Part 21: Destiny

Kari and TK walked through the dense forest, talking about what they might do when they found Susan. With Crescemon, Susan was powerful. It had taken pure luck to last long enough the past time. "The Digimon aren't strong enough to fight her alone. If they want a chance, they have to Digivolve to the ultimate level," TK said as they walked under the shade of the trees.

"But, can they do that in the Dark Ocean? The first time I went there, Gatomon was only able to Digivolve because of the positive energy released when you knocked down the control spire", Kari argued. She grew quite when she thought about Gatomon but shook the sadness off. Now was not the time to be wallowing in self pity.

"Then how was Lunamon able to Digivolve to the ultimate?" Patamon asked. He had been sitting quietly on top of TK's head, listening to their conversation.

"Her crest, Susan had found her crest", Kari said snapping her fingers. She remembered seeing the purple crest hanging around her neck. "But there was something wrong with it, it didn't glow right. Did you see it TK? It had turned black with Lunamon Digivolved to her ultimate level."

"I know I've seen that somewhere before, a crest turning black. But, I can't remember. I wish I could, it might help us stop Crescemon."

Kari took his hand hers and gave it a squeeze. "Don't feel bad, TK. We'll think of something, we have to. There are so many people counting on us, Digimon as well. We can't let them down, I'm not going to give up until we get Susan back, then we'll all go home together."

TK smiled weakly at her, as he did, he stopped walking suddenly. He glanced around him and his searching eyes stopped on a thick grove of trees. Kari looked over at the same grove, but didn't see anything. "TK, what is it?" she asked softly. TK put a finger to his lips, silencing her and stepped forward.

"Something's here, I heard whispering. It might be another Digimon", TK said softly. He could have sworn he heard Kari whimper behind him, but she didn't say anything. He took his eyes off of the grove for a second to look back at Kari and when he did, there was a rustle in the leaves and a large Digimon sprung out of the trees.

"TK!" Kari yelled. TK spun around and managed to get a glimpse of his attacker before he was knocked to the ground. Kari almost screamed, but she saw who the Digimon was. "Liamon?" Kari asked. "Liamon stop! It's us!" The lion Digimon stopped growling and looked down at his prey. TK was staring at his attacker, his whole body shaking in fear. Patamon had been knocked clear off of his head and was stuck in a bush not far away.

"Liamon, what was it?" Kari heard Scott yell through the trees. Scott came to the edge of the grove and stopped dead in his tracks. "Kari, you're awake! That's great, how are you?" Scott asked. He ran out of the trees and over to Kari.

"Um, Scott, can you call off your Digimon for me? He's crushing me", TK choked. Liamon looked startled and backed off of TK. Kari wan over to him and helped him to his feet. "Well, that wasn't fun. What were you doing, Scott?"

"We were walking through the forest looking for Susan and Liollmon said he heard something, I thought it might be an evil Digimon so I had him Digivolve. Sorry for attacking you dude. It was totally my fault", Scott apologized.

"Can someone please get me out of here?" Patamon yelled. Everyone glanced over to see Patamon still struggling to get out of the bush. His tiny back legs were flailing around and it appeared like one of wings was stuck between two of the branches.

TK laughed and went to pull his friend from his green prison. It turned out Patamon was a lot more stuck than he thought and TK was trying with all his might to free him. Kari and Scott watched with wonder as TK attempted to free Patamon but the little flying pig was stuck tight. "What are you doing out here anyway, Kari? It's dangerous out here, I ran into Ken a while ago and he said he thought he saw a strange black Digimon weaving through the trees", Scott said with concern lining his voice.

It took all of Kari's will power to not roll her eyes at him. This was just like Scott, thinking she couldn't handle herself. He had done the same thing back in California. He was worse than Tai sometimes. "I know you're worried about me, Scott. But, I need you to trust me, I know how to take care of myself, I've been to the Digi World many times and I've been a lot more dangerous situations than this. You should focus your energy on taking care of yourself, you haven't seen half of what is in this world and you need to be prepared", Kari said with as much kindness in her voice as she could muster. She didn't want to be mean to Scott, he was one of her friends, but he could be infuriating sometimes.

"Don't worry, Scott, we've got things covered. Why don't you go back to the cave and get some rest? You've been out all day; you look like you could so with a good rest. We can take care of things for a while", TK said as he walked up. He had managed to pull Patamon from the bush and he was now happily sitting on his head. Scott glared at TK; he didn't think he needed someone telling him what to do.

"No, I'm fine. I'm going to go look for Susan some more", Scott snapped. TK stared back at Scott, confused at his sudden outburst. "Oh and by the way, TK, you said you had things covered right? If you were taking care of things, then why did you let Kari get hurt?" Scott's voice was full of venom. TK was completely taken aback by Scott's remark. It was a personal attack, Scott was mad at TK and wasn't afraid to show it."

"Scott, what was that for?" Kari asked in surprise. She had never seen Scott so angry at someone before. He was always hot tempered, but he never directed personal attacks at anyone before.

