Intertwined Destinies
Jade Potter is a lonely girl from England who just happens to have a dark and secretive past. When she goes to Japan as part of a school assignment, she and seven other children are summoned to a strange world, where not all is as it seems. Just what is the Digital World, and how will everyone get back home again? Will they want to? And who exactly is Jade?
Chapter 5: Welcome to Toy Town
It was very dark in the sewers. The only light came from the irregularly placed man holes and the weird glow that came off the water. Needless to say not one of the children or digimon attempted to touch it. The little river was narrow enough that the digimon were able to jump to the other side so that they formed a sort of procession onwards. They had spent the first part of their journey explaining the adventures when they were separated at the factory. Tentomon jokingly blamed Agumon for waking Andromon, before thanking him because otherwise he may not have digivolved.
"Hey Agumon?" Tai asked once the stories were over. "What were you talking about earlier? Who's the Sovereign?"
"Our Protector," Agumon replied. "While we were waiting for you guys we heard many stories about the Sovereign, though I had no idea Andromon had actually met her. Andromon is very old though, so he's probably seen a lot."
"That doesn't explain much," Izzy stated. "Do you know anything more?"
"We all call her the Sovereign," Biyomon explained. "But she had another name long ago. There are some digimon who say that she was human, others say that she was a very old digimon. Either way, everyone loved her and while she was here there was peace. But then one day she wasn't, and everything became darker."
"And who are the Dark Masters?" Matt asked. "Andromon said something about them attacking this Sovereign person."
"No idea, but they would have to be very strong to cast the Sovereign away," Agumon continued.
"One day she will come back," Gomamon stated cheerfully. "And then light will return. I wonder what the light feels like? We were born into this darkness, but already I can feel it lifting."
"Gomamon's right," Patamon chipped in. "In the back of our minds was always this sense of darkness, but that darkness isn't as strong anymore. It must be because you're here. Maybe you're the re-creation of the Sovereign!"
Somehow, Jade didn't think so. But she was curious about how she could have been the Sovereign. If she was correct in her guess of when she was last in the Digital World, she had been six, and that wasn't a very impressive time in her life. Did she have a digimon partner back then, and that was the Sovereign? And then when the Dark Masters attacked her partner was killed and she went back to the Real World? Was that what happened?
After Patamon's suggestion the digimon talked amongst themselves. The children didn't quite understand what the Sovereign meant to their partners, but Jade was pretty sure that at some stage they would understand. Shortly after that Agumon started to practice his singing, and the other digimon copied him. They came up with a cute little song, but after several times of repeating it was becoming more of a mantra than a song.
"Digimon eat and digimon fight, digimon digivolve and fight all night!"
"Singing sure is fun," Palmon observed.
"Now let's try some solo performances!" Agumon suggested. "Starting with Mimi!"
"Mimi?" the children echoed. Jade looked back in time to see Mimi's eyes narrow slightly at the implication she couldn't sing, before a grin spread across her face. Jade smiled widely, recognising that Mimi was going to sing badly on purpose.
"Oh give me a home, where the buffalo roam."
Yet even though she was prepared for the horrid singing, Jade still winced as the off-key tune echoed through the sewers.
"Avoiding your drone," Joe sung back to Mimi.
"Hey, come on, I had singing lessons for three years," Mimi told him.
"Oh, you did?" TK asked in surprise. "Did it help?"
"Mimi, you should get a refund," Izzy told her seriously. "That's what I think."
"Then let's sing as a group," Sora said, before anyone else could insult Mimi's voice. Jade wondered what the girl really sounded like, but didn't voice her thoughts as she listened to the mantra the others were now singing.
"Digimon eat and digimon fly, digimon digivolve and –!"
"Stop it!"
The group staggered to a stop as Sora called out unexpectedly.
"Sora, are you alright?" Tai asked in concern.
"Yeah, what's the matter?" Matt asked. Sora looked at them both in shock before looking up.
"Well, some water fell from up there," she said weakly, looking to the dripping roof. Another drop fell onto her shirt and Izzy pointed at it incredulously.
"That made you scream?"
