"Ah. The Digidestined. And Andromon. Astonishingly perceptive, as all ways." A cold chill voice split the air maybe a dozen feet ahead of them. It was dark and evil, even more so than any of the Virus Digimon that they had seen. There was nothing to be seen in the low light but suddenly the light seemed to totally vanish from a particular spot, close to where the voice had come from, as if it had been sucked up by a powerful unseen vacuum cleaner. The darkness grew and thickened, and suddenly the Digidestined became aware of dark shapes materializing within the dark impenetrable shadows that were unnaturally thick and dark.
The air shimmered just ahead of the thickening shadows, just in the light, and suddenly Eldritchmon stood before them, clutching his wooden staff in his right hand. "I see Gennai has wasted no time in summoning you to prevent us from taking over the Digital World. A useless gesture." Eldritchmon smiled evilly. "We will not fall as the Dark Master fools did." The shadows in the dense fog behind him seemed to expand, as if whatever was in the shadows was growing. Out of nowhere, four pairs of eyes appeared in the fog and appeared to cut through it like a lighthouse beacon. The eyes were cold and hard, and glared at the Digidestined.
"You will not harm them, Eldritchmon!" Andromon said in a commanding voice. He held out his right arm, a section of it folded back in upon itself, and two large missiles streaked straight for Eldritchmon. He didn't move, even as the missiles hit him head on. The missiles would easily have leveled a small house, but they did nothing more to Eldritchmon than ruffle his cloaks. He smirked, and lifted up his left hand. "Magical Force!" The explosion of magical energy threw Andromon clear through the opposite wall.
"OK, so that's how you want to play?" Tai detached his Digivice and held it out. "Let's go, Agumon!"
"Right!" Agumon stepped into the incredible energies of the device, and began to warp-digivolve through all his stages into his Mega form. "Agumon Warp-Digivolved to . . . . . WarGreymon!"
Matt held out his Digivice over Gabumon as well, it's energies spilling over like water from a bowl. "Gabumon Warp-Digivolved to . . . . . MetalGarurumon!"
WarGreymon stood at least ten feet tall, clad in shining gold robotic armor and had wings on his back housed in a sheath that had the Crest of Courage on it. On the ends of his gauntlets were sharp piercing claws called 'Dramon Destroyers,' because they were especially effective at destroying Dramon type Digimon like MetalSeadramon and MachineDramon.
MetalGarurumon stood only a little more than half his height, but he was just as powerful as WarGreymon. He was a mostly cybernetic wolf, with splotches of blue fur here and there, standing on all four legs. He had razor sharp wings which unfurled on his shoulders, allowing him to fly as well.
"WarGreymon and MetalGarurumon? Very effective. Allow me to introduce you to two of my friends!" Two Digimon stepped silently from the shadows and into the light. One appeared to be an eight foot tall ninja, clad in black samurai armor, with a long, black, curved sword sheathed at his side. Only his eyes, burning like coals were visible over his black faceplate.
The other was a fifteen foot tall strangely built black colored Digimon that appeared to be all spindly arms and legs. Its eyes were large and yellow, and it carried a long, black jagged staff like a lightning bolt in it's long multi-fingered hands.
"This is Musyamon." Eldritchmon indicated the ninja-type Digimon, "And this is Phobiamon." He indicated the other.
A picture of both of these two Digimon appeared on Izzy's computer screen and was recorded in his Digivice.
Whether or not because of some hidden signal given by Eldritchmon, Phobiamon stepped up to the Digidestined. MetalGarurumon bristled but did not attack, as he had not the time.
"Sense Crusher!" Phobiamon whirled his strange misshapen black staff over his head and then brought it slicing downwards in an explosion of energy, and all of the Digimon besides WarGreymon and MetalGarurumon shrank backwards.
"Kari! I can't see you!" Gatomon yelled out, speaking for all of the Digimon.
"Digivolve!" Sora yelled.
"I can't!" Biyomon cried out.
