Disclaimer: La la la, I think you all know this by now. How many times do I have to say it? I. Don't. Own. Digimon. Ta dah!
And here we are in another chapter. Will Palmon's envy ruin her friendship with Mimi, her hopes of leaving the Labyrinth alive and her hair? Will the rest of the digidestined escape the maze in time to save the digital world from Mordremon's hideous scheme? Is there any point to these ridiculous notes I insist on putting at the start of each chapter?
Probably not.
Chapter 8 - The heart of the maze
After an uneventful night, Taichi and Agumon awoke with very empty stomachs. Not that they were complaining or anything, no way, it was just... well... a little uncomfortable traveling on an empty stomach. They wandered aimlessly through the maze, Tai occasionally kicking a stone into the air and bouncing it off his head. He eventually made a bit of a game of this (things were getting just a little bit boring) bouncing the rocks of the walls, his feet, shoulders, head - and also Agumon's feet, shoulders and head - entertaining both himself and his digimon as they wandered onwards.
"Ouch!" Agumon exclaimed, rubbing his tail where a particularly sharp rock had hit it. "Maybe we should give the games a rest for a while.
"Yeah, alright." Tai agreed, reluctantly. He knew it was ungrateful, when the others could be in danger, but he was finding this maze business a little slow - even boring. This was the second day he and Agumon had been on their own, and not a single exciting thing had happened. Maybe he was safer, but he'd rather have the exhilarating rush of a battle.
Agumon gave a whimpering groan and sunk to the ground, clutching his stomach. Tai felt a sudden guilty pang. This was also the second day they'd gone without decent food. While he was dreaming of battles, Agumon was starving.
And everyone knows that you can't digivolve on an empty stomach.
"I'm sorry, Agumon." Tai said, crouching down beside his friend, "I'd forgotten all about food. But I really don't know what we can do about it, do you? We haven't seen any plant life for hours..."
"I do have one idea." Agumon said, slowly, "But I don't think you'll like it."
"What's that?" Tai grimaced at the thought of what it could be.
"Pepper breath!" Agumon's fireball blasted one of the paving stones away to reveal a large patch of bare earth. (This was in one of the better kept parts of the Labyrinth, where the ground is still completely covered by paving stones which have not been moved or broken. This explains why Tai and Agumon have not been able to find any plants growing - there is no room between the stones for them to grow.)
"You want us to eat dirt?" Tai asked, incredulous.
"No, not dirt. It's what's in the dirt." Agumon sunk his claws into the soil and came up with a mass of earth. he pulled one claw out, and Tai could see something wriggling on the end...
"Not the tastiest meal ever, but it'll do when you're this hungry." Agumon said. He popped the squirming creature in his mouth, swallowed, and then smiled shakily. "Better get digging if you want any. The early Birdramon gets the worm, you know."
"Yeah, well, Birdramon isn't here." Tai muttered, kneeling down next to the gaping hole and poking around tentatively.
"Yeah, she'd probably love this stuff." Agumon agreed. Biyomon and Sora, however, were busy with other matters, and their minds were far from food.
******
"So, let me get this right." Sora raised an eyebrow critically. "You ran around all night looking for Mimi, found her with another digimon, trailed around behind them all day, and then left again that night. And somehow managed to get really badly roughed up along the way."
A bedraggled Palmon nodded, subdued.
"One question. WHY?"
"It's that Quetzalmon." Palmon scowled. "He's so rude, and he never appreciates anything I do. The feather head is deliberately getting me into trouble, I know it. And all Mimi sees is how cute he is. She just doesn't know what that Quetzalmon's like."
Sora and Biyomon looked sideways at each other, sharing a knowing glance. They had a feeling that it was Palmon who couldn't see the whole picture.
Biyomon sat down on the ground next to Palmon. "What is Quetzalmon like, Palmon?" she asked, cautiously.
"He's rude and mean. Especially to me." Palmon mumbled. "He led me into a stream where there were these fish that loved eating plants, so now I've got bites all over me. And I cooked all of us a really nice meal last night, fixed up these mushrooms with some herbs, and he said he liked mushrooms better the way they were."
