Litanya: This is another side fic one-shot that will probably never get put up. Anyway, I do not own Digimon. The ending of series 2 was extremely bad, so I'm scrapping it. After they defeated the evil guy that I've forgotten the name of, everyone but the digidestined forgot about the digimon and the Digimon all left back to the Digital World so they didn't scare the people. Okay?

In the Shadows

Tai picked up his glass, his eyes never leaving the T.V screen as the cool liquid quenched his thirst.

"Tai, did you want to come to the movie with Yolie, Ken, T.K and I?" Kari asked, coming into the living room with a towel in one hand and a hair brush in the other, "Sora and Matt said that they might come too." His eyes were still glued to the screen.

"Not now Kari! Manchester United is winning but the other side is putting up a good fight!" he exclaimed enthusiastically, as if he was really into the game. The truth was that it was an old re-run of a game that he had taped a few years ago. He knew that the other side won with a tricky shot from their center player, but he did not tell Kari that.

"Fine then, suit yourself. If soccer is more important to you than going out to the movies, then fine!" she could not really criticize him. He had been going out more than she had lately, so it was his choice to just watch the soccer. She left the living room and went back into the bathroom.

"I knew you would understand!" Tai called out to her from his position on the couch. The truth was that he just did not want to go. He had been considering it right up until she had told him that Sora and Matt were going. His two 'best friends' were a couple. He knew that they loved each other, but he could not support the couple whole-heartedly. He tried to; he made sure that he was always optimistic and supportive around them, but inside he really hated it. He was in love with Sora, and that was the problem. There was a rule that he had disobeyed and now he was paying for it; you should never fall in love with your best friend. His heart had been broken that Christmas at Matt's concert…

F L A S H B A C K

As Tai and Agumon approached the tent in which Matt's concert was to be held, Tai saw the girl he had been looking for. She was looking as beautiful as ever in a warm-looking light blue coat. Her auburn hair framed her face and there was a small hairclip pinning it out of her eyes. She was holding a green package that was securely in her grasp and by her side was her small pink bird digimon. Biyomon and Sora seemed to be in a deep conversation as Tai and Agumon approached.

"Hey Sora!" she looked down at her package and blushed a little, as if she was embarrassed to have been caught there. Tai's heart was pumping loudly and he felt extremely nervous.

"Hi Tai," was her only reply.

"Umm… I was wondering if you were doing anything tonight, not that it matters or anything…" he was really nervous, but at least he had spoken. Luckily he had only sounded as though he was asking her as a friend and nothing more.

"I'm waiting to see if Matt is free afterwards…" Ouch. He felt his heart break, but he put it behind his mask as he saw how nervous she was.

"I see… Matt huh?" he teased, making her turn an even brighter red.

"You're not mad at me?" she sounded surprised. It was almost as if she had been thinking that he was angry that she had not told him about her crush on the rock star.

"No, of course not. Now get in there and say 'hi' to Matt for me!" he pushed her lightly towards the door and she gave him a small smile.

"Thanks Tai."

"Hey, can you at least leave us the cookies?" Tai had almost forgotten that Agumon was there. He guessed that the lizard digimon wanted payment for walking all of the way over there only to be ignored.

"I'll tell you what, I'll bake you some special ones, okay?" she disappeared through the door and it closed. Tai sighed quietly to himself.

"Thanks… I'll be waiting," he turned away from the door and began to walk towards the entrance to Matt's concert.

"You know what Tai? You've really grown up!" but Agumon could not see the pain and hatred that Tai felt inside. The funny thing was that even though Sora had broken his heart and caused him a lot of pain, his hatred was not aimed at her. It was only aimed at Matt and himself.

E N D O F F L A S H B A C K

"Tai, I'm leaving now then," Kari came back out of the bathroom, the towel and hair brush now gone. "This is your last chance to come!"

"No thank you. The soccer is on," he told her as though he was talking to someone who was not very quick to understand, "I'm watching the soccer. That means no movie. Do you understand?"

"Fine, but if you get lonely, it's your own fault. I offered. Enjoy the soccer and I'll see you in about four hours okay?"

"Yeah, whatever Kari," he pretended that he was engrossed in the game until he was sure that she had left. Then he stopped the tape and switched off the T.V, not wanting to watch it anymore. He knew it almost off-by-heart and he had often used the technique of the winning center to win some of his own soccer matches. He wandered into his room and tossed the tape away under his bed. Kari would never look there and even if she found it she would toss it aside. Kari was not all that keen on soccer. Basketball was her favourite sport to watch; mainly because T.K. played B- The phone rang, interrupting his thoughts. His parents were not home, so he raced to catch the call before the machine did.

"Hello?"

"Hello Taichi," Tai did not recognise the voice over the phone and no one called him Taichi.

"Who is this?"

"All in good time Taichi, all in good time."

"Please, who are you?" the voice was staring to creep him out. It was deep and raspy, as though they were trying to change their voice on purpose.

"You'll find out soon Taichi, but don't you already know?" dread was filling Tai's stomach as well as fear.

"No, I have no idea. Who are you?"

"Your worst nightmare," was the chilling reply before they hung up. Tai placed the phone back in the receiver, feeling a little unsettled.

