Sorry for the delay, Final just finished.

Enjoy!

(Kari's POV)

The doctors had cleared me and recommended ibuprofen for the pain, quite obviously the best they could do. Frankly, I think this could have been solved by a monkey with a bottle of Motrin, but it's not my call.

Tai picked me up and we left the apartment for home. I stared out the window the whole way there.

Tai looked at me uneasily.

"Kari? Are you alright?" he asked. I didn't answer.

He sighed a little and looked back at the road.

"Mom couldn't make it last night because of the weather, but she'll be home when we get there." He said.

I nodded slightly.

"Kari. Is there something you want to talk about? Anything at all?" he asked me worriedly.

I shook my head after a moment.

"I know that whatever happened last night must have been terrible for you, and I want you to know that I and the others will be there if you want to talk about it. Okay?"

"I'm fine, Tai. You don't need to go out on a limb for me." I said.

"I'm your brother, I'm supposed to go out on a limb." He said playfully. I smiled vaguely, then stopped.

We drove on in silence.

We reached the apartment and we walked to our neighbor's door.

"The police are investigating the crime scene, so we have to stay here for a little bit." Explained Tai. I nodded and we opened the door.

Mom was pacing the room with short, quick steps. She looked up at us as we passed the door way and she ran to me.

"Kari! Are you alright?" she asked, holding my shoulders and looking me in the face. This startled me a little and I flinched back.

"I'm fine mom." I said.

She breathed a sigh of relief and hung her head.

"Good. I'm glad." She said with a smiled.

"can I take a shower now? I need to change." I said, slipping away from my mother's grasp.

"You go on ahead, honey." Said Victoria from behind her. She smiled down at me warmly. I looked at mom before I passed and I saw something in her eyes. It looked like doubt, maybe fear.

I shook my head and entered the bathroom and locked the door. I turned the water on and let it heat up to temp. I sat on the edge of the tub and sighed. As I did so, I heard the cat next door scratching the furniture and it's owner yell at it. I heard cars buzz by and sirens go off from the police cars. Dogs barked not too far away. I assumed it was a K.9 unit searching our house.

Among this, I heard Tai, Mom and Victoria speaking.

"I talked to the police. They said they found Mr. Kasai." Said Mom. There was a sigh from Victoria.

"Good. That man was really no good." She said.

"The took him in for questioning, and they said he claims he hadn't shot dad." Said Tai grimly.

"What do you mean?" asked Victoria.

"They're looking for more evidence that Mr. Kasai had done it, but, if not, they would look at Kari." Said Mom sadly.

"What? Why would she do such a thing? How could they possibly believe it was her over that scoundrel?" exclaimed Victoria.

"She was the only other one there." Explained Tai. "She refuses to tell anyone about it."

"She had only just gone through a terrible ordeal! Don't just blame her for something she doesn't wasn't to discuss!" argued Victoria.

"They're not, Victoria. They're just saying that if there is no evidence that Mr. Kasai really killed Mr. Kamiya, then they'll take Kari into questioning. She's the only one who really knows what happened." Came Sam's voice suddenly.

"I know, but it just seems so unfair!" Victoria seemed to pout.

"It is, but we'll just have to help her through it." Said Sam comfortingly.

"Mrs. Kamiya?" came a strange voice.

"Yes officer?" answered mom.

"We would like to speak with you." He said and there was a short silence, followed by the door shutting closed.

I tuned out and undressed, noticing that the water and heated in my 'absence'.

I felt the beads of water slide down my skin, roughly massaging my sore muscles.

"Do you think they Know?" I asked.

"Perhaps. We'll find out." Said Karakin. I could feel her bare back brush against mine.

Then she was gone. I finished washing myself and dressed again. I entered the living room to find Tai, Sam and Victoria sitting at the Island counter quietly. They looked up at me, but didn't make eye contact. I felt my arm twitch. I remembered Yolie's phone call earlier and I started to walk out.

"Where are you going?" asked Tai.

