Sarie brought her fist down swiftly, releasing a ball of silver energy at SkullSatamon that actually joined her digimons' attacks into one. Savior's bright white beam of energy wrapped around Zergling's fireball, and the sound waves that rippled from Cy's howl coalesced around both attacks, all laced together with silver strands of energy.
The explosive force from the attack was tremendous. Not only did the blast shatter the false Virus digimon, but shattered the two holograph squares lying a few feet away. A huge crater was blown in the floor of the cave, and even the high-off roof had chunks blown out of it. Only the fact that the three digimon standing between Sarie and the other digidestined still had their shields up saved them. The huge crater only extended to their feet, and the massive rock chunks blown free in the explosion bounced harmlessly off the shield like toys.
For a few minutes after the explosion, no one said a word. Davis was the first to break the silence.
"Holy shit!" He laughed, staring into the mile-deep pit at their feet. Almost as if the pyramid itself was agreeing, a huge chunk of rock fell from the ceiling, allowing a beam of sunlight to penetrate the darkness. Immediately the other digidestined broke out in shocked, elated laughter.
"I told you, Tai, she's good!" Koushirou said proudly, as if he had just blown the pyramid's insides out.
"We should have done this outside..." Joe said plaintively.
"She's got more power than the Dark Masters ever had!"
"We can't lose now!"
"How'd she get those stages on her Hawkmon and Gabumon? We could use those..."
Sarie coughed politely and stepped forward from between her digimon. "I appreciate your admiration," she said, grinning, "but you'll never learn anything if you don't ask directly."
The others looked slightly embarrassed, and a lot of polite coghing passed between them before they started laughing again.
"You're right, we've been a team with no new players for so long, we've forgotten how to ask," Ken said. "So tell us, how did you get your digimon at such power levels, and how did you unite their attacks like that?"
Sarie phrased her answer carefully before answering. "I don't know, exactly. It was just this feeling inside my head, like I knew I had to join Cy, Savior, and Zergling's attacks to make them more powerful. I've always been a psychic; I knew that since I was five. I figured the best way to unite the attacks was with psychic energy."
"You're psychic?" Mimi asked, her tone unbelieving.
"Yes, I am. Watch." She psychically raised a huge rock from the floor and threw it to the other side, her eyes glowing golden. Mimi shut up after that.
Matt's question was next. "Tell me, how'd you get your Gabumon to digivolve to that form?" He asked, indicating Cy's massive countenance.
"First, she's got a name. It's Cy. Second, I don't know. It's called crest-activation digivolving, and that's what they became when I first got my crest."
"What is your crest?"
I think Loyalty. At least, that's the impression I got when I received it."
Tai nodded approvingly, then lifted an object from the rock he had been sitting on. "It's too bad I cut my hair," he said. "My goggles don't fit anymore." He held up the goggles, brushing dust and debris from them. "I think, maybe, you can find a better use for them than I can." He handed the slightly scratched, very old goggles to Sarie, who took them reverently. She put them on her head, backwards, her own style of doing things.
"Thanks, Tai. Now being on your team, it'll be like having eyes in the back of my head!" She said, adjusting the goggles to fit more snugly.
"I think we'd all better go home," Ken said quietly. "To sleep, I mean. And Yolie and I should check on the children."
"Of course, Ken. Koushirou, the laptop?" Cody said, rising to his feet.
"Right." Koushirou pulled out an ancient orange laptop covered in dents and scars, and proceeded to access the digiport to home. "Should we give the new member the honor of opening it?"
Everyone nodded their agreement and, Sarie, knowing she was being watched, self consciously removed her digivice from her pocket. In a loud, clear voice with a hint of pride in it she shouted, "Digiport open!"
The next thing she knew she was facedown on her bed, her digimon piled in a corner. "Was it all a dream?" She wondered, scratching her head.
Then she felt Tai's goggles.
This was reality.