Part 19: The Three I(s) Meet!
Mimi: Last time, Hikari, Daisuke, and I, along with our Digimon, found the main source of Iori's Dark Rings! Thanks to Daisuke's quick thinking and Hikari's possessed side, he destroyed a Mini Dark Tower which had the same negative power as a regular one and Hikari found the source of the Dark Rings controlling Iori. Because of Daisuke's destroying the Dark Tower, Palmon was able to Digivolve to Togemon and was able to help destroy this Dark Orb which was the source of Iori's powers, but for some strange reason, V-mon wasn't able to armor evolve to Fladramon using the Digimental of Courage, but he was able to evolve to Lightdramon using the Digimental of Friendship. We then ran into Jyou-senpai and the others and we're now looking for Tai and Sora who's seemed to have dissappeared as well as Miyako and Koushirou while on the run from Iori! Man, talk about exhausting!
Insert 02 Intro here>
Koushirou/Miyako/Ken Title: The Three I(s) Meet!
Somewhere in the desert, we find Sora, Piyomon, and Taichi, with Izzy's laptop strapped to his back, all fanning themselves from the heat, accept for Agumon that is...
"Man, it sure is hot out here," Piyomon said, using her wing to fan herself.
"Hot? It feels great out here!" Agumon insisted, taking in a deep breath and enjoying the sun's harsh rays.
"That's because you're a fire reptile, and can take the heat!" Piyomon argued, her already thinning patience, about to reach its limit.
"Hey, don't get mad at me just because you have a coat of hot feathers!"
"I'm a bird; I'm supposed to have feathers!"
"That's your problem, not mine!" Agumon retorted as he stopped walking.
"Oh yeah!" Piyomon said to the reptile, getting into his face, all puffed up as if she was about ready to fight or peck the reptile right in the nose.
"Yeah, bird-brain!"
"Who are you calling a bird-brain, Barney the Dinosaur!"
"Barney the Dinosaur!? Oh, that does it, Pepper---" the Digimon started, but his mouth was forced to close shut, disallowing him to launch the attack.
"Quit it you two," Taichi sighed while holding Agumon's mouth shut. After Agumon nodded, Taichi let go.
"Yeah, the heat is just getting to all of us," Sora said.
"I'm sorry, Agumon," Piyomon apologized. "I guess I'm cranky because of this heat."
"I guess I'm more irritated from the heat than I thought. I would never turn on a fellow Digimon, or a friend, unless it is extremely necessary or can't be helped, like those times where I evolved to Skull Greymon. I don't know what came over me just now."
Taichi held Iori's D-3 in his hand, staring down at it. 'Could this be the problem? Could this be the cause of Agumon's unusual short temper?' He mentally shook his head. 'Nah, it couldn't be. It may have an affect on their evolving, but it can't change a kind-hearted Digimon.'
"Taichi," Sora called, interrupting the young, soccer player's thoughts, "maybe we should rest for a while."
"Rest!? We have to find Miyako and Koushirou! Who knows what Ichijouji is doing to them! He could be torturing them for all we know! We know what he's capable of, just look at what he's done to poor Iori!"
"Don't you think I know that?! It's pointless for us to go after him by ourselves! He probably has an entire Digimon army just waiting to get us, and what do we have? Two Digimon who can't even evolve past their adult (champion) levels unless fate allows it! It would be irresponsible of us to go there and put that kind of pressure on them! They could get killed, Taichi!"
"I have confidence in our Digimon!" the boy replied with no emotion. "They won't die!"
"I have faith in them too, but you can only believe in them by so much when lots of obstacles are in their way! It would be suicide for them!"
"So let me get this straight, it's okay for you to make rash decisions and to take chances, but it's not for me?"
"Taichi, what are you talking about?"
"Well, you were almost killed today trying to fight Iori on you own. When Piyomon found us, you told Yamato and me to get the others to safety while you fought against Iori if it was necessary. Both Yamato and I tried to talk you out of it, but you wouldn't! We offered to help you, but you refused it!"
