Still don't own it

An alternative course

The digidestined had found their way up a cliff, not too far away from where they had encountered Shellmon.

"Does anyone else think we should get off this cliff?" Mimi asked. "Remember what happened last time?"

"Oh don't worry Mimi, this time Kuwagamon isn't around." Palmon reassured her.

"Yeah but what of something worse shows up?!?" Mimi cringed at that thought, grabbing the sides of her hat.

"Worse then Kuwagamon?" Matt asked. "Is that even possible?"

"There was Shellmon." Izzy reminded him. "You know, that guy that we defeated an hour or two ago?"

"Right." Matt nodded.

"Speaking of Shellmon." Izzy turned to Tentomon. "How come you didn't stay as Flymon? You're awesome as Tentomon but even more so as Flymon."

"Well, get me another pack of those biscuits and I'll go Flymon again." Tentomon said, holding out his pincers.

"Eh you guys ate them all, remember? Before we left the beach?" They had decided that the digimon needed the food more then they did, seeing how they didn't have enough energy to fight off Shellmon.

"Oh yeah." Tentomon vaguely remembered something like that. "But still, I can't digivolve anymore today. My energy was depleted by it."

"Digivolve?" Kari asked. "Yup, that's when we get bigger." Salamon said to her.

"I think it's like some kind of upgrade." Izzy mused. "Only a temporary one."

"That's right." Tentomon said.

"Wait, so does that mean that all of you can 'digivolve'?" Matt asked. "Sure we can." Gabumon said. "We just don't know how, at the moment." He rubbed the back of his head.

"Okay…" Sora said. "We'll keep that topic till later, okay? First we should head look for a place to stay for the night."

"The night? What night?" Joe asked. "It's still bright out here. And who says that there's even a night around here?"

"Now that's just preposterous." Izzy said. "Such a thing would be totally unnatural."

"You call huge insects and evil hermit crabs natural?" Joe asked, wondering about the state of his friend's sanity.

"No off course not, but I'm just saying that if there weren't night around here there wouldn't be life either. Plants, digimon, everything here needs their rest you know."

"Okay, I'll give you that but until I see a moon I'm not convinced."

"Don't they know that they can just ask us about stuff like this?" Patamon asked Gomamon. "I don't think so."

"Should we tell them?" Biyomon asked.

"No way, this is way to entertaining." Gomamon laughed.

"Well standing here won't help us much." Matt said. "I say that we keep on moving."

"Good idea." Sora said. "Let's just hope we won't encounter any more monsters."

A thunderous roar was heard.

"You just had to say that, didn't you." Joe sulked.

Out from behind the rocks came a rhinoceros like digimon. He had black plates on his back and a mouth full of sharp teeth.

"Oh don't worry, that's just Monochromon." Salamon said. "He's rather nice."

"Bit grumpy though." Kari said as she saw him opening his mouth wide, baring his teeth.

"Actually, he's just tired." Gabumon said.

"You sure?" Matt asked, making sure that he could run at any given moment. Their digimon probably couldn't handle such a monster.

"Pretty sure." Gabumon said. "He won't harm us."

Just then another roar was heard, louder then the first one.

"But he might." Biyomon pointed at a newcomer.

A huge dinosaurlike digimon, a triceratops that learned to walk on his hind legs.

"That's Triceramon." Tentomon said. "We're dead."

"How did he get behind us?" Kari asked. It almost seemed like the green reptile had appeared out of thin air.

"No clue." Salamon. "Triceramon isn't exactly light on his feet. We should have heard him coming from miles away!"

"Great, so we're between a rock and a pointy place." Joe said, seeing the two digimon close in on them. Monochromon because he was defending his territory and Triceramon for trying to take over his territory.

"This just can't get worse." Izzy said, his hands digging into his hair in disbelief.

'Crack!'

The rocks before them split in half, revealing another monster.

"Me and my big mouth." Izzy cursed himself for saying such an obvious cliché.

From within the rock emerged another dinosaurlike monster. It looked exactly like Monochromon, only two times as big and it had a orange colour.

"Just great." Tentomon said. "That's Vermillimon."

"Vermillimon?" izzy asked.

"Oh yeah." Tentomon replied. "That thing's going to kill us till we're dead."

