The Fate of the World: Half the Trouble
by Creedogmon
edited by Godeerc VanDrey
Category: Digimon
Genre: Fantasy, Action/Adventure
Rating: PG
Language: English
Summery: The journeys are not yet finished. Getting there is at least half the trouble.
A/N: I think this is the chapter where things actually start happening. Maybe it'll be the next one. Then again, things could already be happening and I just don't know it. Keep reading.
Chapter 11: Half the TroubleI've never really appreciated how fast Katmondu could run. Usually, I only notice when we play tag in the backyard, but now, as a much larger creature, it's truly phenomenal. I estimate we're traveling at around thirty miles per hour, which in a car isn't that fast, but I've never been on a convertible nor have I ever gone that fast on a bike, but I'd expect the wind to be moving this quickly if I ever were. Anyway, when we get there…
Wait a second! How do we know when we're there? I think. Okay, let's figure this out logically. It's about fifty miles to the valley. Well, the valley is a big place. Well, I suppose we'll know when we get there. It'll be downhill, then a flattening. That's assuming that we need to be at the bottom of the valley. Okay, so say it's exactly fifty miles from camp. Well, if we're going thirty miles per hour, exactly, then it'll take us… an hour… and two-thirds… and forty minutes. I dare to look at my watch. It's eight-seventeen. What time did we leave? I don't remember. We're lost!
I'm nearly panicking now, when Diana motions for us to take a break. We can get our computers out. Look at the map. See how close we are. We might even be able to predict our speed! It's amazing how things work out when you have a lot of confidence.
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Jessica is glad for Spiremon's temperance when it comes to speed. The continent of Interface happens to be over a small ocean, small being relative. The coast was only five miles from the departure spot. The ocean, if they read the map right, was well over two hundred miles across. It wasn't fifteen minutes until Spiremon got over the ocean. It wasn't even an hour when all sign of land disappeared. So basically, Jessica figures, we're over the freaking ocean. Never better go wrong, or we're screwed.
Jessica couldn't argue with herself. They'd been in the air quite some time, and even though Spiremon was gliding at a comfortable speed, they've been in the air for quite some time. There would be no swimming back to the coast much less to Interface. Jessica's power over mirages wouldn't do them any good. Even her ability to mimic touch wasn't telekinesis. Who knows how far down the ocean went? Miles probably. The chances of either Daniel or Matt creating a miniature island or life-saving tree before they ran out of energy and drowned were slim. They couldn't swim forever. And there was no Search and Rescue team that could save them, at least not in the DigiWorld.
What about James? With Diana receiving a power, and Eric named (as the Unnamed, though) in the prophecy, there was a good chance he had a power, too, but whether it was able to save them… whether he'd be able to call on it at all, was still extremely risky. Jessica now questions why she even thinks about such things. What happened to having an optimistic attitude? She didn't want to shoot that down.
Something out of the corner of Jessica's eyes wakes her from her thoughts. It can't be. God, don't let it be a… Sure enough, it was one of the black creature's gliders. Yelling, she alerts the boy, "Guys, we've got a problem!"
Matt curses as he looks around him. A small swarm of maybe six gliders is circling Spiremon on all sides. "James, I can't fight with you all riding me. And there's not really a lot of places I can drop you," Spiremon says in his eagle-like voice.
"Just hold steady," James tells him, who turns to his companions, "Guys?"
Matt replies, "Love to help you man, but we're not near enough to any flora for me to use. Daniel's equally as screwed. And all Jessica's got are mirages. We didn't pack any firepower with us."
"Ascend!" Jessica screams, and Spiremon starts to rise up in the air.
Daniel calls, "What are you doing, Jessica?"
Jessica screams back, "I've got a mirage going," which is apparent since her eyes are now milky. "But it won't be long until they realize it's a mirage. They'll start crashing into it and I can't keep up the physical representation. They'll start darting around madly when they figure it out and are bound to either hit us eventually. I say get away as far as I can." She doesn't say it, but mentally adds, And should we fall, I want as long as possible so I can think of something.
