According to Angel: Chapter Eight

*Reality Check*

Kari and TK manage to work things out. Chino and Kara, accompanied by Angel and Tony, go to the Digital World to bring two more Digimon back to theirs, but an unexpected rockslide traps the others inside the cave.

*Present Day*

On the other side of Odaiba, Lei was sitting in her living room, watching TV. The housekeeper, Jeanine, had left hours before, and her father still had not returned yet.

She sank back into the couch and side. She sighed, content with happiness at the thought of Sam. I can't believe he kissed me yesterday. I can't believe it. Why me? I have to admit, I'm not really in protest against it. And believe me, he is a cutie.

Suddenly, the lock on the front door clicked. Lei ran her fingers through her long brown hair, and watched the door slowly opened. Cody stepped into the room.

"You didn't have to wait up for me," he said, setting his breifcase down next to the door.

Lei looked at her watch. "It's only 9:30," she said. "Where have you been, anyways?"

"Out...with some friends," he said.

That surprised Lei. "Friends?!?"

"Yeah...I have friends, just like you," he said, a small smile playing on the edges of his lips. Then he yawned. "Well, I don't know about you, but I'm dead tired. I'm gonna hit the sack. Don't stay up too late." To himself, Cody thought, I hope TK and Kari managed to work things out.

He headed back to his bedroom. Lei followed him with her eyes, then turned back to the TV. For several minutes, she just stared at the empty black box, thinking. Poor Daddy. He's always been so lonely. I wonder if he was like this when Mom was alive? I wish she was still here.

Lei decided to go check on her father. She got up quietly, and tiptoed down the hall to his room. She pushed the door open, and silently crept inside.

Cody was already asleep. He was laying flat on his back, his arms at his side, his eyes closed, and the light still on.

How boring, Lei thought. No wonder he's so stiff all the time--it's because of his sleeping position.

She walked over to his bed. She watched him for several minutes, and he didn't even move. He's like a corpse!

Lei made her way over to the other side of the bed. If he never moves in his sleep, I bet he never rolls over to this side. I bet--I bet no one has slept on the other side of the bed since Mom.

At this thought, Lei reached down and touched the pillow. She shut her eyes, and suddenly, the images of a forgotten past echoed fresh in her mind.

An angel flashed in front of her face. Lei opened her eyes with a start, then realized where she was. She shut her eyes again.

A small baby rested in the arms of a woman. The woman was smiling, and the baby heard a sound next to her, and looked up. There was a man standing next to the woman, and he too was smiling. The woman handed the baby to the man, and suddenly the boat started to shake. Shouts and screams were heard across the boat. The baby began to cry.

Suddenly, the man and the baby were on the shore of a lake. The man was shouting into the water, screaming over and over again, "Caitlin! Caitlin!"

The boat was sinking, and there was someone that was still on it.

*~*

I threw myself into the pile of rocks, and began heaving them out one by one. "Agumon! Palmon! Hawkmon! Veemon! Don't worry guys, we're gonna get you out of there!"

I grabbed hold of a heavy boulder, then looked back at the other seven. "Why aren't you helping me?"

Gatomon walked up to me. "There are easier ways of getting this done," she said.

I pulled another rock away. "Oh, yeah?" I grunted. "And what would that be?"

"What do you think you have that Digivice for?" she asked, pointing to the device hanging from my beltloop.

I stopped heaving away the rocks. "What am I supposed to do with this thing?"

"Take it in your hand," she instructed, "close your eyes, and concentrate. Clear your mind."

I pulled the Digivice off of my beltloop. I held it flat in my hand, and stared at it. "Concentrate on what?"

"Just--do what I tell you!"

I obeyed. I closed my fist around the Digivice, and shut my eyes. I tried to clear my mind, but I've never been totally sure how you do that. Suddenly, a gust of wind blew around us, and I heard some kind of music playing. I opened my eyes in time to see the impossible.

"Gatomon, Digivolve to..."

Gatomon began to change shape! She quickly became taller, she grew hair, and was suddenly wearing clothes. Well, she wasn't wearing much clothing, but it was more than before. ~_~

"...Angewomon!"

