The Gizamon couldn't take it anymore. They were all hoping with metal pieces on their backs, by the Emperor's orders. They were building prisons to lock themselves in, if they stepped out of line the Reaper or the Emperor's partner would attack.
A whip cracked behind them and they jumped even faster to continue on their job. The Emperor glared down at them as he gripped his whip tight, the cold wind being barely registered by him. The worthless Digimon were starting to slow down and he was feeling his patient going down.
Wormmon crawled with a furred coat to his side. "Ken... You might want to use this."
Normally, The Emperor would snap at the bug for trying to tell him what to do. But since the insect did managed to conquer more zones for him, he would comply with him just this one. But he was not going to let the slip he committed when talking to him go by. "Do not call me that!" He said as he took the coat roughly from him.
The worm flinched and bowed his head. "Sorry... Emperor," He said with a bow.
He sneered before turning back to the amphibian Digimon working under him. They were getting slower, and this rate the prisons of the area would not be complete in time for his schedule. The straw the broke the camel's back was when he saw a Gizamon falling down and panting for breath.
How dares he?!
"GET UP!" He roared and slashed his back with his whip over and over again. "GET BACK TO WORK, YOU WORTHLESS SCUM!"
Another Gizamon catched the whip between his hands. "Stop! We're all tired and we can't move good on the earth! Have some mercy!"
The Emperor growled. "Mercy?! You stupid creatures belong to me!" He declared. "And just to make my message perfectly clear..." He brought his hands to his mouth and whistled.
The ground started shaking and from beneath the snow, a giant Digimon with the appearance of a walrus appeared, Ikkakumon. His eyes were red and a Dark Ring was attached to one of his rear legs. He glowered at the Gizamon that talked back to the Emperor and pointed his horn at him, firing it like a missile.
Paralyzed with fear, the Gizamon received the attack and exploded in data. The other Gizamon being completly scared of what just happened to their comrade. Ikkakumon threw his head back and roared, his long fangs coated with saliva, like an animal.
"If any of you dares to talk back to me, you'll be General Ikkakumon's meal," The Emperor smirked as he pointed to the giant walrus.
The Gizamon shrank with fear and picked the metal pieces to continue on their job. The Emperor smirked, finally they were starting to learn that it was better not to fight him and to just listen and obey.
Wormmon crawled timidly in front of him. "K... Emperor. They'll collapse at some point anyway, even if they're afraid of Ikkakumon," He reasoned.
The Emperor glared at him, but concede that he had a point, as much as he hated, they would be even more useless to him if they all collapse and were executed by the General. He retracted his whip and nodded. "You're right, Wormmon. Luckily I have a good idea," He snapped his fingers and waited.
Swarms of Dark Rings appeared and trapped each of the Gizamon working for them. Their eyes turned red and they started tripling the pace without a single complaint.
The Emperor chuckled. "See? No more tiredness and no more complains," He said, proud of his actions.
Wormmon's ears dropped; this was not what he meant by that.
"Let's go to the area Blademon is watching," The boy said, accommodating the coat. "And I'm getting tired of all this cold. Ikkakumon, you are in charge while I'm gone."
Ikkakumon roared in agreement and turned to the possessed workers. Wormmon sighed and followed his partner out of the place, he didn't have other choice than to let things as they were.
Cody sighed as classes finished, he needed to leave the schoo early today to go to his Kendo classes with his grandfather. That meant he couldn't go to the Digital World, since he couldn't exactly explain to his grandfather what was happening after classes.
"Hey Cody!" He turned to see Davis at the top of the stairs on the second floor. "Where are you going, we have to go to the Computer room!"
"Sorry, I can't go today," He said with an apologetic look.
"What do you mean you can't?!" Davis demanded. "We have to go now, or else the Emperor is going to continue wrecking things."
"I'm really sorry, but I have Kendo lessons today and I can't skip them without causing suspicion to my grandfather," He gave a quick bow. "Please tell Upamon that I'll pick him up when I'm done!" He said and left in a rush.
"Waaaaaand he's gone," He groaned. He buried his face on his palm. "Oh, great now we're one down. What are we supposed to do now?"
"Hey, Davis!"
His mind totally forgot about Cody when he heard that voice. He turned with a goofy smile when he saw Kari arriving. "Oh, hey Kari. You're going to the computer room?"
"Of course," She nodded. "I wonder if everyone else is there by now."
Davis grinned. He remembered that T.C said he wanted to go to the bathroom when they go out of the classroom. Which meant that at the very least he wouldn't be there. He prayed in his mind, to anyone listening, that the computer room would be alone to pass some time with Kari and making his moves to gain her heart. And beat T.L and Killua once and for all! "Lucky~" He sang under his breath.
Kari looked at him with a quirked eyebrow. "Did you say something?" She asked
Davis was able to recover from that slip without problems. "I said, let's get going!" He said with an eager smile.
Kari chuckled. She was glad to see he was in high spirit after seeing him so down and grumpy yesterday. She lead the way to lab, oblivious to Davis' beaming expression at how the day seemed to be an improvement from what happened yesterday.
But when she opened the door, the most recent bane of his existence was already present there.
"Hey," Killua waved, feets on one of the desks and reading a new book of basic Japanese. He was already getting a grasp on the kanji and he assumed he would be able to read them fluidly in a few days. The Digimon were playing a card game while they waited.