"Yeah…no..." Sora stated, before her eyes took on a faraway look. "I used to sing at home. I used to sing to myself all the time when I did my chores, especially when I'd hang clothes outside. I'd sing really loud nobody could hear me then."
"It's okay to miss your home Sora," Agumon said gently as he spotted the tears in Sora's eyes. "What do you miss, Tai?"
"I miss playing sports, then taking a long hot bath," Tai explained. Jade giggled; somehow in each letter she had received from Tai he had always included the joys of a hot bath. She had never been allowed to have a hot bath, as Dudley had always had his bath first so by the time she got to the water it was cold.
"Games, my games," TK stated sadly, kneeling down and holding his hands in front of him. "I wasn't far from beating Matt on my video games."
"Beating me TK? Gee, I don't think so, maybe in your dreams kiddo!" Matt told the little boy with a laugh.
"So you don't miss anything from home Matt?" Agumon asked curiously.
"Well, actually, now that you mention it," Matt said, laughter fading away. "I've, been dreaming about Sunday, when mom grilled steaks. Mmm, makes my mouth water."
"I miss doing my homework," Joe said, readjusting his glasses while he imagined home. "If I fall too far behind, I might have to go to a…junior college."
"I don't miss school," Mimi said, looking at Joe strangely. "But I do miss going on vacation. Nothing beats having a cold drink on a sunny day at the beach. I just love the ocean air."
"Wow, that sounds like fun Mimi," TK told her, staring up at her with bright eyes. Mimi looked down at him with a happy smile.
"It is," she assured him. Izzy joined their little clique with a serious look on his face.
"Get a grip," he told them both. "I miss accessing satellites to look at the stars and planets."
Jade looked at the children enviously. They had lots of experiences to look back on fondly, and she had nothing. Tai appeared to sense her mood for he tilted his head to catch a glimpse of her face.
"Is there anything that you miss Jade?" Gomamon asked, and Tai quickly looked at him with a shake of his head. But his warning had come too late. Jade heard the question and immediately thought of her relatives. She shook her head before hiding her face so that she wouldn't have to look at the others.
"What did I say?" Gomamon asked in fear. "I didn't mean it! I'm sorry Jade, please don't be sad!"
"Jade, doesn't have many good memories," Tai said slowly. "Her home isn't…a nice place to be."
"Dreaming," Jade whispered in Japanese in Tai's ear. Then she switched to English for she didn't know all the words she needed. "I miss my dreams. I used to be able to escape into my dreams at school and no one would care, but I can't do that here."
Tai nodded, only understanding a handful of the words that she had said, but none the less he passed on what she had said to the digimon.
"She misses dreaming. She used to write to me about this Dream World, but I'm starting to think that your dream world is the Digital World. Don't you think so, Jade?"
Jade nodded, she had figured that out after their first night, but it was only recently that she was thinking her dreams weren't dreams at all, they were memories. A few of the digimon and all of the children gasped as they heard Tai's explanation.
"You've been dreaming of the Digital World?" Izzy asked in amazement. "For how long?"
"Since she was six," Tai explained. "I loved to get letters explaining this place, but there are a few differences. Jade used to write about people in her Dream World, who would take care of eggs and baby animals, who we now think were digimon, but we haven't come across anyone even resembling a human. How big is the Digital World?"
"We don't know," Tentomon explained. "How big is your world?"
"Well," Izzy began. "Earth is approximately 510,072,000 square kilometers. Of that, 29.2% is covered by land and 70.8% is covered by water."
"Why do you know that?" Matt asked in disgust.
"I found it on the internet," Izzy told him defensively. "I was curious about it so I looked it up."
"And you remembered it?" TK asked with huge eyes.
"Izzy's brain has always surprised our teachers," Mimi told the little boy. "The amount of knowledge in that head of his makes my head spiny just thinking about it."
"Well," Biyomon started. "We don't know how big the Digital World is, but it's big. This island is just a small part of our world."
"So it could be as large as Earth," Izzy murmured. "Or it could be smaller, or the same size. I wish I could access the internet…"
"They really do come from another world," Agumon murmured quietly to the other digimon.
"That's why they are depressed," Gabumon agreed.
"Poor kids," Gomamon added.
