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Chapter Nine
Fraud for Beginners
Wake up!"
Davis stirred in his sleep.
"I said, wake up!"
"Lemme sleep…" he mumbled groggy.
"Get the fuck up, idiot!"
"Go away DemiVeemon…"
"What did you just call me?"
Davis' eyes shot open. He looked up, to see who was standing over him. It was a tall girl, somewhat resembling him, with spiky hair in the same reddish brown color, as his own.
"Oh! Hey sis!" he said surprised, sitting up.
"What are you doing?" his sister asked bewildered.
"Uh… sleeping?"
"Well, duh!" she said annoyed, "I meant, why are you sleeping on the couch, moron!"
Davis had been kicked out of his room by DemiVeemon and had thus decided, to spend the night on the sofa in the living room. Since Davis' parents were gone for the night, DemiVeemon had figured no one would notice if Davis slept on the couch – but didn't take into his partners sister.
"I, uh… fell asleep watching TV" Davis lied.
His sister looked over her shoulder.
"It's turned off" she said eyes narrowed, "I didn't turn it off…"
"Um… I guess, I did… then…"
"Then you went back into your room, grabbed a pillow and blanket and came back here?"
"Yes! – wait…"
"Don't you even try to bullshit me!" she said sternly, "You spilled something on your bed again, didn't you?"
"No – I mean, yes!" he said hastily.
She stared him down eyes squinted.
"You're acting weird…" she said, "You're hiding something from me, aren't you?"
"Yeah" he nodded, "That I spilled something on my bed!"
"Except you just told me, dumbass" she pointed out, "… twice"
"Oh, uh… guess you caught me, then" he said with a hopeful smile.
His sister let a long sigh.
"Do I even wanna know?" she asked walking over to his room.
Davis immediately jumped over the backrest of the sofa to get there first but she already had her hand on the door handle.
"No!" he said quickly putting his hand on hers to stop her, "You definitely don't wanna know!"
"Hands. Off." she hissed, and Davis let go immediately as if he had burned himself, "Also, now I need to know! I'm supposed to look after you, so, whatever you pulled off this time, Mom and Dad are gonna blame me for sure!" she added and opened the door.
"No!" Davis gasped, but it was to late; she slammed the door open and was immediately greeted by a grumpy DemiVeemon, waking from his slumber in Davis' bed:
"What? Fuck off! I'm trying to sleep – oh…"
He sat up and spotted Davis' sister.
"I thought you said no one was home, Brainiac!?" the Digimon said angry.
"Uh, to be fair, after dinner she basically never leaves her room…" Davis said, while his sister stared at DemiVeemon, her mouth gaping open, "So… I… kinda forgot she was there, too…"
"What the hell is that!?" she shrieked spinning around to face her younger brother again.
"He's - uh… a friend of mine?" he said raising his shoulders, helplessly.
She kept staring at him in disbelief.
"Gotta be real, that would have been my last fucking guess…" she said wide eyed.
"Yeah, it's kind of a secret, so…"
"You think, I'm gonna keep a fucking alien in your room a secret?"
"I hoped, you'd be more cooperative!" DemiVeemon said, jumping on her shoulder.
He had snuck up behind her and now he proceeded to put one hand over her mouth to keep her quiet, while pointing a pocket knife, he had found in Davis' room, at her throat.
"Now, don't move a fucking muscle, you hear me?" DemiVeemon growled low, slightly increasing the pressure with which he put against her skin.
She nodded quickly, shaking like she was being electrocuted.
"DemiVeemon - "
"Shut it, Brainiac!" the Digimon barked, "Should have thought about her, when I asked you whether someone else was here or not, shouldn't you?"
Davis looked at his sister, apologetic, however she kept watching DemiVeemon from the corner of her eye, an expression of terror on her face.
"Now then, little Miss - uh…" DemiVeemon continued, questioningly looking at Davis who replied:
"Sunshine?"
Both DemiVeemon and his sister groaned in unison, causing DemiVeemon, to let go of her mouth, to hear what she had to say.
"He means my name, you moron!"
"Oh, right!" Davis said, finally getting it, "Jun! Her name's Jun!"
"Jun, huh?" DemiVeemon said contemplating, "You know, I kinda like her. Would be a shame, if we had to get rid of her…" he added grim.
"Please, don't kill my sister" Davis sighed frowning.
"Oh god, please don't!" Jun begged.
"Relax!" DemiVeemon insisted, "As long as you don't cause any trouble for us, we wont have to do anything to you."
"I wont tell anyone! I swear!"
"Good girl" DemiVeemon said smirking, removing the blade from her neck, "That's what I like to hear. Let's talk terms, then…"
"Terms?" Jun asked.
"Just to make sure, we're all on the same page here..."
Upamon had a tough time holding still, as she peaked out of Cody's bag, watching his Kendo-match against his grandfather, Chikara. Whenever the boy delivered a good attack, she held back a squeal of excitement. However, although she was rooting for Cody, she mostly just enjoyed herself, following the back and forth.
Cody on the other hand was way more tense. Processing the events of the past week, he slowly found his anger toward the Emperor building inside. And other things, too...
He managed to perform five especially quick strikes, slowly driving his grandfather backwards, before the latter stopped him:
"Okay, Cody, maybe we should take a little break." Chikara said with a sad smile, after blocking his final strike.
"Huh?" Cody asked, "Why? We just started!"
"Because you fight, like I do, after I lost an important game." the old man said dry, "What's on your mind?" he added when they sat down on a bench at the wall.
When Cody took off his protective mask, Chikara did the same; he was a bald man in his sixties, with an impressive gray mustache and, equally gray, bushy eyebrows.
"It's... nothing..." Cody muttered.
"Heard that before" Chikara said unimpressed, "Come on, out with it!"
"I..."
Cody hesitated.
"I don't know how to explain."
"Give it shot" Chikara said calmly, "I'm sure I can figure it out. Believe it or not, I'm quite perceptive." he added with a soft chuckle.
"It's - uh... about school" Cody claimed, "I'm working on a project with some... friends" (for some reason the word 'friends' wasn't the first that came to mind), "It's kind of long term... It feels like, everyone is contributing so much. But I don't... I barely do anything, you know?"
He thought about Yolei saving Patamon in the desert, TK holding his own against a Digimon in a fist fight, Davis saving the Digimon from the burrow, Kari saving Koromon from the Emperor, earlier that very day. But him?
"What's your project about?"
"Um..." Cody stalled, unsure of how to answer this, "Uh, helping people... I guess..."
"So you are still in the early stages, then, I take it?"
"Um..." Cody said surprised about this assumption.
"Well, because obviously that type of project sounds like it's right up your alley." Chikara explained, "I can't picture you not being very involved in that."
"Yes, but it feels like I'm... compared to everyone else I feel so... useless!"
"Aw..." Upamon said quietly – yet still loud enough to be picked up by Cody's grandfather:
"What the heck was that?"
"My – stomach... rumbled" Cody said blushing and praying to god his grandfather would assume, it was due to him being bashful about it.
"You sure?" Chikara said looking around, "Sounded more like it was coming from back there" he added gesturing over to the general direction Cody's bag was located in.