"That was a totally different situation! I didn't know that Iori-kun was going to ride on Digmon and fly and I didn't know about his D-3 and the effects that it would have on Birdramon!"
"What makes this any different? We're looking for our friends and then we're going to try and free them. There's no guarantee that he's going to have a lot of Digimon surrounding the area!"
Sora gave an exasperated sigh, not wanting to continue their conversation any further. "Okay, okay, you're right. Let's just drop it!"
"Sora?"
"Let's just drop the subject!"
'Way to go, Taichi, now she's mad at me!'
The group continued to walk in silence. Tai was a bit upset over the pointless argument that he and Sora had had. He was starting to wonder if Iori's Digivice was the cause of everyone acting so harshly and short patient towards each other, like if it was giving off some kind of dark energy that may have an effect on a person's mood. First Agumon got mad at Piyomon and now Sora had gotten mad at him over nothing.
It didn't take long, but Tai spoke up. He really felt he owed Sora an apology. It was rare that the crest bearer of love ever got upset over anything, especially for something so trivial. He was just about to when he saw something up ahead.
"Hey guys, look!" he pointed. "We made it! According to Iori's D-3, Koushirou and Miyako are over in that direction! That's where the signals are coming from."
"Wow, that didn't take us too long!" Agumon said.
"Nope, not at all. I knew we'd find where they were being held captive," Taichi smiled, patting his Digimon pal on the head.
"Hey…" Sora said, noticing something up ahead.
"A pyramid?" Piyomon questioned.
"It's Etemon's pyramid!" everyone said.
"Hey, if we're back near Etemon's, then the Sphinx may be reformatted and nearby too!" Sora realized. "Let's go hide there until we can come up with some kind of a plan to rescue Koushirou-kun and Miyako-chan."
Agumon and Piyomon nodded in agreement and started to head towards the Sphinx along with Sora, Tai trotting a short ways behind.
"Oh, I can't wait to get there!" the bird dreamily said. "We'll finally have some shade!"
"C'mon, Taichi!" Agumon called, noticing how far behind Taichi was falling.
The boy hurried along and caught up with the others. Once at the Sphinx, they all sat and rested so that they could come up with some kind of a plan to rescue their two friends. While the other three talked, Tai just sat there in deep thought, not hearing anything they were saying, let alone comprehending any of it.
The crest bearer of courage started to feel a bit uneasy as they talked about how they would enter the pyramid, but he just couldn't figure out why. He knew he had to enter the pyramid, but he just didn't have the courage to. He had done it three years earlier, why was it so difficult for him to do so now?
Sora and the other two Digimon noticed the apprehensive, not to mention worried, looks that Tai had on his face.
"Taichi, what's wrong?"
"Oh, nothing, Agumon. So, what were you all saying?"
"I was just wondering which part of the pyramid those two are being held captive in."
"Probably the same place where we were held captive, Sora."
"Hey yeah! You're probably right!" Agumon said. "That would be the perfect place to hide them, especially with those firewalls to help keep himself protected from us!"
"Thank you for those words of encouragement," Sora sweat dropped in disbelief. 'I would expect Tentomon to say something like that, not Agumon.'
'Oh no, the firewalls! Why did he have to bring that up!'
"I remember where we go to enter the pyramid." Sora pointed. "It's on that side over there. After that, we just find the right path that led to where I was held captive, and I'm positive as to where that is."
"So, are ready to go?" Piyomon asked.
"Yeah!" Sora then gave Taichi a smile. "We all need to take our chances, and if it's too much for us to handle, we'll just retreat and come up with something else."
Agumon stood up. "Okay, let's go!"
Sora and Piyomon nodded and stood, also willing and ready to go.
"Um, you know guys," Taichi started nervously, still remaining seated, "maybe this isn't such a good idea."