"Who else is opting for a tactical retreat?" Joe asked, panic clear on his face.

"To where Joe?" Matt asked. "Three sides are blocked by dinosaurs and the fourth is a deep dive into the ocean. I don't know about you but I didn't exactly bring my swimming trunks!"

While Matt was ranting he didn't notice what was going on.

"Hey look!" TK pointed at the three monsters. "They're fighting each other!"

True to his word the three monsters had no interest in eating them. They only wanted to fight over territory.

Too bad for Monochromon, he was only half the size of either ultimate and he was send running for his life after one strike from Triceramon.

"Time to get out of here!" Sora yelled over the roars of the two battling giants.

Following the way that Monochromon had used to flee, the digidestined made themselves scarce to allow the two ultimate levels to sort things out.

"That was scary." Mimi said as they arrived back in the forest.

"I agree." Matt said, sitting down against a tree.

"Are all other digimon so nasty?" Kari asked her partner, who shook her head. "No, most just mind their own business but there are others that are just plain mean."

"So we noticed." Joe said. "When I get back home, I'm getting monster insurance."

"Doubt that exists Joe." Sora told him.

"Well it should exist!" He raised his hands in frustration. "We've been attacked by four monsters in one day! And who knows what the night will bring?"

"Oh cheer up Joe." Gomamon said. "If some digimon eats you I'll save you."

"Great." Joe said sarcastically. "That makes me feel a lot better."

"Who would want to eat Joe?" Matt asked. "I mean, there's hardly any meat on him."

Joe scratched his head, wondering how and why he should respond to such a statement.

"Hey don't let that get to you Joe." Gomamon said to him. "There are lots of digimon out there that would love to eat you."

"For some reason I don't feel much better now." Joe began to wonder why on earth he got teamed up with Gomamon. The seal like digimon was everything he wasn't.

Joe sighed. He'd just have to learn and live with it probably.

"Hey… I smell water…" Gomamon suddenly said, sniffing the air. "Fresh water. Not too far away from here!"

Gomamon began to sprint along the path that ran between the trees and soon enough he arrived at a beautiful lake, the water glimmering in the fading sunlight.

"Gomamon!" Joe ran after the seal, wondering how a creature with paws like that could run so fast. "Wait up!"

"I told you I smelled water." Gomamon pointed at the lake.

"Wow…" Was the common thought amongst the digidestined. "It's beautiful!" Mimi exclaimed. "Almost like a postcard!"

Palmon nudged Salamon. "Do you know what a postcard is?" The puppy shook her head. "No, but it sounds dangerous. Think there are any lurking about?"

Palmon checked around her to look for any potentially dangerous postcards, with no luck. Luckily for her Matt provided both Salamon and Palmon with a distraction.

"Okay listen up." Matt started. "Night's upon us, so we'd better make camp here. I want all of you to look for food and firewood while it's still light."

The digidestined nodded and went off with their digimon to search the immediate area for food.

Matt sighed. "What's wrong Matt?" Gabumon asked, looking up at the teenager. "It's nothing." Gabumon narrowed his eyes. "No really, it's nothing. I'm just not really into this whole leader stuff."

"You handled it rather well, didn't you?" Gabumon asked, scratching his head in confusion.

"Perhaps but there's something missing. I think." Matt couldn't put his finger on it. He had enough confidence to be a leader but he lacked something… goggles? Perhaps. A certain drive behind his actions was a more plausible suggestion.

Oh well, he'd figure it out eventually.

"So… is this edible?" Kari asked her newest companion. "Not really." Salamon said, pointing at the red colored mushrooms. "Gomamon, spit them out!" She suddenly yelled as she saw Gomamon nibble on one.

Gomamon did as he was told, spitting out the fungus. "What?" He looked at the two girls. "I'm just curious."

"Yeah and curiosity killed the cat." Joe said. "Eh I mean seal… thingy…"

"Right…" Gomamon turned from Joe. "Which ones are edible then?" He asked Salamon.

"The purple ones." Salamon said, running towards a tree where a few of them were growing.

"Yeah, these look way more edible." Joe said, his stomach turning when he saw the sickly colored toadstools.

