Dawn broke slowly over the trees, letting rosey light into the clearing where the group was sleeping. Nekomon was curled up next to Tiffany and the other digimon were sleeping around them. Only Gatomon and Veemon were up, listening to Austin's loud snores.
"Does Austin always snore like that?" Gatomon asked as she watched the sunrise.
"Every night." Veemon sighed.
"How do you sleep?"
"I don't."
As they stared at the sky, they saw five shapes flying away: Kitty and Leodramon, TK and Pegasusmon, Jeanna and Mechaneodracamon, and Tentomon.
"I wonder where those guys are going." said Veemon.
"I still think we should have told the others before we left." Submarimon said. Mimi, Rikumon, and Dakota were inside him, cutting through the river right below the twins.
"It might be none of my bee's wax, but why didn't you tell any of the others to come with us?" asked Tentomon.
"I didn't want to leave to leave Kari, Megan, and Tiffany alone anymore. Austin will understand." said TK.
"Um...wouldn't it have been better to bring him with us if their well-being is what you're worried about?" Kitty pointed out.
"What? You think Austin is going to make a move on them? Please."
"Whatever you say, TK. Whatever you say."
"I'm just glad I'm not going to have to be the one to tell him." said Tentomon.
Kari, Bethany, Sam, and Megan were now awake and moving about. Hawkmon was munching on an onigiri while Gatomon, Houndmon, and Puppymon looked at the communicator over Kari's shoulders.
"It says they've figured out where the Emperor's base is." Kari informed them.
"Impressive." said Bethany.
"I see." said Megan. Sam shook her head. Tiffany wasn't going to like that the group had split up.
"ARGH! I can't believe they all left without me!" Austin shouted.
"Oh, quit whining." Austin snapped, "I'm here, aren't I?"
"And I'm here, too." Ashley pointed out.
"No body wants to hang out with me." said Austin.
"Well, it could be your snoring." Veemon said.
"Is it finished yet, Master?" asked Wormon. They were in the screen room of the base. The Digimon Emperor was staring at the screen in front of him.
"Not quite." said the Digimon Emperor, "I still have a few minor details. Should he have four arms or six? Descions, Descions." He picked up a cup of tea and slurped noisly.
"We're getting an update from Kari." Izzy informed Tai and Matt.
We know where the Digimon Emperor is headed.
The boys were clustered around a picnic table at their campground. Izzy was in the middle, his yellow and white laptop in front of him. There was a large cabin a little off where they were staying.
"Do any of you know how to catch a fish?" Mr. Ishida called. He was on the bank of the river, looking morose. When no one answered, he muttered, "I wish I had a TV dinner."
Back in the real world, Meg was trying to find out where Matt was. She crossed a busy street with a crowd of people and began talking to herself:
"Okay, all I have to do is catch the bus to the campsite and Matt."
Minutes later, she saw on the bus. It honked loudly and with an exhalation of gas, pulled from the station.
"Wait!" June cried, running after it, "I want to ride the bus!"
"Do you think we should have told the other three we were leaving?" asked Megan. Kari was riding Nefertimon, rising into the sky. Bethany was riding Goldenwolfmon, Sam was riding Gargoylemon, and Megan was on her digimon.
"Austin won't like it." said Austin.
"They'll understand." Kari said.
"Why is everyone leaving?" Davis shouted. He was onboard Raidramon, who had to stop at the water's edge, "Is it my snoring?"
"What happened to sticking together?" Azukia shouted after the disappearing shadows after she and Nigeriamon had trundled up to the shore, "Tai said to stay in a group!"
"Well, we probably would have just held them back." said Ashley, once she and MetalCosmon had made it to the group. Seeing as Ashley couldn't ride her digimon, it took her a bit longer, "We can't fly."
"We've been searching for hours and haven't seen a thing." said Pegasusmon.
"No sign of the Digimon Emperor." Leodramon agreed.
"And his ego should be able to be seen for miles." Jeanna pointed out.
"I'll check with Dakota and see if they've seen anything." TK told them.
"What did TK say?" Submarimon asked.
"He says they haven't seen anything from up above." Dakota answered.
"Well, we haven't seen much of anything, either." said Mimi.
"Except seaweed." Rikumon added.
"Maybe we should turn back." Submarimon said. It was then that Dakota noticed something. The "rock" they were swimming past wasn't a rock. It looked like one, but had a metal circle on the bottom.
"What is that?" Dakota asked.
"Let's dig in for a closer look." Submarimon suggested, swimming around it, "This thing is huge! It makes Texas look like Rhode Island. It has to be the Digimon Emperor's base."
"I'll let TK know we found it." Dakota said, reaching for his communicator.
"Dakota!" Mimi gasped, tugging on his sleeves and pointing at the rock. There was a large hole in the wall.
Found base. Will sneak in through underwater cave.
