This is a super nacho cheesy fanfict by Anzen, who can be contacted at SailaPyro@aol.com. This is yaoi-free, yuri-free, hentai-free, and romance-free. ...well, I have a slight Tai and Sora leaning, and a slight Matt and Mimi leaning, but I try not to let that show too much. This takes place during the Dark Masters arc, before Puppetmon. At least...I think it does. I began writing this when I had a fever. Whoops. Anyway....enjoy!
1--We're Walking, We're Walking.....We're Stopping
The sun never seemed to stop shining. The Digi-Destined walked through the thick forest region of the Digiworld. It was what they always did. Plans were plans, and they certainly did have plans, but most plans whether good or bad involved the near ceaseless trudging. Mimi did not like ceaseless trudging at all. Too much physical exertion was bad for her complexion, after all. It wasn't just the constantly complaining cowgirl that was unhappy though. Even Tai and Matt, the leading go-getters and doers of the whole operation, seemed to be wearing down. They were incredibly tired. Each Digi-Destined carried their digimon friend, trying to help them reserve their strength in case of an attack. But the digimon saw their human counterparts were too worn down to carry on much further that day. Agumon was the first to speak up. After all, Tai was the leader and if he was convinced to rest, the others would have to follow the example.
"Tai, I think we all need a rest..." he started. Joe spoke up at this.
"You need rest? You guys all are getting a free ride." the gangly boy said, looking a bit put off by the whole thing. Gomamon answered Joe's comment with a slight bop to the head. The oldest of the Digi-Destined winced and grumbled a bit at the giggling Gomamon. Tai sighed but couldn't think of any good reason to not rest. He flopped down under a tree.
"Then we'll rest for a while..." he said tiredly. The boy wasn't that happy, he felt as if they weren't getting anywhere at all, like they were lost, though he was positive they were all going the right way. Weren't they? Tai decided to shove aside his doubt, Matt and Joe did a fine enough job of questioning the situation. He didn't need to do it as well. Besides, he was so tired....
His friends plopped down as well, Mimi taking this time to make sure her appearance was still in good order. Sora laid flat on her back, glad to give her tired legs a break. As he always did, Izzy immediately took this time to snap open his ever-present computer, with Tentomon watching the screen from over his shoulder. The ever-worrying Joe on the other hand, laid back lazily, trying to fend off a giggling Gomamon away from his lunch. Matt and TK were flopped down together, the younger boy leaning sleepily against the elder, yawning a bit. The older blonde smiled a little and put an arm around his sibling. TK never wanted to be treated like a child, but he was one. He wasn't much like Tai's little sister, Kari, it seemed sometimes.
Kari stood aside from the group, not ready to sit yet. She took everything in, watching her friends all sit on the ground to rest weary limbs, while Digimon milled about near their humans, all doing little else but relax. The girl smiled a bit at this. A rest was good, and even people who had to fight for the world had to take time for themselves. Giving one last long look to everyone, she went and sat with her brother, leaving Gatomon to take her catnap.
"Tai...I'm glad you're here with me." she said as she relaxed next to him. The boy turned to her, looking a little perplexed.
"What?"
Kari shrugged. She didn't know why she said that, but she did, just because she wanted to. It felt like a good thing to say, and it was fully true. She was glad that her older brother was there with her. The child felt very reassured by her sibling's presence, something familiar with her despite all the strange new things that were around. Not that Kari was terribly frightened by the world she was in, the girl seemed to accept it easily and often displayed such maturity that she could seem older than even Joe.
Shaking his head a little, Tai grinned at her and he didn't feel quite so tired anymore. Having his sister there with him strangely made him feel so much better than before. It was true he had to worry about her, and watch out for her, but it wasn't a bother at all to do that for her. After all, that was his job. With a bit of a chuckle, he closed his eyes to relax. It was his job, and he was proud to do. Not just for Kari, but Sora, TK, Mimi, Izzy, and even Matt who never agreed and was always battling him, and even Joe, who was the oldest. It was his job. And one he was proud to do. After all, he was the leader. They were his unruly horde. And together, they were leader and unruly horde, that had to save the world. That seemingly difficult task was one they had already once accomplished. The brunette boy was starting to feel even better as he thought about that. He would never stop being proud of what they had done.
