I do not own InuYasha or Digimon Adventure in any way!
Speech Key:
"The" – Oral/Normal Speech
'The' – Thoughts
PLEASE READ THIS BEFORE BEGINNING!
AN: I know I said that I wasn't going to have anything InuYasha related in this story, but I've rethought that and I've decided that if not soon, then during the Adventure 2 portion, I'll have some of the characters pop up into the mix to kick things up a bit, for lack of a more eloquent phrase at the moment.
Anyway, enjoy the chapter!
Review, but if you don't have anything nice to say, then don't say anything at all!
-The Ninth Child-
xX-Old Friends and Dreams-Xx
When the bubble finally landed, the nine DigiDestined found themselves in a very foggy environment. The fog was so think that they couldn't even tell see each other or where they'd landed.
"Okay," Kagome drawled. "So where did we end up, exactly?"
Kudamon shook his head. "Who knows? But I can tell you that everyone is still together because of Piximon's barrier."
"Hey!" they heard Mimi's voice. "The fog's clearing up!"
As the mist was slowly dissipating, the group of children and Digimon saw that they were on a beach, but it wasn't one that any of the DigiDestined, who'd been to the Digital World previously, recognized.
"Great," Joe said wryly, "now we can clearly see that we're lost."
"Could try to be a little more optimistic, Joe," Izzy sweat-dropped, "Just think of it as us on our way."
"That makes everything so much better," Matt said sarcastically.
"I don't know about you, but I'm getting cold," Kari said.
T.K nodded in agreement. "And hungry," he added.
Kagome's eyes softened at the youngest of the group and opened her arms. "Come on," she said gently.
Kari's eyes lit up at the familiar gesture and snuggled into her sister's arms. But T.K just stood there looking at the duo nervously, as though wondering if it really was okay. He looked up at his brother as though asking for permission.
"Go on," Matt nodded. "It's okay, she's not going to bite, you know."
T.K grinned and tumbled into Kagome's arms beside Kari as the older girl held the two close and rubbed their arms, trying to keeping them warm to the best of her ability.
'They look like a family,' Matt thought, watching the scene, 'A strange one, but a family.'
Tai smiled and shook his head lightly at the sight. 'That's Kagome for ya, always taking care of others before herself.' "Okay, so is everyone else okay?" he asked. "Except for being cold and hungry and lost, I mean."
"Don't forget frightened and tired," Sora added, holding a snoozing Yokomon.
"And worried about Piximon," Mimi chimed in, rocking Tanemon gently to keep the small Digimon asleep.
"But I get the feeling that we've been here before," Izzy commented, looking around the beach and out onto the ocean. It wasn't until his eyes scanned a certain sight that he gasped. "I knew it! Look at that; smashed up telephone booths!"
"Telephone booths?" Kagome asked. "Here?"
Tai nodded in answer before looking at the pile of crushed metal and wire, just barely making out the shape of a telephone receiver in the rubble.
"Those can't be the same ones from before," Sora asked, "Could they?"
"It could be a coincidence," Matt shook his head, "But it makes sense."
"How?" T.K asked.
"Well, when we first came here, besides that bit with Kuwagamon, this is where we battled Shellmon," Izzy reminded them, "and it's also where Agumon first digivolved to Greymon."
"But then we've just been going around in one huge circle!" Tai exclaimed. "And here we thought we were making some progress!"
"Then I guess we should start walking," Kagome said, standing up and letting go of Kari and T.K, though the two stayed close to her anyway. "We won't be getting anywhere if we just stay sitting around here."
The children nodded as they picked up their Digimon, with the exceptions being Agumon and Gabumon, and walking off in a random direction.
"So we've just been going around in a huge circle?" Joe asked.
"Yeah," Mimi nodded. "But now that I think about it, walking kinda seems pointless if we're just going to go around in a loop."
"But what if the pointlessness of it is the entire point?" Sora asked.
"Say what?" Agumon and Gabumon did an anime fall at that.
"Sora, as interesting as that sounds," Tai shook his head, "I don't think this is the time for a Philosophy lesson."
Just then they heard a faint voice off in the ocean a few metres off shore. The children turned towards the body of water and found water splashing around and heard calls for help coming from that spot.
"Oh no! Someone's drowning!" Mimi said worriedly, pointing at the splashing water.
"We then somebody's got to save her," Kari said earnestly.
"They can't," T.K shook his head at the Digimon, "They're too tired; they'll drown if they go out there."
'I'm getting a bad feeling about this…' Kagome narrowed her eyes at the splashing water before turning her eyes onto the two younger children before her. 'I don't think I'm going to like what they're going to do…'
"Then we'll just have to save her!" T.K nodded. "Come on!"
"Right!" Kari followed after, the two running off for the shoreline.
'Point one for intuition,' Kagome thought running up to her little sister and the young blonde. "Oh no you, steady now. There's no need to rush into things like that."
"Kagome's right," Tai nodded. "Someone bigger should go."
"We can use that," Matt gestured to the wooden boat that was conveniently laid out at the shore a few paces away.
'If that doesn't scream suspicious,' Kagome sweat-dropped, 'I don't know what would.'
"Then we're coming, too!" Kari and T.K shouted.
"Hey wait up!" Joe ran after them.
"Don't forget about us!" Sora said as she, Mimi, and Izzy went after their friend.
"I guess I'm in, too," Kagome sighed, going after them as well. 'No matter how bad this feels…'
The~Ninth~Child
"Stroke! Stroke!" Sora, Mimi, Matt, and Tai chorused as they rowed. Izzy and Joe were at the back, steering the rudder, while Kagome sat up front with T.K and Kari, keeping a tight hold on them.
But something was wrong, as the children came closer and closer, it seemed as though the high-pitched voice they heard was getting lower and lower.
"Um, is it me or did you guys hear that, too?" Mimi asked when they all stopped paddling.
"Not just you," Sora nodded.
Suddenly, a geyser of water shot up, drenching everyone within the outrigger, only to reveal an angrily gleeful Shellmon. "I'll have you now, pesky humans!"
"A sea monster!" Kari shouted.
