Digimon Fan Fiction ❯ The Dark Horizon ❯ The origins of Sin ( Chapter 6 )

Whoa.. I'm a little rusty at this... here we go... Disclaimer :I don't own em. Ok time to clear this up because I know if I don't I will get one review complaining that I got my mon crossed... Angemon and Angewomon are kinda merged in this, I wanted to give Kari a new type of mech (well as new as griever from FFVIII is...) So I blended the two angels together for TK.

I feel so dirty... I almost made matt an object of pity in this chapter. ¬_¬' don't think I went pro Yama... I just decided that I wouldn't make it 100% his fault in this fic. Still gotta die though. Heh Heh Heh .... well thanks for being patient with me for this, I know it took a while. But we're drawing tword dark horizon's end. Hopefully it will have been worth the time.

Let me know what you think at: logan91235@aol.com

Dark Horizon

by Logan

"The origins of Sin"

"Sin... amazing how three little letters can shape a people. How within the aspect of that word's stretch it can form a cross to crucify you, or a archway to escape. My life has been shaped by sin. From the beginning it has existed, and from my beginning it has existed within me.

I was born in my mother's blood. From her dying womb I was pulled. Pulled into this place where all there is, is the sin that we bring forth. My father was a noble, and in those days all positions of power were closely held to the breast of the church. I was schooled without love in the ways of the monarchy. Taught to be a noble like my father. My willingness to be what they wanted of me was the first great sin from which all other's flowed out like branches from a gnarled oak.

The demons were growing more bold... they had attacked with a far greater ferocity then before, and thus the church ordered a holy war to exterminate Satan's minions in the name of god.

God... I've lived so long and he's been there along with me. A shadow which haunts me. I've seen gods before, been molested by them. the Greydramon is a god... I cannot deny that, for he has made me what I am. My mission for the church and the father lead me to Greydramon, and Greydramon lead me to hell on earth.

The crusade failed originally, all my army died, as did those from the other lands who had joined with us in the effort. Except for six others who hailed from different lands, and one boy who got mixed up in the wrong fight.

Tai... he never changed from that boy in all the lifetimes. He was caught in the clash and when all hell was breaking loose... he didn't run. One peasant took the sword of a dead knight and fought the demons with us. He had no royalty in his blood, and yet he would be, within the passage of centuries, one of the most regal of us all. The peasant would later become our leader, and guide us into the jaws of hell. This commoner seemed to actually believe in what he was fighting for. Taichi hasn't changed from that boy in all these lifetimes.... he's still a idealistic fool.

Oh how the fates do toy with us. From the day we met that god of the digital earth, we have been its pawns in a game we dare not speculate upon. Is the Greydramon looking out for the benefit of the human breed? Or is it simply employing us as eternal enforcers of his rule? Be he benefactor or tormentor, we immortals are its hands. Our place in this world was lain out to us in the simplest of words... we are to prune back any evil from either world. Any consolidating force to oppose our god must be whipped away with the fury of eternal power. But once again... is that so Greydramon can stop any from challenging his sovereignty?

I believed in the benevolent dragon god once... believed enough to accept a sliver of it into my soul. Now I am over several thousand years old, and I no longer believe the fairy tale.

We were dammed by that devil, eternity without rest is as close to hell as I have ventured.

They say that sin is wrong... but those people are hypocrites. Is it a sin to make a better life for yourself? Is it a sin to master your own destiny? I think not...

Everyone in this world lives in those sins. They all want something... and I master my destiny by mastering theirs first. In the end I alone shall truly master destiny. I will go beyond Greydramon's so-called gift. I will do exactly what the dragon was trying to stop... I will make this world mine." matt put the journal down and slid it into the pocket of his coat. As he got up and made his way to the window which overlooked the onslaught. His forces were battling for their lives in a spectacular panorama.

The dark skies were glowing with light as mech's exploded in colossal fiery burst. Beams of white light exploded outward as beams discharged into the perpetual blackness. The silence of space was disrupted by the songs of conflict as death rode through them with blade in hand. These were mearly the foot soldiers in a war that would be fought by immortals. Matt knew this... and the time for his rising grew closer. He watched as the listener's colossal cannons gleamed with crackling energy before exploding outward in waves of destructive energy which ripped mech's asunder. The rail-guns sent forth hails of bullets out amongst yamato's forces. The pelting of both energy weapons and bullets was enough to reduce some of the attackers to ash and charred steel.

Above the conflict two mechs floated. The angemon and devimon. The two stood their ground as they watched the war being waged with lethal detail. They appeared to be waiting for something, or perhaps someone. Matt wasn't surprised by their betrayal. It was expected that the two would abandon all else to become three once more.

Taking his eyes away from the window, he made his way tword the destiny of his own design. A design drawn with utter and complete sin.

**********

the ethereal tides of fire surged upon the combatants like the sea's gentle lapping waves. But these were waves of flaming death. Mech's lurched upon the stillness which followed the tide in the throws of death. Some of their remains now hung lifelessly in the wake of a barrage, shredded and melted around the human corpse which hung within the metal coffin of dead steel flesh.

The listener was operating well, despite the sabotage. The main guns were sucking in energy and then expelling it outward in a lancing bolt of white energy. Those hit by such a beam were incinerated to ash, those close to it were either maimed or melted by the high heat output.

The enemy was ferocious as mech to mech combat took hold. The clashing tides of battle continued as mech's slashed and bit at one another in between volleys of special attacks which lit the heavens in a most un-holey light.

**********

Tai stood at the mech bay before Greydramon in a silent communion. He watched the red heart of the dragon thunder with fire. In a gentle rumbling. He felt the dragon's soul within himself pound in aching beats. He knew the need the dragon felt as he sensed the death that loomed like a black mist around so many. He wanted to be among them. Tai turned away and glanced down several alcoves to where Kari stood before a fearsome mech.

The Dark Leomon was a fearsome winged lion. It's bladed wings hung around it with lethal detail as each jagged steel feather seemed to drip with blood and venom. It's body had a purplish tint which mingled with black and was interrupted by red striations. The muzzle of this beast spoke nothing of the once noble Leomon, in fact all his silent strength and gentleness seemed twisted to sheer horrific ferocity.

The beast's eyes gleamed pure white as it's dark heart thundered upon its chest like the tolling of a slave ship's drummer. The mouth was slightly open with frighteningly large canines and incisors. The steel mane gleamed white, only separated by the dark purple barbs which pierced it's flesh and now poked through the steel mane. Upon each forearm a colossal and serrated blade rested which seemed only slightly larger then the cloven talons on its hands and feet.

He studied his so called sister with great care. There was a bond between them... he could not deny that, but it still mystified him. The girl had tears in her eyes as she stared up at her partner. There was a sorrow shared between them as they fought in silence an eventuality which could not be bypassed. He didn't understand her sorrow... but he did feel it.

The listener shook under each volley received and delivered but all that seemed muted. Tai descended to her level and looked up at the fearsome mech.

"You talk to yours?" she questioned without looking up.

"Yeah... but he seems to talk more"

"The two of you have a strong bond... most pilots can't communicate with their mech so clearly for years... dark Leomon and I can do it, but it's still not easy."

"What does he tell you?"

"That he wants to fight... he is a virus type... they tend to be more violent then the other breeds. What does Greydramon tell you?"

"He feels responsible for this... he made matt one of us... so he feels guilty for matt's actions. He's frustrated that he is a mech... he feels weird being a machine and not a true digimon anymore. Apparently he misses being able to communicate with others... and other things. I can't understand everything he says... it's still hard to understand it all."

