Author's Note: As part of my Disclaimer, I'd like to point out that part of this chapter may inadvertently contradict the original plot of Digimon. My apologies go to the original creators.
"Our first day in the digital world after four years, and we're welcomed HOW? By an ambush of evil Shadowmon! Obviously, we're not dealing with any normal digimon here, and they've proven it by digivolving to Ultimates. Things looked bad, even when all our digimon became Champions, when all of a sudden this tree we found started glowing. Just then Tai, Cody, Ken and Mimi all got their crests back, and their digimon became Ultimates- Hey! Who's that girl in the tree!?"
-TK
DIGIMON: THE DIGITAL KEEPERS SAGA
Book Four: "Revelation"
------------ Flashback- Eight Years Ago ------------
They were known as the Dark Masters; four Mega digimon corrupted by greed and a lust for power seized control over the digital world while a young Tai Kamiya and his friends were dealing with yet another digimon foe in the real world. Each Dark Master took control over a certain area of the digital world; Metal Seadramon ruled the seas, Puppetmon ruled the forests, Machinedramon ruled the cities, and Peidmon ruled the plain of darkness.
It was during this adventure when a young Matt Ishida found himself lost in spirit. From the beginning, he had questioned himself about why he was chosen to be a hero, and what it was that was expected of him. Puppetmon took advantage of the boy's insecurities, and joined forces with a manipulative digimon named Cherrymon. Cherrymon looked like a tree with a face and multiple branches for arms (one of which held a wooden cane).
Cherrymon made his move as soon as Matt separated himself from the group of Digi-Destined; he and his partner Gabumon, who followed him around like a lost puppy, took refuge by a lake. The tree-like Cherrymon then started to talk to Matt in a friendly manner, but Matt knew not to trust him. But eventually, the talking tree got to him by saying things like, "I know how you feel; you feel like everybody else has changed and gotten stronger except for you. Well, kid, I know exactly what you gotta do to get stronger." That finally got Matt's attention.
"You see that lake over there?" instructed the deceptive Cherrymon; "When you look inside it, you'll see the face of your enemy. Only by defeating your rival will you become a great leader." Tempted, Matt looked into the water, and to his shock, he saw a reflection of himself, which morphed into the image of his friend, Tai. Matt blinked, "You want me to fight Tai??" Cherrymon laughed, "Me?? Whoever said I wanted you to fight him? Listen, kid, that mirror only lets you see what you wanna see. Deep down you hate Tai and resent that he's the leader. What the mirror is showing you is true: you must fight Tai and defeat him; otherwise, you'll never grow into the person you're meant to be!"
Tai knew in his heart that Cherrymon was lying, but that didn't stop him from declaring war on Tai anyway. He really intended on confronting Tai's actions, not Tai himself; that's why, when they really did get into a one-on-one fight, Matt started to challenge Tai's on thoughts and opinions on their destiny.
As he threw his punches, Matt exclaimed, "Why do you think we're here, Tai? What's so special about us!?" Tai was stubborn, but his heart was in the right place; he understood his purpose in the digital world as much as Matt did, but he wasn't ready to question his doubts. Tai fought back in saying, "We were chosen to save this world! That's why we're here!" "…But what if we're wrong?" asked a weakening Matt.
Meanwhile, the six other children watched in horror and confusion; they had already been through enough, and it was getting to all of them. But none had the courage to break up Matt and Tai's fight.
When suddenly, little Kari's attention was taken away by the image of a soft light coming from a tree nearby. It looked like a star had fallen from the sky and landed right in the middle of the forest. Kari stared at it, and as she did she seemed to have fallen into a trance. "Oh hello," she said to it; "My name is Kari. Do you have a name?" Amazingly, she seemed to be talking to this little star.
In moments, this little star became a great haze of white light, which stunned everyone, including the feuding heroes. Soon everyone was introduced to a new Kari; a strange new presence had taken over her body, and when it spoke through her, it sounded older, like an adult woman. Fearful of his sister's fate, Tai demanded to know, "Who are you!? What did you do to my sister??" "Your sister," answered the voice, "is alright. Because of her unique psychic abilities, I was able to speak through her. But now I must speak with you Digi-Destined..."