"Sorry for the delay, Killua," Kari said, walking to him to get the gate ready.
Davis slumped down. He just couldn't win against the white haired ninja-boy, couldn't he?
Yolei and T.K arrived a short while later and started to check on the status of the map. "Last night I checked this thing after Izzy gave it to me," Yolei said. "And seeing it now... There are more black zones."
Everyone gasped as they heard that, except for Killua who only narrowed his eyes in fury. The Emperor was expanding his domain in the Digital World faster than they expected.
"See..." He pointed to a place in the north and one in the east. "Here and here, this are the most recent ones."
"Damn that Digimon Emperor!" Davis cursed as he clenched his fist. "How does he move so fast?!"
"Maybe it's because of his two assistants," T.K said. "He has that Reaper guy and his partner... Not counting our friends working as his Generals," He frowned, remembering how bad Gabumon was after he was freed from that control.
"He' spreading fast... Like a virus," Kari mumbled, her face clenching in small pain at the thought of the Digimon under his rule. "Many Digimon could be suffering right now."
Killua noticed his expression and nudged her side. She turned to him and he gave her a smile. "Don't worry about it. That guy isn't going to get away with it," He reassured her. Kari smiled back, grateful at the boy's attempt to cheer her up.
Davis watched the exchange with a twitch on his eye. He wasn't going to let himself be outplayed by the white haired Hunter, he punched his fists together and grinned. "Now that we are all here let's kick that guy's butt!"
"Hey, wait!" Upamon said, jumping on a chair and calling everyone's attention. "Not everyone is here! Cody hasn't arrived yet!"
Davis put his hands on his hips and leaned down to eye the yellow ball. "He ain't coming, sorry pal."
Upamon's ears dropped. "Why wouldn't he?" He whined.
"He said he has kendo class," Davis explained, feeling dumb at having to pass on the kid's message to his partner.
Upamon blinked and tilted his head... Which meant his whole body. "What's kendo?"
Davis took out a magazine and rolled it. "This!" He hit the yellow Digimon over the head three times.
"OW! WHY ARE YOU DOING THAT?!" Upamon yelled, more irritated than anything at being hit.
"Cause that's kendo!" Davis replied with a cheeky grin.
Killua took the magazine from his hands and hit him over the head with it. "Ow!" The goggle boy said.
"That's not kendo, idiot. That's just hitting someone," He deadpanned and turned to Upamon. "Kendo is a martial art involving swords. Normally a sword made of wood called shinai is used, for both practice and tournaments, while using a heavy armor as protection."
Upamon had stars on his eyes. "And Cody practices it?!"
"Is a surprise for most of us," T.K admitted and everyone turned to look at Yolei.
She nodded. "Yup, his grandfather is his instructor, he's been training for a year or so and he never misses it."
Cody was panting heavily as he faced his grandfather. His mind wasn't focused on today's training. He had to ditch his responsibility as a Digidestined to come to his practice, and he couldn't even bring Upamon with him since his grandfather would start asking questions.
Upamon... The image of the small yellow sphere appeared on his mind, almost seeing his disappointed frown at him not going to the computer room.
That slip caused his grandfather to take his chance and charge, striking him with the sword over his head and causing him to fell to stagger back and fell on his butt.
Chikara Hida sighed and took off his helmet. "Let's take a break, Iori." Cody nodded in the floor and took out his helmet off. He placed it to the side along with his shinai.
Chikara did the same; he placed his equipment to the side and walked to a small package. "Iori, I can see that you are distracted. Is something wrong?" He asked in a calm tone.
Cody grimaced, not liking to lie to his grandfather, but he didn't have any other choices. "No... It's nothing grandfather just... Thinking about somethings at school."
"Hmmm," The grandfather mumbled. "Is it a girl you've met?" He asked, a teasing tone on his voice.
Cody blushed and shook his head. "No, that's not it!" He exclaimed, flustered at the thought.
"Haha, I'm just teasing you, son!" The old man laughed jovially. "You should try and be more open. Your eyes tell me you are conflicted."
Cody bit the inside of his cheek. Doubting between telling his grandfather about his mission as a Digidestined or not. "It's an... Assignment I have in group with some friends from a club..." It was a half-lie. He did have an assignment of sort, if beating an evil kid torturing innocent creatures was an assignment.
"Hmmm, you are a bit like your dad in that regard," The bald man said in a nostalgic tone. "He sometimes had a lot in his hands to deal with."
Cody nodded absentmindedly. Not remembering much of his father before he died. And hearing about it brought some complicated emotions in him.
"Anyway," Chikara said as he finished unpacking. "Do you want some~?" He asked brining out a pack of yogurt, the same mark usually sold in Yolei's store. "I heard that these new flavor is quiiiite tasty," The man did some funny faces at the thought.
Cody chuckled awkwardly at his grandfather's attitude. For all the wise and sometimes strict the man was, he could also be silly, mainly when it came to sweets. Seeing as his grandfather could see his inner conflict, he took a decision. "Sensei, I would like to end today's session early, to go help my friends in the assignment... Thought I would like one for the road," He said, referring to the juice.
Chikara nodded and tossed a box to his grandson. "I don't see a problem, good luck, son."
Cody took his shinai and helmet and ran out of the room. "Please tell mother I might be late today," He said while bowing before continuing with his way.
