DarkFoxKit: Well, we managed to get another chapter on time.
ZAFT: That we have, but I have two doctor's appointments one after another in October. One for routine :bloodwork, one for a routine physical. I hate the former, mostly due to needing to do the whole fasting thing… XP
DarkFoxKit: Oof, I don't know how well I'd do with fasting. I'm such a big eater.
ZAFT: I need to eat something or my blood sugar drops and I get all shaky and whatnot. Luckily, the appointments for that are early in the morning, so it's not too bad. If it was later, like around lunch or so, I'd be cranky and irritable.
DarkFoxKit: I can imagine. But now let's get into the story.
(Two symbols, one red, and one blue, spin before colliding and flaring with light as they do so, showing the title)
Digital Phantom!
(Shows several forms in shadow before they are revealed to be Danny Fenton and Patamon, Sam Manson, Tucker Foley, Takuya Kanbara, Andy Fenton and Lopmon, and Jazz Fenton)
Falling into destiny
(A swirling green portal is shown, followed by the sky and cities of the living world before a computer monitor is zoomed in on, revealing another world of lush greenery through that)
Reaching across new boundaries
(Andy Fenton appears with Jazz beside him. Takuya Kanbara appears behind him as well, the form of Agunimon appearing behind Takuya himself)
Let our stories come together
(Andy is shown with the form of Phantom beside him, his twin brother Danny Fenton behind the ghost boy)
Growing stronger
(Andy looks on at Phantom fighting before running to help the ghost boy by taking out his Fenton Rod)
Our pasts intertwine
(Six glowing orbs of light are shown, each of a different color (red, teal, lavender, dark purple, white, and yellow) before the red orb speeds towards Takuya)
Showing our future
(Takuya holds up his D-Tector before fractal code surrounds him, dissipating as fire erupts from it, revealing him as Agunimon, lunging out from the fire as Plasmius fires off ecto-rays at him, only for a glowing orange orb to appear around Agunimon and deflect the beams)
As we evolve
(The blasts speed past the screen as Tucker is shown with a Fenton Wrist ray being fired at a ghost, Kokuwamon shown behind him)
Let's go… EVOLUTION
(Sam is shown with her Fenton Lipstick, firing it at a different ghost, with Biyomon shown behind her)
As our worlds collide
(Jazz is shown beside Andy, the form of Lopmon behind Andy while a shadowed form is behind Jazz)
We stand as one
(Jack and Maddie Fenton are shown, with the Fenton Works logo behind them as it glows green)
Growing strong
(Ghosts are shown flying all around Amity Park as the shadowy form of Walker is shown atop a building and sneering down)
As we move along
(Danny is shown walking down the street with those closest to him appearing one by one; Andy and Lopmon, Patamon, Tucker, Sam, Takuya, and Jazz)
CHOU… SHINKA!
(Fractal code is shown before it dissipates to reveal Agunimon lunging out of the dissipating data, fire around his left fist)
Let's go… EVOLUTION!
(The group is shown facing down Plasmius, who looms above them with hands outstretched as a dark form appears behind Plasmius himself)
Nothing will stand in our way!
(Andy, Lopmon, Danny, Tucker, Sam, Jazz, and Takuya all appear with ribbons of fractal code streaming out from behind them, a swirling green orb behind the ribbons of fractal code)
Digital Phantom!
Chapter 53: Working with Warriors
"Okay, I think it's time we did something before Danny explodes," Takuya decided. "We need to find Andy, Valerie, and Jazz before we can do anything else."
"And how are we going to do that?" Sam asked.
"We do what we did last time and split up. Look for information, then see if we can find them," Takuya stated.
"I don't know, the last time we split up, we ended up losing Andy and Lopmon," Tucker sighed.
"But then what can we do? It seems splitting up is a bad idea if we end up losing people from our group." Sam groaned.
"You split up into small groups before, right?" Tommy asked.
"Yeah?" Danny replied, deciding that even though Tommy was the youngest one of the group, he seemed to be about as smart as Andy, so it may be in their best interest to listen to him.
"Maybe we should split up into big groups this time," Tommy suggested.
"Like… 3 groups for each since there's six of us? Well, not counting the Digimon partners?" Dash asked.
"Wow, didn't know you could do math…" Tucker muttered.
"Hey, I can at least do basic math," Dash grumbled.
"No, groups of 3 is still a bit too small," Tommy said.
"Then what do you suggest? I don't think our partners should split up from us, we kinda need them," Sam questioned.
"And we'd rather not split up from you guys either," Biyomon added.
"We don't have to be the only ones looking for them," Tommy answered. "I know at least one other person who must be looking for Jazz too. And it's likely she's told the others about Jazz, and I guess me, missing as well by now. I'm sure they'll want to help, right, Takuya?"
Takuya's eyes went wide. "Of course… If we can get them to help, it will be so much easier!"
"Who are you talking about?" Danny asked.
"Um… there are others like me…" Takuya began. "They… have the same ability I do."
"You mean… the other Legendary Warriors?" Tucker realized.
"You think they'll want to help us?" Danny questioned.
"I mean… I wouldn't put it past them to want to help…" Takuya admitted. "I… do believe it would help us if they did. They do have a duty to help those in the Digital World, and if Jazz is missing, they will do what they can to find her."
"Hmm… what do you think, guys?" Danny asked, he had never met with the other Legendary Warriors, and the most he heard from them was that they attacked his brother before. Granted, so did Takuya, but still, he knew Takuya.
"I'd say it might be our best bet. If Takuya trusts that these other Legendary Warriors could help us find them, then that'll make it easier for us," Tucker said.
"I have to agree with that. And the Legendary Warriors can traverse the Digital World a lot quicker than we can," Kokuwamon agreed.
"And they know this place better than we do, if anyone can find Jazz, it'd be them," Sam added.
"Besides, Tommy has a good point, it'd be best if we stuck together to look for Andy and Valerie, especially if we have to go through that fog to find them," Biyomon said.
"Dash and I can take you to where Andy went… there's no guarantee the fog will take us to him, but it's better than blindly looking for him," Labramon remarked.
Takuya frowned. "I guess… But are you sure that's a good idea? The fog could separate us all from one another, we could end up in different areas for all we know."
"It's the only lead we've got," Dash said. "I feel responsible for letting him go with only Lopmon… so I'll be going this time too… I know it's risky, but… if I want to change for the better, I can't let my cowardice stop me."
Danny was surprised to hear that from Dash, it sounded like Dash really cared about Andy. That wasn't something he was used to. Though… he didn't dislike it.
"So wait… are all of us going to the fog, or is someone going to inform the other, non-rogue Legendary Warriors about this?" Sam asked.
Tommy looked at Takuya. "I think… it might be best if Takuya and I went to talk to the other Legendary Warriors."
Takuya blinked as he looked at Tommy.
"Why us?" Takuya asked.
"I know you want to find Andy too, but you can turn into a Legendary Warrior yourself. And you already know some of them, they're most likely to listen to you then anyone else here," Tommy pointed out. "And… I think it's best I go back with you. I want to look for Jazz too, she only got lost because she wanted to keep me safe… so I feel responsible for her too."
"Well… when you put it that way… I guess it would be best…" Takuya agreed.
"So… we're all in agreement then? Takuya and Tommy will gather the other human Legendary Warriors, while the rest of us try to find Andy and Valerie?" Danny asked.
The rest of the group nodded.
Takuya sighed. "Well, if you're going after Andy and Valerie… I just want you to be careful, okay guys?" I'd hate to have to look for all of you myself…
"We'll be fine, don't worry, you guys just make sure you find Jazz," Danny reassured.
"Hold on, did you say Takuya can become a Legendary Warrior?" Dash asked.
"Now's not the time for questions," Sam spoke up.
"Alright, I'll drop it for now, but I want answers when this is over." Dash replied.
"We better get moving soon," Tommy said. "The longer we wait, the more likely the others will be in danger."
"Right. Takuya… Tommy… I hope we'll see each other again soon," Danny said.
"And hopefully we'll be back with Andy and Valerie too," Tucker added.
"As well as Lopmon and Salamon of course," Biyomon chuckled.
"Best of luck everyone!" Labramon smiled.
Takuya and Tommy waved to the group as they began going their separate ways, hoping that they would be able to find the people they were looking for.
