I do not own InuYasha or Digimon Adventure in any way!
Speech Key:
"The" – Oral/Normal Speech
'The' – Thoughts
AN: This is pretty long, I think, but I hope I did at least an okay job on it…
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-The Foreseen Challenge-Xx
The DigiDestined were still in Puppetmon's forest, calling out for Matt and Gabumon.
"Where could they be?" Sora asked.
"Matt's a big boy," Tai said stubbornly, "He can take care of himself."
"But what if he was taken by Puppetmon as revenge for T.K escaping?" Mimi suggested worriedly.
"It's certainly possible," Izzy nodded. "Or it could've been someone worse…"
Joe sighed before speaking up. "That's not what happened," he said quietly. "Matt and Gabumon left on their own."
"What?" Tai all but shouted. "And you didn't say anything or try to stop him?"
"I just thought that he had to go to the washroom or something," Joe said honestly. "If I knew what he was planning, then I would've tried to stop them."
Tai stopped yelling when he saw the sincere look in Joe's eyes. "But why would he just leave? It's one thing if he was kidnapped, but now it's a whole other matter!"
"Haven't you noticed?" Sora pointed out. "Matt hasn't been acting right for a while now. And now his Digivive and crest aren't glowing; he must've been shocked."
"I agree," Izzy nodded, "He's been a bit high-strung lately."
Suddenly Kagome and Kari gasped, the latter looking up to the sky. "Is everything okay, Kari?" Tai asked.
"I thought I heard someone talking to me," Kari looked around for the voice no one but her seemed to hear.
"Was it Matt?" Tai asked, looking around, listening for any sign of the blonde boy.
"You know," Izzy spoke up, "He couldn't have gotten too far away you know. We should go looking for him."
The group agreed and began walking in a random direction, calling out for Matt and Gabumon all the while, not noticing that Kari, Gatomon, Kagome, and Kudamon hadn't joined them.
"It wasn't Matt's voice I heard, Gatomon," Kari told her Digimon.
"Then whose was it?" the feline Digimon asked.
"Probably the same one I've been feeling around us," Kagome answered. "I don't know who or what it is, but there's definitely someone out there…"
The~Ninth~Child
"It's no use," Izzy shook his head. "I can't get anything on the digivice. For some reason, they don't seem to be working well this forest."
"Maybe we shouldn't be trying to find him," Gatomon spoke up. "Everyone needs to be alone sometimes, I should know."
"I'm not just going to sit around and let Matt break up this team," Tai said vehemently. "We're gonna find him whether he wants us to or not!"
It was now that Kagome decided to speak up. "Tai?"
"Yeah?" he looked at his sister.
"Can I talk to you for a bit?" Kagome, gestured for him to join her at the back of the group.
"Yeah, okay," Tai nodded, leaving the front of their party to join his sister at the back, a little farther from the group so they couldn't overhear anything, but close enough to stay together. Agumon followed behind his partner to walk beside him. "What'd you want to talk about?"
"What do you think is wrong with Matt?" Kagome asked calmly.
Tai recognized the tone of voice she was using. The raven-haired girl had used it many times in the past to help him or Kari understand something they didn't grasp at first. "Well, I just think that he hasn't been thinking about everything that's at stake. I know I probably sound controlling or something, but I'm only doing this so we can save everyone we love and care about."
"Why do you think Matt was reacting the way he did when T.K was taken?" Kagome inquired.
"Because he's his little brother," Tai answered easily.
"Why couldn't Gabumon digivolve?" his sister asked.
"Because he was pushing too hard to find T.K?" Tai said, unsure.
"And why do you think Matt left?" the raven-haired girl questioned.
"He probably just wanted to go off on his own so we'd stop fighting and upsetting T.K," the brown-haired preteen answered hesitantly. To tell the truth, he didn't know why the blonde had left, but he'd only taken a stab at guessing why.
Kagome mulled over Tai's answers for a moment before nodding. "Okay, now do you want me to tell you what I think happened?"
Tai just nodded silently, knowing that at this point, she would run through the questions again and answer them herself; it was all a part of the way she helped others to understand what was going on.
"'What was wrong with Matt'?" Kagome quoted herself. "I think the weight of everything we've been through finally crashed down on him. Everyone has a breaking point and you've all probably see countless friends leave to help you; Whamon's sacrifice was the trigger that probably made him snap. He knows what our mission is and what is at stake, but like I said, a person can only handle so much before they break."
"'Why did Matt react the way he did when T.K was taken'?" Kagome asked. "Yes, Matt only acted the way he did because T.K is his younger brother and he felt that it was his duty to protect him. But it was only because he felt that protecting T.K was his only purpose in our group."
