Author's Note: IT'S FINALLY WORKING!!! YAY!!! Ahem…sorry for the inconvenience, my faithful readers, but I was having trouble logging in. So, after a month of waiting…I'm in! Yay!

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Chapter Eight

Divided, but Still Strong

Jessie, Riki, Compass, Riku, Daiki, and their Digimon finally got out of the canyon after a day of walking. However, the sight that greeted them was not at all pleasant.

"We—have—to—cross—a—damned—desert!" Riki growled. "This—is—not—my—day!!!"

"It's no one's day, Riki," Riku said pointedly. "We better keep going. It's going to be a long…hot…day…"

The Tamers and their Digimon walked on…for a while…under the heat. By midday, they were slouching from weariness and their pace was slowed. Daiki was fanning himself with his baseball cap, Jessie had her eyes shielded from the sun's rays with her hand, Compass was panting hard, Riku was trying not to look tried, and Riki was trying not to stumble as he walked.

The Digimon were in no better condition. Tetramon was slowly walking beside Daiki, his ears drooping and his tail dragging in the sand. Terriermon was sitting, half-asleep, on Jessie's shoulder. Morglormon was dehydrated, since he was a Vegetation Digimon. Petalmon was in the same condition—dried up and parched. Vipomon was fanning himself with his wings.

"How long have we been walking?" Daiki complained.

"Lemme see…" Jessie said. She looked at her shadow. With a stifled sigh, she murmured, "Six hours."

"What time of the day is it?" Compass asked wearily.

"Noon. It's the hottest at noon," Tetramon replied, his voice nearly inaudible.

"Peachy," Riku grumbled sarcastically. "Just peachy."

Jessie, who was walking in front, took a step forward and sunk slightly. She stopped moving and looked back at the others.

"Guys, we shouldn't walk this way," Jessie warned the others.

"Why not?" Petalmon asked.

"It's…uh…not really quicksand but…it's like a hole…kinda…"

Daiki walked up to Jessie and struck the ground with his foot. Nothing happened. The others crowded around.

"Well, it didn't move when I hit it," Daiki told Jessie.

Jessie shrugged. "Must've been my,"—the ground opened up at that moment, and the Tamers and their Digimon fell through—"imagination…!"

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"Ow…"

"I think I hit my head on something hard…"

"Yeah…my head!"

"I-is everyone all right?"

"Ugh…I'm not…"

"Riki…?"

"I'm right here, Daiki."

"Terriermon, where are—"

"Right—ow—here, Jessie. I'm kinda tangled in Vipomon's wings…"

"Let go!"

"I will if—yowch!"

"Shhh! Quiet! We don't know where we are!"

Jessie lit a match. She held it in front of her to survey the scene. Terriermon's ears and Vipomon's wings were indeed tangled up. Petalmon and Riku were rubbing their heads in annoyance. Riki was leaning over Vipomon, trying to untangle the mess. Compass and Morglormon were still knocked out. Daiki was hugging Tetramon, shivering even though there was no wind and it wasn't cold.

Jessie sighed. "Is everyone more or less…all right?"

There was a chorus of groans.

"I'll take that as a 'no'. C'mon, we better wake Compass and Morglormon."

Riku, Petalmon, and Jessie gentle woke the sleeping duo. Compass opened her eyes first.

"Uhn…five more minutes…"

"No, Compass. We gotta get out of here."

Compass sat up and looked around. Everything was black. Occasional dark red, dark green, or dark blue globs would bubble from the ground and rise to the top. At the top, there was…infinite darkness.

"How do you suppose we're going to get out of here?" Morglormon asked sleepily.

"It's not like we've got any choices."

Vipomon, who had finally gotten himself out of the mess, lay down. "You're right."

Riki sat down next to his Digimon. "It's so dark in here we won't see a thing. We might as well sleep."

Compass, Vipomon, Riki, and Morglormon quickly went to sleep.

Jessie yawned. "They're right, you know." She blew out the match. "We'll sleep, and in the morning we'll get out of here."

She and Terriermon lay down and fell asleep too.

Daiki was confused. He stood up. "But we can't sleep! We're not in the desert anymore! We have to get out!"

Riku stretched, yawned, and lay down. "Stop trying, Daiki. There's no way out."

"Yeah," Petalmon agreed. She lay down near Riku's head. "It's not like…we can find a way out…anyway…"

Daiki and Tetramon were the only ones awake.

"Guys…why'd you all go to sleep?" Tetramon wondered.