This presence within Kari claimed to be a computer-like program that had not yet taken physical form, unlike any digimon. It was sent by those who had created the digital world in the first place, to show these children just how important their presence in this world was. It also showed them part of the past, which explained just how their digimon partners came to be and how they were nearly destroyed by the Dark Master Peidmon. It took them a little while, but eventually the Digi-Destined began to understand how certain things came together. But what they still hadn't understand, and perhaps never truly will, is how they were the ones chosen by fate in the first place.
Only one thing is certain: this was the first time any of them had come across the presence of a Digital Keeper. And it would not be the last.
------------ End Flashback ------------
"So…" muttered the awestruck Kellen, as he and Gennai descended in an elevator to an underground level of a secret base, "this is where it all started."
Everything from the ceiling, floor and four walls of this base were completely metal, suggesting that it was entirely built by human hands. In the center of this narrow hole that seemed to go down for miles, there snaked a tower of metal that touched the ceiling all the way down to the floor. The tower itself was made entirely of massive cables, it seemed, that twisted and coiled around each other to make one giant composition.
The cables were actually more like computer wires; the physical connections between the digital world and that world from which Gennai and his people came from. This seemed to be what was left of it; a palace that was structured like that of a termite mound, where everything most vital to the digital world was beneath the earth. "Yes," replied Gennai, as he observed the elevator's movement from one level of the palace to this bottomless one; "This is where our most dedicated Preservers take refuge, and it is here where we'll be able to connect to the digital world ourselves."
Kellen was also observing the surroundings as well; there seemed to be something lighting up this tunnel-like level from the center, where the cables were. Gennai helped him look closer; "Look there, Kellen. You see those lights in the middle? They're coming from the computer's wiring system; they blink like that to show us that things are functioning normally. If they weren't, they'd be pitch black."
"So," guessed the child, "if they were dark, would that mean something's wrong in the digital world?" "Yes," nodded the old man; "But we're here for an even bigger purpose, my boy; we have to join our friends in the digital world to help the Digi-Destined. And to do that, we'll have to go in one of... those."
The old man pointed toward the very bottom of the level; it seemed to have had a floor after all. Kellen blinked in amazement to see that the floor of this base was tiled with overlapping pods. There were many full-body-sized pods that were wired into the cable lines that made up the center of the underground base level. One was stacked up on top of another to create a pyramid-like structure that sat perfectly under the cable wall.
Kellen could also see that a few of these pods seemed to be occupied, as they were glowing blue from the inside of their glass-sealed shells. That's where the elevator that carried Kellen and Gennai stopped.
Gennai then escorted the young boy to the nearest of these cocoon-like pods and opened it for him. It slid open like the roof of a convertible, and inside was a comfortably padded lounge chair, along with a complicated-looking wiring system connected to a helmet. Gennai carefully strapped the boy in, locking arm and leg wires to the boy's appendages, while saying, "Now, this may feel really weird at first, but you'll get used to it almost instantly. I know I did."
The boy took care of the helmet himself, and as he slipped it over his brow (which ultimately covered even his eyes) he asked, "I'm really excited about this, Gennai, but what happens out here while we're in there?" Gennai smiled, "It'll feel like you're dreaming, 'cause... Well, you really will be dreaming, once you've started the program. Don't worry about your body; in seconds, this cocoon will fill up with a liquid that's made to keep everything in tact. You won't need food or water, or anything." The boy's half-hidden face smiled, "Okay! Am I ready to go?" "Just about," replied Gennai.