The trip to the Forest Terminal was a long one. Takuya had decided to carry Tommy while he used Agunimon's form to make it there quickly. If he and Tommy walked all the way, it would take them several days, and that was if nothing was slowing them down. But as Agunimon, he was able to move quickly, and take shortcuts, like jumping down cliffs to cut through them, saving them days worth of trips. It still took all day, it was pretty late at night by the time he reached the Forest Terminal. He put Tommy down before reverting back to Takuya.
Takuya took out some beef jerky in his backpack to munch on after the long trip.
"Wow, I'm impressed, Takuya. You were able to hold that form while moving all day," Tommy commented in awe.
"Well… there was a ghost invasion that took place back in Amity Park." Takuya began. "I wound up Spirit Evolving to help my cousin Danny, but… there were so many ghosts around… I… kinda… got stuck… as Agunimon… until the invasion was over…" He blushed a bit at that, embarrassed to admit it. "It's… a defense mechanism that kicked in…"
Takuya shook his head to clear his mind of his embarrassment before continuing. "But… I think that actually boosted my endurance for holding my Digimon form, since I don't feel as tired as I did when I first started using Agunimon's form for longer periods of time."
"Oh… huh… that must've been pretty hard on you," Tommy commented.
"Yeah… it was there that I saw…" Takuya hesitated as he looked around. This was where we met… "Kumamon."
Tommy frowned a little. "Is that so?"
"Yeah… I wonder if he's still around here?" Takuya frowned.
"Why? Are you hoping to hunt him down?" Tommy questioned.
Takuya hesitated before speaking again. "I… think I may have made a mistake about him…" He said softly. "I… I want to… find out… if he's…" The older boy hesitated, unsure of how to explain things. "I… I just want to find him…"
Tommy blinked, surprised by Takuya's tone of voice. He didn't sound like he wanted to hunt down Kumamon and extract vengeance on him like before. Instead, he sounded like he was… "Are you worried about Kumamon?"
Takuya nodded in response. "Yeah… If he's…" The boy trailed off again before shaking his head. "I… I just want to make sure he's okay…"
Tommy looked ahead for a moment, debating whether or not he should take that risk with Takuya. "Well… it's pretty late. The other Legendary Warriors could be asleep or not here right now… so maybe you could walk around and see if you could find him?"
Takuya looked at Tommy in surprise. "You… think Kumamon could really be around here?" That's odd… if Kumamon was around here, I'd have sensed him. "Why do you think that, Tommy?"
"I mean you say you mostly see him hanging around here, right? So it stands to reason he'd come back here after being in Amity Park for a bit, wouldn't he?" Tommy suggested, hoping that sounded like a valid reason. "I mean maybe he feels safe here?" Despite being attacked… a lot here…
Takuya looked down in thought. "That's… true. Seraphimon's castle is here, and this is a major place where the other Legendary Warriors come. So yeah, I can see why he would feel safer here." He agreed.
"Why don't you go ahead and look for him then? I can meet you at Seraphimon's Castle," Tommy suggested.
Takuya nodded. "Okay. I'll meet you there. Just be careful on your way to the castle."
If Takuya hadn't already known Tommy was able to take care of himself, somehow, then he would've insisted Tommy stayed with him. But Tommy had proven himself to be able to handle himself well enough that Takuya trusted the boy would be able to make it to the castle on his own from here.
"Where do you plan on looking for Kumamon by the way?" Tommy asked, mostly wanting to know where Takuya would start looking so he knew where to just 'conveniently appear'.
"I guess I'll start with the area where I first saw Kumamon, near the Forest Terminal's river." Takuya replied. "I'll make sure I get back to the castle as soon as I find out if Kumamon's okay."
"Heh, okay, maybe he's out taking fish again," Tommy chuckled as he began walking away.
Though as soon as Tommy was sure he was out of Takuya's sight, he quickly ran to the nearest tree and started making his way to the river where he and Takuya technically first met. This could be a good thing. If Takuya doesn't hate Kumamon… maybe we can really work together.
Takuya decided it would be best to evolve just so he could catch up to Kumamon if the smaller Digimon decided to run from him; despite his small size, Kumamon was still faster than a human.
Takuya took out his D-Tector and invoked his fractal code around his hand. Once he scanned it, the code became a cocoon before dissipating, revealing Agunimon in Takuya's place. Alright… time to start the search…
Agunimon made his way to the river. Though since he was faster than Tommy, he made it to the river before Tommy did. So he didn't see any sign of the white bear.
Tommy opened up the bushes and was surprised to see Takuya, as Agunimon, was already there. Oh great, I didn't think he'd Spirit Evolve right after having come all this way as Agunimon. It'd be kinda awkward to show up now…
"Where is he?" Agunimon wondered, with worry showing on his face. He didn't like the idea of Kumamon being out there alone, with no idea as to what, or who, he was, or whether or not he was a good guy or a bad guy.
After some debate, Tommy decided it might be a good idea if he showed up anyways. Before he took out his D-Tector, however, he stopped short when he saw Agunimon grabbing a fish out of the river. Then Agunimon held out a small fireball on the palm of his hand, holding the fish under it.
What's he doing? Tommy blinked.
After a few minutes, the fish was nice and smoked. The smell was making Tommy's mouth water.
Oh… I get it… he must be trying to lure me out. That is how we first met. Tommy realized. Heh, alright, guess I got the perfect excuse to why Kumamon suddenly shows up to Agunimon.
Tommy moved a little bit further away so Agunimon wouldn't see the glow of his evolution. Tommy summoned the fractal code on his hand, scanning it into his D-Tector, transforming him into Kumamon.
Now as Kumamon, Kumamon walked out of the bushes, revealing himself to Agunimon.
Agunimon looked up before he dismissed the fireball and held out the fish to Kumamon. He kept his face impassive, not wanting to scare off Kumamon.
"I see you're back in the Digital World too," Kumamon remarked. "Cooking up some fish again?"
"Yeah… I kinda was…" Agunimon admitted. "So… um… you want it?"
"You're just giving it to me?" Kumamon asked. "No tricks or anything?"
Agunimon shook his head. "No… No tricks… I swear."
Agunimon put the fish down and backed away. Kumamon, seeing that Agunimon was serious, walked up to the cooked fish. He picked it up and bit into it. Admittedly, he was kind of hungry, so he had no qualms eating up the fish. Once he was done, he tossed the fish bones into the river before giving his full attention to Agunimon.
"So what's going on with you? You didn't seem to be particularly friendly when we last saw each other," Kumamon pointed out.
Agunimon tried to hide it, he really did, but the slight flinch escaped anyway. "I… may have been wrong… about you…" Agunimon admitted at last. "I… I can't imagine how it must've felt… to… not know what you are… with no one to help you…"
Kumamon blinked, taken by surprise by what Agunimon was saying. "What… brought this on?"
Before Agunimon could answer, both of them suddenly felt a strong presence nearby. Agunimon suddenly got a bad feeling.
"Howling Laser!"
A bright light shot towards them.
Reacting quickly, Agunimon knew he had to do something. He grabbed Kumamon, pulling the smaller Digimon to his chest and diving to the side. Both of them went rolling before Agunimon finally came to a stop on his back, Kumamon still in his grasp. "Ugh… This is so not my day…"
"To be honest, this is just another Tuesday for me…" Kumamon sheepishly admitted.
How many times has he been attacked? Agunimon frowned.
A tall shadow loomed over them, and they were pointing a sword of light at them.
"Who are you two?" The being demanded.
Agunimon realized he and Kumamon were in a bad position. While the being was not seen very clearly because of the moons looming over the being, Agunimon could clearly make out one thing, and that was the symbol of Light on the being's shoulder armor. Crap…
I know that voice, that sword, and that attack… Kumamon frowned. Lobomon?
Kumamon looked up, recognizing the man in wolf armor, the same man who saved him and his friends back at the TV Forest.
"I said who are you!?" Lobomon demanded before he looked at the symbols on both Agunimon and Kumamon's armor. "I see… I've heard about you two… Agunimon and Kumamon, right?"
Agunimon tensed up, his face looking a bit pale. "Um… yes…?" He wasn't sure what this Digimon wanted. "What about it?"
"What are you doing with Kumamon?" Lobomon questioned. "Don't you know how dangerous he is?"
Agunimon realized that this Digimon didn't know the situation with Kumamon, that Kumamon had a D-Tector, that he could possibly be a human like them. "I… I do… But… he's… Please… he's just…" Agunimon was surprised he couldn't speak very clearly.
Kumamon started to move, and Lobomon reacted accordingly. "Don't you dare move!"
