Intertwined Destinies
Previously in Intertwined Destinies:
Etemon has been defeated, but the digidestined weren't unscathed. Tai was almost fatally injured and was saved by Jade when she transformed into Phoenixmon, but instead of fighting Etemon herself, Phoenixmon allowed Tai and Greymon to fight first. Greymon digivolved to the Ultimate level and became Metalgreymon, and it was his attack that opened a dimensional rift. Etemon was sucked into the rift, but before the rift could close Tai and Metalgreymon were also pulled through. He was pulled into the Human World where he realised no time had passed since they were first sent to the Digital World. Despite how much Tai wanted to stay, he knew he couldn't and foundhis way back to the Digital World.
In the Digital World, the digidestined separated. Jade ran from them first and was finally reunited with her digimon partner who she calls Tom, no matter was digivolution he is in. In Jade's absence from his life, Tom went insane and destroyed the world that he ruled. It is also revealed that Tom was once a human, who tried to kill Jade when she was a baby, but when that failed his soul latched onto her. The shard was removed from Jade when she was first pulled into the Digital World, and that was how Tom was born.
Tai and Agumon have found everyone and they are all together again. But Gennai has given them bad news: there is an eighth digidestined in Japan, and Myotismon, their new enemy, is on his way to get her. It is now a race against time to get home. If they lose this race, it will be more than the Human World that is in danger...every world will be facing its destruction.
The next chapter of their adventure awaits...
Chapter 20: Gateway to Home
"The digidestined are nearby."
Jade turned her head from the castle to the transmission from Gennai. He was looking at her in concern, and Jade summoned up a smile for him. Wizardmon had left her about ten minutes before, and she hadn't really moved. To think, her mother had been one of the original digidestined, and no one had told her.
"What happened Jade?"
"Why didn't you tell me that my mum was Wizardmon's partner?"
"Ah, so you found out about that did you? Should I assume that one of Myotismon's henchmen told you?"
"Wizardmon told me," Jade informed him as he looked back at the castle. "Why was it a secret?"
"It was Wizardmon's decision not to tell you," Gennai reassured her. "It wasn't that we wanted to keep it a secret, but you looked so much like Lily that he couldn't bare to talk about her. He knew that you would have questions about her, questions that he just didn't want to answer."
"Oh…can you tell me about her?"
Gennai smiled and for the next hour or so he spoke about the adventures that he and the original digidestined had gone on, what he could remember anyway, and Jade listened with rapt attention as she finally got to hear about her mother. She was so engrossed in Gennai's tales that the arrival of the current digidestined surprised her.
"Jade!" Tai called out to her. Gennai stopped his story and allowed Jade to run over to the digidestined, meeting them part way, and hugged them. She was careful to avoid Tai's arm, but when she pulled back he looked at him sadly. He smiled at her and pushed her towards the others so that they could express their relief that she was alright as well.
"How are you Jade?" Joe asked as he cupped her face with his hands.
"I'm good," Jade said with a smile.
"Where's your partner?" TK asked curiously after he hugged her. "Gennai said that he was gone for some reason."
"He's gone to strengthen the Shadow World," Jade explained. "It's in a state of disrepair at the moment and unless we can get it repaired and soon, Myotismon is going to have a lot more power than any of us can deal with."
"Cool," Tai muttered. He turned to Gennai. "This is where Myotismon is going to go to our world?"
"The Gateway is below this castle," Jade told him before Gennai could answer. "It's the only one in this world that links to every other world in existence."
"How many worlds are there?" Mimi asked as she sat down next to Gennai's projection.
"…six, I think," Jade muttered as she counted them on her fingers. "This is the only place in the Digital World that links to all of them, though there are places that link specifically to one world or another. There's a whirlpool in the middle of the ocean that links with the Shadow World, but it's not a nice journey."
"This is good and all," Agumon spoke up. "But if we want to get in there we will need to do it soon. Palmon and I think that we can do it without being detected."
"There's a gate for volunteers around the corner," Jade told them. "You can pretend to join Myotismon's army to get inside, but you'll have to escape from whatever training regimen they put you under to get everyone else in as well."
"We'll be fine," Palmon reassured her. "Come on Agumon, let's go and join the army!"
Agumon and Palmon ran off, but once they were gone the others sat down to rest. Jade appeared at Tai's side and stared at his arm without saying anything. Very slowly, she lifted her right arm and placed it on the break, before closing her eyes and concentrating. It was harder in her human form, but she had spent most of her time when she was younger healing the baby digimon. This wasn't that much different.
White light glowed under her hand, and when she pulled it back she grinned and lightly punched Tai's arm to show him what she had done. Joe's horror-filled cry was interrupted by Tai's movements to pull off the sling and splint. Tai hesitated once, but then he pulled off his armband to show smooth tanned skin, and no marks or bruises of any kind.
"You healed my arm," he breathed.
"My God," Joe added under his breath as he stared at the arm.
"Jade has always been happy to use her healing powers on the baby digimon when she was here last," Gennai explained as the children gaped at Tai's perfectly healed arm. "Why are you surprised?"
"She did save Tai's life," Sora pointed out.
"But that was as Phoenixmon," Izzy told her. "At the moment she's…well, she's Jade."
"I'm still the same person, no matter what I look like," Jade told them. "It's just easier as Phoenixmon to heal otherwise fatal injuries."
Tai surprised her by pulling her into a hug and thanking her over and over under his breath. As he had come at her from behind she just held his arms and smiled. When he released her he fiddled with his belt and pulled off two sandals that she had noticed earlier but hadn't asked him about. He handed them over to her, and she hesitantly took them.
"They're Kari's," he whispered as she took them. "You look like you have the same size feet as her, so I brought them back with me so that your feet would have some protection. You won't need to rely on sheets and towels to protect your feet anymore."
His thoughtfulness touched Jade, and without a word she sat down and pulled off the dirty cloths she had used and slid her feet into the sandals. They were just about perfect, and they matched her outfit. When she stood back up she walked around in them, spinning on the spot and jumping up and down. She grinned.
"You're the best Tai," she told him as she hugged him. "I'd forgotten what it was like to wear shoes."
"You're welcome," Tai told her, blushing slightly.
"So, this Gateway," Sora started, clearing her throat. "Where is it exactly?"
"My theory is that Myotismon sent Demidevimon to distract us while he stayed behind to prepare the Gate," Izzy muttered as he stared at the castle walls. "Truly an ingenious plan on his part."
"A good theory indeed," Gennai agreed.
"The Gateway is below the castle," Jade told Sora. "I've only been here once before, and that was just briefly so that Lucemon could check over the security. Tom and I have used other gates quite successfully without needing to resort to using this one."
"Who is Lucemon?" Mimi asked curiously. "I don't recall hearing that name before?"
"He was the ruler of the Digital World and the Shadow World before Jade and the Dark One took over from him," Gennai explained. "The pressure from maintaining two worlds was too much for him, and he tried to destroy the Digital World so that he wouldn't need to deal with both."
"Why the Digital World?" Matt asked. "Why not the Shadow World?"
