Searching for Time
By: Theodore 'Blitz' Leung
Disclaimer: All Digimon and their characters (except for those introduced in this fic/series) do NOT belong to me. I do not have permission to use their characters, but it's a FanFic, so, who cares? =) This story line belongs to me and me alone. Please ask for permission if you wish to use it. Thanks. Now let's get onto reading!
What do we do now? We may have the Infinity Digimon, but we don't have the capacity to travel through time. I'm guessing Tao got sucked into the same vortex that took Kakonmon back in history.
It's now Tao's responsibility to make sure T.K. and Patamon don't die while we search for a solution to this predicament. I only hope we can found our solution soon...who knows when time will run out...
~Diary of Tiberius 'GTK' Hartz, fourth generation Digi-Destined
* * * * * *
Tao slowly regained his consciousness, his bones aching, his muscles sore, but his sword still tightly gripped in his hand. Slowly, he looked up, tired of having his face stuck against the dirt ground. The weapon he carried was stained with Kakonmon's blood. The dabs of red that marked blood on his blade were going dry due to time.
"How long have I been out for...?" Tao asked himself, shaking his head violently. The dizziness from the ride was still with him. "Kakonmon must have ditched me on landing...or maybe we got separated upon hitting the past. I don't think he'll let me live after what I did to him..." Tao jammed the blade into the ground, using it as a stand to help him get to his feet. His legs wobbled under the weight of his body, but they held.
"Well...time to start looking for my prey..." Tao muttered, removing the sword from the ground and staggering off.
* * * * * *
"Hey, Shas, wake up," Tigramon spoke into Shastina ears. The female Digi-Destined groaned lightly, slowly awakening after her long night watching the stars. "We got a guest, and his speech may be good for you to listen to."
"Huh?" Shastina whimpered, still tired from her sleep. She rolled over, blinked once, then noticed a holographic image of Gennai standing over the now burnt firewood. The other Digi-Destined sat around the figure, waiting for Shastina's attention.
"What he says could help us get Tao back," K.H. told the half-asleep Digi- Destined. Well, former half-asleep Digi-Destined. Upon hearing those words, she basically bolted to attention, as though injected with caffeine, without the adverse side effects.
"You know how to hit a chord," Tiberius joked lightly, turning his attention back to Gennai.
"Chords should be easy to hit between those two," K.H. replied, getting a slight blush from Shastina in response.
"Before we go completely off topic," Gennai interrupted, getting the attention of all now. "I send this transmission now for one main reason: the energy signature for Devimon's form seems to have just disappeared. We're assuming one of two things for this. One, you vanquished Devimon; or, Two, Devimon is some how eluding our sensors. I also seem to note Tao has disappeared, so, currently, we are leaning towards the second option. Also with this assumption, we were able to drop the shield strength down a bit to allow for a clear transmission to penetrate without worry. Anyway, we await an explanation."
"The second option is more correct, though not completely true," Tiberius informed the image of Gennai. "Devimon, now formally known as Kakonmon with his merge with an Infinity Digimon, has opened a rift through time...and is currently seeks revenge against the Digi-Destined and Digimon that defeated him in the first place on File Island. That is how he eludes your scans – he no longer exists in this time frame."
"Open a rift through time?" Gennai inquired, a bit surprised with the information, but not caught completely off guard. "That would explain a great many things, most predominately why the time in the Digital World was forced out of synchronisation from the Real World in the first place."
"You mean you never expected Devimon's new form to be able to control time like it has?" Tiberius asked, taken aback slightly when he noted Gennai's slight surprise.
"Unexpected, but we shouldn't be so surprised," Gennai told them, regaining his composure. "Infinity Digimon in the past had such abilities to manipulate time, or rip into alternate dimensions. It is a sort of surprise that a Digimon could get as powerful as to tear through time, however. That might be the wrong word, it has been unprecedented in Digital History."
"Well, if we don't find a solution soon, there might not be a Digital History to talk about!" Marc exclaimed, inpatient for an answer.
