"The Gateway to Home"

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It was a beautiful, sunny day outside and everyone was relaxing while they were still able to.

TK, Daisuke and their Digimon were playing a game of catch with an apple they had found.

Over by the river, Mimi was sitting there watching as Joe and Tai seemed to be collecting water with plastic bags.

"Hey, check it out, Mimi." Joe said holding up his water filled bag.

"How about this for an instant bath? I'm glad I took these bags from the restaurant." He said as Gomamon swam over to him.

"Gee, now you'll be able to go soak your head the next time you have an allergy attack." The seal joked.

"Right. That was so funny I forgot to laugh." Joe snarked.

"Now that Myotismon's chasing us, we're gonna have to keep running like a bunch of crazed shoppers at the mall. He's just a big creep if you ask me." Mimi pouted.

"I have to agree with you on that." Joe agreed.

"Yeah, he's small potatoes for us." Tai said.

"My wish is to never see him again. Period." Palmon stated.

"Mine too." Mimi smiled with her partner.

"Gather around everyone!" Izzy called making us urn to look at him.

"I hope lunch is ready because I'm starving." Tai said as Izzy and Tentomon came running over to join the group.

Everyone turned their attention onto the short red-haired boy, curious over what he had to tell them.

"Gennai's back. He wants to speak to us." Izzy said.

"Is this a scheduled visit?" Mimi asked.

"Hope he found a way to get us out of here." Joe spoke up.

"What is it this time?" Tai asked the redhead.

The team all walked over to where a holographic form of Gennai was seen and they gathered around it to hear what the man had to say to them.

"Don't keep us in suspense. What's this all about anyway?" Tai asked.

"Well, I brought you some good news and some bad news. Which would you like to hear first?"Gennai questioned.

"Save the good news for last. I hate being depressed." The child of Reliability said.

"He's a basket case anyway. Let's start with the good news." Matt told Gennai.

"Actually, you all look like you could use some cheering up. I've been told another child will be joining your group." Gennai said shocking everyone.

Daisuke and Veemon were the only ones who weren't surprised by the news and Tai looked over at them.

They knew who the new DigiDestined was and Tai supposed he could ask them about the new kid later on.

"Another child? Who tells you these things anyway?" Sora asked.

"Well, this is someone you shall want as a friend. This someone is a Digidestind."Gennai said making everyone ask questions about this 9th child.

"Oh, I hope this new one will have a Digimon that will be able to help us." Yokomon said.

"You and me both." Sora told her.

Tai stood beside Daisuke and started whispering in her ear which caught Matt's attention.

The blond stared at them, feeling curious and jealous over what was going on with them.

Ever since they had returned, it seemed like Tai and Daisuke had become closer than they originally were.

"You know who this kid is don't you?" Tai asked Daisuke.

"Yeah, I do and it's a girl TK's age. Also, you're going to freak when you find out who it is." Daisuke whispered back.

Gennai started talking again which made the two tanned friends pay attention.

"The important thing to remember is all nine of you must be together. As long as you are separated, the worlds will not be in harmony together. And everything will go wacko, so we must find this other child as soon as possible." The old man said.

"How do we do that?" Tai asked.

"I hope it's someone my size." TK spoke up.

"I hope she's my size so that we can swap clothes." The child of Sincerity gushed.

"Tell us something about this kid. Like what's his or her name?" the child of Courage asked.

"Uh, name? It's…I forgot."Gennai said.

"You forgot?!" Matt yelled.

"Gennai!" Tai yelled in disbelief.

"Calm down. I do know the location of the child. It's Japan."Gennai told them.

"Japan?" Tai repeated.

"Where is Japan?" Gabumon questioned.

"Japan's a big island in the far east." Agumon informed.

"Agumon, Veemon, Tai and Daisuke were transported there when our two worlds converged." Izzy explained.

"If they ever converge again, maybe we'll all get to go home." Joe said.

"Yeah." Mimi sighed sadly.

"Remember, that was the good news."Gennai reminded.

"Can't wait to hear the bad news." Tai commented.

"Myotismon had heard of the 9th child and will be going to Japan soon. He's gathering his forces as we speak. If he gets to the child first, both of our worlds will be doomed." Gennai said.

Everyone gasped at the news, worried over what would happen if Myotismon got their hands on the child.

A plan was then made for Agumon and Palmon to sneak inside of Myotismon's castle to find out what they could about the vampire's mission.

Everyone was spread out around the area as they waited for Palmon and Agumon to sneak them inside, and Izzy was busy on his laptop.

"According to my information, the gate to the other world should be somewhere inside this castle." Gennai explained to the redhead.

"My theory is that Myotismon sent DemiDevimon to distract us while he stayed behind to prepare the gate. Truly an ingenious plan on his part." Izzy said.