Chikara smiled and sighed. "Well, I guess he's growing and looking for his own tastes," He mumbled, thinking that maybe Cody liked to spend time with his friends more than training. "But, speaking of taste~" He grabbed one of the juices and started drinking like a mad, enjoying the sweat taste it leaved.
From outside the of the computer room, footsteps could be heard. Upamon smiled as he heard them. "See? Maybe Cody decided to stop his kendo lesson to come!"
Killua narrowed his eyes. "No... They're heavier and there's more than one. None of them is Cody."
"We better hide them!" Davis said, looking at the Digimon frantically.
"On the shelves!" Killua said as he jumped to the ceiling and clinged to it, facing down to the floor. 'No one ever looks up!' He said proud of himself.
The Digidestined all tried to put their small partners in the top of the shelves, thought Kari being the shortest had some trouble, but luckily Gatomon managed to jump on top of it along with the others.
The door slid open and they turned nervously to see who it was, only to sigh in relief at seeing who it was, or rather who they were. "Ah, it's you guys!" Kari said with a smile.
Tai, Izzy and a third guest arrived at the room. "Sorry for the scare guys," Izzy apologized. "It's just that we made a bit of space to bring someone along."
A third person entered the room, smiling at the new generation and the two youngest veterans. "Hey, sorry about that," Joe apologized.
"Oh it's you guys," Killua said as he dropped from the ceiling. "Could've send a message earlier." He said, putting his hands on his hips and giving a glare.
"Sorry, sorry," Tai said, scratching the back of his head.
Upamon's ears sank even further at seeing that his partner didn't seemed to be returning anytime soon.
Joe walled up to the kids with a friendly smile. "I'm Joe Kido, freshman in college. Nice to meet you all."
Davis grinned. "Cool, another one of Tai's friends. I'm Davis, nice to meet you." He said.
"I'm Yolei, a pleasure," Yolei said in a friendly manner.
Joe nodded to them and looked up in the shelves at the three In-trainings. "So those are the new Digimon. It's still kind of surreal seeing Digimon in this world."
Demiveemon noticed the bag on the older boy's hands and jumped down, trying to grab it. "Do you have snacks in them?" He asked innocently.
"No, no, this are other things," He said, smiling at the small Digimon, who pouted adorably.
"Not that I'm not happy to see you, Joe," Killua said. "But what are you doing here?"
"Well, two reasons," Joe said. "First I wanted to meet the new kids and second... Well, better to let Izzy explain."
Izzy nodded and walked to the computer, looking at the map in it. "You see, I decided that maybe with our Digivices we could track the rest of our friends down and see if there's. That way we'll know to which zone the Digimon Emperor is controlling we have to go."
"And since I was free today, with no exams, he invited me along," Joe said.
"If that's the case, then by all means try it. The sooner we free Agumon and the others, the better," Killua said, pointing to the computer.
Tai and Joe stood in front of the computer and pointed their Digivices at the screen, waiting for some kind of reaction. At first nothing seemed to happen, but then one of the squares changed from black to gray. Joe's eyes widened, that was the same color of his Crest. "You think that's him?!" He asked, hope blossoming.
Izzy typed quickly and confirmed the location. "It's a frozen tundra. If Gomamon is somewhere, it has to be there!"
Tai frowned and looked at his Digivice. "Then... What about Agumon?"
Killua noticed his state and clapped his shoulder. "I'm sure he's fine. The Emperor thinks they are his Generals or something like that, he probably keeps them in his base."
"Base?" Yolei tilted her head at the idea.
Killua shrugged. "He's a bad guy, all bad guys have bases."
The veterans nodded. Devimon had Infinity Mountain, Etemon the pyramid, Myotismon his castle, and the Dark Masters had that strange base at the top of Spiral Mountain.
Davis pumped his fist. "Okay, now what are we waiting for?! Let's go!" He said, already tired of all the waiting.
"I'll go with you," Joe said. "I know I'll be more of a liability there, but I can't just sit around here and leave Gomamon alone when he's on the hands of that Emperor!"
Killua nodded. "Sure, you can come. But same rule that we set with Matt applies with you: Don't separate from us and everything should be smooth sailing," He said, receiving a nod if confirmation.
"We'll mount guard in case mister Fujiyama appears," Izzy offered, sitting on a chair with Tai.
"Then let's get going," Kari said, pointing her Digivice at the gate.
All the others kids pulled out their Digivices to go to the Digital World and rescue another one of their friends... Until the door opened again.
"Sorry for making you wait!" Cody exclaimed, causing everyone to freeze for a moment before realizing it was just their youngest member.
Upamon started bouncing around him angrily. "Cody where were you?! Why did you went to those kendo lessons?! We almost left without you!"
"S-sorry..." He apologized to tbe hyperactive yellow ball. Then he noticed the new arrival, Joe. "Um, hello... I'm Iori Hida-"
"Yeah, yeah, presentations later, time to go!" Davis said hurriedly.
Yolei grinned and her glasses flashed. "Digiport open! Let's go Digidestined!" She declared as she pointed her Digivice at the screen and was sucked in.
Killua sweatdropped. "What the hell was that?" He asked, referring to Yolei's exited yell.
Kari chuckled nervously. "She's just enthusiastic." She said while walking forward to do the same.
The bright light covered the entire room, until all of them disappeared, leaving only Tai and Izzy behind.
The dogpile happened again, and like it was tradition, poor Joe ended up in the bottom since he was the newest addition to the group.
