Digimon Fan Fiction ❯ Digimon Millenium ❯ The Rise of a New Evil ( Chapter 3 )

Disclaimer: I don't own Digimon's characters, creatures or whatever you name! O_o

 

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Digimon Millenium

 

Chapter Three

 

The Rise of a New Evil

 

The cool, fresh air gently swayed across the early Thursday morning grounds as Kari and Gatomon walked towards the school for another day of studies and teaching. It was a pretty normal thing to do, walking to school. Except for the fact that it was an hour before time and not many students would be there.

As soon as Kari had gotten home yesterday from Frosty's, she had suddenly felt really drowsy and immediately fell asleep on the living room sofa. Her Mom had found her like that when she came back from the superstores and hadn't bothered to wake her up, thinking she might get up sooner or later. Which she didn't. Instead, Kari woke up fairly early in the morning and decided to take an early morning walk.

So here she was, hair combed, uniform clean and ironed, making her way towards her school with Gatomon by her side.

“I still don't get why you fell asleep so quickly last night,” Gatomon said, rubbing her eyes wearily, “I slept pretty late …”

“Sorry Gatomon,” Kari apologized, “I don't know the answer to that question myself, to tell you the truth.”

“Uh huh,” Gatomon said, swinging her tail to and fro. She sighed, “No, I'm sorry I'm being pretty mean on you. I shouldn't do that.”

Kari smiled tightly, “You have the right to, Gatomon.”

“I don't.”

They walked on in silence, each absorbed in her own thoughts. Kari was still confused about why she had slept so quickly last night, and she was a little scared about the fact that she had fell weak right after the incident including those two weird people. Now that she thought about it, she felt absolutely rough after that happening.

“Kari.”

Gatomon's voice interrupted her thoughts and Kari looked down at her partner. “Yeah?”

“Who do you think those people were?”

The question Gatomon was asking seemed to be an echo from Kari's thoughts. Kari sighed, `I don't know Gatomon. They did seem strange … almost familiar …”

“Yeah,” Gatomon narrowed her eyes and remained quiet. In fact, the two of them remained like that for the next forty-five minutes till their friends and other kids showed up at school.

TK and Patamon were among the most earliest kids, so they were surprised at seeing Kari and Gatomon already waiting at the gates since they were the ones who usually arrived after them.

“Hey,” TK said, walking up to them with Patamon riding on his head as usual, “What brings you two here so early?”

Kari smiled, “Oh, you know … health is wealth.”

“Right,” TK said, smiling back, “And I'm too blind to see Davis all fit and sporty even if he doesn't follow a healthy routine.”

Kari blushed at that statement, but quickly waved it off, “C'mon. You know Davis; he's the miracle worker.”

TK chuckled and said, “Yeah, you've got me there …”

Patamon hovered down to join Gatomon, smiling cutely like he always did whenever he saw any of his friends. “Hey Gatomon!”

“Hi Patamon”

Kari and TK watched their Digimon start goofing off before looking back at each other, each with a similar expression of fear. Kari could tell TK was also thinking about the incident that had occurred yesterday, even though it might have been a small moment of past realization and nothing more.

“Something's wrong …” TK muttered, narrowing his eyes and folding his arms. He looked at Kari whose cheeks still had that pale grey tint.

Just then, a girl who was standing nearby started squealing and cried, “Oh my gosh! Oh … My … Gosh! It's him!”

She jumped a little before running towards the gates where a very worn-out looking Davis was standing. Veemon stood next to him, not looking much less than his partner.

He swallowed hard as he saw a small horde of girls running at him, screaming out his name.

“Uh oh …” he started running in the opposite way after throwing his bag at Veemon. The girls followed him out the gates and out of sight.

Kari started giggling while TK just stared with humor turned full on in his face. Ever since Davis had become the star player and captain in his soccer team, not to mention good-looking, he was followed by girls nearly everywhere.

Veemon walked over to them with Davis's duffel bag, “Hi everyone.”