"What!" Agumon shouted out in surprise. "It was your idea to go through with this in the first place!"
"C'mon, Taichi, we have to help them or at least check the place out to see what our chances of saving them are, at least."
"No, Sora, it might be too dangerous!"
"Taichi, we're already here. I'm sure I can navigate the place. Surprisingly, I remember almost everything about it, so you don't have to worry about getting lost, if that's what you're worried about."
Taichi decided not to argue with Sora and the others and nodded slowly. He then stood up.
"Okay, let's go!" the boy said with a forced tone of enthusiasm.
"We better make sure to keep out of sight. Now, just follow me and everything will be fine."
"Okay, Sora," Agumon and Piyomon obeyed.
The group ran off and headed towards the pyramid and ended up right at a wall, which they could walk through. Sora was pretty good at navigating and her memory was serving her well.
It didn't take them long, but they had finally arrived at a familiar looking firewall. Tai pretty much freaked out.
"Taichi?" Agumon rushed over to his friend. "What's wrong, Taichi?!"
Tai held his head and started to think to himself. He just couldn't understand why he feared the firewall so much. He always had that fear locked away in the back of his mind, but for some strange reason, the fear of going through the firewall had returned and for some reason, he was more afraid now than what he was three years earlier.
He even knew that the wall wasn't even activated according to what Jyou told them and what Koushirou discovered when checking the area out with his laptop, but for some inexplicable reason, it just didn't matter. He was still too scared to even attempt going through it.
"What if something goes wrong?" Taichi muttered. "What if Sora, or Agumon, or Piyomon get hurt because of me?"
The boy continued to ask questions like that, worrying the others some.
"Taichi, what's wrong with you!" Sora asked.
"What if I lose them! I don't want to lose Sora. I'm nothing but a coward."
The more negative things Tai said and thought about himself, the darker it became around him. Sora and the others noticed. All of a sudden, a hole opened up right underneath Tai and he fell in.
"Taichi!" Sora called, trying to grab out to him before he could fall in, but she was too late. Taichi had fallen into the deep, dark abyss.
"Oh no, not again!"
"Again? What do you mean again, Piyomon?"
"We have to go after him! Something is bothering Taichi! C'mon Agumon, Piyomon, hop in and don't get scared!"
"I don't understand…"
"Just listen to her, Agumon! She knows what she's talking about!"
The little orange reptile could only shrug and jumped down into the
opening along with Piyomon and Sora, hoping to get the boy back...
****
Meanwhile...
"What's the matter, Ken-chan?"
"I'm not so sure. I sense that somebody is here, but I've checked out all of the monitors I managed to re-hook since this place was abandoned, and I see no one. It's like someone is here, yet not."
"You should really come to terms with yourself, Ichijouji!"
The boy looked around and shouted out, "Who's there!" in alarm, not expecting to hear someone, other than Wormmon, speak.
"You don't know me, Ichijouji, but I sure know you."
"Come out here where I can see you!" Ken ordered, his whip in hand.
"That would be impossible for me to do, just like I told the other Chosen Children."
"What?"
"You really don't want this, Ichijouji. You don't want to kill to get your way."
"What's it to you, and why are you here!" Ken snapped, still trying to figure out where the voice was coming from.
"I have a right to be here since my spirit is trapped here."
"Your spirit is trapped here?"
The owner of the voice tsked.
"You poor boy with your corrupt soul. One day it shall be healed, and then you'll realize that this isn't a game. Your sorrow and pity for the one you miss most was turned to hatred towards him; because of this, you're taking out your anger and resentment on those around you whom care about you very much, and you are treating the Digimon of this world as if they don't matter."
"What do you know!" Ken cracked his whip. "Now get out of here and leave me alone!!"
"Um, Ken-chan, who are you talking to?"
"You don't hear the voice?"
Wormmon shook his head.
