Disclaimer: Okay, since I don't Digimon, I'm trying (in vain) to sell the
rights to it. Well now, do I hear one dollar for digimon? Do I hear two?
Three...?
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Kari's Missing Hope - Chapter 9
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The past few days couldn't have been more shocking for Kari Kamyia. Her best friend (and secret love), T.K. Takaishi moved away, she (and her friends) suffered a humiliating defeat at the forces of the Digimon Emperor, and when she finally got a chance to visit T.K., she got heart broken at the sight of him kissing another girl. And to crown it all, at this present moment in the Digital World, she and her digimon partner receive a "haunting" visit - beyond belief - from the ghost of her old and wise friend, Wizardmon.
That's a list certainly difficult to top.
"You must be kidding! You expect Gatomon and me to just waltz into the Emperor's fortress and demand that he give himself up!?!" she almost shrieked.
But Gatomon put a reassuring paw on Kari's leg. (Cuz' that as far as she could reach, considering her height.)
"C'mon, Kari...Wizardmon wouldn't expect us to try something like this, if he knew we couldn't handle it."
Kari thought for a moment, then nodded. "Yeah...I guess you're right. If we can't trust him, who can we trust?"
"I know I'm asking the two of you to take a monumental leap of faith here, but too much is at stake!" Wizardmon declared.
"Yeah, WAY too much!" Gatomon agreed.
"The Digimon Emperor must be stopped, at all costs, and by any means. Besides, his defeat means less sacrifices will be made. Do not forget the terrible sacrifice I made to save and help the Digidestined four years ago!"
The old, but crystal clear, tragic memory of Wizardmon's demise automatically started up in Kari's mind, and her eyes immediately began to fill with salty tears. But Kari quickly brushed them away, and readjusted her attention to the present situation. The expression on her face changed from confusion to determination of the most serious kind. She faced her two companions and nodded.
"Let's do it!"
Gatomon smiled and also nodded, as did Wizardmon.
It didn't take too long to track down the fortress, as Wizardmon knew the exact location. The trio found it, hovering near the outside of a forest. Spying on the complex from afar, Kari was curious as to how to get in.
"Wizardmon," Kari said, to Wizardmon. "How are we gonna get in? The outside entrance is swarming with guards!"
"Worry, not my young friend...I discovered a secret entrance in the back. The two of you follow me. If all goes well, we shouldn't be forced into battle with those outside guards!"
Kari and Gatomon nodded once more, and did as they were told.
*********************
"See anything, guys?" Yolei asked to anybody who was listening.
Cody put his hand partially over his eyes, as the sun was interfering with his vision. "Nothing yet, Yolei...I think...wait! Over there!"
The humans and the digimon ran in the direction in which Cody pointed.
Yolei was more appalled than anyone else at what they saw. Before them, lying on the ground was a considerable number of (seemingly) unconscious Elecmon! There was a partial fog or mist covering up the far away scenery, so it was impossible to tell exactly how many injured digimon there were. Yolei couldn't do anything but gasp.
Davis put on a somewhat bleak face. "Looks like we're already too late..."
"Davis, don't even say that!" Yolei scolded.
"Let's just take this one step at a time and find out what happened here," Cody commented.
Running over to the nearest Elecmon, they soon realized that the little red, purple-striped, creature was still breathing and was indeed still alive.
"Veemon, you and the other digimon check out the rest of them over there!" Davis ordered.
Veemon gave a "thumbs-up", nodded, and ran off, with Hawkmon and Armadillomon following close behind.
*********************
*RRRRRIIIIINNNNNGGGGG*
The phone rang back at the Kamiya's. Tai got up off the couch, turned off the television, and picked up the phone receiver.
"Hello?"
"Hey...is that you, Tai?"
"HEY! T.K.! Long time no s-, er, I mean...talk!"
T.K. chuckled a little. "Umm, listen, I wish I was calling on better terms, but, well...is Kari there?"
"No, I think she went to the Digital World with the others...y'know, doing that 'save and defend the world' thing."
"I shoulda guessed."
But Tai sensed that something more was going on here, so he pushed the conservation just a bit further.
"Umm...Kari went over to your place for dinner last night, right? Did something bad happen between you two?"
"Well..."
T.K. put his hand over the mouthpiece of the kitchen phone, and turned behind to face May for advice. May was drinking milk from a small (glass) bottle, so she couldn't audibly respond. Instead she made some sort of hand gesture that clearly said "Go on, tell him!".
But this meant that he would have to Tai EVERYTHING that was going on. T.K. knew (all too well) that if he angered Tai, he'd be lucky to even just SEE Kari by retirement. It was a well-known fact among the Digidestined that the Kamiya siblings were VERY close, so he would just have to trust in the (slim) possibility that big brother Tai wouldn't go ballistic. Slowly, he revealed the previous night's events, which ended rather badly, especially for Kari. He braced his ears for impact but surprisingly, Tai did not explode at all. He didn't even raise his voice.
"So that's what happened, huh?"
"Uh, yeah...what should I do?"
"Well for starters, why don't you come on down here and explain everything to Kari? I know she can be a little stubborn at times, but I'm sure that I could get her to sit still and listen to you."
