Chapter 4's coming right at ya! Before we start though, please forgive me if anything isn't what it was in the second season regarding the use of digivices, etc. It's been WAY too long since I saw a single episode of that season, let alone the 1st one. °Curses Fox Family or whoever's supposed to be blamed° Enjoy!

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The Substitute

Chapter Four

The Players Assemble

Carlos & Wormmon both had a blast with construction during the weekend. Carlos especially. ("Look ma! I'm driving a bull dozer!" Carlos yelled while riding in said vehicle.) It was now Monday afternoon & we join our heroes (at last) at the computer room of Odaiba Elementary.

"Ready to go?" TK asked his friends.

"Hold on. We should see if any new control spires have popped up first." Yolei said. She looked at her D-3. She then gasped in horror. "Oh my God! Look at this!" Everybody crowded around Yolei's D-3 & saw that every single square inch of the Digital World's map was black.

"That jerk's been working overtime!" Davis yelled, referring to the Digimon Emperor.

"Let's go!" TK yelled and one by one, the Digi-Destined were transported to the Digital World.

Once they arrived, the five kids covered their ears as the sound of jack hammering can be heard.

"Hurry up! I want that loop up pronto! You! I want those ? blocks ten feet in the air! You want me to get a concussion while running!.?" A voice yelled. The Digi-Destined & their digimon crept up to a cliff to see what was going on. What they saw confused, scared, and filled them all with hate.

The sky was filled with clouds that had eyes in them. The landscape was paved and in its place were many loops, rails, and spike traps. Music note, and ! blocks floated a few feet off the ground. Some were even hundreds of feet in the air! Many platforms also filled the air as well. Many coins, rings, monitors, pipes, and item bubbles were abound on the ground. In the background, there were many control spires arranged in the shape of three triangles, which were connected together. And in the middle of it all stood a kid barking orders at many digimon, who were operating construction equipment.

"I don't know what's more disturbing. The video game references, the control spires, or the hordes of digimon." Cody said. Everybody else nodded in agreement. They made their way down to where the kid was standing.

"Get the lead out already! I've had a boring day & I wanna play already!" The kid yelled through a megaphone. The Digi-Destined made their way to the caped kid. TK walked up & tapped the guy on the shoulder. He spun around.

"Whaddya want!.?.!" The caped guy yelled at TK through the megaphone. The five kids & their digimon held their ears.

"Whoops! Sorry!" He said. "What can I do for ya?"

"Uhh... Yeah. Um... What are you doing?" TK asked after he got his hearing back.

"Oh. I'm building a playground." The foreman replied.

"Oh that's nice." TK started sweetly. He then grabbed the boss. "Whaddya mean 'playground?.!'"

"First off, unhand me!" TK let him go. "Thank you. Now then, I did say 'playground.' Once the construction is complete, I'll be dashing through my own personal playground."

"And how big will this playground be?" Kari asked, joining the conversation. The foreman got in a thinking pose.

"Ummm… The whole Digital World."

"THE WHOLE DIGITAL WORLD!.?.!.?.!.?.!" Everybody else yelled, knocking over Mr. Foreman. He then got up.

"Ouch... Yes, the whole Digital World! I'll most likely make the real world my playground once I'm done here." Wormmon then walked up to the group.

"Uhh…Carlos..."

"Not now, Wormmon." Carlos replied.

"Carlos…" Wormmon started to get nervous.

"Quit bugging me." Wormmon then bit Carlos on his leg. "OUCH!.!.!.!" He then picked up Wormmon by his antenna & gave him a hard look. "Now why did ya do THAT!.?.!" He pulled the digimon to his face. Wormmon gulped.

"T-Those are the Digi-Destined."

"Huh?" Carlos looked behind him at the kids. "Hmm... So they are." He dropped Wormmon. "Welcome to my domain! I'm Carlos, substitute for the Digimon Emperor, at your service." He kissed Kari's hand, MUCH to the displeasure of Davis.

"Listen kid! No one & I mean NO ONE touches my Kari! Got it!" He yelled as he walked up to Carlos.

"Davis, I'm not yours." Kari sighed.

"Quiet Doll. The grown ups are talking." Davis replied. Kari then contemplated whether to use a rock or her bare hands to knock Davis upside the head. Carlos chuckled.

"Please. I'm the boss here, incase you didn't notice. I'll let you guys roam the area. Just don't get in my way." He waved them off. That was when Yolei decided to walk up to Carlos. She grabbed him and started to shake him.

"You! How dare you just wave us off like that? We deserve some respect too, ya know!"

"I'm sick of getting grabbed and tossed around like a rag doll." Carlos said before he got out of Yolei's grip and grabbed her. "How do you like that? HUH!.?" He shook her hard before everyone else came to her rescue.

"ENOUGH! Let's see you deal with this!" He jumped back a few inches and pressed a button on a remote control. A few seconds later, a huge black ship flew over the area.

"Behold! The Dark Carrier!" Carlos yelled. "A song that keeps us on the move" started to play.

(A/N: "A Song that keeps us on the move" is the name of the song that plays when you're onboard the Egg Carrier in Sonic Adventure 1/DX)

"It's my greatest creation, but it pails in comparison to my grand master plan!" Carlos pressed another button and everybody was brought onboard the Dark Carrier by a tractor beam. It started to fly into the sky.

Later…

Everybody was assembled in an empty room of the Dark Carrier. The console of Carlos' machine was in one end of the room. A black door was opposite the console. A golden door was on the wall to the left of the black door.

"Welcome! This is where we'll be playing." Carlos said.

"What are we playing?" Davis asked, excited at the prospect. Yolei, who didn't seem to be as thrilled, was typing frantically on her D-terminal.

"Here are the rules. We'll be playing a few games through the use of my Dimensional Transporter." Carlos pointed at the console. "If you guys can beat me in eight games, I'll leave you alone."

"And if we lose?" TK asked. Carlos got a sadistic grin on his face.

"If you lose just ONE game, you and your digimon will become my slaves while Wormmon & I take over both worlds."

"How will we decide what games to play?" Cody asked.

"It's quite simple. My machine has all of your digiarmors set up in a roulette. When I give the command, the roulette will start up to decide not just what games we'll play, but who will be playing."

"Why isn't your digiarmor in the roulette?" Yolei asked.

"Aside from the fact that I don't have one, Wormmon and/or I will be in each game, no matter what. Any more questions?" Davis raised his hand. "Yes?"

"Will we be playing any PS2 games?"

"Or perhaps X-Box?" TK piped in. Everybody else started to give their requests.

'Oh, this'll be cake.' Carlos thought as he smirked. He held up his hand.

"Now, now. I'm sure I got your requests in the program. °Cough° Yeah right! °Cough° It's time to decide what game we shall play first! Everybody keep your eyes above the dark door." Everyone looked up. "Now, roulette! Start spinning!"

Instantly, different combinations of digiarmors started to be displayed in neon lights really fast. Soon, the roulette stopped and the digiarmors of Courage, Love, Intelligence, Light, and Hope were displayed.

"Hmm… I guess all of us get to play then." Carlos said. The dark door opened and everyone felt a strong wind. The six humans plus Wormmon were swept into the door, which promptly shut itself.

"Anybody wanna play cards?" Armadillomon asked as he pulled out a deck from who knows where.

"Sure!" The other digimon replied.

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What game shall our heroes play for the sake of the Digital World first? Does Carlos have some hidden motive? Find out the answers to these questions and more in the next action-filled chapter of The Substitute!