The reality of what was happening to him had not set in. Tk was fueled only by the endorphins pulsing through his body screaming, SURVIVE!

Where was he? He did not know.

What had attacked him? He did not know.

What was chasing him? He did not know.

Only hours before the shadow had burst through his laptop and tackled him. As it squeezed and conformed around his own body he tried his best to beat off its incorporeal form. To little avail.

The thing, whatever it was, crawled along his flesh like a second skin. It commanded his leg to step forward. It reached Tk's hand towards the laptop screen and brought him here.

Here.

Where was here?

Nowhere. Everywhere. It was awful and dark. Unhappiness swelled in the air like a tangible thing that assaulted all his senses. This was the worst place Tk had ever been.

His only salvation was that the terrible shadow had not appeared in this place with him. He wandered for hours and saw no one. He was alone.

The both blessed and cursed thought of his solidarity had only briefly crossed Tk's mind before the shadow finally showed itself. Tk cursed and scrambled into a run for his freedom.

And that is how the chase began.

He was still running. He had done nothing but run from his pursuer for what felt like infinite time. A weaker man may have already given up, but not Takeru Takaishi.

A flare of familiarity and power rested behind the shadows of this hellish place. The terrain did not feel nor look like the digital world, but he had entered via a computer. There was a connection! He could feel it in his soul as truthfully as he knew this place was evil.

He remembered his time in the Dark Ocean and tried to conjure a portal home. How had he done it last time? Hope. He had plenty of hope. His friends would be here soon. They had never failed him before. Alas, a portal did not form.

That was understandable, Tk reasoned. This was easily another of the many worlds he had glimpsed when Oikawa used the power of the dark spores. A place unmapped by the digidestineds but connected to the multiverse.

"They just need time." Tk dared to whisper to himself. He knew it would be difficult. Izzy and Gennai both had told him that the connection between the digital and human world was unstable. Add onto the complexity a world they had never explored before and the task might became impossible. Except, digidestineds did not know the word impossible! Not only were many of Tk's old friends certified geniuses but he knew Matt would never let them give up. Despite whatever uncertainty their past squabbles had brought, Tk knew his brother would find him!

He started back into a run as he heard harking sounds in the distant, but a sudden, terrible thought struck him; seriously, what if Matt never let them give up? What if the digidestineds were taking unnecessary risks to rush to Tk's aid across an unstable connection to an uncharted world full of dangers?

Tk faltered.

The thought of his friends getting hurt because of him caused near physical pain in Tk's chest and his focus drifted. The misstep turned dangerous as his foot caught on an exposed root and he began careening through dense, spiked thicket. His hands clawed at the slick, musky dirt to stop his fall. He was clearing the brush dangerous fast. As the ground finally sloped treacherously to a cliff's edge his arm hooked something solid but the momentum of a sudden stop snapped it! The hot pain causing him to release once more.

"Nooo!" He screamed as his free fall began. He had to survive, he had to warn his friends he wasn't worth the risk. A flash of hot, white light exploded from his body and Tk's eyes closed.

"Nooo!" The blonde man jerked up his sweat soaked bedsheets soaring to the ground with a soft splat. His eyes blearily adjusted to blackness as his brain continued to superimpose unthinkably bright light. His breath was labored. He felt deeply unwell but he couldn't determine how. He started to stand, leaning against the bed for support. He was not sure what he was doing nor certain if he needed to vomit or cool down?

As he started to move, his phone began to ring from its position beside his bed. He fumbled for it, thoughts of news of TK always top of mind no matter his state.

"Matt," an uncertain voice trembled, "I…I need to talk to you."

"What?" His brain was still frazzled but eventually he recognized the voice on the other end. His best friend's sister; his brother's best friend. Fittingly, the light of their old group.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to wake you. I couldn't sleep and you were the only person I thought might understand."

"Kari?"

The young woman seemed to pick up his distressed tone, "Matt, are you ok?"

He paused, unsure whether to lie but ultimately knowing he did not have it in him at the moment, "I don't think so."

