21: ...and here's chapter 2!
Sponsor: hooray...can we please get this over with? I've got other things to do...
George: Whoa!
Sponsor: What?
George: You have a life?
Sponsor: OF COURSE I DO YOU NINCOMPOOP!
21: Looks like somebody blew a fuse again...I'll get the replacement.
Sponsor: huh?
(21 pulls out a massive fuse and tried to implant it into the Sponsor)
Sponsor: No! No! Stay back you maniac!
21: But you're broken and I gotta fix you...
Sponsor: I'M NOT BROKEN! I'M JUST MAD!
George: Well being mad never helped anybody...
Sponsor: Fine, whatever, let's just get this-
(21 shoves the massive fuse up the Sponsor's nose)
21: There now! All better :)
Sponsor: A-a-aa-ACHOO!
(The fuse blows up, and the electricity goes out. The Sponsor is out cold)
21: Huh, go figure...I guess the Sponsor isn't going to be able to do his job...so could you take over George?
George: Sure thing! The21stMartian doesn't own Digimon, so no suing or I'm gonna have to-
21: *ahem* I think that's quite enough
(21 and George look at the comatose Sponsor)
21: What'd ya wanna do while he's asleep?
George: The same thing we do every night binky boy!
21: Try to eat the entire world!
George: and I think our good Sponsor is willing to pay for this evening's meal isn't that right?
Sponsor: ... (still out cold)
21: Sounds like he agrees to me!
George: While we're eating, you're quite welcome to read the second installment of my creator's newest story, namely...
Episode 2: Knowledge is Power and Love Soars Above all
"Davis here. Last time three new digivices came out of the computer, and guess what? One of them was mine! I traveled with Tai, TW, and Kari to the Digital World, and found my partner Veemon. Together we defeated Monocromon, one of the Digimon Emperor's slaves. All I've got to say is, defeating him will be a piece of cake!"
Cody calmly extracted himself from the pile of bodies. He had displayed mild surprise when the others fell out of the computer, but that had quickly succumbed to his usual stoic demeanor.
"You were in the Digital World weren't you?" he asked bluntly.
"Yeah," said Davis, "it was great! I met my partner Veemon and we kicked butt!"
"…ummmm Davis, you do realize you can't tell just anyone about the Digital World right?" asked Tai.
"It's okay," said Izzy, "Yolei and Cody are the other two new Digidestined. I explained everything to them while you were…away."
Yolei stared at the computer with a determined expression. After a few seconds, she spoke.
"Right," said she, "let's go to the Digital World."
"Now?" asked Cody, "we can't go now! It's getting late."
"He's right," added Izzy, "our parents will probably blow a fuse if we're not home in time for dinner."
Tai, TK, and Kari nodded, and Yolei realized she was outvoted.
As they left, Izzy check the gate again. Sure enough, it had closed. Izzy shutdown the computer and ran to catch up with the others, whispering something to Tai on his way.
With the three digimon in tow, and Patamon flying beside him, George flew towards his main base on Upload Island.
The trip took longer than it should have since they had to stop to rest and avoid the Emperor's slaves, but they made it to the island in one piece.
At the base of Gargantuan Mountain they saw a door with a G surrounded by four images. At this door, George punched in a key code, had his retina scanned, had a thumbprint taken, and was scanned by several devices before the front door opened revealing the lighted passage filled with pictures within.
"Home sweet home," said George.
"Boy, you're not taking any chances with security," commented Agumon.
"Yeah," was all George said, but it was clear something was amiss.
At the end of the corridor, they found themselves at an elevator shaft. Here too, George punched in a key code and had his thumbprint taken, and the doors slid open. Upon entering, the human-digimon hybrid hit a button marked "H", and the elevator began to rise.
When the doors opened, the five found themselves in a comfy apartment carved into the mountain. One room was a kitchen, complete with refrigerator, oven, stove, microwave, and table. Another room was a bedroom and had a comfy looking bed, a desk, and a nightstand. A third room was a living room with several bookcases and a few sofas and armchairs. In both the bedroom and the living room there were electric fireplaces. The little digimon's room was, of course, down the hall to the left (A/N: gotta love clichés).
The walls were mostly bare, but in a few places posters for old sci-fi and horror movies were hung.
"This is where you live?" asked Agumon.
"Yep," said George smiling, "it took a while, but it was worth it."
"It's kinda bare necessities," said Patamon.
"What do you do for fun?" asked Veemon.
