Author's note: This takes place a few months after season 01. I know, I know. It's a little late to be writing 01 fanfics and I should be concentrating on 02, but I DON'T CARE!!! I like 01 a lot better than 02 and I'll start writing 02 fics when the characters grow on me a bit. But until then, I only write 01 fics. Besides, I like Tai better with his goggles ^_^!!
Battle Royal
Rays of yellow light penetrated the clouds. A light wind brought comfort to the digimon as they frolicked and played among the grassy plains and forests of the Digital World. It had been months since the Digidestined had saved both the real and digital world from destruction and the eight chosen digimon were hailed as heroes by the other digimon. Since then, there has been no sign of trouble. Patamon played with a few Tokomon he knew before he went on his adventure with TK. He and the others were having fun playing tag.
Gomamon was floating on the surface of the water while Gatomon was on the shore. "It sure feels nice to relax after that adventure." Gomamon said, looking at the sky. "It sure does." Gatomon agreed. She tried to be cheerful, but Gomamon could hear the sadness in her voice. "What's wrong?" he asked.
"I miss Kari. I didn't get to spend as much time with her as you did with Joe."
"I really miss Joe, and the other kids. I wonder what they're doing right now."
"Maybe they're thinking about us."
"Maybe."
Gomamon continued to stare at the sky. He remembered when they had returned to Digiworld after beating VenomMyotismon. He was able to see the human world in the sky, now all he saw were clouds and the sun beating down on him. 'Joe,' Gomamon felt like he might cry thinking about his old partner and friend. 'We'll meet again, I just know it. We'll meet again.'
Gomamon's thoughts were interrupted by what appeared to be a black star beating in the sky. "Gatomon, look." Gomamon said as he pointed a flipper at the star. The star shone and beated like a heart. With each beat, it gradually got bigger. Just as suddenly as it had appeared, it expanded all over the sky like an explosion. The entire sky was covered by dark thunder clouds and a figure sailed across the sky. "What is that thing?" Gomamon asked.
"I don't know. I've never seen anything like it." Gatomon replied.
A vortex in the cloud appeared and began to swirl like a funnel cloud. Purple lighting crashed through the funnel as it descended into the water. "A water spout! Gomamon, get out of the water!" Gatomon yelled. Gomamon tried as hard as he could to fight the current bringing him closer to the water spout every second. He was lifted into the air and hurled into the spiraling cloud. "GOMAMON!!!" Gatomon yelled as she watched her friend disappear.
Tai sat on the couch still in his pajamas as Kari flipped through the channels. She stopped on one station and Tai gritted his teeth. "No, Kari! Not Sailor Moon!" he groaned.
"What's wrong with Sailor Moon?!" Kari asked defensively.
"Nothing. It's just that they showed this episode like a million times."
"I know, but I want to watch it!"
"What, you think Usagi's actually going to fight this time? We're watching Wild Arms!"
"We always watch Wild Arms!"
"I thought you liked Wild Arms!"
"I do, but I haven't seen Sailor Moon is such a long time."
"Look, Kari. They've aired this episode about a million times and if my gut is correct, they'll air it another million times. Meanwhile, on the other station, they're airing a new episode of Wild Arms."
"All right, all right! We'll watch Wild Arms. And just what is wrong with Usagi?"
"Nothing, except for the fact that she cries all the time and can't fight and she can't even hold her own against a bad guy for two seconds with out Tuxedo Mask or the other Sailor Scouts having to come in and save her sorry excuse for a Sailor 'Soldier' butt. And, whenever she does kill an enemy, it's because someone always has to risk life and limb to give her a clear shot at the monster."
Kari just sighed and shook her head as she flipped to the station that was airing Wild Arms. Tai made himself comfortable as did Kari. Just as the opening credits played, the phone rang. "Ugh, perfect timing." Tai growled as he went to answer it. Usually he would've just let it ring, but it was rather hard to concentrate on the show when the phone was ringing. Besides, his mom would've harassed him for hours if she found out he just let it ring, and that would've been much more annoying.