Tai found himself starting to feel so nice and relaxed, his eyes not wanting to open at all. He was so comfortable where he was, and he could hear his sister yawn loudly in the cute fashion that only young children could. Feeling Kari hug onto his arm as she leaned against him, he just smiled and let himself drift away to sleep. After all, he could hear Izzy's constant click-click tkk-tkk of the computer, and Joe scolding Gomamon, so it wasn't like he was leaving them without someone on the alert.
Across from Tai, Matt and TK were asleep as well now. The little boy's hat had fallen off his head and he was draped awkwardly over his brother, murmuring a bit as he dreamed. Matt's head was lolled to one side, a snore escaping from his mouth in a steady rhythm. One hand was resting atop TK, to constantly reassure him that the boy was still there. Nearby Sora slept silently, head rested atop her arms. Even Mimi was starting to nod off, she brought down the brim of her hat to shield her eyes from the brightness of the sun. Then she too felt herself slip away into slumber. Joe meanwhile, was wagging a finger halfheartedly at Gomamon, feeling as though he shouldn't even bother. It'd be so much nicer to take a rest....
There was a thud as Izzy fell forward onto his computer, dead asleep, forehead resting upon the keyboard. Joe glanced over at him as he stretched and yawned.
"Izzy...?" he questioned, eyes half-closed. He blinked awkwardly a few times. Izzy had fallen asleep. Then, as Joe looked about, he realized everyone was asleep. Stretching again, the boy grimaced.
"Great...now I have to stay up to keep watch..." he mumbled, just before flopping back into a dead sleep himself. He landed atop Gomamon, but the digimon didn't complain.
After all, he was dead asleep too. All of the digimon were.
The Digi-Destined slept peacefully, unaware of the chuckle that came from the surrounding forest. Piedmon walked into the scene with a smile. The poppies worked. Just like in Wizard of Oz, it was a splendid story, after all. He enjoyed the wicked witch quite a bit. He decided to quote from her.
"Poppies will make them sleep. Sleep....ah...now they'll sleep." he said, impersonating the witch's creaky voice. And with that, he went about his plan. He knew that it would be a true masterpiece. Piedmon was about to begin his finest work.
2--The Most Dangerous Game
Tai shivered. He didn't feel the warm sun beating down on his skin anymore, the comforting warmth that had helped lure him into sleep. Did someone move him into a shadier spot...? Tai yawned a bit, not wanting to get up yet. Besides, moving would wake up Kari.
Suddenly Tai's eyes shot open. Kari wasn't laying against him anymore. Where was she?
As he glanced about his surroundings, he saw that she wasn't there anymore, and that he was not where he thought he was anymore.
The place was like a dungeon, rather stereotypical in it's appearance. The room was dark, the floor was cold dirt, and the walls were stones that obviously had been sitting there for quite a bit of time. As he started to move, Tai heard a rattle. With a glance down at himself, he saw why his movement had resulted in such a sound. Chains attached to the wall were secured to manacles about his wrists. He squirmed a bit, to see if he could squirm out of them, but there was no such luck for Tai. The manacles were well-fitted for a child's wrists, whoever did this to him obviously had children in mind when they had been setting up the place.
Unable to move from his spot, Tai had to use his eyes. Across from him on the other wall was Joe, who still was asleep. In fact, the older boy was alone on his side of the room. Looking to his right, Tai saw that Sora was right next to him, blissfully unaware that she was chained and locked away in such a gloomy place. With a quick look to the left, Tai could see that Matt and Mimi were right there was well. Mimi was furthest from him, the other girl also still in her deep sleep, mumbling to herself as she dreamed of shopping. Matt, however, was not asleep. He didn't seem to be struggling against the chains though, nor did he speak to Tai. Instead, he stared ahead blankly. For a second, Tai was confused. But then he realized why.
Kari, TK, and Izzy were all gone, along with the digimon.
Tai felt his insides twist in a knot, a cold lump forming in his throat. The smallest of their group were all gone. And if he was in some sort of dungeon of all places, where could the others be?
