Chapter 12 - Puzzle Pieces
"Where are we Cody?"
"Pretty close now, Tai. Just over that ridge."
I nodded, keeping myself calm, emotionless.
I need to be calm to get Sora back. Can't let my anger get the best of me.
Cody led what was left of our group up to where Digmon had found the structure. There was a large hole behind a rock.
Armor
Evolution_
Armadillomon Armor Digivolve to… Digmon!
Digmon flushed out the tunnel once more, but stopped about halfway through.
"Here we are! About ten feet below us is the ceiling of that tunnel we found when we were last through here."
I nodded to Cody. It was easier to contain my emotions when I didn't speak. He nodded back.
"Break through Digmon."
"Right Cody!"
Digmon fired up his drills and flew into the soil. After a bit, there was a cracking noise, and we all fell down, landing on our butts.
"Owwwww…"
There was more or less a collective groan from the members. Slowly, we untangled ourselves, and then we took a look at our surroundings. The walls were made of bricks in an Egyptian motif. I checked my digivice again. Still no sign of Sora. Something was still blocking the signal.
Great. I was betting it would be unblocked once we made it in here. Damn…
Choosing an arbitrary direction, we headed off. The corridor didn't really change, something that I was a little worried about. It just kept going. Then, of course, we reached a door.
Which had been blown off its hinges.
We walked in, and there was nothing in the room but a simple Sarcophagus, which lay open. I walked over and peered inside. Nothing. I looked at the others.
"Nothing here. This room is a dead end, so we go back to where we fell through and try a new direction."
They groaned, but complied.
We'll find you Sora.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Digivolution_
BlackGuilmon Digivolve to… BlackGrowlmon!
DIGI-MODIFY! Power Activate!
I increased BlackGrowlmon's strength for battling the Hyougamon. He didn't need it, but I wanted this over quickly. An icicle had hit Kari in the forehead, drawing blood.
It could be nothing, or she could be impaired for life…
Not exactly a pleasant thing to contemplate.
*Finish it BlackGrowlmon!*
*Fine.*
BlackGrowlmon let out a roar, and moved into the Hyougamon, knocking them back without using attacks. Then, a Hyougamon hit him in the back of his knee with its club, which was essentially a huge icicle.
"ICY CUDGEL!"
BlackGrowlmon tumbled forward, but refused to go down.
"EXHAUST FLAME!"
The two directly in front of him went down, and BlackGrowlmon spun quickly towards his previous attacker, using his tail to knock over many of the others.
"PLASMA BLADE!"
The offending Hyougamon went down quickly. I glanced at Kari. With IceDevimon between us, I still couldn't get to her. The champion was panicking. Then his face took on a look of resolve. I frowned.
That's not like him. What's he up to?
There were ten or eleven Hyougamon remaining, I couldn't get an exact count. Then IceDevimon stepped forward.
Seeing an opening, I made a dash for Kari and her ice sculpture of a partner.
IceDevimon raised his hand.
I grabbed Kari and started moving her back towards the entrance.
"FROST CLAW!"
IceDevimon deleted all but two of the remaining Hyogamon, absorbing their data, BlackGrowlmon quickly finishing the rest. IceDevimon began to glow.
Crap.
Digivolution_
IceDevimon Digivolve to… MarineDevimon!
The newly formed MarineDevimon grinned down at us as I finally got Kari to the cave mouth. I narrowed my eyes.
"Well, that didn't last long. BlackGrowlmon…"
Digivolution_
BlackGrowlmon Digivolve to… BlackWarGrowlmon!
BlackWarGrowlmon roared and dove into his enemy, razor-edged arms ready to disembowel his opponent. MarineDevimon wrapped his arms around him and began to squeeze.
"PRESSURE!"
BlackWarGrowlmon roared in pain, but backhanded his opponent away. Marine Devimon slammed into the wall, and ice stalactites fell, shattering on the ground. BlackWarGrowlmon began to charge his blasters.