"What did you do to them?" Tai demanded.
"Made it so they can't Digivolve, as well as making them blind!" Phobiamon said with a high-pitched laugh.
Matt gritted his teeth but MetalGarurumon was a step ahead of him. "Ice Wolf Claw!" Several small sections of his robotic body folded back and several small rockets burst forth and struck Phobiamon head on, encasing him in a thick covering of ice, freezing him to the spot.
"Mega Blade!" With a flash of Musyamon's curved blade, the ice fell away.
"Nova Force!" WarGreymon generated a large red ball of energy as a big as he was in between his two outstretched arms and launched it at Eldritchmon.
"Wall of Darkness!" Eldritchmon held out his hands and the air directly in front of his grew darker and appeared to form a thick wall of darkness. The Nova Force energies hit the wall with more force than a wrecking ball, but Eldritchmon was unfazed.
"Blade of Darkness!" Musyamon's blade flashed with an evil light as it slashed down towards WarGreymon and MetalGarurumon. The impact send them both slamming into the far wall.
"I can see!" Ikkakumon yelled.
"Digivolve!" Joe yelled, holding out his Digivice. It's energies leapt up and were joined by the energies from his crest before slamming into Ikkakumon.
"Ikkakumon Digivolve to . . . . Zudomon!" A thirty foot tall turtle-like creature with fur and teeth with a large shell on it's back was now in Ikkakumon's place. In it's right hand was a large hammer. "Vulcan's Hammer!" The large hammer slammed against the ground and the force of the hit created a spike of energy which shot like an arrow straight for Musyamon. He swung his sword, and the blade cleaved the energy spike into two and it vanished. Musyamon moved to counter-attack—
"Flower Cannon!"
Lillymon, the ultimate form of Togemon, who was a small flying pixie shot off a powerful blast from her outstretched hands. Musyamon took the hit without much interest, and was about to react when MetalGarurumon launched another volley of the ice rockets. Lillymon flew up higher, her wings flapping so fast they were a blur to the eye. "My lei of flowers can counter-effect Phobiamon's attack!" she zipped around the other Digimon that had been effected by Phobiamon, her wings spreading a gentle powder finer than sand, reviving the others.
There were several explosions of energy, as Biyomon Digivolved first to Birdramon and then to Garudamon, a thirty foot tall Indian bird with red wings on her back. Tentomon Digivolved to Kabuterimon and then to MegaKabuterimon, a huge brown scarab beetle.
Musyamon raised his sword and was about to attack, but Eldritchmon stopped him with a gesture. Phobiamon sprang up, and whirling his strange staff over his head, "Pantaphobia!" The spinning staff shot out oddly colored spikes of energy in all directions, and those who were hit by the strange beams devolved.
"WarGreymon!" Tai yelled, as he ran to him as he reverted back to Agumon. All devolved, save Garudamon and MegaKabuterimon, who had avoided being hit. Eldritchmon was about to strike again when a fireball whistled overhead and the floor directly in front of Eldritchmon burst into flame, causing the Dark Alliance to back up a few steps. Andromon ran up to them, with Meramon at his heels. "Digidestined, you must leave this place! This battle will not be yours, but future ones may be! Go!"
Tai hesitated, and when he did, Matt shoved him back. "Forget the stupid battle, Tai! Let's get out of here!" Tai glared at Matt, as all of the Digidestined and their Digimon climbed into Garudamon's outstretched hands. As she spread her huge wings, MegaKabuterimon launched an attack at the roof.
"Horn Buster!" a bolt of energy leapt from his horn like a thunderbolt and punched a large hole in the ceiling, causing the entire factory to start caving in.
"You won't escape that easily!" Eldritchmon yelled out, but he could not see clearly though the flames and smoke and falling debris to hit anyone with his attack.
"We will hold them off. Go!" Andromon yelled. Garudamon leapt into the air, shot through the rapidly widening hole in the ceiling, and exploded out into the sky, with her cargo of the Digidestined. MegaKabuterimon was only seconds behind her. A few seconds after they had totally cleared the factory and were airborne, there was an incredible explosion of energy, and the factory blew up with the force of an atom bomb.