Everyone reincorporate themselves, and shivered because of the temperature of the landscape. "Agh, Izzy said it was a frozen tundra! Why didn't we brought something warmer?!" Kari complained, since she was only wearing shorts and a sleeveless shirt.
Cody was also fighting against the cold, but he took the time to walk to Joe and bow his head. "We were in a hurry before, but now I would like to present myself. I'm Iori Hida, but you may call me Cody."
Joe bowed back. "Nice to meet you too, Cody," He said, also fighting against the cold.
Meanwhile, Killua seemed to be the only one unfazed by the temperature, he was only looking at his surroundings to get a good idea of where the were. "Well, I don't see any Control Tower... But if I'm a betting boy, I'm sure it's around here," He turned to Joe. "Is your Digivice picking Gomamon's signal?"
Joe looked down and nodded. "Yeah, it is... On that direction," He said, pointing to outside the forest.
Killua nodded. "If the Generals are working to protect the Towers, then Ikkakumon must be nearby," He said.
"That's a given but..." T.K said, trailing off as he watched the snow storm raging in the direction where the signal was coming from. "How are we going to cross that?"
"Nefertimon and the others shouldn't go through that," Kari said, rubbing her arms to gain some heat. "Their wings may frozen."
Killua nodded. "Yeah, you're right..." He looked at the trees. "But maybe we have another way..." He turned to Joe. "Do you have a rope?"
Joe rummaged through the stuff in his back. "Yup, I brought a lot of stuff after Izzy told me to accompany him to the computer lab. I already had the idea to come since then and came prepared," He said taking out the rope and also some orange packs. "And this might help with the cold," He said, handing them to the Digidestined.
Everyone started squishing them and felt a bit of heat coming from them. "That's better, thanks Joe," Yolei said.
"Okay then," Killua said, grabbing the rope. "Who's ready for deforestation?"
The Digimon with claws -- That being everyone but Patamon -- raised their hands and Killua sharpened his nails. to get to work.
They all worked together in bringing down the trees. V-Mon with headbutts and the rest of them using their claws. Hawmon used the feather on his head to take out the branches with leaves and Armadillomon used his claws to gave the trunks sharpened ends so they would be aerodynamic.
The kids and Joe all worked in tying them together and leaving some rope for those who'll pull on them: The Digimon.
Davis sighed. "Well, I think it's done," He said, looking at the improvised sleight.
"I hope it endures the storm until we arrive to the Controlrol Tower," Yolei muttered.
"It will, after all we made it from the wood of trees that survived this environment... But I have to ask," Killua said, arms crossed and eyes closed in thought. He opened them and glared at the group, pointing to the rope around his abdomen. "WHY AM I PULLING TOO?!"
"C'mon, Killua, you are as strong as an Ultimate, at the least, with your help we can pull this thing faster," Gatomon said, adjusting the rope around her small frame.
"But I can't go in all fours!" He said back, feeling embarrassed with doing this.
"Just this once, please?" T.K said, clasping his hands and giving him an apologetic look.
"We won't ask something like this again," Kari did the same, giving him a smile as apologetic as T.K's look.
All of the Digidestined did the same, even Joe, and Killua sighed. "I swear, one of this days I'll get you back for this. Fine, I'll do it!" He said, getting into a running position.
"We'll be counting on you guys," Cody said, smiling. "Good luck Armadillomon," He said, to cheer his partner.
Said Digimon scoffed. "Hmph, I don't wanna hear that from ya," He said.
Cody sweatdropped, his partner was obviously still upset over his lateness.
"Okay, let's go," Killua said, giving the go and him along with the Digimon started to pull on the sleight, to start with the destruction of the tower on this zone.
The Emperor took a sip from a coconut as he stood at the top of a small pyramid in a forest area, watching as the locals worked on creating more prisons. This time he put them the Dark Rings from the get-go to stop any interruptions.
"Now this is much better," He said as he threw the fruit away, a Floramon of the area giving him a another to drink. "No cold, no frostbite, and no slaves being lazy."
Blademon stood below the small pyramid, leaning against it with his arms crossed and his eyes closed. Bored and disappointed at the simple conquest he made. Ever since he fought against Killua, he's been aching for a good fight, and none of the Generals could fill that feeling.
Wormmon crawled to the Emperor's side and called out timidly for him. "Umm... Master?"
The Emperor's mood darkened the moment he heard the insect talking. "What?"
"Umm, some spy rings came from the north with a message... The Digidestined are there," He said.
The Emperor's and the Reaper's attention went to the insect. "What?!" They exclaimed together. The Emperor gnashed his teeth. "Of all the times, just when I was done in that zone!"
Blademon also gnashed his teeth. His fist clenched in frustration at the missed chance of fighting the white haired Anomaly. Correction. Missing his chance of killing the white haired Anomaly. Even if they used Airdramon or Devidramon to go to that zone, it might be too late!
The Emperor brought his gauntlet up and started speaking through it. "All units in sector B-3754, stop the Digidestined, don't let them reach the Control Tower and capture the white haired boy, Killua Zoldyck!" The gauntlet beeped in confirmation and he dropped his arm to the side, his aura starting to flow. "Those pest will learn their place soon..."
The water on the coconut started boiling before the fruit exploded, cause of the activation of the aura.
Meanwhile Blademon moved to the forest to take down some trees to vent his frustration. 'When will I get my chance to destroy that bastard?!' He yelled angrily on his mind.