"Where are you and how dare you say I pity someone! I pity no one!"
"Oh, but you do, Ichijouji. It's just when you were tricked into dipping your regular model Digivice into the Dark Ocean, transforming it into a D-3, it all changed. Your sorrow turned to hate. Your remorse turned to competitive aggression. You are mad at the entire world, Ichijouji, and you want everyone to feel the same hatred and pity that you feel."
"QUIET!! GO AWAY!!"
"Ken-chan!!" Wormmon called out, worried about his human partner.
"Um, sorry. I'm fine, I'm fine."
"Ow, my arms ache!" Ken and Wormmon heard a voice whine. "Where am I?"
"Ahh, they're awaking," the boy evilly smirked.
"Only the girl, Ken-chan."
"Yes, what's her name? Oh yeah, Inoue Miyako."
Miyako looked up to see that her arms were shackled to a wall, and looked as if she was in some type of a dungeon; only the room had lots of computers in it.
"You better let me down from here before I beat you senseless!" Miyako threatened.
"Oh, I'm so worried," Ken yawned.
"Why you little…ooo!!" the girl screamed in frustration as she tried to free herself.
The girl quieted down, after realizing that she had no chance of getting loose, and looked to her side to see Koushirou in the same state as her, only he was still knocked out.
"Izumi-senpai! Izumi-senpai, wake up!"
The redhead started to stir.
"Huh, what's going on?" The boy then realized that he couldn't move his arms, which were a bit sore due to the position they were in. "Hey, why am I tied up here like this!" The boy then noticed the lack of talking from a certain, eccentric bug. "Tentomon! Where is Tentomon!"
"And Hawkmon!"
"Calm down, your worthless Digimon are fine."
Koushirou looked over to where the voice had come from to see a boy dressed in a dark suit, spiky hair, yellow, dark-lensed glasses, and a cape, holding a whip to his side. "Ichijouji?"
"That's the Digimon Kaiser to you!" Ken corrected him as he cracked his whip.
Not really caring one way or the other how he decided to address Ken, he decided to try his best to get answers. "What have you done with our Digimon, and where did you get such a power Digimon to attack them!?"
"Oh, you mean Stingmon?" Ken gave out a small chuckle. "He's a secret weapon of mine."
'Stingmon?' Koushirou thought. 'I wish I had my laptop to look up information on this Stingmon character. Hopefully, the analyzer would bring up information on him, and show what his weaknesses could be.'
"It was so funny watching you two sit there, talking, and then the looks on your faces when I arrived there with Stingmon was very highly amusing. You looked as if you feared for your lives, and then when those two Digimon of yours showed up to fight off Stingmon, it was even more hilarious! They even had the nerve to try and evolve! Too bad they weren't fast enough."
"Ken-kun, why are you doing this?"
"Because I can!" Ken snapped at Miyako. "Wormmon, go show our guests in, but don't bring them in until I call for you."
"Yes, Ken-chan."
"And don't call me Ken!"
"Yes, Ken-chan."
Ken sighed, realizing that he should probably give up on getting Wormmon calling him anything other than "Ken-chan."
The Digimon sighed and slithered away to go and get Hawkmon and Tentomon, unwillingly.
"He should be returning pretty soon," Ken informed his guests while taking a seat at one of the computers closest to them.
"This place seems kind of familiar," Koushirou noted while looking around.
"It should. This is where you guys fell for my trap!"
"The Dark Tower bait!" Miyako realized. "This is the exact same pyramid that Daisuke and the others were in!"
"That explains it." Koushirou turned his attention back to Ken. "I must compliment you, Ichijouji; you did a good job of fixing this place up, compared to how it looked when Etemon had control of it. I can only assume that this place was reformatted after the defeat of Apocalymon years earlier."
"What are you doing!" Miyako whispered.
"Trying to get on his good side," he whispered back quickly. He then put his focus back on Ken. "Yes, this is the room where the once feared Nanomon hid out with one of our fellow Chosens. He was pretty smart, but I must say you've topped him in that sense."