"Oh Joe, lighten up." Gomamon told him. "I'm sure they'll taste great." Gomamon popped one in his mouth. "But I could be mistaken." He quickly added as he spat the half chewed mushroom out again.

Joe rubbed his head, trying to stay calm in the presence of the seal like digimon.

"Idiot, you have to prepare them first!" Oh how Salamon envied Kari right now. At least she had hands. If Salamon could, she'd slap Gomamon over the head.

An hour or so later, everyone returned to 'base', which was actually just the rock Matt had stood on, giving them their tasks.

"Hey Matt, quick question." Sora started. "Where are we going to sleep tonight?"

"She's right you know." Izzy backed her up. "Sleeping out in the open would be a rather foolish idea."

"I hadn't thought about that." Matt said, putting down the firewood he had collected. "Damn, I can't believe I was that stupid… " He muttered to himself.

"Ooh! How about over there!" Mimi suddenly yelled, pointing at something in the lake. Or more precise, on the lake.

On a patch of land that stretched into the lake there was a… trolley?

"What's that doing over here?" Joe yelled.

"I don't believe it." Matt said.

"What I don't believe is the fact that nobody noticed it before." Izzy added his two cents. "Perhaps this government you keep talking about placed it there." Tentomon suggested.

"That's a plausible explanation." Izzy rubbed his chin in thought. "Perhaps they realized that we needed shelter so they provided us with it."

Most humans were about ready to slap both Izzy for his crackpot theories and Tentomon for fuelling said crackpot theories.

"Whatever it is, let's go and check it out." Matt said, leading the team over the thin 'bridge' between mainland and the island.

"Kinda looks like the ones back home." Kari said, sitting down on one of the seats. "Feels like those at home too."

"I could just fall asleep right here…" Mimi said, nearly dozing off already as she laid down.

"Don't you want to eat first?" Palmon asked. "Oh right!" Mimi jumped up again. "Almost forgot about that."

Matt scraped his throat. "I think we should eat outside and use this trolley as a sleeping place." He told them. "Also, somebody should stand on guard at all times. Who knows what kinds of creatures lurk around here at night."

"Oh not much actually." Gabumon said. "Only Vilemon, Devimon, SkullGreymon and the occasional Numemon."

All the occupants of the occupants of the trolley looked at him like he had grown several extra heads. "What?"

"Those things sound scary." Mimi said, gripping her hat in a nervous gesture.

"Nah, most of them are okay." Palmon reassured her. "Except SkullGreymon. He scares the crap out of me."

"That makes two of us." Gomamon added.

"Make that three." Biyomon said.

"Patamon, what's a SkullGreymon?" TK asked the flying rodent. "Something you don't want to encounter at all." Patamon told him. "That's all you want to know. Trust me about this."

TK decided not to ask anymore.

Soon the seven duo's were gathered around a blazing fire, thanks to a combined attempt of Biyomon and Gabumon.

A few fish on a stick were starting to burn up, so Matt quickly pulled them out of the fire. "Diner's served." He told his companions.

"Let's see if these things taste any better baked." Gomamon said, eying the mushroom with a critical eye.

"They will." Salamon said happily.

Gomamon took a bite, chewed it a few times and…

"It's. Delicious!!" He yelled out, taking another bite.

"Told you." Salamon said smugly. Joe decided to taste one as well. It wasn't that bad, though he wasn't really used to eating stuff like this. You know. 'Nature food' if you could call it that.

Soon the night had truly fallen. The stars above the digidestined shone brightly, though no astronomer on earth would be able to find any known constellations amongst them.

"It's weird, isn't it?" Izzy asked, looking up at the stars. "This almost proves that we're no longer on earth."

"I thought that giant monsters did that already." Mimi said.

"True, but look at the stars." He pointed up. "It doesn't make any sense. Even if we somehow ended up somewhere else on earth, we should still be able to recognize a few stars…"

"He's right." Kari said, pulling out her treasured telescope and gazed up wards. "Not even the North star…" Tai had shown her that star once, telling her that it could lead her home where ever she was. 'Good luck with that…' She thought as she searched some more.

Joe sighed. He was on guard duty for now. Matt had decided that all of them, save TK and Kari since they were the youngest, should stand guard for an hour and a half. At least Matt had had the decency to start out. And to bad for Joe he decided that the blue-haired boy was next.

