Disclaimer: I do not own digimon.

Not very proud of this chapter. It definitely wasn't my best writing, I know it wasn't, and I apologize. Either way, I needed to get this chapter out-of-the-way so that the story can start to open up more. Also, I'm not sure how soon I'll be able to update again so please bare with me. A big thanks goes out to everybody who's reviewed so far: LILFOC, Ultimate Black Ace, AUehara, DCLWLOKPR44424, StarPurpleandBlue, Asahina Twins, . . , and Higuchimon. If any of you have any ideas or suggestions for the story please PM me or mention them in a review; they would be much appreciated. Anyways, here's the chapter, and please keep reviewing!


Chapter 7:

He sat in his throne as he thought about what had just happened; there was too much to think about. The first problem was that the Patamon's digidestined had returned to the Digital World. He hadn't seen the blonde digidestined in the Digital World, and it surprised him that they were alone. Where were the other digidestineds, and what exactly was the digidestined doing in the Digital World without his friends? He had kept track of him on his map of the Digital World and noticed that the boy and his digimon partner had stopped to rest. What exactly was this digidestined up to?

Then there was the question that had bothered him the most; why had the digidestined saved him? He should have died, but the boy had opted to save him. Did he not know that he was the Digimon Emperor? The part that bothered him the most was the part where the boy had just flown away after he had saved him. He had shouted at the boy saying cruel things about him, but the boy kept flying away on his digimon. This had angered him, but, even worse, it had left him confused. He never was confused; he was the smartest person alive. How could he be confused?

He couldn't shake off the feeling that something had happened to the boy. He had looked into the boy's eyes and saw pain, sadness, and exhaustion inside them. What had happened to the boy; did it have something to do why he wasn't with the other digidestineds? One thing was certain, though. This digidestined was a threat to him, and all threats needed to be removed if he was going to rule the Digital World.

Beeping noises started going off and he was removed from his thoughts. He shook his head and refocused on the map he had already been staring at. On the map appeared five new dots not too far away from the blonde-digidestined; that meant that the other digidestineds had returned. He typed on his keyboard and an image of the new arrivals appeared. The three new digidestineds had returned along with two of the older digidestineds. One was a girl who looked his age with brown hair and brown eyes. The other was an older, blonde boy with cold, blue eyes. He was shocked as he noticed the resemblance he shared with the other blonde digidestined. Were they related? He couldn't worry about that now. He had work to do, digidestineds to defeat.


"Gabumon!"

"Matt!"

The two partners ran towards each other and met in a hug. They both were obviously happy to see the other.

"It's been too long Gabumon!"

"I agree!"

After the two had exchanged their greetings, the group started walking. The purpose of this trip to the Digital World was to search for TK and Patamon. Kari was so anxious, but excited. She hadn't seen what used to be her best friend for four years now, and the chance that TK was in the Digital World had lifted her mood incredulously. She looked at her partner who also seemed to be in a better mood.

The downside, though, was that the Digital World was huge. Even if TK was in the Digital World, there was a very slim chance that they would be able to find him. Matt and Kari didn't let that fact disturb them; they had to find TK because of what he meant to the both of them.

"So, is this digidestined we're looking for cute?"

Yolei was always looking for cute boys to flirt with and she was excited about the news of there being another digidestined who was a guy. Matt and Kari laughed at the girl's question, but their laughter was interrupted. It was very faint, but they could feel the ground shake. The shaking intensified and the group started to worry.

"EARTHQUAKE!"

Evil laughter could be heard and the group quickly turned behind them and saw the Digimon Emperor on top of a huge red dragon digimon. Kari quickly recognized the digimon as a Tyrannomon, and she instantly spotted the dark ring on the digimon. The ground continued to shake and the group quickly found themselves surrounded by Tyrannomon.

"Well, look what we got here. I see that you fools continue to show up in my world. I don't like trespassers."

Matt growled and replied angrily, "This is not your world!"

"Oh, but isn't it? Why don't we fight over it?"

"That sounds like a great idea. Veemon, digivolve!"

"You too Hawkmon!"

"Armadilomon!"

The three new digidestineds outstretched their digivices and their digimon digivolved to their new forms. The Digimon Emperor continued to laugh.

"Four against three? I have to say I like my odds. Go Tyrannomon!"

Flamedramon, Halsemon, and Digmon all took their own Tyrannomon and started fighting one-on-one.

"Gabumon, are you sure you can't digivolve?"

Gabumon closed his eyes to focus, but then let out a sigh.

"I'm sorry Matt."
"It's ok, it was worth a try."

"MATT WATCH OUT!"

Kari tackled the blonde boy out-of-the-way as a stream of fire landed right where Matt had been standing seconds ago. Kari looked up and saw another stream of fire heading their way. She barrel rolled away from the attack and quickly got to her feet. Cody, Yolei, and Davis were standing next to their partners, focused on the fight.

"Kari, we have to get out of here!"

"What about the others?"

"Their digimon are able to digivolve; I'm sure they'll be fine. Ours can't, though. Come on!"

Kari hated to leave their friends fighting by themselves, but she knew Matt was right. She followed Matt as they started running away from the fight.

"Gatomon! Come on!"

