Hey everyone! Your friendly girl Amna here with her first fanfic ever and it's going to be fairly dark. One thing I will say is PLEASE give me your feedback. If you're too shy to review, send me a PM or e-mail so I can see what you like and disliked in the story so I can improve. Also, just a note, I know Ken refers to Daisuke as 'Motomiya' in the series but quite some time has passed (won't say when as that would kill the suspense) so they'll be on a more first-name basis just so you know. I hope you all enjoy this story! Thanks to Aiko Isari for betareading this chapter. I DO NOT OWN DIGIMON.

Chapter 1: Fears

Tick-tock. Tick-tock.

Takeru Takaishi paced the room looking over at the clock every few minutes, his knuckles white from the anxiousness he felt. The blond hated sitting back and doing nothing. Two of his dear friends, Daisuke Motomiya and Ken Ichijouji were trapped in a warped dimension which they had been pulled into about half an hour ago. Their younger group, which included Daisuke, Ken, himself, Iori, Hikari and Miyako had been discussing on how to deal with menacing digimon which kept on causing terror in the real world when suddenly a purple whirlpool appeared. It had attempted to suck only Ken in at first, but Daisuke had quickly grabbed a hold of his best friend's arm and they both had been sucked inside.

The rest of them had called up Koushiro, who had come along with Taichi but so far they had nothing. Hikari sat with her head in her arms, trying to keep thinking positive. Taichi and Takeru had attempted to give her some hope that their friends would be fine but all words had been lost on her. Chibimon had the most downcast expression of all of them, he hadn't been able to react at a high enough speed to help Daisuke. The guilt seen in the normally cheerful digimon's eyes was heartbreaking. Iori and Miyako had it the worst though. Miyako looked on the verge of breaking down while Iori had a solemn expression on their face. Not only were two of their friends now missing but their digimon Hawkmon and Armadimon still hadn't been found. Of course, the same could be said for all of the digimon except for Patamon, Tailmon, Wormmon and Chibimon but things seemed to be just getting worse since this enemy appeared.

They still didn't even know who the enemy was. Takeru knew since he was the Chosen Child of Hope he should help keep everyone's spirits up but he didn't know how to. There was only so much he could do when everyone seemed to be losing hope. Things weren't going in their favour and for once there seemed no exit out of there.

Unable to stand remaining quiet any longer, he stepped forward where Koushirou was attempting to figure out how to get Daisuke and Ken out of the warped dimension.

"Koushirou-san, have you figured anything out?" Takeru asked, trying to keep the borderline panic out of his voice but he couldn't help it. He and Daisuke may fight a lot but he wouldn't be able to live with himself if he never saw him again. No, he shouldn't think that. Daisuke would never give up no matter what it was. He had proved that in the battle with BelialVamdemon, plus they had to believe in him. Still, this waiting was making them all edgy. His palms were sweating and his knuckles were white with anxiousness.

Koushirou tilted his head to the side to meet Takeru's eager and anxious eyes, sighing. Honestly, sometimes being the Bearer of Knowledge meant you had to give bad news something which Koushirou hated doing.

"Takeru-kun...I've managed to pin-point their locations in the warped dimension, however I cannot seem to understand how to find an escape route for them." Koushirou said, his expression downcast. Guilt clearly shown in his eyes, wishing he could do more.

Taichi reached over, placing a hand on his shoulder trying to offer some comfort. Koushirou was trying so hard for them all like he always did and he should know they all supported him. Taichi was worried about Daisuke and Ken as well as Agumon but really, Koushirou was only a human not a miracle-worker, so he couldn't solve everything.

"Don't worry, Koushirou, just try your best." Taichi assured him with a smile. "If anyone can help Daisuke right now it's you. I believe in you."

Koushirou gave a small smile, Taichi was probably his closest friend in all of the Chosen Children and it was nice to know despite his failures in helping the Younger Chosen lately, his friend still had faith in him.

"Thank you." was all he replied before turning back to the computer.

Hikari, despite the situation couldn't help but smile at the bond between her older brother and Koushirou. Even now, when the computer genius lost faith in himself, Taichi never lost faith in him. It was his courage and Takeru's hope that had kept her going even in the darkest of times but now as much as she wanted to hold onto that, she was genuinely scared. She knew Daisuke would do his best to protect both himself and Ken but he could be reckless sometimes and she didn't want him getting hurt in the process.