"The others wanted to go somewhere today and they invited me along. I just figured I'd go and get my mind off of things." I said, shrugging.

"That sounds like a wonderful idea!" chirped Victoria. "You children go and have fun now."

"I'll go with you." Said Tai, knowing what I was talking about. We waved to Sam and Victoria then left. We spotted mom by our door with her hands over her mouth.

"Mom? What's the matter?" I asked.

"I just can't believe he's gone." Said mom. Tai and I put a hand on her shoulders.

"You kids go play or something. The police won't want you in the way." She said and ushered us off.

We walked down the hall and out of the building.

"So, where are the other digidestined meeting?" Tai asked.

"At Cody's house." I answered.

"Kari…are you sure you want to go?" he asked, looking down at me.

"Yeah." I said blankly.

He looked at me silently, but continued walking.

We went in silence down several streets to Carlos St. where Cody lived.

There were more houses than apartments in this area. Cody had moved into one of the houses when his mom got a raise. She didn't like where they were already, seeing that the crime rate was abnormally high there.

We reached a brown and white house a little down the road and knocked on the door. There was rustling somewhere beyond the door and was then opened by Yolie.

"Hi! We're glad you could come, guys! We were getting ready to leave!" She said enthusiastically.

I nodded and we stepped through.

I smiled slightly at the humble appearance of the room. It was like an old shrine for fallen samurais more than a living room. Cody and his mother were very much into ancestry.

Yolie led Tai and me through the house to Cody's room where we were greeted by the other digidestined.

"Hey guys! How's it going?" Asked Davis.

I tilted my head slightly and looked at Tai. He made a 'shush' gesture and shook his head. I nodded and greeted them back.

"Everything's been fine." I said. The words came easier than they should have.

I looked around and saw that Davis, Cody, Yolie, and Ken had all shown up. I smiled, thinking about the old days momentarily. I thought sadly of how T.K. wouldn't show up this time, though.

"I'm going to stay behind this time, guys. Good luck in there, and be careful." Said Tai. We nodded

"Well, if everyone's ready, let's go!" said Davis loudly. He held his digivice to the screen and was sucked through the monitor. Everyone else followed through the portal.

I felt the familiar tingling sensation as I passed through the digital portal. We all ended up landing on our faces in a clearing, like usual. We shook it off, however, and looked around us.

There was a faint rustling in the bushes beside Davis. We leaped away and from the bushes came Veemon, Gatomon, Armadillomon, Patamon, Wormon and Hawkmon.

"Hawkmon!" Yolie was the first to shout and ran to her digimon.

The rest of us followed suit. I embraced Gatomon tightly with a happy smile.

"Kari! How are you! I've missed you so much!" She purred into my hair.

"I've been good." I said, snuggling into her fur.

Gatomon pulled away and leaped out of my arms.

"How are you all?" I asked.

"We've been better." Said Veemon.

"Those blasted clouds aren't letting any light through! The villages and towns can't grow any food." Said Armadillomon.

"Digimon have resorted to hunting other digimon down. By now it's either that or die of starvation." Said Hawkmon.

"How terrible." Said Ken.

"We need your guy's help." Said Patamon.

"That's why we're here." Said Cody.

"Ah. Digidestined. You made it." Said Gennai from behind us.

"Hey Gennai." We greeted.

"Where's T.K?" asked Gennai, noticing his absence.

"He couldn't come." I said.

"Too bad. But we can't dwell on the subject now. There are Blood Harvesters in this area. I saw a few on my way here, so we must make haste."

He hurried passed the bushes to a small trail leading through the trees. We followed, finding it hard to keep up with his pace.

After a short while, we arrived at Gennai's lake. He opened the door and we entered. I heard something in the brush behind us as we entered the house. I turned to look and saw a flash of metal and fur. I stayed there, string, until Gennai ushered me inside.

We gathered around in the living room and watched as Gennai paced the room.

"Gennai, what is it?" I asked.

"Megara. The woman I showed you when you last came here. She's terrorizing the Forest Regions." He said.

