CHAPTER 38
NEW HORIZONS
"So he didn't tell you anything?" Cody asked, frowning with confusion.
Izzy rummaged in his backpack, then fished out his science notebook. "I was hoping Gennai would be more helpful," he said. "Then again, he never was one to give timely explanations… Tai, do you have the rest of our notes?"
Tai opened his backpack and pulled out a messy heap of papers. "Here you go," he said, offering them.
Izzy took them with an annoyed look. "You need a filing system," he grumbled.
"Sorry," Tai said, scratching his head. "I was listening to Kari tell me about your meeting and forgot the paper clips."
"Yeah, that was real helpful," Davis grunted, pushing off with his swivel chair. "The old guy doesn't say nothin', and then we get a flyin' choo-choo to worry about, too. Perfect time for Yolei to bail on us."
Poromon slouched on the desk. "Sorry…" he said.
"It's OK, Poromon," Tai told him, "even if she's a Digidestined, she's still a growing kid; this trip's going to be fun for you."
"Yeah, but what about the rest of us?!" Davis grunted.
"It's only a week," TK said.
"Yeah, we can handle just knocking down spires for that long," Patamon agreed.
"But what if Blackwargreymon decides to go crazy?" Demiveemon asked.
"Given his behavior, it's not likely," Izzy muttered as he sorted through the rumpled sheets of writing. "He hasn't attacked anything besides Blackrapidmon and us; I doubt he'd just ravage places for fun."
"But what if he runs into Blackrapidmon?" Upamon asked.
"We just have to hope he doesn't," Tai said. "There isn't anything you can do, so if that happens, just beat it."
TK sighed. If Blackwargreymon and Blackrapidmon got into another fight, they could destroy a lot of terrain and innocent Digimon in the process... but one might also kill the other. He was about to say that might not be a bad thing, but thought better of it. Kari was quiet, too, pensively running her fingers over her D3.
"Now, Patamon is on the right track," Izzy said, turning back to his computer. "In Yolei's absence, you guys should focus on neutralizing Control Spires."
"Um… Oh! But Mummymon can make broken spires into Digimon," Upamon said.
"True, but when they're down, they can't be activated," Izzy said. "Even if Mummymon uses a few, it's more productive in the long run to destroy them."
"Yeah, and Agumon and the others want to Digivolve more often," Tai added. "You're doing them a favor, too."
"Right!" Demiveemon chirped. "We'll be awesome, just like always!"
"Easy, Demiveemon," Cody warned him, "pride comes before a fall."
"So does kicking the spire, Cody," Upamon laughed. "Let's work real hard!"
Gatomon's tail twitched irately as she looked around. "So where's Yolei?" she asked. "She's supposed to hear this, too!"
"She's coming," Poromon said, "but…"
Izzy was about to ask Poromon what he meant by "but" when the computer lab door slid open. In walked a girl with long, silky lavender hair, wearing a rippling yellow skirt, knee-high tan boots, and a scarlet, tight-fitting t-shirt with the words "made in heaven" spelled out in glitter. The Digidestined froze in shock. The girl blinked, then smiled at them with pink lips. "Hey, guys," Yolei said, "did I miss anything?"
Davis's jaw hit the floor. The other Digimon stood as still as toys, but Poromon just sighed and shook his feathers. Yolei blinked and put her hand on her hip. "What?" she asked. "Did something happen?"
"You guys can move," Poromon muttered, "it's her."
Izzy swallowed hard. "Yolei? Is that you?" he asked.
She looked at him with a raised eyebrow, forcing him to notice her lavender eye shadow and longer eyelashes. "Sure it is!" she said. "What're you freaking out about?"
"I, uh… that's quite a new look," Cody tried, still having trouble believing she was Yolei.
"Yeah," Yolei said, beaming and spinning in place to show it all off. "I figured I'd try it for the trip! What do you think?"
"Wow!" Kari exclaimed, clasping her hands. "You look really good, Yolei!"
TK blinked half a dozen times before he could say anything. "It's sure… different," he managed, his cheeks burning. "Very… uh… pretty!"
"TK, why're you getting all red?" Patamon asked. "Are you hot?"
"He'll tell you later, Patamon," Tai said, his own face a little rosier, too.
"Err… I'm actually finished; Cody can fill you in later," Izzy said, closing his laptop and getting up. "If you'll excuse us, Tai and I have a project due on Monday; the teacher enjoys making the second half of the alphabet go first."
"Yeah, great," Tai sighed, slumping a bit. He was worried about their project, but he also wondered how Sora would do with hers.
The older boys grabbed their things and left. "This could really mess up the Digital World," TK sighed. "We need to get rid of Blackwargreymon as fast as we can."
"Relax, TK, We'll get to it," Yolei said, picking Poromon off the counter. "Just take it easy while I'm gone, OK?"
"You even sound kind of different, Yolei," Gatomon said. "Why the big change?"
Yolei shrugged. "Oh… I just thought it was time to grow up a little," she said. "Why? Don't you like it?"
Gatomon scratched her head. "Well…" she began.
Davis had been silent since she walked in, but now he erupted. "What the hell?!" he shouted, getting everyone's attention. "What'd you do to yer face?!"
Yolei's beaming face contorted into a sour scowl. "Who asked you?!" she snapped, clenching Poromon hard enough to make him wheeze.
"Uh, YOU did!" he said. "Hell, ya look worse than normal!"
"Davis!" Patamon scolded. "Come on!"
"Yeah, be nice!" Gatomon huffed.
Davis and Yolei glared at each other for a few moments more, then Yolei turned away with her nose in the air. "Well, I'd better get home," she said, opening the lab door. "SOME of us have to pack!" With a slam, she was gone.
"Geez, Davis," TK said, frowning at him, "you couldn't just be polite?"
Davis's face burned. "Razzle-fraggin' stupid…" he snarled, and continued under his breath as he stuffed his junk and the surprised Demiveemon in his backpack. "I'm goin' home, too!" he grunted, and also slammed the door on his way out.
Awkward silence filled the room. "Good grief!" Gatomon said, "I knew Davis could be a jerk, but…"
"That was kind of weird," Kari said. "Why'd he get so angry?"
"Yeah, usually he throws a few play insults before getting really nasty," TK said.
Cody sighed. "He's upset," he said. "He didn't like her new outfit."
They looked at him strangely. "You mean the colors?" Patamon asked.
"No, he didn't like seeing her in it," Cody said.
TK and Kari exchanged looks. Cody had known both Davis and Yolei longer than they had; maybe he knew things they didn't. "Have they been friends long?" Kari asked.
"As long as I can remember. Maybe even before I was born," Cody said, gathering his things and collecting Upamon. "They always get into fights, but..."
"But…?" Patamon asked.
Cody sighed and shook his head. "This must be a bigger change for him than the rest of us," he said.
… … …
"Sora?" Toshiko Takenouchi asked as she opened her daughter's door. "Could you run to the—"
"Not a good time!" Sora snapped, not looking away from her computer screen. One hand stabbed one finger into the keys while the other flipped the pages of her notebook like poker cards. Suddenly, she realized at whom she was yelling, and she slowed down and looked up. "Sorry, Mom," she said, "it's just I'm one of the first to go on Monday, and I've gotta do twice the work everyone else is doing."
"Oh… I see," Toshiko said. "What happened? Weren't you working with—"
"Don't even get me started!" Sora snapped, "it's HIS fault I got stuck alone! Then Yolei bailed on me, too… so I really need to work on this!" She turned back to the screen and jabbed at the keyboard like an inept nurse looking for a vein.
"Well, all right," Toshiko said, "but if you could run down to the store, I would appreciate it. We can't stir fry chicken without chicken, after all."
Sora glared at the screen a little longer, then pushed her chair back; a walk might help her blow off steam. "OK, I'll go," she muttered.
