"We need to get back to Mimi and Sora. They need to know what happened." He turned and walked away. Izzy followed. Matt and Tai didn't. They both got up and looked over the cliff.
"I want them back," said Tai in a dead, hollow voice. "This stuff isn't supposed to happen."
"No," said Matt, in the same dead voice. "It's not."
They both stared for a while. Before their eyes, the rocky plain changed. Lush grass and flowers and trees spread over it, and a river worked its way across. It was the most beautiful thing they'd ever seen. Matt and Tai both realized. This was what TK and Kari had gone too. It was home. Everyone had to go home eventually, didn't they? Of course. What did it matter if they went a little sooner?
*~~~~~~~~`~~~~~~~~*~~~~~~~~`~~~~~~~~*~~~~~~~~`~~~~~~~~*~~~~~~~~`~~~~~~~~*
Gasudramon was very happy. Aviara had just brought word that the leader of the DigiDestined and his best friend were both dead. That made six of the original twenty. The remaining 13- Sora, Mimi, Izzy, Joe, Gatomon, Patamon, Gomamon, Tentomon, Palmon, Biyomon, Gabumon, Elecmon, and Yasomon- stood no chance. Those that posed a threat would be disposed of, and the others- well, Gasudramon had uses for them. Just like Leomon. Piximon was supposed to be the Assistant, but Caniinya had found reason to exterminate him and she was too useful to punish. But Felina…with the mind only a cat could own, she had figured out how to make Piximon's demise into a positive aspect. Leomon was much better for this. He, who was strong, determined, and had always fought the evil. No one could possibly suspect him, and everything would be utterly unexpected. Oh, yes. Gasudramon laughed out loud.
"Everything is perfect! This world is MINE!! HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!"
*~~~~~~~~`~~~~~~~~*~~~~~~~~`~~~~~~~~*~~~~~~~~`~~~~~~~~*~~~~~~~~`~~~~~~~~*
Joe looked behind him. "Hey, Izzy?"
"Yeah?"
Where'd Matt and Tai go?"
Izzy looked back too. "I don't know. I thought they were following us."
Joe and Izzy ran back for the cliff, shouting "Matt! Tai! Where are you?" but they made it back without any sign of them. They went to the cliff edge and looked down again. Both gasped and stumbled back from the scene.
"They wouldn't…they couldn't…"
"But they did."
*~~~~~~~~`~~~~~~~~*~~~~~~~~`~~~~~~~~*~~~~~~~~`~~~~~~~~*~~~~~~~~`~~~~~~~~*
Sora sat up and rubbed her eyes. The digimon ignored her. She turned to Mimi and shook her.
"Wake up Mimi!
"What is it?" yawned Mimi. "Do our digimon see us again?"
Sora sighed. "Not yet. But I'm hungry, aren't you?"
Mimi sat up. "Oh, yes, definitely! Yasomon is so rude, he didn't even offer us anything!"
Both of them got up and left the tent. The inhabitants didn't look up. Mimi screamed at them and Sora waved, but no one noticed. Sora shrugged.
"Guess we'll have to get it ourselves then," she said, and they went off, peeking into tents. They finally found a big tent and looked inside. Yes, there were tables and benches. Sora led Mimi through the tent to the end, which looked like a kitchen. They pulled out pans and boxes of stuff. Mimi made a face at them.
"Ew! This stuff looks gross!" she exclaimed.
"Unless you want to go hungry, it's all we've got, Mimi," said Sora. She set some pots and pans on the fire and filled one with water. Then she took a couple boxes and dumped their contents in. She fried some sausages and boiled some stew. Then she dished it out into bowls and plates and the girls sat down to eat.
"Hungry, girls?" came a strange voice. Mimi choked on a sausage and Sora pounded her on the back. The speaker came closer and they saw what it was. A bizarre creature that looked like a cheetah!
"What are you?" cried Mimi, having recovered from the sausage.
"I?" it said. "Why, who knows. Do you? Nor I. Perhaps I'm a figment of your imagination."
Mimi looked at it incredulously. "Huh?"
It smiled. "Suppose I was real. Would you take something I gave you?"
"Of course not!" cried Sora. "We don't know who you are!"
"Well, yes, that is true. Nor do you know what I am, or if I exist. Neither of you know if I'm digital or biological. Or if I'm alive at all. It may be that I am a machine. You have no way of knowing and I have no way of telling you."
Sora got a look on her face reminiscent of Tai. "Mind running that by me again?"
