Disclaimer: I don't own Digimon

A/N: Just so you know, in the future I may not have as much time to update because this is actually my older brother's computer, and if he gets on the day shift, I won't have as many opportunities to write. But I will do my best to update and hopefully that won't be for a couple of months yet. (for all of your sakes) Also, I hope I spelled Azulogmon right. I've seen it spelled to ways, Azulogmon and Azulongmon. Sorry if it's wrong!

Following the Footsteps of Destiny

Chapter 20: Twin Arrows

Masato 'Matty' Takaishi

Odaiba, Japan, Earth

Matty sat next to his twin on a desk with Takara and Sam, glancing impatiently towards the door. Where are Dai and Ryoko? They should have been here by now.

"They'd better not be late," Sam muttered, running his hands through his raven hair and glancing anxiously at the computer.

The four of them were seated in the computer room, and Matty was starting to get very annoyed. He and his friends were waiting for Dai and Ryoko to show up so they could all go to the Digital World, just like they had planned yesterday. So where could they be?

"I hope Dai brings some food with him," DemiEmbermon said cheerfully, hopping onto Takara's shoulder. "I'm hungry."

Dai had decided to stash DemiEmbermon in the computer room during school hours because the goggle-headed leader had been afraid Davis or Noriko might stumble upon the little digimon in his absence. That would have qualified as a disaster, so the computer room had been the next best option.

At that moment, the door burst open and the two boys in question entered the room, arguing loudly.

"I swear, Daichi, you've got to be the biggest idiot on the planet!" Ryoko shouted, his blue eyes blazing with anger. "Are you completely nuts?"

"Will you get off my back, Ishida? I don't know why you're so bent out of shape about it."

"Do you realize what Mrs. Hanari would have done if she had caught you?" Ryoko snapped. "She would have given you at least a week's worth of detentions, and then we wouldn't have been able to go to the Digiworld! Do you want to save it, or not?"

"Of course I do!" Dai shouted, his face twisting in anger. "You're just exaggerating! It's not like she would have known who had done it!"

"No, but she could have made a pretty good guess! Face it, Daichi, Mrs. Hanari doesn't need a very good excuse to give you detention!"

"What's going on?" Mickey asked, looking concerned.

"I caught Daichi trying to stick a mouse in Mrs. Hanari's desk!" Ryoko announced.

"When?" Matty asked, frowning in confusion.

"Just now," Ryoko snorted. "I caught him on my way here just after I'd left my locker and happened to pass by our classroom. That's why we're late."

"Dai," Takara sighed, shaking her head.

"She deserves it," Dai muttered. "You know she does."

"Where did you get the mouse from?" Matty asked, trying not to smile. He had to agree with Dai on that point. Mrs. Hanari did deserve it.

"Daichi got it from one of the classrooms," Ryoko replied. "Don't worry. I brought the poor mouse back to his home."

"Look, I'm here and that's what counts," Dai spoke up, sending Ryoko a dirty look. "Have you all given your parents an excuse about why you're going to be late tonight?"

"Yes," they all replied.

"Alright then, let's go. Are you ready, DemiEmbermon?"

"Ready when you are!" DemiEmbermon replied, hopping into Dai's hands. "I missed you, Dai! Did you bring me some food?"

"Is that all I'm good for?" Dai asked, pretending to look hurt.

Matty laughed and hopped off the desk with a smile on his face. "Come on, guys! We've got a world to save!"

Dai grinned at him and held out his Digivice. "You got it! Digiport open!"

Once more they were swept through the gate.

Benjamin

Server, Eastern Hemisphere, Digital World

Benjamin was seated with the others at a small, round table in a room that was filled with computer monitors. He was just about to speak when the doors burst open and Leomon came striding into the room.

"Leomon!" he gasped, getting to his feet and almost tripping over his robe. "If you're here then that means that...that..."

"Yes," Leomon replied calmly. "The Digidestined have arrived."

"Well then what are we doing sitting around here?" Jackie asked, banging his fist on the table to get everyone's attention. "We need to go to them! We have to help them understand what's going on and what it is they have to do!"