"The forest regions?" we questioned.

"Yes. The digital world is divided into three main regions; the Forest Region, Water Region, and the Mountain Region. They've all lived harmoniously, and now Megara is trying to tear them apart."

"Why?"

"Who knows?" said Gennai sadly.

There was a pause in the room.

"There's word that she's in this area with the Blood Harvesters." Gennai Continued. "She's using them to capture and slaughter innocent digimon. It's barbaric; it's as if she does it for pleasure."

"What a witch." Stated Yolie, obviously feeling upset.

"And I see you've met up with your partners." Said Gennai, changing the subject.

"Yeah. We were in another region when you came last time. Sorry." Said Patamon, ears drooping.

"It's okay. Nothing really happened." Said Ken with a smile.

There was a roar from outside.

"Stay quiet, everyone." Gennai whispered.

Everyone fell silent.

There was the sound of clinking metal, growling, and paws on grass.

The sounds continued for several minutes. It sounded as though they were searching for something.

I felt the pendant grow hot and I clutched it in y fist. I was staring out the window into the lake surrounding us, listening to the sounds. The others had gradually lowered themselves below the window views. It wasn't until the noises stopped when I realized that Gennai was watching me critically.

"What?" I questioned him.

"Nothing." He said. He sounded suspicious. I couldn't imagine why he would, but it made me uneasy.

"What was that?" asked Cody.

"A Pack of Blood Harvesters. They've been hangin' around here for a while now. I think they know you're here."

"Are they looking for us?" asked Cody.

"I think so. We believe that Shadow knows about you." Gennai answered.

"What would he want with us?" asked Davis.

"He may see you as a threat and want to remove you."

The others swallowed hard and looked at one another. My arm twitched again. Gennai noticed and raised an eye brow.

"What?" I asked again. He paused this time the shook his head.

"It's nothing."

'Damn right it's nothing.' I thought bitterly. I stopped and mentally slapped myself. What was I getting so worked up over?

Ken looked over at me, sensing my irritation.

"Are you alright?" He whispered.

I nodded.

"Gennai, what else can you tell us about Shadow?" asked Cody.

"There's not much else that I know about, Cody. I know that he leads the Night Walkers and Blood Harvesters, and I also know that he brought many other creatures into our world. Actually, we've just found out that with the creatures came humans." Gennai answered, holding his chin.

"What?" we stated.

"Yeah. In their world, everything lives together. Not quite as harmoniously as us, but they're in the same realm. Along with the creatures came human settlements and migrations. They're just the same as you, only they live in a more medieval sort of culture."

I watched the others' responses. They seemed confused, and some of them frightened.

"You said something else came out, too. What was it?" asked Yolie, a hint of fear in her voice.

"Well, from what we've counted, there are centaurs, Sanchen, Liken Throats, Giants, Pixies, Faeries, Gnomes, Golems, elves, dwarves, and much more." Listed Gennai.

"So, it's like a fairy tale come to life." Stated Ken.

"In a way, only they're not as adorable as they've been depicted in children's stories. They're more cutthroat than the Night Walkers."

"Makes sense." I said, more to myself than to the others. However, they seemed to have heard me.

"How does it make sense?!" exclaimed Davis.

"They come from the World of Darkness. It only makes sense that there'd be fairies acting packs of Werewolves and Zombies running around. If they're as bad as Gennai says, we may have trouble fighting them." I said, resting my head on my fist on the window sill.

"How hard can it be to fight a pixie?" Davis laughed.

"Like breaking water." I said. I didn't look at any of them. I just stared out the window into the surrounding water, listening for any other sounds from above.

"Blunt, but she's right. They may not be in their realm anymore, but they've made this place their new territory. They'll fight hard and even try to kill you if the chance arises." Gennai continued after me.

"I still can't imagine that fighting a pixie would be much trouble." Said Ken, leaning back in the sofa with his hands behind his head.

There was another sound. It was up on the surface. It sounded like something was pawing at the rocks by the water. I looked up to the sound.