As Gennai closed Kellen's pod, he quickly scooted over to an unoccupied pod nearby. The old man was all too familiar with this system, and didn't need to take his time to strap himself in. Soon he pressed a button from within his cocoon-like pod to manually close the pod's roof. Both pods then filled up with a warm red goo, as Gennai had said; it worked in the same way as ectoplasm, a vital substance that would keep their human bodies nourished for as long as their minds were within the digital world. And then, seconds later, the pods lit up from the inside, indicating that Gennai and Kellens' minds were being downloaded into the main computer's program.
Author's Note: Yes. I know this looks like "The Matrix," but I really can't think of a more creative way to make virtual reality in this story work! Sue me!!
Kellen was expecting a big change of scenery when he opened his eyes after drifting off into a dream-like state. He popped out of his pod like it was a lounge chair, and gazed in curiosity at his surroundings. "…Are… Are we-" he began to ask, when suddenly Gennai made himself known by saying, "Before you ask, no we're not there yet."
Kellen glanced around at the ancient-looking walls around them; "It looks like we never left home!" "I know," explained Gennai; "This is the crossroad between our world and the digital world. This is where we used to monitor activity there, and where we first created the digimon."
The old man then directed the boy to an area that was in complete ruins; there were toppled computer hardware systems, and on one wall stood a table with shattered glass, as if it used to be a tank. Gennai further explained, "This is where the Dark Masters attacked us and forced me to relocate the digimon eggs to File Island many years ago. Since then, this place had been almost completely deserted, which explains why it's still messed up."
Kellen blinked in curiosity, "Ohh… But Gennai, if it's not a safe place, then why are we here?" The old man smiled wisely, "Because, my boy, nobody is expecting us to be here! It's the perfect hiding place where you and I will preserve the digital world from here on in." Kellen laughed at Gennai's seemingly senile plan, because he knew that as crazy as it sounded, it actually made sense.
Gennai then led the boy to another wall; this one had sealed shut doors that would slide open from the sides. Gennai then moved toward a table that had encrypted on it a series of ancient-looking symbols. These were the code words for the digital world. He started typing a secret passage code on it, and before long, the doors came alive and slid slowly open. Behind them, a blinding ray of sunlight from the digital world itself. "Woah," muttered an awestruck Kellen.
The two Preservers then stood before the sliding open doors and prepared to cross through. "This is it," said Gennai in an almost excited tone. He took the first step, with Kellen close behind.
"Next stop, the digital world!"
Nobody spoke for a good ten minutes. They were all stunned, staring at this creature that just suddenly popped up out of what they thought was an ordinary tree. Even the digimon were shocked by its presence. The "lady," however, looked very calm as she smiled peacefully. Her eyes, however, started to squint slightly; it seemed like she was having trouble seeing.
Davis finally broke the silence: "There's a lady in that tree." Everybody glared at him with a silent chorus of "NO DUH!" The "lady" smiled at him, almost lovingly. Sora blinked a few times, "Is that... what we were looking for all this time?" "I don't know," Izzy gulped; "but it sure seems odd for a digimon to assume both a human and a tree form at the same time."
Matt, whose eyes were glowing with sudden awe, blurted out, "She's beautiful..." Sora couldn't help but look back to him in shock. TK, seemingly joking, asked, "Anybody wanna say hi?" "Hi," replied the tree-lady. TK jumped back, "Gah! ...You can talk?" She nodded, "Yes." He gulped, "Who...Who are you?"
------------ Digimon Card: GAIAMON ------------
Level: Keeper
Attribute: Data
Type: Human Nature
"I am Gaiamon, Keeper of The Digital Land. I am literally one with nature, which is why I usually take the form of a plant or other earthly elemental."
-Gaiamon
------------------------------------------------------------
"I knew it!" Joe smiled; "I knew you were a Digi-Keeper!" The others were still unsure.
