Usa2z: I was going for a more sassy Palmon voice for Aruraumon, but sure, Satan Palmon can work too lmao

And I must say, I am very upset that I didn't do that for Salamon. Like her going from good to bad because of Kari is just so brilliant. I am kind of mad at myself for not thinking of that at all, and it's kind of too late to change it now so that really sucks a lot. But other than that I am very glad that you are enjoying this so far and am hoping it'll stay that way! I would say something about TK wanting to paint his nails but I'm afraid of spoiling something so I'm sorry about that

And thank you to everyone else who has reviewed the last chapter, I'm just not responding because I don't know what else to say lol


So I decided to be stupid and lazy, and think "I still have more time" when it came to writing this chapter. I also thought that same thing when it came to my schoolwork. So when I needed to update this chapter, I also needed to finish a shit ton of almost due or even overdue schoolwork. And then, when I finally finished all my work, I was still lazy, I also gained some writer's block. I ended up rewriting a bunch of it, and I struggled so hard on writing this one scene. And I was still too lazy.

So, uh, yeah. Sorry about getting this chapter done a month too late.


Their ride was wobbly, the fishes slightly jumping in the water causing everyone to shake. They couldn't stand, they could barely even sit up straight without losing their balance and falling off of the raft. Gomamon was the only one who seemed happy with riding in the sea. He was a seal, so it made sense that he loved the water. It's everything to him.

They were all down on their stomach's gripping onto the little fishes to keep them steady. Letting go would make them fall off of the raft and into the ocean. Everyone was having a bad time. It was too uncomfortable, too risky, and too exhausting. Although none of them had it as bad as Joe, who had one hand clamped around his mouth. Joe sadly seems to get sick by everything.

Mimi grunted, the skirt of her dress flaring up by the air passing through them. She let go on hand go of the fish and pushed her dress back down, frowning.

Izzy was behind her but was too distracted by his laptop that has miraculously balanced onto the raft of fishes to notice anything.

Kari whined, her grip on the fish loosening. Salamon was curled up in a ball under Kari, and Tai was too busy restraining BlackAgumon from eating any of the fishes. Kari shut her eyes, the slippery scales worsened and Kari could feel her hands slide off. She gasped, her body slipping back until she felt a hand grasp onto her hands, keeping her in place. She looked up to see Sora smiling back at her, and she sighed in relief.

TK was the only human who wasn't bothered by their slippery and wobbly raft. He was humming, kicking his feet in the air, his thumbs twiddling and playing with the fishes under him. Tsukaimon was perched on his head, his ears pushed back thanks to the wind. Matt was beside his brother, his left arm wrapped around TK's shoulder to keep him from falling and he was holding Psychemon's paw with his other hand. Psychemon had a better grip than the rest of them, so holding onto his furry paw is safer than gripping a fish that can cause him and TK to slip off.

"When are going to get to land?!" Matt snapped, annoyed at the water splashing into his face. "It's been over three hours!"

"I have to pee!" TK exclaimed in between his humming. Mimi cringed giving off a disgusted look. "Please hold it in!" She begged.

TK blinked innocently. "I can't."

"Oh god," Izzy groaned, rolling his eyes. "Please hurry this up Gomamon, as you can tell we're running out of time."

Gomamon looked back grinning. "I don't know where the nearest land is! We've never been off that land before!"

"Oh no!" Joe fretted, his hands shaking. He then gulped and he slapped his hand over his mouth again, his face turning green.

"Ew!" Mimi shrieked shoving herself away from him. "Please don't throw up! I'm right beside you!"

Tai observed the commotion. TK needs to go, Joe's gonna throw up anytime soon, and if they don't get off on time one of Gomamon's fishes will be eaten by his dinosaur hatch mate.

"Can't you ask one of your fishes Gomamon?" He wondered, grumbling at the wiggling Digimon under him. "Haven't they've been in the water?"

"Nope!" He responded cheerfully. "They're made by me, when I don't need them they vanish!"

Matt huffed, facepalming. "Great, now we're stuck here."

The oldest groaned sickly. He looked around to see the frustrated Matt, the cheerfully innocent TK, the annoyed Izzy, the irritated Tai, the exhausted Kari, the anxious Sora, and grunting Mimi. They all definitely needed help, a lot of it. They look so tired, they needed rest, and they needed some encouragement. And being the oldest, Joe knows that this is his responsibility.

