Disclaimer: None of these characters belong to me.
A/N: I'd like to thank all those who've reviewed: Darkness carrier, Josh, Peter Kim, and Cherry Dragon and anyone else I missed.
LOVE'S TRUE STRENGTH
Chapter Three: Operation Humiliation
Kari wore the necklace the next morning to school. She wasn't exactly sure why. Her rationalization was that it was a pretty necklace and it would be a shame to leave it in her jewelry box all day. Gatomon shrugged this excuse off as they headed toward Kari's first class.
"Nice necklace," TK complimented as Kari took her seat next to him. "Did Davis give it to you?"
"Well, uh, no," Kari sputtered, unsure what to say.
"Who gave it to you then?" TK asked.
"Nobody," Kari blushed. "I got it for myself."
Gatomon eyed her suspiciously. She had never known Kari to lie like that.
Davis came into the room and sat in his seat. He leaned forward and looked passed TK to look at Kari.
"Hi, Kari," he smiled widely, waving his fingers at her.
"Hi, Davis," she laughed.
His eyes suddenly widened as he looked at her necklace.
"Hey, where'd you get the necklace?" Davis exclaimed. "You didn't give it to her, did you, TG?"
"Nope, it wasn't me," TK said calmly, leaning back in his chair.
"I bought it for myself, Davis," Kari lied again.
"You didn't have to," Davis insisted. "You know if you wanted anything, I would buy it for you."
Kari just shrugged. Gatomon really didn't want to get involved, but she had to say something.
"Kari, I thought a certain soccer player gave it to you," Gatomon said as casually as she could.
"Soccer player? Who?" Davis demanded.
"She means Tai," Kari assured him. "He gave me the money to buy the necklace, so I should really say that he gave it to me."
Gatomon couldn't believe she was lying again. Why didn't Kari just tell them that Ken gave it to her? Sure it would get Davis really mad, but that was her own fault for wearing it.
Throughout the lesson, Kari spent a lot of time twisting the necklace around her fingers. She liked the way it shined when she twisted it. Davis watched her with confusion and Gatomon watched her with narrowed eyes.
After class, Kari was walking down the hall and humming to herself when she bumped into Yolei and Cody. They had looks of urgency on their faces.
"What's the matter?" Kari asked.
"Problems in the digital world," Cody informed. "It seems that Ken has gotten a bunch of dark- ringed digimon together and is herding them around the desert."
"Why would he do that?" Kari queried.
"We don't know, but we have to stop him before one of those digimon die of exhaustion," Yolei insisted.
"Let's get moving then!" Kari exclaimed. "We'll get Davis and TK on the way to the computer lab."
Yolei and Cody nodded. The three found TK and Davis and hurried to the computer lab. They opened the digiport and were instantly sucked into the digital world. They appeared in the middle of the desert. Tons of tired digimon stomped around the desert. The Digimon Emperor was riding a Unimon, cracking a whip at the rest of the digimon.
"Hey, you stop that!" Davis shouted.
"Just who I wanted to see," The Digimon Emperor laughed, heading the Unimon toward the digidestined.
"Listen, Ken, you can't just go herding digimon until they are exhausted!" Davis shouted.
"I can do whatever I want," The Digimon Emperor declared. "Including this...Apemon!"
A giant orange Apemon jumped out of the crowd of digimon and grabbed Davis, hanging him up- side-down. The Apemon shook Davis until everything fell out of his pockets, including his digivice.
"Hey!" Davis exclaimed.
"I'll get you down, Davis," Veemon vowed, grabbing around Apemon's leg.
Apemon shook Veemon off his leg, then ran off down the desert toward the stampeding digimon.
"Armadillomon, armor digivolve," Cody ordered, holding up his digivice.
A bakemon flew down and grabbed Cody's digivice.
"Hey, you give that back!" Cody shouted.