'Come on Tai, it was just a practical joke,' he assured himself as he slowly walked around the apartment and checked all of the windows. He wanted to make sure that they were all locked. He went back into the living room once he was finished and sat back on the couch. He turned on the TV just so he could have the noise around him. Then he sat back and closed his eyes. His thoughts just drifted around so that he wasn't really concentrating on anything. He had found that it was the best way to keep the pain from his heart away. Ten minutes had passed this way when the phone rang again. He opened his eyes and hesitated before he finally picked up the phone.

"Hello again Taichi," it was the voice again.

"Look, what do you want?"

"You," that single word sent a thousand chills down Tai's spine.

"You what?"

"You'll come around soon Taichi, they all do," the tone was factual, as though it was only a meaningless piece of information. Tai suddenly had an idea and he pressed the 'record' button on the phone. He had no idea what had prompted him to do it, but the rest of their conversation would be recorded on the machine's tape.

"Who comes around? What are you talking about?"

"Everyone Taichi, everyone. You'll find out about it later though. For now, let's just talk," Tai's eyes searched the room quickly. The voice was really creeping him out.

"What do you want to talk about?" he asked carefully, turning around so that he could see the other side of the room.

"You like soccer don't you? You should stop pretending to watch that re-run of that old game soon. You shouldn't waste your time watching something you already know."

"How do you know about that? Even Kari hasn't noticed and she's seen it about a thousand times over," the voice was terrifying him now. How could this guy know something like that, when his family hadn't even noticed?

"I know everything Taichi. I even know that secret that you keep locked away from everyone. I'll be watching you…" Tai was left with the beeping noise that signified that the other person had hung up. He pressed the 'stop' button on the machine and placed the phone back in the cradle automatically. He was in some sort of shock. Someone was stalking him. The phone rang again, almost making him jump out of his skin. His hand shook as he reached out and grabbed it, fearing that he would hear the same deep, muffled voice.

"Hello?"

"Tai, it's your mother. This is just a quick call to tell you that we have to stay the night over here. Nana fell down the stairs and she can't get out of bed. Will you and Kari be okay tonight without us?" his mother spoke quickly, as if anxious to get back to her own mother.

"Yeah, we should be fine. Kari's out at the movies now, but I'll cook dinner when she gets back. When will you be back?"

"Tomorrow around noon. Are you sure that you'll be fine?"

"Yeah, we'll be fine. Tell Nana that I hope she feels better soon, okay Mum?"

"Thanks Tai, I will. I'll see you tomorrow then."

"Yeah, see you tomorrow," as he put the phone down he got a strange feeling in his stomach. Something was not right, but he could not tell what.

'Come on Tai, calm down. It was just a practical joke that has gone too far. Soon you will get an apologetic call from some kid that just got lucky and guessed everything,' he told himself as he poured himself a glass of milk to calm himself down. He had just finished the glass and grabbed a soccer magazine from his room when the phone rang again.

'Kill me now. Why am I getting so many calls today?' he picked up the phone and the voice began speaking immediately.

"Hello again Taichi."

"Hello again to you too. Stop calling me!" as soon as he had heard the voice; he had pressed the 'record' button again. Maybe he could use the conversations to give evidence to the Police later.

"But I enjoy talking to you so much. It's a shame that your parents are going to be away, isn't it? A pity that your grandmother had to 'trip' down the stairs…" Tai's eyes narrowed.

"You pushed my grandmother down the stairs? You have gone too far now!"

"Now, now Taichi, someone had to keep your parents away from here. Ooh, I'd better go now so that you can receive the call from Kari," whoever it was hung up again. Almost immediately the phone went off again.

"Hi Tai! Yolie invited me over to her place after the movie and I was wondering if I could go," she was obviously in a rush.

"Yeah, sure. Mum and Dad got tied up anyway, so they're only home tomorrow. It'd be great if you could stay with Yolie. I wouldn't have to cook then," his voice was light and joking, but inside he was still terrified. The voice, whoever it was, had plans for him that night, he knew it.

"Thanks Tai. Are you sure that you won't get too lonely all by yourself?"

"Nah, I'll be fine. There's another soccer match on tonight anyway."

"You and your soccer. Anyway, I have to run. See you tomorrow!" Tai had to laugh. Even after all of these years Kari still had not realised that the professional soccer season had ended two months before. She was hopeless. Almost as soon as he hung up, the phone rang again. This time he left it and let the machine pick it up.

"Taichi, I know that you are home. I know that you don't want to pick up the phone, but it does not matter. Look behind you," Tai whirled around and screamed. Then all he could see was a world of endless darkness…

"Hey Tai, I'm home!" Kari called as she entered the apartment. Silence was her only reply. She walked into the kitchen and found a note on the bench.

Dear Kari, Mum or Dad

I just went out to get some fresh air. I'll be back soon, so don't worry

Tai

She relaxed and went to the living room. The light on the answering machine was flashing. She pressed the 'play' button and her mother's voice came through the machine.

"Tai? You can't tell me that you left half an hour after I phoned before can you? If you're asleep then I'm calling to tell you that Nana is okay now. Her hip is a little bruised, but the Doctor says that she will be perfectly fine. That means we'll be home earlier than we said… we'll probably be home around ten tomorrow okay? I hope you and Kari sleep well. Goodnight."