"Nope!" Cody said quickly, "Definitely my stomach!"
"Ah, I see..." Chikara said contemplating, "You know, I told you to eat a little more when we had lunch. You're supposed to be hungry after our session, not before we even started!"
He laughed and gave Cody a little jab in the side with his elbow. The boy cracked a small smile.
"Anyway, where was I?" Chikara asked.
"Um – I was... talking..."
"Ha! That was a trick question! I wanted to see whether you'd let me take over the conversation again – as usual. Or at least when you bottle things up again. If you want my two cents for now, the last thing that comes to my mind when I think about you is uselessness."
"But I don't have any talents!"
"Nonsense! Just look at your Kendo skills. Their improving everyday!"
"I'm still a joke compared to you..."
"Well, maybe... but - !" he added hastily when he saw Cody's gaze drop to the floor, in defeat, "You have about four years of experience and I have roughly forty. You're nine years old and I'm -"
"Sixty-three..." Cody said dead panned, apparently so focused on ways to downplay his own abilities, that he didn't think of the implications in that statement.
"What's that supposed to mean?" his grandfather said raising a bushy eyebrow.
"Oh! I'm sorry! I – I didn't mean it like that!"
Chikara laughed.
"I'm only messing around! But seriously, I'll have you know, that I am still as vital as I have been in my youth! As evidenced by my sweeping victory against you, last week."
"How is victory against a nine-year-old, evidence for that?" Cody asked, now raising an eyebrow himself.
"Ah! See now you're grasping the concept!"
"Huh?"
"It's all a matter of perspective. Listen, Cody." Chikara said and turned to face him directly, "You have so many good qualities, so all that doubt is complete nonsense!"
"Yeah, right... a thousand Yen, you couldn't even come up with five..."
"Ha! I don't have to uh - come up with any, because I know you have more than that in you. So, drop it already, will ya?"
"But -"
"When I look at you, I see that same spark in your eyes, that your father once had."
Cody fell silent and looked at the floor again.
"A passion for justice. A desire to help others and to put them before yourself. A need to make the world a better place! If that isn't admirable, I don't know what is!"
"Thanks..." Cody whispered.
He sighed heavily.
"But you deflected the question: Can you even name four other qualities, I have?"
"Well, it depends" Chikara said with a hint of a smirk, "Do you have one thousand Yen?"
"Huh?"
"Just kidding" Chikara chuckled "Well, for starters, you're extremely conscientious; you take all of your duties seriously, and you rarely fail to fulfill them. Honesty is a big one for you, too"
"I'm not honest..."
"Don't be ridiculous! Of course you are! Yes, you lied before, but who hasn't? That doesn't make you dishonest! Plus all the lies, I heard out of your mouth, were white lies, anyway. If you ask me, there's two things that matter in regards to honesty: Intention and outcome! Remember that."
Cody paused, unsure what exactly he meant.
"Let's see what else... Kindness comes to mind. And yes, I know, it sounds cliché as heck, but I am convinced you have a pure heart – bottled up, somewhere"
"What about sincerity?"
"Huh, that one's... oddly specific – but yeah." Chikara shrugged, "Sincerity! Never seen you as a pretender. Would you look at that! We even got six! You even figured out that last one by yourself!"
"Wow" Upamon whispered amazed.
"Did you say something?" Chikara asked.
"Yeah! Um... wow that was a good lesson"
"Ha ha!" Chikara said standing up again, "Good to see, I can still inspire awe in someone! Guess my glory days aren't over, yet! What do you say, ready for another round?"
"Sure" Cody said and stood up as well.
"Oh, and about those one thousand Yen, you owe me" his grandfather said suddenly, "Ah, you know what, I'll get back to you, next time, I head out to the casino!"
This actually made Cody laugh.
About an hour later Cody was lying down on his bed, throwing a ball into the air and catching over and over, in order to keep himself (but mostly Upamon) occupied, while thinking about what he discussed with his grandfather, earlier.
"I still think you should be throwing me, instead of that ball..." Upamon said with a slight pout – yet, still following every movement of the ball with her eyes, "More fun for both of us"
"And I still think, the entire house would hear you, constantly going 'Wee! Wee!', if I did that."
"Buzzkill..."
He paused his throwing-routine.
"Hey... Upamon?"
"Yeah?"
He rolled on his side to face her.
"You think, my grandfather is right? About me, I mean."
"Oh, sure!" she said excited, "He is the coolest! By the way, sorry for calling him an old fart, the other day"
"It's okay... Still... I had to lie to him the entire time, we talked about this! How can he think, I'm honest?"
"Well -"
"And what about purity? Sincerity?"
He covered his face with his hands and groaned in frustration.
"He's wrong... I am pretending. I'm pretending to be normal... when I'm not..."
He sighed.
"Guess, he's got a point about responsibility, though..." he admitted, "That's something..."
"Come on, Cody" she tried to cheer him up, "Cut yourself some slack, okay? I think, you're better at these, than you say."
"Hm..." Cody said removing his hands from his face, "Maybe you're right..." he contemplated, although he didn't sound exactly convinced yet, "Maybe I'm just... overthinking things..."
"Exactly!" Upamon said relaxed, "Just take it easy, okay?"
"Yeah... thanks, Upamon"
"For what?" she asked, "Just stating facts, here"
Cody chuckled returning his gaze to the ceiling.
"Right..." he said smiling.
"Are we there, yet?"
TK let out a heavy sigh.
"Are we there, yet?"
"Just ignore him..." he muttered under his breath, gritting his teeth, "Can't make him shut up, anyway..."
Phantomon, who was following TK on his way to the lab again, didn't repeat the question.
TK relaxed somewhat, until the faceless hood was hovering right next to his ear.
"Are we there, yet?"
"Oh, for fuck's sake!"
"Phantomon" Patamon said, "No offense, but are you really that dense?"
"None taken" Phantomon giggled, "I thought you knew, I was doing that on purpose."
"Yeah, duh!" TK said annoyed, "He literally doesn't have a life anymore, so everything he does, is fucking designed to piss me off!"
"Sorry, TK..." Patamon mumbled.
"No..." TK sighed, "I'm sorry... didn't mean to snap at you like that..."
"Are we there yet?"
"Phantomon, we're very close!" TK exclaimed, "Hang in there!"
"Don't you mean float in there?"
"You know, I can't even tell anymore, if you're trying too hard – or not at all..."
"TK, Patamon!"
At the final crossing before the lab, they got stopped by Kari, calling for them from a hallway branching off to their left. They turned to look; Yolei and Cody were already with her.
"Hey guys!" he called back before nodding towards the computer-lab, "Let's go, Izzy is waiting for us!"
"No, wait!" Cody said.
"Huh?"
"He send us an e-mail. He says we shouldn't come to the lab yet."
"He did? Why?"
"Are we there, yet?"
"Phantomon, shut the fuck up!" TK yelled.
"Who?" they heard a voice behind TK say.
He looked over his shoulder and saw the two girls he had bumped into before, and who had made fun of him for the stuffed animal, Patamon had pretended to be.
"Whatever" the other girl giggled, "These guys are weird."
"Especially the one with the orange plushy" the other said amused as they walked on.
"What's with all these plush toys by the way...?"
