DarkFoxKit: Alright, we've got the next chapter out. The story's starting out slow, but here's hoping it'll pick up soon and you guys will be more invested. For those of you who are coming off of Digital Phantom, it might seem confusing to why things are happening the way they are, but there's a reason for that.
ZAFT: It will become clear soon enough, you will just have to bear with us for a while until then…. ^^' Without going into spoilers, all I will say is things start to become clear once we reach the 20s for the chapters. But if you are sharp-eyed or really pay attention, there are subtle hints that will give the impression this is not normal. XD
DarkFoxKit: But for now, we'll let you guys read on and see what you can figure out.
Chapter 2: Nice To Meet You
Koji was walking down into the dark tunnel, carrying Labramon the whole time. "I can barely see in this place, it's so dark."
"You can put me down now… I think I've recovered enough to walk on my own," Labramon said.
Koji frowned a bit. "Are you sure? That bite looks pretty bad."
"Yeah, Digimon heal pretty fast," Labramon assured.
Koji carefully put Labramon down. Labramon stumbled a little, but she was able to stand on her own feet. "There, you see?"
"Okay, but if you start walking funny, I'm picking you right back up." Koji said, not wanting Labramon to push herself too much.
"Hmm?" Labramon blinked for a moment before chuckling. "You know… you're a lot nicer than you appeared at first."
Koji blushed. "I have a dog of my own… That's why I'm more… open with you I guess…"
"I see," Labramon said as she paused for a moment. "Well, I guess I got lucky then, huh? Anyways, I think there's something up ahead. Some kind of… power I can't describe, I'm both smelling and sensing it. It shouldn't be too far, that might be what you're looking for."
Koji blinked before looking down at his D-Tector, which was still showing the map. "That's the direction the map is pointing me in as well."
Koji started walking, though he kept an eye on Labramon. Labramon seemed to be walking just fine though, she did keep a lot of her weight off of her injured paw, but otherwise she seemed to be doing alright. Koji hoped Labramon was telling the truth when she said Digimon healed fast, and she wasn't trying to hide her real pain from him to not burden him. Which was funny, because Koji wanted to be alone on this journey initially because he didn't want others to burden him. Especially that weird kid with the goggles on his head, he was really annoying and loud.
Koji and Labramon walked for a while before Koji decided to break the silence since it was starting to creep him out a bit. "So… Do you know what this… power you were sensing is like? I'm apparently supposed to search out this thing called a Spirit, but I don't even know what one looks like."
"Um…" Labramon hesitated for a moment. "I can't say I know what it looks like either, I've never seen one before. But… I'd imagine… if the Spirit wanted to show itself to you, then you'll know what it is."
"Great… Well, I had to at least try and ask." Koji sighed. "It'd be better to know what this thing looks like instead of wandering around blindly."
"We're not wandering around blindly, we're close to it, I'm sure. And you've got that handy dandy device in your hands literally leading you right to it, right?" Labramon pointed out.
"I was being sarcastic." Koji grumbled.
"Really? It just sounded like you were complaining," Labramon snickered.
Koji grumbled. "I'm only 12, I'm a kid. Of course I'm going to complain. What kid wouldn't complain?"
Labramon looked at Koji, surprise written on her face for a moment, then she rubbed her face with her paw.
"What?" Koji asked.
"What kind of… kid admits that they're complaining because they're a kid?" Labramon laughed.
Koji groaned as he put his hands to his head. "I can't believe I just said that…"
"But you know… even after you find this Spirit…" Labramon began a little hesitantly. "... Do you… still want me to come with you?"
Koji sighed. "Really? You think I'd just leave you behind when I get this Spirit thing?"
"I mean… you seemed like a loner, and you only took me with you because I was injured, right? What reason do you have to keep me around once you find what you're looking for?" Labramon asked.
"I know nothing about this place." Koji replied. "It'd be great to have a guide around at the very least."
"Hmm…" Despite Koji's words, Labramon looked hesitant for some reason. "I… probably shouldn't be doing this… he's gonna get on my case for sure…"
"What? Who? And about what?" Koji asked, not sure what Labramon was mumbling about.
"Oh… nothing for you to worry about," Labramon quickly said. "There are… some things I promised my friends about… but I don't think they'll mind it too much if I… decide to stick with you for a little longer."
Koji smiled a bit. "That'd be great. Any help would be accepted."
Meanwhile, JP and Tommy were trying to figure their way around these strange underground tunnels. JP threw up some leaves into the air, to see where the wind was blowing.
"The wind's blowing in this direction, so if we walk this way, we should find a way out," JP said to Tommy.
"Are you sure about that?" Tommy asked.
"Yeah, why?" JP asked as he looked at Tommy.
"Take a look at this cross over here," Tommy pointed at a white X mark on the stone wall.
JP blinked. "So, what about it?"
"I used some rocks to draw it before we walked to track our progress," Tommy explained. "So I know we've been here before."
"Huh?!" JP blinked. "But I was sure we would be going the right way!"
"There must be a draft all over this place, so it's hard to tell where the wind is coming from," Tommy sighed. "Could be that hole in the ceiling we made when we dropped down here. Maybe we really shouldn't have gone off on our own."
JP frowned a bit. "Yeah… maybe we should have stayed with the others…" He admitted. "Wow… I really didn't think that whole thing through."
Tommy looked over at JP. "JP… why did you want to leave so badly? Does this world… scare you that much?"
"No… Well… maybe a little…" JP admitted. "I mean… you saw what happened back with that dog creature. What about the rest of us? Takuya got lucky. What if that… Spirit didn't choose him to use its power?"
Tommy frowned for a moment. "I… don't really understand it either, about what happened. And I was there, watching it all unfold in front of me. There was that rabbit creature… and that orange hamster… bat creature with it. And Takuya was suddenly engulfed in fire, and the next thing I knew, he… wasn't human anymore. I wasn't sure what to think. I was excited at first, because it's like he turned into a superhero. But something about it made me… uneasy… I'm not sure why. I know… I'm a little kid, and all, but… I sometimes think about things that most kids my age probably would never think about. Like… what happened with Takuya… that wasn't normal. Superheroes on TV are one thing, but to see it happen to someone in real life, right before my eyes… and we don't really understand how it happened, and… what could happen when it does… I mean for all we know, Takuya could be losing who he is to this Digimon he can turn into, right? I was more worried about what would happen to the rest of us if we were to find a Spirit. Would the Spirit accept us? And would it be a good thing if it did or not?"
JP shivered. "I see your point. I don't want to lose myself to a Spirit if I get one…"
"But is it as bad as we think it is?" Tommy asked. "Considering what we're dealing with in this world, wouldn't it be bad to not be chosen by a Spirit?"
JP groaned. "You make way too much sense sometimes, kid…" He grumbled. "But yeah… that would be bad to not be picked by a Spirit."
"Then… let me ask… Do you think… we would be picked by a Spirit?" Tommy asked.
