Eep! Evil nurses, creepy dark shadows…

Predestined

Chapter Four: One By One

"I'm just glad you're all right," Leon sighed, pulling Jenna into his arms and kissing the top of her head. "After Tina suggested the danger we're all in, I'd thought that…"

"I'm fine," she reassured him. "So, does this mean what I think it means?"

"A trip to the Digital World?"

"Yeah. Exactly."

"I hate to break it to you, but the Digi-Ports are all sealed."

"So? My dad broke the barrier once. 'Course, his intentions were all evil and everything, but…maybe he could help us."

"Yeah. Maybe."

"Have a good day today?" Deanna asked her sister as she climbed into the passenger seat.

Eleven-year-old Rachael Ruble grinned. "Sure did. I totally beat up Charlie Dayton!"

Deanna's eyes almost bugged out of her head. "Seriously?"

"No." Rachael giggled. Shocking her older sister was something she'd loved to do all her life.

Deanna settled back in the driver's seat and backed out of the school parking lot. "What really happened to you today?" she asked. "C'mon, Rachie."

"I had a Geography test—I probably failed it, this world is still so freaking confusing—and I heard a rumour that Josie Parker's stepmother is in a mental hospital. So…whaddabout you, big sister? Talk to Cleo yet today?"

"Yeah…someone disconnected us to ask her out. She was pretty pissed off."

Rachael's eyes gleamed, like she had something more to say. "Um, Dee?" she said tentatively. "I found something today, and I don't know if it means anything, but…"

"What do you mean, you found something?" Deanna asked. She looked over at her little sister, who was digging around in her backpack.

"I found this," she said simply, holding out a pale pink D-X for her older sister to see.

Deanna nearly lost control of the wheel.

"Tania's having a nap," Kari said quietly, ushering her sister-in-law Sora into the kitchen. "She's really worked up over this, and she seems to think that this is all her fault somehow. Do you want some tea? I just put on a pot to boil."

"Sure. I'll get it myself. Just sit down, and explain what happened."

As Sora fixed their tea, Kari started talking quickly. "Well," she said, "I really don't know much, except for what Tania told me. She said that on her way back from the park with Hikaru, Chris picked them up. I don't know what he was doing, because he usually gets off work at 5:30. Anyway, Tania said that Hikaru told her to go wait in the lobby for a second. I guess she wanted to talk to Chris. She said she saw two dark figures sneak up behind them, and drag them through to 'another place'. Of course, she's never seen an opening to the Digital World, so she doesn't really understand what happened."

Sora handed her sister-in-law a steaming mug and sat across from her. "You haven't told her anything?" she asked.

"She's only four and a half years old. I doubt she would understand even half of anything I could tell her."

"But she has to be told, Kari. It just has to be done. I mean, look at what happened the last time we kept our secrets from our children."

The two women sat back, sipping their tea.

"I'm worried about Lee," Sora said finally. She set down her mug carefully. "I'm afraid of what's happening to our kids. I know, we're too old to go into the Digital World again—" A small smile played across her lips; Kari was only forty-one "—but I still feel like taking Biyomon on a big, huge adventure. You know, for old time's sake."

Before Kari could start reminiscing, the phone rang. "Damn it," Kari groaned. "I'll get it." She got up and picked up the receiver. "Hello? …Oh, hi! Yes, she's here, but…Wait a minute, Tai. What happened? …Oh no. Listen, Tai, we really need to do something about this… I'll call my son, he's at Izzy's place, and I'll tell Izzy to pass on the news the same time Kiko tells the other kids…OK. Do you want to talk to Sora?"

Sora stood up. "What's going on?" she cried.

Kari held the phone out to her. "It's Tai. Sora…Lee's gone. Somebody took her out of the hospital."

In Versailles, France, seven-year-old Lucas Lariviere was having a bit of a problem.

"C'mon, guys," he said to the eighth-graders that had his soccer ball and his shoes. "Let me have them back. Please?"

"Not until you promise to keep away from our side of the field!" the biggest one, a bully named Francis Charette said. He held the little boy's shoes up over his head.

