DIGIMON: THE DIGITAL KEEPERS SAGA
Book Two: "Roll Call"
On the 7:45pm train to Odiaba, Ken and Davis were laid back, trying to come up with ways to cheer themselves up after the horrid disappointments that occurred earlier at the game.
Davis, with his arms crossed behind his head and his legs crossed against the seat in front of him, stared at the ceiling with a blank face. Ken, sitting properly, curled up a lock of his hair in his index finger. He looked at it curiously and blurted out, "You think I should get my hair cut?" Davis smirked, "Why? I thought you liked looking like a girl." Ken slowly turned his head to Davis with the look of death in his eyes.
Davis exclaimed, "Oh my God, you have got to get a sense of humor! You know what? We still got time before curfew; let's do something fun!" Ken raised an eyebrow; "What'd you have in mind?"
"The arcade?"
"Can't afford it."
"Skateboard renting?"
"Too risky."
"Have you ever gone cow-tipping in the country? My God, it's hilarious!"
"We're not gonna take a five-hour train just to tip a bunch of cows."
"Come on, man! Think of something!..."
Davis started babbling about something, but at that point Ken stopped listening to him. With a sigh, he rolled his eyes and looked to the window of the train. He overlooked the beautiful skyline of Odiaba, with its city lights shimmering through the darkness.
When all of a sudden, what looked like a blue-white, hazy-imaged phoenix faded into the sky out of nowhere, floated for about two seconds, then disappeared.
Ken's eyes beamed with shock, which drew Davis's attention. "Hey," Davis asked, "what's wrong?" Ken instantly looked ahead, towards the seat in front of them, and denied in monotone, "Nothing." "Come on," Davis persisted, "what is it?" "Nothing," Ken replied, this time sounding more sure of himself. Davis looked him in the eye and sternly said, "You're hiding something." Ken shook his head, "I'm not hiding anything!"
With that, he looked away with anger and annoyance in his eyes.
Then Davis smiled, "Did you see a monster?" Ken's eyes, still not making contact with Davis's, suddenly lit up, and blew Ken's cover. Davis got a good look at that shocked expression on his friend, and his jaw slowly dropped. "....Oh my God..." he softly replied, ".....you saw it." Ken still denied, "Saw what?" Davis raised his voice, "The dragon!" He pointed to Ken's face and accused, "You saw the dragon, didn't you!?"
Ken whipped his head back to Davis and gasped, "You saw a dragon? Where?" "At the game!" Davis nodded; "I didn't say anything 'cause I told everybody else and they didn't believe me." Ken then realized he couldn't hold back the secret anymore, and admitted, "I just saw a giant bird... a phoenix, I think." Davis sighed, "Ah... But it was definitely something, right?"
"Coulda been an illusion," Ken shrugged.
"Or a cloud."
"Or it coulda been a-"
"DIGIMON!" they both shouted in realization.
Cody was getting down from the rooftop, along with a few other people. Just minutes after seeing that giant turtle in the air, he touched the ground and sighed, "Boy, you don't see one of those every day!" Just then, a fellow bystander asked, "..See what?"
Cody's eyes shot with surprise; "...That turtle! Didn't you see it? It just walked across the sky!" Another bystander shook his head, "I don't remember seeing anything... And what am I doing in an alley? I should be getting home!"
Everybody else besides Cody felt the same way, and started leaving. Cody looked around in disbelief, and shook his head, "You all saw it... Didn't you?..."
Next afternoon.
It was Davis's turn to stay after school to clean up the classroom. He was sweeping away at all the trash caused by the latest science project failure, thinking aloud: "Stupid Harry and his stupid experiments... Every time I break something, it's just a window; but NO. He had to go and try to blow up the whole classroom... Gah.."
He picked up the dustpan and with the broom he drove the broken glass, papers and dirt into the pan. He complained under his breath as he dumped all the garbage into the small trash bag.
After he rolled up the bag and tied it up, Davis then made a quick turn, to the small dragon-like creature behind him. He asked politely, "Veemon, could you please put this outside for me?" "Sure thing, Davish!" smiled the little dragon, and did just that. "Thanks," smiled the human.
Once his little friend left dragging the trash bag, Davis took a brief moment to reflect on what just happened. Finally, it hit him like a lightning bolt. His eyes bulged and his jaw dropped; "VEEMON!" "...Davish?" called out the small creature from the hallway.
Davis darted into the hallway, and looked upon his digimon for the first time in years. His mouth hung open, as if he wanted to say something but it refused to come out. The digimon however, was just gleaming at him as innocently and joyfully as he ever did. In his eyes, they never said goodbye.
"...vee-mon..." Davis muttered. Veemon dropped the trash bag, flew his arms in the air and exclaimed, "DAVISH!" He ran and jumped into the arms of his human partner, and they both let out an excited laugh. Davis, nearly in tears, rose his digimon in the air and rejoiced, "I missed you, man!" "Me too," Veemon replied; "It's been a long time."
"Just three years."
"Longer for me. Remember? Time in the digital world is slower than time here."
"Oh yeah... So it has been a long time!"
