"So bright." That was Tai's only sensation. A little dizzy, he raised a hand to shield his eyes.
Suddenly his eyes snapped open and he sprang to his feet. Everything around him was snow-white. The heavy snow that had been falling before they went to the Digital World had stopped. Wait—the Digital World… Tai rapped his knuckles against his head, trying to clear the vertigo. Where were the Digimon? He looked around; only Matt and the other six kids were lying on the ground.
"Was it all just a dream?" Tai grew uneasy. Had his memories been a butterfly's dream? But the power coursing through him, the items from the Digital World stuffed in the backpack on his shoulders, and the Digivice at his waist all told him this was real—not a dream.
Only… where had Agumon and the others gone? He scanned the surroundings. Aside from snow, there was still only snow. Tai sighed. Back in the human world, a lot of his gear was useless. His Digi-Goggles' data transmission and scanning were weakened; the Data Oscillator was basically no good now. The Oscillator affected data—here in the material world it could hardly do anything. Most of his attacks were data-based too; now they'd be nearly ineffective. He'd have to rely on the physical weapons he'd crafted.
He woke Matt and the others. They rubbed their eyes and sat up, staring blankly at the scene.
"Is this… Japan?" Matt asked, unsure.
"This shrine is the campsite. We finally made it back," Joe said happily, looking up at the buildings. Mimi burst into tears of joy; the pampered girl had suffered plenty in the Digital World.
Everyone relaxed—back in their familiar world at last.
"This is where we fell into the Digital World," Sora murmured, almost to herself. Then she looked around. "Where are the Digimon?"
"It wasn't a dream. It's all real," Izzy said, glancing at the Digivice .
"No matter which card we insert, the result is the same," Sora said, looking a little heartsick—after all, their partners they'd lived with for so long were nowhere to be seen.
"Sora." A childlike voice piped up. She turned toward it, eyes lighting.
Seven Digimon stood in a line, looking at the kids.
"Where did you run off to?"
"We went to find food," they said, producing a heap of "food." Their Digital World habits had stuck: secure food first. Only, in the human world there was no need to worry—especially with Tai carrying a large amount of the Digital World's "universal currency": US dollars.
"Alright, let's go find the eighth companion," Izzy brought them back to the main mission.
"Myotismon might already have started attacking," Matt said, worried.
"I don't think he's found the eighth child yet," Sora said, still uneasy.
Izzy opened his laptop. "By my calculations, the time between Myotismon's appearance at Highton View Terrace and our arrival here should be less than one minute. The two worlds don't keep time the same way."
"How can that be?" Everyone was stunned; they'd spent a whole day in the Digital World.
"The problem is, how do we even get to Highton View Terrace? It's far from here," Matt asked, raising a very real issue.
"But is today still the day we left for summer camp? Haven't we been in another world for months?" Joe asked anxiously.
"Exactly. Even knowing time runs differently, it's hard to grasp how much," Mimi agreed.
"It's still the day we left for camp," Tai cut in. "One minute here equals one day in the Digital World. So even though we've been there for months, only an hour or two has passed here."
Even with the time figured out, getting to Highton View Terrace was still a headache. They were in the suburbs—few cars passed.
"Let's check the campsite," Tai suggested. Everyone followed him at a run.
"Wait, everyone," Sora suddenly called.
They stopped.
"What is it, Sora?"
"This isn't the Digital World. What do we do if someone sees the Digimon?" She raised the urgent problem they needed to solve.
"Just say they're plush toys," Tai said—he didn't have a better idea. Their backpacks definitely couldn't fit the Digimon.
"Tai Kamiya." Speak of the devil—their chaperone had arrived.
"It's Mr. Fujiyama."
"Silly kids, why'd you run off somewhere like this without packing up?"
"Packing what?" Tai blinked.
"It's snowing. Camp is canceled. Everyone else is already packing to go home."
Tai understood. He hadn't brought much, knowing camp wouldn't run in this weather; there wasn't much to pack anyhow.
