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Welcome back, guys. Sorry to keep you waiting an extra week, but Kizuna came out and by God, my imagination caught fire. I started writing out a bunch of stuff that I wanted to happen in my version when I get to writing it. I won't spoil anything for those of you who have not read the novelization, let alone seen the movie, but I think you guys may like my version better. That's not arrogance, that's simply my opinion of the great stuff I have been writing over this last week. But now it is time to return to Attack of the Emperor.
The Digimon Emperor saga is over. What comes next for the Jedi? What comes next for Ken? Find out as we catch up with the kids.
Enjoy.
Izzy sipped the bottle of oolong tea and sighed as the dark liquid went down his throat. He was hard at work on a new program he was developing to make the communicators more effective in dead spots. It had been a month since Ken was defeated, and life returned to some semblance of normalcy for the Destined Jedi. School had started back up just in time to give them something else to focus their energy on.
One thing that had changed in that month was he and Mimi had started hanging out regularly, as she liked to put it. Izzy liked to call it her coming over and annoying him while he was working. Mimi would make comments about the messy state of his room, how tired he looked, wondering if he was eating and sleeping enough. She was practically acting like his mother, and it drove him crazy. Despite that, she would always take the time to clean up his room for him before she left. The thought of it made him feel funny inside. Come to think of it, he'd been having these funny feelings around Mimi for a while. Izzy did not know what to make of these feelings. It was so weird.
Ding, dong!
He perked up at the sound of the doorbell and went to answer it. He was not expecting any guests, so who could it be?
"Izzy, could you get that please?" his mother called. "I'm making lunch right now."
"Sure thing, Mom," he replied as he went to the door. Once he opened it, Izzy's eyes widened in surprise when he found Tai outside. Then he got a better look at him.
"Tai, you're all sweaty."
The Jedi of Courage was bent over with his hands on his knees, breathing heavily like he ran a marathon. Sweat doted his brow. He looked up and raised a finger, signaling for Izzy to give him a moment, before taking a big gulp of air. Once Tai caught his breath, his words came out in big gasps.
"She. Said. Yes."
Izzy raised an eyebrow curiously. A second later, it clicked as a smile rose up his face. He patted Tai on the back.
"You got the girl, Tai!" he exclaimed.
Those words slowly worked their way through Tai's brain before they planted themselves in it. Once they did, Tai shot straight up. His eyes shined brightly as a warm feeling of euphoria surged through his bloodstream. He had finally done it.
"I got the girl," he breathed, still finding it difficult to believe. "I got the girl."
Tai collapsed from exhaustion.
"TAI!"
"Someone had blundered," Cody read effortlessly in perfect English. His class was reading the"March of the Light Brigade" poem in class, and it was his turn to read. "Theirs not to make reply. Theirs not to reason why. Theirs but to do and die. Into the valley of Death rode the six hundred."
His teacher smiled once he finished the passage.
"Well done, Cody," she said proudly. "You did your summer homework, didn't you?"
The boy bowed respectfully. "Of course, ma'am," he replied and sat back down. "I've always had a fascination with English poetry," his eyes narrowed when Ken crossed his mind. "But a friend of mine is really what galvanized it."
The class groaned. What a suck up, they all thought. Cody glared out of the corner of his eyes as their teacher continued with her explanation. He gripped the hilt of his lightsaber tightly under his desk.
Yolei poured another test tube full of a substance into the beaker on the Bunsen burner and watched for a few seconds. The liquid inside turned a lemonade color, and she made a note of that in her notebook. Her lab partners watched curiously, which turned to concern when the lemonade-colored liquid started bubbling.
"Um, Yolei," one of them said. "Is it supposed to do that?"
Yolei looked up from her notes. Her face paled when she saw the liquid bubbling. It was not supposed to be doing that! But she didn't want them to know that so she played it cool.
"Of course," she nervously chuckled. "It's normal for it to bubble like this before it mixes together."