"Because his mind was flooded with darkness," Jade explained. "There are more than just dark digimon in the Shadow World, there are dark creatures from the Human and Magical Worlds as well. With the darkness getting stronger, Lucemon decided that he would continue to rule the stronger world, and eliminate the weaker one."
"What happened to him?" Gabumon asked.
"Tom and I defeated him and imprisoned him in a world where he could never get out again."
"The Prison World," Yokomon realised. "That was where you feared Tai and Agumon had ended up."
"Right."
"Yes, he's there now," Gennai added. "But with the state of things he may very well break out and there would be nothing any of us could do to stop him. The Shadow World is just one world that helps support the borders of the Prison World, and with it just about destroyed, the borders are weaker. If Myotismon succeeds in finding the eighth child and bringing the child back here, the Prison World will end and Lucemon will once again be free."
"Everything we know will be destroyed," Jade added solemnly.
"We're doomed," Joe stated tonelessly.
"No we're not," Tai told him. "Have faith, we'll defeat Myotismon before this Lucemon guy can get out."
"Of course we will," Jade agreed. "I'm going to help, and then when I come back I'm going to push back the darkness to where it belongs and bring this world back into the light."
"I'll help," Tai promised.
"Me too," TK added with his hand in the air. "I like this world."
"How about we take this one step at a time?" Matt suggested. "We need to defeat Myotismon and find this eighth child before we can contemplate anything else."
"I agree with Matt," Joe said instantly.
"I want to go home," Mimi added. "I don't want Myotismon to hurt my family."
"Same here," Izzy agreed. "We need to prevent him from doing anything to them, and that means getting into this castle and to the Gateway without being detected."
"Agumon and Palmon have certainly been gone a long time," Tai said as he turned away from the group. "It's not that I'm worried, it's just that, well, I hope they're looking for where the Gateway is located."
"They're coming back here before they go looking for it," Jade reminded him. "They'll get lost if they attempt to find it without you guys to back them up."
"Give them some more time Tai," Matt suggested. "They'll be alright. Now come and eat something. You too Jade, there's plenty here for everyone."
Tai and Jade looked at each other straight-faced before breaking out into grins and joining Matt on the ground. They would eat, and then they would fight.
"I'm worried," Tai admitted half an hour later. The food had distracted him for a while, but now that it was gone his attention was on his partner and Palmon again.
"We have to be patient," Matt repeated without opening his eyes. He was taking a cat nap under the nearest tree. Mimi and TK were next to him, though they weren't resting their eyes. Izzy was talking to Gennai about the new Digimon Analyzer that he has on his computer, Joe was pacing around their resting point, much to the annoyance of the others, and Sora was brushing Jade's hair.
"Hey look! They're back!" Mimi suddenly called as Palmon used her vines to create ropes and hang them over the side of the castle.
"Sorry, we had a big bruiser on our hands," Palmon called down apologetically.
"Are you both alright?" Jade asked as Sora put away her hairbrush. The two digimon nodded and that was the signal to rush over to the wall.
"Let's go!" Tai ordered. Palmon wrapped one of the vines around his waist, and the other around Mimi's, before pulling them both up easily.
"My signal is useless inside the castle, so you're on your own," Gennai told them as they left his side. "I'm counting on you."
"We got it covered!" Tai told him as he was pulled up.
"I hope so," Gennai stated. "You must stop Myotismon from carrying out his plans and protect your friend in Japan."
"We'd better move it!" Palmon agreed as soon as Tai and Mimi were up safely. The vines fell down again to pull up the next two, Jade and TK, and then so on and so forth until everyone was up.
"Why isn't your arm bandaged anymore?" Agumon asked Tai once he was up.
"Jade healed it just after you left," Tai told him as Jade appeared over the side. Agumon grinned and bowed a little to Jade. Jade just giggled and hugged him.
"So, who were they using to train you, and how did you escape?" she asked as she pulled back.
Demidevimon had recruited Nanimon, a ball like digimon with muscular arms and legs and thick black sunglasses, to train the small group of Numemon, a Sukamon and a Chuumon. Nanimon had an obsession with soda, and when he drinks a lot he passes out from the bubbles going straight to his head. Agumon explained how a Numemon had climbed a wall and thrown down soda bottles, and once Nanimon passed out the two of them ran so that they could get the other children and digimon inside.
"So, what now?" Mimi asked as soon as the last person, Joe, was up.
"We don't have much time," Izzy reminded them. "I suggest we split up and when we find the Gateway signal for everyone else."
"Splitting up didn't really work last time," Mimi continued nervously. "What if we never find each other again?"
"I agree with Mimi," Jade said. "Why would you want to split up in Myotismon's castle? Just because Demidevimon was unable to gather a ferocious fighting force, doesn't mean that there aren't horrible digimon willing to harm any who don't belong. There is only one digimon in this castle who won't harm you on sight."
"I agree with Izzy," Matt told her. "In smaller groups there's less chance of being spotted. TK and I will go together, and we can use the digivice to find each other again."
"And we will always know where each other is," Patamon added.
"We need to stop debating, and get a move on," Joe said reasonably. "The longer we argue, the more time Myotismon has to do…whatever Myotismon is doing."
"Right," Izzy said. "Come on Tentomon."
Tai went to call out to him, but Jade just put her hand on his arm to prevent him from making a sound. He sighed and clenched his fists, but otherwise remained silent.
"We'll go this way then," Matt said next. "Come on TK."
"Coming Matt!" TK called as he ran after him. Patamon and Gabumon hurried off as well, and Tai turned to look at the others.
"We'll be fine Tai," Sora told him. "Us three will stick together, you and Jade go off and explore."
"I don't like splitting up," Tai advised her.
"I'll look after you Tai," Jade said innocently. "You'll be safe with me!"
"That's not what I meant," Tai told her.
"I know!"
Jade grabbed Tai's hand and started to lead him down a corridor that hadn't been used yet. Tai waved back to the others, but otherwise allowed Jade to lead. The only thing he did was tighten his grip on her hand so that she wouldn't be able to escape without him noticing. Agumon walked slightly behind them, and he was whistling a jaunty tune quietly as he moved.
"What do you plan to do when we go home?" Tai asked Jade after a few minutes of silence.
"Go with you of course," she replied. "How else will I help with Myotismon?"
"You will probably be forced to go with your classmates back to England."
"I would, if we could get a flight in such short notice," Jade told him calmly. "You may not have been aware of it, but the weather is a little strange at the moment. Snow in summer? Remember that? I estimate that it will be a few days before we can go anywhere."
"But-?"
"Tai, I can get access to the Digital World from anywhere on Earth," she told him sternly. "You will not be fighting alone, I will be there with you, I promise."
Tai nodded at her, but he was still unsure. The three of them came out into a labyrinth of walkways, and Jade gaped in amazement. Her head twisted and turned in every direction as she tried to figure out which way was up, and which way was down. They kept walking, though no matter what walkway they ended up on, they couldn't get to anywhere else.
"Something's totally weird here," Tai suddenly stated as he paused on the fourth walkway they'd ended up on.
"What?" Agumon stated.
"We've passed this way before," Tai told him.