She jammed her feet into her shoes, threw on her jacket and left the apartment, fuming as she went down the stairs. Tai had gotten her into plenty of messes before, but this one really took the cake. Throwing up in her hat was fine; giving her a lousy hairpin for her birthday was excusable; but if she didn't keep her grades up, they might not let her coach the girls' soccer team any more, and he knew that; he had to do it himself to keep coaching the boys. Heck, maybe that was why he ditched her for Izzy in the first place.
As she turned a corner, though, she realized how ridiculous she sounded. Tai and she might have been rivals on the field, but he wouldn't try to get her fired; he respected her too much. That forced her to slow down and take stock of what had her so mad. He had apologized plenty of times for barfing in her hat. He also apologized about the hairpin, which she had blown far out of proportion. She bit her lip as she waited for a stoplight to change; what exactly had they said again? She replayed the argument in her head a few times, and the anger in her stomach turned as cool as the wind. It hadn't been his fault; they had butted heads over the new Digidestined, but she had been the one who had broken off the partnership. She paused and sulkily looked up at the orange sky. She had messed herself up.
A passing car's beep startled her out of her thoughts and she walked a little faster. Once the stupid project was finished, she had to set things right with him.
… … …
For most of the junior high students, Sunday passed as boringly as it often did. For Yolei, though, it was a whirlwind of activity preparing for her trip. After spending the morning pleading and wheedling souvenir money out of her parents, she had the whole afternoon to plan what to take along. "All right, it's a five-day trip, so…" she muttered as she opened the large roller suitcase Momoe had loaned her and dropped in her toothbrush, spare glasses case and deodorant. "Five days' worth of clothes, plus the train ride tomorrow… Hmm…" She went to her closet and pulled out several of the shirts, skirts and pants Mimi had selected for her, then lined them up on the bed and looked them over, no inspiration striking. "Ugh, fashion needs a manual," she grumbled, turning to her partner. "What do you think?"
Poromon squirmed in his cheesy bed; it wasn't built for a spherical creature and he had to keep shifting his weight. "I don't think you need to worry so much," he said. "You look fine normally!"
Yolei rolled her eyes and went back to looking at the clothes. "Mimi said it's a chance to try attracting boys," she said. "I want something to really grab their attention!"
"I'm a boy," Poromon said, "and you've had my attention since I met you."
"This is different," she replied.
Poromon sighed. He still didn't understand what she meant about boys, but he did know that ever since Mimi had shown up, his friend had changed a lot… and that bothered him. "How did you get your mom and dad to give you even more money?" he asked, looking to change the subject. "And weren't they still mad that you went out the other day?"
"Err… I was able to sweet-talk them," she said as she folded the clothes and piled them into the suitcase. "I just have to work a few more hours at the store." She could have mentioned that it was a whole week of four-hour after-school shifts with no breaks, but that would have reminded her.
"Um… you said it's a two-hour train ride," he mentioned, trying to change the subject again. "What games are you going to bring?"
"Games? Oh, yeah!" Yolei said, scrambling for the nearest handheld. "Yeah, I got this new RPG last month! I can—" She stopped and looked down at her suitcase, which was stuffed full of clothes and essentials; there was no room for any video games. "Oh…" she said, then slowly put the game back on her desk.
Poromon did a double take. Less than a month ago, Yolei couldn't even do her homework without a controller nearby.
"Well, I probably won't have time to play it, anyway," Yolei reasoned out loud. "I'll spend the ride talking with my friends… Hmm, I should probably bring some homework, too; gotta catch up on the classes I slept through." She grabbed a few notebooks and pens and crammed them on top, then set about trying to zip the pack up.
"And what about me?" he tried. "You can't expect me to be a stuffed toy for the whole trip! What about snacks and bathroom breaks?"
She sighed. "I've got chocolate-covered gummy chews and a few other things; I'll sneak 'em to you," she said. "As far as bathrooms, you'll have to go when I go, OK?"
"But what if you don't, but I do?" he objected.
"Well, hold it," she grunted, getting annoyed with the stupid questions.
"For how long?" he complained, then had a wicked thought. "After all, if I were to have an accident in your suitcase… all over your clothes—"
"OK, OK!" she huffed, "just give me a signal or something, then! Sheesh! At least babysitters get paid for this stuff…"
"You need to think about these things, Yolei," Poromon huffed, insulted at the comment. "I'm not just some toy you can leave in your bag!"
Yolei thought for a moment. "I could always leave you behind," she joked.
"WHAT?!" he screeched, flapping up and getting in her face. "Out of the question! I'm your partner!"
"It's not like you'd get anything from it; you don't know squat about history or culture," she went on, folding her arms. "Besides, if my classmates grab you, you'll be getting pulled and pinched all the way there and back."
"Nonsense!" he objected, "I'm coming, and that's final!"
There was a knock on the door. "Miyako?" Chizuru's voice came. "Is someone in there?"
Yolei panicked and shoved him down onto her suitcase's hard, plastic top. "Uh… just playin' a new game!" she said quickly. "What is it?"
"Uh… Right," Chizuru said, opening the door and peering in. "Anyway, Mom wants to talk to you again. Something about after your trip."
Her mouth flattened into an irritated line. "All right, I'm coming," she muttered.
… … …
The blue car tore past the green one and took the lead, but it couldn't slow down in time for the next turn and flew off the road, smashing into a concrete barrier and blowing to smithereens. The words "YOU LOSE" flashed in red over the gory scene.
Davis gave an audible curse through the chocolate chip cookie in his mouth. He was usually great at the racing game, but that was the sixth time he had blown up in the last hour. He forced the whole cookie into his mouth, chomped three times and swallowed, then jammed another in and restarted the game. As much as he fought it, though, his mind kept wandering back to Yolei and her stupid new look. He didn't know why, but just remembering it gave him an unwelcome new feeling, something that made his stomach churn, his teeth clench and the back of his neck heat up.
A purple car rammed his car and knocked it off a bridge and into a river, ending the race yet again. He growled and stuffed another cookie into his maw. What the hell was she doing, anyway? Did that stinky nerd actually think she could—
"You don't know how lucky you are, Daisuke," a voice came, almost making him choke. He looked over to see Jun, clad in nothing but bath towels around her body and hair, Demiveemon in her soggy clutches. "Eat, sleep, play video games… That's all you have to think about, isn't it?"
"Hey!" he objected, scrambling up and grabbing Demiveemon away. "What the hell, Jun?! You coulda dropped him in the water!"
"You take him into your baths all the time," she huffed.
Davis rolled his eyes as he opened his door and gently tossed Demiveemon onto his bed. That was different; he knew he wouldn't freak out if the little guy started swimming around. "Well, life ain't all guns and roses fer me either! I've got plenty of crap to think about!" he said, sitting back down with the controller. "But when I think too hard, my brain hurts, so I've gotta chillax with some game time."
"Yeah, sure you do," Jun sighed, "but it's not like that's anything important."
"Oh, yeah?" he snarled. "Like you've got anything big to think about?!"
"Well, I guess you wouldn't care, but…" she started, then loomed over her brother and pointed to a red spot just under her lower lip. "I've got a PIMPLE! Right in the worst place!"
Davis blinked a few times. "THAT'S why you're drippin' on the rug?" he asked.
Jun wasn't listening. "Ohhh, what if Matt sees me like this?!" she lamented to space. "He's so cute and I'm so hideous with this second head on my chin! When he sees it he'll get all grossed out and break up with me!"
"Oh, for God's sake…" he muttered, and turned back to his game. Nothing Jun did—or grew—could repulse Matt any more than he was already, but he didn't feel that was worth mentioning.
"So do you think Miyako's store has any creams that—HEY!" she snapped. "Are you listening to me?!" She marched over and pulled the game machine's plug, and the TV screen went black.
"HEY!" he snapped, leaping up. "What was THAT for?!"
"I was asking you a question! I want your undivided attention!" she huffed.
Davis grinned rottenly. "Who's talkin'?" he mused. "You or the zit?"
