A/N: Hey everyone, things have been very hectic for the past few months. I hope you enjoy the chapter regardless.

Disclaimer: I don't own digimon

Breadth of Evil

"Dad, breakfast is ready!" Matt called out, knocking on the door to his dad's bedroom. "It's er... nothing fancy, y'know!"

There sounded like a mad scrambling from behind the door. Matt barely had time to blink before the door swung open, revealing Hiroaki dressed rather unusually.

"Wow, looking sharp," Matt commented, a sly smile snaking across his face. "What's with the suit?"

"I-I always wear a suit for work!" Hiroaki said hastily, quickly walking past his son.

"No, you always wear a shirt and a tie," his son corrected, following after him. "Sometimes the shirt's even washed!"

"Very funny," Hiroaki said, as they entered the kitchen and sat down to begin with their breakfast.

The familiar silence in which they always ate breakfast soon enveloped the table. Hiroaki looked up at his son, only to see the boy studying him intently, suspicion clear in his blue eyes. Hiroaki swallowed his mouthful.

"So er..." he began. "How's your 'Digimon' thing going?"

Matt's eyes widened in surprise at his dad. He slurped up the solitary noodle dangling out of his mouth and nearly choked in his haste to answer.

"Well... it seemed to go well," he said cautiously. "Izzy said he found some useful info from that sphere and the tablet. He wants us to meet up later so we can discuss it. Um, Tai said that Kari, Tk and the others want to go Spire Hunting, which I guess is good too..."

Hiroaki caught his son's worried gaze and smiled.

"As long as you're all being careful," he said reassuringly. "I wouldn't want to lose my son's incredible cooking skills after all!"

Matt stared at his father for a moment before chuckling.

"Ha-ha," he said, smiling. "Nice try, but you're not going to distract me."

Hiroaki blinked, smile frozen on his face.

"Huh? Distract you?"

"It was smart, but I figured it out," Matt claimed smugly, folding his arms as he leant back.

Hiroaki's smile became a little more forced.

"F-figured what out?"

"It's a date isn't it?"

"... what?!"

"The fancy suit, the different time, it all adds up. You have a date after work!" Matt's excitement seemed to grow. "I'm right aren't I?"

"Is it really that hard to believe I just wanted to look nice for a change?!"

"You're a complete slob! Of course it is!"

"I can't believe this... My own son calling me a slob!"

"You say I'm a slob all the time!"

"Get ready for school you brat."

Hiroaki stood up and deposited his empty bowl in the sink. He then walked towards the front door as Matt grumbled about washing the dishes under his breath. Hiroaki opened the door and took a step forwards.

"I mean it though, Yamato," he said, standing in the door frame. "I might not understand much about this sort of stuff, hell I don't think anyone truly understands much about this, but I do know that it's something you have to do.

Matt stood motionless by the sink, staring at the back of his father's head.

"Dad..."

"Be careful, alright? Take good care of your brother, both there and here you understand me? Stay vigilant and don't trust anyone."

A cold feeling began to seep through Matt. He could only see his father's silhouette, framed by the light from the morning sun rising over their apartment building.

"I'm so proud of the both of you."

The door slammed shut and Matt was left alone.

Fire burst forth from the ground and streaked high in the sky like a shooting star. Far above the metal spires and uncaring landscape; it seemed to defy the lifeless colour of the world around. They stared as it hung there, suspended for one impossible moment, before it was consumed by the fading twilight of the digital world and everything became dark once again.

It was beautiful, in its own way, how such a thing could happen, even if it was only through the pain of innocents. Wiping away some of the perpetual sweat on his forehead, Gomamon turned his eyes away from the sky and continued to hammer into the cold rock along with his fellow prisoners. The chains around his paws only made the task harder, but it was futile to try and fight their jailors, at least for the moment.

He glanced down the cliff he was mining, down below where even more digimon were working. Except from this angle he could clearly see the rings around their necks, as well as their glowing red eyes. No amount of fire arcing across the fire could cause them to waver, not even slow down their methodical swinging.

Gomamon shivered and averted his eyes. It was like they weren't even truly alive anymore.

Some tactical sense had rubbed off on him from his travels and he knew when it was best to fight and when it was best to simply wait. It had been him making the wrong choice that had trapped him in this situation in the first place.

He sometimes forgot he was alone now.

Gomamon's arms ached like they had never done before as he once more forced the pickaxe into the rock below. Again and again and again. The little groove he'd been working at for the last couple of hours was only a slightly larger than before

There was a rumble far below his feet and the ground shook. Gomamon looked up just in time to see it. From the hole where the fire had spurted, bellowed instead a thick, toxic smoke. Unlike the fire, this stayed low, making its way down the mountainside to sweep over all of them.

"Incoming!" Gomamon hollered, holding on to a nearby outcropping of rock as best he could.

Those among him who still had the strength and will copied his movements. Only those too exhausted to move and the controlled digimon below took no heed.

It wasn't like any other smoke he had encountered. It sunk low and creeped along the ground like it was alive and wanted to swallow them all. Sometimes in his less lucid moments he thought he could see faces in approaching gloom. Numerous faces piled on top of one another with their mouths open in silent screams...