Swallowing his vomit with a lot of regrets, he gagged and attempted to stand up on his knees. It took a lot of effort to keep himself from falling, but once he sat up he lost balance and fell forward onto the raft of fishes face first.

"What are you doing?" Joe turned his head to the side and saw Matt who was looking at him with an annoyed scowl on his face.

"I'm-I'm trying to stand up!" He stuttered. Matt rolled his eyes and muttered, "Yeah like that's gonna work."

Joe frowned, but still attempted to stand back up only to once again lose his balance and fall flat on his face. Matt watched him and muttered something in French under his breath that Joe couldn't understand.

"I'm hungry!" Kari whined curling up against Salamon. Sora chuckled and pat the girl's back. "Weren't you guys eating before we met up with you?"

"No!" TK answered from afar. "The digimons ate all of the food!"

Tsukaimon frowned and gently pat his partner's head with his tiny paws. "Hey! We were hungry and tired from the fight! We needed food!"

"Food!" BlackAgumon head perked up at the mention of food, throwing Tai off of his back.

"Hey!" Tai yelped as he was thrown off of BlackAgumon, landing harshly on his back. "BlackAgumon!"

"We can eat the fish!" The black dinosaur suggested as he stood up with no problem.

Gomamon gasped. He growled at BlackAgumon as he spread his fins against the first few fishes of the raft.

"No way!" He barked. "These are my friends!"

BlackAgumon whined. He looked down at the scaly creatures. They looked so good, so juicy, he can just imagine eating the tasty meat. But he tried his hardest to fight against it.

"Fine!" He muttered sulking. He sat back on his bum with his arms crossed. Tai sighed in relief. He attempted to crawl towards BlackAgumon, to pat the poor Digimon on the back, but their ride became wobbly once again, and he slammed face-first into the pile of fish.

Swoosh! Suddenly, a small wave flowed past them, causing a big bump under the raft of fishes.

"Wooaaah!" They all wailed, everyone on the raft lost their balance again. Mimi gasped as the wave threw her off the raft and Splash! she landed straight into the water. Gasping for air, the girl swam back up, her hair and dress soaked. She coughed out some water and looked around to see everyone else off the raft.

"What happened?" Mimi asked Aruraumon swimming towards her. Gomamon was the only one on the fish raft, helping Joe climb back on.

Aruraumon growled, her eyes slanted and grip tightening around Mimi's waist. Mimi yelped at her strong grip.

"Something comings..." She hissed. Everyone else heard this, and Matt snapped his head towards them.

"What?" He snarled, glaring at the plant Digimon. "What do you mean something's coming?"

Aruruamon pouted, annoyed for whatever reason. "A Digimon of course! What else would it be?"

"It'll probably be Ebidramon!" Tentomon inquired calmly. "I heard he owns the territory here!"

Another wave splashed by the children and Digimons, but this time much stronger. The wave splashed in their faces, pushing them roughly back. Tai gasped, his head underwater, more waves coming at them, which pushed him further back.

Tai coughed underwater, his eyes stinging as he tries to open them. He could faintly see Kari, her eyes shut and her cheeks puffed, her body curled into a fetal position with Salamon tucked into her arms, both BlackAgumon and Joe were hugging her protectively.

The fifth-grader grasped his goggles that have fallen off his head and was now resting over his shoulders and pushed them up where they aligned with his eyes. Putting the straps over both of his ears, he pushed himself forward, and tried his hardest to swim towards his baby sister, but failed as another strong current pushed him further and further away.

Tai felt his chest tighten, his body floating in the sea, getting thrust away. A few droplets of water found their way into his goggles. Tai could see and feel a bunch of Gomamon's fishes swimming past them and he could swear he saw a dark murky blue and a garnet red glow.

And then he heard a rough and deep hissing noise, and the waves slowly calmed down, becoming softer and smaller. Finally, it came to a complete stop, and Tai swam back to the top.

Tai gasped, and coughed out any water that invaded his lungs. He took a few big deep breaths, wiping his face. His eyes were still stinging and were still red from the water, so he quickly took off his goggles and dumped the bits of water out.

Rubbing his eyes, he looked around. He saw Saberdramon in the air, a larger wolf with white fur and dark blue strips floating in the water, and a giant lobster-man monster in front of them, his upper body, including his lobster claws out of the water.

He assumed the wolf was Psychemon but digivolved, as a drenched Matt was sitting on his back with a worn-out TK leaning on his chest. Tsukaimon was sitting on the second grader's hat as per usual, shaking the water from his fur.

