Litanya: Well, I just came back from my IB camp… a few hours ago anyway. My friend Steph was on camp with me and she has read this fic so far and all of my other ones too and I would like to dedicate this chapter to her because her support is fantastic and without her telling me to update, my updates would probably be very slow. Steph, thanks for helping me with my writing… I hope you enjoy this chapter although it may be a bit confusing… but you know me and I'm always confusing!

Anyway I do not own Digimon and I only own 'Master' and Entier and any more characters that do not appear in the show too… so please don't steal them!

An Old Box

Chapter 2

"Hey guys, are you here?" there was another male voice coming from the main room and then a figure came to the door of the bedroom, holding an unconscious figure in his arms. He was wearing a white lab coat which had a red stain running all the way down the right hand side. The figure that he was carrying in his arms was an unconscious Sora…

Kari and Mimi unconsciously backed away, the colour draining away from their cheeks. Almost as one the digidestined guys seemed to move so that they were in front of the girls, as if to protect them from something dangerous. Rage, Ken and Yolie didn't seem too concerned at the appearance of the boy, but at the reactions of their other guests they stood up a little wearily.

"Entier, couldn't you knock or something so we know when you are coming. You should have known that the digidestined would be here, so why did you come now?" Rage and the other healers were almost stumbling as they went over to the doorway where the bronze-eyed boy was still holding the unconscious girl. Kari robotically noticed that Sora's hair seemed to have changed to a colour that was almost completely red. It was no longer the auburn colour that they had all come to recognise when Sora's name came to mind. Kari also noticed that Sora was now wearing a fingerless glove, which was a lot like the one that Rage was wearing.

"Sorry, I didn't mean it. I never wanted to take her," the boy indicated to Sora, "to 'Master' but he was beginning to doubt my intentions. I do the best that I can but unless I give him digimon or people, he is going to get rid of me and instead put his trust in someone who would actually be his servant. I am really sorry that we had to meet like this." That last comment he directed towards the digidestined, who were still looking as though Entier was a murderer that was going to use them as his next victims. Entier moved quickly to the nearest bed, which was right near the door, and gently placed Sora down onto it.

"What have you done to her?" Matt demanded to know, seeing that his friend was still unconscious. He eyed Entier suspiciously and then turned to Rage, Ken and Yolie, who had all slumped back down to the floor, "And if he is here, then why should we trust you? He is a bad, evil guy, remember? He captured Tai and probably you too and gave you to whatever evil 'tests' that this 'master' guy did. How do we know now that you haven't turned evil too and are just pretending to be friends?" Rage looked up at him a little wearily as he finished his little speech, but he didn't say anything.

"Yeah, Matt's right on this one. You say that Tai is 'somewhere that is too dangerous to go now' but how do we know that you haven't gotten him locked up in some dungeon somewhere? Take us to him now and we can think about trusting you. But if you just fob us off and deny our request then we will know that you are just trying to keep us here so that your 'master' can get us," Joe pushed his glasses back up his nose and his gaze was definitely unfriendly. Ken and Yolie exchanged glances.

"You are looking for Tai Kamiya?" Yolie sounded surprised and she quickly looked back down at the back of her left hand, as if she was remembering something from her past.

"Yeah, he's my brother; of course I would look for him! He sacrificed his own safety and life for us and we owe him a lot. Why do you sound surprised that we are looking for him?" Kari knew that there was something going on that Ken, Rage and Yolie knew and weren't telling them. Yolie was about to answer but Ken replied for her.

"We just didn't know that you were looking for him. Rage didn't tell us that, and you had only told Rage, remember?" he and Rage exchanged a quick glance, but no one noticed it.

"So are you going to take us to Tai or not?" Mimi demanded, her patience running thin. She wanted to be on the way so that she could be sure of whom she could trust.

"You can trust us. Gennai trusts us and he should know. He knows the situation around here much better than you, so if he trusts us then why can't you?" Rage's voice was quiet and level and they had to strain to hear it.

"Give us one reason why we should trust you," T.K asked of him, seeing that this argument was going nowhere.

"You should trust us because we are digidestined," was the reply. Izzy raised an eyebrow at this answer.

