn.

"Our fight isn't over yet, WarGreymon," said the clown as he brought one of his sword down. A loud clang rang through the room as it hit with the other digimon's metal claws.

WarGreymon grunted under the strain, but now that the others had arrived, his strength seemed renewed. He flung Piedmon's attack away and readied himself for the next. 'Just a little longer,' he told himself as the evil mega released his next attack.

"Tai! Are you okay?"

The boy looked up to see his little sister and best friend run toward him. "Kari! Matt! Man, you guys sure know how to cut it close. I guess Veemon told you what happened."

Kari nearly knocked Tai over as she hugged him, while Matt nodded. "Ken, Stingmon, and XV-mon are with Davis. Izzy has a plan to get us out, but it looks like we have some business to take care of here first," said the blonde. He then smirked and added, "You look terrible."

"Thanks, Matt, good to see you too," replied Tai with a grin. "But where's Gabumon? Why isn't he with you?"

"He's guarding our escape route," the other boy replied. He looked around and when his eyes fell upon their old foe they widened. "Is that...!?"

Tai nodded. Kari put a hand to her mouth and gasped as she recognized the clown digimon. "But how?" she asked.

"Let's just say MagnaAngemon's Gate of Destiny attack doesn't exactly delete the enemy."

"I see," muttered Matt, his eyes never leaving the mega, "So he's been opening all of those tears."

"There's more than one?" asked Tai, surprised.

"Yeah, but right now we have to worry about getting everyone out of here without our old friend following us."

Kari looked around and noticed that their digimon had managed to finish off the Vilemon. The others were making their way towards them, Davis with a big grin on his face.

"...and then they crashed into each other! Those guys were nothing for someone like me!" boasted the boy, who now sported a scraped knee and a tear in his shirt sleeve. Ken just smiled, an incredulous look on his face.

"Good," said Matt, noticing the other's arrival, Davis running straight up to Kari looking positively thrilled to see her. "Now we only have one more to worry about."

Tai nodded as he watched his digimon, tired from the constant fighting, battle their last opponent, one who should have been gone long ago. "This time, we'll get rid of that clown for good."

to be continued...

A/N: That one was longer than expected, and I still didn't end it where I thought it would. I thought I'd be able to get farther, but I'm trying to keep the chapters about the same size. And it was a decent place to end the chapter, I thought. Well, due to my writing more (yet less) then thought I would, it seems as if this fic will have yet another chapter added to it. I had thought that this one and one more would finish it, but it seems as though that will change. Depending on how things go, there will either be two or three chapters left. I'm just glad I came up with an ending! Yeah! I was really mad at 02's digivolving rules, but I figured out how to end it without breaking them and without it sounding too cheesy. Now that I know what will happen, the next one should be out soon!