He thought for sure he was hung over. That was the only possible explanation. Tai rolled his head and started to sit up. He opened his eyes and became incredibly confused. He was in the woods. Why am I in the woods? He questioned and he clenched his hands. He rotated his left wrist to look at his watch. He barely registered the time when he felt something and quickly looked to his right hand,
"What the hell?" He asked himself. He was holding something. A small something that looked like a tamogochi. He brought it closer to his face. It was blue and had a screen on it. He flipped it over. There were no screws for a battery pack, no buttons it just was. He dropped his hand to his side and looked around, Where the hell am I?
"Tai?" Tai turned and then yelled,
"Jesus what is that?!" He quickly backed up as he saw a little pink ball looking right at him.
"Tai! You're awake!" The pink ball bounced and Tai was afraid of it.
"Don't come any closer!" He announced and the pink ball smiled,
"Oh were gonna have so much fun together!" Tai pulled a face,
"Sure we are, uhhh who are you?" He felt stupid talking to it but he didn't know what else to do.
"I'm Koromon and I'm your partner!" Tai blinked,
"You're my what now?" Koromon smiled and giggled,
"Your partner!" Tai was now feeling less threatened by the pink ball. He got onto his knees and inched his face closer to it. He then stuck out his left finger and poked it.
"Hey that tickles!" Koromon reacted and Tai tilted his head to the side,
"You seem so real." He said trying to inspect it for some sort of wiring.
"Of course I'm real!" Koromon hopped up and down and Tai started to stand,
"Weird." He mumbled looking right at Koromon.
"Tai?" Tai turned and saw Izzy standing behind him.
"Izzy!" Tai announced happy to see another face. He could see Izzy was clutching his laptop under one arm and holding something in his other hand. Tai's gaze shifted to Izzy's feet and he saw a small pink blob tucked right behind Izzy's legs.
"You found one too?" Tai asked staring at the blob,
"Yeah Motimon I think. I don't know what it is." Tai shrugged,
"Whatever they are they sure are strange." He said looking back at Koromon.
"Hey, you look pretty strange too!" Motimon squeaked and Tai looked at the little blob,
"Er, sorry?" He tried and Motimon pulled a sour face.
"Hey did you wake up with this?" Izzy asked. Tai looked at Izzy and he was holding the strange tomagochi device. Tai looked at his right hand and held up his own,
"yeah what do you think this is?" He replied. Tai watched Izzy shrug and look at his own more closely.
"I couldn't open it up or turn it on, it doesn't make sense." Tai inhaled and looked a moment at Koromon,
"Well, whatever these are we should probably make our way back to camp. Who knows maybe well make money off our discovery." Tai smirked and Izzy looked apprehensive.
"You think we're far from camp?" Tai shook his head,
"can't be too far. I mean I'm not totally sure what happened but whatever I think happened can't be the truth." He saw Izzy raise an eyebrow,
"Why? What do you think happened?" Tai blanched, He remembered a big wall of water coming towards them. He looked down at his clothes, they were perfectly dry. He shook the thought away,
"Something stupid about water." He went to step towards Izzy and lead the way back to camp,
"I did too." Izzy admitted quietly. Tai stopped and looked at Izzy,
"You imagined the water as well?" Izzy nodded, "Yeah like a ton of water barreling towards us." Tai stood worried. He didn't like not being able to make sense of things. He sighed,
"Well best thing we can do is find our way back. We get back and I'm sure someone can tell us what exactly happened. Maybe we just drank too much at the concert or something." Tai shrugged and started walking. He could hear Koromon bouncing behind him,
"but I don't drink." Izzy countered and Tai dismissed his comment,
"well maybe someone slipped you something." He continued walking. He hadn't walked far when he heard rustling in the bushes. He stopped and turned to look at the others. Koromon stopped hopping and gazed up at Tai, Tai then looked to Motimon and Izzy who both stared at him,
"What?" Izzy questioned. Tai shook his head,
"nothing lets keep moving." He told them and he turned to continue walking. He heard another rustle that was closer. This time he stopped and spoke,
"You hear that?" He asked and he got a confused reply from Izzy,
"Erm, no." Tai frowned, The rustling picked up again and Tai heard Koromon happily exclaim,
"I heard something Tai!" Tai turned to look at the little pink ball and then gasped as he saw a giant red bug come flying out of the bushes towards them.
"DUCK!" Tai yelled and he quickly hit the ground wrapping Koromon under him. The bug flew up into the air and Tai rolled over to check on Koromon,
"You okay little guy?" He asked and Koromon nodded. Tai looked to Izzy who appeared unharmed.
"What was that thing?!" He asked and Motimon answered,
"That was a Kuwagamon" Tai and Izzy shared a confused look,
"A kuwaga-what?!" They asked and Koromon jumped up,
"He's coming back!" Sure enough Tai looked up and saw the gigantic bug flying towards them once again. He took Koromon under his arm and laid on top of him. The bug passed over his head and Tai stood up and picked Koromon up. He put the weird device in his pocket and shouted at Izzy and Motimon,
"Run!" He started running and could hear the bug approaching them again.