Angewomon. The angel I had seen in my dreams! She was here! She was real! I knew it!

Angewomon floated a few inches off the ground. Her voice was much deeper than it was before. "Your turn, Patamon," she told the little batpig.

"Right!" He turned to Tony. "Just do the same thing Angel did."

Tony nodded. He pulled the Digivice off his beltloop and held it out in the palm of his hand. He squeezed his eyes shut, and closed his fist around the D3. He appeared to be concentrating.

We waited. Nothing happened.

"You're not trying hard enough!" Patamon said.

"Well, excuse me if I'm not a natural at this," Tony grumbled. He inhaled deeply, then seemed to concentrate on something deeper within.

This time, we got a reaction.

"Patamon, Digivolve to...."

Like Gatomon, Patamon grew much taller. Wings seemed to sprout from his back. A helmet was placed over his eyes, and he grew long golden hair.

"...Angemon!"

Ironic, isn't it?

Kara and Chino followed suit.

"Biyomon, Digivolve to...Birdramon!"

"Gabumon, Digivolve to...Garurumon!"

Birdramon was a rather large red bird with an overbite. Garurumon was a wolf that was about three times the size of a horse.

"Don't worry, guys!" Garurumon called. His voice was much deeper than before. "We're on our way!"

Angewomon, Angemon, and Birdramon flew high into the air, and Garurumon began racing towards the rockpile. He jumped into the air, as if he were about to pounce. He was headed straight for the rockpile!

"Look out, Garurumon!" Chino yelled.

"Blue Blaster!" he yelled, not seeming to hear Chino. A spiral blue blast of what seemed to be ice was forced out of his mouth and hit the pile of rocks. Garurumon leapt away from the pile in time, and landed on his feet.

My mouth dropped open.

"Meteor Wing!" Birdramon squawked. She flapped her wings, and a ball of fire emerged from them, slamming into the pile of rocks. It cleared some more of the stones away, but there was still plenty of them left.

"Move out of the way, Agumon, we're gonna give it our all!" Angemon shouted. He made a circle in the air with his arm, and a golden circle outlined it. "Combine your powers!"

"Blue Blaster!"

"Meteor Wing!"

Angewomon drew an arrow that seemed to come from nowhere. She aimed it towards the golden circle. "Celestial Arrow!" she cried, and the arrow sprang from her bow, and entered to circle.

Angemon pulled his arm back, which was clenched into a fist. "Hand of Fate!" He punched into the air. The punch let out a silver light, and it, too, entered the circle of light.

The circle hovered there, full of power. And the Digimon stood/hovered there, waiting patiently.

"Aren't you gonna do something?" I yelled at them.

"This is your part!" Angewomon said. "You have the Digivices. You make the power--not us."

"So what are we supposed to do?" Tony yelled.

"Use your heart, Anthony!" Angemon said. "This is your destiny! Deep down inside, you know what is right."

"Oh, great," Chino grumbled.

"There has to be a way we can figure this out!" I said. I looked down at my Digivice. It glowed a bright pink in my hand, and started beating. It took me a minute to realize that it wasn't the Digivice that was beating, though. It was my heart.

I furrowed my brow. I knew what I had to do. I held the Digivice up to the sky. The pink light shot out from it, into the golden circle.

Tony stared at it for a minute, then he held his up, too. A beam of green light shot out from his Digivice, and entered the circle.

Kara held hers out, followed by Chino's. Red and blue light filled the sky. They circle spun around until it became a golden sphere. It sped towards the cave opening, and slammed right into the huge pile of rocks.

I continued to hold my Digivice upwards, and used my free hand to cover my eyes. I backed up, and peeked over my arm when the sound from the explosion had calmed.

From the cave opening, I could see thousands of rocks, scattered to the side. There was a huge dust cloud at the entrance.

I lowered the arm holding the Digivice. "You don't see that every day," I commented.

Suddenly, something emerged from the dust cloud. I squinted my eyes to see who it was.

Armadillomon! And Veemon, and Palmon, and all the others!

