Digimon 1. Chapter I: Pain

Chapter I

Pain

Tai Yagami set his glass down on the coffee table and slumped back in his chair. It was his third shot of vodka, but he hardly felt it slide down his throat. It did nothing for him, and he knew it. Drowning out pain had never worked in the past, why should it now? He had always thought it a cop out to seek relief from pain like this. But he'd never thought….

"Damn it…."

He rubbed his forehead wearily. How had it all gone so far downhill? He had never thought it would be this way. He had done his best, been the best friend he could, but somehow it had all fallen apart. He reached back to the coffee table, but instead of the shot glass his hand grasped a framed photograph.

Staring back at him were twelve young faces. His own face, and the faces of eleven people that he loved and would die for. His finger traced lovingly across the group. The picture had been taken nearly four years ago, before his college career had begun. He mentally named each one of them as his finger touched on each: Matt, Sora, Joe, T.K., Mimi, Izzy, and his little sister Kari. Then there were the newer digidestined: Davis, Yolie, Ken, and Cody, the youngest member of the group.

A tear pushed its way past his defenses. These were his friends, as close to his heart as family. They had shared times together that few people were fortunate to even imagine. They had lived together, fought together, saved the world together. They were everything to him.

What had happened?

Tai leaned back, wiping the dampness from the corner of his eye, trying to close out more recent memories. Hurtful memories that cut at him like broken glass.

Everything should be so perfect. His seventh semester at the University of Tokyo had just ended, and it had been as fantastic as the first six. Already he had been contacted by numerous political offices offering him enviable positions, effective the moment he graduated at the end of his final semester. His current internship had given him nothing but successes. And as always, his previous record as leader of the Odaiba digidestined weighed heavily in his favor as a future political leader. He stood before a promising, exciting career. Not bad for a young man who had barely made it through his early education. But standing on this brink of success left him with nothing but pain. What was the use?

He was the chosen of Courage. The leader who had guided his group through every danger and brought them back safe and sound. Everything that he had done had been done for his friends and family. It was because he cared so much for them that he had found the courage to risk his life so many times to save them and to face the dark digimon that had threatened everything he held dear. And it was for his friends and family that he had pursued government courses, once peace had come to both the digital and human world. It was his way of making sure that he could better safeguard and protect them.

Tai set the photo back down on the table and reached to refill the shot glass. He had never thought that the very reason for his effort would reject him.

He gulped down the liquor. This time his eyes watered from the alcohol instead of the pain.

"Why?" Tia muttered to himself. He reached for the bottle once more.

Keys scraped in the lock to the apartment's front door, followed by muffled laughter. Tai sighed, looks like he wouldn't be drinking himself into oblivion tonight. He carefully composed himself as the door swung open and his roommates lurched into the room. He stood up and flashed his trademark grin at his two roommates.

"Looks like you two had fun tonight." He remarked nonchalantly.

The taller of the two young men brushed his dark hair out of his eyes and regarded Tai with an unsteady gaze before turning to his blonde companion.

"Did we have fun, Hirisho?"

Hirisho nodded emphatically. "Hell yeah, lot's of fun! You should have been there. So much fun. Helen throws the greatest parties. American girls know how to have a good time."

Kimo continued to paw at his hair as Tai watched them with an amused expression.

"Why don't you ever come man? It must be so boring hanging by yourself, and break just started. Have some fun. Just cause you're a great leader of men doesn't mean you have to stand on your own."

Tai flinched at Kimo's last statement. Stand alone…. He shook his head.

"I had some things to finish. And I wanted to look over some news reports about the digital world, you know, seeing how things are going with the gates being open for anyone with a digivice."

Hirisho grabbed on to Tai's mention of the digital world.

"Hey, ya know that Kimo and I haven't been there yet. You told us that one of these days you'd take us there for a visit. Breaks started and all that, and we got time. How about it? You'll take us there tomorrow?"

Tai frowned. Obviously the two were right. He had offered to take them to the digital world when classes weren't so pressing. But neither of the two were digidestined, and the idea of babysitting them there was less than attractive.

Tai sighed. He did have nothing better to do the next day. And Agumon was already there. He had gone home to visit while Tai was busy with finals. And it would get his mind off….. unpleasant thoughts for a little while.

"All right, we'll go tomorrow. But first, you two need to go to bed. And drink a lot of water first."

Kimo looked indignant.

"What, you think we're drunk?"

Hirisho took a step and tripped over a chair leg, sprawling across the apartment floor.

Tai rolled his eyes.

"Yes. Get in bed. We'll head out first thing in the morning. I can open a gate from my computer here. Gennai uploaded a gate program for me a few months ago."

Hirisho pulled himself off the ground muttering curses.

"Who put that bloody chair in the way?"

Tai turned back to the photo as the other two prepared for bed. His eyes were sad.

"Stand alone…. How did it come to that?"


	2. Chapter II: The Cause

Chapter II

The Cause

Kari glared at her brother furiously, her bright eyes now fiery with anger. It looked for a moment like she would slap him. But with visible effort she controlled herself, and instead turned away from him. When she spoke, her voice was no longer raised in anger, but instead cold and level.

"Leave me alone Tai. It's my decision what I do with my own life…. and you don't have any part in it."

_You don't have any part in it._

Kari turned and ran out of the apartment, leaving Tai standing rigid in place. Shock had paralyzed him momentarily. Shock that his little sister, the loving little girl that he had watched over and protected for so long had just said those words to him. Then the shock was replaced by a deep, numbing sensation in his heart.

"I don't have any part in it?"

Hurt and sadness echoed forlornly in his voice. He had only been concerned for her. Maybe he had acted a little overprotective. But she was his little sister. How else was he supposed to act towards her? Then a sudden shiver ran down his spine.

_The darkness._

Tai ran to the door and threw it open. Instead of the bright hallway, all his eyes could perceive were shadows. Complete and utter nothing. Kari was out there, alone in the darkness.

"Kari! Come back! Please!"

But no sound came back from the dark. Suddenly, the darkness formed itself into a massive arm, reaching out to him. Tai stumbled back a step, then it was upon him. As he raised his right arm to protect himself, he heard his sister's cold words echo out of the void.

"Good bye Tai."

"Noooooooo!"

Tai sat up in bed, covered in sweat. He looked around widely at his surroundings. He was in his apartment, the light of the moon beaming in on his face. He could hear his roommates snoring through the walls. The nightmare…..

Tai stood and walked to the desk at the far end of his room. The vodka was there, where he had left it. He poured a shot and drank it quickly. That dream…. it had only been a dream.

He thought back to the last time he had really talked to his little sister. The conversation had been the same as in the dream. But the hall hadn't been filled with darkness when he had charged out into the hall way to find her. It had simply been empty. Kari had already left the apartment building.

She had meant what she said though. He had no part in her life anymore.

_Just like the others._

He'd lost them all, for one reason or another. As the group had gotten older and the threats from the digital world less frequent, his relationship with those he loved had gone downhill. Tai shook his head, finally allowing himself to meditate on what had happened in the last few years. Matt, Sora, Kari, Joe, Izzy, Mimi, T.K., Davis, Ken, Yolei, Cody…

_They all grew up, moved on with their lives. That's a good thing. I was proud of them. So proud. But then they started to view my involvement in their lives as an impediment to their freedom. They still think of me as a leader… and they don't need a leader any more. But what was I supposed to do? Not be there for them? I couldn't help trying to support them. I was trying to be a friend… but they saw it as me trying to usurp their lives. One by one, they started to avoid me. Most just stopped talking to me gradually, like Mimi, Joe, Izzy, T.K., Yolei and Ken. Kari simply blew up on me because I tried to keep a big brother's eye on her, asking her where she had been and who she was with. Davis got ticked at me for calling him out on that stupid drunken stunt that he pulled on New Years. Not that it wasn't funny, but he could have killed himself. Then he accused me of turning Kari away from him. That wasn't true. I didn't think he was the best for Kari, but it's her choice, not mine. And Matt and Sora…_

Tai sighed. That one was too painful to think of right now. They had been his closest friends in the world. He would have died for them in a heart beat.

_But they didn't trust me._

He remembered that night when he had finally pinned them down to ask why they had been avoiding him.

_They said that my closeness to both of them took away from their relationship to each other. That wasn't all though. I could see it in Matt's eyes. He was afraid that I would try something with Sora._

Then they had asked him not to contact them anymore. That had hurt. But even more than their request, their lack of trust devastated him.

It had taken a while to recover from that. Tai had drank a lot, came close to failing a few classes, and almost ended up in the slammer for alcohol related "incidents." Agumon had steered him through those days. What would he have done without him?

Tai grinned in the dark.

_That cheeky little bugger concentrated on keeping me too irritated with him to think about the others. Kept me sane until the hurt let up a little. It still hurts, but Agumon reminded me that I could get through this. Can't wait to see him tomorrow._

He thought about the two idiots disguised as college seniors who would be coming with him.

_Agumon'll think I'm nuts for bringing them. Maybe I am nuts. But it might be the most entertaining experience with the digital world yet… And if its at Kimo and Hirisho's expense, so much the better._

Tai grimaced at the bottle of Vodka in his hand before recapping it.

"Enough of this stuff. I don't need it."

It was time to get some sleep, the next day promised to be interesting.


	3. Chapter III: That Dark Recognition

Chapter III

That Dark Recognition

"Three year olds. They are acting like three year olds in a candy shop."

Tai covered his eyes in shame, trying to avoid the sight of two college seniors running about Primary Village like lunatics, scaring the baby digimon in their enthusiasm to see everything there was to see. Elecmon was cradling a bawling baby digimon and glaring at him. An irate Elecmon was not something Tai liked dealing with.

"Tai, I always said that your friends are my friends, but could you get those two screwballs out of my nursery?!"

Few people who ever heard Elecmon's angry voice failed to comply with his requests. But exactly how was he going to get these two out of here? At least, how was he going to get them out before Elecmon shocked the living snot out of them? Tai thought about it a moment longer.

It _would_ be pretty funny to watch….