"Wait! This way!" Tai came to a halt and looked behind him. Motimon was hopping in a different direction. Izzy followed the little blob and Tai cursed and turned around to fetch the others. The bug was close as Tai came to Izzy and Motimon,
"Run you two!" He yelled but Motimon shook is head, "in here." He said pointing at a tree. Tai was about protest when Motion jumped and disappeared into the tree.
"What?!" He exclaimed and Koromon wiggled under his arm,
"Jump after him Tai!" Koromon pleaded and Tai growled and pushed Izzy into the tree. He then followed and suddenly his ears were greeted with silence.
"What the hell? Where are we?" Tai asked and he turned in one spot gazing at the inside of the hallow tree. It was small the four of them barely fit but they were away from the bug.
"Its a hiding tree. It's a place Digimon come to hide from big predators." Tai blinked and at Izzy. The boy had packed his laptop onto a backpack on his back that Tai was only just noticing. He had a finger to his chin,
"fascinating." Izzy said and Tai wasn't sure he found this fascinating.
"Come on out! Its gone." Tai looked to Izzy and could see Izzy had heard it to. There was a girls voice speaking to them. Tai put his hand out wanting Izzy and Motimon to stay put while he investigated. He poked his head out and was taken back when he saw Sora standing in front of him.
"S-Sora?!" Tai said surprised. Sora smiled,
"Hey you two okay?" She asked and Tai stepped all the way out of the hiding tree, Izzy and Motimon following him.
"Yeah, you saw that thing?" Tai asked and Sora nodded,
"I saw you two run this way and then heard the bug. Me and Yokomon hid in the bushes here while it passed us." Tai looked to Sora feet, sure enough another pink ball type thing was rubbing its self affectionally against Sora's leg.
"You got one too then." Tai clarified and Sora nodded,
"and whatever this is. She pointed to the front of her shorts and Tai could see the same device him and Izzy woke up with clipped onto the front of Sora's shorts.
"We were trying to get back to camp." Tai started to explain and then he stopped hearing a faded call,
"TK?!" Tai turned his head,
"TK?" He asked and Sora's mouth opened slightly,
"TK's here too?" She asked and Tai shook his head, "I don't know I just heard someone calling for him.
"TK?!" The voice called again.
"HELP!" another voice yelled and Tai turned on the spot,
"That voice was close to here. Come on." He yelled and he ran towards the second voice. He stopped in the middle of a grove unsure which way to go.
"HELP!" The voice yelled again,
"this way!" Tai pointed in the direction of the voice and started to take off towards it. He stopped when he heard an even louder voice
"TK! I'm coming!" Tai looked up and nearly collided into the person yelling for TK.
"Matt!" Tai exclaimed and Matt came to a halt right in front of Tai,
"What the hell?" Matt asked looking at Tai confused. "HELP!" Both boys turned their heads to the direction of the voice and quickly took off towards it. Tai ran fast but somehow Matt was in front of him. He was watching Matts back when all of a sudden he could hear,
"Shut up! Im trying to help you!" A girl yelled and Tai recognized her as she came into view,
"Mimi?" He asked remembering how odd her name was.
"Ugh this guy is being such a baby, can one of you lift him?!" Tai looked at Mimi and realized she was holding someones hand and that someone was dangling off the edge. Tai quickly dove forward and grabbed the guys other hand. He could feel Matt next to him helping. They pulled the guy up and Tai recognized him,
"Joe, right?" He asked and Joe nodded taking deep breaths.
"I hated that." He announced and a grey floating animal came smiling to Joe's side,
"I told you you'd be okay Joe! I knew it!" The grey animal said happily.
"Wow Mimi you must be exhausted trying to pull him up." A green ball said affectionately. Tai studied the green creature and then saw Mimi wipe her brow,
"I sure did Tanemon." Tai looked around at the group now gathered together.
"So we all have one of these…." He paused and looked down at Koromon,
"Things?" He said unsure. The small creatures gathered together in the centre of the group.
"We're Digimon." Motimon said happily.
"Digimon, what a strange name" Sora commented and Tai nodded,
"yeah what exactly are you?" He asked looking for a more familiar explanation.
"We're digimon." The grey one announced and Tai realized he didn't know that ones name.
"Thats not very helpful Bukamon." Joe said to the grey digimon. Tai watched the grey one fly up and onto Joe's shoulder,
"ah come on Joe! Lighten up!" Joe face palmed and Bukamon laughed. Tai shook his head, This getting more bazaar by the minute.
"Okay so whatever you are, how did you get here?" The digimon all gathered together once again and Tai saw confused looks on all of their little faces,
"What do you mean Tai?" Koromon asked and Tai tried to clarify,
"I mean how'd you get to these parts are you from here?"Tai asked and Yokomon cooed,
"Of course were from here, all digimon come from the digital world." Tai went wide eyed and heard the others gasp,
"The digital world? Wait! Where are we?!" Mimi yelled and Tai shared her confusion.