Mimi, clinging to Garudamon's enormous fingers cried out, "Andromon! Meramon!" But there was nothing left of the factory, when the blast had died down than a few twisted fragments of metal and a charred spot which marked where the factory had once stood.
Garudamon and MegaKabuterimon poured on the speed, never stopping until they had reached a large clearing more than a hundred miles away. As the Digidestined were set down on solid ground they breathed a sigh of relief. No one had been physically hurt, thanks to the heroism of Andromon and Meramon, but everyone was pretty weary, even Patamon and Gatomon, who had not gotten the chance to Digivolve.
As Garudamon and MegaKabuterimon shrank back down to Biyomon and Tentomon, Matt turned again on Tai. "What's with you, Tai? Always out for a fight? You think we could've beaten those guys? If Andromon hadn't shown up, we would probably be dead by now! And all you want to do is fight, fight, fight! This isn't some kind of video game when you get killed you get another chance! We're playing for keeps here Tai!" If Matt had been thinking logically and if his head was clearer, he would have known that what he was saying was not really fair.
Tai was almost to tired to argue, but before he could say any thing, Sora got between them both. She was silent, but got her point across better with her silence then any words could have done. Matt glared past Sora at Tai for a minute, and then turned away and walked over to where Gabumon stood. "This is stupid. I'm going off on my own. I don't need you!" He stormed off, not even noticing the fact that he was leaving T.K. behind, nor Gabumon's pleas for him to listen to reason.
Joe looked first at the others, and then at Matt. "I'll talk to him. The last thing we need now if for us to be separated again." He followed after Matt, with Gomamon running to catch up.
Tai turned to the others, standing in a small group off to the side, silent. When they saw Tai looking at them, they stared at the ground or pretended to be interested in the surrounding foliage. Only Sora met Tai's gaze, and her smile lightened some of his mood.
"We're going to need a safe place to plan. Any ideas, Izzy?" Tai asked, once more taking up his automatic leadership role.
"Yes. Well, I have a plan, but we need everyone. I can explain it, though." He turned to the small red insectoid Digimon at his side. "Tentomon, we're going to need some air transport."
"You got it, Izzy." Tentomon said, as the energies from Izzy's Digivice spiked up and slammed into him.
"Tentomon digivolve to . . . . Kabuterimon!"
As the six remaining children and their Digimon 'boarded' this large blue insect with large wings, T.K. asked in a small voice that was barely heard over the rush of Kabuterimon's wings, "What about Matt?"
"Matt needs time to chill." Tai replied. He was about to add a snide remark, but then thought the better of it. As Kabuterimon rose up into the air, beating his large translucent wings several times a second, a loud roar was heard overhead.
The Digidestined looked up, and there was Kuwagamon, a large red beetle type Digimon, flying on large wings similar to Kabuterimon's. Kuwagamon was in fact the first Digimon the kids had encountered, aside from their own. Kuwagamon shot towards them, its large mandibles snapping fiercely. Kabuterimon turned and dodged to one side in mid air, and Kuwagamon shot past.
"ElectroShocker!" a burst of electrical energy slammed into Kuwagamon head on, sending him plummeting into a grove of trees like a dropped rock. Kabuterimon flew on, almost indifferent, with his precious cargo of six of the eight Digidestined in tow.
Nearly five miles away and increasing distance . . .
Matt and Joe and Gomamon were riding on Garurumon, a large wolf with blue and white fur who Matt had practically forced to Digivolve. They were going at a steady pace through the rapidly thinning out forest around them. With a leap, Garurumon cleared a sea of ferns in the middle of two trees, and landed in an immense, roving grassland. As they continued on, gradually picking up speed, Joe thought he could see something coming towards them in the distance, but couldn't be sure. He shielded his eyes from the sun and squinted. Then he pointed it out to Matt, who had better eyesight, and Matt said, "That looks like Leomon!"