"Eh, just three years," Veemon shrugged.
Davis cuddled him, giggling. Then he gasped, "Wait a sec. Why're you here?" "Oh, yeah!" Veemon remembered; "I came to get you and the othersh!" "Why?" Davis frowned in concern; "What's wrong?"
"It's the digital world," responded a familiar voice. Davis looked up, and there stood Ken... and in his arms was his little green digimon that resembled a caterpillar. Davis gasped, "Wormmon?" "Hi, Davis," said Wormmon; that shaky voice always made it seem like he was sad about something... Only now, he really was.
Ken looked to Davis and frowned, "I guess our job's not done after all." Davis replied, "Is it ever?" With that response, Ken let out a small chuckle.
Wormmon's big blue puppy eyes looked into Ken's as he said, "We didn't mean to come back at a bad time; I hope we're not disturbing you." "Nonsense," Ken answered; "We love helping you guys out when we get the chance." "So what's wrong?" Davis asked Veemon, lowering him to the floor. "Well," Veemon said, "everything was nice until the Shadowmon showed up."
"The who?"
"Wait, we should meet up with the others first."
"The others?"
"Armadillomon, Hawkmon, Yolei and Cody."
"Yolei?" Ken asked, eyes all beaming. Then, to hide his sudden excitement, he added, "..A-and Cody?"
"Why not the older guys?" Davis asked; "Tai? Sora? Matt?" Veemon replied, "The Guardians could only bring four here." "Huh?" responded both humans. Wormmon sighed, "We'll explain later."
"Alright," Davis nodded; "I know where Yolei and Cody are; we've kept in touch over the years. We'll all meet up in the park- the same one where we'd meet up for Odiaba Memorial Day." Ken nodded, "Good idea." Davis and Veemon ran down the hall excitedly, while Ken and Wormmon looked on.
Some time later, hard rock music was blaring throughout the Inoue household. The older siblings were all enjoying it, even when Yolei popped her head out from her bedroom doorway. Her hand was covering the speaker part of her telephone as she angrily called out, "Please turn it down, I am ON-THE-PHONE!"
One of her older brothers called back, "Get a cell phone and talk outside!" They laughed, as she let out an aggravated growl, and slammed her bedroom door shut.
She then talked into the phone, "Sorry; they think they're the only ones that live on this street. What were you saying?"
On the other line, Cody replied, "I said we all saw a digimon last night, and the four of us are gonna meet in the park today."
"You saw the tiger?" she asked, almost excitedly. "No," Cody replied through the phone. Yolei sighed, "Other people saw that tiger, then they forgot all of a sudden." Cody said:
"I saw the tortoise. And Davis saw a dragon, and Ken saw a bird." "A bird?" asked Yolei on the other end of the phone. "Yeah," Cody nodded. "Call me crazy," he continued, "but all this sounds familiar. A dragon, a tiger, a tortoise, and-"
"A phoenix!" Yolei smiled; "They're the Guardians of the digital world! I remember now..."
"So you'll be there at the park today?" Cody smiled. "You bet!" he heard his friend reply. "Oh Yolei, one more thing: Bring a snack or two.. I'm bringing a few friends over." "You mean Ken and Davis," Yolei's voice said.
Cody smiled, and turned to Armadillomon and Hawkmon by his side; "No... I mean friends from out of town. Trust me, you'll like them when you see 'em."
Yolei arrived at the meeting place in a matter of minutes, and as promised she had a backpack with food inside. She sat at a bench, looked around, and let out a small sigh. "There she is!" she heard Davis's voice call out. Alarmed, she turned her head to see where he was, when she suddenly heard, "YOLEI!"
She gasped, recognizing this other voice. Sure enough, Hawkmon flew to her joyfully. She opened her arms instantly and cheered, "HAWKMON!" The little hawk (that looked more like a bald eagle) digimon flew right into her arms, giggling. After a brief moment of cuddling, he apologized, "I'm sorry, I couldn't remember where you lived. So I followed Armadillomon to Cody's house." "Armadillomon?" she asked.
Davis and the rest of her friends came out as he smiled, "And Veemon, and Wormmon, and THE most eligible bachelors in all Japan." Yolei jumped up; "Oh my God, you're all here!" "Not all of us," Veemon admitted; "The others are still waiting in the digital world."
Yolei sat back down, and Ken sat beside her. "What's going on?" she asked, looking concerned. Then she finally noticed Ken sitting beside her and gasped, "OH! Hey, Ken." "Hey," he smiled pleasantly. "Long time, no see," she smiled. "Yeah," he nodded.
Davis crossed his arms, "Alright, enough small talk! Something's definitely wrong in the digital world. Veemon, care to explain?" "Sure thing, Davish!
"Things were just fine for a while. In fact, we had at least two and a half years of fun and relaxing..."
---------- Flashback, Veemon's POV ----------
One evening, in the jungle region of the digital world, a group of digimon were roasting marshmallows by a camp fire. They seemed to be enjoying themselves.
"There were times when we'd even have parties at night. One night in particular, we here having marshmallows... And then, out of nowhere... They showed up..."
