Disclaimer: I don't own Digimon.
A/N: I've mentioned the Heighten View Terrace incident in this chapter, but I've written it as the english version of the television show explained it, not the movie. I know in the english version of the movie they made it as though the Digidestined all knew each other back then already (Joe talking to Izzy on the phone? I believe this was not the case in the original Japanese version. The dub implied they knew each other back then, not the original version) so therefore I'm sticking to the theory that they did not know each other back then because that was the case in the english version of the actual show. (Except Sora and Tai because they mentioned how they went to elementary school together) Again lots of talk, but it's important. Please review! I've finally got it up!
Following the Footsteps of Destiny
Chapter 72: The Legacy of Tai Kamiya
Daichi 'Dai' Motomiya
File Island, Eastern Hemisphere, Digital World
"Tai and his friends went back home after they defeated Apocalymon, and peace finally returned to the Digital World," Agumon said softly. "Your parents thought they'd never see us again, but they were wrong, and now I'll let Veemon tell you the rest of the story. Don't worry, I haven't forgotten about the crests. First I'll let Veemon tell you about the adventures that took place four years after Apocalymon was defeated and then I'll explain what happened to your parents' crests in detail. I think it'll be easier for you guys to understand why your parents gave up their crests once you've heard Veemon's story."
"You know what, Agumon? Kari knew she'd be seeing me again, and she was right," Gatomon said quietly.
"Your parents were very nice humans. I had my picture taken with them and everything," Elecmon murmured. "I did finally have a chance to meet the rest of T.K.'s friends eventually, and I'm glad."
Dai stared at Ryoko and the others in astonishment and shook his head. "I don't believe it," he said finally after a brief moment of silence. "It sounds like Tai and the others had quite an adventure when they were kids. I can't even imagine what it must have been like to face a digimon as strong as Apocalymon."
"Don't forget about the Dark Masters," Ryoko murmured, shivering slightly. "They remind me a lot of Vampiramon and her buddies."
"No kidding. I bet Piedmon and Jestermon would have been great friends if they had ever gotten a chance to meet each other!" Matty muttered.
"Can you guys believe that evil Datamon tried to hurt my mom?" Takara said, looking extremely indignant. "I'm so glad my dad was able to save her. There love story would make a great romance novel, don't you think?"
Dai groaned and rolled his eyes. "Kara, you're getting off topic. We're supposed to be talking about the crests and our parents' adventures."
"Dai, do you have even one romantic bone in your body?" Takara sighed.
Dai crossed his arms and glared at her. "Hey, I can be romantic!"
"I wish," Takara muttered.
What's that supposed to mean?
Dai frowned and glanced suspiciously at his female friend, but Takara refused to meet his eyes.
I guess I'll have to ask her later. Right now I have more important things to worry about.
"Daichi, your name and the word romance do not belong in the same sentence!" Ryoko snorted, bursting into laughter.
Dai blushed and sent the blond a dirty look. "Shut up, Ishida," he muttered.
Ryoko ignored him and smiled sympathetically at Takara. "One day he'll wake up," the blond said softly.
"What?" Takara whispered, her face turning pure white.
Ryoko smiled slightly and did not reply.
"Can we please get back to what we were talking about before?" Dai snapped.
Takara and Ryoko stared silently at him, and he quickly looked away from them.
I bet they'll end up together eventually. After all, like I said before, their parents are best friends, and Ryoko's a lot better looking then I am. She'd definitely choose him over me...
Dai let out a small sigh and gazed sadly at his feet. He could not explain why the thought of Takara being with Ryoko bothered him so much, but that did not make the pain in his heart go away.
If only I could find a way to get her to notice me...
"Agumon, can I ask you a question?" Matty said slowly.
Agumon gave the younger twin a curious look and nodded. "Sure, what is it, Matty?"
Matty glanced nervously at his brother and shrugged. "Nothing really. I just have a few questions about...um...Devimon," the younger twin said softly. "What kind of a digimon was he anyway?"
"I think you'd better ask T.K. about Devimon," Patamon said quietly.
"But-"
"Patamon, you defeated Devimon and stopped him from taking over the Digital World," Mickey whispered. "I'm glad. Those Black Gears could have caused some real damage. How did you end up digivolving into Angemon?"
"I didn't really have a choice," Patamon said softly. "I had to digivolve because all of my friends were in trouble, including T.K."
"If Patamon hadn't digivolved into Angemon, Devimon would have beaten us," Gabumon said solemnly.
"Agumon, you didn't answer my question," Matty interrupted. "That battle took place on Infinity Mountain, right?"