"But MetalEtemon sent him back to the Primary Village!" Joe said.
"Years have passed since we've been here, Joe." Matt pointed out, and Joe fell silent. Garurumon kept up his steady pace, and the creature that looked to be Leomon came closer. As he did so, Joe couldn't shake the foreboding feeling that he had.
As they got nearer, they saw that it was indeed Leomon; standing over eight feet tall, his short sword sheathed at his side. When they were perhaps ten feet away, Garurumon stopped and Leomon came up to them.
"Digidestined! I am glad to see you here on the Digital World again. I have come to warn you. The six children you were traveling with are not the real Digidestined!"
"What?" Matt asked, now knowing that this could not be the real Leomon.
"That was what—" Leomon paused, and then looked off into the distance. "Look! Rockmon and Starmon!"
Suddenly Matt and Joe saw them as well. Rockmon, a rock-type Digimon with oversized arms was lumbering at a good pace towards them. At his side was Starmon, a star-fish type Digimon with arms and legs.
"Rock Punch!" Rockmon raised a large fist, and a large rock shot from it, streaking straight for Matt and Joe.
"Fist of the Beast King!" a burst of energy, in the shape of a lion's head blew the rock into small fragments. Leomon ran towards the pair of Digimon, drawing his sword as he went.
"Meteor Storm!" Five fireballs, one erupting from each ray of the star, shot towards Leomon. He deflected them all off the flat of his blade. Rockmon swiped out at Leomon with a large fist. Leomon easily dodged, and fired another lion shaped burst of energy point blank at Rockmon. The blast hit Rockmon head on, and he seemed to dissolve into small fragments.
"Howling Blaster!" Garurumon leapt for Starmon, a blast of icy blue energy shooting from his mouth. Starmon was hit by the glancing blow, and he dissolved as well. Matt and Joe and Gomamon, who had gotten off of Garurumon, came running up to the two victorious Champion Digimon.
"You must believe me." Leomon said, as he sheathed his short sword.
Matt glanced sidelong at Joe, and they appeared to communicate without words. They would listen to Leomon, but they would still be very wary.
Joe, Matt, and Gomamon climbed back atop Garurumon's back, and with Leomon following in long even strides, they went back the way they had came. They came to the clearing that they had parted ways at, and Garurumon lowered his large nose to the ground and took a few experimental sniffs.
"They flew away, on Kabuterimon." He decided, and then raised his head and sniffed the air. "They went this way." he leapt off further into the forest, with Leomon following close behind. They came swiftly to the ruins that Mimi and Izzy had gotten lost in and met up with Centarumon.
Matt jumped off the blue and white wolf, and approached the entrance to the ruins warily, his Digiviced clutched tightly in his hand. T.K. and Patamon came out just then, and a spike of doubt of what Leomon had said washed over Matt. Then, almost as if he had rubbed his eyes and looked again, it appeared than T.K was surrounded by a darkness and that Patamon had Digivolved to Angemon and was about to attack.
Matt stepped back with a cry, energy exploding from the device in his hand. "Garurumon Digivolved to . . . . WereGarurumon!" Garurumon Digivolved into his Ultimate stage, which was a kind of werewolf with high kicks and jumps.
"Gomamon Digivolved to . . . . Ikkakumon! Ikkakumon Digivolved to . . . . . . . Zudomon!"
T.K., seeing his brother in such a state, ran back inside the ruins to get the others. They came out, almost at once, but to Matt and Joe and the two Ultimate Digimon, it looked as if they were the opposing army.
"Wolf Claw!" Scarlet claws of energy shot out as WereGarurumon slashed out at the air. The scarlet slashes of energy slammed into the side of the ruins, dangerously close to the Digidestined.
'Not again!" Tai yelled, as his device spilled out energy to Agumon.