"I think you failed! You're just giving him a swelled head."
Koushirou ignored Miyako and continued. "You know, I could help you out with your computer problems. I see that you are having monitor problems. Well, I could only assume that you are having them since most of the monitors are blank. I'm sure I could figure them out."
"Oh, Izumi," Ken chuckled lightly while shaking his head, "how naïve and dumb do you think I am? I would never let you tamper with these computers. I have researched all of you! I've done my homework; I know all about you, and how you're the computer genius and hacker of the group."
Koushirou's face went red from the accusation in nervousness, and spoke up defensively. "I am not a hacker! I do not hack files of Microsoft in hopes of bringing them down and destroying Bill Gates's operations just so I can take over his company and run it the way I see fit!!"
Both Miyako and Ken looked over at Koushirou with looks meaning, "What are you talking about?"
"Ehehehe, um, never mind," he sweat dropped nervously.
"If I let you on that computer over there, you'd probably send out some kind of a distress signal to lead everyone here and what fun would that be when they can find it themselves, and fry in the process from strange energy rings and a large amount of electricity."
Both gave Ken looks of bewilderment, wondering what he was talking about.
"I can tell that you're curious as to what I'm talking about. Meet two of my newest slaves!" He cracked his whip. "Okay, Wormmon, bring them in!"
Right at that moment, Wormmon slithered in with Hawkmon and Tentomon right behind him.
"Hey, Hawkmon!"
"It's Tentomon! Glad to see you, buddy!"
The two Digimon didn't respond to their greetings and they soon saw why.
"Oh no! Tentomon has a Dark Ring around his waist!"
"And Hawkmon has a Dark Sprial on his wing!"
"And just to think, that's not the best part yet!"
The Kaiser took out two Digivices, a red D-3 and a purplish, regular model Digivice.
"Hey, that's my D-3 and his Digivice!"
"You sure are observant," Ken sarcastically replied.
"Tentomon! Tentomon!"
"Come on, Hawkmon, snap out of it!"
"They won't listen to you. They're under my control now."
"Let them go!" Miyako ordered. "Hawkmon, come over here!"
"Like I told you already, they will not listen to you. Keep on talking and they'll probably attack you."
"No way!" Koushirou protested. "We have a strong bond with them; they wouldn't turn on us like that! For all we know, this could all be some kind of a sham!"
"So you would think." He then gave them another arrogant smirk. "That's what Agumon said as well as his human partner thought before I made him Dark Evolve to Skull Greymon, that he could get to Agumon and get him back to normal!" Ken turned towards his newest slaves. "Hawkmon, Tentomon, attack them now, but only scare them!"
"Hai, Ichijouji-sama," the two bowed.
The two turned towards their partners, their eyes blank and lifeless.
"Hi there, buddy. I know you wouldn't attack me. We have been through so much together, and remember, I am supposed to help you break a deal with Veggiemon and Digitamamon."
Tentomon inched closer towards Koushirou as the boy continued to speak.
"Do you remember that, buddy? After we do that, we're going to fix your tree house, and---"
"Petite Thunder!!"
****
At the same time as Izzy, only to Hawkmon...
"C'mon Hawkmon, if you get me out of here, we can get those snacks you like so much from my parents' mart," she smiled confidently.
Hawkmon gave her an icy stare as he slowly headed towards the single feather that stood up from atop his head.
"I know you won't attack me. I love you too much, and you love me. We are the best of friends, and friends don't attack friends, Dark Spiral or no Dark Spiral."
"Feather Slash!"
Both attacks missed the two - Tentomon's electric zap hitting the floor in front of Koushirou, and Hawkmon's buzz-saw like attack slicing a few strands of Miyako's hair before returning to him, setting the feather back in place - but they now knew that Ken was serious. He did indeed have control over both of them and Ken definitely wasn't bluffing.
