Chapter Two: Joe's Sacrifice
The group ran all day. They rushed through the forest for hours, trying to put as much distance between them and their pursuers. Eventually nightfall came. The group headed toward a cliff face that ran down a beach, where they found a cluster of caves suitable for sleeping. The six humans and four Digimon piled into the caves to recover from the hellacious events that just occurred. After they settled in, the group began to discuss what had just happened, and what they should do next.
"Are you sure you're alright, Kari?" Tai asked his little sister for the 13th time.
"Yeah Tai, I'm fine. You have to stop worrying so much."
"Kari, those evil Digimon almost killed you, how am I not supposed to worry?"
"They almost killed you too, Tai." Kari pointed out. Tai let out a big sigh and rested his head against the wall. "Besides, I had Salamon here to protect me." She indicated the whitish cat-dog like Digimon next to her. It had digivolved from Nyaromon earlier when they were trying to find their way out of the forest.
"Thanks again for helping out my sister." Tai said to Izzy, Joe, and Salamon.
"It was no problem." Joe replied to Tai, "She was in trouble, and we couldn't just leave her out in the woods."
A few yards away from Tai, Kari, Izzy, Joe, Rika, and T.K. were the Digimon Renamon, Gummymon, and Agumon (Koromon explained that his name changed when he digivolved to the rookie level; he was at the in-training level previously) reacquainting. Salamon then joined the group. The four of them were all friends who had been attacked by the evil digidestined. Now they were only missing Tentomon and Tokomon. Suddenly the Renamon stood up and walked over to the humans. She was a little taller than Rika with a fox-like tail and head, looking like a blend of human and animal.
"Rika," she addressed the older girl, "I'm going outside to keep watch for the evil digidestined, okay?"
"Alright, thanks Renamon." The tall fox Digimon then walked off to guard the cave.
"So your name's Rika, huh?"Tai inquired.
"Yeah, what of it?" She replied rudely.
"I was just wondering. We're all in this together so I thought I should know your name."
"Whatever," she mumbled.
"Huh, fine, so what are we going to do now?"
"We have to go find my brother!" T.K. commanded.
"I know, T.K., but we have to figure out how to find him. We don't exactly know our way around this place."
"What we need to do is get out of here." Rika added. "I'm not staying here to get eaten or something by those stupid Digimon back there."
"I want to get out of here too, Rika," Tai began, "But we can't just abandon T.K.'s brother; and what about Eric? He tried to save us and I don't want to just leave him out there while we make our escape."
"That guy didn't try and save us, he tried to save himself. He stabbed that Digimon in the eye so that it wouldn't be able to follow them. I say good riddance to both him and that stupid Digimon of his."
"Hey!" Tai and Agumon objected simultaneously, "Eric tried to help me find my sister, he's not a coward." Agumon then complained. "And Tentomon is one of my best friends; he wouldn't abandon us unless he had a really good reason."
"Regardless of whether or not they abandoned us or not we can't just leave them here to die." Joe reasoned, "Tomorrow we have to find him and Tentomon, as well as T.K.'s brother."
"Screw that," Rika stated angrily, "Tomorrow I'm gonna find my way off of this island, and if you guys are smart you'll come with me."
"Well I can't leave Eric here, so tomorrow I'm going to find him."Tai stated
"I can't leave my brother," Kari added.
"And you can't just go off alone Rika," Izzy interjected, "If those Digimon jump you, you won't stand a chance. They'll capture you, and they could kill you."
"Hey," began Agumon, "What about our world. You can't just leave us. You all are the digidestined."
"Agumon we're just kids. We can't save anything." Tai tried to reason.
"So are the evil digidestined. Before they joined Devimon they tried to save our world."
"And what's to stop that from happening to us? What happens if the digidestined turn us evil, then you'll be even worse off."
"But you guys have to try! Please you were obviously brought here for a reason. We really need your help."
"Agumon, there's nothing we can do to help you. We're just kids. And the other kids who came here are now evil. The only option is to get back home!"