TK sighed again.
"So... why shouldn't we go to the lab, yet?"
"Apparently, Davis' sister is there" Cody explained.
"Oh, okay" TK said, "Guess she shouldn't see our partners, huh?"
"Shh!" Yolei said suddenly, "Someones talking, back there" she added whispering, "I've met her before, I think that's her voice!"
"... pleasure, doing business with you!" a female voice piped.
"Yeah... I bet..." another voice said, a male one this time.
"Is it her?" TK asked.
"Not sure..." Yolei mumbled, "Never heard her when she's happy before..."
A girl with reddish brown hair skipped past their part of the hallway, a satisfied smirk on her face. She didn't notice them.
"Well, that was her..." Yolei whispered, "Never knew, she could be so cheery..."
They waited another few seconds, until the heard a door open and close.
"Coast is clear" Cody said.
"You sure?" Kari asked.
"That was the e-mail, Izzy just send..."
"Oh... let's go then"
They made their way to the lab. Izzy was still standing in the door.
"We have a problem" he said grim.
"When don't we?" TK snorted.
They followed Izzy inside. Tai, Davis and DemiVeemon were already there.
"So, what was that all about?" TK asked.
"Let's see, is there any positive way of phrasing that?" Izzy said, before shrugging, "No. She's blackmailing us."
"What?" Kari asked, "For what?"
"She saw me in Brainiac's room" DemiVeemon explained, "Thought a death threat could keep her quiet but, eh... only worked short term."
"She followed them here, and now she wants us to pay her for her silence."
"You gotta be kidding me!" TK exclaimed.
"I thought I had her, okay?" DemiVeemon said grumpy, "You should have seen her! She was shitting her pants!"
Izzy sighed.
"The worst part is this could go on forever... hate to say it, but we need our treasurer back..."
"Who's -" Yolei started but was interrupted by a muffled voice, coming from a cabinet below one of the desks:
"Guys? Can you let me out?"
"Whoops" Tai said opening the cabinet, letting Koromon out, "Sorry, buddy"
"What were you doing in there, Koromon?" Kari asked.
"We had to hide him from Davis' sister" Tai explained, "So I improvised and stuffed him in there." he concluded with a shrug.
"Okay, but - who's our treasurer?" Yolei asked.
"You mean our treasurer?" Tai said, gesturing to himself and the other original Digidestined, "The guy with the crest of greed"
"Great!" DemiVeemon said rolling his eyes, "If even you guys all hate him, I bet he's gonna be a fucking blast to hang around with."
"I still think, he's not that bad" TK said crossing his arms, "You guys should cut him some slack. He saved my life before."
"TK, let's be realistic, there was definitely ulterior motives involved..." Izzy said.
"Now, that I think about it" DemiVeemon said, "Maybe the fact that you all hate him, means that he's actually a decent guy. Looking at all of you dicks, I wouldn't be surprised."
"DemiVeemon, right now you're in no position to judge anyone!" Izzy called him out, angry.
"What?" the Digimon asked confused.
"At this point, if I didn't recognize your bad attitude and Brainiac's insane levels of incompetence, I would assume both of you are moles, planted by the Emperor, to destroy our group from the inside!"
"What the hell did I do?" DemiVeemon asked resentful, "Also, how would this idiot, of all people, be a mole?"
"Oh, allow me to elaborate, then" Izzy continued, "Brainiac, you keep endangering our comrades with constant idiocy and a mind boggling inability to pronounce anything correctly, and you DemiVeemon keep baiting all of us into fighting you to the death, and generally think the solution to all our problems is just to kill everything that moves, including our own team mates!"
"It didn't hurt us, so far..." DemiVeemon mumbled defiantly.
"And now" Izzy said taking a deep breath to wind down from his rant, "we're facing a situation, that could easily result in Veemon getting shot by the police, when they raid Davis' home, to take out the 'alien', that is threatening his sisters life. And it's all thanks to this perfect storm of aggression and stupidity... Can both of you just hit the brakes, already? Because sooner or later, we're all gonna die, if this shit doesn't stop!"
"Sorry..." Davis said downcast.
"Yeah, whatever..." DemiVeemon mumbled grumpy, "Guess it's all fault again, huh?"
"Close enough!" Izzy concluded agitated, "Now, thanks to this most recent development, I suggest we have a funding box, from now on. Just in case Jun keeps coming back for more... I mean, it's us were talking about, so, we're looking at a ninety percent chance here..."
"So what, everyone just puts a few Yen in there, from time to time?" TK suggested.
"How about each crew member pays three hundred Yen every time they fuck up?" Izzy gave his suggestion (although it sounded more like a command), "That way we can introduce something similar to a learning curve, and make sure, we always have enough money on the back burner, to pay Jun off."
"Does this include me? Or..." Tai asked subdued.
"Let me replace the term 'crew member' with 'Digidestined' then and add the caveat, that that includes their Digimon-partners."
"Well, shit..."
"Now, before we start, has anyone some good news?" Izzy asked hopeful (he looked absolutely drained, from the recent mishaps), "By any chance? I would accept 'no news', too..."
Yolei exchanged a quick glance with Poromon, who was sitting on a table next to her.
"We have something, Izzy-Senpai."
"That was... mental!" Poromon said, watching the credits to "Titanic" roll over the screen, while Yolei dreamily hummed along to the song playing in the background. It was the night before.
"Wait, you said that was a real event" he continued, "Did it all happen like that?"
"Well, Jack and Rose are made up, but I read, the rest is pretty accurate."
"Bloody hell!"
Digesting what he just witnessed, he had trouble keeping his voice down; contrary to Davis, Yolei wasn't home alone.
"How would anyone not know about this disaster?" he continued in absolute disbelief.
"I know, right?" Yolei agreed, still annoyed about TK non-existing knowledge of historical events.
"Now, I get why you were so mad at him..." Poromon mumbled.
Yolei glanced shyly at her partner, before clearing her throat:
"So, well... I was..." she fumbled with her words, "Speaking of... having beef with someone..."
"Huh?" Poromon asked confused, "What?"
"Look, there's something on my mind, since the mission yesterday and now I'm trying to work up the courage to talk to you about it and that's why I need a segue" she blurted out, "Can you please humor me?"
"Uh – sure!" Poromon said taken aback, "Go on"
"Thank you!" Yolei said relieved, "Now, um... are you mad at Sora and Biyomon, for some reason?"
"Oh, uh..." Poromon mumbled avoiding her gaze, "Why uh... why would you think that?"
"I saw you glaring at them, during the mission – quite a few times! And at some points you even muttered something to yourself while doing that..."
"I... um... I don't wanna talk about it..."
"Oh..."
"It's not about you!" he clarified, "Or her - it's complicated…"
"Oh" she said and this time she sounded more surprised than saddened, "Well, if that's the case"
She chuckled nervously before continuing:
"I was afraid you hated them for some reason. Or that… I don't know… you thought she'd be a better partner… or something silly… I don't know…"
She tried to sound casual, saying that, but he could tell she was actually anxious to know whether that thought was correct, or not.
"What? No!" he said, "Nothing like that! Honestly, I'm happy we got to be partners. I couldn't see myself working with Davis… maybe Cody but… nah, he's too serious."
