It's All In The Cards
Previously on "When Destinies Collide"… Gennai informed the kids of two new DigiDestined children living in Japan. The Gateway to the human world was located under Myotismon's castle. Just as the kids were about to pass through Gatomon interrupted them and the Gate slammed right in their faces. Will they ever get home? Find out in this chapter of "When Destinies Collide"…
The children were outside the castle talking to Gennai. "Since Myotismon has shut the gate you cannot follow him now." Gennai sadly informed.
"Listen gramps you have to tell us how to open up that gate." Matt said.
"Please Gennai, the other DigiDestined are in real trouble if we don't get back." Rini said.
"And if Myotismon goes on a rampage in our world, lots of innocent people are going to get hurt." Piper informed.
"So tell us how to open up that Gate." Lita followed, clenching her hand into a fist.
"Come to my house children and I will tell you how to open up the Gate." Gennai said.
"Where is your house?" Koromon asked.
"Look above you." Gennai replied.
"What kind of directions are those?" Serena screamed.
"Very good ones if you just follow them" replied Gennai.
The group did as instructed and saw a searchlight not too far off. "See you all soon." Gennai said, ending his holographic transmission.
"Alright gang let's jet." Tai voted.
The DigiDestined soon found themselves standing by a shore of a lake. The searchlight was still waving back and forth, in the middle of the lake.
"Okay this is a new address I've seen." Piper said.
"Either we got the directions wrong or Gennai's house is really at the bottom of a lake." Matt said, a little surprised.
"Well this explains why Lita and I could never find him." Izzy noted.
"Izzy that was all your wild goose chase. I was just along because no one else would go and so I can give that old man a little piece of my mind as to why we're here." Lita said.
"Anyway it looks like we're going to have to do a little swimming." Joe noted.
Gomamon and Sealmon popped their heads above the water. Soon the whole lake glowed, revealing steps leading to Gennai's house.
"Looks like we're in business guys." Tai said.
The DigiDestined descended down the stairway. The four cats accompanying Serena, Rini, Piper and Mina were sitting on their respected owner's heads.
"This is really uncomfortable for me." Airtimes said.
"Actually this is really neat." Astrate contradicted.
Diana was watching all the fish swim by them as they descended further down. Rini chuckled. Luna was quietly looking around.
The kids came to Gennai's place and found the old man standing on a bridge.
"Wow, it's the real thing." Izzy said.
"It's really him. Guess our wild goose-chase finally paid off." Lita said.
"Who were you kids expecting? Santa Clause?" Gennai joked.
"It's just we've never seen the real you, except in holograms anyway." Lita replied.
"So tell us, why all the secrecy?" Mina asked.
"Yeah you could've come to us in person, yet you always used holographic projections." Tai said.
"That's just something I do to impress you." Gennai replied.
"So just who are you anyway?" Joe asked.
"Are you a human?" Rini asked.
"Or some kind of digimon?" T.K followed.
"That is not important at this moment." Gennai replied.
"How come you call us the DigiDestined!" Serena yelled.
"Easy I'm old but I'm not deaf." Gennai said. "You guys were chosen to protect this world."
"Just how were we chosen?" Matt asked.
"Yeah, we only signed up for Summer Camp." Piper followed.
"That is something for another time, now come inside." Gennai said.
The kids followed. The streams of water collapsed and covered Gennai's home.
Everyone was seated around a small table, marveling at all the fish swimming by. Gennai pulled up a map of the world, then slowly zoomed in.
"Now do any of you know this city?" Gennai asked.
"It's where we all live." Tai answered.
Gennai nodded. A red circle soon appeared on the map, "And this red circle indicates Myotismon's location."
The children all gasped. "He's only a mile from where we all live." Reye said.
"So will you tell us how to open the gate?" Tai asked.
"Boy you are impatient aren't you?" Gennai said. "Keep your goggles on my young friend, you will need these to open the gate." Gennai placed 10 digimon cards infront of the children.
"So how do these work exactly?" Mina asked.
"Well there are nine holes to open the gate." Gennai replied.
"So these cards must go in the key holes." Lita guessed.
"Exactly but look closely." Gennai said.
"You gave us one too many cards." Izzy noticed.
"Indeed." Gennai said. "One of the cards is a fake."
All the kids sighed. "So how do we know which one is the fake card?" Rini asked.
"So we'll just try a bunch of different combinations till we get the right one." Tai voted.
"No you will not!" Gennai yelled. "That is absolutely the last thing you want to do. The wrong combinations to transport you to a world you may never come back from." Gennai took a deep breath. "Tomorrow I will teach you kids how to use the cards. Then you must determine which is the fake. Then once that is finished, you can go back to your home and stop Myotismon."