Kumamon flinched as the light saber was right up on him. His fight or flight instincts kicked in and he quickly melted to the floor in a puddle, surprising Lobomon. Kumamon then blew out ice at Lobomon's feet, freezing them in place. Kumamon rose back up, becoming solid again.
In his anger, Lobomon aimed his arm at Kumamon. "Howling Laser!"
Kumamon gasped as the light laser hit him in the chest, causing him to be blown back several feet. The white bear rolled a few feet more on the ground. That's so bright, it's blinding…
Kumamon quickly looked up, seeing how he was currently out of sight after being blown back several feet. He quickly surrounded himself with fractal code, turning himself back into Tommy. He didn't want to get attacked again. He crawled forward, hiding behind a tree to hear what Lobomon and Agunimon had to say.
"Why'd you do that!?" Agunimon shouted.
"What do you mean by 'why'd I do that'? He's clearly dangerous! He attacked me!" Lobomon pointed out.
"Ever hear of self defense?!" Agunimon snapped back. "He only attacked you because you had that sword of yours pointed at him, and at me!"
"He should've known he wasn't welcomed here! Kazemon had made it clear that Digimon was to leave and never come back here. Him being here is already considered him being an intruder! We won't stand for a low scum like him trying to destroy this land!" Lobomon shouted.
Tommy looked down, feeling his heart tightening in his chest. Of course, how silly, he would never truly be welcomed among the Legendary Warriors. He should've known that. Feeling dejected, Tommy decided to just walk away and head to the castle. It was better than getting attacked and being told he didn't belong here again.
"What if he isn't what you think he is?!" Agunimon exclaimed angrily. "For all you know, he could be far different from what you say he is! I should know! My first encounter with him wasn't the best, but I've come to realize maybe I was wrong about Kumamon!"
"What are you talking about? Are you really so naive as to believe the Legendary Warrior of Ice isn't a rogue Warrior? What if he's lying to you? Or tricked you somehow?" Lobomon questioned. "After all, in the book, the Legendary Warrior of Steel and the Legendary Warrior of Ice were the most cunning and intelligent of the original 10 Legendary Warriors. He could be using his intelligence to trick hotheads like you!"
Agunimon felt his temper flare, but to his credit, he kept a neutral face. He just glared at Lobomon. "I know what I saw. He is not like that."
"What did you see?" Lobomon asked. "Kazemon told me you were the most adamant about getting revenge on that white bear for almost drowning a child, now you change your mind?"
Agunimon hesitated for a moment before he sighed. "Kumamon saved my cousin. And… then I saw something that changed my entire perspective of Kumamon…" He clenched his fists. "I had jumped to conclusions… And it… it hurt Kumamon… In more ways than one…"
Lobomon frowned before he put away his light sabers. "Whatever, I need to go look for him to make sure he doesn't cause anymore trouble."
"No!" Agunimon stood up. "I… there's something I need to talk to the Legendary Warriors about, that's why I came here. And it's urgent."
Lobomon stopped in his tracks. "What could be more urgent than Kumamon being around the Forest Terminal?"
Agunimon gave Lobomon a serious look. "It has to do with a player, one of my cousins to be exact."
"Your cousin?" Lobomon frowned.
"She and her Digimon got engulfed by one of those green fogs. I'm sure Kazemon told you about her?" Agunimon asked.
"Yes… she had… in fact, we were waiting for Beetlemon to come join us so we can see if the lead we found about a teenage girl with long orange hair, and a Floramon, being in the TV forest is true," Lobomon answered.
"You found her location?!" Agunimon exclaimed, feeling his Digi-Core racing. "Please, you have to let me join the search! I know her best, so if anyone can find her easily, it's me."
"Slow down. First of all, we're not 100% sure if that is her. Second, even if it is, she's at TV Forest. Haven't you heard about the dangers of that place?" Lobomon asked.
Agunimon rubbed the back of his head sheepishly. "Um… Not really…" He admitted.
Lobomon sighed. "You may be a Legendary Warrior, but you are quite… ill informed… Koichi may have spoken too highly of you…"
"Wait… You must be… Koji then, right?" Agunimon realized. "Yeah… I met with Koichi." And I'd rather be talking to him instead of you right now…
"Yes, I'm Koji," Lobomon confirmed. "And TV Forest is a dangerous place. There's something there that's causing Digimon, and even players, to attack each other for seemingly no reason."
Agunimon blinked as he heard this before he began to look a bit pale. "Oh no…" He murmured, his voice filled with worry and concern for Jazz now.
Lobomon sighed as he looked at Agunimon's worried face. "But… she's your cousin, and it's clear she's important to you, right? I'd be the same if Koichi was the one missing and was possibly seen in the TV Forest. And you are a Legendary Warrior, even if I think you… have a lot of room to grow."
Agunimon frowned a little, not sure if that last comment was an insult or something else. "Yeah…" Jeez… is he insulting me or saying I have potential to grow?
"I don't feel good about having a rogue Legendary Warrior on the loose. So I'm going to look around the place for a bit. Do you know your way to the castle?" Lobomon asked. "You have been there before, haven't you?"
Agunimon nodded in confirmation. "Yeah, I do know my way there." At least that's something I remember clearly.
Lobomon nodded. "Good. Then you can head to the castle. I will meet up with you there once I make sure that rogue Warrior is gone."
Agunimon frowned. But if Kumamon was human, like he thought he was, if his D-Tector had been any indication, then he doubted Lobomon would find that so-called 'rogue Warrior'. Unless Kumamon stole the D-Tector from someone, which, at this point, Agunimon doubted. And if that was the case, it would be too late for Agunimon to find Kumamon's true form since if he hadn't found them by now, he wasn't going to find them tonight.
Agunimon sighed. "Okay…" This whole thing with Kumamon is just becoming one big mess…
Before Agunimon walked away, however, he asked Lobomon one last question. "Hey, Lobomon? Since you've been doing this whole Legendary Warrior thing longer than I have, then can you answer me this question? Is it possible for a rogue Warrior to have a D-Tector?"
Lobomon paused at that question, which actually caught him by surprise. He looked back at Agunimon, surprise clear on his face. "Where did that question come from?"
Agunimon rubbed the back of his neck nervously. "It's… just something that crossed my mind…" Which is true.
Lobomon frowned before sighing. "To answer, I'm not sure. The rogue Legendary Warriors haven't shown any signs of having a D-Tector, so it's highly unlikely they would. And even if they did, it's most likely stolen."
Agunimon frowned a little at the answer "Yeah… I kinda figured…" He sighed as he looked down. "It was kinda a dumb question…"
"Now get to the castle. I'm going to see if I can find that troublemaker," Lobomon replied before he jumped up to a tree branch, and jumped from tree to tree.
"... Show off…" Agunimon huffed.
Sighing, Agunimon began to make his way to the castle, wondering how he would be able to tell the other Legendary Warriors about what he had seen with Kumamon, namely the D-Tector. It's possible he may have stolen it, but… Is that really the case? I just don't know…
Agunimon made it to the castle's door, turning himself back into Takuya. He was pretty exhausted at this point, he needed some food to keep going as Agunimon.
He was surprised when he saw Tommy standing outside of the castle, seeming to be deep in thought about something.
"Oh… Hey, Tommy." Takuya greeted Tommy.
Tommy winced in surprise when he heard Takuya's voice. "O-oh… h-hey, Takuya, I didn't hear you coming over…"
Takuya frowned when he noticed Tommy's eyes were wet, like he had been crying a little recently.
"Hey… are you okay?" Takuya asked in concern. "You… seem a bit upset…"
"I… um…" Tommy rubbed his eyes for a moment. "I remembered… that I left everyone behind without really explaining myself… I'm worried how they'll react when they see me again all of a sudden."
"Hey… it's okay, buddy… We'll… We'll find a way to explain why you left." Takuya reassured Tommy. "Sure, they would be worried, and upset you left, but I'm sure the others will also be glad you're okay."
"I… just hope they don't force me to go home until we find Jazz… I don't feel right leaving her behind after everything we've been through…" Tommy admitted softly.
Takuya blinked before frowning a bit himself. He knew Tommy wanted to help find Jazz, but at the same time, he was just a kid without a Digimon partner of his own. However, Takuya also knew that if the other Legendary Warriors were going as a group, maybe Tommy would be safer with the group.
"I'll… see if we can convince them that you coming with us is a good idea." Takuya said at last. "I can't guarantee anything, but I will at least try."
Tommy looked up at Takuya and gave him a small smile. "Thanks, Takuya… really…"
"Hey, you helped save me earlier, so… consider this me returning the favor," Takuya sheepishly replied.
