Kyrie: I'm back guys! I'm sorry for keeping you waiting for so very long, I know I don't deserve to be forgiven for what I've done (probably even drove some of you crazy waiting for this chapter)

Chapter 3

The Crest of Courage

"Terra Force!" Wargreymon blasted another cluster of spikes. "It's getting crowded here!"

"What do we do?" Sora held a crying Takeru, trying in vain to comfort a child who has lost a friend.

"I- I… Taichi was at a loss for words, his mind racing for an answer. There was always an answer, a way to defeat an evil digimon. Memories flashed before him. Memories of all the opponents they've defeated so far, of how they triumphed despite being almost always at a disadvantage. But he could not find an answer.

"I'm sorry. I'm so sorry" Taichi folded his arms over his head and collapsed on the ground, defeated. There was too much pressure. Why did he become the leader of this group again? Why did the others think he was up to it?

"Come on!" Yamato tugged at his arm. "You've been given the crest of courage; it's not like you to give up."

The crest of courage.

Yes.

Taichi wondered about that as well. Did he really deserve it? When he was given the crest, he was overjoyed that there was some virtuous character attributed to him. But he knew it wasn't meant for him. There were many things he feared. He was afraid of taking responsibility for what happens to the group, afraid of putting Hikari in danger, afraid of never being able to make up for what he had done to her.

"It stopped." Garudamon stared at the spikes, now suspended motionless in midair.

"What happened?" Yamato finally managed to pull a weakened Taichi back to his feet. He seemed to be deep in thought. The spikes around them started to disintegrate, becoming small specks of black that seemed to be blown away by the wind.

Wait a minute. There was no wind.

"Look!" Jyou pointed up at the sky. The specks seemed pulled into some direction, moving as if in a stream.

"Aah!" Mimi bumped into Koushiro. A huge boulder to her left turned into black dust as well and was carried into the air.

Hikari's gaze followed the stream of black and saw Apocalypmon, both hands stretched upward, the stream of black forming a black sphere above him.

"Prepare yourselves!" Apocalypmon bellowed "Today, you will all be deleted!"

"He's gathering a huge amount of data," Koushiro had his laptop out. "He's going to use it to attack!"

The attack stopped momentarily. They had an opening! Taichi immediately snapped out of his daze. "Everyone, we need to attack him while he can't move!"

"Right!" A halo of light appeared above Angewomon.

"Come on," Wargreymon aimed for the halo. "Terra Force!"

"Horn Buster!"

"Flower Cannon!"

"Giga Missile!"

"Wing Blade!"

"Vulcan Hammer!"

The digimon gave their power to Angewomon. The halo above her shone brilliantly against the darkness around them and the light that emanated gave the children a measure of warmth against the cold.

"You have brought great evil into this world," Angewomon raised her left hand and produced a bow of feathers, the energy from the other digimon forming an arrow. "You shall now receive your judgment! CELESTIAL ARROW!"

"Not in this lifetime!" Apocalypmon laughed, hurling the black sphere that had coalesced above him "DATAWORLD DESTROYER!"

Kyrie: And that concludes our chapter.

Everyone: WHAAAAT?

Naruto: (facepalm) Not again.

Kyrie: Wow, you've grown up! Have I really been away for that long? I just want to keep the readers coming back. Most of the reviews we get for this fanfic were all pleas for the next chapter because I keep the chapter endings interesting.

Taichi: That's it? Is this what it's all about? Reviews?

Kyrie: If you must ask, yes. They're what brought me back to continue this story. I always keep alerts for reviews in my email acc, and when I erased some of the junk email I've been keeping for so long, I reread the reviews my readers sent and I got a little sad for the readers and hated myself for letting them suffer waiting for the next update.

Sora: There, there; it's alright. Just promise that you'll never do it again and your readers will forgive you.

Kyrie: Thanks, Sora. I'll do my best. And to you, beloved reader, thanks for reading. There's no way I could've gotten myself back without all your support! Till next time! (Check my profile, by the way, okay?)

Read. Review. Inspire.