Digimon Adventure 04

by YukiraKing

Three years have passed since D03, and things aren't as at peace as Gennai lead them to believe. What is going on at camp, and what will the Digidestined need to do to return to the peace they sacrificed so much for?

25. Waiting

Y/N: Whoa. Super big chapter, but yeah, review if you want. I hope you want to. :P

U/N: RAWR I am bold apparently today! This is a funny chapter—not really. Funny doesn't exist. Nothing happy exists in life. This was a hard, very… bland chapter. Hurray :D Anyway… review it and stuff.

Title: Digimon Adventure 04

By: Yukira and Urazamay King

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

Part 3: Choices

Chapter 25: Waiting

Momoe:

Natsuni was really a sweet girl, I thought, as she tried to protect me from that thing crawling towards us. Though I thought she muttered something about it eating us… It was much too small to actually eat any of us. It didn't even reach my knees. It barely made it past my ankles. It was likely just a giant rat.

And that had me inching further away from it. I did not want to be bit by a disease infested rat while I was pregnant. Though my baby hadn't moved since I was brought into this "Digital World"—I thought that was what Jou and Miyako had called it. Usually it was quite active, keeping me up all hours of the night. I wasn't about to tell Natsuni—or Noriko—about my worries though. She was already trying so hard. I could handle this. There was only a slight chance that the different composition of the worlds affected my baby badly. Maybe it was just sleeping… One could always hope…

"What is it?" Noriko hissed from her spot right behind me.

"I don't know," I told her.

"Hit it with something!" she ordered Natsuni.

"No," Natsuni snapped. I had a feeling there was a lot of bad blood between those two. They were always quick to anger, and loud arguments were soon to follow.

"Please don't," came a soft and adorable voice.

"Ah," Noriko said, trying to scream but was paralyzed by fear.

"Who are you?" I asked.

"Nyaromon," the small thing said. Now that I had a closer look, it appeared to be a cat's head, with a long tail stretching out behind it. It must be a lower-level digimon… "I remember you two, and you Noriko. Do you know where Hikari is?"

"Hikari?" Noriko repeated.

"Hikari Yagami?" I clarified, realizing that this was the small digimon that the winged lady went to collect before bringing us here.

"Yes," Nyaromon said excitedly. "She's here?"

"Not in Captivity Central," Natsuni said. "But that's a good thing, isn't it?"

"Oh yes," Nyaromon said fervently. "They want Hikari very badly. I must go to her."

"Are you stuck here too?" I asked. "But you escaped from your cell."

"Yes," Nyaromon admitted. "I don't know how to get out. But LadyDevimon left a long time ago to take part in a big battle. I fear she'll be back soon. I wish to get out before she is."

"I'm afraid we can't help you with that," I told her.

"I can't believe he sent me to the desert! What did I do to deserve that? I was winning!"

"Oh no," Nyaromon gasped. "There she is."

Natsuni, Noriko and I held our breaths as she got closer. She was coming down the left hallway, where she'd taken Nyaromon when we'd arrived.

"And you!" she demanded to…what had Natsuni called him…Goblimon? "Why did you not watch the digimon's cage? She's not there, you've screwed up my mission."

"I was to watch the humans," Goblimon said. "Not the digimon."

"The humans can't go anywhere. The digimon had the power to escape. It needed the watching," she hissed at him. I saw this as the opportunity to scoop Nyaromon into my hands, and tuck her under my shirt, at the bottom of my pregnancy bump—though it was really more like a hill at this point. I was sure it looked a little strange, with me holding her up, but my shirt was loose enough that you couldn't see she was there, and she used her tail to help support herself.

I was just in time, as the digital woman came into view. "Have any of you seen the traitor digimon?"

"What does this digimon look like?" Natsuni asked.

"I suppose it was too much to ask of such simple creatures," she said disdainfully. "Have you heard anything?" she asked Goblimon.

We were tense. It was make-it or break-it time.

He looked at the woman almost fearfully, before looking into the cage, scanning each of us slowly. He paused at Natsuni, who shook her head carefully. If I hadn't been watching I would have missed it. He turned back to the lady and shook his head too.

"Nothing," he said.

"Well get looking!" she ordered before storming off.

We all sighed with relief, Noriko looking a little worse for wear, her face almost white.

"Your friend," Goblimon said after a short while. "Where did she go?"

"Why do you ask?" I asked as bravely as I could. I couldn't let him give Nyaromon to LadyDevimon, because she was a living, breathing digimon. I couldn't let her be killed, especially if Hikari felt the same way about her that Jou felt about his Gomamon.

"She needs to get out now," Goblimon said, oddly enough just to Natsuni.

"She doesn't know the way," Natsuni told him.

"It is good she is not here," he said, though he looked like he knew she really was. It was as if he was putting on an act. "Or else she would know the way out. She could have slipped passed me, and gone down the hallway directly behind me." I looked over his shoulder directly across from the cell. "She could have taken a left, and then taken another left, followed by a right and found the lift to bring her to the surface. Yes, it is very good she did not do that."

"Or hear that," Natsuni agreed with a grin.

"Yes, or hear that," he agreed. "Now I must go looking for your friend. I know she did not do just that, so I will not have to check that path." He gave us a meaningful look and stumbled along the path opposite to which LadyDevimon took. His arms were dragging along the ground, one still clutching his scary looking club.

"Nyaromon," I whispered. "Did you get that?"

"Yes," she said, allowing herself to fall from beneath my shirt. "But what about you? I can't get you out of this cage."

"You won't have to," I told her. "Just find Jou and Iori and Hikari. Tell them where we are, but don't let Hikari come. We need her to be safe. Alright?"

"Right," she said. "I'll come back for you. I know the way now."

"Good," I said. "Now hurry!"

She sent us one last look before speeding off down the hallway. I could only hope she found the way out alright.

Sora:

I wasn't very happy to watch Hikari go... it didn't seem fair. Gennai hadn't even specified why he wanted her to leave so much... he just said it wasn't safe for her—but it wasn't safe for any of us either, so why weren't we all being sent back to the temple?

It just didn't add up.

I wanted to ask him why he had done what he had, but instead I walked in silence next to Mimi and Miyako. Mimi had taken to marching in the front of the group, sending Gennai to the back of the group once more. I had to admit, the goggles looked good on her...

"Can I paint them pink?" She had asked Taichi moments after she had placed them on her head.

"No." Taichi had responded flatly without even a second's thought.

"But I think it would look better if they were pink. They'd match my outfit better." That was true, it would have matched her outfit better...

"No Mimi." He said flatly.