"That would be on floor "R"," said George.
"R?" asked Gatomon.
"R as in 'Recreation and Recharging'," explained the warrior, "I just swung by here to grab some stuff from the fridge, but I'm heading up there next, you coming?"
"Sure" said the four digimon eagerly.
Once again they hopped into the elevator (George repeating the security measures), and hit the button "R" (other buttons included C, G, and Q).
When the doors opened, the digimon's mouths opened in shock. There was a billiards table, an air hockey table, several pinball machines, a giant flat screen TV with a large movie selection, and lots and lots of videogames.
Lounging on a beanbag in front of the TV was George's partner, Crocmon.
Upon seeing his friend enter, he jumped off the poufy chair and ran over.
George knelt down and patted his partners head.
"We've got some company, keep them entertained while I go for a recharge," said George.
Crocmon nodded and escorted the others to other beanbags by the TV.
As they were watching, George stepped into a backroom with a door labeled "Authorized Personnel Only" and had a picture of the Crest of Power. George held up the crest, and had it scanned. The alarm system was disabled, and he stepped through the door.
A few bright flashes later, he stepped out looking refreshed and revitalized. His limp was gone and his gashes has stopped bleeding and mostly healed.
As he passed the digimon on the beanbags he commented, "I'm heading out, if you need anything Crocmon knows the security codes."
The digimon acknowledged with head nods, and George took the elevator up to his control room (Button C).
A bunch of monitors greeted him as he stepped into the well lit room. Several consoles could be seen along with several swivel chairs.
On a desk on the far side of the room sat George's old laptop. He quickly crossed the room and brought up a scan on his computer.
The older Digidestined sat around the park. Matt was perched atop the slide, TK and Kari on the swings, Tai and Sora on the monkey bars, and Izzy and Joe on a bench (Mimi was of course in America). The mood was a solemn one as Tai, TK, and Kari recounted the day's events starting with the Digiport opening, the emergence of the three beams of light, Davis's digivice, and their trip to the Digital World, but most importantly, they told the others about their new enemy, the Digimon Emperor.
"…so what you're saying then," said Matt after they'd finished, "is that somehow the Digimon Emperor prevents our digimon from digivolving, yet this 'Davis' character somehow managed to bypass that with something called 'Armor Digivolution'? That's a little weird."
"This IS the Digital World we're talking about…" mused Izzy.
"But if the Digimon Emperor is capturing and enslaving digimon…what will happen to our partners?" asked Sora.
Everyone sat in silence absorbing this new information when suddenly, Izzy's laptop, which had supposedly been shut down, cleared its throat. All heads turned towards the machine as it cleared its throat again.
Izzy curiously and cautiously picked up the machine.
"…hello?" he asked. The only response was another throat clearing, so he decided to open the screen.
"I'd point that thing away from yourself if I was you Izzy," said the computer prompting Izzy to quickly turn the machine around and point the opening screen to an empty patch of ground.
As soon as the screen was fully open, there was a bright flash of light, and when it dissipated George Helltower stood before them, brushing grass off his pants, and a little worse for wear, but smiling widely.
"Hey guys," he said, "what's up?"
"The Digimon Emperor, that's what," muttered Sora darkly.
Davis was lying on his bed throwing around a soccer ball.
"Man," he thought, "I just can't stop thinking about Veemon."
CRASH!
While not paying attention to his throwing, Davis accidentally broke a lamp.
Cody swung his shinai again. Since it was a nice warm evening, he was practicing on his balcony. He turned and swung again and practiced a few blocks, but though his form was perfect, his mind was racing.
"The Digital World…it sounds so interesting. I'd like to go there and explore," he thought as he swung yet again.
Not far away, Yolei was jerry-rigging Cody's computer for like the 50th time. Usually, she'd be fascinated by this task, but today her attention was divided, and that could only lead to disaster.
"I don't care if they don't want me around. Tomorrow I'm going to the Digital World!" she thought, as she slapped the panel back onto the computer.
As she tried to turn the computer back on, a short circuit occurred, temporarily blacking out the apartment.
"…oops," said Yolei as she got back to work.
At the mere mention of the Emperor, George's expression turned dark and he muttered "so they've found out about him", but only for a fraction of a second, he quickly regained his composure.
Aloud he said, "Yes well, I'm doing the best I can, but for some reason I still haven't been able to achieve full power."