"That's an understatement!" Tai said with a near-hysterical tone. "That's Shellmon, and it doesn't look like he's here for a little water polo! PADDLE!"
In no time, the outrigger was turned back around in the direction of the beach, but it very little good since Shellmon had caught up to them pretty quickly.
"You're in my domain now!" the large turtle-like Digimon roared as he chomped down on the boat, splitting it into two. One half with Izzy, Sora, Mimi, and Joe floated in one direction, while the other half with Kagome, T.K, Kari, Tai, and Matt floated down an opposite course.
"Exhausted or not, we've got to help them!" Agumon said, getting ready to digivolve.
"No way," Motimon spoke up.
"What?" Gabumon looked at the little pink Digimon like he was crazy. "Our friends and partners are out there and need help!"
"You misunderstood," Yokomon shook her head. "We'll go and help, you stay here and save your Digi-Strength."
"Motimon Digivolve to: Tentomon!"
"Kyaromon Digivolve to: Kudamon!"
"Yokomon Digivolve to: Biyomon!"
"Tanemon Digivolve to: Palmon!"
"Bukamon Digivolve to: Gomamon!"
"Hold on!" Kagome shouted, gripping T.K and Kari tighter to her as Tai and Matt clambered up to the front in an attempt to steady the piece they were floating on.
"Poison Ivy!" Palmon's vines bound tight around Shellmon, as she tugged him in another direction.
"Huh?" the turtle-like Digimon commented. "What's going on?"
"Blinding Ray!" Kudamon's earring glowed a bright gold as did his eyes as a golden light engulfed Shellmon.
"ACK!" the large Digimon cried out. "I can't see!"
"Marching Fishes!" Gomamon summoned a large platoon of his multicoloured fish and created a large raft with them. Oddly enough, the raft of fishes was much stronger than it looked. "Get on!"
Tai nodded as he took T.K and Kari and helped them onto the makeshift form of transport, while Matt quickly, but carefully helped Kagome onto the sheet of fish.
"Let's go!" Biyomon nodded to Tentomon. Together, the two winged Digimon flew over to the other half of the boat and quickly pushed as hard as they could to help the half to Gomamon's fishes.
"Let's get going!" Izzy said urgently, jumping onto the raft with Joe, Mimi, and Sora following right after him.
"Now this is the way to travel!" Tai nodded.
"On a raft of fish?" Kagome raised an eyebrow.
Tai only grinned as he rubbed his head sheepishly.
By the time the children had gotten back to shore, Shellmon had disappeared, dazed from Kudamon's attack.
The~Ninth~Child
"This may not mean much now since they're dead tired," Tai spoke, "but I think today proved that our Digimon are getting stronger and stronger."
"How do you figure that?" Kagome asked.
"The last time we faced Shellmon," Tai explained to them all, "Agumon had to Digivolve to Greymon to beat him, and even then it was close. But this time we beat him easily without Greymon."
"Yeah," Agumon conceded, "but don't forget that they all ganged up on him, five to one."
"But they didn't need to digivolve as far to do it," Tai pressed on. "I really think you've gotten stronger than you were."
"Or Shellmon's probably weaker than he was," Kari retorted.
"Okay, why is everyone trying to be such a downer?" Tai put his hand on his hips. "I'm just trying to stay positive. Besides," his face turned pensive, "I still can't get something Piximon said out of my head."
"The truth is that being together isn't enough. There's more you need to do before you can defeat him."
"I think he meant that we have to get stronger," the brown-haired teen told them. "And that's just what's happening."
"Maybe Tai's right," Sora nodded.
"I feel stronger," Biyomon added.
And this here started off the string of comments that followed as everyone and the Digimon began commenting on how they either looked or felt stronger.
"Come to think of it, you are looking kinda buff," Matt told his partner.
"Thanks!" Gabumon grinned. "That's a compliment, right?"
"Do I look stronger, Izzy?" Tentomon asked.
"Well," Izzy laughed nervously. "Why don't you make a muscle and we'll see?"
Tentomon fell to the sand. "I was~!"
"Do I look stronger, T.K?" Patamon asked.
"Yeah," T.K grinned. "You looked buffed out to the max!"
"Kari?" Gatomon asked.
"Well, you don't look a lot different to me," the brown-haired girl told her partner. "But give it time, Gatomon, you'll catch up with the rest."
"Oh…" Gatmon's ears wilted.
Kagome winced. 'I don't think that's what she wanted to hear, Kari…'
In an attempt to make the now sullen Digimon feel better, Agumon spoke to the feline Digimon. "Come to think of it, your coat's looking glossier."
"Really?" Gatomon perked up.
Kagome nodded and added in her own input this time, Kudamon back around her neck, though now you could actually see his face as he didn't need to stay hidden any longer. "Your fur's definitely shinier and it looks softer than the first time I saw you."
Eventually, they all broke out into laughter as they realized how silly they were acting.
Just then, Matt made a commented that caught everyone's attention. "Hey, is it me, or did it just get brighter all of a sudden?" He then cast a small grin at his brown-haired friend. "Or is it just Tai's sunnydisposition?"
Kagome and Kari giggled while Tai threw a dry look at his blonde friend before looking out at the ocean and spotted what looked like tufts of tress appearing in the distance. "Is this like a mirage or something?"
"Something smells suspiciously like food," Mimi hummed, sniffing the air.
"Hey, I smell it, too," Joe agreed, sniffing the air like Mimi, but only to find out where the scent was coming from.
One by one, each of them started to comment on the scent and began looking for the source. Eventually, in the distance a little while up the beach, there stood a large food shack.
"Hey," Matt asked slowly, "Was that shack there before?"
"Maybe someone moved in while we were gone," T.K answered.
"It would make sense if that happened," Gabumon conceded.
'But that's still a little suspicious,' Kagome thought. 'We come to the Digital World feeling hungry and we don't see the shack until now? Something seems a bit fishy…'
"Careful everybody," Izzy warned. "Remember, we're in the Digital World, so we have to be careful about what's real and what's not."
"Well looks can be deceiving," Tentomon spoke up, "But smells you can trust, and I definitely smell grilling burgers! It's a snack bar! Burgers, soda, ice cream, pizza, yummy in my digi-tummy!"