"But if you are digidestined, where are your digimon? And your crests? And why weren't you with us in the Digital World during the Dark Masters and Myotismon?" everyone looked around questioningly, with each group looking for answers in the other.

"Our digimon have been deleted forever by 'Master's' formula. We can each give the name of our digimon if you really want. Our crests… you don't want to know what happened to our crests. And umm… as for the last question I don't know how to answer it," Entier had been silent before now and had been standing next to the three healers, watching the reactions of the digidestined closely.

"Fine then, each name your digimon and your crest and we'll see if we believe you," Rage stiffened a little at this request from Joe, but he didn't say anything. He bit his lip slowly, thinking deeply about something.

"Fine then, I don't see any harm in that. My digimon was Tyrannamon and my crest is of Integrity," after that Entier leaned back against the door frame, as if he had immediately relaxed after saying that.

"My digimon was Wormon and my crest was of Kindness," Ken was looking down at his knees as he said this, but the digidestined could tell that he was sad at the death of his digimon. His voice was hoarse and it sounded as though he was crying softly.

"Hawkmon was my digimon and my crest was of Loyalty," Yolie made no attempt to hide the tears that were rolling down her cheeks, and the destined were surprised to see that even her tears were a light yellow. Rage was just staring off into space and he didn't seem to realise that it was his turn to say something.

"Who was your digimon Rage? Rage?" Mimi waved her hand in front of his face, but it didn't seem to do anything to snap him out of it. He still seemed deep in thought, but he answered anyway, his voice vague as though he didn't realise that he was talking.

"Agumon," was his reply. He didn't seem to notice the surprise that rippled through the room after this seemingly mindless answer. He was still staring off into space, engrossed in either his thoughts or something that no one else could see. Ken leaned over and stared straight into Rage's eyes and then leaned back, rolling his eyes a little.

"Yep, he's completely out of it again. 'Master' always said that he had made some mistake in the 'experiment' and now he always drifts off into deep thought at the worst moments. Last week he almost got himself and us caught by 'Master' again. Usually when he's in this mood you can ask him absolutely any question and he'd answer truthfully before he even thought about it. That's how Yolie and I found out his real name… I think that the 'Master' made a mistake with the 'experiment' regarding me too, because I cannot seem to stop saying this useless nonsense," Yolie gave him a strong look and he became quiet, looking at the ground.

"So his real name isn't Rage? And he had Agumon for a digimon… Could he be my brother? What is your real name?" Kari directed this last question at Rage who was still in his weird trance. Ken and Yolie seemed to look up and stare at the roof as one and Entier's eyes looked a little wild. Rage opened his mouth to answer, his face still expressionless, but just as he was about to reply to Kari's question, a blast rocked the room that they were in and Rage seemed to snap out of whatever trance he had been in and raced out of the room, his loss of energy from healing forgotten. Entier, Yolie and Ken seemed also to spring into action. Ken and Yolie seemed to be responsible for packing food into a small green bag that could not possibly hold the amount of food that they placed into it. They hurried about the room, pulling food from the strangest places. Entier lifted his left hand out in front of him and the wall at the other side of the room started to open slightly to reveal dirt and rock.

"Entier, why didn't you check to make sure that you weren't being followed?" Rage scolded in a harsh whisper as he re-entered the room. He seemed to move with a soundless grace that showed that he had been living in a world where one wrong move could mean death or worse. He also moved as though he had been training hard physically over the past year or so. Entier didn't lower his left hand as he made his reply in a tone that showed that he was a little offended.

"I did check! I'm not that dumb and you know it. You know that my job is a hard one, and I don't see you volunteering to help me."

"I would help you, but you know that 'Master' would know that it was a trick in less than five seconds. They don't call me Rage for nothing you know. 'Master tried for ages to get me to be his servant, whilst I didn't know you were on our side, and I still wouldn't do it. 'Master' would instantly be suspicious of both me and you if I had changed my mind that quickly, wouldn't he?" Rage snapped back, moving closer to Entier as though he was going to attack the bronze-haired boy.

