"Tai!" shouted Kari.
Tai was jerked awake by his sister's sudden intrusion. He rolled right out of bed and landed on his head. Wearing only a blue T-shirt and a pair of plaid boxers, Tai lay on his upper-back with his lower body folded over himself. As Tai's legs dangling in front of his face he looked up at his sister sheepishly.
"Um, Kari? What are you-?" started Tai, his cheeks red with embarrassment.
"I thought you were up over a half-hour ago!" said Kari. "You better really move or you'll be late!"
Tai slowly twisted his neck so he could see the clock running right side up. He instantly realized that he had fifteen minutes to get to school.
"Outta' the way!" shouted Tai, shooting up and tripping over his sheets.
After getting back up again he ran to his dresser. Kari saw the shirt Tai was wearing go flying across the room. A second later, he was dancing around, desperately trying to pull on his socks and button his white shirt at the same time. Moving with amazing speed, Tai got his socks on and grabbed the jacket and gray slacks of his uniform. He slid past Kari after managing to get his socks and jacket on, grabbing his backpack off the table where he had left it. Kari just watched with great amusement as Tai tried to put his pants on two legs at a time while still standing. Of course, he floundered and fell over in the process. Undaunted, Tai yanked his pants into place and quickly grabbed his shoes from where they lay next to the door. He tied them so quickly that he failed to realize that he had in fact tied them together. His first attempted step landed him face-first against the wall.
"Ow, that'll leave a mark," giggled Kari.
Ignoring his sister, Tai quickly retied his shoes and grabbed his bag, bolting out the door. Kari and Meko stuck their heads outside and watched Tai try to run as he zipped his pants and fumbled with the buttons on his shirt.
"Wow, that was actually pretty impressive," said Kari, clicking off a stopwatch and checking the time. "One minute, thirty-seven seconds. A new record! Of course, he'll really need to be in the zone to make it to school on time, don't you think Meko?"
The cat meowed in response.
"I think I should try getting pictures next time," said Kari. "It's a good thing my school starts thirty minutes later than Tai's does. I'd hate to miss this every Thursday."
Twelve minutes and nine seconds later, Tai flopped down in his first period seat, right next to Matt. He had his electric razor out and was trying to shave the same time as he combed his hair.
"Better not mix those two up," said Matt with a grin. "Um, Tai? I think we'd all appreciate it if you got to the deodorant next."
"Already did," said Tai with a curious look on his face. "I hit it while I was rounding that second corner."
"Well you might consider adding another coat," said Matt, holding his nose.
"What was your time today?" asked another of Tai's friends, who sat right in front of him.
"Under fifteen. That's all that's important," said Tai.
"You use that shortcut through the alley I showed you?" asked Matt.
"Oh yeah! It worked great!" said Tai. "Well, pretty great up until the point where the rottweiler started chasing me."
"Oh, sorry," said Matt. "I guess I forgot to mention him."
"It's alright," said Tai. "I just chucked my deodorant at him and jumped a fence."
"So I guess there's not much of a chance at that second coat," said Matt.
"Sorry," said Tai. "I guess you'll just have to accept a little stink today."
"So did you get a chance to study for the test next period?" asked Matt, changing the subject.
"We don't have a-" started Tai. "Uh-oh."
Tai's eyes went wide as he quickly pulled a notebook out of his backpack and quickly set about studying for the test.
Over at Odaiba middle school, TK walked towards his first class of the day next to Cody.
"Do you really think she'll like it?" asked TK.
"I'm sure she will," said Cody. "I mean, it's a great gift."
"I sure hope so," said TK nervously. "So are we still on for this afternoon?"
"Oh, did I forget to tell you? I have a kendo lesson," said Cody. "I guess I'm going to have to take a rain check."
"Dang," said TK. "I guess it's just going to be Yolei, Davis, Kari and I this time then."
"What about Ken?" asked Cody.
"He said he had something to take care of this afternoon," said TK. "It sounded like it was really important."
"Well I hope you guys have better luck this time," said Cody.
"Don't worry Cody," said TK reassuringly. "We'll find him, I promise."
"But what if he's… you know…" said Cody.
"Let's not get into that again," said TK. "Deep down, I know he's alive. I don't believe for a second that he's gone."
"Well I sure hope we can find him soon," said Cody. "Something tells me that his parents won't be fooled by the phony emails a whole lot longer."