Meanwhile, the Apemon dropped Davis right in the path of a Kokatorimon. It crowed and ran over to Davis, lashing out with it's huge clawed feet. Davis got up and tried to run, but the Kokatorimon caught the back of his shirt with it's claw. It pulled him toward it, so he was in pecking range.
"Ken, why are you doing this?" Kari demanded.
"I'm doing it for you, Kari," The Digimon Emperor assured her.
"Please, Ken, let him go," Kari pleaded.
Blossomon threw a thorned whip around Davis' leg and pulled him away from the Kokatorimon. She was not happy about that. She turned on the Blossomon, giving a Centarumon the chanced to pick up the thorned whip and gallop around with Davis dragging behind.
"Ken, stop!" Kari shouted.
The Digimon Emperor ignored her and just watched the Centarumon drag Davis around the desert. In a sudden act of impulse, Kari ran down the desert and stood right in the Centarumon's path.
"Centarumon, halt!" The Digimon Emperor shouted.
The rest of the digidestined ran down there as Kari got the thorned whip off of Davis.
"Davis, are you all right?" Yolei asked.
"Urraggg," Davis groaned.
"Why is Ken so sore at Davis all of a sudden?" Cody asked. "This is awfully strange behavior for him."
Gatomon glanced at Kari, who just said, "Davis, speak to me."
"Am I dead?" He grunted.
"No, but we soon will be if we don't get out of this herd," TK pointed out.
"I agree," Kari said, pulled Davis up and helping him along.
The Digimon Emperor watched from the Unimon as Kari, Davis, Yolei, Cody and TK ran off down the desert. Why hadn't it worked? His plan was perfect. It should have worked. Kari should have seen how weak Davis was compared to the powerful Digimon Emperor. Once she realized this, she should have gone after the more powerful one. HIM! Instead she got all mushy about Davis. It wasn't fair! This wasn't how this was supposed to play out. His fists were clenched so hard that they ware shaking and his jaw began to hurt from it's tenseness.
"Kari Kimiya," The Digimon Emperor shouted, "You Will Be Mine!"
A/N: I'd like to thank all those who've reviewed: Darkness carrier, Josh, Peter Kim, and Cherry Dragon and anyone else I missed.
LOVE'S TRUE STRENGTH
Chapter Three: Operation Humiliation
Kari wore the necklace the next morning to school. She wasn't exactly sure why. Her rationalization was that it was a pretty necklace and it would be a shame to leave it in her jewelry box all day. Gatomon shrugged this excuse off as they headed toward Kari's first class.
"Nice necklace," TK complimented as Kari took her seat next to him. "Did Davis give it to you?"
"Well, uh, no," Kari sputtered, unsure what to say.
"Who gave it to you then?" TK asked.
"Nobody," Kari blushed. "I got it for myself."
Gatomon eyed her suspiciously. She had never known Kari to lie like that.
Davis came into the room and sat in his seat. He leaned forward and looked passed TK to look at Kari.
"Hi, Kari," he smiled widely, waving his fingers at her.
"Hi, Davis," she laughed.
His eyes suddenly widened as he looked at her necklace.
"Hey, where'd you get the necklace?" Davis exclaimed. "You didn't give it to her, did you, TG?"
"Nope, it wasn't me," TK said calmly, leaning back in his chair.
"I bought it for myself, Davis," Kari lied again.
"You didn't have to," Davis insisted. "You know if you wanted anything, I would buy it for you."
Kari just shrugged. Gatomon really didn't want to get involved, but she had to say something.
"Kari, I thought a certain soccer player gave it to you," Gatomon said as casually as she could.
"Soccer player? Who?" Davis demanded.
"She means Tai," Kari assured him. "He gave me the money to buy the necklace, so I should really say that he gave it to me."
Gatomon couldn't believe she was lying again. Why didn't Kari just tell them that Ken gave it to her? Sure it would get Davis really mad, but that was her own fault for wearing it.
