Disclaimer: I don't own Digimon.
A/N: Mimi never moved.
A Changed Destiny
"Kari! Kari!" Tai screamed hoping and praying Kari was okay. "Kari!" Tai bit his lip trying to hold back the tears that were building in his eyes. "Oh, god! Where is she?"
"Tai, calm down. I'm sure she's fine," Sora tried to reassure him.
"Yeah, Tai. She probably just saw flowers or something and walked over to pick'em or something," Matt cried from where he stood.
"We have to find her!" Tai yelled back.
"Then show us where to go," Matt replied.
"What?"
"You're the leader. Lead us and find your sister. Give us the order."
Tai looked away. "I can't."
"Why not?"
"I'm not the leader anymore. You are, I suppose."
"Do I have to sock you in the face again? This is your sister! Stop being so afraid and do it!"
Tai looked at Matt, wanting to believe he could do this task. Kari was everything to him; he had given up or lost everything else. Nothing else mattered. Nothing else. "Let's go!" He said as he felt a surge of energy rise from his heart. "We have to stay together. If all eight of us are lost in the Digital World we should stay together now and avoid losing anyone else."
"There's the Tai we know and love!" Matt cried.
"Let's go. Look out for the others!" Tai turned and started walking in the direction he thought Kari might have gone.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
TK and Kari followed the six digimon while carrying their digimon in her arms. Kari would stumble a little every so often, but Gatomon wad the only one who noticed. The little cat glanced up at her partner. "Are you okay?" She asked.
"I'll be okay," Kari shrugged.
"Tell TK that you need to rest!" Gatomon insisted.
"No, I'm okay. I have to stay strong and prove to Tai that I am strong."
"Proving you're strong doesn't mean hurt yourself even more then you already are," Gatomon replied. This just made Kari angry because she knew Gatomon was right.
TK looked over at her. "She's right, we should rest."
"How'd you know?" Kari asked.
"Ever heard of whispering?" TK replied in a sarcastic tone. "We're stopping!"
Kari sat down on the ground and stroked Gatomon softly. "It hurts a little, Gatomon," Kari said out of nowhere. She didn't know why she was saying it. She hated talking about her heart or her pain, but somehow it felt right telling Gatomon.
"It might feel better talking to TK," Gatomon said as if reading her mind.
Kari shook her head. "I'm not going to bother TK with this."
"Bother TK with what?" A male voice said from behind. Kari twisted around and saw TK there. He sat down beside her and Patamon flew over and sat down on his hat.
"Its nothing. We were just talking about stuff. I was wondering about this place and what you said," Kari shrugged.
"Hey, what's that?" TK asked as he narrowed his eyes looking straight ahead.
"What's what?" Kari asked.
"That," TK replied pointing ahead towards a jet-black, swirling portal.
Suddenly they began to slide towards it. "What's going on?" Kari yelled.
"It's pulling us toward it!" TK screamed. Kari started to slide faster and the entrance got closer. "Kari!" TK reached out his hand to her.
"TK! What's going on?" Kari yelled as she disappeared into the void of the portal. TK went in after her, followed by Gatmon and Patamon. Then the other digimon.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Tai kept his stride wide so he could stay in front of Sora and Matt. He did not want to see them holding hands or how Matt was all over her over protectively. It made him sick that he had given her up, but they both seemed very happy.
"Matt, Sora!" A forced male voice cried. Tai looked over his shoulder to see Matt and Sora doing the same. Sora dropped Matt's hand and began to run the way they just came. Tai ran back to Matt and saw that Izzy, Mimi, and Joe were in the path. Joe was helping to hold Izzy to his feet.
"God, are you guys alright?" Sora asked as she help set Izzy on the ground.
"Just a Monochromon with a bad temper. Nothing we couldn't run screaming from," Joe joked.
"Well, we ran after he hit me with an attack," Izzy cringed as he rubbed his leg.
Mimi looked over at Tai and Matt. "So we're all here," she said, implying that Tai was there. Matt nodded. "Where's TK?"