"Calm down," Xemon told his partner, almost restraining the boy.
"As mentioned before, such an incident has been unprecedented in Digital History," Gennai repeated, sighing softly. "To come up with a quick solution may be impossible." Hopes dwindled for a moment, before Shastina came up with an idea, or at least a memory.
"What about that...message we read inside Infinity Mountain?" she suggested, trying to recall the lines and words.
"Shas, let me see your new Crest," Tiberius told the Digi-Destined. Shastina blinked once, but complied, showing her Crest. A quick analyses from Tiberius proved his theory true.
"The Crest of Destiny," Tiberius muttered softly, the shape of the symbol imbedded in his mind since he looked through his analyser.
"Unleashing Time, the power of all will complete this shattered power, and, when the power is restored, will the seal be created once more."
Tiberius recited the line, also burned into his mind since that day. "That is the last line of that...I guess prophecy. Power, Spirit, Intelligence, Destiny, and Faith have been revealed as Crests, each of us acquiring one. Time, however, has yet to be claimed."
"And would this be our solution?" K.H. asked, a bit dubious, but so far, those words on that slate up there have yet to go wrong.
"It might certainly will be," Gennai answered. "According to record, a long time ago, a small experimental Crest was tested here, on File Island. This Crest emphasised Time."
"However, on the first test of the Crest, it exerted too much power," he continued to tell. "So much power was used and released from the Crest that the Crest itself was not able to support it. The Crest ended up shattered, and the experiment scrapped. From that experience, we knew we were not ready to play with such likes as of yet, and will probably never will."
"But now, we might just have to revive that experiment," Marc spoke softly, calming down greatly. "Using something we shouldn't tamper with just to stop with someone willing to tamper with such like. Sort of ironic, isn't it?"
"Ironic, but prudent to the cause," Gennai informed them. His image flicked once. "The Crest was divided into four, convenient for your party. Two parts scattered in the north, another two in the south. I'll let you decide who would go where, but be quick. We're all counting on you." With those final words, Gennai's image flicked out of existence once more, for good until his next transmission.
"He's right, it is convenient for us," K.H. agreed, turning towards the other Digi-Destined. "Who goes with whom on which side of the island?"
"I'll opt to go with Shas," Marc spoke first, before anyone else could make a suggestion. "I made a promise to Tao to watch out for her, and it seems like I'll have to do it again." Either Shastina or K.H. would have protested to the idea if it weren't for the quick explanation on Marc's part. "And since we're currently on the southern half of the island, Xemon can fly us to the northern half."
"Sounds like a plan," Tiberius agreed, standing up. "The more time we waste, the more history will change." He didn't need to add anymore. The group knew they had to break, and break fast. Digital History was counting on them – time was of the essence.
* * * * * *
"Marc..." Shastina whispered, hoping their Digimon in front wouldn't hear her. The two were quickly on the northern part of the island, searching for whatever it was that might represent the Crest of Time.
"What's wrong?" Marc whispered back, somehow inferring that Shastina didn't want the attention of their Digimon.
"I guess...thanks for all the help you've given me," Shastina told the Digi-Destined. "You've been there for me when Tao couldn't. I...I just wish I didn't have to burden either you or Tao with my problems. I'm...sorry..."
"Hey, don't apologise," Marc retorted, a bit surprised. "Tao was always the type to stick his foot out for anyone in trouble. I guess I just adopted that motto from him, plus I made a promise to him that'd I take care of you when he's not around. I don't intend to back out of a promise with my best friend yet."
"And for that, I thank you," Shastina told Marc gratefully. To compound her gratitude, she kissed Marc lightly on the cheek, stunning the male Digi-Destined momentarily. Giggling, Shastina dashed up to catch up with their Digimon, Marc close behind, still stunned, but able to move.
* * * * * *
"Any ideas where to start looking?" K.H. asked his companion on their journey to find the fragmented Crest. Lepumon trotted in front of Tiberius, Kinoumon walking beside him. Directly behind them were the two Digi-Destined.
