Tai counted his steps as they made their way along the sewers. He was trying to calm his mind. He silently focused on his feet and then looked to Agumon. He groaned, they had been walking for a while and he knew his digimon was hungry. Especially since he had digivolved earlier.

"We need to stop." Sora announced and Tai was both irritated and glad someone said something. Tai saw TK keep walking,

"TK." Matt said and TK turned to the group,

"You guys can catch up, I'm not stopping till I find her." He turned around and continued to walk. Everything inside Tai wanted to walk with TK. But he needed to think about the now. The digimon needed them to stop. He ran over to TK and gently stopped him,

"Hey kid." TK turned and narrowed his eyes at Tai.

"I know, I want to keep going but we gotta think about the others like Patamon and Agumon. When was the last time Patamon ate?" TK looked down at his digimon. Patamon looked up,

"I'm okay TK." Patamon said and Tai saw TK was torn. Tai put a hand on TK's shoulder,

"5 minutes." He told TK and TK slowly nodded. The two joined the group and Joe dropped the bag on the ground and pulled out the food,

"We've got oatmeal left... and nothing to cook it in." The group sighed, they were running out of food. Tai rubbed his temples and then saw Palmon and Gomamon looking behind them,

"What are you two doing?" Sora asked walking over to them,

"Palmon thought she heard something." Gomamon said and Tai watched Joe and Mimi walk over to their digimon.

"What did you hear Palmon?" Mimi asked. Palmon looked up at Mimi,

"I thought I heard something following us." Tai looked at Matt who started putting the oatmeal packets back in Joe's bag,

"Maybe we should't have stopped." Matt whispered as he shouldered Joe's bag. The group was still and Tai no longer felt they were alone. There was movement and Tai reached out and gently pulled Mimi and Sora backwards,

"We should move." Tai said in a low voice. Palmon then gasped,

"Numemon Run!" She said and the group wasted no time as they all started running.

"What are Numemon?" Joe asked and Agumon quickly answered,

"They're not very strong but they are gross! You don't want to stick around when they're around!" Tai raised an eyebrow. The group was running like they had from Andromon, if the Numemon weren't so bad, maybe they should face them. Tai slowed down. Palmon and Gomamon pushed on his legs,

"Don't stop Tai! There are a lot and its better to just run!" They both said and Tai increased his speed. He heard gurgling and then felt something whiz past his head. It hit the wall and Izzy stopped and then let out a yelp,

"Its sewage waste!" He said disgusted and Tai put a hand to his nose trying to block the smell of foul odour coming from the waste. He took a glance behind him and quickly regretted it. He could see hundreds of green slug like digimon and they were all throwing sewage waste at the group.

"That's disgusting!" Tai yelled and he ducked his head feeling more waste fly over his head.

"This way!" TK said and he made a sharp right into another passage way. Tai saw the others follow and he slowed his pace to allow the others to go ahead of him. He turned to see the Numemon. They were coming up fast and a ball of waste flew by his face and hit the wall next to him. Tai quickly jumped back and ran to catch up with the others. The group ran along the narrow passage way and Tai was surprised to see a light up ahead,

"Numemon aren't fans of the light keep going!" Biyomon announced. The group ran straight into the light and Tai felt his nostrils fill with fresh air. The group quickly came out of the sewers and onto a field. Tai stopped and looked behind him. The Numemon were close but as soon as they got to the exit they quickly retreated back into the sewers. Tai saw the group stop everyone watching the retreating Numemon. Izzy grabbed onto Tai's arm,

"We should move, look the sun's setting it won't be light for long." Tai looked up at the sky seeing the sun was hanging low in the sky. Tai quickly looked to the group and then he jogged ahead to lead the group a safe distance from the sewers.

Tai stopped running as he got to the top of a small grassy hill. He turned around to see everyone was with him and everyone was catching their breaths.

"Great night is coming. Where are we going to sleep?" Joe asked. Tai put a hand to his chin,

"Well that's a good question. Andromon had put us in the sewers cause he thought that was the safest place for us. I'm not sure it's a good idea we're out in the open again."

"I am not going back there! It smelled and those digimon were throwing poop at us!" Mimi exclaimed disgusted. Tai looked at Izzy.

"Iz, what way do we need to go?" He asked. Izzy sat on the ground and pulled out his laptop.

"Oo, what's that?" Palmon asked and Tai turned to look at the green digimon. She was looking towards the trees and Tai didn't see anything unusual.

