Yolei was falling, tumbling head over heels, and she wasn't exactly sure how she'd ended up in that position. She knew, as a matter of fact, that she'd started by walking backward into a horizontal time tunnel. Maybe when she'd tried to turn to face forward, she'd gotten mixed up.
This journey through time seemed long, though Yolei didn't have a watch to clock it. Too bad. This could be a major scientific discovery. Too bad I'll never be able to tell anyone about it.
After that, she began to think about her being the last through the tunnel. What if it closed early and I'm lost in time forever? Will I die? That was a disturbing thought. She didn't wan to die. She liked life, wanted to live, to do things. So, as she tumbled, she made a list of all the boys she wanted to kiss. Ken and maybe TK and maybe Izzy and even Davis.
Yuck, did I just think that.
So, she discarded that list and started to make a knew one, which she titled Things I'd Rather be Doing Right Now. However, the first things on this list were the first four things from her previous list. She'd rather be kissing anyone, Yes, even Davis. then to be where she was. The fifth thing on her list was throwing up, which she suddenly realized she'd be doing on way or other, because the tumbling was making her nauseated. So, to settle her queasy stomach, she closed her eyes against the swirling colours and shapes.
She didn't realized she'd exited the tunnel and was cannon balling down until she impacted. The landing forced that the air out of her lungs and winded her pretty badly. She gasped, only to choke on water. Her eyes shot open, only to be stung by salt. Panicked, Yolei raced to the light of day. She broke the surface, sputtering, as a shadow passed over head. She didn't realize Aquilamon had plucked her out of the water until they were several feet up in the air. Gathering what strength she could muster, she climbed up on to Aquilamon's back and lay there a moment, enjoying his warmth against her cold, wet, shivering body.
"Yolei, are you alright?" Aquilamon asked, concerned.
"I'm fine," Yolei forced herself to sit up and take stock of the situation. All of the digimon had digivolved. Stingmon and ExVeemon were in the air, with their respective digidestined. Submarimon was in the water, Cody sitting cross-legged on his digimon's back. Judging from the boys' dripping wet hair and sopping clothes, Yolei surmised she wasn't the only on who'd taken a dip in the ocean.
And speaking of ocean that was all Yolei could see when she looked around, nothing but miles and miles of endless ocean.
"Why would anyone want to come here?" Davis demanded, impatient.
"Apparently the Time Traveler believed this place was connected with the digidestined." Ken looked to the others, "Do any of you know how?"
They shook their heads. The truth was, they were fairly ignorant of the other digidestined past. They had never been told much and none of them thought to ask. Now that could cause problems. How were they suppose to preserve history if they didn't even know what that history was?
"We should split up." Davis said, formulating a quick plan. "Yolei and Cody can go on way. Me and Ken can go the other. We should stay together, in case Stingmon and ExVeemon need to DNA digivolve."
Davis' plan, though sound, brought on another problem they'd have to deal with. Without Gatomon and Patamon, neither Silphymon nor Shakkoumon would be coming to their rescue.
No one liked the idea of splitting up but, at the time, it seemed like their best option. If they found the Time Traveler soon enough, it still might have been weak from its time travelling and previous defeats. If they found it soon enough, they could destroy it once and for all and be home in time for supper. But only if.
Cody, Yolei, Aquilamon and Submarimon headed in the direction that, according to the compass on Cody's keychain, was west. The boys headed east.
Occasionally, Yolei would look over her shoulder. The first time she looked, she could visibly see Ken and Davis, riding on Stingmon and ExVeemon's shoulders. The second time, she could no longer see the two human boys. On the third glance, Stingmon and ExVeemon were mere specks on the horizon. For the fourth and final time, Yolei saw no sign of either of them.
Quite suddenly, she felt alone. True, Cody and Aquilamon were near but Cody was underwater and to communicate they had to use the D-terminal and Aquilamon didn't seem much in the mood for talk.
I wish Kari were her, Yolei said to herself, Even if we don't have much in common, she'd at least talk to me.
"Yolei," Aquilamon asked, "do you see that dark cloud?"
"Cloud? What cloud? I don't see, oh..." her voice drifted off.
It looks like a cloud, but it's too low in the sky and it's moving toward us. I should tell Cody
The answer came back within a minute:
We've got something moving towards us, too. It could just be a school of fish but we should stay still until they pass, just in case.
Good Idea Yolei wrote back.
Yolei relayed the message and Aquilamon started hovering.
Yolei squinted her eyes at the oncoming cloud. I wish I had a telescope.
Then she cursed aloud, as she remembered something else.
"What is it, Yolei?"
"I forgot to tell everyone about not interfering. I hope Davis has enough sense to stay out of history's way."
"Why don't you tell them on your D-terminal?"
"Of course. Silly me." Yolei began to type out her message and got interrupted halfway through.
HELP! SHARKS! ATTACKING! OXY
That's all there was before the message just ended.
"Aquilamon, Cody's in tro-" The words caught in Yolei's throat as she looked up at the approaching cloud, which really wasn't a cloud at all. It was a flock of rather nasty looking bird and they didn't look the least bit friendly.
