Disclaimer: I do not own Digimon. But I do have this fantastic idea for a Digimon MMO... Oh, how I wish you could just walk into offices and gush about all of the ideas you have! But then they could never get me to shut up...

Author's Note: For those who celebrate, Happy Holidays! I hope you all are enjoying this time of year. If you do nothing else, just find one person who you love and give them a great big hug and tell them how much you love them. You never know when tomorrow may never come. That's what this time of year always makes me think about!

Now, for some serious talk... This chapter may require tissues. Just a warning. Also, there is something a bit graphic toward the end dealing with blood. If you are squeamish, I suggest you read with caution. Anywho, as always, reviews are LOVED and so very appreciated, you have no idea!

Enjoy!


Chapter Eleven

Something had been lifted off of Kari's shoulders. TK was still in a coma; he was still in serious danger; but now she knew that she wasn't going to be forced to just sit by and watch her best friend and boy she loved die. She was going to be able to do something about it. Her tears, that had seemed to endless the past several days, had finally managed to dry up.

After taking a moment to allow everybody's racing mind to catch up to what Matt was saying, Kari had finally allowed herself to believe it all to be true. It took leaving the hospital and heading to the closest safe location – which turned out to be Joe's apartment – before it all really began to sink in. Her mind called up the memory of hearing TK's voice saying her name so clearly in her dream…

Could it have been…?

Joe's apartment wasn't built to hold 11 people and six digimon. It was barely suitable to hold one person. As the first and so far only person to move out of their parents' home, the apartment had seemed like a king's den at the time. Now, its space limitations were really starting to become obvious.

The small kitchen and living room were forced to share the same space. She could easily hear the conversations of her brother with Izzy, Joe, and Matt floating through the doorway and paper thin walls. As soon as they had arrived, Kari had quickly had the urge to escape the crowded living room and escaped into the bedroom instead, which didn't even have its own closet. She sat at the foot of Joe's bed, staring at the door of the only other room in the apartment, the bathroom. Gatomon was curled up dutifully next to her on the bed.

A while ago, Yolei had stuck her head into the room to say something about going to go check on her parents. She had asked if Kari wanted to go with, but the brunette had simply shaken her head. TK needed her help. The more she thought about it, thought about how clear his voice had been, the more she realized it had to have been him. She could still remember the warmth that had come over her as she heard his voice, the warmth of his presence whenever he was near her. But then she also remembered the chilling cold that she had felt as she exited his room too.

She knew now that he had needed her help, probably right at that moment, and now… If anything happened to him…

"I talked to my dad," Joe was saying.

"And?" Tai asked.

"There's no physical reason for TK to be in a coma. His body is healing up at a normal rate. Granted, head injuries are tricky, but if this digimon or whatever she is has anything to with keeping TK in a coma, then it's possible that if we defeat her—"

"He'll wake up?" Matt finished eagerly.

"Seems that way."

"Okay, then what are we waiting for!?" a new voice piped up, letting Kari know that Davis was in with the other boys too.

"Yeah! I'm ready for some action!" DemiVeemon cried.

"Well, for one," Ken started, speaking slowly, "TK is in our world physically but in another mentally. How do we know that this digimon isn't doing the same thing?"

"If we're going to go after her, we want to get her on the first try," Tai agreed.

Kari wanted to go in there and join the conversation, but she knew from the looks that everyone had been throwing her way the past few days that her presence would only be a distraction. They'd end up unnecessarily censoring themselves in front of her. She didn't blame any of them for acting the way they were toward her. She knew that she had been a bit of a mess the past couple of days. She still felt weak, like she was missing something vital, but she was using this new information as a motivator to find the strength. Somehow she had to keep it together.

"That's not what we need to be worrying about right now!" Matt snapped. "TK is!"

"Matt…" Tsunomon began gently.

"He has a point," Cody suddenly interjected softly. "Whoever is in there with TK, she's secondary to making sure that TK gets out of there before…"

Awkward and tense silence fell over the group as they considered the unspoken possibility. Someone gave a frustrated sigh.