Or did he even want to know?
Swallowing hard, the goggled boy tried to ignore the bad feelings that were starting to well up inside him. He grabbed Matt's shoulder, glad that they were close enough for him to do that. The touch snapped Matt out his daze, and he turned to look at Tai. The blonde did not look happy at all.
"...tk's gone..." he managed in a choked voice. Tai could only nod in response. TK was most certainly gone. That had been established. He didn't want to think of why he was gone though, or what could be happening to him, Kari, and Izzy. Still fighting back the churning of his stomach at the thought of his sister somewhere in wherever they were, he tried to be positive.
"Maybe he escaped....with Kari and Izzy and our digimon...!" he said, trying to force that belief onto his heart and mind. That had to be it, it just had to be. She COULDN'T be wherever he was. Not his little sister. The usually sunny boy tried to surpress a shiver as his mind gave him the unwanted picture of his sister chained to the wall in a similar fashion.
No no no. That wasn't it at all! Tai slumped miserably, noticing that Matt had nothing to say in answer to his theory. If Izzy was around, he could figure things out. Tai knew that, but unhappily he had to accept that Izzy was not there with the answer on a silver platter.
The brunette child hung his head, he felt sick to his stomach with worry. Things couldn't be much worse.
That was when there was a loud creak of an old door being opened. Tai and Matt turned their heads, starting at what they saw. It was Piedmon, standing smugly in the doorway. He entered the room, letting the door slam behind him. The noise caused the three remaining sleepers to awake with a start. Joe let out a strangled cry as he struggled in the chains. If things weren't so bad, Tai might had laughed at it. Kicking his legs and whining, Joe was quite a sight to see. But the small bit of humor was lost when Tai heard Mimi starting to cry, frightened at the fact that she was captured. And then Tai felt even worse, as Sora grasped onto his arm and stared in shock. The reaction from Joe also becoming less and less reassuring, the older boy ceased his struggle to give Piedmon a scared yet angry look.
Joe was about to question Piedmon, probably about Gomamon, but Matt had beat him to the punch.
"Where's my brother?! Where's TK?! Where's TK?!" he cried out, struggling now against the chains that bound him. At that, Piedmon could only chuckle. The tall digimon went to stand in the middle of the room.
"Well...I'm afraid he's already been taken care off."
Matt trembled, and no one could tell if it was with anger bubbling up or tears that he was attempting to hold back. The fate of his little brother, if it was what seemed to be implied, would probably cause both things to be shown.
"...where's Palmon...?? Where is she...??" Mimi interrupted the silence with. She was trying to hold back sobs that threatened to escape, she realized that she had greater things to worry about than herself, and was worried for her small green friend. But when questioned about the digimon, Piedmon would only smirk.
"Where are they?" Tai finally said, surprised that he could keep his voice steady.
Piedmon clapped his hands lightly together, applauding the boy's strength. Now would come the huge blow, that would make his strength wither away and make him a weeping child.
"Your digimon are fighting a battle..." he started. That bit of information didn't seem to strike much of a nerve, but he knew what would come next would. "Against each other."
Joe raised an eyebrow, obviously confused as to what he was saying. "Why would our digimon fight each other? They wouldn't do that."
"Yeah...they'd be trying to find us!" Sora added, very confident in her words. She knew Biyomon wouldn't fight with the other digimon when she was in danger. Her Biyomon would be trying to help her instead, because that...well...that was what their digimon always did for them.
A wide grin spread over Piedmon's face. "They would fight each other....if it was to protect their Digi-Destined."
With looks mixed with shock, confusion, and horror, the remaining Digi-Destined stared.
"W-what...?" Tai managed to choke out.
"Each of you are represented by your digimon. Right now, they are all fighting a tournament against each other. The last digimon remaining will get to live, along with their human counterpart. However...those that lose...well..."
Matt started screaming.
"I don't believe you! I don't! Where's my brother?? Where's TK?!"
Piedmon chuckled at the boy. "He was the first one to go. Gomamon made short work of Patamon. After that, Gabumon really gave us a show as he defeated Tentomon. And Agumon's victory over Gatomon was simply beautiful."
