Me: I got impatient and decided to post this chapter up early. I don't own Digimon, and that's about it. Wait-that's not it! I also don't own "Let's Kick It Up" from the Digimon: The Movie soundtrack. In this chapter, I'll refer to the older DigiDestined as 02, since this chapter takes place in the Digital World, with the exception of Davis and the others.
Tai: Awesome!
Me: This chapter is dedicated to Veranda, who's a cool writer and could go far in life with this talent if she wanted. That, and the fact that I was impressed with her stories Gaining Trust and I'm Gonna Smile.
Sora: (sniffles) Those were sad stories!
Me: Yes, they were. And now, onward to the story before I forget what I'm doing here!
Digimon
The WarGame of the 21st Century
Chap. III-The Problem with Digivolving
The DigiDestined surveyed their surroundings. It looked different than the last time they were here-like sometime around 2000-but it was the Digital World!
Tai gazed in awe at what 02 Tai had given him-a Dterminal, to keep in contact with their future selves while they were in the DigiWorld.
"Okay troops, we've got an evil Digimon to find and take care of while we're here, so let's-" Tai didn't get to finish his sentence because his Dterminal started beeping.
"Tai, what's that noise?" Sora asked.
"It's a Dterminal. My future self gave it to me before I went inside the portal. Apparently, they want to talk to us."
True to his word, when Tai opened it, they all crowded around to see the message, which Tai read out loud for them.
Guys, it's Tai. The future one! Anyway, Izzy-our Izzy-has spotted Keramon in a spot not too far from your position. He's destroying everything in sight for such a little guy! Be careful. Tentomon, Izzy says to just go for a surprise attack!
"Well, we're not gonna get much done around here just sitting here, so let's go!" Tai demanded.
"Hold on, Tai! We can't just go rushing in; we need a plan first." Matt insisted.
"I've already got a plan! We split up into two teams. While the first team draws Keramon out, the second team sneaks up on him from behind. How's that for ingenuity?" Everyone facefaulted and stared at Tai in shock.
"What?! Just 'cause I know what ingenuity means everyone's gotta think I've lost it?"
Matt, Kari, Joe and T.K. carefully made their way around the bushes with their Digimon, preparing themselves for a sneak attack against Keramon.
"Do you really think Tai's plan will work?" Matt asked irritably, not entirely convinced.
"Don't ask me. You, Tai, T.K. and Izzy were the only ones to take on this Digimon beforehand, remember?" Joe replied.
"Yeah, but that wasn't in the future; it was during our present time!"
"Come on, Matt. Don't start fighting. It's only noon and we just barely ate." T.K. said.
Matt nodded once, then waited for Tai's signal.
Speaking of which, Tai, Sora, Mimi and Izzy were getting ready to reveal themselves to Keramon and attack.
"Everyone know what to do? Then let's go!" The four DigiDestined and their Digimon jumped out and attacked.
"Pepper Breath!!"
"Spiral Twister!!"
"Poison Ivy!!"
"Super Shocker!!'
The four attacks hardly made a dent in Keramon's body! That's when he just started laughing.
"What gives? This guy's supposed to be really hurt, but he's laughing like it's only a minor flesh wound!" Tai yelled out angrily.
"Maybe we need more firepower, Tai." Sora advised. Tai smiled at her and nodded.
"Agumon Digivolve to…"
"Biyomon Digivolve to…"
"Palmon Digivolve to…"
"Tentomon Digivolve to…"
The four kids smiled broadly, expecting the match to be in their favor. Instead, the Digimon were still Rookies!
"What the…? They didn't Digivolve!" Tai cried out.
"That's impossible! They've had enough to eat, so technically, they should've Digivolved straight to the Champion Level!" Izzy insisted.
Hearing the sounds of the Digimon Digivolving, Matt nodded and gave a thumbs up to the others.
"Let's do it!"
"Gabumon Digivolve to…"
"Gomamon Digivolve to…"
"Patamon Digivolve to…"
"Gatomon Digivolve to…"
The exact same thing happened to their Digimon like it did Tai, Sora, Mimi and Izzy's!
"I don't understand it! Why didn't you guys Digivolve?" Matt asked impatiently.
"Give us a break! Some evil power's obviously blocking the Digivolving process." Gatomon growled angrily at Matt.
"She's right. The question is, who's doing it?" Joe asked as he stepped forward…and hit an invisible wall. "OW! What's this? A wall-but how'd it get here?"
T.K. and Kari stepped forward and stopped inches from the wall.
"No way! This can't be happening." T.K. remarked.
"We're trapped here and Tai and the others are out there against that Digimon." Kari cried worriedly.
Matt remembered what had happened the last time he'd tried comforting Kari against Myotismon-she ended up crying. Making sure not to make that same mistake again, he advised, "Don't worry. I'm sure Tai will figure out a way to get us out of this…No matter what time period he's from."
Tai couldn't believe what his past self had said in his e-mail:
We need help! For some reason, our Digimon can't Digivolve and they're stuck at the Rookie Level. Keramon's a Rookie like they are, but his attacks are creaming us, ours have no effect on him, and we can't find Matt or anyone else!