“Hey Veemon,” the others said in unison. They all heard a high-pitched scream behind the fence and turned around as Davis climbed it with difficulty because girls started pulling him back from the other side.

TK and Kari went over to help him, and with effort, managed to pull him to their side. He lay there on the grass, gasping for air.

Finally looking up, he gave them a faint smile, “Th-thanks …”

TK rolled his eyes, “I don't get it Davis. Why don't you just date one of them if you don't want them to keep running over?”

Davis stood up on shaky legs, before saying, “Because … I don't wanna end up like one of them guys over there.”

He pointed over to a group of boys with shirts pulled up high and tight pants. Kari giggled again before pushing Davis's finger down, “It's rude to point, Davis. How many times have I told you that?”

“Sorry Boss…” Davis said, smiling. He flinched as Kari sent him a death-glare that would have sent the Dark Masters running off. “I meant … sorry Kari.”

“Anyways,” TK looked at Davis, “What brings you this early to school too?”

Davis frowned, “Too?”

“Yeah, Kari arrived before I did. Gatomon claims it's been one hour since they got here,” TK said, glancing at Davis's now-concerned expression.

Davis looked at Kari who was staring at her shoes. His frown deepened, “Kari is there something you need to tell us?”

Kari raised a brow, “Erm, no. There's nothing at all, why do you ask?”

“Cause' you have been acting pretty weird since that whole collision episode with that strange man,” Veemon perked up.

TK nodded, “Veemon's right. C'mon Kari, we're your friends. If it has something to do with the `dark', then say it.”

Davis knew what TK meant to say when he said dark. `Dark' … A. K. A: The Dark Ocean. He saw Kari's face turn paler if possible.

To Kari's utmost relief, the bell rang just then. Davis also noticed her stiff shoulders relax a little. He sighed before taking his bag from Veemon with a quiet nod.

When they bade goodbye to their Digimon, the three friends walked into the school. Kari kept quiet as though deep in thought, so it wasn't surprising that she jumped as Davis placed a hand on her shoulder. She looked up at him and he smiled.

“Hey. We're there for you, okay?” he said softly, and Kari managed to smile back.

After they collected their books and timetable from their lockers and went their separate ways, Kari couldn't help thinking about how kind and generous Davis had become over the years. Ever since he had stopped his ranting and started showing who he really was, Kari felt more comfortable around him. It was as if a butterfly had finally flown out of its cocoon. She blushed at that but didn't notice it as one of her friends, Mina came walking up. Mina also took chemistry with Kari, so every Thursday morning; they'd meet at Kari's locker and walk to class.

The school day passed with all the usual routines and classes much to Davis's loathing, but when it ended, the three friends met outside on the grounds which were packed with students and teachers. Their Digimon ran to join them, jumping into their arms the minute they reached them.

“Boy am I glad school's over …” Davis said, exhaling heavily as they walked out of the gates, “If the bell rang one minute late I would've been dead.”

Kari looked at TK who was grinning. He and Davis took Thursday last period History, and according to Davis, the teacher, Mr. Hateshi held a grudge against him.

“What happened this time?” Kari asked, smiling with wit.

As Davis began telling her about how he `accidentally' spilled ink all over Mr. Hateshi's new tie and white shirt, Patamon stiffened up on TK's head and turned white.

The three were rounding a corner that seemed strangely deserted. Veemon also became rigid and Gatomon started narrowing her eyes and twitching her ears to and fro.

TK noticed the Digimons' strange behavior and asked, “What's wrong, guys?”

After a moment, Patamon frowned, “I sense something …”

“What? What do you mean?” Kari said, with a look of concern as well as a bit of fear in her voice.

There was more silence after that as the three friends felt a strong wave of air rush over them. Davis looked around; it seemed as if the ambiance around them was starting to falter.

