I considered holding onto this one for another week… but my weeks get pretty busy, and I didn't trust myself not to forget about it and miss the moment anyway. ^^' So… Happy early anniversary! Can you believe this story is about to hit two years? I certainly can't… Let's wrap this up before we make it to a third, shall we?

Thank you for reviewing chapter twenty-four: Sweet Cari, Berry Doyle, Fruitloop Trooper, and dnofsunshine! (And please never feel bad about your reviews being 'late'. For one, I'm just happy that you take the time to review at all! But also, as far as I'm concerned, you were right on time! I'd just gone back to double-check for any last-minute reviews when yours came in!)

Chapter Twenty-Five: Gennai

For the briefest of moments, their positions were swapped. The four of them were frozen, while the newly-awakened Digimon sprang into motion with a joyful shout. The little blue creature bounced around the room, exuberantly testing his muscles and voice. Until finally, he came to a stop in front of Davis, his eyes sparkling.

"Nice to meetcha! I'm Veemon!" He stuck out a surprisingly humanoid, five-fingered hand, and Davis shook it with something akin to awe.

"Veemon… And you're… my partner?" Davis's eyes were shining too, and the Digimon nodded.

"Of course! It was your Digivice that freed me from my prison. Only the bond between a Digidestined and their partner could have broken through those walls!"

Finally, Davis seemed to shake off his shock and joined Veemon as he continued bouncing around the room. How… typical. Rika felt the surprise wear our from her limbs as well. Well. Those two were perfect for each other. She doubted it was worth the effort to even try and curb their enthusiasm. It just had to run its course. She was just turning away from the spectacle they were creating… when something occurred to her.

"Hey, wait up a minute. …Hey!" she barked more sharply, and the two did halt their frolicking, blinking at her with identical confused expressions. "About what you said before—you called your egg a prison? What did you mean, exactly?"

Veemon cocked his head to the side. "I meant what I said. It wasn't really an egg… More like a holding cell."

"So someone was holding you captive… Was it this Digimon Emperor I keep hearing about?"

Veemon startled at the sound of that name. "The Digimon Emperor?! Of course not! I'm talking about Gennai. I was specially created for Davis once all these problems with the Emperor started up. Then he put me to sleep… He said I'd wake back up when I could be of use. When my partner arrived. And I did."

She was sure this plan made perfect sense to the Digimon incarnate of Davis Motomiya, but to Rika it was just a little too… simple. Perhaps Davis had been right—this Gennai character was starting to seem more and more suspicious. "And he just left it up to chance? Trusted that we'd show up in just the right place? Do you buy that?" she directed at Renamon.

"It does sound risky," he partner agreed—and sounding like she'd given it serious thought, too; Rika had to appreciate that.

Veemon, on the other hand, appeared to be contemplating this angle for the first time. "Huh. You know, maybe you're right. I only ever met Gennai that one time. I don't really know what his plan was. Just that I was created to help Davis."

"This seems to prove my theory," Centarumon murmured. (Rika jumped a little. She'd almost forgotten he was there.) He backed out of the room just enough to gesture to the giant mural in the previous one. Specifically, the extra figures depicted in the legend. "The replacement Digidestined's partners weren't even created until they were needed… If that's the case, this Gennai doesn't sound like the type to leave much to chance."

Rika nodded. "That's what I thought. I bet he was planning to reawaken you himself… And if he didn't, something must have happened to Gennai."

Davis nodded, looking laser-focused all of a sudden. Up until this point, Rika had to admit that she'd viewed him a bit like dead weight. But now that he'd found his partner, it was like he'd found a new purpose. "Okay. Then let's go find Gennai."

…

Despite all the screens and other technology, the Digimon Emperor's lair was a dark place. The glow from those screens only seemed to enhance the shadows and add to the eerie ambience. Many of his prisoners could no longer remember the light or warmth of the sun and would shy away from those sensations if ever they found themselves reintroduced. And now, even his sole human captive was beginning to feel quivers of weakness in his resilience.

His cell was separate from the actual prison—only fitting for the VIP, as the monster had once jokingly sneered. Today was one of the light days—something he'd never thought he'd one day dread—where the arena would be illuminated by the sort of lights that had once lit up his late-night soccer games and would, in turn, bring light to the room where the prisoner was held.

He no longer had the strength to pry off the strange wires the Emperor always hooked him up to. There was really nothing to gain from such a small rebellion so long as he was trapped in this room. The Digimon Emperor was not known for his patience, and the prisoner had already experienced the consequences of wasting his time, forcing him to set up his little experiments all over again.