I ran forward to them. "You're all okay!" I shouted happily. Kara, Chino, and Tony ran after me.

Angemon, Angewomon, Birdramon, and Garurumon seemed to glow the faint color of our Digivices. The light that had emerged from our Digivices before was swept back in, and they almost seemed to shrink. Four smaller Digimon appeared. They looked similar to the ones from before, but they were still different.

The first one looked like an orange ball with a horn on its head. "Hi! I'm Tsunomon, the in-training form of Gabumon!"

The second one was a pink ball with a little flower lookin' thing on it's head. "I'm Yokomon, the in-training form of Biyomon!"

The third had legs--little stub ones. He was white, and had very ferocious looking teeth. "I'm Tokomon, the in-training form of Patamon!" he said.

The last one would have actually looked somewhat normal if I didn't know what it was. "Hi!" she said. "I'm Salamon, the rookie form of Gatomon!"

I looked up to the sky, as if it could provide me with an answer to all of the questions I had inside. Kara shut her eyes, and her knees buckled underneath her. She wobbled a bit, then fell backwards.

"Catch her!" I yelled. Tony rushed up behind her and hooked his arms into hers as she fainted. He set her down slowly on the ground. Chino and I rushed up next to her.

"No wonder she fainted," Chino said. "This is a tad bit overwhelming for her."

"What about you? Doesn't this have any affect on you at all?" Tony asked.

"Not as much as her," he replied. "Kara's been through alot, and most of the time, doesn't know how to handle it by herself. But thank God for friends, right?"

It was true. My cousins had been through a lot. Uncle Matt and Aunt Sora had gotten divorced twice, only to remarry each other a third time. Plus, about a year and a half ago, Kara fell off the bridge at Heightenview Terrace, and had suffered a major head injury. I sympathized with Kara.

"How are we gonna get her back to the real world?" Chino asked suddenly.

I hadn't even thought about that. "She probably needs to wake up first."

"Well, duh."

*~*

Mari hung up the phone, deep in thought. "Hmm," she mused, playing with her necklace. It was a golden chain, with the Japanese symbol for faith on it.

Sam entered the room. "What's up?" he asked.

"I just called Angel. No one answered."

"Mari, it's Friday night," Sam replied. "Does Angel strike you as the kind who would stay in?"

"Well, I guess you're right. But still, it seems kind of odd. Wouldn't one of her parents be home?"

"Look, Mari, if this is bothering you that much, we'll go over there right now," he said, exasperatedly. He grabbed his coat off the hook, and pulled Mari out the front door.

The took the train down to the east side of Odaiba, where Angel lived. They walked for about ten minutes from the station until they came to her apartment building.

"She lives on the eighth floor, right?" Sam asked, shivering. Mari nodded, and wrapped her arms around her for warmth. They walked into the lobby, greeted the doorman, then took the elevator to the eighth floor. They walked down the hall to her apartment, then knocked on the door.

There was no answer. Mari looked at her watch. "It's nearly ten o'clock!" she exclaimed. "Where are they?"

"Hey, look at that!" Sam said, pointing. "Tony's front door is open! Maybe they're all in there."

Mari grabbed his arm. "What if there's a theif in there?"

Sam paled. He inhaled deeply, and his chest swelled. "Then they'll just have to face me!" he said bravely, marching to the door.

Mari stood in her place for a minute, and rolled her eyes. She followed him as he pushed open the door of the Tanishi apartment.

Nobody seemed to be home there, either. All the lights were on. Everything seemed to be in place. Mari sighed with relief.

"The computer's on," Sam commented. "That's about the only strange thing I can find."

They walked over to the computer. The screensaver had come up. Sam pressed ENTER on the keyboard. A swirling image showed up.

"Whoa," he said, awed. He reached up to the screen to touch it.

Mari grabbed his arm. "Don't touch it!" she said.

"Why? It's only a computer screen."

"I just have a bad feeling about it, that's all," she said.

"Whatever. You have bad feelings about everything." Sam reached out his hand even further. Mari tightened her grip.

"I'm serious, Sam!"