"Well, maybe just isn't used to having his food cooked," Sora suggested.
"That's exactly what Mimi said!" Palmon burst out. "You don't understand either, that bird really has something against me."
"It can't be that bad, Pal." Biyomon slid one wing around her friend's shoulders. "I still love your cooking, you know. I'll bet those mushrooms tasted fantastic by the time you were finished with them."
"Thanks, Bee." Palmon replied, sadly. "I just wish Quetzalmon could be like that too."
"Maybe he isn't quite as bad as you think, Palmon." Sora told the pitiful plant, gently.
"Do you know what he was like when I first met him?" Palmon growled, glaring so hard that Sora edged back slightly in surprise. "He demanded to know who I was, then asked Mimi why she hadn't told him that she had a digimon partner already. And then the stupid creature tells me he doesn't like flowers. Just like that! He doesn't like flowers, and he doesn't like me. Not like he likes Mimi."
"Well, it does seem that he gets along better with Mimi than he does with you..." Biyomon ventured.
"Gets along with her?" Palmon laughed, a short, humorless bark. "The little twerp adores her. He'd fly through a thunderstorm for Meems, I'll bet. And she likes him just as much, coz he's so cute. Cuter than me. Like I told her, I can't compete with a feathered beanbag."
"And what did Mimi say to that?"
"She thought I was jealous. Jealous! Of that puff ball." Palmon laughed that strange laugh again.
Sora cleared her throat loudly. "Palmon, you do want to find Mimi again, don't you?"
"After she deserted me for beaky butt? As if!"
"Palmon?" Biyomon asked, more gently. Palmon sighed.
"I dunno, Biyo. I really don't want to see Quetzalmon again, but Mimi won't leave him..." Palmon faltered, staring at the ground.
"Well, we'd have to find the others eventually, anyway." Sora said, briskly. "We can't just sit around here all day, we'll need to get moving. And I'd like to see Mimi again, even if you don't. We all have a duty, you know, to protect the digital world and its inhabitants from the forces of evil. But don't you see, Palmon?" Sora turned to stare straight at Palmon "As digidestined, we also have a duty to protect each other, whether we-"
"Yeah, yeah. I know." Palmon jumped up again and started to trot along the path. Although Sora and Biyomon didn't know it, it was the direction of the place that Mimi and Quetzalmon had slept the night before.
When they arrived at the former campsite, there was not a shred of evidence to show that anyone had ever camped there. It was Palmon's manner that gave her away.
"I knew it." Palmon brushed away a few dead leaves to find a slightly blackened area on the ground. "I knew this was the place. They can't fool me, no way."
Sora and Biyomon wisely pretended they hadn't heard and went to observe the wall carvings.
"Sora, Biyomon, I know which way to go." Palmon announced. "Follow me and I'll help you find the others, and the way out." With that, she marched off down the path with her head held high.
"Great to see you happy again, Palmon." Biyomon remarked, just managing to keep a straight face.
"Yeah, well, I suppose I have to find Mimi and help her. After all, as her digimon partner, I am the only one who can protect her."
"Palmon, I have one more question." Sora said, loftily. "Are you jealous of Quetzalmon?"
"Jealous? Of that sickeningly cute little bird brain? As if!"
"I'll take that as a yes." Sora muttered to herself.
******
Jyou wasn't having the best day. Gomamon had insisted at one point that he'd heard Tauromon talking on the other side of a wall that he and Jyou were walking along next to. Although Joe was sure that it was a bad idea, Gomamon ignored him completely and digivolved into Ikkakumon, using his Harpoon Torpedo to try knocking the wall down - after Jyou had gone to hide around the nearest corner. After a few useless attempts at knocking down the wall both as Ikkakumon and Zudomon, the little digimon de-digivolved back to Gomamon - and the wall collapsed on top of him. So Jyou spent all morning trying to dig his little friend out of the rubble. It wasn't the most fun thing he'd ever done; Jyou wasn't very good at hard work. After half an hour of hauling large and heavy smashed bricks, he collapsed against the pile and tried to ignore Gomamon's indignant shouts.
