A/N: Yay! Update! The dream in the beginning of this chapter was based off a scene from episode 48.
Thanks to SennaNyx for looking over my chapter and correcting some silly typos.
"I hate being alone" I said out loud. Everything around me was clouded. Nothing seemed to matter anymore. My head hung low as I hugged my legs closer to me, further shielding myself from the world around me. I had closed myself off to everything and everyone. What had kept me going was my little brother. He had grown quite a bit in the Digital World, no longer needing me to protect him. Now I was truly unimportant. My mind lingered on the negative aspects that afflicted my life up till now.
I was totally in the dark.
At least that's what I kept telling myself.
Beside me was a furry companion, following me no matter what I did or said. Always trying to encourage me. Even now, when I'm at my lowest, he offers me support.
"I'm here for you, Matt. I used to be lonely too, I wandered around the Digital World without any friends at all, and then after I met you I knew I'd never be lonely again." Gabumon spoke sincerely, tears threatening his eyes.
I could feel my heart warm up a bit as I listened to his words. I finally lifted my head, turning it toward the digimon next to me. My world seemed to light up a bit, and things became a little clearer. When I thought about it, I had come to realize that I felt the same way about Gabumon. It seemed as if a weight had lifted off my shoulders and for the first time in years I expressed a genuine smile. I could tell things would start to look up for me from now on.
Matt woke up startled, forgetting where he was for a moment. His heartbeat started to calm down once he had remembered he was in the Digital World. He felt a strange feeling of defeat, and loneliness that he hadn't experienced since he was a child. He shook his head trying to forget the depressing feelings his dream had left him with. It took all the energy he could muster to hop off of the couch he had found and get up. He looked around at the strange jungle he had ended up in. Thriving green trees and foliage covered the area around him. Looking up all he could see small bits of sunlight breaking through the gaps of the leaves and what he had originally thought were vines. It turned out that they were actually cords, which he could only imagine were connected to some strange type of machine. Through those gaps he could see an occasional Yanmamon buzz by. Luckily the dragonfly digimon seemed to dwell only above the canopy. Other than that, he had yet to run into any digimon.
After scanning the area once more, Matt sat back down on the random misplaced couch and pulled out an energy bar from his duffle bag. He chased it down with a swig of water before strapping everything onto his back. He sighed, staring at the heavy bass guitar case sitting next to him. He really regretted taking it, and was contemplating leaving it behind to sit in the jungle as he continued his journey.
"I can always get a new one," he said decidedly and started heading out of the jungle. He walked slowly feeling each step he made sink into the lush moss. He stopped in his tracks looking back once more at his possession sitting serenely on the white couch, case gleaming in a steam of sunlight.
Matt cursed to himself as he ran back to retrieve the guitar. In the end he couldn't leave it behind. It held to many memories of his time as a bassist and singer in The Teenage Wolves. "Curse nostalgia," he said as he made his way through the jungle once more. He could see a light up ahead depicting the exit.
"Ugh" Tai groaned as he stumbled out of the train, followed shortly by his partner and friends. The train had come to a crash into the Digital World, thoroughly banging up everyone inside. He could hear Joe puking somewhere in the background.
Tai spoke without turning around, not wanting to see the mess Joe had made. "Is everyone okay?" He asked.
Tai heard Sora approaching him. "I can't speak for Joe, but I'm alright." She was now standing next to Tai with Biyomon standing behind her. Tai watched as Sora looked around with a grim expression clouding her features. "The Digital World has changed a lot hasn't it? I don't remember it being this dark."
Tai nodded in agreement. The area they had happened to land in was barren and dim. The terrain was all packed with dirt and had large rocks with harsh jagged edges. The sky and earth were both a murky gray that stretched out as far as his eyes could see. The only sounds were the whistle of wind, and the occasional boom of thunder. It all gave Tai an uneasy feeling in the pit of his stomach. Agumon pulled at Tai's pants giving him a worried look.
"We should contact Izzy and tell him we made it." Joe spoke softly, now beside Tai being supported by Mimi. Palmon attempted to support Joe as well, but due to the height difference could only reach his leg. Joe waved off Mimi and her digimon and stood up on his own. He bowed a polite thank you before directing his gaze to Tai.
"Right," Tai confirmed, reaching around in his pocket. A spike of panic surged down his spine as he came out empty handed. He hurriedly went through all his pockets once more in case he missed something. He repeated this action a few more times before Joe put a hand on his shoulder. Tai's body went from tense to lax.
"Y-You…Don't tell me…" Joe's eyes were wide with fear.
