o7.11.o6 – A/N: This chapter has been marginally updated and edited for enhanced reader enjoyment.

Time Warp!
DigiDestination: Ancient Egypt

"……and read pp.569-582 in History. School dismissed!"
RRRRRRRIIINNNNNNGGGGG! Taichi jerked wide awake and rubbed his blurry eyes as he concentrated on the dusty green board for any notes or homework assignments he missed. Quickly he scribbled in his tattered black notebook and met Sora at the door.

"Sleeping in class again Tai?" she teased as kids jostled their way out. Her friend yawned and then shook his head to recover himself.

"Right, like you've never done it little Miss Perfect," he smirked as they walked to their lockers, which as luck would have it, were side-by-side.

"Of course not."

"Not even that time in Language Arts? Sensei Yoruka nearly sent you to Kouchio Sensei," the boy laughed, poking her side gently with the end of a pencil.

"Quit it Tai!" she giggled, brushing the object away. "I don't count that as sleeping exactly…" she told him, turning her combination.

"Ah, I see, just a little cat-nap was it?"

"Look, I was up all night with you trying to complete that report on the "Importance of Biodegradable Plastics and Their Chemical Make-Up"—right after that huge soccer game I had," she poked her finger in his chest and balanced some books on her thigh, which was covered with the required green uniform skirt.

"Hey, we got an A!"

"I am never doing that again," Sora moaned. "How'd I get stuck with you for a partner anyways?"

"You picked me," he grinned, packing his books away in his brown leather shoulder bag.

"Hmph."

"Hey listen, I've got something better than biodegradable plastics this time."

"What do you mean?"

"Check out what Gennai sent me and Izzy--" Tai handed her a piece of paper as the two left the building.

"This email is dated from two weeks ago," Sora observantly noted. "Hiding information from the rest of us?" she arched a brow questioningly.

"Of course not! We just wanted to have some answers before we let everyone else know—you know. "

Sora mumbled something about male egotism and swept her eyes across the printed e-mail. At the top was Gennai's letter to them, then at the bottom there was something written. What is this? she wondered. It didn't look like Digi-Code, and it definitely wasn't a modern written system. Well, at least she didn't think so.

"These are Egyptian hieroglyphics I think, but the other writing looks sort of Arabic...maybe even Indian…and what does Gennai mean by 'turn back the clock'?"

"I have no clue. Izzy and I have barely slept since getting that email because all we've done is work on that problem. We've already tried setting our clocks back one hour, then two, then three---it was complete madness and not even daylight savings time!"

"Oh brother," Sora laughed. "No wonder why you're so exhausted. You should have let the rest of us in on it. 'Twelve heads are better than two,' that's what I always say,"

"Well then to that I'll reply, 'Too many cooks spoil the broth'. Besides, Izzy's head counts as two, so that makes three people,"

"You still should have let us know. Well, I guess it's a good thing that Mimi's here for the week."

"Yeah--she's staying at your house isn't she?"

Sora nodded.

"Hey Sora, you free tonight?"

Sora stopped walking and put a hand to her face as a red blush began creeping up her cheeks. "Oh…um---"

"Good—because I'll meet you at 8:30 tonight at Ueno."

"--the park? Why?"

"Gennai's request. Anyways, get a hold of the girls and tell them to be there too if finding out something vital is of any interest to them."

"Ah--" her heart stopped pounding. Silly Sora… she chided herself.

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The luminous dial on Sora's watch slowly ticked to 8:00. She and Mimi arrived at the darkened park, lighted only by the picturesque iron lamps situated along concrete walkways. Sora hoped this wouldn't take too long, for both of them were only supposed to be going out for ice cream…Once among a certain secluded grove of trees and bushes (their designated meeting place), Mimi and Sora found most of the others already waiting. However, it was almost 8:30 and a few were still missing. Just then, Daisuke, Miyako, and Iori stepped out of a taxicab.

"Sorry we're late--it's tough sneaking Cody out of his house, and we needed Davis to pool our fare money," Miyako apologized.

"My grandfather was hyper on some kind of new prune juice he bought," the youngest boy explained, "I had to slip out as a walking trash bag."

"Where's Joe?" It was a rhetorical question which the blonde musician asked as he consulted his watch. "Gennai will have a fit if he doesn't show up soon."

The tall lank figure of their cautious friend stepped from behind a thick trunk. "I'm right here," he said, announcing himself.

"Good, now the only one absent is Gennai," Mimi impatiently sighed.

"Wait!" Miyako remembered, "We're still missing--" Just then there was a slight tremor of the ground as chunks of crust eroded and crumbled as in a boiling cauldron, and the base of Gennai's holographic teleporter escalated from the earth. Rainbow shimmers of light fizzled for a few moments before coming into focus on a wrinkled little old man who was the children's friend and ally in securing the future for both their worlds. His red hi-top shoes perfectly mirrored his cheerful spirits that night.

"Good evening, DigiDestened!" Gennai smiled. "You're probably wondering why I asked you here," the old man paused for a dramatic effect. "It was because if we met on the street, my teleporter wouldn't be able to go through the concrete!" everyone groaned at the lame comedic attempt. "Just kidding. Tai and Izzy, I hope you have by now shared with the others the information I have bestowed upon you," the two looked around with a slightly guilty countenance.

"What is he talking about?" Miyako asked, glaring at Koushiro.

