The beginning to this chapter sucks…But I couldn't think of anything else.

Disclaimer: I don't own Digimon. But I do own a full-time membership to 'Disney Haters Anonymous' for people over-coming what the Mickey Mouse company did to Season 4.

The Future's Course

Chapter 7: My Baby

"Dad…Dad…"

T.K. groaned slightly and opened his eyes. Hikaru was leaning over him, and smiled when he saw the older boy awake. "Dad!" he cheered. "You're back to normal!"

T.K. sat up. He wasn't completely back to 'normal'. He was in a spirit form, one that looked like his normal body, but was the transparent ghost-like shape he'd seen Kari in. Hikaru, however, didn't know the difference.

"Huh…Hikaru?" he asked, by way of introduction.

The smiling boy threw himself at his father for an expected hug. But when he hit what should have been the body, he fell right through and hit the ground. He rolled away and stared at his father in shock.

"Sorry, Hikaru." T.K. said gently. "I guess you can't touch me right now."

Hikaru groaned in disappointment, then perked up. "That's okay!" he said happily. "We can still be here, right? Until mom comes!"

T.K. smiled. This boy…he hadn't known him for more than half and hour, but he still had that wonderfully enchanting personality that Carie had, the one that pulled you in and just made you love 'em to pieces.

But before they could enjoy anything, Pandoramon stepped in.

One of her living chains zipped forward and grabbed T.K.'s hand. "Dad!" Hikaru cried, trying to figure out how to help.

Another grabbed T.K.'s other arm, and then his leg. T.K. groaned as he struggled to pull away, but nothing. Hikaru yanked at the chains, which he could touch somehow. "Let 'em go! Let 'em go!" he shouted loudly. "Let 'em go! Let 'em go!"

The chain he was holding, the one around T.K.'s leg, released suddenly and whipped back, striking the child in the forehead and knocking him limp. "Hikaru…" T.K. groaned as the chains yanked back and the boy hit the ground. "No…Leave him alone…"

With a resound snap the chains jerked back, snapping into place on the wall, their prisoner gazing helplessly at the unconcious boy.

~ * ~ * ~

The next evening, the DigiDestined met to discus in Izzy's room.

They would have met the night before, but as soon as Kari had been revived from her fainting spell, she'd started to sob uncontrollably in a way she hadn't since Carie's kidnapping. She was like that the rest of the night, and, as they couldn't talk any sense into her whatsoever, they had to move it.

After a tryingly painful school day, they were back in Izzy's room and ready for the report.

"Alright then…" Izzy gazed around. With most of the older DigiDestined out at college, there was only Matt, Tai, Yolei, Cody, Davis, Ken and Kari there now. Izzy continued. "I've had a talk to talk with Gennai. His old legends confirmed a few things… and may have found a way to stop Pandoramon."

To this, Kari sat up at rigid attention. "Beat her…And get them both back?!" she asked. Izzy nodded. "How?!"

Izzy pulled out his lap top. It was a new one, silver and black rather than yellow and white, but still a pineapple. "He found this…" he turned it so the others could see what he'd brought up.

It was the picture of a stone cave drawing. There was a symbol that looked relatively like the top of Pandoramon's box. There was also a Kao-Noshi, easily recognizable, something that looked like a bright star, and a bottle-shape, all surrounded by Digicode.

"It's a little hard to understand…" Izzy pointed to the screen. "But it's an old story about the box. It's said to be filled with the souls of her victims. If it's a Digimon, the body disappears when the soul leaves, and the victim is 'dead' though Digimon are reborn, of course. But in a human…the body can survive without a soul…"

"But it can't function…" Cody had got where this was going. "The body would seam to be in a coma…just like T.K.…"

"She stole his soul…?" Matt muttered. "He's trapped?"

"There's more." Izzy continued seriously. "Pandoramon can bring the soul out of the box in another form. The soul can't exist in its normal form, but in the other…the Kao-Noshi, as they're called…they're out of the box, but slaves to the owner."