Mimi didn't let that get her down though, that was when she had pointed dramatically and started leading us. Miyako and I found ourselves walking with her as the others all bonded with their digimon. It felt a little upsetting to say the least that everyone had their digimon except the four of us, Hikari included... I looked over my shoulder and saw Taichi and Yamato walking together with Gabumon and Agumon, Koushiro was walking by himself nearby with Motimon in his arms. Michael was off to the side with Betamon and Demiveemon who was still pouting silently about missing Daisuke which was better than Otamamon who was practically sobbing now due to missing Jun so much. He was sitting in Ken's arms next to Wormmon. Takeru's face was bright red as Patamon spoke to him in whispered tones. Jou, Iori, Meiyomon, Upamon and Bukamon were in the back of the group, other than Gennai of course, talking to each other quickly and excitedly.

It almost felt like old times... only... Hikari and Daisuke were both gone with the others... and Biyomon wasn't back yet... I wasn't even sure that Mimi knew where she was going... she was proudly leading us through the trees, the grass, the mud, the puddles of black water, and everything else that came our way, but at the same time she looked slightly confused. I didn't want to question her though... The sun was rising higher in the sky as I'd noted from the little gaps between the trees. We only had until the end of this very day before Gennai forced us to leave the Digital world, and quite frankly, that was not something I was looking forward to.

From what I had picked up on in the time we'd been together Gennai was not okay with us being here because of the worlds combining. I understood that was a problem, but there had to be a way to fix that as well... if only I could figure it out. I was also sort of confused as to why we weren't allowed to be in a relationship with the other Digidestined... it was somehow supposed to be dangerous or whatever Mimi had said. I had only heard the biased version of it from her, but I agreed with her anyway.

I looked back to Yamato who looked over and smiled. I smiled back at him and then turned away again. I couldn't see how something so... perfect... could be bad.

"So when are you and Yamato going to get married?" Miyako asked suddenly, bringing me out of my thoughts. I looked to Mimi and smiled, that wasn't the first time that question had been asked.

"I'm not planning on getting married any time soon." I told her simply.

"So you're saying that you don't want to be married?" Miyako asked.

"No I do! Just not right now." I told her.

"So not to Yamato?" Miyako asked.

"No—I do want to get married to him!" I said, a little frustrated at this conversation already.

"So you're saying that if he asked you to marry you you'd say no?" Miyako asked.

"Yes." I said.

"You'd say yes?" She asked, excited.

"No! I'd say no!" I insisted.

"Oh..." Miyako said, "What if that ruined the relationship?"

"I don't think it would Miyako. Why is everyone in such a hurry to get married?" I asked her. "Marriage is a lifelong commitment, and if I'm planning on spending my whole life with him, then why would I need to say yes immediately? I would say no."

"I see your point..." Miyako said. "I guess that makes sense..."

"If Ken asked you to marry him what would you say?" I asked her.

"Well I thought I would say yes..." Miyako said slowly, "But I guess now, after this... I'd probably say no..."

"Don't let me decide for you!" I insisted, "Just do what you think is right!"

"I agree with you though..." Miyako said twirling her hair in her fingers. Slowly she looked back to Ken and smiled, "I think waiting... waiting is the right choice." I smiled at her comfortingly as Mimi stood between us leading the way. "Besides... he's moving away in two months to go to University..."

I put my hand on her shoulder and smiled. I didn't know what to say yet, but I figured just letting her know that I was there for her would be enough... at least for now.

"Okay, I'm just going to admit it." Mimi said a little nervously. "I'm lost."

Miyako:

I kept repeating Sora's advice in my mind. Over and over, on a loop. It made sense. Waiting. But at the same time, if I decided to wait, and say no, would he still want to be with me? Would he want to wait too?

And he was going to school in the fall. We only had two more months together until the holiday season. There were bound to be other girls out there that had much more exciting futures in mind than me. Prettier girls—not that Ken had ever made me feel ugly or self-conscious, quite the opposite. He made me feel like I was the queen of the world or something.

Sometimes I didn't feel like I quite measured up to his expectations though.

And I knew I definitely didn't make him feel the same way. I wasn't so in tuned with him. I tried really hard, and loved him so much, but I think there was always something holding me back…

I was afraid for when he went to school. I knew that was the problem. I was afraid that despite how much I loved him, we wouldn't be able to make a long-distance relationship work.

They hardly ever did.

And it wasn't like I could just enroll in the same school he was just so I wouldn't have to leave him when those two short months passed. That would be stupid. And desperate. And he'd totally catch on. I didn't want him to know I was worrying about it. He didn't seem to be. He was the same way he always was. Entirely sweet and attentive and caring. The perfect guy essentially. He was walking next to me, his hand holding mine—after he'd passed Otamamon to me just so he could—smiling at Wormmon as they conversed. But every so often he'd peek over my way, just to see if I was feeling left out.

But I wasn't.

I had a lot of stewing to do.

There was this whole thing with my separation anxiety, but then there was Momoe.

How could she not tell me she was pregnant! I was her baby sister. The only sibling she had that was friends with both her and Jou. I was pretty sure I was the only one that even liked Jou. Mantarou was just over protective of all of his sisters, so it wasn't surprising. He didn't like Ken either. Ken! But Chizuru was a different case entirely. She liked Ken, said he was perfect for her little sister, and she was happy to see me so happy. She'd never said anything like that about Jou, and he loved Momoe a whole lot. You could tell—especially now, with all the worrying he was doing and how hard he was trying to go and find her. No. Chizuru complained about Jou endlessly. How disappointed she was that Momoe chose a guy that was so much more interested in his studies than planning out dates and meeting the family.

So Jou had only been to a couple family dinners in the last three years… So what? He was busy with schooling, trying to get a stable career sorted out, a job he'd love just a little less than Momoe…and now the baby.

I was the only sister she had that supported them full-heartedly. So why didn't she trust me? Was she just scared that I'd finally join the bandwagon and be disappointed in her too?

I'm thrilled to have a niece or nephew. Honest. I would have been thrilled to have known…maybe six months ago, so I could have been a part of it. I could've worked with her and helped her through whatever crisis she seemed to think she was in. I could have been there when she and Jou told our parents. I would've even gone with them when they told Jou's dad and brothers if they wanted me too.

I missed so much.

Because she didn't trust me.

"Are you alright?" Ken asked me softly, rubbing circles on the back of my hand with his thumb.

"Fine," I lied, squeezing his hand, urging him to believe me. "I'm just thinking."

"Not of anything happy," he noted.

"No, it's happy. Some of it," I said honestly.

"But some of it's less than…thrilling?" he questioned.

"Yeah," I said. "Something like that."

"We'll find Hawkmon if that's what you're worried about," he said comfortingly.

Great. Just another trouble to add to the list. I'd been trying so hard not to think about the chance that I might not get to see him…

"Thanks," I said instead. I'd let him believe that was the problem. This was something I needed to take up with Momoe first, before I talked with him. He wouldn't understand. His brother had been gone a long time. I didn't want to be the one to pull up the memories he kept buried.