Within moments it was upon them. The rookie reeled like he had been struck over and over. Each moment was a new agony as he struggled to hold on. He could feel his claws slipping from their handhold but didn't dare open his eyes. He'd made that mistake once and hadn't been able to see for hours afterwards.

The smoke continued to blow past them for a few more agonising seconds. Gomamon felt a strong pull on his left arm and nearly lost his grip. His claws began to slide down the rock. He was going to fall!

Then it stopped.

Gomamon fell back onto the rock and scrambled up on top of it.

Waiting for one more cautious moment, he slowly opened an eye. Upon seeing the coast was clear, he tugged lightly on his chains. Upon receiving answering pulls he allowed himself to relax a little. No-one had been blown off the mountain this time.

He had to admit, sometimes he regretted mouthing off towards the Emperor's minions so often. Maybe then they wouldn't have placed him among the captured champions and forced him to do as much work as they do.

Gomamon just laid there on the ground and tried to regain his strength. Through the rocks he could still hear the ever present impact of the digimon below, slowly grinding their way through the mountain.

There were less of them now.

He had no idea what they were doing here. Were they building something? Were they looking for something? Was this entire place just built to torture them? He had never realised, never even imagined that a human could be so cruel. It hurt him in ways he couldn't even describe, that this would be the first experience with humanity that many digimon would have.

A screech from overhead forced him back onto his feet. A dark shadow swept over him as some nameless digimon flew around the mountain, ready to pluck away anyone slacking off.

"Joe..." Gomamon moaned, shivering hard. "Please help me! I can't take this much longer!"

Somewhere, not too far from the mountain, a long forgotten screen lit up.

The lights came on once again and polite applause filled the small room. Kari saw Miss Bui's beaming smile as the projector was turned off and the last of the pictures she had taken on the weekend disappeared.

"Excellent, Kari!" the photography teacher said. "Incredible photos, such beautiful imagery!"

Kari felt her face grow hot under the praise.

"Thank you, Miss Bui," she replied modestly with a small smile. "I spent a lot of time choosing the best ones."

Pride blossomed within Kari's chest, it wasn't a lie. She had really spent a long time choosing and editing the most stunning of the photographs she had taken. Her hard work was paying off so far. Even some of the older members of the club seemed captivated by her pictures, by what she was trying to express. It felt fantastic to see people take a look at the photos she had taken, at her work, and find beauty in them. She couldn't stop her smile from growing.

"It really shows, my dear," Miss Bui said, smiling back. "The balance between the light and dark in your photos is impressive, you're picking these things up very quickly. Why, with a better camera you could produce even greater pictures!"

"I- er, I'll think about it," Kari responded, looking down at the camera in her hands. "I really don't know if my parents would be willing to spend money on a better camera."

Good cameras were expensive, not like soccer balls.

"They would do well to encourage such a talent," her teacher said, not unkindly. "Anyway, where is it that you managed to take such pictures?"

That warm feeling vanished and was quickly replaced with ice.

"Those plants looked so strange and captivating. I've travelled all around the world and I've never seen them before!"

She had been careful not to show any of the photos with digimon present, or even anything that could give away she had been in another world. She hadn't realised the plants on File Island were so strange.

"Er, well, my friend has a collection of strange plants," Kari lied, forcing a smile. "And over the weekend she was willing to let me take a few pictures of them."

"Wow, you are incredibly lucky to know someone like that!" Miss Bui clapped her hands together excitedly. "The plant collectors I've all talked to are always so stingy about letting me take photographs. I'm honestly a little jealous."

Kari's hand gripped around her new digivice, at the new Digimental that now shone within it. She grimaced at the memory of Tk's face when he had seen it.

"Yeah, I am lucky..."

Well there was no putting it off for much longer. They were all supposed to be meeting up soon to talk about what Izzy had discovered from their last trip. Kari thanked everyone there profusely before quickly packing up her things and leaving the classroom. She walked slowly, consumed by her thoughts.

The late afternoon sun lit up the corridor in orange light, sending melancholic shifting and stretching across the floor. Out of the corner of her eye, Kari spotted something move.

Heart beating, she span around-

"Something wrong?"

Only for to Gatomon drop onto her shoulders from above. Kari let out a relieved breath.

"I don't know how you keep doing that," she told her partner. "You're far too sneaky sometimes"

"Well it comes with the territory," Gatomon purred swinging from Kari's left shoulder. "Can't have any humans spotting me. That would be awkward."

"There's no one here except me."

"It's also fun to scare you a little," the champion admitted with a wink, making Kari giggle. "Is something the matter, Kari? You don't normally just stare off into space like that."

"It's nothing, Gatomon."

She avoided her partner's gaze.

"Is it about the meeting today?"

Kari said nothing.

"Come on," Gatomon prompted, shaking her shoulder roughly. "Talking about it will make you feel better."

"I don't want to talk about it," Kari admitted. "Too much is happening right now and I don't want to spend all evening arguing pointlessly about what to do and get nothing done!"

Gatomon watched silently as they continued to walk down the corridor. She was close, she could feel it. There were plenty of things that had been getting on her partner's nerves lately and they settled like static across her fur.