"I don't know, Tommy. I'm older than you, and maybe older than Takuya too. It's likely I could get picked by one of those Spirits, if we find any more, but…" JP frowned. "It looks painful. And I'm not much of a fighter. I don't know if I'd make a good Digimon if I were to become one."
"I guess we're both feeling uneasy about the whole thing," Tommy sighed. "But… can we really just leave it like that and go back home?"
Before JP could answer, both of them began hearing several laughs echoing in the underground. Looking up, the two saw red eyes looking at them from the ceiling. One of the Pagumon jumped down to them.
"Give us chocolate!"
The Pagumon quickly dropped down on them. JP and Tommy yelped and struggled to run out of the pile of furballs with teeth, and a craving for chocolate.
"Although becoming a Digimon would be nicer than being eaten alive by these guys!" JP yelled as he and Tommy ran.
"Get the humans! They smell like chocolate!" The first Pagumon grinned. "They must be made of the stuff!"
Koji and Labramon came up to a large looking space with several entrances. However, Koji and Labramon's musings didn't last long when they heard two people screaming as they ran into the large room.
"Help! Somebody help us!" JP screamed.
"I'm not a chocolate bar!" Tommy yelled.
Lopmon's ears went up as he heard yelling echoing through the underground.
"Was that… Tommy and JP?" Takuya asked, having heard the same screams.
"It sounds like it." Zoe said in concern. "We need to go find them and help!"
"Come on, this way!" Lopmon spoke up, running ahead.
Takuya and Zoe didn't hesitate to follow Lopmon.
Meanwhile, Koji, seeing how these two were being bitten constantly by these Pagumon, decided to help them out. While he hadn't intended to play babysitter, he would have to truly be heartless to not save them from a cruel fate.
"You stay here," Koji said to Labramon. "I'm going to help them."
Labramon frowned, but before she could protest, Koji was already grabbing onto a metal bar, and sliding down into the battlefield.
Koji slid down the pole to the ground, ready to face down those little gray furballs. They didn't look so tough to him.
Seeing this new human landing nearby, and he had a cocky grin on his face, it bothered the Pagumon. They stopped trying to eat the other two humans, and all began to jump at Koji. JP and Tommy were confused and surprised to see another human was here too.
Koji kicked the metal pole he had slid down, breaking it at the base. He grabbed it and broke it off at the top as well, forming a staff that he swung at the Pagumon horde. They were forced to scatter as Koji planted the tip on the ground and clung to the staff upside down. The Pagumon horde jumped onto Koji, but then he flipped up and scattered the Pagumon off of him, landing on his feet and holding the staff.
"Who is that? He's good!" JP said, impressed.
"He must practice a lot of kendo or something," Tommy remarked, also in awe. He's not even a Digimon.
Labramon frowned as she watched. While Koji was doing well out there, she was getting a bad feeling. Pagumon were In-Training level Digimon, while they were pretty annoying, especially in a group, they were Digimon that could still digivolve if provoked. And one Pagumon in particular, likely the leader of this horde, definitely felt powerful. It reminded Labramon of an incident with an old friend.
Koji ran at the Pagumon horde again, swinging his staff at the small gray furballs. They were able to avoid his swings and stands, but the boy was much better at fighting back, so it was hard to get a hit on him. The boy was then piled on by Pagumon, but Koji smirked before he began to spin around and caused the Pagumon horde to go flying off of him. The Pagumon each impacted the wall from the force of the spin, all crying out at the impacts they felt.
The one Pagumon that landed in front of Koji growled when he saw Koji smirking at him. "Darn it, human! Don't smile just yet!"
Fractal code surrounded Pagumon. Koji frowned, looking on with shock at what he was witnessing. Labramon, seeing this, quickly jumped down from the entrance, sliding on the rocky wall. She ran up next to Koji just as the fractal code vanished, and in Pagumon's place was a creature that looked like a living sludge pile. It had red eyes that were in metal, white fangs all throughout the gaping mouth, and white claws on its front legs.
JP and Tommy freaked out upon seeing the living sludge creature. Not only was it ugly, it smelled horrible.
"What the heck is that!?" Koji yelled.
"That's a Raremon," Labramon answered, crouching low and growling at the Digimon. "A Champion level, sewage Digimon. The smell of its rotting flesh makes you want to puke, and if that wasn't bad enough, its Acid Sludge attack can melt the flesh off your bones faster than you can scream."
Koji frowned. "And this thing came from that little gray furball?"
"Digimon can digivolve into many different forms, but I think this one isn't right… it's a corrupted form, its mind is completely messed up." Labramon frowned as Raremon began to rise up.
"I'll eat you up!" Raremon shouted.
JP and Tommy ran to get away from the nasty looking, and foul smelling, creature before them.
Koji ran to attack Raremon, hoping to buy some time for the other two boys to get away. However, Raremon was ignoring Koji, and was looking at the other two boys instead. "Acid Sludge!"
Tommy tripped as he was running, and Raremon opened its maw to spew out a glowing green sludge at the boy. Seeing this, Koji dropped his metal pipe and ran at Tommy, grabbing him away from the attack. Labramon looked back, seeing the sludge ate through the ground, leaving behind several holes, which led to the abyss just outside.
"Retriever Bark!" Labramon shot out a wave of high pitched barks at Raremon, stunning it for a bit.
Raremon let out a moan, and Labramon ran at Raremon, attacking it with her paws, trying to knock it away. The sludge nature of the Digimon, however, made it difficult for Labramon to push it back. Not only was Raremon much bigger than her, it was too gooey for her physical attacks to do any real damage to it.
Darn it! If only I was stronger! Labramon growled.
"Labramon, stay back!" Koji shouted at her. "This thing is too strong for you!"
"And what? Let it melt you!? I'm the only other Digimon here, I can handle it! But you guys have to stay back!" Labramon shouted back, keeping her eyes on Raremon.
"Acid Sludge!" Raremon shouted as he shot out balls of those green sludge from its mouth.
Labramon knew she wouldn't be able to stop this. "RUN!"
Koji picked up Tommy and began running while Labramon ran in the opposite direction, getting out of the deadly attack's way.
Lopmon, Takuya, and Zoe finally made it to the big room, where they saw JP lying on the ground. And Koji was running from the big monster with Tommy, and a dog was running in the opposite direction.
"Ewww! What is that smell?!" Zoe exclaimed. "It smells nasty!"
"Forget the smell, what is that thing that's chasing that boy and Tommy?!" Takuya asked in concern and worry.
"A dangerous Digimon," Lopmon said before looking at the white dog. "Labramon?"
One of the attacks from the Acid Sludge grazed Labramon's size. Labramon let out a whine of pain. Lopmon jumped from where he was, and glided down at Raremon.
"Icy Wind!" Lopmon fired out an icy breath at the Raremon.