"Hello?" he said into the receiver. He was replied by a weird humming, almost alien, noise. Tai had never heard a sound like that before in his life and he immediately assumed that someone was prank calling him. He hung up and then dialed * 69 to retrace the call. He drummed his fingers on the table as the familiar sound of a phone ringed on the other end. Tai was surging with anger and was ready to chew out whoever called him. "We're sorry. The number you have dialed has been disconnected." Came a mechanical voice from the phone. 'Weird' Tai thought as he hung up, deciding to just let the whole thing drop. Meanwhile, in his bedroom, Tai's digivice was bleeping, but slowly, the bleeping died down until it returned to it's normal state.
Joe was reading his Human Anatomy book and taking down notes when his phone rang. "Hello?" he asked. The same strange humming noise sounded from his phone. "Stupid prank callers!" he said, slamming the phone down in anger. He was completely unaware that his digivice had been going off while he was on the phone.
"Who was that on the phone, Tai?" Kari asked when Tai returned to the couch. "Just some prank caller. Don't people have anything better to do with their time?" he replied as he once again made himself comfortable. About half way into the show, the phone rang again. "Are people completely unaware of the fact that I'm trying to watch TV?!" Tai exclaimed angrily. There is nothing worse than when the phone rings during a new episode of your favorite show, especially during the climax. "I'll get it!" Kari said, hoping to sooth her raging brother. She leaped off the couch and picked up the phone.
"Hello?"
"Is Tai there?" an unfamiliar voice said.
"Yes, who is this?"
"Just get Tai on the phone now!"
"He's a little busy right now," Kari said, glancing at her brother who was really getting into the show, what with it being the climactic battle and all. "Can you call back?"
"No! I need him now!"
"Now's not really a good time and…"
"Now wench! Put him on now!"
"Why should I? You're being awfully rude!"
"All right, all right. I'm sorry. Let me try again. Will you please put Tai on the phone?"
Kari glanced over to the TV. The battle was over and Kari assumed it was safe to get Tai's attention. "Sure, no problem." She said. She walked over to the couch and shook Tai on the shoulder. "Phone's for you." She said when he looked up at her. Tai got up and picked up the receiver. "Hello?" Just as before, the humming sound came from the other end. Meanwhile, Tai's digivice started reacting again. "Look, I don't know who you are," Tai yelled into the phone, "but you must have a pretty sad life to be doing this! Stop calling me, dammit!" Tai slammed the phone down. The second he did so, his digivice returned to normal. "Kari, who was that?" he asked.
"I don't know. He didn't leave his name."
Tai shook his head and sighed. "Doesn't matter now. I'll find him, and when I do he's gonna regret this." He said, slamming his fist into his opened hand. Kari sighed. 'Why does Tai have to be so violent?' she thought as he walked into the room they both shared. A few minutes later, Tai walked out in his normal apparel. Blue shirt, brown shorts, and of course, his trade mark goggles. "Where are you going?" Kari asked.
"No where right now. I'm going to meet Sora, Matt, and Joe later for lunch today, so I thought I'd just get dressed now."
Gomamon opened his eyes and found himself in an underwater cave. 'Where am I?' he thought as he looked around. Something shiny caught his attention. He walked over to it and was unsure of what he was seeing. 'Crests,' he thought, 'Courage and Reliability. But they're all the wrong color.' The crest of Courage and Reliability were hanging on the wall of the cave. The tags were shining gold and held immense power within them. The thing was that the Courage crest was, instead of orange, the colors of the Crest of Reliability and vise versa. Below the crests was a cave painting in which the symbol on Courage and Reliability joined together.
Gomamon starred at the crests and painting for a while, then a bright grin spread across his face when he realized what this might mean. "The Digidestined must be coming back! Joe! I'd better go see Gennai!" he yelled as he ran through the cave.