Up on Saberdramon's foot was Sora, her wet hat taken off and squeezed in the girl's palm. She was kneeling in front of Mimi, who was breathing heavily, pushing her body against Saberdramon's leg from fear of falling, even though Aruruamon had her vines wrapped against the giant bird's leg and the fourth grader's waist.

He heard gasp and pants beside him, and turning around he saw Izzy. The redhead's computer was packed away for once, and the poor boy was trembling, hugging Tentomon tightly. The ladybug was rubbing his back whispering soothing words.

Tai swam to the boy, Tentomon looked up, but Izzy's eyes were still shut. He put his left hand on Izzy's shoulder, and the computer geek flinched. He snapped his eyes open, and Tai noticed the younger boy physically relaxed once his eyes laid on him.

"You ok?" Tai grinned and Izzy nodded, heaving out a small breath.

"Y-yeah," He stuttered, nodding his head. Gaining his confidence, he looked past Tai's shoulders and frowned. "Shouldn't you check on Kari?"

Tai's eyes widened. He completely forgot about his little sister.

"Hikari!" He screeched, using her full name for the first time in practically forever. He swung around, and he felt his heart drop at what he witnessed.

His baby sister, unconscious on a small raft of fishes, with Joe pumping his hands on her chest.


Joe choked on the water that splashed into his face, his glasses flying off. He fell, his hands clutching the fishes, Gomamon's fins slapped on the boy's back. He kept his eyes shut, gripping the fishes harder, as waves splashed over his humped-over body. Once he felt the wave ending, he slowly opened his eyes and looked towards the sea. Yes, his vision was very blurry, but he couldn't see any blobs of what was usually his friends.

"G-guys?" He fretted, swinging his head around. "Where are you?"

Joe started swinging his arms around, hoping that he just couldn't see them yet there were right beside him. But that was a fail as the water current thrust roughly again, causing the fishes to wobble making him fall on all fours.

"O-ow," Joe muttered. He felt some movements beside him, and then a slippery fin was smacked onto his back.

"Joe?" Cried Gomamon. "Are you okay? I found your glasses!"

"Glasses?!" The sixth-grader gasped snapping his eyes open. In his face was a blurry image of the glasses he had since he was ten, and without hesitation, he snatched them out of his partner's hand.

"My glasses-OOF!"

Joe felt a harsh force push him off of the raft of fishes, his glasses slamming into his face. He landed head-first into the sea, sinking further into it. He heaved, water filling his lungs. Grasping his neck, he stupidly tried to breathe in but the water had inflated his lungs instead of air. His face turning red, Joe looked up and swung his arms upward, bringing him to the shore. Once his head splashed out of the sea he opened his mouth and took one whiff of fresh air before another wave assaulted him forcing him under the water again.

Exhausted, Joe tried to open his eyes, hoping to find another way up to shore. But what he saw in the sea was Kari, the young girl thrashing her arms and screaming soundlessly underwater, both Salamon and BlackAgumon hugging her.

Joe felt as if he would pass out, he couldn't even comprehend what was happening, but feeling a ting of worry and anxiousness, he swam towards her, his arms opening up and then closing them around her small body, bringing her closer to him.

Through his half-lidded eyes, Joe could see a dark blue and dark red glow, and suddenly, he felt something squirming under him, lifting him into the shore.

He coughed and wheezed, and collapsed on his knees, the eight-year-old still stuck in her grasp.

"Joe!" Gomamon called out to him, a fin flapped over his arm. He felt Kari being taken off his grasp, Salamon and BlackAgumon panicking over something Joe couldn't understand.

"Joe!" Squealed Salamon. "What's wrong with Kari?! Help her!"

Finally using the rest of his strength, Joe opened up his eyes, only wanting to close them right after.

Kari was unconscious, her body sprawled limply over the raft of fishes. BlackAgumon panicking, shaking Kari's shoulders, and Salamon crying, yelling at Joe to help her. He felt his heart stop at the sight as he continued watching the poor girl laying down still, not a single muscle moving.

With a rush of adrenaline, he pushed himself up and pushed aside Salamon and BlackAgumon roughly.

"Move!" He huffed his voice sounding unusually stern with the confidence that was buried under the fear he always felt. He flipped Kari onto her back and intertwined his fingers together. He placed the palm of both of his hands onto her chest and pushed down repeatedly.

