Chapter 13: Hunt

"No way in hell."

"But someone has to stay behind…you can't expect Joe to do it again he is the closest thing we have to a medic."

"A no is a no! Is that somehow not getting through your thick skull!"

Yamato and Sora were staring each other down, he had his arms crossed over his chest looking like a stubborn parent and she had her hands balled into fists. The others had wisely decided to stay out of this one as Sora was rapidly turning what Tai affectionately referred to as 'ape shit crazy'.

"My thick skull? You aren't even listening to reason!"

"Sure I am, last time I checked I could fight too!"

"If Sora wants to go I'll protect her!" Biyomon chirped happily apparently not getting the hint that this was not a good time to interrupt. The digimon, except for the ones in weapon form, had all evolved to their child forms after Joe had successfully used the programme after he found a file containing instructions Koushirou had managed to leave for them. The happy and tearful reunion was rudely interrupted when Yamato had declared Sora stay behind from the rescue mission.

"Yes you can fight but that doesn't change the fact that the most logical person to leave behind would be you!"

"And I defy logic by saying screw you I'm going even if I have to hog tie someone else to take my place!"

"Ha I call your bluff; no way you'd even know how to pull that one off."

Sora looked positively evil as she spoke. "Care to try me?" She seemed to consider something for a moment before adopting a different tact. "Anyway, if we are talking logic here haven't you left something crucial out?"

He raised his eyebrow at her and she smirked in response. "You're the only one here who is still injured! You are the one Zui is after! You'd be safest here!" She illustrated her point by poking his injured arm after each sentence.

"…Yeah but I have a weapon."

"Garudamon is just as strong as your weapon."

He fell silent for a moment, obviously extremely annoyed at how good her point was. She was still smirking triumphantly when the silence dragged on a little longer then he would have liked.

"Stay here."

"That isn't an argument that's just you repeating yourself! You've lost now suck up and take it like a man."

He shifted uncomfortably from foot to foot suddenly unable to meet her gaze. She huffed and placed her hands on her hips as he sent Tai an imploring look.

"Okay that's enough from our two lovebirds here. Let's do this the smart way. Who wants to stay?" Tai offered stepping in between the two, Yamato offered him a grateful smile and Sora turned her head away.

"Well Yamato makes a good point but if its ok with you guys I think I should stay." Joe said quietly. Yamato gave him a quizzical look to which he just shrugged. "If neither of you are going to stay I'm the best choice right? I don't really have enough experience to count as a medic yet and Shin finds it easier to open ports if Hikari is the one doing it…"

"Good ole Joe. What would we ever do without you!" Tai grinned as he patted Joe on the back sending him sprawling forward.

"Have fewer things to hit?" Joe whined from his new position on the floor.

"No I don't think Tai would have to worry about that." Takeru stated with a slightly sour tone as he rubbed his face with the flat of his palm.

"Why T.K I have absolutely no idea what you are talking about." Tai batted his eyelashes innocently at the younger boy.

"Tell that to my nose."

"My my the anger in this one." Tai jutted a thumb in Takeru's direction as he turned to Yamato. "You're a terrible mother."

"Brother." Yamato replied as if it were second nature to him.

Tai ignored him as he patted Sora's head happily. "Well done you, you won your first lovers spate! Shouldn't Yama kiss your feet or something?"

Sora swatted his hand away. "Stop it you big oaf." She jabbed his ribs playfully.

"Uh-oh better be careful there Yama this kitties got claws!" Tai laughed.

"I'm the only cat with claws here and if you don't mind we should get going so I can use them." Gatomon said standing by the tv.

Yamato walked up next to Sora as Shin prepared the portal. He shot her a sideways glance which made her turn her back to him. "This might be harder then I thought…" He mused as they were engulfed in the familiar light.

"It's…dark."

"Duh it's a cave? And it used to house the darkness of the digital world so yeah it's dark."

"Well you don't have to be snippy I was just making conversation."