"_No Tai, that's evil. Just round them up and get them out of Elecmon's hair."_

Tai sighed, and looked about for Agumon. He could use the help getting Hirisho and Kimo under control. Agumon was sitting in the shade of a giant, brightly colored building block, grinning like a lunatic. At least someone was enjoying this massive fiasco. Tai's fun had ended ten minutes after they had arrived in the digital world, when Kimo had almost gotten them killed by a gang of Goblimon. Seriously, who made derogatory comments about the appearance of two dozen club-wielding toughs?

_Suicidal_ _freaks_.

It had taken Tai fifteen minutes of desperate dialogue to persuade the irate rookies that Kimo and Hirisho were clinically insane, and that he was their daytime nurse. A small lie, that thankfully convinced the Goblimon not to kill them But with the way these two were carrying on, maybe it wasn't that much of a lie after all…

"Agumon! Help me get them out of here before Elecmon blows a fuse!"

Agumon glanced over for a moment before shaking his head in the negative. His eyes twinkled with amusement.

"Sorry Tai, I'm enjoying this way too much. But if you want to try to chase both of them down, incapacitate them, and then drag them off, I'm sure that I'd enjoy watching that just as much."

Tai reached for his digivice, muttering obscenities about partners who were absolutely no help. It was time that Agumon had to deal with these two himself.

"Kimo! Hirisho! You two want to ride a Greymon?"

Agumon's eyes widened in shocked horror.

"You wouldn't! Heck no! I am not giving horsy rides to a couple of over-excited dorks!"

"Too late my friend."

A flash followed as Agumon digivolved to his champion level, accompanied by loud cheers from Tai's immature roommates.

"I'll get you for this Tai. I swear."

Elecmon sighed in relief as he watched Greymon trudging out of Primary Village loaded down with his triple load. Good riddance.

Tai reached over and rubbed the back of Agumon's head, right where he knew the orange dinosaur enjoyed it most, and smiled at the contented growling noises that his motion produced. It had actually been a fun day, regardless of his roommates' antics. Or maybe the antics had added to the fun? Either way, Tai had enjoyed himself.

The four friends were relaxing on the shore of File Island for the time being, enjoying the sun and sand of a very special beach. At least it was special for Tai and Agumon. This was the beach where Agumon had first digivolved into Greymon and battled a wild Shellmon. Years and years ago. It felt longer than it had actually been. So much had changed since then.

Agumon felt Tai slipping into the melancholy mood that had become normal for him these last few years. Today had been different. Tia had actually been smiling. Not a bitter smile, not a sad smile, not even the fake smile that Tai so often plastered on to hide the hurt that he felt. Today Tai had been genuinely happy. But that happiness seemed to be short-lived. Agumon wanted to help bring back the happy Tia he once knew.

A distraction was necessary to prevent Tai from brooding again. Fortunately, Kimo and Hirisho were good for little else but providing a distraction. At that moment they were trying to talk a passing Dolphmon into giving them a ride. Generally this wouldn't be a very difficult task; Dolphmon love that sort of fun. But the two college students came on a little too enthusiastically. Tai and Agumon couldn't blame the digimon one bit for being a little wary.

As they watched, Kimo held the Dolphmon's attention long enough for Hirisho to latch onto his dorsal fin. Things quickly went downhill from there…

"Idiots" Tai muttered under his breath, but he was smiling non the less.

Deep in the jungle, several miles from the beach, three Tyranomon crept stealthily through the undergrowth. They skillfully avoided stepping on anything that would cause noise and alert their quarry of its impending death. That was how the Tyranomon generally thought of themselves. Striding death.

Twenty yards. Fifteen yards. The leader of the pack allowed itself a ferocious looking grin. The digimon they had been stalking was right behind that corps of trees, hidden in the branches.

Ten yards. Close enough. The three champion digimon sprang forward with earsplitting roars, calculated to panic and confuse their prey. Teeth flashing, going for the kill.

The lead Tyrannomon's eyes widened in shock as dark hellfire lashed out of the undergrowth, blowing the three champions off their feet.

The "prey" grinned darkly at the three disorientated Tyrannomon as they struggled back to their feet and backed away from the small black lizard before them.

Perfect. It was time to put these three to work. Digimon like these needed direction in order to become real killers.

The digimon's evil grin widened at the thought. His master had sent him to begin the killing. And these three would help him.

Tai looked to his watch and shook his head. It was getting late, and the closest gate was a good three miles away. They would have to depart soon if they wanted to reach the gate before dark. Things had been good today. He felt rested, more at peace. He smiled down at Agumon before addressing the orange reptile.

"It's time for us to head out, Agumon. I got to get these two clowns back home, before the digital world tires of their presence. Are you coming with us, or do you want to spend more time visiting?"

Agumon paused for a moment, thinking. Tia was doing better than he had been for a long while. He might be fine to leave on his own for the time being. But he might also slip back into melancholy once he reached the human world and the problems that awaited him, especially if he didn't have someone to support him. Agumon knew that he was that support. He had fought for Tai in times of war, being there for Tai now was how he fought for him in times of peace.

"I'll head back with you guys. I've had a good time here, but I think I've had enough fun."

Agumon's stomach growled loudly. "What're you guys having for dinner?"

Tai laughed. Typical Agumon, food was never far from his mind.

"I'm not sure, but we'll whip up something that will meet your approval buddy."

"Just as long it's not that empty fridge surprise you guys came up with last week."

They both shuddered. That had been a nightmare meal, one eaten out of sheer desperation and hunger.

Tai called out to the duo in the water, informing them of his decision. Disappointed groans met his announcement.

"But we just got here!" Hirisho whined.

_That _was so obviously false that Tai didn't even both retorting.

"Just another half hour?" That was Kimo, in a tone close to matching Hirisho's.

Tai sighed in annoyance. Three year olds had been the perfect description of these two.

But despite the complaints, Kimo and Hirisho both exited the water.

Tai returned to Agumon's side.

"OK Agumon, lets head back to the digiport, it's not too far down the coast. We can make it there in time to…."

Thundering footsteps from the trees bordering the beach interrupted Tai, as three large forms crashed out of the shadows and into the sunlight. Tyrannomon, nasty brutish looking ones, too.

"Hey Tai? We shouldn't pet these guys, right?"

Kimo's voice didn't sound nearly as confident as it had earlier in the day. Despite their inexperience, both of Tai's roommates could see that these digimon were far from friendly.

Tai's mind worked quickly, putting together a plan and judging their chances of defusing the situation.

_Eh, wild Tyrannomon. Not good. You'd think that with all the dark digimon gone they wouldn't have a reason to go after a digidestined._

Obviously though, these three were going after them. It was time for Tai to think like the veteran that he was.

_One Tyrannomon would be fine, even two… but three? That's cutting it close, even for Greymon. Lucky these are just normal digimon, but still, this might be a time when discretion is the better part of valor. Oooops, too late._

Definitely too late. The leading Tyrannomon lunged across the beach towards Tai, eyes blazing with bloodlust. Agumon leapt forward between his partner and the charging threat. Neither Tai or Agumon needed to speak, they both understood the situation perfectly.

Agumon was already charging the leader of the pack as bright light shone from Tai's digivice. Seconds later Greymon slammed into the three digimon attackers, and the scene on the beach dissolved into a mess of claws, teeth and flames as the four dinosaurs ripped into each other.

"Get'em Greymon! You can take 'em!" Tai yelled. But something was wrong. The way these guys were fighting… so savage, almost insanely so. Tyrannomon generally would back off when presented with a tough opponent. They just wanted to eat, not fight to the death. Something other than hunger was driving them.

Tai grimaced as his partner stumbled back, burned in several places from the combined fire attacks of all three Tyrannomon. Then one of the Tyrannomon went down, speared through the chest by Greymon's horn before dissolving into data. But Greymon was tiring fast.

Greymon turned to Tai for a moment as the Tyrannomon paused to gather themselves. "Tai, these guys are tough, and I'm already pretty tired. I can't hold them for long. We got to get out of here before they press their attack."

"Right." Tai responded. He would have to think…

Tai's eyes opened in shock as a shadow fell across his heart.

He hadn't felt this since Malomyotismon, the last evil digimon, had been destroyed.

_Darkness._ _There's darkness nearby. But… It can't be. We killed them all…_

"Tai! They're coming! I hope you got a plan cooked u… oof!"

One of the Tyrannomon sideswiped Greymon with it's tail, sending him sliding down the beach toward the shoreline and the three humans. Greymon glowed for a moment, then regressed to Agumon.

Tai raced to Agumon's side, picking the orange lizard up in his arms, and slowly retreated back to Kimo and Hishiro's sides. The two young men looked to Tai fearfully.

"Tai, what do we do?"

Tai didn't hear. Grinning down towards him from the tree line behind the beach stood the source of the darkness that he had felt. His eyes met the BlackAgumon's for a moment.

_A dark digimon… They're supposed to be gone. It's not like they appear on their own. Something has to cause their presence. He knows what he's doing too._

The situation was beyond his control at the moment. This wasn't some random digimon attack. This was an ambush, set by an actual evil digimon. The darkness was at work, and he was unprepared to deal with the sudden revelation. Tai glanced at his companions and made a decision.

"Everybody in the water! Dive under and try to get as much distance between the Tyrannomon and us as possible! They won't follow us, they don't like the water!"

Hirisho and Kimo didn't argue, diving into the surf and submerging themselves as quickly as possible. Agumon launched a volley of attacks at the champions to delay them as he and Tai followed their companions into the water. Seconds after they submerged themselves, the water erupted in steam as both Tyrannomon unleashed their fiery attacks into the surface of the water.

BlackAgumon watched the end of the battle from his position above the beach. The targets had most likely escaped that last onslaught, but it wasn't a great concern. The first skirmish had taken place. There would be many more chances to finish the job later. For now, there were preparations to be made. The darkness had returned. The master was coming.


	4. Chapter IV: A Dark Company

Chapter IV

A Dark Company

BlackAgumon strode purposefully through the woods of File Island, flanked by the two remaining Tyrannomon. The day had been quite successful for the dark lizard, and he had much to report. The additional forces that the Tyrannomon represented also added to his achievements. He chuckled evilly to himself. The others would be greatly interested in what he had to tell them. The timing couldn't be better. The short battle against Courage only confirmed that the opportunity that the dark ones had been waiting for had arrived.

