Matt and T.K. were the first to rise, and they dragged two sleeping bags off into the farthest corner of the room, and promptly went to bed. Mimi and Joe took their sleeping bags to opposite ends of the room, while Izzy took a sleeping bag next to one of the large bookshelves, and opened his laptop. Kari bid her brother and Sora a good night, which they returned, and she curled up with Gatomon not far from Mimi.
Tai glanced at Sora, but did not say anything. Sora smiled slowly, and picked a sleeping bag. She crossed to the opposite wall, some ten feet beside Kari, and unrolled it. Tai grabbed the last sleeping bag, and after glancing at Gennai, who was still staring, lost in thought, out the window, he moved next to his little sister, who was already half asleep, Gatomon dozing on her back.
As soon as Tai got into his sleeping bag, not bothering to remove his cloak, the lights in the room dimmed, until Tai could barely see the outline of the other Digidestined across the room. He saw Sora get up, carrying a sleeping Biyomon in her arms, and move silently over to sit down next to Tai. She had pulled her hair out from where it had been partially under her cloak, and in the faint light, it shimmered crimson. Sora smiled at Tai, but did not say anything. She lay down in her sleeping bag, and placing Biyomon on her stomach, she propped her upper body back against the wall.
Tai sat up against the wall a few inches from Sora, Agumon asleep at the end of his sleeping bag. For a long time, neither of them said anything, and they just listened to the other Digidestined's breathing, and now again one of them would stir. Through this all, Gennai still stood at the massive window. The lake which surrounded his house had grown rather dark as the sun had set, and most of the fish were gone, but Gennai still looked thoughtfully out at the calm water and lake bottom, which stretched as far as the eye could see.
"What do you think he's thinking about?" Sora whispered suddenly, startling Tai out of his thoughts.
Tai glanced at her before he answered, and saw her looking intently at him, as he himself had often done to her, although he had always thought she never noticed. "He's probably wondering what's going to happen tomorrow, and what we're going to find once we get back to earth."
Sora paused, but then said slowly, "That's what I'm afraid of, Tai. What if Supreme Darkness did what Myotismon did? I don't think I could stand to see my mom like that again."
"We'll stop them." Tai said, and then realized he was talking rather foolishly. He was rather uncertain what would happen when they met Supreme Darkness again.
Sora smiled, although it was now so dark that Tai could only just make out her outline sitting next to him. "That's the Tai I remember. You sound just like you did when we were on the Digiworld for the first time." She paused again, and if Tai could see her, she was smiling rather mischievously. "What you said before, about protecting me, does that still stand?"
"Of course." Tai said immediately. "Sora, I—"
"Who will protect you, Tai?" Sora interrupted, knowing fully well what Tai was about to say. "I care too much about you to see you hurt."
"I can watch out for myself—and you." Tai said softly, and turned his head towards Sora's outline, and saw her outline move slightly, and a moment later, felt her cheek brush his, and their lips touched softly. Sora's cheek brushed against his again, and they embraced in the darkness for several moments, before they both fell back. Tai clasped Sora's hand under a fold of her sleeping bag.
Tai sunk down farther into his sleeping bag, and a moment later, he felt Sora's head alight on his chest, and he fell into a very comfortable sleep.
Tai was awakened suddenly by a rather loud boom, and he felt Gennai's house tremor slightly. He tried to sit up, and found that Sora's head was resting against his chest, and she was fast asleep with Biyomon asleep against her side. He glanced around the room, and saw that none of the other Digidestined were awake.
Gennai was sleeping in a large armchair, which was a recliner, and he did not stir. Tai listened hard, but heard nothing. He was about to try to go back to sleep, when he heard it again, this time a little louder, and he felt the floor beneath him shake slightly. A few moments later, the same thing happened again, only a little louder and with more force. He hated to disturb Sora, but he sat up, as well as he could, and shook Sora gently. She awoke very slowly, sat up, and looked at Tai as if not quite seeing him. "Sora. Something's wrong." At his words, Sora instantly became more awake, and after seeing that she, Tai, Biyomon, and the other Digidestined were all OK, she asked, "What's the matter?" She could not hide the fear building in her voice.
Tai was about to answer, when the floor shook suddenly, and the sound came louder. "I think something's attacking the house." Tai said, although he had no idea where su hought came from. Who could know that the Digidestined were—Supreme Darkness. They came back to him, as a bad dream that was impossible to forget.