I knew he found it awkward every time my mom asked him if he had any siblings. She just could not remember that his answer was always the same, always "Not anymore." Sometimes I wished I could just slap her…but I couldn't, since she was my mother and I loved her dearly. My dad however was hilarious with his ways to try and weasel the conversation around her standard question. He tried so hard to change the subject, but he just wasn't subtle.

Less subtle than Ken even, and that was saying something.

Any time I mentioned anything about his upcoming school year, he literally changed the subject without even giving me an evasive answer.

"Oh, when are you moving up to the dormitories?"

"Hikari's mom made celery cake again yesterday…"

Yeah, it was that bad.

He didn't seem worried though, like I said. He just wouldn't mention anything about it.

Maybe…just maybe, he was in denial, and he'd miss me as much as I would miss him?

No.

That was just far too hopeful on my part. He hadn't even planned anything special for us to do before he left. I still didn't even know when he was going to leave.

"Okay, time to get your mind off the depressing stuff," he said with a smile. His smile was just so cute! I couldn't help but smile back at him.

"What should we do about it then?" I teased.

"Well," he said with a sly grin. "We're walking, so kissing's out."

"Darn," I said with a fake pout.

"You could always talk about kissing," Otamamon suggested.

I blushed instantly. I'd forgotten that I'd been holding him. And he'd listened in on our conversation. It was all very embarrassing for me.

"Jun talks about kissing Shuu all the time," he continued. "It's the next best thing, she says."

"I don't think I feel all that comfortable with talking about kissing, actually," I told him.

"I don't like the sound of it either," Wormmon said dryly.

"I thought you were happy for us?" Ken teased him.

"Oh, I am," he said quickly. "I just don't want to hear about it."

"Rawr."

"What was that?" I asked stopping immediately.

"What was what?" Yamato asked behind me.

"There was a noise," I said with a shaky voice.

"Where," Mimi said boldly, though I could tell she was scared too. She was just too amazing to show it.

"I don't know," I replied.

"We'll just have to wait quietly for a minute to see if we can hear it again," Sora suggested.

"I thought Mimi was leader now," Taichi grumbled.

"She is," Takeru said with a laugh. "But Sora's her best friend. She's going to listen to her anyway."

"I thought I was her best friend," Jou joked.

"Quiet," Koushiro announced.

"Oh thank you," Mimi said happily. "We'll hear it much better now."

He rolled his eyes at her before giving her a pointed look. She gasped and mimed zipping her lips together.

"Rawr," the thing said again.

"Did you hear that?" Michael asked.

"Yeah," Iori said. "It was fairly loud. Everyone heard it…"

"Right…" Michael said sheepishly.

"We should get ready for when it attacks…" Agumon suggested.

"Good idea," Gabumon agreed.

"I'm big, and I'm strong, rawr," the voice said again. It was closer now. And it struck me as childish. The way it spoke was as if it were playing a game…not trying to kill us.

"He's getting close," Motimon said.

"Oh dear, Jou, we should digivolve, right?" Bukamon asked.

"Er—" Jou said, but it was too late, the digimon had jumped out into the open a few metres ahead of us, to the right.

"It's just a baby," DemiVeemon said with a laugh. "What can he do?"

"I'm big," the digimon protested, having heard him. "I'm a rookie. You're only in-training. Who's the baby now?"

"Aww," I said. I couldn't help myself. He was adorable. A bright golden fur covered the lion cub. He stood on four feet and looked like he was about to pounce on us.

"I'm cool," he said looking to me. "Not cute."

"Right," I said. "Sorry."

"It's Leormon," Patamon announced.

"Who're you?" he asked Patamon.

"Digidestined," Gennai interrupted. "We don't have time for this."

"No," Leormon gasped looking from face to face. "The digidestined. You have changed greatly."

We were all shocked. His childlike demeanor fell in an instant. He was a wise old digimon instead.

"I had thought I'd never see you again," he continued. He looked for faces he could name. "Mimi, Jou. Is that young Takeru?"

"I'm Takeru yeah," Takeru said looking at him strangely.

"Taichi," Leormon said staring at him longer. "Sora."

"Yamato," Yamato said awkwardly. Koushiro looked at him strangely. "What? He missed you too Koushiro."

"Yamato and Koushiro?" Leormon said.

"Not to be rude," Iori said. "But we don't remember you."

"You wouldn't," Mimi said. "You didn't meet Leomon. That's who you were right? Leomon and then SabreLeomon?"

"No," Taichi and Yamato said in disbelief. I shook my head in confusion. I had no idea who he was.

"You died," Sora said softly.

"And digimon are reborn into eggs that are located at Primary Village," Koushiro reminded her.

"We need to keep moving if we want to reach our current destination any time soon," Gennai announced. I rolled my eyes. I couldn't even remember which destination was our current one. Apparently he'd decided to try and find Daisuke and Kurayami who left on their own accord before my pregnant sister and Iori's friends.

"Come with us, Leormon," Mimi suggested, though with the way she held herself you could tell she was demanding it with the power of the goggles. "We have some catching up to do."

Ken:

Finding Leormon was an odd—but not unwelcome—occurrence. Mimi was sticking to him like glue, and since he seemed to know where Primary Village was, Gennai was back at the back of the procession. Mimi was in charge after all, and she'd demanded that someone she actually trusts help her lead us there.

I wasn't sure what Gennai thought we'd find when we got there. If Daisuke and Kurayami had thought to go to Primary Village, they'd have done it ages ago. We'd been in the Digital World for a long time after all. They'd have finished up there and gone on to the next stage in their ridiculous plan. What were they even doing wandering around such a dangerous place alone? They didn't even have a digimon to help them.

They didn't have us either.

Jou was finally talking again. Leormon managed to get him to laugh. Actually laugh. I hadn't thought that could happen as easily as the lion digimon made it seem. Not until we found Momoe at least. Iori wasn't too pleased, I could tell, that he'd lost his determined partner. He couldn't see that Jou was using this as a welcome distraction.

"Do you think Gennai was right?" I heard Sora whispering to Koushiro.

"About what in particular? He's said a lot of things that he didn't have sufficient evidence for since we've got here," he said with a frown. Someone else wasn't happy with Gennai then… That anti-fan club of his was getting pretty big lately.

"About digidestined dating each other," she said with a small wince.

"No," he said firmly. "I don't believe that. And until one of us 'drops dead' as Mimi put it, we won't have any proof whatsoever that it is really even a possibility. Hikari is the only one to have gotten sick since leaving too."

"Kurayami I think," Sora pointed out.

"Two then," Koushiro said. "But Hikari had always been like that before being introduced to the Digital World. I don't think she was about to drop dead. She just hadn't been given the proper diagnosis."

