Real people aren't characters. If a real person has an obsession, they might learn something that helps them lessen it for a while, but there is always the risk of that obsession becoming a problem again. Yes, I have been taking John through a character arc where he's been learning to give less of his attention to his obsession over finding and freeing Jeremy, but it just didn't really feel realistic to have him just be able to put his obsession aside. Instead I want him to have to come to a real, genuine epiphany before he can accomplish this, and this is the purpose for him fighting to free Jeremy. Yes, in terms of the narrative, he is trying to save his old friend, but the story is really one of learning what is really important in life, and so he must overcome his obsession before reaching his goal.
Ever since the conception of this story when I was, like, seven, the events at the end of this chapter were always the events that would eventually lead to this happening. Granted, the situation has evolved a bit since then, but in basic terms it is the same. Is it too much? Maybe. Is it fun to read? I think so. This is primarily an action series, after all, and the next few chapters feature a lot of action. Just beware that if you wanted the lessons that John has learned to immediately stick with him, you will be a little disappointed.
Also, just FYI, the title to this chapter is a reference to something. I can't remember what it is a reference to, but I remember that, back when I was writing the first draft of this story, it was a reference to something.
Chapter Fourteen
Jeremy Returns;
Ultimate Explosive Battle!
Ultimate Explosive Battle!
It had been three days since our battle with Okuwamon and Dragonterramon’s Digivolution to the Perfect Level. We had given up on trying to catch up with Jeremy and had set up camp in a clearing along the foot of a twenty-foot cliff, walls of tall thick trees lining the remaining three sides. It was a very defensible spot. Other than that, what could we do? Jeremy and Manipulamon would attack us again when they were good and ready. Still, I felt bad, like I was doing something wrong by waiting instead of seeking them out.
It was mid afternoon. Jen and I were just returning from collecting apples and mushrooms (both of which I hated by then). We ate, and we were just packing away the extras when something happened.
“Do you hear that?” BlackColtmon asked, staring intently out at the forest’s edge.
“Hear what?” I asked.
“A scraping sound,” he said, relaxing, “but I think whatever it was is gone now.”
“Serpentmon,” I said, switching instantly into “cautious leader mode”, “get up in the trees and keep lookout, just in case.”
Meanwhile, a Serpenterramon, larger and stronger than its forest cousin which the Digidestined had fought on their first day in the Digital World, stalked the Digidestined from the brush nearby. It had been seeking the Digidestined for some time, and it knew that its master’s general, who was currently commanding it and its fellows, would be very happy with its find.
It turned its head, preparing to leave the area, and its scales scraped a tree. One of the traitor Digimon, a dark-haired Coltmon, heard this. The Serpenterramon froze and remained still until the small horse looked away and resumed its previous activities. Once it was sure it was safe, Serpenterramon slunk silently away to tell the general of its find.
It was starting to get dark. It had been at least thirty minutes since BlackColtmon had heard his mysterious sound, a sound which the rest of us had been quick to dismiss when the Digicomp scanner found nothing in the area.
“John,” Serpentmon whined from within the treetops fifteen yards away, “I’m bored. Can I come down now?”
“Yeah,” I said. “If someone was gonna attack, they would have done it already.”
“I don’t think so,” BlackColtmon said. “If they know who we are and they still want to attack, they’ll gather numbers and form a plan before attacking. We should remain prepared.”
I was about to counter his remark when the ground began to shake. A chunk of stone tumbled down from the top of the cliff. Suddenly four Serpenterramon, larger than the one from the forest all of those weeks ago, erupted from the ground, surrounding us.
“Terra Fang!” the Serpenterramon called. They snapped at us, but because they had not yet gotten their bearings, their attacks were easily avoided.
“Crap!” I said. I ran and sprung behind a rock. Jen joined me, and Sarah and Amanda ran for cover in the brush bordering the clearing.
The Serpenterramon struck again, forcing the Digimon into a tight group.
