Chapter 107: Hunting Part 6

Hello there everybody. I hope you're all well and keeping safe.

Many thanks to Gadget30thAnniversery, Psychology Nerd and Raxius for your recent reviews of this story. I'm glad that the previous chapter was still good despite how much I had to edit it. Your feedback on Metalseadramon was interesting too. I could say more about him but I, obviously, don't want to spoil things.

And now it's time to begin this next chapter …

Tai glanced down at the cast around his right hand and moved his fingers. The pain was definitely gone now and he could move them much easier than he had been able to since he had fractured his hand punching TK. He took this as a good sign that today would be the day that he would finally get rid of his cast and be allowed to start going out on patrols once again.

The leader of the Digidestined looked over at Davis. The younger of the goggle-heads was still snoring loudly and, just like Veemon, was fast asleep. They were still sharing a room and had decided that it was way too soon in their relationships with Noriko and Keiko to consider the idea that one of them should swap with one of their girlfriends so that each couple could spend every night together. Tai didn't want to rush things like that with Noriko and it seemed like Davis wanted to do things in the right way with Keiko too.

It was different compared to the other Digidestined couples because most of them had been together for years. The exception was Mimi and Izzy, but that was different to how things were between Tai and Noriko. Izzy and Mimi had been close and good friends for many years, so it was much easier for them to take the various steps in their relationship. Tai and Noriko, like Davis and Keiko, didn't start developing their bonds until much more recently, which meant that they weren't ready to essentially live together just yet.

A rumble pulled Tai out of his thoughts, making him glance down at Agumon. His partner was awake and coming along with him to his check up in an hour. It was a surprise that the orange dinosaur was willing to wake up so early but Tai had a guess as to why.

"Can we get breakfast now, Tai?" Agumon asked as he placed his hand over his stomach. "I'm hungry."

"You're always hungry." Tai supressed his laugh, being careful to not wake Davis or Veemon. Then again, those two were heavy sleepers, so he doubted that they'd stir even if he was laughing as loudly as he possibly could. A sudden rumble from his own stomach made the wild-haired teen chuckle again as he smiled at his partner. "Let's grab some food."

Agumon's face lit up as they both made their way to the door. "Breakfast buffet, here we come."

Tai quietly opened the door and stepped out with his partner before closing it behind him. He was greeted by a very welcoming sight that he was hoping to see. Noriko was leaning up against the wall outside of his room, waiting for him so that she and Elecmon could join them for breakfast.

The goggle-head's eyes glanced over his girlfriend's body, taking in the wonderful view before him. Noriko was in a red spaghetti-strapped top that hugged her slim stomach and waist while showing off the curves of her breasts. Her denim skirt matched well with her top and it made Tai realise that she looked good in primary colours.

"Good morning, beautiful." He grinned as he made his way over to her. "Sleep well?"

"Good morning, handsome," she replied as her own smile grew. She pushed herself off the wall and stepped closer to him. "I did, thanks. And you?"

"I slept really well, thanks," Tai replied before slipping an arm around his girlfriend's waist. He cupped her cheek in his left hand, prompting her to snake her arms around the back of his neck. The couple closed their eyes and moved their lips nearer to each other's, parting them in anticipation of the coming kiss.

Their lips met and Tai savoured the moment before pulling back a bit. He didn't want the kiss to end though, so he tilted his head a little so that he could get a better angle before he pushed forwards for more. Noriko added more force of her own as the lovers deepened their kiss and held their lips together.

Tai pulled back slightly once more before he opened his mouth a little wider and pushed forwards again. Noriko ran her fingers through his hair as she pressed her lips harder against his, adding more passion to their morning greeting. They held their lips there again for a few more moments before finally pulling back.

The couple stepped out of their embrace and smiled at one another. Tai wished that he could have continued that but he knew that they weren't really in a position to do so. Anyone could catch them in the corridor, and both Agumon and Elecmon were waiting for their breakfast.

"Shall we go?" Noriko asked as she laced her fingers with his. "Elecmon was saying he's rather hungry this morning."

Tai laughed as he glanced down at Agumon. "Someone else has made it rather clear he's desperate for his breakfast too."