Tai felt even more sick than before.
"Agumon wouldn't...wouldn't...if he knew it would hurt my sister, he WOULDN'T..."
"He would if it was to help you. You underestimate the loyalty of your digimon. When it all comes down to it, they exist solely to protect their Digi-Destined. At any cost." Piedmon shot back. Then he smirked, and went over to Joe. His gaze, however, was directed at Sora. "Biyomon did so well against Gomamon, you should be proud, little Digi-Destined."
Sora stared as Joe was unchained, but held tight by Piedmon. "What...what are you doing...?!"
"Leave...leave Joe alone...!" Tai spat out. None of what was going on could really happen. Right?
Piedmon only smiled and then dragged a shocked and struggling Joe from the room. The door slammed shut. And then there was four.
No amount of comforting could keep the tears from flowing down Matt's pale face. Mimi grabbed onto the boy, hugging onto him in an attempt to comfort both him and herself. But Matt cried on, and Mimi was beginning to feel somewhat ill with grief herself. Palmon couldn't win against Agumon or Gabumon, her friend would be hurt. Palmon, she was her good friend, no matter how strange she was, Palmon was her good friend. And she'd be hurt, because of her.
Next to Matt, Tai tried to fight back tears. He clutched onto Sora, who clutched back, both trying to find strength in each other. But it failed, and they were both thrown into tears as the bad feelings that were welled up inside overwhelmed them both. Soon all four were simply hanging onto each other. They didn't want to see any of the others dragged away as Joe had been.
None of them wanted to go, but they didn't want the others to go either.
But none of them could do anything against Piedmon.
3--The Unhappy Joe Kido
Joe was not a happy Kido. No indeedy. He was a terribly unhappy Joe Kido, who was being dragged along by an oversized humanoid digimon with bad manners. He was also a confused Joe Kido, who couldn't believe what Piedmon had said.
"Where's Gomamon?! Where is he??" he cried out, squirming. He was trying to push aside fear. Joe was worried about his digimon, Piedmon had said he lost a battle.
"Gone."
It didn't register.
"What do you mean gone?? He's not gone! He's here! And where's Kari, TK, and Izzy?!" he spat out.
"Gone."
Joe could say nothing. He was still confused, and so worried about the digimon and the kids. But they couldn't be dead, they just couldn't be. Because if they were....then he'd soon be dead too. And that made the already unhappy Joe Kido an even more unhappy Joe Kido. He stopped his struggling as he was dragged up a series of stairs, then outside. Joe was suspicious....he didn't see any signs of digimon battles ANYWHERE.
The scrawny beanpole got shoved into a shed roughly before he had any more time to survey his surroundings for signs of others.
It was empty, and the floor was dirt just like in the dungeon he had been in. Floor of dirt, walls of wood, but a prison it did make. Joe kicked at the door and winced. All that had accomplished was hurting his foot. He banged on the door with his fists instead, and tried to push aside a nagging worry about splinters.
"Hey! I'm afraid of inclosed places! And the dark! I HAVE A PHOBIA! And I thought I was going to die! If you're going to kill me, I want a last request! I'm hungry!" he cried.
Piedmon leaned against the door from the other side, speaking to the boy trapped inside. "Are we in a hurry to die?"
Joe quieted down at that. There was no sense in tempting fate, no matter how hungry he was. If Piedmon was telling the truth, he would be killed soon enough. The boy dropped to the ground. There was nothing he could do. He was alone now, in the dark, and had no idea what had really happened to the three youngest or the digimon. When faced with the thought of his missing comrades, his hunger did not seem all that important. He tried to ignore his unhappy stomach. Joe was having trouble deciding whether it's unhappy squirming inside him was from hunger or worry, anyway.
Was Gomamon really gone? Joe felt his chest tighten at the thought of it. The strange little digimon, though so unlike himself, was such a good friend to him. Always there to protect him--or annoy him. Huddling up in the corner of the shack, Joe had to wonder to himself....would Gomamon and the other digimon fight each other if it meant that they could protect their Digi-Destined? He didn't want to believe they would at all. Yet...each digimon was so loyal to their Digi-Destined....