"What do you mean, where's TK? Isn't he with you?" Matt asked.
"No, he wasn't there when we woke up. We assumed he was with you," Joe replied.
"Maybe he's with Kari," Sora spoke up as she helped Joe with Izzy's leg.
"Yeah, he'll be okay," Mimi added.
"I don't care! I have to find him," Matt yelled. "The rest of you stay here with Izzy I'm going." Matt turned to leave.
"Wait Matt!" Sora yelled. Matt stopped and looked back at her. "I think Tai was right when he said we should stick together. The Digital World is way too big and easy to get lost in. Can you walk, Izzy?"
Izzy cringed in pain, but nodded anyway. "Yeah. Let's go." Joe and Sora helped him to his feet and the group began to walk forward again.
This time Matt kept Tai's pace. "Does it feel like before?" Matt asked.
Tai glanced back at the other's. "A little. But I'm trying not to think about it. I just want to get my sister and go home." Tai looked around. "Where are our digimon?"
Matt bit his lip. He didn't want to relive it in his mind, but Tai had to know. "Tai, they're gone."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
TK moved barely an inch and felt instantly overcome by pain. "Oh, man…" He mumbled. "What happened?" He forced his pained eyes open and glanced around. He was in a world of complete darkness. Inches away he saw Kari lying unconscious. He crawled over to her. "Kari? Come on, Kari, get up," he whispered. She groaned and moved her head slightly. "Kari, get up."
"I can't, TK," she whispered. "It hurts."
"What hurts?" He helped her sit up and held her tightly in his arms. Her eyelids drooped heavily as she forced herself to stay up.
"Everything. My head, my arms, my legs…my chest," she coughed. "What happened?"
"I don't know. The last thing I remember is that weird portal." TK looked around. "I have no idea where we are," he admitted.
"Are we in the Digital World still?" Kari asked, fearful she was separated from Tai by two different worlds.
"OF COURSE YOU ARE!" A loud voice boomed. "Your just in another part of it! The world where I have been banished to!"
"W-who are you?" TK yelled as he tightened his hold protectively of Kari.
"I am Apocalymon!" The voice cried.
"Where are you?! Come out so we can see you!"
"Fine!" Suddenly a giant monster appeared. TK stared up at it and almost fell backwards.
"Y-your Apocalymon? Don't tell me you want to destroy us!" TK groaned a little.
"Of course not! I want the Child of Light!" He yelled. "Without Light the digital world is only darkness. I've been waiting years for her to become the weakling she is now. In her frail state I will corrupt her easily and take over the digital world. Then I will destroy you stupid Digidestined!"
"Her frail state? She's as strong as anyone of us!" TK yelled. He looked down at Kari who had gone slack in his arms. "Right?" He whispered under his breath. "Where are our digimon?"
"You mean these?" He pointed across the great darkness. High in the air, in a pool of light, laid Patamon and Gatomon. Both of them were struggling to get up, but an invisible force kept them down.
"Patamon!" TK yelled.
Gatomon looked up at TK's voice and saw Kari in TK's arms. "Kari!"
"Hand over the girl!" Apocalymon extended a huge had to TK.
"Never!" TK held on to Kari tighter and she let out a soft groan.
"Do you actually think you can stop me?" Yelled Apocalymon.
TK continued to stare up fearlessly at the digimon towering over him. "I won't give up hope that I can."
"Ah, yes, the Child of Hope. Pitiful, aren't you?" TK didn't say a word. "Hope is nothing here in the digital world. Power is everything! And right now you have none! Your digimon is useless against me and you can't even reach him. Your team is lost in the Digital World, dying somewhere."
"NO! That's not true!" TK yelled in frustration.
"Just let me have the girl and you can go free."
"Never!"
"Don't defy me!" One giant arm made contact to the side of TK's face and sent him flying backwards. "You don't know how sick I am of being ignored! Being forced back by the light was pain enough! But now I will murder the light and force the Digital World into darkness forever!" Apocalymon slowly approached Kari with a vicious glint in his eyes.