Yolei let out a sigh of relief.
"Oh, I'm glad! I thought I was… uh, you know…"
"Nah, you're fine" Poromon said relaxed, "I think we make for a pretty good team, actually."
"That's a relief" she said smiling, "And if you don't wanna talk about it that's fine, too."
"Really?"
"Yup" she said (this time actually casually), "It's okay, I wont press you on this."
She stood up and started gathering various items, she would need for the following day at school, putting them into her bag. Poromon watched her, frowning.
"You sure?" he asked hesitantly.
"Yeah, don't worry about it" she said, "I know what it's like when people keep asking you about things you're not comfortable talking about. If you're not ready to tell me, that's fine. Take you're time."
She continued with her preparations.
"You're not curious?"
"Poromon, I said it's fine!" she said, now almost laughing.
"Not even a little?"
"Well, yeah…" she admitted, "But I can wait. I don't need to find out, right now. Unless, of course, it's important information, Izzy-Senpai would get mad at us, for not telling him."
Poromon's eyes lit up for a split second.
"Bollocks! Well, in that case… I guess, I have no choice, but to tell you then…" he sighed – although he didn't sound exactly annoyed about that fact.
"Huh?" Yolei said, puzzled about his sudden heel turn.
"I was… supposed to have another partner. Long before I met you."
Yolei said back down on her bed across from Poromon, looking at him and listening carefully to what he had to say.
"I had just reached the rookie-level, and I was living here on Server. Everything was fine, I was getting by. But then one day this – voice spoke to me. It was like Veemon said, this godly, disembodied voice. They told me I had the potential to become a hero – to save the world! They brought me to this underground facility, and there I met the other Digimon they had chosen. And I met this Gennai person Izzy was talking about, too."
"Really? How was he?"
"Uh, confused… I guess? Anyway, so they had chosen eight of us in total and… you can probably guess, where I'm going with this."
"You were…" Yolei said in disbelief, "Supposed to be with them? Izzy-Senpai, Tai and the others, I mean?"
"Yes… They told us who we would be partnered with, and what the goal was - and I was really on board with it! Saving the world and everything! It sounded great! But then, one day, they called me into the desert temple where the egg of love was and… well, I guess you know the rest of the story…"
"Oh, that's terrible…" Yolei said saddened, "So, that's why you weren't with them…"
"Well, in the end, none of us were. I didn't recognize Agumon or any of them really. Our entire group got replaced! Guess, I was the only who was sealed away under a bloody egg though…" he added sullen.
"Were you… awake? While you were under that egg, I mean."
"Well, no" Poromon said, "It was like sleeping, I guess. Although, after a while… I started to realize that I was dreaming… and…"
"So, you had lucid dreams?" she asked curiously.
"Pretty much"
"That's so cool! I never had a lucid dream… well, at least it wasn't all bad then."
"Yeah… except it was like a dream I could never wake up from… and I knew that…"
"Oh, my god!" she said shocked.
"Oh, it wasn't that bad" he said defusing – before staring blankly ahead remembering the experience, "It was fine… really… yeah, it was…"
He trailed off and ultimately fell silent.
"So, they never gave you a reason?" Yolei asked, "And you never got to meet your partner?"
"Well, before they sealed me away, they made sure to keep us updated on our partners." Poromon explained, "They kept showing us images of them. You know, pictures from the human world. But no: Up until yesterday, I've never met her... On that note, like you said, we have to tell the others, but can we not tell them, who my partner would have been? I mean, you can already tell who it is, but..."
"Oh, of course!" she said immediately, "They don't need to know all the details. At least... I hope they don't..."
"It was Sora, wasn't it?" Izzy asked dry.
"How did you know, Izzy-Senpai?" Yolei asked baffled.
"Well, now I know" Izzy said eye-rolling, "That before was an educated guess – I mean, come on now! He started acting weird the second Sora entered the room!"
"So much for that idea, I guess..." Poromon muttered.
"My question is, why was that idea, of giving us already existing partners, abandoned?"
"Oh, that's right" Poromon said, "They told me, one of the original DigiDestined's Digimon had died in the human world and they had tried to replace them, but it didn't work out. So they went with playing it safe, and genetically engineering the perfect partners, for each of you, instead."
Poromon shrugged.
"Apparently that DigiDestined really hated the replacement of their partner"
"Oh!" Upamon said surprised, "I think, that was me then!"
"I beg your pardon?" Izzy said irritated.
"Yeah! They partnered me up with this girl. They said she was a DigiDestined, and that her old partner died. Huh... can't remember her name, though..."
"You can't remember the name of your first partner?" TK asked in disbelief, "And she was an original DigiDestined?"
"Look, we only had one mission together! After that, when she went back to the human world, that voice of god or whatever, told me to go to the temple, were you found me. Then they said, that I wouldn't be her partner anymore, that all of that was a mistake, and then they sealed me away. Plus, she was always so mean to me, so, I never liked her, anyways... Cody is waaay cooler than her!"
"Thanks, Upamon..." Cody said somewhat shy.
"Huh, I gotta say, that's fairly useful information, for once" Izzy said mildly surprised, "Looks like there actually is a connection between you three, after all."
"There is?" DemiVeemon asked skeptically.
"Yes! You all have been in contact with humans – or at least were close to it… Anyway, I'm not sure whether this information can really help us uncovering the Emperors identity, since the possibility, of finding out who his partner would have been, might not be enough. But still, good to know."
"Great…" DemiVeemon muttered annoyed, "You know you keep complaining, that we never tell you important stuff, and now that we give you something useful your answer is 'Eh, good job, I guess'!"
"Well, not having crucial information when you need it most, is considerably more annoying, than it is convenient to have mildly useful information. So, sorry, but – not sorry."
"Ugh, good point…"
"But I guess, I can still do some decent research, based on that intel. As for today's objective, I figured you guys should head back to the industrial area, to clear that out."
"What about the last egg?" Gatomon asked, "Shouldn't we try to get that first?"
"Yes, we should, problem is, it appears to be in the middle of the sea. It's just off the shore of Historic Server. I assume, it's in an underwater cave or an air bubble..."
"Oh, no…" Cody said turning pale.
"That's not the main problem though" Izzy said, "There's an oil platform just south of it. It might be connected. Otherwise the only way to get there, would be to dive… Which is unlikely, seeing how all the other eggs were easily accessible – TK, I'm talking about the ones that weren't planted by the Emperor, as bait for a trap!" he shut TK down immediately, as the latter was about to interrupt.
"The bigger problem is, that the platform is heavily guarded" he continued, "I hacked into the surveillance cameras there, and spotted at least two Divermon and a serpentine Digimon that looks like either Seadramon or MegaSeadramon. Either way, it's a champion level at best, and an Ultimate at worst. No, my idea was to clear the industrial area first, that way we would have Andromon available to fight with us. It's at least two Ultimates, after all."
"Ah, I don't know…" DemiVeemon said crossing his arms, "I feel like the egg is too important, to put it on hold like this."
