Chapter 27


	"Flint vs. Ember," Ember read on her DigiPad.  She then looked up and smiled excitedly.  "I was hoping a little I would get the chance to fight.  It wouldn't be right for our teams to fight and leave the team captains out of it."

	"I can't stand losing a fight without being able to do anything," admitted Flint.  He flexed his muscles before jumping down to the arena.  He removed his hoodie and tossed it over to Rex to hold onto while he found not wanting to ruin it when it was still new.  Ember made her way down to the field more elegantly.

	"Is Flint up for this?" asked Angel to Rex.  "She's the strongest out of all of them by a pretty big margin."

	"There's nothing to worry about," Rex said excitedly.  "The only one I've known who has ever been able to brutally defeat Flint is as powerful as a monster."

	"That doesn't exactly fill us with confidence," stated Dan.  "But in the event that Flint pulls through, what are you going to do Fonz?"  When he didn't get a response, Dan turned and called to him again.  "Uh, Fonz?"

	"Huh, what?" Fonz replied seeming to have zoned off looking over at his by process of elimination opponent.

	"You seem a little distracted," Dan added.  "And that's about the last thing we need at this point."

	"Sorry," he apologized.  "I was just strategizing a little.  Don't worry; I'll be ready when the time is right."

	"If you say so," Dan said feeling a little worried that they were still hanging on by a thread, but he left him to his thoughts and turned back to the battlefield.

	"You may have gotten lucky in the last round, but I can tell you that I don't intend to lower my guard on the likes of you for an instant," she told Flint.

	"You better not," he told her.  "If I'm going to win I want to do it while you're at your best."

	"Of course, but correct me if I'm wrong.  You're an Agumon and your main strength is your fire, correct?"

	"Pretty much, but that's basic stuff anyone would know."

	"Then you have no way of winning this fight," she taunted him and the expression of her whole team grinned like they were thinking of the same joke and leaving everyone else in the dark about it.  "Fire has no effect on me, especially not the heartburn of a pipsqueak lizard like you."

	"That's one of his buttons," whimpered Rex hiding behind Angel.

	"His buttons?" asked Dan and surprised at how fearful he looked.

	"Flint has a pretty bad reptile complex," he explained.  "Calling him anything less than a dinosaur really sets him off and she laid into him pretty hard."

	"Don't you know a dinosaur when you see one!" he growled fiercely.  "You said it yourself I breath fire so how could I be anything else?"

	"He does know dinosaurs don't normally breathe fire, right?" asked Dan.

	"That's a good one," laughed Rex.  "And I bet you don't believe that they've evolved to be part machine and fire missiles out of their chest."  Rex kept laughing.  Everyone else remained totally silent.

	"If you want to prove me wrong then go ahead," suggested Ember.  "I'll just stand here and let you hit me with your strongest attack."

	"You brought this one yourself," explained Flint.  "So you better not blame me for it."

	"Just as you better not blame me for your own weakness," she replied.  "Marie, if you would start the match?"

	"Of course," she replied.  "The fourth match, Flint vs. Ember.  Begin!"

	To answer her taunts, Flint urged the fire in his belly to burn hotter as he prepared for a full power attack.  As everyone watched his heat up, the air became wavy as a result and sweat started forming on his body.  When he felt he was ready he forced it up his throat and out his mouth with all his might.

Torch Breath

	The rest of his team might have seen him use that attack before, but never when he was pushed so far and given all the time he needed to unleash his attack at full power.  The fire hit Ember dead on and spread throughout the entire side of her field until it was impossible to see where she was.  She didn't even do anything to defend herself so one would only assume the worst happened.

	Flint panted, feeling the attack was a lot to overkill and was a bit concerned that he might have accidentally killed her.  He quickly tried to catch his breath to call out to her, but Rex called out excitedly to him.  "You did it!" he cheered bouncing around on the bleachers.  "You one-shotted her!  Now they won't be looking down at us anymore."

	"Would you pipe down, yappy dog," ordered Jill to Rex who stopped surprised that she was not shocked at what happened to the leader of their team.  It actually, wasn't so much her, as they were more accustomed to her sadistic behavior at this point, but nobody else on their team seemed the least bit worried either.  Instead, they looked like they were anticipating something.  "And you fire frog, you might want to stay alert if you don't want to miss your own demise."