"How can you tell?" Jade asked. "Everything looks the same."
"Is that you Tai? Jade?" Izzy suddenly called. Tai and Jade looked around in confusion before realising that Izzy was calling from below them. They looked over the railing to answer him.
"Yeah, we're up here!" Tai called. "Have you found anything unusual down there Izzy?"
"Well, you could say that Tai," Tentomon answered instead. "The truth is you are down there, and we're up here."
"I think you guys may need glasses," Agumon corrected. "We're way up here above you."
"But there's no way!" Izzy protested. "That's scientifically impossible!"
The five of them were on the same walkway, but as Tai, Jade and Agumon were on one side, directly underneath them were Izzy and Tentomon. It was like gravity was pulling them to the center of the walkway, allowing one of them to essentially be walking on the roof.
"This is so cool," Jade grinned. "What do you think would happen if I jumped off the edge?"
"You are not testing out that idea," Tai told her instantly.
"You're no fun," Jade said with a pout.
"I think we need to regroup," Tai called down/up to Izzy, ignoring how odd it was. "We need to reassess our options."
"How?" Izzy asked him. "I don't see any way of getting together again."
"That's easy, follow your digivice!" Jade called. "We'll wait here for you and the others, and then we'll figure out what way to go."
"Alright," Izzy agreed as he pulled out his digivice. He disappeared shortly after and Jade sat on the railing casually.
"You should call the others," she said.
"How?"
"We've been able to talk mind-to-mind for a while now, try it with them. Just, don't shout what you want to say. Find their presence in your mind, and talk to them."
"They're colors in my mind," Tai admitted.
"Really? That's cool," Jade told him with a smile. "I feel their emotions. Everyone feels everything differently, but I've never seen color unless I'm searching for the crests. They had a color."
Tai nodded before leaning on the wall next to her and closing his eyes. He sought out all the different colors he had identified before, and thought what he wanted to say to them.
We need to meet. Follow your digivices to me so that we can come up with a new plan.
The message sent he opened his eyes and looked around. He hoped the others had heard him, but it would rely on them believing him to see if it had worked. Izzy was the first to arrive, though that could have been because he was already on his way. But it was his comment that made Tai smile in a self-satisfied way.
"You didn't need to call after me Tai. I was already on my way."
Joe, Mimi and Sora were the next to arrive, all three of them looking at Tai curiously, and then Matt and TK arrived with TK rushing up to Tai and asking him how he had talked into their minds because it was awesome and he wanted to be capable of doing it as well. Izzy stared at Tai like he wanted to dissect his brain, which was kind of creepy, but the others looked apologetic for doubting his claim to telepathy to intrigued at the possibilities telepathy would give them.
"So, we're all lost," Matt began to break the awkward atmosphere in the group.
"My theory is Myotismon has set up these optical illusions to deter us from finding the gate," Izzy theorised.
"Well, I'd say he succeeded," Tai quipped. "We're still as lost as we were before we started!"
"All we've done so far is go round and round in circles and we don't know up from down," Sora complained.
"It's making me dizzy," Joe agreed.
"Huh?" Gomamon suddenly interrupted, his ears directed away from the group.
"What's up?" Joe asked him
"Someone's coming," Gomamon identified.
"You sure?"
"You doubt me?" Gomamon asked his partner. Tai pulled Jade off the wall so that they could duck down out of sight as a mass of digimon walked passed them on another walkway. They appeared to be walking on the roof, and while it irritated Izzy that he couldn't figure out how the optical illusion worked, it concerned the others because it meant that Myotismon was finally making a move to leave the Digital World.
"They seem to know we're they're going," Matt observed.
"Maybe we should try to follow them," Sora agreed.
"They'll lead us to the right place," Tai decided. "Let's go everyone. We're running out of time."
The digidestined and Jade ended up at the top of an extremely steep staircase, and while it was with relief that they realized it was downhill from there on, they could hear Myotismon preaching to his forces far below. They started to run.
"I shall now be embarking on a journey to another world," Myotismon was saying. "There are forces that need to be neutralized before our victory here will be complete. But never fear, I shall return in triumph."
A cheer went up from what equated to his army, and the children ran as fast as they could without tripping and rolling the rest of the way down.
"It's time to stand back and watch me work my magic," Myotismon declared. "Open the gate to my destiny!"
There was a loud groan, and Jade gasped as her feet faltered on the step. Tai caught her before she could hit the ground, but all Jade did was order them to go faster because the Gateway was open.
"Company move!" a female voice ordered. Jade wondered if it was Gatomon, the eighth digidestined's digimon partner, but hoped not because that meant that Myotismon had totally brainwashed her into forgetting her duty.
The group came into sight just as the last digimon entered the Gateway and Myotismon began to walk towards his carriage. The Gateway was massive, tall enough that a giant could walk through easily without banging his head, and possibly with another giant on his shoulders. The white light of the Gateway flooded the dark chamber with light, and through the Gateway Jade could just make out the different pathways possible.
"No," she breathed as she forced Tai to put her down. She ran faster. "You will not win!"
"You're not going anywhere!" Tai yelled to Myotismon. "Not as long as we can help it!"
"What is your name?" Myotismon asked him in annoyance. "Can't you see I'm busy at the moment? Find another dark digimon to fight against."
"Yeah, right!" Tai snapped back.
"Demidevimon, would you please take care of this annoying gang of hoodlums? I have better things to do," Myotismon ordered his servant still sitting next to the carriage.
"Of course sir, anything you want. I'm at your service," Demidevimon told him. He flew over to just in front of the children to block their way. "I'm not letting you get passed this gate."
"Fat chance you twerp!" Tai told him. "Agumon!"
"I brought reinforcements," Demidevimon boasted. "It's all yours Nanimon!"
"Right, don't even think about passing by me. You got it?" Nanimon told them as he and his collection of Numemon moved in front of them.
"Farewell, digi-doomed," Myotismon laughed as he traveled through the Gateway.
"Alright, let's fight!" Nanimon declared excitedly.
"We don't want to fight you guys but the future is at stake," Agumon told him sadly.
"You'll have to forgive us," Palmon agreed.
The digimon, aside from Patamon and Yokomon, digivolved into their Champion forms to tower over the small digimon in front of them. The Numemon ran off with a yell, leaving Nanimon on his own. Nanimon looked up at the five tall digimon with his mouth slightly open, before pulling out a white flag from nowhere and surrendering, much to Demidevimon's alarm.
"We're coming through!" Tai warned the two.
"Don't let me stand in your way!" Nanimon told them as he ran off.
"You might as well give up," Matt told Demidevimon.
"I'm outnumbered! Good help is so hard to find!" Demidevimon moaned.
"Just admit you picked the wrong side and give it a rest already," TK told him wisely.
"If you're trying to frighten me it won't work!" the little digimon stated bravely, while at the same time shaking in fear. Jade grinned as they started to push forward, but before they could go too far another presence made herself known.
"You haven't dealt with me yet!" Gatomon called from the front of the Gateway. Jade almost cried at the fact that Gatomon couldn't even recognize her fellow digimon partners, and felt glad that at least the small cat had some affection for Wizardmon as he would protect her. Gatomon charged at the Champion digimon, and with a few swipes of her claws and athletic leaps, she bested them all.