"Well you don't see that everyday." TK said and Tai looked at the blond. TK looked at Tai and pointed and Tai followed his outstretched finger. Tai then saw what Palmon and TK were looking at. There was a bright yellow and pink house behind the trees.

"Wait what?" Tai asked taking a step forward.

"Can we find a washroom please!" Mimi announced and Tai ignored her and called to Agumon,

"Agumon, any idea what's over there?" Agumon shrugged,

"No I don't." Tai looked back to Izzy.

"Iz? Is there a disturbance that way?" Tai asked pointing towards the yellow and pink house. Izzy shook his head and then stopped,

"Well, it's hard to say. For some reason my program is glitching out." Tai looked to TK who let go of Patamon and the little Digimon started flying next to TK.

"This area looks familiar." Patamon said and Tai looked at the digimon.

"Wait, have you been here before Patamon?" Tai asked and the digimon turned to look at Tai.

"Maybe." Patamon said and Tai looked at TK,

"Wait, have you? Could Kari be there?" He asked feeling his heart rate increase. TK pulled a face,

"I don't know." He said but Tai wasn't convinced. He looked at the house,

"Izzy is it that direction where the worst of the disturbances are?" Izzy shook his head,

"I think so, but my program isn't working properly." Tai started walking down the hill,

"I'm not sure this is a good idea Tai!" Matt yelled and Tai ignored him,

"Come on Agumon." He said and he heard his digimon follow behind him. He heard Matt swear,

"TK! Don't follow him!" Matt yelled and Tai looked beside him and saw TK walk next to him. Tai said nothing and him, TK, Patamon and Agumon made their way towards the house.


Tai stood behind a tree and looked at the house. He couldn't see anything moving and wondered if it was empty. He looked beside him and saw TK and Patamon hiding behind their own tree. TK looked at Tai. Tai could see TK was looking for direction. Tai put a hand up telling TK to stay a moment. Tai then stepped out from behind the tree and slowly approached the house. The sun was disappearing from the sky and Tai knew he only had so long before night fall. He jogged over to the front door and then turned and looked back to the trees. Agumon, Patamon and TK were all looking at him from behind the trees. Tai then heard footsteps and paused looking to the left. The footsteps were big, bigger then any person. He couldn't see anything and he put a hand on the door knob. It turned and Tai was about to open the door when he heard Agumon,

"No Tai!" Tai stopped and looked back. He saw his partner run forward and throw out an attack,

"Pepper Breath!" Tai couldn't see who Agumon was attacking but he then heard a deep voice,

"Hearts attack!" Tai saw a green heart float towards Agumon and then trap him inside. Tai then ran to his digimon,

"Agumon!" He cried and as he ran to Agumon a green heart floated towards him and Tai felt himself be consumed by the heart. He felt his feet lift off the ground and he looked down seeing TK and Patamon run out of the trees towards him,

"Boom Bubble!" Patamon yelled but Tai watched a green heart trap Patamon and then TK. Tai started to feel pain through his head and he fought through it trying to stay alert. The pain increased and his vision started to blur. He felt his body lift higher into the sky and suddenly Tai felt his eyes roll back and he lost consciousness.


"Tai. Tai!" Tai could faintly hear someone calling him. He was sure his eyes were open and he was alone.

"TAI!" Tai's eyes opened and he was nearly nose to nose with Mimi. Tai quickly stiffened and tried to create a little distance between himself and Mimi.

"Mimi?" He asked as he slowly backed up and Mimi threw her arms around his neck,

"You stupid ass." She said as she hugged him. Tai gave her a loose hug in return and Mimi quickly removed her hands,

"You really are something else Tai." Tai sat up straighter and looked at Mimi confused,

"What happened?" He asked and Mimi stood and held a hand out. Tai took it and she helped him to his feet. Tai looked to his left and saw TK and Sora sitting up with their hands to their heads.

"Wait, what?" Tai asked and Tai looked to his right and saw Izzy, Matt and Joe all looking the same as TK and Sora. Tai then looked to Mimi with wide eyes,

"The digimon?" Tai said and Mimi stepped to the side and Tai saw all their digimon staring at him. Mimi crossed her arms across her chest,

"You know you guys are lucky I saved you all." She said and Tai was now incredibly confused,

"Wait can you start from the beginning? What the hell happened?" He asked and he heard the others stand and come gather next to him. Mimi flipped her hair over her shoulder,

"You and TK ran in here to find your sister." Tai's eyes bugged and his mouth opened Mimi put her hand up and spoke before him,

"She's not here." Tai closed his mouth and clenched his hands into fists. It was dark and yet there was light around them. Tai looked up seeing street lights. He then saw the pink and yellow house. He looked back to Mimi.

