A/N: I don't own Digimon and Welcome Back! For those who haven't read the first part of this story please check it out.

Phoenix And Dragons: The Digigames Arc

Chapter 1:

"It's time I tell you all the tale of the Digigames." Her tone became dark and cold as she mention the event. Sora felt a shiver go down her spine. She had never heard her mother speak in such a tone before, even after Rika's 'disappearance' and her fathers death. "You see, it started many many years ago before even the fusion of the two worlds. The Dragon Digimon at the time lived for battle and lusted for strong opponents to face them. They even went as far as to challenge the 4 Digimon Sovereigns themselves though even that wasn't enough for them. So they went about wrecking the Digital World piece by piece until the sovereign had to put their foot down upon them. 'For your unsatisfied lust for battle you all shall be punished for your crimes by having to fight each other for only the first five days of spring for all eternity!' And thus the Digigames were born as once a year the Dragon Digimon would come together in a slaughter fest to satisfy their need for battle. It became first known as the dragon blood festival until eventually it then became a tournament for the strongest in the Digiworld and it caused the rest of the world to take part as they too wanted to battle for their pride and place in the world. Until the conceiving of the five kingdoms it was 5 days of bloodshed and battle every year." When she finished she looked up and into the horrified faces of the young men and women around her.

"That's... Deep." Tai finally managed to speak out. Davis silently agreed across from him. Her story had kind of scared him, a feeling he had never felt before. Me and Taichi's ancestors did that? Guess that explains my sudden 'urges' to fight him. Does Ken now feel that too? I mean he's a fusion of his insect and my dragon attributes. His thoughts were interrupted when Sora had turned and asked Tai the same question.

"Well I'm always down to fight someone I mean at the Dragon Kingdom me, Marcus, and Takuya had three way brawl before we left. Although sometimes, even now I have an urge to lunge at Davis and Ken over there." Sora then glared at him almost daring him to jump across the table and fight them. He ignored her and then turned to Ken who had been silently thinking to himself. "Hey Ken do you feel it too, cause I know Davis does by the way he's looking at me right now like a juicy piece of meat." Davis felt his face start to heat up at that sentence. His knightly presence slowly left him. Is that how I look at him, jeez. He looked back at Ken who had stopped his pondering to look at Tai.

"Not as strongly as I am an insect Digimon with dragon-like attributes unlike Davis who has the opposite effect on him. Although you say you went to the Dragon Kingdom, don't mind me asking but did you see any stadium or something like that there for the townspeople to fight in till their urges die?" Tai, Sora, and Kari all pondered this. Though neither remembered anything of the sort and when Tai spared with Marcus and Takuya they were in a training room for the royal guard. They shook their heads and Ken sighed. "That's what I feared, they contain their bloodlust till the Digigames which is why they always come in second and are ruthless monsters." Davis groaned in annoyance. The kingdoms had a reputation among them that lasted until the next digigames. The Phoenix Kingdom had an everlasting record of last place and was thought of as the weakest kingdom in the land because of it.

"Come on Davis I'm sure we'll come out on top this time I mean I'm joining this year." Sora said from across the table. Woosh... Hell then broke loose as the different facial expressions across the room were priceless. Tai had a knowing smirk on his face while Kari giggled next to him. Davis' jaw dropped open and Yolei rolled her eyes knowing what was coming next. Ken eyes widened at the broad proposition while finally the Queen's brow twitched until she exploded, literally. Her body became a blazing inferno of orange as she glared down at Sora who in turn rolled her eyes expecting the reaction.

"Sora Takenouchi! How dare you believe in silly things such as PARTICIPATING IN THE DIGIGAMES!" Davis swore his eardrums exploded as she continued to yell at her daughter who sat quietly before looking her mother in the eye spoke in a surprisingly normal tone.

"Mother please respect my decision but I refuse to watch my friends fight and get hurt. I want to fight alongside them as an ally, as a friend, and have their backs." Tears appeared in her eyes as she looked at her friends who sat at the table as they all smiled at her. "Plus I want to show this kingdom that I'm strong and capable enough to lead their future." Her mother's started to tear as she walked over to hug her.

