Broken Crest

by Cybra

A/N: I just saw the end of Metal Seadramon and the beginning of the Puppetmon threat episode when I was inspired to write this new one!

Disclaimer: I don't own Digimon or any of the characters associated TO Digimon. I could NEVER own Digimon even if I wanted to. Go sue someone else.

Izzy tossed and turned in his sleep. Matt, sleeping nearby, woke up at the sound of his restlessness. He looked over there and saw Izzy open his eyes, glaring at the stars. Joe was on watch, but didn't notice anything.

Matt inched over there. In a hushed tone, he asked, "Are you awake?"

"Yes."

Izzy glanced over at the sleeping Junpuu. She had just come to the Digital World and was not even a real Digidestined. She was there by mistake. She'd adjusted easily to the group, but didn't take a liking to either Sora or Mimi. Both of them hadn't hit it off well with her.

"Did I wake you up, Matt?"

Matt could've lied, but Izzy would've seen right through it. The older boy nodded. Izzy sighed.

"Sorry. You should go back to sleep."

"You should take your own advice, Izzy."

"I know. Just can't sleep."

Matt regarded the younger boy with curiosity. Izzy had pulled out his Crest without thinking about it and was presently fingering it. Izzy's eyes were on nothing but the Crest of Knowledge. His dark eyes showed off that he was tired, but there was something keeping him from drifting off.

"Have a nightmare?" Matt asked casually.

Izzy visibly paused, undecided. Matt waited patiently, not wanting to push. Matt had had experiences with people where if you pushed them too hard, they'd just clam up. He didn't know if Izzy was that type, but didn't want to risk it.

"Yes," Izzy answered at last.

"What was it?"

Shaking his head, Izzy replied, "It was pretty stupid."

"It can't be that stupid."

Izzy hesitated again. Matt silently chastised himself.

"Izzy, if you don't want to say it..."

"Liquimon."

Matt had suspected that it had something to do with that one Digimon.

"What about her?"

"I keep having this dream where I'm watching her die. Then all of a sudden, I'm the one who's pleading with Myotismon to spare my life; I'M Liquimon. Finally, I see Jamie, her human form, leaning over me and laughing her head off. That's where the dream ends." He gave a nervous smile. "Pretty crazy, huh?"

Matt shook his head. "It's not crazy. You were standing over her as she died. Heck, I couldn't figure out why you just stood there! But I thought that maybe you had a reason for doing it, so I kept Sora from going over there."

Izzy was silent for a moment. Matt saw a few tears hovering in those dark eyes.

"There's something else, isn't there?"

Izzy nodded. "It's gotten easy."

The older boy raised an eyebrow. "What has?"

"Getting rid of Digimon."

From his tone of voice, the younger boy had meant "killing evil Digimon". Basically, that was what they did. Matt didn't like it either, but he knew they had to do it. Either that or watch the world be destroyed. It sickened him. However, Izzy's tone of voice and the meaning of his words made the blood in Matt's veins freeze.

"When we defeated, or rather, Angemon defeated Devimon, I felt a little queasy about doing it. Each Digimon that we've destroyed, that queasiness started getting less and less. I watched Liquimon die because I wanted to remind myself of what I was doing. However, last week, when we took care of Skulltigeramon, I felt...nothing. Absolutely nothing." He looked angrily at his Crest. "Megakabuterimon was a major part of defeating him. This Crest..." He said the word as if it left a bad taste in his mouth. "...helped Tentomon digivolve to Megakabuterimon."

Matt had never seen Izzy like this. He was tempted to wake up Junpuu in order to have her beat some sense into him. As literally or figuratively as necessary.

"Izzy, what do you mean by you felt nothing?"

"Exactly what I said!" he answered, anger in his voice. "I could've watched him die ten times over and I wouldn't have felt nauseous, remorseful, or anything! It was like I didn't care anymore!"

Izzy reddened, embarrassed by his outburst. He looked away from Matt, stuffing the Crest into his shirt.

"Sorry, Matt. I...I didn't mean to...look, let's just forget we had this conversation. Please?"

