"Where are we going?" Juniper asked Tai as the three humans and their Digimon trekked through the forest's thick vegetation. Even though it was pretty warm in the DigiWorld, Juniper was glad she was wearing knee-high boots. Otherwise, her legs would be covered in scratches by now.
"We have to get to the others. It's not safe to be out here with only one Digimon who can DigiVolve to Champion," Tai replied. Agumon, the little orange dinosaur, hacked at the brush with his claws, carving a crude path through the thicket.
"So the other guys have Digimon, too?" Riley questioned.
Tai didn't answer. He jerked to a stop. Juniper, who had been keeping her eyes on the ground so as to not step in anything gross, ran into his back.
"Oops! Sor-"
Tai turned around quickly and brought his index finger to his lips while glaring. He and Agumon seemed to be looking at something in the distance.
Juniper looked down at Nekomon and they both shrugged.
"Get down! Now!" Agumon yelped urgently to the others. Without question, Riley and Juniper instantly dropped to their knees in the thicket. Nekomon remained standing alert, sniffing the air for a whiff of what Agumon was afraid of until Tai reached up and pulled her down by her tail.
A pair of eerie blue eyes were becoming more visible through the filmy darkness of the forest. Juniper could hear Nekomon's hiss coming from nearby. Her heart's pounding was thrumming in her ears. She wanted to go home!
"Pepper Breath!" Agumon aimed at the eyes. The eyes flinched as the ball of fire hit above them, but the creature was obviously not hurt. A strange cawing sound came from it. Tai stood up from the ground in realization.
"Agumon! It's okay! It's Birdramon," he called.
A giant sienna brown bird pushed its way between the trees. She could hardly get her enormous head through them.
"This wasn't such a great idea..." the bird cawed again.
"There's a clearing just a few yards back. Can you make it out of these trees and try landing over there?" Agumon yelled to her. With a nod of her beak, Birdramon rose (not so gracefully) from the trees that were encasing her and quickly landed not too far from where they were. Tai beckoned everyone else to go back on the trail Agumon had cut down.
"Climb on!" Birdramon said when they reached her. Everyone ran to her legs and held on tight as the monstrosity of a Digimon flapped her wings in take off once more. They started flying in the direction Juniper and the others were originally trying to head towards.
"What were you doing walking in the forest?" Tai asked.
"The forest was so thick, I couldn't see anything from above," Birdramon replied.
"Now where are we going?" Riley said to Tai.
"Birdramon is taking us to our mountain...it's kinda like our hideout," Tai grinned. Riley huffed and looked away. Juniper was too busy basking in the magnificence of the ride. This new world seemed much less terrifying from above.
Juniper was a little disappointed when the flight came to an end. Birdramon perched herself on a cliff that was hanging off a giant mountain, the tallest peak on this range from what Juniper could tell. Not far from the edge of the cliff was the opening of a cave that continued into the peak. The three humans and Digimon hopped down from Birdramon's claws as the huge bird suddenly became a much smaller and cuter pink bird.
Sora came running from the cave to greet them.
"Juniper! Riley! It's great to see that Biyomon found you, but we should get inside as quick as possible," she said. Both she and Tai looked suspiciously at the sky before they ushered the new DigiDestined into the cave.
Inside was a small fire burning, and six of the kids Juniper had met at Sora's apartment were sitting in a circle around it. Each of them also had a Digimon. All twelve pairs of eyes were on Juniper and Riley.
"Sit down with us," Sora invited warmly as she sat down next to Matt, the boy Riley was staying with. Suddenly, Juniper remembered that she was on an exchange program. Who knew that when she signed up for it, she'd be actually going to the DigiWorld?
Once everyone was settled, the Digimon were introduced to Juniper and Riley. The Americans couldn't do anything except nod nervously, not even attempting to remember the strange names. It was all too much right now. Izzy seemed to notice this and interjected.
"I suppose you two are wondering what exactly is going on here." Juniper and Riley looked at him gratefully.
"Oh, sorry!" Tai said apologetically, but laughing at himself. "I was so wrapped up in the battle I forgot how confused you guys are."
"We'll start with the basics then. I assume your Digimon have told you you're in the Digital World, and they're your partners. Of course, there's more to it than that. All of us humans here are DigiDestined. We have each been chosen to come and help defeat whatever evil that comes to the DigiWorld," Izzy began.
"But why us? Why were we chosen?" Riley asked. Juniper nodded in agreement.
"Our theory is that you have to have had an encounter with a Digimon in the past. Do either of you remember seeing a Digimon when you were younger?" Joe said.
"Or maybe it could've been more recent," Matt added. Juniper and Riley looked at each other and shook their heads.
"I don't remember anything like that..." Juniper said.
"Me neither," Riley remarked.
"But you've all been here before?" Juniper asked them.
"Yes. Just once. But it was for a long time," T.K. replied.
"And there sure was a lot of evil to fight," Mimi chimed in.
"So what evil is there now?" Riley inquired.
"We're not exactly sure..." Tai began, looking uneasily at Agumon. "But the Digimon have been filling us in."
"Digimon who used to be serene and gentle creatures, or even Digimon who were a little on the rough side but still good-hearted, are being possessed by something evil!" Palmon exclaimed.
"We thought it would be something like Devimon's black gears that we battled before, but they keep telling us it's different," Sora said solemnly.
