Author's Note: If you want to know what happened in the previous chapters...Go READ THEM!!! Kay? I know I'm describing everybody a little late, sorry if you don't like it.
Chapter III
Izzy opened his eyes. He saw storm clouds, and trees above him. Rain thundered down on him, and his head felt funny. He sat up and immediately regretted it. Everything aroud him spun. Izzy put his hand on his head to steady himself. After several moments, everything stopped spinning. 'This sure has been happening a lot lately.' he thought absent-mindedly. He got up and shivered. The rain that pelted him was freezing cold, making him think of spring water on mountains. (Author's Note: If you haven't been to the mountains, than what I mean by that is if you go swimming in the mountain springs, your body will go numb very quickly, Nexis and Akia know from personal experience.) Izzy picked up his backpack and put it on. 'Good thing my backpack's waterproof, otherwise my computer would be ruined.' he thought. He glanced around. I recognize this.....but where....??? Where am I?' Izzy picked a direction, and started walking. Soon Izzy was chilled to the bone. 'I have to find shelter soon... So cold...' He shivered, and continued on. 'So sleepy...' Izzy fainted from the cold.
Agumon woke to Takeru going through his bag. "T.K.! You're awake!" he exclaimed.
Takeru looked up. All the other digimon were awake, and had said pretty much the same thing.
"Everyone, I want you all to call me Takeru. I sort of grew out of T.K. Alright?" All the digimon nodded.
"So how's Tai?" Agumon asked, changing the subject.
"Still the same old Tai... Wiser now though..." Takeru answered. (Author's note: Tai looks like he does in the second season.)
"What about everyone else?" Tentomon asked.
"Hmm...Well, Matt's in a band now. He plays guitar, but he still likes his harmonica best (second season Matt). Mimi has gotten a lot less whiney, and she doesn't wear as much pink. She did dye her hair pink though...(second season Mimi). Sora... well she's still the same as far as I can tell...(second season Sora, except wears jeans and a Purple tanktop). Izzy is still married to his computer. (first season Izzy, same clothes, now the shortested one in the group - a head shorter than everyone else at least!) Kari (second season Kari wearing jeans and a pink and white shirt - like the one in the 2nd season - without the gloves) and I just started high school. And...who am I forgetting?"
"Jyou silly. How could you forget him?" Gomamon asked.
"Oh, sorry. How could I forget him? He's changed the most! He's in college now, studying to be a doctor, and for part of his class, he teaches my Medical Science class! (Yes, I am aware that no freshman would take this class and pass it - sorry if you're a freshman).
The digimon listened to him, and then started talking all at once to each other. Take smiled and walked over to the entrance of the cave. The rain was tapering off rather quickly, which caused Take to look up. The sun shined through the clouds to the west, and the storm clouds were going away. To the west the sun was shining brightly. To the east, it was raining. A rainbow appeared overhead.
"Hey guys, the storm’s over!" Take called. He heard the shuffling of feet, and soon all of the digimon stood around him.
"Finally!" Palmon exclaimed.
"How long has it been storming?" Takeru asked.
"About five days." Tentomon estimated.
"Straight?" Take asked.
"For the most part, yes." Biyomon said.
"There have been a few short breaks in the rain, but this is the first time we’ve seen the sun in five days." Agumon told him.
"That’s weird. I didn’t think clouds could hold that much water..." Takeru thought aloud.
"Let’s go without him." Mimi suggested.
"We can’t, he’s the one who’s going to figure out how to get us there." Taichi argued.
"Why don’t you call him?" Yamato asked. The other digidestined agreed. Tai phoned Izzy’s house.
"Moshi Moshi?"
"Hi, is Izzy there?"
"I'll check, but I think he went to a friend's house." (Tai hears her knock on Izzy's door.)
"Nope, he went to the Kamiya's apartment. May I ask who's calling so I can tell him to call you back?"
"No, thanks anyway. I'll just catch him at school later.... Yeah.... Ja ne." Tai hung up the receiver. "He's not there. She said he left about an hour ago. He would have gotten here by now."
"So...he's stuck in traffic?" Mimi asked. Everyone but her sweatdrops. "What?" she asked.