"I agree" Izzy nodded, "Still, I think we should -"
"You said there was cameras you could hack into." DemiVeemon cut in, "You could check the live feed for weaknesses in their defense, then we fly in – I mean they're in the ocean, so if we're quick -"
"Yeah, sure, I get the idea" Izzy said quickly, "Hang on, let me pull up the camera feed. For the record when I said, I spotted them, I meant, I saw them occasionally. So, there's a good chance we wont see them, at all. And if that's the case we really should stick to the Andromon-pla-"
He stopped, looking at the screen.
"What is it?" Gatomon asked puzzled.
"Shit!" Izzy hissed, and the group gathered around him, looking over his shoulder, to see what the problem was:
On an empty section of the oil platform, stood a boy with spiky black hair, golden framed shades and a long dark cloak.
"Fuck!" Tai cursed, "What the hell is that turd doing there?!"
"No idea..." Izzy said.
"Well, he can't do anything to the egg, right?" Yolei said, "You said, he couldn't"
"I said, it's unlikely that he can... But we still don't know, whether he built those towers or not... Maybe he has other tricks at his disposal."
Frustrated, he groaned.
"Well, l suppose, now you have to go there!" he said, "Ugh, even with just these three Ultimates there that was a real headache..."
"Relax, man" TK said reassuring, "We got way better at teamwork, we'll get him this time. I mean, what's the worst that could happen?"
"You just had to say it, huh?" Izzy moaned.
"Okay, look" TK added, "I'm not trying to jinx it -"
"'Not trying' and 'doing something, anyway' are not mutually exclusive!"
"I'm just saying let's be optimistic, okay?" he specified, "It's gonna be fine!"
"IT'S GONNA BLOW!" Flamedramon yelled, and everyone ran for an open door leading into a staircase to the lower levels; It was in fact a MegaSeadramon who was guarding the platform, and he had just set a portion of the platform on fire with his energy-beam – specifically one where multiple gas tanks where located. As soon as the door closed they heard a deafening bang from the outside, almost ripping the door out of its frame, and making them instinctively flee further downstairs.
The muffled sound of further explosions upstairs, drove the crew deeper into the structure. Since the attacks happened mostly above the water's surface, they figured they would be better off, hiding in the lower level's of the oil platform – only to realize, that there was water leaking in at multiple points on the outer wall. The Divermon were trying to drown them.
"You're probably wondering how we got here." TK said looking directly into a surveillance camera, in the corner of the room, they had decided to stay in for the moment.
"Not particularly" Izzy replied dry, "As I was saying, only my mic and my audio were malfunctioning. I was still able to see what was going on, on your end. Needless to say, everything's fixed now, let's pick up, where we left off."
"Okay, uh…" Flamedramon said, "You got a plan? Because, to us it looks like, we're pretty much fucked. Why do we keep getting trapped!?"
"We're gonna die…" Cody mumbled, sitting on the floor, hugging his legs, rocking back and forth, "We're gonna drown! We're gonna die! This is a nightmare!"
"Oh, my god!" Davis moaned and covered his ears, "Why wont he shut up? It's worse than ever!"
"Uh, because he has a fucking freak out?" TK suggested, "Looks like he's scared of the ocean or some shit. He looked pale as a fucking ghost, when we got to the platform!"
"Seriously?" Flamedramon scoffed, "You think he picked up on that?"
"Whatever… any idea where the Emperor went, Izzy?" TK asked
"Believe it or not, the ocean isn't exactly covered by CCTV… But from what I saw, I think it's safe to say, he's heading to the energy source west of your position."
"Wait, I thought the egg was just north of the oil platform." Yolei said confused.
"Looks like he isn't after that thing, after all…" Izzy said contemplating.
"What is he after then?" Hawkmon asked.
"Uh, how do I put this… whatever he is after, is more comparable to the dark towers in terms of its energy reading."
"So what, it's… dark?" Flamedramon asked.
"Unless you consider the towers to be very dark."
"Sorry, I'm lost" Flamedramon said puzzled, "Why?"
"Because in that case, it would be more akin to black hole. Like, not only would it be the absence of light, it would also absorb everything in its surroundings, including light -"
Davis stared blankly at the camera his mouth gaping open.
"You know what, fuck the metaphor, in terms of darkness it's like the dark towers… but tenfold. No, that's still an understatement -"
"What the hell is he after?!" TK interrupted bewildered.
"He might... No, it's still too early, to tell."
"Seriously?"
"Look TK, your guess is as good as mine! I can't say what exactly it is, just by looking at an energy reading!"
"But why didn't you point out this place to us before?"
"TK, why would I tell you about a place I want you to avoid like the fucking plague?"
"Yeah – okay, fine!" TK snapped at him, "Fuck! What's this motherfucker tempering with, now?!"
"Calm down!" Izzy commanded, "Also, right now you got more pressing concerns. Any idea what these Divermon are up to?"
"Sounds like, they're trying to punch more holes in the walls" Flamedramon suggested, "Which brings me back to my point: We're fucked!"
"I don't get it!" Armadillomon said frustrated, "Last time we fought an Ultimate, we were doing great!"
"Well, firstly, it's three of them now!" Flamedramon argued, "Also, if you didn't try to punch MegaSeadramon in the damn face, we'd still have someone, who was at least kind of adapted to the frigging ocean!"
"Come on! I thought I had an advantage! Guess, I'm not that good in open water... But – come on! I almost had him!"
"Is that your excuse when we're all dead, too? 'Can we try again? I almost had him!'"
"Okay, are you guys done bitching? Because, I think I found an exit for you.
"Okay, lead the way." Flamedramon said.
They followed Izzy instructions – at least, around two minutes later, since that is how long it took Kari, to get Cody to stand up again. Hurrying down a long corridor they made their way into another room. It appeared to be a launch station for escape pods.
"I can't see too clearly from my angle" Izzy explained, "Are there enough for all of you?"
"Well, I guess, one of us plus there partner could fit into one" Flamedramon said while devolving back to Veemon.
"Meaning? How many are there?"
"Enough for that"
"Ugh… of course! Of course there's only one left!" Izzy growled, "I mean, what the fuck did I expect!?"
"So, now what?" TK asked, "Do we pull straws, or something?"
"How about this: we don't waste anymore time and send the most obvious choice instead."
Davis raised his hand.
"Not you Brainiac..." Izzy sighed.
"No, I meant, who do you mean?"
"Try the nervous wreck, lying on the floor in a fetal position, who's obviously scared to death of the ocean"
"You read my mind!" Davis grinned pointing at the surveillance camera, as a sign of appreciation.
"I'm just gonna go ahead and assume you didn't think of that for the obvious reasons, right?"
"Huh?"
"It's okay, I suppose we all know the answer to that..." Izzy said annoyed, "Hmm… these escape pods are probably just meant to take you shoreside... So, the question is, how do we send Cody to the egg? Downstairs might not be the best idea, the platform is flooding, right now..."
"Uh, Kari you're not going down there!" Tai said, "Let's send Team Semi-Disposable instead"
"Who the fuck do you mean by that?" Veemon asked challenging.
"Never mind that" Izzy stepped in, "None of you is going down there. It's too risky. We need another way."
"Don't you have any other tricks up your sleeve?" TK asked urgently, "I mean, if you can create a freaking holograms of us, just by filming us, and teleport rocks around, there's gotta be something you can do!"
