Better the Devil You Know

Chapter 14: Is it Better the Devil You Know?

The bright white light of the digital gate emitted from Izzy's computer monitor and shone out across the room. The Digidestined in the room moved to a safe distance as Tai, Matt, Kari and their Digimon were deposited on the carpet by the light. Kari heard the occupants of the room gasp as they saw the state of the three teens and their Digimon.

"What the hell happened?" Davis asked with his shock clear in his tone. "Where is TK?"

"He's still fighting Neodevimon," Kari answered as she stood up and turned to face the computer monitor to see if her boyfriend was following them through. Her concern and fear was clear in her voice and etched in her facial expressions.

Kari placed her head in her hands as she entered into a deep thought. She realised what had just happened and a conflict was starting to build up in her mind. She had just left her boyfriend, her love, in the Digital World, injured and fighting for his life against his evil nemesis and worst nightmare. The teen girl felt guilty that she had left TK fighting. She felt she should be there with him, giving him support and helping him beat his nemesis.

The image of her bloodied boyfriend forced its way into the forefront of the brunette's mind. Kari's breathing deepened as she became more and more worried about the situation. She was concerned about his injuries and if they were actually worse than they looked. Kari remembered how much blood was dripping from TK's face, arms and legs and it made her feel sick.

Kari then remembered what her boyfriend had said about Neodevimon targeting her. The images from her recent nightmares entered her mind, trying to reassure her that she had made the right choice in returning back to Earth and letting TK fight Neodevimon himself. The Digidestined of Light didn't want her love to sacrifice himself to save her in the same way Wizardmon had done five years ago. Kari reassured herself that TK was strong enough to look after himself by remembering how he saved the day during their battle with Piedmon in their original adventure.

The conflict continued in the teen girl's head as she felt she should have demanded that TK came back with her. She felt she should have made him come back and get his injuries treated. Kari was then suddenly snapped out of her thoughts when she felt a hand on her right shoulder. She turned around and saw Yolei holding an antiseptic wipe in her hand. The brunette realised she had zoned out and had not been paying any attention to what was going on around her in the room.

Kari glanced back at the monitor to check if TK was coming through but there was no sign of him yet. The brunette felt Yolei inspecting her shoulder, the same shoulder of her shirt which she used to wipe TK's blood from his face.

"I'm ok, it's TK's blood," Kari informed them in a quivering voice that clearly showed her feelings towards the situation she found herself in. The brunette felt Mimi place a hand on her cheek, inspecting a cut before using an antiseptic wipe to clean the blood. Kari noticed a stinging feeling coming from her wounds as Yolei and Mimi started to treat her.

Kari glanced around the room and noted what was going on. Matt was being treated by Joe and Sora. Her older friends had wipes, bandages and ice packs on blonde boy as they patched him up. She could see the deep cut on the back of Matt's head that was still bleeding and keeping his hair a crimson red. There were cuts on his face where branches and thorns had cut into him when they ran through the thick vegetation. His shirt was ripped and torn by a combination of the blast from Neodevimon's attack and the undergrowth. There were cuts and grazes covering his arms and chest in the areas where his black shirt had been shredded. There were also holes in the knees of his jeans where they had been ripped during his hard landing from the blast caused by Neodevimon's stun claw striking the ground.