Hello there readers. Here's another nice sized chapter for you to read.

Disclaimer: I don't own Digimon. Not even Tsukaimon. Look him up on the Digimon Wiki. Or Wikimon. I got my info from both.

Anyway, back to the story.

MarineDevimon

Wormmon still hadn't spoken, and finally Tsukaimon said from where he still lay, "Daemon has him."

TK turned angrily on the purple rookie. "Was it you that handed him over?"

Tsukaimon didn't meet the boy's gaze as he nodded, flinching at the sudden sound of MagnaAngemon landing nearby. TK clenched a fist.

"You're right. You deserve to die."

The rookie made no move to protest. It was Matt who intervened. "Wait, TK. He's helpless now, maybe we can get some info from him." The older brother turned to Tsukaimon. "How about it? If you really regret what you've done, try making up for it a little bit. Tell us what you know about Daemon and what he's planning. I doubt I'll ever completely forgive you for doing this…"

Matt gestured at TK.

"…but at least do a little good before it's too late for you."

Tsukaimon agreed and began talking, and as much as TK was still engrossed in his anger, his attention began to waver. He stared hard at the purple creature in front of him, but lines were slowly blurring. He blinked hard, refocusing. He found his body shifting back and forth in an attempt to keep balance. He took a step to the side, giving himself something to do and to realign himself. Despite the boy's efforts, the conversation was going over his head. He was losing focus. It could be from exhaustion. It could be from hunger, but in the back of his head, TK knew it was also the dark attack from Devimon that was ailing him. The throbbing pain was coming back across his chest, filling his senses. He was fading. His sense of balance was failing, and he didn't notice he had nearly fallen over until his brother's hand grasped his wrist. In an instant, not only was there a firm grip on his hand, but a strong arm had draped over his shoulders, steadying him. A moment passed and he was pulled into a further embrace, strong enough to show emotion, yet gentle enough to not bring more pain. Matt's voice came.

"You know, I missed you little bro." The voice was soft and meant the world to TK to hear them again. He may have liked it better if Matt left out the "little" part. It didn't matter now, and he let his brother hug him as long as he needed. Matt only let a few moments pass before speaking with a firmer voice. "You should sit down. After all this, I'm not gonna let you die on me now. It's obvious you're exhausted."

TK complied, and found that Matt sat down with him, his arms never leaving the younger boy's shoulders. Tsukaimon's voice came to TK's awareness.

"He looks bad, isn't there something you can do MagnaAngemon? It was the Touch of Evil attack that did that."

"Those claw marks are from Devimon?" The angel asked in an alarmed voice.

"Yes."

Next, it registered to TK that MagnaAngemon was standing in front of him. The angel's warm presence was soothing, and soon TK felt as if he was tapping into the energy radiating from his digimon, though it was actually MagnaAngemon actively pouring a stream of healing energy over the boy. "Magna Antidote."

The pain finally subsided, and his head cleared enough for him to regain focus of what was going on. His stomach still felt empty from not eating in at least a day and a half, and he was still light-headed from not sleeping in more than 24 hours. Aside from that, it was obvious that the evil from Devimon's attack had been washed away. There was still blood on his shirt, and there were still three gnarly gashes across his chest, but they had been purified of any digital disease. He could finally stand up straight, though Matt stayed close by as a precaution. What they didn't need was for TK to black out again and bash his head on the rocks.

After TK managed to give everyone a small, reassuring smile, their attention returned back to Tsukaimon. Matt spoke. "So, you're going to lead us to Dragomon's Cove, and then on to Daemon's fortress, right?"

Tsukaimon nodded and managed to bring itself to fly. Wordlessly, the rookie began leading the group off. The older human gave one last order. "Nothing fancy now. We're not really in the mood for any ambushes."

The rookie glanced back at Matt. "Daemon either uses or kills his victims. If he wanted to use you, I'd still be taking you to him…"

"Like Ken." Wormmon had found his voice, and it had anger packed in it that was unusual for the shy digimon. Tsukaimon bowed his head in response.

"Either that, or he'd want you dead. And as you can see, that's not an option. Not that I want to do it anymore."

"Oh really?" TK said sarcastically. "Has the great Devimon had a change of heart?"

"You don't need to rub it in like that," Tsukaimon snapped. "That was a form of dark digivolution. Daemon used the darkness of this world to make me digivolve into that form once the aura of despair was strong enough."

"Despair?"

"Yes, wasn't it obvious how Daemon was trying to dishearten you? I thought it was way too blatant, but I guess it worked. Stupid megas. Always taking advantage of us weaker ones."

"He forced you into doing it?" Matt asked.

"You could say that. He tricked me. I thought I was just going to become stronger, not be corrupted into a fallen angel like what happened."

"What did you expect?" TK said.

Tsukaimon's head was still bowed as he continued to lead the group out of the barren stretch of rocky ground. "I was desperate. When you've been wandering in a world like this for long enough, it kinda gets to you. Foreign digimon are hunted by the Shades, so I had to flee for my life most of the time. They only submit to those who have defeated them in combat, like Daemon and Dragomon. And it's not like they willingly do it either. The Shades are still looking for ways to rebel against those two digimon, and now I don't blame them."

The rookie interrupted himself with a sigh.

"I got in too deep. All I wanted was power enough to protect myself. I didn't expect it to go as far as harming others."

TK huffed. His whole experience with the darkness wasn't an easy thing to cope with, and he was sceptical of anything that worked with it even in the past. Despite Tsukaimon's sincere testimony, TK was still wary.

