Disclaimer: I don't own Digimon

A/N: Keep reviewing!

Chapter 10

Twelve DigiDestined took off running through the desert in search of two particular Digimon. So far, they were running out of luck. "This isn't working." Daisuke said.

"Go, Birdramon!" Kim commanded, jumping onto her leg. "Let's go!"

"Right!" Everyone agreed as they jumped onto their champions. With the increased speed, they managed to find Devidramon and Gatomon.

"Hey, stop!" Daisuke yelled.

"Meteor Wing!" Birdramon flapped her wings and shot fireballs towards the dark Digimon, but they kept going unscathed.

"Run faster, Greymon!" Yukio commanded. "They're getting away!"

"Nova Blast!"

"Go, Garurumon!" Shoji yelled. "We have to get them! I know you can do it!"

Garurumon grunted in agreement before putting more power into his legs. "Howling Blaster!" He shot a blue flame that missed them.

"This is getting old fast." BlackGatomon said. "Let's just go, Devidramon." And as fast as lightning, they zoomed away.

The kids gasped at the fact that the dark Digimon disappeared. No, it wasn't because they traveled too fast. They were just gone. Even though everyone saw nothing but sand from there on out, Daisuke saw something else. "Guys, it's a portal!"

"How did you conclude that?" Hitomi asked.

"No time to explain." He told them. "It's closing. Just follow me single-file!" The others nodded and followed close behind. Daisuke swallowed as he made his way closer to it. "Here it is, DigiDestined! Let's do it!" He closed his eyes as they went through. He opened them again after he collided with the ground. "What happened?" He whispered.

That's when Daisuke noticed that everything was dark. The sky was black like they were in a different world. Or in space. The ground could barely be seen. He looked to his left and saw DemiVeemon getting back onto his feet. The others came in and had the same fate. They fell onto the ground as their Digimon went back to their In-Training forms.

"Where are we?" Eriko asked, standing closer to Mel.

"It's…too dark." Josh commented in a low whisper, his breath getting shorter. "It's too dark."

Tears went down Yukio's cheeks and chin after seeing his cousin scared. He had to admit that he was terrified himself. But he balled up his fists as his crest started to glow. "Let's go find them." He picked up Koromon and started walking around. "Come on, everybody."

Daisuke nodded. Aika sighed. "We're being led by a five-year-old." She complained.

"But you can learn a lot from him." Daisuke told her. "I know I am."

Josh balled up his fists and gazed at his feet, lagging behind as the others kept going. Why am I so afraid? He thought to himself. It's the same Digital World. It's just dark.

"Josh?" He looked up and saw Connor. "Are you okay?"

Josh shook his head in response. "No, but…I have to do this."

"What's wrong?" Connor asked his friend, putting a hand on his shoulder.

He shrugged. "I'm ready to fight, but something's holding me back." He said. "I'm scared but I don't know why."

Connor nodded. "Me too, but I'm hopeful." He gave a smile. "I think we'll be fine."

Josh smiled. "You think?"

"I know!"

"Josh, Connor, let's go!" Daisuke called.

The two nodded before running off. But the topic still remained in their heads. "I have to believe in us." Josh told him. "We are the DigiDestined after all. We can defeat the darkness the way our parents did. We'll find our way…" Then his crest started to glow. It glowed brighter and brighter. In fact, it was giving off straight up light. The ground was a little more visible now. It was lined with black hex nuts and right in front of them sat a huge purple and black castle.

"You did it, Josh!" Connor gave him a pat on the back. "Way to go!"

"That's awesome!" Daisuke cheered.

"That must be the place they're holding my crest!" Sam cheered. "Should we go inside?"

"No, we should let them keep it." Daisuke said sarcastically. "Of course we'll go in there and take it back! Come on, everyone! Let's do it!"

()()

"SkullSatamon is gone? Are you sure?" The Goddess of Darkness asked.

"I'm sorry, Goddess of Darkness." BlackGatomon said.

"We knew how much you liked him." Tsukaimon said.