	There was no time for Flint to retort.  He returned his focus to the burning arena where he could feel an icy chill coming from.  In an instant, the fire danced faster and turned arctic blue.  A hole in the fire opened revealing Ember completely unscathed.  Everyone on Team Matrix and Angel could only stare in awe.  That attack was always Flint's trump move and now it was just as useless as Ember predicted.

	"You are indeed one of the mightier Agumon I have ever faced," she commented brushing her fur to tidy up and show how unfazed she was from his attack.  "The attack was strong at first, but it became a spread attack as you lost control over it, not a very smart thing to do when you have only one small target.  It is just a big waste of energy, but the whole thing was a waste, so no use fretting on that.  Now let me show you how to show off fire power."

Willow Wisp

	Her hands swayed gracefully in front of her as her body became alight with a blue aura.  Even her eyes were shining, but that didn't seem very important as everyone watched the fire move along with her and move in two streams that converged together on their way to Flint and went right into his mouth and down his throat before he even knew how to respond.  Despite being originally his fire and blazing hot moments ago, it felt like swallowing several gallons of ice water that chilled him to his core.

	"Cold!" he cried as he ran back and forth frantically trying to warm up and quickly made Flint appear more like a clown that the serious fighter he was moments ago.  Ember watched his run around till he finally managed to adjust to the cold and calm down.  It wasn't so much out of pity as surprise.  Against anyone else she did something like that to they would instantly collapse from the intense shock.  At the very least they would become too numb to do anything but shiver and yet, Flint was able to take it and run around like his pants were on fire.  In a way, it hurt Ember more than anything else.

	"All done now?" she asked smugly.

	"Yeah, that was something else," he chuckled.  "I knew you were strong, but to use my own fire against me was incredible."

	"You can't be serious," she groaned.  "Aren't you terrified now that your team has no chance of winning now?  You were very worked up not too long ago."

	"I don't think about that sort of stuff when I'm fighting," he admitted.  "And you are one of the best if you can turn my fire cold like that."

	"You shouldn't act so impressed," she commented.  "Haven't you even noticed what happened to your inner fire?"

	"My what?" he started to say, but realized what she meant.  He was so cold couldn't tell before, but the fact that the chill remained inside him scared him.  Desperately he tried to build up the fire in his belly to fire it out, any at all, but after a lot of effort all he managed to do was cough up some bits of frost from stomach.  "What did you do to my fire?"

	"I guess it shouldn't surprise me that you don't know about different types of fire. Most just assume that fire only burns, but that is merely orange fire.  As for myself I can use blue fire, in other words fire that freezes.  Fires of the opposite type are strong against one another so it depends more on the strength of the opponents to determine whose fire is stronger.  And when the weaker one's fire will be put out."

	"But what about you?" asked Flint.  "If I can't use my fire then you don't have any fire to use yourself."

Willow Wisp

	She waved her hands and all around her balls of blue fire appeared around her like souls of the departed.  In a matter of seconds, she was surrounded by flames.  "Who said that I needed anyone else to create fire for me?" she questioned him.  "On my team my title is Priestess of the Frozen Flame, Ember, and in a battle of fires I have never lost a single fight once.  Now that you see all this, will you surrender to spare your life?  After all, you will belong to me once my team wins this battle and I wouldn't want to break you now."  Flint growled in protest and charged at Ember despite the incredible onslaught awaiting him.  "I figured you would respond like that."  With a wave of her hands she sent the balls of frozen fire in Flint's direction, but he showed no interest in dodging; only charging straight at Ember.

	The attacks rained down like hail stones all over the field.  When they managed to connect with him it was a piercing cold that chilled him to his bones and make him lose the feeling in his body.  It was easily a lot more devastating without his fire to help him.  All he had left was guts to keep him going.

	Ember planned readied a group of flames to connect with Flint just as he came within reach of her.  "I'm sorry, but you'll never reach me," she declared as she fired the icy flames at him freezing his body in a layer of ice.  His movement was halted, though the look in his face was clear that he was trying with all his might to break free.  Ember watched his struggle finding it both sad and cute that he didn't know when to quit.  "What did I tell you?  You'll never reach me."