"We still don't even know how to help him," Matt said.

"We have to get to him," Davis answered simply.

"And how do we do that?" This time, it was Joe asking.

"Gennai is still working on that," Izzy said lowly, sounding distracted. "According to his email, there are a lot of things that even he doesn't know about the World of Dreams, but that he's trying to gather as much information as he can. The last thing any of us want or need right now is to jump through a gate and end up in the wrong world."

"Why can't I just go back to sleep?" Matt asked. "It worked once before."

Kari stood from the bed and started to inch toward the door. Gatomon lifted her head and watched her for a moment before following her, landing silently as she leapt off the bed. "Kari?" Gatomon asked quietly. The Child of Light didn't answer as she continued to listen to the conversation in the other room.

"Yeah, but we don't know why," Joe pointed out.

"Or how it worked," Ken added.

"And there's no way to get TK his digivice or Patamon by simply going to sleep," Tai said quietly in a surprisingly logical manner.

"Where is his digivice?" Kari asked suddenly.

She had made it to the doorway of the living room where she could now see the boys all gathered around the loveseat in the center of the room. None of them were seated, though, and the panicked energy in the room told the story as to why. Yolei, Poromon, Mimi, and Sora were nowhere to be seen. Everybody turned at her voice, though, and an uncomfortable hush came over the room. She felt Gatomon rub up against her leg as she joined her.

"Where is it?" she repeated.

Davis and Ken looked at each other, confused.

"At the hospital with the rest of his stuff?" Tai guessed.

Cody shook his head. "He wouldn't have played with it on him."

"It's in his locker," Ken realized.

"His gym locker," Dai clarified. "Back at school… which is closed on Sundays."

"We have to get it," Matt said, moving to stand.

"I'll go," Davis volunteered.

"Me too," Ken said.

"No, I will," Cody said, but he wasn't looking at Ken; he was looking at Davis.

Davis looked baffled. "I know where his locker is!"

"So does Ken." The kendo student looked to Ken, who nodded to verify that fact. "And he doesn't have nearly the detention record that you do, Davis. If we get caught, between me not actually going to the school and Ken's perfect record, we're likely to get into a lot less trouble than if you were there. You could end up expelled."

"I don't care about that!" Davis said heatedly.

Kari stepped forward and put a calming hand on his arm. She felt like she should be volunteering to go in Cody's place, but she found she really didn't have the energy. So, she did the next best thing as she looked at Davis pleadingly. Davis looked over at her, and before she had even said a word, a defeated look crossed his face. Unhappily but resigned, he nodded.

"Come on," Cody said as soon as he had the all clear and headed for the door.

Ken looked between Cody, Davis, and Kari, obviously confused as to the exchange that just happened, before he turned to Minomon. "We'll be back soon," he promised to both him and Upamon, who looked just as lost. Then, he followed Cody out the door.

Kari turned to look at Davis to say something, but he beat her to it. "You alright?" he asked quietly, his eyes filled with concern.

She blinked before smiling softly. "I was about to ask you the same thing."

Davis stared at her for a moment before turning to look at the door. "That was weird," he admitted as he turned his eyes back on her. "But I guess it makes sense. I'll be better when I can actually do something, though."

"Hopefully, we'll know what we need to do soon," Kari said, staring off with a stormy expression.

"Yeah," he said quietly. "Your turn."

Kari gave Davis a grateful look. "I'm okay," she responded,

I just hope TK's okay, too…

x X x

"Thanks for letting us use your dad's computer, Yolei," Sora said as she walked into the backroom of the convenience store they had visited so many times before.

"No problem!" the lavender-haired girl said as she held the door open for them. "It's kind of an old piece of junk, but it should work just fine. Take as long as you need. I'm going to help my mom make some more potato salad while I have the time. We're running a little low. It's usually my job, but…"

Sora waved her off. "It's good enough. You go do what you need to do."