There was silence. "Those kids are tough." She growled. "We need to step up the game."

"Should I digivolve and teach them a lesson?" BlackGatomon asked, getting excited.

"Bite that tongue! I have another plan. We need to get rid of those kids." She thought for a second. "Wait a minute. I'm feeling something!"

"What is it, ma'am?" Tsukaimon asked.

"Shut up!" She screamed until she heard the front door shut. "You led them here?"

BlackGatomon and Tsukaimon gasped. "We did?"

"That's it! We're separating them. Where's NeoDevimon?"

"Right here, m'lady." NeoDevimon stepped out of the shadows and in front of the throne.

"And where's the crest?" BlackGatomon showed the crest to her. "Beautiful." Then to NeoDevimon, she said. "Those kids are somewhere in the castle. Take the one without the crest and take him or her to the one place they'll never look. That should get them to separate and look for him while we hunt them down one by one!"

"Yes, m'lady." NeoDevimon stood up with a wicked laugh.

"Don't disappoint me."

"I shall not, m'lady, for I have the perfect place in mind!"

()()

Sam's tag began to glow again as they headed towards one of the doors. "This is it." He whispered to the others.

"Help me out, Josh." Daisuke said. He knew that Josh was one of the strongest on the team besides himself. Whatever he lacked in muscle mass he made up in height.

Josh nodded before stepping up. "On three. One, two, three!" Both of them rammed into the door. "Again!" They rammed again. "Again!" Finally, the door opened.

The dark Digimon looked behind them. "The DigiDestined!" Tsukaimon announced.

"They got here quickly." BlackGatomon said.

Sam stepped forward. "I want my crest back!"

NeoDevimon stepped forward with an evil grin. "I have a better idea!" He dashed over to Sam and grabbed him.

"No! Sam!" Aika shouted, running his way.

"Aika, stop!" Daisuke grabbed her hand. "You could get killed!"

"But I can't just let my brother go!"

"Neither can I!" Minomon jumped onto Sam's back. "I'm here for you, buddy!"

"Fine! I'll just take care of both of you!" NeoDevimon said. "BlackGatomon, are you ready?"

"Let's do it!" BlackGatomon jumped in front of them.

"Hey! That's my line!" Daisuke pouted.

"Cat's Eyes!" She glazed at Daisuke with her big brown eyes. He looked into them and felt completely useless. He couldn't move, he couldn't think. Daisuke was hypnotized. "Now, open the digital gate on this Digi-port."

Daisuke numbly nodded as he took out his digivice. Then, he went over to the Digi-port that sat in the corner. The others shouted and told him not to do it, but he was hypnotized. There was no turning back. "Digi-port, open." He said.

"Off you go!" BlackGatomon pushed them through.

"No!" Sam yelled. "Let me go!"

"Not a chance!" BlackGatomon said. "Lightning Paw!" With that, she smashed the small TV.

()()

"Davis, why did we come here?" Ken asked. They were in the school's computer lab once again, just waiting.

"Tai wanted me to try again." He explained. "He said we have to keep trying to open the Digi-ports to get an idea of what's happening."

Ken smiled as he bounced Keanu about. "He didn't tell you that, did he?"

Davis chuckled. "What gave me away?"

"He would've told all of us to keep trying. Why are we really here?"

Davis leaned in and poked the baby in his tummy, making him giggle. "I was thinking about what you said. You know, getting back into the dating scene."

Ken raised an eyebrow. "You really think you're ready?"

He nodded. "I need someone to help me raise a teenager. Someone needs to help me cope with the fact that in a few more years that he'll leave. I just got him back." He sighed and leaned back in his chair. "You know, when I dropped Daisuke off here for summer camp, I never hugged him. It's because he's too old for that now. It feels like I didn't get a chance to hug him when he was young and now it's too late."

"You'll get the chance." Ken told him.

"I just want him here."

Suddenly, there was an explosion from the bottom floor, making the baby cry. Ken squeezed him tighter. "It's okay, son. Daddy's here." Then to Davis, he said "What was that?"

