Disclaimer: I still don't own Digimon.
Episode XVIII
Sudden Complications
Definition: Uh-oh: Interjection, usually used to indicate the presence of undesirable elements in the immediate vicinity. Used to announce the arrival of sudden chaos. See also, Hey, He's Got No Pants, Mammothmon Stampede, Pancake Shaped, Second Syllable Retreat, At Least It Can't Get Any Worse, The Stairs are Out, First Floor Window Rule, No-Pupil Syndrome, *
"So where are we going with all this?" Yolei poked around curiously.
"Well, our only hope is that they don't check this room too often." Ken remarked. "We're inside the main keep of the castle, but there isn't much else we can do here but wait for them to relax their guard, unless we can figure out where their headquarters is in here?"
"I thought you had a map for this place." Davis accused him.
"I did, but he's obviously made some changes. In my map this place is a blank wall. There's a problem here, because MachineDramon must have altered the actual physical structure of the inner tower when he rebuilt this place." Ken looked around in confusion and then shrugged.
"So now what?" Kari asked.
"We wait." Ken told them, and settled down to make himself comfortable.
The door to the elevator shaft opened and two Veggiemon emerged towing a huge cart filled with boxes. The two Gardromon standing watch here gave it a cursory examination and let it go by, not even noticing the slight distortion in space that passed them by and quickly made its way off to one side to an abandoned corridor, empty except for the sound of distant machinery.
"Problems?" Tai asked impatiently.
"I didn't expect this." Piximon admitted. "I didn't think to scout this far in."
"It makes sense that Daemon would have quite a set of fortifications to control a world, but we couldn't see it from the outside." Leomon grumbled. "This would explain why we never could understand where he was hiding his armies."
"I agree." Izzy pointed around. "From the outside this doesn't look as big as it obviously is. From simple calculations I estimate that the height of this place is much greater than I thought it was from the outside. Apparently there is a force field or an illusion or something surrounding this place to disguise its nature."
"You mean this whole place is hidden?" Agumon asked, looking confused.
"I think so." Izzy returned.
"Look." Tai grunted through gritted teeth. "Kari and the others might be suffering right now on the other side of that portal. That's why Gennai wanted us to go through so fast. We need to get through now."
"All right, all right." Izzy looked a bit impressed at Tai's vehemence. He tapped for a few moments, and then shrugged.
"So what's the news?" Tentomon asked.
"Well, it works sort of like this. We need some scouting parties to go out. I think my computer can get a bit of help from the mainframe, but I'll have to be a bit careful. Piximon, we're going to need to find a room. I want to try something for a while."
"Right. My magic detects some in this direction." Piximon pointed, off down the hallway. After a few minutes of following the unerring point of his spear, the group found themselves inside a series of huge warehouse like constructs.
"At least we won't run out of food." Joe remarked, checking out the crates of the stuff lying around carelessly. "We've got enough in here to feed an army."
"Which is exactly what that freak Daemon is doing with it." Gomamon reminded him.
"All right, so now what?" Tai demanded.
"Hold your horses Tai. Now Piximon and I need to talk." Izzy sat down and began to converse with Piximon while Tai fumed impatiently.
"So, what do you want to do when you get back?" Kari asked TK innocently as they lounged back on a set of chairs pushed against the wall, out of sight of anyone who might walk through the door.
"Avoiding your brother and seeing you come to mind." TK teased.
"In what priority?" Kari arched an eyebrow and then frowned. "Never mind, I don't want to know."
"You always come first." TK told her with a straight face.
"How sweet. Keep saying that and it might go to my head." Kari poked him, and then squeezed his hand.
"Good." TK put an arm around Kari's shoulders, an act that still made him nervous but was getting more and more comfortable with every passing day. It gave him a warm feeling inside, amplified by the warmth that was Kari leaking in from the outside. Kari sighed in something very much like contentment and leaned back against her partner, feeling the warmth that bound them together as it tempted them to sleep.
"You know, you two should really spend some more time together." Gatomon finished washing her paws with her tongue "We could go away if you want."
"Yeah." Patamon joined in, but he still looked a little confused about everything.
"Don't worry." TK laughed gently. "We still really aren't sure what we're supposed to be doing anyway, so you don't have to leave us alone at all."
"Yeah." Kari smiled at them. "It's not like we really have changed all that much."
"You're touching each other more." Patamon noted, something that made the two humans blush and Gatomon stop preening long enough to give Patamon a little bat to the back of the head.
"So what are we going to do?" Kari asked seriously.
"I don't know, study some, finish school, get jobs that don't take up all of our time, and then get to work."
"Work?" Gatomon wanted to know.
TK and Kari looked at her for a moment before relenting and giving her an explanation. "We have to serve as the guardians of the Digital World. It's something I was told. Kari knows it too." TK smiled at the two of them. "So do all the digidestined and such. You see, right now we're the only group alive that has Digimon of the kind of power we do, the ability to go over Champion and all that. So we're the only ones who can protect everything. Once there are enough human-Digimon pairs to hold the line we won't be needed as much, but we're still the veterans here."
"You see, the integration of the Digital and Real worlds is going quite slowly for a reason, to get humans used to Digimon. This means that only a few people a year get exposed to Digimon." Kari looked very serious as she traced out designs with her hand. "This gives people a chance to come to terms with the Digimon, but it also leaves both worlds open to attack, and ill at ease with each other. It's one of the big weaknesses."
"In essence Kari and I got volunteered." TK continued. "We end up watching over both worlds in the hopes that we can one day save both of them. It's the kind of job that requires full time and overtime in order for it to work. Not that we're complaining, but we have to keep planning."
"So what happens in your future?" Patamon wanted to know.
"Well, that's hard to see. You see, neither of us is going to let the other go out risking their neck without them, so we're stuck going as a team. And I can't see the other kids letting us go alone, so we'll probably have lots of help, but that isn't the best consolation right now." TK paused and let Kari continue.
"We would have wanted a normal life like all other kids get, but that seems to be impossible now. We just can't do it anymore." Kari looked around. "I guess it brought us together so it can't be all bad, but it does make things difficult."
"I wonder if Gennai could help you. I mean, he does seem to have some resources that help him." Patamon looked at the two of them with his ears poked up.
"I'm sure he's got enough on his mind." TK smiled at his companion.
The dawn of Phoenix was broken by a sudden roar. The siege lines, ancient, old and drawn well were greeted by a sign unlike any they had ever heard before. The forces of Darkness and the beleagured armies of the Phoenix Empire had been staring at each other across those fortifications for decades as the Empire had once stared at the barbarians of old. Huge cannons on both sides had acted as best they could to batter those massive walls into nothingness, as well as to silence their counterparts on the other side, but they had achieved little over the years.