"Mimi? Izzy lives within walking distance of Tai. Why would he drive?" Sora asked.
"*He* can drive?" Tai asked, exhasperated. "I thought he was too short to reach the pedels, *and* be able to see over the steering wheel."
"Heh...heh...heh... Not funny." Matt commented.
"Maybe he got sucked into the digital world again, too." Kari thought aloud.
"But how?" Tai asked. After thinking for a moment he asked "Does everyone have their digivices and crests?"
"Mine's in my room." Kari said, bounding off to get them.
Mimi pulled both out of her purse, as did Sora. Matt pulled his out from under his shirt, and off his belt. Jyou dug into his bag furiously, and finally came up with both. Tai's were on the coffee table. Kari came back with only her digivice. Tai picked up his crest and digivice.
"Kari, where's your..." Tai never got to finish his sentence. A blinding flash of light flashed over them, and when it was gone, Tai and Jyou were gone.
"They disa..." Sora started. The light swept over them again, and this time, Sora and Mimi were gone.
Hikari and Yamato were the only ones left. "Yamato, do you think they got sucked into the digiworld?"
"Probably." Matt answered.
"Are we going to get sucked in too?"
Yamato shrugged. "Where's your crest Kari?"
"Meeko ran off with it. I haven't seen them for a long time."
Yamato sighed. "Well, we'd better find it. I just hope I don't disappear while we're searching for it."
"Tai, Kari, we're home!" Kari's mom called.
"Oh, no! It's mom. She's gonna kill me when she finds out Tai's in the digiworld again."
"She'll understand. That's what comes with being a digidestined." Yamato assured her.
"I guess..." Kari said.
Someone knocked on the door, and then Kari's mom opened the door.
"Tai? Kari? Are you in here?" Kari's mom asked and poked her head in. "Oh... Yamato. Why are you here?" She glanced around the room, spotting Kari, but not Tai. "Where's your brother?" Kari didn't answer. "Kari? Where is he? Do you know? Where is he?"
Seeing Kari's hesitation, Yamato spoke up. "He's in the digital world Mrs. K," he told her.
"What!? I thought you kids already did your part for it."
"Well, we seem to be needed again..."
"Why Tai?" she interrupted, "Why aren't you there? Huh?" She took a few steps towards him.
"Calm down! I don't think Kari or I am needed. Or...maybe I was left here to help Kari find her crest."
"I'm sorry Yamato... I shouldn't have said that. It's just I thought you all had done your part. I don't think it's right that they had to go back." Mrs. Kamiya stopped crying. "I'm soo------ooo sorry Yamato... about your father... about this digiworld thingy or whatever it is. I'm just worried about him." She apologized.
"It's alright Mrs. K, my mom's the same way...especially about dad..." Yamato trailed off.
"Uugh..." Tai stirred. He opened his eyes to the soud of running water. He could smell pine trees, fresh air, and flowers. He sat up, cracked his neck, and looked around. None of the others were anywhere in sight. "Oh great," he said. 'Not only am I in the digiworld, but I'm alone. Well, at least it's not raining here.' The sun was shining brightly overhead, to the west, storm clouds were black as night. He looked to the east, and saw white thunderheads building. "Cumulo nimbus..." Tai recalled from his 8th grade science class. He got up carefully. He felt pain in his right wrist. He grabbed it with his other hand and examined it closely. His right wrist had always been weak. At least since it happened...
(Flashback...)
"Good game Taichi!"
"Thanks, you too!"
"That was an awesome header! Thanks for winning the game for us Kamiya!"
"Yeah, whatever guys. Soccer is a team sport. If I hadn't gotten a good cross, I never would have pulled that shot off!"
"Quit being modest. You know you're the best player on the team. See ya around Taichi!"
Tai walked from the soccer field towards his apartment. His thoughts wandered to Agumon. Tai and the others had come back from the digiworld about a month ago. He missed Agumon standing by him, encouraging him, and just being a good friend. He absent-mindedly walked acrossed the street. His thoughts turned towards the soccer game. It was a night game, but the field was lit up very well. It was within the last five minutes of the game when a team mate had crossed the ball into the center. Tai didn't think he'd get to it in time, so he dove for it. He'd timed it just right. The goalkeeper, totally caught off guard, scrambled to get it. The keeper's fingers brushed the side of it, but didn't stop it.