"You're going to kill matt?"

"Yeah..."

"Do you think things will be better after he's dead? Will it change anything?"

" probably not... but at least Sora will be safe..." he paused as he looked at her. "you're not staying are you? With izzy I mean..." she nodded sadly.

"He loves me I think... like a sister or like a lover, I don't know which. He's never tried anything... but I get the feeling he cares a lot for me." she looked down at her feet. "I don't belong with them, with him... it doesn't feel right here..."

"You're going to TK?"

"Yeah... we've been lovers before... we've been friends before too. I don't know what we are anymore... besides being part of the three.

It's crushing you know... bearing this burden. Takeru and I aren't innocent anymore... the weight of our powers is too much for love to thrive in. Too much for anything to thrive in. We've got to reunite so we can stop matt and destroy everything that's been touched by this war. That means izzy's ship has to be destroyed too. It's too powerful to be allowed to exist." she touched the mech's foot and stroked the living steel.

"That's going to hurt him a lot... he loves the listener... but if it exists there will always be a threat. I'll miss it too.... after Takeru, Braedon, and I were cast to the winds, this ship became my home. I designed the atrium myself... and it's going to be me that has to destroy it. It'll destroy izzy too... he is the guardian of knowledge.... this ship is the symbol of that knowledge. When it's dust in the wind he'll be lost like I am."

"The world's gotten pretty damn bleak huh?"

"Yeah... and it's my fault." she reached up and touched her hand to the heart of the dark Leomon. As with Greydramon, the chest opened to her and allowed her entrance. Silvery tendrils of living steel gently took her by the waist, legs, and shoulders and guided her upward to the gaping hollow. As she took her place within, the chest began to close around her as the living vessel grew around her until only her face remained visible.

"Kari? When listener and matt are both gone... will you come for Greydramon?" he questioned.

"No weapon of great destructive power may be allowed to exist in this world, this is the duty of the last three knights..." and with that she was swallowed up in the dark lion. The mech roared a fearsome snarl as it's dark chest closed up. It stretched out it's giant wings and descended to the main floor where it vanished into the launching bay. Tai watched the lion as it disappeared with only a faint and fading snarl to signify it's presence had come and then gone.

The ship suddenly lurched forward in a way that it had previously not done. Tai steadied himself but remained troubled for a time. Something felt wrong now... that last lurch had meant something... the truth didn't come to light till the command's voice came through the com.

"Hull defenses have been breached... we have been boarded!" tai's eyes went wide as his flesh knotted to gooseflesh. The hair on the back of his neck stood up as he gasped out a terrified word. "No." He ran.

**********

A mech from izzy's forces shot up from the Frey to engage angemon who floated alongside devimon. The angel looked down upon the rising foe and extended his hand. The symbols on the forearm began to glow as it spoke softly and calmly in the voice of Takeru.

"Celestial arrow...." with a flash of blue fire the open palm exploded outward in a volley of glowing spears composed of blue light. They whistled through the air as they collided with the young pilot. The foe was split into bits as the volley rocketed through him, only to pelt those who fought below in angelic spawned death.

"Why do they bother? They can't match us..." Braedon smirked as he enveloped two would-be attackers in an attack called "hell fire" which engulfed the victim in burning spheres of flame.

"They think they are doing the right thing I guess... killing the enemy. But they never had a chance against the devil mech and the angel mech. It's more a waste of life then anything else."

TK watched the war churn beneath them like a writhing animal in the throws of horrific death.

"She's coming..." Braedon whispered.

"Yeah... then they'll have something to see...." he replied as he used hand of fate to pulverize a bakamon from Ishida's forces.

**********

Tai bolted around a corner to the atrium where he suspected to find a lush paradise harboring a snake worthy of the biblical story of Eden. He found Eden, but saw no snake. The atrium was dark as pitch, with only the moonlight to cast a silvery glow over the scenery. The trees were black skeletons swaying with the ships movement. The water might as well have been blood, for as Taichi listened to it's gurgling he heard only the trickling of a cut throat.

"Greetings Taichi......" came the snakes raspy hiss.

He pulled out his scythe and held it offensively against the darkness which loomed before him.

" I see you haven't awakened yet... too bad.. Your night vision would increase... as would your chance at survival." the raspy voice chuckled. Tai couldn't follow its origin...

"I knew you would turn up matt... I'm not lucky enough to get rid of you for life."

"My how my little brother's sentiment has changed... I remember a time when you begged me to spend time with you... to escape with you. And now you want no part of me? Make up your mind."

"I guess I grew up a lot after having the one person I loved in this world try to cut me in half." tai spat back.

"It wasn't personal.... then."

"When you're ready, I'm in the mood to finish what I started on your throat!"

"Soon enough... but this visit isn't for you... I have a larger fish to fry. Tell me... how is Sora?" he smirked .

"You won't lay a fucking hand on her!" tai snarled.

"Heh, I plan to lay a lot more then a hand on her tai... but not what you've been laying on her." he snickered. "You know she isn't human? Well not entirely. So what does that say about you..."

"I'm going to kill you slowly you sick freak."

"Sure you are... I have the power of centuries of battle behind me... you aren't a match...."

"Why do you want Sora!?!"

"She's the key...once I have her nothing will matter anymore. Fate has been kind to me... imagine my shock to find that the last digital hybrid is actually our little Sora... this will be even sweeter now that you've fallen for her in this life. Imagine how it will feel to look up at me as I take her from you... revenge will never taste so sweet."

"I will never let you have her matt.. I have Greydramon... we will protect her."

"The lizard picked a poor partner in you... it sealed its fate by bonding to you... kinda like Sora did. Both of them are dead because you came into their lives..." he paused in his words.

"I'd love to continue this... but I will be needing to find her soon. No sense tempting fate by giving her a chance to run."

"She's not a runner matt... she's a fighter. Not that you'll get the chance to get to her..."

"Then I believe the phrase is... catch me if you can." the silvery figure leapt from the dark branch where he had remained hidden. He flew through the air gracefully until he landed upon the grassy earth. The second his feet made contact, he exploded forward. Tai gasped in shock as the impact threw him against the wall. The door was flung open and matt was gone.

"NO!!" he roared as he shot to his feet and gave chase. Matt was inhumanly fast as he ran down the hall. He flew like a dark raven down the halls as tai sprinted after him. The dark blur rebounded from walls as he periodically turned to face tai with a smirk on his alabaster lips.

Tai felt a fire burning within himself as he chased the playfully sinister Ishida down the halls. He felt his muscles burn as he followed. He was moving faster then ever before, but matt was still faster. The blond moved so fast that it appeared to be a blur of shadowy black.

He was closer to where Sora would be. He would find her soon... that thought changed something within tai. Summoned something primal. With a flash of white hot rage tai shot forward like matt had and grabbed him by the shoulder. In that instant he was able to throw the blond backwards against a wall which crunched against the impact.

Matt shook his head to clear the haze as he stared up at the fuming form of tai. The boy seemed on the edge of pure white hot rage. The scythe was shaking in his furious grip as matt groaned while rising.

"It seems you're a lot more powerful then last time I saw you. How... irritating." he withdrew his scythe and stood. His dark coat hung on him like the reaper's burial shrouds. The scythe glowed with the light of some dark torch smoldering with hellfire."

"I'm going to finish this here and now matt..."

"Doubtful!"

