Part 8: An Old Friend Returns!
Yamato, Sora, and Taichi had just made it back to Odaiba Elementary and made their ways back to the computer lab.
"Something is terribly wrong! I don't only have a feeling that our Digimon are in trouble, but I have the feeling that something is wrong with one of the others now too, but I'm not all that worried about Piyomon anymore."
"We have to get to the Digital World to help!" Yamato said while banging his fist down on the computer desk in frustration.
Taichi took a seat at the computer that the others normally always used when going to and from the Digital World, and started to type. He and Izzy hanged out quite a lot and he was learning a bit about computers.
"Taichi, what are you doing?" Sora asked, looking over the soccer player's shoulder.
"Looking for the closest gate that's open," he managed to say since his concentration was more so on the screen in front of him.
"You know how to do that?" Yamato asked in surprise.
"Yeah, Koushirou showed me how."
"Amazing!" the two said.
"But Taichi, what are the chances of there being a gate open near here?"
"Look, Sora, I don't care if the closest gate is in Osaka and I have to hitchhike, I'm going to get to the Digital World one way or another!"
He kept typing and frowned.
"This is weird, nothing is happening."
"Maybe you typed in the wrong command," Sora replied.
"No, I'm pretty sure I did this right.
He then typed in a command to bring up the gate that the others traveled through, but all it did was beep.
"See, it isn't me; it won't even let me see where Takeru and the others went or where they are or anything!"
"I wonder why," Yamato asked.
Before Tai could give any type of an explanation, he and the others heard a voice say, "You Got Mail"
"Maybe it's an email from the others," Sora hoped.
"I sure hope so," Taichi muttered.
"Hurry up and check it!" Yamato urged. "My little brother and Gabumon may be in trouble!"
"My sister is out there too, you know, and so are Agumon, Piyomon, and the others!" Taichi snapped back.
Yamato got angered at Taichi and vice versa. The two looked as if they were about to knock each other out. Sora stood between the two taller boys and held them back from one another.
"Stop it you two and put your fists down! Why are you arguing like two immature brats!" Sora then smirked a bit. "Well, with the way you two argue, you can tell that you really care about each other and are very good friends."
"Yeah…I really care about him…" Yamato said slowly with a sweat drop, "anyway, I'm just so worried about Takeru. What if he's hurt and he needs my help! What if---"
"He's 11 years old!" Taichi yelled at the taller boy. "Let him grow up! He can do fine without you and he proved that when he got away from Puppetmon all by himself and he was eight then! Man, he's even as big as you are now!"
"TAICHI!!!"
"No Sora, he's right. I still see him as a little kid and that he always needs me to protect him. Even after he told me that he didn't need me to watch over him anymore, I still do it."
"Yamato…"
Taichi shook his head at Sora who nodded.
"We understand." Sora gave Yamato a gentle smile. "You're just being a typical big brother. I think it's rather nice that you like to look after him."
"But Taichi is right, I should really let him grow up. I have to accept the fact that he's not a little kid anymore."
"Yeah, he's not the same shrimpy kid he was a few years ago," Taichi shortly laughed.
"And let's not forget that he's really cute now; not that adorable cute like when he was a kid, but a handsome type of cute."
Taichi and Yamato gave her a look.
The girl blushed a little, and gave out a nervous smile. "Not that you aren't, Yamato."
"Naturally; Takeru gets his looks from me I'm sure. Sometimes I wonder why I was cursed with these good looks."
"And what about me?"
"Oh, you know you're cute, but you shouldn't have ditched the goggles. Ever thought of getting another pair?"
"What's with you today?" Taichi then started to laugh a bit. "You're being a little too nice and you've been talking about boys being cute a lot lately."
The Tennis playing girl smiled nervously and then started urging Taichi to check the email to get the attention off of her.
"Check the e-mail, Tai!"
"Oh, yeah!"