"Wake the others." Tai said softly, as he rose, somewhat stiffly, to his feet. He helped Sora up, and after waking Agumon and lugging him, still half-asleep to his feet, moved towards Gennai, who was still sleeping soundly.
Tai had a rough time shaking Gennai awake, and when he finally was awake, he leapt out of his chair, and drew his sword that was still in its sheath, and demanded to know what was wrong. Tai began to explain, when the floor suddenly shook violently and the walls tremored. Books fell off the bookshelves, and went crashing to the floor.
By now the other Digidestined were awake, and were coming towards Gennai, carrying or pushing ahead of them their Digimon, who were all still asleep, or nearly so. "What's the matter, Gennai?" Matt demanded.
"It appears we are under attack." Gennai said calmly, as more books spilled to the floor. "There are shields around this house, of course, but it seems that some forces have gotten past them."
"Who is it?" Kari asked, although she knew the answer.
"I do not think it is Supreme Darkness themselves," Gennai said, "But rather other Digimon under their control. They have no doubt traced you here in order to destroy this house and everything in it." He crossed the room, clapping his hands rapidly as he went. A small portion of the floor split open to reveal a dock directly underneath the room. A small gray submarine was tied to it, with its hatch open. A ladder rose up suddenly from the open hatch of the sub, and rose up clear through the opening in the floor.
"We must make our getaway while we are able." He turned back to the Digidestined, brandishing his sword. He then looked down at their Digimon, who were looking expectantly up at their Digidestined. "Whatever you do, you must not Digivolve. It will only draw more of Supreme Darkness' forces here, and besides, none of you could fit in the submarine. If they manage to breach the inner wall, I will hold them off."
The Digidestined gathered up their sleeping bags, rolled them up, and one by one climbed down the ladder into the submarine. As far as Tai could see, the sub was sitting in a large dry room with metal poles and a steel floor, and he wondered how they were going to get out into the water with Supreme Darkness' forces surrounding Gennai's house.
First Joe went down, then T.K., then Matt, then Izzy, and as Mimi was just getting into the submarine, there was a terrific explosion, and the wall lined with bookshelves exploded outward, and several Digimon came flying into the room. They were Mechanorimon, large robotic Digimon, who were followed closely behind by several Tankmon. They sighted Gennai and the remaining Digidestined and their Digimon, and at first, did not move. Gennai, however, did not stand still. He swung his golden sword outwards, and it passed straight through the Mechanorimon who was in the lead. The Mechanorimon made a move to attack, but as it did so, it burst into thousands of tiny fragments.
Tai helped Kari onto the ladder, and with Gatomon perched on her head, she climbed quickly down. Sora followed her, and Tai was last, although he stayed on the base of the ladder, waiting for Gennai. A few moments later, Gennai came scurrying down the ladder, with his sword sheathed, just as several explosions of energy erupted in the room above. Glass shattered, and the table and walls were smashed.
Gennai sealed the hatch, and moved up through the small sub to the bow, were a small-lighted control panel was. He entered a few coordinates, and through the forward windshield, the Digidestined saw the room about them quickly fill with water. As soon as the submarine was submerged, it shot forward, just as a large door opened in the steel wall before them. The submarine had only gone a few moments outside in the rather dark lake, when there came a loud explosion from behind, as the Mechanorimon and Tankmon finished off what was left of Gennai's house.
"Will they come after us?" Mimi asked worriedly.
"I think not." Gennai said. "They have destroyed my house, and that should be enough for them. Now we're off to the portal to go to your world. It is a little earlier than I had expected, but nothing bad can come of it. We have some twenty minutes to go before we reach the portal, so you may make yourselves as ready as you can."
The Digidestined made sure their cloaks and tags and crests were in place and set, and Joe went through the contents of his duffel bag, which was filled with wrapped bars of food. The Digimon, who only a little while ago had been fast asleep, were now wide awake and tense.
Discreetly, Tai felt for Sora's hand in the semi-darkness of the interior of the sub, and she sent him a small smile. The Digidestined then turned to look at the lake passing by outside of the sub through the forward windshield. Gennai seemed to be planning something out in his mind more than steering, for he was not really looking out of the window, but rather at something unseen and far off.