Everyone continued on their run to the tower, the storm slowly dying down and not opposing a problem to the cross through it and the vast icy field.
Killua's eyes narrowed as he could make out some silhouettes down the line. "Ummm, guys? We have company!" He told everyone in the sleight as well as his companions in tugging the transport.
Everyone looked ahead and could see a line of Frigimon blocking the path to the Control Tower. Yolei smiled at the sight of them. "Oh, they are adorable."
"Look again, Yolei," Killua deadpanned, seeing the Dark Rings on their legs.
"Oh shit," Davis whimpered slightly as he knew what was coming.
"EVASIVE MANEUVERS, NOW!" Killua said in slight panic. The Frigimon all rearing their fists back and charging them with white energy and launching an icy blast at them.
The Digimon and the Anomaly all started to move in zigzags to dodged the incoming blasts. The Digidestined on the back all holding to the sleight to dear life, and some of them getting snow on their faces.
Davis was one of them and he scowled. "How dare...!" He growled. "Should we attack?!" He said, shaking his head to get the snow off him.
"No," Joe said, looking at the line up in front of him. "We could go through the apertures in their formation. Frigimon aren't particularly fast, so we can sneak by them and continue to the Tower." He explained, remembering the Digimon in the Resistance group.
"You heard him everyone!" Killua said. "Let's keep it up and pass through them!"
"Aye!"
The Frigimon didn't stop their attacks and continued to launch their ice punches at them, and the Digimon continued to zigzag their way out of their range to prevent themselves and their partners from getting hit.
Their plan worked, they moved fast and in-between two Frigimon with them being unable to stop them, only turning to glare at then escaping Digidestined.
Davis grinned. "It worked!" The boy said, looking back at the snowmen. "Now they won't reach us!"
"They can still attack us!" Killua reminded as he continued to run, to gain distance between them and the possessed Digimon. "So don't count them out yet!" He told him.
As Killua said, the Frigimon all continued to attack. But this time, their aim seemed a bit off, their attacks sailing over the group's head, without even grazing them. Yolei grinned. "They missed!"
Killua watched the attacks direction and looked ahead; there was a small mountain that they could have easily round to continue on their way. The attacks impacted against the mountain and it cause and avalanche. "Oh shit!" He cursed as he saw the great wave of snow going to them.
"Over here!" Gatomon said, tugging to the left, the rest of the group following.
Luck wasn't on their side however, they may dodge the avalanche but now they are running straight to a ravine. The Digimon and human tugging the transport all hurried the pace so they could make the jump and land safely on the other side. "BRACE YOURSELVES!" Killua yelled as he channeled aura in the plant of his feet.
Everyone jumped, with Killua giving a small burst to the jump with the propelling technique, and sailed through the gap between the land. They miraculously made it to the other side, but the back half of the sleight was over the edge of the ravine and almost falling down.
Those attached to a rope started to pull harder. Gatomon, Armadillomon and V-Mon clawing in the snow to prevent the transport to fall, and Armadillomon and Patamon flapping faster, with Killua running in place while pumping strength on his legs. Their combined efforts being enough to prevent the wooden ride from falling and continuing with their way.
Everyone sighes in relief at the close call. But it was too soon to yell in victory. Gasps rang amongst the group as they saw another ravine awaiting for them, with a river of cold, icy water down below. This time those tugging the transport decided to skid to a stop and tried to steer to another direction, seeing as this time they weren't running away from an avalanche. The skid however was ao forceful and when they steered away it caused the sleight to tip a bit over the ravine, most of the group managed to hang on, but one of them fell.
"AAAAAAH!" Cody yelled as he plummeted on the water.
"CODY!" Armadillomon and many others gasped.
Killua clicked his teeth and cut the rope on his torso and ran to the edge. "I got him!" He said, diving to the water.
Most of the group was surprised by his actions, those being the new kids and Kari. Specially since now he would be having the same fate as the boy. "Killua!"
Everyone got out of the sleight and looked over the edge to check if the boys were okay. Not a second later, two heads bursted out of the water, both of them coughing a bit. Killua looked up at them and nodded. "We're okay! But we need to set a fireplace before Cody gets a cold, or worse hypothermia!"
Everyone nodded and quickly, they used more of the rope Joe had and let it down carefully so they would climb back up. Killua grabbed the rope on one hand and kept Cody in the other as he climbed the two of them back up.
Instead of helping on the ride, this time Killua sat with the kids and the Digimon take them to a cave that was down on the same level of the river where they fell.
Cody shivered as he stood close to the fire the older kids made for him, trying to regain some heat after his fall.
Joe walked to him with a bottle of water and a medicine. "Here, this will prevent you from falling ill."
Cody smiled in appreciation and took it. "Thank you, Joe."
Armadillomon forgot his anger to his partner for arriving late, and walked to him with a worried frown. "Are you okay?"
"I will be," He smiled, happy that his partner seem to be willing to talk to him again.
Yolei watched the college student with a surprised smile. "Joe's always prepared for everything."
Killua also took a medicine from Joe, though he doubted he would needed it. Hellish training includes getting ready to dive in frozen water. Call his family psychopaths, but they left him prepared to survive almost any environment.
Kari frowned. "What do we do now? We can let Cody or Killua come with us in this state," She said.