The couple made their way down the corridor hand in hand and out of the Digidestineds' dorm. Tai glanced to his left and smiled as their eyes met. He noticed a blush forming on Noriko's cheeks as she smiled back again and kept her eyes locked with his.

"Thanks for coming with me to my appointment today." Tai gave her hand a gentle squeeze and he hoped that she knew how grateful he actually was to be with her.

"Don't mention it." Noriko shook her head and waved her hand. "It's the very least that I could do. After all, you visited me while I was in hospital and kept checking up on me when I was recovering from my injuries, so I'm going to do the same for you too. There's nothing you can do to stop me."

He laughed as he moved closer to her and gave her a wink. "Whoever said that I wanted to stop you."

The x-rays that had just been taken of Tai's hand appeared up on the screen for him and Noriko to see, and he studied them intently. The leader of the Digidestined moved his gaze to his doctor as he looked over them too, analysing them so that he could provide the goggle-head with an update on his recovery. Tai couldn't see any of the dark lines that were where the fractures in his hand had been, so he was taking it as a good sign and a strong hint that he'd get some positive news on that side of things.

The x-ray of his face was a different matter and Tai could still see that it needed longer to heal. Kari had really done a number on him and he knew that it would take more time to fix those fractures in his cheek because he'd needed steel plates to hold the bones in place. However, that didn't worry him as much because he could wear his protective face mask if he was to go out on patrols. It meant that the only thing really stopping him from joining the others was the cast on his right hand.

Tai felt his girlfriend give his left hand a gentle squeeze, making him glance at her. Noriko gave him a smile which he guessed meant that she'd reached the same conclusion as he had. He gave her hand a squeeze too as he smiled back and they waited for the update on his condition.

"Well, I have some good news and some kind of good news, Mister Kamiya." The doctor broke the silence that had filled the room. "I'll start with the kind of good news."

The doctor stood up and walked over to the screen on his wall before pointing at the bones in the x-ray of Tai's face. "The fractures within your cheekbone are healing but they're going to take at least a couple of weeks more to be at a point where you won't have to use the face mask. As you can see, the fractures are better than they were a week ago but, because they were a full break, it'll take longer for them to completely heal."

The man moved over to the x-ray of Tai's hand and compared it with one from two weeks earlier. "Now for the good news. As you can see, the dark area in your metacarpals has basically gone, which means the fracture has healed enough for us to remove the cast. Now this doesn't mean it has fully healed yet and you still need to be careful not to break it again. The bones aren't back to their usual strength just yet and will take several more months to get there."

Tai watched as the doctor went back behind his desk and picked up something. It was very familiar to the goggle-head because Yolei and Sora were currently using one of these too so that they could go out on patrols with the other Digidestined. He took this as a very good sign that his hope that he and Agumon could return to action wasn't misplaced.

"However, if you wear this splint, you'll be able to join the others and start going back out on your patrols again," the doctor confirmed what Tai was thinking. "Just remember to not overdo it because you'll make it worse if you do. The bones are still weak and could easily break again, so take it easy."

"Now let's get that cast off," the nurse took over as she lifted up a circular cutting blade and pointed to a chair next to the bed. "Don't worry about this blade. It's perfectly safe and can't cut through skin. It's specially made for cutting through the hard part of your cast."

Tai gulped as he shared a quick glance with Noriko, who looked as put off as he was by the idea of the nurse using something that resembled an angle grinder. His girlfriend took a deep breath and smiled before squeezing his hand. He squeezed hers back before letting go and standing up. Seeing the reassuring smile that Noriko was giving him reminded him, for some reason, that she was a leader to her group like he was to all of the Digidestined because it was exactly how he would have reacted if the roles had been reversed.

The young man made his way over to the nurse and took the chair next to the bed. He placed his arm on the cover and the doctor joined them. They put his arm into the correct position and turned the cutter on. Tai took a deep breath and remembered that this was nothing compared to the many things that he'd done in the past.

"Here you go." Noriko handed Tai a can of cool Pepsi. "Have you decided which team we're going to be joining today?"

"Thanks," Tai smiled and took the can from her before she joined him on the sofa. He opened his drink and took a sip, letting the sweet nectar quench his thirst. "I think I know which team we're going to be joining."