"I don't think I can do that...for one thing, I'm almost broke. I mean, I'll be lucky if I don't get chased around the city by the phone company people due to my exceedingly high phone bill for making these calls!"
"Look, I don't care if you have to get here by rowing a boat down the street or if Patamon somehow FLYS you here, but you need to plead your case to Kari! By the way, isn't it a little too early for you to be outta school right now? We didn't have any school today...so what's your excuse?"
"Well, actually..."
"Wait...scratch that. Chances are, it's something I probably don't wanna know."
Unbeknownst to Tai, T.K. and May had a half day, being a perfectly valid excuse. But T.K. didn't really feel like giving another explanation at the present moment.
"Anyway, thanks for the pep talk, Tai. I appreciate it."
"Hey...anytime, lil' guy."
The two of them lightly chuckled over the fact that Tai still called T.K. by that nickname sometimes, and they simultaneously hung up. T.K. once again turned to May.
"So what'd he say?" May asked.
"Well..." T.K. replied, sighing. "He said I should head down to his neck of the woods and straighten out this misunderstanding with Kari."
"Y'know...I always thought that big brothers were big, fat, annoying jocks...but this Tai seems to have his head screwed on straight. You should do what he says."
"But...but..."
"But what? Come on, T.K.! Besides, this is all your fault anyway!"
"Wh...how is it MY fault?!?" he almost yelled.
May just elicited a cute little giggle, stuck out her tongue and scratched the back of her head. "Sorry...it's just too much fun putting the blame on someone besides me. That's how I have Rick wrapped around my little finger."
"Rick?"
"You know...one of the classmates I introduced you two on your first day at my school?"
"Oh, yeah! Right!"
(Sorry, if you don't understand, people. Cut scene. Let me know if you wanna see it sometime.)
Suddenly, his thought of his current dilemma snapped back into his thought processes.
"Wait a minute! Stop, you're changing the subject! Anyway, how do you expect me to get back? I already told you, I don't have enough for bus fare...!"
"Then I'LL give it to you!" May declared.
"But...but..."
"No buts! You're getting on that bus and you and Kari are gonna become friends again! And I'm coming, too!"
T.K. sighed once again. (Boy, he's been doing a lot that lately, hasn't he?)
May tossed her now empty milk bottle into a small recycling bin, as she watched T.K. grab his hat from the kitchen table and head out of the room.
"All right, May...you win. I'll go get Patamon...I'm sure he misses the others, too."
May nodded with a very determined look on her face.
*********************
It was pretty dark inside the Digimon Emperor's fortress as Kari (and her two friends) walked through the narrow corridors.
"Wizardmon, I think we'll need a flashlight. It's too dark in here!" Kari complained.
"Worry not, Kari. Your eyes should adjust to the darkness soon enough," Wizardmon said in a soothing voice.
Gatomon tried to "shush" Kari. "Let's try to be quiet...you wanna get us all..."
But the conversation was cut off as the hall soon became filled with digimon guards. Not exactly a whole army, but more than enough to cause trouble.
"...caught?"
Meanwhile...
Yolei kneeled down near the Elecmon, and gently nudged it. The Elecmon began to stir and half-opened its eyes.
"Wha...!"
"Easy! Easy...we're here to help..." Yolei tried to say in a gentle tone.
"So what exactly went down here? C'mon, spill and tell!" Davis said impatiently.
"Davis, be quiet!" Yolei hissed.
The digimon struggled to respond. "It...it was...the Emperor...the Digimon Emperor...he attacked us..."
"Go on..." Cody said.
"We...we were completely unprepared...it all happened so fast..."
"Man..." Davis said, almost growling. "When I get my hands on that Ken, I'll show him 'fast'!"
Cody and Yolei kept listening as the Elecmon continued his story.
"But before he left...he said something to us..."
"Oh, yeah? Like what?" Davis asked.
"The Digimon Emperor...gave us orders..."
"Orders? What kinda orders?" asked a nervous and somewhat suspicious Yolei.
"He told us...to take care of YOU!"
"Huh?!?" the three kids went in alarm.
Immediately, the Elecmon got up off the ground and its eyes glowed a terrifying blood red. Through the fog, their digimon came running back towards them in a panic.
"Cody!" yelled Armadillomon. "Somethin' doesn't smell right here, and it isn't Veemon's breath!"
Cody would have replied, had his mind not been preoccupied with the fact they were pretty much surrounded by many other (now) red-eyed Elecmon standing up like possessed zombies, ready to fight.
And around some part of their bodies, was a dark ring.
Yolei and Davis watched in horror as the fog cleared to reveal yet another control spire.
"Wh...what's going on here?!?" Yolei almost shrieked.
"I think it's something called a 'trap', Yolei," Davis sarcastically replied. "And we're smack dab in the middle of it!"
"It gets worse, Davis! Look!" Veemon pointed at both ends of the horizon. At one side was Shellmon, returning for a second round, no doubt. And on the other side of the battlefield? Nothing much. Just a fierce, wild Tyrannomon.
The three Digidestined went back to back with each other, as did the digimon.
Man, Davis thought. It goes without saying that we need major help! I hate to admit it, but we need T.K.! If there ever was a time we needed him and Kari...this is it!
*********************
"How long will it take to get to your old school?" May asked T.K. while they rode the bus.
