Disclaimer: Agumon! Help me burn those legal documents!! The digiworld is mine!! BWAHAHAH!!! Well no. Not really. I don't own own Digimon & Co. If I did, I wouldn't be here writing this.... ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- ~*~ More Than Two Worlds Apart ~*~ By Lizeth http://www.angelfire.com/anime2/loft1050/ CHAPTER 1- Where are we now?! "Ugh.." Tai muttered unintelligibly as he cracked his eyes open slowly. Even in dim light, his eyes stung fiercely, forcing him to close them again. The grass was prickly and sharp and the earth beneath it hard and cold. His stomach rebelled. Rolling over on to his back with a grunt, he tried to open his eyes again. Seeing double, he winced and rubbed his eyes, blinking before... "YYYAAARRGGG??!!!" he cried suddenly. Sitting upright a little too quickly, he lay back down, head spinning unpleasantly. Looking up at the TWIN moons, which still hadn't merged, he took stock of his surroundings as best as he could. The green mound to his left moaned and stylized sand-blonde hair shifted. "There goes my lunch," Matt grunted. "Welcome to the land of the living," Tai answered softly. "If this is living, I'd prefer being dead." "MATT!" "Awww... man, don't yell, alright. I can hear you fine..." Tai sat up slowly, looking at his friend and rival. "Don't joke about that. We've had plenty of chances to die and I'm not going to loose any of the team now." Blinking, hard eyes starting at nothing Matt responded quietly. "A little late for that now, don't you think?" Tai chose to ignore that comment. "Where are we?" "Not home, that's for sure. Unless earth recently acquired another moon." Tai blinked and looked up again. "And here I thought I was seeing double," he retorted flatly. "After all we've seen, you'd think two moons would be considered normal," Matt snorted. "Think we're still in the digital land?" "How would I know, okay?! Either way, I don't think it matters. If we're in the digital land, then we're stuck here forever! You heard what Gennai said. Once the gate's closed, it's closed for good." Tai shook his head... and promptly regretted it. "Lets go," he half ordered, pushing himself up to his feet and dusting off his slightly singed clothing. "Where?" Matt asked dejectedly. Tai paused, looking around once again before starting up at the moons. "I don't know." ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Somewhere in the digital world, Agumon woke up with a start. Palmon rubbed her eyes and started at him quizzically. Absently kicking Tentomon awake and a sending a chain reaction of groans and half-awake complaints from the rest of the gang she returned her attention to Agumon. "What's wrong?" she asked sleepily, trying to shake off a feeling of foreboding that clung to her. "We're needed again." ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- "Let's try this way," Tai declared, pointing in a random direction. After what seemed like hours of walking by moonlight (Both of them. Tai wasn't seeing double :) they had come to a fork in the path they had been following. "Sure. Whatever," Matt said in a monotone voice. Tai looked back at him with annoyance. "Alright, that's it. The 'I don't care what happens anymore and the world can end for all I care' routine is getting really old! Man, I thought you were over the depression thing!" Matt glared at him coldly. "And just what IS the point, oh fearless leader? Huh? Tell me that. What's so important about what we're doing anyway? We're just two losers lost in the woods. TWO! We aren't... they aren't.... oh God T.K..." Tai watched as his friend started to shake, fists clenched hard at his sides. "We don't know that they're dead," he soothed softly. "What are the chances that they made it out alive?" "We made it out alive." "We got 'lucky'," Matt spat out the word with disgust. Tai swore under her breath. "Dammit Matt!" He threw his hands up in exasperation. "Stop trying to see the worst in every situation! No wonder you're so depressed half the time!" "Shut up!" **WHAM** Matt reeled back in shock, gingerly touching his jaw. Tai glared for a moment before shaking out his hand. "Man, your jaw's as hard as your head," he whined as he took of his glove and surveyed his red knuckles. Matt blinked a few more times before coherent thought came back to him. "What the heck was that for?!" he accused. "Matt," Tai began patiently, "as your friend and as an older brother myself, I can see where you're coming from. But also as your friend, I think I'm entitled to beat some sense into that..." he winced, "painfully hard head of yours. I'm not counting anyone dead until I see corpses." Matt turned away. "And besides..." Tai continued a bit more cheerfully, "We digi-destined are really hard to kill. I bet they're all out looking for us right now. T.K. isn't alone, Matt. For someone with the Crest of Friendship, you sure aren't being very open-minded about it. He's a big boy and even if he wasn't, the other's will look out for him. Now as your leader, I order you to stop moping!" Matt looked up to the sky, surveying unfamiliar stars. Leaving his bruised jaw alone, he brushed his hair back. "Don't you ever worry about Kari?" "You have no idea," Tai muttered under his breath. "Well you sure as hell don't act like it!" Tai almost punched him again. "Well I do, alright! I just..." Closing his eyes, he