The cheetah-thing just smiled and said not a word. It reached into a pouch around its waist and pulled out a green apple. Mimi reached out for it.
"Mimi no!" Sora cried and leaped towards her. The cheetah suddenly held out a pink apple. Without realizing it, Sora took the apple. Both bit into their apple and heard their digivices start beep-beeping. Sora looked at the apple and realized it had turned black. Mimi's too. Sora yanked out her digivices and crest. Both were turning black. The cheetah was smiling.
"Do you like the new colors?" it said quietly. "Soon you will be seeing more."
Mimi grabbed him. "What kind of apple is this?!" she screamed. The cheetah smiled more broadly. "I have delivered what I was told to deliver. Now I must return." It turned and sprinted off.
Mimi clutched Sora's arm. "I…I can't see straight…Sora!" But Sora couldn't say anything. She was spiraling down a black pit.
*~~~~~~~~`~~~~~~~~*~~~~~~~~`~~~~~~~~*~~~~~~~~`~~~~~~~~*~~~~~~~~`~~~~~~~~*
Chitaro laughed. Gasudramon was a genius. The apples had worked perfectly. He whistled and fifty Neerkamon arrived. They were relatives of the Viromon in that they worked as a group but looked more like Motimon. They were brownish-gray and had tiny arms. They ran in dragging stretchers and put Mimi and Sora on them. Chitaro helped to strap them down and they walked off, dragging the twosome.
Before long, they came to a steep rock face. Chitaro ran his hands over it, muttering. He felt his hand touch something odd and he pushed it. The rock shuddered, a door slid open. The Neerkamon squeaked happily and pulled the girls in. Down a dark tunnel they walked. Almost immediately it became too dark to see. Chitaro felt along the tunnel and found something. A scratching sound was heard, and a minute later, a small ball of light was floating in the tunnel, illuminating Chitaro's face. The light moved. A second later flame erupted from a torch, casting an eerie orange glow five feet around him. He set off again and the Neerkamon followed.
Presently, they reached a dead end. Chitaro squinted for something. Meanwhile, Sora and Mimi had woken and were very frightened. However they were fast thinkers (how can you spend months in the digiworld and not be?) and they quickly came up with a plan. They were next to each other so Mimi rocked backward and Sora flung her head out as fast and as hard as she could. Her bucket flew off her head and connected with Chitaro's leg. He swore badly (Watch that language!) as the torch fell from his hand and went out. In the pitch-black confusion Mimi loosened one arm and whacked it about, hurting the Neerkamon. Sora rolled over and succeeded in tipping her stretcher onto one side. Mimi did the same and rolled into the wall. With her free hand she gripped the wall and pulled herself up. Suddenly, the bottom of the stretcher slid across the floor. Mimi's arm stretched out and she was finally forced to let go. She slammed onto the ground and was knocked unconscious.
Sora heard Mimi's scream and struggled to get free but felt the stretcher being pulled upright. Then the straps were pulled tighter and she heard the sounds of Mimi being grabbed. A sliding sound and a brilliant shaft of light spread over them. Sora saw Mimi, pale and with her eyes closed. Chitaro looked angry and the Neerkamon looked frightened. The door was behind Sora and she couldn't see who had opened it. Chitaro grabbed the top of her stretcher and pulled her through.
*~~~~~~~~`~~~~~~~~*~~~~~~~~`~~~~~~~~*~~~~~~~~`~~~~~~~~*~~~~~~~~`~~~~~~~~*
"Oh, God!" cried Yasomon. "What are you and what are you doing here?!" Yasomon sounded rather high-pitched. The voice that answered was cold and cruel.
"I'm here on Gasudramon's orders."
"Well, er, go away!"
"I'm afraid I can't do that. However…"
"Aaaahhh!!"
"That hurt, didn't it. And all you other digimon will get the same thing if you don't listen up."
"These…digimon…are…children!…How…can…you…expect…anything…from…th-AHHHHH!!!"
"Shut up. Now, little children, Gasudramon wants you to do something for him. And if you do…well, Gasudramon rewards his followers well."
"Stop it! You can't AAAHHHHHH!!!!"
"I said shut up! This is their choice not yours. Now, what he wants you to do is simple. All you have to do is take these and put them on the X's in the forest. If you do, Gasudramon will be very grateful."
"Okay!"