But now things were different, new forces were on the move, and this time the armies of the Darkness Crest were facing a different sort of foe from the tired armies that wore the golden phoenix on their sleeve. The Blood Marauders, the crack troops of seven campaigns were woken by the sound of gunfire in their rear, not by the sound of cannons to their front.
Even to them the appearance of the battle-line was intimidating, terror at its maximum effect. Ten Dreadnaughts, infinitely deadly to ground forces, with twelve battleships floating around them, formed a single line at one edge of the horizon. From them ground bombardment missiles carrying the most devastating shrapnel warheads and Fuel-Air Explosives that the Citadel R&D labs could design belched forth, filling the air with hundreds of hornet-like angry beasts that slammed into the ground like meteors. Within seconds the enemy lines were decorated with corpses and pieces of corpses as missile after missile pounded home.
But the Blood Marauders were veterans, and despite a large number of casualties among the unarmored in the first wave of attacks, they were well on their way to organizing when the second wave hit. Squadrons of ariel digimon, led by Mega-level warriors swooped in, letting the ground blaze with fire in their wake. Evil digimon and armored humans shriveled up in that devastating wave of fire a shuge beasts unloaded their pent up rage and frustration upon their disorganized foes. But amidst the carnage of the first air wave was more purposeful damage. Small groups of more accurate digimon dove through the first wave, these targeting the anti-air defenses of the Blood Marauders, attempting to reduce their anti-air firepower. Within a minute the defesnive batteries that had once protected the Blood Maraduers were nothing more than ash, and their armies were in complete disarray.
There was the whine of heavy machinery and Citadel troop carriers blasted in, coming in hard over the planetary horizon. From them first dozens and then thousands of soldiers poured out, digimon and human alike, rushing into company formations to take control of the necessary outposts to shield the still incoming craft. Within five minutes of the first touchdown there was a heavy perimeter of soldiers around the inner regions, and more troops were moving out to eliminate remaining resistance.
"The pass is secure." Justice turned to one side and saluted Gennai with a lopsided grin. "Phoenix has been relieved."
"So what's your plan?" Tai asked impatiently as Izzy and Piximon finally returned.
"I think that by combining my computer skills and Piximon's abilities we can tie Piximon's Digital Barrier skills to our D3s. This should allow us to be able to scout invisibly without them noticing." Izzy pointed to his computer, which was beeping and working madly.
"So you mean that we can walk around invisible?" Tai asked. "Right, we'll kick Daemon to the moon with that kind of power."
"Not that easy Tai." Piximon waved his spear in Tai's general direction. "You see I think I can only project my barrier to shield three different groups at the same time, and small groups too. I'll have to stay here to do it, but three groups should serve effectively to do the job that needs doing. If you attack out of it though, the barriers will shatter, and you'll be visible."
"So, we send three groups out to find Daemon and wipe him out." Tai looked angry.
"No Tai." Izzy corrected him. "Each group will have to be a scouting group because we only have enough coverage to shelter one human and one Digimon. You and I will stay behind to coordinate things, and Matt will stay with us because Garurumon is really fast, and he can cover for us if something goes wrong. The other three of us will go off with their Digimon to cover things."
"All right." Tai grumbled, and wandered off to the other end of the room in a bit of a fit.
"I have to give you a few instructions before you go." Izzy looked at the other six, checked to make sure nobody was listening, and then lowered his voice. "Have you noticed that Tai is behaving more recklessly lately?"
"It's as plain as the nose on my face." Joe remarked, dropping his voice as well. "And Matt's more withdrawn than he usually is."
"I think that Kari's predicament may have dangerously unbalanced Tai, so I think he's going to be a little crazy. We're going to have a hard enough time subduing Daemon even with a good plan. Trying to do it without a plan at all is sheer madness. Matt's better, but not that much better."
"So what do we do?" Biyomon asked quietly.
"For now, nothing. But remember that we have to head off his impulsiveness. Now remember, be careful out there. The barrier masks vision, but not sound, so you have to be quiet and avoid contact with any guards you come across. Just from preliminary observations, I guess that this place is huge, so watch your step. Try to find a way to wherever Daemon is hiding at the moment, and we'll take care of the rest."
"So what are we going to do?" Gatomon asked, brushing Kari's cheek with her whiskers. Kari giggled and brushed Gatomon's ears lightly with the back of her free hand.
"Whatever you want silly." Kari ran her hand down Gatomon's furred back with the gentlest of touches. "We would love it if you stayed with us, but if you have a nice place staked out back in the Digital World, I don't think that we would blame you for staying there."
"Of course we'll go with you guys. You're our best friends." Patamon raised his ears like a set of sails, causing TK to rumble deep in his chest, an amused sound that made Kari giggle again.
"Besides, life would be boring without you guys." Gatomon tried to maintain an air of studied indifference, but her twitching tail betrayed her.
"Oh." Yolei stuck her head into the corner of their little enclave, and stared at the two of them. "I see that the lovebirds are at it again. I guess I'll go away."
"No, come in." TK grinned at her, while Kari stuck out her tongue at her friend.
"How are you guys so calm?" She wanted to know.
"What do you mean?" TK asked curiously, trying to hide his sudden rush of anxiousness as Kari relaxed back into him again.
"Well, we're about to go fight one of the biggest battles ever against a huge Mega, and you're just sitting there as calm as can be. How do you do it?"
"Practice." Kari frowned. "We've been doing this a long time. Living in constant fear in the wilderness is good for getting you used to this kind of stuff. Besides, I've got TK to distract me."
TK blushed again.
"Are you ever going to stop blushing?" Yolei asked snippily.
TK turned even redder.
"Never mind." Yolei shook her head.
"So what's on your mind?" Gatomon asked politely.
"Well, I'm walking around with the jitters. Hawkmon is sleeping. Wormmon is sleeping. Armadillomon is sleeping. Davis and Veemon are both trying to sleep. Cody is meditating or something, and Ken is sitting around with his computer. I guess I'm bored and restless."
"You could go talk to Ken about computers." Kari suggested slyly.
"Well, I, usI guess I could but" TK and Kari snickered just a bit before Yolei caught on to them. "Oh, I see how this goes."
"Turnabout's fair play." TK responded with a wink. Kari just stuck her tongue out again.
"Well, are you ready?" Yolei asked.
"Oh yeah. We're ready all right." TK brushed a hand down Kari's cheek.
"I've got it!" Ken shot into their little corner, overadjusting and slipping on the floor before calming himself to present himself in a more controlled manner.
"UhKen?" TK looked confused. "What do you have?"