"Agumon Digivolved to . . . . Greymon! Greymon Digivolved to . . . MetalGreymon!" The large cyborg/dinosaur ultimate form of Agumon slashed out at WereGarurumon with his robotic arm. "Mega Claw!"
Patamon, who had lightened on T.K's head, suddenly shouted, "That's not Leomon!"
"Correct, Digifools!" Leomon laughed. He appeared to shrink and shift in upon himself, as if he was melting. With a flash, Leomon changed into a small Digimon that appeared to be made out of parts of a camera. He stood only a few feet tall, but anyone could tell that this red and black Digimon meant serious business.
Biyomon flew to Sora's side and cried, "Oh no! That's Photomon! He can turn into anything that he sees! He's one of the Dark Alliance!"
"Correct, and you are now going to be over-developed!" Photomon laughed, in almost a strange sing-song yet grating voice.
"We'll see about that!" Tai gritted his teeth, and shot a glance at the monstrous MetalGreymon next to him.
"Giga Blaster!"
Two ports, which were missile silos, opened up in the middle of MetalGreymon's robotic chest, twin missiles exploded out and streaked straight for Photomon. These special missiles, which had destroyed Etemon, did nothing more to Photomon than a B.B. gun does to an elephant.
"You tricked us!!" Matt yelled, enraged at Photomon's bamboozling him, and also at his own foolishness at running off from the rest of the group.
"Wolf Claw!"
"Vulcan's Hammer!"
Photomon shrugged off the attacks easily, laughing to himself at how these fools would dare attack the Dark Alliance in such a weak state.
"Horn Buster!"
MegaKabuterimon, who had been patrolling the skies overhead, streaked straight down for Photomon, like a charging rhino, with enough power to level an office building. Photomon laughed as he took the blow, almost as if he was hit by a feather.
"Flash of Darkness!" A burst of evil light exploded from Photomon, as if day had suddenly become night or some thick black cloud was covering the earth, blocking out all the sunlight. Although it only lasted a few seconds, all the evolved Digimon fell to the ground, as if all their power was sapped. They tried to get up, but as they did so, they were surrounded in a white light and devolved to their rookie forms.
"Now to be rid of—" Photomon began.
"Hand of Fate!" A bright beam of white light exploded from Angemon's outstretched hand and lanced like an arrow straight for Photomon.
"Celestial Arrow!" Angewoman fitted an arrow, forged completely from crackling white energy, and let it fly from her bow, straight as a ruler.
Both extremely powerful attacks would have hit Photomon, and the extent of their damage to him would have been known, if not for the fact that he blunted their attacks.
"Flash of Darkness!" The same black, evil light burst like a cork from a champagne bottle from Photomon, and instantly, both Angemon's and Angewoman's attacks faded and disappeared. The two angel type Digimon cringed before the unnatural black light, but were not done fighting yet.
"Heaven's Charm!" Angewoman spread her arms, gathering celestial energy within her, and then shot her arms out toward Photomon, at the same time, releasing her pent-up energies in one powerful blow.
"Gigashocker!" A bolt of lightning appeared to lance straight from Photomon and cleave the angel's attack in two. Angemon rose up, his right fist glowing with a golden aura, but before he could attack, Photomon launched his 'Flash of Darkness', and both angel-type Digimon cringed and then fell under the blow, devolving back to Patamon and Gatomon as they fell.
Tai ran to help Agumon up, encouraging him as well as he could. "C'mon Agumon! This guy is a pushover! Now Piedmon, that was the hard stuff. This guy is nowhere near as powerful as Piedmon."
"Who asked you?" Photomon yelled. "Gigashocker!" A bolt of lightning leapt straight for Tai, who saw the lightning heading for him, but was riveted with fear to the spot. Sora dove suddenly, shoved Tai barely out of the way in time, but she took the blow intended for him.
Her scream pierced the air, as 12.21 Jigawatts of electrical energy shot through her body. Amazingly, she was not incinerated by the incredible energies, but instead stumbled, and fell forward, Tai leaping to catch her before she could hit the ground.