"Yes. Infinity Mountain is located right here on File Island," Agumon replied, pointing towards a large peak in the distance. "You can see it from here."
"What happened to Angemon?" Matty snapped.
"What do you mean?" Agumon asked, sounding nervous.
"You told us what had happened during the battle earlier, but I think you left out some important details. Why won't you describe Devimon to us, and why did you make it sound as if there was a price to pay for Angemon's victory? Did something happen to him?"
"Patamon's right. You'd better ask your dad about the battle with Devimon," Agumon said softly. "It's his story, after all, and only he has the right to tell it. Let's just say DarkAngelicmon isn't the only fallen angel digimon we've had to deal with."
Mickey's amber eyes grew wide with horror, and he stared at Agumon in shock. "What are you saying?" the older twin gasped. "Are you saying that Devimon was an-"
"Ask your dad," Patamon insisted, his face a mask of sorrow.
"What about LadyDevimon?" Matty demanded.
Gatomon glanced at Patamon and made a face. "You're going to have to ask your mom about that evil witch!" the little champion muttered.
"I'm glad our parents were able to save Ogremon and Leomon from those Black Gears," Takara said softly, glancing suspiciously at Agumon. "They've helped us out a lot, and we'll always be grateful to them for protecting our partners."
"Funny, I never thought you were a big fan of Ogremon!" Sam laughed.
Takara blushed and lowered her eyes to the ground. "I'd be upset if either one of them ended up getting hurt."
"I'm so glad our parents have angel digimon," Mickey whispered. "Oh, Matty. I hope we can live up to what they did."
"Me, too," Matty said softly. "I wonder what mom and dad would think of Angelicmon and Gabrielmon. We're really lucky, Mickey. I feel special because I have Angelicmon for a partner, and I know you feel the same way about Gabrielmon."
The twins smiled at each other, but the light never reached their eyes. They were obviously worried about what Agumon had said concerning Devimon, and Dai had a feeling neither one of them was going to be able to sleep at night until they found out exactly what had happened on Infinity Mountain twenty-nine years ago.
Could Devimon really have been an angel digimon?
Dai shivered at the thought and quickly decided to change the subject. "Forget Devimon. What about Etemon? That digimon was a real weirdo!" he snorted. "His stupid Dark Network caused a lot of problems, and Tai's group had to fight him twice! Well, Joe and Mimi did anyway."
"Yeah, and his little buddies tried to steal Tokomon!" Matty muttered.
Patamon laughed and gave Matty a fond smile. "Don't worry, Matty. Tai and Agumon saved me, and they also saved all the Koromon who were captured, too."
"Um... Agumon? You said something about a digimon named SkullGreymon earlier. Was he an evil digimon?" Takara asked curiously.
"I'm sorry, Kara, but you're going to have to ask your dad about SkullGreymon," Agumon replied, avoiding her eyes.
Takara frowned and gave the little rookie a suspicious look. "And I thought Gennai was bad!" she muttered.
"I'll never get over Piximon. I can't believe he made them scrub his floors!" Embermon laughed.
"I'm just glad we don't have to put up with him!" Ryoko muttered.
"Piximon might have been a bit strick, but he did help them out a lot," Takara piped up. "Etemon was a bigger problem than Piximon. He tried to hurt our parents, and if my dad hadn't found his courage again after the incident with the firewall, my mom would have ended up dead."
"You're right, Kara. Piximon was trying to help your parents out and Etemon was trying to destroy them. That's the best way to tell the difference between a good digimon and a bad digimon!" Dovemon laughed.
Dai turned a smiled at Agumon. "So your ultimate form is MetalGreymon. I'm impressed. You definitely sound like my kind of digimon, Agumon."
"Really? Thanks," Agumon replied, looking a little embarrassed.
"I love the fact that Etemon and Datamon weren't exactly good buddies!" Ryoko snickered.
"Can you believe the others all got separated after Tai went back to Earth?" Sam murmured. "I can't even imagine how they must have felt when he suddenly disappeared. They would have had no clue whether he was alive or dead, and that must have been the worst feeling in the world. I'm glad time in the Digital World is the same as the human world again."
"And it's all thanks to our parents. I bet Apocalymon never stood a chance against them!" Matty laughed.
"DemiDevimon was just as bad as Apocalymon, if not worse!" Ryoko said angrily. "That little runt lied to our parents and almost made them hate each other!"
"Yeah, Joe and Matt almost stopped being friends because of what happened at Digitamamon's restaurant," Takara said softly. "Then there was the whole thing with 'Princess Mimi'."
