Kari and Gatomon meet up with their friends, brothers Matt and T.K., along with their digimon, Gabumon and Patamon.
"Still no word from Tai or Agumon?" asks T.K.
"No;" replies Kari; "All I got was some weirdo doing a bad operator impression and armpit farts, then hanging up on me."
Matt shakes his head. "Even Tai's jokes aren't that bad. Shouldn't be surprised that Agumon pulled a stunt like that."
Patamon looks at Gabumon. "I don't know. I've stowaway and followed a few times T.K, except T.K. knew I was doing it."
"Don't know if I'd do that or not;" replies Gabumon. "I might, depending on how much I was missing Matt."
"You guys aren't helping;" says Matt. "Are your parents going to go get him?"
"It's a 5-hour drive," answers Kari. "Mom and Dad said to wait until we hear from Tai. Dad called the camp and left a message for him. He'll most likely have to use the pay phone since there's zero cell service out there."
"Hope he remembered to take some change;" says Matt; "he always forgets something."
Gatomon sighs; "I just hope Agumon doesn't end up in 'too' much trouble, knowing him."
"Surely not any more than normal;" says Gabumon.
"They're doomed."
Kari's phone rings. Unfortunately, it's not Tai, but Izzy. He tells them that there's a news story from the town near the camp, saying that people from the area are missing. They all run to T.K.'s and get on his computer.
Patamon looks over T.K.'s shoulder; "What does it say?
"It just says that a couple camping and some hikers have gone missing. The couple's camp site is still up, but no sign of them. A couple of the hikers' backpacks have been found, but no signs of what might have happened to them. There's other rumors of people plus pets and some live stock going missing as well, but no further details. Local residents are being told to be careful and to avoid going into the woods if possible."
"And they're still holding the camps?" asks a shocked Matt.
"They've been holding camps all week bro;" replies T.K.; "The campgrounds are fenced in and secured. Everybody should be safe as long as they stay inside the grounds."
"Just the same;" adds Kari; "I'm concerned. I don't know if I should be more concerned with those disappearances, or about Agumon causing trouble."
"I'm more concerned about the latter;" adds Gotamon.
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After more than half an hour of wondering why their phones were blank, somebody finally suggest that Tai and the others check their batteries. They were all frustrated about their missing batteries, Tai saying that he knew he should have kept his phone in his pocket. After spending another 10 minutes of wondering and asking, Rico finally snickers and fesses up, giving everyone back their batteries. Only one of the 4 guys recognized his, leaving the other 3 spending about 15 minutes figuring out which battery belong to which phone. With no service, Tai doesn't receive any message signals.
The bus finally arrives at the camp. Other groups are also arriving and unloading, including a group from South Korea and another one from the Philippians. Some of the guys are so big and muscular that they look like they should belong on an American football team rather than soccer. All players, coaches, and chaperones must check in, then there will be a short orientation, warm-ups, and finally drills will begin. The players are allowed to take their gym bags only; the rest of their luggage will be taken to the dorms.
Rico, as part of his punishment, has been assigned to unload the luggage, as well as collect all the trash on the bus. He's just throwing all the luggage onto the ground in disarray. Halfway through, he comes across what looks like a big stuffed toy. He grabs it by the leg and holds it upside down. It looks like an orange dinosaur.
"What's this? One of those big plush toys. Feels like real skin." Rico shakes the 'toy' and laughs, not noticing that Agumon's face is grimacing with pain. "Must be Katherine's. Wait, what's that noise?" Rico lifts Agumon up to his ear, listening to the rumbling from his belly. "Ha, sounds like this little guy's hungry. What a weird toy."
Rico tosses Agumon onto the pile of luggage. "OW!" Rico looks at him again; "Freaky toy." He finishes unloading the bus, throwing other bags on top of Agumon, then gets onboard to collect the trash. Katherine arrives to collect her bags. She gasps, freaked out by the way Rico has treated her things.
"What's wrong with you? It's not like I hurt it. You're such a dork!"
