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Ledgend of the Digi-Destoned
---By Blitzkrieg---

His guitar swung across his back
his dusty boots are his Cadilac
a pavement here just a blowin' in the wind
ain't seen a bed in so long it's a sin

He left home when he was seventeen
the rest of the world he long to see
and everyone who knows, boss,
a rolling stone gathers no moss

Now you'd probably call him a tramp
but it goes a little deeper than that
he's a... Highway Chile!

Now some people say he had a girl back home
who messed around and did him pretty wrong
they tell me it kinda hurt him bad
it kind made him feel pretty sad

I couldn't say what went through his mind
anyway, he left the world behind
and everybody knows the same old story
another way you can't lose in glory

Now you'd probably call him a tramp
but I know it goes a little deeper than that
he's a... Highway Chile!

Walk on brother...

His ol' guitar swung across his back
his dusty boots are his Cadilac
aflaimin' hair just a blowin' in the wind
ain't seen a bed in so long it's a sin

Now you'd probably call him a tramp
but I know it goes a little deeper than that
he's a... Highway Chile!

"Highway Chile" (not pronounced like the food, but like "child" said lazy: without the "D")
By Jimi Hendrix
From the album "Are You Experienced?" by The Jimi Hendrix Experience

Chapter Six: Runnin' 'Round This World

In the suffocating darkness of Infinity Mountain, The minions of Devimon stood at blank, solemn attention. Devimon didn't really need to have his slaves where he could see them to give orders, he could do that in an instant thanks to the black gears, but he enjoyed it anyway. It was a very gratifying experience to view his slaves all at once. Looking out at the rows of digimon lined below him (well, not looking exactly, it was far to dark for that. It's impossible to explain in terms we would understand, but he was still able to "see" them in a sense), Devimon felt unfairly pleased with himself. So many digimon...all his. And soon there would be a whole island of them.
Then a whole world...
Devimon's mouth watered a toxic oily substance as the thought of it. The entire island alone would be more than enough for most digimon, but this was not "most digimon" being dealt with here. Nothing short of complete, total domination would do. Even Devimon himself felt slightly overwhelmed at the thought. But it was a good kind of overwhelmed; like a starving child viewing a might feast set before him. That analogy worked especially well; the starving part at least. Devimon didn't simply want power, he NEEDED it. Every fiber of his being craved it like other digimon craved food and water. It was his nature to command, like it was the nature of a Dolphmon to swim. He had to have it. The others hadn't understood, they couldn't understand. After the revolution, when the Digiworld was divided, they gave Devimon the smallest land mass; justifying themselves with the flimsiest of excuses.
"Don't make such a fuss." Myotismon had sneered "File Island may only be half the size of the other sovereignties, but it's resources are twice that of the others. It's all very even in the end."
Of course, Myotismon had neglected to mention that it was only the other's who's sovereignties lacked resources; his personal territory was just as plentiful as it was huge. But then what else could he have expected from a grandiose, overbearing wretch like that? Myotismon's thirst for power was just as strong as Devimon's. As much as he hated the fool, Devimon had to respect that. But then, that was all he had to respect. He hadn't been able to convince the others of how unfairly they were being treated, those fools still felt that they owed Myotismon for leading them in the war against the Dark Masters, and Devimon wasn't anywhere near strong enough to stand up to him alone.
But it wouldn't be so for long.
Devimon knew that the darkness he served wouldn't allow this to last forever. Myotismon and the others my have been born of darkness like him, but they weren't it disciples. No, those infidels fully relied on there own pathetic strength and knowledge. But no Digimon's amount of strength and intelligence could have matched that of the darkness. Certainly, it couldn't have created the Black Gears. That great gift was known only to the mighty darkness, and had been bestowed exclusively to it's faithful disciple Devimon. And now, it had allowed him to build an army already unlike anything File Island had witnessed. It was only a matter of time before the entire Digital World would witness it as well. Those pathetic heretics would not hold power much longer.
Soon, a rightful ruler would take there place. One who recognized the darkness' true might.
He would rule.
By the all powerful darkness that he lived to serve, he would rule!

