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: Okay, first I'm going to address something that's been annoying me a touch. I've been getting reviews and PMs from readers asking me to not let Sora get paired with Matt, but with Kagome. Now, if anyone paid any hint of attention, they would see that the pairing is indeed Kagome/Matt. I can't say that Sora and Matt won't get together since I haven't even planned that far yet, but I can confirm that no matter what, Kagome and Matt will be paired by the end of the story.
Second, this chapter is going to sound wicked choppy. A lot of what I wrote ended getting erased somehow and I don't really remember what I wrote, so I did my best to keep things together. But nevertheless, this is going to be pretty short.
Review, but if you don't have anything nice to say, then don't say anything at all!
-The Ninth Child-
xX-The Camping Cover-Xx
-Digital World-
"Still nothing," Kagome sighed, "I hope the others are having much more luck than we are."
"I wonder, though," Joe pondered, "About Wizardmon's message, that is."
Kagome, Joe, and the rest of the DigiDestined, both new and old, had all split up into groups to search for the Digimon Emperor. Matt, T.K and their partners were checking out the coastline; Tai, Davis, Kari, and their partners were scoping out the forest region; Izzy, Cody, and their partners were searching around the desert/wasteland area; Sora, Yolei, and their partners were checking out the desert region; Finally, Kagome, Joe, and their partners were looking around the mountains. But so far, the raven-haired girl and the older boy were having no luck in their task.
"What about it?" the raven-haired girl blinked.
"He said that we need to 'Bring Darkness back to Light'," the blue-haired teen reminded, "I'm going to assume that this means that the Darkness we need to bring back is the Digimon Emperor."
"But that was easy to figure out," Gomamon pointed out, "But what about the rest? My head's pounding just from thinking about it!"
"From what you said," Kagome spoke, "Wizardmon told you that 'Kindness will release the Golden Radiance'. I don't know what that could mean, but it's the last part that gets me. 'Truth lays hidden deep within, buried under sorrow, anger and grief; controlled and overtaken by malice. Kindness will be your aid in the trials to come.' Something tells me that that last bit refers to the brat… When we get home, the first thing I'm going to do is do a little research on Boy Genius…"
"I can guess how you'd connect that to Ken," Joe nodded, "But are you counting the very last line, too? Where he said, 'Kindness will be your aid in the trials to come'?"
The raven-haired girl's eyes narrowed, recalling that last line. "You know, it just might be referring to him there, too… What if—oh never mind, it wouldn't make any sense."
"No, go on, Kagome," Kudamon urged, "Tell us."
Kagome looked uneasy. "What if the 'Kindness' Wizardmon is talking about, is another Crest? From what everyone told me, the way Wizardmon was speaking, the way he kept saying 'Kindness' sounded like he was saying it like it was a title…"
"That's a valid theory," the blue-haired teen acknowledged, "But if there really were another Crest, wouldn't Gennai have told us?"
"But don't you remember what happened with Kagome?" Gomamon piped up. "We thought we were only supposed to be looking for and Eighth Child, but he suddenly pops up and tells us that not only was there another one, but there were also nine other kids with those Crests of Discord!"
"I wonder how those children are?" Kagome sighed. "Going through something like they did…it couldn't have been easy to get over it…"
Joe's expression turned somber, as did Gomamon and Kudamon's, all wondering about the children that intended to do them harm so long ago. "Come on, let's look a bit more before heading back to Izzy's place."
-Earth; Izumi Residence; Izzy's Room-
"Any luck?" T.K asked when Kagome and Joe came through the DigiPort Izzy had managed to set up on his own computer.
"Nothing," Kagome shook her head, "Just a few scattered Control Spires here and there. But we did spot a sort of shadowy place in the Wasteland…"
"Then it must've been that huge cluster of Control Spires we found in our area," Cody said, having come through the DigiPort with Izzy when Kagome was talking. "And it wasn't just that, we think we found the Digimon Emperor's base!"
"His base?" Kari parroted.
"Yeah," Cody nodded excitedly.
Kagome's gaze darkened with suspicion. 'Something must be up; it couldn't have been easy to just let Izzy and Cody find his headquarters like that! I'm getting a really weird feeling about this, and I haven't even gotten a vision yet!'