Matt nodded, even though Izzy couldn't see him. He watched the younger boy until his breathing had evened out, showing that he was asleep. Joe walked over to Matt, nodding for him to follow him. Junpuu was awake and sitting next to the fire, her face was as white as a Bakemon.

Right off the bat, she stated, "He's starting to hate that Crest."

"Yeah, I noticed," Matt agreed.

"He'll get over it. Trust me."

"You're not going to force him to surrender information?"

She shook her head. "Nope. I know he needs his space this time. However, if he doesn't get any better in the next few days, he's going to deal with me."

Matt nodded. Joe shook from remembering what Izzy had said.

Izzy's words echoed in their heads, "I could've watched him die ten times over and I wouldn't have felt nauseous, remorseful, or anything! It was like I didn't care anymore!"

Was that happening to all of them?

Blackwidowmon laughed. She watched the Digidestined through her blood-red amulet. She heard what the redhead had said to the blond boy.

"You keep that up, child, and the Crest of Knowledge will never glow again. In fact, it's stopped glowing for the moment; thanks to you. You're helping me without even realizing it!" she whispered happily.

She looked up at the gate in front of her. The large temple held what she needed to achieve complete power. Not even the Digidestined children would be able to stop her. A large symbol was over the doors, securing them from all attacks.

An inscription on the wall read, "Knowledge is the key."

Blackwidowmon puzzled over the inscription. It made little sense. What knowledge was the key to opening the doors to the temple? No matter what she did to try to open those doors, they remained sealed.

Another inscription, one that was written over the first, read, "You can open any door, if you only have the key."

Okay, knowledge would open the door, but what knowledge was the key? Falcunomon flapped towards his mistress.

"Mistress, I have sought out and located new targets for you," he reported. "Panthramon has done the same."

"Excellent...and what Digimon will have the pleasure of being my new slaves?"

"A Gomamon is about to digivolve into Ikkakumon, a Raremon, a Tortoisemon, and a Gremlimon."

"Excellent work. Inform me when the Gomamon has digivolved into Ikkakumon. I wouldn't want to use my energy hypnotizing a Rookie when I could have a Champion a few moments later."

"Yes, Mistress."

Blackwidowmon turned her head back towards the gate into the temple.

"I will discover your secret."

She scurried off. If she had looked back, she would've noticed what the symbol looked like from far away.

'He won't even look at me. He must feel really bad about last night,' Matt thought to himself.

Izzy really wasn't looking at anybody. Of course, he hadn't all morning. Whenever he talked to someone, he'd avert his eyes for some odd reason. Tai had been informed by Joe of what had happened the night before. Tentomon looked torn between wanting to tell Izzy that everything was fine and following Tai's orders of keeping his mouth shut. It wasn't easy.

A loud snap alerted the approach of someone. The Digimon tensed up and faced the possible threat. Junpuu tensed up herself. A bare foot stepped out of the greenery.

"Cybra!" Tai greeted the human-like Digimon.

Cybra approached the group, grinning broadly. Her blue eyes looked over the group. She frowned and did a quick count.

"Let's see...9 kids, 8 Digimon. That's not right...what happened?"

"I sort of fell into this world," Junpuu replied. "My name's Junpuu."

"Nice ta meet ya, Junpuu! The name's Cybra!"

"Are you a..."

"Digimon? Sure am!"

Agumon walked up to her. "It's been a while! Did you finish what Gennai told you to do?"

She rolled her eyes. "No, I just felt like ditching Gennai's orders and doing what I wanted to. Of course I carried out Gennai's orders! You think I'm some sort of wacko?! Honestly!"

Cybra had been raised by Gennai and then trained by Piximon. She had been sent on a mission by Gennai to find the eggs of the Humamon, the same kind of Digimon she was. Only, she had never told any of the Digidestined this. That had been ordered by Gennai. Right now, all the baby forms of the Humamon (they resembled 4 year-olds) had started their training by Piximon.

Izzy walked up and greeted Cybra as well. Cybra looked eager to be back with Izzy and Tentomon and for good reason. For some strange reason, Izzy's Crest of Knowledge had caused Cybra to digivolve from Champion to Ultimate for a short period of time.

