Chapter Twenty-seven- Not so Fun Fair



Patamon sat on Jesi's head as they walked along, sulking. He felt like half a mon without TK around.

"It sure feels good to get out of that creepy forest!" Mimi shouted.

"Yeah but there's not much difference, the whole Digiworld is dark." Sora said.

Davis walked up next to Tai who was carrying Kari again. She was awake and feeling a little bit better now that they were out of the dark forest.

"Hey Kari, how ya doin?" he said. Davis's happy nature was amazing considering all that had happened.

"I'm a little better." she said in kind of a raspy whisper.

"Hey Tai, if you're tired I'll carry her." Davis said.

"No Davis, she's my sister I need to take care of her," he said without even making eye contact with Davis.

"Tai..." Kari said. He glanced down and saw her pleading eyes looking up at him. Tai sighed, he knew he couldn't argue with Kari.

Davis took Kari in his arms and Tai went over next to Izzy to check Shadowmon's position.

"Thanks Davis," Kari said.

"Hey no prob," Davis smiled at Kari as she closed her eyes and relaxed. Davis couldn't resist, he leaned over and gave her a quick kiss on the forehead. Kari's eyes opened.

"Davis...I really don't think now is a good time...."

"Kari, I know you love TK, and he loves you. But that doesn't mean I can't still care for you. I just want you to be happy."

Kari sighed. "He's just like Tai," she thought "He acts like he's brainless most of the time but then when you least expect it, he says something so heartfelt."

Kari smiled, for the first time since they had gotten to the Digiworld. She closed her eyes again and leaned against Davis's chest and he held her close. Kari drifted off to sleep but not because of fever this time, but because she felt safe in Davis's arms.

A short time later Kari's sleep was interrupted by an excited squeal.

"Look! An amusement park!" Mimi yelled, running ahead of everyone else.

"I don't believe it," Tai said. "This is the amusement park where I found TK four years ago."

"I remember," Patamon said. "This is where we met Demidevimon for the first time and he tried to make me and TK stop being friends." Patamon's mood seemed to brighten. He flew off of Jesi's head and into the amusement park.

The Digidestined walked around in the park. Even though it was dark out, the bright colors and lights seemed to cheer everyone up a little.

"Too bad it's abandoned." Yolei said.

But as the children walked past the empty rides and food stands, the kaleidoscope of lights started to give off an eerie feeling.

"This place is kind of weird." Joe said nervously.

"This isn't the way I remember it, last time we were here it was a lot happier." Tai said, glancing up at a twisted fun house face.

Everyone drifted apart as they explored the park. Mimi and Sora took Kari to freshen up and maybe find something for her to eat. Yolei and Izzy looked for a source of power where Izzy could recharge his computer battery. Joe, Cody and Davis wandered off together, but Tai just seemed to fade off into the background. No one had noticed where he disappeared to. Jesi strolled along by herself, kicking a rock in front of her. The sound of the stone skipping across the ground was all she heard until,

"That sounds like someone crying." She said. She raised an eyebrow and turned around, but she didn't she anyone. She walked until she came to a large lake, the Ferris Wheel's reflection shone brightly in the water. She took a few steps towards the waters edge and there on the dock she saw,

"Tai is that you?"

Tai sat huddled on the wooden dock. His face was hidden somewhere between his knees and his mass of brown, tussled hair and his body shook as he sobbed. Jesi kneeled next to him and placed her arm around his shoulders.

"Tai what's wrong?"

"Matt's boat...it's still here." Tai's voice had that scratchy tone, it was only like that when he had been crying for a while.

Jesi looked up at a swan shaped boat that was washed up against the shore. It was dirty and the paint was chipped, as if it had been neglected for a few years.

"That boat belonged to Matt?" she asked.

Tai sat up and wiped his face off with his sleeve. "Matt used that boat when we were in the digital world for the first time to go across the lake. Then again when we were fighting the dark masters. I guess he just kind of decided it was his. It must have been floating in the lake all this time, ever since the digital world was reconfigured."