"That message was recorded at 7:30pm on Thursday 8th May 2004. Would you like to delete the message?" Kari decided to keep it and she rewound the tape to the beginning so that her parents could listen to any messages that they wanted when they got home. They often went back over the messages just in case they had missed anything. She went into her room and grabbed the novel she was reading. As she was the only one home, she might as well finish it.

"Kari, Tai are you home?" Kari looked up from her book to see that half an hour had passed and her parents were home.

"I'm in the living room Mum. Tai's gone out somewhere," she replied, placing her bookmark in the spot she was up to. It was an addictive book and she was almost finished.

"Where did he go?" Mari Kamiya came into the room, followed by her husband.

"I'm not really sure. He just left a note on the bench saying that he had gone to get some fresh air. The note said that he would be back soon, but I've been home for half an hour and he hasn't come back yet…" something was nagging at Kari's mind, as though she felt like she was forgetting something important.

"That's strange. He didn't answer the phone when I called last night either. He answered the first time, but not the second."

"I must have called about five to ten minutes after you had called… he told me that he was going to watch some soccer. Maybe that was why he hadn't answered," Kari suggested, trying to get that creepy feeling out of her mind. She was about to say something more when the front door opened and Tai walked through the door.

"Tai, we were starting to get worried about you!" Mari exclaimed as she saw him enter the room. He was a little paler than normal and he seemed distracted.

"I just went for a walk, that's all. I'm really tired… the soccer game went until late. I'm going to go sleep now," his voice was monotonous, with absolutely no emotion at all. Kari exchanged glances with her mother before stopping him from leaving the room.

"Where have you been Tai?"

"The park. Sora saw me there and she can back me up on this if you want. Why are you so bothered about it anyway?"

"You're just acting strangely, that's all. I was worried. But now I know that it was just a misunderstanding. I'll see you in a few hours, okay Tai?" the bushy-haired brunette nodded, obviously feeling too tired to give a verbal answer. He disappeared into his room, shutting the door firmly behind him. The uneasy feeling inside of Kari grew until she was certain that something was wrong. She just did not know what.

Tai did not come out of his room all day, and he did not come out even to eat dinner. Mari was a little worried, but she did not question it. Tai had often slept through two nights if he had stayed up late watching a soccer game. She just placed a plate of food on the kitchen bench, keeping it warm under another plate. She knew that usually it would be gone in the morning. But when she awoke the next morning, she found that it was anything but usual. The food that she had left out was still on the plate and, when she decided to go into Tai's room to investigate, she found the room empty and the window wide open. On Tai's bed there lay a mysterious note which gave no clue as to where he was:

A ship in the harbour is safe, but that is not what ships are built for. There will come a time when you believe everything is finished. That will be the beginning.

The note was not signed or addressed to anyone, but it was just… there.

"Alexi!" Mari called. Something in her voice made her husband rush into the room, with Kari close behind.

"What is it honey?" she silently handed him the note and then pointed at the window. Kari read the words over her father's shoulder before running over to the window. Their apartment was on the third floor of the building, but it was next to a fire escape. Tai had obviously climbed out of the window onto that and then climbed down from there. Alexi gravely looked up from the note, his face almost white.

"I think that we should call the Police."

All of the older digidestined had gathered in the small room. Kari had called a meeting as soon as her parents had let her use the phone. As the Police were over at Kari's apartment the meeting was being held in Izzy's room. His parents did not mind if they all turned up at once, and he had agreed to let them use his room. No one but Kari knew what the meeting was about.

"Hey, where's Tai?" Sora asked Kari as they all got settled. Matt and Sora had taken possession of the couch, with T.K sitting perched as far away from them on the edge of the couch as he possibly could. Joe was leaning against the doorframe whilst Izzy sat on his desk chair, his lap top on his knees. Mimi was lying on her stomach on the floor, flipping through a magazine. Kari herself was standing near the window, in a place where everyone could see her. Her eyes constantly flittered to the window, as if she hoped to catch a glimpse of Tai walking down the street. The other digidestined were not there. Kari felt that they did not know Tai enough to be of any help. The older kids had known him for a long time and they might have a better idea of where he could have gone.

"That's why we're here Sora. Two nights ago I went to Yolie's place after the movie we saw. When I got back yesterday morning, Tai wasn't home. He came back about half an hour after I got back and went straight to bed. Then, when we checked on him this morning, he was gone. His window was open and there was a strange note on his bed which explained absolutely nothing. All it said was 'A ship in the harbour is safe, but that is not what ships are built for. There will come a time when you believe everything is finished. That will be the beginning.'

We have no idea where he is or what is wrong. I was hoping that maybe you guys could help me to figure it out," Kari was worried, extremely worried. There had been a sense of evil before Tai had gone into his room the day before and the terrible feeling that she had inside of her was continuously growing.

"Why didn't you check on him before this morning? From what Yolie told me you were home pretty early in the morning," Mimi commented, still flipping through the magazine. From what Kari could see it looked like an old 'Dolly' magazine.

"He'd been watching a soccer game the night before and he'd stayed up really late. He usually does that when there's a match on, so we thought nothing of it."

"But the soccer season finished two months ago Kari. The next season only starts in two weeks. How could Tai have been watching soccer?" Sora asked, knowing that this behaviour was very strange from her best friend. He usually gave up watching soccer when there weren't any matches on.