"I'll keep my eyes open and report back if there's any trouble," Tentomon saluted, "Tentomon, over and out!"
"Thanks, buddy!" Izzy nodded with a smile. And with that, he closed off the connection to the DigiPort before continuing to type for another moment or two. "Okay," he turned his monitor at an angle so that everyone would be able to see whatever he'd brought up, "I want everyone to take a look at this."
The image on the computer was a grid-lined map of the Digital World, not different from the one they'd used to keep track of the areas they'd freed from the Digimon Emperor's Control.
"I want each of you to take a look at the areas we scouted out today," Izzy pointed to four different areas on the grid, "First, this is where Davis' group was, then T.K's, mine, and Kagome's. Now, connect them together…"
"It's…a clown!" T.K guessed.
"Nah, it's gotta be a burger!" Davis insisted.
"Where'd you come up with that?" Cody asked with an odd look.
"It's a path," Kagome said calmly.
Izzy nodded. "That's right."
"Look at how much of our world he's taken over already!" Patamon said concernedly.
"Talk about nesting!" Poromon squeaked.
"At this rate, there'll be nothing left of anything!" DemiVeemon burst out.
"Now I'm really starting to get angry!" Upamon huffed.
"If we could only destroy that base…" Gatomon muttered.
"That's it!" Kari gasped, hearing her Digimon's soft spoken words. "If we destroy the Digimon Emperor's base, the Control Spires would be useless!"
"So why are we sitting around like a bunch of Yahoos?" Davis spoke loudly. "I say we go down there right now and rip up the place like a bad cheque!"
"And exactly how are we supposed to do that?" T.K retorted. "It's not like we can just walk up and say 'Excuse me, is it okay if we take a few minutes to trash your place? Thanks!'!"
"I guess then we need to come up with a plan," Davis laughed nervously as he rubbed the back of his head.
T.K nodded. "And I also think it's going to take more than just a day to accomplish."
Yolei looked startled. "I guess it would be hard to concentrate if we all had to be back by a certain time," she conceded slowly.
"Then it's decided," Kari spoke, "We go and don't leave until the base is destroyed!"
"But—" The lavender-haired girl protested.
"I don't know about this," Cody shook his head, "If I'm not there for my mom's tuna casserole, she'll know something's wrong! I haven't missed one in two years!"
"Just make something up!" Davis suggested.
'And I think he's going to blurt out something totally outrageous…' Kagome sweat-dropped.
"Say that you were picked up by the secret service to help out with some top secret alien missions on Mars!" the maroon-haired boy told the younger DigiDestined.
'I knew it…' Kagome and the others couldn't help but falling over at the outrageous story the preteen had come up with.
"Do you parents really believe anything you say?" Kari asked wryly.
Davis blinked at Kari. "'Course they don't; they don't believe anything I say!"
"Gee, I wonder why," T.K snickered.
"UGH!" Izzy burst out, scaring more than half the people in the room. "With all these Control Spires popping up everywhere, there's no way our Digimon would be able to Digivolve!"
"Then that means us older kids would be useless if we went with them," Matt concluded. "Well, all of us, but Kagome, anyway."
"Maybe we can't help out in the Digital World," Tai nodded, "But there are other ways we can help them out…like camping! While you guys are in the Digital World, us older kids'll go on a camping trip!"
"How's that supposed to help?" Sora asked.
"How are you guys roasting marshmallows supposed to help us fight the Digimon Emperor?" T.K scratched his head. "I don't get it!"
"It's simple," Tai explained, "We'll tell our parents that we're all going on a camping trip, but since we'd all get in trouble if they find out that we're not at the camping grounds. So the older kids'll stay behind while you guys go off and fight the Digimon Emperor."
Suddenly an array of images flew through Kagome's mind. She watched an overeager Yolei getting a bit too into the quest, the empty grounds where the Emperor's base had most likely been situated in, and Yolei lashing out at Tentomon.
"So, wait," Yolei piped up, "Does this mean that Kagome's staying with you guys or is she coming with us?"
"I'll be staying," Kagome spoke before anyone could say otherwise, "I'll still be able to communicate with you all through our D-Terminals, so if you need to ask about anything, you'll know how to get a hold of me. I won't be joining you until I'm absolutely sure that I'll be needed; but for the time being, I'll give you as many hints as I can gather from my visions."