"But T.K. wasn't!" Kari suddenly sat up. "He was back to himself at the end! They're not completely controlled!"

"But what about Hikaru?" Yolei asked. "She didn't take his soul…he just disappeared. Is he still…?"

"I don't know." Izzy admitted. "The best guess is that he's either still in the box, in some sort of shrunken form, or Pandoramon has taken him out. Either way, I don't know what'll happen…"

"Izzy." Ken said suddenly. "You said the souls couldn't be out of the box, except in Kao-Noshi form, right?" Izzy nodded. "Well then…What happens if we broke the box?"

Izzy sighed. "That would be a way to defeat Pandoramon once and for all." he admitted. "But the souls inside…the Digimon would simply be reborn over and over. But T.K.…"

He hesitated. He didn't want to say it, not with those two in the room. Matt had bags under his eyes from worrying about his little brother and of midterm exams, while Kari looked like she was starting to waste away from the longing. "What I mean is…"

"Spit it out, Izzy!" Kari snapped, and everybody jumped.

"I'm afraid that, without somewhere to go…" Izzy stuttered as fast as he could while still being gentle. "His soul would disappear, and he'd be…."

He didn't need to finish, and didn't get a chance, because Kari immediately dissolved into tears again. Tai ran his fingers through her hair as she sobbed into his shoulder. "She's been like this all day." he muttered to the others. "We better get those two back soon, or I don't know what she'll do."

"Is there a way?" Yolei asked. "I mean, to get T.K. If he's summoned out of the box and somehow we manage to get him away, the Kao-Noshi can't return to his body, can it? And if we got the box and broke it, he'd disappear. What's there left to do?"

"There is one thing more in the legends." Izzy stated, and everyone quieted, even Kari. He pointed to the screen. "See that bottle? Supposedly, with something like this, you could do it…But I never worked out where to find one or how to use it…"

Beep…Beep…

Izzy turned the computer around. "E-mail." he muttered. When he opened it, his eyes widened. "It's from Gennai."

Kari sat up. Everyone leaned forward as Izzy began muttering to himself, a wide grin slowly spreading across his face. "He's found it…He found it! He found the bottle! And…Oh dear…" his smile vanished and he spun the laptop around. "Everyone stand back!"

No sooner had they dropped back than there was a sudden blast of light from the laptop screen. A moment latter, there was Gennai.

"Gennai!" Tai gasped.

"At least he warned us this time…" Yolei muttered under her breath.

Gennai gave the group a nod, then turned back. "Izzy? Are you alright?"

In the ruckus and light, no one had noticed, but the computer had kicked back when Gennai came through and knocked Izzy's chair over backwards. He sat up. "I'm fine…" he muttered, standing to right his chair. "But jeez louise, Gennai, where the heck did you come from?!"

Gennai waited until he'd gotten back up, then began. "I was in Modem, a dark continent in the Digital World. It's clear on the other side, and I was on the very end. It's a very dangerous place, but it was worth it."

"That's why you kicked back like that?" Ken was confused.

"The farther you are in the Digital World, the harder you come into the Real World." Izzy explained. "Please continue, Gennai. You found it, right?"

"Indeed." Gennai smiled, reached into his sleeve, and pulled out a small, crystal bottle. It was shaped like the bottle from I Dream of Genie only with an odd diamond in the neck. It was ruby red and thick, but you could sill see through it, and closed with a round stopper. It hung from a golden chain.

"This bottle is very special." he said, although it went without saying as the kids grew close for a look. "It was buried in the back of a dark cave on Modem's coast line. Normally, we from Server are not allowed on Modem, but this was an emergency."

Kari picked the bottle up to look at it closely. "What's it do?" Tai asked.

"When inside Pandoramon's box, a soul is in a spirit form." Gennai said calmly. "If a living being can get inside the box with this bottle, the soul could pass into the bottle and be carried out into the living world, then replaced into his body."

Kari jolted up. "T.K.…?" she asked, breathless, and Gennai nodded. "Then I'll take it!"

