*

As she stepped through the Digital Gate that connected the two worlds, Yolei let out a little gasp of surprise. In their absence, the Digital World had been washed of all colour! The trees and grass looked sun-bleached, their green having faded to grey. Beneath them, colourless flowers swayed in the breeze. And, in its pale sky, the sun itself was white and strangely dim. She and the other children were the only bright things in the entire place. In their colourful clothes, they stood out against the grey landscape like a rainbow on a cloudy day.

"Tell me I need my eyes tested," she whispered to Ken, whose hand she was still holding.

Violet eyes dark with worry, "You don’t. I see the same thing too."

"It has to be the Crest of Cowardice," Izzy said grimly as he came to stand beside them. Irrelevantly, she noticed he was still dressed in the orange t-shirt and blue jeans that he had been wearing in their own world. Her own clothes had changed to the red jodphurs, blue shirt and olive puffer-jacket that she always wore in the Digital World. The older Digidestined’s outfits did not seem to change in the transition between worlds. Even T.K. and Kari’s clothes remained the same in both the real world and the Digital World. (1) She dismissed the thought with a shrug. It did not help their current crisis, but it was hard not to notice the colours in the dull landscape.

"Crest of Cowardice, Izzy?" Cody was saying. Her friend was standing next to her, his usual, grave expression on his face. It made him seem strangely adult, as did the somber, brown clothes he was wearing. It was easy to forget that he was the youngest of the Digidestined - she had the feeling sometimes that his soul was centuries older than his body.

"Yes," Izzy continued thoughtfully, "I don’t see what else it could be. Whatever Myotismon is doing with the Shadow Crests, it is affecting this world too. Moreover, it looks like his actions have also thrown our worlds out of synch again."

"What do you mean by ‘out of synch again’?" Yolei asked, "Time in the Digital World has always corresponded with our own, hasn’t it?"

"No," Izzy told her, "The first time the eight of us came to the Digital World, it didn’t. The months we spent here were only a matter of hours in the real world. Somehow - I’m not sure how - the two worlds aligned themselves. It’s been that way until now."

"How do you know that things have changed?" she asked, perplexed.

"It was night-time in our world," he explained, lifting an arm to indicate the dim sun, "It’s day here."

"Does that mean we have more time or less to find our Digimon?" Ken asked quietly.

A grim expression on his face, Izzy shook his head.

Yolei’s stomach suddenly felt very cold and heavy within her. She had almost forgotten why they had come to the Digital World in the shock of seeing what had happened to it. In this peaceful, if colourless meadow, the battle seemed very distant and unreal. It seemed like something she had seen on television - a late-night, monster movie or a cartoon show. Yet, as they were standing there and talking, Garurumon was fighting for all their lives against Skullgreymon. And Tai, Matt, Kari and T.K. were watching powerlessly and waiting for them to return. If what Ken had suggested was right, it might already be over. . . .

::No, you can’t afford to think like that. You can’t give up the battle before you even fight it.::

Her fists clenched at her sides.

"In that case, we have to get moving!"

"I agree," Davis said, reemerging from a copse of trees. The first out of the Digital Gate, he had evidently gone ahead to scout out their surroundings and to see if he could find any of their Digimon. In his scarlet and blue jacket, he stood out against the grey backdrop like a flame. "We gotta get our Digimon and get back to our world."

Coming up behind them, Sora said, "If it helps, my Digivice is tracking two of our Digimon only a few feet away from us."

Slipping her free hand into her pocket, Yolei pulled out her own D3 and checked the screen. A pair of blinking dots confirmed what Sora had said. Two of their Digimon were definitely nearby, even though the device did not indicate whose partners they were. Selfishly, she hoped it was Hawkmon. She had not seen her friend for months, since Oikawa’s final sacrifice had restored the balance of good and evil. Unfortunately, as they had discovered, it had also closed the gate between the two worlds. As they were no longer needed, they could not travel to the Digital World, nor could their partners travel to the real one. Their parting had been painful. She remembered the empty hollowness within her when she had had to say goodbye to Hawkmon, and the promises that she had made about finding a way to see him again. It was sad that it had taken Myotismon to fulfill them.(2)

"They’re just over that rise," Jyou said, glancing up from the gadget in his hands and pointing towards a small, wooded hill to the west of them, "And, if you follow me, I’ll lead you to them."

*

Screaming through the air, the missile flew directly towards Garurumon. The wolf Digimon twisted gracefully in midair to avoid it, before landing lightly on the ground and attacking with another Howling Blaster. The missile ploughed into the ground, throwing up high ridges of dirt and clouds of dust. It sped towards a cluster of trees, where it exploded in a shower of bark chips and burning leaves. All around it, knocked over by its force, trees toppled to the ground with rustling crashes. Garurumon leapt and turned gracefully to avoid them, his silver-blue body a blur of twisting, sinuous motion. However, he was not agile enough, and branch caught him a glancing blow across his backlegs. He fell clumsily and heavily to the ground. For unmeasured seconds, he lay there, sides heaving and breath rasping, before he clambered to his feet and launched himself at Skullgreymon again.

