Digimon Adventure Tamers
Chapter 3
Disclaimer: I do not own Digimon
It was warm summer's day in the year of 2000. All around the city of Odaiba anyone who had no jobs or any obligations to worry about were enjoying the warm weather. Kids were swimming about in pools, eating ice cream, playing games at the arcade, playing in the park, or just relaxing in the air-conditioned comfort of their homes. Most of these children had no worries. One child, however, did have a problem.
"Darn it…that kid just had to hit me in my injury." Nine-year-old Davis Motomiya, a brown-haired boy with a pair of square goggles around his neck, was limping down the street to his apartment building. He had been playing a game of soccer with some other boys his age when one of them kicked the ball into Davis's stomach by accident. The effect was instantaneous as Davis felt a surge of pain and fell to his knees. Though Davis often walked off any other injuries he would receive, he had an injury for nearly a year that still hurt every now and then, especially if his lower body, where he received the injury, was struck. Davis tried to walk it off, but it hurt like crazy, so as much as he didn't want to do it, Davis pulled out of the soccer game and went home so he could tend to it.
'I hope Jun is home and nobody else,' Davis thought as he entered his apartment building and took the elevator to his floor. Walking into his family's apartment, Davis left his shoes in the hallway and called out, "Hello?"
"Back already Davis?" a girl's voice rang out. A nearby door opened up and out walked Davis's 12-year-old sister, Jun Motomiya, a girl with spiky hair. Jun looked over and gasped when she saw her brother clutching her side, recognizing the problem instantly.
"Davis, what happened?" Jun asked, running over and helping her brother into his bedroom.
"Soccer ball," Davis said shortly as Jun helped him sit on his bed. "It still hurts when it's hit hard."
"Oh god…" Jun said worriedly, running out of the bedroom and returning moments later with a first aid kit. Placing the kit down next to her brother, Jun bent down on one knee and lifted Davis's shirt up to see the injury, wincing slightly and taking in a short breath of air. There on his side was a long, pink scar that stood out from Davis's slightly tanned skin.
"Well…it's not bleeding, but I think it's just stinging slightly from that hit," Jun pulled out a bottle of cream and opened it, rubbing some on Davis's wound. The boy flinched slightly, but relaxed as the cream did its work and eased the slight burning he felt from the injury.
"Well, that should do it," Jun said, replacing the cream bottle in the first aid kit before closing the kit. "It's a good thing Mom and Dad weren't home."
"Yeah, the scar isn't an easy thing for them…especially how I got it." Davis's expression darkened slightly as he remembered the circumstances that led to his scar last August. A deep fog…numerous scared children, one of them his own sister…a white cat surrounded by many ghosts…and an evil, smirking vampire with a blood-red whip…
"I can't believe they're still trying to deny how you got that scar," Jun said with a slight frown. "The nerve of them to say you got hurt when you ran through the balcony door and the glass broke…I mean, you may be a klutz sometimes, but not that klutzy."
(Play Digimon: Toki no Sugiyuku Mama ni…)
"Hey, stop that!" Davis said, slightly offended at his sister's insult before going back to the topic at hand. "Besides, can you really blame them for denying the truth? I mean, when you've been kidnapped and held hostage by monsters, you do tend to end up in a state of denial." Jun frowned again and couldn't help but nod. She had been there when her family was held hostage at the Big Sight convention center, and she had seen Davis gotten hurt with her own eyes. She wanted so much to help her brother, but was unable to if she didn't want to be killed. Their parents, who were shaken by the ordeal just as much as their children were, often denied what happened that day.
"Still, if there's any good to this, it's that Tai wasn't there today," Davis said, leaning back on the headrest of his bed."
"You still haven't told him about that injury?" asked a surprised Jun. Taichi Kamiya, Tai to his friends, was a brown-haired boy who was Jun's age, and his hair was very much like Jun's only to a more wild extent. Davis had met Tai three years ago when he was six and had signed up for the junior soccer team. Tai had been Davis's coach and the young boy was instantly enthralled by Tai's soccer skills. Before long, Tai had become Davis's mentor. The entire reason Davis wore goggles was to emulate Tai, who wore a pair of goggles himself. The difference was whereas Davis's goggles were square and hung around his neck, Tai's goggles were round and fitted perfectly on his head.
Shortly after Davis began learning soccer from Tai, he was introduced to two more people in Tai's life. One was Sora Takenouchi, a red-haired tomboy whose mother was a master of ikebana, Japanese flower arrangement. Tai and Sora had known each other since they were six years old, and had a strong bond of friendship, though Davis, being the young kid he was, often teased them of being something more, which often caused both of their faces to turn red. Like Tai, Sora played soccer as well, and often gave pointers for Davis when Tai was unable to. Davis had come to see Sora as a sister figure to be with whenever Jun wasn't around.
The other person was someone who Davis considered his best friend, and that was Tai's younger sister Kari. The same age as Davis, Kari's full first name was Hikari, Japanese for light. Davis thought that name was appropriate for Kari, as she always seemed to light up everybody around her with her smile and kindness. The first true friend Davis had ever made, Kari and Davis did a number of things together, and Davis always saw Kari as someone that could help him lift his spirits if he was ever down. Although Davis told Kari a lot of things, he still had yet to tell her – or Tai and Sora for that matter – about his injury.
"No…I haven't told him yet. And Sora and Kari don't know about it either." Jun frowned again at Davis's words, surprised slightly that Davis had never told his best friend about his injury.
"But why haven't you told them?"
"Because I don't want them to worry so much over it," said Davis, looking downcast. "Besides, if I want to continue playing soccer, then I can't let anyone know about this. They could just see me as a liability and unable to play."
"Davis, they won't see you as a liability if you tell them," Jun said, offering comfort to her brother by sitting next to him and wrapping an arm around his shoulders. "I'm sure they'll be able to make precautions and find ways to make sure your injury doesn't get in the way when you play. Besides, your wound is still just a year old. Give it a couple of more years, and I highly doubt it will continue hurting if it gets hit." Davis smiled lightly at his sister's comfort and wrapped his arms around her waist in a hug.
"Thanks Jun. That means a lot."
"Plus," Jun said as she wrapped her other arm around Davis in a full hug, "I'm sure when you and Kari get older, Kari will look at that scar and think how hot you look with it." The burgundy-haired girl couldn't help but burst out laughing when Davis's face became redder than a tomato.
"Will you not?! Kari and I are only nine! And besides, we're just friends!"
"Sure you are, Davis," Jun said, winking sarcastically as Davis glared at her.
"Well, what about that kid you've been meeting in your music classes? What's his name, he's the one with the blond hair…"
"His name is Matt, and there's nothing between us!" Jun huffed indignantly, her face now as red as Davis's. "He's just a good friend of mine!"
"Oh, so that's why you've been talking to him on the phone lately," Davis said with a smirk.
"Because that's what friends do!" Jun exclaimed. Though Davis and Jun did love each other as any sibling would, they still often teased each other and got on their nerves. Davis just laughed at the look on Jun's face when the screen of the computer in his room suddenly lit up brightly. This caused both siblings to look at the screen in surprise.
"What the…Davis, what is this?" Jun asked in confusion.
"I…I don't know," Davis said, just as confused as his sister. The screen glowed white for a moment before it started flashing different colors. Both Davis and Jun looked uneasy at the computer's strange behavior. A week ago, the computer – all of the electronics in the apartment and all around Odaiba, for that matter – acted strangely for nearly the entire day. When Davis and Jun attempted to look into it, they were greeted with the sight of a strange white figure battling what looked like something out of a nightmare. Eventually, the white figure killed the monster and the electronics began working properly again. No official explanation was given, but both Davis and Jun wondered if that monster the white figure was fighting was behind it all.
"I just hope this isn't like last week…" Jun said uneasily as the screen stopped flashing bright colors and suddenly let out a flash of light. Davis and Jun yelled in surprise, covering their eyes from the brightness of the light. Through their fingers, they could see something small actually come out of the computer. The small object floated in the air before gently lowering itself on the floor. Once the object hit the floor, the screen stopped glowing and the computer was silent again. Moving their hands down from their faces, Davis and Jun were greeted with a small pale blue object with a square screen, three buttons and a small antenna.
"What…what is that?" Davis asked in shock. "How did it…come out of the computer?"
"I…I'm not sure," Jun answered, slowly approaching the device and reaching out, pulling back several times as if the device would suddenly come to life and eat her face. After several pull backs, Jun grabbed the device off the floor and looked at it. "Whatever it is…I'm not sure if it's a normal device."
"Let me see!" Davis said, reaching out for the device. Jun looked at the device again and then at Davis. Some strange feeling inside of her was telling her not to give it to Davis, and she wasn't sure why. Deciding to listen to her brother, Jun gave the device to Davis, who looked it over. The small boy's eyes were narrowed at first before widening.
"Jun, I…I think I know what this is."
"You do?" asked a surprised Jun.
"At Big Sight last year," said Davis, who had walked up to Jun, who was near his computer. "I saw a girl wearing pink pajamas among the other children, and she had a device that looked like this…"
(Play Digimon: Ijou Jitai Hassei!)
But before Davis could speak again, the computer screen suddenly lit up again, shining the white light over the room. Jun was forced to cover her eyes and see through her fingers. What she saw next absolutely shocked her. Davis and the device both glowed the same white light, and actually went into the computer. Moments later, the light died down again and the computer was shut down. At first, Jun thought that the blinding effects of the light got to her eyes and Davis vanishing with the strange device was an illusion, but once her vision was clear, she realized this was no hallucination.
"D…Davis!" Jun called out, sincerely hoping her brother would answer. Sadly, there was no answer.
"Davis, come on! This isn't a time to play hide and seek!" Jun yelled, looking under Davis's bed and in his closet before looking throughout the entire apartment. She looked in every possible hiding place for Davis, but there was no sign of him.
"Davis…this isn't funny!" the preteen girl screamed, very close to panicking now.
"DAVIS!"
(Play The Biggest Dreamer: TV Size)
(Play Digimon Tamers: Aban)
Calling a meeting with the other Digimon Tamers, Ryo Akiyama revealed he came from another dimension, home to the Digidestined, and was brought to the Tamers dimension when fighting a Digimon called Millenniummon. He also revealed that Davis Motomiya was with him in the Digital World. What became of Davis…?
(Play Digimon Tamers: Subtitle 2)
The One Who Inherits Courage!
(Play Digimon Adventure 02: Gekitotsu!)
"EVERYONE RUN FOR SAFETY! THE DIGIMON EMPEROR'S HERE!"
The scream echoed across an area in the Digital World. Hearing the scream, the many Digimon in the area began running, or in some cases, flying, away when they saw a tall black obelisk standing on a nearby hill. Standing in front of the obelisk was a young human boy sporting wild, midnight-blue hair. Clad in a blue and white uniform and cape, with purple-lensed golden glasses sitting on his face to conceal his eyes, the young boy smirked as he saw the chaos around him. This boy was the Digimon Emperor, the cause of many problems for the Digital World in the last few months. Pulling out a long leather whip from inside his cape, the Digimon Emperor cracked it in the air.
Upon the sound of the whip snapping, a barrage of small black rings flew out from behind the Emperor and into the air, descending upon the forest the Digimon were escaping into.
The Digimon ran like crazy, hoping the Dark Rings would not get them…but the Emperor had more than enough. In the air, a unicorn with wings dodged one Dark Ring, but a second one suddenly clamped over his neck. The unicorn screeched as he fell out of the sky. In the forest, a grey rabbit Digimon looked back at the Ring chasing him. This move was costly as the ring immediately closed around his neck. Another Digimon made entirely out of gray rocks tripped on a tree root that he did not see, which allowed the Dark Ring chasing him to clamp over his waist.
As the rings clamped around their victims, a mysterious language appeared in blood red writing on the rings before vanishing. The Digimon wearing the rings stood up, their eyes now glowing blood-red. Though they were still alive, their free wills had been robbed. They were now slaves to the Digimon Emperor.
One Digimon, however, was proven difficult to capture: A small white cat with purple tips on her ears and tail, green and red gloves with sharp claws on her front paws, and a golden ring inscribed with a strange language on her purple-striped tail. This Digimon was Gatomon, a Champion level Digimon who was partnered to one of the Digidestined.
"Damn it…" Gatomon cursed as she looked around at the chaos happening as she ran from a Dark Ring that pursued her. This was the Digimon Emperor's MO: Strike when they least expected it. Gatomon and her friends knew of this, but they had been foolish in letting their guard down. Now, all Gatomon could do was run from the ensuing chaos. Though she wanted to help the Digimon she considered her friends and attempt to stop this, as was her duty as a protector of the Digital World, her survival instincts, sharper than her other friends', told her to run, for if she was captured, she could not help.
Gatomon looked back at the ring chasing her and gasped when she realized it was practically on top of her. Taking a risk, Gatomon leapt into the air to prevent the ring from claiming her as a slave. As she leapt, her tail ring touched the dark ring and glowed brightly. The dark ring suddenly dropped down to the ground with a clunk. Surprised at this, Gatomon slowly approached the dark ring and touched it, realizing that it must have run out of power when it came in contact with her ring.
"That was a close one," Gatomon muttered as she turned around and gasped. Standing before her was the winged unicorn Unimon. His visor glowed blood-red, a Dark Ring wrapped around his neck. Knowing she could be captured by other Digimon if she fought Unimon, Gatomon looked around for an escape, but only saw thick trees around her. She was trapped.