His gaze moved down to his arm that was now free of the cast and in the splint that the doctor had given him. Tai had decided to keep his arm in his sling for the moment because he wanted to surprise the others when they met up for their pre-patrol briefing later. He hoped that it would be some good news amongst the generally negative things going on at that moment.

"Who are we joining?" Agumon asked, pulling his partner from his thoughts. "Are we going with Davis or are we joining back up with Kari's team?"

"We'll be going with Davis." Tai took a sip from his drink. "It was a hard choice because I feel that we could do with being in the city and there is definitely part of me that wants to keep an eye on Kari. However, I know that she wouldn't like that and I also don't want to get into any arguments with her about how she might want to approach things. Besides, TK is with her and we know what he'll do to make sure that she's safe. Matt and Sora will keep an eye out for Kari as well."

He took a deep breath before continuing. "Davis' team also need more firepower and another flying Digimon. Imperialdramon does most of the work for them, which is fine if they're just doing quick ambushes on smaller groups. However, they'll need more help if they take on bigger groups or find themselves in similar situations to the one that they were in yesterday with Metalseadramon. We could have really helped them out if we were there and we might have been able to take it to Metalseadramon."

"That makes sense." Noriko nodded as she took a sip of her own drink. "I agree that, after what happened with Metalseadramon, we could give them more options and support if it happens again. Another problem that they have when Imperialdramon is the one attacking is that his beam gives the bad guys an idea of where he is. That means they know where anyone on his back is, which puts our friends in more danger. Wargreymon could do a lot more of the work, meaning Imperialdramon doesn't have to give away his location as often."

"Yeah, we can help out that way too." Tai gave a nod of his head as well. "Also, Kari's group doesn't need another mega Digimon. Even though Metalgarurumon is the only mega level in their group, they have Angewomon and Magnaangemon. They're like having another mega Digimon because of how strong they are, particularly against evil Digimon."

"So Davis' team it is." Agumon smiled as he glanced up at his partner. "I can't wait to get back into the action and help out again."

"You and me both." Tai grinned back. "Just remember to not say anything to the others until I tell them during the meeting. After all, I want to surprise them with the news about my arm."

Tai stood at the front of the room with all of the Digidestineds' gazes fix on him. They'd spent the best part of an hour discussing what to do about Metalseadramon now that he could find them and what approaches that they should take after they decided to continue doing their patrols. There were still no new theories about how their foe had managed to find them through their barriers and Gennai hadn't got back to them about it yet either. Their decisions were easy ones though and Tai was confident that they could put into place their counter-measures to anything that Metalseadramon might do for the moment.

"So, to summarise our plans for today," Tai began as he glanced around his friends. "We're going to keep doing our patrols with Kari's team in Tokyo and Davis' team flying over to Chiba to ambush Dragomon's forces over there."

He took a deep breath before he continued. "Don't forget that you must leave the area you're in if Metalseadramon starts getting too close. Don't go to scout out any strong groups that you think Metalseadramon might be in. Don't leave it too long to escape from one of our ambushes and get caught out by him either. Are there any questions?"

Tai glanced around the room again and waited to see if anyone spoke up. Even though they'd been talking about their plans for the day and had smoothed things out, he still wanted to make sure that anyone could still bring up a point if they wanted to. The other Chosen remained quiet with a few shaking their heads, letting him know that they knew what they had to do.

"Ok," their leader nodded before placing his left hand on his sling. "There is one other piece of news I'd like to share with you before we head out on patrol."

A grin spread across his face as he lifted the fabric of his sling over his head and took it off. Tai held his arm up to show his friends that he was no longer wearing a cast and that he had a splint instead. He could see several of their eyes light up as he threw the sling to one side and moved his arm to make it clear that he was able to use it once again.

"As you can see, I've had my cast removed after my check up this morning and my hand is recovering fine." His smile grew further as his eyes remained on those in the office with him. "The doctor gave me this splint to give my hand a bit of extra support when I might need it. This means that I'm going to be joining you on patrols today."

"Glad to have you back, Tai." Davis pumped his fist in the air. "Whose team are you joining?"