"A good theory indeed." Gennai agreed.

"Agumon and Palmon have certainly been gone a long time. It's not that I'm worried, it's just that…well, I hope they're looking for the location of the gate." Tai said as he looked up at the castle.

An hour went by and everyone was beginning to worry over what their Digimon friends were doing that was keeping them from contacting them.

Daisuke was pacing, biting at her nails as she did so and Veemon watched her.

"I'm worried." Tai said.

"Just be patient." Matt said as vines were thrown down the inside of the wall.

"Hey, look, they're back!" Mimi said.

"Sorry we took so long. We had a big bruiser on our hands." Palmon said.

"Let's go." Tai said as the group ran over to the vines.

"My signal is useless inside the castle, so you're on your own. I'm counting on you." Gennai said.

"We got it covered." Tai said as the vines wrapped around him and Mimi, pulling them up to the window.

"I hope so. You must stop Myotismon from carrying out his plans and protect your friend in Japan." Gennai told them.

"We better move it." Palmon said as the children and Digimon were all pulled up to the window and helped inside the castle.

Once inside, the group began to search the hallways, trying to locate the gate that would lead them back to their home world.

It was then decided that the group should split up and Matt stared after Daisuke in jealousy as he saw her breaking off to go with Tai.

Matt was really becoming frustrated that Daisuke was spending so much time with Tai and he didn't understand why.

"Something's totally weird here." Tai said as we walked on a bridge.

"What is it?" Agumon asked.

"We've passed this way before." Tai said.

"This place looks like a giant maze." Veemon commented.

"I feel like we could get lost in this place." Daisuke frowned.

"Is that you, Tai?" Izzy's voice came from behind them making the group of four look over the side to see the red head and his partner.

"Yeah, I'm up here. Did you find anything unusual down there, Izzy?" Tai asked.

"Well, you could say that, Tai. The truth is, your way down there and we're up here." Tentomon said confusing the group.

"I think you guys may need glasses. We're way up here above you." Agumon said.

"But there's no way!" Izzy said as he looked over his side of the bridge that was under Tai and Daisuke's group, looking up at them.

"What the heck?" Daisuke gasped.

"That's scientifically impossible." Izzy exclaimed.

Soon enough, the rest of the team met up on the bridge to discuss what they had discovered.

"My theory is Myotismon has set up these optical illusions to detour us from finding the gate." Izzy explained.

"Well, I'd say he succeeded. We're still as lost as we were before we started." Tai frowned.

"All we've done so far is go round and round in circles and we don't know up from down." Matt commented.

"Honestly, it's making me dizzy." Joe said.

"Huh?" Gomamon gasped as he jerked his head to the side.

"What's up?" Joe asked.

"Someone's coming." The seal warned.

"You sure?" Joe questioned.

"You doubt me?" Gomamon asked.

Listening closely, the team heard various voices approaching and they tensed up in worry.

On the walls, the group saw the shadows of the Digimon that were making their way down the hall.

Scared at being caught, the children and their partners ducked down to hide from the members of Myotismon's army that were approaching.

"I'm itching to fight." A gruff voice said.

"Eh, 'cause ya got fleas?" Another voice teased.

"They seem to know where they're going." Matt whispered.

"Maybe we should try to follow them." The child of Love said.

"They'll lead us to the right place." Tai stated.

Getting up from their hiding place, the team rushed off down the tunnel and followed it down to where the evil Digimon had walked down.

When they came to the end of the tunnel, the DigiDestineds and their Digimon found Myotismon and his army standing in front of a gate that had been opened up, light spilling out of it.

Myotismon then turned to go to his carriage to follow them.

"You're not going anywhere! Not us long as we can help it." Tai yelled.

"What is your name? Do you work for me? Can't you see I'm busy at the moment?" Myotismon taunted.

"Yeah, right." Tai said as we ran over.

"DemiDevimon, would you please take care of this annoying gang of hoodlums? I have better things to do." Myotismon ordered.

DemiVeemon flew over to the vampire Digimon and grinned wickedly at him.

"Of course sir. Anything you want. I'm at your service." DemiDevimon said bowing to the vampire as he got inside his carriage.

"I'm not letting you get pass this gate." DemiDevimon said as he flew over to us with a gang of Numemon, Vegiemon and various other Digimon.

"Fat chance, you little twerp!" Tai glared.

"I've brought reinforcements. It's all yours, Nanimon." DemiDevimon said to this guy that looked like a huge bowling ball with arms, legs, hair, boots and sunglasses.

"Right. Don't even think about passing by me. You got it?" Nanimon said as he stood in front of the DigiDestineds.

"Fare well, digi-dud." Myotismon said as he went through the gate.

"Okay, let's fight!" Nanimon yelled.