As if that proved that Gennai was wrong. It just proved that Koushiro was too hard-headed to be open to possibility.

"Hm," Miyako murmured, looking worried.

"What is it?" I whispered. I didn't want them to know I'd been listening in on their conversation.

"What if Gennai's right?" she asked. I wasn't the only one that had been listening then.

"You don't want to date anymore?" I asked. I didn't like that idea. Not one bit.

"No, that's not what I'm saying," she said. "I'm worried about the baby though, because of it."

"What do you mean?" I asked. She'd lost me already.

"If our genetic make-up is screwed over, then Jou's is too, and though Momoe's wasn't, is it now that she's stuck here as a prisoner? And then if hers is, then the baby's is even worse, isn't it? With Momoe's genes getting screwy while pregnant, and it already having half of Jou's unstable genes…"

"I doubt Gennai's right," I said. "There's no proof."

God, I sounded like Koushiro.

"What if its genes are too unbalanced though?" she asked with a whimper.

"Uh," I said, trying to come up with something, anything to comfort her. "Well, this whole unbalance is based on the idea that our genes are converted to digital data, correct? Well, if we're half digital or whatever Gennai was trying to explain, why doesn't he claim that our digimon aren't? They spent so much time in Earth, that it hardly makes sense that only we have been altered, but he's never said anything about them…"

"You're right," she said. "And with how pregnant Momoe is, chances are the baby'll be born while she's in captivity, so it'll be surrounded by digital data… Oh no. What if it's born while she's in captivity?"

"Miyako," I started again, only to be cut off by Mimi.

"We're here!" she said with a happy laugh.

"I wonder if Elecmon is here too," Takeru asked Patamon.

"He should be," Patamon responded. "It's his job to take care of them all."

"What exactly are we here for?" Taichi asked when we just stood at the edge of the strangely decorated area of the Digital World…except, it was kind of desolate, like the rest of the place was, and lacked its usual charm. It didn't look so much like a baby nursery anymore, but rather a morgue.

"Wow," Agumon said looking around, noticing the same thing I did. The baby cradles were fewer than normal I thought, but they still had happy—and some crying—baby digimon in them, begging for attention.

"They are so cute," Miyako said, taking Otamamon with her to go and play with the nearest baby. I had a feeling she thought Hawkmon or Poromon more likely would be there. Or at least hoped that was the case.

"Iori," Meiyomon said. "Let's go look around."

"Sure Meiyomon. But not too long," he said. "I don't want to waste time if they're not going to be there."

Right. He was antsy about finding and freeing Natsuni and Noriko. And Momoe too to a degree I supposed.

"Oh, oh," Upamon said happily. "We should look over there first!" The three of them set off, searching the newly-made-morgue-esque nursery for nothing in particular.

"We could look around too," Motimon suggested to Koushiro. "We might find something of vital importance."

"Sure," Koushiro told him, letting his little pink digimon lead the way.

"It doesn't look like Daisuke or Kurayami are here," Jou commented.

"It doesn't look like anyone is here," Bukamon added.

"No, look, there's Elecmon," Yamato said.

"He doesn't look too happy," Gabumon added.

"Have you made any progress Gennai?" the small red digimon asked when he arrived. He didn't waste time with pleasantries.

"I'm afraid not," Gennai said gravely. "We did win our last defensive fight however. We are not out of this battle yet."

"Have you seen two digidestined?" DemiVeemon asked outright. "Daisuke is missing…"

"No humans have been here until you," Elecmon informed us. There went Gennai's only idea of where to find Daisuke and Kurayami…

"What of your status?" Gennai asked disappointed by Elecmon's answer.

"So many eggs are appearing every day," Elecmon said. "But few are hatching at a time. Soon there won't be room for them all." He gestured over to patches of the village that I hadn't realized were filled with eggs. He'd moved them all out of the nursery portion to leave the hatched digimon room to move about.

"This doesn't look good," Betamon commented.

"How fast do baby digimon grow up?" Michael asked. "There aren't many here."

"The system is backed up. Too many are trying to reload at the same time," Elecmon explained. "They're hatching with decreasing speed. It'll be down to one a day soon. But once hatched they are growing at an increasing rate. It's the only thing keeping this place running."

"And they're all dying in this war?" I asked softly.

"Ken," Wormmon said. "We are digimon. It's good that we get reborn, just like I was for you, and Patamon for Takeru."

"And Lopmon for Willis," I added. "But it's getting bad out there isn't it?"

"It's not getting bad Ken," Wormmon corrected. "It's been two and a half years since that point. It is bad out there."

Shuu:

We were running toward the building, hoping against all odds that the front door was open. Jun was the first there and she grabbed the door with her dainty little fingers, ripping it open. My heart swelled extensively as the door opened... we'd be safe!

She practically dove into the building with me right behind her.

We were safe! But as my logical sense kicked in I realized we weren't. Somehow we'd have to make sure he wasn't able to get into the building! I looked around and found a custodian's kart next to a bathroom door. I hurried to grab the mop that was leaning against it.

I was quick to shove the mop through the handles on the door. I realized suddenly that a plastic mop wasn't going to hold the digimon at bay! I looked around to find Jun and run with her, but she was gone. My heart began to beat quickly as I scanned the hall for her, and practically skipped a beat as Jun jumped out of the bathroom with a metal pipe in her hand, her pants soaking wet.

"Here!" she tossed the pipe toward me and I caught it with a grin on my face. Jun never ceased to amaze me. I turned quickly and shoved the pipe through the handles like the mop.

"Let's go!" I told her quickly, grabbing her hand and running. "We have to get to the West Wing."

"Why?" She asked quickly, "What's down there?"

"My Professor..." I told her slowly.

I could tell she was about to say something but she was interrupted by a loud bang and a scream. Jun followed suit with a scream of her own, looking over her shoulder. "What does he want?"

"I don't know..." I told her simply, leading her around a corner and down the white hallway. There was no one there, which I found odd as there was not only a custodial kart in the middle of the hallway, but also a few cars in the parking lot... Finally I rounded the last corner and skidded to a stop in front of a large mahogany door.

I tried to open the door but it was locked, so I slammed my fist into it repetitively.

"Who's there?" I heard a man ask from the other side.

"It's me!" I said quickly, "Shuu Kido!"

Without another word I heard scraping from inside the classroom and then finally the door was thrown open and standing in the doorway was Haruhiko Takenouchi.

"Come in quickly!" He said as his eyes fell onto Jun. "Who's this?" A loud smash filled the hallways indicating that Meramon had gotten into the building.

"There will be time for introductions later." I shot at him. "Right now we need to hide." The three of piled into the classroom filled with long wooden desks and computers.