"HOLY SHOT!" Unimon yelled as he opened his mouth and fired a blue ball of energy from it. The ball collided with Gatomon and the small cat Digimon was forced off her feet from the force of the attack. Gatomon could only yell as she flew through the air and collided with a tree. Looking up, Gatomon gasped seeing Unimon was already in front of her and had raised his hoof to stomp on her. Gatomon tried to move, but the past few weeks of simply running, and Unimon's attack, exhausted her. As she closed her eyes to prepare for the worse, Unimon suddenly let out a scream of pain and surprise.
Opening her eyes, Gatomon saw a small figure as big as her, wearing a brown cloak, had attacked Unimon and was wrestling him to the ground with his arms wrapped around Unimon's neck. From what Gatomon could see of her savior, his arms were a shade of blue that reminded her of her own eyes.
"Woah there, horsey!" the cloaked figure said as he tightened his hold on Unimon. The winged Digimon thrashed around, attempting to throw his attacker off, but Unimon started becoming dizzy due to a lack of oxygen. Unimon moved forward and collapsed on his side, the cloaked figure leaping off and landing in front of Gatomon, offering her a hand up.
"Hey…are you okay?"
"I…I think so," Gatomon answered, accepting the hand. The white cat was pulled up on her feet. Gatomon stumbled slightly, but regained her balance. "Thank you…whoever you are."
"You'll find out who I am later," the figure said as he picked up the black ring Gatomon's tail had deactivated. "Right now, we need to get out of here."
"I agree," said Gatomon, who began running off with the cloaked Digimon as she thought to herself, 'I just hope Agumon and the others are able to evade capture…and I really hope Kari gets here soon with the other Digidestined! If the Digimon Emperor, a human, was able to get here to the Digital World, then that means the Digidestined will be able to as well!'
It was early morning in the Odaiba in the Human World. 12-year-old Davis Motomiya lay in bed, trying to get some sleep before he had to wake up for school. But it was difficult to sleep. The last few weeks Davis had been struggling to get a proper night's sleep. His mind was plagued with memories of his past…terrible memories that still traumatized him to this day.
FLASHBACK
(Play Digimon Adventure: Kanashimi)
"Ken! Come on Ken, you've got to wake up!" Davis could only look on in worry as he looked down at Ryo attempting to shake the young boy awake. Ken had been hit by shrapnel that Millenniummon had fired at them moments ago, shrapnel that Ken took from protecting Ryo and Davis. As Ryo shook Ken's left side, the young boy's partner Digimon Wormmon, who had reverted from Dinobeemon after being hit by Millenniummon's attack, was by Ken's other side.
"Ryo, Davis, please! You've got to help Ken!" the little caterpillar said, his eyes welling up with tears.
"I know we have to help him Wormmon, but we can't do much right now while Justimon and Imperialdramon are still fighting!" An explosion from the sky above sounded, and the two boys and one Digimon looked up to see a humanoid figure with a red scarf and a robotic right arm crash down in front of them.
"Justimon!" Ryo yelled, heading over to his partner Digimon, who had been fighting Millenniummon in his Mega level. "What's happening up there?"
"Im…Imperialdramon swatted me out of the sky," Justimon groaned as he stood back up. "He said he was going to cut loose against Millenniummon, and he didn't want me to get caught in the explosion."
"Cut loose…?" Davis asked, a horror suddenly coming to him. Looking up in the sky, Davis saw flashes of light and loud roaring, indicating Imperialdramon's battle with Millenniummon. Running off into the middle of the desert, Davis got a better view of the fight. Even though the two Digimon were hidden in the clouds and dust, Davis could make out the giant figure of his partner's Mega level. Davis quickly pulled out his Digivice and pressed a button on it so he could speak to Imperialdramon.
"Imperialdramon, what are you doing?! Justimon said you were going to cut loose!"
"I have to, Davis!" Imperialdramon's voice said from the Digivice. "This fight has gone on for far too long, and Ken has been hurt because of it! I'm going to give hit this monster with every last ounce of energy that flows within me!"
"No…! No, you can't!" Davis yelled, his eyes watering. "You know how dangerous your energy can be! You'll…you'll die!" The last part came out as a whisper. The child of Miracles had been through too much with Veemon to lose him.
"At least I'll die…knowing you're safe," Imperialdramon said, causing several tears to fall down Davis's face. "Davis…I promise this isn't the end. I'll be back someday…we'll be together. I'm sure you know it."
"I…I know," Davis said, his eyes now fully leaking tears. He normally wasn't one to cry, but this was a time where he didn't bother holding back his tears. "We'll see each other someday."
"Goodbye Davis." These were Imperialdramon's last words as the connection cut off and the dragon-shaped shadow flew right into the massive shadow that Davis knew was Millenniummon. Two loud roars were heard as Imperialdramon's shadow glowed brightly before a massive explosion lit up the sky. Millenniummon fell out of the sky and crashed into the desert, Davis being thrown off his feet from the shockwaves. Landing back near Ryo, Ken, Justimon and Wormmon, the burgundy-haired boy looked up and saw something falling towards him. Squinting his eyes to get a better look, Davis's eyes widened when he saw it was a blue egg with golden marks on it. It was a DigiEgg, and not just any DigiEgg.
"Vee…Veemon…" Davis gasped, grabbing the egg and looking down at it. It was too much as the goggled boy fell to his knees and let out a wail of despair over seeing his partner die in front of him.
"Veemon…Ken…" Davis choked out as Ryo wrapped an arm around him for comfort. The sound of growling suddenly got everybody's attention as Millenniummon, injured by the attack, stood back up with a furious look in his face.
"This…has gone on long enough! INFINITY CANNON!" The cannons on Millenniummon's back glowed bright and released a burst of energy. Davis could only stare in shock through tear-covered eyes as the attack inched closer…
END FLASHBACK
"NO!" Davis yelled, waking up and shooting up in bed like a rocket. Breathing heavily like he had just run across all of Japan nonstop, the boy could feel the sweat sliding down off his face and sticking to his yellow pajama shirt, his heart beating like mad in his chest. Taking a deep breath to calm down his beating heart, Davis took a few moments to collect himself and get a look at his surroundings. He was not in the Digital World, but in his bedroom.
"Damn it…another nightmare…" Davis cursed under his breath as he glanced at his clock, which read 6:05. Groaning slightly as he knew he wouldn't be able to get any more sleep, Davis kicked off his blanket and went over to his dresser, grabbing his blue shirt with white stripe, blue vest, brown shorts, blue socks and square goggles. A few moments later, Davis had changed and stepped out into the living room of his apartment, which was mostly silent. Davis figured his parents had left for work already and Jun was still sleeping. But his mind was still on the nightmare he just had.
"Easy, Davis…it was just a dream," he reminded himself, though he knew what he dreamed was very much real and happened two years ago. Even though it had been two years ago, the memory of the Digital World was ingrained in his mind as if the adventures he went through with Ken and Ryo had just happened yesterday. The horrific memories of what Davis went through were often the majority of his nightmares.
However, while Davis did have bad memories, he also had memories of good times in the Digital World, and Davis often dreamed of those memories. Dinners around campfires with his Digimon partner who became like a brother to him, as well as two boys that became his closest friends, goofing off and pulling pranks, and swimming in lakes were often the good things Davis thought of when it came to the Digital World. But usually, the good times led to the bad times.
'Sometimes I wish I could go back there…and other times I wish I couldn't,' the burgundy-haired boy thought as he dug into a bowl of cereal. As he started eating, a door in the apartment opened up and out walked Davis's 15-year old sister Jun, still wearing her pajamas. It was still early morning so Jun was surprised when she walked out of her bedroom and saw Davis sitting down at the family table already eating breakfast at 6:30 in the morning.
"Up already Davis? That's definitely not like you," Jun chuckled, not noticing the dark look on Davis's face.
"I had another bad dream," Davis replied, causing Jun's smile to drop down into a sad frown.
"Another one? That has to be the fifth one this month!"
"Don't remind me," Davis grumbled, remembering the last few times he woke up in the middle of the night because of his bad dreams. Jun, who knew about the Digital World and the Digimon, often gave Davis comfort and helped him ease back to sleep. "They only used to happen rarely, but they've been more common now…and I…I've had this bad feeling inside of me…like it won't be long before I have to go back to the Digital World…" Davis shuddered slightly, dreading the day it would happen.
(Play Digimon: Kanashimi 2)
"Oh, Davis…" Jun whispered, going over to Davis and offering him a hug, which the burgundy-haired boy accepted. "It'll be okay. I know it will be."
"I hope so…" Davis muttered.
"Remember what I've told you before Davis…when you feel like this, don't think of the bad things that happened to you in the Digital World. Remember the good times you had with Veemon, with Ken and Ryo. Remember your friends. If you do that, then you'll be able to get through it." Davis smiled big and nodded, the good memories coming back to him. Jun had often been a major source of comfort for Davis in the last three years, and he felt grateful for it.
"Thanks sis," Davis said, giving a quick kiss to Jun on the forehead before taking care of his cereal bowl and heading over to the apartment door, putting on his orange boots and slinging on his backpack. "I've got to go now. Some of the guys are playing a quick soccer game before school starts today…plus I hope I can see Kari!"
"Hey, she may be in your class again this year," Jun assured him. "Have a good day!"
"I will!" Davis closed the door and began running for the school. He still felt down, but a good game of soccer, as well as being with his best friend, would definitely raise his spirits slightly.
(Play Digimon Adventure 02: Sunshine Smile)
A few apartment buildings away from where Davis and Jun lived, Hikari 'Kari' Kamiya's morning was going better than Davis's was. Having slept peacefully, Kari woke up refreshed and ready for the first day of a new school year.
Changing out of her pajamas and into her pink and white sleeveless shirt, yellow shorts, white socks and long pink gloves with the fingers cut off, Kari thought about how excited she was for the new school year. She would be starting seventh grade. One of things she would now be able to do was have full access to the school's computer lab, which would help her greatly with assignments.
As she grabbed her digital camera and put it around her neck, Kari also thought about the photography club she would continue being in. Originally taking the club in fifth grade at the insistence of her brother so she wouldn't think so much of Gatomon and the Digital World, Kari came to enjoy the club and found it a good time. Also, cheerleading tryouts would begin in a week, and Kari was now the right age to try out.
The last thing she was most excited for this year was seeing more of her best friend, Davis Motomiya. The two had been best friends ever since they were six years old, and they spent much time together, and they also had the same classes in school. The brown-haired girl knew for sure that she would be having the same classes again as well.
Seeing more of Davis would be good for Kari, especially given how Davis had been the last few weeks. He had been acting weird. While Davis was still his cheerful and energetic self, the Davis she knew well, Kari noticed Davis wasn't as cheerful as he used to be, and his eyes had dark shadows underneath, which was a clear sign of lack of sleep. Whenever Kari asked him what was wrong whenever the two met, Davis said he had been having nightmares that kept him up most nights. However, what these nightmares were was a complete mystery to Kari, as Davis was being very quiet about it. Kari had tried her best to comfort Davis but was having little to no success as she was being kept in the dark about the nightmares. Kari even asked Davis's older sister Jun about these nightmares, but Jun was keeping quiet as well.
'Whatever these nightmares Davis has been having, they must be really bad if even Jun won't share them,' Kari thought worriedly as she looked over to two pictures that meant a lot to her on her dresser. One was the group picture Kari and Tai took with the rest of their Digidestined friends after they defeated Apocalymon and before they returned home. The other picture was one of Kari and Davis when they were nine. Kari and Davis were in the park and had big smiles on their faces. Davis had his arm on Kari's shoulders and Kari had wrapped her arms around Davis in a hug. It reminded Kari of old days before Davis's nightmares.
Sighing and deciding to put her worries about Davis aside for now to focus on getting ready for school, the child of Light picked up her Digivice and put it in her pocket, carrying it for remembrance of her past adventures, and slung on her backpack, which she had prepared the night before, unlike Tai, who was currently throwing things into his backpack like crazy when Kari stepped out.
"Oh, Tai…" Kari muttered as she chuckled lightly, looking at the mess her brother was. Tai's white shirt was only buttoned up halfway and he only had on one sleeve of his school blazer. His pant were on, but he only had on one sock.
"Kari, there you are!" Tai said, noticing his sister's presence. "Have you seen my goggles? One minute I put them on the kitchen chair, the next they're gone!" Kari resisted the urge to roll her eyes, as she knew who the culprit was, and Tai knew as well.
"Mom probably hid them again. She thinks you're too old to where those in public now, you know?"
"Aw, come on!" Tai yelled, going into another room in the apartment. Kari giggled at Tai's antics again before leaving the apartment for school.
(Play Digimon Adventure 02: Happy Friends)
"TK, are you done eating yet? You don't want to be late for school!"
"Yeah, I'm done Mom!"
In another apartment building in Odaiba, a young boy with blond hair that was the same age as Kari and Davis finished eating his oatmeal and put it in the kitchen sink before putting on a white bucket hat and slung on his backpack before checking to see if his Digivice was in his shorts pocket. This boy was Takeru Takaishi, or TK, as his friends and family called him. Stifling a yawn, TK walked over to the door of his new apartment and put on his shoes.
"I'm off to school now, Mom!"
"Have a good day, then!" called his mother Nancy, who was in her bedroom typing on her computer. "I'm really sorry about not coming with you for your first day, but the newspaper really needs this article done by the end of the day, and I'm only just now working on it!"
