Step 7: Return of the Digidestined
The coldness in the air that bit at Tai's arms woke him up. He opened his eyes…and the first thing he saw was Sora's face. Tai widened his eyes more and realized that in the process of falling from the real world to the digiworld that he had his arms around Sora's waist. Tai's eyes grew large and disbelieving, his face flushing the color of Sora's hair. He immediately took his hands away, and Sora twitched. Tai moved away from her quickly, seating himself near Kari instead. Sora woke up and rubbed her eyes, looking around. She stared at Tai. "Tai, what happened?" Sixteen-year-old Tai used almost all of his will power to keep the heat from creeping up his neck as he turned away to look at Kari, replying at the same time.
"I'm…I'm not sure…but this place looks familiar, doesn't it? I think we should wake the others up, then you can ask Izzy, right?" Sora smiled.
"You're starting to sound like the leader again," she said, as she got on her knees and woke anybody near her up. Shaking Mimi, who was lying on her side near her, she told her to wake up. Tai turned to wake up the nearest digidestined, which was Kari, obviously. His little sister opened her eyes sleepily and yawned. Tai told her to wake the others up. Kari turned to her left and started to shake T.K., who woke up shortly afterwards. Sora then moved on to Izzy, who immediately searched for his laptop before doing anything else. After he found it, he tried to wake up Joe. Tai started to shake Matt, who opened his eyes slowly and widened them as he sat up.
"Where are we?" Joe asked, stretching. He immediately rubbed his hands together. "It's cold over here." He summarized. They all turned to Izzy while getting to their feet. He was sitting, typing away, as usual. At last he came up with a conclusion.
"It seems like we've been here, right?" Everyone nodded. "But I have no strict and sure facts that point to the idea that this is what I think it is. Perhaps we can contact Gennai…oh wait…he's…not available…I'm afraid." He said sadly, shaking his head back and forth. He looked up, trying to force a smile. "But he said we should go to his place. If this is what I think it is, then we should be able to find it with the map I have stored in my hard disk of the digiworld, right?" the others nodded, getting to their feet and helping others do the same. Izzy looked back at the screen. "Lets see…it shouldn't be too far from here, merely a mile or two…we should be okay if nothing unsuspected comes, and we stick together."
"A mile or two! That's not a lot? And this is the digiworld, you can suspect the unsuspected here!" Mimi complained, acting more like her childhood self than usual. "What if I get tired?" she asked.
"Then you'll have to get tired, Mimi. We can't stay here and waste our time." Matt answered. Mimi nodded, holding her head low. No one said a word, and no one moved, however. Sooner or later, all of the digidestined's heads turned to Tai. He looked at everyone, confused.
"Why are you all looking at me?"
"Well, Tai…we were wondering…since we are used to it this way…aren't you gonna lead us or something?" Joe said, expressing what everyone felt. They all nodded. Tai got a confused expression over his face as he let the words sink in. They still trusted him to be their leader? Tai beamed a smile from ear to ear, and nodded, as he looked around.
"Which way is it, Izzy?" The fifteen-year-old pointed in a northwest direction, as he got up and closed his laptop. Tai nodded and beckoned for everyone to follow as he led the way through the trees. Tai wondered as he walked. What if something attacks us, then what do we do? I wonder where our digimon are, they should have come to greet us like before… I wish they did, I'd feel a lot safer with them around. I hope they show up sometime soon, or at least get to Gennai's house without any trouble. Tai pushed a branch up before it smacked him in the face. The rest of the group was trying their best to get through the shrubs and bushes without any bruises or cuts…so far, they weren't getting much success. Branches were hanging down, gray and limp and dead. Shrubs had thorns on their stems, sticking out into the road they were taking. Bushes were fragile and weak, and once one of their legs brushed against them, the whole leaf would fall off, and disintegrate into nothing. Tai stared down at the leafage disappearing…they're acting just like if they're on the brink of deletion, he thought. The others were looking down too, wondering what had happened to the digiworld that could make it so different.
Finally, the jungle ended, and they came upon a place fairly recognizable, mainly because it was gray and dead when they had last been here anyway. "Primary Village…" T.K. said, as the others nodded. The thirteen-year-old turned his head over to the left, and his blue eyes widened. He pointed to an old abandoned building where a sign reading 'Diner' hung by one nail, threatening to collapse. "That wasn't in Primary Village…" he said. When the others turned to it, Matt and Joe's eyes widened. They both opened their mouths to say something, but nothing came out. Mimi cocked her head, trying to remember something. When she finally did, she spoke out loud.