A clearing appeared through the woods ahead, in which a shadowy group now assembled. Dark eyes and darker forms. A gathering of childhood nightmares. No other clearing could be this dark on a sunny day without such a Company adding their terrifying presence.

The two Tyrannomon slowed their pace and shook their heads nervously. Even they could sense the darkness flowing out of the clearing ahead. They were obviously out of their league, and they knew it. If the BlackAgumon they now followed had been that powerful, how much more the digimon who stood within the center of that darkness ahead?

Their fears were unnecessary. With a low growl, BlackAgumon dismissed them, then stalked forward to take his place in the Company.

Tai and Agumon watched as the BlackAgumon left the Tyrannomon and entered the darkened clearing. The Tyrannomon were obviously nervous, glancing fearfully through the woods to the point that the BlackAgumon had disappeared. Something was happening in that clearing. The dark aurora was intense, far too intense to have been caused by the BlackAgumon alone. The darkness had returned in force. Tai strained his eyes to catch a glimpse of what lay within the clearing, but the shadows defeated him. And to get any closer would risk discovery by the Tyrannomon.

Tai glared dangerously at the two dinosaurs that had attacked them at the beach earlier that day. Two champions, not even dark digimon. Servants of a dark digimon. And they had nearly succeeded in killing him and Agumon, the most powerful partnership out of all the digidestined. Even mega digimon like Piedmon had been hard pressed to come that close.

But then, Tai had possessed his full power in those days, before he and the other original digidestined released their power to better protect the digital world. Now he was no stronger than any of the thousands of other digidestined around the world. They had been driven off by three Champions.

All four of them would have died if not for the Dolphmon that Kimo and Hirisho had been pestering earlier. It had whisked them out of the area moments before the Tyrannomon had superheated the water off the beach. Boiling to death in salt water was a nasty way to go.

When the Dolphmon had let them off several miles down the coast, Tai and Agumon had lost no time escorting their companions to the closest gate. But once Kimo and Hirisho were through and out of harms way, the situation changed. Tai and Agumon had returned to the scene of the battle, and found the trail of their enemies. The rest of the afternoon had been spent carefully trailing the trio of dinosaurs, trying to judge what their intentions were.

Tai put his head close to Agumon's to whisper in his ear.

"I can't make out what's happening in there, but it's nothing good. I haven't felt this much darkness… since Myotismon. We need to figure out what we're up against so we can warn the others."

Agumon nodded emphatically to indicate that he agreed. They needed to know what form the darkness had taken this time. Tai was just about to suggest that they try to get closer for a better look when it happened.

The wind shifted.

Tai felt the change, and his experience in the digital world from years before kicked in. In a few moments, his and Agumon's scent would begin to drift towards the Tyrannomon. Tai glanced over at Agumon, noticing at a glance how tired his partner looked. After a long day like this one, Agumon was in no shape to fight.

"Feel that Agumon?" Tai indicated the wind, and glanced meaningfully at the vicious dinosaurs. Agumon understood. Their position was about to get very ugly unless they retreated in a hurry.

Tai sighed. "We can't push our luck any further. It's obvious that the darkness is back, and I doubt that BlackAgumon is the only one behind it. It would be better to know for sure what we're up against, but that won't help if we don't make it back to let the others know."

Agumon nodded reluctantly, but there wasn't really any other options.

The two began to back out of sight from the clearing. When they were far enough away, they turned and began to run, heading for the nearest digiport.

Even with the darkness overshadowing the air of the digital world, Tai couldn't help but feel a sense of anticipation. Dark digimon meant a need for the digidestined. Here was a chance to make things good again between him and the others.

_It'll be like before, when we were all together. That unity. All of us working together to save the digital world again. This time I won't let things fall apart. I'll make it come together again. I promise._

Six digimon stood within the shadowy clearing, conversing in low tones to one another. They were the Dark Company. One Rookie, four Champion, and one Ultimate.

The BlackAgumon that Tai and the others had encountered earlier.

An evil looking Meramon, crackling with flames that threw no light.

BlackGatomon, daintily cleaning her fur, but alert and watchful.

Fangmon, a demonic canine type creature, coated in red fur and bearing a large, grinning mouth full of razor teeth. Around his four legs were wraps of black leather. DexDorugamon, a horrifying mass of metal and wires, shaped like a dragon and gazing out with bloodshot eyes.

And the digimon that the others listened to as the leader of the Company, the Ultimate of the group. Phantomon.

Each of these digimon were undoubtedly evil, filled with darkness.

They all listened as BlackAgumon filled the others in on the days events.

"Courage is still a fighter. His power is limited, hardly a threat at this point, but he hasn't been compromised like the other crest holders have. I saw it during the fight. Even caught by surprise and stuck with two other useless humans weighing him down, he and his partner still fought well. He still has fire burning in him."

Fangmon's razor teeth showed in a fierce grin.

"Good, at least one of them will be a challenge. I want to be the one to kill him."

Phantomon remained completely still, thinking over BlackAgumon's report.

"Courage will try to stop us. He will never stand back and allow us to release the Master without a fight. And he cares too much for his past comrades to let them fall. He doesn't understand what has happened to the Digidestined. That they have become weak and apathetic. Complacency has already destroyed them."

The others nodded in approval of his words.

"Courage will try, but once the plan goes into effect, he won't have the strength to stop us."

Meramon spoke up then.

"But what if Courage regains his crest power?"

Phantomon shook his head.

"Even Wargreymon won't be enough on his own by that point, the Axis will already be in play."

The dark digimon each smiled in anticipation, a sight that would have inspired fear in anyone unlucky enough to be within viewing distance.

"And if he _is_ able to gather his team back together and lead them against us?"

BlackGatomon finished cleaning herself and spoke up.

"He won't. The digidestined have fallen too far. They won't come back to him, because they don't want to. They're perfectly happy with their lives as they are. They already see him as an obstruction to them. I doubt he'll even convince them that we're back. After all, they think they defeated us for good. Most blindness is self induced. Love, Friendship, Light, Hope, Responsibility, Sincerity, Knowledge. Only Courage has the ability to face us."

Phantomon turned away from the circle.

"Then we must be ready for him. Gather as many killers as you can find who might be useful. We have much work to do. The Master is waiting."

In moments, the Company had separated, each going his own way as night fell.

Phantomon stared up at the dying sun as it set.

"_Do_ _you_ _sense_ _the_ _end_ _Courage_? _Are_ _you aware just how precarious your position is? How tenuous the digital world's lease on life has become? Complacency has taken over among the forces of Light. You are the last one. And the sun of Courage will set because of this. But you will only precede the rest of this world by a little while… How fitting."_


	5. Chapter V: Focus The Situation

Chapter V

Focus The Situation

Tai awoke to the sound of dishes clattering in the apartment's kitchen. The blessed smell of bacon wafted through the air, arousing groans from Tai's stomach. He shook his head as memory flooded back to him from the day before.

_We never did get dinner last night, did we? Agumon must be rabid with hunger by now. Especially after fighting and running around all day. Breakfast smells good though… Wait! Who's cooking?_

Kimo and Hirisho never cooked breakfast. Ever. Days where Tai slept in or had to leave early the pair usually went out to eat. Tai had never actually seen either of them cook in the three and a half years that they had roomed together. Tai glanced at the alarm clock near the foot of his bed. That was another odd thing.

_Ten AM? Kimo and Hirisho are never up before noon on a Saturday!_

Tai quickly got up and slipped on a pair of sandals that he used in place of slippers. Clad in his boxers, he slipped from his room into the kitchen. Shocked, he stared open-mouthed as he watched Kimo set the table for four people, while Hirisho stood at the stove, flipping pancakes and frying bacon. Agumon stood off from the stove, eyes glassy and drool pouring from his half-opened mouth. If Tai's stomach could be described as growling, then Agumon's was roaring like a river in flood season.

"What are you guys doing?"

Kimo and Hirisho glanced at each other for a moment, then turned back to Tai with a grin. Hirisho was the one to answer.

"Making breakfast, what does it look like?"

Tai still stood dumbfounded.

"But… you guys never…"

Agumon interrupted Tai with a kick to the shins.

"Who cares, Tai! It's food! Leave them alone so they can finish!"

Tai frowned down at his partner.

"No need to get frantic. I was just wondering what the special occasion was."

Kimo and Hirisho glanced at each other again, this time without the grin.

Kimo spoke up this time.

"We figured we should do something… After yesterday. Well… you aren't going to be around for a while, right?"

Tai stared at the two in surprise.

_If the darkness is back then we may be needed in the digital world for a while. It will definitely be dangerous, and who knows when we'll get back. How did these two goofballs figure that out? _

Perception in Kimo and Hirisho? Unbelievable.

_Were_ _they_ _actually_ _thinking_ _seriously?_

Kimo seemed to read Tai's mind.

"We're not that dumb, Tai."

_I guess not. They must have picked up on the seriousness of the situation somehow. Maybe they're even worried a little._

Tai grinned at his roommates to lighten the mood and nodded.

"Alright then. Let's eat."

Tai stared at the brightly lit screen of his cell phone, his face expressing the disquiet of his mind. He had spent the last three hours trying to track down the Odaiba digidestined, and had little to show for it. Kari, Sora, Mimi, Matt, Izzy and Davis hadn't answered their cell phone, even though Tai knew that they carried them with them at all times. Frustrated, he had left brief messages on each phone describing the situation and asking them to meet at six that evening, at the park where the original eight digidestined used to meet regularly.

Back when Diaboramon had first emerged on the internet, Tai had faced a similar situation. Playing phone tag was nothing new. But at that time the others had been unreachable due to circumstances, not because they were ignoring his existence.

_They'll show. This news is too important for them to ignore. They'll have to come around. They're digidestined after all._

Joe, TK and Yolie had all answered their phones, but the resulting conversations had been somewhat strained. Tai could feel their doubt, their lack of interest, but tried his best to ignore it. TK had summed up the mood in his response to Tai's story.

"Well, I'll be there, Tai. But are you really sure that it was a dark digimon? I mean, it could have been just a normal BlackAgumon who happened to wander across a chance Tyrannomon attack. The darkness has been gone for years. Gennai hasn't even contacted us about anything, and he's always known about the darkness before the rest of us."

