Chapter Text
When Takuya opened his eyes all he saw was flames.
He blinked slowly and looked around. Fire surrounded him and now that the fog in his head slowly lifted, he felt the almost unbearable heat. He jumped back, startled and looked around once more, this time frantically.
Where was he?
The heat in his back became too much and Takuya stumbled forward a few steps. Was it just him or was the fire getting closer?
With a wary look over his shoulder he took a few steps forward. And really, the wall of flames behind him followed suit.
Takuya could feel cold sweat forming on his skin despite the heat.
A little bit faster he started to walk away from the fire behind him toward the fire in front of him. At least these flames didn't seem to come closer. Quite the opposite - after Takuya had gotten closer to the fire in front of him, he realised that it wasn't one big wall of fire. In between the flames he could see small metallic building.
And this was a sight he would never forget in his life.
"The Flame Terminal", he gasped and took another step forward. There was no doubt, he was standing in the Flame Terminal. In the Digiworld.
"But that's...", he trailed off and reached out to touch one of the buildings.
"Impossible?"
Takuya jerked his hand back and spun around.
"Who's there", he yelled into the wall of flames now in front of him.
Slowly a dark shadow came closer through the fire. Takuya squinted through the smoke and heat.
No way!
"Hello, old friend", Agunimon said with a smile as he emerged out of the flames.
"Agunimon... But that's impossible".
"Everything's possible, you of all people should know that".
Takuya rubbed his eyes. This couldn't be true, his eyes had to be deceiving him. He had to be dreaming.
"My friend, there is no time to doubt", Agunimon said as if he had been reading Takuya's mind. "We need your help. The Digiworld is in danger".
"What happened?"
"Lucemon is back".
"BACK", Takuya yelled. His heart skipped a beat. "How is that possible?"
Agunimon shook his head. "I do not have much time, even now my power is dwindling again. Just know this, Lucemon has been revived and he and his allies plan to take revenge on you and the Chosen."
Takuya felt his whole body run cold. He wanted to say something, anything, but his tongue and throat felt frozen.
A tremor ripped through the floor and the sound of something big falling echoed through the flames.
Agunimon turned his head to the noise. "This is my time", he said sadly.
"Wait!", Takuya managed to yell, "I don't understand, what do you mean 'revived'? Who are his allies? And who are the Chosen Children?".
"You will find out soon enough", Agunimon said to him. He put a hand on Takuya's shoulder. He was smiling but his eyes were sad. "This is not goodbye. Find the Chosen, Warrior of Fire."
The soft light of the sun shining through the curtains greeted Takuya when he opened his eyes this time. For a moment he didn't move and stared at the ceiling.
"A dream after all".
Slowly he sat up. His heart and limbs felt heavy.
Nine years. Nine years ago, he had taken a train into a strange new world. Nine years ago, he had met the five people who would become the closest friends he would ever have. Nine years ago, they defeated Lucemon and returned to the human world.
And for nine years they had had no way of returning.
"This is not goodbye", Takuya muttered. No, it really hadn't been. Goodbye had been nine years ago.
He could barely feel the minutes passing as he continued to stare at his blanket.
Just a dream.
Takuya sighed and pushed his blanket away. He had no time to be nostalgic. His classes would start soon, and he had already wasted precious time.
"Koji will yell at me again". The thought made him smile and he finally got up.
He was grabbing his phone when he noticed the small parcel sitting on his nightstand.
With a frown he put his phone down again and picked up the box instead.
"This wasn't here yesterday".
He shook the box softly. Something rattled inside.
Takuya sat back down on his bed and opened the box carefully. Had somebody gotten into his dorm room?
His thoughts came to an abrupt stop when he saw the content of the box. His heart started beating frantically as he took out the small medallion with shaking fingers.
Engraved in the red shimmering medallion was the symbol of fire.
-------------------
"KOJI".
The figure next to the entrance didn't even look up from his phone as Takuya was sprinting towards him. With every step he could feel the medallion thump against his collarbone.
"Koji". Breathing heavily, he slid to a stop next to his friend. "Koji, we need to talk."
"What we need to talk about", Koji said icily and shoved his phone into the pocket of his jacket. "Is your time management. Do you have any idea what time it is”? Takuya tried to get enough air into his lungs to answer but Koji didn't let him.
"Worst case scenario: the lecture has started already. Best case scenario: it's about to start. And since we are still on the other end of campus, we WILL BE LATE EITHER WAY".
Takuya nodded and held up his hand to stop Koji's rant.