But he was not too far gone to feel the pang of despair when his eyes adjusted and he caught sight of his partner lying on the arena floor, already appearing defeated and exhausted. And today's trial hadn't even begun. He clenched his fists. Agumon…

The door to the small viewing room flew open, and Tai turned his head to glare at his only visitor. His anger continued to burn bright, but if there was one way being worn down had aided him, it lay with his observational skills. Only the other day had it sunk in that the boy who stood before him actually seemed younger than Tai himself. Honestly, this had only added to his unease. As if it wasn't bad enough to have so much power in a maniac's hands. But an inexperienced maniac… Well, he'd already been unpredictable.

If possible, he seemed even more unhinged today. That cruel smile was still there, but his features looked a bit more twisted. Tai knew the eyes behind those dark glasses would be wild.

"Well, I guess we're going with Plan A after all." The Digimon Emperor was already in the process of ranting to himself as he entered the room, but he only appeared a little disgruntled. Usually that wicked smile was wiped away completely when things weren't going his way. "Perhaps it was a sign. I wouldn't want to overlook such a generous gift."

He snickered again, that high-pitched, crazy sound, and Tai gritted his teeth. This was his least favorite jab… because he knew it was true. He had no one to blame but himself for putting them both in this situation. If he hadn't rushed in here, overconfidence oozing out of him, determined to save them all single-handedly… In the end, the crests had not been as easy to activate as he'd thought. And Agumon had been the one to suffer…

He couldn't stop the shudder from passing through him as he recalled SkullGreymon's first rampage. He'd been the one to give the Emperor the idea to try and force the crests to work. They'd been imprisoned as soon as his partner ran out of energy… and the Digimon Emperor had been trying to repeat the process ever since. Tai didn't pretend to understand all the technical aspects of this world—he'd always left all that up to Izzy—but apparently it was rather finicky. Or else, there was just some step he'd missed entirely. Sometimes, their captor couldn't make the connection activate no matter what he tried. And sometimes, all it seemed to take was the click of a button before that dreadful transformation would begin again.

The Digimon Emperor had not yet cracked the final code—he'd never succeeded in controlling SkullGreymon's power. But watching his partner being subjected to such cruelty day after day was tearing Tai apart, and he was starting to wonder how much abuse a Digimon's code could take. If this kept up, would Agumon be literally torn apart?

He strained against his bindings, knowing it was futile even before the shock rippled through him. His captor didn't even spare him a glance, setting about his preparations. Tai had never been able to make sense of the data running across the screens—just that it always picked up in speed and intensity in the moments before Agumon was affected, usually accompanied by a paralyzing sort of tingle in his core.

But today, it didn't seem to be working for him. Every command he tried to input was immediately intercepted by some wall. One failed attempt after another, the boy quickly lost patience, finally slamming his fist down hard enough to make every screen rattle. "What's going on?! The system was fine yesterday!"

Tai wasn't sure who he was barking orders at, exactly, but another voice answered through the tinny speakers. "Uh, there doesn't seem to be enough power, sir. The signals won't connect."

Before this particular lackey Digimon could remove his finger (or paw?) from the button broadcasting his voice, one of his fellows suggested in a poor attempt at a whisper, "You don't think this could be related to the disturbance we felt from him, do you?"

A handful of other voices shushed him before the sound cut out. Tai couldn't make sense of these worries, but clearly it meant something to the Digimon Emperor. The other boy stiffened up, a hoarse, "Impossible!" escaping his lips. But whatever had him so shaken must not have actually been impossible. He strode towards Tai a second later, and Tai felt that familiar stab of dread before the drowsiness started up again, and the system he was attached to shut him down once more.

…

Henry wasn't sure how long the first stage of this reunion went on. At first it was just incoherent exclamations and hugging. After a time, they all tried to speak at once, but they hadn't yet managed to untangle themselves. After a moment, they devolved into laughter at this chaos. Their second attempt was equally unsuccessful.

Henry found it quite sweet—relaxing, after the ordeal they'd just been through—but he could feel Terriermon getting antsy. He took a step towards the cottage door, which the newest boy had left open in his haste. He didn't plan on going in without an invitation; it just gave him something to do. But the movement drew the attention of the others.

They finally pulled apart. Joe gave a mirthful little laugh and rubbed the back of his head. "Oh, sorry, Henry. I guess more introductions are in order."

He shook Izzy's hand, was pleased by his steady gaze. Izzy was the 'resident computer geek,' from what he'd heard. He seemed a bit more put-together than the other two, which was reassuring. Henry hated not having all the answers.

