A/N: Here's the latest chapter. It's the longest yet so I hope that isn't too discouraging for some. A massive thanks to everyone who reviewed! Enjoy!
Disclaimer: I don't own digimon.
Rumble in the Jungle
Devimon gazed out at what was left of File Island. He stood on top of the temple located at the peak of Infinity Mountain. The temple was large and ornate. Stone white pillars surrounded the main building giving the temple a regal bearing with a bright white roof to complete the image.
The inside however was far darker. There were no lights so the temple was in constant darkness, life-like statues of many digimon in various poses dotted the huge main room inside as if a great battle had occurred here long ago with the participants frozen in time. The only light came from the large window at the front of the hall. It cast moonlight into the room, creating creepy and twisted images shadowed throughout the room.
The mountain was all that was left of the original File Island. In the distance he could see several large portions moving further away. The cool night air comforted him as the darkness shielded him from prying eyes. The darkness was his element, at night he was at his most powerful, whilst during the day the light would drain his strength.
To an onlookers eye Devimon would seem composed, cool and confident. His claws were relaxed and crossed in his usual manner like an Egyptian mummy. His face with his vampire fangs was calm with his usual evil smirk. The only clue to his strife was through his red eyes. They were blazing with an incredible intensity that betrayed his true feelings.
He was pondering on the warning that the child from before gave him and how to respond to it. Should he hunt down the children as they deal with the Digimon he'd infected with his black gears to attack them? Or should he focus all his forces on taking them down one at a time before they can reunite. It was possible that they could deal with a reasonable threat individually, he mused. Five of the seven could digivolve after-all.
There were few ultimate-level digimon on File Island and most of them were now aware of his black gears and would not fall for them again.
'It would be smarter to first get rid of the two that cannot yet digivolve. That way I can prevent seven champion-level digimon being fielded against me.' Devimon grinned, 'But which of the two to pick? The small one with the Patamon, or the strange one with the Agumon?'
Whilst the younger child with the Patamon would be the easier target; something about what that older child said really made Devimon's hackles rise.
'Or be destroyed!' The face of that arrogant human flashed in front of Devimons eyes. The humans eyes blazing with defiance towards him and his stance suggesting no fear of Devimon whatsoever.
He snarled. That arrogant child shall be the first to fall! How dare he threaten the greatness that is Devimon. 'He will learn who's superior once his partner has been deleted in front of him!' Devimon thought callously.
'Or maybe I'll delete his partner then make him watch as I kill all the other Digidestined. Then only once he's completely broken will I finally end him as well!' He thought anger consuming him.
No. Devimon forcefully calmed himself down. 'Getting angry and arrogant only leads to mistakes.' He reminded himself. 'After-all had Piedmon just finished off that pathetic Order instead of toying with them, the Digidestined wouldn't even be here!'
With his thoughts calmed he began pondering a more useful plan. 'Attacking them one by one certainly has merit and starting with the two that can not digivolve also makes sense.'
His eyes suddenly widened with realisation. 'Of course! That child was also the only one to realise that the Digivice's can be used to drive out the black gears! Making my entire army useless.' Devimon thought with panic.
If he informed the others then he would be at a severe disadvantage and his minions would turn on him. Devimon was strong certainly. Strong enough to take on a few champions. But five? Seven? A Hundred?
Even he would not be able to win a fair fight against that many. Which was why Devimon had no incentive to fight fair.
'I'll have to send Ogremon to eliminate him quickly. Leomon will have to hunt down the other children. Any of the other digimon infected by the black gears should also be told to make the goggle-wearing child their primary target.' Devimon grinned and spoke in a cool commanding voice.
"Leomon, Ogremon" Behind him ready to receive his commands Leomon and Ogremon kneeled with their heads bowed.
"Yes sir?"
"Yes master?" They said making sure their heads were bowed. He turned to face them and Ogremon was taken aback at the malicious gleam in his eyes as he spoke,
"I have a task for each of you."
Agumon always considered himself to be a rather laidback digimon. He didn't frighten easily like Patamon and he could take a joke unlike Gabumon.
But right now, when his partner had just threatened the most evil digimon he knew and they were on a tiny piece of rock that was somehow floating on the water. Hurtling at breakneck speed towards a large chunk of File Island, that said evil digimon had just effortlessly ripped apart, filled with cliffs and jungles he'd never seen before that Agumon considered that maybe now was a good time to panic a little.
"Aaargh!" He screamed loudly. "Tai what are we gonna do?!"
"Relax it's fine," his partner replied passively.
"Fine? Fine?!" Agumon said incredulously, "You just threatened the most evil digimon on File Island and now we're about to crash into a cliff! If this doesn't kill us he will!"
Agumon panted as he tried to regain his composure.
"Better?"
"Yes, much."
"Good" Tai smiled at him, "Anyway don't worry about that. We've still got to find everyone and get them home." Agumon blinked at him. "Whats wrong you scared?" He grinned knowingly at the dinosaur.
"Ye..No! No I'm not scared" Agumon denied crossing his arms, "I'm just concerned for you. Your just a human afterall. Not a big strong digimon like me" He finished proudly flexing his arm muscles. Tai looked down at Agumons stomach; his pot belly sticking out proudly like a dumpling in a stew.
"Yeah, you're big and strong alright." Tai said sarcastically. Tai looked ahead. "That island is getting closer. Once we reach it we'll have to search it for them" Agumon looked at him.
"You think one of them is on this island?" Tai nodded.
"I saw one of the beds fly off in this direction earlier. If it didn't land in the sea then it might have hit this island. I hope they're alright" he said. The impact of one of those things hitting the ground must be horrible. Some of them might be injured or trapped.
'I swear Devimon is going to pay if any of them are hurt' Tai thought darkly to himself. 'Although I hope my gamble pays off...'
"You're really observant Tai" Agumon complimented. He smiled at the dinosaur.
"Thanks Agumon" he replied. He suddenly looked ahead."We should probably brace ourselves."
Agumon followed his gaze, they only a few feet from the island! They both curled up as their platform collided hard with one of the rocks on the larger island. They were both sent flying, screaming through the air as they landed luckily in soft sand on a beach.
Tai pulled himself out first then looked around,
"Agumon? Agumon where are y-aargh!" He screamed in surprise at the yellow tail poking out of the ground to his right. "How did you get buried that deep?!" He cried incredulously as he grabbed Agumons tail and pulled. After a few tugs the sand collapsed to reveal Agumon coughing and spluttering sand out of his mouth.
"Thanks Tai" he said gratefully,
"Don't mention it."
They were on a small beach with a small cliff-face in front of them. The rest of the coast was filled with rocks, they had been lucky to land in such a safe place. On the higher land Tai could see a jungle with tall trees and other large plants and flowers. If anyone else was here they would be probably be deeper into the forest.