Lopmon managed to freeze its mouth, giving them some time, as he landed near Labramon. "Are you okay?"
"Lopmon?" Labramon blinked, looking up at the rabbit.
"Yeah, it's me… hold still," Lopmon said as he began rubbing the sludge off of Labramon's side.
The ice on Raremon's mouth started to crack. Takuya, seeing this, pulled out his D-Tector. He knew he needed to become Agunimon again if they were to have a chance.
"Cmon, Spirit… Wake up… I need your help!" Takuya said as he tried to get the device to activate.
Unfortunately, for whatever reason, the Spirit wasn't reacting. All Takuya saw was a bright light on his screen, but no sign of the Spirit or the symbol of it.
"Aw, c'mon! Really?! I need your help!" Takuya exclaimed to the D-Tector, starting to press random buttons.
"What's the matter, Takuya?" Zoe asked, seeing how he was struggling to Spirit Evolve.
Raremon managed to break the ice, and open his mouth again. It began to move itself to Koji and Tommy. Koji began to back away towards a hole.
Lopmon and Labramon looked up, noticing the danger they were in.
"Can't we help them? Are we… supposed to?" Labramon asked Lopmon.
"I… I don't know," Lopmon answered. "But… are we even strong enough to help them?"
"We have to at least try, don't we? What if they die? What will happen to us?" Labramon asked.
Lopmon frowned. "... Alright then, come on."
Labramon and Lopmon quickly got to their feet and ran at Raremon.
"Retriever Bark!"
"Blazing Ice!"
Both of their attacks slammed into Raremon's back, making him cry out. Labramon and Lopmon ran in front of Koji and Tommy, trying to protect them from Raremon.
"Labramon, what are you doing?" Koji asked in worry.
Tommy looked at the two Digimon, recognizing one of them. "It's you! You're one of the Digimon who tried to protect us from Cerberumon!"
"Yeah… you can just call me Lopmon," Lopmon replied.
Labramon looked back at Tommy for a moment when he mentioned Cerberumon. "If it's any consolation, I'm sure Cerberumon is sorry when she gets reborn and realizes what she tried to do."
Tommy frowned, as did Koji. Koji didn't know much about this Cerberumon, but he didn't want to press for information for now, not when they had to get away from Raremon and its nasty breath attack.
Raremon began to push itself back up, and started moving towards them. "I'll eat you all up!"
Labramon and Lopmon charged at Raremon, doing what they could to push him back. But trying to fight a sludge monster head on was rather foolish. There wasn't much the two Rookie Digimon could do as the sludge made it difficult for them to hit the Digimon back. Their special attacks were hardly doing anything. They couldn't keep spamming their special attacks either, as that would just tire them out.
Why are we so weak? We can't do anything to help them like this… Labramon frowned as she and Lopmon were easily pushed back.
"We can't give up…" Lopmon said as he pushed himself back to his feet. "These children must live… for the sake of the future."
"Yeah… but we can't do anything to help them as we are now…" Labramon noted, also getting back to her feet.
"We have to do something, those little ones can't keep up!" Zoe frowned.
"At this rate, it's gonna eat them, then Tommy next," JP muttered.
Takuya shut his eyes as he cried out. "SPIRIIIIIIIIIIIT!"
The symbol of Agunimon appeared on the D-Tector's screen, and Takuya felt the power rushing through him once again.
Takuya held up his D-Tector and the blue digital form of his first Spirit appeared visible on the screen of his D-Tector as he formed a ring of fractal coding on his left hand. He swiped the D-Tector over the coding, calling out the familiar phrase he would come to know by heart. "Execute! Spirit Evolution!" His clothes ripped away as his body became digital, and the process began. Coding surrounded him as the power of the Spirit flowed into his body. Red armor formed and latched onto his body as his hair changed to blonde and became long and wild. His height increased, as did his strength and agility. His eyes snapped open, now a brilliant blue instead of brown, and his canine teeth were sharper than a human's as well. He landed, crying out his name. "Agunimon!"
Now evolved as Agunimon, the boy didn't hesitate to rush into the battlefield. Agunimon slammed into Raremon, pushing the sewage Digimon back into the wall.
Raremon shouted out in pain as he spewed out more of that acidic sludge, creating more holes in the ceiling of the underground cave they were in. Agunimon jumped back to the group, knocking away some of the acidic sludge. He turned back to Koji, Tommy, Labramon, and Lopmon.
"Now's your chance to make a break for it!" Agunimon shouted.
However, fractal code surrounded Agunimon's body, turning him back to Takuya.
Takuya looked himself over. "H-huh? W-what happened?" He had not expected that…
"I guess you can't hold it for very long," Lopmon noted.
That was a problem since Raremon was still attacking them. Due to all the holes in the walls from the acid sludge, sunlight was creeping more and more into the cave, quickly lighting it up.
Patamon was flying just outside of the underground cave, he was looking for something. "Where are they…? I can't believe I lost them when they were all just here…"
Patamon stopped when he saw glowing green slime coming out from some kind under the floating island. "What the heck?"
Sensing a battle going on there, Patamon began flying towards the area.
Raremon managed to push itself back up. "Acid Sludge!"
"Doesn't this thing ever give up?" Lopmon frowned before he jumped in front of Takuya and Tommy, shielding them with his body, and covered his body with his ears.
There was a small energy surrounding Lopmon as he created a shield in front of him, taking the majority of the Acid Sludge.
Labramon and Koji backed up towards the hole behind them. Labramon sensed a powerful energy coming from the hole. She looked back for a moment, sniffing the air near the hole. "Is that…?"
Koji looked down as well. "You smell something down here?"
Labramon knew there wasn't much time for hesitation. "I think the Spirit you were looking for is down there. You might have to… jump to get it."
Koji frowned before looking back at where Takuya and Tommy were being defended by Lopmon. It was obvious the goggle-boy had somehow become that humanoid… being, but couldn't keep the form. And if that was the case, then it meant that only he could do something.
Looking back at the hole, Koji swallowed. "If I have to do that… then I will." He said before he jumped down into the hole. This Spirit had better be here, otherwise I just jumped into a pit for nothing!
"Koji!" Takuya called out when he saw the boy jumping down into the hole.
Labramon ran in front of Takuya and Tommy, standing next to Lopmon. "Cure Liquor!"
Labramon shot out some kind of white liquid at Lopmon, healing most of his injuries. "Koji's got a plan. But until then, we'll try our best to keep you safe!"
"I don't get it… why do you try so hard to keep us safe?" Tommy asked.
Lopmon and Labramon didn't give an answer, they were too busy trying to shield them from Raremon's Acid Sludge.
As Koji fell deeper into the pit, he saw something glinting. It was a small pinprick of light that slowly seemed to get brighter and brighter. Then, Koji saw something within the light. It looked like the upper form of a human torso, but dressed in armor that looked like a wolf's form almost. Koji felt an odd sensation filling him, like this thing, this Spirit, was his.
