After a good night's sleep and filling breakfast, the Digidestined and their partners were doing their own things. Ken and Ryo were having a conversation about music, while Wormmon and Monodramon were listening in. Chloe was showing Penguinmon a few dance moves, as her sister and Floramon are talking amongst themselves away from everyone else.
While TK and Patamon were talking with Gennai in a backroom. The boy and his partner were sitting at a table while Gennai was working on his computer.
"Sorry, it took me so long to work on yours. It's faster to download this program on the newer devices than it is on the older ones," Gennai walked over to the table TK is sitting at and handed him his Digivice.
"It's fine. As long as it can help us then I don't care how long it takes," TK took back his Digivice and quickly put it in his pocket. "Though, I don't know why you need to update the tracking system on the Digivices? It worked pretty well."
Gennai took a seat across from the blond boy and cleared his voice.
"That is true, though I haven't been entirely honest with you. You know how nothing dies in the Digital World?" TK nodded he still remembers Angemon sacrificing himself to defeat Devimon. The pain he felt seeing his friend die in front of him and the joy he had when Patamon came back from an egg, it's something he'll never forget. "Well, it's the same for the crests."
TK's and Patamon's eyes shot right up. The crests aren't destroyed, which means his friends haven't lost connection to the Digital World.
"That's great! All we have to do is find them and then you can summon the others and they can help us defeat whatever took out the Sovereigns!" Patamon hovered in the air and TK smiled at his partner's enthusiasm, but the look on Gennai's face told him that it wasn't so simple.
"It's not that easy Patamon, only the Sovereigns can summon the Digidestined," Patamon landed on the table dejectedly, TK patted his partner's head to make it feel better, though he was saddened by the news as well.
"But you do know where the crests are, right?" After hearing that his friends won't be able to help them, all TK wanted to know is where the crests are so he can at least give his friends a chance to return to the Digital World someday.
"No…" TK felt his heartbreak hearing that word. He wanted to storm out of the room and scream, but Gennai held up his hand, stopping him before he could cause a scene. "But, that's what the new program is for. Since you don't have the tags anymore, this will help you locate the crests."
TK looked at his Digivice and saw his yellow dot on the screen and a bunch of red dots grouped together close by. TK smiled, happy that he has something to find his friend's crests, but also because he knows he's not alone.
"It's important you find the crests, not only to restore the Digital World to what it was but also your friends as well." TK nor Patamon understood what Gennai said. They understood returning the crests would fix the Digital World, but how does that involve his friends.
"What do you mean?"
"The crests aren't just a physical manifestation of your best traits, they're a part of you, a part of your heart. When the crests were destroyed, your friends lost a part of themselves, meaning they're not who they once were," TK's stomach dropped hearing this. He had a feeling that they were affected by losing their crests, but he didn't think they would change.
"B-But, Apocalymon! They destroyed our crests and we were fine!" Gennai shook his head.
"Apocalymon did destroy your crests, but the power of your crests was always in your hearts. Even when you gave up that power the crests were always connected to you, but now that they're destroyed, everyone but you lost their connection."
TK was silent for a moment, taking in what he heard. If he and this new team failed, not only would the Digital World be destroyed, but also his friends would never be the same. It's a stress that he hasn't felt since Angemon went up against Piedmon. But, they were able to get through it, they were able to save his friends then, so why not now?
With a new sense of hope, TK placed Patamon on his head and stood up.
"Well, how can I help if I'm just standing around doing nothing? Thank you for everything, Gennai," TK did a little bow and left to join his new team.
"Thank you, Child of Hope. I pray for good fortune for you and your friends on this journey," Gennai said with a proud smile on his face.
Dinner was Hell for Tai. Not because of his mother's terrible cooking, his taste buds are numb to that, but because of the sharp utensils they had to use, his wobbly chair, and the purring that would happen at random times, which he soon learned was his cat.
But what scared him the most was his sister, Kari. She just sat at the table with a blank expression on her face the whole time. She didn't even react to their mother's terrible food. Tai doesn't know what caused his sister to react like this, all he knows is that he wants to be far away from her.
Tai is currently on the bottom bunk of his and his sister's bunk bed, hiding under the covers, believing that if he can't see the world, and if the world can't see him, he's safe.
Silence.
That's all that rang through his room. No sound of cars, planes, people, or the living room tv could be heard. Tai was safe. He was happy.