"Are we going up there?" Agumon asked looking up at the trees. Tai nodded and began to walk towards the cliff. It didn't take long to climb up, although Agumon, having claws instead of hands, did take some time to get to the top. Once up there they began their trek through the jungle.
"Remember Agumon if you see one of the beds say something. One of them could be near" Agumon nodded.
"I know."
They continued to walk through the jungle in silence. Unlike a jungle on Earth where the constant noise of countless insects and other animals would be making their prescence known, in the Digital World jungle there was only silence. There were no insects or other small animals, no birdsong coming from the trees. This coupled with the darkness of the night created a rather eerie atmosphere as the boy and digimon continued to walk in silence.
Agumon was worried about this. He didn't recognise this part of File Island. There could be any number of digimon here ready to ambush them and he wouldn't know what to look out for. Not to mention that Devimon himself might be coming after them, which worried Agumon endlessly. He kept looking to the skies as if expecting the monster to swoop down on them at any moment.
Tai meanwhile was thinking of how he was going to find everyone and gather them together.
'I hope whoever's on this island has a flying or swimming digimon' he thought with trepidation. 'Or I don't know how we'll make it to any of the other islands to find the others.' He hoped that they wouldn't have to make a raft, that probably wouldn't end well. The islands were still heading away from Infinity Mountain very quickly, and the beds had flown off in random directions.
Some of his friends could be half-way round the Digital-world by now!
Then another thought struck him.
'Will the islands just keep going?' he thought, 'Until they hit something?' As far as he knew the only other continent out there was Folder and some of the islands were bound to crash into it due to its massive size. But then again the geography of the Digital World seemed to have changed since he was last here.
Before in his last adventure, Folder had been visible from File Island and it was why he and Zero had built a raft to get there. This time, even from Infinity Mountain, there was no other landmass visible. No Digimon they'd met had even mentioned Folder, in direct contrast to many of the non-hostile Digimon he and Zero had encountered on File Island, who just wouldn't shut up about the place.
Maybe he should ask for directions...
A loud creaking sound interrupted his and Agumons thoughts. They stopped in a small clearing ready to fight. A few of the trees around them began to move. Tai suddenly noticed that they had no leaves just a trunk and branches. Then two small clawed arms sprouted from the trunks in addition to two of the larger branches coming down and forming additional arms. Finally evil grinning faces formed in the trunks of the trees as they stood up on their roots.
"Woodmon!" Agumon yelled. "They're evil digimon who suck the energy out of other digimon!"
The Woodmon crept closer, their branch-like arms waving menacingly at them.
"Pepper Breath!" A ball of fire shot towards the leading Woodmon who caught on fire.
It screamed as the fire quickly spread across its whole body. It jumped and danced and ran around in panic as the flames engulfed it. The other Woodmon watched in horror as the digimon stopped jumping about, its wooden body feeding the roaring fire. Eventually the fire died, leaving a black charred digimon with smoke pouring out of its mouth.
It then fell over exploding into data as it hit the ground. The other Woodmon stared at the ground where it had been, then at Agumon then back to the ground again then back to Agumon.
He grunted, smoke and a small flame coming from his nostrils. They screamed and ran back into the forest. Once they were completely gone Agumon dropped the intimidating act and laughed.
"How's that?" he asked Tai who was still staring off at where the Woodmon went. "No problem" Tai was genuinely impressed. "Good work."
Agumon rubbed the back of his head abashed and blushed. 'He took out that one Woodmon with a single attack' Tai thought to himself. Agumon jutted his pot-belly out in pride, smiling. Tai frowned in thought.
"I know I'm a pretty amazing Digimon!" He said modestly.
"Agumon, do you think you're getting stronger?" Agumon stopped celebrating and put a claw to his face in thought.
"Well I guess it's possible" he said, "I mean I haven't digivolved yet so I've been fighting as a rookie more than the others have" he considered hopefully.
Tai thought about this 'Well they were Woodmon and fire is their weakness. But still, he took out a champion digimon in a single attack'
"Maybe-" Tai trailed off. Agumon was beginning to remind him of Zero again. Together they had had no trouble taking on digimon a level higher than them. Even now with Agumon posed like that it was so easy to see Zero instead. His blue face looking concerned as he said...
"Tai? Are you ok?" Agumon asked softly. Tai shuddered, banishing the image of Zero from his mind.
"Sorry Agumon I didn't catch that."
"Are you ok?" Tai was taken aback at the sincerity in Agumons voice, then he felt the wetness on his cheeks. He quickly wiped his face.
"I-I'm fine, no problem. Lets keep looking for the others" They continued walking through the forest.
Agumon was concerned, 'He still won't say anything to me. Why doesn't he trust me' he thought to himself sadly as they walked on. Both of them were unaware of a feral pair of eyes watching them from the darkness of the tree-tops As they walked off the figure swung after them, keeping well out of sight.
About an hour or two later Agumon and Tai were still walking around looking for any signs of their friends. So far there had been no luck and as the first rays of daylight were beginning to light up the sky a new wave of exhaustion overcame them both.
Neither had slept a wink last night and had instead spent the time battling against various digimon. Agumon felt himself beginning to nod off as they slowly trudged along. Tai was barely faring any better. He stifled a yawn as his eyes began to droop of their own accord. Any adrenaline from the Woodmon's attack had worn off ages ago leaving him shattered. Not to mention his little hallucination earlier.
"Agumon, maybe we should take a nap" Tai said tiredly. Agumon nodded next to him,
"Good idea Tai"
"Lets sleep in one of the trees, so we won't get-" Tai yawned as he spoke then rubbed his eyes, "-ambushed in our sleep"
"Alright." They chose a large tree and Tai gave Agumon a leg up to get onto the lower branch. The digimon then pulled Tai up and they began climbing higher.
Obscured by the leaves and high enough up in the tree where most digimon wouldn't look, Tai and Agumon settled down for some well-deserved rest.
It might have worked had they not been watched by several pairs of beady eyes hiding in the bushes.
When Tai woke up the first thing he was aware of was a sharp pain in his head.
He scrunched up his face in a futile attempt to dull the pain, this seemed to only make things worse, so he opened his eyes.
The second thing he noticed was that he and Agumon were no longer in the tree they had decided to sleep in, they were in fact on the ground.
The third thing he noticed was that both his arms and legs had been tied together using some sort of vines. As he looked over to Agumon who was still unconscious beside him, he too had his limbs bound. Except he had an additional one around his snout, probably to prevent him from using his attacks.
They had also been smart enough to tie him up in such a way so that his claws couldn't be used to free himself. Judging from the time of day they hadn't been out long, the sun was completely visible instead of rising so an hour or two at most.
Tai then noticed their captors.
Slightly taller than him he estimated, they strutted around the clearing with a strange swagger, swinging their clubs half-hazardly in every direction. They looked like goblins, with green skin, a Mohawk of red hair, weird earrings and their were mouths full of large, sharp teeth.