"I think it'll take a little under half an hour-"
"HALF AN HOUR???" Patamon almost yelled from inside T.K.'s backpack. "I'll be OLD then!"
May giggled at the little digimon's attitude. Thankfully, there were only two other people on the bus (not including the driver), and they hadn't heard Patamon's little outburst.
"Patamon, you think you could yell any louder? I'm not sure everyone for the next five blocks heard you!" T.K. hissed.
Patamon and T.K. started glaring at each other.
"Well, gee...I'm not sure T.K., let me try-"
"THAT won't be necessary," May interrupted, quickly covering Patamon's (sometimes) gigantic mouth with her hand. "Let's just stay focused on our current agenda, okay?"
T.K and Patamon both nodded.
*********************
"Get back, Kari! Just lemme digivolve, and I'll-"
"No, Gatomon! We have to save your strength for the Emperor!"
Gatomon thought for a second. "Okay, then. In that case...!"
Kari and Wizardmon weren't exactly sure what their feline friend was planning but it all came clear as they both heard-
"LIGHTNING CLAW!!!"
Needless to say, Kari was impressed by Gatomon's strength, confidence, and resourcefulness. With just a few scratches, slashes, and swipes from her claws, the guards laid on the floor in an unconscious heap. Gatomon smiled at her work.
Kari lightly clapped for her friend's small victory. "Awesome, Gatomon!"
"Heh, wasn't so hard...didn't even break a sweat," Gatomon replied confidently.
Wizardmon moved...er...floated(?) towards Gatomon to congratulate her, as well.
"Most impressive, Gatomon! I truly commend your efforts from the bottom of my heart."
Gatomon just laughed nervously laughed and scratched the back of her head.
"Aww...I didn't do THAT much..."
"You haven't changed a bit," complemented Wizardmon. "You're just as strong as the time I first met you...then again maybe stronger."
Gatomon couldn't anything but gasp a little and let a small crimson streak "infect" her cheeks.
Kari noticed this decided to tease her digimon a little. "Hmm...Gatomon, are you actually blushing?"
"Huh?!?"
"Hey...I think you are!" Kari said in a half-mocking voice.
"B...be quiet!...I am not!"
Naturally, Kari had to laugh. "C'mon...let's keep moving."
*********************
"DIGI-ARMOR ENERGIZE!!!"
With three simultaneous shouts of those activating trigger words, the Digidestined's digimon began to digivolve into their armored forms. Veemon grew into the fiery Flamedramon, Hawkmon became the fast-flying Halsemon, and Armadillomon, the deep-drilling Digmon.
"Yolei, you and Cody handle the mob over on that side, Flamedramon and I will handle 'ol 'Shelly' here!" Davis said in partially commanding tone.
Yolei gave him a "thumbs-up" sign and nodded. "Right! Let's move it, Cody!"
"Get ready, Flamedramon! Here he comes!" Davis warned.
"Don't worry, I'll get things started up...or should I say, heated up!" Flamedramon replied, getting into the spirit of things.
Shellmon wasted no time in initiating the first shot.
"HYDRO BLASTER!!!"
Like before, a huge stream of water came shooting in their direction. But Flamedramon tried to make himself more ready for action this time. Countering with his-
"FIRE ROCKET!!!"
Flamedramon stuck out his right fist, as if he were punching. The fist glowed a bright orange, and shot out a group of heated fireballs. Upon contact with the water, the two attacks canceled out each other, creating a cloud of thick steam. It didn't take long for Shellmon to become temporary blinded. It was only then that Flamedramon fully realized the opportunity he created for himself. Quickly running behind the sea creature, Flamedramon firmly grabbed it by the horns of its massive shell.
"Get back, Davis!" Flamedramon barked out at Davis.
The cloud of steam managed to clear up just enough for Davis to see what his digimon partner was referring to.
"Ack! You don't have to tell me twice!" was all he could get out before he ran out of the way.
As soon his human friend got out of range, Flamedramon slowly picked up Shellmon (with some obvious difficulty) and hurled him into a handful of oncoming Elecmon who were coming towards him.
"Got 'em!" Flamedramon said to himself.
"Yeah, bull's eye! Nice goin', Flamedramon!" complemented Davis.
"Thanks, but it's not over yet! This is just the beginning!" Flamedramon noted.
*********************
Upon getting off the bus, T.K. felt an indescribable need to run directly into the school. He managed to locate the computer room without much difficulty, but he quickly stopped, realizing that he lost May. He briefly retraced his steps to locate her. May was on the first floor of the school, and T.K. became surprised when he found her in the empty hallway, snapping shots of the place with a camera she had brought with her. T.K. sweatdropped at the sight of this.
"May, what are doing?"
"Taking pictures of your old school. Not much to look at, if you ask me."
"Hey, this isn't a tour, y'know! Remember, you dragged me here to make up with Kari?"
"Oh, right, right! Well, what are we waiting for?"
Once again, T.K. ran up the steps (with Patamon in "tow"), while May followed. T.K. wasn't too surprised to see Izzy in the computer room, checking his friends' progress.
"AHEM!"
Izzy nearly jumped out of his seat, but smiled when he turned to the entrance of the room and saw T.K.
"T.K.!!! You...you're back!!!"
