Disclaimer: I don't not own Digimon, blah, blah, blah. Sadimon, Pyremon, Virumon, and Malevomon are mine.

A/N: Wow, I'm updating again. Awesome.

The Angel Digidestined

Part 8

It was near dusk and the children have made it back to Gennai's house. They explained to him what they have witnessed with the dark crests and how both Gatomon and Patamon have been able to defy Kari and T.K.'s commands. The old man sat with his eye brows furrowed.

"I have heard of these dark crests many years ago, but I did not imagine they actually existed," the old man said thoughtfully.

The digidestined and their digimon sat around Gennai at the table eager to learn more about what has happened to their friends. Patamon laid on the floor with his wings flopped out draping at the sides of his head. No one has ever seen the tiny digimon this depressed before. Since the children first came to this world, Patamon and T.K. were only separated once after Etemon had sent Tai back to the Human World. Gatomon sat alone, but still listening in to what the children were talking about. She was still not used to being around others, and Kari was really one of her first true friends, after Wizardmon. At least that's the way she felt.

Izzy sat up, "Would just simply taking the crests off them be enough to return T.K and Kari to their normal selves?"

"Sounds easy enough," Tai exclaimed. Gennai hummed to himself. "Yes, it does sound easy, but things can be deceiving." Tai turned and looked at Gennai. "Well it makes sense," he huffed crossing his arms and settling down disappointed.

"Tai, since when did things in the Digital World have to make sense," Joe said. "Ever since we got here, weird things have happened and there's practically nothing logical about this place." He remembered the weird phone booths they encountered their first day in the Digiworld. No matter what number the children dialed they got the voice of a woman operator with some strange announcements.

"Joe's right. There may be some other method to bringing Kari and T.K back to their normal selves," Izzy stated.

Matt clenched his fist. "Well what the hell is it? Don't waste time sitting here talking about it. Go looking through books, go out and ask digimon, I don't care what it is, but let's do something!"

Everyone watched Matt in silence. "Matt, you must be pati-" Gennai started only to have Matt blow up in his face.

"My little brother is being controlled by some psycho digimon! Who knows what he's going to make him do, I don't even know if he knows what he's doing or not! He's confused because I left him there! Sure I'll be patient. I'll wait here all freaking day as T.K. destroys the Digital World." The blonde pounded his fist on the table, rattling all the cups filled with drinks Gennai had given them earlier.

The rest of the children sat in silence, neither of them shocked by Matt's outburst. They all expected it sooner or later. Matt usually kept a cool and level head, but he always acted irrational in situations involving T.K.'s wellbeing.

"Matt, do you think you're the only one who cares about them? That you're the only one that's worried?" Matt turned to see Gatomon looking back at him.

"Kari is my best friend; do you think I liked leaving her behind?" Gatomon was obviously holding back a great deal of frustration. "Matt I know how you feel believe me, but we need to really think about what we're going to do about this."

The blonde was glaring at the table. He knew she was right, but he hated it. He hated not being able to help his brother. He glanced over at Tai; he had almost forgotten that his little sister Kari was in the same situation as T.K. The brunette boy had his head hung low, his face dark, and unseen from the rest of the group. Matt stood from the table, getting glances from the rest of his friends. "I need to be alone," he said and turned from them.

"Matt-" Sora began but Joe stopped her by putting his hand on her shoulder. Matt left the room without a word. She watched him leave and sighed, she wanted to talk to him, try to help him feel a little better, but knew he needed time to himself right now.

Izzy then spoke up. "So what are we going to do about these dark crests?"

"Hey! Where're you going??"

A curious small blue lizard type digimon hopped away from the cluster of huts he called home. He turned around to see another DemiVeemon following him.

"There's something in the sky," the tiny digimon said looking up as his friend caught up to him. A shadow loomed over both of them and a winged creature emerged from the dark haze.

"Oh no, It's a Devidramon," the first DemiVeemon exclaimed. "Run!"