Her eyes fluttered, "...My eyes are weak... Where are my Chosen? Which of you is my Brave One?" Tai finally stepped forward, "Are you talking about me?" She smiled, "Taichi Kamiya? Is that you?" He moved closer to her and nodded, "Yeah, that's me." Gaiamon stretched out her branch-like hand and smiled, "You were my first; my Digi-Destined of Courage." Tai gasped, "...It was you who made my crest." Gaiamon added, "And I made three others... Where is Mimi?" Mimi jumped up excitedly, "Me! giggling I'm Mimi." Gaiamon recognized her voice; "My Sincere One. You were my second Chosen. And then The Kind One..." Ken boldly stepped forward; "Me?" Gaiamon released some of the flowers on her branches and they danced around him playfully; she sighed, "I am so happy to see you here. All of you."
Then her head turned to the smallest human of all; she smiled, "And you.. My Just One." Cody's jaw dropped; "J-...Just One? You mean..." "That's right, Cody," nodded the tree-lady; "You have been given your own crest: the Crest of Justice." Cody looked down to the new crest and tag on his wrist, blinking with disbelief; "...Justice..." He then looked to the lady in the tree and smiled, "I always wanted my own..."
Gaiamon sighed, "My power has not been as powerful as it is now... That's why we had the D3s and digi-mentals created, and had Gennai establish Jogress digivolving. But now the time has come for me and my sisters to create more crests, and make all of your digimon more powerful than ever." Ken nodded, "That's why Wormmon digivolved to DinoBeemon." "And Shakkoumon digivolved without Angemon," added Cody.
Izzy asked, "Uh, I don't mean to be rude, Miss, but what exactly IS a Digital Keeper?" "Are you like digimon?" asked Kari. Gaiamon replied with a giggle, "Yes… and no. We are, shortly put, the heart and soul of the digital world itself. We created the digimon, and we are the ones who monitor their actions. We are the Preservers; we make sure this world does not disrupt the balance of reality, which as you know had its adjustments to make at first. Without us, the digital world would be nothing more than a mere video game."
"You're saying that this place did in fact start out as computer data... But it's you and others like you that make it real?" Izzy guessed. Gaiamon giggled, "That is why you, Koushiro Izumi, are the Bearer of Knowledge. My sister is particularly proud of you." Izzy sweat-dropped, "Uh.. You have a sister?" Gaiamon smiled, "Two sisters, actually. The sister I am referring to is Oceanamon, Keeper of The Digital Seas. She is the one who gives the oceans life, as I give the land life. The third of us is Polarimon, Keeper of The Digital Sky." Davis smiled, "Land, Sea and Air... It makes perfect sense!" "To you, anyway," frowned Yolei; she crossed her arms, one of them being bandaged from the previous Shadowmon attack.
Gaiamon sighed softly, "...I know this is all so confusing for you. I must explain the story... the whole story." Izzy shrugged, "We already know a lot. We know we've been chosen to protect both this world and ours. And, we now know that each of us was chosen by a particular Digi-Keeper." Gaiamon shook her head, "You don't yet know why this is all happening. You don't know how it all started.... I will tell you now, if you like." In mere heartbeats, everybody- humans and digimon alike- sat down in Gaiamon's huge flowerbed comfortably. They prepared themselves like scouts at a campfire, ready to hear a long and possibly scary story. And so Gaiamon took a deep breath, and began...
"Before I begin, let me just clear something up to avoid future confusion. Do you remember the incident eight years ago, when little Kari Kamiya was possessed by a spirit who showed you part of our story?" Tai's eyes blinked; "...Wait a second. I remember that! It was some kind of data program that explained how Gennai brought our digimon partners to File Island." "Yes," nodded Gaiamon; "That program was the first time that my sisters and I had made contact with you children. The one in charge of Kari's voice was my sister Polarimon. The reason why we spoke to you that day was so that you could further understand your purpose in the digital world...
"But," she said with a frown, "the digital world was never meant to be the battlegrounds of an eternal war between good and evil. It was meant to be an alternate world for my kind. Let me tell you how it all got started...
