Years of Preparation: Part 6: The Black Digivice
"Hmm," Tai said, placing his hand on his forehead and scanning the desert around him,"I think Noriko's got to work on her aim..."
"Why do you say that?" Izzy asked, pulling on the strap of his backpack.
Tai sighed as he continued to look at the barren desert,"By my estimation, we're about a mile from where we're suppose to meet up with Mina."
"That's just great," Miriya said, sighing deeply, as she rocked her small child back and forth in her arms,"This little guy is really heavy."
"Oh, Mrs. Kamiya," one of the two newest Digidestined, Serena said, bowing slightly in front of Miriya,"If you need a rest taking care of your child, allow me to help."
"Oh no," Miriya said,"I couldn't impose.."
"Oh, it is no trouble at all," Serena said,"That is primarily why I was brought along, so I could help you with your son."
Miriya look to her husband. "Tai?" she asked,"Is that true?"
"Um..well...kind of," he said, looking at the ground,"But I don't like it any more than you do!" He knew that Miriya was about to yell at him for asking another person to help. She hated admitting that she ever needed help.
"Well, I'm glad that you were thinking of me," Miriya said, shifting her son in her arms, "Its going to be hard enough for me to travel like this, I was never a real outdoors type girl."
Tai was in shock."I'm never going to understand women," he mumbled to himself.
Serena giggled. "Just think of me as your servant..."
"One that is going to be trained," Serena's twin brother, Sam, quickly added.
Tai took out his small telescope and scanned the landscape. "Okay, I see the town where we have to rendezvous with Mina. Let's move out."
The Digidestined huffed as they grabbed their bags and started walking. Each one carried their own sleeping bags and personal supplies, as well as other equipment. Sam had cooking supplies, Izzy had communications equipment, and Serena, Miriya, and Kasumi had baby supplies. Without anything extra weighing him down, Tai was easily making much more time than the rest of them. "Come on!" he said, sighing,"You guys are all younger than me, and I'm in much better shape than you are!"
Izzy huffed to himself as he lugged the giant backpack across the desert. "You know, this isn't exactly light, you know!"
"Oh, you're just a wimp!" Tai said, smiling.
"I don't know Tai," Tentomon said, hovering next to the sweating Izzy,"This just looks painful."
"Oh, stop crying!" Tai said, waiting until the others caught up with him.
"Now I know where I got it from," Kasumi thought to herself, lugging her backpack to where her father and the others were standing.
After everyone was assembled, Tai turned around, "Come on, let's go, we've got to make it to that city before nightfall. Let's move!"
The rest of the Digidestined took a deep breath, then followed after him. "Tell me," Sam said, huffing next to Izzy,"Has he always been like this?"
Izzy nodded."Only since I've known him!"
Sam let out an exasperated breath. "Just great. Of all the teacher we could have gotten, we get Genki up there..." Suddenly, he felt something slam into the back of his head. He turned around and saw his twin sister standing there. "What did you do that for?"
"We must show respect, remember?" Serena asked, rubbing her fist,"He is the great Tai Kamiya!"
Sam and his Digimon mumbled to themselves, which got another whack from Serena and her Digimon.
"So," Izzy said to the twins,"You've got the same Digimon?"
"Yeah," Sam said,"They're called Candlemon..."
"...and they both Digivolve into Meramon," Serena finished for him,"'But, after that, well...you'll see."
"What?" Tentomon asked,"You mean, you can already Digivolve into Ultimate?"
The two Candlemon blushed slightly and Sam's Digimon turned his head slightly, while Serena's Digimon spoke up. "Yeah," she said,"But, its not like we're prodigious or anything."
"Still, that is impressive," Agumon said, turning his head around,"I had to wait until we were fighting Etemon before I could Digivolve. I had to use part of Tai's energy that was awakened when he saved Sora, and-oh....." He turned back to Tai,"Sorry..."
"No, its okay," Tai said, sighing,"Its time I put it behind me."
"Oohhhh!" Yolei cried, throwing her child up into the air,"Oh, you're just so cute! Yes you are, yes you are!"
Her daughter giggled as Yolei held her up into the air. "Oh, you're my little baby, you're my little girl!" Her daughter squealed in delight as Yolei rocked her back and forth, smiling in delight.
Yolei looked around the small nursery room, thinking how she would have to talk to Davis about livening the room up. The paint was a pale red, and the stuffed animals were all old beaten up, torn, faded clowns and bears. The cribs were slightly beat up, but, they were more than safe. The blankets however, could definitely use some fixing up, or, buying new ones would be better.
Yolei sighed as she went to grab her daughter's bottle which was seated on the table next to her, when Ken walked in. Yolei's face lit up. "Oh, Ken, hi! Look at how happy our child is!"
Ken smiled slightly, then it faded. "What's wrong?" Yolei asked.
Ken moved out of the way of the door, and Matt walked in. When Yolei saw the look on Matt's face, she felt a chill sneak up her spine. She put the bottle back on the table, and held her daughter closer to her body. "Hi, Matt," she said, a tone of nervousness in her voice.
"Yolei," Matt said, sighing,"We need to talk about your child."
"What about her?" Yolei asked.
"I was briefed on what happened when you were in Dragomon's castle."
"What are you talking about?" Yolei asked, clutching her child tightly.
Matt sat down in one of the chairs. "Azulongmon warned us about a child of evil, and Dragomon had outright told us that your daughter is that child!"
"No!" Yolei screamed, moving her daughter around to her side,"My child is not evil!"
Matt sighed. He knew this would be hard, that was why Davis couldn't do it, Ken and Yolei were his best friends. "You were there, you know what I'm saying is true..."
"I'm not giving my child up!" Yolei shouted,"You were there too! Remember what Azulongmon said, only Kari, T.K., Davis, or Tai could give birth to the evil child, Ken or I couldn't, we're just mortals!"
Matt sighed. She was right, so, what did Dragomon want with her child though? He would have to talk to Davis about this. "Alright," Matt said, standing up,"But, we'll be keeping an eye on her." He turned and left.
"I don't believe this!" Yolei huffed, reaching for the bottle on the table,"I thought he was our friend, and I...hey.." She looked at the table, the bottle wasn't there. She looked on the ground, it wasn't there either. It was no where in sight.
"Hmm," she said to herself as she turned back to her daughter. She gasped when she saw that her child was happily sucking on the bottle. "How did you-?" she asked. She knew that she left the bottle on the table, and the table was too far out of reach for her daughter to reach it, so how did she get the bottle?
"Greetings," Mina said, placing her hands together and bowing,"I am so glad you could make it."
Tai put his hands together and returned the bow. "Hello, Mina, it has been a while since we last saw each other, has it not?"
Mina smiled. "I am happy to see you again. Come, I have arranged rooms for us at the inn."
"Really?" Miriya asked, "Good, I don't have to sleep on the ground."
Tai smiled as they continued along the cobblestone street in the middle of the town. He looked at the buildings and houses that lined the street. They were all made of concrete and wood, with Digimon running errands, and some just playing in the street.
Mina lead them to a giant building in the center of the city. Inside it was air conditioned, a relief to the hot atmosphere outside. Mina led them across the small lobby, and to the elevator. They went up to the top floor, and walked down the hall, to a group of doors. "This is our room," Mina said, mentioning to one door with her hand. She walked over and opened it. "I apologize," she said, leading them inside,"But one room was all I could afford.."
"No problem," Tai said, walking inside with his bags, soon followed by all the othes,"This place is pretty big."
The first room was a small living room of sorts, with a couch on the left, and a t.v. on the right. The next room had a large table, with a small kitchenette against the wall. At the very left of the back wall, was a small hallway with a closet, and a door on the left. At the end of the hall was another room with two large beds, and a t.v inside of a large chest.
"Where's your Meramon?" Izzy asked.
"I'm right here," a voice said, walking out of the room in the hallway.
"An Agumon?" Tai's Digimon asked.
The new Agumon nodded, bowing slightly. "I had to regress to my Rookie stage in order to fit inside of here..."
"Okay," Kasumi said, scanning the room,"I think that Tai and Miriya should get the actual bedroom..."
Everyone else nodded their agreement. "Now, wait a second," Tai said,"We don't want to put anyone out..."
"Tai," Izzy said, placing his hand on his friend's shoulder,"You too are newlyweds, you should get a room to yourself."
"Really," Miriya said, shifting her son in her arms,"We don't want to put anyone out..."
"Well, if you insist," Sam said, walking towards the bedroom, where he was hit over the head by Serena, and pulled back inside the kitchen room.
"We will make our own arrangements out here, Mr. and Mrs. Kamiya," Serena said, bowing slightly.
"Uh, okay," Miriya said, shrugging her shoulders,"If you guys insist..."
"Wait a minute," Tai said, dropping his bags,"Shouldn't we moving out to find the Black Digivice?"
Mina held up her hand,"I have spoken to the citizens of this town. They tell me that a group of humans arrived earlier this day, but, they would have to wait until the day after tomorrow before they could hire a guide."
"Then, doesn't that mean we can't get one either?" Kasumi asked.
