Disclaimer: I don't own Digimon.
A/N: Another chapter done! The next chapter will be in Mickey's POV (and someone elses) so watch out for it!
Following the Footsteps of Destiny
Chapter 84: Izzy's Theory
Daichi 'Dai' Motomiya
Odaiba, Japan, Earth
Daichi Motomiya glanced suspiciously at Izzy and held DemiEmbermon tightly against his chest. "Izzy, how are we supposed to get our hands on the crests when we don't even know where they are? They could be anywhere, and don't forget, the Digital World is a huge place. We could be searching forever for them!"
"That's where you're wrong, Dai!"
"What do you mean?" Noah asked curiously.
Izzy gave the older boy a reassuring smile and frowned thoughtfully at his laptop. "Dai, I think I might know where Vampiramon and her buddies are hiding, but I need your help. Do you remember which direction they would always leave in whenever you guys defeated their servants in battle?"
Dai glanced at Ryoko and raised his eyebrows when he realized the blond was gazing back at him. "Any ideas?"
Ryoko shrugged and turned to look at his twin cousins. "What about you guys?"
"No clue," the twins said simultaneously.
Sam nodded in agreement and sighed. "We were too busy making sure everyone was okay to notice."
"Actually, now that I think about it, I'm pretty sure Spritemon was heading west when she flew away from us after Whamon threatened her," Takara said, her hazel eyes sparkling with sudden excitement.
Ryoko nodded in agreement and smiled at the female Digidestined. "You're right, Kara! The same goes for Vampiramon! She was also heading west when she turned into a bat and flew out of the forest!"
"Exactly!" Izzy shouted triumphantly. "They were headed west! You know what that means, don't you? Vampiramon and her buddies are hiding out in the Western Hemisphere!"
Dai's mouth fell open, and he stared at Izzy in astonishment. The computer expert was right. Vampiramon and her buddies had to be in the Western Hemisphere. It was the only explanation that made sense. It also explained why none of the digimon in the Eastern or Southern Hemispheres had ever seen Vampiramon's master, and it explained why the group of dark digimon were rarely spotted on File Island unless they were causing mischief.
Why didn't I see it before? We've never been to the Western Hemisphere, and that's why we've never come face-to-face with Vampiramon's master. Ryoko's right. I really need to use my head before I rush into things and start jumping to conclusions all the time. Still...there's one thing I don't understand. Why hasn't Vampiramon's master confronted us yet? What exactly is he waiting for? Maybe he wants to get his hands on the D-Coders before he destroys us...
"Great job!" Matt said, gazing proudly at Kara and Ryoko. "Izzy doesn't get impressed very often!"
"Thanks," Ryoko mumbled, his face turning bright pink.
Izzy quickly pulled up a map of the Digital World on his laptop and pointed at a huge land mass located in the Western Hemisphere. "That's the continent of Cyber. I know because I've been studying maps of the Digital World for many years. It's under the protection of Baihumon. He's the guardian of the Western Hemisphere."
"That's right. Andromon told us quite a bit about the four hemispheres, but he never mentioned all the names of the digimon who are in charge of protecting them," Sam said quietly. "The only one he mentioned was Azulongmon."
"We've only ever dealt with Azulongmon in person," Izzy explained. "He's in charge of protecting the Eastern Hemisphere. I'm not sure if you've noticed, but the Four Guardians are similar to the four gods or spirits mentioned in an old Kyoto legend."
"Yeah, Veemon told us all about what happened to Yolei in Kyoto," Fluttermon said enthusiastically.
Izzy smiled at the little digimon and gave his laptop a rather impatient look. "Davis, go get your D-3."
"Why?"
Dai grinned at the startled expression on his dad's face and exchanged an amused look with DemiVeemon.
"I'll get it, and I'll get mine, too," Noriko sighed.
I wonder if she has forgotten about the fact that I'm supposed to be grounded...
He sent his mother an anxious look, but she never even glanced in his direction.
Well, I guess I'm safe. For now anyway...