"Where MachineDramon is." Ken pointed his finger straight down. "The castle is only a decoration. He has a huge mechanical throne room directly below the castle proper. If we could get down there, we could finish this once and for all."
"How far down are we talking about?" A newly awakened Davis came over, with Veemon trailing right behind him.
"Not too far down. Apparently there are a set of stairs right down the hallway from here, and we can use those to get down to the next level. I'm hoping that once we get down there we can get the doors to seal and lock ourselves inside for a confrontation with that metallic mutant. If we can defeat him, I think that his guards will abandon him." Ken looked enthused at their prospects.
"So when do we do it?" Davis asked.
"Are you doing anything important right now?" Ken challenged him.
"Nothing that I can't put off." Davis returned.
TK grinned. "Well, we did have plans, but this looks more fun than what we were going to do."
"Better than sitting around doing nothing." Yolei clenched her open hand into a fist.
"Don't look at me." Cody looked very serious. "I just think we should get this done with."
"I think it's decided. Right guys?" Kari asked.
"Yes!" All the Digimon cheered.
"All right. Charge!" Ken pointed toward the door.
"Think this is what they were looking for?" Biyomon whispered into Sora's ear.
"I would bet on it." Sora responded.
"We should probably tell them right away." Biyomon whispered again.
"Right." Sora replied, and ducked back behind the corner, nodding at her avian companion. "We've got to get back to the others right away."
"You found a what?" Tai wanted to know.
"Their super secure elevator, or whatever it is." Sora told him, watching his reaction very carefully. He did seem a bit over-excited right now.
"Where is it?" Leomon asked.
"It's sort of in the center of the tower. This place is huge." Sora waved her hands around for emphasis, nearly knocking Matt aside in the process.
"I'll say." Joe chimed in. "Gomamon and I nearly got lost in some sort of production facility. It took us half an hour just to find our way out again."
"Well anyway there was this huge elevator waiting for us there. I don't know any other way to describe it, but the thing was tremendous, and it was filled with guards."
"The elevator was filled with guards?" Gabumon asked.
"No, the room was. The way it works is that it seems that there is some sort of barrier that seals off the highest tower. Since the barrier is functional, the only way up seems to be through that particular elevator. The room that leads to it is filled with guards. Fortunately it seems that we could sneak inside the elevator."
"That would make sense. Daemon is remarkably paranoid to this extent. Even though he remains the most powerful force in the Digital World besides those of you here, it seems that he has still secreted away a massive army in a hidden base. I wonder why?" Leomon pondered, pulling at the hilt of his huge sword.
"If you ask me, the guy is just a big sissy. I mean look at the way he hides. He can't really be that powerful." Ogremon picked his huge fangs with one claw.
"I wouldn't underestimate him if I were you Ogremon." Joe looked momentarily dead serious. "Jim told me what happened the last time we encountered him. He was so powerful he almost overwhelmed one of the most powerful Megas in existence even though there were two Ultimates against him as well. He's really top of the line. We need a plan."
"No." Tai turned to them impatiently. "We need to go get him. Surprise ought to do the trick. It will get him. I know it."
"Well, now would be a good time to find out." Izzy muttered as he watched their leader move purposefully toward the door. "Piximon, let's go."
"I have a bad feeling about this." Joe remarked to nobody in particular, but almost everybody seemed to agree with him.
"So which way?" Yolei asked.
"Over there, through that door." Ken pointed. "There might be guards on the other side though." The plain metal corridor was sterile, looking like something out of a hospital, or a science fiction movie. There was very little to evidence the existence of the traditional Japanese architecture, but there did not need to be. Everywhere the presence of modern technology loomed, in the shifting lights in the mysterious displays on the wall, in the modern lighting, in the mysterious flooring.
"We'll take care of them." TK muttered, hefting his staff carefully. Veemon and Gatomon stepped up to his side.
"All right, once we're through, run down the hall towards our right. There should be a set of stairs there that we can use."
"So how do we get through the door?" Yolei asked.
"On the count of three. Gatomon and TK, take the left. Veemon and I will take the right. Armadillomon, you and Davis and Hawkmon take care of anything or anybody still hanging around. Okay?" Ken tensed.
"Right." Davis did not look at all upset as Ken usurped his leadership position, giving his friend a thumbs-up.
"One." Ken tensed, his fists clenching, his breaths becoming shorter.
"Two." Gatomon and Veemon were already tensed up, Patamon clearly preparing to follow them in after the first rush went off. TK took a deep breath.
"Three!" Ken yelled.
Fortunately the door was unlocked, and they burst into the midst of two guards, one a confused looking Woodmon, the other a temperamental RedVeggiemon. Doubly fortunate was the fact that the guards appeared to be unprepared for their assault. The surprised looks on their faces spoke volumes.
TK did not give the Woodmon time to recover. His staff landed perfectly on the middle of the guard's head. The wooden digimon glared at them from between crossed eyes before collapsing into an unconscious heap. From the sounds at the other side, Ken was having a similar experience. It was only then that TK allowed his gaze to rise and see the Veggiemon standing off to the side, mouth open in an expression of horror. A second later the enemy digimon was running off, in a hurry to alert the guards.
TK gave chase instinctively, understanding that he had no choice but to try and stop the other digimon before their surprise was ruined, but he instinctively knew that he was too slow. Then behind him, Davis' voice could be heard shouting:
"V Rocket attack!"
The sound of it was so startling that TK turned around just to see what was going on. In that single moment Veemon, in what was clearly a rehearsed move, hurled himself up, curving down in front of Davis like a cannonball. Davis drew himself back and then, hurling himself forward as fast as possible kicked Veemon like a soccer ball as hard as he could. There was a moment of complete shock, followed by the rushing vision of Veemon shooting by in a blur. A split second later, as he was hurtling through the hallway like a rocket the blue lizard cried out:
"V-Head Butt!"
The Veggiemon had turned to see what was happening behind him, only in time to receive the full power of a hyper-charged Veemon right in the face, sending him flying at least fifteen meters down the hallway and into a wall, knocking him unconscious.
"Wow." TK muttered.
"I wish I had one of those." Patamon admitted.
"So that's what you've been working on!" Ken exclaimed, thumping Davis' shoulder. "I like it!"
"So do I! Think they'll call me 'The Rocket' now?" Davis grinned a grin that could have swallowed a small cow.
"Maybe one day superstar." Ken admitted.
"Let's get going before someone else finds us." The ever-serious Cody suggested, and they were off again.
Sora had not been lying or exaggerating. Whole squadrons of Mamemon, Mechanorimon and other powerful Digimon gathered around the plain metal walls of the secure room. Pairs of guards watched every doorway, but the elevator itself was open invitingly. It too was huge, perhaps to scale with this grand structure, seemingly large enough to hold an entire army.