No one argued with her. Gennai smiled. He knew she'd say that. Carefully, he handed Kari the bottle. "The spirit world inside the box is huge." he warned. "You might have to travel days to find him. And…this is very important…You have to leave the box open. If you don't, you'll be trapped inside, possibly forever."

Kari nodded, taking the warning to heart as she slipped the golden chain around her neck. Ken turned to Gennai. "But if we have to leave the box open, that means we have to get it from Pandoramon, don't we? Does she ever let it out of her sight?"

"I'm not sure." Gennai admitted. "But there must be some time. You may have to steal it out of her hands. Either way, be careful. Especially you, Kari. We don't know what goes on in there."

Kari nodded, fingering the bottle around her neck.

~ * ~ * ~

"Hikaru…Hikaru!"

T.K. strained his head. It'd been a full day and night cycle, both outside and within the box. The chains weren't covering him the way they had been, only shackles on each wrist, but it was still strong enough to hold him up, with the arms above him. Hikaru still lay below him, unconcious.

T.K. wasn't worried about the chains, wasn't worried about the height, wasn't worried about anything that happened to him. All he cared about was the little boy below him, and what that monster was planning to do to him.

Why was I so stupid? he scolded himself. Why'd I drag him in here? I could've let go, then he'd be safe…

But before he could continue, he heard footsteps. Craning his neck, he saw the gleaming purple figure approaching quickly. His eyes narrowed. "Pandoramon." he growled in disgust.

The purple creature said nothing, just reached the spot where he hung. She looked at him a moment, then turned to the unconcious figure at her feet. T.K. strained against his shackles. "You leave him alone!"

Pandoramon paid no attention. She lifted the child into her arms. From the inside of her robe she pulled an emerald green bottle, filled with a golden liquid. She unscrewed the top and poured it down his throat. Then she set him down and stepped away.

Almost immediately, Hikaru's eyes opened. They were clouded, and somehow darker. He sat up and looked around curiously.

"Hikaru…" T.K. whispered, trying to get his attention. The boy looked at him, but did nothing else. "Hikaru…It's me…I'm your…your dad…Don't you recognize me?"

A smile crept over Pandoramon's lips. "Hikaru, sweetie." she cooed, and the boy turned at the sound of her voice. "Come to mommy."

Hikaru smiled. He scrambled to his feet and ran into her open arms. She held him for a moment, then stood with him cuddled against her.

"Hikaru!" T.K. shouted, shocked. "What've you done to him?! Hikaru!"

Pandoramon turned back, grinning. "This sweet thing is mine, now." she hissed. "My magic will keep him alive, even after I dispose of you and your little baby-mama."

She turned and disappeared into the smoke, the child still held tight in her arms.

~ * ~ * ~

Kari barely stumbled through the whole school day. She kept reaching for the bottle hidden under her shirt, making sure it was still safe and sound. She barely paid attention to her classes and was on the edge of her seat.

At the end of the day, she had her stuff and was out of the door before the bell finished ringing. Five minutes later, the port was opened, and the whole group was in the Digital World.

"Gennai said Pandoramon was last seen around here." Ken explained in a low tone. "Hopefully we'll find her here."

Gatomon stuck her head through the bushes. "Hey, look at this!" she called, and they all looked through.

The clearing was covered with flowers and surrounded by a canopy of trees. There was a mirror hanging from one of the trunks, and a golden comb next to it, but nothing else. Nothing else but the decorative box that sat, cracked open, on the ground.

"I guess…This is it." Yolei whispered.

"But where's Pandoramon?" Cody asked out loud.

"No time." Kari approached the box, holding the bottle in her hand. "We've got a chance, we should take it."

She knelt down by the box, then hesitated. Davis looked over her shoulder. "What's wrong?"

"Anyone know how to get inside?" she asked.

No one did. Finally, Ken suggested she just crack the box open. "It worked on T.K. and Hikaru." was his point, and everyone agreed.

Carefully, very carefully, she cracked the box open and gazed inside. For a split second, she could see a blue-green glow. Then, with a flash, she disappeared.