There were three of them and none of them had seemed to notice that he had awoken. Why they had tied him and Agumon up instead of just taken them out when they were sleeping Tai didn't know.
'Although...' he thought as he watched them, '...they don't seem that smart.'
One of them was picking his nose with disturbing enthusiasm and another was examining his club above his head then promptly dropped it on one of his eyes. As he howled in pain and the other two laughed Tai thought to himself with despair,
'These guys actually managed to capture me. I must be losing my touch.'
The only other digimon that had managed to capture him was Myotismon...
Tai shuddered and endeavoured not to think about that. He began considering his options and forming a plan to escape. This would have been a lot easier if his head wasn't pounding. Every slight movement sent new waves of pain through it and Tai had to concentrate on not groaning and revealing his awakened state to his captors. They didn't seem particularly smart, he could use that.
Agumon was still unconscious, so fighting them was out of the question. A muffled groan from beside him interrupted his thoughts. Seemed like Agumon was now awake and the goblins had taken notice. Tai quickly closed his eyes as they shuffled along towards them. He heard the panicked muffles from beside him as Agumon apparently realised their situation and began struggling against his bonds.
Their captors began crowding around him and laughed at the dinosaurs futile struggles. Eventually they got tired of that and judging from the 'thunk' sound one whacked Agumon over the head with his club knocking him out again.
Tai did his best to remain still so they wouldn't suspect that he was awake. After a few moments he risked a slight peak. They had wondered back over to the other side of the clearing and appeared to be gathering wood.
'For a fire!' Tai realised. Then a horrible thought struck him, 'They're not going to eat us are they?!'
They looked savage enough for that to be the case, so Tai resolved to get out of here as quickly as possible. After checking to see if they were looking Tai slowly rolled himself towards Agumon.
He would move slightly, stop and check to see if he was being watched, then continue. Once he was at Agumons side he positioned his back towards Agumons claws.
'If I can cut my bindings then I can take Agumon and get out of here' he thought. When he was positioned just right he began moving his binds against the sharp points of Agumons claws. He could feel the vines loosen more and more as he worked until he felt as if he could easily break out of them if need be. He chanced a glance at the goblins. They were still building the fire and appeared to be preparing a stick for a spit roast...
Tai worked furiously until his bindings came completely free. Using his hands he quickly undid the bindings around his feet leaving Tai completely free. He then began working on undoing Agumons mouth binding. It was far tighter than his had been so it took a lot of work. Eventually he tugged it free with an almighty pull which woke up Agumon and alerted the goblins.
"Uh oh" he said. Agumon was still bound and the goblins were screeching angrily and shuffling towards them their clubs held high in the air.
"Pepper Breath!" A powerful ball of fire rocketed from Agumons mouth and hit the leading goblin knocking him off of his feet and setting him on fire. As he rolled around and screamed in pain the other two kept on coming.
"Agumon destroy the vines!" Tai ordered. Agumon quickly breathed a small amount of fire onto the vines binding him instantly burning them away. This was just in time to duck a strike from one of the goblins, then jump away from the strike of the other. Tai quickly ran behind Agumon so as not to get in his way. It was a standoff, Agumon against two of the goblins.
"Don't worry Tai, I've got this" Agumon said not taking his eyes off of his opponents. "Goblimon are pretty weak so this shouldn't be a problem" he finished.
Over Agumons shoulder Tai saw the downed Goblimon explode into data, evidently too damaged from Agumons attack to survive.
Tai looked at Agumon appraisingly as the dinosaur leapt at the two remaining Goblimon.
'He is getting stronger' Tai thought as Agumon dodged a club from one of his opponents then countered with an uppercut to their jaw.
'He doesn't even need my help to take out three digimon at his own level.'
As the Goblimon hit the ground Agumon danced away from the strike from one of the other digimon and then nailed him in the face with a Pepper Breath.
'It must be all the fighting we're doing without digivolving' Tai realised.
The Goblimon that had been upper-cutted had gotten up behind Agumons back and had prepared a small fireball of his own which it then threw at him. Agumon ducked allowing the fireball to pass over him and nail the other Goblimon in the face. This proved too much for him as he burst into data leaving just Agumon and one Goblimon left.
'It's just like training. The more you practice the stronger you become.'
The now enraged Goblimon leapt at Agumon; his club raised above his head. Instead of dodging Agumon simply raised his arms and caught the club with both of his claws. The two struggled for the club; completely even in strength. Agumons face was one of pure concentration as his claws dug deeper into the wood of the club whilst the Goblimon was similarly struggling.
"Agumon use your momentum, roll backwards!" Tai cried out. Agumon nodded and did so. This caught the unaware Goblimon off guard as Agumon went with his motion. He fell to the ground while sending the green guy over his head who hit the ground hard, stunning him.
Agumon jumped back onto his feet, whirled around and with a final
"Pepper Breath!" An impact and a scream, the last Goblimon burst into data leaving Tai and Agumon alone in the clearing.
Agumon sighed in relief before walking over to Tai.
"Three on one! Who's the 'mon?" he boasted tiredly. Tai laughed,
"Don't get a swollen head Agumon, you're not a champion yet," he replied with good humour. "And I helped you with the last one so technically it was only two on one" Agumon shook his head,
"I was gonna do that anyway," he claimed. "I had it covered so still; three on one!" Agumon continued to cheer to himself as Tai looked on smiling.
It reminded him of how he and Zero used to celebrate their wins with a victory dance-
Tai gripped his chest. The nostalgia and longing was so strong it almost brought physical pain to his chest and tears to his eyes. Tai resolved to repress it as he, through sheer force of will, stuffed back those emotions that threatened to tear him apart back into his subconscious. He breathed hard. Tai knew he wasn't fully over Zeros death,
'Probably never will be' he thought sadly to himself. Agumon seemed to notice the mood shift.
"Tai are you alrigh-" A roar cut him off. They both looked up at the treetops as a large digimon descended into the clearing. It landed so hard the ground shook. Agumon gaped,
"Gorillamon!"
A large white-furred Gorilla-like digimon with a futuristic cannon for a right arm was growling angrily at them. It was far larger and bulkier than any human and stood in a crouched position on all fours with its sharp teeth bared.
"He's a champion-level digimon with a powerful attack" Agumon explained as the digimon stood staring at them at the other side of the clearing.
Tai and Agumon stood stock-still ready to either fight or run. Instead of charging at them the Gorillamon stood still occasionally grunting and snarling at them. It reared up and beat its chest with its hand and cannon then went back on all fours growling challengingly at them. The adrenaline had cleared any lingering thoughts about Zero from Tai's mind, which was now going at full speed.
"I think he wants to fight you Agumon" Tai said quietly trying to do his best to stay still.
"What?!" Agumon whispered back ferociously with a hint of panic in his voice, "Why?!"