"That was too easy," Gatomon goaded. It probably didn't help that she was so small compared to her opponents, but she was playing with them and mocking their abilities.
"To the Gate, everyone!" Tai ordered while Gatomon was looking the other way. He grabbed Jade's hand and pulled her along behind him, though once she got her feet moving she was keeping pace with him.
"We've got to get through!" Sora cried desperately as she clutched Yokomon tighter to her chest. The other children ran after them, but even playing as she was, Gatomon saw them and saw fit to stop them.
"Hey! I don't think so!" Gatomon cried as she used the power of her tail ring to bring to life the Devidramon statues around the room. The three statues she brought to life landed in front of the fleeing children. Jade growled and threw a ball of fire at the nearest one. It recoiled with an angry screech as she had burnt his eyes, but his cry only encouraged the other two to attack them with everything they had.
"I don't think so!" Greymon cried as he leapt over the children to protect them. He and the Devidramon began to wrestle on the ground, but the other one used his hypnotizing power to freeze the other digimon. Gatomon knocked them down easily in their inability to move, before making her way to the Gateway before it closed.
"How about that for some awesome fighting?" Demidevimon asked them in delight. "We got you beat by a mile!"
"You haven't won yet!" Togemon told him as she rushed forward with her eyes closed and boxing gloves up. The cactus digimon pummeled into the Devidramon, freeing the others. Garurumon and Kabuterimon joined up with Greymon, and the three of them soon turned that Devidramon into ash, leaving nothing left. Jade flinched at the loss of life, but otherwise she kept running.
"The Gate's closing!" Tai realized in horror. This spurred the other children on, and encouraged Patamon to rush forward so that he could prevent Demidevimon from escaping.
"Move it you flying bean bag! I'm going through!" Demidevimon told him. Patamon said nothing but just attacked.
"Boom Bubble!"
"This way!" Tai decided as he pulled Jade along around one of the two remaining Devidramon. The second dropped down in front of them, effectively cutting them off from the Gateway. They were trapped.
"We're not going to make it," Jade realised in horror. She gathered more flames in her hands and pushed aside the Devidramon in front of them. But even as she attacked she knew that not all the children would get through before it closed.
"Come on, we have to make a run for it while we have the chance!" Matt cried, refusing to believe Jade. He was pulling TK behind him, and as Jade threw another fireball she decided that if some wouldn't get through in time, she would stay with them.
"Tai! Watch out!" Greymon roared. He leapt over the group and spear tackled the Devidramon about to jump on them. He digivolved into Metalgreymon and with two attacks his superior power defeated the last of the Devidramon.
"He did it! It's clear sailing from here!" Matt cheered.
"Come on everybody! Let's get through that gate!" Tai ordered.
As they ran, Patamon, who had kept Demidevimon from getting through, was blindsided by Gatomon when she joined in and sent him flying away from the Gateway. Demidevimon wasted no time in rushing through with a cry of relief, but Gatomon paused just before going in so that she could get the last word.
"Sorry, but you're too late," she stated with an evil grin. "We'll miss you in Japan."
"No Gatomon!" Jade cried. "Don't do it! Myotismon is just going to kill you."
"I'm his most loyal digimon," Gatomon bragged.
"No," Jade whispered sadly. "You're not."
"We're almost there!" Tai encouraged the others. Jade stopped running and started to walk. She knew what was about to happen but not even her power could keep the Gateway opened when it was almost closed.
"Goodbye!" Gatomon waved before she turned and disappeared. The Gateway closed with a bang behind her, but not before Gatomon awakened another group of Devidramon for them to fight against. Tai, still running as fast as he could, crashed into the now closed doors and bounced back into the arms of the others.
"Oh no!" he breathed in horror.
"This cannot be happening!" Sora agreed, her own eyes wide. Tai forced the others to let go of him as he began to bang on the door.
"No! Open up! Open! This can't be!"
Tai started to cry in defeat, his fists hitting to door over and over again. The others didn't try to stop him, so Jade reached out and wrapped her small hands around his arm. He looked at her with such defeat that she knew she needed to fix him, give him something to work towards.
"This isn't the only gate to the Human World," she told him, and the others who were close enough to listen. "Gennai will know where the nearest one is, or he will know how to open this one. We need to get to him, and soon."
"Right," Tai agreed. He rested his hand on Jade's head. "Metalgreymon, we need a way out of here!"
"One exit coming right up!" Metalgreymon agreed. His attack blasted a hole through the nearest wall before his energy ran out and he de-digivolved to Koromon. Tai darted forward and caught him before he could hit the ground before continuing to run through the new door. The others ran off behind him and as soon they were rushing though the castle to the outside world. As soon as they were free of the castle they ran as fast as they could back to where they started. The only stop that they made was for when TK tripped and Matt stopped to pick him up and put him on his back.
"This way guys!" Jade called as she veered off from the group. "We'll be caught if we go back to the castle wall!"
"Where are we going?" TK asked.
"The forest!"
"Why there?" Mimi asked even as she started to follow her.
"Because there we can hide from the forces that Myotismon left and get into contact with Gennai!"
No more questions sprung up as they ran, but as soon as they were in the clear they staggered to a stop and struggled to catch their breaths. Jade punched a tree in frustration, but only once for she turned and leaned against the tree just after that, her arms crossed in her annoyance.
"We were too slow," Tai summed up with equal frustration to Jade.
"So you didn't make it through then?" Gennai suddenly said as his projection appeared in the middle of them.
"Nope," Jade said for the others.
"Myotismon has shut the gate," Gennai gathered. "You can't follow him now."
"Listen pops, you've got to help us get through that gate," Matt said, angry. TK was still on his back. "The eighth kid will be doomed if we don't."
"And that isn't all," Sora added. "If that rotten creep goes on a rampage in the Human World, lots of innocent people will get hurt."
"There must be some way that we can open the gate again," Tai moaned as he kicked the dirt.
"Well of course there is," Gennai told him.
"No kidding?" Tai stated with hope in his voice.
"How then?" Sora asked in a calmer tone of voice.
"Any door will be opened with the right keys," Gennai said in a mystifying way.
"Oh, don't be so mysterious Gennai!" Tai ordered.
"Follow me to my house and I will explain everything," Gennai told him.
"Your house?" Jade asked.
"Where's that?" Koromon questioned.
"Look above you," Gennai ordered. His projection disappeared for a few seconds as he did something they couldn't see before returning again.
"What kind of directions are those?" Mimi asked baffled.
"Very good ones if you'll just listen."
"Huh?" everyone asked.
"Keep looking and you shall see it," Gennai said easily. Their eyes traveled up as they looked for a sign or something. Jade had never been to Gennai's house, having just assumed that he lived in the lab. Though, the lab was probably destroyed now thanks to Piedmon so Gennai would have needed somewhere else to live.
"There, a search light," Matt discovered, pointing his hand towards the beam of light that was traveling to and fro across the sky.
"Sorry, I ran out of maps," Gennai told him. "Follow the light, you can't miss it."