"Mirage or not, I'll take my chances!" Tai grinned. "Gangway!"
And with that said, the DigiDestined and their partners ran off laughing and squealing with joy toward the shack that proved not to be an illusion.
"Hurry up, Kagome," Kari said, pulling the older girl's hand, "Or you'll get left behind and they'll eat all the food!"
"I'm coming, I'm coming. You know that even if we go there slowly, the food's not going to leave" Kagome laughed at her sister's antics, despite her earlier reservations about the food hut. She looked down when felt another hand taking hers and found the culprit to be none other than T.K.
"T.K?" Kagome asked.
The little boy didn't look at her as a small tinge of red ran across his cheeks. He mumbled something.
"What was that?" Kagome asked confusedly.
"Thank you," the young blonde said, "for looking out for me…"
Icy orbs widened slightly before softening their gaze on the young boy. "It was nothing," she told the boy holding her hand. "But you're welcome."
Although it didn't seem like it, Matt had heard and even caught a glimpse of T.K interaction with Kagome, which served to puzzle him a bit.
While T.K was a trusting and happy boy, it took a while for him to warm up to someone he didn't know. But there he was holding Kagome's hand and he hadn't even known her more than a few hours at the most. 'He must really like her…' the older blonde thought, keeping up his cheerful appearance.
It was as if he was drawn to her.
But Matt couldn't say anything to that since he felt the same way, and he suspected that many of the others did, too. He didn't know much about the girl other than the fact that she was Tai's sister. But what he did know was that people were probably drawn to her because of the caring and selfless personality he'd caught a glimpse of back in their world.
It wasn't long before they'd reached the shack, but when they stepped inside, they didn't find a lively dining area or kitchen as they'd hoped. What they'd found was a large empty room with no windows except some straw and dried grass covering a few openings that lacked wood.
"What the—?" Matt looked around at the barren room. "What's going on?"
Sensing something coming their way, Kudamon nudged Kagome with an urgent look on his face. Nodding, Kagome gripped T.K and Kari close to her, placing herself slightly in front of them.
"Kagome?" Kari asked worriedly. "What's wrong?"
"He's coming," Kudamon narrowed his eyes.
Suddenly, the ground gave a great tremor from beneath them and a sandstorm started up outside of the shack. The sand piled up in front of the entrance higher and higher, until no one could pass through the thick mound of sand.
"It's a trap!" Sora shouted when a burst of sand bubbled from the ground, revealing a large scorpion-like Digimon behind it.
"Snack time~!" the Digimon cackled.
"It's Scorpiomon," Patamon told them, "One of MetalSeadramon's flunkies. Between his pincers and his tail, it's hard to know which end of him is worse!"
"So sorry," Scorpiomon said mockingly. "But the only snacks here are you! Say 'Night-Night', 'cause it's bedtime! Scorpion Storm!" He released a large stream of sand that whipped around the large room.
"Kagome!" Tai shouted, trying to get to his sisters and T.K, but to no avail as the sand was slowly making him drowsier by the moment.
"I've got her!" Matt shouted to the brown-haired preteen. He struggled to walk as he gripped Kagome and the youngest two of the group close to him. He fought off the drowsiness for as long as he could, but in no time, he and everyone were fast asleep.
'I knew this was a bad idea…' was the last thought Kagome had before she saw black.
-Dream-
Kagome opened her eyes to find herself in a dark place with no light, no sound, or anything else for that matter.
"Where am I?" Kagome whispered, looking around for some way out.
"Hello!" she called. "Is anyone there? Tai! Kari? Kudamon?"
But no one answered back.
"Okay, so there wasn't an echo," the raven-haired girl. "That must mean that I'm not in an enclosed space or something…but then, where would I be? Oh I hope everyone's all right…"
Suddenly, Kagome's crest began shining a stunning white underneath her dress. The raven-haired girl watched in slight awe as the tag and crest hovered out from underneath her collar to a few inches in front of her neck. A white light shot out of the crest, cutting through the darkness.
"Okay," Kagome said slowly. "That wasn't creepy…but I guess I could follow it, it's not like I'm doing anything else." And with that said, the preteen walked in the path the light of her crest laid out for her.
She walked for what felt like a couple hours, but even then there was nothing else to be seen or heard but the sound of her footsteps and breathing. Soon enough, though, she was an opening of light a few metres away.
Perking up, Kagome grinned and ran all the way to the opening and stepped through, this time finding herself in a completely different place than before.
She stood in a large open meadow of lush, green grass that swayed gently in the sweet-scented breeze. The sky was blue and the sun shone beautifully, but beyond that there was only one other thing; a small shrine.
Curiously, but cautiously, Kagome walked up to the shrine, knelt down before it, and pulled the doors open gently after bowing her head and say a prayer in respect. Within the shrine was a golden statuette of a dragon with piercing ruby eyes; on either side of the statuette burned two sticks of incense, as though lit only recently.
"Why would my crest lead me to Oryu?" the raven-haired girl wondered. "Could he be connected to this somehow?"
It was then that Kagome's crest lit up again, but this time it didn't shoot out a light as it did before, but rather it seemed that it was trying to garner a reaction. It seemed that the idea worked when the statuette glowed with a faint-white outline.
Kagome watched as the white glow slowly rose from the statuette to form a large transparent golden dragon with piercing red eyes.
"Who has released me?" the dragon asked in a deep baritone voice.
"I think that might have been me," Kagome said, looking up at the dragon curiously. "Who are you?"
The Dragon lowered his head to look at the raven-haired girl and stared into her eyes.
A few moments passed before either of them blinked.
"I am the Dragon of the Centre," the dragon spoke. "And who are you, Bearer of my Crest?"
"My name is Kagome Kamiya," Kagome answered before the rest of what he said hit her. "What do you mean 'your crest'? Doesn't the Crest of Compassion belong to me?"
The dragon nodded. "You are its rightful bearer, but I hold domain over that power; it is linked to me."
"Are you Oryu from the Old Tales?" Kagome asked. "Or are you a Digimon?"
"That is neither here nor there," the dragon said. "Why have you come?"