"Um..." The Gorillamon roared again and began to walk slowly towards them stopping occasionally to bang on its chest or stomp the ground. "Maybe he's impressed at how you took out those Goblimon?" Tai suggested nervously as they backed away.
This just seemed to make the beast angrier and it growled even more menacingly as it stalked towards them.
"Run!" Tai yelled as he and Agumon ran off.
There was a roar behind them and the Gorillamon leapt up and began swinging through the trees at a ridiculous pace. It quickly over took them and dropped down in front of them. They screamed and quickly ran away again.
The Gorillamon leapt back up into the trees and continued pursuing them. This time instead of going in a straight line Tai and Agumon did their best to change direction as randomly as they could until they had no idea where they were. This prevented the Gorillamon from overtaking them but not from pursuing them.
"Where's a hiding tree when you need one?!" Agumon yelled out annoyed after changing direction yet again. Trees, roots and low hanging branches flew past them as they kept running until eventually they arrived at another clearing similar to the last one but with one important difference,
"A bed!" Tai cried out as they skidded to a halt. For there lay half-submerged in the ground the remains of a bed.
There were no sheets or pillow but the mattress and overall structure of the bed was mostly intact although jutting out of the ground. There were wooden splinters everywhere, obviously caused by the beds impact. Their gaping was interrupted by the ape-like roar from behind. The two jumped and ran away from the trees and towards the bed as their pursuer dropped down from the trees.
"We're gonna have to fight now Agumon!" Tai said, "We can't afford to lose track of where the bed is. It's our only clue!" Agumon nodded and stood in front of Tai ready to fight the champion-level digimon. Gorillamon seemed happy with this as it strutted proudly out of the cover of the trees and into the clearing, focusing its attention on Agumon.
Tai backed away from the two, giving them plenty of room to fight.
"Don't worry Tai, I won't let him hurt you," Agumon said confidently, not taking his eyes off of Gorillamon.
Suddenly Tai didn't see Agumon but a much larger blue dragon who smiled and nodded at him. Tai smiled,
"Go get him buddy," he whispered, as the digimon leapt at each other. Gorillamon tried to punch the charging Agumon who jumped and used his head as a springboard to jump over him.
"Pepper Breath!" A ball of fire hit Gorillamon in the back causing him to stumble forward as Agumon landed behind him. He then turnedaround with nothing more than slight burns on his furred back. Agumon looked stunned,
"Uh oh."
The beast then aimed its cannon at Agumon, "Uh oh!" The cannon whined, light became visible inside the cannon for a split second. Light gathered at the barrel of the cannon then burst forth in an energy blast straight at Agumon, who had barely ducked out of the way.
The blast hit a tree behind him, for a split second the tree was blown apart before it burst into data instantly.
"Don't let him hit you with that Agumon!" Tai yelled as Gorillamon then tried to punch Agumon who barely dodged.
"Well no duh!" The dinosaur yelled back dodging more blows from Gorillamon each of which cracked the ground sending dirt and grass flying.
"Claw attack!" Agumons claws glowed and he shoved them forward into Gorillamons chest. The white-furred digimon clutched his chest in pain for a second and stepped back but otherwise seemed unharmed. It then continued its attack on Agumon who ran out of its reach.
'This isn't working' Tai thought as Agumon barely dodged another punch, which cracked a tree sending splinters of wood flying. 'Agumons attacks aren't doing enough damage. We need more power' Tais thoughts drifted to Gorillamon's arm.
'Why has he only used it at close range if it's his only ranged attack?'
Agumon kicked off a tree and delivered another claw attack to Gorillamon's face. Except this time Gorillamon caught Agumon with his non-cannon arm and threw him into another tree which also cracked.
Tai's eyes widened, 'Because it uses so much power!'
Gorillamon approached the downed dinosaur who was struggling to get up. 'He doesn't want to waste energy by missing!'
The beast digimon was only two or three paces away from Agumon, much closer than before, and began to aim his right in his face. Agumon had just managed to sit up and was staring down the cannon with fear in his eyes.
He quickly looked over at Tai for help and for a second he and Tai made eye-contact. Tai smiled confidently and nodded, Agumon smirked.
The cannon whined ominously, there would be no dodging this time.
Light began to gather...
"NOW!" Tai yelled.
Agumon realised his cue and aimed his last Pepper breath down the cannon barrel at the same time light became visible inside the cannon. The explosion was deafening. Tai covered his ears with his hands but couldn't stop the smile appearing on his face as he saw through the dust the shadow of Gorillamon falling, clutching his arm.
As the dust cleared completely Tai could see Agumon embedded into the tree, his snout singed a little but otherwise unharmed whereas Gorillamon lay on the ground his cannon-arm completely destroyed. Tai ran over to them.
"Agumon! Agumon! Speak to me!" he kneeled next to him. "Are you ok?" Agumon slowly opened his eyes,
"I'm alright Tai" he said softly, "Just exhausted." He then smiled slightly, "We did it though. We beat another champion." Tai smiled back,
"Yeah" he said equally softly, "Who needs to digivolve anyway, right?"
Agumon nodded as best he could then closed his eyes surrendering fully to sleep. Tai grabbed a hand then pulled with as much strength as he could. He tugged and heaved until Agumon was free from the vice-like trunk of the tree. Tai then looked over at the unconscious Gorillamon.
'You might not be a champion Agumon. But you sure are something else" he thought proudly. He then looked at Gorillamon's arm cannon still smoking slightly, the claw marks on the digimon's chest and the burns he knew were on its back.
Tai felt guilt rise in him, 'Oh this so stupid' he thought as he reached into his pocket...
Agumon opened his eyes groggily. He sat up in confusion trying to get his bearings. He was still in the same clearing and his chest felt tight for some reason. He looked down and saw vines wrapped around his torso.
Agumon shifted a little and his back, which had been hurting earlier, only mildly ached now. Weird.
The smell of food soon entered his nostrils and all other thoughts ceased. He turned and saw a large pile of fruit. It seemed to expand and fill his vision until it was all he could see. His stomach grumbled, he was so hungry.
He hadn't eaten in so long his stomach physically hurt. Agumon began shovelling fruit into his mouth as fast as he could. Some he recognised others he didn't but he didn't care all went down his throat. As Agumon munched happily a cough from behind made him pause, he turned around.
"Tai!" he yelled happily. For Tai was standing there with a smile on his face and his hair wet.
"Hey Agumo-oof" Agumon tackled Tai knocking him to the ground. Tai laughed, "I guess your feeling a lot better then?" Agumon nodded happily,
"Yeah. These bandages really helped" he said as he and Tai stood up.
"It was mostly the healing salve though."
"Huh?"
"You know the stuff that tasted horrible?" Agumon put his claw to his head in thought,
"Oh yeah just before we were attacked by the Seadramon. Wow good thing you made it. My back feels good as new" Agumon then proved as such by wagging his stump of a tail. Tai nodded,
"I'm all out of it now though. I ended up using most of it up on that guy!" Tai pointed and Agumon followed the direction of his finger, then gaped.