Several minutes later, the Digidestined saw through the windshield that they were approaching a large round circle, made of steel, seemingly standing alone in the middle of the lake floor. Gennai clapped his hands a few times, and a seam split down the middle of the circle and the two halves slowly pulled outwards, until the circle was nothing more than a thin band of steel, the middle of which looked to be a mass of clouds, the same of which Gennai had cloven through to transport them all before. Gennai steered the submarine through the circle of steel, straight into the strange clouds, and less than a moment later, the submarine was surrounded by the clouds, being held aloft by some unseen power.
A moment later, Gennai clapped his hands twice, and a circle appeared in the nearest bank of clouds, through which could be seen a distorted image of Japan. Gennai steered the submarine through the circle, which was just large enough for the submarine to move through, and in the same instant, the Digidestined found the submarine was floating peacefully in the middle of the ocean just of off Odaiba, Japan.
The submarine docked at a wooden dock far away from the marina and partially hidden by a clump of bushes. When the Digidestined, their Digimon, and Gennai climbed from the hatch, they were amazed to see that the city looked normal. There was no sign of anything related to Supreme Darkness at all.
The sky was blue with a few clouds, and there were boats in the marina, apparently cruising about without any sort of hindrance to be seen. The city which lay before them appeared filled with people going about their normal lives.
The Digidestined, who had feared finding Odaiba in ruins and their parents enslaved, cheered at this sight, but Gennai shook his head darkly. "This is worse than I feared."
"What do you mean, Gennai?" Kari asked, letting go of T.K. as she was hugging him with joy moments before.
"Your city appears perfectly normal, yet I know that Supreme Darkness passed into your world several hours ago, and I do not know where they are. I can sense no hint of dark power anywhere at all, and that is far worse than looking upon the city and seeing plainly that Supreme Darkness have enslaved its inhabitants, for we do not know where they are, nor what their next move may be." Gennai said. His hand strayed to the hilt of his sword as he said this, and his eyes scanned the horizon, as if he were looking for something unseen.
"What are we going to do now?" Joe asked. He had finally made up his mind to attack Supreme Darkness as soon as he was in sight of them, but they were nowhere to be seen.
"There is nothing more we can do presently," Gennai said, and turned to look upon the Digidestined, his voice level. "I cannot stress upon you all enough; Supreme Darkness is out there, somewhere. You may all go back to your homes, but unless I am very much mistaken, Supreme Darkness will begin to attack any day."
"Where will you go, Gennai?" Mimi asked, holding Palmon in her arms.
"I have . . . connections," Gennai said, "But that is not my chief concern. I would give a good deal to know where Supreme Darkness is, as this troubles me greatly. I will stay in touch with you all through your Digivices, and if I discover anything to Supreme Darkness' whereabouts, I will contact you. If any of you see anything of any Digimon, contact myself as well as the others." Gennai opened the hatch of the submarine and disappeared into its depths with a final piercing glance to show the seriousness of the situation.
For a few moments the Digidestined looked at each other, rather confused, and no one said anything. Agumon turned to look up at Tai, who was lost in his own thoughts. "Tai, what are we going to do now?" The other Digidestined turned to look at him as well, waiting for an answer.
"I guess we'd better listen to Gennai and just go home." Tai said, wishing he could think of something to prove he was not a failure as a leader.
"This makes no sense!" Matt yelled out suddenly. "First we go to the Digiworld, get beaten by Supreme Darkness, and then come back to Earth to find that nothing's wrong, and Gennai tells us to keep a look out for any Digimon and goes off and leaves us! I say we should just let him take on Supreme Darkness and see how well he does."
"Matt, are you listening to yourself?" Joe asked.
"Truly, you are ranting like a madman." Izzy muttered.
"Haven't you grown up at all, Matt?" Tai yelled, getting frustrated. "This is what we did last time, and it got us nowhere!"
"Oh yeah, some leader you are!" Matt countered, his voice rising. "Just do whatever Gennai tells you and pretend to act like we're all going to listen to you and follow orders. Why don't you join the army or something?"
"Matt, that's not really fair." Kari said.
"Oh sure, stick up for your brother. What excuse do you have for Gennai?" Matt asked nastily.
"Watch it, Matt!" Tai said, his voice low and dangerous. "You have no right to insult Gennai!"
"What has he ever done for us but make more problems?" Matt asked. "he just sends us off to do all the fighting, and when its done, just sends us back home without any explanation. Why doesn't he do some fighting for once to see how it's like?"