She lay limp in his arms, and he quickly felt for some sign of life, but even before he did so, he knew that she – When he found no sign of life, she gently laid her prostate form on the ground, pinched her nose, and clamped his mouth over hers, and sent two quick breaths into her limp body.
Nothing, and even Tai was beginning to doubt that there would ever be anything more in her. Still he kept doggedly at it, even as the other Digidestined gathered around, mourning for their lost friend, ignoring for the moment, the fact that Photomon was still there. He was laughing to him self, and soon the degree of laughter went up, while the sanity in the laughter went down.
Tai slowly laid Sora's body on the ground, his ears ringing with Photomon's laughter. His eyes flashed with a black rage, as he stood up and faced Sora's murderer. Had not the other Digidestined been standing between him and Photomon, he would have attacked Photomon by himself.
"Agumon . . . ." he said quiet but menacingly. Agumon leapt to his side, ready to warp-digivolve.
None of them noticed that Sora's Crest of Love was glowing with a celestial light. That light, combined with the brightly glowing Digivice still attached to Sora's belt, slammed into Biyomon, who was weeping on her friend's shoulder, like a runaway freighter. The Digidestined looked up, one by one, as the power of the Crest flowed into Biyomon like a river. Photomon stopped in mid-laugh, and stared at the brightly glowing small pink bird.
"Biyomon Warp-Digivolved to . . . . . Phoenixmon!"
Biyomon had changed into her Mega form, Phoenixmon, a huge deep red bird with long trailing tail feathers of colors of the rainbow. With a musical cry, Phoenixmon spread her forty foot wingspan, and leapt effortlessly into the air, circling high above Photomon like a carrion bird.
"What is this?" Photomon asked, as he warily watched Phoenixmon circle him. "But Eldritchmon said there were only two Mega Digimon to contend with!" he appeared to shake off this last comment, and his voice went back to it's dark, cold state. "No matter. Gigashocker!" A bolt of lightning leapt straight for Phoenixmon, who dodged it easily.
"There's more than one way to skin a Mega!" he said. "Flash of—"
"Beak of Power!"
Phoenixmon banked in mid-air and then dove down straight for Photomon, her large beak shining brightly. Photomon tried to move, to get out of the way, but he found that he was riveted to the spot. Just before Phoenixmon reached Photomon, her beak grew even brighter, throwing the rest of her body into sharp contrast, almost as if she was a ghost. She passed straight through Photomon, soaring up into the air as she came through the other side.
Photomon gave a horse cry of pain as he fell to the ground, virtually cleaved in two. Before his decapitated body could hit the ground, it dissolved into nothingness. Phoenixmon turned, and dove down again, towards the lifeless Sora. As she dove she devolved, back to Biyomon, and landed gently on her friend's outstretched arm. The other Digidestined and their Digimon, and even Tai had their heads bowed, and silence filled the air like an unbreakable fog.
Energy flowed from the devolved Biyomon back into Sora's Crest, and for a minute it glowed even brighter. Then the energies from the crest appeared to diffuse from the Crest into Sora's body, and her body shimmered back to life. Sora's eyes slowly fluttered open, looked up at Tai and the others standing in grief, and said weakly, "Tai . . . ."
Tai looked up, saw Sora alive and looking at him, and then wrapped her up tightly and hugged her for all he was worth. Sora smiled and hugged him back, turning her head, and meeting their lips as one. The other Digidestined, seeing Sora's miraculous return, jumped and clamored about for joy. Tai helped her up, and she clung still to his hand once she was steady on her feet.
Izzy, who had once more gotten out his computer, said "Hey! There's another message from Gennai!" His fingers flew across the keyboard as the others gathered around him. Gennai appeared in a small window in the middle of the computer screen.