"Mari, let go of me!" He yanked his hand away from her, and placed his palm out flat on the screen. Automatically, he began to feel a suction on his hand.

"Ahhhh!" he yelled.

Mari screamed. She grabbed onto his arm and pulled with all her might.

For awhile, they stood there, groaning and pulling, trying to get Sam's arm out of the computer. The vortex was strong enough to pull any number of people into it, but more than one person fighting against it was too much. It spit Sam out, and the twins went flying backwards across the living room, knocking over some furniture and a trashcan in the process.

When they came to, they glanced at each other for a millisecond, then screamed their heads off. They got up, then ran out of the apartment, screaming, and didn't stop until they reached the train station.

When they got there, they bent over, placing their hands on their knees, breathing deeply. Mari reached up to her neck, and gasped when she realized it was bare.

"My necklace!" she cried. "It's gone! It must have come off when we were at Tony's apartment!"

"Forget it, sis. I'm not going back to that apartment."

"Sam, Daddy gave that to me on my fourth birthday! I've had it for over a decade!"

"I'm sure Tony will find it and return it to you. But I'm not going back there."

"Ooh, I hate you, Osamu!"

*~*

I grabbed my unconcious cousin by the shoulders and shook her vigorously. "Wake up! Wake up, Kara, we gotta go home!"

Her eyes fluttered open. She yawned. "Was it all a dream?" she mumbled.

"Nope."

She sighed. "Didn't think so."

Kara pulled herself up into a sitting position and looked around. "Where's Biyomon?"

"Right here!" the pink bird chirped. Biyomon flapped up to her side. Kara smiled.

Tony checked his watch anxiously. "We better be getting back," he said nervously. "My grandfather will be getting home soon."

"And I had better get cracking on cleaning up all of those stupid bottlecaps," I sighed. I looked at Patamon with a scowl.

"Meep!" he sqeaked. He hid behind Tony.

"How do we get out of here anyways?" Chino wondered.

"Follow us," Tony replied, picking up Patamon. He led the way to the tiny little TV. Tony gestured at me. "You wanna do the honors?"

"Sure," I said. I pulled my Digivice and held it up to the monitor. "Digiport, open!" I yelled.

We went flying back through that barrier between reality and...well, abnormal reality.

*~*

Brad tapped his thumbs on the table, his eyes darting back and forth across his hand of cards. He looked to his left. His father, Tai, the master of cards, was looking pretty sly. Brad averted his eyes back to the right. His mother, Teresa, was struggling to put together a good hand. She had never been very good at poker.

Tai looked over at her. "You go first, 'Resa," he said, giving a small grin.

She squinted at him in mock anger. She layed down her cards. "Two pair," she said, laying down a pair of eights, a pair of jacks, and a queen.

Tai tried his hardest not to smile. He laid his cards down on the table. "Full house."

Brad rolled his eyes. Yet again, his father had won at poker. "I fold."

Teresa tried to hide her grin from Tai, who was leaning back in her chair, laughing. When he wasn't looking, she threw a chip from their board game casino at his head.

He stopped laughing. "Hey!" he said. He picked up a chip and threw it at her.

"Okay, that's it!" she said. Teresa took a handful of chips in both hands. She threw one at Tai, and one at Brad.

"When did I get involved in this?" he shouted. He stood, and soon all three of them were throwing chips back and forth at each other, laughing.

Tai grabbed Teresa around the waist and began to tickle her. She giggled loudly, and screamed, "Uncle! Uncle!"

Brad watched them, laughing. There were chips all over the living room. Furniture had been turned over, and his hair was a mess. He shook his teeshirt, and chips came flying out the bottom.

Tai dropped Teresa on the couch. Her long brown hair was a mess, and her clothes were wrinkled, but she was laughing. She looked beautiful when she laughed.

Teresa was an American immigrant from Spain. She had met Tai when he was working over there on business. They had fallen in love, and he brought her back with him to Japan, where they married later. So Brad grew up speaking Japanese, American, and Spanish. Many people believed that the marriage wouldn't work for several reasons. First of all, there was an six year difference between them. Tai was thirty-eight, Teresa was thirty-two. She was younger than Kari!