"What's the internet?" Patamon asked quietly.
"Quiet, listen everyone," Tentomon ordered. His head was turned down the path they were following, so everyone's head turned to look as well. Strange noises were coming closer, getting louder, and a horrid stench was slowly wafting towards them. Jade wrinkled her nose as the scent reached her, and looked to the digimon for an explanation.
"Numemon," Gabumon breathed.
"Numemon?" Matt repeated.
"They're really disgusting digimon who live down here in the sewers," Gomamon explained, eyes still trained on the dark.
"That's gross," Tai stated, taking a step back reflectively.
"And so are they," Tentomon told him. Everybody was frozen in indecision. Should they run? Should they press against the wall and hope the Numemon would pass them by? Should they stand and fight?
"Are they strong?" TK asked.
"No, they're weak but smelly," Agumon explained. "Just wait till they get closer."
"Then, what do you say we leave?" Joe asked. "Or am I the only one who doesn't want to get stomped by stinky sewer dwellers?"
At that moment the Numemon came into view, and Jade gasped in shock. Numemon were little green blobs, with purple spots and two eyes sticking up from their head on thin bits of skin. Their mouths were open, revealing rows of white teeth and giant pink tongues that appeared to be permanently lolling outside their mouths. Two stubby arms flailed as they ran, but as she watched Jade noticed that a few of them had pink sludge in their hands.
"There's so many of them!" Agumon cried in horror. "Hurry! Run!"
Everyone turned and ran, and Jade cringed when she realised that she was the last person in their line. As Tai had been the leader, and she was in his back, the two of them were now at the back and closest to the Numemon.
"If they're not strong," Tai started as they ran. "Why do we have to run from them?"
"You'll see, just keep running!" Agumon told him. Shortly after that the Numemon began to throw the pink sludge and after the first wave just missed them Tai swung Jade around so that she was against his front instead of his back. While this protected her, Jade was also able to now watch the little creatures come closer. For digimon without legs, they certainly moved fast.
Cries of encouragement to run faster echoed from everyone, and Jade knocked away some of the sludge that came close to hitting Tai. He thanked her as they ran, but Jade detected a change in his breathing. She removed her eyes from the Numemon and stared into Tai's face.
"You play soccer, why are you tired?" she asked in Japanese.
"I don't normally play soccer with bruised ribs," Tai told her. "Don't worry though; I'm not going to let anything happen to you."
"What about you?" Jade asked.
"When we escape we'll slow down and everything will be fine," Tai said. "Stop worrying. We'll be fine."
TK spotted a tunnel that led outside, and they all ran upwards. The digimon leapt over the dirty water and as they entered the tunnel they ended up beside their partners. They kept running even as the Numemon entered the tunnel behind them. The tunnel widened as they ran, and opened up to the outside world. The afternoon sun bore down on them and they stopped running. Jade was the only one who kept her eyes on the tunnel, even as she forced Tai to put her down. As soon as the Numemon came into the light, they screamed and retreated into the darkness.
"The only think that's able to drive them away," Agumon told his partner. "Is the sunshine."
Tai nodded, even as he put his hands on his knees and worked on slowly his breathing. A few of the others noticed his difficulty with curiosity, except for Sora who hurried over to him and forced him to sit down. Jade knelt next to him and wrapped her arms around her knees, watching him with her lips between her teeth.
"You know Tai, sometimes you're just so stubborn I could hit you," Sora told him. "Why haven't you said anything? At the very least someone else could have carried Jade. Anyone else would have been more than willing to."
"I've told you this before Sora," Tai replied, staring at her meaningfully.
"And I've told you before: it's not your fault. Pushing yourself beyond your limits is only going to get you hurt or killed."
"Um, what's going on?" Mimi asked curiously. "Are you two speaking in some sort of weird code that only you understand?"
"Oh god," Matt stated. "Your ribs. They haven't healed yet."
"What's wrong with his ribs?" Joe asked Matt, before turning to Tai. "What's wrong with your ribs?"
"Shellmon was exactly gentle with me," Tai said with a wave of his hand. "It's just taking a bit longer than I first thought to shake off the effects."
"Are you right to travel?" Joe asked. "We could probably rest here for a while if you need us to."