Perhaps another half hour of walking passed before they reached the first sands of the shoreline. TK and Wormmon vaguely recognized the area. The boy pointed off to the left. "Over there's a maze with some captive digimon. A town's on the other side."

Wormmon tilted his head. "I don't remember a maze, but Ken and I did meet and free the digimon. They turned into those shadow creatures."

"The maze was an illusion," Tsukaimon said matter-of-factly. "That was probably the most annoying part of my job. I had to sit there and follow you walking in circles while I could see the town was not even a hundred metres away. I didn't see any maze, and almost wished I did. You are kind of bad at those, by the way, Takeru."

TK made no reply. He didn't exactly like his full name, though he wasn't quite ready to let the digimon use his nickname. Then again, he didn't really want to hear his name from Tsukaimon in the first place. He scanned the beach.

"Where next?"

Tsukaimon responded by flying off to the right, leading them in the direction opposite where the town lay. After several minutes of silence, the rookie spoke up.

"We just have to follow the beach, and we'll reach the cove. And just so you don't blame me for ambushing you. MarineDevimon lies in hiding somewhere around here, so don't take it easy."

They followed Tsukaimon's advice and continued in silence along the waterfront. TK's partner was still in ultimate form, ready to defend at the first sign of danger. Gabumon remained at Matt's side, and Wormmon simply couldn't digivolve.

Presently, TK suggested to Matt. "Take Wormmon and go on ahead. I'll take care of MarineDevimon."

"Why do you think I would do that?" Matt was incredulous.

"Because I've got my digimon with me. I'll be safe, don't worry. We've beaten MarineDevimon before. You need to hurry and get to the cove." TK tried to sound urgent, but to be honest, he didn't exactly know what this was about Dragomon's cove. He connected some dots, however. He remembered Kari's name thrown in during the garbled conversation he blacked out on before. Kari. Dragomon. Trapped. Hurry. That was all he needed to know the situation was urgent. They needed to get to Kari fast, but they also couldn't afford being attacked from behind.

Before TK knew it, MetalGarurumon was standing behind Matt. The older brother shot TK a concerned look, but complied with the younger boy's suggestion and climbed aboard. Wormmon hopped up onto Matt's lap, and the three took off on a high-speed sprint down the shoreline. TK looked at Tsukaimon.

"How close are we to MarineDevimon?"

The rookie looked towards the ocean. "If you want to fight him, just wait. He'll come to you."

"There's no time to wait," TK replied, accusation in his voice.

"Hey, you asked. He is coming. If you don't want to sit around, keep on walking. We'll meet him either way."

TK did so, and the three continued on in silence, keeping a close eye on the ocean. It wasn't too hard to notice MarineDevimon's advent. The slightest ripples on the surface stood out sharply against the still waters. Not that the evil digimon cared to be quiet about his arrival. He sent roaring waves to announce his approach, and burst violently out of the water. MagnaAngemon instantly placed himself between MarineDevimon and TK. Tsukaimon hovered by the boy's shoulders.

MagnaAngemon didn't hesitate to attack, confident that the battle wouldn't be too difficult. He dove head on, his Excalibur extended in front of him. He aimed right in the middle of the three eyes of the evil digimon. MarineDevimon immediately retaliated, swiping a long arm right at TK. The angel broke his charge to try and rescue his partner, but he was too late. Tsukaimon got there first. The little rookie rammed with all his strength into TK's side, driving him out of the trajectory of MarineDevimon's swiping claw.

A quick memory flashed in front of TK's eyes as he hit the sand. There were lots of colours, though blurred with sudden movement. It wasn't a black arm coming at him, but a shining thunderbolt. The attack of a purple and red rookie rather than that of a black and blue ultimate. He remembered Primary Village. Patamon being unable to digivolve yet protecting him all the same. That was what, five years ago?

TK sat up quickly to see that MagnaAngemon had successfully engaged MarineDevimon, gaining the evil digimon's full attention. He looked at Tsukaimon, who was picking himself off the ground. He knew what he had to say to the rookie, but it was hard for him. Forcing himself to see the digimon as a normal creature instead of one corrupted by darkness, he managed to get the words out.

"Thanks, Tsukaimon." The first phrase was the most difficult, but now that it was out, the next sentence was easier. "Why did you bother?"

Tsukaimon shrugged, trying to look indifferent, but TK could see in his golden eyes that the digimon was thinking hard about his actions. "As much as I hate to admit it, you taught me a few things while I was with you. You may be thinking that you completely lost hope back there before you were rescued, but if you think about it, if there was no hope at all, you'd just sit down and give up, right? I really thought you would at several points, but you never did. You always found a way to keep going. Even after I digivolved. After everything Daemon told you. I know I'm not Patamon, but the way you were still trying to each me even though I had turned into that monster… You had more hope than you thought. I heard every word, even though I couldn't control Devimon…" Tsukaimon had reached the toughest part in his explanation. He swallowed as he formulated his next thoughts into sentences. "I want what you have. I want real hope. Something that can live through the darkest despair. You're still here, after everything. The power of your crest has strengthened you and your digimon and even your brother's digimon. That's the kind of power I want to be around, not the corrupted stuff Daemon works with. Your digimon is strong with the power of hope. I mean, he's even about to win right now."

TK glanced up at the fight just in time to see MagnaAngemon finally get the shot off at the evil digimon's forehead. With the Excalibur fixed between MarineDevimon's eyes, their foe finally dissolved into black smoke and dispersed into the water. It was a satisfying sight, and TK smiled at the thought of defeating his second Devimon that day.

Hope you're still enjoying. There's about ten or eleven chapters left unless I make another drastic change in the outline.

Will be working on the next chapter while I can. In the meantime, review?