Nothing in the Digital World can be judged by common sense. Take this luxury liner: the bridge was tiny; facing the forward window sat an oversized round wheel, and to the right were only two buttons—press the front one to go forward, press the back one and it stops… No lookout, no engine room, no sluice controls—so bare-bones it hurt. Worse, once the computer linked to the ship's control system, it turned out piloting the thing was basically a racing game. Set a destination and it would go by itself. So once they set the waypoint, the kids scattered to do as they pleased. Tai opened his computer to keep analyzing the mutated black cables.
As for the Crests, Tai increasingly viewed them as a verification system. Homeostasis had said the Digivice and Crests only ensure a Digimon evolves down the proper path, and had warned that if the kids lost virtues like Courage and Friendship—or used their good traits the wrong way—they could do harm with their Digimon. The Digivice and Crests keep those qualities aimed where the Agents want them aimed. The Agents have already laid out the partners' evolution tracks; the Crests and Digivice are just the auxiliary keys that unlock each stage. But…
Tai frowned. The Digivice's power was too strong—basically a cheat, with the Digital World's rules embedded in it. That was the source of its might.
Azulongmon, guardian of the east who commands thunder; Baihumon of the west, who rules steel; Zhuqiaomon of the south, master of fire; and Ebonwumon of the north, master of water.
They hold the Digital World's laws in their claws—yet even they were wary of the Digivice . Not that they had time to worry about the kids now. Backed by Apocalymon, the Dark Masters were likely close to defeating them. Before the Dark Masters finished sealing the Four Sovereigns, this was the best window for Tai to grow stronger. After they toppled the Sovereigns, the Dark Masters would come for the kids.
Central's analysis said the black cables were no longer the same. Some unknown darkness had seeped in, altering their structure and giving them the power to forcibly boost Digimon. But the source of that dark power couldn't be found. Just please don't let it be from there.
Tai stepped out on deck and went to the bow, watching the liner cut quickly across the desert.
"Tai, are our Crests up ahead?" Izzy, fresh from a nap and looking for air, spotted him at the bow.
"Yeah, not far." Tai pulled out his laptop and brought up the Server Continent map. "About an hour more. But to actually get yours and Matt's, we'll have to rely on a Piximon with… a quirky personality."
An hour later the ship stopped where the map marked Piximon's location. From the deck, though, it was still an endless waste of sand. With some reluctance they disembarked, looked around, and found… a single well in the middle of the desert. Nothing else. It was ridiculous.
Against the sheer scale of the liner, the well holding Matt and Izzy's Crests barely registered.
When Matt and Izzy climbed back up using the rope, their Tags were already set into their pendants and swinging in their hands—their Crests had returned to their rightful owners.
"Alright then, let's get moving!" Tai wasn't keen on dealing with Piximon if he could avoid it. Which, of course, meant he couldn't.
"You little brats!" The voice was childish yet sharp, and everyone looked around—then all eyes fixed on the gunwale: something smaller than a Budmon, round and pinkish like a tiny orange, with two little wings sprouting from its round head and a spear-like weapon in hand—a Digimon. Piximon.
"That's Piximon," Izzy said. "An Ultimate-level Digimon that uses all sorts of peculiar magic!"
"So cute," Mimi cooed, scooping Piximon up to nuzzle it.
"Honestly, bip, you DigiDestined kids have no manners, bip—walk a little and you can't hack it, bip, so you take a luxury liner, bip. Everyone's so lazy, bip—not just slacking, but you've got no grit, bip! Lounging by the pool like that, bip—and even your Digimon look like they've got zero perseverance, bip. Inside with me—I'm going to train you hard, bip!" Piximon flapped up and bossed them around like an old acquaintance.
The weird verbal tic—tacking "bip" onto every line—made mouths twitch, but the real shock was the gall of that attitude. And the kids still weren't sure if it was an ally. They hesitated.
"Hurry up, bip—if Gennai hadn't asked me, I wouldn't bother training you, bip."
At Gennai's name, they turned back to Piximon. "You know Gennai?"
"Of course, bip. He asked me, bip."
Assured it wasn't an enemy, they followed Piximon into the desert. Piximon's constant "bip bip bip" soundtrack made the whole hike feel like static. After a while, they reached a spot and Piximon stopped.
"We're here, bip."
"There's… nothing here," Joe said, looking around. Nothing but dunes and cacti.
Piximon lifted into the air, chanted a long string of words no human could parse, then flourished the spear. A door appeared before them; beyond it was a scene utterly unlike the outside—no sand, no cacti, just lush forest.
"Wow—" Palmon cried, delighted. For a plant-type Digimon, a forest was heaven.
"No need to make a fuss, bip. This is my barrier, bip." Piximon led them in circles through the trees until they reached the foot of the tallest mountain.
"Alright, this is my home, bip." Piximon finally stopped beneath a towering peak.
The mountain speared the clouds; from the base, stairways spiraled up and up and up—countless steps.
Piximon pointed his spear at the sky-piercing height. "My home is here, bip."
"You live way up there?"
"No, no," Piximon shook his… "neck"? "Inside the barrier, all of this is my home, bip! I just happen to live on top of this mountain, bip."
At that, the kids stared at the unending sea of trees in every direction, side to side and skyward, then all looked at Piximon with the same odd expression. Everyone was stumped.
This thing—body, wings, and spear together barely the size of a basketball—what good was a house this big for it?
"You live up top?"
So they climbed. And climbed. Piximon wouldn't allow any Digimon to fly, so they kept climbing until dusk, when the roofline finally came into view.
At the summit, Piximon's "house" sprawled across a three-story spiral gallery that ran hundreds of meters, with a gigantic statue of Piximon in the center—as if he were compensating for his own tiny size by building a colossal figure.
They ate a little and fell into the rooms Piximon assigned to rest.
Leaving Piximon's place later left them speechless; it felt like he'd just wanted free help cleaning house. He'd had them polish rails and floors. Joe and Gomamon slipped away for a while and came back without saying why—but Joe seemed… changed.
They exited Piximon's barrier, boarded the liner again, and headed for the next Crest.
They reached a stony badland where T.K.'s Tag began to shine. They left the ship and hiked—no way the liner could pass through. At a cliff face T.K.'s Tag flared to its brightest.
A smooth stone wall covered in strange patterns stood before them: a sun above and an aurora below. T.K. raised his Tag high. Light pulsed from the wall, then the slab shrank to Crest size and slid into his Tag on its own.
"Good. That just leaves Sora's Crest."
"Uh… what's that?" Mimi asked, surprised.
Where the wall had been, a passage had opened. While the others still hesitated, Tai went in first. This was the channel from the original timeline—the one that led to Etemon's inverted pyramid.
There were Digicode inscriptions inside—and, most importantly, a map of the Digital World. Seeing Tai disappear into the passage, everyone followed him in.
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