Adventure: Redux

by Zavoren

Season 1 AU. A darkness is spreading through the digital world, and its inhabitants are beginning to turn cruel and malicious. Tai and his friends find themselves transported from their summer camp to this dangerous new world, where they must defeat this growing evil and find a way to return home.

3. What Lies in the Shadows

Chapter 3: What Lies in the Shadows

The children and their partners continued through Native Forest, coming across many Digimon of various shapes and sizes. They passed by a herd of Stegomon, a group of scheming Goblimon, and a few Floramon basking in the sunlight, while a flock of Swanmon flew overhead. They had found a dirt path through the woods and followed it for a while, hoping that the compass Mimi had loaned to Tai was accurate and pointing them in the right direction.

"Man, I feel like we've been in this forest forever," Tai remarked as they marched on.

They heard a scream from nearby, and the DigiDestined immediately ran after it. More shouting could be heard, along with angry grunts and snarls. As they rounded a massive tree, they found a little black bear that was wearing a blue baseball cap being attacked by what looked like three tall stumps, with two sets of wooden arms - one set looking like torn up logs while the smaller set looked like little clawed hands made out branches. The stump creatures loomed over the little bear, who was trembling and lying in a fetal position.

"It's a Bearmon," Tentomon said worriedly, "and he's being attacked by those Woodmon!"

"They must be under that weird mind control," Tai said. "We've got to help him."

Salamon leaped out of Kari's arms and began barking and howling at the Woodmon. They turned their attention to her and winced as her cries grew in volume. "Puppy Howling!" she said.

"Pepper Breath!" Agumon shouted as he unleashed a fireball from his mouth at one of the Woodmon. Gabumon joined in by spewing a jet of blue fire at another one, and Biyomon flew over and used her Spiral Twister on the last one. The Woodmon were stunned for a moment, unprepared for the sudden surprise attack from the kids and their Digimon. While they were incapacitated, Tai, Kari, and Matt ran over to the Woodmon and used their Digivices to restore them to normal. The Woodmon all groaned as the rainbow aura that surrounded them slowly vanished. They looked around, confused, and then spotted the DigiDestined and their Digimon, all readying themselves for another fight. Frightened, the Woodmon all ran off in separate directions, retreating deeper into the forest.

Agumon walked over to Bearmon and helped him stand. He shook Bearmon's paw, and the little bear reciprocated the gesture happily. "Thank you for saving me," Bearmon said.

"Not a problem. I'm Agumon, by the way," the little reptilian replied. "My friends and I are trying to get to Dragon Eye Lake. Do you think you could help us out? Are we heading in the right direction?"

"You are," Bearmon replied. "If you keep on this path, then it will take you right to the lake. It's a few hours away from here, but you should make it there by evening. You definitely want to get there before nighttime, though."

"Everyone's been telling us that," Matt said. "About getting there before dark. Is it really that dangerous out here at night?"

Bearmon shuddered. "It used to not be, but lately some strange Digimon have been appearing after dusk. One, in particular, has been spotted hanging out in the forest at night. It's some kind of lion Digimon."

"A lion? That doesn't sound good," Mimi muttered, anxiety beginning to well up within her.

"We'll be fine," Tai assured his team. "You heard what Angoramon said. As long as we stick together, then we'll be okay."

"I agree," Kari added, "but I do think we should hurry to the lake."

The DigiDestined parted ways with the friendly Bearmon and continued on their journey. As they drew closer to Dragon Eye Lake, they noticed the trees were beginning to thin, and a more unusual sight greeted them. Lining the dirt path were several street lights. They flickered some, but soon each one flared to life as the sun began to set in the west. The orange glow of the streetlights filled the children with a sense of warm nostalgia. They followed the path and the streetlights until they finally made it to the forest's edge. Upon crossing that threshold, they were greeted by Dragon Eye Lake. It spanned so far and wide that Tai had to look through his mini telescope just to see the other side. He could see the woods across the lake, as well as the peak of a mountain that was much smaller than Infinity Mountain. That has to be Mount Panorama, Tai mused.

The water in the lake was crystal clear, and fish would swim about near the surface before diving back down again. As strange as it was, there were telephone poles jutting up from the lake, though they didn't appear to be connected to one another.

What really shocked the campers wasn't the sheer size of the lake or the telephone poles, but rather the building that was sitting right in the middle of the water. There was a large rock platform, and built upon it was a lighthouse. It was pristine and white with red stripes, and its guiding light shone brightly as it circled clockwise. It was a beacon for no one, as there were no ships or boats out on the lake.

"What's a lighthouse doing here, in the middle of a lake?" Kari asked.