"It's pretty, at least it was anyway." Jesi looked down at Tai's face and could see he was about to cry again, but was holding it back. "How about as soon as we defeat Shadowmon we'll all fix it up and surprise Matt."

"If we defeat him...."

"We will," She said softly, and wrapped her arms around him. Tai losing his spirit like this was not a good sign. What if they couldn't defeat Shadowmon? What if Matt, Ken and TK were lost forever....



"There, pretty as a picture," Mimi smiled happily as she fixed Kari's hair-clip.

Sora sat on the counter in the bathroom and groaned.

"Mimi I can't believe you're thinking about making yourself beautiful at a time like this."

Mimi put her hands on her hips. "There's no reason us girls can't look good in the heat of the battle, right Kari?"

Kari smiled a bit and nodded. "Right."

"And I bet Kari feels a lot better now that she's all freshened up, don't you Kari?"

Sora rolled her eyes, "Whatever you say Mimi, hey my hair looks terrible!" she said, glancing in the mirror. Mimi and Kari snickered a bit as Sora started fixing her hair.

Just then Mimi turned her head to the side and held a hand up to her ear.

"Do you hear something?" she asked

"It sounds like creepy circus music," Sora said. Mimi and Sora let Kari lean against them and they all stepped out of the bathroom.

"Sounds like it's coming from over where those rides are," Mimi said. They headed over towards the music and saw Izzy and Yolei walking by.

"So you heard it too huh?" Izzy said.

"Yeah, do you know what it is?" Mimi asked.

"That's what we were about to find out," Yolei said.

All the Digidestined scattered around the amusement park had heard the music. It was eerie and twisted, like music being played on a warped record.

"Sounds like a carnival ride gone bad," Cody said, and he, Joe and Davis walked through the park.

Jesi and Tai sat on the dock looking out at the lake. There were still no stars, and the only thing that could be seen reflected in the water were the lights from the rides behind them. Jesi rubbed Tai's back to help him feel better, but it's hard for two equally depressed people to cheer each other up. Tai's head rested on his knees and he stared blankly ahead, until something caught his eye.

"Hey do you see that?" He said.

"What?"

Tai squinted his eyes and looked out at the water's surface. A circle of revolving lights had appeared in the center of the lake.

"One of the rides has started up," he said. Jesi and Tai shifted around and looked at the park to see what had caused the reflection.

"It's the carousel," Jesi said. Then Jesi and Tai noticed the same haunting music that the others had heard. Tai grabbed Jesi's hand and led her over to the carousel. The others had arrived from different directions and they all stood together in from of it.

"So that's where it's coming from," Izzy said. The inside of the ride was pitch black, and the lights were too dim to illuminate it. It spun very slowly and hadn't even made one full rotation since the children had arrived.

As the carousel turned, two dark figures came into view on top of it. The digimon all stepped forward, ready to attack, as Arukenimon and Mummymon stepped into the light.

"Oh great, this is worse than the fun house I was trapped in when I was six," Joe said.

Izzy sighed, "Only you Joe...."

"Round and round it goes, where it stops, nobody knows," Arukenimon said with an evil grin.

"What do you want now you witch...." Tai growled at her.

"I've just come to return something that you," Arukenimon waved her hand down towards the slowly spinning carousel, "lost."

The back of the ride slowly moved to the front, and the surrounding lights revealed three figures. The carousel turned, and each came into view.

"TK!?" Kari cried.

"Matt..." Tai took a step forward and clenched his fist.

"Ken?" Jesi said, then the features of the third figure were lit up. Wild blue hair and yellow rimmed goggles framed the face staring back at her. His blue eyes were now pale, and their sparkle was gone. Jesi's eyes opened wide and she brought her hands up to her mouth and gasped.

"That's not Ken!" Izzy shouted. "He's the Digimon Emperor!"