"Kari, you amaze me sometimes. How can you still talk to him, after he let you get hurt like that? You could have been killed by Mephistomon." Scott's words hung like ice over Kari's head. She knew in her heart that what he said wasn't true; TK had done everything in his power to protect her. He had saved her life, and here was Scott saying it was TK's fault.

"Scott, may I talk to you for a minute?" Kari asked. Without waiting for an answer, she grabbed Scott's wrist and led him away from TK. She walked for about 100 meters before stopping. "What is your problem?" she snapped. Scott looked into her eyes, Kari saw something there, but she couldn't figure out what it was. Scott was one of the few people Kari couldn't figure out by looking at them. He was so complex and the minute she thought she had him figured out, he completely changed.

"Kari, I'm going to be honest with you. What do you see in him?" Scott asked pointing back to TK. TK wasn't paying attention; he was busy trying to get the branches detangled from Patamon's ears. "Every time you spend time with him, you almost get killed. So tell me what you see in him", Scott demanded.

Kari stared at Scott in disbelief. She couldn't believe he was asking her this. She didn't know what to say to him without hurting his feelings. "Scott, I can't understand what's compelled you to act like this but I'm going to be honest with you as well. TK means more to me than anything in the world; I wouldn't be half as strong if it wasn't for him. In fact, I wouldn't be here if it wasn't for TK. He's risked his life for me more times than I can count. He's my best friend in the entire world, he knows me better than anyone.

"I know you, Kari. I thought we were like best friends, we've been friends since the day you came to America", Scott argued. Kari was getting frustrated, Scott wasn't listening to her. She knew that the only way to get through to him was to tell him point blank, no matter how much it might hurt.

"Scott, you don't know me at all. Most of my life is an entire mystery to you, this world for example. If we hadn't been called back here, I would never have told you about it. You don't know me at all. And also, don't think I haven't noticed this big brother complex of yours. You act worse than Tai sometimes; I don't need to be protected by everyone all the time. That's one of the reasons I get along with TK so well, he gives me space when I need it. Scott, you follow me around closer than a shadow. So back off a little bit," Kari said irritably.

Scott looked appalled. He stammered, "Kari, I'm sorry. It's just, from the moment I met you, and you've reminded me of someone I care about a lot." Kari didn't look at him; she turned around so she wouldn't have to see his face when she broke his heart.

"Scott, I'm sorry. I know all you want to do is protect me, but I'm a big girl, I can take care of myself," Kari looked back at TK; he had gotten the branches out of Patamon's ears and was sitting patiently with Patamon and Liollmon. "I hope you aren't mad at me, Scott. You're still my friend," Kari began to walk away, leaving Scott standing there with his mouth wide open.

Kari wiped a tear away as she reached TK. She knew that she would have to someday tell him the truth, but she hadn't wanted it to be this way and she hadn't expected it to hurt this much. "What's wrong, Kari?" TK asked as she reached him. Kari wiped away another tear and looked down at her shoes.

"I feel horrible, I think I just broke his heart," Kari whispered. TK's heart nearly melted when he saw how sad she was. He wrapped his arms around her and squeezed her shoulders. "I hope he doesn't hate me," Kari whispered softly.

"How could anyone hate you, Kari?" You're the hardest person in the world to hate. How could someone hate a person that doesn't have a mean bone in their body?"

"No mean bones? Then how did I manage to break his heart?" Kari asked, her voice quivering. TK didn't get the chance to answer because there was a sudden shout from where Kari left Scott.

"Scott!" Liollmon yelled. He sprung to life and darted down the path to where his friend was. TK and Kari followed behind, uneasy of what they might find. Scott had wandered away from the path and was standing in a path of trees. No one would have noticed him, if it wasn't for the giant swarm of Digimon in front of him.

"What are those?" TK yelled. The Digimon were fairly large, roughly the size of large dog and they had the appearance of a wasp. They were made of metal and had a laser where their stinger would be. All of the Digimon glared down at Scott with glowing blue eyes.

"TK, those are Waspmon. No one has seen them for years; they are Champion level Digimon made of pure chrome Digizoid. Their Turbo Stinger attack makes getting a shot from a doctor like a little pinch", Patamon said in wonder.

"There are too many to fight, we have to get out of here!" Kari yelled. Scott didn't need to be told twice and he hightailed it out of the grove and tore down the path as fast as his legs could carry him. Kari, TK and Liollmon followed closely behind. To their dismay, so did the Waspmon.

Patamon stopped flying and turned to face the Waspmon. "Boom bubble!" He shot a blast of air that managed to hit the Waspmon in front but there were still several dozen behind that one.

"Patamon, I appreciate your bravery, but now isn't the time", TK yelled. He snatched Patamon out of the sky and continued to run.

"Where are we going?" Scott yelled. He was in front and didn't know where to go.

