By Debbie
"Kim!"
The dark-skinned girl snaps her brown eyes open at her name and gazes up. She sees three boys that are vaguely familiar to her. Slowly she remembers as the boys runs toward her. The solitary red-haired boy that always has her to listen to for advice. Izzy . . . The littlest blond boy with that innocent eyes that always touches her heart so. T.K. . . . The older boy that always makes her wonder about his secretive smile whenever he flashes it at her. Matt . . . There are her friends, special friends that helped her discover about herself, along with her own help to discover themselves. Her friends. . .
Matt arrives to her, a beaming smile on his face. He reaches to touch her on the arm. The moment she feels the sudden warmth upon her arm, she jerks her arm away, her brown eyes bitter. "Stay away from me!"
Matt's blue eyes go wide at her fierce voice. "Kim?"
Something snaps inside her. Kim nearly bellows out her words. "How dare you face me after what you had you done! You left me for no reason without a trace! Why should you care about me? Go and find the others. Leave me alone. I don't need you."
The young boys and their digimon stand in bewilderment at her. Iyumon gazes up to her with misted red eyes. Matt still didn't believe it. This is not like Kim. Grabbing her shoulders, Matt forces Kim to gaze in his eyes. "No, Kim. We stay together, no matter what or why. Together, we are strong. Like it or not, we need each other. We need you." Then his voice drops. "I need you."
Matt could sees a hint of sadness and warmth behind her hard brown eyes. She does cares. Seeing him staring at her, Kim looks away, "Strong words, Matt, but it didn't make me feel better."
"Say, what is going on here?"
The boys start at the dark hissing voice. Mat lets go of Kim and gazes up in fright. A snaky digimon slithers for the darkness that hid from the sunlight peeking through cracks above. Two red eyes glow with an inner light, blinking from the hooded scaly eyebrows. Serpenmon lets the boys take in his horrible looks, and suddenly, with a flash of his tail, smacks the small digimon, sending them flying over and crashing into a wall. They lay in a stunned daze.
Before the boys could react, Serpenmon wraps them with his tail, coiling around them, binding them. The boys groan and struggle.
And Kim simply watches with silence, still seated on the swing.
Serpenmon speaks like a scolding father. "Don't feed that 'caring, happiness' nonsense to my sweet Kim." From the corner of his eye, the digimon slowly wake, groaning with pain. "Don't try, wimps, or your partners will be flat in an instant." As a warning, Serpenmon tightens his tail a bit, and the boys gasp with the pressure.
"Kim," Matt gasps out, "do something!"
Her brown instantly seems to hood, just like Serpenmon's eyes. She closes her eyes and begins to swing. Her voice is soft, but mocking. "Why me? Why should I care?"
Serpenmon laughs vilely. "That's my girl. Now, let us go, you wimps, and I will find a nice place for you to stay." His nature is mocking. He gently lifts the dazed digimon in his scaled hands and loosens his tail so the boys could breathe easier. He slithers away, enters a darkened hall.
The boys could not see the hall, too dark to let the single ray of sunlight to shine through from a crack. They could hear a key clanging and the creaks of rusted hinges. Serpenmon calmly puts the digimon in a cage, and uncoils his tail so the boys could be free. He puts them in the cage along with the digimon. He locks the cage and hangs the key above the cage. In the single sliver of light, the boys could see Serpenmon gazing down at them for a moment, his eyes red slits in the darkness. Then he leaves.
Izzy watches the digimon and gazes back to his friends with grief. "It seems hopeless to save Kim. She is lost to us."
Matt violently shakes his head. "No! I refuse to believe it!" But Kim's fierce words burn in his mind. I don't need you. She is not the old Kim. She is not Kim at all. Sad, Matt crosses his arms over his knees, and buries his head in them.
T.K. sits by the cage, and gazes up to the single ray. The light warms his face, but it didn't warm his heart. He didn't understand why Kim hates them. She would never hates them for any reason. She always cares. He closes his eyes and rests his cheek on the cold, rusted metal. A lone tear runs down his cheek.
A lone tear turns down her cheek. Kim didn't bother to wipe it away. She didn't remember why is she crying. Something vague still warms her heart that causes the tear to be born. But what is this something? It must a part of her. Maybe it is . . . She forgets. Kim sighs and swings on, he eyes closed.
"Kim?"
Kim opens her eyes and looks around. A familiar voice. . .
"Don't lose your empathy. You do care. You always care. that's what makes you unique. Listen to your heart."
Kim blinks. She remembers the voice. "Sora?" She stops swinging and stands up. She gazes around the colorful blossoms and she is alone. No one is here with her, but the voice is so close. "Sora!" Kim shouts. No one answers back to her. Her eyes mist over and tears runs down her face, leaving wet streaks behind. She kneels and bows her head. "I'm sorry! I didn't mean to stop caring."
The voice comes from behind her. "You will never stop caring if you listen to your heart."