In his mind, Koji saw an image of himself merging with an armored man dressed in the same armor he was seeing before him. Light appeared in his irises, like Koji was in a trance.
It was at that moment, Koji realized that Labramon had been telling the truth. There really was a Spirit here, and he really knew that it was the moment he laid eyes on it. As Koji got closer to the figurine, he realized what he needed to do. Just like Takuya before him, Koji held out his D-Tector at the figurine.
"SPIRIT!" Koji called out.
The D-Tector let out a blue beam of light, hitting the figurine. The figurine went into Koji's D-Tector. As soon as it did, the symbol of Light appeared on the D-Tector's screen, along with the familiar woman's voice ringing through Koji's head. "It is time."
Koji held up his D-Tector and the white digital form of his first Spirit appeared visible on the screen as he formed the familiar fractal coding on his left hand. He swiped the D-Tector over the coding, calling out the familiar phrase he would come to know by heart. "Execute! Spirit Evolution!" His clothes ripped away as his body became digital, and the process began. Coding surrounded him as the energy of the Spirit entered his body. His eyes became red as his hair shortened and turned almost platinum in color. A white helmet covered his head as white and blue armor covered his body. He grasped the beam sabers and swung them a few times before clasping them around his waist and firing off his arm laser. "Lobomon!"
Despite falling into a hole, now as Lobomon, he was able to grab onto the wall of the hole, and jumped up high, getting out of the hole. Like an angel descending from the heavens, Lobomon slowly descended from the air as the sunlight shone onto him. JP, Zoe, the other Pagumon, Takuya, and Tommy all looked up in awe at what they were seeing. Lopmon and Labramon looked more relieved than in awe, however.
"Whoa, who is that?" Zoe asked in awe.
"Man, did I look that cool?" Takuya asked.
"Yeah, but different," Tommy answered, smiling.
"Heh, what a show off," Labramon chuckled.
"At least help has finally arrived." Lopmon grinned.
Lobomon landed on the ground, getting into a fighting stance as he faced down Raremon. He was not going to let this pile of sludge get away with hurting the others.
"Can someone explain to me what just happened?" JP asked.
"Whoa… looks like I'm a little late to the party," A familiar voice said.
Zoe and JP looked to the side, seeing Patamon having just flown in and saw Lobomon.
"Oh! You're… Patamon, right?" Zoe asked.
"Huh? I'm surprised you know my name," Patamon said as he flew over to them and landed in front of Zoe.
"Bokomon told us about you and Lopmon," Zoe explained. "But…"
"Yeah, this is no time for introductions," Patamon chuckled. "But… that Digimon you see there… that's Lobomon, he's the Legendary Warrior of Light."
"So he is another Legendary Warrior, just like Takuya?" JP asked.
"Yup," Patamon confirmed before noticing Lopmon and Labramon. "Lopmon? Labramon? What are those two doing here?"
"They came to help us." Zoe replied. "Without them, Tommy and Takuya would've been goners."
"Really? I thought Lopmon wanted to stay out of this…" Patamon muttered, sounding a little surprised.
Raremon hissed at Lobomon. "Acid Sludge!"
Raremon shot out the acidic green sludge at Lobomon.
Seeing this, Lobomon reached behind him and pulled out a hilt before a glowing white blade ignited from the end of it. "Lobo Kendo!"
Now armed with a sword, Lobomon ran forwards, slashing at the acidic attack and countering each blob that came at him.
Seeing that Lobomon was counterstriking the Acid Sludge, Labramon and Lopmon ran ahead towards Raremon.
"Retriever Bark!"
"Blazing Ice!"
The combo with the loud barking and the icy wind stunned Raremon. The loud sound made it hard for Raremon to focus on his attack, and the icy wind froze parts of his body, making it hard to move. Tommy noticed this.
That ice attack is really useful. There's a lot Lopmon could probably do with it… Tommy thought to himself. If only it was stronger. There's a limit to how much his Blazing Ice can do…
"He's open to attack!" Lopmon called out to Lobomon.
"Go for it with everything you've got!" Labramon encouraged Lobomon.
Lobomon glanced back at Labramon with one of his red eyes and nodded. He ran at Raremon and jumped up, pointing the sword in his hand right down at Raremon's head. Lobomon then stabbed Raremon in the top of his head, making sure to drive the blade in deep.
Raremon let out a cry of pain and agony as the blade went in deep. Some kind of red oil started spouting out from Raremon's head. It wasn't blood, but it was definitely something quite nasty. Lobomon took out his blade and jumped back. A ring of code appeared on Raremon's body.
Lobomon put his blade away and held up his D-Tector as Raremon became a dark silhouette. "Now you talking trash heap, prepare to be recycled!" He pressed the button on the side of his D-Tector as the scanner on the top lit up. The screen showed the symbol of Light as well. Lobomon swung his arm, the scanner taking hold of the ring of code. "Fractal Code… Digitize!"
When Lobomon finished scanning Raremon's data, Raremon himself turned into a Digi-Egg. The Digi-Egg went up through a hole in the underground cave, likely heading to this 'Primary Village' Bokomon mentioned before to be reborn. Once the battle was over, and the danger was passed, the Pagumon horde quickly fled. And Lobomon turned back into Koji, who was on his hands and knees. Koji wasn't sure what to think after what just happened.
"Looks like it's over…" Lopmon said quietly.
Labramon frowned. "... Yeah…"
Koji panted before he grunted. "That's exhausting…"
Takuya ran over to Koji, being the only other person there to know what it was like to Spirit Evolve for the first time, he knew Koji was probably freaking out a little over what happened, and the exhaustion that came with it. Tommy followed after Takuya, though he wasn't sure if this kid wanted them to be near him. He gave off that kind of vibe, a vibe Tommy knew all too well. Lopmon and Labramon were watching from the side, neither were moving any closer to the group. Patamon, Zoe, and JP watched from where they were too, they weren't sure what to do.
"H-hey, are you okay?" Takuya asked as he reached Koji's side. "L-let me help you up…"
Koji growled. "Don't touch me…" He hissed, not in the mood to be treated like a helpless kid.
Takuya backed off upon hearing that.
Koji managed to stand up. "But… I will thank you for saving me back there. And I always repay my debts."
"I didn't do it so you'd owe me, you know…" Takuya grumbled.
"My name's Koji Minamoto." Koji introduced himself. "And you are?"
Takuya realized he had known this boy's name before he even introduced himself, almost as if he was familiar with this kid. "Um… I'm Takuya… Takuya Kanbara…"
"Takuya, huh?" Koji replied. "... Have we met before? I feel like I've heard that name somewhere."
"N-no… But it's odd because I knew your name before you even told me…" Takuya replied, feeling like something weird was going on, but he couldn't explain what it was.
Tommy frowned as he looked at the two. Takuya knew the boy's name before he introduced himself, and Koji felt like he recognized Takuya's name. That couldn't just be coincidence.