"Tai! Are you insane!?" he yelled then quickly shut his mouth as if worried he'd woken it.
"I know it seems stupid but...well..." Tai said lowering his arm, "Just look at him."
Leaning against a nearby tree was the unconscious and bandaged body of Gorillamon. His arm was in a cast made of vines as well as his torso, for the wounds on his chest and back.
Tai had used up the last of the salve treating his burns and claw wounds so there hadn't been any for left for his arm. The cannon had been blown to bits and was, without a doubt, unusable.
Agumon still gaped.
"You really did a number on him Agumon" Tai stated, "He might have died had I left him there... so I patched him up a bit."
Agumon finally regained his voice,
"But Tai, he tried to kill us!"
"Yeah but you beat him black and blue" Tai reminded Agumon, "And now that he's injured and you've eaten, you'd be able to do it again. Right?"
Agumon was taken aback at this sudden confidence that Taichi was displaying. However he was also flattered by how much faith Tai was putting into him.
"I don't like it Tai, but... I trust you" Agumon said as he looked up at Tai.
"Thanks Agumon."
A loud groan from the side startled them. They looked over as the Gorillamon slowly sat up and opened its eyes. Both Agumon and Tai quickly got ready for a fight, but the Gorillamon just looked around confused then began examining its bandages and cast. After a few cursory sniffs it then turned its attention to them. It looked at them with a bewildered expression on its face.
"You spared me?" it said in a deep raspy voice.
There was a pause.
Tai and Agumon blinked. "Argh!" they screamed, as they fell over in shock.
"Y-You can talk?!" Tai asked incredulously.
The Gorillamon just stared at them unmoving. "Of course," he said calmly, obviously confused at their behaviour.
"Then why did you attack us?!" Agumon demanded angrily.
"Because thats how things are" Gorillamon responded simply, "I saw you destroy the Goblimon and figured you were strong. So I challenged you to see if I was stronger. Evidently I wasn't."
He then turned to Tai, "Why did you spare me? And heal me!?"
Tai was surprised at the question and the anger in Gorillamon's voice.
"Why wouldn't we?" He asked back confused. Why was he so worked up about not being deleted?
"Because the strong destroy the weak and absorb their data, that's how the world works!" He yelled angrily. "You destroyed the Goblimon because they were weaker than you! I thought you were weaker then me so I tried to destroy you! Then I absorb your data which is recycled by my body and makes me stronger! That's how things work!"
Tai gritted his teeth in anger, that philosophy was very familiar to him. 'That was what Daemon believed' he remembered, 'When he tried to destroy us and invade our world, that was his reasoning!'
"The weak will be destroyed! That's the law of this world!" Even now Tai could still hear that demonic voice echoing through his head, and his answer hadn't changed.
"No it doesn't" Tai said sternly. Both of the Digimon looked at him, "It's my belief that the strong should use their strength to protect the weak! Not use their strength to destroy them!" Gorillamon scoffed,
"It doesn't matter what you believe, that's how things are. Everywhere on this world, every day stronger digimon destroy and load the data of weaker digimon. That is reality."
Agumon looked dismayed at this and hung his head. He knew in his heart it was true. Many of the digimon they had met had tried to attack and kill them just because they thought they were weaker.
He and the others had spent a long while as in-training digimon. Their only option had been to hide from other digimon as they simply couldn't fight back. Agumon hated remembering those dark times, it wasn't until Tai and the others came that they had found something to fight for.
Someone worth dying for.
Silence descended upon the clearing. Tai clenched his fists in repressed anger. He thought of all the digimon he met in his last journey, Lord MagnaAngemon, Leo, Omnimon, Gabo and many more. Then all of the digimon he had met so far; Andromon, Meramon, Monzaemon and Leomon.
'All of them are powerful digimon who believed in defending the weak. I won't let them down!' Tai put a comforting hand on the distraught Agumons shoulder.
"You're wrong Gorillamon" he said with conviction. "There are plenty of strong digimon out there that protect the weak. That would gladly sacrifice themselves for others." Agumon thought of Leomon.
"And as for your belief, well just look at me and Agumon. A mere human and a rookie digimon. On our own we are weak and wouldn't have stood a chance, but together..." he looked at Gorillamon, specifically his bandaged arm and chest, "You, a champion digimon, didn't stand a chance!"
Agumon smiled,
"Yeah!" He cried out happily, agreeing with Tai. "We kicked butt!" Gorillamon just grunted, annoyed, trying to think of what to say.
"When you believe in others there's no end to what they can do!" Tai continued with conviction, "True strength is from when you have to protect something! When you protect with all of your heart!" There was, in that instant, a change in Tai that only Gorillamon saw. He sat transfixed by what his eyes were showing him. 'What?...What is this...?" he thought as a bright light seemed to emanate from the boy.
"You may have been strong" the boy said and as he spoke another voice seemed to overlap with his. It gave the childs voice power and authority, it rang throughout time and was enough to make Gorillamon instinctively shake.
"But we were stronger!"
Gorillamon stared.
'That glow? What is that light?!' he thought.
The power coming from it was incredible, enough to make him feel as if he could fight the world even despite his injuries, like he could punch a sovereign in the face and laugh. 'Is...is this the power of a human and digimon working together?'
Then as soon as it came the light faded leaving Tai standing there normally. Gorillamon looked over but Agumon seemed oblivious to what just happened. He swallowed nervously.
'Is this guy really human?' It hadn't felt like a human. He had, for a very brief moment, thought that he was in the presence of an extremely powerful digimon.
His good arm was still shaking.
"Anyway we don't have time to play around with you any longer" Tai said, pointing over his shoulder towards the crashed bed. "We need to find our friends" Agumon nodded,
"That's right. One of them must have crashed here" he said as he looked up at Tai.
"Lets go look around then" Gorillamon gaped as the two started to walk off.
"Hey! Wait!" he yelled. "You can't just leave me here wounded!" The two stopped.
"Then come with us" Tai stated,
"What?!" cried Gorillamon,
"What?!" cried Agumon.
"Well there's strength in numbers and you are wounded. So unless you want to be picked off by some other digimon..."
"Ok, ok!" he yelled panicked, "Fine I'll go with you!" Gorillamon then stood up, only groaning a little as he did so. He then began to walk towards the two as they waited.
"How are your wounds feeling?" Tai asked concerned.
'What's with this kid?' Gorillamon thought horribly confused, 'We were enemies less than an hour ago!'
"They're fine" he replied curtly as the group of three walked over to the bed. Agumon began sniffing it to try and pick up a scent of whomever it was who crashed here.
"Are you sure? It's just that your arm..." Gorillamon glanced over.
