Sorry about the long wait, I wrote Chapter 7 and part of 8, but then I lost them due to my error. Regardless, I'm going to have to rewrite them, but on the plus side you'll get them as soon as they are finished being written to make up for it, since we are so near the end of the story.
DISCLAIMER: I don't own Digimon, but I do own the OCs introduced in this story and later stories (except where stated).
Chapter 7
Investigation
Kamiya Residence
22:37 JST
Tai changed the channel for the 10th time that minute. Despite the multitude of channels he had access to; he could find nothing worth watching. Then again, he wasn't exactly in the mood for watching television at that time. Occupying as much time as possible had become the order of that evening, while they waited for anything at all regarding their missing friends. Kari slept silently on the couch end, Gatomon sleeping on the armrest itself. Agumon sat droopy-eyed near Tai's feet, nodding off himself. Mrs Kamiya was occupying herself with chores. Tai noted that she had cleaned the table three times so far. Guilmon was unusually quiet and unmoving, only moving to eat from the limited bread that he had on a plate near him. Tai was surprised; Guilmon seemed to lack an appetite, which was one thing he normally seemed to have in droves. The two Digidestined's D-Terminals sat on the coffee table, and Tai's beeped. He picked it up curiously and flicked open the screen.
Sora
He smiled, and then frowned. His relationship with Sora had been non-existent for the last few years, and he had resigned to knowing that it would never happen. Of course, Matt and Sora's relationship of a year before wasn't to last, and they had broken up five months ago. However, he lacked the courage to tell or ask her, and he was also worried about whether it would affect his relationship with Matt. After the chaos of the last few years, at the party they had had a couple of days ago it was clear they were still great friends, despite Gabumon headbutting his partner after being dizzy from a first drink that his partner had given him, and hence Joe needing to use his first aid kit to bandage up Matt's leg. Izzy was also worried that his computer would be damaged, and so they agreed to lay off the drink for the rest of the evening. Regardless, it had been a chance to talk casually, after not having a decent chance for many months.
Tai opened the email.
Hey Tai,
Any news on Rika/Takato's whereabouts?
Love Sora
Tai sighed at the customary response that Sora sent to everyone, and wished it were specifically for him. He typed out his reply.
Hey Sora,
Nothing yet, sorry. We're going out to look for them tomorrow, can you help?
Tai
He sat back to wait for the response, placing the D-Terminal back on the table. He switched the channel again, this time to a news channel. Shots of that day's battle and destruction were shown, and Agumon's eyes widened upon seeing a WarGreymon shaped crater in the floor, but closed again after he remembered more of what had happened earlier. He scratched his sore head.
"Tai, I'm losing my memories!" he complained. Tai chuckled. His smile vanished when a light wind blew through the room, ruffling his hair slightly and waking Kari and Gatomon. Mrs Kamiya looked towards the source of the wind. A yellow form had appeared in the room, which slowly developed into the Kitsune Digimon known as Renamon. She frowned and looked towards Guilmon who looked at her optimistically. She shook her head and his head drooped.
"Don't worry, we'll find them tomorrow," Kari said trying to cheer Renamon up. She nodded slightly, clearly unbelieving of what Kari was saying. Kari tiredly headed to her room, as did her partner. Mrs Kamiya packed away the cleaning equipment and headed to her own room. Tai's D-Terminal bleeped and he picked it up. He opened the new email.
Hey Tai,
Sounds good, I'll be there at 9.
Love Sora
Tai smiled, it would be good to see her again. He knew he wouldn't be able to tell her even if he saw her. He stood up and headed to his bedroom, followed by his dreary partner.
Renamon stood, back leaning against the wall and eyes closed.
'What role do I play? At first I'd have said I was nothing to do with this Chaos and Harmony thing, but…I feel that I do have something to do with it. Why…why do I feel this way…what happened…?' Renamon thought. A disturbing thought to her leapt into her mind. She flinched, recalling what she was meant to do. 'No…I decided not to…those practices were barbaric…I escaped that…and I bet that place doesn't even exist anymore…the Digital World was reformatted…and my race is dead…it must be…' Her thoughts shifted back to the question that had plagued her mind since earlier.'Have I been here before…? Have I been with Harmony before…and why do I not remember any of it? And, for that matter, does Guilmon remember anything?'