"I know, I'm sorry", he said, still a bit out of breath. "But this is important".
"You know what's important? That I don't fail this class!"'
"I know", Takuya said, "but-"
"No but", Koji interrupted him and grabbed Takuya by his collar. "You can tell me after the lecture and now run".
With some trouble Takuya stumbled after Koji who refused to let go of Takuya's collar. He felt a spark of irritation, but he knew that there was nothing he could do now.
They really were too late, and the lecture had already started. Luckily the professor did nothing more than glare at them as they tried to find two empty spots as quietly as possible.
As soon as they sat down Koji whipped out his notebook and started taking notes. Takuya took more time. To be fair contrary to Koji this wasn't one of the classes he actually had to pass. At the beginning of the semester he had taken it as extra credit, knowing that Koji would take it. He had thought it would be fun to have class with his friend, but he had been very wrong.
Takuya swirled his pen around with his finger. Maybe he should have taken one of the classes with Zoe instead.
When they had finished High School Koji, Koichi, Zoe and Takuya had decided to go to the same university. During their school time they had lived far away from each other and had barely been able see each other. Now all of them but Zoe lived on campus and they saw each other almost every day.
To be honest, Takuya had kind of needed that. Even though he had made new friends since they had come back from the Digiworld, no friendship had even come close to the one he shared with the other Legendary Warriors.
Speaking of the Digiworld...
Takuya unconsciously put a hand to his chest were the medallion sat. He really needed to talk to Koji.
The professor was currently droning about something completely incoherent to Takuya and he decided that Koji really didn't have to write notes on that anyway.
"Koji", he whispered.
"What".
"I need to talk to you".
"After the lecture".
"No, I really need to talk to you", Takuya insisted. "Wait I'll show you".
He reached for his medallion but before he could even touch it something landed on his notebook.
A light blue medallion engraved with the symbol of light.
Takuya stared at the medallion dumbfounded. Next to him Koji continued to take notes.
"You knew", Takuya managed to get out. "Lobomon visited you?"
"Of course I knew", Koji muttered.
Irritation and anger flowed through Takuya. "How the hell can you sit here so calmly then", he hissed. He could see Koji clench his jaw, but he didn't stop taking notes.
"You sit here, taking notes", Takuya growled, "Even though you know that the Digiworld is in danger?!"
"Takuya", Koji hissed warningly. A few people in front of them had turned around and glared at them. He sighed. "I sit here taking notes", he answered finally in a lowered voice, "because I know we can't do anything at the moment anyway."
Takuya was about to protest but Koji cut him off. "We need to talk to the others. But Zoe and Koichi have class right now as well and JP and Tommy are a 40-minute train ride away. There's nothing we can do right now."
That shut Takuya up. He knew that they couldn't act right away, that they had to talk to the others, but sitting here? It just felt so wrong. Shouldn't they at least text JP and Tommy? Maybe they would be able to skip class and come over?
But deep down he knew that that would be impossible. Tommy was still in High School and JP had tons of classes where missing even once would mean a world of pain.
"Well talk to them as soon as possible", Koji promised.
Takuya sighed. Anxiously he stared twirling his pen again.
-------------------
To say Joe's day was going great would have been an understatement. When he had woken up this morning his roommate had informed him, he had gotten too many bread rolls and offered to share. Until then Joe had considered eating oatmeal for breakfast, so he had accepted gratefully. Furthermore, he had managed to finish his report for tomorrow during breakfast.
And now he would have his favourite class of the whole semester.
"You are in a good mood", Sora commented when Joe joined her in the lecture hall.
"Well, today is a great day". He told her about the miracle this morning and they chatted about their homework until their professor walked in.
As usual he started the lecture very abruptly and Joe started taking notes.
Then, a few minutes into the lecture, Joe could hear one of the big doors open. The professor didn't even pause, and Joe ignored the noise.
At least until the two students sat down in the row in front of him and Sora.
The one with the long black hair pulled his books out quietly and quickly. The other one on the other hand threw is notebook on the table with a loud slap.
Joe glared at the brunet. Honestly, some people.
At least after that both of them were silent and Joe could concentrate back on the lecture. At least for a few minutes.
"I need to talk to you".
Joe breathed out of his nose loudly. Sora gave him an amused look.
The black-haired guy told the brunet to be quiet and for a brief moment Joe had hope. But then the brunet continued to talk, nevertheless.
Joe tried very hard to tune out the whispering in front of him, and just when he almost succeeded in focusing back on the lecture, he heard "Lobomon".