His answer was a sharp slap in the face that knocked him against the couch. "Forget it!" she snarled. "I'll go look myself!"
She stormed back into the bathroom. Davis picked himself up off the floor and rubbed at his jaw. "Boy! For a zit, that thing hits hard!" he said loudly, then retreated to his room in case she came back for an encore.
Demiveemon was sitting on his bed, looking at the screen on the D-Terminal. "Hey, Davis!" he chirped, "did you tell your sister how to be invisible?"
"Wha…?" Davis asked, still massaging his sore cheek.
"She was goin' on about 'vanishing cream,'" Demiveemon said. "She thought you'd know if Yolei's store had it."
Davis couldn't stay angry for long. "Heh, I wish," he said. "If I knew where to get cream like that, I'd put it on more than just her zit… Whatcha lookin' at?"
"Oh, Kari sent you an e-mail," Demiveemon said. "She says—"
"Gimme that!" Davis huffed, snatching the D-Terminal away and reading it for himself:
Hi, Davis,
Can we meet in the Digital World some time this week? I need your help with something.
Kari
All the problems of the day melted away from his mind. Kari wanted to meet up with him. And she needed his help. Maybe she knew some secret hideaway where they could have a little date… Even swollen, his cheek couldn't contain the spreading goofy grin. "Uh, Davis, are you OK?" Demiveemon asked. "You're gettin' all red."
Hardly hearing his partner, Davis mentally flipped through his schedule, then banged out a reply:
Hey Kari,
I got soccer tomorrow, but I can do it Tuesday or Wensday.
Davis
He pressed the "send" button and sighed dreamily; things were finally turning around.
… … …
Yolei already hated crowds, but getting knocked around a fully-packed train station on a Monday made her want to hide in her room until mankind invented teleporters. Lugging her rolling suitcase behind her, she made her way towards the platform looking for her misplaced classmates. "Fine time for a bathroom break," she grumbled to her backpack. "Now I've lost 'em!"
"I was nervous!" Poromon huffed through the unzipped hole. "I've never been anywhere in your world besides your school and your room!"
"It's not like we're leaving the country," she grumbled, dodging a businessman yakking on his phone, "but we won't be going anywhere if we miss the train!"
Through the hole, Poromon could see flashing signs and arrows of all sizes pointing every which way, spattered with writing like someone had sneezed Japanese characters on them. He had learned to read a little bit from Yolei's manga collection, but he couldn't make heads or tails of the mess. "Where do we even need to go?" he asked.
Yolei's head jerked around worriedly. "The teacher said it's the westbound Tokaido Shinkansen," she muttered, "and it leaves at 9:30 sharp! Dammit, I don't know where that is!"
Poromon reeled through Yolei's series of jerky movements; he wasn't on the train yet and already he felt sick. Suddenly, for a split second his eye caught sight of the letters "TOKA" on a sign. "A sign!" he yelped before being thrown against the back of the pack.
Yolei spun around a hundred and eighty degrees. Up a flight of steps, hanging over a hall on her left-hand side, was a big sign reading TOKAIDO-W. "Thank God!" she rasped, and took off. She skittered through the crowd and finally came out at the platform, where the long, shining white bullet train waited. She saw her teacher standing near the door with a clipboard, double-checking the roster. "Wait! Wait!" she yelled, waving at him frantically. "I'm here! Sorry!"
"It's about time, Miyako," he said, shaking his head. "If you needed to use the restroom, you should have told me! Well, get on; everyone else is there already."
Yolei stepped into the train's interior and saw her whole class goofing off in the closest car. The only empty seat was the one assigned to her, a window seat in line with the three girls with whom she would share a hotel room. She knew them only by their names—Yukari, Fuuka and Mitsuru—and they never paid much attention to her, but today they smiled and waved to her. "Miyako! Over here! Come sit down!" they called.
She made her way through the crowd of jabbering kids to her row. "This is gonna be great!" Yukari laughed, getting up to help Yolei stuff her suitcase into the overhead compartment. "We're really lucky!"
"What?" Yolei asked. "Why's that?"
"You!" Fuuka said. "We get to share a room with you!"
"Everyone's amazed at how cool you are now," Mitsuru said. "Will you tell us how you did it?"
Yolei blinked, speechless. The girls wanted to be her friends now that she looked better? Her insides warmed at the realization; prettying herself up had other perks besides attracting boys. "Well, I guess I could give you a few pointers," she said, leaning back in her seat; it was going to be an interesting ride.
… … …
The morning may have been looking up for Yolei, but for others it had been a waking nightmare. Her stomach complaining loudly, Sora slid her mop across the science room floor. Her demonstration of measuring volume through water displacement had been a disaster… and that's why she was spending her lunchtime cleaning it up. It had been going just fine for the first few moments, but after she accidentally sprayed the teacher's desk, the floor and the first row of students with the faucet, smudged the measurement markings on her glass pan, then slipped and broke the pan while trying to rewrite them, she could tell her grade wasn't going to be very high.
She raised the mop and took it to the bucket to wring out, but she had to wait her turn; Tai was finishing draining his. "There we go…" he muttered, flicking the strands back into place as he gave Sora a sideways glance. "How're you doing over there?" he asked.
"Err… fine," she said, looking away. At least she wasn't alone in the punishment; after her big fiasco, Tai and Izzy had tried to give their demonstration on centrifugal force, but Tai had lost his grip on the bucket he was swinging and sent it all the way across the room, drenching the kids who thought they were safe in the back row.
Neither one of them went back to cleaning yet; the air was thick between them, waiting for sound. Sora swallowed. "Quite a show, huh?" she asked.
Tai nodded. "Even had an encore," he said with a weak chuckle, "though it wasn't as good."
"Yeah…" she murmured, then bit her lip and turned to him; it was as good a time as any. "Hey, Tai? I'm, uh… I'm sorry I yelled at you… and ditched you," she managed.
He blinked a few times, then smiled. "Yeah, well, I'm sorry your project bombed," he said.
"What?" she asked, confused. "But this was my fault!"
"Yeah, but it feels weird if I don't apologize," he chuckled. "Old habits, huh?"
"Yeah…" Sora sighed, a little smile finally managing to break on her face. That was what made Tai such a good friend: no matter what nastiness she spouted at him, he was always ready to forgive. "Thanks."
"Well, I'm glad that's resolved," Izzy said, crossly slamming another pile of soggy books on a desk. "Now can we continue with being punished?" Being Tai's partner, he had to stay and clean up too, and he wasn't happy about it.
"OK, OK," Tai chuckled, slapping his mop in a puddle. "Take it easy!"
"They'll be hounding our parents for the money to replace these," Izzy grumbled, going back to see what else he could salvage.
Tai went back to his mopping. Sora started to clean again, then hesitated. "So," she said to him, "after practice, you wanna kick the ball around?"
Tai blinked and smiled back. "Uh… OK," he said. "I'd say we could go get sodas after, but if Izzy's right, and you know he is…"
"Yeah, yeah," Sora chuckled, "after practice, then."
They silently continued mopping. Even though they were in trouble, though, both of them had a renewed sense of peace. Things were right with the world again.
… … …
"…So if you spend a few extra minutes in the morning," Yolei recited what Mimi had told her, "it'll really pay off; you'll have nice-looking hair all day long."
"Wow, that is awesome!" Yukari giggled, squirming in her bus seat. Even though they had changed from the train to a shuttle bus at the station, the three girls were still crowded around their new friend, hanging on her every word.
"And you got all that at just one mall?" Fuuka gasped. "You must have superhuman fashion sense!"
"I bet you could get all the boys in our class," Mitsuru said.
Yolei blinked, then blushed. "Oh, you guys!" she laughed, trying to wave it away. However, the compliment excited her; even if she only had Ken in mind, hearing someone say she might have real boy-grabbing appeal made her insides warm and bubbly.
The bus slowed, pulled off the road and stopped. "All right, class, we're here!" the teacher said, getting out of his seat and brandishing his clipboard. "Get your things and line up in an orderly fashion outside the hotel!"