"Now then. I hate to let you out with all this trouble going on, but I suspect that they'll be coming down here to find you next." Said Gennai.

"Yeah. Thank you Gennai." Said Davis. The others nodded and headed to the door. I was still in place, looking up to the sound. They had not heard it.

"Kari, come on." Said Yolie.

I didn't move. Yolie stopped and looked at me.

"Kari, what is it?"

"Can you hear it?" I asked in a hushed tone.

"Hear what?" asked Yolie. They looked up at the glassy surface and apparently didn't see anything for they looked back down at me, then at each other.

My arm twitched again.

The sound I heard was a low growl. It sounded like a Lion. My heart leaped in my chest. I had no idea why, but I felt excited. I almost hoped that they'd find us. I mentally slapped myself again for the thought.

We waved goodbye to Gennai and exited the house. The water parted and we walked up the stone pathway to the surface.

I saw a movement from the corner of my eye and looked top the right. There was a rustling in the grass, then a Large animal jumped up at us.

We yelled out in surprise and ran.

I glanced at the cat and saw that it was a panther with black and gold armor. It stood on two legs and wielded a staff in its massive paw.

I didn't get to see much more detail because I was trying to run with the others. Veemon looked up at Davis as we ran and they grinned.

"Digi Armor energize!" Davis shouted.

Veemon was surrounded by a light momentarily, then was replaced with Flamedramon.

He skidded to a halt and turned to face the Panther.

"Fire Rocket!" He cried and bursts of flames erupted from his fist and collided with the Panther's side. It flew a few feet away and landed on it's feet.

Another cat came from the brush and came towards us. I was the only one to notice, apparently, for the others had stopped and turned to cheer the fight rather than continue running.

It was a great golden/red lion with a long, flowing brown mane. It was very muscular and wore shoulder armor with blades sticking from the top of each shoulder. His eyes were a deep Earthy green and looked forward wisely. A black, upside down crown was carved beneath his eye.

I blinked and realized that he was the same Blood Harvester I had seen in my dream the night before.

"Go Flamedramon! Kick that Cat's furry black butt!" Davis cheered.

He didn't see the Blood Harvester walked closer to where we were standing. I was watching him when Cody looked up at me. He followed my gaze and gasped. "Armadillomon, Digivolve!" He shouted.

Armadillomon saw the Lion and nodded. A beam of light surrounded the little digimon and was soon replaced with Ankylomon.

Ankylomon slashed at the Lion with his tail. The Lion jumped away from the tail and landed behind Ken.

Ken turned around and before he could do anything, he was picked up and thrown aside from the collar. Ken hit his head on a rock several feet away, making a soft 'thud'.

Yolie and Wormon gasped and ran to Ken. Hawkmon in the meantime had digivoled into Halsemon and tackled the Lion. Ankylomon followed suit and they pushed the Blood Harvester back a ways.

Flamedramon Jumped back landed beside Davis.

"These things are tough." He said, panting a little.

"They're cats, they've got energy." I said.

"Kari?" Gatomon looked up at me expectantly. I hesitated for a second, then pulled out my digivice.

"Digiarmor energize!" I shouted and Gatomon, too, was surrounded by a light.

Before the light disappeared, Nefertimon leapt from the ground and pounced on the oncoming Panther.

Suddenly, three Large Bobcat creatures jumped from the trees and attacked Ankylomon. He swatted and sung at the cats, but they refused to stop biting and scratching at him.

Halsemon was distracted by this and was then hit aside by the Lion. Flamedramon had already sprinted back into the fight alongside Nefertimon. Davis, Cody and I stood with our backs to each other, watching the two fights.

The Lion, I noticed, had suddenly disappeared. Halsemon took flight to find him, but had apparently lost sight of him. Instead, he flew to Ankylomon, who was still having trouble fighting of the Bobcats.

"Tempest Wing!" He shouted and two red blades of light flew from his wings and hit one of the cats in the back, making it fall.

The Panther was holding off both Flamedramon and Nefertimon succefully. He carried a Club in one Paw and used his free one to slice at Flamdramon.