In the distance, something caught Veemon's eye. The other digimon looked too. Suddenly, from the bushes distantly away from the light of the fire, a pair of red eyes started glowing. One pair quickly became two... three... ten. The campfire digimon all stood up alarmed, but what came as a surprise to them was that a group of pitch-black digimon jumped out from the bushes. The dark digimon faced-off against the friendly-looking ones.
"They looked a little like Gazimon- you know, the rabbit digimon? But these guys were much bigger, and jet black! Their eyes were red, and they had the freakiest smile! Sharp teeth and all... Then they attacked!"
Just as Veemon's voice over suggests, the Shadowmon jumped at Veemon and his friends. They scattered, one by one.
The yellow dinosaur known as Agumon jumped to a big rock, and was the first to fight back. He released a ball of fire from his mouth like a dragon, and it hit the Shadowmon that was chasing him. However, the fireball didn't seem to bother the Shadowmon at all. Agumon panicked, and before he could attack again he was kicked in the back by another Shadowmon.
The yellow digimon in wolf's clothing called Gabumon attacked with a blue force of energy from his mouth, but it didn't scratch the Shadowmon. He gasped, and was soon surrounded. He was chased to where Agumon and Hawkmon stood. A Shadowmon took the seal-like digimon called Gommamon and used him like a bowling ball. He smacked into his three friends, who fell like bowling pins.
The pink bird named Biyomon took to the air. She tried to shoot her green cyclone attack at the enemies, but it had no effect. One Shadowmon grabbed Armadillomon and rolled him up like a ball. Another took Wormmon and stretched him out like a baseball bat. Armadillomon was pitched and hit by Wormmon, and found himself airborne. He smacked right into Biyomon, and they both fell down hard. The baseball-loving Shadowmon high-fived.
The plant-like one called Palmon shot vines from her arms, but a Shadowmon grabbed them and the he and another Shadowmon started using the vines like a jump rope! Seconds later, they spun Palmon around in the vines, and set her off like a spinning top.
The cat digimon known as Gatomon soon found herself being swung through the trees by the tail. The beetle-like digimon known as Tentomon tried to save her, but a Shadowmon jumped from a tree branch, onto Tentomon's back. Tentomon crashed on his stomach, and the hard shell on his back was soon used as a drum by a Shadowmon.
Patamon, the small digimon that resembled a guinea pig with wings for ears, shook with fear as the Shadowmon set him up like a football, and one of them kicked him like one. He flew over a group of Shadowmon that set themselves up as the goal post, and once Patamon flew over them, all the Shadowmon cheered.
Veemon tried to head-butt one, but was blocked by the Shadowmon's foot. He was upper-cut and fell on his back hard.
"And that's when we knew they were Championsh!"
Gatomon soon got an advantage and scratched away at the enemies, but it wasn't enough. The Shadowmon soon had all the innocent digimon surrounded.
"So we figured, we can digivolve to Champion too, sho we did..."
One by one, the trapped digimon morphed in a ray of light, and became a larger form of themselves. Except for Gatomon, who was already in Champion mode.
"But you'll never believe THISH!"
The Shadowmon grinned with those fanged, crescent-shaped smiles. One by one, they all morphed into huge Ultimates, one different than the other. They all looked like a form of demon: Devimon, IceDevimon, and Devidramon. Normally, those forms would be Champion, but these villains were far from it. Other Shadowmon became LadyDevimon and even MarineDevimon. The poor Champions were helplessly knocked for a loop.
Soon enough, they became weakened and morphed back into Rookies, and were thrown mercilessly down a nearby hill. The fall was a hard one, as they all tossed and tumbled over and into each other. By the time they hit the bottom, they were all in a dirty dog pile, and knocked out cold. In the distance, one could hear the wicked cackles of the Shadowmon.
---------- End flashback ----------
"And that's what happened," Veemon concluded.
Yolei gasped, "That's terrible!" "Who are the Shadowmon?" Davis asked; "Where did they come from?" Veemon shrugged, "No one knowsh. All we know ish that they're bad, and we can't fight 'em." Wormmon added, "That's why we came back. Could you guys please help us?" "Of course we will!" Yolei replied; "Uh... Anybody got any ideas?"
Ken replied, "Well, it sounds like a big challenge, and the four of us might not be enough." "We need the others," Cody nodded. Davis smiled, "Right! We'll call up TK, Kari, and all the guys that saved the digital world before us." "Yolei smiled, "I know everybody's email address; I'll send them the message."
Cody frowned, "Wait. Most of the Digi-Destined are out doing their own thing. Mimi's in America, Joe's working at a hospital, and Matt's got his band." Davis smiled optimistically, "Don't worry about Joe and Mimi just yet. And leave Matt to me and Ken.
"We know where he is..."
(Begin "Prisoner Of Society")
That evening, the teen rock band known as Teenage Wolves just happened to be playing in the city of Tamachi. Since it was Ken's old neighborhood, so it was easy finding their way around there.
Ken and Davis got to the stadium just in time.