A purple smoke rose up. Everyone within striking distance ran away from their lab table to avoid the inevitable explosion. Yolei was too stunned to move.
BOOM!
Once the smoke cleared, Yolei's face was completely blackened from the explosion. Her glasses were covered in smoke that she could not see anything in front of her. They fell down to her nose, revealing her shocked eyes.
"Oopsie."
"Prepare to get schooled, TK. I won't go easy on you!" Davis snickered as he glared at the blonde from the other side of mid-court. It was basketball day in P.E. and he and the blonde Jedi were put on separate teams. Davis' team wore plain white shirts while TK's had red mesh jerseys over theirs.
TK chuckled and settled into position for the opening tip off. "We'll see about that, Davis," he said.
The teacher tossed the ball up. TK got a good jump and won the tip for his team. They began setting up their offense in the zone. The point guard passed off to the player next to him, who passed down low to the post player. TK made a cut from the baseline. The post player saw him and passed it back to him. TK laid it in uncontested for two points. He high-fived his teammates as they went back to the defensive zone.
Davis dribbled the ball while glancing over at the other side of the gym, where the girls were dancing. The classical music blared from that side, driving the boys crazy. Kari and a couple other girls took a break to watch the game. His eyes were fixed firmly on her, wondering what she was thinking. Maybe she was thinking he looked so handsome dribbling the ball and that he was the coolest. He was so wrapped up in his daydreams that the next thing he knew, he was dribbling air.
"DAVIS, WAKE UP!" one of his teammates yelled.
The boy snapped out of it and saw that the ball was not bouncing against his hand anymore. He looked back and saw TK standing at the other end, smirking after another layup.
"Thanks a lot, Dolly Daydream," the blonde chuckled, giving Davis a gentle smack on the butt. "I appreciate the free basket."
Davis glared back at him, gnashing his teeth angrily. On the other side of the gym, Kari and the other girls giggled at him. He rolled up the sleeves on his shirt. It was on. He took the inbounds pass from his teammate and dribbled up the floor with purpose. His teammates called for the ball, but he ignored them. His sights were set completely on TK as he drove to the hoop. He took the ball for a layup then switched hands like Jordan in the 1991 NBA Finals.
Davis tumbled painfully to the floor as the ball was swatted out of his hands. His hands and knees broke his fall as he landed on his stomach. Kari's giggles grew louder nearby as she walked back to the girls' side of the gym. Davis felt like a knife was being twisted right in his heart, his pride wounded. If Kari hadn't thought he was a clown before, she probably thought it now, he moped.
"Need some help?" TK asked, sticking his hand down for Davis to reach.
"No!" The burgundy-haired Jedi didn't give it any attention as he picked himself up. His knees each had a bruise and the palms of his hands were red from the cushioning the landing. "For your information, TK, you got away with a hard foul there."
TK scoffed. "That was all ball, baby," he smirked innocently. "I couldn't help that you didn't watch where you landed."
"HEADS UP!" Someone cried.
Davis turned around.
SMACK!
The ball bounced off his face, leaving it completely red. A drop of blood fell from Davis' nostril. His face was not only red from the ball hitting him, but also from the anger and embarrassment he felt at being humiliated.
"THAT'S IT! I'M OUT!" he roared as he stormed off to the sideline, signaling for someone else to go take his place. He plopped down on the hard court, holding a towel up to his nose to stop the bleeding.
"For goodness sake. I've got the hippy, hippy shakes. Yeah, I've got the shakes. I've got the hippy, hippy shakes. I can't stand still." Matt belted out as he picked the strings manically to get into the energy of the song. He and his band were playing a concert at the nearby convention center, and the screams filled his ears. It gave him more energy to put on the best show possible. Ever since the Emperor was defeated, he was able to focus on his band more. They had played three concerts during that month and were on a roll.
"Well, now, you shake it to the left. You shake it to the right. You're doing the hippy shake. Shake with all of your might. Oh baby. Yeah, come on and shake. Oh, it's in the bag. The hippy, hippy shake. The hippy, hippy shake." Matt finished as one final roll of the snare drum and crash of the cymbals ended the song. The audience was shrieking for more, but that was the last song for the band. They went off the stage.