To demonstrate his point, he pulled out his crest. What had once been a glowing source of power and inspiration sat dull and lifeless on George's chest. If anything, it was glowing with a dark light, but more likely it hadn't recharged at all since it had been used to free the Sovereigns about a year ago.
"It's curious," said the former Warrior of Power, "this thing used to have boundless energy, but now…it's almost as if something has prevented it from reaching above a certain power level."
"You mean kind of like how our digimon are unable to digivolve because of the Emperor," remarked Joe.
"Sort of" replied George, whose face had gone dark again at the mentioning of the Emperor, while he quickly regained composure again, "but different. You see, it's one thing to prevent a digimon from digivolving, since a digimon has to change form to do that, but this crest was always powerful, and it never needed to change forms to do so. In other words, it's naturally powerful, and needs no source whereas digimon need to eat in order to have energy to digivolve."
"Well," said Izzy, "perhaps we'll receive some answers while fighting the Emperor."
This time, George didn't try to hide the dark expression that filled his features.
"No," he said, "with your digimon partners unable to digivolve you'll be nothing but sitting ducks. It's too dangerous for you to return to the Digital World; let me deal with the Emperor myself. I may be lower on power than ever, but I can always hold my own against punks like him."
"So you're forbidding us to return to the Digital World," said Matt, "who died and made you the boss?"
"Griffinmon actually," said George casually, "besides, your digivices are incompatible with the interface program to open the Digiports. You'd need me or my digivice to let you in, and I've got better things to do than babysitting you. If it's any consolation, I'll try to locate your partners and send them through so you know they're safe."
"…about not being able to get into the Digital World," began Izzy, "I've been meaning to ask you something. How is it your digivice, which is the same model as ours, is able to open Digiports at will, yet ours can't?"
"Appearances can be deceiving Izzy," said George holding up his digivice which, on the outside, looked exactly like theirs, "I've had millennia to do some tinkering with this thing. Your digivice models came from the blueprints I drew when I reverse engineered this little device, so they don't have all the cool gadgets, applications, and functions mine has."
He paused for a moment thoughtfully and continued.
"Although, now that I think about it, my digivice has always been able to open Digiports whenever I needed it to, even before I knew how it worked…maybe it has more to do with the fact that this device is special since it was the first one ever made, and it was made by the Digital World itself…" he sighed, "I suppose there are some aspects of digivices that even I'll never understand."
At the words "tinkering", "blueprints", and "reverse engineered", Izzy's eyes grew wide at the thought of taking apart the digivice, and he opened his mouth to ask the thousand and one questions that were now invading his mind, but was cut off by a stern look from Matt.
"Here's one thing I'll bet you don't know Mr. Smartypants," said Matt, "we CAN get into the Digital World without your help."
George froze for a moment, "explain," he said.
TK and Kari told George about Davis, the new model of digivice he possessed, and Armor Digivolution.
"Interesting," remarked George, "I must ask Gennai about this."
"So, how about letting us back into the Digital World now?" demanded Matt
George sighed, "I suppose as long as you're with at least one of the new Digidestined, I've got no right to forbid your entry, just remember, the Emperor is dangerous. Do not underestimate him even though he's just a kid."
With that, he turned around and began to open a Digiport through the laptop, when Izzy slammed it shut.
"If you don't mind," said the Child of Knowledge, "I've got a few questions for you…"
"I'm a little busy fighting an evil dictator Izzy," sighed George, "so make it quick."
Izzy took a deep breath and began, "how did you take apart the digivice, and more importantly how did you put it back together again? Where are the blueprints you sketched? What sort of applications, gadgets, and programs does your digivice have? Where did the new model of digivice come from? Are you going to study it?"
The boy genius stopped, gasping for air as George, with an amused look on his face, began to answer the stream of questions.
"In order," he began, "with conventional tools, very carefully, I'd tell you but then I'd have to kill you, a built in laser, long range digivolution, data collection, and wireless routing through the lenses of my sunglasses to name a few, I have no idea, and of course I'm going to study it."
"Then may I help with your research?" asked Izzy eagerly, "I was going to procure a device for my own in depth analysis, but you appear to be much more qualified at studying these devices than me."
George smiled, "very well, I supposed I can stick around for a little while, but not too long eh? I'm on a tight schedule that expects me to topple the Emperor in a week…max."
"Sometimes I think you expect too much of yourself," laughed TK, "no one man can possibly do that, not even you."
"Maybe not," muttered George, "but I've got to try."
Aloud he asked, "so, which one of you volunteers to have me over while I'm around?"