Some things Kari would have to figure out on her own when she was ready, but other, more immediate concerns, she could have some help with.

'Maybe just a little push,' the champion thought to herself.

"Is there anything else bothering you?"

"Nothing is bothering me."

"You know I'll always be here, especially when you need someone to talk too," Gatomon said, giving her partner a pointed look. "When you need to talk about a certain blonde."

"I don't need someone to talk to!" Kari huffed.

"Oh please," Gatomon snorted, curling up on her partner's shoulder like an ordinary housecat. "You and Tk have barely spoken today, don't think everyone hasn't noticed."

"Everything's fine," Kari insisted without enthusiasm.

"Come on, Kari. I used to specialise in interrogation. Do you really think I won't get you to spill what's bothering you exactly?"

"There's nothing that's bothering me," she insisted, turning her face away from her partner. "Things between me and Tk are fine."

"Ok then," Kari could practically hear the sinister smile on her partner's face. "You've asked for it."

She slowly felt the tip of Gatomon's paw press firmly into her cheek.

"Come on, Kari. Tell me about it."

And again.

"Come oooooon. Kaaaaarrrrriiiiii."

And yet again.

"Kaaaaaaaaaaaarrrrrrrrrrrrrrrriiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii."

Another poke.

"Pleeeeaaaaaassssssseeeee. Don't brood like your brother!"

"Ok, ok!" Kari caved in, waving her partner's paw away.

"Ha-ha!" Gatomon cawed triumphantly. "I told knew you were no match for my skills."

"Whatever," Kari responded, folding her arms. "And I don't brood, by the way, I ponder. They're completely different!"

"Oh really?" Gatomon asked dryly. "Well what were you pondering then, may I ask?"

"I- it's about Tk," Kari admitted, any trace of humour dropped from her voice like a stone. "After the whole Digimental of Hope thing he's been acting distant."

"You think he's jealous that you got it and not him?"

"Maybe partly that, but I think there's something else as well," here she became frustrated. "I mean I told him that anyone should be able to use it, but he's still acting so... so weird!"

"We haven't actually tried it yet though," Gatomon pointed out. "That's just a theory. A theory you came up with only a couple of days ago."

"Well it got us out of that maze, didn't it?"

Gatomon shrugged, a rather incredible feat given her position.

"You using the Digimental of Hope got us out of that maze. Why it chose you could be another matter entirely."

"I'm sure anyone can use it though," Kari insisted. "They just have to be in the right mind-set! But Tk just won't listen."

Gatomon was silent. She slowly patted her partner's back.

Kari groaned, holding her head in her hands.

"I just don't understand him!"

"I just don't understand her!" Tk proclaimed, pacing in front of a confused Patamon and a bored looking Yolei. "I mean why did she just tell me like that?"

He stomped up and down the deserted computer room like a child. At a nearby desk, Yolei, Patamon and Poromon watched him rant and mutter, a little concerned for him.

"As opposed to telling you some other way?" she asked, lazily typing on the computer in front of her. "So she has your Digimental, what's the big deal? I have Izzy's and he's been awesome about it."

"It's just-" Tk scrambled for words. "It's personal, alright?! The Crest of Hope is a part of me. It just feels weird that someone else would have it."

"None of the others feel weird about it," Yolei pointed out. "You'd think they'd say something if they did."

"Well, none of them had another Chosen take there's," he huffed, before folding his arms and mumbling. "And you don't exactly know them either…"

Yolei snarled and threw up her hands.

"Whatever! You two have your little lovers spat! Meanwhile I'm going to be useful and try and find out where the Emperor's hiding!"

She turned back towards her computer as Tk continued to pace.

Yolei focused on tuning him out. Tonight was a rare opportunity and she wasn't going to let Tk's little tantrum ruin it. The entire Digital World was open before her. With her digivice she had free access to anyone of the numerous devices that could bring them to nearly any location they chose.

Yolei's fingers flew over the keyboard as she cycled through the monitors. Trying to catch a glimpse of any indication that the Emperor could be hiding nearby. There were just so many though; even shifting through them could take days to accomplish.

"Do you really think he'd be hiding right in front of one of the TV screens?" Poromon asked, sitting on the desk and peering up at the monitor curiously. "That doesn't really seem like something he'd do."

"I'm not looking for him directly," she scoffed, eyes never leaving the screen. "Any indication like a spire in the distance, Black Rings flying about or on a digimon. I mean come on, he's not exactly subtle. That way I can probably find out where he keeps his main base, then we can just go in there and shove his smug face into the mud!"

"A brilliant plan, if I do say so," Poromon applauded.

"Well I do like to spend my time productively," Yolei responded modestly, before turning around. "Unlike some people!"

She stared right into Iori's startled face.

"Hey Cody, I didn't hear you come in," she greeted, like she hadn't just yelled. "How was Kendo?"

"Tiring," he replied, setting his bag down. "Is Takeru still upset?"

"Is he still pacing?"

"Yes."

"Then yes."

Upamon's head poked out of Cody's bag.

"Hello!" he said cheerfully, blinking in the sudden light. "I got to try orange juice today! It was awesome!"