Killua was about to argue, but he thought a bit about it. 'While I can continue to take on the tower, Cody does seem more fragile in this state,' He said looking at the boy. 'He would have to stay here to recover more body heat and to not left him unprotected I should stay too.'
"Then we can go on," T.K voiced. "And they can stay here in the meantime."
Killua smiled, glad that someone else also thought of that. "I agree with that, sorry I can accompany you."
"I'll stay too," Joe said. "That way I won't get in the way... If you see Ikkakumon help him."
"Of course," Davis gave him a thumbs up. "Let's go!"
"Wait!" Everyone turned to Cody who was giving them pleading eyes. "I have to go! I skipped my kendo lesson to come here. If I don't help then the lies I told to my grandfather will be for nothing!"
Everyone gave the boy worried looks. He had a stubborn gleam on his eyes. Killua sighed and put a hand on his shoulder. "It may be bad for you in your actual state," Kari said, seeing as the boy continued to shake with cold.
"Let them go, Cody, it'll be okay," Joe said, trying to reason with the kid.
Killua put a hand on his shoulder. "Cody, the mission is important, but more important is your health."
Armadillomon looked at Cody with shame in his eyes. "They are right, sit down and let them do it. I wouldn't like you to get sick because of this..." He confessed.
At hearing all of them insisting on this, Cody sighed and relented. "Okay, I'll stay..."
Yolei gave him a smile and a thumbs up. "Don't worry, we'll bring that stupid tower down!" She said with her typical enthusiasm.
The Digimon tied the rope around their torsos and pulled on the sleight with the four remaining Digidestined. The people in the cave warched them go until they become nothing but silhouettes in the distance.
The other three stayed behind and huddled close to the fire. Armadillomon looked at Cody with a bit of shame. "Sorry for being so rude before... I didn't knew you left your kendo lessons to come."
Cody gave him a smile as he rubbed his hands along his arms. "It's okay, I should have at least tell you before going. And I don't regret it... I came because I wanted to!"
Killua smirked. "That's the spirit," He said. "Coming here isn't necessarily an obligation."
"Killua is right," Joe said, smiling at the boy. "I could be studying for my exams, but I decided to come. We may have been chosen, but in the end we decide to help or not."
"Just look at me," Killua said, extending his hands for emphasis. "I don't have a Digivice or a partner, yet I choose to come here everyday."
Cody nodded at the two. He might regret lying to his grandfather, but he didn't regret coming here. If he could help his friends and all those Digimon under the Emperor's control then he would gladly do so.
The cave started to shake, startling everyone inside. "W-what's happening?!" Joe asked.
"Better get out before the cave comes down our heads!" Killua said, getting up.
Everyone ran out and encountered, none other, than Ikkakumon, standing a few meters away from the cave and using his Harpoon Vulcan to cause the tremors. Joe looked at his partner in horror. "Ikkakumon..."
At the big walrus side, a projection of the Digimon Emperor appeared. The projection put a hand on his hip and smirked. "Do you really think I wouldn't notice your presence? I won't let you escape!" He tensed his whip. "General attack!"
"Harpoon Vulcan!" Ikkakumon launched his missiles at them without hesitation.
Killua brought his yo-yos out and launched them at the missiles, covering them with Nen using Shu. They impacted against the missiles and retrieved the toys. "I'll deal with him. T.K and the others will destroy the tower. I'll keep him busy until then!" He said, spinning his yo-yos at his sides.
"Be careful, and... I know it's selfish but try not to hurt him that much," Joe requested.
Killua nodded and dashed to the possessed Digimon. Ikkakumon roared, launching more missiles at the moving target. Killua swung his yo-yos at them, making them explode upon impact. He got close enough and jumped, launching the yo-yos at the Digimon's side and striking at both sides of his face, erecting a growl of pain from him.
Killua narrowed his eyes. 'With that much fur I don't see the Dark Ring... Our only choice is wait for them to bring down the tower.' He thought, while realign the yo-yos back and landing on the floor.
Cody watched the fight and decided to act. Not liking the fact that everyone was doing something while he was sitting out. He turned to Armadillomon and got his Digivice out. "We have to help!"
"You got it, partner!" Armadillomon nodded.
Cody raised his yellow device up and said the magic words. "Digimental Up!"
"Armadillomon Armor Digivolves to... Pteramon! The Armed Love!"
Pteramon flew up in the sky and pointed his missiles at the possessed Digimon. "Missile Storm!" He launched the weapons in small numbers, to not injure him gravely.
The Emperor frowned and pressed some buttons on his right gauntlet. "Better call reinforcements. And take two birds with one shell..." He chuckled at his own joke.
Wormmon peered through his legs, his form also transparent due to being a projection, and watched the fight with a frown.
Ikkakumon took a deep breath and let out a multicolored breath. "Northern Lights!" He said as he exhaled his breath at the flying Digimon.
Pteramon maneuvered out of the breath's range, but Ikkakumon twisted his head so it would follow him. The multicolored attack grazed the armored Digimon's wing and it started to froze. "Gkk... What?!"
"SINCE WHEN HE CAN DO THAT?!" Joe and Killua exclaimed, not knowing of that ability in Ikkakumon's arsenal.
And before anyone could do anything else, be it attacking Ikkakumon or helping Pteramon, a new enemy attacked. From beneath the icy waters, a bunch of tentacles appeared and wrapped themselves around Pteramon's body. "Ugh!" The Digimon exclaimed as those tentacles dragged them down.