"Izzy, why do you want my dad's D-3?" Ami asked, frowning in confusion.
"Any Digivice would do, but the rest of us didn't bring ours with, and I need something to compare the D-Coders to. Davis' and Noriko's Digivices will work perfectly. After all, I never thought I'd be needing mine since I haven't used it in fifteen years!"
"Sorry," Palelymon said, giving Izzy an apologetic look.
Izzy dismissed the little digimon's words with a wave of his hand and began to type something out on his laptop. "Dai, can I borrow your D-Coder for a minute?"
"Why?"
"Well, I'm hoping I can figure out exactly how it works, and I'm interested to see if it has any functions that the original Digivices and D-3s would be unable to perform."
Dai sent the computer expert a suspicious look and glanced apprehensively at his father.
"It's alright," his dad said, giving him an encouraging smile. "Izzy knows what he's doing."
"I'm not going to break it, if that's what you're worried about," Izzy added, his dark eyes sparkling with amusement.
Dai glared at the computer expert and promptly handed over his D-Coder. "You'd better not!"
"Fascinating," Izzy muttered to himself, turning the Digivice over in his hands. "I wonder why Gennai called them D-Coders."
"We were wondering the same thing," Mickey replied. The older twin handed his orange D-Coder over to his mother and glanced shyly at his twin, but Matty never even looked in his brother's direction. Instead the younger twin huddled against his father's side, and Dai suddenly realized the two of them were gazing curiously at the yellow D-Coder in T.K.'s hands. Matty's father had set his son's Digivice on the small table beside the loveseat a while ago, and it had ended up being forgotten after the conversation had turned to DarkAngelicmon. Obviously Matty had not forgotten about it, though, because he had motioned for his dad to pick it up as soon as Izzy had mentioned Davis' and Noriko's Digivices.
"They're beautiful," Kari said softly, gently running her hands over the shiny white and orange surface of Mickey's D-Coder.
T.K. nodded in agreement and turned to look at Izzy. "Do you have any ideas?"
"Not yet, but I'm sure I'll come up with something."
"Here you go, Izzy. It's been a long time since we've used them. We've had them hidden away for so long I almost forgot where they were!" Noriko laughed, coming into the room with a smile on her face.
Dai gazed at the D-3s in his mother's hands and smiled slightly. "They remind me a lot of our D-Coders."
"They are quite similar, aren't they?" Izzy replied. "Their shapes are slightly different, and the arrangement of the colours and buttons on the D-Coders is rather unique, but other than that they're pretty much in agreement with the basic design of the original Digivice. Wait until you see my Digivice. Noriko, could you hand me Davis' D-3?"
Dai smiled at the way his mother quickly handed over his father's D-3 without a second thought and jumped when she suddenly came towards him.
"Here, sweetie. Do you want to take a look at it?" she asked quietly.
I guess she's not mad at me after all. Either that or she has forgotten I'm supposed to be grounded again!
He gently took his mother's D-3 in his hands and studied its red and white surface. It did look a bit like a D-Coder, and it was definitely recognizable as a Digivice, but there were quite a few differences, as well. His D-Coder was red down both sides, instead of just one, and the screen was a little bit bigger. It also had a red rim around the screen, and unlike his mother's D-3, the entire Digivice itself was actually more red than white. His mon's and dad's Digivices were the final proof he needed to convince himself that his parents were really Digidestined and at that moment he felt truly proud to be their son.
"What's this?" Matt asked, interrupting his thoughts.
He looked up in surprise and realized the former musician was pointing at a slim, horizontal hole which was located at the top and towards the back of Ryoko's sapphire Digivice. He glanced anxiously at his own D-Coder and let out a gasp when he realized his Digivice also had a hole in it which was the exact same shape and size as the one on Ryoko's D-Coder.
Why didn't I see it before?
Izzy frowned at the red D-Coder in his hand and let out a frustrated sigh. "I have no idea. It looks like something is supposed to go there, but what? It's almost as if the D-Coders are missing something..."