"Yeah," said TK. "Especially since he's supposed to be on the plane back to New York in ten days."
"Well let's try not to worry about that now," said Cody. "Let's just hope that today is our lucky day."
"Right," said TK with a smile. "But right now we'd better get to class."
"See you later!" said Cody as he ran off to class.
"Bye!" said TK, doing the same.
Across town in Tamachi, Ken sat at his desk staring off into space. He frequently found his mind wandering back to the object of his affection. For a long time now, he had felt a little spark, but recently that spark had been slowly brewing up into a full-blown electrical storm. Ken sighed heavily, remembering the first time he'd really noticed her. It wasn't that long after he'd abandoned life as the Digimon Emperor. A control spire digimon had taken on the form of a Golemon. Together, their digimon partners had put a stop to the threat posed by Golemon's attempted destruction of the dam.
"Yolei…" murmured Ken to himself.
Ken saw something in her. Externally, he didn't see a whole lot of romantic interest. She was bossy, high-maintenance, and not exactly the prettiest girl Ken had ever seen. During his stint as emperor, Ken could have probably had any girl in Japan if he wanted, but as the strength he'd been given by the dark spore began to fade, so did his popularity. Ken knew he wasn't exactly in high-demand, and yet Yolei seemed to only gain interest in him as time passed. He didn't really understand it, and he had no idea if her intentions were romantic or purely friendly, but he knew that he would have to find out sooner or later. Of course Ken, being quite shy, opted for later.
As time rolled on, Ken's mind began to wander elsewhere. Back to his past. He had spent months trying to rebuild his memory of his life before becoming the emperor, but he had made little progress. Names and faces from back then had begun to register, but they were disjointed, confusing. Ken had been thinking about his past a lot in the past few days, something brought about by the four-year anniversary of his brother's accident. Ken sighed again. It had been four years to the day since he lost his brother. Four years to the day since he had been sent down that terrible path. It had taken him a long time, but Ken knew that he was recovering well from his experiences in the past. He had come a long way, and he was proud of himself. The past was always there, nagging at the back of his mind. He wished that he could have gone to the Digital World with his friends that afternoon, but he was going to the cemetery with his parents. They were going to see Sam's grave, just like they did every so often.
The day rolled forward at a steady pace. It was slow for some and fast for others. Tai took his test, squeaking by with a C+, TK nervously waited for school to end so he could see Kari, and Yolei did her best to flirt with the boy at the head of her row in math class. Davis got chewed out for breaking yet another window in one of his indoor soccer matches, Cody went over techniques for his kendo lesson, and Ken remained his usual quiet self.
"Only two more minutes," thought Yolei near the end of the school day.
She couldn't wait for class to end. She had finally gotten that boy in her math class to agree to go out for a bite to eat with her. She had it all planned out. Poromon was going to be with Cody and Upamon all night. She had gotten her parents to let her take the afternoon off from the store, and it was the weekend so it was okay if she didn't get her homework done right away. The bell rang and she practically jumped out of her seat and flew out the door.
Meanwhile, TK shot out of his seat like a rocket. He wanted to surprise Kari outside her locker but it was all the way on the other side of school. He had bought her a gift with what he had saved from his allowance. It was a silver bracelet; a bit expensive for him, but he felt that Kari was more than worth it. If Kari had asked him, TK would have probably been willing to give up a kidney. He bolted out the door and ran as fast as he could to get to the other side of the school, skidding to a stop in front of Kari's locker just as she came around the corner.
"Oh hi TK," greeted Kari. "How did you get here so fast?"
"*Pant* Oh, it was…*pant* nothing," wheezed TK.
Kari chuckled a bit.
"Say, what's that you have there?" asked Kari, pointing at the small box TK was carrying.
"It's a surprise," said TK, hiding the small box behind his back. "Hold out your hand and close your eyes."
Kari did as she was told with a giddy little smile. As TK opened the box and prepared to put the bracelet into her palm, Yolei came running around the corner. Having failed to see him, she ran right into him and Kari, causing all three of them to collapse into a pile.
"Oh, sorry guys," said Yolei, quickly standing up and brushing herself off. "I was in a rush and didn't see you. Say TK, that's a really nice bracelet. I'd love to stay and chat, but I've really got to go."
Yolei, who was apparently a little hyper at the moment, ran off. As TK rubbed his head and dusted off his hat, Kari picked up the bracelet and examined it. Then, she gave him a big hug.