As always, the dark-haired boy was filled with doubt. He didn't even want to begin thinking about Gomamon fighting any of the other digimon. Gomamon was so playful and cheery, he wouldn't want to. Gomamon wouldn't do it, he wouldn't.
Joe sighed and tried to think good thoughts. All that came to mind was how much he hated dark, cramped places.
It was going to be a long day for the unhappy Joe Kido.
From outside the shed, Piedmon smiled to himself. The boy inside had quieted down quite nicely, which was expected of him. Piedmon was tremendously pleased with himself. He marched back inside, going to his own special room, to review his script.
Most villains went by plans. But Piedmon went strictly by script. He glanced down and started making some revisions. The hostility in the nerdboy was a bit of surprise, and his request for food at such a time was simply absurd. He wrote over the lines he had previously written for the boy with the things he remembered Joe saying. At least the strange boy added a strange bit of humor to his work. Piedmon had to grin. He had been a bit wrong in writing Joe's original lines, however, he was right on the money with Matt's outburst, and Tai's steady voice. All in all, things followed the script quite well. He'd separate the group, locking each away all by themselves. Alone in darkness, each would be eaten away with guilt, worry, and sorrow.
Piedmon was terribly fond of the tragedy.
And the next act would go smoothly. Soon all the Digi-Destined would be wallowing in their own mental anguish, a tale far more heart-wrenching than Romeo and Juliet. At least, for the children.
Ah, yes, there was nothing like a good tragedy to Piedmon.
4--How Do You Feel?
Sora was scared.
She had very little problem being honest about that fact, either. At the moment though, not a single soul in the room was terribly worried about hiding feelings for the sake of pride. Matt had not stopped crying since Piedmon left, and Sora still felt like crying herself, though she did stop. She had to be strong for Tai and Matt. They were more upset than she had ever seen them before.
Tai was totally silent, head clutched in his hands, eyes shut tight. The girl next to him sighed and removed her helmet of a hat from her head. There was nothing she could do for Tai. Not a thing. She reached out and hugged him, but the boy didn't seem to notice her gentle touch at all.
The leader of the Digi-Destined was trying to stop crying, it was all he wanted. He just wanted to stop crying. To stop crying, and to have Kari, TK, Izzy, and Joe right there with him, along with the small horde of digimon. It wasn't too much to ask, right? Not too much at all.
"Tai...I'm glad you're here with me."
The words kept repeating themself inside Tai's head. And now those sweet words made him feel deathly sick with guilt. He hadn't done his job. His sister was dead. Or at least, gone, he knew for sure that much. And it seemed dead. His sister, his sweet little Hikari, dead. Because of....Agumon? Fighting for HIS life....?
In Sora's loose hug, he shook with a sob that could not be held back. There was no proof of what Piedmon claimed, but the very thought of it had been enough to knock down the usually chipper Taichi.
And still, there was Matt. His tears would not stop. He really was worth nothing it seemed. His brother....gone. The little sprite in his own image, wearing the same hues in an attempt to mimic, was gone. That sweet, unknowing child, who hung on his every word, who was sitting with him not that long ago.....he was gone.
Dead?
The thought made Matt burn with rage, but the fire was nothing compared to Matt's fear. The fear of it being true, that TK really was dead, and the sorrow that would come with that truth. His little brother....dead.
Was it painful, was it slow? Was he still alive, just hanging on? If he was, Matt was sure that he was calling for him, for help from his older brother. But all Matt could do was just sit there, chained to a wall, crying like he had seen his little brother do so often before.
Some older brother he was. Matt felt completely worthless. All he could do was cry, he never felt so helpless before. And the digimon...how must they feel? If they were doing as Piedmon said....Matt could only imagine how guilty the remaining ones felt about the whole ordeal. But it didn't matter. He couldn't do anything at all. Only sit, cry, and be worthless.
At least, he seemed to be of some help to Mimi. The girl had clutched onto his arm and never let go. She sat there with her head down, quieter than she had ever been before. Matt knew she was very worried for her digimon, Palmon, as well as being terribly sad at the thought of their friends being hurt. At the same time, he knew she was trying to offer him some comfort as well, feeble as the attempt was.