Izzy ushered them all inside, where there was just barely room for them all to stand. (Terriermon remained perched on Henry's shoulders, and Gomamon allowed Joe to pick him up, but the other partners were just a bit too big.) Every single wall seemed to be lined with long tables and desks, which were in turn piled high with papers, books, computers or computer pieces… The only spaces were the doorways, and even those were cluttered with the stuff overflowing from every surface. Henry's endeavor not to step on anything was quickly lost.

"I tracked Gennai here," Izzy explained. He went straight for one of the computers, and they were all a bit impressed that he'd managed to find it again in this mess. "Or, that was the idea, at least. He's not actually here, and I haven't been able to make sense of any of his programs yet. But there was someone else here waiting for me…"

He shifted over a bit, and Henry caught sight of another Digimon he hadn't even realized was there. Another bug Rookie, though this one was green. "This is Wormmon. And," Izzy raised his eyebrows for emphasis, "he's the Digimon Emperor's partner!"

Joe's eyes lit up. "Oh, yeah! That's what Henry was saying—that the Digimon Emperor was actually meant to be one of the Digidestined."

Wormmon perked up a little. "You know Ken?"

"Uh, no," Henry answered awkwardly. "We've never actually met. My friends and I just figured out who he was. Ken Ichijouji," he filled in for Mimi and Izzy. "Back home, he's lauded as this child prodigy. He's always in the news for winning awards and breaking records… Ken's a replacement too, actually. His older brother was meant to be the tenth Digidestined the first time around, but he died the night you all made the journey."

Izzy's disappointment at having the thunder stolen out from under his news was quick to disappear in the face of new information. "Interesting… Very interesting…"

The red-haired boy's brows furrowed. He brought a hand up to his chin, a look of deep thought taking over his features. Mimi sighed and brought her own hand up to her hip, looking like this was all too familiar. "Well, would you care to share with the rest of us, Izzy? What, exactly, is so interesting?"

"Ah, right, sorry. I just have to wonder if Ken is the rightful successor after all… We've already proven that the crests' power can be passed down. I saw it firsthand with Cody, and I'm guessing you two can say the same. But Wormmon was just telling me that all these problems with the crests being corrupted is because Ken can't activate his. He hacked in and has been experimenting with the others."

"So maybe Ken intercepted the position?" Henry picked up the thought for him. "It's kind of a long story, but… Cody's grandfather had Sam Ichijouji's Digivice. He tried to give it to Ken, who duplicated it somehow. I can't say I really know how the Digivices work… but maybe it read Ken's DNA and thought it was close enough to Sam's?"

"Maybe," Izzy agreed. "And that's not the only mystery. Sam never made it to the Digital World, so how did he already have his Digivice?"

"I didn't even think of that," said Joe. "We only got our Digivices after we arrived."

Mimi sighed. "There's still so many questions. I don't know how you deal with all these puzzles, Izzy; my head's already spinning!"

"Someone has to do it." Izzy had already turned back to the screen and didn't look the least bit perturbed. "I love a good puzzle, personally."

"Well, I prefer work that's a little more straightforward," Mimi replied, crinkling her nose as gravity took its effect on a stack of files across the room that no one had so much as nudged. "And speaking of… I should be getting back. Yolei's looking after a castle about a day's walk from here. Palmon and I have been gathering reinforcements, sending them her way whenever we run into Digimon who are still willing to fight."

"Like a volunteer army," said Joe, his eyes lighting up a bit. "That could be really good, especially while we're all still so spread out like this."

Mimi nodded, pleased. "I don't think we can afford to wait much longer. Apparently, the Digimon Emperor has a prison attached to his base where he's been collecting Digimon for his experiments. We have to free them!"

Joe nodded. "You're right. And it sounds like you'll need as much help as you can get. I'll go with you."

Wormmon jumped down from the desk to join them. "I should be getting back too. I'm worried about Ken. He seemed to be getting worse when I left. I can show you the way. I don't know how useful I'll be, but I want to help any way I can."

"I'm going to stay here with Izzy," Henry decided. "Maybe we'll be able to figure it out together. And I want to be here if Cody gets back in touch. A lot has happened since he last saw his friends."

It felt strange to be splitting up already when they'd just had their happy reunion, but there was too much to do, too many of their friends who'd slowly fallen behind in their discoveries. They each needed to be where they could be of the most use. He felt like he and Izzy were on similar wavelengths. …He wasn't so sure how he felt about jumping back into battle so soon.

