A Bigger Threat
Episode 10:
"Too many Digidestined"
By: Shmeilia Rockie
*Episode 10, YEAH! Woo-hoo! I never thought I'd make it this far. I begin a new twist as the old Digidestined come into play, as well as the Dark Digidestined you've heard so much about! I almost stopped posting, because of some bad reviews. But then I thought: Oh, yeah, I'm not doing this for the people who don't like my stuff...I'm doing this for those who actually do like it. So, enjoy. Author's Note: The time difference isn't as extreme as it used to be. Instead of one day in the Digital World equalling one minute on Earth, it's more like one day=one hour. Just thought I'd clear that up in case anyone cares.*
* * * *
June had no idea where she was going when she took a walk, but soon she found herself in front of an old theator. She gazed at the faded sign out front before peering in the open door. "Matt? What's he doing here?"
"Thanks, Izzy," Matt said, then drank half of a bottle of bottled water all in one giantic gulp. It was time for a small break.
"No problem. You know I love messing with your equipment. It's like a special treat for me."
Matt whipped the sweat off his forehead with his sleeve and sat down at the edge of the stage. He stared as Izzy messed with some wires poking out of the soundboard. "Well, I'm glad you're enjoying yourself."
Izzy flipped a screwdriver off the edge of the table and caught it easily with one hand. ("Prodigous!") He grinned at his own little stunt before tightening some of the screws on the back of the panel. "You're lucky my teacher only assigned four pages of homework today, 'cause otherwise I wouldn't be here right now."
"Yeah? Sorry, Yolei normally does it."
"Where is she, anyway?"
"In the Digital World."
Izzy swallowed his gum. At the same time the screwdriver missed its mark and stabbed his hand, making him yelp. He shook his wounded hand and glared at Matt, "Are you serious?"
"At least that's what Tai said. He's sittin' at the only open Digi-port waiting for them to come back, but from what I gather, they might be a while."
"Why? And who's 'they'?"
"Oh, you know, the usual: Davis, Yolei, Kari, Cody, TK, Ken..." Matt looked up and spotted June lingering in the doorway. He waved like she was an old friend, "Hey, THERE'S my number one fan!"
She waved weakly back.
"Where've you been?" He leaped off the stage and trotted up to her.
Izzy slapped his forehead. Matt completely forgot that he was still talking to him.
"Oh, you know, around." June quietly responded, not making eye contact.
"I missed you. Concerts just aren't the same without you cheering me on."
June shifted the weight of her backpack uneasily. "I thought you couldn't stand me."
"Whatever gave you that idea?"
She laughed harshly, "Um, maybe it was when you told me you couldn't stand me?"
Matt blushed, "Oops, sorry 'bout that. But that was, like, two years ago."
"Besides, where's What's-Her-Name? Sara, wasn't it?"
"Sora, actually."
She crossed her arms and pouted, "I got the feeling she was all the fan you needed."
Matt rubbed his neck. "She didn't like my devotion to my music...No, that's not quite right... She didn't like all the girls following me around, and the fact that I didn't have much time to spend with her."
"So, you two aren't going out any more?"
He looked down at the floor, "We broke up three months ago."
June's eyes softened. "I can tell she meant a lot to you. Have you tried talking to her?"
"She won't talk. I don't even understand what I did to make her so ticked off at me."
"Oh, well, it sounds like she's not good enough for you, anyway, if she got angry over a couple of groupies."
His eyes widened, "Boy, that's awfully perceptive of you, June. What happened?"
"Thank you very much! If that's the way you're gonna be, then I'll just leave!"
She turned to go, but he grabbed her elbow. "Wait, I'm sorry. That didn't come out right. I meant to say, uh, you've really matured since the last time we talked."
"Oh," she realized this was the first time Matt had ever voluntarily talked to her. Or stopped her from leaving. Normally, he was pushing her out the door himself.
Before she recovered from this idea, Matt suddenly yelped, "Oh, my gosh, I almost forgot! GUESS WHAT!"
She was still speachless.
"I get to be on TV!"
"So, you've been on television lots of times," she responded. 'And I have all of them on tape,' she thought to herself.
He waved his arms frantically, "No, no, no. This time, I get to be on television in AMERICA!"
June's mouth dropped open. "Really?" She squeaked, "That's great!"
"That's why I'm here, right now. I've got this dude from the show watchin' me, and he's making me dance!"
She raised an eyebrow at him, and said sceptically, "You. Dance?"
"Yeah, I know! I couldn't dance worth beans, but now I look like a ceritfied member of an american boy-band! See?" He did a couple of his new moves. (Use your imagination. I personally have a hard time seeing Matt in a boy-band.) Then he grinned. "They've been working my tail off, day and night."
"Wow, I bet the guys are really excited."
Matt cast a worried glance towards the empty stage, "The band's not going."
"Why not?"
"Hey, I tried, but for some reason the show only wanted me."
"Well, that stinks."
"Yeah, it does." He looked at the sunlit world beyond the theator, and sighed, "I need a break. Wanna walk with me? I'll buy you sumpthin' at Starbucks."
"I don't think you need any coffee right now, Matt. You're hyper enough."
"Of course, I do!" He playfully snapped, "I need coffee like birds need the AIR! I'm always like this after I preform, it's just 'cause I'm tired. I'll be so glad when school lets out."
"When are you going to America?"
"Right after I graduate. I'm thinking of it as my senior trip. Although, if things keep up, that trip might be one way."
"Would you stay?"
"I don't know," he admitted truthfully. "My dad's all for it, and I actually don't have too much tying me down here. I have a few friends in America, too. Most of them are in New York, though, and I'd be about as far from them as one can get."
"Huh?" Poor June, confused as usual.
"I'm goin' to Hollywood."
"Oooh, neat!"
He laughed slightly to himself over something, then waved the thought away. "So, you've been awfully quiet, June. Something wrong?"
"Huh? Oh, no. I just got a really nasty reality check not too long ago. But it's nothing YOU need to be concerned about."
Ouch. "You sure? 'Cause if you need to talk..." Matt stopped, suddenly feeling a bit odd. He never thought he'd be having this kind of conversation with June. He could tell something was terribly wrong, though. And when someone needed him, he'd be there.
POOF! He disappeared out of thin air (and into the Digital World, of course.) It startled June so much, she fainted.
* * * *
Inside the theator...
Izzy rubbed his temples, his head throbbing more than the place on his hand where he'd stabbed himself with the screwdriver. "Man, I need to quit thinking so much...Oh my...I did NOT just say that."
He stood up weakly and stared at his D-terminal like he knew what was coming. Indeed, he just knew the Digital World needed him. But there wasn't anything he could do about it. Just sit and wait for the Digital World to take him there. After all, it had happened before, so...
POOF! He got his wish.
* * * *
And at the middle school...
Tai had been watching the Megadigidestined drama in super-fast mode because of the time difference, but he had the general idea of what was going on. His stomach growled, and he groaned, "Oh, what I'd give for a bag of popcorn to go with this movie."
He blinked, and suddenly he was sitting on the cold stone floor of Light Castle. This was one of the only rooms in the whole place that wasn't made of gold or dripping with jewels. The Megadigidestined were staring wide-eyed at him. He looked around to see that the whole gang was there. Besides Tai, Izzy, and Matt, Sora, Joe, and Mimi had also arrived from wherever they'd previously been. "Okay, so what's going on?"
"All right, someone's got some explaining to do!" Mimi shrieked, yanking a large, flowered hat off her pink hair and throwing it to the ground. (Yes, her hair is now pink again. I liked it better that way.) "I was right in the middle of a photo shoot!"
Everyone stared at Ken. He waved his arms frantically and proclaimed, "I didn't do it, I swear! At least, I didn't mean to do it. Really, guys, I was just wishin' they were here and POOF! They were. Sorry!"
"What DID you do?" Sora asked, climbing to her feet and helping Mimi up.