"It's not being snippy it's being sarcastic."

"Sure it is and my names Fiona Apple."

"Wait, who's Fiona Apple?"

"Just a singer…some of her songs are good."

"Oh that's a reliable recommendation coming from you."

"See! Snippy."

Yamato rolled his eyes as Tai gave him a smug look. They had been walking for what seemed like forever deeper into the cave but the scenery never seemed to change. He and Tai were in the front fumbling through the dark with Sora, Hikari and Takeru separated from them by several digimon and a few feet since Sora was still mad at him.

"…Tai?"

"Hmmmm?"

"Was I wrong?"

Tai made a big show of mulling it over, irritating Yamato to no end, before he answered. "Yep. Sora can take care of herself and as much right to come along as anybody else."

"Plus it was pretty sexist." Hikari popped up between them out of nowhere causing both boys to let out involuntary unmanly sounds.

"Kari do you want to kill me! You're only older brother!" Tai squealed.

She just shrugged and turned to Yamato who was trying to hide the fact that he had been terrified by her little trick. "You should apologise."

"And kiss her feet." Tai added.

"What is up with that Tai? It's such a weird request." Yamato said in an annoyed but slightly curious voice.

"Well I figure if I say it enough somebody has got to do it."

"…Yeah well while you deal with your issues I'm going to be back there." Hikari smiled playfully and skipped backward nearly tripping over Motimon who complained profusely. She responded by patting his head which soothed him immediately.

"So why aren't you going?" Tai asked innocently, which was hard for him.

Yamato looked over his left to see Sora, she was scowling and saying something he assumed was uncomplimentary to Biyomon who just nodded happily and pointed at him. Sora nodded angrily as if in confirmation when she caught him looking at her and stuck her tongue out.

"She's still mad." He said flatly.

"Well duh you haven't said or done anything to make her unmad, you think its magically going to happen?"

"Who knows, she could have a change of heart." He cocked a grin at Tai who laughed and patted him on the back.

"Don't worry this is just the first of many mistakes on your part to come."

"How is that supposed to make me stop worrying?"

"Take solace in the fact that you will learn eventually."

"Never took you for an expert on women."

"Borrowed this great book about women from Kari."

"Lemme guess, you got this 'great book' throw into your face by Hikari?"

Tai gave him an astonished look. "How did you know?"

"Because there's no way you would further your knowledge on anything like that unless someone made you."

"Thanks for the confidence." Tai snorted in mock annoyance.

"Anytime fuzz for brains." He said happily as Tai clasped his hair protectively.

"Hey! This happens to be the finest head of hair west of the border."

Yamato glanced at Tai's hair as it attempted to bounce back even with his hands holding it down. "Well it certainly is something, but I think you know the finest head of hair is right here." He pointed to his own head in a triumphant gesture.

"I thought you said girls were the only ones you argued about hair." Agumon grumbled curiously in the back of Tai's mind.

"Yeah well that's mostly true bit Yamato is a bit of a different story." Tai grinned while Yamato gave him a perplexed look.

"What?"

"Oh just talking to Agumon."

"Ah…"

Yamato fumbled with the gun looped in his belt behind his back absentmindedly with a slightly forlorn look on his face.

Sora noticed the gesture from her view of his back. Her irritation melted into sympathy rapidly after that. She sighed, Hikari gave her an encouraging look which she smiled back at, locking her fingers in front of her she moved forward easily closing the distance, scattering annoyed digimon in the process and hooking her already intertwined hands over Yamato's head from behind.

"Wha-!" Yamato's forward momentum caused him to tumble backward into her when she covered his eyes.

"Guess who." She teased in a low voice.

"…fire breathing dragon?" He responded smoothly as her grip released and he spun around. She gave him a little pout and shoved his chest. "You bet. I'm gonna torch you next time."