*SQUEAK*
Tai started to shake from the sound of his bedroom door opening. He heard someone's footsteps get louder and louder as they got closer to him. He started breathing heavily as his heartbeat was speeding up. The footsteps stopped and Tai felt someone's eyes were on him. He didn't dare to look, believing that a demon was waiting for him to show his face so they could take his soul the second they made eye contact.
"What are you doing in my bed?"
The monotone voice of his little sister brought Tai back to reality. Knowing that it wasn't a demon, Tai felt a little safe but didn't dare to peak his head out of the covers.
"H-Hey, K-Kari. I-I just thought that it would be a g-good idea for me to s-sleep on the bottom bunk for a w-while," all Tai could hear was his sister's breathing. He thought his sister would jump at the opportunity to sleep on the top bunk.
But she didn't. Tai didn't hear the squeak of the ladder when someone climbs on it, or the sound of his sister's footsteps moving away from him. All there was, was silence. And Tai didn't feel safe.
After what felt like an eternity, Tai heard his sister move away from him and the sound of someone sitting down in the computer chair. Tai assumed she was just checking to see if she received any emails from TK, he remembers overhearing her say something like that earlier. But he didn't hear any mouse clicks or the typing of the keyboard, all he could hear was his sister's breathing.
Gathering up all his courage, Tai peeked his head out of the covers to see what his sister was doing.
She wasn't doing anything, just staring at the black screen without a care in the world.
"Y-You know, y-you're supposed t-to turn on the m-monitor?" Tai chuckled awkwardly.
He quickly wished he didn't say anything as his sister slowly turned her head and stared at him with empty eyes. Tai quickly hid under the covers, as Kari slowly turned back to the blank computer screen.
Listening to the ocean.
After leaving Gennai's house, the group of kids and Digimon journeyed through the forest, trying their best to stay dry. Just like the day prior, it was drizzling, though it was coming down harder. It was also windy as well, to the point that TK, Ken, and Willis had to hold their partners close to them. They don't know when the wind will slow down, or if the rain will stop. But one thing they did know was…
"Do we even know where we're going?" Chloe asked.
They were lost.
When the group left Gennai's house, they picked a direction and stuck with it. To be honest, Gennai never told them where to go, only giving them a backpack of supplies. He also never told them how to save the Digital World, only telling TK, who later relayed the information to the group, about the crests.
"I don't know? But we should find shelter soon before it starts to rain harder," TK wiped some of the rainwater off of his face to see better.
"I don't know why you're complaining? The rain feels great!" Floramon danced around with its arms open wide, soaking in as much water as it could.
"There is such a thing as overhydration, Floramon," Willis told the plant Digimon. "But I agree with TK. We should get some type of roof over our heads and plan out our next steps."
"I can fly ahead and try to find a cave," Patamon flew out of its partner's arms and tried to fly ahead of the group, but the wind was too strong, and if it wasn't for TK, the wind would've taken Patamon away.
"Maybe it would be better to just stick with me for a while," TK pulled his partner close to him as the group continued on in the rain.
A few minutes passed and the rain started to pour. The group started to run, looking for anything to shelter them. They found a cave and they made a break for it. When they entered the cave they started to dry off and TK checked to make sure no one was missing.
"Is everyone here?" TK rang out his hat and heard a sea of "Yes."
TK looked out of the cave and only saw the rain pouring down, he couldn't even see the trees in the forest. He shook his head and turned back to the group.
"I don't think we'll be leaving anytime soon. So, what's the plan moving forward?" TK sat down and the group sat down with him.
"We find the crests and fix the world," Ryo said.
"But how do we do that? All we know is that our Digivices can find the crests and we don't even know where they are!" Ken sighed. He knew that their journey would be hard and dangerous, but he didn't think they would run in blind without a plan.
"Ken's right, and even if we did know where they are, how are we supposed to get them? You all saw that map, how do we know that they're not on any of those islands?" Willis just shook his head.
Willis was right. Everything he said was right. How were they supposed to get them, let alone find them? They're not ready, who were they kidding, a bunch of kids in a strange world that's falling apart. Maybe they should just give up.
"Hey now don't be like that!" The group looked up to see TK who had a huge smile on his face. "No one ever said this was going to be easy. I've felt the same way you guys are feeling right now and I never gave up because I knew my friends were right there with me. So let's stop feeling bad about our situation and let's put our heads together and figure this out like a team!"
