Disclaimer: I don't own digimon.

Chapter 9: Friendship

The three boys remained dazed from the teleportation. The tons of questions that erupted from their worried friends around them didn't help either.

"Are you fine?" "Taichi!" "Daisuke-san." "Takato-kun!"

The palms waving in front of their faces seemed to snap them out of their trance.

"Wha-What happened?"

"I guess we're back to the Digital World…" Takato answered.

Taichi felt a cold touch in his palm. He raised his hand up and saw the crest of courage in it, fitted with a tag. It's good to have you back. He carefully slid the tag over his neck. The crest released a soft orange glow as the crowd quietened. Knowing very well what everyone is expecting, he spoke "Well, we were…"

Sometime later

"… And then Taichi-san received his crest and that's when we were transported back." Takato completed the story for the trio.

"That's… wow." Hikari exclaimed.

"Sounds like a made-up story." Ruki scoffed.

"What?"

"Daisuke." Taichi called firmly.

Daisuke growled and stood back. Taichi placed a hand on his shoulder to calm him down.

"That's harsh, Ruki." Takato whispered.

She shrugged.

"So… What do we do now?" questioned Mimi.

"We move on." Koushiro replied. "There's an exit there."

His finger pointed straight at… a wall.

"What?"

Koushiro sweatdropped. "Er… we can open that… with that." He pointed at Taichi.

"Me?" Taichi pointed innocently at himself.

"No, not you, that. The crest."

"Oh…"

A fit of giggles. "Grr…" Taichi growled, before leading the team towards the "wall" Koushiro pointed at previously.

"Taichi, just let your crest shine…"

Taichi took a hold of his crest. His grip tightened as he searched for the courage deep within his heart. SkullGreymon made an appearance in his head as he jerked back. He could see the bright sun in the far, shadowed by the massive SkullGreymon in front of him. Fear gripped him as painful memories rushed back. His courage had once caused destruction. It hit him as a bad omen as he kept still. Courage…

What should I do?

An image of Hikari appeared. "Onii-chan, believe in yourself." She smiled before vanishing.

Believe? I… believe… We as a team, would be triumphant.

Then he faced SkullGreymon. And he dashed, straight for the Sun hanging in the horizon.

Back to reality

Taichi's crest glowed, so did Koushiro's. The two giant symbols of courage and knowledge that is carved into the wall disappeared as the wall crumbled to reveal a small, dark passageway. "Well, who wants to go first?"

The Tamers and Chosen Children proceeded into the passage one after another, with Taichi at the front. The trek in the passage seemed long, since there was only darkness ahead of the group. The further they proceeded, the darker the surroundings became.

A shiver caught Ruki. "T-The cold…"

IceDevimon? It can't be…

"Ruki! Are you alright?" Takato shook her.

As the Tamers huddled closer to Ruki, a trap sprung. The floor underneath the five children collapsed.

"Takato!" Guilmon shouted as he fell in.

"Jian!" Terriermon tried to open his ears as wide as possible as he grabbed Jianliang's hand. It didn't help much though as Jianliang's weight dragged him down too.

"Shaochung!" Jianliang cried as he desperately tried to reach the small girl in front of him.

"Ruki!" Renamon cried as she cradled the shivering teenage girl.

Juri fell alone, without anyone coming to her aid. Renamon did try to reach for her, but she was simply too far away.

"Everyone, move away from the hole! The rest of the floor may fall too!" Taichi commanded.

"But…" Daisuke tried to voice his opinion.

"No buts," growled Tailmon. "Move! Now!"

The team reluctantly obeyed as panic and worry starts to set in after the initial shock.

"Tai-Taichi-san, the others…" Iori tried to speak up as they ventured away from the hole in the ground.

He sighed. "Let's just hope they're fine." I truly hope so…

He looked around. Sora held onto Mimi as she cried softly into Sora's sleeve. Ken was hugging Miyako tightly as he tried to comfort her. Iori, Jyou and Koushiro stood together, eyes downcast as the older two tried to calm the youngest Chosen of the group. Takeru put a shoulder around Hikari as she sobbed quietly. Daisuke was staring straight at Taichi for his comment, unable to mutter a word. Yamato stood beside him, with a hint of worry on his face.

"Let's proceed." Yamato commanded for Taichi, pain evident in his blue eyes.

The group slowly trudged forward, inching their way towards the darkness ahead of them. They jumped at every sound made, eyes flaring partially of hope, that their friends are still alive, and partially out of fear of walking into another trap.

"Come on guys." The dull tone of his voice was evident.

The silent walk continued as they ventured deeper into the darkness. Slowly but surely, the hope in their hearts began to dim and the fear they felt seemed to have amplified.