Inside, the fans- mostly girls- they were screaming so loud it seemed to be a miracle that one could hear the music playing over all that hollering. They were all jumping around, waving their arms; it looked like an ocean, and it was open season for surfing.
And in the dead center of all this was the stage, and the band.
And right up front for all to see was Matt Ishida.
(Matt sings the lyrics)
"Well we don't need no one to tell us what to do
Oh yes we're on our own, and there's nothing you can do
So we don't need no one like you
To tell us what to do!
We are referred to the past, we've shown 'em what we've done
A generation gap means our war is never won.
The past is in our head
The future's in our hands!
"'Cause I'm a brat, and I know everything
And I talk back, 'cause I'm not listening
To a-ny-thing you say!
And if you count to three-"
(backup guys)
"One- two- three!"
(Matt)
"You'll see it's no emergency.
You see, I'm not the enemy,
Just a pris'ner of socie-ie-ie-iety!
Ken and Davis were seated in the far, far back of the stands. Fortunately, they were at a high level so they could get a good look at the stage. Jokingly, Ken asked Davis, "Should we tell 'em this song's a re-make?" Davis smiled back, "...Nah, let 'im have his moment." He and Ken busted out laughing.
(Matt)
"Well we don't need no one to tell us what to do
Oh yes we're on our own and there's nothing you can do
'Cause we don't need no one like you
To tell us what to do!
"'Cause I'm a brat, and I know everything
And I talk back, 'cause I'm not listening
To a-ny-thing you say!
And if you count to three-"
(backup guys, and also by Ken and Davis just for fun)
"One- two- three!"
(Matt)
"You'll see it's no emergency.
You see, I'm not the enemy,
Just a pris'ner of socie-ie-ie-iety!
"GO!"
Meanwhile, Yolei was keeping her side of the deal. As Cody and the digimon looked on curiously, Yolei typed up a message on her laptop:
Attention, Digi-Destined! The digital world needs our help again. Please email me back for more information.
-Yolei.
Send.
Like wildfire, the message spread to all of the Digi-Destined that it could. First, the Kamiya residence, and Kari just happened to be online at the time! She immediately called for her brother, Taichi.
Next to get the message was Koushiro Izumi. "Izzy" as his friends called him not only emailed back, he found a way to get to Joe Kido's beeper at the hospital.
Soon enough, Joe was on the phone with Izzy, ready to discuss everything.
The message also went to Sora Takenouchi, who immediately forwarded it to Matt's brother, Takeru "TK" Takaishi.
TK was in his house at the time, watching television. But fortunately he accidentally left the computer on, and he heard it announce that he had mail.
Meanwhile, back at the concert...
(Matt)
"Well we don't need no one to tell us what to do
Oh yeah, we are on our own, and there's nothing you can do
So we don't need no one like you
To tell us what to do!
We are referred to the past, we've shown 'em what we've done
A generation gap means our war is never won
So we don't need no one like you to tell us what to do!
At this point, Davis was waving a lighter in the air; all in fun of course.
(Matt)
"'Cause I'm a brat, and I know everything
And I talk back, 'cause I'm not listening
To a-ny-thing you say!
And if you count to three,
"You'll see it's no emergency.
You see, I'm not the enemy,
Just a pris'ner of society!
Society!
Society!
Society..!"
The crowd was on the floor, and the screams got all the louder- amazingly. Matt and his band took their bows and so forth, and while he did so, he looked up.
Apparently, Davis and Ken made their way through the crowd, and were easy to spot by Matt. Once he saw them, and they knew it, they waved. Matt let out a small smirk, and waved back.
Almost three hours later, Matt was leaning against the trailer truck of his band, while Davis and Ken were talking to him. "...So you came all the way out here to let me know we gotta save the digital world, huh?" Matt smiled. Davis nodded, "We got almost everybody already. We got Tai, Kari, TK, Joe-"
"Did you get Mimi?" Matt asked suddenly. Ken shook his head, "No, she never emailed back. But she's in America, so it's probably too early in the morning for her." "Right," Matt smiled.
His attention was soon drawn to the screaming girls in the background; "OH MY GOD, IT'S MATT ISHIDA! AAAHHH!" "Oh no!" Matt yelled; "Quick, guys! In the van, NOW!" All three boys darted into the van, just seconds before it was swarmed on the outside by young female fans.
While the van was starting to rock back and forth, Matt giggled, "Sorry 'bout that, boys; I shoulda known better than to be standing around in public." Davis, having a seat nearby, smiled, "This is awesome, dude! I don't care if get famous for being Digi-Destined, but being a rock star must kick butt!"
Matt shook his head, "It's crazy, man. I knew it would be, but I always thought I'd be able to handle it." "Right," Ken nodded; "'Cause you're one of the most stable guys around." "...Stable?" Matt grinned; "You really think I'm stable?" Ken asked, "Aren't you?" Matt bowed his head, almost humbled, and sighed, "I'm not as stable as most of my friends..."
He then looked to a nearby window, which was curtained on the outside by fans, and he said, "When we go back to the digital world, I'm gonna finally relax from all this." Davis shook his head, "I doubt everybody'll be glad to go back." "Who wouldn't?" Ken wondered. Matt thought it over, "Joe, maybe... No...