He hit Flamedramon and set him skidding a few yards away. The digimon was worn out by then and de-digivolved back to Veemon.

"Veemon!" Davis called out in concern and ran to his partner.

The Panther sliced at Nefertimon with the club and barely missed her. I held onto the pendant, praying that we'd get away from the Cats in one piece. As I did this, one of the bobcats scratched at Ankylomon's eyes and he cried out in pain.

"Ankylomon!" Cody ran to his digimon.

"Are you alright?" He called.

The panther clubbed Nefertimon in the leg, making her fall from the air. She landed on her side and reverted back to Gatomon.

I gasped and sprinted to her and took her in my arms.

"Gatomon, are you alright?" I asked her. She nodded weakly. Her strength had deteriorated somehow.

The same thing seemed to have happened to the other digimon.

Ankylomon looked exhausted and finally fell to the ground and reverted to Armadillomon, same with Halsemon. The bobcats reared back in a strait line, all facing the two digimon. The Panther was on all fours and was pacing around us.

It made a sudden leap at Davis with its claws ready to sink into his skin. However, the cat was punched away by Stingmon.

He came as a surprise to us and we turned around.

Ken was standing, painfully rubbing his head and clutching his digivice. Yolie was at his side holding onto his arm in concern.

The Panther looked at the insect digimon angrily and ran at him with his club.

I watched on eagerly. For another brief second, I didn't know who I wanted to win. I was excited again, I felt like I wanted the Panther to win, Yet Stingmon was my friend. My thought was interrupted when I felt a presence behind me.

I turned my head and looked up at the Lion who was staring back down at me. His face and features were shadowed slightly, but his eyes were as bright as though they were in the sun.

I stared him in the eye for a long time. He never said or did anything, just stared back. My hair hung lightly in my face and on my shoulders. There was a sudden wind that blew it aside, though. The Lion looked in the direction the wind was blowing from. Suddenly it stopped.

The other Blood Harvesters stopped what they were doing and looked, too. There was a thick silence. The sky was dark and contrasted greatly with the mountains in the distance and the highlights of the grass and water.

Suddenly, the clouds began to spiral and form a sort of tunnel. Pitch Black clouds floated from the tunnel the ground and condensed in front of us. They then dispersed to reveal a Woman of medium high with Long black hair and she wore shoulder plates made of bone and a large blade was produced from one of the shoulders. Her clothing resembled a Belly dancer's with thin shawls and skimpy shirt.

I immediately clicked a name when I saw her.

"Megara." I muttered.

She wore a cruel smile as she looked around at us.

"Why, you must be the digidestined I've heard so much about!" She said wickedly.

We glared back at her with distaste.

"And how are the children this morning? Shouldn't you be back with your Mommies and Daddies?" She sneered.

I felt my hair begin to rise with anger. Gatomon rose from my arms weakly and stood in front of me protectively.

"Gatomon, no!" I protested.

"Megara, What do you want?" She shouted at the woman.

"Only to see why they're in MY territory and to remove them. Not that it's any of your concern." She said with a smile.

"YOUR territory?" I said involuntarily.

Megara looked over at me with a scowl.

"And just which one are you? Light I suppose. The only one brave enough to talk back to me, I see." She smirked.

I scowled at her.

'I hate this bitch.' Said Karakin in my head.

"You know her?" I thought to her.

'Unfortunately. She's stupid, but she's dangerous. Keep on your toes.'

I nodded my head.

"Hey lady! What are you doing to the digital world?" shouted Yolie.

Megara leaned heavily on her foot and put a hand on her hip.

"What do you mean?" She asked with lidded eyes.

"You're destroying the Agriculture of the Digital world and you're ruining the once peaceful lives of the Digimon." Said Gennai, who had walked up behind her.

She didn't turn to acknowledge him. She blinked slowly and her smile grew slightly wider.

"Gennai. How are you?" she asked.

"No better than you. Please leave." Gennai answered darkly.