He considered this for a moment and then paled a bit when he realised it may well be true. They had another staring contest for a few minutes as she pouted and he made a 'do I really have to?' face. Eventually he leant forward and rested his forehead on hers; gazing into her bemused orbs he let a cheeky half-smile cover his face as he spoke. "Sorry."

"Not good enough." She said pretending to still be mad.

"Sorry I was a jerk?"

"That's better." She giggled and pecked him on the tip of his nose.

"You guys are worse than the terrible twosome over there! How will we ever make any progress?" Tai stated good naturedly as he shoved there faces apart with his hands.

"Tai do you always have to insult us when you talk about any other couple?" Hikari shook her head while Takeru just laughed lightly.

Tai was about to respond when the ground beneath them started to shake and the whole cave seemed to boom out an odd rumbling sound.

"What th-AHHHH!" Tai started as the floor gave way and digimon and human alike cried out and tumbled into the abyss.

"They could have at least put a chair in here! I can't stand all this sand…" Mimi trailed off as she wrung out the hem of her skirt. Koushirou nodded absentmindedly at her surveying his surroundings for the umpteenth time. The cell was carved into the wall of a cave of some sort; the roof had moss and slime coating its surface and slopped down so it almost touched their heads when they sat against the wall away from the thick, very solid metal. Across from them was an identical cell and the hall between them ended with the back of the cave to the left and a decrepit wooden door was the only entrance on the right. Each cell was only a few meters wide either way making for very cramped conditions.

Centarumon had brought them here what felt like day's ago and thrown them inside without a word. Koushirou had caught a glimpse of what was beyond that door when he pushed them in; it was a massive hall with black marble walls and spiral beams that extended all the way to the formidably high ceiling. There were grand doors lining every side placed relatively close together. The floor was cool stone that made his feet cold even though his shoes were still on. He hadn't seen anyone digimon or otherwise even though it had been about the size of two football fields.

Both he and Mimi jumped as the door handle jangled before it swung open with a loud creak. Koushirou subconsciously placed Mimi's hand in his as they watched it with apprehension. Centarumon trotted in with a limp girl with short black hair in his arms, her body was riddled with scratches and what appeared to be blood dribbled down the side of her mouth but the bleak light in the prison area made it too dark to tell for sure. Centarumon placed her in the empty cell, shackling her to the wall forcing her into a sitting position with her arms above her in a Y shape.

"Why are we being held here?" Koushirou found his voice just as Centarumon was about to make his exit. The horse-like digimon paused for a second before speaking in a low voice. "You will remain here until we have brought the others. Then the trial will begin."

"Trial?" Koushirou questioned desperately but Centarumon just left, closing and locking the door behind him. Mimi whimpered and crawled over to the bars to get a closer look at the new resident of the opposite cell. "Hey you okay? Can you hear us?" She asked softly.

Koushirou went over to the bars as well and tried to get a better look at the girl. She didn't look like any digimon he had ever seen but there was something familiar about her face. "She looks a lot like Shin…!" He pushed his face against the bars, though he was repulsed by the feeling of grimy metal against his skin he had to get a closer look. Her head was down turned due to the unnatural position she was forced to sit in so he couldn't make out her face that well and her body couldn't have been more different from Shin's but he knew it had to be her.

"…Zui?" He whispered cautiously. Mimi shot him an alarmed look then turned her attention back to the girl.

"Yamato…?" She was stirring and groaned loudly, sounds and sensations coming back to her slowly and fuzzily. She tilted her head up as best she could and examined the faces of the teens in the opposite cell, her eyes shot open as it dawned on her that she was in a dark cell. She was in the dark. She thrashed against her restraints trying to summon her powers, the shackles cackled and buzzed and the electricity she had only ever dished out and never actually felt flowed through her body painfully.

"Hey calm down you're hurting yourself!" Mimi yelled from across the room.

Zui took a few deep breaths and as soon as she felt she could move again she craned her neck toward them, her arms ached against the chains as she pulled forward as far as was physically possible. Once she had finally managed to take them in she slumped back down against the wall. "Oh…you're some of Yamato's friends. Where is this place?"