"No, you know who'd really have to get used to going back? Mimi!"
(Begin "Bootylicious" as a background song)
New York City, next afternoon.
It was on a beautiful Saturday, the best time to go to the Mall. And Mimi Tachikawa did just that.
In her white, thick, high-heeled sandals, she paraded the mall wearing a pink skirt, a white tank top under a red, nicely-knotted shawl, and a cute tan cowboy hat with a black strap. Her hair was in its natural tan color, and in the style it was in when she was much younger; halfway pulled up in a bun.
Accompanied by several other teen girls, they raided each and every clothing store. Then they moved on to shoes, jewelry. And at one point, they stopped at a fountain into which people were tossing their coins. Mimi and a few other girls moved on, but one girl stayed, ready to steal some of those coins. But then Mimi came up from behind her and pulled her away.
(song fades out)
That evening, Mimi came back home with Michael, a fellow Digi-Destined she met just a couple years ago. They were giggling as they came through the door, as if they just got back from having the time of their lives. And they did; "Oh man," Mimi laughed, "I almost fell outta that ride! Did you see me?" "I told you to make sure the safety belt was secure," her friend giggled.
Just then, they heard a woman's voice from the kitchen, "Is that you, Mimi and Michael?" "Yeah, mom!" Mimi called back. "How was the carnival?" her mother's voice asked. Michael smiled, "It was great! Thanks for letting us go." Mimi sat down on her comfortable couch, while Michael stood at the door.
"Well," he said in an almost timid tone, "I guess I better go-" "Wait," Mimi smiled warmly. She then patted the cushion next to hers and invited, "Sit here." Michael paused, but then smiled, "Okay." As requested, he sat down beside his best friend on the couch.
She sighed, "So..." "So..." he copied, as his eyes started to wander around the room. Mimi smiled, "I had a great time, Michael." "Me too," he smiled back. He didn't notice it, but she started blushing a little, and looked away shyly as she continued, "Umm... I was wondering something."
"Yeah?"
"Yeah... We've been going out to a few places for a while now, right?"
"...R-right...?"
She sighed, "And I think it's great. I mean... We're friends and all, but-"
"But? There's a but?"
"No no, it's a good but!" After realizing how that sentence came out, she covered her mouth and gasped, "I mean- I.. See, the thing is-"
Michael let out a confident giggle, "I knew what you meant."
"Sorry," she smiled as her face turned red. Then while scooting over to the table next to her side of the couch, she said, "I was just thinking, if we like going out together, and we enjoy each other's company, Uh.. Well..." "Well what?" he asked curiously. She cleared her throat, "Hold on. I.. I can't do this alone."
He raised an eyebrow, "What are you talking about?"
In response, she turned to the little radio on the table beside her, and pushed "play" on the CD player.
(Begin song "At Last")
Michael wasn't stupid; he knew exactly where this was going. He showed his sudden intimidation by having his eyes bulge slightly, and gulped. Mimi looked him in the eyes, with hers gleaming confidently.
"At last
My love has come along..."
"Well," she said, finally sounding brave, "don't you think that maybe, just maybe, we like each other as more than friends?"
"My lonely days are over
And life is like a song..."
"Uhh..." Michael tried to pry words out of his mouth, but it was no use. His jaw just sat there, stiffened. "I didn't wanna scare you or anything," Mimi admitted, "It's just that... Well.. I like you!"
"Oh yeah, at last
The skies above are blue..."
"I like you too, Mimi," Michael nodded; "But I..." Mimi frowned.
"My heart is wrapped up in clover..."
Michael shrugged, "I don't know- I'm not sure..."
"The night I looked at you."
Michael added, "I mean, I.. I don't know if I feel any different than how I feel about you as a friend. I mean, you're a great person!" "...And?" Mimi grinned, almost batting her eyes.
"I found a dream that I can speak to
A dream that I can call my own.."
"And," Michael continued, "...And you're smart.. and funny... and pretty..... Very pretty." Mimi rolled her eyes coyly, "Oh, go on." Michael giggled, feeling a little more confident.
"I found a thrill to rest my cheek to
A thrill that I've never known
Oh..."
Mimi then moved closer to Michael, while he was trying hard not to move backwards. Mimi smiled, "I was just thinking, 'cause you and me... I mean you're one of my best friends. And, well we're both special, 'cause we're Digi-Destined." "Yeah," he nodded.
"You smile, you smile
Oh and then the spell was cast
And here we are in Heaven..."
Mimi got just a little closer to him, almost making it seem like she was going to attempt to kiss him. She said, "There's really no harm or shame in trying the next step... Right?" Michael briefly thought about it, "...umm..."
"For you are mine..."
(Record scratch)
Suddenly, Mimi's mother ran into the room, absolutely killing the mood. She announced, "Oh Mimi, I accidentally went online under your name, and you got an email from one of your friends in Japan." Mimi gasped, "What?"