For a short moment his heart did a weird stuttering motion and Joe rubbed at his chest. Lobomon?
He glanced at Sora to ask her why that sounded familiar but before he could even open his mouth the brunet said very clearly "know the Digiworld is in danger".
This time his heart skipped a beat. He heard Sora's pencil dropping onto the ground but couldn't move.
The black-haired boy hushed the brunet again and they continued their conversation in lowered voices. Joe barely noticed.
Digiworld? That was impossible.
He must've misheard.
Why would these two random people know about the Digiworld?
But when he looked at Sora, he knew that he had heard correctly. She had gone as white as a sheet and stared at Joe with wide opened eyes.
At the same time, they mouthed "Tai".
The rest of the lecture passed without further incidents. The two guys in front of Sora and Joe kept silent until the professor finished his lecture. Then they started to pack their things while talking in low voices.
Joe shoved his book into his backpack carelessly and tried to eavesdrop, but they were too quiet.
Both he and Sora watched as the two left the hall. Joe was toying with his phone.
"We should-"
"Come on", Sora interrupted him. Suddenly she was on her feet and dragged Joe out of the door. "Let's follow them!"
"I was about to suggest we call Tai", Joe stuttered but stumbled after the girl.
"I already texted him", Sora answered and suddenly she dragged him back when he was about to walk around a corner. Carefully she glanced around it while Joe rubbed his arm with a wince.
"What did he say", Joe asked Sora when she had deemed it safe to walk around the corner. A few meters in front of them were the two boys.
"He and Matt have class today so they can't meet us until later. He told me that we should investigate if possible."
Joe nodded. There were a lot of students walking around the campus now, so they didn't have to worry about being spotted.
"Did you tell him that they said 'the Digiworld is in danger'?".
Sora bit her lip. She was obviously worried about that as well.
"Yeah. He said he'd call Izzy and ask about the portal. If any of the digimon came to visit."
One of the boys had pulled out his phone now and was talking into it while gesturing erratically.
"Do you think they were actually talking about the Digiworld", Joe asked as they entered another building.
Sora didn't answer for a while. The boys stopped at one of the staircases. The brunet was still on the phone. Joe and Sora stopped in front one of the bulletin boards and acted as though they were looking through them.
"I don't know", Sora said finally. "On the one hand I don't understand how they could know about the Digiworld without us knowing. On the other hand... 'the Digiworld is in danger' is a pretty clear message."
Joa tilted his head and pointed at one of the flyers. Out of the corner of his eye he could see the brunet put his phone away.
The two talked for another minute but Joe and Sora were too far away to understand anything. The black-haired boy said one last thing and then he climbed the stairs. The brunet walked to the doors that connected this building with another one.
"What now", Sora asked. "They are probably going to their next classes".
Joe nodded and glanced at his phone. Classes would start in five minutes.
"Let's follow one of them", he suggested already walking over to the door through which the brunet had left. "If we find out where his class is, we can go to our classes and come back afterwards."
"We'll have to leave early though, or we won't be in time."
They hurried through the doors and were just in time to see the boy run up the stairs. Careful not to be seen they followed him and watched as he entered one of the lecture halls.
"24. 3F", Joe read the sign.
"Okay", Sora said and glanced at her phone, "let's meet here at 11:55".
------
Takuya glanced at the clock again.
11:15.
Only 15 more minutes.
He continued tapping his pen against the table and ignored his neighbour's glare. Only 15 minutes. Only 15 more minutes. Not to mention that the other 45 minutes had felt like 5 hours.
And after the 15 minutes he would have to wait for another 30 minutes until Koji, Koichi, and Zoe's lecture would be over.
Takuya suppressed a sigh and glanced at the clock again.
14 more minutes.
Finally, the hand fell to the 6. Before the professor had even finished telling them the reading for next week Takuya had been out of his seat and the door. He ran through the almost empty corridors and over the campus until he reached the building where Zoe and Koichi had their classes.
Takuya checked his clock and groaned.
11:35.
"This has to be a joke", he muttered and looked around. A few students were standing in front of the cafeteria.
"Well I might as well get lunch".
After another 30 minutes of agonising waiting an angel in the form of Koichi Kimura walked into the hall.
"Koichi", Takuya yelled and waved. Koichi waved back and walked over to the table where Takuya was sitting. "Thank god, I've been waiting forever."
"Sorry", Koichi laughed, "but believe me: if there had been any way of getting out sooner, I would've taken it."
"That bad?"
Koichi grimaced. "Let's not talk about it."
"Let's not talk about what?", a voice right behind them said and Takuya jumped.