The scenes around them started swirling and they felt a huge flow of vertigo overcome them. The Digimon ran in front of their partners and stood, braced for what was going to happen. A small hurricane formed around them, kind of a dark grey in color, sinking into their consciousness abusively.

“What's happening?” Kari cried, clutching her head and shutting her eyes tight.

Davis stumbled closer to his friends, covering his head with his arms. He grabbed Veemon and the other Digimon.

At once, they felt gravity starting to lift off of them and started rising into the air.

“Oh no,” TK cried as the hurricane closed in on them, “We're surrounded!”

His words drowned out as the hurricane raged in on them, slowly disappearing and taking them with it.

 

* * * *

 

In the Digital World, perched at the edge of a small but menacing dark forest, stood a huge fortress that was as put as far away from contact as possible. There seemed to be no life outside of it whatsoever, but inside was another story.

The setting inside was something taken out of medieval. Fire roared about in huge chandeliers dangling from the high ceilings, casting shadows on the walls, making them look more dark and ancient. Deep beneath the countless stories of the fortress; at the sinister dungeons stood someone who was hiding behind the dimness, letting out roars every now and then. Chains clanked heavily around the iron bars he was trapped in, letting out reverberates that rang through the deserted stone corridors.

Footsteps now echoed into the dungeons as someone entered them. They stopped as the walker stopped in front of the bars in which the creature was held. A soft but menacing cackle escaped the lips of Rita while she stared through the imprisonment at the fiend.

“How is it today, Rita?” came Cyrius's voice from the doorway.

Rita smirked but didn't look away from the creature, “Snappy, but not outrageous, Cyrius… are they here yet?”

“Yes, they are.”

“Perfect. And are they trapped in the Forest?”

Cyrius nodded, “Yes. Everything is going as planned. When shall we take action?”

“Soon … very soon …”

They both burst out into cackles of evil laughter that joined the roars of the caged beast that tried pounding itself at them.

“Soon we will be virtually indestructible!”

 

* * * *

 

“NO!”

Kari shot upright from where she lay and started breathing heavily. Beads of sweat ran down her forehead and her shoulders rose and fell in sharp jolts. She felt as if she had been struck by thunder and her muscles were aching from the eerie iciness around her. The dream had felt so … real.

Something, or rather someone, stirred from beneath her and she looked down to see Davis lying underneath her. He reached up to rub his eyes and groaned, “What the heck …”

When he finally noticed the weight that was on him, he glanced up to see Kari staring down at him blushing three shades of crimson.

His expression matched that of Kari's when he took in the awkward position they were in. Kari scrambled off of him, “Davis! Sorry, I'm so sorry! I was …”

“Hey, it's okay. Don't be,” Davis said, smiling but inelegantly as he also got up.

It took a while for them to realize the environment around them, finally snapping them out of their thoughts.

They seemed to be surrounded by what looked like a mass of forest, with huge, damp oak trees covering in on them. The sunlight streaked through the leaves and onto their faces.

Silence along with an air of panic surmounted them as they glanced briefly at each other, and then back at the huge trees.

“Davis …” Kari whimpered in a small voice. She seemed to have made up her mind to act normally around Davis after what had happened.

“…Yeah?”

“Where are we?”

Davis himself didn't know the answer to that, but there was also something else disturbing him. Someone was missing. After a few seconds of racking his brains for the answer, he managed to shout out, “Veemon!”

Kari gasped, “Where's Gatomon and everyone else?”

“I don't know,” Davis climbed unsteadily onto a broken down tree trunk and looked around, “Veemon, TK!”

Kari joined him and started shouting as well, “Hello? Gatomon, TK?'

They called out for their friends some more, and just when they thought they were going to give up, they heard something rustling up high in one of the oak trees.

“Huh?” Davis looked up and caught a glimpse of something blue in the midst of the green leaves.

“Is that Veemon?” Kari said, walking up beside the particular tree trunk, “Veemon, is that you?”

Some more rustling was heard till a head emerged from the leaves of the oak tree, “ Did, er, someone call my name?”