"I've had enough!" Mimi burst out, surprising them all. She dropped Palmon, and in the next instant, had slapped Matt across the face. Matt stumbled backwards, holding his cheek, completely surprised. "We're Digidestined, Matt! We're supposed to stick together, no matter what! How dare you speak badly about Gennai!" Matt tried to say something in response, but Mimi cut him off. "I don't want to hear another word about it! Gennai's only trying to help us save the world, the world you live in! Who else will do it if not us?" Matt did not answer this time, but looked sheepishly at the ground.
The rest of the Digidestined stared at Mimi in amazement. "Wow Mimi, I didn't know you had it in you!" Kari said. Mimi smiled, a little embarrassed.
"Now that—that's done," Tai said, still looking at Mimi in amazement, "We should all just go home and wait for Gennai's signal. If anyone sees anything, call everyone else."
The Digidestined left the dock and headed further into the city, splitting up to go back to their apartments, still clad in their strange cloaks. If any of the people they passed noticed their strange attire, nothing was said, for they all figured it was a new fad. Joe, Matt and T.K. went to their high rises, while a few blocks away, at Hightonview Terrace, Izzy, Mimi, Sora, Tai and Kari arrived at their own apartments.
Over the next few days, the Digidestined lived their lives normally for the middle of the summer, going to the local pool, watching television, going to the movie theatre, but always keeping an eye out for any strange occurrences. Tai and Sora saw a lot of each other, but they did not show any of their true feelings when the others were around. Actually, Tai thought that something was going on between Matt and Mimi, especially after Mimi had slapped Matt, for they always seemed to be together, more than usual. But Tai had more important things on his mind, sad to say, as did all of the Digidestined. They were waiting for Supreme Darkness to show themselves—something to happen.
Their Digimon, too, seemed to be rather on edge. They had to keep out of sight most of the time, for they could not allow the Digidestined's parents to see them, and they were growing bored. They were waiting for Supreme Darkness to show up so that they could defend the Digidestined, which was much better than just staying hidden all day.
Tai and Kari had gone to bed after watching T.V. one night, but neither of them could sleep. The window was open a little, letting in a warm summer breeze, but Tai was not thinking of that, barely noticing it at all. His thoughts shifted restlessly from Sora to Supreme Darkness, and back again. It bothered Tai that any Digimon could be as strong as Supreme Darkness, and he had wondered if the Digidestined could defeat them, no matter what Gennai had said.
Tai was just drifting off to sleep, his thoughts still on the troubling situation they were facing, when a low tremor shook through the building. It felt like an earthquake, but Tai knew it was not. The building was quiet for a few moments, before tremoring again, harder than before. Several books fell off of the small bookshelf against the wall and Tai shook Agumon, who was sleeping peacefully in a sleeping bag on the floor next to his bed.
"Tai?" Agumon said sleepily, and he stood up, rubbing his eyes. The small yellow dinosaur did not take kindly to being rudely awakened. "What's the matter?"
Before Tai could answer, another tremor rent the whole building, and more books tumbled off the shelf. Agumon stumbled, and almost fell. "What do you think it is?" he asked.
"Who do you think?" Tai muttered. Supreme Darkness had obviously found out where they lived—but how? Tai opened the door to his bedroom, and stepped out into the darkened hallway, just as he felt another tremor vibrate the floor boards. Agumon followed quietly after him as he went into Kari's room and shook her awake.
Kari immediately realized what was going on, and while Tai went off to call the other Digidestined, she got dressed, pulling on the gray cloak after remembering what Gennai had told them about the cloaks, and with Gatomon at her heels, they both found Tai, already in his cloak, waiting for them near the front door. "I tried calling Joe and Matt, but nobody answered. They all must still be asleep."
"The others must have woken up too." Kari said, as Tai opened the front door as softly as he could. He followed Kari and their two Digimon out, before closing the door as softly as he could behind them. They had only gone a little way down the darkened hallway, before they met up with Izzy and Mimi, who were coming towards them, their Digimon following close behind.
"Any idea of what's going on?" Tai asked. Mimi looked tired but scared, while Izzy looked wide-awake and attentive. They both had on their cloaks, and Izzy had his laptop under his arm.
"From what I can tell, there are several Digimon attacking the base of this apartment building, and are attempting to get our attention." Izzy said, which was not much more than any of them already knew.
"Where's Sora?" Tai asked.
"We haven't been over to her apartment yet." Mimi said. "I met Izzy a few minutes ago, and we came up here to look for you."