"I just can't stand the thought of you getting injured or worse after I already lost both your sister and father." She whispered.

"Don't worry they'll have my back the whole time." They then turned to the others and smiled.

"Alright I'll let you participate as long as you promise to be safe." Sora nodded and fell into her embrace. It was a beautiful moment as they stayed like that until Tai asked,

"Um how do we find out who participates?" Sora and her mother started giggling until everyone then started laughing leaving Tai wondering what was so funny.

"Well Tai you see the kingdom has a race to see who gets to be on the team." Kari explained. "Though it was only for those ultimate and higher so you wouldn't have known unless the Teacher started talking about it in class." Sora then picked off from where she started.

"She's right you know. The race starts atop the peak of Eagle Mountain, that last mountain we climbed before we entered the Kingdom, and it ends with the first 6 people to reach the finish line at the coliseum." Tai nodded looked down wondering how many hybrids and Digimon would enter this race.

"The race will be held in 3 months two weeks before the Digigames." The queens voice shot through his mind like a knife. "That gives you three months to prepare for the race." As she finished everyone left the room preparing for whatever tomorrow's fate was leaving Tai to his thoughts as he still sat at the grand table. Three months huh. I can last that long but what about Kari and the others? Will they?

That night Tai tossed and turned in his bed. He and Kari had gone to spend the night with Piximon after being gone for so long. He rolled over and over until he heard a tiny flutter of wings come from the hall. He then rolled off the bed and opened the door to see Piximon coming back from the bathroom walked over to the flying puffball.

"Whatcha doin up this late Tai huh?" He had a tiny pink nightcap on his head which was slowly sliding off as he spoke.

"I need to ask you a question. About something that's been bothering me ever since we left the Dragon Kingdom." Piximon the hint that he didn't want Kari to overhear them so they went to Piximon room and sat down on the floor since Tai was to large for Piximon's tiny furniture.
"Now tell me what's wrong Tai."
"It's just that I want to get stronger so I can protect you guys and not have to worry about whether or not I'm going to win. I mean I died Piximon because I was to weak. I had to be saved twice by both Kari and Sora because I wasn't strong enough to protect them and I was the bodyguard!" He stopped for a moment to calm his frustrated mind. "That's why I want to go on a training journey for the next three months so I can be strong enough for the digigames. But-"
"The only problem is you don't want to leave Kari behind right?" The old Digimon watched him nod and then came to a decision. "Tai, sometimes in life your gonna have to make hard and frustrating choices huh. But remember this, Kari could never hate you even if you do this ye hear. You just need the courage to carry on and teller." Tai smiled and stood up walking towards the door.
"Thank you Piximon, I'll see you in three months okay?"
"I'll be here when you get back." Tai then closed the door and looked down the hall to his sister's open door. I'm sorry Kari but I have to go, so I can protect you and our kingdom. He then turned and went to go grab his stuff as he would need it for the months ahead.

Sora was in the castle garden walking towards the gate planning to visit Tai and Kari when the later of the two ran into her. Sora was surprised as she hugged her tighter than she thought possible. As she looked down she saw the shaking figure that was Hikari Kamiya concern filling her. "Kari what's wrong? Why are you crying? Where's Tai?" At the mention of her brother's name Kari raised her hand which had what looked like a piece of paper. As she grabbed it her eyes widened in shock as she read the inside of what seemed to be a letter.

Dear Kari and friends,
I'm going on a quest to train for the Digigames. My goal is to be strong enough to protect and assist you when the time comes for me too. I've been thinking of this since we left the Dragon Kingdom and after putting some thought into it was the decision I came up with. I will see you in 3 months time on the day of the races. I am sorry that you couldn't come with me but this is something I have to do on my own.
Love, Tai

Sora dropped to her knees with Kari as tears formed in her red eyes. She then looked down to the little girl and saw her heartbroken face. "He left us, he left me! Why?" The younger girl questioned and Sora pulled her into a powerful hug. Kari continued to sob into her shirt until she looked up when Sora answered,

"Because he cares Kari, because he cares."

End of Chapter 1

A/N: We are back in business people! See you next time.