------------ Flashback/Vision; Gaiamon's POV ------------
"I don't remember the last time I saw my world, but what I do remember about it was that it was dying. If you were to set foot in it now, you wouldn't be able to take in a breath of fresh air; the sky was always gray with smog. There were hardly any trees left; they were all removed, along with the mountains and the plains for new cities. Understand this, children- in my world, we had plenty of ways to keep the human race alive with medicines and other medical breakthroughs, so it was only natural that in time we would start to run out of room, and food. Then things only got worse when one land would not share its remaining natural resources with another, and wars would spring out as a result of their greed.
"We had seen too much destruction and too much carelessness to allow our children to live in such a chaotic environment. We couldn't allow ourselves to let them starve and fight for their right to live. So, instead of accepting their fate, we used the best of our computer programs to create for them a new world. A world where they and the rest of our kind could live in peace with every necessity they could ever ask for, and more."
Izzy "The digital world."
Gaiamon "Exactly."
Yolei "But wait. I thought the digital world was made of a combination of things, like computer data mixed with people's dreams."
Gaiamon "You're on the right track, Yolei Inoue. The digital world is a virtual reality, brought to life by the thoughts and dreams of my people. In truth, you and your people have contributed your dreams to it as well, which is how it crossed over to your world in the first place.
"But you see, there are many of us that still breathe life into the digital world within an underground shelter in our own world. As we speak, they are dreaming away in what we call cocoons- think of them as state-of-the-art virtual pods- and as they sleep their brainwaves are being downloaded into our main computer, which then transfers their dreams into pure data."
Izzy "And that data becomes the blueprint of the digital world."
Gaiamon "Correct."
------------ End Flashback/Vision ------------
The Keeper of the Digital Land concluded, "...We did not mean to play God; we only wanted a new place to call our home."
"That still doesn't explain why there are evil digimon here," said Tai as he scratched his chin. The woman in the tree gulped softly, "Well... I could easily explain that right now. See, there was one individual that was part of our original team of Preservers, but he theorized that our virtual world was incomplete without a dark, negative force. In his opinion, life in any world is balanced by good and evil, and without one or the other, it would crumble. He later left the team, and we hadn't seen nor heard from him again until some years later, when the digital world was within its final configuring stages. That's when he released the evil digital monsters, and that led to the Dark Masters, Devimon, Myotismon, and all of the villains you've come to do battle with."
"Ohhh," sighed the humans and digimon. Cody broke the silence with, "So that one guy you were talking about... Does that mean he's a Keeper too?" Gaiamon nodded, "Yes. He is the Keeper of Darkness, and he's been known to take on the likeness of one of his own creations. I'm not sure who he is now, but if I'm present in this world now, then that must mean he's getting ready to do battle with me and my sisters."
"Wait, wait, wait," interrupted Yolei, "back up a second... You said earlier that there are people like you that're in... cocoons?" The woman in the tree nodded again, "Yes, Yolei. Those people that I was referring to include me and my sisters. Periodically, Gennai enters the digital world as well, but since he doesn't live in it for as long as we do, he doesn't have to shed his human form." Joe blinked, "So are you saying, if anything would happen to you or your sisters... you'd...?" Gaiamon frowned, "I really don't know what would happen to us. We've been part of this world for so long that we've become part of it. ...That's why we've called on you children yet again; to prevent the worst from happening if it should come to that."
"I'm sure that even as we speak, the Keeper of Darkness is gathering his forces..."
Deep in a castle that was hidden in the digital world's dark realm, a tall man who seemed to be in his early twenties in a gray robe walked down a hallway. He was being escorted by a small evil digimon known as DemiDevimon. Usually, this little creature would show off his flying ability, but at this moment he'd rather walk on his two scrawny talons. Perhaps he was being modest about who he and the human were about to see.
"...And to your left is the chamber room," guided the small creature, "where The Master keeps his treasures. Usually I like to take a peek at 'em just to see what he's got, but so far I've only seen his fist in my face." He and the human stopped at a closed doorway. "Welp, here we are!" smiled DemiDevimon. The human- pale-skinned and dark-eyed, with long indigo hair that was in a ponytail that caped his back- gave a small sigh as he gazed at the doorway.
