Y/N:I love Izzy, and so this chapter was really exciting to write. I would especially like for you to tell me how the voice and writing is in this chapter, but if you want to comment on the plot you could do that too. I won't mind. :)

U/N: So yeah, everyone who lays eyes on this should review. YAY! Also… I have nothing else to say—except I DON'T like Izzy… I just don't…

Title:Digimon Adventure 03

By: YukiraKing

Disclaimer: I don't own Digimon or its characters.

_
Chapter 10: DSS; Digital Search Squad

Koushiro:

This was disastrous. I've never had to face an enemy as tricky as this one. Sure the digital world was in danger, but she just wouldn't relent. Mimi just would not let me have my laptop. Did she truly not understand the magnitude of our situation? Or did she merely want to watch me squirm like a helpless worm. I sure hoped she gave in quickly, I didn't know how much more 'quality social time' I could take.

We'd been listening to Lopmon and Terriermon tell us tales of their life in New York and Colorado. I will admit it was nice to see a friendly digimon face—two even—but I was determined to figure out what was terrorizing the digital world. As you can tell, I was slightly distracted. Had their story had more to do with what was going on, I might have been paying a little more attention.

"And then," Terriermon was saying excitedly. "Willis' mom walked in and told him that he was too old for stuffed toys, since she believed that we really were just toys lying on the floor!"

"Oh, that's awful of her," Mimi said. "You should never pressure anyone into growing up too soon."

"No, it was alright, since Willis took one look at her and said, 'Not today mom, I think I've got too much kid left in me'. You should have seen her face," Lopmon said with a laugh. "I don't know how, but it got even funnier looking."

"Not to say I don't appreciate these light and humorous stories," I said before they could launch into another long and drawn out story that would never end. "But I think we should really discuss the matter at hand."

"What would that be?" Terriermon asked. "Willis told us that nothing was wrong."

"Willis would never lie to us, would he?" Lopmon continued.

"Well," I started only to pause. Could I tell them and destroy their faith in their partner? No I couldn't.

"I'm sure Willis would tell you anything if he thought it was important," Mimi told them gently. She sent Joe, Michael and I stern looks, daring us to open our mouths to contradict her. We all wisely stayed quiet.

"So," Joe said intent on changing the subject.

"So," Michael repeated while nodding.

"What should we do next?" Mimi asked.

"We could look for Willis," Terriermon suggested.

"That would be a super idea," Lopmon agreed.

"We could," I said slowly. "It could aid us immensely to have another digidestined here to figure out the…situation."

"So we're off to find Willis?" Joe asked.

"Yep," Mimi said smiling brightly at him.

"I was just making sure," Joe said.

"What are we bringing?" Michael asked.

"Right," I said. "We can't very well carry that many supplies. But we can't leave all of it behind either. We don't know when we'll need it next."

"I say we leave the rest of the eggs to rot," Mimi said glaring at the offending cartons.

"Hey, Matt and I paid good money for those eggs," Joe argued.

"Eggs?" Lopmon asked with a wistful smile.

"With the fixings?" Terriermon added.

"Would you like twelve or so dozen?" Mimi asked.

"We like eggs," Lopmon said excitedly.

"Well, Michael, it looks like you'll have to start the fire back up. Joe, can you get cooking?" Mimi said happily. "We've got some eggs to get rid of. Let's make a big helping of scrambled eggs for these guys.

When the eggs were eaten we gathered up just the rice balls that my mother made and the homemade cookies from Sora, and were on our way, travelling deep into the unknown confines of the forest. I honestly don't know where the two rabbit-esque digimon managed to put that many eggs but I have to say that I was really glad to see them gone. I won't say that I despise eggs now, but I do have to say that I don't particularly want to look at one in the next month or so, should we be back in the real world by then.

This whole digimon enemy thing really put a damper on our exciting summer trip. I have little doubt that when this whole situation is dealt with, we'll be fighting each other trying to get into the real world.

Not that we're not fighting with each other right now. I don't know what happened, but it seems like all we've done since we got here is fight with one another. We never did that before. Something must have changed over the years. That's the only liable explanation that I can come up with. Again, it is just a hypothesis. There's nothing concrete yet.