So they said their goodbyes, Izzy promising to try and find a way to connect their Digivices like cell phones. But they all knew that was later down on the list of priorities. Instead, Izzy turned back to what seemed to be the main computer. "I was able to hack into Ken's system once and see the data he's collected on each of our crests—so he can keep track of our crests as they're being brought back to life—but I wouldn't risk doing it again just yet. I'm not surprised he's regarded as a genius in your… in our world. If his system's anything to go by, Ken is a really smart kid. I think we got away with it the first time, but he's bound to catch on if we keep at it."

Henry let his slip-up pass by without comment. He couldn't say it would surprise him to learn that all the older kids felt disconnected from their old world. It was just all the more reason to hurry up and get everyone back home.

"Anyway, I've switched tracks," Izzy went on. "I'm trying to get to the bottom of Gennai's operating system itself. Something's just not right here. I'm sure I was tracking Gennai's coordinates himself, but he's nowhere to be found—just his equipment."

"Maybe he doesn't always exist," Terriermon suggested. He'd gotten down from Henry's shoulder when the others had left and was now casually picking through some of the papers on the floor, as if looking for clues. "You said he always appeared to you guys as a hologram, right? Maybe that's all he is."

"You mean he's just a simple program?" Tentomon asked. "Like he's on a timer or something?"

Terriermon shrugged. "Or maybe you guys triggered him by going to certain places or doing certain things. You know, like events in video games."

Tentomon cocked his head to the side. "…What's a video game?"

Izzy and Henry hummed in unison, their own brainstorming fueled by their partners' chatter. Izzy quickly clicked through a few screens. "I was working on unraveling the system when you all arrived. When you reach a certain level, it requires a password… It looks like we get three tries before we're locked out. For how long, I'm not sure. And I'd rather not find out."

Terriermon perked up. "See! I bet that sets off the next message! It's auta… What do you call it, Henry?"

"Automated," he answered absentmindedly, scrutinizing their surroundings a little more carefully. "But I don't think so. All these hard copies of his data… three attempts at getting the password right… It all feels distinctly… human. Why would a computer program need a whole cottage in the first place?"

"You're right," said Izzy, reappraising the screen before him. "But honestly, that might make this impossible! That means a human being is at work behind Gennai… People tend to choose passwords that revolve around things that are of personal importance. Without knowing who's controlling Gennai, we'll never be able to guess what he set as the password, no matter how many tries we're given."

Henry couldn't help feeling like the answer was right under his nose… But was his hunch too simple? "Izzy… how many characters is it asking for?"

The older boy clicked around for a minute before replying, "Seven, why?"

The idea grew firmer in his mind, expanding until it left no room for other possibilities. This was a dangerous mindset, he knew, but if he was right… His voice was equally firm. "Try 'Shibumi.'"

Izzy didn't ask any questions, just did as Henry asked. They both held their breath when he hit Enter. For a while, nothing happened… but they weren't immediately rejected. And then the entire building began to shake. The four all rushed to brace themselves against something stable, a flurry of dislodged papers blocking their vision. Did the Digital World have earthquakes? Was it a coincidence that it had begun right after they'd attempted a password? Was this meant to signal that they'd been right, or wrong?

There was nothing to do until the shouting subsided, and they slowly got to their feet in the sudden stillness. It took a moment for anyone to realize what had changed underneath all the mess… until Tentomon nearly fell into the hole in the floor.

"Whoa!" He caught himself and fluttered back up, causing another stir in the mess. Once it settled down for the second time, they were finally able to see the staircase that had sunk down through the stone floor. Izzy and Henry shared a bewildered look before getting to their feet and starting the journey down in silence.

There were no lights, so they braced themselves against the walls. There'd been no indication that there was anything more to the cottage's floor, and it was impossible to guess what was awaiting them below.

Henry caught sight of a room big enough to span the entire house upstairs that seemed to be acting as a library. But he didn't have time to absorb much before his gaze was captured by a solitary figure seated behind a desk at the other end of the room. He stopped abruptly at the end of the stairs and had to stumble forward another step when Izzy bumped into him.

The two boys and two Digimon stood there awkwardly at the foot of the staircase, Henry's eyes widening at the familiar face smiling serenely at them.

"Hello, Henry," Shibumi said at last, breaking the silence. "I thought you might be the first to find me."

Review please!

I don't own Digimon.

Here's another friendly reminder that your author is not a master hacker. ^^ I'm trying to keep Izzy true to character, but that feels a little awkward sometimes when it comes to the real tech-y stuff where he's supposed to shine.