"You are Zui aren't you? What did you do to our friends! Where's Yamato!" Koushirou demanded without raising his voice too high.

"Yeah I'm Zui all right. Yamato's off with his friends, your friends too I guess, and they should be grateful."

"Grateful? You're the one who got us all into this mess!" Mimi accused.

"I am so tired of all of you saying that no matter how true it may be. They should be grateful because I wouldn't be in this," She gestured to her surroundings "mess if I had just taken Yamato back from them and let them deal with those bloody things."

"The translucent ape creatures?" Koushirou breathed thoughtfully.

"The T.A.C." Mimi chimed helpfully.

Zui narrowed her eyes at them. "The what?"

"Oh that's just the name I've given them for now."

"…Okay very imaginative. Did they nab you too?"

"In a manner of speaking." Koushirou answered keeping it vague on purpose.

"Well doesn't matter much now I guess, we're pretty much doomed. No ones going to come to our rescue and I'm currently powerless apparently."

"You…you took Palmon too. Give her back!" Mimi turned from relatively happy and helpful to spitting venom in less then a minute.

"That little green digimon?" Zui seemed to ponder for a moment before continuing. "Tell you what, we ever get out of here I'll get her back for you."

Mimi's jaw dropped to the floor "What? Just like that? No 'You'll never see her again muhahaha'?"

"Not really my scene, that's more Ethan's area of expertise." She made a dismissive motion with her hand. "I just wanted two things…I should have quit while I was ahead." She sighed.

"Two things?" Mimi questioned.

"My freedom…and the one who gave it to me." She stated sadly.

"Well that's sad and all but you didn't really care who you hurt when you did it." Mimi crossed her arms and stuck up her nose. "You basically sucked the life out of the digital world! Even if the digimon you 'converted' aren't dead when they come back they won't remember anything about their old lives, that's almost the same as killing them!"

"I needed the energy to escape."

"Why so much though? Couldn't you have just used a small portion instead of the whole world?" Koushirou mused aloud. Zui shrugged before answering. "That place was really, really hard to get out of."

They all fell silent after that. Koushirou turned away and braced his back and one foot against the bars cupping his elbow with his left hand and using his right to pinch his chin. "She dosen't know anything about this place…whats going on? What trial?"

"Ow ow OW! Someones got their claw in my baaaccckkkk!" Tai howled miserably hopping up and trying to reach the painful spot.

"It wasn't my fault; you shouldn't have landed on me." Gatomon said with annoyance.

"Is everyone alright?" Yamato asked as he shook the dust out of his hair.

"Yeah…" Sora replied clasping onto his arm a little shakily.

"We're ok." Takeru added as he helped Hikari to her feet. The digimon were already up and inspecting the surroundings.

"No I'm not alright I've been impaled!" Tai yelled angrily, jumping from Yamato to Sora and pointing avidly at his back.

"So were do you think we've landed?" Yamato ignored him completely.

Tai whimpered in resignation and took in the surroundings as well, it looked exactly like the cave they had fallen through except for one crucial difference, there was a small wooden door fit snugly into the stone wall. The digimon were already waiting beside it faithfully.

"Well best lead we've had so far right?" Tai strolled over and took the handle.

"Wait! It could be dangerous; we should ready our weapons first." Yamato took his gun out to demonstrate his point. Dark light shone around him as his weapon transformed and dropped safely into his hands.

Tai rolled his eyes but complied, Takeru followed suit with more enthusiasm and a white glow surrounded them both leaving them with their weapons in hand.

"Sorry Biyomon you can't evolve in here, not enough room." Sora comforted the bird when she started to look like she felt a little left out.

"It's not that Sora…when will they go back to normal?"

Sora was surprised, she hadn't really thought about what the digimon thought of the new transformation since so much was going on. "Shin never did say how to turn them back." A little bubble of worry formed in the back of her mind as she patted Biyomon's head. "It will be fine, I'm sure when this is all over we can turn them back to their original selves."

