Yay here is the next chapter! Things are starting to get really intense in this story. Any ideas on what is going to happen? I'd love to hear them so please review! I don't own Digimon by the way.

Part 26: Brighter

"Leave him alone!" Kari sobbed. She watched in agony as the person she cared about more than anything, cried out in pain from being crushed. Kari wished more than anything that Gatomon was there, if she was then she would be able to Digivolve and help TK.

"Kari, just get out of here. Find Tai and the others and tell them what's happening. Hurry!" TK said with as much strength as he could. It was obvious he was in a lot of pain but he was fighting through it as best as he could. "Scott, get Kari out of here!" Scott watched as his new friend grimaced in pain and saw how much it was hurting Kari.

"Kari, let's do what he says. There's nothing we can do, if we find the others we might have a chance," Scott said softly. He reached out to touch her shoulder but she pulled away.

"I'm not going anywhere, you go find the others. I'm not moving from this spot," Kari hissed. Her whole body was shaking with a mix of anger and fear. She wasn't going to leave TK when he needed her, he wouldn't have left her so she wouldn't do that to him.

"Kari, don't be stubborn. Just go," TK called again. "Go with Patamon, and hurry." Kari looked down at Patamon, who had been almost silent in this whole confrontation. He was frozen with fear, his eyes wide, unsure of what to do.

"Patamon, it'll be OK. We'll save him, have faith," Kari soothed. She knew of the strong bond between TK and Patamon and as much as this was hurting her, Kari couldn't even begin to imagine how helpless TK felt.

"You are something else, Kari," Susan said in wonder. "You're boyfriend is about to be crushed like a grape and you're telling his Digimon that everything will be OK. What in the world does it take to put out that light of yours? Belphemon, just finish him off now, I'm getting bored with this." Belphemon grinned and tightened his grip on TK. TK yelled in pain again and fell limp.

"No! TK!" Kari screamed so loud she thought she would break in two. Patamon joined her in her scream of fear and his eyes filled with anger.

"You're going to regret that, Belphemon. I'll destroy you!" Patamon threatened. Scott just watched in fear, he couldn't believe that a living creature could be this cruel. His attention was then brought to Kari who had fallen to her knees and was sobbing uncontrollably.

"How could you? Susan, what kind of monster have you become?" Kari sobbed. She lifted her head to look Susan in her expressionless eyes. Susan was actually smiling; Kari couldn't believe what she was seeing. Susan was enjoying watching her suffer.

"That's right, Kari. Let your anger fill your body. After all, we not only took away your Digimon, but now the one person you ever cared about. What are you going to do about it?" Susan mocked. She waved to Belphemon and he released his grip on TK and he fell to the forest ground below. With a thud, TK crashed onto the hard dirt and lay still. Kari gasped and jumped to her feet and ran to TK, ignoring her own safety.

"Susan, shall we give her a moment to wallow in the darkness?" Belphemon asked with an amused tone in his voice.

"Why not? Don't worry, Kari, we'll be back soon," Susan said as she and Belphemon vanished into the trees. Kari didn't even hear them; she had reached TK and fell to her knees next to him.

"TK, TK please answer me," Kari pleaded. "You can't leave me; you said you would never leave me. TK, please come back. I need you, TK. You're my best friend, TK; I can't do this without you. TK, I, I love you, TK."

"I'll never leave you, Kari. I love you too," a weak voice answered. Kari held her breath as TK slowly opened his eyes. His blue eyes met her and Kari began sobbing again. She knew he would be all right, TK was strong and he wasn't alone.

"TK, don't ever scare me like that again. I thought I lost you. How do you feel?" Patamon asked flying over to TK as fast as his wings could carry him.

TK looked over at Patamon and smiled. "Let's just say I don't recommend Belphemon for a massage."

"TK, how can you be making jokes? You were almost crushed to a pulp," Kari asked in wonder. She wiped some of the tears out of her face and gave a weak smile. It was then that TK's response when he woke up connected with her brain.

"TK, you said you loved me," Kari stated in a weak voice. She wasn't sure if what she had heard was true, she hoped it was.

"Of course I said I loved you, I've wanted to tell you that for a while. You said it too, remember?" TK said with a big grin on his face. Kari smiled and nodded, when she had said it, she wasn't even sure what she was saying.

"I thought I was going to lose you, I didn't want you to leave without knowing that. It's true, TK, I love you, more than anything," Kari said. She felt the tears come back to her eyes and she tried to wipe them away.