"Looks like we're all back together again!" Palmon said cheerily.

Izzy's face grew serious. "Cybra, I have a special job for you. If you'll do it, I'd be much obliged."

"Shoot."

Matt was impressed by how Izzy's left eye twitched only a little bit from that statement. Cybra had unknowingly used a word that reminded him of last night's conversation.

"I want you to stick by Junpuu."

Junpuu opened her mouth to protest. As did Cybra. Izzy shot both of them a withering glance.

"I know it sounds weird and neither of you like it, but it's important. Junpuu, you don't have a Digimon. If you got separated from the group, you would be putting your life in jeopardy. Cybra, you make the most logical choice for 'her' Digimon since you are somewhat of an extra. If you two were to get in trouble, you would be able to hold off an attack until the rest of us could get there."

It made perfect sense. Junpuu and Cybra nodded, defeated. Izzy's logical assessment of the situation couldn't be fought.

Junpuu suddenly grinned. "Well, that means I finally have my own Digimon!"

"And I've got 2 humans!" Cybra added cheerfully.

Both of them gave each other a high-five. Izzy slapped his hand to his forehead.

"Problem, Izzy?" Matt laughed.

"It's gonna be like living with 2 Junpuus," Izzy moaned.

The newly-digivolved Ikkakumon growled in anger as Blackwidowmon held up her amulet.

"Amulet, make this Digimon my slave for all eternity!" she ordered.

She really didn't have to say that. All she had to do was just touch it and think what she wanted it to do, but she preferred allowing the doomed Digimon to know of their fate in advance. Blackwidowmon loved watching that look of horror cross their faces.

That look crossed Ikkakumon's face now. A bright red beam shot out of the amulet and split into 2 beams. Each of the beams went straight into his eyes. Ikkakumon howled in despair as he felt his will being stolen from him and the control began to take over his mind. Within moments, his howls ceased and a new, mindless slave of Blackwidowmon was standing before her. She laughed.

"You put up a good fight, Ikkakumon. Better than most."

"Thank you, Mistress."

"I have a special job for you."

"I anxiously await your command, Mistress."

She smiled. "Find the 8 Digidestined children, their Digimon, and the human girl who accompanies them. Kill them all, but I want the girl ALIVE. She may have the secret for finding a portal into the human realm."

"Yes, Mistress."

That said, the large, hairy Digimon shuffled away. Blackwidowmon looked up the hovering Falcunomon. He had made sure that Ikkakumon had walked right into her trap. A few Arial Attacks had done the job.

"Falcunomon, well done."

"Thank you, Mistress."

"Now, go find Panthramon and check on her progress. Also, I want you to seek out more Digimon. The more slaves I have, the larger my army becomes."

"Yes, Mistress."

Falcunomon flapped his way up and away. Blackwidowmon's horrible smile followed him. If either Digimon had asked why she wanted the human girl, she wouldn't have told them the real reason. The reason was this: if there WAS a pathway into the human world and back again, she may be able to find the knowledge that would open the gate to the temple. Or there might be a rift on the human world's side into the temple itself. Either way, she had a large chance of gaining her power.

Izzy sat close to the warmth of the fire. It was his watch and it would last till the end of the night. He looked over at a yawning Tentomon. Both of them hadn't slept really well.

Tentomon had stayed awake since he had wanted to keep an eye on Izzy. Izzy had just dozed a few times, never quite making it into the blissful folds of sleep. A pair of familiar sneakers stopped beside him.

"Good morning, Junpuu," Izzy greeted. It indeed WAS morning; 5 o'clock in the morning.

"Morning, Izzy!" Junpuu returned the greeting cheerfully. She sat down next to him.

"Cybra still asleep?"

"Yep. Good thing she doesn't snore! Hearing Agumon and Tai snoring is more than enough for me. And Patamon's got that freaky buzz."

Izzy nodded in agreement.

Junpuu said softly, "I overheard that conversation you guys had a few days ago."

The boy tensed up. Tentomon had drifted off, but would wake up at the sound of an alert. Izzy looked at nothing but the fire.

"I see."