"Nothing! I mean, I don't know. It must have been the Power Orb."
"The what?"
Cody shook his head and sighed, "This could take a while."
An hour later, the old Digidestined were more or less up to speed with the situation. And in conclusion, "...But we don't know what to do next, or why you guys were brought here."
"Maybe there are more kids like Chaos," Izzy volunteered.
"Yeah, where is she?" Tai asked.
The Megadigidestined stared blankly at each other and there were a few, "Um"s and "well"s before they collectively sweatdropped.
"We don't know," Cody said, realizing he'd done something very stupid. "I guess we must have left her at Dark Castle."
"You WHAT?"
"I know, I know!"
Tai smacked his forehead. "Great, so, she's still out there?"
Cody bit his lip and nodded slowly. Then to his defense, he added, "But the Freedom Sprits wouldn't have let her in here anyway, so it really doesn't matter."
"Nice job, guys."
* * * *
"I want to start off by saying that I am very disappointed in all of you," Keesma said, staring at them all in turn.
Darkness raised his hand, "And I just want to say that I tried to get them to go, but they insisted on finishing the school day. The little goodie-goodies."
"Suck up," Hate snapped. He smiled at her.
"I don't want excuses, Darkness, and I don't want any fights, either. Hate!"
Hate stopped her fist millimeters from Darkness's nose. Then she cracked her knuckles and said menacingly, "Next time, I'll ruin that pretty face of yours, my dear friend." He tossed his perfect blue hair out of his eyes and looked away, unconcerned.
"Shut!" Keesma snapped, and Hate's mouth disappeared completely. Her eyes went wide and she clawed at her face. "Thank you. Now, where was I? Oh, yes. My dear, dear Dark Digidestined, I am so glad you all could join me. Please note that if you sit quiet through my lecture, there will be refreshments afterwards."
"Oh, goodie," Fear exclaimed, "I'm hungry already! But I hope I'm not allergic to them..."
"You're allergic to everything, so just be quiet and listen to our Master, 'kay?" Darkness glared at him, and he shrank away.
"Thank you, Darkness. So, you all like power?"
"Who doesn't like power?" Lust flipped her frosty hair over her shoulder, and Hate (who'd stopped struggling) rolled her eyes.
"What are you willing to do for power?"
"Everything, duh," she laughed. "We volunteered for our Dark Spores, didn't we?"
"How about murder?"
Hate snorted, then chuckled a little bit.
Darkness pushed his glasses up his nose and waved, "Big deal."
"How about you three?"
Fear nodded slowly.
"No problem," Lust said casually, and edged away from Fear, who was getting a little close. He was the only guy in the universe that she didn't like.
"Apathy?"
"Whatever," he told his fingernails.
"Good, I'm glad you all are clear on that."
Fear raised his hand and asked like he was in class, "Can we have those refreshments now?"
* * * *
"So what do we do now?" Matt asked impatiently.
Cody stood up. "Well, I guess it's time to get your Digimon."
"But..." Izzy started, then swallowed hard. "I thought you said they were dead."
"I did. They WERE dead," then he smiled. "Oh, come on, guys. Have you forgotten the golden Digimon rule? 'Digimon never die, they just get reconfigured'!"
"That's right! They're problably at the Primary Village."
Cody pointed at Yolei's nose and told her loudly, "THAT'S what happened when you 'Digivolved'! All the dead Digimon came back."
"Really? How cool!"
Mimi leaned over and asked Sora in a whisper, "And how exactly did he know that?"
"Oh, Mimi, weren't you listening?"
Cody closed his eyes and put a finger to the side of his head. "I'm like your local radio station, playing select Powers messages all day long."
"With only the occational commercial break!" Yolei added. TK and Kari cracked up, and Cody blushed. The others didn't have a clue what they were talking about.
"Gogert," TK snorted, trying unsuccessfully to keep from giggling. Kari looked like she would start rolling on the floor with laughter. All four of them laughed, even Cody. Soon Patamon, Gatomon, Armadillomon, and Veemon were cracking up. It was the kind of laughter that only comes after a life-threatening experience. Ken and Davis looked at each other and shrugged. Both of them had been unconsious at the time of that inside joke.
"Right..." Tai said, scratching his head. "I musta missed that one."
"Well, if we're going, we should get going," Joe said, then made a face. "Wait, that sounded weird."
Matt smiled. "You're right, though. No use just sitting here."
Everyone climbed to their feet. They turned to leave, and saw Michael and Willis standing (or floating, rather) at the exit, their staffs crossed.
Now, the old Digidestined hadn't seen them yet, and were quite startled.
Mimi screamed, "What in the good Digi-World happened to you, Michael?"
"The same thing that must happen to you-"
Mimi turned blue and chewed on her fingernails in utter horror. 'Look at those hideous eyes!'
"Not really," Cody mumbled to her.
Willis picked up the sentence, "-if you are to defeat the likes of the Dark Digidestined."
That one surprised everyone. "Dark Digidestined?"
"Dark Spore Children, spawn of darkness."
Ken grimmaced, "Speaking of Dark Spores, people, geuss what happened to me?"
Cody narrowed his eyes and spoke in a quiet voice, "Don't tell me..."
He twittled his thumbs and shuddered, "Um, I-I had a bad run-in with Keesma, and she, uh, reactivated mine."
Oh, that did it. Cody was in his face, and he was not happy. "YOU MEAN TO TELL ME THAT HAPPENED WHEN YOU LEFT ALL THAT TIME AGO, AND YOU'RE JUST NOW GETTING AROUND TO TELLING US!"
"I'm okay, sorta," Ken protested. "I feel a little more alert than usual, but I'm not goin' Digimon Emperor on you. Promise!"
"Dark Spore Child, foo. You were the original Dark Spore Child."
Ken opened his mouth to defend himself, but Willis interrupted him, "No, he wasn't."
"Wasn't what?"
"The original. Sam was."
"Sam?" Ken squeaked. "My brother was no Digidestined."
"Sure he was," Michael said. "Why else do you think he wanted your Digivice?"
"But he didn't use it! He just stuck it in a drawer!"
Davis put his hand on Ken's shoulder and asked quietly, "Are you sure about that? Just because you didn't SEE him use it..."
"As painful as this might be, Ken, you need to know the truth. Your brother was the first Dark Digidestined. Darkness."
"No," he whispered, "he couldn't have been..."
The moment Sam died played itself over in his mind. They were just walking to the store when Sam just passed out for seemingly no reason. He never regained consiousness. Brain tumor, the doctors concluded. It had made him smarter, but it ultimately killed him. And they hadn't even suspected there was anything wrong. Now Ken knew the truth: that was no brain tumor.
"If the Dark Spore hadn't killed him, he would have become the Digimon Emperor instead of you, and you would have had to defeat him."
"Unfortunately," the other continued without skipping a beat. "Darkness was, shall we say reincarnated, into a souless child about Cody's age. This boy looks like your brother, sounds like your brother, and has all of his memories."
"But he is definately not your brother. Sam was good, but the Dark Spore destroyed his soul and replaced it with the demon that has become Darkness."
"The same has happened to all the Dark Digidestined. Once good, the Dark Spores replaced their souls with some of Keesma's top warriors."
"Ken, you are not one of the Dark Digidestined. You are Kindness, and nothing will change that."
"But..." He whispered, tears running down his face.
"The Spore was destroyed when you Morph DNA Digivolved. The awareness you're now experiencing comes from the Power Orb that has taken residence in your body."
Ken looked down at his hands. "But why me? Why was I chosen?"
"You already know the answer to that."
He looked up at the two. Everyone else was speechless. A pen drop would have startled the living daylights out of all of them. "And I will still have to defeat Sam, won't I?"
"Darkness is not Sam. You need not worry about him, for his spirit has found peace."
"Darkness will try to trick you into thinking that he is your brother, but do not believe him. Don't let that stop you from destroying him when the time comes."
