I Will Always Find You
«Taiora»
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Chapter 7
"Who Was Danny Brown?"
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"Any ideas, guys?" Tai desperately asked the group.
They all stood in the safety of the protective barrier as Tai sat on the floor with his legs crisscrossed using them as a pillow for Sora's head, while she laid unconscious on the floor. Chicanemon's power couldn't reach anyone inside, but the evil Digimon did a number on Sora's body. It would take time for her to recover - time no one had.
Yamato did the same for his brother, but since TK wasn't fighting against the reset for too long he was gaining his strength back faster. Kari sat next to him holding her fiancé's hands whispering words of encouragement.
Yamato was wary of everyone holding his brother close, especially of how Kari and his brother were speaking to each other. He was also keeping a close eye on his mating partner, Sora. As far as Yamato was concerned, as long as 'Taichi's' amnesia didn't relapse, he'd wait for the perfect moment until the three of them could escape.
One thing they all had in common was silently praying with all their might that the protective barrier would hold up for them against 'Dr. Kido'. There was an eerie calm as Dr. Kido sat on the floor, his legs crossed and the back of his hands resting on his knees in meditation, in front of the protective barrier. It was clear he intended to wait them out.
Izzy held Mimi close subconsciously placing a hand on her stomach to feel his child move. Now that his wife mentally returned, he couldn't get enough of being near their child. "This protective barrier will buy us some time until we can think of something. Dr. Kido can't see or hear us, but he can see the outline of this barrier. We're free to discuss a plan, but the amount of time we have, I'm not sure.
"I've altered the code in this alternate universe Chicanemon placed us in to create this barrier. But, I'm uncertain if he can actually create dimensions, or at least have access to them. However, I'm intrigued with this dimension because it's also digital."
"Digital?" Yamato questioned, reevaluating with sticking with the group. He was convinced they all flipped their minds.
Tai's eyes widened. "Are you saying what I'm thinking you're saying?"
"Yes," Izzy nodded. "Either Chicanemon still has us in the digital world and this is another grand illusion, or he has us all in a contained dimension. Remember, Chicanemon is a mega level digimon that specializes in illusions and memory loss. Even his very name means 'chaos'. Either way, we're all still somehow connected to the digital world."
"Ay, ay, ay," Tentomon held his head. "This is all too much to process. I'd like to go home and take a nap, please."
Gabumon walked over to Yamato attempting to place a hand on Yamato's shoulder. "We're jumping the gun. We still need to bring Matt back to his normal self."
Yamato let out a small gasp as he swiftly scooted away from the digimon's touch.
"Yeah," Gomamon chimed in. "And Joe's still a madman. Izzy, let me out of here. If anyone can reach him, I can."
"We tried that, remember?" Patamon warned, flying over to TK, who happily held him in his arms after Kari helped TK sit up. "He nearly broke your neck if it wasn't for Mimi snatching you back inside."
"One thing at a time then," Tai declared with half a laugh as he hugged Agumon, who was playfully poking Tai on the arm with a claw. "Since Yamato's already in here with us, let's start with him first."
"What do you mean, 'start with him first?'" Yamato asked. "Buddy," he directed to his brother snapping his fingers. "If you're feeling better we should get going…Hey!" he barked at Kari. "What are you doing? That's forbidden here!"
TK and Kari rested their foreheads together after giving a small, gentle kiss on the lips. They giggled like little kids hearing Yamato chastise them. The rest of the group snickered.
"You've all gone mad," Yamato sat with his mouth hanging open at everyone's rebellion. "Do you all not care? Lord Chicanemon saved us from the destruction of the desolated planet we live on. He gave us this home and all he asks is to abide by a few simple rules. And you!"
Anger rose as he pointed a finger at Kari. "You know he's not well! You found out about his nightly amnesia creating fantasies at night about being engaged to a 'Kari Kamiya' and you have the audacity to pretend to be her?"