"I am your guide," Mina said.
"So," Tai said,"Then, even if we leave tomorrow evening, we'll still be ahead of the Hunters. So, let's relax for the night."
Everyone dropped their bags, crashing them into the floor. "I am starving!" Sam cried, running over to the small kitchenette,"I need some good food!"
He started tearing through the cabinets, searching for cooking utensils, making a very loud racket, which got a whack on the head from Serena. "Are they always like that?" Mina asked.
"I don't know," Tai said, shrugging his shoulders,"I haven't met them before yesterday. They remind me of Kari and myself though.."
Later that night, most of the Digidestined were assembled around the table in the small kitchenette, eating their dinners, or, in Sam's case, his fifth dinner.
"So," Tai said,"You know where the Black Digivice is?"
Mina swallowed her food. "Well, I do know where the temple hidden in these mountains are, but, as to whether the Black Digivice is hidden inside..? I'm sorry, I do not know."
Tai nodded, and took another bite of his meal. He wanted to ask more about it, when his son started to cry. Miriya sighed as she put her napkin down. She was about to get up, when Tai held out his hand. "I'll get him."
He walked over to where his son was lying in his make-shift crib. He picked him up and started rocking him back and forth. "Shh, shh," he said, walking back to the table,"It's okay, you don't need to cry.." Kasumi smiled as she watched her father and his son.
After his son was quiet, Tai turned to Mina. "So, what is the Black Digivice, anyway?"
Mina cleared her throat,"Well, during the early years of the Digital World, when it was able to support human life, a terrible evil came to the Digital World. The Digimon knew that they couldn't stop it themselves, so they had to summon help from the human world, the group that we call The First Digidestined..."
"And I'm one of them?" Miriya asked.
"It would appear so," Tentomon said, hovering next to where Izzy was eating.
"As I was saying," Mina continued,"The First Digidestined came to the Digital World, and, in their campaign against the terrible evil, one of them, a great computer expert, developed many weapons that they could use. One of them was the Black Digivice. They did not know it at the time, but, somehow during its construction, it became infused with evil. They hid it deep within these mountains, so that no Digidestined could claim it.
They returned to Earth briefly, and took the Machina Codex which had been given to my family very early in the beginning of the Digital World, back to the Digital World. They recorded all the locations of the items that they hid, as well as their own special stories. Then, they faced their greatest evil, and, during that battle, one of the female members was killed. After defeating that evil, the remanning members returned to earth, and sealed the entrance to the Digital World, and returned the Codex to use. That shield should have remained for all time..."
Tai nodded. "So, this Black Digivice, is really powerful, huh?"
Mina nodded. "Yes, if Daemon gets it and gives it to the Child of Darkness, I fear for the survival of both the Digital World, and Earth."
Tai nodded. "Okay, let's get some sleep. Tomorrow morning we're going to leave early."
The flames whipped against her bare skin as she rested against the bark of the tree. She breathed heavily as the storm raged around her. The sky was black, lighting up only when a flash of lightning crashed across the darkness.
As the inferno burned around her, a young man knelt beside her. She really couldn't get a good look at his face. "You'd better stay here," he said, breathing very heavily.
"No," she protested,"You need my help."
"You have to stay here!" the young man shouted,"You can't go anywhere with your leg like that!"
She looked down at the end of the body. She was wearing a black tank top, and jean shorts. She could see that her left leg was almost completely covered in a reddish black liquid. She tired to move it, but found that she couldn't. "Ahh!" she yelled out in pain.
"I told you!" the young man said,"I'll take care of this."
"No!" she protested,"You can't! You'll be killed!"
"That's a chance I'll have to take!" he said, jumping up,"I'm going to stop this guy!"
Suddenly, a dark figure descended from the sky. He was dressed completely in black, with a long cape flowing behind him. "Ha ha ha!" he laughed at them,"If you think you're going to stop me, you're sadly mistaken!"
He held up his right hand, and she could see that there was a device resting there. "This Black Digivice is mine, and both the Digital World, and Earth will soon be brought under my power!"
"No!" she shouted,"Don't do it!"
The dark figure laughed and pointed the device at her. The device fired a black beam at her...
Miriya screamed as she sat up in bed. She was pouring sweat, and her heart was about to jump out of her chest. "Miriya," Tai said, sitting up next to her,"Are you okay? What's wrong?"
"Oh Tai," she said, burying her face in his chest,"I..I had a horrible dream...it was about the Black Digivice.."
"What?" he asked.
"I...I don't know how," she said,"But, it was the Black Digivice...some...someone had it...a..a dark figure...it gave him incredible power..."
"How do you know all of this?" Tai asked, looking at her face. It had been years since he first saw her, but, every time that he looked at her face, he still felt a little weird seeing Sora's face staring back at him.
"I..I don't know,"Miriya said,"M..maybe my memories of my time as a First Digidestined are returning to me.."
"But.. that's what I don't understand," Tai said,"When I met you, you were 18-years-old, but, Geni told us that the First Digidestined were about eighteen, and went into the Digital World in 1990, and that was fifteen-years-ago, you should be about thirty-three now, why are you only eighteen?"
"I don't know," Miriya said, starting to calm down,"But, I know that what Daemon told me was true. I am one of the First Digidestined, the..the one that died..."
The Digidestined began their expedition bright an early the next morning. By mid afternoon, after a grueling journey across the hot desert, they were ascending the rocky mountain. Of course, after carrying bags of equipment across a steamy desert in hundred degree weather, everyone was a bit cranky.
"You said it was okay, that's the point!" Kasumi shouted.
"Well, I'm sorry, okay?" Izzy sighed, rubbing his forehead,"I didn't know that there was a digital snake underneath that rock. I'm sorry that you fell over, I'm sorry that you almost got bit, and I'm sorry that your cloak was ripped, okay?"
Kasumi sighed, turning her head away from him,"Just like Erika.."
"What?" Izzy asked.
"Nothing," Kasumi said,"Nothing at all."
At the front of the line, Mina turned to Tai. "Do they always act like that?" she whispered.
"No," Tai whispered back,"Izzy's usually very mature. It must be the heat..."
"I agree," Mina said, whipping her brow with a hankercheif. She had traded in her normal robe attire for a pair of jean shorts and a blue t-shirt.
"It is so hot," Serena said, fanning herself with her hand.
"Oh, stop whining!" Sam said, as they continued to walk up the mountain path,"Everyone's hot!"
"I'm not whining!" Serena protested,"I'm just stating a fact. We are all hot."
"You're just being a little whinny kid," Sam said,"You're not as mature as you pretend to be, and now the others can see it."
"That's enough!" Tai shouted,"We're all a little cranky, okay? I don't want any more fights, understand?"
The twins held their heads low,"Yes sir," they said in unison.
"Besides which," Tai said, turning away from them,"Sam, you should treat your sister very nice. She's tough on you because she cares."
"Miss Kari is your sister, isn't she?" Serena asked.
Tai nodded. "That's right," he said, smiling slightly,"My one and only."
"She's the reason you came back, isn't she?" Sam asked.
"You're right," Tai said,"I came back when she was missing. I had to find her, the sweetest, kindest person in the entire world. She helped me become a better person, you know. She taught me about being kind, and caring...she means so much to me. I don't know what I would do if anything happened to her."
He sighed and looked at Sam. "So, I don't want to hear that you were being mean to your sister, okay?"
Sam nodded. "Okay."
Tai smiled and turned back around. "Besides," Izzy said,"She's the only family you have left..."
"What?" Miriya asked, holding her son in her arms,"What do you mean, Izzy?"
"Our parents are dead," Serena said, her eyes starting to water,"They were killed during the Digimon Invasion four years ago. I know that the Digimon that appeared in New York weren't out to kill anyone, but..."
"We know that it was an accident," Sam said, crossing his arms,"But, that doesn't make it hurt any less."
"Well," Tai said,"That's one of the benefits of being in the Digidestined. We're all family. I know that we can't replace your real parents, but, if you need any one to talk to, I'm here."
The twins smiled slightly. "Thank you, Mr. Kamiya," Serena said, bowing.
"Well," Mina said, a tone of excitement in her voice,"You do not have to worry about the heat anymore. We have arrived."
The other Digidestined gasped at the sight. Inside of a large canyon in the mountain, was a large temple built into the inside of the canyon wall. It looked like the front of a cathedral, with large pillars supporting a ledge above the door, covered with large statues of various holy Digimon, and warrior Digimon.
Tai looked at the others and took a deep breath. "Let's go." They nervously followed him up the stairs and inside the temple. "Woa," he said, surprised.
"What's so special about this place?" Miriya asked.
"It seems like there's less air," Kasumi said, whipping her forehead,"But, at least its cooler inside."
The inside of the temple reminded them of the inside of an Egyptian Tomb in so many movies. They were standing on top of a large square platform, with deep,wide crevasses along the wall. Stairs on both sides ran down to the bottom of the crevasse. The walls of the room were filled with hieroglyphics of some sort, and there was golden statues on at each corner of the room, connecting the platform to the wall. At the far end, on a smaller platform connecting to the larger one to the wall was an alter that was just as big as the smaller platform.