With a startlingly fast jump matt passed Taichi and was behind him. He moved like a wraith of transparent darkness. His booted heel flew upward and crashed against the side of tai's head. The boy cried out as the impact threw him against the opposite wall, which splintered under his impact. As he rolled to his feet matt followed.

"Heh, did you really think a human could fight an immortal? You're not awakened tai.... that puts you in the same place as a normal human stupid enough to try stopping one of the eight." As tai was just regaining his balance the back of matt's hand crashed against him, sending him through the stricken wall. The room beyond was larger, more empty. Tai rolled across the debris-littered floor to his feet where he regained a tight grip on his weapon. Matt was laughing as he ducked through the gaping hole in the room. He smiled hatefully to tai as he passed the threshold.

"You're stronger then before... but still just a child in the end."

"Like hell!" tai leapt forward with his scythe open and waiting. Matt leapt back to avoid the arc of the slash. Tai continued pushing forward against matt, who was evading the cuts with limitless speed and a seeming immunity to exhaustion. Blades rang out against blades in a symphony of scraping and clanging hits and near misses.

Matt's head lowered to avoid a decapitating slash. The cut went wide as matt stepped in with a barrage of his own. dozens of tiny cuts and gashes were carved into tai as he tried to pull back. Yamato was smirking with arrogance as he ended the onslaught with a boot to the mid-section. Tai crumpled to his knees several feet off and wheezed in pain as his arms trickled with red.

"You cannot beat me Kamiya... you never could."

Tai scowled up at him as his eyes burned with a dark hate so hot that it seemed to smolder in his soul. With a sudden cry of fury he erupted outward and drove his boot into matt's chest, hurling the man into a wall. Matt cried out as tai flung himself upon him. It was with no more then an inch leeway that matt dodged a slash. The scythe cut through the wall behind him with terrifying ease. Matt pivoted left as a downward cut ripped through the wall once more. Tai tried gutting into his mid-section yet due to matt's awakened power he defied gravity by leaping over tai. The black blur of his fist crashed into tai's back and planted him into the stricken wall.

Now it was matt's turn. With his fists he began pounding at tai who was now trying to deflect the barrage, several blows nearly missed his head and instead punched through the wall to which tai was pinned. Matt was incredibly strong and seemingly felt no pain as he pounded both tai and the wall.

Tai was growing hazy as matt stopped for a moment to regard him. He was bleeding a lot and now beginning to feel the dizziness of blood loss. He smiled. Then with one devastating kick tai was sent through that wall.

He was slipping in and out of consciousness as he fell for what seemed like hours. The next room was the mech loading bay and tai had been sent through the twelfth level and landed several levels down on a catwalk. He felt every bone in his body ache as he lay there. Turning his head he spat blood and then gazed up hazily at matt who was staring down at him. From the twilight of his fading mind he could hear other people... izzy's people. They were calling out in alarm as they watched tai fall. And now they were in a pure panic.

He watches as matt leapt from the breach in the wall and landed with a certain grace on the catwalk. He was grinning. His strides were long and almost looked like there was a element of dance in them. Tai was dizzy as he heard the tapping of matt's boots on the mesh walkway as he leisurely made his way to end the fight.

As tai was considering the inevitability of his death there came a screeching cry as the walkway lurched downward in a shuddering impact. Matt had leapt out of the way of the onslaught, yet the catwalk was not so lucky. The blast of heat had crushed it and melted it at the point of impact and now the structure slumped off to a gaping chasm of still hot metal. The beam of energy had come from Sora who now was two stories above. She scowled at matt who stared up at her in a strange awe. Tai tried to rasp out a warning that he was here for her, yet he found no words.

"Leave him alone matt!" she roared as she perched on the railing, wings open and ready to slice the man in half.

"My Sora... you look different." she hissed at him in reply.

"I came here for you, you know....."

"That was a bad mistake matt...." she growled.

Matt turned to look at tai once more. His icy eyes shimmering with relish for this moment. Tai scowled at him as he tried desperately to shake the haze from his mind. He was painted red with his own blood now and felt every wound. He was worried that Sora was here now... right in matt's grasp. That fear became terror as the air around her changed. The air suddenly grew more dense as it took a texture of slick black oil and manifested to a form.

The demon emerged from its sickening birth with horrific speed. The world around it shifted and changed. The metal catwalk where Sora perched suddenly became a dripping structure of black slime which pulsed and then erupted into form like a pustule exploding and then being formed into the shape of a human.

Sin's eyes were glossy black as his face took on all the illusion of humanity it could. The black slime which gave birth to him shifted away back into normal air and a normal catwalk. Sora spun around as sin emerged, yet it was too late for her to evade. His back exploded into a pair of leathery black wings which seemed more terrible then words could portray. They were dripping with ethereal evil that puled through them in blood red veins.

Her eyes filled with horror as she stared at him. Then the look was wiped from her face by a bolt of black energy which erupted from sin himself. The dark lightning hurled her over the edge and planted her on the catwalk to yamato's rear. The stricken catwalk lurched further downward between tai and matt.

Sora remained still where she landed. Her silver wings lay sprawled across the catwalk railing as they slowly drew nearer to her in a strange fetal position. They then went limp and slumped over her chest. Her copper hair was matted and tangled as it lay on her shoulders and over her eyes. She was a fallen angel.

Sin smiled down at matt with a thin and yet hellish smile before his form dissolved into the black sludge that vanished into the air. Yamato looked afraid as he saw the winged devil appear and now fade. He looked at the empty air where sin had stood with disbelief in his wide sapphires, and then to Sora, who was still not showing any sides of movement. The stunned disbelief faded away to a broad smile which came to be directed at tai. He began moving tword Sora with tai's closed eyes seeing every movement he made. She was breathing, but shallowly. whatever sin had done to her had been bad.

Izzy burst through the door to the rear of where tai lay sprawled out seemingly unconscious. He froze in horror as he caught sight of yamato drawing nearer to Sora.

"MATT!!!" he cried out with no strength to do anything else out of shock. He turned and smiled at izzy.

"Checkmate koshiro...." he turned back to Sora while izzy's eyes fell on tai.

"God no... he can't be...."

As fast as that horrible thought had entered izzy's mind it was dismissed. Tai suddenly rose from where he lay in a pool of his own blood. His hair was pressed to his neck by the blood which trailed his entire body. He looked far less then human as the scythe trembled in his hand.

"Oh my god! tai!" Mimi cried as she burst through the door, flanked by joe and several guards. Her eyes were wide as she stared at the bloodied Taichi. They filled with tears when they got to Sora.

"What happened here!?" joe cried as he surveyed the carnage. The mechs which still sat in their alcoves were all looking at the humans now with a seeming interest. Though without pilots to command them, they were acting on their own accord in a mystifying display of life.

"Has he triggered!?" Mimi cried.

"I...... don't think so... but I could be wrong."

Tai suddenly broke into a run across the blood soaked catwalk and from the edge shot into a impossible leap. He flew to matt with scythe out and ready. Matt only realized a second before it would be too late. He leapt away from the cut which split part of the catwalk off in a torrent of sparks and fragmented steel.

"I'M NOT DEAD YET MATT!!!" he roared as he sprinted for matt again. The blade split the railing from the catwalk as matt leapt upward to avoid the arc. He slashed at tai, yet the blow was stopped by tai's. Matt snarled at him as they parted only to clash again. Tai seemed fueled by hate as he flipped out of a downward cut which landed inches from him.