Matt screams, "But what about the oxygen?"
Daniel inhales sharply and rolls of Spiremon and starts to fall straight down. Jessica turns to get him, but Matt grabs her. It is in vain, though, because Spiremon suddenly does a barrel roll and they all fall off. The giant eagle begins to fall, too. He glows and the golden glow returns to James's digivice, and Delcomon starts to fall. Jessica holds her hands behind her and starts to roll forward until she's nosediving. She pulls her arms in and legs straight and starts to rocket downward toward Daniel.
She grabs him and calls upon her power. Finding herself in robes, she uses her feet to grab the cuff and as air fills her garment like a parachute, she decelerates quickly and starts to rise in relation to Matt. She shivers at the extreme draft. Matt pulls his shirt taunt outward trying to grab as much air as he can. James does likewise, but nears Matt below him because he has the unconscious Delcomon in one arm.
Jessica slowly rises up, it seems, but she knows she's still falling downward, even though she has reached terminal velocity. By now, the lack of oxygen has caught up with even her athletic lungs. As she becomes dizzy, she prays, Help.
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I pull one arm on the Defender when I inhale deeply, as if suddenly in need of oxygen. I hear "Help" screaming in my head.
Diana notices my peculiar behavior, "What is it?"
"Jessica's in trouble," I stammer.
"What?!"
"She's falling, from way up," I say, my eyes wide. "She's over the ocean."
"What do you want to do? Save her? How do you know?"
"No time to explain. And no time to get there," I continue, talking very quickly. I'm thinking. How do I save her?
I close my eyes, trying to come up with something. I get glimpses. They're falling fast… really fast. Ocean below them. Gliders flying around. Gliders?! I need more time!
Time.
I call upon my power and things slow down. A lot slower. Diana, who is in mid-stride running toward me, is nearly motionless. I've slowed down time a lot. No time to brag. I think hard. They can dive, right? They won't get hurt, I hope. But what do they do from there? I close my eyes; James is holding Delcomon. Spiremon's hurt, or something. They're falling fast, even diving could not them all out. Then their sitting ducks for the gliders. Damn them! Wait! That's it!
I try to reach Jessica, hoping she's not unconscious. J.J., if you can hear me, this is what I'd like to you do…
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Justine is huffing and puffing as she glides through the air. Exhausted, she rushes a head a bit and descends so Anna can see her. Anna rolls her eyes, thinking, That's the second time today!
"Tired?" she jokes, as she lands gracefully beside Justine, how has already shed her backpack, the baby bag, and Virginia, who is tottering around, giggling.
"Well, I've got a twenty-pound backpack on my back, a seven pound diaper bag on my shoulder, and a twenty-five pound toddler in my arms. I wear out."
"I'd help but…" Justine brushes her comment off, staring at her.
"Anna," she says, pensively, still looking intently at her. "When you transform, you end up in the little dress."
"Yeah, and boy, do I look sexy."
Justine is unable to hold back a grin, "Yeah, okay. Anyway, when you change back, you don't end up naked, as if they'd burn up."
"Yeah, I'd lose so many great outfits that way."
Justine continues, amused but a teensy bit frustrated, "…and my point is, you have your original clothes on. Now, if you were to put on our extra sets of clothes over those clothes, that'd make my pack a little bit lighter."
"I'd get really hot, though!"
Justine replies with the force she knows is unnecessary, "One, they're going to disappear in a minute anyway," she holds back a giggle when Anna raises her eyebrows in a sultry manner, "and two, you gonna be engulfed in flames anyway!"
: : :
Anna looks back and forth as she puts on the denim vest over three tee-shirts. She then pulls up a skirt over a pair of jeans, which covers her short shorts underneath.
Justine, giggling, tells her, "Anna, there's no one around to see you but me."
As Anna adjusts things the best she can, she remarks, "I'm just glad someone didn't think to put a camera in our packs. By the way, what are you doing?" She says this because Justine is sitting at her laptop moving her hand back and forth, up and down.