*********************

The Pea roared along through the dessert with a sound vaguely reminiscent of a drunk hippopotamus trampling through a piano store while listening to Guns and Roses. The last part was no doubt due to the fact that they were, in fact, listening to that very thing. Pumkinmon and Gatsumon had insisted on stopping at an unusual looking vending machine that dispersed CDs to pick up their "Sympathy For The Devil" single, which was why they were still roaring towards there destination instead of already being there. Tai was certainly making the most of it, leaping on the chance to display his unique skill at playing air guitar.
"Make it speak, brother! Make it speak!" Pumkinmon laughed, providing some air bass accompaniment.
"Too bad I didn't bring my lighter." Sora joked watching the comical pair.
"Too bad I didn't bring my ear plugs!" Mimi trying to block out the horrendous, deafening roar (and she wasn't too keen on the engine's noise either.).
"Hey, at least he's not back here anymore!" Palmon pointed out "If he had tugged on my petals one more time, I would definitely have done something I'd have regretted later!"
"Well, you shouldn't have had your head under my arm!" Tai shouted back.
"There's plenty of other places you could have sat!" Palmon challenged "You were just acting up!"
"HEY!" Tai yelled "I haven't done anything bad all day! Well, not for the last five minutes, at least!"
"Hey, just shut up and play your guitar!" Matt shot back.
"Oh, a Frank Zappa fan, huh?" Tai laughed as he resumed his seat.
"I'm sure that meant something, but I don't have a clue what." Sora said to herself, trying to figure that barb out ("Shut Up and Play Your Guitar" was a boxed set of Frank Zappa material, in case you're wondering).
"Are we there yet?" T.K. asked unconsciously for the umpteenth time.
"Beats me..." Patamon answered "All this desert looks the same to me."
"Gee..." T.K. thought "I hope we're not going around in circles."
"When you're in the middle of nowhere, you could be going in a straight line, and still be as lost as if you were going in a circle." Joe pointed out.
"Well, even if we're going nowhere, at least we're making great time!" Tentomon offered.
"What are you guys worrying about?" Biyomon scolded "I, for one, have great faith in our guides! The obviously are quite familiar with this area and seem quite reliable!"
"Uh huh. Sure. Real reliable." Matt said dismissively as he pointed to their guides, both of whom were, by this point, in the middle of a three man mosh pit with Tai.
"HEY, GUYS!" Gabumon shouted "SHOULDN'T AT LEAST ONE OF YOU BE DRIVING THIS THING?"
"Naw!" Gatsumon shouted back "The Pea knows where we're going!"
"OK, I am this close to panicking." Joe said, teetering on the edge "Don't you push me."
"When aren't you?" Gomamon mocked.
"Tai, quit being a bad influence!" Matt shouted at the shaggy hared mosher.
"Whaddaya gonna do make me?" Tai shot back.
"Hey, the last thing you need to be doing is encouraging me." Matt warned.
"You're simply adding to his delinquency, Matt" Izzy admonished.
"Actually, Matt rather strikes me as a bit of a delinquent himself." Tentomon mussed.
"What's a delinquent?" Patamon asked.
"Somebody who acts like Tai and looks like Matt." Joe explained.
"So what's this 'adding' stuff about?"
"I think it means that Matt's just making things worse by pushing Tai around." Gomamon added.
"Hey, yeah!" Tai responded, eager to shift blame off himself "It's not my fault, it's this bad crowd I'm hanging with!"
"Of course!" Matt shot back, with a mock sense of surprise "You wouldn't look any where near as bad if you just weren't surrounded with such better people!"
"Matt..." Sora groaned.
"Hey, don't mess with me, pal." Tai warned "I haven't done anything bad in five minutes and I'm trying to make it six, so I don't need you messing things up!"
"I'd have to admit, that doesn't sound like an easy task." Izzy pointed out "Not for you at least."
"GASP!" Gomamon shouted, thoroughly shocked "Was that a JOKE I heard coming out of you?"
"Naw!" Matt said, teasing "Impossible! Not from our Izzy"
"Maybe all this heat's finally getting to him!" Agumon offered.
"Oh, come on guys," Tai said, plopping himself down beside Izzy and giving him a hearty whack on the back "We all know what a wild and crazy guy Izzy is under his smarty exterior. Ain't that right?" Instead of answering, Izzy simply blushed, thoroughly regretting having ever said a thing.
"Hey! Leave Izzy alone, guys!" Tentomon pleaded, seeing his pal's obvious embarrassment.
"What?" Tai responded "Can't you guys take a joke?"
"Well, there are some jokes that just aren't meant to be taken!" Tentomon insisted.
"That would require a hint of good taste," Matt warned "so don't be expecting anything like that from Tai anytime soon."
"Hey, watch it smart guy." Tai shot back, coldly.
"Wait," Matt scoffed "you're telling me to watch it?"
"You wanna make something of it?" Tai challenged.
"You just say when, boy-o" Matt said, standing up.
"Now's fine with me." Tai answered, trying to meet Matt eye too eye (a difficult task, as Matt was a good five inches taller).
"WHOA, WHOA, WHOA!!!" Sora shouted, darting in between the two "All right, that's enough out of both of you!"
"Oh, come on Sora." Tai sighed shaking his head.
"Hey," Sora said forcefully "don't you make me stop this...whatever it is."
"Waitta minute!" Gatsumon shouted "We're the ones driving this 'whatever it is'!"
"Easy pall." Matt warned the drivers "If Sora really wanted this thing to stop, it would have stopped a long time ago!"
"Hey, can't nobody tell us what to do when we're driving!" Pumkinmon laughed.
"YEAH!" Gatsumon concurred "What's she gonna do? Make us?" "NOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!" the rest of the passengers screamed, fearing as much for their own safety as for their drivers'.
"You do NOT want to go there, buddy!" Mimi warned urgently.
"Duh... what?" Pumkinmon stuttered stupidly.
"Trust me!" Matt added "That is a bridge you do not want to cross!"
"Uh...OK..." Pumkinmon and Gatsumon agreed, figuring that they didn't really want to know what the meant as the others resumed their seats.
"I'm think I've gotten a reputation around here, and I'm not sure I like it." Sora sighed to herself.
"Gee, I'd kill for a reputation like that..." Gomamon said.