"Excellent," Tai muttered as he stepped towards their new destination.
"Snack time for me!" Gennai said in delight as he faded from sight. Jade giggled and jumped to follow Tai. The others were quick to join them, not wanting to be left behind, but no one spoke as they traveled. They were all much too tired and hungry and depressed to do so. Of course, by the time they got to the location of the search light, voices of disbelief were started up. The light was coming from the center of a wide lake.
"Looks like we are going to be swimming," Joe deadpanned.
"My hat! My beautiful hat!" Mimi cried in horror as she clutched at her pink hat.
"Either we got our directions really wrong," Matt began. "Or Gennai's house is in the middle of a lake."
"So that's why I never found it," Izzy mused to himself.
"So how do we get in?" Joe asked curiously.
"I can check it out!" Gomamon told him as he dove into the water before resurfacing. "This water is amazing!"
Just then the water started to bubble and light up. From the search light a beam of light shot towards the shore where they were standing, and the water disappeared.
"It wasn't me!" Gomamon defended as each child and digimon looked at him. He was now sitting on a set of stairs that disappeared into the lake. It was a path of some kind.
"Steps?" Tai muttered. Jade appeared closer to his side and grabbed his shirt. She really didn't feel comfortable walking down a path surrounded by water. Tai rested his arms across her shoulders in comfort.
"They go all the way into the lake," Palmon observed.
"They must lead to Gennai's place," Matt stated.
"Well, what are we waiting for?" Tai asked them. "Let's go down."
He and Jade ended up leading the group, and the others followed quickly if they separated again. TK complained that the path was slippery, and Jade agreed but she was holding onto Tai so that she wouldn't fall. TK was struggling on his own. Mimi brought up the rear of the group with Gomamon, her hands still holding onto her hat as she stared at the schools of fish that would swim by either side of them.
From up ahead they were able to make out a house, and Jade gasped in delight as she saw it. She let go of Tai as soon as they were off the steps and started to run through the garden, ignoring as her friends called out to her, but she had seen the person she wanted to.
"Gennai!" she cried as he turned from the little bridge in his garden. He smiled when he saw her and she rushed up to him to fling her arms around his neck. He hugged her back just as tightly before turning to the children and their partners.
"It's good to see you made it here safely," he told them.
"It's the real Gennai," Izzy stated in awe.
"He shorter than I imagined," Gabumon muttered.
"I got old, Gabumon," Gennai told him, proving that his hearing was better than his memory. He was only just a little taller than Jade, because he had previously towered over her.
"So tell us, how come you're always hiding?" Tai asked to spare Gabumon becoming embarrassed at being overheard.
"I'm not," Gennai protested as he gestured for Jade to walk back to the others so that he could follow her.
"Well you could have come in person, but you always used projections, right?" Tai clarified.
"It's just a show to impress you," Gennai admitted.
"What kind of person are you anyway?" Joe asked.
"A human? Or some kind of digimon?" TK elaborated.
"That is not important," Gennai told the two of them.
"How come you call us the digidestined?!" Mimi asked very loudly. Jade winced and rubbed her ears.
"Easy, I'm old but I'm not deaf," Gennai told the girl in pink. "You were chosen to save this world and your own."
"But just how were we chosen? Why us?" Matt asked.
"Yeah, we only signed up for summer camp," Sora continued.
"That is all you need to know for now. Come inside," Gennai gestured, linking his arm with Jade's as he moved. "The most important thing is to return to your world and find the eighth child."
"We're in more trouble than that," Jade whispered to him. "Myotismon is using the eighth digimon to hunt for the eighth child."
"Is that why Wizardmon was at the castle?" Gennai asked equally quiet.
"He's protecting her until the eighth child's identity is revealed."
"You could try to get in contact with Michael or Akili," Gennai muttered. "They would remember who we picked."
"You've been here too long," Jade scolded him.
"A couple of millennia isn't that long," Gennai reassured her. "Besides, I'm never bored."
He led the group inside and they all sat at a table while he went off to prepare a presentation for them. TK rushed over to the window to stare at the fish while they waited, but Jade gratefully sat down on the soft cushions and rested her head on her crossed arms on the table. Tai collapsed next to her, followed by the others, and they all reveled in the fact that they could rest without anyone trying to attack them.
"The fish are so pretty," Mimi observed with a sigh.
"But those are porgies and flounder," Joe identified. "They're salt water fish."
"I built them a few years after I moved here," Gennai explained as he re-entered the room they were in. "I got lonely, and robots are a specialty of mine."
"Is that because Andromon is your partner?" Koromon asked. "Jade showed me a photo of you when you were younger, and the first generation digidestined's digimon."
"You were a digidestined?" Tai asked in disbelief.
"He was one of the original five," Jade spoke up as she lifted her head. "Though, the original digidestined didn't come from Japan alone."
"I came from Brazil," Gennai elaborated. "But I have not been back in the Human World since the Great War between Lucemon and the powers of darkness."
"Could you tell us about it?" Izzy asked with great interest.
"Maybe later," Gennai promised. "Now, observe closely."
A map of the Human World rolled down from where it had been hidden and Gennai raised a fan as he zoomed in section by section to a specific point on the map.
"That's Japan," Joe said at the first zoom in.
"And that's Tokyo," Mimi said for the second.
"And that's the Nerima District!" Tai concluded as the last shot appeared. There was a red circle right on the centre of the picture.
"It's also where Myotismon now is," Gennai told him with a nod. The children all gasped, and Matt slammed his hands on the table in alarm. Tai turned to look at him and asked him what was wrong.
"That's a mile from where we live," Matt told him.
"He's in Hikarigaoka," Tai agreed. "He must think that the eighth child is there."
"So you are keeping an eye on the Human World," Jade mused as she stared at the screen.
"Not as close an eye as you probably would like for me to have," Gennai told her as he left the room. Jade jumped up and followed him, the others quickly following her to a room of hundreds on little draws. Gennai used a ladder to get to one of the shelves at the top, while Jade pulled out a draw nearest to the ground in curiosity. She discovered a draw full of photos of Gennai when he was younger with the other digidestined. What surprised her, however, was that the young image of Gennai had a very familiar pair of goggles around his neck. With a smile she shut the draw and turned to look at the old man.
"You've become a hoarder," she identified.
"I have not," Gennai told her with a frown. "Not all these draws have my belongings in them. There are also gifts from digimon, keys, if I may use the term, to go anywhere I want, and a new project I'm working on."
"Can I hear it?"
"Maybe later," Gennai promised. "You have bigger problems at the moment."
"We do," Tai agreed from where he was standing with the others somewhat impatiently. "Please tell us how to open the gate back to our world!"
"You certainly are impatient," Gennai remarked. "Keep your goggles on my young friend. You'll need these."
"Check 'em out!" Matt cried as ten cards were placed on the ground in front of them. They crowded around to look at them, and Jade tilted her head in curiosity. Each card had one digimon on it, and she was familiar with all of them except for one: Shogungekomon, Drimogemon, Kuwagamon, Gazimon, Elecmon, Agumon, Digitamamon, Andromon, Unimon and Gomamon.