"Well there's more that I brought from my parent's store," Yolei gestured towards a nearby plastic bag. "Poromon and Patamon have already pigged out on most of the food though."

"I'm not a pig," Patamon mumbled, lying down and watching his partner pace on the other side of the room.

"Are you feeling alright?" Iori asked.

The little rookie shrugged.

"Well you're certainly having a better day than some people," Iori noted, before turning to Yolei. "Are we still going to the Digital World today?"

Yolei sighed.

"I should hope so," she said. "We're just waiting on Davis and Kari. You'd think he wouldn't be late, what with this being his idea and everything."

"Well, you know Davis," Iori said.

"Unfortunately," Yolei muttered, turning back to the screen as Iori shifted uncomfortably. "He's probably making us wait so he can have some 'alone time' with her."

"You shouldn't be so hard on Davis," Iori suggested. "He tries his best."

"Yeah, sure," Yolei snorted. "I don't think that muscle-head has ever worked hard a day in his life. At least not when it doesn't involve a soccer ball, anyway. Honestly, I don't know why he was even chosen as opposed to intelligent people like us."

"That's a little unfair, Yolei," Iori said sternly. "You shouldn't talk about people behind their back."

Yolei didn't respond. She was staring at the screen in shock.

"That can't be," she murmured. "Get the others now!"

Davis hummed happily as he kicked away the last soccer ball into the school's supply shed. It slammed into the back with a bang, rolling away somewhere Davis couldn't care less. He closed the door and locked it with a smile.

"You seem happy today, Davis," DemiVeemon spoke from his perch on top of his partner's head. "What's the occasion?"

"Oh nothing," he replied, walking back towards the school with an obvious swing in his step. "Nothing except Kari has a digivice just like mine now."

"Is that good?" DemiVeemon asked, confused.

"Good? It's better than good!" Davis replied, taking his partner off his head and looking at him. "It means we're going to get to spend more time together! Fighting evil and kicking the Emperor's butt whenever we want to!"

"But hasn't she been doing that anyway?"

"Well yeah, but now Kari's officially one of us," Davis explained, pointing towards himself proudly. "She's part of the new team! The new Digidestined, Version 2.0! Bigger, badder and better than ever!"

"But you're shorter than them," DemiVeemon pointed out.

"I was speaking metaphorically, you little troll."

"But I'm a digimon!"

"Yeah, you are- ugh," Davis groaned. "I nearly forgot! We're going to the digital world right after school! Yolei's going to be so mad!"

He placed DemiVeemon back on top of his head and ran into the school, making his way towards the computer room.

As he ran through the corridors, he saw a familiar figure. Davis' face lit up as he lifted his hand and called out.

"Hey, Kari!"

Kari barely had time to turn around before Davis was standing in front of her. She had to hold in her giggles at DemiVeemon, who was riding on top of him like an animal, his tiny fists full of Davis' hair.

"Perfect!" Davis cheered. "Come on, we've got to go to the digital world! Yolei and the others are waiting! We're going to kick the Emperor's butt for sure!"

"What?" Kari began to protest. "But I have a-,"

But Davis had already run past her; DemiVeemon bouncing happily on top of his head.

She stood there for a moment staring after Davis. Above, unseen by Kari, Gatomon looked down at her partner patiently. Biting her lip anxiously, Kari broke out into a sprint and ran after Davis.

Gatomon smiled and followed after her.

By the time she'd caught up, Yolei's voice was loud enough to be heard down the corridor.

"This is serious, you numbskull!" she hollered, hands on her hips. "We've got to go into the digital world now!"

"What's happening?" Kari asked, walking in and deliberately not looking at Tk. "What's with the yelling?"

"Oh thank goodness you're here, Kari," Yolei said, looking relieved.

Kari was struck at the sheer panic present on Yolei's face.

"Y-you're not going to believe this, but I saw Joe in the Digital World!"

"What?!"

"He was in trouble!" Yolei continued, looking pale. "Something was dragging him away."

"And you didn't go in and help?!" Davis yelled.

"I didn't have time!" Yolei said. "It just- it just happened!"

"We shouldn't bicker right now," Iori stated. "He needs our help."

"Iori's right. Calm down you two," Tk interjected. "We'll go in right now and rescue him."

"Then let's not waste time," Kari said, pulling out her digivice. "Everyone, come on! Let's go get Joe back!"

The train pulled into the station and Tai stepped off onto the platform. A cold evening wind swept by and he clutched his school jacket tightly. At least there weren't any giant eyes staring at him this time.

He had found himself returning more and more to Neo's house lately and wasn't exactly sure that's a good thing. Neo wasn't exactly normal, something the boy in question acknowledged, but he usually gave surprisingly good advice.

Now might not have been the best time, Tai reflected, what with Izzy being so excited to share what he had learned from their mission the other day. But this wasn't a matter that could wait. He clutched tightly at the familiar, yet still foreign device in his pocket.

Tai slowly walked the well-known path towards Neo's house and it wasn't long before he arrived.

He lifted his hand to the ring the front bell.

"I notice you didn't bring your partner this time," Neo said.