"You were attacked by Monzaemon." Mimi smiled.

"Who?" Matt asked and Tai heard a voice behind them,

"That's me." Tai turned and saw a giant yellow teddy bear standing behind them. Tai stared at it blinking wondering if he was dreaming. The teddy bear waved,

"Thanks to Togemon, I'm no longer being controlled by the black gear." Tai looked to his left and made eye contact with Matt who shrugged,

"Who's that?" Izzy asked and Mimi giggled,

"Palmon digivolved!" She said with a smile. Tai looked behind him and saw Mimi beaming. She looked down at Palmon.

"You all were attacked by Monzaemon and were acting crazy. Palmon was able to digivolve and get the black gear out of Monzaemon. It stopped you guys from running around like lunatics and then knocked you out." Mimi still had a smile on her face and Tai still didn't remember any of that happening. Mimi waved a hand in the air.

"Anyways you are all back to normal now and Monzaemon has offered to let us stay here for the night."

Tai was still trying to wake up. He watched Mimi giggle again and he just nodded unable to process everything.

"Uh, sure?" Tai said and he looked at the others who looked as dazed as he felt.

"Will there be food?" Agumon asked and Tai looked up at Monzaemon,

"I don't have much but I'm sure we can scrounge something up for you kids. You saved my life!" The teddy bear said. Tai ran a hand through his hair,

"I think I need to lay down." He said outloud and Tai heard the others agree. Monzaemon then gestured to the yellow and pink house,

"Head on in." He said and Tai and the others all headed inside the brightly coloured home.

The group sat on small pillows on the ground in a circle. There was some fruit in the centre that the digimon were all devouring. As for Tai and the others, everyone seemed too disorientated to eat. Mimi leaned forward and grabbed an apple. She took a bite and smiled,

"Eat guys, we were all starving a few hours ago." She said and Tai shook his head,

"Im still trying to wake up." Tai said,

"Yeah, how long were we, well, out?" Matt asked and he leaned forward and grabbed a grape. Mimi took a bite and then swallowed,

"About an hour. You guys were running around wanting to play or something." Matt spat his grape out,

"Wait what?!" He said and Tai heard the others exclaim as well. Mimi giggled again and Tai rolled his eyes,

"It was pretty funny. I mean it was freaky at first but seeing guys like Matt and Tai run around wanting to play with toys with big smiles on their faces was hilarious." She started laughing and Tai felt a little embarrassed,

"Wait I what?" Tai asked and Mimi beamed at him,

"You wanted to play. It was like you were all toddlers or something." She took another bite of her apple and Tai now felt a little relieved he didn't remember the ordeal.

"Anyways, Joe you loosened up as well, kept making train noises. Izzy this was the longest I saw you without a screen in front of your face. You were flapping your arms like you were an airplane. It was cute." Tai saw her wink at Izzy and he smirked seeing Izzy blush and then quickly grab a banana.

"Uhmm, I think we should track the disturbance." Izzy said and he put his banana down and pulled his laptop out. Tai looked at Mimi now curious,

"What about Sora and TK?" He asked and he saw Sora's eyes go wide,

"No thats okay! I don't think we all need to know." Sora said quickly and Mimi laughed,

"Sora you were adorable you were spinning around like you were a ballerina." Tai saw Sora's face go beat red,

"I what?!" She stuttered and Tai smiled, it wasn't often Sora got flustered and Tai kind of enjoyed watching her act a little more human. Mimi then pointed at TK.

"TK you were the littlest, you were jumping up and down running and saying you'll never catch me." Tai saw TK pull a face,

"Yeah I'm probably glad I don't remember that." He said and Matt then smirked,

"Pretty sure that was you when you were five squirt, always wanting to play tag." Tai saw Matt smile at TK. TK picked up a grape and threw it at Matt. It hit him in the head,

"Hey! Respect your elders!" Matt said and TK threw another grape at him. Tai leaned back onto his hands and Agumon came and sat next to him. Tai smiled at his digimon.