"Go on in," DemiDevimon smiled, flying beside the human excitedly, "unless you're scared!" The man gave him a smirk, "Is that what you think I am? You think that just because I have no magic powers it makes me feel inferior?" DemiDevimon huffed, "Well of course you are! Guys like me can become bigger and stronger! What can a mere human do?" The man glared at him evilly and replied, "Unlike some digimon, mere humans have hands. Hands that can carry not-so-mere weapons." The bat-wined creature then gulped, "...Right... Anyways, I'm gonna go get The Master now." The man gave a nod, "You'd better."
DemiDevimon crept through the doorway, and in seconds, the doors slowly flew open. The human entered the room, which was only illuminated by candles in the far back. The man walked down a black carpet which led to a huge throne. There was no light where the throne was, but there was someone sitting on it. Someone big. With glowing blue eyes.
The man stopped at the foot of the short staircase that led to the throne. He then bent down on one knee, put his fist to his heart and announced with confidence, "I am Daru, Preserver of the dark digital realm. It is my honor to serve you, Oh Great One." Whoever was on the throne looked at him, and with a deep, inhuman voice he said, "You are among friends here." Daru smiled, "Thank you." "...Daru, is it?" asked the one on the throne. Daru nodded, "Yes. I am also the one who created the Shadowmon. They are too unnatural to even be considered digimon, which makes them very worthy opponents." Perched on the right side of the throne, DemiDevimon crossed his wings and scoffed, "Hmph! Figures a human would wanna out-do us, Boss!" "Silence, DemiDevimon," his Master murmured. His voice made the digimon jump in surprise, but he then perched himself again.
Daru reached into his robe and said, "I suppose you're wondering how I've managed to make the Shadowmon become Ultimate digimon." The dark figure replied with a soft "Hmm.." Daru then pulled out two familiar-looking objects. At the sight of them, DemiDevimon jumped and barked, "GAH! It CAN'T BE!" But it was, as Daru smiled wickedly, "I hold in my left hand a digivice- one that I created myself. And what I hold in my right hand is a crest-" "THAT'S IT!" shouted DemiDevimon; "I heard enough! No crazy human's gonna come in here and show us those stupid-" "SILENCE!" roared the shadowed figure on the throne. DemiDevimon was then knocked for a loop.. or two... by the power of his Master's voice.
Daru continued, "This is no ordinary crest, Your Eminence. This is the Crest of Power. It can make ANY digimon digivolve, to any level you wish it to. It works also for the Shadowmon." "Hmmm..." repeated the one on the throne. Daru then rose to his feet and frowned, "There's just one problem. When they reach the Ultimate level, I can no longer control them. That is why I'm here, sir. I am asking for your approval, that I may use some of your own natural-born servants. Perhaps one of them will be able to control my creations." DemiDevimon's Master then reached out his skeletal hand and replied, "Not one... Seven."Not noticing the thunderous rumble behind him, Daru raised an eyebrow and asked, "...Seven?"
Daru then heard a crash from behind him. He turned around in surprise, and suddenly there were seven shadows in a line, all flowing like tongues of black fire. The creature on the throne explained, "These are my greatest of creations. They were brought up with the essence of pure evil. They were not yet ready for battle, until now. And they are:
"Greedmon."
The first tongue of black fire became a green-eyed silhouette of a brown dragon (or insect)-like beast. He smiled, "Tell me what you desire, and I will let it be all yours."
"Envymon."
The next became a silhouette of a yellow-eyed, snake-figured woman with olive green highlights. She moaned, "Why wasn't I the first one picked? Aren't I just as deadly as the others?"
"Gluttonymon."
The next became a silhouette of a blue-eyed creature; half-man, half-pig. He snorted, "When do we eat?"
"Lustmon."
The next became a silhouette of an attractive young woman with violet eyes. She smiled at Daru, "Hey, who's the hottie?"
"Slothmon......... Slothmon?.........SLOTHMON!!"
The next became a ghostly figure of an old, skin-and-bone man. He yawned, "Huh? Wha? Has the fight started already?"
