"The Crest of Light"

Here is the next chapter. Please enjoy and review!

"How long do humans usually sleep when they're sick, TK?" Gatomon's voice sounded through my foggy mind.

"It's tough to say for sure, Gatomon, but I guess anywhere between eight hours and eight years, give or take a minute or so." TK said.

Why are their voices echoing?

"Considering how high Dai and Kari's fevers are, we better get comfortable." Gatomon said.

"I wish the older kids were here. I bet they'd know how to wake them up." TK said sadly.

"You'll think of something, TK." Gatomon said.

"I hope they wake up soon." V-Mon's voice then sounded.

Groaning was then heard and I felt moving by my side.

"See, I knew you'd think of something." Gatomon praised.

"I'm still not sure that woke her." TK said.

"What about Dai?" V-Mon asked.

Something wet then dripped onto my face making my eyes flutter open and I woke up to see Kari was sitting up next to me, the two of us covered in what looked to be leaves.

"But I could be wrong." TK smiled.

"Hi Kari." Gatomon greeted happily.

"Dai!" V-Mon cheered.

"Hit the snooze button one more time, please." Kari requested.

"You've both slept enough. How do you two feel?" TK asked.

Kari then felt her forehead before she placed her hand under my bangs to feel my own forehead.

"I think my fever's gone and Dai doesn't feel too hot. So how long were we asleep for?" Kari asked.

"Let's just say when you fell asleep I had nine lives and now I'm down to only three." Gatomon said.

"At least you have all those lives." V-Mon said.

"Where is everybody?" I asked.

TK, Gatomon and V-Mon all looked down sadly which made Kari and I share a worried look about what had happened.

Suddenly, there was the weird sound that was like flapping that made us all look over to where the sound was coming from.

"Hey, I hear Patamon." TK smiled.

"I wonder if he's found anyone." Gatomon said.

"I hope. We don't need Nekomon to throw a tantrum if we can't find him." V-Mon said.

From the shadows, we saw Patamon flying over along with three shadows walking over with him.

"Who's that with Patamon?" TK asked.

"It's Biyomon." Gatomon said.

"And Sora." Kari said.

"V-Mon, Princess!" Nekomon called as he ran out of the shadows and came over to us.

"Nekomon." I smiled.

"Where ya been?" V-Mon asked.

"Kari, Dai, you're both awake. You look so much better." Sora said.

"Did you see Tai and the others?" Kari asked.

Sora shook her head sadly at this.

"I looked everywhere, but I couldn't find them. My guess is that when we all fell, Tai and Izzy landed somewhere else." Sora sat down with us.

"I hope they're all right." Kari said.

"Don't worry, Kari." TK said.

"Oh, I almost forgot. Look what Biyomon found. I'm sure it's the medicine Tai went to find for you two." Sora then held up a large brown pill bottle.

"Why don't you keep it in case your fever comes back? You can keep is as a reminder of how much Tai loves you." she said handing the bottle to Kari who took it.

"This place has a lot of twists and turns to it. I'm sure if we all look together we'll have no problem finding the others." Biyomon suggested.

"Right. We'll work as a team." TK said.

"Yeah, I'll try to be strong enough to help too. After all, Tai would do the same for me." Kari smiled.

"Then let's get moving Princesses." Nekomon said as he stood up.

Standing up, we all started walking down the dark tunnels of the sewer, looking around curiously if we saw Tai, Izzy, Agumon or Tentomon around.

"This place is like a museum of the famous sewer systems of the world." Sora commented.

"I'll pass on the odor exhibit." Gatomon quipped.

"Too late for that." Patamon spat as he caught the scent.

"Stop." Sora then said making them look at her.

"Listen. Do you guys hear something?" Sora asked as she held her hands up by her ears.

All of us went silent as we listened closely and picked up what sounded like a crank.

"Yeah, I can hear it now too." TK said.

"What do you think it could be?" Kari whispered.

"I don't know, but it sounds like it's coming from over there. Let's take a look." Sora said.

She started running and we followed her to where the sound grew louder and we found what looked like a bridge that was over a factory where a dark version of Monzaemon was whipping some Numemon who were chained up and working the machines.

Kari dropped to her knees and gasped in horror at this while the rest of us watched on, me feeling a bit…outraged by the treatment the Numemon were getting.

"Isn't that Monzaemon? What happened to him? He used to be so cuddly." TK said.

"That's not Monzaemon, TK, that's WaruMonzaemon." Patamon corrected.