Katherine's not fazed by that remark. She pulls herself together goes through the luggage pile. After a couple of minutes, it seems as if something's moving underneath the bags. Removing a couple, she spots what looks like an orange tail. It moves back underneath the pile. She moves more bags and reaches for the tail.
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"Oh, Tai Kamiya;" says the reception clerk; "We've heard so much about you. Looking forward to seeing you in action."
"Oh, why thanks;" replies Tai, somewhat flattered.
"Oh;" the clerk looks at her notes; "There was a message for you. I don't seem to have it. Just check with the front office after you're finished."
"Ok, thanks." Surprised to hear that, Tai get his id tag. Who would be leaving him a message with the front office? If it was an emergency, he's sure they would've told him right off the bat. He'll just have to find out what it is later, he must take his seat for the orientation.
After getting settled in the room she's sharing with her aunt (counselors' quarters right off the main bunk room), Katherine enters the cafeteria with an empty bag. This is her 4th time to these campgrounds, and she knows her way around. She finds the snack tables and starts stuffing snacks into the bag.
"Hey girl, that's an awful lot of snacks for just you, isn't it?"
Katherine freezes and slowly turns around, somebody has spotted her.
"Well, hello Katherine Hino. Welcome back."
"Oh, hello Coach Shingo;" she replies nervously.
"Those boys should be getting their own snacks," says Coach Shingo. "The next time they try taking advantage of you, come to me. I'll take care of them."
It takes her a second to realize what he meant; "Oh yes sir. Of course."
"So, what have been learning recently?"
Katherine hesitates to answer at first. "Sir, oh yes. I'm currently reading Jurassic Park and Anne Frank: Beyond the Diary. I just read the diary of Rutka Laskier. They call her the Polish Anne Frank. I'm also reading about the eruption of Krakatoa from 1883, the day the world exploded, and its child, Anak Krakatau."
"Wow, girl, you're going to be a walking encyclopedia when you grow up, literally. How's dance going? Have you made the competition team yet?"
"No sir, I can't try out until I'm 10, next year. I was Clara in the Nutcracker this past December."
"Oh yes. I remember you telling me you were auditioning. So thrilled for you. Are you on toe shoes yet?"
"Not for at least another two years." Katherine catches herself. She really doesn't need to chat away right now. She finishes stuffing the backpack. "See you later Coach Shingo."
"See you later Katherine. Tell your aunt hello. And remember what I said about those guys."
"Yes sir;" she quickly runs out before another word is spoken.
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Two players from the baseball portion of the camp are busy hitting 'long drives'. Deciding to take a break, one suggests that they take a hike in the woods and look for bird's nest.
"I don't know bro. We're not supposed to leave the grounds. What if we disappear too?"
"We're not going to disappear. We won't go far. Believe me, it safe."
"How are we going to get pass the guard?"
"Leave that to me."
Making sure the police guard's back is turned, the boys use a ball and a bat and hits the guard in the shoulder. They barely rush past him when he spots them and runs after them. After ditching the guard and climbing the fence, the more cautious one says they should go back.
"Aw come on. We're already out here. Let's explore."
A half hour later, they've failed to find any birds nest, at least any they could reach. They hear someone calling for them. It's two police guards looking for them. They stay hidden.
"Why don't we just go with them? We'll already be in trouble."
"If we sneak back in unnoticed, we can blend in and maybe they won't spot us."
The guards turn a different direction, and the boys start to head back. Suddenly, they both trip and fall flat on their faces.
"Hey, watch your step."
"It wasn't me, it was the tree."
"What tree?"
"This one."
They look up, but what they see doesn't look like a tree. It looks like a giant Venus fly trap about 12ft. high with very sharp teeth. It wraps its long vines around them, and starts dragging them both towards it. The boys scream out in terror. The police guards arrive with their guns ready, and start shooting at the plant.