"No," Tai said, shaking his head. "We need to find somewhere to rest tonight. Stopping here is not a good idea."
"Have your ribs healed at all?" Sora asked in a whisper so the others wouldn't hear her. Jade focused on Tai, wanting to hear his answer as well.
"Not really," Tai whispered back. "It'll just take some more time than I first thought. Walking all day, every day, isn't helping."
"And neither is carrying Jade," Sora told him. "You don't have to do everything alone. We're here to help as well."
Jade put her hand on Tai's arm, and he smiled at her reassuringly. He leant across to whisper in her ear, and a faint blush appeared on her cheeks. She smiled back at him before working with Sora to help him to stand. They watched him for a few moments before turning to the others and gesturing onwards. There was still some uncertainty, but they all started to move. Matt appeared next to Tai, and seeing that the blonde boy wanted to talk to Tai alone, Jade walked forward so that she was with TK.
"Tai, how serious are your bruises?" Matt asked. "Mine were sore yesterday, but today I haven't thought about them at all."
"Shellmon stopped me from breathing for a few moments," Tai admitted softly. "Before Agumon digivolved, I really thought I was going to die. And then when Agumon digivolved I'm pretty sure that I blacked out for a moment. When I could see again it was to see Jade next to me. She had looked so worried, so I brushed off the pain."
"Tai, I don't know how you take care of yourself at home, but we need you to take better care of yourself. Let us know when you're not well. We're in this together, and what hurts one of us hurts all of us. Please, don't hide when you're injured."
"When we stop I'm going to get Sora to look at them again."
"Maybe get Joe to look as well; he is aspiring to be a doctor you know."
Tai nodded, and looked over the rest of the group. Jade was walking hand in hand with TK, and the two were laughing the higher they could swing their arms. Matt was also looking at his brother, so he nodded once to Tai before speeding up to walk nearer to him. Tai remained at the back of the group, and Agumon walked beside him.
"I'm sorry Tai," the little dinosaur said. "I wasn't fast enough on the beach."
"Nonsense," Tai said, not looking down. "If it hadn't been for you, I would have died. You saved my life. Yeah, I would have liked to be rescued faster, but never think that I'm blaming you for my injuries."
"But I told you to give me a diversion."
"And I went along with it. I know now that if I'm ever in danger you will be there to fight with me, and protect me. Don't sell yourself short. I'm grateful to you, and wouldn't want anyone else to be my partner."
Agumon blushed, his mood restored to its formerly happy outlook. Sora looked back over her shoulder and smiled at him. Tai stuck out his tongue at her and she turned around with a laugh. They continued to walk for at least another hour, hot and sweaty and tired. They were close to calling a stop, and Tai was thinking about heading for the trees in the distance so they would at least have some cover during the night, but when they came to a slight hill they stopped. Stretched out before them was a large collection of vending machines.
"There must be thousands of them!" Mimi declared.
"I'd say under a hundred," Joe corrected her.
"Or maybe just fifty," Izzy corrected them both.
"How did they get there?" TK asked.
"Maybe they fell out of the sky," Jade told him.
"But wouldn't they be smashed if they fell from the sky?" TK rebutted. The two looked at each other before slyly glancing at Izzy. The two grinned before simultaneously saying:
"Aliens."
"Very funny," Izzy said, having heard their conversation. "But I'll have you know that I have disregarded my alien theory."
The two groaned, much to Izzy's amusement, before turning their attention to Mimi who was staring at the vending machines captivated.
"I bet there's enough snacks to last us a lifetime, at least," she said.
"Mimi, they probably don't work," Tai told her. "Don't you remember the phone booths?"
"Hey! That could be! This could be a trick Mimi," Palmon told her partner.
"I won't accept that," Mimi said before running down the hill into the forest of vending machines. Everyone watched her go, though none made a move to follow her. Palmon stood frozen for a moment before running off after Mimi, and Jade walked over to where Tai and Sora were.
"Even if they're real, you know they're not plugged in!" Joe called after her.
"Mimi," Tai sighed.
"You can't stop her, she's so stubborn," Sora told him. "Like a certain other person I know."
