Disclaimer: We all know I don't own Digimon, but in case there are any doubters, let me assure you that I don't own Digimon, and my finances strongly indicate I'm not profiting from it in any way.
Author's note: The following story contains references to my previous Digimon fanfics The Six Tests of Digibalba and In Nimbusmon's Shadow.
Dark Pyramid
Chapter 1: Omens and Auspices
Cody Hida awoke in the dark. He looked around, trying to detect what awoke him. The clock read 2:13 a.m. It couldn't have been Armadillomon: he was in the digital world with the rest of the digimon still searching for Talya and Hebimon. Yet he didn't feel like he was entirely alone. He climbed out of bed and turned on the light. Nothing. He opened the door. No one. After a few minutes, he gave up and went back to bed. But he couldn't shake the feeling that something was very wrong.
The next day, T.K. summoned them to a meeting in the digital world. Cody was the first to arrive, followed by Yolei, Davis, and Ken.
Gatomon was waiting with T.K., but the other digimon had yet to arrive.
"What's this about?" said Davis.
"Have any of you heard from Kari today?" T.K. asked.
No one had.
"Neither have I. I tried to contact her when I didn't see her in school. Then I went to her house. Her mother said she didn't see Kari this morning, but she found this in her room." He held up Kari's digivice.
"She wouldn't have just left it. Something happened to her, I can feel it," said Gatomon.
"Did anyone else wake up around two o'clock this morning?" Cody asked.
T.K. blinked with surprise. "As a matter of fact, yes. I felt weird, but I couldn't figure out why."
"I woke up, too, but I didn't see anything, so I went back to bed," Davis replied.
"So did I!" Yolei announced. "I thought I had a nightmare or something."
They all looked at Ken, who hadn't spoken yet. He was deep in thought. Yolei studied his face: his expressions were so hard to read; complex and deep, yet muted.
"Did you wake up last night, Ken?" T.K. inquired.
"Yes," he said. He didn't tell them he'd also had a nightmare, or perhaps a vision. A red sun, a dark pyramid, and something else he couldn't quite see.
"We need to find her. She may be at the Dark Ocean again."
"No," Ken said. They looked at him, waiting for an explaination. "She's in the underworld."
"How do you know?" Yolei asked.
"I just know."
"Then what are we waiting for?" said Gatomon.
"We don't even know how to get there."
"I know a way," Gatomon told them. "One of the jaguarmon I met last time I was there told me about a secret way through a cave in Mictlan Mountain."
"We should wait for our digimon before going," Cody advised.
"There's not enough time!" Gatomon nearly shouted.
Ken added somberly, "I don't think we should all go. I don't think it will be a case of safety in numbers, and if I'm wrong there should be someone here looking for her."
"Well I'm going," Gatomon declared.
"It will be dangerous."
"I think I remember what the underworld is like," she retorted. "Kari's my partner."
"I'm going too," T.K. insisted.
"Count me in!" said Davis.
"I think I should go, too," said Yolei. "She was my DNA digivolving partner."
"I don't think that's a good idea," T.K. said. "If it's going to be as dangerous as Ken and Gatomon say, maybe only Ken and Gatomon and I should go."
"We're wasting time," Gatomon whined.
"Yolei should come with us," Ken said. "Everyone else should stay behind, including the digimon."
"Why?" T.K. asked.
"I don't know why. I just have a feeling...that if we wait for them, it will be too late for Kari."
T.K. gave him a questioning look. As crazy as it sounded, he trusted Ken, and he knew both Ken and Kari had "feelings" that usually turned out to be true. "Okay," he said. "Let's go."
To T.K. and Yolei, who had never been to the demon underworld before, it was a bleak and gloomy place. To Gatomon and Ken, it was that added to some unpleasant memories.
It didn't take long before they saw a hematite-colored pyramid rising in the distance.
"I saw that in my dream," Ken told them.
"That's where Kari is," Gatomon said, "I know it."
When they reached the pyramid, they discovered it had two entrances: one on the east side of its base, the other on the west side.
"Let's split up," T.K. suggested.
Ken agreed. "You and Gatomon take the east entrance, Yolei and I will take the west entrance."
"Right. Contact me on the D-3 if you find her."
"I don't think they'll work down here." Ken replied.
They went their separate ways.
"This place feels evil," T.K. commented when they entered the east door.
"Which is why we have to find Kari and get out as soon as possible," Gatomon said. She sniffed nervously. "And keep your eyes open; we're not alone."
They continued cautiously. The light from the entrance receded behind them, but the pyramid's interior was lit by a seemingly-sourceless twilight.
"Ken had a good idea about how we should pair up," Gatomon said. "This way, both groups have someone who's been in the underworld before."
"I hope that helps us, but I wonder why he agreed to let Yolei come in the first place."
"Shh!" Gatomon froze, listening.
T.K. looked around. The dim corridor was narrow and clearly deserted. "Gatomon, there's no one here..."
Right then something large and dark dropped from above, leathery wings outstretched. T.K. jumped back. Gatomon's hairs stood on end.
"Hello, Gatomon."
"Hello, Deathbatmon. You startled us."
"You know this digimon?" T.K. asked.
"We kind of hung out together at a ballgame," Deathbatmon answered.
"Have you seen my partner?" Gatomon asked. "She disappeared last night. She's about as old as him, and has short brown hair and light brown eyes."
"Why, yes. Last night a noise woke me up. It was a digimon I've never seen before, carrying a human girl. She looked asleep."
"Can you describe this digimon?" T.K. questioned.
Deathbatmon thought for a moment, then drew a symbol in the dust of the floor. T.K. and Gatomon gasped.
"It can't be," T.K. breathed.
Gatomon looked at Deathbatmon seriously. "Is this digimon still here?"
He shrugged. "I saw it leave this morning. It might have come back through the other passage."
"Do you know where Kari is?"
"Probably in the inner chamber. I can take you there."