"Is he gonna take roll again?…" Fuuka groaned.
"He did that when we got ON the bus!" Yolei said. "What, does he think someone jumped out the window?"
Yukari and Mitsuru couldn't hold the giggles back. "That's hilarious!" Yukari snorted. "Not just pretty, but funny!"
"It's going to be fun sharing a room with you," Mitsuru said.
Yolei grinned as she pulled her suitcase out from under her seat. This trip was going to be better than she expected: new friends, no homework, no pesky Davis, and most of all, no Digimon craziness.
She felt her backpack squirm and she quickly grabbed it and peered inside. All right, so not a complete absence of the Digimon craziness. "How're you doing?" she whispered to Poromon.
"I've gotta go!" the puffy bird squeaked back. "And I mean now!"
Yolei winced and bit her lip; whatever the teacher was lining them up for, she hoped it was brief.
… … …
"OK, everyone, good practice!" Tai called to his team as they scrambled for their duffel bags. "Go home, warm up and get some rest!"
Davis was glad to hear it. As much as he loved soccer, with the sun setting earlier and the air getting colder he preferred to be inside with a model airplane. As he reached his bag, he looked around to make sure nobody was watching, then unzipped it. "OK, we're done!" he said.
Demiveemon gasped for air as he popped out, shaking a sock off of his ear. "Brr! It's a lot warmer in the bag, Davis!" he chirped. "You oughta come in here!"
Davis grinned at his partner. Even after the shock of Yolei's new looks, he was riding high on life: he had dominated practice, and tomorrow afternoon he'd finally have his time to shine with Kari. His cheeks burned in the cold as he imagined what awaited him: maybe a high hill with a great view and nobody for miles around, or secret grotto behind a waterfall where his pre-teen fantasies could finally surge forth, or…
"Davis!" Demiveemon chirped. "Move, Davis!"
He was daydreaming so intensely, he didn't hear the yelling, and then a soccer ball smacked him right in the worst place. "D'AAAAHHH! WHAAAA-GHAAAAA!" he howled, tumbling backwards into the grass, his hands clamped around the sore spot.
Sora's face appeared over him. "Sorry, Davis!" she said. "Are you OK?!"
"Wow!" Demiveemon yelped, bouncing over to his friend's head. "That's an awesome face, Davis!"
Davis couldn't hear anything but the ringing in his ears. He managed to drag himself into a sitting position, but couldn't do much more. All that escaped his mouth was a high-pitched wheeze. "Woah! What happened?" Tai called, racing over and helping Davis back on his feet. "Can you stand up?"
"I got him with the ball," Sora said. "Davis, didn't you hear me shout?"
"My nuts!" Davis managed in a higher pitch, unable to open his eyes. "You broke my nuts!"
"Should we call the nurse?" Sora asked. "Oh, wait… she went home already."
In spite of the pain his player was in, Tai couldn't keep from smiling. "Relax; I think he'll be fine," he said, steadying Davis on his own feet. "Davis, get an ice pack from the locker room and go home. Slowly."
Davis wobbled, but stayed upright, so Tai let go of him. "OK," he said to Sora, "you wanna get going?"
"Coach!" Davis objected, finally forcing his tear-bleared eyes open. "Ain't you gonna say anything? She got me right in the nards!"
Sora looked a little guilty, but Tai smiled and shook his head. "Shouldn't have taken off your cup so quickly, Davis," he chuckled. "See you tomorrow."
"WHAT?!" Davis roared, almost falling over again. "But we don't WEAR cups!"
Tai and Sora walked off tossing the ball between them. Davis wobbled back and forth, the pain turning his legs to jelly. At least the coach and Sora were speaking again… but did it have to be so rough on him?
"Hey, Davis!" Demiveemon piped up. "Sora broke your nuts? Do you have any more? Are they salted? Can I have some?"
… … …
Yolei emitted another relaxed sigh as she slipped on a fluffy cream-yellow bathrobe. The hotel's hot spring was open to women that night, so like most of the girls in her class, she had spent the evening soaking. One of the last to leave, she headed back for her room on the third floor.
As she climbed the stairs, she found herself remembering Arukenimon's crazy motel, and its bath. It certainly wasn't as nice as the one she was in, but she'd been able to get a show while she was in it… but that was no consolation for what went down after—she shook her head with an angry grunt. She was away from all that for a whole week; she was going to relax and forget about it.
As she opened her door, though, she saw fate had other plans: Fuuka, Yukari and Mitsuru skittered around the room laughing, bouncing something pink and fluffy around like a beach ball. "Hey, Miyako!" Yukari giggled, "this's awesome!"
Yolei screamed in terror, raced under the ball and performed the most amazing standing vertical jump the girls had ever seen. "What the hell, you guys?!" she yelled at them, clutching Poromon tightly. "Why'd you go through my stuff?!"
Mitsuru looked surprised. "But we didn't," she said, "it was sitting next to the bathroom door."
Yolei's face flushed. "Oh, it was?…" she asked, glaring at her partner. "Gee, sorry… It must have rolled out of my bag…"
"It's adorable!" Fuuka said, poking Poromon's cheek. "I want one!"
"Where'd you get it?" Yukari asked.
Yolei bit her lip and racked her brain; hadn't she heard of a tight spot like this before? "Uh… Dad was thinking of selling them at the store… for springtime!" she said. "This, uh, this's a prototype. Only one right now!"
"Really? Wow!" Fuuka beamed. "I can't wait!"
"You're really lucky, owning a store," Yukari said. "I bet you get first dibs on all the new stuff."
"Do they come in other colors?" Mitsuru asked. "Maybe yellow, or sky blue?"
Yolei grinned with relief, though she felt like pinching Poromon hard enough to make him scream; another fine mess he'd almost gotten her into.
… … …
Ken thought his Tuesday would pass with little incident, and until he was cleaning the dinner dishes, it had… but then there was knock on the door. Mrs. Ichijouji went to get it, but was back at his side before he knew it. "Ken! There's an older boy here to talk to you," she said gleefully. "Are you even making friends above your grade now? Here, I'll finish those!"
Ken had no clue what she meant, but he dried his hands and went to see who it was. As he reached the door, he stiffened in alarm; it was the red-haired boy who had the Tentomon. "Ken?" he asked. "I'm Koushiro Izumi. We talked over the phone once?"
Ken scowled, but his free hand visibly shuddered. Why had one of his victims shown up on his doorstop? "Yes?" he ventured. "What do you want?"
Izzy noticed the shaking and tried his best to look friendly. "I just wanted to talk with you; I've got some questions," he said, "um, if that's agreeable."
Ken hesitated and looked him over, but the red-haired boy didn't show any outward malice. "Oh… all right," he said quietly, and let Izzy come inside.
Izzy removed his shoes, and then Ken led him to his room and closed the door. "Now," he said coldly, "what did you want to ask the Digimon Emperor?"
"For a start, I'd ask that you drop that line of thinking," Izzy muttered, pulling a notebook out of his backpack. "You're not that person any more. I've accepted it, and most of the others have, too."
Ken didn't look convinced. Izzy paused to pull the cap off a pen. "All right… Now, I'm sure you know this, but many of us became Digidestined five years ago, and we had our own adventure… but a lot of things have changed since then, and I want to know why," he said. "I've been trying to piece together what brought on the changes, and I was hoping you would be able to help me."
Ken avoided his gaze. "Changes?" he asked.
Izzy tapped his pen on the notebook as he thought. "Well, there's why the Digital World's layout changed, for one," he said. "Both File Island and the Server Continent have lost some old areas and gained new ones, and they've all shifted around. There's also the matter of the new kids' clothes changing when they enter the Digital Gate… and that's a question on its own; that gate wasn't there before…"
"And how am I supposed to help?" Ken replied coldly. "I can tell you right now, I don't know anything about any of those."