"No, you AAAHHHHhhhrrrrgggghh…no…"-a gasp-"…you ca…"
*~~~~~~~~`~~~~~~~~*~~~~~~~~`~~~~~~~~*~~~~~~~~`~~~~~~~~*~~~~~~~~`~~~~~~~~*
Izzy and Joe returned to the tent gloomy. When they got there they were gloomier still. The digimon still ignored them and Sora and Mimi had disappeared. Izzy pulled out his computer while Joe retreated into his mind to dissolve in melancholy thoughts. Izzy typed absentmindedly and found himself on the Digi-version of the Internet. Surprised, he discovered it was part of the DigiConNetwork and hadn't been deleted. Izzy quickly went to dcn.searchourworld.cmptr and searched for "Gasudramon". The info about him was surprisingly long. Izzy quickly printed it out (do NOT ask me how he got a printer) and began to read.
Izzy stared at the piece of paper. He started to crumple it up and throw it out the window but stopped. It might somehow be useful. He folded it carefully and stuck it in his backpack. He glanced at Joe. He was white-faced, staring off into space. No, not space. He was looking at Gomamon, who was prancing around Palmon. She was laughing. How could they not notice? Izzy couldn't take it anymore.
"TK, Kari, Matt, Joe, Sora, and Mimi are dead," he said. Surely they couldn't ignore that? Gabumon turned to Biyomon and said, "Want to play cards?" Izzy stared. It seemed he had been right. The digimon couldn't hear them. Izzy took a pencil and drew a picture of a dead Tai. HE showed it to Agumon. Agumon didn't even blink. He ran right past and collided with Gomamon. Izzy turned and fell onto a bed. For the first time in his life, he gave up.
*~~~~~~~~`~~~~~~~~*~~~~~~~~`~~~~~~~~*~~~~~~~~`~~~~~~~~*~~~~~~~~`~~~~~~~~*
Caniinya smiled at a globe of swirling mist. Inside the globe, the mist thickened and began to contract. Caniinya whispered to it and it turned blood red. She stood up and carried the globe outside. The Viromon cheered and she laughed.
"Are you ready?' she called to the crowd as she climbed onto a stage. The replying sound was explosive. Caniinya walked to a broad, silver wall at the back of the stage.
"Lithum mithum varni golkth!" she cried and threw the globe at the wall. It shattered in midair. The pieces of the globe fell to the ground but the red mist flew on. It splattered onto the wall and stuck. A few seconds later, it began to spread. It grew and covered the whole wall. The Viromon cheered and Caniinya smirked. She turned to the glittery red mist and spoke.
"DenitSediGid eth emh w'Ohs!" The mist turned black. A picture spread from the inside out. It showed a rocky landscape, and on those rocks, the crushed bodies of two humans. The Viromon cheered louder and Caniinya chuckled. The assembly grew silent as the picture changed, again from the middle out. This time it showed two males in a tent, silent, pale, despaired. Shouts of laughter arose from the audience. The picture began to change once more. Now two bound girls could be seen, tied to a pole. Screams of approval swelled. Caniinya looked pleased. Now she spoke again.
"SigiD'deniTsed ehth era erethw?" she cried. The picture turned gray. As it did before, a scene grew from the middle of the wall. First it showed an orange dinosaur with a huge snout, slowly turning yellow-white. Agumon. The Viromon applauded. Now came a picture of Patamon and Gatomon, still sitting on the cliff, made sadder yet by the death of Matt and Tai. Everyone laughed and the picture became one of the other digimon, depressed. Caniinya grinned and cried, "Serutcip smrof taht tsim der raeppasid!" The mist turned red again and seeped together. The Chengkomon held a new globe to it and it percolated in. It stopped contracting and swirled back into silvery white.
*~~~~~~~~`~~~~~~~~*~~~~~~~~`~~~~~~~~*~~~~~~~~`~~~~~~~~*~~~~~~~~`~~~~~~~~*
An annoying narrator began to speak. "In a cold dungeon in the north, we find two of our heroes struggling against the elements. Icy wind rushes in through the broken windows, bringing snow with it. Hardly any light shines down here in the deepest of the deepest. Sora and Mimi are desperate, tr-" "Ayayayayayaye!" the Author swung down on a vine, yelling a war cry. She flew to the narrator...and missed. He continued. "Trying with all their might and power to get free of the chains binding them to a pole. Who knows what plans the villain has in store for them? What vile thing will happen to them? Will we ever see these two again? Why i-"The Author swung in from the other direction, screaming "Ayayayayayayaye!" This time she succeeded in carrying away the annoying narrator. A minute passed. The Author walked back in, covered in blood. She smiled. "Let's get on with the story, shall we?"