“Let’s get out of here,” said Serpentmon. He led the other Child Digimon underneath the Serpenterramons’ attacks and formed a line of defense between us and the foes.
Then I heard it, a voice on the cliff. “So, what do you think of my new troupe?”
I gasped, “Jeremy!”
“These four Serpenterramon are Manipulamon’s strongest Serpenterramon followers,” Jeremy said, standing at the cliff edge, his arms crossed, beaming with pride. “I’ve spent the last seventy-two hours training them to fight you. Between the stealth abilities that they possess in their home territory, their sheer size, and my familiarity with your fighting styles from our time together, you guys can’t win this time.”
“We’ll see,” I said. I was confidant, sure that my power was superior.
Jeremy smiled a wicked smile down at
us, “Serpenterramon Alpha Troupe, attack!”
“Digimon,” I commanded, “Digivolve!”
The four Serpenterramon drew back, preparing to strike. Jen, Sarah, Amanda, and I raised our Digivices, “Initiate Digivolution!”
“Serpentmon…”
“BlackColtmon…”
“Chickomon…”
“Coltmon…”
“Ponymon…”
“…Digivolve to…”
“Dragonterramon!”
“BlackStaliamon!”
“BrauntoPhoenixmon!”
“BattleStaliamon!”
“Fillimon!”
The Serpenterramon struck, and the Digimon avoided the attacks with varying degrees of difficulty. I jumped onto Dragonterramon’s tail and gripped one of the spikes on his back. “Dragonterramon,” I commanded, “ let's go. Jeremy’s ours!”
BlackStaliamon, Fillimon, BattleStaliamon, and BrauntoPhoenixmon remained behind to fend off the snakes. Dragonterramon dug his talons into the cliff side and clawed his way up, leaping up directly in front of Mechamon, who stood defiantly at Jeremy's side. I jumped down from my Digimon’s back as the dragon began the attack. “Terra Flame!” Dragonterramon called, spewing flames at the metal foe. Mechamon jumped up, using a boost from his jets for lift, flying clear over my dragon’s attack.
Mechamon fell back and landed twenty yards away, jumped straight up, and waved his arms, spreading them wide. Electricity slung from his hands, rolling toward Dragonterramon at lightning speed. He lunged, barely avoiding the blast.
Meanwhile, below us, the others engaged their individual foes. BlackStaliamon leaped up to stomp one of the Serpenterramon flat, but the Serpenterramon swung his head back, dodging, and struck, attempting to snatch BlackStaliamon out of mid air. BlackStaliamon shifted his weight, flipping backward out of his opponent’s reach, landing firmly on his feet.
Fillimon flapped her wings, rising into the air. Her Serpenterramon foe snapped once. She dodged. Twice. She dodged. Three times. She dodged, but only barely, landing hard and sliding backward several feet before coming to an eventual stop. Fillimon reared up onto her hind legs and fired twin beams from her front hooves. Serpenterramon jerked back, avoiding them, and snapped again. Fillimon was able to jump back even further away from her foe, avoiding the attack just in time, but she had been put squarely on the defensive, and with Serpenterramon hovering over her, she couldn't take off. Eventually she wouldn't be able to retreat any further.
“Digimon,” I commanded, “Digivolve!”
The four Serpenterramon drew back, preparing to strike. Jen, Sarah, Amanda, and I raised our Digivices, “Initiate Digivolution!”
“Serpentmon…”
“BlackColtmon…”
“Chickomon…”
“Coltmon…”
“Ponymon…”
“…Digivolve to…”
“Dragonterramon!”
“BlackStaliamon!”
“BrauntoPhoenixmon!”
“BattleStaliamon!”
“Fillimon!”
The Serpenterramon struck, and the Digimon avoided the attacks with varying degrees of difficulty. I jumped onto Dragonterramon’s tail and gripped one of the spikes on his back. “Dragonterramon,” I commanded, “ let's go. Jeremy’s ours!”