“Veemon, it's you!” Davis cried, happily.

“Davis?” Veemon looked down and got onto his feet unevenly. He suddenly lost his balance and started tumbling through the branches.

Davis held out his arms and after a long, bumpy ride down the tree, Veemon landed in them, scratched and sore, but otherwise just fine.

“Davis!” Veemon hugged his partner. He immediately looked up again, “Where are we, by the way?”

Kari glanced around uneasily, “Where're Gatomon and TK?”

And as if on que, they heard the sound of some familiar voices on the far side of the area of forest.

“Hey, did you hear that? That sounded like Veemon screaming.”

A rather contemptuous voice added, “Unfortunately, yes it did …”

Davis and Kari ran towards the source of the voice to see TK, Gatomon, Patamon and the person they had least expected to see - Cody with Armadillomon.

“Hey guys!” Davis exclaimed, running up to them.

TK turned to look at the spiky-haired boy run up to them, “Davis?”

“Davis, it's you! And it's Kari, as well!” Cody said, smiling.

Gatomon ran up to Kari and leaped into her arms, purring happily, “Kari!”

“Gatomon, I'd thought you were lost!” Kari cried, cuddling her Digimon partner.

“I was, but then I heard you guys.”

Patamon cleared his throat loudly, “Sorry to be the bearer of bad news, but as far as I can see, we're trapped in some forest with absolutely no idea of the exit.”

Kari looked crestfallen, “Oh yeah … where are we?”

“I don't know. The last thing I remember was getting sucked into some kind of hurricane before landing on Armadillomon, over here …” Cody said, looking around.

“That's exactly what happened to us,” Davis told him. Then he slowly frowned, “Wait a minute … if we're here, and Cody's here, then shouldn't Ken and Yolie be here too?”

“Yeah, they should,” said TK. He winced at the sight of damp, murky trees nearby, “And I'd know why they wouldn't be anyway.”

Gatomon nodded in agreement, “Yeah. I hate water. Especially muddy, dirty water …”

Davis put his hands into his pant pockets for warmth, but to his surprise, he saw that his D3 and D-terminal both were inside it. Frowning, he took them out and held them in front of his face, “What the … I could've sworn I left these back home.”

At this point, the others had noticed the strange appearance of the devices and they too were confused.

Cody also dug his hands into his pockets, taking out his D3 and D-terminal while TK did the same, the only other person who didn't seem to know where her D3 and D-terminal was Kari.

TK gasped as he turned on his D3, catching everyone's attention. He stared at the D3 with wide eyes before saying, “We're in the Digiworld.”

“What?” Davis flipped open his D3 and nearly dropped it as he noticed they were indeed in the Digiworld.

“Okay … this is really weird,” Veemon said, glancing at the D3 and D-terminal in Davis's hands and then back up at him.

“You can say that again,” muttered Davis, nodding. “Something fishy's going on here … but what?”
Kari looked down at Gatomon, “I can't find my D-terminal or D3. I left them at home but how can I believe they're still at home when Davis just said that he also did the same thing?”

“Why do I feel so familiar with this situation?” Armadillomon said, swallowing hard.

Davis looked around, “Same here … but whatever the mystery is, we'll get to the bottom of it … and we'll find Ken and Yolei too if they're here.”

The team stood in a steady position, glancing uneasily at the forest around them. A part of them knew that this wasn't just any ordinary stranded situation they were in; it seemed so strange, yet so familiar. Deciding to move on, they set off through the forest with Davis at the lead, ready for anything that was put their way.

 

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Author's Note: I hope this chapter was good enough to put you on the edge of your seats. I uploaded this chapter quickly, maybe because I was kind of into it. And I didn't expect the Digidestined to get swiped into the Digiworld; it just came across my mind. Guess I really need to freshen up my mind before working on a chap. He, he …

I need your reviews on this chapter and again, do not hesitate for any suggestions! Till then, stay tuned! ^_~