Disclaimer: I don't own Digimon.

A/N: I'm back again with another really, really lame short chapter, but I promise this will be the last one of that nature. My weird writer's block started to clear up after this one so I promise they'll be better. (Speaking of which, thank you to everyone who told me my chapters haven't been as lame as I think!) Also, a big thank you to everyone who reviewed last chapter. I love you all! Hugs for all of you! So, without further ado, here's another chapter!

Following the Footsteps of Destiny

Chapter 184: More Surprises

Izzy Izumi

Odaiba, Japan, Earth

"Izzy! Izzy, I think we've got a problem!" Gotsumon cried, his chiseled gray face appearing suddenly on the computer screen. "I'm not sure what's going on, but whatever it is, it doesn't look good at all!"

"Oh dear, Gotsumon's right. I think we might have quite the situation on our hands," Hawkmon added, his voice coming from somewhere in the background.

Glancing up in surprise, Izzy frowned at the little rookie gazing back at him through the computer screen, and scratching the back of his head in confusion he said, "What are you guys talking about? I take it something must have happened?"

"You could say that," Armadillomon replied, appearing suddenly on the screen next to Gotsumon and glancing nervously over his shoulder.

"What's going on?" Cody asked hesitantly, gazing anxiously at his partner.

Normally, Armadillomon was a fairly easy going digimon who didn't often stress about circumstances he had no control over, so to see the little rookie looking so worried meant the situation had to be fairly serious for him to lose his cool.

"Well..."

"We can't say for sure, but a moment ago we thought we saw two specks appear in the sky above the peak of Infinity Mountain before they disappeared from view," Hawkmon interrupted, nudging Armadillomon aside with his left wing and nodding his head in the direction of Infinity Mountain. "At this distance, it's hard to tell exactly what's going on, but to me it looks as if the two digimon have just left the peak of the mountain, which means Dai and his friends might be in serious trouble."

"Not only that, but a little bit earlier it looked as if there was a bit of a commotion further down the mountain, as well, and although we can't be certain, we thought we saw a few digimon take off in different directions; all of them heading towards the peak," Gotsumon added, shaking his head in dismay. "We can't see them anymore at the moment, since they all disappeared around the other side of the mountain, but I'm still worried. You don't think they're in trouble, do you?"

Exchanging a look with Taniko, Izzy hesitated before saying, "The situation certainly sounds a bit...troubling. Did you see anything else?"

"Not really," Armadillomon replied, sounding a little more like his usual self. "Like we said, it's pretty hard to tell what's going on from so far away, but we do know for sure there was definitely some movement on the mountain."

"Has Dai or any of the others contacted you recently?" Hawkmon asked curiously, his tone indicating he already knew the answer, but despite the obvious he was nonetheless hoping that perhaps he was mistaken.

"No, I haven't heard anything since Kari sent me that email about Takara being taken captive earlier. I was thinking of sending one back, but at the time there wasn't much I could say. I can't help them come up with a plan if I don't know exactly what's going on. I was hoping they'd update me on the situation, but..."

"Look, Dad!" Taniko suddenly interrupted, pointing eagerly at the screen. "I think Kari has just sent you another email right now! We'd better check it out."

Nodding in agreement, Izzy quickly pulled up Kari's new email, and reading through it quickly he shook his head in disbelief.

Dai...

"What's going on?" Sora demanded, leaning suddenly over his shoulder for a better look at the screen.

"Well...I wish I could give you some good news, but..."

"According to Kari's email, they were ambushed by Spritemon, which has forced them to split up into several groups in order to escape," Taniko explained, making a face. "Tai, Matty, and Ryoko have gone after Dai and the rest of our friends are planning to meet up with them once they reach the peak."

"Spritemon must have been spying on them this whole time, and more than likely what Hawkmon and his friends just saw was Tai and the others trying to escape," Rosa said slowly, frowning at the computer screen.

"I guess Spritemon didn't like the idea of Dai separating himself from the rest of the group," Cody added, exchanging a quick look with his wife.

"But...what about the movement Hawkmon and his friends glimpsed near the top of the mountain?" Taysuke asked anxiously, clinging tightly to Mimi's shoulder.

Gazing intently at the computer screen, Izzy said hesitantly, "If we assume Vampiramon, BlackWidowmon, Jestermon, and DarkAngelicmon are all waiting for Dai at the top of Infinity Mountain then what Hawkmon and his friends saw...it would appear what they were witnessing was two digimon leaving the peak of the mountain."

"But...why would they leave?" Palmon asked curiously, scratching the petals sprouting from her head in confusion. "I mean, why would they suddenly just abandon their positions, especially after they went through so much trouble to capture Kara?"

"They know," Sora said quietly, her voice trembling with fear. "Like Izzy said earlier, Kara has her D-Coder, remember? They must know Spritemon failed to keep Dai and his friends all together and now..."

"Now they're going to try and fix Spritemon's mistakes," Noah finished, nodding his head at the computer screen for emphasis.

Sitting beside her brother, Ema said weakly, "That...can't be good. What are we going to do?"