"Noriko and I will be joining your team," the elder of the goggle-heads replied. "Unless there are any objections."

Davis shook his head and gave him a thumbs up. "None from me. Welcome back and let's get stuck in. It's time that Metalseadramon knows that we're not going to stop even if he can find us now."

"Yeah." Tai clenched his fist. "I want to make sure he knows that Agumon and I are back, and that we're coming for him."

With that, Tai and the others began their preparations for their scouting missions. It wasn't long before all of them had what they needed and were heading towards the exit of the base. Tai informed Mitsuo that all of the Digidestined would be going out on patrol before he re-joined his friends waiting for him at the bottom of the stairwell.

He took a deep breath as he looked up at the dimly lit shaft that led to the carpark above them. Placing his foot on the metallic step, Tai started up the stairs with Agumon, Noriko and Elecmon right behind him. The other Chosen followed their leader up and, within a few minutes, they were in the lobby area at the exit of the base.

Tai entered the code and used his DPD ID to unlock the door to the outside world before glancing over his shoulder at Kari. "Am I ok to open it? There are no bad guys outside, right?"

"It's ok." Kari nodded and smiled. "TK or I would have let you know by now if there were any evil Digimon or Deep Ones out there."

He gave his sister a nod before he opened the door and step out of the base for the first time in what felt like forever. Tai took in a deep breath, smelling the salt of the sea as he walked out into the carpark. The sky was still the same shade of grey as it was before because the barrier that Dragomon had put up was still in place.

Nothing had really changed and that brought a sigh from Tai's lips. Despite all of their efforts on patrols, they really hadn't made much progress retaking Tokyo from Dragomon yet. The only thing that had really had any impact was when they'd gotten the dragon Digimon to defect, but that still hadn't released their enemies' hold on the city and its surrounding areas.

"There are two different powerful sources of dark energy again today," TK announced, capturing everyone's attention. "I can't tell which one is Metalseadramon, so we're going to have to be very careful."

"I can't tell the difference either," Kari sighed. "One source is to our southwest and the other is to the east. I guess that the darkness that's eastwards from us is probably in Chiba again."

"Make sure to avoid those bad guys," Tai reminded his friends. "We don't want a repeat of your recent encounters with Metalseadramon."

The others gave him nods before his focus moved back to his sister. Kari and TK had pulled their compasses from their pockets and were getting ready to take their reading on Dragomon's location. Tai hoped that the leader of their enemies was still in the same place that he normally was hiding in so that they could keep focusing on his minions before they had to deal with him again.

Kari and TK closed their eyes and aligned themselves in the direction that the darkness was coming from. The couple reopened their eyes and adjusted their compasses to get their reading before checking with one another. Kari turned to face Izzy, who was waiting with his laptop open to log the first reading for their triangulation.

"Dragomon is at one hundred and seventy six degrees," she informed their resident genius. "He's in the same area that he's always in."

Izzy gave her a nod as he typed the information into his computer. "Right. Got it."

"And with that out of the way." Davis glanced at Veemon as he unclipped his digivice. "We should get going."

"Roger that, Davis." The little blue dragon saluted his friend before he and Wormmon turned and sprinted into the empty carpark, putting some distance between themselves and the Digidestined. "Veemon …

"Wormmon …"

"Warp DNA digivolve to Imperialdramon!"

The giant dragon emerged from the light of digivolution and Ken led the way over towards him. The others going with him and Davis followed behind as the blue light that transported them onto Imperialdramon's back touched the ground. Tai looked to his left and reached out for Noriko's hand, lacing his fingers with hers as they shared a smile.

"Ready?" He asked as they waited for Ken and Yolei to step into the beam that would carry them up onto the dragon's back.

Noriko gave him a nod. "Let's do this."

I know this isn't exactly the most action-packed chapter, but it did have a very important moment with Tai being cleared to return to action. How do you think things are going to go for him now that he can go out on patrols again? Do you think it'll be a boost for everyone?

Also, what do you think to Tai and Noriko joining Davis' team? Did you agree with Tai's reasons for why they're joining Davis instead of Kari's team?

Please can you let me know your thoughts on these things and this chapter by posting a review?

Stay well and stay safe :D