"They know," Leomon said softly. "Daichi Motomiya has received his partner digimon, and Embermon has already digivolved. I've sent them on to meet up with Halomon and Celestimon. I assume you have another digimon watching over them as well?"

"Yes," Hogan said slowly and frowned. "Do you think that is wise, Leomon? What if they get into trouble?"

"We have our own problem to deal with," Leomon said, his voice hard. "Gennai."

"So you've heard," Jose sighed. "We were speaking with him when he was taken captive by an evil digimon. We tried to stop her, but she was very powerful. Since then we have been searching everywhere for him. So far we've turned up nothing. It's like he's disappeared without a trace."

"What did this digimon look like?"

Benjamin described her to him, and Leomon nodded in confirmation.

"Although I haven't seen her, that must have been Vampiramon. She and her master are the ones who have captured Gennai."

"How do you know?" Ilya asked, his eyes wide.

"I know because they are after the Digidestined. Vampiramon sent one of her servants to destroy the humans and take something from them. She called these things D-Coders. Do you know what they are?"

"No," Benjamin sighed. "All we know is, after the defeat of MaloMyotismon, the Digital World became a peaceful place. Gennai, though, was not satisfied. He knew eventually the darkness would return and that we needed to be ready when it did. Thirteen years ago, with help from the Entity, who speaks with the voice of the Digital World and came into existence at the dawn of the Digital World, Gennai and the rest of us were able to find new humans who would one day become Digidestined. Those humans were Daichi and his friends. Gennai had their partner digimon stored away until the day they would be needed, with worthy digimon to look after them."

"The Entity?" Leomon asked in confusion.

"It spoke through the body of Kari Kamiya twenty-nine years ago," Jackie said softly. "It chose Azulongmon and the others to be the Four Guardians of the Digital World. It also chose myself and my counterparts to be The Watchers of the Digiworld."

"I see," Leomon said softly.

"I bet Gennai knows what these D-Coders are," Hogan spoke up. "I wish he wasn't so secretive. He must have contacted the Digidestined and sent them the Digivices."

"That's probably what he meant when he said he had already taken the steps needed to protect the Digiworld. I can't believe we didn't realize the Digidestined were already here!" Jackie cried. "If anything happens to them, it'll be our fault!"

"We should be helping them," Ilya insisted, "especially if Vampiramon is after them."

"The best way to help them is to find Gennai," Leomon replied. "He knows more about what's going on than we do. Any information he has could help the Digidestined defeat Vampiramon. Come on. Let's go search for Gennai. In the meantime, Embermon and the other digimon will look after the Digidestined."

"We're right behind you," Benjamin said, following him out the door with the others.

I wonder what else Gennai hasn't told us?

Masato 'Matty' Takaishi

File Island, Eastern Hemisphere, Digital World

Matty and his friends found themselves standing next to a small river which had bushes lining both sides of the bank.

"Alright, we're here," Sam said, straightening his black shirt and green zip-up top. "Now...um...where exactly do we start looking for the rest of our partners?"

Embermon gave Dai an expectant look. "Well, what do you think?"

"I guess we just start walking until somebody's Digivice picks up a signal," Dai replied. "That's how I found you, Embermon. Well...sort of anyway. I really don't know what else we can do."

"Pathetic," Ryoko muttered.

"I'd like to see you come up with something better!" Dai shouted, advancing on Ryoko with an angry look in his eyes.

Matty grabbed Dai's wrist and dragged him away from Ryoko with force.

"Don't even start," he muttered into his goggle-headed friend's ear.

They started off in silence, and Matty found himself walking at the back of the group with Dai.

It was only a matter of minutes before his friend exploded. "I can't stand him!" Dai said angrily, glaring at Ryoko's back. "He's such a stuck up snob!"

Matty sighed and shook his head. He had heard it all before, and it was really starting to get old. "I don't know why you can't just get along with Ryoko. What could he have possibly done to make you hate him so much?"

"What hasn't he done!" Dai shouted, clenching his hands into fists. "Ishida's been a jerk to me ever since the day he was born!"