*NO! Don't do that until I've gotten Gatomon out of here! You'll collapse the cavern!*
*Hurry Takatomon!*
*I will boy. Just keep him off me until then.*
BlackWarGrowlmon didn't answer with words; instead he grabbed MarineDevimon around the waist and began to squeeze. Glad that BlackGuilmon was not entirely in danger of becoming Megidramon any time soon, I ran for Gatomon's pillar, wondering what I could do.
A large crash alerted me to the fact that MarineDevimon still had fight in him and that BlackWarGrowlmon was summarily thrown off of him to the ground. I winced at the impact, but the fall answered the question of how to free Gatomon. It wouldn't be dignified, but better than dead. I picked up two fallen icicles and using them as hammer and chisel, began to tap away at the base of the six-foot column.
"GUILTY BLACK!"
Unfortunately, MarineDevimon didn't care if his home base was destroyed, and could use his attacks at will. BlackWarGrowlmon took the attack and pushed forward. They knocked over several more towers in their struggle, and one of them hit the one I was working on. It fell to ground with a resounding crash. I panicked, fearing the worst. Digging a little told me otherwise, Gatomon was fine. The pillar was on its side, and I cleared the top of it. I turned towards the ensuing battle, and noted with some surprise that Marine Devimon appeared to be winning, as BlackWarGrowlmon was on his back, moaning.
*What's wrong boy?*
*Hungry Takatomon. I need food…*
*Sorry, that will have to wait a bit. This'll help though.*
DIGI-MODIFY! Recharge Activate!
*There! Can you clear me a path to the door?*
*One path, coming up!*
BlackWarGrowlmon roared back to life right beneath the smirking MarineDevimon. The smirk vanished as BlackWarGrowlmon's jets fired up, launching both into the ceiling. It was probably the best chance I would get. Rolling Gatomon's icy prison like a log, I rushed for the exit. We had just passed under them when they began to fall. I barely stopped the log at the exit. I lay there for a moment watching the two ultimate level digimon duke it out.
*Alright BlackWarGrowlmon, time to bury this freak.*
*Right behind you Takatomon!*
From my place at the door, linking my mind with my digimon's, We crossed our arms and I began the attack.
"ATOMIC…"
"…DESTROYER!"
BlackWarGrowlmon and I threw our arms open at the same time, firing the twin black beams. They hit MarineDevimon with surprising accuracy, driving him back into the cave wall. The structure began to shake, then it collapsed, the peak of the mountain tumbling down.
I watched in disbelief as both were covered in ice and rock. Then there was a shaking, and MarineDevimon rose from the rubble.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I grumbled a bit under my breath as we retraced our steps back to our hole.
This is not the way things were supposed to go.
I still couldn't believe that we weren't getting a signal from Sora's digivice. It was a good theory when I proposed it, but now that we couldn't pick up on it for tracking, it was a little moot.
And I'm feeling a little useless.
I trudged forward after the others at the back of the line, and noticed Mimi talking to Tai. He shook his head, and she looked a little downcast. I suppressed a random surge of jealousy and noted that she immediately moved on to Matt, and then Joe. They also shook their heads in the negative.
What's up with her?
Tentomon buzzed around my head once more before settling into my arms. I cocked an eyebrow at him.
"Do you know what's wrong with Mimi?"
"No, I can ask though…"
"No! Uh, I mean, that's all right. She'll tell me if she wants me to know…"
"Okay Izzy…"
We walked to, and past, where we came through, and I noted that there weren't too many side tunnels, and those that did exist, ended before going to far.
This place wasn't built to live in. But what was it for then?
I continued to be puzzled by this, but Mimi's strange behavior kept intruding into my mind. I looked at her again as my mind drifted back. Her pink hair was a bit ruffled from the fall; her green blouse and blue jeans were a little dusty. The blouse had fallen loose, no longer tucked in, and the jeans had a tear just above the knee, but it only seemed to enhance her beauty. The blouse also set off her beautiful green eyes…
DAMN IT IZZY! You're turning yourself into a pervert! Stop thinking like that!
I stopped and closed my eyes; rubbing at my temples.
"Are you alright Izzy?"
