((Author's Note: Thank you retro mania for the request. I've had a lot of fun writing this and I can't wait to write more!))
Chapter 01: Into the Wilds
The songs of cicadas echoed through the forest as the summer heat beat down on the twenty-two hiking campers. It was a sweltering ninety-four degrees and the shade of the trees barely helped shelter them from the sun's rays. Their camp counselor took a pause in their hike to show the campers a plant on the side of the dirt path.
"Over here you'll find poison ivy," the camp counselor explained, kneeling down and pointing to the plant to show all the campers. "You all know better than to step in this because it will-"
Tai yawned. He was growing impatient. This was the eleventh stop they had made, or maybe it was just ten? Tai lost count of how many times the hike was halted just to look at a plant or a tree. And of course, he knew what poison ivy was. He had stomped through some when he was a lot younger and paid the price for it, something his sister, Kari, never let him live down.
Speaking of which, Kari was being attentive and listened to everything the camp counselor said. Despite this, she did look a little bored, too. She was fiddling with the whistle that was hanging around her neck, trying to get some kind of stimulation. Tai had been hoping that they would be doing more hiking and exploring. Instead, the camp counselor treated the forest like a museum, where everything needed to be observed and explained in great detail.
Tai shifted his weight from one foot to the other. He was nearly bored to tears. And here he was excited to go to summer camp this year. Too bad the trip was turning out to be more boring than school.
Finally, he had enough. He wanted to explore and learn on his own, not have someone drone on about all the plants that grew in the forest. He nudged his sister's shoulder and she turned to face him.
"Let's go do a little field research of our own," he whispered. Without waiting for a reply, Tai snuck away from the rest of the group and made his way off the path and deeper into the forest. Kari glanced behind her, made sure no one was paying attention, and slipped away too.
Kari quickly found her brother. He was climbing up a tree. "What are you doing?" she asked.
"Getting a better view," he replied as he reached for the closets, sturdiest branch, and pulled himself up. Once he was seated, he dug into the pocket of his brown shorts and retrieved his mini telescope. He looked through it, hoping to find something interesting.
"Tai? What are you doing up there?" he heard a familiar voice. He looked down and saw his best friend and fellow soccer teammate, Sora. He would have recognized that blue hat and bright yellow tank top anywhere.
"Just doing some sightseeing," he said.
"You can't just wander off like this," she continued. "What if you get lost? How is anyone going to find you?"
"I have my cellphone on me."
"We have no reception out here."
That was Sora for you; always practical. Of course, he shouldn't be breaking off from the group, but he wanted to and Tai did what he wanted. Blame it on poor impulse control, he thought to himself.
"Woah, this is cool!" Another voice said, and Tai watched as a little kid in a green hat and a green long sleeve shirt emerged from the underbrush and joined Kari. It was T.K. and he, along with Kari, were the youngest of the campers. "Oh, you're here too, Kari?" he asked.
"T.K., get back here!" Matt was next to join the two kids at the base of the tree. He had on a sleeveless green turtle neck tank top and navy blue jeans that day, and Tai wondered if he and Sora regretted wearing jeans that day, with how hot it was outside. Matt was also T.K.'s older brother, and he didn't always get along well with Tai. It didn't help that Tai was always getting into mischief like this.
Matt looked up at Tai in the tree and sighed. "Just what are you doing?"
Tai didn't get a chance to answer as more campers were joining them. Next up was Izzy and Mimi. Tai noticed that Izzy was wearing his backpack, meaning he had his laptop on him. No one was exactly sure why he bothered to bring his computer with him, as there was no wi-fi or cell service where they were, but he was a nerdy little kid, so Tai didn't question it too much.
Then there was Mimi, a very prim and proper girl who had no problems speaking her mind. She wore a pink cowboy hat everywhere she went, and it complimented her western-style red dress well. She also had her leather bag slung over her shoulder. What was inside the bag was a mystery to everyone except its owner.
"Wandering off like this is illogical," Izzy said. "You're bound to get lost at this rate, guys."
"Wow, are you guys having a little party over here?" Mimi asked. "And I wasn't invited?"
Deciding that they were getting a little crowded, Tai climbed down and joined his friends on the ground. "Just how many of you followed us?" he asked.