Tai turned away from Joe and took a few steps forward. He rubbed the back of his head and gave a sheepish grin. "I uh, my bad…ha…" Tai watched as Joe's left eye twitched violently, followed by a loud lecture. Tai zoned out after the first minutes. Responsibility blah blah, danger blah, stupid yadda yadda I got it, jeez. Tai wondered if Joe's face could become any redder. If he doesn't calm down he might pass out or strain something, Tai thought to himself. He then began to think of a plan on what to do next. Standing here surely wouldn't be useful. They had to get moving.
Tai was thankful when Mimi interrupted. "Hey guys, look at this," she said pointing to a small silver path behind some rocks that seemed to lead somewhere. The road had a glowing white circuit pattern that faded and brightened systematically. "Should we see where it goes?" she asked.
Joe look dumbfounded. "We can't just go following random paths! We need to contact Izzy and find out where to go!"
Mimi put on a slightly annoyed expression. "Standing around isn't going to help us. I'm sure Izzy will figure out a way to reach us. Just have more faith in our little genius. Besides…I don't know about you, but this mountain gives me the creeps. If there's a chance this will lead us out of it, I'm taking it."
Tai agreed. They'd never find Matt standing around here anyways. The best bet was to get a digimon to guide them. In a matter of seconds he was walking next to Mimi on the path.
Sora a Joe shared a look. She then shrugged and followed the other two digidestined. With a reluctant sigh Joe and Gomamon followed as well.
It had felt like hours since Matt had been walking towards the exit of the jungle. Judging the distance he should have made it out by now. It seemed as if he wasn't closing any distance, as the exit appeared to be just as far as it was when he first set off towards it. Confused and tired, Matt leaned against a nearby tree. He stood there in thought, pondering his situation. Having come up with no logical explanation he sighed, sliding down the tree into a sitting position. He rubbed his temples with his open hand, still clutching his guitar case with the other. "Is the forest keeping me trapped?" Matt thought out loud. It couldn't be though. That sounded crazy. But…then again, he was in the Digital World. Logic was useless here. He decided there was no use getting frustrated over it, and decided to try to calm down as thoughts of being trapped in the jungle forever rampaged his mind.
"If I lose it I really will be lost here forever." Matt pulled out his bass from its case and started strumming a relaxing melody. He immersed himself in the song, enjoying the rhythm and tune of each strum. The vibrations of the instrument resonated through his body, calming him down almost instantly. Matt closed his eyes and started humming to the beat. He tuned out everything around him, leaving him vulnerable. He didn't think any digimon were in the jungle anyways. The sounds of his playing blocked out any rustling in the undergrowth he would have normally otherwise heard. When he opened his eyes again he was surrounded by a small group of Goburimon with a Fugamon in the center. In a panic Matt jumped up, wishing he wasn't backed up against a tree.
"What is that boss?" One of the Goburimon spoke to the Fugamon.
"Some kind of human toy," the Fugamon responded acting like he knew what it was, when in fact he did not. "They grow their snacks in the hole," he said, nodding his head.
"Oooh I want one!" another Goburimon responded. "Wait…what's a human?"
"They're beings that come from the Human World," Fugamon responded smugly. His followers "Ooohed" in unison.
The Fugamon looked at Matt. "Give me your toy human. I want to have it." The Fugamon shook his club menacingly at Matt.
"No," Matt responded eyeing the digimon.
The Fugamon looked surprised at the refusal. He was a more talk than action kind of digimon. He didn't want his followers to know that however. "Do you think humans are tasty?" he asked his minions, mainly to intimidate the human.
The group of Goburimon all looked at each other and whispered. "I'm curious now boss!" one pitched in.
"Yeah, he looks tasty!" another Goburimon added, mentioning something about Matt's smell.
The Fugamon turned back to Matt. "Here I'll make you a deal, give me your toy and I will spare your life." The Fugamon was sure he'd give him what he wanted now. He smiled wickedly.
Matt furrowed his brows, wondering what he should do. He was slightly worried, but too annoyed at the Fugamon's pompous behavior to acknowledge it.
The Fugamon grew impatient as the human stared at him. Without thinking he started pulling the human toy, trying to pry it out of the human's arms. The Goburimon were growing excited jumping up and down cheering for their boss.
In irritation Matt ripped the instrument out of the Fugamon's grip, kicking him away. "It's not a toy." He gritted his teeth as a spoke.
The Fugamon looked shocked for a second, the unimpressed whispers from the Goburimon were enough to push him into a rage. "Goburimon attack!" he yelled, picking up his club. The Goburimon cheered also preparing to attack.
Matt's irritation faded, and was instantly replace with fear. Unable to escape the increasingly rowdy digimon, in one swift move, Matt swung his guitar as hard and fast as he could at the Fugamon.
A loud "CLANG" was heard as the instrument met with the Fugamons head. The guitar split in two, a few chords broken, dancing around wildly, as the remaining chords held the two pieces of guitar together. Wood splintered everywhere. The Fugamon passed out laying on the ground in silence. The Goburimon looked at their boss in fear.