"Kari!" TK tried to get up, but an overwhelming pain in his head kept him down. "Stay way from her!"
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Tai pulled his telescope from his pocket and surveyed the scene from the cliff he stood on. As far as he could see there was nothing. No signs of his sister or Matt's brother. He put his hand down to his side and sighed heavily. "I am such a coward. I let Agumon die. I disappointed my friends. I didn't watch Kari. I let everyone down." He put the telescope in his pocket. "I can't do anything right."
"I strongly disagree with you there," a voice said from behind. Tai glanced back and saw Izzy hobbling toward him.
"You couldn't just have said you're wrong Tai?" Tai asked, slightly annoyed. "And you're wrong too."
"I let everyone down! I failed."
Izzy put a hand on his shoulder. "No, you didn't. Matt and Sora told us what happened. I'm sorry."
Tai smacked his hand away. "I don't need or want your pity!" He cried. "Just stay way from me! I just have to find Kari and then I'll be out of your hair. For good hopefully!"
"Tai, you can't possibly mean that," Izzy argued.
"But I do," Tai replied. "Ever since I came to have knowledge of the Digital World it's been one pain after another!" He looked away from Izzy and looked across the digital world. "First fighting and having to lead and make all the decision! That was the stupidest decision anyone ever made. Me in charge! I couldn't lead us to a volcano in hell!" He laughed bitterly.
"Tai, you know that's not true," Izzy replied. "You were a good-"
"Save your crap for someone who will believe it!" Tai pushed past him and quickly walked away.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Apocalymon reached an enormous hand toward Kari. The blackness all around him began to get darker. "What's going on?" TK yelled.
Apocalymon looked up at him, stopping his action to pick up Kari. "Your friend is falling apart. He's sinking into darkness. Soon his soul will be mine and he will no longer be a Digidestined."
"Who?" TK asked.
Apocalymon turned to him. "Your leader."
"M-Matt? NO! That's not true!" TK yelled.
"Of course its not true! Because he is not your pathetic leader!"
"T-Tai?" Kari forced as she sat up.
Apocalymon looked down at the trembling and pale girl. "Of course. You are a smart one, aren't you? Your brother believes he is a failure and he is! As he sinks further and further he becomes consumed by darkness. He will be mine!"
"No…my-my brother is s-strong!" Kari forced out. She erupted into a fit of coughs before continuing. "You could never take him!"
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"TAI! IZZY!" Matt yelled. Tai walked out of the woods toward him and Izzy hobbled out after him. "We got a trace on the digivices." Tai smiled, slightly, pretending to be interested. "There are ten signals and then one big one."
"Ten signals? Why would there be ten signals?" Izzy asked. Everyone shrugged.
"Let's go. Why would we get a signal unless it was TK and Kari?" Sora asked.
"Come on," Matt stepped forward, staring at his digivice like it was a compass. The others followed and Tai watched them. He hadn't moved from his position and for some reason he didn't want to follow at all.
"Why do I feel like this?" He asked himself. "Why am I doing this?" He began to walk away from the others, just like he had done all those years ago. Was it because he was a coward? Sure it was. Six years ago he had walked away and let his friends face an evil more powerful then even he could imagine. Now he was doing it again. He was backing way from what was most likely his sister and another enemy. "I failed." He began to run.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
TK finally forced himself off the black floor and ran to Kari. He scooped her up off the ground and held her tightly. "Don't listen to a thing he says!" He coached as she wrapped her arms around him. "He's lying."
"TK, will we be okay?" Kari asked.
"No, you will not be alright! You are to die, Light!" Apocalymon yelled.
TK let go of Kari and moved in front of her. "You can't touch her! I won't let you!"
"Didn't we go through this before? You can't stop me! Just get out of my way and you're free! Hand over the girl!"
"NEVER!" Apocalymon backhanded TK once more.