A bright light flashing distracted her and she frowned, her heart thumping loudly in her chest as the computer began acting odd. A buzzing sound was coming from it and a blue whirpool appeared which looked like a portal. Before anyone could react, Ken fell out of it, coughing and spluttering. On his left arm, his shirt was ripped and he had a large gash running down it. Blood trickled out of the wound and the boy was pale in the face.

The younger team immediately leapt into action. Takeru moved forward along with Hikari, both of them catching Ken with both of their arms when he toppled over. Koushirou immediately stood up, pushing his computer chair forward and the Chosen of Hope and Light helped him into it, before both gazing at the whirlpool but to their shock and horror, the portal that had appeared had vanished.

"Daisuke-san!" Iori was the first to cry out, alarm coming from his voice. He was pale in the face and shaking. Despite now being 16 years of age, right now he resembled a small, lost child which was strange considering he was usually considered to be the one acting more mature than his usual age. But right now, he was anything but calm and composed. He turned to Ken.

"Where's Daisuke-san?" The younger boy demanded to know, ready to start bombarding the other with questions. A part of him felt guilty for doing so since Ken didn't appear to be in much a good condition himself to be answering questions but right now his concern for their leader over-weighed that feeling of guilt.

"Iori-kun..." Takeru admonished gently, he didn't blame Iori's actions because he felt like doing the same but they had to tend to Ken first who still appeared to be in trauma. He shook his head lightly towards his Jogress Partner hoping he would understand the subtle message that he was trying to give. He turned towards Ken putting a gentle hand on the indigo-haired boy's arm causing him to jump. The startled and lost look in his eyes told Takeru that Ken had not heard a single word that Iori had spoken.

"Ichijouji-kun...I understand I'm not as close to you as Daisuke-kun is." Takeru began and was startled to see tears come to the boy's eyes at Daisuke's name which made him have a sinking feeling about his currently missing friend but pushed it aside to help Ken. "But I want to help you and Daisuke-kun. Please tell us...what happened?"

Ken took a shuddering breath as Koushirou wrapped some tissues around his arm while Tai was calling Jyou to come over to his house with some medical supplies.

"Daisuke...he...saved...I...hurt...darkness...fade out..." Ken was barely forming a coherent sentence but one thing Takeru did make out for certain was that Daisuke had somehow saved Ken and managed to send him back to them but why hadn't he been able to come back himself? His hands immediately shot out to catch Ken as he passed out completely and he frowned, his eyes widening. His trembling hands became more firm so his friend wouldn't topple over.

"What happened to him?" Takeru asked, immediately hoping the other boy was all right. Hikari reached over, trying to get a pulse, and breathed a sigh of relief when she saw it.

"It's all right, he's just unconscious." Hikari assured her best friend causing his demeanor to relax as it had tensed up even further when Ken had passed out completely. Throughout this whole time she had been watching, not saying anything for fear she would start crying. Her eyes had filled with tears and her hands were shaking slightly. The brunette wanted to bring some comfort to her friend, but words weren't coming to her so she had just placed a hand on his shoulder, massaging it gently when he had begun speaking. Tears began cascading down her cheeks, but she quickly wiped them away. The brunette convinced herself that crying wouldn't help anyone. Right now, she had to be strong. Like her brother many times before her, she needed to be strong to help those around her. She squeezed the indigo-haired boy's shoulder, letting him know she was there.

"Izumi-senpai," Miyako said speaking after what seemed like an eternity especially for her, which was surprising considering she was usually quite talkative but ever since this whole situation took place, even she didn't know how to react. She wanted to run away but knew this wasn't just some game she could just stop playing. This was serious business. Lives were at stake if she didn't do something.

"Could you try and find a way to re-open that portal?" Miyako queried when Koushirou looked at her. He frowned a little at her question, he turned back towards the computer, typing in a few words. His focus was sorely on what was happening on the screen and he had tuned out everything around him, something which was a habit of is. Finally he turned back around and nodded towards Miyako.

"Yes, Miyako-kun however the portal will only remain open for 30 seconds." He informed her and Miyako nodded slowly before turning to the others who were watching the conversation between the two computer geniuses.