*******************

Eventually, the motley crew managed to arrive at their destination before anyone got killed. Unfortunately, that destination didn't exactly live up to the traveler's expectations. They pulled up at the base of a steep incline that, while obviously natural, bore a suprising resemblance to the Great Wall of China. None of the group could see what rested on the top of the dry, sandy incline thanks to it's tremendous height. Nor could anyone see how far it stretched to either side.
"Well, here we are!" Pumkinmon shouted as the Pea screeched to a stop.
"Yeah, but where's that?" Matt asked.
"I hope you don't mean that your 'temple' is just a big cliff." Mimi complained.
"What are you crazy?" Gatsumon laughed "Of course not! It's up on the top!"
"You mean we have to climb this thing?" Joe asked, suddenly feeling quite weak.
"Well, not actually climb," Pumkinmon explained "but there are a lot of stares."
"Um... exactly how many stares constitutes 'a lot'?" Tentomon inquired.
"Oh, I dunno..." Gatsumon mussed "like a few hundred or something."
"Please tell me that that was just their sick sense of humor..." Mimi begged to no one in particular.

Of course, if it was anyone's sick sense of humor, it was who ever built the stares in the first place. Had they simply gone straight up, there probably wouldn't have been anywhere near as many steps as there actually were. Unfortunately, "straight" didn't seem to have been in the architect's vocabulary.
"Why the hell did they have to make these steps so damn twisty?" Mimi whined.
"It's like for defense or something." Pumkinmon tried to explain.
"Yeah, it's too keep people out!" Gatsumon agreed.
"Well, in that case, it's a good idea!" Agumon complained "I sure wouldn't want to climb all this unless I had too."
"Why would you want to build a temple and then try to keep people out?" Patamon asked.
"It's probably not meant to keep everybody out," Gabumon guessed "just thieves or the like. Since they would be too lazy to actually work for a living anyway, whoever built these probably figured that they'd be too lazy to try to climb all these."
"Yeah! What he said!" Pumkinmon agreed "There's a bunch of really valuable stuff in there."
"Well, couldn't they just lock the door?" Palmon asked, panting.
"I don't think these kinds of things are supposed to be locked." Sora offered.
"Well, I really don't care why they built this place up here, I still say it's stupid!" Mimi insisted "They should have just built this temple on the ground!"
"And let everything get stolen and have to close the place?" Matt pointed out.
"Well, it'd be much more convenient until then." Mimi continued to insist.

"'Safe upon the solid rock the ugly houses stand;
Come and see my shining palace built upon the sand!'"