"There's nothing we can do unless we start climbing Infinity Mountain ourselves," Tentomon said helplessly, anxiously fluttering his wings.

"Oh no!" Rina gasped, clapping her hands over her mouth. "I hope Mommy and my brothers will be okay."

"What about Sam?" Nao cried anxiously. "He's already not feeling very good!"

Sitting up straight in his chair, Izzy began to type out a quick message, and beaming at his partner he said, "Actually, there is something we can do. According to Kari, they've all separated themselves into three groups, not counting Dai, and although I won't be able to warn Tai, since no one in his group has a D-Terminal, I can warn the other two groups. Even if they can't reach Tai in time to warn him, they can at least try to intercept the two digimon who appear to have left the peak of Infinity Mountain, thus giving Tai a chance to reach Daichi without any interruptions."

"That's true, but now that Vampiramon and her allies are fighting like real megas, if Kari's group and Davis' group try to intercept them, won't they just end up putting themselves in serious danger?" Miya said hesitantly, looking unsure of whether or not she should have given her opinion.

"Not to mention we don't know who they're after," Jun added, coming to Miya's defence. "Logically, you'd think their main focus would be Dai, which would mean Tai's group would be the one in danger, but what if they're not going after Dai? What if they're just trying to prevent the other two groups from reaching the top of the mountain to stop them from interfering? If that's the case then it could be Kari and Davis who need to be on their guard."

"In other words, we don't know who they're going to go after, and any mistake on our part could cost Dai his Spirit Chip," Ami groaned, slapping a hand against her forehead.

"Ami's right. According to Kari's email, they're leaving Daichi in Tai's hands, and the rest of them are just going to try and reach the top of the mountain, either by holding off Spritemon or by avoiding another confrontation with her altogether, but if we tell them both Dai and Tai's group are in danger, without knowing for sure who Vampiramon is really after, and they go rushing to Tai's aid when they're really the ones being chased, they could end up jeopardizing their own plans to reach the Spirit Chip," Kenzo explained. "If that were to happen, they would end up bringing the enemy straight to Dai and Tai, and then they would all be at risk."

"I hate to say it, but Kenzo's right," Mina agreed, shaking her head in despair. "It's dangerous having everyone separated into different groups, but at the same time it's also a huge advantage because it means Vampiramon would have to spread her forces thin if she wants to go after all of them at once, and it's better to take on one mega at a time instead of four megas and a champion all at once."

She's right, but...we still need to warn everyone...

"Any ideas, Izzy?" Cody asked curiously, looking at a complete loss of what to do himself.

Frowning slightly, Izzy looked up from the message he was typing and sitting back in his chair he said seriously, "I agree with what all of you are saying, but we still need to warn Kari and Davis. I'll let them know what's going on, but at the same time I'll advise them to continue on with their original plan; at least until we find out a little bit more about what exactly Vampiramon is up to."

"That makes sense, and you'd better make sure to tell them that it's important they don't go running after Tai at this point," T.K. warned, his bright blue eyes growing dark and shadowy. "We don't want to put them in any unnecessary danger."

"Kara's already in danger," Taysuke moaned, covering his face with his hands.

"Don't worry, Tay, your dad will pull through for us," Patamon said cheerfully, giving the youngest member of the Kamiya family a sympathetic smile. "If anyone can pull off a miracle it's definitely Tai."

"Tai has never let us down before and he's not about to start now," T.K. said firmly, his tone leaving no room for argument.

"Sora, are you going to be okay?" Mimi asked softly, giving her best friend a quick, reassuring hug.

Closing her eyes, Sora managed a weak smile and returning Mimi's hug she said quietly, "I'm not blaming anyone for what happened, Tai and Daichi least of all, but...I just can't stand waiting. The worst part about this is not knowing what's gong on, or what kind of shape my daugter's in. And yet, at the same time I feel a little bit guilty for being so worried. Kara's personality may be a little closer to mine than Tai's, but she thinks like her dad, and I know she's a tough kid. She might be scared right now, but she's not the type of person who's going to let her fear overwhelm her."

"Kara's really strong. There's no way she'd let Vampiramon intimidate her," Taysuke agreed, the determined look on his face daring anyone else to disagree.

Wrapping her arms around Taysuke in a tight hug Sora said quietly, "If anything, Kara's probably more worried about Dai than she is about herself."

Tai is the same way. He's always worrying about everyone else and sometimes it makes him reckless. Davis, too, and now Dai appears to be the same way. And yet...somehow they always manage to pull through.

Which was why he felt like they weren't giving Dai enough credit, regardless of his earlier actions.

"Dad? Are you okay?" Taniko suddenly whispered softly in his ear, tugging on his arm to get his attention.

Jumping in surprise, Izzy gave his daughter a quick, reassuring smile, and pointing at the computer screen he said quietly, "Well, I've sent my email to both Davis and Kari. Hopefully they'll get the message. In the meantime, we're just going to have to wait and see what happens. Hopefully they'll get my message before anything serious happens."

Which won't help if Vampiramon decides to go after Dai. Come on, Tai, you'd better hurry before it's too late...