BlackStaliamon, Fillimon, BattleStaliamon, and BrauntoPhoenixmon remained behind to fend off the snakes. Dragonterramon dug his talons into the cliff side and clawed his way up, leaping up directly in front of Mechamon, who stood defiantly at Jeremy's side. I jumped down from my Digimon’s back as the dragon began the attack. “Terra Flame!” Dragonterramon called, spewing flames at the metal foe. Mechamon jumped up, using a boost from his jets for lift, flying clear over my dragon’s attack.
Mechamon fell back and landed twenty yards away, jumped straight up, and waved his arms, spreading them wide. Electricity slung from his hands, rolling toward Dragonterramon at lightning speed. He lunged, barely avoiding the blast.
Meanwhile, below us, the others engaged their individual foes. BlackStaliamon leaped up to stomp one of the Serpenterramon flat, but the Serpenterramon swung his head back, dodging, and struck, attempting to snatch BlackStaliamon out of mid air. BlackStaliamon shifted his weight, flipping backward out of his opponent’s reach, landing firmly on his feet.
Fillimon flapped her wings, rising into the air. Her Serpenterramon foe snapped once. She dodged. Twice. She dodged. Three times. She dodged, but only barely, landing hard and sliding backward several feet before coming to an eventual stop. Fillimon reared up onto her hind legs and fired twin beams from her front hooves. Serpenterramon jerked back, avoiding them, and snapped again. Fillimon was able to jump back even further away from her foe, avoiding the attack just in time, but she had been put squarely on the defensive, and with Serpenterramon hovering over her, she couldn't take off. Eventually she wouldn't be able to retreat any further.
BattleStaliamon was in a similar
situation to his counterpart. BrauntoPhoenixmon was the only one of
the Digimon with some kind of advantage over his opponent. With his
greater size, he was able to take several of the enemy's attacks,
giving him a chance to actually get in close and strike the
Serpenterramon with fiery wings. Serpenterramon, however, took the
hit in stride, and the battle continued.
Back atop the cliff, Dragonterramon jumped to is feet and I jumped back onto his back. He leaped at Mechamon, sailing past Jeremy. As he did I dropped down and landed on Jeremy, tackling him to the ground. We rolled until he kicked me off of him. I tumbled and fell onto my back, cursing at the fact that I hadn’t managed to get hold of the tag that bound him. I rolled and leaped to my feet, just in time to roll out of the way of Jeremy’s incoming fist. I kicked, catching Jeremy in the stomach. He stumbled backwards and fell to his knees.
Dragonterramon landed in front of Mechamon. He struck out with his claws. Mechamon jumped back, dodging the slash, so Dragonterramon followed through with a tail sweep. Mechamon jumped over it effortlessly and kicked, catching Dragonterramon in the jaw. As Dragonterramon stumbled, Mechamon charged up and launched another electric attack. Dragonterramon recovered just in time to dive out of the way. As he did, mine and Jeremy’s fight brought us over to our Digimon. We veered apart and regrouped.
“Pretty good,” said Jeremy. “I had no idea that your Digimon would be such a close match for mine. He's gotten a lot quicker than he was last time I saw him in action. But Mechamon has one more trick up his sleeve.” Jeremy passed his hand in front of his tag, and his Crest slid out of the tag and converted to a disk, hanging in the air. I was shocked and a little frightened by this development, though I tried not to let it show. Digiplayer Digivolution was supposed to be my trump card, and now Jeremy could do it too.
I smiled. If nothing else, this was a challenge. I’ve always liked a challenge. “That won’t help,” I said, “because we can do that too.” I concentrated on the feelings I'd felt during times when I'd acted despite my fear, and I passed my hand over my two Crest Tags, and the Neo Crest of Courage emerged, becoming a disk and hanging in the air. Jeremy pulled his Digivice and Digiplayer from his jacket pocket. I pulled mine from the pockets of my jeans. We connected our respective devices together, swung them, and caught the disks in them, calling out as one, “Initiate Digiplayer Digivolution!”