"Yeah, I know why they call you Rage. Courage couldn't be anything to do with it, could it?" Entier's voice was loud and commanding, as though he was superior to Rage at this one thing, "Why don't you tell them your real name, huh Rage? Are you scared that they won't believe you?" Rage just stared back at him, his light orange eyes casting back an eerie light that looked a lot like dancing flames.

"My name and my past have nothing to do with this Entier! What about you? Your real name and past is just as important as mine. We were both at fault back then, and you cannot deny it," Rage's voice was growing louder and louder at each word, and it was almost like he wanted everyone to hear what was being said. Another blast, closer this time, shook the room, sending everyone flying.

"Guys, guys, shouldn't we be working together now instead of fighting? We are being attacked you know," Joe told them, a little hysteria in his voice. He hated being attacked and he was scared that the enemy was going to hurt and capture them.

"Stay out of this Joe, it's just like those fights that Matt and Tai used to have," Joe, Kari and Mimi all turned quickly and gasped at the change in Sora. She was now conscious and sitting up on the bed, but that wasn't what had made their eyes widen in shock. Her eyes had turned from their usual crimson colour to the colour of blood, a deep, rich red. Her hair was also redder than usual and the effect was quite drastic. She now looked completely different to what she had before her capture. They only knew that it was Sora because of the fact that she was wearing the clothes that she had been in when she was captured. It was only now, as they were searching for the proof that it was Sora, did they notice a red stain that looked like blood on the corner of Sora's yellow t-shirt. Their minds shuddered away from the thoughts of the torture that Sora must have had to put up with to make such a drastic change in such a short time.

"We were at fault? It was your fault that those digimon died and you know it! If you hadn't have been so sure that we could set them free from 'Master's' place then we could have waited and they would still be alive! SO IT IS YOUR FAULT, NOT MINE!" Entier screamed, although his left hand was still up and there was now a considerable hole in the wall that even Rage would be able to stand up in. Rage's hand was pointing at the wall too, but his hand was behind his back so that anyone who did not have the 'gift' could not see that he was helping Entier.

"YOU were the one that got the idea in your head to free them in the first place! If you hadn't told me of your idea, I wouldn't have tried to free them then! It's your fault that you told me of the secret exits, and so therefore we are both at fault!" the hole was getting deeper faster now as Ken and Yolie had finished getting the food and they were also helping. The banging sounds were still going on around them, but the people in the room didn't notice as they were concentrating on what was happening in the room.

"I only told you about those passages so that you could escape and get Ken and Yolie out too. I never even suggested getting the digimon out too!" the hole was now a small tunnel, big enough to fit all of them in at the same time with space left over. Rage motioned for all of the digidestined and Ken and Yolie to get into the tunnel that was still increasing in size. They followed his instructions and got into the hole, thinking that Entier and Rage would be right behind them.

"You did! You said 'These poor digimon need a break, we should find a way to free them all.' Then you went on about the SECRET PASSAGES AND BECAUSE OF THAT ALL LOF THOSE INNOCENT DIGIMON GOT KILLED BECAUSE I THOUGHT THAT THE PASSAGES WERE SAFE!" as Rage's voice increased in volume, the dirt behind Joe and Mimi, who had been the last to go into the tunnel as they supported Sora up from behind, collapsed so that the digidestined and the two younger 'healers.'

"Hey, I can understand why Entier is staying, but why is Tai?" Sora called to Ken and Yolie, who were still burying the way out of the hide-out. Kari turned to where she though Sora was in the darkness and stared before she realised that no one could see her.

"What do you mean? T-Tai wasn't even there," but her voice was shaking and she was trembling without realising it.

"Don't worry, Rage always stays behind and makes sure that everyone else is safe before he manages to get out of whatever place they take him to. There is no place in either of the two worlds that is Rage-proof. Especially since he is extremely good at making fire… they used to try to put him in a fire-proof box and he always made it out of there. Lately 'Master' has begun putting him in a box that our 'gift' doesn't work on, but he gets out every time," Ken replied to Sora's question, as if he didn't even notice that Kari had spoken. Their progress was slow, but they were slowly making their way away from the hide-out, where Rage and Entier had remained. Both Kari and Sora felt that they were abandoning one of the most important people in their lives, though Kari still wasn't sure if Rage was her brother.

