I don't own Digimon.

Well here's the next chapter and once again I want to thank all those of you who reviewed. It's been a week and now chapter 6 is up for all of you to enjoy.

I've been playing League of Legends and Dota 2 and I just have to say is why didn't I do it sooner? Those games are a lot of fun, especially with friends. No surprise that my best characters just happen to be fire types just like Agumon. Lol.

Well, enjoy.

Once A Leader….

Chapter 6: The Dark Ocean

Tai sat down in his living room with Veemon's egg in his lap, watching TV with Koromon sitting next to him. It had surprised everyone that Tai had been able to bring his partner with him but only Tai knew why. Looking down at his hand, he held a D-3 Digivice with orange colored grip. It was strange to Tai to have one since he was so used to his old one. But since his old one shattered into a million pieces, he supposed that he needed a new one.

He hadn't told the others that he had it, not even Sora or Kari. Honestly, he had no idea what to think about it. Part of him felt like he didn't deserve it, especially after what he put Koromon through. But Koromon had forgiven him, telling him that he wasn't mad. Still, Tai tried his best to make up for his behavior. He had gone out and gotten all kinds of candy for Koromon.

And then there was Veemon's DigiEgg. Tai had spent the last two days rubbing it and still it had yet to hatch. Tai knew that it would take a while, as Magnamon, Veemon did use a lot of energy. But Tai often wondered if Veemon would even want to be hatched after seeing his best friend die right before his eyes.

It was Friday and after school, Tai had told Kari that he didn't feel like going into the digital world with them. Kari said that they were going in to do some recon and see what they could find. Without Davis and T.K., they were two people short so Izzy and Mimi had decided to join them.

And speaking of T.K., Kari had told Tai that T.K. was ignoring them, refusing to even acknowledge them when they tried to say hi. Kari actually had to hold back Yolei when T.K. just walked past her. While Tai didn't really blame T.K., he couldn't help but feel angry toward Matt for turning T.K. against them. Matt still wasn't talking to them, even Gabumon stayed away from the other Digimon.

Matt clearly didn't like Tai's plan of getting back their crests and after Tai had basically called him inferior to himself, Matt was pissed at Tai. But Tai didn't care, not much anyway. When Matt realized that he was being childish and apologized, Tai would accept him in the team again. Though he wouldn't completely trust him again. Whenever Matt got like that, you could never tell if he was on your side or not. The last time ended up with them fighting, this time Tai was determined to end it before it began. If Matt attacked him or one of the others, Tai would end him right then and there.

It was getting late now, the sun was just about to set. Thinking back, Tai was glad that Sora had forgiven him. Smiling, he thought back to the time they shared in the patch of Sakura trees. Just then, Veemon's egg began to shake and with a small pop, Chibomon was born.

"What the?" Tai said before Chibomon began to hop toward his dad's office room.

/\(-\/-)/\

Izzy and Mimi were walking through the forest in search of Gatomon's tail ring. After Gatomon had mentioned that she had lost it in the forest where they appeared, they all agreed to look. Izzy and Mimi had decided to search together, something that Izzy hadn't minded at all. Though if he was completely honest, he didn't know what he should do. He was nervous about being alone with Mimi at the moment. Before it was no problem because he wasn't really into girls that way but now, he couldn't deny the fact that he did have feelings for the pink haired teen.

Since Mimi lived on the other side of the world, Izzy was primarily her only source of contact with the other DigiDestined. At first Izzy hadn't really given it much thought but over the years, he had gotten to know Mimi better than before. He often found himself reading her long emails about how her day went or listening to her over the phone or on video chat.

He didn't mind, in fact, he was glad because he felt like he was serving an important role. He felt as though he was the link that kept all of the DigiDestined together. Izzy would always keep in touch with everyone in one way or another. So when he began to talk to Mimi for long periods of time, he didn't find it strange.

He eventually warmed up to her and he began to tell her about his day. He shared secrets with her that he normally would've kept to himself. The only person he trusted with absolute confidence was Tai since once Tai made a promise he would keep it. Not that he didn't trust the other DigiDestined, it was just that Tai was too stubborn to reveal a secret even under the worst torture imaginable. He knew that his secret was safe with him.

Anyways, he found himself talking about his problems with her and in turn she would tell him about hers. He found it amusing that he could relate to most of Mimi's problems and vice versa. He would often take her advice and he would be amazed when it worked and he would then in turn give her advice. Most of the time it was just common sense on his part but she thanked him none the less.