"Not a clue," Tiberius replied. The pair of Digimon and Digi-Destined were walking parallel to a fast moving river, trying to find a bridge of sorts to help them cross the obstacle. "I'm more concerned right now of knowing what we are looking for instead of where to look for it."
"It's the Crest of Time, right?" Kinoumon asked, looking back. "How hard can it be?"
"And what can the symbol for the Crest of Time be?" Tiberius asked. "A clock? A sand clock? Maybe a sundial? How about some long piece of string in some winding motion? How can we know for sure what this Crest looks like? And it's fractured too, which means we might not be even to recognise the Crest. It could be right in front of our face and we'd pass it."
"Geeze, man, calm down," K.H. hissed, silencing his companion. "Have faith, have hope, we'll find those two pieces." Tiberius did not respond, he only remained quite, still uncertain of their hopes, but didn't want to disturb the mood anymore. The group continued to walk without saying a word.
* * * * * *
"Any ideas?" Shastina asked Marc, the group walking through a dense jungle.
"Nope," Marc answered calmly, leading the pack for no particular reason. Xemon was behind him, Shastina in between the two Digimon.
"What's the plan then?" Xemon inquired.
"I haven't the slightest idea," Marc answered, equally as calmly. Somehow, his calm tone kept everyone alive with his or her belief on finding the solution.
"So, we are just going to walk around mindlessly until we find our target?" Tigramon asked, wondering what kind of reaction she'll get.
"Probably," Marc answered, just as calmly as his last two responses. The fact he did that sent a brief giggle from Shastina.
"I don't see how you can be so calm, but I guess that's you," Shastina commented, regaining her composure.
"Yep...that's me..." Marc replied, looking back and smiling.
* * * * * *
The sound of running water under their feet was only shattered with a blaring siren from K.H.'s Digivice. The group was crossing over a rope bridge they found when the event happened, nearly knocking them off balance because of the rickety bridge.
"What was that all about?" Kinoumon quickly asked upon reacquiring his balance on the bridge. "Wait, don't answer yet. Get across the bridge first, then we'll talk." The others agreed quickly, hurrying across before the bridge would collapse under their feet. It didn't collapse, much to the dismay of their paranoia. "Now answer the question – What the heck was that for?"
"I really don't have any idea..." K.H. replied, taking his Digivice. The detector on his Digivice found a signal of non Digi-Destined proportions, though no one in the group knew of what it was.
"Speculation?" Lepumon asked his partner, looking up at him.
"None, but we should take a look," Tiberius responded and suggested. "This might help us in tracking down one of the two fragmented Crest of Time pieces. If so, then this will not be as hard as I'd first thought."
"Getting more confident now, aren't we?" K.H. joked, punching Tiberius' arm lightly. Tiberius didn't admit it verbally, he knew K.H. was right. His confidence levels were going up.
"Let's just find this energy signature and get it over with," Tiberius finally responded. "Besides, I am curious why the energy signature only registers on your Digivice, and not mine."
"A nice thought, but I suspect an ulterior motive," K.H. joked some more, taking point with Digivice in hand and not allowing Tiberius to retort, assuming he'll retort. Tiberius just shook his head lightly, grinned, then followed behind the pair of Digimon trailing K.H..
* * * * * *
Marc, the Digimon, well, everyone in the group, jumped at the sound of the alarm going off in Marc's pocket. Quickly, the Digi-Destined retrieved his Digivice from that pocket, wondering what all the racket was all about. Upon contact, the Digivice stopped blaring, and on the screen was a powerful signal that only his Digivice could pick up.
"Is that what we're looking for?" Shastina inquired, looking over Marc's shoulder.
"Beats me, but it seems like a lead," Marc replied. "I am suspicious of why it only affects my Digivice, but I guess we'll find the answer soon enough. We should be able to make it to that location soon."
"One lead is better then no lead," Xemon recited, smiling. "Go ahead Marc, lead the way. You'll be the only who can now." Marc nodded, taking point once more and leading the group to the location of the energy signature.
