Escape
Drip, drip, drip. Water droplets fell from an unknown source within the complex. Drip, drip, drip. Their fall creating an echo that resonated through out, making it hard to pin point their exact location. Drip, drip, drip. Their nonchalant tempo getting on Tai's nerves. Drip, drip, drip. His temper is growing and he's loosing his patience. Drip, drip, drip. He's slowly loosing his mind.
Drip, drip, drip...
"Where the hell is that coming from?" Tai snapped.
Getting up and kicking the bars, he began to shout. "Ken!" He kicks harder. "Let us out you coward!"
"Tai..." Sora sighed, annoyed by her friend's hopelessness. "There's no use."
Tai slumped down next to her, groaning. Making the most of their situation, he took out his D-Terminal and began to play Tetris.
Shocked, Sora pushed Tai. "You've had your D-Terminal all this time?" she accused.
"Ow!" Tai rubbed his shoulder. "Yeah, why?"
"Why?" Sora couldn't believe her friend's ignorance. "We can call for help, that's why!"
"You're right!" Tai closed the game and began to write a message of distress when suddenly the device shut off.
"Eh.."
"What happened?" Sora peeked over Tai's shoulder.
"The battery's out."
"Ugh, it must have been because of your stupid game!" Sora accusingly glared at him.
"It was only one game!" Tai countered.
"Yeah, but knowing you, the battery must have been already low." Sora stepped up to Tai who backed up in return. "And you sucked the remaining juice to entertain yourself!" She pinned him to the wall.
"It's not my fault!"
"Yes it is, how could it not be your fault?"
Defeated, Tai pouted but his frown soon turned into a grin; an idea had struck him. "It's ok! If we leave it off for a couple of minutes we can turn it on for a while; long enough for us to send a message."
Sora's eyes brightened with delight. "You're right!" A joyful smile grazed her face and made Tai blush.
A wave of nostalgia overwhelmed Tai. Bowing his head, he mumbled a barely audible apology. "I'm sorry."
"For what?"
"For ignoring you, for all the fighting." He looked had her hand which was still bandaged up. "For hurting you."
"Oh...it's ok."
"No it's not ok!" I want to make it up to you."
"How about a kiss?"
Tai quirked his head in confusion and with out another word, Sora stood on her toes and gave him a small peck on the lips. Blushing like crazy, Tai stammered a nervous laugh; his odd behavior making Sora giggle.
Meanwhile...
"Matt, everyone's tired." T.K informed his brother who had them searching non-stop for hours, looking for Ken's base.
"So?" Matt retorted, looking straight ahead as he lead the way.
"So, let's take a break."
Looking back over his shoulder to view everyone's hopeful faces longing for rest, he replied. "Fine, you guys rest. I'll keep searching." He kept on walking while the others sat down.
"That guy won't quit." Cody sighed,watching Matt's retreating figure.
Matt's refusal to rest paid off for he found himself before a large building; definitely Ken's base.
"Gabumon!" He called to his friend. "You go in first and wave me in if the coast is clear."
"You got it, Matt." The little wolf waddled to the entrance.
A couple of seconds passed before Matt spotted his friend waving him in. Carefully, Matt scurried towards the entrance and went in with great care.
The two walked from hallway to hallway; occasionally passing a room or two. Heading north of the empire, they noticed a dim light coming from a room at the end of the corridor. They cautiously ran to it and peered inside.
Inside there was a single chair in the center and before it were multiple screens, all of which showed various parts of the Digiworld. One was taping Matt's group which was still resting. Another showed Agumon knocked out and locked in a cage, and the others showed different hallways and in them walked Kari, Gatomon, and the others.
"He's watching us." Matt wearily whispered.
"Matt, look!" Gabumon tugged on his partner's sleeve and pointed to a screen on the bottom right.
The screen revealed the inside of a jail cell and in it were Sora and Tai, huddled in a corner, holding hands. Matt clenched his teeth and kicked the chair, causing it to fall down with a loud clatter.
"Don't like what you see?" A voiced mocked from behind them.
"It's Ken!" Gabumon announced.
"Gabumon, attack!" Matt whispered.
The little Digimon nodded and charged at Ken, not really intending to hurt him, but just to give him a scare. And it did for Ken let out a yelp and dove out of the way.
Falling on his stomach, the wind was knocked out of him and in the process, the keys to the cell as well. In a swift movement, Matt grabbed them and ran. "Let's go Gabumon!" He commanded.
They ran from corridor to corridor, room to room, until they found the holding cell.
"Guess who?" Gabumon happily exclaimed.
"Gabumon!" Sora shouted in glee.
"The one and only!"
"Where's Matt?" Sora's concerned question made Tai frown.
"He's coming and he's got the keys!"
Matt came running and jingled the keys in triumph. He quickly unlocked the door and was greeted by a great bear hug from Sora.
"Thank you Matt!"
"Eh..." Matt blushed and looked away from Tai's icy glare.
Suddenly the complex was filled with the alarming sounds of a bell; Ken had issued an alert and was calling on his evil digimon for help.
"We better hurry!" Gabumon suggested.
The three ran out, going straight, left, and right; finding Davis and the others in different halls and dragging them along. Reunited, they ran out of the complex as fast as they could.
"Gatomon!" Kari yelled while taking out her digivice.
"Right!" The cat nodded.
"Gatomon digivolve to...Nefertimon!"
Still running, Kari hopped on Nefertimon's back and lent her brother a hand so that he too could mount the digimon.
"Tentomon digivolve to...Kabuterimon!" Izzy, Davis, and Veemon climbed on Kabuterimon's back as he took flight. At the same time, Gabumon transformed.
"Gabumon digivolve to...Garurumon!" Matt lifted Sora on to the wolf's back which he then mounted after her.
They managed to get to a safe distance away from the base and took a rest in the depths of a forest. Everyone sighed in relief except a restless Tai.
"Agumon!" he exclaimed.
"Relax Tai." Izzy held out the orange creature in his arms.
"We found him locked up in a cage." Davis explained.
"He's knocked out or something because he wouldn't answer when we called to him." Veemon added while scratching his head.
Tai smiled and took the little dinosaur-looking digimon in his arms. "Agumon." he chuckled at the sight of his still asleep partner who snored now and then.
Everyone laughed at the sight. That is, until a low rumbling was heard off into the not so far distance. At a glance, they were able to see the trees moving. Some tilted and some toppled over while the low rumbling continued.
"What's that?" Gatomon questioned.
"Kimeramon." the dreadful name escaped Kari's lips. She glanced at her brother in despair who nodded in reassurance.
"I'll find our location on my laptop and send the others a message." Izzy spoke as he took out his laptop.
"Make it quick Izzy." Tai spoke. "He's getting closer."