"Apparently, eight of us." They heard a grunt as Joe also came into view. He was sweaty and tired, and it didn't help that he was forced to carry the emergency rations bag with him, which was bulky and heavy. The heat only made carrying the supply bag even more cumbersome. He pushed up his glasses as he walked over to the others. "You guys are being so irresponsible. We're going to get into a lot much trouble when they find out that we split off from the group."
"You're the one who followed us," Tai retorted.
"I don't know," Mimi mused, adjusting her cowboy hat. "This seems way more interesting than learning about a bunch of plants."
"We need to head back," Joe said. "As the oldest one here, I-"
"Would you just chill, Joe," Tai interjected. "We're already here so we might as well do a little exploring."
The others glanced around at each other, silently looking for guidance. Tai wasn't a troublemaker, per se, but he did tend to wander off and do his own thing. Did they really want to follow him?
"You guys don't have to come with us. C'mon Kari, Sora, let's go."
"Why me?" Sora asked.
"Because it'll be fun, that's why. Don't you guys want to see more of the forest? We'll remember where the trail is. We won't go far."
"What do we tell the camp counselor?" Joe asked.
"We'll just tell him that we got sidetracked. I've done it before. No big deal."
T.K. tugged on Matt's shirt. "Can't we go, too?" he asked. "I want to go exploring."
"I don't know…" Matt trailed off, thoughtfully. In all honesty, he was getting bored by the hiking trip as well, so maybe this wouldn't be such a bad idea.
"I'm all for it," Mimi said. "Our bug spray barely works, but moving around keeps them from biting us."
"Fine," Matt said, not able to take T.K.'s puppy dog eyes any longer. "I should probably keep an eye on you guys."
"Hey, that's what I was going to say!" Joe said.
Matt rolled his eyes and looked genuinely unimpressed.
Kari had stayed quiet for a while, not really sure what to do or say. This wasn't the first time that she and Tai had ventured off on their own, but something about today felt… strange. She couldn't put her finger on it, but she had an odd feeling that something big was about to happen. Like a premonition. She kept those thoughts to herself, shoving them into the back of her mind. They were just at summer camp. Nothing bad would happen to her, not so long as she stuck close to her big brother.
Tai took the lead and the eight campers ventured deeper into the forest. They walked for some time, eventually finding a winding trail that took them down a small, steep hill by the river. The river was fairly wide and quite deep, but the current was slow and gentle that day. T.K. found a log further downstream that had been knocked over by, what they assumed, must have been a lightning strike. The fallen tree spanned over the water and to the other side of the river.
"Let's see what's over there," Tai said and began walking across the log.
"Tai, be careful, that looks dangerous," Sora said, but her warning fell upon deaf ears as Tai steadily walked across the log. Sora sighed and hoped on next. Once Tai and Sora were on the other side, Kari stepped onto the log and crossed. Behind her were T.K. and Matt, who were then followed by Izzy and Mimi. Matt helped them step onto land once they reached the end of the log.
That just left Joe.
"Hurry up, Joe. What's the holdup?" Tai called from the other side.
Joe folded his arms. "You've got to be kidding me! You don't expect me to cross that, do you?"
"C'mon, Joe, we don't have all day," Matt said, tapping his foot impatiently.
"We should head back now. What if the others are looking for us?"
"Just a little further. Then we'll go back," Tai said.
Joe threw up his hands and let out an exasperated sigh. He had half a mind to just head back on his own and let the others get in trouble, but as the oldest out of all of them, he knew that he needed to be responsible and look after them. "Fine, but I really don't like this."
Joe took his time across the log, too fearful of falling in. He couldn't swim, after all. Once he finally reached the other side, they continued onward. As they walked further, they came across an unusual sight.
They had stumbled upon a large circle of trees, and inside was a smaller circle of eight stone tablets jutting out from the ground, all facing toward the center. Curious, the eight campers crept over to the tree circle and stepped inside.
Kari was the first to approach one of the stone tablets. It almost looked like a tombstone, only smaller, and on each of the stones were symbols carved into them like epitaphs. One appeared to be a sun, another a heart, and another looked like a cross. Each of the campers found themselves drawn to one of the stones, as if by instinct.