The young genius didn't know when it happened but he eventually found himself getting jealous when Mimi talked about other guys. At first he thought it was nothing but over the last few months, it became more and more obvious that he had developed feelings for her. How it happened, he would never know. But one thing was sure and that was that he liked Mimi Tachikawa.

What Izzy was still trying to figure out was if he loved her or if it was just infatuation. Being the intellectual that he was, he had to make sure that he had all of the facts before he even considered taking action. But so far he was stumped on what to do. He wanted to talk to Tai about it but right now, with Davis's death and BlackWarGreymon, he didn't want to burden his friend with his problems.

"Hey Izzy, did you hear what I just said?" Mimi asked him, waving her hand in front of his face.

"Huh? What was that?" he asked, snapping back into reality.

"I said, did you know that Tai kissed Sora two days ago?" Mimi repeated.
"Really? How do you know?" Izzy asked, interested in this bit of news. What can he say, Mimi had turned him into a regular gossiper.

"She told me over the phone just yesterday. Apparently when he went to apologize for the stunt he pulled, he promised to do anything she asked him to." Mimi said. Sighing, she decided to continue. "It was so romantic, the way she described it…Sora told me that she took a risk in that moment, unsure of whether or not Tai felt the same about her. Her heart was pounding and she felt like running away. Yet in the end, she worked up her courage to the DigiDestined of Courage and asked what her hearted wanted more than anything in the world…"

Izzy was so wrapped up with Mimi's story that he whispered out. "What?"

With another sigh, Mimi closed her eyes as she held her hands close to her chest. "A kiss…"

"A kiss?"

"A kiss…" Mimi repeated. "But not just any kiss…her first kiss…and she shared it with her best friend too…" at that pointed Mimi let out a happy squeal. "Oh its sooo romantic! Picture it, Izzy, being under the warm sun in the cool shade of Cherry blossom trees, Sakura petals floating around you. And you standing in the middle of it with your best friend and love of your life and you share one of the most precious and intimate moments of your life…your first kiss…Sora is so lucky…"

Izzy couldn't help but picture that exact same scene but instead of Sora and Tai, it was him and Mimi. Of course in his day dream, he was taller.

"That does seem nice…" Izzy said after a moment.

"Speaking of which…" Mimi said suddenly. "I've been meaning to ask you, Izzy."

"What is it?" Izzy asked, not liking the look in Mimi's eyes.

"Have you ever kissed a girl?"

"What? What kind of question is that?" Izzy asked, his cheeks suddenly feeling very warm.

"Aha! I knew it! You still haven't had your first kiss!" Mimi said triumphantly.

"So? What does it matter if I haven't kissed a girl?" Izzy asked defensively, feeling a little hurt.

"It matters a great deal! And the reason I asked is because Sora and I were talking about you as well." Mimi said sweetly.

"And? Why would you be talking about me to her?" Izzy asked, confused. The last time that he had hung out with Sora was at the library when he helped her and Tai with their homework.

"Well, if you must know, Sora thinks that she's found the perfect girl for you." Mimi said with a cheerful tone.

"Oh no, I'm not going to be some blind date for one of her friends." Izzy said.
"But why? What if you really like this girl?" Mimi asked, sounding a little hurt.

"Because…I…already like somebody else…" Izzy said, a little reluctant to say it.

"Really?" Mimi asked, no longer looking cheerful.

"Yea…I've had feelings for her for some time now…" Izzy said, staring down at the ground. "I'm sorry but tell Sora to tell her friend that I'm not interested."

"…Oh…um okay…" Mimi said. She tried to force a smile as she felt her heart break into a million pieces. "I'll tell her…"

"Mimi…let me explain…" Izzy began as he saw the look on her face.
"No, it's okay. Really, Izzy, its fine. It's okay if you like some girl who's prettier than me!" Mimi said, tears already falling down her cheeks. She had begun to walk away from him in a hurry that she failed to realize what she had just said.

"Wait! It was you?" Izzy asked in disbelief.

"Of course it was me! Who else did you think it was?" Mimi said, her voice louder than normal. "I like you, you moron! I've liked you for a long time now!"

"Really?" Izzy asked.