They stepped away from the door so the others could leave. "Be careful, Digidestined."
"So, do we get to become Megadigidestined, too?" Tai asked excitedly.
"And will we need to Morph Digivolve?" TK asked, looking wearily down at Patamon.
"Yes and yes, in time."
"Hold on," Izzy said, coming to the front of the group. "How many Dark Digidestined are there?"
"Six."
"Oh, is that all?" The old Digidestined relaxed a bit.
"Do not be deceived. Just because there are only six of them, doesn't mean they will be push-overs. They have dangerous powers and some of the strongest evil Digimon you've ever come up against."
"Now go, Digidestined. May the Powers guide you, always."
"Will we ever see you guys again?" Kari asked.
Willis smiled sadly, "Most likely not. At least not in this realm."
So all twelve of them set off in the direction of Primary Village, where their Digimon waited in their digi eggs. Yolei danced around and told everyone, "I made the Digimon come back!"
As soon as they were out of the castle, Ken pointed out to everyone that Davis was now offically a part of the Megadigidestined. Indeed, Davis had the same silver armor as Ken, but with the electric-blue Crest of Friendship on the brestplate, and the same color gloves and cape.
"Oh, look, Davis, we match!" Veemon announced, wrapping himself in Davis's cape and almost tripping him. They didn't really match, the cape was way too bright. Veemon was just happy that Davis wasn't eatten, evil, or dead.
"Come here, you," Davis picked up the giggling Digimon and tickled him until tears came out of his eyes in rivers.
"Six of them, twelve of us," Izzy sighed, getting back to business. "That means that they will probably be at least twice as strong as any one of us."
Yolei got in his face and yelled, "No, just twice as strong as you regular Digidestined. But once you guys 'Digivolve', you'll kick their butts!"
Cody grabbed her arm to keep her from jumping around. "No, Yolei, I don't think it will be that easy. More than likely, right now, they're three times stonger than the regular Digidestined, and twice as strong as us Megadigidestined. When we Morph Digivolve, then we will be a match, concidering that they can't also Morph Digivolve. If that's the case, we'll probably only win by numbers. Even then, the deciding factor might be that we have the Power Orb, and they don't."
He threw a disgusted look at Ken, who gulped loudly.
"Who would you say was the strongest Digimon we've ever faced?"
"Kimeramon," Davis said.
"He's probably been reconfigured by now, too," Ken sighed.
"Myotismon, duh," TK said like it had to be the most obvious thing in the world. "Devimon's got second on my list."
"Oh, I can take care of him, no problem," Patamon told him from his perch on top of TK's helmet.
"Apoclamon has my vote," Joe said.
"Don't forget the Dark Masters," Tai put in. "DARK Masters, DARK Digidestined."
"Well, Michael has Seadramon," Mimi said matter-of-factly, "and he's a good guy, so let's hope we won't see MetalSeadramon."
"Okay," Izzy picked up, "Three of the Dark Masters, Apoclamon, Whatever-Myotismon and Kimeramon for sure. Ya think?"
Cody shook his head, "What about Daemon, Mummymon and Arukinimon?"
"Don't forget about Ladydevimon," Gatomon added.
"And everyone's favorite, Diaboromon," Matt finished. "Man, there are way too many evil Digimon."
* * * *
All the Digimon: And now it's time for a commercial break!
Matt: Hey, I'm not quite sure what this is a commercial for, but...Oh, well, here goes. Enjoy.
Tai's sitting on a park bench, humming the Digimon theme song, oblivious to the world around him. The quiet peacefullness of the park is shattered as a man-sized hot dog appears out of nowhere, screaming a war-cry. Tai doesn't notice as it speeds towards him. When it's about ten feet away, he pops a piece of gum in his mouth and the hot dog EXPLODES! Still, he doesn't even notice.
Matt: Well, if that isn't the most disturbing thing I've ever seen...
Yolei (Sweatdrops): Yeah, that's even scarier than Gogert!
Cody: Hey, I like Gogert! (slurp) Mmm, prune flavored! My favorite!
The hot dog runs across the screen, yelling at the top of its lungs. It explodes right before it leaves view.
Matt (Smacks his forehead): Ugh, now back to the show.
* * * *
"I'm leaving," Keesma announced and everyone gasped. Fear dropped his spoon right before it reached his mouth, splattering chocolate ice cream down his shirt.
"Oh, Cheez-it!" That's not what he really said, but it sounds funny.
The others ignored him, and began talking rapidly at once in sheer panic (except for Apathy, who wouldn't have cared if a house fell on him).
Keesma held up her hand to silence them. "Really, my children, are you that lost without me?"
"YES!"
"We need direction!" Fear whinned as he tried to get the ice cream off his shirt.
"What can be more important than this?" Hate asked bitterly, then added a little more nicely, "Master?"
Keesma glared at her for a moment, concidering taking her mouth away again, but at the sound of 'Master' she changed her mind. "Do you truely believe that this is the only plane of existance that I dwell in?"
"Well, I thought..." She twirled her dark blue hair self-consiously.
"Try not to do that too much, dear. You might hurt yourself." Keesma said this just to get her ticked off. Hate knew better than to lash out at her master, and ended up just pouting at Keesma.
"Please give us some instructions before you leave."
"Well, Darkness, since you asked so nicely..." She patted his head as if he were a dog. "I'm leaving you in charge."
"Not fair!" Lust and Hate whinned at the same time.
Keesma ignored them. "Take one of these misfits and go to the Primary Village to pick up your digi eggs. If you run into the Megadigidestined, give them the slip. Don't try to fight them, because believe me, they would win. Bring the eggs back here but don't wait for them to hatch. Just take the Gate to Labrynth Island on the Dark Ocean Plane. Got that?"
"Sure," Darkness yelped, even though he looked like he didn't have a clue. Neither did anyone else, though.
She smiled briefly. "Good."
"And what do I do about the Key?"
"Oh, you mean Kindness? When...If he finds you, just use the old, 'I'm your brother ploy'. If that doesn't work, I'm an angel."
"Uh, okay."
"And what about the rest of us?" Lust asked, nervously brushing her white, curly hair with her long fingers.
"Yeah," Hate echoed like that had been on her mind the whole time. "What do we do?"
"You guys just work your black magic. You'll be fine. Remember, your goal is to eliminate the Megadigidestined, but try to corrupt them if you can. That would be even better. Nothing is more fun than watching friends destroy each other."
"Which ones should we go for?"
"Well, Kindness has a Dark Spore, plus he'll be weak against Darkness. Love, ur, Yolei can be quite unstable..."
"Yolei!" Hate gasped, and clamped her hands over her mouth.
Darkness and Lust looked at her strangely, but Keesma didn't seem to notice. "Yeah, you'll do good against her. Matt has also been unstable in the anger department. If you turn him against Courage (Tai-big hair), you'll be okay there. Tai took his ex-girlfriend, so Matt..."
"Maybe I could play with him!" Lust squealed, thinking 'I go to all his concerts. Oh, he's SO hot!'
"Don't count on it," Apathy told her, yawning. "He's a little old for you."
"So what? I'll get him, just you wait!"
"You might want to concentrait on Davis. He's the weak link of the bunch. He's just looking for someone to abuse him. Everyone should go for him. Besides, he's only a year older than you, and I think you'll like him."
"If you say so..." Inside, she was thinking, 'I WOULD get the second rate loser, wouldn't I? I want Matt!'
"Mimi (Sincerity) could probably fall under Apathy-"
"If he'd ever get off his lazy butt," Hate mumbled.
"-And so might Joe (Reliability). Maybe. It would probably be good for him to also take care of Hope or Light, if that's at all possible. Fear, your best bet would be to pick on Davis. I've still got half of his soul, after all. Use that to your advantage. And Chaos will create havoc wherever she is, so I'm not to worried about her."
After a pause, she concluded, "Well, good luck." And left. Chaos fell to the floor.