"Why won't you answer my question? Is Rage actually my brother?" she asked again, exasperated that no one was listening to her. Sora gave her a surprised look, but realised that Kari couldn't see her. She was so surprised that she tripped over what she thought may have been a rock imbedded in the ground and almost sent T.K, who was in front of her, flying into a solid wall of dirt on his left.

"Uh… sorry whoever I pushed, but Kari surprised me so much that I didn't really look- well, I didn't really walk carefully. Kari, I don't even know who this 'Rage' guy is. If he is the one that was arguing with the really nice dude that seemed evil at first, then yes, he is Tai. I'd have thought that you, of all people Kari, would have recognised your own brother. Sure, his eyes may have changed colour, he's grown a bit and his hair has changed colour too, but you should have still recognised him. I knew it was him the moment I saw him. Hey guys, do you want me to help? It will be quicker if I do and then we can start planning our attack on 'Master' and how we can make sure that he never 'experiments' on anyone ever again," she climbed over T.K, who was leaning against the wall from his small fall, and began to help Ken and Yolie, her 'gift' making it so that she could see to help the two youngsters.

"What about our digimon? We left them there too," Matt suddenly said, stopping the digidestined in their tracks.

"Gomamon will be fine, his jokes will get him out of it… I hope," Joe said without thinking, remembering the seal-digimon's lame jokes and how much trouble they had gotten him into over the years.

"Come on, we have to keep going. The digimon will be fine, Rage will make sure of that," Yolie urged them on, taking a short break from digging the tunnel to turn to say this.

"After listening to that argument between that Entier dude and Rage, I don't think that I trust him to save Palmon," Mimi said sincerely, tears coming to her eyes. Ken rolled his eyes and muttered something under his breath. Both he and Yolie acted as if they were older than all of the digidestined other than Rage and they were almost the youngest there.

"Rage and Entier made the whole argument up. I doubt it very much that either of them has killed any digimon. Well… maybe Entier has killed a few, but only because he absolutely had to. Entier had to destroy Agumon, which hurt Rage of course, but the two of them are such good friends and so Rage understood that Entier had to do it. The argument that they had back there was to make it so the enemy wouldn't hear the ground moving as we dug this tunnel. Rage will get your digimon out of there, or maintain the image that they are invisible or something," Ken, too, had stopped, but they were safe because they were at least 100 meters from the hide-out, with a wall of dirt about fifty metres thick between it and them.

"Well, it would be endearing to us if we could get out of this excavate and draw up a plan so we can facilitate Rage and Entier trounce this 'master' dude," Izzy told them all, speaking positively. Everyone except Ken just scratched the top of their head, as if they were trying to figure out what he was trying to say.

"Oh, you mean that it would be attractive to us to get out of this tunnel and form a plan to get rid of this 'master' guy!" T.K exclaimed, being the first other than Ken to figure out Izzy's language, "Okay then, let's go!" And they set off again, each trying to think of a way they could help out Rage, otherwise known as Tai…

To Be Continued…

Litanya: Okay, lame spot to end it, but yeah… Sorry it has taken so long to get this up. As you can see from the top, I started this the day I got back from camp, which was last Sunday. It is now Friday and I can't put this up until tomorrow afternoon at earliest. I've only been back at school and I already have too much work! But I'll try to update again soon… but I'm running out of ideas for this fic. I'm going to start writing another at the same time, but I won't put that up yet unless it turns out to be a one-shot.

Anyway, I want to thank all of my lovely reviewers… I have only had requests for Taiora, which is good because I love Taiora! And Kenyako I good too… and so is Takari. So unless I get a heap of complaints about the couples, those will probably end up being the couples. THANK YOU ALL FOR YOUR WONDERFUL REVIEWS! I haven't been this happy about my fics for a long time.

And finally Steph, you issued the challenge to me to use the word 'endearing' in one of my fics and I have finally been able to do it… I don't know how you first found that word, but I'd never heard about it before you said it. So the challenge has been fulfilled… with Izzy talk naturally! I'll see you at school, remember, you can't get away from me! :D