"Digimon key cards," Tai stated.
"There's one of me!" Gomamon pointed out happily.
"And one of me as Agumon!" Koromon added.
"But what are they for?" Mimi asked
"And how do they help us open the Gate?" Tai asked again.
"Do you remember seeing nine holes in the slate in front of the gate?" Gennai asked them all as a group. Jade thought back and vaguely recalled Myotismon standing near a stone slate in the middle of the room. She hadn't gotten a close look at it, and so couldn't remember what was on it.
"Um…yes, there was!" Izzy remarked as he too, remembered the slate.
"You need to place these cards into the holes."
"But you gave us one card too many," Izzy pointed out. "There are ten cards here."
"There's one card I'm not sure of that's mixed in," Gennai admitted sheepishly.
"Which hole do we use for each?" Tai asked curiously.
"Well…I forgot."
"That would be too easy," Joe moaned as his and everyone else's shoulders slumped in disappointment.
"How many cards combinations do you have in those draws?" Jade asked.
"Oh, about…seven, I think," Gennai said gaily. "I haven't needed them for a while, but I did accidentally mix two sets together once and I couldn't remember which card went with the second set, so I just kept them together for someone else to deal with."
"Oh well, we'll just put the cards in a random order and go with that," Tai suggested.
"You can't do that!" Gennai cried in horror. The old man continued to scold Tai from a distance, shaking his finger in his face. "If you do you'll get thrown into a completely different world. There's also the danger that you won't be completely restored on the other side!"
"What do you mean?" Mimi asked, staring at Tai in concern as he was harshly scolded. Gennai cleared his throat and tried to explain to Mimi the possibilities, and Jade had to restrain herself from laughing out loud. She knew that there was a danger if the combination was wrong, but Gennai's scenario seemed really unlikely.
"In other words…you might switch skin with the person or digimon you went through with."
"NOOOOO!" Mimi screamed in horror.
"That's why, unlike Myotismon who did this by speaking an incantation," Gennai began, doing his best to talk over Mimi's continued screaming. "You will need to solve this with your own abilities."
"But there are so many things that are unknown to us," Joe protested.
"You must learn to use your powers, like Myotismon is using his," Gennai told him seriously as he started to pick up the cards. He handed them to Tai. "Tomorrow I'll teach you the proper usage of the cards. Relax and enjoy yourselves tonight. The enemy won't find you here."
Jade grinned and ran off to the bedroom and pulled out a futon from the cupboard for her to use. There were still another dozen or so in the cupboard, and she knew that the others wouldn't begrudge her own bed for the night. She found a nice corner and spread out the futon, pulled off her sandals and backpack, her shirt and her skirt, and slid under the covers. By the time the others joined her, having followed at a slower pace, she was comfortable and warm.
"Gosh Jade, that was fast," Sora teased as she set up her own futon next to her. She and Biyomon would be sharing. Jade grinned at her before diving down deeper with a laugh.
"Sleep well tonight everyone," Tai ordered as he set up his futon across from Jade. "Tomorrow, we're going home."
The following morning Jade was awake first. She managed to fold up her futon, sneak out of the room, wash up next to the stream outside, which was weird for her as they were still underwater, and cooked breakfast for the others to eat once they surfaced from sleep, without waking anyone. Gennai looked in on her once, wondering what she was doing, but didn't interrupt her. He did, however, give her a slip of paper with several numbers on them as well as names and addresses.
"What are these?" she asked as she put them into her bag.
"Akili and Michael's contact details, for help with finding the eighth digidestined," Gennai explained as he turned to leave. "But remember, Akili lives in Kenya and Michael lives in America. The phone bill will probably be high so be careful whose phone you use."
Jade nodded and returned to cooking. Out of everything she did for her relatives, cooking was the thing she enjoyed the most…as long as her aunt wasn't looking over her shoulder and criticising everything she was doing. She had the food on the table and served shortly after that, and the smell awakened the others as they appeared not long after to see what was on the table.
"Wow," TK breathed as he rubbed sleep out of his eyes. "Did you make this Jade?"
"Yep!" Jade said proudly as she sat down. "I don't normally get to eat my food, so this will be pretty cool. I have no idea what it tastes like, but Gennai seemed to like it."
"I'm starving!" Joe announced as he entered. "Food!"
With that he fell on the prepared food like a dying animal, and the others joined him so that they would be able to eat something before he devoured it all. Izzy sat next to Jade and was finally able to ask what had bugged him since the previous day.
"When you were talking about Lucemon yesterday, you mentioned something about the Human and Magical Worlds," he began. "What is the Magical World?"
"Pretty much exactly what it sounds like," Jade said after she swallowed a mouthful of food. "On Earth there is a group of people who call themselves witches and wizards, and they hide in what they call the Wizarding World. They use their magic to stay hidden but have pretty much stagnated in the Dark Ages. According to Tom, the British 'wizards' still use quills and candles and have no idea what computers are."
"You mean, magic exists?" Sora choked out.
"Of course," Jade said seriously. "Granted, it's only since my memories returned and Tom explained it all to me that I started to believe it as well. I'm pretty sure my relatives know about magic, that would be why they hate me, as they've told me every day since I arrived at their house that magic didn't exist."
"What about in Japan?" Joe asked with a mouthful of food.
"Tom never went to Japan," Jade admitted, not showing how disgusted she was seeing the food in Joe's mouth. "He was more concerned with taking over England than visiting other magical cultures. Why?"
"I got an invite to a magic school last summer," Joe continued, this time after swallowing. "My parents turned down the invite, and I thought it was a hoax, but since coming here I guess I started to consider that it might not have been."
"Wow Joe, why don't you eat the bones too?" Sora asked as she stared at his thoroughly cleaned plate.
"I was hungry," Joe protested. "I'm a growing boy!"
"I would talk with your parents when you get home," Jade suggested. "Admittedly, I don't know much about the Magical World, and I'm not exactly excited about attending a magical school so backwards that it would feel like I was going back in time every time I went to school."
At that moment Gennai entered the room with a smile and Izzy's laptop in his hands. Jade grinned at him and dropped the topic of conversation so that she could pay attention to the former leader of the digidestined.
"Good morning all," he greeted.
"Morning!" everyone greeted in return.
"Izzy, I completed the changes to your computer," Gennai said as he handed over the laptop. "When you insert someone's digivice into this adapter, the information of all the digimon that its owner has met will be added to the Analyzer. I've also installed several new programs. Take a look at the manual when you have time."
"Thank-you!" Izzy told him as he slid the laptop into his bag.
"It might be tough for you, digidestined, but you must always have faith in your abilities. Never forget that," Gennai told the rest on them.
"I'll never forget this stomach ache," Joe moaned as he dropped his head on the table. "Jade, your food is too good."
"Joe! This is serious!" Sora scolded him even as Jade blushed at his compliment.
"I've done all I can do, I can no longer help you once you return to Myotismon's castle," Gennai stated apologetically. "Now go, children, and good luck!"