"But you have a digivice," He said, pulling the gadget out of Tai's pocket, "And you helped me digivolve. That means that we're partners, and I know that together we can save my home!"
"Hey, everybody," Joe interrupted, "Regardless of what we're going to do tomorrow, tonight we should all get some sleep. I'll go take watch at the front of the cave after Renamon, and whoever wants to can take the next shift after about two hours."
"That won't be necessary Joe," Renamon called from the front of the cave, "I don't need to sleep, I can watch all night."
"You sure Renamon?" Rika asked.
"Yes, you go to sleep, I'll make sure no one finds us."
"See, for tonight, we're safe. Let's just get some sleep, and then discuss what we're going to do." Everyone reluctantly agreed, and then settled down for the night. T.K. and Kari went into the back of the cave to sleep, and the Digimon formed a barrier between them and the front of the cave. Izzy gathered some dirt off of the floor of the cave and put out the fire, and then the group went to sleep.
The next day, the group awoke and discussed what to do. After a few hours, they finally decided what would happen. Rika and Izzy would separate from the rest of the group and try to find a way out of the digital world. Once they found an exit, they would use a signal fire to tell the others where the way out was. While Rika and Izzy were doing that, Tai, Joe, Kari, and T.K. would go and search for Eric, Tentomon, and Matt. Off to the side, the Digimon agreed that they should stay with their partners and try to convince them to help the digital world. After deciding their course of action, however, Tai pulled T.K. off to the side.
"Listen, T.K., I want you to go with Izzy and Rika."
"What!" T.K. said shocked, "No, I want to go with you and find my brother. He might be in trouble and I can't leave hear without him."
"T.K. please, you have to go with them. What do you think your brother would do if something ever happened to you?"
"Yeah, but-"
"Hey, I promise you that I'll find your brother, no matter what it takes. I won't leave this place until I know he's safe."
"Alright then, but I'm gonna hold you to that. You find my brother, okay Tai!"
"You can count on me, T.K."
"Will you quit yapping and make up your minds already?" Rika snapped, "Is T.K. coming with us or not?"
"Yeah, I'm coming," he said, and then Rika, Izzy, and T.K. along with Renamon and Gummymon started along the beach, toward the side of the island the group hadn't encountered before. Tai, Kari, and Joe along with Agumon and Salamon went back up the cliffs towards the forests, where the evil Digimon were last seen.
"I don't suppose you'd go with them too, would you Kari?" Tai asked his sister, although he already knew the answer.
***
"Tentomon, get down…!" Eric whispered. The large bug Digimon dived into the ditch seconds before the enormous Kuwagamon came into view. It crashed through the forests, destroying every tree and bush in his path.
.
"Find them!" The pair heard the human partner yell as the Kuwagamon smashed by. After the team passed, Tentomon began to lift his head.
"Wait," Eric mumbled, grasping Tentomon's arm as it rose. Tentomon ducked back down. 30 seconds went by, then Stingmon and Ken flew by. Ten more minutes passed: the two Digimon circled the area five more times, and then disappeared. Tentomon began to get up, but Eric once again stopped him: "They know we're in this area," He whispered, "They just want to fool us into thinking they're gone so that we'll reveal themselves." Tentomon stared at Eric with a dazed look. "Watch," he added, "They'll be back in a few minutes to see if we came out of hiding. Let's crawl under those fallen trees just in case they notice the ditch."
The Eric and Tentomon crawled out of the hole, and then dashed toward a pile of trees knocked over by Kuwagamon, diving into a large gap in the pile. They grabbed another fallen tree and pulled over their hiding place. Two minutes later, the pair passed by again. "They'll circle this area for about half an hour, and then they'll have to assume that we're not here and move on. It's a trick some hunters use to trap their prey."
"You think they're gonna eat us?" Tentomon whispered in panic.
"No, they want to kill us."
"Right, so, be quiet?"
