Digimon: After the Fight Series
Part Seven: The Beginning, Part 3
Kuwagamon flew over them again, but this time he managed to weather away the rest of the soil underneath Izzy and T.K. The ground collapsed beneath them, sending Sora, Izzy, and T.K headlong down the cliff. B.Gatomon spun around as the ground continued to be swallowed by the black pit.
"Run for it!" B.Gatomon called, but just as the girls took a few steps, they too were falling into the bottomless pit.
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"You block your dream when you allow your fear to grow bigger than your faith."
-Mary Manin Morrissey
"W-wait, what'd you just s-say?"
"I-I said I w-was moving b-back to Odeiba," Mimi mocked Tai.
"But, I can't believe this!" Tai didn't know whether to hit or hug her. Either way, both wouldn't be enough to express his surprised feelings.
"But, how come?" Davis asked. Mimi sighed.
"Aren't you guys happy?"
Ken nodded and smiled. "Of course we are, Mimi. But you've been living in the 'Big Apple' for the last three years. We're just wondering what the big change is."
Mimi seemed satisfied by the answer. She lowered her voice, making the boys lean closer so they can hear her.
"Well, you know the destruction the digimon caused? Well, even though no one remembers the digimon for some unknown reason, the destruction was real enough to persuade my dad that another 'typhoon' may strike, so he wants to go back home to live out 'what's left of my life incase something happens,' or so he says."
Silence followed Mimi's speech. Suddenly, Davis jumped up and hugged Mimi.
"You're coming back, you're coming back! You're really really moving back!"
Mimi managed to smile as Tai, Ken, and even Adrian joined in the big group hug.
"Attention, passengers. We will be approaching Hong Cong airport in ten minutes. The 'seatbelt sign' will flash on in a few minutes, so please return to your seats and thank you for choosing Tokyo-Nihongo Airlines."
"Well, got to go," Mimi said, standing up. "Maybe we'll get to be next-door neighbors at the hotel."
Tai smiled as he went back into the aisle seat as Jon came back to them and claimed his window seat again.
"Stay in touch, Mimi," Tai said. She turned around and smiled at him.
"I want to help you guys fight your 'Demon,' so call me if you need me."
After a few short good-byes, Tai got ready for the bumpy landing.
Speaking of bumpy landings…
Kari felt herself falling into the mouth of the darkness. She tried to grab onto Yolei, but the other girl seemed to have become part of the darkness itself. Kari shut her eyes and opened them, but the only thing she saw was darkness. Kari was scared; she didn't know if she was falling head first, or if she was falling at all.
"I want Tai!" she shouted, and she came to an abrupt halt. "Wow, guess I've got to be scared more often."
"Kari…"
"Tai, is that you?" Kari squirmed in the darkness. An orange light shined to her left. She turned to look, realizing she was upside-down.
"Kari…" it said again. The figure came into view, and Kari gasped.
"You can't be Tai! Look at you!" Kari was looking at her brother from four years ago, Davis' goggles on head, along with his blue headband, and orange light surrounded his body.
"Kari…" Tai said, floating to her. "We need your help…"
"Who are you?" Kari asked, but another figure appeared behind her, this time emitting a red light.
"Kari…" Sora said, her blue helmet on her head and red light covering her, just like Tai's orange light. What was going on?
"Sora?" Kari asked. Sora shook her head.
"No, but almost."
"We had to come like this," a voice said as blue light appeared behind Sora.
"Matt…" Kari said. "Well, if you guess aren't my friends, who are you?"
"Isn't it obvious, Kari?"
Kari choked on air. She was looking at…herself; whistle around her neck and a pink light surrounded her body.
"Wait a minute," Kari said. "You guys…you're Gatomon."
The little Kari smiled. "Finally, I thought we'd have to play guessing games for awhile."
Kari turned to Sora, Matt, and Tai. "Biyomon, Gabumon, Agumon…"
They nodded. "Yes," Biyomon/Sora said. "We're not sure how long we can pull this off, but we need you to find us."
"You're statues," Kari said, realizing what Sora had said. "How are you talking to me?"
Gabumon/Matt shook his head. "It doesn't matter right now. When you wake up again, you have to find the others. When you do find them, walk into darkness."
"Why?" Kari asked.
"Because Demon's castle is in the middle of this darkness," Agumon/Tai added. "When you do, you'll have to conquer your fears in order to get pass him and find us. When you do free us, we'll digivolve and escape as soon as possible."
"Why should I trust you?" Kari asked suspiciously. "I've had more than my share of dreams trying to kill me."
Biyomon/Sora blinked in surprise. "What? But, we're asking for your help!"
Gatomon/Kari sighed. "Leave it guys. Let Kari follow her instincts. She's right; when she's ready, she'll help us."
"Gatomon," Kari said. Her frowned flickered into a smile before sighing. "Okay, I'll help."