"Wait." Taichi spoke up.

"W-What's wrong?" Miyako asked, trembling.

"A split."

"W-We should split up." Sora suggested. "So we can get out of this creepy place faster."

After a saddened nod from the group, the two groups headed off, with the six younger ones in one group and the older ones in another.

"Taichi, Yamato." Jyou muttered.

"We're fine." Taichi returned.

Jyou kept silent as he continued to push forward with the group.

Takaru… Stay safe.

"Hey, Light!" Gabumon yelled from the front of the group.

Without hesitation, the group rushed forward. What they saw stunned them.

"The… Colosseum" Koushiro muttered. "Are we… out?"

Hahaha… Nope you're not.

"Wha..?"

"Welcome." A voice said from above.

Koushiro held out his new D-arc. "Evilmon. Adult lev-…" The D-arc went flying as a small bat like creature rammed into it.

"Hey!" Small cries came from around him as the five Chosen lost their D-arcs to the creatures. "PicoDevimon." Taichi growled.

"Pico darts!" Devilish smiles appear on the syringes as they drew closer to the six Chosen and their digimon. "Run!"

The six darted away from the initial hits only to realise that there are more coming their way. They continued to flee towards an open pathway across the Colosseum.

"Argh…" Gabumon cried as he had been hit.

"Gabumon!" Yamato shrieked as he tended to the fallen Gabumon.

"Yamato, run…" the furry digimon cried out. "Leave me…"

"Yamato!" Taichi cried out for him as they reached the pathway.

WHAM! Metal bars slammed down on the entrance of the path.

"Wh-What?"

"We're stuck!" cried Mimi as she pointed to the dead end in front of her.

The attack stopped. The shower of syringes is no longer there. Yamato looked up from his crouched position to see a grinning Evilmon. He looked down to the beaten Gabumon. His partner. His dear friend. "What do you want?" He bellowed to the flying digimon.

"This." Evilmon flung a small knife to his side. "Stab yourself in the heart."

"What?" The cries of the five other Chosen could be heard.

Yamato eyed the knife, but made no attempt to grab it.

"Let's raise the stakes, shall we?"

As if on cue, heavy reverberations shook the entire area. They held their breath as two stone slabs started to lift up, revealing two exits they were previously blocking. Yamato's eyes widened as he saw what was behind the two stone slabs.

"Ta…"

"Onii-chan!" Takeru screamed as he saw the scene that was presented to him. He pounded on the metal bars containing the group in an attempt to save his brother. "Get out of there!"

Evilmon smirked as he saw Yamato's breath quickening. He trotted slowly towards the crouching blonde boy.

"So… Are you going to do it? Or should I start by killing those poor chaps over there?" Evilmon spoke as he pointed a thumb nonchalantly to the prison holding the Tamers.

"W-Wait!"

"Don't fall into his trap, Yamato-san!" Jianliang shouted. Shaochung wailed in the safe arms of her brother as the fear for her own safety struck her. Lopmon hung sadly on her head. "Shaochung…"

Yamato gritted his teeth as he glanced at the three groups of people, before turning to Gabumon and then back at the small knife sitting on the cool, concrete ground. "I will do it." He said as he looked up in determination.

"Yamato…" Gabumon tried to get up.

"Gabumon." Yamato held his hand in front of Gabumon.

"But…"

"Stop."

Gabumon nodded slightly.

"Stop!" Taichi cried. "Agumon."

"Baby flame!" Agumon cried as a fireball hit the metal bars, but to no avail. "It doesn't work…"

The group gritted their teeth as they looked over to Yamato as he picked up the small knife. He shivered at the coolness of the knife. He slowly raised it up, ignoring the pleading cries from his fellow friends. He gripped tightly on the handle and slowly raised it up to his chest.

"No! Onii-chan!"

Sorry… I hope you guys stay safe. Takeru, take care of yourself. Taichi, take care of Sora and the group… He forcefully plunged it into his chest. He fell backwards as tears obscured his vision. The noises that he had been hearing are diminishing. An icy blue light though, caught his attention. His heart thumped. Why is my heart still beating? Why can I still see? I thought I should be…

Suddenly, everything darkened around him. He lay alone, with only a familiar item drifting above him. "The… crest. Am I…" Yamato. You have shown true friendship. You are even willing to give up your life for them. You truly deserve the crest. Take me… And save your friends… The crest then shone a brilliant blue.

A/N: Sorry for the short chapter after a long 2 months have passed! Being busy + writers block + busy beta reader isn't at all a great combination for writing... I'll leave u with this cliffhanger (though most of u should be able to guess what's coming next). Thanks for reading and pls R&R!