"Hey, do my eyes deceive me or am I actually seeing who I think I'm seeing?" A familiar voice spoke up from above the two of them.
Takuya and Tommy looked up, seeing Beetlemon flying towards them, coming in for a landing.
Takuya grinned. "Hey! It's Beetlemon!" He waved to the Warrior of Thunder as he came in and landed.
"It's been a while, Takuya." Beetlemon greeted as he waved back. "Knocked off any good heads lately?"
"Oh that was a low blow," Takuya huffed.
"Sorry, couldn't resist," Beetlemon snickered before he covered himself in fractal code, turning back into his own human form.
JP looked down at Tommy. "Hey, little buddy, I've been worried about you since you disappeared. What happened to you?"
"I… decided to go off on my own for a bit…" Tommy admitted.
"Yeah, I noticed you did." JP said with a small frown. He then sighed and smiled at Tommy. "But I'm glad you're okay. You really gave us all a bit of a scare with that disappearing act."
"Sorry about that…" Tommy apologized. "I have a feeling I'll be apologizing a lot tonight."
"Oh definitely. Zoe's been up the wall since she lost you back at the KaratsukiNumemon's mountain," JP informed. "And that Jasmine girl with a Floramon partner."
"Is Zoe in the castle right now?" Takuya asked.
"She should be. I think she called all of us here after hearing about a lead of Jasmine being at the TV Forest, or someone who looks like her and has the same Digimon partner," JP answered. "Koichi, Koji, and myself. I'm surprised she got you to come here, she didn't know your phone number."
"Um… I actually was here with my cousins and their friends looking for a school mate, and… we decided it was best for me to look for Jazz with your guys' help." Takuya admitted. Although it was Tommy who decided we should come here for help.
"Really? That's quite the coincidence then," JP noted. "That's good, we could use all the help we can get. TV Forest has that nasty rumor after all."
"Isn't it technically more dangerous to go in a bigger group? We could end up attacking each other," Takuya asked, having heard the rumor from Lobomon earlier.
"It's more dangerous to go alone, because you could end up being stuck in the forest with you losing your mind," Tommy said as he remembered how Ryan acted when he was under that strange influence. "At least with a group, someone could try to snap you out of it."
Takuya blinked before he looked down. "That's true." He admitted. "I guess having a bigger group doesn't hurt if that happens."
"Yeah, we understand the risks, though we have tried sending in at least a pair of people to investigate TV Forest," JP explained. "Koji saw the results of what happened, some player and his Digimon got caught up in whatever is causing Digimon to go violent. It wasn't pretty, the player almost took out his own friends. But we never caught who, or what, was causing it. We're starting to think the forest itself is just cursed."
Takuya frowned. "If it is, then we need to find Jazz and Floramon as quickly as possible."
However, Tommy knew he had seen something in the TV Forest the last time he was there, but he wasn't sure what it was. He remembered that feeling of being watched, and the sound of something scurrying just before Ryan showed up with his corrupted partner. There had to be something there, but whatever it was, it was really good at hiding.
"You know this Jasmine person?" JP asked.
"Yeah, she's my cousin," Takuya answered. "I've been looking for her too, and I'm worried about her."
"Oh jeez, no wonder you wanted to find her," JP realized. "Well come on, I'm sure Zoe and the others are waiting for us."
Takuya nodded. "Okay, let's go meet up with them. I'm sure Zoe will want to know that Tommy's okay as well."
"She definitely would," JP agreed.
Tommy frowned a little, he knew he was going to get an earful. But that was probably better than getting attacked by a light laser, or a light saber.
"Tommy! I'm so glad you're okay!" Zoe immediately rushed over to Tommy and began checking him over. "You're not hurt, are you? I can't believe I lost you and Jazz at the KaratsukiNumemon mountain! I was so worried that the rogue Legendary Warriors managed to get to you. Did Takuya find you? Did he keep you safe?"
"I'm okay, Zoe, really!" Tommy spoke up, trying to push the worried girl back, she was invading his personal space. "You don't need to check for wounds or anything!"
Takuya snickered. "This reminds me of my cousin Danny. He can be a real mother hen sometimes."
"Really? I'd hate to see how he fusses over you." JP grinned.
"Nah, more like his twin brother Andy." Takuya chuckled. "Andy is the one who Danny fusses over the most."
"Understandable, I'd feel the same way about Koji if something happened to him," Koichi agreed. "Which it did! He better get back here soon, because I'm not happy about him sneaking off into the green fog before."
"Koji was caught in the green fog before?" Takuya asked, surprised.
"You mentioned that your cousins saw him at Amity Park before, right?" Koichi pointed out.
"Yeah… and Kumamon was there too after he got engulfed by the fog," Takuya mentioned.
"Wait… so… the green fog takes us to Amity Park?" Zoe asked, much to Tommy's relief since she was now distracted.
Takuya looked down in thought. "It seems so…" He mused, but his thoughts were elsewhere. This is bad… If this fog transports us Legendary Warriors to Amity Park, then the others could wind up there… But… that doesn't explain where the other Digimon who get caught up in the fog go…
"There was some green fog nearby before. Koji wanted to investigate it alone," Koichi sighed. "We hadn't seen him in a while, but he called me, telling me he appeared to be back in the real world, but not in Japan. He finally made his way back here though. But I think he's been avoiding me because he knows he's going to get an earful."
"Yeah, that could be a bit of a deterrent," JP snickered.
"And you, Tommy," Koichi pointed at the youngest boy. "What were you thinking? Leaving to go off on your own like that? Especially when you've been hunted by someone?"
Tommy frowned. "I… wanted to see if I could find my own Digimon partner. I felt like I was just being a burden to you guys, especially when you have an important job."
Koichi's face softened upon hearing that. "Tommy…"
Takuya sighed. "Tommy… you're not a burden. It's just… these guys have more experience and…"
"Tommy… we never meant to make you feel like a burden." Koichi began. "It's just… When we have so much responsibility to this world, we can't waste our time protecting you all the time. We want you to be safe, not in danger."
"Well don't waste your time protecting me then. I was able to survive without you guys just fine," Tommy huffed.
"Hey, uh…" JP spoke up, hoping to avoid things getting more awkward between them. "You're here now, so how about we finally get you back home? I'm sure you miss your parents, and I'm sure they're worried about you."
Tommy frowned, he did miss his parents, and his brother. But… "I can't leave now… I want to find Jazz first. She's a friend of mine, and I don't want to leave until I know she's safe."
The other Legendary Warriors frowned at Tommy's response, but Takuya then spoke up before any of them could argue against it. "Look, guys… Tommy has a right to see if Jazz is okay." Takuya began. "And… I don't think he will just leave anyway. If… If it comes down to it, I can protect him. I made a promise to him that I would do that, and… Jazz would be glad to see Tommy again, I'm sure of it." Takuya then gave a bit of a sheepish grin. "She wouldn't be happy until she saw Tommy was safe with her own eyes."
Zoe, Koichi, and JP looked at each other. They weren't sure if taking a little kid with no Digimon partner to help him was a good idea. However…
"I guess it couldn't hurt to take him just this once," Zoe finally allowed. "Considering he seemed to be fine even after getting attacked by Grumblemon and Ranamon, he might be able to handle himself at the TV Forest."
"And he was able to handle WaruMonzaemon at the Toy Island, stalling him long enough for me to knock the fractal code out of him," Takuya informed.
"WaruMonzaemon? Isn't that an Ultimate level Digimon?" JP asked, surprised. "How did you stall him?"
"I played a video game with him," Tommy answered before grinning. "And won."
Koichi whistled. "Wow, that's impressive."
Takuya grinned. "Yep! The little guy did great that time!"
"I suppose I underestimated Tommy then," Koichi remarked. "I still don't feel good about sending him to such a dangerous place, but…"
"If it helps… I have been to TV Forest before," Tommy revealed.
"What?!" All four Legendary Warriors blurted at the same time.
Before Tommy could explain, Lobomon finally joined the rest of them. "Welp, no sign of that rogue Warrior…"
Lobomon reverted back to Koji as he walked further into the room and noticed the extra company, as well as everyone's shocked stare.
"Did I miss something?" Koji asked.
"Just… that this little guy here has been to the TV Forest…" JP pointed out. "And he came out alright…"
"What?" Koji looked down at Tommy. "... Have we met before? You look familiar."
Tommy gave Koji a sheepish grin. "We might've… Remember when you fought against a player's Raremon at TV Forest several weeks ago?"
