Notes: This takes place after MaloMyotismom was defeated. Everyone, even the new Digidestined, have a new crest and tag. Daisuke, Iori, and Miyako have a two-sided tag with both traits on each side, i.e. Daisuke has Courage on one side and Friendship on the other. I'm mainly basing this on the English dub, except for the names. I'm using all of the Digidestined's Japanese name but TK's for a reason. I just think Takeru sounds... formal? I dunno, it'll come up later on in the story. I don't own Digimon, if I did, I would have made Takeru evil or at least make him as cold as he was during "An Old Enemy Returns." Then again, my opinion is really unreliable most of the time.


~TAKERU~

I stared at my reflection and shrugged. I found my fisherman's hat and placed it on my head. I made sure my crest was still hanging around my neck and placed it under my shirt. I left my room and found my older brother, Yamato Matt Ishida, watching TV.

"Hey, Matt. You're up a bit early. It's barely noon."

The older blonde shrugged. "I woke up early." He looked at me. "You look tired."

I shrugged it off. "I'm alright," I lied as I sat on other side of the couch.

Yamato glanced at the clock and immediately stood up. "I've got to get going. Sora and I have plans today."

I felt disappointed. I was hoping I could talk with him about my nightmare. But I feigned a smile. "Okay, big brother."

Yamato was a lot of things, but not dumb. He knew something was up. "Is something wrong, TK?"

I frowned. "Nothing."

"I can always tell Sora we can hang out some other time."

I shook my head. I didn't want my problems to get into the way of his life. "Don't worry, Matt. I was going to leave anyway. I'll be fine."

He wasn't convinced. He grabbed his keys off the countertop. "Just call me in case you need me. All right, Takeru?"

I smiled as he knew it annoyed me to have people use my full name. It just sounded weird, but he was only one of the few people who I let call me that.

He chuckled as he closed the front door behind him. I sighed. He didn't have to worry about me. But being Yamato, he'll do anything for his adorable little brother.

I flipped the channel and frowned. Two people I wouldn't want to bother today. Sora and big brother. I can't have my problems ruin whatever they had planned.

I left my apartment and locked the door. I guess I can try Miyako or Iori. I knocked on the door to the Hida residence. I smiled as Iori's mother greeted me.

"TK! How nice to see you!"

"Is Iori available?" I asked politely.

"I'm sorry, but Iori won't be able to do anything today. His grandfather wants to take advantage of the end of summer vacation and train him in kendo. He won't have practice tomorrow though. I'm sorry, TK."

"That's okay, Mrs. Hida. I'll see you around." She closed the door and I walked to another section of the apartment building.

The door to the Inoue residence opened swiftly. I was ambushed by Miyako's older sisters. The older one, Momoe, yelled into the apartment. "We got him! Mantarou! Tell Miyako we got her secret crush!"

I heard her older brother yell, too. "Miyako! We have Ken under our possession."

I heard a loud "What?" burst through the entire building.

"I'm not Ken! I'm TK!" I managed to say.

Disappointed, both older girls got off of me. I let out a sigh of relief when Miyako saw me. I looked at her with a confused face. "Ken?"

When I mentioned his name, her face glowed pink. The Love side of her double-sided crest glowed, too. "Don't laugh, TK. He's coming over though. He invited me to the soccer tournament today." She looked at me closer. "You look like you have something on your mind."

I scratched my head. "No, it's nothing. I was just visiting anyways. Have fun on your date."

I heard her siblings laugh as she yelled back at me. "It's not a date!"

I sighed as I left the apartment building. So no one near home can help today. Why was I thinking about this so much? Did I want to really reassure myself that I was important? I shook my head. That can't be the reason.

It was just Saturday. And the final week of summer vacation. I wasn't about to spend it alone. That is a good excuse, right?

I thought about what Miyako said. A soccer tournament meant Taichi and Daisuke will be there. Two more people off my list. Why was everyone so busy today?