"But he was watching a game when I left… a game of Manchester vs.… oh," she had just realised that the game he had been watching had seemed familiar. She had often encountered him watching soccer and more often than not it involved the Manchester United game. Well, it had during the past two months.

"What was the 'oh' for?" T.K asked his girlfriend, not understanding what they were talking about. He did not watch soccer, preferring to watch basketball instead.

"I've just realised… the game that he was watching when I left… I've seen it before. He has basically put in on almost every week, making me believe that he has been watching soccer so that he doesn't have to go out somewhere," she had finally worked it out. She could not believe that it had taken her so long to find out what he was doing. She felt guilty. If she had realised that before then she might have been able to stop what had happened from happening.

"So he's just been putting on a repeat of an old game to keep you from worrying about what he was doing?" Matt thought that there was something that was not quite right about that hypothesis, but he said nothing. Why would Tai, the crazy leader Tai, ever think of lying to everyone like that? What could he be doing that could be so… important that he would lie to his own sister?

"I think so. I just don't know what he is so busy doing. I mean, his note did not even leave us a clue as to where he went. We're not even sure if he went voluntarily or if he was taken. Nothing seemed to be out of the ordinary in his room and nothing seemed to be missing. But something just felt… wrong and out of place. It was almost as like it wasn't Tai that had gone into his room before he left. It was really freaky," Kari explained, glancing out of the window once again, "When the Police arrived they couldn't really do anything. They just said that they could not investigate until he had been missing for at least twenty-four hours and then they agreed to at least look at his room."

"Wait, when did he go missing?" Sora asked, remembering how she had seen him in the park the day before. He had come out of the little forest that was supposed to be 'saving the trees' and he had just seemed to walk aimlessly around the park for a while. She had watched him walk around for a little while before he had left.

"Overnight we think. He mentioned something about seeing you at the park, then he went into his room and then he didn't come out of it again, to our knowledge at least."

"I didn't think that he had even noticed that I was at the park. He seemed to be just wandering aimlessly around and I would have been surprised to hear that he had noticed anything with the way he was walking. But at the same time I felt that he was seeing everything around him at the same time as he was noticing nothing. There is something seriously wrong," Sora was about to go on when Kari's phone rang. She picked it up and listened, nodding every once in a while and before saying goodbye and hanging up.

"Who was that?" Izzy asked, his curiosity to know everything never having left him.

"My mother. Apparently my wandering brother has returned home. His explanation for the note on his bed was that the wind from his open window had turned it upside down. On the back was a note telling my parents that he had gone to see his soccer coach about the next season. He had cut the piece of paper from an old school project of his. He had opened the window to let some air into the room, but he had left through the front door. My parents and I are heavy sleepers and so we didn't wake. Add that to the fact that we only woke up late this morning and Tai has a perfectly good alibi for where he was this morning," Kari summed up the conversation she had had with her mother, "Although I am still going to have a talk with him about his soccer tape. I'm sorry for getting all of you worried. I have to go now, but I'll see you tomorrow at school." And with that she left, leaving the others a little stunned at what had happened. They were very confused and they were not sure that everything was as okay as Kari had made it sound. Still they all left the meeting, sure that they would sort it out in the morning at school.

"Hey Kari. It's nice to know that you were worried about me, but I'm fine," Tai told her as she followed him into his room. She had been waiting for the moment when she could bring up the tape ever since she had gotten home. As a result she had not left him alone for a couple of hours.

"I know… I accept that you were where you were but… I realised something today. I was talking to Sora and I told her that you had been watching a soccer game last night. She told me that the soccer season had ended two months ago and that the next one doesn't start for two weeks at least," she waited expectantly for him to say something, and when he did not she was surprised, "Don't you have anything to say?"

"So what? I've been watching the same soccer games over and over for the past two months. They are the best soccer games ever! I can't help but be addicted to them. Besides, I've been studying the techniques of the players so that I can help my team out more by using more moves. Is there anything wrong with that?" to tell the truth she could not find much wrong with his reply. But she could find something.

"Then why didn't you tell us that you were watching replays? And why didn't you answer the phone when Mum called that night if you were only watching a replay?"

"Replays are still exciting. I get so into the game that I don't notice anything. Plus I am analysing them so closely that I forget about everything else. The reason that I didn't tell you that it was a replay was because it didn't matter. To me it was still like a new game. Whether or not it was a replay, it did not change anything one little bit," he was good, she had to admit. He had managed to answer her questions with answers that seemed like they could not be lies.

"I guess that I was overreacting a little. I guess that I must have been too worried when you were gone and… I'm sorry," she had to admit defeat. He just grinned at her admission as if he was not annoyed at all.

"Don't worry Kari, I pretty sure that I'd do the same if something happened to you."

"I'll remember that," Kari looked at her watch and then back at her brother, "I would spend some family bonding time with you now, but T.K's game is on in a few and…" She did not have to say anything more.

"Ah, I see… go and see your boyfriend Kari, I'll be fine!" She stuck her tongue out at him and then turned and left, already running late. She would spend time with her brother later.