	"Yes... I... CAN!!!" roared Flint defiantly as he started moving again cracking the ice around him in the process.  Ember readied her arms to launch another attack, but Flint had already leaped at her and grabbed her arms to keep her from attacking.  He held onto her like a vice and she gritted her teeth in pain.  "I caught you and you can't control your fire without being able to move your hands."

	"Not as well," she growled no longer interested in playing with him.  "But I can hit you so long as I can see you."  Her eyes glowed blue as several flames flew and struck Flint on the chest knocking him back and causing him to tumble.  Quickly, he recovered and charged at Ember while half his chest was covered under an inch of ice.

	With the use of her arms she rained down her blue fire faster than before and with much greater power as it created chunks of ice on the ground upon contact and was quickly changing the battlefield into an icy one.  A cluster of flames dropped down right on Flint, but when the ice appeared he was not in it.  Instead he dashed out of the way around ran around it.  Ember tried again and again to hit him, but he always managed to avoid it.

	"He was blindly running forward before and now he's avoiding my attack without even looking out for them," she thought to herself. "He couldn't have figured out the timing from his last assault, could he?"


	There wasn't enough time for her to think as Flint managed to get within reach of her again.  Instinctively, she fired a barrage of icy flames at him, but he dove out of the way, sliding on his frozen belly and getting behind her.  Quickly he grabbed her tail and started swinging her around with his might faster and faster till she was a yellow blur.  Her flames just flickered harmlessly in the sky as she was too disoriented to do a thing about it.  Both teams watched in amazement as Flint managed to turn it around.  Rex was unable to keep in his seat and was at the edge of the bleachers cheering.  Jill seemed rather annoyed at this upset and was taking it off on Jack by pulling at his ears.

	"And this is game!" shouted Flint as he flung her towards the edge of the battlefield with all his might.  It didn't seem like she was able to doing anything to stop her flight path, but with what focus she could muster sent a wave of flames towards the edge of the battlefield creating an icy slope she used to avoid falling out and then she continued to extend it and slide along running circles around Flint.  As she did, the small flames started to spiral around above the arena growing bigger as they connected one another until they formed into a single massive one.  It radiated so much icy chill that it created a cold mist throughout the room and frosted all the windows over.  Everyone shivered and rubbed their arms together to stay warm.  Rex and Dan hugged close to Angel.  Rex also put on Flint's hoodie making him regret taking it off in the first place.  Once her attack was ready she let it drop down on Flint.

Deep Freeze

	He stared up and the enormous flame coming down on him and knew there was nowhere to run to.  It was easily going freeze everything in it and if he tried to escape he would lose.  Instead he stood there defiantly as his body started to freeze just from being so close to it.  When the flame finally hit it quickly froze into an enormous ball of ice trapping Flint in the center of it barely even visible to them.

	"Declare this fight over," Ember told Flints team since Flint was incapable of doing anything.  "Do it now or in a few seconds his heart will stop and he'll really die.  That ice can only be melted by me so you better surrender for him fast."

	"You'd better listen to her," Love added.  "Nobody can beat Ember when she uses that attack."

	"If you don't say anything soon it will be too late," Jill told them coldly.  "But at least he'll go peacefully.  I can't say I would be so nice."

	"You are colder than the ice," muttered Jack since the cold was helping his swollen tongue shrink back to normal.  Jill simply grabbed his tongue and stuck it to some metal making it freeze to it.

	"I hate to say it," Dan said.  "But we can't stall any longer.  We have to surrender to save Flint."

	"Don't even think that," shouted Rex still shivering and a bit of snot dripping down his nose from a combination of the cold and being upset about Flint.  "We have to have faith that Flint will win.  He won't lose to some stupid ice."

	"You have a lot of confidence in your friend," commented Ember.  "Too bad that sentiment won't reach him through all that ice.  Now give up while there is still some time."

	Inside the ice, Flint was barely conscious.  He didn't feel cold because he lost all feeling due to numbness and was feeling so tired.  He knew he had to stay awake or he'd freeze to death, but there was nothing he could do to stop it at this point.  He closed his eyes and he began to dream.

	In the dream he was standing outside of himself as a spirit.  He was still frozen unable to do anything.  Suddenly, he heard a scream and turned to see his team, his friends badly injured on the ground.