* * * * * *
"We should be standing right over it..." K.H. commented, checking his Digivice once more. Their travel to the energy signature took them to a small abandoned and desolated temple. The roof was ripped off, walls were crumbling, only a few marble pillars remained of what the group believed to be a once magnificent structure.
"Right over it?" Kinoumon asked, looking around the partially destroyed floor underneath them. Dust and mud overlapped marble floors over the years of decay.
"Do we have to dig for it?" Lepumon asked, walking around one of the supposed support pillars.
"Maybe it's on the wall," Tiberius suggested, running a hand through the dust ridden stone. "The signal is here, so the Crest fragment could be anywhere around, assuming it is a Crest fragment."
"Well, let's just search and find out," K.H. replied, heading towards the wall opposite of Tiberius. Upon touching the wall, the wall began to tremble, prompting K.H. to step away in surprise. In the next moment, the wall was toppling towards him.
* * * * * *
"Is this the place?" Shastina asked, stepping beside Marc, their Digimon in front of the pair.
"Sure looks like it," Marc replied after checking his Digivice one more time. Before the stood a small wood cottage, mostly burned to a point where only one wall was recognisable, the opposite of that burnt to ashes, and the two adjacent walls charred till there was very little left. The doorframe was hardly noticeable, and only a little bit of the upper half of the door remained intact, hanging on a hinge. The window on the intact wall was covered in black sot. The furniture inside wasn't spared any mercy, also burnt or toasted beyond existence.
"I'd like to vacation here," Tigramon joked dryly, stepping forward in the burnt mess. Xemon followed behind her, then the other two Digi-Destined. Marc hit the dangling door, the force knocking it off the hinge and crashing down to the floor. The other jumped at the racket, looking back quickly, then giving Marc sour looks.
"Oops..." he responded, stepping into the hut. The others shook their head, then went back to scanning the area for clues.
Shastina brushed away the soot from the window on the intact wall with her shirt sleeve, then looked out the window. Her eyes went wide.
"Hit the deck!" she screamed out, leaping away from the wall. On cue, the wall exploded outwards, chucks of wood and log flying out at Digi-Destined and Digimon alike.
* * * * * *
"Kinoumon...Warp Digivolve to...Matalefmon!"
The Mega level Digimon forced his entire weight against the falling wall, pushing it the other way. A brick slipped past the Digimon, nearly landing on his partner's foot.
"Oops," he responded, heaving once more and pushing the entire wall over. It crashed down against the grass, throwing up dirt, mud, and vegetation upon impact. The wall crumbled to pieces.
"Well, it's clear that didn't work," a minute, yet loud voice told them. To compound the problem, a massive invisible being rammed right into Matalefmon, knocking him down.
"Err...your turn to level up," Tiberius told his Digimon, raising his Digivice. Lepumon nodded.
"Lepumon...Warp Digivolve to...Avengemon!"
Just as quickly as he went up to the Mega level, he was knocked off his feet with the same invisible being that hit Matalefmon.
"This ain't cool," K.H. commented, looking back at his downed partner. "Alright, Matalefmon, let's take it up one more!"
* * * * * *
"Xemon..." "Tigramon..."
"Warp Digivolve to..."
"Hydramon!" "Kenokomon!"
Both Digimon got to work quickly. Hydramon blasted flying debris out of the way with one of his assorted elemental beams and using his body as a shield to protect his partner. Kenokomon was chopping through the lumber with her claws and elbow blades, making sure none of the flying hazards would hit her companion.
The dust from the explosion cleared eventually, revealing a rather large Minotaur, if they ever came any smaller that is. He had pale brown skin, and two menacing looking horns on his head. He slammed his first together, forgoing introductions and charging forward with intent to destroy something. Kenokomon caught the horns of the charging Digimon in her hands, but the speed of the attack forced her back a couple of inches, leeway needed for breaking.
"I think we're going to need some more help for this," Marc commented quickly, raising his Digivice. Hydramon was charged with energy as the Digivice glowed brightly.
* * * * * *
"Matalefmon...Infinity Digivolve to...Elusamon!"