Tai was still scanning the lakefront with his mini telescope. There didn't appear to be any way for them to reach the lighthouse, and he knew that some of their team couldn't swim. The lighthouse would just have to remain a mystery for the time being.

"It's starting to get dark," Sora said. "We should probably get our camp set up."

"Hey, Mimi, do you have a tent and some cots in that bag of yours?" Matt joked. "We could sure use them right about now."

Tai sighed and put away his mini telescope. "It looks like we're going to have to sleep on the ground tonight."

"But sleeping on the ground is bad for my back," Mimi complained.

"Do you see a hotel around here, Mimi?" Joe asked impatiently. "I don't like it either, but what choice do we have?"

"But what about that lion that Bearmon told us about? What if he's out there, somewhere?"

"I think it would be a good idea for us to take turns standing guard," Sora said. "That way we can keep an eye out for any Digimon that might try to attack us while we're sleeping."

"I can go first," Matt offered. "I just don't want T.K. to do it."

T.K., having heard his name, walked over to his brother and pouted. "Why not? I'm a big kid, I can handle it."

"Yeah, Matt, I'm sure T.K. would be just fine," Tai said.

Matt scoffed. "Are you really okay with letting Kari stand guard, too?"

Tai glanced over at his sister, who was looking out into the lake with Salamon. Neither of them seemed to be paying any attention to the conversation currently going on. "I mean, if she wants to then I'm not going to stop her."

"Well, I care about my little brother's health, so I say no guarding for him. He's young and he needs his rest."

"Are you implying that I don't care about my sister?" Tai asked indignantly, his anger rising. "Unlike you, I actually trust my sibling and don't treat them like some kind of pain."

"Hey! What's that supposed to mean?"

Joe, knowing full well that a fight was about to break out, decided that now would be a good time to interject. "You know, with there being six of us older kids, T.K. and Kari probably won't have to stand guard tonight. Why don't I go first?"

"No, I'm going first," Matt said.

"Fine, I'll go next," Tai added.

Joe chuckled. "Okay, then I can go after you two, then Sora, then Izzy, and Mimi can finish up the night."

"Works for me," Sora said.

Mimi stood up from where she had been resting to join the rest of the group. "First things first. We need to figure out what we're doing for dinner."

Joe reached into the emergency rations bag and sifted through it. "Personally, I think we should forage for tonight and save the emergency rations for later. Just in case we end up somewhere with no food."

The others agreed and they split up to go find something to eat. Tai and Kari decided to try fishing, and after a quick search, they found two branches that would make perfect fishing rods. Sora, who carried a variety of items on her with the pink pack she wore around her hip, gave them some string and two paperclips that they fashioned into hooks. With their makeshift poles ready, the Kamiya siblings got to work on fishing.

"I bet I can catch more fish than you, Tai," Kari teased her brother.

Tai smirked. "We'll see about that. Let the fishing tournament begin!"

Meanwhile, the others scoured the area and found some food, mainly fruit, none of which looked like what they had in the real world. The fruit came in a wide variety of colors and each one had a very different floral scent to them. Izzy and Sora found some that looked like bananas, but they were orange with red spots, while Joe and Mimi found another that was pear-shaped and as big as a basketball, with the top half of the fruit being white while its bottom half was bright pink.

"You think these are safe to eat?" Matt asked as he plucked a baby blue apple from a tree. He tossed the apples he was picking down to Gabumon and T.K. while Patamon tried to help by using his Boom Bubble to knock more fruit down from the trees.

Gabumon sniffed the apple in his hand and smiled. "This is great. These are meat apples."

Matt stopped plucking fruit for a moment to really take in what his partner just said. "I'm sorry, did you say that these are called 'meat apples?'"

"That's right, and you need to cook them before you eat them."

T.K. spit out the piece that he had bitten into, as it tasted like raw hamburger. "I guess your right," he muttered to himself, wiping his tongue with his hand to try to get the taste out of his mouth.

Matt sighed. This world was so bizarre. He decided to push that confusion out of his mind and continue to pluck fruit, hoping that the others were able to find food that wasn't as strange as meat-flavored apples. Once everyone had returned from food gathering, they built a fire and cooked the fish and meat apples over the open flames.

"What do your apples taste like?" Tai asked the others as he bit into his freshly roasted fruit. "Mine's sirloin."

"Mine tastes like chicken tenders!" T.K. said happily. "I like it, but it's kind of weird, though."

"I agree, it's almost off-putting," Izzy said. "And my apple tastes like roast beef."