"Hello Zoe".
"Jesus Zoe, give a guy a warning", Takuya muttered as Zoe sat down gracefully next to him.
She rolled her eyes and stole the last bit of Takuya's sandwich.
After another five minutes Koji finally joined them as well. Takuya was so close to berating him for being late but decided against it.
"So, I'm right if I say we all had visitors this night", he addressed the actual issue.
Koichi and Zoe nodded mutely, and both pulled out a medallion. Zoe's shone in a light pink with the green symbol of wind and Koichi's was pitch black, engraved with the symbol for darkness.
"And I assume they all had the same message as well", Koji continued. He almost looked to relaxed for this conversation.
"The Digiworld is in danger", Zoe said.
"Find the Chosen Children", Takuya continued.
"Lucemon is back", Koichi added after a moment.
They fell silent.
"Okay", Koji broke the silence finally. He leaned forward, serious now. "let's focus on one thing for now."
"The Chosen Children", Koichi said with a thoughtful frown. "Löwemon said we have to find them."
"That's easier said than done", Takuya sighed, "do any of you know what that is?"
His question was met with silence.
"Like I thought."
"They are probably humans", Zoe said. She was tapping her finger against the table. "Or at least living beings."
"I thought about that as well"; Koichi admitted. "Löwemon said Lucemon and his allies want revenge on them as well. So... maybe they saved the Digiworld just like we did?"
Takuya frowned. It made sense. But...
"But wouldn't we have met them then? Or Bokomon would have told us about them."
"Unless...", Koji trailed off, a faraway look on his face. "Do you guys remember? When was it, 5 years ago? When Digimon suddenly were everywhere? In this world?"
Takuya tilted his head. Of course, did he remember. 5 years ago, Digimon had suddenly started to appear in the human world. They had attacked and captured humans. Oddly enough, afterwards no one else could remember it had ever happened.
"So, you're saying these Chosen Children actually saved the Digiworld after we did?"
Koji nodded but Takuya shook his head.
"That doesn't make any sense", he told Zoe. "If the Digiworld was in trouble, why didn't they just call us again?"
They fell silent again. Takuya rubbed his hands. Truth be told he just didn't want to believe that theory. Why wouldn't the Digimon ask for help? They were the Digiworld’s protectors after all.
"Whether we like it or not", Koji said and crossed his arms. "It's the most plausible theory. Which brings us to the next question: where are they?"
-------------------
"3F", Joe repeated for good measure. Sora looked doubtful. "I am sure it was 3F".
"Well there's no one here Joe", she stated the obvious.
It was currently 12:05 and the lecture hall was empty. And had been empty before as well because no one had left it since Joe and Sora had arrived.
"That doesn't make any sense", Joe insisted. Sora rolled her eyes.
"Maybe he saw us following him and tricked us?"
Sora didn't reply. Instead she walked over to a few students standing in front of another lecture hall.
"Sorry, do you know if there was a class in 3F earlier? We wanted to meet with a friend but there's no one in there."
The students looked a little bit startled and shrugged. "Sorry, no idea".
"Okay, thanks any-".
"Wait", one of the girls interrupted Sora, "let me have a look”. She walked over to the sheet next to the door and scanned it quickly.
"Ah I see. This is your first year isn't it? Next to the door there's always a plan what classes take place when in the lecture hall. The lecture your friend has, that's economics 2?"
Joe scowled. First years? They were second years! But before he could even open his mouth to retort Sora punched him in the arm and smiled brightly at the girl.
"Yes exactly!"
"Then I'm afraid you're a bit too late. Economics 2 is a seminar not a lecture. That means it's only an hour, it finished at 11:30."
Sora's smile fell. "Oh."
The girl laughed lightly. "Don't worry. The first few months are always the hardest. If you need help again don't be afraid to ask other students!"
Joe forced a 'thanks' out, grateful when the girl went back to her friends.
"We're so stupid", he hissed. "I can't believe we didn't think to check the sheet!"
"No use crying about it now", Sora sighed. "There's no way we can find them now. I suggest we call Tai, maybe Izzy or the others replied."
While walking out of the building Sora was dialling. It took some time but finally Tai answered.
"Sora!"
"Tai, hey we got some bad news"
"Not as bad as mine I think."
"What? What happened?"
Joe glanced at her with raised eyebrows. She shook her head.
"Izzy and the others just texted me. Apparently there really is something happening in the Digiworld. Kari said the digimon were really upset."
Sora bit her lip. "Do you know what happened?"