Koji frowned for a moment, before shaking his head. "Well, whatever. It probably doesn't mean anything. See ya."
Koji began walking away from Takuya and Tommy.
"Are we… really supposed to stay away from them?" Labramon asked Lopmon quietly.
"We're not… supposed to get attached," Lopmon whispered back. "You know the rules… We're fine now, but once they… get more powerful, you know what'll happen if we…"
Lopmon looked down, not wanting to say it.
"I know… but…" Labramon frowned. "If we leave them alone now, before they… can handle themselves… don't we risk them getting killed? Aren't we… supposed to help them through this journey? Guide them to the end?"
"... We are…" Lopmon sighed. "But these versions of them… they're not…"
"Well, well, well, Lopmon," Patamon said as he flew over to Lopmon and Labramon. "You were the one to say we should stay away from them and watch them from afar, yet here you are, fighting alongside them. Even after that heated argument we had about how we should go about this, and your refusal to fight by their side."
Lopmon grumbled. "Stuff it, Patamon. It wasn't like I willingly participated in this battle. I was dragged into it… literally."
"We can't just leave these guys alone like this though…" Labramon frowned. "I mean… they know nothing about this world right now."
"Right? That's what I'm saying. And you know what'll happen to our world if any of them die, right?" Patamon asked.
Lopmon frowned. "I get it. It's not like I'm ignorant of the consequences if things go horribly wrong. But I'm trying to protect us from what'll happen if we decide to stay by their side until they're strong enough."
"Lopmon, we'll burn that bridge when we get to it. This is more important than that," Patamon pointed out. "Surely you realize that when you fought alongside them just now, don't you?"
"Hey, what are you three talking about over there?" Zoe asked.
"Nothing important," Lopmon quickly said.
"Yo, Labramon!" Koji called out. "Are you coming with me?"
"Really? You let one of them follow you but you want to ditch the rest of us?" JP frowned.
"I need a guide, and I need to be on my own." Koji replied. "Labramon was given the option of joining me. You weren't."
"Jeez, you sure are rude…" JP frowned.
Labramon looked over at Lopmon. "I… think I should go with him, especially if he wants to go on without the group."
Lopmon gave a sigh. "Do what you want, Labramon, I can't stop you. Just… remember the rules… and how important it is that we don't break them, no matter what."
Labramon nodded. "I will. Just… be careful yourselves." With that said, Labramon ran off to catch up with Koji.
"Good luck…" Lopmon whispered as he watched Labramon heading out with Koji.
"Come on, Lopmon, admit it, you wanted to stay by their side too," Patamon teased.
Lopmon responded by playfully slapping Patamon with one of his ears.
"H-hey!" Patamon whined as he held where he had been slapped, which was his side.
"I wonder what his deal was?" JP grumbled about Koji.
"Come on, guys, let's get out of here. It smells like dead fish," Zoe remarked, breaking up the tension.
"What about those two?" Tommy asked, pointing at Lopmon and Patamon.
"They can come with us." Zoe said. "I don't want to leave these two behind in a nasty smelling place like this."
"Hey, you two! Are you coming with us?" Takuya called out to them.
Patamon and Lopmon looked up at them.
"Well, like it or not, we're here now with them, might as well stick with them, right?" Patamon said to Lopmon.
Lopmon sighed. "Fine, just don't come crying to me when the time comes."
Patamon and Lopmon ran after the group.
Meanwhile, Koji and Labramon were sitting by a tree, just outside of the entrance to the underground cave. Koji needed the rest, and he was looking up at the sky, seeing the Poyomon flying in groups happily. Labramon sat down next to Koji.
"Are you sure you want to go on this journey without them?" Labramon asked.
"I'm sure." Koji replied. "It's easier for me to be on my own and do this by myself. Besides, I don't want to be burdened by any of them. You saw what happened back there. I had to protect the little kid from getting hurt, and almost died for it. And Takuya isn't reliable enough to hold onto his Digimon form."
"Yeah, I get it," Labramon said. "I just hope that… maybe one day, you'll see they might not be as bad as you think. But until that day comes, I'll stay by your side, and help you however I can."
Koji smiled a bit. "At least I have one reliable person here." He joked.
Labramon gave a small smile, and started to wag her tail. It felt good, having someone wanting to rely on her.
Some time later, Takuya's group were back in the Digimon Village. They found Bokomon and Neemon, and filled them in on what happened.
"I must say, that was quite dangerous! You two, why are you always getting yourselves into danger!?" Bokomon scolded Lopmon and Patamon. "You and your friends are still young, you know!"
"You should know why…" Lopmon grumbled.
"Now I know you 5 hadn't been here for long, but I watched over and took care of you when nobody else in the village would," Bokomon huffed. "So you're like children to me. Besides, the one you sent off to scout the Digital World hasn't returned yet, right? And you just let Labramon go off with another human child who wants to be alone?"
Lopmon and Patamon lowered their heads as Bokomon was scolding them like a parent, which was rather amusing to watch.
"He does know he's not actually our dad, right?" Patamon whispered to Lopmon.
"Do you want to tell him that?" Lopmon whispered back.
"You are still like my own children, so I have every right to be worried about you, you know!" Bokomon continued scolding.
"Sorry, Bokomon," Lopmon and Patamon apologized.
"Wow… Bokomon, you didn't tell us you took in these little guys," Zoe remarked.
"Maybe he forgot?" Neemon asked.
"Don't be a moron!" Bokomon snapped at Neemon. "I didn't have a reason to reveal that little information before."
"What about Biyomon? Have you seen her around lately?" Patamon asked.
"No, I have not, not since she went flying with the Poyomon to look at Trailmon coming in from the human world," Bokomon answered.
"Biyomon?" Zoe asked. "What does she look like?"
"She's a pink bird-like Digimon. She's very hard headed and rebellious, but she's kind hearted and means well. She likes to go off on her own though. I wouldn't be surprised if she flew off to go find where Kokuwamon went on her own," Bokomon grumbled.
Zoe blinked. "I think we've seen her before."
"You mean that bird we saw a couple times before?" Takuya asked. "If that was her, why didn't she say anything to us?"
"She was probably trying to keep from getting too close to you guys," Lopmon sighed.
"Why would she try to avoid getting close to us?" Takuya frowned. "We wouldn't have done anything to her."
"Don't worry about it. Biyomon will come on her own time, she can be pretty stubborn around others she's not too familiar with," Patamon assured.
"Well, that's great and all, but you still haven't answered how we can go home," JP pointed out.
"There's a Trailmon that can take you back to your world." Bokomon explained. "If you want to go back home, all you have to do is hop on."
"That's what that Pagumon said before, but we weren't able to take a Trailmon back home." JP frowned.
"Yeah, the Trailmon just kinda left us…" Tommy remembered.