"Jyou, whaddaya doin? Let me out! I've got the worst thumping headache and I'm hungry and I've got one paw stuck under a brick and my tail's getting squashed and I wanna get out, Jyou!"
Gomamon wasn't too pleased that Jyou was taking a break.
"Gomamon, I don't feel fantastic either. I have been lifting these things for hours because you were dumb enough to make it fall on yourself and I am exhausted. Gimme a break."
"But this HURTS!"
"And I'm TIRED!"
"You should get more exercise."
"Gomamon, it's your own fault you got stuck under there," Jyou said, firmly. "I don't have to get you out at all, I could just walk away and leave you here, you know."
"No you can't." Gomamon replied, cheekily.
"And why not?"
"Because I'm your digimon partner, and without me you'll be all alone in the big Labyrinth with nobody to save you from the big, scary, miscreated, blood-sucking, flesh eating barbarian monsters."
"I thought I said no more old horror movies."
"You can't make me do anything."
"Oh yeah?"
"Oh yeah!"
"Listen to me, Gomamon," Jyou said, sternly, "maybe you are the one supposed to protect me, but I have to do my bit looking out for you as well. And as long as you're doing silly things like hacking into walls so that they fall on top of you even after I've told you it's a bad idea and end up having to dig you out, then obviously I'm going to have to - MIMI?!"
Mimi, with Quetzalmon perched on her shoulder, stepped daintily over the rubble from the other side of what used to be a wall. Joe had tumbled over and his glasses fallen off after the shock of seeing Mimi appear so suddenly. Gomamon, still trapped under the mess, was unaware of the sudden intrusion.
"Going to have to Mimi? Jyou, what's that supposed to mean?"
"Er, um, just a sec, Gomamon." Jyou said, scrambling to his feet and straightening his glasses. "Sorry, Mimi, I was, er, rather surprised to see you." he stammered.
"Mimi's here?" Gomamon demanded.
"Gomamon's under there?" Mimi asked, equally confused.
"Yeah, he tried to knock down the wall but it fell on top of him and so I've had to dig him out and - hey, where's Palmon? And what's that thing on your shoulder?"
Quetzalmon fluttered forward and hovered right in front of Jyou's face. "Pleased to meet you, sir." he chirruped. "My name is Quetzalmon and I am a friend of Mimi."
"I'm Gomamon and I'm in SERIOUS PAIN HERE!!!"
"It's nice to meet you, Quetzalmon," Jyou replied, politely, "but I really would like to know what happened to Palmon."
"Palmon... doesn't get along with Quetzalmon very well." Mimi said, sadly.
"She left because she didn't like me." Quetzalmon agreed.
"Oh, I... wow. Gee, I'm sorry Mimi, I never really thought... wow." Jyou wasn't quite sure what to say.
"Yes, I know." Mimi lowered her head. "She left last night, and I sort of hoped she'd be back in the morning, but she wasn't. So Quetzalmon and I just had to keep going."
"Well, I'm sure she'll turn up eventually, Mimi." he reassured her.
"EXCUSE ME FOR INTERRUPTING!" Gomamon yelled. "But I have been trapped under this pile of junk all day and it's starting to get just a little annoying. So would you mind giving me a hand? Please?"
Mimi and Jyou looked at each other and grinned.
"I suppose we should help him out." Mimi said.
"I suppose we should." Jyou agreed.
They each bent down to pick up a brick. Then placed their bricks some distance away from the original pile. And then, ignoring Gomamon's continued threats, they sat down for a rest. Neither Jyou nor Mimi were very good at this hard work business.
******
Yamato felt like he'd spent all of the last two days wandering in circles. Every corner, path, brick, wall, pebble, carving, weed, hole, puddle and crack looked exactly the same as the next.
"How am I supposed to find anything in this place?" he cried, throwing his hands up in the air.