"Help me barricade the door." Haruhiko said sharply. I turned around and with Jun's help we pushed a large desk in front of the door. I sighed with relief and leaned against the wall, my eyes closed. But they shot open at the sound of Jun's scream as she came face to face with another digimon.

Tatum:

Mary Kennedy was getting on my nerves to say the very least. She was loud, annoying, and confused. It was almost as if she'd ever been out of her house before, and was so scared of everything that moved. And along with all of that she was complaining loudly about how Willis should have called her if he was planning on getting himself into trouble.

"I don't understand!" She said loudly, "What is that?"

"That's a metal detector..." I said looking away from her, hiding my face, pretending I didn't know her. "They have to make sure you're not going to kill anyone by bringing a bomb or a gun onto the plane or anything."

"Are you telling me that they let murderers onto the plane?" She cried out. "I am not getting on that plane! It's not safe! I'll die!"

"No!" I shot at her with a scowl. "They have the metal detectors so murderers can't—" She cut me off with a mangled scream.

"I'm going to die!" She cried, "Someone save me!"

I looked around nervously and then bit my bottom lip as I turned to her. "You need to calm down!" I hissed, "You're attracting too much unwanted attention!"

"I'm going to die!" She was now hyperventilating. "Willis goes on these planes twice a month... OH MY GOD! MY SON COULD BE DEAD! HE COULD DIE AT ANY MOMENT! MURDERERS! MURDERERS ON THE PLANE!"

"Mary!" I hissed, "Calm dow—"

"Excuse me miss," A man said, stepping into our conversation. Judging by his attire he was a security guard. "You're going to have to calm down so you can get on that plane in peace, or you're going to have to leave."

"I'm not getting on that plane!" Mary growled, "I could die!"

"There's a very unlikely chance of that happening miss..." The man said.

"HELP ME!" Mary cried out.

"Miss, I'm going to escort you out of this building now." He said taking Mary's hand and dragging her gently. Mary was still looking around like a lunatic, breathing heavily as if she was going to die at any second. "You too." The man said looking at me.

"What?" I gasped, "Why? I didn't do anything!"

"You're with her, yes?" He asked.

"Yes, but—" I tried.

"But nothing." He said flatly. "Come along. We'll get your things and send you on your way." I followed him with a pout and thought to myself. How was I going to get to Japan then? Michael was avoiding me, or in danger and either way I needed to see him... there had to be a way...

And suddenly... there was.

Hikari:

I was letting Willis lead the way. I had never been good at geography and I couldn't remember the way back to the Temple. Willis had decided to take a short cut through the trees. I wasn't sure if he was going the right way or not, but even if he wasn't I wouldn't mind too much... I was ready for an adventure anyway, and going back to the temple wasn't going to help me find my digimon.

"I just don't understand why it's always me!" I said, rather irritated. Willis was listening to me with an open mind but I could tell he was just agreeing with me to make me feel better. He clearly thought it was a good idea to keep me safe... "Why am I always the one in trouble? I mean, you're in just as much trouble as I am... so why am I the one who has to go into hiding?"

"Well to be fair, I'm going into hiding too." He pointed out.

"Only because Taichi wanted you to protect me." I argued.

"That's not true." He said, placing his hand on my shoulder. "I wanted to protect you because I care about you. I can't imagine what life would be like if you were hurt."

I smiled at him and nodded. "I..." I wasn't sure what to say to him so I was thankful that Lopmon and Terriermon interrupted at that moment.

"Why aren't you arguing with me?" Terriermon asked loudly as Lopmon walked on her own toward the temple ahead of us.

"I don't really feel in the mood." Lopmon said.

"Oh not this again!" Terriermon sighed as he hurried to catch up to Lopmon, "Hug me!" He stretched his arms out.

"No..." Lopmon said trying to push Terriermon away. "Terriermon I don't want to!"

"Yes you do!" Terriermon insisted, wrapping his arms tightly around Lopmon whose face fell flat.

"Terriermon... I'm not in a hugging mood." Lopmon said as Terriermon tried to force Lopmon to hug him.

"What's wrong with Lopmon?" I asked Willis.

He shrugged his shoulders and looked down. "I don't know... she sometimes just... stops being her usual happy self and just gets into this sad mood... she doesn't like to talk to us about it... she says we wouldn't understand." He looked to me and tried to smile before turning back to Lopmon who had finally pushed Terriermon away.

I decided that I was going to talk to her myself, girl to girl, so I hurried toward her and scooped her into my arms and stepped to the side making sure I could still see Terriermon and Willis through the trees.

"Why did you do that?" Lopmon asked, looking up at me with big eyes. "Are you kidnapping me?"

I shook my head kindly, "No... no I'm not."

"Then why did you—?" She tried.

"What's wrong?" I asked, jumping in and getting straight to the point. "Why are you upset?"

Lopmon looked away from me immediately. She looked to the ground and wiggled around a little in my arms. "I'm not." She said finally.

"Lopmon..." I insisted, "I know something's wrong... I know you think Terriermon and Willis wouldn't understand—and I get that. Really I do... boys... am I right?"

Lopmon giggled and nodded, "They're so silly!"

I smiled at her, "But I'm not a boy... us girls need to stick together and help one another out. So what is it? What's upsetting you?"

Lopmon shrugged her shoulders and then spun around and looked up at me again, "I just miss her."

"Who?" I asked instantly.

"I don't know." Lopmon admitted with a small sigh. "I just miss her."

"Well, whoever it is... I'm sure you'll meet up with her again... someday." I told her with a smile as I held her closer to me. "I promise... I'll help you do it too."

Lopmon smiled at me, but then shook her head. "You don't have to do that... once you find Gatomon you should spend your time with her... I'll figure it out... don't worry about me..." I shook my head, but she spoke again before I had the chance. "Please don't tell Willis and Terriermon?"

"I won't." I said firmly, "They wouldn't understand anyway." We both laughed a little and then I looked back to Willis with a smile. I moved back toward him but stopped myself instantly.

"What was that?" Lopmon and I asked together.

I had heard something moving in the trees behind me. I spun around instantly and screamed as a familiar face stepped out of the bushes. Everything looked menacing, from his long pointed nose, his round face, and the red bandana to his blue overalls, the large wooden cross on his back and the large metal hammer in his hand.

"Puppetmon...?" I managed to say.

"And so we meet again?" Puppetmon asked with a grin as he crept towards me.

"Blazing ice!" Lopmon roared, leaping from my hands and shooting shards of pink ice toward Puppetmon who didn't even bother dodging them. The ice hit his wooden skin and shattered, inflicting no pain.

"Puppet Pummel!" Puppetmon laughed, raising his hammer.

I was suddenly being pulled to the ground as I saw Terriermon leaping over my head. "Buddy Blast!" He roared as a green ball of... whatever it was shot from his mouth.

"Hikari—go!" Willis, who had pulled me to the ground, said. "Just go hide! We've got this!"

