Dreams and Reality
Story By Tigertae
"Allow me to examine the door." Izzy said. Silver stepped out of the way. Izzy looked at the symbols on both doors. "Tai is right. This does have the symbol for the Crest of Courage inscribed upon it. The other door has the symbol of the Crest of Reliability."
"That's Joe's Crest!" Tentomon exclaimed.
"So does that mean we should go that way, since he was one of the ones taken?" Sora asked.
"Sounds good to me." Izzy said. He opened the door slowly. Silver went in first, followed closely by her friends. They saw the others, suspended in a cage above a pit of blackness.
"Just like in the dream." Tai and Sora whispered at the same time.
"Such a variety of digimon." Silver's gaze fell on Joe. "The one with the glasses, who is he?" I wonder why he attracted my attention. He's not particularly cute, although he's not bad looking. Very confusing. Still,Oh yes, now we remember. He was part of the dream. But why can we not recall what his relevance was?
"Huh? A digimon with glasses?" Tai asked.
"I believe she was asking about Joe." Izzy answered. She looks as confused as I am about why she asked about him. Maybe he was part of the dream that she had.
Silver's attracted to Joe? That's a somewhat odd attraction. But, hey, whatever works. Sora thought as she looked at her friends crowded into the cage. We have to get them out of there.
"WELL, ISN'T THIS AMUSING? MANY FAILED, BUT I HAVE THE DIGI-DESTINED IN MY POWER! THE LEADER DEAD, THE GENIUS ALONE, AND THE CREST OF LOVE RENDERED USELESS! FACE YOUR LAST, DIGI-DEAD!
"Myotismon!" Tai hissed.
The chain holding the cage snapped, sending it plunging into the pit below. Silver instantly jumped forward and released both grappling hooks at the same time. One seized the cage and the other dug into the ceiling, preventing both the cage and Silver from falling. Silver used the remainder of her momentum to swing the cage back towards solid ground and released it. The cage rolled once, then came to a stop. Silver retracted both grappling hooks, still hanging onto the ceiling.
Everyone else tried to break open the lock on the cage, but was unsuccessful. Silver dropped down next to the cage. She tapped the metal.
"Pathetic. Not even a challenge." The claws on her right arm came out.
"Back up." Tai told his friends. They complied and Silver sliced the metal bars into bits of scrap metal.
"WHAT IS THIS INTRUSION?" Myotismon's voice boomed from everywhere at once. He materialized on the other side of the room. "THE LEADER IS ALIVE? BUT THIS IS NOT POSSIBLE! I KNOW HE DIED! AND YOU ARE NOT OF THE DIGI-DESTINED!" Myotismon's wrathful gaze turned towards Silver. Silver glared back.
"No, I'm not one of the Digi-destined. But I was brought here to protect them, and that is what I shall do!" She jumped into a fighting stance.
"Hey, no one's fighting without us!" Gomamon said.
"Agumon digivolve to: Greymon!"
"Gabumon digivolve to: Garurumon!"
"Tentomon digivolve to: Kabuterimon!"
"Biyomon digivolve to: Birdramon!"
"Gomamon digivolve to: Ikkakumon!"
"Palmon digivolve to: Togemon!"
The digimon charged forward and Silver leapt as well. She bounded ahead and landed behind Myotismon.
"Nova Blast!"
"Harpoon Torpedo!"
"Howling Blaster!"
"Needle Spray!"
"Meteor Wing!"
"Electro-Shocker!"
"Boom Bubble! POW!"
Silver decided her energy attacks would be more effective. Raising both hands, she activated every laser and electrical weapon she had. Myotismon pulled his cloak tighter, but that didn't prevent him from being injured by the multiple attacks.
Using a calculated move, Myotismon attacked. "Crimson Lightning!" His attack was not aimed at any of the digimon, nor even Silver.