She opened her eyes to see Guilmon staring at her arms. He cocked his head.
"Renamon, what is the symbol on your gloves?" he asked curiously. Renamon smiled, his child-like nature led to a complete lack of any fear of social tactfulness. As far as she knew, he would ask any question that came to mind without considering it. Renamon looked to the symbols on her gloves, and held her arm out to show Guilmon.
"It is called the Taijitu…" she said in her typically wise voice. Guilmon looked at her blankly. "It symbolises the harmony between Good and Evil, or Ying and Yang in Tao Mythology. It is like your Hazard symbol on your chest…although that has shown itself to be more than simply decorational…"
"Can you remove your gloves or are they fixed?"
Renamon looked at her gloves again. Surprisingly, the idea had never dawned on her, despite the fact she had worn them all her life. "I'm not sure…" She began to lift the fabric of one glove, and she noticed blue sparks of what looked like electricity bridge the gap. Guilmon looked on curiously. Renamon continued to pull the glove off. When it was removed, she suddenly felt weaker, and tired.
"That's…odd…" Guilmon said, watching Renamon waver about on her feet. He picked the glove up off the floor, and handed it back to the vixen.
"Thank you…" she said, placing it back on her arm. She felt suddenly stronger, but still slightly tired. 'That energy…that was Harmony's energy…so…I must play a part in this...don't I?' "Guilmon, pardon the odd question, but do you remember anything from like…before Takato created you?"
"Um…" Guilmon closed his eyes. Renamon noticed the hazard flash quickly and looked on in surprise. Guilmon opened his eyes again. "Yes…I do…"
"What do you remember?" she asked.
"I was fighting…as Gallantmon…and I was with…someone…Chaos? And I was fighting…you…as Sakuyamon?" he said, recalling the memories. Renamon considered what Guilmon was saying.
"When was this?"
"It was...it was…I can't remember…sorry…"
"Don't worry…" Renamon replied.
"Okay! I'm going night nights now…" he said, moods switching quickly. He sat down and lay on the floor, closing his eyes. Renamon watched as he began to snore.
'How does he do that?' she thought. She smiled, watching his sleeping form. A smile grew on her face. She walked away towards the spare room. 'Maybe one day…'
Unknown
Rika fell fast, seeing only darkness in front of her. Colours moved about randomly, although she knew that this wasn't 'her world' from before, because these colours were not blobs, and they varied greatly, being many colours of the rainbow. Oddly, she had never speeded up or slowed down while falling and this made her think this place was in the Digital World, or at least nearby, due to the odd physics.
She wasn't in any hurry, however.
'He hates me…' she thought sadly. 'And I don't blame him…I'll never even have a chance to talk to him again…all thanks to Harmony and Chaos…see what you did!' she thought, getting angrier as she reached the end of her thoughts.
'Hey, it's not my fault; it's that childish Chaos' fault!'
'I think you're both childish…'
'Well I'm certainly not!'
Rika sighed.
"THIS IS SO BORING!" she yelled into the abyss. Suddenly, she landed on hard ground. However, she didn't exactly land like you usually would from a fall, the ground almost developed beneath her. She stood up in confusion and looked around. She had 'landed' in a forest of sorts. It was a long pathway leading out in either direction where the trees had been cleared. Around her was thick forest, which was eerily silent, and it seemed to be getting dark. "Where am I?" she asked out loud.
'Beats me…'
'Are you really a powerful being?'
'Yes, why do you ask?'
'Because you have absolutely no idea where we are! Don't you have powers to figure out where we are or something?'
'Yes, but it's more fun this way, don't ya think?'