"'Why couldn't Gabumon digivolve'?" Kagome quoted herself. "Gabumon's digivolutions, like all of our Digimon's are tied to the traits our crests represent in us. Matt's crest if the Crest of Friendship, but lately all the both of you have been doing is fighting, not being friends. Gabumon's digivolutions are tied to the friendship he has for Matt and that Matt has for us. But because he was so worried and angry about T.K being gone, he wasn't thinking about that, hence the failed digivolution."
"And finally, 'Why did Matt leave'?" Kagome sighed. "Like I said, Matt thought his only purpose in our group was to protect T.K. But earlier when everyone was being switched around, T.K told Matt that he was growing up and he didn't need Matt to hover around him so much anymore. Matt probably felt a little shocked that it was the little brother he loved that told him that he didn't need to be protected anymore. And when T.K escaped from Puppetmon, Matt finally realized that T.K was right; he was growing up and didn't need Matt so much anymore. Matt left because he needed to sort everything out in his head, to make sense of what was going on, to find his purpose."
"But that's a stupid reason to just go off!" Tai exclaimed.
The rest of the group looked at him in curiosity while Kagome threw her older brother a glare. Tai just rubbed the back of his head sheepishly.
"Okay, let's put it in a different way," Kagome released a breath. "Say that Kari or I were with you and the other when you first came to the Digital World. What would be your first priority?"
"Keeping you or Kari safe," Tai answered automatically.
"When Matt came here first, what was his first priority?" Kagome asked.
"To protect T.K," Tai replied.
Kagome nodded. "Now, say that one day Kari or I tell you that we don't need you to protect us anymore, that we can take care of ourselves. How would you feel?"
"I would—" Tai cut himself off when he realized just what Kagome as getting at. 'I'd react the way Matt did…' She knew him well enough to know that had something like that ever happened, he would've reacted more or less the same way Matt did. 'Maybe with a little less of the drama, though…' Tai added silently.
"Do you get it now?" Kagome asked slowly.
Tai sighed and nodded. "Yeah, I get it."
"You sure know a lot, Kagome," Agumon commented.
"Not really," Kagome shrugged. "I only know what I see, that's all."
"Yoo-hoo!" a familiar squeaky voice called out to the group
"Puppetmon!" Sora gasped, seeing the Dark Master sitting atop a really tall tree.
"Hi!" the marionette Digimon greeted. "Did ya miss me, T.K?"
"Not at all!" the young boy retorted. "And I'm not going to play with you anymore, either!"
"You'we not?" Puppetmon asked with mock-sadness. "Weww you wewn't vew fun anyway! Come on out, fwont and centew!"
"Yes, Sir!" one pink Digimon in a trashcan said, zipping out from behind a tree.
"Yes, Sir," another of the same Digimon replied, zooming out from behind the same tree to stand next to the first.
"Yes, Sir!" a third Digimon of the same kind the first two were zoomed out from behind the same tree and stood next to the first two.
"Oh no!" Palmon's face turned a sickly shade of green. "Those are Garbagemon! They're as tough as they are mean; and they don't smell too good, either…"
"Junk Chuckers at the ready!" Garbagemon #1 said, taking aim at the DigiDestined with the red and white-striped bazookas. "Ready, aim, FIRE!"
Small projectiles of pink goop were shot at the group, who knew exactly what it was and made a run for it, not wanting to be caught by any of the tiny mounds.
"What the—Mimi!" Kagome shouted when she looked behind her to see Mimi just standing there with hooded eyes. "Get away!"
"No!" Mimi shouted, catching one of the small pink masses in her hand. "I've had enough of running! Let's let them do the running for a change!" She chucked the piece of goop in her hand back at the Garbagemon, who, along with Puppetmon, were looking at the girl astonished and confused.
"Mimi, this isn't the time!" Kagome ran back to the girl in pink and dragged her away. "We should be running!"
"Oh right!" the caramel-haired girl said absently. "Oh! I can't believe I actually touched those things!" The two girls ran as fast as they could to catch up with the rest of their group.
"Don't you know that running is pointless?" Garbagemon #2 asked rhetorically.
"Where ever you go, there will always be garbage!" Garbagemon #3 laughed.
"Quick, hide!" Tai told the group as they ran into the foliage around a large clearing.
The three Garbagemon stopped in the centre of the clearing and smirked. "Tri-Formation!" the first Garbagemon barked.
"You got it!" the other two replied as they formed a triangle shape, with their backs to each other, bazookas out.
"Fire Junk Chuckers!" the first Garbagemon ordered.
And with that said, the Garbagemon trio began spinning around rapidly, still in their triangle formation, as they blasted their Junk Chuckers, the piles of pink goop being shot in any and all directions.
Suddenly, one by one each of the DigiDestined's Digimon, now in their Champion forms, stepped or flew out from behind the forestry.
The Garbagemon stopped shooting and only smirked.
"Meteor Wing!"
"Harpoon Torpedo!"
"Electroshocker!"
"Gang way for Needle Spray!"
"Nova Blast!"
"Zephyr Blade!"