"Groan ...Wrathmon."
The next became a burning, dark red image of an inhuman beast with burning red eyes. It simply snarled.
"And finally-"
"Say no more," smirked the last tongue of black fire. It morphed into a midnight black woman with silver eyes. She seemed to have a crown on her head. She smiled, "I am Pridemon, the last and certainly not the least of The Sin Digimon."
"Sin Digimon?" Daru replied in confusion. The figure on the throne gave a nod, "Yes. They will be scattered into the digital world, and each will be in control of all minions less powerful than they. When your Shadowmon digivolve, these Sin Digimon will be able to control them." Daru then turned to his new Master and asked, "So the Shadowmon will not be the only problem the Digi-Destined have to face?" His Master replied, "When we are finished, the Digi-Destined will wish the Shadowmon were the only problem."
In mere moments, all of the villains broke into a chorus of evil laughter. But when DemiDevimon started to cackle, the others shot a unanimous glare at him, and in cowardice, he crept away.
Davis then asked, "So okay, Cody got a new crest. Does that mean Yolei and me new ones too?" Gaiamon replied, "Patience, Davis Motomiya." He raised an eyebrow, "I get Patience?" Yolei elbowed him, "No, stupid! She meant 'Be patient!'" Davis rubbed his arm as if she really did hurt him; "Ow.."
"What about the digi-mentals?" Ken wondered; "They just suddenly disappeared?" "Yeah that's right," Cody nodded; "and our D-terminals too. Where'd they go?" Gaiamon nodded, "Gennai used what was left of their power to free The Four Guardians from their prisons." Tai snapped his fingers, "That's what they meant when they said that... We didn't understand at the time." Gaiamon added, "And now the digi-mentals as you knew them are no more. They have been changed to digi-eggs. Real ones. And they were scattered across the digital world, waiting for the day when they will be reborn as the armor digimon." Davis cheered, "So I'll see Flamedramon and Raidramon again!" Gaiamon smiled, "Yes, Davis."
In his child-like voice, the little In-Training digimon named Koromon said, "If I was War Greymon, we'd get these bad guys much easier... Not that I'm bragging, of course." Tai looked to him and smiled, then turned to the Digi-Keeper and asked, "Will we get to see our Mega digimon again?" Gaiamon gave a nod, "The Megas will rise, both old and new."
Then Mimi suddenly asked, "What about Gennai?" Suddenly, an old, familiar voice from behind them mocked, "What about Gennai?" The heroes turned around, and before them stood their old friend and guide. "Gennai!" they all jumped up happily. The old man smiled through his large mustache, "It's good to see you all again." Gaiamon informed them, "Gennai has taken such good care of this world while me and my sisters have been hibernating. That is why we know him as The Preserver." Izzy smiled, "Makes sense." Gennai then moved to the side to let them all see the small child that stood timidly behind him. The old man said, "I'd like you all to meet my new assistant.
"This is Kellen, who comes from my former reality." The child waved shyly, "Hi." "Hi," they all waved back; Sora asked, "So he's taking care of this place too?" "Sort of," the child shrugged; "I'm more of an inventor than a preserver. In fact, I made my own digimon." With that, he held out a small white creature with purple, wing-tipped ears, pale green eyes and a snowball-like body. Kellen smiled, "This is Kurumon... He's still learning to talk." Yolei looked down on the little creature and smiled, "Aww.. He's cute!" Kellen blushed, "He's just a Rookie, and so far he's not ready to fight.." Yolei patted the shy creature on the head lightly and smiled, "He's still cute though." Kellen shrugged, "Maybe one of these days he'll be a hero, like your digimon." "We'll see," Matt smiled.