"It's cool, Mom!" TK called, opening the door. "I'll see you later!" Closing the door, TK stepped out on the hallway of his apartment and got a quick view of the city. Being on the twelfth floor offered a good view of Odaiba. From this view, TK could see the apartment building his older brother Matt lived in with their father. TK smiled, having plans to see his brother later, who was the lead singer and bass player in a band that was slowly getting a following.
"It's definitely good to be home," he said as he headed for the elevators. After spending four years is Seagaya, TK and his mother moved back to Odaiba when Nancy received a transfer from the newspaper company she worked for. TK was elated, as it meant he lived closer to Matt, and he would be able to see his old friends in the Digidestined again, as well as go to the same school with his friend Kari. TK had plans to make new friends in Odaiba, but Kari was the one he was excited to see most. The time they spent with the Digidestined made Kari TK's first true friend, and it had been hard to see her over the last several years. But being back in Odaiba would give him a chance to catch up with her. Taking one last look at the view, TK headed for the elevators, as he knew was mother was right. Being tardy would not be good for the first day of a new school year, and especially at a new school.
Two floors above TK's apartment, Yolei Inoue sighed impatiently as she stood outside the apartment door of her friend Cody Hida. At age 13, the purple-haired, glasses-wearing girl was the youngest of four siblings in her massive family, who ran a convenience store that was situated at the corner of the bottom of the apartment building they all lived in. As Yolei's family was big, the four sibling often had to fight over food and bathroom. Being the youngest, Yolei often got the short end of the stick, getting the least desirable parts of the meals and less time in the bathroom, which greatly annoyed her. What annoyed her more was the attention, or rather, lack of attention that Yolei usually got from her family. As her family was big, attention from the parents to the children often shifted from one to another, and it was usually difficult to pay attention to anyone in the apartment. As much as Yolei loved her family, and she did love them, it often annoyed her that nobody paid any attention to her, and it got to her easily due to her short temper, leading her to act out irrationally.
This morning, Yolei had woken up too late for breakfast, as she stayed up late last night to prepare for school and worked on her computer, which meant she was able to only get one pancake and a half strip of bacon for breakfast. Yolei snapped and yelled at her siblings for not thinking of her and hogging all the food before stomping out of the apartment and going to Cody's apartment, hoping for a decent meal from Cody's mother. After several minutes of waiting, Cody, a brown-haired 9-year-old boy walked out of the apartment with a box in his hands.
"Hey Cody," Yolei said, hearing her stomach grumbling. "Did you bring the food?"
"Yes, it's right here," Cody said, giving the box to Yolei, who tore the top off and began eating the eggs and white rice in the box like she hadn't eaten all her life.
"Thank you," she said as she wolfed down the food. "All of my siblings took the food before I could get it. They could have waited until I finished getting ready for school!"
"Yolei, I'm sure your siblings had school to get ready for as well, and they may have been running late," Cody said as he pressed a button to open the elevator door. "Besides, I'm sure if you didn't get to bed late, then you wouldn't have this problem."
"Well, they should know I'm a night owl!" Yolei snapped irritably, stepping into the elevator with Cody. "Honestly…I've told them more than once and they never listen!" Cody sighed, knowing by now that Yolei was like this a lot. Unlike Yolei, who was often impatient and loud, Cody often remained quiet and was very patient, as he learned kendo from his grandfather and was more mature and smarter than most boys his age. He first met Yolei when he was seven and a few boys older than him were picking on him. Yolei stepped in and scared off the boys with her temper. The two had been friends since then, with Cody often seeing himself as someone to balance out Yolei's temper. The elevator suddenly stopped after two floors and the door opened up to reveal a boy they had never seen before. Judging from his height, the two could only guess that he was the same age as Yolei, maybe a year younger.
"Oh, good morning!" TK said, greeting the two kids in the elevator. "I just moved into this building. I take it you both live here?"
"Yes…we do," the girl said, surprised at the boy. "Are you new here?"
"Yolei…he just said he just moved here," the boy said with a sigh before turning to TK. "I sincerely apologize. She can be like this from time to time." The girl, named Yolei, let out a huff as she ate some rice from a box in her hands.
"It's fine," TK said as he stepped into the elevator and pressed the button for the lobby. "My name is Takeru Takaishi, but everybody calls me TK. So…who are you?"
"My name is Miyako Inoue, but everybody calls me Yolei," the girl said, looking up from her breakfast. "I'm in eighth grade." Yolei then looked down at the boy. "And this is Iori Hida. He's in fifth grade, ten years old."
"Please…call me Cody if you want to," the boy said, bowing slightly to TK. "Welcome to the building TK."
"Thank you," TK said as he bowed back. This day was definitely starting off well for TK as he had just made two new friends that lived in the same building as him. The rest of the walk to school, the three children told a little about themselves, their families and what they liked to do in their spare time.
"Yolei, I almost forgot to ask," Cody said as the trio walked up to the courtyard of the school. "Can you be able to come to my apartment after school today to fix my computer?"
"No problem!" Yolei said with a smile, looking down at Cody. "Just one question…your mom will make ohagi, right?" Ohagi, which were rice balls covered with sweet beans, sesame or any other topping, was one of Yolei's favorite foods, a food that Cody's mother often made whenever the lavender-haired girl came by for a visit.
"That shouldn't be a problem," Cody said as he walked into the courtyard entrance with Yolei. "I'll send her an e-mail later."
"All right then!" Yolei cheered. TK broke off from the two so he could let them continue talking alone. Looking around the schoolyard, TK's attention was suddenly diverted to a group of boys playing a game of soccer nearby. TK smiled as he watched the game. Whenever he saw a game of soccer, TK usually thought of Kari's brother Tai, who was an absolute soccer fanatic. As he watched the game, TK suddenly saw a pair of goggles on one boy who looked somewhat familiar.
"What the…Tai?" TK squinted his eyes and got a better look at the boy, who sported burgundy hair shorter and less wild than Tai's hair, tanned skin that was a shade darker than Tai's, and his goggles were square, which was a contrast to Tai's round goggles.
'That's right...Tai should be in high school now with Matt,' TK thought as he shook his head. 'The way that kid looked reminded me a little about him…'
"Heads up!" yelled one of the soccer players as the ball soared into the sky. Seeing the ball heading towards him, TK held his arms up and managed to get the ball.
"Sorry about that," the player that yelled out the warning said as he came up to TK with an embarrassed smile. "My reflexes are usually faster than that, but I guess lack of sleep got to me…" TK blinked in surprise, realizing it was the goggle-wearing boy he thought to be Tai. TK looked at the boy for a moment, causing the boy to look at him with a confused look.
"Um…why are you staring at me? And…can we have our ball back?"
"Oh! Sorry!" TK gasped, tossing the ball back to the boy. "I couldn't help but notice that you remind me of somebody."
(Play Digimon Adventure 02: Adventure Heart 2)
"I do?" the boy asked before one of the soccer players yelled out, "Hey Davis! What's the hold up?"
"Sorry, back at you!" the boy said, kicking the ball back to the players. TK watched the game for a few moments before heading to the principal's office to pick up his schedule.
"Davis, huh?" TK asked before chuckling. "He does remind me of Tai."
Several minutes passed and Davis was now walking into Classroom 5-A, feeling slightly better. The soccer game he played had lifted his spirits up after the nightmare, but he still felt slightly drowsy. Fortunately, Davis's spirits were lifted up more when he saw a very familiar girl sitting down already, waiting for class to start.
"Hey, Kari!" Kari looked up and smiled brightly when she saw who it was.
"Davis!" the brown-haired girl said as she stood up from her desk and offered a hug to Davis, who accepted it happily. "How are you doing this morning?"
"Better, now that I see we're in the same class again," Davis said, breaking away from the hug and looking down at Kari, who was several inches shorter than Davis. Kari's smile went down when she noticed the tired look on the boy's face.
"Davis, what's wrong? You don't look well."
"I…I had another nightmare," Davis admitted, not wanting Kari to worry much.
"Another one?" Kari asked worriedly. "Davis, that's the fifth time this month. You really should talk with me…"
"Kari, we've been over this," Davis immediately broke off his best friend. "It's nothing for you to worry that much about. I've just been…anxious, you know. A new school year and all." Kari wanted to press the matter further, but the look on Davis's face, as well as the tone in his voice, made it clear he wanted to discuss something else.
"Okay…" the child of Light sighed as she sat back down. "Just don't let the teacher catch you sleeping again." Kari was still concerned, knowing that Davis wasn't being truthful with his nightmares. There was a time when the two best friends told each other everything and kept no secrets. But truthfully, Kari knew she shouldn't chew out Davis for keeping his nightmares a secret when she had a secret that she had been keeping from Davis for four years now: The Digital World. She had wanted, more than anything, to tell Davis about her adventures and her Digimon partner, but Tai and Sora both convinced her to not tell, as Davis would think her to be crazy. It hurt Kari to keep it a secret, and she knew someday, she would have to tell him.
"I won't, I won't," Davis sighed, sitting down next to Kari, noticing she still looked concerned in her eyes. Davis sighed again. He wanted, more than anything, to tell Kari the truth about his nightmares. He wanted to desperately tell her about the Digital World and Veemon, but he felt he shouldn't. He felt he didn't want to worry Kari even more than he already had, and he also knew that Kari had a secret of her own. And that secret was…
"Good morning, everyone!" the teacher's voice rang out suddenly, snapping Davis out of his thoughts. "We have many things to do for this new school year, and one of the first things I would like to do is introduce our newest student." The classroom door slid open and the new student the teacher spoke of stepped into the door. Davis's eyes widened when he realized it was the blond-haired boy he met outside the courtyard during his soccer game.
Kari's eyes widened as well, as she recognized the face and hair of the boy as her friend in the Digidestined, TK Takaishi. She had heard from Matt that TK was moving back to Odaiba soon, but she didn't think it would be in time for the new school year to start.
'Hey, there's that Davis kid,' TK thought as he looked around the classroom before seeing a familiar face that made his own face light up with happiness. 'All right, and Kari's in this class as well!'
"Class, I would like you to meet Takeru Takaishi," the teacher introduced the new student.
"Please…call me TK," the blond-haired boy said with a bow. "I really hope we can be good friends."
'T…K?' Davis thought when he heard the name, thinking it over in his head for a minute. 'Huh…it does make sense. Both his first and last name have T and K in it, so…but where have I heard that name before?'
"Thank you TK," the teacher said, snapping Davis out of his thoughts again. "There's an empty seat next to Kari that you can take."
"Thank you sir," TK said, walking over and sliding into the desk as he looked at Kari with a big smile.
"Hey Kari," the blond boy said to TK with a smile. "It's been a long time, hasn't it?"
"Yeah, it has," Kari said with a smile.
"Kari…you know this guy?" whispered Davis, knowing Kari was never one to talk to a new student so fast, especially during the middle of a class.
"I do," Kari whispered back. "We go way back." Davis's eyes widened a bit as he suddenly realized where he heard TK's name long ago.
"Oh…I see," Davis muttered before turning his attention back to the front of the class and tried to get back the sleep he lost this morning.
"Is he okay?" TK asked, frowning slightly as the disinterested look on Davis's face.
"I'm not sure," Kari whispered to her old friend. "He's been having trouble sleeping for the past few weeks. He says it's nightmares…but he won't tell me. I'm really worried." TK continued frowning as he looked back Davis and then at Kari's worried face.
'I wonder how Kari knows him...' the child of Hope thought as he turned back to the teacher, who was giving an orientational presentation of what was to come in the school year.
"Tai! Wherever you are, please help!" That was the yell for help from Agumon, a small orange dinosaur who was one of the Digidestined Digimon. He had been running for a while now from the Digimon Emperor's Dark Rings and slaves, and he was becoming exhausted as his small Rookie level body could handle so much in one day. Having collapsed in the forest after tripping on a nearby rock, Agumon desperately let out a cry for help to his partner, who was in the human world.
(Play Digimon Adventure: Adventurer ~Taichi no Theme~#2)
In the high school side of the Odaiba school, Tai, who had managed to find his goggles before school began, was at his locker thinking about several things. One of them was the upcoming soccer practices, which was excited for, as well as nervous. He was excited for another year of soccer, and he had been made the captain of his team. This made him nervous, but not so much, about this. If Tai could lead a bunch of kids, one of them his little sister, into saving two worlds from monsters in another world, then surely, he could lead a bunch of teenage boys into winning a few games of soccer.
'A few good practices should be able to get them into shape,' Tai thought with a grin as he also thought about his childhood friend Sora, who had become the captain of the girls' soccer team of their school. As the girls' practice would coincide with the boys' practice, it would give Tai and Sora more time to see each other outside of school. Between soccer and Sora helping her mother in the flower shop whenever she could, the two friends often had little to no free time anymore.
The bearer of courage then swallowed nervously as he closed his locker door. For some reason he had been feeling nervous over the last few months whenever he thought about Sora. He knew, and saw, that Sora had grown to become quite beautiful over the course of four years, but he wasn't sure why for some reason. Sora had been his best friend since childhood, they were even six when they first met, the same age Kari and Davis were when they started their friendship. It wasn't like he was in love with her…was he?
"Hey Tai!"
'Speak of the devil and the devil shall appear,' Tai thought with an amused smirk as he turned around at the familiar voice to see the red-haired Sora Takenouchi run up to him, a bright smile on her face.