Matt shot forward and kicked him in the abdomen as he was preparing another volley. Tai seemed phased by the impact, yet didn't slow his attack. He chased matt as the blond was withdrawing several steps. Matt was unprepared for such a fast recovery and leapt from the catwalk to avoid a nearly fatal slash. He fell several feet, but landed on the wall and anchored himself with his scythe, which dug into the steel surface. Planting his foot on the wall, he rebounded upward to a catwalk below tai. He snarled as tai leapt off his level and swung onto the catwalk in a controlled drop.

"You're not going to win tai!" they met and steel rang out in a chorus of clangs. The spectators were stunned by the fight which seemed to be waged by two beings of omnipotent power. Matt leapt back and smiled.

With a fast cut he severed the support for their catwalk, and sent tai's half crashing downward. Tai managed to leap back to the original catwalk near Sora. He chanced a glance down to her and was relieved that he could still see her moving. Her chest wasn't rising and falling rhythmically, but the movement indicated life.

"Impressive tai... but still futile." he said as he climbed back onto the original catwalk.

"Go to hell matt!" tai summoned speed he didn't know he possessed and managed to bridge the gap between catwalks. He was nearly chopped in half as matt tried to use his momentum against him, yet due to a last minute pivot, tai slipped under the blade and slashed matt's chest.

Yamato screamed as he kicked tai away. He clutched his bleeding torso as he examined the wound. Deep, but not fatal. His pride however was wounded deeper then the gash on his chest.

Time moved slow as tai leapt at matt and matt lunged for Taichi. Their weapons met in a brutal clang which was deafening. The two blades shrieked out in pain as they both shattered in an explosion of shrapnel which pelted both of the combatants. Matt staggered backwards as tai fell on his back. He moaned in pain as matt shook his hand to cure it of the crushing impact which had debilitated it. The two scythes lay crushed and splintered on the catwalk as matt walked over to tai, still holding his hand in pain.

"You almost won..." he rasped with a voice more labored then before and far more ragged. His breath was scratchy as he tried to maintain control on his panting.

"I should kill you... but that would be too fast. I want you too live long enough to suffer more. To see what I have planned for Sora... and to know that this was your one chance.... and you failed." he staggered past tai on his wobbly legs and made his way to Sora. He lifted her from the ground with his good hand and slung her over his shoulder. She lay there limp as he leapt from the platform, all the way to the main floor.

He tossed her in a transport and turned to crush the scull of a guard who had been stationed on a lower level. Some pilots had joined the soldiers and were about to rush matt, but were halted as he threw the dead guard at them. The corpse collided with them and managed to knock them from their feet. Somewhere a soldier opened, but the commander was too fast, and made it to the transport. Activating the launching system, he propelled the transport out through the hanger and was gone.

Izzy had a hateful scowl on his features while Mimi cried and joe stayed silent. Tai was crawling across the catwalk after him on his hands and knees. He seemed unaware that it was too late for him to get her back. That he could somehow still catch her.

The others rushed to him and were pushed off as he roared in pain and agony and a sorrow so deep that it shook his bloody body to sobs. They stayed their distance as he cried hot tears and pounded the catwalk with his bloodied fists.

"TAI STOP!" izzy cried to no avail. Tai was repeating a name that must mean Sora even though he pronounced it wrong due to stress and grief. "Shara I'm sorry! Shara I'm sorry. Shara, I'm sorry" his fists had dented the catwalk and skinned his knuckles which bled freely.

"Listen to me tai! Get in control! It's not too late. That transport has a tracker beacon. We can find where she's going... but not if you lose it." joe yelled into tai's hair as he grabbed the boy and tried to restrain him. Tai was trying to throw him off but he hung.

"We can still save her tai! You can still save Sora!" Mimi screamed as she joined joe. The two held the boy as he calmed slightly his ragged breathing slowed as he whispered "Get off me." in a less hysterical voice. They complied as tai rose to his feet. He clutched his wrist, and for the first time they saw the twisted blade from one of the scythes. It had impaled him from palm to the top of his hand. It bled heavily and Mimi gaped in horror at the steel spear.

"My god.. We need a medical kit here."

"You were telling me the truth about the tracker.... we can find her?"

"Yes..."

"I've got to bring her back..." he replied darkly as the tears ceased. He gripped the steel blade with his free hand, and with a slurping sound slowly pulled it from his raw hand. Joe stared at him with wide eyes while Mimi and izzy grimaced in horror at the scraping sound of bone on metal. He groaned as the fragment was dislodged with a plop. he dropped the fragment to the ground and examined the hole in his hand.

with a look of hatred and a darkness deeper then any abyss, he closed his fist tight and let the blood trickle from his aching palm down his forearm.

"I'm bringing her back... and then deal with matt. I'll be dammed if I let him win this!"

"Greydramon?" izzy questioned.

"Yes... it's time to end this."

**********

devimon and angemon watched the battle with some interest. Though neither side would be spared from their wrath... they did find the battle interesting. The darkness of space flashed with explosions and beams. Death was riding through the procession with weapon drawn. So many were being silenced in this battle that the two knights could feel their absence from this clashing sea once they were gone. Less of the fighters tried taking out the two stationary mechs who loomed above them. Their minds were now consumed with the more aggressive foes who were rushing them with weapons drawn.

It was then that they felt her. TK snapped forward as he felt the aura erupt from the conflict like a volcano. He could sense her approach and now his hands trembled. He had been able to feel a whisper of her presence when he made it to this battlefield, but now he could truly sense her. They were so close to being whole once more. He watched.

From the living sea of this conflict there came an explosion. A flash of dark energy which exploded and slung those caught near the blast away. Some were not so lucky and were caught in the heart of the blast. Now they floated on the tides of space with no hope of life still existing in their charred shells.

From the gaping wound she came. The dark lion exploded outward with wings drawn out. It looked to be some black phoenix rising up from the ashes. The Leomon was fearsome and horrible as it roared out into the night. In it's clawed hand it held the twisted remains of a mech which it threw back into the battlefield with abandon. A tyranomon flew up to try its luck, but the lion whipped its clawed hand around, and in a massive show of brutal power, removed its head. The mech plunged back into the Frey dead.

"KARI!" TK cried as she flew up to meet him. The moment radiated with so many unspoken words and suppressed feelings that the war being waged beneath them faded away into silence. They hovered together for a time without words, with nothing more then the bond between them which flickered like a faint current on the still and calm around them.

"TK..." she replied softly.

Devimon glided tword her slowly with sleek movements of his wings and serpentine tail. He remained silent as he studied her aura which hung about her like a whisper of what flowed through him. He could feel both of them. since their essence flowed through him he was bound to his siblings.

"Hello sister..." he whispered and her attention was drawn to him. Kari smiled at her brother with her whole heart. Time had cast the three apart and catastrophe had scattered them to the winds. Now they were restored and all cracks made whole. The one and the two had been made three.

**********

They had lived innocently once. One human and two sleeping immortals. A fire had changed that forever for them but this was no accidental blaze. The flames that kindled their destinies were different in a way that words had failed for so long. That fire had destroyed the colony which once was their homes. And those flames burned in the memory of the three.

Normal fire is golden and red, it can burn white if extremely hot, or it can burn in various color depending on what it consumes. But never had a fire burned like that... the black flames had swallowed up so many lives, and even after they were extinguished along with the colony, they would forever burn in three minds.

The colony had exploded in a ball of black flame and swallowed all within. TK Kari and Braedon were among the last to die... The three had been awakened in that hell only to be put to sleep once more, mere minutes after Braedon's ascension into immortality. They had gazed up in horror as the fire was preparing to claim them... they stared up at the glassy dome of the colony which now was streaked with crackling tributaries which soon would become breaks in the shell which held the fragile climate to the artificial earth.