Tai sat down next to Sora and slowly unwrapped his double-cheese burger. Joe and Matt were on the other side of the table and doing the same. Joe seemed pretty mad at something as did Tai, who also looked sort of depressed. "What's wrong?" Sora asked Tai, kissing him on the cheek. "I've just been having sort of a crappy day today. This weird person called me twice, and each time I picked up the phone, this weird humming noise came out."
"Really? The same thing happened to me." Joe said.
"Humming noise, huh?" Matt said, thoughtfully. "What kind of humming noise? Do you mean as in someone actually humming or something technical?"
"Something alien!" Tai said. "I've never heard anything like it before in my life! Here's what's really weird. I traced the call, and the operator said the number was disconnected."
"Maybe we should tell Izzy about this, no doubt he'll have some sort of theory for it." Sora suggested.
"Strange humming noise, huh?" Izzy said, leaning back in his chair and rubbing his chin deep in thought. "And you two are the only one's who got called?" he motioned towards Tai and Joe as he spoke. "Yeah, and Kari said that when she answered the phone, some guy she didn't recognize asked for me." Tai added. Izzy closed his eyes then turned to his laptop, typing feverishly. The other kids watched in silence as Izzy's fingers never once left the keyboard. "Well?" someone said after about a minute. Izzy stopped typing and turned towards them. He scanned his gaze across the room, looking at each one of them to see if they were paying attention. He licked his lips and slowly opened his mouth. "Aliens."
There was a moment of silence before sweat drops formed on the heads of the other kids. "We should've known." Sora said and the others nodded in agreement. Izzy looked around and sighed. "Don't be so quick to dismiss my theory. The aliens are trying to make contact with us, but I don't know what they want yet. Tai, Joe, you guys watch your backs. They aliens may want to kidnap you and do God knows what to you." The other kids nodded and let themselves out. "Izzy and his aliens…." Matt muttered as he left.
Tai went back to his apartment and flopped down on the couch. He closed his eyes and was ready to let himself fall back into sleep when the phone rang. Tai gritted his teeth and tried to ignore it. "Kari, could you get that?" he yelled. When there was no reply, he opened his eyes a crack and scanned the apartment. He appeared to be alone. Growling, Tai got up.
"Hello?" Tai muttered. Once again, the strange humming sound emitted from the phone. "Why are you doing this?" Tai asked, sounding more tired and indifferent than angry.
Kari had her head phones on and was listening to music when she saw something flashing out of the corner of her eye. She took her head phones off and approached Tai's desk, where she had spotted it. There, Tai's digivice was activated. Astounded, Kari picked up his digivice. "Tai!" she yelled.
"Tai!" Tai heard his sister yell from the other room. "Gotta go, please don't call back." He said as Kari came out of the room. He hung up the phone and the very second he did, the digivice stopped reacting. "What's wrong?" he asked his little sister with concern. "Your digivice was reacting, but it stopped when you hung up the phone." She replied, handing him his digivice. Tai took the digivice and looked at it, then at Kari. "Was your digivice activated too?" he asked her.
"I didn't have time to check, but I don't think it was."
"Was it activated for long?"
"No. Just for a while until you hung up. This definantly has something to do with the phone calls."
Tai nodded in agreement. "I wonder if Joe's digivice has been activating. Maybe the other kids are getting called too. Kari, get your digivice. I'm calling an emergency meeting."
Six young kids sat in a circle waiting for their leader and his younger sister to show up. "Tai better show up! I should be studying now!" Joe said. He didn't like to be torn from his studies, but if it involved the Digiworld, you could bet your life he'd be there. They don't call him 'Old Reliable Joe' for nothing. His thoughts were interrupted when two figures came running towards the group. "It's about time!" Sora said as Tai and Kari skidded to a stop infront of the group. "Yeah, sorry. Subway was running a little late." Tai said, trying to catch his breath. He and Kari took their places among the other kids.