Only Cody and Ken had answered his call with anything close to enthusiasm. They had listened carefully, and agreed that the situation needed to be looked into. But even then, Tai felt that the enthusiasm was more at the prospect of getting the old crew back together then a serious belief that the darkness had returned.

Tai closed his phone slowly, as he stared off into space. He understood the full seriousness of the situation. He had to convince them that the darkness was back, and that there was a serious danger to both worlds. They would listen. They would have to listen! Digidestined didn't ignore possible threats. It was their duty to protect both worlds from the darkness.

But at the back of his mind, Tai felt that something was far from right.

At five o'clock Tai left his apartment and walked down the street toward the nearest subway station. In one hour he would be meeting with the other digidestined. He had to convince them that the digital world needed them again. Suddenly, Tai realized just how nervous he was about this meeting. Too much rode on it. It wasn't only that the digital world was in danger. The way the other digidestined reacted to him at this meeting would determine the fate of his relation with them, the people whose friendship and love he had cherished more than anything else in the world. If they rejected his message now…

Tai shouldered his way down the stairway leading to the subway landing.

_Cool it, Tai. You can't lose faith in them. A leader has to trust his team, otherwise the team will fall apart. They have to know that you have their best interests at heart._

Tai purchased his ticket and stepped into a near empty car. He would be at the right station in about twenty minutes. For now, he had much to think about.

When the doors opened at the next station the car went from almost empty to packed full, as almost thirty passengers forced their way on. Alone with his thoughts, Tai hardly noticed the press of people.

Yuna nearly fell as a large canvas bag impacted her from behind. The middle-aged woman holding the bag continued on reading her magazine, oblivious to the angry frowns that the passengers around her threw her way. Yuna was the third such victim in less than five minutes.

Yuna fumed under her breath. It was just her luck to pick the most crowded car in the entire subway system. She felt smothered, even claustrophobic, trapped within a wall of nameless faces. Bag-woman crowded in behind her. A row of full seats hemmed her in to her left. A fat businessman swayed dangerously close to her right. And the back of an attractive brown-haired man loomed directly in front of her. She had caught a glimpse of his profile when he had given his seat to an old woman, opting instead to stand for the rest of the ride.

Yep, she was stuck. And to make matters worse, in her cramped condition, she couldn't even reach anything solid to give her some support. Every time the subway car changed speeds she found herself embarrassedly apologizing for colliding heavily with one of the people around her.

Yuna noticed an open stretch of railing, just visible between the young man standing in front of her and another passenger scrunched up against the wall. If she could only reach it. But she would probably then bump the man in front of her. She looked at him again.

_He looks really familiar. I wish I could see his whole face. I feel like I should recognize him. Maybe he won't mind too much if I accidentally bump him…_

Yuna steeled herself and quickly reached out for the railing… just as the subway slowed to its next stop. Immediately she was catapulted forward into the young man's back.

Yuna bounced off his broad back, losing her balance and beginning to fall in the process. Just as gravity was about to have its way with her, her arm was caught and held by a firm grip. Looking up, face red with embarrassment, she found herself staring into the face of one of her best friend's older brother.

"Tai?"

Tai looked at her in puzzlement for a moment before sudden recognition flashed across his face.

"Yuna, right? Kari's friend."

Yuna nodded, too surprised to answer.

_He remembers my name?_

Tai was equally surprised at having remembered her. It was at least three or four years since he had seen her last; and even then he had only met her when Hikari had invited her over for sleepovers and such. As usual, Tai didn't hang around on those nights. Too much girly stuff than he could stomach.

From what he remembered though, she had been a rather shy girl. Tai looked more closely at her.

_She_ _sure_ _has_ _changed_.

Actually, it was even more of a wonder that he had recognized her. When he had seen her last she had been a rather normal looking school girl, indistinguishable from any other one. Now, well…

Pretty, shoulder length black hair pulled back in a ponytail, a cute smile, and a pair of surprisingly bright blue eyes.

Yuna blushed when she realized that he was still holding on to her arm, keeping her from flopping onto the floor of the train car. Tai caught the blush and released her arm, motioning her to grab a hold on the railing that she had attempted to reach a moment before.

After a few moment's awkward silence, Tai spoke.

"So, it's been a while since I've seen you. What have you been up to the last few years?"

Tai was surprised at his sudden question. It's not like they had ever been on conversational terms. But for some reason he felt the need to make a connection with this girl. Yuna was also surprised, but for a completely different reason.

_What should I say? This is Tai Yakama talking to me! The leader of the digidestined. And one of the coolest guys I've ever known. And he's talking to me!_

For a moment, Yuna thought she was going to panic. She just looked at him with a deer caught in the headlights look. She had liked Tai for years, even before the general public had known about the digidestined. She had always looked up to him. And now…

She felt Tai put his hand on her shoulder, a concerned look on his face.

"Are you alright, Yuna?"

_Say something! _She screamed to herself.

Yuna braced herself for a moment then blurted out.

"Umm, I've been working at a bakery. Mostly cakes and pastries. I'm pretty good at it. And I like the work."

"That's cool. Sounds like a good job."

She had done it! She had started a conversation with Tai Yakama!

Tai's expression froze for a moment. When he had touched her shoulder he had felt a flash of a familiar energy.

_Courage. Was that me, or was it her?_

"Tai, are _you_ alright?"

Tai decided to set the matter aside until later.

"Yeah, sorry, I'm fine. So, you were telling me about your job…"

Yuna enjoyed the time immensely, but she couldn't help but notice that Tai seemed much less cheerful than the last time she had seen him. The goofy grin she remembered had a touch of sorrow in it. And his eyes seemed very, very tired. But during the course of the conversation he seemed to lighten. Yuna was glad for this.The rest of the ride passed quickly for Tai. Despite the troubling thoughts that almost filled his mind, he was feeling strangely comforted. This girl seemed to want to get to know him. Not in some shallow way, like most of the girls who knew that he was the leader of the digidestined. She seemed genuine. He was sorry when the train pulled up to his stop. Turning to Yuna Tai smiled.

"Here's where I get off. It was great talking to you. I'll let Kari know I saw you."

Yuna blushed for the third time on the trip.

"It was great talking to you too, Tai. I hope I'll see you again soon."

_I hope so too, Yuna._

_Stand alone… It really has come to that, hasn't it?_

"Tai, we understand what you're saying. You think that you saw a dark digimon on File Island. That's not the question. The question is how we should respond to the situation. If it really is the darkness returning than we'll have to act. But we're all really busy right now, if it's just some wild digimon causing trouble, well, the digital world has capable defenders who can see to the problem. We don't want to overreact."

Tai stared blankly at Ken as the former finished speaking. Did they not understand? He looked around the circle. The meeting had been going on for nearly an hour. Seven faces looked back at him with expressions of mixed skepticism and embarrassment. Only seven faces. Matt, Sora, Mimi and Izzy were all conspicuously absent. Davis and Kari had actually shown up, but neither looked happy to be there.

Kari sighed and spoke up.

"Tai, the darkness has been gone for a long time. Gennai hasn't contacted us about anything amiss, and the power of our crests is protecting the digital world. And on top of that, Okinawa guards access to the world, so that evil can't get in. Don't you think we would have heard something by now if we were needed?"

Tai looked at his little sister, wondering if she understood just how much hurt he felt from what she was saying. She was implying that either he was delusional or just plain lying.

She continued, not even sparing a glimpse to her older brother.

"I talked to Izzy before the meeting began. He said that he'll check with Gennai. But until he gets back to us, we shouldn't run off and try to fix things like the world depended on us again."

Tai didn't have to look around the circle again to see the expressions of agreement on each face. He could feel that they all felt the same way. He had failed. They didn't believe him.

He closed his eyes sadly and spoke, his voice low and emotionless.

"Is that it then? You think that things should just be left as they are?"

No one spoke. At least they spared him the humiliation of having to listen to more of them voicing their doubts about him.

Tai felt a stirring within him, cutting through the crush of defeat that had momentarily overwhelmed him. All the good times that he had ever had with them came back to his mind. All the precious memories. Every speck of joy that he had ever shared with them. If this was it, if he was no longer to have a part in their lives, and if they would no longer lend their aid to help him, then he had to say everything that was on his mind.

"Alright then. I just have one last thing to say."

Joe nodded his head in acknowledgement.

"Go ahead."

"You are a team, and you've been together through adventures that no one else can claim. I don't blame you if you've forgotten. That happens sometimes. But if you remember nothing else, keep in mind that you were chosen because of who you are, and the qualities that you possess. They're a part of you. And if you stay true to them, then you'll always know what you have to do."

The others blinked at him in surprise.

The circle was strangely still for several moments, awkwardly still.

Tai sighed tiredly, then stood to walk away. The fate of both worlds now relied solely on him, and it wasn't a pleasant feeling.

"I'll see you all later."

Tai walked back through the park towards the subway station, trying to come to grips with what had happened. They hadn't listened. The separation was complete. He had thought that even if their friendship was damaged, even irreplaceably so, that they would still be able to come together for the sake of both worlds. But this meeting had shattered his belief. All that remained now was himself and Agumon.

Footsteps on the path behind him broke Tai out of his sad musings. He turned, only to be confronted by the last people he expected to see. Standing side by side on the path behind him were Kari and Davis.

Tai's confusion was manifest on his face as he stared at the two digidestined on the path. They were smiling at him.

Then Tai noticed something. Both his sister and the young leader of the new digidestined were glowing. It was only a faint glow, but as Tai watched in surprise, the glow began to brighten, showing recognizable colors. Kari shown the white-pink of the crest of Light, and Davis the orange of his own crest of Courage.

Tai cleared his throat and spoke hesitantly.

"Kari? Davis?

"Kari" laughed softly and spoke in a bright tone of voice that Tai hadn't heard in a long time.

**"Well, yes and no. I am the Light. Do you remember meeting me? I interrupted the battle that you and WarGreymon fought against Friendship and MetalGarrurumon, back when you and the other digidestined fought against the Dark Masters."**

Tai's eyes opened wide in surprise, but at the same time he felt a pang of disappointment. It wasn't Kari and Davis who had come back to reconcile things with him. He turned to "Davis."

"Then you would be?"

Davis smiled also.