"Look, Izzy, I think I know why you don't THINK you feel anything towards your enemies."

"I'm listening."

"You're frustrated."

He blinked and looked at her. Her turquoise eyes held none of that playfulness that was a part of her. They showed that she was quite serious.

"You're frustrated because every time you fix the Digiworld's problems and defeat a new enemy, another new enemy shows up with a new set of problems. You don't have that last victory and you can't do anything about it." She took a deep breath. "It isn't just you either. Matt's got that same frustration that you have. So do Joe and Tai and the rest of the original kids. Kari's bound to get frustrated sooner or later. All that frustration that you try to keep under control keeps you from feeling everything else."

"What about curiosity? I still feel that."

"That's because it's who you are. It's a part of you. It would be like trying to see the world without your eyes if you didn't have your curiosity."

Izzy thought about her mini-speech for a few moments. He chuckled softly.

"You're right. You are absolutely right."

Junpuu threw him a quizzical look. "And that's funny?"

"No. I was just wondering if you've been reading psychology books again."

Junpuu narrowed her eyes and gave him a dirty look. "Unfair! I only did that once!"

"Those 'swallowing the dictionary' jokes were just as unfair."

That statement earned Izzy an even dirtier look. Junpuu grabbed him around the shoulders and yanked him towards her. She held him in place and began to rumple that strangely-done red hair. Izzy protested of course, but his protests went unheeded. Tentomon woke up and saw her giving Izzy a noogie.

To amuse herself and gain a strange look from Tentomon, Junpuu joked, "Noogie Hair Rub!"

Tentomon sweatdropped. Izzy continued squirming in her grasp. She just laughed and kept it up. Cybra woke up and saw the scene. Joe woke up beside her.

"They're so cute together," Cybra joked.

Joe nodded and smiled. Then asked her, "Cybra, how old are you?"

"Didn't your mother ever tell you not to ask a lady her age?"

"Sorry..."

"Kidding. I am NO lady! And as for my age, I'm about 12. I only LOOK 15. I age about as fast as you."

"Really? How?"

She shrugged. "Beats the heck outta me!"

Both of them sat there in silence as Izzy continued to try to break free from Junpuu's grasp.

Ikkakumon heard the laughter of a girl and the complaints of a boy. He shuffled closer. If the sounds were coming from the Digidestined children, that meant that he could complete his mission for his mistress.

He broke into the clearing where the children had set up camp. Cybra, that strange Digimon, let out a yelp at his sudden appearance.

"Jeez-o-pete! What're you trying to do, Ikkakumon?! Give me a heart attack?!?!" she asked, clutching where her heart was for emphasis.

A boy with blue hair was beside her.

"Another Ikkakumon?"

"Yeah. Gomamon isn't the only one...er...can digivolve into one...uh... well, you know what I mean."

Another boy was still in the grip of a young girl. Both of their eyes were wide. Cybra strolled up to him. The Tentomon nearby watched him warily.

"Hey, I know you! You were that Gomamon at the Modem Falls, weren't ya? I remember that scar over your eye! What're you doing here?"

Ikkakumon lowered his horn and swept her out of the way. She flew through the air and landed nearby a Gomamon. The "thud" her landing created woke him up.

"What's going on?" the Gomamon demanded.

"Big trouble!" she wheezed and pointed to Ikkakumon. The Tentomon was flying towards him.

The two children closest to him got up and began to run towards the rest of the group. The boy grabbed something shiny from around a younger girl's neck. The girl began to wake up as he raised it to his lips.

TWEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEET!!!!!!!!!!!

The loud whistling noise awoke the other children and other Digimon. An Agumon stepped forward.

"Another Ikkakumon?" he asked.

A Gabumon came up beside him. "Yes. And this one isn't friendly!"

"Spiral Twister!"

"Super Shocker!"

"Boom Bubble!"

"Pepper Breath! Poi!"

"Blue Blaster!"

"Marching Fishes!"

"Poison Ivy!"

Ikkakumon raised and lowered his horn.

"Harpoon Torpedo!"

The children screamed as the attack landed among them, sending a girl with a pink hat and another girl with a blue hat of some sort flying. A boy with blond hair raised up a small, blue device.