"This is where the Black Digivice is?" Tai's Agumon asked.
Mina opened her mouth to answer, but Miriya cut her to it. She seemed to be in some sort of trance as she spoke. "Yes," she said in a monotone voice,"We hid it here, this was the only save place..."
Tai placed a hand on her shoulder,"Miriya...? Miriya!"
She blinked a couple of times. "W-what?" she asked, turning to him.
"Are you okay?" he asked,"If being in here is making you uncomfortable..."
"No, no," she said, shaking her head,"I..I'm okay."
Izzy turned to Mina. "So, where is the Black Digivice? It doesn't look like anything is really in here."
"Hmmm," Mina said. She walked towards the wall, with her Agumon trailing loyal behind her. She started to look at the symbols on the wall. "I'm not entirely sure what this says..."
Izzy turned to his Digimon,"Can you read it?"
Tentomon buzzed by and hovered next to the wall. He started scanning the hieroglyphics,"Hmm, I can only read some of it."
"Well," Tai's Agumon said,"Anything will help."
"I can only decipher some of the symbols," Tentomon explained, "......death...destruction....fire...world...in ruin.....hate...found..."
He turned around to face them,"Its a warning not to disturb the Black Digivice."
"Yes, fine, whatever," Tai said,"What about the location?"
Tentomon went back to reading the writng,"Ah, the device is here.....Its right below us, in a vase!"
"A vase?" Sam asked,"Why put such a dangerous device in a vase?"
Everyone waited, then turned to where his twin sister was standing. Serena would have hit him, if her hands weren't full holding Tai's son. She stopped rocking him, then looked to see everyone looking at her. "What?" she asked.
"Let's just find that Black Digivice and get out of here," Kasumi said,"This place gives me the creeps."
"Yeah," Tai said, mentioning towards the staircase, "Let's go."
The Digidestined followed their leader down the stairs, while Tentomon stayed above, attempting to translate the rest of the symbols. At the base of the long staircase, they could see that the floor above them had been supported by five large pillars. That was all they could see, however..
"Sam, Serena," Tai said,"Tell your Digimon to go ahead of us and give us some light."
The twins nodded, and their Candelmons walked forward, using their flame to light up the room below them. They increased the intensity of their flames and the darkness was removed. There wasn't anything down below, except for an alter in the center of the room, with a large vase on top.
"That is it," Mina said,"Let us get it, and be on our way."
Tai started walking towards it, when he suddenly heard a sinister laugh. He turned around and saw three other Digidestined standing at the base of the staircase. "Hunters!" Tai shouted,"But..I thought you couldn't get a guide.."
Barker smiled, and crossed his arms. "We followed you, what do you think? It really wasn't that hard for a trail master like myself." His expression changed and he dropped his arms,"Now, step away from the urn and, more importantly, the Black Digivice!"
"No way!" Tai said, clenching his fist,"If you want to open this vase, you'll have to get through us!"
"Gladly," Barker said, smiling,"Hunters, go!"
"Get them, Digidestined!"
The Digimon jumped forward and stared each other down for a second. Agumon was about to join them, but Tai held him back. "If you Digivolve, you'll smash right through the ceiling and crush us all," he said,"Stay by me."
Barker's Kunemon, Azuna's Blackgatomon, and Malcolm's Gizamon glared at Mina's Agumon, and the twin's Candlemons. After an eternity, Kunemon made the first move. "Kunemon digivolve to Musyamon!"
"Gizamon digivolve to Flymon!"
"Blackgatomon digivolve to Ladydevimon!"
"Musyamon digivolve to Skull Satanmon!"
The Digidestined Digimon nodded at each other, then looked at the Hunter's Digimons. Mina's Agumon stepped forward first,"Agumon digivovle to Mearamon!"
The twins Digimon were next. Both Candlemons eagerly jumped into battle. "Candlemon digivolve to Mearamon." Then the two Mearamon continued to Digivolve,"Mearamon digivolve to....
"...Skullmearamon!"
"....Bluemearamon!"
Tai raised an eyebrow, as did Barker. "Bluemearmon?" Tai asked.
Serena nodded. "That's right. My Digimon has the power of blue fire!"
"Blue Fire?" Agumon asked,"Like ice?"
Serena nodded. "That's right.."
"Enough talking," Skull Satanmon said, pointing at Skullmearamon,"You're mine!"
"Gladly!" Skullmearamon said, stretching one of his chains,"Bring it on!"
Skulmearamon and Skulsatamon rushed towards each other, while Serena's Bluemearamon started battleing Ladydevimon. Mina's Mearamon and Flymon began an impressive battle.
Ladydevimon jumped forward and grabbed hold of Serena's Digimon. "You will not be able to beat me!" Ladydevimon boasted,"I'm much stronger than you are!"
"Don't bet on it," Bluemearamon said. She grabbed hold of Ladydevimon and flung her into the far wall. Bluemearamon placed her hands together and fired a blast of blue fire,"Ice Phantomon!" she yeld. The blue flames hit Ladydevimon, and began to turn into ice, covering the Fallen Angel Digimon under a sheet of cold fire.
"Impressive," Tai said, a smile crossing his face,"I've never seen a Digimon like that before."
Serena smiled proudly. "Thanks.."
"Keep them busy," Tai said, turning around and grabbing Miriya,"We're getting that Digivice!"
He and his wife, cradling their son, started running towards the vase. It was a large vase, with a diamond shaped top. "Can we get it out?" Tai asked.
"I..I don't know," Miriya said, hanging her head down,"I...I'm sorry, Tai. I don't remember much, and what I do is sketchy, I don't know if its true or not."
Tai nodded. He took a deep breath and reached his hand out to grab the top of the vase, when he heard Miriya scream out his name. He spun around, and felt a hard object slam into his nose. He staggered back, then fell flat on his rear. Barker stood over him, cracking his knuckles. "Come on," he said with a smile,"I thought you were better than that!"
Tai tried to get up, but Barker's punch caught him off guard, he was too dizzy to stand for long. He fell back onto the ground. Miriya ran to his side. They could only watch as Barker reached for the top of the vase. His fingers grasped tightly around the diamond shape, when, Tentomon and Izzy suddenly ran down the stairs, shouting.
"No, don't open the vase!" Tentomon shouted,"The warning on the wall, don't open the vase!"
Barker stopped, as did everyone else. "What are you talking about?" Barker asked.
"The First Digidestined," Izzy said, breathing heavily,"The First Digidestined hid the Black Digivice in the one place that would be impossible to reach except through certain areas, like that vase."
"What areas, Izzy?" Tai asked, standing up.
"Time warps," Izzy said,"That vase in an entrance to a time warp between the earth and the Digital World, the Black Digivice exists right on the other side of the entrance, but, once opened, we will have an incredible, unpredictable, growing time storm, like a black hole, sucking everything in."
"So?" Barker asked, "Daemon will be able to stop that! This Digivice is mine!"
He started to light the top of the vase, when, Kasumi suddenly tackled into him."No!" she screamed,"It is not good to mess with time! You have no idea at all what will happen, none at all! I tried to change to past of my world, and I did more harm than good! You can never mess with time!"
"Get off of me!" Barker shouted, kicking her to the ground,"I don't care about your world, the only thing that matters to me is my payment! I'm taking the Digivice now!"
He tightened his grip on the vase and pulled the top off. Everyone, including Barker, held their breath for a second, then, looked confused. "Hey," he said,"Nothing happened."
Suddenly, a massive geyser of dark energy blasted from the top of the vase, the force throwing Barker back onto the ground. "W-what is that?" he asked, watching the geyser stop slightly before slamming into the top of the room. The black energy fell over like a waterfall, crashing back into the small opening of the vase. The energy continued to overflow and flow back into the stream, creating a large black circle, who's circumference continued to grow.
The Hunters and the Digidestined Digimon returned to their Rookie stages, and ran over to watch the growing time hole. The wind began to pick up, and thunder and lighting sounded across the small room. "What's going on?" Tai shouted over the roar of the wind.
"Its a time storm," Kasumi said, struggling to stay on her feet,"Its what happens when a rift is created between two timeliness, without an exit door."
"What do you mean?" Serena asked, holding tightly to her brother so she wouldn't fly away in the storm.
"Without a time line target," Kasumi said,"The time portal will just loop around back into this one. The time storm is the result of reality trying to fill in the gap created by the rift."
"How do we stop it?" Tai shouted.
"I...I don't know," she said, hanging her head down,"I'm sorry."
On the ground, the leader of the Hunters stared at the growing darkness. As he stared into the darkness, he saw a flicker of light flash through the growing hole. He strained his eyes and saw it again. It was a metal object, flickering in the darkness. "Yes!" he thought to himself. Barker slowly stood up, due to the wind,"I know what to do, and that's finish my mission!"
"Don't be insane!" Miriya shouted,"We've got to find a way to stop that hole, or all of this reality will fall apart!"