"But it was an accident! My ball rolled over there…"

In one swift motion, Pierre du Moulin had his switchblade out and was slashing at Lucas's ball. "Now it won't roll over to our turf," he smirked. He tossed the ripped-up ball to Lucas, and pushed him over into a mud puddle. "See that it doesn't happen again, or else!"

The two bullies high-fived each other and ran off, probably to terrorise some more kids. Lucas almost started to cry as he got out of the puddle and shook himself. If only I still lived in the Digital World, he thought angrily. I'd find a Digimon to rip off their stupid heads!

Lucas had lived in France for a little over four years now, and he found that he really hated the whole planet Earth in general. In the land of his birth, the only real threats were the occasional evil Digimon bent on destroying and/or conquering the Digital World. That was always a problem that could be solved by a few field battles with a couple of powerful Digidestined. On the other hand, his new homeland was a total mess. People killed eachother, bombed eachother's countries, poisoned their natural resources, killed off entire species, did drugs, did bad things to eachother…He hated this place and the people in it.

Here, there was no free air to breathe. But in the Digital World, unpolluted air was in abundance. So was clean water, fresh food, and friends…like the Impmon that used to visit him sometimes when he was very little. His only friend here was a shy little girl named Alyne who was kind of chubby and wore Coke-bottle thick glasses. At times, she was good company. But often, even his one friend could not dispel the loneliness he felt on Earth.

He wanted to go home. He wanted to go back to where he belonged.

And almost as if some unseen force had heard his silent cry, he found a D-X under his pillow that night.

Izzy jumped as the phone rang. He had been in the middle of cleaning up the living room and hadn't gotten very far.

"Hello?"

"Izzy? It's Kari. Look, is Kiko still there?"

"I think so…want me to get him?"

"Yes. And when I'm done talking to him, I need to talk to you."

Thinking that Kiko was probably in some sort of trouble with his parents, he took the cordless and brought it into Mike's room. There were the two boys, looking extremely guilty. The computer screen had the Digi-Port on it, and it was closed again.

"You got it to work?" Izzy inquired.

"No, Mr. Izumi," Kiko said, looking suddenly terrified. "We tried to open it, but Lauren went through instead of us. And now the thing's closed again!"

Izzy's eyes widened with shock. "Oh no." He put the cordless to his ear and said, "Kari, add another disappearance to the list. Lauren's gone, too."

Then he held out the phone to Kiko. He took it, looking puzzled.

"Mom…what's wrong?"

"Hey, big sister. How's it going out in Finland?"

"Final exams are coming up," Cleo groaned. "And I have some jerkwad on my ass, literally…And how're you doing, little sister? Leon popped the big question yet?"

"Nah, he knows I've gotta be of age. Listen, Cleo? Um, some pretty weird stuff happened today, and I was told I had to call you." Jenna sighed. "Looks like someone is after us."

"Us?" Cleo sounded shocked. "As in the plural form? As in us Digidestined?"

"Yep."

Cleo made a face and sighed. "Oh, great. First I have exams, then Dee calls me to tell me something and that asshole Mikko disconnected us…"

Jenna started. "What did she tell you?"

"Some weird, freaky-ass prophecy that made absolutely no sense. But I e-mailed her on the D-X…"

"It can do that?"


"Yeah, but the keyboard they give you is the size of a book of matches."

"Cool. Listen, Cleo? I have call waiting. Hold on…"

Jenna went on the other line. "Hello?"

Holly was on the line, and she sounded hysterical. "Jenna, is my brother still there?" she asked.

"No, he's gone to see Chris at work…why? What's the matter?"

"MY SISTER IS MISSING FROM THE HOSPITAL, AND LAUREN, CHRIS AND HIKARU ARE GONE TOO! THAT'S WHAT'S THE MATTER! Listen, Jenna, you'd better get your ass over to my place right now. We're having a general meeting of the Digidestined, and yes, that means our parents too. Call Leon on his cell and tell him, OK?"

"Holy crap," Jenna groaned. "Look, I've got my sister on the other line. I'll be there in fifteen minutes, OK?"

"All right. See ya then."

Jenna got back to her sister. "Houston, we have another problem," she said.