I'm baaaack! Are we already to chapter 10? Wow... Big plot surprise awaits you at the end of this chapter. Did you just scroll down to the bottom to see what it is? Shame on you. This chapter is named after the Nickelback song of the same name. Without further ado, lets get back into the action.

Disclaimer: I don't own Digimon or any of its characters.

"Somebody run a distraction so he will let his shield down!" Tai ordered.

Shakkoumon, Garudamon, and Zudomon circled around and got behind Zhuqiaomon. They combined their attacks and fired them at Zhuqiaomon. The mega attack hit the shield, but appeared not to do any damage. "Take this!" Zhuqiaomon let the shield down and swung his talons at the three digimon. His talons never got there, as Omnimon fired his cannon arm and hit Zhuqiaomon in the back. Zhuqiaomon stumbled and fought to keep his balance.

"So far so good," Tk said.

"We've got him cornered!" Davis said, his voice oozing confidence.

"Giga Crusher!" ImperialDramon fired the cannon in his chest at Zhuqiaomon, but he had already raised his shield again.

"Everybody, attack him all at once," Izzy said. "That shield may be potent, but it can't be indestructible."

"Desolation Blast!" Zhuqiaomon lowered his shield and used the unidirectional attack that broke the Digidestined's back last time.

"Not so fast!" ImperialDramon ran up and punched Zhuqiaomon in the chest before he could use his attack. Zhuqiaomon was stunned after being hit. ImperialDramon did a three punch combo to Zhuqiaomon's face. Then, he kicked Zhuqiaomon in the gut, sending him backwards. "Positron Laser!" ImperialDramon shot his cannon arm and hit Zhuqiaomon in the head.

"That's the way!" Sora cheered from the sidelines.

The rest of the digimon lined up behind ImperialDramon. "Move!" Omnimon said.

ImperialDramon stepped to the side and out of the digimon's line of fire. The digimon all combined their attacks and fired them at Zhuqiaomon. Zhuqiaomon looked up just in time, and raised his shield. The ultra attack hit the shield and exploded. The blast was powerful enough to break through the shield. The blast managed to get to Zhuqiaomon, injuring him further. Zhuqiaomon fell and hit the hard stone floor below.

"Hold up, guys!" Tai ordered. The digimon looked over at Tai, shocked. "You heard me." Tai walked towards Zhuqiaomon with authority. Zhuqiaomon looked up and saw Tai. "Listen up, tough guy! We've got you down on your last leg, if you hadn't noticed already. I don't want to have to kill you, but I will if I have to. Now, there are two options here. First, you can peacefully surrender and give in to our demands. We are willing to spare you. Second, you can keep fighting this losing battle, and die. I don't think it's a hard decision to make. What's it gonna be, tough guy?"

Zhuqiaomon got up off the floor in the blink of an eye. "I choose neither!" Zhuqiaomon faced away from Tai and blasted the wall open. He flew through it and escaped.

Tai ran up to the hole in the wall. "Who's the coward now, you big, fat jerk!" Tai shouted so loud that it made his throat sore.

Sora ran up next to Tai and put her hand on his shoulder. "What's gotten to you?"

Tai ignored Sora and turned to the digimon. "Quick, go after him!"

Omnimon led all the digimon that could fly out the hole in the wall to go chase after Zhuqiaomon. "Wow, Tai!" Davis said. "You are the man! The way you talked to that guy was awesome!"

"It was also really stupid, reckless, and dangerous," Sora said.

"We have to stop that idiot without killing him if at all possible," Tai replied. "I was just doing my job."

Sora threw her arms around Tai. "You could have died!"

Tai wrapped his arms around Sora as well. "What could have happened doesn't matter."

The Digidestined made the long trek back outside the castle. They set all the digimon that Zhuqiaomon had been holding captive free. They gleefully ran out eerie castle, now free from Zhuqiaomon's evil rule. Some others that were loyal to Zhuqiaomon tried to put up a fight, but were dealt with quickly. Some of Zhuqiaomon's servants saw the Digidestined coming and simply ran. They got out of dodge and never showed their faces in that area ever again. The Digidestined emerged from the castle and watched as the once captive digimon ran and disappeared into the forest outside. "I can rest easy now knowing all those poor souls aren't suffering anymore," Yolei said. "The thought of them being in there going through who knows what really disturbed me."

"Relax, Yolei," Kari reassured her friend. "It's over now. You don't have to worry anymore."

"Yeah. It's nice not having that on my shoulders anymore. I just hope Omnimon and the others stop that monster!"

"I still can't believe we beat that guy without taking one hit after he ran rings around us last time," Tk said.

"It's 'cause I was here this time!" Davis joked.

"Yeah, sure it was," Cody rolled his eyes.

"I'm just glad it's over now," Kari said. "Things can go back to normal now."

"Yeah, and we can get married without any worries on our minds," Tk said, wrapping his arms around Kari.

Suddenly, Omnimon and the other digimon got back from chasing Zhuqiaomon. They landed and met back up with the humans. "I take it Zhuqiaomon got away?" Tai asked Agumon.

"He's the fastest digimon I have ever seen..." Omnimon replied. "Before I even knew what happened, he was already out of our sight. We had no idea where he went."

"Great! We did this all for nothing!" Mimi cried.

"No, we accomplished a great deal here," Tai said. "We sent Zhuqiaomon a strong message. He knows that we can beat him now. We have the advantage."

"We also freed all the captive digimon from his fortress," Ken said. "He may have gotten away, but his operations here have been brought to a halt."

"Speaking of his fortress," Izzy said. "Why don't we blow the place?"

"Why? What would that accomplish?" Kari asked.

"He won't have any place to come back to," Tai said. "Besides, our message to him gets all the more powerful."