He had allowed Gomamon to sleep some more. He may be annoying but he had saved his life today. Without his fishes all of them would have drowned.

Now that he thought of it… Kari had nearly drowned.

Her digimon partner had saved her but just barely. What if something else like this happened? What if next time Salamon wasn't around…

Off course all of them were in danger from this bizarre world.

Joe threw a rock at the lake, watching it skid across the surface a few times. He sighed. Life used to be less dangerous. To most people that is.

Meanwhile back in the trolley there was some stirring. Matt couldn't fall asleep. Not because of worry because he left Joe – of all people- out there by himself but because of the huge amounts of heat radiating off of Gabumon's fur coat.

"Gabumon." He said, waking the rookie digimon up. "Would you mind laying down over there? You fur is way to hot."

Gabumon groggily looked where Matt was pointing at. Right next to TK.

"Ooh. I get it. You want me to keep the little tyke warm, don't you?" He teased as he stood up.

"No…" Matt defended himself. "I just can't sleep when it's too hot." Good safe. After all, Matt had to protect his 'cool' persona.

"Sure thing Matt." Gabumon said, laying down next to TK. The boy muttered something in his sleep. Something along the lines of 'thanks Matt.' Though only Gabumon heard it.

Joe watched as another rock went flying past him and somewhat skidded across the water before sinking to the bottom. "Neat trick Joe." Gomamon said as he walked up to him. "Why didn't you wake me up?"

"Didn't think you'd want to stand guard." Joe said. Gomamon picked up another rock between his claws. "We're supposed to be a team now Joe." Gomamon told him.

He chucked the rock across the lake. It hit the water with a huge splash. "Next time wake me up, okay? Wouldn't want you to be all alone out here with the big scary monsters now?"

"Are you worried about me?" Joe asked, not really believing it.

"Nah, just don't feel like picking you out from between the teeth of some rabid digimon." Gomamon winked and picked up another rock.

"No, Gomamon, that's too big a rock to-

Joe tried to warn the seal like digimon but he had already thrown it half way across the lake. "Oops." He muttered as it hit the water with a huge splash.

"Never mind." Joe said. "Come on, I'll show you how to do it properly…"

Meanwhile underneath the surface of the water an entity woke up. Not per se an evil creature, just one that didn't like it when he was woken up from his beauty sleep.

Just as Seadramon was about to emerge from the water and complain about the damned rocks disturbing the water only to get hit right between the eyes with a flat rock.

"Oops…" Gomamon called out, as the snake like creature began to emerge from the water, seemingly growing longer and longer.

"What the hell is that!!?" Joe yelled out.

"Oh relax, that's just Seadramon. His ice breath stings a bit but over all he's a cool guy." Gomamon told him. "You're kidding, right?" Joe pointed at the flailing serpent.

"Well… he might be a bit angry for getting hit by a rock…" Gomamon added.

Seadramon's tail flailed around, slamming the ground where they stood. Joe and Gomamon were barely able to jump away to escape.

"A bit angry!!" Joe yelled out.

Seadramon's roars had awoken all the other digidestined as well, causing them to emerge from the trolley.

"What's going on?!" Matt yelled at Joe and Gomamon, who were still on the main land. "We pissed it off!"Gomamon yelled. "We? You threw that rock at him!" Joe yelled.

Their bickering was broken up by another strike from Seadramon, breaking the small bridge between the island and the edge of the lake.

"That's not good." Izzy said as the island began to shake. Seadramon's uncontrolled flailing had send it into drift. "Anyone brought a boat?" Sora asked.

"A harpoon would be better." Matt said, the serpent still towering over them. For some reason he had switched from trying to kill Joe and Gomamon to try and kill them.

"Oh man, we've got to do something!" Joe clenched his fists. He couldn't do anything right now. Fighting seamonsters wasn't one of his best skills.

"Aaaaah!!" A shout woke Joe up from his thoughts. Someone had screamed. Did Seadramon grab someone?

He saw a small figure in the water. "Oh hell no." He dug his hands in his hair. He had to do something. The others hadn't even noticed that Kari had fallen in the water. Seadramon's constant assault had caught her off guard and thus she fell into the lake.