Koji frowned before his eyes went wide. "You were with that group?" No wonder he looks so familiar… this must be that same kid I talked to that time…
"Yeah," Tommy confirmed. "You were Lobomon at the time."
"Yeah… I almost didn't recognize you because you had a big orange hat on at the time," Koji remembered.
Tommy grumbled, being reminded of his missing hat.
"Why are you here? And… where's your Digimon partner?" Koji questioned.
"He doesn't have one," Takuya answered.
"What? Yes he does, he was holding onto a PawnChessmon," Koji replied. "Wasn't that his partner?"
"No, actually, that was… a friend of mine's partner. I just got him out of the way of an attack from Raremon," Tommy informed.
Koji blinked. "I see." He frowned a bit. "That was reckless of you though. What if you got hit by that attack?"
"Hey, before you start saying Tommy's going to hold us back or something like that, he helped me against WaruMonzaemon, an Ultimate level Digimon." Takuya pointed out. "Sure, Tommy only stalled him, but it was just enough for me to purify him."
"And he's apparently been surviving on his own without a Digimon partner in this world for months," Zoe added.
"He may have some help here and there, namely from that girl Jasmine and her Floramon, and that's why he wants to come with us to TV Forest to see if she's there," JP explained.
"Going off on his own because he feels he can handle himself, doesn't that sound familiar, Koji?" Koichi stated as he gave Koji the 'death glare'.
Koji blushed. "Why do you bring that up?!" He huffed, folding his arms in a bit of a pout.
Takuya snickered. "It seems you are in trouble~"
Koichi nudged Koji. "You and I are having a serious talk when we are done here, especially because you went into that green fog and wound up in another country!"
"It was only for a day!" Koji huffed. "And I happened to save some people from a ghost too while I was there!"
"And looking all mysterious and cool about it, I'm guessing?" Zoe teased.
"And a day is like a week in Digital World time! You made me worried!" Koichi scolded.
Koji was sure he would become a tomato at the rate the others were teasing him. "Alright, I get it! I shouldn't have gone off on my own!"
"I'd like to chastise you more, but we have more important matters to attend to," Koichi grumbled. "Namely the girl and the Floramon at the TV Forest. It wouldn't be good to leave them there on their own for too long."
The rest of the Legendary Warriors nodded in agreement, with Tommy also giving his agreement.
"Then should we head out now?" Takuya asked. "I mean, the sooner we leave, the better, right?"
"Yeah, but make sure you bring some food, we can't have you being too low in energy in case we have to fight," Koji said to Takuya.
"And, unfortunately, someone has to stay here in case a player decides to try to attack the castle at night," Koichi sighed. "I'll be staying here, the rest of you will head to the TV Forest."
"Yeah, I can't stay at Ophanimon's castle right now anyways, and I doubt any player is going to be stupid enough to try to get there right now," JP sighed.
"Why's that?" Zoe asked.
"Is it because of the green fog surrounding the place?" Takuya asked, knowing about the fog due to Andy going in there to find Valerie.
"Yeah, it's been slowly engulfing the entire continent." JP frowned.
Takuya felt his face growing a bit pale. "Crap… That doesn't sound good…" Aw man… Andy went into that fog! Who knows where he's ended up!
"It'll be okay, Takuya. I'm sure the others will find him," Tommy reassured Takuya, likely knowing why Takuya was worried. "We're here for Jazz."
Takuya nodded, remembering why he was there in the first place. "Right… They'll be fine." He let out a breath, trying to calm down.
"Is something wrong?" Koichi asked in concern.
"Another cousin of mine went into that fog to look for our schoolmate," Takuya answered.
"How many cousins do you have that end up missing?" Koji questioned.
"I have 2 that are… missing…" Takuya groaned. "And maybe the third will be more cautious, but I don't know if he will actually use his brain on that…"
"I think Tommy isn't the only one we should be worried about then," Zoe sighed.
"Let's take it one step at a time. Let's go see if we can find Jazz first, then we'll worry about the others," Tommy suggested. "The sooner we get going, the better."
Takuya nodded. "Yeah, besides, my other two cousins are smart, and one of them has a Digimon partner with him, so he should be fine."
"Okay. You guys don't do anything reckless while you're out there," Koichi said. "I'll be on standby in case anything should happen."
The other four Warriors nodded, as did Tommy.
"We'll be back before you know it!" JP grinned.
"Yeah, if that… phenomena doesn't get to us first." Koji grumbled.
"Hey, let's try to be more positive," Zoe said. "I mean whatever that phenomena is, it hasn't gotten to any of us yet. So maybe our Spirits keep us protected."
"What's protecting Tommy then?" Koji asked.
"Come on now, don't start scaring him," JP grumbled. "I'm sure he'll be fine."
Takuya nodded, but he was getting the feeling something would happen, and that the group would not like it at all.
"It'll be faster if we fly there," Zoe said.
"I agree, let's do this!" JP smiled.
Tommy looked at Zoe and JP, always liked to watch these people go from humans to Legendary Warriors, it was fascinating to watch.
The magenta outline of her Spirit appeared visible on the screen of her D-Tector as she held it up. Fractal coding appeared on her left hand and she slammed the D-Tector against it as she brought the two together. Zoe then called out the familiar phrase she knew by heart. "Execute! Spirit Evolution!" Her body became data as her clothes ripped away. Coding surrounded her in a cocoon of sorts and the power of her first Spirit flowed into her. Her hair became longer, flowing past her waist and turning a purple color. Her body grew in height, increasing her strength and speed. A bikini-like outfit appeared on her body as gloves, and high boots formed on her arms and legs, with shoulder guards appearing as well as a visor that covered her eyes. Butterfly-like wings appeared on her back and she landed, letting out a cry as she unleashed a kick before she came to a stop and said her name. "Kazemon!"
The green outline of his first Spirit became visible on the screen of his D-Tector as he held it up. JP then held up his left hand as fractal coding formed around it, his D-Tector held in his other hand. Slamming the device against the ring of coding, he brought the two together. JP then called out the familiar phrase he knew by heart. "Execute! Spirit Evolution!" Coding encircled him as his clothes ripped away and his body became data, the power of the Spirit flowing into him. Blue and yellow armor formed on his body as he grew in height and strength. On his back, wings formed before they were covered by two halves of a hard shell and on his head, a horn grew. His eyes became green as a faceplate covered his mouth and he felt the power of thunder flowing into his body. He landed, slamming his fists together as he cried out his name. "Beetlemon!"
Now evolved, Kazemon and Beetlemon stood there, looking every bit the Legendary Warriors they appeared to be.
"Wow, I don't think I'll ever get used to that," Tommy commented in awe.
"Heh, we are quite impressive, aren't we?" Beetlemon chuckled.
"Come on, don't start showing off," Kazemon remarked. "I'll carry Tommy. Since you're more muscular, you should have no problems carrying the other two boys~"
Beetlemon chuckled. "That's true." He said.
Takuya however, found himself blushing as he tried to avoid looking at Kazemon, or more specifically, her revealing outfit. Aw man… Is she a Legendary Warrior or some sort of model? She looks hot…
Kazemon picked up Tommy into her arms as Beetlemon picked up Koji and Takuya in his own arms.
"This might be a bit of a rough ride," Beetlemon said.
"Whatever, just get us to the TV Forest," Koji grumbled, feeling quite embarrassed he had to be carried under Beetlemon's arm.
"As you wish," Beetlemon replied before he and Kazemon took off into the sky.
Koichi watched them go. "Good luck, everyone…"
It always fascinated Takuya to be able to fly, though he wasn't exactly in the most comfortable position, there was something magical about seeing the world from a bird's eye view.
Not to mention it made traveling a lot more convenient, and much easier on the feet. It was a bright night tonight, the 3 moons in the sky were all full.
"So what's the plan once we get to TV Forest?" Takuya asked.
"We start looking," Koji replied.
"Yeah, but where? It's not like we can just start searching in a random place, is it?" Takuya grumbled.
"Hey, calm down you two. We'll make more of a plan when we get there." Beetlemon reassured the two boys.
"If we have to, we can start looking near the edge of the TV Forest and then work our way inwards." Kazemon suggested as she flew up beside Beetlemon, Tommy in her own arms.
"I would suggest splitting up, but considering the strange phenomena in the forest… that would be a death sentence…" Tommy frowned, remembering how Ryan walked away from the group, then returned after losing his mind. "We should all stick together while we're here."
"Don't worry, we won't go far from each other," Kazemon promised.