Beyond that failing defense they caught sight of something. It was dark against the blackness of space, though much darker then the void itself. It was massive... fused in thick black armor with eyes of molten silver flame. The beast of blackness had dark and leathery wings which protruded outward in wickedly sharp blades of an almost skeletal design. It looked like a dragon spewed upward from the heart of hell, yet this beast seemed far more composed of hell then born of it. It was shrouded in darkness and hidden within the void of space. The starlight seemed to pool away from it in fear of the beast shrouded in this perpetual night. It's face remained hidden away in the hateful night, save only a faint shimmer of light falling upon its ample fangs which hung out in impossible perportunes. It watched them with a dark interest as the fires swallowed up large chunks of this land. though those silvery orbs of flame held no real continence of normal eyes, they did shine with a seeming mirth at his actions. the pain that radiated upward through the stricken dome now seemed as perfume to the hellish incarnation of a nightmare made real.

Takeru and Hikari held their awakened brother who was still partially delirious with pain. Braedon's blackened lips quivered with fear as he began repeating the words "black" and "monster" through his dry and faint voice. the name seemed ominously accurate as they both stared up at the hellish shadow which beamed down on them through the buckling glass shield. the name stuck with them as they heard a terrifying "crunch" that signaled the inevitable demise of the shielding, and the end of their innocent little home. oxygen was surrendered immediately to the vacuum, as was all hope of survival. the lungs burned and then burst as all the world faded away to a permanent darkness which would forever shroud all but three children who would later be reborn, healthy and alive, but still haunted by the last image their now dead eyes had brought to their minds.... a black monster...

**********

some said that the colony's demise had been due to a power surge which blind sided the environmental controls. the more notorious explanation for such a great loss was that the colony had been responsible for its own demise. this particular little colony was heavily funded by a military science facility. it came to be thought that something created there within had gone wrong and destroyed the colony with one cataclysmic act. perhaps a new weapon that triggered accidentally. a bomb or a cannon which went off during some routine and poorly supervised test. but to the three survivors of that damned colony they knew the truth... something made in that lab had gotten out...

"it's good to see you alive Kari.... we've waited for you a long time." TK smiled.

"I'm relieved to see the two of you together too. I'm glad you were able to find each other." she had a faint tremor in her voice that both the two boys recognized, but neither commented on. they felt it too.... a happiness in spite of all there was not to be happy about.

the moment was shattered by a mech's explosion that seemed considerably closer then those before it. the realization that a battle still waged was a shock to them, for none of them had any idea how much time had spanned. it was all business now... the three were reunited and now it was time to act. long overdue time actually. their mirth had turned stolid as smiles turned into determined frowns. their voices dropped to the ones used in battle, much quieter then before and with a faint sinister undertone.

"it's matt!" TK suddenly rang out as his mech turned to follow the faint tremor of his sensors. the mech in conjunction with the pilot could follow and aura of one of the eight. and TK recognized matt's essence from a great distance. with the angemon mech's eyes he was able

to see the transport ship flying through the melee of combat crazed Mecca. The pilot who must be Ishida was doing an immaculate job of skitting through the fighting and shaking all pursuits while evading weapons fire which nearly grazed the paint. The thrusters burned white hot as Ishida barrel-rolled through a hail of beams.

The transport was now leaving the heart of the battle field and off in the direction of Ishida's base of operations which loomed far closer then any of izzy's team dared imagine. The shuttle was fast, and soon flanked by matt's forces who filled its wake in defense of their leader.

"He sure was trying to scoot out of there..." Kari mentioned.

"Lets start with him."

**********

Matt smirked as he saw the three while passing. It would seem that his instinct to kill TK and Braedon was well founded. Thankfully he had the opportunity to rectify that oversight. He reached over and flipped the ship's com, then adjusted the frequency.

"Alex, it would seem your dreams are about to come true."

**********

The three flew through the maelstrom on a pursuit corse for yamato. The three of them flew faster then most mechs could track as all three sets of wings stretched outward into the darkness of space. They seemed to pool their strength when together, to draw and consolidate it within each other. the three together were more then any other could ever be. TK and Kari's power was halved while separated, but with Braedon their powers were reunited. When the three were united, the full powers of hope and light were put to use, and even more so since with Braedon holding half of each, hope and light were in a way bound to each other. Where there were three knights, there was one power. And that was a truly awesome force.

The space twisted against them as some strange striation of light bent around the three. Strange light flickered like the tongues of serpentine fire. Thought partially transparent the fires of hope and light mingled against one another in an ethereal caress which was both awe inspiring and strangely fearful.

They were closer to the shuttle, yet suddenly thrown off corse by a blast of heat that hit them like a tsunami of hell spawned flame. The three were thrown apart in the tide of fire and sent rolling and hurtling through space.

Tiny fireflies of red flame danced in the void filled now with blackish brown smoke and raining soot that swirled in a gently rising cyclone around the shadowy figure within. The embers cast off seemed alive in the faint orange light. The smokey wall was pierced by the reptilian snout of the red tyranomon. It opened its jaws in a horrific snarl that advertised its massive incisors.

"YOU!" he roared. "You are the three!?!" he snarled.

Devimon raised up from where he floated and shook his head to clear the haze. He growled low in his throat.

"Gee great... a fan."

"I've been searching my whole life for the three and now I find out I have known two of them for years!" he was half yelling and half laughing as he screamed at them through the open com. Alex appeared closer to the edge then either Takeru or Braedon had seen him. The pilot had always been a little lost, in the sense that he followed that twisted religion which existed as a debauchery of the code of the three.

His code was a sick and molested version which placed the one above all else. While feigning piousety and nobility, the true nature of that code was to build an armor of ostensible virtue, which would shield the soft and loathsome flesh of what grew beneath. His core was one of violence and selfishness so vast that if it was balanced to his false exterior, his virtues would stretch out like a wall which found its moorings in hell and its summit in the heart of heaven.

His ego, however, was completely real. He took defeats and failures to heart and held them there until they spoiled and grew like a fungus within him. TK and Braedon had seen the look on his face when he rolled over for yamato. He failed to destroy Greydramon, and matt, knowing full well how to handle Alex, had rubbed his nose in that failure. Even gone so far as to use that damned scythe of his to slash the youth's face in a physical reminder which Alex would be forced to look at for the rest of his life.

Matt was many things, but he knew how to use people to get his own desires. Alex would be so haunted by that scar that he would sell his soul for the chance to expunge his failure. And now the great puppeteer had given the heretic the chance. Telling him how to find the holey grail of his false religion. And thus, getting him to kill three of the greatest enemies to yamato's real cause, which was not yet clear.

"We are the three Alex... the ones you want." TK replied with no lingering essence of emotion to his words. Only a coldness nurtured in this world without hope.

"I will become immortal...." he laughed.

"No... you won't. You don't deserve that gift, and that curse." Kari growled.

"Easy for you to say... you are eternal. But after I kill you, then I will take your immortality."

"You are a fool.... it's a waste of time talking to you. You want to fight us? Fine! Pick who you want." Braedon snarled as the devimon withdrew the scythe from his side and held it staff length. The pole receded greatly as the colossal blade spun on it's joint so that it now stood vertically on the pole. Shifting slightly as the scythe turned instead to a massive sword which trailed across the pommel and outward into a scimitar-styled blade. The weapon was dark and sinister in the faint ethereal glow of the heavens above.