Izzy quoted, recalling an old poetry lesson he'd once heard.
"HEY! Are you talking about me back there?" Mimi shouted.
"No." Izzy answered quite truthfully. He was positive that Edna St. Vincent Millay didn't have Mimi in mind when she wrote that.
"That makes two jokes today." Matt observed, getting it even if Mimi hadn't.
"What happened?" Tai asked "Did some impostor sneak up while you were out in the dessert and swap places?"
"Oh, please..." Izzy muttered to himself.
"Why can't you two just leave Izzy alone?" Tentomon fused.
"Hey, I don't know what's up with Matt, but I'm just trying to figure out what's going on." Tai said, defensively "Izzy making a joke is about as freaky as seeing Matt smile would be...Well, OK, maybe not that freaky, but you know..."
"Well, frankly, I don't think it's any of your business!" Tentomon scolded as he scattered back over to Izzy.
"Thank you." Izzy whispered, touched at how the digimon had defended him.
"Oh, don't mention it." Tentomon insisted. Though, when Izzy then responded with silence, he added "Well, if you insist, I guess you can mention it just a little bit..."
"All right," Izzy replied, amused "I thought that was a very thoughtful thing for you to do."
"Well, I couldn't simply sit idly by and let those two just gang up on you, could I?"
Izzy started to point out that he very well could have: there had been plenty of instances where other people had, but he thought better of it and didn't.
"All though," Tentomon added "I must admit, I do understand their curiosity. You really haven't been your self today."
Izzy thought for a moment before replying "No...I suppose I really haven't."
"So what's the matter?" Tentomon inquired.
"Well, here, let me show you." Izzy said as he reached into his backpack and removed a strange, flat, rectangular object. It seemed to be made of some kind of plastic and was mostly a glossy white with translucent orange highlights.
"Um...Izzy?" Tentomon asked, somewhat confused "What in heaven's name is that?"
"It's a laptop." Izzy explained, noting Tentomon's confusion "A kind of computer."
"All right..." Tentomon confessed, now totally baffled "That means absolutely nothing to me."
Izzy attempted to elaborate, but suddenly found himself at a loss. He'd often tried to explain the more complex workings of computers to others who were having difficulty comprehending it, but even they understood the basics. If fact, Izzy doubted that it was even possible that there could be a single person existing in all of Tokyo who didn't know what a computer was. Still, Izzy tried valiantly to explain:
"Well, a computer is a device used to process information-"
"Why would some one need a device to do that?" Tentomon asked "You're head processes more information that any device I've ever seen."
"No, no!" Izzy said, starting over "You can input and store information in it."
"Once again, why do you need something else to do that? You've got more information in you than I ever thought possible." Tentomon said, trying as hard as he could to grasp what Izzy was getting at, but just not managing to do it
"Do you just keep what you don't need in there?"
"Well, sort of...but I don't think you really understand." Izzy said, realizing that Tentomon seemed to be picturing some kind of physical relation between the computer and his brain "Let me start over: a computer serves many more purposes than just an information receptacle, it can be used to store music - create it, actually -, you can communicate with other people over great distances, you can surf the internet -"
"And just who or what is that?" Tentomon asked of this latest thing brought up.
"Nothing. Never mind..." Izzy said, realizing that, given the difficulty of explaining a simple computer, there was going to be no way that he could even scratch the surface of the internet.
"Umm...OK... look, Izzy, you really don't have to explain if you don't want to..."
"No, it's all right, I want too... it's just a little difficult."
"Well, is there any way you can just give me the bare essentials?"
"I can!" Tai shouted from behind "A computer is a horrible, terrifying menace that makes everything that comes into contact with hopelessly cluttered and unusable, it allows weirdoes from who knows where to spy on you from anywhere, and it sneaks into your house in the middle of the night and everyone tells you that you have to play around with. Then, once you give in, you get addicted to it and it takes over your life!"
"Oh, I see." Tentomon answered "That would definitely explain this odd behavior."
"What?" Izzy asked, not sure whether he was more amazed by Tai's sarcastic explanation, or that Tentomon seemed to have fallen for it.
"Well, if I woke up one morning and found out that one of those creatures had snuck into my backpack, I'd be quite annoyed as well." Tentomon elaborated.
"NO, NO, NO!" Izzy said, shaking his head "Tai was simply being his usual, difficult self! A computer is an incredibly useful tool that, if you ask me, is totally indispensable in modern day life."
"Uh...OK." Tentomon agreed, deciding that if Izzy thought it was important, there really wasn't any need to be questioning that "So what seems to be the problem?"
"Allow me to demonstrate..." Izzy said as he opened the laptop. Immediately, the boot up procedure began. After roughly a minute, it had completed and the screen went blank.
"Well, that was...interesting." Tentomon remarked, now quite curious "So what happens?"
"Nothing." Izzy answered "That's just the problem. The finder should appear now and allow for access to all the programs, but instead, all that happens is this." With that, he pointed to a small, rectangular symbol flashing in the corner of the screen "That indicates that there is insufficient battery power for the computer to function."
"Well, there's your problem right there, Einstein," Tai shouted "you're out of batteries!"