"Are those your toys?" Mr. Fujiyama pointed at Agumon and the others.
"Yes." Tai answered first. "We bought them on the way and kept them packed. We just took them out." As he spoke, he gestured frantically for everyone to cover their partners' mouths so they wouldn't speak.
"Alright, hurry and pack, then meet at the parking lot."
"Okay," the kids chimed, eager for him to leave.
"How do we get to Highton View Terrace?" Once he was gone, they circled back to the problem.
Tai smiled. "We can take the camp bus. It happens to pass Highton View Terrace. We'll get off there." No one had a better plan, so they agreed.
After the bus reached Highton View Terrace and they said their goodbyes to the teacher, they stepped off. Standing on a pedestrian overpass and looking at the long-missed skyline, the kids felt their spirits lift. This was their world.
"That's Highton View Terrace's residential district?" Agumon asked, staring at a cluster of high-rises in the distance.
"Yeah," Tai said, eyes on the familiar buildings where he'd spent a happy childhood.
"They're huge," Biyomon breathed. "Sora, you used to live in such a big castle?" In a Digimon's mind, a "house" usually held only a few. Given their sizes, you could imagine why.
"That's not a castle. Each big building holds lots of small homes—many people live inside," Sora explained patiently.
"Sora used to live here too?" Biyomon was all curiosity.
"Mm-hmm."
"Sora and I were classmates," Tai added. "First grade, Class 2, at Third Elementary."
"I went to Fourth Elementary," Matt said.
"So you weren't lying to the teacher just now—everything you said was true," Joe realized.
"That's right. We really did live in Highton View Terrace."
"I went to Fifth Elementary," Joe said.
"And I was in kindergarten," Mimi chimed in.
Izzy joined the conversation. "Same as you, I lived here too—just for a shorter time."
"So everyone lived in Highton View Terrace," Matt said, beginning to put it together.
Izzy propped his chin, thoughtful. "I don't think that's a coincidence."
A flock of bats fluttered across the sky and drew everyone's gaze.
"Myotismon."
Ahead, in the direction the bats flew, a massive Mammothmon was rampaging down the street—smashing everything in its path: streetlights, cars, traffic signals—all swept aside with its trunk. Pedestrians shrieked; many couldn't accept the idea of an elephant on the loose. Cars were wrecked along the road; people ran in panic. Some tried calling the police, but the lines were jammed. Wreckage piled in Mammothmon's wake.
The kids arrived at the place they used to frequent—a convenience store.
"This is it," Tai said, looking at the familiar storefront. "I used to buy snacks and juice here."
"I've been here too," Mimi said, staring at the sign.
"Brings back memories."
Matt said he and T.K. had come by to play, too.
"How long did you live here, Izzy?" Sora asked.
"I remember moving away in under a year."
"Why?" Sora pressed.
"I… don't know."
Joe strode over, full of confidence. "I can answer that."
"You know?" Sora was skeptical. "But you didn't know Izzy then. How would you?"
"It was a terrorist bombing, right?" Tai gently answered for him.
"A bombing?" Sora couldn't recall.
"That's right—bombs. You were probably too young to remember. Four years ago, there was a terrorist explosion here in Highton View Terrace. My parents thought it was too dangerous and moved us to Odaiba."
"I remember now. Same for us. It was terrifying," Sora said, digging the memory out of the deep.
"It wasn't a bomb at all; it was Digimon—" Tai didn't finish. A police car, lights flashing, roared past.
That had to be Mammothmon. "Let's follow it—might be Myotismon's doing," Tai said.
The kids wanted to hear the rest, but stopping Myotismon was more urgent. They tailed the patrol car, and soon heard an elephant's bellow. Mammothmon was still destroying everything as it went.
They stared at the potholes stamped into the asphalt and the smashed cars littering the road.
"That's one of Myotismon's underlings."
The patrol car skidded to a halt beside them. "Kids, this area is dangerous. Leave immediately," an officer called, fiddling with his radio to request backup—but only static answered.