Flames of hellfire burned in the dragon's eyes as it's breath came in soft puffs of flame which danced in space like snakes and fireflies of burning embers. The red finish of the mech's steely body seemed to be smolderingly hot while the things eyes rolled over to a fiery whitish gold.

**********

The world around them was ash and ember as the three clashed. The red tyranomon flew in stride with angemon in a test of speed which was soon augmented by combat. Claws to sword. Sparks spun outward through space as a dervish while the two barrel rolled through the emptiness with only death on their two minds. The red tyranomon was fast and lethal as it's claws coughed through the armored hull of the angemon.

TK suddenly opened his wings and with that rapid change of direction, brought his foot into the dragon's head. The momentum sent him rolling backwards several times until he came to a halt in open air.

Drawing back he spoke. "Hand of fate." suddenly a beam of white light surged forth like a spear of energy which narrowly missed the dragon's frame.

"Flame jet." with that said the beast's maw opened with a blast of fire which engulfed the angel. The fire continued to stream outward over the now smoldering steel with no relent. Embers rained like hailstones through the swirling mass of black tarish smoke.

Kari shot forth from that tempest with wings open and hands up in fists. From the lion's forearms erupted two steel blades. She slashed and cut as the dragon shifted its attention to her. the dark Leomon lashed outward with its two twisted blades, barbs, wings, and tail. With a sudden thrust of sheer strength she was heaved back, yet not phased.

"Nova flame.." the lion reeled back as it brought it's jaws upward in a fearsome roar. Light began to pool over the beasts features as its mouth was filled with liquid energy. Its open mouth salivated the liquid flame down its mane which burst into strangely hued flame. The beast's claws soon filled with dark energy which crackled like two live wires held in each fist. That dark fire spread from fists to arms and then to mane. As the two fires (one of silver and blue, the other of black and purple) mingled, they exploded forward in a swirling maelstrom of fire. The dark Leomon touched the beam with its burning hands and the beam began to swirl with both light and dark.

The attack caught the red tyranomon square in its chest and held it. However, with a lash of its whip which had erupted from its arm, it grabbed angemon by the leg. The stunned opponent was soon hurled at the lion with stunning force. The resulting impact caused Leomon to loose control over its beam. The wild energy washed over a portion of the battle field which soon was followed by numerous explosions from the poor fools caught unaware, and thus destroyed.

The red tyranomon was reeling from the portion of that attack it did receive, yet managed to almost shoot fire over the two who were still temporarily stunned. He was cut off from this however as the devimon mech shot by him with sword drawn. The blade was devastating as the red dragon doubled over, clutching its lower abdomen.

Once again with the whip the dragon caught hold of the enemy and jerked it backwards. The devimon was tossed to his comrades, though not as roughly as angemon had been. The stricken dragon lurched forward and drew back. "Brimstone!"

From the beast's jaws a ball of black and crimson flame was expelled. The blast threw the dragon backwards as the ball tripled in diameter and rose exponentially hotter then before. The orb of fire continued to swell until it was the size of a small moon. It hit the three dead on and swallowed them up in the artificial star of hellfire. They hung there for a moment before the bubble burst and all the heat and fire stored within erupted like a super-nova.

Many of the mechs below the conflict bubbled and then melted under the sheets of fire which fell over them like massive scarves of sheer flame. The blast mushroomed out with both flame and billowing wreaths of smoke. Phantoms of fire split off from the pyre which was the three and then perished in a spinning frenzy amidst cold space.

The sky was a sea of smoke with breakers of flame. The whole sea seemed alive with movement as the flames and smoke mingled together in soft and sinuous caresses.

"Am... I immortal yet?" Alex questioned between ragged breaths. His hair was matted with icy cold sweat which mingled with the re-opened wound on his face. his face was pale and clammy as he looked out over the inferno of his own making.

"No...." his eyes went wide as the lake of fire receded and permitted a glimpse of three figures bathed in shadow. The wings which had been held defensively over them, now opened to full length as each dark figure floated before him. They were burned and blackened with soot, but they each lived.

"You... are.... the three..." Takeru drew his blade and held it forward. This was soon followed by Kari and Braedon. The three blades began to resinate with energy. The clouds of sulphur and smoke swirled around them now like phantasms under the spectral wind which stirred them. embers of fire seemed rekindled to flame in their presence. Where once only faint sparks of flame had drifted, now ribbons of fire swirled.

The three blades were now white hot as tiny veins of electricity flared between them.

The three spoke as one. "Tri-blade."

As the words were spoken the blades rang out with searing energy which washed over the three mechs. They were consumed within the strange and wondrously alive energy which originated from the smolderingly alive blades. The red tyranomon tried to reverse, and yet either his hand could not grip the control, or his mind could not grip his hand. He simply stared out at them in catalepsy as the living energy rallied itself from scattered soldiers of sparks, to phalanxes of sheet energy.

And then it began. With a speed that words could not give measure to, they came at him. They seemed less like mechs then they did like vengeful spirits. No metal gleamed, only the burning light which flailed on each. The first hit came from either Takeru or Braedon, they moved too fast too distinguish. The weapon traced a seam on his breastplate which shivered in duress. That was followed a microsecond later by a similar paper cut to his side, and then to his arm joint. The wounds came faster then anyone could counter as the three wraiths of energy shaped to resemble mechs proceeded to swarm him. He reeled back and thrashed against the specter's, yet only slashed open space. He was standing still to them as more fissure cuts clanged against his armor. The dervish of wounds grew even faster as the dragon found himself in the heart of a cyclone. Each cut was well placed, and though small, they began to take effect. Bolts were gradually split from their places, and after they split off, the armor began to disassemble.

He shrieked in pain as he began to whirl around in the dervish, seeking escape from any direction. There was none. The plates of armor or fragments of severed circuitry which were now detached from the stricken dragon were split even further until they were no more then particles of debris on the wind.

Screaming in horror the dragon looked down to his claw which was splitting off into fragments which, when caught in the cyclonic wind, were lifted away and digested by the maelstrom. In hellishly slow motion the hand dissolved to fragments and then were pulled off. The severed stump was splitting as the hand had before it. Tiny cubes of armor were cut away so fast that the horrified pilot saw his mech dissolving in realtime speed.

The tyranomon cried out in a flame spewing voice as it's face began to splinter away to the steel skeleton which lurked beneath. The armor was gone, and all that remained was the chipped and scarred skeleton. The connection between mech and pilot shared pain. Alex now reeled in agony and almost to insanity as he felt his mech's flesh shredded off with thousands of simultaneous slashes.

His head was thrown upwards in a jarring impact as a upward slash split his lower jaw into two halves which still clung to his skull. At that exact moment two downward cuts devastated his rib cage which now flung open like a rubber band snapping. The mech's amber eyes floated out of the skull's gaping sockets and drifted there before lense was split from sensor and then sucked away. He was vaguely aware that they were in a cyclone now. A cyclone of bits and pieces of his mech's tattered and decimated body. And then, just as the last of his sanity perished to the pain, it ended.

Simultaneously three blades buried themselves into Alex, through the decimated rib-cage from three different angles all terminating in Alex, tip to tip to tip in the center of where his heart had once been. They hung there for a moment and caught their mutual breaths. The dragon and pilot both hung their heads to the side in a lolling manner with jaws slackly hanging... a grisly image of those who would stand against the three.