"Monzaemon was sweet and cute, but WaruMonzaemon is about as cuddly as a porcupine. His Bear Paw will give you heartburn along with his Heartbreak Attack." Biyomon explained.

"Big meanie." Kari said.

"He's tormenting those poor Numemon down there." Biyomon said.

"How can one kind of puppet digimon be so nice while another can be so evil?" Sora asked.

Sniffling made me turn to see Kari had tears in her eyes as she watched this go on and it made me remember she wasn't used to seeing acts of cruelty yet like what we had seen.

"I've been too hard on you guys. You need a break. OK, breaks over." WaruMonzaemon taunted them which made V-Mon growl.

"If only we had…more power." Kari said.

To my surprise, I felt the power of Light awakening as Kari fell to the ground and was covered in a white light as the others gasped.

"Kari!" Sora cried kneeling down and pulling her into her arms.

"What happened?" Biyomon asked.

"Is she asleep again?" TK asked.

The Numemon stopped working as they saw the light from Kari grow stronger and it made the big bad teddy mad.

"What's going on here? Get back to work!" WaruMonzaemon yelled as the sound of the whip came back.

"Huh? The Digidestind." He then gasped making us look over.

"He knows we're here." Sora announced.

"Move it!" Nekomon yelled.

We all started running down on exit, Gatomon grabbing Kari and hid in the shadows with her as V-Mon, Nekomon and I joined them as TK, Patamon, Sora and Biyomon ran off with WaruMonzaemon following them.

"He's not very smart is he?" V-Mon commented.

"Evil things normally aren't." Nekomon shrugged.

"Kari, are you OK?" I asked my older sister as she leaned against Gatomon.

She nodded as she lifted her hand up and took mine making me gasp as a gold light went around my body as I felt the powers of Light and Miracles surge through both our bodies.

"Hikari…"

"Daisuke…"

"Hikari…"

"Daisuke…"

"Hikari…"

Our names were being chanted by the Numemon as Kari opened up her eyes and stood up properly, leading me out to see the Numemon staring at us both in awe.

"Gatomon, V-Mon and Nekomon. Please leave us here. We need to free the Numemon from their chains. Do you understand?" Kari asked in that mature voice again.

"I guess so." Gatomon said.

"Let's move then before WaruMonzaemon comes back." Nekomon urged.

Kari then held my hand and Gatomon's paw as V-Mon took my free hand as my sister led us down to the Numemon who were all smiling as , gold and white lights twining around the chains and shattered the Numemon and they bowed to us.

"Queen Hikari…Queen Hikari…"

"Princess Daisuke…Princess Daisuke…"

Kari and I both shared a look before we smiled and giggled as the white and gold lights faded out.

"The Numemon think you're…their Queen and Princess." Gatomon gasped.

"I guess so." I whispered.

"Makes sense. You do have a Royal Knight with ya." V-Mon stated proudly making me smile down at him.

"I always knew you girls were special. Hey, wait, I came up with the Princess thing long before these guys. That's a copyright owned by me." Nekomon huffed making us laugh at him.

"Calm down. There's no reason to throw a hissy fit." Kari said.

The chanting kept going on until Sora burst through a door then was above them, holding onto TK, Biyomon and Patamon as the group cried out as they fell in front of us on their knees.

"Kari? Dai?" Sora asked looking up at us.

"Queen Hikari…Princess Daisuke…" the Numemon went on.

"Queen Hikari and Princess Daisuke?" our friends asked in surprise.

My cheeks were burning at this while Kari laughed at me and poked my cheek as the two cats and dragon smiled.

Without the golden light around me, I felt a bit more insecure with all this chanting.

Crashing made us all look up as the Numemon screamed when WaruMonzaemon jumped back into the room.

"I'm baaack! Hey, you Numemon, what are you doing out here? Is it time for your flogging?" WaruMonzaemon taunted.

The Numemon stared up at him with narrowed eyes as they all growled at the black bear.

"Don't just sit there staring! Get back to work! Hey, who cut your chains off?" he yelled.

Kari was walking forward, my hand still in hers as we walked by our friends.

"We did. Got a problem?" Kari asked in that mature voice again which surprised me at the power she had.

I gotta say, my sister is becoming more of a role model for me than she ever was before and is even outshining Tai and Sora, no pun intended.

"Kari, Dai, no!" Sora cried.

"You're through!"WaruMonzaemon snarled at us.