The Digidestined sweatdropped knowing full well how much the former Warrior of Power could eat…and how messily too (being in the Digital World for a few thousand years certainly hadn't helped his manners).
Knowing the reason for their hesitation George smirked.
"I promise the only thing you'll have to worry about is giving me a place to sleep; I'll take care of the meals myself."
"In that case," said Tai, "you can stay with us. Izzy's place isn't far, and you have the added benefit of being in a historic location."
George raised an eyebrow out of curiosity.
"That's where I was when Diaboromon was defeated," said Tai smugly.
George sighed…this was going to be a long night.
"I think he'd be better off staying at my house," said Izzy, "for one thing, he'll be working on the digivice at my place anyway, and for two, my house has a spare room, so he can have his own space."
George nodded, "that works for me. I'll meet you there in about an hour."
"Prodigious!" said Izzy.
"Next thing to do is determine where we go from here," said Joe.
"Yeah," said Matt, "if there are new Digidestined around, are we even needed anymore?"
"Don't talk like that!" said George, "if that were the case, I'd be long outdated, and, as you can see I still serve a function here and there. What you can do now is serve as mentors and give guidance to the new guys…kinda like I did for you guys a few years back. Our job as Digidestined is never complete."
"Okay," said Kari, "so like Joe said, what now?"
"We head to back to the Digital World tomorrow after school," said Tai.
"I'm in," said Sora.
"Me too," said Izzy.
TK and Kari nodded.
"Of course I'll be there," said George.
"Tomorrow?" said Joe looking crestfallen, "I can't make it. I've got an oral test on laryngitis."
"Yeah, and my band's got a gig," said Matt.
"Don't worry about it," said Tai, "we can handle things for now."
"Alright," said Matt, "but you'd better call us if you need us."
After a few "so longs" and "catch you laters", the Digidestined and George went their separate ways. Tai walked Sora and Kari home, Matt wandered off in the general direction of his apartment, Joe actually headed towards the Inoue convenience store to buy himself some energy drinks (he was going to pull an all-nighter despite the fact that he knew the material cold), Izzy walked home whistling, and TK headed back to his apartment complex.
Along the way he thought, "hmmm, I wonder what George will think of the new Digidestined."
He chuckled at the thought of Davis meeting George and continued on his way.
"I'm done!" Yolei called, as the ancient computer whirred to life before her.
"Thank you Yolei," said Mrs. Hida, "but I couldn't help but noticing that you were a little distracted tonight. Is something wrong?"
"No ma'am, it's just that I'm thinking about all the homework I've got to do tonight. You'd think teachers would be a little nicer on the first day back…" Yolei lied, as she stepped out onto the balcony to conspire with Cody.
Cody was still swinging his shinai around when Yolei stepped over to him.
"Listen," she whispered, "I don't care whether they want us or not, tomorrow we're going to force Izzy to take us to the Digital World."
"Force is such a strong word," said Cody, "perhaps we should start by asking nicely."
Yolei groaned. "Fine!" she said, "whatever you want to call it. Just make sure you're in the computer lab after school tomorrow. Izzy's bound to be there!"
With that she left the Hida apartment and began the "long" walk to her family's apartment and convenience store a few stories down.
An hour later the doorbell of the Izumi residence announced the arrival of George Helltower. Izzy eagerly opened the door and allowed the trench coat clad warrior in…then he noticed a few things. For one, George was hauling an enormous backpack which seemed to be moving, for another, George appeared quite disheveled, for yet another, there was another nasty gash across his forehead, and finally despite it being nighttime, George was wearing a pair of sunglasses (rather old sunglasses at that).
Not daunted in the least, the former warrior stepped in and asked one question.
"Where do I sleep?"
"So Tai, what do you think of the new guys?" asked Sora.
After dropping his sister off at home, Tai had continued walking Sora home, and her mom had insisted he stay for dinner (and Tai didn't really object either given his mom's cooking). Although the meal had long since been finished, the two teens had retreated to Sora's room and began talking.
Tai looked at his redheaded girlfriend for a few minutes and sighed.
"If George is willing to give them a chance, far be it from me to criticize them…but still, why Davis?" he said.
Sora giggled. "What's the matter Tai," she asked, "afraid of being completely replaced by another goggle wearing soccer player?"
Tai sighed, she could read him like an open book, which was, of course, one of the many reasons he was attracted to her.
"Well, yeah," he said, "with Davis around, I feel like I'm not needed anymore."