Tai realised with a rush of nausea that Matt’s Digimon would not last much longer. He was growing tired. The blue energy, that streamed from his mouth, was beginning to dim. His movements were slightly less quick and sure than they had been. Every time, he avoided Skullgreymon’s clumsy swipes by a fraction of a second less. It was only a matter of time before one of the larger Digimon’s blows collided with him, and then . . . .

"Tai?"

Hands balling into fists, Tai spun around to face the speaker. He relaxed, however, when he saw it was Matt. He had been so preoccupied with his thoughts that he had not seen his friend coming up to him. Considering their situation, the other boy seemed remarkably calm. His arms were folded across his chest, and his face was expressionless. Only his blue eyes, flickering nervously from Garurumon to Tai and back to Garurumon again, gave any indication of how worried he was.

"Sorry, my nerves are on edge," he said with a weak laugh.

Matt shrugged, "It’s cool. I’ve just been to check on the younger kids. I tried to get Teke to take Kari home - you know, to get them both out of the way before things turned really nasty - but neither of them wanted to listen to me. They told me that we needed them to fight Skullgreymon. Your sister was mad I even suggested it. Honestly? I don’t think it matters whether they’re here or at home. It’ll take a miracle to help us now."

"It’s bad, isn’t it?"

The other boy said nothing, but his hand found Tai’s and tightened around it.

And, together, they watched in silence.

*

"Vee Headbutt!"

As Davis heard his Digimon’s shout, his heart gave an odd, painful bound within his chest. Even under the circumstances, it would be more than good to see Veemon again. He was not only his partner, but his best friend. He was the only one who really understood him, who liked him and looked up to him no matter what stupid things he said or did.

"Veemon!" he yelled, breaking into a sprint, "Veemon!"

He stopped short as he crested the hill. Brilliantly blue against the faded landscape, Veemon was hurling himself against what looked like a living shadow. Formless and fluid, the creature slipped around Veemon’s attack, before lashing out with a dark tentacle itself. It cut across Veemon’s arm, branding it with a thin stripe of red. The little Digimon hissed in pain.

"Veemon!"

"Wormmon!" he heard Ken yell from behind him. Suddenly, Davis became aware of a pathetically small, limp length of green curled up on the ground behind Veemon. Its body was purple-mottled and its two antennae drooped. The grass around it was stained with green with the fluid that Wormmon had instead of blood.

Calling out his partner’s name again, Ken ran towards his Digimon. Before he could get far, however, Joe grabbed his arm and restrained him. The younger boy struggled to break free, twisting and turning his body like that of a snake, but with little success. Joe’s grip on him was simply too strong.

"You can’t," the older boy was saying, "It’s too dangerous. You’ll be hurt."

"Wormmon . . ." Ken’s voice was an anguished whisper.

As much as Davis wanted to go to his best friend and comfort him, he knew the best way to help him - and Wormmon - would be to defeat the shadow creature.

"Hey, Veemon," he shouted, "Ready to Digivolve?

"Davis!" Veemon called back happily, "Let’s do it!"

Nodding, Davis pulled out his D3 and pointed it at his Digimon.

As the device began to pulsate, Veemon started to glow as if he were being transformed into pure light. Energy streamed into him, surrounding him with an aura of glory. He grew larger, taller, wider. Blinded by the radiance, Davis had to cover his eyes with his free hand, but he heard his partner’s triumphant shout. . . .

"Yeah! We still got it!" Davis yelled and punched his fist into the air, when he opened his eyes and saw the champion Digimon standing in front of him. Unlike some of the other Digivolutions, ExVeemon was a larger, more imposing version of his rookie form. White, bat-like wings sprouted from his back, and a grey symbol blotched his chest. The horn on his snout had grown long and curved. His bruises and cuts had completely healed too. He grinned at Davis.

"Now to finish the job," he spread his arms wide and the symbol on his chest began to shine, "Vee Laser!"

A ray of brilliant, white light blazed out from his chest towards his opponent. As his laser cut through it, the creature dissipated like grey mist in the morning sun. Davis blinked in surprise. ExVeemon’s attacks were powerful, but he had never been able to destroy a Digimon with a single shot in the past. Nor had Davis wanted him to do so now.

"Wormmon," Davis heard Ken whisper. Finally released by Joe, the other boy ran towards his injured Digimon and sunk to his knees beside him. Wormmon stirred slightly when he heard his partner’s voice, and his eyes creased in what Davis had come to recognise as a smile. Murmuring comforting words beneath his breath, Ken removed a clean handkerchief from his pocket and daubed gently at his wounds with it. It soon was soaked with the same green fluid that dyed the grass.

"Let me take a look at him," Joe told Ken, kneeling beside the younger boy and unslinging his backpack from his shoulder. From it, he removed a bottle of antiseptic, a number of swabs and several rolls of crepe bandage, "It was a good thing I came prepared. I can’t count the times I’ve need medical supplies in the past, and didn’t have them."