“Dragonterramon, Digivolve to!” He grew into the larger dragon with the broad flaming wings, WingedDragonterramon!”
“Mechamon, Digivolve to!” His legs folded up and the treads on his legs unfolded, connecting into functional treads. His torso raised up and his chest panels opened, revealing several small missile launchers. His shoulder panels slid up, revealing laser cannons, and his armor flashed for a split second, evidencing that his armor was being strengthened by a thin energy field. The panels on his chest and shoulders closed again, “MegaMechamon!”
MegaMechamon opened his jets, and two more jets extended from his leg/treads. The jets ignited and together the four jets lifted him off of the ground. WingedDragonterramon flapped his wings and rose to meet is foe. The two Digimon slammed into each other and were thrown apart by impact.
MegaMechamon opened his chest panels and called, “Assault Missiles!” A dozen missiles shot from the launchers under the chest panels and flew true toward WingedDragonterramon.
WingedDragonterramon, however, was fast for his size. He shot into the air, and the missiles sailed over the edge of the cliff. They threatened to hit BlackStaliamon and his opponent, but I yelled down to them. The much more agile BlackStaliamon leapt out of the way, but Serpenterramon wasn’t so lucky. He was hit by five of the missiles and broke down, becoming a floating cloud of data. Through sheer luck the battle had shifted in favor of the Digimon, giving our side a huge advantage.
WingedDragonterramon rolled in the air, his wings ablaze, flying past MegaMechamon, tossing flames in all directions. The flames hit MegaMechamon, but he recovered quickly, raising the guns in his arms. His shoulder panels slid open and he called “Electro Lasers!” Twin beams lanced from his guns, and more intense beams burst from his shoulder cannons, all aimed right at my partner. WingedDragonterramon folded his wings and dropped below the beams. They followed him. He spread his wings and sailed around his foe until the duration of the attack ended.
“Terra Flame!” WingedDragonterramon called. Flames shot from the dragon’s mouth. They hit MegaMechamon in the chest, causing him to spark from under his armor, though he showed little evidence of real damage. He was slower than my Digimon, but his armor was strong.
If I don’t think of something fast, MegaMechamon will outlast us. I thought, trying once again to take things into my own hands. I need a plan! But before I could screw anything up, something happened. MegaMechamon raised his guns to fire beams at my Digimon, and was surprised to see BlackStaliamon leaping over the cliff edge. “Hoof Stomp!” he called, slamming the machine Digimon in the face. MegaMechamon was knocked back, landing on the rocky ground near his human partner. Immediately he found himself surrounded by five Digimon.
“It looks like my side was able to beat yours,” I told Jeremy, “So, what will it be? Will you run away again, or stay and fight? Either way, we're going to catch you and we're going to tear than M-Tag off of you if it's the last thing we do.”
Back atop the cliff, Dragonterramon jumped to is feet and I jumped back onto his back. He leaped at Mechamon, sailing past Jeremy. As he did I dropped down and landed on Jeremy, tackling him to the ground. We rolled until he kicked me off of him. I tumbled and fell onto my back, cursing at the fact that I hadn’t managed to get hold of the tag that bound him. I rolled and leaped to my feet, just in time to roll out of the way of Jeremy’s incoming fist. I kicked, catching Jeremy in the stomach. He stumbled backwards and fell to his knees.
Dragonterramon landed in front of Mechamon. He struck out with his claws. Mechamon jumped back, dodging the slash, so Dragonterramon followed through with a tail sweep. Mechamon jumped over it effortlessly and kicked, catching Dragonterramon in the jaw. As Dragonterramon stumbled, Mechamon charged up and launched another electric attack. Dragonterramon recovered just in time to dive out of the way. As he did, mine and Jeremy’s fight brought us over to our Digimon. We veered apart and regrouped.
