Disclaimer: I do not own Digimon, no matter how much I want to. But the FDDs are mine, so no taking. Thank you.
Digimon X: Game 9-Jumping Jungle
By DigiScanner-Shonen
"JAKE! CHARLIE! WHERE ARE YOU?!" we call out as we walk through the jungle, looking for our friends whom we were separated with last night. It's not really a good idea to be split up, especially when you're in a game whose objective you have no idea is.
"I'm worried about Jake," I tell the others as we continue to walk, "Do you think he'll be okay?"
"Yeah, he's fine," Tucker assures me, "Remember, I checked the D-Coder and it said that he's with Charlie. Besides, the kid can take care of himself. Remember how we got Betamon to join us?"
"Oh yeah," I say, thinking back to when Jake was kidnapped by Coelamon, the 'Swamp Monster' of Swamp Village. Jake had managed to point Coelamon in the right direction from where he was going and had Coelamon join us soon after. We were all worried about him at that time and didn't know what to do. "But I'm still worried."
"Like I said, Erin, he's fine. He's got that idiot Charlie with him. And Betamon and Bearmon are protecting him. He's perfectly safe."
"I'm still worried about him, even though I know he's with Charlie and is supposed to be okay. It's like worrying about a little brother."
"You mean you and Jake are siblings?" DemiFalcomon asks.
"Well, kinda. We're not blood related, but I promised Jake that I'd be his older sister while we're here and that I'd look out for him. I want to make sure that he's okay and help him through the Digital World. In that sense, I am his sister."
"It's kind of fitting, you're always worrying about the rest of us, but especially Jake," Flamon says as he turns back to look at me.
"Well, yeah, she is. But the only one I want worrying about me is Leah..." Tucker says as he turns to the other girl in our group. He looks at her and has a bit of concern on his face, "Leah, are you okay?"
"Hmm? Oh, yeah. I'm fine," she says, wiping some sweat off her brow, "It's just that I'm kind of hot."
"Well, this is a jungle after all," Labramon says, "And you're wearing all that clothing."
"Yeah, Leah. Take off your sweatshirt," Tucker says, "Maybe that will make you feel cooler."
"All right, I'll try," she says as she pulls off her yellow long-sleeved shirt and reveals a white tank top underneath. She's beginning to really develop in the chest area. I look at Tucker who's just staring at Leah now. Whether its her face or her chest he's looking at, I'm not really sure.
"Tucker, stop staring. It's rude, you know," I tell him in a matter-of-fact voice.
"I'm trying..." Tucker says with a bit of drool coming out of the corner of his mouth, "Just give me five seconds more..."
"No more!" Leah says angrily to him, her face red with embarrassment.
"Fine, I'm done," he says turning away from Leah with a heavy blush on his face. He sneaks one last peek out of the corner of his eye then focuses on where we're going.
I go up to Leah and whisper into her ear, "Maybe you should put the shirt back on."
"Nah, its hot," she says, swiping her brow again.
"You feel okay, Leah?"
"Not really. I feel kind of groggy, like something died trying to get out of my mouth. Plus, I'm kind of hot."
"How long have you been feeling like this?" Labramon asks.
"Since this morning."
"Maybe its some kind of DigiFever?"
"Is it bad?"
"Not really. It should go away by tomorrow. Unless its..."
"Unless its what?" I ask.
"Never mind," Labramon quickly says, "Let's just get back to finding the others."
I don't really feel comfortable knowing that Labramon's hiding something. Is what Leah has just a fever or something worse? Is he trying to avoid panic? Maybe he's thinking of a worse case scenario. Yeah, that's it. A worse case scenario.
The bushes and trees pass us as we continue to walk through this jungle, calling out for our lost friends. Now I'm not only worried about Jake, but Leah too. Why do bad things always have to happen to us?
Leah begins to cough as we call out Jake and Charlie's names for the seventy-fifth time.
"Leah, are you all right?" Tucker says to our intellectual team member.
"Yeah, cough, I'm fine. Just something in my throat, maybe. I'm fine, Tucker, cough, really," Leah assures him.
"I'm not so sure. Maybe we should break and get something to eat," Tucker says, "We can search for the others later."
"Sounds like a plan," I say.
"Leah, you just sit down and relax for a moment," Tucker tells her as he goes over to her and gently lays her down against a tree, "We'll get you something to eat and maybe then you'll feel better."