"I'll be right there."

Matt lowered his phone as the call disconnected and sat back on the bed. His head was still reeling. What had he been thinking about before Kari called? He didn't have long to think as unpredictably fast the young brunette was in his room with a chilled hand checking his forehead.

"How?"

Kari frowned as she inspected him. "The hidden key. I've been over with Tk before."

"But —

"I was already outside." Kari continued, "I wanted to talk. I'm sorry if it was forward of me but I'm glad I came over. You have a fever. I'm going to text…"

"Sora."

"…Sora." Kari finished as she brought out her phone. A few moments later she looked back up at Matt. Her eyes sympathetic but also red and bleary.

"You've been crying," he stated awkwardly. Kari was practically a sister to him if only by proximately to Tai and Tk, but they were not emotionally close. He rarely spoke to her alone and yet the overwhelming responsibility of protecting her was beginning to overtake him.

"Don't worry about me." Kari rubbed her eyes and started out of the room. "I'm going to get some water."

Matt, regaining some of his awareness, remembered his body and clothes were damp. He donned a shirt and new bottoms before wandering out to the living area. Kari frowned then directed him towards the couch to rest while she finished in the kitchen.

"For your fever," she handed him a glass of water, 2 small tablets, and a cool rag. He accepted and they sat across each other for a indeterminably long time until Kari's phone buzzed breaking the silence. She glanced at it before informing Matt, "Sora is on her way. She'll do much better taking care of you then I would."

Matt nodded, his head now only faintly swirling. He had been trying to recount his dream. It was about something painful…something forewarning.

"Kari, you've dreamed of the dark ocean before."

Kari, her body suddenly stiff, stared at Matt. He was staring back at her for an answer though he had not asked a question.

"I have."

"What was it like?"

Kari sighed and turned to look at her feet, "Sad…desperate…draining. Why?"

"I had a dream. I think it was about Tk." Kari turned fast, her eyes wide. "But, it doesn't sound like what you described."

"Oh," Kari deflated, "it was probably just your fever. I mean, we already talked to Izzy about the Dark Ocean."

"Yes, probably."

Matt was silent for several minutes before, after several false starts, he began again, "It's been 6 weeks. When do we try to move on?"

"What!" Kari's mouth dropped. Of anyone, this was not what she expected from Tk's fiercely protective older brother. "Why would you..how could you…"

"I'm not!" Matt's anger flared at himself more than Kari and his fists clenched. He did not feel well again—it was the disorientating, unwell feeling from earlier. He saw Kari was scared and lowered his voice, "I'm not giving up. It was just a thought from a dream. It was just…I wondered if Tk would approve."

"If anyone else had gone missing Tk would never stop. If Tk were here he would tell you…" Kari stopped, her expression suddenly grave as an unpleasant thought hit her. Her next words were so quiet that had the apartment not been so tensely silent Matt would not have heard, "If Tk were here he would tell you to take care of yourself. He would tell you he wasn't worth this."

Kari's eyes, two intense red orbs, stared at him furiously. "Matt, you had a dream. In it, did Tk tell you to move on?"

"No, no I don't think so."

"Are you positive?"

Matt's body relaxed back into the couch and he closed his eyes in concentration. He tried to recount that light, that feeling that blasted him awake.

"Matt, he's wrong. If Tk told you that, he's wrong."

Matt felt Kari's petite hand on his arm and the feeling he was searching for immediately crystalized. Tk did not want anyone to suffer for him. He wanted everyone to be happy and safe. But, that did not mean he was content. No, he desperately needed to be found!

Kari gasped.

Tk couldn't move his left arm. It was twisted at a gruesome angle and splayed beside him. Then again, he couldn't move much of anything. The brutal chase that he had endured for days…weeks…perhaps years had torn at his body ruthlessly. But now, flat on his back in this dark chasm he lay. His gaze, through swollen eyes, was forced only upward to watch the gloomy sky rotate through innumerable day and night cycles. He was not tired or hungry, and for all that may have pained him physically his mind was the only thing unsteady.