After a while, Kazemon and Beetlemon began descending just outside of a forest. Once they landed, they put Tommy, Takuya, and Koji down before Kazemon and Beetlemon reverted back to their human forms.
"Welp, here it is, the entrance to TV Forest," JP stated.
Tommy gulped as he looked at the dark road ahead. "Isn't there something just creepy about this place?"
Takuya frowned. "Yeah… there is. I don't like it, but if Jazz and Floramon are in here, we can't just turn back now."
"Be on your guard." Koji warned. "This place has messed with players before."
"Alright, let's go in, and stay close everyone," JP instructed.
"Who made you the leader?" Koji grumbled.
"What? You don't want to go in?" JP grumbled back.
Koji groaned. "Of course not! None of us do, but there is someone in there who needs our help!"
"Then stop arguing and go in," JP huffed back.
"They don't seem to get along all that well," Takuya noted.
"It's a bit hard to get along with Koji," Zoe admitted. "Other than Koichi, he doesn't usually let anyone work with him."
Takuya frowned. "Wow, he really is the lone wolf of the team."
Koji perked up as he heard that. "What was that?"
Takuya grinned cheekily. "What? You look like you're wearing wolf themed armor as Lobomon, so why aren't you the lone wolf?"
"And what about you and your big yellow hair, and your hot headedness? You're so full of hot air that there's hardly anything in your head!" Koji cheekily responded back.
Takuya felt his temper act up. "Are you saying I'm dumb?!"
Koji smirked back. "No, but that does bring up the question. Are you?"
Takuya puffed out his cheeks in annoyance.
While Koji and Takuya were arguing, JP, Zoe, and Tommy looked at each other.
"Do you think the forest already got to them?" JP asked.
"I don't know, we're not even in the forest yet…" Zoe grumbled.
"I think this is just natural to them…" Tommy sighed. "Okay! Takuya! Please, stop fighting!"
"Koji, knock it off!" JP spoke up as well.
"We don't have time to be bickering you two," Zoe said. "We have someone to find who's lost in that forest."
Takuya and Koji looked at the other three in their group before looking at each other and huffing, turning away from each other.
"Fine… Let's just get this over with…" Koji grumbled.
"Yeah, the sooner we get this done, the better," Takuya agreed. Man this guy gets on my nerves.
The group walked into the forest, staying close together.
Everything looked as creepy as Tommy remembered it being. At least this time he was with people who wouldn't scold him for being scared, or at least… most of them wouldn't. He had a feeling Koji might.
The group made their way further into the TV Forest, looking for any sign of Jazz. Takuya was looking especially hard, trying to find any sign of Jazz's orange hair.
Even with the 3 moons shining down on them, it was dark in the forest. It was difficult to see where they were going. The trees were thick, and the wind that blew against the leaves made a rustling sound. The further they walked into the forest, the creepier it felt. Tommy began to get that feeling of being watched again. He looked back, trying to see if there was something there. But just like before, he couldn't see anything.
"Maybe we should've come here during the day, it's too hard to see anything out here at night," Zoe commented.
"Maybe, but what if Jazz was affected by this strange phenomena by that point?" Takuya pointed out. "It's bad enough I have to search for her in the dark, but if I wait any longer, she may be affected…"
"Takuya's right. The sooner we can find Jazz, the better." JP agreed.
"We don't know how long she's been out here," Koji pointed out. "She could've been out here for days for all we know."
"You know, you're not really helping when you point stuff like that out," Zoe grumbled.
"I'm just stating the facts." Koji replied grumpily.
"Wow… Koji's quite the grump…" Takuya muttered to himself.
"So, uh… where did you hear about a girl having orange hair, and a Floramon partner being here?" Tommy questioned.
"I asked around about Jazz and you after what happened at the KaratsukiNumemon's mountain," Zoe replied. "Eventually I ended up at the Fortuneteller town. It looks like it's being rebuilt after it got destroyed, and Shamanmon came up to me."
"Wait, Shamanmon? Was he the one who told you Jazz might be here?" Takuya asked, surprised.
"Yeah. Have you met with Shamanmon before?" Zoe asked, just as surprised.
"Yeah, I did. Well… me, my cousins, and their friends did." Takuya revealed. "He even gave us some free fortunes, although they were a bit vague and… ominous."
Zoe frowned. "What were they about?"
"I just remember the ones for my twin cousins and myself." Takuya replied. "But I don't remember the exact words, to be honest."
"It's probably best you don't share it anyways," Koji remarked. "It means nothing to us."
"Sure, whatever," Takuya grumbled.
"But the point is that if Shamamon was the one who told us Jazz could be here, then it's likely he's accurate," Zoe spoke up before another argument could break out between the two of them.
"Problem is he didn't give Zoe a map to where she could be…" JP grumbled.
"A map would have been helpful…" Takuya muttered. "Searching just by our eyes and ears alone won't be of much help in this dark forest…"
"At least we know she's somewhere here." Zoe pointed out.
"Just keep looking, if she is here, we're bound to run into her sooner or later," Koji remarked.
"Whoa!" Tommy yelped as he tripped on a log.
"Tommy! Are you okay?" Takuya asked in concern.
"He's fine, don't make such a fuss every time he trips on a rock or something," Koji grumbled. "He signed up for this, he should've known what he was getting himself into."
"Hey, there's no need to be rude to Tommy!" Takuya snapped back. "He may be younger than us, but he knows how to handle himself!"
"Sure, as long as he doesn't complain." Koji retorted.
He reminds me of Sir Michael when he's being strict… Tommy noted as he pushed himself up. "I'm okay… let's keep going."
JP frowned, he hoped Tommy was actually okay and not just saying that because of Koji. That was a pretty big log he tripped over, the kid could've gotten a cut.
Koji grumbled, but he didn't press the issue since Tommy seemed to be okay. "Fine…" He muttered as the group continued to walk down the path.
Looking around, Takuya was getting an odd feeling down his spine. "This place is making me feel like we're being watched or something…"
"So it's not just me then?" Tommy said, relieved that he wasn't the only one getting that creepy feeling of being watched.
"This place gives me the creeps," JP agreed. "But why'd you have to say we're being watched? Now I'm getting the feeling we're being watched!"
"Same here…" Zoe agreed, shivering. "I know it's just a forest, but the idea of someone watching us is… unnerving."
Koji didn't want to admit it, but even he was feeling unnerved at the idea of being watched. He just hid it better than the others. "Sure…"
Zoe noticed something on the ground and bent down to pick it up. "Hey… is this… a meat apple?"
"Oh yeah, I've heard meat apples usually grow in the TV Forest," JP remarked.
Takuya, at the mention of meat apples, remembered that he was pretty hungry.
"Hey, maybe we can use these meat apples to lure Jazz and Floramon to us," Tommy suggested.
Takuya perked up, remembering he had done the same with some fish for Kumamon. "Yeah, that may not be a bad idea." He reasoned. "If anything, the two of them may be hungry enough to come to us using the smell of the meat apples."
"And we can set up a campfire to light up this place," JP added. "So it won't be as creepy."
Koji grunted, but admitted it was a better plan than just walking around. "Fine, just don't go crazy and stuff yourselves."
"But we're going to need more than just this one meat apple," Zoe pointed out. "There must be a tree nearby."
"Let's gather some firewood while we look for this tree," Tommy suggested. "This way we can kill two birds with one stone."
Takuya grinned. "Sounds good to me!"
"So let's gather that firewood and find this tree then!" JP grinned as well.
Koji grunted, but agreed with the idea mentally. "Whatever…"
The group began gathering up some branches on the ground. It wasn't difficult to do as it looked like not a lot of people or Digimon had come through here for a while. Not very surprising due to the warnings about the strange phenomena that turns people against each other. So far, they had been lucky, none of them had fallen for this strange phenomena yet. Takuya wondered if they were truly protected because of their Spirit. But if that were the case, Tommy probably should've fallen for it by now, right?
Tommy stopped for a moment when he thought he heard something moving nearby.
"What's wrong?" Zoe asked.
"I thought I heard something…" Tommy frowned.
JP snickered. "Is it a ghost you heard?"
Takuya felt that was not likely though, as he had fought ghosts before, including one when it got into the Digital World. "I don't think it is a ghost, since they apparently mess up the Digital World's data…"
"I didn't mean a ghost in a literal sense," JP replied. "I more meant the ones from little kids' imaginations when they get scared."
"Yeah, there it is!" Tommy suddenly pointed out, shocking JP and the others. "A big tree!"