Yolei nodded before she shut the door and disappeared from sight. Mimi moved around the desk to join Sora in front of the computer while the redhead tried to get the old PC to boot up. The pink-haired girl smiled amused as she set her purse down next to the oversized tower.

"I think the mere existence of this machine might give Izzy a heart attack," the Child of Sincerity quipped with a small grin.

"Either that or excite him beyond measure," Sora muttered.

Mimi leaned back against the desk and gave her best friend a look. "What exactly are we doing anyway?"

"Joe told me that he and Izzy had talked to Gomamon and the others about what was going on, but that was yesterday. Things have kind of changed…"

"That's the understatement of the year," Mimi said.

Sora smiled. "I just think that we should let our digimon know that they need to be on guard."

An odd silence fell across the room after that. Sora tried to focus on the rotating circle on the screen, letting her know that the computer was still trying to load up, but it wasn't long before she turned to look at her best friend. Mimi was standing there, one hand on her hip, and the other scratching at some peeling paint on the desk. Her bottom lip was between her teeth as he chewed on it uncertainly. It was a typical "I want to say something but I don't want to upset anybody" Mimi pose.

"What is it?" Sora finally just asked. When she didn't get a reply right away, she added, "You know you can tell me."

Mimi let out a sigh before she reached up to tuck one of her pink strands behind her diamond-studded pierced ears. "I just…" She took another moment to chew on her lip for a second longer before continuing, "Do you really believe it?"

Sora blinked. "You don't?"

The pink-haired girl looked away, staring down at her nails as they picked at the peeling paint. She didn't say anything for a moment, and Sora was starting to wonder if she was going to speak at all when she finally opened her mouth once more. "It's just… it's weird," she finished lamely.

Sora nodded slowly, not sure how she should respond to that. "It is," she agreed, but before she could continue, Mimi suddenly cut her off.

"Why does everything have to tie back into the Digital World!?" she blurted out.

"Mimi…"

"When do we get to have a break from all of this, huh? Aren't you tired of our lives constantly having to be put on hold because of something related to us being digidestined?" Then, slightly quieter, she added, "Aren't you tired of all the fighting?"

Sora's gaze softened, and she stood to grab Mimi's face, forcing her to look up at her. "Of course I am. We all are. But we're digidestined, Mimi. We can't escape it. That's who we'll always be. And in this instance, it's a good thing. We can actually help TK!"

Mimi sniffled, and she looked up at her best friend with watery chocolate brown eyes. "I'm just so tired of this, Sora," she whispered. "I love Palmon, but why does being her friend have to come with so much destruction?"

The tennis player shook her head, not having an answer to that. Instead, she just wrapped her arms around the other girl and pulled her into a tight hug. "Shhh," she murmured back comfortingly as she rubbed her back with one hand and gently ran her other hand over her hair. "You know," she began after a moment, "I bet Palmon feels the same way you do. I bet she wishes that her friendship with you came without any strings attached as well."

Mimi pulled back and brought her hands up to wipe away her tears, causing her mascara to smear under her eyes. "I feel like a terrible person," she sobbed.

Sora picked out a tissue from the tissue box on the desk and brought it up to her best friend's eyes, dabbing at the smears and tears. "You're not," she said firmly.

"Yes, I am!" she protested.

"No, you're not," Sora repeated. "And if you say that one more time, I will let Matt throw you to Etemon next time." She offered a small smile when Mimi gave a watery laugh in response. "I'm happy that this seems to be an instance where our digimon are once again able to help us, but I'm like you. We're turning 20, about to start our lives as adults… This is exhausting. Anyone would agree. But somebody out there must have thought we were strong enough to handle it; that's why we were chosen."

"I don't feel like it most of the time," Mimi sighed as she took the tissue from Sora and pulled out her eye shadow so that she could use the small mirror within to fix her makeup.

"Well, that's where you're definitely wrong," Sora said with a smile. "You're one of the strongest people I know, Mimi."