I froze. I opened my eyes to see Mimi's concerned face in front of mine. I had to stop myself from staring stupidly again.
"Y-yeah, just a… small headache. Nothing to worry about."
She smiled, and the sun came up.
Gods and Digital Sovereigns! I have got to stop thinking like that!
"That's good. I wouldn't want you to get sick down here… look. Izzy… I know that this isn't the best time to ask, but…"
Cody's interrupting voice came from the front, a call to quiet down and creep forward. I didn't know whether to thank him or kill him. In any event, Mimi and I were both pulled away to whatever Cody's discovery was.
We crept down the corridor to find ourselves on the second floor balcony of a large room. Further examination revealed a hole in the wall of the first floor, where countless digimon were through out. Most were Golemon of Mekanorimon. But there were also Bulbmon and Megadramon, in addition to a GrandKuwagamon and another Zanbamon.
Where are they going?
I certainly explained why we hadn't seen even one digimon down here yet. They were all leaving. I looked at Mimi beside me, who looked back, the same question written on her face. Finally, the last of them poured out, and we quietly crept to the bottom floor via the staircase to our left. We went into the corridor and followed it to its end.
A valley of sand, somewhere else in the digital world. Tai stood there, looking up at the afternoon sun, and I looked around while the others waited. The valley we were in was unusually flat, and was an odd shape. I walked over to the edges and examined them.
Imprint markings? Something huge must have been here, but what?
"Tentomon?"
"Yes Izzy?"
"I know this sounds strange, but fly around and see if you can find any giant footprints."
"Okay Izzy!"
Tentomon flew up and over the valley walls. I stood there, watching the sky like Tai, noting it was nearing sunset.
"Izzy?"
I turned.
Mimi?
"Yes?"
"About earlier, I was going to ask you something… I need a favor."
I smiled at her.
"What favor?"
She shuffled kind of nervously.
This isn't like her. What's up?
"This isn't easy to ask, but…"
I smiled some more, in an effort to keep her spirits up.
"It's alright, Mimi, we're friends. What do you need?"
"I need a place to stay…"
What? Must be hearing wrong.
"A… place to stay?"
She nodded.
"I want to come back to Japan, but I need somewhere to stay until I find a place. I was going to ask Sora, but with everything that's been going on, I don't think I should intrude…"
In my shock, my mouth reacted before my brain.
"Sure! I… uh, mean, that's fine… when do you, uh, get in?"
What did I just get myself into?
Mimi smiled at me again, and I locked my knees to keep myself from falling over, just to be safe. Fortunately, I was distracted.
"Izzy!"
Tentomon came swooping in.
"Sorry Izzy, But I couldn't find any giant footprints nearby. Why'd you want to know anyway?"
Mimi arched an eyebrow at me.
"Giant footprints?"
I sighed. She probably thought I was nuts.
And she might be right too.
I gestured at the imprint in the ground.
"This area looks like a giant imprint marking. Like when you put something heavy on carpet for a while, and when you lift it up, there's a mark on the ground. I just wondered if it had moved off. Giant mark, giant footprints."
"Oh. Well, now that there aren't any footprints to be found, what's your next idea?"
I sighed and looked up again.
"That's a good question, Mimi. I don't know."
She put her hand on my shoulder.
"You'll figure it out. You always were good at puzzles."
"Thanks Mimi."
I watched as Tentomon buzzed over to Gomamon, setting down to begin talking. Whatever it was, Gomamon didn't know, and Tentomon flew over to Agumon, leaving footprints in the sand in front of Gomamon. I stared at it blankly before realizing what I was seeing.
"That's it!"
Everyone looked at me, and I suddenly became bashful. Tai looked at me, and spoke softly.
"You know where they went Izzy?"
I nodded.
"We are standing in a very large imprint. That means something heavy was here. Now, if it didn't walk off, like Tentomon reports, then it must have flown off, with all those digimon, and maybe Sora, inside it."
Tai groaned.
"So they're airborne? Great…"
He sighed.
"We need to go talk to Azulongmon. So much for an easy victory."