Both of them had looks of shock on their faces. They figured that they could get through to them, but unfortunately, it didn't work.
"See, what did I tell you," Ken said, his arms crossed.
"Hawkmon…" Miyako's voice slightly quivered, her eyes starting to glisten over with tears.
"I can't believe it…Tentomon…"
"Now you know we mean business!" Ken then turned to the two Digimon. "We're going to have ourselves a little fun. Now, I want you to scout around and see if you find anyone snooping. If you do, kill them!"
"Yes sir," the two obeyed.
"Wormmon, go along with them and if it's necessary, use my secret weapon! You know how to summon him."
"Yes, Ken-chan."
Fed up with Wormmon's addressing of him, the boy cracked his whip. "And don't call me Ken-chan!!"
"Hai, Ichijouji-sama," Wormmon frightfully obeyed. He then walked out with Hawkmon and Tentomon.
"That's more like it. The respect I deserve, the respect that worthless Iori kid would give me."
"How dare you say mean things about Iori! Why would you do such a thing to a fellow human being! It's worse enough you turn Digimon on each other, but to go and do something like that to a human?! That's just low and about as rat-like as you can get!"
"Oh no, I've been a bad boy," Ken mocked with a yawn.
The glasses wearing girl looked as if she were about to rip her arms out of the chains and literally run up to Ken and strangle him.
"Oh, you are so lucky I'm stuck here!!" she threatened. 'But this is Ken we're talking about here! I don't want to hurt him, even though that's the most logical feeling for me to have right now. I'm mad at what he's doing, but I don't feel that he's bad.
'He has to have some kind of a reason for the way he's acting. It's not normal for one to be doing the things that he's doing. Why can't I get mad at him? I'm just mad at what he's doing, not at him directly. This doesn't make any sense at all.'
"Yo, Ichijouji, what's the deal?"
Ken gave Koushirou a curious look, as did Miyako. "What deal?"
"You know what I mean. What are you getting out of doing the things that you are doing?"
"All I want is what every person secretly wants."
"And that is?" Miyako asked.
"World domination," Koushirou stated as matter of fact like. "You want to take over the Digital World for your own selfish purposes to try out different things to make yourself feel wanted and in charge. I too know that feeling. I sure wish I was in your place; I would be able to test out all of my different theories if I were."
He sighed regrettably.
"Too bad I've never been able to achieve the goal of taking over the
Digital World. I would have succeeded, but of course we had to leave
it three years ago, that is if we didn't want to face death. Since
the Digital World was reconfiguring itself, it wouldn't have recognized
us as typical Digital World data, and we would've ended up erased like
a bad computer virus."
*****
RP: That's true, folks. For the original, if the kids would've
stayed in the Digital World, they would've ended up deleted/erased, in
other words, they would've been killed if they would've stayed, not stuck
there forever like the dub says.
*****
"Izumi-senpai!" Miyako stared at her mentor in surprise.
'Is he joking or is he serious? He's literally starting to scare
me, and his expression is so serious!'
"You don't know how wrong you are, Izumi! I have my reasons and I don't have to share them with you!"
"Can you not see that I am actually quite interested in what you are doing? Maybe I want to bask in some of that glory."
"Sorry, this is a one-man show."
"Just a warning to you, you'll be sorry for not letting me work with you."
The boy barked out a laugh over Koushirou's threat.
"You dare threaten me? Oh this is rich! A computer nerd is threatening me!"
"I'm serious. You don't know what you're getting yourself into, Ichijouji. I'd watch my back if I were you. You can end up backstabbed if you don't treat people, as well as Digimon, nicely. Like that Digimon you used to attack us could turn on you."
"I doubt that. One crack of my whip, and he'll obey me."
Miyako started to think for a moment and came to a shocking realization.