"So where does everyone go to school?" Mimi asked taking another bite of her apple. Joe leaned forward and grabbed an apple for himself,

"Im heading into college." His eyes went wide,

"Im supposed to be starting college! Oh my god I'm missing my first week of classes!" It suddenly dawned on Tai how much time had passed since they arrived,

"Holy shit guys." Tai said and Sora pulled her knees to her chest,

"My mom she's probably worried sick." Izzy stopped typing on his computer,

"I forgot about my parents." He said in a hollow voice. Mimi placed her apple on the ground,

"My mom and dad are probably freaking out!" She said her face full of sadness and fear. Matt put a hand to his forehead,

"TK mom is probably losing her shit over you." He said and TK shook his head,

"I'm not worried about mom or dad right now Matt." Tai looked at TK a moment. His eyes were downcast and his face was stern. Tai put a hand on Agumons head and gave his digimon a gentle scratch.

"Aren't you missing home at all TK?" Mimi asked and Tai saw she had some tears in her eyes. TK looked angry and he stood,

"I'm gonna go get some air." He said and he left the room and went outside. Matt stood and followed and Tai looked at his shoes,

"What about you Tai? You're folks must be wondering where you are." Joe said and Tai exhaled,

"I promise you guys I'm the last thing on my parents mind." He said honestly. Mimi shook her head,

"I'm sure they're freaking out Tai." She said and she wiped a tear from her cheeks.

"No they're not." He locked eyes with Mimi who looked surprised,

"I'm not trying to sound sorry for myself it's just the truth. Whatever's going on back home is meaningless right now. I'm here for one thing and that's to find my sister." Tai removed his hand from Agumon and bent his knees sitting up. He leaned forward and grabbed a pear from the bowl in front of him. He took a bite and chewed slowly hoping his sister was okay.

"You're a shitty liar." Mimi said and Tai looked at her. She had a stern look on her face and she was staring at him. Tai rolled his eyes,

"Whatever We don't even know each other." Tai said and he wasn't very hungry anymore. Mimi threw her hands up,

"You're right we don't." Tai looked at her annoyed,

"Maybe we should like actually introduce ourselves or something." Izzy's voice was quiet and Tai looked over at him seeing he looked unsure. Tai's eyes traveled to the digimon, Agumon was curled up at his feet and the others were close to their partners. They all were starting to fall asleep. Mimi sat up straighter,

"That's a great idea Izzy. We'll I'm Mimi. I'm 16, I've lived in the states for the past 3 years but I just moved home. I was all set to start at Odabia high school but I guess now I'm here." Sora then spoke,

"Odabia? That's where we go." Tai saw Mimi look at Sora a moment,

"Who's we?" She asked and Sora pointed at Tai and Izzy,

"Me, Tai, Izzy and Matt." Sora explained. Mimi pushed her mouth to the side,

"So you all know each other then." She said and Tai looked at Sora. She nodded,

"Yeah I mean sort of, and TK is obviously Matt's younger brother and he's really good friends with Tai's little sister. The two of them go to the junior high." Mimi looked at Tai and squinted,

"That was probably the most surprising news. I mean, first seeing you all I could kind of figured you out. Tai you and Matt are cool obviously but like you have this rivalry between each other. Izzy's a tech guy, Joe was neurotic and Sora is motherly." Tai saw Sora frown and he smirked at her reaction. Mimi continued,

"I don't know TK well enough but Tai you seem so independent. Like you're too self absorbed. Anyways you kind of surprised me is all." Tai was surprised by Mimi's words, he wanted her to explain,

"I surprised you?" Mimi nodded,

"I mean you all kind of did. But you and Matt have this whole other side to yourselves that revolves around your siblings. I'm an only child so it's interesting to watch. I mean you lost your shit in the sewers and I didn't know you could get so wound up." Mimi shrugged her shoulders. Tai looked down at Agumon who was now asleep. He took another bite of his pear and looked up at Sora who was smirking at him. He wanted to finger her but he didn't.

"Yeah well we're all full of surprises." He said wanting to end the conversation.