The attacks all converged at the spot where the Garbagemon were, creating a large cloud of smoke that rose into the air like a mushroom cloud before disappating altogether, leaving behind only a crater.
"All right!" Joe grinned. "That trash is thrashed!"
"Nice job!" Sora nodded.
"Aw you toawwy ruined my gawbage fun!" Puppetmon pouted. "I'm going home! Sike! Look behind you!" he cackled as he pointed to the area behind Mimi.
Right there coming straight for the girl in pink was one of the Garbagemon they thought they'd defeated. "Here's mud in you eye!" he took aim with his Junk Chucker and shot it at the defenseless girl.
"No!" Mimi shouted.
Togemon and Mimi's digivice glowed in tandem as the giant cactus changed form. "Togemon Digivolve to: Lillymon!"
"Look out!" Lillymon pushed Mimi out of the pink goop's way.
She then flew over to the Garbagemon, intending to attack, but was surprised when a second popped out from behind the first.
"Two heads are better than one!" the second Garbagemon snickered.
"Trash that Petunia!" the third Garbagemon sailed over the first to, his bazooka aimed at Lillymon.
Lillymon took a chance and leapt over the first two Garbagemon, while stepping on the face of the third. She flew behind them and took aim. "Flower Cannon!"
The third of the Garbagemon have a chocked noise as he dissolved into data particles.
"Finish 'em off!" Tai ordered.
Greymon glowed in time with Tai's digivice as he changed forms as Lillymon did earlier. "Greymon Digivolve to: MetalGreymon!"
"Giga Blaster!" MetalGreymon shot two huge torpedoes out of his chest cavity at the two remaining Garbagemon.
One of the Garbagemon shot a pile of pink goop at the giant projectiles headed its way. But it seemed their attack didn't work as the pile merely bounced off of the missiles, allowing the projectiles to make contact with it as the other took cover.
A giant explosion sounded as the force of it produced a strong wind that nearly blew the children away because of the close proximity, had it not been for their Digimon holding onto them.
Puppetmon, however, wasn't so lucky. He held onto the top of a tree for dear life as the wind threatened to blow him away, squealing even more when a mound of Garbagemon's goop smacked him straight in the forehead.
"Okay, I surrender!" the remaining Garbagemon cried out. "Please!" He crawled out of his trash can and stood on two lanky pink legs.
The children and their Digimon relaxed a bit, but didn't let their guard down. And they were right not to do that because suddenly, the Garbagemon began to smirk. "Sike! It's time to take out the trash!" He held up his empty trash can as it began to suck everything and anything into it.
The children all did their best to hold onto anything they could with their Digimon doing their best to shield their partners from the strong suction of the void that was Garbagemon's trash can.
"That nasty little creep's really starting to get on my nerves!" Tai gritted his teeth, doing his best to keep Kari, Kagome and Gatomon close to him and MetalGreymon with Reppamon's help.
Unfortunately, the wind proved to be too strong as Kari was whisked away along with Gatomon.
"Kari!" the young girl's siblings shouted, going out to reach for her.
Luckily, Kagome was able to grab a hold of her. "Reppamon!" Kagome shouted over the wind. "Take Kari and Gatomon!" She spun around quickly and threw her younger sister and her Digimon back to her Digimon, who pulled them back to Tai.
"Kagome!" Tai and Kari called out in horror.
"No!" Reppamon shouted, attempting to go and help his partner, but was stopped by MetalGreymon's claw. "What are you doing?"
"I know you want to help," the giant metal-dinosaur tried reasoning, but we won't be able to do anything if you're gone, too! We'll find a way to save Kagome!"
Kagome screamed as she was dragged to the trash can, and just as she felt her foot beginning to get sucked in, she heard a familiar voice from behind.
"Metal Wolf Claw!" A burst of white-blue hit the Garbagemon from behind, dissolving the Digimon and stopping Kagome from being sucked into its void.
Kagome gave a yelp as she was supported by what felt like a metal snout and looked behind her to find MetalGarurumon helping her up. "MetalGarurumon?"
"Are you all right?" the metal-wolf asked.
"Thanks," Kagome nodded just as Reppamon bounded over to his partner, nuzzling every part of her he could reach with his sheer size.
"I'm okay," she giggled. "I'm okay!"
"Don't you ever do something like that again!" Kudamon said when he finally de-digivolved. "You took years off my life!" He wrapped himself around her neck as tight as he could without hurting his partner.
Just then Matt stepped out from behind a tree, a fierce look on his face.
"Matt?" Kagome blinked.
"It's Matt!"
"There you are!"
"Where've you been, buddy?" Tai asked, running over to the blonde.
"Kagome, you need to get away from here," MetalGarurumon whispered, his eyes softening for a brief moment. He looked at Kudamon. "Take care of her." 'Even if Matt doesn't see it, I can see that she means a lot to him…almost as much as T.K does…'
Kudamon nodded and the two watched as ruby eyes hardened once again, though with an almost indecipherable pleading glimmer in them.