"Yes! Ever since you and I started talking and getting to know each other better, I realized that I had developed feelings for you! At first I thought I was crazy and that it wasn't real but the more I talked to you, the more I realized what you meant to me. I tried to date other boys but none of them were as sweet and as understanding as you…" Mimi said. She was openly crying now, knowing full well that she was spilling her heart out to the boy of her dreams. "I wanted so badly to tell you that I liked you but I could never tell if you liked me or not. I didn't want to tell you because I was afraid that you wouldn't like me and that it would ruin our friendship. But now here I am, crying my heart out to you and I can't stop. You probably think I'm crazy right now and you're right, I am crazy…crazy about you…"

"Then yesterday when I spoke to Sora, I was stupid enough to listen to her advice and ask you if you had ever kissed anyone. If you hadn't then that meant that you were available and that maybe you'd like to go out on a date with me. But you already like someone else…I waited too long and now I missed my chance…" Mimi lowered herself down to her knees and sat down with her legs at her side.

Izzy couldn't believe what he was hearing, all this time, he thought that there was no way that Mimi would ever like him. And yet here she was, declaring that she did have feelings for him and that she had for a while now.

Gathering up his nerve, he walked over to her and knelt down beside her. He placed his hand beneath her chin and raised it up so that she would look at him. She looked so beautiful to him, even with her tear stained cheeks.

"Mimi…there's something that I have to tell you…" Izzy said, getting her attention. "The girl that I like…well, she's not just pretty, she's beautiful…and I've had feelings for her for a long time now…"

Mimi felt her heart break once more as a new wave of tears spilled forth.

"She's smart…and funny…and one of the nicest girls I know…" to Mimi's surprise, Izzy leaned in and kissed her. It wasn't a deep or passionate kiss, but a simple chaste one. Being inexperienced, neither had much knowledge about kissing but both of them felt something that they never would forget.

As Izzy pulled away, Mimi felt her heart pounding rapidly as the blood rushed to her head, giving her rosy blush. She had stopped crying and she was no longer feeling sad. With that one kiss, she knew who Izzy had fallen for and she happy that it had been her all along. She couldn't help but smile widely as she stared up at her precious Koushiro. His one kiss was enough to take her pain away and replace it with joy. She knew in her heart of hearts that he was the one, despite the fact that this was her first kiss as well.

"Mimi Tachikawa…will you do me the honor and be my girlfriend?" Izzy asked her, still feeding off of the courage he had gathered for the kiss. His heart was pounding so hard in his chest that he thought it would explode but he didn't care. This was his one chance to make things right. If he didn't show courage now then he would never show it again.

"…oh Izzy…" Mimi said as she leaped up and hugged him. "Of course I would!"

But their happiness was shorted lived as Cody and Armadillomon came running toward, both with urgent looks on their faces.

"You guys, the others are gone!" they heard the young boy shout.

/\(\^/)/\

Kari watched as the DNA Digivolved form of Gatomon and Aquilamon battled against Blossomon, an ultimate level plant like Digimon. Silphymon was its name and he destroyed the control spire Digimon without too much trouble. But now Kari, Ken, and Yolei stood in the middle of the dark ocean, watching as the dark waves washed up on the grey shore.

"Where are we…?" Yolei asked as she looked around.

"We're in the Dark Ocean…" Ken said, remembering this place all too well.

"How can this be? I thought I escaped the Darkness last time…" Kari said, her eyes wide with fear.

"Listen up, you two, whatever you do, don't wish for anything here." Ken warned them, remembering that his wished had caused his brother's death. "It might come true but not how you'd expect."

"What do you mean, Ken?" Yolei asked.

"I've been here before…it's where my Digivice became the dark D-3 that I have now." Ken explained. "It's also here that I…I…"

"Ken, you don't have to explain…" Stingmon said.

"No, it's okay…I wished that my brother Sam would disappear…" Ken said, his voice full of sorrow.

"Ken…" Stingmon said.

"Then my brother died…" Ken said, closing his eyes. A single tear was squeezed out.

"Oh Ken…I'm so sorry…" Kari said.

Just then, several dark figures emerged from the dark water in front of them. There were four of them in total, each one taking the shake of a Divermon. Ken watched as they came closer and closer, staring intently at Kari.

"You came back…" the first one said.

"But you are too late…" the second one said.

"Our master will come for you now…" the third one said.

"Your offspring would've set us free…" the last one said.