"We can handle it if Patamon and Tailmon are up for a battle." Miyako said her gaze stopping at Takeru, Hikari, Patamon and Tailmon respectively. Right now, they were the only ones who stood some chance of them being able to help Daisuke since Chibimon couldn't digivolve without him and Wormmon was probably still stuck in the other dimension since he wasn't here with Ken.

Iori frowned slightly at this, not liking the idea much.

"Miyako-san, that's dangerous, we should have a plan first!" Iori protested. Being a holder of the Digimentals of Knowledge and Faith taught him to be both strategic and cautious before going ahead with something.

Miyako was about to argue that the situation was dire right now and they didn't have time for a plan but Takeru cut in before the argument could ensue.

"I have a plan." Takeru said catching everyone's attention except Taichi and Koushirou, who were discussing about Ken. "Patamon and Tailmon can distract the main enemy, whatever digimon or creature is causing this. The rest of us will in that time try to help Daisuke-kun in whatever he's trapped in. Ken mentioned something about darkness and fading out, so if the digimon is distracted by our digimon, it will give us enough time to help Daisuke-kun."

Miyako nodded in agreement.

"Bingo! That's a good plan!" The purple-haired girl exclaimed trying to bring back some enthusiasm in the group. Some optimism was needed in the group and since Daisuke wasn't here, she had to take over the job. Iori sighed, but did agree it did seem like the best plan at the moment. Hikari, however was frowning a little.

"I won't deny I'm scared because things haven't been going according to our plans lately but..." Hikari sighed a little. "I really want to help Daisuke-kun. I'm worried about him. What about Ichijouji-kun? He's in no condition to come with us." She took a tissue from Koushirou, wiping the sweat off Ken's face. His anxiety was still present and his face quite reddened from apparently having had been crying.

"He'll want to go." Hikari turned to see Taichi looking over at them with a small smile. A frown marred the brunette's beautiful features as she moved to protest.

"Onii-chan, he's hurt and..." Hikari began but Taichi spoke before she could continue.

"They're best friends." Taichi responded to her. "I know you and Takeru would do the same for each other. I'd do the same for Koushirou and Yamato. Perhaps you should at least wait till Jyou gets here. He'll be here in a few minutes."

All the Younger Chosen didn't respond to that but their facial expressions were enough to show their anxiety. Takeru's face was pale, his eyes bloodshot and gaze unfocused and looking around. Miyako was chewing on a lock of her hair and tapping her foot. Hikari's eyes were filled with tears, her hands trembling and gaze downcast. Iori was glancing between Ken's current condition and the computer that Koushirou had. Of course they wanted to take Ken along and even wait if they had to, but they could be losing precious time to save Daisuke. As selfish as it sounded, it was a risk none of them were willing to take.

Hikari frowned, sighing a little and glancing at Tailmon.

"What do you think?" Hikari asked her best friend. It seemed their team was too undecided right now to come up with anything.

The feline digimon frowned, glancing at Patamon for a good few seconds. Their eyes met and she realised it was small but there was still a small ray of hope emanating from his eyes. He gave her a small smile and that smile lit up the small darkness that had formed in her heart. She turned back to Hikari.

"I say we wait," Tailmon said softly. "Patamon and I are willing to fight till the end either way but both Daisuke and Ken are our precious friends. I know, somehow Ken can help us save Daisuke too. We need to work together and no matter how much time goes by, we'll succeed. It's what's always led us to victories hasn't it? Even when we were turned to pieces of data." She gave her partner a confident smile, although it was slightly faltered due to the nagging doubts that were still lingering at the back of her head.

Hikari smiled a little at that. She could see the others still being a little reluctant and reached over, taking each of Takeru's and Miyako's hand, causing both to look up at her.

"Let's wait," Hikari encouraged them softly. "And keep the light in our hearts alive, ne Takeru-kun?" She gave him a soft smile, looking into his eyes. Takeru looked back and felt as if their roles were reversed somehow. Her smile gave him strength and her courage gave him hope. Somehow just looking into her beautiful eyes made him feel as if things would end up okay. The blond returned this gesture by squeezing the brunette's hand and nodded in agreement.