"TK's right! We'll get nothing done if we just sit around feeling sorry for ourselves!" Terriermon shouted with Lopmon nodding its head in agreement. Willis perked up after seeing his partner's excitement.
"Yeah! What good will it do if we do nothing!" Penguinmon shook Chloe who laughed in response.
"Come on Ken, let's save the world!" Ken smiled at Wormmon and agreed that he shouldn't feel sorry for himself.
"Alright, Wormmon! We're gonna save this world together!" Ken told his partner. Then he turned his attention to the rest of the group. "So, what should be our first move?"
"If I remember correctly, there's a city close by. Maybe there's something there that can help us?" Monodramon spoke up. Patamon flew up beside the dragon Digimon.
"I know what you're talking about! Candlelight City, that place has great food and a famous lighthouse!"
TK picked up his excited partner and placed it on his head.
"Well, it looks like Candlelight City is our first destination," the group cheered at TK's proclamation.
The rain seemed to slow down as the Digidestined started their journey back up again.
Izzy had to excuse himself from the dinner table, he couldn't eat after what happened in class. He had a hard time believing that he would get a simple math equation wrong, it had to be a fluke, and he's gonna prove it.
Sitting at his bedroom desk, Izzy is working on his math homework. Looking over the equations, Izzy couldn't understand any of them. It's like he's reading a made-up language.
"What even is this?" Izzy ran his hands through his hair. "3.3÷3? 3/4x6? 2x2? Is this even Japanese!?"
Izzy was so frustrated he wanted to slam the table. He was about to, but he calmed himself down with a couple of deep breaths. He looked back at the equations and tried to solve them.
"Alright, 3.3÷3 equals… 3?" Izzy was chewing on his pencil, he doesn't think that he has the right answer, but nothing else is coming to him. He looked at his laptop, then he looked around to make sure no one could see him. He lunged for his laptop and quickly turned it on.
"I'm not cheating. I'm just using my resources, that's all," Izzy told himself, though a part of him didn't believe it.
The screen turned on to reveal the login screen and Izzy clicked on the username bar. Izzy just sat there looking at the screen. Seconds turned to minutes and Izzy still hasn't logged onto his laptop.
Izzy groaned.
"I knew I should've written down my login information."
Izzy gave up on his homework and lay down on his bed.
"Maybe I'll try again another time," Izzy dozed off to sleep.
During their trek to Candlelight City, Chloe noticed something. Her sister hasn't said much the whole day, and when she has, she's usually away from everyone or when everyone else is speaking. Wondering why Chloe distances herself and her sister from the group.
"You want to explain to me why you haven't been talking all day?" Chloe asked. She received a confused look from Catherine.
"What are you talking about? I've been talking all day," Catherine answered, but in a hushed tone of voice.
"Only when you're away from everyone or when everyone is talking. Is everything ok?" Catherine looked away from her sister.
"I'm fine," Catherine answered. Chloe started worrying, thinking that she did something to upset her.
"Listen, if it's about the fish, I'm sorry," Catherine shook her head.
"It's not that, though I forgive you. It's just…" Catherine looked away again. She started biting her thumb's nail, contemplating something. She wanted to tell her sister, but a part of her brain kept telling her to be quiet. And the look on her sister's face made her feel worse. They never keep secrets from each other and when they do it's always for something minor, like Christmas and birthday presents.
Sensing its partner's conundrum, Floramon decided to speak up.
"She drank the tea last night."
"Floramon, not so loud!" Catherine quickly shushed her partner. She turned to see her sister stifling a laugh along with Penguinmon. "Hey! Don't laugh!"
"That's what this is all about? I thought it was something serious," Chloe said after gaining her composure.
"It is serious!" Catherine seethed.
"I don't see what's so bad about it? Everyone else drank it and they're fine," Penguinmon spoke up and Chloe nodded along.
"That's what I said, but she just doesn't seem to listen," Floramon shook its head in disapproval.
Catherine groaned.
"I don't want TK to make fun of me! OK!"
"Why would he make fun of you?" Penguinmon asked. Chloe ruffled its head fuzz.
"They have a little friendly rivalry," she told her partner and then turned her attention back to her sister. "But, what is this really about?"
"What do you mean? I told you," Catherine answered, but Chloe just shook her head at her.
"You know I can tell when you're lying, so you might as well tell me what this is really about."
Catherine put her head down in shame.