Kim feels a comforted hand resting on her shoulder, giving her a soothing squeeze. Startled, Kim looks back over her shoulder, but no hand is there. Standing, Kim scans around. She is seeing the truth and she finds herself in an slack building with wilting plants around her feet. She sees the truth about herself - she does care. Her face, that used to frown with hatred, begins to brighten with care. "Thank you, Sora."
Kim turns and runs down the hall where Serpenmon vanishes with her friends as Sora and Biyomon watch on.
The boys and digimon are sleeping, exhausted from the search. Iyumon curls herself near Matt, burying her snout in her paws. Her keen hearing perks up at the sound of a key clanging, and she opens her eyes. She sees, in the single ray of light, the patient face of Kim turning the lock. Her brown eyes are their usual softness and she smiles gently, putting a finger over her mouth. "Shh."
The rest wakes at the creaking hinges. Kim stands in the doorway, smiling, She gazes on each of her friends. Her voice is low, ashamed. "Guys, I am sorry about the way I acted back there. I do care. I always care."
Matt beams warmly at her. "I always know you will come back to us."
T.K. runs to embrace her. "We got our Kim back!" At his words, Kim returns the hug, holding him to herself, tears streaming down her cheeks.
Matt reaches in his jeans pocket and draws out Kim's crest and digivice. "Here," he says holding out them. Izzy also holds up her red back bag they had found outside. Kim receives them thankfully. She looks outside carefully and beckons them to follow her. They follow her down the hall until they enter the dying garden.
"Leaving so soon?" came a hissing voice.
They look back in alarm as Serpenmon slithers out of the darkness.
"Run!" Kim cautions. The group dash for the entrance, wanting to escape the snaky digimon. Suddenly, Kim notices her digimon is not with her. Stopping in her tracks, Kim gazes back and sees Iyumon standing courageously before Serpenmon, tiny compared to his monstrous bulk.
"Iyumon!" she shouts.
Iyumon bares her fangs, white against purple fur. Her voice is fierce, growling. "How dare you make Kim hate!" She lowers her horns and shouts, "Rainbow Disc!" Discs of all colors soar from her horns toward Serpenmon. But they have no effect on him. The glowing discs simply fade in the darkness surrounding him.
Serpenmon grins darkly and, with a wave of his tail, smacks her in the face, sending her flying through the air. She crashes into a wall, this time the chunks of mud falling on her, covering her.
"Digimon, attack!" Tsunomon and Motimon leap up in the air and spit out small pink bubbles out their mouths. Patamon inhales his breath and shrieks out a bubble of solid air. Still, the attacks have no damage on Serpenmon. Now slightly annoyed, Serpenmon again attacks the digimon with his tail, they crashing into Iyumon.
"It's useless!" Matt says from Kim's side.
Kim's fists shake with hatred, the hatred she has from the snake that made her hate her friends and herself. "No! Iyumon, digivolve!"
Her digivice shrieks . . .
Iyumon, digivolve into . . . Rianmon!
Wasting no time, Rianmon roars, "Bomb Blaze!" and a sphere of white-orange light soar out her mouth. Serpenmon dodges the blazing light and it crashes behind. Serpenmon looks really irritated, his red eyes blazing brighter than the Bomb Blaze.
"You fools!" he says viciously, "Don't you realize that I will never be defeated as long as hatred is in your hearts!" He raises his arms as if is conjuring something. "Hatred Haze!"
A black mist forms around Rianmon's feet, swirling around, rising. Soon Rianmon is surrounded by the black mist. She gives out a short, pained howl before is choked by the mist. Serpenmon flickers his hands once and Rianmon, along with the mist, rises up so fast that she crashes into the ceiling. The ceiling collapses and the kids run away, avoiding the chunks. Serpenmon flickers again and Rianmon is tossed into a wall, the mist vanishing.
"Rianmon!" Kim runs up to her friend. At that moment, Serpenmon snatchs the unsuspected boys in his scaly hands, Izzy and T.K. punching at the scales in one hand as Matt struggling in another. Kim skids in her track and looks back in panic.
"Now, to get rid of you measly boys," Serpenmon hisses, red eyes burning in the boys' terrified eyes.
"No, wait!" All gazes down to Kim, who runs forward, slowing down. Kim's brown eyes are filled with distress. "I - I give up." She kneels.
"Kim, no!" Matt gasps.
"See how easy it is?" Serpenmon speaks softly, but not mocking. "You are valuable to me because you have a lot of hatred in your heart. You know why? Because the one who cares the most also hates the most."
Kim moves not, her brown eyes glued on the red eyes.
"Don't believe him!" Rianmon groans, struggling to stand up.
"Silence, you lizard, or your friends will be flatten." His tail twitches over the groggy digimon.
Kim's voice grows bolder. "You don't need the boys. Let them go. I am the one you want."
Serpenmon hoods his eyes. "You say you don't care about them?"
Kim frowns and looks down.. She could hears her friends groaning at the added pressure Serpenmon gives. She must do something! But how? The only way she could think of to defeat Serpenmon is to lie to him, hoping he will let them go in exchange for herself. She gazes back with new strength. "No, I don't care about them!" She could see the shocked faces of her friends from the hands, but it is not time to hesitate. "But let them go. They are worthless to you, Serpenmon."