"Does that mean you don't like it, Izzy?" Tentomon asked as he stopped eating one of the strange banana-like fruits.

"I do like it," Izzy replied. "It's just weird biting into an apple and tasting cooked meat. The texture is different, too, which I think is confusing me the most."

"Mine tastes just like the ham that Mom makes for Christmas," Sora said somberly. "Boy, that almost makes me homesick, saying that out loud."

"Only 'almost,' Sora?" Joe asked. "Because I'm very homesick."

"Gee, now I'm homesick, too," Mimi said, the happy smile that she wore just moments ago vanished into a frown. "Who knows how long we'll be stuck in this strange world?"

Sora shrugged in response to Joe. "I don't know. I didn't exactly leave on the best terms with my mom… I think I might be better off in this world, to be honest."

Everyone grew quiet as they listened to Sora. "I don't think that's true, Sora," Tai said. "I'm sure she's worried about you."

"I bet all our parents are worried," Kari said softly. "I know we've only been gone for two days, but I really miss Mom and Dad and our cat, Miko."

Tai put a hand on Kari's shoulder, trying to comfort her. "Don't worry. We'll get out of this place. Somehow."

"Do you think if we stop this growing evil that Jijimon and Babamon told us about, then we'll get to go home?" Mimi asked. "I sure hope so. I miss my family, too. And I miss my bed and taking showers and picking out what clothes I'm going to wear the next day."

Everyone began to reminisce quietly to themselves. They thought about the world that had been left behind when they found themselves spirited away to a strange, digital landscape. Friends, family, school, chores - everything felt so distant, and they longed for their old, familiar lives. The Digimon, seeing that their partners were sad, tried to change the subject to something more light-hearted.

"How long do you think it will take us to get to Freeze Land?" Palmon asked.

"Could be a few days, maybe weeks," Izzy replied. "It's on the other side of the island, so we could be traveling for a while."

Biyomon and Gomamon let out yawns. "Looks like it's time for bed," Joe said, getting up and walking over to Gomamon. He scooped up his sleepy partner and Gomamon immediately dozed off in his arms.

Gabumon gathered a few more fallen branches and sticks that were close by and set them down by the fire, and he and Matt took a seat by it and made sure to face towards the forest to watch for anything that might be out to get them. The rest of the DigiDestined made themselves as comfortable as they could while sleeping on the ground.

Despite how tired he was, Matt managed to stay awake during his entire shift. Gabumon helped by talking with him. He asked, "Do you have any hobbies that you enjoy, Matt?"

Matt replied by taking out a harmonica from his pocket and began playing a soft and melancholy tune. The calming sound of the instrument echoed through the area. The others found themselves quickly drifting to sleep as they were soothed by the soft and somber melody. He played into the night, and Gabumon listened contently, smiling and leaning back as he took in the song of the harmonica.

An hour and a half passed and their watch was over, Matt and Gabumon got up and walked over to where the others were sleeping. Matt nudged Tai awake and said, "Hey, it's your turn."

Tai stretched and yawned. "Okay, I'm awake," he said, and he shook Agumon's shoulder to wake him up as well. "It's our turn, buddy."

Agumon gave a sleepy nod and the two headed over to the campfire. The flames still flickered brightly, but it was more or less drowned out by the bright flashing of the lighthouse. The row of streetlights that had helped lead them to the lake were giving off a soft glow as well, making the area feel a little less creepy. Tai and Agumon sat down by the fire and stared out into the vast nothing of the pitch black forest. There were no sounds of wildlife, and save for the wind blowing through the tree branches and the crackling of the campfire, there was very little noise.

"This place is eerily quiet at night," Tai said thoughtfully. He rubbed his tired and heavy eyes and willed himself to stay awake. He and Agumon sat in mostly silence, both too tired to spark a conversation.

Just an hour and a half, Tai reminded himself. Then I can go back to sleep.

Tai felt his head lull to the side and he almost started dozing off again, when there came the snap of a branch breaking. Tai and Agumon, surprised and now fully awake, stood up and looked around.

"Whose there?" Tai asked sharply.

From the darkness of the forest, he could see a shape, a figure of some sort. Tai couldn't quite make out any of its features at first, but when the beacon from the lighthouse rounded again, the light from above better revealed the massive creature. It was tall, taller than any adult Tai had ever seen. Its skin was a deep purple, and it had long, muscular arms with spikes sticking out from its shoulders. It was some sort of lion man, with an ebony mane and glowing red eyes that stared down the campers and their Digimon friends.

"Wake up, everyone!" Tai shouted. "We've got company!"