"Let's get Sora, and we can see what this is about." Tai said, but there was an edge to his voice, as if he already knew what was going to happen. The four Digidestined walked down the concrete stairwell, their footsteps echoing loudly down the stairwell, the only other sound being the tremors of the building, which were growing rapidly. They emerged out on the second floor corridor, and found Sora in her cloak, just coming out of her own apartment. Biyomon had taken to the air and was flying around in impatient circles. Sora seemed relieved to see the Digidestined, but Tai noticed that she looked tired, as if she had not slept well at all.
"Is it—" Sora asked, as the group headed down the last flight of stairs, but she did not finish her question, as she feared she knew the answer. They came out onto the first floor, when suddenly the tremors stopped, as if whatever was causing them suddenly realized that the Digidestined were aware of them and looking for them. The Digidestined left by the main entrance to the apartment building, to emerge onto the dark grounds of Hightonview Terrace. The sky was black, as the moon was hidden behind the clouds, and the stars could only be faintly seen. There was light enough to see by, however, as up and down the empty street which ran in front of their apartment building there were many streetlights.
They moved quietly around the side of the building, moving as slowly as possible. Their Digimon were tense, ready to Digivolve at moment's notice. Sora, who had taken Tai's hand in the semi-darkness, did not even notice she was squeezing his hand rather hard. The Digidestined came to the corner around which lay the back of their apartment building, and they paused, all looking towards Tai for instructions. Tai swallowed hard, and was about to answer when—
"Hyper Cannon!"
A sudden explosion of energy slammed into the corner of the apartment building, scant feet from where the Digidestined were standing. They threw themselves forward onto the grass, and covered their heads with their hands. Several bricks fell from the top of the building, luckily hitting none of the Digidestined.
Tai was the first to climb shakily to his feet, and what he saw before him made him go practically white. A low moan next to him meant that Sora had seen what lay before them, prowling about behind Hightonview Terrace.
Several Tankmon and Mechanorimon were prowling around what used to be a large expanse of green grass and trees. It was now a smoldering rubble of bits of wood and dirt. There were several indentations in the back of their apartment building, and many bricks had already fallen to the ground around the Mechanorimon, who were pacing about, apparently waiting for the Digidestined.
The Mechanorimon turned as one on the spot where they were pacing, to face the Digidestined sprawled about the ground. "Target acquired." One of them said in a monotone to the others.
"Affirmative." One of the others responded. "Open fire."
The other Digidestined had only time to notice what was about to happen, and as they tried to get up and run, Tai fumbled for his Digivice, nearly dropping it. Agumon understood at once, and leapt to his feet, to be swarmed suddenly with incredible power from the midst of Tai's Digivice.
"Agumon warp-digivolved to . . . WarGreymon!"
WarGreymon stood in front of the Mechanorimon, and just as they were about to fire, he charged towards them, his clawed gauntlets outstretched. He reached the one nearest him, and knocked it to one side with one swipe of his claws. The rest of the Mechanorimon now turned to fire upon WarGreymon, but he was moving too fast for them to find a target. In a moment, all of the Mechanorimon were attempting to climb to their feet, and WarGreymon turned his attention to the half-dozen Tankmon which faced him, laughing their eerie laugh.
"Hyper Cannon!"
Two explosions of energy slammed into WarGreymon, but he barely took notice, and slammed into their midst, knocking them all flying. WarGreymon was merely keeping the enemy off balance so that they could not target the Digidestined, and so that the other Digimon could have a chance to Digivolve. WarGreymon knew that Supreme Darkness could not be far away, which was why he did not use up his energy destroying the Tankmon and Mechanorimon.
"Horn Buster!" MegaKabuterimon, without bothering to go airborne, swept along the ground a few feet from the surface, his enormous horn brimming with energy. He appeared to pass straight through four Tankmon, as they disappeared into miniscule fragments as he passed.
"Wing Blade!" Garudamon, who had taken to the sky with Tai and Sora riding on her back, halted in mid-air, and a bird made of fire flew from her to explode among the midst of regrouping Mechanorimon. Two exploded in tiny fragments, while the others scattered.
The remaining Tankmon and Mechanorimon regrouped at the far end of what once was the grassy field behind Hightonview Terrace, some fifty yards from the back of the apartment building, and WarGreymon stood firmly upon the ground several feet in front of Izzy, Mimi and Kari, who stood with their backs to the partially-broken wall. Garudamon and MegaKabuterimon were floating aloft near the roof of the apartment building. Gatomon stood protectively in front of Kari, a determined look in her eyes.