The digimon seems to smile, the corners of his lips pulling back. "Well, if they are worthless, and you don't care what would happen to them, I as well as dispose them." He tightens his hands and the agonized screams of the boys fill the air.
"NO!" Kim screams along with them.
Her crest glows red . . . Her digivice shrieks . . . . The image of the Crest of Empathy - a rainbow with a swirl at an end - glows with tiny stars . . .
Glittering stars appear out of nowhere and surround Rianmon until she is a figure of white.
Rianmon, digivolve into . . . Nightrianmon!
The stars fade in the background. Nightrianmon stands on two, stands tall and wise. She is fully clad with a flowing robe of dark violet, the color of the night sky, that ends into drifting mist at her feet. Tiny white stars speckle the robes, seeming that she picks out a piece of the starry night sky and wraps it around her. A hood covers her head, her golden face peeking out with those sagacious molten-gold eyes. Smooth-angled golden horns rise from her hood, their points slanting forward. Gigantic violet bat-like wings sprout from her back, dwarfing her. Her long tail is smooth, no longer spiked. Nightrianmon is more like a wise, silent saint than a dragon.
Nightrianmon is the ultimate form of Rianmon. She is one of the rare digimon that attack with mind power. Beware of her extraordinary psychic powers!
Nightrianmon speaks not by her voice, but by her mind. You heard the girl. Let them go. A red glow surrounds her, and then the glow surrounds Serpenmon. He opens his mouth to shrieks, but no sound comes out. He is completely paralyzed, but his hands act on their own, releasing the boys. Also surrounded by the red glow, the boys gently hover to the ground, safe.
"Kim, are you all right?" Matt asks in concern as he runs to her. Kim didn't answers, her face awed at her digimon.
Serpenmon is heaved by the red glow, just like when he uses the black mist to lift Rianmon. He is tossed away, crashes backward into a wall. The glow vanishes and Nightrianmon stands still, her golden eyes calm and patient.
Serpenmon rises himself and his glowing red eyes meet the wise golden eyes. "Grr, your empathy will never defeat my hatred, Nightrianmon! Hatred Haze!" The black mist drifts toward Nightrianmon, preparing to bind her. But she again glows with the red aura and the moment the mist touches the aura, it is immediately destroyed, gone in a blink.
"What?!" Serpenmon gasps, enraged.
Hatred has no power over us. Nightrianmon closes her eyes and raises her arms into an horizontal position. Star Twist! She begins to spin in place, faster and faster, until she is a purple blur. White stars soar from her robe, spinning into weapons of light. Their sharp points stab and pierce Serpenmon as he screams, waving his arms and tail to attack them. The stars are like a swarm of gnats, impossible to get rid of and Serpenmon escapes into the darkness.
Nightrianmon slows her spin and lowers her arms. Stars return on her robe. She raises her head and suddenly the building shakes as if in an earthquake. Her words comes to the kids in their minds. Leave this place. I will bring the building to ruins to stopSerpenmon from spreading his hatred.
"No!" Kim stands, shaking her head. "I won't leave you!"
Nightrianmon gazes down at her with the wise eyes. Go!
Matt grabs Kim's hand and drags her. The rest are already heading for the entrance. Matt and Kim run as fast as they could, dodging the falling chunks of mud. The very moment their feet step on the outside ground, the building collapses. Matt yanks Kim down to the ground. He shields himself over her to protect her from the showering small chunks and dust. Then the earthquake halts.
"No!" Kim yells, looking back at the heap of dried mud and dust. Her digimon is nowhere in sight. No sound is heard except her and Matt's panting breaths. Her breaths come in short sobs, crying for her friend. Matt holds her, trying to comfort her. Then she hears a groan and looks up in hesitant hope. She sees a tiny pink-orange digimon, streaked with dirt, crawling out, looking fatigued.
"Sunomon!" Kim runs to her small digimon and holds her close. She buries her face in Sunomon's warm fur. " I am sorry."
Sunomon embraces her back. "You never stop caring. I can feel it." She looks up in Kim's eyes, her own red eyes merry. "If we keep caring, nothing will defeat us." Kim smiles in tears and suddenly is surrounded by the cheering Izzy, T.K., Motimon, Patamon, and Tsunomon, hugging her and Sunomon, laughing with merriment. Kim is completely buried by the laughing boys and digimon, she laughing also.
Matt stands alone, watching the group. He smiles, warmth in his eyes. We got Kim back and her empathy is stronger than before. Sunomon is right. If we keep caring, we can do anything possible. Then he gives a surprised squeal as a giggling Kim tackles him to the ground, tickling him. For a moment, he feels like a child, and, laughing, he tickles her back playfully. The rest also jump on them, tackling and tickling until the group becomes a tangle of laughter. Laughter is contagious and the sounds of warm laughter ring in the air.