could almost feel the heat of flames. Sora's scream seemed to echo in the silence. If he'd only worked a bit faster... Tense silence reigned for a good few moments as the two rivals sized each other up. The wind blew and Tai shivered slightly. "C'mon, let's keep going," Tai offered, slipping his glove back on. Turning his back, he started to walk in the direction he had chosen. Matt stood, glaring at his rival's back for some long indignant moments, trying to decide between staying mad or letting the subject drop. "I can't believe you punched me," Matt muttered accusingly after a moment, running up after him. "Hey, you needed it!" Tai defended nonchalantly. "Yeah, sure, next time you need it, I'll be sure to remember this favor." Tai put on his trade-mark grin and shot his traveling companion a victory hsign with is un-sore hand. "Be warned, my head is harder than yours." "Did you just insult yourself?" "No, I didn't. It's merely a fact." "That sounded like an insult." "What's wrong with being hard headed?" "You punched me for it!" "You were an exception." "Tai!" As they continued to follow the un-named path, the two argued, the tension broken. Good thing too, cause they were going to need their friendship intact... As they walked on, the vegetation became thicker, obscuring the sky. Things got considerably darker before Tai finally stopped. Matt bumped into him. "Way to go, fearless leader," he muttered sarcastically, "wonderful view... at least... from what I can see... and that ain't much." "You really aren't helping, Matt," Tai retorted. He sighed. "Hold on, I'll go up and take a look." With that said, Tai promptly picked out a tree and started climbing. Rough branches scratched at his bare arms and legs, but he ignored it. He winced and ducked around as an offending branch scratched his face. On the ground, Matt looked up at the tree, trying to discern his friend's moving shape within the shadows. "See anything?!" "Hold on!" came the muffled reply, "Sheesh! Keep your pants on!" Matt rolled his eyes and something flickered within the edge of his vision. Startled, Matt turned his head and surveyed the surrounding woods. He frowned. He was sure.... "Tai! Hurry up!" "Hey, I don't see you up here!" came the retort. Giving the area one last look over, Matt shook his head. "Man, I've been hanging around Joe too long. Jumping at shadows..." Something growled. Matt froze. A crack, yell and crash caused him to jump. Tai was on the ground, muttering curses. "Nice landing," Matt said through clenched teeth, eyes flickering towards the dense vegetation. "Who asked you?" Tai grumbled, dusting himself off as he picked himself up off the ground. Wiping his cheek with the back of his hand, he stared as his normally white glove came back spotted with red. "Stupid branch," he muttered. That was when his noticed his friend. "Matt?" Tai snapped his head around at a growl, only to see shadows. "Matt?" he asked again. His companion smiled nervously. Tai thought to himself. Matt rarely ever smiled nervously. "What do you do when you're outnumbered?" inquired Matt softly. The growling was louder now. And not just from one direction. Tai laughed weakly, rubbing the back of his neck. "Well, let's see. We're lost in the middle of no-where. We don't even know what planet we're on and we're surrounded by something that might make Izzy's alien theory look like your run of the mill not-so X-File." "You forgot to mention that we have no digimon," Matt added tersely. "Oh yeah... that too." "Well, now what?" he prompted. "RUN!!!!!" Tai ordered, grabbing Matt by the arm and sprinting back the way they'd come. "That's... your plan?!" Matt questioned incredulously as they ran. "Plan?!" Tai inquired between gasps. "You're the.. leader. Plans... are your department!" "Then you don't... know me very well! Now shut up and run!!" Despite the fact that neither of them were slouches, the unknown enemy was faster. The shadows came alive with sounds of growling and yipping and now eyes were visible too. Little spots of yellowish light that filtered through the trees. And there were many of them. Unbeknownst to Matt or Tai, a rope had been set up in their path, now held taunt and low to the ground. In the dark, it was almost invisible. Tai let out a yelp as the rope bit into his ankle, landing hard and barely managing to stop his head from cracking against the ground. He winced. The ground would have skinned his palms if not for his gloves. Matt soon followed in his course, arms flailing wildly as he fell. Unfortunately, he hadn't been so lucky and he hit the ground with a painfully audible crack as he landed on his arm. Unhooking his leg from the rope, Tai reached over to pull Matt up to a sitting position and this time, his glove came back clearly red. Matt gazed up at his friend through half glazed eyes. "We could really use that plan B right now," he muttered before his head lolled forward and his eyes drifted shut. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Author's note: MWAHAHAHAHA!! I am a member of the cult of cliffhanger!!! Err... no, not really. But a lot of writers like to leave off at cliffhangers and I'm no exception. Do I have you hooked? Wondering where Matt and Tai are? Wondering what happened to the rest of the digi-destined? ^_^ Next time. Comments and critisism welcome at Lizeth_Hal@hotmail.com.