The kids did as instructed and set up a room for their nightly stay. Most of them were all ready getting ready, except for Piper, who was busy staring out into the ocean, watching the groups of fish swim by.
"Hey, you okay?" Matt asked, standing behind her.
"Honestly, I'm the opposite of okay Matt." Piper replied, her eyes lingered from him.
"So what's bugging you?" Matt inquired, obviously worried.
"With Myotismon in our world and us stuck here. No one knows what he is, let alone know how to defeate him." Piper sighed. "There are still four Sailor Scouts back home, not counting the new one, Melody. They won't know what Myotismon is and sure all of the are strong but, not strong enough to stop him."
"But there's something else bothering you." Matt said. "It's your brother isn't it?"
Piper looked at him and solemnly nodded. "Yes. I'm worried that something bad is going to happen to him. I can just feel it."
"Is that a Sailor Scout thing?" Matt asked.
"Nope. It's a little sister thing." Piper replied.
"Don't worry, by this time tomorrow, we'll be back home and ready to find the other DigiDestined kids." Matt put his hand on Piper's shoulder. "And we'll be ready to face Myotismon and beat him. Just like we did Devimon." Matt's pale blue eyes showed that he meant what he just said.
Piper smiled and hugged him. "Thanks Matt for cheering me up. You're a great friend."
Matt returned the hug. "Any time. Now let's get some shut-eye."
"Agreed." Piper smiled and the two walked into the room and fell asleep.
In the main area Izzy and Lita were talking with Gennai.
"So the Digital World and our world are the same?" Lita questioned.
"Just how is that?" Izzy asked.
"Everything is made out of the same materials." Gennai replied.
"Molecules and Atoms?" Izzy asked.
"Exactly." Gennai said. "Everything here in the Digital World; plants, buildings, event the digimon themselves are made out of computerized data from your world. So if something seems wrong or different here, it's because of broken or missing data from your world."
"I see." Izzy sighed.
"So what about you Gennai?" Lita asked. "Are you made up of computer data too?"
"Of course." Gennai answered. "So in both worlds I would look somewhat different."
"So if you're not human, what makes you different from Digimon?" Izzy asked.
"I have no attributes." Gennai answered.
"Attributes?" Lita and Izzy questioned in unison. Both had looks of confusion on their faces.
"Just what does that mean?" Lita asked.
"Do you mean the different attacks digimon have?" Izzy asked.
"Yes." Gennai answered. "And the way a digimon digivolves. The attributes determine much more than that though. They explain why some digimon are good and some are evil. All digimon can be classified as either Data, Virus, or Vaccine."
"Well we're defiantly familiar with the Virus kind." Lita muttered.
"You got that right." Izzy agreed.
"By the way," Gennai interjected. "Have you been using that digimon analyzer I gave you?"
The question was directed towards Izzy, who nodded and replied, "Yes. But I do have one question about it."
"And what is that?" Gennai asked.
"Well so far I have only been able to access information on Digimon that I have seen. Not on ones the other kids have seen." Izzy informed.
"Yes I can see." Gennai said. "That is a problem."
"Is it one that you can solve?" Izzy asked.
"Perhaps." Gennai replied. "Now why don't you two go get some rest and I will see you all in the morning."
Lita and Izzy nodded and headed off down the hall.
"I take back everything I ever thought about that old man." Lita said. "He's actually pretty cool."
Izzy looked at her and smiled. "Yes he is awesome." he agreed.
"Yea. And the Digital World seems pretty neat. Especially places like this." Lita pointed to the fish swimming outside the doors.
Izzy nodded.
The two friends quietly stepped into the room where all the others were sleeping. They slid under the blankets next to their digimon and fell sound asleep themselves.
The next morning the kids were all refreshed from a well nights rest. They were all around the table eating breakfast.
"I actually can't believe this." Rini said.
"Believe what Rini?" T.K asked.
"This may be our last meal in the Digital World before we return home." replied the little girl.
"Rini does have a point." Reye said.
"Yep." Serena nodded. "The first chance I get, Darien and I can go for a nice dinner. Just the two of us." Serena's blue eyes were sparkling as she fantasized about her date.
"Get in line Serena." Piper said, interrupting Serena's daydream. "Family comes before relationships, kay."
"Whatever Piper, you always have to point that out." Serena mumbled.
"Of course I do, because I always speak the truth." Piper smiled and she and Reye slapped a high five.
Gennai walked in, "Good morning children." he greeted.
"Hey." replied all the DigiDestined.
Gennai pulled out Izzy's laptop. "Izzy I completed the modifications to your computer." he said. "Now if you insert someone's digivice into this adapter here." he pointed to a small USB port on the side of the laptop. "The analyzer will show the information on all the digimon that the person has seen." he gave a friendly smile. "I also installed a new screensaver, you know the one with the colored fishes swimming around? I like that one." he added.