"I have no idea." Davis shot out of his seat. "Stay up here. I'm going to see what's going on."

"Be careful." He tossed his digivice to him.

Davis nodded and fled from the scene. As he ran down the hallways, he noticed the sky outside getting dark. Really dark. It looked like a storm was coming, but there wasn't a cloud in the sky. Davis took a closer look and saw a huge hole over the city. "What the...? A black hole on Earth?" Taking him out of his many wonders, another crash was heard along with a woman shrieking for dear life. "I'm coming!" He called and ran faster.

The receptionist was under her desk as a raging Mushroomon was destroying the place. "Someone help!" She cried.

Just in time, Davis crashed in and threw himself over the desk. The secretary screamed again at the shocking entrance. "Hi!" He greeted. "Fancy meeting you here!"

"The diplomat!" She replied excitedly. "Thank goodness you're here!"

"Um...about that..." Davis said before another explosion was heard. "I'm the diplomat's friend, Davis. It's nice to meet you!" He held out a hand for her to shake.

But instead of shaking it, she raised an eyebrow. "There's a Digimon causing chaos in my office and you choose now to introduce yourself?"

Davis nodded, still with his hand out. "How else would you trust me if you don't know me?"

She nodded. "I wish we met under better circumstances but I'm Heidi." She shook his hand.

"Heidi, huh? Sounds pretty." She smiled. "Let's get out of here." Davis wrapped her arms around her. "I'm going to help you, okay? I'll protect you." Very carefully, he helped her from underneath the desk. The whole time, he looked for Mushroomon. He knew he was out there. But where was he hiding?

"Fungus Crusher!" Mushroomon came out of nowhere, throwing tiny mushroom bombs everywhere. One of them hit Davis's back making him cringe a bit, but he kept moving out of the room.

"Mushroomon! Stop!" Heidi called. But the attacks kept coming.

"Heidi, it's no use." He told her. "We have to leave him here."

"Davis…" Ken called as he came downstairs. "Things are collapsing! We have to go!"

He nodded. "Let's get out of here."

"But what about Mushroomon? And the school?" Heidi asked.

"Leave them!" Davis said, following Ken out of the building with her closely in his arms. But as they went outside, they saw that all of Tokyo was under attack. Buildings were getting knocked down and people were running for their lives. "Get back inside!"

"But Mushroomon…?" Heidi asked as Davis was already on his way inside.

"We need a safe zone." Ken said as Keanu cried harder. "Where do we go?"

Davis looked around and saw Mushroomon raging towards them. "We're trapped!" He said. Then, he let go of Heidi. "If the gym is exactly as I remember, it should be safe. Ken, take Heidi."

"What are you doing?" Heidi asked.

"I'm going to distract Mushroomon. You guys just make it to the gym safely."

Ken nodded. "Be careful."

Davis nodded before charging after the Digimon and tackling him to the ground. "Go! Hurry!"

"Come on!" Ken took Heidi by the hand and dashed towards the gym. But there was one problem. He didn't go to school here. "I have no idea where I'm going. Where's the gym?"

"Take a right here!" Heidi told them as they turned down the hallway.

()()

Sam and Minomon sat at the very floor of the dark castle, not knowing what these Digimon were going to do with him. They were alone, but not for long. "Sam…"

They turned around to see NeoDevimon along with BlackGatomon and Tsukaimon. "What do you want with us?" Sam asked.

"Don't you dare hurt Sam!" Minomon said, taking a step forward. "I'll digivolve!"

"And I want my crest back!"

NeoDevimon gave a small laugh. "If you want it, so be it." He tossed it over to him, leaving BlackGatomon and Tsukaimon confused.

"What are you doing?" BlackGatomon asked.

"That's exactly what we don't want!" Tsukaimon added.

NeoDevimon looked at the two of them. It wasn't a good stare either. "Why don't you two keep Minomon busy? I would like to talk to Sam alone."