The camera swung around to Mimi and Sora.
"Ow!" cried Mimi as Sora pulled against the ropes. "Hey, I'm on the other side here! When you pull, you push me against the pole!"
"Well, how else do you expect me to get out of this?" cried Sora. But she stopped immediately. Mimi sighed and looked down at the slack ropes. If only she had a pocketknife. Joe probably did in that bag she was supposed to be carrying. If only she had taken it! But now was not the time to feel guilty. She thought quickly. She had with her lipstick, hand sanitizer, blush, and-- a nail file! She had a nail file in her pocket!
"Sora!" she called. "Sora, I have a nail file in my pocket! Can you get it?" Sora tried to turn her head to see. She was on the opposite side of the pole.
"I think so," she said. She stretched her hand back and felt around. A moment later she found Mimi's pocket. She slipped her hand inside and found the file. Mimi took one side of it and together they slid it back and forth across the smallest part of the ropes. Eventually it broke apart and the girls fell face forward onto the floor. Mimi quickly jumped up saying, "Ew! The floor's all wet! Gross!" Sora stood up and looked around. There wasn't any door, just the cracked window. The wind howled and the glass splintered. Sora cried out in pain as glass sliced into her, cutting her skin. Mimi shrieked and tried to find cover. She ducked behind the fat pole but her arms still got cut up pretty bad. A few seconds later, it was over. Mimi cautiously looked around the pole. Sora was lying on the ground. Mimi ran over to her and turned her onto her back. She gasped. The Guardian of Love was covered in cuts. But Mimi knew Sora was not naturally red. She was bleeding badly. Even Mimi, with her extremely limited doctoring knowledge, knew that Sora would die if the bleeding didn't stop. Mimi had nothing to cover Sora with. Frantically, she looked around. The room was bare. Her hat wouldn't do anything. Mimi pulled off her gloves and wrapped them around the worse areas. Then she applied pressure. She knew this much from Joe, but that was the extent of her knowledge. There was no way they could escape now. Mimi sat back, still pushing, and sighed.
*~~~~~~~~`~~~~~~~~*~~~~~~~~`~~~~~~~~*~~~~~~~~`~~~~~~~~*~~~~~~~~`~~~~~~~~*
Up in the North, Gasudramon was very pleased. Sora and Mimi were now his captives. He was pushing faster than any other evil Digimon, going on the offensive rather than waiting for the Digidestined to come to him when they were strong enough. He wasn't going to give them time to regroup, oh no. Now it was time for the next phase.
"Aviara!" he shouted. The double doors of his Throne Room opened and the winged Chengkomon appeared. She walked quickly, her head down, and kneeled down before the dragon. He commanded her to get up.
"Aviara, it is time to move on. I trust Felina has told you the next part of my plan?"
"Yes, milord," said Aviara. "Chitaro has told me of his and Caniinya's contributions to your operation."
Gasudramon chuckled. "All are useful to my crusade. You, Aviara, have been a useful spy. Chitaro delivers messages. Caniinya is a prime torturer. And Felina is my trustworthy lieutenant. Anyone who does not help me, as promised in Secondary Village, is done away with. It makes this undertaking run more smoothly.
"Now, about the next stage of operation. This, I rely solely on you. Do your part well, and you will be rewarded. Fail, and you know what will happen."
Aviara was too afraid to gulp. She nodded. "Yes, Master. I will succeed in this thing you ask me to do."
"Good. Then you are dismissed. Begin immediately."
"Yes, my lord." Aviara bowed out of the room.
*~~~~~~~~`~~~~~~~~*~~~~~~~~`~~~~~~~~*~~~~~~~~`~~~~~~~~*~~~~~~~~`~~~~~~~~*
Joe sighed. Once again, he had fallen into a trap. He and Izzy were now hanging in a typical, old-fashioned net. They'd stepped right onto it and had immediately been hoisted into the air. Swinging back and forth, crushed against a kid with a laptop in his backpack, was not very comfortable. Already Joe was starting to feel sick. Izzy was muttering and struggling to get his computer out. That was Izzy; before all else fails, get the computer. Also, When in doubt; find a working computer. Great. Now Joe was making up quotes.
"What next?" he said. A second later he realized he'd said it out loud. Izzy turned his head backwards and to the side to see him.
"What is it?" he asked. "You're not going to throw up, are you?"
