Tai felt his head throb. He was in a lot of pain. He remembered once playing a soccer game and breaking two of his toes. He continued playing and when he kicked the ball into the net he screamed out both in pain and rejoice over winning the game. He didn't feel strong like he had that day. That day he felt he could have breathed fire, that the pain only pushed him to play harder. This time, the pain in his head drained him and made him miserable. He felt like quitting and Tai knew he wasn't a quitter. He clenched his teeth and pushed his feet forward. He heard an attack behind him and quickly moved to the right. "Keep running Iz!" Tai called to his friend and he regretted it pretty quickly. The extra effort it took to yell throbbed through his head and he felt slightly nauseous. He continued running and then tripped. He avoided hitting his head by rolling onto his shoulder as he fell. He rolled onto his back and looked up at the oncoming Vilemon.
"Tai move!" Sora screamed and a Vilemon jumped towards Tai. He could see the teeth of the digimon and then someone tall stood in front of Tai and tossed the Vilemon to the side. Tai was shocked to see Hank had saved him.
"I can't interfere anymore! You have to use your crest!" Hank yelled and Tai was not clear on what Hank was talking about.
"Tai! Get up!" Matt yelled and Tai got to his feet looking strangely at Hank. Tai then addressed his friends.
"We have to use our crests!" He yelled and he wasn't surprised when the others protested,
"We don't have them Tai! The Vilemon are too fast we can't outrun them anymore!" Sora exclaimed and Tai growled,
"Just do it!" He saw Izzy get knocked down by a Vilemon. The boy was laying on his stomach as the Vilemon pushed its foot into Izzy's back.
"Izzy!" Sora yelled and Tai knew he needed to save him. Tai thrusted his digivice forward and yelled to his friend.
"Izzy!" He stood tall and then saw a red light hit the Vilemon. Tai saw the Vilemon recoil and Izzy was freed. Tai turned to see Matt who was carrying Tsunomon catch up to them.
"Jesus what was that?" Matt asked as he came to a stop next to Hank.
"Sora thank you!" Izzy cried and Sora relaxed her shoulders.
"I must have scared the other off." Tai looked and saw no more Vilemon chasing them. He wasn't sure how she did it but he was happy Sora managed to use her crest power to get the digimon to retreat.
"We should get back to Mimi and Joe. Make sure they're okay." Izzy commented. Tai nodded and turned to look at Matt, Tsunomon and Hank. Hank was studying Tai oddly.
"What?" Tai asked feeling his head throb again. Hank said nothing but turned to look back at where they had left Mimi. The group started walking back and as Tai followed he looked at his digivice still in his hand. He was happy Sora was able to help and drive the Vilemon away. He just didn't understand why when he tried, nothing happened. He slowly pocketed his device and saw Mimi and Joe stand from the bushes they had been hiding in.
"You guys are okay." She cooed and the group stopped and gathered around her.
"We're fine, thanks to Sora." Matt informed her and he stood next to Sora and have her a smile. Tai could see Soras cheeks redden and he nodded,
"You did great Sora. So did you Matt. Now we need to find our siblings." Tai faced the direction his sister had run off. He started to feel a cool breeze on his neck. He turned to look behind him and saw nothing out of the ordinary. Tai clasped a hand over the back of his neck to warm it up.
"Can we just pause and have you explain what's going on? Who is this guy?" Matt pointed at Hank and Tai felt a tinge of rage course through him towards Matt. He swallowed it and began to speak.
"This is Hank. He was a digidestined like us a long time ago. He now lives here as a sort of protector of the digital world."
"Isn't that Gennais job?" Izzy asked and Tai felt like sitting down. He then explained,
"Apparently Gennai isn't on our side anymore. His data has been scrambled and he and Pythmon are working together to get rid of us and any digimon who are okay with us. Basically they want the digital world to be closed off from our world for good." Hank then stepped forward,
"They want to corrupt your digimon to destroy you. Any digimon that can't be corrupted, are destroyed." Mimi gasped and put a hand over her mouth,
"No." She whispered and Tai could see the others faces wince at the thought of the digimon being destroyed.
"Hank showed us a machine that Piedmont was going to use to find us. We were able to find TK and we could see the other digimon with him."
"Biyomon?!" Sora asked and Tai nodded,
"Kari could locate TK through his crest. I don't know how but it sounds like we still have the powers from our crests. And they can be used to do more then just help our digimon digivolve." Tai continued and Izzy put a finger to his chin,
"How could Gennais data be tampered with? Was it Pythmon?" Hank shrugged,
"I'm not sure." Joe then furrowed his brow,
"Then how are you sure he has been changed?" Hank sighed,
"I watched him round up digimon. I heard him speak in front of the digimon like a dictator stating the plans for a new world order. That's when I went into hiding." Joe studied Hank a moment.
"How'd Tai get hurt?" Tai was a bit surprised at Joes question. The eldest Digidestined was staring at Hank like Hank was the bad guy. Tai then put his hands up,
"Hey don't pester Hank. He's a good guy. I think he saved my life." Matt then stepped forward,
"Well what happened Tai? One minute we're sleeping the next Gomomon is attacking and you and Kari are no where in site." Tai frowned at the mention of his sister. He needed to find her.
"Look I'm fine but we don't have time for this. Let's find Kari and TK and then we'll talk." Tai felt anger bubble through him. He wanted to snap at Matt. He tried to keep his cool and look away.
"You alright man?" Matt asked and Tai flinched,
"I'm gonna go rescue my sister." He said with venom and he wasn't sure why he was so angry. He started walking away and felt footsteps following him. He expected it to be Sora.
"Just leave me alone Sora. I'll apologise once I know Kari's okay." He kept walking and then paused when he didn't hear Sora reply. He turned his head and saw Hank instead of Sora.
"Sorry thought you were-"
"Sora, I know." Tai stopped walking.
"What am I supposed to do?" Tai asked feeling defeated. Hank gave him a warm smile.
"Keep your emotions in check. You should also explain an escape plan to the others if more digimon attack." Tai sighed, Hank was right he knew. He stopped walking and looked back at the others. They were grouped together talking and Tai huffed.
"We probably should work together." He announced to the group. The group stopped talking to look at him. Mimi crossed her arms,
"You think?!" She said sarcastically. Tai wanted to roll his eyes but resisted. He was feeling irritated so easily, he didn't understand why. The group walked over to him.
"Hanks got a hiding tree he's hid his home in. We can lay low there after we rescue Kari and TK." Tai informed the others.
"Matt I'm hungry." Tsunomon announced and Matt smiled down at his partner,
"Sure buddy." Sora then turned and scooped Tsunomon out of Matts arms into her own.
"Me and Joe will find him some food, you and Tai should go look for TK and Kari." Tai nodded and Matt seemed to appreciate Sora looking after his partner.
"How are you feeling Meems?" Tai asked and Mimi nodded,
"Better." Tai felt good the group was working as a team. He didn't understand why he had just tried to alienate himself from them. He pushed it to the back of his mind.
"Hank maybe could you show Izzy and Mimi where your home is?" Hank nodded,
"Be careful." He advised to the group and he led Izzy and Mimi towards his hiding tree. Tai watched his two friends and Hank walk away. He looked at Sora who gave him a nod,
"Don't do anything stupid." She told him and Tai smirked,
"We'll see you soon." Tai said and he turned and started walking with Matt.