Jade giggled, even as Tai looked sheepish. Her eyes flickered upwards when a shadow fell over her, and she frowned when she realised that a collection of clouds were making their way across the sun. While they would now be protected from the sun's glare, something in her told her that it was a bad sign…and Mimi's scream a few seconds later did little to reassure her. Her eyes focused on the vending machines, and Mimi's form sprinting towards them at lightning speed. Behind her and Palmon were the Numemon, and they were clearly picking up where they had left off in the sewers.
"How did they get here?" Sora asked, frozen with one hand pointed towards the approaching Numemon.
"Who cares?" Mimi asked as she flew passed them. "Run!"
It seemed that Mimi's movement through the group woke them up for they were once again running for their lives. It was Matt's idea to split up, but before they could go too far, Tai grabbed Jade's hand with the intention of taking her with him. Jade went willingly enough, and for a while they followed Mimi. Once they reached the trees they spilt, so when Mimi continued forwards Tai pulled them to the side.
"This is not good," Tai panted. "Agumon, can you fight them?"
"There's too many Tai," Agumon replied. He looked up at Tai with worry. "Your face has gone white again. Is it supposed to do that when you've been running a lot?"
"No," Tai said, one hand now on his chest with Jade's hand in his other one. "I'm just finding it a little hard to breathe right now. I need to stop running."
Agumon nodded and stopped running. Jade stopped as well and looked back at Agumon. Agumon sent fire balls at the Numemon as quick as he could, while Tai sunk to his knees, breathing hard. Jade put her hand on the back of his neck.
"You need to take care of yourself better," Jade told him in slow Japanese. "You matter to me. I do not want you to be hurt."
"I know," Tai whispered. "I'm sorry, Jade. Once this is over we should find somewhere to stay, for a day or so. I can heal if I don't do move about too much."
"Okay," Jade replied, before an awfully familiar cold feeling washed over her. There was a Black Gear nearby. Tai looked up at her gasp, before the earth below them shuddered under the pounding of something heavy. The two looked up as what appeared to be a giant yellow teddy bear with red eyes loomed above them.
"Have fun with me in Toy Town!" the digimon ordered.
"Black Gear," Jade whispered, her hand over her heart. Tai forced himself to stand and started to run in the opposite direction of the teddy bear.
"Agumon! Time to go! A digimon with a Black Gear is about to attack us!"
"How do you know?" Agumon asked, but already the Numemon were retreating and the teddy bear was trying to attack them. "Never mind!"
"Who is this guy?" Tai asked, panting hard.
"Monzaemon," Agumon replied. "Why does he have a Black Gear in him? How did you know?"
"Jade told me."
"Attack him Agumon!" Jade pleaded. "We cannot keep running."
"Pepper Breath!" Agumon chanted, a fireball flying at Monzaemon. The attack had no effect, and Monzaemon unleashed an attack of his own.
"Heart's Attack!"
Jade screamed and automatically shielded her face as blue love-heart bubbles captured them. Her mind went blank as the attack ripped her of her ability to move. Her last thought was about Tai and the other children, and what had happened to them. She hoped they were alright.
Darkness.
Jade opened her eyes to discover that she was inside a toy box. Her heart rate increased as she struggled to supress the growing panic. She curled up as best as she could, wondering all the while where the digimon and children were. She had been holding Tai's hand when the heart bubble hit her, but he wasn't with her. No one was. Tears leaked out of her eyes as she pulled her knees even tighter to her chest.
"Let me out," she whispered in English. "Please. I'll be good, I promise. Let me out. Let me out! LET ME OUT!"
By the end of plea she was yelling and banging on the walls of her prison, tears flowing freely down her cheeks. Her cries became sobs even as her fists started to bleed from the furious attacks against the walls. Still her screams rang out and her panic increased. While her room was cupboard under the stairs, she hated small and dark places, because that usually meant she was with the Dursleys and alone.
"Jade? Jade is that you?"
"Agumon?" Jade asked, her screams stopping instantly. She wasn't completely alone then. "Where are you? Where am I? Where are Tai, and the others? Can you get me out? I don't like it in here!"