**"I'm Courage, Taichi. We meet face to face at last. Well, at least in a manner of speaking… This isn't really **_**my **_**face."**

Tai shook his head, trying to piece together what was happening. The last time the Light had interacted with the digidestined she had ended the battle between him and Matt and answered their questions as to why they had been chosen to save the Digital World. This time Courage had come too…

Tai began to feel a stirring of hope within his heart.

Light looked at Tai with a warmth that seemed to strip away the weariness that had previously weighed him down. But even this smile seemed to hold a hint of sadness in it. Tai wondered at this. He had never thought that light could be bittersweet.

The he heard her speak.

**"We have come on behalf of the Benign Powers within the digital world, to speak with you, the last effective Guardian. The last who still remembers."**

Tai remained silent when he heard this.

_The last effective guardian? But the power of our crests defend the digital world. And what about Azulongmon and the other Sovereigns? And Gennai? And Okinawa?_

"Davis" shook "his" head solemnly.

**"None of them can help at this time. The darkness assaulted the digital world's defenses from within the Dark Ocean, nearly overwhelming them. We were not strong enough to stop it completely. The four Digimon Sovereigns emptied their strength to lend the Crest Powers and Okinawa the energy needed to halt it for a time. The Sovereigns have retreated into a dormant state to regain their strength. The Spirit of Okinawa and the Crest Powers even now strain against the darkness to prevent its entrance. And the darkness somehow neutralized Gennia, cutting him off from any warning we might give. He lives on in his home, completely unaware of the danger that threatens both worlds."**

Tai shook his head in disbelief.

"How could this happen? We released our power to prevent something like this from happening! It was supposed to give the digital world a chance at peace!"

**"It did."**

"Then what happened?"

"Hikari" stared into Tai's eyes as she spoke.

**"The Crests are dependant on the digidestined that personifies them."**

Tai looked on in confusion. The Light fell silent, seeming to think that her statement was self-explanatory.

Courage noted Tai's lost expression.

**"You don't understand our connection, do you?"**

Tai still could only look questioningly.

**"The Crests are the Benign Powers of the digital world. We watch over it, guiding the creatures there who live in the Light. For many years we, with the help of the Sovereigns and guardians who we created, protected the digital world. But when Apocolamon emerged from the Wall of Fire, and the darkness warped the world, we found that our efforts were not enough. We Benign Powers, though powerful, are intangible, incapable of directly acting in the digital world. We knew of the existence of the digidestined, even then they were beginning to emerge in the real world. Five of them were chosen to defeat Apocolamon, which they did. But it wasn't enough. They stopped the onslaught of darkness, but couldn't remove the effects of it completely."**

Courage stopped here, as if at a loss on how to continue. He looked at Light for a moment, as if looking for support in what he was saying. Light nodded, but made no other sign. So Courage continued.

**"We had to find a way in which to act directly, as physical beings."**

Here Courage stopped again, staring at Tai to see if he understood what had been said, and if he grasped the direction that the narrative was going. Tai was following, but to what point Courage was driving at was still unclear to him.

Courage still hesitated. And Tai began to wonder…

"You said this was about our connection to you."

**"Yes… Knowledge came up with the plan. Eight of us volunteered for it. We took the form of humans. Digidestined."**

Tai's eyes widened in shock, finally understanding the point of Courage's story. Courage saw the understanding in Tai's eyes and hurried on.

**"It's complicated how this worked out. We still can act as intangible, under certain conditions, and the Digidestined that we were born as are their own persons, but we are one and the same. I'm Courage, in the form of the Crest of Courage. You are Tai Yagami, leader of the digidestined. But you and I are the same entity. She…"**

Courage pointed to the Light.

**"Is Light, in the form of the Crest of Light. But she is also Hikari Yagami. We didn't know when we first became human that we would become individual people, with human minds and qualities. We had thought that we were just gaining physical bodies that we could use, like Light is doing right now, acting through your sister's body. But when it was realized what had actually happened, that we had become individual people, we decided it would be wrong to dominate you. Even if we were you. I told you it was complicated."**

Tai stood shaking his head, shocked beyond belief, head reeling at this sudden onslaught of information.

**"We, I mean you, succeeded in what we had planned, destroying the evil that gripped our world, and when you had succeeded much of our power, your power was released to free the Sovereigns and protect this world. But we are still the same entity as you. And what effects you effects us also."**

Tai ignored the continued effects of the shock.

"Are you saying that you couldn't stop the darkness that is attacking now because of something wrong with us?"

Light finally spoke up.

**"Yes. The others have forgotten who they are, the qualities they symbolize. They are acting contrary to who they are, and so we are weakening. Already the darkness has slipped through the defenses. All of us are in its power, except you Courage."**

Tai blinked, how was he exempt?

**"You still remember who you are. Courage is still at it's strongest. And so we have come to you, to ask you to help. I cannot ask you, I have no right. But Courage is you, and you are Courage. And so Courage will tell you how to save us, how to save your sister and your friends and both worlds."**

Tai looked at "Davis," who shifted his gaze to the ground.

"Tell me."

**"I will."**

Light reached out "her" hand and touched Taichi's face.

**"They all still care about you Tai, they just don't remember it. If you save them, then they will remember, in time. You won't always be alone."**

Then Light turned and began to walk away. She glanced back once, and Tai saw that there were tears in her eyes.

**"Goodbye brother."**

Tai looked to his newly revealed self and braced his mind for the message. But he had a question first.

"What about the younger guys? Davis and Cody and Yolie?"

Courage smiled at him, impressed that he still thought of them when he knew that his destiny was about to be made manifest.

**"They are normal digidestined. They possessed the qualities of you eight, and Ken the quality of Kindness. But they are not Crests taken on a physical form. Whenever they access the powers of the Crests, they do so through you eight. Without you they are normal digidestined, with the power to digivolve their partners to the champion level."**

Tai motioned that he understood. Suddenly, he remembered the feeling of Courage that he had experienced when talking to Yuna on the subway.

"And if Davis and the others can tap into our power, are their other digidestined who can as well?

**"Yes.** **Do you have any more questions?"**

**"**Only what we have to do to stop the darkness."

**"I will tell you. And after I tell you, I will return to you, and you will have your full power that you had during your first adventure. Everything else after that is up to you. But we don't have much time. The Axis is emerging into the digital world."**

It was time to find how the darkness could be defeated and the people he cared about saved. Courage stepped forward and took Tai's hand.


	6. Chapter VI: Crisis And Consummation

Chapter VI

Crisis And Consummation

Yuna knocked softly on the doors of the Yagami apartment, nervousness slowly churning the depths of her stomach. Maybe she should have called first, let Kari know she was stopping by. It was late in the afternoon, almost nightfall really. Kari might think it was an odd time for a friend to stop by and get reacquainted, especially with no previous notice having been given. It had been a while since they had seen each other.

_Why am I so nervous? I'm going to visit a friend, nothing else._

But she knew she was lying to herself. She wasn't here to see Kari. No, she wanted to see a different brunette. His face had been on her mind ever since she had bumped into him on the subway the night before. If only he would be there. If nothing else, maybe Kari could arrange something…

The door opened, catching her off guard amid her thoughts. And revealed a young man with blonde hair and clear blue eyes.

"Oh, hi Takeru."

T.K. blinked in surprise.

"Hi…"

Yuna smiled in amusement at T.K.'s apparent discomfort. They hadn't even been introduced as far as she could remember. Yuna knew who he was by Kari's description. She had heard the mantra many times. But T.K. obviously never heard of her before.

"I'm sorry, I don't think we've met before. I'm Yuna, Kari's friend. She told me about you before, so I made a guess that you were him. Nice to meet you."

"Likewise."

T.K. glanced over his shoulder, and Yuna distinctly heard several voices emanating from the living room.

"She's in there, with my brother and his girlfriend and Davis."

Yuna nodded, she knew Davis, and had seen Matt and Sora before. But Tai apparently wasn't part of the company.

T.K. called out across the kitchen.

"Kari, someone's here to see you."

He turned back to Yuna, and motioned for her to enter.

"Yuna!"

Kari's voice ran out with surprise as she entered the kitchen and caught sight of her friend.

Yuna smiled nervously.

"Hello Kari."

Gennai sat back in his chair, his mind still reeling from the catastrophic situation that had just been revealed to him. He looked to Tai and Agumon with wide eyes, unsure for once in his long life on a course of action. Even when the Dark Masters had taken over the digital world all those years ago, or when Apoclomon had reemerged from the Wall of Fire there had been a plan, some prophesy or idea to give hope in the darkest of situations. But what Tai had just calmly explained to him…

He looked to Tai again. For a young man who had just delivered news of Armageddon, he was strangely unemotional. Not a trace of fear or anger, or anything that indicated he understood the full implications of their situation. Gennai mentally reviewed the list of bad news: the Sovereigns were out of the fight, the Benign Powers weakened, Oikawa barely holding on to the world's defenses and the Dark Axis…

He had searched the archives for information of this dark artifact, and the results of his search had shattered what little confidence he had been able to gather up until then. He had read the description aloud.

"A weapon of darkness possessing great power, capable of subverting the powers of light if they become susceptible to its influence. This dread item absorbs energy, slowly destroying the source and transferring the energy to any creatures of darkness who taps into it. As a byproduct to this process, it releases darkness into the surrounding territory."

He looked up to Tai, but the destined of Courage appeared unphased.

"Don't you understand what this means?!"

Tai continued to stare into Gennai's eyes.

"Yes."

Gennai blinked, a vein on his forehead pulsing in anger. Then he exploded.

"Then why are you taking it so calmly!? Damn it Tai, you're the one who enlightened me to the situation! The digital world's defenses are crumbling, both worlds are about to be swallowed up in darkness, your friends are under its influence and are about to be destroyed by its dark properties and you sit here as if you didn't care! You're the only defender we have left! So why did you come and tell me these things if you think there's no hope?!"

Gennai regained control of himself and lowered his voice.

"You can still go back and try to win them over again, make them into the team you used to be."

Tai and Agumon turned their heads slowly and looked at each other. Tai had passed on Courage's message to his partner. They both understood what was needed of them. But Gennai… didn't need to know yet. No one did. The digidestined couldn't be won over yet, even if they could be they were too weak to do anything. They would only get themselves killed. Tai knew that this was his responsibility. There was no other option. It had to happen this way.