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The players are all warmed up and ready to start the first drills. Tai actually feels butterflies in his stomach. Usually, he's never nervous at all, but seeing these big deal coaches and scouts, as well as how excellent some of these other guys seem to be, are making him just that. He goes through he's usual mental preparation as he lines up for his first drill. Just routine, that's all this is. Despite his nerves and the obvious talent of many of the other guys, Tai ends up in the top 5 in all of the drills, top 3 in half of them. After 3 hours of drills, some of the coaches already want to talk to Tai, a couple even giving him confidence boosters and tips for tomorrow. Tai exhales in huge relief. That first round was really intense. He's so glad to have it out of the way. He's now more excited for tomorrow.
The players rush to their assigned locker rooms and hit the showers. Tai finishes his and reminisces about the day's events with his teammates.
"Man, did you see those Philippian guys? Their like rockets."
"I know man, they'll be tough to beat."
"This is a camp guys, a camp to test our skills. No W's or L's here count."
"A camp that could make or break our futures."
"Don't worry guys;" assures Tai; "we'll beat them. And even if we don't, we'll sure have fun trying."
Rico, who's all business during soccer, returns to his cheeky attitude and teases some of the guys about some of the things about their luggage.
"Who cares that I have a pink bag?" snaps one of the guys; "You should mind your own business Rico!"
"That pillow pet doesn't belong to me!"
"Those stickers on my bag are my sister's!"
Most of the guys are amused and giggling, until its protons to them that is. Tai's putting on clean clothes and laughing.
"You guys should see this stuffed dinosaur of Katherine's. It looks like a baby T-Rex with long arms and a short, stubby tail. And it's orange. What a stupid color."
Tai nearly chocks on his saliva and drops his gym bag. That sounded just like Agumon.
"Tai, you alright?" ask Wayne.
"Ah, ya. I'm fine;" Tai tries to shake it off and picks up his bag. Surely it must be a coincidence.
"Oh yea;" laughs Rico; "it makes strange sounds. It sounded like its tummy was growling! Maybe 'IT' ate all the snacks on the bus."
Tai drops his bag again. No, it's not a coincidence! He takes off to find the dorms, panicking along the way.
"I can't believe he did this. Oh Agumon, why? Why couldn't you just wait?"
It took Tai awhile to locate the dorm cabins, he even asked for directions twice and still couldn't find them. Once locating them, he then has to determine which one his team was staying in (why hadn't he paid more attention to the handout?). After checking 2 cabins that had no luggage he recognized, he finally realizes that the team names and schools are marked on the doors (oh duh). Hopefully, Agumon hasn't wondered off to any other place, but it's likely that he has.
Sometime during all this, what sounded like a sonic bomb was heard, and the ground shook. Tai noticed, but was too preoccupied to really pay much attention.
Another sonic bomb occurred just a few minutes later, again, Tai doesn't pay much attention to it. There's a military base nearby, so it must be coming from there.
He finally finds his luggage on the bed marked with his name (another duh). He dumps out his bags, but doesn't find Agumon. He looks under the bed, and several others, no Agumon. He looks in the closets and bathroom, no Agumon. He keeps calling out his name, still no Agumon. Tai tries to resist the temptation to look in the other guys' bags. Surely Agumon wouldn't still be hiding in a bag by now.
Tai hears some musical sounds coming the other side of a door. The sign says, "Counselor RM #1". This must be where the adults (and assumedly Katherine) are staying. It sounds like a musical tap rhythm, with some music playing along with it. She must be tap dancing. Tai puts his ear to the door. The door is locked, not that Tai would actually open it up on her. He starts to knock but decides against it.
"Nah, I don't need to bother her." Tai then feels his stomach growl. "The CAFETERIA! Of course."
Katherine finishes her tap dance and nearly passes out. Agumon's sitting on her bed, clapping and cheering. "More. I want to see more!" Agumon had asked what ballet, tap, and jazz were, and Katherine decided to show him. What had started out as a demonstration turned into a full-fledged performance. The little dino was amused by her movements and wanted to see more, and more, and more. He especially loves the tap. Katherine LOVES to dance, but after 10 full dance routines in a row, she's worn out and about out of breath.