She awoke with a start from her sleep, instinctively knowing that something was not right. The atmosphere around her was oppressive and dark. She knew that she was in the Dark Ocean before she had even opened her eyes. She heard exclamations of surprise coming from all around her and she knew that she was not alone.

"What the?! How in the world did we get here?" it was Davis that had cried out and as Kari opened her eyes she found that he was in sleeping gear. Veemon was beside him, jumping around excitedly.

"I don't know how we got here, but it's good to see you Davis!" the short blue digimon exclaimed, tripping over his short tail before bouncing up again.

"Kari, it took you long enough to wake up," Gatomon, Kari's cat-like digimon reproached her. That was the digimon's way of greeting her partner and showing her loyalties.

"I'm just… confused. How did we all get here?" they were all there, both the older and younger digidestined. Their digimon were also there. Something was obviously wrong.

"I am guessing that someone or something pulled us here for some reason," Izzy hypothesised, unconsciously brushing the sand of Tentomon's back.

"Well, that was a good guess," a deep voice boomed out, seemingly from everywhere. As is natural in these situations, they all jumped. They had not been expecting anyone to speak.

"Who are you?" Davis demanded, looking around everywhere with his fists clenched at his sides. The voice had sounded evil and he wanted to get rid of the evil.

"You should know… after all you were the ones that banished me here," a ghost-like image of a digimon appeared in front of them, floating in front of their eyes. He was a dark coloured digimon wearing red. That was all that they could see of him. That was all that they needed to see of him to recognise who he was.

"Daemon!" Ken gasped, turning pale. He had never been able to forget how he had had to open the portal to the Dark Ocean to get rid of this wicked digimon.

"So you do remember me. I'm so glad that you do. I would have been so disappointed if you hadn't," Daemon mocked, his form becoming clearer by the second, "But what are you going to do now? On Earth you could not defeat me, so how will you do it now?"

"Tai, what should we do?" T.K asked their strong leader. To the surprise of everyone present, he just shrugged his shoulders.

"I'm not the leader anymore T.K. Davis will know what to do," he said this so confidently that even Agumon gave him a strange look. Tai had never liked to take the backseat on anything, and yet here he was offering the reins to Davis. He definitely had grown up. Either that or he was stupid.

"So Davis, what are we to do?" Sora asked, nervously glancing at Daemon out of the corner of her eye. She did not like the fact that he was so close that he could hear their plan.

"Are you guys ready to digivolve?" Davis asked the digimon, getting nods from all of them in reply.

"Just say the word!" Hawkmon called from the back, raising his right wing as if signalling with a flag. Agumon nodded before looking back up to his partner. Usually he spoke for the others, but like Tai, he was keeping silent.

"Well, here's my plan," Davis beckoned for the others to come closer so that Daemon would not hear what they were planning. It would not be a surprise attack if the whole attack was known about.

"What do we have to do?" Yolie asked, determined to beat this guy. She had had just enough of his manipulations.

"If we all attack at once, from different directions, it may work. Are all of the digimon able to go Mega?"

"I'm pretty sure that we haven't lost that ability," Gabumon assured him, flexing a paw in order to get ready for the upcoming fight, "But what is the rest of the plan?"

"Well I just thought that we could…" he continued to explain what he wanted to do, being as quick as he could so that Daemon did not spring a surprise attack at them, "Is that plan okay Tai?" He finished.

"It's a great plan Davis. I told you that you could do it when you thought about it," there was a subtle hint of something in her brother's voice, but Kari had no idea what it was. Tai was very good at… lying. She hated to admit it but sometimes even she could not pick when he was telling the truth.

"Thanks Tai. Now team, let's go!" the digimon immediately responded by digivolving. By the time they had all finished nine digimon stood around the digidestined. They were all at their highest levels, with some having DNA digivolved together. They looked like a strong team. There was only one rookie left standing in the group. Agumon had not digivolved for some reason or another. It wasn't long before Matt noticed this.

"Hey Tai, is Agumon going to digivolve?" Tai looked down at his Digimon partner and gave a little nod. It was almost as if they were having a little conversation between the two of them.

"Of course Agumon's going to digivolve! Why on Earth wouldn't he?" as Tai finished his sentence Agumon was surrounded by a strange light.

"Agumon digivolve to… Skullgreymon!" A collective gasp ran through the group of older digidestined as the skeleton-version of Wargreymon appeared. They remembered the destruction he had caused the first time they had seen him and they had wished never to see him again. It seemed as though they had not been wishing hard enough.

"Tai, why did Agumon digivolve into… that?" Mimi squeaked, her eyes as wide as dinner plates.

"I don't know, maybe because he always digivolves into Skullgreymon when my evil side comes out?" the boy said sarcastically, his attitude flipping completely in about point one of a second. They stared at him, confused.

"What on Earth do you mean?" Joe finally managed to ask, being the first one to recover.

"What I mean is that Davis's plan would have been a good one… if I was actually on your side,' they still could not comprehend what he was saying.

"Oh for God's sake! What he is saying is that he is fighting on my side. Just get over yourselves and let's fight!" Daemon's patience had run out and he fired an attack at Paildramon and Silphymon. Without thinking the two dodged the attack without looking behind them. Skullgreymon fired his missiles from behind them. As they jumped back to avoid Daemon they ended up jumping into the missiles. They both went to the ground and struggled to get up.

