Chapter two: Yes, Mrs. Kamiya, I will Make Sure Your Daughter Does Not Die While We Track a Valkyrie That Can Make Planets Explode Through Time and Space.

ALL RIGHT!! I got a little.. enthused. NO MORE FREEBIES!!

As always, I don't own Andromeda or Digimon or Creed lyrics. I would also like to point out a few things: How come Gato never thought about Wizardmon 'cept during "Ghost of a Chance"? What's this "Golden Radiance" (okay, all who saw the movie know what that is, but still) and how come the brought in new stories without clearing that up? Don't they know that plot holes result from starting a sequel before the original, or am I missing something?

The house was quiet. No smoke alarms were going off, no fire trucks were going by, and the television was not on. Tai and Kari must have been telling their mom where Kari, me, and the "cute little green-eyed boy" were going. I could only imagine how that was going to be. Screaming, yelling, and "you could die easily".. Just for heaven's sake don't tell the woman that the girl we're chasing is a biker chick in leather that can blow up planets.

I stretched in my warm spot on the rug with the sun shining in on my back. Oh, well, lovely day to die. The birds are singing, the flowers are blooming, and the mice are begging to be chased. I stopped speaking (or thinking) to myself and gazed at the window for my friend.

He wasn't there. Tai must have picked him up and carried himself downstairs to eat before we start our mission. Digimon get weak when we get hungry and Scarecrowmon needed his strength more then any of us, being more powerful and about to attack his partner.

I stretched again, and yawned, and finally padded my way down the stairs to the kitchen where no doubt a feast of tuna and sardines awaited me, yummy, yummy. I took my time, the idea that I might actually die this time was starting to sink in and I was hoping that I could hold it off or hang on to my present condition (which was being alive). But by the time I reached the last blue-carpeted step, the realization must have hit Mrs. Kamiya full force.

"WHAT DO YOU MEAN YOU'LL BE GOING AWAY AGAIN??" her *normally* gentle voice bellowed, followed by a thud. She'd just blasted someone out of a chair.

I entered the flowery, homey kitchen and found my breakfast beside Meko the Cat's bowl. I sniffed at it to make sure the little thief hadn't touched it and took in a little more of the scene.

Tai was picking himself up off the floor piece by piece, while Kari was trying to coax her mother out of tears. My friend, Scarecrowmon, was sitting on a stack of encyclopedias watching Kari and her mother very carefully. The plate of pancakes in front of him dripping in syrup, honey, and powdered sugar had not been touched. No doubt Kari's mom would be force-feeding him within the hour.

"No, not I can't let you go--!" Mrs. Kamiya was protesting through her sobs. She had her face in her hands and was throbbing with each tear. Scarecrowmon watched her with an intent look in his green eyes; I figured he was reading her mind.

"Momma, I'll be okay. I'll have Gatomon, Ken, Wormmon, and Scarecrowmon with me," Kari whispered in her mother's ear.

"No, n-no! You can't go! I don't care what happens! Why do you have to go? She's Biker tra--"

Scarecrowmon glared at Mrs. Kamiya with a devilish look that said that maybe she did not want to finish that sentence. Tai's CD player upstairs picked up with a Creed song, the volume up high and getting higher. It made my ears hurt and they rang with the sonic pressure.

*Peace is what they tell me*

"You said she's a danger and I don't want biker trash like that--! The girl probably has three kids!!"

Scarecrowmon glared at her in a way I didn't think he was capable of that would give small children nightmares. It scared me. The music was vibrating the floor beneath me and my eardrums were throbbing.

*Lies are what they tell me*

"Just let this thing go! Leave it alone! What's it done to you?"

*Despise you that control me*

"You could all die!"

*The peace is dead in my soul*

"It's not your fault! Let someone else take care of saving the world for a change!"

*I have blamed the reason for my intentions are poor*

I put my paws over my ears. The room was vibrating and pictures were falling off the walls and shattering. Mrs. Kamiya had to shout to be heard and even then she was still drowned out by the lead vocalist. My head was splitting open from the noise. Was Scarecrowmon doing this?

Suddenly, the music died. A pale and badly shaken Tai stumbled down the stairs. He was trembling all over and was eyeing Scarecrowmon with an amazed look.

Scarecrowmon turned his small head slightly, "I prey you never find out."

Mrs. Kamiya stared at him blankly, "What?"

Scarecrowmon sat there for a second and then answered in so little emotion it was scary, "What I'm really capable of."