"H…hey, Sora!" Tai said, suddenly feeling nervous again as he took in Sora's features. Though the clothes she wore was the green school outfit the girls were required to wear, Tai noticed how well they looked on Sora…
"Tai? Are you okay?" Sora asked, her smile turning into a confused expression. "Your face is red."
"Oh!" Tai gasped, looking into a window to see his face was a dark red blush. "I was just…uh…you surprised me, that's all!"
"Oh…I see," Sora said with a nod, but she had a feeling that it was something else that caused Tai to blush deeply. Perhaps it was because of something else, and Sora had a feeling what it was. She had known Tai for nearly ten years and they had built a special bond of friendship and trust. Though this experience was new for her, the red-haired girl felt like her bond with Tai was something she wanted to have for the rest of life. She wasn't sure why, but maybe it had something to do with her Crest, which was Love. "So…what were you thinking?"
"Oh…well, I was thinking about the new soccer season," Tai said, getting a nod from Sora. The red-haired girl was excited for the new year, as this would be her first year as captain of the girls' team.
"Yeah, I was thinking about the new year as well," Sora said with a confident smile. "Just wait. Those girls have no idea what's in store for them with me as their captain!"
"I have no doubts about that," Tai laughed as he began walking down the hallway with Sora.
"So how's Kari doing?" the child of Love asked, thinking about the young girl who had grown to become like a sister to Kari.
"She's doing good," Tai said, smiling slightly before dropping down into a frown. "She's still trying to get Davis to open up to her."
"What? He's still having nightmares?" Sora asked worriedly. She had known Davis for six years now and often gave him pointers on soccer when she was around with him and Tai wasn't. She had grown to love the burgundy-haired boy like he was her own brother, so when she heard about his nightmares from Kari, it caused her a great deal of worry.
"Yeah, and he still won't say what the cause of them are," Tai said sadly. "Usually, that would just be being stubborn, but…"
"What's keeping him from not telling us?" asked Sora. "Doesn't he trust us?"
"I'm sure he does Sora," Tai reassured him, "but…" a beeping noise suddenly caught the two Digidestined's attention. Realizing the beeping was coming from his pants pocket, Tai reached in and pulled out the device causing the beeping, which was his Digivice.
"What the…my Digivice activated!" gasped the brown-haired boy. Sora looked down at the Digivice in surprise, seeing the screen flash red.
"What…what does that mean?" the red-haired girl asked. Tai looked at the Digivice with worry for a second before answering.
"I think it means Agumon is in trouble. Come on!" The two friends sprinted down the hallway before coming into the school's computer lab. Sora looked down at her own Digivice with slight worry. If Agumon was in trouble in the Digital World, then was Biyomon in danger as well? Why didn't her Digivice go off like Tai's? And more importantly…how would they be able to enter the Digital World? Sora knew that Izzy, who was the brains of the Digidestined, had been working on a Digital Gate that would allow travel to the Digital World ever since the Diaboromon incident three years ago. While Izzy had managed to construct a gate successfully, opening it was another challenge. As the gate was still a prototype, opening it was a bit of a risk.
"Tai…are you sure this is a good idea?" she asked as Tai started up a computer and began typing on it furiously, bringing up a Digital Gate. "You know what Izzy said about the Digital Gate!"
"I know Sora, but we don't have time to worry about what may happen," Tai said as he raised up his Digivice and aimed it at the screen. "Agumon needs me…and I'm sure Biyomon needs you as well." Sora looked up hesitantly. While it was risky to open up the Digital Gate without giving it a proper test run, like Izzy wanted to, she was worried about Biyomon and wanted to see her again.
"All right. Let's do this!" The child of Love raised her Digivice as well and aimed it at the screen. After long, several tense moments, the computer screen flashed a white light, and both Digidestined were sucked into the computer, finding themselves on the way to the Digital World.
(Play Digimon Adventure: Arata no Teki)
"Fly faster! Snimon is right on our tail!" In the Digital World, Tentomon, a red ladybug, Biyomon, a pink bird, and Patamon, an orange and cream colored hamster-like Digimon with bat wings, flew as fast as they could, a green praying mantis Digimon right on their tails. The Snimon had a Dark Ring on his waist, a sign of his slavery to the Emperor.
"TWIN SICKLES!" Snimon shouted as he released purple blades of energy from the blades on his hands. The energy blades flew down and knocked Biyomon and Tentomon out of the sky. Patmon yelled in fear as he quickly hid in a tree, looking down to see Snimon land and look around for his friends.
"Biyomon…Tentomon…" Patamon whimpered as he flew away from his hiding place as quietly as he could without alerting Snimon. As much as he wanted to help his friends, he couldn't do it without being captured. He knew if TK was here, he would have a bit of a chance, but with the Emperor preventing Digivolution, he could only wonder how long he would last, even with TK.
"Patamon!" whispered a nearby voice. The winged Digimon stopped when he heard the familiar voice and looked down to see Agumon hiding in a nearby bush.
"Agumon, thank goodness!" Patamon gasped, flying down into the bush. "Biyomon and Tentomon…"
"I know," Agumon said sadly. "We can only hope that they haven't been captured."
"We've been lucky so far, haven't we?" Patamon asked with a small smile. Agumon nodded, returned the smile, and peeked out the bush. Seeing the coast was clear for now, the two Digimon stepped out and began running off again. But their running was stopped suddenly when Agumon and Patamon, the latter riding on Agumon's head like he would do on TK's head, collided with something gray and fell down on the ground. Whatever they collided into also fell down with a loud "Oof!"
"Ow…what…" Agumon started to say as he stood back up, only to stop when he noticed the person he ran into had a familiar mess of brown hair and goggles on his head. Agumon gasped, knowing only one human that had that hair and goggles. He seemed much taller than the last time they met, but there was no doubt about him. It was him.
"TAI!" the little dinosaur yelled excitedly, leaping into his partner's arms and knocking him down again. "Tai, you're back! I'm so happy to see you again!"
"Hey, easy Agumon!" Tai said with a laugh. "I'm glad to see you too, but could you let me get up before you hug me?"
"Oops, sorry," Agumon said sheepishly, moving off the brown-haired boy. The minute Tai stood up, Agumon was right on him again with a hug, a hug that the child of Courage was able to return.
"Tai, you look bigger," Agumon said as he jumped out of Tai's arms. "Did you grow?"
"Maybe, but are you sure you didn't shrink?" Tai joked as a female voice rang out, "Tai, where did you run off to now?" Agumon and Patamon gasped, recognizing the voice instantly. A female human ran into their line of sight. Though she looked taller than Tai and didn't have a silly-looking hat on her head, there was no mistaken the red hair and kind-looking face.
"SORA!" Agumon and Patamon yelled happily, the latter flying into the child of Love's arms.
"Agumon, Patamon!" Sora said happily, accepting the winged Digimon into her arms. "It's so good to see you again! Where's Biyomon?" Patamon and Agumon's smiles suddenly dropped down, which caused Sora and Tai to quickly become worried at the sudden change in attitude.
"I think we should get to somewhere safe before we talk," said Agumon. "There's a cave not far from here that we can hide out in. Let's go before we're seen and attacked."
"What are you so worried about?" Tai asked he and Sora began following Agumon and Patamon. "Now that I'm here, you can Digivolve and take care of anything that attacks us, right?"
"Well…that's the thing Tai," Agumon said sadly. "I can't Digivolve! And even if Biyomon and TK were with us, then Patamon and Biyomon wouldn't be able to Digivolve either!"
"In fact, none of us can Digivolve!" Patamon moaned sadly, flying back into Sora's arms.
"You can't Digivolve?" asked a puzzled Tai. "Why?" Unknown to them, their conversation was being overheard.
(Play Digimon Adventure: Kyoufu no Ashiato)
In the control room of his base, the Digimon Emperor chuckled evilly as he listened in to the conversation, thanks to a Dark Ring flying above the forest.
"It's utterly useless," the Emperor said with an evil smirk. "That area is under my control, which means your chances of Digivolving are zero." The Emperor chuckled again as he watched the two Digidestined run off to avoid his slaves. He knew the Digidestined would return eventually, but their return was futile without being able to Digivolve. Looking down at his black Digivice, which was shaped differently than the ones the original eight had, the Emperor saw another square on the screen turn black. Only a few white squares remained on the map his Digivice showed.
"Excellent," the Emperor chuckled as a small shadow looked on in the background, wondering what his master…no, his partner…would do next.
"We're going to need some help," Tai said once he entered the cave with Sora, Agumon and Patamon. Pulling out a D-Terminal, a small handheld computer that each of the Digidestined had to keep in contact with each other, Tai quickly typed in a message and hit the send button.
"Did you send it to everybody?" asked Sora.
"There wasn't time to punch in everybody's email addresses," Tai answered with a shake of his head. "We're short on time, so I sent it to Izzy's address at the local schools. Knowing Izzy, he's probably on a computer right now. He'll get the message and spread the word."
"Yeah, that's our Izzy," Sora said with a light chuckle.
Back in the computer lab, Yolei was sitting down in front of a computer, performing maintenance on it. Yolei was a member of the computer club, and it was her turn this week to perform maintenance runs on all computers, making sure the hard drives were running properly and the networks were connected. The lavender-haired girl didn't complain, as it gave her something to do, and it was something that managed to get people to pay attention to her, as she knew many things about computers that most kids her age didn't know.
"Okay…this computer looks good," she muttered to herself. "Three more computers to look at, and then it's off to Cody's for me!" Before she could shut off the computer, a dinging noise sounded on the computer, and an envelope icon appeared on screen, indicating an email for someone. Looking at the name of the receiver, Yolei recognized it immediately.
"Oh! An e-mail for Izzy?" Koshiro Izumi, or Izzy as he was often called, was the former president of the computer club, and was even Yolei's tutor in computers. "I wonder why the e-mail came on this computer. Izzy's in high school now…" Clicking the e-mail open, Yolei read the message that appeared.
(Play Digimon Adventure: Hirogaru Fuan)
"'Come to the Digital World right away. The Digimon need our help. Tai Kamiya.' Tai Kamiya, the soccer star?" Yolei hummed in thought before realizing something. "Hmm…Tai has a sister in the seventh grade named Kari…maybe I should show her this e-mail." Hitting the print button, Yolei grabbed the email from the printer and left the computer lab to find Kari Kamiya.
Davis sighed as he pulled out some books from his backpack, feeling dead tired. He had nearly fallen asleep several times throughout the day. Fortunately, Kari was able to wake him up before he was caught by the teacher. Davis was lucky to have not received a detention.
'Damn nightmares…' Davis thought, reaching into his pocket and pulling out his Digivice, staring at it. Davis remembered when he first got it. It had been small, shaped like a square and could fit easily in his hand. After Veemon Digivolved to the Mega level for the first time ever his Digivice changed. It was now oval-shaped with a golden body and blue grips. The antenna remained in place on the right side of the Digivice, and a big white button was situated under the screen and the two buttons next to the screen. To this day, he still carried it with him as while it would remind him of the bad memories, it would also remind him of the good ones.
"So have you finished unpacking?" Davis quickly put the Digivice back into his pocket and closed his locker when he heard Kari's voice from behind. Turning around, Davis saw Kari walk up to him while talking with the new kid, TK.
"Well…almost," TK said with a small smile. "My mom's been working nonstop on a newspaper article that's due tomorrow."
"Well, that's good," Kari said before turning her attention to her best friend. "Hey, Davis!" Both Kari and TK smiled friendly at Davis and he did his best to smile back, but it was a strained smile.
"So you're Davis, right?" asked TK. Davis simply nodded and turned to walk away, but was stopped by Kari.
"Davis, don't leave yet! I wanted to introduce you two properly!" Davis sighed, knowing he couldn't refuse a request from Kari, and turned around with another strained smile. Judging from Kari's stifled giggle and TK's amused grin, his smile wasn't that convincing.
(Play Digimon Adventure: Bokutachi, Digimon!)
"Davis, this is Takeru Takaishi, but like he said before, he prefers TK. Tai met TK and TK's brother Matt at summer camp four years ago, and Tai introduced TK to me shortly after camp. We've been in contact ever since. TK, this is Daisuke Motomiya, but he prefers Davis. He's my oldest and best friend."
"Your oldest and best friend, you say?" TK asked, perking up slightly. "How long have you two known each other?"
Davis did his best to suppress a smirk as he realized what TK meant by that question. It seemed someone had eyes on Kari, who was oblivious to the hidden meaning as she answered.
"We've known each other since we were six. Davis was a part of the junior soccer team Tai was on when we first met. He impressed Tai with his skills so much, he became Tai's protégé."
"Wow…you must be really good to be Tai's protégé," TK said with an impressed look on his face. "The only ones Tai really praises when it comes to soccer are Sora…and himself."
"Believe me, Davis usually follows Tai in that regard," Kari said with a laugh, causing Davis to sweatdrop slightly.
"Must you embarrass me so, Kari?"
"Hey, we're best friends!" Kari laughed, wrapping an arm around Davis's shoulders. "Besides, I remember that one time…"
"Hey, I told you! We don't talk about that!" Davis said, pushing Kari away playfully while smiling a real smile. It made him happy, knowing the ways Kari had to lift his spirits up when he was down. Before any of the three could speak again, another female voice called out, "Hey!" Looking around, the three were greeted with the sight of a lavender-haired girl with glasses and a piece of paper in her hand.