'Come on,' Joe thought as he pushed down on her chest. 'Wake up! Wake up!'

"Hikari!"

Joe heard the cry and recognized it as Tai. But he ignored it as he continued to pump Kari's chest, all of his attention placed on her.

"Joe, what's wrong with her?!" Shrieked Tai, as he climbed out of the water and onto the raft of fishes. The indigo-haired boy didn't respond, which angered Tai. "Joe?!"

With one final push against her chest, Kari coughed, water splashing out of her mouth. She tried to open her eyes, but was too exhausted to do so, her breathings becoming irregular and hard. Joe sat still, shocked for a moment, but then sighed, feeling relieved.

"Kari!" Cried Tai, tears forming in his eyes. He pushed Joe away, who yapped as he hit the surface hard. Tai lifted Kari's weak body and hugged her tightly.

"Tai..." Kari moaned tiredly, trying her hardest to keep her eyes open. "Tai...what's wrong?"

Tai didn't say anything and hugged her tighter. He blinked away some tears, and looked back his shoulder, glaring at Joe. The older one flinched and cowered away under his cold glaze.

"This is all your fault!" Tai spat out without thinking, his voice drenched with venom. Joe felt as if his world came tumbling over him. His fault?

Tai called out to BlackAgumon and he digivolved into BlackGreymon, jumping into the water. He ran towards the lobster Digimon, who Tentomon called Ebidramon, but he was much slower than usual because of the current.

Joe sat there still, digesting the words Tai has spat out. Gomamon sat beside him, staring at him worriedly. He never saw Joe so shocked or disturbed like he was now. His poor partner couldn't even move.

Gomamon glared at Tai, who was caressing his sister's hair and watching over her with Salamon curled up on her chest protectively. He knows that he didn't mean what he said, but he still said it, hurting Joe.

But then a small smile found its way onto the seal's face. Gomamon being Gomamon knows the perfect way to cheer up Joe.

"Hey, cheer up buddy!" Gomamon grinned, patting his partner's arm. Joe still had the distraught look on his face so Gomamon decided to continue with his joke.

"If she did die, the only thing you should be worried about is Salamon! She would've gotten pissed at you for murdering someone without her help!"

Gomamon slapped the surface and hollered with laughter. The seal even lost balance and fell forward, laughing until he couldn't breathe anymore. When his laughter finally subsided, he took a peek at Joe with tears in his eyes, expecting to see a small smile at least, but he didn't.

Joe's expression only worsen. His fists were clenched and so were his eyes, he could see the tears threatening to fall out, and not tears of joy or laughter, but tears of sadness and regret.

The seal felt his stomach drop as he realized that his joke made his partner feel worse, not better.


"Gururu Thrust!" Gururumon, with Matt, TK, and Tsukaimon on his back, thrust forward, his right paw lifted, his claws clenched. He reached up to Ebidramon and was about to claw his eyes out until the sea monster plunged into the water. Gururumon growled, but then gasped as he felt a claw upper punched his stomach. Gururumon coughed as he flipped over and landed on his back.

"WOAHH!" Matt and TK wailed, the older brother hugging the younger brother protectively. They both plunged into the water, and quickly rose back up, TK still caught in Matt's grip. Tsukaimon whined atop of TK's head, shaking the water out of his fur.

Gururumon growled as he struggled to get off his back. Ebidramon plopped out of the water staring smugly at Gururumon, who returned a snarl.

"Great Antler!" BlackGreymon charged slightly slowed down by the water, but still roughly at Ebidramon, his head ducked down and his horn ready to attack. Until Ebidramon once again dipped back into the water. BlackGreymon growled but gasped as he felt something sharp clench around his ankle. He tried to shake it off but felt the claw tug onto his ankle dragging him into the water.

Ebidramon found its way back up to the shore, one of its claws still clenched around BlackGreymon's ankle. Ebidramon tugged his arm forward, dragging BlackGreymon with him underwater. He then lifted his arm and threw him towards the struggling Gururumon.

Matt pushed himself, TK, and Tsukaimon out of the way as BlackGreymon hit Gururumon causing them both to skid across the shore, both de-digivolving back to BlackAgumon and Psychemon.

Saberdramon flew above them, her wings spread wide.

"Night Roar!" Her flame-coated feather went shooting down towards the sea monster, who once again, dived underwater. The feathers hit the water and were immediately demolished into gas.