I walked past the school and went through the open gates. They were holding summer school every day except Sunday for students who didn't do very well during the year. Or for students who want to get a head start on the new school year. Something Koushiro Izzy Izumi would be interested in.

I stood outside the computer lab door and looked in through the window. I saw the board from the outside and saw that Koushiro was the teacher. I walked away in disappointment. If he was teaching, he would have classes the whole day until the school day ended.

Maybe Mimi or Jou will be open. I then stopped walking. No, Jou was finishing his summer lessons for medical school. Mimi was also busy with a fashion job she took when she moved back. That only left one more person.

I exited the school grounds and took the familiar route to the Kamiya apartment.

I stood outside the door and was about to knock, but it opened up.

"TK? What are you doing here?"

I was startled by Kari. "I was coming to visit. You scared me by opening the door!"

She looked at me in confusion. Then she giggled at me. "Sorry, TK! I just had to step out. We're switching apartments. A neighbor moved out and we're taking it. That way, Taichi and I can have separate rooms."

"Doesn't Taichi have a soccer tournament?"

"Yeah, leaving the work to me." She made a face.

I smiled. "How about I help?"

Before she could argue, I went in. "Hello, TK."

I greeted Mrs. Kamiya. "Can I do anything to help?"

"There are some boxes in Taichi and Hikari's room. But I don't really think you should be helping us."

I ignored her as I already made my way into the bedroom. I saw the boxes and lifted them. It was no big deal. I was used to this kind of work since Mom and I moved a lot when I was younger.

It was past noon when we were finally done. I looked at the new bigger apartment that was now the Kamiya residence. "It looks just like the old apartment!" I walked into Hikari's new room.

Hikari smacked me lightly on the back of my head. "You didn't have to help."

"I know, but I wanted to." I smiled.

She frowned. "You know I can't be angry when you do that."

I frowned too. "Huh?" I noticed that she seemed a bit tired. That reminded me of the reason I came. But my problems can come later. "Kari, is something wrong?"

She stopped smiling. "No." I stared at her. "Maybe." I just kept looking at her. "Yes," she said. "But it's nothing." She looked at me. "Besides, it looks like you have something on your mind, too. You seemed sad when you came over. I think, but I couldn't tell because you surprised me."

"My problem is nothing. Yours is always something worth solving," I replied.

She was kind of ticked off. "I can solve my own problems. Tell me yours first, TK."

I didn't think she would be so upset when I offered to help her instead of me. "I'm serious, Kari. Is it about the Darkness or something? I can help you, you know that."

"I know that you can help me, TK! I just don't want it. I can do this myself."

Apparently coming here was a mistake. I should have just spent the day home. "Okay, then," I whispered quietly. I doubt that she could hear me.

I stumbled out the apartment and sprinted down the hall. I think I almost crashed into Koushiro and a few other people. I couldn't tell who they were because I was running away too quickly to care.

I was at home in record time. I noticed something was different in here right away. I then realized that the people I passed when I ran past Koushiro were Yamato and Sora. They had come back here.

The computer was on and I guess this was the reason why. I saw a new icon on the screen. I clicked it and knew right away that Koushiro had installed a program into it that allowed access to the Digital World.

I whipped out my D-3 and shouted, "Digiport, open!"

I felt the portal suck me into the computer and my body turn into, I think, data. I landed in a familiar plain. The long grass scratching my legs didn't bother me much. I was too tired and excited to care.

"TK!" I turned to see the small orange lump tackle me.

"It's great to see you, Patamon!"

"Tentomon said that Koushiro found a program to allow instant access into the Digital World. He's installing it into everyone's computers."

I smiled at my partner and took him off my hat. "Let's go for a walk, Patamon."

"Okay!" He flew ahead of me as we entered the forest. He chattered about the things he did in the Digital World during the summer. "Gennai actually gave Koushiro the file to the program, TK! He was going to invite you all back for a festival."

