YAY!

...

"Well, well, well... What have we here? It seems that brat of a brother of mine has decided to backstab me. I certainly didn't see THAT coming," a chuckle in the darkness, "Well, that's just fine. I gave him a chance but now it seems like I'll have to eliminate him anyways. Pity. He was always good for a laugh."

A door opened in the far wall, and light spilled into the room. Deemon, still hidden in the shadows, glared at the light, then turned to see who disturbed her. Her Ninjamon bowed, then stepped forward.

"Ah, Ninjamon. How can I help you today?"

"Mistress, if I may speak freely?"

"You may."

The Ninjamon took a deep breath, "Why haven't you killed the children yet? Why are you trying to kill them at all? What have they done to you? What crime have they committed?"

Deemon smiled, "One at a time, my faithful servant, one at a time. You see, I haven't killed the children I've got yet, because it's a challenge. Those boys were horrible to each other and therefore to their friends. Did you know they actually managed to escape my magic bonds, only to ignore their friends and fight each other? Little brats, the both of them. Almost like-" She cut off. Ninjamon narrowed his eyes in concern, but said nothing. He knew who she was thinking of. Taking a deep breath, she continued, "Besides, I need the others for bait. If I kill all of them, I will become super powerful. That is why I want them dead. Also, they are evil creatures, those humans. I'll be saving all of Digimon kind by destroying them. But if those boys show up here and somehow find out that I've killed the others before I manage to catch them, they'll escape and that's just more effort."

Ninjamon nodded, and bowed, "Thank you for explaining, mistress. Now, if I may leave? The small blonde boy wishes to learn Kung Fu."

Deemon blinked, then nodded. As soon as her servant left the room and shut the door, she burst out laughing.

...

"Are we there yet?"

"For the last time, NO Tai!"

Lesamon sighed. They were at it again. He thought that maybe after that little episode at the edge of the cliff they'd be easier to deal with. But no, it just got worse. And he really didn't want to try hypnotizing these boys in the middle of the rickety, rotted bridge over a canyon he'd rather not go falling into. But they were driving him nuts!

"ALRIGHT ALREADY!" Lesamon finally snapped. The boys stopped talking, and tried to turn and stare at their small companion. A few seconds later it became apparent that this wasn't the smartest idea. After the bridge stopped shaking, Lesamon continued.

"Look, fighting isn't getting us there any faster, so can we PLEASE just try to act our ages for a few seconds?"

No one said anything. Finally Matt started walking again. Tai followed shortly after, and Lesamon sighed and followed too.

They had reached the bridge the night before and because it was so dark, they decided to wait until morning to cross. That night wasn't so bad, but none of them got much sleep. A combination of fear of enemies, the feeling of time being wasted, and the cold, hard ground were factors in destroying their beauty sleep. Not to mention they each had to stand guard for a third of the night. So they were all pretty grouchy in the morning. That's when they got their first sight of the bridge.

It was disgusting. The planks of wood that served at the bottom were rotten and bug infested, not to mention covered in a strange red stain none of them wanted to look too closely at. The ropes that held it together seemed to be made out of an assortment of things, from dead vines, to rotted rope, to what looked and felt strangely like hair. The poles on each side holding the 'ropes' were actually giant bones with bits of flesh still clinging. And then there was the length of it. This must have been the widest part of the canyon because none of them could make out the end. So, unhappily, they started across.

It was now noon, judging by the placement of the sun, and all of them were starving, hot, and tired. But no one wanted to stop and rest on this horrible thing. Worse still was the fact that they still couldn't see the end. Lesamon was beginning to think he'd be trapped here forever, in a Hell where these boys never stopped fighting.

Suddenly Matt shouted out, then disappeared. Both Tai and Lesamon called out his name and rushed forward.

"MATT!" Tai screamed, thinking one of the wooden planks had broken and his friend had fallen. Then he tripped over something in his way.

"Oof!"

When Tai opened his eyes, he found himself gazing into a pair of blue eyes right in front of him. He blinked a few times, then realized it was Matt. And how close their lips were. And the compromising position he had landed in.

"AH!" Both boys screamed, then leapt away from each other. That's when Tai noticed something.

"Hey! We made it!"

"Yeah, no duh."

That's when they heard laughter to their right. Both turned and glared at Lesamon, who was rolling on the ground in hysterics.

"Oh my GODS! The looks on your faces!" And then he couldn't speak anymore through the laughter.

"Yeah, yeah. Shut up!" Matt shouted, then he picked himself up off the ground.

"Stupid rabbit," Tai muttered to himself. Then, to his surprise, he turned to find Matt standing in front of him, offering him a hand up. Tai smiled, and thanked him.

"Come on Lesamon, we've got to hurry," Matt called over his shoulder to the green mass of fur behind him.

And then they began to walk.

...

"How are you doing?"

Sora looked up from her place by the window. Standing next to her was Izzy, smiling gently. She smiled back, then turned once more to the window.

"It's been a day already, hasn't it?"

"Actually, a day and a half to be precise," Izzy whispered.

"Well, whatever. The point is that I've never seen even a hint of either Tai or Matt in that whole time. I thought...I thought they might have been closer then that. And I can't help but be scared. They may be hurt, or even..." She couldn't finish, "And what about us? We're going to be killed in less then two days! I'm so scared Izzy. I don't know what to think."

Izzy sighed, "Come eat something Sora. You need to eat. Starving yourself won't help."

"Alright, I'll be there in a moment."

Izzy nodded, then turned around and walked out of the tower room.

Sora sighed once more, "Where are you guys?" Then she turned away, and left the room as well.

Outside, two boys fell out of the mist that shrouded the canyon from view.

...

YAY!