"That's where Matt and Joe worked for that eggy digimon a long, long time ago, and that's where Leomon got deleted for us while beating Metal Etemon!" she said, rather loud. They all nodded dumbly. "Then…this really is the digiworld." She said, confirming their fears. "What happened to it…to make it like this?" That question, no one could answer. Mimi put her hands on her cheeks, her eyes brimmed with fresh tears. "Oh how horrible…" she whispered. Matt and Tai's grasp on their brother or sister tightened and loosened as they nodded, the others either covered their mouths or wiped their eyes. Suddenly, from inside, they heard someone stifle a cry, and from the noise, the diner collapsed into a pile of rubble before the digidestined's eyes. Immediately, they ran to the pile of broken and old wood and metal, and began to clear off pieces of it, starting from the top.
Dust filled the air and pieces of old wood went flying everywhere. But instead of causing splinters like usual, when the sharp pieces of wood hit someone, it broke and disintegrated just like the shrubs and bushes in the jungle. The digidestined didn't notice this. They were too busy searching for the person who had caused the building to collapse, the person still inside that pile of rubble. At last, Tai and Matt pulled out a thirteen-year-old girl, wrapped in her own black cloak, with cuts and scars on her face, coughing and trying to breathe. They lay her down on the ground and let her cough, they couldn't exactly do anything. Joe hadn't brought along his bag full of medical supplies. When Kari laid eyes on the trapped girl, she gasped, and ran towards her. Kneeling on the ground next to her, she looked down worriedly. "Who is she?" Sora asked. T.K. walked up beside her and turned to Sora.
"She's our friend from school, her name is Rei. I don't know what she's doing here, though." He answered, as he looked back down. Rei's eyes slowly opened, revealing her deep blue eyes. She looked around weakly, from one digidestined to another before closing her eyes again. Kari's eyes widened when she lost consciousness for the second time.
"Rei, Rei wake up!" she yelled.
Step 8: Who is the First Gemini?
Blackness…pure blackness and not a speck of light to pollute the wholeness of this darkness…where am I now? Where has my mind taken me this time? To another world other than the one before, perhaps? Back home? Where was I now? Home wasn't this darkness, and a world couldn't bee this pure either. And I looked at my own hands, and saw that they were white, instead of the black gloves that had enclosed my hands, forearms and elbows a minute before. White, wasn't it black? And something suddenly walked out of the blackness, a gray silhouette of a girl with blue hair up to her shoulders, dark blue eyes, and pale skin. A girl that looked like me, exactly like me. Even the patches of metal that ran across my face and body were imitated in this girl's, and as she came closer, light shined on her and revealed her true features. I wanted to take a step closer, but I couldn't move, so I stayed put. I spoke, but my mouth didn't move. Instead, the voice echoed in the blackness. "Who are you?" I asked. The girl smiled. Her mouth also did not move, but her voice came loud and clear.
"You have asked that question already, Rei. I am the Gemini."
"But you are me."
"I know. I have told you already. I am you, and you are I. We are no different from each other, except what I feel, and what you feel."
"You are confusing me."
"That is not my choice you don't understand. You weren't supposed to anyway. Just trust me. What I do will be what you do."
"And what will I do?"
"The right thing."
"Who is the first Gemini, if there's only one?"
"Both."
"That's not an answer, I said if there's only one."
"Then none. We are both the Gemini. Without one, the other is not."
"I don't understand."
"You aren't supposed to." And then the dark became light, and I couldn't see what happened next.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Rei? You're awake!" Kari said as she turned to the awaken girl. Rei stared at her for a moment, before nodding and sitting up. There were others with her, she noticed, and she looked at each of them. Takeru was there beside her, and their brothers were there too. But there were still two girls and two boys she didn't know the identity of, and she stared at them. Kari looked at her center of attention, and put a hand on her shoulder. Rei turned to her. "Let me introduce them. That's Izzy, that's Sora, that's Mimi and that's Joe. They're our friends." Rei nodded and smiled, before looking around, widening her eyes. Kari tilted her head. "What's wrong?" But instead of drawing the answer on her hand, she opened her mouth.
"Where are we?" Rei asked. T.K. and Kari's eyes widened as they looked at her.
"You…can talk?" T.K. asked. Rei nodded.
"Ever since I got here, I could. And I've had these clothes too." She said, holding up her hand. "And…and these." She took her hood off, letting the hair that had been pushed up on her face to fall back, revealing the patches of pure and silver metal. "I don't know what they are. I'm scared." She said. All the digidestined stared at her. "What am I?" she asked, fear evident in her eyes. They shook their heads. "You don't know." They nodded, and Kari held her hand.
"Don't worry, we'll help you get back to your brother, and your mother at home. You don't have to worry about a thing." Kari said, nodding reassuringly. T.K. and the others were nodding too. Rei smiled.
"Arigato." She said.