"Too bad we don't have Bearmon to tell us what edible around here," DemiFalcomon says.
"Thanks for reminding me."
"Hey, wait!" Flamon says, "I remember a type of berry I ate before I found Tucker. It's supposed to be nutritious. It should be growing in this jungle."
"Great! I'll go with you Flamon to get this berry. We get enough, we can have a snack and then we'll go on to find the others."
"I'll come too!" I say, "DemiFalcomon can fly up and try and find these berries."
"Labramon, you stay here and make sure Leah's okay while we're gone."
"I'll defend my partner with my life," Labramon salutes.
"Come on, let's go," Tucker says and he, Flamon, DemiFalcomon and I march off into the jungle to find Flamon's berries.
"So what exactly do the berries look like?" DemiFalcomon asks.
"Round red with purple spots. I've had a couple and they're delicious!" Flamon says.
"DemiFalcomon, fly up to the top of the trees and see if you can find what we need," I tell my partner.
"On it," she says as she flies off.
"Red with purple spots, red with purple spots, red with purple spots..." Tucker chants as he searches the brushes for the berries. I sigh, again thinking about the others and I can't help but worry.
"Erin, they'll be fine. Leah's probably just got a little bug and Jake's with Charlie. They'll all be fine. We just have to worry about finding the berries right now," Tucker says.
"I can't help it."
"Just don't think about it and you won't worry. Look at me! I don't think about stuff and I'm worry free!"
"Yeah, it shows," I tell him in a bemused manner.
"I'm just saying don't worry, be happy. Worrying just makes things worse. Now let's find those berries!"
"Yeah..." I say, half energetically. Not worry? How can I not worry about them? They're my friends! Someone has to look after them when they're not doing well and that would be me. But then again, they can take care of themselves, so maybe Tucker's right. Maybe not worrying will make me feel better.
"HELP! HELP US!!" A voice cries from out of nowhere.
"Huh?" Tucker turns around, looking for the source of the voice.
"HELP! HELP!!" the voice gets louder and louder. It must be coming towards us. We look around trying to find the voice's owner. A form suddenly leaps out of a brush Tucker was looking under and knocks both of them over.
"Ow! That hurt!" Tucker says, rubbing his head, "What was that for?"
"Huh?" the thing looks up at Tucker, "Who are you?"
"That's what we should be asking you," Flamon says.
"I'm sorry for knocking you over," he says as he gets up and bows in apology, "Let me introduce myself. I'm J-Moyjamon from Zonama Village."
I pull out my D-Coder and scan J-Mojyamon and get his data. I read it off to the others. "J-Mojyamon, a Champion level, Rare Animal Data Digimon. J-Mojyamon thrives in the jungle, where it is mostly found. These Digimon are rare to find and are an endangered Digimon species of sorts. His attacks include Jungle Punch and Jungle Kick."
"Why were you screaming 'HELP!' through the jungle?" Tucker asks.
"I was looking for help. My fellow villagers have become ill. I was looking for someone to help me save them. Maybe I can cure them with help! Please! Will you help me?" J-Mojyamon asks us.
"Sure, we will. Just let us get some berries for our friend."
"Berries?"
"Yeah, you know, round, red with purple spots?" Flamon asks.
"Sure, I know where to get some! They're up in those trees! I'll go get some."
"No need," I tell him and look towards the trees, "DemiFalcomon! Can you find any berries in the trees?"
DemiFalcomon flies down from the trees with a branch full of the berries in her beak, "Yeah, I did!" she manages to mutter out.
"All right! Now let's get back to Leah!" Tucker cheers as we back to Leah. We go through the trees, retracing our steps to find our friend.
"AWWOOOOOO!!"
"What? That sounds like Labramon!" Flamon says, "We better get back pronto!"
We pick up the pace, trying to get back to our friends. We run, hoping its not too urgent.
"Leah! Leah! We got the berries!" I call out to her as she comes into sight. But I stop running and gasp as I look at her, sprawled out on the ground, panting, coughing and sweating.
"No! LEAH!!" Tucker screams as he dashes over to her, "Leah! Are you okay? Labramon! What happened?"
"She started sweating and coughing a lot and then she fell over onto the ground," Labramon says sadly.
"We need to get her back to my village! Come on, this way," J-Mojyamon tells us and we follow him with Tucker carrying Leah on his back.