The group, still masked by Piximon crept their way slowly through the guards, each step seeming to be a little slower than the last step, every guard seeming to be straining their senses in the direction of the invisible digidestined. Several times a huge guard had wandered dangerously near, only to be avoided at the last second. Even Leomon and Piximon were sweating bullets by now as they crept.
The strain of trying to be both completely silent and unheard, and, at the same time, get through the room as fast as possible, were beginning to put a strain on the children still trying to hold their breaths. Every movement seemed prepared to betray them. Every moment seemed ripe for them to be give away.
It was with great relief that they made if to the doors of the elevator.
"V Head Butt!"
The door exploded inward, off its hinges. The only inhabitant of the room, a lone Bakemon, was struck by the door and knocked unconscious almost immediately as the power of the Rookie's strike, now enhanced by a hyper-inflated ego, battered the small Champion nearly into unrecognizability.
"Through here?" Cody pointed to a trapdoor set into the floor.
"I think so. If my reasoning is correct, that's the maintenance shaft that should lead downward. I hope the scanner is active."
"Then go fast." Kari looked around nervously, hugging her own shoulders. "There's no way that those unconscious guards or burst doors are going to remain unnoticed forever."
"I was getting to that. Gatomon, Patamon and TK go first. We'll bring up the rear." Ken glanced urgently over his shoulder, but nobody seemed to have picked up on the full scale assault on the castle currently underway.
TK smiled grimly and dropped out of sight.
"So now what?" Mimi wanted to know as they made it into the elevator.
"We wait." Tai whispered. "Sooner or later somebody has to use this, and then we can use it to ride with them, completely hidden, up to the top floor."
With a suddenness that nearly gave them all heart attacks, the doors slid shut, and there was a gentle lurch as the elevator moved upward, raising to the top of the fortified tower. For a moment there was panic, but when nothing emerged to attack them, the group quickly regained control over their frayed nerves. Palmon's eyes were a bit large, and Tentomon was buzzing a bit more frantically than usual, it was true, but other than that, it appeared the elder contingent of the Digidestined was still functional and ready to go.
"What's happening?" Joe gasped after a few seconds in which he felt that old familiar panic re-emerge. "What's going on?"
"I think that Daemon is going to use the elevator himself." Izzy remarked, barely managing to keep his emotions in check. The suddenness of the unexpected event had not done his nerves any favor either. "He probably called it upstairs to use it. We got aboard it right in time."
"Good." Tai's voice was devoid of any emotion besides anger. "That fool is taking us right to him. If he thinks he can mess with my sister, this is how he finds out differently."
Nobody else seemed to share his optimistic appraisal of the situation.
"Why is it," Joe asked for no particular reason. "that I have a really bad feeling about this?"
"So now what?" TK asked as they faced the blank wall. "Veemon can't batter his way through that."
"He won't have to." Ken responded. "We have bigger digimon here."
"But our Champions won't be able to hide." Cody pointed out.
"Cody, if we break through this wall we'll be right in MachineDramon's headquarters, practically in his face if I'm correct. What are we going to hide then?"
"Good point." Yolei remarked.
"Stingmon can cut through the walls. Then we can let the artillery out into the open."
"Right behind you boss." Wormmon grinned.
"Wormmondigivolves toStingmon."
"Ready for this?" Ken asked.
TK squeezed Kari's hand gently. "Ready."
"Let's go Stingmon."
The elevator stopped as suddenly as it had started, depositing the startled team of digidestined on a narrow landing on the edge of a fairly long room. Everywhere the room was decorated with fine furnishings, glowing in the lights that played down gently from above. It would have looked like the idealized image of a Victorian country club, except for the huge selection of data screens that loomed everywhere, displaying images of different portions of the world.
Izzy gulped. From here Daemon could probably survey any part of the world which he wanted to, expanding his control exponentially. Every corner of the universe was his to command, his to control. It was positively disturbing to stand here and watch the kind of power that the demon lord digimon could put into the field. This equipment was superior even to the gear that had described in his stronghold as the Digimon Emperor. If information was a weapon, this was an arsenal of incredible power.
Yet more worrisome were the glass display cages around the walls. Each case was covered with a variety of different symbols. Although the young computer genius could not decipher the writing, or determine the functions of the widely varying objects a sixth sense warned him that every object in the room was filled with power and potential of the most devastating variety. He had no idea on how to counter any of the objects there, but apparently Daemon did. The lack of his knowledge concerning the Digital World became immediately apparent.
Even though all this was completely fascinating to Izzy all the others were worried about something else. The rooms were constructed so that this appeared to be the central meeting area for everything, and you could see corridors stretching in all directions. And everywhere they looked curtains hung limply and loosely, allowing silence to reign. If Daemon was anywhere in the building it appeared that he was no longer here.
"So where is he?" Joe asked a bit nervously. "I thought he would be waiting for the elevator to take him down."
"I don't know." Agumon responded, looking around puzzled.
"Maybe he ran away when he knew we were coming." Matt responded in a sarcastic tone of voice.
There was a harsh, mocking laugh at that coming from directly behind them. All fifteen of them whirled to look behind only to find that there, staring directly at them through the hazy fog of the Digital Barrier, was Daemon. He was once more the size of Leomon and Ogremon, his wings folded, his robes flapping around him like tattered banners in a torrential wind. His burning eyes peered at them without any seeming effort. One clawed hand rose and waved almost dripping with boredom, and the digital barrier shattered into a thousand fragments.
"So there you are. I was wondering if you had decided not to visit with me after all. It would have been wiser, but I would have been so bored." Daemon looked at them like they were only specimens under a cover slip.
"What was it," Joe asked tentatively, "that you said about surprise Tai?"
Hey, He's Got No Pants: In Digimon: The Movie, when Gargomon first digivolves Willis notes that "He's got pants now." This is the reverse.
Mammothmon stampede: See pancake-shaped
Pancake Shaped: Words used to a describe a situation which has a high probability of the commentator ending up approximating a two dimensional surface (i.e. stomped into a pancake).
Second Syllable Retreat: An observation on the show Dragonball Z that states that the Me in Kame Hame Ha is a good time to get the heck out of Dodge.
At Least It Can't Get Any Worse: Yes it can, and it just did.
The Stairs are Out: Words said by Justice to Courage after opening a door to run down the stairs, only to fall six stories onto a concrete slab.
First Floor Window Rule: When you opt to escape from an unfamiliar building by jumping out the first floor window, the street will always have fallen off to the level of at least the basement, causing you to land hard and break your legs.
No-Pupil Syndrome: Observation that in any show/comic where the users can wield strong powers the replacement of pupils and eyes by slits of fire overflowing with power in the shape of lightning bolts is always a bad sign.