"What they hell are they talking about, Kari?" Yolei asked, not liking what they were implying. "Kari?"

But Kari wasn't paying attention to her, she was staring out into the ocean, her eye wide with terror. Looking over at Ken, Yolei saw that he too was scared out of his mind.

"Come on, you guys, you can't freak out on me now!" Yolei shouted at them as she shook Kari.

"Yolie, take Kari and Ken away from the water, Stingmon and I will handle them." Silphymon said as he stood in front of the Divermon. Looking over at Stingmon, he noticed that Stingmon was still hurt from their last battle. "You okay to fight?"

"I'll try my best. These things will have to get past us before we let them get the kids." Stingmon said.

"You won't have to fight us…" the first Divermon said. They slowly began to back away and sink back into the watery depths.

Once they were gone, there was a demonic roar from within the water itself, causing the waves to grow in size. In the distance, a hulking mass began to rise from within the dark water. It was humanoid in shape but its limbs made out of tentacles. In the distance, its form was covered in shadows and Silphymon was having a hard time seeing its features. But behind him, he heard as Ken and Kari let out a blood curling scream as the large Digimon neared the shore.

"Who dares enter my domain?" the Digimon spoke in a booming slow voice full of malicious intent. "Who dares disturb my slumber?"

Soon it was standing at the water's edge and Silphymon knew who this Digimon was. Dragomon stood as tall as MetalGreymon, perhaps a bit tall than even him. He had two dragon like wings behind him and purple rosary around his neck.

"Stand back, demon!" Stingmon shouted as he took to the sky. "I won't let you near Ken ever again!"

"So it's the young Ichijouji who has returned to me?" Dragomon said as his red eyes focused on the now silent Ken. Then he focused on Kari. "And the child of light is here as well…she will make a fine consort for me…"

"Excuse me?" Yolei shouted, not liking the way Dragomon had spoken to Kari. "Kari is not anyone's consort nor will she ever be!"

"Hmm? You have a fire in your heart, don't you, human?" Dragomon said, his slow rumbling voice making the hairs on Yolei's neck stand up. "I will enjoy breaking your will when I ravage you as well…"

"Ewww gross! Not a chance in hell, you sick disgusting monster!" Yolei shouted as shook her head. "Silphymon, destroy that creep!"

"Right, Static Force!" Silphymon formed a ball of energy in his hands and threw it at Dragomon.

"Pathetic!" Dragomon said as he swatted the attack away. "Here you cannot harm me for my strength is as infinite as the darkness that surrounds us!"

"I don't care if you're made up of nothing but darkness, we will defeat you!" Silphymon said as he fired again and again.

"Spiking Strike!" Stingmon flew in fast, stabbing his stinger into Dragomon's shoulder.

But Dragomon barely felt it and he sent his tentacles at Stingmon, completely wrapping him up and slamming him into the sandy beach. Silphymon tried to help him but Dragomon formed a trident out of nowhere and threw it at him with incredible speed. The trident struck Silphymon and forced him to separate into Poromon and Salamon.

Stingmon was the only one who could still fight but even he was struggling just to stand. With a painful groan, he popped his shoulder back into place and charged at the ultimate Digimon who towered over him.

"It's foolish of you to try and defeat me, Stingmon!" Dragomon said as he formed a claw with his tentacles and struck Stingmon.

"Ken, Kari, you two have got to snap out of it!" Yolei shouted at them as she shook them. But nothing she did worked. Then she slapped both of them. "I said SNAP OUT OF IT!"

"Y-Yolei?" Kari asked as her cheek stung.

"Finally, you guys, we have huge problem here!" Yolei said as she pointed at Dragomon who was battling Stingmon. "That thing wants to rape us!"

"What?" Ken asked, confused.

"I said that thing wants to rape me and Kari!" Yolei shouted, grabbing Ken by the shoulders and shaking him. "I don't want to be a consort! I'm too young to get raped!"

Just then, Stingmon crashed against the sand next to them and DeDigivolved into Wormmon. Looking up, they saw that Dragomon was smiling as he eyed both Kari and Yolei.

"Your last line of defense has fallen…" Dragomon said. "Now I shall enjoy you warmth while it lasts…Mwahahahahaha!"

Dragomon stretched his right arm toward Kari and Yolei, his tentacles making their way toward them. Yolei screamed while Kari just stood there, frozen as her worst fears were coming true.

"NO!"