Tai turned to see Neo, in full school uniform, standing behind him with a black bag slung over his shoulder.

"Koromon decided to stay behind this time," Tai explained. "How've things been?"

Neo's lip curled.

"Pretty boring actually," he said, striding past Tai and opening the gate. "That's probably going to change now that you're here. Rei's doing some extra-curricular work at school. A friend will be dropping her off later. Until then it's just going to be you and me."

"Oh, wonderful," Tai replied smiling.

The two entered the house and went up into the Neo's room. He threw his black bag onto his bed and sat down in the chair at his desk.

"So, Yagami," Neo spoke, lacing his fingers together. "What can I do for you today?"

Tai swallowed and withdrew his hand from his pocket.

"I need you to take a look at this," he said, opening his hand and revealing Sora's digivice.

Neo peered down at the static filled screen.

"It belongs to my friend," Tai explained, filling in the curious silence. "Her partner… well we don't know what happened. I was hoping you could figure something out."

Neo gestured and Tai handed him the digivice.

Bzzzt!

Immediately there was a burst of electricity. Neo swore and dropped the digivice onto the floor.

"Whoa, you alright?" Tai asked. "I-It's never done that before!"

"Then I wonder why it did," Neo murmured, cautiously watching the device as it lay on the floor.

He seemed more curious than irritated. Even as he clenched his hand in pain, his eyes never left the device. There was a sudden light in them that Tai hadn't seen in a while. Quickly, he scooted over to his desk and opened the drawer.

He withdrew a couple of things and placed them on his desk, before withdrawing a pair of tweezers.

Carefully, he picked up the digivice and placed it on the desk right next to another familiar item.

Tai's mouth dropped open.

"That's…"

"… an 01 digivice," Neo confirmed, waving his hand as he began comparing the two. "Yes I kept mine, purely for curiosities sake, I assure you. You don't have to worry."

"No, it's not that," Tai corrected. "I was just surprised. I trust you."

Neo stilled.

"Thanks."

Silently he continued his work.

"They are very similar," he affirmed as Tai watched over his shoulder. "The inscription and the basic design seem identical, although there are some differences."

"It can't do a lot of things our original ones can do," Tai said, still eyeing the old digivice. "But once you get used to it, it's not so bad."

"That merging ability seems pretty useful though."

"Yeah, but that was hard to get."

"At least the old ones never shocked me."

"Err, sorry about that," Tai said sheepishly. "I-I don't know why it did that."

"I think you may."

"It- Gennai said that the digivices are containers of the light. And well what with your history…"

"You think it might be able to tell I was influenced by Daemon?"

"I don't know!" Tai ran his hands through his hair. "It's possible?!"

"It's something to be considered," Neo said. "I'll take a look at it later. Your friend doesn't mind if I take it apart?"

Tai winced.

"No, she won't mind."

The room became silent, with only the muted tinkles of metal on metal as Neo carefully worked on the device. Tai watched silently behind him, utterly lost at the strange mechanics and circuitry within the devices. He idly tapped his fingers against the back of Neo's chair.

"So what happened to your little plan?" Neo questioned idly, never taking his eyes off the devices. "Anything interesting?"

"Well we found the source of the Black Gears and destroyed them," Tai said casually. "Also Kari found the Digimental of Hope. She said a ghost gave it to her."

"A ghost?" Neo actually turned to give Tai a look.

"You know, the sort-of-see-through thing that haunts places?"

"I didn't know digimon had ghosts like that," Neo muttered.

"You didn't?" Tai seemed surprised. "Well I guess there are somethings even you don't know about the digital world, huh?"

"Perhaps," Neo said, disregarding the issue. "So how are the new kids coming along? Any other surprises?"

"Well, other than the whole Digimental of Hope thing, not really," Tai responded. "But that's a whole new issue. Honestly, I'm pretty impressed with them. I mean, we haven't really been teaching them or anything, what would we teach them, but they work really well together."

Tai clutched the chair hard.

"They'll make a really good team someday," he said, with a little pride. "I mean if them and Tk hadn't been there, all of File Island might have been infected with the Black Gears."

"Then it's a good thing they were," Neo replied simply. "Guess the digital world does know how to pick them."

"Yeah…"

"Oh don't mope, please. We've all had more than enough of that for one lifetime."

"W-what?!" Tai spluttered. "What's that supposed to mean?!"

"I know you're at that age, hormones and everything, but please try to stay positive. No one likes a whiner."

"You're barely older than me, you jerk!"

"Maybe physically."

"And who are you calling a 'whiner'?!"

"Well there's only two of us here, and I'm not talking to myself."

"I swear if you didn't have Sora's digivice right now…" Tai growled.

"…You'd probably whine some more," Neo finished for him absentmindedly. "Hmm, I'll need some time to go over this properly, but I think I have some good news."

"You do?"

"This digivice is clearly based on our original models and so should react similarly," he explained, holding up his own device. "Each digivice is connected to a single digimon. Once that digimon dies the device shuts off until it connects with another."

Tai nodded.

"But your friend's digivice hasn't deactivated," Neo observed, rubbing his hand. "It just can't seem to find them, but then…"

He trailed off, looking thoughtful. Tai leaned in hesitantly.

