"Do you have any objections to a field trip?" Hikari asked her. Myotismon returned a curious look. "There are many wonders here that I wish to show you."
Myotismon gave her assent. The familiar flickering began on her, a sight that didn't faze her. Surprise promptly flashed on her face.
The sky ahead was red like blood, dark clouds in a few places. An ocean-blue forest covered the land below. Obsidian lightning flashed silently on the horizon, clear as day to her. A flock of what she recognized as Devimon and LadyDevimon flew from a small clearing.
Myotismon noted that everything here wasn't drained of color like in the Dark Ocean. In the corner of her right eye, she saw Hikari appear.
"What do you think about this place?" Hikari asked after a moment, studying the landscape with mild interest.
"It's..." Myotismon trailed off, unsure what to really say. "I've never seen something like this before."
Hikari wasn't surprised. "Then this feels appropriate to say." Myotismon affixed her with a curious look. "Welcome to Hell." Myotismon didn't answer, content to idly gaze out at the landscape. "We made this continent from the Ocean's waters and settled its first residents here long ago, to provide demon Digimon," Hikari exposited. "This region belongs to a demon lord called Balamon, who designed the forest for his sixth legion."
"You can save the tour guide act," Myotismon replied, flatly. "I'm just curious how you got us here."
"I used an ability of the Deep Ones," Hikari disclosed. "It is a teleportation program that changes coordinates in four-dimensional space. I cannot explain it better."
The vampire scoffed, deeming it enough. "So, where's next?" She quickly saw her surroundings change again, white skies ahead along with a wasteland almost filled with round wood doors. Hikari appeared but seconds after.
"This place is called the Island of Gates," Hikari explained. "It is one of Hell's many places of power. From here, we can reach all corners of the continent."
Without a word, Myotismon turned left and went to the nearest door. After pushing it open, shock flashed onto her face. She saw herself in the doorway, and Hikari behind her.
"What the hell?!" Myotismon couldn't keep from shouting at the sight, hearing it twice. She saw Hikari smile.
"Everything is possible in the Dark Ocean," Hikari said, then walked away. Spinning, she saw Hikari approach another gateway. After she opened it, Myotismon saw a wasteland and a pair of rivers; one of them was made from bubbling lava.
"This door leads to where the five great rivers of the underworld begin," Hikari supplied, then went to the next one over. Through that one, they saw a place more like how Myotismon had expected Hell to look. Only scorched rock, rivers of lava and the occasional pond, and dark skies.
Through the next door, Myotismon saw a landscape and crimson skies. A giant spider - Myotismon recognized it as the thing that Imperialdramon had beaten - stood by the base of a relatively-close mountain. It faced a thing that the vampire didn't recognize, a chimerical monstrosity made from several different Digimon all unfamiliar to her.
"Enjoying the view?" Hikari asked her playfully. The vampire turned to her.
"I guess I am," Myotismon answered. "But how about we quit this little tour?"
"If you wish," Hikari replied. With no more than a thought expended on the effort, the Dark Queen returned them to the castle.
"How's it going?" Tai asked when he walked into the office. Cody and Armadillomon followed him, as did Kyubimon and Rika. At the left side, they saw Davis and Veemon leaning against the wall, with TK and Patamon.
Izzy raised his head from the screen, meeting Tai's eyes. "Nothing."
"Define 'nothing'," requested Tai sternly, standing still.
"I mean nothing, Tai," answered Izzy. "I called Gennai on the email address gave me, explained what's happened and what we want, but he hasn't responded back."
"There's gotta be some other way we can get to Gennai," Tai borderline-shouted at Izzy, glaring, spreading his arms out at the office. "Look at all this."
Izzy looked apologetically at him. "I know that Tai, but I still can't do everything."
"Let's look on the bright side," Agumon commented, hoping to lighten the mood. "Maybe he's just sleeping, or reading his mail right now."
Tai hoped that was true. Izzy saw a new box on the lower-right screen, a familiar yet more advanced sprite in it. Tai rushed to his side, a grin breaking out on his face at the sight of Gennai, greeting him.