"Gabumon digivolve to...Garurumon!"

"Harpoon Torpedo!"

The attack came right towards the newly-digivolved Garurumon. The wolf-like Digimon easily dodged, faster than the attack. Obviously, this Digimon had more experience than Ikkakumon had.

"Howling Blaster!"

Ikkakumon stumbled because of the blow. Agumon ran up next to a spiky-haired boy.

"Are you all right, Tai?" he asked.

The boy, apparently his name was Tai, answered, "Yeah, Agumon. I'm okay. You ready to help Garurumon?"

Agumon nodded.

"Agumon digivolve to...Greymon!"

"Howling Blaster!"

"Nova Blast!"

Ikkakumon howled in pain as the two attacks hit at once. Part of his white fur ignited in flames, creating more pain for the poor Digimon. Cybra stepped up, no longer dazed.

"Sorry, pal, but you're not yourself! Psy-Tornado!!!"

The blue tornado sent Ikkakumon flying back. He crash-landed on top of a bunch of trees. The flames were still burning. He aimed his horn at the figures close to what was left of the campfire.

"Harpoon Torpedo!"

The attack multiplied itself, just like Gomamon had done on several occasions when he digivolved to Ikkakumon.

"Look out, Sora!" Biyomon shouted.

Sora screamed as she was barely missed by one of these torpedoes. Mimi flew into Izzy when one of the other torpedoes exploded nearby her foot, sending her into the air. Matt cried out in pain as a hot coal from the fire landed on one of his bare arms, the result of a torpedo destroying the campfire.

Ikkakumon, still howling, left quickly. He had to find water and fast.

"Tai!" Greymon yelled as he stepped in the way of one of the torpedoes.

Greymon stumbled and almost fell as it connected with his hip. Gatomon leaped up in front of Kari at an angle as a torpedo flew towards the girl.

"Lightening Claw!"

That destroyed the threatening torpedo, but the explosion hurt Gatomon. She landed in the safety of Kari's arms.

"We have to get out of here!" Joe yelled.

"Joe, look out!" Gomamon yelped as another harpoon flew towards him.

"Huh? WHA!!!"

Joe leaped forward. The harpoon hit the ground behind him, sending him flying even farther forward. He landed on top of Cybra.

"Do ya mind, Joe?" she asked.

"Howling Blaster!"

Garurumon's attack took out a few more torpedoes, but there were still many left. Junpuu was running towards Izzy as Mimi got off of him. She yanked the boy to his feet.

"What is it with you and girls falling on top of you?!"

"Just lucky I guess! LOOK OUT!"

He shoved her to one side as a torpedo came down towards her. Izzy turned towards the left, to safety, and began to jump. The torpedo hit the ground, knocking him off balance. He landed hard. Junpuu yelped in fright, but quickly recovered from the scare. She jumped over the hole the torpedo had created and ran over to him.

"Are you okay?!"

"My leg..." he moaned.

He pointed to his left leg. She quickly checked it.

"You're lucky. It's not broken, but pretty badly twisted. However, we've got to get out of here!"

Izzy nodded and tried to stand. He gritted his teeth, sucking in air between them. Junpuu helped him hobble out of there. All the Digimon working together were quickly able to shoot and destroy the rest of the torpedoes before they hit the ground.

"Is everyone okay?" Tai asked, breathing hard.

All of them were covered in cuts, bruises, and dirt. Mimi was shaking so badly that she didn't comment on how bad they all looked.

"Matt's got a burn on his left arm," Joe reported.

"And Izzy's left leg got twisted at the knee," Junpuu added.

"Ouch," Sora commented. Junpuu frowned at her.

"Gatomon got hit pretty bad, too. So did Agumon," Kari stated.

"How about the rest of us?" Tai asked.

Their shaking answered his question easily.

Falcunomon flapped over the site of the battle. It would be light in a few hours. He could hardly see in the dark. Much to his surprise, he saw a small campfire nearby, tucked away in the woods.

"Mistress Blackwidowmon would be pleased if I attacked them now while they were tired and weak," Falcunomon noted.