Rika sighed. The voice in her head was being a pain, but she decided that it wasn't worth standing here and that she'd better get walking. She picked a direction and walked. Unbeknownst to her, on her D-Arc, flashing in the darkness, the clock jumped.
23:00…23:37…00:09…00:03…
Kamiya Residence
9:09 JST
27th November 2008
Tai slept peacefully…well, as peacefully as Tai can sleep anyway. Agumon slept at the end of the bed. All was quiet…
"WAKE UP TAI!"
…until Sora decided to wake up the Digidestined of Courage. Tai awoke with a start. "Waaah!!! Oh…Hey Sora…what are you doing here?"
"You invited me over…"
"Yeah…but it's only…9 o'clock! I need to get changed!" Tai said, leaping out of bed and beginning to get changed. Sora blushed bright red, until Tai threw a pillow at her. "Get out!"
Sora stepped out of the room swiftly, still blushing. She closed the door as inconspicuously as she could. This was not enough, as Davis sniggered. She looked around the room at the assembled group. It was surprisingly small given the normally huge groups they ended up with. Spread around the sofas, chairs and even the floor were Davis, Kari, Izzy, TK, Matt, Henry and Jeri. Izzy sat on his laptop and around him TK and Henry looked at the screen.
"What are you doing?" asked Terriermon from his partner's shoulder.
Izzy had a map of the nearby area, covering Odaiba and the prefectures across the bay, and was dividing it out into coloured squares. "Well, we have the potential for 4 pairs, so I've split the map into 4 areas which we'll cover."
"Can I make a suggestion?" Jeri asked.
"Sure…" Izzy replied.
"Well, since we know all the places they might go in Shinjuku, would it be better if me and Henry covered Shinjuku rather than a place near Odaiba we know nothing of?" she asked.
"Sure…seems like a good idea…" Izzy replied. "You know them better than I do…I presume that means you and Henry…"
Jeri and Henry blushed lightly. "Sure…" Henry answered. Terriermon noticed his partner's behaviour and decided to use it as blackmail material later.
"Wow…everyone's here…" Tai said groggily, now wearing his latest attire of blue & yellow shirt, grey pants and blue headband. Sora blushed lightly again, recalling the events of a few minutes ago.
"Right, now, apart from Henry and Jeri, we need to work out groups. I'll stay here and co-ordinate efforts. Henry, Jeri, you'll need to borrow a D-Terminal."
"Use mine, everyone else is a faster typer anyway…" Matt said, handing Henry his D-Terminal.
"I'm with Kari!" Davis said quickly.
"You always want to go with me!" Kari replied.
"But I never seem to end up with you..." Davis moaned. Kari sighed.
"Fine…" she replied. Davis began to cheer silently. "But Renamon and Guilmon are coming with us…" she added, trying to dampen any hopes of a 'date' in Davis' eyes.
"Fine…" he replied, oddly not irritated. Kari found this odd.
'Hold on…is Davis…okay with that? Is Davis…growing up?' she thought. She smiled at the thought.
"Are you two okay with that?" Davis asked the fox and the dino. Renamon nodded for both of them.
"You two can take Shimbashi and western Odaiba. Right, who is going to take eastern Odaiba, around the TV station?"
"Matt, me and you can do that." TK suggested to his brother, who nodded.
"Right, so that just leaves the area around the tower and that means that'll be…you two…" Izzy said, pointing to Sora and Tai.
"That okay with you Sora?" Tai asked. She nodded.
"No problem," she replied.
"We'll all meet back here at midday to expand our coverage if we don't find anything. If you find anything, either clues or Rika and Takato themselves, email me and I'll email the others. Any questions?" Izzy asked.
"Only one…what do we do if the Dark Master's attack?" Sora asked nervously.
"There is a Mega capability in every group, except Davis and Kari's, who have the advantage of Renamon and Guilmon as well. Regardless, there are plenty of Digidestined scattered around who aren't able to help with the search." Izzy replied.
"If anything were to happen, I'm sure you would bring about a miracle, eh Davis?" Tai joked, elbowing Davis in the ribs.