"Hey Yolei!" TK called to the girl.
"Hey TK," Yolei said quickly as she came up to the three children and gave a quick glance to Davis. "Hey Davis."
"Yeah, hey Yolei," Davis sighed, raising his arm in greeting.
"You know each other?" TK asked in mild surprise.
"My sister Jun is best friends with her sister Chizuru," Davis explained as Yolei walked up to Kari. Jun had been friends with Chizuru Inoue for many years, having met when they were eight. Davis had only met Yolei a handful of times, and from what he knew of her, she was friendly, but had a short temper and constantly sought attention.
"Excuse me, you're Kari Kamiya, right?"
"Yes, why do you ask?" replied Kari. As Yolei and Kari talked, Davis suddenly felt uneasy again, and it definitely wasn't from the lack of sleep. Something was about to happen, and Davis felt it would not be good.
"Well, your brother Tai sent this e-mail to Izzy Izumi. I don't know where Izzy is right now, so I thought I'd give it to you." Yolei unfolded the paper and showed it to Davis, Kari and TK. Reading the message, TK and Kari both gasped in surprise, and Davis felt his blood turn cold when he saw two words on the message: Digital World.
(Play Digimon Adventure: Hashiru Senritsu)
"My brother needs us!" Kari said to TK, who nodded and began running for the computer lab.
"Wait, what's going on?" Yolei asked confused.
"Nothing good, Yolei. Trust me," Davis said in a low voice before sprinting after the two. Intrigued about the reactions they go from the message, Yolei followed close by.
'Damn it…not again!' Davis cursed in his mind. He was just thinking earlier that someday he would have to be called back, but he didn't think it would be so soon, and especially today. As the four kids ran down the hall, they were stopped in their tracks when a 14-year old boy with short red hair walked up the stairs.
"Oh! Izzy!" Yolei gasped, recognizing the boy immediately. "I didn't know you were here!"
"Good to see you again Yolei," Izzy said to his computer club member. "I was wondering if I could use the computer room?"
"Of course!" Yolei said happily. "Oh, by the way. Some kid named Tai Kamiya sent you an email. I gave it to his sister."
"Tai?" Izzy asked as he took the paper from Kari. Looking down at the paper, Izzy's eyes widened when he saw what was written.
"I see…so you got the email too…" the red-haired boy said to Kari and TK, who both nodded.
'Izzy Izumi…that's right, he's one of them as well,' Davis thought as he walked into the computer room. Izzy sat down at a computer and began typing on it, bringing up something that Davis noticed was called a Digital Gate.
"I was going to reply to the email, but the batteries on my D-Terminal died," spoke Izzy. "From what I saw in the message, it looked like something bad is happening in the Digital World."
"If Tai managed to get into the Digital World, then that must mean the Digital Gate is operational, right?" asked TK, who looked worried about his partner Patamon.
"I think so," Izzy said as he typed frantically. "I just need to see where Tai's signal is coming from…"
"Please hurry Izzy," Kari pleaded. "I'm worried about Tai and Gatomon…"
'Gatomon…Kari's partner…' Davis thought to himself as he noticed the distressed looks on Kari, TK and Izzy's faces, while ignoring the confused look on Yolei's face. He knew from the looks on their faces that three Digidestineds' partner Digimon were still alive…just like Veemon probably was now.
'He's been reborn by now…I'm sure of it!' the child of Miracles thought as the memory of Veemon's death came back to him. It was a bad day for him. Not only did Veemon die, but Ryo and Justimon had vanished delivering the final blow to Millenniummon, getting sucked into a dimensional portal. Since that day, Davis had been dreading going back to the Digital World as he didn't want to go through the pain again. And it would hurt more with Kari and Tai being involved this time, as well as…
"Sora, I got a response from Izzy!" Tai said with a big smile. "He has Kari and TK with him!"
"All right!" Sora said happily. "That should help us out a bit."
"Hey Tai! Sora! Take a look at this!" Agumon's voice rang out, catching their attention.
"What is it, Agumon?" Tai asked, heading deeper into the cave with Sora.
"Hey, what's this Digital World anyway?" Yolei asked, getting everybody's attention. "Is it a new theme park, or some kind of video game?" Kari, TK and Izzy were hesitant about answering, as the Digital World as a big secret that not anyone could know about. Izzy looked like he was going to answer, when a response came from the last person they expected to answer Yolei's question.
"The Digital World's not a theme park, and it sure as hell isn't a video game," Davis said. His voice hadn't raised, but it was very loud and clear to get everyone to notice him. "The Digital World is a very real place. It's a universe that's parallel to ours, a digital dimension."
"A digital dimension?" asked a confused Yolei.
(Play Digimon Adventure: Hirogaru Fuan)
"Yes," Davis answered. "The Digital World is basically a shadow version of our world, and the two worlds are linked together. If something happens in one world, it could affect the other. Unlike our world, the Digital World is inhabited by Digimon, short of Digital Monster."
"Digital…Monster?" Yolei opened her mouth to ask more about the Digital World, but was cut off when Cody showed up at the doorway of the computer room.
"Yolei, about my computer…"
"Oh! Right! Sorry Cody!" Yolei gasped, remembering the promise she made to Cody. "Tell me more tomorrow!" The lavender-haired girl ran out the computer lab with Cody by her side. Davis turned back to see Kari, TK and Izzy staring at him with complete looks of shock. Kari was the first one to regain her composure.
"Davis…how did you know all that about the Digital World?" she asked carefully, surprised at Davis's detailed explanation to Yolei moments ago. She never broke her word to Tai and Sora, and she knew neither of them would tell Davis about the Digital World, especially in the way Davis just described it.
"Because…I have this," Davis said, reaching into his pocket and pulling out a small gray and blue device that looked like…
"A Digivice?!" TK asked, seeing the device in hand.
Tai and Sora followed Agumon and Patamon deeper into the cave, eventually ending up in a rocky room with a high ceiling.
"That's what I wanted you to see," Agumon pointed to the center of the room. There, sitting on a rock, was a small red egg with orange and yellow flame designs, and a sharp silver blade sticking out on top. What caught Tai and Sora's attention was the design of a bright orange sun underneath the blade. A sun that they recognized instantly.
"That's the Crest of Courage!" Sora gasped.
"And it looks like it's been there for a long time," said Patamon, noting a layer of dust on it.
"Let's have a closer look at this thing, shall we?" Tai asked, bending down in front of the object and grabbing it with both hands while minding the sharp blade. However, the moment Tai touched the object, it glowed a bright orange. The light forced Tai and Sora to back away as the light flashed brightly before dying down and releasing two small fireballs.
"What…what happened?" asked Agumon.
"Tai, what did you do?" Sora asked anxiously.
(Play Digimon: Break Up! Instrumental)
"I…I don't know!" Tai said as the group of four watched the fireballs float for a moment before flying out of a hole in the ceiling.
"Where do you think they're going?" Agumon asked curiously.
"I don't know," Tai said as he looked back at the object, "but I just hope it means something good for us!"
"It is a Digivice," Kari said as she inspected the device Davis had just shown. "It looks like to be a different model."
"Prodigious!" Izzy said as he inspected the device. "I didn't know there was another model of Digivice. This is a great opportunity to…"
"Whatever opportunity it is, Izzy, it can wait once we save Tai," TK interrupted, raising his Digivice to enter the Digital Gate. Before TK could open the gate, the screen flashed again and two beams of light, one red and one yellow flew out of the screen and into the hallway.
"What…was that?" asked a surprised Kari.
'Oh no…don't tell me those were…' Davis thought before shaking his head. "I think I have an idea what they were…and I have a feeling who those lights went to. Izzy, you're the smartest of us here. You explain everything to them."
"Them?" asked a confused Izzy. "Them who?" Davis said nothing as he walked over to the screen and raised up his Digivice, activating the Digital Gate.
"Let's go," the burgundy-haired boy said sharply in a tone that demanded no arguments. Tai and Kari followed suit and the three Digidestined were sucked into the computer, leaving Izzy alone with a dumbfounded expression as he was still trying to figure out what Davis meant.
"IZZY!" The computer genius yelled in surprise as he saw Yolei run up to him, her glasses dangling on one ear.
(Play Digimon Adventure 02: Saa, Digital World e Ikou!)
"What's going on here?! This…" Yolei raised up her hand to show something to Izzy, "just smacked me in the face!" Izzy gasped as he noticed the device in Yolei's hand was a Digivice much like Davis's, but was white with red grips. Now Izzy realized what Davis meant before.
"It's a long story Yolei, and it has to do with what Davis told you moments before. But before I tell you…did you see a yellow light?"
"Yeah, it flew into Cody's hands," said Yolei. "His is like mine, but the grips are yellow." Izzy took a deep breath before releasing.
"All right…let's wait until Cody gets here…"
Davis opened his eyes and looked around, noticing that he was in a forest. The Digital World looked very much like it did the last time he was here, full of tropical and unusual plants and trees that were not common on Earth. As much as he enjoyed the peace of the forest, he was reminded very quickly that things could go down pretty fast, especially without his partner Digimon.
"Wow!" TK said happily as he looked around. "I can't believe we're actually back in the Digital World!" The child of Hope was elated to be back in a place he considered like a second home as he had spent months before in it.
"Let's go," Kari said as she held out her beeping Digivice. "According to the radar, Tai's this way…and he's not alone."
"What?" Davis asked, pulling out his Digivice and checking the radar function, realizing that there were two dots a distance away from where he was with Kari and TK. One signal was obviously Tai's, but the second…who could it be? Davis knew there were eight children originally chosen as Digidestined…Tai, Kari, Izzy and TK were four of those kids, and the other four were named Matt, Joe, Mimi, and…
"…Sora," Davis whispered in shock, breaking into a fast walk with TK and Kari behind him.
"Did he just say Sora?" whispered TK.
"I think so," Kari answered. "But how would he know about Sora being a Digidestined?"
"I don't know," TK muttered as he looked at Davis's back with narrowed eyes. "And do we even know if it's Sora's Digivice we're detecting with Tai's?"
"It could be," said Kari. "We'll have to see."
(Play Digimon Adventure 02 OST: Ankoku no Hohoemi)
Unknown to the three Digidestined, a Dark Ring hovered above, keeping an eye on them for the Emperor. In his monitor room, the Emperor grinned evilly at the three newest people to enter the Digital World.
"Breaking into my garden without permission…some people just have no…manners…" the Emperor's grin suddenly vanished when he noticed one of the three people had lightly tanned skin and wore square goggles on his head…very familiar goggles.
"What…zoom in on the one with the googles!" The camera obeyed the order and soon, the boy's face filled the entire screen.
"No…it's…it's him!" The Digimon Emperor's face was a mixture of shock, anger and fear. He should have known he would be here, but he foolishly assumed he wouldn't. Now that he was here, this would make things worse. The Emperor sat down in his chair and began looking for any Digimon to take care of them. Finally, he found one that was near them.
"Attack, Monochromon!"
"What's going on?" the shadowed figure asked as he crawled into the light, revealing himself to be a green caterpillar Digimon. The caterpillar looked up at the screens with curiosity, recognizing the boy on the screen almost immediately.
"Oh, is that Davis? He's here in the Digital World?"
"Yes…he is…" growled the Emperor.
"Oh, how nice! It's a reunion!" the caterpillar said happily. The Emperor snarled as he stood up from his seat and stomped out of the room.
"It is NOT a reunion!" he snapped as he looked back the screen with anger. This was definitely not a good development on his part.
"So…Davis," TK said slowly, trying to get a conversation going with the burgundy-haired boy. "How long have you had that Digivice?"
"Not important right now," Davis snapped irritably. Kari frowned, wondering about the sudden change in Davis's attitude. One moment, he was dead tired from nightmares and a boring school day. The next moment, he reveals he's a Digidestined and is suddenly wide awake and cautious. This was not like Davis at all.
"Okay…" TK said as he continued trying to talk to Davis. "Have you been here to the Digital World before?"
"Once," Davis said shortly.
"I heard you say Sora's name earlier. Did you know she's a Digidestined like us? And how do you know Sora?" Davis stopped short and turned around, glaring angrily at TK.
"Listen TK, I am not in the mood for 20 Questions. I just want to find Tai and Sora, and then get out of here before we are attacked. We have no idea where our Digimon partners are, which leaves us vulnerable to a Digimon attack." TK was taken aback at Davis's outburst. It was tense until Kari broke it up.
"Davis, I'm sure TK wasn't trying to get on your nerves. I'm curious as well about your history being a Digidestined." Davis sighed heavily as he felt Kari's hand on her shoulder.
"You're right Kari. I'm sorry, I'm just worried that something may happen…"
"VOLCANIC STRIKE!" a guttural voice echoed throughout the clearing, as a massive fireball flew above the trees and began falling towards the three children.
"LIKE THAT! GET DOWN!" Davis yelled, grabbing Kari and pulling her to the ground. TK followed suit as he jumped on the ground. The fireball collided with the ground and separated TK from Kari and Davis.
"That roar…" Davis groaned as he stood back up and helped Kari. "There's only one Digimon I know with that attack…"
(Play Digimon Adventure: Aku no Shutsugen)
Another roar echoed as a Monochromon, a dinosaur Digimon with a black shell and horn burst from the forest clearing, a Dark Ring wrapped around his waist. The Monochromon roared loudly as he heard groaning. Looking around, Monochromon noticed a blond-haired boy with a white hat pick himself up off the ground. Growling, Monochromon began stomping for TK, who began backing away nervously from the dinosaur Digimon. TK knew he was caught. With no Patamon, it was practically over unless some miracle happened.