"Yeah, Izzy! Great to see ya!"
The two old friends warmly shook hands, and Izzy also greeted Patamon. Then T.K. introduced May.
"Well, it's certainly a pleasure to meet you! Are you T.K.'s new girlfriend or something?" Izzy gently mocked.
May shot him a half-smile.
"Not even close, I'm afraid. But T.K. and I have become good friends pretty fast," she noted.
"Umm...so, I guess Kari and the others are...in THERE?" T.K. asked, pointing to the computer screen.
Izzy smiled and nodded. "Yeah, right now. I take it you wanna join them? Planning to surprise them?"
T.K. smiled a little. "Something like that. Can you get me into the Digital World?"
Izzy nodded. "Sure can. But they're not all together...I received a message from Yolei that Kari split up from the others."
"Well, that's okay. I need to talk to her first, anyway. Can you find her?"
"I think so."
"Do it."
"All right, then." Izzy tapped a few keys on the keyboard, but suddenly, his smile started to droop into a half-frown.
"What's up?" asked T.K., noticing the discomfort on his face.
Izzy motioned for the two of them to take a look at the computer screen.
"Something's wrong, T.K. I've managed to pull up a gigantic overview of the area of the Digital World that Davis, Yolei and the others went. You see those yellow and orange flashing dots?"
T.K. looked at the screen (that was in some sort of grid form) and nodded at what Izzy was talking about.
"Yeah, what about them?"
"Well, those yellow ones are the humans, and the orange ones are their digimon," he said, pointing to a square on the screen. "And now, those red ones - those are wild digimon they might be fighting."
"So what's the problem?" asked May.
Izzy clicked on the mouse, moving the grid over a few spaces.
"The problem is THIS," he replied, pointing again. "Since I was told Kari separated herself from the others, I've been trying to keep tabs on her. But I've only just noticed this. There are three dots here, one orange and one yellow...no doubt that it's Kari and Gatomon. But next to them is another red dot."
"Maybe it's just a glitch," May suggested.
"I don't think so," Izzy said.
"Izzy, are you saying that she's unknowingly walking around with an evil digimon? If that's true, then you should try to send her a message or something!" T.K. exclaimed.
"I've tried, but she's entered an area surrounded by some sort of high- energy force field which is somehow preventing communication! I can't reach her!"
"Well, I've got to help!" T.K. declared. "Because something tells me that she's in more trouble than she realizes!"
*********************
"This is it," Wizardmon stated. "The Emperor's control room!"
"That door looks pretty weak," Kari noted. "All right, Gatomon...do your stuff!"
Gatomon nodded, took a giant leap towards the door, and stuck her claws out.
"LIGHTNING CLAW!!!"
The door came off its rusted hinges almost too easily, and Kari ran into the room.
"All right, Digimon Emperor! Your time's up! It's over!" Kari bravely shouted.
"Kari, this is just a guess on my part but I think you're yelling at air," Gatomon pointed out.
"What?" Wizardmon asked as he entered the room. "I don't understand this! The Emperor should have been inside this very room!"
"Well maybe he stepped out for lunch?" Gatomon half-jokingly asked.
But before anyone could say anything else, a bright light generated from the walls, and close-up images of the Digimon Emperor's face appeared.
"Hey!" Gatomon yelled. "What is this?"
"THIS is a little something I call a 'trap'! Observe!"
Before the word was out of his mouth, a giant group of the ghostly Bakemon blocked their only exit out.
"Oh, no...Wizardmon, do you know another way out of here??? You have to help us!" Kari worriedly said.
But the Emperor interrupted.
"He can't help you! No one can! The only person he's helping...is ME!"
"What the heck are you talking about?" asked an impatient Gatomon.
"Well, now...'Wizardmon'...let's show them what I'm talking about!"
Kari and Gatomon turned their heads to the poker-faced Wizardmon, and watched in horror as their ghostly "friend"...slowly morphed into a (slightly bigger) Bakemon.
"Oh, no...NO!!!" Kari shouted.
"Oh, yes...and it gets better," the Emperor taunted over the video monitor. Suddenly, another screen popped up showing Davis, Yolei, Cody, and their digimon battling for their lives.
"My...my friends..." Kari almost whispered.
"Yes," the Emperor continued. "And it's looks like they're in quite a predicament, wouldn't you say?"
"But how did you know about-" Kari began to ask.
"Wizardmon?" he interrupted. "Well, I managed to pull up some personal information files on your little cat friend, and...let's just say that a little information goes a long way."
Gatomon was seeing red.
"WHEN I GET CLAWS ON YOU, I'M GONNA TURN YOU INTO KITTY LITTER!"
Needless to say, she was so preoccupied that she was practically oblivious to the Bakemon that were closing in. But the Emperor still spoke.
"And that's just the beginning, you pitiful fools! The beginning of the end for you and your friends!"
Kari hung her head in shame and fear as the room and hallways filled with the horrifying echoes of the Digimon Emperor's howling laughter, which was full of nothing less than the sweet taste of victory.
*********************
TO BE CONTINUED... (FOR SURE!)
Well, finally finished Chapter 9, and I'm sure you all are dying to know what's gonna happen next, right? For a change of pace, could you give me longer reviews? I love to read them over and over! Thanks for all your support and...see ya next chapter! So long (for now)!