Saberdramon growled in annoyance. "Again?!"

Yes again. He even floated up to shore, ready to attack, again.

"Twin Neptune!" Ebidramon jumped into the air, with one claw out ready to attack. He snapped it open, and then swooped his claw towards Saberdramon's neck, the pincher's clenching around it. She whimpered, and Sora, Mimi, and Aruruamon yelped as they lost balance on Sabedramon's leg.

Sora and Aruruamon were both hugging Mimi as they fell from the air and plunged into the air. They rose to the shore, the older girl and Digimon still hugging the younger girl.

Ebidramon and Saberdramon both fell from the air, but Ebidramon with a better advantage. Saberdramon could barely breathe with the claw clenched around her throat. She was panicking, her wings thrashing around but doing no good. Once they hit the water, Ebidramon came back up, unharmed, while Saberdramon came back as an unconscious Biyomon.

"Biyomon!" Sora gasped and swam towards her partner leaving Mimi alone with Aruruamon. She hugged Biyomon, and slowly swam back while glaring at Ebidramon.

Matt seethed, one arm wrapped around TK's shoulder while the other was wrapped around Psychemon's waist. TK frowned who was hugging the much bigger BlackAgumon.

"Great!" Matt scoffed. "Now, we're screwed."


"It's all your fault!"

Joe cringed when he remembered the venomous words Tai splattered at him. He looked over to the siblings, where they laid snuggling together farther from him and Gomamon.

Tai was hugging his sister tightly, who was too weak and confused to understand anything going on. But she let him, and she let Salamon nuzzle into her chest.

Joe felt a pound of guilt hit him hard. They looked so broken. He doesn't understand. She's fine, she isn't dead, she's okay now, so why is Tai still so sorrowful?

They're siblings...that could be why, but it's not like his brother would ever care if he got hurt, so why would Tai?

"It's all your fault!"

The words continued to play in his head on repeat, and he suddenly felt sick. Tai didn't mean it...right? It wasn't his fault, he didn't do anything wrong.

But maybe...maybe it was his fault. He was the oldest, he was supposed to be protecting them, instead, he failed and almost killed a little girl. He was trying to help, but he only made things worse, he should just give up and stop. It was his responsibility to be keeping them safe and he should've tried harder to do so, but he didn't, it was all his fault.

A dark grey light emanated from his pocket.

Gomamon was internally panicking, he doesn't know what to do. Tsukaimon and Tentomon were both out there shooting out their useless attacks at Ebidramon, who didn't dive into the water but stood there and taking in their attacks like it was nothing.

He should jump into action and help them and order his fishes to attacks. But taking one look at his partner, who was sitting there motionless looking like he would burst into tears, he knew that he shouldn't leave his side.

Gomamon gasped feeling power surge through him, feeling his energy increase, feeling stronger. He was blinded by the dark glow coming from Joe's pocket and it soon covered the seal.

"Gomamon digivolve too..." His body morphed into a bigger body, his glowing body growing extra arms. "Gesomon!"

No one noticed Gomamon digivolving, not until the raft of fishes vanished.

The three kids plunged into the water and rose back up gasping. Joe shook his head, the cold water snapping him back to reality. He spun his head around and gapped at the sight in front.

It was a giant squid. That what it was. And it wasn't so cozy looking either. He had two squiggly arms and dozens of sticky legs. He had a huge mouth, sharp teeth gaping out. And on his face was a strange marking, no eyes, which made Joe shake to his core.

"Who...who are you?" He squeaked out, shuddering. The squid brought down his head, looking at Joe, to which the boy flinched. The squid didn't respond, drool dripping from his mouth, while he continued to stare at his partner, which made Joe shrink back.

"Did...did Gomamon...digivolve?" Tai asked questioningly, catching on quickly. Salamon nodded atop of Kari's head. "Yep!"

"Wait?!" Joe blinked and snapped his head towards Gesomon, his fear slowly dwindling after learning who this Digimon is. "Y-you're Gomamon?"

He nodded but didn't speak. Gesomon then swam away, leaving the indigo boy alone, and towards Ebidramon, his tentacle outstretched.

Ebidramon growled, not wanting to deal with another Digimon.

"Twin Neptune!" He stretched out his claw to Gesomon's raised arm and clenched it around the tentacle. Gesomon responded quickly and snugged it around Ebidramon's head squeezing tightly, bashing his head into the water.