"Kinda hard to pretend when it's true, future bro-in-law," Tai winked not being able to help but to tease him. "Listen, for the wedding, I'm hoping you can bring some yakisoba for me? You make the best kind - No offense, guys," Tai grinned to TK and Kari who smiled back. "It's just that this is going to be a special day and what better way to bond bro-style than with homemade yakisoba made by none other than Matt Ishida?"
"Yakisoba noodles!" Agumon cried with joy rubbing his belly in a circular motion. "Oh, man, Matt. Please make some for me too!"
"Me too!" Gabumon said. "It's not fair that Agumon and Tai get some and I don't, Matt. It's not like I don't live with you."
"For the last time," Yamato rose his voice. "I'm not Matt! I'm Yamato Ishida! And like hell anyone's getting married here. We're all eventually mating to repopulate the earth."
Everyone's face paled.
Mimi placed a hand over her mouth in shock whispering more to herself, "Was that why Dr. Kido wanted to set up an appointment with me later this week?"
"Except you," Yamato pointed to Tai, "you homicidal maniac! When we find that crystal, you're outta here."
"Then you're in luck," Tai held out a peace sign, "because I know where that crystal is! But I'm afraid no one is up to mating with everyone and we don't serve Chicanemon. Man, are you in for a doozy when you come to."
Biyomon silently held Sora's hand willing for her friend to awaken. Gomamon stood at the barrier's edge, his front paws laid flat against the barrier walls watching Dr. Kido desperately wanting to reach out to him again.
TK kissed the back of Kari's hand and gazed into her eyes silently communicating to Kari what he was about to do. Kari gave a small nod and went to sit next to her brother. Salamon, sat on her lap as Patamon rested on TK's head. It was time to bring his brother back.
TK scooted in front of his brother preventing Yamato from lashing back. The only thing he could think of to help jog his memory was one name. "Danny Brown. Do you remember Danny?"
Yamato hesitated, searching his own thoughts. "The Originator?"
"Uh, sort of," TK looked to the others struggling to think of how to bring Danny back into this. "We were taught by Dr. Kido that Danny Brown was the original betrayer to this group; our own personal Judas."
Yamato grunted. "It's forbidden to speak of his name. He's dead."
"Yes. And why did he die?"
Yamato scowled standing to his feet. "I'm not here to have a history lesson, Takeru. You're feeling better. Now let's get going."
TK stood to block Yamato's path. He spoke in a low, firm tone. "I'm not going anywhere and neither are you. You mean the world to me, and if you think you're leaving without hearing the truth, whatever it takes, I'll keep you here."
Yamato took a step back surprised at his brother's reaction. He scanned everyone else to see their concern expressions.
"Doesn't it peak your curiosity why Chicanemon turned his back on you even though you've been a faithful servant?" TK asked. "Why you can't remember what happened a week ago? Or, anything of your childhood other than what we've been told? How about any major life events a year or two ago?"
"Why does it matter," Yamato grumbled not able to hide the worrisome look overshadowing himself as he realized his memories were blank.
"How did we get this house? What caused the destruction of the planet and everyone else outside this street that's sectioned off and protected?" TK pointed to the refrigerator. "How do we get food? There's no grocery store. The faucets don't run. How do we drink water?"
"That's the stupidest thing I've ever - "
"It's all fake! If the timeline's the same as the real world's time, we haven't drunk or ate for 6 days!"
"Matt," Gabumon tugged on Yamato's overalls, "You used to play the harmonica. It was beautiful. We'd sit outside watching the stars as you played your troubles away. Can you try to remember that?"
"Matt," TK asked again. "Tell me who was Danny Brown?"
"He's…the traitor," Yamato fought to remember a foggy memory.
"And what did he do to me?" TK insisted.
"He…This is stupid!" Yamato roared. "I'm out of here!"