"Jade, you have to calm down," Agumon told her. "Take deep breaths okay? We don't know where the other kids are, but us digimon are all in this box. Mimi and Palmon are out in Toy Town at the moment fighting Monzaemon. You just need calm down, we'll be out of here soon."
Jade did her best to calm down, but her heart rate wouldn't listen to her. She began to wish with all her might to be out of the chest, that she would be out in the light, and that she would be able to see. The sensation of being squeezed through a small pipe pulled at her, and when she opened her eyes she was sitting outside a fairly large chest. For half a moment she stared at it before scuttling backwards until she collided with a wall.
"Jade? What happened? Are you alright?"
Jade turned around and spotted another chest, this one slightly bigger than her one. The voices of the other digimon were echoing from it. Still feeling strangely weak, Jade used the wall to help her stand and walked over to the chest. She had taught herself to pick locks when she was younger and starving, so it was no chore to pick the lock before her. When she opened the chest it was to see Agumon, Gabumon, Tentomon, Biyomon, Gomamon and Patamon staring at her in shock. Gomamon was the first to move and leapt out into her arms.
"Are you alright?" he asked. "There was this loud sound, like someone had slammed a door as hard as they could, and you were silent. How did you get out of your box? Why were you in a box? Was anyone else with you?"
Gabumon looked at Gomamon sternly, and the little digimon went quiet. The other digimon climbed or flew out of the box and looked to where there was another box, this one with the lock still firmly attached to the outside.
"How did you get out?" Patamon asked.
"I just…wished really hard and then the next thing I knew I was sitting outside the box instead of inside it," Jade explained, still in English as it appeared the digimon could understand her just fine.
"Wishing?" Agumon repeated. "Maybe you're magical."
"There's no such thing as magic," Jade stated without even thinking about what she was saying. Uncle Vernon had yelled it at her often enough that she believed it herself.
"Yes there is," Biyomon told her in shock. "Don't you believe in magic?"
Jade shook her head. She turned to look out the window, recognising that she was inside a little house. She walked outside, Gomamon still in her arms, and looked towards what had caught her attention. A plume of smoke was rising from the centre of the town, and Jade knew that that was where Monzaemon was. Energy stirred in her heart, though it was different than previous times. Gomamon started as she put him down.
"What was that?" he asked. "You got warm all of a sudden."
Jade looked down at him, unaware of the glow in her eyes. She smiled.
"There's something I need to do," she told them, not entirely sure why she said so, but nonetheless ran off towards where Monzaemon was fighting. Behind her the digimon sat still in indecision.
"Her eyes were glowing," Patamon said unnecessarily. "Why?"
"Her body temperature went up," Gomamon added.
"It was like someone else was inside her," Agumon murmured. "But then it was Jade who was smiling at us."
"She's not like the other children," Gabumon observed.
"No, she's not," Tentomon added. "But, still, something about her is very familiar."
"I agree," Agumon said. "Let's keep this to ourselves for now. We can discuss it later. Let's go and help Palmon."
The other digimon agreed and started to make their way to the centre of Toy Town.
Meanwhile, Jade was moving quickly through the streets. She had already passed Matt, Izzy and Joe who were still being played with, and was forced to leap over a group of toys that had wanted to play with her, but she was gaining on Monzaemon. The energy inside her was getting stronger, and so was her confidence. It baffled her, but at the same time she knew that she could trust this energy with everything she had.
As she appeared from a side street, she witnessed Monzaemon having a boxing match with what looked like a giant cactus wearing red boxing gloves. She blinked once, before realising that Palmon must have digivolved as Mimi was standing off to the side watching with her hands clasped over her mouth. Jade turned her gaze from Mimi and stared at Monzaemon.
Help me
The call came from deep inside Monzaemon's heart, and Jade focused on the darkness. She pushed at it with all her strength, just as the cactus digimon unleashed another attack.
"Needle Spray!"
Monzaemon screamed as the needles pierced his body, but the Black Gear was forcefully ejected from his back. Jade continued to force energy at it until it exploded. She nodded in satisfaction, stepping back into the shadows. The other digimon wouldn't be far away, and she wanted to find the other children and pull them from their brainwashing.