"So, what's wrong in Zonama Village?" Tucker asks.
"My fellow villagers started to get sick. It started a couple of days ago. It was started small, just one Digimon was sick, but then more and more became ill. Only a few of us aren't ill. I was sent to go and look for help and I found you," J-Mojyamon explains.
"We were looking for someone too, but we haven't been able to find them yet," I say, remembering Charlie and Jake.
"Erin, I said 'don't worry, be happy!' They can hold out a little longer. Helping these Digimon are more important now," Tucker says, "and Leah, too."
"There's Zonama Village!" J-Mojyamon points out to us, "We're almost there!"
We begin to walk faster to the village made up of many small straw huts. All throughout the village is a symphony of coughing. Leah joins the song with her own cough.
"Hold on, Leah. We'll get you down in a second," I tell her.
"W-where...are we..." she asks us.
"Zonama Village. J-Mojyamon here led us here," Labramon says to her, "We're here to help his village."
"R-really? I'll...help..."
"No way, you're resting," Tucker says firmly.
"Bring her to my hut, she can rest there," J-Mojyamon offers.
"Thank you," I say as we walk up to his straw hut. We pass through some hanging grass from the top and look around at the inside. It doesn't have much, just a bed, a table, a chair, a small cupboard and a bucket of water, all made of bamboo, straw and leaves.
"Lay her on the bed," he instructs us and Tucker lowers Leah onto the bed. She continues to cough and Labramon leans over to her, guarding her like a loyal dog.
"So what is it?" Tucker asks.
"It's the same as my fellow Digimon have. It's called Digititis. It's kind of like a fever. Only the person will continue to become ill until it becomes unbearable to stand and he or she deletes."
"Deletes?" I repeat, worrying again about Leah.
"NO! Not Leah! Anyone but Leah! Can you help her?" Tucker demands.
"Not at the moment," J-Mojyamon regretfully says.
"No! There must be something you can do! That we can do! There must be something! Tell me!" Tucker grabs at J-Mojyamon's fur.
"Nothing..."
"I refuse to believe it! There MUST be a way to cure her! I can't let her delete! I CAN'T!! There is a way to cure her, there must be! Tell me! Tell me!" Tucker shakes the Digimon violently, his voice edging on panic and sadness. He has tears in his eyes.
"T-th-there i-i-isn't!" the Digimon sputters out as Tucker shakes him.
"NOOO!!" Tucker yells and throws J-Mojyamon down. Tucker cries and pounds on the table. I cry as well, thinking that this could be the end of Leah.
"But there is..."
"What? What? Is there something to help her?" Tucker demands, trying to wipe his eyes.
"Well, there is supposed to be something to cure this, but it's a long shot. The ancient peoples of this area built a temple to honour the God Digimon. It is said that there is kept a record of all that went on in since the Digital World's creation. They encountered Digititis before and its there that the cure could be found."
"WHERE IS THE TEMPLE?!" Tucker demands as he grabs J-Mojyamon and gets right in his face.
"It's to the northeast of here, about fifteen minutes from here."
"Come on, Flamon, we gotta get to that temple!"
"Hey, don't forget about me!" I say as we begin to leave. Tucker however, goes back to beside Leah and bends over her.
"...you have to worry about Charlie and Jake...just forget, cough, me..."
"I can't do that, Leah. I can't. I won't. We'll get you that cure. You'll be fine. Just rest now. I'll bring it back to you. I promise," Tucker says with the utmost sincerity. He then gets up and walks out the door with Flamon, DemiFalcomon and I following him.
"Wait! It's too dangerous!" J-Mojyamon yells after us, "There's dangers out there! You'll get deleted for sure without a guide!"
"Look after Leah for me," Tucker says and he runs off to the northeast with the rest of us following him. I don't know what's at the temple, but hopefully it should help.
"Maybe we should've taken a guide," I say as we continue to trudge through the jungle, "How do we know where the temple is?"
"The D-Coder's got a map, remember?" Tucker says looking at the map, "And J-Mojyamon said to go northeast."
"Well, how much longer until we get there?"
"We've been walking for twelve minutes so it should be any minute now," Flamon says.
"If Jake was here, he'd be asking to play a game to pass the time..."
"Erin, how many times do I have to say it to you?" Tucker says.
"Well, the only thing I bring to the team is my worrying. I can't do anything else apparently," I say. All the time I've been walking, I've been thinking about what we all do and what I do is worry.