"How would you know?" Matty snorted. "You can't remember the day he was born!"

"No, but don't think I've forgotten about that time he stole my teddy bear when we were three!"

Matty rolled his eyes and tried not to strangle Dai with frustration. He could not even remember a time when Ryoko and Dai had gotten along. It made him feel a little sad. The two of them had spent their whole lives together and should have been as close as brothers, but they weren't. Instead they hated one another with a passion and did everything they could to make each other's lives miserable.

"Why does he always have to act so cold?" Dai demanded, interrupting his thoughts.

"I don't know, Dai. Why don't you ask Mickey? He's always gotten along with Ryoko better than I have," Matty replied and sent his twin an affectionate look. That was another great thing about Mickey. His brother always got along with everyone.

Mickey must have sensed what he was thinking because his twin turned and smiled shyly at him.

He smiled back and turned his attention to Dai again. "Mickey understands Ryoko a lot better than me, and so does Takara. You should probably ask her, too. I'm no help when it comes to Ryoko. He just makes me frustrated."

"Tell me about it," Dai grumbled. "I can relate!"

"I like Ryoko," Embermon suddenly said and smiled at Dai. "He's a very interesting human."

"Traitor!" Dai grumbled, and Matty had to laugh.

Embermon just rolled his emerald green eyes and hit Dai in the leg with his tail.

Ryoko, who was walking next to Sam, suddenly looked back at them, and Matty watched his cousin's deep blue eyes fill with sorrow. It was only there for a split second, and then it was gone so fast that Matty was left wondering if he had really seen it or if it had just been his imagination.

Dai did not appear to have noticed a thing. The goggle-headed leader was too busy glaring at the river and probably thinking up ways to get back at Ryoko for ruining his attempt to win the war against Mrs. Hanari.

I must be seeing things. Ryoko would never let himself get upset over Dai.

He was just about to ask Dai what he had in store for Mrs. Hanari when Mickey came to a sudden stop and let out a loud gasp.

"What is it, Mickey?" he asked, hurrying to his twin's side. His heart filled with sudden fear, and he put a hand on Mickey's arm. "Is something wrong? Are you hurt?"

Mickey turned to look at him, and he realized his twin's amber brown eyes were sparkling with excitement.

"Look, Matty!" Mickey gasped and held out his Digivice.

Matty froze in surprise. Mickey's Digivice had started to glow. Orange mist spiraled out of it and formed into a large arrow.

"Your digimon must be nearby," he said and gave his older twin a warm smile.

"Yours, too, Matty!" Takara suddenly squealed and pointed at his Digivice.

Matty quickly unhooked it from his jeans and let out a startled shout. His Digivice had started to glow a bright yellow. Golden mist spilled out of it and turned into a large arrow, which was pointing in the same direction as Mickey's orange arrow.

"Can you believe it, Matty? We're finally going to get our digimon!" Mickey said happily and flung both arms around him.

Matty got a face full of his twin's golden hair and nearly sneezed. "Yeah, but what exactly are these things pointing at?"

Mickey's excitement was rubbing off on him, and he glanced around at the landscape in search of whatever it was the arrows were pointing to.

I get to have my very own digimon! This is so cool! I wonder what it feels like to have a partner. I should have asked Dai. Whoever my partner is, I hope he likes me...

"Look! Over there!" Sam gasped.

Mickey's warm arms gently let go of him, and they both turned to see what Sam was pointing at. It was a large city in the distance.

Jestermon

File Island, Eastern Hemisphere, Digital World

Jestermon narrowed his bright red eyes and glared at the Digidestined, who stood across the river from him. They were pointing at the city in the distance, and he smiled from his hiding spot within the bushes. Their master had not been happy to learn that Embermon had digivolved.

"It's Vampiramon's fault," he muttered. "I think it's about time I showed her how to really get the job done!"

He turned to the digimon beside him and grinned. "Are you ready?"

"Ready," the digimon replied.

Jestermon nodded and smirked.

Don't worry, master. I won't let another one of their digimon digivolve, and I will get those D-Coders. Vampiramon had her chance. This time it's my turn to shine!