"Don, are you sure we can't rest?"
"Come on, Tento. It's not that much farther, I promise."
Turtle and partner were near the mountains, looking for Gennai.
"You said that an hour ago!"
Don chuckled.
"And we ARE almost there! We'll rest on a rock I saw up ahead."
…
"…Do we HAVE to look for Gennai?"
"Yeah. He has so many things to teach me, Tento! I'll learn so much about the Digital World and maybe find a way to get home!"
"Can't we just rest and wait for HIM to come to US?"
"That's counter-productive, Tento…"
They walked in silence for a couple minutes, until…
"Look! A sign!" Tentomon stated, pointing towards the white-painted wood.
"'Beware of Falling Sludge'…I say we go a different direction…" Don advised, turning around.
"Another one?" Tentomon asked.
"'Beware of Bottomless Sludge Pit'…"
The two shared a glance.
"Another direction."
They turned around.
"'Beware of Attack Sludge'? This is getting ridiculous…" Don muttered, looking at all of the signs surrounding them.
A hole opened in the floor, and both Digimon and partner fell into the darkness. Floaties appeared, Tentomon in a ring and Don landed on a giant rubber duck.
"What's with these?"
"Those are your temporary lifelines. If you're greedy, you end up in the pit." A voice said from the darkness, and Don looked around for the source.
"That makes NO sense…what do you mean? And what are you accusing us of being greedy for?"
"For wanting so much information!" The voice retorted.
"What's wrong with wanting to know more?"
"See? You're doing it again! You can't seem to stop yourself!"
"I am?"
"It's too late for you, then!"
The rubber duck beneath the purple-banded turtle exploded, and he started falling.
"I'll catch you, Don! Grab onto my foot!"
Don obeyed immediately, but the extra weight tried to pull both of the down.
"Do you honestly want to fall into the pit?" The voice asked.
"NO!!!"
"Then give up your curiosity and give it to me!"
"…I guess I have no other choice…"
"But your curiosity is what makes you YOU!" Tentomon argued.
"What else can I do?"
"STOP ASKING QUESTIONS!!!"
Tentomon's ring popped, and they started falling into the blackness.
"I'LL STOP-I'LL STOP-I'LL STOP!!!!!!!!!"
"That's more like it…"
A purple bubble came out of Don's chest, floating upward like a balloon, and the intelligent, gentle light in his eyes was nearly extinguished.
Soon, the blackness became outer space, with moons and planets.
Tentomon looked around.
"Where are we now?"
A purple crescent moon appeared in the blackness, the silhouette of a Digimon outlined by the purple glow.
"You're in my universe. I hope you enjoy your stay."
The Digimon showed himself, and Tentomon moved defensively in front of his partner.
"Vademon…"
"You're curiosity is in this sack…"
The same purple bubble floated up into his hands.
"Its garbage, and I don't want it messing up my universe."
He sucked it into a strange ray gun, smirking.
"Now that that's done, I want you to read my latest book."
A book fell out of nowhere, landing in Don's slow-reacting hands.
"It has all you need to know."
Don seemed to have become a zombie without his curiosity, and he opened the book.
"All you need to know…whether you like it or not…"
Vademon disappeared, laughing, and Don flipped through the pages.
"In order to be one with the universe, you must erase your thoughts…" He read in a monotone voice.
"But your thought make up who you are! You mustn't erase them!" Tentomon pleaded.
"It's important to breathe into thoughts until they slowly turn to mush…"
"I've heard enough!"
Tentomon tried to snatch the book away, but Don moved, pushing him away.
"Keep away from me!!"
'The REAL Don would never try to hurt me…he'd never try to hurt anyone…where's the REAL Don?'
The spark in his eyes was weak, but it was still there, flickering with life.
Tentomon knew Don was still in there somewhere, wanting to come back out.
"The less you think about, the happier you'll be…"
Don's Digivice started blinking annoyingly, and Tentomon grabbed the laptop.
"Someone's trying to send us a transmission…"
He opened the laptop, and the screen flickered to life, showing Leo's worried face.
"Don!!"
Said purple-banded turtle floated over.
"It's Leo…where are you?"
"I'm home, but I got your message that you're in danger! I'm trying to reach you!"
"There's nothing to worry about…I'm trying to find myself…Don't bother coming back to the Digital World, Leo…you'll just clutter up the universe…"
"DONNIE!!!"
And the screen died…
"Leo's risking his life to save you, Don…"
"Oh, well…"
"She's your cousin!"
"Indifference is the key to success…practice it…" Don read from the book, his face emotionless.
Tentomon closed the laptop sadly.
"The Don I knew is no more…"
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"A…B…C…D…E…F…G…H…"
As each letter was spoken, he made the letter with his body, and Tentomon floated over curiously.
"What are you doing, Don?"
"I'm focusing my brain waves by going over basic fundamentals, so I would rather you not disturb me…I…J…K…L…M…"
The same purple crescent moon appeared, along with Vademon.
"There's something I forgot to mention to you…"
"Oh? What?"
"In order to fully improve yourself, you must through away possessions that are considered access baggage."
"Such as?"
"Just about everything but your clothes…"
"Of course."
Don removed some papers he had in his belt, and grabbed his crest.
"This is expendable…"
He took it off, throwing it towards Vademon. It floated towards the Digimon, and Tentomon panicked.
"HAVE YOU GONE CRAZY!?! YOU CAN'T THROW THOSE AWAY!!!"
"Hmmm…what a nice-looking trinket…" Vademon mused, looking at the crest.
"YOU GIVE THOSE BACK, YOU POOR EXCUSE FOR A DIGIMON!!!"
"Back off, bug."
Vademon shot Tentomon with his ray gun, and the Rookie Digimon flew past his partner.