The lion man suddenly retreated back into the forest, disappearing within the darkness of night. Tai didn't wait for the others to wake up and dashed after the lion man, with Agumon right behind him. "Hurry up, guys!" Tai called as he chased after the strange Digimon.

Tai and Agumon tried to keep up as best they could, but the beast was far more agile than them. While the creature had been standing upright before, it was running on all fours now and was gaining speed. They weaved through trees and leaped over a fallen log. They were running away from the streetlights and soon it was too dark to see anything. Tai felt his foot catch a tree root and he stumbled a bit but managed to keep himself from falling. That one blunder was enough for him to lose sight of the beast as it vanished into the shadows. Tai looked around and strained his ears to listen for any rustling or footsteps, but he heard nothing.

"Which way did he go?" Agumon asked, trying to catch his breath.

"No clue," Tai replied. "I think he's gone. Let's head back for now."

They followed the flashing beacon of the lighthouse. They could hear the worried cries of his friends as they were calling out for him and Agumon. He followed their voices and knew that he was getting close to the lake.

Suddenly, something grabbed Agumon around the back of the neck and slammed him into a tree, snapping the tree clean in half. Tai spun around and felt his stomach turn. The beast was looming over him, teeth bared and saliva dripping from its maw. It let out a mighty roar that tore through the forest. The cries from the other DigiDestined were growing louder, but Tai wasn't so sure that they were going to reach him in time. He looked around for anything that he could use as a weapon and noticed a sizable stick lying not that far from him. He lunged for it and narrowly evaded the beast's claws as it took a swipe at him. Tai grabbed the stick and started swinging it wildly, hoping that he could at least scare the lion man away.

Agumon had been stunned for a moment, completely caught off guard by the sudden attack. His arms trembled as he pushed himself back onto his feet. His entire body ached, but he knew that he couldn't just lie down. He saw Tai swinging the stick at the beast, but the creature didn't look the slightest bit worried by the makeshift weapon. It roared and swung its hands at Tai again, knocking the stick away from him. Tai tumbled back and stared with wide horror as the beast took another step toward him.

"Tai! Agumon!" He heard his friends shouting loud and clear now, and the rest of the DigiDestined finally caught up to him. Sora and Joe helped Tai back up and the rest of the Digimon charged into battle, surrounding the lion man.

"Boom Bubble!" Patamon yelled as he inflated himself and then unleashed a burst of air at the lion man.

"Blue Blaster!" Gabumon shouted as he spewed a stream of fire at the creature.

"Super Shocker!" Tentomon joined in as electricity sparked around his wings and he fired lightning at the beast man.

The attacks hit the beast dead on, and yet, the creature still stood, looking completely unfazed. It roared again and rushed the Digimon, swinging its arms at them. "Poison Claw!" it bellowed as it raked its claws against Gabumon, Gomamon, Biyomon and Patamon. The four were sent flying and crashed to the forest floor. Matt, Sora, Joe, and T.K. ran over to their fallen partners and found that they were knocked unconscious.

Tentomon managed to just fly over the beast's claws and continued to fire more Super Shockers at it from the air. Salamon ran over and was using her Puppy Howling while Palmon used her Poison Ivy attack to wrap her vines around the lion man's arms. The beast grabbed ahold of Palmon's vines and swung her up at Tentomon, slamming her into him. He let go and the two dropped to the ground. Salamon stood protectively in front of them and continued barking. The beast-man swung his claws again and struck Salamon, Palmon, and Tentomon. The three were sent skidding across the ground, and they, too, fell unconscious.

The lion turned up to the children and slowly advanced on them, stomping over to them. They held their Digimon close to them, protectively, but each one of them felt intense fear as they could only watch helplessly as the beast approached them.

"Pepper Breath!" Agumon shouted as he breathed a fireball at the lion man's back. The fireball exploded against its skin but it seemed to only singe the creature slightly. It shifted its attention to Agumon and lumbered after him, claws outstretched.

Agumon rapidly unleashed more fireballs, but they seemed to do little to slow the hulking creature. It raised its arm and prepared to slam its fist down onto Agumon. Tai ran over and shoved Agumon out of the way, and the two just barely missed being crushed by the beast. It snarled and crawled on all fours over to Tai and Agumon.

Time seemed to stand still for a moment as Tai looked into the crimson eyes of the lion man. It stared back at him with a terrifying hunger as it lunged for them. Tai felt his Digivice shudder and the screen immediately lit up. He dared to look up to meet his doom, when he saw that the lion man was now backing away, fearfully.

"Is it this?" Tai asked, pointing the Digivice to him. "Is this what you're afraid of?" The Digivice shone brighter and the lion man cried out in agony and tried to shield its eyes from the light.