Angered at this, the Numemon pounced on WaruMonzaemon as he started swiping his claws at them trying to beat them back.

"Numemon…" Kari sighed as she started falling, but I caught her and held her up.

"That ugly teddy will get what's coming to him." I said.

All of the Numemon were beaten back, though tried to get back up which made my heart clench since they were trying to protect us and it wasn't fair that they were getting treated this way.

WaruMonzaemon laughed cruelly as he went to use his Heartbreak Attack, but Kari glowed as her power of Light was activated again making him cry out from the power.

"Where's that light coming from?!" he yelled.

"Kari?" Gatomon asked.

WaruMonzaemon was back up into the wall as Kari stood up properly, taking my hand again as Light awakened Miracles, white and golden lights surrounding us as Gatomon, V-Mon and Nekomon ran to our sides.

"Kari, I'm surging with energy. Somebody get me a scratching post." Gatomon gasped.

"I can feel it too. It's making my toes tingle." V-Mon said.

"The powers of Light and Miracles is giving us our energy back." Nekomon said.

Just then, Kari and my Crests glowed.

"Gatomon digivolve to…ANGEWOMON!"

"V-Mon digivolve to…XV-MON!...XV-Mon digivolve to…V-DRAGOMON!"

"Nekomon digivolve to…KAITOUMON!"

"Biyomon digivolve to…BIRDRAMON!"

"Patamon digivolve to…ANGEMON!"

The Numemon were all well again and back on their feet cheering as the three Champions and two Ultimates stood behind us, ready to fight.

"Oh, ganging up, huh? I'll put you to work too. What do you think about that?" WaruMonzaemon asked.

"Dude, you're done." Kaitoumon took to the air.

"So take your defeat with honor." V-Dragomon advised as he flew up.

"Who wants to go first?" Birdramon flew up.

"Ladies first." Angemon offered as he flapped up.

"How about all together?" Angewomon suggested as all winged digimon soared in the air together.

"Let's go!" they all yelled.

All the digimon then fired off their attacks at WaruMonzaemon who slammed the doors open behind him and then closed them, but the attacks shot through the door and hit him.

Once that was done, I fell to my knees in front of a tired Numemon while Kari picked one up and held it while Sora did that to another.

"No more chains, Numemon." Kari smiled.

"They're cute when they're not so slimy." Sora laughed as the one she held did a dance in her hands and then she set him down.

"I love you, Queen Hikari." The Numemon my sister held chirped.

"You're sweet." She thanked setting him down.

"That light again. Look at it." TK said as Kari's light shone a path down the hall, my golden light fading away as did hers as we stood up.

"My light will guide us towards the others." She said.

"Hmm?" Sora looked down at TK.

"Don't look at me, but I think it's like this nightlight I used to have that guided me towards the bathroom." TK theorized.

"Oh. Well, Kari, I hope your light doesn't run out of batteries." Sora turned to Kari.

"I'll lead the way. Follow me." Kari started walking as I followed her.

It was weird, but when we held hands and felt our powers, it was like we were connected and it felt amazing.

When I fell in step with her, our hands reached for each other instinctively and we held them, both smiling at each other as we walked on and soon the others followed.

As we were walking, another vision came to me as Kari gasped and glowed making me glow as well.

Tai had gotten into a fight with Izzy, then Andromon appeared and after came Machinedramon after he killed WaruMonzaemon.

"What is it, Kari, Dai?" Sora asked.

"They're coming." Kari said.

"You mean Tai? When?" TK asked.

"Now." Kari's eyes narrowed.

"Bad news, they're bringing trouble." I said as the sound of thundering footsteps was heard.

Just then, the Master of Metal came barging through a wall and crashed into the other.

"Machinedramon!" Sora and TK yelped as they held onto Kari and I pushing us together with Sora on Kari's side and TK on my side.

A large hole was created under us as Angemon, Angewomon, Birdramon, Kaitoumon and V-Dragomon flew down to catch us.

As we were flown down safely to the under level, the white and gold lights shining around us, we saw Izzy, Tai, Agumon and Tentomon were standing there at the edge of the hole staring at us.

"Tai, it's you!" Kari smiled.

"Where ya been, big brother?" I asked.

"Kari, Dai!" Tai smiled big as he jumped down and started running over to us.

"Sora, TK!" Izzy called.

The lights faded away as Tai ran over to us, picking Kari and I up in his arms, swinging us around laughing happily.

"Kari, Dai!" he cheered.

"Tai!" we giggled and hung onto his neck and shoulders.