But still, all Matt could do was cry. He sat slumped against the wall, crying. And Tai was crying too. Next to him, Mimi looked like she wanted to cry, and a glance at Sora told him she was on the verge of a second flood too.
It was a miserable situation.
The miserable situation did not improve with the reappearance of Piedmon in the doorway. Matt felt Mimi tighten her grip on him. Tai snapped out his weepy daze to grab onto Sora protectively. Then each boy scooted close as they could to each other. This was a group that did not think well of being separated. Piedmon only chuckled that same worn out chuckle he had been giving.
"The match went well. However..." he said as he started towards the group. The children all stared up at him, trying to push back tears. It was strangely easy, their anger at this creature made glaring a simple task.
"However WHAT?" Tai shot out, making sure he had a good hold on Sora. With Sora safe in his arms, and Matt ridged beside him, he felt somewhat reassured...
Piedmon grabbed Mimi by the arm, loosening her chains to free her. "However, Agumon has defeated Palmon."
Matt tried to hang onto Mimi. He felt Tai strain to reach her from where he was, trying to go around Matt to get a hold of her too. But Tai couldn't reach, and Matt's grip failed.
Mimi was yanked away and was held tight by Piedmon, just as Joe was. The girl trembled with fear, and started to cry.
"I want to see Palmon! I want to see Palmon! Please! Please let me see her! Palmon and I....we just want to go home, we never wanted to be here...! I..I...just let us all GO!" she bawled.
The remaining three felt their hearts sink yet again, as they watched Mimi get dragged away.
Three were left. The situation was not improving.
5--Sleepy Heads!
Piedmon was terribly amused. The girl he had just locked away was the very picture of a typical storybook damsel in distress. With a cowboy twist, anyway. She'd fit in quite nicely, a bit melodramatic, but still a wonderful addition to the entire work.
He decided to let the remaining three stew awhile, as he made some more revisions to his script. Things went so utterly well. The two older brothers and the young girl could sit and wait all day, wondering about their friends. It was so easy, to slip the first three away. Small, easy to carry without waking them up, it was terribly convient for him.
The three originally missing children were, in fact, still asleep. He had locked each away in a separate room. He had also locked the digimon away, and luckily they too were all still deep asleep. On such small creatures, the sleep would be much longer. If it was not interrupted, it would last several days. By that time he would have already taken care of them. So those who were to have a much longer sleep were put aside.
At least it should have been much longer.
Kari stretched out, then rubbed an eye sleepily as she started to wake up. Something was out of place, and she quickly realized that it was her.
She was short one older sibling that doubled as a pillow and bed, not to mention a Gatomon. That didn't bode well with the child. Taking a look around, she realized that it wasn't the only thing that didn't bode well. She was in a storeroom of some kind, the door was probably locked she noted. With a try at it, she found she was right. All there was were barrels, boxes, and her. That wasn't much for her to do anything with. She sat and thought for a moment. If she had been captured, that might mean everyone else was captured too. So she had to get out of the room and find them. Kari took another look around. There was a window. She pushed a box over to it and then stuck her head out. The child winced as she noted the height she was at. Second story. A jump was out of the question, lest she wished to break a few of her bones.
Then she had another thought. She pulled herself as far out the window as she could and looked at the building itself. There was another window, actually, one on each side.
She had to take a chance.
"HEY! Hey! Wake up!! WAKE UP! Please, wake up!!"
TK yawned and sat up sleepily. Did he hear someone calling?
"HEY! WAKE UP!"
He did! ...but where was he? TK froze as he realized he was separated from both his brother and Patamon.
But he wouldn't be scared, he wouldn't be. He couldn't be. TK knew that everyone had always worked hard to protect him before, and he had to do the same. He didn't want to cry, or just sit there and do nothing like he always had to do. And there was no one there to tell him he couldn't, that it was too dangerous.
This time, he was going to do something and help. Just like Matt would do.
"HEY! Wake UP!"