	"Flint you have to help us," groaned Dan.

	"Yeah," moaned Jack.  "Where are you when we need you?"

	"Come on, Flint," muttered Fonz.  "This isn't cool."

	"Flint," Rex barely managed to utter.

	Behind them, Flint saw a big black figure with blazing red eyes, the same one from all his nightmares.  It cackled devilishly and raised a very sharp and heavy weapon.  Flint tried calling out to his friends, but found his voice was inaudible.  It was just as lost as his fire was.  He could not look away as the blade struck them and their bodies started to dissolve into ones and zeroes that vanished into the sky.

	"You've never given up so easily before," Rex cried.  "Don't start now."  That was all he could say before he vanished and the others soon after him.  Flint sobbed and wanted to scream, but nothing came out.  He kept pushing knowing it was there somewhere and h just had to reach it.  Suddenly a rasping voice started to emerge as faint warmth filled inside him.  It grew bigger and hotter insider of him as his voice became louder and more pronounced.  Embers escaped his muzzles as the fire was overflowing inside of him and yet still building up.  It kept increasing still it was erupting out his maw and growing bigger and more powerful swallowing everything around him.

Fire Matrix

	As Ember waited for an answer she felt her feet become wet.  She looked down and gazed in surprise as her ice was melting.  "That's impossible," she stated as he turned to the giant ball of ice and could see water dripping off it everywhere in great abundance.  Cracks soon began forming on it as boiling hot steam erupted out everywhere.  "He can't use his fire and even if he can it shouldn't be able to do this."  She said that, but it was clearly not true as the ice burst apart and turned to water as a geyser of fire erupted out, its source was Flint.  As everyone gazed down on him, his scales were a golden orange that was likely the result of the fire surging throughout his body and draped over his body like a mantle.  He walked towards Ember and any ice that was in his path melted and evaporated instantly.

	"It was freezing just a moment ago," commented Dan.  "And now it is like a sauna.  What did Flint just do?"

	"I'm not sure," answered Flint with surprise.  "He never did something like this before but it is easily the most amazing thing I've ever seen before."

	"How did you do that?" shouted Ember.  "How did your fire get so strong?"

	"I have to be strong," replied Flint fiercely.  "I can't lose to some stupid ice."  He let out a fierce roar and readied another fire attack.

Torch Breath

	The fire erupted from his maw with a greater intensity than before, pushing him back a bit in the process.  Ember could tell it was not something she wanted to be hit with and used her power to try and take control over it and make it her own.

Willow Wisp

	She focus all her might on the fire and while it began to turn blue for a second it quickly reverted to normal and kept flying to her.  There was no time to get out of its way now.  Instead, she drew together as much ice fire between her and the attack to soften the damage.  It succeed in shrinking the attack a bit, but there the flames still got to her and scorched her body badly sending her to her knees in agony, but the look on her face showed she was not done yet.

	"That was certainly an impressive attack," she admitted.  "But it looks like you used a lot of energy in that last attack."  Indeed, she was right.  Flint's body had returned to normally and he was panting hard.  It had got him out of a tight spot, but he didn't have room for much more, but by the look of Ember she wasn't faring any better.  "This fight has gone on long enough.  Let's finally decide who is stronger with one finally assault."  Flint nodded and at once they both gathered their remaining strength.

Fire Matrix

Willow Wisp

	At the same time, Flint's body exploded with fire while Ember renewed her supply of icy flames.  There was a lot of tension on the battlefield as the fire and ice didn't mix very well when it made contact in the middle.  It only grew worse as their neared ready for their final attacks.

Torch Breath

	Flint brought all his fire together and launched it out his mouth.  It was even greater than the last one he fired since he didn't have to waste any fire beforehand.  The force of the attack knocked him back further, but he dug his claws into the ground to keep him under control.

Deep Freeze

	In contrast to her previous giant ball of ice that she dropped onto the arena she fired this one similar to how Flint had attacked so they would meet head on.  When the two attacks made contact a great amount of steam filled the room as chunks of ice and fire scattered everywhere.  It was hard to believe, but both attacks were dead even and died out in the middle of the chaos they created.