Izzy paused and looked at him. "I want to ask about your equipment," he said.
Ken's eyes were blank. "My equipment?" he asked.
"Your D3, for one," Izzy said, looking at the broken device sitting on the desk. "You're the first we know of to get a new model. How did you come across it?"
"It… came out of Sa—" Ken began, but he quickly stopped himself; the kid never needed to know about his brother… or what had happened to him. "The computer. It came out of the computer," he said.
Izzy looked at the computer for a moment, scratched at his head, then wrote it down. "Huh… just like Davis's and the other's," he muttered. "Curious that the new receiving method is different…"
Ken raised an eyebrow. "What do you mean?" he asked.
"The original Digivices didn't come from a computer; they fell from the sky," Izzy said, more to himself than to Ken.
"Fell from the…?" he repeated, his own voice not making it sound any more believable. "How did that work?"
Izzy didn't hear him; he was back in his own thoughts. Did the Order decide sending Digivices through computers was more efficient? Why had they changed their methods? And were they behind the clothing the new kids received, too? What purpose did those serve? Certainly not functionality, considering Cody's droopy sleeves…
Ken sensed he was being ignored and coughed sharply. Izzy jumped in surprise. "Oh, sorry!" he said. "When I start thinking hard, everything else kind of drops away."
Ken had been annoyed with the older boy's rambling, but that statement softened his scowl; that was a lot like he used to be. "What else did you want to ask me?" he prompted.
"OK, uh…" Izzy muttered, looking at his notes again, "so, after you got your Digivice, what made you decide to design the spires and the Dark Rings?"
Ken folded his arms and was silent for a while, his face pained; he could come clean to the newcomer about those. "I didn't," he answered, "all of it was already there."
Izzy looked up in surprise. Ken shook his head and continued. "Schematics for the base, Dark Rings, and control spires… they were all there when I arrived," he said, Wormmon's image blurring before his eyes, "even the costume I wore." He stopped and glared at the older boy. "All that time, the Digimon Emperor you feared and hated was just a stupid pawn," he finished coldly.
Izzy's eyes reflected his shock, but he focused on scribbling notes. "Do you have any idea who set it up?" he asked.
Ken glared at the floor. There was that mysterious e-mail he received after Sam's death, but he couldn't tell Izzy about that or the whole macabre affair would spill out. "Arukenimon," he partly lied. "It had to be her… and Mummymon."
"You think they designed the spires?" Izzy asked, raising an eyebrow. Arukenimon and Mummymon were powerful foes, but somehow they didn't look the type to be able to manifest in the real world, like Myotismon had done.
Ken shook his head, the scowl returning. "It doesn't matter," he growled. "All I have to do is kill them. Whatever they're up to will die with them."
Izzy sighed. Simply defeating an enemy usually wasn't the solution to a problem, but he decided to keep his opinions to himself; he had come to Ken for information, not to argue. "All right… now, please think carefully," he said. "Is there anything else you can tell me about your Digivice, or how you got it? It could be important."
Ken shuddered as his mind shot through that loathsome day when the Digivice came to their house, all of his senses flaring up. The torturous humidity, the eerie hum of the glowing computer… his furious brother towering over him, the soft flesh of his chest as Ken shoved… and the smells of burnt tires and blood… He squeezed his eyes shut and tried to push the images out of his mind. "I don't know," he hissed.
"Are you all right?" Izzy asked, putting the notebook down. "You look sick."
"It's nothing," Ken huffed, baring his teeth, "nothing!"
Izzy thought there was more to it than Ken was letting on, but he didn't want to risk agitating him. "OK, uh, we can stop now," he said, starting to gather his things. "Is it all right if we arrange another meeting sometime?"
Ken relaxed a little, but thinking of Izzy showing up again bothered him. "I don't know why you came to see me," he said, pushing off the wall. "I'm not a genius any more, and you probably know more about the Digital World than I do. Why ask me anything?"
Izzy smiled at him. "Because I'm curious," he said. "When I first went to the Digital World, I was overwhelmed by the prospects of an entire world existing beyond ours. I came up with my own theories about what it is and why it's there, but I still didn't have all the information." He took out his Digivice and laid it next to Ken's. "With all these new events, I can't help but wonder if we're on the verge of a shift in worldview."
Ken blinked. "Worldview?" he asked.
"At the end of our adventure, our whole Earth was exposed to the Digital World," Izzy recounted. "At the time I was more focused on our battle with Apocalymon, but now that there are four more kids with Digivices, perhaps the after-effect of that fight is becoming apparent. It would explain why time no longer shifts between worlds: they've become more intertwined."
Ken scratched his head, astounded. He had never thought of his situation in that way. "You think we're supposed to be… helping connect the worlds?" he asked.
"You could be," Izzy said. "This could be the start of something very important for both worlds."
Ken suddenly had a great deal of respect for Izzy. He wasn't here to condemn him for anything; he was simply trying to understand the changing world around him. "Could you… tell me about your adventures?" he asked, forgetting his own troubles for a moment. "I can make some tea."
Izzy blinked, then smiled at Ken's change in attitude. "Of course," he said. "Do you have any green?"
… … …
"Hey, c'mon, Davith, wait up!" Veemon panted as he tried to keep up with his partner. "Why're ya hurryin' so fast?!"
Scarcely hearing the little lizard, Davis walked as fast as he could towards the coordinates Kari had given him, his mind awash with all manner of thirteen-year-old daydreams about the opposite sex. He was sure of one thing: whatever was waiting for him beyond this beach and its telephone booths was going to blow his mind… and maybe some other things.
He reached the forest's edge and tramped inside, and his heart leaped up. There was Kari, waiting for him in a quaint clearing with Gatomon at her side; maybe the two Digimon would keep each other busy while she and he got around to other affairs. "I'm here!" he managed breathlessly.
She looked over and smiled. "Hi, Davis!" she said. "Glad you could make it."
"M… me too!" he panted, his face flushed.
Kari blinked and looked him over. "Are you OK?" she asked. "You sound like you're out of breath."
"It oughta be," Veemon muttered. "We ran all the way here, almost!"
"Can it, buddy," Davis huffed, then tried his best to give Kari a cool smile, though he could feel his heart pounding in every limb. "So… what did you wanna see me about?" he asked smoothly.
"Well, I wanted to try something—" Kari began, but suddenly the bushes rustled behind her.
Davis bounded in front of Kari instinctively; no wild Digimon were going to mess things up for him. "HEY! Stay back!" he yelled at the underbrush. "Come any closer an' you're gettin' a boot up yer ass!"
The bushes shuddered again, and then Tai's head emerged. "Sheesh," he grunted, "is that any way to talk to your coach?"
Davis's spine snapped into a straight line. "A-jiggama-WHUH?!" he managed.
Tai stepped out of the foliage, followed by Agumon, then Sora and Biyomon. "Hey, Davis is here!" Biyomon chirped. "Great! Now we can start!"
"Feeling better?" Sora asked. "I hope that soccer ball didn't sting too badly."
Davis looked at them, then at Kari, his eyes not knowing whether to squeeze shut or pop out and roll around in the dirt. "WHAT is goin' ON here?!" he demanded.
"Oh, well, since we're all here now," Kari said, "I wanted to try an experiment with some Control Spires."
Davis's knees sank as low as his heart had. A stupid experiment? That's all she called him out here for?!
The older kids and their partners hesitated, then looked at her strangely. "Like, put them in water and see if they float?" Agumon asked.
Sora winced and rubbed at her face. "Ugh, I hope not," she groaned, "I've had enough of that for one semester."
"No, it's not that," Kari said. "I was thinking of how we could save Gargomon, and I remembered what happened with Andromon in Metal City."
"Oh, yeah," Tai said, scratching at his chin. "He grabbed you, then somehow his Dark Ring broke on its own."
"I think I know why," she said, showing her D3. "It fell out of my hand right before the ring broke…"
"You mean it fell on the ring?" Veemon asked. "Boy, I didn't think Ken made 'em that brittle."