"Hello kids! The Dark Alliance has slit up in an attempt to give them more time to plan out their attacks. So you must split up as well, while you have this opportunity. Phobiamon and Kronosmon have split away from the others, and they will be the ones you target. One group will go for Phobiamon, while the other concentrates on Kronosmon. Be aware, even if the odds are four to one, you will be hard pressed to defeat the members of the Dark Alliance." Tai shot a look at the others, telling them not to mention that they had defeated Photomon, as he felt that it could not have been that easy. Gennai ignored the lull in the conversation, and took the opportunity to type on the unforeseen keyboard before him. "I see Biyomon has reached her Mega stage of Phoenixmon. Congratulations! And now, Digidestined, I leave you with this. Not everything is as it seems. That's my favorite saying from this book of wise sayings." He held up an old, red leather bound book, and then began to read, not bothering to close the live video screen.
With a sigh, Izzy pushed a button and the screen grew black for a second before reverting to the desktop. A window opened automatically, and two separate maps suddenly appeared on the screen. One was labeled 'Directions to Kronosmon,' and the other was, 'Directions to Phobiamon.'
"Okay, so how are we going to split up?" Tai asked. He was directing the question to Izzy, but Mimi answered instead. "You decide, Tai. I mean you've done it so much, you should be used to it by now." Tai looked at Sora, who still had her fingers intertwined with his. Tai though a moment, mentally formatting the correct the correct teams equally balanced with intellect and power, before he said, "OK, I think I got it. Me, Sora, Izzy and Kari will hunt down Kronosmon, while Matt, T.K., Mimi and Joe go against Phobiamon."
"OK, how are we supposed to find Phobiamon without a map?" Matt demanded, "Sniff him out?"
Tai looked to Izzy for an answer, who said, "Give me your Digivice." Matt handed Izzy his device, who fitted it into the specially made slot at the top of his keyboard. He typed rapidly but briefly, and then handed the device back to Matt. "I've uploaded a holographic map into your Digivice that is an exact replication of the one that Gennai gave us."
"Well, suppose that we actually do manage to defeat Phobiamon," Joe said, shifting his duffel bag from one shoulder to the other. "Where will we meet up with you guys?"
"Just a minute." Izzy carefully scrutinized the map on his screen, and then said, "There is a large patch of grassland maybe two miles wide behind both of their strong holds, and we can meet there."
"What about food?" Kari asked, putting her hand on her stomach. Although she was smarter than most children her age, she still was a child, nonetheless. "Joe has the bag with all the food."
Joe opened the duffel bag, not quite knowing what to find. He pulled out a handful of silver-wrapped small bars that looks like bars of chocolate.
"Um . . . . it was nice of Gennai, but I don't think there's a dentist anywhere on the Digiworld, and I didn't bring my toothbrush." Joe said.
Gabumon went over and gave the bag an experimental sniff. "Smells good, whatever it is. Maybe it is candy!" Gabumon had had candy and other sweets when he was on Earth, and he thought those foods to be on a special pillar above all others.
"Theoretically, Gennai would have given us sufficient food to sustain us so that we might finish this mission." Izzy grabbed a few bars and stuffed them into his pockets, and Tai, Sora, and Kari followed suit, stuffing their pockets with the strange food bars.
The two groups then lined up, ready to go their separate ways, but then stopped and stared at the ground. None of them actually wanted to split up, as they all remembered what hardships they encountered and had to deal with once they were split up. Force in numbers was the way to defeat the Dark Alliance; that was the only way they could have beaten Piedmon, and they did it, even by the slimmest of margins.
"I guess this is good-bye, at least for now." Mimi said.
"Yeah . . . ." Kari glanced at her friends standing opposite her, but said nothing. She could not think of anything more to say.
"Good luck, you guys." Sora said, finally. She had dropped Tai's hand and was now looking at her Digivice.
"Remember, if you need to locate us, use your Digivices." Izzy said. An awkward silence followed, one that almost did not like to be broken.
Tai finally broke up the two groups, feeling that it was his duty as the leader. If he didn't, they would probably still be standing there. "See you later, then." Was all he could think of to say, as the others followed his lead, breaking up into the two groups, each group going its separate way.