"TK!" Kari cried.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Sora glanced over her shoulder, wondering why Tai had not attempted to catch up to Matt. Her eyes surveyed wildly. "MATT!" The group stopped and looked back at her. "Tai's gone!"
"What?" Matt yelled.
"Do you think he abandon us again?" Mimi asked.
"I don't know. I doubt it," Matt replied.
"What do we do now, Matt?" Joe asked.
Matt felt suddenly selfish. "We have to go on! TK is out there!" The other's agreed and continued to follow him.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Tai walked though a dark forest. He had left his friends hours or maybe just minutes before. He hadn't kept track of the time. He kept babbling about being a coward and a failure as the forest around him grew darker and darker. He didn't notice any of it though. He continued looking straight at the ground.
Suddenly his digivice went off and he looked up. Just a few feet ahead was a complete black doorway. He walked toward and stopped. He extended his arm and reached inside it and his hand disappeared inside. He pulled it back out and waved it in front of his face. It was still whole.
He turned back to it and continued in. He looked back when he was fully inside the portal and saw that the opening was gone.
"TK!" A voice yelled. Tai looked in the direction of the voice; it sounded so familiar. Across a huge darkness Kari laid on the ground with a huge dark digimon standing over her. Another body laid sprawled on the floor a meter or so from them. "TK!" Kari yelled again.
"Kari!" Tai started running toward her. Both her and the large digimon looked over at him. He wrapped his arms around Kari tightly.
"Tai, you aren't evil! Please don't go dark, Tai!" Kari sobbed.
"What? What are you talking about?" Tai asked.
"She's talking about me!" The large digimon replied. Tai looked up at him as he made a strange motion in the air with a huge hand. Slowly his hand turned into a fist as he made a quick slice through the air.
Tai felt as if two hands had wrapped around his neck and were slowly squeezing. He let go of Kari as he felt the invisible hands tighten. He choked for air. "Tai? Tai!" Kari screamed.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Finally, part 6! Thank you for all those who yelled at me to get going. That includes you Kaily-chan and Sydney. Thanks I needed to get going! I hope you liked this part. Sorry it took so long.
A/N: Mimi never moved.
A Changed Destiny
"Kari! Kari!" Tai screamed hoping and praying Kari was okay. "Kari!" Tai bit his lip trying to hold back the tears that were building in his eyes. "Oh, god! Where is she?"
"Tai, calm down. I'm sure she's fine," Sora tried to reassure him.
"Yeah, Tai. She probably just saw flowers or something and walked over to pick'em or something," Matt cried from where he stood.
"We have to find her!" Tai yelled back.
"Then show us where to go," Matt replied.
"What?"
"You're the leader. Lead us and find your sister. Give us the order."
Tai looked away. "I can't."
"Why not?"
"I'm not the leader anymore. You are, I suppose."
"Do I have to sock you in the face again? This is your sister! Stop being so afraid and do it!"
Tai looked at Matt, wanting to believe he could do this task. Kari was everything to him; he had given up or lost everything else. Nothing else mattered. Nothing else. "Let's go!" He said as he felt a surge of energy rise from his heart. "We have to stay together. If all eight of us are lost in the Digital World we should stay together now and avoid losing anyone else."
"There's the Tai we know and love!" Matt cried.
"Let's go. Look out for the others!" Tai turned and started walking in the direction he thought Kari might have gone.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
TK and Kari followed the six digimon while carrying their digimon in her arms. Kari would stumble a little every so often, but Gatomon wad the only one who noticed. The little cat glanced up at her partner. "Are you okay?" She asked.
"I'll be okay," Kari shrugged.
"Tell TK that you need to rest!" Gatomon insisted.
"No, I'm okay. I have to stay strong and prove to Tai that I am strong."
"Proving you're strong doesn't mean hurt yourself even more then you already are," Gatomon replied. This just made Kari angry because she knew Gatomon was right.
TK looked over at her. "She's right, we should rest."
"How'd you know?" Kari asked.
"Ever heard of whispering?" TK replied in a sarcastic tone. "We're stopping!"