Dakota
"Dakota says they're going to try and sneak in through an underwater cave." TK told Kitty, Leodramon, Pegasusmon, Mechaneodracamon, Jeanna, and Tentomon.
"That sounds kind of dangerous." Tentomon said, "Maybe they should wait."
"I know Dakota doesn't mind the water as much now that he's got Submarimon, but he really needs to cool his jets." Kitty remarked.
"TK, look." Pegasusmon said. TK looked down into the ocean. A massive whirlpool was starting to spin, the surface of the water churning.
"Oh no!" Tentomon gasped, "Dakota, Mimi, and Rikumon will be sucked right in!"
"Hm. Looks like it's finally here." The Digimon Emperor said. A gridded map was on his screen and little symbol now filled one of the white boxes.
"What's here, master?" asked Wormon, "A new way to hypnotize your slaves?"
"No, you fool. You might call it a gateway into the source of the powers of darkness. But for simplicity's sake, let's just call it the Dark Pool. I think it's caused by an evil digimon, and if I can tap into it's powers then I'll have everything I need to complete my very own Digimon."
"Please, Master," Wormon implored, his blue eyes wet with unspilled tears, "Don't do it."
"What are you talking about?" The Digimon Emperor asked, turning slightly in his chair to glare at Wormon, "Of course I'll do it."
"But it feels like evil itself is coming from that dark pool. You can't feel it because you're not a digimon."
"Don't be ridiculous. I'm not going to stop my master plan because of a silly feeling of your's!"
"But on the evil scale one to ten, that dark pool is REALLY evil."
"Heh. Fine. Then you stay away from it. In the mean time, I've got things to do." He got up and strode towards the door. Wormon scuttled after him and grabbed his leg.
"Please don't ignore me."
"Oh, I'm sorry." Chris said, looking down at the green digimon, "How's this?" He kicked Wormon, who skidded a few feet across the floor.
"A huge whirlpool?" Nefertimon asked. Kari and her group had apparently got the message, "And Dakota, Mimi, Submarimon, and Rikumon are inside?"
"We've got to warn them." Kari said, "Try to tell them with D3."
The group of digimon, riders, and Tentomon were soon off. At that point, Kari e-mailed them back.
"Don't you think I've tried that already?" TK grumbled, "Something seems to be blocking the transmission."
"Well, we're here." Tentomon said, staring downward into the depths of the ocean, "We might as well do something."
"Tentomon's right." Mechaneodracamon said, "We're running out of time."
"You're right." said TK, "Hey...are you guys feeling okay?"
"Well, now that you mention it, I may be getting a bug, but other than that, I'm fine." Tentomon answered.
"I do feel a little...different." said Leodramon.
"There's certainly something amiss." Mechaneodracamon said.
"I am feeling a little strange," Pegasusmon admitted, "How about you, TK?"
"I'm not really sure..." TK said, trailing off and staring into the swirling chasm below. Somewhere near the end, it turned shadowy and dark. TK blanched, "I feel kinda weird."
Dakota, Mimi, and their digimon were inside the base. They were now running up a very long set of winding stairs. Armadillomon was panting.
"I'm tired. Haven't they heard of escalators?" He demanded.
"I don't think the Death Star is SUPPOSED to have escalators." Rikumon said.
"We're not in Star Wars, you two." Mimi reminded them. She and Dakota stopped at the first doorway. It had no door at all and was emitting some strange, pink-orange glow.
"Woah..." Dakota said.
"My thoughts exactly." said Armadillomon.
"Are you sure we're not in Star Wars, Ashi?" Rikumon asked. In the middle of the room was an absoulte enormous metal object.
"It must be the engine room." Mimi said.
"I say we destroy this place once and for all." Armadillomon said.
"We will," Dakota assured him, "But first we're going to look around."
"Alright. You're the boss."
"Hey...do you guys think it's kind of cold in here?" Rikumon asked suddenly.
"Now that you mention it, I am sorta chilly." Armadillomon said.
"I'm not particularly cold." Dakota said. Mimi shook her head.
"That's weird. I just can't seem to warm myself up." Rikumon said, wrapping her wings as close as she could to her body.
"The chill of evil is in the air." Armadillomon said, rubbing one arm with the other.
"You know what this place needs? More window space." A large hole opened in what was apparently the front of the base and the Digimon Emperor's voice came floating through it. A line of windows was revealed. The Digimon Emperor was looking through them, Wormon by his feet.
"Please, Master," Wormon pleaded, "Why don't you ever listen to me? Okay, you never listen to me. But please, just this once, do what I ask? Don't do it."
"Hm...I'm sorry; I wasn't listening. Did you say something?"
The base began to move forward just as TK, and Kitty soared above it.
"Look!" Tentomon cried, "It's on the move!"
"And heading for the whirlpool." stated Pegasusmon.
"Oh no! Dakota!"