Mammothmon swung its gaze toward Tai and company. The police car sped off. "Get out of here!" And it was gone in a heartbeat.
Tai raised the Digivice. "Agumon, let's go!"
"Agumon digivolve to… Greymon!"
Greymon charged Mammothmon, but a swing of Mammothmon's trunk clipped Greymon's leg, knocking him off balance into a phone booth. As Greymon got up, Mammothmon hooked a car with its tusks and hurled it. Greymon swatted it aside with his claws. Sora and Izzy stared, shaken—this scene was so much like four years ago.
"Monsters—two monsters," T.K. blurted while everyone else was glued to the fight.
"What did you say, T.K.?"
"Right," Matt said suddenly. "I remember T.K. and I saw two monsters back then—and Mom scolded us for it."
"When?"
"The day of the 'bombing,'" Matt recalled.
"It wasn't a bomb—it was two Digimon."
"Ah." Tai's words startled everyone—after all, none of them had partners back then.
By now, Greymon and Mammothmon had shifted the battle elsewhere.
Running after them, Tai continued, "I was right there. I remember Greymon fighting a Parrotmon."
Just then Mammothmon charged. Greymon seized its trunk and flung it aside—collapsing a pedestrian bridge and cutting the conversation short.
"Nova Blast!" Greymon's fireball hammered Mammothmon. The beast was battered and scarred, but it still forced itself up.
"Greymon digivolve to… MetalGreymon!"
Newly digivolved, MetalGreymon opened the hatch on his chest. "Giga Blaster!" The missiles struck home. Mammothmon screamed and burst into data.
Watching Agumon return, Tai assessed his combat strength. Although he could suppress Mammothmon as a Champion, his offense was still too shallow; only at Ultimate could he finish it off. Still, that was already far better than in the original story. Then again, it made sense—during the Steel Empire's expansion, Agumon had fought in plenty of battles. He'd grown a lot.
With the fight over, Tai went on, "After that battle, the two Digimon both disappeared."
"So that's why it was reported as a terrorist explosion?"
"Yeah."
After dodging the pursuing police, the kids stopped on a patch of grass.
"I've always wondered why—out of all the kids at camp—only we were chosen. Now it makes sense: we all saw Digimon back then. That's our common thread," Izzy concluded.
Matt nodded. "So the eighth child…"
Izzy nodded back. "I believe she was one of the eyewitnesses too."
"Then Myotismon might already have found her, right? If she's an eyewitness, she'd be a kid from Highton View Terrace," Joe said, worried.
"No. I don't think so. The reason Mammothmon was wandering alone today is because his comrades are out searching for the eighth child. Without them around, he started causing trouble," Tentomon said, easing Joe's fears.
"But what if—like us—she moved away because of what happened four years ago?" Sora said.
"I have someone in mind—she might be the eighth child," Tai said.
Everyone turned to him. Tai smiled slightly. "My sister, Kari. She watched that battle with me four years ago."
Izzy thought it over. "It's possible. But we can't pin everything on Kari. Here's the plan: everyone dig up your old class contact lists and call your former classmates to ask around. While we do that, Tai, go home and ask Kari. We have to find the eighth child before Myotismon does." Everyone nodded, agreeing with Izzy's idea.
Tai smiled wryly to himself. If it weren't so hard to explain how he knew, he'd already be home. They were destined to busy themselves for nothing.
Meanwhile, Wizardmon and Gatomon had already passed through the gate. While Tai and the others were still unconscious, they'd left the campsite per Datamon's instructions.
Tai had given Datamon a map, and Datamon had passed it to Gatomon and Wizardmon. Following it, the two set out.
They couldn't take a car, but Wizardmon could fly. In broad daylight he had to cast an invisibility spell over them—and adding flight on top of that drained him quickly. He could only fly a while, then rest, then fly again, heading for Tai's home.
Gatomon was getting closer and closer to the one she'd been waiting for.
At Tai's home, Kari, in pajamas, sat on the sofa playing with a cat. She didn't notice the object glowing under her bed.
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