Kari sat down on the ground and stroked Gatomon softly. "It hurts a little, Gatomon," Kari said out of nowhere. She didn't know why she was saying it. She hated talking about her heart or her pain, but somehow it felt right telling Gatomon.
"It might feel better talking to TK," Gatomon said as if reading her mind.
Kari shook her head. "I'm not going to bother TK with this."
"Bother TK with what?" A male voice said from behind. Kari twisted around and saw TK there. He sat down beside her and Patamon flew over and sat down on his hat.
"Its nothing. We were just talking about stuff. I was wondering about this place and what you said," Kari shrugged.
"Hey, what's that?" TK asked as he narrowed his eyes looking straight ahead.
"What's what?" Kari asked.
"That," TK replied pointing ahead towards a jet-black, swirling portal.
Suddenly they began to slide towards it. "What's going on?" Kari yelled.
"It's pulling us toward it!" TK screamed. Kari started to slide faster and the entrance got closer. "Kari!" TK reached out his hand to her.
"TK! What's going on?" Kari yelled as she disappeared into the void of the portal. TK went in after her, followed by Gatmon and Patamon. Then the other digimon.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Tai kept his stride wide so he could stay in front of Sora and Matt. He did not want to see them holding hands or how Matt was all over her over protectively. It made him sick that he had given her up, but they both seemed very happy.
"Matt, Sora!" A forced male voice cried. Tai looked over his shoulder to see Matt and Sora doing the same. Sora dropped Matt's hand and began to run the way they just came. Tai ran back to Matt and saw that Izzy, Mimi, and Joe were in the path. Joe was helping to hold Izzy to his feet.
"God, are you guys alright?" Sora asked as she help set Izzy on the ground.
"Just a Monochromon with a bad temper. Nothing we couldn't run screaming from," Joe joked.
"Well, we ran after he hit me with an attack," Izzy cringed as he rubbed his leg.
Mimi looked over at Tai and Matt. "So we're all here," she said, implying that Tai was there. Matt nodded. "Where's TK?"
"What do you mean, where's TK? Isn't he with you?" Matt asked.
"No, he wasn't there when we woke up. We assumed he was with you," Joe replied.
"Maybe he's with Kari," Sora spoke up as she helped Joe with Izzy's leg.
"Yeah, he'll be okay," Mimi added.
"I don't care! I have to find him," Matt yelled. "The rest of you stay here with Izzy I'm going." Matt turned to leave.
"Wait Matt!" Sora yelled. Matt stopped and looked back at her. "I think Tai was right when he said we should stick together. The Digital World is way too big and easy to get lost in. Can you walk, Izzy?"
Izzy cringed in pain, but nodded anyway. "Yeah. Let's go." Joe and Sora helped him to his feet and the group began to walk forward again.
This time Matt kept Tai's pace. "Does it feel like before?" Matt asked.
Tai glanced back at the other's. "A little. But I'm trying not to think about it. I just want to get my sister and go home." Tai looked around. "Where are our digimon?"
Matt bit his lip. He didn't want to relive it in his mind, but Tai had to know. "Tai, they're gone."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
TK moved barely an inch and felt instantly overcome by pain. "Oh, man…" He mumbled. "What happened?" He forced his pained eyes open and glanced around. He was in a world of complete darkness. Inches away he saw Kari lying unconscious. He crawled over to her. "Kari? Come on, Kari, get up," he whispered. She groaned and moved her head slightly. "Kari, get up."
"I can't, TK," she whispered. "It hurts."
"What hurts?" He helped her sit up and held her tightly in his arms. Her eyelids drooped heavily as she forced herself to stay up.
"Everything. My head, my arms, my legs…my chest," she coughed. "What happened?"
"I don't know. The last thing I remember is that weird portal." TK looked around. "I have no idea where we are," he admitted.
"Are we in the Digital World still?" Kari asked, fearful she was separated from Tai by two different worlds.
"OF COURSE YOU ARE!" A loud voice boomed. "Your just in another part of it! The world where I have been banished to!"