Mimi lowered her eye shadow to look at her longtime best friend before smiling. "Thanks, Sora. I… I don't mean to be a lousy friend and doubt Matt…"

"I know," Sora replied instantly. "It's a little hard to believe, even for me, but what other choice do we have? If we don't believe that it's true, then… then that's it, isn't it?"

A silence fell over the two girls as they got lost in their own thoughts. Sora definitely understood where Mimi was coming from. It seemed like they couldn't go more than just a handful of years for another evil to show up and ruin the peace they had just started to get acquainted with. It had taken a lot of struggling for Sora to finally learn to open her heart to her friends, allowing her to share those burdens and bad memories with those around her, but Mimi was different. She was so sensitive, and she felt everything so strongly. She only ever wanted to help those around her, but when every attempt to help didn't seem to help at all and usually ended in tragedy…

That's not going to happen this time, Sora thought firmly.

"Sora," Mimi said quietly, pulling her out of her thoughts.

The redhead looked up at her before realizing that Mimi was staring at the computer screen. It had finally decided to boot up. Sora sat back down in the computer chair and moved to pull up the digital gate. The little green light shined up at her. She turned to look at Mimi.

"I can go alone if you'd rather stay…" she started uncertainly.

"No," Mimi said. "I'm alright. Really."

Sora was not exactly confident in that statement, but she smiled and nodded anyway before pulling out her digivice. "Digiport open!" A bright light exploded from the monitor before it swallowed them up. The familiar feeling of spinning followed until they were finally spat back out onto lush grass. Sora only had a moment to realize that she was laying facedown before she heard a familiar voice shouting out her name.

"Sora!"

Her head snapped up and a smile spread across her face as Biyomon raced toward her. Sora scrambled to her knees just in time to catch the bird digimon against her chest.

"Oh, Biyomon… I've missed you…" she whispered.

"I've missed you, too, Sora," Biyomon whispered back.

Next to them, Palmon and Mimi were in the midst of trying to untangle hair from roots, tearfully laughing all the while.

It had been weeks (possibly even over a month if Sora was honest with herself) since she had last seen her digimon partner. College and her social life had just taken over, and it had become harder than it probably should to find time to visit her best friend. She knew that Biyomon understood; the pink digimon always did; but it didn't stop her from feeling any less guilty in this moment as she realized just how long it had been for both of them.

"Sora?" The redhead looked up to see Agumon, Tentomon, and Gomamon standing there. "How's TK?"

Sora turned to look at Mimi, hoping for some help in explanation, but Mimi looked completely at a loss for words. The tennis player would have been amused at this rare development had the situation not been so dire. She took a deep breath as she turned back to the waiting digimon before launching into an explanation of the past two days and ending with the information that Matt gave them.

"I've never heard of a digimon that lived in the World of Dreams," Tentomon said, his bug eyes a bit wider than usual after hearing everything that Sora had to say. "Then again… I've not heard much about the World of Dreams to begin with."

"Whoever she is, she sounds like one bad digimon," Gomamon said solemnly.

"If she even is a digimon," Agumon said thoughtfully.

"How is Matt taking all of this?" Palmon asked, looking up at her partner.

Mimi let out suffering breath. "Not well," she said, finally speaking up. "And you should see Patamon… he looks so…"

"Fragile," Sora finished when she trailed off.

Mimi looked over at her and nodded, agreeing with her chosen word.

Biyomon nodded as well as if she expected that news. "It's probably because of TK," she said smartly.

"What do you mean?" Sora asked.

The bird digimon turned her blue eyes toward her partner. "I'm tied to you, Sora. Your strength gives me strength."

"And my weakness…" Sora continued faintly as her digimon's words slowly sank in, "…gives you weakness…"

Mimi gave a strangled gasp. "Oh, Palmon! You mean… if I die, you'll… d-die…?"

Palmon nodded gravely.

"But," Mimi protested furiously, "digimon are reborn! That's what you told us! Patamon and Wormmon, they were… They were reborn…"

"And we will be," Agumon said. "As long as Tai and the rest of you are there to give us strength."