It did look pretty bad. While most of his cybernetic arm was fine the cannon had been completely wrecked. Bits of twisted and broken metal poked out of the cast, or cut through it in some cases. Gorillamon seemed unconcerned.
"Eh. It'll heal" he said simply. Tai blinked,
"Heal? It's metal!" The champion looked confused,
"So?" Tai had no idea how to respond.
"uh..."
"I've got a scent!" Agumon suddenly cried out. "This was Mimi's bed!"
"You sure Agumon?" The dinosaur nodded,
"Positive. Mimi and Palmon were on this bed" He then pointed. "I think they went that way" Tai smiled,
"Way to go Agumon!" he cried as Agumon rubbed his head abashed. The three then set off in pursuit of Mimi and Palmon.
"Hmm" Gorillamon said contemplatively.
"Whats wrong?" Tai asked
"This is the direction towards the old temple. It's possible they might have ended up there" he replied.
"Can you take us there?" Agumon asked at which Gorillamon nodded.
"Of course. I know this area well, although I don't often go to the temple" he admitted.
"Why not?"
"Because it's guarded by Centauromon. A powerful champion digimon. He nearly deleted me last time we met. He will only allow those he judges worthy to enter." Gorillamon explained.
'Why I am being so helpful?' he wondered to himself.
"Don't worry." Tai said, "If Mimi and Palmon ended up there then we'll get past him!" Agumon nodded,
"Right Tai!" He said just as confidently.
'Idiots' Gorillamon thought to himself, 'Centauromon is even tougher than I am.' But he nevertheless lead them in the direction of the temple.
Not long after that they encountered another obstacle, one that took Gorillamon by surprise.
"What happened to the island!?" He roared out in panic and bewilderment as the temple lay directly in front of them,
across a large ravine,
on another island.
"Hmm, well this is a problem," Tai cleverly summarised, as they stood at the edge of the island.
"How are we gonna get across?" Agumon wondered, "It's way too far to jump."
"Wh-what happened to the forest?" Gorillamon whimpered in horror.
"We can't fly so getting across that way is out" Tai said as he continued to think.
"Maybe we could build a bridge?" Agumon pondered,
"Why aren't you two surprised by this?!" Gorillamon yelled at them. Tai calmly turned to regard him,
"You mean you didn't know?"
"Know?! Know what!?" He screeched at Tai.
"Devimon split up the island. He did it to try and separate us, and it worked" Tai admitted to the champion. Gorillamon's face was the picture of rage.
"You mean Devimon is behind this? Devimon is the one who desecrated my home?!" His mighty fist, the size of Tai's torso, was now clenched in anger. "How dare he! What gives him the right to do this to my home!?" He roared out. Agumon and Tai were taken aback at this sudden fury,
"You mean you didn't realise until now?" Agumon asked increduously. The large digimon faltered for a second before regaining his former fury,
"Well no... but... still. He can't get away with this!"
"And just what will you do about it?" A familiar growling voice from behind them spoke. They turned to see Ogremon grinning devilishly at them. "Nice to see you again, I'm going to pay you back for that injury you gave me last time!" Tai smirked,
"Injury? You were out cold last time we fought, what makes you think you can win this time?" Instead of conceding to his point Ogremon instead just grinned happily and raise his arm.
"This" He snapped his fingers.
The trees parted and there stood several Woodmon behind him. "I've convinced these digimon to help run you down. Now you're cornered with nowhere to run!" Ogremon yelled triumphantly.
'He's right' Tai thought desperately his back to the edge of the ravine. 'There's no room for movement. All they have to do is charge us and they win!'
"Devimon will be very pleased when I tell him of your deaths. I might even get a part of the digital world to rule over" He gloated. Gorillamon froze up at these words. He bared his fangs and growled,
"You work for Devimon?"
"Yeah, what about it?"
"This!" Gorillamon charged and tried to punch Ogremon with his uninjured arm. Ogremon simply moved aside and casually clubbed him in his bandaged chest. He screamed in pain as he was sent flying back and lay on the ground clutching his wound.
"You fool!" Ogremon laughed, "Your injured and you're trying to fight me?!"
The Woodmon around them started laughing as well. Gorillamon growled in anger and humiliation. "You don't stand a chance, even if you weren't injured!" Ogremon continued to laugh cruelly. "I'll tell you what. I think instead of killing you, I'll have the Woodmon drain your energy from you slowly. Watch as you lie helpless and unable to defend yourself as they suck you dry. Then since you love this forest so much maybe I'll burn it down in front of you. After-all its not as if you—argh!"
He was cut short by a fireball hitting him directly in his mouth. Causing him to scream in pain and drop his club. Gorillamon stared astonished as Agumon and Tai stood ready to fight.
"Sorry 'bout that. Your big fat mouth was such a tempting target" Tai snarked as Agumon blew smoke from his nostrils threateningly.
"Remember me boys?!" he said threateningly. The Woodmon stared at the small yellow digimon for a second before their memories kicked in.
Tai was silently amazed. He'd never seen trees pale like that before as the Woodmon quickly slithered away as fast as they could. Ogremon was recovering and started yelling.
"Hey! Come back here you cowards! What about being a part of Devimons army? Guys!? Err..." He turned back around to see the smoking Agumon and fuming Gorillamon.
"Don't think you've won. I'm still a champion. I can take out a rookie and a cripple, easy!" Gorillamon narrowed his eyes and clenched his hand.
"You insolent little..."
"Don't worry Gorillamon." He turned to regard Tai who had spoken. "Me and Agumon have got this, you're still injured. We'll handle this chump." He stared at Tai.
'They're willing to protect me?' He thought. 'Even now they're still trying to protect me. The one who tried to kill them?!' He struggled to comprehend it. 'They're willing to face digimon stronger than themselves for someone they just met?! Why?!' Tai's words from earlier glided through his mind like a ghost.
"I believe the strong should protect the weak!"
Is that why they won? Was their philosophy simply stronger than his? The Digital World was a place where the strongest was always right, a place where those who are victorious make the rules. If there were strong digimon out there who protected others, did that make it right? But there were strong digimon out there who didn't protect the weak...
'Why am I even thinking this?' He realised astonished at himself. 'Not even a day ago all my thoughts were about where to find my next meal and finding strong digimon to fight, delete and absorb their data, but now..' Now there were too many other thoughts, too many ideas running through his brain to even contemplate such a path again. He had finally talked to another digimon, something he hadn't done for the longest time, and he was actually enjoying it.
'By the Great One, I've actually enjoyed talking to these two.'
He watched astonished as Agumon charged at Ogremon. The yellow digimon leapt over the ogres clumsy blow using his large head as a spring nailed him in the back with a fireball. The child continued to bark orders at the digimon who began to execute them with a stunning conviction and effectiveness.
'Is this what makes them so strong? The Agumon knows he can fight to his full potential because his partner will take care of him afterwards, whereas Ogremon has no such comfort...'