"Pteramon!" Cody exclaimed, running to the edge of the water. "What was that?!"
Below the water, Pteramon struggled against his bonds. He looked down and saw a Shellmon with red eyes dragging him down with the tentacles on his head. He tried to deploy his weapons but the water didn't let him fire them. He was trapped.
Up in the surface, Killua clicked his tongue and turned to Ikkakumon. "Dang it..." He cursed. 'Now we don't have a choice... We have to wait for the others to destroy the tower. If I release Ikkakumon now, he'll be drained to fight. So I can beat him around that much either, or we won't have anything to help Pteramon. If I go down there after beating him, I couldn't do much if I get trapped too I will have no choice but to use my lighting, but that would hurt Pteramon too... Guys, please hurry...' Killua ran through all of the different scenarios and the best was to just wait for their friends, if they wanted to rescue Pteramon.
The scouting group was getting closer to the tower. It was once again protected by the Frigimon of the area. Davis narrowed his eyes and turned to the others in the sleight. "We can fight now, right?" He asked, wanting to make sure if he understood if the situation was right.
"Of course," T.K nodded. "But make sure to not injured them badly."
"Okay then!" He grinned and took his Digivice out, as the Digimon pulling the sleight stopped. "V-Mon! Digimental Up!"
"V-Mon Armor Digivolves to... Flamedramon! The Courageous Fire!"
Flamedramon stood in front of his fellow Digimon protectively as they went back to join with the others. The only one staying at his side was Gatomon. "Aren't you going to join them?" He asked.
"I don't want to leave you alone in this," She smirked. "Besides, I can fight too!" To emphasize she waved her tail with the ring.
"Okay then!" He grinned and jumped up, his arms lit up in flamed and launched three fireballs at the snowmen. "Fire Rocket!"
Gatomon also jumped in the air and her eyes glowed a pink color. "Cat's Eyes Beam!" She shot lasers from her navy blue eyes.
The Frigimon launched their frozen attacks at them as well, but were overwhelmed by the Champion's and Armored's attack. They struck them in the torso and sent them down to the ground.
Kari smiled. "Okay, they're distracted," She turned to T.K and Yolei. "Do it now, guys!"
Both of them nodded and raised their Digivices. "Digimental Up!"
"Hawmon Armor Digivolves to... FlyBeemon! The Soaring Knowledge!"
"Patamon Armor Digivolves to... Pegasusmon! The Flying Hope!"
Both armored flew high in the sky and prepared their attacks. Pegasusmon extended his wings and theses shined with a green color. "Shooting Stars!" Stars started to be shot from the wing, impacting against the tower and starting to crack it.
FlyBeemon's spikes started to glow and were launched to the cracks on the tower. "Explosive Spikes!" He called out. The moment the spikes make contact they started to detonate and making the cracks widen until the tower couldn't support their own weight anymore and tipped over until it impacted against the ground.
Ikkakumon used his Northern Lights again to try and froze the three boys over. Killua grabbed his two friends and jumped high up to dodge the attack. Ikkakumon took his chance and readied the missiles on his head to take them down from the air. Killua cursed, realizing the flaw on his dodging. 'Damn! I can't dodge mid-air!'
However, before he fired, something clattered on the ground and he stopped. He blinked and his eyes returned to their usual blue. "Ugh... What?"
The Emperor saw this happen and gritted his teeth in rage. "What happened?!"
Wormmon blinked. "I think the other kids destroyed the tower."
A thick mark appeared on the dressed up boy's forehead as he snapped at the worm. "WOULD YOU STOP TALKING?!" He said, cutting the connection with the projection off.
In the forest, the place where the Emperor and his partner was making the connection with the artic, Blademon snorted as he watched the boy's outburst. Finding amusing how easily he was loosing his calm.
Back in the artic, Killua and his friends landed and Joe wasted no time in running to his partner. He tackled the big Digimon's gut in a hug. "Ikkakumon!"
"Joe?!" Ikkakumon blinked. "Oh wow, it is you!" He said and then he looked at Killua. "And Killua's here too! That's cool!"
Killua smiled and waved. "Hello Ikkakumon," He said.
Cody was about to greet him when he noticed something about all of this was off. "Why... Why Pteramon hasn't come back up?"
At this the two older boys tensed and looked at the river, neither Pteramon or his captor have resurfaced after the former was abducted. "Maybe the Digimon that trapped him is still under the Emperor's control!" Killua realized.
"Then Pteramon's in danger!" Joe exclaimed and turned to his partner. "Ikkakumon, go down and save Pteramon, he's a Digimon with wings! Trapped by a Digimon with green tentacles!"
Ikkakumon nodded and ran to the water. "Got it!" He said and dived down.
Underwater, Ikkakumon swam down to see if he could find the trapped Digimon. This didn't took him long, he saw a grey armored Digimon struggling in vain against a Shellmon's hair-vines and he was clearly losing oxygen fast. Ikkakumon charged at the musculus Digimon and rammed it with enough strength to let the avian Digimon be free.
Pteramon blinked as he saw the Digimon from before fighting against his captor, but before he could question it, he decided he needed some me air first. He shot out of the water and to the surface. He took a deep gulp of breath as he hovered over the lake, relief filling his body.
Cody watched his partner in the sky with a smile. "Pteramon, you're okay!"
Pteramon nodded at him. "Sorry for the scare, partner!" He said, smiling back.