"We'll find something eventually, don't you worry." Gabumon assured his emotional friend, just slightly nervously.
"But we don't have time!"
"There is no other way." Gabumon was firmer now. "Maybe we don't have much time, but complaining won't get us any more time, will it?"
"But we can't just-"
"Maybe the best thing to come out of this whole maze thing will be to teach you some patience!"
Yamato stepped back suddenly, surprised by the digimon's fierceness. He sat down on the ground, hard.
"Gabumon, I didn't really..."
"I mean it, you have to learn some patience or you'll just get in more trouble." Gabumon kept a stern expression on his face. "We can't help the fact that we have very little time, although it is a problem. However, we must do what we can with the time we have. Patience and persistence are the only way to escape a maze such as this."
Yamato gulped this time. It was true, he was very impatient at times, but he didn't think he was that bad. "Geez, Gabumon, I'm sorry. I didn't know you were that fed up with me."
Gabumon kept the same look on his face, but his voice softened dramatically. "Well, I suppose you do get on my nerves occasionally. But hey, you annoy everyone else too, you know!"
"Yeah, you're just the one that has to put up with me the most." Yamato ruffled Gabumon's fur affectionately.
"I don't mind, Yamato. Really. I can't expect you to be perfect, can I?"
"Of course not. Nobody's perfect." he smiled wearily and leaned back against the wall, closing his eyes. Gabumon was suddenly worried. His human friend had hardly stopped walking since the digidestined had split up to search the day before. Yamato hadn't shown any signs of tiring before, but he suddenly looked very worn out.
"I think you should stay here and rest for a while." Gabumon urged. The boy opened his eyes again and struggled to get up.
"No, I'm okay, really. I can keep going..." whatever he had been planning to say was cut off by a huge yawn.
"You see, you're exhausted. We can stay here and rest for a moment before we-"
"No! We have to keep moving."
"Tell you what," Gabumon was willing to compromise. "I'll run on ahead and have a look around while you rest. That way you can have a break and we won't have lost any time."
"Yeah. 'Kay. Thanks, Gabumon." Yamato closed his eyes again, to weary to fight any longer. Satisfied, Gabumon began to jog down the path, looking left and right for... well... he wasn't quite sure what, but he was sure know when he saw it.
As it happened, Gabumon didn't recognize what he was looking for at first. He'd seen the leaves of a large tree dangling over a wall, and thought it might be a good idea if he could climb up into the tree and get a good look around. He had never been big on climbing, but the little blue digimon tried his hardest, using cracks between bricks and grooves from the carvings to help make the ascent easier. The furry creature was almost about to give up on the wall and keep walking, when he caught a glimpse of what was on the other side.
The tree that was peeking over the wall was just one on the fringe of a huge forest. As he reached the top of the wall, Gabumon could see trees, bushes, lovely soft earth and grass. It looked like paradise compared to the stone monstrosity on the other side of the wall. Gabumon began to walk across the wall top, the edge of the Labyrinth. He knew there must be a gateway somewhere, if he could wander for long enough.
He had been following the outer wall for maybe twenty minutes when he noticed that it was suddenly becoming harder to walk across. The top of the wall now had all sorts of fancy lumps and bumps on it, and seemed to curve away at the edges. Just a little way ahead, it seemed to rise up and become almost a foot higher. Gabumon wasn't too keen on being any higher up than he had to, and he had good reason. As soon as he set one paw down on the raised section of the wall, it crumbled and fell - straight down. Looking through the hole he had just made, the furred digimon could see the Labyrinth's paving stones end abruptly and give way to the sandy earth of the forest that lay beyond.
He had finally reached the gateway.
Yamato had been asleep for less than an hour when Gabumon found him again and woke him by shouting as loudly as he could from the top of a wall.
"But I don't want to get up." he mumbled, sleepily.
"You have to. You have to see this. I found the way out of the Labyrinth."
"You found WHAT?!" he suddenly looked a lot more awake. "How? Where is it? How long will it take us? And why are you standing on the top of the wall?"
"I'll explain as we go. Follow me!"
