“What’s going on, you guys?” Keeper’s voce emitted from the device.
“I don’t know,” Shaun replied, “We were fighting this Digital Prince and he sicked some Digimon on us that used a weird attack. Now we’re on these islands.”
“’Lost in Displacement’? Is that what he called it?”
“Um, I think so.”
“Yeah, it was,” Keri piped up.
Keeper groaned. “Well, I might as well explain the situation to you. That attack sends the users and the receivers to a place called the Icon Isles. It’s one of the few areas in the Digital World that isn’t on the same time schedule as the rest of the dimension and the real world. Everything here is basically stopped in time here. Time in the Icon Isle area is only going when someone with Digi-destined blood is there. Everything else is put on hold.”
Meghan didn’t really seem to want the lecture he was trying to give them. “Okay, so how do we get home?”
Keeper paused as if searching for the right words. “That’s the problem… You can’t…”
Silence reigned as everyone except for Dusten gawked at Shaun’s D-Caller.
“You’re kidding, right?” Steven asked.
Keeper’s voice remained unwavering. “This is absolutely serious. Lost in Displacement can only be used once every hundred years or so. Now listen before our connection breaks up. What you need to do is find Timeshimon- he’ll know what to do to get you guys out of this situation.”
“Timeshimon?” Parémon chirruped, hovering above Meghan, “I think I’ve heard of him.”
“Yes, Timeshimon…watches out…for other… be ready…”
“Keeper?” Shaun called over the static that was taking over the connection, “Keeper, can you hear us?”
After a moment, the static cut out, leaving the kids to muse over Keeper’s words. Shaun sat on the ground as he thought about what he should do next with his group. Quiremon climbed into the boy’s lap and looked at his face, but remained silent.
Steven kicked some sand into the water impatiently. “Oh, let’s just go find the Digital Prince and whoop his royal behind!”
“If you’re so anxious, start swimming!” Keri told him.
Shrugging, Steven ran out into the water, Crisnismon giving Keri and impatient look before dog paddling out to watch his partner.
“Last one there’s a rotten egg!” the boy hollered, swimming in front of his Digimon.
Meghan giggled, then grabbed Keri’s hand as she too headed for the next island. Parémon flew overhead while Arcamon trailed behind the girls.
Quiremon seemed so excited about swimming that Shaun moved into the water. Pausing, he turned back to Dusten.
“Coming?”
Rascamon was resting on the shore peacefully. Dusten waved his hand and replied quietly, “We need to take a break after the battle. I’m not going to ask more from Rascamon right now.”
K-mon struck a not-so-noble pose.
“I, the Wonder Idiot, shall protect my smarter friends until I fall asleep on duty!”
Quiremon was already on his way to catch up to the others, so Shaun put his goggles over his eyes and struck out after him. He could already see Steven and Crisnismon on the shore, the latter shaking his fur dry. Luckily, it didn’t take him too long to meet up with the others on the narrow beach.
Quiremon copied Crisnismon’s example and shook himself before rolling energetically on his back. “There ain’t nuthin’ like a good swim!” he laughed.
“What kind of English is that?” Crisnismon snorted.
“The kind that belongs to me!” smirked Quiremon cheekily.
The fire Digimon rolled his eyes. “You’re just like K-mon…”
“Speaking of K-mon,” Meghan cut in, “What happened to Dusten and the other two?”
“He was gonna let Rascamon rest before they caught up. Heromon did put up a really good fight, though.”
“Oh, yeah.”
“Onward to defeat the Digital Prince!” Steven shouted out with the same enthusiasm as before. “I am Stevenmon, and I’m gonna kick that Prince so hard, he’ll land in the middle of next week!” With that, he turned inland through the forest.
“Cool it, hothead!” Keri called to his retreating back, but he either wasn’t listening or chose not to hear because he kept going.
Crisnismon bolted after his eager partner, the rest of the group tagging along behind. As they walked in the forest, Shaun experimented with his D-Caller. It proved to be not very interesting, though, with the basic functions of a watch and a screen that pinpointed his group members by colored lights.
Moving on, he fingered the dark blue band with writing that he didn’t understand. Shaun put his hands behind his head, watching the shadows from the tree canopy playing on the grass. The mid-day sun was proving ineffective against the leafy shade, but no one was about to complain.
Ahead, the path they were traveling on split into multiple directions. Steven stopped and looked at Shaun for instructions. The blonde boy wasn’t paying attention.
“Where to?”
Shaun blinked.
“Since when was I the one in charge?”
Meghan rolled her eyes. “Since you always decide what we’re going to do and which invincible character you’re going to be.” Shaun shot her an odd look before kicking dirt in a random direction.
“We’ll just go this way.”
Steven let Shaun pass him up as he dropped back to where Crisnismon had slowed down. The fiery Digimon was tired from the fast swim, so his partner picked him up and began carrying him.
“Oh, c’mon, Steven! I’m not a Baby! Put me back down!” the Digimon complained playfully.
