Disclaimer: I still do not own Digimon, but I do have some little figures, and some comics, and some manga, and videos, and subtitled episodes that are supposed to be illegal... oops, I've said too much...

Chapter 2

"Tai! Tai!! Wait for me! What happened to Agumon!?" screamed Davis as he and his digimon partner crashed through the dense forest. The older boy either didn't hear his cries or he was simply ignoring them. Either way, if Davis wasn't careful, he would soon lose sight of him. And if Agumon's signal could suddenly just disappear from Tai's Digivice, he was sure that the same could be true if he tried to pick up Tai's.

'There's gotta be something out there,' thought the younger boy to himself, 'And if that something hurts any of my friends, it'll pay big time!'

Davis let out a sigh of relief as he noticed Tai stop not too far ahead of him. When he finally reached him, he could clearly see the look of confusion on the other Digidestined's face. Only this time he wasn't looking at his digivice, but straight ahead.

Following his gaze, it was Davis' turn to be confused. "What are you staring at, Tai?" he asked, "I don't see anything over there except more trees, a couple of rocks and a big black hole? Wait a minute! How'd that get there?" Not far ahead of them, hanging in mid-air was a dark oval shaped opening of sorts. It looked almost like a gateway into outer space, only there were no stars or planets. There was merely darkness.

"Davis, what is that? I've never seen anything like it," said Veemon.

The digimon's partner shrugged. "I have no idea. You're the one that lives here, not me. Let's go check it out! Maybe Agumon's in there!" At that, the young goggle head made his way towards the strange hole.

Tai frowned. This was where Agumon should have been. He knew that this black thing must have somehow been behind whatever happened to his partner, but he hadn't a clue as to just what the was or how it accomplished it. But what if Davis was right? What if Agumon could somehow go into the hole? What if it somehow transported him to somewhere far away? That would explain what happened with his digivice, at least.

'But why would Agumon go near that thing? They usually try to contact either us or at least Gennai if something weird happens. Why would he try to find out what it was on his own?' Tai thought to himself. As he continued to guess at his partners possible motives, Davis' voice interrupted his thoughts.

"Hey, is it just me, or is the wind really starting to pick up?"

'Oh no! That's it!' thought Tai frantically as he ran towards the younger boy. "Davis, get away from there! That's not the wind! That thing or whatever it is is going to suck you in!"

"Huh?" said Davis as he tried to turn around, only to find that the hole was indeed pulling him toward it. Panicking, he attempted to make a run for it, but instead he felt his feet being swept out from under him.

"Davis!" cried Tai as he stretched his left arm out, reaching for the other boy's hand, while his right arm gripped a nearby tree. Davis managed to grab hold before it was too late, but the extra weight was greater than Tai had anticipated. The vacuum was making it seem like he was trying to hold onto ten Davis'. The older boy grimaced as the tree scraped against his arm. His grip wouldn't last long.

"Hang on, Davis! I'm coming!" cried Veemon, "Veemon digivolve to... XV-mon!"

Being careful not to be sucked in himself, the champion digimon made his way towards the two boys, holding onto the trees as he went.

"Hurry, XV-mon! I can't hold on much longer!" shouted Davis, his feet inches away from the opening.

"Davis, whatever you do, don't let go of me, okay?" said Tai between clenched teeth. He had made up his mind that he would not let go of his friend, but his other hand was hurting quite a bit. He looked up at XV-mon. Luckily he wasn't too far away. 'Another few steps, and we'll be fine!' he told himself.

But just as the digimon reached out to grab ahold of him, Tai felt his fingers slip. With a cry he let go of the tree, and the two boys were pulled towards the opening.

"Davis! Tai!" cried XV-mon as he tried to reach them before they were sucked in. But all he could do was watch as the two boys were pulled into the darkness.

"Owwwww, my head! It feels like I was thrown in a gigantic clothes dryer!" Davis complained, grabbing his head, "I can't remember ever having a headache this bad before."

"Just be glad we're still alive."

"Yeah, but, where are we? Ya know, Tai, I don't think we're in Digiworld anymore."

Tai groaned, partly because of the pain in his arm, and partly due to Davis. He tried to look around, but the area was too dark to see much of anything. He could just barely make out the form of his friend a few feet away from where he sat. And the ground he was sitting on wasn't at all like the lush forest grass he had just been in. Instead it was hard and rough like tightly packed rocks.

"Hey, Tai?" Davis called out. The older boy noticed that younger had stood up and was slowly making his way toward him. "Can you see Veemon? I can't seem to find him anywhere. Do you think maybe he got away?"

"I hope so. Then maybe he'll try to get a hold of the other Digidestined so they can help us get out of here. This black hole stuff is really more Izzy's field than mine," he replied.

Davis sat down next to him. "So, what now? We can't just sit here and wait for them. That could take forever!"

Tai reached into his pocket and pulled out his digivice, holding it up so that Davis could see the flashing light.

"Hey! It's Agumon! His bleep is blipping again! Or is it 'his blip is bleeping again'...?"

"While we're here, we're going to find Agumon," stated Tai. At that, he stood up and reached his hand out to the younger boy. "Come on, you better hold onto me so we don't get separated."

"What?" cried Davis, "I don't want to hold your hand!"

"What do you want me to do? Pull you by your goggles?"

"But it makes me seem like I'm just a little kid that can't even cross the street by himself! I will have you know that I have been old enough to do that for a long time now! Sure, my mom still doesn't really believe that sometimes, but that's not the point! And besides, I can see you just fine!" Davis pouted.

"Oh really?"

"Yes, really!"

"Is that so?"

"Yes, that's so!"

"Then how come you aren't following me?"

Davis blinked and looked around, trying to locate the older boy. "Uh, hey, Tai? Where'd you go?"

Tai sighed as he held up his flashing digivice in the other boy's direction. He at last saw Davis' form come back into view.

"So, um, where exactly is your hand?"

When they at last found each other's arm, Davis having managed to hit Tai's injured arm countless times in the process, the two set off in the right direction.

"Hey, Tai? Are you sure you couldn't just let me lead? Then all you would have to do was put your arm on my shoulder or head or something while I walk ahead. I mean, I am the new leader, you know, you even said so, remember? You gave me these goggles to show..."

Tai sighed heavily once again. This was going to be a very long journey.

to be continued...

A/N: Hey! I just wanted you to know that I have nothing against Davis! Honest! I think he's cool, as far as the 02 season goes, but Tai is supposedly "older and more mature" now, so Davis is my main source of humor. But I think I'm having a hard time with Tai... Is it just me or does he kinda sound like Matt? ^_^;; Yeah, I wonder why that would be?