Step 9: Gennai's Message
As the digidestined stared into the large whole at what used to be a large lake, they gasped. This was where the water used to split open to provide a route to Gennai's home. Now, the water was all gone. Nothing was left, anything at all, except an old and ramshackle house in the middle of the hole, just as rickety as the diner was. They cautiously walked down the steps, one at a time, just to check if they were stable enough. If not, they would at least be able to run back up before the whole thing collapsed under their feet. Luckily, it didn't, and held firm unlike everything else in what now remained of the digiworld. When they got to the bottom, they lifted their heads as to expect something bad to happen, like maybe the water would suddenly come crashing down again, as if this was just a trap like before. But nothing happened, so they stared ahead at the old house of Gennai before slowly walking in. They knew where the main screen was, where the tape would be stored. They had experience from when they had visited before they returned to the real world to find Kari. Everything was dusty. Even a single step brought up a pile of dust if taken without care.
When they finally got to the large room, Izzy immediately set to work while the others stood and waited. He started to check all the drawers and places Gennai could have put the tape. "Let's see…not in here…or here…or here…or here, where could it be? Let's check in here…or maybe in here…or here…or perhaps here…where did he put it! He should have hid it so that at least we could find it! Wait…maybe in here…prodigious! The tape is still in perfect condition to play, though I might not know if the quality of the picture will be good!" he yelled triumphantly, startling half the wits out of the rest of the digidestined. Izzy popped the old tape into the slot and hit the enter key. A low rumble sounded inside the machine, before the screen blinked slowly on. A face slowly appeared, Gennai's face. He seemed to be troubled, and a loud rumble was heard from the background. Static crossed the screen several times because of the tape's old age.
"Digidestined…I'm so glad you finally made it…so much has happened since you…left…so many things have gone wrong. Your digimon…they are surely sorry that…they couldn't keep the peace… something just came over them…something that came without their bidding into their minds…that controlled their body…against their will…making wars…horrible…destructive wars…bad…very bad…"
"How sad…our poor digimon…" Sora whispered.
"I don't…I don't know…if they made it out…some didn't…some may have…no promises can… be made at this…time in the project. I will…call this Project…Gemini. Because it…is the Gemini that… can save the digiworld…you must find the Gemini…wherever they are…I don't know…what they look like…the search may be hard…and I am sorry for that. But…I can't do anything to help…I'm sorry…I can't do anything more…but it is my time to go…as well. Just know that I said sorry…just know that I had…to do what…I had to do. Now…I will tell you what happened…. There…were still evil…things lurking in the digiworld…when you left…evil things you did not know about…and they entered…your digimon's body…and forced them to digivolve into their…mega levels…all of them…and turned them evil…against their will. Many times…I tried to help the real digimon…break free and destroy the evil inside…but I failed and they failed…it was too powerful…and wars broke out. Each digimon…was a general for a…separate group…of digimon…all battling…against each…other. It was horrible…it wasn't right…it went against the rules…everything ended up as a welter, a bewildering jumble, turmoil of mixed feelings.
Then…I had enough. I could…take the…pain no more…. It was a hard…thing to…stand and I…couldn't deal…with it. I figured…something like this…would happen someday…something horrible… but I didn't…expect it to be so soon. But it did. I planned a way…for the digiworld…to be reconstructed… again. Just like…Man was forgiven…for their sins. I produced…the Gemini. They are…life forms…which will…be born…inside another life…form and grow inside. They will occasionally…come out…but only… the other life…form can decide whether to hear it or not. Probably…they will choose…some creature… that has a special…ability to hear them…if they choose wrong…then the digiworld is destined…for doom."
"The Gemini…" Rei whispered, eyes growing wide.
"Find the Gemini…I know that they are the key…other than that…I don't know. My knowledge runs…out there. But the Gemini…will know…what to do…when it comes time…and they will…revive… the digiworld…and the survivors…that have been picked randomly…out of the many. I am afraid…I cannot confirm…or promise that…your digimon…will be one of those. I did not see…who was picked…since it was done randomly. I am…neither digimon…nor human…and no machine was…made to…preserve me. I'm sure… the digiworld…will get along…with me missing…I am not that…important…now that I have…helped you. And therefore…I'm afraid…digidestined…that this is goodbye. I have enjoyed…meeting you all…goodbye." And then, the screen ran blank…leaving the digidestined with tears in their eyes, and frozen with shock.
Rei huddled in a corner, her mind bewildered and confused. She was the Gemini; she knew that, but she had no idea that she was somehow linked to this world, nor did she know what she had to do yet. She tried to calm herself down. But that Gennai said that she would know when it comes time, she hoped that was right. Where was Ran? He was one of the Gemini too…where is he now?