"We're the perfect team, you'll never win," Tai's voice was almost as if it was on automatic. That was the difference that Kari had noticed before. He was looking at the scene in front of him as if nothing was bothering him at all. He even managed to look bored by it all.

"Why are you fighting for him? We're your friends and allies, not him! Whatever happened to being a team until the end?" T.K could not believe it. Tai was his role model and he had always aspired to be like him. Why would he turn evil on them?

"Life is a big game; you just have to win as long as you can. I always choose the winning side. After all, what is the point of being on the losing team? You gain nothing but sadness and death. Life is a game of every man for himself. I don't want to lose, so naturally I'm picking the winning side," Tai casually tossed the words around, glancing at his watch.

"But Tai, we could win if you were on our side, you know that!" Sora pointed out, making him raise an eyebrow.

"Really? Why would I want to be on your team anyway? A team can only win if everyone trusts each other and… I don't think that everyone is who they say they are. I mean, if you had no idea that I wasn't on your team, who else could be… lying?" no one noticed his slight pause as he finished his sentence. If they had caught it they would have realised that he was hesitating.

"Tai, what has gotten into you? We're sincere. I should know, it's on my crest!" Mimi called out, believing every word that she said.

"Yes, everyone is so sincere," Tai rolled his eyes, "So sincere in fact that you all lie to each other to get out of meetings. Every single one of us has done that. If we were lying to each other then, what is to stop us lying now?" He really seemed desperate to keep them talking. Yolie realised that it was because whilst they were talking, Skullgreymon was methodically taking out all of their digimon. The only problem was that they had to keep talking to turn Tai back onto the side of 'good' again and then they could fight Daemon. The latter digimon was sitting back calmly now, watching the digidestined almost intently. It was as though he was watching for any type of weakness to pounce on. He knew that he was going to win and yet he was still looking for weaknesses. That was what Yolie found extremely weird.

"I-Uh… We just don't lie to each other when it matters!" Sora was the one trying the hardest to get Tai back. Kari wanted her brother back on their side, but she had no idea what to do.

"Why are you still arguing uselessly? You know that I am right. Skullgreymon, what are you waiting for?" the digimon had paused before going to strike Garudamon down. At his partner's order though, he immediately struck the giant bird down to the ground. None of the attacks that the other digimon were firing seemed to have any effect on the massive skeleton digimon who was barely pausing in between attacks.

"Tai, I think that you need this!" Matt warned before walking over to him and punching him straight in the face. It was a thing that they had done ever since they had first gone to the Digital World. They both had claimed that it 'kept them on the ground' but the ritual was looked on a little dubiously by all of the others. At the moment though, they thought that it was pretty fair.

"I don't think that I needed that, nor do I believe that I deserved it. You, however, do deserve this and I do believe that you know why," and as Tai punched Matt back, he whispered something into his ear. Matt bit his lip and did not look very happy.

"That's not true!" his voice was low, but he still sounded nervous.

"Fine then, have it your way," Tai looked up at his digimon, who had finished annihilating the others, "Skullgreymon, you know what to do." The digimon seemed to grin, but it was not nice. It looked as though death itself was giving the digidestined one last smile.

"Tai, wait! Can you at least tell us the real reason why you are doing this?" Kari asked her brother, her eyes nervously eyeing Skullgreymon's physique. She knew how easily he could crush them all and she did not like it.

"It's easy. We all said that we would be a team forever and that nothing would get in the way of that. Obviously we were wrong. We never were a team; we were just a bunch of kids that were thrown together. We co-operated because we knew that we would all die if we didn't. As soon as we were out of that situation, we began to drift apart until the rifts between us were too big. It was always 'I can't come to the meeting because I have a band meet coming up soon.' Or 'I can't come because computer club is doing something special today…' One hint about that one though. If the computer club was doing something, then shouldn't all of the members be there? I remember one time when only one of you was at the club, whilst the other two came to the meeting. Pretty special, whatever happened at the club that day. If we were still a team, then I would not be here now," Kari still was not convinced.

"But you skipped some meetings too, and you lied when you did so. There is something that does not ring true about what you are saying. There is another reason that you are attacking us, isn't there?"

"Maybe there is, maybe there isn't. I know you're stalling for time Kari, I'm not that dumb. The thing is that it is none of your business anyway. My reason are exactly that… my reasons. Now, no more questions," he made a small hand movement and Skullgreymon came a step closer before stopping. Sora did not understand why Skullgreymon was stopping there. If Tai really wanted to destroy them, then Skullgreymon should have been coming straight for them. She knew, therefore, that Tai was not as evil as he was saying.

"Tai, you would have destroyed us by now if you were truly evil," maybe that was not the best thing she could have said, but it did not matter. She could have said anything and he would have ignored her.

"Stop! I think that I will destroy them. You have done your job well," Daemon floated over to where they were standing, a sadistic smile on his face. Tai shrugged and Skullgreymon de-digivolved straight away.

"Whatever you wish," he looked really bored now. Sora's eyes widened as she realised that they would now have no way of stopping Daemon. He would answer their questions, but he was evil to the heart. He would have no trouble in destroying them because he wanted them dead.

"Why are you doing this to us?" Cody called out desperately. Even though he was very young he still realised that Daemon needed to be distracted. He did not want to die.