**********

Sora was crucified to the alter of technology with cables and wires in places of nails and crowns of thorns. Though she was none the less a figure of anguish and sorrow as she drifted on the edge of consciousness. The device pierced her at the wrists and suckled the wounds as vampires would through fangs as opposed to the steel needles which drank of her now.

She moaned with pain as she flexed in her dreamless sleep. Her wings had been pinned to the pedestal with steel cables that appeared strong enough to hold her. they were not however designed for such a purpose, they simply were to hold her upright while the machine drained her of her hybrid blood.

The room was bleak and dark with the only lighting coming from the faint green glow cast down by a monitor which read Sora's vitals. The tubes which trailed from the angel's wrists fed off into a second machine which churned with motion as it spun a canister of her altered DNA in a turbine which separated the blood into it's most pure form. The waste was filtered away as chemical proteins, and a catalyst bonding agents were stirred into the soup in accompaniment of a second soup of base DNA. The mixture was being stirred to life by the machine's precisely measured ministrations.

Soft tears leaked from the girl's eyes in the sleep which now held her firmly. Her features were shadow's of what they once had been. She was a bird which had been raised in a cage, released, and then captured once more. Though she knew this life of hate, and could very well be returned to it, she could not forget the world she had touched when the deliverer set her free. Tai had touched the last shadow of humanity within, and kindled the love long forgotten. Even in this bleak dreamless sleep she could feel the ache of that loss. Tears fell from her inhuman eyes for the first time.

Yamato watched over her from the shadows as he searched his heart for feelings. The image of Sora broken must have some effect on him, it must stir something. Yet he felt numb. He imagined he would feel pleased over this triumph over the girl that scorned him so long ago. He felt no pleasure. There was no guilt either, no sorrow to sour the moment, but there was no pride or joy to sweeten it either. He simply watched Sora with cruel and hellish indifference. That bothered him, he had existed so long, but if all that flavored life were stripped of him, then there would be an even greater hell beyond that which he now suffered.

"Sora... " he whispered as he studied her face which was framed with coppery hair that seemed to be more dull in this room then it had before. The device would not kill her... it was mearly splicing genetics from two subjects. It would weed out the unwanted characteristics and purify those which remained. But the goal would be the curse if he were to loose the ability to take pleasure in his triumphs.

"You don't know what to think do you matt?" he turned to find Sin the youth was smiling with some untraceable expression on his dark continence. In the dim light his eyes seemed even blacker and more like a void.

"What are you doing here sin."

"Watching my child in his moment of glory." he replied with a dark glee that sent chills through matt. He now felt all to clearly, he felt fear.

"Your... child? Me?"

"Yes... I never gave you life, but I have given you purpose."

"What are you talking about?"

"I am sin... true sin, not a name but a thing." he smiled

"I have existed since before you... since the fall of angels and the birth of man. There was a battle so long ago... a battle of devils and angels. When my side lost, we were punished. Some went to hell and some were cursed to exist as wraiths. I was among those."

"What are you talking about?!? you've lost your mind" matt barked.

"Please matt... don't be rude and interrupt. I've waited a long time to tell you this story." he cleared his throat.

"Wraiths are without body. I am less a life form then I am the essence of something. Evil. you see mankind is at heart, evil. and that is how I exist. I can only take form by possession of a living creature. And not just any living creature. It must be one that is more pure then others, an evil soul. The more evil, the less resistance I find when I squeeze my essence into theirs, it's a better fit. A soul more ruled by goodness is a struggle to claim, I must fight my way inside and destroy the soul before I may use the husk of a body; that is tiring and weakens me.

It is unlikely, but possible that one day I could fade away and perish. Every time I take a body I must confront their soul in a kind of battle of wills. The more good in that soul... the more of me which is lost. There is much more to me then any human soul, but it is possible that if humanity ever were to become benevolent, I would soon exhaust myself and.... die.

I have existed since your species was slumped on all fours. To think that you could potentially outlive me, that would be an insult. I cannot allow myself to perish... and that, my son, is why I have taken an interest in you."

"You can't be what you say..."

" I saw the eight... the humans capable of destroying the demon armies... the finest of your little species. Blessed by the dragon god with immortality. This was interesting news... beings with truly immortal souls... you were my ticket to never fading away. All I would need is one of the eight souls, and I would reign forever." matt was eerily silent as he continued.

"However... your eight souls were too powerful. I couldn't touch one of yours without depleting all I was in the effort. I was trapped... and so I made a decision. I could not touch you then... but I could mold you into a better host. I looked at the eight one at a time. Learned them.

All of you were corruptible in your own way.

Tai would falter if Sora guided him to it. That would do me no good since I could not become another digidestined. They were a difficult group to corrupt since they relied on each other, and thus guided each other. but then I came to you matt.

You were one of the best of them... one of the most righteous and powerful... but you were special to me. You were alone inside. Harboring a darkness that put you one step away from the others. It was no more then a shadow... but with me to guide you, that could become a true darkness which would turn to evil. your distance from them was the doorway I entered with."

"You are insane...none off this could possibly be true."

"But you know it is... tell me matt... how do you feel about me."

"Annoyed?"

"No... you're scared of me... and also... you feel like we've met before." matt was silent.

"We have met many times matt.... under so many different contexts... I have been so much to you. Teachers... friends... and several times lovers." matt paled.

"I would choose my host for you... I would pick those I could enter who would be able to shape you. As your wife, Rebecca, I guided you to putting your own needs over ideals like fairness and compassion. The sex was nice too." he smirked.

"As a friend I would gradually pressure you into things that led you further off coarse. Remember mark? He was the one to help you to understand that a woman only said no because she didn't know that she really wanted you. Mark guided you to so many things... taught you so much about choking pleasure out of life. Drugs... sex.. Killing. Those I taught you." matt was shaking as sin drew a step closer to him.

"But one of the most pivotal moments in our relationships came when I was called Stephan Kosh." matt's eyes went wide at that name. "That was when I had you... you were born in Germany... right in the middle of Hitler's reign. You were perfect for that life matt... blond hair and blue eyes... but you had doubts about the cause... weren't sure if wiping out the Jewish people was right. Heh. You knew it was wrong..

But then you met an older officer by the name of Stephan... he took you aside and brought you under his wing. He... well I calmed your fears and quelled your doubts. Helped you rise up in the SS... tell me matt... do you remember what you did next?"

"Yes..." he rasped out.

"Good... don't forget the lessons you've learned. The lesson's I've taught you. I've shaped you for centuries matt.. Small little steps tword today. When my work bears fruit."

"You made me what I am!" matt yelled with a sudden tremor of rage in his voice.

"Of corse not... you made yourself." matt cried out in anger as he grabbed sin by the throat ands slammed him against the wall which dented under them. His lips were pulled back in a feral snarl. Sin's smile faded.

"You made me what I am! You forced me to become evil!" matt surprised himself by the pain he felt at being forced into this life. He was ready to avenge himself on his secret "benefactor".

"You better be kidding yamato... You think I made you into what you are? You're lying to yourself... I pressured you sure. I stacked the deck so it would be better for you if you took my path. Hell, there were times if you said no, it would have meant a painful death for you.

Never once did I make you. You can't... evil doesn't reproduce that way. You can never make someone evil... just help them to make themselves evil." matt's grip slackened as the strength left him.

"Tell me matt... in all your life was there ever a time you didn't have a way out? You could have said no any time you wanted... but you didn't. You were willing to walk my path... because... you were meant to be mine." he smiled at matt.

"I wasn't always like this..." matt whimpered in defeat.