"They made it." Izzy smiled as he stepped up to Sora.

"Was that Andromon I saw fighting with Machinedramon?" Sora asked.

"That's him all right. He's sacrificing himself to protect us." Izzy frowned making Sora and TK exclaim in worry.

"He's raising an army against Machinedramon." Izzy explained as we watched the fight between the two machine types go on.

From where we were standing, it looked like Machinedramon's paw turned into a drill and he hit Nadromon with it, drilling into the ground that was quaking.

Our digimon then flew over to help, Birdramon ramming Machinedramon back as Kaitoumon and V-Dragomon tag teamed the Master of Metal while Angemon and Angewomon supported Andromon to carry him away.

"Are you all right, Andromon?" the female angel asked.

"Yes, thank you." he replied.

"We'll take you to safety." Angemon said.

"No. Let's fight Machinedramon together." Birdramon said.

The five winged digimon then jumped back and prepared to fight, all of them combining their attacks with Andromon's to blast at Machinedramon.

We all exclaimed in fear as Machinedramon rose out of the blast, roaring.

"Machinedramon's a Mega digimon. They can't win." Izzy said.

Machinedramon then used his Giga Cannon on our digimon, blasting them back and he just kept firing until the entire area was rubble.

"They weren't even worth my time. You're next." He laughed turning to us, Kari and I gripping onto Tai's hands.

"Now I've got you, Digidestinds. Who wants to be the first victim?" he asked.

Taking my hand as everyone bowed their heads, Kari made me look at her and she had a determined look in her eyes which made me nod in agreement as we let go of Tai's hands and walked forward.

"Kari, Dai!" Tai called after us.

Lights were shining through the rubble around us as we walked forward, me feeling Kari's fear as she felt mine, but we pushed it down and focussed on our connection instead to comfort us and give us strength.

"How brave you are to volunteer. I'll try to make this as painful as I can." Machinedramon said.

The Numemon then swarmed in and started climbing up his legs which confused and annoyed him.

"Numemon?" Kari asked.

"You digimon call this fighting?" Machinedramon demanded as he grew angered.

"Numemon." Kari had tears in her eyes.

"Stop, run while you can!" I called to them.

But it was too late as Machinedramon killed them all right in front of us making tears stream down my face and Kari's hand tightened around mine.

"NUMEMON!" we cried as a blast of light around us forced us back onto the ground.

"Kari! Dai!" Tai yelled as he ran over, but Agumon stopped as he cried out in pain.

"Ah! I feel the power!" Agumon yelled.

"Agumon warp digivolve to…WARGREYMON!"

My eyes were closed, but I could feel as Tai pulled Kari and I into his lap and held us and saw behind my eyelids as WarGreymon ran past us.

"Wake up." Tai said.

WarGreymon used his Dramon destroyer on Machinedramon, but soon turned back into Koromon.

"Koromon." Tai gasped.

"Now I will finish you once and for all." Machinedramon growled.

"I don't think so." Koromon said with a scratch on his forehead as he turned to the Mega.

"You missed what I did as WarGreymon. I sliced you like an onion." He grinned.

Angemon and Angewomon both flanked V-Dragomon as Kaitoumon helped Andromon stand, Birdramon watching over them as my eyes opened to see Kari was up and the others were watching Koromon.

Everyone smiled as we saw that it was true as Machinedramon slowly fell apart, piece by piece that had been sliced off.

"Without Machinedramon, this area has become unstable. It's beginning to fall apart." Andromon said as the area quaked.

"Nothing can happen that we can't handle together." Sora smiled.

"Right." TK nodded.

"I think it's becoming a little too dangerous. Let's get out of here." Izzy called.

"You're right. Let's go." Tai agreed.

As the city started to crumble apart, our winged digimon flew us off to safety as we watched.

"Machinedramon's city is dissolving. My work here is finished." Andromon said as we looked to Spiral Mountain to see the metal area fade away.

"farewell Andromon, thank you." Angemon called.

"Nice seeing you again." V-Dragomon called.

"When we get down, can Dai and I build one of those memorials for our friends the Numemon?" Kari asked.

"Sure." Tai said.

"We'll all help build it, right guys?" Sora asked.

Everyone then hummed or nodded in agreement as Kari and I smiled to each other.

The Numemon deserved one after protecting us and didn't deserve to die so soon, but then again, neither did Leomon, Whamon and Chumon.

"You're next, Piedmon." Tai said.

To be continued…