Kagome did as she was told and ran off to stand with Mimi, Kari and the others. She looked worriedly at the scene. 'It's coming true…' she thought back to the image of WarGreymon and MetalGarurumon she'd seen a while back, 'they're going to fight…'
"Thanks for saving our necks," Agumon started running over to the group, "but did you have to cut it so close?"
Unfortunately just as Agumon was a few yards away from the Mega Digimon, MetalGarurumon shot blue lasers out of his eyes at the small orange dinosaur.
"Hey!" Tai turned to Matt. "What's he doing?"
"What is this?" Agumon asked, not understanding why his friend would suddenly turn on him.
"It's a challenge, what else?" MetalGarurumon stepped a few paces forward. "I would digivolve if I were you; and fast!"
"You want to fight me?" Agumon asked. "But why? What have you been eating out there in the forest? We're friends, remember?"
The metal-wolf's only response was to shoot a pair of missiles at the small orange Digimon.
"Matt I don't know what he's doing, but call him off!" Tai told the blonde.
"Is this some kind of joke?" Sora asked.
"I won't, Tai," Matt said quietly, the expression on his face only growing angrier.
"What?" Tai asked, eyes wide. "What did you say?"
"Hurry up and digivolve into WarGreymon!" MetalGarurumon ordered. "Because I definitely won't miss next time!"
"I really think he means it, Tai!" Agumon exclaimed.
"Well?" MetalGarurumon asked again. "Times running out, Agumon! Hurry up and digivolve!"
"You've gotta stop 'em, Tai!" T.K cried out.
"I wish I could, but there's only one person who can," Tai looked at Matt.
'I knew he was unsure,' Kagome thought with wide eyes. 'But I didn't think he'd take it this far! But at least I know now what that image meant, but what was it exactly? A vision?'
"Come on, this isn't the time to be fighting amongst ourselves!" Sora tried diffusing the situation. 'Matt, just what's gotten into you?"
"What's gotten into him is that he wants to be the boss!" Tai scoffed.
"The boss," Matt sniffed, "Yeah; be the boss of this sorry group? I say we should just take care of ourselves."
"Matt have you forgotten that we've been chosen to be the DigiDestined?" Joe asked.
"And who exactly chose us?" Matt retorted. "Come on, tell me! I want some answers and you don't seem to have them!"
Kagome looked around when she felt the brush of a malicious aura, but unfortunately, she could figure out where it was, though she knew who it could be. 'Puppetmon's here…could he have been the one to set Matt off like this? Just what did he tell him?'
She looked back to the group and saw Agumon digivolving. "Agumon Warp Digivolve to: WarGreymon!"
She and the rest of the group watched as the two Mega Digimon flew high into the air and began hitting, bashing, and clawing at each other without fail.
Tai stalked closer to Matt, intending on getting him to stop the needless fighting.
"What?" Matt smirked. "Chicken?"
"That's it!" Tai lashed out with a fist to Matt's face, angrier than ever.
Matt only returned with a punch to Tai's face.
"Matt!" T.K shouted, trying to get his brother to stop fighting. "I'm telling Mom and Daddy that you were fighting!"
"Sorry, T.K," Matt grunted out, "But this has to be done!"
"You were wrong about what he wanted Kagome!" Tai shouted. "And right now he needs to be taught a lesson!"
Kagome just shook her head. 'I may or may not have been wrong,' she thought, 'But I do know that T.K was the trigger…'
"Both of you stop it right now!" Joe told them loudly.
"This is becoming ridiculous!" Izzy said angrily.
"You two are just making things worse!" Sora said with worry.
"Take this!" Tai threw another punch at Matt, succeeding in knocking him to the ground. He knelt down and gripped Matt's shirt. "Look, I'm only doing what I am to honour all the brave Digimon that faught with and for us! We were chosen for a reason and they trusted us to see our mission through to the end and save this world!" Tears were streaming down both boys' cheeks by now.
"But what if we made a mistake?" Matt lashed out with another punch at Tai, this time knocking the brown-haired boy back.
Kagome glanced up at the Mega Digimon fighting above just in time to catch WarGreymon using his Brave Tornado on MetalGarurumon, but doing little damage and MetalGarurumon returning with his signature Metal Wolf Claw attack.
"This is getting out of control," Kagome said quietly. "But there really isn't any way to stop this…Not unless we get Matt and Tai to see sense, which is next to impossible at this point."
"So then what do we do?" Kudamon asked, looking up at his partner.
"Hope for a miracle," Kagome whispered. "Because right now, that's probably the only thing strong enough to stop them all…"
It was then that Kagome felt that strange pulse running through her body once more. "What is—Kari?" the raven-haired girl watched as Kari walked off, as though following something.
"Hmm," Kagome frowned as she went to follow her younger sister, not knowing that Tentomon, Izzy, and Gatomon were also following them.