"We came to you because you needed to know. You have to understand the situation and how it came down to this, so you can help the others recover when the immediate danger passes."

Gennai shook his head in confusion.

"'When the immediate danger passes?' How will it pass?"

Tai smiled slightly and rubbed Agumon's head.

"Don't worry. We'll take care of it. The darkness won't triumph tonight."

Tai and Agumon stood and began walking toward Gennai's front door.

"Take good care of them, Gennai."

Gennai struggled to his feet.

"Wait! Tai! You can't go, not now! There still might be a chance, we have to choose our acti…"

Tai's voice cut him off mid-sentence.

"They've already been chosen. Good luck."

Gennai stood open mouthed as Courage and his partner stepped out into the darkness, setting their faces toward where dark clouds were forming on the horizon. Nightfall was approaching.

_Thank you for everything Gennai. I'm sorry I can't tell you what is coming, but I know that you and the others will play your part. It's time for me to play mine. Goodbye old friend._

Far in the distance a section of the sky erupted into blackness, like a gaping hole.

Phantomon watched impassively as a tornado of darkness descended from the rapidly spreading dark hole in the sky.

The Axis was descending.

Punching its way through the brittle defenses of the digital world.

Overcoming the light of the setting sun.

Spreading its power out, seeking…

It landed within a rocky plain, a valley surrounded on all sides by mountains of impressive height. Immediately the plain was plunged into darkness, all color quickly fading, sucked into the dark epicenter of the vortex. Phantomon could see it now. A black crystal, easily the size of a large car. Beautiful and cold, like black ice.

It was here, the master's plan was advancing.

Phantomon turned to the dark digimon that stood watching with him.

"It has begun."

Evil grins of approval appeared at his words.

"Fangmon!"

The digimon indicated flashed his monstrous teeth.

"Courage will undoubtedly be on his way here. He is yours."

Fangmon's eyes shone with a horrible joy. Without a word he turned and strode down toward a mountain pass, the only entrance into the valley.

Phantomon watched him go, then turned back toward the Axis at the heart of the darkness. Slowly at first, but then steadily faster, colors began rising out of the digital world's surface.

The Crests.

Sincerity.

Friendship.

Love.

Responsibility.

Knowledge.

Hope.

Light.

They were being drawn toward the Axis. Unwillingly, they were drawn. As the dark crystal began to consume the energy of the Crests, the darkness began to spread faster. Faster!

Phantomon felt the power. Felt his own power increase in response. Skyrocketing. Invigorating. Inebriating. He drank it in.

Soon, when the Crests ran dry and died, enough energy would have been harnessed for the master's return.

"It's a pleasure to meet you Yuna."

Sora smiled as Kari introduced her friend to the party gathered in the living room. Matt and Davis nodded to her in a friendly way, but she sensed that they were slightly impatient. Her visit must have interrupted a conversation, one that something instinctual told her must not have been very pleasant, although they seemed to hide it well.

Yuna smiled shyly at the digidestined in the room, and attempted to explain her presence. She decided it was best to come out and admit the real reason she was here. It would be too awkward trying to get the information she wanted and at the same time avoid telling them her motives.

"I was looking for Tai. I wanted to thank him for helping me out on the subway last night."

The others started a little, quickly hiding looks that she couldn't quite place. Aggravation? And maybe guilt?

Sora in particular looked distinctly uncomfortable, but she spoke in a normal voice.

"That's funny, we were just talking about him ourselves…"

"Really?

"…Yes."

"Will he be here tonight?"

Kari shook her head.

"He wasn't planning on it. But… I could give you his number if you like."

Yuna's face turned red.

"I don't know…"

Davis gave her a cheeky grin.

"Well, you did want to talk to him enough to stop by for a visit. Must have been some help he gave you. Funny, Tai and a girl his sister's age."

Yuna felt her face burning at Davis' words. Clearly the younger chosen of Courage had no shame. She glanced over to Kari, who seemed very surprised at Davis' words.

"Is there really something between you and Tai?"

Everyone in the room was looking at her, in either amusement or surprise. This wasn't going as she had hoped.

"No, not really. I mean… I just wanted to see him again."

Davis still seemed to think the whole situation hilarious.

"Wow, that's great. Never it of Tai. Guess he's not really the…"

His voice trailed off as he suddenly caught sight of Kari's face. The chosen of Light had suddenly stiffened, her face turning white and her expression one of intense horror.

"The darkness!"

Everyone in the room looked at her in alarm, moments before her eyes turned dark and her body fell to the floor.

"Kari!"

T.K. lunged forward towards her but only made it half-way to her side.

Davis and Yuna stood in shock as T.K., Matt and Sora cried out in pain and also collapsed.

Within the D-terminals of Davis, Yolei and Cody, the digimentals of Friendship, Love, Sincerely, Responsibility and Knowledge shattered. Only the digimental of Courage continued to glow softly.

And the darkness grew stronger.

Phantomon stood watching the Axis, surrounded by his Company. Within the dark crystal the Crest symbols stood suspended, slowly being drained of their power. Phantomon felt the darkness flowing through him, and knew that although he might still be an Ultimate digimon, the power from the Axis made him as strong as a Mega.

He looked at the newly digivolved members of his Company.

LadyDevimon.

SkullMerimon.

DexDoruGreymon.

SkullGreymon.

Each one possessed the powers of digimon a level greater than what they appeared. The equivalent of five Mega.

Nothing left in the digital world could compare.

And when their master appeared, a Mega in his own right… the power _he _would wield!

_Yes._

Phantomon nodded his head in satisfaction.

It was almost time.

Davis and Yuna stood in the lobby of the hospital, along with Cody, Yolei and Ken, their faces drawn with worry. Davis looked at Ken in disbelief.

"All of them?"

Ken gave a defeated gesture.

"I called Mimi's cell phone in America and got Michael. Same thing happened. They were at the movie theater and she collapsed, just like the others."

Cody spoke up.

"It has to be something to do with the digital world. We should go and investigate."

This time Yolei shook her head.

"The gates are closed. I already tried. I was going to bring their digimon to them when I heard what happened, but I couldn't even access the gate program, much less open it."

Davis exploded.

"So we can't do anything! That can't be right. There must be something!"

Yuna had been silent up to this point, her thoughts far away.

"What about Tai?"

The others stopped and looked at her, surprised and somewhat distressed at the mention of his name.

Cody spoke first, though not in answer to Yuna's question. His voice sounded pained as his mind finally put last night's meeting into perspective.

"That's what Tai was trying to warn us about."

No one spoke.

They all realized…

_Maybe_ _this could have been prevented._

Cody continued on.

"We wouldn't listen, we wouldn't help, so he probably went…"

He didn't finish his sentence. He didn't need to.

All around the entrance to the valley were signs of conflict, scorched rock and claw marks. Piles of debris litter the ground, and faint wisps of data blew about the shadows, slowly ebbing towards the dark vortex that marked the Axis' position.

From within the valley's center came the sound of combat. Evil laughter roared through the darkened valley, screeches and curses punctuated by heavy impacts. But the darkness hid everything.

Suddenly, at the very center of the darkness, a bright flash of orange blazed forth, followed quickly by a blood chilling cry of rage and hate. Then the valley exploded outward as the vortex of darkness and the orange light both seemed to detonate at once.

When the eruption had passed the valley had changed drastically. The darkness was gone, all but some shreds of shadow, like drifting fog, and a massive crater where the center of the darkness had been.

And out of the crater sped seven bright flashes. The Crests, weakened and damaged, but free once again. The sound of their passing overhead, if anyone could have heard them, held tones of thanksgiving, but also of mourning. Victory is always bought at a price.

It had been hours since the digidestined had collapsed, and Yuna had spent the whole time waiting with Davis and the others. Then everything had changed. One moment Yuna was sitting in the hospital lobby, anxiously waiting for news of the stricken digidestined. The next moment all she saw was white.

She was floating in a sea of emptiness, but for some reason she didn't feel scared. She felt calm. There was some sort of reassuring presence here. Even if she couldn't see the source, she could still feel it.

**"Yuna."**

She glanced in all directions, trying to find the speaker.

"Who are you?"

She could feel the smile in the voice as it replied to her query.

**"Can't you tell?"**

A figure bathed in orange light appeared before her. The light was so bright… She couldn't see his face, just his silhouette. But the voice…

"Tai?"

**"Yes, and Courage."**

Yuna didn't understand, but if it was Tai she had to tell him about his teammates.

"The others…

**"I know, they'll be fine. Don't worry."**

"How do you know?"

**"I know."**

They were both silent for a while before she spoke again.

"Where are we?"

**"Well, you're sleeping in the hospital lobby right now…"**

She could see his face now, or at least the outline of his facial features.

"And were are you?"

Tai/Courage didn't respond. After a moment she spoke again.

"Tai, I don't understand what's going on. Everything is happening so fast."

He reached out his hand and touched her shoulder. She felt his strength, potent and powerful. Courage.

**"It will be alright Yuna. The danger has passed for a time."**

She looked into his eyes and saw… satisfaction… and sadness. She wanted to ask him what was wrong. His expression was so foreign, so unexplainable. But before she could begin he spoke.

**"I need to ask you to accept something from me, Yuna."**

He paused for a moment until she nodded for him to continue.

**"I need you to be Courage, for the digital world, and for the digidestined."**

_What?_

**"My task is complete. I can't protect them anymore. I would entrust my power to Davis, but he has fallen away too far. It will take time for him to recover, just like the others. That's why I need you. You have an affinity to my power, and even if you don't know it, you are strong."**

Yuna couldn't speak.

**"Will you do this for me? For my sake? For the sake of both worlds? Please, Yuna?"**

His eyes were so bright, pleading silently, his hand on her shoulder still comforting.

_What could I do? I don't even understand what he is asking of me._

She spoke in a whisper.

"Yes… But I don't know how…"

He smiled.

**"You will know."**

With that, she felt him remove his hand from her shoulder, and instead place it on her forehead. She gasped at his touch. Then the power that she had felt through his hand on her shoulder began to flow into her.

Her sight began to swim before her, but she could still feel Tai's smile as she drifted away from him.

**"Thank you."**

"Yuna! Wake up!"

Yuna opened her eyes with a start.