"It's simple. You were the ones that brought me here. Because of you I had to stay here for these past few months. I'm supposed to be taking over the world, not a world of darkness in which the population doesn't listen to a word I say!" he snarled, his eyes glinting with anger. That was the answer to that question at least. But now there was nothing to distract Daemon with. He was going to attack them and they would die.

"Before you attack us I want to know one thing," Kari said urgently, waving her arms to get his attention.

"What is it now?" Daemon sounded extremely irritated and he had already had enough of them. After he had answered Kari's question, he would attack without fail.

"How did you get my brother on your side?" Daemon's eyes lit up. The thing that he was most proud of was getting the digidestined of Courage to gang up with him against the digidestined.

"Now that is an interesting question…" he relaxed a little, getting ready to tell a story. Sora looked over to Tai and noticed that he had lost his look of boredom. He had started to pay attention. She frowned. Why would Tai start listening when Daemon was only reciting the story of how Tai had gone over to the side of evil? Surely that story would be boring to him, as he had lived through it. So why was he so interested? Pushing those thoughts aside she began to listen to Daemon's story, watching Tai out of the corner of her eye. His reactions would be worth recording and she knew it.

F L A S H B A C K

Daemon had to laugh as Tai screamed. He quickly zapped the boy with one of safer attacks and the boy immediately fell to the ground, unconscious. Grabbing the boy, Daemon clicked his fingers and in an instant he was back in the DarkOcean. He would have gone back to the Digital World but he had realised that the digimon there would betray his presence and the digidestined would therefore come and investigate. By taking Tai to the DarkOcean, he did not have to worry about that happening. Settling the digidestined of Courage against a rock, Daemon set about weaving an illusion for the boy to see when he awoke. Magic was one of the digimon's strong points and within seconds a believable scene had arisen around the pair. The images of Tai's friends were immaculate and if he didn't know better himself, he could have sworn that they were there. The scene that he had painted was set in the park. He knew that Tai often wandered through the park and he also knew that the digidestined often met there. He had woven the illusion to look like the place where they often met. It was easier this way. All he had to do now was wait for the main actor to begin the play.

"I should really keep my eyes open when I walk to the park," Tai whispered to himself as he opened his eyes, observing the scene around him as if nothing was out of the ordinary. Daemon certainly was the master of observation. Tai wandered through the park aimlessly, as he often did. He finally eventuated on the place where the main show was going to take place.

"Thank God Tai isn't here. Thanks for lying to him Kari, we owe you one," he could clearly hear Sora's voice, coming from the place that they had loved since they had been only four.

"No problem Sora. I'm glad to be here without him too. He always thinks that he is the leader and that he is the only one that can do anything around here. If we even come up with a suggestion he ignores us. It's like that at home too. I can't stand it anymore!" Kari exploded as if she was pouring out all of her aggressive feelings. Tai had stopped dead in his tracks, so stunned that he could not move.

"Doesn't he realise that I am the new leader? He gave me his goggles, a sign that I was the leader, but all he has been doing lately is interfering. What happened to believing in your friends? He has proven that he doesn't care!" Davis exclaimed, happy to be agreeing with Kari. This seemed to be the only thing that the pair had in common.

"Well, what do you expect? He does have ice in his veins you know. He showed that time and time again in the Digital World," this time it was Matt that had spoken. Tai winced as he remembered the conversation in which Matt had first said that. Why were they all saying such mean things? What had he ever done to them that was so bad? Had he really been that controlling?

"I can't believe that he thinks that we're his friends, not after the way that he has been treating us lately. He hasn't turned up to any of our invitations and yet he believes that all of the big decisions are his to make. He says that we are a team, but by the time he has done everything, we can't work as a team at all. He has to learn that there is no 'I' in team," Ken announced harshly, as though Tai had personally insulted him. Tai had to admit that he had not been going out with the others much, but he had not directly insulted them by doing so, had he? He was so confused… he did not know what to do and he did the first thing that popped into his head. He turned and ran…

E N D O F F L A S H B A C K

"…Of course that was when he returned back to the 'Real' world and found himself back in the park. He saw Sora there and that was what put the first doubt in his head. He realised that if Sora was there, she could not have been saying the harsh things about him before. So he refused to join me when I asked him to. So I just erased me asking him to join me from his memory and instead I took him away again. This time I made the vision worse for him to endure and he finally agreed to attack you. He was like a piece of putty in my hands," Daemon laughed, feeling victorious, "And now you have no digimon and you have no hope! I am going to win! This serves you right for sending me here." He raised his hands and a huge fireball shot out of them. Mimi screamed and clung to Joe in terror. Yolie threw her arms up to cover her face and Ken wrapped his arms around her, as if that would protect her from harm. Kari and T.K stayed silent, and T.K squeezed Kari's hand as though in a final goodbye. Izzy and Cody hit the ground, their minds screaming at them to move. Davis stood strong, unable to do anything but refusing to give up. Matt, who somehow knew that his girlfriend did not want to be comforted, stood with Davis. Sora watched Tai. The digimon of the digidestined, bar Agumon, were struggling to get up. They could only watch helplessly as their partners cowered in terror at the fireball coming to obliterate them.