"What do you think this is?" Matt asked.
Tai put his hand to the stone tablet, and the carving of a sun immediately lit up, glowing a vibrant orange. Sora gasped as she touched her stone as well and it did the same, only the heart-shaped carving glowed a beautiful red. The others did the same as well and their stones began glowing as well, each a different color.
Suddenly, small orbs of light formed before each of them, right in front of the carvings. There appeared to be something in the middle of the light. Tai reached out and took the ball of light and felt something solid in the palm of his hand. The light faded the moment he touched it and he was able to get a better look at the object that had been glowing brightly.
It appeared to be a gray pager of some sort, with a round screen, a small antennae, and three buttons - two on one side, and one on the other. There was a clip on the back of the device where it could be attached to a belt or the outside of a pocket.
"Prodigious!" Izzy exclaimed, staring at the strange device in his hand. "I've never seen anything like this before."
"What do you think these things are?" T.K. asked.
"No clue," Matt replied.
"Mine's just a boring grey color," Mimi complained. "I'd rather have pink. Kari, your stone turned pink when you touched it, do you have a pink one of these things? Want to trade?"
Kari was too lost in thought, however, and didn't hear Mimi's question. She thought she heard a voice.
"You are the chosen ones," the voice said, so calm and serene, almost angelic. "Come forth, DigiDestined."
"Chosen ones?" Kari asked aloud. The others turned to her, confused.
"Huh? Did you say something?" Tai asked.
"Didn't you hear that voice?"
Before anyone had a chance to respond, Mimi cried out in fear. "What is that?"
Everyone turned to where she was pointing and saw a fogbank in the distance, except it looked like it was coming closer. It swallowed up trees as it rapidly formed and expanded. The kids could only stare in awe and bewilderment as the fog came at them like a tidal wave. It appeared to be gaining speed as it enveloped the forest.
"What kind of fog is that?" Izzy asked in shock.
"Who cares? Let's get out of here!" Sora shouted. The others didn't have to think twice and the eight campers ran out of the tree circle and back towards the river. They began searching for the log and saw that it was further upstream.
None of them were able to reach the fallen tree before the fog bank washed over them, covering the whole area in a thick haze. The fog was so thick and murky that none of the children couldn't see a single thing in front of them. Panic was beginning to rise in them, but Sora called out, "Stay close together, everyone. We don't want to get separated out here."
They gathered closer to one another. Izzy glanced at the strange device in his hand and noticed that the screen was showing something. He brought it closer to his face and could see that there was a compass, and it was pointing northeast. "Are your devices showing a compass, too?"
Matt checked his and nodded. "Is yours pointing northeast? Because that's where mine's pointed."
"That's further into the forest," Joe said. "We need to go back and rejoin the other campers."
"We can't safely cross the river like this," Sora said. "One of us could easily slip and fall into the water."
"I can't even see where the log is," Matt added.
Tai grabbed Kari's hand and shouted, "Guys, hold on to each other's hands. We're following these little gadgets to wherever they're pointing to."
Joe didn't like that idea but he didn't have a better one, so he locked hands with T.K. and Mimi. The campers all took each others' hands until they formed a line. Tai was in the front with the strange little device in his free hand. He looked over the compass and led the way through the fog. They took nervous and tentative steps as they walked, fearful of tripping. Tai expected to bump face first into a tree, but it seemed as if the tree line was thinning the further they traveled.
The campers were beginning to notice that the uneven ground was becoming flatter, and the sounds of wildlife had all but ceased completely. It was eerily quiet, and the crunching of grass beneath their feet were the only sounds that could be heard.
Tai took another step forward but his foot landed on nothing but air. Suddenly, he was falling. Without meaning to, he dragged Kari along with him, who in turn pulled Sora. All the campers were pulled into the nothingness and found themselves falling. Down and down they tumbled, it seemed like they had been falling for hours and yet they never reached the bottom. There came a bright flash of light from below, erupting upward and enveloping the eight campers in a warm glow.
When the light faded, Tai found himself sitting on the ground, as if he had never fallen in the first place. He rubbed his eyes, trying to help them readjust from looking into that bright light.