"Great minds do think alike." Izzy said.
"And now I have a favor to ask of all of you." Gennai went on. "Never forget that you are much more than mere children. You are the DigiDestined, always remember that. Especially you, Sailor Scouts. I know there must be more of you back in your own world. Being DigiDestined is what separates you from those other girls. Always remember that children. I am not able to help you once you return to Myotismon's castle."
All the children nodded. They said their goodbyes and headed back to Myotismon's castle.
"Okay this place looks even creepier than the last time we were here." Rini whimpered.
"No joke." T.K agreed.
The children made their way through the different hallways. They were close to where the Gateway is located, but the pathway was blocked by two Devidramon.
"How do we get past those Devidramon?" Lita asked.
"Leave them to us." Zapdomon spoke up.
"Yeah. We'll handle them while you guys get to the gate." Tentomon said.
Lita and Izzy gave a quick nod to each other. "Go for it." they said.
"Tentomon digivolve to…Kabuterimon. Zapdomon digivolve to…Thundramon."
Izzy's and Lita's Crests began to glow shortly after the first digivolution.
"Kabuterimon digivolve to…MegaKabuterimon. Thundramon digivolve to…Stormdramon."
After the glow from Lita's Crest died down, she was in her upgraded Sailor Soldier uniform. The DigiDestined ran through the door and the two Ultimate digimon held off the Devidramon.
"So much for the quiet entrance plan." Sailor Jupiter said.
"Horn Blaster!" cried MegaKabuterimon.
"Devastation Current!" attacked Stormdramon.
A small warp was created and everything fell right side up. Motimon and Elecmon came rolling down the stairs, into the arms of their human partners.
"Motimon!" Izzy cried.
"Elecmon!" Jupiter cried.
"What happened?" Motimon asked.
"You and Elecmon fixed the warp in space." Izzy answered,
"Meaning you guys helped everything fall right side up. Like it should be." Sailor Jupiter clarified.
The group made their way down the rest of the stairs till they came to the Gateway that led back to their home.
"Now all we have to do is figure out the meaning of the cards and the right combination." Amy said, studying the different cards.
They all tried to come up with what the cards meant. But they were all stumped. Izzy was examining the stone table with the stars.
"Any ideas Izzy?" Lita asked. She was standing behind Izzy, Elecmon in her arms.
"I recognize Sagittarius and Leo as signs in the Horoscope, but there's nothing involving a monkey. And the star pattern, that's the most confusing." Izzy said.
Suddenly a small earthquake erupted through the castle. "I'll go see what's up." Patamon said, flying out of TK's arms.
"It's no use, we'll never be able to open up the gate." Joe muttered sadly.
"Don't even say that Joe. We have to get back home." Lita said.
"There's no point. Even if we lay the cards out so they look right, we still won't know until it's too late." Joe pointed out.
"We still have to try Joe." Amy said.
Patamon came flying back in saying that the passages were all blocked off. "Now we're trapped." Reye said.
"We have no other choice, we have to get back home." Piper yelled.
"One of us is going to have to choose nine cards and place them on this table." Izzy said.
"Well Tai guess it's your call." Joe said.
"What? Why me?" Tai asked, confused.
"I'm not trying to put you one the spot." Joe admitted. "I'm just saying we all really believe in you Tai."
"Are you guys insane?" Tai asked.
"Look Tai remember when you were gone?" Matt reminded. "We all fell apart without you. And in the end you were the one who brought us all back together again."
"Yeah, Matt's right." Piper agreed. "You and Mina are the leaders in this group. We all believe in you Tai."
"She's right." Mina put her hand on Tai's shoulder. "I believe in you Tai. With all my heart." the cheerful blonde smiled. "You can do this."
"We believe in you Tai." everyone else followed.
Tai inhaled a deep breath. "Well if you all believe what I deicide is the best way then, I decided I want Izzy to do it."
"What?" Izzy questioned. "Why me?"
"Hey if Tai says it's fine, then I agree." Serena said.
Lita put her hand on Izzy's shoulder. "C'mon Izzy put your big brain to work." the brunette Sailor Scout smiled. "I know you can do this. You got us out of a lot of tough situations."
Izzy nodded. "I still don't know how this all works though." he admitted.
"Maybe you can use your computer." Lita said.
"It's worth a shot." Izzy began combing through the files from the Digimon Analyzer. He came across the files of Leomon, Etemon, and Centarumon. "That's it. I think I got it."
"Then go for it Izzy." Lita encouraged.
"Who here as met up with Digitamamon and Gekomon?" Izzy asked.
"I have." Amy said.
"Can I see your digivice?" Izzy asked.
Amy handed her digivice to Izzy, who placed it in the adapter and he pulled up the files on Gekomon, ShogunGekomon, and Digitamamon.