Tai was suddenly snapped out of his thoughts when he heard the screech of tires, and two bright beams splashed on his face. Tai's mouth opened in shock as the car barreled towards him. Tai closed his eyes. He knew even if he moved he would be hit. The driver was paying absolutly no attention. The car slammed into him, and didn't even slow down. Pain laced itself up his side. The car suddenly turned, and Tai was flung onto his face. The driver never stopped to see if he was alright. He hadn't even slowed down...
What seemed like an eternity later, someone found him. He didn't recall who it was but... all he remembered was that the person said he'd be alright, and the ambulance was on the way.
(End flashback...)
"Tai! You're here too?" Tai snapped back to the present and looked up. Standing there was Jyou, Sora, and Mimi.
"Wha...?" Tai started, confusing his daydream with the present. "Oh, hi guys. One question...How'd we get here?"
"We have no idea." Jyou told him, "We do think Izzy and Takeru are here though. Either that, or these dots are Kari and Matt."
Tai pulled out his digivice, and sure enough, there were two red dots blinking fairly close together. "Well, there's only one way to find out." Tai got up and headed towards the closest dot.
"Hey, someone else is here!" Takeru told Patamon. The digimon and Take had been resting. "Let's go check it out!" Take was up and running, startling the digimon.
"I'll protect him." Patamon told them.
"And I'll help you." Gabumon volunteered, standing up, "There's no telling what's out there. I think that storm was caused by something unnatural." Patamon and Gabumon ran/flew after Takeru.
"T.K., I mean, Take, wait up!" Patamon squeaked.
Takeru paused, waiting for them to catch up. "It's really close... I think..."
Nearly half an hour later...
"It should be...yeah...that way..." Take mumbled to himself, and took off in another direction.
"Do you really think he's going to find something? We've been searching for hours!" Patamon complained.
"Actually, it's only been half an hour..." Gabumon started.
"Oh, whatever! Close enough!" Patamon snapped.
"Izzy!" Take exclaimed. He saw the small form of Koushiro Izumi lying in the grass. Izzy, being the shortest of the digidestined, was only five feet tall. His shock of red hair was still short and spikey.
"Careful Take!" Patamon cautioned.
"What?" Take asked, then saw a small, bird-like digimon. "What is it?"
"That's Marlamon. He's a data type digimon, and his kind are peaceful, but tricky."
"So why are you telling me to be careful?" Take asked. Patamon fell silent. Takeru sure had changed a lot.
"Are you one of the legendary digidestined?" the Marlamon asked in a high-pitched voice.
"Yes... I have the crest of hope."
"Is the Guardian of Knowledge alright?" Marlamon asked.
"I don't know." Take answered, looking down and turned Koushiro over. He moaned, but didn't wake.
"You can bring him to our castle. I'm sure the queen would love to have guests."
"Queen?" Take asked.
"Yes, the Marlamon are known to have a queen or a king in each place they settle."
"Could my friends come?" Take asked.
"Of course...how about I take you all there, then one of your digimon can go get your friends and bring them to our castle?" Marlamon suggested. Take agreed.
A few more Marlamon joined them on the way to the castle. When they got to the foot of the castle, Take turned to Gabumon.
"Gabumon, go and get the others. Kay?"
"Alright Take...be careful." He turned to Patamon, "Take caution Patamon... something's not right here..." Gabumon headed off to find the others.
After Gabumon was out of sight, Takeru, Patamon, Izzy, and the Marlamon entered the castle. The Marlamon they had met in the forest, took them to a room.
"Wait here until our queen is ready for you. It won't be long." The Marlamon left the room.
Takeru put Izzy down on one of the two beds, and then sat on the other one. "Do you think he's alright Patamon?" Takeru asked. Just as he said that, Izzy stirred.
"What about who?" Izzy asked groggily. "Where am I? Who...?" Izzy started, "Takeru!"