"So, my furry friend," Yamato puffed, jogging along below, "what exactly does standing on the wall have to do with all this?"
"Well, you see, I can find my way to the exit like this." Gabumon explained. "And I can see a lot more from up here."
"Yes, but how did you get up there in the first place?"
"I wanted to get on the wall so that I could see better."
"That's it?"
"Well, then I saw what was on the other side of the wall."
"Which is..?"
"You'll see in a moment."
Yamato was silent for a moment. Then he had another idea. "Gabumon, can you see any of the others from up there? I mean, since you can see so much..."
"Hmm, give me a moment." Gabumon stared hard out at the maze behind him. "There's a big empty sort of space a little way out... I think I can see Tentomon in there somewhere. And over to the right I can see Greymon..."
"Greymon!"
"Yes, he digivolved. Do you think there's trouble?"
"If there is, we have to help them." Yamato was determined to get back into the battle.
"No. We can't just go running off now. We'll find the gate, and then we can go to help. But we must find the gate first."
As they were just coming up to the gate then, he could hardly disagree. But he wasn't exactly approving as he wandered under the broken arch and began kicking around in the dirt outside for something to mark his way back.
"A piece of clay, maybe." he told the digimon. "Or some chalk. Something that will make a mark on the walls, so we can follow them back to the entrance once we - hey, look at this!"
He had uncovered a small knife that had been hidden in a patch of loose, sandy soil. It was plain, but the hilt was solid and the blade, although dirty, was still bright.
"Wow, that's some dagger." Gabumon said. "Do you think it belongs to anyone here?"
"There doesn't seem to be anyone around for it to belong to." Yamato remarked, still gazing at the weapon he held. Because that was what it was, a weapon. This was no pocket knife for slicing vegetables, but a real weapon he could use. To fight. And maybe even make some sort of mark in the stone walls of the Labyrinth.
"Come on, Gabumon." Yamato said, not looking at his friend, but at the gateway to the Labyrinth. "It's time for us to go back."
******
Tauromon had sensed that he was being a little too easy on the digidestined. They were having far too easy a time and were beginning to meet up with each other, like Sora and Biyomon had found Palmon. Several were far closer to secrets than they knew, and one digimon had actually managed to escape the maze - and then immediately gone back in to find its human partner. Foolish creature. But somehow, Tauromon couldn't blame the boy for wanting to help his friends. The strange half-humanoid digimon couldn't imagine leaving his friends (Mordremon, Serpentmon and the rest) trapped in a dangerous place while he escaped.
Tauromon shook off the feelings quickly. Even if they did get out of the Labyrinth, those children could be facing even harder times in the forest. But getting out of the maze wasn't going to be easy for them, he would make sure of that.
The Roachmon, even in their great numbers, had already been defeated. And Cockatorimon had made such a complete and utter fool of himself that Tauromon really didn't want to put him to work right now. Which left only one group of digimon to start stirring up trouble. He turned to the six grumbling creatures he had called up for this particular job. Each of them shouldn't have too much trouble finding their targets; walls were not much of a problem to these digimon.
"I'll need two of you to attack each of these three groups." Tauromon scratched a rough map in the ground. "Each of them has only one fighting digimon, so you shouldn't have too much trouble with any of them. Just make sure you don't end up looking stupid like Cockatorimon and the Roachmon did."
"Sure thing, boss." one of the digimon said. With great deal of noise, the digimon disappeared amid flying clumps of earth and stone.
"Now, about this young 'genius'." Tauromon muttered to himself. "This one is going to be a little more difficult than I expected..."
******
After his meal of worms, Tai wasn't feeling too great. He stumbled along, with one had on the wall for balance and the other clutching at his stomach. It was alright for Agumon, he was used to foraging, but Tai just wasn't cut out for this level of survival.
"Tai, are you sure you're okay?" Agumon asked for the hundredth time.
"Yes, I'm fine. Really, just fine." Except for eating a breakfast even more deadly that my mother's. He added, silently. Why did he always listen to his stomach instead of his head?