"Izzy," Mimi called, bringing me out of my reverie. "Are you listening to us? We asked you a question."

"No, Mimi, I wasn't listening," I answered honestly. I will admit it was a tad blunt, but that's just how I am.

"Well, you should be," she said with a smile.

"What are you talking about?" I asked Joe, since he'd give me a straightforward answer.

"The cookies Sora made. She shaped some of them like our crests. There's enough for everyone, but there are some special ones. They're all colour coded too," Joe explained.

"And if you don't listen and you know, enjoy the conversation," Mimi said with a smirk. "Michael might get yours."

"I don't know that the crest of knowledge will suit him," I said. I was teasing him, but once again everyone thought I was serious. I don't let it get to me though; I suppose it's just the price one pays for bearing the crest of knowledge.

"That's the point," Mimi said. "And it's even purple, your favourite colour."

"His favourite colour is purple?" Michael asked with a goofy grin on his face. I don't think I have ever met a guy nearly as stupid as this one before. "That's my little sister's favourite colour too..."

"Yeah," I said with a shrug. "It's my colour, can't you tell?"

Mimi and Joe chuckled at the disbelieving look on Michael's face.

"And what's yours then, Joe?" he asked after a dumbstruck moment.

"Well," Joe said fixing his glasses into place. "My favourite colour is gray. What about you?"

"I like blue!" Lopmon said excitedly. "Like the sky."

"I like blue like the ocean," Terriermon said with a silly grin on his face. "They are very different."

"Well…" Michael said. He thought for a moment before declaring, "My favourite colour is pink."

All of us had a good laugh over that one.

"And you were making fun of me?" I said when my laughter calmed into a quiet chuckle.

"What is wrong with pink?" Mimi asked her eyebrows raised. "It is a perfectly good colour, Izzy. It's just not a colour one would typically associate with a boy is all."

"Well, what can I say? I'm in touch with my feminine side," Michael said. His face was bright red in embarrassment. "That's why the ladies love me."

"Oh please," Joe said with a snort. "The ladies love you because your dad is a famous movie star."

"Don't forget that he's on his way to becoming one too," I added.

"What lady wouldn't want to date someone that rich?" Joe continued.

"I don't judge based on money," Mimi said.

This of course caused Joe and I to laugh some more. Michael clearly only picked pink as his favourite colour trying to appeal to Mimi, but she shot him down without even realizing it. As cruel as it is to say, there is nothing funnier than that.

"Oh, sorry Mimi," Joe apologized—though I knew it was fake. "I'm sorry I just can't seem to remember your favourite colour. Was it pink or maybe purple?"

"Guys, my favourite colour is green," she said sounding upset that we'd forget.

"Since when?" Michael asked astounded.

"May 2000," I supplied for him. "That's the day we all changed our favourite colours."

"You know, I think everything bad has stemmed from that day," Joe said. "The day we gave up our crests I mean. It seems to me that the digimon sovereigns that were supposed to keep the balance in this world have only really upset that balance since we freed them."

Usually, I would have ignored Joe's comment, passing it off as another one of his needless worries. But again, I typically would have had my laptop to work these sorts of things out on. I have to hand it to Mimi. Taking my laptop could have helped us on this one occasion. But I'm not going to say I'm thankful she did it, because my laptop is my life. I'm definitely not the same person without it. I don't think I could ever actually give it up like she seems to think I can. It's too embedded into who I am.

"You might be on to something," I said, stopping dead in my tracks.

"What do you mean?" Lopmon asked. "The digimon sovereigns represent everything good in the digital world."

"That's what Willis told us anyway," Terriermon agreed.

"Well, we haven't explained everything to Willis as clearly as we should have," I continued. "We didn't think anything would repeat, but I think it is. I don't know if the sovereigns are on our side any more. They are in possession of the crests, right?"

"Right," Joe confirmed, though it was entirely unnecessary.

"And these digimon creatures are wandering around, taking over the digital world wearing said crests on their foreheads," I elaborated. "If such evil beings have the crests…"

"Then either the digimon sovereigns are evil," Mimi said softly. "Or they were captured again."

"Exactly," I said gravely.

"So how many do you think there are?" Joe asked.