* * * *
Tai put his hands behind his head and growled in frustation, "Urgh, this is SOOO BORING! How could you guys have survived this trip THREE TIMES?"
"It's not so bad," Cody told him.
"Not so bad?" Matt asked, shoving up next to him. "All we ever see is this dirt path. Dirt, dirt, dirt, oh, look, a tree! What a change of scenery!"
"How did you guys ever manage back in the beginning?"
"Easy, we had our Digimon to entertain us."
"Hey," Gatomon complained, "Is that all we are to you? Your ENTERTAINMENT?"
"And to keep us company," Matt added bitterly. He'd missed Gabumon more than he realized.
"At least it's not hot," Mimi suggested. "There'd been plenty of times when we almost died of heat exhaustion."
"Really?" Yolei asked in wonder.
Sora put her arm around Yolei's shoulder and spoke in a voice that said 'I'm older than you are, so I automatically know what I'm talking about', "You guys had it easy. When you got too hot, you could just go home. We had to suffer through it."
"And we're here!" Cody announced, stopping so suddenly that Izzy ran into him.
"Little more warning next time, please!"
"Sorry," Cody told him absent-mindedly.
Primary Village was always a wonderful sight, but in the middle of the endless night, it was just like an oaisis.
"Wow, pretty!" Mimi gasped. The Digi eggs glowed with their own light.
"There they are!" Their Digimon rushed at them, digivolving to their Rookie forms right before they reached the Digidestined. They began talking excitedly all at once.
"Oh, Matt, you must have grown three feet!"
"Tai, you're taller too, or did your hair just get bigger?"
"Oh, shut up, Agumon," Tai said, giving his partner a hug.
"Izzy, you haven't grown at all since the last time I saw you."
Izzy stuck out his tounge, "Thanks a lot, Tentomon, I love you too."
"Aw, you know I'm just joking with you," Tentomon responded, laughing nervously. "Look, you're actually finally taller than Yolei!"
"Mimi, I really like what you've done with your hair," Palmon told her. The two turned to the invisible camera and smiled. Mimi's hair matched the color of Palmon's flower, so they looked quite the same.
Joe got knocked over by a white and orange blur. "Smile, Joe, the fun has arrived!"
"Gomamon! Give me five," Joe laughed, and Gomamon made a face. He had flippers, not hands! Then he smiled as he realized Joe was just joking.
"Good one!"
"Sora, so we meet again."
Sora dropped to her knees and gave her Digimon a bear hug. "Oh, Biyomon! How I missed you."
"Well, well, well, if this isn't a pretty picture!"
Everyone looked up to see the source of the voice. It was Lust and Darkness, standing on the other side of the area. Darkness had a bag of six basketball-sized eggs slung over his shoulder.
Now, Ken had known that Darkness looked like his brother Sam, but he didn't realize quite what that meant. He gasped and fell to his knees, the reality of that hitting him like a speeding truck. This guy looked EXACTLY like Sam, down to his fashion sense, (but his hair was tamer). It was like seeing him alive again. The kid was even the same age Sam had been when he died.
Lust waved at Matt and giggled.
"See ya, Digidestined," Darkness threw something on the ground and a cloud of smoke surrounded them. When the smoke cleared, they were gone.
"He even sounds like Sam," Ken whimpered.
Only Davis had noticed Ken's sudden collapse.
Yolei turned to Cody, "So, uh, now what do we do?"
He pointed and yelled overdramatically, "To Dark Castle!"
* * * *
"So, that was the infamous Digimon Emperor," Lust sighed.
Darkness pouted, "He doesn't even deserve that title, now. The little goodie-goodie."
"Oh, and I'm guessing you think you DO deserve it, huh?"
Darkness smiled and said slyly, "I don't need a title. Titles are just something to hide behind. True darkness speaks for itself."
She chuckled, "Like you would know, Mr. 4.0-Perfect-Student."
"I've done things you couldn't fathom."
"Like what?" Lust thrust her finger in his face, "Spread a killer computer virus?"
He dropped the bag of eggs (none of them broke, thankfully), and gripped her shoulders so tightly, it hurt. He growled, "Let me just say, I know many things worse than dying. I've died, and I can tell you-it's nothing. But I've also studied quite a few methods of torture that would make you cry out for a speedy death. Get my drift, Girly?"
"Oh, I get it," she giggled. He was so close...
His mood changed suddenly. He tilted his head and smiled that award-winning smile.
'You are so bad,' she mouthed.
He kissed her, then abruptly pulled away and slapped her. "Stop using your magic, Lust! I won't stand for it!" Then he grabbed the bag of eggs and stormed away, leaving her clutching the side of her face, laughing hysterically.
* * * *
"'Bout time you two got back," Hate said, putting her hands on her hips.
"We ran into the Digidestined," Darkness told her dully, setting down the bag of eggs. Lust sniggered at him and he shot her a poisionous look.
Chaos took a sip of her drink and put it back in her new nifty cup holder. (It was really Apathy's hand. He'd gotten bored and decided to take a nap right there on the floor by the refreshments table.) She ran her fingers through her short hair and exhaled loudly. Possession had worn her out, but she was bouncing back more quickly than what was normally expected. "Shouldn't we be getting down to business?"
"Oh, Chaos, are you up to it?" Fear asked.
"No, but that's okay. I'll survive."
Darkness wheeled in what looked like a grindstone covered with weird writing and plopped it in the middle of the group. Then he kicked Apathy awake.
Apathy rubbed his side and barked, "Go away!"
"We're leaving, you lazy bum!"
He snorted and got out his Digivice. It was a different model than the origianals and the D-3s. It was a black hemisphere with a handle going horizantally across the back. Two other handles were on the sides, although they were just for decoration. The screen on the front was flat, and currently it displayed the time of day (It was three o'clock).
The six kids got in a circle around the grindstone.
Darkness slipped his Digivice onto his hand and messed with the buttons. "All right, everybody, set your Digivices to Labrynth Island, Dark Ocean. We don't have much time to prepare. The Digidestined are probably right behind us."
It took them a while to figure out how to set the Digivices to another plane, but they got it eventually. (All except Fear. Chaos had to help the poor boy out.)
Darkness held his Digivice over the hole in the grindstone, "Ready?"
The others nodded, copying him.
* * * *
The Digidestined were almost to Dark Castle, when it exploded with dark energy. The kids and Digimon all ran for cover.
After about a minute, Cody looked over the top of the boulder he was hiding behind and sighed, "We're too late."
"Gee, it seems like we're ALWAYS too late," TK mumbled bitterly.
Cody stood up and dusted himself off. "Well, come on. Maybe we can still follow them."
Tai brushed the dust out of his hair and asked, "Excuse me, but what are we late for?"
"The Dark Digidestined just went to another plane of existance."
"Oh, that really clears that up. Thanks so much."
They carefully approached the ruins of the castle. In the center was a small grindstone in the middle of a clearing. In the hole of the grindstone, was a window into another plane. The picture kept moving. They crowded around it.
"Well, guys, there it is."
"What IS it, though?" Mimi asked. "I mean where does it go?"
Cody shrugged. Half the kids groaned.
Tai stared at the stone a while, and commented, "It looks too small for all of us."
Cody tapped the side of his head, like he hoped he could get better reception that way. "I guess will have to split into groups."
"I don't like that idea."
"I don't either, but unless you can think of a better idea, we'll have to."
It took them another half an hour to sort themselves into three teams. Matt, Davis, Ken, and Joe were on one. Tai, Cody, Izzy, and TK were on another. The last one had all the girls in it. Why did it turn out that way? No one knows. It might have something to do with armor, but that's too obvious, isn't it?
"All right, let's go!" Tai held out his Digivice.
*Freeze the picture*
What awaits the Digidestined on the other side?
Find out in the next episode of Digimon: A Bigger Threat-
"Labrynth Island Part 1"
* * * *
Author's note: Sorry this episode was so gosh-darn long!