"Uh, no." Izzy said plainly, "The tricks, I used so far, are either useless for this situation, or too risky, to be used on you guys, directly. I found something new, but... eh, that won't help, either..."
"What is it?"
"A log file. Every time something something important happens to you or your enemies, it will show up in this text file, I discovered."
"What the hell is that good for?" TK asked impatiently.
"Plenty." Izzy said, "Say, you lost sight of one of your enemies, and are unsure what their status is – or one of your comrades, for that matter, that could very well help clarifying what actually happened."
"Yeah, whatever!" TK snapped back, "I meant: What the hell is that good for – right now?"
"Nothing!" Izzy fired back, "That's what I just said! We need another plan! Shit... we don't have anyone to dive down there... of course it had to be Gomamon who's still missing!"
"Hang on" Gatomon said, "Biyomon said, she tried getting the gang back together. Maybe she heard something about him"
"Knowing our luck, he's probably in a desert somewhere..." Izzy sighed, "Might be our best shot, though. Tai, can you call Sora to find out?"
"Uh, I have a feeling she'd hang up, before I even said hello..." Tai argued faintly in the background.
"Jesus, that's right..." Izzy said, "Hang on, wont be a minute. Tai, you take over for a second, alright?"
Rustling noises on the duo's end.
"Soooo" Tai said awkwardly, "How are you guys doing?"
"We've been better, crow's nest!" Veemon said sarcastically, "Fuck off!"
"Aaaand Veemon's muted." Tai said, and they could practically hear him grinning, "Man, I never knew Izzy's job could be so much fun!"
"Well, thanks for making ours even less fun!" TK said loudly.
"Uh... yeah, I can still hear Veemon ranting in the background… Ah, crap..."
"Guys, can we hurry this along?" Kari asked over Veemon's ongoing tirade, "Cody looks like, he's about to pass out"
"Why does he keep yelling like that?" Cody asked in a panic, covering his ears, "He'll waste all our oxygen!"
"Deep breaths, Cody" Armadillomon said reassuring.
"That'll waste even more oxygen!"
"Hey, can everyone just stop fucking panicking?" Tai demanded.
"Tai, Cody is the only one panicking, right now!" Kari said loudly. "Gotta be real though, I just realized, we probably have to rely on Joe to survive, so I'm getting a tad nervous, too... but other than that…"
"Yeah, all of us are pretty much chilled" Gatomon shrugged, "Listening to all the whining though, I can see why you would think that!"
"I'm not chilled!" TK said angry, "Right now, I'm fucking pissed we can't go after the Emperor immediately!"
"Why are you so triggered about this?" Tai asked, "He's going after – something... I mean, we don't even know, what it is..."
"It's something dark!" TK barked, "You know dark usually means evil, right? Honestly, I hope whatever he's playing with, right now, fucking eats him alive!"
"Oh, yeah... I'm piecing this together, now..." Tai said dry.
"Tai, I'm done, shoo" they heard Izzy next to Tai, "What the – why is Veemon mut- OH, FUCK! VEEMON SHUT THE HELL UP! You're blowing out my eardrums!"
"Huh? I thought you had a compressor?" Veemon asked.
"Ugh, looks like it crashed earlier, too..." he muttered, "Anyway turns out, Biyomon heard that Gomamon was hunting for treasure for the last year, or so. Apparently, one of the guys she asked, had pointed him towards one with Joe's crest on it and he was last seen around the ocean somewhere looking for it. So, in conclusion Gomamon's probably where we need to go, after all..." he closed dead panned, "Would have been good to know, before we started this assignment. I would have had at least Cody going straight there, by sending him in with Joe, but oh well..."
"Dude seriously, can you stop being so fucking zen about everything?" TK said unnerved, "It's really starting to freak me out! That little prick is out there, playing with dark forces and you -!"
"How about you calm down instead? We can't help it, right now. Also, as sad as it sounds, I'm starting to get used to the idea, of everyone withholding important information from me... I always take it into consideration, while planning..."
"So, what's the plan, now?" Yolei asked.
"Wannabe, I just told you!" Izzy exclaimed, "Just because I said I would have done something at the start of a mission, but didn't get a chance to, doesn't mean we're not doing it at all! Cody, into the pod, now!"
"I don't think I can do this..." Cody said shaking.
"Dude, I'm with you." TK said, "That thing looks like one of the escape pods from 'Star Wars'! I'm not sure if they're supposed to be under water at all!"
"And why would you think that?" Izzy asked threateningly, clearly not happy about TK, discouraging Cody from entering the pod.
"Digital World?"
"Huh, guess I walked right into that one..." Izzy admitted.
"Guys seriously! I think I can't - "
"TK, Davis?" Izzy cut him short, "Would you kindly help him in?"
"No! Guys, please!"
But it was no use. Cody struggled, but TK and Davis grabbed him by the arms and dragged him into the escape pod.
"Stay strong, Cody" Izzy said calm, "You gotta face your fears eventually. Also, unless it's another practical joke by this world, there's only a slim chance you might die in there. If you stay in here on the other hand - "
Suddenly, a stream of water rushed in through the gap under the door, slowly covering the stations floor in a thin layer of water.
"Yeah" Izzy said mildly surprised, "Couldn't have said it better myself: Certain death."
Cody remained frozen inside the pod, for a second – then he slumped his shoulders.
"I see your point, now..." he said, before gulping and looking out the small capsules porthole, "Send me off... I guess..."
"Glad to see, we're on the same page" Izzy said quickly, "Armadillomon? You're in charge of emotional support. Go!"
"Awesome!" she yelped, jumping into the pod as well.
"Just - " Cody started nervously, "Make sure you distract me, alright?"
"Oh! Let's discuss some battle tactics on the way!" she said excited, "That'll distract you for sure!"
"Fine... whatever..." he said, closing his eyes, as the hatch of the pod did the same.
The lock of the escape pod closed and the capsule was launched into the sea. Quickly, it disappeared out of sight.
"Uh, Izzy?" TK said as soon as it was gone, "Didn't you say, we needed Joe, to get Cody to the egg?"
"That I did"
"How the fuck are you gonna convince him to help us?"
"Oh, trust me" Izzy said confident, "I have a plan"
Somewhere, in the High School, Joe Kido was attending...
The ambitious, raven haired student with rectangular glasses and skinny physique, was in the middle of a discussion, at two tables put together, with a group of four, similar looking students. They sat there, talking about an upcoming project – or rather, the other four were sitting - Joe was pacing around in front of them.
"Look, I am not saying we shouldn't screw over our customers" Joe explained, referring to the business oriented school project, "All I'm saying, is that we should screw them over, in a way, they won't notice until way later"
"Makes sense to me", one of his team-mates said, "If everyone realizes we're fucking with them, we'll make a lot of enemies..."
"Agreed" another one chimed in.
Joe had basically gathered all the like-minded people, he could find, around himself, within his first week at Senior-High school.
"Exactly!" Joe nodded, pointing at his comrade.
"How long, you think, would be enough to keep us out of trouble?"
"Let's see, until... well – ideally never, but I think, we should keep our expectations realistic and aim for when we graduate."