I laughed. "Really? That sounds nice." I looked at our surroundings and noticed something. "Patamon? Does this place seem familiar? I thought we passed it minutes ago."

Patamon flew up for a better look. "I don't actually know, TK. Maybe we're lost."

I looked around, but the trees seemed closer together. It was trying to bar us or something. "This is weird."

I felt the ground shake and fell down. "TK! Are you okay?"

I grabbed a tree to help me get up. "Yeah, but what was that?"

I heard thundering footsteps near us and couldn't believe what digimon was coming after us. It charged at us with merciless speed. Patamon and I panicked and ran away.

"TK! Maybe we should try talking to him."

I turned around and slowed just a bit. Greymon just continued to run at us. He opened his mouth and my eyes grew wide. I dove into Patamon and out of the way just in time. "Nova Blast!"

"TK!" Taichi was here?

I looked at the older boy. I was relieved, sort of. "Taichi! What's going on?"

"The others and I have been talking," he started, "and we feel that you shouldn't be a Digidestined anymore." He frowned.

Patamon rose to my defense in an instant. "Hey! That's not fair. Give us a reason why TK shouldn't be a Digidestined."

Yamato stepped out and stood next to Taichi. "He's the weakest out of all of us. Now, I understand if you disagree, Patamon, but we can find you a better partner than my little brother."

I looked at Patamon. Was he going to abandon me, too? Patamon looked at me and the two leaders. "No! TK has always been my partner. That's not going to change now!"

Yamato sighed. "That's too bad. TK, do you want to give us your Crest?"

I revealed the necklace and gripped it in my hands. "You're not Taichi. Or Yamato."

"I'm not your brother? I have proof." He snapped his fingers and I heard a shout from my right.

"Howling Blaster!"

I ducked down and saw the other Champion forms reveal themselves. This was trouble.

I looked at Patamon and he seemed determined to fight for me. "TK! Let me digivolve. Maybe I can talk some sense into them."

I nodded and activated my digivice. "Patamon digivolve to…"

"Angemon!" He immediately flew up as I began to run away. "What are you all doing? TK is your friend!"

Kabuterimon snickered. "He's weak! Electro Shocker!"

Angemon flew out of the way. "Don't attack, Angemon!" I cried. I wasn't really sure if these were my friends or not, but better not risk hurting them.

The other Champions didn't help much with the negotiation though. They ruthlessly attacked Angemon with everything they had. Soon, Angemon had no other choice than to fight back.

"Angel Staff!" He spun his staff around and flew into Birdramon. "Angel's Requiem!"

The bird digimon was blown back into the others. They were stunned for a while as Angemon flew to wear I was waiting. "I told you not to attack!"

"I'm sorry, TK, but what can I do?"

Taichi and Yamato found us and smirked. Taichi spoke first. "Just give us Angemon and the Crest and we won't bother you, TK."

Angemon shielded me from them. "I won't ever leave TK."

Yamato nodded his head. "We know, but TK will force you to if he doesn't want you hurt. If you're going to fight back, I guess it's time for desperate measures. Gabumon! Warp digivolve, now!"

"Agumon, you too!"

Garurumon and Greymon had reverted back into rookie form. I panicked again and ran tried to get as far from MetalGarurumon and WarGreymon. Angemon followed closely behind.

We didn't get very far because the others caught up with us. The only difference this time was that they became Ultimate.

I paused. There were a few digimon missing. Only the older digimon were chasing after us. Gatomon, Veemon, Hawkmon, and Armadillomon weren't hunting us down. They were probably going to be used as a last resort.

I stopped running and turned to Angemon. He was struggling to keep Zudomon from coming any closer. I don't see how that would work since the Ultimate was a hundred times bigger than him.

I clutched my crest and felt it heat up. "Angemon! Digivolve to Ultimate!"

He sensed my Hope and digivolved at once. "Angemon digivolve to…"

"MagnaAngemon!"