"Davis, you, Yolei, Cody, T.K. and Kari go in and figure out why our past selves' Digimon can't Digivolve! Agumon and I are going in with you, just in case you do find the problem." Tai demanded. Sora grabbed his arm and held him back.
"Tai, you can't! You're already there and it's bad enough I've got to worry about what's gonna happen to your past self, but to lose you now…in this time period…" Tai quickly wiped away her tears as they trickled down her cheeks.
"That's why I'm going-to make sure you survive this. I promised I wouldn't let anything happen to you, and I'm going to keep this promise!" Tai gave Sora a kiss to remember him by before stepping up alongside Davis.
"Digiport open!" Davis yelled out. As he vanished with the other DigiDestined, Tai mouthed, "I love you." to Sora, who mouthed it back.
Five choruses of "Digi-Armor Energize!!" rang out as Davis, Yolei, Cody, T.K. and Kari pinpointed it so that they'd make it to the exact same spot Tai, Sora, Izzy and Mimi were at. 02 Tai held back and watched everything transpire with Agumon.
"Veemon Armor-Digivolve to…FLAMEDRAMON, The Fire of Courage!!!"
"Hawkmon Armor-Digivolve to…HALSEMON, The Wings of Love!!!"
"Armadillomon Armor-Digivolve to…DIGMON, The Drill of Knowledge!!!"
"Patamon Armor-Digivolve to…PEGASUSMON, Flying Hope!!!"
"Gatomon Armor-Digivolve to…NEFERTIMON, The Angel of Light!!!"
Let's kick it up and show them all the things we can do
Let's kick it up another notch tomorrow!
Let's kick it up 'cause they ain't seen the last of me and you
Let's kick it up…together…together!
"All right, pal! Now you're gonna see what Armor Digimon can do to you!" Davis growled heatedly as they joined alongside their young predecessors.
"Fire Rocket!!" Flamedramon's main attack caused definite damage to Keramon!
"Tempest Wing!!"
"Gold Rush!!"
"Star Shower!!"
"Rosetta Stone!!"
With the exception of Flamedramon, Nefertimon and Halsemon, the attacks whizzed right by him!
"This Keramon's a lot stronger than I remember him being!" 02 Tai warned irritably.
"T.K., Kari, figure out why Matt's team hasn't shown up yet and try and find out what's preventing the Digimon from Digivolving while you're at it!"
"We're on it, Tai!" 02 Kari and T.K. flew off on Nefertimon and Pegasusmon, leaving Davis, Yolei and Cody to take on Keramon.
"What can we do? As long as our Digimon can't Digivolve, we're basically useless." Sora admitted. 02 Tai gripped her softly, but firmly, on her shoulders.
"Listen to me, Sora-you are not now, nor have you ever been useless! Not to me. You're the reason I get up every morning; you have been since the day I met you! We've caused each other pain, heartache and torment you couldn't imagine now, but you will. There's a reason I'm with you now, and it's not because you're useless. You sparked something inside of me when we first went to the Digital World-the determination to keep you and the others safe from harm. That will never change! Never."
Sora blushed a deep crimson as she broke her gaze from 02 Tai and turned to her own Tai.
"Is that true? Am I the real reason why you get up every morning?" Tai himself was blushing, due to what his future self had just revealed.
"Every word I said…was from the heart." At that moment, both Tai's Digivices shook and glowed. In a synchronized move, two Agumon yelled out,
"Agumon Warp-Digivolve to…WARGREYMON!!!"
Davis, Yolei and Cody looked from their prospective spots on the ground. Keramon had Digivolved to Kurisarimon, then to Infermon. As an Ultimate Level Digimon, their Armor Digimon stood no chance and were defeated.
"Is that WarGreymon? Two of them?" Davis gasped out.
02 T.K. and Kari came back in with Matt, Joe, T.K. and Kari. 02 Kari was holding a black box of some kind.
"We found the reason why the Digimon couldn't Digivolve so Gatomon destroyed it!" Kari yelled as two WarGreymon made their way to Infermon.
"TERRA FORCE!!!"
WHAM! The two attacks decimated Infermon into digital data! Nefertimon and Pegasusmon reverted to Gatomon and Patamon; the two WarGreymon deDigivolved to Koromon and Agumon. Tai went over and picked up Koromon.
"An awesome battle! Too bad we won't remember any of it." 02 Tai smiled and patted Tai on the back.
"You will one day. I guarantee it!"
Gennai was waiting for the DigiDestined when they returned from the Digital World, holding Azulongmon's core in his hand.
"It's time for you to return to your proper place in time. Don't worry; you'll see yourselves again." Tai couldn't shake off the fact of how weird that sounded.
"We'll see you around!" Tai declared as he touched the core. A bright light shined in the room, and 02 Tai took that advantage to grab a bouquet of roses and place them in Tai's hand. A moment or so later, they were gone.
Sora couldn't help but laugh. "That's where those roses came from! Tai, you stole them from the future." Tai smiled sheepishly as he held Sora close to his body.
"I guess you could call me a thief from the future!"