"Hey, that hurts…" Davis complained. The group laughed.
"Right, let's move out!" Tai said dramatically, walking towards the door, followed by the rest of the group.
"What was the point of the dramatic exit?" Sora asked. Tai grinned.
"Fun…"
Unknown
'Fun eh?'
'Fun? This isn't fun…we've been walking for hours and I haven't seen anything…this path goes on forever, and the trees block out any sort of flying route…'
'Yes, I know. I was being sarcastic. Your life is boring.'
'How? I tame a Digimon, I have fought in many battles, including merging with my partner, I've fallen into another world, I have strange powers that I've used in big battles and I'm in love with a Gogglehead who also has strange powers…what part of that is boring?'
'I've done far more interesting, and exciting, things in the past…'
'By exciting, what do you mean?'
Rika swore she heard Harmony cough. 'Anyway, about getting out of here…'
'What do you mean by exciting?'
'…maybe when you're older…'
Rika's eyes widened.
'Anyway, about getting out of here…this should help…'
The sword formed in Rika's hand again, and her wings burst forth from her back. Rika looked at the blue-handled sword. She looked at the trees and bushes nearby and held the sword high.
"First thing to do is to get off this stupid path!" she said, firing a blast of blue energy from the end of the sword. "SAPPHIRE STRIKE"
The trees vaporised leaving a path through the trees, which ended more abruptly than Rika thought it would. She walked along it and into an open area. She looked along the forest, which seemed to stretch off forever in a straight line.
"This was all a trick, wasn't it?" Rika said out loud.
'Your guess is as good as mine…at least we're out of there now…'
Rika walked forward to a lake nearby. It seemed to be an isolated lake in a massive desert-plain hybrid, made of patches of grass and sand. Rika likened it to a flat sand-dune.
"What time is it anyway?" she questioned, looking at her D-Arc. She noticed the time kept changing, both forward and backward. "What's up with this piece of junk, it keeps changing!" she said annoyed.
She sat by the lake and looked over its water. It was a bright blue, and eerie because it was an unnatural colour for water.
"You know, this water is far too blue…"
'Huh?'
"When was the last time you saw a lake this blue?"
'Hmm…never…I don't recall creating any either…what is up with it?'
Rika peered into the oddly blue water. Her reflection flickered, almost like it was a movie. Suddenly, it changed altogether, and she saw a glimpse of Rey, and then Takato, then various images of other people. Three of them were unfamiliar to her, and the others seemed to be Kari, Davis, Tai, Sora, Jeri and Henry. Her eyebrow rose at the oddity of this.
"What's going on?"
'I'm not sure…'
"I know…" came a voice from behind her. Rika turned to stare at a clown, face half-white, half-black. She moved backwards in fear, but was blocked by the water in the way. "…shame that you will never have a chance to understand it…"
Rika held the sword out. "Stay back…" she ordered. Piedmon laughed darkly and Rika again quivered in fear.
"In your current state, that sword shall be useless…shame that these are not…TRUMP SWORDS…" Piedmon yelled, firing a pair of swords at Rika. She rolled out of the way just in time, as the swords landed in the ground. Rika stood up and began to run. "You will not get away, you will never escape this world…" he said darkly, following her.
"Where is this place?" Rika asked, now scared out of her wits.
"I created it from your fears and doubts…because you bottle up your feelings, they are so strong…and you are useless because your powers won't work in this world with your current emotional state…" Piedmon said, drawing nearer with the swords, now in his hands. Rika stood, like a rabbit in headlights, awaiting her fate.
'RIKA, MOVE!!!'
Rika did not move.
'RIKA, JUST MOVE!!!'
'No…it will make no difference…'
'Snap out of it Rika. It's those feelings like that which are feeding this world…'
Piedmon held the sword high above his head.
'Think of all the good things…'
The sword of Piedmon was met by a blue handled sword. Rika held it in place, blocking the other sword.