"We're moving." Mimi said. They were now in a dark corridor lined with cages.
"Armadillomon, look." said Dakota. He pointed at the cages. Inside were tons of digimon, all looking out at the two humans and their obviously tame digimon, "This place is like a prison."
"There's a Floramon and a Mushroomon!" Rikumon said.
"This must be the place where the Digimon Emperor keeps his slaves." Dakota said, "I guess you guys didn't have a very good lawyer."
"So what are we gonna do about 'em?" asked Armadillomon.
"This is more important than the engine room." Dakota said, "You two better Armor Digivolve and break the bars open."
"Now that's a good idea." said Rikumon.
"Digi-Armor...huh?" They stopped in the middle of their sentence, staring up at a tile in the ceiling. Instead of the green-grey stone the others were, it looked like it was made of...a whirlpool, "What is that thing?"
Rikumon and Armadillomon began to shiver again.
The Digimon Emperor chuckled. An arrow was pointed directly at the whirlpool symbol on his screen.
"Now. Into the Dark Whirlpool." He began to laugh like crazy and then suddenly stopped, "Oh, it's no that funny."
Meg had hitched a ride with a nice old couple with a nice red convertible.
"Thanks grandpa," Meg said from the back, "I can't believe they left without me.
"So, you're going camping?" Meg's grandmother asked, "That's nice. We used to do lots of camping, didn't we dear?"
"Yeah, until that time I used poison ivy intead of toilet paper."
"Austin what ARE you doing?" Tiffany demanded as she watched Austin tilt his head as he stared at a palm tree for the seventh time in about three minutes.
"Thinking about how we could make a canoe out of this tree." Austin said.
"Great! How are we gonna do it?" Veemon asked.
"First we push this tree down," Austin demonstrated.
"I don't think-" Ashley began. The tree fell foward with a clunk, "...that's going...to...work."
"A little too hard." said Nekomon.
"Beats a canoe!" Austin said, "Ah...smell that salt air!"
"Hey Austin?" Veemon said, "How come we're on land...and I'm sea sick?"
The Digimon Emperor's massive base slid slowly out of the water to protrude from the edge of whirlpool.
"That's the biggest mobil home I've ever seen." Tentomon exclaimed, "It must be impossible to find parking."
"Come on guys!" TK said, "We've got to find the cave Dakota and Mimi used to get in."
"They might be in trouble." Kitty agreed.
Their digimon started the swift descent towards the headquarters. As they got closer and closer to the bottom, grey shapes began to rush around, moaning eerily.
"This place is evil!" Jeanna said, burying her face into her digimon's scarf, "What are those things?"
"Don't pay attention to them; they're just trying to scare you." said Mechaneodracamon, "They live in the dark whirpool and feed off fear." TK and Kitty stared, memsmerized by the dark swirling.
"Don't look at it." Leodramon commanded. The twins blinked and looked away.
"Can I come sit with you?" Tentomon asked.
"Look! This has to be the cave!" TK said. Sure enough a black cave worked its way inside the rock shell of the Digimon Emperor's fortress. Without another word, the three Digi-Destined and their digimon went inside.
"Hm..." The Digimon Emperor said as he watched the whirlpool outside.
"Master, are you alright?" asked Wormon.
"Never better. Initiate the attack!"
Three mutated human-robots shot out of the base. The first one froze suddenly in the air and, screaming, plummeted to its death.
"What's going on?" The Digimon Emperor demanded as the other two similarly fell out of sight, "They're gone! How'd that happen? Sector A, report!...Sector B, come in! Sector C!...Where IS everybody?"
"They were never very good at spelling." Wormon sighed. The Digimon Emperor growled and spun around, marching towards the door, "Where are you going?"
"If you want something done right, do it yourself."
Digmon was drilling with all his might at the hinges of another cage. Mikarimon was slashing at the cell next to him with her massive sword. The dark corridor behind them was littered with barred doors.
"This one's stuck." Digmon complained. Then the door fell with a clank onto the stone floor, "Nevermind."
"Dakota!" TK cried as he, Kitty, and Jeanna ran towards him and Mimi.
"Hi guys." Dakota said as they appeared, "I'm glad you're here. We were just setting these captive digimon free."
"Oh, why didn't you say so? That's my specialty." Tentomon said and then flew off to join Mikarimon and Digmon in blasting open the cells.
TK, meanwhile, had been staring at the tile in the ceiling through which the whirlpool outside could be seen, "I can just tell...there's something out there."
With a screech of metal against stone, the Digimon Emperor shot out of his base riding the last of his human-robot digimon. Once in the air, he fell towards the center.
"Master, please come back." Wormon pleaded over the intercom, "You don't know what's out there."
"Quiet!" The Digimon Emperor snapped.
The monitor now showed a black, horned man-like digimon with red eyes. TK blanched.
"Devimon?"