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Kari's Missing Hope - Chapter 9
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The past few days couldn't have been more shocking for Kari Kamyia. Her best friend (and secret love), T.K. Takaishi moved away, she (and her friends) suffered a humiliating defeat at the forces of the Digimon Emperor, and when she finally got a chance to visit T.K., she got heart broken at the sight of him kissing another girl. And to crown it all, at this present moment in the Digital World, she and her digimon partner receive a "haunting" visit - beyond belief - from the ghost of her old and wise friend, Wizardmon.
That's a list certainly difficult to top.
"You must be kidding! You expect Gatomon and me to just waltz into the Emperor's fortress and demand that he give himself up!?!" she almost shrieked.
But Gatomon put a reassuring paw on Kari's leg. (Cuz' that as far as she could reach, considering her height.)
"C'mon, Kari...Wizardmon wouldn't expect us to try something like this, if he knew we couldn't handle it."
Kari thought for a moment, then nodded. "Yeah...I guess you're right. If we can't trust him, who can we trust?"
"I know I'm asking the two of you to take a monumental leap of faith here, but too much is at stake!" Wizardmon declared.
"Yeah, WAY too much!" Gatomon agreed.
"The Digimon Emperor must be stopped, at all costs, and by any means. Besides, his defeat means less sacrifices will be made. Do not forget the terrible sacrifice I made to save and help the Digidestined four years ago!"
The old, but crystal clear, tragic memory of Wizardmon's demise automatically started up in Kari's mind, and her eyes immediately began to fill with salty tears. But Kari quickly brushed them away, and readjusted her attention to the present situation. The expression on her face changed from confusion to determination of the most serious kind. She faced her two companions and nodded.
"Let's do it!"
Gatomon smiled and also nodded, as did Wizardmon.
It didn't take too long to track down the fortress, as Wizardmon knew the exact location. The trio found it, hovering near the outside of a forest. Spying on the complex from afar, Kari was curious as to how to get in.
"Wizardmon," Kari said, to Wizardmon. "How are we gonna get in? The outside entrance is swarming with guards!"
"Worry, not my young friend...I discovered a secret entrance in the back. The two of you follow me. If all goes well, we shouldn't be forced into battle with those outside guards!"
Kari and Gatomon nodded once more, and did as they were told.
*********************
"See anything, guys?" Yolei asked to anybody who was listening.
Cody put his hand partially over his eyes, as the sun was interfering with his vision. "Nothing yet, Yolei...I think...wait! Over there!"
The humans and the digimon ran in the direction in which Cody pointed.
Yolei was more appalled than anyone else at what they saw. Before them, lying on the ground was a considerable number of (seemingly) unconscious Elecmon! There was a partial fog or mist covering up the far away scenery, so it was impossible to tell exactly how many injured digimon there were. Yolei couldn't do anything but gasp.
Davis put on a somewhat bleak face. "Looks like we're already too late..."
"Davis, don't even say that!" Yolei scolded.
"Let's just take this one step at a time and find out what happened here," Cody commented.
Running over to the nearest Elecmon, they soon realized that the little red, purple-striped, creature was still breathing and was indeed still alive.
"Veemon, you and the other digimon check out the rest of them over there!" Davis ordered.
Veemon gave a "thumbs-up", nodded, and ran off, with Hawkmon and Armadillomon following close behind.
*********************
*RRRRRIIIIINNNNNGGGGG*
The phone rang back at the Kamiya's. Tai got up off the couch, turned off the television, and picked up the phone receiver.
"Hello?"
"Hey...is that you, Tai?"
"HEY! T.K.! Long time no s-, er, I mean...talk!"
T.K. chuckled a little. "Umm, listen, I wish I was calling on better terms, but, well...is Kari there?"
"No, I think she went to the Digital World with the others...y'know, doing that 'save and defend the world' thing."
"I shoulda guessed."
But Tai sensed that something more was going on here, so he pushed the conservation just a bit further.
"Umm...Kari went over to your place for dinner last night, right? Did something bad happen between you two?"
"Well..."
T.K. put his hand over the mouthpiece of the kitchen phone, and turned behind to face May for advice. May was drinking milk from a small (glass) bottle, so she couldn't audibly respond. Instead she made some sort of hand gesture that clearly said "Go on, tell him!".
But this meant that he would have to Tai EVERYTHING that was going on. T.K. knew (all too well) that if he angered Tai, he'd be lucky to even just SEE Kari by retirement. It was a well-known fact among the Digidestined that the Kamiya siblings were VERY close, so he would just have to trust in the (slim) possibility that big brother Tai wouldn't go ballistic. Slowly, he revealed the previous night's events, which ended rather badly, especially for Kari. He braced his ears for impact but surprisingly, Tai did not explode at all. He didn't even raise his voice.
"So that's what happened, huh?"
"Uh, yeah...what should I do?"
"Well for starters, why don't you come on down here and explain everything to Kari? I know she can be a little stubborn at times, but I'm sure that I could get her to sit still and listen to you."
"I don't think I can do that...for one thing, I'm almost broke. I mean, I'll be lucky if I don't get chased around the city by the phone company people due to my exceedingly high phone bill for making these calls!"