"My mom has definitely changed a lot since then," Ryoko said softly.
"Don't forget about Izzy and Vademon," Alopemon murmured.
"I liked the part about Sora and her Crest of Love," Celestimon said, smiling softly. "I'm glad she was able to believe in herself again."
"Me, too," Takara whispered.
"I can't believe Tai and the others had the nerve to sneak into Myotismon's castle!" Dai said, changing the subject. "Now that's what I call courage!"
"They had no choice. How else were they going to get back home?" Ryoko snorted. "Still, if Tai had picked the wrong card..."
"Don't even go there!" Tentomon muttered.
"Gatomon, I can't believe you used to be evil!" Mickey gasped, his amber eyes wide with shock.
"I was lost and alone, and I was also Myotismon's slave," Gatomon said quietly. "Wizardmon made me realize the truth about myself, and I'll always be grateful to him for helping me find my way back to Kari. I started to forget about her because of Myotismon, but all of that changed when Wizardmon forced me to relive my past. All digimon and humans have the ability to turn away from darkness if they're strong enough to believe in themselves and their friends."
"You're right, Gatomon. Darkness won't affect any of us if we continue to protect each other," Wormmon said softly.
The two digimon glanced at Sam and suddenly smiled.
"What's wrong?" Sam asked nervously.
"Nothing," Gatomon replied, exchanging a significant look with Wormmon.
"I'm so glad you were able to free yourself from darkness," Mickey whispered, hugging Gatomon tightly. "You know what, Gatomon? One day Wizardmon will be reconfigured, and then you'll have a chance to renew your friendship with him."
"The same goes for Pumpkinmon and Gotsumon. Those guys were awesome," Matty said softly. "Trust me, Gatomon, there's always hope."
Gatomon's eyes filled with sudden tears, and she buried her face against Mickey's chest. "That sounds like something T.K. would say. Thanks, Matty."
Mickey started to laugh, and Matty blushed. "What's so funny?" the younger twin asked, looking a little confused.
"Matty, you really are amazing, you know that?" Mickey said softly, giving his twin a fond smile.
Matty avoided his brother's eyes and shrugged. "I could say the same thing about you, Mickey. In fact, I already did."
"I'm glad you think so anyway," Mickey mumbled, his face turning bright pink.
"I can't believe my dad was in the Convention Centre with Mimi and Sora, and they didn't even know who he was yet!" Dai laughed.
"The same goes for Cody who was on that plane that almost crashed into the ocean," Takara added, shivering slightly. "It's a good thing you were there to help him, Biyomon."
"Yeah, only I didn't know I was helping him at the time!" Biyomon laughed. "I'm glad I did though. That's what friends do. They help each other out. Joe rescued T.K. from drowning, and Tai rescued Mimi from the Convention Centre. There was a lot of rescuing going on because of Myotismon."
"No kidding!" Dai replied. "I'm glad you guys were able to bring down the fog barrier and rescue everyone in the Convention Centre. I'm sure my dad and Aunt Jun appreciated the gesture, too!"
"The best thing about the whole Myotismon incident was the prophecy," Takara sighed. "' Angels will shoot arrows of hope and light at the loved ones of those they've been sent to protect.' I don't know if I could have let someone shoot arrows at me! My dad and Uncle Matt are really brave!"
"They're really lucky, too," Ryoko murmured. "Their digimon got to digivolve all the way to the mega level!"
"Angemon and Angewomon were pretty amazing, as well," Sam said softly. "You're right, Gatomon. You did stop Myotismon, but unfortunately that wasn't enough to defeat VenomMyotismon."
"I know," Gatomon grumbled.
"I hope I can digivolve to mega one day," Embermon said softly.
"You will," Dai replied. "I can't believe Tai and the others didn't figure out that Kari was the Eight Child a lot sooner, and don't even get me started on Heighten View Terrace! Terrorist bombing, yeah right! Can you believe Tai and the others all lived there at the same time and didn't even know it until the whole Myotismon thing happened?"
"If you ask me, Aunt Kari was lucky she was sick for the first half of the adventure!" Ryoko muttered.
"I bet we could have seen the digimon fighting at Heighten View Terrace if we had been alive at the time," Mickey murmured. "The same goes for Davis, Yolei, Ken, and Cody. They probably would have seen Parrotmon and Greymon as well, if they had been there."
"The scariest part was when the Digital World appeared in the sky after we defeated VenomMyotsimon," Palmon piped up. "We knew we had to go back because all of the troubles in the Digital World were starting to affect the human world, as well!"
"If only we had known about Oikawa then..." Wormmon murmured.