"I don't think your friend's partner is dead."

They appeared in a heap in the digital world. After disentangling themselves they quickly stood up, groaning at their aching joints from landing on the cold rocky ground.

A dirty grey fog pervaded the immediate area. All around them, long lifeless shadows of trees stretched upwards as far as could be seen. They were all ramrod straight, completely stripped of any branches and leaves.

"Which direction did you see him get dragged off into?" Kari asked Yolei.

"I-I think this way," Yolei pointed hesitantly. "Wow, this place is a lot creepier in person."

"You're not kidding," Davis agreed, shivering a little. "It's so foggy here I can barely see in front of my face!"

"This isn't natural," Gatomon declared, eyes slit. "This place smells wrong."

"I don't like it either, Tk," Patamon said, anxiously looking about. "I feel like we shouldn't be here."

"We came here to rescue Joe," Iori reminded everyone. "We shouldn't just abandon him."

"We're not going to!" Davis said, taking the lead. "Let's get going! The sooner we find him; the sooner we can get out of here!"

"Right!" Veemon agreed, marching alongside his partner.

"Hey, we should stay close together," Tk suggested. "We don't want to get lost in this fog."

"Good idea," Yolei agreed, nervously looking around.

"Don't worry, Miss Yolei," Hawkmon declared. "I swear I'll protect you with my life."

The group walked forwards; looking for any signs of Joe or his kidnapper. The ground was uneven and rocky, making progress frustratingly slow.

The trees around them never seemed to thin out, almost as if they were moving in circles. But above all there was no sound beyond the infrequent patter of their feet on the rocks.

"Did you guys see that?!" hissed Yolei. "Something moved in the fog."

"I didn't see anything," Kari responded. "Gatomon?"

"Nope," the champion replied. "I'm pretty sure there's nothing moving anywhere near us."

"I know I saw something!"

"Whoa, what was that?!" Davis suddenly yelled, pointing. "Something moved over there!"

"I don't see anything," Veemon replied, peering into the gloom. "You sure you're not imagining things?"

"Guys, what if something is closing in on us?" Iori shivered.

"I'll get em, Cody," Armadillomon said, standing protectively in front of his partner. "Just watch."

"There's nothing there," Gatomon replied sternly. "Trust me, I know."

"This isn't working," Tk said, grabbing his digivice. "Someone should fly above the fog and see if they can spot anything. Ready, Patamon?"

"Always!"

Nothing.

"Come on, digivolve!" Tk commanded, shaking his digivice. "Digivolve!"

But Patamon just stood there and shrugged his shoulders.

"Sorry, Tk," he said, his ears drooping.

"There must be a tower nearby," Kari noted awkwardly.

"Obviously!" Tk spat, glaring at his digivice as Kari backed away.

"Hey, don't talk to Kari like that!" Davis yelled.

"Oh what would you know, Davis?!"

"More than you, you asshole! Right, Kari?!"

"I," Kari hesitated, but fell silent.

"Would you just let them sort it out, Davis?!" Yolei said, pulling Davis away by his shoulder. "They need to get over this!"

"Get over what?!" Davis argued. "Tk's being a jerk for no reason!"

"Are you blind?!" Yolei yelled back. "Have you not noticed at all what's been happening?! I guess anything that doesn't involve your personal little fantasy goes unnoticed!"

"I have no idea what you're talking about, you harpy!"

"Of course you don't!" Yolei threw up her hands. "You never do!"

"SHUT UP, ALL OF YOU!" Kari roared.

She stood there panting as everyone stared at her.

"Just-, Iori have Pteramon scout things out," Kari decided. "Can you do that?"

"No problem," Armadillomon responded.

"If we find the tower we'll probably find Joe," Kari decided. "The rest of you just, leave your arguments for when we get back, ok?"

"Kari's right," Iori agreed. "We're supposed to be Chosen. Not a bunch of argumentative children."

"Joe is counting on us to get him out of here," Kari continued, before any of the others could say anything. "And we've been through too much for me to just let him die here!"

Tk visibly calmed himself down.

"Fine," he said. "I'll just stand here then."

Davis and Yolei both nodded, but refused to look at each other. There was a flash of red light and Pteramon shot upwards into the sky.

Kari felt her head begin to throb. She felt Gatomon lay a hand on her knee and gave her a grateful smile.

"Maybe we should go back," she whispered to the champion. "We're not cut out for this. We'll get Tai and the others to do something."

"It might be too late by then," Gatomon pointed out, hopping onto her shoulder. "And if there's a spire near here they won't be much help either."

"But look at us, Gatomon," Kari breathed, eyes darting around in the fog that seemed to get thicker by the second. "The others never fought like this. I might just get us all killed or captured by the Emperor!"

It was getting harder to breathe. Like something invisible was pushing in on her from all directions.

"That's not the Kari who saved us in the maze. Be strong, you're doing well. I know we can get Joe back."

Everyone was going to die. They would be lost in here forever, arguing with each other because she couldn't stop them.

"Kari? Kari, what's wrong?"

She couldn't do this, she couldn't do this, she couldn't do this, she couldn't do this.

"-ve us…"

Kari started. Her eyes darted about.