"Look, I don't care if you have to get here by rowing a boat down the street or if Patamon somehow FLYS you here, but you need to plead your case to Kari! By the way, isn't it a little too early for you to be outta school right now? We didn't have any school today...so what's your excuse?"
"Well, actually..."
"Wait...scratch that. Chances are, it's something I probably don't wanna know."
Unbeknownst to Tai, T.K. and May had a half day, being a perfectly valid excuse. But T.K. didn't really feel like giving another explanation at the present moment.
"Anyway, thanks for the pep talk, Tai. I appreciate it."
"Hey...anytime, lil' guy."
The two of them lightly chuckled over the fact that Tai still called T.K. by that nickname sometimes, and they simultaneously hung up. T.K. once again turned to May.
"So what'd he say?" May asked.
"Well..." T.K. replied, sighing. "He said I should head down to his neck of the woods and straighten out this misunderstanding with Kari."
"Y'know...I always thought that big brothers were big, fat, annoying jocks...but this Tai seems to have his head screwed on straight. You should do what he says."
"But...but..."
"But what? Come on, T.K.! Besides, this is all your fault anyway!"
"Wh...how is it MY fault?!?" he almost yelled.
May just elicited a cute little giggle, stuck out her tongue and scratched the back of her head. "Sorry...it's just too much fun putting the blame on someone besides me. That's how I have Rick wrapped around my little finger."
"Rick?"
"You know...one of the classmates I introduced you two on your first day at my school?"
"Oh, yeah! Right!"
(Sorry, if you don't understand, people. Cut scene. Let me know if you wanna see it sometime.)
Suddenly, his thought of his current dilemma snapped back into his thought processes.
"Wait a minute! Stop, you're changing the subject! Anyway, how do you expect me to get back? I already told you, I don't have enough for bus fare...!"
"Then I'LL give it to you!" May declared.
"But...but..."
"No buts! You're getting on that bus and you and Kari are gonna become friends again! And I'm coming, too!"
T.K. sighed once again. (Boy, he's been doing a lot that lately, hasn't he?)
May tossed her now empty milk bottle into a small recycling bin, as she watched T.K. grab his hat from the kitchen table and head out of the room.
"All right, May...you win. I'll go get Patamon...I'm sure he misses the others, too."
May nodded with a very determined look on her face.
*********************
It was pretty dark inside the Digimon Emperor's fortress as Kari (and her two friends) walked through the narrow corridors.
"Wizardmon, I think we'll need a flashlight. It's too dark in here!" Kari complained.
"Worry not, Kari. Your eyes should adjust to the darkness soon enough," Wizardmon said in a soothing voice.
Gatomon tried to "shush" Kari. "Let's try to be quiet...you wanna get us all..."
But the conversation was cut off as the hall soon became filled with digimon guards. Not exactly a whole army, but more than enough to cause trouble.
"...caught?"
Meanwhile...
Yolei kneeled down near the Elecmon, and gently nudged it. The Elecmon began to stir and half-opened its eyes.
"Wha...!"
"Easy! Easy...we're here to help..." Yolei tried to say in a gentle tone.
"So what exactly went down here? C'mon, spill and tell!" Davis said impatiently.
"Davis, be quiet!" Yolei hissed.
The digimon struggled to respond. "It...it was...the Emperor...the Digimon Emperor...he attacked us..."
"Go on..." Cody said.
"We...we were completely unprepared...it all happened so fast..."
"Man..." Davis said, almost growling. "When I get my hands on that Ken, I'll show him 'fast'!"
Cody and Yolei kept listening as the Elecmon continued his story.
"But before he left...he said something to us..."
"Oh, yeah? Like what?" Davis asked.
"The Digimon Emperor...gave us orders..."
"Orders? What kinda orders?" asked a nervous and somewhat suspicious Yolei.
"He told us...to take care of YOU!"
"Huh?!?" the three kids went in alarm.
Immediately, the Elecmon got up off the ground and its eyes glowed a terrifying blood red. Through the fog, their digimon came running back towards them in a panic.
"Cody!" yelled Armadillomon. "Somethin' doesn't smell right here, and it isn't Veemon's breath!"
Cody would have replied, had his mind not been preoccupied with the fact they were pretty much surrounded by many other (now) red-eyed Elecmon standing up like possessed zombies, ready to fight.
And around some part of their bodies, was a dark ring.
Yolei and Davis watched in horror as the fog cleared to reveal yet another control spire.
"Wh...what's going on here?!?" Yolei almost shrieked.
"I think it's something called a 'trap', Yolei," Davis sarcastically replied. "And we're smack dab in the middle of it!"
"It gets worse, Davis! Look!" Veemon pointed at both ends of the horizon. At one side was Shellmon, returning for a second round, no doubt. And on the other side of the battlefield? Nothing much. Just a fierce, wild Tyrannomon.
The three Digidestined went back to back with each other, as did the digimon.
Man, Davis thought. It goes without saying that we need major help! I hate to admit it, but we need T.K.! If there ever was a time we needed him and Kari...this is it!
*********************
"How long will it take to get to your old school?" May asked T.K. while they rode the bus.