"Because your stomach's louder, that's why." Agumon said, not turning back.
"Did I say that out loud?" Tai couldn't believe himself. If he was thinking out loud he must be worse than he thought.
But Agumon wasn't listening any more. He was kneeling down, pressing one ear to the ground.
"What's up, Agumon?"
"Shh." he silenced Tai with a wave of his claw. "Something's coming... move!"
Agumon leapt up and pushed Tai out of the way as the ground beneath them exploded. What looked like two drills burst out from under the soil and stone, followed by two heads which were connected to two bodies... which was probably more than Agumon could handle on his own.
"They're Drimogemon!" Agumon exclaimed. "Two of them!"
"No kidding." one of the mole-like digimon growled.
"Real smart, isn't he?" the other purple monster agreed.
"Agumon, I really don't think you can take these two on your own..." Tai began.
"Tai, I don't have a choice. They've got us cornered. Besides, we never run from a fight!"
And therefore, Agumon digivolved to Greymon.
"Nova Blast!"
As that didn't work, he proceeded to MetalGreymon.
There wasn't enough room in the narrow passage to throw in any really powerful attacks, but MetalGreymon gave the two champions as good as he got. The other digimon had trouble finding a weak spot in MetalGreymon's armor to land their drills, and the fiery dinosaur digimon could get a powerful hit with his metal claw and the horn on his helmet. With Tai yelling encouragement all the time, MetalGreymon battled bravely - while he could.
******
Sora, Biyomon and Palmon were having their own problems with Drimogemon. Biyomon had digivolved to Birdramon and then to Garudamon, though she was still having some difficulty with two enemy digimon. Palmon, though she couldn't digivolve without Mimi, was still fighting as hard as she could with Poison Ivy as her only available attack. She had caused quite a lot of confusion by whipping her long vines about and causing quite a distraction to the two ground-dwelling digimon.
Garudamon landed a hefty blow with one wing, but in doing so her foot landed dangerously close to Sora, knocking her to the ground.
"Watch it, Garudamon!" Sora shouted, dwarfed by the huge bird. Garudamon held the Drimogemon she was fighting around the neck with one hand, and picked Sora up with the other, placing her on her feathered back.
"I'm sorry to be a danger, Sora." Garudamon told the redhead. "You'll be safer up there. I think."
"Sure, Garudamon, but watch out for -"
The Drimogemon broke loose of Garudamon's grip and charged towards her, pointing the drill bit on its head like a sword. The other had just slammed its body against Garudamon, making her stumble towards the first.
"Poison Ivy!" From down on the ground, Palmon's vines flew out to wrap around the Drimogemon's drill, yanking it away from Sora and Garudamon. But this meant that the Drimogemon was now stumbling towards her, and the flowered one's vines receded as the solid champion knocked her to the ground, where she ran the risk of being trampled.
"Garudamon, can you get in there and save Palmon?" Sora asked, desperately.
"Climb into my hand, Sora." Garudamon replied. This was going to be tricky.
There was now a Drimogemon on either side of Garudamon, making it extremely difficult to watch them both. They were standing a little in front of her, between the bird and Palmon, now lying half-conscious on the ground. Holding her hand (with Sora in it) in front of her, Garudamon tucked her wings in and charged forward. As the two Drimogemon rushed towards her, Garudamon thrust her wings out suddenly, stunning them both. She lowered Sora to the place where Palmon lay, and Sora dragged the bemused plant back onto the bird's hand. As the two groggy moles were getting up, Garudamon placed both Sora and Palmon on her back. They had tried, but it was too dangerous for them now.
Using nothing but her hands and wings, with encouragement from the two on her back, Garudamon battled the enemy digimon bravely, waiting for a chance to break away and use a more powerful attack.
******
Jyou and Mimi eventually pulled Gomamon out of the pile of rubble, but for some reason he wasn't very grateful. He sat grumpily in a corner, muttering about lazy bones and nursing his bruised paws. Joe and Mimi left him to it and just sat around chatting. Unlike some digidestined, they weren't in a hurry to get any where.