Steven grinned and replied, “As long as you’re smaller than me, you’re still a Baby! And no whining about it!”
“As big as you?” Crisnismon choked, “if I ever do get as big as you, I’m gonna make sure to pay you back for this!”
The group laughed and even Quiremon chuckled before turning around to come to a grinding halt. Shaun looked at his tense partner.
“What’s the matter?” The blonde boy shifted his gaze to the pathway in front of them. About the size of Heromon, a red Digimon with horns and fiery bands around her arms and legs stood in front of them. She also had blue eyes and a dark green stripe down her muzzle. Her arms were on her hips and her back feet were braced squarely against the ground.
Quiremon took a step forward, barely whispering, “Quivelamon? Shaun, this is…” but his voice cracked and faded off weakly. The other Rookies leapt to Quiremon’s side, conscious of his hesitation. Shaun suddenly noticed the other Time-Raisers around him.
“Let’s do it!” Meghan called out enthusiastically.
“First Born Fire!”
“Rainbow Feather!”
“Thought Claw!”
Quiremon fumbled over his attack, but the Champion Digimon reacted before anything reached her.
“Flame Jets!” Fiery replicas of her horns tore through the three attacks, slamming into the original senders.
“Quiremon! Fight!” Shaun cried out dependently as the others aided their Digimon.
The Rookie rushed forward and slashed at his enemy, but refused to use a proper attack.
“Quiremon!”
The small blue creature looked back at Shaun, an inward battle showing in his eyes. “Shaun! I can’t! Quivelamon’s my sister!”
Shaun looked quizzically at his partner- did he never have a sibling rivalry? Quivelamon was oblivious to her brother’s conflict. “Flame Jets!”
Quiremon managed to narrowly escape the two flames while shouting at the same time, “I won’t fight you! You can’t fight me!”
Shaun felt both frustrated and confused at his partner’s behavior. He raced towards Quiremon right as Quivelamon released another Flame Jet attack.
“Shaun! Look out!”
Quiremon dove at his partner as sudden energy rushed through him and Shaun’s D-Caller emitted bright blue streaks.
“Quiremon; digivolve to….”
Quiremon grew to his sibling’s size, but stayed blue. An immense fin took the place of back legs and a slate-colored ruff of hick fur jutted out around his neck.
“…Aquamon!”
The new Champion took two direct hits in the back from the Flame Jets, but his golden eyes showed that he was unfazed. He shot a glance over his shoulder at Quivelamon. Something wasn’t right, and he was trying to pinpoint it.
Abruptly, the solution stood out!
A black band with inset violet jewels glimmered around her neck, slightly clashing with her red fur. Aquamon turned around to face her, his claws glinting in the sunlight.
“Aqua Claws!”
Like his Rookie attack, this new one was a shadow of claws leading a blast of water. Quivelamon made as if to block it, but the attack hit her square on the neck. With the black band shattering, she staggered back and shrunk into a Rookie form.
Mildly startled, Shaun hurried forward to the red Digimon’s side. She was four-legged with the same stripe and horns. She shook her head, slightly disoriented, then looked at Shaun and smiled.
“Thank you,” she spoke softly, “that thing was controlling me and I couldn’t do anything. My name’s Riquemon.”
Shaun introduced himself and the rest of the group to her. He purposely skipped Aquamon, figuring that she already knew him.
“Where have you been, anyway?” the Champion asked of his sibling.
She waved a paw. “I was just outside of Server when this human boy showed up and that thing got around my neck. Somehow I got transported here and into my Champion form.”
“Did he call himself the Digital Prince?” Meghan intervened.
“Yeah, I think he did, now that you mention it. How would you know?”
Shaun grinned. “We’re kind of trying to find him right now- he’s the reason we’re here.”
A battle light shone in Riquemon’s eyes. “Would you guys mind if I came with you? I’ve got a score to settle with that brat!”
“Sure, why not?” Shaun laughed.
Steven was looking Aquamon over. “Aquamon, you look like a ‘mon that could swim a few good leagues. Do you think you could take us to someplace around here that’s bigger than this sand pile?”
Aquamon flexed his muscles almost boastingly. “Oh, we’ll see! Let’s get out of this forest first. I’m not much of a swimmer on land. The group pressed on, finding the shoreline again after a moment.
“Okay, all aboard!” the Champion growled eagerly.
Meghan paused. “What about Dusten?"
“Hey, I just now noticed that he’s missing! Did he get lost?” Keri added.
“No,” Shaun told her, “remember, he stayed back on that first island to let Rascamon rest for a bit. Let’s go around to get him.”
"Oh, yeah!"
They all got onto Aquamon, who turned back the way they had come from. They reached the small island in record time- a major difference from when they swam themselves. Dusten was still there with his two Digimon; both appeared ready for action.
“Hey, Dusten, let’s go!” Shaun called to him, “We’ve got places to go!”
The boy wasted no time in coming aboard with Rascamon and K-mon, and they were soon off again. Shaun put his goggle over his eyes as Aquamon speedily headed onward, sea spray being thrown up around him.