"I don't always want to hide!" I insisted with a sigh. "It's not fair!"

"Well when you have a digimon partner to help you, you can stay." Willis said. It sounded fair enough so I nodded and pulled myself to my feet.

"Good luck..." I said, looking back at the others and hurrying off.

It didn't bother me as much as I thought it would to have Willis tell me to hide, he was just trying to help, he wanted me safe... he was just trying to be the hero.

I worked my way through the trees, weaving in and out until I decided I was far enough away from them. I didn't want to go too far for fear of getting completely lost, so I slowed down. I kicked a stone to vent what little anger I still had built up inside of me... I was a strong and independent woman and didn't need to hide all the time!

"Hikari..." A voice said.

I turned sharply and screamed as the black figure rushed toward me.

Willis:

I watched Hikari go, smiling, happy that she would be safe at least for a little while longer, and turned to my digimon, holding my digivice at the ready. I couldn't believe how stupid I had been... taking a short cut through the trees! I knew the Dark Masters were here! This had been the worst action plan of my life... and to make up for it, I had to make sure Hikari was okay.

"Terrier Tornado!" Terriermon shouted as he turned into a small green twister and shot toward Puppetmon.

"Tiny Twister!" Lopmon shouted copying Terriermon and shooting toward Puppetmon as a small pink tornado.

"Double Typhoon!" They shouted together, shooting toward him once more.

"Is that all you've got?" Puppetmon laughed coldly as he turned toward me. "Aren't you going to make them digivolve?"

I scowled at him as I held my digivice tighter. He wanted them to? Was he just playing with us? Or was them digivolving going to help him in some way? Either way I didn't have a choice... they were going to die if they didn't digivolve.

"Ready guys?" I asked them.

"Yep!" Terriermon and Lopmon said as one.

I held my digivice up as it began to glow. "Digivolve!"

"Lopmon digivolve to... Wendigomon!" Lopmon glowed and transformed into her champion form.

"Terriermon digivolve to... Gargomon!" Terriermon followed Lopmon in her transformation and turned into a larger dog who just so happened to look a heck of a lot like a rabbit.

"Gargo Pellets!" Gargomon roared shooting bullets toward Puppetmon, who dodged and began shooting similar bullets from his hammer.

"Koko Crusher!" Wendigomon growled as a wave of energy shot from his mouth. Puppetmon planted his feet into the ground and stood his ground.

"Really? That's all?" Puppetmon laughed. "You can do better than that I'm sure!"

I bit my bottom lip and nodded. "Guys...?"

"You got it Willis!" Gargomon grinned, "Gargomon digivolve to... Rapidmon!"

"Wendigomon digivolve to... Antylomon!" Wendigomon roared, morphing into Antylomon, "How's this? Treasure Axe!" Antylomon raised her arm and a large golden axe appeared. She grabbed the hilt and threw it with full force toward Puppetmon who simply stepped aside and dodged it.

"Rapid Fire!" Rapidmon yelled out shooting toward Puppetmon who once again, dodged the attack.

I clenched my fists... this wasn't working—We weren't going to win!

And that's when it happened. Hikari's scream echoed around us and before I could even think about what to do I was running the way she had gone, away from my digimon.

"Hikari!" I yelled, rushing through the trees. I tripped over a root but didn't let that stop me, pulling myself to my feet again and running further. "Hikari! Are you okay?" I couldn't find her... she couldn't have gotten too far! There was not enough time for her to get away—and then I saw someone running away, and into the darkness of the trees. I looked the direction she had come and gasped at the sight of Hikari laying on the ground. I didn't have time to chase whoever it was—it wasn't important. The only thing that was important at that moment was Hikari.

I ran toward her and fell to my knees sliding to a stop next to her through the leaves that covered the ground. She was laying on her side, looking away from me. "Hikari...?" I said slowly putting my hand on her shoulder, "Are you okay?" I turned her over and held her in my arms. There was blood on her head and her eyes where shut. "Hikari!" I gasped, "Wake up!"

Suddenly her eyes fluttered.

"Hikari!" I said quickly, "You're okay?"

She opened her eyes slowly and looked up at me. "Willis?" She asked trying to pull herself up. She winced and fell back into my arms. "What happened?"

"You... don't remember?" I asked her slowly, "I heard you scream and came to find you."

She smiled, "That's sweet of you." She said wrapping her arms around my neck and hugging me.

"I told you already..." I told her, returning the hug, "I can't imagine what life would be like if you were hurt... Hikari... I know now isn't the most ideal time to tell you this but... I think... I might be in love with you." My stomach twisted painfully as she pulled out of our hug to look at me. I had never felt that before... I'd never been nervous, but at that moment as she stared at me with her big brown eyes... I was nervous as to what she was about to say.

It turns out what she was going to say wasn't so bad... in fact it was nothing. She leaned in quickly and kissed me, wrapping her arms, once again, around my neck. I was shocked at first but kissed her back after the initial shock.

Slowly Hikari pulled out of the hug, her face was red as she looked away from me nervously. "I... my head hurts."

I laughed at her and hugged her. "We'll fix that." I promised her as I bit my bottom lip and helped her to her feet. "But first we have to get back to Rapidmon and Antylomon." She nodded and hurried back the way we had come, running wobbly, using trees for balance.

Before I followed her I couldn't resist myself as I punched the air excitedly and took a deep breath. I had heard that Daisuke had confessed his love to Hikari and she just ignored him for the most part... I had been scared she'd do the same to me—but... this was way better than I had hoped!

I ran after her quickly and caught up easily, grabbing her hand and helping her along, back toward my digimon. As giant digimon they were easy enough to find, and as we hurried through the trees I saw that they were standing next to one another with Puppetmon nowhere to be seen. They both smiled at us before changing back into rookie forms and running toward us.

Lopmon leapt into Hikari's arms and smiled, "What happened?" She asked, "Are you okay?"

Hikari shrugged her shoulders, "I don't know... I think so." I looked over my shoulder as Terriermon climbed into my arms... Who had that been? A digimon? A human? Whoever it was... they had hurt Hikari, and I was going to get back at them for that... no matter who it was.

"Where did Puppetmon go?" I asked Terriermon.

"I dunno." He said as he snuggled up to me. "He just... left."

"Then let's go." I said simply. "We don't want him coming back, and we need to keep Hikari safe... for real this time." I smiled at her as she smiled back at me and reached out to take my hand. I took her hand as we started out, back toward the temple.

Rei:

My head was reeling. They couldn't be serious. Was there really another world out there? One made up entirely of digital data? It didn't seem right. It didn't seem believable.

But something in the back of my head told me that this wasn't true.

Those Gazimon said they were digimon…digital monsters.

And they did look the part.