"Well, not exactly," Kari said. "I'm thinking…"
Biyomon jumped. "Oh, I get it!" she said, "you think it's like the Black Gears!"
"The what now?" Veemon asked.
"The gears Devimon used to control others on File Island," Tai said. "It turned out our Digivices could destroy them."
"Yes… so I want to see if Digivices will affect the Control Spires like Andromon's ring," Kari said.
Sora blinked, visibly impressed. "Wow, I never thought of that," she said. "If it's true, we could save a load of time."
"How about that!" Agumon laughed. "Izzy's been rubbing off on you, Kari!"
Kari giggled, then looked at Davis. "I wrote TK and Cody, too, but TK said he was busy with homework, and I never got an answer from Cody," she explained, "so I guess it's just you and me."
Davis felt as low as an earthworm in a caved-in tunnel. Not only was it not the special meeting he had hoped for, she had planned to get Cody and TK in on it, too?! When was he going to catch a break?
"There're still a few spires in a clearing just ahead," Agumon said, pointing into the underbrush. "Just follow the signs!… Actually, don't… Um… I mean… you know what I mean, right?"
"Yeah, we get it," Gatomon said, looking at Tai and Sora quizzically. "What are you guys going to do?"
"Somehow I don't think we can do very much," Sora sighed. "I just came because I needed a breather."
"That's OK, Sora," Biyomon said, leaning against her partner's leg. "It's nice to see you even when we don't have to fight something."
"We'll stick around, probably just chill," Tai said.
"Oh, OK," Kari said, "we'll try to be done by five. C'mon, you guys, let's get started!"
They pushed through the underbrush, and just past a "Deer Xing" sign they came into a clearing occupied by three looming control spires. Unlike the lush green jungle around it, the grass here was a sickly yellowish-gray, and the earth felt loose and mushy under their feet. "Ugh, it's like wet sponges," Sora grunted as she stuck her finger into the soil. "Maybe spires kill the plant life…"
"Naww, that can't be right," Veemon said, "there's a tree growin' in Pyro Pit Prairie where a spire used ta be, right, Davith?"
"Let's just get to it," Davis grumbled, not in any mood for small talk. He walked over to the closest spire and pulled out his D3. "So what do we do again?" he asked.
"I'm not really sure," Kari admitted, going to the farthest spire and producing her Digivice. "Just see if you can get your D3 to react to the spire, or something like that."
"Let's see how far we can get without knocking 'em down by force!" Gatomon urged.
"Just see if I can… oh, for God's sake…" Davis muttered, turning to the towering black obelisk in front of him. He pointed his D3 at it, but nothing happened. He pushed the buttons a few times and pointed it at the spire again, but still nothing happened. He pressed the device against the spire, and just as he suspected, nothing happened. He looked up at the spire's top and sighed dejectedly; it was going to be a long afternoon.
… … …
Yolei chuckled as she plucked a packet of calligraphy paper from the store shelf; it would make a great present for Cody. It was nice that her teacher had given them a few hours to explore Kyoto on their own. The class had been visiting historic sites and temples all day long, and several times she thought she felt her spinal cord about to throttle her brain just to relieve the boredom. If she had brought Poromon along, she could have excused herself for bathroom breaks more often… but with his stuffy attitude, he probably would have enjoyed the lessons and chided her into paying attention. Now, though, she was free to grab some souvenirs for her friends instead of having to feign interest at rusty old bells and pots.
She paused and looked over the stuff in her little plastic shopping basket, mentally checking off who got what: some Nama-Yatsuhashi for Upamon, being the snack buff he was; some Kyoto-themed notepads for her parents; and the calligraphy paper for Cody. She paused and wondered if she should get something for TK or Kari, but she had no idea what either of them would like; even after all their time adventuring, those two were enigmas. She wouldn't have a problem with Davis or Demiveemon, though, because she wasn't getting them anything; she could get Demiveemon a chocolate bar at her own store when she got home—he wouldn't be able to tell the difference—and Davis wouldn't appreciate anything anyway.
"Hey, Miyako!" Yukari chirped as she raced up, the other girls behind her. "Are you almost done? Mitsuru wants your help picking out a purse."
Mitsuru had a brown leather purse slung around one shoulder and a creamy ivory-colored purse on the other. "I'm not sure whether to match it to my eyes or my usual shirt color," she admitted.
A surge of warmth churned in Yolei's stomach. Her roommates had actually wanted to partner up with her when they got the chance, and now they wanted her advice on accessories; she was finally making new friends. "Just about," she said, "I need one more thing."
Her eyes flittered around, looking for something she could give Ken. It couldn't be just any touristy schlock; it had to be something that both recognized his genius and laid the grounds for her future plans with him. Nothing in the arts and crafts aisle seemed to scream at her, so she scooted to the next one, which was stocked with a lot of less useful Kyoto-themed things like soaps, refrigerator magnets and picture frames… or at least, one small picture frame, sitting alone on the shelf.
She blinked, then looked again and her eyes lit up. That was it; she could get a picture of herself with Ken, then put it in the frame and give it to him. It wasn't very genius-y, but almost all the intellectuals she saw in her manga had pictures of loved ones on their desks. It could very well cement her place in his prospects. "Perfecto!" she announced, snatching up the smooth wooden frame.
"'Perfecto?'" Fuuka asked. "What's up, Miyako?"
Yolei gulped and turned red, embarrassed that her thoughts didn't stay in her head. "Oh, uh," she stammered, "well, it's for a… friend."
"Oh?" Yukari asked, beaming craftily. "A boyfriend?"
"What?! No!" Yolei huffed instinctively, but then stopped herself; maybe these girls could help her with this. "Uh, that is… maybe," she said. "What do you guys think? Is this a good way to start things?"
Yukari and Mitsuru blinked awkwardly. "I didn't think you'd need presents," Fuuka said. "I bet you could get a boy's attention on your own."
"What?" Yolei asked, her blush deepening. "Me?…"
"Sure!" Yukari agreed. "I mean, look at you! All you'd have to do is start talking to a guy and he'd be begging for your digits!"
"Just start talking?" Yolei asked, scratching her head. "Is there something special you need to say? How do you guys do it?"
The other girls hemmed, hawed, looked away and played with their fingers; either the trick to snaring a boyfriend was a secret lost art, or none of them had any more experience than Yolei. "Uh… well, it can't be that hard," Mitsuru said, recovering first. "You just have to… let your body speak for itself."
Yolei blinked. "You mean 'body language?'" she asked.
"Yes, that's it!" Mitsuru said. "Once you've got their attention with that, you just need to start talking and they're bound to fall for you."
"It's really that easy?" Yolei said, glancing back at the photo frame. Whether it was because it was shallow or it sounded too simple, she was skeptical of the advice.
"It has to be!" Yukari chirped. "C'mon, let's go; this's no place for girl talk."
They paid for their purchases and left the store, heading back for their hotel. "We ought to be back in time for dinner," Mitsuru said, glancing at her cell phone's clock.
As they were about to cross a street, Fuuka stopped. "Hey, look!" she said, pointing across at a video game store on the corner. In front of it was a group of four boys about their age, gathered in a circle on the sidewalk, their attentions absorbed by handheld game devices and their muttered conversations. "Here we go!" she said, looking at Yolei. "Here! Let's try it with them!"
Yolei blinked. "Try… what?" she stammered.
"You know, what we were talking about!" Mitsuru said. "Go over there, get their attention and see if you can get some numbers!"
"What?!" Yolei gawked, going pale. They wanted her to try flirting right now?! But she wasn't mentally prepared… and there were four of them.
"Yeah, I know they're nerds, but it's not like we're gonna find much else on the way back," Yukari sighed, shaking her head. "It's just practice!"
Yolei swallowed, but the thick lump in her throat wouldn't go away. "But why can't we try this with… well… not strangers?" she asked.