"You can do a lot of other things beside worrying," DemiFalcomon assures me.
"Show me. What can I do that can help us?" I ask. I suddenly drop out and fall down a small hill, tumbling to the ground and luckily land on a soft spot.
"Well, you can find things well," Tucker says as he slides down the hill, "'Cause there's the temple!"
I look up and see the temple. It looks like something the ancient Aztecs built, with the square stones piling up on top of each other. There's a large flight of stairs leading to the top where a kind of entrance resides. On the blocks are strange symbols that I can't read. It's wrapped in dark green vines, going around and around the structure.
"Well, let's get climbing," Tucker says as we walk toward the temple, "Sooner we climb, sooner we find the cure to help Leah."
"Right," I agree and we begin to climb. I notice that Tucker is wiping his brow much like Leah did a couple of hours earlier, "Tucker, are you feeling well?"
"I'm fine, Erin. I just need to get to the top to help Leah," he says as he continues to climb.
"Well, we've got quite a climb, so don't talk. You'll conserve energy," Flamon tells his partner.
The flight up the stairs takes quite a few minutes as we keep getting higher and higher. I look out and see the jungle stretch out before us as we get closer to the top. Soon, we reach the top and sit down, resting for a moment.
"Man," I pant, "That was...quite the climb..."
"Yeah...more than I...care to go...for again..." Flamon agrees.
"Come on...we're here for Leah. We don't rest...until we cure her...and the rest of Zonama Village," Tucker says as he marches off towards the entrance.
"He never stops, does he?" DemiFalcomon asks.
"Let's just focus on trying to find what we need," I tell my partner as we follow Tucker to the entrance.
"On the walls are the history...they're all in DigiCode..." Tucker mutters as we look at the symbols, "Can't read it..."
"Hey! Aren't these called D-Coders?" Flamon wonders, "Then they should be able to decode this stuff!"
"Hey, you're right, Flamon! Let's see...decode, decode, decode..." Tucker says as he fiddles with his D-Coder, "Here we go, D-Code..." he pushes a button and a light shoots out of the D-Coder and scans half the wall's symbols. I do the same thing with my D-Coder and soon we have the whole wall decoded. Words appear on the screen and we read them off.
"'A mysterious illness plagues us. We know not what to do,'" Tucker reads, "'Our friends become unwell and we know not what to do. We pray to the founders of the Digital World to help us in our hour of need.' Founders of the Digital World?"
"Maybe they're the equivalent of gods in the Real World," I suggest.
"What's a 'gods'?" DemiFalcomon asks me.
"Later. 'We have found the cure, thanks to our prayers. A legendary hero has come bearing the cure to this mysterious illness. He brings flower petals, decorated with green and brown, dozed in the dew of a fresh morning. Chew these and the illness is a thing of the past. We are saved thanks to this hero.'" I continue to read, "Okay, so we've got a cure. But where to find it? Any ideas, anybody? Tucker?"
I turn to Tucker and he's leaning his head against the wall, panting heavily. A cough escapes his mouth. "I'm fine..." he chokes out.
"Oh no, Tucker. Not you, too!"
"I'm fine. Just need that cure for...Leah. Maybe they have the cure deep inside this place. Come, cough, on."
"Maybe you should rest outside," DemiFalcomon suggests as we move with him.
"I'm fine. Just follow me, I'm fine. Cough."
"You sure don't sound like it," Flamon says.
"Really, I'm fine, Flamon. I'm fit...as a fiddle...hey..."
"What?" I ask.
"Why...is the cough...room spinning?" he asks drowsily and then collapses onto the ground.
"TUCKER!!" we scream and go over to check him.
"Oh, no. He's got Digititis," Flamon says.
"No...I'm, cough, fine...just need to go...on for..." Tucker tries to get up.
"You're staying here. DemiFalcomon and I will see if we can get the stuff for you."
"I'm not, cough...staying behind...I promised, cough..."
"Flamon, look after him. Let's go, DemiFalcomon," I say, going deeper into the temple. I'm trying to follow Tucker's advice, really I am, but now I can't help but worry.
"What's wrong, Erin?" DemiFalcomon asks.