"My crest led me here," the raven-haired girl said simply.
The dragon blinked at the young human before him. "I see…then it is time."
"Time?" Kagome parroted. "Time for what? What's going on?"
The dragon said nothing as he leaned over the young girl and pressed his nose to the top of her head. He let out a puff of gold smoke flow around her body as he let out a sort of purr.
"Bearer—" the dragon began when he pulled away.
"My name is Kagome, not 'Bearer'," Kagome broke in. "Ka-go-me!"
The dragon looked at the young human with an odd look. It seemed that whoever this dragon was, no one had ever spoken to him like that before.
"Kagome," the dragon said slowly, testing out the name.
Kagome smiled and nodded at the use.
"I bless you with what is mine," the dragon spoke, "but know that it can be both a blessing and a curse. Use this gift for what you believe is right, let no other sway you from your own path, create your own destiny."
Kagome nodded in awe, though still not quite understanding just what the dragon was speaking of. 'What gift did he give me? Why me? Is it because of my crest? Or is it something else?'
It was then that she noticed that her form was becoming transparent and growing more so with each passing moment. She looked up at the dragon and watched as he, too, began to disappear little by little.
"Whatever you did, thank you!" Kagome shouted as her form neared complete removal. "I'll do my best to use your gift wisely!" 'If I ever figure out what it is…'
"That is all I can ask," the dragon said, his last words becoming a mere whisper on the wind as his transparent form disappeared and the glow from the statuette receded completely just as Kagome's form was gone as well.
-End Dream-
Kagome woke to someone calling her name and shaking her gently. "What? What's going on?"
"No time to explain," Joe said hurriedly, "all you need to know is that we all have to get out before MetalSeadramon barbeques us all!"
Nodding, Kagome stood with Kari and T.K, Matt supporting the preteen as they all sprinted out of the shack as fast as they could, just narrowly avoiding being caught in the blaze that the metal-dragon Digimon lit.
"Ha ha, DigiDestined!" they all heard MetalSeadramon say in triumph. "It was a rare pleasure knowing you—medium rare!"
"Waaaa! Hot! Hot! HOT!" the now conscious Scorpiomon, who Zudomon left behind inside the burning shack, shouted.
MetalSeadramon stopped laughing and looked at the shack in confusion. "Eh?"
"ACK!" Scorpiomon burst out of the burning shack and did a funny dance as he made his way to the ocean. "Who was the hot-tempered foul mouth who—Oh it was you, Boss. Okay, no problem!" He plunged into the water, extinguishing the flames set on his back. "Ahhh…"
As he watched his underling cool off in the water, the metal-dragon Digimon realized something and looked back at the burned shack to find only burnt wood. "No! NO! They're gone! SCORPIOMON! How did this happen?!"
"Uh, well, Boss, you see—" the scorpion Digimon tried speaking.
"Silence!" MetalSeadramon roared. "You've failed me, Scorpiomon! And I do not forgive failure!" He flew up into the air, his tail coiled around Scorpiomon.
"I didn't think you wo—AAAAH!" Scorpiomon shouted as he was let go from a high altitude, sending the scorpion Digimon hurling into the sand. Upon impact, a large sand cloud erupted, but when it faded away, there was nothing left but an imprint of Scorpiomon's body in the sand.
Once the task was done, MetalSeadramon slithered away in the air.
"He's gone," Kagome breathed a sigh of relief. "Thank goodness." 'But then, did I really dream of that dragon? And what was the gift he gave me?'
"Well, at least we got out of it okay," Tai commented, looking over his sisters for any sign of injury.
"I hate to break it you," Mimi said solemnly, "but I don't think everything is okay."
Joe nodded in agreement. "Mimi's right."
"What?" Tai looked at the caramel-haired girl and the older boy next to her. "What are you talking about? Did I miss something?"
"The Digimon are strong enough yet," Joe explained. "Both of ours had to digivolve again to Ultimate to take on Scorpiomon, and he was just a flunkie. Frankly, it's hard to see how they'd stand a chance against a fully digivolved monster like MetalSeadramon."
"Hmm," Tai put his fist to his chin in thought. "Maybe you're right. Maybe Piximon was talking about something else… But whatever the secret is, we've got to find it if ever want to save the world."
"Both of our worlds," Kagome added in. "Remember, somehow because of that whole Myotismon bit, the Digital World and our world seem to be merging, at least to some extent."
"And the sooner the better!" Tentomon shouted, flying up into the air.
It was then that a large wave rose up out of the ocean, churning twice before MetalSeadramon's blade-like horn pierced through with him rising up from the water.
"It's MetalSeadramon again!" Sora shouted.
"Zudomon, you get the others out of here as fast as you can," Lillymon ordered the large shelled Digimon; "I'll try and draw that overgrown snake away."
That said, Lillymon flew out to MetalSeadramon, fluttered around his face for a bit, and then flew off, leading him away from the DigiDestined. "Yoo-hoo you big, ugly—WHOA!" 'Great, he's fast, too!'
"I wonder what she was going to call him…" Kagome muttered as Joe told his partner to quicken his pace.
"Do you think he's see us?" Sora asked.
"I don—" Tai tried answering, but was cut off by a loud roar behind them.
"You pathetic fools!" the metal-dragon shouted. "Do you think you'd be safe escaping by sea?"
"I'd take that as a yes!" Kagome said with wide eyes.
"Full speed ahead Zudomon!" Tentomon cried out.
"Cut it with the dog paddling and get to zooming!" Joe shouted, panicked.
"Tonight you'll be sleeping with the fishes!" MetalSeadramon cackled.
"Uh-oh," Lillymon's eyes widened, "I'd better do something or he'll catch up…Flower Cannon!"
The Mega Digimon turned when he felt a small blast bounce off his body. "And as for you…" he lifted up his tail faster than the flower Digimon could dodge and smacked her straight in Zudomon's direction.
"Lillymon, no!" Mimi cried out, she across Zudomon's back and opened her arms, getting ready to catch her partner, who'd de-digivolved back into Palmon.
Just then, MetalSeadramon sunk into the ocean without a word or ripple to show he'd been there.