"Calm down Izzy. We're in the Marlamon's castle."
Izzy glanced around, seeing Patamon, but none of the other digimon. "Where's Tento?" He asked.
"Gabumon just went to him and the other digimon." Takeru informed him.
There was a knock on the door, and Marlamon entered. "The queen will see you now."
"Kay..." Take told him and got up. "Come on Izzy!"
"Queen?" Izzy asked in a whisper.
"Yeah..." Take explained about the Marlamon, and their culture, as they entered a dark and musty room.
"What?" Takeru started. They were in a dungeon. It had a high ceiling, about twenty feet from the floor, and there were chains along the walls, and on the floor. But that's not what caught Take's attention. A tall, human-like figure stood in front of them, facing away, wearing a black cloak.
She heard them and turned. "Hello digidestined, Guardians of the crests of Hope and Knowledge. I welcome you. I am Lady Katyamon..."
"Lady? Katyamon? How could you be both?" Izzy asked. Suddenly, tons of Marlamon piled in behind them and restrained them.
"Boom Bubble!" Patamon attacked. Soon, he was captured and chained to the floor.
"Patamon!" Takeru yelled.
"Fools, you actually thought *I* would help you?" (insert maniacal laughter here) Katyamon laughed. "You will perish...in time...but first, I will corrupt you both, and you will have the pleasure of destroying the remaining digidestined." Katyamon laughed maniacally. (yes, again).
The Marlamon pulled, to his dismay, Izzy's computer off him, along with his digivice, and crest. Takeru's backpack, digivice, and crest were also stripped off him. Izzy felt cold steel being attached to his wrists. They clicked tightly against his skin. He was shoved forward so hard that he fell.
"Izzy!" Takeru shouted, and tried to get to him.
Katyamon bent over and picked Izzy up by his shirt coller. "Time to forget..." she told him. A Marlamon handed her a syringe full of an odd silverish liquid.
"No!" Takeru cried.
Izzy struggled desperately to get out of her grasp. Her hands were human-like, but they had retractable claws and thin fur on them. Katyamon put him down and grabbed him by his hair. Izzy cried out in pain as she pulled his head sideways and injected the liquid into his neck. As soon as she did, Izzy stopped struggling. He went limp in her arms and his eyes slowly closed.
"Izzy!!!" Takeru shouted. He broke away from the Marlamon and knelt over Izzy. He was shivering, and ice cold.
"What did you do to him?" Take demanded.
"Not even close to what I'm going to do to you" Katyamon threatened.
"We'll see..." Takeru ran towards her menacingly. The Marlamon caught him and smacked him around a little. Then they chained him to the wall.
"Hmm... The Crest of Hope. Ha, that's a laugh. This kid has less hope than a fly caught in a spider's web." Katyamon swung the crest back and forth in front of him.
"Just kill me and get it over with." Take told her.
"Oh no.... That's no fun, young one." Katyamon extended her claws and raked them acrossed his side. He cried in pain. "Have to make this real..." Katyamon retracted all but one claw, and slapped him acrossed the face. A deep gash opened in his cheek. Take whimpered in pain and hung his head. Katyamon then took a small black disk, about the size of a fingernail, and cut a small wound in the base of his neck, she placed it inside, and had one of the Marlamon heal it.
Take felt something taking over his mind, body, and even his soul. He fought it viciously.
"Hmm... you have a stronger will than I thought... Oh well, I'll just give you another controller. Marlamon, make me another one."
"That will take quite awhile..." the Marlamon told her reluctantly.
"Why....are..you....doing..this..???"
Katyamon turned at the sound of her other prisoner's voice. "Koushiro Izumi. Guardian of Knowledge. It seems I've also underestimated you. Don't worry, you'll die in your own way... at least a piece of you will."
"What....do..you......mean???" Izzy asked.
"I mean I will destroy your knowledge. When I'm through with you, you'll be as dumb as a doorknob."
Izzy's eyes drooped closed. 'I'll lose my knowledge? She's making it so I can't use my crest....' Izzy slipped into unconsciousness, he watched as memories of school, family, and friends faded.