"Gennai, wait a minute," Jade called after him as he disappeared. She ran after him as she allowed the digidestined to prepare for their departure. "Could you keep an eye on Tom for me? He's repairing the damage he caused in the Shadow World, but I'll still be gone a while."
"I'll do what I can," Gennai promised. "And, if you run into the digidestined of Compassion in Japan, could you remind her 'once a digidestined, always a digidestined'? And that Guilmon misses her a lot."
"Sure," Jade agreed. "Take care of yourself old man."
"You too, Little Princess."
"This place looks even scarier than it did the first time," Joe announced as they walked along the outside of the castle. Tai looked up at the dark walls without saying anything, though his hand holding onto Jade's tightened just a bit more. Jade looked at him and tightened her hand in response. This time, she would ensure that they got through.
At the entrance to the castle the children and digimon looked inside to see two Devidramon pacing the halls, guarding the entrance. Jade sent out her empathy to look for more digimon inside the castle, and down near the Gateway was a group of digimon in wait. She nodded to herself, those she could look after on her own.
"How do we get past the Devidramon?" Izzy asked quietly.
"Leave that to me! I'll take them out while you go in," Tentomon volunteered. Tai looked over his shoulder at Izzy, who was looking at him as if asking permission, and nodded his agreement to that plan. Tentomon then digivolved all the way to his Ultimate level, Megakabuterimon, and as the children and other digimon ran into the castle, Megakabuterimon attacked.
"Now! While he's distracting them!" Izzy cried as they ran faster. Jade took the lead as they entered the space warp, and as they were running across the roof there was another explosion and the group fell to the stairs that had originally been above them. As Jade looked up from where she was under TK and Gabumon, she noted that no one was hurt beyond a few bruises from where they had hit the stairs. She pushed TK off her gently and smiled at him to show no hard feelings.
"Motimon!" Izzy cried as his digimon partner made his way bouncing down the stairs. He caught the In-training digimon easily.
"How was I?" Motimon asked.
"You fixed the warp in space!" Izzy told him in delight.
"Come on! Let's get to the Gate!" Tai ordered. "Lead on Jade!"
Jade saluted and then started to run. It was easier now that she didn't need to navigate through the space warp, but it still took a good couple of minutes of running to get to the hole Metalgreymon had made the day before and then rush over to the Gateway. As the children stopped running to get out the cards Tai had in his pocket, Jade looked around the back of the Gateway and noted that it was a free-standing door. It really was pretty cool, and she wondered who had had it commissioned.
"We've got to figure out the pattern in these cards!" Tai stated as he made groups of the cards on the ground. Jade skipped over so she could look as well.
"A clue?" Sora asked.
"Good one…bad one…funky one?" Tai suggested, pointing to different combinations he had thought of.
"Maybe…rookie, champion and ultimate?" Joe guessed.
"Or could it be small one, medium one, big one? How can we be sure? And we still don't have a clue about which card is the fake one," Matt stated.
"Maybe it's where they live. Water, or land…?" Sora suggested.
"How about colors?" Jade asked. "There are three colors: red, blue and green. Maybe they're in groups?"
"Maybe number of syllables in their names?" Mimi added as well.
"What's the matter?" Motimon asked Izzy as the boy walked away from the group to look at the stone slate.
"…A–gu–mon makes three…" Mimi was muttering as she stared at the cards.
"Since Myotismon opened the gate with magic, the pictures on the slate must also have something to do with magic," Izzy told his partner. Jade scurried over to where he was, and finally got a look at the slate that was so important. The slate was set up in a grid, with three images across the top: a lion, an archer, and a monkey; and down the side were groups of stars: one star, then two stars, then three stars. The nine slots corresponded to an image and a star, though Jade had never seen anything like it before.
"…An-dro-mon…it still doesn't fit!" Mimi cried, still trying to see a pattern "Izzy, what are you looking at?"
"I've seen these marks from occult pages on the internet," Izzy told her, calling over his shoulder without moving his eyes from the slate. "The lion and the archer are from the twelve zodiac constellations. But the monkey isn't a part of it. Also, these stars…"
"Do you know what they mean?" Motimon asked.
"No…but there must be some significance behind them," Izzy muttered. Jade nodded, but she didn't answer for at that moment the castle around them started to shake and small rocks started to fall from the ceiling far above them.
"Matt, what's that sound?" TK asked fearfully.
"I don't know," Matt admitted.
"It sounds like something awful," Mimi added as she backed up closer to the group.
"I'll go check it out," Patamon cried as he flew off from TK's arms.
"Come on guys, we have to figure out the cards," Tai called to bring their attention back to something more important.
"What's the point? We'll never unlock the Gate," Joe said pessimistically.
"Don't even say that Joe!" Sora ordered.
"Even if we put the cards in the holes so they look right, we have no way of knowing if we got it right until it's too late," Joe told her reasonably.
"We have to try Joe," Matt argued.
"Something tells me we don't have much time!" Tai stated as he shuffled the cards again to come up with another combination that could work.
"We have trouble!" Patamon informed them all as he returned. "The castle's crumbling!"
"What?"
"It has to be my fault! I broke the ceiling earlier!" Motimon moaned.
"It's not your fault," Jade told him sternly. "It's Myotismon's for building it in such an unstable way."
"Anyway, all the passages are blocked!" Patamon continued.
"That means we can't go back the way we came in," Matt realized. "We're trapped!"
"Now we have to open the Gate," Izzy stated. "One of us has to choose nine cards and put them in the holes, and that will be that!"
"Tai," Joe decided instantly. Jade looked up sharply in confusion.
"Me?" Tai asked him with wide eyes.
"Yeah, it's your call," Joe agreed.
"Mine, why is up to me?" Tai asked again with a little more alarm than before.
"I'm not saying I don't want the responsibility," Joe reassured him. "It's because I believe in you."
"What?" Tai gaped.
"Me too!" Matt agreed. "In times like this, we should follow the leader's decision."
"Hey! Since when did I become the leader?!"
"Do you remember when you were gone Tai?" Matt questioned him. "We fell apart without you around. And after all that weren't you the one that got us back together again?"
"That was…just by coincidence!"
"Just do it Tai!" Mimi cried as she wrapped her arms around her body.
"Mimi?" Sora asked her in concern.
"You've never let us down before," Mimi continued. "And aside from that one time when you went a bit off the deep end, you've been there for all of us to make sure that we're alright and have enough to eat. You've led us since the beginning, it's just time that you realise that we all believe in you."
"Yeah, we have to believe in our friends," Sora agreed. "Remember what Gennai said?"
"Yeah, he said to believe in our power," Matt remembered. "You believe don't you Tai?"
"Maybe," Tai said weakly.
"Come on, we've gone through a lot of weird stuff already," Joe reminded him. "If we hadn't stuck together we never would have beaten Seadramon."
"Or smashed Tyrannomon," Matt added.
"Or escaped from Toy Town," Mimi agreed.
"And I'd still be making French fries in Vegimon's diner if you hadn't saved me," Joe concluded.
"Even if we end up in a different world, we'll still be together," TK stated happily.