"Anywhere but here", Kari huffed behind him. She hoped that eventually the Waspmon would get tired of chasing them and return to wherever they had come from. Then, she saw what might save them, a lake was coming into view through the trees and if these Digimon were anything like real wasps, they wouldn't chase them into the water. "I have an idea, jump into the water", Kari yelled as they neared the edge of the lake. Scott followed her instructions and jumped feet first into the large body of water. He was followed by Liollmon. Kari stopped to make sure TK and Patamon were still coming; her heart skipped a beat when she didn't see them come through the trees.

"Kari, go!" TK yelled as he finally broke through the trees. He was carrying Patamon under his arm and his eyes were wide with fear. Right behind him were all the Waspmon.

"Turbo Stinger!" the swarm called out in unison. From their stingers, a red light began to glow and they shot out a laser blast at the spot where TK was running. At the last moment, TK dove forward jumping into the water, taking Kari with him. The sudden shock of cold water made Kari freeze up for a second. On the surface, Kari could see the swarm fly overhead, angry that they had lost their prey. Kari mentally sighed, they were all safe. It was then that Kari realized that she couldn't touch the bottom of the lake. The water was much deeper than she had originally thought and she was struggling to get to the surface.

Kari felt the bubbles of precious air escape from her mouth, she didn't know if she would be able to make it to the top. Then, she felt a pair of arms reach around her stomach and bring her up to the surface. As her head broke through, Kari began to cough violently, taking as much air into her lungs as possible.

The Waspmon had vanished and the air was still, the only sound was the splash of the water as it hit some rocks on the shore. "You OK, Kari?" Kari became aware of someone next to her. TK was floating in the water on her left side, water dripping off of his hair and face. "Well that was refreshing", he said with a grin on his face. Kari looked at TK and then began to laugh; he looked ridiculous with his hair plastered to his face and that huge grin on his face. When he fell in the water, his hat had fallen off and his golden hair gleamed in the sunlight.

"I hate being wet", Patamon muttered. He had swum up to the surface and was not struggling to keep his head above the surface. TK laughed and lifted Patamon out of the water, wetting him on his head where he would be dry. TK and Kari made their way over to the shore, stumbling and laughing all the way. Kari came so close to falling over, TK had to catch her and hold her up as they reached the shore. When their feet hit solid ground, they collapsed onto the soft grass looking up at the sky.

"Where did Scott go?" Kari asked sitting up. She had seen him go into the water, but never saw him come out. TK sat up as well and looked around the edge of the lake.

"I'm not sure, we better find him though, before he gets himself into more trouble. Come on." TK lifted Kari to her feet and they began to walk around the perimeter of the lake.

The lake was a lot larger than either of them expected, after walking for a half hour, they had barely moved from where they had started. The whole way Kari and TK yelled out Scott's name but got in response. "Oh this is my fault", Kari said suddenly. TK stopped walking and looked at her.

"How do you figure that?" TK asked.

"If I hadn't told Scott the things I did, he wouldn't have been left out there alone, then he wouldn't have gotten attacked by the Waspmon and we wouldn't have jumped into the lake and he would be here with us." TK smiled at her and put a hand on her shoulder.

"Kari, don't blame yourself for that. Something tells me that Scott would have gotten attacked by a forest Digimon on his own. You did us all a favor by suggesting hiding in the lake. We would have been a Digimon's lunch if you hadn't", TK sympathized.

"Hello? Is anyone out there? Kari? TK? Hello?" a voice from the trees called. As the voice called out, Scott stepped out from the trees. He was a dripping wet as Kari and TK but a huge smile on his face. Liollmon followed close behind him, looking wet and miserable. "There you two are. I've been looking everywhere for you. You guys have to come see this, it's amazing." Scott said like a little child. He spun around and walked back into the trees. TK looked over at Kari who shrugged. The followed Scott into the dense woods and worked hard to keep up with him. After waking for a little ways, Scott stopped in front of a large rock.

"What is this?" Kari asked looking up at the stone wall. Most of it looked normal, a big rock, it wasn't much of a surprise since they were so close to a mountain. The strange symbol engraved into it was something out of the ordinary. It was three interloping circles with a star right in the middle of it. "I've never seen this symbol before. What do you think it is, TK?"

"I'm not sure, Kari. But I've seen something similar to it. Back when I found my crest, it was a large stone slab like this one. Maybe this is another crest." Almost as if something was answering him, Scott's digivice began to react. Scott ripped his digivice out of his pocket and stared at it. The screen began to glow and as it did, there was a flash of orange light. Scott shut his eyes as the light intensified, the wall before them began to shrink. Soon the light faded and the light was completely gone. Instead, there was a path that led through the forest as if the rock had never been there.

"What's this thing?" Scott asked. In his hand was a small tablet, no bigger than a postage stamp. It had the same symbol engraved in it as the rock wall had.

"He got his crest!" Kari said happily. "Now Liollmon will be able to Digivolve to his ultimate level, the question is which crest it is?"

"The crest of destiny," A deep voice said from behind them.