"Joe! What are you doing?!" Gomamon yelled at the blue-haired boy. "You can't fight that thing!"

"Wasn't planning on it!" Joe yelled as he jumped into the water and did something he hardly ever did.

He swam. He swam like a fish. A half drowning fish but a fish none the less.

"Oh Joe." Gomamon sighed as he too jumped into the water and swam after his human partner.

He had to hand it to Joe. For someone that seemed terrified off everything he was quite the swimmer.

Soon Joe reached the drowning girl, pulling her up again. "Are you okay?" He asked. Kari coughed a few times. "I'm okay… I'm okay." She told him, coughing out a few drops of water. "Kari!" Salamon was doggy paddling in the water as well.

She had jumped in to save her partner from drowning (again) but was unable to get her out of the water.

"She's okay." Joe assured the rookie digimon.

Something snaked around his legs all of a sudden, pulling him out of the water. "Aaaah!!" Joe let go off Kari again and suddenly he hung upside down, suspended from a red fin of sorts that was wrapping around his entire body.

"Joe! Hang on buddy!" Gomamon yelled from the water. "Bad choice of words Gomamon!" Joe yelled as he swung about like a pendulum.

"Don't be such a stick in the mud Joe." Gomamon growled, before returning to his original task. "I'll save you!"

"No! get Kari out of the water first!" Joe yelled as he was pulled skywards as Seadramon decided that he and his new pet human were going for a boat trip.

Gomamon grumbled. He did as he was told and grabbed hold of Kari and pulled the dazed girl towards the small island.

Once on there Gomamon immediately ditched Kari and ran as quickly as he could to follow Seadramon from the island.

"Kari, are you okay?" Salamon asked, worried to death by now.

"I'm fine… I think." She coughed up some more water as she started breathing more steady. "Guess you had to save me again, three times in one day, right?"

Salamon shook her head. "Joe and Gomaon were the ones that saved you. The island was too steep to pull you back on land. They had to help me."

"But where is Joe now," Kari asked, not seeing the doctor's son anywhere.

"Aaaaaaaaaaaahhhhh!"

"Over there." Salamon said darkly. "Seadramon grabbed him.

'No!' Kari yelled in her mind as she saw the seaserpent race by their side of the floating rock with Joe still firmly locked in his tail. The poor kid was screaming his lungs out.

"We've got to do something!" Kari told her partner digimon. "I don't want to keep getting saved by other people…" She added quietly. Tai, Salamon and now Joe… why did people keep on having to save her?

"I can't…" Salamon admitted. "I'm too small and I can't swim that fast."

"But I can!" Gomamon growled as he jumped back into the water. The nautical creature swam fast but wasn't able to gain any ground on Seadramon. He drew a deep breath and dived under the water, turning around and swimming in the other direction.

Seadramon had been swimming in the same circle for a while now, so he might be able to catch him like that.

"Damnit." Izzy muttered to himself. "Can't you do anything?" He asked Tentomon, who shook his head. "My wings are wet, I can't fly…" He opened his wings and showed his soaked wings. "And I don't think Flymon can help either. Unless you want me to poison the entire lake."

Gomamon had made his way up to Seadramon. The rabid fish didn't even notice him until Gomamon bit down on his left fin. He screamed in pain and tried to shake him off but Gomamon refused to let go.

Joe noticed that his captor was slowing down and saw a white blur hanging off of Seadramon's fin. "Damnit Gomamon! Get out of here!" He yelled at all of them. "Save yourselves! Everybody run!!"

"Like that's going to happen!" Gomamon let go off Seadramon's fin. The sea dragon swam past him quickly.

"I said run! Now!" Joe tried again, only for his cries to be blocked out by a screeching sound coming from his digivice.

"That sound."Izzy's eyes shot open. "It's the same as before!"

Meanwhile underwater.

Gomamon's body was engulfed with a bright light.

"Gomamon digivolved to…"

The light took on a weird shape, one not expected from a mammal like digimon.

"Ebidramon!!"

Ebidramon swam up from the depths and jumped out of the water with a kick of his mighty tail.