The two aquatic Digimon broke out of the water, grappling against the other in a stalemate. Ikkakumon turned to look at the flying Digimon. "A little help?"
"Of course! Missile Storm!" Pteramon launched his missiles at the pink monster, specifically at his arm.
All of them impacted, but luckily for the Shellmon, the ring took most of the impact and shattered. The Shellmon blinked, he looked around and realized this wasn't his territory, so he dived down and went back home.
Everyone has gathered again in front of the port. Ikkakumon stood in front of the Frigimon, proudly. "I wish we could catch up more, Joe."
"Me too, but we have to return now," The older boy said, smiling at his partner. "But with the gate open I'm sure we can see each other again."
Kari walked forward and looked at the walrus. "Ikkakumon... Do you know where the others might be?" She asked, wanting to know about Agumon's current location.
Ikkakumon shook his head. "Sorry, I don't know," He said. "I just know the Emperor kept us under lock and key and only took us out to attack other places."
"I see..." She mumbled in disappointment.
"Don't worry," T.K said. "Sooner or later we'll find all of them."
"Be it when the Emperor sick him on us, or when he falls down," Killua said with a smirk.
Kari gave them a grateful smile, for the try on lifting their spirits. "Yeah, you're right."
Davis wanted to add his two cents. "Don't you worry, Kari! I'll beat the Emperor myself!" He said, lifting his fist hight in the air.
"And if he has an army Davith?" V-Mon asked.
"Then I'll sick you on them!" He said, his smile wavering a bit.
"... Then it won't be for yourself," V-Mon said innocently.
Davis got red in the face and glared at his partner. "Aw shut it!"
Everyone laughed a bit at the duo, before going back to the Human World.
With a bright flash of light, all of the humans and their partners were back in the computer room, Izzy and Tai standing there for them. "Huh, no dogpile, it's an improvement," Tai said.
"Don't jinx us!" Killua mock-glared.
"I wish we could have seen that Emperor Prick's face. He just received that area and now we free it!" Yolei said with a triumphant grin.
"This is only the beginning," T.K said. "We still have a lot of job," He looked at the map for emphasis.
Meanwhile, Joe and Cody were having a conversation on their own. "Joe, I forgot to thank you for taking care of us in the cave," He said while bowing a bit.
"Oh don't worry about it," Joe said, scratching the back of his head.
"Still, I would like to pay you back," Cody said with a smile. "Maybe you may come someday to my home, I would like to present you to my grandfather."
Joe nodded at the kid. "I would be honored."
At the mention of Cody's home, Kari entered the conversation. "Cody may I go too? I heard your mom makes delicious desserts!"
Cody gave Yolei a dry stare, knowing where exactly the Child of Light heard that, the bespectacled girl just whistled in innocence.
Davis also joined. "If Kari goes I wanna go too!" He said.
Kari gave him a pouty glare. "Oh no way! You'll eat all the desserts with Demiveemon."
Davis continued to smile. "That has an easy solution," He said. "Demiveemon, you won't come!"
"What?!" The poor Digimon felt his world shatter at not having desserts. "That's not fair."
"At least you could go like a plushie, little guy," Killua said. "Me on the other hand have to stay in the shadows... Without dessert," He said, mock sobbing.
"Yeah right, because you're not a ninja," Tai rolled his eyes.
"I'm sure you could smuggle the desserts before we even realize," Izzy teased. "I remember you mentioning you had a sweet tooth."
Killua scoffed. "What? Jealous of my abilities?"
"Nah, because at least we don't have to hide every time," T.K said, joining the teasing.
Ever the mature one, Killua blew a raspberry. He would have flipped him off, but Cody was present.
The Emperor scowled and gripped the armsets of his chair as he saw the artic zone going white. "They think they've one..." He muttered and then he smirked. "I'd love to see their faces when they see ten new towers by tomorrow!"
Blademon crossed his arms and smirked. "Ten? I think between the two of us we can conquer twenty new territories for you, my lord!" He said and looked at the small worm. "Righr Wormmon... Wormmon?" He asked, at not receiving answer.
"Umm... Your majesty told me to stop talking..." The worm said.
The Emperor turned around with a scowl. "Are you mocking me, by any chance, Wormmon?!" He asked.
"N-no sir! I'm sorry!" He said, lowering his head.
The Emperor scoffed and got up from his seat. "Whatever... Blademon, prepare the slave Leomon," He said.
"If I may ask my lord, why?" He asked.
The Emperor stopped and turned to him with a shrug. "He is the only normal sized General on my side," He smirked cruelly. "And I want to practice before going home."
He took out his gloves and stared at the palm of his hands, both of them having two different drawings. The left one had an inverse triangle, while the other one had a normal one. He activated his aura and it slowly changed from the normal white one, to a dark purple one. "I want to test my ability in real combat."
"Done."
"Now... I have to say something. I will be starting with my classes next week. So I might not have too much time for the story. I'm not dropping it. But it wouldn't be so frequent as it was until now. Maybe every weekend or so."
"Now I want you to leave a review with your ideas of what's to come!"
"If I'm lucky, next chapter will be out before monday... If I start working tomorrow."
"Also. I won't say what will happen in the story. I.E: If the Generals will be saved, or if Killua will have a partner. Just wait and read to get your answers."
"I don't think I'll burn myself out soon. I like writing this, so don't worry about me."
"LOVE YOU!"