Throughout the lesson, Kari spent a lot of time twisting the necklace around her fingers. She liked the way it shined when she twisted it. Davis watched her with confusion and Gatomon watched her with narrowed eyes.
After class, Kari was walking down the hall and humming to herself when she bumped into Yolei and Cody. They had looks of urgency on their faces.
"What's the matter?" Kari asked.
"Problems in the digital world," Cody informed. "It seems that Ken has gotten a bunch of dark- ringed digimon together and is herding them around the desert."
"Why would he do that?" Kari queried.
"We don't know, but we have to stop him before one of those digimon die of exhaustion," Yolei insisted.
"Let's get moving then!" Kari exclaimed. "We'll get Davis and TK on the way to the computer lab."
Yolei and Cody nodded. The three found TK and Davis and hurried to the computer lab. They opened the digiport and were instantly sucked into the digital world. They appeared in the middle of the desert. Tons of tired digimon stomped around the desert. The Digimon Emperor was riding a Unimon, cracking a whip at the rest of the digimon.
"Hey, you stop that!" Davis shouted.
"Just who I wanted to see," The Digimon Emperor laughed, heading the Unimon toward the digidestined.
"Listen, Ken, you can't just go herding digimon until they are exhausted!" Davis shouted.
"I can do whatever I want," The Digimon Emperor declared. "Including this...Apemon!"
A giant orange Apemon jumped out of the crowd of digimon and grabbed Davis, hanging him up- side-down. The Apemon shook Davis until everything fell out of his pockets, including his digivice.
"Hey!" Davis exclaimed.
"I'll get you down, Davis," Veemon vowed, grabbing around Apemon's leg.
Apemon shook Veemon off his leg, then ran off down the desert toward the stampeding digimon.
"Armadillomon, armor digivolve," Cody ordered, holding up his digivice.
A bakemon flew down and grabbed Cody's digivice.
"Hey, you give that back!" Cody shouted.
Meanwhile, the Apemon dropped Davis right in the path of a Kokatorimon. It crowed and ran over to Davis, lashing out with it's huge clawed feet. Davis got up and tried to run, but the Kokatorimon caught the back of his shirt with it's claw. It pulled him toward it, so he was in pecking range.
"Ken, why are you doing this?" Kari demanded.
"I'm doing it for you, Kari," The Digimon Emperor assured her.
"Please, Ken, let him go," Kari pleaded.
Blossomon threw a thorned whip around Davis' leg and pulled him away from the Kokatorimon. She was not happy about that. She turned on the Blossomon, giving a Centarumon the chanced to pick up the thorned whip and gallop around with Davis dragging behind.
"Ken, stop!" Kari shouted.
The Digimon Emperor ignored her and just watched the Centarumon drag Davis around the desert. In a sudden act of impulse, Kari ran down the desert and stood right in the Centarumon's path.
"Centarumon, halt!" The Digimon Emperor shouted.
The rest of the digidestined ran down there as Kari got the thorned whip off of Davis.
"Davis, are you all right?" Yolei asked.
"Urraggg," Davis groaned.
"Why is Ken so sore at Davis all of a sudden?" Cody asked. "This is awfully strange behavior for him."
Gatomon glanced at Kari, who just said, "Davis, speak to me."
"Am I dead?" He grunted.
"No, but we soon will be if we don't get out of this herd," TK pointed out.
"I agree," Kari said, pulled Davis up and helping him along.
The Digimon Emperor watched from the Unimon as Kari, Davis, Yolei, Cody and TK ran off down the desert. Why hadn't it worked? His plan was perfect. It should have worked. Kari should have seen how weak Davis was compared to the powerful Digimon Emperor. Once she realized this, she should have gone after the more powerful one. HIM! Instead she got all mushy about Davis. It wasn't fair! This wasn't how this was supposed to play out. His fists were clenched so hard that they ware shaking and his jaw began to hurt from it's tenseness.
"Kari Kimiya," The Digimon Emperor shouted, "You Will Be Mine!"