"It's the others. I can't stop worrying about them. First Jake, then Leah and now Tucker. I don't know if I can't worry about them. They're my friends, I can't help but be concerned about them. And I've also been thinking about how they each can take care of themselves because they have something they bring. Tucker is brave, Leah is smart, Charlie is cool and Jake is hopeful. They each have a quality that helps them and lets them take care of themselves. Except me. I don't have a quality."
"Yes you do."
"What is it then? Humour me, DemiFalcomon."
"Well...uh...um..."
"You see? I don't have it! The only quality I have is worrying! And right now I'm worrying about what will happen if I don't get the cure back in time for the others!" I cry, trying to fight back tears.
"Erin, everything will work out. Just try and focus on finding the flower petals."
"Right...the petals." I say, trying to calm myself to keep from crying, "But what about the dew?"
"If it's in here, the petals will be draped in dew. The sunlight can't get in here so the dew will still be here. Besides, it's damp."
"You're right, DemiFalcomon. We have to keep going. For the others' sake."
We continue walking for a few minutes, as I look for the petals. I suddenly remember the vines and tell my partner to look at the vines. Maybe they have the cure...
"Hey, I think I found some!" DemiFalcomon says as she holds out her beak and pulls off a bunch of leaves, exactly the ones the wall text described, "Look!"
"You're right, DemiFalcomon! But we need some more," I say, pulling off some more leaves from the branch she found.
"No problem," she says as she continues to pick off the leaves. I pull out my shirt and use it as a basket of sorts. Soon, we have enough for the villagers and Tucker and Leah.
"Let's get these back to the village," I say as we head back towards the entrance. We run towards it and spot something a little bit away. At first, I believe it's Tucker, but I'm sadly mistaken as I come closer, "Wha?"
"Hmm? Who you, pathetic Digimon?" the shape asks.
"What have you done with my friends?" I ask.
"Friend? Is this that is?" the shape comes closer and it reveals Tucker and Flamon draped over his shoulders, both fainted, "Apemon think this food."
"Tucker! Drop him you smelly ape!"
"Apemon Apemon's name! You not like? You get whacked! Mega Bone Stick!!" the yellow haired Champion Digimon takes out a giant bone and swipes at us, but we manage to dodge, "Say bye-bye to friends! They be Apemon's food! Ha ha ha!"
He runs for the entrance and leaps out of the temple.
"DemiFalcomon, we have to save them!"
"Right!"
I take out my D-Coder with one of my hands and yell, "DIGIVOLVE!!" The D-Coder glows fiercely and sends its light into DemiFalcomon.
"DemiFalcomon Digivolve to..." A gust of wind picks up as DemiFalcomon glows brightly and the winds surrounds her. I'm forced to shield my eyes from the glow. It holds steady for a few seconds and then the wind bursts outwards, revealing...
"Falcomon!!"
"Come on, Falcomon! Let's go!" I say, climbing onto my partner and still managing to hold the leaves. Falcomon uses her feet to dash out of the temple and spreads her wings. Soon we're flying through the air. I look around for Apemon, hoping to spot him, "You see him, Falcomon?"
"Not yet! We'll swoop down closer to find him," she tells me, "Hold on tight!"
We descend towards the trees, just grazing them with Falcomon's talons. I look closer, through the trees to find that stinking ape of a Digimon. I see a flash of yellow to the right of me.
"There! Far right!" I call as she banks right and I'm forced to hold onto her with my feet only as I'm still holding the leaves with my hands. I see him flash again, only to the left of me this time.
"Left!" she turns left, following my directions. There he is again, except further right, "Right again!" Then he's over to the left. "No, left!" Wait, right! "Right!" No, left again! "I mean left!"
"Will you make up your mind? I'm flying just so we can go in circles, you know," Falcomon says with an annoyed tone of voice.
"I know! I'll use the D-Coder to hone on Tucker's signal!" I pull out my D-Coder and use the map to try and find Tucker's signal. I see the three-dimensional map and look for a red light. I see one, just to the right of my current position, "He's down through the trees, Falcomon!"
"Right, I'll go in for a landing. Hold on to those leaves," Falcomon says as we dive towards the trees. Falcomon folds her wings in and dives into the jungle, as we pass branches, vines and what not. Just inches from the ground, she unfolds her wings and we gently touch down onto the jungle floor. I continue to stay on her back and take inventory of the petals. I still have all of them, even after that dive. We march through the jungle, looking for our friends. Then, out of the corner of my eye, I spot Tucker and Flamon against a tree, Tucker panting and Flamon bruised.