Both DemiVeemon ran back towards their village as more of the gargoyle type Devidramon appeared in the sky. When they got closer, they started to use their Dark Gale attack to shoot beams from their eyes at the small huts in the village.

Four figures appeared from behind the trees in the near by forest. Pyremon, Sadimon, Kari, and T.K. walked towards the smoke filled village.

One DemiVeemon happened to notice the four, "Look, its human children! They're here to save us!" He began hopping towards them hopefully. Pyremon turned to the children as if giving them their cue. Kari's Crest of Darkness began to glow a deep magenta and the dark shadow in the sky began to grow. Soon it covered the whole village in darkness.

All the DemiVeemon in the village looked up in bewilderment. "What's happening," one cried out.

The one blue digimon stopped in front of T.K. and Kari. "Please you gotta help us. The Devidramon are attacking our village," he cried waving his little stubs for arms around. Kari smirked and glanced at T.K. whose Crest of Despair started to glow. A dark mist surrounded the small digimon and his bright eyes darkened. "What's the use," he said and hung his head low.

Behind his four main subordinates, Virumon smirked. Small areas of the Digital World have already started to be affected by the young bearers of The Dark crests. He knew he wouldn't fail. He had to admit, there were a few tough moments, but nothing that would stop him from achieving his goal. The two children have lead attacks on small rookie villages of Otamamon, Betamon, and now the in-training DemiVeemon.

He watched as the former digidestined used their newly found powers to posses the toddler like DemiVeemon. Kari used her crest to drain the light from the village while T.K. used his to deplete their spirits. It wasn't enough. The children were powerful, but not nearly as powerful as their digimon partners. If only he could find a way to control them as well.

Virumon knew that most of their success was due to the fact that they kept attacking the villages of weak digimon. He wasn't sure what to expect if they attacked stronger level digimon. If he had Patamon and Gatomon, he'd be able to conquer the rest if the Digital world for sure.

The rest of the digidestined were all feeling restless. They've been at Gennai's house for a few days and have found no other information about the dark crests. Gennai and Izzy have spent countless hours searching through books looking for clues. Even Tai joined in at one point, but they came up empty handed. They decided it was time to leave Gennai's and try to find their friends and bring them back on their own.

The children headed west back towards Virumon's fort. This was the only lead they had, and they figured it was the best way to go. As they got closer, they discovered some disturbing finds.

"Look," Mimi stopped in her tracks causing her to fall slightly behind the others. "What is that?" The rest of the digidestined looked at her. She pointed somewhat north towards the sky. The children and their digimon looked ahead in the sky where she pointed and they saw and dark ominous cloud far ahead of them.

"I've never seen a cloud like that before," Tentomon stated.

Izzy stared at the haze for a moment. "I don't think that's a normal cloud Tentomon." The children and their digimon partners now turned to Izzy. "It looks more like a fog. It's way too big."

Tai turned his attention away from Izzy. He took out his mini telescope to take a closer look. "Whoa, I think it's getting bigger."

"What," the rest cried out. Sure enough when they looked at it long enough they could vaguely see the dark mist growing ever so slightly in the distance.

"What does all this mean," Sora asked aloud to nobody. Matt's face darkened and gazed in that direction with an unwavering look in his eyes. He knew that's where they had to be. With out a word to any of his friends he stomped off with Gabumon at his heals.

Tai noticed his best friend and rival walk away from their group. "Hey Matt, where are you going?" He got no answer. Matt continued on towards the darkness and ignored his leader. The other four digidestined children focused their attention on Matt. Tai ran up to Matt grabbing his shoulder and whirling him around. "Are you listening? Where do you think you're going?"

The bearer of the Crest of Friendship clenched his jaw and balled his fists. "Isn't it obvious?" Matt growled. "That's not a normal fog. It must be Virumon, T.K. and Kari have to be there."

Tai's brow furrowed for a moment in thought. "We don't know that."