"Tai? Are you all right?" he heard Kari ask. His eyes began to focus and he could see his sister standing over him. She seemed to recover from the fall much quicker than he did.
"Yeah, I think so," he replied. He looked around. The fog was gone, and he found himself sitting by a lake in the clearing of a forest, with trees lining the edge of the clearing. Far off in the distance, was a gigantic mountain. Nothing about this area looked or felt familiar at all. Where were they?
A rustling could be heard from a nearby bush. Tai pushed himself up and stood protectively in front of Kari. He looked around for anything that he could use as a weapon. Kari spotted a fairly large stick close to them, grabbed it, and handed it to her brother.
The rustling continued, and Tai prepared himself for whatever was ready to pop out at them. A raccoon perhaps? Maybe a fox?
A creature burst through the bushes, but it was not what Tai had expected at all. As a matter of fact, he had never seen an animal like it before. It was a little pink blob with long antennas sprouting from its head. Its huge, red eyes spotted them and it began bouncing excitedly. Its mouth, full of small sharp teeth, upturned into a wide smile.
"Tai!" the little pink blob exclaimed happily as he bounced over to them. "I've been waiting for you my whole life!"
"Waiting for me?" Tai asked, confused.
The blob bounced up high and wrapped his antennas around the back of Tai's head and pulled himself up until he smooshed himself against Tai's face.
Kari couldn't help but laugh at the sight of the little pink blog hugging Tai's face tightly. "I think he likes you," she said.
Tai managed to pry the creature off of him so he could breathe again. "Who are you?" Tai asked. "And where are we?"
"I'm Koromon!" the blob said, "I'm your partner Digimon."
"Digimon?"
Koromon nodded, or rather, his whole body nodded. "It's short for "digital monster" and you're in the Digital World!"
Kari noticed another little creature peering out from the bushes. It was a little yellow ball of fur, with cat ears and a tail with purple stripes. Kari crept over to the creature, and it slowly made its way out of the bush.
"It's okay. I'm friendly," Kari said, kneeling down and holding her hand out for the little creature to sniff.
Koromon turned to where Kari was looking and said, "That's my friend, Nyaromon."
Nyaromon sniffed Kari's hand and smiled. "Kari!" she said happily. "I've been waiting for so long to finally meet you!"
"Tai? Kari? Is that you?" They heard Sora shout. They looked over to the forest and saw Sora walk into the clearing and sprint over to them.
"I'm glad you two are all right," Sora said. She then noticed Koromon and Nyaromon bouncing around Tai and Kari. She took a nervous step back. "What are those?"
"Oh, those are Koromon and Nyaromon," Tai explained. "They call themselves "Digimon" or something like that. Koromon also said something about being my partner."
"Partner?"
Koromon bounced happily over to Sora. "Have you found Yokomon yet?"
"Yokomon?" Sora repeated.
"She's been waiting for you for so long. She was so excited to meet you that her digiegg hatched before anyone else's. I'm sure she's here somewhere. I think she was playing with Tanemon and Motimon."
"I know where they are," Nyaromon said. "Follow me."
Nyaromon led them down a dirt path and to another small clearing in the forest. There was a large rock in the middle of the clearing, and running around the rock were three other little creatures. One was green and had two leaves sprouting from the top of its body, while another one was pink and had a blue flower popping out of its head. The third one was another pink blob with little hands that each had three tiny claws.
The green creature noticed Tai, Kari, and Sora and stopped to look at them. The pink flowery creature bumped into the green one, and the last pink blob skidded to a halt before he could run into the other two.
The pink Digimon with the blue flower turned up and gasped. She looked shocked at first but quickly smiled as she hopped over to Sora.
"Sora, I'm so happy. You're finally here," the flower creature said. "My name is Yokomon."
Sora bent down and picked up Yokomon. She looked her in the eyes and smiled back. "You're really cute," she said. Yokomon's smile grew and she immediately cuddled up to Sora's chest.
"Does this mean that Izzy's here?" the little pink, clawed Digimon asked.
"Then Mimi must be here, too!" the green, leafy one exclaimed. "Mimi's finally arrived!"
"Who are these guys?" Tai asked.
"The green one's Tanemon and the other one is Motimon," Koromon explained. "They've been waiting for Mimi and Izzy, just like I was waiting for you, Tai."