"T…K…" Kari coughed as she and Davis watched the Monochromon advance towards the child of Hope.
"Damn it…Veemon, where are you?" Davis whispered angrily, seeing the bad development. Davis knew if he diverted Monochromon's attention to himself, it would put Kari in harm's way as well. And he couldn't run away with Kari and leave TK to a grisly fate. Suddenly, an idea came to him. If he could lure Monochromon into following him, then a chance of escape was likely. But he needed help.
"Kari, I have an idea," he said to the child of Light. "I'll draw his attention from TK. When I do, run like hell if you value your life." Not waiting for a reply, as he knew Kari would run regardless of how she felt for the plan, since she valued her life, Davis grabbed a rock and threw it at the Monochromon, who stopped advancing for TK when he felt something hard hit the back of his head.
"Hey, you Jurassic reject! Fresh meat, over here!" Growling at the insult, Monochromon roared loudly and changed his sights to the two humans, charging forward like a mad rhino.
(Play Digimon Adventure: Shuugeki! Soshite…)
"RUN!" Kari immediately ran the moment Davis yelled, breaking into a sprint. It was difficult as she never played sports like Davis and Tai, so it wasn't long before she felt her heart beating like crazy in her ribcage. Davis could hear TK call after them, but didn't hear what he said. He didn't like the idea of splitting the group up like this, but it was better than being burned to death.
"Davis…I'm…not sure…how…long…I can…keep…running!" Kari gasped between breaths. Davis grit his teeth, knowing Kari's lack of exercise.
"Don't worry, we just need to get this guy far away from the clearing so TK can get to safety! On my signal, we'll jump into the forest! Monochromon's too big to search for us in there." Still breathing heavily, Kari nodded, hoping the plan would work.
"NOW!" Davis grabbed Kari's hand and leapt into the vegetation. As Davis said, Monochromon continued running forward, his size making it impossible for him to make sharp turns. The few moments Davis and Kari bought for themselves allowed them to run deep into the forest from the dinosaur's view. Davis quickly pulled Kari behind a tree and covered her mouth with his hand to prevent her heavy breathing from catching them.
For the next few seconds, the only sound that was heard was the sound of Monochromon's footsteps. Taking a glance, Davis saw the giant dinosaur Digimon stomping away from them.
"Finally…" Davis sighed in relief as he released Kari, who fell to the ground and began coughing from the lack of air.
"Are you okay?" Davis asked, kneeling down next to Kari and putting a hand on her shoulder. Kari nodded as she breathed deeply and sat back on a tree trunk.
"I'm good…I'm good…" Kari breathed. Davis sighed in relief again, happy that they managed to survive.
"KARI! DAVIS!" TK yelled as he looked through the forest anxiously. He was worried about the two of them, but especially for Kari. What was Davis thinking, putting Kari in danger like that? He was going to give Davis a piece of mind when he saw him again…or if he saw him again…
'No! Don't think like that!' he thought as he smacked himself. 'Kari'll be okay…'
"TK!" the blond-haired boy gasped when he heard an extremely familiar voice. Turning around, TK's spirits went up greatly when he saw his partner Digimon flying towards him.
(Play Digimon Adventure: Saikai)
"Patamon!" TK said happily, running forward and grabbing Patamon into a hug. "Am I glad to see you again!"
"Same here!" Patamon said happily.
"TK!" The child of Hope looked up to see Tai running towards him with Agumon in tow, and right behind him was a familiar girl.
"Sora!" gasped TK. "So it was your Digivice I detected!" So Davis had been right in suspecting that Sora's was the second signal.
"TK, is it just you here?" Tai asked puzzled.
"No, Kari's here with me, and Davis as well," TK said.
"Wait…did you say Davis?" Sora asked with a surprised look that matched Tai's. "As in, Davis Motomiya?"
"Yes…" TK said, realizing he needed to explain a few things. "You see…"
"Okay, I'm picking up TK's signal a few miles from here," Kari said, checking her Digivice screen again. "And from the looks of it, I think he just met up with Tai and Sora."
"Then let's move quickly!" Davis said, taking the lead. Kari looked back at Davis's retreating form with worry and curiosity. Davis said he had been to the Digital World once before, he knew what Digimon were, and he had been acting on edge ever since he came here. There was also the fact that he automatically assumed Sora was a Digidestined when she never told him about who the Digidestined were. Even though Davis said questions could come later, Kari couldn't wait much longer.
"Davis…wait. I need to know something."
"Kari, can it wait?" Davis asked as he stopped short. "We don't know if or when Monochromon will return."
"No…no, it can't," said Kari. "I'm sorry Davis, but it's been eating at me ever since we first got here. Did you come here to the Digital World before? How long ago was it? And how did you know that Sora was a Digidestined when the only ones you found out were Digidestined were myself, TK, Izzy and Tai?" Kari looked at Davis with pleading eyes. The burgundy-haired boy opened his mouth to respond, but the look in Kari's eyes stopped him. It was a look he never saw in Kari's eyes before. It was a look of demanding, a look of worry, and a look of determination. Swallowing nervously, Davis looked away from the child of Light, realizing he wouldn't be able to keep going until Kari got the answers she was looking for.
(Play Digimon Adventure 02: Seijaku)
"Yes…I've been here before to the Digital World. During my adventures, I learned about the story of the Digidestined…and that was how I found out about you, Tai and Sora being Digidestined. As for when I came here, it was three years ago, a week after Omnimon battled Diaboromon."
"Diaboromon…" Kari muttered, remembering the Digimon that nearly destroyed Odaiba with a nuclear strike. She had been unavailable to help Tai that day as she was at a birthday party, and she regretted not helping him. "But still…you've known about us and the Digital World for three years and you never told me?" The girl's eyes watered slightly as she felt slightly betrayed over Davis's secret.
"I…things weren't exactly pleasant for me my last few days in the Digital World," Davis said, painful memories coming back to him. "Besides, you never told me about the Digital World." Kari was hurt even more now, as she realized she never told Davis her secret, and it made her look like a hypocrite asking Davis why he never told her, when she never told him.
"Davis, I'm sorry that I never told you about all of this. I really wanted to, but Tai and Sora both forbade me from doing so. And there were times when I was close to telling you, but I wondered if you would believe me or not! Please…please don't hate me…" Kari couldn't help but sob as the tears slid down her face, believing she had just destroyed her friendship with Davis.
(Play Digimon Adventure: Namida no Yukue)
Davis's face, which was stern at first, suddenly broke down upon the sight of Kari crying. This was definitely not the reaction he was expecting…and it wasn't something he liked seeing.
"Come on Kari…you know I don't like it when you cry," he said, walking over and wrapping his arms around his best friend. "I don't hate you…I could never hate you…" Kari's sobs died down to sniffles as she returned the embrace, glad that Davis didn't hate her. "And I don't blame you for not telling me. Tai and Sora told you not to, and you didn't want to betray their trust in any way." The two friends remained in the embrace until something suddenly came to Kari's mind.
"Davis, I need to know something else," Kari pulled away so she could look at Davis in the eyes. "Your nightmares…have they been about…?" Davis's eyes hardened slightly, but he took a deep breath and confessed.
"Yes…they are about the Digital World…I'm sorry I never told you Kari…but like I said before, the last battle in the Digital World didn't end well for me…and I don't like talking about it…"
"You don't have to tell me now," said Kari. "But I think you should tell Tai and the others…not everything, but what you told me."
"I will Kari…" Davis said as he hugged Kari again. "I promise…now come on, let's find TK and…"
SNAP.
Davis suddenly went rigid upon hearing a twig snap nearby, and Kari noticed the hard look on his face.
"Davis, what…"
"Shh!" Davis said, raising a hand to silence Kari as he strained his ears, looking to hear where the snap was heard. Hearing a rustling behind them, Davis and Kari turned around to see a Unimon standing before them. Looking down, Kari immediately noticed something on his neck.
(Play Digimon Adventure 02: Aku no Butai ga Yatte Kita)
"Davis…that band around his neck…"
"It's just like the one we saw on Monochromon's waist," Davis said, noticing the familiar band. "Something tells me those aren't necklaces that the Digimon have gotten into wearing…"
"HOLY SHOT!" Unimon's mouth opened up and a blue energy ball sailed at the two Digidestined. Kari and Davis dived in opposite directions to avoid the attack, but the ball managed to graze Davis's leg, causing it to go numb.
"AGH…Dammit!" Davis cursed as he collapsed, not feeling his right leg at all.
"Davis!" Kari yelled in panic, seeing her best friend in pain. Unimon neighed angrily as he advanced on Davis, his head down low as his sharp horn gleamed in the sunlight. Davis realized that Unimon planned to gore him with his horn. And with his leg injured, Davis was in no position to escape.
Kari looked on in panic as Unimon prepared to stab her best friend. Seeing a rock nearby, Kari picked it up and took careful aim, throwing it at Unimon's head. Turning his attention to Kari, Unimon roared angrily as he turned his attention to the child of Light.
"Kari, get away!" Davis yelled. Kari backed away from the unicorn Digimon, but was stopped suddenly when she noticed a tree in her way. Looking around, Kari noticed trees blocking her every path. She could not escape. She was trapped.
"Kari…no!" Davis groaned, trying to get up, but his leg was still numb. He had to move…he had to save Kari! He couldn't lose her like he lost Ryo and Veemon!
"HOLY SHOT!" Kari quickly ducked down to dodge the energy ball. Rolling on her side, Kari quickly ran around Unimon, who fired another Holy Shot but failed to hit her, and ended up next to Davis.
"Davis, come on! We have to get out of here!" Kari grabbed Davis by the arm and grunted as she lifted him up. Davis winced as the feeling slowly came back to his leg. Unimon turned around and began advancing for the children again, who were both trapped due to Kari helping Davis up.
'There's nothing we can do now,' Davis thought grimly as Unimon opened his mouth to prepare another Holy Shot. 'Without our Digimon…we're powerless!'
"HOLY…"
"LIGHTNING PAW!" a voice yelled from above. Unimon looked up and was shocked to see a familiar figure in the air. The shadowed figure dropped down and rammed a fist into Unimon's face. Even though Unimon's attacker was small, she was able to punch the unicorn Digimon so hard, he staggered back and nearly fell on his side. The white blur landed in front of Davis and Kari, the latter recognizing her immediately.
(Play Digimon Adventure: Teki o Yattsukero!)
"Ga…Gatomon!" Kari said happily. "It's really you!" The white cat turned around and smiled big at Kari.
"It's me all right Kari, but we'll play catch up later!" Gatomon's smile dropped as she turned her attention back to Unimon, who regained his senses and advanced for Gatomon.
"Oh no. This won't be like last time, pony boy. I'm ready for you now." As Gatomon prepared to fight the Unimon, Davis's eyes widened as he got a good look at the white cat.
'No way…it's her!' the child of Miracles thought as Unimon yelled out, "CORN THRUST!" and charged at Gatomon horn-first. Gatomon leapt over Unimon with nimble movements, landing on a tree branch.
"Oh, and just so you know, I didn't come alone." Gatomon looked over to her right and yelled out, "Now's your chance!"
"All right!" a voice yelled out as a figure as big as Gatomon leaped out of a nearby tree, his features hidden by a cloak, a rope in his hands. The figure ran forward and rammed his head into Unimon, forcing the winged Digimon back several feet. Unimon growled as he opened his mouth, but the cloaked figure grabbed the hem of his cloak and ripped it off, throwing it in the path of Unimon's Holy Shot. The cloak exploded upon hitting the attack, and a cloud of smoke covered the two combatants, their shadows the only thing that could be seen. Davis, Kari, and Gatomon, who landed in front of the two Digidestined in a defensive position, watched as the small Digimon lassoed the rope around Unimon's front legs before running around and tying up all four of Unimon's wings before jumping on his back and tying his wings together. As the small Digimon was on Unimon's back, Davis squinted his eyes to see who the Digimon was, gasping suddenly when he saw the silhouette.
'It…it's him!' Davis thought, a flood of emotions overtaking him completely. Unimon struggled in his ropes before falling on his side, the little Digimon jumping off his back and landing next to him. When the dust cleared, the small Digimon was revealed to be a blue dragon Digimon with pointy ears and a pointy tail, human hands, red eyes that were full of excitement and compassion, a white belly, and a yellow 'V' on his forehead.
"There we go," the small Digimon said as he dusted his hands off and turned to the humans he and Gatomon had just saved. "That should…hold you…" the small Digimon trailed off when he recognized the boy. Spiky burgundy hair…tanned skin…square goggles…it was him! He was finally back!
(Play Digimon Adventure: Ansoku)
"Davis! It's you!" The little Digimon ran forward and jumped into Davis's arms. The burgundy-haired boy stumbled slightly as he dropped to his knees and felt the feeling return to his leg. Davis was in shock for several moments before the emotions that had been flooding him finally took over. He didn't care if Kari was watching; Davis immediately felt tears of joy run down his cheeks as he returned the hug, relieved and happy to be with his reborn partner after so long.
"Veemon…you're really…here…" the boy sobbed happily. This was not a dream, and it was not an illusion. This was real. Veemon was back and he was in his arms. A great deal of pain he had been carrying for three years had been greatly lifted, and the child of Miracles felt better than he ever did.