"No, we wanted to meet up later and talk to them in person."
"Okay, we'll come too". Joe looked at her with wide eyes and shook his head. Sora ignored him.
"Where are they? At Izzy's place?"
"Yeah. I still have one class, Matt too, I think. I don't know about Mimi."
"Okay, Joe and I'll take the next train. See you in an hour!"
She hung up and promptly turned around to walk in the direction of the train station instead.
Joe stumbled after her. "Wait Sora no!"
Sora ignored him. She already knew what would come next.
"Sora, I can't just leave! I have class!"
"Really Joe?". Sora turned around and glared at the older boy. "Are you serious? Our friends are in trouble, something terrible might be happening to our friends, and you are worried about your class?!"
Joe had at least the decency to look slightly embarrassed. "But-"
"No buts Joe!" She continued walking. "If your class is more important to you then stay, I'm not forcing you to tag along. But just imagine how Gomamon will feel if you're the only one who isn't there!"
She didn't have to look back to know what kind of face Joe had. Maybe she should've felt bad for giving Joe such a bad conscience but to be honest she was fed up.
Joe always did this. Always prioritising his classes. The last few times when the digimon had visited he had always stayed at university, claiming that he had extra classes and just couldn't miss them.
When she almost didn't expect it anymore Joe caught up with her.
"I'm sorry", he mumbled. "It's just... It's really a lot of work."
Sora sighed. Of course, she knew that. She knew that there was a lot of pressure on Joe from his parents, but she really couldn't bear to see Gomamon's disappointed face again.
"It's okay, I get it". She smiled a sad smile at Joe. "Our lives really aren't easy, are they?"
Joe huffed and smiled as well. "You can say that again."
-------------------
Around 4 Zoe, Takuya, Koji and Koichi arrived at the Yoyogi Park. It was a massive park with wide lawns, ponds and many forested areas. The sun shone softly through the trees and Zoe took a deep breath. She had always liked the parks in Tokyo.
As they walked through the park to the spot Tommy had texted them, she realised that quite a few people were using the good weather. On almost every lawn they passed families and friends were picnicking. Children were running around, laughing and smiling brightly.
For a moment it felt like the whole world was at peace.
"Zoe, come on", Takuya interrupted Zoe's thoughts. "We don't have any time to waste."
Zoe sighed. Takuya was right. Their friends were in danger - the whole Digiworld was in danger.
She looked one last time at the family sitting on a blanket on the lawn. The father was playing ball with his son. But it didn't look as peaceful as before. A shadow had fallen over the scene.
After another few minutes of walking they finally arrived at the meeting point. Tommy and JP were already sitting at the edge of one of the ponds.
"Took you long enough", JP greeted them with a grin.
Takuya rolled his eyes. "That's rich, coming from the guy living what, 20 minutes away?"
JP simply laughed and shrugged.
He had managed to get in Keio University, a highly prestigious University not far away from Yoyogi.
At first Zoe had been jealous but as soon as she heard what studying at Keio actually meant she had been rather glad that she hadn't managed to get into it.
"So, let's get right into it", Takuya said when they all had sat down. "The Digiworld is in danger again", he said with a serious expression. "And we're supposed to help."
"Yeah, but first of all: we have no idea how we can help; we don't even know how to get back", JP added.
"Next problem: we're supposed to find the Chosen Children. Do any of you guys know who that is?"
They all shook their heads.
"Koji suggested earlier that they might have saved the Digiworld after we did", Koichi said. "Remember, five years ago?"
JP nodded slowly. "That does make sense."
"But why wouldn't they have asked us for help again", Tommy asked. Takuya nodded enthusiastically and pointed at him.
"That's exactly what I said!"
"Let's assume they did save the Digiworld after us", Zoe said. "Even then we have no idea who they might be."
Nobody said something for a while. Zoe watched as a bird flew towards the water only to turn around as soon as it saw the Koi carps. From further away she could hear joyful shouts.
"There has to be something", Koichi muttered after a while. "Löwemon and the others wouldn't leave us with an impossible task, would they?"
"Maybe they didn't have a choice", Takuya suggested. "Agunimon said he didn't have much time."
He pulled out his medallion. The red metal caught the light of the sun and it almost looked like it was glowing.
"Maybe we're supposed to use them", Tommy suggested. He too pulled out his medallion and held it up.
"And how?" Koji had lain down by now and was squinting into the sky. "Hold them tight and hope real hard?"
Zoe glared at him. In the past few years Koji had become more and more pragmatic. 'Realistic' he would usually say when they mentioned it. 'Hoping real hard and believing just doesn't work in the real world.'