Episode 10:
"Too many Digidestined"
By: Shmeilia Rockie
*Episode 10, YEAH! Woo-hoo! I never thought I'd make it this far. I begin a new twist as the old Digidestined come into play, as well as the Dark Digidestined you've heard so much about! I almost stopped posting, because of some bad reviews. But then I thought: Oh, yeah, I'm not doing this for the people who don't like my stuff...I'm doing this for those who actually do like it. So, enjoy. Author's Note: The time difference isn't as extreme as it used to be. Instead of one day in the Digital World equalling one minute on Earth, it's more like one day=one hour. Just thought I'd clear that up in case anyone cares.*
* * * *
June had no idea where she was going when she took a walk, but soon she found herself in front of an old theator. She gazed at the faded sign out front before peering in the open door. "Matt? What's he doing here?"
"Thanks, Izzy," Matt said, then drank half of a bottle of bottled water all in one giantic gulp. It was time for a small break.
"No problem. You know I love messing with your equipment. It's like a special treat for me."
Matt whipped the sweat off his forehead with his sleeve and sat down at the edge of the stage. He stared as Izzy messed with some wires poking out of the soundboard. "Well, I'm glad you're enjoying yourself."
Izzy flipped a screwdriver off the edge of the table and caught it easily with one hand. ("Prodigous!") He grinned at his own little stunt before tightening some of the screws on the back of the panel. "You're lucky my teacher only assigned four pages of homework today, 'cause otherwise I wouldn't be here right now."
"Yeah? Sorry, Yolei normally does it."
"Where is she, anyway?"
"In the Digital World."
Izzy swallowed his gum. At the same time the screwdriver missed its mark and stabbed his hand, making him yelp. He shook his wounded hand and glared at Matt, "Are you serious?"
"At least that's what Tai said. He's sittin' at the only open Digi-port waiting for them to come back, but from what I gather, they might be a while."
"Why? And who's 'they'?"
"Oh, you know, the usual: Davis, Yolei, Kari, Cody, TK, Ken..." Matt looked up and spotted June lingering in the doorway. He waved like she was an old friend, "Hey, THERE'S my number one fan!"
She waved weakly back.
"Where've you been?" He leaped off the stage and trotted up to her.
Izzy slapped his forehead. Matt completely forgot that he was still talking to him.
"Oh, you know, around." June quietly responded, not making eye contact.
"I missed you. Concerts just aren't the same without you cheering me on."
June shifted the weight of her backpack uneasily. "I thought you couldn't stand me."
"Whatever gave you that idea?"
She laughed harshly, "Um, maybe it was when you told me you couldn't stand me?"
Matt blushed, "Oops, sorry 'bout that. But that was, like, two years ago."
"Besides, where's What's-Her-Name? Sara, wasn't it?"
"Sora, actually."
She crossed her arms and pouted, "I got the feeling she was all the fan you needed."
Matt rubbed his neck. "She didn't like my devotion to my music...No, that's not quite right... She didn't like all the girls following me around, and the fact that I didn't have much time to spend with her."
"So, you two aren't going out any more?"
He looked down at the floor, "We broke up three months ago."
June's eyes softened. "I can tell she meant a lot to you. Have you tried talking to her?"
"She won't talk. I don't even understand what I did to make her so ticked off at me."
"Oh, well, it sounds like she's not good enough for you, anyway, if she got angry over a couple of groupies."
His eyes widened, "Boy, that's awfully perceptive of you, June. What happened?"
"Thank you very much! If that's the way you're gonna be, then I'll just leave!"
She turned to go, but he grabbed her elbow. "Wait, I'm sorry. That didn't come out right. I meant to say, uh, you've really matured since the last time we talked."
"Oh," she realized this was the first time Matt had ever voluntarily talked to her. Or stopped her from leaving. Normally, he was pushing her out the door himself.
Before she recovered from this idea, Matt suddenly yelped, "Oh, my gosh, I almost forgot! GUESS WHAT!"
She was still speachless.
"I get to be on TV!"
"So, you've been on television lots of times," she responded. 'And I have all of them on tape,' she thought to herself.
He waved his arms frantically, "No, no, no. This time, I get to be on television in AMERICA!"
June's mouth dropped open. "Really?" She squeaked, "That's great!"
"That's why I'm here, right now. I've got this dude from the show watchin' me, and he's making me dance!"
She raised an eyebrow at him, and said sceptically, "You. Dance?"
"Yeah, I know! I couldn't dance worth beans, but now I look like a ceritfied member of an american boy-band! See?" He did a couple of his new moves. (Use your imagination. I personally have a hard time seeing Matt in a boy-band.) Then he grinned. "They've been working my tail off, day and night."
"Wow, I bet the guys are really excited."
Matt cast a worried glance towards the empty stage, "The band's not going."
"Why not?"
"Hey, I tried, but for some reason the show only wanted me."
"Well, that stinks."
"Yeah, it does." He looked at the sunlit world beyond the theator, and sighed, "I need a break. Wanna walk with me? I'll buy you sumpthin' at Starbucks."
"I don't think you need any coffee right now, Matt. You're hyper enough."
"Of course, I do!" He playfully snapped, "I need coffee like birds need the AIR! I'm always like this after I preform, it's just 'cause I'm tired. I'll be so glad when school lets out."
"When are you going to America?"
"Right after I graduate. I'm thinking of it as my senior trip. Although, if things keep up, that trip might be one way."
"Would you stay?"
"I don't know," he admitted truthfully. "My dad's all for it, and I actually don't have too much tying me down here. I have a few friends in America, too. Most of them are in New York, though, and I'd be about as far from them as one can get."
"Huh?" Poor June, confused as usual.
"I'm goin' to Hollywood."
"Oooh, neat!"
He laughed slightly to himself over something, then waved the thought away. "So, you've been awfully quiet, June. Something wrong?"
"Huh? Oh, no. I just got a really nasty reality check not too long ago. But it's nothing YOU need to be concerned about."
Ouch. "You sure? 'Cause if you need to talk..." Matt stopped, suddenly feeling a bit odd. He never thought he'd be having this kind of conversation with June. He could tell something was terribly wrong, though. And when someone needed him, he'd be there.
POOF! He disappeared out of thin air (and into the Digital World, of course.) It startled June so much, she fainted.
* * * *
Inside the theator...
Izzy rubbed his temples, his head throbbing more than the place on his hand where he'd stabbed himself with the screwdriver. "Man, I need to quit thinking so much...Oh my...I did NOT just say that."
He stood up weakly and stared at his D-terminal like he knew what was coming. Indeed, he just knew the Digital World needed him. But there wasn't anything he could do about it. Just sit and wait for the Digital World to take him there. After all, it had happened before, so...
POOF! He got his wish.
* * * *
And at the middle school...
Tai had been watching the Megadigidestined drama in super-fast mode because of the time difference, but he had the general idea of what was going on. His stomach growled, and he groaned, "Oh, what I'd give for a bag of popcorn to go with this movie."
He blinked, and suddenly he was sitting on the cold stone floor of Light Castle. This was one of the only rooms in the whole place that wasn't made of gold or dripping with jewels. The Megadigidestined were staring wide-eyed at him. He looked around to see that the whole gang was there. Besides Tai, Izzy, and Matt, Sora, Joe, and Mimi had also arrived from wherever they'd previously been. "Okay, so what's going on?"
"All right, someone's got some explaining to do!" Mimi shrieked, yanking a large, flowered hat off her pink hair and throwing it to the ground. (Yes, her hair is now pink again. I liked it better that way.) "I was right in the middle of a photo shoot!"
Everyone stared at Ken. He waved his arms frantically and proclaimed, "I didn't do it, I swear! At least, I didn't mean to do it. Really, guys, I was just wishin' they were here and POOF! They were. Sorry!"
"What DID you do?" Sora asked, climbing to her feet and helping Mimi up.