Over by the duo of Light, Kari smiled at the hug. Whoever this blue Digimon was, it was clear from Davis's reaction that this Digimon was the partner Digimon of her best friend. She was also surprised at Davis openly crying, as she knew Davis was the type who rarely wore his emotions on his sleeve.
From her spot in Kari's arms, Gatomon looked down at the burgundy-haired boy with a curious look. She didn't see it good at first during the fight as protecting Kari was the main priority in her mind, but now that the dust had settled and Unimon was subdued, Gatomon took a better look at Davis and realized there was something…familiar about him, like she had seen him somewhere before during her time in the Human World.
"Davis…is that your Digimon partner?" Kari asked, wanting to be sure. Davis sniffed slightly as he released Veemon and stood back up, rubbing his face with his shirt sleeve.
"Yeah…this is Veemon. Veemon, this Kari. I think I may have told you about her before?"
"Oh, so you're Kari!" the blue dragon Digimon said, looking up at the girl. "Yeah, Davis has told me a lot about you before."
"He has?" asked a surprised Kari.
"Hey, Veemon was by my side throughout my time in the Digital World," Davis said as he smiled lightly. "He's like a brother to me." Veemon chuckled sheepishly before Davis's face became serious again.
"Still, we should get out of here and find Tai, TK and Sora before Unimon breaks free, or Monochromon finds us again. There's no telling how low on energy our Digimon are…"
"We're actually fine," said Gatomon. "Veemon and I were able to eat some food and rest a little in a Hiding Tree…"
"…but it won't do us much good if we fight another Champion level Digimon," Veemon finished. "Gatomon's still exhausted from running constantly and I can't Digivolve."
"What?!" Davis asked with widened eyes. "What do you mean, you can't Digivolve?!"
"I think we should find the others before we explain," Gatomon said, jumping out of Kari's arms. Davis and Kari nodded, grabbing their Digivices to detect the missing members of their party.
"Davis is a Digidestined?!" Tai and Sora asked, surprise in their voices as TK finished explaining.
"Yeah, he has this strange Digivice that's different from ours," said the child of Hope. "I can't say exactly how long he's been a Digidestined, but judging from the wear on his Digivice, it may have been as long as we have been Digidestined."
"Unbelievable…" Tai breathed, leaning against a tree. He had known Davis for many years, and the fact that he had been a Digidestined just as long as he had was shocking.
"TK, where's Davis? And where's Kari?"
"I…I don't know," TK answered Sora's question worriedly. "Shortly after we came here, a Monochromon attacked us and Davis and Kari made it chase them so it wouldn't cook me."
"WHAT?!" Tai yelled as he heard that Kari was in trouble. "AND YOU DIDN'T BOTHER GOING AFTER THEM?!"
"What was I supposed to do?! I didn't have Patamon with me!" TK said, backing away from the angry leader of the Digidestined.
"Tai, breath easy!" Sora said, placing both hands on Tai's shoulders. "If Kari is with Davis, then they'll be fine!"
"You don't know that Sora!" Tai said, a little more calmer than before. "There's no telling if Gatomon's around here, and we don't know if Davis has a Digimon partner!"
"Hey! Tai, Sora!" Davis's voice suddenly rang out across the clearing. The three Digidestined and two Digimon turned around to see Davis and Kari running towards them with Gatomon and a small blue Digimon that nobody recognized.
"Davis! Kari!" Tai said happily, running forward with Sora and enveloping Kari in a hug. The bearers of Love and Courage were happy to see Kari and Davis alive. As the sibling continued their reunion, TK immediately stomped forward and got right up into Davis's face.
"What the hell were you thinking back there?!" the blond-haired boy yelled angrily, causing everybody to be surprised by TK's outburst. "You could have hurt yourself back there, or even worse, you could've hurt Kari!"
Davis's patience with TK had been running thin ever since they first came here to the Digital World, but now TK was on really thin ice. He could understand TK was concerned for Kari's well being, but there was no other option during the confrontation with Monochromon.
"Hey, listen here, pal!" he growled at the hat-wearing boy with gritted teeth. "I didn't like the plan either, but I saw a chance that would get us all out in one piece! The plan wasn't ideal, yes, but I'd rather die executing a half-good plan than waiting for an opportunity that might have never come!"
"Well, that still doesn't excuse the danger you put yourself in, as well as Kari! Honestly, were you even thinking about that?!"
Davis's eyes hardened upon hearing those words, and his hands twitched dangerously. It was one thing for TK to insult him, but for him to insult his friendship with Kari…that was crossing the line.
"Are you accusing me of not looking out for my best friend?!" Davis's accusation caused everyone to shudder slightly, even TK, though he held his ground.
"All I'm saying is that your plan was absolutely reckless, Davis! You shouldn't have…"
"HEY!" Veemon yelled angrily, looking up at TK. "You got a problem with Davis?"
"And just who are you?" TK asked rather rudely, his anger with Davis still present.
"My name is Veemon, and I'm Davis's partner Digimon!" Veemon said, glaring up at TK. "And if you've got a problem with Davis, then you've got a problem with me as well, hat boy!"
"THAT'S ENOUGH!"
All went quiet in the clearing as everyone turned to see Kari, who had yelled very loudly and was glaring at the two boys arguing, evidently disappointed in their behavior.
"If you must know TK, I went along with Davis's plan because I wanted to! I am not some damsel in distress, or some glass ornament that you guys have to protect and be careful with, I'm just as much of a Digidestined as all of you here!"
"She's right!" agreed Sora. "Can we please not fight? That's the last thing we need right now!" TK and Davis both looked down, having been deflated and scared by Kari's piercing glare. Davis couldn't exactly blame TK for his outburst as he had been worried about Kari. If the roles had been reversed between the two boys, Davis would have acted exactly like TK did.
"So what's going on here anyway?" Tai asked Agumon, attempting to get an idea of the chaos happening in the Digital World.
"Let's get back to the cave with the strange object and we'll explain everything," Agumon said, motioning for everyone to follow him.
'Strange object?' Davis thought in confusion as he followed the group into the cave Agumon was talking about. Once everyone was in the cave, the Digimon began explaining everything, with Gatomon talking first.
(Play Digimon Adventure 02: Shizuka na Fuan)
"It all started a month ago. Everything was peaceful until one day these black towers began popping up everywhere! It turns out they were being placed all over the Digital World by the Digimon Emperor!"
"Digimon Emperor?" asked TK. "What kind of a Digimon is he?"
"He's not a Digimon," Agumon said gravelly. "He's a human child like you!"
"WHAT?!" yelled the five children, surprised at this news.
"Yeah," said Patamon. "He's been slowly taking over the Digital World with these Control Spires. And he has these Dark Rings as well. If a Dark Ring catches on to a Digimon, they become his brainwashed slave."
"I see…" Davis muttered as he thought back to earlier. "So those dark bands on Monochromon and Unimon were brainwashing devices…"
"What's more is the Control Spires radiate an aura of darkness that drains us of our energy and prevents us from Digivolving," Agumon chimed in.
"If we did get into any fights, the best chances we would have of winning would be against Rookie level Digimon," said Veemon.
"Wait, what about the other Digimon?" asked Sora. "What about Biyomon? Gabumon, Gomamon, Tentomon and Palmon?" Sora was worried about the other partner Digimon, especially her own. If the Digimon Emperor was turning any and all Digimon into his slaves…
"We don't know," said Patamon. "A Snimon separated me from Biyomon and Tentomon a while back."
"And Gomamon, Palmon and Gabumon were separated from us," Agumon said, referring to himself and Gatomon.
"I haven't seen any of those Digimon around here," Veemon said as he leaned up against the cave wall.
"And there's more thing," said Gatomon. "He has a Digivice as well…a dark Digivice."
"A dark Digivice?!" asked a surprised TK. "That means…he's a Digidestined! Or rather…anti-Digidestined."
"And it's really strange too," said Patamon. "It looks different from the other Digivices."
"Different?" Kari asked, puzzled slightly until she suddenly remembered. "Davis, show them your Digivice!"
"Oh, right!" Davis gasped, yanking out the blue-ridged device and showing it to everyone.
"That's it!" Gatomon gasped, recognizing the device. "The Emperor's device looks exactly like that, but it's all black!"
"What? But how is that possible?!" Davis asked in a confused tone.
"Davis, do you know something about this?" TK asked suspiciously.
"I…I don't know!" Davis stammered, looking down at his Digivice. "I didn't know there was someone else out there with a Digivice like mine!" This was true as Ryo and Ken's Digivices were both of the original model. To think that someone else out there had a Digivice like his…it worried Davis.
"I can't believe it," Kari said angrily. "A human child hunting Digimon and becoming their king? That's ridiculous!" Unknown to anyone, a Dark Ring had flown into the cave and was looking down on them, the Digimon Emperor seeing everything through his camera.
(Play Digimon Adventure: Aku no Theme)
"Ridiculous, you say?" the Emperor asked as he looked at the screen showing Kari. "What exactly is ridiculous about ensuring peace and order in the Digital World? You don't seem to understand yet…but you will." Bringing up a holographic keyboard, the Emperor pressed several buttons to call up a certain Digimon.
"Monochromon! Your targets are in a cave, fifty miles from your current location! I am sending four more Monochromon to aid you!" Making the keyboard disappear, the Emperor turned his attention back to the screens, but his attention was mostly set on the boy with the goggles and a Digivice similar to his.
"Let's see you get out of this one, Davis…"
"So this is the object you were talking about," TK said as he observed the red, yellow and orange object in the cave room with Kari and Davis.
"Yeah, and it's got the Crest of Courage," Patamon noted, looking at the orange sun.
'Courage…' Davis thought as he looked at Tai. His last visit in the Digital World, Davis, who received a Crest of his own in the Crest of Miracles, which he still wore around his neck to this day, was told of eight other Crests that existed along with his own, as well as Ken's Crest of Kindness and Ryo's Crest of Destiny. He learned that Tai's Crest was the Crest of Courage, Sora's was Love, and Kari's was Light.
"I tried to pick it up earlier," said Tai, "and when I did, it released two streams of light!"
"Two streams of light?" asked Davis. "Tai, were these lights colored red and yellow?"
"Yeah, why?" Tai asked curiously.
"Because we saw those lights fly out of a computer in school," said TK. "We don't know what they were, or where they went…"
"But it's safe to assume those lights were Digivices," continued Davis.
"Digivices…but for who?" asked Sora.
"I may have an idea," answered Davis, "but we'll need to get back home so I can be sure."
"Tai, why didn't you try to pick it up again?" Kari asked her brother. "It has your Crest on it, doesn't it?"
"I tried, but it was too heavy," Tai answered.
"He's right. I tried to lift it as well, but I didn't have much luck either," added Sora. As the Digidestined spoke, Veemon looked at the item curiously before gasping.
"I know what that object is! It's a Digimental!"
"A…what?" asked TK.
"Digimental," repeated Veemon. "The Digimentals are ancient objects of great power, said to unlock an ancient type of Digivolution!"
"Well, a fat lot of good that will do when we can't Digivolve," Gatomon said depressingly.
"Well, we won't know if it will work until we move it from this rock and try it!" TK said, walking over to the Digimental and tried to pick it up. But the egg refused to budge. TK pulled with all his strength, but slipped and fell on his butt.
"But it seems so small…" Kari said as she tried to lift up the Digimental, but failed. Kari then turned to her best friend. "Davis, you try it!"
"What…me?" the burgundy haired boy asked, surprised slightly.
(Play Digimon Adventure: Kuroi Inbou)
"Yes, you," insisted Kari. "You haven't tried picking it up yet." Davis suddenly felt uneasy as he walked forward and knelt down in front of the Digimental. Feeling his throat dry slightly, Davis looked at the orange sun nervously. The Crest of Courage. He heard that it was Tai's crest, and he wondered why Tai was unable to lift it up. Tai was one of the bravest people Davis had ever known his entire life. He led the soccer team with no fear and great confidence, and he always stood up to anyone that bullied Kari or any of his friends.
Davis had wanted, more than anything, to be brave like Tai. He wanted to have courage like Tai, but being here in the Digital World again, after all this time, left him shaking with fear. Fear that someone would get hurt or killed again, much like with what happened today with Monochromon and Unimon. Throughout most of the day, Davis had this burning fear inside of him, and it had been with him ever since the final battle of Millenniummon.
"Well, what are you waiting for Davis?" TK asked impatiently. Davis sweated as he suddenly stood up and ran out the cave.
"I'm sorry Tai, but I can't do it!" the burgundy-haired boy yelled out as he ran. Confused at Davis's actions, Tai followed after his protégé, Veemon right behind him. Kari made a motion to follow, but Sora stopped her by holding out an arm in front of her.
"Let Tai handle this," the older girl said. Kari nodded, hoping Tai could talk with Davis.
"Damn it…damn it!" Davis cursed as he kicked a rock, fuming outside the cave entrance.
"Hey! Davis!" Davis looked up to see Veemon and Tai approaching him.
"Davis, are you okay? What was that?" Davis swallowed nervously as he looked up at his mentor.
"Tai…there's something I need to tell you…"
"I know. TK told me you were a Digidestined. How long, exactly?"
"For the last three years," Davis said, building up some nerves to tell Tai what he told Kari earlier. "It…it was hard for me. The last battle shook me up…and I…I've been uneasy about the Digital World since then, I've been afraid!"