"How, exactly, could it have booted up if it were out of batteries?" Izzy asked.
"Uh...well...I dunno." Tai stuttered, somewhat bashfully.
"You see," Izzy explained to Tentomon "if the laptop actually was out of batteries, this symbol would have shone up immediately as there wouldn't have been enough power to boot up. Therefore, this warning cannot be accurate."
"So what's going on?" Tentomon asked.
"Well, if I knew that, it wouldn't be a problem, would it?" Izzy pointed out.
"Um, I suppose not..." Tentomon mused before asking "Well, if that's the case, why are you only now getting upset about it?"
"I haven't had a chance to check my computer until now." Izzy explained "I've been busy being upset about other things."
"Well, I suppose I can understand how multiple attempts on your life can be a bit distracting..." Tentomon said sarcastically.
"Does any one have any idea how far it is to the top?" Agumon asked, trying to catch his breath.
"Not close enough..." Joe responded.
Thinking about how weary everyone was becoming brought an unusual question to Sora's mind "Hey, Biyomon; why don't you just fly up to the top and find out?"
"Oh, Sora," Biyomon answered "Do you honestly expect me to just lie around at the top and leave you here still walking?"
"I bet she just can't go that far!" Gomamon shot back.
"I bet she can too!" Palmon responded.
"No she can't!" Gomamon insisted "And I know she can't because that's why Seadramon iced her wing up: `cause she couldn't get high enough!"
"That only happened because he fired so quickly!" Biyomon replied.
"OK, then," Matt said, joining in "prove it."
"Like I already said," Biyomon said admittedly "I'm not going to leave Sora behind and have things easy at her expense!"
"Oh, please." Gomamon scoffed "It's not like you'd be leaving her to be eaten alive or something. If I could fly right now, I'd be up there in a second! No offense, Joe."
"None taken." Joe assured him "I'd do that to you in a second."
"Thanks...I think..." Gomamon said "Anyway, you're just trying to look good while she's around. That's my story and I'm sticking to it!"
"Well, you can stick to it all you want, because, while I'd never dream of leaving Sora, I let you eat my dust in a second!" Biyomon shot back playfully, sticking her tongue out afterwards.
"Boy," Mimi observed "Somebody's inner child is having a tantrum!"
"Don't you mean `inner digi-egg?'" Gabumon asked.
"Well, whatever it is, it's sure getting her riled up!" Palmon said.
"I can't help getting riled up when someone questions my integrity." Biyomon explained.
"It's your aerodynamics they're questioning." Tentomon corrected.
"No, they think she can't fly." T.K. corrected again.
After an odd silence, Matt shouted behind him "Hey, Tai, you missed your cue. You dead back there or something?"
Tai, who had been in the middle of a deep swig from his canteen, replied "Oops sorry. OK, here goes: `Thank you professor T.K. We're all glad you got rid of the big words so us dumb people can know what's happening.' You happy now, Matt?"
"Not really." Matt said, shaking his head "I was kind of hopping you were dead so we could have your water."
"Well, I'm glad to know you care!" Tai joked.
"Say, wait a minute..." Biyomon thought "Just what is an `inner child' anyway?"
"It's this little voice in your head that reminds you what you were like back before you grew up and started conforming to stuff and things like that." Mimi explained.
"Uhhh...that didn't make any sense." Biyomon said "Is that what your inner child is like?"
This time, Tai didn't miss a beat "Seeing what her outer teenager's like, I'd hate to see her inner child one way or another!"
"Oh, shut up!" Mimi shouted.
"Now who's having a tantrum?" Matt asked.
"Hey, dudes," Pumkinmon interrupted "don't let me interrupt. I just thought you'd like to know that we're at the top."
"WHAT?" everyone shouted in unison.
"He said-" Gatsumon started.
"We know..." they said, almost in unison again.
Sure enough, the Temple of Quadra stood right in front of them, and by grandeur alone, it certainly seemed worth the trip. The entire structure brought to mind every cathedral any of them had ever seen; or, at least, the giant doors did. The tall and narrow gates sprouted from the ground like to monstrous blades and, like the doorways and walls that flanked them, shone in a mesmerizing light that created an almost fiery effect. All along the sides, razor pointed spires jutted into the sky like lightning frozen in place. Try as the might, none of the astonished travelers could find an end of the monstrous palace to either side of them, it seemed to stretch as far as the wall of rock upon which it sat.
"Well, you just gonna stand there and stare, or are you going to inside?" Gatsumon asked.
Once inside, they found that, while it was definitely huge, the temple was far from being as giant as it had seemed from out side. The ceiling, roughly four stories above their heads was blanketed in bizarre chandeliers that almost touched the many exotic pillars that sprouted from the floor. Inside the translucent pillars, a great many works of art could be seen; much to the human's surprise, as they could recognize most of them immediately (the Venus De Milo, Michelangelo's David, etc.). The entire temple seemed to look like a cross between the Vatican and the Louver.
"Wooooow..." T.K. said, in awe "This place looks even cooler on the inside!"
"Boy, I'll say!" Patamon agreed.
"This looks like a church..." Sora commented "But I've never seen a church like this..."
"I used to go to First Baptist Atlanta, and that place is big as a factory, but this beats everything!" Matt concurred.
Then, sapping everyone out of their awe, Tai began to laugh uncontrollably.
"Now what?" Matt snapped.
"Just-just listen!" Tai giggled. Matt stood quietly for a moment, and , sure enough, he could here the faint echoes of music slinking through the winding gold rafters.
"OK, so what?" Matt asked.