"Are you kidding? If we tried this with the boys from class…" Fuuka asked, her own cheeks going pink, "well… it'd be awkward."
"Go on, Miyako," Mitsuru said, giving her a nudge. "We'll hold your bags."
Yolei felt sweat sprouting up all over her skin, the special pre-teen sweat that mysteriously made her itchy in addition to wet. "Do I have to?…" she tried once more.
"C'mon, you're a shoe-in!" Yukari laughed. "Show us how it's done!"
Expecting her legs to collapse into flan at any moment, Yolei slowly made her was across the street. On one hand, this was the first time she had ever given in to peer pressure and none of the greasy-looking guys held a candle to Ken… but on the other hand, at least she could say she was the only one of the lot brave enough to try.
She was fifteen feet from the boys, then ten, and then five. A familiar scent reached her nostrils, telling her that few of them had decent bathing habits. She looked back across the road and saw the girls flailing their arms and urging her on. Mitsuru was swatting at her own hair, seeming to signal her to do the same. Yolei bit her lip, then took a deep breath. "Ahem," she sighed at the boys, swishing her hand through her hair and letting it fall to the side.
One of the boys looked up, saw her and went even paler. "Umm… I gotta get goin' home, you guys," he stammered.
"Whaddya mean? We're just about to battle an' my—" another said, but then he looked where his friend was looking. Yolei had never seen a double take in real life before. "Uh… Yeah, boy, it sure is late!" he gulped, "see you guys tomorrow, OK?!"
"Yeah, uh, I, uh, gotta, uh, go, uh, do somethin'," the third one squeaked as his complexion skipped red and went right to violet.
Moving like they had fire ants in their socks, three of the boys took off. The one remaining was a lanky fellow a scruffy school uniform, his long, stringy black hair drooped over his shoulders and across the lenses of his thick, greasy glasses. He was bent over his handheld, unfazed and totally absorbed in what he was playing. Yolei blinked, puzzled. "Ahem," she tried again, and moved a bit closer, but the boy didn't even look up; his fingers just kept tapping the plastic buttons. She bit her lip and crossed her legs awkwardly, afraid to look back at the other girls. What would they say if she couldn't manage to get one guy's attention?… but this guy didn't even know she was there; what video game could possibly be more alluring than the opposite sex?
She crept closer until she was right next to him and looked down at the handheld. Instantly her heart leapt into her throat; he was playing 'Chronicles of the Void,' the newest title in her favorite role-playing series; she had completely forgotten it launched that week. "WOW!" she exclaimed, sending the boy five feet into the air. "Is that the new 'Chronicles?!'"
The boy staggered for a minute, then realized his friends were gone and he was alone with her. "Uh… errr… um… y-yeah?" he managed between gasps.
"Holy crap, I've been waiting for that one!" she chirped, dancing in place. "Hey, how's the battle system? Did they change anything since 'Symphonics?' What about the music? Is it good?"
"Err, uh, it's, uh, I didn't play that one…" he stammered, his face shining red. "The music, uh… um…"
"Ooh! How much did you pay for it?" Yolei went on, looking at the store, then leaning in close in case the employees could hear. "Did they give you a good deal? Is it part of a chain?"
"Err, uh… OHHH!" the nerd gasped as he doubled over, breathing hard. When he looked back up, his glasses were coated with steam. "I, I, I gotta go!" he yelped, and he tore off down the street, clutching the front of his pants with his free hand.
"Hey, wait! What about the controls?!" Yolei called after him, but he was gone. She stamped her foot angrily; she would have to wait until she had her own copy.
She turned around and got a shock of her own; the girls were right behind her, looking very surprised. "Wow. That… was interesting," Fuuka said.
Yolei's face burned, and she stared at the ground. She had been so interested in the game, she had geeked out and lost sight of her goal; now they would think she was a nerd and ditch her, and that would be the end of their friendship. "Sorry…" she muttered.
"Whaddya mean? That was awesome!" Yukari asked, beaming. "You totally got his attention!"
"I never would have thought of doing that," Mitsuru said.
Yolei raised an eyebrow. "Doing what?" she asked.
"Oh, don't be so modest!" Yukari laughed, grabbing her hands and shaking them happily. "Pretending to be interested in the game to get him to notice you? Genius!"
"You didn't get a phone number, but he was just an otaku," Mitsuru said. "Seeing him do that was way more fun."
"Yeah, you're gonna have to tell us a little about video games," Fuuka said. "I want to try that, too!"
Slowly, a smile spread over Yolei's face as she realized she wasn't going to be ostracized… and if the girls thought her love of games was just a ruse to get nerds' attention, well, she didn't see any reason to disenchant them. "Err, yeah! Sure," she said, "I can give you all the basics over dinner."
"OK!" Yukari said. "Let's hit the hotel!"
"I hope Mr. Fubiyashi doesn't put a price cap on our meals," Mitsuru said, "I'm pretty hungry now."
Chatting happily, Yolei and her friends headed up the street.
… … …
Tai had to stifle his laughter as he watched Davis fume. Fed up with just pushing the buttons on his D3, the youth had spent the last half hour trying wilder methods of testing Kari's theory: he had pressed his D3 against the spire in every direction he could think of, and on every part of he spire he could reach; he had given Veemon the D3 and made him do the same thing; then he had picked up Veemon and pressed him against the spire along with the D3. Presently he stood there glaring at the obsidian spire that taunted him, racking his brain for some other trick. "Oh, boy…" Tai chuckled, pulling off his goggles and cleaning the lenses with his shirt, "I know why he chose the soccer team over the mathletics team."
Sora sighed as she watched Davis pout. Watching the kid to whom Tai offered his beloved goggles making faces like a grumpy toddler's didn't inspire confidence. "Do you really think these new guys are up to this?" she asked.
"Oh, don't say that," Tai said, giving her a pretend sad look, "we just got to be friends again."
Sora tried to rebuke, but she found herself smiling at how silly he looked. "Fine," she surrendered.
"Oh, did you guys have a fight?" Agumon asked, looking concerned.
"Sora must've won," Biyomon concluded, looking her partner over. "When Tai fought Matt, he gave him bruises all over, and she doesn't have any."
"What?!" Agumon cried to Tai in dismay. "But you never lose, Tai!"
Tai grinned at his partner. "Oh, I'd never hit a girl," he said, "it was a different kind of fight."
Both Agumon and Biyomon looked confused. "Not hitting just because they're girls?" Agumon asked.
"Humans have some weird ideas," Biyomon sighed. "Hey, Sora, do you feel OK?"
Sora's cheeks had gained a pinkish hue from the conversation, but she shook her head and turned her attention back to the present. "Still, he's not making any headway with Kari's theory," she said.
"It might not be Davis's fault," Tai said, turning towards his little sister. "She's not having any luck, either."
Sora could see that much was true. Kari had tried everything Davis had, and more. Now, with a face that looked just as frustrated as Davis's, she watched Gatomon climbing the spire as best she could while clutching her D3, seeing if it would react higher up. "Anything yet?" Kari asked.
"It's just as dead here as it was down there," Gatomon shouted down. "Can I come down now? If I go too high, I'll get stuck."
Kari sighed, then nodded. "Yeah, come on," she said. "There's no Digi-fire department here, after all."
Veemon tried desperately to get Davis in a better mood. "Ooh! Ooh! I know!" he exclaimed. "OK, so I turn into Flamedramon and then I shoot the D3 at the spire in one of my fireballs! How 'bout that, Davith?"
"You'd melt the damn thing," Davis grunted, glaring at his Digivice, then pulling his arm back. "Course, as far as THROWIN' it!…" With a snarl, he hurled his D3 at the spire. Instead of smashing to pieces, though, it bounced back with a sharp clatter, ricocheting off the bridge of his nose and knocking him to the ground.
"Oh, no! Davis!" Kari gasped, running over and helping him sit up.
"Are you OK?" asked Gatomon.
"Wow!" Veemon exclaimed. "I didn't know plastic could punch!"