She climbed up onto the nearest roof and leapt across the buildings until she could see the others. She focused the energy in her heart on each of the children and as soon as the energy hit them they blinked a few times, as if waking from a long sleep, and looked around in confusion. Tai was the last one she got to, but she didn't stare at him from the roof, she was right in front of him. She felt really weak afterwards, and the boy was forced to carry her to where Monzaemon was recovering from his experience with a Black Gear.
"What an odd experience," Tai stated as he and Jade got closer to where the other children were. They looked relieved when they came closer, and after a quick count Tai realised that they were the last ones to arrive. Agumon bounded over and hugged Tai around his waist and Tai hugged him back whilst also making sure Jade remained on his back.
"Were we all brainwashed?" Izzy asked, seeing that everyone was looking a little worse for wear.
"Everyone except Jade and Mimi," Biyomon explained. "Jade was with us in one of the boxes."
"Why didn't she speak when Palmon and I were there?" Mimi asked, looking at Jade's exhausted form.
"She woke up shortly after you left," Agumon explained. "She…didn't like being a box."
"We can see that," Joe stated, gesturing to Jade's bloodied hands. "But why wasn't Jade brainwashed?"
"Maybe her mind works differently to everyone else's?" Palmon suggested. "She is the only one without a digivice; maybe the digivices were what allowed Monzaemon to control you?"
"That is not a happy thought," Joe told the green digimon. He looked over at Monzaemon, who was now sitting up and looking much more like a friendly teddy bear than earlier. Seeing that everyone's attention was focused on him, Monzaemon apologised and explained what happened. Apparently Toy Town was a place for the toys to feel more important when they had been discarded and thrown away. Monzaemon's attacks weren't meant to turn children into zombies.
"I'm sorry for what I did," Monzaemon said again. "I didn't mean to hurt you."
"We know you didn't mean to hurt us," Tai forgave.
"Of course not!" Monzaemon said. "But an evil feeling came over me."
"It had to be that black gear," Sora suggested.
"You know, I'm beginning to take this whole black gear thing pretty personally," Tai added. He shifted Jade so that she could sit on his hip and be a little more comfortable. "They cause a whole lot of trouble before disappearing."
"That's right, but me and Palmon made Monzaemon good again," Mimi informed them all.
"We make a great team," Palmon agreed.
"My friends," Monzaemon interrupted. "There's only one way I can truly show my gratitude and that's by giving you all a real heart hug."
"Oh boy," Joe uttered. Jade turned her head so that she could stare at Monzaemon. She wasn't sure that she wanted a heart hug.
"Here we go!" Monzaemon called. "This is my gift to you! Hearts attack! With a hug!"
Pink heart bubbles erupted from Monzaemon and engulfed each child and digimon. Jade was pulled from Tai's grip, and she felt warm. An emotion that she had never felt before warmed her from the inside out, and it was similar to what she felt when the digimon digivolved. Two images appeared in her mind's eye, a woman with red hair, and a boy with blonde hair. Each looked at her with such warmth and caring, Jade instantly fought. She felt very lonely all of a sudden.
I love you, my precious daughter
Be safe, little princess
Jade blinked as the two contrasting voices echoed with her soul. She smiled. Somehow, she knew that these two beings were watching over her. Her eyes turned towards where Tai was looking at her with a smile on his face. Jade grinned at him, and he appeared to relax even more. She allowed the warmth of what she thought was love to grow in her heart, and imagined it being released to everyone. Laughter bubbled up from around her, and Jade curled up in her bubble. She fell asleep instantly, not even waking when she was let down into Joe's arms. She didn't wake until the sun was already above the horizon the following morning.
The children were excited to sleep in beds, even though the beds were little. Still, for the short ones in the group like Izzy, TK and Jade, there were no problems at all. The older ones however, decided the sleeping on the floor with pillows and blankets was a better choice. Tai, Sora, Matt and Joe crowded around while the others slept, and kept quiet to make sure that the others remained asleep.
"Alright," Joe started. "I think we need to discuss certain issues. First up, how badly are you actually injured Tai?"