The lobster screeched, his claw letting goes of the squid's arm. But Gesomon didn't do the same and kept forcing Ebidramon's head into the sea.

Ebidramon growled and started to pull away, swimming further into the ocean. Gesomon tried to keep him still, but couldn't, the other sea monster dragging him further in.

He swam deep into the sea, and Gesomon tried to pull him back but to no avail. Thankfully though, he can breathe as he was a sea monster too, so he kept his grip on him.

Ebidramon swiftly turned around, his claw pinching Gesomon's tentacle. He screeched, and Ebidramon let go, moving his other claw further and delivering a punch to the squid's face.

Gesomon coughs as both of his hands went up to his face. He growled as he watched Ebidramon float there smugly. He was about to throw another punch until Gesomon regained his position.

"Evil Punch!" With his claws, Gesomon began to throw a dozen of quick punches at his opponent. Ebidramon couldn't fight back, his entire body getting hit and scratched. Gesomon continued to unleash his attacks and started to push him back.

Ebidramon finally found a way to attack his opponent. He raised his claw and smacked Gesomon across his face, stopping his attack. The squid distracted, Ebidramon flung his tail upward, kicking Gesomon down there and throwing him up to shore.

Gesomon groaned and tried to get ready to attack, but Ebidramon was quick and threw another hit at Gesomon.

"Super Shocker!"

"Friendly Fire!"

"Nemesis Ivy!"

Being the only other digimons capable of fighting, Tsukaimon, Aruruamon, and Tentomon decided to help out their friend. Aruruamon's ivy scratched Ebidramon's cheek, Tsukaimon's fire hitting Ebidramon's jaw, and Tentomon's electricity shocking his body. It didn't do much, but it was enough to distract him, allowing Gesomon to get ready for an attack.

"Coral Crusher!" Gesomon shot dark black ink at his opponent, covering his face and chest. Ebidramon screeched, the ink blinding and burning his eyes. He started to claw his eyes, his vision blinded, and his body feeling numb.

"Knight's Dome!" Ebidramon couldn't do anything now, and could only let a water vortex created by Gesomon suck him up. He squalled, as the vortex ate up his body, waves hit him harshly. Soon the vortex had covered him completely, and once it calmed down, all that's left was loose data.


Now because their raft of fishes was gone, all the kids and digimons had left was Gesomon, and it was not a comfy ride at all.

It was so slippery, even more slippery than the raft of fishes.

Tai, Matt, and Joe were all on Gesomon's head, their arms and legs hugging it, their digimons chilling on their backs. They kept on slipping down and had to push themselves back up. Poor Joe who had already felt sick from the sea before was now feeling sick from the slime from Gesomon's body. He gagged, as he detached his face from the slimy skin, a clear string connecting the two.

Mimi was complaining profusely, hating having to be squeezed tightly against Sora and Aruruamon. Gesomon was carrying them in his right hand, squeezing the three of them together tightly, Biyomon flying beside them. Sora tried to calm the other girl down, but that only made her whine more.

In his left hand were Kari and Salamon. TK was supposed to be with the two, but he escaped and started swinging himself on Gesomon's tentacle. Tsukaimon was crying atop of TK's head in fear. He could've been flying in the air like Biyomon but was too lazy to.

Izzy was the only one who wasn't on Gesomon but was being carried by Tentomon instead.

And then finally, they reached land. After three hours of Mimi complaining about her lack of personal space, three hours of TK pleading to go to the bathroom, and three hours of Tai, Joe, and Matt trying to get comfortable on the squid's slippery skin.

"I have to pee! I have to pee! I have to pee!" Tk squeaked, as he ran past the older kids and to the bushes. Matt sighed before catching up to him.

Joe and Tai were wiping the slime off their body while the other kids flopped to the ground. Gesomon turned back into Gomamon, and the white seal happily flopped in front of everyone.

"Wasn't I so cool?!" Gomamon exclaimed marvelling over himself. He then turned to Aruruamon and smirked. "Looks like I digivolved before Miss Petty here."

Aruruamon scoffed and crossed her arms. "Whatever!" She muttered, acting cool, but was secretly jealous that Gomamon of all digimons evolved before her.

Gomamon stuck his tongue out at her, and all the other digimons laughed. The plant Digimon's cheeks turning red.

Tai smiled sightly as he watched the digimons playfully laugh. He had a hold on Kari, who yawned, leaning her head on him. She was better, was able to recover from her incident during the trip on Gesomon.