With shocking reflexes, the lion man's hand shot out and grabbed Tai. The Digivice fell out of Tai's hands and landed on the ground below him. It was still flashing brightly and emitting a loud whistling from its speakers. The beast tightened his grip and Tai gasped as he couldn't take in any air. The creature continued to put more pressure on him, attempting to crush him in his grasp.

"Tai, no!" his partner cried out, and he began to glow, just as he had when he changed from Koromon to his current form. His body began to grow and morph, becoming larger and larger. "Agumon digivolve to… Greymon!"

When the light faded, everyone could see that Agumon had changed. He was now a massive, orange tyrannosaurus rex, with blue stripes and a brown helmet that adorned three horns - one above each eye and one on his snout. The lion man turned up and stared in shock at Agumon's transformation. He dropped Tai, who landed hard on his back. Tai grunted from the impact but the pain was quickly forgotten about as he stared, mouth agape, at what his partner had become.

"Agumon?" Tai called out to the dinosaur. He wouldn't lie that he was a bit fearful of Agumon's new form. It looked downright menacing.

The tyrannosaurs glanced down at Tai and said, "I'm Greymon, now."

"Beast Blaster!" the lion man roared. He reared his arm back and punched the air. From his fist shot out a red aura of a lion's face. Greymon lowered his head and the aura hit his helmet, erupting into a blast of energy. When the smoke cleared, everyone could clearly see that Greymon had sustained little damage, with his helmet taking the brute force of the attack.

Tai was left speechless as Greymon, now twice the beastman's height, let out a deafening roar. He charged, horns pointed at the lion man. The beast caught Greymon's horns, but Greymon swung his head and threw him upward, high above the treeline.

"Nova Blast!" Greymon called out as he unleashed a gigantic fireball at the beast. The fireball exploded upon impact, and the lion man was sent hurtling far off into the distance. Only a firey and smoky trail was left behind as they watched him crash somewhere far away.

Greymon began glowing again and shrank until he reverted back to Agumon. Once the light had faded away, Agumon slumped down, exhausted. Tai ran over to him and looked him over for any serious injuries.

"Are you okay, Agumon?" he asked.

"Yeah," Agumon replied, tiredly. "Just really hungry. That took a lot out of me."

Tai knelt down and helped Agumon onto his back. The others were carrying their Digimon, too. With a silent agreement, they all hurried back to their campsite before anything else could attack them.

It was a restless and sleepless night for the DigiDestined. After their encounter with the beast-man, they were all too fearful that they would be attacked again. It wasn't until the brink of dawn that any of them felt comfortable enough to go to sleep. Everyone but Tai had drifted into a deep slumber. Each of them cuddled up to their Digimon partner and were breathing or snoring lightly.

Tai sighed as he leaned his back against a tree while Agumon was lying on the ground beside him, fast asleep. Tai just felt too restless after that battle with the strange lion that he couldn't even keep his eyes closed. Dawn hadn't quite arrived yet, but the sky was beginning to brighten and the stars were still just barely visible in the early morning skies.

Tai got up and climbed the tree. Once he hauled himself up onto a sturdy branch, he retrieved his mini telescope and looked all around the lakefront. Nothing looked any different than before. The lake's waves still gently rolled against the rock the lighthouse was built on, and the lighthouse continued to shine its beacon to the ships that didn't even exist in its waters.

Tai turned up to the sky and looked into his mini telescope. He wondered how much better he could see the stars with it. Doubtful it would be as good as a regular telescope, but this worked just fine for him. As he stargazed, he noticed something odd in the sky. He zoomed in on it as best he could and he gasped at the sight.

It was a dragon, with a long snake-like body that slithered through the skies as it flew. Chains were wrapped around its whispy body - which was mostly transparent, reminding him of a ghost. Tai could easily see the stars shining through its form. Along its back were five sets of angel wings, and it had a navy blue mask on its face, a long flowing beard, and a horn sticking out of its forehead that resembled that of a lightning bolt. He could see glowing blue orbs around its hands and feet, which were as translucent as the rest of its body.

Tai was about to wake the others so they could see the mysterious dragon as well, but by the time he had climbed down from the tree, the creature had disappeared behind the cloudbank. Tai searched the skies for it again, but the dragon had vanished. He yawned and shoved the mini telescope back into his pocket, then he climbed down the tree and sat beside Agumon, leaning against the trunk with his arms crossed. His nerves were beginning to settle down and he could feel drowsiness wash over him. He closed his eyes and drifted off to sleep along with the rest of his friends and their Digimon.