Sora turned her brown eyes down upon her digimon partner who was staring up at her with an understanding gaze without an ounce of fear that unlike most digimon, her life would one day come to a permanent end. Tears started to gather in the tennis player's eyes, and she had to shut them tightly to stop any from falling. She felt an immense amount of guilt at the idea that because of her, Biyomon's life would one day come to an end, even if she couldn't do a thing about it. But Biyomon didn't blame her, just as she was sure that Patamon didn't blame TK at all.

But that didn't stop her from now knowing the truth.

If we lose TK… we're going to lose Patamon, too…

x X x

"It's locked."

Ken looked at the chain wrapped around the door handles even as Cody announced the obvious. He reached out and ran his fingers over the lock thoughtfully. It was too late for any of the janitorial staff to still be here; any weekend classes would have ended hours ago; and it didn't appear as if there was any security around.

"What now?" Cody asked quietly.

They couldn't just give up, not when TK's life depended on getting his digivice to him. Ken looked away from the lock and began to silently walk the perimeter of the school. As he came to the first window, his pressed his hands against the glass and pushed up. It didn't budge.

"What's the likelihood that one of the teachers forgot to lock a window?" Cody said as he caught onto what he was doing.

"Not very," Ken answered honestly.

Despite the less than optimistic response, Cody jogged to the window on the other side of the front doors. Silence came over the two boys as they went separate ways, trying the windows on the first level.

Ken couldn't see Cody anymore. The younger boy had moved around the corner into the courtyard toward the back. He sighed as another window failed to open before walking a few steps to the right to try the next one. It took him a moment to realize that he was staring into the computer room. Knowing that sometimes TK and Kari would use this very window to sneak Gatomon and Patamon into the room early, he placed his hands against the glass hopefully.

He froze.

A shape was in the room, looming over the very computer that had taken them to the Digital World so many times before since they left their old middle school. The shape moved, becoming more defined as it stood to its full height, before it shifted, as if turning to look at Ken.

Oikawa...

The thought entered his head as quickly as the visage suddenly disappeared. He squeezed his eyes shut tightly before hesitantly reopening them, afraid to see the room no longer empty. There was nobody there. He had no idea why that name had entered his head. The shape, if it could even be called that, had been nothing more than a dark shadow without any features. Even so, the moment had taken him back to years before when he had woken in the middle of the night to realize that somebody was at his computer.

It was just my imagination.

But even the attempt at making himself believe the comforting thought did nothing to stop the trembling in his hands or the pounding of his heart in his chest. He stared between his shivering fingers, his eyes still frozen on that now empty space.

There's no way... No way...

"Ken!"

The shout nearly made him leap out of his skin.

"Over here!"

Ken took a moment to press a shaking hand to his chest, trying to calm his racing heart, before he managed to respond, "C-coming!" He hoped that his sudden irrational fear wasn't obvious to his younger companion. He took one last long look into the computer room before he managed to tear himself away, taking off in a sprint toward where he heard Cody's voice. He rounded the corner just in time to see Cody's leg disappear through a window. A second later, he was sticking his head back out and catching sight of Ken.

"You alright?" he asked as soon as he was close enough to see in the darkness.

Ken withheld a wince at the question. Apparently, he didn't hide it as well as he would have liked. He simply nodded as he took Cody's hand and with his help, hoisted himself through the window as well. Cody closed the window behind him as Ken went to the door of the classroom (an upper year math classroom, it looked like) and cautiously peered out into the hallway. All was silent.

Cody joined him in the doorway. "You think anybody's still around?" he asked, trying to discern Ken's behavior.

Immediately, he thought of the figure he had seen through the window…

"No," he answered sternly.

Cody looked up and down the hallway before studying the expression on the older boy's face. "…But it's better to be safe than sorry," he said eventually.

Ken's eyes closed with relief. He couldn't explain the fear or what he had seen, and Cody wasn't asking him to. He was just accepting his behavior as it was, and proceeding the best way that he could. Sometimes, he took Cody's observational skills for granted, but it was moments like this that he found himself truly grateful.