Sudden Complications
Definition: Uh-oh: Interjection, usually used to indicate the presence of undesirable elements in the immediate vicinity. Used to announce the arrival of sudden chaos. See also, Hey, He's Got No Pants, Mammothmon Stampede, Pancake Shaped, Second Syllable Retreat, At Least It Can't Get Any Worse, The Stairs are Out, First Floor Window Rule, No-Pupil Syndrome, *
"So where are we going with all this?" Yolei poked around curiously.
"Well, our only hope is that they don't check this room too often." Ken remarked. "We're inside the main keep of the castle, but there isn't much else we can do here but wait for them to relax their guard, unless we can figure out where their headquarters is in here?"
"I thought you had a map for this place." Davis accused him.
"I did, but he's obviously made some changes. In my map this place is a blank wall. There's a problem here, because MachineDramon must have altered the actual physical structure of the inner tower when he rebuilt this place." Ken looked around in confusion and then shrugged.
"So now what?" Kari asked.
"We wait." Ken told them, and settled down to make himself comfortable.
The door to the elevator shaft opened and two Veggiemon emerged towing a huge cart filled with boxes. The two Gardromon standing watch here gave it a cursory examination and let it go by, not even noticing the slight distortion in space that passed them by and quickly made its way off to one side to an abandoned corridor, empty except for the sound of distant machinery.
"Problems?" Tai asked impatiently.
"I didn't expect this." Piximon admitted. "I didn't think to scout this far in."
"It makes sense that Daemon would have quite a set of fortifications to control a world, but we couldn't see it from the outside." Leomon grumbled. "This would explain why we never could understand where he was hiding his armies."
"I agree." Izzy pointed around. "From the outside this doesn't look as big as it obviously is. From simple calculations I estimate that the height of this place is much greater than I thought it was from the outside. Apparently there is a force field or an illusion or something surrounding this place to disguise its nature."
"You mean this whole place is hidden?" Agumon asked, looking confused.
"I think so." Izzy returned.
"Look." Tai grunted through gritted teeth. "Kari and the others might be suffering right now on the other side of that portal. That's why Gennai wanted us to go through so fast. We need to get through now."
"All right, all right." Izzy looked a bit impressed at Tai's vehemence. He tapped for a few moments, and then shrugged.
"So what's the news?" Tentomon asked.
"Well, it works sort of like this. We need some scouting parties to go out. I think my computer can get a bit of help from the mainframe, but I'll have to be a bit careful. Piximon, we're going to need to find a room. I want to try something for a while."
"Right. My magic detects some in this direction." Piximon pointed, off down the hallway. After a few minutes of following the unerring point of his spear, the group found themselves inside a series of huge warehouse like constructs.
"At least we won't run out of food." Joe remarked, checking out the crates of the stuff lying around carelessly. "We've got enough in here to feed an army."
"Which is exactly what that freak Daemon is doing with it." Gomamon reminded him.
"All right, so now what?" Tai demanded.
"Hold your horses Tai. Now Piximon and I need to talk." Izzy sat down and began to converse with Piximon while Tai fumed impatiently.
"So, what do you want to do when you get back?" Kari asked TK innocently as they lounged back on a set of chairs pushed against the wall, out of sight of anyone who might walk through the door.
"Avoiding your brother and seeing you come to mind." TK teased.
"In what priority?" Kari arched an eyebrow and then frowned. "Never mind, I don't want to know."
"You always come first." TK told her with a straight face.
"How sweet. Keep saying that and it might go to my head." Kari poked him, and then squeezed his hand.
"Good." TK put an arm around Kari's shoulders, an act that still made him nervous but was getting more and more comfortable with every passing day. It gave him a warm feeling inside, amplified by the warmth that was Kari leaking in from the outside. Kari sighed in something very much like contentment and leaned back against her partner, feeling the warmth that bound them together as it tempted them to sleep.
"You know, you two should really spend some more time together." Gatomon finished washing her paws with her tongue "We could go away if you want."
"Yeah." Patamon joined in, but he still looked a little confused about everything.
"Don't worry." TK laughed gently. "We still really aren't sure what we're supposed to be doing anyway, so you don't have to leave us alone at all."
"Yeah." Kari smiled at them. "It's not like we really have changed all that much."
"You're touching each other more." Patamon noted, something that made the two humans blush and Gatomon stop preening long enough to give Patamon a little bat to the back of the head.
"So what are we going to do?" Kari asked seriously.
"I don't know, study some, finish school, get jobs that don't take up all of our time, and then get to work."
"Work?" Gatomon wanted to know.
TK and Kari looked at her for a moment before relenting and giving her an explanation. "We have to serve as the guardians of the Digital World. It's something I was told. Kari knows it too." TK smiled at the two of them. "So do all the digidestined and such. You see, right now we're the only group alive that has Digimon of the kind of power we do, the ability to go over Champion and all that. So we're the only ones who can protect everything. Once there are enough human-Digimon pairs to hold the line we won't be needed as much, but we're still the veterans here."
"You see, the integration of the Digital and Real worlds is going quite slowly for a reason, to get humans used to Digimon. This means that only a few people a year get exposed to Digimon." Kari looked very serious as she traced out designs with her hand. "This gives people a chance to come to terms with the Digimon, but it also leaves both worlds open to attack, and ill at ease with each other. It's one of the big weaknesses."
"In essence Kari and I got volunteered." TK continued. "We end up watching over both worlds in the hopes that we can one day save both of them. It's the kind of job that requires full time and overtime in order for it to work. Not that we're complaining, but we have to keep planning."
"So what happens in your future?" Patamon wanted to know.
"Well, that's hard to see. You see, neither of us is going to let the other go out risking their neck without them, so we're stuck going as a team. And I can't see the other kids letting us go alone, so we'll probably have lots of help, but that isn't the best consolation right now." TK paused and let Kari continue.
"We would have wanted a normal life like all other kids get, but that seems to be impossible now. We just can't do it anymore." Kari looked around. "I guess it brought us together so it can't be all bad, but it does make things difficult."
"I wonder if Gennai could help you. I mean, he does seem to have some resources that help him." Patamon looked at the two of them with his ears poked up.
"I'm sure he's got enough on his mind." TK smiled at his companion.
The dawn of Phoenix was broken by a sudden roar. The siege lines, ancient, old and drawn well were greeted by a sign unlike any they had ever heard before. The forces of Darkness and the beleagured armies of the Phoenix Empire had been staring at each other across those fortifications for decades as the Empire had once stared at the barbarians of old. Huge cannons on both sides had acted as best they could to batter those massive walls into nothingness, as well as to silence their counterparts on the other side, but they had achieved little over the years.