"I understand," Tai said softly, placing a hand on Davis's shoulder. "I've been there before. It will be fine Davis."
(Play Digimon Adventure: Tomodachi Tatakai no Theme)
"Easy for you to say, you have the Crest of Courage," Davis muttered, looking downcast. "You show no fear whatsoever, and you've been holding it together so easily. Me, on the other hand…I've been scared a lot, but I've been trying not to show it, I've been trying to keep it together for Kari's sake… because if I do show fear, something…could go wrong! I…I don't know if I deserve the Crest of Courage. I'm…I'm afraid…" Davis slid to his knees in despair as Tai looked down at him with a sad look in his eyes, Veemon walking over to offer some comfort to his partner. For a moment, Tai wondered what to do until it came to him.
"Davis." Tai knelt down and looked at Davis in the eye. "You've got it all wrong about courage."
"Huh?"
"Davis…courage isn't about being brave and having no fear. It's about having fear…and having the strength to overcome that fear. There have been several times when I was afraid of being here in the Digital World. But I refused to be afraid all of the time. If I did, then I wouldn't have been able to help Kari, or Sora, or Matt, or my other friends."
"You…you were afraid?" Davis asked, surprised at his mentor's confession of being afraid.
"Yes, but I overcame my fear by having the courage to face it," Tai said, "and having the courage to protect my friends. And I know, deep down…you have that courage as well."
Davis stared wide-eyed as he thought about what Tai said, and the more he thought about it, the more he realized that it was true. Ever since he came back to the Digital World today, Davis had been afraid of everything around him, and he was afraid of dying or losing another friend, but he put that fear aside in order to find his mentor and sister figure, protect TK from Monochromon, and try to protect Kari from Unimon.
"You've always had courage Davis," Veemon said to his partner. "I remember those times you were afraid, but you sucked it up for our sakes." Davis remembered the first time he was here. He had been afraid the first few times, but he faced those fears for not only his sake, but for the sakes of Ken and Ryo. And now, he had to put aside his fears for not just Tai's sake, but for Kari's sake as well.
"I…I think I get it now," Davis said, smiling lightly as he accepted a hand up from Tai. "Thank you, Tai."
"Think nothing of it," Tai said with a smile of his own. Feeling his resolve strengthen, Davis went back into the cave and walked up to the Digimental of Courage. Taking a deep breath, Davis clasped both hands around the Digimental tightly.
'1…2…3!' Counting in his head, Davis lifted up the Digimental and was surprised to see it come off easily.
"What the…Davis lifted it up easily!" TK said in astonishment.
"I knew he could do it," Tai whispered low enough for Sora and Kari to hear, both girls smiling big. The happy feelings did not last long as a reptilian roar sounded from outside the cave.
"We need to get out of this cave now," Davis said instantly as he began walking for the cave entrance with Veemon in tow. "We won't be able to fight well in an enclosed space." Kari was surprised at seeing Davis, who was fearful and reluctant moments before, feel so confident and sure of himself. It reminded her so much of the Davis she truly knew.
The Digidestined ran outside the cave to see five Monochromon waiting for them down the hill. Kari and TK immediately tensed up. They had been having enough trouble with one before, but five of them was even more trouble.
(Play Digimon Adventure 02: Teki no Wana Da, Ki o Tsukero!)
"Davis…I think the 'Jurassic reject' brought some friends," the child of Light muttered.
"It doesn't matter how many of them there are, I'll still take them down!" Veemon said as he cracked his knuckles. "Davis, you need to say 'Digi-Armor Energize'!"
"Wait, what will that do?" Davis asked confusedly.
"It will activate the Digimental!" said Veemon. "You might want to say it fast, because they're coming!" Sure enough, the five Monochromon began advancing up the hill. Gatomon, the only Champion level Digimon with the Digidestined, was prepared for a fight.
Taking a deep breath and pushing down any fear and doubts in him, Davis raised the Digimental up in the air and yelled at the top of his lungs, "DIGI-ARMOR, ENERGIZE!"
(Play Digimon Adventure 02: Break Up!)
Both the Digimental and Veemon glowed bright orange upon Davis's yell. The Digimental floated out of Davis's hand and towards Veemon, merging with the blue dragon Digimon.
"What…what is this?!" the Digimon Emperor yelled in confusion as he watched from his monitor room.
"VEEMON ARMOR DIGIVOLVE TOOO…BLAZING COURAGE, FLAMEDRAMON!" The light faded and a new Digimon stood in Veemon's place. He looked like a grown-up Veemon, standing slightly taller than Tai, who was taller than any of the Digidestined here. All over parts of his body were flaming pieces of armor. The Crest of Courage was emblazoned on his back, his hands and feet were tipped with sharp claws, and a sharp bladed horn jutted from his head.
"No way! He actually Digivolved!" Tai gasped, the Digidestined looking at the new Digimon in awe.
"Technically, it's Armor Digivolution," Flamedramon said before charging for the Monochromon, who were frozen in place from the unexpected Digivolution. Ramming into the closest Monochromon, Flamedramon knocked the dinosaur Digimon off the cliff and rolled down the cliff, knocking aside the other four Monochromon. The two Digimon crashed into the ground, with Flamedramon jumping off the lead Monochromon and landing on the ground, getting into a battle stance as the other Monochromon charged for him.
"Come on!" Flamedramon challenged as one Monochromon charged towards him while two more came in from the sides. Smirking slightly, Flamedramon crouched down before leaping high into the air right before the three Monochromon could smash into him with their horns. Unable to stop their charges, the Monochromon crashed into each other and felt dazed from the collision.
"FLAMING FIST!" Igniting the claws on his right hand in flames, Flamedramon thrust his arm forward as he dropped down from the sky, releasing a barrage of fireballs that rained down on the three Monochromon. The fireballs struck the Dark Rings around their waists, turning them into dust.
"Flamedramon was able to destroy those Dark Rings with ease!" Gatomon said, also in awe of the armor Digimon.
Davis watched as Flamedramon battled the last two Monochromon with a mesmerized look. He had forgotten how exciting it was to see his partner in action against other Digimon. That feeling had been lost on him somewhere between Veemon becoming Paildramon and the final battle with Millenniummon.
Davis also took the fight as an opportunity to study Veemon's new form. To his disappointment, Flamedramon's power and strength wasn't even close to ExVeemon's, but what he lacked in power, he made up for it in agility and speed, as well as hand-to-hand combat. And he was smaller than ExVeemon, which would beneficial when fighting in enclosed spaces, a problem ExVeemon had before.
"GUARDY TUSK!" One of the remaining Monochromon charged forward for Flamedramon, but the armor Digimon stood his ground and grabbed Monochromon by the head, stopping him and keeping him in place. However, this left him vulnerable to an attack from the second Monochromon.
"VOLCANIC STRIKE!" The fireball flew forward and hit Flamedramon in the back, but to everybody's surprise, the armor Digimon showed no reaction to being hit at all. Davis figured that since Flamedramon was a fire-based Digimon, fire attacks from other Digimon only strengthened him.
"All right…it's time to end this fight!" Yelling mightily, Flamedramon lifted the Monochromon he held in his hands off his feet and vertical suplexed him onto his fellow Monochromon. Jumping up into the sky again, Flamedramon clad in his entire body in flames.
"FIRE ROCKET!" Dropping down fast, Flamedramon collided with the first Monochromon's waist, shattering the Dark Ring. The armored dragon then leapt up again and rammed into the second Monochromon, breaking the last of the Dark Rings.
"All right, Flamedramon!" Agumon cheered as the group slid down the hill and ran up to Flamedramon. The armored Digimon glowed brightly before shrinking down and changing back into Veemon. A streak of orange light, which the others guessed was the Digimental of Courage, flew forward into Davis's Digivice before flying into his pocket. Feeling a new weight in there, Davis pulled the item out of his pocket to reveal a D-Terminal, which opened to reveal the Digimental of Courage on the screen.
"So, what did you guys think? Pretty neat, huh?" Veemon asked, rubbing the back of his head with a big smile.
"Yeah, I'll say," Davis said with a smile, knowing that familiar gesture of Veemon's. Behind him, Kari couldn't help but mirror Davis's amused expression, knowing that Davis often made that gesture when he either embarrassed or was trying to apologize for something. The similarities between Davis and Veemon were striking.
Back in the monitor room of his base, the Emperor gritted his teeth in frustration as he watched what happened. Not only had Davis and Veemon managed to free five of his slaves successfully, but they also managed to find a way to get around his anti-Digivolution block. He had been right before when he suspected that Davis's involvement would be a problem.
"Amazing…Davis and Veemon have gained access to the ancient Armor Digivolution," the caterpillar Digimon said as he crawled over to the Emperor's side. "And he looks powerful."
"But not powerful enough," the Emperor said as he stood up from his chair and walked out of the monitor room. He would have to come up with a new plan to take care of Davis.
"Where are you going?"
"Where do you think I'm going? I'm going home," the Emperor snapped before closing the door to the monitor room.
"Oh, Ken…" the Digimon said sadly before looking up at the screen showing Davis and Veemon again. Where did those days go…?
(Play Digimon Adventure 02: Ie ne Karou ~Target Instruments~)
"The sun's going down," Agumon said, noticing the setting sun. "That's good."
"Why is that good?" asked TK.
"Because the Digimon Emperor never acts during the night hours," explained Gatomon.
"I wouldn't expect him to," said TK. "If he's a kid like us, then chances are he has a home to go to."
"Speaking of home, we should get going as well," said Tai, earning nods from everyone. As the Digidestined walked towards the television set that brought Kari, TK and Davis to the Digital World, Davis couldn't help but think about today, and what Gatomon had said.
'Another Digidestined has a Digivice like mine…and I have a feeling two more kids may have them,' the child of Miracles thought to himself. Davis couldn't help but wonder about this Digimon Emperor. He had no idea who the Emperor was or what part of the Human World he came from, but Davis couldn't help but have an uneasy feeling that he wouldn't like what he found out about the Emperor.
'Geez…if only Ken and Ryo were here,' Davis thought about the two boys he had fought alongside with years ago. He had little to no contact with Ken ever since Ken's brother Sam died shortly after their adventures…and Ryo had gotten lost between time and space when Justimon delivered the finishing blow to Millenniummon. He couldn't help but wonder about both of them and their current statuses. Would Ken be called back as well? And would Ryo find a way back from wherever he was? If they did, it would certainly help Davis feel better. He felt okay with Kari, Tai and Sora, but he had never really worked with them before when it came to the Digital World, today was his first day with them. And he knew he would have problems with TK, if their argument earlier was any indication. And he didn't know the other Digidestined all that well. He felt comfortable in the Digital World when it was just him, Ken and Ryo. But now that he would be working with not just three kids he knew since childhood, along with five others…seven if those beams of light were what he thought they were…this would take some getting used to.
Behind him and Veemon, Kari and Gatomon both were deep in thought. Kari was thinking about how Davis had been acting today. When they entered the Digital World, Davis was constantly looking around the Digital World uneasily and looked reluctant to be here. But after he was reunited with Veemon and found the Digimental of Courage, Davis had managed to regain some of his old swagger. Though he still looked slightly cautious as the Digidestined reached the Digital Gate, it wasn't as extreme as it was earlier. While Kari was glad to see Davis was acting like his old self again, it also disturbed her. From what Davis had told her, his experiences in the Digital World weren't exactly pleasant. And it worried her greatly that Davis didn't tell her the full story. What had happened to Davis the last time he was here?
Gatomon, meanwhile, kept her gaze on Davis as well, as knew without a doubt that she saw him somewhere before…but where, was the question.
"All right guys, we're here!" Davis said, stopping up at the TV set. Looking down at the screen, the Digidestined were surprised to see Izzy in the screen, along with Yolei and Cody. The three children were sitting in front of what was obviously the Digital Gate, eating what appeared to be food.
(Play Digimon Adventure 02: Sorosoro Yuuhan da ne…)
"Man, it's about time you showed up Cody!" Yolei's voice rang through the TV.
"I'm sorry, but I had to go home to get the ohagi," Cody said, biting into a rice ball.
"Hmm, this ohagi is good," Izzy said between bites.
"Yeah, it is!" Yolei said as she finished off the last of her food. "So, shall we go now?"
"Go?" Izzy asked confused.
"Duh!" Yolei said as if Izzy was dumb and pointed to the computer. "I'm talking about the Digital World!"
"Oh!" Izzy gasped, looking at the Digital Gate. "I'm not sure if that's a good idea Yolei…none of us have Digimon partners, and…" The sound of beeping from the computer caught everybody's attention. The screen suddenly flashed, and to Cody and Yolei's great surprise, five children flew out of the computer with what appeared to be four stuffed animals. Everybody was caught in a dog-pile on the floor of the computer lab, with Izzy being on the bottom.
"Get off me!" Izzy wheezed. "You're crushing my ribs…and my ohagi!"
'Good grief…' Davis thought as he was mushed between Kari and Yolei. 'What have I gotten myself into…?'
(Play Digimon Adventure 02: Yogiru Fuan)
In an apartment in Tamachi, a young boy with dark blue hair typed furiously on his computer, the screen displaying a familiar pair of glasses.
"You won't be my undoing Davis…I will have my revenge!"
(Play Days: Aijou to Nichijou TV Size)
END CHAPTER 3