She looked at Yolei, "Speaking of which, Yolei, I have a little advice for you."
"Me? Really?" the lavender-haired girl blinked.
"Being excited is one thing," the raven-haired girl spoke, "But it's a whole other matter when that excitement turns overeager. Learn to tell the difference between the two and remember that blame can only be placed when a person is truly at fault."
"Um, okay?" Yolei responded, though a bit confused at what Kagome said.
"Even if you don't get it now," Kari assured her friend, "you'll understand later on. Just remember what Kagome told you and you'll be fine."
Suddenly there was a knock on the door, and everyone in the room froze.
"Quick, scatter!" Izzy ordered.
Joe and Tai quickly pulled up a stool, where Joe stood, and grabbed the globe that Izzy owned from atop his bookshelf and held it out to Tai, so that it looked like the two were only just getting ready to place it back on the shelf.
Davis, Kari, T.K, Cody, and Yolei situated themselves on the floor. T.K and Davis with their hands clasped and arms out, as if arm-wrestling while Kari, Yolei, and Cody sat around the two preteens, as they acted like spectators to the small 'match'.
Matt quickly took a seat on Izzy's bed and pulled out his Mp3 player and stuck the earbuds in, making it seem as though he was listening to something or another.
Sora quickly took a seat a few feet away from Matt and took out her phone, acting like she was either texting or browsing something on the internet.
Izzy urged Kagome to sit crisscross on the ground as he placed Gatomon in her lap with Patamon on her head, Kudamon wrapped around her neck. Izzy took Poromon, DemiVeemon, and Upamon into his arms and sat next to Kagome. "Be quiet and act like dolls!" He hissed. "Uh, come in!"
"Hi kids!" Kae Izumi came into her son's room, a gentle smile on her face.
"H-Hey, Mom," Izzy stuttered out, hoing his mother didn't catch the falter in his voice.
"Hello, Mrs. Izumi!" the group chorused.
"What are you all doing inside on such a nice day?" Kae asked, oblivious to the suddenly tense atmosphere in the room.
"We were discussing going on a camping trip for a few days," Izzy blurted out.
"Oh," Kae's eyes widened in glee, "That sounds like fun! But who's the chaperone? You have to have at least one adult going with you all."
"Oh don't worry about that," Matt cut in, "My dad's coming with us, so it's all good in that area!"
"Are you sure about that?" Tai whispered from the corner of his mouth as the rest of the group in the room glanced at the elder blonde with apprehensive looks.
"No," Matt muttered back, "But it sounded good!"
-Kamiya Residence; That Night-
"I wonder if Matt managed to convince his dad to go with us?" Tai mused as he and his siblings packed their belongings into their respective bags.
Getting their parents' permission wasn't too hard; in fact, Airi was quite enthusiastic about her children getting out of the house for a while. It was Ryo that had needed a bit more persuasion.
'Not that that was too hard,' the brown-haired teen snorted, 'especially with Kagome and Kari pulling the Puppy Dog Look at max power!'
"Was it just me or did Mom seem a bit excited to see us go?" Kari asked, looking to her siblings.
"I think it's because Mama and Papa were planning on going to that new hot springs resort up in Minakami," Kagome answered. "They just didn't know when they could go or where to leave us if they did."
"What?!" Tai blurted out. "Don't they trust us to be okay here? And how do you even know that anyway?"
"That would be because Mama and Papa don't trust you to not set off the fire alarm again," the raven-haired teen stated, amused.
Tai didn't even bother to answer, his face growing bright red as he stuck out his tongue at his sister.
"As for how she knows," Kudamon interjected, "Kagome heard them talking about it a while ago."
"There, that should do it," Kagome muttered as she placed her D-Terminal into her messenger bag with her laptop and D3, her aqua duffle having been packed already.
"Well, I guess it's time to head off for bed," Tai announced, stretching a bit, "We've got a long couple days ahead of us."
-Ishida Residence; The Next Day-
"Left, right, left, right, and HALT!" Yolei said loudly, leading the rest of the preteens and Cody along with their partners to Matt's computer terminal.
The older and new DigiDestined had all met up at Matt and his father's apartment to get their plans in motion without any extra interference. Sora couldn't make it since she and her mother were going off to visit family while Joe had wanted to get a head start on studying before the school year started up again.