"Harmony is right…I'm not letting you get away with this…I'm sick of people exploiting my deep feelings…I have Takato…I have someone to tell what I can't tell others…and to hell with Chaos and Harmony…I love him…" Rika said. "And so I'm going to get out of here!" she yelled. Blue mist began to form nearby.
"What is this?!" Piedmon said, angry that his plan had been foiled.
Rika stared at the blue mist. "But…that's…that's…"
'You brought yourself, Takato, Jeri and Henry to this world…you formed that mist yourself Rika…'
Rika nodded, finally understanding what had happened. She ran into the mist, and fell. This time, however, she was expecting it.
Piedmon grated his teeth in anger. He clicked his fingers and a dark portal appeared below him, which he sunk into. The world collapsed around him.
Tokyo Tower
10:35 JST
Tai and Sora strolled underneath the shadow of the Tokyo Tower, partners behind them. There was not, however, the normal mix of tourists and residents today. The tower was damaged from battles earlier that week, and there were construction workers and government agents standing around near the base, where fencing had been set up. However, there were a few tourists, probably those who were interested in seeing for themselves what they had seen on the news, standing nearby, some taking pictures.
"Tai, my feet hurt!" Agumon complained. "Can we take a break?"
"We've already taken two…" Biyomon pointed out.
"Yeah, but I have short legs, at least you can fly…" Agumon answered back.
"Let's just take a break…" Sora asserted. Tai nodded, and they sat down on a bench near the base of the tower. Quietly, Tai checked his D-Terminal, flicking through the messages that he had received. Sora watched over his shoulder, watching as he moved to the most recent messages, the ones he had received the night before. He sighed and put the device away again. Sora noticed his reaction.
"What's wrong Tai?" she asked.
"Well…it's just…that…never mind…" he replied, without glancing up to see her face. She frowned.
'I wonder what's bugging him' she wondered, trying to catch a glimpse of his face. 'Whose email was he looking at? Who's emailed him recently?' The realisation soon hit Sora. 'But…I did…why did he sigh at that…I'm surprised that he isn't happy about it…unless…' "Tai, I know that something is bugging you and I want you to tell me what it is" she asked. He shook his head.
"I just can't tell you Sora…sorry…" he replied, frowning. Sora frowned herself.
"We're friends Tai, you shouldn't be afraid to tell me what's bugging you…" Sora said softly.
"I know Sora…but…I can't…hopefully one day I'll be able to tell you…" he said, voice still quiet. Sora put her arm round the ex-Gogglehead. He smiled slightly.
"I hope…" she said. 'But I wish I knew what he was going to say…why can't he tell me…hold on…hopefully? What did he mean like that? Does he want to tell me but he can't? That must be it. But what possibly could he want to tell me but can't, that would lead to him being so sad about it? Hold on…no…no…that can't be…is he still in love with me? I mean, a few years back I thought there was something but…when he let me go to see Matt at that concert a year ago…despite the fact it was clear he was nervous about it…he sort of took a hit for the team there…and that's not the only time…' she thought, looking down at her feet. 'I mean…he's done it a lot of times…even subtly…he gave his Goggles and the 'leadership' to Davis…he stood back while the new Digidestined fought, and didn't try to get involved, something unlike him…it must eat him up inside…we should really cut him some slack…but…what do I do? If he likes me…what do I do? Do I like him…?'
"It seems really unlikely that we'll find them, don't you think Sora?" Tai asked.
"Huh?" Sora replied, waking from her thoughts.
"I don't think we'll find them…" Tai stood up. "…but we'll keep looking…" Sora nodded. Her thoughts would have to wait for now. "Besides, we're beginning to attract attention from those government guys…"
REAL WORLD, SOUTHERN QUADRANT
Tokyo Metropolitan Building, Floor 29 'Hypnos'
10:41 JST
Janyuu stepped through the doors into the main control room of Hypnos. He expected it to be a madhouse, given what they were working on, but he found it strangely quiet. In the dimly lit room, he could see Riley and Yamaki. Riley was in her control chair, presumably checking for bioemergence, and Yamaki sat on a desk below, looking at a computer monitor. Janyuu had collected several coffees from the cafeteria to account for everyone, but it seemed so empty here.