"Well, there has to be some way", Takuya answered. "And maybe it really is hoping that they get us back."
Koji clicked his tongue but didn't say anything else. Next to Zoe Koichi sighed so quietly that she almost didn't hear it.
"I mean, it won't hurt to try", JP gave in and pulled out his own medallion.
"He's right", Koichi agreed and poked his brother with his foot. "Come on Koji, it's better than just sitting here."
Koji sighed loudly as if he had just agreed to join them to Disneyland and sat up.
"Okay, but I still don't-"
A loud explosion drowned the rest of his sentence out. The ground shook and for a short moment Zoe saw herself falling into the pond. Koichi managed to grab her arm just in time. He looked just as shocked as Zoe felt. Her heart was beating frantically.
Another explosion and now she could see the smoke rising from one of the forests.
"What's happening?", JP stuttered and climbed to his feet.
Zoe could hear screams and shouts, but this time they weren't joyful.
"Maybe... a fire?", Tommy suggested but he didn't look like he believed it himself.
The ground shook again, and Zoe stumbled.
"An earthquake", Koji said but Takuya shook his head.
"The first explosion happened before the tremor."
And in the next second all the screams and noise was drowned out by a loud roar.
"And that definitely doesn't happen normally", Zoe yelled. Her hands felt clammy despite the warm sun.
"That didn't sound like an animal", Koichi agreed.
"That didn't even sound like something from this world", Koji added and looked at Takuya. Takuya visibly straightened up.
"So maybe this might just be our division", he yelled over another explosion. "Let's go!"
---------------
The train ride to Izzy's place was mostly silent. Tai and Matt had met up at the station after their classes had ended but they hadn't talked much.
Tai had informed Matt earlier that day about Sora and Joe's discovery and Izzy's news and Matt was visibly worried. When Tai had told him, he had almost left immediately but Tai could convince him to wait until everyone would be able to meet and go back to class.
Tai looked out of the window and sighed. The sun was still high in the sky, but it felt as though the day had already lasted for an eternity. So much had happened in just a few hours.
"What do you think is wrong".
Tai glanced over at Matt. The other boy was leaning back and staring at the ceiling.
"Izzy didn't say anything specific", Tai replied.
"I know, but what do you think happened", Matt repeated. "Izzy said they were very upset?"
Tai looked at the other passengers for a moment, but no one was paying any attention to them.
"Yeah, but he didn't want to tell me any details. He said it's better to discuss it in person."
Matt scowled and crossed his arms.
"That's why I'm asking what you think".
"Jesus Matt, I don't know", Tai sighed. "I have absolutely no idea. It could be anything from... an evil digimon that has been sealed away since the beginning of eternity, to a human, or a normal digimon or maybe even something completely new. I have absolutely no idea!"
Matt didn't reply and Tai looked out of the window again. They stayed silent until they arrived at Izzy's home.
Izzy ripped the door open so quickly after Matt had pressed the bell that Tai suspected he had been waiting behind it for them.
"Finally", he greeted them. "You're the last, come on!"
Unceremoniously he grabbed them by their sleeves and dragged them into his living room.
As soon as Tai entered, he saw that this room was not fit to harbour over 6 people. And yet there were twelve people and twelve digimon squished on the sofas and the floor. TK was pressed against the window in a way that made Tai worry the glass would break.
"Uh", Tai said eloquently and raised his eyebrows. The next second he had a yellow dinosaur in his arms.
"TAI!!!"
Tai barely managed to keep his balance and tried to hold Agumon up awkwardly.
"Finally, you are here!"
Tai glanced over Agumon's head and saw that Matt had been treated similarly by Gabumon. How the two digimon had managed to cross the room without trampling someone to death was a mystery to him.
"Agumon", he greeted his friend with a smile. "It's so good to see you!"
"Even though the circumstances could be better", Matt said.
"Yes", Izzy said before anyone could retort. He pointed at a small empty spot on the floor close to the table. "Sit down, the sooner everybody knows what's going on the better."
Tai eyed the spot with one raised brow but Agumon had already taken his hand and was dragging him through the room.
"Sorry", Tai whispered when he almost stepped on Cody's foot and then, as he tried to dodge actually stepped on Ken's hand.
Agumon did not seem to care.
When Matt and Tai were finally seated Izzy rose to speak.
"As I already told you all, this morning I got a message from Tai who had gotten a message from Sora."
"She said she and Joe overheard somebody mention that the Digiworld is in danger", Tai added.