"Take….five." Katherine barely breathes out the words and plops on the bed. She's sweaty, her hair's a mess, and her cheeks are very red. Agumon realizes he went overboard.
"Oh, I'm sorry Kat. I was enjoying it so much I didn't want it to end. I didn't realize how exhausting it must be."
Katherine just smiles as she catches her breath.
"You must enjoy dancing the same way Tai loves soccer, and I love eating!"
Katherine seats up and nods, although comparing activities to eating sounds odd. She decides to get out her dinosaur encyclopedia and show Agumon the pictures of Tyrannosaurs Rex. "See, that's what you resemble."
Agumon looks and isn't sure what to think. "I don't know. I don't really look like that. I don't think my evolved forms look that scary. And why are its arms so sort? There's hardly anything there."
Katherine shrugs her shoulders. "Scientists are still debating that."
"Now, where's Greymon?"
"I don't think there's an actual dinosaur in here like you describe;" she answers. "I don't know of a large carnivore that has 3 long horns. Although this does."
She shows him the Triceratops. Agumon doesn't like the sight of those horns.
"That doesn't look like Greymon. I don't think I'd like to meet those horns. They look terrifying."
"They're supposed to be. I'd love to see you as Greymon."
Agumon looks at her. "Ah, not so easy. I have to have Tai around, plus, there has to be danger." He then looks at the door and sieges. "When are the guys supposed to come here? It's been…..FOREVER."
"Drills should be over by now, but most of the guys won't be here until close to bedtime. After supper, they have motivational speakers."
"Sounds boring, and when is supper? I'm STARVING!"
Katherine rolls her eyes. How can this creature, called a digimon, possibly still be hungry after all those snacks earlier (small snack to Agumon). He seems to be a real-life Scooby-Doo and Shaggy! However, he sure is cute, sweet, funny, and a good listener. She's never opened up to anybody so quickly that wasn't a dog.
Then Katherine gets a text on her phone. "Oh, I have to meet Aunt Nina for supper. I'll bring you some food back as soon as I can."
"Why don't you just carry me in your bag? Or like you would a stuff animal? I can help myself."
"You're too heavy for me to carry, Agumon."
(Oh that's right.) Agumon often forgets that Tai used to couldn't carry him either. He and his fellow partner digimon have really been spoiled in recent years, in more ways than one.
"Well, I'll put on a disguise, that's what I usually do."
Katherine shakes her head. "I don't believe that's a good idea."
"BUT I'M STARVING! And I want to see Tai. I MISS TAI!"
"Give me 30-45 min. And I'll look for Tai while I'm out there. I'll bring him back to you. I promise." Katherine holds up her pinky.
"Why are you waving your little finger at me? Did I do something wrong?"
"Pinky swear. Give me your little fing…claw. This is sealing a promise."
"Oh;" Agumon holds up his claw, Katherine raps her pinky around it, and they shake on it.
Katherine quickly combs her hair and pulls it into a ponytail, blows Agumon a kiss and runs out. The eternally famished digimon stares at the ceiling, rubbing his growling belly. As much as Agumon loves this world, one thing he does miss about the digital world is being able to roam free, not having to hide all the time. At least he doesn't have to hide from Katherine now.
He lays there for a grand total of 5 minutes, then he can't take it anymore. He MUST find something to eat. But he promised Katherine that he wouldn't leave.
"I don't to want to break that promise, but I've got to do something. Maybe there's some snacks hidden in those bags."
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Tai makes it to the cafeteria. Unusual for him, he's too worried to grab something to eat at the moment. Instead, he searches everywhere for Agumon. He doesn't find him under any tables or anything. Nobody in here looks small enough to be him, at least until he spots somebody approximately Agumon's height, wearing a hoodie over their head. Tai rushes over to him and looks at the face. "Agu…;" it's not Agumon. It's a small child, who looks upset. "Oh sorry." Tai backs away before the child can start crying.
"Hey, who snatched my hotdog?" Tai overhears a guy say, seeing a gust of wind blow the tablecloth and something moving underneath.