"The feeling's mutual," Gennai returned, "but let's not waste time with pleasantries. I've contacted Azulongmon, who went to talk with the other Harmonious Ones, and they want to give you the power you're asking for."
"Alright," Tai cheered, giving a bright grin that immediately dimmed a bit. "Now, call me crazy, but is there a catch here?"
"Not from what I've heard," answered Gennai, "unless you count that they want to see you as soon as possible."
"Great," Izzy said. "We shouldn't need more than an hour to call everybody here, then we can-"
"I didn't mean 'you' in the plural, Izzy. I mean that they want to see you, Tai," Gennai cut in. "To help with the transport for you and the others, Homeostasis has given me permission to open a gate from here to where they're waiting."
Tai looked quizzically at the sprite. "You can do that? Since when, and why didn't you do that for us back... back anytime we needed to go somewhere?!"
"I can do it with the same kind of program we put into the D3s to travel between the dimensions with," Gennai explained. "I didn't before because transporting so many to so many places would've taken too much of my energy. I could have, but it would've killed me if I tried. Izzy can probably explain it better."
The three immediately looked to Izzy. Gennai felt a bit guilty for pawning it off on him.
"It's basically like if Gennai's a computer running a program off one battery that can't be replaced or recharged," Izzy put in.
"Not while that mess was going on," Gennai put in. "I already didn't have my full power because of an illness Piedmon had caused me."
"That ball we saw," Izzy reminded them. It was only half a question. "I always kinda wondered what that was." Cody decided he was officially lost.
Gennai didn't answer. In the middle of the room, the air began to shift, solidify. The outline of a red square appeared, red and green lines zigzagging and crisscrossing outwards from it. Rapidly, the outlined cube expanded, and the wireworks followed suit until a two-meter door in space occupied the center of Izzy's office. A sun-rich meadow was visible on the other side.
A stern look on his face, Tai began to walk, Agumon following behind. Silence reigned while they went inside. As he walked, Tai looked up. An azure dragon floated in the sky, rays of light shining down from behind the serpentine deity. Turning around, he saw them - a white masked tiger, a two-headed turtle with a forest on its shell, a bird with a plumage the colors of fire. All three of the animals were so big that they reminded him of VenomMyotismon.
"Greetings and salutations, young warriors," the vermillion bird said to the four, with a booming voice. "Your request for power will be answered." Tai grinned. In the office, TK cheered at the news. "However, we will also implore you to stay your hand." Tai's grin died down. TK's glee morphed into a glare. "We understand your pain and frustration well, but what you plan to do is suicidal."
"Tai, are you aware of what resides deep below?" it was Ebonwumon who now spoke, two female voices in unison. TK walked across, Patamon on his shoulder, Cody and Armadillomon following.
"No," he answered, not a little annoyed by the sidetrack. Curiosity showed in Zhuqiaomon's eyes.
"Underneath us all lies what we know as the Dark Area, or Hell," Ebonwumon said. "It is where evil Digimon like Kimeramon and MetalSeadramon were sent after they died. As I recall, you, TK, and Patamon have seen Devimon on his way into the pit."
The memory of seeing Devimon in the whirlpool flashed to the forefront of TK's mind. "So that's what was up with Devimon in that whirlpool."
"That is so," the turtle god confirmed. "It is a land of demon Digimon, inside a sphere of warped space. Daemon used to rule it as one of the Seven Great Demon Lords," she trailed, speculating what else to disclose. "He escaped back when the Dark Masters made Spiral Mountain. During the chaos of Millenniummon's first war, he took the chance to hide too well for us to find again."
"So there are more like him?" TK smiled thinly. "Six more?" Daemon alone had been hard enough that they deserved a vacation, thought the flying pig-thing.
"There are," affirmed Ebonwumon, "though I doubt very much that you will need to someday face them. We have so far managed to keep them contained."