"All the more reason to spend my cash while there's still a casino and bar left!" Barker shouted. He ran towards the black hole, and, taking a deep breath, shoved his hand into the center of the time storm. He screamed in pain.
"Barker!" Azuna yelled, as she and Malcolm ran towards their leader,"What do you think you're doing?"
"I...I've got it!" he shouted between screams,"I've got the Black Digivice!" He slowly pulled his hand out, and the others could see what it had become. Shoving it in the center of the time storm had deformed it beyond recognition. It was now a swirl of brown and red colors, with large, black fur growing from the top of the shoulder blade down to the elbow, while small white tentacles hung along the fore arm. He now had three, claw like fingers, which were tightly wrapped around an object in his palm.
The Hunters looked on in horror. "Come on," Barker said, hissing with pain,"Let's get out of here!"
They started to run towards the stairs. The twins started to run after them, but Tai told them to remain. "Let them go," he said, mentioning to the large, growing black hole,"We've got a bigger problem."
Izzy took out his laptop and started typing,"I'll try to find a way to stop it..."
"There is only one way to stop it," Mina said,"The hole must be resealed.."
"Sometimes things aren't that simple," Izzy said.
"And something things are," Miriya said, holding tight to Tai, "Mina is right, we must reseal the hole."
The storm became worse, beams of lighting crashed around the room, blasting into sections of the wall, destroying parts of the pillars and staircase. "We need to do something fast," Tai said, struggling to stay on his feet,"Or we're all finished!"
Suddenly, there was a flash of light from behind them. They braced for another lightning bolt, but, instead they heard a familiar voice shout out,"What's going on here?"
Izzy turned around,"Matt, Sora!" he said,"How did you get here?"
"Sora!" Tai thought,"I wonder, does she still hate me for not telling her about Miriya and I being married..."
When Matt saw Tai struggling to stay on his feet during the time storm, he growled. He's the reason that he and Sora almost broke off their engagement. He turned to Sora, she wasn't even looking at Tai, she had her face turned away from him.
"Well?" Izzy asked, again,"How did you get here? There isn't a Digital Gate for miles!"
"I guess you haven't checked the Digital Gates from your laptop lately, huh?" Matt asked,"They're starting to appear where there aren't any t.v.'s at all!"
Sora turned her head away from the wall and towards the others. She gasped and jumped behind Matt, while Biyomon jumped behind Gabumon. "What's going on?" Sora asked.
"Its a time storm," Kasumi explained,"And If we don't pug it up, this whole reality will be destroyed."
A bolt of lightning shot from the center of the storm and into the staircase, blowing it apart. "What do we do now?" Miriya asked,"We need to get out of here, but, the staircase is gone!"
"How do we shut that vase?" Matt asked,"Davis sent us here to help, what do we do?"
"I've got it!" Izzy said, typing on his laptop,"If we place the lid back on the vase, the power source of the time storm should disappear!"
"Perfect!" Tai said,"Let's do it!"
"Wait," Izzy shouted over the roaring of the wind,"If we plug the hole, the time storm will disappear, but, it will take the person who plugged the hole with it."
"Where will that person go?" Sora asked.
"My guess will be an area outside of time, maybe the center of all time!"
Everyone was quiet for a second. Then Kasumi spoke up,"I'll do it."
"What?" Sora asked, running towards Kasumi, "You can't! You might be destroyed!"
"And I might find a way to get back home," she said,"I've got to try!"
"No," Tai said,"I don't like it. I want you to get back home as much as you do, but, I don't want you to get killed, or worse!"
Suddenly, another lightning bolt shot from the storm, zapping into the ceiling. Parts of debris fell, heading right towards Kasumi and Sora. "Guys!" Tai shouted, running towards them,"Look out!" He pushed them out of the way, and missed the large part, but, a medium sized piece slammed into Tai's head, sending him to the ground.
"Daddy!" Kasumi shouted to herself, checking his pulse, while Sora gasped.
"He...he still saved me," Sora thought,"Even after what happened yesterday....."
Kasumi looked up to where Miriya and Agumon were watching with worried looks on their faces. "He's out cold," Kasumi said,"I think he'll be okay, but, you'd better get him back to Dr. Kido."
The wind began to pick up. "We've got to stop this," Matt said,"Kasumi, are you absolutely sure you understand what might happen if you seal the vase?"
She nodded.
"Then do it!" Matt ordered, "We'll get out of here! Come on!"
The twins picked Tai up and carried him over to where the staircase once stood. Tentomon and Biyomon buzzed by with ropes in their hands. They carried the ropes up the crevasse and over the edge of the top floor. "Okay!" Tentomon shouted from the top. Sam and Serena tied Tentomon's rob around Tai's chest, and Biyomon's rope around Tai's feet. The two Digimon carefully pulled him up and onto the top floor. After untying him, they dropped the rope over the edge, where the twins and their Digimon started to climb up onto the top floor. Next was Miriya and her son, followed by Izzy, Agumon, Mina, her Agumon, then Gabumon. Soon, only Sora, Matt, and Kasumi were left.
"Come on," Kasumi shouted, "what are you waiting for? Get out of here!"
Matt sighed, then walked over to the robe,"Come on, Sora!" he said, waiting by the robe,"Let's go!"
"I..I just want to say goodbye," Sora said,"Okay?"
"Fine," Matt said, crossing his arms,"But I'll be waiting right here!"
Sora sighed, then turned to Kasumi. "Listen, I...I hope you'll be okay, and I wish you luck."
Kasumi smiled slightly. "Thanks, 'mom', I..." she took a deep breath,"I hope you're happy..."
A loud crash of thunder boomed from the center of the time storm. "I'd better get going," Sora said,"Goodbye."
She ran towards the robe and started to climb up. A second later Matt started to climb up the robe. Kasumi watched the rope, when she suddenly ran over to the bottom of the crevasse. She turned her head up and saw Matt halfway up the rope, and Sora looking over the edge. Kasumi cupped her hands over her mouth and shouted. "Sora! Sora!"
The wind began to scream over Sora's voice. "I can't hear you!" she shouted back.
"Sora!" Kasumi shouted,"I have to tell you about my world, about who my father is!"
Sora shook her head,"I still can't hear you!" she shouted down.
"Sora," Kasumi shouted over to blasting of the wind,"Its about my father! Tai...Tai Kamiya is my father!"
She saw Sora shake her head. She was about to tell her again, when she saw the look on Matt's face. He was still midway between the the two floors. Suddenly, a blast of lightning shot from the room right over Kasumi's head. Matt looked at her and pointed towards the room. Kasumi nodded and ran inside.
"I wanted to tell Sora that Tai was my father," Kasumi thought, running towards the vase,"but, I don't think she heard me. And what about that look on Matt's face, did he hear me? I guess I'll never know..."
She ran towards the growing black hole and grabbed the diamond shaped lid on the floor. "Well," she thought,"This reality was very strange, I never fit in here, but, its time to go home now." She took a deep breath and jumped into the heart of the time storm.
Everything was distorted and blurry. She felt her body pulled in a million different directions at once. She started screaming, thinking she was about to be ripped apart, when she saw the vase. With great effort she walked over towards it. She screamed even louder as she lifted the lid, and slammed it shut on top of the vase. Within a second, she, and the time storm, were gone.
"I'm going Tai,"Miriya said,"It might be the only way to save the earth. Daemon has the Black Digivice, and, once he gives it to the Child of Darkness, both worlds will be in great danger. There might be a way to stop the Black Digivice, however, and I'm going to find it. Goodbye, I hope to see you again soon." She turned around and started walking towards a cave in a light colored mountain, surrounded by great green forests.
Tai slowly opened his eyes. "Owe," he said, rubbing the back of his head,"What happened to me?"
"Well," Joe said,"You were hit in the head by a large object, but, your hair, and, well, you know..."
Tai smiled, and sat up in the hospital bed. "What happened to the time storm?"
"Kasumi saved us all," Davis said, walking into the room,"The others said that after the time storm was over, they looked around and there was no sign of her. She must have gone back to where she came from."
Tai sighed,"Hopefully. Where's Miriya?"
Davis looked a little nervous as he adverted his gaze,"Um, well..she, um, used Noriko's computer system and jumped into the Digital World.."
"What?" Tai shouted, jumping out of the bed,"Where in the Digital World did she go?"
"I..ah...well," Davis said,"Noriko is trying to find her using a search program..."
"Forget it," Tai said,"I know where she is."
"What?" Davis and Joe asked.
"I just had a dream of Miriya telling me she was leaving..." Tai started.
"It might not have been a dream," Joe said,"She was in here ever since you guys came back from the Digital World.."
"Anyway," Tai continued,"She told me that she was going to find a way to stop the Black Digivice. She walked into a cave of some sort. If I saw that area again, I'm sure that I'd recognize it."
Davis nodded. "Okay, let's get Noriko's scanner's on line, and we'll be able to find her."
THE DIGIDESTINED FOLLOW MIRIYA AND FIND HER, BUT, DAEMON IS WAITING FOR THEM. PLUS, MIRIYA'S PAST IS FINALLY REVEALED. NEXT: TEARS OF COURAGE!