"Ah ha." Tai crutches down and pulls up the tablecloth. "Agum…;" again, it's not Agumon. It's a dog munching on the hotdog.
The dog looks at Tai and gets into a defense mode with the hotdog in his mouth. "Oops, sorry."
Tai keeps looking, even trying the kitchen, which he isn't allowed to enter. "Has anybody noticed any food disappearing?" The cooks and servers give him funny looks. He once again apologies and leaves. If Agumon's not here, where could he be? Tai passes an open meeting room with some couches. One couch has a blanket on it, and something approximately Agumon's size is moving underneath it. "Ah hah; now I've got you." He pulls off the blanket, it's another dog, strike three. She looks at Tai, sniffs him, puts her paws on his chest, and starts licking. "Hey, cut it out." As the dog leans forward, Tai's forced to pick her up. She keeps licking and wagging her tail. Not wanting to be rude, Tai sets her down and pets her for a couple minutes. Then something else seems to catch her interest and she runs out. Tai's face is covered with dog saliva.
"Yuck. What's with all the dogs around here?" Tai goes to the restroom, washes his face, and resumes his search. At a table, Katherine spots him and tries to excuse herself.
"Katherine;" says Coach Hino; "Finish that sandwich before you go." She takes three more quick bits of her peanut butter sandwich, gulps down some water, then gets up. "Excuse me Aunt Nina, see you back in the room." She takes off. "Katherine, come back here;" but she's gone. Nina Hino shakes her head. Her niece is usually a light, finicky, and slow eater. That was sure out of character for her.
Katherine tries to call out Tai's name and to get to him, but she keeps bumping into this crowd of teenage boys, plus they keep blocking her path. One guy accidently knocks her down. She can spot Tai leaving the cafeteria. Before she can get up, however, she feels something wet on her arm. It's one of the dogs, and he recognizes her from last time she was here. "Hello Baxter." Baxter, being a 150 lbs. German Shepard, gets on top of the average size 9-year-old girl and pins her to ground, wagging his tail fiercely and licking her like crazy.
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Agumon's gone through about 12 sets of luggage. All he's found editable so far is a large bag of peanut M&Ms. He's done a rather poor job at re-stuffing everything back into the bags, or rather half-way stuffed.
"Aw come on. Don't these guys bring food with them?"
He tosses the M&M bag on the floor when he hears the front door open, freezing in the middle of the walkway. He lays still as two teenage boys about Tai's age walk in. Agumon doesn't recognize these two, and he recognizes every member on Tai's team. One of them walks straight for Agumon and tumbles right over him, landing on his hands and knees.
"Whoa! What was that?" Both boys look at digimon.
"Hey;" says the other; "What's this doing in the middle of the floor?" He kicks Agumon out of the way, which isn't very pleasant. The poor digimon slams into a metal bed railing.
"Hey!" goes the one that tripped over Agumon; "Somebody's been messing with my luggage! Look at this Marcus! Everything's wrinkled and disorganized. I had everything perfectly and neatly folded in here. Even my CD's are out of order. Who'd do this evil thing?"
"Chill Thomas;" says Marcus, the one who kicked Agumon; "It's not the end of the world. My luggage is a mess too, but I'm not going to complain about it."
"Your luggage was already sloppy anyway."
As Marcus searches through his stuff, however, it's his turn to get upset. "HEY! Where's my M&Ms? Don't tell me somebody took them!"
"And ate them it seems." Thomas finds the empty bag on the floor.
Marcus snatches the bag. "This is unforgiveable! What am I supposed to do now?"
"Just do the hot tub without them," suggest Thomas, trying to reorganize his stuff.
"I CAN'T;" argues Marcus; "I can't relax without my M&Ms. It's not possible. This is a major crime!"
"Can it you;" goes Thomas. "You've got to find some other way to relax Marcus, otherwise, you'll start packing on the pounds. Hey, where are, oh there they are." Thomas takes out a large bag of skittles.
What? thinks Agumon; How did I miss those? Is something wrong with my sniffer?