"And I'm not that neurotic." Joe chimed in. Tai looked at Joe with a small smile,

"Yeah maybe we had you pegged from the beginning too Meems." Tai said and Mimi got a glint in her eyes,

"Oh yeah? What'd you think?" She asked and Tai chuckled,

"We'll the first sighting of you was when you were screaming at Joe so I pretty well pegged you for a princess." Mimi's face went red and she tighten her lips,

"I am not a princess." She said angrily. Tai laughed a little harder,

"Sure you are, you're like the loudest complainer out of us all." He said honestly. He finished his pear and put the core on the ground. He glanced up at Mimi who looked like she was going to blow her top,

"take it back." She said and Tai scrunched his face,

"What are we 12?" He commented and Mimi got louder,

"Take it back!" She yelled and Tai put his hands up,

"Jeez relax." He said and Mimi started shaking,

"That's all people think, they just think I'm a stupid selfless girl well you know what Tai?! There's a lot more to me then looks and complaining!" Tai sighed,

"Sure whatever." He mumbled and Sora scoffed at him,

"Be nice Tai." She said and Tai moved the pillow from under him and placed it behind him,

"You're an ass." Mimi declared and Tai nodded,

"Keep thinking that, it's much easier." He said and he laid down with his head on the pillow. He closed his eyes as he heard the others shuffle. He felt someone standing over him. He opened his eyes to see Joe staring down at him,

"What?" Joe crossed his arms,

"I'm the oldest." He said and Tai nodded,

"congrats." Tai closed his eyes. He felt Joe kick him lightly. He opened his eyes,

"What?" Tai said annoyed.

"I'm the oldest and it's time I start taking some leadership. You're being a jerk." Tai nodded,

"Good to know." Joe kicked him a little harder,

"Apologize to Mimi." He said and Tai was growing frustrated,

"No thats stupid." He said and he saw Sora stand,

"Leave him alone Joe." Joe looked at Sora,

"He's being a jerk!" Sora nodded,

"Yeah he gets like that when people start to get to know him. It's his stupid defence mechanism." Tai rolled his eyes. He saw Sora put her hands on her hips,

"You do though! You're like a child. Mimi pegged you! She see's you and so do all of us! You don't just get to shut us out cause you're embarrassed." Tai scoffed,

"Im not embarrassed." He shot and Sora walked over to him,

"No your ego is bruised." She said and then Tai heard Matt and TK walk back into the room and he really wanted the conversation to end.

"Hey everyone guess what Tai doesn't live at home." Tai sat up quickly and got angry with Sora,

"Sora!" He yelled and Sora shook her head,

"No, we're doing this." She faced the others,

"Just so you all don't get intimidated, Tai is a softy. He cares about his sister and he cares about us. He's just being a dipshit and trying to play it off like we don't matter to him." Tai groaned and Sora looked down at him,

"You do though. You care about us a lot. Look at the way you've been protecting us! That's you Tai. You're a protector. You're a show off and a jerk but you're a protector." She walked back over to her spot and sat down. Tai stole a look at Matt who looked entertained,

"Don't you dare." Tai said to him and Matt shrugged,

"No idea what you're talking about." He said and Tai was annoyed he could tell Matt was enjoying this.

"Piss off." Tai said and Matt nodded,

"You actually have a heart under that massive pile of hair." Tai rolled his eyes.

"I blame Mimi." He said and Sora scoffed,

"He's pissed cause Mimi's perceptive." Tai groaned,

"Can we go to bed now?" He asked and Matt smirked,

"You want to tuck us all in?" He asked and TK pushed on him,

"Knock it off Matt." TK said and Tai sat up,

"Just forget it, go to bed everyone." He said and Matt saluted him,

"You got it." Tai fingered him and laid back down. He heard the others shuffle around him and hated that conversation. He tried to squash his feelings. He didn't want to even explore the possibility that Sora was right and him being mean to Mimi was a way to get her off his track. He frowned and pushed his legs out,

"Ow!" He kicked Agumon by accident and he quickly sat up to check on his digimon,

"You okay buddy?" He asked and Agumon sat up and rubbed his head,

"Why'd you kick me Tai?" He asked. Tai shook his head,

"Sorry, it was an accident." Agumon then shuffled up to Tai so they were nose to nose. Tai gave him a soft smile.

"You okay Tai?" Agumon asked and Tai rolled is eyes, Can everyone see right through me today? He then felt the corners of his mouth tug. He quickly nodded,

"Yeah, I'm gonna get the light." Tai stood and saw the others all on their sides with their eyes closed. He figured no one was asleep just yet. It wasn't the most comfortable of conversations but as Tai looked over the group he was oddly thankful they had it. These people he was with were in some way counting on him. He felt it even if they didn't know it yet. He walked over and flicked the light switch making the room dark. He made his way back to Agumon.

"Thanks Tai." He heard Sora say and then the others one by one murmured,

"Thanks Tai." Tai smiled as he laid down. He may have a hard time opening up to people but he was pretty happy with the group he was with.