"It's `Stairway to Heaven', stupid!" Tai laughed.
Instead of answering, Matt just sighed and shook his head.
Meanwhile, Sora had wandered into the middle of the cathedral and found something that really didn't seem to fit. Jutting out of the intricately tiled floor was a large stone sculpture, surrounded by several elaborate gold basins, each of which housing a small flame and rimed with a strange writing Sora didn't recognize. In sharp contrast to the lavish air of the temple and the carefully crafted lighting, the stone it's self was simply a plain, dull gray; appearing to be rough and pebbly from a distance, but actually quite smooth at the touch. As Sora ran her hands along the dark, smooth surface, she noticed that in almost seemed to vibrate. Not enough to notice for very long, but it still seemed to give an almost shivering sensation upon touching it. The only thing that seemed to fit about the stone was a tarnished gold band that wrapped around it.
"I wonder what this thing is?" Sora muttered to herself as she walked around the stone.
"I don't know," Biyomon commented, echoing Sora's thoughts "I doesn't really seem to belong with the rest."
"I wonder what this says..." Sora continued, glancing at the alien inscriptions that graced the band as well as the torches.
"You got me," Biyomon answered "That's Digi-script. Nobody uses that anymore. I don't think anyone could read it now if they wanted to."
Meanwhile, Izzy and Tentomon were investigating another set of strange inscriptions that lined the walls of the temple.
"I must say, Izzy" Tentomon said to his companion "I'm more than a little overwhelmed to be in the company of someone who actually knows how to read any of this."
"Speaking of which," Izzy inquired, having heard Sora and Biyomon's conversation "Don't digimon have a written language? One that you actually use, I mean."
"Well, yes, there is digicode, but it's not anything like all this." Tentomon explained.
"Well then, who put it here?" Izzy asked.
"Your guess is as good as mine." Tentomon shrugged "Actually, you'd probably make a better guess than me. What does it say?"
"Well, that's the strange thing: it doesn't really seem to be any form of coherent message." Izzy said as he began to point out certain passages "This sentence would seem to be out of the manual for some manner of electrical appliance, but it's followed by a line from Hamlet. This next one, one the other hand, appears to be a description of a car that's for sale, and it's followed by the instructions off of a bottle of shampoo."
"Drat." Tentomon sighed, not quite understanding all of what Izzy was referring too, but having enough of an idea to know that this wasn't getting them anywhere "I was hopping that the messages would shed light on their authors."
"As was I." Izzy agreed "But the more I read, the more confused I become. Look here, the inscription actually changes languages here, and does so again here; and it still is a mush of gibberish."
"While I appreciate the thought, I was aware of where the languages changed, Izzy." Tentomon pointed out, with little reason behind it other than the need to impress Izzy. And impressed Izzy was:
"What? I thought you said you couldn't read it!"
"Well, I can't, but Agumon and Gabumon can; a little. Somewhere, they found this book that explained how to understand a small portion of all this, though they can only read that kind." Tentomon explained, pointing to a single stretch of writing.
"Hmmm...that would be English." Izzy said, more to himself than to Tentomon.
"I figured that sense that seeing how this...`English' was it? Well, since it's different than digicode, I figured that everything that they couldn't read must be of different languages as well. Of course, the fact that most of it looked quite different added quite a bit of weight to my argument."
"Well, that argument was quite correct." Izzy congratulated.
"I must admit, however, I've never been able to understand why so many different writing styles are needed. Digicode is the only one that enough digimon are fluent in to be useful."
"Well, all these languages are used in our world," Izzy explained "but each in different areas. For example, English is used most often in America and most of Europe. Japanese, however," he added, pointing to a second stretch of writing "is what's spoken in the nation I come from."
"Oh! So they're more that just writing styles?" Tentomon asked.
"Yes, that's right." Izzy confirmed "Language also pertains to verbal communication. Each language sounds different."
"I see." Tentomon mussed "Could you show me what Japanese sounds like?"
Izzy almost responded to Tentomon's request without giving it a second thought, but just before he spoke, his entire mind caught on it like a nail sticking out of the floor. He wasn't sure at the moment why he didn't notice it at once, but the request was absolutely absurd. He had just been speaking in...wait...
"Excuse me, Matt?" Izzy called across the sprawling room.
"Over here, Izzy;" Matt called back, walking over to where he could see him
"what's the matter?"
"I was just wondering, but what language dose Gabumon speak? Too you, I mean."
"English, why?" Matt answered, somewhat confused by the request.
Izzy's mind began to run at a ferocious speed that even he could barely keep up with as he asked "What language am I speaking?"
Matt had already understood what an odd question that was when he answered "English again.", but it want until just after that he noticed that his answer was just as odd.
"And I presume that you are speaking English at the moment as well." Izzy asked, already certain that he knew the answer.
"Yes?" Matt more asked than answered.
"Well, I haven't heard anything other than Japanese since we arived." Izzy explained.
"HUH?" Tentomon stuttered, suddenly lost "None of you seem to sound like anything I've never heard before!"
"Well, what dose this mean?" Gabumon asked.