"Yeah, something you're proving to be really bad at right now."
"Oh, right." Tentomon shut up.
They waited for ten more minutes. The evil Digimon passed two more times, and then stopped coming. Ten minutes later they assumed it was safe. "Alright, they've probably moved on by now. Let's get out of here as fast as we can."
"Have you done this before: being hunted?" Tentomon inquired.
"No, my grandfather taught me survival skills. He's kind of paranoid."
"What's a grandfather?" Eric stared at Tentomon with a puzzled look on his face.
"Is-are you-serious?"
"You don't have to look at me like that, jerk, I've never heard of a grandfather before."
"I'm sorry; I've just never heard anyone ask a question like that. Didn't your mom tell you about grandparents?"
"What's a mom?"
***
"Come on Tai, you know you have to help." Agumon argued. While searching for their lost friends, Agumon and Salamon began to try to persuade Tai, Joe, and Kari to join their fight to save File Island. "You can't deny that you're supposed to be here, you have a digivice. Only digidestined have one of those."
"It's not mine; I don't even know how it got into my pocket." Tai objected.
"But you shared energy with me and helped me digivolve. Only my partner can do that. Why can't you see that?"
"Agumon," Joe interjected, "How can you expect us to be able to help you. The other digidestined became evil; and they only had this Devimon to deal with. We would have to take on Devimon and the digidestined who turned evil; not to mention if he turned any of us evil before we could get our Digimon to champion, and I don't even have a Digimon.
"You just haven't found your partner yet, Joe; and I know you guys can do it. You're really special. You work together a lot better than the first digidestined. From what Matt told us they were always fighting with each other on what to do. You guys seem to know what you are doing. Except for Rika: she's kind of stubborn."
"Did you say Matt?" Tai inquired.
"Yeah, but it must have been a different Matt, because he was here for a really long time; months, not minutes."
"Isn't there some professionals you can call, like the police, or the army?" Kari added.
"I don't know what those are," Agumon replied, "But you can't just choose anybody. Elecmon said only the digidestined can save us."
"Even if we did agree to help you how can you expect us to do any better than the last digidestined?" asked Tai.
"You have to try. We're desperate. Every day the digidestined are either destroying countless Digimon villages or attacking them with black gears to make them evil. There are only a few villages and a couple of cities left on the island, and soon they'll be destroyed too" explained Salamon.
"There are cities on this Island?" said Joe. "If we can find those cities we might be able to get out of here."
"But you guys-" Agumon stopped short. He started sniffing the air around him. "Do you smell that, Salamon?"
"Yeah, I do," she replied, "Where do you think it's coming from?"
"What is it?" asked Kari.
"I think it's coming from over there." Agumon indicated a direction with his claw. "Come on let's go." Both Agumon and Salamon took off.
"Hey, wait up!" the three human's yelled. They took off after the speeding Digimon, and after a few minutes they began to detect the smell Agumon and Salamon had run off towards.
"Is that smoke?" said Tai.
"Yeah, I think so," replied Joe.
"I think it's coming from this way." Kari added, indicating where with a nod of her head. The group ran off in the direction of the trailing smoke. They reached the top of a hill and looked over a dreadful site. In a large clearing at the bottom of the hill was a small village that seemed to house a hundred people (or Digimon). However the village was not suitable for living in its condition. The huts that made up the village had been obliterated, only pieces of cinder and straw remained. Craters in the ground indicated an explosive battle occurred; also proven by the flames covering the surviving structures. The strangest part about the entire scene, however, was that there were no bodies. Not one trace of the villagers that lived there remained.
"Oh," Kari whispered.
"What the hell happened here?" inquired Joe.
"I don't know, but I'm gonna find out" announced Tai. He then rushed down the hill to find Agumon and Salamon.
"Tai slow down," Joe called. He and Kari then took after Tai, dashing through the crumbling huts toward the sounds of Agumon and Salamon a hundred yards away. The trio finally made it to the two Digimon standing next to a seemingly lifeless green lump. Agumon was shaking the creature, trying to rouse it out of its unconscious state.