"Well, Trailmon are living beings, like you guys. You likely talked to a Trailmon that just came back from the human world. It takes a lot of energy to go between the human world and our world after all," Bokomon pointed out. "But a fresh Trailmon should have no problem taking you back where you came from."
"But are you sure you want to leave?" Lopmon asked. "Don't you… feel like there's something you need to do here first?"
Tommy frowned. "I… do in a way… But I'm not sure if I should…"
"Besides, it's for the best if Tommy at least goes back," Takuya pointed out. "This place really isn't for a little kid after all."
Tommy frowned at hearing that, but Takuya had a point. After all, he almost died to Raremon's attacks if both Koji and Takuya didn't come to save him, not to mention Lopmon and Labramon. He was nothing but deadweight.
"Are you going to leave too, JP?" Zoe asked.
"I mean… what else is there for me here?" JP asked. "I'm not really a fighter, and… I don't have a Spirit of my own or anything… I rather not stay here and watch the rest of you turn into Digimon."
"Is that really why you want to leave?" Lopmon asked. "Don't you think maybe the 5 of you came here for a reason? Maybe only the 5 of you can wield these Spirits. What will happen if you leave? Surely… you're not going to leave the fate of this world to just Takuya, are you?"
"Wow, way to put me on the spot, Lopmon." Takuya grumbled.
"I wouldn't say the five of us could wield Spirits." JP muttered. "Tommy and I may have come here by accident for all we know."
"Oh really? Then… what about those D-... those devices you have?" Lopmon pointed out, seeming to have almost slipped up with something. "Surely you guys have those too, don't you?"
JP took his out and grumbled. "Yeah, I do, and so does Tommy, but I don't know why we got them."
"I have one too," Zoe said, taking her D-Tector out as well.
"Well, Takuya got his Spirit by using his special device," Lopmon explained. "And so did Koji. So who's to say you 3 won't get your own Spirits later? You'll need those devices you have to use their powers after all."
JP sighed. "I guess you have a point…" He admitted.
"So does that mean you want to stay, JP?" Tommy asked.
JP hesitated for a moment. "... I… guess it can't hurt to stay a little longer."
Tommy frowned as he looked at his D-Tector. He wasn't sure about this, he had been on the fence about this whole thing. But if JP was staying… Well, Tommy certainly didn't want to be the only one in the group to go back home, especially if Lopmon was right.
"Then I'll stay too," Tommy said.
Takuya frowned. "Tommy, you're just a kid, you need to go home."
"I can take care of myself," Tommy huffed.
"Oh yeah? How old are you?" Takuya asked.
"I'm 11 years old!" Tommy spoke up.
Takuya, Zoe, and JP looked at Tommy with uncertainty. Tommy looked away for a moment, his cheeks turning a little red. Takuya kept looking at Tommy, the same way he would look at Shinya when he was caught lying.
"... Okay, no, I'm 8 years old…" Tommy finally admitted.
Takuya groaned. "I knew it… You're the same age as my brother. I can't just let you wander around this world. It's too dangerous."
"But I can't just leave. I have a D-Tector too, just like you guys!" Tommy argued. "Lopmon did say that all 5 of us must've come here for a reason. Right, Lopmon?"
"Hold on…" Lopmon was staring at Tommy in shock. "Did you say you're 8 years old!?"
"Um… Yeah, he did." Takuya pointed out. "What's so odd about that, aside from the fact he's the youngest of us here?"
Lopmon looked back at Patamon, and both of them seemed to be freaking out and whispering to each other.
"I didn't expect him to be 8 years old! Sure he looked younger than I expected, but 8 years old?" Lopmon hissed.
"What about Takuya and the others? They don't look like they're 16, in fact, they don't look like they're teenagers at all," Patamon frowned quietly.
"If Tommy's 8, then Takuya might be… 12 or 13 right now." Lopmon frowned as well. "Why are they… younger?"
"How should I know?" Patamon grumbled. "Should we just go with it?"
"We kinda have to," Lopmon sighed.
"Uh… is there a problem?" Zoe asked.
"They didn't expect you to be so young!" Neemon answered.
Both Patamon and Lopmon grabbed onto Neemon's pants and let go to have the pants slap onto Neemon's waist.
Takuya blinked at the reaction of the two Digimon. "That's gotta hurt…"
Zoe grimaced. "I'd hate to think of what would make those two do that to someone else…"
Tommy frowned, wondering if Lopmon and Patamon would rather he would go home now that they knew his actual age.
"Sorry about that, we, uh… kinda thought you guys would be older," Patamon apologized.
"Because, you know… you're using the Spirits of the Legendary Warriors and all, we didn't think human kids who haven't even reached puberty yet to… uh… be expected to fight battles in the Digital World and all that…" Lopmon explained a little nervously. Who sends an 8 year old child to fight a war!?
"Why would you think we would be older?" Zoe asked in confusion.
"I just told you why," Lopmon groaned. "Try to keep up, please. But, um… I uh… I think Tommy should stay though. He seems to be smarter than kids his age, so having him around would be a good asset."
JP, Takuya, and Zoe frowned. Lopmon made a good point that they could not deny.
"I… guess…" Takuya sighed. "But it means then he may be exposed to things no child should be exposed to."
"He doesn't want to leave anyway, you shouldn't make him," Lopmon pointed out.
"I know I can be useful," Tommy said, looking at Takuya. "So please?"
Takuya sighed. He could never resist saying no to his younger brother, and with Tommy being the same age, it was hard to say no to him as well. "Alright…"
Tommy smiled. "Thanks, Takuya!"
"So what do we do now?" Zoe asked.
"That is an excellent question," Bokomon spoke up. "Maybe you can help us."
"Oh… yeah, what's the deal with this world, huh?" Takuya asked.
Bokomon pointed up at Takuya. "You carry with you the Spirit of Agunimon, one of the 10 Legendary Warriors. You're able to defeat the Digimon that had been corrupted and turned evil by a great evil. Only you have the power to save us. You're able to use the fractal code to rebuild the parts of the Digital World that had already been destroyed!"
"Way to put all the pressure on a child," Patamon grumbled.
Takuya groaned. "So it's up to me then? That's too much pressure on one kid, you know! I'm not some super special chosen hero who can save the world on his own!"
"Don't mind Bokomon, he can get like that at times," Lopmon said. "You're not going to be alone. You have our help, and you have new friends to help you out too."
"You haven't really answered our question, like what's the deal with this world?" JP asked.
"There's a great evil in the Digital World," Bokomon said.
"You said that before, just what is this great evil?" Zoe asked.
"The Celestial Angel Digimon are normally the rulers of the Digital World, and have ruled in harmony for a long time." Bokomon began. "But lately, one of them has gone rogue, and started to take over the Digital World."
"So?" JP asked. "Why can't the other two handle it?"