"I would run if I were you," Matt said in the darkest tone he could muster, holding the broken instrument defensively. "The sound that you just heard will blow out you ear drums and penetrate your brains if you don't get as far away as you can," Matt lied, knowing the Goburimon weren't exactly the smartest digimon around.
"Oh man! What's a brain?" a Goburimon asked.
"I don't know, but it sounds painful! Let's get out of here!" his companion yelled. The group of goblin-like digimon ran.
Matt followed suit, dropping the broken instrument. He grabbed a piece of the splintered wood and placed it in his pocket as a keepsake. "Rest in peace," Matt said, heading away from the Fugamon before he woke up and caused more problems.
Matt watched as the Fugamon faded out of view as he ran towards the exit once more. His sprint turned into a slow trot as he ran out of breath. The exit still not getting any closer. He stopped in his tracks and panted for a bit. He pulled out the water from his bag and downed some. He was thankful he had come prepared. He took one deep final breath before resuming a more relaxed breathing. He put his water back into his bag. He really wasn't prepared for an attack from a digimon. He was unarmed and very vulnerable. Sticking to the shadows and hiding might not always be possible. He decided to build a makeshift weapon. He looked around the jungle for a long stick he could possibly sharpen.
As he was rummaging through the bushes he felt a strange warmness coming from his pants pocket. He stood up, leaning the stick he found against himself. He reached into his pocket a pulled out his crest of friendship. It was glowing a faint blue, then stopped just as soon as it started. That was weird, he thought slowly, placing his crest back into his pocket.
There was a rustling in the bush. "Not again," Matt grumbled, holding his new stick in front of him, preparing to fight. "Who's there?" He called out.
A small rookie digimon came out of the bushes. Yellows eyes glowed behind a mask as the digimon faced Matt, holding a wooden sword out at him. "I'm not here to hurt you human." A childish voice came from the digimon.
"I was watching you get bullied by Fugamon and his lackeys," the digimon announced. "He's always causing trouble…" he said, trailing off into thought holding an arm covered by an oversized sleeve up to his face.
"Ahem." Matt coughed trying to get the digimon to focus.
"Ah, sorry!" The digimon bowed politely. "I'm Kotemon." The digimon introduced himself.
"Uh. I'm Matt," Matt replied lowering his stick, no longer feeling threatened.
"Nice to meet you Matt," Kotemon said, lowering its swords once it saw Matt had put aside his stick. "What's a human doing alone in the Digital World?" Kotemon asked.
Matt saw this as a good opportunity to find out where Primary Village was so he could find Gabumon's egg. He told Kotemon his story from the beginning. The Kotemon gave Matt all his attention, nodding every now and then to show he was paying attention.
"Hmm," Kotemon pondered. "Well I'm not sure where Primary Village is…"
Matt sighed, a little disappointed with the answer. He'd have to find someone else, or figure it out himself. He was back to square one. He was about to bid the digimon farewell before he spoke again.
"Why don't I take you to Knightmon!?" he exclaimed, making a strange gesture with his arms. "Knightmon is amazing! He knows everything about the Digital World," he said placing his hands on his hips in a confident pose.
"That would be great," Matt said as he felt butterflies dance in his stomach from excitement. "But I don't need you to come with me. If you could just point out-" Matt's sentence was cut off by the other digimon.
"Absolutely not!" Kotemon said in a serious tone. "I can't let the weak travel alone! I want to defend you. It's what Knightmon would do," he said the last bit dreamily. Matt could tell he idolized this Knightmon.
"Besides, I can show you how to get out of the jungle. I watched you try for hours." Matt could only imagine the expression the digimon had behind its mask.
Matt sighed. "You think I'm that useless, huh?" he said sounded a bit defeated. Kotemon nodded his head vigorously as if he was totally convince Matt was a wimp. Matt felt his pride take a beating at the reaction but agreed to be accompanied. He could tell the Kotemon wasn't going to accept no for an answer.
Matt followed Kotemon as he sporadically weaved through the jungle going, what seemed, in random directions.
"Sorry about your toy," Kotemon finally spoke, looking up at Matt.
"It's okay." He replied. "And it's not a toy. It's a bass guitar. An instrument," he explained. Matt laughed at Kotemon surprise.
"That's the strangest looking instrument I've ever seen," he said. "Does it really grow snacks out of the hole?"
Matt laughed. "No," he replied before explaining how the instrument worked. He then went on to tell him about the difference between a guitar and a bass guitar.
"That's fascinating." Kotemon replied each time. "Tell me more about the Human World."
"Sure," Matt said before telling Kotemon another story. He had to admit, he was a bit relieved to have some company. He felt a little less lonely as he walked with the Kotemon through the jungle.