"Sir, yes, sir!" T.K said jokingly.
"You've got a lot to learn about women, T.K," Matt snickered.
"Oh?" Kagome raised an eyebrow at the elder blonde. "And I suppose you know everything there is to know about women?"
"Uhh," Matt realized what he'd said and mental warning bells started going off.
"Well?" The raven-haired girl stared at Matt, waiting for an answer.
The blonde had started sweating lightly by now. "Uh-oh look! They're getting ready to leave!" He quickly walked over to the group of five that were heading off for the Digital World.
"Stay safe," Kagome told her sister, placing a light kiss on her forehead. "And Yolei," she turned to the lavender-haired girl, "Don't forget about what I told you."
Yolei only nodded.
"Be careful, all of you," Izzy nodded, standing back with the rest of the older DigiDestined who'd come to see the younger children off.
"Let the battle begin! DigiPort: Open!" Yolei held out her D3 to the screen and the group watched as she and the rest of the younger troupe were whisked away to the Digital World by the familiar bluish-light.
"And they're off," Tai said softly, "Oh well, I guess we should get going, too…"
The~Ninth~Child
"Are you rugged camping men all ready to go?" Hiroto laughed.
Kagome coughed lightly, reminding the elder Ishida that she was there as well.
"Oh and of course I haven't forgotten about the Lady Fairy with us," he added quickly.
'Lady Fairy?' Kagome blinked. 'Where did he come up with that one?'
"Thanks for taking us," Izzy told Matt's father.
"What he said," Tai grinned.
"Well, if that's everyone," Hiroto started up the car, "Then we should get go—"
"Matt," Kagome tapped the blonde's shoulder, "I wouldn't look now, but we have a little problem. A certain 'girlfriend' of yours…"
"Oh no…" Matt groaned, as he saw June standing a few feet away, all dressed for a camping trip with a large grin on her face.
"Hi, there, Matt!" the auburn-haired teen called out. "I'm ready!"
Matt's father looked baffled at the young girl he didn't know.
"What's Davis' sister doing here?" Tai asked slowly. "You know, you're gonna have to think of a way to get rid of her?"
"I know," Matt sighed, "Except, I have no clue why she's even here in the first place…" He got out of the car and walked over to June, who had taken a few steps closer by the time he'd gotten over to her. Unfortunately for him, it was close enough to the car that everyone inside could hear whatever they would say.
"I thought that this camping trip would be the perfect romantic getaway for us!" June smiled, oblivious to the uncomfortable look on her crush's face.
"Oh, uh, really?" Matt choked out.
"Lucky, Matt," Izzy snickered, "He must have girls chasing him all day!"
"I know exactly how he feels," Tai chortled quietly.
"Oh stop it!" Kagome swatted at her brother and friend. "He looks really awkward over there!"
"By the way," June blinked, "Where are Davis and the others?"
Tai, Kagome, and Izzy's faces became tense. 'Uh-oh!'
"They went ahead of us in another car," Matt said quickly. "My dad's friend has a bigger minivan, so he offered to take them while my dad drove us."
June nodded. "So where do I sit?" She tilted her head at the minivan and her eyes narrowed when she caught sight of Kagome. "And who's that girl?"
"She's my best friend's sister," Matt said, turning his back to the elder girl. "Anyway, I have something to give you before we leave, June. A gift."
"Does he really think that's gonna get rid of her?" Tai whispered, sweat-dropping.
"Even I know that a promise like that wouldn't get anyone to leave you alone," Izzy nodded.
"A…gift?" June became starry-eyed as a light blush spread over her cheeks. "For me?"
"Y-Yeah," Matt said, back still turned to her, "But I didn't have time to wrap it, so you'll have to close your eyes and count to ten."
"Okay!" June nodded gleefully. "1…2…3…"
And just as the auburn-haired girl started counting, Matt hightailed it back into the minivan. "Step on it, Dad," he ordered.
"You're just gonna…leave her here?" Hirot looked at his son, confusedly.
"Yeah," Matt nodded, "Now go!"
"You have a lot to learn about girls, Matt," Hiroto shook his head as he did as his son wanted and put the car into gear, taking off in a matter of seconds.