"Now the first three represent Leomon, Centarumon, and Etemon. As well as each attribute, Data, Vaccine, and Virus. The stars represent the levels, Rookie, Champion, and Ultimate."
Izzy placed the cards in the squares, two cards were placed in the first square under Leomon.
"So one of the Rookie cards is fake." Lita deducted. "But which one could it be?"
"That's the million dollar question, Lita." Izzy said. "But I'm not sure."
"Well we made it this far Izzy. Great job." Reye said.
Everyone else nodded and started clapping. Lita placed her hand on Izzy's shoulder, "Told ya you could do it." she smiled.
"It seems that you were right this time." Izzy said, smiling back.
"So Tai can you tell which card is the fake?" Rini asked.
"If I can, everyone gets an ice cream and I'm buying." Tai said to everyone.
Mina chuckled. Then some dust from the ceiling fell and she looked up. A huge spider digimon was sitting on her web overlooking the kids. "Intruders in the castle must be destroyed." she said.
Then dozens of smaller spiders sprang towards the children.
"Izzy what is that thing?" Lita asked.
"Give me just a second." Izzy replied, searching through the Digimon Analyzer. "It's Dokugumon, an evil digimon with computer parasites covering its body."
The small spiders were edging closer to the DigiDestined.
"Palmon digivolve to…Togemon. Ravenmon digivolve to…Falconmon. Gomamon digivolve to…Ikkakumon. Sealmon digivolve to…Walrainmon. Gabumon digivolve to…Garurumon. Tigermon digivolve to…Bengalmon."
The six Champion digimon attacked the spiders with all they had. Fending them off while the kids were busy deciding which was the fake card. But Dokugumon was ready. Her poison attacks were too powerful for the Champion level digimon.
"Piper you ready?" Matt asked.
Piper nodded and held out her digivice. "Yea, let's do this." she turned to Reye, "You with us?"
Reye nodded and smiled. "Always. Falconmon!" the champion Falcon digimon squawked in agreement.
All three of the Crests began to glow.
"Garurumon digivolve to…WereGarurumon. Bengalmon digivolve to…IceBengalmon. Falconmon digivolve to…Vulturemon."
In a white flash, Piper transformed into her upgraded Sailor Soldier uniform. And when the pale red color of Reye's Crest faded, she too was in her upgraded Sailor Soldier uniform.
"Get her you guys!" both girls called.
WereGarurumon, IceBengalmon, and Vulturemon charged for Dokugumon.
"Hang on you guys!" Piper called to the tangled Champion digimon. She closed her eyes and her hands began to glow. "Super Celestial Flare!" In flash of pale silver light, the webs tied around Ikkakumon, Walrainmon, and Togemon were all incinerated, and the Rookie digimon fell to the ground.
"Tai you have to hurry and choose!" Sailor Harmony called. "We're out of time!"
"And that's the truth Tai, I don't know how long they can hold her!" Sailor Mars followed.
"Okay." Tai breathed.
He placed the two Rookie cards facedown and flipped one over. "It's this one." he said.
"You're the one Gomamon, take us home." Tai said, hoping he was right.
He threw the card down and the gate opened. One by one each of the kids jumped through the gate, holding their digimon tight in their arms.
The Ultimate digimon were still fending off Dokugumon. "Leave you guys we got this!" Mars called.
She turned to Harmony, who nodded. Both girls held out their hands and crossbows made of fire and gold appeared in their hands.
"Mars Flame Sniper! Harmony Rose Crossbow!"
Both girls waited till the digimon were out of sight before they fired their combined attack. The two arrows merged and both Scouts said in unison, "Flaming Celestial Sniper!" The flaming silver arrow pierced Dokugumon and destroyed her.
The three DigiDestined kids grabbed their In-Training partners and ran through the gate. Seconds later it shut.
All the kids woke up on soft, warm, damp earth.
"Hey everyone wake up." Tai said.
"Yeah, we made it." Mina followed.
Piper and Reye sat up and brushed off the dirt. "Mina's right." Reye sighed.
"We're really home." Piper said.
"But wait where are the digimon?" Rini asked.
Everyone began searching around where they landed. "We're right here." Biyomon chirped.
"You can't get rid of us that easily." Palmon said.
The digimon joined over with their human partners. Most of them were in their In-Training forms, so the kids had to carry them everywhere.
"So now we have to hurry and find the two DigiDestined before Myotismon does." Sealmon said, from Amy's arms.
"So we had best get a move on then, since he's already here." Amy voted.
"Yeah." everyone else agreed.
"Alright gang, let's go." Tai cheered.
Finally the kids make it back home. Now will they find the new DigiDestined kids and stop Myotismon? Find out in the next and future chapters of, "When Destinies Collide…"
To Be Continued…