"We're still trying to find everyone," Tai said to Tanemon and Motimon, "but they must have landed somewhere around here, too."
Kari stepped away from the others and blew her whistle loudly. Tai smiled as he knew that the others were bound to hear her. Kari pulled the whistle away from her mouth to catch her breath. They stood there and listened, hoping to hear one of their friends call out to them.
"...Kari!" they heard Joe shout, his voice echoing lightly.
"Joe! Joe, this way!" Tai and Sora called together as they took off towards the sound of Joe's voice. As they ran, Kari blew her whistle once again. They stopped when they saw Joe emerge from the bushes and run towards them. His face was white as a sheet and he looked absolutely terrified.
"Guys! Guys!" he said frantically and mostly out of breath. "There was this weird creature thing chasing me and it knew my name, but I think I finally lost it."
A little brown monster with long fins and an orange mohawk floated out of the bushes and landed on Joe's shoulder.
"Can't get rid of me that easily, Joe," the monster said. "And stop screaming already. I'm your pal, Bukamon."
Joe was indeed screaming and practically running around in circles to try to get the little creature off of him.
"Calm down, Joe," Tai shouted over his cries. "He's clearly not going to hurt you."
Joe slowed down and stopped. He turned fearfully to Bukamon and gulped. "Are you sure it's not going to try to eat me?"
"I doubt you taste that good. Too scrawny," Bukamon replied with a laugh.
Sora walked over with Yokomon still in her arms. "See, Joe, these little guys are just fine. They're our own personal something-or-others."
"Digimon," Yokomon corrected, but she didn't look upset in the slightest by being called a "something-or-other."
"Sorry, I meant Digimon," Sora said.
Their chat was interrupted by a shriek followed by a loud cry for help. "I'd recognize that scream anywhere," Joe said. "That was definitely Mimi."
"She must be in trouble," Sora said as she took off towards the sound of the scream. The others and their Digimon followed after her as they winded through trees and foliage before coming to a tall, steep hill. Sora and Tai were used to running thanks to their years of playing soccer and they dashed up the hill with no problem at all. When they reached the top, they looked down and found Mimi standing under a tree. Three yellow caterpillar monsters were hanging around her by threads, looking like they were trying to swing over to her. Mimi pulled her hat over her eyes and screamed again.
"Get away from me!" she cried.
Tanemon charged and shouted, "Leave Mimi alone, you jerks!"
The three caterpillars looked down at her and watched as Tanemon hopped over to them. Tanemon began blowing bubbles at the caterpillars. The bubbles burst with a loud pop the second they touched them. The caterpillars yelped as the bubbles surrounded them and kept popping all around them.
"Ugh, what are you doing?" one of them asked.
"Let's get out of here," another one said, and the three caterpillars climbed up their threads back to the top of the tree. Mimi watched them leave and sank to the ground, sobbing.
"What were those things?" Mimi asked, her face stained with tears.
"Those were Kunemon," Tanemon replied. "It's okay, they're gone now."
She looked down at Tanemon and sniffled. "You saved me."
Tanemon cuddled closer to Mimi's hip. "Don't cry, Mimi. My name's Tanemon, and I'm here to protect you."
"I don't understand," Mimi said, wiping away her tears. "What is this place? What's happened to us?"
"You're in the Digital World. Everything's going to be fine now that we're together."
Mimi stood up and readjusted her hat. "I really don't want to be here anymore. Can we get out of this place?"
Everyone continued through the forest, calling out their missing friends' names. As they walked, Tai looked down at his strange device and saw that something new was on the screen. It looked like a simplistic map of the area with several red dots in various locations. Five were huddled together and were moving towards two other red dots. Tai stopped and the others did as well. The five dots that were close together also stopped moving on the map.
"So, this must be our location," Tai remarked. Sora, Joe, Mimi, and Kari looked at their devices as well.
"Look, there are three other dots on the map here," Joe said. Two of the dots were close by, and the third one was a bit further away and looked to be just past the lake.
"I bet those two dots are Matt and T.K.," Sora said.