Sora, who was riding upon Garudamon's back with Tai, asked, "What are they waiting for, Tai? Why don't they attack?"
Tai looked at their Digimon facing off against the remaining Tankmon and Mechanorimon, who made no move to attack, and then glanced at Sora. "They're waiting for something. It doesn't—" he paused as he suddenly realized what was about to happen. "They're expendable. It doesn't matter if they're destroyed," he said, rather softly. "Their job was just to get our attention—"
Before Tai could finish, there came from the night sky a loud rush of rocket engines, and a massive shape could be seen flying at terrific speeds across the night sky. It was rather high up and still far away, but at the rate it was flying, it would be upon them in less than a minute.
"Kari! Izzy!" Tai shouted down to the other Digidestined, as Garudamon drifted slowly down through the air to stand once more upon the ground, "Forget about the other Digimon! MadRobotmon's coming!"
Kari, Mimi, and Izzy looked up at Tai, their faces having gone white. They could not hold a battle here, not so close to their homes! Even if they could get away, what could they do against the likes of MadRobotmon?
Tai made a rapid decision. "Kari, Izzy and Mimi, get on board Garudamon!" Garudamon lowered her enormous clawed hands, and the Digidestined scrambled up into them. As Garudamon took to the air again, Tai shouted out to Wargreymon and MegaKabuterimon. "Follow us!"
As all three Digimon climbed higher into the air and began to fly away as quickly as they could, they heard the rush of rocket engines change its note, and grow steadily louder.
From where Tai was, clinging with all of his might to Garudamon as incredible forces of wind pressed against him, trying to knock him off, he turned quickly, and saw MadRobotmon bearing down upon them, some fifty yards behind. He was close enough now that Tai could see the rocket engines protruding from his feet.
"Garudamon, can't you go any faster?" Tai yelled, but his voice was lost in the rushing winds. Sora glanced behind them, and gasped as she saw how close MadRobotmon was. She tightened her grip around Tai's waist, and tried to will Garudamon to fly faster.
Tai looked down over Garudamon's massive shoulders, and saw the ground rushing past them so fast he could barely tell where they were headed. He caught flashes of blue, and then solid green, and realized they must have crossed the lake and were approaching the mountain ranges which lay to the north of Oidaba.
WarGreymon seemed to notice MadRobotmon, who was gaining upon the Digidestined foot by foot. He dove up sharply, narrowly missing Garudamon, and then began to spin incredibly fast, putting the points of his claws together over his head.
"Terra Force!"
WarGreymon launched himself straight for MadRobotmon, and slammed into him as if a massive drill, slowing MadRobotmon enough to enable Garudamon and MegaKabuterimon to gain several hundred feet.
"Haven't learned your lesson yet?" MadRobotmon asked, as two cannons unfolded from his massive shoulders. "Ultimate Blaster!" Two spheres of energy converged into one, and slammed fully into WarGreymon, who blocked most of the force of the blow with his gauntlets. Nevertheless, he was thrown several yards off to one side, and by the time he recovered, MadRobotmon was well on his way after the Digidestined.
Tai saw all this from far off, and he hoped WarGreymon was all right, and then turned his attention to the problem they all faced. They could not keep running from MadRobotmon, sooner or later he would catch them, or they would tire enough to de-digivolve in midair. Before he had a chance to express his thoughts to Sora, who was looking anxiously at him, there suddenly came several small explosions, all in a row from a good deal behind them.
"Supreme Fusillade!" Several cannons which were arranged around MadRobotmon's lower arm fired at once, and several small but deadly spheres of energy were hurtling toward them at an alarming rate. Within three moments they had caught up with the Digidestined, which was barely enough time for Garudamon to pull downwards sharply, so they narrowly missed her.
MegaKabuterimon was not as lucky, and he caught the full force of the blow, and was knocked from the sky. As he fell towards the mountains, whose tops were rather near the Digidestined, he de-digivolved back to Tentomon, who continued to fall, unconscious, towards the stone below.
Izzy gave out a yell, but he could not help his friend. Suddenly, in a rush of yellow and orange, WarGreymon pulled out of a steep dive, catching the still form of Tentomon mere feet above the highest top. As WarGreymon circled back around and gave Tentomon to Izzy, a dry chuckling came from several yards behind where Garudamon was floating, her two enormous wings outstretched.