Dai frowned and gave the little rookie a curious look. "Who's Oikawa?"
"We'll get to him later," Veemon replied.
"Piximon tried to save our parents from the Dark Masters," Takara said quietly. "I'm so glad he's back, and it was nice of him to warn them about Spiral Mountain."
"Whatever," Ryoko snorted.
"You know what, Mickey? Puppetmon would have been great friends with Jestermon, too," Matty muttered. "That crazy puppet tried to hurt our dad!"
"Yeah, but he didn't," Mickey whispered, his voice trembling. "Our dad and Uncle Matt exchanged some pretty harsh words because of Puppetmon, but don't worry, Matty. We're not going to let Jestermon and DarkAngelicmon do the same thing to us!"
Matty threw his arms around Mickey and hugged his brother tightly. "I've been waiting a long time to hear you say that," the younger twin mumbled, his amber eyes filling with sudden tears.
Me, too.
Dai smiled at the Takaishi twins and turned to look at Ryoko. "Hey, what's wrong, Ishida?"
"Agumon, according to you, my dad and Tai became friends right here in the Digital World, but you never actually explained how they became friends," Ryoko said quietly, completely ignoring him. "I've heard all kinds of stories about the things they went through to become best friends, but none of those stories mentioned anything about the Digital World. What exactly -"
"Ask your dad about a digimon named Cherrymon, a dark cave, and the Crest of Friendship," Gabumon said softly. "Only he can give you the answers to your questions."
"There's more to the story, isn't there?" Ryoko whispered. "I can tell there's definitely some bad history between them. Agumon hinted as much more than once."
Gabumon stared at him for a moment and suddenly smiled. "You and Dai could learn a lot from Matt and Tai."
"What?" Ryoko snapped.
Dai felt his face turn red, and he quickly looked at the ground. What exactly is Gabumon trying to say?
"Don't worry, Ryoko. I know your dad will tell you everything," Gabumon said simply. "You are his son, and I know you'll eventually understand what I'm trying to say."
"That conversation Tai and his friends had with the Entity that took over Aunt Kari's body was freaky." Takara commented. "Their vital information was scanned and everything. Talk about weird. At least we know more about digimon, Gennai, and the Powers of Darkness now. I can't believe the Dark Masters attacked Gennai and his counterparts. Piedmon even tried to steal the crests and Digieggs!"
"He did get the crests," Ryoko muttered. "At least the part about Gennai being an old man makes sense now."
"I'll tell you more about Benjamin and the others later," Veemon said cheerfully.
"I'm just glad Leomon was reconfigured. He and Ogremon are a riot! They really do know each other after all!" Celestimon laughed.
"Our parents were the ones who helped Leomon digivolve and so did their Digivices," Ryoko said softly.
"I still can't believe those Numemon called Aunt Kari their queen!" Takara giggled.
"They're not the only ones who wanted her for a queen," Gatomon muttered.
"What was that?" Matty snapped.
"Nothing," Gatomon said shortly.
"I'll never get over Piedmon turning people into key chains!" Sam said, his violet eyes glittering with horror. "It's a good thing Angemon was able to digivolve into MagnaAngemon."
"You're welcome!" Patamon laughed.
"In the end, our parents were able to defeat Apocalymon without their crests," Ryoko murmured. "I wonder what's actually behind the Wall of Fire."
"Not even Gennai knows," Biyomon replied. "Apparently it's located right here on File Island, and it still exists even though Apocalymon has been defeated. It is a barrier to protect the Digital World from the Powers of Darkness."
"'File Island is where light and darkness meet, but they cannot be allowed to cross,'" Takara quoted. "That's what Leomon said earlier."
"Wise words," Elecmon murmured. "After your parents defeated Apocalymon, the Digital World was once again filled with beauty and peace. Unfortunately that peace did not last very long, and four years later the Digidestined were threatened by a new evil. This time the Powers of Darkness took shape in the body of a human. Alright, Veemon. I think it's time you explained to Dai and his friends what happened twenty-five years ago."
Veemon slowly nodded and glanced nervously at Sam. "T.K. had just moved to Odaiba four years after the defeat of Apocalymon, and he was about to start class at his new school when he crossed paths with a boy named Davis Motomiya. My story begins with the discovery of new, unique Digieggs and new Digidestined. Twenty-five years ago a human boy tried to take over the Digital World with Control Spires and Dark Rings. He was mean and cruel, and all digimon were afraid of him. The only thing we knew about him at the time was the name he had given us. He called himself the Digimon Emperor, and that is a name some digimon will never forget..."