"The one who went rogue is the strongest of the three." Bokomon replied. "His name is Cherubimon, and he was once a great and wise Digimon on the side of good, but something happened that changed him, corrupted him, and now he is looking to rule the Digital World by himself, and take all of its Fractal Code to boost his own power."
"What could've changed such a powerful Digimon to be so evil?" Zoe frowned.
"We don't really know. All we know is that Cherubimon turned evil when he tried to usurp the other two Celestial Digimon in order to rule over them and the rest of the Digital World," Bokomon answered. "Cherubimon has been taking our world apart by turning other Digimon evil, and collecting fractal codes from our world bit by bit. That's why it's in the state that it's in now."
"And you expect us to go against something that can literally take the world apart?" JP frowned.
"Not right away, and definitely not alone," Patamon spoke up. "There's a powerful ally waiting for us to meet up with them. They need your help before they can help us."
Takuya and the others blinked.
"A powerful ally?" Zoe asked. "Who could that be?"
Suddenly, Takuya, Zoe, JP, and Tommy's D-Tectors started to make a high pitch noise, getting their attention. They quickly took their D-Tectors out as the familiar woman's voice spoke to them.
"Attention! Go to the Forest Terminal, immediately."
"H-hey! It's that woman's voice again!" Takuya exclaimed before frowning. "The Forest Terminal? That sounds like some kind of station or something."
"What is the Forest Terminal?" Tommy questioned.
Takuya lifted the D-Tector up. "How am I supposed to find it?"
"Let your Digimon friends be your guide." The woman's voice answered before the symbol on the screen faded away, and so did the high pitch noise.
Takuya looked back at Patamon and Lopmon. "Our Digimon friends? Did she mean you two?"
"Probably," Patamon shrugged. "Either us or these two."
Patamon pointed at Neemon and Bokomon.
"I'm fine with staying here though, it's scary out there!" Neemon stated.
Bokomon was turning the pages in his book. "The Forest Terminal is deep within the Forest Kingdom. There are train tracks that lead to it from here though, which you'll see once you leave the village."
"So I guess we're heading to the Forest Terminal then?" Zoe asked.
"I guess. We don't know what else to do," Tommy shrugged.
"Still, it's best to be careful, you never know what Digimon Cherubimon might send after you," Bokomon warned.
"So… are you guys coming with us?" JP asked.
"Normally, I would like the chance to follow you and guide you through the Digital World myself. But I have to stay here, the other Digimon need someone like me to help them rebuild this village after Cerberumon caused a lot of damage," Bokomon sighed. "Besides… you won't need me to go with you. Sad to say, but Neemon and I aren't much of a fighter. You'd have better luck with these two who had been waiting for you all."
Bokomon gestured to Patamon and Lopmon.
The kids looked at the two smaller Digimon.
"... I guess we're traveling with two small Digimon then…" Takiya sweatdropped. "This should be a fun trip…"
"Are you sure about this?" JP asked. "Can we really trust them? And are we really going to rely on them protecting us when they could barely fight off Cerberumon and Raremon?"
"They may not be as strong as a Legendary Warrior, but they saved a lot of innocent Digimon when Cerberumon attacked!" Bokomon spoke up, defending the two.
"Come on, Bokomon, it's alright. They don't have much of a reason to trust us yet," Lopmon said.
Takuya groaned. "But we do need guides around this world, JP. We can't just go wandering around, especially since we don't know where this Forest Terminal is."
"Takuya's right." Zoe agreed. "We need help to reach the Forest Terminal. And besides, these two did help us, so we can't be rude to them."
"Look, I'm just saying we're not in our world anymore, so we need to be careful who we trust," JP huffed.
"I like to think they're on our side. They did help us when they didn't need to," Tommy said. "But I do agree that we should be careful who we trust."
"Are you sure you aren't coming? Isn't this something you always wanted to do?" Lopmon asked Bokomon.
"Yeah, you talked about wanting to see more of the Digital World before," Patamon added.
Bokomon shook his head. "No. As I said, I'm not much of a fighter, and nor is Neemon. Besides, I get the feeling this is something you two have to do."
Patamon frowned. "Yeah, but…"
"Don't worry about it!" Bokomon smiled. "I know you'll be able to do it, and your friends, the ones who have yet to meet these humans, will help out, I'm sure of it. And all 5 of you have proven to be strong in your own way. But if you ever need a guide of the Digital World itself, I can give you my book."
Bokomon held out the book he had been using to read out information.
"Um… Bokomon, neither Lopmon nor I can carry that around," Patamon sweatdropped.
"Oh? Then in that case, here." Bokomon said as he took off his pink belly warmer and slipped onto Patamon. "There! Now you can carry my book in it!" He smiled. "Oh, don't you look so adorable in that?~"
Patamon blinked as he looked down at the belly warmer around his waist, which was surprisingly a perfect fit.
"Oooh, now you have a pocket dimension, b- err, Patamon~" Lopmon grinned teasingly.
Patamon blushed. "I swear this is the most girly thing I've ever worn…"
Zoe cooed. "Awww~ He looks so cute in that!"
JP chuckled. "I didn't think it was possible for Patamon to get any cuter, but apparently he can."
"You hear that? You're cute~" Lopmon grinned.
"Shut up!" Patamon huffed, his cheeks blushing red. "Bokomon, is this really necessary? Couldn't you have given this to Lopmon? He's already got some pink on him!"
"Nah, Bokomon already entrusted you with it, don't let him down~" Lopmon smiled.
Bokomon held out the book to Patamon. "I'm counting on you to keep the book safe, and use it when you need to."
Patamon grumbled as he took the book and managed to stuff it into the belly warmer. "This had better not backfire on us…" He grumbled. "I feel so ridiculous wearing this thing…"
"I think it looks great on you~" Zoe grinned.
Takuya sighed. "Okay, are we done here? I'd like to get moving to head to the Forest Terminal as soon as possible."
"Before that, it's going to be a long trip, maybe you should stock up on food and such," Neemon suggested.
"... I can't believe it, you actually said something smart for once," Bokomon said, surprised.
"We don't have any bags to carry food in though." Zoe frowned.
"You underestimate JP's pockets," Tommy said.
"I'll bring you some food I've kept for emergencies. I think they'll be put to better use for the Legendary Warriors who might save our world than rot away in the basement," Bokomon stated.
"Anything's better than starving." Takuya admitted.
"I guess that's true." Zoe agreed. "And this way we won't have to struggle to find edible food in this world since we don't know what's safe to eat and what's not."
"Lopmon and I can help with that." Patamon offered. "We know what's safe and what's not."
"Yeah, and we have the guide book of the Digital World in case we're not sure either." Lopmon smiled. "We'll make sure to take good care of you guys… for as long as you need us."
Tommy raised an eyebrow, wondering why Lopmon added in that last part.
"Well, guess it's a good thing we ran into you two then." Zoe smiled.
After JP, and the others, stuffed their pockets with as much food as they could carry, they began walking to the edge of the village.