"What is that?" Tai whispered.
"Come on, Ogremon, wake up, you have to tell us what happened!" Agumon began to shake more violently. Ogremon's eyes then began to slowly open.
"They-they attacked, Agumon. We didn't stand a chance. They-they didn't leave anyone-alive," Ogremon slowly faded away. Tai, Joe, and Kari sunk their heads in respect, but were shocked out of their mourning state when Ogremon began to disintegrate into white flecks.
"What's happening to him?" Tai said nervously.
"He's being deleted." Agumon said sullenly.
"Wha-" Before Tai could question him further a dark voice spoke up behind them.
"Like moths, to a flame, right Zoe?" The group spun around. Their eyes lay upon a girl in an old yellowish pilot hat, with purple hair hanging down the back of her neck. Behind her was a tree, or rather a tree stump, with hands, arms, and a face, known as Woodmon. His silhouette flickered with the movement of the flames. The evil digidestined had found them.
"Who knew the new guys would be so damn stupid, Yolei!" A voice to their side laughed. Behind the flaming buildings rose the head of Seadramon, a blue sea serpent with a golden helmet-like cover on his head, and on his head stood another evil digidestined, Zoe. The Italian girl was dressed in an odd assortment of purple-white clothing and wore a purple snow cap concealing the crown of her blonde hair.
"Alright," Yolei began, "let's deal with this cleanly Zoe, I don't want Devi-"
"Seadramon attack!" Zoe yelled.
"Run!" Tai yelled. The five started to run but Seadramon jumped into action.
"Ice Blast!" The frozen beam sped toward the fleeing group. Tai and Salamon dodged to the left while Joe, Kari, and Agumon were forced to fall back as Seadramon's deadly attack smashed into the ground.
"Ugh, always the hard way. Woodmon get the one tall one and the girl." Yolei commanded Woodmon. It rushed towards the larger of the separated groups. "Branch Drill!" It yelled. Agumon defended.
"Pepper Breath!" Agumon launched a fiery breath from his mouth, stunning Woodmon for a moment. The group then bolted from their current location. Tai and Salamon in the meantime now had to dodge Seadramon's frozen rays, zigzagging across an open field. The two groups were being forced to flee to separate sides of the village. Tai realized this.
"Salamon, they're separating us! Is there anything you can do?" He said quickly to conserve his breath.
"I can try," she stopped and faced the towering creature, which was slithering towards them while he blasted away, "Puppy Howling, AAGGHH!" Sound waves blasted out of the little Digimon's mouth and stunned the sea snake and his partner. "Come on, let's go!" She announced. The pair then circled Seadramon and took off towards the other group. Seadramon shook of the stunning attack shortly after, and continued his chase.
Meanwhile Woodmon continued its pursuit of Joe, Kari, and Agumon. Yolei trotted close behind. Woodmon was too fast for the humans, however and quickly caught up with and cut off the group. "Pepper Breath!" Agumon shot at the Digimon, however Woodmon knocked the attack away. He then smashed Agumon in the head, forcing him to spiral away from the group before falling into unconsciousness. Woodmon now towered over the humans. Yolei was about 20 feet away, so she slowed to a brisk walk.
"He he, now, why don't you reconsider that offer, Devimon needs some more digidestined. The world's kind of big!" The raspy voiced Digimon laughed.
"Kari, get away now!" Joe shoved the girl in the direction opposite of Woodmon and Yolei.
"Hey, I'm not done." Woodmon said angrily. A thin, dark needle slid out of his arm. He raised his limb and flung the object toward the fleeing girl.
"No!" Joe yelled. He launched himself in the direction of the dark object. It stabbed him in the back, and he slumped to the ground. The needle then began to slowly slide itself into Joe's body.
"Oh, no, Joe!" Kari yelled. She started to go to Joe's aid.