"I'll see you guys there; I'm almost done my shift," said Joe, speaking into his cell phone. He stood in the hallway of the hospital in his white doctor uniform. He seemed like he was a professional... but he wasn't there yet.
On the other line, Sora spoke, "We just got word that Mimi got the message. We'll find out soon enough when she'll be here." Joe smiled, "And then we can all have a nice happy reunion?" "We hope so," Sora replied.
Joe wondered, "So what are you guys doing ahead of time?" Sora explained, "Well, not everybody got all together just yet. Davis Ken and Matt are together, I'm at Yolei's with Cody, and Tai, TK, and Kari will be at Izzy's house tomorrow.
The next afternoon, Izzy rolled out a big piece of paper on the dining room table, making Tai ask, "What's that?" Izzy answered, "It's a map of the digital world. I decided to try and open up one of the old gates on the computer that let us get to it. None of the gates work anymore; however, we can still see the overview look. So I just printed it out."
"How are we supposed to get there if the gates don't open?" Tai shrugged. "I don't know," Izzy replied; "but if the digimon got here, there's gotta be a way..."
He then turned his attention to the map and continued, "Perhaps the reason as to why we can't go in through the computer is because of the changes made on the map." Tai asked in concern, "...What kind of changes?" Izzy gave a nod, "A few suttle ones.
"Like this: File Island is a lot larger now, the continent of Folder moved further East, and... lessie, I know I saw a big one- Oh! Here it is!" His index finger pointed at what seemed to be the middle of an ocean. Tai raised an eyebrow, "There's nothing there." Izzy replied sternly, "That's where Primary Village used to be." Tai's mouth fell open.
At Yolei's house, Sora hung up her cell phone and happily announced, "Mimi's coming over!" "YAAAY!" cheered her company. Ken smiled, "When can she get here?" Sora replied, "Oh, she'll be on a plane that'll arrive here at approximately... eight forty, at least. And Izzy says Joe doesn't get done work 'til nine. So it looks like we'll all reunite about ten-thirtyish."
Just then, Yolei got an email. She checked it out, and announced, "That's Davis. He says Veemon and Armadillomon found out where the portal to the digital world's gonna open." "Where?" Sora asked. Yolei read more of the message and gasped, "...Where it all started!"
This was the place where, almost seven years ago, the original seven Digi-Destined were at camp. It was also where they came in contact with the digital world and digimon for the first- correction, second time. And now it was the place with the last known loop hole that would send them- all twelve- to their new destined adventure.
Tai and Izzy got there first, quickly followed by Kari and TK. They stopped to look around briefly, at the starry night sky that almost illuminated the trees, and the temple that was just a few steps ahead of them. When suddenly-
"IZZY!" Yolei cheered, and ran up to him and gave him a hug. "How's it going?" Izzy smiled. "Great," Yolei nodded, "and look! Hawkmon and Armadillomon are here too." "That's awesome," Izzy smiled, when suddenly Tai commented, "Not as awesome as me!"
They all turned around and saw Tai TK and Kari behind them. "Tai! TK! Kari!" Cody cheered. Kari hugged Cody and laughed, "Hey, Cody... Wow, you've grown!" "Yeah," blushed Cody; "just a little."
Kari then knelt down to the digimon, and while hugging them she cheered, "Hawkmon! Armadillomon!" "Hi!" they both giggled.
Then out of nowhere, Joe arrived. "JOE!" they all cheered. "Hey," he waved. He then pointed to Izzy and joked, "Hey, Koushiro!" "Ay!" Izzy smiled, acting offended; "It's Izzy, if you don't mind." "I was kidding," Joe replied. Izzy winked, "I know."
"Aw, look at this," someone said. They all turned to see Sora as she smiled, "This is all so touching, it's making me sick!" "SORA!" cheered the other girls. They all hugged, and Sora smiled to the boys, "Guys." "Hey, Sora!" Tai smiled; "You look great." Sora smiled back, "All you guys look the same, it's amazing."
Yolei noticed that TK had his arm around Kari's waist... "Hey, Kari." Yolei's eyes lit up, "Hey, are you two an item now?" Kari blushed, "Well... Sorta, but we're still really good friends." "Just closer," TK added. "Oh boy," Yolei grinned.
"You okay, Yolei?" Cody asked. Yolei nodded, "Oh yeah, I'm fine! ...I just don't wanna think what Davis is gonna think when he comes." Cody looked away, and giggled, "Well, here's your chance." They all turned, and smiled as Ken, Davis, Veemon, Wormmon, and Matt all walked up to them.
Individually, they made their greetings:
"Matt!" TK cheered, and gave his brother a big hug.
"TK, you sight for sore eyes! How's Mom?"
"Good. How's Dad?"
"A little freaked about that virus that happened at the TV station, but I think we figured it out. He's okay now."
"Ken! How are ya?"
"Doing good, thanks Sora."
"Hey, Matt!"
"Hey, Cody. Hey, Kari!"
"Hi, Matt. Hey, Ken."
"Hey, Kari-"
"THOSE ARE MY GOGGLES!"
"COME AND GET 'EM, OLD MAN!" They laughed out loud and shook hands;
"How're you doing, Davis?"