"Gennai?" Yolei turned to him curiously. "Yes?" he asked. She smiled, "It is nice to see you again, but... I thought you were ....um.. younger?" Gennai laughed, "Oh, I'm not offended by your question, Yolei. Yes, I was sort of re-formatted the last time we met. It was only because I had to get involved in your battles, whereas I didn't have to the first time you kids came here." Tai nodded, "So now you're back to just preserving?" Gennai replied, "Just until I find out who's helping the Digi-Keeper of Darkness. As it turns out, he has his own Preserver and Inventor; the jerks who made the Shadowmon." "Oh.." gasped the Digi-Destined.
Kellen nodded, "Not just that, but he broke the time barrier." "That's right," Gennai nodded; "The digital world and your real world are supposed to go by different times; a month here would be like a minute on Earth. But thanks to this evil preserver, time in both worlds will be synchronized." Sora blinked, "...So if we stay here longer than a month, our parents will go crazy!" "Oh NO!" Mimi howled in fear; "My folks are gonna think I was killed or something.."
Gaiamon, whose vision seemed to improve at this point, shook her head, "I said this would not be an easy challenge." Tai then shook his head, "We've faced a lotta challenges before." "Yeah," Cody frowned, "but this is supposed to be the worst one ever." Yolei added, "We might even..." Then she gulped. Tai sighed, "Look you guys, they chose us particular kids for a reason. Maybe we're the only ones out of everybody else on Earth who can deal with this thing. We shouldn't be worried about our families; at least they'll be safe from whatever it is that we gotta face out there." "Tai is right," Davis nodded; "and we're gonna win! You know why? 'Cause we're the good guys!" Gaiamon smiled joyfully. Tai smiled to his friends, "So are we all in this together or what?" Each one either said "Yeah" or just gave a nod. Tai then turned to Gaiamon and announced, "Okay, we're ready! Bring on the first challenge!" As he did so, Yolei moved over to Mimi and frowned, "Sometimes I think he's too brave for his own good." Mimi nodded, "I just hope he's right, that we'll get outta this."
Gaiamon announced, "Your first challenge, Digi-Destined, is to find my sisters; Oceanamon and Polarimon." Ken asked calmly, "But who'll take care of you?" The tree-lady smiled, "Don't worry, I'm not in danger as long as the villains don't know where I am. But they might find my sisters, so you must find them first." "You got it!" Davis saluted. TK got up and stretched his legs, "Well, we better get going!"
In a few minutes, everybody was up and ready to go. Each human had a backpack, complete with food, clothes and whatnot. Before they officially left, Gennai raised his hand and said, "Oh wait, kids! I almost forgot to mention, your D3s have been upgraded the moment you came here. They can now be used as communicators, so if you should split up you can still talk to each other." "Cool!" Davis smiled to his blue D3; "Walkie-talkies! Thanks, Gennai!" "No problem," Gennai waved.
Then he gasped, "Oh wait, Davis! I almost forgot to give you something." Davis stepped forward; "What is it?" With that, Gennai held out a gold chain- one that mirrored the thick gold chains that Tai, Ken and Mimi now had- and gave it to Davis; "Here. This is your tag." Davis gasped, like a child that found his presents under the tree on Christmas morning. He wrapped it around his neck and rejoiced, "My tag! Yes! I got my... Wait a minute..." He noticed the round gold band in the center of his new necklace; there was a huge gap in it, where a certain jewel should be. He looked to Gennai and yelled, "Hey! Where's my Crest?" Gennai shook his head, "I'd explain it to you, but you wouldn't understand." Davis paused with a look of great disappointment on his face. Gennai sighed, "Don't worry, you'll get it. Just give it time." "Oh..." frowned the young hero; "Okay..." Then Gennai waved to the whole team; "Good luck, Digi-Destined!" "Bye!" waved Kellen, with little Kulumon waving as well.
They all waved farewell to Gaiamon and the two preservers, and marched into the wilderness. Kellen then turned to Gennai and gasped, "Hold on, I just counted them. There's twelve." His elder friend nodded, "Yes..?" Kellen raised an eyebrow, "I thought we were expecting thirteen..." Gennai then replied solemnly, "Yes. One of them is missing. But don't worry... We'll find her."
TO BE CONTINUED