"Kari, look out!" Tai yelled, having caught up to the scene. Woodmon had leaped behind the girl. He then grasped her hand and clutched her in his arm.
"I'm tired of you running around!" Seadramon announced, having caught up as well. "I don't care if Devimon needs you, Die!" Seadramon's icy attack beamed towards Tai, who, like a deer caught in the headlights, stood frightened and still.
"Tai move!" Agumon yelled as he leaped from his previous defeated position towards the path of the beam. Tai's digivice then exploded with power. A beam of light smashed into Agumon and he grew exponentially. A brown skull-like helmet (with a horn) appeared on his head. The modified Digimon head butted the snake squarely in the jaw, knocking it into the air and sending the frozen attack spiraling into the sky. Woodmon, shocked, dropped Kari. She and Tai stared in amazement at the new Agumon.
"No Zoe! You stupid ass, you let it digivolve!" Yolei screamed at the girl with anger and fear. Seadramon crashed to the ground while the girl on his head rolled onto the grass and scampered away. Seadramon, dumbstruck, lay on the ground paralyzed.
"Ugh!" Yolei groaned in disgust, "Woodmon grab those two and let's get out of here. We'll leave Zoe to clean up her mess." Woodmon snapped out of his gaze and grabbed the two humans. Salamon intervened and head butted the arm clutching Kari. He winced in pain and dropped the girl.
"You little piece of-" Woodmon began.
"Woodmon, let's go now!" Yolei yelled as she dashed into the forest. Woodmon glanced back at her, and then whipped its head back at Kari and Salamon, who were already backing away. It groaned, tightened its grip on Joe, and then followed Yolei into the forest. Tai then scurried over to the pair.
"Are you alright?" He said, as he bear hugged his little sister.
"Tai, they took Joe. He saved me."
"What?" Tai stared into the forest. He looked around him and then understood. "No, Joe." Suddenly Seadramon sprang into action and launched itself at the trio. Agumon grabbed the Digimon's tail and whipped it back onto the ground.
"Damn you! No one touches my tail!" it groaned as it rose off the ground and back into attacking position.
"Way to go Agumon!" Tai cheered.
"It's Greymon now, Nova Flame!" Agumon, now Greymon, launched a large, more deadly version of the pepper breath in Seadramon's face. It fell to the ground in pain, struggling as it tried to regain its place in the battle. Greymon didn't let it. He slammed his foot into the Digimon's body. Seadramon let out a deafening scream. Its head collapsed to the ground. Greymon backed away; his work was done. Seadramon then began to shrink. He withered into a small green Digimon with four small claws for limbs and a large orange fin on its back.
"Betamon!" Zoe screamed. She rushed to the Digimon and grasped it in her arms. Greymon glared at the two, but Zoe ran off into the forest before Greymon could contemplate a vengeful thought. Greymon thought about chasing after the pair, but decided to check on Tai and Kari instead. He stomped his way over to the other three, now trying to recover from the events that had just occurred.
"Greymon, you were great!" Tai shouted.
"He, he, thanks," the huge Digimon blushed. Suddenly Greymon decreased to normal size, his headpiece disappearing into thin air. Greymon had returned to Agumon.
"What was that?" Tai inquired.
"I de-digivolved. I was just at the champion level. You remember what that means, right?
"Yeah, I do, and I think you're right. We're going to have to help you're world, if they're that ruthless. But first we have to go save Joe. Those other two ran off with him."
"Right, I'll help you find Joe, and then together we'll destroy Devimon and the evil digidestined!"
"You got that right buddy!"
"Joe saved my life," Kari commented, "The tree Digimon threw something at me, and Joe jumped in front of it. We have to find him right away.
"Don't worry we'll get right on it. Come on, let's go guys!" Tai lifted Kari to her feet, and then waved at Salamon and Agumon to follow him. The two were looking at each other with worry, however. Woodmon had tossed something at Kari. They knew what it was: the dark needle. Joe was beyond saving now.
