Chapter 30


	The night sky was thick with clouds which ended up being a good thing for Flint and the others as they flew above the Blue Moon Kingdom.  Even at night it was fairly easy to spot a bright pink plane in the sky and they needed stealth above everything else.

	Below them was a rather large city that was dwarfed by the castle next to it, their target.  Everything else around was just forests and mountains.  The castle was made of stone and rock that was carved into a grand masterpiece.  In the dark, it seemed very creepy with gargoyles on the roof and stein glass windows with very intricate designs.  Torches were lit to help illuminate things, but at their current elevation they couldn't see much of what was down there.

	"I'll go over the plan once more," Rich informed them as they neared the drop zone.  "You'll all have to parachute in and recover Angel, and the rest of your team.  It is not guaranteed they will all be in the same place, but it is important that you all remain together."

	"Why can't we split up?" asked Rex.  "We will be able to hide better if we aren't together."

	"The odds will be bad enough as is, so you'll need to stick together to survive," explained Rich.  "The biggest risk of separation so far is the drop off.  It has been a bit windier than I had hoped it would be, but feels like it has calmed down for the moment.  This is our chance, so get ready to jump and good luck to all of you."

	"We don't need luck," stated Flint.  "All we need is to kick their butts."

	"Yeah and its ninja butts so that makes it even better," chuckled Rex excitedly.

	"That's enough talking about butts," said Jack.  "No offense, but I don't understand your fascination with kicking them."

	"You just kicked a butt before have you?" asked Flint.

	"Or at least not hard enough," laughed Rex.

	"We're in position," informed Rich as he handed them each a parachute.  "Grab a parachute and get ready to jump."  He started to walk away, not sure if they would succeed or even if he would ever see any of them again.  Taking a deep breath he chose to send them off with all his faith and belief resting on them.  "I know you will bring them all back safe."

	Securely fastening their parachutes on, Flint opened the door causing the cabin to decompress as the air began to get sucked out.  Everyone held fast to avoid getting sucked out holding onto the chairs for support.  Once the air inside was equal to their air outside, it was safe for them all to let go.  Flint, Rex, and Jack then lined up at the door and one after another they took a step forward for the big plunge.  Walking to the door, and with a heavy heart, Rich closed the door and returned to the cockpit to turn off the auto pilot and head for home.  There was nothing more he could do now.

	"Bet you I can go the longest without pulling my chord," stated Rex as they were freefalling.

	"You're on!" shouted Flint finding it hard to hear as they plummeted to the ground.

	"Shouldn't we be focusing more on the mission than games?" cried Jack unable to keep his eyes off the ground.  "Or at least the hard castle that we're getting ever closer too.  I don't know about you, but I'd like to at least make it alive beyond this part."

	"Fine," grumbled Flint pulling his chord and finding himself being pulled back up into the sky as the parachute caught the wind before descending a lot slower.  Rex pulled his right after and his came out just the same.

	"We were just messing with you a little," added Rex chuckling a little at how nervous Jack looked.

	"Blah, blah, blah," mumbled Jack as he tried to pulling his chord, but nothing happened.  "What?  It's not working.  My parachute isn't working!"

	"Very funny," replied Rex.  "You are just trying to prank us back for the joke we just put on you."

	"I'm serious," he cried pulling it more and more erratically, sweat pouring down his face.  "This can't be happening!"

	"I don't think he's kidding," Flint replied seeing him quickly near the castle.  "Jack!"

	"Flint?" he replied sobbing a little.

	"I know we were always making you the butt of our jokes and stuff, but you know it was just because we're friends."

	"You really mean that?" asked Jack seeing his end in sight.

	"Me too," cried Rex.  "We're a team.  The best of friends.  Who've have thought it would end like this?"

	"I know," stated Jack solemnly, only seconds left before his collision.  "But there's one last thing I have to tell you."  They both looked down eager to hear what he had to say.  A grin suddenly spread across his face as he looked up and stuck his tongue out while pulling down one of his eye lids in a teasing manner.  "Fooled ya!"  Pulling on his chord for real, he released his parachute and saved himself by the narrowest of margins.  "Looks like I got the last laugh this time."

	A wild wind then blew pushing Jack towards the castle making him slide along the castle top on his rear, giving him a pretty nasty butt burn before slipping off and crashing through the roof of a lower level of the castle.

	"Never a dull minute with him," chuckled Flint.  "But he knows we were supposed to stick together."

	"No accounting for wind I guess," stated Rex as another strong gust blew in between them.  "Uh, this doesn't look good."

	"But somehow expected," sighed Flint.  "Quick, grab my hand so we don't get separated."

	"I'm trying!" cried Rex fumbling in the air, but he just couldn't move closer to Flint.  They were at the mercy of the wind and it chose to blow them further and further apart.  "What do we do now?"

	"What we do best!" shouted Flint. "Kick butt!"

	"Kick butt!" screamed Rex.

	"Go Team Matrix!" they shouted together as they lost sight of one another.  Rex crashed through the roof and entered a very delicious smelling room.  Flint, on the other hand, somehow managed to avoid crashing through the higher levels of the castle and instead crashed into one of the lower levels.  As he slowly floated to the ground he saw he was in some sort of gymnasium.  The floor was matted with soft exercise pads; the walls had an assortment of exercise gear like weights, jump ropes, and medicine balls on it on hooks and shelves.  There were also weapons like swords, spears, and axes.  However, the most alarming thing that Flint saw was that a class was still in session with more than a dozen Digimon dressed as ninjas were practicing punches and kicks in unison as they worked on their breathing.  They didn't even seem to be able to notice him crashing through the roof and landed in the very center of the room, his parachute blanketing over him.