"Oh, so NOW you're developing a sense of humor!" cried Joe. "Why in a crisis?"
"Let me look at this logically," Izzy began. Joe groaned but he continued. "In other crisis's worse, for example, when we discovered what happened to four others, I had no sense of humor. Now, you think I am developing one. That is very interesting. However, that was not comedy. I was simply stating a question. Now, if it were that…" Joe cut Izzy off by pointing. Something off was coming towards them. Izzy recognized it as one of the Chengkomon they had seen on the night Tor Kasa fell. They watched it silently come closer, and Joe burned red, humiliated at being found this way. Izzy, however immediately hissed, "We're in big trouble now!" "As if I couldn't notice," Joe retorted. The Chengkomon laughed and its voice was loud and obnoxious, yet high-pitched. It was a girl. Joe nudged Izzy and whispered, "Bet it's name is Weremon." "Shhh!" Izzy whispered, his eyes on the girl. She was covered in light gray fur and her ears were perched on top of her head. She came up to them and smiled pleasantly. Then she laughed again, cold and malicious. Izzy shuddered suddenly. Joe, sensing Izzy's unease, began to shift uncomfortably.
"Shh…" said the were creature. "There is no reason to be uncomfortable. I'm not going to hurt you…yet." She smiled, showing pointy canines. She began to circle the net, speaking softly. "No one yet realizes it, but you two are powerful together." Izzy and Joe said nothing; they seemed mesmerized. She continued. "Knowledge…and Reliability. Do you have any idea how useful Reliable Knowledge is? Sure, Sincere Love and Courageous Hope are powerful, but you two…nothing is more useful than Knowledge, did you know that? And add Reliability, so the Knowledge is always there when you need it…it would be quite difficult to overcome you. Obviously-"
The digimon stopped short. A blue-yellow dog was standing beneath the net, growling and giving off sparks. It was—
"Perromon!" yelped Izzy. The digimon glanced up, wagged its tail, and then faced the creature again.
"You not hurt Izzy! Perromon stop you!" he barked. The Chengkomon just laughed. Then she squinted at him and pursed her lips.
"What happened?" she asked. "Why aren't you in another SubDimension? It is impossible for Lord Gasudramon to make a mistake!"
Perromon concentrated and suddenly yelled, "Dominating Flash!" He almost seemed to blow up, and the light was so bright Izzy and Joe both had to cover their eyes. When the radiance subsided, the Chengkomon looked dazed. She blinked her eyes and looked at Perromon.
"What is going on?" she questioned. Perromon answered immediately, saying, "You attacked. Hurt. I scare off digimon who hurt you. You my slave remember? You do what I say."
The Chengkomon frowned. She smiled and said, "I remember now. What do you want me to do, master?"
Izzy and Joe stared as Perromon began giving orders. The Chengkomon, who identified herself as Caniinya, lowered the two to the ground gently and cut open the net.
She explained how Gasudramon had put groups of important people into different SubDimensions to cause certain things. The DestinedDigimon were in one, the DigiDestined in another, the inhabitants of the PVC(Primary Village Camp) in yet another, and so on. The Dimensions prevented the victims from seeing what others in separate Dimensions were doing. When they though Agumon had been playing, in truth, he had been dead for five hours. When she got to this part, Izzy gasped and Joe covered his face.
Perromon stopped Caniinya and asked what she did. She described how she had tortured Piximon and killed him, and how she had found Agumon. She went on to explain how Chitaro had gotten Sora and Mimi, and told about the visions Gasudramon had given TK and Kari to make them jump over the edge of the cliff. Perromon stopped her before she got to Felina. Caniinya didn't reveal what was happening to Leomon at the moment. And that is what caused the destruction that followed.
*~~~~~~~~`~~~~~~~~*~~~~~~~~`~~~~~~~~*~~~~~~~~`~~~~~~~~*~~~~~~~~`~~~~~~~~*
Mimi sank to floor next to Sora, leaning against a wall. Sora was still unconscious after almost three days. She'd woken up a few times, but only to groan, and then she had fainted again. Mimi was no medical genius, and she'd never paid attention in Science, but she knew that if they didn't get food or water very soon, they would die. A sudden premonition told Mimi they had two hours. Shaking, Mimi looked around again, searching for a way out. She's cracked off the rest of the glass on the window so it posed no threat, but the window was still too small and sharp to crawl through. Snapping off the glass had cut her hands, as well, and on her raw palms she wouldn't have gotten far anyway.