"If you don't want to talk about Danny, then who am I?" TK pleaded with his brother. "And please don't say Takeru. Search deeper. Our parents didn't die. They're actually divorced, but alive. We lived in separate homes, I usually went to your place all the time -"
Yamato grabbed TK's arms squeezing tight, his voice stern. "Enough! Snap out of it!"
"Think about it, Matt! Have I ever lied to you?"
A staring contest commenced. The silence became strong to the point of hearing Patamon breathing. Yamato looked away letting go of his brother's arms.
"Some…Sometimes I have nightmares…"
"About what?" TK pressed.
"About our parents divorcing instead of dying and you living away from me…How did you know?"
"Remember how it's always been you and me?" TK smiled, his voice softening.
"Always has been," Yamato's voice cracked.
"It's been more than that, big brother. See these guys?" TK motioned to everyone there. "See Gabumon? They're our family too. Our family has always been big, not solely you and me. And do you know what we do best? We protect our family."
Yamato held his head fighting the flood of memories returning along with a headache.
"We can't do this without you, big brother. We need your help to bring Joe back and to end this war. Now tell me," TK's voice softened, "What's my name?"
With uncertainty, the older brother's eyes remained on the floor taking quick breaths. All the memories that flashed before his eyes were unbelievable. What terrified him the most was remembering running away from a tidal wave of billowing sand in the desert and believing his own brother died.
"Chicanemon is a Digimon," Matt's voice cracked. His eyes drifted to Gabumon, "You're one of my best friends, Gabumon." He then looked at his brother fighting the lump that was forming in his throat struggling to speak. "I thought I lost you, TK. I thought…"
TK pulled Matt into a silent hug. Everyone and Digimon, except Sora who remained unconscious, surrounded the two in a supportive group hug. This was their family and they were all going to make it out of this together.
Seven down, one more to go.
"Sora!" From the corner of her eyes, Biyomon spotted Sora slowly sitting up. She ran to her giving a tight hug crying, "Sora, I was so worried! I'm happy you're okay!"
Everyone in unison looked towards Sora and shouted her name with relief. Tai pushed his way out of the group hug and ran over to cuddle Sora asking if she was okay. When he was reassured, they shared a hug.
Matt found himself heading their way to check on Sora as well but paused. Something was different. It was coming back to him that earlier Tai mentioned Sora was his girlfriend. The only thing Matt could do, not able to hide the hurt behind an indifferent expression, was ask the one question everyone wondered.
"When?"
Tai and Sora looked at each other blushing.
"We have more importing things to figure out, guys," Izzy partially came to Tai and Sora's rescue. "Just because Chicanemon and Dr. Kido haven't attacked this barrier yet doesn't mean we have all the time in the world. Tai, you said you know where the crystal is?"
"But what about Joe?" Gomamon pleaded on the verge of tears. "We need to help him!"
Mimi sat next to Gomamon, Palmon trailing after her. "We will, sweetie, but I think we need time to figure out how before we can help Joe. He's too far gone to listen to logic."
Tai fished his digivice from his pocket and handed it to Izzy while eyeing Dr. Kido. Something seemed even more so off than a few minutes ago. "Yeah, it merged into my digivice."
They were all given their digivices when they entered the protective barrier. TK, who held onto Matt's, returned it to him after their hug.
"What?" Izzy took the digivice examining it perturbed with this revelation. "How is that possible. What'd you do?"
"I didn't do anything!" Tai became defensive, his line of sight snapping back to attention. "I held it up against him and the stupid thing merged with my digivice! How was I supposed to know that it'd happen?"
Izzy sat in the computer chair hooking it up to the computer scanning the files for the crystal groaning in annoyance. Everyone hovered around to watch as Izzy's fingers danced on the keyboard like there was no tomorrow.
It came out in a slow awe. "Prodigious…"
"Well, what is it, Izzy?" Sora asked while they all subconsciously leaned in to read the information that was on the computer screen.
"Holy cow," TK closed his eyes in relief. "He really did it. Danny actually came through."
"That punk actually made up for all the mess he caused," Matt wore a sad, one-sided frown.