"Hmm," Tai said, placing his hand on his forehead and scanning the desert around him,"I think Noriko's got to work on her aim..."
"Why do you say that?" Izzy asked, pulling on the strap of his backpack.
Tai sighed as he continued to look at the barren desert,"By my estimation, we're about a mile from where we're suppose to meet up with Mina."
"That's just great," Miriya said, sighing deeply, as she rocked her small child back and forth in her arms,"This little guy is really heavy."
"Oh, Mrs. Kamiya," one of the two newest Digidestined, Serena said, bowing slightly in front of Miriya,"If you need a rest taking care of your child, allow me to help."
"Oh no," Miriya said,"I couldn't impose.."
"Oh, it is no trouble at all," Serena said,"That is primarily why I was brought along, so I could help you with your son."
Miriya look to her husband. "Tai?" she asked,"Is that true?"
"Um..well...kind of," he said, looking at the ground,"But I don't like it any more than you do!" He knew that Miriya was about to yell at him for asking another person to help. She hated admitting that she ever needed help.
"Well, I'm glad that you were thinking of me," Miriya said, shifting her son in her arms, "Its going to be hard enough for me to travel like this, I was never a real outdoors type girl."
Tai was in shock."I'm never going to understand women," he mumbled to himself.
Serena giggled. "Just think of me as your servant..."
"One that is going to be trained," Serena's twin brother, Sam, quickly added.
Tai took out his small telescope and scanned the landscape. "Okay, I see the town where we have to rendezvous with Mina. Let's move out."
The Digidestined huffed as they grabbed their bags and started walking. Each one carried their own sleeping bags and personal supplies, as well as other equipment. Sam had cooking supplies, Izzy had communications equipment, and Serena, Miriya, and Kasumi had baby supplies. Without anything extra weighing him down, Tai was easily making much more time than the rest of them. "Come on!" he said, sighing,"You guys are all younger than me, and I'm in much better shape than you are!"
Izzy huffed to himself as he lugged the giant backpack across the desert. "You know, this isn't exactly light, you know!"
"Oh, you're just a wimp!" Tai said, smiling.
"I don't know Tai," Tentomon said, hovering next to the sweating Izzy,"This just looks painful."
"Oh, stop crying!" Tai said, waiting until the others caught up with him.
"Now I know where I got it from," Kasumi thought to herself, lugging her backpack to where her father and the others were standing.
After everyone was assembled, Tai turned around, "Come on, let's go, we've got to make it to that city before nightfall. Let's move!"
The rest of the Digidestined took a deep breath, then followed after him. "Tell me," Sam said, huffing next to Izzy,"Has he always been like this?"
Izzy nodded."Only since I've known him!"
Sam let out an exasperated breath. "Just great. Of all the teacher we could have gotten, we get Genki up there..." Suddenly, he felt something slam into the back of his head. He turned around and saw his twin sister standing there. "What did you do that for?"
"We must show respect, remember?" Serena asked, rubbing her fist,"He is the great Tai Kamiya!"
Sam and his Digimon mumbled to themselves, which got another whack from Serena and her Digimon.
"So," Izzy said to the twins,"You've got the same Digimon?"
"Yeah," Sam said,"They're called Candlemon..."
"...and they both Digivolve into Meramon," Serena finished for him,"'But, after that, well...you'll see."
"What?" Tentomon asked,"You mean, you can already Digivolve into Ultimate?"
The two Candlemon blushed slightly and Sam's Digimon turned his head slightly, while Serena's Digimon spoke up. "Yeah," she said,"But, its not like we're prodigious or anything."
"Still, that is impressive," Agumon said, turning his head around,"I had to wait until we were fighting Etemon before I could Digivolve. I had to use part of Tai's energy that was awakened when he saved Sora, and-oh....." He turned back to Tai,"Sorry..."
"No, its okay," Tai said, sighing,"Its time I put it behind me."
"Oohhhh!" Yolei cried, throwing her child up into the air,"Oh, you're just so cute! Yes you are, yes you are!"
Her daughter giggled as Yolei held her up into the air. "Oh, you're my little baby, you're my little girl!" Her daughter squealed in delight as Yolei rocked her back and forth, smiling in delight.
Yolei looked around the small nursery room, thinking how she would have to talk to Davis about livening the room up. The paint was a pale red, and the stuffed animals were all old beaten up, torn, faded clowns and bears. The cribs were slightly beat up, but, they were more than safe. The blankets however, could definitely use some fixing up, or, buying new ones would be better.
Yolei sighed as she went to grab her daughter's bottle which was seated on the table next to her, when Ken walked in. Yolei's face lit up. "Oh, Ken, hi! Look at how happy our child is!"
Ken smiled slightly, then it faded. "What's wrong?" Yolei asked.
Ken moved out of the way of the door, and Matt walked in. When Yolei saw the look on Matt's face, she felt a chill sneak up her spine. She put the bottle back on the table, and held her daughter closer to her body. "Hi, Matt," she said, a tone of nervousness in her voice.
"Yolei," Matt said, sighing,"We need to talk about your child."
"What about her?" Yolei asked.
"I was briefed on what happened when you were in Dragomon's castle."
"What are you talking about?" Yolei asked, clutching her child tightly.
Matt sat down in one of the chairs. "Azulongmon warned us about a child of evil, and Dragomon had outright told us that your daughter is that child!"
"No!" Yolei screamed, moving her daughter around to her side,"My child is not evil!"
Matt sighed. He knew this would be hard, that was why Davis couldn't do it, Ken and Yolei were his best friends. "You were there, you know what I'm saying is true..."
"I'm not giving my child up!" Yolei shouted,"You were there too! Remember what Azulongmon said, only Kari, T.K., Davis, or Tai could give birth to the evil child, Ken or I couldn't, we're just mortals!"
Matt sighed. She was right, so, what did Dragomon want with her child though? He would have to talk to Davis about this. "Alright," Matt said, standing up,"But, we'll be keeping an eye on her." He turned and left.
"I don't believe this!" Yolei huffed, reaching for the bottle on the table,"I thought he was our friend, and I...hey.." She looked at the table, the bottle wasn't there. She looked on the ground, it wasn't there either. It was no where in sight.
"Hmm," she said to herself as she turned back to her daughter. She gasped when she saw that her child was happily sucking on the bottle. "How did you-?" she asked. She knew that she left the bottle on the table, and the table was too far out of reach for her daughter to reach it, so how did she get the bottle?
"Greetings," Mina said, placing her hands together and bowing,"I am so glad you could make it."
Tai put his hands together and returned the bow. "Hello, Mina, it has been a while since we last saw each other, has it not?"
Mina smiled. "I am happy to see you again. Come, I have arranged rooms for us at the inn."
"Really?" Miriya asked, "Good, I don't have to sleep on the ground."
Tai smiled as they continued along the cobblestone street in the middle of the town. He looked at the buildings and houses that lined the street. They were all made of concrete and wood, with Digimon running errands, and some just playing in the street.
Mina lead them to a giant building in the center of the city. Inside it was air conditioned, a relief to the hot atmosphere outside. Mina led them across the small lobby, and to the elevator. They went up to the top floor, and walked down the hall, to a group of doors. "This is our room," Mina said, mentioning to one door with her hand. She walked over and opened it. "I apologize," she said, leading them inside,"But one room was all I could afford.."
"No problem," Tai said, walking inside with his bags, soon followed by all the othes,"This place is pretty big."
The first room was a small living room of sorts, with a couch on the left, and a t.v. on the right. The next room had a large table, with a small kitchenette against the wall. At the very left of the back wall, was a small hallway with a closet, and a door on the left. At the end of the hall was another room with two large beds, and a t.v inside of a large chest.
"Where's your Meramon?" Izzy asked.
"I'm right here," a voice said, walking out of the room in the hallway.
"An Agumon?" Tai's Digimon asked.
The new Agumon nodded, bowing slightly. "I had to regress to my Rookie stage in order to fit inside of here..."
"Okay," Kasumi said, scanning the room,"I think that Tai and Miriya should get the actual bedroom..."
Everyone else nodded their agreement. "Now, wait a second," Tai said,"We don't want to put anyone out..."
"Tai," Izzy said, placing his hand on his friend's shoulder,"You too are newlyweds, you should get a room to yourself."
"Really," Miriya said, shifting her son in her arms,"We don't want to put anyone out..."
"Well, if you insist," Sam said, walking towards the bedroom, where he was hit over the head by Serena, and pulled back inside the kitchen room.
"We will make our own arrangements out here, Mr. and Mrs. Kamiya," Serena said, bowing slightly.
"Uh, okay," Miriya said, shrugging her shoulders,"If you guys insist..."
"Wait a minute," Tai said, dropping his bags,"Shouldn't we moving out to find the Black Digivice?"
Mina held up her hand,"I have spoken to the citizens of this town. They tell me that a group of humans arrived earlier this day, but, they would have to wait until the day after tomorrow before they could hire a guide."
"Then, doesn't that mean we can't get one either?" Kasumi asked.