For that matter, so did the ghostly wizard sitting on the bed, and the not-quite-as-ghostly ghost in the corner that looked nervous about being trapped. I didn't understand why he didn't just fight to get himself free. He must have some sort of super power, like those Gazimon had, and those other monsters down in the street.

But maybe, just maybe, they were like humans. There were bad ones, there were good ones, they had emotions and fears and….

No. I was reading too far into this. I'd even called my mom telling her I was staying at a friend's house last night because I was too scared of those Gazimon to risk going across the hallway. I didn't want to risk my family either. I wanted to help Taichi. And that's why, when my mom threatened to call the police to get me, I told her I was a fully grown adult, capable of making my own decisions and told her that the police wouldn't be able to do a damn thing because of it. The look on Mr Ishida's face when I mentioned the police was hilarious, and Mrs Takenouchi looked at me disapprovingly. She didn't like that I was yelling at my mother. But she didn't understand just how suffocating my mother could be. My mom wasn't as kind as Mrs Takenouchi, not nearly as loving. Mr Ishida could mention Sora and the look of pure pride on her face showed me how much she loved her daughter, how much she respected her. My mom wasn't like that. My mom also wasn't as good at wielding a frying pan as Mrs Takenouchi was…

But back to the point. There was another world out there, that Taichi—my friendTaichi—had not only visited, but saved three times. It was called the Digital World. I mean, Earth was at least interesting, and not quite as literal of a name as 'The Digital World'. Next they'd be telling me there was 'The Land of Dreams' and 'Nightmare Land'.

"Sora mentioned something about the Dark Ocean once," Mrs Takenouchi said, pulling me back into their confusing story. I mean seriously? The Dark Ocean. That was worse than Nightmare Land…but I got the feeling it probably meant the same thing.

"Oh yes," the ghost—I think Mr Ishida called him Bakemon—said with a raspy voice. "The Digital World and the Dark Ocean have already begun to merge. It was most pleasant for us digimon."

"I somehow don't believe that," I said dryly.

"Us…how shall I say…darker digimon," he said giving me a grin full of sharp teeth. I instinctively moved my wheelchair back a few inches.

"I don't believe you're evil," the ghostly digimon on the bed said. What had he called himself…Wizardmon? "You simply cast yourself in a bad light."

"I'm on neither side," Bakemon allowed. "But I'm definitely not good."

"It's nice and all, that you're so friendly with each other," Mrs Takenouchi said. "But I want to know what is happening to my daughter."

There it was again, that pride. It was a far cry from my mom's you-were-in-an-accident-so-instead-of-making-you-feel-as-though-nothing's-changed-I'm-going-to-treat-you-like-you've-lost-your-intelligence-along-with-the-ability-to-use-your-legs attitude. I sighed. My mom sucked.

"I don't know nothing," Bakemon insisted. "I'm here now aren't I. Not in the Digital World. How am I supposed to know?"

"I…hadn't thought of that…" Mrs Takenouchi admitted.

"But you were 'sent here' you said," Mr Ishida insisted.

"Yeah, because the worlds are colliding. I'm not the only one," he said looking to Wizardmon.

"Don't look at me," Wizardmon said holding his hands in surrender. "I died here way back in 1999. The digidestined have saved the Digital World three times since then."

"How come you're not an egg then," Bakemon asked, sounding not nearly as intelligent as I'd thought him to be.

"Because I died here," Wizardmon said again. "Honestly, digimon these days…"

I snickered. "What do you know then?" I asked him.

"That when a digimon dies away from the Digital World their data doesn't get reformulated into an egg," he said.

"Not about that," I said before it registered. "Really? Digimon come from eggs?"

"Yes," he said. "If not that, what are you talking about?"

"What's going to happen to Taichi, what does he have to do? What is this puzzle you keep talking about? What'll happen to us if the worlds combine?"

"That is a long list of questions," Wizardmon said. "And the answers aren't there for me to give. But I think that you will be fine, unless a rampaging digimon kills you."

"That's…comforting…" I said with wide eyes.

"But the kids could just drop dead?" Mr Ishida asked.

"Yes," Wizardmon said. "Hikari was close to doing just that…"

"Hi-Hikari?" I asked in horror. That was Taichi's little sister. He would be devastated if she dropped dead. And I would never get to meet her, the most important girl in Taichi's life.

"Right, well, I don't think I'm needed anymore," Bakemon said floating over to the door.

"Not so fast mister," Mrs Takenouchi said, blocking his exit. He slumped down and returned to his lonely little corner.

"I suppose we ought to tell the other parents?" Mr Ishida said reluctantly.

"That sounds good," Mrs Takenouchi said. "I'd want to know if I were them."

"I should try Natsuko again…" he said. That name rang a bell. She was his ex-wife/potential new girlfriend. I couldn't even begin to mention how relieved I'd been that I hadn't walked in on the affair of Yamato's father with his girlfriend's mother… That would've been horrific.

Just then the phone rang.

"You think it's a suggestion that I was right?" Mr Ishida said sounding very disappointed that he'd actually have to give these parents this terrible news. "Maybe it's Natsuko…."

So he went to answer it.

Yoshie:

Susumu was a lifesaver. He carried Yuuko back down to the car, and we were able to get out of there quickly. Not a single digital creature was able to get to us. I was thrilled. I had to stay alive in order to help my son after all.

I just wished I knew how to help him.

This time was different. I knew he was in trouble, he didn't tell me about it second hand after the fact list he did three years prior. It was a new experience for me. I couldn't even give him snacks to give him energy. I couldn't do anything.

But I wanted to. And I would find a way eventually.

"Where to?" Susumu asked.

"My house," I said, suddenly struck by an idea.

"W-what? W-where am I?"

"Oh good, Yuuko, you're awake," I said pleasantly. "We're going to my house. I've just thought of a way to get the information we need."

"I thought we found out where they were?" Susumu asked. "We can't get there."

"The Digital World," Yuuko murmured. "I'd hoped that was a dream."

"Not quite," I said. "And we know that both places are in trouble. The kids only ever get sent there when that's the case. And we know that Odaiba is in chaos. My son would know what's wrong."

"Your son's in a different world," Yuuko pointed out. I winced, but handled the blatant way she said it fairly well.

"I realize," I said. "But he's always working on his computer. Though he'll have it with him, we still have an option. He keeps all of his files on the desktop computer Masami and I got him six years ago on his birthday. He even wrote a program that would allow him to send files wirelessly between the two computers."

"So we could message the kids?" Susumu asked sounding hopeful.

"I'm not sure," I said slowly. "But it is a possibility."

"Then let's go!" Yuuko shouted.

It took us awhile to get there. There were a lot of streets that had been closed off—most likely due to digimon damages—but we did get there, all in one piece. I couldn't be more thrilled…unless, of course, my son and his friends were safe and back where I could see them. But you couldn't get everything you wished for.