"May his soul rest in peace," Tai solemnly followed up.
Everyone gave a moment of silence.
"Izzy," Tai urged glancing back to Dr. Kido, "whatever plan you're thinking of, better tell it to us now. He's starting to glow red and I really don't think red's his favorite color."
In unison, everyone looked to Dr. Kido to find a light red glow emanating from his body. He was now silently mouthing a chant in a calm manner.
Izzy read the farewell note left from Danny out loud to everyone:
'Sup, guys. Here's hoping you all find this before it's too late. I know what I've done has gone beyond forgivable. I only hope the information I leave here will help make up for some of the pain.
TK, I hope this doesn't stop you from speaking with your fans. Kari, I'm sorry for overstepping my boundaries. Tai, I'm sorry for meddling in. Sora, it wasn't true. Joe, what I said was uncalled for. Matt, I'm sorry for messing with your family because I wished I was a part of it too. And for everyone, I'm sorry for creating that disease of a digimon, Chicanemon.
If you're reading this, I ran out of time to stop him before he caught on to me, but thankfully you've all found this crystal before he did. Think of this crystal as the antidote to the Chicanemon virus.
I programmed it to recognize your digivices; hence why all of your crests symbols were etched on it. To activate, you all need to touch it, but the Light has the final say because, in Light, darkness has no power.
Remember the definition of darkness, Kari?
Izzy turned to Kari. "Do you?"
Kari pressed her lips together thinking. "Vaguely. Danny brought it up at one point, but I think I was distracted."
Izzy clarified. "Darkness is defined as the absence of light. In science, darkness isn't a 'thing', but rather a 'condition' since light is being suppressed. I'm intrigued as to why he would bring this up. Did Danny believe that there was some 'good' left in Chicanemon, or that his Digimon was completely corrupted?"
"You mean, like with Willis and Endigomon?" Kari asked.
"Precisely," Izzy agreed. "I theorize Danny wrote this letter as vague as possible in case Chicanemon found this before we did. But at this moment it's not helping us and Dr. Kido's getting worse."
"This is great," Palmon whined, "but if the crystal is stuck in there, how do we get it out?"
Tai frantically searched his mind thinking about the past. The answer was right there on the tip of his tongue on what Danny meant on how to use it, but it wasn't coming together. It was staring them in the face and if he failed as their leader…
"Let's all talk this through" Tai began, his eyes flickering side-to-side to the ground as he thought out loud. "TK, what happened that day you met Danny?"
"How would that help?" TK asked confused. "We all know what…" His voice trailed off noting Tai's desperation. TK glanced back to Dr. Kido seeing the light red glow become slightly darker. Putting an arm around Kari's back, he answered, "It started after I left a reading from my book…"
Four months ago, Book Reading from Our First Adventure: The Digidestined
"Excuse me! I think this is yours."
TK Takaishi turned around looking for the person calling for him. It was late in the evening, around six-thirty, and he had just left a public library in Tokyo with a much larger turnout for his book reading, book signing, and promotion than expected. He readjusted his bookbag that was hanging from his right shoulder as the young man approached him holding a leather-bound journal.
TK's eyebrows rose in surprise taking hold of the journal. "My journal! Thanks a bunch! I could've sworn I left it in my bag the whole time." Stuffing it safely inside his backpack he added, "You've saved me weeks of notes for my next book. What can I do to repay you? Would you like me to give you a free signed copy of my book?"
"Already have one," the young man immediately dismissed the offer and scanned the shops around the area. "I wasn't looking for a reward, but if you have some time, could I pick your brain about a few things? How about coffee?"
"Coffee?" TK looked at his watch and sorted his thoughts.
It was getting late. He needed to pick up the engagement ring he purchased and meet Kari for dinner. Most nineteen-year-olds were taking college classes and studying for exams. TK already made a name as an author and knew who he wanted to spend the rest of his life with. There was also the question of asking Kari's parent's and Tai's blessing out of respect. He hoped to have this all done before dinner.