Another reason why they didn't think it would work was because the first child they'd tried to have together was a stillborn. Most couples might have given up after that, but they did. And their result was Brad.

The last reason why no one wanted them to be together was their families. They hated each other with a passion. Teresa's mother did not trust Tai, and Tai's parents didn't want him running off with "Spanish trash." Kari and Tai helped convince them, however, that Teresa was a wonderful person. Teresa's mother took more convincing, though. She refused to accept that her daughter was "turning Japanese," and didn't learn to speak Japanese. She wouldn't come near Tai for the first eight years of their marriage. Finally, Teresa got fed up with her and made her move to Odaiba. Now, she speaks Japanese--not very well, mind you--lives with the Kamiyas, and is on better terms with Tai's family.

Brad heard a yell come from his grandmother's room. "¡Ustedes maldice hooligans! ¿Es jamás ustedes callados? ¡Era más fuerte que estaba en su dormitorio la otra noche! "

[Translation: "You damn hooligans! Do you ever be quiet? It was louder than it was in your bedroom the other night!"]

Tai laughed, then silenced Teresa. He called back, "¡Arrepentido, Madre Montoya!"

[Translation: "Sorry, Mother Montoya!"]

Teresa blushed.

Suddenly, the phone rang. Brad picked it up. "¿Diga?"

There was no one on the other line. Brad stared at it quizzically, then put it back on the reciever.

"Who was that?" Teresa asked, picking up chips off the floor.

"Dead air," Brad responded.

"Check the caller ID," Tai suggested.

Brad leaned over the phone. On the caller ID panel, the name TAKAISHI was flashing, along with a number beneath it.

"It was someone at Aunt Kari's house," Brad replied. "But when I picked up the phone, there was dead air."

"Maybe they'll try to call back," Teresa said. "In the meantime, come help me get dinner ready. What would you like?"

"Fajitas!" Tai and Brad called out at the same time. They slapped a high five.

Teresa sighed, and grinned. "Every single night!" she laughed. "You guys just can't get enough out of Mama's Spanish cooking, can you? I don't know if she's even going to want to cook tonight."

"Wel, you know what they say," Tai said, wrapping his arm around her and planting a kiss on her forehead. "Like mother, like daughter."

Teresa laughed. "¡Una fajita fiesta, en un momenta!"

Brad began helping his mother prepare the dinner. After a few minutes, the phone rang again. He snatched it up. "Hello? Hello, is anyone there?"

"Tai?" said a person on the other end said. It sounded like a gruff old man, but the caller ID number read the Takaishi number again.

"Who is this?"

"Tai, is that you?" the voice asked again. "Answer me, Tai!"

"This isn't Tai!" Brad finally yelled.

Click.

Brad stared at the phone a minute, confused. He put it back on the reciever.

Teresa stared quizzically at him. "Who was that?"

"Some psycho who thought I was Dad. And wouldn't you believe it--he was calling from Aunt Kari's house."

Teresa furrowed her brow. As a Lost DigiDestined [A/N: You'll find out about them later], she knew very well what was going on.

"What did he sound like?" she asked.

"Kinda like how an old man would sound. You know, really deep and kinda gruff. You wouldn't know who he is, would you, Mom?"

Teresa was silent. She averted her eyes to the den, where Tai, clueless as usual, was stooping over, picking up the poker chips that the three had strewn around the room.

"Could you stir the sauce for a minute, mi hijo?" she asked, handing him the wooden ladle. "I need to talk to your dad for a minute." Teresa left Brad standing in the kitchen, confused.

Teresa rushed over to him. "Taichi," she hissed. "Something has happened."

Tai's face grew concerned. She only called him by his full name when something was wrong. "What? What is it?"

"Brad just answered the phone. It was someone from the Takaishi's residence, but Brad said when he answered, it sounded like an old man. He said that he mistook him for you. I think...Taichi, I think it was Gennai."

That was it. Tai stood up straight, taking on his "masculine fatherly role," and stormed into the kitchen. "Brad, go to your room!"