"Do you think he's gone?" Tai asked.
Kagome looked at her brother in disbelief. "Yeah, he just left us when he's bent on trying to destroy us! That makes perfect sense!"
"Kagome's right," Izzy nodded. "He couldn't be gone; not while we're still alive."
"Then where could he be?" Sora asked.
"Maybe he's right below us…" Matt suggested.
"Shh, quiet," Tai reprimanded as they all fell silent, waiting.
After a few moments of inactivity, the children thought they were safe. But it seemed that the stillness wasn't to last as Zudomon was pushed back violently.
"What was that?!" T.K cried out.
"It's him!" Kagome shouted, when she saw a glint of gold and silver within the water. "He's trying to ram us!"
Kagome was proven right when MetalSeadramon rose up out of the water just enough for them to see him, but not enough so that he was completely out of the water. He charged Zudomon at a rapid speed, ramming the shelled Digimon once more. This time, however, the force of the blow was enough to knock the children off of Zudomon's back, leaving them to flail around In the water.
The shelled Digimon turned to MetalSeadramon, getting ready to attack, but had no time to do so when the metal-dragon launched his own. "River of Power!" The aqua-hued laser shot out from his nozzle-like nose, hitting Zudomon directly, sending him flying back as he de-digivolved.
"What are we going to do now?" Kari asked with wide eyes, clutching Gatomon close to her as they all tried to stay afloat.
"You're finished you upstart DigiDestined!" MetalSeadramon chuckled darkly. "In a word, you're sunk!"
It was then that the children saw a large shadow below them, but being in the position they were in, they couldn't tell what it was.
It seemed that the Mega Digimon had spotted the creature as well. "Who is that?" he narrowed his eyes at the moving shadow.
Just then, a large blue tail popped out of the water, creating a large wave that pushed the DigiDestined back a few metres.
"It's Whamon!" Tai shouted in surprised relief.
Said Digimon then leapt out of the ocean and rammed into MetalSeadramon, sending the Mega Digimon into the ocean with a great roar of confusion.
"Come on, everybody!" Tai called as they swam towards Whamon's open mouth. "I never thought, I'd want to be fish food, but we'll be safe there!"
"Technically, he's a mammal!" Izzy corrected.
"I really don't think that matters right now, Izzy," Kagome said, swimming towards the whale Digimon, her arm around Kari's waist to help her and Kudamon wrapped securely around her neck.
The~Ninth~Child
It wasn't until a while later that the children far enough away from MetalSeadramon for Whamon to let them out of his mouth to sit on his back.
"Thanks for saving us, Whamon!" Mimi thanked the whale Digimon.
"Aw, don't mention it," Whamon said modestly. "No, seriously, don't mention it; I don't want it get around," he added quickly.
"Uh, guys," Matt spoke up, "we have a problem, remember? How are we going to be able to beat the Dark Masters?"
"How did they take over the Digital World in the first place?" Kagome asked from she sat with T.K and Kari, playing a hand clapping game to keep them occupied.
"Do you remember how they did it, Whamon?" Sora asked.
"Of course I remember Whamon," the whale Digimon chuckled. "Big fella, snappy dresser—oh wait, he doesn't wear clothes…anyway, he's a gre—"
"Whamon!" the children said, amused.
"What?" Whamon chuckled again. "Oh, you meant the Dark Masters. Well, I don't know all of the details, but soon after the Digital World began to warp, MetalSeadramon began to take over the seas."
"Darn!" Tai said in frustration as he threw a punch onto Whamon's back.
"Ouch," was all Whamon said.
"Oh, uh, sorry," Tai said awkwardly while everyone else sweat-dropped.
Kagome and Kari looked at Tai before nodding at each other. They got up and walked over to their brother, knelt down and Kari wrapped her arms around his while Kagome placed a hand on his shoulder.
"Please don't be angry," Kari pleaded. "We'll figure something out."
"And don't even think of going all pity-party on us right now," Kagome told her brother. "So listen to you cute little sister's words and I won't have to smack you, all right?" she threw a wink at the brown-haired preteen.
Tai smirked at his sisters' word before throwing an arm around them both to pull them close to him. "Yeah, we will. We've done it before, and we'll do it now."
"Yeah!" the rest of the DigiDestined and their partners shouted.
"That's the attitude," Whamon said approvingly. "Hold on; I'll take you somewhere safe, outside of MetalSeadramon's reach even if I have to swim to the far corners of the ocean! Did I mention I charge by the mile?"
The~Ninth~Child
Eventually, Whamon had taken them to a lone, crescent-shaped island, with the children still on his back as they did their best to catch some fish for lunch with Matt playing his harmonica to pass the time.
"Cats land on their feet,
But we still need to eat
It's Gatomon's wish,
for some fresh flying fish.
'Cause I'm a kitty,
A Digi-kitty, Oh yeah-h-h."
The group bar, Matt, Joe, Izzy, and Tai watched as Gatomon sang along to the tune Matt was playing before leaping into the air with a meow. Only moments later did two perfectly sliced up fish land on the feline-Digimon's plate.
"That was great, Gatomon, but the rest of us need to eat, too, remember?" Palmon piped up. "Stand aside and let me show you how it's done."
The plant Digimon went over to stand where Gatomon had and closed her eyes, humming in concentration. Seconds later, her eyes popped open. "Poison Ivy!" Her vines shot out and grabbed a large fish that was at least twice her size and weight, though it unfortunately landed on top of her. "Dinner is served…" she said dazedly.
Kagome looked up when she heard Matt stop playing his harmonica. She watched as her brother, Izzy and the blonde speak with each other about something or another, though she had a feeling it was about the Dark Master, but she was a little too far to hear them.
Eventually, she turned back to the large fish Palmon had caught only to see Agumon sucking up into his mouth hole! She and the rest, who were watching, looked on in horrified fascination.
Suddenly, Joe fell into the ocean with no wraning whatsoever.
"Hey, guys!" came Gomamon's voice.
'So that's what Joe's line caught on…' Kagome thought amusedly.
"We got trouble!" the aquatic Digimon shouted up to them.