"Hey," said Sora cuddling up reassuringly behind her boyfriend, "don't think like that. George said that while we may not be able to fight right now, we can still act as advisers and mentors to the new Digidestined."
"Yeah easy for him to say," said Tai, "he's still fighting…besides, do I seem like a good role model to you?"
"Well yeah," said Sora, "and just because George is still fighting doesn't mean he's in a better position than we are…there's something strange going on with him and the Emperor, but I'm not quite sure what."
"What makes you say that?" asked Tai.
"You may not have noticed, but every time we mentioned the Emperor, George's demeanor hardened. Only for a fraction of a second, mind you, but he still reacted in a way I've never seen him react before."
"Now that you mention it," said Tai recalling Patamon's words from earlier, "he did seem rather dead set against us going back to the Digital World…it's almost as if he's hiding something."
At this time, Tai's cell phone rang. His mom wanted him to come home.
The goggled teen sighed, "alright, I'll be home soon mom…bye."
He looked up to see Sora looking bemused.
"What're we going to do about George?" he asked, as he pulled on his green jacket.
"We'll confront him tomorrow. In the meantime, don't worry about it too much," said Sora.
The two shared a 'goodnight kiss', and Tai went off into the night.
"Dare I ask what happened to you?" asked Izzy, as George reclined on the bed.
"It's a long story," said the Warrior, pulling a can of beer from his bag and opening it.
"Ah, I'd rather prefer you not drink that stuff in here," said Izzy.
"I can't help it," said George taking a big gulp, "it's genetic."
Izzy sighed, "fine, whatever…now what happened to you?"
"The usual. I was attacked by the Emperor's slaves," was the reply.
"But I thought the Emperor didn't show up at night," said Izzy.
"He doesn't, but that doesn't mean he leaves the DigiWorld defenseless you know," replied George, "his minions are still out there guarding his territory,"
"But why didn't you just transport home?" asked Izzy.
"Can't" replied George after another gulp, "security measures."
"Explain," said Izzy.
"To make sure my home base can't be invaded, I made sure that all DigiPorts on Upload Island, except the one in my control room, were destroyed. The one in my control room is hooked via my old laptop. The funny thing is, that laptop exists simultaneously in this world and the DigiWorld, so I routed the DigiPort so that it could access anywhere in the real world, but could only be accessed via its counterpart in the real world. Ingenious, but rather inconveniencing since the counterpart is also routed to only be accessed via its counterpart in the DigiWorld."
"A security loop?" asked Izzy, "clever."
"Anyways," said George taking out another beer, "since I couldn't get back to Upload Island, I transported myself to Driver. Unfortunately, in my haste I forgot that the sector I chose was under the Emperor's domain, and was attacked on my arrival. After breaking a couple of rings, I staggered home and recharged, but given the scale of the assault, this was the best it could do. Anyways, when I told Crocmon I was going to be away for a while, he wanted to come with, so naturally, I had to take the others…"
"Others?" asked Izzy looking at George's bag with a hint of fear.
"It's all right guys," said George, "c'mon out."
Out popped, DemiCrocmon, Koromon, Patamon, Gatomon, and a strange little blue digimon.
"Hey, I'm DemiVeemon," said the tiny blue digimon, "where's Davis?"
"You'll see him tomorrow," said George, "it's too late to be visiting people now."
"But I wanna see Davis NOW!" exclaimed DemiVeemon.
George pulled out a chocolate bar and gave it to DemiVeemon.
"What's this?" asked the tiny blue digimon.
"Food," replied George, "eat it."
DemiVeemon put the sweet in his mouth. Instantly, he forgot all about not seeing Davis, but decided he wanted more.
"If you behave I'll give you more in the morning," said George.
DemiVeemon nodded and went to sleep without any complaints.
"Boy you sure know how to deal with digimon," said Izzy, impressed.
"You learn a thing or five after a few thousand years, even if you're a slow learner like myself," said George finishing his second beer, "but the very first lesson is that the fastest way to a digimon's heart is through its stomach."
"So what else do you have in that bag of yours?" asked the Child of Knowledge.
"Stuff," said George shrugging, "and I hate to be rude, but if you don't mind I would like to get some sleep."
"Oh, yeah, sure," said Izzy as he left.
A few moments later, the former Warrior of Power fell soundly asleep.
The next day, Izzy and George were walking to Odaiba High together. George was wearing a bulging backpack and was sans trench coat. As they approached the building, George's T-shirt and jeans attracted the Principal's attention, after all there were strict dress codes, and George found himself seated in the principal's office before the school day even began.