"Okay on the count of three. One, two…three!" Tai shoved the door open taking a defensive stance as soon as he was through. He dropped his stance immediately as he too in the sight.

"Wow…it's big." MetalGreymon rumbled.

Tai let out an approving whistle as he lowered his sword and walked into the room. It spanned outward in a large semicircle from the door that he came through; the walls were made of black marble and jutted out leaving enough space for a top floor all around the semicircle. On either side of the top floor there were large ornate chairs each with a different symbol that Tai thought resembled ancient digiworld writing. In the centre of the top floor where the two ends of the semicircle met was a giant throne larger than all the other chairs, black crystal flowed out the back creating a branch like support for the large gem at the head of the throne. The gem was an unearthly black that seemed to suck you in, Tai found himself unable to pull his gaze away and for a moment he thought he saw the lapping of an ocean within its depths.

"What the hell…it looks like an old fashioned court room." Tai was knocked out of his transfixed state as Takeru spoke behind him.

"I think it's creepy." Hikari whispered. Tai noticed she kept trying to look anywhere but the gem.

"They're not in here…how about door number one?" Yamato said casually as he pointed out the large, intricate door at the far end of the room directly under the throne.

"Um but there's a door number two." Sora pointed at a small simple door directly to their right.

"Vote time because there is no way we are splitting up, didn't work so well last time. So scary door or regular door?" Tai queried.

The group looked to the ominous yet oddly beautiful door far ahead of them and then simultaneously tilted to the side to check out the simple one.

"Regular." Digimon and human alike said in unison and headed for the door.

"Isn't this a bit odd?" Yamato questioned cautiously as they made their way down the long hall, it had a low ceiling compared to the grand room they had just left and relatively demure stone walls.

"What the whole grand room at the bottom of a dark scary cave?" Tai scoffed as his feet crunched on the dark sand beneath his feet.

"Well yeah but also how we haven't run into any living thing, I haven't even seen a bug."

"I didn't really think about that, aren't we lucky there are no guards or anything?"

"That's the problem, it's almost like they don't care about who's coming through."

"Maybe they don't expect it?" Hikari sounded quite thoughtful as she joined the conversation, almost as if she were talking to herself.

"Or maybe they are certain they can take care of an intruder with no problem so there's no need for precautions."

"Yama the pessimist has officially returned." Tai waggled his finger at him with false annoyance.

Yamato scowled at the offending hand and swatted it away. "I'm just being realistic."

"Well we can at least be optimistic until the shit hits the fan. We don't have to worry about it till it happens." Tai rubbed his hand as he spoke.

"You really live in the moment don't you?" Yamato was a bit exasperated but still managed a smile.

"Sure do! You should try it some time. Ok we're here!"

"And where exactly is 'here'?" Sora gave him a friendly look of irritation.

"Door number three." Tai proclaimed with a wide grin. He threw the door open without a count and ran into the next room slamming head first into something very solid knocking him onto the floor.

"Ow…oh um sorry about that haha." He said rubbing the newly forming lump on his head. Stopping slowly he blinked a few times trying to decide if the hooves he was seeing were the real deal. He looked up quickly and tightened his grip on his sword.

Centarumon towered before them; his arms crossed staring down at the boy at his feet. Kicking the sand with his hoof a couple times he bent down to be face to face with Tai. "I've been waiting. Thought I would have to go get you myself."

"Tai get away from him!" Yamato seethed grabbing Tai by under his arms and pulling him back toward the door. Takeru stood with an arrow taunt in his bow aimed directly at Centarumon's chest.

"We just came to pick up our friends, is it possible you could just give them back?" Takeru said with an eerily friendly smile.

Centarumon was counting them by examining each of them quickly; stopping at Takeru he shook his head in disappointment. "I'm afraid I can't do that. Only four of you came? I was told to gather all of you. This makes my job more difficult."