At this, the smiles and carefree expression left everyone's faces as they stood alarmed.
"Divermon are headed this way!" Gomamon shouted up to them again.
"Oh no!" Mimi cried out. "Not Divermon! Anything but Divermon!" she then stopped and blinked. "What are Divermon?"
"They're MetalSeadramon's heanchmen," Whamon reported. "It seems that the fish have seen them about 200 miles behind us."
"So what do we do now?" T.K asked.
"Well we certainly can't stay here; they'll find us too easily," Whamon answered. "I'll have to dive, quick everyone get inside me! And don't mind the smell, I had fish for lunch."
"EWWW!" the group said with disgusted expressions before clambering into the whale Digimon's mouth.
"Here we go!" Whamon swam out of the crescent-shaped island's vicinity before taking a sharp dive.
Eventually, after the dive, the group began to relax, knowing that they were safe from the Divermon and Metal Seadramon for the moment.
The group all sat around Izzy as he typed away on his laptop, which was connected to a few wires that Whamon had let loose.
"What are you doing, Izzy?" Sora asked.
"You'll find out in just a minute," the auburn-haired boy in, eyes locked on the screen in concentration.
"Oh come on!" Tai exclaimed. "Do you think I'm too brainless to understand?"
"Yes," Izzy joked. "But I'll tell you anyway. Check it out."
The group and their Digimon scrambled to get behind the young boy and take a look at what he was working on. What they was what looked like an ocean-themed screensaver.
"Cool screensaver, Izzy," Matt commented.
"Not exactly," the young genius explained, "I connected to Whamon's hard drive and rerouted his sensory information to go through my computer."
"Rerouted?" Patamon asked.
"He means that what we're seeing on the screen is what Whamon is looking at right now," Kagome clarified, getting odd looks from the rest of their friends. "What?"
"You actually understood that?" Sora blinked at the raven-haired girl.
"Yes and no," Kagome answered, getting confused looks from everyone now.
"What's that supposed to mean?" Joe asked.
"Well, despite Izzy's fancy speech,' Kagome explained, "I recognized the word 'sensory' and reroute. Sensory refers to the five senses, while rerouting is usually a word used with computers. I just pout the puzzle together from that."
"Very impressive," Izzy nodded with a grin.
"That's Kagome for ya," Tai shook his head, "Always surprising us with something new each time!"
Kagome gave a sheepish smile in response, to which everyone laughed. No one noticed the curious glance Matt gave Kagome when the laughter stopped.
"This really feels like we're in a submarine," T.K said, watching the screen of Izzy's laptop.
"You're right," Joe answered, though it's kinda making me a bit nauseous…"
"Oh this is absolutely exciting!" Mimi squealed, grabbing Palmon's hands and twirling the both of them around. "I've always wanted to go on a submarine!"
They all watched as Mimi twirled poor Palmon around giddily, not taking into account for how dizzy the plant Digimon was getting.
"I think she's been out at sea for too long…" Matt blinked.
Kagome gave a soft giggle at that, causing the blonde to smirk a little.
"Kari?" Kagome asked, watching her sister closely. "Are you okay?"
"It's my ears," Kari winced. "They hurt."
Tai turned to Mimi. "Hey Mimi, stop! Be quiet!" the brown-haired boy scolded.
Hearing that and Kari's comment, Mimi stopped twirling, causing Palmon to be thrown to the floor, swirls in her eyes due to being twirled around so much.
"You know what?" the caramel-haired girl asked. "My ears are starting to hurt a little, too."
One by one, each of the children and Digimon began to cover their ears because they seemed to be popping.
Whamon chuckled. "Sorry," he said apologetically, "I dove a little too fast. Here, I'll fix the pressure right now." A loud burp echoed around them as their ears began to stop hurting.
"That's better!" T.K grinned.
"A little odd," Izzy shook his head, "but it gets the job done. I guess that's one way to equalize the gas pressure."
"By the way," Kari called up, "You're excused!"
"Hey," Sora spoke up suddenly, "What's that sound?"
"It's getting louder," Tentomon commented.
Kagome felt a sort of pulse run through her, telling her to close her eyes and concentrate, making sure no one noticed she was doing so. She had a feeling that this might have been something that the dragon in her dream spoke of, did as she was told and closed her eyes, tuning out all conversation around her.
However, Kudamon had noticed his partner's actions, and watched them with narrowed eyes. 'Something's happened…I can feel it, but why didn't she tell anyone?'
She felt one mildly malicious aura close to them with two others similar to that a little farther off headed their way with another aura that was drenched in evil, hate, and vanity.
"It's the Divermon," Kagome's eyes snapped open. "There's a Divermon close to us with the last three and MetalSeadramon coming our way!"
The group turned to look at Kagome in astonishment for the second time that day. "Kagome, how did you even know that?" Tai asked.
The raven-haired girl shook her head. "I'll explain everything later, but for now just call it intuition and trust me! We need to get out of here!"
The entire group, bar two, looked at each other hesitantly.
It was Kari and T.K who made their decision for them. They looked at the raven-haired girl and saw the truth in her pleading eyes. "Kagome's telling the truth," T.K declared. "We'd better listen and get out of here."
Kari nodded in agreement.
"Your friend is right," Whamon spoke. "While I can't say if she's right about the other Divermon and MetalSeadramon yet, I can tell you that there is a Divermon nearby. You'll need to stay as quiet as you can until I tell you it's safe. But, I will say this, where one Divermon goes, the rest follow with their boss."
And so the group went silent.
Izzy, who'd been keeping an eye on his computer screen, tapped a few keys before gasping. "Look out!" he shouted to Whamon.
"The Divermon are attacking!" the whale Digimon exclaimed. "Hang on everyone!"
Suddenly, Izzy's screen went white as foamy bubbles passed across the screen according to what Whamon was seeing.
By now, everyone was clutching their Digimon to them, frightened; or in Matt and Tai's case, their siblings as well.
"You're squeezing me too hard," Patamon looked up at T.K worriedly.
"Matt's squeezin' me too hard," the young blonde looked up at his brother.