But now things were different, new forces were on the move, and this time the armies of the Darkness Crest were facing a different sort of foe from the tired armies that wore the golden phoenix on their sleeve. The Blood Marauders, the crack troops of seven campaigns were woken by the sound of gunfire in their rear, not by the sound of cannons to their front.
Even to them the appearance of the battle-line was intimidating, terror at its maximum effect. Ten Dreadnaughts, infinitely deadly to ground forces, with twelve battleships floating around them, formed a single line at one edge of the horizon. From them ground bombardment missiles carrying the most devastating shrapnel warheads and Fuel-Air Explosives that the Citadel R&D labs could design belched forth, filling the air with hundreds of hornet-like angry beasts that slammed into the ground like meteors. Within seconds the enemy lines were decorated with corpses and pieces of corpses as missile after missile pounded home.
But the Blood Marauders were veterans, and despite a large number of casualties among the unarmored in the first wave of attacks, they were well on their way to organizing when the second wave hit. Squadrons of ariel digimon, led by Mega-level warriors swooped in, letting the ground blaze with fire in their wake. Evil digimon and armored humans shriveled up in that devastating wave of fire a shuge beasts unloaded their pent up rage and frustration upon their disorganized foes. But amidst the carnage of the first air wave was more purposeful damage. Small groups of more accurate digimon dove through the first wave, these targeting the anti-air defenses of the Blood Marauders, attempting to reduce their anti-air firepower. Within a minute the defesnive batteries that had once protected the Blood Maraduers were nothing more than ash, and their armies were in complete disarray.
There was the whine of heavy machinery and Citadel troop carriers blasted in, coming in hard over the planetary horizon. From them first dozens and then thousands of soldiers poured out, digimon and human alike, rushing into company formations to take control of the necessary outposts to shield the still incoming craft. Within five minutes of the first touchdown there was a heavy perimeter of soldiers around the inner regions, and more troops were moving out to eliminate remaining resistance.
"The pass is secure." Justice turned to one side and saluted Gennai with a lopsided grin. "Phoenix has been relieved."
"So what's your plan?" Tai asked impatiently as Izzy and Piximon finally returned.
"I think that by combining my computer skills and Piximon's abilities we can tie Piximon's Digital Barrier skills to our D3s. This should allow us to be able to scout invisibly without them noticing." Izzy pointed to his computer, which was beeping and working madly.
"So you mean that we can walk around invisible?" Tai asked. "Right, we'll kick Daemon to the moon with that kind of power."
"Not that easy Tai." Piximon waved his spear in Tai's general direction. "You see I think I can only project my barrier to shield three different groups at the same time, and small groups too. I'll have to stay here to do it, but three groups should serve effectively to do the job that needs doing. If you attack out of it though, the barriers will shatter, and you'll be visible."
"So, we send three groups out to find Daemon and wipe him out." Tai looked angry.
"No Tai." Izzy corrected him. "Each group will have to be a scouting group because we only have enough coverage to shelter one human and one Digimon. You and I will stay behind to coordinate things, and Matt will stay with us because Garurumon is really fast, and he can cover for us if something goes wrong. The other three of us will go off with their Digimon to cover things."
"All right." Tai grumbled, and wandered off to the other end of the room in a bit of a fit.
"I have to give you a few instructions before you go." Izzy looked at the other six, checked to make sure nobody was listening, and then lowered his voice. "Have you noticed that Tai is behaving more recklessly lately?"
"It's as plain as the nose on my face." Joe remarked, dropping his voice as well. "And Matt's more withdrawn than he usually is."
"I think that Kari's predicament may have dangerously unbalanced Tai, so I think he's going to be a little crazy. We're going to have a hard enough time subduing Daemon even with a good plan. Trying to do it without a plan at all is sheer madness. Matt's better, but not that much better."
"So what do we do?" Biyomon asked quietly.
"For now, nothing. But remember that we have to head off his impulsiveness. Now remember, be careful out there. The barrier masks vision, but not sound, so you have to be quiet and avoid contact with any guards you come across. Just from preliminary observations, I guess that this place is huge, so watch your step. Try to find a way to wherever Daemon is hiding at the moment, and we'll take care of the rest."
"So what are we going to do?" Gatomon asked, brushing Kari's cheek with her whiskers. Kari giggled and brushed Gatomon's ears lightly with the back of her free hand.
"Whatever you want silly." Kari ran her hand down Gatomon's furred back with the gentlest of touches. "We would love it if you stayed with us, but if you have a nice place staked out back in the Digital World, I don't think that we would blame you for staying there."
"Of course we'll go with you guys. You're our best friends." Patamon raised his ears like a set of sails, causing TK to rumble deep in his chest, an amused sound that made Kari giggle again.
"Besides, life would be boring without you guys." Gatomon tried to maintain an air of studied indifference, but her twitching tail betrayed her.
"Oh." Yolei stuck her head into the corner of their little enclave, and stared at the two of them. "I see that the lovebirds are at it again. I guess I'll go away."
"No, come in." TK grinned at her, while Kari stuck out her tongue at her friend.
"How are you guys so calm?" She wanted to know.
"What do you mean?" TK asked curiously, trying to hide his sudden rush of anxiousness as Kari relaxed back into him again.
"Well, we're about to go fight one of the biggest battles ever against a huge Mega, and you're just sitting there as calm as can be. How do you do it?"
"Practice." Kari frowned. "We've been doing this a long time. Living in constant fear in the wilderness is good for getting you used to this kind of stuff. Besides, I've got TK to distract me."
TK blushed again.
"Are you ever going to stop blushing?" Yolei asked snippily.
TK turned even redder.
"Never mind." Yolei shook her head.
"So what's on your mind?" Gatomon asked politely.
"Well, I'm walking around with the jitters. Hawkmon is sleeping. Wormmon is sleeping. Armadillomon is sleeping. Davis and Veemon are both trying to sleep. Cody is meditating or something, and Ken is sitting around with his computer. I guess I'm bored and restless."
"You could go talk to Ken about computers." Kari suggested slyly.
"Well, I, usI guess I could but" TK and Kari snickered just a bit before Yolei caught on to them. "Oh, I see how this goes."
"Turnabout's fair play." TK responded with a wink. Kari just stuck her tongue out again.
"Well, are you ready?" Yolei asked.
"Oh yeah. We're ready all right." TK brushed a hand down Kari's cheek.
"I've got it!" Ken shot into their little corner, overadjusting and slipping on the floor before calming himself to present himself in a more controlled manner.
"UhKen?" TK looked confused. "What do you have?"
"Where MachineDramon is." Ken pointed his finger straight down. "The castle is only a decoration. He has a huge mechanical throne room directly below the castle proper. If we could get down there, we could finish this once and for all."