"I can't believe that this is the end!" T.K whispered to Kari as the fireball came so close that they could feel the heat of it. It seemed as though the attack was going in slow motion, as if time had deliberately slowed down for their last minutes on Earth. Then, before the attack got close enough to hurt them, a mysterious beam of light cut in between the attack and the digidestined. The fireball imploded and disappeared in a spectacular display of light. None of the digidestined were injured even though they were thrown back a couple of meters.

"What in Heaven's name was that? There's no light in the Dark Ocean!" Matt cried, jumping nimbly back up to his feet. He had been the first of the digidestined to recover. What he saw surprised him a little. Daemon had whirled around to face a shining Wargreymon. Agumon had digivolved into his 'good' form.

"You!" Daemon hollered at the Mega digimon, anger flashing in his eyes, "You're not supposed to be here. I have him under my complete control!" He did not look at Tai, but just pointed. The boy in question was hitting the palm of his right hand against his forehead repetitively and muttering something under his breath. He looked almost as if he was about to go crazy. No, he did look crazy, Izzy concluded.

"Maybe your control was never as strong as you thought it would be. This moment was inevitable. Tai never fully believed the… situation you put him through. You just took advantage of the situation Tai himself was in when you attacked. You would never have taken control of him for even one second if it had not been for mitigating factors. You are weak Daemon. You do not have any power anymore," as he said this Tai stopped hitting his head and his muttering was gone too.

"You're going down Daemon!" was all that he would and could say. His head was spinning and he was finding it very difficult to stand up straight. When Daemon's presence had left his mind it had been like something a heavy weight had been lifted away. The problem was that the rest of his mind had been spent on a spinning machine for a holiday. That was what it felt like anyway.

"I think not. The only digimon of yours left is Wargreymon. And I will soon have you under my control again. Your mind is weak and I can take control again more easily than I did the first time. Tai immediately felt Daemon's presence again at his mind, trying to find a way to break into it again. Unlike the first time he had done so however, Daemon was pushing against Tai's mind barrier, causing the brunette to wince in pain. He grabbed his head with both of his hands, and half collapsed to the ground.

"Tai!" Kari called out to her brother, and pushing caution to the wind, she raced to her brother's side, "Are you alright?" He did not answer, not even having the strength to look up. He was putting all of his energy into the barrier that was keeping Daemon from taking his mind over again.

"What is going on here?" Yolie asked, looking between Daemon and Tai uncertainly. She knew that Tai was somehow back on their side, but she had no idea how or why.

"Daemon made a mistake when he told us exactly how he had tricked Tai into going onto his side. Tai had already been having doubts about what was going on. By gloating over his little victory, Daemon gave Tai the reason why he had been feeling uncomfortable on Daemon's side. Whilst Daemon was talking, Tai was beginning to come back to reality. Now he is on our side. We have to let our digimon digivolve now!" Sora explained, knowing the situation well. She had known Tai ever since they had been little and she knew his thought patterns and emotions almost as well as she knew her own… to an extent of course.

"You heard her guys, digivolve!" Davis ordered. He knew that he did not have the mental capacity to understand the situation, so he was glad to take orders from someone who did. The whole idea of something being able to take over someone's mind was abhorrent to the leader of the 02 digidestined. The digimon stood up, somehow being replenished with energy. The return of a digidestined to the team had given them the energy they needed. Soon they were all ready to fight. Daemon was so busy trying to gain control of Tai's mind that he did not notice them digivolve. His ambition to be the best Master of Illusions ever was blinding him to the real danger. The tall Mega digimon made an imposing sight. Without a thought they attacked as a team. Daemon never had a chance. He didn't even turn around as the attack headed towards him and knocked him into oblivion. The team had won again.

"Tai I…" she trailed off, not knowing what to say. He shook his head, telling her not to worry.

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to go all evil on you," they were walking home from school a week after Daemon had been defeated. Ever since they had gotten back home, Sora had never strayed too far away from her best friend. She had realised that Wargreymon had been referring to depression when he had explained the 'situation' that Tai had been in to Daemon. Matt had been upset when she had broken it off with him, but there was nothing he could have done. She had made up her mind that she did not love him anymore and there was nothing he could do to change it. All he had told her was that if Tai ever hurt her, he would kill him for her.

"It wasn't your fault. Daemon was playing with your mind and to tell you the truth, it wasn't very stable to begin with," she teased, earning a 'look' from her friend.

"No, it was my fault. If I hadn't been having… problems with things that were none of my business, then Daemon would not have gotten to me."

"What were you having trouble with? You can tell me, I'm your best friend!" he stopped and hesitated, biting his lip. How could he tell her that he had been upset because he loved her and she had been seeing Matt?

"I-I was upset that you were going out with Matt," oops. He had not meant to say it aloud.

"Why?" that one answer had made her eyes light up, although he was too busy looking at the ground to see.

"Because… I love you," her smile widened. She could not have heard a better answer.

"Good… you should. I broke up with my boyfriend for you. Now where's my kiss?" and with that she had given him the best reply he had ever heard too. She had brought his heart out of the shadows and into the sunlight.

The End

Litanya: There you go, my longest one-shot yet! It is 17 pages long… whoa. Anyway, please review and have a good day/night/morning/evening! Bye!