"There they are!" I point out to them, "Tucker, Flamon! Are you okay?"
"Metallic Fur!!" a voice cries out and I turn around too late to see flying fur coming towards us. It hits the both of us and I scream.
"GGYYAAAAHHHHH!!!" I yell and fall off of Falcomon, spilling the leaves as I do so. I now have some cuts from the needles and Falcomon is injured, lying on her side, "No...Falcomon...the leaves..."
From the top of the tree comes Apemon, laughing at us. "You no keep up with Apemon's speed! You fall for trap with friends being bait! You so dumb! Now Apemon feast on food with no interference from friends! Ha ha ha!"
"You...can try..." Falcomon gets up and gets ready to fight.
"Falcomon, you're going to fight?" I ask my partner.
"You no hurt Apemon! Apemon hurt you! Mega Bone Stick!!" Apemon leaps off of the tree and takes his bone from his back and thrashes Falcomon with it.
"Falcomon!!" I cry.
"Wing Crusher!!" Falcomon uses her wings to try and trap Apemon but he escapes the trap.
"Apemon no fall for that! Metallic Fur!!" Apemon's fur glows and it fires needles at Falcomon.
"AAAUUUGGGGHHHH!!!"
"Falcomon, no!!"
"You like Apemon's Metallic Fur? Here, have more! Ha ha ha!" Apemon fires again at Falcomon and she screams even louder.
"Falcomon, you don't have to do this!"
"I...have to...I need to...protect my partner...and her friends..." she says.
"Falcomon..." I say, trying to fight tears again.
"You said...everyone has a quality...that lets them...fend for themselves...let's them be strong...I just figured out...yours..."
"My...quality?"
"Tucker's bravery...Charlie's coolness...Leah's intellect...Jake's hope...You also...have a strength..." Falcomon tells me as she tries to get up and continue fighting, "You...care for others...that is your strength...Erin Hiwame...your love...for the others...and me...that is why...I won't...let him...WIN!!" Falcomon tells me as she leaps towards Apemon.
"You too slow for Apemon! Mega Bone Stick!!" Apemon uses his stick to hurt Falcomon some more.
"FALCOMON!!" I rush over to my partner now lying on the ground as best I can with my bruises.
"I'm...so sorry...Erin...I failed...I tried...really, I did..."
"Falcomon...don't go...please..." I say, crying.
"Oh, touching reunion! Almost make Apemon cry. Almost! Ha ha ha! Apemon finish you now!" Apemon yells as he leaps towards us.
"No...it can't...end like this...Leah...Tucker...Charlie...Jake...Falcomon...SOMEONE HELP ME!!!"
"Bear Blaster!!"
"Ancient Bite!!"
Two energy blasts connect with Apemon and he's sent flying backwards. I look around for the source of the attacks and find two familiar Digimon rushing towards me. Grizzmon and Coelamon!
"Charlie! Jake!" I say with tears of happiness.
"Erin!" Jake shouts as he comes into view and runs towards me. He comes up to me and hugs me with tears in his eyes, "I'm so glad I found you, Erin!"
"Me too, Jake. Me too."
"We don't have time for this now!" Charlie says as he comes into view, "Erin, let us take care of this!"
"All right, Charlie."
"More friends Apemon eat? Apemon eat some now, eat some later!" Apemon says.
"We'll pass up the dinner invitation! Grizzly Slash!!" Grizzmon slashes at Apemon.
"EYOW!! You hurt Apemon! Apemon supposed to hurt you!"
"That so? Fossil Bite!!" Coelamon launches himself at Apemon and bites him.
"OW! That hurt! Stop it!"
"Too late. You hurt our friends, you pay the price!" Coelamon tells him, "Falcomon, would you care to do the honours?"
"Gladly," she says as she gets up and prepares for her final attack, "But you better get out of the way, Coelamon."
"No problem," Coelamon says as he spits Apemon out.
"You can't delete Apemon! It impossible! You can't!" Apemon yells.
"Let's find out, shall we? Falcon Striker!!" Falcomon sends out her burst of energy from her beak to Apemon.
"N-N-NOOOO!!!" Apemon screams as he deletes and the data is sent flying. My D-Coder activates.
"Possible Data Capture for new data. Do you wish to Data Capture?" it asks me.