Tai cheered. "Let's go find them, then!" The campers all followed the map towards the two closest dots. Neither of them were moving, and Tai prayed that it wasn't a sign that something was wrong or someone was hurt. "Matt! T.K.! We're over here!"
Kari blew her whistle again, and the two dots that had been stationary before were now moving in their direction. They found the path again and followed it back towards the lake.
They soon found Matt and T.K. walking in their direction, their devices in their hands. Tai assumed that they must have figured out the map on their devices as well. Matt had a little Digimon tucked under his arm like a ball, and another little one bounced after them. The one Matt was holding was round like Koromon but had orange and white fur and a large horn sticking out of his head. The second almost resembled that of a piglet, but it had no nose or hooves and had antennas instead of ears.
"Man, am I glad to see you," Matt said. He looked down at the other Digimon with surprise. "So, you all have a little critter too?"
"What're their names?" Kari asked.
Matt held out his Digimon and the little creature replied, "I'm Tsunomon. It's nice to meet you all."
"My little guy's name is Tokomon," T.K. said, kneeling down to hug the little white Digimon. Tokomon giggled and did his best to hug him back with his stubbly little arms.
Joe pushed up his glasses and looked back at his device. "Now all we have to do is find Izzy."
"I'm so excited!" Motimon said. "I can't wait to finally meet Izzy."
"What are we waiting for?" Tai asked the group. "Let's go find Izzy!"
They followed the path until they arrived at the lake. Tai saw on his map that Izzy was moving further north but stopped suddenly.
Everyone began calling out Izzy's name as they ran in his direction. Luckily for them, Izzy didn't seem to be moving at all. Once they were fairly close, the dot began moving towards them. He must have heard them calling out his name.
They came to another hill and they spotted Izzy at the top, waving at them. "You guys, you are not going to believe this!"
"Try me," Tai said as he began walking up the hill, "because after today, I just might believe anything you say."
Motimon passed by Tai, hopping up the hill as fast as he could. Izzy was startled by the creature coming toward him.
"Izzy! Izzy! Izzy!" Motimon cheered. "We're finally together. My name's Motimon, and we're partners."
Izzy was clearly confused and was staring at all the Digimon that were bouncing and hopping about cheerfully. As the others reached the top of the hill, they looked off into the horizon in awe. Far off in the distance, near the base of the mountain, was civilization. Tai retrieved his mini telescope from his pocket and looked through it. He could see streets and large buildings - both shops and homes. There was a towering cathedral near the outskirts of the city, and he could see Digimon of all shapes and sizes walking about, carrying on with their day.
"That's what I was wanting to show you guys," Izzy said. "There's a city here. Maybe someone can help us out."
"Let's check it out," Tai said, and the campers and their new Digimon friends made their way over to the big city.
It turned out, however, that the city was further away than it looked and it would take a while to reach by foot. As they walked down the dirt path to the sprawling metropolis, they passed by a wooden directional sign, but it was written in a language that none of the humans could read.
"It says that File City is straight ahead," Tsunomon explained.
"Have you ever been to this File City before?" Izzy asked.
"Nope, none of us have," Koromon said. "We all hatched in the forest and have been waiting for you the whole time."
After nearly two hours of walking, they finally arrived at File City. As they ventured through the streets, the other Digimon eyed them wearily which, in turn, made them weary too. They passed by various buildings and homes. Some of them they assumed were shops, but they couldn't read any of the signs or the words on the buildings. Their partners translated for them as they carried on. There was a bank, various shops, and a restaurant on the block they were on. Despite the fact that they were getting hungry, they didn't know if any of their money would work in this world so they put off trying to find food for the moment.
Matt held Tsunomon close to him. One Digimon gave them a glare as they walked by and the two shuddered. "So… Now what do we do?" Matt asked.
"Not sure," Sora said. "The Digimon around here don't seem too friendly."
"There has to be someone here willing to help us."
As they made a left turn at the end of the block, they passed by a green turtle Digimon that was wearing a blue helmet. It sauntered over to them and said in a slow but friendly tone, "Are you humans, by any chance?"
"Yes, we are," Tai replied. "Do you think you could help us out? We sort of got warped to this world and we have no idea how to get home."
"I'd be happy to help. Come with me, I know someone who can fill you in on everything. My name is Kamemon, by the way."