"It's all your fault."

Tai winced as he recalled the words he spat at Joe. He looked at the older boy, who was standing away from the others looking nervous, his hands twitching.

Tai bit his lip. He wanted to apologize, but will he be forgiven? If it wasn't for Joe and Gesomon, they all wouldn't be here, on land, safe and sound.

And there Tai went, walking up to Joe. He had a lot of courage but began to feel himself falter. He shook his head and convinced himself to continue his stride. Joe on the other hand immediately crawled into himself when he saw Tai approaching which only made the younger feel guiltier. He really hadn't meant what he said to Joe, he wasn't even completely sure what had possessed him to do so.

The younger boy smiled sheepishly at him in a poor attempt to be casual. "Hey."

"H-hi?" Joe said, unsure of how to respond. Did Tai want to beat him up? He had hoped that after saving all of them with Gesomon that that would no longer be the case.

"Sorry about before," Tai let out an awkward laugh and scratched the back of his head. "You and Gomamon saved us, I shouldn't have said that."

"N-no," Joe's cheeks burned, feeling a bit embarrassed. "It was my fault, I didn't even do much to help out..."

"That's not true at all! You saved all of us. Kari too." Tai began to fidget suddenly nervous again. "Seriously. If it weren't for you Kari would have been dead. I can't believe I actually blamed you like that. I truly am sorry. I was a major jerk."

Joe sighed in relief. So Tai was just trying to apologize.

"You were a major jerk." He huffed, catching Tai off guard. Joe had never said anything like that to anyone before, even something as small as that. But damn if Tai didn't deserve it. And Tai knew he did. He opened his mouth to agree with Joe and apologize once more but the older cut him off before he could start. "But your sister was hurt. My brothers and I aren't all that close but after seeing how the two of you treat each other, I get it. But now that everyone is safe, let's just move on."

"You're one hell of a guy, Joe," Tai said as he chucked feeling a huge weight lifted off his chest. A bit nervously, he hugged Joe. But all his nerves vanished when Joe immediately reciprocated. Then a smaller body hugged Joe from behind.

"Thanks for everything Joe!" Kari said as she snuggled against his back causing him to go red at the appreciation.

"H-hey!" Joe sputtered. "It was nothing! Really!"

'She's safe.'

So what? Joe flinched as he heard a deep, dark voice speak. He swapped his head towards where he thought the voice was coming from but gasped as he saw everything disappeared and his sight now filled with blackness.

'Guys!' Joe called out to his friends, but he didn't respond, only the voice did.

It's just us two The voice scoffed, sounding annoyed. Joe felt his heart drop.

'What do you mean?' He fretted. 'Where is everyone?'

Why would you help her? The voice dodged Joe's question and asked his own instead. Joe frowned, confused. 'Help who?'

The small girl, He replied calmly The one with the Salamon

'Kari?' Joe asked biting his lip. 'She was drowning, unconscious, I had to help her. "

Fair. It spoke. But still! There's no point in helping others!

'What?' The boy shook his head, trying to gather the information. 'B-but why?'

The digital world is only about survival, only the strongest live in the end. What would helping others do for you? They're not your responsibility.

"Joe? Joe?!" Joe snapped his eyes open. The darkness was gone, and what stood in front of him was Kari, Mimi, Izzy, and their digimons kneeling by him with concern.

"You okay?" Mimi asked cocking her head to the side. Joe nodded, feeling a bit sick, but ignored the feeling. He stood up, without even realizing he was down on his knees.

"Y-yeah..." He gagged, rubbing his head. Tai and Sora were farther behind, with Matt and TK who had just come back. The three older kids stood there wondering if he had just witnessed what they had already experienced.


The wave that hit the kids was Ebidramon's Water Wave attack where he makes a huge wave attacking his opponents. And the dialogue between Joe and the voice may seem similar to Matt's, I have noticed that while writing it, but Matt's was more focused on getting rid of his friends while Joe's is more focused on protecting himself.

Now, this chapter would've been done earlier if I didn't get writer blocks at the ending and just stopped continuing to write it. I also got writer block while trying to write the scene where Joe saved Kari, but I actually used my brain and continued to work through it.

I have also graduated middle school a couple of days ago, and summer is in a few days so hopefully, I would be smart/not lazy and have faster updates, but no promises. High school's gonna be a bummer though.

Aruruamon's digivolving next!