And just as quickly as the Infinity Digimon formed, he was knocked over and smashed against one of the standing pillars, former standing pillars as the force of the blow knocked the Digimon and pillar down.
"Hahaha, you can't hit me," the invisible Digimon taunted, buzzing around some more.
"I'm suspecting a very small and speedy Infinity Digimon with a sizeable amount of power behind it..." Tiberius quickly hypothesised, turning to his Mega level Digimon. Avengemon was quickly knocked down again just as quickly as he got back up.
"How correct you are," the Digimon remarked, not bothering to introduce himself. "Kakonmon told me to beat you guys. I might be a little late now, but hey, I can make sure nothing disturbs him back in the past."
"Oh...no you don't..." Elusamon groaned, getting back up. Upon hearing that, the tiny Digimon just knocked him back down.
"Oh man, this isn't working..." K.H. muttered, stepping back. His foot fell onto a patch of dirt, that, upon contact, began to glow in a light sapphire colour.
* * * * * *
A swift horn through Kenokomon's chest forced her back and down on the ground with a cry of pain. In that split second, she changed back to her Rookie, unable to fight anymore with a wound that size. Knightdramon placed himself in between the Minotaur Digimon and himself, spear twirling.
"Not one more step, my giant like friend," Knightdramon told his opponent. Both Digimon charged forward, crashing in three seconds. The duel went to the Minotaur's favour, his horns lifting Knightdramon up and over backward before the dragon knight could jam his spear into the exposed skin.
"Well, that wasn't very cool..." Marc commented, glancing down at Shastina beside him. She was kneeling down, Tigramon cradled in her arms as she tended to the wounded Digimon. "Come on Knightdramon! You can do it!" Marc cheered as the Digimon slowly got up. Marc stepped forward, and upon contacting the dirt, it glowed with energy.
* * * * * *
K.H. stepped forward, then looked back down at the ground her stepped on. His Digivice reacted with the ground as the sapphire glow grew in intensity. With that glow was the same aura that surrounded Elusamon, and third aura taking hold of the Digivice. The first glowing dulled, flying into the Digivice, stopping that glow as well.
"You're mine!" the tiny Digimon shouted, dashing at Elusamon. The Digimon regarded the flying annoyance, and with insane speed that no one saw, caught the tiny powerhouse Digimon in his left claw. The tiny spec of a Digimon squirmed inside, hence the sudden jolts of movement from the closed claw. Elusamon decided to end it there.
"DEFORMATION BLAST!"
Crimson light escaped the temporary cracks in the claw as it imploded. The struggling stopped, and when Elusamon opened his claw, the other three thought they faintly saw black data flowing out.
"Oh, wait!" K.H. exclaimed, looking down at his Digivice. On the lower left hand part of the screen was a fragment of what he believed to be a Crest, more specifically, the Crest of Time. "One down, three more to go!" he shouted, showing off the Crest.
* * * * * *
Marc stepped back, wondering what was going on with the floor. Sapphire glow took his Digivice, then took his Digimon. The ground exploded afterwards, a blue beam crashing into his Digivice. Marc looked at the new item that occupied the upper right hand of his screen. The symbol was unrecognisable in the fragmented form it was in, but Marc had an idea of what it was.
"Alright Minotaur boy, round 2..." Knightdramon hissed, re-energised. The Minotaur grinned as his adversary, dashing forward again. Knightdramon followed the lead, spear twirling. The energy around intensified.
In the split second of collision, it didn't seem like anything happened. It just seemed like an exchange of blows. But when Knightdramon went from a crouched over position with spear raised back to standing up, and when the Minotaur Digimon began to fall into four pieces, Marc knew his partner won. The two slashes were so fast no one saw it, despite the weapon of choice being a spear where it was cumbersome to use at high speeds.
"If the Crest of Time powered up Knightdramon that much..." Marc thought, glancing down at the jigsaw piece like Crest on his Digivice. "I'd love and hate to see what the entire Crest can do..."
Fin
Completed: 05/24/01