Just before any of them had a chance to introduce themselves, they heard shouting and screams of terror. A loud buzzing could also be heard and was growing louder. Digimon were scrambling about the streets in a blind panic.
Tai and Koromon were the first to act and the two ran back around the corner to see what all the commotion was about. Something huge flew at Tai and he dropped to the ground, just narrowly evading it. He looked up and gasped. Flying about the city were several large hornets, with sharp, talon-like hands, dual stingers, and purple wings. They swooped down on the civilians, trying to stab at them with their stingers.
The others joined them and watched the terror unfold. It was like a plague, and the hornets were flying around so quickly that no one had a chance to count them to see how many were invading the city.
"Oh, no. Those are Flymon," Motimon explained. "They're really nasty Digimon with an even nastier temper."
"But what are they doing here? They usually live in the forest," Tokomon said.
"Tai, get back," Koromon said, hopping in front of him. "I'll protect you."
"How?" Tai said, pushing himself up. "There's no way you can stand up to something like that. You're just too small."
"I have to try."
"You aren't alone," Yokomon said, and the other Digimon joined Koromon in standing protectively by their human partners.
"That's right, we're going to fight, too," Tsunomon added.
Mimi bent down and picked up Tanemon. "No, I don't want to see you get hurt. That bug is way too big for you to fight."
"Please stay here, Tokomon," T.K. said, hugging Tokomon close to him. Tokomon struggled in his grip, trying to wriggle out of his arms.
"T.K., let me fight!" Tokomon yelled.
"We have to do something," Nyaromon said to Kari. "If we don't then a lot of Digimon are going to get hurt."
Kari wrapped her arms around herself, trembling. She had never been so scared in her entire life. "But, Nyaromon-"
"Kari, look out," Tai shouted as he pulled his sister over to him. Another Flymon zipped past them and as it flew by, Yokomon and Motimon blew bubbles at it. The bubbles popped against it, but it didn't even seem to notice.
Three of the Flymon took notice of the children and their Digimon and began swarming around them. They flew circles in the sky, circling around like vultures. Without warning, they dived on them, stingers pointing at the kids.
"We have to protect our partners!" Koromon cried out. "Digimon, attack!"
Tokomon and Tanemon managed to jump out of T.K.'s and Mimi's arms and all the Digimon jumped up high, ready to intercept the Flymon. They unleashed a barrage of bubbles at the Flymon but just like before, it did nothing against them. The Flymon tackled the Digimon, sending them crashing to the city streets below.
The Flymon returned to the sky and continued buzzing around File City. The campers all ran over to their fallen Digimon friends and scooped them up, looking them over for any serious injuries.
"Koromon, why'd you do that?" Tai asked. "Why didn't you just listen to me?"
"I have to protect you. No matter what," he replied weakly. "You don't understand how long I waited to finally be your partner."
More of the swarm took notice of the children and began circling in the sky, buzzing about and preparing themselves for one more attack. They were able to count the Flymon this time. There were six of them, and they were eyeing the children and their Digimon with murderous intent.
"We can't give up," Koromon shouted. "We have to keep fighting, no matter what!"
"That's right!" the other Digimon said.
"Would you just give it a rest already?" Joe said, refusing to let go of Bukamon no matter how hard he fought in his arms. "You don't stand a chance against those things. We've already been over this."
"You'll just get hurt again," T.K. added.
Motimon struggled and wiggled about, trying to slip out of Izzy's hands. It was taking all of Izzy's strength just to keep a hold of him. "These guys must be programmed for courage or something."
All of the Digimon were now fighting to escape their partners' arms, growling and yelling all at once. Koromon turned up to the Flymon and watched as they formed a perfect circle in the sky and flew round and round.
Koromon then shifted his gaze to Tai and said, "I'm sorry, Tai, but I have to do this." And Koromon lunged out of Tai's hands. The other Digimon also jumped out of their partners' arms. The Flymon spotted the little Digimon, and the circle the insectoid creatures were flying in steadily broke apart, and the Flymon dived on them, stingers pointed at them.
"Koromon! No!" Tai cried out as he watched in horror as the Flymon advanced on them. "You don't stand a chance, come back!"