"Maybe that's where the Spirit Chips are supposed to go!" DemiVeemon said enthusiastically.
Izzy's whole face lit up, and he beamed at the little digimon. "I bet you're right, DemiVeemon. That would be the most logical explanation."
"Hey, Izzy? Our Digivices were able to decode that message Gennai left on the computer for us. Do you think that might have something to do with why our Digivices are called D-Coders?" Ryoko asked, his bright blue eyes sparkling with sudden excitement.
Izzy blinked in surprise and slowly nodded. "Yes, that could have something to do with it. Your Digivices are special in the sense that they can decode the computer language of the Digital World, which is very different from any computer code I've ever seen. Some of it is similar to stuff I've delt with before, but most of it even I still have trouble understanding despite the fact that I've been studying the Digital World for years. Still...I think there's more to the name than just being able to understand computer code."
"Yeah, I think so, too," Ryoko said firmly.
Mimi kissed her son's cheek and smiled at the golden-haired Digidestined. "Well, it's a start anyway. Great job, sweetheart. Who says Izzy has all the brains around here?"
"Izzy does, that's who!" Matt said dryly, lightly running his fingers over Ryoko's D-Coder. He gave his son an affectionate smile and gently ruffled the younger blond's golden hair. "You're going to be an amazing Digidestined, Ryoko."
"I could have told you that!" Iramon snorted.
Ryoko beamed at his partner and cuddled the little digimon against his chest. "And you're going to be an awesome partner, Iramon. No, wait. Forget I said that. You already are."
"That's for sure!" Matt laughed, handing Ryoko's Digivice over to Mimi so she could have a look at it.
Ryoko smiled rather shyly at his parents and proceeded to ignore all the grins the others were sending his way.
"I guess we'll just have to wait and see if our suspicions about the D-Coders are actually true or not," Takara said with a resigned sigh.
Great. I hate waiting, and in my opinion we've been sitting around long enough already. I'm definitely ready for some action. I wonder what kind of plan Izzy has in store for us.
"Izzy, aren't you going to tell us how we're going to get the crests back?" Joe asked, looking extremely uneasy. "You know I love hearing your theories on anything that has to do with the Digital World, but right now I think we have to focus on what's really important, and that means we have to come up with a safe way to steal our crests back from Vampiramon. You do have a plan, don't you?"
You read my mind, Joe! Now I just hope Izzy's plan actually works.
Izzy scratched his head and managed a sheepish smile. "Right. I did say that, didn't I? Sorry about that. I tend to get a little carried away sometimes."
"What do you mean sometimes?" Taniko snorted, poking her father in the ribs. "More like all the time!"
"Honey, your father's trying to think. You know how frustrated he gets when he loses his train of thought," Mina scolded.
Izzy quickly turned back to his laptop and pointed at the Western Hemisphere again. "Where was I? Oh, yes. Like I said before, our crests are in there somewhere, and we have to find out exactly where they are as soon as possible."
"And how exactly are we supposed to find them?" Matty demanded.
Izzy wrapped his arm around his daughter and gave the younger twin a reassuring smile. "That's the easy part. Our crests are connected to our Digivices."
"What do you mean by that?" Ami asked.
"It's simple really. My crest will start glowing as soon as I come anywhere near it, and vice versa. If I get anywhere near my crest, my Digivice will start to react. The two are connected."
Dai frowned and made a face at the computer expert. "So all we have to do is get near the crests and you guys will be able to locate them for us?"
"Exactly. You're catching on a lot quicker than your father and Tai ever did!"
"Hey, everyone's still in one piece, aren't they?" Tai shouted, shaking Takara's D-Coder in Izzy's face. "I guess I wasn't such a bad leader after all!"
Izzy gave the original Digidestined leader a soothing pat on the shoulder and shrugged. "I never said you were."
"You sure know how to jump to conclusions, Tai," Matt snorted.
"Alright, Izzy, who's going to go to the Digital World with Sam and the others?" Yolei interrupted.