Matt wiped the sweat off his face with a towel and took his shirt off. Outside, the girls were pounding at the door to try and get inside, but the security team kept them back.
"That was a great show, guys," he smiled. "Nice work."
"Yeah," said the drummer. "The girls were going nuts. Our shows have been getting better over this last month since we've done nothing but practice."
The guitarist smirked as he looked over at Matt. "That's because our valiant bass player is not skipping out on practice anymore. What happened there, Matt?"
The Jedi of Friendship laughed nervously. His band mates wouldn't believe him even if he did tell them. "It's nothing. It was just a group project with my friends, but we finished it a while ago. That's why I'm here full time again."
The others shrugged.
"I guess I can buy that," said the keyboardist. "We're glad you're back, Matt."
"Happy to be back, guys."
After another fifteen minutes, the boys emerged from their dressing room. As soon as Matt's blonde hair came out, the girls swarmed him with autograph requests. He graciously signed each one and went on his way.
"MATT!"
The blonde's face went pale. That voice. He sprinted down the hall like he was Carl Lewis, hoping to get away from her. The bus ride from Hell was still very fresh in his mind. He looked back, but the person the voice belonged to was nowhere to be found. He sighed in relief and walked normally when he was tackled out of nowhere.
"Hi ya, boyfriend!" Jun squealed as she hugged him tightly from behind. "You were fabulous today!"
"I'm not your boyfriend!" Matt choked out, feeling his ribs being crushed from her hug. "Could you please let go of me, Jun? I can't breathe!"
"Meanie," Jun whined, puffing out her cheeks. She conceded to his demands and got off of him. "I have someone that wants to meet you." Looking behind her, she said, "Here he is, Momoe. I found him."
As Matt got off the floor, another girl that looked to be the same age as Jun walked up to him. It was clear she was nervous because she rubbed her palms together and refused to look him in the eye. Her hair was brown and, he had to admit, she had a nice body. The glasses on her face were sleek and narrow. Matt realized she reminded him of someone.
"H-Hi, Matt," she said shyly. "I'm Momoe Inoue. It's nice to meet you."
Matt shook her hand. That's where she looked familiar. She was Yolei's sister.
"Hi," he returned. "You don't happen to be Yolei's sister, do you? I thought I recognized the name."
Momoe giggled. "Yes, I am," she replied. "She's my younger sister. That was a great show today. I enjoyed it."
Matt shrugged. "Well, thank you. I appreciate it."
A buzz went off in his pocket. Matt stuck a finger up to tell them to hold on before taking the D-Terminal out of his pocket. He opened it and saw a message from Tai.
We're all going to the Digital World today. Meet us at the warehouse.
'Thank you, Tai!' Matt sighed with relief. He now had an excuse to escape Crazy Jun. He typed a reply saying he would be there soon and sent it.
"I'd love to stay and chat here, ladies, but I've gotta go," he said before sprinting down the hall once again. "See you around, Momoe."
"Bye," the oldest Inoue girl waved.
Jun watched him with confusion. "Wonder where he's going in such a hurry." She shrugged. "Oh well, he'll come around eventually."
"I'm late, I'm late, I'm late, I'm late," Cody muttered as he ran down the street to the warehouse. He'd had trouble getting out of class because the teacher stopped him to commend him on his performance to start the term. While it was very flattering, it was also annoying. His friends were counting on him to be on time. He realized he was sounding like the White Rabbit from Alice in Wonderland after repeating himself a few times.
"We're late, Mr. Rabbit," Yolei joked as she joined him. "No time to say hello. Goodbye."
Cody was not amused. "That's not funny, Yolei!"
"No time for jokes, Cody. Let's go!"
"You're the one making jokes!"
The two did not stop running until they were safely inside the warehouse. The computer room door was wide open, waiting for them to enter. Everyone else was all there ready to go. Their annoyed faces told Yolei and Cody all they needed to know how they felt at the moment.