"So, Mimi, when do you think we should get moving again?" Jyou asked, looking around.
"Oh, I think it all depends really," Mimi replied. "If Gomamon stays there in the corner for days on end, then of course we will have to stay with him. If he'd just do the sensible thing, stop complaining and come along, then we could be leaving very soon. Maybe eve right now."
"Hey, don't try to make me feel guilty." Gomamon snapped. "You're the ones that took your time digging me out."
"And you're the one that got yourself in there in the first place."
Quetzalmon looked uneasily from Gomamon to the humans. "Jyou, Mimi, maybe we should give Gomamon a break. He did a silly thing, but you don't have to be like this."
"Yeah."
"Alright."
"And Gomamon," Quetzalmon continued, "maybe you should just try to be more sensible in the future."
"I guess so." Gomamon bowed his head.
"Now go and shake hands. Or paws." Quetzalmon commanded.
But as Gomamon began inching towards the humans, the ground erupted and the spinning drill of a Drimogemon appeared, (note: this is where Mimi starts screaming) quickly followed by the Drimogemon itself. Gomamon wasted no time and digivolved straight to Ikkakumon, locking horns with the purple digimon.
Mimi backed away, trembling, as the two giant champions roared and tussled, knocking several large holes in the walls as they went. No matter what the others said, she always hated battles.
"I don't like battles to much either, you know." Jyou muttered, coming up next to Mimi. "Best to get out of the way, in my opinion. This could get messy."
Quetzalmon chirruped nearby as Jyou and Mimi stood together, dwarfed by the two digimon. They were keeping out of reach, out of the way. Out of danger.
Yeah, right.
Mimi screamed again as a few fragments of rock pelted her. Jyou pushed her out of the way as another Drimogemon clambered out of the ground from the place they had just been standing, where Ikkakumon was going to have a hard time reaching them.
Quetzalmon appeared suddenly and began diving at the Drimogemon, pecking at its eyes and brushing it with his feathers. He wasn't much more than an annoyance, but it gave Ikkakumon the precious time he needed.
"Ikkakumon, digivolve to... Zudomon!"
Zudomon whirled around and whacked the monster (Drimogemon, not Quetzalmon) soundly with his hammer. Jyou took a running start and leapt to Zudomon's back, helping Mimi up after him.
"Hold on, kids." Zudomon growled. "This is going to be some wild ride."
******
Unlike the other digidestined, Koushiro had not had trouble with enemy digimon. He had been rather busy all day. His wanderings had taken him to a place that the others hadn't even considered - the very heart of the Labyrinth.
At first, when he and Tentomon had stumbled upon the place, it appeared to be nothing more than an area which was somewhat larger than any he had come by yet. It was like a circular courtyard, with high walls and little else. Koushiro and his insectiod companion wandered for a while, wondering at the strangeness of it. Unlike the rest of the Labyrinth, the walls, although clean and undamaged, were completely smooth and blank, entirely devoid of carvings. It wasn't until Koushiro sat down that he realized what he had found. The importance of this place was not written on the walls, but on the floor.
"It's like a map of the entire Labyrinth!" he exclaimed. "All these twists and turns, the exit over there, and look! That must be the spot where Mimi ran away!"
"And look where we are now." Tentomon pointed out. He tapped one of his claws on a round space in the center of the map.
Peering closer, the two could see coloured spots in the middle of the circle. "Tentomon, do you think they could be... us?"
"I don't know who else they could be. You don't see anyone else around here, do you?"
"Then the others must be on here somewhere too. Over on the east side there, two more spots. There's another two very near the exit - they've done well." Koushiro sounded rather surprised at that.
"Look at that spot there, where one of the lined has sort of of smudged - there are four dots there."
"Some of the others must have met up again. And there's one more place where there are three dots in a group! Where could the third have come from?"
"Beats me." Tentomon shrugged. "I want to know what we're going to do now that we know all this."
"There's probably some way we can use it to out advantage." Koushy muttered. "Look at the digital code around the edges. Maybe that can give us a clue."