It swept across the far ledge, hitting the humans. Joe, showing remarkable bravery, leapt in the way and took the brunt of the blow. Each digimon instantly turned to help its friend. Myotismon moved forward to take advantage of the situation.
"Crimson-Aaaaa!"
Silver had jumped onto Myotismon's back, sending her claws through his chest. The evil digimon stumbled away and turned to face her. "Grisly Wing!" The swarm of bats circled Silver. Many of them broke their teeth trying to bite her.
Silver grinned. "Sorry, you'll have to do better than that."
Myotismon boiled. "Crimson Lightning!" The red electricity wrapped around Silver. She laughed, absorbing the energy. "Good, I needed a recharge." She grabbed the disks from her sides and threw them. Myotismon dodged-only to have the razor-sharp circles come at him again.
While Myotismon attempted to evade the disks, Silver kept aiming at him with her energy weapons. When she missed, chunks of wall blew away. Very soon the walls began to sag and collapse.
"I tire of this." Myotismon said.
Stopping suddenly, he released a tremendous burst of energy. It knocked Silver back, giving the cowardly digimon enough time to teleport out of harm's way. The disks instantly returned to their places on Silver's hips as she jumped to where her friends were.
"Get them out of here!" Silver yelled to the digimon. After staring at her for a moment, Greymon nodded. Each digimon grabbed his or her partner and ran or flew out of the rapidly crumbling room. Silver followed, occasionally having to slice her way through falling masses of stone. Upon reaching safety, the digimon collapsed, exhausted. Most of them were completely oblivious as they returned to their smaller forms.
Silver looked over her injured friends. Though unconscious, everyone but Joe seemed fine. Joe was badly hurt, having many burns for his bravery. Silver looked down on his unmoving form. Why is it only now that we are able to recall his part in the dream? An instant love, and now he lies before us, dying, with nothing that we can do for him.
"But there is something you can do. But only if the love is true." A voice said. Silver looked around, but could find no source of the voice. She gave up looking and asked, "What can I do?"
"Reach into the left pocket of his pants. There should be a silver-banded ring there. Slip it on the middle finger of your left hand. Remove the dragon pendant necklace from the pocket in which you keep it. Slip it around his neck."
"But, but how did you know I had a dragon pendant necklace in my pocket?" Silver asked, amazed by the accuracy of the information.
"I know many things about many people. Now, are you willing to switch places with him? Are you willing to die in his stead?"
Silver glanced at Joe's face. "Yes."
"You have one minute of life left. Say whatever you wish." The voice said. Silver took at last look at the people she had helped to save.
"Farewell, my friends. I hope this does not affect your futures in a negative way." She paused and took a deep breath. "Joe, I hope we will meet again sometime. Please do not forget me."
"Your time is over." The voice said. Silver watched as she began to dissipate, somewhat painfully. She fixed her eyes on Joe for as long as possible.
"Ah!" Victoria sat straight up. She was in her bed, in her own home. "Huh?" What's this? I'm alive? It was all just a dream? But it was so real. It is possible that it actually happened, but only my mind was actually there. Then, when I 'died' there, my mind came back to the real world. No, just wishful thinking. Silver rolled over to go back to sleep. Something on her hand glinted in the moonlight pouring in from her window. Silver looked at it. A silver-banded ring.
Back in the Digi-world, Tai and Sora were quietly talking. "Do you think it actually happened, Tai?" Sora asked.
"I don't know. No one remembers but us, Silver's gone, and we're in the spot we started from. Joe isn't even hurt, and he should be." Tai answered.
"You sure? He's rubbing his chest a lot." Sora said. Tai laughed. "Yeah, but knowing him, he's got a rash from an allergy."
"You're probably right." Sora laughed too. They returned to camp.
Joe was turned away. Why? He was thinking. He hid something under his shirt, rubbing where the cold metal hit his skin, making sure it hadn't been a dream. I'm going to have an imprint soon if I keep doing this. Unable to resist, he looked again. The dragon pendant shone.