“Pretty good,” said Jeremy. “I had no idea that your Digimon would be such a close match for mine. He's gotten a lot quicker than he was last time I saw him in action. But Mechamon has one more trick up his sleeve.” Jeremy passed his hand in front of his tag, and his Crest slid out of the tag and converted to a disk, hanging in the air. I was shocked and a little frightened by this development, though I tried not to let it show. Digiplayer Digivolution was supposed to be my trump card, and now Jeremy could do it too.
I smiled. If nothing else, this was a challenge. I’ve always liked a challenge. “That won’t help,” I said, “because we can do that too.” I concentrated on the feelings I'd felt during times when I'd acted despite my fear, and I passed my hand over my two Crest Tags, and the Neo Crest of Courage emerged, becoming a disk and hanging in the air. Jeremy pulled his Digivice and Digiplayer from his jacket pocket. I pulled mine from the pockets of my jeans. We connected our respective devices together, swung them, and caught the disks in them, calling out as one, “Initiate Digiplayer Digivolution!”
“Dragonterramon, Digivolve to!” He grew into the larger dragon with the broad flaming wings, WingedDragonterramon!”
“Mechamon, Digivolve to!” His legs folded up and the treads on his legs unfolded, connecting into functional treads. His torso raised up and his chest panels opened, revealing several small missile launchers. His shoulder panels slid up, revealing laser cannons, and his armor flashed for a split second, evidencing that his armor was being strengthened by a thin energy field. The panels on his chest and shoulders closed again, “MegaMechamon!”
MegaMechamon opened his jets, and two more jets extended from his leg/treads. The jets ignited and together the four jets lifted him off of the ground. WingedDragonterramon flapped his wings and rose to meet is foe. The two Digimon slammed into each other and were thrown apart by impact.
MegaMechamon opened his chest panels and called, “Assault Missiles!” A dozen missiles shot from the launchers under the chest panels and flew true toward WingedDragonterramon.
WingedDragonterramon, however, was fast for his size. He shot into the air, and the missiles sailed over the edge of the cliff. They threatened to hit BlackStaliamon and his opponent, but I yelled down to them. The much more agile BlackStaliamon leapt out of the way, but Serpenterramon wasn’t so lucky. He was hit by five of the missiles and broke down, becoming a floating cloud of data. Through sheer luck the battle had shifted in favor of the Digimon, giving our side a huge advantage.
WingedDragonterramon rolled in the air, his wings ablaze, flying past MegaMechamon, tossing flames in all directions. The flames hit MegaMechamon, but he recovered quickly, raising the guns in his arms. His shoulder panels slid open and he called “Electro Lasers!” Twin beams lanced from his guns, and more intense beams burst from his shoulder cannons, all aimed right at my partner. WingedDragonterramon folded his wings and dropped below the beams. They followed him. He spread his wings and sailed around his foe until the duration of the attack ended.
“Terra Flame!” WingedDragonterramon called. Flames shot from the dragon’s mouth. They hit MegaMechamon in the chest, causing him to spark from under his armor, though he showed little evidence of real damage. He was slower than my Digimon, but his armor was strong.
If I don’t think of something fast, MegaMechamon will outlast us. I thought, trying once again to take things into my own hands. I need a plan! But before I could screw anything up, something happened. MegaMechamon raised his guns to fire beams at my Digimon, and was surprised to see BlackStaliamon leaping over the cliff edge. “Hoof Stomp!” he called, slamming the machine Digimon in the face. MegaMechamon was knocked back, landing on the rocky ground near his human partner. Immediately he found himself surrounded by five Digimon.
“It looks like my side was able to beat yours,” I told Jeremy, “So, what will it be? Will you run away again, or stay and fight? Either way, we're going to catch you and we're going to tear than M-Tag off of you if it's the last thing we do.”
Jeremy’s eyes swept over each of the
Digimon. They were battered and bruised, but covered in dirt and
debris, making their true condition hard to determine. So, it seems,
he decided to test us.