"How far down are we talking about?" A newly awakened Davis came over, with Veemon trailing right behind him.
"Not too far down. Apparently there are a set of stairs right down the hallway from here, and we can use those to get down to the next level. I'm hoping that once we get down there we can get the doors to seal and lock ourselves inside for a confrontation with that metallic mutant. If we can defeat him, I think that his guards will abandon him." Ken looked enthused at their prospects.
"So when do we do it?" Davis asked.
"Are you doing anything important right now?" Ken challenged him.
"Nothing that I can't put off." Davis returned.
TK grinned. "Well, we did have plans, but this looks more fun than what we were going to do."
"Better than sitting around doing nothing." Yolei clenched her open hand into a fist.
"Don't look at me." Cody looked very serious. "I just think we should get this done with."
"I think it's decided. Right guys?" Kari asked.
"Yes!" All the Digimon cheered.
"All right. Charge!" Ken pointed toward the door.
"Think this is what they were looking for?" Biyomon whispered into Sora's ear.
"I would bet on it." Sora responded.
"We should probably tell them right away." Biyomon whispered again.
"Right." Sora replied, and ducked back behind the corner, nodding at her avian companion. "We've got to get back to the others right away."
"You found a what?" Tai wanted to know.
"Their super secure elevator, or whatever it is." Sora told him, watching his reaction very carefully. He did seem a bit over-excited right now.
"Where is it?" Leomon asked.
"It's sort of in the center of the tower. This place is huge." Sora waved her hands around for emphasis, nearly knocking Matt aside in the process.
"I'll say." Joe chimed in. "Gomamon and I nearly got lost in some sort of production facility. It took us half an hour just to find our way out again."
"Well anyway there was this huge elevator waiting for us there. I don't know any other way to describe it, but the thing was tremendous, and it was filled with guards."
"The elevator was filled with guards?" Gabumon asked.
"No, the room was. The way it works is that it seems that there is some sort of barrier that seals off the highest tower. Since the barrier is functional, the only way up seems to be through that particular elevator. The room that leads to it is filled with guards. Fortunately it seems that we could sneak inside the elevator."
"That would make sense. Daemon is remarkably paranoid to this extent. Even though he remains the most powerful force in the Digital World besides those of you here, it seems that he has still secreted away a massive army in a hidden base. I wonder why?" Leomon pondered, pulling at the hilt of his huge sword.
"If you ask me, the guy is just a big sissy. I mean look at the way he hides. He can't really be that powerful." Ogremon picked his huge fangs with one claw.
"I wouldn't underestimate him if I were you Ogremon." Joe looked momentarily dead serious. "Jim told me what happened the last time we encountered him. He was so powerful he almost overwhelmed one of the most powerful Megas in existence even though there were two Ultimates against him as well. He's really top of the line. We need a plan."
"No." Tai turned to them impatiently. "We need to go get him. Surprise ought to do the trick. It will get him. I know it."
"Well, now would be a good time to find out." Izzy muttered as he watched their leader move purposefully toward the door. "Piximon, let's go."
"I have a bad feeling about this." Joe remarked to nobody in particular, but almost everybody seemed to agree with him.
"So which way?" Yolei asked.
"Over there, through that door." Ken pointed. "There might be guards on the other side though." The plain metal corridor was sterile, looking like something out of a hospital, or a science fiction movie. There was very little to evidence the existence of the traditional Japanese architecture, but there did not need to be. Everywhere the presence of modern technology loomed, in the shifting lights in the mysterious displays on the wall, in the modern lighting, in the mysterious flooring.
"We'll take care of them." TK muttered, hefting his staff carefully. Veemon and Gatomon stepped up to his side.
"All right, once we're through, run down the hall towards our right. There should be a set of stairs there that we can use."
"So how do we get through the door?" Yolei asked.
"On the count of three. Gatomon and TK, take the left. Veemon and I will take the right. Armadillomon, you and Davis and Hawkmon take care of anything or anybody still hanging around. Okay?" Ken tensed.
"Right." Davis did not look at all upset as Ken usurped his leadership position, giving his friend a thumbs-up.
"One." Ken tensed, his fists clenching, his breaths becoming shorter.
"Two." Gatomon and Veemon were already tensed up, Patamon clearly preparing to follow them in after the first rush went off. TK took a deep breath.
"Three!" Ken yelled.
Fortunately the door was unlocked, and they burst into the midst of two guards, one a confused looking Woodmon, the other a temperamental RedVeggiemon. Doubly fortunate was the fact that the guards appeared to be unprepared for their assault. The surprised looks on their faces spoke volumes.
TK did not give the Woodmon time to recover. His staff landed perfectly on the middle of the guard's head. The wooden digimon glared at them from between crossed eyes before collapsing into an unconscious heap. From the sounds at the other side, Ken was having a similar experience. It was only then that TK allowed his gaze to rise and see the Veggiemon standing off to the side, mouth open in an expression of horror. A second later the enemy digimon was running off, in a hurry to alert the guards.
TK gave chase instinctively, understanding that he had no choice but to try and stop the other digimon before their surprise was ruined, but he instinctively knew that he was too slow. Then behind him, Davis' voice could be heard shouting:
"V Rocket attack!"
The sound of it was so startling that TK turned around just to see what was going on. In that single moment Veemon, in what was clearly a rehearsed move, hurled himself up, curving down in front of Davis like a cannonball. Davis drew himself back and then, hurling himself forward as fast as possible kicked Veemon like a soccer ball as hard as he could. There was a moment of complete shock, followed by the rushing vision of Veemon shooting by in a blur. A split second later, as he was hurtling through the hallway like a rocket the blue lizard cried out:
"V-Head Butt!"
The Veggiemon had turned to see what was happening behind him, only in time to receive the full power of a hyper-charged Veemon right in the face, sending him flying at least fifteen meters down the hallway and into a wall, knocking him unconscious.
"Wow." TK muttered.
"I wish I had one of those." Patamon admitted.
"So that's what you've been working on!" Ken exclaimed, thumping Davis' shoulder. "I like it!"
"So do I! Think they'll call me 'The Rocket' now?" Davis grinned a grin that could have swallowed a small cow.
"Maybe one day superstar." Ken admitted.
"Let's get going before someone else finds us." The ever-serious Cody suggested, and they were off again.
Sora had not been lying or exaggerating. Whole squadrons of Mamemon, Mechanorimon and other powerful Digimon gathered around the plain metal walls of the secure room. Pairs of guards watched every doorway, but the elevator itself was open invitingly. It too was huge, perhaps to scale with this grand structure, seemingly large enough to hold an entire army.