Her smile faded. She raised a brow and rolled her eyes.

"Is that how you treat a lady?" She agued childishly.

"What lady?" Davis retorted.

She was about to answer, but then stopped. She looked forward as though she wereliste4ning to something, then grinned.

"Very well, Gennai." She said. A shroud of Black mist began to encircle her legs and move up her body.

"Wait! Not until you tell us why you're here!" I said angrily. I noticed the others look at me, a little startled at my outburst.

Megara's grim became a smirk.

"Why is the sky grey? Why are there monsters in this world? Why is the world going to be shrouded in darkness soon?" She asked as though confirming my demand.

Our eyes widened.

"Yes. I could tell you I suppose." The cloud ceased and she stepped toward us. I took Gatomon in my arms and stood abruptly.

"We let the creatures into your world as an army."
"Army?" questioned Cody.

"Yes. Although we can easily take control of the worlds on our own, we would like to watch the battle erupt between man and monster."

"What about the sky? What's so great about covering the sun?" I asked.

"A sign of the Master's Power. He can block the power of the sun, which means he can block the power of light. You may not have noticed, but your 'digimon' have fallen quite easily. The darkness drains their energy in every battle." Said Megara with a laugh.

"But that's not fair!" Shouted Ken.

"Oh, QUIT whining! Who gives a damn about fair?" Megara snarled.

"Why do you want to cover the worlds in darkness?" Asked Gennai.

"Didn't I already answer that? Every source of darkness is under our control. We rule three already, we're now looking to this place for a good source of 'entertainment'." She said in irritation. "However, children, this isn't your world." She said.

There was a pause between us. I looked at her questioningly. She looked at me and seemed to single me out.

"You don't belong here, you don't live here, your 'friends' don't really even exsist! Why are you so concerned about something that has nothing to do with you?!" she seemed to be very aggravated.

"I dunno. Maybe it's because of curs like you that the worlds are becoming disoriented." I said involuntarily. I hadn't meant to say that. It felt as though Karakin had taken over my speech.

Megara and the other were taken aback.

"What did you say?"

"Need I stress it for you?" I growled.

She roared and stared me down. She looked like she was about to attack, but then a hint of realization hit her face.

She relaxed and threw her back laughing.

"Very well! I'll play your game. I'll see you in the arena." She said and then was gone in a cloud of black mist.

I remained standing there with Gatomon in my arms, glaring at the spot where she had stood. Then I felt myself relax and the anger leave me. It had been as though I was possessed for a moment.

I blinked and looked back at the other digidestined. They were staring at me as if I had sworn off a teacher.

I looked at Gennai, who stared at me with a suspicious scowl.

I raised a brow and began to walk away. I noticed the armor of the Cats in the brush, waiting for us to drop our guard.

"Uh, we should probably get going." Said Cody.

"The Blood Harvesters are probably still around. So Be careful." Said Gennai.

We walked in silence to the Digital gate. I felt the tension and gazed that the others were giving me.

I heard a sudden movement a ways away. It sounded like paws. Maybe a group of something running.

I narrowed my eyes and continued on. We almost reached the gate when I heard a twig snap. I turned my head to the sound and stopped. Gatomon must have heard, for she looked as well.

"What is it?" Asked Ken.

"You hear that?" I asked.

Gatomon's ears twitched.

"It sounded like something in the bushes." She said.

"We'd better hurry then." Said Ken, taking out his digivice.

We arrived at the gate and were ready to go through. We said farewell to our digimon.

Davis was the first to get sucked through the gate.

The others soon followed, but I hesitated for a moment. I looked into the trees and saw a faint outline of a tall, skinny, furry dog figure in the shadows a distance away. I felt a chill go down my spine when I realized what it was.

The nightwalker stood in the shadows staring at me with glinting eyes. I locked eyes with it for a moment, then was pulled through the gate to the real world.

It'll take a little bit to come up with the next chapter, but I'm going Snowboarding tomarow, so I think I'll find some inspirtation.

Please, PLEASE Review!