MadRobotmon stood still in midair, his red eyes glinting in the night sky. "Who will be there to catch all of you?" he asked softly. "That fool Gennai is in hiding, and none of the other Digidestined are anywhere near. What shall you do when your Digimon are crushed from beneath you and you have nothing to hold you up?"
"Nova Force!" WarGreymon generated an enormous sphere of red energy between his gauntlets, and threw it straight for MadRobotmon, who could not move out of the way in time. He was knocked from where he was sitting in midair, and fell a few hundred feet before he could catch himself. He then turned to look at WarGreymon, two cannons unfolding from his shoulders. "You will be the first to fall." MadRobotmon growled. "Ultimate Blaster!"
WarGreymon managed to dodge the large sphere of crackling energy, yet was hit by the edge of it, and thrown backwards. MadRobotmon rose straight upwards, and a circle of cannons appeared around his lower right arm. "Supreme Fusillade!"
The small spheres of energy slammed fully into WarGreymon, who had not had a chance to recover, and he was thrown a long way away before he had a chance to recover.
From where she stood in Garudamon's enormous hands, Kari looked down at Gatomon, and held out her Digivice. "C'mon, Gatomon. We've got to help WarGreymon."
"Gatomon Digivolved to . . . Angewoman."
The angel-type Digimon took off on her four shimmering pairs of wings, and flew straight towards MadRobotmon, who was about to finish WarGreymon off.
"Celestial Arrow!" A shimmering white arrow flew straight from a nearly invisible string, and struck MadRobotmon in his back. MadRobotmon stopped suddenly from where he was advancing upon WarGreymon, and with an effort managed to keep himself in midair. As he turned towards Angewoman—
"Nova Force!" An enormous sphere of energy flew straight for MadRobotmon's turned back.
"Celestial Arrow!" Another arrow was let lose from the string, and hit MadRobotmon at the same moment as WarGreymon's Nova Force did, and there was a sudden blinding flash of power as both attacks momentarily converged through MadRobotmon, forcing the Digidestined to glance away.
When they turned to look again, they saw MadRobotmon, who was thrown several hundred yards to one side, to recover and glare at the two Digimon who had attacked him.
Tai suddenly made up his mind, and he yelled to Garudamon "Garudamon, fly us back towards Oidaba before MadRobotmon's had a chance to fully recover!" A moment later, Garudamon took off towards the direction in which they had come, and WarGreymon and Angewoman followed close behind.
There was a rush of rocket engines, and the Digidestined knew that MadRobotmon was once more chasing them. His voice rippled through the air after them, a dry chuckling laugh. "Give it up, Digidestined. Sooner or later, you will tire, and I will not. Whether you fall here or in that festering cesspool you call a city it makes no difference. Do you think that your foolish friends will help you? SteelSpidermon has gone after them, and unless I am mistaken, he has them in his webs, helpless."
This made Tai pause, but Sora touched his arm and he turned to look at her. "Don't listen to him." She said, so softly he could barely hear her over the rush of the wind, and from the look on her face, she had a hard time convincing herself of it.
"Garudamon!" Tai yelled out suddenly. "Can you bring the other Digidestined up here?"
Several moments later, Garudamon slowly raised her large right clawed hand above her head so that Mimi, Izzy, and Kari could scramble over to where Tai and Sora were seated.
"What are we going to do, Tai?" Mimi wailed as soon as she saw him. "You heard MadRobotmon! Who can help us?"
Tai ignored Mimi and turned to Izzy, while Kari and Palmon tried to calm Mimi down. "Izzy, can you contact the others and Gennai on your lap top?"
Izzy nodded grimly, and Kari took Tentomon's unconscious form from him as he pulled out his lap top. His typed rapidly for several moments, in which MadRobotmon gained several feet on the Digidestined, try as Garudamon and the other Digimon might to go faster. "None of the other Digidestined are responding." Izzy said, and then turned to look at the others looking anxiously at him. "It appears that MadRobotmon may not have been lying." He paused, and glanced at the computer screen again. "I've sent Gennai a message, and he's received it!" The Digidestined tried to all look at the screen at one time, but there was not room for them all. A moment later, Izzy said "Gennai sent us a response! He said he'll meet us at the main bridge!"
"That's great," Kari said, as the other Digidestined appeared relieved, "But we've got to get there first!" The roar of rocket engines behind them brought them all back to reality. There was still some way to go to get to the place where Gennai said he would meet them, and MadRobotmon was getting closer.