"Gather all of us? Why?" Sora asked confidently.

"You'll find out soon enough. Come with me I'll take you too your friends."

"Really? No catch?" Tai said tentatively standing in a defensive pose.

"You will have to forfeit your defenders."

"Defenders?"

"Your digimon."

"Man there always has to be a catch."

"Look we just want to collect our friends and leave, we don't want to fight." Yamato said while lowering his weapon.

"I don't wish to waste my energy either but I cannot let you leave and in order to proceed you must leave your defenders in my care."

"No can do." Tai said simply. He indicated to Yamato and Takeru to flank their opponent, following his command they both darted in opposite directions and let their arrows and bullets fly.

The exhaust pipes on Centarumon's back roared to life, leaping backward to avoid the combined blast so the arrows and bullets ran into each other creating a small explosion of energy, Tai raised his shield to defending himself and the others behind him from the blast.

The room they had entered had black marble walls just like the ones in the first room except there were doors lining every side, there were large marble pillars and the floor was white alabaster; the blast sent a large crack running through it.

Before the smoke from the explosion could clear Biyomon and Gatomon turned to their partners. "Sora!" Biyomon implored. "Hikari!" Gatomon commanded.

"Right!" Sora and Hikari said in unison grabbing their digivices. The two digimon were enveloped in the light of evolution until Garudamon and Angewomon were left standing in their place.

"Give up Centarumon, you don't have a chance against all of us!" Tai demanded.

"Even so I must complete my orders."

"I thought you guys hated taking orders." Tai scoffed.

"I cannot deny the one who saved me."

"Saved you?" Sora asked softly.

"Enough idle chatter. Prepare to be defeated."

"Still pretty damn cocky for a guy on the losing side!" Tai raised his sword and brought it plummeting down. On this command Garudamon and Angewomon charged forward. "Crimson Claw!" Garudamon sent her attack straight toward Centarumon's chest, he swiftly dodged by leaping into the air only to be assaulted by Angewomon's Celestial Arrow. The arrow buried itself into Centarumon's right shoulder close to his heart; he let out a grunt of anguish and landed back on the ground with a stagger.

"Just give up; we don't want to kill you." Hikari pleaded from her position behind Tai.

Centarumon responded by lifting his arm and aiming directly at them. "Solar ray!" The beam of energy soared toward them, Tai readying his shield to defend the girls behind him. Takeru jumped between them and the blast preparing his energy shield, the blast bounced off it and collided with the ceiling sending debris crashing to the ground.

While Takeru deflected the blast Yamato had gone unnoticed by Centarumon, this allowed him to get close enough to jump onto the mighty digimon's back and stick his gun to the back of his head. "You've lost. Surrender." Yamato said calmly.

Centarumon growled, managing to turn his head just enough to see Yamato standing on his back. He looked around him for a way to remove the boy without letting him blow his head off. His eyes fell upon the arrow still lodged halfway in his chest. "I will not surrender. That is what I promised." In one swift motion he placed the palm of his hand against the arrow and pushed it all the way in.

Yamato was forced to leap away from the unexpected attack; recovering quickly and running over to stand on Tai's right. Centarumon stood still staring at the ceiling. They all stayed on alert as they watched him; he let out a barely audible sigh before turning toward them.

"You could have made this easy." Centarumon choked out. Plunging his hands into his chest pulling out a large black lump, the thing had deep black sections jutting out making it look like an unrefined gemstone.

Yamato was watching with morbid fascination as Centarumon lifted the object above his head with both hands. For a reason he couldn't place his heart rate was skyrocketing, turning to the others he saw they were totally fixated as well then something clicked within his brain.

"GET DOWN!" As soon as the words left his mouth Centarumon let loose a Solar ray into the thing. It bulged growing larger and larger until it finally exploded with a massive sound shaking the entire foundation of the room and blowing all the doors out.