"Where is everyone?" he asked out loud.
"Downstairs…" Yamaki replied bluntly.
"Yeah, they're working on some kind of machine to increase the power of the system…they're using some of the parts from Resurrection…" Riley added.
"But Resurrection caused power outages…surely this will do the same?" Janyuu questioned.
"Well that is the power companies fault then isn't it?" Yamaki replied. Janyuu nodded.
"Still…" he began. "With the power we'll need, we're talking about a power outage that will cover at least the three nearby prefectures, if not more."
"It shouldn't take long, only about 40 minutes in total…" Riley replied. "We've had longer outages before."
"I suppose so. I presume we have decided to use the Ark to retrieve them?" Janyuu asked.
Yamaki nodded. "Yes, and as soon as we get the range in place, we will need to email your son."
Janyuu nodded. "I hope that he is okay…I hope they're all okay, they could be anywhere…regardless, I have your coffees here…"
"Cheers…" Riley replied after being handed the drink.
"Thanks…" was Yamaki's reply to the same action.
"I wonder where they ended up…" Riley pondered. "It could be just like the Digital World, or much more horrible…"
REAL WORLD, EASTERN QUADRANT
Kamiya Residence
10:47 JST
Izzy sat at the Kamiya's computer, feeling heavily ill and ready to vomit. His D-Terminal and Digivice sat on the desk.
'Why didn't I learn from the last time not to eat Tai's mom's cooking?'
"Izzy, do you want more?" Mrs Kamiya asked, arriving at the door with a saucepan. She noticed that he was looking queasy. "Are you okay?"
"Just…feeling a bit under the weather…" Izzy replied, trying to put a brave face on things.
"You don't look okay…"
"Maybe…it was the food…"
"Sorry, maybe I'm not following the recipe right…" she apologised. "Maybe you're meant to cook the eggs…" she wondered, walking away from Izzy, who had now thankfully returned to a more normal state of health. Izzy sweatdropped at the suggestion.
'Oh great, Salmonella…' he thought. His mobile began to ring. He put the handset to his ear and received the call. "Hello?"
"Hey Izzy, how's things?"
"Oh, hey Mimi…" Izzy replied, recognising the voice. "Things are…fine I guess…"
"Huh, why did you hesitate?"
"No reason!"
"Hmm…are you hiding something?"
"No…"
"Well, I wasn't able to contact anyone else…where is everyone?"
"Well, you know…busy lives and all…" Izzy replied. He began to hear Mrs Kamiya talking from the kitchen.
"Hmm…you're lying…"
"Why do you think I'm lying?"
"I can hear Tai's mum in the background. Is Tai there?"
"No, he's not."
"Kari?"
"Nope…"
"Well then, something must be up…"
"No, I'm just here because…Mrs Kamiya wants me to try her cooking…"
"That's odd, because…" Mimi hesitated when Izzy threw up into a bag. "Did you just…throw up?"
Izzy coughed away the sore throat he now had. "Of course not…"
"Izzy, you tell me this instant what is going on!"
"Fine…but you won't believe it…" Izzy began to tell Mimi about the events of the past few days. He could hear her surprise at parts of it. "So that's what's been going on. I said you wouldn't believe it…"
"This is great!"
"Huh…why?"
"Well…I didn't tell you guys but…I'm moving back to Japan…"
"What?"
"Yeah, we got kinda sick of missing all our Japanese friends here, so we're moving home…"
"When?"
"Tomorrow…it was going to be a surprise but…well I've sort of spoiled it haven't I? And this is great because I'll get to meet all these new friends!"
"Okay, I'll see you then. Bye Mimi…" he said.
"Bye…"
Izzy was putting the phone back down on the desk when a thought occurred to him. 'Mimi and Rika will get on like a house on fire…'
Shinjuku Park
10:51 JST
Henry and Jeri arrived at the park which they had both spent all their days in and also hadn't. It was a very confusing sight, despite the fact they had seen it before.