"Ultimate Blaster!" A crackling sphere of energy passed a foot to the side of Garudamon. "Give up this absurd chase, Digidestined." MadRobotmon's voice echoed through the air after them. "My next shot shall not miss."
WarGreymon stopped in midair, gathering energy between his gauntlets. "Nova Force!" He threw a large sphere of crackling energy straight for MadRobotmon, who was about to attack again. Just as his cannons were unfolding from his massive metallic shoulders, the sphere of energy slammed into him, knocking him backwards some fifty yards.
"We're approximately two minutes from the destination point." Izzy called out.
WarGreymon joined up with Angewoman, and the two of the continued on their way with Garudamon. All three Digimon were tiring, but they only needed to keep MadRobotmon away for two more minutes before they could rest. The roar of rocket engines started again, but this time it was considerably farther away than before, which all of the Digidestined were glad to hear.
Oidaba came looming through the darkened sky before them, and the Digimon began to fly lower, so that Gennai would be able to spot them. The Digidestined were looking around upon the ground, as well as they could, trying to see Gennai, or possibly some ambush by Supreme Darkness, but there was nothing to see. A fog had descended over the city, and all was hazy and shapes were hard to decipher.
"Getting tired, Sora." Garudamon said, and her voice sounded weak and feeble.
"Hang on there, Garudamon! Only a little further!" Sora called out to her friend. They could not slow down now, so near to their goal!
The rush of rocket engines came suddenly louder again, and the Digidestined knew without looking back that MadRobotmon was gaining on them once more. They were flying among the highest buildings now, and they were half a minute away from meeting with Gennai.
"I grow tired of this chase." MadRobotmon's voice came loudly after them. "Supreme Fusillade!" A ring of cannons emerged around his lower arm, and fired simultaneously, sending several small spheres of energy straight towards Garudamon.
WarGreymon saw this, and made a split-second decision. He dove forward, underneath Garudamon, and put himself between Garudamon and the spheres of energy. They slammed into him, and as the prolonged fight had already tired him out, he fell back, dedigivolved to Agumon, and went falling through the night sky.
"Angewoman!" Kari screamed, but Angewoman was too far away.
Tai stood up, not caring for his own safety, watching helplessly as his friend plummeted to the concrete below. Suddenly, a shape, moving so fast it could only just be seen, came out of nowhere, and caught Agumon twenty feet above the pavement. The figure shot through the air, and as it came towards the Digidestined, they saw it was Gennai, somehow effortlessly flying through the air! He gave Agumon back to Tai without a word, and then turned towards MadRobotmon, who was baring down upon them all.
Gennai swiftly drew his golden blade, and uttered some words in a strange language, and swung the sword out towards MadRobotmon. There was a deafening explosion and a blast of light, and MadRobotmon was thrown back up into the air from where he had come from, yelling loudly about Gennai.
As Garudamon touched down on the pier, let the Digidestined off, and dedigivolved back to Biyomon, Kari turned to Gennai. "Thanks for coming, Gennai. Did you defeat MadRobotmon?"
"I'm afraid not, but he will not be after you for a while." Gennai said grimly, as he sheathed his sword under his cloak.
"Thanks for rescuing Agumon, too." Tai said. "Where are the others?"
"SteelSpidermon, along with many of his own army of evil Digimon, attacked their apartment building, and they were in greater peril than you, if possible, so I had to see to them first. They are waiting for us at the other end of the pier. It was a narrow ordeal, all the same."
"What are we going to do?" Mimi wailed. "Supreme Darkness knows where we live!"
"Yes, that is most unfortunate. For now, you all will have to come stay with me. I have . . . a place were we can rest for a while before we decide what to do next, and Supreme Darkness will not be able to find us." Gennai began walking up the pier, and the Digidestined followed close after him. This was unlike any situation they had ever been in before. Myotismon had hunted all through Oidaba for the eighth Digidestined, but they never had been attacked in their homes and chased before.
Kari glanced up at Angewoman, as she dedigivovled to Gatomon. She shuddered to think what would have happened if Gennai had not been there to catch Agumon. She hurried to catch up with her brother, and asked, quietly, "Tai, do you think we can beat Supreme Darkness? They seem so powerful and evil."
Tai looked down at his younger sister and smiled. "We've beaten all of the other bad Digimon, haven't we?" Kari smiled back, but she wasn't so sure.