"Nothing," she replies, looking at the screen, which features a photo of Anna in her current predicament. She congratulates herself on reading the many instructions that Chris left as Anna changed, or dressed, should she say. Looking up at Anna still pulling at her shirt, she comments, "You're sure fidgety."
"Well," Anna replies, in an annoyed tone, "you're a bit skinnier than I am and some of your garments are rather constricting." Before Justine has a change to reply, Anna transforms, leaving her in the wispy sundress of the Sanguine. "Much better," she comments, taking a deep breath. She looks over at Justine, who as she recollects her stuff, the backpack noticeably smaller, and remarks, "Justine, you're sweating,"
"I'm standing ten feet from a raging inferno."
"Girl, you've been standing next to a raging inferno all day."
Justine rolls her eyes, picking up Virginia, "You know, if I had remembered how much of a flirt you were, I would have had one of the guys come."
"One of the guys? Girlfriend, there ain't none of those guys worth flirting wit'." Justine leans back a little bit, and give Anna a "C'mon." Anna fold her arms and gives an overdramatic pensive look, "Well, maybe Daniel. He's tall, and he plays soccer, so I bet he's got a good physique."
Justine smiles, with the same look, "You bet? You're telling me you've never gotten the chance to see him play the Skins side of an impromptu soccer match or Ultimate Frisbee game?"
Anna gives Justine a surprised-but-impressed smile, and then moves her expression to emotionally moved, feigning weeping, "Justine, I am so proud of you." In response, Justine rolls her eyes, rolls her head back, and transforms, her hair streaked with white and in the long, dark, sleeveless gown of the Inquirer.
Anna nods her head, whistling, and comments, "Baby, you have got to try that look on more often, 'cause, girl, you are…"
Justine cuts her off by taking off into the air. Anna, still smiling, jumps up to follow her.
: : :
Jessica opens her eyes after hearing Christopher's psychic message. You're crazy! But she looks down, seeing the ocean racing toward her, completely unable to judge her speed. Luckily, Daniel's body in her hand is weightless as they both fall straight down. Desperate, she slaps Daniel awake and screams to him, "You see that glider? I'm throwing you and you've got to catch him and hold on for dear life."
"What?!" Daniel screams, fully awake after hearing Jessica's order. He has no time to refuse, because Jessica launches him forward. He immediately regrets how strong she is. Nonetheless, he tilts himself back and forth. He can tell the water is only a hundred feet down, and her grabs onto the black glider he's aimed for just in time. It immediately lunges forward and up, and Daniel holds on for dear life. As he looks around, he sees that everyone else has done likewise. Though James is having a particularly hard time because he still has Delcomon in one arm. It now occurs to Daniel that he has no idea what to do now that he's on the frenzied glider.
Jessica sets the precedent. As the glider lunges downward, Jessica lets go just before the glider crashes into the water with such force that it disintegrates. Jessica lands in the water with minimal pain as she holds her arms and leg straight and jets under the water before rising to the surface. Matt is the next to land in the water, though his glider doesn't crash, but he does. Daniel lands next, and from his speed of descend, from a higher altitude; he land like Jessica. James and Delcomon both land on their backs, but not too hard, but James does rub his head as he emerges from the water.
They look up. A swarm of gliders is still buzzing around, much larger than they had originally estimated. Jessica realizes she's long since given up on the mirage. As she predicted they are sitting ducks in the water. And the first glider in heading toward James.
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A/N: Whoo! Boy, I hope you enjoyed this chapter as much as I enjoyed writing it. I hope this is the kind of caliber I can keep these chapters at from now on.
(Sonriso) - On the road again, on the road again, so glad to be… on the road again… or on the enormous armored falcon again… or on the blue tiger again… or in the skies again… or on the armored bull that wasn't in this chapter… Hey, I could go on American Idol, and if Simon hates me, he's have the Herald of Sarcasm to reckon with… unless (gasp) he takes my place! AHHHHHHH!!!