The group, still masked by Piximon crept their way slowly through the guards, each step seeming to be a little slower than the last step, every guard seeming to be straining their senses in the direction of the invisible digidestined. Several times a huge guard had wandered dangerously near, only to be avoided at the last second. Even Leomon and Piximon were sweating bullets by now as they crept.
The strain of trying to be both completely silent and unheard, and, at the same time, get through the room as fast as possible, were beginning to put a strain on the children still trying to hold their breaths. Every movement seemed prepared to betray them. Every moment seemed ripe for them to be give away.
It was with great relief that they made if to the doors of the elevator.
"V Head Butt!"
The door exploded inward, off its hinges. The only inhabitant of the room, a lone Bakemon, was struck by the door and knocked unconscious almost immediately as the power of the Rookie's strike, now enhanced by a hyper-inflated ego, battered the small Champion nearly into unrecognizability.
"Through here?" Cody pointed to a trapdoor set into the floor.
"I think so. If my reasoning is correct, that's the maintenance shaft that should lead downward. I hope the scanner is active."
"Then go fast." Kari looked around nervously, hugging her own shoulders. "There's no way that those unconscious guards or burst doors are going to remain unnoticed forever."
"I was getting to that. Gatomon, Patamon and TK go first. We'll bring up the rear." Ken glanced urgently over his shoulder, but nobody seemed to have picked up on the full scale assault on the castle currently underway.
TK smiled grimly and dropped out of sight.
"So now what?" Mimi wanted to know as they made it into the elevator.
"We wait." Tai whispered. "Sooner or later somebody has to use this, and then we can use it to ride with them, completely hidden, up to the top floor."
With a suddenness that nearly gave them all heart attacks, the doors slid shut, and there was a gentle lurch as the elevator moved upward, raising to the top of the fortified tower. For a moment there was panic, but when nothing emerged to attack them, the group quickly regained control over their frayed nerves. Palmon's eyes were a bit large, and Tentomon was buzzing a bit more frantically than usual, it was true, but other than that, it appeared the elder contingent of the Digidestined was still functional and ready to go.
"What's happening?" Joe gasped after a few seconds in which he felt that old familiar panic re-emerge. "What's going on?"
"I think that Daemon is going to use the elevator himself." Izzy remarked, barely managing to keep his emotions in check. The suddenness of the unexpected event had not done his nerves any favor either. "He probably called it upstairs to use it. We got aboard it right in time."
"Good." Tai's voice was devoid of any emotion besides anger. "That fool is taking us right to him. If he thinks he can mess with my sister, this is how he finds out differently."
Nobody else seemed to share his optimistic appraisal of the situation.
"Why is it," Joe asked for no particular reason. "that I have a really bad feeling about this?"
"So now what?" TK asked as they faced the blank wall. "Veemon can't batter his way through that."
"He won't have to." Ken responded. "We have bigger digimon here."
"But our Champions won't be able to hide." Cody pointed out.
"Cody, if we break through this wall we'll be right in MachineDramon's headquarters, practically in his face if I'm correct. What are we going to hide then?"
"Good point." Yolei remarked.
"Stingmon can cut through the walls. Then we can let the artillery out into the open."
"Right behind you boss." Wormmon grinned.
"Wormmondigivolves toStingmon."
"Ready for this?" Ken asked.
TK squeezed Kari's hand gently. "Ready."
"Let's go Stingmon."
The elevator stopped as suddenly as it had started, depositing the startled team of digidestined on a narrow landing on the edge of a fairly long room. Everywhere the room was decorated with fine furnishings, glowing in the lights that played down gently from above. It would have looked like the idealized image of a Victorian country club, except for the huge selection of data screens that loomed everywhere, displaying images of different portions of the world.
Izzy gulped. From here Daemon could probably survey any part of the world which he wanted to, expanding his control exponentially. Every corner of the universe was his to command, his to control. It was positively disturbing to stand here and watch the kind of power that the demon lord digimon could put into the field. This equipment was superior even to the gear that had described in his stronghold as the Digimon Emperor. If information was a weapon, this was an arsenal of incredible power.
Yet more worrisome were the glass display cages around the walls. Each case was covered with a variety of different symbols. Although the young computer genius could not decipher the writing, or determine the functions of the widely varying objects a sixth sense warned him that every object in the room was filled with power and potential of the most devastating variety. He had no idea on how to counter any of the objects there, but apparently Daemon did. The lack of his knowledge concerning the Digital World became immediately apparent.
Even though all this was completely fascinating to Izzy all the others were worried about something else. The rooms were constructed so that this appeared to be the central meeting area for everything, and you could see corridors stretching in all directions. And everywhere they looked curtains hung limply and loosely, allowing silence to reign. If Daemon was anywhere in the building it appeared that he was no longer here.
"So where is he?" Joe asked a bit nervously. "I thought he would be waiting for the elevator to take him down."
"I don't know." Agumon responded, looking around puzzled.
"Maybe he ran away when he knew we were coming." Matt responded in a sarcastic tone of voice.
There was a harsh, mocking laugh at that coming from directly behind them. All fifteen of them whirled to look behind only to find that there, staring directly at them through the hazy fog of the Digital Barrier, was Daemon. He was once more the size of Leomon and Ogremon, his wings folded, his robes flapping around him like tattered banners in a torrential wind. His burning eyes peered at them without any seeming effort. One clawed hand rose and waved almost dripping with boredom, and the digital barrier shattered into a thousand fragments.
"So there you are. I was wondering if you had decided not to visit with me after all. It would have been wiser, but I would have been so bored." Daemon looked at them like they were only specimens under a cover slip.
"What was it," Joe asked tentatively, "that you said about surprise Tai?"
Hey, He's Got No Pants: In Digimon: The Movie, when Gargomon first digivolves Willis notes that "He's got pants now." This is the reverse.
Mammothmon stampede: See pancake-shaped
Pancake Shaped: Words used to a describe a situation which has a high probability of the commentator ending up approximating a two dimensional surface (i.e. stomped into a pancake).
Second Syllable Retreat: An observation on the show Dragonball Z that states that the Me in Kame Hame Ha is a good time to get the heck out of Dodge.
At Least It Can't Get Any Worse: Yes it can, and it just did.
The Stairs are Out: Words said by Justice to Courage after opening a door to run down the stairs, only to fall six stories onto a concrete slab.
First Floor Window Rule: When you opt to escape from an unfamiliar building by jumping out the first floor window, the street will always have fallen off to the level of at least the basement, causing you to land hard and break your legs.
No-Pupil Syndrome: Observation that in any show/comic where the users can wield strong powers the replacement of pupils and eyes by slits of fire overflowing with power in the shape of lightning bolts is always a bad sign.