"Where are we Cody?"
"Pretty close now, Tai. Just over that ridge."
I nodded, keeping myself calm, emotionless.
I need to be calm to get Sora back. Can't let my anger get the best of me.
Cody led what was left of our group up to where Digmon had found the structure. There was a large hole behind a rock.
Armor
Evolution_
Armadillomon Armor Digivolve to… Digmon!
Digmon flushed out the tunnel once more, but stopped about halfway through.
"Here we are! About ten feet below us is the ceiling of that tunnel we found when we were last through here."
I nodded to Cody. It was easier to contain my emotions when I didn't speak. He nodded back.
"Break through Digmon."
"Right Cody!"
Digmon fired up his drills and flew into the soil. After a bit, there was a cracking noise, and we all fell down, landing on our butts.
"Owwwww…"
There was more or less a collective groan from the members. Slowly, we untangled ourselves, and then we took a look at our surroundings. The walls were made of bricks in an Egyptian motif. I checked my digivice again. Still no sign of Sora. Something was still blocking the signal.
Great. I was betting it would be unblocked once we made it in here. Damn…
Choosing an arbitrary direction, we headed off. The corridor didn't really change, something that I was a little worried about. It just kept going. Then, of course, we reached a door.
Which had been blown off its hinges.
We walked in, and there was nothing in the room but a simple Sarcophagus, which lay open. I walked over and peered inside. Nothing. I looked at the others.
"Nothing here. This room is a dead end, so we go back to where we fell through and try a new direction."
They groaned, but complied.
We'll find you Sora.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Digivolution_
BlackGuilmon Digivolve to… BlackGrowlmon!
DIGI-MODIFY! Power Activate!
I increased BlackGrowlmon's strength for battling the Hyougamon. He didn't need it, but I wanted this over quickly. An icicle had hit Kari in the forehead, drawing blood.
It could be nothing, or she could be impaired for life…
Not exactly a pleasant thing to contemplate.
*Finish it BlackGrowlmon!*
*Fine.*
BlackGrowlmon let out a roar, and moved into the Hyougamon, knocking them back without using attacks. Then, a Hyougamon hit him in the back of his knee with its club, which was essentially a huge icicle.
"ICY CUDGEL!"
BlackGrowlmon tumbled forward, but refused to go down.
"EXHAUST FLAME!"
The two directly in front of him went down, and BlackGrowlmon spun quickly towards his previous attacker, using his tail to knock over many of the others.
"PLASMA BLADE!"
The offending Hyougamon went down quickly. I glanced at Kari. With IceDevimon between us, I still couldn't get to her. The champion was panicking. Then his face took on a look of resolve. I frowned.
That's not like him. What's he up to?
There were ten or eleven Hyougamon remaining, I couldn't get an exact count. Then IceDevimon stepped forward.
Seeing an opening, I made a dash for Kari and her ice sculpture of a partner.
IceDevimon raised his hand.
I grabbed Kari and started moving her back towards the entrance.
"FROST CLAW!"
IceDevimon deleted all but two of the remaining Hyogamon, absorbing their data, BlackGrowlmon quickly finishing the rest. IceDevimon began to glow.
Crap.
Digivolution_
IceDevimon Digivolve to… MarineDevimon!
The newly formed MarineDevimon grinned down at us as I finally got Kari to the cave mouth. I narrowed my eyes.
"Well, that didn't last long. BlackGrowlmon…"
Digivolution_
BlackGrowlmon Digivolve to… BlackWarGrowlmon!
BlackWarGrowlmon roared and dove into his enemy, razor-edged arms ready to disembowel his opponent. MarineDevimon wrapped his arms around him and began to squeeze.
"PRESSURE!"
BlackWarGrowlmon roared in pain, but backhanded his opponent away. Marine Devimon slammed into the wall, and ice stalactites fell, shattering on the ground. BlackWarGrowlmon began to charge his blasters.