But, then again, the book signing ran later than scheduled. By the time he'd picked up the engagement ring by public transit, showered, changed, asked her family and then picked up Kari from her college dorm, it'd be too late. Disappointed, TK resigned to the fact that his big moment would have no choice but to happen another day.
"Sure! Let me text my girlfriend and let her know where to meet -"
"Kari Kamiya, right?" The young man asked with eager. "I mean, in the book you two were too young, but she's your girlfriend, right?"
TK paused from reaching for his cell phone that was in his backpack taken aback. "Yeah. How did you know that?"
"It's the way you write about her in the book. She's written differently than the others."
TK grinned admiring the perception of his fan. "Is that so? I never realized that. I'll have to tell her that."
"I'm Danny. Danny Brown," Danny reached a hand out to shake TK's with a huge smile.
"Nice to meet you, Danny," TK reciprocated.
Turning back to his backpack, TK took hold of the small three number lock that was clipped on the zipper and unlocked it to fish for his phone. His eyebrows instantly furrowed. He purposely had a number lock on his backpack and still couldn't remember taking his journal out at the library today. In fact, he had no reason to do so. His backpack was nearby the entire time.
So, how did Danny find his journal?
Ah. That's right. Kari called before showtime to wish him luck and he forgot to turn the ringer off. He was frantically searching through the bag for it. Perhaps in his haste, he didn't remember taking it out?
Danny's eyes shifted, his feet turned the opposite direction of TK. "Everything alright?"
TK mentally shook the nagging thought away and with his head pointed to a gastropub. "Yeah, yeah, it's all good. Let's head over there for drinks and food. They have good appetizers too. I'll call Kari to meet us here."
Present Day
"If I would've trusted my instinct about Danny in the first place, none of us would be in this predicament," TK stated angrily to himself. "I brought him into everyone's lives because I really thought he was a nice guy and we got along fine."
Kari placed a hand on his shoulder trying to comfort him. "You had no idea this would all happen."
"So, Danny stole your journal only to use it to meet you," Tai repeated a summary of TK's account of that day. "What kind of notes were in it? Whatever you wrote down is how he learned all about us."
TK rattled off from memory, "Notes from my first book about our first time in the digital world and scenes that were deleted from that book. There were notes about my next three short stories: The first time you and Kari met the first Agumon in Highton View Terrace, when you, me, Matt and Izzy fought Diaboromon the first time, and when we all helped Willis the second time."
"What about when Diaboromon returned for the third time?" Sora asked.
TK shook his head. "No. That's too far in advance. Those three stories are enough to work on at the moment."
While TK shared with the group, Izzy was busy trying to figure out how to release the crystal from Tai's digivice. Tai kept trying to put the clues together.
Frustrated, Tai called out to his sister. "Hey, Kari. What did he mean that he overstepped his boundaries? Did he do something to you?"
Everyone grimaced waiting for Tai to explode. It didn't help that Tai caught TK with a scowl looking away.
Kari shook her hands trying to maintain the peace. "No, he didn't do anything physically to me."
"Yeah? Then why does TK look upset and why didn't I know about this?"
Kari sighed. "It was stupid, really. All you need to know is that I made sure Danny understood I was a human being, not a character he could rewrite to whatever 'ship' he wanted."
"Oohh, I remember this," Mimi said. "This is after he met Davis and tried to help out."
"What does that mean 'tried to help out'?" Tai grew concerned. "And what's a 'ship'?" He turned to Matt.
The only response out of Matt was the same confused expression while he shrugged his shoulders.
"This isn't going to help us out with the crystal, Tai," Kari insisted. "But there was one thing that was concerning…"
Three months ago, Odaiba Park
"You can't be serious," Kari scrunched her eyebrows and folded her arms with anger. "It takes a lot to make me angry, but this tops it."