"How many of what?" Michael asked.

"Crest creatures," Joe explained. "We thought there were only eight crests, but we've been proven wrong twice now."

"Twice?" Mimi asked.

"Once with Ken's crest of kindness," I said. I was about to continue, but Michael decided now would be a nice time to open his mouth and spurt out some more random nonsense.

"But I thought Ken was the bad guy," he said. "How can someone who was so evil end up with a crest like that?"

"Because he was good before," Mimi said. Thankfully she answered before I had to. That kid…okay, so he's pretty cool to everybody, but he had to be one of the dumbest kids I've ever seen. Sure, he learned to speak Japanese incredibly fluently, but he lacks something more important than that—and something even I have—common sense.

Michael nodded and looked at me, prompting me to continue.

"The second time we discovered two digimentals," I said. "They were used by Willis and Terriermon and Davis and Veemon."

"That's right!" Terriermon exclaimed. "The digimentals of destiny and miracles."

"Correct," I said with a smile. "As with the other digimentals, I would expect that these two also were formed because of the energy the crest provided. Therefore, I believe there are at least eleven crests somewhere in this world, probably even more."

"Do you suppose I could have one?" Michael asked. "My digivice is the same as yours, so wouldn't that make it compatible with the crest power?"

"In theory, it could happen," I said trying to play the nice guy for once. But boy was it hard. "Whether it does or not would depend on there actually being other crests, and within those crests a specific crest that pertains to a particular trait within your personality that you have but simply do not show."

"So, based on that rant," Michael started. "You're saying that you weren't smart when you went into the digital world for the first time?"

"No," I said growing agitated. This is what I get for trying to be nice. "I was smart; in fact I was very smart."

"Then why did you say…" he said trailing off.

"He meant that it is a trait that you actually possess, but have a difficult time showing," Joe explained.

"Oh, so like right now," Michael said with a stupid grin. "He knew what he was trying to say, but he couldn't voice it."

"Actually…" Joe said. "Yeah, just like that."

I rolled my eyes. Of course Michael had to pinpoint a moment when I was having difficulty conveying my crest. Of all the rotten luck…

"So, I have to have a trait that is represented by a crest that goes with something I have difficulty showing?" Michael said confused.

"Yes," I said. I'd lost all patience, so this kid was going to have to get it soon, or else he'd be in for an uncomfortable situation. This was exactly why I didn't become a tutor.

"Such as usefulness," Joe suggested with a hidden smirk.

"Yes, but I was thinking more along the lines of honour or humility," I said with a smile.

"Ooh, or strength," Mimi suggested excitedly.

"What about cleanliness?" Michael said adding his suggestion.

"Uh, Michael," Mimi said. "If you think that's good, then maybe you should have the crest of dumbity."

"Maybe you could share it with him," I said rolling my eyes.

"I don't have to, Izzy. I have my own crest already," she said happily. "Urgh, we've been walking forever."

"We've been walking for half an hour, Mimi," Joe corrected kindly.

"Well it feels like forever," she whined. "This thing is getting really heavy."

"I can carry it if you want me to," I suggested. I thought I was being pretty thoughtful about the whole thing

"Would you? Oh you are just too nice right now," she said handing over my prized possession. "I should really steal your laptop more often."

"You'll never get it again if I have my say," I said with a broad smile.

"Izzy, you give that back," she said with a gasp. "I stole it fair and square!"

"And I got it back the same way," I said giddily. I couldn't help it. I got it back. My laptop!

"You tricked me," she pouted.

"I know," I said. "And it wasn't as hard as you'd think."

I slipped the laptop back into its case, back where it belonged, and strapped it to my back. Suddenly, I felt complete. I'd be back on my feet soon enough and this little issue I'm having with the whole communicating my thoughts will pass, because everything was right again.

While I was off in my own little world, daydreaming about what all I could do now that I had my laptop back, I guess I missed their screaming. I didn't see the data stream coming towards me. All I remember was seeing Mimi, Joe, two rabbit digimon and an idiot I'm not glad I met…and then, I was gone.

Next time on Digimon Adventure 03: Takeru tells us the next part, giving us the story of what was happening with Hikari, Daisuke and himself.