Silence.

Daiki turned to his Digimon. "C'mon, Tetramon. Let's explore this place. Maybe there's something here that'll help us get out."

And so they left their sleeping friends and headed in a random direction. After half an hour, they turned back and went a different way. Soon, they were ultimately lost.

"Great! My ideas stink!" Daiki said in despair. He looked up, then at Tetramon. "But I won't give up. Those guys are my friends, and we're going to get them outta here."

Tetramon nodded. "Right!"

Suddenly, the ground in front of Daiki cracked and split and formed an abyss, and from the abyss, a Hyogamon appeared. It brandished its club at Daiki and Tetramon. "Why didn't you fall asleep like the others?" it demanded.

"Coz we want to find a way out!" Tetramon growled.

"You can't, coz this is my kingdom! No one escapes Hyogamon's realm of darkness! All who question my authority gets deleted!"

Daiki stepped forward. "Oh yeah, mister wise-guy? We'll see who gets deleted! Tetramon!"

"One step ahead of you, Daiki!" the fox-like Digimon replied, jumping at Hyogamon. Tetramon was thrown away with one swipe of the club.

"Tetramon!" Daiki cried. He glared at Hyogamon. "You big ugly ass! You'll pay for that!"

Hyogamon laughed. "Your Digimon's so weak! He crumpled like a rag doll." Hyogamon pointed at Tetramon. "See what I mean?"

No! I can't…let him do this! Daiki said silently. The others are counting on me to get them out. Daiki looked determinedly at Hyogamon. And I'm not letting some club-wielding ####### stop me! I'm gonna save my friends!

Daiki's D-force glowed suddenly. Daiki, Tetramon, and the enemy Hyogamon stared, dumbfounded, at the light. It was the boy who reacted first. Daiki took his D-force and his Digiegg from his backpack. With fresh determination, he held them high above his head. "Digi Armor energize!"

Tetramon, bruised but still ready to fight, got up as light shimmered around his body. "Tetramon Armor digivolve to…Platinumon, howling Anger!"

Platinumon was a large timber wolf with gleaming silver armor. Spikes ran down his back and a huge spike was fixed on his forehead. He had gigantic feathered wings, and the Crest of Anger was emblazoned on his back.

Hyogamon stuck his tongue out. "Nyah-nyah! A big old Armor doesn't scare me!"

"It should!" Daiki yelled. "Sick 'im, Platinumon!"

The armored wolf needed no second bidding. With a ferocious snarl, he leaped upon Hyogamon and knocked the bone club from his opponent's hand. The Hyogamon squeaked with fright and ran in the opposite direction.

"What kind of an opponent are you?" Platinumon growled. "A worthy opponent does not run from a battle!"

Hyogamon stopped running and turned around. "Well, you asked for it then!" Ice appeared in Hyogamon's hand, which he threw at Platinumon. "Throwing Ice!"

Platinumon opened his mouth. "Cross Beam!" A bright red energy beam collided with the ice and melted it.

Hyogamon chose this time to snatch his club from the ground. He leaped at Platinumon, who barely jumped out of the way, and yelled as the club came down, "Icy Cudgel!"

The ground froze where the club hit.

Daiki was watching with growing anger. "Damn! Platinumon hasn't landed a blow yet!" he muttered. Then he yelled, "Platinumon, get in close, then attack!"

Platinumon obeyed. He dodged showers of ice, and when he was close enough…

"Platinum Smash!"

The huge gray wolf rammed his shoulder into Hyogamon's chest. Cracks were audible as Hyogamon went flying. The demonic Digimon struggled to a sitting position and found that Platinumon was standing over him, growling menacingly.

"Platinumon, wait!" Daiki ordered. He rushed over to the Digimon. Glaring at Hyogamon, he asked, "Why did you drag us here and put my friends to sleep?"

Hyogamon raised his club, but Platinumon swiped it away. The defeated Champion sighed. "Ah, well, see…"

But then, quicker than the eye could see, Hyogamon screeched and leaped at Daiki. He knocked the boy over and tried to hurt the boy in some way. But Platinumon charged with an angry howl. His head spike rammed into Hyogamon's back. The evil Digimon screeched, then disappeared. As the bits of data floated upwards, the surrounding landscape transformed into the desert. The desert sands were then blown away, and the entire landscape changed, once again, to become a jungle.

Daiki shakily stood up and hugged Platinumon's neck. "Thank you for saving me."

Platinumon smiled. "You're welcome, Daiki."