"That was really mature, Matt," Kagome deadpanned from in between Tai and Izzy.
Matt flushed, but said nothing, preferring to act as though he hadn't heard her.
The~Ninth~Child
"Hey, wait," Matt said suddenly, "Go back to that other station!"
The little group had been on the road for about an hour and half at this point, and yet still nowhere near their intended destination. Hiroto had been chatting with the teens on and off, changing radio stations like clockwork all the while.
As Matt had wanted, his father went back a few stations until his son told him to stop. "Right there, don't change it!"
"What's up?" Tai asked curiously. "What's so important about this station?"
"Besides it being one of the more well known ones, that is," Izzy added, squinting a little to see what frequency the radio was tuned into.
"It's not that," Matt hushed, "listen."
The van grew silent as they caught what seemed to be the very last verses of a particular song. The light breathy tone of what seemed to be a young woman filtered in through the speakers before another female joined in.
Kagome's face flushed a bit as she recognized what and whose song this was.
(AN: My key for songs is pretty simple normal italics means that one individual or another is singing while any portion marked with stars is when the two voices converge together. And parenthesis, of course, mean background singing)
Here I Am - Bryan Adams
Here I am
Just me and you
Tonight we make our dreams…come true
*Oh! It's a new world
It's a new start
It's alive with the beating of young hearts*
*It's a new day
It's a new plan
I've been waitin' for you*
*Oh! It's a new world
It's a new start
It's alive with the beating of young hearts*
*It's a new day
It's a new plan
I've been waitin' for you*
Here I am
(Here I am)
Here I am
(Here I am)
Oh right next to you
(Right next to you)
(Here I am)
And suddenly the world is all brand new
Here I am
(Here I am Oh Oh)
Here I am
(Here I am)
I'm gonna stay
(I'm gonna stay Oh Oh)
Cause there's nothin' standin' in our way
Oh, here I am
"Well that was a good song," Izzy conceded, "But what had you so wound up about it?"
"You really didn't recognize the voices?" Matt asked in disbelief.
"I listen to and watch more soccer-related stuff," Taii rubbed the back of his head sheepishly, "beyond your music occasionally, I don't really keep up with much pop culture."
"I'm surprised you even know that term," Izzy teased. "But Tai is onto something; I don't listen to much music, yours or classical being what my library is limited to, so I have no clue as to what you're getting at."
"Kagome?" Matt asked pleadingly, looking back at the raven-haired teen. "Tell me you know who that was?"
Kagome only nodded, willing her flush to die down. "A little…"
"Okay," the brown-haired teen sighed, "I'll bite: Who was that?"
"That, my ignorant friend," Matt replied, ignoring Tai's sound of protest, "Was a song from the elusive songstresses that call themselves Masquerade."
"I've heard of them," Hiroto said slowly nodding, "Yeah, that's the duo that just popped up into existence, right? They just debuted out of nowhere and their songs started racing up the charts! No one knows who they are and they've never performed live, either, preferring to release their songs and music through their albums or websites."
"When I first heard of them, I couldn't believe how popular they got so fast," Matt told them, leaning back into his seat. "But after a while, I got hooked onto their music, too. It wasn't just their songs that drew me in; it was the mystery about the duo that got my attention at first. In fact, it's exactly that that reels in more and more fans."
"So no one knows who they are?" Izzy mused. "That's interesting…"
"And they've never held a live concert?" Tai balked. "How the heck is that possible? Are you sure you just didn't miss something?"
Matt shook his head, but it was Hiroto that answered. "I have colleagues that are diehard fans of that unit, and even they've never seen nor heard of them ever taking the stage!"
"I wonder why?" Izzy murmured. "It's not like they have anything to be afraid of…"
'Except that we just make music for fun,' Kagome thought, 'And being in two different countries doesn't help with getting together, anyway…'
-That Evening; The Campsite-
(AN: I've tried looking, but I wasn't able to find anything remotely akin to a campsite, or rather a decent one that resembles the one in the anime at least, so it'll just be referred to as 'The Campsite' for the time being.)
"Well here we are!" Hiroto announced once they hiked through a patch of trees.
"This looks great!" Tai exclaimed, stretching out his arms and legs a bit.