Izzy nodded. "So, I tried to contact the digimon. At first I couldn't get through but then suddenly the portal in my computer opened and everybody came through."
He inclined his head to Tentomon who flew on the table.
"It started a few weeks ago", he said with a steady voice. "Digimon were getting sick. At first only a few but then they got more and more".
Palmon made a sound that sounded like a suppressed sob.
"The baby Digimon were the first who died", Tentomon continued. Tai could feel Agumon shift on his lap and put a hand on his friend's head.
"Then the oldest, the weaker and frail Digimon".
"And we couldn't do anything!", Gomamon yelled suddenly. "We are supposed to protect the Digiworld and yet...", he broke off and shook his head violently. Joe pulled him into a hug.
Tentomon was unfazed by the interruption. "At first, we thought we would manage to find a cure ourselves; it is a sickness that originated in the Digiworld after all. But now...", he trailed off.
"We think it might not be natural after all", Wormmon said. "Nothing we tried helped, it's only getting worse."
"So, we thought, if this isn't natural it has to be some kind of evil plot", Biyomon added.
"And thought you could be able to help", Gabumon said.
The digimon all nodded in unison.
"Please". Armadillomon looked up at them with teary eyes. "This is our last hope."
Tai was shocked that their friends thought they might refuse. "Of course, we'll help", he stuttered. The digimon all heaved a sigh of relief.
"What are we even waiting for?" Davis jumped up. Veemon only managed to avoid falling down by clinging to his jacket. "Let's go!"
Everybody yelled in agreement, but Izzy cleared his throat.
"That's the second problem", he said and pulled out his laptop from under the table. "I can't open the portal anymore".
"What?", Yolei yelled, "What do you mean?!"
"Exactly what I said. As soon as Tentomon and the others came through the portal closed and now..."
"But we were always able to open it before", Cody said. Careful not to step on anybody he walked over to Izzy and peered over his shoulder at the screen.
"Maybe you broke it", Davis suggested, and Izzy glared at him.
"I did not break it!"
"Well we have to get into the Digiworld somehow", Mimi said with a frown.
"Do you think you can fix it", Ken asked.
"I tried before". Izzy scratched his cheek. "But it didn't work. I could try again now?"
"Please do", Gatomon said and jumped out of Kari's arm onto the table.
Izzy nodded and began typing.
Everybody else fell silent, either for a lack of anything to say or maybe because they did not want to break Izzy's concentration. Even Veemon was silent.
After a few minutes Tai started to fidget. His legs and butt were starting to fall asleep. Agumon gave him a questioning look and Tai smiled to reassure him.
Finally, after what felt like hours, Izzy stopped typing and looked up.
But he did not look triumphant.
"I'm sorry", he said, and Tai's stomach felt as though a stone had dropped into it. "I really can't open it". But Izzy's voice was still raised, and he grimaced as if he did not want to continue.
"But", TK asked finally.
It looked like Izzy rung with himself but after a moment he replied. "But I could try to force it open."
"I thought that's what you were trying to do anyway", Matt said.
"No, I was trying to open it. There's a difference".
"Well", Davis said and did an aborted motion with his hand. "Then force it open. What are you even waiting for?"
"He's waiting because forcing it open might have consequences", Joe explained. He scratched his nose with a frown.
"We might not be able to close it again", Izzy agreed. "Among other things."
"It might have consequences", Kari asked. "So, there's also a possibility it doesn't have any consequences?"
"I don't really know; I have never forced it open before".
"So, what should we do", Sora asked. Everybody turned to Tai expectantly.
Tai swallowed down the lump in his throat. On the one hand, they really had to go to the Digiworld, and with every minute they wasted here more digimon were suffering and dying. But on the other hand, could they really risk it? What if forcing the portal open had even worse consequences than the one Izzy had named. But Izzy didn't even know if there would be consequences at all.
"Okay", Tai said after some consideration. "Do it. We don't have the time to wait until it opens on its own again. We don't even know if it will open again."
Izzy nodded sharply and started typing. His face betrayed nothing about how he felt about the decision.
After a few moments of solemn silence Kari cleared her throat.
"Do you really think this is a good idea". She was playing with Gatomon's fur nervously.
"No", Tai admitted. "But we have to do something".
Kari bit her lip, obviously troubled. "I just... I don't have a good feeling about this."
"Now it's too late anyway", Izzy announced and pressed one more key with conviction.
For a moment nothing happened, and Tai actually felt relieved. But then their Digivices all started to beep loudly and blink in an angry red.