He circled the area for a moment, then folded his wings back. He was going into a killing dive.

"ARIAL ATTACK!"

Joe finished wrapping Matt's burn. The only slightly-younger boy had insisted that he wrap Izzy's twisted knee up first before it got worse. It would prove to be a wise idea.

"ARIAL ATTACK!" a voice from above yelled.

The branches of the trees over them exploded as the attack hit them. The children screamed.

"What is it with Blackwidowmon's minions today?!" Cybra demanded as she got ready.

Splinters continued to rain down on them. Tai's order for everyone to head deeper into the woods was barely heard as another attack flew down at them. This one destroyed the fire.

Falcunomon had already focused in on his target. He brought his taloned feet forward, ready to rip into the flesh of the Digidestined called Sora.

"Biyomon digivolve to...Birdramon!"

Birdramon shrieked as she flew towards Falcunomon. It was an interesting game of chicken, seeing how the two players were both birds. Falcunomon quickly turned out of the way of the larger firebird.

"Meteor Wing!"

The fireballs flew towards smaller bird-like Digimon. Falcunomon, using his great agility, dodged. The fireballs flew past him and hit the woods below, right where a large, dead tree was.

The tree was instantly ignited. Falcunomon, allowing the oncoming wild fire to do his work of destroying the children for him, used the heat radiating off of the fire to gain altitude.

"Arial Attack!"

His final attack hid Birdramon in the back. Birdramon hadn't been paying attention to the smaller Digimon. She shrieked in pain.

As if that wasn't enough, other brush became caught on fire and the fire began to quickly spread. The large wall of fire was being pushed on by the wind, on a direct course for the children. Mimi screamed as the flames came towards them.

"Everybody, run!" Tai ordered.

Junpuu put her arm under Izzy's left arm. Both of them began to stumble along together. Matt, using his good arm, pulled TK along. Patamon flapped behind them with Gabumon running below him. Tai was carrying the wounded Agumon, Kari was carrying Gatomon, and Joe bent down to scoop up Gomamon.

"What the---?!"

"You can't run very fast on land, Gomamon! So just let me run for both of us!"

"No argument here!"

Tentomon and Cybra kept helping along Izzy and Junpuu. Mimi was up near Tai with Palmon. Sora stumbled and the fire took advantage of it. It circled her and began to close in. The scorching heat caused her to sweat even more than she had been when she was running.

"HELP!" she screamed.

Birdramon swooped down and grabbed her in her talon. She barely got Sora over the flames before she let go, her energy spent. She de-digivolved back into Biyomon.

"What we need is some water!" Cybra yelled.

Sora came running up to the group, Biyomon in her arms.

"But where will we find some?!" she asked.

"A river! There's a river to our right!" Tentomon reported as he flew over the flames. His voice was barely heard over the angry roar of the fire.

"Perfect!" Junpuu exclaimed. "Cybra, I want you to use your Psy-Tornado or whatever it is to..."

"...Scoop up the water and dump it on the flames!" Izzy finished. "Brilliant!"

"You got it!" Cybra shouted.

She ran over towards the river.

"Psy-Tornado!"

She held onto her attack a little longer than normal, not allowing it to go free until she wanted to. The tornado created a suction which sucked gallons upon gallons of water. She released it when it would be right in line with the flames.

As the tornado spun, the water was being released. It created a sort of wet barrier between the children and the fire. Cybra ran to catch up with the rest of the group as the flames came in contact with the water. Slowly but surely, the attack began to die out. At the same time, the fire began to die from the continuous downpour the tornado had created. Within 15 minutes, the last flame was washed out and the attack was finished as well.

Junpuu gave Cybra a high-five as soon as all of them had stopped running. The others cheered.

"You did it, Cybra!" Tai congratulated.

"Not all by myself. Thank the brain trust here," Cybra stated, motioning towards Junpuu and Izzy.

Izzy was seated on a log and looking at his tag. His eyes would dart back and forth from the tag to his slightly outstretched hand and back again. Junpuu came a little closer.

"What is it?" she asked.