Davis blushed a deep red. A hand went behind his neck and with an awkward laugh, he replied, "But I'm…confused. You texted me saying you broke up with TK."
"That isn't funny, Davis. Why would I break up with him and go running to you? Is this a desperate attempt because I said I'd marry him? This is low even for you."
There was instant regret the minute the words came out of her mouth. Frustrated or not, she'd never speak to Davis like that. Her head was still spinning that he surprised her here, took her in his arms, and almost kissed her. That was so unlike him. Davis always made it known he was in love with her, but he never overstepped his boundaries.
Davis' voice was small attempting to hide the hurt. His feet shifted side-to-side. "You know I'd want you happy no matter what, and if it's with TK then I'll support you…But, Kari," he took his cell phone out from his pocket and showed her the text he received earlier, "Why would you text me that you changed your mind and wanted to give us a chance? I thought it was weird, but it's from you."
Kari's mouth hung open in disbelief. Davis may be annoyingly persistent, but he also never was a liar. "What are you talking about? Let me see that."
Something wasn't adding up. It was her phone number that showed on his phone, but she never sent the message. She took her phone out and searched her sent messages to find the same message there. Who managed to send Davis the message without her knowing? More importantly, who would do this to them?
"Kari?" Davis asked seeing her lost in thought.
Her eyes caught a figure peeking behind a tree afar off from behind Davis. She couldn't make out who it was but the built looked similar to Danny.
Davis followed to where she was looking. "What the… Who's that?"
The figure sprinted away.
"Dude, that looked like Danny!" Davis exclaimed. "You don't think…"
"There's only one way to find out," Kari declared chasing after the figure. "Let's go!"
Present Day
"We lost sight of him, but we were sure it was him," said Kari.
With TK's arm still around Kari's back, the same hand rubbed her arm in support. "She came with me the next day with Davis and the three of us confronted Danny. He denied everything, but it was about that time that we all started to distance ourselves from him.
"It wasn't the first time he'd play pranks that always went overboard. It was almost like being friends with us wasn't enough. Like Kari said, he was treating us as characters trying to prank us all into hooking up with someone else; like multishipping."
Matt frowned. "What's this 'ship' and 'multishipping' I'm hearing? Someone care to explain?"
"It's when people like how characters get along in a movie, play, book, tv show, or anime. You know, stuff like that," TK explained, "and they like them so much together that they 'ship' them together. Or, for 'multishipping', they like the same character ending up with different characters."
A hush fell on the group again to even Izzy stopped typing as the last six days began to make sense.
"That was part of what Chicanemon was doing here," Tai said disgusted. "Put us together, keep us apart, start over with a reset."
Izzy closed his eyes at this revelation. "Why write fanfiction about us, when Danny could do it in real life?"
"You lost me at 'fanfiction', but at this point, I don't care anymore," Matt growled seeing the answers come together. "This nut couldn't get his fill with reading my brother's book. So, he manipulates us all with a Digimon he created to trick us into going back to the digital world so we can be captured?"
Matt took a quick glance at Sora to see she was holding hands with Tai. It stung to see that, but even more so that Danny thought he had every right to control them all like puppets and to ship who he wanted when he wanted. Not to mention it stirred certain memories and feelings. Sticking them all here in this world, believing that as 'Yamato' that he was with Sora was cruel.
Matt repeated what he said earlier when he was Yamato. " 'We're all eventually mating'. Huh…It's making sense."
"Let's speed this up," Tai announced taking note of Dr. Kido standing to his feet, the red color darker, while continuing his quiet chant. "We all know what he did to me, Sora, Joe, and Matt, right? Anything that stood out as odd?"
"Danny's smart. He knows how to hack electronics," Sora reminded them all. "He graduated college at twelve years old and when he met us he was nineteen working at a corporation as a White Hacker."
"A what?" Mimi asked.
Izzy clarified, "A White Hacker, simply put, is someone that is hired to legally attempt to hack into their security system. If successful, that means there's a weak spot and the company can patch that area. The thing was that Danny was too good for his own good."