"I am your guide," Mina said.
"So," Tai said,"Then, even if we leave tomorrow evening, we'll still be ahead of the Hunters. So, let's relax for the night."
Everyone dropped their bags, crashing them into the floor. "I am starving!" Sam cried, running over to the small kitchenette,"I need some good food!"
He started tearing through the cabinets, searching for cooking utensils, making a very loud racket, which got a whack on the head from Serena. "Are they always like that?" Mina asked.
"I don't know," Tai said, shrugging his shoulders,"I haven't met them before yesterday. They remind me of Kari and myself though.."
Later that night, most of the Digidestined were assembled around the table in the small kitchenette, eating their dinners, or, in Sam's case, his fifth dinner.
"So," Tai said,"You know where the Black Digivice is?"
Mina swallowed her food. "Well, I do know where the temple hidden in these mountains are, but, as to whether the Black Digivice is hidden inside..? I'm sorry, I do not know."
Tai nodded, and took another bite of his meal. He wanted to ask more about it, when his son started to cry. Miriya sighed as she put her napkin down. She was about to get up, when Tai held out his hand. "I'll get him."
He walked over to where his son was lying in his make-shift crib. He picked him up and started rocking him back and forth. "Shh, shh," he said, walking back to the table,"It's okay, you don't need to cry.." Kasumi smiled as she watched her father and his son.
After his son was quiet, Tai turned to Mina. "So, what is the Black Digivice, anyway?"
Mina cleared her throat,"Well, during the early years of the Digital World, when it was able to support human life, a terrible evil came to the Digital World. The Digimon knew that they couldn't stop it themselves, so they had to summon help from the human world, the group that we call The First Digidestined..."
"And I'm one of them?" Miriya asked.
"It would appear so," Tentomon said, hovering next to where Izzy was eating.
"As I was saying," Mina continued,"The First Digidestined came to the Digital World, and, in their campaign against the terrible evil, one of them, a great computer expert, developed many weapons that they could use. One of them was the Black Digivice. They did not know it at the time, but, somehow during its construction, it became infused with evil. They hid it deep within these mountains, so that no Digidestined could claim it.
They returned to Earth briefly, and took the Machina Codex which had been given to my family very early in the beginning of the Digital World, back to the Digital World. They recorded all the locations of the items that they hid, as well as their own special stories. Then, they faced their greatest evil, and, during that battle, one of the female members was killed. After defeating that evil, the remanning members returned to earth, and sealed the entrance to the Digital World, and returned the Codex to use. That shield should have remained for all time..."
Tai nodded. "So, this Black Digivice, is really powerful, huh?"
Mina nodded. "Yes, if Daemon gets it and gives it to the Child of Darkness, I fear for the survival of both the Digital World, and Earth."
Tai nodded. "Okay, let's get some sleep. Tomorrow morning we're going to leave early."
The flames whipped against her bare skin as she rested against the bark of the tree. She breathed heavily as the storm raged around her. The sky was black, lighting up only when a flash of lightning crashed across the darkness.
As the inferno burned around her, a young man knelt beside her. She really couldn't get a good look at his face. "You'd better stay here," he said, breathing very heavily.
"No," she protested,"You need my help."
"You have to stay here!" the young man shouted,"You can't go anywhere with your leg like that!"
She looked down at the end of the body. She was wearing a black tank top, and jean shorts. She could see that her left leg was almost completely covered in a reddish black liquid. She tired to move it, but found that she couldn't. "Ahh!" she yelled out in pain.
"I told you!" the young man said,"I'll take care of this."
"No!" she protested,"You can't! You'll be killed!"
"That's a chance I'll have to take!" he said, jumping up,"I'm going to stop this guy!"
Suddenly, a dark figure descended from the sky. He was dressed completely in black, with a long cape flowing behind him. "Ha ha ha!" he laughed at them,"If you think you're going to stop me, you're sadly mistaken!"
He held up his right hand, and she could see that there was a device resting there. "This Black Digivice is mine, and both the Digital World, and Earth will soon be brought under my power!"
"No!" she shouted,"Don't do it!"
The dark figure laughed and pointed the device at her. The device fired a black beam at her...
Miriya screamed as she sat up in bed. She was pouring sweat, and her heart was about to jump out of her chest. "Miriya," Tai said, sitting up next to her,"Are you okay? What's wrong?"
"Oh Tai," she said, burying her face in his chest,"I..I had a horrible dream...it was about the Black Digivice.."
"What?" he asked.
"I...I don't know how," she said,"But, it was the Black Digivice...some...someone had it...a..a dark figure...it gave him incredible power..."
"How do you know all of this?" Tai asked, looking at her face. It had been years since he first saw her, but, every time that he looked at her face, he still felt a little weird seeing Sora's face staring back at him.
"I..I don't know,"Miriya said,"M..maybe my memories of my time as a First Digidestined are returning to me.."
"But.. that's what I don't understand," Tai said,"When I met you, you were 18-years-old, but, Geni told us that the First Digidestined were about eighteen, and went into the Digital World in 1990, and that was fifteen-years-ago, you should be about thirty-three now, why are you only eighteen?"
"I don't know," Miriya said, starting to calm down,"But, I know that what Daemon told me was true. I am one of the First Digidestined, the..the one that died..."
The Digidestined began their expedition bright an early the next morning. By mid afternoon, after a grueling journey across the hot desert, they were ascending the rocky mountain. Of course, after carrying bags of equipment across a steamy desert in hundred degree weather, everyone was a bit cranky.
"You said it was okay, that's the point!" Kasumi shouted.
"Well, I'm sorry, okay?" Izzy sighed, rubbing his forehead,"I didn't know that there was a digital snake underneath that rock. I'm sorry that you fell over, I'm sorry that you almost got bit, and I'm sorry that your cloak was ripped, okay?"
Kasumi sighed, turning her head away from him,"Just like Erika.."
"What?" Izzy asked.
"Nothing," Kasumi said,"Nothing at all."
At the front of the line, Mina turned to Tai. "Do they always act like that?" she whispered.
"No," Tai whispered back,"Izzy's usually very mature. It must be the heat..."
"I agree," Mina said, whipping her brow with a hankercheif. She had traded in her normal robe attire for a pair of jean shorts and a blue t-shirt.
"It is so hot," Serena said, fanning herself with her hand.
"Oh, stop whining!" Sam said, as they continued to walk up the mountain path,"Everyone's hot!"
"I'm not whining!" Serena protested,"I'm just stating a fact. We are all hot."
"You're just being a little whinny kid," Sam said,"You're not as mature as you pretend to be, and now the others can see it."
"That's enough!" Tai shouted,"We're all a little cranky, okay? I don't want any more fights, understand?"
The twins held their heads low,"Yes sir," they said in unison.
"Besides which," Tai said, turning away from them,"Sam, you should treat your sister very nice. She's tough on you because she cares."
"Miss Kari is your sister, isn't she?" Serena asked.
Tai nodded. "That's right," he said, smiling slightly,"My one and only."
"She's the reason you came back, isn't she?" Sam asked.
"You're right," Tai said,"I came back when she was missing. I had to find her, the sweetest, kindest person in the entire world. She helped me become a better person, you know. She taught me about being kind, and caring...she means so much to me. I don't know what I would do if anything happened to her."
He sighed and looked at Sam. "So, I don't want to hear that you were being mean to your sister, okay?"
Sam nodded. "Okay."
Tai smiled and turned back around. "Besides," Izzy said,"She's the only family you have left..."
"What?" Miriya asked, holding her son in her arms,"What do you mean, Izzy?"
"Our parents are dead," Serena said, her eyes starting to water,"They were killed during the Digimon Invasion four years ago. I know that the Digimon that appeared in New York weren't out to kill anyone, but..."
"We know that it was an accident," Sam said, crossing his arms,"But, that doesn't make it hurt any less."
"Well," Tai said,"That's one of the benefits of being in the Digidestined. We're all family. I know that we can't replace your real parents, but, if you need any one to talk to, I'm here."
The twins smiled slightly. "Thank you, Mr. Kamiya," Serena said, bowing.
"Well," Mina said, a tone of excitement in her voice,"You do not have to worry about the heat anymore. We have arrived."
The other Digidestined gasped at the sight. Inside of a large canyon in the mountain, was a large temple built into the inside of the canyon wall. It looked like the front of a cathedral, with large pillars supporting a ledge above the door, covered with large statues of various holy Digimon, and warrior Digimon.
Tai looked at the others and took a deep breath. "Let's go." They nervously followed him up the stairs and inside the temple. "Woa," he said, surprised.
"What's so special about this place?" Miriya asked.
"It seems like there's less air," Kasumi said, whipping her forehead,"But, at least its cooler inside."
The inside of the temple reminded them of the inside of an Egyptian Tomb in so many movies. They were standing on top of a large square platform, with deep,wide crevasses along the wall. Stairs on both sides ran down to the bottom of the crevasse. The walls of the room were filled with hieroglyphics of some sort, and there was golden statues on at each corner of the room, connecting the platform to the wall. At the far end, on a smaller platform connecting to the larger one to the wall was an alter that was just as big as the smaller platform.