"I still don't understand all this quadrant stuff…" Terriermon complained. "…and we've been walking for hours…" he added.
"We've only been walking for five minutes, we took the train. And you're riding on my head!" Henry pointed out. Terriermon laughed.
"Well then why aren't you complaining?"
Henry sighed, and Jeri giggled. "Do you want to be thrown in the fountain?" Henry asked.
"Ooh…a threat! That's not like you." Terriermon joked. Henry sighed. Jeri laughed again. Leomon looked at his partner.
"What is so funny?" asked Leomon, looking down.
"It's just amusing, that's all…" Jeri replied cheerfully.
"Hmm…"
"What do you mean by that?"
"I think it's more than that…"
"Huh?"
"We're here!" Henry announced, as Jeri noticed they had reached the concrete steps leading up to the hideout.
"And not a moment too soon, I'm pooped…" Terriermon added.
"Terriermon! You haven't been walking!"
"Momentai!"
Henry once again sighed. He turned to Jeri. "So do you think he'll be here?"
"Maybe…" she replied. "But we should find out…" she added, walking up to the hideout itself. She stopped in surprise.
"Takato?"
"Huh?" Henry said, walking up to join Jeri. She saw what he was looking at.
Takato sat in the hideout, red energy streaking around him and his wings. He was currently staring at the floor and frowning, looking forlorn. He looked up to see them. "So you found me…" he finally said, after a long pause.
TV Station
10:57 JST
"This feels like such a waste of time…" Matt complained, walking through the doors of the TV station.
"Why, surely Dad may have noticed something? Digital occurrences like these always seem to leave bad problems for his TV station…" TK replied.
"I wasn't complaining about that…"
"Then what?"
"We're not going to find them…we're looking for a needle in a haystack, if they don't want to be found then they're not going to be found, and it'll be their decision…"
"Yeah…I guess…"
"But what if they're stuck?" Gabumon asked.
"To be honest, I think that's unlikely…having seen their powers…I don't think anything could constrain that…" Matt replied. They looked glum, until TK decided to spur them on.
"Come on, we may as well ask Dad…" he said, walking through the door into their Dad's usual office. Mr Ishida sat at a desk working on a program. He noticed them.
"Oh, hey kids…what brings you here?" he asked glumly.
"Don't try to be too optimistic Dad…" Matt joked sarcastically.
"We're looking for two people associated with the Digimon, there haven't been any strange occurrences or anything lately here has there?" TK asked.
"For once no, I'm afraid…" he said, looking at his screen again. Matt turned to TK.
"So what do we do?" TK asked.
"Damn computer, always breaking down when I need it to work…huh, static?" Mr Ishida said behind them.
"It's not like they're going to pop out of thin air…" Matt replied to TK.
Suddenly, a blast of wind swept through the office. Papers flew into the air. The room glowed blue, as a mist descended. Mr Ishida's fellow office workers were now looking for the source of the unusual events. A crash sounded throughout the room.
"Ow…my head…" came a voice. Matt and TK headed round to see the source. Rika sat, on top of several collapsed cardboard boxes, as a portal closed on the wall and the wind died down. Her wings and sword remained, and the TV station workers looked on confused. "Huh, where's this?"
TK outstretched his hand to help her up, which she declined, instead helping herself up. She looked around the room. TK answered her next query. "It's the Fuji TV station…where were you?"
"A strange world…" Rika replied, prompting confused glances from Matt and TK. TK was about to ask a question, but Rika interrupted. "…but anyway, we're in danger…"
"Huh, why?" Matt asked, but was drowned out by a roar of air flowing into the room. The wall had turned black and a portal had appeared, through which Piedmon stepped.
"Ha, I found you…" he joked, pointing to Rika.
'I wish Renamon were here…' Rika thought frowning.