"Nothing! I mean, I don't know. It must have been the Power Orb."
"The what?"
Cody shook his head and sighed, "This could take a while."
An hour later, the old Digidestined were more or less up to speed with the situation. And in conclusion, "...But we don't know what to do next, or why you guys were brought here."
"Maybe there are more kids like Chaos," Izzy volunteered.
"Yeah, where is she?" Tai asked.
The Megadigidestined stared blankly at each other and there were a few, "Um"s and "well"s before they collectively sweatdropped.
"We don't know," Cody said, realizing he'd done something very stupid. "I guess we must have left her at Dark Castle."
"You WHAT?"
"I know, I know!"
Tai smacked his forehead. "Great, so, she's still out there?"
Cody bit his lip and nodded slowly. Then to his defense, he added, "But the Freedom Sprits wouldn't have let her in here anyway, so it really doesn't matter."
"Nice job, guys."
* * * *
"I want to start off by saying that I am very disappointed in all of you," Keesma said, staring at them all in turn.
Darkness raised his hand, "And I just want to say that I tried to get them to go, but they insisted on finishing the school day. The little goodie-goodies."
"Suck up," Hate snapped. He smiled at her.
"I don't want excuses, Darkness, and I don't want any fights, either. Hate!"
Hate stopped her fist millimeters from Darkness's nose. Then she cracked her knuckles and said menacingly, "Next time, I'll ruin that pretty face of yours, my dear friend." He tossed his perfect blue hair out of his eyes and looked away, unconcerned.
"Shut!" Keesma snapped, and Hate's mouth disappeared completely. Her eyes went wide and she clawed at her face. "Thank you. Now, where was I? Oh, yes. My dear, dear Dark Digidestined, I am so glad you all could join me. Please note that if you sit quiet through my lecture, there will be refreshments afterwards."
"Oh, goodie," Fear exclaimed, "I'm hungry already! But I hope I'm not allergic to them..."
"You're allergic to everything, so just be quiet and listen to our Master, 'kay?" Darkness glared at him, and he shrank away.
"Thank you, Darkness. So, you all like power?"
"Who doesn't like power?" Lust flipped her frosty hair over her shoulder, and Hate (who'd stopped struggling) rolled her eyes.
"What are you willing to do for power?"
"Everything, duh," she laughed. "We volunteered for our Dark Spores, didn't we?"
"How about murder?"
Hate snorted, then chuckled a little bit.
Darkness pushed his glasses up his nose and waved, "Big deal."
"How about you three?"
Fear nodded slowly.
"No problem," Lust said casually, and edged away from Fear, who was getting a little close. He was the only guy in the universe that she didn't like.
"Apathy?"
"Whatever," he told his fingernails.
"Good, I'm glad you all are clear on that."
Fear raised his hand and asked like he was in class, "Can we have those refreshments now?"
* * * *
"So what do we do now?" Matt asked impatiently.
Cody stood up. "Well, I guess it's time to get your Digimon."
"But..." Izzy started, then swallowed hard. "I thought you said they were dead."
"I did. They WERE dead," then he smiled. "Oh, come on, guys. Have you forgotten the golden Digimon rule? 'Digimon never die, they just get reconfigured'!"
"That's right! They're problably at the Primary Village."
Cody pointed at Yolei's nose and told her loudly, "THAT'S what happened when you 'Digivolved'! All the dead Digimon came back."
"Really? How cool!"
Mimi leaned over and asked Sora in a whisper, "And how exactly did he know that?"
"Oh, Mimi, weren't you listening?"
Cody closed his eyes and put a finger to the side of his head. "I'm like your local radio station, playing select Powers messages all day long."
"With only the occational commercial break!" Yolei added. TK and Kari cracked up, and Cody blushed. The others didn't have a clue what they were talking about.
"Gogert," TK snorted, trying unsuccessfully to keep from giggling. Kari looked like she would start rolling on the floor with laughter. All four of them laughed, even Cody. Soon Patamon, Gatomon, Armadillomon, and Veemon were cracking up. It was the kind of laughter that only comes after a life-threatening experience. Ken and Davis looked at each other and shrugged. Both of them had been unconsious at the time of that inside joke.
"Right..." Tai said, scratching his head. "I musta missed that one."
"Well, if we're going, we should get going," Joe said, then made a face. "Wait, that sounded weird."
Matt smiled. "You're right, though. No use just sitting here."
Everyone climbed to their feet. They turned to leave, and saw Michael and Willis standing (or floating, rather) at the exit, their staffs crossed.
Now, the old Digidestined hadn't seen them yet, and were quite startled.
Mimi screamed, "What in the good Digi-World happened to you, Michael?"
"The same thing that must happen to you-"
Mimi turned blue and chewed on her fingernails in utter horror. 'Look at those hideous eyes!'
"Not really," Cody mumbled to her.
Willis picked up the sentence, "-if you are to defeat the likes of the Dark Digidestined."
That one surprised everyone. "Dark Digidestined?"
"Dark Spore Children, spawn of darkness."
Ken grimmaced, "Speaking of Dark Spores, people, geuss what happened to me?"
Cody narrowed his eyes and spoke in a quiet voice, "Don't tell me..."
He twittled his thumbs and shuddered, "Um, I-I had a bad run-in with Keesma, and she, uh, reactivated mine."
Oh, that did it. Cody was in his face, and he was not happy. "YOU MEAN TO TELL ME THAT HAPPENED WHEN YOU LEFT ALL THAT TIME AGO, AND YOU'RE JUST NOW GETTING AROUND TO TELLING US!"
"I'm okay, sorta," Ken protested. "I feel a little more alert than usual, but I'm not goin' Digimon Emperor on you. Promise!"
"Dark Spore Child, foo. You were the original Dark Spore Child."
Ken opened his mouth to defend himself, but Willis interrupted him, "No, he wasn't."
"Wasn't what?"
"The original. Sam was."
"Sam?" Ken squeaked. "My brother was no Digidestined."
"Sure he was," Michael said. "Why else do you think he wanted your Digivice?"
"But he didn't use it! He just stuck it in a drawer!"
Davis put his hand on Ken's shoulder and asked quietly, "Are you sure about that? Just because you didn't SEE him use it..."
"As painful as this might be, Ken, you need to know the truth. Your brother was the first Dark Digidestined. Darkness."
"No," he whispered, "he couldn't have been..."
The moment Sam died played itself over in his mind. They were just walking to the store when Sam just passed out for seemingly no reason. He never regained consiousness. Brain tumor, the doctors concluded. It had made him smarter, but it ultimately killed him. And they hadn't even suspected there was anything wrong. Now Ken knew the truth: that was no brain tumor.
"If the Dark Spore hadn't killed him, he would have become the Digimon Emperor instead of you, and you would have had to defeat him."
"Unfortunately," the other continued without skipping a beat. "Darkness was, shall we say reincarnated, into a souless child about Cody's age. This boy looks like your brother, sounds like your brother, and has all of his memories."
"But he is definately not your brother. Sam was good, but the Dark Spore destroyed his soul and replaced it with the demon that has become Darkness."
"The same has happened to all the Dark Digidestined. Once good, the Dark Spores replaced their souls with some of Keesma's top warriors."
"Ken, you are not one of the Dark Digidestined. You are Kindness, and nothing will change that."
"But..." He whispered, tears running down his face.
"The Spore was destroyed when you Morph DNA Digivolved. The awareness you're now experiencing comes from the Power Orb that has taken residence in your body."
Ken looked down at his hands. "But why me? Why was I chosen?"
"You already know the answer to that."
He looked up at the two. Everyone else was speechless. A pen drop would have startled the living daylights out of all of them. "And I will still have to defeat Sam, won't I?"
"Darkness is not Sam. You need not worry about him, for his spirit has found peace."
"Darkness will try to trick you into thinking that he is your brother, but do not believe him. Don't let that stop you from destroying him when the time comes."