"Where do you think she's going?" Kudamon asked.
""I don't know," Kagome said quietly. "But I think it might have something to do with whoever I've been feeling around us…"
Kagome was proven correct when she found Kari conversing with what looked like a patch of sparkles in the air. "Kari?" the raven-haired girl asked. "Who are you talking to?"
"I don't know who it is," Kari told her older sister, "but whoever it is, they don't mean us any harm." She turned to the patch of sparkles. "This is my older sister, Kagome and her Digimon, Kudamon."
Kagome looked at the patch of sparkles Kari spoke to and gave it a try herself. "It's a pleasure to meet you, though I can't understand or see you. But I have known that you've been following us for a while now."
"What is it?" Kari asked. "Do you want to be friends?"
Suddenly, the patch of sparkles glowed in tandem with Kari's body. The young girl closed her eyes and held up her crest, the trinket beginning to glow brightly, engulfing every one of the DigiDestined and their partners, the two Mega Digimon returning to their In-Training forms.
"Kari!" Kagome shouted.
"What's going on?!" Izzy called out.
"Izzy!" Tentomon yelped.
The next the DigiDestined knew, they were standing in an all-white space, with no clue as to where they were. All that was there besides them were their partners and their shadows.
"What's going on?" Tai asked.
"No idea…" Matt looked around in confusion.
"In this world, there is a balance of Dark and Light," Kari spoke, her voice not her own, but a bit more mature and lower in pitch. "The light represents all the good in the world, while the dark represents all the evil. When the darkness becomes larger than the light, it upsets the balance."
The children gasped as their shadows grew to engulf them all.
"Whoa," Tai exclaimed, "looks like the balance is really out of whack!"
"So someone just flip the switch and put the lights back on," Joe commented easily.
"Look!" Kagome pointed to something in the distance. "There's something over there."
Little by little, their surroundings changed to a very familiar sight; Highton View Terrace.
"This'll probably sound strange," Mimi said slowly, "But are we home again?"
Slowly, the image zoomed in a bit and they saw Greymon with a large green bird Digimon that resembled a parrot.
"Hang on," Izzy said slowly, "I've seen that Digimon somewhere before…" he sat down and opened up his laptop, typing away. 'I was right! That's Parrotmon, he's the other mysterious Digimon we saw at Highton View Terrace four years ago. He's an Ultimate-level Digimon."
"He passed through the Dimensional Divide," Kari explained. "Some time ago a Digi-Egg fell from our world to yours."
"Kari?" Tai turned to his younger sister. "What are you talking about?"
"I think Kari's had too much catnip," Gatomon commented.
"That's not Kari," Kagome shook her head. "It's someone else; someone who needed to tell us something important."
Izzy nodded. "My theory is that someone or something is using Kari's body to speak for them."
"My wish is that there be peace and happiness for everyone," Kari spoke.
"What are you?" Sora asked. "I don't understand; are you some kind of supernatural being or something?"
"No," Kari said amusedly, "nothing like that. I am similar to the Digimon as I was created using Data-Bytes from the internet. But the difference between the Digimon and I is that the Digimon are able to take a physical shape, while I had to temporarily take over Kari in order to speak to all of you."
"Couldn't you have taken Joe instead?" Tai asked.
"Hey!" Joe said indignantly.
Kari shook her head. "I had to take Kari; she was the only one I could communicate with."
"Then how was I able to sense you?" Kagome asked.
"That was due to your gift," Kari answered. "If you weren't blessed, then it's likely that you wouldn't have felt or heard me."
"Then do you know who gave this gift to me?" the raven-haired girl asked. "I've just been calling him Oryu this entire time."
"That is not my place to say," Kari shook her head.
"Uh, can we get back to the subject?" Mimi asked.
Kari nodded. "I wanted to contact you when you first arrived at File Island, but it was completely impossible under the circumstances."
The group gave a yelp when they suddenly found themselves flying over Highton View Terrace.
"Prodigious," Izzy said in fascination.
"Talk about a blast from the past," Tai commented. "That's us from four years ago!" He and Kagome looked over to the small version of Tai holding onto a small Kagome with a tiny Kari latching onto Kagome.
"Still the same as ever," Koromon grinned at his partner, "you're looking out for your sisters."
"Hey, that's me," Joe blinked with a grinning Gomamon down at a young version of himself. "How typical, I'm on the telephone."
"I was so cute!" Mimi squealed, looking at her younger self.
"It's hard to believe we were ever that little," Sora commented, looking down at herself.
"There's my brother and me!" T.K pointed out at the duo gawking on the balcony.
"And that's definitely me," Izzy said, looking at the small auburn-haired child. "But what's with the light?"
"Its purpose is to process your vital information," Kari replied.
"That's kinda creepy, you know that?" Matt looked at Kari. "Why would it be doing that?"