	Without waiting for the steam to dissipate, Flint charged through to attack.  Ember was ready, managing to create a few flames.  She through the first, but Flint managed to avoid it and keep going.  The next one came and he avoided that one as well and leaped at Ember.  He bound her arms like he had before, but he still had to find a way to stop her eyes and she still had a single ice ball left.  With his arms already in use Flint could ram his head against hers and did just that.  In response, Ember leaned back to try and avoid him, but quickly lost her balance in the process.  They both fell to the ground and ended up face-to-face and lips against lips in an extremely unintentional kiss that left everyone agape at the sight of it.

	As soon as they were able to recover from it, Flint started to get off Ember, but she abruptly pushed him off and ran away.  She stepped out of bounds and ran through the door looking quite exasperated.  She clutched her chest as her face was flushed red.  "I'm so glad I got out of there when I didn't," she said to herself.

	"Where did you go?" called Flint chasing after her.  "We can't end the fight with you just running away.  Let's have a rematch."  He paused for a moment when his stomach let out a monstrous growl.  "But could we get a bite to eat first?"

	"Get away from me," she cried as she ran away hiding her face, but Flint kept chasing her holding his empty stomach.

	"I can't believe Ember lost," said Lucy.

	"I can't believe she kissed the frog prince," chuckled Jill.  "But it looks like he was just a frog the whole time."

	"Good one," snickered Jack, his tongue unfrozen after Flint heated things up.

	"Well I think it is wonderful she found true love," Love said cheerfully.

	"Don't be ridiculous," Jill scoffed.  "It was just an accident that happened and she ran off to get the lizard spit out of her mouth."


	"Call it whatever you want," taunted Rex.  "But we won that round and it is all tied up and there is only one round left."

	"And your fighter won't fight," countered Jill.  "Alright, Marie let's get the final round started and claim victory.  Marie?  Where's Marie?"

	"Fonz isn't here either," added Dan searching around.  "Where did they go?"

	"They were here during the fight weren't they?" asked Angel.

	"I don't know," answered Lucy.  "We were so preoccupied with the fight they could have slipped away.  They were awfully quiet the entire time now that I think about it."

	"Hey guys, check this out," said Rex looked down at the end of the bleachers.  "I found them."

	Everyone gathered around to see and none could believe it.  They found Marie making out with Fonz in the corner.  Her lipstick was smeared all over his face indicating they had been at it for some time and were unaware now that they had an audience.

	"Did you two start your fight early?" asked Rex sounding too sincere for the others to believe he didn't understand what he was seating.  "Are you winning Fonz?"

	The two stopped to see everyone there was watching them.  "We actually decided on a tie," Fonz muttered.  "Uh, is the other fight over?"

	"Flint won," answered Dan.  "But if you two are agreeing to a tie then nobody wins."

	"You can't do that, Marie," Jill argued.  "Don't you know what Ember would do if she was here?"

	"Then I guess she isn't and if you don't recall I am next in command so don't cross me," she said in a calm tone that was a lot more threatening than it seemed.  "Now it is a tie and the bet is off because of it."

	"Does that mean I'm free?" asked Jack.

	"No," answered Jill.  "But seeing as things are over I suppose I can let you off the hook for now."

	"That's a load off," stated Dan as he sighed happily.

	"Guess this is goodbye for now then," Fonz said to Marie lovingly.

	"For now anyway," she cooed.  "Come on now, let's go find Ember."  The Three Killers left quite quick leaving Team Matrix and Angel alone.

	"So that was your plan to avoid fighting?" asked Dan to Fonz.

	"I was still thinking about that," he explained.  "But then I noticed how fine she was and well you saw what happened."


	They managed to meet up with Flint back in the cafeteria where he was eating up a storm.  He lost track of Ember fast and his hunger was demanding he eat immediately.  The rest of his team joined him in a feast to celebrate if not a victory, another day of survival.  As they ate, Angel revealed the deal she and Rex had made and it quickly filled at least a few of the members with excitement with getting such great seats.  For Rex, it was a nightmare that he was going to have to perform on stage and be the center of so much scorn and besides Flint he didn't think he'd get much help from the rest of his team if things got ugly.

	They left a few hours later to head for home, Angel joining them when the fireworks show was brought up.  They left the cafeteria a vacant area with not a scrap of food left.