They stepped away from the door so the others could leave. "Be careful, Digidestined."
"So, do we get to become Megadigidestined, too?" Tai asked excitedly.
"And will we need to Morph Digivolve?" TK asked, looking wearily down at Patamon.
"Yes and yes, in time."
"Hold on," Izzy said, coming to the front of the group. "How many Dark Digidestined are there?"
"Six."
"Oh, is that all?" The old Digidestined relaxed a bit.
"Do not be deceived. Just because there are only six of them, doesn't mean they will be push-overs. They have dangerous powers and some of the strongest evil Digimon you've ever come up against."
"Now go, Digidestined. May the Powers guide you, always."
"Will we ever see you guys again?" Kari asked.
Willis smiled sadly, "Most likely not. At least not in this realm."
So all twelve of them set off in the direction of Primary Village, where their Digimon waited in their digi eggs. Yolei danced around and told everyone, "I made the Digimon come back!"
As soon as they were out of the castle, Ken pointed out to everyone that Davis was now offically a part of the Megadigidestined. Indeed, Davis had the same silver armor as Ken, but with the electric-blue Crest of Friendship on the brestplate, and the same color gloves and cape.
"Oh, look, Davis, we match!" Veemon announced, wrapping himself in Davis's cape and almost tripping him. They didn't really match, the cape was way too bright. Veemon was just happy that Davis wasn't eatten, evil, or dead.
"Come here, you," Davis picked up the giggling Digimon and tickled him until tears came out of his eyes in rivers.
"Six of them, twelve of us," Izzy sighed, getting back to business. "That means that they will probably be at least twice as strong as any one of us."
Yolei got in his face and yelled, "No, just twice as strong as you regular Digidestined. But once you guys 'Digivolve', you'll kick their butts!"
Cody grabbed her arm to keep her from jumping around. "No, Yolei, I don't think it will be that easy. More than likely, right now, they're three times stonger than the regular Digidestined, and twice as strong as us Megadigidestined. When we Morph Digivolve, then we will be a match, concidering that they can't also Morph Digivolve. If that's the case, we'll probably only win by numbers. Even then, the deciding factor might be that we have the Power Orb, and they don't."
He threw a disgusted look at Ken, who gulped loudly.
"Who would you say was the strongest Digimon we've ever faced?"
"Kimeramon," Davis said.
"He's probably been reconfigured by now, too," Ken sighed.
"Myotismon, duh," TK said like it had to be the most obvious thing in the world. "Devimon's got second on my list."
"Oh, I can take care of him, no problem," Patamon told him from his perch on top of TK's helmet.
"Apoclamon has my vote," Joe said.
"Don't forget the Dark Masters," Tai put in. "DARK Masters, DARK Digidestined."
"Well, Michael has Seadramon," Mimi said matter-of-factly, "and he's a good guy, so let's hope we won't see MetalSeadramon."
"Okay," Izzy picked up, "Three of the Dark Masters, Apoclamon, Whatever-Myotismon and Kimeramon for sure. Ya think?"
Cody shook his head, "What about Daemon, Mummymon and Arukinimon?"
"Don't forget about Ladydevimon," Gatomon added.
"And everyone's favorite, Diaboromon," Matt finished. "Man, there are way too many evil Digimon."
* * * *
All the Digimon: And now it's time for a commercial break!
Matt: Hey, I'm not quite sure what this is a commercial for, but...Oh, well, here goes. Enjoy.
Tai's sitting on a park bench, humming the Digimon theme song, oblivious to the world around him. The quiet peacefullness of the park is shattered as a man-sized hot dog appears out of nowhere, screaming a war-cry. Tai doesn't notice as it speeds towards him. When it's about ten feet away, he pops a piece of gum in his mouth and the hot dog EXPLODES! Still, he doesn't even notice.
Matt: Well, if that isn't the most disturbing thing I've ever seen...
Yolei (Sweatdrops): Yeah, that's even scarier than Gogert!
Cody: Hey, I like Gogert! (slurp) Mmm, prune flavored! My favorite!
The hot dog runs across the screen, yelling at the top of its lungs. It explodes right before it leaves view.
Matt (Smacks his forehead): Ugh, now back to the show.
* * * *
"I'm leaving," Keesma announced and everyone gasped. Fear dropped his spoon right before it reached his mouth, splattering chocolate ice cream down his shirt.
"Oh, Cheez-it!" That's not what he really said, but it sounds funny.
The others ignored him, and began talking rapidly at once in sheer panic (except for Apathy, who wouldn't have cared if a house fell on him).
Keesma held up her hand to silence them. "Really, my children, are you that lost without me?"
"YES!"
"We need direction!" Fear whinned as he tried to get the ice cream off his shirt.
"What can be more important than this?" Hate asked bitterly, then added a little more nicely, "Master?"
Keesma glared at her for a moment, concidering taking her mouth away again, but at the sound of 'Master' she changed her mind. "Do you truely believe that this is the only plane of existance that I dwell in?"
"Well, I thought..." She twirled her dark blue hair self-consiously.
"Try not to do that too much, dear. You might hurt yourself." Keesma said this just to get her ticked off. Hate knew better than to lash out at her master, and ended up just pouting at Keesma.
"Please give us some instructions before you leave."
"Well, Darkness, since you asked so nicely..." She patted his head as if he were a dog. "I'm leaving you in charge."
"Not fair!" Lust and Hate whinned at the same time.
Keesma ignored them. "Take one of these misfits and go to the Primary Village to pick up your digi eggs. If you run into the Megadigidestined, give them the slip. Don't try to fight them, because believe me, they would win. Bring the eggs back here but don't wait for them to hatch. Just take the Gate to Labrynth Island on the Dark Ocean Plane. Got that?"
"Sure," Darkness yelped, even though he looked like he didn't have a clue. Neither did anyone else, though.
She smiled briefly. "Good."
"And what do I do about the Key?"
"Oh, you mean Kindness? When...If he finds you, just use the old, 'I'm your brother ploy'. If that doesn't work, I'm an angel."
"Uh, okay."
"And what about the rest of us?" Lust asked, nervously brushing her white, curly hair with her long fingers.
"Yeah," Hate echoed like that had been on her mind the whole time. "What do we do?"
"You guys just work your black magic. You'll be fine. Remember, your goal is to eliminate the Megadigidestined, but try to corrupt them if you can. That would be even better. Nothing is more fun than watching friends destroy each other."
"Which ones should we go for?"
"Well, Kindness has a Dark Spore, plus he'll be weak against Darkness. Love, ur, Yolei can be quite unstable..."
"Yolei!" Hate gasped, and clamped her hands over her mouth.
Darkness and Lust looked at her strangely, but Keesma didn't seem to notice. "Yeah, you'll do good against her. Matt has also been unstable in the anger department. If you turn him against Courage (Tai-big hair), you'll be okay there. Tai took his ex-girlfriend, so Matt..."
"Maybe I could play with him!" Lust squealed, thinking 'I go to all his concerts. Oh, he's SO hot!'
"Don't count on it," Apathy told her, yawning. "He's a little old for you."
"So what? I'll get him, just you wait!"
"You might want to concentrait on Davis. He's the weak link of the bunch. He's just looking for someone to abuse him. Everyone should go for him. Besides, he's only a year older than you, and I think you'll like him."
"If you say so..." Inside, she was thinking, 'I WOULD get the second rate loser, wouldn't I? I want Matt!'
"Mimi (Sincerity) could probably fall under Apathy-"
"If he'd ever get off his lazy butt," Hate mumbled.
"-And so might Joe (Reliability). Maybe. It would probably be good for him to also take care of Hope or Light, if that's at all possible. Fear, your best bet would be to pick on Davis. I've still got half of his soul, after all. Use that to your advantage. And Chaos will create havoc wherever she is, so I'm not to worried about her."
After a pause, she concluded, "Well, good luck." And left. Chaos fell to the floor.