The two digidestineds and their partners ran as fast as they could away from the fight. Kari looked behind her expecting to see the DIgimon Emperor chasing them, but he wasn't. At that point Kari heard her D-Terminal start to beep. She quickly pulled it out and looked at a map of the Digital World. She saw a yellow dot not too far away from them; this meant there was another digi-egg close by.

"Matt, there's a digi-egg just up ahead."

Matt nodded and the two quickened their pace. Even though they weren't being chased they still were worried about their friends. Tyrannomon was a very strong digimon, and their friends were outnumbered.

Kari looked at her D-Terminal again and then looked forward. There was a cave up ahead, and the map showed that the digi-egg was inside the cave.

"In that cave, Matt. That's where the digi-egg is."

They entered the cave and stopped their sprint. The two panted as they tried to slow their breathing. Once they caught their breath, they walked farther into the cave.

"There it is!"

The two digidestineds and their partners walked over to where the digi-egg was sitting. Kari gasped as she saw the crest of light engraved upon the white digi-egg.

"What's that on the digi-egg?"

"It looks like the symbol for the crest of light."

"The crest of light? Then it must be your digi-egg Kari!"

"But…"

"Kari, we don't have much time. Our friends could already be in danger. At least try to lift the egg."

Kari sighed. She walked over to the egg and placed her hands on it. She used all her strength to life the egg. She hadn't expected the egg to budge as she remembered her last attempt at picking up a digi-egg, the digi-egg of courage. To her surprise, the egg was extremely light and it lifted easily. Suddenly a bright light formed where her digivice was hooked onto her belt. She grabbed the device as it changed forms. The light dimmed and revealed the same type of digivice as the new digidestineds, except hers was a light pink. She looked up first at Gatomon and then at Matt with an expression of complete shock across her face. Matt smiled brightly at her and said,

"I told you it was yours. Now, let's go save our friends."

"Right. Gatomon, digivolve!"

A bright white and pink light shone from her new digivice and Gatomon started glowing as well as she started changing forms. Kari covered her eyes because of the bright light that was exposed in the dark cave. Once the light dimmed she looked at her partner in awe. Standing in front of her was what looked like an Egyptian sphinx with white wings. Kari noticed similarities between this digimon and Gatomon such as the white fur and the digimon's tail. Kari smiled at her partner.

"Gatomon, you're beautiful. What digimon are you?"

"I'm Nefertimon."

"That's so cool. Well, you ready to save our friends?"

"You betcha."

Matt, Gabumon, and Kari mounted on the digimon once they were outside the cave and they took off into the air. It didn't take long for them to get back to where the battle was going on. Kari gasped as she saw Flamedramon land hard on the ground and de-digivolve. She saw Davis run to what was now Veemon checking to see if his partner was hurt. Yolei and Cody were checking on their partner's health too; they had dedigivolved as well. Kari watched as the four Tyrannomon circled around her friends. The Digimon Emperor was laughing maniacally.

"Guys! Are you ok?"

The three new digidestineds looked up at Kari, Matt, and Gabumon with surprise clear across their face.

"Kari? Whose digimon is that?"

"It's Gatomon. She digivolved."

Nefertimon dropped to the ground next to Davis, Yolei, and Cody and dropped off her passengers.. The Digimon Emperor sighed.

"Not another one. Oh well, there's no way you'll be able to defeat all four Tyrannomon."

"You're wrong! Get them Nefertimon."

Kari watched her partner take flight as she dodged attack after attack. Some had come very close to hitting her partner, and she hadn't had the chance to attack. Kari didn't see this turning out good.

Nefertimon dove as she avoided a stream of fire and then launched her first counterattack.

"Queen's Paw!"

Red diamonds shot out from her partner and headed for the dark ring on one of the Tyrannomon. It was a direct hit and the dark ring was destroyed.

"Nefertimon watch out!"

Nefertimon had been too focused on the counter attack and did not see the claw that was headed right for her. She was hit, and the force of the attack slammed her into the ground. The attack was too strong, and she de-digivolved back to Gatomon.

"Gatomon!"

Kari ran to her digimon as fast as she could and picked her up in her arms.

"Gatomon are you ok?"

"Kari… I.. I'm sorry."

Kari smiled at her partner and said, "Don't worry; you did your best."

The Digimon Emperor laughed evilly as he realized that he had won. He laughed even more at the fear and anger that was clear on the digidestineds' faces. No longer was he going to have to worry about them messing with his plans.

"Star Shower!"

His evil smirk quickly left his face as he recognized the attack. Memories from his near-death experience from earlier that day flashed back through his mind.

"Equus Beam"

A green beam flew through the air and the attack destroyed another dark ring. The Digimon Emperor jumped off the Tyrannomon and started running away from the battle. He took out his digivice and started talking into it. After a minute of running, a Unimon flew to his side and he hopped onto its back.

"Wind Mane!"

Needles were shot from Pegasusmon's mane and landed a direct hit on the dark ring of the last Tyrannomon. TK spoke frantically to his partner.

"Good job Pegasusmon, but we have to get out of here now before they realize it's me."

Pegasusmon nodded and turned away from the others. He flew away as fast as he could so that they wouldn't be able to recognize them.

Kari stared in shock as the winged-horse flew away. She noticed that there was someone sitting on the digimon's back, but she hadn't been able to get a good look at her savior's face. A thought came to her mind and her mouth opened in shock. 'Who always saved me when no one else could?' She spoke the answer.

"TK?"