"Yeah," he managed to choke out.

Cody nodded, gave the hallway another sweep, before he finally led the way out of the classroom and headed in the direction of the locker rooms. Ken followed at a slightly slower pace, his eyes trailing along the floor as he went, his mind not quite on their mission at the moment. What had he seen back there? Was it real? The last time they had seen Oikawa had been the first (and last) time they had come across the World of Dreams. Was there some connection?

Or was his mind simply playing tricks on him thanks to the memories that this world brought up?

The Digimon Emperor…

He hadn't thought of that version of himself in years, actually. He had finally started to put his past behind him as he grasped onto his future with a renewed sense of hope. But the World of Dreams had the power to make him face his demons head on once before; would he have to do so again? Is that what TK was going through right now?

So many questions, and yet Ken knew that there were no easy answers.

And, Ken reminded himself suddenly, this isn't about me. It's about TK.

The idea that TK was stuck in that world that had nearly defeated them simply by getting them lost inside their own heads was enough to send shivers up his spine. The World of Dreams… The place where fantasies and nightmares could become reality. It had nearly claimed him, but from what he had been told, next to Davis, TK had been the quickest to break out of his illusion. That had to count for something, right? He would be fine. He had to.

"Ken?" The ebony-haired boy looked up. Cody had slowed down to keep in sync with the older boy's slower steps, leaving them still walking side by side as they continued toward their destination. "Can I ask you something?"

Ken glanced toward him curiously at the odd tone in his voice. "Is this about what happened at Joe's?" he asked, remembering the odd exchange between Cody and Davis that had taken place.

Cody colored lightly. "Sort of." Ken nodded for him to continue. "I remember… when you and Davis first DNA Digivolved, Davis said that he could feel your heart beating alongside his, like you two were in sync. Was it the same for you?"

For a moment, the Child of Kindness said nothing, trying to gauge if this was the actual question he wanted to ask him before raising his gaze in thought. A small smile touched his lips. "Yeah… it was really strange at the time. Almost like I could feel every breath or almost… sense what he was thinking."

"And now?"

Ken returned his gaze onto the younger boy's face. "Do I still feel the same connection?" he asked for clarification. Though Cody's eyes were focused on his shoes, he nodded. "Yeah," he said quietly. "I can usually tell when he's had a bad day even before I see him, or that he's calling me before I even answer the phone. I've never really thought much about it, though… Why? Don't you have the same thing with TK?"

The silence that followed made Ken think that he wasn't going to answer, and then the younger boy took a breath and came to a stop. They were standing outside the locker room now, but neither of them made any move to enter.

"I did," he whispered. "That connection was always just there. I didn't give it any further thought. But now…"

"Now?" Ken pressed.

"…Now… it's just gone." Cody looked up at Ken with watery green eyes. "There's nothing there. It's just silent."

Ken could see the panic shining in Cody's eyes as he said those words, and it made his stomach nearly fall out. If he could suddenly no longer feel Davis's presence, he knew that it would definitely scare him. Being DNA digivolving partners had connected them for life, and he knew that nothing would ever change that. The only thing that could probably ever break that connection was the unthinkable, and he knew those were the thoughts flashing through Cody's mind right now.

And right now, he was waiting for Ken to say something that would contradict all of those worries. Why me? Ken found himself wondering. If Cody had just insisted on going with Davis instead of Ken, he would have been easily fed all of the blindly optimistic responses that he needed right now. But that was just it, wasn't it? TK was always the optimistic voice between the two of them while Cody kept an air of logic and realism; it balanced out their relationship, but it made Cody very much aware when people were just being optimistic for optimism's sake.

Cody was far more like Ken: cold, logical, calm… often to a fault. And it this kind of mind that Cody needed to hear from right now. He wanted the cold hard truth, even as he hoped for the best. Or, at least, that's what Cody was telling himself. Those pleading eyes were begging for some hope, and Ken knew that he couldn't give him anything but that.