"Yeah!" His soldiers cheered.

"We don't wanna fight you guys, but the future is at stake." Agumon told them.

"You'll have to forgive us." Palmon said.

"Agumon digivolve too…GREYMON!"

"Palmon digivolve too…TOGEMON!"
Nanimon and his group backed away in fear as the dinosaur and cactus toward over them.

"Gabumon digivolve too…GARURUMON!"

"Tentomon digivolve too…KABUTERIMON!"

"Gomamon digivolve too…IKKAKUMON!"

"Veemon digivolve too…EXVEEMON!"

The six digimon stood or flew over the group of smaller digimon, making them all run away from them so they wouldn't get hurt.

"Everyone, back into ranks!" Nanimon yelled at them as they ran away.

"Y-You're big!" Nanimon said as Kabuterimon cut off his path to run away.

Staring up at the large Digimon and realizing that he stood no chance against him, Nanimon decided to stand down just like his soldiers did.

"Anybody need a wrestling coach?" He asked waving a white flag.

"Hey! You can't resign!" DemiDevimon yelled.

"You wanna bet, pipsqueak? When it comes down to having my fanny kicked, I'm outta here and if you don't believe me, ya might check the fine print on my contract." Nanimon said.

"We're comin' through." Tai called.

"Don't let me stand in your way!" Nanimon yelled as he ran away, throwing a pink glob of sludge on DemiDevimon's head.

"Might as well give up." Matt told him.

"I'm out numbered! Good help is so hard to find." DemiDevimon whined.

"Just admit you picked the wrong side and give it a rest already." TK smirked as Patamon flew over.

"If you're trying to prank me, it won't work." DemiDevimon said, then sobbed.

The gates rattled and everyone turned to them to see a white and purple cat Digimon with blue eyes and greenish yellow gloves that had red stripes and a Holy Ring on her tail standing there.

Daisuke and ExVeemon gasped in shock at the sight of the Digimon, recognizing her automatically.

"No way! ExVeemon, is that really…" Daisuke trailed off.

"Yeah, it's her." ExVeemon narrowed his eyes at the small Champion.

"Gatomon? Working for Myotismon? How is this even possible?" Daisuke muttered in disbelief.

Kari had never told her, Ken, Yolei or Cody that her Digimon partner had once worked for their enemy.

"You haven't dealt with me yet!" Gatomon said as she jumped up to where Greymon was.

She easily kicked him, Kabuterimon and Ikkakumon in the face, making then grunt in pain before she back flipped and landed on her back paws with a grin.

"That was too easy." She giggled as Greymon and Ikkakumon fell back.

"Try this." Togemon said as she tried to punch the cat, but she jumped out of the way.

Garurumon growled and tried to claw at her, but the cat kept dancing away.

"To the gate everyone." Tai called.

"We gotta get through." Sora said as the DigiDestineds all ran around their Digimon to get to the gate as it started to close.

"Hey, I don't think so." Gatomon said to us as her tail ring glowed and the statues of dragons glowed and came to life.

"Devidramon. He's one nasty dragon, guardian of the gate. Devi doesn't like losing. If you want a real surprise, look into his eyes. You'll be hypnotized." Gatomon purred.

One of the Devidramon stepped into the children's path, but ExVeemon knocked him out of the way.

"Get away from them you pitiful excuse for a dragon!" ExVeemon growled.

The rest of the Digimon all joined in on the attack, using their own powers on the Devidramon, but they did seem to phase them.

Then they stood together in a line as their eyes glowed a ruby red color.

"I'm starting to feel really weird." Greymon said.

"What's happening?" Tai asked as everyone gasped.

The Devidramon the attacked the DigiDestineds' Digimon, smacking them in the face with their claws as one stood in front of the humans.

"How about that for some awesome fighting? We got cha beat by a mile." DemiDevimon cheered as the DigiDestineds ran away from the dragon in front of them.

"You haven't won yet!" Togemon called as she ran over to keep the black dragon away from the children.

"The gate's closing!" Tai yelled.

Staring at the closing gate, Daisuke looked over to where ExVeemon was located and they shared a look.

Gatomon and DemiDevimon went through the gate and it slowly closed behind them.

Flying over to Daisuke and scooping her up in his arms, ExVeemon made a mad dash for the gate.

Crest glowing, Daisuke watched as it allowed the gate to stay open long enough for the duo of Miracles to slip through, but the doors slammed behind them the second they went through.

"Daisuke!" Matt gasped.

"Oh no!" Sora yelped.

Tai's eyes grew wide in shock, but he settled down as he hoped that Daisuke and ExVeemon would be able to escape Myotismon's notice and took off to find the 9th child and protect them.

At the moment, Tai needed to put his focuss into escaping the castle with his friends and find another way to the Human World.

To be continued…