Day 26

"Well? What do you guys think?" asked Tentomon.

"I don't like it," TK said. "It's too quiet."

The whole team stood before a very old, metallic door. It apparently lead into a massive structure buried beneath the sand. The clouds overhead were so thick that it was as dark as night, and the only sound was that of a few gusts of wind sailing over the sandy dunes. Other than the door, there was nothing as far as the eye could see. Yolei wrapped her arms around herself because of the frigid winds.

"Well it has to be the place," said Yolei. "I mean it's not like we've been finding huge underground buildings every mile."

"She's right," Joe concurred. "I don't have any doubts about this being the place. The question now, is what to do about it."

"We go inside, silly," said Gomamon. "In case you hadn't noticed, we are WAY past the point of no return. Besides, if I stay out in this dry air a minute longer I'm gonna' go nuts, and I'm taking all of you along for the ride!"

"Think you guys can handle whatever's in there?" asked Cody.

"Indubitably," said Hawkmon confidently.

"We can take whatever those guys can dish out," said Armadillomon.

"I guess this is it then," said Joe. "Either we come out of this place victorious, or we don't come out at all."

The others nodded solemnly. They all turned to the door and took a few steps forward. There was a scraping sound and a mechanical whirring a few moments before the door slowly opened. They all gazed into the infinite darkness that lay within, each silently praying that they would all make it back out in one piece.

"That's it…" cooed a sinister voice in the central command center. "Come on in, children."

"Sir, all units have reported in," said a nearby Datamon. "All troops have been recalled and are maintaining a safe distance from the main hall. Ready to move in behind the intruders at your authorization."

"Have all magnetic locks been engaged?"

"Unfortunately, no" Datamon replied. "It would seem that our repairs were not fully complete, and many of the secondary systems still show widespread failures. Power failures in sectors D through F have made both locking and lighting systems inoperable."

"Hmm… they won't reach those sectors for a while. Still, I wouldn't want them making their way into any vital areas without coming to me first. It's just plain rude when someone comes into your home and doesn't even introduce themselves before messing around with your stuff."

"Master, if I may…" said a venomous, youthful voice behind the shadowy figure. "I do not believe we should underestimate these remaining DigiDestined. Though their numbers may be greatly reduced, disregarding all danger would be foolish."

"What would you suggest?" asked the figure.

"A simple, yet ingenious strategy," said the voice. "Divide and conquer. I'll attempt to cut off one or two from the group and deal with them personally. I should have no problem crushing them like the insects they are..."

"I like how you think, my young protégé," the figure said with a wicked sneer. "Make it so."

"Do you have need of me?" asked yet another voice, this one mechanical and booming.

"Always, commander," said the figure. "You will accompany me as my bodyguard. We shall be waiting for any would-be heroes bold enough to bypass our blockade."

"Of course, my liege," said the mechanical voice.

A short time later, the team was officially getting bored. The seemingly endless halls, the darkness aided only by the flashlight they had received earlier, the occasional locked door, and the incessant hum of machines grew dull very quickly.

"I know we're supposed to be afraid for our lives and all…" said Gatomon. "But I'd really prefer it if we just got into the action."

"I know what you mean," said Tentomon. "The anticipation of a fight is often just as bad as the fight itself."

"If the fight wasn't any harder than this, I'd be really happy," Izzy said.

"Is it just me, or is this place kinda'… familiar?" Patamon queried.

"Now that you mention it…" mused Gomamon. "It does seem like I've been here before."

"Strange," said TK. "I can't remember ever being here."

"Me either," said Izzy and Joe simultaneously.

"Or us," said Yolei and Cody.

"Well I know I've been here before," said Gatomon.

"Me too!" Tentomon chimed in.

"Odd," said Hawkmon. "I have no recollection of ever having been to this place before."

"Uh, yeah, what he said," Said Armadillomon.

"Most curious," Izzy pondered. "Why would only Patamon, Gatomon, Tentomon and Gomamon remember this place? One could draw the conclusion that it was only the digimon that have been here before, but then why wouldn't Hawkmon and Armadillomon remember?"

"Hey, I know," said TK. "Maybe it's because Hawkmon and Armadillomon are part of the new team, but the others are from the older team."

"An excellent observation," said Izzy. "But still, when would you guys have been here anyway?"

"Beats me," said Gomamon.

"But it was definitely a very long time ago," said Tentomon.