*NO! Don't do that until I've gotten Gatomon out of here! You'll collapse the cavern!*
*Hurry Takatomon!*
*I will boy. Just keep him off me until then.*
BlackWarGrowlmon didn't answer with words; instead he grabbed MarineDevimon around the waist and began to squeeze. Glad that BlackGuilmon was not entirely in danger of becoming Megidramon any time soon, I ran for Gatomon's pillar, wondering what I could do.
A large crash alerted me to the fact that MarineDevimon still had fight in him and that BlackWarGrowlmon was summarily thrown off of him to the ground. I winced at the impact, but the fall answered the question of how to free Gatomon. It wouldn't be dignified, but better than dead. I picked up two fallen icicles and using them as hammer and chisel, began to tap away at the base of the six-foot column.
"GUILTY BLACK!"
Unfortunately, MarineDevimon didn't care if his home base was destroyed, and could use his attacks at will. BlackWarGrowlmon took the attack and pushed forward. They knocked over several more towers in their struggle, and one of them hit the one I was working on. It fell to ground with a resounding crash. I panicked, fearing the worst. Digging a little told me otherwise, Gatomon was fine. The pillar was on its side, and I cleared the top of it. I turned towards the ensuing battle, and noted with some surprise that Marine Devimon appeared to be winning, as BlackWarGrowlmon was on his back, moaning.
*What's wrong boy?*
*Hungry Takatomon. I need food…*
*Sorry, that will have to wait a bit. This'll help though.*
DIGI-MODIFY! Recharge Activate!
*There! Can you clear me a path to the door?*
*One path, coming up!*
BlackWarGrowlmon roared back to life right beneath the smirking MarineDevimon. The smirk vanished as BlackWarGrowlmon's jets fired up, launching both into the ceiling. It was probably the best chance I would get. Rolling Gatomon's icy prison like a log, I rushed for the exit. We had just passed under them when they began to fall. I barely stopped the log at the exit. I lay there for a moment watching the two ultimate level digimon duke it out.
*Alright BlackWarGrowlmon, time to bury this freak.*
*Right behind you Takatomon!*
From my place at the door, linking my mind with my digimon's, We crossed our arms and I began the attack.
"ATOMIC…"
"…DESTROYER!"
BlackWarGrowlmon and I threw our arms open at the same time, firing the twin black beams. They hit MarineDevimon with surprising accuracy, driving him back into the cave wall. The structure began to shake, then it collapsed, the peak of the mountain tumbling down.
I watched in disbelief as both were covered in ice and rock. Then there was a shaking, and MarineDevimon rose from the rubble.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I grumbled a bit under my breath as we retraced our steps back to our hole.
This is not the way things were supposed to go.
I still couldn't believe that we weren't getting a signal from Sora's digivice. It was a good theory when I proposed it, but now that we couldn't pick up on it for tracking, it was a little moot.
And I'm feeling a little useless.
I trudged forward after the others at the back of the line, and noticed Mimi talking to Tai. He shook his head, and she looked a little downcast. I suppressed a random surge of jealousy and noted that she immediately moved on to Matt, and then Joe. They also shook their heads in the negative.
What's up with her?
Tentomon buzzed around my head once more before settling into my arms. I cocked an eyebrow at him.
"Do you know what's wrong with Mimi?"
"No, I can ask though…"
"No! Uh, I mean, that's all right. She'll tell me if she wants me to know…"
"Okay Izzy…"
We walked to, and past, where we came through, and I noted that there weren't too many side tunnels, and those that did exist, ended before going to far.
This place wasn't built to live in. But what was it for then?
I continued to be puzzled by this, but Mimi's strange behavior kept intruding into my mind. I looked at her again as my mind drifted back. Her pink hair was a bit ruffled from the fall; her green blouse and blue jeans were a little dusty. The blouse had fallen loose, no longer tucked in, and the jeans had a tear just above the knee, but it only seemed to enhance her beauty. The blouse also set off her beautiful green eyes…
DAMN IT IZZY! You're turning yourself into a pervert! Stop thinking like that!
I stopped and closed my eyes; rubbing at my temples.
"Are you alright Izzy?"