Ken nodded, then shifted to one side to allow Joe free access to Wormmon. He kept his hand on his partner’s head, though, stroking him and whispering words of reassurance. While the older boy was treating the Digimon, Davis turned back to his partner who had reverted to Veemon in the interim.

"What happened to both of you?"

His partner shook his head, "I don’t know. It was the weirdest thing, Davis. Gennai told us to meet him here, so we could talk about why the world had lost all its colour, why the hole had appeared in the sky and what we were going to do about it. Gennai had just sent Agumon and Gabumon to your world to tell you guys about the problems, when we got jumped by these creepy shadows. We managed to kick most of their butts for them, even if Wormmon got hurt badly during the fight, and the rest started running away . . . ."

"So, where are the other Digimon?" Yolei asked eagerly.

"I was just gonna get to that," Veemon sounded irritable, "When they started retreating, Gatomon said we should go after them and find out where they had come from. The others agreed with her. I said I’d hang out with Wormmon to make sure he was okay."

"Good thing you did. I don’t think any of us want to think what might have happened to him if you hadn’t been around," Sora said warmly, causing Veemon’s cheeks to go crimson, "Anyway, can you tell us where our other Digimon have gone? We need to find them and head back to our world. It’s pretty urgent too. Myotismon used this crest - I think he called it the Crest of Cowardice - to make Greymon Digivolve to Skullgreymon. Garurumon’s holding him off for now, but he isn’t going to last long."

All the colour had drained from the little Digimon’s cheeks at the sound of Skullgreymon’s name. Having faced him and having been easily defeated by him, he knew precisely how dangerous he was.

"They went thataway," he replied, his voice as shaky as the paw he used to indicate the direction, "I hate to leave Wormmon, but I think . . . I think I should Digivolve to Raidramon. Then Davis can ride me and go look for them. It’d be quicker than going on foot."

"I’ll come with you too, if you can manage to carry me," Sora said decisively, "Birdramon will help transport the other Digimon back. Besides, if you run into more of the shadows, you might need the extra firepower."

Davis looked dubiously at the older girl. Even though she had made a good case as to why she should be included, he would have preferred to go alone with Raidramon. Extra weight on his Digimon’s back would only slow him down, and they needed to find their partners as quickly as possible. Still, the last time he had made that sort of comment to Jun, she had ended up throwing her hairbrush at him and yelling that ‘she was NOT fat’!

Pulling out his D-Terminal, "Let’s saddle up, Veemon."

*

Chewing his lip, T.K. stared at the battlefield in front of them. Leaping gracefully among the churned-up earth and fallen trees, Garurumon continued to pound Skullgreymon with Howling Blaster after Howling Blaster. And Skullgreymon continued to absorb every attack as if it were little more than a gentle pat. Nothing was working. In spite of his best efforts, he felt tears begin to burn his eyes. He rubbed them away furiously with the back of his hand. He wasn’t eight anymore, alone and scared in the Digital World, and tears wouldn’t do any of them any good. Besides, he had to be strong for Kari. He couldn’t let her see how afraid he was.

"Everything’s going to be okay, Kari. Garurumon’s doing great. He’ll hold SkullGreymon off until the others come back from the Digital World."

Raising a skeptical eyebrow, his best friend replied, "And that’s why you got the Crest of Hope, and not Sincerity, T.K.."

He laughed weakly, glad that she was feeling better. The colour had returned to her cheeks, and she had a determined look on her face. He suspected that had everything to do with Myotismon disappearing and taking his Shadow Crest with him. Even though he had also sensed the darkness rippling out from the Crest of Cowardice, like the spread of oil across clear water, it had not had the same effect on him as it had on Kari. (3) It seemed to have physically hurt her, to have sickened her in a way he could not understand.

"Hey, guys," Izzy said, coming up to them with his laptop slung under an arm, "I’ve just got an e-mail from Cody. He says they’ve found Wormmon and Veemon, and that Davis and Sora have gone after the others. They should be back soon, if that’s true."

"It can’t be soon enough," Kari said grimly, "We’re running out of time."

And, no matter how much he wished it were otherwise, T.K. could only agree with her.

*

NOTELETS:

1. "Older" is obviously used in the loosest sense of the term because T.K. and Kari are both younger than Yolei. And . . . in some episodes, T.K. and Kari’s clothes do change. I blame the lazy animators at Toei who want to reuse the standard poses.

2. Obviously, if "A Million Points of Light" is to be believed, this isn’t the case. For the sake of my story, however, I’m going to ignore this point of continuity. I hated the episode so I don’t feel the slightest bit of guilt. ^.^

3. Of all the Digidestined, T.K. is the one in coda who can sense darkness and evil. There’s proof of that in the episode where Kimeramon appears for the first time. Pegasusmon asks him "Can’t you feel the evil coming from the whirlpool?" and he replies that he can. None of the other DD remark on it at all. So, T.K. seems to have some special faculty for recognising darkness, just as Kari has the faculty of banishing it. <grins> It must have to do with them being Hope and Light - the two forces that are the centre of the Digital World.