"W-who are you?" TK yelled as he tightened his hold protectively of Kari.
"I am Apocalymon!" The voice cried.
"Where are you?! Come out so we can see you!"
"Fine!" Suddenly a giant monster appeared. TK stared up at it and almost fell backwards.
"Y-your Apocalymon? Don't tell me you want to destroy us!" TK groaned a little.
"Of course not! I want the Child of Light!" He yelled. "Without Light the digital world is only darkness. I've been waiting years for her to become the weakling she is now. In her frail state I will corrupt her easily and take over the digital world. Then I will destroy you stupid Digidestined!"
"Her frail state? She's as strong as anyone of us!" TK yelled. He looked down at Kari who had gone slack in his arms. "Right?" He whispered under his breath. "Where are our digimon?"
"You mean these?" He pointed across the great darkness. High in the air, in a pool of light, laid Patamon and Gatomon. Both of them were struggling to get up, but an invisible force kept them down.
"Patamon!" TK yelled.
Gatomon looked up at TK's voice and saw Kari in TK's arms. "Kari!"
"Hand over the girl!" Apocalymon extended a huge had to TK.
"Never!" TK held on to Kari tighter and she let out a soft groan.
"Do you actually think you can stop me?" Yelled Apocalymon.
TK continued to stare up fearlessly at the digimon towering over him. "I won't give up hope that I can."
"Ah, yes, the Child of Hope. Pitiful, aren't you?" TK didn't say a word. "Hope is nothing here in the digital world. Power is everything! And right now you have none! Your digimon is useless against me and you can't even reach him. Your team is lost in the Digital World, dying somewhere."
"NO! That's not true!" TK yelled in frustration.
"Just let me have the girl and you can go free."
"Never!"
"Don't defy me!" One giant arm made contact to the side of TK's face and sent him flying backwards. "You don't know how sick I am of being ignored! Being forced back by the light was pain enough! But now I will murder the light and force the Digital World into darkness forever!" Apocalymon slowly approached Kari with a vicious glint in his eyes.
"Kari!" TK tried to get up, but an overwhelming pain in his head kept him down. "Stay way from her!"
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Tai pulled his telescope from his pocket and surveyed the scene from the cliff he stood on. As far as he could see there was nothing. No signs of his sister or Matt's brother. He put his hand down to his side and sighed heavily. "I am such a coward. I let Agumon die. I disappointed my friends. I didn't watch Kari. I let everyone down." He put the telescope in his pocket. "I can't do anything right."
"I strongly disagree with you there," a voice said from behind. Tai glanced back and saw Izzy hobbling toward him.
"You couldn't just have said you're wrong Tai?" Tai asked, slightly annoyed. "And you're wrong too."
"I let everyone down! I failed."
Izzy put a hand on his shoulder. "No, you didn't. Matt and Sora told us what happened. I'm sorry."
Tai smacked his hand away. "I don't need or want your pity!" He cried. "Just stay way from me! I just have to find Kari and then I'll be out of your hair. For good hopefully!"
"Tai, you can't possibly mean that," Izzy argued.
"But I do," Tai replied. "Ever since I came to have knowledge of the Digital World it's been one pain after another!" He looked away from Izzy and looked across the digital world. "First fighting and having to lead and make all the decision! That was the stupidest decision anyone ever made. Me in charge! I couldn't lead us to a volcano in hell!" He laughed bitterly.
"Tai, you know that's not true," Izzy replied. "You were a good-"
"Save your crap for someone who will believe it!" Tai pushed past him and quickly walked away.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Apocalymon reached an enormous hand toward Kari. The blackness all around him began to get darker. "What's going on?" TK yelled.
Apocalymon looked up at him, stopping his action to pick up Kari. "Your friend is falling apart. He's sinking into darkness. Soon his soul will be mine and he will no longer be a Digidestined."
"Who?" TK asked.
Apocalymon turned to him. "Your leader."
"M-Matt? NO! That's not true!" TK yelled.