He clicked on the e-mail icon, which caused the three to gasp at what they saw. Instead of getting a written message, like one would normally, an icon with a voice, which belonged to that of an old man with slits for eyes, said, "Hey there, Chosen Children!"
"Gennai?"
"In the flesh…um, data. Nice to see you all again. My, you've all grown up so much."
"Gennai-san?" Sora said again, still a bit surprised.
Digianalyzer on>>
Gennai: Yep, it's me, the one and only Gennai! I helped out Taichi and the others a few years earlier when they first came to the Digital World. If it weren't for my great guidance, they wouldn't be the great people that they are now!
Taichi: Great guidance?
Gennai: ^_^;
Digianalyzer off>>
"Gennai, what's wrong!" Yamato asked.
"Nothing bad, I hope," Sora said.
"I'm afraid so," Gennai nodded sadly.
"Does it have to do with my sister and the others?"
"They don't know it yet, but they're in terrible danger."
"Maybe we should find Mimi-chan and Jyou-senpai. I'm pretty sure that Koushirou-kun is already with them. He said he was going to come over because of something dealing with Iori's Digivice; besides, he left his uniform jacket there on the chair and I know it doesn't belong to Yamato or Taichi because it's too small, but we should really let Mimi-chan and Jyou-senpai know what's going on."
"You don't even have to bother; they're already in the Digital World along with Takeru, Hikari, and those two new kids I've never met directly."
"Two?" Taichi asked.
"There are three new kids now," Yamato informed him.
"Unless one of them stayed home or something. My guess would be Miyako-chan. She's been taking the true identity of the Digimon Kaiser pretty badly, lately."
"Oh yeah, that's right, three new kids. My old age must be catching up to me," Gennai chuckled. "The kid I forgot was a weird looking one."
"But Taichi is standing right here, unless you mean Daisuke," Yamato joked.
Sora giggled.
"Hey!"
"That's true," Gennai started, "but unlike Taichi, this kid is quiet."
"What exactly is wrong?" Sora asked, growing more worried by the second. "You haven't really mentioned anything."
"Could the kid he's talking about be Iori?" Yamato asked. "He's pretty quiet."
"Yeah, that's the one!" Gennai's tone then turned to that of a very serious one. "In a short while, he will no longer be a Chosen Child, instead, he will be a Digimon."
"You're making less sense than usual!" Taichi shouted.
"How can a child turn into a Digimon?" Sora asked.
"Well, not physically, I hope, but mentally, sort of…"
"That still doesn't make any sense!" Yamato muttered.
"Since when has Gennai ever made any sense?"
The musician thought about Taichi's question.
"Good point," he finally said. "We could be here the rest of the day and all night trying to figure out what he's talking about."
"We're doomed," Sora groaned.
Gennai shook his head and ignored the comments and continued.
"Well, the Digimon Kaiser---"
"You know about him?!"
"Of course, Sora. I know about everything that goes on in the Digital World, even if I'm not there physically anymore."
Sora was about to ask "How do you know" and "What do you mean 'not there physically'" but decided to ask later and see what he had to say first.
"Your friend is going to be taken over by the Digimon Kaiser. He's going to serve, obey him, and help to get rid of the others. He's halfway there already!"
"Iori is the most polite kid there is!" Yamato retorted, refusing to believe such a thing. "He would never do a thing like that! Now Daisuke, since he's so fickle, yeah, I could see, but not Iori!"
"But how?"
"I'm not too sure as to how, Sora." Gennai then put his attention on the musician. "My, what confidence do you have in Daisuke?"
"Just kidding around, Gennai. Daisuke really is a bright and determined kid, though."
"Gennai, how do you know this?" Taichi asked.
"You children really want to know?"
The three nodded vigorously.
"Okay, come a little closer and I'll tell you," the old man smiled.
The three looked at each other and shrugged and then inched closer and closer towards the computer screen, awaiting Gennai's answer.