"Sorry, but everyone's a little scared right now," Matt tightened his grip slightly. "See?" He nodded his head at Tai who was gripping his sisters close to him, the girls huddling close to their bother, Digimon clutched in their arms and Agumon next to them, offering silent comfort.
"Everything's going to be all right," Kagome said softly, rubbing her sister's hand.
"I promise I won't let anything happen to either of you," Tai told them. "It's not only my job as your older brother, but it's also because I promised Mom and Dad to take care of you two…"
Kari nodded and leaned her head on Tai's shoulder, eyes still filled with worry and fright.
"According to the audio sensors, there's three more right behind us!" Izzy exclaimed. He looked at Kagome pensively. "Just like Kagome said…"
"I hate this," Tai said frustrated. "I hate having to stay in here when we could out there fighting! Whamon, take us to the surface, it's time to show those bozos what we're made of!"
"Not just yet," Whamon told Tai, "I have a plan, and hopefully, it'll work."
"Hopefully?" Mimi parroted. "Hopefully? That's what the captain of the Titanic said before it sunk!"
"Striking Fish!" the group heard from Izzy's computer.
"And what if your plan doesn't work?" Mimi asked, holding Palmon close. "What do we do then? Do you have a Plan B?"
"I still think we should turn around and fight," Tai shook his head. "But I trust you and I hope you know what you're doing, Whamon!"
The group huddled around Izzy and watched how Whamon dove into a narrow chasm and continued to swim down.
Suddenly, the sound of crushed metal filtered through the laptop's speakers.
"What the—Wha?" Joe sputtered, momentarily stopping his panic-driven frenzy.
"Prodigious!" Izzy exclaimed. "They can't take the pressure down here like Whamon can! That was his plan all along!"
"Well, Whamon is built to handle pressure," Gomamon pointed out. "Unlike some people…" he added cheekily to his partner.
"Well, I'm sorry I'm not a whale!" Joe retorted good naturedly.
Everyone laughed at the remarks and relaxed a bit knowing that they were safe from the Divermon, for now.
"That was close," Tai released a breath.
"Yeah," Kagome nodded, "but what are we supposed to do now? It's not like we can stay down here at the bottom of the ocean and try to stop the Dark Masters from here!"
"I've got it!" Izzy stood up and walked over to Kari. "Kari, can I ask you to do something?"
The light brown-haired girl untangled herself from her siblings and made her way to Izzy, giving a nod in assent. The auburn-haired boy cupped his hands over the younger girl's ear and whispered loud enough for her to hear, but low enough that anything he said wouldn't get out to the others.
The group watched as kari's face went from curious to confused to interest. She looked at Izzy and nodded with a grin.
The younger girl walked over stand before everyone and gave a little bow. "Ready?"
"Go for it!" Izzy have the young girl a thumbs-up.
Kari then took a deep breath and blew into the silver whistle she had around her neck. The group watched in awe and worry as the girl continued to whistle for about a minute or so, her face becoming slightly flushed.
By the time she'd finished, the black screen that had been previously present on Izzy's laptop, due to the little skirmish with the Divermon, became flooded with the footage of what Whamon was seeing once again.
"Thanks, Kari!" Izzy called to the light-brown-haired girl.
"No problem," Kari smiled, taking a few breaths before walking back to the group.
"What was that about?" Sora asked.
"We used the whistle like sonar," Izzy explained, "the reverberations bouncing off of our surroundings allowed me to find a way out. And there just so happens to be a tunnel nearby that should lead us up to land."
"Cool!"
"Wow!"
"Thank goodness!"
"Isn't that great, Whamon?" Tai asked the whale Digimon.
"What?" Whamon asked.
"I said , 'Isn't that great, Whamon?'," Tai repeated patiently, but louder this time.
"I can't hear you," Whamon told them. "Someone was whistling in my ear."
Kagome and Kari looked at each other as they giggled.
"Oh!" the whale Digimon said excitedly. "There's a tunnel up ahead; it should lead us to land!"
The group looked at each other before bursting into laughter.
It wasn't long before the screen on Izzy's computer started showing little green lights flitting across the screen.
"Wow," the four girls of the group said, enchanted by the scene, "how pretty…"
"Hey, is that the cave?" Matt asked, pointing to a small darkened inlet.
"That's it!" Izzy nodded.
"Yay!" Mimi squealed. "Oh, I have to get changed!"
"Huh?" Palmon looked at her partner like she was crazy. "For what? I don't think you brought anymore clothes than what you're wearing, did you, Mimi?"
The caramel-haired girl stopped squealing and looked at her partner, unaware of the odd looks she was getting from her friends. "Hug!" she suddenly cried out, holding her arms out to Palmon.
Suddenly Kagome gasped, sitting up straight. "Kagome?" Tai asked, concerned. "What's wrong?"
"It's him, he's coming!" Kagome looked at her brother with wide eyes. "MetalSeadramon's coming!"
Although they all found it strange how Kagome could suddenly know all these things, they knew they shouldn't rule out, nor ignore, her prediction, given what had happened only a few moments earlier with the Divermon.
Suddenly, a great tremor knocked them all off their feet. "What the heck was that?" Matt asked, sitting up with T.K in his arms.
"It couldn't be the Divermon again, could it?" Gatomon asked. "I thought those fishheads couldn't come down here?"
"They're not," Whamon answered. "We must be careful, it's MetalSeadramon himself! Hold on!"
The group huddled into each other frightfully as the ground they knew was Whamon's body continued to shake and stir as the whale Digimon swam into the cave and wedged through the more narrow parts as fast as he could.
Soon after they'd gotten out of the cave, did Whamon surface, letting the children out of his body onto his back.
"Is everyone okay?" Tai asked. He looked up into the bright blue sky. "The sun's so bright…
"Where are we?" Izzy asked.
"Smell that fresh air…" Mimi took her hat off and basked in the breeze.
"I've been underwater for so long, I don't think I'll have to take a bath again!" Matt exclaimed.
"Please tell you won't really do that," Kagome sweat-dropped. She turned her head sharply to a specific point beyond where Whamon surfaced. "He's back…"
The group just laughed as they relished in the fact that they were now safe.