Brad dropped the ladle. "What did I do?" he asked, confused.

"I, uh...I can't think of anything right now, just go!"

Brad's mouth dropped halfway open, and he stumbled off. As soon as the door to his room shut, Tai picked up the phone, and hit the number two speed dial button--Kari and TK's apartment. "I don't understand why there was a call from there, especially from Gennai!" he muttered. "Kari and TK should still be over at Matt and Sora's, and he should be at his apartment! Why would he be over there?"

The phone rang three times. Tai lowered it down so Teresa could hear, too. It finally picked up.

"Tai, is this you?" he heard a voice ask.

"Gennai! What are you doing at Kari's apartment?"

"Oh, Tai! I went home to my place, and the door was half open! Furniture was turned over, and someone had opened the Digiport! Even worse, Tony was gone! And Angel, Kara, and Chino are gone, too!"

"What do you mean? Where are they?" Tai asked, panicked.

"I don't know, but my guess is the Digital World!"

Teresa took in a sharp breath. Tai shook in fear. "What do you mean? How could they have gotten into the Digital World? They have no Digivices!"

"I guess it's partly my fault...I used TK's Digivice to open up a portal on my own computer. I must have forgotten to put up a password on it. What have I done?"

"Don't worry, Gennai, we'll be right over," Tai said.

"Pueda el asidero de Dios usted en la palma del mano," Teresa whispered. "See you in a few minutes."

"By the way, how did you get into TK and Kari's place, anyways?" Tai asked.

Click.

Tai rolled his eyes and hung up the phone. "This is serious," he said. "We have four missing chidren who might have accidently stumbled into another demension that was supposed to have been kept a secret. What will we do when the others find out?" He wrapped his arms around her.

"They might not be in the Digital World, Taichi," Teresa said, burying her face in his chest. "They might have gone out to a club, or a party, or a rave..."

"They're fifteen years old, 'Resa," he said. "That wouldn't be a good thing." He rested his chin on her head for a moment, then pulled away. "Get your coat. We're taking a little trip over to the East Side."

*~*

Once again, we landed with a thud on the floor of Tony's apartment. I stood, then helped Kara up. We looked around the apartment in amazement.

"What happened here?" Tony cried.

The place was in shambles. Furniture had been turned over. The rug had been pulled up. Someone had knocked the trashcan over.

"Who did this?" Tony wondered.

Suddenly, I saw something shiny and glittery on the floor. I knelt down and picked it up.

It was a pretty gold necklace, with the Japanese charecter for faith on it.

I held up the necklace. "I have a pretty good idea," I responded.

Kara's eyes went wide. "Mari?" she asked, incrediculously.

"How many people do you see walking around Odaiba with the necklace?" I asked. "It's pure gold. She's had it since she was a little kid."

"How could she have gotten in?" Chino asked.

I pointed. "The door's wide open."

"We'd better get this cleaned up before my grandfather comes home!" Tony said suddenly. He ran over to the trashcan and began picking up its contents.

We all chipped in a bit. Chino moved all the furniture in its upright positions, I cleaned under the rug, Tony cleaned up the area around the trash can, and Kara cleaned the whole kitchen. The Digimon were too small to do anything, so they just watched. The place looked decent by the time we were done.

"You guys better hide," I told the Digimon, "in case Tony's grandpa comes back."

They dove into Tony's duffel bag. Chino looked around. "So what are we supposed to do in the meantime?"

Tony was digging around in the cabinet under the television. He pulled out a board game. "Anyone up to a game of Monopoly?"

*~*

Tai and Teresa drove down to the end of the city, to Kari and TK's apartment building. They parked, then rushed up the steps. They stopped when they came to the Takaishi residence. Tai raised his fist, and knocked lightly on the door.

Gennai opened it carefully. He ushered them inside, "Quickly, quickly, come in."

Teresa shivered. "It feels strange being her without Kari and TK."

Tai nodded in agreement. He looked around. "There are bottlecaps everywhere!" he remarked.

"Yeah, I noticed that, too," Gennai said. "But that's not what I called you here for. You see, I think that Tony, Angel, Kara, and Chino might have gone into the Digital World through my computer. And I need you to come with me to the apartment to investigate."

