Disclaimer: This is still a fanfic, so NO, i do NOT own Digimon...yet...>.>

Well, here you have it: chapter 9! Sorry it took so long to update...school starting and not being home on weekends and all...Thanks so much for 1000 hits! Please keep the reviews coming!

Chapter 8

"Where am I?" cried Takeru through the darkness. He looked around wildly for anyone…anything! He had heard the voices of the others as they screamed in agony, fell to the ground, silent. He had seen the world dissolve into darkness as he fell, and then he was here…wherever that was.

"Takeru, is that you?" called a familiar voice. He whirled around, but he couldn't see anything.

"Who's there?" he said, still looking about frantically.

"It's Mimi," said the voice, and he felt something latch onto his arm…a hand?

"Mimi!" Takeru cried joyously. "You're okay!"

"Of course I am! Where…where are we, Takeru?"

"We're in some dark place, where we can't see anything or be certain of anything," said a solemn voice from the darkness.

"H-Haruka?" said Mimi. "Haruka, is that you?"

"Yeah, it's me." Her voice seemed to be filled with sadness…as if she had already lost all hope. But Haruka would never…

"Haruka, where are you?" said Takeru. "I can't see a damn thing…" As if he willed it, a light penetrated the darkness, and he saw Haruka, sitting on the ground (if there was a ground to sit on). She looked up at him, her eyes dark and cold, like ice.

"Haruka, are you okay?" said Mimi, kneeling down beside her.

"Yeah, I'm fine," she said. "I'm just fine." Her voice was just as cold and dark as her eyes. She kept looking forward, straight forward, as if there was nothing else around her. Mimi waved her hand in front of her face; it had no effect. She didn't even blink!

"Haruka, snap out of it!" Mimi said, her face worried. She poked Haruka lightly; she didn't move.

"Haruka…" Takeru said, tapping her forehead lightly. She did nothing.

"What the hell is wrong with her? If OkamiMyotismon messed her up I'll…I'll...I don't know what I'll do but it'll be good…or bad…or...something!" Mimi cried in frustration. She slammed her fists into the ground, and apparently this was noticed by Haruka.

"Masochism isn't going to help you, Mimi," she said, her voice still dark and icy.

"H-Haruka, can you hear me?" Takeru said. Haruka nodded.

"Well, are you alright?" Mimi asked. Haruka nodded again.

"I have accepted our defeat…we could no nothing to prevent it," she said solemnly.

"Defeat?" Takeru cried. "What are you talking about! We haven't lost yet! Haruka, come on, we can't just give up!"

"I think she already has, Takeru," Mimi said, sitting down next to Haruka. "I think OkamiMyotismon managed to convince her that he had won…"

"Well, he hasn't yet, and I'm not going to just give up on her! She's our friend! We owe her that much."

"And how do you suggest we get through to her?" Mimi said, her eyebrow raised.

"Well, I…um...haven't gotten that far yet…got any ideas?"

"Just one," Mimi replied slyly. She moved so that she was in front of Mimi, raised her hand above her head, and slapped Haruka as hard as she could, which sent Haruka flying backwards.

"Huh? What...hey what was that for!" Haruka cried, getting up and charging at Mimi.

"I had to snap you out of it somehow!" Mimi said, dodging her.

"Snap me out of what! I was just fine!"

"No Haruka, you were…well I don't even know what it was. But you were out of it," Takeru said.

"Out of it? Takeru, what are you talking about? I'm just fine…"

"You weren't a few seconds ago!" said Mimi. "You kept muttering in this dark voice as if…as if we had lost already…"

"We have," Haruka said, rather matter-of-factly. "OkamiMyotismon has won, Mimi, we can't do anything anymore."

How could that be possible? Takeru stared blankly at Haruka…she must have been hit really hard by OkamiMyotismon's attack to have lost faith completely. Her eyes were still dark and filled with a terrible sadness that he had never seen in her before. Maybe they had lost, maybe their old foe had finally beaten them this time. If he had, wouldn't Haruka be the first to know? Didn't she have the Crest of Wisdom?

But didn't he have the Crest of Hope? If he lost that now, the one thing he had left, then all would be lost. If he just resigned himself to defeat now, then both his world and the Digital World would fall to darkness, so that even Hikari couldn't fight it with her Light. He thought of his girlfriend, wondering where she was and hoping she was alright. He knew she could take care of herself, but he hoped that she hadn't been hurt to the point where she couldn't defend herself. He hoped…

Hope. It was all he had, and it was what he had to work with. He smiled the faintest smile. They hadn't lost yet, they couldn't have lost yet…he still had Hope.

"Um…Takeru?" said Mimi tentatively, staring at him with her eyes wide.

"Huh?" replied Takeru.

"You're…um…you're glowing!" she cried, pointing to his chest. He looked down and, sure enough, a faint silver light was emanating from his chest, rapidly and steadily growing brighter and stronger. He stared at this light, spreading throughout his entire body; he could feel its icy cold warmth spreading to every part of him, refreshing him. He blinked as he reveled in the sensation, then looked at Mimi.

"Um…so are you, Mimi!" he said. She looked down at her hands, which glowed a bright white, the Crest of Purity burning bright on her palms. Her eyes opened wider as she watched the light swirl around her body, sparkling and shining around her. She lifted her hands and the light around her intensified, drawing off Takeru's light. Haruka stared at the two of them, not noticing her hands glowing green.

"Haruka, look!" Mimi cried, pointing at her. She did, and her eyes grew wide; the Crest of Wisdom glowed on her hands, and beams of pure energy were shooting from her fingertips. Mimi smiled and said, "It's the Crests! Sora mentioned something about the Crests holding more power than just digivolving…his must be what she meant!"

"If this is happening, it must have been meant to happen," Haruka said. "So let's get back and kick OkamiMyotismon's ass!"