"Bruises only, though when I run for a while I find it hard to breathe," Tai replied with extreme reluctance. Joe nodded thoughtfully and ordered Tai to take off his shirt. That was something that Tai really didn't want to do, but he did so anyway and did his best to ignore Matt and Joe's gasps of horror, Sora merely pressed her lips together having seen it when it looked worse.
"That looks very painful," Matt commented, thinking of his own yellow bruises. "It's almost amazing that nothing's broken."
"Cleanly broken, no," Joe stated. "But there is a high possibility that some of your ribs are cracked. You need to take it easy if you want these bruises to heal."
"Can I put my shirt on?" Tai asked, twisting the material in his hands anxiously. He didn't normally display his injuries for anyone, not even his parents. His bruises were still black, though the outsides of the bruises were taking on an interesting yellow colour. His chest kind of looked like a rainbow gone wrong. Joe nodded to his question and Tai quickly slid the shirt over his head and turned for the next item of discussion.
"Are injured as well Matt?" Joe asked. "You were caught with Seadramon."
"Nothing that bad," Matt explained. "The bruises are yellow now, and I expect will be completely gone in a few days."
Matt lifted his shirt to prove his point, and after Joe's nod lowered it. Joe's only request was that Tai stop carrying Jade around, let someone else do it if it was necessary as her feet were now well enough to walk on, and he was to tell anyone if he was having any trouble breathing or if there was tightness or pain in his chest.
"Great, now that that's settled, I'm concerned about Jade," Sora said. "Has anyone else noticed the changes?"
"You mean that she's more comfortable with us?" Matt asked. "She's talking more than before, and she smiles."
"Well, there is that, but even though she always appears to be in danger, sometimes it's like she's the safest out of all of us," Sora explained. "Meramon didn't harm her, and he carried her afterwards showing how worried he was. Andromon actually caught her when she fell off the roof. And just now with Monzaemon, she wasn't brainwashed like we were. She was kept with the digimon."
"How did they get out of the trucks?" Tai asked. "Agumon showed me where they were kept, and Mimi said she hadn't freed them. So who did? Jade was in a trunk to herself, but she got out without opening to lock."
"Or whoever did let her out bolted the truck again once she was free," Joe hypothesised.
"Meramon talked about a light, or warmth that he was looking for when he was being controlled by the Black Gear," Matt stated. "And Andromon said that Jade reminded him of someone, the Sovereign? And Tai, you said Jade's been dreaming about the Digital World for years?"
"That's right," Tai replied, wondering where Matt was going with his line of thought.
"Has anyone else considered that Jade's been to the Digital World before, a long time ago?" Matt asked them. "The digimon who recognise her, there has to be a reason for that right?"
"Why wouldn't she say so before now though?" Sora asked. "And you remember how scared she was when we first arrived. She looked just like the rest of us but without a digimon."
"Maybe she has amnesia or something," Tai suggested. "But she doesn't really want to forget so her subconscious is sending her memories of the Digital World in her dreams."
The other three looked at him in shock, and he shrugged his shoulders uncomfortably.
"How long have you been thinking about this?" Matt asked suspiciously.
"Since I was standing watch at the trolley car," Tai told him. "I knew there had to be a reason that Jade was here even though she doesn't have a digivice. It couldn't have been a coincidence that she was here like we were. Her being here before made sense to me, but…"
"But…what?" Sora asked.
"There were people in her dreams," Tai explained with his eyebrows furrowed together. "Where are those people? A man she called Gennai, I think, was the main focus of her dreams. He took care of the baby digimon, and a bunch of eggs in a big room."
"Did she say anything about an angel, or Sovereign?" Joe asked. Tai shook his head slowly, thinking back over the letters.
"How about we keep an eye on her then?" Sora suggested. "There's no point in worrying about this now. As long as we're all safe and healthy, then I'll be happy."
The others agreed with her, and settled in for the night. What they hadn't realised was that Agumon and Gomamon were still awake and had heard their conversation. It filled in some blanks for them, and created theories of their own. They silently promised to keep it quiet, but if there became a need for it they would tell the other digimon. For now though, they just needed to watch and protect.
But still, as everyone fell asleep, one question formed in their minds:
Who was Jade Potter?
Next up in Intertwined Destinies:
Chapter 6: Going Up?