"Anyone but Mimi," Matt and Tai said firmly at the exact same time.
Mimi let out a soft sigh and gazed fondly back at the two men who were staring at her with concern in their eyes. "I knew you guys were going to say that."
"I'm sorry, Mimi, but the Digital World is a dangerous place, and you could end up getting hurt and so could our new baby. I know you would never forgive yourself if that ever happened," Matt said quietly.
Mimi slowly nodded and leaned over her son to give the former musician a quick kiss. "I know, but..."
"Don't worry, Mom. I'll bring Palmon back with me tomorrow. I promise," Ryoko said, giving his mother a warm hug.
Mimi's eyes filled with tears, and she buried her face in her son's golden hair. "Thanks, sweetie. I can't wait to see her."
Izzy glanced around the room for a moment, and a small smile slipped across his face. "I think Ken, T.K., and Davis should go with. Both Ken and T.K. have crests, and that means they'll be able to find out where Vampiramon and the others are hiding. I'm going to send Davis along, too, because I know he'll complain if I don't."
"Darn right, Izzy! My son gets to learn from the best!"
"What are you talking about, Davis? Tai's not going with!" Matt smirked.
Dai laughed at the expression on his father's face and turned to look at Izzy. "What do we do after we find the crests?"
"Well, hopefully Leomon and the others will have found Gennai by then. Centaurumon made a good point earlier. Gennai's information won't help us if we don't have the tools needed to find the Spirit Chips. The crests and the D-Coders aren't going to be enough. We need Gennai, as well, because I have a feeling he's the only one who might know where the Spirit Chips are. If Benjamin and the others knew, they would have told you already. I have no doubt the D-Coders will react to the Spirit Chips, when we get close enough for them to pick up the signal, but it'll take us forever to find the things without an idea as to which continent they're on. We could be wandering around the Digital World for months without finding anything. Unlike with the Spirit Chips, at least we know which continent the crests are on. That's better than nothing!"
"Alright, so first we find the Spirit Chips and then we help Leomon and the others find Gennai?" Takara asked.
"Yes, if Leomon hasn't found Gennai already," Izzy corrected.
Yolei crossed her arms and glared at the computer expert. "What about the rest of us, Izzy?"
"Relax, Yolei. We'll take turns going to the Digital World. No one's going to get left out."
"No one except me," Mimi sighed.
"Besides, Dai and the others have already proven they're more than capable of looking after the Digital World without us hovering over their shoulders all the time. We have to trust them. If we don't, the Digital World won't stand a chance against Vampiramon and her buddies."
"But-"
"We'll help them, Yolei, and we'll definitely be giving them a lot of advice, but in the end they're going to be the ones who save the Digital World. We're not here to order them around. We're here to guide them, and that's exactly what we're going to do."
"I guess we finally know how you guys felt when Davis became the new leader," Cody laughed.
Tai shrugged and smiled at the younger man. "It doesn't matter. Once a Digidestined, always a Digidestined. That's what counts."
"Tentomon's at Primary Village, right?" Izzy suddenly blurted.
Dai raised his eyebrows and nodded. "Yeah, why?"
"You know what, Dai? I bet Gennai and the crests are in the exact same place. We might end up heading in the same direction Leomon and his friends are heading in. I hope they've come to the same conclusion as I have about the Western Hemisphere. Is Tentomon near the gate?"
"I'm not sure. The gate we went through was quite a distance away from Primary Village."
Izzy tapped something out on the keyboard, and Dai jumped in surprise when Tentomon's face appeared on the screen.
"Hey, Tentomon," Izzy said softly.
Tentomon let out a gasp and fluttered closer to the screen. "Izzy, is that you?"
Izzy nodded and smiled fondly at his digimon. "I've missed you. How are you doing?"
Tentomon sniffed back his tears and sent the computer expert an affectionate look. "Great now that I can finally see you again. I take it Dai and his friends told you their secret?"
"Yes. Where are Agumon and the others?"