"Just follow me," Kari told them all, guiding them into the portal where Parrotmon and Greymon were situated under, "and I'll explain everything."
"Here we go again!" Joe whimpered before the portal closed behind them.
The~Ninth~Child
"Where are we now?" Sora asked.
"It's rather bizarre, if you ask me," Izzy added.
"It kind of looks like a lab or something," Kagome tilted her head in observation.
"Hey!" T.K grinned. "Look!" he can to a glass case full of nine patterned eggs. "These look like Digi-Eggs!"
"And next to each egg are crests and digivices," Kagome commented.
"Okay," Matt said slowly, "this isn't weird at all…"
"What?" Joe said. "And floating in the sky is normal?" Suddenly Joe screamed, causing everyone to turn around and see what had the older boy fussing about, only to gasp at the sight.
Several transparent figures in white hooded robes walked passed them without a glance and went over to the various kinds of machinery and began to fiddle around with something or another on them.
"Hey fellas, can't you say hello?" Gomamon said, miffed.
Kari walked over to the front of the group and faced them. "These people are only computer images; figments of the past that have been digitally transmitted to your present."
And with that said, the group split up to look around and take in the place for a bit.
Izzy gasped. "Hey, I recognize this! It's from Myotismon's castle; the pattern lock that opened the gate!"
"And here's the gate he used to get into the Human World!" Biyomon flew up in front of the large iron gates.
"Let me guess," Joes said sarcastically, referring to the transparent people still moving about, doing their work. "Those are the elves that make shoes at night?"
"They're monitoring the positive and negative forces to preserve harmony in the world," Kari answered. "We took the information we gathered from you and used them to create your digivices and crests."
"That must mean that you're the ones who chose us," Matt breathed out.
"Is that true?" Tai asked, Koromon in his arms.
Kari nodded. "Yes."
"Then tell me this," Tai looked at his younger sister. "What makes us so special?"
"You made it possible for Greymon to survive and digivolve," Kari explained, "And it couldn't be accomplished without help from you, Kari, and Kagome." "
But he did digivolve without me," Tai protested.
Kari shook her head. "A Digimon can't digivolve without you; it doesn't work that way. The very fact that you were both there made him digivolve in order to protect you."
"But how?" Kagome asked this time. "We were just little kids who didn't even have a digivice…"
"A digivice is only a tool that was created and given to you to help with the digivolving process," Kari explained. It assists you by making you aware of your powers, but it's the special qualities in each of you that really make it work; the same thing goes for the crests. Can you tell me what your personal crests really represent?"
One by one each of the DigiDestined took out their crests and answered Kari.
"Well, mine's Courage," Tai grinned.
"This one's Love," Sora said.
"Sincerity," Mimi smiled.
"Knowledge," Izzy nodded.
"Reliability," Joe replied.
"I know mine!" T.K exclaimed. "It's Hope!"
"And mine—" Matt couldn't bring himself to finish his sentence, so Joe did it for him.
"Wasn't it Friendship?" Joe said gently.
"Mine is Compassion and Kari's is Light," Kagome answered.
"That's true," Kari told them, "But there's much more to it than just those baser titles. Every one of you have strengths and weaknesses; we took each of the strongest qualities you each had four years ago and created a crest for them."
"I understand now!" Tentomon buzzed with excitement.
"If that trait is lost," Kari continued, "then the Digimon can become corrupted."
Tai gasped as he remembered one incident in particular. "Something like that did happen. When I tried forcing Greymon to digivolve, he warped and turned into this weird Digimon called SkullGreymon. But I realize now that it was a really stupid thing to do."
"But the important thing is that you learned from it," Kari told Tai.
"Then all this time we've been racking our brains for stuff about ourselves that we already knew?" Joe scratched his head. "Ha! That's a fine howdy do!"
Matt walked off with Tsunomon under his arm back to the case with the Digi-Eggs. He took a look at the egg and the crest once more and clenched his fist.
"Who knew?" Tsunomon commented.
"Prodigious!" Izzy exclaimed. "I now understand why Tai, Kagome, and Kari were chosen, but the rest of us never made contact with the Digi-Egg, so why us?"
"When we examined your data," Kari explained with a serious expression, "we came to the conclusion that the rest of you had something in common with Tai, Kari, and Kagome. But what it is, we didn't and still don't know. All you need to understand is that you've proven yourselves to be very capable to handle the responsibilities you were given."
"I wonder who these belong to?" T.K asked, walking up to the glass case.
"Can't you tell?" Kari smiled.
"I think it's us!" Patamon chirped.
"Yes," Kari nodded.
"Wow! Which one's me?" Palmon asked.
"I think the answer's in the crests," Tsunomon spoke up.
"This one's me!" Biyomon pointed to a pink egg with red hearts printed over the surface.
"And that's mine," Gomamon looked up at a white egg with violet polka dots.