"Hang on." Aquilamon instructed, as he flapped his wings and gained altitude.
Yolei, holding on to Aquilamon with on hand, she reopened her message to Davis and added a couple of words. She'd just sent it off when the flying creatures swarmed them.
Ken and Davis were discussing some of the finer aspects of soccer. Well, no. Actually, they were arguing over who was the better at soccer when Davis' D-terminal began to beep.
"Aren't you going to see who it is?"
"It's probably Yolei." Davis said, grudgingly, pulling out his terminal and reading the message there. "See, I was right. It's Yolei."
"What does she say?"
"'Hi, Davis. Yolei here. Just writing to see how you guys are doing and to-'"
"Hey Davis, you do a pretty good impersonation of Yolei." Ken interrupted.
"Thanks. Hey! I wasn't impersonating Yolei!" Davis reached into his pocket and drew out a rumpled piece of paper (which just might have been his math homework), which he crumple and tossed at Ken. His aim was off and the paper ball landed in the ocean. (Which just might explain why Davis isn't doing so well in math.)
Ken laughed, enjoying himself. Few people could bring the true Ken out and Davis happened to be one of the few, even if he wasn't so good in math.
Davis continued to read the message from Yolei, deliberate making his voice sound deep, which only made Ken laugh louder. "'-and to remind you guys that anything we do in the past could affect the future. So, try not to interfere... ExVeemon! Stingmon! We have to turn around. The others are in trouble!"
It's strange where you find peace, Gatomon thought, as she lay curled up in Kari's lap, Now if only Izzy would stop that confounded typing.
The feline digimon cracked open an eye and, trying to sound indignant, said, "What's that noise? I was taking a cat nap and it woke me up."
Izzy's reply was full of irritation. "I'll explain later." Translation: Leave me alone!
"Oh, c'mon." Tai said, in a tone that was dangerously close to a whine, "Do you think I'm too brainless to understand?"
"Yes, but I'll tell you anyway." Then Izzy grinned, "Check it out."
All the digidestined and digimon crowded around the laptop to see what had fascinated Izzy so.
"What a cool screen saver." Sora observed, politely.
"It's not a screen saver."
"What is it then?" Mimi asked.
"I connected to Whamon's hard drive, "Izzy explained, proudly, "and rerouted his sensory information to my computer."
Patamon flew up behind Izzy, "Rerouted?"
"In other words, what you are seeing on the screen is exactly what-"
"What's that?" Matt interrupted, not realizing those two words (Well, three words if you count contractions as two words.) marked a change of destiny.
"What's what?"
"That." Matt leaned over and tapped at something in the upper right corner of the screen, "Right there."
Izzy squinted, "I don't know. One moment, I'll zoom in."
Biyomon gasped, "It's a digimon and it's being attacked!"
"We have to help it."
"Do I need to remind you, Sora, that we're running from the Dark Masters. We don't have time to pick up passengers."
"I agree with Matt. We don't need anymore enemies."
"I can't believe you two. We're suppose to be digidestined. How can we save the world if we're not willing to save a single digimon?"
"Don't be such a coward, Joe." Gomamon spoke up, "A relax a little while you're at it."
"You know Sora's right." Gabumon said simply.
All the digimon and digidestined, even Joe and Matt, nodded in agreement.
"Whamon," Sora called upward, "You hear that?"
"I'm already on my way." Whamon replied with a chuckle, "We'll have that little guy safe in no time at all."
Submarimon and Cody, especially Cody, were in trouble. The sharks had been faster than expected and had surrounded Submarimon before he knew what was happening. At first, the sharks just boxed them in and blocked them from surfacing. Then the sharks attacked, going for the oxygen tanks.
Submarimon cried out in pain and Cody watched in horror as the tanks leaked precious oxygen, which raced to the surface a bubbles. He decided then he'd better call Yolei. He got half way through the message when one of the sharks rammed Submarimon. Cody's D-terminal flew out of his hands and landed somewhere near Submarimon's nose, as Cody rolled on his side and sent his cranium against the wall with a sickening SMACK.
Cody lay there, momentarily stunned. He could hear the fighting around him but it sound so far away.
"Cody, are you alright?" Submarimon asked, urgently.
"I'm fine." Cody reassured and tried to sit up, blatantly forgetting he was inside Submarimon and there wasn't room to sit up. Ow.
Whether it was the beating his noggin had taken or the deprivation of oxygen, Cody's eyes refused to focus. He groped, half blind, for his D-terminal, not totally sure what Yolei would be able to do once she received the message, assuming Cody would have the chance to send it a all.
He glanced out the window and there, right on the other side of the window, was a shark. If sharks could sneer, this one was defiantly sneering.
Cody clutched his D-terminal in his hands, trying to remember how to work it. He shook his head, trying to clear his mind. Didn't work. Just made him dizzy. And black dots, everywhere. He was hallucinating. Out of the window, there was a big whale. It was Whamon, coming to rescue him. Cody laughed without humor. Now I'm going crazy. Cody thought before passing out.
To Be Continued...