"Indeed," Baihumon voiced. "Know also that the World of Darkness is almost infinitely worse than the Dark Area of this world. I know this because some time ago, we four explored the World of Darkness, and there we found things I still shudder to recall," he fell silent, unease filling his eyes. Tai almost didn't want to ask.
"During our exploration, I stumbled into one of its many accursed places, one far underground," he went on. "It was a white void where the mere act of moving felt like being pulled in every direction at once." TK winced at that. "Elsewhere, I found a labyrinth where the walls burned, and a blizzard so dense that I could barely see endlessly swept through it. The combined pains were nearly maddening."
A grave silence descended when Baihumon finished. Cody was glad he wasn't going alone.
"My friend," the sparrow god looked the azure dragon's way. "Please tell me you have not been... yourself... again?"
"How I choose to interact with them is not your concern, Zhuqiaomon," Azulongmon bit back. Tai stared uncertainly at the dragon.
"You are correct in that," said Zhuqiaomon. "How you keep the peace in your domain is not our affair. What is of concern to me is that you have apparently been so inattentive to them that there are things they still don't know of this world."
"Zhuqiaomon speaks true," Ebonwumon voiced and looked to them. "From what I understand, Armadillomon and Patamon, you use DNA Digivolution to reach the Ultimate stage. Has either Gennai or Azulongmon ever spoken to you of Slide DNA Digivolution?"
The guinea-pig and armadillo both looked quizzically at one another, then looked to their partners who seemed equally lost.
Zhuqiaomon shot Azulongmon a peeved look. "Surely not, Azulongmon? I can understand why you did not tell them while the Control Spires were in place, but we have had years of peace since MaloMyotismon was slain and Daemon banished."
"I did not think it was necessary," Azulongmon admitted sheepishly, then looked down. "Slide DNA Digivolution is a method of Digivolution that allows for the fused Digimon to change between the forms they can take."
They all looked only more confused. On the other side, Izzy got up from his chair.
"What do you mean, 'the forms they can take'?" Patamon echoed.
"Yeah," agreed Cody. "Isn't Shakkoumon, Paildramon, and Silphymon everything?"
Baihumon looked at Azulongmon with surprise. "Have you not even told them that little, Azulongmon?"
Tai wondered what else Azulongmon hadn't told them about. Azulongmon glanced away from the tiger, to the Digidestined.
"DNA Digivolution is a method for a Digimon to achieve their next form, where the Digimon they fuse with provides the energy needed to ascend," Azulongmon informed them. "The only great difference between a DNA Digivolution and using a partner human is where the energy to ascend comes from."
Tai and TK and Agumon stared blankly. Cody looked pensive, briefly mulling that over. He felt reminded of Fullmetal Alchemist.
"Hold on, Izzy told us that DNA Digivolution combines our strongest pieces," Patamon announced. "How does your explanation fit with that?"
"If Izzy told you that, then he was quite misinformed," Azulongmon said.
"So that means Shakkoumon is Armadillomon's Ultimate form?" Cody asked. "We're giving Angemon to get him? And, we could give Ankylomon and get MagnaAngemon back when they fuse together?"
"A good way of putting it, Cody," Ebonwumon praised him. "You should already be able to perform the Slide DNA Digivolution technique. It comes as what you call a package deal with the first fusion."
"I wish you'd told us that sooner," Patamon said. TK agreed, certain that this could help save her.
"How does Omnimon fit into that?" asked Izzy as he walked through. "Isn't Omnimon a DNA Digivolution too?"
"No," Zhuqiaomon said simply. "Your Omnimon arises from a special type of Digivolution that we do not yet have a name for."
"Perhaps we can return to the original topic of the Dark World and the abducted?" Azulongmon broke in. His voice was not just dry, but arid.
Zhuqiaomon scoffed softly, beak curved slightly up. "Direct as always," he commented, then looked to Tai and Agumon.
"I urge you to reconsider, all of you," said the sparrow. "They might very well be dead at this point, or worse yet, twisted beyond all means of help."
"That hasn't happened, I'm sure of it," said Tai, firmly, grinning. "Kari's a tough kid."