Ogremon's club was stuck in a tree from a ducked swing by Agumon as he tried to pull it out he was hit with a claw attack to the chest knocking him onto his back and then hit with a pepper breath causing his silver hair to catch fire. Ogremon quickly rolled around then struck out with his leg hitting Agumon in his bandages, tearing them, and sending the little digimon flying through the air to land painfully on the ground.
Ogremon took the opportunity to free his club from the tree and leapt at his target. Agumon quickly got up and dodged the blow. Then he countered with a powerful claw blow to the green demons face. Ogremon winced a little then hit the dinosaur with his club knocking him into a tree. Instead of following it up the panting champion instead ran towards Tai who now didn't have Agumon to protect him.
Gorillamon's eyes widened.
"Its over!" With his club raised above his head Ogremon brought it down onto Tai's head.
"NO!" Agumon yelled.
Thwack!
Tai looked up. Gorillamon had caught the club in his one good hand and had now lifted the smaller green digimon up by his club.
"That human saved my life." He stated, the bared his teeth, "I won't let you harm him!"
With a mighty heave he spun and threw the screaming Ogremon down the ravine and into the depths of the water below. A scream cut off by a splash signalled the end of the fight, leaving Gorillamon panting silently astonished at his own strength.
He stared silently at his empty hand. 'I didn't even think. I saw him about to attack and rage took over. I withstood an attack that knocked me over earlier. Maybe there is something to this protecting thing.'
He was pulled out of his thoughts when he realised that he was being spoken too.
"Thanks Gorillamon." Tai said, "I was nearly a goner-"
"Shut up" Gorillamon said gruffly. Agumon and Tai looked startled. "Just because I protected you doesn't mean anything."
Tai looked sceptical, "We're even. There's nothing more to it than that."
"Well then looks like we've got a ravine to cross" Tai said turning back towards the gap.
"No you've got a ravine to cross" the champion spoke.
"Huh?" Gorillamon then picked up Agumon and swung his arm back,
"Hey wait a minute what are you-aaargh!" He then threw Agumon with all his strength across the ravine. The little digimon cleared it easily landing amongst the trees.
"Your turn" He said to Tai,
"Hey, hey...hold on a sec-Aaargh!" Tai went sailing over the ravine to land near Agumon.
"Hey what's the big idea?!" He yelled at Gorillamon from the other side of the ravine.
"Why did you have to throw us?!" Agumon yelled equally angry next to him. Gorillamon just laughed.
"Good luck you two. The temple should be straight ahead!" He yelled back. "Go defeat Devimon, keep on protecting this island." Tai and Agumon were surprised but waved at him. Gorillamon waved back with his one good arm. "Next time we meet, I will have an answer" he murmured to himself. "By the Great-One I swear it! I swear I'll have an answer as to where true strength comes from!" He then retreated back into the jungle.
"Come on Agumon lets go." The yellow dinosaur waved one more time and followed Tai into the forest.
It only took about twenty minutes or so before they stumbled across a large temple-like structure. Whereas before the ground was covered in soft green grass it was now bare, rocky and grey. The temple looked dark and imposing, jutting out of the cliff ahead as if it had a face.
The temple was multi-storied and built out of stone. Decorated with numerous arches, carvings and staircases which framed the entrance, it gave off an intimidating air of mystique and grandeur. There was also however many signs of wear. Some of the arches were crumbling in places and the temple had a matted feel to it. A cold wind blew strongly causing Tai to shiver. It was far different to the more tropical, warm forest they had just left.
"Should we go in?" Agumon asked nervously. Evidently the imposing nature of the temple was scaring him a little. Tai nodded solemnly.
"We probably shoul-"
In front of them a part of the temple suddenly exploded. Tai and Agumon covered their eyes. They then saw, flying from the dust and wreckage, the battered forms of Togemon and Kabuterimon along with their partners.
"That's one way to get out" Mimi said rather shaken brushing dust off of her dress. Izzy who lay near her suddenly gasped,
"Yeah but he's still there!" Tai and Agumon looked in horror as a Centaurumon proudly emerged from the hole. Kabuterimon and Togemon quickly stood up in order to fight him off. The large digimon aimed his arm cannon at them, and Tai decided to make his prescence known.
"Solar Ra-"
"Pepper Breath!" The fireball shot towards the cannon knocking it off course and causing the Solar Ray to fire harmlessly into the air. Izzy and Mimi turned.
"Tai! Agumon!" They cried out in joy.
"Hey Guys!" He yelled back, "Been a while huh?" They nodded and grinned.
"Lets save the reunion for a minute or two there kids" Kabuterimon said in his deep voice. "We've still got a little problem to deal with. Electro-shocker!"
A ball of electricity shot forward towards Centauromon nailing him the chest. A black gear shot out of his back and broke up into data. Centauromon suddenly wavered and collapsed without a word. He lay there groaning for a minute before lifting his head.
"Where am I?" he asked in a rather cultured voice. Mimi strode forward,
"Are you a good digimon now?" She asked cautiously. Centaurumon seemed confused at the question before he noticed something.
"That device on your bag!" He pointed. She looked down at her digivice which was clipped onto the strap of her bag. "I've seen that device before! That's a digivice!" Tai and Agumon strode forward.
"What do you mean?" He asked.
"Where did you see one before?" Izzy questioned as well. Centaurumon looked at both of them individually.
"You have one as well!" He cried out pointing at Izzys digivice, "And you!" He then pointed at Tai's. The four-legged digimon seemed excited. "That must mean you're the Digidestined!"
Sensing that the danger had passed Kabuterimon and Togemon de-digivolved back into Tentomon and Palmon respectively and listened in. Centauromon stood up, "This temple was built to honour those who bear the digivice. For they are the last line of defence against evil!"
Izzy was flabbergasted,
"A temple to honour us?"He asked as if he couldn't believe his ears.
"Yes. All those who bear or have beared the digivices are honoured by this temple. Which is just one of many scattered throughout the Digital World."
"Wow, all that just for us" Mimi exclaimed, "Maybe one without a maze next time though"
"Wait a minute" Izzy said, " "have beared"? There were others like us?"
Tai and Mimi startled. They hadn't picked up on that. "There were other humans here before?"
"Of course" Centaurumon said as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. "I'll show you" He then began to walk back into the temple.
"No!" Mimi cried out, "I am not going back in there!"
"Why not Mimi?" Palmon asked concerned.
"I was lost, chased around, almost killed. There's nothing you can say that will make me go in there again!" she finished strongly.
"Mimi you're being irrational" Izzy started, "First of all Centaurumon knows this place so we won't get lost again, two: there's three champion digimon on our side no one is gonna mess with us. Three we've been almost killed pretty much everydau since we got to this world, what difference does this make? Would you rather wait out here by yourself?"
Tai settled with something simpler,
"Don't worry about it Mimi, it'll be fine" he said confidently then began to follow Centarumon into the temple.