"Heh, heh, I e-mailed you this morning about it--remember?" the boy tried.

"No, I don't remember--and you haven't e-mailed me for two weeks! What's going on Izzy, are you hiding something from me?" Gennai pulled out a lawn chair and sat down with a large vat of popcorn as he intently began watching the live motion feature.

SORA: :folds arms and sides w/ Miyako: Oh, so he didn't tell you either huh? Just like Tai.

MIYAKO: :looks at nails: I know. But I found out anyways. I hacked into his computer.

KOUSHIRO: Hey wait a minute, that's impossible--my system is as intruder free as my ability and means could allow--there's no way you could have gotten in!

MIYAKO: :rolls eyes: Come on Izzy, how hard do you think it is for me to get in with that radio-wave cable connecter thing you installed on my computer and yours to share files? All I had to do was type in a few passwords. I mean really, the whole world must have hacked in by now considering the fact that you shouted it online two years ago and haven't changed it since then.

KOUSHIRO: Wait—you know that my password is—

MIYAKO: --'Mr. Fuzzy Crumpet'? Yes.

Gennai stood up and clapped with the other onlooking DigiDesteneds, who watched Koushiro turn bright red. "Bravo! I haven't seen a play as good as that in years!"

"Yeah, if it hadn't been for Yolei, none of us would have known anything," Takeru said appreciatively.

"Now, back to business. As you know, the last of the Dark Masters have been defeated for sometime, however, their destructive work still continues. My computer found that before they were destroyed, the Dark Masters scattered evil Digimon throughout the course of history which if left unattended, will destroy the world,"

"So why would it matter? They placed evil Digimon in the past, not the present," Daisuke started.

"If a virus Digimon is left on its own, it will change the path of history for the worse by destroying. However, some data and vaccine types are able to exist in your world without any interference to them or other humans. Take Lassiemon for instance; she lives in the Loch Ness lake. And there are lots of others that humans classify in the 'mystery animal' category."

"Wow, I didn't know the Mistress of the Loch Ness was actually real!" Daisuke exclaimed.

"Me neither," Takeru said.

"Okay, so what do we have to do to stop the evil Digimon?" Yamato asked.

"I was getting to that part. Every time I find a Digimon, I'll send you through a time warp. But like you were chosen to be DigiDesteneds, so will you also be picked for this task," Gennai replied.

"Woah, woah, woah--hold on a second. I don't remember anything about a time warp in my contract. That's not even supposed to be possible," Yamato objected.

"Neither is the Digital World."

"Is this anything like wormholes? I heard that if wormholes even exist and a material could be found to support the internal structure, there is still that possibility that it could collapse and crush all inside like a vacuum with a black gear," Joe worried. But Koushiro was lost in his own thoughts.

"Forget the wormhole thing for a moment--how would we even get to it?"

"How do you get to the Digital World?" Gennai smiled.

"…From a computer--of course!" Koushiro finished in an excited tone. "I brought my laptop as you asked. We'll enter it from there right?" But before Gennai could reply, Tai cut in.

"Wait--'chosen like you were DigiDesteneds,' what's that supposed to mean?"

"Well it seems to me everyone will go through the warp, but not all of us will end up in the predestinated place," Koushiro informed him.

"What if I end up getting lost in time?" Hikari worried.

"Forget about the transportation, I want to know the Mission Objectives!" Miyako said. Koushiro nodded his head supportively.

"Well, unfortunately I don't have all the necessary information to give you yet, but I know a few key things. You will land in ancient Egypt, somewhere during her Golden Age. You must destroy Venomon, a cobra-like virus Digimon posing as a certain god. He's temporarily dormant as a stone image in a temple who's name I have not had time to decipher. The tricky thing is, he's been showing signs of life so the temple priests are trying to bring it completely to life with magic. They succeed in doing so a times, but only for a short period before he becomes lifeless once more. It may not seem like such a big threat now, but when one lunar cycle has been completed and a full moon shines upon his statue, he will come to life permanently. There was more in the inscription, but there is not enough time to decode it all. Days there spend themselves as in the first season of your training, so we are quickly running out of time."

"Gennai's right--we have to leave now!" Taichi determinedly commanded.

"HOLD IT! Iori shouted, "What about our Digimon? Are they coming with us or do we fight single-handedly?"

"Of course they're going! However, when they journey through time warps, It's the safest, easiest way if they go as Digi Eggs and hatch all over again. Now Izzy, open your laptop and set it on the ground. You can't take it where you're going this time. Jump through the laptop when I say and complete the task as quickly as possible--"

"--But what about--" Joe started.

"--JUMP!" Taichi dove in head first, Sora, Mimi and Yamato following close behind. As the rest leaped in, Gennai's fading voice could be heard, "Remember, you only have 30 days!"

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Yamato found himself floating with great speed through a breezy tunnel with numbers and events flickering by as well as soaring overhead and below. The transparent scenes threw dappled patterns of light over him, and streaks of color accompanied by unimaginable sounds flashed across the channel. From the realms of nowhere, a Digi Egg dropped in his lap and his reflex grasped the smoothly dotted large oval in his fingers. If he craned his neck in either direction, Yamato could see Taichi up ahead, and the others rounding a bend behind him. Mimi's shocked cry and Miyako's shouts of delight echoed in his ears, and his shaggy spikes were flipped back as if he were riding on a roller coaster. On impulse, he threw his arms in the air and let himself be taken for the ride.