"Of course its not true! Because he is not your pathetic leader!"
"T-Tai?" Kari forced as she sat up.
Apocalymon looked down at the trembling and pale girl. "Of course. You are a smart one, aren't you? Your brother believes he is a failure and he is! As he sinks further and further he becomes consumed by darkness. He will be mine!"
"No…my-my brother is s-strong!" Kari forced out. She erupted into a fit of coughs before continuing. "You could never take him!"
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"TAI! IZZY!" Matt yelled. Tai walked out of the woods toward him and Izzy hobbled out after him. "We got a trace on the digivices." Tai smiled, slightly, pretending to be interested. "There are ten signals and then one big one."
"Ten signals? Why would there be ten signals?" Izzy asked. Everyone shrugged.
"Let's go. Why would we get a signal unless it was TK and Kari?" Sora asked.
"Come on," Matt stepped forward, staring at his digivice like it was a compass. The others followed and Tai watched them. He hadn't moved from his position and for some reason he didn't want to follow at all.
"Why do I feel like this?" He asked himself. "Why am I doing this?" He began to walk away from the others, just like he had done all those years ago. Was it because he was a coward? Sure it was. Six years ago he had walked away and let his friends face an evil more powerful then even he could imagine. Now he was doing it again. He was backing way from what was most likely his sister and another enemy. "I failed." He began to run.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
TK finally forced himself off the black floor and ran to Kari. He scooped her up off the ground and held her tightly. "Don't listen to a thing he says!" He coached as she wrapped her arms around him. "He's lying."
"TK, will we be okay?" Kari asked.
"No, you will not be alright! You are to die, Light!" Apocalymon yelled.
TK let go of Kari and moved in front of her. "You can't touch her! I won't let you!"
"Didn't we go through this before? You can't stop me! Just get out of my way and you're free! Hand over the girl!"
"NEVER!" Apocalymon backhanded TK once more.
"TK!" Kari cried.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Sora glanced over her shoulder, wondering why Tai had not attempted to catch up to Matt. Her eyes surveyed wildly. "MATT!" The group stopped and looked back at her. "Tai's gone!"
"What?" Matt yelled.
"Do you think he abandon us again?" Mimi asked.
"I don't know. I doubt it," Matt replied.
"What do we do now, Matt?" Joe asked.
Matt felt suddenly selfish. "We have to go on! TK is out there!" The other's agreed and continued to follow him.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Tai walked though a dark forest. He had left his friends hours or maybe just minutes before. He hadn't kept track of the time. He kept babbling about being a coward and a failure as the forest around him grew darker and darker. He didn't notice any of it though. He continued looking straight at the ground.
Suddenly his digivice went off and he looked up. Just a few feet ahead was a complete black doorway. He walked toward and stopped. He extended his arm and reached inside it and his hand disappeared inside. He pulled it back out and waved it in front of his face. It was still whole.
He turned back to it and continued in. He looked back when he was fully inside the portal and saw that the opening was gone.
"TK!" A voice yelled. Tai looked in the direction of the voice; it sounded so familiar. Across a huge darkness Kari laid on the ground with a huge dark digimon standing over her. Another body laid sprawled on the floor a meter or so from them. "TK!" Kari yelled again.
"Kari!" Tai started running toward her. Both her and the large digimon looked over at him. He wrapped his arms around Kari tightly.
"Tai, you aren't evil! Please don't go dark, Tai!" Kari sobbed.
"What? What are you talking about?" Tai asked.
"She's talking about me!" The large digimon replied. Tai looked up at him as he made a strange motion in the air with a huge hand. Slowly his hand turned into a fist as he made a quick slice through the air.
Tai felt as if two hands had wrapped around his neck and were slowly squeezing. He let go of Kari as he felt the invisible hands tighten. He choked for air. "Tai? Tai!" Kari screamed.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Finally, part 6! Thank you for all those who yelled at me to get going. That includes you Kaily-chan and Sydney. Thanks I needed to get going! I hope you liked this part. Sorry it took so long.