"I think it'll take a little under half an hour-"
"HALF AN HOUR???" Patamon almost yelled from inside T.K.'s backpack. "I'll be OLD then!"
May giggled at the little digimon's attitude. Thankfully, there were only two other people on the bus (not including the driver), and they hadn't heard Patamon's little outburst.
"Patamon, you think you could yell any louder? I'm not sure everyone for the next five blocks heard you!" T.K. hissed.
Patamon and T.K. started glaring at each other.
"Well, gee...I'm not sure T.K., let me try-"
"THAT won't be necessary," May interrupted, quickly covering Patamon's (sometimes) gigantic mouth with her hand. "Let's just stay focused on our current agenda, okay?"
T.K and Patamon both nodded.
*********************
"Get back, Kari! Just lemme digivolve, and I'll-"
"No, Gatomon! We have to save your strength for the Emperor!"
Gatomon thought for a second. "Okay, then. In that case...!"
Kari and Wizardmon weren't exactly sure what their feline friend was planning but it all came clear as they both heard-
"LIGHTNING CLAW!!!"
Needless to say, Kari was impressed by Gatomon's strength, confidence, and resourcefulness. With just a few scratches, slashes, and swipes from her claws, the guards laid on the floor in an unconscious heap. Gatomon smiled at her work.
Kari lightly clapped for her friend's small victory. "Awesome, Gatomon!"
"Heh, wasn't so hard...didn't even break a sweat," Gatomon replied confidently.
Wizardmon moved...er...floated(?) towards Gatomon to congratulate her, as well.
"Most impressive, Gatomon! I truly commend your efforts from the bottom of my heart."
Gatomon just laughed nervously laughed and scratched the back of her head.
"Aww...I didn't do THAT much..."
"You haven't changed a bit," complemented Wizardmon. "You're just as strong as the time I first met you...then again maybe stronger."
Gatomon couldn't anything but gasp a little and let a small crimson streak "infect" her cheeks.
Kari noticed this decided to tease her digimon a little. "Hmm...Gatomon, are you actually blushing?"
"Huh?!?"
"Hey...I think you are!" Kari said in a half-mocking voice.
"B...be quiet!...I am not!"
Naturally, Kari had to laugh. "C'mon...let's keep moving."
*********************
"DIGI-ARMOR ENERGIZE!!!"
With three simultaneous shouts of those activating trigger words, the Digidestined's digimon began to digivolve into their armored forms. Veemon grew into the fiery Flamedramon, Hawkmon became the fast-flying Halsemon, and Armadillomon, the deep-drilling Digmon.
"Yolei, you and Cody handle the mob over on that side, Flamedramon and I will handle 'ol 'Shelly' here!" Davis said in partially commanding tone.
Yolei gave him a "thumbs-up" sign and nodded. "Right! Let's move it, Cody!"
"Get ready, Flamedramon! Here he comes!" Davis warned.
"Don't worry, I'll get things started up...or should I say, heated up!" Flamedramon replied, getting into the spirit of things.
Shellmon wasted no time in initiating the first shot.
"HYDRO BLASTER!!!"
Like before, a huge stream of water came shooting in their direction. But Flamedramon tried to make himself more ready for action this time. Countering with his-
"FIRE ROCKET!!!"
Flamedramon stuck out his right fist, as if he were punching. The fist glowed a bright orange, and shot out a group of heated fireballs. Upon contact with the water, the two attacks canceled out each other, creating a cloud of thick steam. It didn't take long for Shellmon to become temporary blinded. It was only then that Flamedramon fully realized the opportunity he created for himself. Quickly running behind the sea creature, Flamedramon firmly grabbed it by the horns of its massive shell.
"Get back, Davis!" Flamedramon barked out at Davis.
The cloud of steam managed to clear up just enough for Davis to see what his digimon partner was referring to.
"Ack! You don't have to tell me twice!" was all he could get out before he ran out of the way.
As soon his human friend got out of range, Flamedramon slowly picked up Shellmon (with some obvious difficulty) and hurled him into a handful of oncoming Elecmon who were coming towards him.
"Got 'em!" Flamedramon said to himself.
"Yeah, bull's eye! Nice goin', Flamedramon!" complemented Davis.
"Thanks, but it's not over yet! This is just the beginning!" Flamedramon noted.
*********************
Upon getting off the bus, T.K. felt an indescribable need to run directly into the school. He managed to locate the computer room without much difficulty, but he quickly stopped, realizing that he lost May. He briefly retraced his steps to locate her. May was on the first floor of the school, and T.K. became surprised when he found her in the empty hallway, snapping shots of the place with a camera she had brought with her. T.K. sweatdropped at the sight of this.
"May, what are doing?"
"Taking pictures of your old school. Not much to look at, if you ask me."
"Hey, this isn't a tour, y'know! Remember, you dragged me here to make up with Kari?"
"Oh, right, right! Well, what are we waiting for?"
Once again, T.K. ran up the steps (with Patamon in "tow"), while May followed. T.K. wasn't too surprised to see Izzy in the computer room, checking his friends' progress.
"AHEM!"
Izzy nearly jumped out of his seat, but smiled when he turned to the entrance of the room and saw T.K.
"T.K.!!! You...you're back!!!"
"Yeah, Izzy! Great to see ya!"