There were things. Shadows moving around them. They flitted in and out of the fog, ghostly and unseen by the others.

"-ight…"

They were turning. All looking directly at her. Countless pinprick eyes staring straight through her. They staggered closer.

"-you see…"

The whispers seemed to crawl inside her skull. Kari clutched her hands over her ears but it was no use. It was beyond noise.

"-waiting for…"

"Kari!"

Suddenly Gatomon's face was in front of her and all she could see. A soothing pink light emanated between them. Kari closed her eyes and let the warmth of her crest envelop the both of them.

As her senses returned, she became aware of something else. Something sinister flickering at the edges of her vision.

"Something's wrong with this place," Kari said, a new strength in her voice. "We should find Joe and leave as soon as possible."

"Um, Kari?" Tk spoke up.

It was then she realised that the others were all staring at her.

"Are you… alright?"

He looked so shocked, so concerned. For a moment she almost forgot she was annoyed at him.

"This place is more dangerous than we realised," Kari explained. "As soon as Pteramon returns we'll get out of here."

She still felt uneasy, but those voices… They were familiar.

The sound of powerful jet engines filled the air. As if summoned by his name, Pteramon himself landed among him.

"Pteramon," Iori greeted relieved. "What did you see?"

"We have to get out of here!" the digimon said. "Now! There's not much time! Just, get above the fog now!"

The Emperor stood on the metal walkway, proudly watching over his minion's progress as they tirelessly toiled away far beneath him.

The heat inside was incredible and the noise ungodly; but it was easily worth a short visit just to check up on the forging. It wouldn't be long now before all of the digital world was bowing before him and he chuckled at the very thought.

Next to him, the sweating and trembling form of Wormmon stood as best he could in the intense heat. He stared down at the sight below him with dread. He loved his partner, against all reason many would say, but with this latest project the Emperor's ultimate goal was finally within sight.

"Isn't it beautiful, Wormmon?" the Emperor spoke, gesturing downwards. "The perfection of the Dark Spirals was child's play compared to this beauty. Sometimes I amaze even myself."

"Master, don't you think you should be getting some rest?" Wormmon suggested gently. "I mean it'll still be here tomorrow; you don't need to stay here personally to oversee it."

As he spoke, he saw his master's fists clench and braced himself for another outburst.

"I don't need any rest," the Emperor responded, tone cold as death. "Do not presume you know what is better for me than I do again, Wormmon."

"I won't, sir," Wormmon said miserably as his master turned back towards the hell unfolding below.

At least the Emperor rarely whipped him anymore. What was once almost a daily occurrence hadn't occurred since he digivolved to Stingmon. With a heavy heart, the little rookie could admit that the Emperor respected power and nothing else.

"I'd like to see that peon stop this," he heard his master mumble, clenching the railing hard with his gloved hands.

Wormmon immediately knew who he was talking about.

The only one who had ever laid a hand on him.

He could even see the ghost of his partner's face underneath those ridiculous glasses, eyes narrowed with intense focus and teeth grinding together hard enough to hurt. If there was one thing he could thank that boy for, it was letting him see his partner's face for the first time in so long.

The sudden clanging of heavy footsteps on the walkway shocked Wormmon out of his reverie.

"My Emperor," a deep voice growled.

"What is it? Can't you see I'm busy?" the Emperor snarled as he turned towards the digimon that had just appeared.

"My apologies, but a human was found skulking in the forest."

"What?! That's impossible! How could they know? How could they get here?!"

"Maybe they used one of the gates that you missed, my master?" Wormmon suggested.

"Obviously! Now be silent!"

"We captured him and he and now he awaits processing," the beast stated.

"Hmm, where there's one insect there's usually more," the Emperor mused, an excited smile on his face. Let's go say hello to our guest. Then we'll find uproot the rock his little friends are hiding under."

His smile stretched wider.

"Activate the vent," he ordered. "Then begin the hunt."

They all stared in horror at the sight below all of them. It had been impossible to see, but now it looked so obvious.

Davis swallowed nervously at the literal forest of Control Spires that now lay underneath them all. Above the fog that permeated the area like a thick soup, the tops of the spires were the only visible part. It reminded him of old war movies; of countless rows of bayonets marching in line.

Davis steeled himself, but the forest extended as far as the eye could see in every direction. In the distance a huge shadow could be seen, it looked like a range of mountains.

He was tucked under FlyBeemon's arm along with Yolei and Veemon. Pteramon was carrying the others and they were all staring down in horror.

"Th-There's no way we can destroy all of them," Yolei realised, shivering.

"Looks like MagnaAngemon isn't coming out any time soon," Tk muttered, despondent.

There was a look in the blonde's eyes that Davis had never seen before. For the first time since ever coming to the digital world, Davis felt unsettled.

"Hey, what kind of talk is that?!" he yelled. "We'll find a way. The Emperor hasn't beaten us yet! Right, guys?"

There was nothing but silence.

"Right, Davis," Kari agreed, her voice unwaveringly steady as she glared down at the countless towers.

"Maybe we should find out where Joe is being held?" Iori suggested. "I think a fight down there wouldn't end well."