A stream of blood dribbled from Davis's left nostril. He clamped his hands over it and sounded off with every dirty word he could remember, and in each language he knew it. The only socially acceptable thing Kari could make out was "piece of."
"Is he OK?!" Biyomon asked as the others ran over.
Sora picked Davis's D3 up and looked it over; there wasn't a scratch on it. "They sure build these to last," she said, rapping it on the spire.
Davis took his hands off his nose and rubbed it on his sleeve, only to find he'd smeared blood all over both his gloves and his shirt. He swore and covered his nose back up. "Boy, that's a lot," Agumon said. "How much of that stuff do humans have?"
"Aww, shut up!" Davis grunted.
"Relax, Davis; it's not that bad," Tai chuckled, putting his back against the spire and folding his arms. "You've been hit worse than that during practice."
"And you won't be wearing those clothes when you get home anyway," Sora said. "No harm done, right?"
Davis looked away and clenched his teeth, wishing that he could sink into the ground and disappear. Getting clocked by his own Digivice in front of Kari and Tai was embarrassing, but to dribble his fluids all over and then have the others try to cheer him up about it was even worse.
Kari sighed and shook her head. "Sorry, Davis," she said.
He looked up in surprise. So did everyone else, for that matter. "Whaddya mean?" Veemon asked.
"Yeah, you didn't throw the D3 at him," Sora said.
"No, but this was my idea," Kari said, "and it wasn't working anyway; I should've told you to stop."
Davis's anger melted away. He just couldn't stay mad when Kari looked down. "Aww, don't get like that, Kari," he said in a clogged, nasally voice. "It was a good idea, an' I was just tryin' to make it work. No biggie."
"Yeah, maybe the D3s just don't work on things like this," Tai said, slapping his palm against the spire he leaned against. "I mean, on little stuff like rings, maybe, but on something this big…"
Davis could have sworn he saw the spire move a little when Tai slapped it, but nobody else said anything; they were busy consoling Kari. He looked higher up and his heart skipped a beat. Slowly but visibly, the top of the spire was starting to lean forward.
"That's science, after all; you keep experimenting until you find something that works," Sora said. "Hardly anyone ever gets it on the first try."
"Yeah, and we can still break these things the old way," Gatomon said. "It's not like we lost anything, here."
Davis wished it was a trick of the afternoon light, but that spire really was leaning further and further, and now he could hear it starting to groan. Starting to panic, he noticed Tai hadn't moved from his spot; he would get crushed. "C-Coach!" he shouted, scrambling to his feet. "Move!"
"What?" Tai asked, looking at him with confusion. "What're you talking—"
"MOVE!" Davis screamed, grabbing Tai by the arm and yanking him out from under the spire's shadow as the groan grew louder. The others finally saw the dark tower moving and scampered away as it plummeted and smashed into the mushy ground, the whole forest shuddering from the impact.
Veemon groaned and sat up; like most of the others, the impact had knocked him flat on his back. "Woah…" he managed.
Agumon got up and looked at the fallen giant. "They're not supposed to do that, right?…" he asked.
Gatomon clawed her way onto the top and looked it over. "It just… fell over!" she exclaimed.
"Yeah, I think we know that much…" Sora sighed, loosening her grip on Biyomon. "Is everybody all right?"
"I… think so…" Kari said, then peered over the spire at the boys. "Tai! Davis! Veemon! Are you OK?"
Tai got up and dusted himself off, then winced at the ache in his shoulder. "Boy, Davis, you almost pulled my arm off," he said, "but seeing this… Thanks a lot."
Davis grinned. "Can't coach me if you're a pancake," he said, then grew serious. "Why the hell did it start movin' all of a sudden?"
"Did you see what happened, Davith?" Veemon asked.
"Yeah," Davis replied. "Coach slapped the thing, then it kinda shook, and then it started fallin' down."
Sora blinked. "You mean Tai knocked it down just by hitting it?" she asked.
"That doesn't sound very likely," Gatomon muttered.
"Hey, that's what I saw!" Davis snapped. "You think I'm makin' it up?!"
Kari and Agumon walked the length of the spire and came to the base. Kari did a double take and called to the others. "Come and look at this!" she cried, waving.
Everyone raced to where she stood. The spire hadn't fallen down entirely; its foundation still stood, rising about three feet up. "Looks like something sliced it through,"
"How about that! I thought lumberjacks cut down trees, not spires," Veemon remarked.
Biyomon peered at the rubble on the top of the foundation. It was mostly rough, crumbled fragments, but along the left side the spire was relatively smooth. She reached out to touch it, but jerked back at the last second. "It's really hot!" she announced.
"What?…" Tai asked, then ran into the trees and came back with a stick. He poked at the smooth part and the stick sank in a few inches. "It's molten," he murmured.
"So it wasn't cut down," Kari thought out loud, "but melted?"
"Weird," Davis grunted. "How'd that happen?"
"Too bad Izzy's not here," Agumon said. "I bet he'd know."
Sora's eyes lit up. "Hey! Kari! Take some pictures with your camera," she suggested. "We can show them to him tomorrow."
Kari picked up her digital camera and turned it on. "I almost forgot it was there," she said, hitting some buttons. She took several shots each of the spire, the foundation and the strange molten section. "I hope he knows as much about building materials as he does about computers," she said as she put the camera down.
"Well, I don't know about you guys, but I've had enough excitement for one day," Tai said. "Let's go before the other spires try to get the drop on us, too."
"Yeah," Gatomon said, "I'm gonna need some warm milk to calm down."
They picked their way over the downed spire and started out of the woods. Davis lingered in the back, watching the ground as he walked. He felt downtrodden. This trip hadn't turned out at all like he had hoped; it had been a big misunderstanding, and Kari remained oblivious to how he felt.
When they reached the television, Agumon and Biyomon said goodbye and disappeared back into the forest, presumably to guard their areas again. Davis watched the ocean sulkily as Kari opened the warp. "Hey, Davith, what gives?" Veemon asked him. "You like jumpin' in first, don'tcha?"
"Meh, not today," he muttered, "the others can go first."
"Well, see you guys tomorrow," Tai said, then looked off at Davis. "Hey, Davis! Thanks for saving me today!"
Davis turned around long enough to wave goodbye, and then turned back. A small twinge of warmth came to his chest. Even if the day hadn't been what he wanted, he knew he had saved his coach from getting squashed. That was something.
He heard Tai and Sora disappear back into reality, but he didn't hear a third warping noise. "Hey, Davis?" Kari's voice came.
He whirled around, surprised. Kari and Gatomon stood a few feet away from the warp. "Uh… yeah?" he tried.
Kari smiled at him. "About today…" she started. "I… it was great you saw what was going on. If you hadn't noticed the spire falling, well…"
Davis blinked, then looked away, his cheeks starting to turn pink. "Oh… it was nothin'," he muttered.
"It was a pretty big nothing," Gatomon said. "I mean, I've got super hearing and I didn't pick it up; I was busy listening to the others talk."
"We really need to be more careful now," Kari said. "So, thanks for saving Tai... and probably the rest of us, too."
Just like when she was sad, Davis couldn't stay down when Kari looked so happy. "Heh heh… No problem!" he chuckled, scratching the back of his head. "Any time I see something fallin', I'll scream like a yeti with a hammer-oid!"
Kari and Gatomon looked at each other, then giggled. "Thanks," Kari said again.
"See you guys tomorrow," Gatomon said, and the girls disappeared into the warp.
Davis watched the screen for a moment, then leaped five feet into the air with a joyous war whoop. "HELL YEAH!" he cheered, and did a crazy victory dance in the sand; it was the first tender moment they'd shared together. If little steps were going to be how he could win Kari's affections, then he would shuffle all the way into her heart.
Veemon watched his partner's crazy performance, happy but unsure what to make of it. Davis could be down one minute and dancing like a wild man the next? He still had a lot to learn about humans.