The two old friends warmly shook hands, and Izzy also greeted Patamon. Then T.K. introduced May.
"Well, it's certainly a pleasure to meet you! Are you T.K.'s new girlfriend or something?" Izzy gently mocked.
May shot him a half-smile.
"Not even close, I'm afraid. But T.K. and I have become good friends pretty fast," she noted.
"Umm...so, I guess Kari and the others are...in THERE?" T.K. asked, pointing to the computer screen.
Izzy smiled and nodded. "Yeah, right now. I take it you wanna join them? Planning to surprise them?"
T.K. smiled a little. "Something like that. Can you get me into the Digital World?"
Izzy nodded. "Sure can. But they're not all together...I received a message from Yolei that Kari split up from the others."
"Well, that's okay. I need to talk to her first, anyway. Can you find her?"
"I think so."
"Do it."
"All right, then." Izzy tapped a few keys on the keyboard, but suddenly, his smile started to droop into a half-frown.
"What's up?" asked T.K., noticing the discomfort on his face.
Izzy motioned for the two of them to take a look at the computer screen.
"Something's wrong, T.K. I've managed to pull up a gigantic overview of the area of the Digital World that Davis, Yolei and the others went. You see those yellow and orange flashing dots?"
T.K. looked at the screen (that was in some sort of grid form) and nodded at what Izzy was talking about.
"Yeah, what about them?"
"Well, those yellow ones are the humans, and the orange ones are their digimon," he said, pointing to a square on the screen. "And now, those red ones - those are wild digimon they might be fighting."
"So what's the problem?" asked May.
Izzy clicked on the mouse, moving the grid over a few spaces.
"The problem is THIS," he replied, pointing again. "Since I was told Kari separated herself from the others, I've been trying to keep tabs on her. But I've only just noticed this. There are three dots here, one orange and one yellow...no doubt that it's Kari and Gatomon. But next to them is another red dot."
"Maybe it's just a glitch," May suggested.
"I don't think so," Izzy said.
"Izzy, are you saying that she's unknowingly walking around with an evil digimon? If that's true, then you should try to send her a message or something!" T.K. exclaimed.
"I've tried, but she's entered an area surrounded by some sort of high- energy force field which is somehow preventing communication! I can't reach her!"
"Well, I've got to help!" T.K. declared. "Because something tells me that she's in more trouble than she realizes!"
*********************
"This is it," Wizardmon stated. "The Emperor's control room!"
"That door looks pretty weak," Kari noted. "All right, Gatomon...do your stuff!"
Gatomon nodded, took a giant leap towards the door, and stuck her claws out.
"LIGHTNING CLAW!!!"
The door came off its rusted hinges almost too easily, and Kari ran into the room.
"All right, Digimon Emperor! Your time's up! It's over!" Kari bravely shouted.
"Kari, this is just a guess on my part but I think you're yelling at air," Gatomon pointed out.
"What?" Wizardmon asked as he entered the room. "I don't understand this! The Emperor should have been inside this very room!"
"Well maybe he stepped out for lunch?" Gatomon half-jokingly asked.
But before anyone could say anything else, a bright light generated from the walls, and close-up images of the Digimon Emperor's face appeared.
"Hey!" Gatomon yelled. "What is this?"
"THIS is a little something I call a 'trap'! Observe!"
Before the word was out of his mouth, a giant group of the ghostly Bakemon blocked their only exit out.
"Oh, no...Wizardmon, do you know another way out of here??? You have to help us!" Kari worriedly said.
But the Emperor interrupted.
"He can't help you! No one can! The only person he's helping...is ME!"
"What the heck are you talking about?" asked an impatient Gatomon.
"Well, now...'Wizardmon'...let's show them what I'm talking about!"
Kari and Gatomon turned their heads to the poker-faced Wizardmon, and watched in horror as their ghostly "friend"...slowly morphed into a (slightly bigger) Bakemon.
"Oh, no...NO!!!" Kari shouted.
"Oh, yes...and it gets better," the Emperor taunted over the video monitor. Suddenly, another screen popped up showing Davis, Yolei, Cody, and their digimon battling for their lives.
"My...my friends..." Kari almost whispered.
"Yes," the Emperor continued. "And it's looks like they're in quite a predicament, wouldn't you say?"
"But how did you know about-" Kari began to ask.
"Wizardmon?" he interrupted. "Well, I managed to pull up some personal information files on your little cat friend, and...let's just say that a little information goes a long way."
Gatomon was seeing red.
"WHEN I GET CLAWS ON YOU, I'M GONNA TURN YOU INTO KITTY LITTER!"
Needless to say, she was so preoccupied that she was practically oblivious to the Bakemon that were closing in. But the Emperor still spoke.
"And that's just the beginning, you pitiful fools! The beginning of the end for you and your friends!"
Kari hung her head in shame and fear as the room and hallways filled with the horrifying echoes of the Digimon Emperor's howling laughter, which was full of nothing less than the sweet taste of victory.
*********************
TO BE CONTINUED... (FOR SURE!)
Well, finally finished Chapter 9, and I'm sure you all are dying to know what's gonna happen next, right? For a change of pace, could you give me longer reviews? I love to read them over and over! Thanks for all your support and...see ya next chapter! So long (for now)!