"This is where the Black Digivice is?" Tai's Agumon asked.
Mina opened her mouth to answer, but Miriya cut her to it. She seemed to be in some sort of trance as she spoke. "Yes," she said in a monotone voice,"We hid it here, this was the only save place..."
Tai placed a hand on her shoulder,"Miriya...? Miriya!"
She blinked a couple of times. "W-what?" she asked, turning to him.
"Are you okay?" he asked,"If being in here is making you uncomfortable..."
"No, no," she said, shaking her head,"I..I'm okay."
Izzy turned to Mina. "So, where is the Black Digivice? It doesn't look like anything is really in here."
"Hmmm," Mina said. She walked towards the wall, with her Agumon trailing loyal behind her. She started to look at the symbols on the wall. "I'm not entirely sure what this says..."
Izzy turned to his Digimon,"Can you read it?"
Tentomon buzzed by and hovered next to the wall. He started scanning the hieroglyphics,"Hmm, I can only read some of it."
"Well," Tai's Agumon said,"Anything will help."
"I can only decipher some of the symbols," Tentomon explained, "......death...destruction....fire...world...in ruin.....hate...found..."
He turned around to face them,"Its a warning not to disturb the Black Digivice."
"Yes, fine, whatever," Tai said,"What about the location?"
Tentomon went back to reading the writng,"Ah, the device is here.....Its right below us, in a vase!"
"A vase?" Sam asked,"Why put such a dangerous device in a vase?"
Everyone waited, then turned to where his twin sister was standing. Serena would have hit him, if her hands weren't full holding Tai's son. She stopped rocking him, then looked to see everyone looking at her. "What?" she asked.
"Let's just find that Black Digivice and get out of here," Kasumi said,"This place gives me the creeps."
"Yeah," Tai said, mentioning towards the staircase, "Let's go."
The Digidestined followed their leader down the stairs, while Tentomon stayed above, attempting to translate the rest of the symbols. At the base of the long staircase, they could see that the floor above them had been supported by five large pillars. That was all they could see, however..
"Sam, Serena," Tai said,"Tell your Digimon to go ahead of us and give us some light."
The twins nodded, and their Candelmons walked forward, using their flame to light up the room below them. They increased the intensity of their flames and the darkness was removed. There wasn't anything down below, except for an alter in the center of the room, with a large vase on top.
"That is it," Mina said,"Let us get it, and be on our way."
Tai started walking towards it, when he suddenly heard a sinister laugh. He turned around and saw three other Digidestined standing at the base of the staircase. "Hunters!" Tai shouted,"But..I thought you couldn't get a guide.."
Barker smiled, and crossed his arms. "We followed you, what do you think? It really wasn't that hard for a trail master like myself." His expression changed and he dropped his arms,"Now, step away from the urn and, more importantly, the Black Digivice!"
"No way!" Tai said, clenching his fist,"If you want to open this vase, you'll have to get through us!"
"Gladly," Barker said, smiling,"Hunters, go!"
"Get them, Digidestined!"
The Digimon jumped forward and stared each other down for a second. Agumon was about to join them, but Tai held him back. "If you Digivolve, you'll smash right through the ceiling and crush us all," he said,"Stay by me."
Barker's Kunemon, Azuna's Blackgatomon, and Malcolm's Gizamon glared at Mina's Agumon, and the twin's Candlemons. After an eternity, Kunemon made the first move. "Kunemon digivolve to Musyamon!"
"Gizamon digivolve to Flymon!"
"Blackgatomon digivolve to Ladydevimon!"
"Musyamon digivolve to Skull Satanmon!"
The Digidestined Digimon nodded at each other, then looked at the Hunter's Digimons. Mina's Agumon stepped forward first,"Agumon digivovle to Mearamon!"
The twins Digimon were next. Both Candlemons eagerly jumped into battle. "Candlemon digivolve to Mearamon." Then the two Mearamon continued to Digivolve,"Mearamon digivolve to....
"...Skullmearamon!"
"....Bluemearamon!"
Tai raised an eyebrow, as did Barker. "Bluemearmon?" Tai asked.
Serena nodded. "That's right. My Digimon has the power of blue fire!"
"Blue Fire?" Agumon asked,"Like ice?"
Serena nodded. "That's right.."
"Enough talking," Skull Satanmon said, pointing at Skullmearamon,"You're mine!"
"Gladly!" Skullmearamon said, stretching one of his chains,"Bring it on!"
Skulmearamon and Skulsatamon rushed towards each other, while Serena's Bluemearamon started battleing Ladydevimon. Mina's Mearamon and Flymon began an impressive battle.
Ladydevimon jumped forward and grabbed hold of Serena's Digimon. "You will not be able to beat me!" Ladydevimon boasted,"I'm much stronger than you are!"
"Don't bet on it," Bluemearamon said. She grabbed hold of Ladydevimon and flung her into the far wall. Bluemearamon placed her hands together and fired a blast of blue fire,"Ice Phantomon!" she yeld. The blue flames hit Ladydevimon, and began to turn into ice, covering the Fallen Angel Digimon under a sheet of cold fire.
"Impressive," Tai said, a smile crossing his face,"I've never seen a Digimon like that before."
Serena smiled proudly. "Thanks.."
"Keep them busy," Tai said, turning around and grabbing Miriya,"We're getting that Digivice!"
He and his wife, cradling their son, started running towards the vase. It was a large vase, with a diamond shaped top. "Can we get it out?" Tai asked.
"I..I don't know," Miriya said, hanging her head down,"I...I'm sorry, Tai. I don't remember much, and what I do is sketchy, I don't know if its true or not."
Tai nodded. He took a deep breath and reached his hand out to grab the top of the vase, when he heard Miriya scream out his name. He spun around, and felt a hard object slam into his nose. He staggered back, then fell flat on his rear. Barker stood over him, cracking his knuckles. "Come on," he said with a smile,"I thought you were better than that!"
Tai tried to get up, but Barker's punch caught him off guard, he was too dizzy to stand for long. He fell back onto the ground. Miriya ran to his side. They could only watch as Barker reached for the top of the vase. His fingers grasped tightly around the diamond shape, when, Tentomon and Izzy suddenly ran down the stairs, shouting.
"No, don't open the vase!" Tentomon shouted,"The warning on the wall, don't open the vase!"
Barker stopped, as did everyone else. "What are you talking about?" Barker asked.
"The First Digidestined," Izzy said, breathing heavily,"The First Digidestined hid the Black Digivice in the one place that would be impossible to reach except through certain areas, like that vase."
"What areas, Izzy?" Tai asked, standing up.
"Time warps," Izzy said,"That vase in an entrance to a time warp between the earth and the Digital World, the Black Digivice exists right on the other side of the entrance, but, once opened, we will have an incredible, unpredictable, growing time storm, like a black hole, sucking everything in."
"So?" Barker asked, "Daemon will be able to stop that! This Digivice is mine!"
He started to light the top of the vase, when, Kasumi suddenly tackled into him."No!" she screamed,"It is not good to mess with time! You have no idea at all what will happen, none at all! I tried to change to past of my world, and I did more harm than good! You can never mess with time!"
"Get off of me!" Barker shouted, kicking her to the ground,"I don't care about your world, the only thing that matters to me is my payment! I'm taking the Digivice now!"
He tightened his grip on the vase and pulled the top off. Everyone, including Barker, held their breath for a second, then, looked confused. "Hey," he said,"Nothing happened."
Suddenly, a massive geyser of dark energy blasted from the top of the vase, the force throwing Barker back onto the ground. "W-what is that?" he asked, watching the geyser stop slightly before slamming into the top of the room. The black energy fell over like a waterfall, crashing back into the small opening of the vase. The energy continued to overflow and flow back into the stream, creating a large black circle, who's circumference continued to grow.
The Hunters and the Digidestined Digimon returned to their Rookie stages, and ran over to watch the growing time hole. The wind began to pick up, and thunder and lighting sounded across the small room. "What's going on?" Tai shouted over the roar of the wind.
"Its a time storm," Kasumi said, struggling to stay on her feet,"Its what happens when a rift is created between two timeliness, without an exit door."
"What do you mean?" Serena asked, holding tightly to her brother so she wouldn't fly away in the storm.
"Without a time line target," Kasumi said,"The time portal will just loop around back into this one. The time storm is the result of reality trying to fill in the gap created by the rift."
"How do we stop it?" Tai shouted.
"I...I don't know," she said, hanging her head down,"I'm sorry."
On the ground, the leader of the Hunters stared at the growing darkness. As he stared into the darkness, he saw a flicker of light flash through the growing hole. He strained his eyes and saw it again. It was a metal object, flickering in the darkness. "Yes!" he thought to himself. Barker slowly stood up, due to the wind,"I know what to do, and that's finish my mission!"
"Don't be insane!" Miriya shouted,"We've got to find a way to stop that hole, or all of this reality will fall apart!"