"Yes," Kari sighed. "But I'm afraid I have bad news. The Dark Master got wind of our plan and worked very hard to defeat us."
Just then the wall of the lab was blown apart and a whole band of silver and copper-hued armoured Digimon marched in, arms out as they shot missiles at the Data Humans.
The DigiDestined, bar Kagome and Kari, screamed and ran away as the band of Digimon came closer to them. 'I wonder when they'll remember it's not real, or at least it's not real right now…'
Unfortunately, T.K tripped and fell while attempting to keep up with the rest of the group. He shouted in fear as the marching of the metal Digimon came closer and closer.
"Boom Bubble!" Patamon released a bullet of air at the Digimon in an attempt to protect T.K, but it only went through them.
"Save your breath," Kari told the Digimon, "They're only computer images, remember?"
The group watched in horror as the copper and silver Digimon shot missiles at the Data Humans and around the lab.
"So just because they're computer images we just sit here and do nothing," Tai exclaimed.
"You can try," Kari shrugged. "But it wouldn't do any good. Remember, this already happened and since these are jus figments of the past, there's nothing that can be done now."
"That one's Guardramon," Izzy told them, pointing to the copper Digimon, and reading the information off his computer. "He's a machine Digimon and his armour's constructed of solid iron. And absolutely nothing can penetrate that can of beans."
"There's some more of them!" Matt turned and saw a line of silver Digimon headed by them, but one of them taking a turn toward the glass case.
"This is no space age vacuum cleaner," Tentomon told them, "Meet Mekanorimon. His Twin Beam will annihilate anything, which makes house work a breeze."
The group could only watch helplessly as more and more of the Data Humans feel to the Digimon army's attacks.
"AHH!" Joe exclaimed. "Piedmon's here! Oh please don't come here! Shoo! Go away!"
"Relax," Gomamon told the blue-haired boy, "he's just an image, remember?"
"Yeah," Sora snickered, "Save your screaming for the real thing."
They watched as Piedmon held his hands out and sent an invisible blast at the case, cracking the glass open.
"He's gonna steal the crests!" Tai exclaimed, watching as the clown Digimon did just that.
"Get your grubby hands off of those crests, Piedmon!" a voice shouted.
The group turned to see a young man with spiky light-brown hair pulled into a low ponytail, slightly tanned sin and blue eyes in a white hood robe running toward the clown Digimon.
Piedmon scoffed. "Gennai…"
"That's Gennai?" T.K asked.
The group, bar Kari and Kagome blinked at the young man that was now fighting against Piedmon with a sword and tried to make the connection between this figure and the older one they'd met a while back.
"He's actually pretty cute…" Kagome commented.
Tai turned to his sister and blanched. "Don't say that! Seriously, don't!"
"Why not?" Kagome asked.
"Because—" Tai shook his head. "You'll find out soon enough."
They turned back to see Gennai prying open the head of one of the Mekanorimon and taking out the Bakemon that was controlling it only to get in it himself. Using the giant Digimon under his control, Gennai grabbed the cords connected to the digivices and Digi-Eggs and gathered them into Mekanorimon's hand before launching himself upwards and out for the lab.
"Follow him!" Piedmon ordered the Guardramon. "Don't let Gennai out of your sight!"
And with that said the DigiDestined were once more flying, but this time following Gennai and the Guardramon after him.
"Let's follow them and see what happened in the past," Kari said as they flew after.
They watched as the Guardramon shot missiles at Gennai, only for him to dodge most of them and get hit by at least one, causing one of the Digi-Eggs in his grasp to fall off and land in a heavily forested region.
"That's my Digi-Egg!" Gatomon exclaimed. Her eyes saddened. "At least that explains why I grew up all alone…"
Kagome flew back to the feline Digimon and rubbed her behind the ear. "Cheer up, you're here now aren't you? C'mon!" She took Gatomon by the paw and flew on ahead to catch up with the others.
"Hey," Izzy spoke up, "What about the Crests of Discord? How did they come to be?"
"When Piedmon attacked that base, he was able to get away with the crests," Kari explained, "in order to create, what he thought would be, a greater force, he copied the information of your crests and combined it with his own dark energy to create what you know as the Crests of Discord. Of course, when Gennai found out about those, he quickly, with some help, sealed them away. And of course, you know what happened after that…"
Soon, the images of Gennai and the Guardramon disappeared to let in the view of an iced-over island.
"Is that File Island?" Tai asked.
"After Gennai rescued the Digi-Eggs and digivices," Kari resumed her story, "he left them to grow up on File Island, but continued to monitor them to the best of his ability away from the Digimon. And soon after many years, the Digi-Eggs finally hatched."
The DigiDestined and their partners watched in awe as they watched the right Digimon hatch and play as they grew up with each other.
"I remember that," Koromon commented, "it felt like it was forever, waiting for Tai…"
"For Matt," Tsunomon grinned up at his partner.