	"I don't know where you guys put it," stated Fonz referring to Rex and Flint who did the most damage at the cafeteria with Dan a far off third.  "You both eat like you are ten Digimon at least."

	"I can't speak for Rex," explained Flint.  "But that new move I had really makes me hungry.  The way I figure, it burns through my energy at least ten times faster to boost my fire like that.  It was enough to give me my fire back in the match, but I don't think I want to use it too often.  I wouldn't be able to use it on an empty stomach and it makes me too hungry afterwards."

	"Well what happened to Ember after the fight?" asked Rex.

	"Not sure," replied Flint.  "She ran off really fast."

	"She was probably disgusted with your frog spit," joked Jack.

Fire Matrix

	"What did you say?!?" growled Flint suddenly draped in fire.

	"You'd better run," Rex whispered to Jack who took the advice quickly as Flint chased him down.  Rex followed after exciting for a good chase.  Angel, Fonz, and Dan just watched them run off.

	"I've got to know," said Dan breaking the awkward moment.  "What is The Killer Three's big secret anyway?"

	"You haven't guessed yet?" asked Fonz a little surprised.  "I thought it would be a bit obvious by now."

	"It will probably be alright to tell you," stated Angel.  "You look like you can keep a secret.  You see, the Three Killers, or at least that girls currently making up the team are searching for boyfriends.  As unbelievable as it might sound for some of them, they all do it in their own unique ways.  In a way, that team is sort of like a sisterhood."

	"So then Ember left because she fell for Flint?" asked Dan.

	"Looks that way," stated Fonz.  "He doesn't know it, but he's got a lot of charm and Ember seeing him fight on like that was just too much for her to resist."

	"And that kiss at the end," added Angel.  "Real or not was the real finishing blow.  Wonder how things will develop for them."

	"Not sure," answered Dan.  "But I doubt we'll see them for a while now."  Three followed after Flint and the others to head home.


	"What are you doing here?" asked Dan with surprise as they encountered the Digimon from the Killer Threes waiting for them at their home.

	"We heard we got new neighbors," explained Jill.  "And lo and behold it was you guys.  We live in the house nearby so it looks like we'll be seeing each other a lot."

	"You aren't going to try and fight us again?" asked Jack a bit worried.

	"We all took and vote and decided to be friends with you guys," Love explained.

	"Besides you guys proved a lot tougher than you look," added Lucy.

	"Some of them anyway," chuckled Jill looking at Jack.  He looked ready to open his mouth and argue, but she lifted a single finger and he got quiet.

	"Good to see you again," said Fonz fixing his afro a bit.

	"Same to you cutie," she answered blowing him a kiss.

	"Where's Ember?" asked Flint looking around.

	"Up in that tree over there," answered Marie.  "She wasn't feeling well after the fight so she wants to be alone."

	"Guess she must've gotten her pride broken when I beat her like that," said Flint.  "I should go and apologize."

	"Uh, no need," interrupted Marie.  "She'll be fine in no time."  Her words didn't seem to convince Flint not to go see her, but luckily it was dark enough for the fireworks to start and the loud explosions over the lake caught his attention.  Everyone turned to gaze at them in amazement as they lit up the sky like diamonds that reflected on the water below and in their gazing eyes.  They weren't the only ones gazing up at it either as everyone else at Server Oasis was watching all around the lake.  Fonz sat close to Marie and Dan sat next to Angel who was snuggling next to Rex who was paying more attention to the fireworks than her.  As Flint watched the fireworks he was unaware that Ember had snuck in closer to get a better look at him as he watched.  She covered her face to hide her blushing cheeks if anyone happened to see her.  Jack was watching the fireworks, but suddenly found Jill sitting very close next to him.  It was very uncomfortable for him when he put her arm around his shoulder and hugged him so he cheek was pressed against her shoulder, but he figured that was the nicest he'd ever get to see her.

	Behind all of them were the hooded figured watching them instead of the fireworks, focusing their eyes on Angel.  "Should we get her now?" asked one losing his patience for stealth.

	"No," replied another.  "There are too many down there.  It will be hard for us to get away with all of them there, but tomorrow at her show we'll have a better opportunity.  For now, let's let her enjoy her last night free before we bring her to our master."