'That Digimon wasn't being controlled! It had no Dark Ring or Dark Spiral! Ken has literally gotten a new Digimon that's very powerful to obey him at his every command, but how and why would a fellow Digimon willingly do that?'
"You just wait. You are going to end up killed; I just know it."
"Quiet, you insect!!"
Ken grew tired of Izzy's unusual way of talking and hit him with his whip in annoyance. Miyako shuddered at the loud cracking sound that echoed throughout the room, and how it had to have hurt, but Izzy didn't even wince in pain. Instead, he laughed.
Both Miyako and Ken were a bit freaked out and stared at him with dropped jaws.
"Ooo, a whip, how nice!" The boy the spoke sarcastically, yet in a demented, deranged manner. "Please, do it again! I enjoy pain!"
The Kaiser couldn't do anything. Instead he just stood there, trying to figure out what was with this "weirdo."
"Um Ken--, I mean Ichijouji-sama, please don't him again, for my sanity's sake. He's starting to scare me."
Unsure of what else to do, Ken responded in an irresolute manner, "Um, yeah, okay. I shall respect your wishes, um, I guess. I have things to do anyway." He turned his back to them and walked out of the room. 'Man, what a weirdo!'
"Izumi-senpai?"
"What is it?" he asked with no feeling.
"Is something wrong?"
"Nope, I'm fine."
Miyako decided not to talk for a while and think. To her, Izzy
had totally lost it...
****
Back to Taichi & Sora...
"Where are we going!!"
The three were now walking through the dark tunnel at the bottom of the abyss that they all had jumped into. Agumon was surprised when he landed to the ground softly and felt as if he had floated down.
"To find Taichi, Agumon," Sora replied, looking straight ahead, refusing to have her concentration broken.
"Where are we?"
"In a dark tunnel that was created by Taichi," Piyomon chirped.
"How can Taichi, a human boy, make a tunnel?"
"Easily. I've done it, and Yamato has too. We have both been in tunnels like this because we were wallowing in self-pity and worry. We didn't believe in ourselves, and thought negatively and felt sorry for ourselves. All that you see is the negative energy that Taichi is carrying around within himself right now."
"But what could be so bad that it's bothering Taichi, Sora? Nothing ever seems to really bother him."
"I wish I knew, Piyomon."
The group walked a little while longer until they saw a familiar, goggle-less boy sitting with his back to the wall, muttering about how he's going to let everyone down since he was a coward.
"Taichi! Taichi!"
The boy looked up and saw his friends - Agumon's rushing and calling to him - but responded to them coldly.
"What do you want?!"
"We're here to take you back," Agumon responded.
"Take me back where? I'm no good up there."
"What?" Sora asked.
He held his Digivice, clenched in his closed up, right fist. "I am the crest bearer of courage, yet I am a big coward! What good would I do you if I went back! I can't help save them!"
The girl thought for a moment and figured out what was bothering Tai.
"Taichi, are you scared of going through that firewall?"
"What?"
"Are you scared of going through that firewall? Is that what all of this negative energy is? Your fear of something going wrong?"
"What if I lose you again! What if something goes wrong?! What if---"
"Quit it with the what ifs, Taichi! You have to face your fears and you have to believe in yourself even if you feel that no one else will believe in you."
"But something might go wrong! What if we don't live through this? I'm in charge and responsible for you all! I brought us here to save Miyako and Koushirou, but due to some fear I haven't had in years, I can't save anyone! I've let you and everyone down!"
"Taichi, stop that! You are not letting anyone down! You showed great courage coming out here to face the Digimon Kaiser without the others! Nothing is going to go wrong! We will just have to face whatever is thrown at us. Remember, we are a team and we are in this together."
Tai looked up at Sora and saw that she had a very serious look on her face.
"A team?"
"Yes, a team, and like you always say, 'there is no I in team'! You aren't doing this alone; we are here with you."
"But what if I mess up?"