"Sleeping. They're right here next to me. Playing soccer with a bunch of baby digimon can really tire a rookie out! We followed Dai and the others after they left because we wanted to be close by in case you guys needed us."
"Thanks, buddy. Hey, Tentomon? Could you do me a favour? I think I know where the crests might be, but we need Patamon's and Wormmon's help. Could you tell them to meet Dai and the others in the Western Hemisphere tomorrow? Tell them to wait for Dai at the gate closest to the shore. They'll probably be able to catch a ride with Whamon. I doubt he's managed to catch up with Leomon yet since Gennai had him stationed in the Southern Hemisphere. That's a big ocean to cross. Make sure you tell Patamon and Wormmon to let Whamon know we think Gennai's somewhere on Cyber. He can pass the message on to Leomon."
"Do you really think the crests are in the Western Hemisphere?" Tentomon asked, looking surprised.
Izzy nodded and gave his digimon a reassuring smile. "I'll see you soon, okay? Don't forget to pass on my message."
"I won't."
Yolei shoved Izzy out of the way and glared at Tentomon. "Make sure you tell Hawkmon and the others we'll meet up with them as soon as we can, alright?"
Tentomon sent Yolei a rather frightened look and quickly nodded. "I will."
"Bye, Tentomon!" DemiVeemon said cheerfully.
"Bye, DemiVeemon. Um...Izzy? I'm glad you guys aren't mad at Dai and his friends."
"No way," Izzy said firmly. "All of us Digidestined stick together. You know that as well as I do. I'll see you later, Tentomon. Have a good nap."
"Bye, Izzy."
The screen went black, and Izzy slowly got to his feet. "I think it's time we all had some dinner. Besides, there's not much more we can do today. The crests will just have to wait until tomorrow afternoon. I know some of you guys will still be at work then, but anyone who wants to join in the fun can meet us here tomorrow. We'll use Davis' and Noriko's computer. It's much more convenient than the computer at the school."
"I'll say!" Glimmermon laughed.
"I'll be there," Noah said firmly.
"Hey! I'm coming, too!" Ema shouted.
"Good," Izzy replied. "The more support, the better. I know my plan isn't as well thought out as some of my others have been, but it's a start. As for the Spirit Chips, I think I might know how to get them, but I'll wait until we find Gennai before I tell you my theory. Sorry."
"Don't worry about it, honey. You're doing a great job," Mina said, sending her husband an encouraging look.
"Um...Tai? Are you sure you don't mind sitting this one out?" Ken asked, glancing nervously at the original Digidestined leader.
Tai smiled slightly and shook his head. "Matt and I will have our chance. Look after Kara for me, will you?"
"We will," Davis replied, giving the original Digidestined leader a warm smile.
"Men," Yolei sniffed. "Honestly, Izzy, women are much more dependable, you know!"
"Yes, of course," Izzy replied, smiling in amusement. "Everyone ready to eat?"
"I was ready a long time ago!" DemiEmbermon complained.
Noriko raised her arms to get everyone's attention and pointed towards the kitchen. "All of you out the side door. We'll eat in the backyard as soon as it's ready. I don't want you messing up my kitchen. I swear you're all like a bunch of disobedient toddlers!"
"She means us, not the kids," Tai whispered in Matt's ear.
Dai grinned and quickly followed his father towards the door, but Izzy stopped him and handed him his D-Coder and his father's D-3. "Here, Dai. If you and your dad don't mind, I'd like to study both Digivices again when I have more time to focus on figuring out the differences between them."
"Sure. Anytime."
He handed the blue D-3 over to his father and the two of them exchanged a smile. He felt a lot more hopeful than he had a few hours ago, and he could tell the rest of his friends felt the exact same way. Even Sam was smiling, but most of all he was glad about the fact that his parents had decided to forgive him. They would find the crests, and Gennai, no matter how hard Vampiramon tried to stop them, and if her master was hiding out in the Western Hemisphere, as well, then they would stop him, too.