“MegaMechamon!” he commanded, and
his Digimon lunged, sliding right past WingedDragonterramon, catching
BattleStaliamon and Fillimon, and carrying them down the side of the
cliff to the ground below, out of site. I ran to the cliff side in
time to see that Fillimon was dazed, but that BattleStaliamon was
already back on his feet. MegaMechamon opened fire with his missiles,
and BattleStaliamon jumped out of the way, knocking his counterpart
out of the way of the barrage as well. One of MegaMechamon’s
missiles went off course. It would have hit Jen and Amanda had
BrauntoPhoenixmon not jumped down and shielded them with his
wings.
WingedDragonterramon took flight. He swooped down and kicked MegaMechamon onto his side. “Hoof Stomp!” called BlackStaliamon. He leaped down from the top of the cliff, trying to smash his foe in the chest and incapacitate him, but MegaMechamon swatted him away and sprung upright -.
- Only to be sent sprawling by Fillimon’s beams!
WingedDragonterramon launched his Wing Fireblaze attack. The fireballs hit their mark and exploded, obscuring my view. Before the flames and smoke could clear, MegaMechamon shot from them, soaring over my head and landing at Jeremy’s side, his armor visibly damaged.
Jeremy smiled and said, “Even though I’d like to stay and play, Manipulamon still needs me. I may not have won, but I learned that you have the power to reach Perfect Level now. This information will be of value to my master. Goodbye Digidestined!”
He waved at us, and MegaMechamon de-Digivolved to the much faster Mechamon, a move which I hadn't foreseen. The machine lifted Jeremy up onto his shoulder, and with a burst of his jets, he took off over the trees. His strength spent from the intense battle, WingedDragonterramon de-Digivolved to Snakemon, but he wasn't as tired as the last time, and the others had managed to remain in their Digivolved forms. I didn't really care about that, though. We had very little time to catch up with Jeremy before he'd be able to widen the gap too far.
“After him!” I screamed. I started to give chase, but Jen stopped me, catching my arm.
“John,” she said, “we need to talk.”
“What could you possibly want to talk about right now?” I demanded. “Jeremy’s getting away!”
“That’s what we need to talk about!” Jen said, her voice and expression stern. “You’ve become obsessed with freeing Jeremy. I understand, really. He’s our friend, and we have to help him. But you’ve become obsessed to the point that you’re ignoring our well being again! I thought you were getting better but-.”
“I’m not. I -.”
“Yes you are, John, look!” she pointed at Amanda who was curled up by BrauntoPhoenixmon’s leg, crying. “She was scared to death when the Serpenterramon attacked, but you didn’t even notice, did you? John, Amanda wants to go home.”
“Yeah,” I said, “well she can’t. She’s stuck with us here.”
“That’s not true,” said Jen. “I know there’s a way home somewhere. There has to be. I’m taking Amanda to find it.”
By now, Amanda stood next to Jen, holding her hand. I was shocked! Jen and Amanda wanted to leave the group? I should have been concerned and sympathetic, but the only thing I seemed able to feel was anger. After all Jeremy was right there, getting further away every second! “Fine,” I yelled, “leave! Sarah and I can take handle this ourselves.”
It was a call to their bluff. They wouldn’t really leave, would they? But, as soon as I spoke, with sad looks in their eyes, Jen and Amanda turned and walked the opposite way, into the jungle. Their Digimon de-Digivolved, and followed close behind.
“Come on Sarah,” I said, turning my back to my former team mates as they had turned their back on me, “Jeremy’s getting away.”
WingedDragonterramon took flight. He swooped down and kicked MegaMechamon onto his side. “Hoof Stomp!” called BlackStaliamon. He leaped down from the top of the cliff, trying to smash his foe in the chest and incapacitate him, but MegaMechamon swatted him away and sprung upright -.
- Only to be sent sprawling by Fillimon’s beams!
WingedDragonterramon launched his Wing Fireblaze attack. The fireballs hit their mark and exploded, obscuring my view. Before the flames and smoke could clear, MegaMechamon shot from them, soaring over my head and landing at Jeremy’s side, his armor visibly damaged.