"You're in the digital world, where'd you think you were silly?" Tanemon said and she beamed up at Mimi. Tai looked at Sora and Matt and the two shook their heads at him. Tai took a deep breath preparing to try to wrap his head around their predicament.
"Okay, where exactly is the digital world?" He asked trying to keep his cool. Motimon put a pudgy arm to his chin,
"uhmm, the digital world is pretty big. Its its own place!" Tai exhaled, he looked to Matt and Sora, both looked as lost as he felt. Sora then crouched down to Yokomon,
"Yokomon-"
"Hang on!" Tai turned to see Izzy sitting on the ground his computer open on his lap,
"I think I can figure this out." The group gathered around his computer as he typed away.
"I think I can get our location. Those devices we all woke up with seem to act like GPS. See the red dots? There's six right in this area." He pointed to the screen and Tai could see a small bundle of red blips on the screen.
"So where are we?" he asked and Izzy began typing.
"Well, the one thing I can't locate is our own continent, or any continent for that matter." Tai didn't like what Izzy had to say. He could feel everyones discomfort and he clenched the hand that was resting on Izzy's shoulder.
"Guys, I'm not so sure we are even on earth." Izzy concluded. Tai looked up at the sky. He saw blue sky, the same blue sky he had been looking at back at camp. He didn't believe it.
"No that's crazy! Guys look at me." the group looked up at him,
"That's insane! Not to mention not possible! We're probably on some stupid reality tv show and these things," He pointed at the digimon,
"Are probably some sort of robot beings that were created in a factory." Tai made eye contact with Koromon and suddenly felt guilty for what he said about him. The group was silent,
"So what do we do?" Joe asked breaking the silence. Izzy continued typing on his laptop.
"Well if we aren't on earth and if my program is correct, we're in an exact parallel universe from earth." Tai heard Mimi pout,
"So how do we get home?!" She began to shake and Tai was relieved Sora walked over and started comforting the girl. Tai looked back at the laptop and really hoped Izzy was wrong. There was a distant buzzing and Tai's head shot up.
"Shit guys! I think that bug is back!" Sure enough as the group all stood tall, Tai could see a red bug flying towards them.
"RUN!" he yelled and Tai quickly scooped up Koromon and led the group as they tried to escape the monster. Tai pushed his way through foliage and occasionally looked back to make sure the others were there. He could see Joe bringing up the rear.
"Move it Tai!" Matt yelled and Tai felt the other teen push on his back. Tai quickly turned to face forward when he noticed they were nearing the edge of a cliff.
"Shit!" He yelled and he stopped before he reached the edge. He felt Matt and Sora slam into him and he held his ground as they found their footing.
"What the hell Tai!" Matt berated and the others all stopped and the group peered over the edge. Tai growled and turned. He could see the red bug hovering not to far from them.
"What did you call that thing Koromon?" He asked and Koromon looked up at Tai,
"Kuwagamon. Come on guys lets get him!" Koromon jumped out of Tai's arm and the other digimon all started advancing towards Kuwagamon.
"No! Hang on you can't fight him!" Tai said and he couldn't believe such little creatures were going to try and take on such a large monster! The monster yelled and the small digimon all jumped towards the creature.
"No! Koromon!" Tai yelled and he felt his pocket warm. Suddenly all of the small digimon were covered in light and then, new taller creatures stood where the little ones stood before.
"Whoa what happened?" Sora asked and Tai watched with his mouth wide. The digimon started attacking and Tai was amazed. The orange dinosaur that had been Koromon was blowing fire from its mouth. He looked at all the other digimon and they all seemed to have supernatural abilities. Tai gritted his teeth as some of the digimon took a blow from Kuwagamon. The digimon continued to attack and then Kuwagamon yelled and stabbed it's claws into the earth. Tai felt the ground shake and then rocks started falling from their feet.
"Guys move!" Tai tried to yell to the others and he saw Kuwagamon fall to the side. He felt his feet slip and he yelled out as the earth fell from beneath his feet and he began to fall.
"Marching fishes!" Tai closed his eyes waiting for the impact of rocks or water or something. Instead he fell onto something relatively soft. He opened his eyes and realized he was on a pile of fishes. He quickly felt something on his front. He looked down and saw the orange dinosaur.
"Koromon?" he asked and the dinosaur smiled,
"Agumon now Tai. You made me digivolve!" Tai smiled not understanding what Agumon said.
"Is everyone okay?" Tai asked and he quickly looked over the group taking a head count.
"We're all fine Tai." Sora reported and Tai nodded. They rode on the fishes along the water and Tai tried not to think about just how bazaar this whole event was.
"Uhmm, Izzy?" Tai saw Izzy look up at him,
"I might believe your theory a little more then my own. So we're in a different world?" Izzy nodded and Tai noticed a small flying digimon next to Izzy.
"Precisely. A sort of parallel universe." Tai nodded still unable to wrap his head around that idea.
"Great." He mumbled to himself and he saw Agumon and couldn't help but smile at the little guy.