"Thank you TK!" said Kari as she hugged her boyfriend. "I love it!"
"Ah, it was nothing," said TK sheepishly. "Hey, why don't we-"
"No time to rest now," said Kari. "We've got plans, remember?"
Kari quickly grabbed TK by the wrist and pulled him in the direction of the computer room. After a quick sprint they reached their destination. Davis was there, waiting for them. He was leaning back against one of the windows, his hands behind his head and a look of exhaustion on his face. Demiveemon sat on his head, while Patamon and Gatomon sat up on one of the tables.
"Hey guys," said Davis. "Where's Yolei?"
"Last time I saw her she was in a bit of a hurry," said TK. "I don't think she's coming today. I also talked to Cody earlier and he isn't coming either."
"But Izzy and Sora are coming this time," announced Kari. "We should wait here for them."
"When did they decide to join in?" asked TK.
"Sora called me last night," said Kari.
"Great," said TK, slumping into one of the chairs. "I guess we'll just hang out here until they arrive."
"I don't mind," said Kari. "Besides, it gives me some time to thank you for the lovely present."
"Um, excuse me," said Davis.
"What did you have in mind?" asked TK.
"Excuse me," repeated Davis.
"Oh, I don't know," said Kari mischievously.
"Excuse me!" shouted Davis.
"Oh don't worry Davis," said TK. "We were just messing with you."
"I really do love the present," said Kari, giving TK a quick peck on the cheek.
Davis responded with a gagging-face. The three of them sat down and waited. Finally, after nearly half an hour, Sora and Izzy stepped through the door.
"Sorry we were late," said Izzy apologetically.
"It's not exactly a short walk from the high school," said Sora.
"Don't worry about it," said TK, pulling out his D-3 and aiming it at the nearest computer screen. "Now let's stop wasting time! Digiport open!"
TK waited patiently for the gate to open. They all stood there for a moment in silence, ready to be yanked into another world. After a few seconds had passed they realized that they weren't going anywhere.
"What's going on?" asked TK, looking at his D-3 carefully.
"You must've done it wrong," said Davis. "Here, let me try. Digiport open!"
Again, nothing happened.
"Something must be wrong," said Izzy as he sat down at the computer.
While Izzy studied the computer, Davis and TK were carefully examining their digivices. Sora noticed that Kari had a strange look on her face.
"What's wrong Kari?" asked Sora.
"I'm not quite sure," said Kari. "But something has happened in the Digital World; something very bad. I… I can't really describe it. I feel something… growing; something evil."
"This is strange," said Izzy. "The Digiport is fully functional, but it won't open. It's as if its been sealed somehow."
"Is that possible?" asked Davis.
"It's the only explanation," said Izzy. "But I know that I could never pull it off. In order to seal the gate between the worlds a person would have to know the exact workings of the gate; or else have some kind of special power like Black Wargreymon. Plus, whoever did it would have to be absolutely brilliant to even begin to understand how to seal the gate so masterfully."
"What can we do about it?" asked Sora.
"There's no two ways about it," said Izzy. "Until we find a way to break the seal, no one is going to the Digital World. I'll email Willis and ask him to see if he can figure it out. Davis, you need to tell Ken and Yolei about this and have them meet me. Maybe if Ken, Yolei, Willis, and I all work together we can beat this thing."
Back in the DigiWorld, a dark cloud was spreading across the sky like a plague. It darkened the mountains, the deserts, the oceans, the cities, everything. It continued to expand unrelentingly like a plague. Deep underground in an ancient base that was no longer abandoned, a lean figure stood in the control room, looking out through the window into the large room in front of him, watching repair work being done on the aging equipment. In the room around him, a group of Datamon worked fervently to repair the base systems.
"What is the status of the digivice?" demanded the figure in a powerful voice.
"Repair work is underway, sir," reported one of the Datamon. "Completion is expected within twenty-four hours."
"Make it twelve," said the figure with a cruel smile.
"Yes sir!" said the Datamon with a salute.
"Heh," chuckled the figure. "It was so nice of that boy to provide me with the tools I needed to complete the task at hand. Soon, my power will overflow and spill into the other quadrants of the Digital World and into the human realms as well. Soon, I will have my revenge. Soon, my master shall rise from the ashes…"
The figure glared down at the unassuming, white DigiEgg that lay on the console in front of him.
"Not even you will be able to stand in my way now," said the figure.