"Look who finally decided to make it," Matt glared at them.
Cody bowed apologetically. "I'm sorry," he said. "I got held up by my teacher. I have no excuse."
"Come on, Matt. Take it easy on them," Izzy said. "It's not like we're pressed for time here. We're just going back to check on rebuilding efforts. I've been in communication with Leomon and Ogremon lately, so we're going to meet with them and see what we can do to help."
Kari beamed. "That's a great idea, Izzy. After a few months of Ken's reign, and two years of civil war, there's bound to be some clean up to do. Let's go!"
Tai and Sora glanced at each other from the corners of their eyes. The Jedi of Courage blushed but didn't say anything. Neither did she as the Jedi were whisked off to the Digital World.
"You all came at the right time," said Leomon as he took the Jedi around to see the scale of destruction around Primary Village. Most of it pre-dated the Emperor's reign of terror, but was only exacerbated by his arrival. Most of the structures were damaged, but not beyond repair. "Ever since the Emperor was defeated, Ogremon and I have been leading efforts to rebuild the entire Digital World. After two years at war and the last five months dealing with the Emperor, there has been a lot to do."
"I can imagine," said Sora. The sight of damage in a place that was supposed to be as sacred as Primary Village tore her heart apart. "How has it been going so far?"
The lion warrior smiled. "I am proud to report that we are over eighty percent done with repairs, but a lot of our volunteers have been worked to the bone. We're glad you all could come."
"Happy to help, Leomon," TK replied happily.
The group soon split off into different teams to go around File Island and help lead repairs. Mimi, Sora, and Yolei stuck around Primary Village; Tai, Izzy, and Davis went across the island to the rice paddies; Kari and TK helped out at the old factory where the Jedi had found Andromon all those years ago.
TK used the Force to lift a large, heavy piece of metal and carry it over to the conveyor belt. Keeping his concentration, he put it back into place. Once that happened, the conveyor belt roared to life. TK smiled proudly, happy that it all worked.
"How's it going over there, Kari?" he called.
The Jedi of Light glanced behind her. "Going good, TK," she replied. "We're almost done." She looked down at her assistants, the Numemon. "Isn't that right, Numemon?"
"Yes!" the slugs cried out in response. They carried tools and concrete on their backs towards a broken through wall.
TK smiled at how cute she looked. Ever since he defeated Ken, TK decided to try and get close to Kari again. He had been making slow progress, but she still was not taking any hints from him. It was getting to be a little frustrating. The Jedi of Hope had started getting on edge every time she went around with Davis or laughed at one of his jokes. They trained together with Tai, so it made sense they'd be closer than before. It bothered him though.
"I don't get it," he said.
Kari looked back. "Don't get what?"
"We defeated Ken, so how are we still able to come to the Digital World?"
The Jedi of Light couldn't help but wonder as well. All this time, she thought the Jedi had been called back to restore peace by defeating the Emperor. She never thought about what would happen after they defeated him.
"You're right, it doesn't make sense," Kari said. "I'm not sure why we're still being allowed here, but it must be for a reason. Maybe there's something else that needs to be done."
"Like what?" TK asked.
"I don't know. Maybe all will reveal itself in time."
The blonde Jedi felt a dark chill run down his spine just as she said that.
Joe, Cody, and Matt went through the caves near Primary Village to see what could be done there. So far, the caves looked untouched with only a few fallen boulders scattered through the miles of tunnels. Even so, it would be messy to clean up with only one of them having the ability to move the boulders.
"I guess those boulders are not going to move themselves," Cody said, cracking his knuckles. He focused his powers into his hands and lifted the boulders up to the cavernous ceiling.
Something whizzed past his face. A jolt of pain. Cody reached up and felt a small scratch on his cheek. What was that? The slight second of deviation caused the boulders to fall back down to the ground.
"What was that?" he said.