"What if there's somebody still inside there?" Sora asked. "If we destroyed the place while innocent digimon were in there, I wouldn't be able to live with myself."

"We can go inside and scout the place to make sure that no more digimon are inside," said MegaKabuterimon.

"Do it," Tai said. "I've had about I can stand of this place."

All but Omnimon and ImperialDramon de-evolved back into their rookie forms and started clearing the castle. Several minutes later, the came back out. "We checked every inch of the place," Biyomon said. "The whole place is abandoned. It's safe to destroy it."

"Good," Tai said. "Anybody who isn't Omnimon or ImperialDramon, back away from the castle. A bunch of debris is about to fall." The Digidestined and their digimon started walking away from the castle. "Okay, guys, go do your thing." Tai walked away as well.

"With pleasure," ImperialDramon said gleefully.

"Giga Crusher!"

"Supreme Cannon!"

Omnimon and ImperialDramon fired their attacks into the base of the castle. The attacks themselves didn't destroy the castle, but where they landed blew away a lot of the load-bearing structure. With nothing to hold it up, the castle started collapsing and fell to the ground. Some of the Digidestined shouted with joy as they watched the castle come falling to the ground. Dust flew up into the air for many miles. The Digidestined covered their mouths to make sure they didn't breathe in the dust. Omnimon and ImperialDramon caught up with the rest of the team and de-evolved. After several minutes, the dust finally cleared, revealing a large pile of debris that used to be Zhuqiaomon's castle. It was difficult to tell that all the rubble was once a really tall building. The Digidestined jumped with joy at the sight.

"That's what happens when you mess with the Digidestined!" Davis cheered.

"Zhuqiaomon will think twice before he tries to pull that again!" Armadillomon said.

"Great work, team," Tai said. "We brought Zhuqiaomon's empire down to the ground. Literally. And this sector of the Digital World is better for it." Tai started pacing as he addressed the group. "This isn't over yet. Not at all. Zhuqiaomon is still out there somewhere. He hasn't given up. If we don't watch out, he will try to rebuild. We can't allow him to do this. All our work will have been for nothing. Some time later, we will come back and either finish him off or convince him to see things from our point of view." Tai stopped pacing and faced the group. "But that's for another day. Right now, lets enjoy the victory."

The Digidestined and their digimon partners were smiles all around. They went to the nearest T.V. and returned to the Real World.

Zhuqiaomon flew as fast he could. He didn't stop to look behind himself. He knew that he had probably lost those fools, but he could chance that they were still back there. Finally, he got tired. He looked around and noticed he was in one of the Digital World's many deserts. Below him was a canyon. Zhuqiaomon flew down into the canyon and landed. The sun was starting to set, and was making some shade down in the canyon. Zhuqiaomon took cover in the shade. Several hours had passed. The sun had long since gone down. There was no sign of the Digidestined. Zhuqiaomon assumed that he was in the clear. Foolish humans! I should go into the real world and destroy them for a transgression such as this! I am royalty! All should bow down before me! I am royalty!

Zhuqiaomon's thoughts were interrupted as he thought he heard voices. "Who is there!"

Several of the servants that had fled from the castle when the Digidestined were freeing the slaves appeared. "It is us, lord!" said an IceDevimon. He appeared to be the leader of the digimon.

"My servants! You found me."

"Of course, lord. We are loyal to you. We will follow you to death!"

"How did you escape?"

"Those foolish humans were too lazy to finish us off. We ran away to come find you so we could plot revenge!"

"They freed the slaves?"

"Yes, lord. Even worse, they destroyed your fortress!"

"My holy castle has been destroyed!"

"Yes, lord. They destroyed it."

Zhuqiaomon got insanely angry at the news of his castle being destroyed. "It does not matter. We shall start anew. I will show those humans what happens when you mess with me!"

Little did Zhuqiaomon know, a Lobomon that was claiming to be loyal to him was actually an informant working for the Digidestined. Tai knew that Zhuqiaomon was going to get away after he escaped from the castle, so he approached the Lobomon with an offer. Lobomon couldn't refuse Tai's offer to help the Digidestined find Zhuqiaomon and finish him off for good. Lobomon would report to the Digidestined as soon as it was safe and let them know where Zhuqiaomon's new hideout was.

The next day, Kari hurriedly made her way to the park. Tk called her on the phone and told her to come see him as soon as possible. She couldn't help but wonder if something was wrong. Kari didn't pay attention to where she was going and almost bumped into several people on her way to the park. Her mind was racing a mile a minute. Finally, she made to the park. It was unusually crowded. Kari had to wade through several throngs of people. She looked around, but couldn't find Tk. Finally, she spotted him next to the other entrance to the park. "Tk!" Kari carefully ran over to Tk, making sure she didn't run into any of the other people.

Tk looked up at Kari. His expression was one of uncertainty. "Oh, hey, Kari."

"You said you wanted me to meet you here?"

"Yeah..."

"Well, what's this all about?"

Tk opened his mouth to say something, but closed it right back. How should I say this?

Kari tilted her head to the side in confusion. "Is something wrong?"

Tk heaved a heavy sigh. "You know what, it's nothing. I shouldn't have called you here. This was stupid."

Tk turned to leave, but Kari put her hand on Tk's shoulder and stopped him. "Tk, I went through a lot to get here to talk to you. I got cussed out at least ten times on the way here because I walking really fast and wasn't paying attention to where I was going, only for you to tell me it's nothing? What's going on?"

Tk sighed again. He turned back around and faced Kari again. "Um... Kari..."

Kari put her hand on her hips and started tapping her foot. "Yeah?" Tk was really starting to test her patience.

Tk looked down at the ground. He couldn't muster up the courage to look Kari in the eye right now. "I think that we should call the wedding off."