"He also had 'sticky fingers'," Sora sighed. "Any minute we turned around he was busy looking through any private thing we had. And he basically did the same to Tai, Matt & I like he did to you, Kari. I think he didn't understand how far was too far with pranks. I'm glad that before he passed, he changed."
"I overheard him tell Joe once that he needed to man up and tell me he had a crush on me, that it didn't matter I was married," Mimi interjected. Izzy raised a brow disturbed with this new information but stayed quiet. "Joe stood his ground and Danny laughed it off saying it was a joke."
"As much as a troll Danny could be, he did have a thirst for knowledge and he was a good guy," Matt remarked sighing. "It took me and Tai sitting him down for a man to man conversation…Well," he smirked, "At least there were two men at the conversation."
"Hey! I contributed!" Tai retorted.
TK spoke up. "After you guys spoke with him, he calmed down with pranks and he was actually a cool guy to hang with once in a while." Everyone agreed, some nodding their heads. "This still doesn't make sense. What does, is when he thought he deleted Chicanemon -"
"Chicanemon went rogue! That's it!" Izzy exclaimed. "TK's book inspired him to create Chicanemon in secret as a straight up mega level but with no levels in between. When he met TK, and he was brought into our lives, it took him some time to see that they're beings too. Matt, Danny didn't manipulate us with Chicanemon to bring us here, because he started realizing that Digimon weren't toys from the talk you and Tai gave him. It must've helped him see that.
"It wasn't until he came to us for help to destroy Chicanemon last week, confessing what he did prior to meeting us, and how he couldn't control his Digimon, that Chicanemon must've realized how powerful he was! Maybe Chicanemon wanted to take it a step further and create Danny's fantasy in real life so he could gain Danny's approval. That's why at first Chicanemon labeled him the 'Originator'. But when Danny tried to stop it by attempting to delete him he became the 'Betrayer' and…"
A hush overcame them again.
"Oh, Danny. You sweet bonehead," Sora sighed, downhearted.
Tai glanced at Kari. "Kari, you have the Crest of Light."
"Yeah. So?" Kari's attention piqued.
"He has you linked to this riddle. Not only did he mention you, 'light' is capitalized twice."
Kari's eyes widened. "I'm the light. Of course! Izzy, unplug Tai's digivice! I know how to get the crystal!"
Without hesitation, Izzy unhooked it and handed it to her.
Kari held Tai's digivice enclosed in the palms of her hands and closed her eyes. Focusing on the crystal, the digivice glowed to the point that the light streamed out from between her fingers. Opening her palms, the crystal slowly floated out of the digivice and remained in the air.
Just like when Tai first found it in the cave, the crystal had everyone's crests etched on all sides of it and a low, twinkling melody played. Before Tai could grab it, a loud boom was heard and the protective barrier shook.
Everyone yelped and searched for the source. There stood Dr. Kido yelling profanities and banging the barrier with his fists. Except, these weren't normal punches. His skin now glowed a deep, ominous red and with each fist that landed on the barrier, the impact was about twice his strength.
"Tai," Matt yelled above the noise, " now's a good time for a plan!"
"Everyone touch the crystal," Tai ordered taking hold of it. "Let's activate this so we can help Joe!"
As each one did as they were told, their crest symbols illuminated. Kari was the last to touch the crystal. As soon as she did, the ground shook causing a few of them to lose their balance and their crest symbols to lose their shine completely, resulting in deactivating the crystal. Dr. Kido was knocked to the ground.
There was silence from the shock of it all.
"Again!" Kari shouted the command piercing the silence.
"Huddle close and hold on to each other this time," TK added.
As Kari was the last to hold it again, the ground shook once more. The crystal glowed, blinding them until a booming wave of energy was released, and once more knocked Dr. Kido to the floor.
A god-like, blood-curdling scream boomed from the heavens. Chicanemon was wounded and the crystal was activated still firmly floating in the air.