"Great. Good to see you too, Tai."
"Thanks."
All of a sudden, things got quiet. Matt and Sora started staring at each other. Each one was smiling, but there was something about their posture that made them look unsettled. Yolei noticed it first; "What's wrong, Sora? I thought you and Matt were still going out." Matt looked away, with his smile fading. "Well," explained Sora, "we've basically reached that part of our relationship where we wanna take a break... Isn't that right, Matt?" "Yeah, sort of," Matt softly answered.
Yolei gasped, "You guys didn't break up, did you?" Tai shook his head; "Oh, Yolei..." She did have a tendency to run at the mouth, whether she meant to or not.
But Matt turned to her and answered calmly, "When my band started to get really famous, we didn't know what that was gonna do to me and Sora. It's not that I don't like her, or that she doesn't like me. We just wanna wait 'til things get a little less hectic in my career, that's all." "Yeah," Sora nodded, giving him a weak smile.
Yolei guessed, "...so it's been a while since you two-" "Went out. Yes," Matt nodded. Tai then rested his hand on Yolei's shoulder and smiled, "Okay, we'll have the film at eleven. Let's all just go out somewhere and have a good time!" "Yeah," responded most of them.
Davis giggled a bit, then looked to Kari. She looked the same since the last they saw each other, only now she was slightly taller. Her dungaree overalls pink T-shirt and white dress shoes, however, made her look like she was still eleven. He smiled to her, "Hey, Kari."
Kari saw him in his yellow button-down shirt with blue Hawaiian-style floral patterns over a white T-shirt and dark blue shorts that seemed a little too big on him, and those army green Timberlands and the dark brown, black-lined bicycle gloves on his hands; he looked like he was trying to look older.
She giggled; "Hi, Davis. You doing okay?" "Great!" he said, jumping to her side. She asked, "So, school's good?" Davis admitted, "Oh, the classes are alright, but the soccer team sucks. Fortunately, Ken and me go to the same school, and we try to make it better." "Good," she smiled politely.
Finally, Davis looked over and saw TK on the other side of Kari.. and his arm was still wrapped around her waist. "WOAH!" Davis cried out, jumping back in surprise. He then took a good look at Tk, then the arm, then Kari, and gasped, "Woah, hold up! ...Hold up, what's this?" "What's what?" TK asked, acting like he didn't know. Davis glared at him, "So... So you two are together?"
Yolei muttered, "Okay, here we go."
TK smirked, "We've gone out once or twice, but we're not an official couple, if you know what I mean." Davis looked a little relieved, but he frowned, "Why doesn't anybody tell me these things?" Yolei called out, "'Cause it's none of your business!"
"Excuse me..." a familiar female voice came out of nowhere. They all turned, and there stood Mimi. She smiled, "I'm from out of town; is this where the Digi-Destined should be?" They all laughed and each one gave her a hug and a "Hi. Mimi! We missed you!" "I've missed you all too," she giggled.
Davis did the counting: "...Tai, Matt, Joe, Yolei, Ken, Cody, Mimi, TS-"
"That's TK," replied the young blonde.
Davis just kept going; "Sora, Kari, Izzy... and me! The gang's all here!" "Perfecto!" cheered Yolei. "Prodigious!" Izzy smiled. "Alright!" Tai cheered.
"Well done," said a bass voice that thundered behind them. They all jumped out of their skin, and turned around. There they were. The four giant beasts in the sky.
There stood the dragon. It's blue-shaded, snake-like body was so long, that even if it coiled twenty different times there was no sign of its tail. It seemed to be chained, and the chains wrapped around the body in an almost comfortable-looking way. It also has a series of wings, each pair about fifty feet away from each other. The beast has only four visible arms, with bird-like talons on the end of them. Its face was covered in a dark blue mask, with gold stripes and six horns. From its mouth started an old man's beard, longer than Father Time's.
Next to him stood the phoenix. It was shaded in red, with six pairs of wings. The feathers were mostly red, which faded to yellow to look like fire. The torso resembled that of a scaly red dragon, and on its black neck were floating red orbs, seemingly resembling a necklace.
Next to him stood the tiger. He stood boldly with giant shackles on his legs. His jaw shown iron fangs that were perked backwards. His tail had a ring with spikes on it. And like the phoenix, he had a ring of golden orbs, but the ones he had were wrapped around his stomach.
Next to him stood the tortoise. It had two massive heads, shaded in gold and brown. On its shell was a tree, which towered above all other visible forms. The ring of orbs that the tortoise had were wrapped around the tree trunk.
The Digi-Destined just stood there, staring for what seemed like forever, in awe. Finally, TK blinked. He recognized the dragon. His timid voice blurted out, "Azulongmon..." Suddenly, the dragon, whose mouth was covered by its beard and therefore invisible, spoke in a pleasant yet thunderous voice: "You are correct, sir!"
Tai then turned to TK and gasped, "You KNOW him?" TK pointed to the dragon and admitted, "I've seen him once before. He guards the digital world."