"You can do it Tai!" they all told him. Jade smiled up at him, happy that he was getting the belief and acceptance that he needed. She knew that he hadn't really believed it before, but having all the examples of his leadership and their teamwork thrown in his face, he was finally being forced to accept just how important he was.
"Alright!" Tai agreed. The castle around them continued to crumble, but Tai just grabbed the cards and shuffled them as he looked at the Gateway. Jade could sense the other digimon she had felt earlier coming closer, so she moved slightly off to the side of the group so that she could attack first and spare them the drama.
"I want to make sure of this one more time, will you guys really follow my decision?" Tai asked as he turned around to look at them again. "That whatever I say is the best way and you're all willing to go along with it?"
"Yes," everyone nodded.
"Well, I've decided I want Izzy to do it," Tai revealed.
"What? You do? Why me?" Izzy protested.
"If that's what Tai thinks then I accept that!" Mimi agreed instantly.
"Me too," Matt added, ignoring Izzy's stuttering. "Don't worry Izzy, Tai believes in you and so do the rest of us."
"But what happens if I'm wrong?"
"No one will blame you," Mimi reassured him.
"We all know you're the right one for the job Izzy," Tai stated. "Go for it."
"I still have no idea how this all fits together," Izzy mumbled as he stared at the slate.
"Maybe you could use your computer to help figure it out?" Motimon suggested.
"If I had access to the internet here, I would be able to ask people who know more about the occult…"
The digidestined waited behind Izzy, not one of them talking to that he could think without distractions. He opened up the Analyzer on his computer, and as he scanned through the digimon he had seen an idea came to him. He started to mumble to himself as he linked up a digimon with the images on the slate.
"Wait a minute…the horse, the lion, and the monkey! That's it!"
"Remember, all digimon are classified as data, virus or vaccine."
Gennai had spoken to him the night before, and their conversation had been about the digimon. It was like Gennai was hinting to the answer without actually giving it to him.
"Could it be?" Izzy muttered. He looked back at the others. "Who here has met up with Digitamamon and Shogungekomon?"
"I have!" Joe said as he raised his hand.
"Give me your digivice," Izzy requested. He quickly pulled up the two aforementioned digimon and thus his idea began to pan out. "Prodigious!"
"Did you figure it out?" Tai asked.
"I think I might have," Izzy told him as he drew in the dirt so that he could show his idea so that they would understand him. "Come on guys, check this out. The first three images: the lion, the archer and the monkey, would be Leomon, Centarumon and Etemon. In addition, there's one of each classification: Vaccine, Data, and Virus. The stars, starting at the top represent: Rookie, Champion and Ultimate. So now we can put all the cards in the right squares."
From left to right and top to bottom the cards now read:
(1 star) Gomamon/Agumon – Elecmon – Gazimon
(2 stars) Unimon – Drimogemon – Kuwagamon
(3 stars) Andromon – Digitamamon – Shogungekomon
"You did it Izzy!" Sora stated in delight as she stared at the cards.
"Good work, I knew you could do it!" Tai agreed.
"Wait a minute, not so fast, there are two cards here," Izzy protested as he pointed to the Gomamon and Agumon cards. "One of them is the fake but I don't know which one. So that's it. I'm sorry, but we still aren't certain where the Gate will open to."
"But we made it this far. You did great!" Joe told him as he stood up and applauded. Everyone followed his example and Izzy started to blush at their appreciation.
"Tai can do the rest," Sora told him.
"Okay, you did great Izzy," Tai stated with a smile. "Thanks!"
Just at that moment the oncoming digimon, Dokugumon, appeared and Jade leapt from the children so that she could fight. Dokugumon was a giant spider, and definitely evil to the core.
"Intruders in the castle have to be destroyed!" Dokugumon cried to her brethren. "Go get them!"
"Put the cards into the slate!" Jade ordered. "I've got this!"
"Wait! Jade!" Tai cried.
"Hurry, hurry, hurry…we're running out of time!" Koromon told his partner. Tai growled under his breath but still quickly dropped all but the first two cards where they belonged. He vaguely noted that Jade had been right, all the cards grouped into their colors. Behind him, Jade was blasting the smaller Dokugumon to pieces at a rapid rate so that they couldn't get to the children. Still, Gabumon and Palmon digivolved to help her and keep the children safe, and Jade looked at them gratefully before blasting the larger enemy. Her attack had little effect.
"Which one is it? Agumon or Gomamon?" Tai muttered desperately.
"Tai, hurry!" Mimi cried from his left shoulder.
"It doesn't matter which one!" Joe added from his other side.
Dokugumon used her poison thread attack to wrap up Garurumon, Togemon and Jade, before attacking them with a purple mist. The three of them screamed and Jade set herself on fire at the same time as Garurumon digivolved into Weregarurumon. The threads cut instantly, and Jade dropped to the ground with a thump. She shivered at the icky feeling the purple mist had given her, but otherwise glared upwards unaffected.
"Tai!" Mimi cried.
"Are you still choosing?!" Matt asked him in disbelief. Jade looked over her shoulder before running towards the group.
"Pick one!" Sora ordered. Jade leapt over the slate, grabbing the two cards and held them up to Tai so that he couldn't see which card he was picking. She ordered him to grab one.
"Alright! I've got it!" Tai decided. He pulled the Gomamon card from her hand. "This one! Open the Gate Gomamon!"
"Please?" Joe begged as he turned to face the Gateway.
"Open!" Mimi begged as well.
Jade spun around as the Gateway started to open, and cheers of delight echoed behind her.
"It's opening!" Sora cried.
"Alright!" TK cheered.
"Let's go!" Tai ordered. He lifted Koromon into his arms and pulled Jade along behind him as he ran. Jade turned back to the fight that was still going on between Dokugumon and Weregarurumon.
"Finish it Weregarurumon!" she ordered. "You have to leave now!"
With one last swipe of his claws Dokugumon was defeated. Catching the now de-digivolved Tsunomon, Matt ran as fast as he could to the Gateway just as it started to close. Jade grinned in delight as he got through just as it slammed shut, and then the eight of them and the seven digimon were rocketing through a tunnel of light.
They were going home.
I love you guys, I really do. I'm hoping to get season 1 done before my muse disappears. Next chapter will be the digidestined back in the Human World, and your guesses as to who the Digidestined of Compassion is made me smile. I guess I wasn't as obvious as I thought I was. A clue, before I reveal the identity: the Digidestined of Compassion is female. Another few more chapters and I will reveal who she is!
Answers to questions:
KhaalidaNyx: Yes, haven't decided yet, probably not, and in the future he will.
Dark Neko 4000: Wizardmon's partner was Lily Potter, and she's already dead. He has decided his fate.
Gaikinglord100: Good guess, but no XD
Wicken25: It would be awesome, but he's not I'm afraid. Good ideas though, which I may use later...
Orez Lanrete: Good guess, but no.
Liedral: I love your questions. Yes, Tom's power is related to the Shadow World and his soul. He will absorb them, but not yet. Once the Digital World is back under control he will be able to go hunting. He doesn't have the luxury of being able to disappear for a few years. Once the timeline is fixed he'll be able to, and will.
Next up in Intertwined Destinies:
Chapter 21: Home at Last