"Well when you put it like that" Mimi said then walked after him. Izzy shook his head,
"Girls" he muttered annoyed.
"Don't worry Izzy, who needs girls when you have me?" Tentomon piped up loyally. Izzy shivered,
"Lets just go in Tentomon"
The twisting and winding passages of the maze were easily circumvented when you were with someone who knew where they were going. As they walked Izzy sidled up to Tai,
"Tai?"
"Yeah Izzy?"
"I just want to say I'm sorry. Sorry for not believing you that the mansion was a trap." He said quietly. Tai smiled,
"Don't worry about it, we all make mistakes."
"It's just that, in hindsight, its so obvious!" Izzy claimed, "Every time we encounter something weird that doesn't fit with the rest of the environment, we get attacked!"
"That's true" Tai realised surprised.
"Here we are!" Centarumon cried out as they entered a large room.
The children gaped at what they saw. A huge stone room, large enough for even Kabuterimon to easily stand up in. The walls were covered in ancient digicode. From floor to ceiling it covered them; except for the far wall. There lay a large alter with steps leading up to it and a massive carving that immediately grabbed their attention.
Tai in particular stood motionless staring at the familiar picture. It was one he would never forget. 'My digivice...' he thought stunned. For on the wall lay a picture of the Digivice 01, the one given to him by Lord MagnaAngemon himself.
"As you can see; this is the legendary digivice." Centaurumon explained, "It was used in ancient times as the last line of defence against the darkness." He then turned to them, "Your digivices were most likely based off of this one. They are the preservers of light against the darkness." Izzy nodded.
"That makes sense. The device may look slightly different but the screen and the symbols surrounding it are the same as those on ours" he noted triumphantly. "So does this mean there were humans here before us?" Centauromon shrugged,
"To be honest I don't really know" he admitted, "All that I'm sure of is that long ago this digivice was used to fight against a great evil and now history is repeating itself! You are the digidestined who are the ones chosen to take up the mantle and fight for the forces of light." Izzy looked intrigued at this mystery while Mimi just looked upset.
"But I don't want to fight a great evil!" She cried out loudly, "I just want to go home!"
"It's ok Mimi, you'll find a way back to your world I promise" Palmon said desperately trying to comfort her distraught partner.
"This is incredible. I wonder, does the digicode here have any information about the digital worlds past?" he mused to himself. Centaurumon said,
"Not that I can translate" he gestured to the walls, "These are written in ancient digi-code. I do not know of a single digimon who can read it. Everything I know comes from what I read at the altar, which is written in a more modern manner."
Izzy looked at the walls. It hadn't been so obvious before but now it truly was.
This temple was old. Really old.
As opposed to all the other strange things they had encountered that were in perfect working condition for who knows how long, this place was wrecked. Walls were crumbling in places, making large chunks of the code completely unreadable. Vines were beginning to infiltrate the temple, slowly growing through and widening cracks in the stonework.
'I don't think dust actually exists in the Digital-world' Izzy theorised as he placed a hand to his chin in thought, 'If it did I'm sure this place would be covered in it'
"Just how long ago was this?" The sudden question whispered from Tai caught everyones attention.
"I'm sorry digidestined, could you repeat that?" Centaurumon said kindly.
"Just how long ago was it that the great Evil was fought?" Tais voice was trembling with something, some foreign emotion that neither Izzy nor Mimi could recognise.
"Exactly?" Centarumon mused completely oblivious to Tai's strange mood, "Far too long ago for any living digimon to remember surely!"
Tai's world seemed to collapse around him as his fists shook with repressed emotion. His mind kept trying to tell him what it had realised but his heart had shut it out.
There was no way. No way, that it had been that long.
It had only been a year ago that he defeated Daemon and saved both worlds, it was impossible for everyone that he had known back then to be dead. Tai pushed down his feelings before they could overwhelm him and to his surprise his hands stopped shaking.
'It's just a coincidence' he reassured himself, 'My digivice wasn't the only one. He must be thinking of something that happened ages ago not just a single year!'
A loud growl from the entrance to the room interrupted his thoughts. They all turned to see Leomon standing in the doorway.
"Ah, Leomon!" Centaurumon greeted warmly, "I haven't seen you in a while. What are you doing here?" Leomon regarded him coldly, it was then Tai noticed his blank eyes,
"I want to destroy the children" he growled,
"Look out!" Tai yelled as Leomon pounced towards them. The four-legged champion quickly rushed forward and grappled with Leomon preventing him from moving forward.
"I swore to protect this temple and that also means protecting the digidestined! Why Leomon? What's gotten into you?!" Centarumon cried out to his friend.
'He's been brainwashed again by Devimon!' Tai realised.
"Quickly use your digivices!" he ordered Izzy and Mimi, "It's his weakness!"
Tai took out his digivice and pointed it at Leomon who had just knocked Centauromon into a wall. A bright light shone from it causing the beast digimon to shield his face and roar in pain.
"Prodigious!" Izzy exclaimed then copied Tai's movement. Mimi also quickly followed suit. The light of the three digivices proved too much for Leomon as he ran out of the entrance and out of sight. The bright lights coming from the digivices faded and they returned to their normal state. Izzy stared at his in wonder the earlier scene with Tai driven completely from his mind.
"So thats what it means, preservers of light against darkness" he reasoned.
"That was scary" Mimi said wiping her forehead before her stomach growled, "I'm really hungry, is anyone else?" All the digimon put their hands up, even Centarumon.
"Me!" She sweatdropped, "Looks like we're having lunch then"
"Lets go back to the entrance" Izzy said. "It will be easier to find food there" The group began making there way towards the exit. Except for one. Tai still stood staring at the carving of the digivice01.
'If its true that we were chosen to bear the digivice's and save the digital world then who was it that chose us and why?' Tai looked at the digivice in his hand. 'What happened since I was last here?' He wondered, 'So many things are different! I need to-'
"Tai! Are you coming?!" Agumon yelled out from the entrance, drawing Tai out of his trance.
"Yeah!" He called back, "Yeah I'm coming!" Tai strode out of the room and towards the entrance to the temple.
'I need to find out what's happened to everyone since I left. Has Daemon somehow returned? What great evil has put the digital world at stake this time? It can't just be Devimon, there must be more to it than him.'
There was only one thing for sure. If this evil wanted to take over the Digital World it was going to have to get through Yagami Taichi first. He stepped outside along with Mimi and Izzy, and looked towards Infinity Mountain in the distance. 'We may be separated now but soon we'll all be together again.' Tai smirked, 'Then you'd better watch out Devimon!' The sun shone brightly in the sky causing the whole mountain to appear in shadow.
'Because we're coming for you!'
A/N: Well that's the end of another chapter. If you have any questions or criticism to offer then leave a review. Hope you all enjoyed!
Updates every Monday!