The screams intensified as Izzy deactivated the barrier. "Help me bring Dr. Kido inside while he's disoriented!"
As everyone and Digimon dragged Dr. Kido's body back to where the barrier was located, ignoring his threats from his discombobulated state, another wave of energy from the crystal was released on its own - but this time shot through the ceiling, blowing the roof completely off, and towards the sky. The blood-curdling scream boomed as Izzy reactivated their protective barrier.
What happened next left them all confused: The sky broke into shards and rained down. As each piece hit the protective barrier, it left cracks weakening their only source of protection.
Dr. Kido sat up laughing. "Now you've done it. Choosing 'The Betrayer's' crystal over serving our Lord has found you all unredeemable! When he gets done with -"
Kari aimed the crystal to Dr. Kido. A light shot from it and engulfed him. "Oh, hush! You're giving us all a headache."
Joe had a splitting headache. He removed his eyeglasses to wipe them on his shirt but was surprised to feel Gomamon jump on his lap.
"Joe! Joe, you're alright!" Gomamon happily cried jumping into his arms and dropping Joe's digivice on his lap.
"I'd like to say that I am, but my head hurts like a - Oh my God! The sky is falling!" Joe scrambled to his feet holding Gomamon in his arms. "Guys, do you see that? The sky's falling!"
"You'd be right, Chicken Little," Matt replied.
The group huddled close together unsure of what to do. The crystal was releasing waves of energy every three seconds on its own with no end of the falling sky.
Holding Gomamon close to his chest, Joe ducked instinctively as a large chunk of the sky crashed against the barrier, weakening it faster. As he ducked, he accidentally pushed Sora to the side.
Blushing, he kept his eyes lowered. "Oh, so-sorry, Sora. I, uh…"
Sora smiled placing a hand on his shoulder. "It wasn't you, Joe."
Relieved, Joe let out a small sigh. "Thanks."
"Yeah, Joe," Tai quipped with a teasing grin. "Whatever she's talking about, it wasn't you."
"Kari, how'd you know how to bring me back?" Joe asked looking to change the subject.
"I don't know. I just…felt it," Kari answered. "I have this feeling the light that first came out of all of our digivices, right before Chicanemon trapped us to wherever we are, helped us retain our memories so that we could all turn back to our normal selves when the time came. I knew the crystal could help with the rest and turn you back, Joe."
"Then by hiding the digivices, Chicanemon must've suspected the same thing," Izzy theorized.
"Is that…" Matt squinted shielding his eyes with a hand.
"The desert?" Tai finished Matt's sentence doing the same.
The more the world around them fell, the more of another world became apparent to their vision. The lie that Chicanemon fed them that they were surrounded by a protective barrier was partially true, except they never technically left the desert. Chicanemon had them trapped inside of an illusion this entire time.
Another large chunk of the illusion world fell against the barrier successfully penetrating it. The barrier was no more. Kari ran to retrieve the crystal and huddled close to the group once more. As soon as she grasped it, the crystal ceased its attack.
They were all back in the desert where it first started. An eerie calm surrounded them all. Chicanemon couldn't be seen.
"Hey, guys," Tai said scanning the desert carefully, "To avoid another trap, if you're not sure what you see is an illusion aim your digivice at whatever Chicanemon sends your way. Now would be a good time for all of us to digivolve into your mega forms. Agumon, Gabumon, digivolve to Omnimon!"
"Showtime!" Agumon and Gabumon shouted.
All of the Digimon leveled to their mega forms and circled the digidestined to protect them while they waited for Chicanemon to appear. The hot desert sun beat down on them as they waited in silence in the stale, hot air.
Sora looked down at her left hand feeling a pinky hooking to hers. She looked to Tai, as nerves to the impending battle consumed them all. Tightening her pinky around his, Sora whispered, "If anything happens, I'll find you again."
Tai kissed the top of her head, "Ditto."