All World
bori-chan
Summary: 2 years after the defeat of Apocalymon. Prompted by their Digivices, the eight original Digidestined enter the Digital World through a port Izzy somehow opened. When they get there, they find that everything seems perfect…including these strange towns that have appeared everywhere. The DigiDestined must once again brave evil and band together in order to win. The problem is, Tai's not one of them anymore.
One
It was hotter than usual as Sora and Mimi walked the streets of Odaiba, clutching several shopping bags each. Mimi had just embarked on an impromptu flight to Japan, succumbing to an incredible homesickness that seemed to come out of nowhere. She turned to Sora and smiled.
"It's great to be back here. Everything's exactly the same, even after two years." Mimi looked down at the pavement and let her smile fade a bit, thinking about all the great times the eight Digidestined had experienced together. She stopped in front of a small restaurant that she had eaten at countless times. "It's hard to believe I almost forgot all this."
"Hey, don't worry. You're here now," Sora said. Mimi nodded in agreement.
"Wanna grab a bite to eat?" Mimi suggested. "I'm exhausted from all that shopping!"
"Sounds great." The two girls opened the door and stepped inside. The restaurant was small but lavish. Gold detailing was found all over the ceiling and walls, and the waiters and waitresses certainly were dressed to impress. There was a bonsai garden in the right-hand corner, complete with a beautiful fountain. And on the left there was…
"Izzy? Is that you?" Sora turned to look where Mimi had directed her voice to. Sure enough, Izzy was sitting at a table with his laptop and a bowl of noodle soup. His usually serious face broke out into a grin at the sight of his friends.
"Hey, you guys! What brings you here?"
"Just a bit hungry," admitted Sora. "Is it okay if we join you?"
"Yeah, of course," Izzy said, standing up and pulling out chairs for the two of them. "It's great that you're here. I was actually just trying to open a port to the Digital world, and maybe you two can help."
"A port? To the Digital world?" asked Sora. "What for?"
"That's kind of a coincidence that we're here then, huh?" Mimi lowered the restaurant's menu and peered down at Izzy's computer screen.
"It is," confirmed Izzy. "The port I'm trying to open…well, I've never tried anything like this before. I'm going to try, though…my Digivice was been going haywire ever since a few days ago. I think the Digital World might be in trouble."
"What?" gasped Sora. "What about our Digimon? Is Biyomon okay?"
Izzy averted his gaze and scratched his forehead. "I won't be able to answer that question until I get to Tentomon, Agumon and the others. You can talk to Biyomon yourself, Sora, if only I could open that port…"
"Palmon might be in trouble?" Mimi shuddered. She reached up and took off her pink hat, then slipped her elastic band from her ponytail and broke it in half. She looked down in surprise when the the band snapped against her wrist. "Oops!"
"How can we help?" Sora pressed.
"Well, if you two have got your Digivices, that might do some good." Sora nodded at Izzy and took off her backpack, rifling through its contents. Finally, her fingers closed around the pale gizmo, and she pulled it out in triumph. Her expression of happiness slowly faded as she saw her Digivice screen fill with red blinking dots.
"Hey, what's wrong with it?"
"The same is happening with mine," said Izzy. "That's why it's so important that we get there."
"Well, let's get there already!" Mimi cried in despair. "Palmon's in trouble!"
"I'm calling Tai and Kari right now. Mimi, call Matt and tell him to pick up T. K. on his way here. Sora, see if you can get ahold of Joe. We need everyone here."
"All I wanted was to eat something," muttered Mimi as she punched in a series of numbers. "Hi, is Matt there? Yeah, it's Mimi. Izzy says you'd better get over here soon…"
"What's Joe's number?" Sora pondered. "Oh, it's right here, hang on."
"Tai, you and Kari better get here right now! Bring your Digivices, this is serious. …What? Of course something's wrong, now hurry!" Izzy hung up on Tai and sighed in exasperation. "Tai's a bit daft."
"That's Tai for you," laughed Sora.
"Ugh, I'm too nervous to eat now," grumbled Mimi, pushing away her bowl of soup, which had arrived moments before. "Thanks a lot, Izzy."
Sora placed her Digivice by Izzy's, and Mimi followed suit. For a few minutes, the table fell silent except for the tapping of Izzy's finger against his keyboard.
"Hey, we're here already!" Tai and Matt shoved the door open, and T. K. and Kari ran in laughing in delight. Joe showed up a few seconds later carrying a huge duffle bag filled with…well, everything.
"What's wrong?" demanded Matt, gasping for breath; he hadn't bothered to call a cab and instead ran the entire way to the restaurant. "Tell me, is Gabumon alright?"
"Tell us what's going on," Tai commanded, shoving Matt out of the way. "What's wrong with Agumon?"
"And Patamon!" T. K. reminded them.
"Hang on, guys, I'm doing the best I can," Izzy said. "Hey…what's this?"
"What's what?" asked Mimi.
"I think we may be able to enter the Digital World, if I can just…alright!" Izzy pumped his fist in the air and hit enter. The screen went completely white and started to emit a strange buzzing noise.
"Did you do it?" questioned Kari hopefully. "I can't wait to see our friends again."
"Yeah." Izzy took his hands off the keyboard and tapped in chin, deep in thought. It had been pretty easy to tap into the Digital World and to open a port…sure, Izzy had to decode various passwords and data, but it hadn't been so difficult. After all, Izzy had tried for countless hours in the past two years to open a port. And this time…it was almost as it someone wanted them to enter the Digital World. "Yeah guys, I got it open."
"Cool! Then let's go!" Tai held his Digivice up to the screen and watched in astonishment as a golden entryway opened in the middle of the restaurant. Not giving it a second thought, he jumped in.
"No, wait!" Izzy cried, but it was too late: Tai was gone. Izzy groaned and grabbed his own Digivice. "This is great. What if it's a trap?"
He walked over to the port and sighed. "The only thing to do now is go after him. He can't stay there all alone." Everyone started walking toward the golden port, nodding their heads.
"Let's do it," said Kari.
The seven of them swallowed any fear that threatened to cut loose and all jumped in at the same time. The golden beam tugged at them until they were nowhere to be found.
"Did I hear more customers come in a few minutes ago? I brought free appetizers!" The restaurant owner came out of the kitchen with a broad smile on his face, but all his potential business had gone.