Joe's four fellow students exchanged quick glances.
"Dude, we're all still first-years..."
"Ever heard of built-in obsolescence?" Joe asked, "We sell them trash, but they wont know, it's trash, until exactly three years later, when it suddenly falls apart in their hands"
"Am I the only one thinking, this is way to much effort for a simple school project?"
"No, I think what's happening here" Joe said impatiently, "Is that you are the only one without a vision! You gotta think bigger than -"
But he was interrupted by a cell-phone ringing.
"Oh, excuse me, that's mine" Joe said embarrassed, pulling the phone out of his pocket and flipping it open, "Shit, I gotta take this one! Give me a minute."
"Take your time, we'll discuss realistic ideas in the mean time"
"Look, I know it sounds complicated" Joe argued while hurrying to the door, "but not only will earn us top grades, it will also make us filthy fucking rich! Well, not – rich rich, but – ugh! You get the idea!"
He rushed outside, closed the door behind himself and answered the call.
"What do you want?" he hissed angry; he had recognized the number on the display.
"Is that how you usually greet old friends?" Izzy's voice sounded calmly from his phone.
"Really?" Joe scoffed, "You consider me a friend? Drop the act, will you?"
"It saddens me, that you believe, everyone in your surroundings is coldhearted and manipulative…"
"I know you are…" Joe replied suspicious, "What do you want?"
Izzy sighed.
"Fine, if you insist… We have a problem and we need your help"
"What do you mean by 'we'?"
"You wanna guess first? I have a feeling you would nail it first try"
Joe looked out the window toward the city.
"Tokyo looks fine to me." he said dry, "So unless this is about the other place - "
"It is."
"Damn it, Izzy! You gotta be fucking kidding me!"
"You didn't read the e-mail, I send you last week, did you?"
"For fuc- That door closed 3 years ago!"
"Yeah, in your absence, Tai kicked it open again… albeit by accident…"
"Why is he the leader, again?" Joe asked frustrated.
"Oh, I'm glad you asked" Izzy said with a soft chuckle, "Turns out, I actually have good news for you: He's not anymore"
"Wow, looks like we're making progress!" Joe said sarcastically, "Come on, can we hurry this up? I'm in the middle of an important discussion! I swear to god, if I get outvoted because you -"
"Fine, fine, relax! Long story short, some of our guys are trapped and Gomamon is in a convenient position, right now, which is why we need you. We need you to go in there, with one of the new kids, because you'll be taken straight to Gomamon then. We're in the computer lab of our old school, by the way. We can enter the Digital World from here."
"Are you out of your mind?! What makes you think, I would want to go back into that death trap?"
Joe heard a splashing sound on the other end.
"What was that?" he asked irritated.
"That" Izzy said calmly, "was today in a nutshell. A string of conveniently timed events. As I was about to say: It's not a death trap anymore. Some of us got new Digivices, that allow us to travel back and forth freely. That was one of the new kids returning. He was the only one who managed to get away."
"Every single day in there was one giant near death experience!" Joe argued, "Even if I could leave whenever I wanted to, I wouldn't even hold a single toe into that fucking nightmare!"
"Well, you're in luck then" Izzy said, "Because it turns out, that's not the only motivation, I have to offer you."
"You call that motivation?"
Joe sighed.
"Okay, I'll bite… What else you got?"
"Well, if I recall correctly, your final request to Gomamon was, that he would carry on your legacy and get rich, while you are gone."
"Sounds about right."
"Well, guess what: He did just that"
"Don't bullshit me! As if he got rich in just three years!"
"That's not what I'm saying"
"Then what are you saying?"
"That he went searching for treasure" Izzy said, "And apparently he found one with your crest on it. It is an artifact we need, to unlock a new type of Digivolution, but after its one time use, we can bring it to the real world, sell it and split the profit. Right now we're eight, but I would be willing to give you alone fifty percent of the total amount, for your services"
"Pfft! Fifty percent of what? Who the hell would buy junk like that, anyway? Our Digivices were supposed to be sacred items in there. Out here they're just weird looking Tamagotchi's!"
"True, these plastic toys don't sell. However, I know quite a few people, who would be willing to pay a few thousand dollars, for that sort of artifact. You know, the ones that are made of materials, which are completely non-existent in the real world."
"God, this is such bullshit!" Joe barked, "All of it! I expected you, to come up with an at least believable lie!"
"I know, I know, it sounds way to convenient to be true. For all parties involved. But ask yourself this: Why would I present something so ridiculous to you, when there are many other lies, I could have told you, that are way more simplistic and much more believable."
"Oh! The old This-story-is-so-ludicrous-therefore-it-would-be-a-horrible-lie-and-must-be-true-argument. In case you forgot: I basically invented that strategy!"
"Look, we just need your help, so I figured, I should offer you something in return, since you are usually not – uh… thrilled to work with us…"
"Damn right"
"Okay, if you don't believe me, that's fine. I think, we can still solve this, somehow. As for our potential earnings, I guess we can go with TK's idea instead."
"Sure, whatever… you do th- wait what?" Joe asked startled, "What do you mean TK's idea?"
"Eh, technically it would be ideas plural." Izzy corrected himself, "He's got some movie pitches and these artifacts would serve as a decent funding opportunity. Who knows maybe it'll take off."
"Yeah, right…" Joe mumbled before clearing his throat, "Well, have fun shooting your non-existing movies, with your non-existing money…" he added, not quite as sharp as he would have liked to, while scratching the back of his neck.
"Will do" Izzy said off-handedly, "Tell you what, if TK is indeed onto something here, I'll make sure to send you a share. You know, for old times sake. Gotta go, the crew might run out of oxygen. Good luck with your meeting or whatever, bye."
Izzy hung up and Joe was left standing in the school's hallway, still holding the phone to his ear.
His left eye was twitching.
"Um, guys?" Cody asked uncertainly.
Maybe ten minutes had passed, since Izzy had ended his call with Joe. Since then, he had been typing non-stop and Cody, Armadillomon and Tai kept watching the screen. The crew, meanwhile, was standing ankle deep in water, with its level rising slowly but surely. While they weren't anywhere close to drowning, it was still concerning to watch.
"What are we gonna do next?" he continued nervously.
"I'm making some preparations for a fallback plan" Izzy said absently, "Not too sure, if I'd really want to use this one, though... in the meantime... Tai, you wanna guess?"
"Waiting?"
"Waiting." he nodded, "Excellent..."
"Waiting for what?" Cody asked anxiously, "You said Joe isn't coming, so what... ?"
"I never said that" Izzy said surprised, pausing and looking at Cody, "Taking the train, he would need about five to ten minutes, considering the distance, he'd have to go on foot... yeah, give him another ten minutes, maybe fifteen."
"It did not sound like that..." Cody said incredulously.
"Well, you don't know Joe like we do" Izzy explained.
"Yeah" Tai laughed, "He probably fucking booked it, once you hung up the phone!"
"I don't understand" Cody said confused, "It sounded like he was completely onto you!"
"Oh, he was" Izzy pointed out, "But the one thing you need to understand about Joe, is when there is a serious opportunity to make money for him, however slim the chance, he will take it, as long as there isn't much to lose for him. However, that's the tricky part: going into the Digital World, means he actually has something to lose."