The digimon/partners cheered in happiness.
"Remember, go deep into the darkness no matter how scared you are," Gatomon/Kari said. "And one more thing. DON'T BE SCARED. Demon will play tricks with you in his castle and being scared will only make him stronger. Got it?"
Kari nodded. "I miss you, Gato."
Gatomon/Kari nodded. "I miss you too Kari. Be careful."
"Good luck," the others said as they melted into the darkness.
Kari nodded before the lights faded into darkness and she felt herself falling again.
"Can you believe it?"
"What is it Tai? Hey, you're not unpacking!"
"Stop arguing you two, we have to unpack our stuff."
"You never told us there was a pool at this hotel, Adrian!"
"I'm sorry guys, I should've told you," Jon said as the hotel door swung open and the man walked in. Tai, Davis, Ken, and Adrian stopped unpacking to look at him.
"It's okay, dad, but what are you holding?"
Adrian pointed to the cluster of fabrics in his father's hand. He tossed one to each of the boys. Adrian held his up.
"Swimming trunks?"
Jon nodded. "I must've misread the brochure and missed the pool part, so I took the liberty of buying bathing suits for you guys."
Tai held his up and made a face. "Mine has rice balls on it! Davis, wanna trade?"
"Nope," Jon said. "Davis and Ken's may be a little small for you Tai."
"How would you know?" Tai asked, but still respectively.
"You look about the same height, shape, and size as my son."
Tai turned to Adrian, eyes narrowed. "Care to trade?"
"No," Adrian said, a grin plastered on his face. "I prefer surfboard print to rice ball print."
After a round of giggles, Jon left them to change and get food supplies.
"Do you think they're okay?" Tai asked. Adrian sighed.
"I don't know Tai. Have you tried emailing them?"
Tai nodded. "I just can't get through; I wonder if they even made it into the Digital World."
"Well," Davis said. "Look on the bright side; if they never got your emails, they've made it into the Digital World."
Tai glared at Davis, but realized he was right. "Well, let's jump into the pool!"
"Are you crazy?" Adrian said, emerging from the bedroom door, dressed in sweat shorts and a hoodie. "It's almost 8 pm and it's the middle of winter!"
"Ever heard of heated indoor-pools?" Davis asked. Adrian stared at them.
"You'll still have to walk outside to get back here."
Tai, Ken, and Davis looked at each other and exchanged smirks. Before Adrian could react, the boys grabbed him and carried him all the way to the pool house, tossing him in fully clothed.
When Kari's eyes finally opened, she was looking at a smudged face of Yolei only a few inches from her face. Kari gasped and Yolei jumped back.
"I'm sorry, Kari," Yolei stammered. "I didn't mean to scare you!"
"It's okay, 'Lei," Kari giggled. "You just caught me in surprise."
Yolei smiled and Kari glanced around. They were in a dark forest; the only source of light came from a dim fire surrounded by silhouettes not too far from them. Kari followed Yolei to them, realizing that the figures around the fire where T.K, Izzy, Sora, B.Gatomon and-
Matt and Katrina.
Kari felt relief spread through her.
"About time you woke up," Katrina joked. "I thought Yolei would go insane if she spent more time trying to wake you up!"
"I told you the kiss of true love would wake her up," Matt said, glancing at T.K. T.K shoved him, but looked at Kari.
"At least we know Yolei's more of a prince than you are," Izzy said to T.K. Kari rolled her eyes. Teenagers, I swear!
The pre-teen sat down between Sora and T.K. Kari turned to look at Izzy.
"How long do we have left?"
"According to my watch," Izzy said. "It's 1 am. We have less than 56 hours left."
"Well, let's get some sleep," T.K said.
"What about Demon?" Katrina asked. B.Gatomon looked at her.
"Seeing as I'm the only digimon left, I'll have to take care of him. And I can't do that without sleep."
Katrina looked at her and sighed. "Okay then. Izzy, could you set your alarm for 9 am? We could at least get 8 hours of sleep."
"That leaves us with only 48 hours," Yolei muttered as Izzy set his watch.
"That's okay," T.K said. "We only need two days to storm his castle and get our digimon, right? So, let's get some rest!"
"But first," Matt said. "Ghost stories!"
Kari smiled in spite of her growing worry inside her from the message of the fallen digimon. They had accomplished their mission a lot earlier than she had expected, now they had to move on to their big challenge: rescuing the digimon and destroying Demon. But, as Kari laughed with Matt, Sora, Katrina and the rest of the gang, she realized, with a yawn, that the hardest part of the journey had already past.
To be continued
Glimpse: Now that the others have finally made it into the Digital World, the only thing stopping them from rescuing their digimon is their deepest and darkest fears. Also included: What happened to Matt, Sora, and Katrina that fateful night? Stay tuned for Book Two: Digimon: House of Horrors