"We know that the digi code affects how things work in the digital world." Tentomon began. "Maybe we can use it to alter the labyrinth."
The red head sat with his computer, staring hard at the code all day, trying to find a meaning there. Tentomon watched the maze itself, as the spots moved slowly around the twisting corridors.
"It's so annoying." Tentomon sighed, at last. "Digi code is so difficult to understand. If we could just make the changes straight on the the map of the maze, we could get this done in a jiffy."
"THAT'S IT!!!" Koushiro leapt up into the air and bounded back to the centre of the map. "That is so much better than what I'm doing now. I'll change it so that we can bring everyone else here, and then cut a path directly to the exit. It's brilliant!"
"Izumi? That you?" Yamato's voice came from the other side of one wall.
"Yes, it is us." Tentomon replied. "Would you like to come around?"
"Well yeah, I'd like to see you, but how do I get around there?"
Before Tentomon could give directions, Koushiro had found a solution. He simply rubbed one of the lines on the map out - and there were Yamato and Gabumon, staring in disbelief as the wall disappeared before their eyes.
"How did you do that?" Gabumon wondered.
"It's a map of the Labyrinth!" Koushiro said. "And I can change whatever I want about it. I'll get all f us together here, and then cut us a path to the exit. It's simple, and easy!"
"Well, you'd better get on with it." Yamato said, grimly. "The others are in trouble, they're being attacked by other digimon. You have to bring them here, now."
"I'm on it." With one swipe, he cut a path clear to where Tai and MetalGreymon were battling. "Tai! Get over here, now! HURRY!"
A bewildered Tai crashed down the path with Agumon (who de-digivolved on the way) right behind him. As they skidded into the round room, Izzy quickly replaced the walls with a pen he'd found in his pocket, keeping the Drimogemon out.
"How the hell...?" a dazed Tai sat down on the ground very suddenly.
"I'll explain in a moment." Koushiro was already at work on the maze again. Soon Jyou, Mimi, Gomamon and Quetzalmon joined the rest, looking just as bewildered. Those who had already heard the story were surprised to see Quetzalmon at Mimi's side instead of Palmon.
"You'll see in a moment." Mimi said, sadly.
They made a few more changes to the maze, and Sora, Biyomon and Palmon were with them once again. There was a painful moment when Palmon and Mimi first saw each other, Palmon hurt to see Quetzalmon still there, and Mimi sad that Palmon had not changed at all in her opinions. Tai opened his mouth to say something, but was silenced by a glare from Sora. Sometimes trying to help could make things worse.
"Well, then." Koushiro said, breaking the silence. "You're probably all a little surprised to find yourselves here."
"Hey, it's the digi world." someone muttered.
"I made a great discovery today when I stumbled upon this place." he continued. "If you'll look at the floor beneath your feet, you'll see a complete map of the Labyrinth. It is in fact magical, and can be used to alter the maze in any way we wish. I have brought us all back together here, for we can use this to escape the labyrinth very easily. I only have to erase a few of these lines and we will have a clear path to the exit."
"So get on with it." said the same person.
Koushiro gave the whole crowd a brief glare, then, with his finger, rubbed out all the lines between themselves and the way out. Immediately, the wall in front of them disappeared, amid a chorus of gasps. It was not the walls, though, that took everybody by surprise. In the distance they could see trees beyond the walls of the labyrinth. What shocked them all was that between themselves and freedom stood the bulky, forbidding, red-eyed Tauromon.
~~~~~~
That chapter jumped around a bit, but it was a bit hard not to with all the digidestined split up. It was fun to write, though! Some friends of mine have noticed a couple of Jyoumi hints in this chapter, so let me just say that I don't really support Jyoumi. I don't particularly support any couples, although I do like seeing the sorts of strange couplings that people come up with. (currently the oddest thing I've ever seen has been Ioblacku, that's Iori and BlackWarGreymon) If there are an excess of different hints in here, then it is purely to confuse those who think the only purpose of fanfiction is to include as many romance hints as possible.