TK ran to his window, shoving a box up to it to stand on. When he poked his head out he had to use one hand to keep his hat from falling off. But his hat was forgotten when he saw Kari's face.
"Hey...Kari!" he called out, waving his free hand. Kari turned to see him, and her face broke into a grin at the sight of him.
"Oh good! Someone IS around. TK, is my brother with you?" she asked quickly. She got a shake of the head as an answer. TK started to open his mouth but she quickly interrupted. "No one is with me either."
The boy's face soured. But he had to say something. "What should we do?"
Another voice interrupted the conversation before Kari could answer.
"You two sure are loud."
Kari's head turned to see Izzy's head sticking out the other window. That was a good thing. They now had the plan man himself to help them. "Izzy!"
"I suppose that you are both alone as well, inside a storeroom, right....?" he questioned. In answer there was nods. He was afraid of that. However, he had to make the best of the situation.
"What happened, Izzy? Do you know where we are?" TK asked curiously. Izzy had no problem taking a wild guess and proposing a theory in answer.
"I believe this is where Piedmon resides."
"Are you sure??" TK asked, trying not to look scared.
"The pile of play scripts in the storeroom I'm in pretty much says it all, TK."
Well, that settled it. They were indeed within the clutches of the mad playman himself. There was no doubt left.
"Do you know what we should do, Izzy?" Kari questioned. The boy rubbed his head with his vibrantly colored glove. He had to give an honest answer.
"At the moment, no. Give me some time to think. I just woke up." he answered. And then he disappeared from the window. Kari and TK exchanged a glance, then pulled their heads back into their rooms.
That was when Kari noticed the crack. It wasn't a big one that she could crawl out of.....
But it was big enough to see out of.
She hurried over to the door, kneeling down to where the crack was. Bending a bit more, she was able to see through it with ease. The room she peered into was dark, but there was little mistaking what was in the room. Small cages. Just the right size for.....the digimon of the Digi-Destined. But were they awake? She had to try.
"Gatomon....Gatomon! Gatomon, can you hear me??"
There was no answer.
Without thinking, Kari seized the whistle that always hung around her neck. It proved to be a useful tool more than once, and hopefully it would again.
She blew into the shiny silver whistle with all her might, cheeks puffing out.
"...keep it down m'sleepin'..."
Her eyes lit up. "Gomamon! Is that you??"
"..no..s'joe smoe..."
She blew on the whistle again.
"Would you stop that?!" he cried out, poking his head out the cage and looking groggy. In the other cages, the other digimon also began to wake from the unnatural deep sleep.
Kari smiled. This was all good.
6--Tears, Fears, and a Stupid Villian
While things seemed bright for three newly awakened kids, things were incredibly dim for the other five. Three sat huddled in misery, and two were locked away in darkness, alone. Joe was trying to convince himself that the walls weren't really closing in on him, while Mimi sat unhappily within a closed off room of Piedmon's strange home. Old props and strange items surrounded her. If she had company, they might have laughed and played with all the curious items that were scattered about, but alone and in the dark, she felt afraid.
She thought that she was going to die. But the human-like digimon had stowed her away in the dusty room, saying he'd get to her after he cleaned up a mess. Mimi shuddered at that. Was he talking about her Palmon? Or was it one of her friends? She couldn't imagine the horrible things he could do to TK, Kari, Izzy, or Joe. And what was he going to do with her? He made her feel sick, he had described to her in great detail Palmon's battle. But she didn't want to believe that.....she was gone....
Mimi shivered, hugging herself. The girl in pink tried with all her might not to be scared. But the stacks of objects made strange shapes. She could swear that she could see the form of some huge, horrible digimon waiting to get her. It could be true, maybe there was something up there waiting to get her, maybe that was how he wanted to kill her.
Afraid for herself, and sad for Palmon who she thought was surely dead.....all Mimi could do was cry to herself. And the worse part was that there was no one to hold her, comfort her, reassure her. The social child was alone, and felt as if she would be forever. It was a torture that worked. Mimi pulled down her hat over her eyes to hide the visions of shadows, and just cried softly. She was alone. And she didn't like it one single bit.