	"Maybe they didn't notice me," thought Flint as he struggled out of his parachute.  It was a bit harder than he expected, but once he managed to poke his head out he saw all the ninjas had gathered around him and didn't look happy at all.  "Looks like I'm going to be kicking butt a lot sooner than I expected."

	"Where am I?" asked Fonz as he finally came to.  Looking at his surroundings he discovered he was in a dimly lit dungeon.  He was grateful that he wasn't wearing one of his afros as the dankness would have ruined it.  As his consciousness to his surroundings came more into focus he realized something wasn't right.  From the way he was positioned he was already standing up, but his feet weren't even touch the ground.  When he tried to move he realized he was chained to something.  Then he realized that something was alive as he suddenly started hopping about.  "Who am I attached to?"

	"Fonz is that you?" asked Dan looking around.  "Where are you?"

	"I believe we're chained together," he said.  "But how long have you been awake for?"

	"A few hours I think," replied Dan.

	"A few hours and you haven't noticed that you were chained to me at all?" stated Fonz in disbelief.

	"Sorry," apologized Dan.  "I got distracted by the carvings in this room.  It makes me wonder just what other archeological finds this place must have."

	"Do any of them tell us how we can get out of here?" asked Fonz trying futilely to get free.

	"No, but there is a door over there," Dan answered. "And before you get upset I already check and it's locked."

	"Figures," sighed Fonz.  "Well where are the others?  I remember Angel was captured along with us."

	"It looks like we're the only ones here," observed Dan.  "They were after Angel so they probably have her somewhere else and the others I have no clue about, but they aren't here."

	"If they haven't been captured or killed yet," said Fonz.  "What are the odds they are on their way to rescue us?"

	"Pretty good if you ask me," responded Dan.  "But even so we'd better do more than wait around.  I just wish we could break free of these chains.  It's a pain to hop around everywhere."

	"At least you can hop," commented Fonz.  "I can't do more than move my ears.  This is a really uncool situation we're in."

	"Now, now," stated a voice from the door as it opened.  It was Nikki of the four ninjas that had attacked them earlier.  "You should be glad that you are still alive.  The others wanted to execute you, but I convinced them that Angel would want some of her friends to witness her wedding.  At the very least, it's bought you a few more hours of life.  It won't be good to allow you to leave knowing what you do."

	"That makes us feel a lot better," grumbled Dan.  "Then what did you do to our friends?"

	"I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but we just left them dying a slow agonizing death," admitted Nikki.  "They are long dead by now."


	"Marry you?" Angel replied in disbelief.  "You've got to be kidding."

	"I am quite serious my dear," he answered.  "After all, you are my love, the princess, and I am your Blue Moon Prince.   We were meant to be together."

	"I'm sure you think that's the truth," stated Angel in the nicest way she could.  "It is quite flattering that you think I'm a princess and I'm sure you are a prince, but please don't take this the wrong way, but you're a five year old Gumdramon."

	"I'm eight and a half," he replied hugging at her waist.  "And we will be together and happy forever my lovely Angel."

	"But we hardly know each other," she replied.  "I don't even know your name."

	"My name is Arthur," he answered.  "Quite fitting for a king don't you think?"

	"I guess so, but as I've said before you are too young," she repeated adamantly.  "Besides, my heart belongs to another."

	"Another?" cried Arthur.  "Who is this other?  Tell me now so that I might destroy him."

	"I'm not telling you," she replied.  "So you might as well let me go and try calling me in about ten years to see if I'm still available."

	"Your highness," shouted Shadow rushing into the throne room.  "I have urgent business to report."

	"It had better be good," Arthur snapped.  "I was in the middle of swooning over my love before my nap."

	"We've detected three intruders invading the castle by parachuting," he reported.  "It is highly likely they have come to reclaim the princess and their companions."

	"Then I can assume that among them is the fiend hampering Angel and my love," deducted Arthur.  "Have you sent the troops to apprehend them?"

	"That's just the thing, sire," replied Shadow.  "We've never had to deal with intruders before so none of our guards are sure how to handle this.  And to be perfectly honest, I doubt they would be able to stop them.  It would be much less costly to let them walk into our traps so that we can capture them.  We, your elite ninja team have already defeated them once, we can do it again.  Until then, remain in this section of the castle with your bride to be."

	"Then I leave it up to you to make sure they regret coming to my kingdom to steal my princess," stated Arthur.

	"Don't underestimate them," argued Angel.  "They will not be as easy as you think to defeat.  They will beat you and rescue me."

	"Then how about a wager, my dear," suggested Shadow. "If they can reach you then you are free to leave, but if they are all captured then you will remain here of your free will and happily marry the prince."

	"Do not carelessly wager my fiance," argued Arthur unhappy with such a risky bet.

	"I assure you that we will win without fail," promised Shadow.  "Just have a little faith in your most loyal warriors."

	"Very well then," agreed Arthur.  "And what say you Princess Angel?"

	Pausing for a moment to consider the offer she knew it was costly if she lost and in this situation, winning only worked if they kept their word.  Angel had no idea if they would honor their side of the deal or merely betray her trust, but knew there was no harm in agreeing since losing was the same with or without the bet.  If they failed to rescue her now there was very little chance that someone else would come to her rescue.

	"It's a bet," she answered bravely.  "If they rescue me I'm going home and if they fail this will be my new home and I'll gladly be your bride."