Butter-Fly Effect

"So, now that we're all here, what next?" Matt asks.

"We think we might have an idea where Kari's partner is," You state, though you aren't sure how to describe exactly why. "So maybe we should head over that way?"

Tai nods. "Yeah. Good idea." You're sort of surprised he agreed to it so quickly, but not really. After all, his sister is the only one here without a Digimon, and you have no idea how that even happened, particularly when she got her Digivice along with almost everyone else. "Where is it?"

"They're somewhere that way," Kari replies, gesturing at the vast expanse behind you. Something tells you you're going to have to do a lot of walking.

Well, it's not like that's different from how things normally happen in the Digital World, as much as you wish otherwise sometimes.

"That's... not very specific."

"I don't think it can be. It's just a feeling." You're not sure why Kari's downplaying it like that. It's her Digimon partner that's waiting for her, after all. You can still remember life without Yokomon, but it pales in comparison to how things have been since.

You almost wish things had always been this way.

But not really, because then you'd probably have gotten pulled into the DigiWorld with Daigo and the others, and with how dangerous things were back then, you aren't sure you would have made it out alive.

You're still not entirely sure about your chances now, but at least you don't have to deal with things like the Dark Masters acting overtly. And you have more people with you. You should be fine.

Hopefully.

"It's also just a direction," Joe points out. "That... could probably lead to a few problems. We wouldn't even know where to start looking."

"Are you sure about that?" Mimi asks. "Didn't you say something about a castle that Digimon don't generally come out of?"

...You hate to admit it, but it makes sense. Otherwise, if Kari's partner is feeling the same draw, there's no reason they wouldn't have met by now. The Digital World can't be that big a place. And you've yet to hear any rumors of a Digimon searching for their human partner.

Well, at least you know where that castle is. Sort of.

Really, you just have to look for a spot on the map that Digimon disappear to and don't come out. You're sure that anyone you asked could point you in the right direction, though they may not want to. What with the whole 'vanishing never to be seen or heard from again' thing.

...Actually, thinking about it, there's a lot of things that could potentially be blamed on that castle. "If we go that route, we should probably prepare first," You venture.

Izzy nods. "I agree. People vanishing into there... it might not be just Digimon." Everyone else looks sort of confused by that. "Maki Himekawa was last seen heading west through Server, correct? It might not be unreasonable to assume that whatever happened to her is tied to that castle."

You'd sort of been thinking that, too, but you hadn't been willing to voice it out loud.

"...Let's hope you're wrong," Matt says. "Anything that can stop an experienced DigiDestined is not something I want to mess with." You can't help but agree with that. You don't think there's anyone in this group who doesn't.

"But we're still doing it, right?" Tai checks. "Kari's Digimon could be in there!"

"Let's hold off on that until we're a bit closer," Mimi suggests. "We don't even know if we'll be going anywhere near the castle!"

TK shrugs. "I mean, they're both west..." You think that was a joke. Maybe. It's hard to tell for sure.

"And it'd make sense if her Digimon was somewhere they couldn't get out!" Patamon adds. "I wouldn't let anything keep me from TK!"

"Can't you all quiet down...?" Yokomon yawns. "I'm tired..."

"You haven't had to walk at all today," Palmon points out. Your partner blows a few bubbles at her.

...It should be fine.

---

You take time to catch up with Tai and Matt about other things, too. You bring up the risk of Machinedramon, which encourages Tai to find his sister's partner sooner... so they can go challenge the Dark Masters together.

It's nice to know he hasn't changed.

All any of you really know about your destination is that it's west. Which really doesn't help anything, given that you're still about two weeks' walk from Baihumon's territory.

At least this means you have some sort of options for how to get there. Even if your fliers are still in their In-Training forms. Not that there are any options that don't start with you following the railroad tracks, but you still have options.

But when going along the tracks, you don't even have the risk of getting lost to worry about. So you need to find something to talk about until you get past this part.