"Taichi, you have to believe in yourself and in your own abilities. Don't think about all of the what ifs. Don't let one bad incident affect everything else that you do!
"We know that you took Koushirou's theory lightly back then, but you were just a kid! It was quite understandable. You were just being yourself, rash and adventurous. You hadn't matured yet, but you are quite mature now and I know that you wouldn't make the same mistake again! That's the beauty of mistakes, one learns from them and it's obvious that you learned from that one. You learned that you shouldn't always rush into things and to think things through first, which you did before we came out here in search of Miyako-chan and Koushirou-kun.
"Just believe in yourself Taichi!! Agumon and Piyomon believe in you."
The two Digimon nodded in agreement. The girl then smiled at Taichi and spoke up in a small tone.
"I believe in you..."
The girl blushed a bit after that, but she hid it pretty much. The darkness that was surrounding them started to fade a bit.
"You all do?"
"Of course we do, Taichi!" Agumon smiled.
"Yeah!" Piyomon nodded.
"We believe in you, Taichi. We are your friends and that's all that should really matter. Whatever we may encounter, we will together. And you are not a coward. You're one of the bravest people I know!"
Taichi started to smile that same goofy grin that he always gave when
happy about something, but he only really grinned this way when it had
something to do with
Sora. The tunnel was really starting to light up now.
"Yeah, as long as you have your friends by your side, then nothing else should matter! If we thought you were a ditz, we wouldn't be here with you right now!"
The boy laughed at Agumon's statement. He knew that it was true. No matter what, Agumon was always by his side, no matter how silly or impossible a task may seem.
"You know what," he stood up, "you guys are right! We aren't going to accomplish anything by my sitting here, thinking negatively. Iori would never do that, and neither should I!"
"That's the spirit," Sora smiled.
After that, the tunnel vanished completely and the group was right back where they started.
"Wow, the tunnel went away."
"That's because Taichi isn't depressed anymore, Agumon," Piyomon explained. "Since he realized that he isn't going to lead any of us to our doom and how he isn't a coward, that's why it went away."
"I guess I understand that."
Tai looked at Sora and put his hand behind his head and had a nervous smile on his face.
"Um, well, Sora, I just wanted to say, well---"
"Don't mention it," the girl laughed.
"Yeah, thanks."
The boy frowned a bit and looked down at Iori's Digivice. 'I just don't understand why my fear grew the way that it did. It had never bothered me before, but it did just now. It's like I had to regain my courage. I wasn't even acting like myself. I hadn't even bothered to think about this until I came here and even grew more worried since I've had Iori's Digivice. I wonder if this D-3 has the power to make one's hidden fears a reality to make one seem negative, like it did with Agumon and Piyomon with their high annoyance of one another earlier.'
"Taichi!"
"Oh, sorry Agumon."
"We better get going," Sora instructed while looking down at her Digivice. "According to the signal, we are getting pretty close."
"We just have to go through that firewall," Piyomon reminded them.
"I know that everything will be fine! If I could get over it once, I can get over it again! Hikari got through safely, so it should be fine now. My friends are in danger, and I plan on using all of my courage to help them!"
Everyone nodded in agreement as they started to go through the firewall. They were stopped though, with a "shock." An electrical attack struck the floor right in front of them.
"I wouldn't go any farther than that," a heavy voice threatened.
The group started to look around, trying to figure out where the voice was coming from.
"Who's there!" Taichi demanded.
Sora started to back up a bit, also looking around. She then heard something like a buzz saw coming close towards her. She turned to face the sound and saw that a spinning blade was coming right towards her, about to slice her face, too stunned to even move.
"Sora!!!"
The small pink bird pushed Sora aside just in the knick of time as it sliced through the wall behind her.
"That was a close one. Arigatou, Piyomon."
"Who did that?" Agumon asked, while looking around.
Two shadowy figures appeared before the group. The two figures stepped out into the open, causing the four to gasp at whom it was that had attacked them…