"I've been nothing but selfish since we've been here," Chloe was taken aback by her sister's reveal. She never thought her sister acted selfishly during their time in the Digital World. She thinks she acted how a normal person would in their situation.
"Why do you think that?" Chloe asked.
"Last night, I overheard TK talking with Patamon. He said he was feeling stressed out about being here without the help of his old friends. And I know he has us, but we don't know anything about the Digital World or Digimon," Chloe took in her sister's words and looked at TK. She never thought about how this was affecting him. She decided that she'll give him a hug the first chance she gets.
"Then why did you drink the tea?" Penguinmon asked.
"Since TK is sacrificing so much, I felt like I should also make some sacrifices as well. Though I'm starting to regret my decision," Chloe hugged Catherine and patted her back.
"Don't worry about it. Besides, I bet TK will be ecstatic that you drank the tea."
Catherine smiled and returned her sister's embrace.
"Hey! What's going on back there?" TK called out.
Chloe and Catherine looked at each other and laughed.
"Just girl talk!" Chloe responded.
"Alright! But you might want to catch up, Monodramon says we're almost there!"
Chloe and Catherine looked ahead and saw they were a little far away from the group. They hurried back to the group, though Catherine stayed in the back, Cloe made her way to TK and hugged him.
"What was that for?" TK said with a smile.
"Felt like it," Chloe said with a cheeky grin.
Mimi and her friends planned to go to the mall for her friend's party and she's been dreading it ever since she woke up. She is wearing a pair of plain blue jeans, a plain pink t-shirt, and a white sun hat. After her little panic attack at 3 in the morning, she decided to be as plain as possible because you never look bad if you're plain.
She saw her friends chatting amongst themselves in the food court. She saw that one of her friends was wearing a dark green sundress with a sunflower pin. It was one of the ugliest dresses she has ever seen.
"Hey, Mimi! What do you think of my new dress? I got it for my birthday," she did a little twirl for her to see all of it.
"It's beautiful!" Mimi said with a bright smile. She was screaming at herself for saying that. No, she didn't think it was beautiful, but she felt compelled to say it was.
"You sure? Cause I thought it was ugly," Mimi nodded, her smile never wavered.
Her friend shrugged.
"If you say so. You never lied to me before," she turned towards the group. "Alright, so my mom gave me some money, so we can shop and watch a movie."
"Ooh, what movie should we watch?" one of the girls asked.
"I don't know? A lot of good ones just came out," the birthday girl said.
Another girl put her arm around Mimi's shoulder. "We'll cross that bridge when we get there. Besides, we can always ask Mimi to decide for us."
"You're right!" they cheered while Mimi chuckled nervously.
"Yeah…" she looked away from the group. Today is gonna be a long day.
The rain is starting to get heavier, the wind is getting stronger, and they didn't feel like they were any closer to Candlelight City than they were before, no matter how many times Monodramon reassured them.
"Are you sure we're close? Because I don't want to be out here longer than I have to!" TK shouted. The sound of the rain and the wind is so loud that if they don't shout, their voices would get drowned out.
"Almost there! It's just over that hill!"
Monodramon pointed to the hill in front of them. It wasn't a huge hill, on a normal day it wouldn't be a challenge, but the strong winds and heavy rain would make climbing a regular hill feel like climbing a small mountain.
"Let's hurry up then! I don't think my ears can soak up any more water!" Terriermon wrangs out its ears only for them to instantly be soaked.
At the foot of the hill, it was easy to climb. But when they got halfway, it felt like the wind was trying to blow them off, while the rain was trying to drown them.
"This is torture! I don't think I can make it!?" Ken wiped the rain from his eyes.
"Don't give up! We're almost at the top!" TK shouted.
The ground started to shake, knocking them all to the ground.
"What now!?"
They looked up to see a big brown bear with red eyes.
"Frigimon?!" TK said out loud.
"No! That's MudFrigimon: Just like Frigimon, MudFrigimon is a gentle creature and hates fighting," Patamon explained.
MudFrigimon charged at them with its fist drawn back.
"It doesn't look gentle to me! MOVE!" The group dove in different directions before MudFrigimon brought its fist down and destroyed the ground they were previously on.
"I thought you said they were gentle?!" TK said after picking himself up.
"I have been wrong before!"
They saw that Ken and Wormmon were close to them and they quickly made their way to them.
"What are we gonna do? One hit from that thing and we're toast!" TK listened to what Ken said. He knew that they had to beat MudFrigimon fast before the storm gets any worse, but he also knew they wouldn't be able to do it with the Digimon they have now.