Jeremy smiled and said, “Even though I’d like to stay and play, Manipulamon still needs me. I may not have won, but I learned that you have the power to reach Perfect Level now. This information will be of value to my master. Goodbye Digidestined!”
He waved at us, and MegaMechamon de-Digivolved to the much faster Mechamon, a move which I hadn't foreseen. The machine lifted Jeremy up onto his shoulder, and with a burst of his jets, he took off over the trees. His strength spent from the intense battle, WingedDragonterramon de-Digivolved to Snakemon, but he wasn't as tired as the last time, and the others had managed to remain in their Digivolved forms. I didn't really care about that, though. We had very little time to catch up with Jeremy before he'd be able to widen the gap too far.
“After him!” I screamed. I started to give chase, but Jen stopped me, catching my arm.
“John,” she said, “we need to talk.”
“What could you possibly want to talk about right now?” I demanded. “Jeremy’s getting away!”
“That’s what we need to talk about!” Jen said, her voice and expression stern. “You’ve become obsessed with freeing Jeremy. I understand, really. He’s our friend, and we have to help him. But you’ve become obsessed to the point that you’re ignoring our well being again! I thought you were getting better but-.”
“I’m not. I -.”
“Yes you are, John, look!” she pointed at Amanda who was curled up by BrauntoPhoenixmon’s leg, crying. “She was scared to death when the Serpenterramon attacked, but you didn’t even notice, did you? John, Amanda wants to go home.”
“Yeah,” I said, “well she can’t. She’s stuck with us here.”
“That’s not true,” said Jen. “I know there’s a way home somewhere. There has to be. I’m taking Amanda to find it.”
By now, Amanda stood next to Jen, holding her hand. I was shocked! Jen and Amanda wanted to leave the group? I should have been concerned and sympathetic, but the only thing I seemed able to feel was anger. After all Jeremy was right there, getting further away every second! “Fine,” I yelled, “leave! Sarah and I can take handle this ourselves.”
It was a call to their bluff. They wouldn’t really leave, would they? But, as soon as I spoke, with sad looks in their eyes, Jen and Amanda turned and walked the opposite way, into the jungle. Their Digimon de-Digivolved, and followed close behind.
“Come on Sarah,” I said, turning my back to my former team mates as they had turned their back on me, “Jeremy’s getting away.”
Jen
I hated to do it, but I knew it had to be done. John was going completely overboard, and Amanda was afraid. She was too young for the constant danger. If John wouldn’t listen, then the least I could do was try to get Amanda home.
“You okay, Manda?” I asked, looking down at her. Chickomon stepped up beside her and gazed up at her with concern.
“Yeah,” Amanda said, “I’m fine.” She climbed up onto Chickomon’s back, curled up, and went to sleep.
We walked along silently for a few more hours. I figured our best shot at finding a way home was to get back to the Desert Tower. Problem was, without the Digicomp, I had no way of knowing how to get there from where we were. I thought that the Gekomon might be able to help, so that’s where we were going; Amphibian Village.
There was just one problem. I was tired. I was beyond tired. Amanda was awake now, just lying curled up on Chickomon’s back, staring into space.
“Okay guys,” I said, “we’re gonna camp here tonight.” We stopped, and Amanda got down off of Chickomon’s back and stretched.
“Amanda,” I said, kneeling down to speak to her at her level, “since there’s only four of us now I’m gonna need you to do more to help out, okay?” She nodded. “Okay then,” I continued, “I’m going to let you and Chickomon set up camp and gather wood for a fire while Coltmon and I go and gather up some food and hopefully some water.”
Amanda agreed, and Coltmon and I set out, careful to keep our bearings in the deepening twilight. As soon as we were out of view of the campsite, Coltmon asked, “Do you really think that splitting up the team was a good idea?”
“Honestly no,” I replied, “but until John and Amanda both grow up a little more, I don’t see any other choice.”
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