The campground was a simple wooden villa beside a river in an open clearing surrounded by trees that covered up the trail they hiked along unless one looked closely or knew the area well.
"Well, why don't you all get settled in," Hiroto nodded to the villa, "And I'll see if I can catch us some dinner."
The teens nodded and headed into the cabin.
"I wonder how they're doing…" Izzy muttered, putting his bag down to take out his laptop. He sat on the couch as the rest looked over his shoulder form beside or behind him. "Well, that doesn't sound too good," the auburn-haired genius commented when he read Kari's message stating that the Digimon Emperor's base was gone.
Whatever was said afterwards, Kagome wasn't able to hear as images flashed through her mind. One was of the lanky dark figure of what Kagome assumed was a Digimon within what seemed to be a whirlpool. Another was of Angemon going up against that same Digimon, but in this image, T.K was just a child. The last image was of a mutated Digimon of sorts; it looked like it had been made up of different parts of other Digimon.
"Kagome?" a voice startled her out of her trance.
"Huh? What?" Kagome looked at the boys, who stared at her worriedly.
"Are you okay?" Tai asked slowly.
"I'm fine, it was just another vision, that's all," Kagome assured her brother. "So what are they going to do now?" she asked, referring to the younger group in the Digital World at the moment.
"They're gonna camp out for the night," Matt answered, "Since the base's gone, they figured that they'd have a better chance of searching for it during the day."
"I just hope they find someplace safe for the night," Izzy muttered, "Tentomon mentioned how he's been feeling off lately."
"Off?" the other three teens parroted. "How?"
"He can't explain," the auburn-haired genius told them, "he keeps telling me that he feels almost sick or something and that it's been getting stronger in the last few days."
"And he was hiding it the entire time?" Kagome gasped.
"It appears to be so," Izzy nodded. "But I'm more worried about what could be making him feel that way…I've never heard of a Digimon feeling the way Tentomon is…"
'Could it be…?' Kagome thought back to the images she's seen in her vision. "Um, this might sound a bit weird, but do any of you know a black Digimon with batwings?"
Tai, Izzy, and Matt stiffened a bit before looking at the only girl with them. "Why do you ask?" Izzy asked warily.
"Because I just Saw him," the raven-haired teen replied, "I also saw him and a younger T.K with Angemon there, too, if that helps."
The three boys exchanged glances. "That Digimon you saw was Devimon," Tai answered, rubbing a hand over his face tiredly, "A really evil Digimon we fought when we all first went to the Digital World and ended up on File Island. That was the first time Patamon Digivolved into Angemon, but it was also the last time we'd be seeing him for a while. He sacrificed himself to defeat Devimon and ended up reverting back into a DigiEgg."
The quartet was silent for a few moments.
"I don't think he's completely gone," Kagome said quietly, "When I was taken away to the Dark Realm, Oryu told me something, and I think that might have something to do with what I saw in my vision."
"You mean that huge dragon you said you saw in your dream four years ago?" Tai asked. "And since when were you taken away somewhere? Why didn't I hear about this?!"
"Yes," Kagome answered his questions in order, "And as for your other questions, that would be why. You'd start reacting exactly like this, and I wanted to avoid that."
"Well, what did the dragon tell you?" Kudamon asked drowsily, his head popping out of Kagome's messenger bag.
"He said that the Seven Great Demon Lords rule over the deleted data of any and all evil Digimon," Kagome explained, "they can pass back and forth between the Digital World and the Dark Realm. He also told me that they were the ones that created all the enemies we went up against in the past, or at least they began the creation of those Digimon. Unfortunately, their ideas went awry somewhere and they evolved into the evils we fought."
"But what does that have to do with seeing Devimon in your vision?" Matt asked, not understanding the point.
"I was thinking," the raven-haired girl began, "Maybe, Devimon's data somehow started leaking out to the point where he must have manifested somehow, but not so much that he could start wreaking havoc again."
Izzy opened his mouth to say something, but was cut off by Hiroto's entrance. "So who's ready for some grilled fish?"
-The Next Day; The Campsite-
"Kudamon and I are leaving tonight," Kagome told Tai, Matt, and Izzy, "Right after Mr. Ishida falls asleep."
"Are you sure?" Tai asked his sister. "How do you know you have to go tonight?"