_Tai!_

It wasn't Tai. Yolei beamed down at her, relief evident on her features.

"They're awake! They woke up just a few minutes ago, and the doctors say that they're going to be fine!"

Her dream! Tai had said that they were going to be fine!

"That's great! Do they know what was wrong with them?"

Yolei shook her head.

"No, the doctors couldn't even tell what was wrong when they were unconscious. But it had to be something to do with the digital world. When they regain their strength, we'll go and investigate. We'll figure it out."

Yuna nodded. Her conversation with Tai was still foremost in her mind. She had to take some time to think about what he had told her.

"Can I see Kari?"

Yolei shook her head gloomily.

"No, the doctors aren't letting anyone in to see them tonight. They want them to sleep for now. But tomorrow, maybe."

_Right, but I think Kari should know about what Tai said._

But maybe not. After hearing the younger digidestined talk about the meeting they must have attended the night before, maybe she should think about what Tai had said before sharing it. She wished she could ask him about it. After all, it wasn't everyday that this sort of thing happened.

"Well, if everything is fine, I'll head home."

Yolei smiled at her.

"Thanks' again for all your help. It was nice of you to stay with us this long."

Yuna stood up from her seat and began to walk toward the door.

"I'm glad I could. Kari's my friend."

Yolei was about to return to Kari's hospital room when something on the back of Yuna's belt caught her eye. An orange and white device with a black screen.

"Hey!"

Yuna stopped in the doorway and looked back questioningly.

"Why didn't you tell us you're a digidestined?"

"What?"


	7. Chapter VII: Late Response

Chapter VII

Late Response

Phantomon stood on a rocky outcropping, flanked by the members of the Company, staring out upon a sea of upturned faces. The digimon gathered here were the recruits that they had made before the Axis had descended. A back-up force if you would. Now that the primary, elegant plan for the Master's return had failed, it was time to go about things in a more… forceful way. Phantomon addressed the gathered digimon.

"It is time for darkness to reign. You have all gathered here because you desire power, the power that only darkness can grant. And now we are ready. The Sovereigns are finished, sulking in hiding after losing their strength. The digidestined are weak and unprepared for our onslaught, bereft of their leader and most powerful fighter. They shall fall to us easily. All that remains are the native digimon, the strongest of whom are Ultimate. And those… inconveniences… the members of my Company will handle."

Phantomon's voice rose to a vicious shout as he finished his speech.

"IT IS TIME FOR WAR! POWER ONLY COMES TO THOSE WHO SIEZE IT!"

A roaring cheer resounded through the air in response to his call. Digimon of all shapes and sizes worked themselves into a frenzy. Phantomon extended his arms and unleashed an aura of darkness that spread across the assembly, filling all those present with a lust for carnage. The noise level reached an incredible pitch.

Phantomon turned to the member of the Company.

"Split them into groups and lead them to your targets. If we cannot corrupt our opponents, then we will crush them! Courage stopped us in our attempt last night, who will they count on to defend them now?"

Quickly, the Company turned and spread out among the assembly of digimon, gathering them into fighting armies and preparing them to move out.

Phantomon watched impassively from his position.

_What would you do now Courage? We will triumph despite everything that you did. Was your pain worth it?_

Yuna sat with her new digivice cradled in her hands. Where had it come from? She had never seen it before, not until Yolei had noticed it on her belt the night before. One minute it wasn't there and the next…

_It must have appeared when I was dreaming. When Tai touched my forehead and I felt all that power, it must have been then. But if that's true, then Tai gave me the digivice._

Did Tai have that kind of power? Could he really create a new digivice like that? But there was no other explanation that Yuna could think of. It must have been Tai.

It had been two days since the digidestined had been hospitalized. They were fine now, completely unmarked by their experience. The doctors were still puzzled by what had happened. Physically, there was nothing wrong with the digidestined. They had wanted to keep them in the hospital to do more tests, but Kari and the others would have none of that. They suspected that whatever had caused the problem had its roots in the digital world, and the darkness that Tai had tried to warn them about.

The digidestined were meeting today, and Yuna had promised Yolei that she would come. After all, she had been there when the others had passed out, and she had received a digivice about the same time. The others would be curious about that. But Yuna wasn't sure how much she should tell them about her dream. And there was still the question that was foremost in her mind. She had promised Tai that she would be Courage for him, but what did that mean?

Yuna sighed and reattached her digivice onto her belt. It would take her a while to travel to Izzy's house where the meeting was supposed to be held. If she didn't hurry she would definitely be late.

Sora and Matt spoke little on the drive to Izzy's. The darkness had returned, had attacked them and their friends, and they hadn't even recognized the danger. Only Tai had known, and they had ignored him, as they had been doing for a long time now. How had things gotten so bad between them and their best friend?

Sora sighed, and Matt could see a faraway expression in her eyes.

"What are you thinking about?"

Sora just shook her head for a moment. Then she turned to her boyfriend.

"What happened to us?"

Matt understood her perfectly. She didn't mean their experience the other night. She meant what had happened to their relationship with Tai. But really… Matt didn't know what to say.

The same thought was on both of their minds.

_We rejected him._

And now they would have to deal with the consequences of their actions.

"What did you say?"

Matt had mumbled something under his breath that Sora failed to catch.

He didn't take his eyes off the road as he answered a little louder.

"Do you think he'll forgive us?"

But Sora couldn't answer. She wondered the same thing.

Gennai was close to falling asleep, slumped over his desk, exhausted from lack of sleep and continuous work. Ever since Tai had left he had been preparing to meet with the digidestined. He had contacted Izzy via E-mail earlier, and sent messages to all the digimon partners of the digidestined. All of them should arrive soon. The rest of the time had been spent trying to peace together what had happened since Tai had left. Tai had stopped the Axis somehow. That in itself was amazing. But now what?

Tai had said that the immediate danger would pass, not that it would be fixed. That could only mean that the darkness was still out there, somewhere. The digidestined would need help dealing with it.

_Damn it Tai, I don't know anything that you don't already know! Why ask me to guide them when you can do it better?! That's why you're their leader!_

**I wish I could Gennai. But that's not an option now.**

Gennai sprang from his chair, all drowsiness leaving him in an instant.

"Tai?"

There was no one else in the room. Where had the voice come from?

Gennai's eyes darted about, trying to distinguish anything out of the ordinary. There was nothing. Nothing at all…

Gennai turned back to his desk, still puzzled.

_I must be more tired than I thought… What is this?_

On his desk where nothing had been before lay a large, rounded object.

"A digiegg?"

Gennai had spoken aloud in his surprise. He reached down and picked up the egg, holding it towards the light. It's shell was orange, the color of the crest of Courage.

_What is this Tai?_

Izzy's parents were gone for the day, so they would have full privacy, and there was enough room for the whole group. Most of the digidestined arrived silently, still shaken from the traumatic events of the past couple of days. Mimi arrived through the newly opened digiport on Izzy's laptop, accompanied by a worried looking Michael. Of the twelve members of the original digidestined, only Tai was absent, a fact that was noted with a sinking feeling by the group.

Yuna had called to say that she was running late.

Izzy was the first to speak.

"Has anyone been able to contact Tai?"

No one spoke up. Izzy turned to face Kari, a questioning look on his face.

"Did you call his apartment and check up with his roommates?"

As he spoke, Izzy couldn't help but notice how pale her face was, and that her eyes were red. Most people would probably assume that it was caused by the attack and her normally frail constitution, but he knew better. She was feeling the same guilt that he saw repeated in himself, and on the faces of most in the room. It must be worse for her though. Tai was her brother.

Kari stayed remarkably still as she answered in a very small voice.

"I talked to them. They haven't seen him since the morning after the meeting. He left them a month worth of rent and asked them to have our family pick up his things if he wasn't back in time for the next months payment."

Izzy nodded solemnly. So Tai had known he was going to be gone for a long time. Kari looked like she was about to begin crying again. T.K. reached over and took her hand, a small sign of comfort, though it appeared to be lost on the girl.

Michael spoke up for the first time since his arrival.

"We need more information about what's going on, Izzy. What did Tai tell you guys at the meeting?"

Izzy lowered his head for a moment before responding.

"I wasn't there… All I know is from the message he left on my phone, that there were dark digimon back in the digital world…"

"Well, one of the others who was there. Can you fill us in?"

Ken shook his head sadly.

"We never got beyond that part. None of us believed him when he told us that they were back. So… we're working off of scratch."

Mimi broke in at this point.

"What about Gennai? Why didn't we hear anything from him?"

Izzy shrugged.

"I don't know. He contacted me this morning, said for us to meet him at his house this afternoon. He might know something, maybe Tai filled him in. But since he didn't contact us before this happened, he probably didn't know about it either."

Everyone fell silent.

After several long moments Joe finally spoke.

"Right then, we meet with Gennai. If he can help us figure out what's going on, that's grand. But we have to find Tai. That's a number one priority."

Joe looked around the room and saw hesitation, a uneasiness that came only from guilt. Maybe doubt that things could be made good between them and their leader so easily.

"Tai's always been there for us. We've come close to letting him down in the past, and he never gave up on us."

Joe paused as he made eye contact with Matt, both thinking back to Puppetmon's forest. Matt broke eye contact before taking a deep breath and nodding.

"But still… we have an apology to make, guys."

For a moment it looked as though Davis wanted to add something to Joe's speech, but instead returned his gaze to the ground. Joe was about to ask him what was wrong, but thought better of it.

Davis continued to stare at the floor, but in his mind he was remembering the digimental of Courage as it had appeared this morning when he had woken up. Cold, colorless… dead.

A knock sounded at the door.

Yolei got up to answer it.

"It's probably Yuna, I'll get it."

Izzy nodded.

"If so, then we can go meet Gennai. It's time to get to the bottom of this."

Yuna counted the beings in the room. Twelve digidestined, including herself, Gennai and eleven digimon. She studied Gennai's face as he listened.

The first thing that Yuna noticed was that Gennai seemed preoccupied as the other digidestined filled him and the digimon in on what had happened the last few days. While the digimon reacted in anger and fear, he only nodded his head at the story. Clearly his thoughts were elsewhere. In his lap he held an egg, which he continued to stroke meditatively. Yuna found herself fascinated with the egg. It seemed to call to her. Gennai might have noticed her sudden fixation, but he didn't say anything about it. When the narrative was finished he looked at the digidestined around him, studying each one intently before speaking.