"Where is this computer?" Susumu asked, as we rushed into my apartment. We couldn't have any digimon follow us in, so we shut the door and bolted it. I could only hope that Masami brought his keys and remembered to put the crow bar in the trunk, just in case. He hadn't called to say he was in trouble… He hadn't called to say he was safe either. I couldn't help but think Koushiro learned it from him.

"In his room. He usually keeps it locked, now that he's off at school. I think he likes the idea of it being his own private dorm. He put a fridge in there," I said, feeling a little upset about my little boy taking care of himself…but he'd never really wanted my help with anything.

"Then we'll be breaking in," Yuuko surmised. Susumo jiggled the handle, proving that it was, indeed locked, before he threw himself at the door. It took three tries, but on the third, it flew open. His room was neat and tidy. It was as if he hadn't been there in months, rather than a day. A really, really long day.

I was quick to turn his computer on. It loaded a lot faster than the computer in the office. I made a note to save up for a new one for Masami and myself, before I looked back at the screen…

"It wants a password," I said in a panic. What would my son use as a password? I probably wouldn't get in.

"Right," Yuuko said, rubbing her hands together. "Taichi uses his birthday."

"That sounds too simple for Koushiro," I said, but I tried the numbers anyway. It didn't work.

"I think Hikari uses the date she first went to the Digital World, since it's different from the others', and they forget that a lot," Susumu muttered.

"August first, right?" I asked, though I was already inputting the new set of numbers.

It was also wrong.

"What about his girlfriend's name?" Yuuko asked.

"He doesn't have one," I said with a sigh. "Unless you count his computer. He hasn't named that yet, thank goodness. And he's had it for ten years now…"

"No girl…um…what about Tentomon?" Susumu asked. "That's his digimon, right?"

"Yes," I said, glancing at the picture Koushiro took of him and Tentomon on what I now knew was the last time he'd seen him. "Maybe…"

But I knew it was wrong. I checked it anyway, and was right. It was not the password. I tried to think back to what Koushiro told me when I'd forgotten my email's password.

"You should write your password down. Keep it somewhere hidden, or disguise it so no one will know, but that way you'll have a failsafe if you can't remember it when I'm at school, that's what I do, though I'll never forget mine. Also, you're passwords are really eccentric, you should chose something more memorable. Something with letters and numbers. It's got to be something prodigious mom, unforgettable, or you'll be stuck without email until I can come home."

"He's got it written out somewhere. He disguised it," I said suddenly, looking frantically around the room. He didn't have all that many places to hide it though. Just a bookshelf, his side-table, his closet and his desk drawers. He kept all notes and everything else on his laptop, and he didn't have a dresser anymore, he got rid of it in favour of his mini fridge and a bigger desk. He'd never had too many clothes to begin with. He just crammed them into the closet. "Susumu, you look in his closet, I don't think he'd really want a woman going through there. Yuuko, you take the desk. I'm going to check something."

Call it motherly instinct, coincidence or sheer dumb luck, but something told me the side-table was the right choice. I looked through the drawer, searching for any papers or numbers carved into the wood. Nothing. There were books stacked beside it, textbooks that didn't fit on his bookshelf—he had way too many. And then there was the picture of him and Tentomon. I picked up the photo, and turned the frame around in my hands. Struck by some urge, I removed the photograph from its home. On the back he'd written Prodigious! I smiled at his personal catchphrase. Under prodigious, he'd written 08 01. The anniversary of his first visit to the Digital World.

"This picture wasn't taken on August first though…" I realized. And it was a little odd that he'd write his catchphrase rather than their names.

"…disguise it so no one will know…chose something more memorable…. Something with letters and numbers… something prodigious mom…."

This was it!

"I've got it!" I shouted. I ran to the computer, accidentally breaking the frame as it fell to the floor in my haste. Yuuko dropped whatever filing folder she was looking through on the floor and it scattered, making a huge mess. Susumu had been tossing Koushiro's clothing out of the closet, but stopped when I'd made my announcement.

Koushiro was going to kill me. His door and lock were shattered, so was his picture frame. Papers and clothing were all about, and I was hacking into his computer!

But it was for his own good, so he'd have to forgive me.

I hurriedly typed Prodigious!0801 into the text box, and thankfully, the computer accepted it. We let out a little cheer as the desktop—a plain turquoise colour…not even a trace of a girl or friends, just a boring colour, no hint of his real personality—chimed into view.

"Now where would he put the information we need…" I murmured, quickly scanning the file names. Digimon, School, Photographs, Research, Works in Progress, Recent files "—that's the one."

I clicked it, watching it open with bated breath. I had to say I was a little disappointed.

"He was scanning keys," I said in disbelief. "He's so against physical activities that he resorted to scanning keys in his boredom?"

"Maybe they were important?" Yuuko asked, though she too sounded amused.

"What about that one," Susumu asked, pointing to a video file. "It's called 'The Worlds', it's got to have something."

I agreed and skipped over the other two key scans in favour of the video. It started with just a blank canvas, and then a green line appeared, followed by a pink line and a bleak grey line. A few other lines were tossed in, before they started swirling, turning into a blackish jumble.

"That was…interesting," Yuuko said slowly, as if terrified of offending me.

"It didn't make any sense!" I shouted. "Why can't he be less cryptic?"

"What is this a picture of?" Yuuko asked, pointing to a strange photograph.

"It looks like a physical tear in the sky," Susumu murmured. "Did he edit this?"

"He doesn't believe in editing photographs," I said on instinct. "He says it's a waste of time. He learned how to, of course, because he wanted the knowledge of how, but he doesn't do it."

"Right," he said. "So where was this?"

I thought for a moment. They'd said something earlier… "Camp. It was at the campgrounds. And look, here are his scans for it. Hang on… this section here, these numbers, they match that key I think. Yes, look," I said pulling up the key scan as well. "He even highlighted it. It must've been important."

"He labeled it," Yuuko said. "Digital composition…. Did he find the key to the Digital World?"

"That's sure what it looks like. What does this have to do with what's going on in Odaiba though?" Susumu said. He pulled up the second key scan. "Hmm… this one, he says it's just a normal key."

"What about the third?" I asked. Yuuko clicked on it, and we were shocked to see another set of numbers, completely different from either of the others. "What is this? The other one was declared an Earth metal, and the first digital data. This is…"

"Koushiro hasn't figured it out yet either," I said noting the question marks he inserted around certain groups of highlighted code.

"If they're in the Digital World," Yuuko started. "Which is, essentially inside the computer, probably on the internet, we should be able to contact them…through email, right?"

"I don't know," I said, thinking it over. "But we can try."

Next on Digimon Adventure 04: Jou Kido is up next as narrator, and…yeah… that's it…