"Pity? Regret? Don't stoop so low matt. You are a success. You've done so much... and this was your own choosing. Tell me... would you be content to be one of them? Spending eternity serving that lizard? Wasting forever in piety? No? Thought as much." he laughed as he continued.

"You've always believed that you were using them. using the world to achieve your goals. Well so what if you were being used just a little by me. It doesn't matter... you still will win.. Be a god to all mankind. I ask nothing from you... well just the one thing."

"You... said you were grooming me to become your host. You don't call that a lot? You're going to just use my body like a puppet. I won't even exist..."

"Now matt... why would I tell you all this if that were all I wanted? That was originally what I planned... but over the centuries my goal changed. Immortality is tedious... I don't want to die... but I'm tired of the fight. Staying alive... one host to the next... always awake without sleep.

That's my punishment.. I decided that I would relieve myself of that burden. Through you."

"How?"

"You are immortal... but you have that period of sleep before you awaken. If I tried taking you now.. The period between death and awakening would kill me, for those moments you are innocent you see. That is why I guided you to learn of the hybrids... their kind have genetic memory... by blending your DNA to the girl's... you will remain awake indefinitely. And with my essence bonded to yours... I will no longer fear death.

I have watched your kind from its beginning, a monkey that crawled up the food chain until it became your miserable species. I am tired of watching your kind... use Sora to remain awake indefinitely... let me be one with you... I will make a place for myself within a corner of your soul. You were destined for this yamato... to be sin made flesh..."

Matt looked at him for a time with only a sadness in his sapphire eyes. He wanted to resist, yet felt inexplicably drawn to the youth. He had doubted him up until he began reciting the names of people he had known throughout his life. People who had, in retrospect, guided him to this end. He looked at the face of the boy with the black eyes and he suddenly could identify the fear he felt for him. He felt drawn... attracted to this boy. The fear was a buried understanding of what lurked behind those black eyes... the same thing that lurked behind his own.

"You feel it matt... you want this."

"...... yes." he whispered in a rasp of air.

Matt released the youth and turned to the machine which churned with motion. He pressed several keys on the tiny touch pad. The result was the formation of a small opening, only slightly bigger then the average fist. From within the recess there came a crimson glow which resembled a smoldering oven. Matt's eyes were haunted as he stared into the red light. Sin stood beside him with a giddy grin on his bleak and hellishly stolid face. He looked on the edge of bursting into fits of hysterical laughter as matt drew in one slow breath.

With a sudden growl of determination he cast his hand into the oven of red light. He took hold of the small bar in the very back and heaved back with it while turning it clockwise. The thing clicked into place. With a suddenness that startled matt the machine went to work with brutal efficiency. Four steel needles erupted outward and into his forearm. He lurched with pain as the steel spikes buried themselves into his bone. His hand now squeezed the grip bar in agony as the recombinant DNA made from Sora's and his own was introduced into his bone marrow.

Matt growled with pain as the machine forced this altered DNA into him. Sin watched with a certain dark glee as yamato bore the pain through clenched teeth as his cells twitched and shifted in a bubbling fire. He looked to sin with his eyes flaring with the fire which burned inside him.

"It is time for your destiny to be realized yamato..."

Sin's mouth opened wide as he fell to his knees like a doll. From his gaping mouth two nostrils and vacant eye sockets a black smoke wafted out. The boy who sin had taken wheezed out the essence of his master with straining contractions of his lungs. Sin seemed to be a gas in essence, though it was no gas, more like a liquid shadow which moved like thick smoke. The boy's mouth was wet with drool as he began shaking with the withdrawal. He didn't loose bladder control, though it seemed plausible that he might.

The malice made smoke wafted upward and away as the boy screamed without words in a silent agony. It was as though without sin to sustain him, death was twisting it's cold grip around him. The boy's eyes were sunken deeper into his skull, they were not normal eyes now that the perpetual blackness of sin was gone, but instead a Bache yellow which was filmy with cataracts.

The dark cloud left him all together as the last lingering tendril of smoke slipped away through the corner of his mouth. His physique was different now too. All the body fat and even the organs seemed to have shriveled away. His chest was pale and tissue-like skin held over reddish black bone. His flesh was almost transparent over the skeleton as his loose flesh wrinkled over his empty stomach and over the legs and arms once laden with some muscle.

Matt stared up at the cloud of living evil with no more fear. He mearly looked at the swirling maelstrom of blackness with a sadness that this truly was his destiny.

Matt had always felt himself in control of his own destiny, but on this dark day he learned an even darker truth. He was the puppet of another god. Where once he had served the Greydramon... now he served sin. He had seen this blackness before, once long ago in the digital world. Inside a cave the blackness had watched over him. That blackness had followed him his whole life... and here he was on the edge of ruling the world, a puppet to a darker master. But that was his new place in this world... he was sin's .

Matt didn't exactly know when it was that the cloud of evil took him. He suddenly found himself breathing the evil into himself like lungfuls of fragrant smoke. It wasn't painful, just strange. He felt the essence of sin enter him. The demon had not lied... he never felt the creature struggle to assume control. He found himself slumping to the ground from the genetic restructuring and the possession. Sin was knitting himself into matt's new genetics, junctioning his power into yamato's.

Matt felt his body suddenly shiver with a strange new aura of strength that could be either Sora's genetic influence, or sin's. He wanted to cry out, but found no words. With a sudden snarl he ripped his arm free of the machine which ripped away in the effort. Matt was stunned by his action and even more so by the lack of pain he felt. He carefully took hold of each of the needles, which still impaled his arm, and pulled them out. The wounds bled, but not badly.

The process had begun... he would now possess the power of the hybrids... the ability to remain awakened upon re-birth. He would never loose his grip on power... for as long as time itself he would reign.

Matt was startled as he looked over to the alter of machinery where Sora had been. She was now gone. She must have slipped away while he was becoming Sin. She must know what was going on... and though he was angry that she had slipped away, he was not infuriated. He would have plenty of time to hunt them all down... matt laughed low in his throat with a darkness that seemed almost like sin's small and yet hellish laugh. He glanced down to his wrist where the tattoo now trickled outward with thousands of black veins.

Friendship was changing within him... sin's dark presence would alter him... as would Sora's contribution to the new and improved yamato Ishida. He watched as the crest pulsed on his wrist, forcing more and more of the darkness outward through his altering body. He wasn't sure what it was he was turning into but he was sure either greater or lesser, it would not be human.

He walked over to the wall and opened the port hole which was covered by armor plating. Beyond its threshold he watched as hundreds died in fiery explosions, as digimon and pilot killed each other all in his name... his new name... and as matt spoke he was unaware of the tears which ran down his cheeks. The last tears of who he once was.

"Sin... sin was my father... it made me and shaped me. Sin is the force which shapes the species.. The power which moves men to kill and to die. Destiny is mine now... the hopes and dreams of all that live are mine now... I can give them their dreams.. Or I can give them their nightmares. I am the force which shapes all things... I am the momentum which stirs the soul.

I am the future... I am Sin....."

Our lives are trees in a garden

each choice you make forms a branch on your tree.

The good choices create strong and majestic boughs,

while the bad create twisted and gnarled limbs.

To forgo the choices, your tree will be bare and ugly.

Like the tree, you are given time to grow.

You will be nurtured by the sun and the rains for many years

until the day comes for the gardener to take a step back and judge how you have grown.

That is the time when some trees are pruned of all rotten branches,

and others will be up-rooted altogether....

Perhaps it's not wise to take gardening philosophy too serious,

but then again....

Not The End...