"I see. It looks like Tai was right then, the darkness _did _summon the Axis. It almost killed you."

The bluntness of his words took Yuna's breath away. Most of the other digidestined and digimon reacted in the same way. Except Mimi. Nothing could make her incapable of speech.

"What do you mean, 'it almost killed us!?'"

Gennai turned his gaze to Mimi and let out a sigh.

"Let me tell you about my conversation with Tai the night the Axis descended, then maybe you'll understand."

As they all sat back and listened, Gennai told them of what had happened, about the loss of the Sovereigns, and how the Axis had held the power to attack the Crest Powers… and why the Crests were vulnerable.

"We were the cause."

Kari's voice carried horror as she spoke, her eyes beginning to fill with tears.

Gennai looked at around the room for a moment before responding. Even though his words were positive, his voice still held an element of doubt in it.

"I suppose you could look at it that way. Tai didn't though. He believed that you all would recover and face the darkness again. He asked me to help you before he left to stop the Axis, though I don't know exactly what he had in mind. I've had some hints though."

He tapped the egg in his hands meaningfully. The digidestined turned their gaze to the orange egg, slightly confused as to its significance. Izzy cleared his throat before speaking.

"The egg, Gennai?"

"Yes, this morning it suddenly appeared on my desk. Right before it appeared I thought I heard Tai's voice."

"Tai was here?"

Matt's voiced conveyed his surprise, and a little bit of apprehension. Gennai shot him a speculative look before responding.

"I don't know. I didn't see him. No one has seen him or Agumon since that night."

Yuna had listened to the conversation in silence, but here she broke in.

"We have to look for him. He might need us, and we definitely need him."

The others nodded in agreement. Then Joe spoke up.

"Were do we look?"

Everyone looked back to Gennai, who shrugged.

"The Axis descended in the mountains… that way."

He pointed out the window off into the distance.

"That's the direction Tai and Agumon took when they left."

Ken looked to where Gennai had pointed.

"Then that's were we need to go."

Everyone nodded, then stood, preparing to depart.

As Yuna walk past Gennai toward the door, she couldn't help gazing at the egg that Gennai held. It was so beautiful. Something inside her stirred, and without thinking she reached out and stroked the smooth shell.

The egg began to glow a bright orange.

The digivice clipped to her belt glowed the same bright hue.

Before everyone's widened eyes, the egg cracked and fell to the ground. In Gennai's hands sat a little bundle.

Yuna's eyes were as wide as any of the other's as she gazed at the baby digimon. The baby gazed right back for a moment, then launched itself into her arms with a squeak of joy.

The digidestined hadn't yet left Gennai's house. Once they had gotten over their surprise at the activation of Yuna's digivice and it's reaction to the egg, Yuna had become the center of attention. Gennai asked most of the questions, while she sat stroking the head of her new digimon. Yuna hadn't mentioned the dream she had experienced in the hospital lobby up to this point, but now she told most of it to the others. All except Tai's request, that she be Courage for the digidestined. For some reason, she was reluctant to speak of it.

Gennai sat back in his chair, staring out into space.

"So the digivice came from Tai. And the digiegg came from him, too. And they were both meant for Yuna. Hmmm…"

He turned away and reached for a book off one of the shelves.

"Let's see… here it is. Dodomon"

Yuna looked down at the digimon in her arms. It was a small, blue furred bundle, with little black eyes and two pointy ears.

"Dodomon."

She hugged the digimon closer to her.

"He's so adorable. I can't believe he's mine."

Gennai smiled at her, but his mind was working overtime.

_What is your plan for her, Tai?_

Sora gasped when the valley came into view. The site of the Axis' descent was obvious from the air. Not even the bare mountain land that Piedmon had ruled on spiral mountain had looked this dead and corroded. Even if this Axis that Gennai had spoken of was gone, Sora could still feel that evil had been present within these mountains. It reminded her of how she felt when the darkness had swallowed her during their first adventure, when Tai had sent her and T.K. to find Matt. She shuddered. Beside her, on Birdramon's other talon, Matt and Gabumon looked just as shaken. Whatever had happened in this valley had been terrible, like nothing any of them had seen before.

A deep sense of dread enveloped her. It didn't matter that Gennai was convinced the threat had passed for a time. Whatever they would find within the valley would be terrible. Sora reached out for Matt's hand and clasped it tightly.

"Matt, I don't want to go down there."

Matt felt the same way. Even if entering the valley was their best bet to figure out what had transpired, he instinctively knew the outcome would be hard to bear.

"I understand Sora. I feel the same way. But we already let Tai down… this might be the only way of apologizing to him."

Reluctantly, Sora nodded in agreement before calling to Birdramon to make for the entrance to the valley. They would start from there and search for clues. Kabuterimon, Aquillamon, Angemon, ExVeemon and Stingmon followed right behind her, carrying Gennai and the others with them.

Upon landing Yuna noticed that Joe and Matt had immediately begun scanning the path leading into the valley, searching for potential threats. They didn't like the feeling of the valley any more on the ground than they had in the air. Yuna couldn't blame them. The valley was probably permanently tainted by the evil that had visited it.

Cody stood off to the side, running his hand through deep claw marks cut into a boulder. The others stood amid the scorched rock, some glancing down into the heart of the valley, some gazing at the destruction surrounding them. Yuna could see that Gennai was among the former. He seemed to be looking for something, some kind of sign or message that would reassure him. But amid this poisoned land, such reassurance wouldn't come.

Izzy spoke without turning his eyes from the valley.

"Gennai, I think we should go down and examine the battlefield. It's possible that we might find some clue to what happened and where Tai went after he destroyed the Axis."

Gennai didn't answer. Yuna wasn't sure whether he had heard Izzy.

Sora spoke up hesitantly.

"Gennai? Did you hear what Izzy said?"

Gennai only nodded, then began walking down the path toward the valley's center. Izzy exchanged a troubled look with the others before the group began the descent behind the guardian.

A sinking feeling enveloped Gennai as they passed down the narrow trail. He had started to piece together an idea of what had happened already. He only needed confirmation of his suspicions.

_Is that what you meant, Tai?_

Gatomon guided the group down the scorched slope toward the center of the valley, using her cat-like balance to find the most stable route. Everyone in the group seemed apprehensive. The digimon stuck close to their partners, eyes and ears alert for any sign of danger. Matt and Joe kept looking around, counting and recounting their group to make sure everyone was fine. They were approaching the crater that marked the center of the valley.

Yuna kept close to Gennai as the group fanned out, looking for anything that could give them an idea of what had happened. Yuna wished that she had a clearer idea of what such a clue could be. Footprints? Maybe a message written in the scorched earth? Tai must have left some kind of maker.

Gabumon stood close to the crater, sniffing at the rocks and upturned soil. Yuna noticed his eyes go wide, then feral.

"Phantomon!" Gabumon's voice snarled out, low and deadly.

Several of the other keen nosed digimon moved closer to their friend, likewise checking the scent that he had discovered.

Gatomon spoke up, confirming Gabumon's statement.

"Yep, that's definitely him. And that bitch LadyDevimon too. There's a couple others that I can't identify. And…"

Her voice became excited.

"WarGreymon! He was here!"

This seemed to cheer the other immediately. Davis grinned in triumph.

"That's it then! Those bad guys are toast! No Ultimate could stand up to WarGreymon! Now we just have to catch up to Tai and…"

He trailed off as Gabumon walked away from the digidestined, sniffing the rock and making for the other end of the valley, past the crater. When he spoke, his voice was subdued, like he was doubting his own nose.

"They left this way. The evil digimon."

Yuna saw Gennai's face blanch. The older digidestined stood shocked. Davis voiced the thought that they all had at the same moment.

"What do you mean they left!? WarGreymon would have torn them to shreds! No way that could be right!"

Gatomon couldn't believe it either, but her nose told her the same thing as Gabumon's. The dark digimon had departed the valley alive.

Dodomon squirmed in Yuna's arms. He was straining to get loose, making cooing noises all the while. Wryly, Yuna realized that her baby digimon was the only one of the group not to be effected by their surroundings. The little guy wanted to play.

Yuna shifted her grip on Dodomon, but he took that opportunity to jump free.

"Dodomon! Wait!"

Yuna chased after him as he hopped forward, deftly avoiding Davis and Veemon as they tried to head him off.

"Ooooohhh!"

With a bound, Dodomon launched himself into the crater at the center of the valley.

"Dodomon!"

Yuna cried out in alarm at the thought of Dodomon being in that crater. Something about it filled her with dread.

Davis was a step ahead of her reaching the edge the baby digimon had just lept over.

"Don't worry, I'll get him."

From the rim of the crater, the digidestined could see Dodomon, sitting at the center, gazing at something partially buried in the crushed rock. The little digimon appeared to be transfixed by the object, and sat as still as the surrounding rocks. Davis slid to a stop beside Dodomon, annoyance and curiosity written on his features. He scooped up the little purple ball before turning his attention to the object.

For a long while Davis just stood staring, as if he too were transfixed by item in the dust. Slowly he bent down, and with one hand gently extracted whatever was buried there.

Up on the edge of the crater the others watched. Davis was acting strange. His shoulders were slumped over, and he cradled whatever he held far more gently then he did the baby digimon in his other hand.

Typically, Yolei quickly became impatient.

"Davis! Get your butt up here and show us what you found! What do you think you're doing? Napping?"

The expected retort from Davis never came. Slowly, Davis turned and began to labor up the slope, still cradling the item in his hands. When he reached the top Yuna stepped forward to receive her digimon. But Davis wasn't moving. He looked around at his surrounding friends for a long moment, his eyes dull. When he held out his hands the others saw a white digivice, the type carried by the older, first generation digidestined. It appeared undamaged. But the screen… It's screen was dead and blank. Like the screen of a crashed computer.

For the second time, Yuna reached out to touch an object without thought. Her fingers slid across the smooth, cool surface of the device. And for the second time that day the object she touched reacted immediately.

A orange glow emanated from the dead digivice, faintly at first, then brighter and brighter, until all those present felt themselves slip into the warm orange glow.


End file.

Digimon, Drama