"There's nothing to tell you if a Digimon is possessed. No black gear sticking out of them, their eyes don't look different...there's no way you can tell the difference," Tentomon said with a rather annoying quivering voice.
"And what do we do about it?" Juniper questioned.
"We find out who's doing this, and why, and we stop them!" Tai declared, slamming his fist on the cave floor. Juniper winced. They all seemed so determined to stop an evil that was hurting a world Juniper wasn't even sure she liked.
"So this is all...real?" Riley asked nervously, not really wanting to know the answer.
"Very much so," Izzy replied.
"And we're hiding in a cave because we don't know who to trust?" Juniper said. Tai nodded.
Before Juniper could ask another question, a loud blast was heard from the entrance of the cave. All of the DigiDestined stood up instantly.
"What was that?" Kari shouted as the blasting noise was becoming more frequent.
"It's a possessed Digimon!" Gatomon cried.
"We don't know for sure, but I'll go check it out," Tai said, motioning to Agumon. Suddenly, Juniper realized she would rather be closer to the entrance of the cave than deeper into it where there was no light.
"I'll go with you!" she shouted.
"No! Stay here with Nekomon. All of you, stay here!" Tai yelled. The blasting continued and Juniper could feel the cave floor vibrating beneath her feet.
"Let me go with you," Riley said. It sounded more like a demand than a request. "I can't stay here and do nothing. I need to know what the heck is going on." By looking at Riley's expression, Tai knew better than to argue with him. The two boys ran off, followed by their Digimon.
When they got outside, they saw that a tiny bowling ball-sized Digimon was sending giant shocks of electricity in the side of the cave. Some of the mountainous rock was beginning to topple off.
"That's Thundermon!" Agumon exclaimed. The little Digimon heard him and turned to face them.
"Oops..." Agumon muttered.
"So much for a surprise attack..." Tai said under his breath.
"Thunderbolt!" Thundermon roared, shooting his electric shock at Agumon.
"Look out!" Tai shouted. Agumon tried to get out of the way, but instead of hitting his body, the electricity hit his tail. He yelped in pain as Tai rushed to his side.
"Let me DigiVolve!" Tsumemon squeaked wildly at Riley. The little tiger head began bouncing up and down as Thundermon started his next Thunderbolt attack.
"Uh...okay...if you think you can," Riley said, staring blankly at his Digimon. The Digivice in his pocket began to glow, and the same glow was also shining from Tsumemon.
"Tsumemon DigiVolve to....Toramon!"
In the little tiger head's place was a larger tiger, but this one thankfully was a full-bodied tiger cub. Toramon's fur was dark orange with purple jagged stripes lining his abdomen, and a gold earring just like Nekomon's hung on the Digimon's right ear.
Riley looked almost proud of his Digimon, but quickly shook the feeling away and instructed Toramon to attack.
"Do as best you can to distract Thundermon before he hurts Agumon!"
Toramon nodded, baring his teeth and crouching down, winding his legs for a pounce. Just as Thundermon was about to release his attack, Toramon charged and sprung on top of the little Digimon from behind. Stunned, Thundermon fell over and his Thunderbolt hit above the entrance of the cave.
"Comet Claw!" Toramon howled, and ball of fire in the shape of his paw went flying at the Digimon.
"Now's your chance! DigiVolve!" Tai called to Agumon. Agumon stood up.
"Agumon DigiVolve to...Greymon!"
Greymon was ten times the size of Agumon. The sheer size of him caused Thundermon to start quivering.
"Nova Blast!"
The immense ball of fire, obviously much more powerful than Toramon's Comet Claw, slammed into Thundermon, knocking him off of the cliff. Riley and Tai ran to the edge, looking down to see what happened to him. Thundermon continued to fall, further than Tai and Riley could see.
"Do you think he really was possessed by something?" Riley asked.
"Dunno. But we'll never know now, I guess," Tai responded, still looking down into the depths of the mountains. Behind them, Greymon devolved back into Agumon.
"Nice to meet ya, Toramon!" Agumon said, extending a claw. Toramon smiled, which looked a bit menacing with his razor sharp teeth. The two Digimon shook...limbs...and laughed. Riley and Tai turned around.
"So you're still Tsumemon?" he asked.
"Yep! Only cooler!" Toramon winked.
"Let's get back to everybody else. I'm sure Juniper's pretty scared," Tai suggested. Riley rolled his eyes.
"I'm sure she's fine," Riley retorted. As he spoke, the rocks above the cave entrance that had been hit by Thundermon wobbled dangerously.
"I think those rocks are about to fall! Hurry! Run inside!" Tai bellowed.
The boys and their Digimon ran as fast as they could into the cave just as the boulders tumbled in front of the cave. Where sunlight had previously lit the first few yards of the cave, it was now completely dark, with only a few rays of light shooting from cracks in between the rocks. As soon as Riley's eyes became used to the darkness he turned on his heels to face Tai.
"Why would you have us run into the cave?! Now we're trapped!" he shouted.
"The last thing we need right now is to be separated from each other! Besides, now the others will know we're okay," Tai replied defensively.
"Whatever. Let's just get everyone else over here and find a way out," Riley grumbled.
"Fine," Tai riposted. The pair and their Digimon trudged over to their friends, and Tai suddenly regretted his decision to trap them all in a cave.