Mrs. Kamiya seized on the two conflicting ideas at work: Scarecrowmon is a child and he has power that could rival Sarabi. He is fourteen, but due to staying in the Great Beyond, still has the mentality of a nine-year old (Digimon level up automatically when they hit a certain age or if they gain enough experience due to extreme pain, or during playtime or training. Sacercrowmon was trained alongside Sarabi, and the way he tells it "tag with Sarabi started out as a game and ended as search and destroy, complete with medics."). But add this to someone who could Warp Digivolve to BlackWarMagemon and make planets explode, he was a gold mine of reasons why no one should track Sarabi.

"He's just a baby! And what if he gets hurt? What if he loses his temper again?" she rambled over and over again.

"Mrs. Kamiya," the soft voice of my friend muttered. "I have protected Kari with my life before. As long as I was around, not harm came to her. I will keep your daughter safe, I have before. I am not one to go back on promises or to fail."

Mrs. Kamiya lifted her aching, tear-streaked head. Her brown hair was matted into her scalp in a wild pattern like a bird nested in it.

Scarecrowmon smiled (something he did with his eyes since they showed what his mouth could not), "I will try not to blow her up with sonic vibrations again."

There was a knock at the door. Tai answered it, after being gestured to it by his mother.

"WHAT? I CAN'T HEAR YOU! SOMETHING POPPED! WE HAD AN ACCIDENT DURING BREAKFAST, KEN!"

Kari smiled, "That's Ken. I have to go, mom. Don't worry, I'm in good hands."

I rode carefully on Kari's shoulder. The smell of adrenaline was on the verge of making me high, and the last thing I needed was to collapse in the street, on top of Scarecrowmon, and get us both hit by a car. Kari, very loudly and half-deaf, told Ken about the events of the morning and the evening before, Scarecrowmon held Kari's hand lightly, like a child, because she treated him more like a human child then a Rookie Digimon.

"If he's that powerful as a Rookie, why didn't he use it against Myotismon?" the dark-haired boy asked.

"I'm right here."

"Don't know. Maybe it's subconscious. He has been through a lot in the past twenty-four hours," Kari answered thoughtfully.

"Right, but-"

"So how do we plan on catching Sarabi, anyway? I mean, assuming that her killing streak has started, where are we going to look? Our Digivices can only get us to Digiworld and the Dark Ocean. I doubt Sarabi's overtaking Digiworld when she can move between dimensions like Gennaii said she could, and neither of us are in a hurry to revisit the Dark Ocean," Ken kept the conversation flowing, ignoring poor, little Scarecrowmon.

"You know, if you have questions, you could ask someone who knows."

The little magic master looked up at me on my partner's shoulder, "Do many humans treat children like this?"

I laughed, "Only older ones to younger ones. I thought the woman who raised Sarabi and trained the two of you was human?"

Scarecrowmon answered, "Yeah, but she was thousands of years old thousands of years ago. She was a loner because an apprentice Timekeeper must be raised by the reigning Timekeeper to understand all there is to know about guarding the Gates of Oblivion. Therefore, she was lonely."

"Oh. Is that what Sarabi's home is called? Pleasant name." Then thinking on what he said, I added, "Is that why you are so precocious? I mean, humans have a tendency to look at humanoid Digimon and treat them like humans but it doesn't seem to me like this Sailor Pluto of yours was likely to talk to you and Sarabi in baby talk."

Scarecrowmon shrugged, "Beauty is in the eye of the beholder. Each known universe has its individual name. Since this one is the one where the Gates of Oblivion were discovered, it's called 'Earth Prime'. And, yes, I was treated like a human child but never babied."

I paused, "Just how many universes are there?"

Scarecrwomon giggled slightly. He had a habit of doing that when he really did not want to talk about something, and I knew it was futile trying to pry it out of him.

"So just how do you plan on getting us to the Gates of Oblivion?"

Scarecrowmon laughed again, "Yes, just ask me anything., how to beat video games, how to get to the Gates of Oblivion-" he looked directly at Ken- "What to do on your report on Bach."

Ken paused for a second and turned around. When he did, Scarecrowmon was holding some kind of mini-naganata. The weapon had been pulled from mid air. It was light, streamlined, and deadly sharp. Pure gold and intricately designed, it looked like the one Sailor Saturn carried. I giant black pearl was set in its head.

"What is that?" Ken asked. "It looks like the same thing Sarabi had at the Dark Ocean."

"This," Scarecrowmon explained, "is only a copy. It'll get us to the Gates of Oblivion, but it doesn't have the great power Sarabi's has."

Kari shifted her weight from foot to foot nervously, "W-what can she do with the real one?"

Scarecrowmon muttered weakly, "Sarabi can manipulate time."