Shimbashi
11:07 JST
Renamon darted from rooftop to rooftop, high above Raidramon and his passengers galloping below. Their two hour search had yet to give any results, and the effort was taking its toll on Raidramon, as he entered a park.
"Davis, I need to stop for a while…" he told his partner on his back. Davis nodded. "Okay, I'm hungry too…"
"But it's not even lunchtime!" Gatomon pointed out, as they dismounted and helped Guilmon do the same, as Renamon landed nearby. Raidramon dedigivolved.
"Yeah, but I'm always hungry!" Veemon replied.
"Me too!" Guilmon cheered.
"Come on Veemon, we'll go find a noodle stand or something…" Davis suggested.
"Great!" Veemon replied. Kari and Renamon sat on a bench nearby. Guilmon sat on the floor, and Gatomon sat on the back board of the bench. Kari sighed.
"What's up?" asked Gatomon, jumping onto her partner's head.
"Nothing…" the girl replied uncharacteristically.
"Sure…" Renamon said quietly, at a level that only Gatomon heard. Gatomon smiled when Renamon glanced at her. Silence descended on the group.
"You like him don't you?" asked Guilmon suddenly out of the blue. Renamon, Gatomon and Kari looked at him confused both by the bluntness of the question, and its source.
"What do you mean?" Kari asked.
"Oh come on, quit bluffing. You like Davis…"
"What?"
"Guilmon, are you feeling okay?" asked Gatomon.
"Stay out of my way kitty, or you'll get stomped…" Guilmon said harshly.
"Something's wrong!" Renamon said fearfully. Suddenly, Guilmon leapt at her, claws outstretched.
"ROCK BREAKER!" he shouted, throwing Renamon to the floor. Kari stood up to escape. "PYRO SPHERE!" he yelled again, firing the blast at Kari.
"Kari!" Gatomon yelled, leaping in the way of the blast and taking its full blunt. She was thrown to the ground. Guilmon smiled and began laughing.
"You fall down…" he said, laughing. "You die now…" he added demonically, as he prepared another Pyro Sphere. "PRYO…"
Renamon leapt quickly into action. She grabbed Guilmon by the tail and threw him over her head, where he landed with a crash. There was an odd sound of something snapping and Guilmon now lay on the floor dazed. Renamon turned to face him, but she heard a moan. She looked up, as did a scared Kari, a weak Gatomon and a dizzy Guilmon.
"You took my toys away! Now you pay!" a puppet-like Digimon said, in a tree above them. "PUPPET PUMMEL" he yelled, firing blasts to the ground. Renamon only just backflipped out of the way, but the explosion knocked her off her balance and she tumbled to the ground. She pushed herself up, now weak from the attack she had sustained. "Aw, did my toys get a little broken?"
"DIAMOND STORM" Renamon yelled as she leapt into the air and channelled her energy into one last ditch attempt to escape. It failed, as Puppetmon swatted the icy diamonds back towards Renamon who took the force of her own attack, and screamed in pain as they exploded.
"RENAMON!" Guilmon yelled from his helpless position on the ground. Renamon landed with a thud near him. "Are you okay?" Guilmon asked. "I'm sorry…I didn't mean to hurt you…"
"Don't…worry…" Renamon said weakly, straining to open her eyes. "It wasn't you…but…we're in trouble now…Rika…where are you?"
Puppetmon laughed demonically. "PUPPET PUMMEL" he yelled. However, his target was none of the Digimon. It was Kari.
"KARI!" Gatomon yelled, watching Kari be thrown 5 metres and them coming to a stop on the hard ground some distance away, bleeding wound on her right hand side. Puppetmon laughed, as Gatomon began to cry.
TO BE CONTINUED…
The next chapter is the last of this book (excepting the Epilogue), but there is still a few more plot points to be tied up.
Next time…
Will Kari survive? Will Rika escape? Will Takato decide to help? Will Tai ever confess to Sora? And will the Tamers ever get home?
Find out in 'Conclusion', Chapter Eight of Dimensions Book Two: Powers.