TK smiled gingerly and put his hand on the side of her face. "You mean more than anything to me, too. That's why I said I'd follow you anywhere; I couldn't live with myself if you got hurt. Now, let's go save Susan. If anyone can reach her, you can," he told her. TK tried to sit up but Kari pushed him back down again.

"Oh no you don't, you're not going anywhere. TK, you almost got crushed; you're in no shape to be going anywhere. I'm not going to risk losing you again; we'll wait for the others to get back. Susan has been gone this long, she can wait a little bit longer," Kari told him sternly. TK sighed and shut his eyes, grimacing in pain. "TK? Are you OK?" Kari asked frantically.

"Yeah, just a little sore I guess. I'll be OK; don't worry about me, Kari," he said through clenched teeth.

Kari looked down at TK and then turned to face Scott, who was standing behind them. "Scott, get TK's D-tector from the cave and e-mail the others. We need Joe, tell them to hurry," Kari demanded. With a nod, Scott took off into the cave and Kari looked back down at TK. She knew he was lying about how much pain he was in; he was doing exactly what she would do, trying to mask the pain. "Scott, hurry!" Kari yelled towards the cave.

"I've got it, here," Scott said, handing her the D-tector. Kari flipped it open and frantically began typing away; she had to get the others back as soon as she could. "How long will it take for them to get back?" Scott asked, looking over Kari's shoulder.

"If they know that TK's hurt, they won't waste a second, especially Matt and Tai. If they take over five minutes to get here, I'll be surprised. They've been on the edge the past few days and I think this will be enough to really make them mad. Let's just hope they get here before Belphemon comes back. With TK injured like this, Patamon won't be able to Digivolve and Frimon is still too weak from his last battle. If they come, we're sitting ducks," Kari whispered. Strength was not on their side, and neither was time. Tai and Matt had to get back as soon as they could, Wargreymon and MetalGarurumon were the only Digimon that had a chance of stopping Belphemon.

"It looks like your backup team is a little late, what a shame. I wanted to see the looks on their faces when we crush you all," a girl's voice rang out. Kari watched as Susan and Belphemon appeared in the trees. Susan was smirking as she looked at Kari and TK. "I really thought that would have finished him, looks like I didn't give TK enough credit, he's tough. But, I guess I should consider myself lucky, now I get to mess with you a little bit more. Belphemon, why don't we take them to our little playground?" Susan asked, shooting a wayward glance at the giant Digimon.

"A one way ticket to the darkness, coming right up," the dark Digimon said laughing. He clapped his hands together and began to mumble some words in another language. As he spoke, the light around Kari, TK and Scott seemed to fade. Patamon flew closer and landed on Kari's shoulder. Scott sat on the ground next to Kari and held Frimon even closer. As the light faded, darkness seemed to grow around them, threatening to suffocate them.

"Kari!"

"TK!" Kari looked up to see Matt and Tai coming towards them as fast as they could. She could see Wargreymon and MetalGarurumon running behind them, ready to attack.

"Tai!" Kari tried to scream, but no words came out. The darkness closed in and Kari found that she couldn't breathe; she shut here eyes and waited for it all to be over. Her body shook as the darkness grew around her, she didn't know what she could do. The darkness was winning; it was going to swallow her.

"Gatomon, Tai, TK, I'm sorry. I'm not strong enough to do this without you. My light isn't enough on its own, I need you all here with me," Kari thought. She then felt a hand grab hers. Kari opened her eyes a tiny bit and saw that TK had woken up and was holding her hand. He smiled faintly at her.

"Kari, you're not alone. The people you love are always with you, don't give up on them," he whispered softly. He shut his eyes again and Kari felt his grip on her hand loosen. Kari then realized he was right, her friends were always with her, he was always with her.

"Gatomon, you're here too, aren't you?" Kari asked out loud. Kari then felt a warm presence and Kari knew that Gatomon had heard her. "Gatomon, thank you for always being with me, you were right all along." Kari then felt a strange presence in her heart, like someone had turned on a warm light. The light grew brighter and brighter, Kari felt it push back the darkness, she found it easier to breathe and Kari knew the light was winning.

The darkness tried to push in again, more powerful than before and Kari used every ounce of strength she had to push the darkness away, but it wasn't enough. Kari felt the darkness come back and it enveloped her again. With her strength gone, Kari felt a wave of darkness come over her as her world went black.

"Kari, your light is even brighter, it weakened the darkness and you did it all by yourself. Good job, I'm proud of you," Kari heard a familiar voice whisper before the darkness overtook her.