"Another vision," Kagome replied, "And strangely enough, it had a lot to do with what Wizardmon told us. Do you think you guys can stall Mr. Ishida long enough?"
"I can tell him that you and Tai went out early to explore the area a bit," Matt supplied, "It might not be much, but that'll keep my dad from finding out anything for the time being."
"But what about the day after?" Tai asked. "Or even if it takes longer than a day? How can we keep your dad from suspecting anything? He'd start panicking if he found Kagome gone just like that!"
"And there's no way my dad wouldn't start getting all overprotective if we came clean with the whole Digital World buisniess," Matt added, "the first time around, our parents understood when we left, but after we came back…you remember how they got. Mimi's parents were so afraid, they packed up and moved halfway across the globe, thinking that they'd be safer there!"
"Not that it helped any," Kagome pointed out, "Mimi's got friends in America that have Digimon partners, too. I'm guessing, though her parents don't know about that either or they'd start packing up again and move to the most remote place they'd find."
"Since it's your father," Izzy spoke up to Matt, "You can ask to go hiking or something with him. Meanwhile, Tai and I'll stay and keep a lookout on things from here. Just make sure you keep your D-Terminal with you just in case we need to get in touch with you."
'I hope T.K got my message…' Kagome thought worriedly.
The~Ninth~Child
-That Night-
"Here," Tai passed his sister her messenger bag, "Your D3 and D-Terminla are already in there, but I packed away some food, a couple bottles of water, and a blanket for you just in case. Your laptop's with my stuff, so don't worry about that."
Kagome and Kudamon blinked. "Wow, thanks…I didn't you'd go this far…"
"I didn't know you could be so motherly," Matt teased, Izzy throwing a cheeky grin at the brown-haired teen.
"Shut up," Tai flushed, "She's my sister, so I have a right to care, you know!"
"And I think we should quiet down before you make up Matt's father!" Kudamon hissed.
The teens blushed and muttered out a quick and quiet 'sorry'.
"Okay, the DigiPort's all set—what the—?" Izzy's eyes widened as he looked through the pictures and e-mails he'd received from Kari and the others. "What kind of Digimon is this?"
"I've never seen a Digimon like this before," Kudamon tilted his head slightly, "In fact, I don't think I've ever seen a Digimon like this period!"
'The Digimon from my vision…' Kagome's eyes narrowed. She lifted a finger to point out certain things as she spoke, "Look, it's got Greymon's body and Garurumon's legs, Monochromon's tail and Kabuterimon's head with MetalGreymon's hair."
"That thing's also got SkullGreymon, Kuwagamon, and Devimon's arms," Tai added.
"Not to mention Angemon and Airdramon's wings," Matt inserted.
"Talk about split personality," Izzy sighed, "This makes things a bit more complicated…Thank goodness Kari sent us these pictures!"
"Jeez, he couldn't have stuck to model airplanes or something?" Matt huffed. "He just had to go on a power trip…"
"That's it!" Tai said determinedly. "I'm gonna destroy him!" He blinked. "Uh, Izzy, how do I destroy him, anyway?"
"Well, first we have to figure out how to get him to hold still for a bit," Kagome pointed out, "His base is always moving, remember?"
"Hey," the auburn-haired genius spoke up when a small 'ping' came from his laptop, "It's an e-mail from Cody…" he typed a few keys and brought up an image that was sent along with the message. "Hey, that's a picture of the offshore oil platform!"
"Pipelines, huh?" Tai muttered. "But what good will that do?"
Izzy's brow furrowed. "Pipeline…oil platform…crossing—I've got it!"
"What?" Matt asked. "You have a plan?"
"Actually no," Izzy shook his head, "I needed an eight-letter word for my crossword puzzle."
"Focus, Izzy, focus," Tai reminded gently.
"Uh, right," Izzy went back to typing, "I actually do have a plan, and if we're lucky, it just might work."
"Before you do that, Izzy, get the DigiPort ready," Kagome urged, "Let me go with them."
"Right," Izzy nodded as he quickly brought up the DigiPort.
"DigiPort: Open!" Kagome held out her D3 to the screen. Immediately, she was engulfed int eh familiar light as it pulled her into the Digital World.
'Good luck,' the auburn-haired genius thought.
Ciao,
TsukiyoTenshi