"All the more reason to spend my cash while there's still a casino and bar left!" Barker shouted. He ran towards the black hole, and, taking a deep breath, shoved his hand into the center of the time storm. He screamed in pain.
"Barker!" Azuna yelled, as she and Malcolm ran towards their leader,"What do you think you're doing?"
"I...I've got it!" he shouted between screams,"I've got the Black Digivice!" He slowly pulled his hand out, and the others could see what it had become. Shoving it in the center of the time storm had deformed it beyond recognition. It was now a swirl of brown and red colors, with large, black fur growing from the top of the shoulder blade down to the elbow, while small white tentacles hung along the fore arm. He now had three, claw like fingers, which were tightly wrapped around an object in his palm.
The Hunters looked on in horror. "Come on," Barker said, hissing with pain,"Let's get out of here!"
They started to run towards the stairs. The twins started to run after them, but Tai told them to remain. "Let them go," he said, mentioning to the large, growing black hole,"We've got a bigger problem."
Izzy took out his laptop and started typing,"I'll try to find a way to stop it..."
"There is only one way to stop it," Mina said,"The hole must be resealed.."
"Sometimes things aren't that simple," Izzy said.
"And something things are," Miriya said, holding tight to Tai, "Mina is right, we must reseal the hole."
The storm became worse, beams of lighting crashed around the room, blasting into sections of the wall, destroying parts of the pillars and staircase. "We need to do something fast," Tai said, struggling to stay on his feet,"Or we're all finished!"
Suddenly, there was a flash of light from behind them. They braced for another lightning bolt, but, instead they heard a familiar voice shout out,"What's going on here?"
Izzy turned around,"Matt, Sora!" he said,"How did you get here?"
"Sora!" Tai thought,"I wonder, does she still hate me for not telling her about Miriya and I being married..."
When Matt saw Tai struggling to stay on his feet during the time storm, he growled. He's the reason that he and Sora almost broke off their engagement. He turned to Sora, she wasn't even looking at Tai, she had her face turned away from him.
"Well?" Izzy asked, again,"How did you get here? There isn't a Digital Gate for miles!"
"I guess you haven't checked the Digital Gates from your laptop lately, huh?" Matt asked,"They're starting to appear where there aren't any t.v.'s at all!"
Sora turned her head away from the wall and towards the others. She gasped and jumped behind Matt, while Biyomon jumped behind Gabumon. "What's going on?" Sora asked.
"Its a time storm," Kasumi explained,"And If we don't pug it up, this whole reality will be destroyed."
A bolt of lightning shot from the center of the storm and into the staircase, blowing it apart. "What do we do now?" Miriya asked,"We need to get out of here, but, the staircase is gone!"
"How do we shut that vase?" Matt asked,"Davis sent us here to help, what do we do?"
"I've got it!" Izzy said, typing on his laptop,"If we place the lid back on the vase, the power source of the time storm should disappear!"
"Perfect!" Tai said,"Let's do it!"
"Wait," Izzy shouted over the roaring of the wind,"If we plug the hole, the time storm will disappear, but, it will take the person who plugged the hole with it."
"Where will that person go?" Sora asked.
"My guess will be an area outside of time, maybe the center of all time!"
Everyone was quiet for a second. Then Kasumi spoke up,"I'll do it."
"What?" Sora asked, running towards Kasumi, "You can't! You might be destroyed!"
"And I might find a way to get back home," she said,"I've got to try!"
"No," Tai said,"I don't like it. I want you to get back home as much as you do, but, I don't want you to get killed, or worse!"
Suddenly, another lightning bolt shot from the storm, zapping into the ceiling. Parts of debris fell, heading right towards Kasumi and Sora. "Guys!" Tai shouted, running towards them,"Look out!" He pushed them out of the way, and missed the large part, but, a medium sized piece slammed into Tai's head, sending him to the ground.
"Daddy!" Kasumi shouted to herself, checking his pulse, while Sora gasped.
"He...he still saved me," Sora thought,"Even after what happened yesterday....."
Kasumi looked up to where Miriya and Agumon were watching with worried looks on their faces. "He's out cold," Kasumi said,"I think he'll be okay, but, you'd better get him back to Dr. Kido."
The wind began to pick up. "We've got to stop this," Matt said,"Kasumi, are you absolutely sure you understand what might happen if you seal the vase?"
She nodded.
"Then do it!" Matt ordered, "We'll get out of here! Come on!"
The twins picked Tai up and carried him over to where the staircase once stood. Tentomon and Biyomon buzzed by with ropes in their hands. They carried the ropes up the crevasse and over the edge of the top floor. "Okay!" Tentomon shouted from the top. Sam and Serena tied Tentomon's rob around Tai's chest, and Biyomon's rope around Tai's feet. The two Digimon carefully pulled him up and onto the top floor. After untying him, they dropped the rope over the edge, where the twins and their Digimon started to climb up onto the top floor. Next was Miriya and her son, followed by Izzy, Agumon, Mina, her Agumon, then Gabumon. Soon, only Sora, Matt, and Kasumi were left.
"Come on," Kasumi shouted, "what are you waiting for? Get out of here!"
Matt sighed, then walked over to the robe,"Come on, Sora!" he said, waiting by the robe,"Let's go!"
"I..I just want to say goodbye," Sora said,"Okay?"
"Fine," Matt said, crossing his arms,"But I'll be waiting right here!"
Sora sighed, then turned to Kasumi. "Listen, I...I hope you'll be okay, and I wish you luck."
Kasumi smiled slightly. "Thanks, 'mom', I..." she took a deep breath,"I hope you're happy..."
A loud crash of thunder boomed from the center of the time storm. "I'd better get going," Sora said,"Goodbye."
She ran towards the robe and started to climb up. A second later Matt started to climb up the robe. Kasumi watched the rope, when she suddenly ran over to the bottom of the crevasse. She turned her head up and saw Matt halfway up the rope, and Sora looking over the edge. Kasumi cupped her hands over her mouth and shouted. "Sora! Sora!"
The wind began to scream over Sora's voice. "I can't hear you!" she shouted back.
"Sora!" Kasumi shouted,"I have to tell you about my world, about who my father is!"
Sora shook her head,"I still can't hear you!" she shouted down.
"Sora," Kasumi shouted over to blasting of the wind,"Its about my father! Tai...Tai Kamiya is my father!"
She saw Sora shake her head. She was about to tell her again, when she saw the look on Matt's face. He was still midway between the the two floors. Suddenly, a blast of lightning shot from the room right over Kasumi's head. Matt looked at her and pointed towards the room. Kasumi nodded and ran inside.
"I wanted to tell Sora that Tai was my father," Kasumi thought, running towards the vase,"but, I don't think she heard me. And what about that look on Matt's face, did he hear me? I guess I'll never know..."
She ran towards the growing black hole and grabbed the diamond shaped lid on the floor. "Well," she thought,"This reality was very strange, I never fit in here, but, its time to go home now." She took a deep breath and jumped into the heart of the time storm.
Everything was distorted and blurry. She felt her body pulled in a million different directions at once. She started screaming, thinking she was about to be ripped apart, when she saw the vase. With great effort she walked over towards it. She screamed even louder as she lifted the lid, and slammed it shut on top of the vase. Within a second, she, and the time storm, were gone.
"I'm going Tai,"Miriya said,"It might be the only way to save the earth. Daemon has the Black Digivice, and, once he gives it to the Child of Darkness, both worlds will be in great danger. There might be a way to stop the Black Digivice, however, and I'm going to find it. Goodbye, I hope to see you again soon." She turned around and started walking towards a cave in a light colored mountain, surrounded by great green forests.
Tai slowly opened his eyes. "Owe," he said, rubbing the back of his head,"What happened to me?"
"Well," Joe said,"You were hit in the head by a large object, but, your hair, and, well, you know..."
Tai smiled, and sat up in the hospital bed. "What happened to the time storm?"
"Kasumi saved us all," Davis said, walking into the room,"The others said that after the time storm was over, they looked around and there was no sign of her. She must have gone back to where she came from."
Tai sighed,"Hopefully. Where's Miriya?"
Davis looked a little nervous as he adverted his gaze,"Um, well..she, um, used Noriko's computer system and jumped into the Digital World.."
"What?" Tai shouted, jumping out of the bed,"Where in the Digital World did she go?"
"I..ah...well," Davis said,"Noriko is trying to find her using a search program..."
"Forget it," Tai said,"I know where she is."
"What?" Davis and Joe asked.
"I just had a dream of Miriya telling me she was leaving..." Tai started.
"It might not have been a dream," Joe said,"She was in here ever since you guys came back from the Digital World.."
"Anyway," Tai continued,"She told me that she was going to find a way to stop the Black Digivice. She walked into a cave of some sort. If I saw that area again, I'm sure that I'd recognize it."
Davis nodded. "Okay, let's get Noriko's scanner's on line, and we'll be able to find her."
THE DIGIDESTINED FOLLOW MIRIYA AND FIND HER, BUT, DAEMON IS WAITING FOR THEM. PLUS, MIRIYA'S PAST IS FINALLY REVEALED. NEXT: TEARS OF COURAGE!