Sure enough, ahead of the group was the largest tree they had seen in the TV Forest so far.
Takuya's eyes lit up at the sight of it. "Wow! Look at all the meat apples!" He exclaimed.
JP grinned at Takuya. "Someone likes meat apples it seems~"
Zoe was impressed. "There are so many!"
"Let's just get what we can eat, and get a fire going," Koji said, trying to play it cool, though he was the first one to walk over to the tree to start gathering up the meat apples.
Takuya snickered. "He's trying too hard to be the lone wolf."
"Hey, give him a break. He takes a while to warm up to others." JP chuckled.
"Come on, let's get some meat apples." Tommy smiled, it was a good distraction at least, and it reminded the group the forest can be nice even when it looked scary and had that nasty phenomena going on.
After the group gathered all the meat apples they could carry, they sat down in a clearing. Takuya and Koji worked to get a fire going with their firewood. Tommy, JP, and Zoe were putting their meat apples on some sticks. It was probably the most human thing Tommy had done with this group. It was also kinda nice, he could at least pretend he belonged with them like this.
"Aw man… Who knew trying to make a fire like this was so hard?" Takuya grumbled as he tried to get the sticks to ignite into flames. "We could've had a fire going by now if I just used my Human Spirit's power…"
"Sure, but also the whole forest would've been on fire." Koji retorted.
"Hey! I have better control over my flames than that!" Takuya pouted.
"Not with how hotheaded you seem to be." Koji grumbled back.
"I'm not that hotheaded!" Takuya moped.
"Come on you two, how many times are you going to bicker whenever one of you makes a comment?" Zoe grumbled. "Jeez, I thought fire and light would go hand in hand together, but I guess not."
"Whatever…" Koji grumbled.
"Geez… you need to lighten up." Takuya retorted, but he couldn't stop the pun that escaped him. Crap! Danny's corrupted me with his puns…
Koji felt his left eye twitch at the pun. "You really like making puns, don't you?"
Takuya decided it would be wise to remain silent. At least he was able to make a spark appear on the firewood. Seeing that, Koji decided to take over and started blowing on the little ember to make it bigger.
Once the campfire was ready, Tommy, Zoe, and JP came over to stick their meat apples near the fire to let them cook. Now all they had to do was wait, and hope the cooking meat apples would lure Jazz, if this person was Jazz, and Floramon over to them.
However, since the group was now waiting, that left them open for a conversation.
"So all of you have your Spirits, right?" Takuya asked, having wanted to bring this up for a while. "Do you all also have your Beast Spirits too?"
Koji nodded, as did JP and Zoe.
"Yeah, I found mine in a rock statue." Koji replied. "It wasn't easy to control it though."
"I had no issues with control for mine, but then again, I did have to direct that primal power to protect the boys at the time." Zoe confirmed. "After that, I've had no control issues."
"Lucky for Zoe…" JP grumbled. "I had a few issues with controlling mine, but like Zoe, I managed to direct that power to helping protect the others."
"Aw man… I have mine and yet I have little control over it…" Takuya groaned.
"Yours must have really strong primal instincts if you're having trouble controlling it," Koji noted. "Koichi also had issues with controlling his… Spirits. Although, probably not for the same reasons you have."
"I'm still trying to find a way to control mine…" Takuya grumbled.
"What's a Beast Spirit again?" Tommy asked. "I think I heard it being mentioned before."
"There are apparently two Spirits for each of the Legendary Warriors." Takuya replied. "That book I was reading to you mentioned that, remember? I have Agunimon, who is the Human Spirit, and then BurningGreymon is my Beast Spirit. Although, the Beast Spirit is as the name implies, a beast."
Koji, JP, and Zoe all nodded in confirmation.
"Not that you really need to know that," Koji mumbled.
"Don't be rude." Takuya frowned.
"We should probably also talk about what we're going to do with this green fog that's been spreading in the Digital World, and the rogue Legendary Warriors," Zoe spoke up. "And if the two are connected."
"I… don't think the fog is connected to the rogue Legendary Warriors…" Takuya said slowly. "It's… kinda hard to believe, but… that green fog is most likely related to something happening in Amity Park…"
"You mean something like that ghost I first fought against?" Koji asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Yeah… but that wasn't a one-off thing." Takuya replied. "That ghost was one of many that have come into Amity Park recently."
"How many ghosts are there in Amity Park?" JP asked.
"We get attacked on a daily basis, and sometimes by more than one ghost," Takuya answered.
"You've had to fight with ghosts on a daily basis?" Zoe frowned.
"Blame my aunt and uncle…" Takuya grumbled. "They're geniuses, but they had this great idea to open a portal to the realm of ghosts… in their freaking basement!"
"Hold on… you're saying your aunt and uncle… opened up a portal to the realm of ghosts… in their basement?" Koji questioned in shock, trying to wrap his head around this. "Are those people nuts!? They could've collapsed the entire dimension doing that!"
"I said they're geniuses, not that they had common sense." Takuya grumbled.
Tommy frowned. "Then… What if this green fog that's been appearing in the Digital World lately is because of that ghost portal?"
"What makes you say that?" Takuya asked.
"Think about it. They had to break through between realities to open up a gate to another world. There should be some serious consequences and side effects for doing that," Tommy pointed out. "What if by keeping that portal open, some of it is leaking into the Digital World? And that's what's making the fog."
Koji frowned. "Then we have to get them to close it."
"I don't think they'll listen to a bunch of kids." Takuya pointed out. "It's kind of their life's work."
"Besides, I don't think shutting it off will make a difference now. The damage has been done already," Tommy added.
"Wow… you're really smart for a kid, aren't you?" Koji commented.
Tommy smiled a little, seeing how he actually got Koji to compliment him. "I just play a lot of video games."
Koji deadpanned. So that's how he figured that out…
"Regardless… this isn't the first time they tried to open a ghost portal." Takuya added. "Apparently they tried to do it in college as well, but that backfired big time on them."
"When was this?" JP asked.
"I think about 20 or so years ago?" Takuya replied.
"It likely didn't do enough to cause the walls between the Digital World and the ghost realm to start connecting like it is now," Koji remarked.
Takuya then had a thought cross his mind. "Well, they did get the portal open I think… some time before the school year started for me. A month before I arrived in Amity Park to be exact." He then looked at the others with him. "When did this fog start coming into the Digital World?"
Takuya doubted the fog started when Technus came into the Digital World, that ghost had to have some way to get into the Digital World in the first place after all.
"We started hearing about this strange green fog appearing in different parts of the Digital World about… well, it'll be difficult to measure time exactly due to the Digital World's time, so I'd say it was on the date of August the 27th," Koji answered.
Takuya frowned. "So it may have been the portal opening that did some damage then…" He noted. "From what I remember, the portal was opened about a month before I arrived in America so… it would've been opened around… like late July at earliest…"
"The walls likely took some time to start breaking down and letting the ghost realm leak in in the form of the fog," Tommy theorized.
"But if that's true, why did the fog take Koji and Kumamon to Amity Park and not the ghost realm?" Zoe asked.
"We don't know that yet," Koji grumbled. "And speaking of Kumamon, have any of you seen him recently?"
JP frowned. "Not recently, no. Why? Have you?"
Koji nodded. "I did, when I met Takuya while he was Agunimon. Apparently he was tricked by Kumamon, because he was protecting that rogue Legendary Warrior from me."
Takuya frowned. "Hey! I didn't mean to! I just reacted!"
"Oh sure you did." Koji snarked back. "For all we know, he could've tricked you into not trusting us, so I think you owe me a thank-you for stopping Kumamon from getting you onto their side."
Takuya growled. "That's not true! There's more to this story with Kumamon than we know!"
Tommy frowned, feeling uneasy about this conversation.
"What story?" Zoe asked. "Takuya, he almost drowned Tommy, not to mention he attacked that player, and we had seen him near most of these rogue Warriors."
"I don't know… he did help me before when a player who tried to enslave me was attacking me and Tommy before," JP remarked. "He didn't seem like he was being malicious, he just… looked kinda sad."
Takuya nodded. "And he… snapped my cousin Andy out of trying to dark digivolve his Digimon partner." He added. "That… kinda started convincing me he wasn't that bad a Digimon… But… I don't know what to make of Kumamon now to be honest…"
"I think you and JP are falling for his act. I remember dealing with Mercurymon recently," Koji said, getting Takuya and Tommy's attention as they heard Mercurymon's name from the ToyAgumon and Monzaemon before. "He's the Warrior of Steel, and he's very cunning. He tricked other Digimon to work with him by his words alone. He almost got me believing he would work with us, but I managed to see through his silver tongue. Kumamon could be the same way. He could make himself appear weak and pitiful because of his cute teddy bear appearance, but he's just as cunning and dangerous as Mercurymon."