"What are you talking about? Of course it's them!" Matt was on the verge of whacking Tai across the face.

Tai knew better, or so he thought. He wasn't just accountable for Kari and T.K., but for the rest of the group as well. As the leader he felt he was responsible for everyone else's well being. If that black cloud wasn't T.K. and Kari, but something much more dangerous, they could all be in serious trouble. They were missing two of their strongest digimon fighters, minus WarGreymon and MetalGarurumon. If they were to be attacked by an evil Digimon, they might not be able to handle it right now.

"What if that's because of some strange evil digimon Matt? We can't risk getting in a fight that we don't need."

For once Joe agreed with Tai. They didn't need any more enemies than they already had, or any unnecessary battles for that matter.

"Tai, I'd risk anything for T.K., what about you for Kari," Matt bellowed. Tai froze at his words. This was true, he knew Matt would do anything for his little brother, but Tai would do the same for his sister. He'd never let her down, 'right?'

A vision of flashing lights in a play ground danced through his head.

He always did what he thought was best for her. Kari was his number one priority. He would always take care of her, always there when she needed him.

He saw his mother standing in front of him with tears streaming down her face, "Tai how could you!"

What if Matt was right? What if Kari and T.K. really were there? Wait everyone else. Would it be right to lead the group into the unknown shadows? But if they weren't there, it would be that much longer that their siblings weren't with them. And if he's right about it being another digimon…

Kari was lying on a bench surrounded by what was left of the Digidestined. Her face pink from fever, her brown hair sticking to her forehead from the sweat. She looked up at Tai, "You mad? I didn't wanna slow everyone down."

"I think Tai's right," Joe piped in. "It could be dangerous. Who knows what that thing is and what or who we will find there? What if we get attacked? Patamon and Gatomon can't digivolve without T.K. and Kari." The thought of facing a new foreign evil had Joe trembling with fear.

Matt couldn't believe it. Joe too! What was wrong with everyone? Couldn't they see that his brother and Kari could very likely be in that mysterious fog? "Exactly, that's why we need to check it out!"

Izzy stood there looking at the large dark cloud. He saw eye to eye with Tai, they had no idea what it was and it might not be safe. On the other hand, he was very interested in what this black mist could be. He wanted to find out. Who knows, maybe Matt was right. Even if he wasn't, this miasma could be a potential future threat anyway. It would be easier dealt with sooner than later. But Joe did bring up a good point earlier. The short red head's trail of thought was interrupted by the harsh sound of skin colliding with skin.

He looked up and saw his leader and second in command rolling on the floor, each trying to get a few punches in. 'Some things never change,' he thought dully. He missed the rest of the argument that had actually led up to the fight.

Sora felt pushed to her limits. She couldn't take this fighting between her teammates anymore. The auburn haired girl clenched her fists. It seemed these two couldn't come to any kind of a decision without using their fists. "Stop it you guys!" Sora raced over to the two and tried to separate them… again. With much needed effort and some help from Joe, they were able to split Tai and Matt.

"The two of you better stop it right now. You both already know that fighting isn't going to do any of us any good, so why are you doing it again? We have to work as a team you two, we need a-"

"Save it Sora." Sora was taken back by her friend's words.

"The only thing I care about is finding T.K. and getting him back to normal. That thing is out best bet," Matt yelled and pointed to the north.

Mimi was looking back and forth between all her friends. Why was everyone fighting? They were supposed to be a team right? With all the fighting the children have done since they arrived, especially during the period of the Dark Masters, you would think they would have learned by now.

"Maybe we ought to split up. Three of us can go to Virumon's castle and the other three can go check out-" Sora began.

"No, no that's out of the question. It's too dangerous to split up. There's safety in numbers," Joe interrupted. "The whole reason we're even having this fight in the first place is because it may by too dangerous for the six of us to go without Kari and T.K. Three of us going would just be suicide."

"I don't care what the rest of you do, but I'm going to find T.K." Matt was stubborn and all he cared about was getting his baby brother back safely.