"Really Thomas, you're such a hypocrite."
"These are healthier than M&Ms."
"Oh really? How….OWF;" Marcus accidently steps on Agumon's tail, the poor digimon's doing all he can to hold in the pain and not make a sound. "Didn't kick this thing far enough." He grabs Agumon by the tail and throws him. Hitting the wall hard with his head, Agumon scream; "OUCH! OWF!" The boys looks at him, but just shrug it off.
"Must be an animatronic. That's no way to treat somebody else's property Marcus. You have no respect."
The two exit the cabin arguing, Marcus slamming the door behind him. Agumon sits up, rubbing his throbbing head and tail. "Ow. Maybe being out here wasn't my best idea."
Agumon's still rubbing his owes when the front door opens again. This time, it is a guy from Tai's team. It's, RICO!
Rico takes off his still sweaty and smelly clothes and stuffs them into his duffle bag. Agumon can smell him from several beds down and holds his nose. He then processes to put on fresh clothes over his stinky body. Ugh! Even Agumon knows that's so unhygienic. He smells like strong sweat and, what's that other smell? Cigarettes? Nasty!
Agumon's stomach growls loudly. Rico hears it and soon finds the digimon.
"Well well. There it is again. Are you still hungry? Sounds like your motor is running." Rico picks Agumon up again by the leg. It hurts even worse than last time. "Did Katherine leave you out here? She should know better than to leave her toys laying around. How do I turn you off?" Rico shakes Agumon worse than he did before. He then starts poking him hard in the belly, mocking him. Agumon's blood is starting to boil. "Hey, why not?" Rico flips Agumon right side up; "I'll rip the stuffing and batteries right out of you."
Say what?
Rico pulls on the digimon's arm, trying to rip it off. Agumon's had enough. He opens his mouth and bits Rico on the wrist.
"OWEEEEE!" Rico drops Agumon and clings his now puckered and bleeding wrist. "Wha…HEY! You're not a toy! YOU'RE ALIVE!" Agumon scrambles underneath a bed. Rico grabs a baseball bat.
"COME OUT FROM UNDER THERE YOU LITTLE FREAK! HOW DARE YOU TRY TO EAT ME!" Rico looks under what he thought was the right bed but sees nothing. "WHERE ARE YOU?"
The door then flies open. Tai had been almost back to the cabin when he heard the commotion. He sees that Rico has corned Agumon, raising his bat to hit him.
"What are doing Rico?"
Rico is shocked and turns around. "What does it look like I'm doing Tai? I'm trying to kill this little monster. He tried to eat me!"
"Are you sure?"
"Am I sure? Look!" Rico shows Tai the bit marks.
"Maybe he felt threatened;" Tai says with a forced chuckle; "Are you sure that it's alive?"
"Are you playing me for a fool Tai?" While Rico's yelling, Tai's makes slight hand signal, which Agumon sees and moves. "These marks are real! This pain's real! It's real! And why are you trying to defend it?"
"It's probably just a dog Rico. There's lots of dogs around here."
"It didn't look like no dog to me. It looked exactly like that toy, or what I thought was a toy, I found earlier. And do these look like dog marks?"
Tai smells Rico. "Ew. Rico, don't you ever shower?"
"That's my business...hey, don't change the subject!"
"Rico, is that...have you been smoking?"
"Quit changing the subject!"
"Go take a shower Rico, unless you want everybody to know you've been smoking cigarettes, then you'll be off the team and expelled from school. See you later."
"TAI, how dare you threaten me!"
Tai walks outs and slams the door in Rico's face. As soon as he's on the other side of the cabin, Agumon appears and hugs his leg.
"Oh Tai. Thank you so much, I was…."
"Later. Let's scram." Tai picks up Agumon and they dash for the trees. Katherine makes it just in time to see them disappear.
Agumon hugs his partner tightly. "I'm so happy to see again. I've had such a hard day." He looks up at Tai, smiling, but the look on his partner's face doesn't look like a happy one.