"You bet. Data Capture, Activate!" I command as Apemon's data comes into my D-Coder. I look at the data and then at Jake and Charlie, "Thank you for saving me, guys."
"Hey, we can't risk losing one another while we're here, remember? Besides, Takeyama here wasn't doing anything," Charlie says as he kicks Tucker gently.
"Tucker? Oh, no! Tucker! Leah! Guys, you have to help me find the leaves that spilled here! They're green with brown spots! They've been drenched in morning dew! I need them to cure the others!"
"They're right...here..." Falcomon says as she sweeps them up with her wing, "I got them all after the battle finished...we need to administer these to the others..."
"Thank you, Falcomon..." I say to my partner as she De-Digivolves to her Rookie form. I take her in my arms and cuddle her like a baby, "Thank you for believing in me."
"It's what...friends do..."
"Friends...and partners..." I say as I cry a few tears. Everything seems to get swirly and strange. I close my eyes and fall forever...
I open my eyes and get up. I'm sitting on the bed in J-Mojyamon's hut. I must've fainted from all the excitement of the fight. I look around and see the others looking back at me.
"Hey, Sleeping Beauty wakes," Tucker jokes.
"Tucker? You're okay! What about..."
"I'm fine," a voice says and the owner comes into view. It's Leah! "I'm all right, thanks to you, Erin."
"The whole village is cured, thanks to your efforts!" J-Mojyamon says, "I didn't think you'd make it for a while."
"Well, we did. I couldn't have done it without..." I begin to say. Then I remember what happened, "DemiFalcomon! Where is she?"
"I'm right here, Erin!" DemiFalcomon says as she hops up onto the bed and into my lap, "I was just worried about you for a while."
"DemiFalcomon told us about what you were thinking while you were saving us. About what you bring to the team," Tucker says, "The truth is, Erin..."
"You're the most important member of the team!" Leah says.
"Without you, we wouldn't have found each other!" Charlie tells me.
"Without you, we wouldn't be here on several occasions!" Tucker adds.
"Without you, I never would've found a great friend and partner!" DemiFalcomon notes.
"Without you, I wouldn't have found a sister..." Jake finishes as he gives me another hug.
"Guys..." I say with tears in my eyes and my voice full of emotion, "It's just...I don't...I'm so..."
"You don't need to say anything," DemiFalcomon tells me, "We know."
"Group hug?" Tucker suggests.
"Why not?" I smile and we all get in for a big group hug. Even Charlie. I've never felt happier in my entire life. Having all my friends with me, hugging me to show our friendship and caring for one another. After a while, we break the hug and I climb out of the bed.
"Okay, now that that's over with, what do we do now?" Charlie asks.
"Well, we need to get to Digitropolis," Tucker says, "But I guess we need new directions now. J-Mojyamon, can you help?"
"Digitropolis? Hey! It's not too far from this area!" J-Mojyamon tells us.
"Really?" Bearmon wonders.
"Yeah! Just go east of here and you'll come to a DigiBarrier. On the other side will be a large gate. Go through the gate and you'll be in Digitropolis in no time!"
"Thanks, J-Mojyamon!" Leah thanks the Digimon.
"It's the least I can do since you saved my home and my fellow 'mon," J-Mojyamon says.
"That's great! You hear that, guys? We're almost home free!" Tucker says, "Let's go!"
At that moment we all hear a loud rumbling.
"...after we have something to eat," Tucker says, gripping his stomach.
We all laugh at Tucker's hunger. After all that, he's still hungry? Come to think of it, I doubt any of us have eaten, so we had better eat. But still, it's pretty funny.
I'm happy that Jake's okay. I'm happy that we're all back together. But most of all, I'm happy that I know I have a strength, something I bring to the group and allows me to take care of myself. And it's not worrying.
It's my caring for the others. My love for them brought me through to them and, in a way, brought them through to me. I'm thankful I have that trait and know that it'll get me through anything.
After we eat, we'll head to Digitropolis. And hopefully, we'll be able to go home. I'll keep my promise to Jake. We will all leave. We will all head back together. We will all go home.
If, that is, we can find a way back when we get there.
TO BE CONTINUED!
Ah, another chapter comes to a close. I hope you liked it. Will the group be able to find a way home from Digitropolis? Can they escape the Digital World? There are two ways to find out, dear readers. One is to look for the next chapter next month. And the other is...to review!