The phoenix then replied graciously, "We are the Four Holy Beasts who guard different sides of the digital world. I am Zhuqiaomon, Guardian of The South." The tortoise then added, "I am Ebonwumon, Guardian of The North." The tiger then added, "I am Baihumon, Guardian of The West." Finally the dragon nodded, "And I am Azulongmon, Guardian of The East."
Matt took a step back with a look of disbelief, while his little brother remembered, "Azulongmon, you told us that you and the other guardians were sealed away by The Dark Masters. How did the rest of you break out?" "By the power of the digi-mentals," responded the phoenix.
"The digi-mentals, which gave your digimon the power to become armor digimon from their rookie forms, were used two by two to free each of us," said the turtle; "The digi-mentals of Knowledge and Sincerity released me." The phoenix added, "The digi-mentals of Courage and Love released me." The tiger added, "And the digi-mentals of Friendship and Reliability released me." The dragon nodded, "And after I was released by the power of Light and Hope, the four of us have regained our rightful place, as Guardians of the digital world."
"...Okay," Tai sighed, "so... What's new?" "Shadowmon," replied the tiger sternly. "Yes," nodded the dragon; "they are the sign we were waiting for." "What sign?" asked Sora, growing all the more concerned. The phoenix replied, "Shadowmon are un-natural digimon. They were created by someone who is on the side of evil, and they are getting stronger by the minute. We fear that their appearance is to announce the beginning of the greatest battle of good against evil the digital world will ever face."
"Really?" Joe asked. The dragon replied in an almost calm manner, "Oh, it happens all the time; it's a never-ending cycle. Ever notice how your adventures in the digital world just keep getting worse, and your enemies stronger?" They all thought it over briefly and nodded, "Uh-huh/ Yeah/ Mm-hmm." "Well," the tortoise said, "this time we have reached the pinnacle of this war. We need you, Digi-Destined, to guard The Digital Keepers."
"WHO?" asked all the young men and women. The Guardians looked to each other, as to ask themselves "Okay, who should break it to them?" The dragon then looked to them and replied, "Children, there is more to the digital world than you know. It has an inner power, broken into three parts. Those parts are known as The Digi-Keepers. It is they who give life to our world, and now they are being called forth to fight the greatest of evil, by themselves."
"Wait! Wait a minute! Hold up!" Matt called out; "I don't understand... Digi-Keepers? What is that?" The tiger sighed, "We cannot fully explain them. All we know is that they need you. Now."
All the humans looked to each other, exchanging confused faces. Tai then spoke up, "Okay, lemmie get this straight... These Digi-Keepers- whatever they are- are on our side, and they need our help. Right?" "Right," nodded the Guardians. "Why don't you help them?" Matt glared at them. The dragon explained calmly, "Our place is beyond the boundaries. We are meant to seal off any who try to break in or out of the digital world, so that the evil that is plaguing it will not sneak into other dimensions." "We are doing our part," the tiger added; "We only ask that you do yours."
Davis then stepped forward and questioned, "...It was you all along, wasn't it? ...That virus... We all thought something was wrong with our computers and TVs, but it was you!" "Yes," nodded the tortoise; "We were simply making a new loop hole for you all to enter into our world. That 'virus' as you call it was just a brief reaction to it."
"And that's how WE got here!" Veemon smiled to Davis. "Ah!" Davis smiled back; "It all makes sense now!"
"No it doesn't!" Matt argued. "Relax, Matt," smiled his younger brother.
"All will be explained in time," the dragon calmly said; "Come, we must get you to the digital world. Are you ready?" "Almost," Izzy admitted. "What do you mean almost?" Matt asked. Izzy replied, "Well, I'm not sure exactly how long we'll be there. I mean, has time in the digital world changed?" "Indeed it has," replied the tiger. "I thought so," Izzy said; "I've seen the changes made on the map, and if this adventure's going to be as big as I think, everything we know about the digital world is out of whack. Even time."
Davis gasped, "So wait... We could be there for days... Weeks! Our parents are gonna FLIP!" "Especially mine!" Mimi feared. Tai paused, then said, "Our parents understand who we are. They know that no matter what, we've got everything under control, and that we'll be back. It might take a while... But we'll come back." "Yeah," Davis nodded. "I hope so..." Mimi muttered in concern.
"Then let the battle for our world begin!" announced the dragon. Just like that, the Guardians disappeared like mist, and a great light shone in the sky, like a sunspot. The humans and digimon all stared at it in wonder, and before they knew it they found themselves weightless.
Some seemed to panic, but the rest just gasped. "What's happening?" Joe gasped; "This isn't the way back, is it?" "Relax, Joe!" Tai smiled; "We're just floating; unless you're airsick." Joe smiled, "No no... I'm fine, I'm alright. I.. I just thought getting to the digital world would be E-E-A-A-SIER-R-R-R-R-R-R-R-R-R-R-R!!!"
They all started screaming as soon as they were suddenly shot through the air, as if out of a cannon. They darted toward the loop hole that was glowing in the air, and once they went through it, it closed up and vanished. All fell silent in the real world.
TO BE CONTINUED