Tai ran his hands through his thick hair. "Alright. 'Resa, do you want to come or stay here?"

"Where you go, I go," she said, linking his arm in hers.

"Right." They walked out the front door and down the hall. Tai pressed his ear against the door.

"There are voices in there!" he hissed. "They're laughing."

"Well, then go on in!" Gennai whispered back. Tai placed his hand on the doorknob, and nervously turned it. He shoved the door open, and his mouth dropped open.

Tai had expected to see an apartment in shambles. Instead, he saw four teenagers, sitting on the sofa, playing Monopoly. Their mouths were halfway open, and they looked as confused as he was.

"Uncle Tai?" Angel asked. "What are you doing here?"

"Well, uh...Mr. Tanishi said when he got back from work this afternoon, the apartment looked like someone had broken in. Do you kids know anything about that?"

The four of them shook their heads vigorously. "We've barely been here, Mr. Kamiya," Chino said. "We came here, we ate dinner, went to the park, then came back."

"What about all of the bottlecaps in your apartment, Angel?" Teresa pressed.

Angel blushed, and crossed her fingers behind her back. "Well, you see, I was showing Tony my bottlecap collection, and they kinda, uh...spilled."

Teresa and Tai glared at Gennai. "You brought us halfway across town for THIS?!?"

"Well, I, uh, well...I was so sure something had happened! I know I saw the furniture turned over! And the rug had been pulled up!"

Teresa narrowed her eyes, and cursed Gennai silently incoherently in Spanish.

"Wait a minute, you two know each other?" Tony asked incrediculousy.

"Better than you might want to think," Tai said.

Tony sighed. "Guys, this is my Grandfather Tanishi. Grandfather, this is Angel, Kara, and Chino."

Angel raised her eyebrows. "Uncle Tai, how do you and Aunt Teresa know Mr. Tanishi? And where's Brad?"

"Those are...plenty of questions that I don't have time to answer right now," Tai said hastily. "You three better be heading back to the other apartment."

"Yeah..." Angel said slowly. She stood. "Come on, guys." She began to walk towards the door, and Kara followed her. Chino got up off the couch, and picked up a heavy looking duffel bag. Teresa saw something moving around inside it.

"Do you need any help with that thing, Chino?" Tai asked, trying to take the bag from him.

"No, really, I'm fine I can--" Chino said, pulling it back, "--handle it."

"I insist, really," Tai said, reacing for it again. There was a breif struggle, and eventually, Chino won.

"We'll just be on our...way, now," Angel, said, a bit flustered. "Nice to meet you, Mr. Tanishi. 'Bye, Uncle Tai, Aunt Teresa. See you tomorrow, Tony."

"Bye, guys," he said, raising his eyebrows.

*~*

I shut the door of my apartment and leaned back against it, breathing a sigh of relief. "That was close," I said, shutting my eyes.

"You said it," Kara agreed.

Chino opened the duffel bag and let out three sweating, dizzy Digimon. "That was some ride," Tsunomon said. "Hey, this place is a mess!"

I opened my eyes and looked around the living room. The bottlecaps were still there. I groaned.

"You guys can go to bed if you want," I said. "I have to clean the bottlecaps up before my parents get home."

"No worries, Ange', we'll help you," Chino said. "We'll clean up all night if we have to."

And we did. We started cleaning around 9:00, and finished around 2:00. Kara and I curled up at either ends of my bed, and Chino fell asleep in my sleeping bag on the floor. All of us were curled up with our Digimon.

Sleep did not claim me immediately. I lay awake in bed for several minutes, wondering where this new discovery would take me. Up and down, in and out. Through Tony's computer and back. Again. But I hope this will be for the better.

Emphasis on the hope.

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Damn, that took a long time to write. And, for those of you wondering, Pueda el asidero de Dios usted en la palma del mano means "May God hold you in the palm of His hand." Anyhoo, hope to have Chap. 9 up soon! E-mail at jazzgirl1488@hotmail.com. Please review.