"Well, I can't tell you that."
You then hear a loud crash. The three young teens had face-faulted.
"I don't even know myself," he goofily grinned.
"Yeah…nice," Yamato mumbled with a sweat drop, picking himself up.
"Gennai-san, did you contact us so that we could warn the others?"
"Yes, pretty much, Sora."
"We could send them an email," Taichi suggested.
"No can do, kiddo," Gennai shook his head.
"How come?" Yamato asked.
"For some odd reason, direct communication with them while in the Digital World isn't possible right now. That device that Digimon Kaiser guy is using probably has a lot to do with it and is interfering with your connection with them."
"Then how are you communicating with us right now?" Sora asked.
"Where are you anyway?" Taichi asked, giving Gennai a look of suspicion.
"It couldn't be the Digital World if he's talking to us," Yamato concluded, his arms crossed.
"No, it couldn't be," Sora shook her head. "He said something about not being in the Digital World physically anymore, and I want to know more about that and how he knows all of this stuff dealing with Iori and the Digimon Kaiser!"
"Oh no! What's happening!"
Sora and Yamato looked over to where Taichi was. The computer image of Gennai was starting to fade away.
"Uh-oh, I was afraid this was going to happen..."
"What!" Sora asked in alarm. "Are you in some type of trouble!"
"Is that Digimon Kaiser jerk shutting you off from us!" Taichi asked, his right fist bawled, ready to fight.
"Maybe he found out that you are warning us about Iori and is trying to keep you from saying anything else!" Yamato assumed.
"No, it's something FAR worse!"
"Worse than the Digimon Kaiser?"
"Yes, Sora, much worse…AOL!"
"Ehh?"
"It's about to lose its connection for absolutely no reason at all, which proves how lousy it really is."
"Oh-kay," Taichi sweat dropped, his eyes more closed than Gennai's.
"I better tell you this quickly, there's a gate open right there in Odaiba, Tokyo."
"A gate…open?" Sora and Yamato asked in unison.
"Where is it!! Hikari could be in danger!!"
"Who's being the overprotective brother now?"
"This is a totally different situation! Brothers are supposed to be more protective of their little sisters!"
"What!"
"Well, um, sisters are helpless since they're girls and, um…"
'Note to self, beat the crap out of Taichi for that remark,' Sora muttered in thought.
"…well, girls aren't weak, it's just that Hikari may need me! I mean, I'm sill her brother and I don't want anything to happen to her!"
'Good save, Taichi,' Sora inwardly praised.
'What if she's getting sick again!' Taichi thought, a bit in worry. 'Oh no! Would the others know what to do!?! I would never forgive myself if something bad happened to Hikari while in the Digital World! What would mom think? She doesn't even know about the Digimon and the Digital World. No one does, only a few of us still do since everyone else's minds have been completely erased of what happened with Apocalymon and all of the other evil Digimon three years ago!!'
Yamato was about to respond, but Sora stopped the two from saying anything further so that Gennai could speak.
"Thank you Sora. I'm out of aspirin, so listening to an argument right now isn't the best thing in the world to do. Now, according to this, there is a gate open there in Tokyo at an OJH, the band room. Yamato should know that place well."
"OJH?" Taichi asked.
"Band room?"
"Where's OJH, and what part of Tokyo is it in?" Sora asked.
"Band room?"
"Are you sure it's right here in Odaiba?" Yamato asked.
"Whoops, gotta go. I have an AOL error message now for no apparent reason."
"Gennai, wait, come back!!" Taichi pleaded. "Tell us what part of Tokyo this OJH place is in!!"
Gennai's image then disappeared.
"We have to find OJH, but where is it and what is it?" Sora asked.
"Well, we're not going to find it standing around here trying to figure Gennai out. Let's go!" Yamato instructed.
"Right!" Taichi and Sora nodded.
The three left to find this "OJH" place and to get to the Digital World to help the others…