I froze. I opened my eyes to see Mimi's concerned face in front of mine. I had to stop myself from staring stupidly again.
"Y-yeah, just a… small headache. Nothing to worry about."
She smiled, and the sun came up.
Gods and Digital Sovereigns! I have got to stop thinking like that!
"That's good. I wouldn't want you to get sick down here… look. Izzy… I know that this isn't the best time to ask, but…"
Cody's interrupting voice came from the front, a call to quiet down and creep forward. I didn't know whether to thank him or kill him. In any event, Mimi and I were both pulled away to whatever Cody's discovery was.
We crept down the corridor to find ourselves on the second floor balcony of a large room. Further examination revealed a hole in the wall of the first floor, where countless digimon were through out. Most were Golemon of Mekanorimon. But there were also Bulbmon and Megadramon, in addition to a GrandKuwagamon and another Zanbamon.
Where are they going?
I certainly explained why we hadn't seen even one digimon down here yet. They were all leaving. I looked at Mimi beside me, who looked back, the same question written on her face. Finally, the last of them poured out, and we quietly crept to the bottom floor via the staircase to our left. We went into the corridor and followed it to its end.
A valley of sand, somewhere else in the digital world. Tai stood there, looking up at the afternoon sun, and I looked around while the others waited. The valley we were in was unusually flat, and was an odd shape. I walked over to the edges and examined them.
Imprint markings? Something huge must have been here, but what?
"Tentomon?"
"Yes Izzy?"
"I know this sounds strange, but fly around and see if you can find any giant footprints."
"Okay Izzy!"
Tentomon flew up and over the valley walls. I stood there, watching the sky like Tai, noting it was nearing sunset.
"Izzy?"
I turned.
Mimi?
"Yes?"
"About earlier, I was going to ask you something… I need a favor."
I smiled at her.
"What favor?"
She shuffled kind of nervously.
This isn't like her. What's up?
"This isn't easy to ask, but…"
I smiled some more, in an effort to keep her spirits up.
"It's alright, Mimi, we're friends. What do you need?"
"I need a place to stay…"
What? Must be hearing wrong.
"A… place to stay?"
She nodded.
"I want to come back to Japan, but I need somewhere to stay until I find a place. I was going to ask Sora, but with everything that's been going on, I don't think I should intrude…"
In my shock, my mouth reacted before my brain.
"Sure! I… uh, mean, that's fine… when do you, uh, get in?"
What did I just get myself into?
Mimi smiled at me again, and I locked my knees to keep myself from falling over, just to be safe. Fortunately, I was distracted.
"Izzy!"
Tentomon came swooping in.
"Sorry Izzy, But I couldn't find any giant footprints nearby. Why'd you want to know anyway?"
Mimi arched an eyebrow at me.
"Giant footprints?"
I sighed. She probably thought I was nuts.
And she might be right too.
I gestured at the imprint in the ground.
"This area looks like a giant imprint marking. Like when you put something heavy on carpet for a while, and when you lift it up, there's a mark on the ground. I just wondered if it had moved off. Giant mark, giant footprints."
"Oh. Well, now that there aren't any footprints to be found, what's your next idea?"
I sighed and looked up again.
"That's a good question, Mimi. I don't know."
She put her hand on my shoulder.
"You'll figure it out. You always were good at puzzles."
"Thanks Mimi."
I watched as Tentomon buzzed over to Gomamon, setting down to begin talking. Whatever it was, Gomamon didn't know, and Tentomon flew over to Agumon, leaving footprints in the sand in front of Gomamon. I stared at it blankly before realizing what I was seeing.
"That's it!"
Everyone looked at me, and I suddenly became bashful. Tai looked at me, and spoke softly.
"You know where they went Izzy?"
I nodded.
"We are standing in a very large imprint. That means something heavy was here. Now, if it didn't walk off, like Tentomon reports, then it must have flown off, with all those digimon, and maybe Sora, inside it."
Tai groaned.
"So they're airborne? Great…"
He sighed.
"We need to go talk to Azulongmon. So much for an easy victory."