"For Sora," Biyomon rubbed herself against her partner's leg.
"For Mimi," Palmon smiled up at her partner.
"For Joe!" Gomamon grinned cheekily.
"For T.K," Patamon plopped down on T.K's head.
"For Izzy," Tentomon looked up to the young genius.
"And for Kagome," Kudamon nuzzled his human's cheek.
"We didn't think they'd ever come. And then one day the digivices left and brought you guys to us with a bang!" Koromon laughed.
"The question is," Kari spoke, "What exactly are the dark masters planning? We work day and night trying to find out, but for now, all we can do is guess, and try to outwit them before something terrible
happens."
"Then what should we do now?" Tai asked.
"It's hard to say," Kari shook her head. "But I believe you'll be able to find the answer on your own."
The~Ninth~Child
Kari groaned as she opened her eyes, finding herself lying in Kagome's lap with Tai and Gatomon hovering over her.
"Hey," Tai smiled softly at his sister.
"Are you going to be all right?" Gatomon looked worriedly at her partner.
"Hi!" Kari smiled. "What's going on?"
"She's back!" Kagome said with relief.
"We missed you!" Mimi squealed.
"Did it hurt?" Sora asked the young girl.
"No," Kari stood up, "What do you mean?"
"It's nothing," Tai shook his head, placing his hands on Kari's shoulder before standing up. "Don't worry about it." He looked over to Matt. "Well, at least we now know, heck we just saw it happen."
"Yeah," Matt nodded, "We did."
"So now the entire world's depending on us to save it together," Tai held out his hand to for Matt to take. "So what do you say? Are we still a team?"
But instead of taking his hand, Matt closed his eyes and shook his head.
"What's the matter?" T.K asked.
"Hey," Tai said gently, "Why don't we just put the past behind us?"
"That's all good," Matt said, turning away, "But it's not that and you wouldn't understand."
"Of course I do," Tai said, thinking this was still about the fight Matt instigated earlier. "I say we let bygones be bygones."
Matt sighed. "That's not the problem, Tai. This thing is bigger than either of us; tt's not about right or wrong. I have my path and you have yours, and I'm not even sure where this path is going to take me, but I know I have to find it for myself." He turned back to look at his friends. "But I still believe in all of us. I mean, without any of you, where would I be? It's just really confusing right now, and I let it get to me. That's why we fought. I know it's important that you guys can count on me, but…I'm going to do this because I have to! Besides, Tsunomon will be with me, so I'll be alright. Don't worry; it'll be a lot better this way."
"Matt, if you approach this logically, I'm sure you'll reconsider,' Izzy tried talking the boy out of his plan, "You crest—"
"Wait, Izzy," Kagome cut off the auburn-haired boy softly. She looked at Matt. "Is this what you really want to do? That going off on your own will help you sort things out?"
Matt looked at the raven-haired girl and nodded after a moment.
The raven-haired girl looked into the blonde's eyes and found a swirl of emotions hiding within the blue orbs. She turned back to the group. "Let him go," she told them.
"But—" T.K tried protesting.
"T.K," Kagome said gently, "I know you love your brother and you know he loves you, too. But nig brother need their space, too, remember? Trust Matt to stay safe and believe in him; that's all we can do right now."
"Well, then I believe in you, too!" Sora nodded.
"Thanks guys," Matt gave a rueful smile. 'They still care even after everything I did?' "I guess I'll be seein' ya," he said, turning around and walking away from the group.
"Well, we'd better move it," Tai told the remaining members of the group. "We've got two worlds to save! Being down one DigiDestined won't stop us, right?"
And with that said, the group began walking, but stopped when Kagome spoke. "Mimi?" She asked. "What's wrong?"
"I'm sorry, but I'm staying here," the girl in pink replied. "I hope you understand, but I can't go and keep watching our friends get hurt every time we fight."
Joe looked at the caramel-haired girl seriously for a moment. "Then I'm staying, too," he nodded.
"Joe?" Tai blinked up at the older boy.
"Look, it's not safe for Mimi stay out here all alone," Joe explained. "I'll look out for her and later on we'll regroup."
"Gotcha," Tai nodded. "Good luck!"
"Thanks," Joe smiled at his friends before walking to stand next to the girl in pink.
"Wait for me!" Gomamon shouted, running after her partner.
"Now we're all split up again," Biyomon said sadly. "And just when we were finally together."
"You may think we're separated," Gatomon said comfortingly, "but we're not."
"Huh?" Patamon and Biyomon looked at the feline Digimon confusedly.
"The roads might be different," Gatomon spoke.
"But the destination is the same," Kagome finished, getting a smile and nod from the feline Digimon.
"Think about it," the feline Digimon told them, "If they really are DigiDestined, then they're destined to be together. So it may not be tomorrow or even the day after, but we'll all be together again soon." 'Or at least I hope that's how it works out…'
Ciao,
TsukiyoTenshi