Where were they? Was it too dangerous to come? Had they even tried to come? Yes, he wished them no harm but still he had hoped…he had thought they would come anyways. His spirit fluctuated between resentment and relief, guilt and placation. Was he really that selfish? Had he deceived himself in the end? Did he truly think others would chose to suffer for him like he would chose to suffer in return. Had he not learned otherwise in the preceding years of his life?

More than anything, Tk felt damned. His desire to be home and his desire for his friends' safety were in conflict and it left him broken. He didn't understand why hope was so complicated now. When they were children, it was the simplest thing in the world. A righteousness would surge inside his tiny body and he always knew the correct choice.

As he ended his thought, Tk saw the dark sky above begin to part as, for the first time, a sun began to grace the cursed land with its light. As Tk inhaled deeply, from within the sun's consecrated center long, gloved fingers appeared. They reached towards him as feathers began to fall like rain. It was beautiful.

In his last bought of strength Tk lifted his good arm upward and touched the holy hand.

"Izzy, contact Gennai."

"What? Gennai has already relayed everything he knows."

"Ask again!"

Kari frowned at Matt before stepping between the two men in an attempt at deescalation, "Please Izzy, Matt has a feeling. I…it's hard to explain but I felt the feeling through him, too. I think Tk tried sending a message to Matt tonight."

Izzy was still in the process of waking up and desperately trying to understand the unusual pair who burst into his apartment at 3 am. Matt looked unkempt and unsteady on his feet though Kari was by far the palest of the two.

"Stop," Izzy grumbled and motioned to the table before either collapsed, "sit down while I make some coffee. Then you can start from the beginning!"

And so it happened. In less than 5 minutes, Matt and Kari were able to explain their theories. Izzy sipped his coffee sadly.

"I'm not saying you're wrong," Matt was already bristling so Izzy continued quickly, "but I'm not convinced yet."

"But Izzy," Kari whined.

"I'm not saying I won't inquire with Gennai again or pursue this idea but—shit," Izzy cursed, "why do I have to be the bad guy?" Izzy left his coffee and began pacing the room. Even Matt was astute enough not to say anything to break the temporary silence. It was rare the boy of knowledge reverted to foul language.

"I assume you both know of Occam's Razor - essentially the principal that the simplest explanation is often the correct explanation - I think it applies here. There's no evidence of any digital or otherworldly involvement in Tk's disappearance. In fact, there's plenty of evidence to the contrary."

"What do you mean?" Matt asked cautiously. "What evidence is there?"

Izzy rolled his neck and plopped down at the table once more. "I cloned Tk's computer. I wanted to make sure the police didn't have any comprising information on the Digital World so I hacked their database, deleted some files, and saved a local copy of Tk's computer for when he was found."

Both Matt and Kari seemed speechless so Izzy continued truthfully.

"I read more than I intended to, guys. I read some really personal stuff and while I'm a huge hypocrite, no, I will not invade Tk's privacy more and let you see it. What I will say is that Tk wasn't well. If nothing else, he was depressed."

"But," Kari whimpered, "even if he was that doesn't mean we're wrong."

"It doesn't mean you're wrong, Kari, but we're back to Occam's Razor. The most likely explanation for Tk's disappearance is not that he is sending you psychic messages while being trapped in another world I've been assured is impossible to traverse to and perfectly peaceful at the moment. We have to think more locally. As I've said before, everything points to this being a human problem."

"But you'll talk to Gennai," Matt asked stiffly.

"Of course. I'll ask again, I'll do everything I can. I just don't want you getting your—damn, this is awful to say—I don't want you both getting your hopes up."

Before either could respond, Matt's phone began to ring. Thinking it was a worried Sora at his empty apartment, he answered without thinking.

"Matt."

Matt froze. It was not Sora. That masculine voice belonged to none other than his father, Hiroaki. There was only one reason his father would call him at this hour.

"Matt, are you there? I need you to meet me at your mother's apartment right away. There's a chance, there's a chance they found Tk."