Cody did not have to wait long to find out. The blur came back and revealed its full body to them. It was a small Digimon with a body shaped like a small hand-sized cannonball, ending in a piece of metal shaped like a lightning bolt. Its round brown eyes narrowed in contempt at him and his companions.
"Destined Jedi, go away! You're not welcomed here!" it cried, charging for them like a speeding bullet.
Joe and Matt unleashed their lightsabers to defend themselves. Cody followed after a moment of shock. The small Digimon buzzed around the cave like an elusive fly, striking the three Jedi when they least expected it. Matt and Joe were more annoyed than worried.
"I can't catch it," Matt said. "It's too fast."
"Wish you had your speed back now, Matt?" Joe joked.
"Every single day, Joe."
An explosion tore through the caves. Rock flew up from the ground and blew the three Jedi out through the mouth of the cave. Matt and Joe landed roughly on their sides, but only escaped with a few scratches and bruises. Cody got the worst of it. Blood coated the right side of his neck and a large bump jutted out from the back of his head. His leg buckled when he tried to stand up.
"Stop it!" he cried, hoping to reason with the creature. He pointed his green lightsaber at it, hoping to deter it from attacking further. "We haven't done anything to you, so stop attacking us!"
The Digimon ignored him and charged right at him, the lightning bolt on its forehead sparking dangerously. Cody brought his saber back in a defensive stance in preparation for the attack he knew was coming.
The little Digimon stopped. It hung stuck in mid-air as if gravity was blocking its forward progress. Its eyes widened with distress before being thrown like a rag doll into a nearby tree trunk. The Digimon disintegrated into thousands of data particles.
Cody gasped. Who did that? He looked around, but saw nobody. Then he felt a familiar presence nearby. His eyes narrowed slightly.
"We know you're hereā¦Ken."
The former Digimon Emperor stepped out from the foliage and stood before them. He wore his plain black yukata with sandals on his feet. The three Jedi felt their eyes be drawn to the red line on his face. It looked better than the last time they saw it, but it was still hard to look at.
Matt growled. "What are you doing here again?" He pointed his lightsaber at the boy. "If you're back to restart your empire, we won't let you!"
Ken did not say a word. He just looked at them without a hint of emotion on his face. The two sides stared at each other wordlessly. Tension filled the air. Finally, Ken bowed his head sadly and disappeared back into the foliage.
Matt frowned at what he felt was being slighted. "HEY! Come back here, you coward!" he shouted. "We're not done yet!"
"Matt," Joe grabbed the Jedi of Friendship before he could move. He shook his head with disapproval. "Now is not the time for this. Let's get out of here."
"Not the time?!" Matt glared at Joe in shock. "Joe, have you forgotten that this guy was the Digimon Emperor? He tried to kill us!"
The Jedi of Reliability stayed firm. "That is a fight for another day, Matt. Right now, we need to report this to everyone else. Okay?"
Matt took an angry breath and looked to where Ken had stood just a few moments ago. Then he sighed reluctantly. "Okay."
Cody was stunned. Ken had probably saved his life from that Digimon, but why? Why did he help him? It did not make any sense. Had Ken really changed, or did he have some kind of ulterior motive to helping him? Nothing made sense anymore.
What did Ken want? How will the Jedi respond to this? Find out on the next chapter of Attack of the Emperor.
A little short, but I wanted to kind of transition into the next saga. Hope you guys enjoyed it.
The song Matt and his band did was "The Hippy Hippy Shake" by the Swinging Blue Jeans, so the credit goes to them for it.
I promise you guys that I have all of the excitement from Kizuna kinda washed out of me now that I have all that stuff channeled. I'll have the chapters back out as scheduled. I promise.
As always review and subscribe to the story if you have not. Thank you for helping me reach the most reviews I have ever gotten for a story. You guys are the greatest! For that, you all deserve a reward. I will form a forum and you, my faithful readers, can ask me anything you want to know about me. No topic is off limits. I'll let you know when I have that ready.
See you guys next week ;-) Have a good weekend and a great week.