"Look, this is all VERY fascinating," said Yolei. "But unless you can point us in the direction of where our friends might be this probably won't be very helpful!"

"She does have a point…" said Izzy. "Standing here talking won't do us much good."

The group got back to their long trek into the darkness.

"Jeez, what crawled up her butt all of a sudden?" whispered Gatomon to Hawkmon.

"I don't have a clue," Hawkmon whispered back. "But I'm willing to bet that the stress of this whole situation is starting to get to her a little bit."

"She's got to learn to chill out," replied Gatomon.

"You're telling me…" Hawkmon said.

They all continued walking for another ten minutes or so, constantly checking every door they came across to see whether or not it was locked. Eventually, this tactic paid off when Cody stumbled upon a large, steel door that was unlocked. Painted in block letters on the door was the phrase: "HOLDING CELLS: OBSERVATION LEVEL".

"Hey guys! Check it out!" said Cody excitedly.

Yolei and Hawkmon crowded up behind Cody and Armadillomon as they opened the door. The four of them quickly stepped through, but the door slammed shut again before any of the others could follow. There was a mechanical noise that instantly told them that the door was locked.

"Hey!" screamed Yolei, banging on the door with her fists. "Open up! This isn't funny!"

"We didn't do it!" shouted the muffled voice of TK on the other side of the door.

"It's alright! Stay calm!" shouted Joe. "This isn't as bad as it seems!"

"Not as bad as it seems?!" shrieked Yolei. "We're trapped in here with no way out! Seems pretty bad to me!"

"Just stay calm," said Cody. "I'm sure Armadillomon can get us through there in no time. Right, pal?"

"Uh… maybe…" said Armadillomon.

Armadillomon trotted closer to the door and placed his ear up to the frame. He gave it a couple taps with his knuckles and listened carefully. After a few seconds he turned back to Cody and shook his head disappointedly.

"No go," said Armadillomon. "That there is six inches of reinforced tempered steel. I couldn't get through that thing with a stick of dynamite."

"Well then how about a couple of drills?" asked Cody, holding up his D-3.

"Not a bad idea!" said Armadillomon. "Just stand back!"

Yolei, Cody, and Hawkmon moved back a few feet as Armadillomon armor digivolved to Digmon. Now armed with an array of drills, Digmon set to work on the door. There was a loud grinding noise as chunks of metal flew through the air. Cody, Hawkmon, and Yolei all had to cover their ears from the noise. Suddenly, a potent electrical surge shot through Digmon's body, knocking him back right on top of his friends.

"Well that could've gone better," grumbled Cody under Digmon's weight.

Stunned by the jolt, Digmon de-digivolved to Armadillomon and began to stumble about.

"How deep did he get?" asked Yolei, sitting up.

"Looks like about an inch…" said Hawkmon upon examining the damage to the door.

"Well, that's excellent," said Yolei unenthusiastically.

"Better not try that again," said Cody, picking up his dazed pal.

"You guys alright in there?!" shouted TK.

"We're fine!" said Cody. "But you three should go on without us, 'cause getting through that door isn't going to happen!"

"You sure?!" shouted Izzy.

"Worry not!" replied Hawkmon. "I'm sure we can manage to find an alternative route!"

"Well… alright!" said TK. "You guys just stay safe!"

With that said Cody, Yolei, Armadillomon, and Hawkmon turned to look at the room they were in for the first real inspection. It was nearly pitch-black, so Yolei and Cody began fumbling around in search of a light switch. Yolei stumbled upon a button after a few moments and pressed it. Sure enough, the lighting activated. They found themselves on a long, narrow, metal pathway with flimsy railing on the sides that stretched into the distance. On either side below path were long rows of open-ceiling rooms, like cubicles. Each room was roughly eight-by-eight and the top edges were lined with long, fluorescent lighting, providing the only sources of light in the entire room. The ceiling was still quite dark, as was the far wall. When the lights had flicked on they elicited a low grumbling that seemed to be composed of voices from all the cells below; apparently none of the inmates cared much for the sudden light.

"Whoa, creepy," said Yolei.

"C'mon," Cody said. "I'll bet you there's another exit at the far end of this room."

"Just be careful," said Yolei. "I'd hate it if any of us tripped and fell over the edge."

The four intrepid explorers continued down the path, scanning over every cell as they passed by. Some contained nothing, while others contained a digimon or two. One even contained a whole bunch of digimon. Still, they didn't see anything too spectacular. At least not until they came to one cell. Looking over the edge, they saw that it was inhabited by a digimon they didn't recognize, but that was probably because it was all curled up in the corner. They digimon's bluish-purple skin was marred but scrapes, bruises, and dried blood.