"Alone?" Sam asked as BlackGatomon and Tsukaimon gave evil glances to his Digimon.

"With pleasure!" They said and grabbed Minomon.

"Wait! Stop! No!" Minomon screamed as they took him away to the dark, or darker, depths of the castle.

"Minomon!" Sam called, almost getting up to catch up, but NeoDevimon held him down.

"Now, now, son. They're just going to play." NeoDevimon sat next to the boy. "Tell me something, kid. We're friends right?"

Sam was taken aback by this question. "Friends? I don't even know who you are! How do you even know me?"

"Easy. I'm NeoDevimon and you are one of the DigiDestined. This whole world knows about you. But…"

"But?"

NeoDevimon eased into him just a little bit closer. "You are far more superior to the others."

"What makes you say that?"

"You have Ken Ichijouji's blood. He was obviously the strongest out of the others. He was able to program some actual law into this chaotic world."

Sam raised an eyebrow. "But I was told that he tried to rule this place and he was cruel to the Digimon."

NeoDevimon shook his head. "Honestly, there are a lot of liars out there. But true friends don't lie."

"I already have true friends." He told him.

"True?" The Digimon laughed. "You call those kids true friends?" Sam nodded. "Then where are they? And why aren't they back?"

Sam gasped. He didn't even know where they went. What if they're in trouble? Why aren't they here?

"They're probably at home right now. That's all they ever wanted."

"No, we're here for a reason."

"Yes, defeat The Darkness just so you can go home." NeoDevimon told him. "But tell me something. Don't you have darkness within you?"

Sam looked down at his fingers. Maybe he was right. He did have a point.

"Also, I recall that you had an episode and no one was there to help you. When was it?" NeoDevimon pretended to think. "The fight against Meramon."

Sam looked at Aika as he started hyperventilating. "Aika…" He looked back at Stingmon who got thrown to the ground. "No, Stingmon!" Then it happened. Seeing the Digimon failing made Sam fall into another wave of darkness. His eyes began to haze over as he collapsed to the ground.

"Sam, please!" Aika said. "Don't do this now!"

"How do you know about that?" Sam asked, trying to shake the memory.

"Because you and me are closer than you believe." NeoDevimon wrapped an arm around the boy. "Sam, I'm your friend. These kids aren't worth being DigiDestined like you. They can't even keep their team together. And they're causing more harm to this world than good."

"They are?" The Digimon nodded. "And you really think I can help?"

He nodded again. "I know you can. And I'll help you, but there's one thing you have to do for me."

"What is it?"

"I need you to take the crests. Those kids don't deserve it and they can't handle the power they have. But you, Sam, you can."

Sam smiled. "I'll do it."

"Great! And I'll help you by giving you a boost of your own Dark Energy." He held up his long, skeleton hand. "You know, Dark Energy is very powerful and can actually help this world."

"You can? You'll boost my energy?"

"If you'll agree to it." He said. "Friends always ask for permission."

Sam stood up. "I'll do it. I'll save your world."

"Great!" NeoDevimon cackled loudly.

Minomon came out running, managing to get away from the other Digimon. "Sam!"

"Oh, no you don't!" BlackGatomon and Tsukaimon tackled him.

"Guilty Claw!" NeoDevimon pierced his claw right into Sam's back, making him howl. His screams echoed through the halls as well as the laughs from NeoDevimon. Sam's eyes eventually grew darker until it was all black like when he was born. Nothing but darkness went through his veins, showing through his skin. Then, he fell to his knees and collapsed onto the ground. "Now, rise, Sam. Show me your darkness!"

The dark veins eventually went away as Sam stumbled onto his feet. He opened his normal looking eyes and blinked. "I feel it." He said. "I feel it!"

"Great! Now, go get those kids!"

"Yes, master!" Sam ran out of the doors, into the rest of the Digital World where The Darkness threatens to concur.

Trivia: The story from half of this chapter on was rewritten because the original sucked! Then my flashdrive broke so I rewrote it again (and a third time). This rewrite, I believe, is a lot better.