"As some of you already know, Joe and I have been getting strange phone calls. Each time we picked up the phone, there'd be an alien-like humming noise on the other end. Last time I was called, my digivice was reacting the whole time I was on the phone and stopped when I hung up." Tai shot a quick glance at Joe as he finished the last sentence. He shook his head. "I don't know I my digivice has been acting up, but I'll check next time." Joe said and Tai nodded in approval. He then turned to the others and asked, "Has anyone else been getting these strange phone calls?" The other kids shook their heads. "Then it's just you 'n me, Joe. I wonder if there's trouble in the Digital World." Tai said.
Joe looked up at the sky. "I really hope we don't have to return to the Digiworld. I have a lot of studying to do. But, if Gomamon's in trouble,"
"I know, me too Joe." Tai said, obviously worried about Agumon. "What do you make of this, Izzy?"
"Something has got to be a miss in the Digital World, or else your digivices wouldn't be reacting. I'll try to contact Gennai tonight, but I can't help but wonder why the rest of us haven't been getting called."
"Let's just focus at the problem at hand, for now. We'll worry about that later." Tai said.
"Oh, man. What if only Tai and I can go back? That means we'd have to face whatever evil is there….alone…..just the two of us. I think I'm gonna be sick."
"Relax Joe! We've defeated evil monsters before, we can do it again, even if only you and I can go back. Besides, it won't be just the two of us, we'll have Agumon and Gomamon with us. Anyway, there's got to be a way back, and I intend to find it!"
Tai looked at Joe, waiting for a reply. He looked back at Tai with a doubtful 'I'm with ya' look in his eyes. Tai nodded. He understood why Joe was questioning what was going on. Why could only he and Joe go back? Why couldn't the other Digidestined come to? "Keep in touch incase any of you start getting reactions from your digivices." Tai instructed the others as he got up. The others nodded and got up as well. Sora was about to leave when she turned around and grabbed Tai by the arm. "Can I talk to you?"
Tai nodded and Sora lead him to another place in the park, covered heavily be trees.
"I really hope the rest of us get contacted." Sora said, looking down at her feet. Tai nodded and put his hand under her chin. He slowly lifted her head until they were at eye level. "And why is that?" he asked softly.
"I want to go back to the Digital World and see Biyomon again. I want to go incase you and Joe have to go back. I want to fight beside you, Tai. Just like last time. I don't think I could stand the thought of being stuck here while you and Joe go back to 'war' as you call it. I'd worry about you."
"I know, Sora. It won't be the same with out you be my side in the Digital World."
"If you do have to go back, please be careful, and say 'hi' to Biyomon for me, if you see her."
"Of course, but don't get to worried yet. We don't know if only Joe and I can go back, and maybe you'll get to see Biyomon….somehow. This is all happening way too fast! Just yesterday…..scratch that. Just this morning I didn't even think I was going back to the Digital World any time soon, and now, I don't know. It's just weird."
Sora nodded and looked into Tai's eyes. Tai looked back into her eyes and saw the love and concern that drawn had him to her. He ran his fingers through her hair. Sora looked like she was about to cry. She rested her head on his shoulder and Tai wrapped his arms around her. "You don't need to worry. No matter what happens." Tai said softly, and received a sigh from Sora in reply. Tai felt his stomach growl and he knew he should be getting back home pretty soon. It was almost time for dinner and Kari was waiting for him. Sora slowly pulled put of Tai's grasp. "I'll call you tomorrow." She said without even looking at him.
Sora turned to leave after saying good bye to Tai. Tai returned her good bye and watched as Sora walked off. She stopped and looked back at him. He smiled a reassuring smile at her, which she accepted by smiling back. Tai glanced behind him and saw Kari leaning up against a tree, patiently waiting for him. He looked back at Sora who gave him a 'go on' look. Tai turned to leave, waving good bye as he did. Sora waved back and put her hand to her chest. "Taichi…" she whispered as he walked back to where his little sister was waiting. "What ever happens, please be careful."