"It says the portal opened", Izzy read from his laptop. Tai jumped up to look over his shoulder on the screen. It showed a map of Tokyo with one red blinking dot right in the middle.
"But it's in Yoyogi Park", Ken read.
Tai squinted and tried to read the small letters. He paused - it really said Yoyogi Park.
"But why there", Matt asked. He had come to look at the screen as well and his elbow was pushing uncomfortably against Tai's shoulder. "That's... a ten-minute train ride away?"
Izzy shrugged and closed his laptop with a snap.
"Well I didn't expect it to open in my living room anyway".
Tai nodded and stood up.
"Then let's go! A train ride won't stop us."
-----
Koichi could feel the air burn in his lungs.
A few meters in front of him his brother and Takuya were sprinting towards the steadily growing cloud of smoke. They had taken the lead rather quickly once they had started running, and it didn't look like their stamina would run out anytime soon.
Koichi on the other hand could feel a slowly but steadily growing pain in his side and Tommy, who was running next to him, had started to gasp as well.
"We're almost there", Takuya yelled from the front as if he'd been able to read Koichi's thoughts.
Behind him JP groaned. "If there's one thing I didn't miss it's the running", he yelled back.
But Takuya was right, Koichi noticed. The cloud of smoke wasn't just growing because the fire was spreading but also because they were getting closer.
Now only one big lawn separated them from the burning forest.
Takuya and Koji stopped in the middle of the lawn and Koichi noticed with some satisfaction that both of them were out of breath.
"And now", Zoe asked in between heavy breaths.
Right after that, something in the forest roared so loudly again that Koichi almost fell down.
His heart was still beating erratically from the running, and the roaring really wasn't helping.
"Did that sound like a digimon to you", Takuya yelled.
"So what, you wanna run into the burning forest", Koji yelled back.
Now that the ringing in Koichi's ears subsided, he wondered why everybody was yelling.
"Do you have a better idea", Takuya yelled now with a lowered voice.
"Yes", Koji yelled back, louder than before. Koichi assumed this was unrelated to the ringing in their ears problem. "Not running into the burning forest?!"
"Koji, this might just be what we've been looking for!"
"Or this might just be how we die, are you insane Takuya?!"
"I do have to agree with Koji", Tommy added carefully. "This is a burning forest Takuya, we don't even know if there are digimon involved."
"Uh guys", JP interrupted the discussion. "You might wanna look over there".
He was pointing over the lawn to one of the actual paths that led into the forest. And at a group of people running on it right into the forest.
Koichi counted around 10 people. But more interesting had been the small animals that had been running with them. Or rather dinosaurs and birds. One had been a plant, he thought.
"What the-"
"Well those definitely were digimon", Takuya yelled with a bright grin. "Let's go!"
"Takuya what are you- we can't EVEN EVOLVE", Koji yelled, but Takuya had already taken off into the direction of the forest.
"I swear to god, this boy has a death wish", Zoe muttered while Koji cursed violently.
"Come on". JP started to run after Takuya. "He's right after all, and we really can't let him go in there alone."
They managed to catch up with Takuya a few meters away from the forest. Besides the crackling of the fire and the occasional roar, Koichi could also hear noises from a fight. Another loud explosion made him and the others stumble.
"You can't be serious, Takuya".
Koji had apparently used the moment to grab Takuya by the arm. Their small group came to a stop again.
"Koji, this really might be our only chance", Takuya protested. Koji was about to retort but Takuya didn't give him a chance.
"And we're supposed to find the Chosen Children right". He pointed behind him to the forest. "Those people running with digimon? I'd say it's safe to say that they're who we're looking for. Do you really want to risk losing them again?!"
Koji pressed his lips together and shook his head.
"Even if they're the Chosen, if we go into this forest we'll be cooked in minutes! Not to mention that there might be digimon in there! We can't even evolve; can you please just think!"
Takuya ripped his arm away but before he could retort something crashed loudly in the forest.
And then somebody screamed.
"We need to help them", Takuya addressed them all this time. Koichi straightened up unconsciously.
"And I'm going to! You can stay here if you want". He glanced at Koji on last time and then he turned around and ran straight into the forest.
"Well it's decided then". Zoe shrugged. "Sorry Koji."
And she was gone too. JP gave them a very worried smile but hurried after Zoe and Takuya.
Koji groaned loudly. "I can't believe them; you have all lost your mind."
But Koichi knew that Koji had resigned himself to this fate.
"Let's go then", he said to his brother and Tommy with a smile. "We've been through worse."