Okay, so I took a long time to get this out but December sucks and life got busy but here it is. I'm not entirely the proudest of this episode but that may be because once again, December sucks and I may just be more pessimistic than usual or it may actually suck. I'll let you guys decide with some good old fashioned concrit, so yay! Thank you for my friend 'Xadhoom' for looking this over for me. I hope you enjoy!

6. Skin Deep

A lot had happened yesterday, and Dai was brimming to tell his friends, so naturally, he wasn't too happy with being asked to make a promise not to tell anyone about Mikemon. It wasn't his parents' promise that held him back. It was Yuki. She would not let him say a single word to their friends. Killjoy. Honestly. Sisters.

"Yuki, come on," Dai complained. "Why can't I tell MJ at least? She won't tell anyone else."

"We promised our parents, Dai," Yuki lectured, emphasising it as the two of them walked to school. Dai rolled his eyes at her, making to protest more but a loud scream interrupted them both. It took him a few minutes to realise that it was MJ who had screamed, and it also didn't take long for him to figure out why this had happened. A rather large creature, a knight with black armour and a strange looking sword had appeared, striking down at their school building, causing many people to flee. There was a smaller creature holding onto it.

"I won't let you destroy another world!" The little creature, a blue dragon, much smaller than the knight was clinging onto it for dear life. "You're not meant to do this, Omnimon!"

"What in the world is going on?" Dai asked, pulling Yuki behind him who didn't protest to this, clearly having gone into shock as MJ ran to them as well. Dai stepped in front of both girls, but he knew there was probably nothing he could do against that creature because it was so huge. A shiver ran down his spine. Was this thing a digimon too, like Mikemon was? He didn't know and he wasn't sure it mattered because this thing could kill them all, no matter what it was.

"Dai!" Hana's voice caught his attention and he looked to the side to see Hana, Taysuke and Kaito gesturing for him to run. That was probably the best thing they could do right now. He tugged at both girls' hands, and they seemed to get the message, following him because with the speed this monster was destroying things, building after building, forcing so many people to scream and flee, he knew they would be crushed if they didn't move. Luckily, it didn't take them long to reach Hana, Tay and Kaito.

"I've called my dad to come to pick us up, although they already saw this on the news," Hana assured him when he reached her. "What in the world is that monster?"

Taysuke sniffled a little. "It's so scary and hurting all those people. Why is it doing that?"

"It's a digimon!" Mikemon said, suddenly appearing with Kari and Davis, rushing towards the creature as the blue dragon hanging on was tossed aside, sending him tumbling into her.

"Omnimon stop this!" Kari cried, running forward all of sudden, her blood turning cold. Why was this happening? This was her brother's digimon, a noble warrior who was meant to preserve the peace, not cause all this destruction. Her heart dropped into her stomach as she saw how many people were injured and how many were still running. They had been planning to meet at Tai's house to have a DigiDestined meeting before this had happened. Were they too late? She shivered as Omnimon's gaze fell on her. His eyes were cold – it was nothing like the Agumon and Gabumon she remembered – the small digimon she would read stories to when he and Tai needed to fall asleep. The little Koromon who would eat up all the watermelon and could be worse than her brother when it came to being a glutton.

Her words fell on deaf ears, and she shut her eyes as Omnimon raised his sword. Would he really strike her down too? The answer to her question never came because she felt herself being pushed down as protective arms wrapped around her.

"Kari! Are you okay?" Her brother's familiar voice reached her, and she clung to the arms holding her, not being able to respond. Their friend was attacking – he wanted to hurt them and there was nothing she could do. There was nothing they could do. She did allow him to help her up, gently pushing her into Davis's arms who wrapped his arms around her.

"Kari, don't do that again, I'm supposed to be the reckless one," Davis scolded her, and Kari leaned in closer to her husband.

"I'm sorry, it's just Omnimon…Agumon, he's a close friend," Kari said, shivering a little as her eyes drifted to her brother who attempted to step closer to his friend.

Davis squeezed her and nodded. "I know. Kari, we're going to help Agumon ok? I promise we'll find a way." He reached out to place a hand on Tai's arm, giving it a gentle squeeze. They were no longer in the line of fire, but Kari's heart thudded at the thought of this digimon – one she felt no recognition for getting near their children. Their Agumon would have been a friend to the children, someone who would guide them through everything going on in the digital world. But as she looked around at the broken buildings, the injured people from his onslaught, her stomach churned. Where had their Agumon gone? Was there any way to bring him back when they barely knew what was going on themselves?

Tai felt Davis's supportive gesture but didn't feel it as he stepped closer to his friend. It didn't matter how different he looked – it didn't matter that his friend's armour was supposed to be white, this was still his friend. At least that was what he told himself but as he pulled away from Davis to approach his friend, every single step he took felt heavy. It was almost as if his feet were injured because it took an effort to walk, to even step closer, not because he was afraid of dying. But was he really strong enough? What if he failed? What if he couldn't save those he loved because he hadn't been there when Agumon truly needed him?

I really do tend to fail him when he needs me the most, don't I? What can I say? Will my voice even reach him?

"Don't think like that, Tai," Mimi's voice snapped him out of his thoughts, and he turned to see that his wife had come to stand by him, reaching out and taking his hand. "This isn't like when you were a child. This isn't SkullGreymon. You're stronger than that. So is Agumon. I know your voice can reach him, but it doesn't matter what I believe or what anyone else believes. It's about what you believe. I know you're strong enough but it's not me you need to prove that." She squeezed his hand. "Go to him. We have the kids, don't worry. Matt's on his way now too."

Somehow, Mimi's words were so powerful that it was like they snapped him out of deep sleep. It didn't take away the fear, but he would find his friend again – this digimon was still his friend, even if he did look more like a stranger right now.

"Omnimon!" Tai cried, pulling his hand out of Mimi's to rush forward as the digimon halted his attack and looked at him. Their eyes met and, at that moment, it did look like he was staring into the eyes of an enemy. The bloodlust, the lack of recognition, the dark aura he could feel…everything felt like SkullGreymon. No! Mimi was right – he couldn't let himself travel down that train of thought. He couldn't change the past – couldn't change the fact that he was the reason SkullGreymon existed, but he could change his present.

"This isn't you, Agumon," Tai said firmly, his fists clenching. "I don't know what's happened to you. I don't know what's controlling you but my partner, my best friend, he would never do this. He would never try to attack Kari. He would never destroy this city! Come back to me, Agumon! Omnimon isn't meant for destruction!"

A small spark flashed in Omnimon's eyes and Tai's heart surged. Was his voice reaching his friend? He had stopped attacking but did he recognise who he was? Everything we've been through, please let that be enough to let me help you. His hopes were quickly crushed as he heard Omnimon's next words though.

"We're only fulfilling our true purpose with this destruction," Omnimon replied for a moment, eyes locking onto Tai. "We were made for this. You were just too weak to realise it. Darkness Sword!" He brought his sword down towards Tai, but Tai didn't move. He wouldn't flinch away from the threat of the plausible death. He could hear the others screaming for him to get out of there, to save himself before Omnimon killed him but he wouldn't. It didn't matter what came next. His friend was worth it.