"There are digimon around the mountain," Pteramon said. "As well as some other buildings, I didn't dare get too close. If Joe was taken anywhere it would probably be there."

"Then that's where we should go!" Davis cried out.

As if it was responding to this challenge, there was suddenly deep rumbling coming from the mountain. The ground below them seemed to shake and a horrible smell filled the air.

A colossal column of fire exploded out of the mountain top. It sustained itself for several seconds, before vanishing upwards into the dark sky.

"What the hell was that?!" Yolei yelled. "Is that a volcano?!"

"I hope not," Tk said, staring at the mountain.

"Something's coming towards us!" Gatomon hollered. "We need to move!"

A shriek made them covered their ears as a long serpentine shape slithered straight towards them. It beat its wings and catapulted itself towards them. Pteramon and FlyBeemon darted to the side as it flew past.

It turned around, mad red eyes locked on to the children riding on top of Pteramon.

"WHAT THE HELL IS THAT?!" Yolei screamed as it tore after Pteramon.

"That's Airdramon," FlyBeemon explained, eyes narrowed. "He's a champion. Damn, I can't fight while holding you two!"

"Then it's up to us!" Davis declared, taking out his digivice. "Veemon!"

"About time!" the rookie cheered, leaping into the air.

There was a flash of orange light and Flamedramon appeared, brandishing his claws with a smirk on his face.

He then plummeted downwards, screaming.

"Davis, he can't fly!" Yolei stared bug-eyed after Flamedramon as he fell.

"Err…" Davis said nervously.

The armour recovered gracefully. Aiming carefully, he landed on top of one of the Control Spires and balanced himself on top.

"Didn't really think that through," he admitted, before staring upwards into the sky.

He could just barely make out Pteramon barely staying ahead of the Airdramon. It pursued them relentlessly, snapping its teeth after them.

"Hold on, guys!" he said, getting ready to jump.

He aimed carefully.

"Fire Rocket!" he bellowed.

The Control Spire exploded with the force of his leap. Flames enveloped him as he flew upwards like a burning missile.

He arced through the air and with unerring precision slammed into the bottom of the Airdramon's jaw.

The champion reeled from the surprise blow and flew off course. Flamedramon fell back down and landed on top of another Control Spire.

"That's right!" he roared out in challenge. "Do you want some more?!"

The Airdramon howled, completely forgetting about its previous target and dove towards Flamedramon.

This was a mistake.

"Missile Storm!" Pteramon cried out, missiles flying out from underneath his wings.

The missiles struck the champion from behind and he slammed into the Control Spires below. Several collapsed underneath its weight and for a couple of seconds only the sound of collapsing metal could be heard. Soon its screeching ceased and the forest became silent once more.

"Good job, Pteramon," Iori said, clearly shaken. "That got scary for a minute."

"What did I tell you, Iori?" his partner reminded him playfully. "You ain't got nothing to worry about."

"Well the Emperor probably knows we're here now," Tk noted. "Maybe we should get going?"

"Towards the mountain?" Kari clarified. "If we've lost the element of surprise then things won't be easy-,"

She stopped, staring in horror at the mountain.

"Kari? Kari what's the matter?" Yolei asked, before turning to look.

Her jaw dropped.

A vile black mist now seemed to be covering the mountain and heading towards them. It was large enough to easily clear the Spire Forest below them and was only growing larger. The cloud seemed to roll over itself like a huge wheel, relentlessly coming after them.

They hadn't seen it creep up on them, busy as they were. It bellowed like a beast as it bared down on all of them, covering every direction with a swiftness unnatural for its size.

"Hang on!" FlyBeemon yelled as he tried to fly further upwards and out of its way.

"Flamedramon's still down there!" Davis protested.

"Don't worry about me, just go!" his partner declared, looking at his partner with a grin.

FlyBeemon turned around and Davis lost sight of his partner. The sudden rush of wind forced his breath back into his mouth and he found he'd lost his voice.

Out of the corner of his eye, Davis saw Pteramon similarly flying in another direction in order to avoid the smog coming at them.

The cloud was so thick it seemed to have a physical presence. Pteramon's wing dipped briefly beneath it and the poor digimon spun out of control.

Davis could do nothing but watch as Pteramon was swallowed completely by the cloud and didn't resurface.

"NO!" he screamed, finding his breath, but FlyBeemon kept climbing.

But even now he could see they weren't going to make it.

The cloud struck them like a physical blow and the armour digimon was sent tumbling back down to the ground. Davis tumbled with him with only feeling of the armour's hand to centre him.

His eyes burned as he rolled and span around and around. He felt as if his body was stretching itself before he suddenly stopped and everything went dark.

A/N: First of all, I'd like to apologise for the delay in this chapter. Things have been so busy and then I spotted a major flaw in the plot I wrote up and had to change it, then I got even more busy, etc.

Thank you to everyone still interested in this story. I can't promise regular updates but know that it isn't abandoned. Your support does mean a lot and I'm very grateful for it.

For those of you who are interested, I'm hoping to update The Mad Professor next. So that'll be something to look forward to at some point in the future.

Anyway, please tell me what you thought.

Hope you all enjoyed!