Her dress was tattered because she'd ripped pieces off the bottom to bandage Sora. The guardian of Love was wrapped with pink all over-- legs, face, arms, hands, stomach. But now Mimi was cold. She wrapped her arms around herself. A door slid open and Mimi looked up. As she did, she was hit with a wave of pain, and her vision blurred. She felt herself swirling down a black hole…
*~~~~~~~~`~~~~~~~~*~~~~~~~~`~~~~~~~~*~~~~~~~~`~~~~~~~~*~~~~~~~~`~~~~~~~~*
Aviara soared high over the land. Down below, Puppetmon and Demidevimon were ordering some Veggiemon around. They were chopping trees, though Cherrymon didn't look too happy about it. The Chengkomon weren't, either, but it was Gasudramon's orders and everyone followed orders.
She flapped her wings and rose higher. She had to clear the mountains ahead. Ten minutes later, she made it safely over the top and set her sights on Infinite Mountain. That was her destination. She landed lightly on the peak and climbed down painfully. Finally, she found a doorbell poking out of a hole in the ground. Aviara didn't ring it; she just jumped down.
As she landed she absorbed her weight expertly, and with practiced motions, walked down a hall that gradually got dimmer and dimmer. At the end she opened a door. On the other side was a swirl of purple, blue, and black. She heard an insane laugh come from a door far away. Aviara pushed herself into the abyss and floated towards the door. She grabbed the knob as she passed and pulled it open. Inside were shelves of odd-looking things. She walked down the aisles and came to yet another door, where the laughter was at its peak. She pushed it open and the laughter stopped abruptly. Yasomon looked up and scowled.
"What are you doing here, Chengko? Leave me in my peace!" he cried. Aviara smiled sweetly and walked towards Yasomon slowly.
"I am Aviara, Yasomon. I'm working for a new lord," she said quietly. Yasomon sneered.
"I did too, at one point," he shrieked. "Pah! He didn't pay me, and Myotismon couldn't even defeat those pesky humans. I had one here, I did, but Demidevimon distracted me. While he tried to steal my items, that DigiDestined escaped! Ooooooh! I was SO mad!"
Aviara stood there, her hands behind her back, looking at Yasomon piteously. "I'm sympathetic," she whispered, "but I have my orders. And if you won't cooperate with Master Gasudramon, I'll have to do something neither of us would like." She looked sadly at Yasomon. Yasomon sighed.
"Oh, alright!" he bellowed. "What do you want?!"
Aviara smiled amiably. "Nothing, really. Just…you."
Yasomon looked at her like she was crazy. "What?" he spat. "What are you talking about?"
"Gasudramon is always looking for allies…" she whispered.
"Allies! Ha! Slaves! Servants, at the least! Look at you! Doing his bidding when you could be enjoying yourself with the others!" Yasomon spat again. "I would rather die than be his 'ally'."
"Then so it shall be."
*~~~~~~~~`~~~~~~~~*~~~~~~~~`~~~~~~~~*~~~~~~~~`~~~~~~~~*~~~~~~~~`~~~~~~~~*
Izzy, Joe, Perromon, and Caniinya were back at the camp; Caniinya said she could destroy one of the SubDimensional barriers. She had explained it, but only Izzy had understood of course.
She was doing something very weird. Suddenly, there was a loud pthoopsud! and everything changed. The digimon were in new positions and looked very startled. Tentomon and Gomamon ran over to Izzy and Joe and began shouting. When they got a reaction, they were so happy that everyone danced.
Suddenly, Izzy asked, "Where's Agumon?" The digimon looked uneasy.
"Well," said Gabumon, "he went out to look for TK and Kari…" "But he hasn't come back yet!" cried Biyomon. Joe looked worried, but now Palmon asked, "Where's everybody else?"
Joe looked at Izzy. Izzy looked away. Neither of them wanted to tell the digimon what had happened to them.
Instead, Joe said, "Mimi and Sora went out while we were taking a walk. We don't know where they went."
It was the truth, really. They had been walking through the woods and now they didn't know where Mimi and Sora were. But they did know where TK, Kari, Tai, and Matt were. They were extremely hesitant to say. However they saw that only Gabumon would be deeply, deeply affected. Gatomon and Patamon were still crying and Agumon wasn't there. So they said, very quickly, what had happened to them. Everyone dissolved into tears.
Caniinya, confused, sat down and began comforting everyone. Soon they had recovered from the initial loss. They were ready to free Mimi and Sora and avenge the others.