Elsewhere, Joe was also alone, still. He brooded within the inclosure. Things didn't feel right. Earlier....he didn't hear the sounds of battle, didn't see any messes.....but then again, three people and eight digimon were unaccounted for when he had woke up back in the dungeon. He didn't want to think of them all being hurt, or dead.....he kept turning over in his mind what could have happened. Either way he looked at it, he was unsure. There was no way of knowing what was really going on.
It was still an unhappy day for an unhappy Joe Kido.
But then, it was an unhappy day for most. Deep down in the dank dungeon the Digi-Destined that remained tried to dry tears. They had to pull things back together....but it wasn't easy. Matt was being eaten alive by his guilt over TK, and now his guilt over Mimi. He should of held on. Or gotten out the way so Tai could of grabbed her. Something, anything. Anything at all that could of helped. He felt useless. He couldn't help anyone. Matt just sat there, unresponsive, a blank, nearly dead look across his face in place of the usual slick look he kept.
Sora was terribly quiet. She felt as though she'd be the next one to be dragged from the room. Her poor Biyomon...having to fight for such a reason....it just was so unfair. Her friends....were they really dying? She wanted to just shut her mind down and stop thinking. She laid her head on Tai's shoulder, arms around the boy. It could be the last time she would get to hold anyone.
Through it all, Tai sat there, eyes dry, jaw set. Since Piedmon had last left, that was how the boy was. He had one arm around Sora, and the other around Matt. The blonde was too upset to complain about it. Tai knew one thing and one thing only.
He had to hang onto them both. He had to save someone. Otherwise...what kind of leader was he? Tai had to hang onto them both. So he laid back against the wall, body tense, mind alert. He concentrated on the door, rather than the situation. It seemed to help him alot. Instead of feeling bad, instead of wishing for a change, instead of crying....he was going to stare at that door and wait for Piedmon to enter. So he could spit in his face and stop him from getting Sora and Matt. Then he'd get free and find Agumon, and the other digimon. And then he'd find Kari, because she couldn't really be dead.
Tai tried to make himself believe that.
Kari was out there. Right?
He was right, though he had no way to prove it to himself. The little girl proved to be quick-witted when it came to a crisis. Izzy and TK heard her whistle, and were delighted when they heard the sounds of groggy digimon waking up nearby. That was definitely something that they could work with. After another quick conversation from the windows, things went under way.
Kari was organizing an escape from her spot on the floor. Izzy and TK had no way to see into the room the digimon were in, so the direction of the digimon escape had to be left to the newest Digi-Destined. That was not a problem for Kari, however. Under the order of Izzy, TK was searching his storeroom for anything useful, while Izzy started to formulate the best possible action to take once the digimon were freed. Everyone had a job to do.
Groggy digimon, Kari decided, were the most difficult people to work with.
There was terrible confusion for all the digimon. Over and over Kari had to answer that she did not know where the older Digi-Destined were.
The digimon finally calmed down long enough for Kari to start making things work. It was quickly discovered that no amount of squeezing could fit any digimon between the cage bars. Even little Patamon couldn't do it. Tentomon, who was always a wealth of information, had stated that the metal used to construct the cages was very strong. However, that did not prevent Agumon and Gatomon to set at work with their claws. It was a fruitless effort though. Kari scratched her head, thinking hard. They couldn't go through it by cutting through with claws, they couldn't squeeze through the bars, and she was pretty sure digimon didn't know how to pick locks.....
Then it came to her. Piedmon was a villain who acted as if he was someone in a play. So maybe he made the same mistakes those villains did, the same dumb blaring ones even elementary school students could pick out with ease.
"I don't suppose you see a key hanging anywhere just out if reach, do you guys?" she asked. After a moment of silence, there was an answer.
"Well, actually, yes." Gatomon said, looking surprised at that. The small ex-villain shook her head. "It's kinda sad when you think about it."
Kari smiled a little at her digimon's comment. Still though, there was alot to do.
"Palmon, can you reach the keys with your ivy attack?" she asked. Palmon perked up, her mind temporarily taken off Mimi.
"Yeah, Kari! Here I go! Poison Ivy...!"
And it was easy as that.
The digimon were on their way to being freed.