"Aww…" murmured Yolei. "He looks so sad. He's been hurt bad by the looks of it."

"Think we can help him?" asked Cody.

"We should at least try," said Yolei. "Hey you! Can you hear me?"

The creature cringed at the sound of her voice, trying to push itself further into the corner.

"Don't worry, we're not here to hurt you," said Cody. "Just talk to us."

The creature seemed to calm slightly. It removed one of its claws from over its face and swiveled a dark, emotionless eye towards the DigiDestined, but it was their digimon that quickly caught the creature's attention.

"DATA!" exclaimed the creature. "MUST FEED!"

The strange digimon uncoiled its multitude of tentacles and sprang upwards with a voracious look in its eyes. The DigiDestined pulled back, but they soon learned that it was unnecessary when the creature slammed into a very strong electrical field where the roof of the cell would have been. It cried out as some 5,000 volts of electricity shot through it. It fell back to the ground a moment later, smoke pouring off its weakened body.

"Wh-who is that?" Cody asked, clearly shaken.

"I can't believe it!" gasped Yolei. "It's… it's Keramon! It's Keramon!!!"

"And who, pray tell, is Keramon?" asked Hawkmon.

"I remember hearing about him," said Cody as he peered over the railing into the cell below. "That's the Rookie form of Diaboromon, right?"

"That's right…" said Yolei. "But what is he doing here? It was bad enough the last time we fought him!"

"Hold on," said Cody. "Something tells me that he's not our enemy this time."

"What makes you say that?" asked Yolei.

"Well, for starters he's in a cage," said Cody.

"Oh yeah," said Yolei. "I guess that wouldn't make much sense. But still, we should keep an eye on him."

"I agree," said Cody. "We can't afford to let him loose. We don't need two enemies out there."

"Destroy…" grumbled Keramon.

"Hey! Is someone up there?!" called a voice from the next cell over.

"Hey, is that…?" asked Yolei to herself.

The four of them quickly rushed towards the cell from which the voice had come. Upon looking down, they found what they had come to look for.

"Michael! Willis!" exclaimed Yolei.

"Hey guys!" called Cody.

In the cell below, Michael and Willis looked up, smiling with great relief. Also in the cell were Tai, Matt, Sora, and Mimi, but they seemed a lot less happy. In fact, they were all sitting in opposite corners of the tiny room.

"I told you I heard something!" said Willis to Michael.

"How did you guys get here?!" asked Michael.

"Long story!" shouted Cody. "Let's just find a way to get you guys out of there!"

"Don't forget about us!" shouted a voice immediately behind the group on the catwalk.

Cody, Yolei, Hawkmon and Armadillomon all did an about-face. Inside that cell they found Agumon, Gabumon, Wormmon, Veemon, Terriermon and Lopmon, Betamon, Palmon, and Biyomon.

"Wow! You're all here!" Armadillomon shouted.

"Boy are you guys a sight for sore eyes!" said Agumon.

"Hurry up and get us out of this place!" said Terriermon. "We don't have much time!"

"What do you mean?" asked Hawkmon.

"No time to talk!" said Lopmon. "One of that creepy guy's goons is going to be here any minute! There's no time to waste."

"There's less time than you realize…" said a startlingly familiar voice on the catwalk.

"Who's there?!" shouted Yolei, staring into the darkness ahead.

Something began to approach. The rhythmic sound of footsteps on the cold steel was almost maddening. They could just barely make out the outline of the figure.

"I've been waiting a long time for this…" said the voice. "To think that I was actually defeated by you pitiful children. I've returned to prove to you all that the strong will inevitably defeat the weak."

"Don't come any closer!" warned Hawkmon.

"Or what?" asked the voice. "You'll digivolve? Not to likely, as long as I have the dark digivice."

"What? The… the dark digivice?" asked Cody.

A violet light sprang up in the darkness from the D-3 held by the figure. Much of his figure was basked in the light, giving him a terrifying appearance. Where he the light didn't reach there was deep shadows. His eyes seemed cruelly empty. His cape flowed at the touch of some unseen specter. The Emperor had returned.

"And now," said Ken. "The party is about to begin."

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[Isn't this exciting? Don't miss next time, when the real enemy is finally revealed! Many questions will be answered, but even more will be left unsolved!]