"He's going to be fine," he said, his voice shaking at first. He cleared his throat and then repeated the phrase with much more conviction, "He's going to be fine."

The green eyed boy gave a shaky nod before he managed a watery small smile. "Thank you," he whispered sincerely before heading into the locker room. Ken took a shaky breath and nodded to the empty hallway before following him in.

He's going to be fine.

x X x

"What a neat trick. That was certainly an unexpected surprise."

The chilling voice reverberated in TK's ears as the shadows crept further across the plush ground of Primary Village. Stuffing continued to slowly rain down from the sky as he took a shaky step backwards. He swallowed hard.

Hurry, Matt. Don't let me down, please.

Matt had never let him down before. Not intentionally. But the darkness was making it hard to be so optimistic. Flashes of staring out at a lake for days where his brother's swan-boat disappeared on the horizon weeks before started to fill his head. He squeezed his eyes shut and gave himself a violent shake. That had been different. Matt had believed he was safe; this time, Matt knew he was in danger. He would move mountains to get him the help he needed.

"Calumon, don't let go of me," he said, trying to sound braver than he felt at the moment.

He placed the little creature on his shoulder before moving to start running down the length of Primary Village, the brightly colored blocks passing by as the colors began to dim from the encroaching darkness. Calumon clung to the material of his shirt, making it strain slightly against his throat. The entire area felt smaller and gloomier, but it was probably only because the all encompassing light of the Dream World was being swallowed whole by Nocnitmon's darkness.

"I'm actually impressed… You're not as weak as so many other humans I've met in this world," the woman's voice whispered from everywhere and nowhere. "Breaking you will be quite enjoyable."

Disembodied laughter filled the area, chilling enough to raise the hairs on the back of TK's neck. It took all of his self control not to allow the chill to travel down his spine in a shiver. He wished the woman would show herself. He couldn't decide if hearing her and not being able to see her was more intimidating than laying his eyes upon the silver-haired creature of the night, but at least he wouldn't be expecting her to pop out of every corner and shadow that he passed.

"They say the smallest will destroy me, but I'm not going to let that happen…"

TK squeezed his eyes shut and ran faster. The voice was still the woman's, but he could hear the echo of Devimon's in that statement making him almost feel like he was running from him instead. They needed to get out of the open, out of Primary Village. Get somewhere else. He had no idea how long they could possibly run from her, but he hoped it would be long enough for Matt to get him something, anything that could help him. Hearing those chilling words in Nocnitmon's sickeningly honeyed tone coupled with Devimon's gleeful mania had TK's heart racing again. He had to protect Calumon, though. He had to protect himself. He promised Matt he would be careful. He promised.

When he dived into a line of trees at the edge of the village, hoping for some momentary escape for himself and Calumon, everything rippled. TK staggered forward and nearly fell to his knees. Even after all this time of knowing that this world wasn't real, he wasn't quite ready to see it literally shift before his eyes. It made him feel almost sick to his stomach, especially as he found himself at the base of Infinity Mountain. He looked up at the monstrous monument and felt his breath hitch and his eyes widen in fear as a lumbering dark shadow was cast over the entire area. TK spun on his heel as his eyes lied upon a shimmering form of Devimon standing there. Calumon was still on his shoulder, clinging there, just as terrified.

"I won't allow you to take my power away! You'll have to fight me!"

Immediately, TK turned away, even as there was a shimmering light that was making its presence known hovering in front of the dark mass. The trees, the mountain, even the temperature in the air was exactly as it had been the day he'd watch his best friend die and had come pretty close to dying himself.

Calumon's grip tightened as he turned his body, obviously still trying to watch the scene going on above them. "TK, what's going on?"

TK couldn't answer him. He felt ill; he wanted to back up into a corner and curl into a ball right then. A little change of scenery, a few glowy and shadowy blobs, a creepy voice, and he was a wreck. Some digidestined he turned out to be. The day had already been replayed for him once. He wasn't sure if he could handle going through it again. The golden-haired chosen child's breaths began to hyperventilate, and he backed up until his back rested against the closest tree.