"I have no idea." Izzy confessed "I might suggest that our minds have somehow been affected in a manner that would alter our speech centers, but I couldn't back that up."
"Good," Matt said "because I don't think I like the thought of something prodding around in my brain, if that's what you're suggesting."
"I'm not sure what I'm suggesting," Izzy mussed, turning back to the wall "but I aim to find out..."
As Izzy was busily postulating, Tai was wandering around his lavish surroundings like a hobo in a university library: not oblivious to the apparent significance of the area, but not very impressed once the initial grandeur wore off.
"So..." Tai called to Pumkinmon as he wandered about "Uh...just what's this place for anyway?"
"Uh, whattaya mean?" Pumkinmon asked.
"You know, somebody built this place for a reason." Tai elaborated "Whaddja say it was? A temple?"
"Uh, yeah." Gatsumon answered "Why?"
"Well, I mean, what's it a temple for?"
"`Cause that's what they built it for!" Pumkinmon answered, wondering what that dumb question even needed to be asked for.
"NO, idiot!" Tai laughed "I mean do you have some god or something like that that you make sacrifices of something around here?"
"Uh, no. I don't think so." Gatsumon said, scratching his head.
"Well, what's it for then?" Tai pressed.
"Um...hell, I dunno." Pumkinmon confessed.
"I just figured it was here just to be here." Gatsumon added.
"Doesn't anybody know what anything's for around here?" Tai half shouted, more amused than he was annoyed.
"HEY! What's with all the racket?" Palmon inquired.
"Tuns out these lame brains here don't actually know anything about this place!" Tai explained.
"OH, NO NO NO!" Pumkinmon insisted "We know TONS about it!"
"Yeah! Just nothing very useful!" Gatsumon added, thinking he was being helpful.
"Well, what would the non-useful information be?" Izzy asked.
"Um...OH! Check this out!" Pumkinmon said, pointing at a splotch on the ceiling
"You see that spot there? Well, get this, it's not supposed to be there!"
"Oh, gee, in that case..." Matt sighed sarcastically, getting the distinct impression that they'd been misled.
"Any idiot could tell you something like that!" Mimi shouted, getting a similar impression.
"YESH!" Gatsumon shouted, reeling back "You don't need to bite our heads off!"
"Well, maybe it'd help you if you knew just what exactly when were looking for." Sora said, still holding out a glimmer of hope "We've been looking for a guy named Leomon, and we'd heard that he hung around here a lot. Do you have any idea why?"
"LEOMON?" Pumkinmon asked, suddenly amused "Who knows why Leomon does anything?"
"Oh, just great." Matt grunted, walking off.
"Well, I mean since we don't know much about the temple, and we don't know much about Leomon, I guess it makes sense that he'd stick around here." Gatsumon thought to himself.
"Well, just because you don't know, that doesn't mean that we can't find out." Izzy offered "Do know anyplace we could look that might shed some light on the origins this temple?"
"Well..." Pumkinmon thought "There's this room in the back that's got a whole bunch of scrolls and stuff."
"That's perfect!" Izzy shouted, all ready on his way.
"Information, please Izzy." Tentomon requested, trying to catch up to his dashing companion.
"Well, temples in my world all have some sort of purpose," Izzy explained, between pants "and they all have some kind of documents or scripture to explain or justify it. If this temple has anything even remotely like that, it should serve to answer a great number of questions!"
Well, it was a nice idea while it lasted.
"No..." Izzy moaned, crestfallen, as he surveyed the charred remains of what they presumed had once been the scrolls.
"What happened?" T.K. muttered, looking around at the piles of ash. "Maybe somebody had an accident while they were cooking?" Patamon suggested.
"I don't think so," Tentomon said, flying along the shelves lining the small (compared to the main chamber) storage room. While the scrolls were totally demolished, the shelves were relatively untouched "this looks like it was done deliberately."
"But why would anybody want to burn all this old stuff?" Sora asked, not to anyone in particular.
"Maybe they weren't very popular?" Mimi suggested.
"Do you know what the scrolls were about?" Izzy asked Pumkinmon and Gatsumon.
"Sorry, man." Gatsumon confessed.
"We tried to get into them a few times," Pumkinmon explained "but most of them were in digi-script."
"Most?" Izzy asked "So they all weren't?"
"No." Gatsumon answered "But even the ones that we could read...Well...They didn't make any sense."
"Well, what did they say that you couldn't figure out?" Agumon asked.
"I really don't know, and that's the problem" Pumkinmon picked up "Most of it was real big words that I couldn't understand."
"Do you have any idea who would have wanted to burn them?" Gabumon asked.
"Nope." Gatsumon said "I don't know who would have cared about them one way or the other."
"Yeah, you guys are the only ones we've seen who ever even cared about the temple." Pumkinmon added.
"Hey!" Sora called from the other side of the room "What's behind this?"
Taking a quick trip around the shelves and ashes, the group found her standing in front of a closed door "It looks like it's locked." she explained.
"Could there be more scrolls back there?" Agumon asked.
"Whoa..." Pumkinmon and Gatsumon laughed nervously "Uh, no. There aren't"
"Well then, what is back there?" Palmon asked.
"Trust me," Pumkinmon answered "you do not want to go back there!"
"Dude, not a good idea." Gatsumon. added, urgently "No way!"
"Well, that figures." Joe sighed "We risk our live to get here, and it turns out that this place is dangerous too."
"What exactly is back there?" Matt asked, warily.
"Well, it's this kind of factory thing." Pumkinmon explained.
"And just what's so bad about that?" Sora asked. "Well, nobody's ever gone in and come back out again, for one." Gatsumon answered.