Joe's mouth fell open as he saw the crustacean jump out of the water. Gomamon had become something that resembled a dragon more then a lobster, with armor plates covering his body and head, including many sharp looking fangs. But the most awesome were the scissors that were Ebidramon's main weapons.

Two non matching shears that could snap through steel with ease. One looked a lot like Kuwagamon's pincers, though in brown color now. It even had its own set of teeth!

"Payback time fishboy." Ebidramon clicked his claws threateningly. "Nobody threatens to kill my stick in the mud." Ebidramon's claws snapped around Seadramon's neck, nearly crushing the life out of him. Seadramon fought back with an Ice blast, freezing Ebidramon.

Though that didn't last longs as Ebidramon shrugged the ice off like it was nothing and continued to cut off Seadramon's air supply, until…

The blue dragon turned even bluer and dropped down into the water, unconscious. Ebdiramon hurried up and swam to his tail to free his companion, before Seadramon dragged him down to the depths with him.

"You did it! You did it!" Palmon yelled, waving her vine like arms in joy as the two warriors returned to the island. Joe still looked a bit uncomfortable on top of Ebidramon.

"What's the matter Joe?" Ebidramon asked.

"Oh nothing. It was just that I thought I was allergic to shellfish but here I am, sitting on top of the biggest lobster I've ever seen."

"Maybe you concurred your allergies." Ebidramon tried. "Oh wait, no sorry never mind."

Joe became pale. "What? What is it? Is it my skin? Oh not again!!"

Ebidramon laughed as he stepped onto land and dedigivolved. "Works every time!" Gomamon laughed.

The team caught their breath after such a battle. Even if the others weren't able to help Joe they were still exhausted from the events.

But Matt was the one that recovered fastest. And he asked the question that was on everybody's mind.

"Since when can you swim?" Matt asked.

"Wha?" Joe looked up from his seat on a plain rock.

"We all want to know." Sora backed Matt up. "Back in school you never attended swimming lessons."

"Oh that." Joe said. "Just because I'm allergic to chlorine doesn't mean I can't swim." Joe told them.

Morning came quickly and the digidestined had rested for as long as they could. Far, far away from the trolley in the middle of the lake.

Joe woke up to see Kari sitting next to him. "Oh, hi Kari." He said as he sat up.

"Hi Joe." Kari started. "Eh I wanted to thank you for saving me…" She said in a quiet voice. But Joe heard her. "No problem…" Joe told her. "Just don't fall into a lake again any time soon, okay?"

Kari nodded. She looked calm on the outside but she was raging on the inside. She hated being saved.

She didn't want anyone else getting hurt for her. Tai had nearly died saving her. Now Joe had some mild lacerations left from his battle with Seadramon.

"What's on your mind Kari?" Salamon asked.

"Nothing to worry about." Kari told her partner digimon. Salamon was around to be her friend and her protector. She had figured that out already. But Kari didn't want that. She didn't want anyone putting their lives on the line for her. Not anymore.

But for now she'd manage. After all this was a new day and perhaps now she and Salamon would be the one doing the saving.

She smiled at that thought.

Okay, so now you're wondering. Why the hell Ebidramon? For starters he's awesome. Seconds, his ultimate is even more awesome. And for some reason I find Joe, someone who is probably allergic to shell fish and all other kinds of seafood being teamed up with a lobster funny as hell.

Reviews

Martiny the one and only still: you haven't seen confusing yet my friend. And Gatomon and Agumon will stay the same. That is a promise.

PrincessJaded: I like writing Joe. He's awesome and way underrated.

Lord Pata: glad you liked that bit ;) and you're right. At last a Gatomon not influenced by Myotismon. I don't think I've ever read such a story, have you?

Aldamonburst: yup that's the one!

Crystalstorm: thanks for the link and you'll just have to wait and find out :)

Vigatus: sorry it took so long and it would be rather lame if that was the only change in the story

GRX3m0m: glad you liked it

nessa671: sorry it took so long

Marie ravenclaw: I do that too. Reading while I should be working on something that's probably important…

Firehedgehog: At least you found it eventually :)

Warrior of the Shadows: thanks

Corlimon: thank you and like I already said to my other reviewers, you'll have to wait and see. I don't like spoiling the surprise.

R&R people!