Tentomon could've sworn he saw that spark come back to his eyes, and tried to reach the gentle genius.
"DONNIE!!!"
"Forget about him and get back to your training!!"
Don only nodded mutely, a conflict evident in his eyes that only Tentomon seemed to notice.
Vademon teleported away again, and Tentomon felt despair.
'I-I've lost him…I-I have no energy left…'
Tentomon proceeded to Dedigivolve to Motimon, which made Don look up, the conflict getting worse.
When he Dedigivolved from Motimon to Pabumon, he started crying.
"Pabumon?"
The monotone side still prevailed, however…
"What's the matter with you?! I told you not to bother me when I'm meditating!!"
Pabumon's tears flew towards the turtle, wetting his skin.
"Have you forgotten who I am already, Donnie? Have you forgotten who YOU are? Try to remember…try…"
Each tear held a special memory, all the way from the beginning.
All the happy times, all the comforting moments, all the times Tentomon picked him up or taught him of the Digital World.
The tears popped like balloons, and all the memories seemed to flood back into his mind.
The intelligent, warm spark came back, though dimmer than usual.
"Pabumon!!!!!"
He ran up, hugging the Fresh Digimon.
"Don't cry, Pabumon! I'm sorry!" He apologized, looking at him with sad eyes.
"I didn't mean to make you Dedigivolve…" He whispered.
"Its okay, Donnie…"
Shouts came from the air, slightly muffled, and a door appeared out of the darkness.
Don floated over with Pabumon still in his arms.
He looked through the small window at the top, and saw Vademon yelling with a small, bat-winged Digimon.
"I feel I've been tricked…so I need to make a plan to get my curiosity back…but I can't seem to think…"
He looked at Pabumon a moment.
"There must be a way to get my curiosity back, but I can't figure out how…"
Don opened the door softly, crawling in slightly on hands and knees, and listened warily to the raised voices.
Pabumon ran off around a corner, leaving a surprised, worried Don behind.
"Hey! Wait a second!"
But the raised voices stopped a moment, and came back full force as the Fresh Digimon flew back around the corner with Don's crest in his mouth.
"Pabumon! Over here!"
Pabumon leaped into his arms, and he ran back into the blackness, the two Digimon close behind.
He moved to the side, and the Digimon flew past him before he ran back into the strange door, closing it with a slam.
The two Digimon smashed into it, and Don locked it securely before Pabumon jumped out of his arms and he put his crest around his neck again.
"Great job, Pabumon."
Pabumon jumped up and down excitedly before running off.
Don followed hurriedly, and found the strange purple bubble that held his curiosity.
"Whoa! My curiosity! I shouldn't have given it up in the first place. I guess I need to concentrate to get it back…"
Don held the sack to his forehead, closing his eyes.
"Come back in my heart. Come back in my heart!"
It glowed faintly, and levitated, going into his chest.
That's when Vademon and the other Digimon busted down the door, running in and stopping at the end of the aisle they were in.
"AHHH!!!"
They ran back to the doorway, jumping into the gravity-filled space beyond.
Ray blasts echoed around them, some nearly grazing.
"Pabumon, it's time for you to Digivolve!"
"Pabumon, Digivolve to…MOTIMON!!"
The gun blasts nearly hit Don, sending him spiraling backwards.
"Motimon, Digivolve to…TENTOMON!!"
A ray blast nearly hit Tentomon, and Don tried to move closer to him worriedly, nearly getting shot by another volley of shots.
"DON!!! Tentomon, Digivolve to…KABUTERIMON!!"
The two Digimon went running a moment, but Vademon stopped, sending meteors at the large bug Digimon.
As they struck Kabuterimon, Don felt guilt fill his heart.
'If I hadn't given up my curiosity, none of this would've happened…'
Kabuterimon flowed weakly in the air, and Don felt tears in his eyes.
"KABUTERIMON!!!!!!"
A bright purple light from the crest over his heart and the Digimon before him, and then…
"Kabuterimon, Digivolve to…MEGAKABUTERIMON!!"
He used his horn to ram through the meteors like a bull, but Vademon, not a good loser, through a whole planet at the red bug Digimon.
"Horn Buster!"
The whole planet exploded, the blackness becoming blinding white light.
Megakabuterimon caught his partner, and flew up, busting through the ground in a pillar of light.
Don was on his shell, exhausted, and Motimon crawled over, grabbing hold of his hand.
"…Are you okay, Motimon?"
"I'm too tired to stand up…" Motimon muttered.
Don sat up with some difficulty.
"Come here, buddy…"
Don lifted the small In-Training Digimon, hugging him close, when he heard excited cries.
He looked up, surprise making his eyes widen.
"Raph? Mikey?"
"DONNIE!!!"
Mikey tackled him, leaving him sprawled on his shell with a happy Mikey on top of him as Raph walked up, smirking.
"It's so GREAT to see you guys!"
They looked up when a humming sound reached their ears, and Gennai appeared in a hologram above them.
"Gennai!" They chorused in surprise.
"Hello, it's been a while. The connection between the worlds is still damaged. I'm afraid you'll have to stay longer."
"WHAT!?!"
"I've gotten a Digimon file onto your laptop. It'll have all you'll need to know."
And he disappeared, leaving Don taking out the laptop he still carried.
He put up the Digimon Analyzer, and clicked through the Digimon.
He smiled.
"Here's my personal favorite. Megakabuterimon."
Mikey looked over his shoulder.
"COOL…"
He looked up at Patamon.
"But not as cool as you!"
Patamon smiled down at him as Raph stood up straight.
"We've gotta meet the others at the foot of that mountain, guys. Let's go."
Don nodded, putting the laptop away and standing up.
He picked up Motimon before following his brothers, both holding their own partners close.
'I'll never hurt any of them again…never…'