[ ] Ask what Matt and Tai were doing once they separated from the rest of the group.
-[ ] Ask Matt- his story should be more accurate.
-[ ] Ask Tai- his story will be more entertaining.

[ ] You should probably bring up the topic of Ultimate Digimon at some point...
-[ ] How they happen.
-[ ] What happens afterwards.
-[ ] Seriously, the Digivices change color.
-[ ] Just how little you've accomplished with them so far.

[ ] Plans. You need as many plans as possible for anything that could happen if you end up going to the castle.
-[ ] Plan with Izzy. He's the smart one, after all.
-[ ] Plan with Kari. It's her partner that could be at risk.

[ ] Maybe you should just let the In-Training Digimon play together...

"So, Matt..." You're not entirely sure how you want to bring this up, but you're curious, and he's the one most likely to give you good information. "Just what have you been doing for the past couple weeks or so?" It's probably something interesting.

He sighs. "What haven't we done?"

"I haven't reached Ultimate yet!" Agumon volunteers.

"It was just a figure of speech. Anyway, after someone-" Death glares at Tai and Agumon. "Decided they wanted ice cream more than to make the train, we ended up being caught by a bunch of Gazimon when we tried to leave. Apparently, they used to work for Etemon."

"They weren't all that tough, though," The orange blob, who is apparently called Tsunomon, states. "I could probably even take them as I am now."

"Let's put a pin in that. There were a lot of them. And, after what happened to Etemon, they really don't like DigiDestined. If only because, apparently, they were counting on him to give them jobs until they Digivolved far enough to go out and find places to take over on their own."

"Yeah, they tried swarming the train station, too... I don't think all of them even worked for Etemon, they just wanted something to fight," Mimi muses, while absentmindedly pouring a water bottle on Palmon.

You're not entirely sure it works that way, but she'd know better than you do. And her partner is a plant... You're just going to stop thinking about it before it makes your head hurt.

"Right, so there were a lot of them. And then Tai broke the ice cream parlor by Digivolving Agumon indoors, so we had that mess to clean up for a while... until Locomon showed up and bombed the whole town, because Locomon."

You're sure that would make a lot more sense if you had ever met that Locomon. As it is, you'll simply take his word for it.

"Thankfully, a group of Drimogemon was there earlier, so there were tunnels for everyone... we started heading this way to meet up with you guys, but the only way to be sure what direction we were heading was near the tracks. So... Locomon realized where we were a few days later, and that's when things started getting... messy."

"It wasn't that bad," Tai states. Matt glares at him again.

"Are you sure you didn't hit your head in that railyard? Because I clearly remember a week-long war in a railyard!" He turns his attention back to the rest of you. "Anyway, Tai did something stupid, Garurumon became WereGarurumon to get him out of there, and we're technically supposed to be advertising scrap metal to anyone we come across now, except we won't because who even does that?"

"Apparently, not you." Still, having three available Ultimates... that can only be helpful, for whatever comes next. Which you haven't really put any thought into, but you're sure it'll be fine.

If it's not, though... well, at least you'll have tried. Sort of. You don't feel like making any plans right now, anyway.

---

The reverted Digimon return to their Rookie forms a few days later, shortly before you manage to reach the station that Mimi, TK, and Kari left from when making their great escape.

Kari is still being pulled west. Which means you still don't have any real clue where you're going. Eventually, it has to be more than just a general direction, right? Otherwise, you'll just keep walking this way forever...

"So, now what?" Tai asks. And he's got a good point, you could go any direction from here, actually, you know exactly what is in certain directions, and while Kari's Digimon probably isn't among them... it'd be nice to be someplace familiar.


[ ] Head back to the forest where time seems to stand still.

[ ] Move in the direction of the giant lake from earlier.
-[ ] Around the north side.
-[ ] Around the south side.

[ ] Just head straight for the mountains.

[ ] Ask for directions straight to the odd castle... even if Kari's partner doesn't turn out to be there, you're interested.