"Do you… really believe that?" Tommy frowned.
"I do." Koji replied. "At least… I assume he is. The stories of the Ancient Legendary Warrior of Ice certainly don't paint a good light on Kumamon, not if he has any of his former incarnation's intellect."
"What?" Tommy blinked. "What does the Legendary Warrior of Ice have to do with Kumamon?" Was there a battle between the two of them in the past or something?
Tommy looked at the others in the group. "Do you all think Kumamon is… evil?"
"I don't know myself," JP replied. "I haven't seen him do anything bad, but I can't trust him either. Koji's got a point, we can't just believe Kumamon is on our side just because we haven't seen him do anything bad."
"I agree," Zoe said. "That bear had been nothing but trouble since we saw him."
Takuya frowned, but didn't say anything. He wasn't sure if he could convince the others that Kumamon was just like them, a human who could become a Legendary Warrior. As far as he knew, Kumamon was indeed a human, but the possibility of Kumamon having stolen a D-Tector also came to mind. Takuya sighed as he put his head in his hands. Damn it… I'm so confused now… Is Kumamon really a human like us or did he steal that D-Tector I saw him with? This whole thing is one big mess…
"All I know is that we need to be careful the next time we see Kumamon, especially if he's like Mercurymon," Koji stated firmly.
Tommy looked down, even though he already knew the Legendary Warriors didn't really like his Kumamon self, it always stung to hear them talking about how bad Kumamon apparently was.
"We should probably get our meat apples, they'll burn at this rate," Zoe pointed out.
Sure enough the meat apples were looking just a bit crispy. The others all scrambled to grab the meat apples before they burned even more.
"Wow… we would've forgotten to get our food if we kept talking." Takuya grumbled as he looked at his slightly charred meat apple.
The group began eating their meat apples, enjoying the taste.
"Wow, my meat apple tastes like a chicken drumstick." Tommy smiled, glad for the distraction.
"I'm eating prime rib!" Takuya exclaimed with a big grin. "These meat apples sure taste good~"
"Yeah, I'm eating a meat bun!" JP grinned.
"Yeah, mine is gingered pork." Koji stated, but he was also clearly enjoying the meat apple.
"Mine's osobuko!" Zoe exclaimed in delight.
Takuya had never heard of that before, but apparently it was good.
Then, the 3 moons began to shine down into the forest as they were eating. As they did, something began to appear on several of the trees.
"Hey, what's going on?" JP asked.
"Is this the phenomenon we've been hearing about?" Zoe asked, getting onto her feet.
"No, wait…" Tommy looked at the trunks, seeing what appeared to be moving pictures on them. "I think this is the original phenomenon, the one that gave TV Forest its name. When the 3 full moons are out, the trees would show images, like they are now."
The group all ran to a tree each to see what they could observe.
"Hey… This looks like images from… our world, the real world…" Takuya realized. "That's my aunt and uncle's house I'm seeing!"
"And I can see my school too," Zoe noted.
"Wow, that's the airport," JP remarked.
"I see, somehow this place is able to show snippets of the real world," Koji concluded.
"That's…" Tommy looked at one tree in particular. "That's the playground at my school…" I haven't been there in so long… it feels like a lifetime ago.
Then the picture showed someone Tommy hadn't been prepared to see. "My mother!"
The others all turned and ran over to the tree Tommy was in front of.
"No way… That's your mom?" JP asked surprised, but he could see similarities between the image and Tommy.
"Your mom is pretty, Tommy." Zoe noted.
Koji could see Tommy was looking at the image longingly, like he wanted to go home almost.
"Wow… I don't think any of us expected this…" Takuya murmured.
The woman was looking very sad as she stared at the empty playground. It didn't take a genius to know why. Tommy hadn't been home in months. The time in the Digital World may be faster than in the real world, but not that much faster. So his parents likely hadn't seen him for a few days now. His mother likely came out to the playground because she missed her child.
While Tommy could've gone home, he had his reasons for staying. But even so, he was a kid, and he hadn't seen his mother in a very long time. Nobody could blame him for breaking down when he saw her after all this time. As the moons began to pass over the forest, the images also began to disappear.
"Mom… no, don't go!" Tommy called out.
Takuya grimaced, feeling bad for Tommy as the image of his mom faded completely. "Tommy…" He murmured softly. Poor kid… He's been here so long… he must miss his mom more than anything…
Even Koji, despite his aloof exterior, felt bad for Tommy, seeing him breaking down crying. He might have been cold to Tommy, but he was not cruel enough to say suck it up. Instead, he tried to pass off putting a comforting hand on Tommy's shoulder as a simple gesture of 'it will be fine'.
It was rare to see Koji trying to comfort someone who wasn't Koichi. JP and Zoe decided not to say anything until Tommy calmed down a little.
Takuya sat down beside Tommy, knowing the kid needed some comfort.
"Sorry… I didn't mean to lose it there…" Tommy apologized after calming down.
"It's okay, Tommy. You don't need to be sorry for breaking down like that." Takuya reassured Tommy. "It's okay to miss your parents."
"And you'll see them again soon, right?" Zoe added.
"Y-yeah." Tommy nodded.
"Here, how about you try this meat apple?" Takuya suggested, holding out a meat apple for Tommy. "I broke a piece of it to taste it. It's hot dog."
Tommy took the meat apple and munched on it. It made for a good distraction.
"You know, when I get upset about something, I usually try doing some magic tricks," JP remarked. "I could show you one."
"Really? You do magic tricks?" Takuya asked, surprised.
"Yeah, I still do some magic tricks as a hobby actually." JP replied with a grin. "In fact, I can show you my first ever magic trick!"
"Then let's see it!" Takuya grinned as well.
"I think this should be fun." Zoe giggled.
Koji gave a small smile. "Why not? It would help pass the time."
JP smiled before he took out a blue and a red handkerchief.
As JP was doing his trick, somehow tying the pair together without actually tying them, Takuya heard a noise from above. Takuya looked up, but he didn't see anything.
What was that? I swore I heard something… Takuya thought to himself as he narrowed his eyes slightly.
"I'll go ahead and put down more meat apples," Tommy said. "We need more to try to get Jazz and Floramon to smell them."
"Are you sure you're alright?" Takuya asked.
"Yeah, it'll also be a good distraction, it helps to keep my body moving," Tommy answered.
Zoe couldn't help but smile a little at Takuya as Tommy went over to the campfire. "You know, Tommy could be your little brother."
"Yeah?" Takuya smiled back sheepishly. "I actually do have a younger brother. But I haven't seen him since I came to Amity Park on an exchange program for students. But I also have younger cousins so I guess the whole big brother thing comes naturally to me since I have to keep the two of them out of trouble."
"It sounds like they get into quite a bit of trouble a lot," Zoe chuckled.
"Tell me about it." Takuya chuckled as well. "From saving Danny from a ghost who thinks he's a cop to saving Andy from being mistaken for a ghost himself, the trouble never ends with those two." He then sighed fondly. "But I wouldn't trade them for the world. They may be trouble magnets, but that is part of their charm I guess."
"Almost sounds like me and Koichi," Koji remarked to himself, almost sounding fond.
Takuya raised an eyebrow, surprised that Koji said something that wasn't rude.
Tommy smiled a little at them, seeing how the group were starting to get along more, even if he didn't really belong with them. He was putting up more meat apples when he heard something behind him. Tommy quickly turned around. Wah?
Tommy's eyes went wide in alert when he saw some kind of black thing coming out of the bushes behind him. Tommy dropped the apple he was holding and shut his eyes, bracing himself from whatever was launching at him.
Titanic X: ZAFT: Valerie does need some comforting after this whole thing. XD
pokemon fan 1991: DarkFoxKit: Okay… uh… thanks for reviewing, even if you don't have much to say. And that's all I have to say about the review.
ZAFT: BlackGatomon was fun to write out, and definitely scared Valerie. XD
DawnBreaker23: DarkFoxKit: I won't say if Maddie and Jack will find out about the Digital World, but we don't plan to leave them out of the action for too long.
ZAFT: You will see if Jazz is okay soon. It will just take a while to get back to her. ^^'
DarkFoxKit: Thank you for being supportive of We Are Phantoms despite not updating it for a long time.