"This will lead you out of our village, you'll be on your own from here," Bokomon pointed ahead. "Please, be careful, and watch out for Cherubimon and his minions."
"You take care of yourself and the village, Bokomon," Lopmon said.
"We might come back some day, so we hope everything will be intact by the time we do," Patamon added.
"We'll await that day then." Bokomon said proudly.
"What day are we waiting for? Their birthday?" Neemon asked stupidly.
"Please be quiet if you're not going to say something useful!" Bokomon snapped, pulling Neemon's pants before letting it go, slapping Neemon's waist.
"Well, we better get going if we want to get to the Forest Terminal," Takuya said.
"Just follow those tracks, it should eventually lead you to where you need to go," Bokomon said.
"Alright, then let's get going!" Zoe smiled.
The human children began walking. Lopmon and Patamon waved goodbye to Bokomon and Neemon.
"Thanks for… taking care of us while we were here, it's been fun," Lopmon said.
"We'll never forget your kindness," Patamon said.
"Goodbye, and good luck finding the others, and helping the humans," Bokomon replied, waving to them as well.
"Bye-bye, I'll miss you too! You were fun to play with!" Neemon waved as streams of tears fell from his closed eyes.
With their goodbyes said, Lopmon and Patamon hurried to catch up with the human group.
"So… how far do we have to go before we get to the Forest Terminal?" Takuya asked.
"Well, we want to follow these tracks," Patamon said.
"We got that, but how far do we have to follow them?" JP questioned.
"... Um… all the way?" Patamon sweatdropped.
The human kids sweatdropped in return at the response.
"... I hate walking…" JP groaned.
"Well, get used to it, because we have a long way to walk." Takuya sighed. "I don't think any of us are used to walking such long distances."
"Yeah, but at least it's good exercise." Zoe pointed out.
"Couldn't we just take a Trailmon?" Patamon whispered to Lopmon.
Lopmon shook his head. "They need to walk if we want them to find the rest of their Spirits. Taking a Trailmon would mean missing them."
Patamon frowned. "I can fly after a while, but… are you sure you're going to be able to walk long distances with those small legs of yours?"
"Oh hush, I'll find a way to manage," Lopmon huffed.
While the group were walking, Takuya decided to ask a question to JP. "So, JP, what made you decide to stay? Was it because you thought you might get a Spirit after all?"
"Well, I'm not sure about the whole Spirit and evolving into a Digimon thing. To be honest, the whole concept kinda freaks me out," JP said. "I just don't have anything better to do when I get home, so I figured I'd just stick with you guys."
Takuya snickered. "Are you sure it wasn't to get to know Zoe?"
JP blushed. "T-that's not what I meant!" He exclaimed.
"Then why are you all red in the face there, buddy~?" Takuya teased JP.
"They're sunburned, that's all!" JP quickly retorted. "Jeez, how old are you anyways?"
"I'm 12 years old," Takuya answered. "I'm in the 6th grade."
"Oh really? Well I'm 13 years old and in 7th grade!" JP pointed out.
"Am I supposed to care?" Takuya questioned, putting his hands behind his head.
"Like I care if you care," JP huffed as he stormed ahead. "Should've blown this popsicle stand when I had the chance…"
Looks like they don't get along very well yet… Lopmon frowned. I hope this doesn't affect their teamwork later on…
Zoe looked down at Tommy as they were walking. "Tommy? Why didn't you take the chance to go home? This place could get really dangerous."
"I know that… I've experienced some of the dangers first hand… twice," Tommy sighed.
"So why stay?" Zoe asked
"I'm… not really sure why myself. It feels like I need to stay," Tommy answered. "I guess… maybe I want to be more like Takuya? To be a hero and strong, so I won't be so scared and useless all the time…"
Zoe frowned. "That's all well and good, but you can't just rush in recklessly. You don't even have a Spirit yet. And what about your Mom and Dad? I'll bet they're worried about you…"
Tommy frowned. "I… I know… but I'm sure they'll forgive me if I'm able to become the better child they deserve to have. Besides… we're not all guaranteed to have a Spirit, even if we do all have these… D-Tectors."
Not wanting to talk about this anymore, Tommy moved ahead.
Zoe frowned as she watched this. For such a little kid, he sure has some big problems to work through…
Lopmon walked beside Zoe, seeing, and hearing, the conversation they just had. "I'm sure he'll open up more once he feels more comfortable. I don't blame him for feeling the way he does, like he's powerless and useless, just being in the way of others…"
Zoe looked down at Lopmon. "It sounds like you know this from first hand experience." She noted. "Is it because of that fight back there with Cerberumon?"
"Well, you saw that embarrassment of a battle between us and Cerberumon. We couldn't put a dent in that dog until Agunimon arrived," Lopmon sighed. "I'm not exactly the biggest or strongest Digimon around. But still… I don't want to let that fact stop me from helping you guys. We've waited a long time for this."
"You said that before, but… how could you have waited for us when this was the first time we've met?" Zoe asked.
"We've… heard a prophecy, about 6… um… 5 human kids arriving in the Digital World one day in a Trailmon, and will save the Digital World," Lopmon explained. "We wanted to help these humans save our world. That's all."
Zoe blinked. "That's… awfully nice of you, but is that really all? I can't imagine you were waiting for just that one thing."
"We may have other motives, but we're not exactly supposed to tell you. Don't worry though, they're not evil or anything like that," Lopmon assured.
Patamon walked next to Takuya, wanting to stay near him for some reason. "The sun's already setting. We should find a place to rest for the night soon."
"Yeah, we probably should." Takuya agreed. "It wouldn't do us any good just walking in the dark and not getting any rest. Who knows if we may be attacked while tired?"
"Do you know of any places up ahead we could go to rest for the night?" JP asked. "Anything to stop having to walk for a while is good for me…"
"Um… gimme a sec…" Patamon said before he pulled the book out from his belly warmer. "Wow, that feels kinda weird…"
Patamon opened the book and flipped the pages, coming to a map of the Flame Terminal region. "Hmm… okay, looks like there's a village up ahead. We'll be seeing a cliff and a ravine. There's supposedly a Candlemon Village there."
"We could probably stay there for the night." Takuya suggested. "Um… if these Candlemon will allow it that is. I don't know how well they would take to humans asking to spend the night…"
"From what we've seen, they're pretty welcoming, so it shouldn't be an issue," Lopmon assured.
"Is it far from here?" Tommy asked.
"If we keep walking in this direction without resting, we'll make it by nightfall," Patamon answered before he closed the book and put it back into the belly warmer. "That's still weird."
Takuya snickered. "Yeah, but you have to admit, it is handy."
JP groaned. "Great… more walking. But if it gets us a place to rest for the night, I'll endure it."
pokemon fan 1991: ZAFT: No, it's not time travel… XD As mentioned in the ANs, there is a reason for the way things are being done. :3
DarkFoxKit: Thank you for reviewing.