* * * *
Tai put his hands behind his head and growled in frustation, "Urgh, this is SOOO BORING! How could you guys have survived this trip THREE TIMES?"
"It's not so bad," Cody told him.
"Not so bad?" Matt asked, shoving up next to him. "All we ever see is this dirt path. Dirt, dirt, dirt, oh, look, a tree! What a change of scenery!"
"How did you guys ever manage back in the beginning?"
"Easy, we had our Digimon to entertain us."
"Hey," Gatomon complained, "Is that all we are to you? Your ENTERTAINMENT?"
"And to keep us company," Matt added bitterly. He'd missed Gabumon more than he realized.
"At least it's not hot," Mimi suggested. "There'd been plenty of times when we almost died of heat exhaustion."
"Really?" Yolei asked in wonder.
Sora put her arm around Yolei's shoulder and spoke in a voice that said 'I'm older than you are, so I automatically know what I'm talking about', "You guys had it easy. When you got too hot, you could just go home. We had to suffer through it."
"And we're here!" Cody announced, stopping so suddenly that Izzy ran into him.
"Little more warning next time, please!"
"Sorry," Cody told him absent-mindedly.
Primary Village was always a wonderful sight, but in the middle of the endless night, it was just like an oaisis.
"Wow, pretty!" Mimi gasped. The Digi eggs glowed with their own light.
"There they are!" Their Digimon rushed at them, digivolving to their Rookie forms right before they reached the Digidestined. They began talking excitedly all at once.
"Oh, Matt, you must have grown three feet!"
"Tai, you're taller too, or did your hair just get bigger?"
"Oh, shut up, Agumon," Tai said, giving his partner a hug.
"Izzy, you haven't grown at all since the last time I saw you."
Izzy stuck out his tounge, "Thanks a lot, Tentomon, I love you too."
"Aw, you know I'm just joking with you," Tentomon responded, laughing nervously. "Look, you're actually finally taller than Yolei!"
"Mimi, I really like what you've done with your hair," Palmon told her. The two turned to the invisible camera and smiled. Mimi's hair matched the color of Palmon's flower, so they looked quite the same.
Joe got knocked over by a white and orange blur. "Smile, Joe, the fun has arrived!"
"Gomamon! Give me five," Joe laughed, and Gomamon made a face. He had flippers, not hands! Then he smiled as he realized Joe was just joking.
"Good one!"
"Sora, so we meet again."
Sora dropped to her knees and gave her Digimon a bear hug. "Oh, Biyomon! How I missed you."
"Well, well, well, if this isn't a pretty picture!"
Everyone looked up to see the source of the voice. It was Lust and Darkness, standing on the other side of the area. Darkness had a bag of six basketball-sized eggs slung over his shoulder.
Now, Ken had known that Darkness looked like his brother Sam, but he didn't realize quite what that meant. He gasped and fell to his knees, the reality of that hitting him like a speeding truck. This guy looked EXACTLY like Sam, down to his fashion sense, (but his hair was tamer). It was like seeing him alive again. The kid was even the same age Sam had been when he died.
Lust waved at Matt and giggled.
"See ya, Digidestined," Darkness threw something on the ground and a cloud of smoke surrounded them. When the smoke cleared, they were gone.
"He even sounds like Sam," Ken whimpered.
Only Davis had noticed Ken's sudden collapse.
Yolei turned to Cody, "So, uh, now what do we do?"
He pointed and yelled overdramatically, "To Dark Castle!"
* * * *
"So, that was the infamous Digimon Emperor," Lust sighed.
Darkness pouted, "He doesn't even deserve that title, now. The little goodie-goodie."
"Oh, and I'm guessing you think you DO deserve it, huh?"
Darkness smiled and said slyly, "I don't need a title. Titles are just something to hide behind. True darkness speaks for itself."
She chuckled, "Like you would know, Mr. 4.0-Perfect-Student."
"I've done things you couldn't fathom."
"Like what?" Lust thrust her finger in his face, "Spread a killer computer virus?"
He dropped the bag of eggs (none of them broke, thankfully), and gripped her shoulders so tightly, it hurt. He growled, "Let me just say, I know many things worse than dying. I've died, and I can tell you-it's nothing. But I've also studied quite a few methods of torture that would make you cry out for a speedy death. Get my drift, Girly?"
"Oh, I get it," she giggled. He was so close...
His mood changed suddenly. He tilted his head and smiled that award-winning smile.
'You are so bad,' she mouthed.
He kissed her, then abruptly pulled away and slapped her. "Stop using your magic, Lust! I won't stand for it!" Then he grabbed the bag of eggs and stormed away, leaving her clutching the side of her face, laughing hysterically.
* * * *
"'Bout time you two got back," Hate said, putting her hands on her hips.
"We ran into the Digidestined," Darkness told her dully, setting down the bag of eggs. Lust sniggered at him and he shot her a poisionous look.
Chaos took a sip of her drink and put it back in her new nifty cup holder. (It was really Apathy's hand. He'd gotten bored and decided to take a nap right there on the floor by the refreshments table.) She ran her fingers through her short hair and exhaled loudly. Possession had worn her out, but she was bouncing back more quickly than what was normally expected. "Shouldn't we be getting down to business?"
"Oh, Chaos, are you up to it?" Fear asked.
"No, but that's okay. I'll survive."
Darkness wheeled in what looked like a grindstone covered with weird writing and plopped it in the middle of the group. Then he kicked Apathy awake.
Apathy rubbed his side and barked, "Go away!"
"We're leaving, you lazy bum!"
He snorted and got out his Digivice. It was a different model than the origianals and the D-3s. It was a black hemisphere with a handle going horizantally across the back. Two other handles were on the sides, although they were just for decoration. The screen on the front was flat, and currently it displayed the time of day (It was three o'clock).
The six kids got in a circle around the grindstone.
Darkness slipped his Digivice onto his hand and messed with the buttons. "All right, everybody, set your Digivices to Labrynth Island, Dark Ocean. We don't have much time to prepare. The Digidestined are probably right behind us."
It took them a while to figure out how to set the Digivices to another plane, but they got it eventually. (All except Fear. Chaos had to help the poor boy out.)
Darkness held his Digivice over the hole in the grindstone, "Ready?"
The others nodded, copying him.
* * * *
The Digidestined were almost to Dark Castle, when it exploded with dark energy. The kids and Digimon all ran for cover.
After about a minute, Cody looked over the top of the boulder he was hiding behind and sighed, "We're too late."
"Gee, it seems like we're ALWAYS too late," TK mumbled bitterly.
Cody stood up and dusted himself off. "Well, come on. Maybe we can still follow them."
Tai brushed the dust out of his hair and asked, "Excuse me, but what are we late for?"
"The Dark Digidestined just went to another plane of existance."
"Oh, that really clears that up. Thanks so much."
They carefully approached the ruins of the castle. In the center was a small grindstone in the middle of a clearing. In the hole of the grindstone, was a window into another plane. The picture kept moving. They crowded around it.
"Well, guys, there it is."
"What IS it, though?" Mimi asked. "I mean where does it go?"
Cody shrugged. Half the kids groaned.
Tai stared at the stone a while, and commented, "It looks too small for all of us."
Cody tapped the side of his head, like he hoped he could get better reception that way. "I guess will have to split into groups."
"I don't like that idea."
"I don't either, but unless you can think of a better idea, we'll have to."
It took them another half an hour to sort themselves into three teams. Matt, Davis, Ken, and Joe were on one. Tai, Cody, Izzy, and TK were on another. The last one had all the girls in it. Why did it turn out that way? No one knows. It might have something to do with armor, but that's too obvious, isn't it?
"All right, let's go!" Tai held out his Digivice.
*Freeze the picture*
What awaits the Digidestined on the other side?
Find out in the next episode of Digimon: A Bigger Threat-
"Labrynth Island Part 1"
* * * *
Author's note: Sorry this episode was so gosh-darn long!