"OK, I can see the problem there." Tai said.
"What's inside?" Gomamon asked.
"Well, if we knew that, we'd have to have been in there." Pumkinmon answered "And that would mean that we'd be dead. And do we look dead to you?"
"Well, he doesn't," Mimi said, pointing to Gatsumon "but I dunno about you."
"Uh, yeah. Whatever." Pumkinmon said as he scratched his jack o'lantern head, missing the point completely.
"Well, anything with the issues to get legends like that going sound like a likely suspect for all this." Tai said, heading for the door.
"Uh, I guess somebody wasn't paying much attention to those `legends', were they?" Matt said, stopping Tai "Just where do you think you're going?"
"Well, mother, I was going to check out just what was back there." Tai mocked, quite annoyed.
"You're right." Gomamon said "He wasn't paying attention."
"You can't just go tramping straight into someplace dangerous!" Matt said "Do you have any idea what you might run into?"
"Of course not!" Tai answered angrily "And I never will until somebody goes in to find out!"
"Dude! You must have a death wish or something!" Gatsumon shouted "there isn't anything worth finding out there!"
"Just how do you know if you've never been in there?" Tai challenged.
"Hey, may not have been in there;" Pumkinmon defended "but we've been back there."
"OK, you lost me." Matt said.
"Well, if it'll get you to shut up about all this, here." Gatsumon said, giving the latch a good, hard whack. In a moment, the door slowly glided open, revealing a short passage way ending in another door.
"Come on. We'll show you." Pumkinmon said, going in.
Outside the second door, an nightmarishly huge crater yawned out like nothing any of them had ever seen. It slowly dawned upon the stunned travelers that the sudden wall of earth they had climbed earlier was the rim of the abyss. As far as any of them could see before the rim succumbed to distance, it seemed that the entire crater was fenced off by the wall that had stretched off from either side of the temple. All of this paled in comparison to what was actually inside the monstrous crater. Sprawled out so that no hint of ground could be seen, and stretching at least a hundred stories up by the center, was the largest factory any of them had ever seen.
"Well, whoever built this temple wasn't naturalist; that much is for sure." Sora mused.
"I wonder what they make in there." Patamon wondered.
"If it's toys, I hope they have a gift shop!" T.K. added.
"Now, that is quite an impressive feat of engineering!" Tentomon commented.
"So nobody here knows what's in there?" Matt asked.
"No, but we have plenty of ideas and urban legends," Gatsumon answered "and that's enough for me!"
"Well, someone is definitely in there." Izzy said, observing quite a lot of mechanical activity throughout what could be seen of the inside "Nobody ever trusts automation enough to leave it completely unmonitored."
"Do you know what they make in there?" Agumon asked.
"Nope, never seen anything come out of that place." Gatsumon answered.
"Maybe you simply weren't watching the right place?" Gabumon inquired.
"Naw, there's only one way out of there;" Pumkinmon corrected "it's this big ol' gate on the other side."
"Well, they must have made the gate for somebody to use." Gabumon pointed out.
"HEY! WAIT A MINUTE!" Izzy shouted "LOOK AT THAT!"
"Yeah, we know it's big." Tai said, rubbing the ear that Izzy had shouted in "Didn't you notice?"
"Yes, but I didn't notice this!" Izzy said, too caught up in what he was thinking to be annoyed "Look at that big block of metal in the center!" They did and, sure enough, there was something on it "What dose that emblem look like?"
"Uh, can you give us a hint?" Mimi asked when no one else answered.
"Ugh..." Izzy sighed before fishing his digivice out of his pocket "THIS! That's a digivice up there!"
"WHAT?" everyone shouted in unison.
"Well, that's actually quite encouraging!" Gabumon said.
"Do you think that this is where they made the digivices?" Palmon asked.
"Well, I can't think of any other reason to have a picture of one up there." Izzy answered.
"OK, now I'm starting to like the sound of snooping around this place." Matt said.
"Well, it's about damn time!" Tai shouted, already making his way down the metal stairs that stretched into the central complex.
"I didn't say anything about running in blind like a maniac!" Matt shouted, running after him "Come back here!"
"Who died and made you leader?" Tai challenged, coming to a halt.
"Who gave you permission to be an idiot?" Matt challenged back.
"Who has time to care?" Gomamon asked, whisking past both of them "COME ON!"
"HEY, wait a minute!" Joe pleaded, trying to catch up "Boy, for a little guy with flippers for feet, you sure are fast!"
"WHOAWHOAWHOA!!!" Pumkinmon shouted "You don't actually mean that you're going in there?"
"I know it may sound foolish," Izzy called back, making his way down "but if this factory is, in fact run by whoever made these digivices, them they must be the ones who brought us to the Digiworld in the first place! If that is the case, we may have found a way to get back to our world! We can't allow this chance to pass us by!"
"Well, OK." Gatsumon shouted "When you put it that way, I have no idea what you're talking about! That usually means that it's a good idea!"
"Sheah, right." Pumkinmon laughed "I hope you've made your will and stuff!"
"Come on!" Gatsumon insisted "They survived the trip through the dessert; well, sort of. But sill, they might make it."
"Ten bucks says they're gonna die!" Pumkinmon challenged.
"If I had ten bucks to bet, I'd do it!" Gatsumon answered (sort of).
Just then, they heard one of the intrepid travelers shout "OW!"
"What happened?"
"My shoelace is stuck in the steps! Wait a second!"
"...you're right." Gatsumon said after a moment "They're gonna die."

To Be Continued...