Or at least they thought they were until a familiar growl sounded. "Mind tellin' me what's so funny?" MetalSeadramon roared as he shot out of the ocean.
"It's MetalSeadramon!" Joe shouted, panicked.
"I knew it would only be matter of time before you came up for air," the metal-dragon spoke. "Now you're going down with the ship!"
"Hold on, everyone!" Whamon ordered. He began to swim around in wide circles, slow at first but quickly speeding up in no time. "Tidal Wave!" The force of the ripple-like waves pushed back the Divermon who'd been approaching from underwater.
"Should I—?" Agumon looked to his partner.
Tai nodded. "Do it!" he turned back to his friends and siblings. "While Agumon distracts them, we'll get to land and ready ourselves for battle!"
"Aye aye," Matt saluted with a smirk.
"Actually, that's a good idea," Joe said nervously, "You all can go on first while Gomamon and I bring up the rear."
"Joe!" Sora reprimanded. "Don' be such a coward!"
"Agumon!" Tai held out his digivice.
"You got it!" Agumon nodded. "Agumon Warp Digivolve to: WarGreymon!" WarGreymon launched himself off of Whamon with a little lift from the aquatic Digimon.
WarGreymon went at MetalSeadramon with his claws, but they did no more damage to the meta-dragon than a pillow would have.
"What was that?" MtealSeadramon mocked. "A love tap? I'm made of ChromeDigizoid, too you know! You won't be able to hurt me that easily!"
It was while the dragon-warrior Digimon was fighting MetalSeadramon that a fewl of the DigiDestined's rookie Digimon digivolved to Champion.
Joe, Palmon, and Mimi rode on Ikkakumon; Tai, Izzy, Gatomon, and Kari rode on Kabuterimon; Sora was latched onto Birdamon's leg; and Matt, T.K, Kagome, Patamon, and Kudamon rode on Garurumon's head, the two older children, keeping the youngest steady.
"Thanks for everything, Whamon," Tai called out the aquatic Digimon, "But you'd better get out of here and leave this to us!"
"What?" Whamon joked. "No tip?"
"Seriously," Matt added, "hurry up and get out of here! Your size makes you an easy target!"
"Are you calling me fat?" Whamon asked, momentarily forgetting the situation at hand. "I'm just big-boned." That said, he dove under the after once more when he noticed the children far enough away from him.
"Striking Fish!" the Divermon threw harpoons at Ikkakumon from underwater, but while they didn't harm the white-furred Digimon, they certainly freaked out his partner.
"Harpoon Torpedo!" Ikkakumon shot one missile into the air, where it suddenly burst into hundreds that rained down on the spot where the Divermon where.
"Ack! Aii! OW!" Joe danced around on Ikkakumon's head, trying to avoid getting hit with any of the steel arrows being hurled at he and his partner. "Ikkakumon! Digivolve!"
A light overtook Ikkakumon's form as he changed shape into his Ultimate form. "Ikkakumon Digivolve to: Zudomon!"
"Vulcan's Hammer!" Zudomon brought down his metal hammer, releasing an electrical current into the water, causing a geyser of water carrying the dazed Divermon to shoot up from the ocean.
"River of Power!" MetalSeadramon shot his aqua-hued laser around, trying in vain to hit WarGreymon. He stopped when he could no longer spot the dragon-warrior Digimon, but looked up when he heard a voice from above.
"Mega Cl—" WarGreymon made a beeline for MetalSeadramon, only to be caught within the metal-dragon's jaws before he could attack.
"I've got you know!" MetaSeadramon cackled as he went underwater with WarGreymon in his mouth, trying to push himself out.
"WarGreymon!" Tai shouted.
"This is really bad!" Izzy exclaimed. "WarGreymon's at a huge disadvantage in water than when he's not!"
"Go, Zudomon!" Joe ordered.
"Vulcan's Hammer!" Zudomon brought down his hammer once more, the electrical current spreading wider this time, causing MetalSeadramon to surface in order to avoid being electrocuted.
"Oh boy," Joe wiped some water off of his face. "Is everyone okay?" he asked when everyone but Kabuterimon and his passengers arrived safely on land.
"WarGreymon!" Kari shouted worriedly.
'No…' Kagome watched with worried eyes.
"I'm getting tired of play around with you, WarGreymon!" MetalSeadramon said as the dragon-warrior Digimon tried freeing himself from the other Mega Digimon's jaws. "Say goodbye, WarGreymon!"
But before MetalSeadramon could exert anymore force onto the smaller Digimon within his mouth, Whamon leapt out of the ocean and rammed into the Mega Digimon, giving WarGreymon the chance he needed to escape.
"River of Power!" MetalSeadramon quickly recovered from the unexpected ambush and shot his aqua-hued laser at Whamon, piercing a hole straight from one side through to the other of Whamon's head.
"Whamon!" Kari shouted.
"River of Power!" MetalSeadramon aimed, this time, for WarGreymon, who he spotted a few metres away.
"Brave Tornado!" WarGreymon spun around rapidly, cutting through the aqua laser and through MetalSeadramon's body.
"Hmph," WarGreymon snorted. "Guess your ChromeDigizoid armor wasn't all it was cracked up to be."
"Seriously," Kabuterimon added. "Next time you want to take over the ocean, do us all a favour and take a bubble bath!"
"We won!" Tai and the other atop Kabuterimon cheered while the children and Digimon on the beach celebrated as well, at least all but Kagome and Kudamon.
"Kagome?" Sora asked gently, putting a hand on the raven-haired girl's shoulder. "Is something wrong?"
"Whamon doesn't look too good," Kagome said softly with glassy eyes.
It was soon after Kabuterimon and his passengers landed did they make their way over to the weak Whamon floating in the ocean.
"Whamon…" Tai whispered.
"DigiDestined," the dying Digimon wheezed out, "I'm glad to have met you…please…save…this…world…" By his last word, Whamon's voice had gone hoarse as his image became transparent, eventually dissolving into tiny particles that disappeared with the wind.
"No Whamon!"
"Don't go!"
"NO!"
And thus ended the life of another good friend who sacrificed himself to help the DigiDestined.
Ciao,
TsukiyoTenshi