Both girls snapped back to reality as Ken threw himself at the tentacles and tried his best to hold them back.

"Kari, Yolei, RUN!" he shouted, he could already feel them overwhelming him.

"Ken, we can't leave you!" Yolei shouted.

"I said RUN!" Ken shouted again but this time the tentacles had trapped him. He had wanted to spare them of the horrors he had gone through while being controlled by the darkness. He knew that if Kari and Yolei were captured that they would experience a fate worse than death. He had tried to be kind and let himself be captured instead but as his vision began to fade from the pain that the tentacles caused, he saw that Yolei was rushing toward him.

"Ken!" Yolei ripped one of the tentacles off of Ken but soon their numbers overwhelmed her and she too was captured. She screamed as she felt the tentacles roam her body.

Kari just watched as her friends were being captured right before her eyes. She didn't know what to do or what she could do to help them. If only she had her crest…

"It's foolish to try and summon your crest of light…" Dragomon said as he watched a faint glow coming from Kari's chest. "You might believe that Light is the worst enemy of Darkness but you're wrong. Light can only shine while there are surfaces to light up. Darkness can exist anywhere and it has no physical shape! Light cannot harm me no matter how bright it is!"

'Davis!' that single thought passed through Kari's mind as Dragomon reached for her with his tentacles.

Closing her eyes, Kari didn't want to see it coming for her. But after she did, she heard Dragomon shout out in pain.

"What are you doing here?" Dragomon asked, his tentacles retreating back to his arm.

Looking up, Kari saw a golden light shine in front of her. It was too bright to make out but she could see it none the less.

"No matter, I will destroy your golden radiance once and for all." Dragomon said as he hurled his tentacles at the golden light.

But the light avoided his strike and soared through the air, striking Dragomon in the chest. With a painful roar, Dragomon released Ken and Yolei, who had her clothes torn in several places.

"Run now!" the golden light shouted at them in a booming voice.

Not having to be told twice, Kari picked up Poromon and Salamon and rushed to Ken and Yolei's side. She urged them to get up and after getting Wormmon, they rushed over to the forest just beyond the sand. Turning around, Kari watched as the glowing light seemed to be losing against Dragomon. Stopping just as they reached the woods, Ken and Yolei looked back at her.

"Kari?" Yolei asked. She was crying and she desperately wanted to get out of there, especially after what Dragomon had done to her.

"I'm staying…I have to help him." Kari said.

"Help who?" Ken asked.

"Davis…" Kari said as she turned around and ran back.

"Kari no!" Yolei and Ken shouted before the world around them ceased to be dark and they reappeared in the digital world.

"Ken, Yolei, are you guys okay?" Cody asked as he, Tai, Izzy, Sora, and Mimi rushed over to them. At their side were Agumon, Armadillomon, Tentomon, Biyomon, Palmon, and Chibomon.

Mimi and Sora immediately went to Yolei's side and Tai offered her his jacket to cover her up. Yolei was sobbing hysterically and she wasn't making any sense. Ken on the other hand was staring at his palm where there was a glowing light. Looking over his shoulder, Tai saw that the crest of kindness was glowing.

"Ken, tell me where Kari is." Tai asked him, fearing what his answer would be.

With tears flowing down his cheek, Ken looked up at the leader of the DigiDestined and said. "She's with Davis now…"

End of chapter

First off, I want to say that I didn't write the Dark Ocean scene like that to fulfill some sort of creepy fetish of mine. If you watched the Japanese version of that episode where Kari first goes to the Dark Ocean, the creatures want her as their queen to breed with her. When I first saw it I was like wtf is wrong with Japanese people? This is supposed to be a kid's show!

But I felt that I had to include it because it will set up a chapter in the future where they try to rescue Kari. I can't tell you who goes to rescue her but I can say that it most certainly won't be Cody. Lol.

The next chapter will feature the return of BlackWarGreymon and you know who's going to try and stop him right? The answer is Cody. He will be the one who stop BlackWarGreymon. Lol.

But seriously is it me or does Cody get used the least out of all of the characters? I mean, I always felt like he was just there to be T.K.'s DNA partner because there had to be two of them. Other than fill in a spot of the team, what did Cody actually do? Did he ever get an episode to himself like the others? I'm having trouble remembering and that's the problem because they made him so forgettable. And I actually like Cody! I want to remember him.

Till next time.

R&R.