MagnaAngemon swung his Excalibur around to fight off the Ultimate digimon. I continued to run and find a safe place. I turned around briefly to see that he managed to defeat Lilymon, Garudamon, MegaKabuterimon, and Zudomon. He flew close to me and that was when MetalGarurumon stopped us.

I could sense WarGreymon behind us and I looked at our surroundings. The trees were too thick for me to run through. Nowhere for me to go but up. MagnaAngemon noticed this too so came close to me and made a motion telling me that we would goad them to attack one another accidentally. He pretended that his wings were too damaged for flight.

WarGreymon took a step close. "We don't want to destroy you, TK. You're a good kid, but we have to take that Crest from you."

"Over my dead body," I hissed.

"If you say so," MetalGarurumon answered. Both digimon charged up their attacks.

"Terra Force!"

"Metal Wolf Claw!"

MagnaAngemon quickly picked me up and flew up. I felt the massive ball of energy strike the icy cold blast. We barely made it out of range of the resulting explosion. My partner turned me away from the shockwave. I shielded my head and knew that we were falling.

I caught a branch and pulled myself up. I caught a tired Patamon in my arms. "That was close, buddy."

"TK, that wasn't everybody." I knew what he meant. He was talking about the newer Digidestined that would definitely take us down.

"Rock Crackin'!" I yelped as the tree shook to the ground.

When the branch we were on was close enough, I jumped down and tucked my head to roll away to safety. Correction, to danger. I landed at the feet of an angry Flamedramon.

I got up swiftly as he readied an attack. "Fire Knuckle!"

With Patamon still in my arms, I dodged the blazing fireballs. I took off my hat and threw it to the ground when it got caught in the heat.

I turned around in time to see Stingmon charge at me in the air. "Spiking Strike!" He waved around the spike on his arm and I somehow managed to do a backflip. I fell through some bushes and got up.

I turned around and bam! Shurimon appeared out of nowhere, which scared me out of my skin. I shook it off and prepared for his attack. "Double Stars!" I immediately dodged out of the way, anticipating the large star on his back. He grabbed the large shuriken and through the thing at me with great force.

I clenched my eyes shut as I waited for the pain to come. "Heaven's Charge!" I opened them slowly and saw that Angewomon was there protecting us.

I almost fainted in relief, but Angewomon looked down at me. "Do you still have enough energy to digivolve into Champion?"

Patamon nodded. "Come on, TK."

I sighed and let him digivolve into Angemon again. I turned around when I noticed Hikari. "Thanks," I said.

She didn't respond. I looked around and noticed that Flamedramon, Stingmon, Digmon, and Shurimon had disappeared. "Where did they go?"

She looked at me with a clueless expression on her face. "What do you mean, TK?"

I slowly backed away from her. She couldn't want to take my Crest too. I looked at Angemon and he noticed my wary expression. He backed away from Angewomon. "Is there something we should know, Hikari?" I asked.

"Yeah," she slowly replied. "That I told you that I don't need your pathetic help!"

It was déjà vu again as I felt her attack me. Angemon tried to do something, but Angewomon kept him pretty occupied. I blocked her punches and kicks but I couldn't really hurt her.

I let my guard slip and felt a kick on the side of my head. How Hikari can kick that high, I will never know. I fell to the ground, dazed. Angemon crashed a few feet in front of me.

"Angewomon, destroy him now!"

My eyes grew wide. "No!" I felt tears begin to form when I remembered the last time I lost my partner.

"Celestial Arrow!" My mind slowed the sight, torturing me with the arrow that pierced Angemon's heart.

Angemon evaporated into data, but what little power he had left he used to transfer to me his final thoughts. "Don't be tricked, TK. These aren't really our friends."

I know. They aren't my friends. At least not anymore. I felt enraged. I looked around, but couldn't find any of the other Digidestined. I stared at my Crest of Hope. I tore it off my neck.

"Was it really worth this?" I threw it to the ground and stormed off. I had nowhere else to be but gone.

Maybe the Darkness was right. I should return to it. Whatever helps with keeping Hope.