"You thinking what I'm thinking Patamon?"
"I've been waiting ever since yesterday!" Patamon lunged at MudFrigimon while TK stuck out his Digivice.
"Digivolve!"
"Patamon Digivolve to…" Patamon was draped in a veil of light and started to transform. It grew into a giant being with six wings on its back, long flowing golden hair, and a helmet covering its eyes. It wielded a golden staff and wore a blue loincloth.
"Angemon!"
Everyone was speechless. A small creature like Patamon is able to transform into an angel is unbelievable, but a lot of unbelievable things have happened to them since they've been there, so this shouldn't surprise them. But it did.
"Alright, Angemon! Make this quick!"
"Don't worry, this won't take long!"
Angemon swung its staff at the mud Digimon, but it blocked it. MudFrigimon swung at Angemon, who dodged it. Angemon once again swung its staff at MudFrigimon, making contact, disorienting the mud Digimon.
"Finish it, Angemon!" Angemon nodded its head at its partner and drew its fist back. Its fist started to illuminate a golden light and the Digidestined and Digimon could feel its power.
"Hand of Fate!" Angemon shot its fist forward as a beam of light shot towards MudFrigimon. It made a direct hit to the mud Digimon's stomach, sending it down the hill.
"Alright! You did it!" TK and the rest of the Digidestined cheered. But their celebration was short-lived, as the storm started to get stronger.
"Ah! We need to hurry!" Chloe screamed.
Angemon quickly scooped up the children and Digimon and quickly flew them down the hill and into the city. Angemon didn't stop until it found a building that looked like an inn. Angemon dropped off the children before reverting back into Patamon and entered the building.
Inside was a nice warm cozy lobby with a waiting area and a bar/dining area off to the side.
"I didn't forget anyone, right?" Patamon looked around and saw that everyone was there, before resting on top of TK's head.
"That was awesome! The way that you handled that mud Digimon was so cool!" Ryo gushed with a few of the others nodding their heads.
"That was cool, but why couldn't you do that earlier?" Willis asked
"It's because I use up a lot of energy to Digivolve. I didn't want to Digivolve and run out of energy on the way here and be defenseless during an attack," Patamon explained. Willis looked like he was making a mental note as he stared off into space.
"Hey, guys! I don't think we'll be able to go out anytime soon," Ken called out to the group. They saw him and Wormmon standing by the window. TK walked towards them and saw that it was dark out with a few street lights being blown around by the wind and the rain pelting the window.
"He's right. I think it would be best to bunker down for the night," TK said as they made their way back to the group.
"Well, it's a good thing that I dropped us off at this inn," Patamon said proudly.
"But how can we afford it? We don't have any money and I don't think the owner would like it if we set up a campsite in their lobby," Floramon pointed towards the clerk, a yellow egg-shaped Digimon that is mostly made up of plants.
Patamon felt sad, but TK started to dig through the backpack Gennai gave them.
"What are you looking for, TK?" Chloe peered over his shoulder as he was rummaging through the backpack.
"Something that we could trade with the clerk to let us at least stay for the night," TK looked through the pockets of the backpack. Taking out six reusable water bottles, food, and some matches. He dug further into the bag until he pulled out a plastic paper bag full of money.
"Woah," Willis gasped. "How much do you think that is?"
"I don't know, but let's hope that it will buy us a room for tonight," TK moved up to the clerk, which he was able to recognize it being a Vegiemon.
"Hello. How may I help you?"
"How much will this get us?" TK handed Vegiemon the money. It counted the cash thoroughly before handing it back to TK.
"One night," TK lit up hearing this.
"We'll take it"
"You sure…?" Veggiemon looked at the group standing behind him. "Because the rooms aren't really big."
TK nodded.
"A small room is better than staying out there."
Veggiemon shrugged.
"Alright, but I don't want to hear any complaints," it handed TK a room key. "Breakfast is between 7:30 and 9:00. If you're late you won't get served."
"Got it," TK paid and received a few bills and coins as change. "Thank you!"
TK returned to the group and showed them the key.
"Got us a room for the night," the group cheered.
"So, what are we gonna do for sleeping arrangements?" Chloe asked.
"We'll figure it out when we get there. But right now I want to rest my feet," Ryo yawned.
Feeling a little tired as well, the group made their way to their room.