The look on his face told her that what it wasn't good. She looked and saw the problem. She gasped.

The "window" on the tag which showed the Crest had shattered, allowing the Crest of Knowledge to fly out. Fortunately, Izzy had managed to grab it before he had lost it forever. That had been just before the flight from the flames. The tag's window had cracked from the force of him hitting the ground during the Ikkakumon's final attack. It had shattered when Falcunomon's first attack had caused an explosion. The loud noise had forced it to break.

That wasn't the only problem. When Matt went forward, he looked at the Crest itself; it rested in Izzy's palm. His blue eyes grew wide.

There was a long crack running from the top to the bottom of the Crest of Knowledge along the center. It wasn't too deep, but it was still bad enough. The dark line was easily visible against the purple Crest.

Cybra moaned. Joe looked at her.

"What does it mean?" he asked, fearing the answer.

"The Crest of Knowledge is broken," she answered solemnly, hating the next few words she knew she would have to say.

"What happens when a Crest becomes broken?" Tai demanded.

Cybra's eyes filled with tears. "The Crest becomes completely useless. The Crest of Knowledge is now broken. Therefore, the Crest of Knowledge is now completely useless."

Izzy almost dropped the Crest.

"You mean...?" he asked, not daring to finish the question.

Cybra nodded, closing her eyes. Izzy looked completely numb. Junpuu sat down. Hard. There was silence all around.

Since the Crest of Knowledge was now useless, if they needed Megakabuterimon, they'd be in big trouble. A chilling sound met their ears. It was distant, not really loud, but still loud enough to hear the evil behind that voice. It rang in their ears as if that sound was happening right next to them.

Cybra trembled. She knew that sound. Far too well, in fact. She'd heard it dozens of times. She'd heard it just after the evil threatening this world had enslaved another Digimon or won a battle. In a way, evil had won this one.

That sound was Blackwidowmon's laughter.

Blackwidowmon laughed loud and hard. The Crest of Knowledge had begun to shine once more, but would never shine again, no matter how hard the Digidestined tried to regain its power. She had felt the break in its power. She had known the exact second that it had happened.

"You have done well, Falcunomon!" Blackwidowmon congratulated as she turned towards one of her many flying slaves.

"I failed to destroy the children, Mistress. How have I done well?"

"You managed to help destroy one of those Crests! That eliminated an ally to their side! Megakabuterimon is an Ultimate Digimon that only appears when that Tentomon digivolves using that Crest! Without it, they are one Ultimate short of their normal attack pattern!"

Her bone-chilling laugh sent shivers up Falcunomon's spine. None of them were pleasant.

In a far corner of his mind, the one part of him that was not controlled by Blackwidowmon cried out in despair. The Digidestined were his only hope of flying free under his own command once more. If the Digidestined lost, then not only would his hope be lost, but so would the rest of the Digiworld. And possibly their own world as well.

TO BE CONTINUED...

A/N: Before you start flaming me I want you to know this: this whole series of stories is like a part of the Digimon episodes (I wish). You know, like how they leave you on a cliff-hanger or a depressing note now.

Thanks go out to: Gomamon of Digimon Isle, Pix of Digimon Central, Mimi Tachikawa of Mimi Tachikawa's Shrine to Digimon, Teya and Stephanie Sheard of their own page, and last, but certainly not least, my muse Koushiro Izzy Izumi!

Narrator: Will the Digidestined be able to stop Blackwidowmon without the help of Megakabuterimon? Find out on the next Digimon: Digital...

<BANG!>

Author: YES! I ALWAYS WANTED TO DO THAT!!! <ahem> Now for everybody's favorite part...

How much did you like this fanfic?

1 - Your talent was stolen by Vedamon!

2 - That was worse than Demidevimon!

3 - Wasn't too bad, but wasn't too good either.

4 - Was pretty good, but needs to digivolve a little bit so it's a little better.

5 - Your writing is pretty good.

6 - Woah! Joe might want to borrow your notes from English!

7 - Even Mimi couldn't complain about this!

8 - Tai must be slipping you info or something!

9 - Who are you? A professional writer who just happens to like Digimon?!

10 - Prodigious!