"Matt you have to think about this logically," Izzy started. At this point, he didn't care where they went, just as long as they all went together. If Matt split up from the rest of them, he could get seriously injured, or worse.

"No Izzy let him go."

Everyone turned to Tai. This was the second thing he said to shock them in the past three days.

"Tai you can't be serious," Izzy tried to reason, but Tai was just as stubborn as Matt. That must have been another reason why they always clashed.

The brunette only shook his head. "Let him do what he wants." Tai knew that all Matt was trying to be was a good big brother. Something that Tai felt he himself had failed to accomplish.

Matt stared at Tai shocked. He hadn't expected his leader to let him go off on his own. Whether he did or not, Matt didn't care. He would go his own way with Tai's blessing or not.

"Tai are you sure about this? Do you remember what happened last time we all split up," Mimi reminded referring to when Matt had disappeared after T.K. escaped from Puppetmon. Matt returned wanting to defeat Tai in battle and WarGreymon and MetalGarurumon almost killed each other. After Kari's possession had stopped the battle, Matt left on his own to try and 'find himself'. Then Mimi and Joe stayed behind. Soon it was just Tai up against Piedmon. Sora and T.K. had left to find the others. Tai wouldn't let Tentomon or Gatomon digivolve because he knew they needed to save their strength for when the others joined them.

They couldn't beat him unless all of them were together.

"Yeah, I remember. And that's why I'm letting him go." The Chosen Children and their Digimon looked at Tai with confusion in their eyes.

"I think he's finally lost it," Gomomon whispered to Agumon.

The pint sized carnivore could only look up at his partner sadly. "Umm, I don't get it Tai."

Tai cracked an encouraging smile at his digi friend. "Because I know we'll find each other again."

Realization dawned over them all. They were the Digidestined, destined to be together. If they part, fate will bring them back to another. This theory was proven many times. No matter what the circumstances, every time the kids were separated, they always found each other.

"Are you sure you want to do this Matt," Sora asked concerned for her friend.

"I need to," Matt stated plain and simple, but firm. Sora was still not completely convinced. Even if they were the digidestined, they were still just human children.

"Don't worry guys, I'll take care of him," Gabumon reassured. The two shared a strong bond and Gabumon would follow his friend into the depths of hell if he had to. He would never let anything happen to him, ever. Sora nodded.

Joe stepped forward. "Well, I'm going with you Matt." Now everyone turned to Joe surprised. It was rare that Joe showed any sign of courage, now was one of those times. "Like I said, there's safety in numbers. You shouldn't have to go on your own."

Matt stared at the taller boy. He really wasn't going to let him go alone. Matt smiled faintly. "Joe…"

"Well I might as well go too. This way I can keep an eye on both of you," Sora spoke up with a beaming smile. Both Matt and Joe looked at her and nodded their approval.

"Alright that settles everything. We'll split up," Tai finalized. Even after they fought wanting to stay together, they decide to all go their different ways anyway. Maybe it was better this way.

"Let's remember guy no heroics. If you don't find T.K. and Kari then head for Virumon's castle. We'll do the same. Matt if your group finds them lay low and send Sora and Birdramon for us. Likewise if we find them, me and Kabuterimon will come find you," Izzy instructed. Everyone nodded in agreement. Matt and Tai both exchanged silent glances, wordlessly letting each other know to be careful. And they parted.

Three digidestined and their chosen digimon headed west where Virumon's castle was in hopes of finding their youngest members. The other three set out towards the north where an unknown danger may be lurking. Even though they were separated, they knew it wouldn't be for good. They would all end up in the same place and save their friends. They had to hold on to hope, they couldn't afford not too.

To Be Continued…..

Well that's it for now guys. Sorry it took so long for the update, it's how I am. I'm going to try to update faster, I hate waiting for fics. But like I said, I'd never discontinue! Please review. Please Please Please!! It really helps.