"No… please…"

"…TK?" Calumon placed a tiny claw against his cheek in an attempt to comfort him even as his voice faltered with fear. He didn't understand. Couldn't understand what all of this meant. What those faded shapes meant. What this place symbolized. His jade green eyes moved from TK to look back up at the scene playing out above them before tugging on a piece of his blonde hair. "TK?"

TK shook his head, trying to snap himself out of it. It was near impossible. His heart was thundering away. He closed his eyes, attempting to swallow back the fear.

Just don't listen; don't watch. This has already happened. Patamon came back to me. We won. Everything turned out okay.

He had to keep himself together. Otherwise, he wasn't going to be any good at protecting himself, and Calumon would have put himself in jeopardy for him for nothing. With a deep breath, he pushed himself off of the tree and started towards where he knew the winter biome should have stood before the island was broken up. But so much of the island had been destroyed by Devimon's control. Entire sections completely missing. Openings within showing off black gears. His blue eyes were nearly completely green, his jaw quivering despite his best efforts to keep it from doing so.

"You can't get away from the dark forces. Evil is everywhere, so don't savor your victory…"

"TK… what is this…?" Calumon whispered in a quivering voice.

"The worst day of my life," TK breathed.

He broke through the line of trees into the area where the winter biome should have been, trying to put the mountain between him and the scene that was being played out, and was met with something that was just as horrible as watching Patamon disappear.

"Matt!" TK felt the scream ripping from this throat. He nearly fell over when he spotted him. The whole world felt like it was tilting and spinning, and TK had to catch himself on the closest tree. He felt like he couldn't breathe. No. No, no, no, no, no… The word kept repeating in his head as though, if he said it enough to himself, it wouldn't be true. Calumon gasped, but TK didn't hear him. He didn't hear anything beyond the deafening thundering of his heart. He couldn't move.

Matt wasn't moving. There was not even the faintest rise and fall of the blonde digidestined's chest. He lay on his side, his expression slack, and his complexion chalky white from blood loss. The crimson liquid had pooled across the ground and seeped into the dirt, painting the grass around the Child of Friendship, and stained his clothes in a circle that centered over his heart. Matt was dead.

His only brother, sometimes the only person that understood him even when he didn't understand himself, was dead, and all TK could do was stand there next to a tree and stare, frozen at the scene in front of him.

"…M…Ma…" TK couldn't say his brother's name again, not while knowing that he wasn't going to get an answer back. All he could see, feel, and sense was in front of him, centered in on Matt's lifeless body. TK's heart was pounding so hard against his ribs it was making him dizzy.

Calumon whimpered and tried to give him a small comforting pat, but TK shrugged him off, making the little guy tumble to the ground. No rational thoughts were left to be had. TK staggered forward, breaking his paralysis, and moved as if through quicksand toward his brother. It had to be some mistake. It had to be. It didn't happen this way… It…

TK sank to his knees, not caring that his brother's blood was now coating his knees and soaking into his khaki shorts from where he knelt in it. No. Not Matt. TK blinked back tears, trying to breathe. He was afraid to touch Matt. The Child of Hope closed his eyes, begging that when he opened them this would be gone. It wasn't. Matt was still there. Matt's body, TK amended. His hands were trembling when he felt for the pulse that he knew he wouldn't find.

Calumon didn't move from where he had hit the ground, belly-down in the dirt and his eyes locked in absolute horror on the scene in front of him. Tears were running down his cheeks, but they were nothing compared to what TK was going through in that moment. The boy didn't even recognize the anguished cry that left his lips as he doubled over, folding himself over Matt and clinging to him.

"I own this place, boy," the voice that was smooth as silk and chilling as nails on a chalkboard whispered into the air. "Did you think I wouldn't know he was here too? I know everything that happens in my domain…" Her voice faded as Devimon's maniacal laughter filtered through the air.