"That's why it was freaking brilliant, to tell him TK would burn it all, in case he didn't show up!" Tai giggled.
"Why thanks" Izzy chuckled, "However, I wouldn't call it brilliant... I would call it the next logical step."
"But - " Cody said worried, "What if he doesn't come here?"
Tai and Izzy burst out into laughter.
"Hang on" Izzy said amused, "I think the others have something to say about that, too"
He put the crew on speaker. Immediately the room was filled with TK and Gatomon's laughter - even Kari and Patamon were giggling.
"Guys, seriously though" Kari said (still laughing), "He's really gonna hate us for this"
"You're saying this, like he never did that in the past" Izzy said, "But to answer your question Cody, I have some alternatives, don't you worry. But, let's be real – Eh, you heard what I told him, just stick to the story."
"I don't know about that..." Cody said timid.
The door slammed open.
"YOU AND YOUR FUCKING MIND GAMES!" Joe bellowed.
"Oh, never mind" Izzy said, "Plan A it is"
"Whoa, did you jump on a moving train?" Tai asked coughing from laughter, "How did you get here so fast?"
"Joe!" Koromon said happy, "It's been so long!"
Joe ignored them.
"You do realize, if this a fucking waste of MY time, I will do anything in my power, to smother ANY of your future careers in the cradle!"
"Glad you could make it after all" Izzy said, "Also, don't you think that's a bit of an overreaction?"
"I couldn't give less fucks, even if I tried!"
"Yeah, I bet" Veemon chimed in giggling, "From what I've heard, you're not fucking anyone. Less than zero, sounds kinda hard to pull off!"
"Who the hell is this, now?!" Joe asked bewildered, looking at Veemon on the screen.
"This is our new leader" Izzy said.
"Really?" Joe asked puzzled, "I assumed you pulled off one of your schemes to overthrow Tai, and take leadership for yourself."
"Why does everyone keep assuming that?" Izzy asked bewildered, "You guys do realize, I do not consider leadership in this group a position of power! I'd consider it a massive waste of time at best, and a decent reason to commit suicide at worst."
"Uh, speaking of wasting time and – uh... dying" TK said, "The water is rising faster now. You wanna hurry up or something?"
"Excellent point, TK. Joe, your Digivice, if you please."
"Sure..." Joe growled taking his Digivice out of the bag he wore around his shoulder. Izzy reached out for it, but Joe pulled his hand back at the last second.
"Joe -" Izzy sighed but Joe cut him off:
"This better be no bullshit!"
Tai, who was sitting behind Joe, jabbed Cody in the side with his elbow, before nodding toward the boy with the glasses.
"Uh – look" Cody said nervously, "He's telling the truth! We don't have much time!"
Joe looked him straight in the eye. Cody didn't break eye-contact once.
"Just – think of what you could do with that money -"
"Oh, I did! Believe me!"
He closed his eyes for a second.
"Fine..." he said passing the Digivice to Izzy, still looking at Cody.
Izzy plugged in Joe's Digivice to look for Gomamon on the map.
"Yeah, that's what I thought..." Izzy said after pinpointing Gomamon's location.
"What?"
"We could have avoided this whole predicament, and worked with you from the beginning, because guess what: Gomamon is exactly where we need him to be... Whatever. Cody, Joe, you two go to the underwater cave and retrieve the artifact."
Joe blinked.
"And Gomamon"
"Yes, obviously!" Izzy said annoyed.
"Not as obvious, when it's you, calling the shots…" Joe muttered, "Wait a minute! An underwater cave? How are we supposed to get out of there?"
Izzy picked up his bag from the floor and pulled out a yellow laptop. Sighing he looked at it.
"It's not working properly anymore" he said, "So, I figured, for an emergency like this one, it would be ideal." he added passing it to Joe, "Take it in with you. If there's no other way out, open the gate with it and leave it behind"
"Man, that's the one you used back in the day!" Tai said recognizing the device, "That's nostalgic as fuck. You sure you wanna waste it like that?"
"Tai, seriously" Joe said annoyed, taking his Digivice back from Izzy, and putting the laptop into his bag, "Fuck nostalgia, right now!"
"I hate to say it, but he's right." Izzy said, "We have more pressing concerns. Cody open the gate."
Cody raised his D3 – but then he hesitated.
"What is it now?" Joe moaned.
"I -" he said shaking and lowered the D3,"Just give me a minute -"
"Oh, fuck's sake!" Joe said grabbing his wrist and pointing the D3 at the monitor again, "What the – how does this work?" he added looking at the message on the screen.
"Tell it, to open the gate"
"Open up!" Joe barked.
"Not sure, if it works like that..." Tai mumbled.
"Oh yeah, genius?" Joe said, looking over his shoulder at him, "Then what should I say ins– why are you wearing raincoats?"
Izzy and Tai sat behind them, now both dressed in yellow raincoats.
A swooshing sound from the schools corridors.
"You know what, never mind" Tai said grinning zipping up his coat all the way, "Looks like, it worked after all"
"Are you serious?" Joe asked dry, "The tsunami is the standard?"
"So it seems" Izzy said zipping up his coat as well.
"I hate you..." Joe managed to say before the wave hit him.
The water washed through the room. Once it had spread across the lab, Cody, Armadillomon and Joe were gone.
"You know" Izzy said, while pulling off his raincoat, as the water started to disappear, "These raincoats are essentially pointless. They didn't protect us at all, and even if they did, it's nonsensical, because the water vanishes mere seconds, after the gate closes, anyway"
"Eh, whatever…" Tai mumbled, "But hey: That face Joe made, just now? Worth it."
"Can't argue with that" Izzy said smirking.
Satisfied, the Emperor looked back, towards the oil platform; a column of smoke, now loomed over it, at an angle. Still none of his enemies in sight.
"Ha! Those maggots..." he giggled arrogantly, "That was just too easy..."
He focused his attention again on the water below him. There was a large whirl, at the spot his Airdramon was circling. He kept pointing his black D3 at it, causing it to grow bigger and bigger by the second.
"Come on, now..." he growled, "Show yourself!"
Finally, the whirl dropped immensely, forming a massive maelstrom, with a seemingly bottomless whole in its center.
A large grin spread across the Emperor's face.
"There you are..." he whispered.
Two glowing red eyes were staring back at him from the blackness below.
Author's Note:
So, I just took the liberty to clean up a little. I didn't see 'Prologue' as a fully fledged chapter and I wanted 'Crap, we're getting rookies' to officially be chapter one, not two (and yes, I am very pedantic over the numbering of my chapters, so it had to be done... Look, it was bugging me for months, okay?).
As for upcoming chapters, chapter ten (Yes, it's ten, now. Get used to it xD) will be up this month on the 26th. Sorry for the delay but I just couldn't make the 26th last month. I'm studying for exams right now, hence the irregular (or... non-existing) uploading schedule. That was supposed to be over soon, but thanks to Corona, said exams have been postponed. So unfortunately, we're not back to guaranteed monthly releases, yet. But hey, there's the quarantine, right now, soooo... here's hoping?
On that note, stay healthy and thanks for reading!