Principal Toyama was usually a patient man, but when someone was disobeying the dress code, he got mad.
He ranted and raved in front of the unfazed Helltower for five whole minutes before realizing the [seemingly] young man in front of him wasn't one of the students at his institution. Nonetheless, the principal had a nagging feeling he'd seen this individual before.
Mid-sentence, he stopped his rant and cleared his throat.
"You don't attend this school do you?" he asked.
"Nope," replied George.
"Then might I inquire as to who you are and what it is you are doing here?" asked Toyama.
"Certainly," said George, having thought of a cover story the night before, "I'm George Samuel Helltower, you might recognize me as the videogame tycoon from the States. I came here to Japan to visit my friend Izzy Izumi who goes to Odaiba High."
"Ah yes Mr. Helltower," said the principal, all traces of hostility gone, "please excuse my outburst earlier. I just can't stand when students violate the dress code."
"Quite understandable," replied George, "listen, could you keep a secret?"
"Certainly, certainly," said Toyama.
"I'm not just here visiting Izzy," said George in a low voice, "I'm here to scout around and see how well my game system would be received here. You see, my sales department has been complaining that I'm not satisfying the international market for my system, so I'm here to see if there's an international market to be satisfied."
"I see," said the principal, "makes perfect sense to me…so I take it you're 'undercover'?"
"Indeed, so obviously this encounter never happened," said George conspiratorially.
"Of course, of course," said the principal waving his hand generously.
"Excellent, I'm glad we have an understanding…would you care for a sample of my work?" asked George, "I'm giving away a few and asking for input. I'd be honored if your family would test this for me."
George pulled a box out of his backpack. The box contained one of George's Virtual Reality gaming systems and a few programs that could be installed.
Principal Toyama grabbed the box eagerly and said, "Thank you Mr. Helltower, I'm sure that I—I mean my family—will enjoy this gift."
With that, George walked out of Principal Toyama's office. What the principal didn't notice was that Helltower's backpack was moving around slightly.
The five digimon breathed a sigh of relief as George carefully let them out of his bag. He had gone into the computer room and, making sure nobody was around, opened his backpack.
"Alright guys, hide here. I'll be back with the others later," said the fallen warrior, "to tide you over I brought snacks."
As the five digimon hid themselves among the room's clutter, George passed out rations of chocolate bars and chips. Carefully closing the door behind him, George left the computer room and headed towards his next destination, Izzy's classroom…
At long last, the school day ended and Izzy ran to the computer room, with George right on his heals. As Izzy checked the DigiPort, George went around throwing out all the wrappers and bags left by the Digimon, who, by now, had gathered by Izzy.
"Just as I thought," said Izzy, "the gate's closed…"
"That shouldn't be a problem," said George pulling out a beer, "I can open it".
To prove his point, George sent the digimon ahead to the Digital World.
"See?" he asked smiling, "piece of cake."
At that moment, Yolei and Cody entered their expressions were determined to say the least.
"I knew I'd find you here Izzy!" said Yolei accusingly.
Cody cut her off and motioned toward George. Yolei stopped her tirade and blushed as she realized she could have just revealed the Digital World to an outsider.
George raised an eyebrow and looked at Izzy.
"You gotta be kidding me? These are the new guys? Next you'll tell me the third one is a miniature Tai!" he said.
At that moment, Davis appeared flanked by TK and Kari.
George smacked his head exasperated.
"Hey guys, what's up?" said Davis.
"Who's he?" asked Cody suspiciously pointing at George.
"He happens to be the leader of the Digidestined, thank you very much," said George.
"The who?" asked Davis.
George sighed and took a gulp of his beverage.
"I'm George Helltower of the Martian Digidestined, and you must be the newbies," said the former Warrior of Power.
Davis thought for a moment, and then he recalled something Gatomon had said the day before.
"Oh, so you're the George the others were talking about yesterday. How's it going?" he said, "and what do you mean Martian?"
At the mentioning of George's identity, Yolei's eyes lit up.
"You mean the George Helltower, the one who invented the virtual reality gaming system so popular in the US now?" she asked, shoving Davis aside.
"That would be me," said George, "and by Martian I mean Mars, Pennsylvania, not the planet…although truth be told I'm not fully human."
"What do you mean by that?" asked Cody, wary as always.
"I'd rather not get into that at the moment," replied George casually taking another gulp.
They stood in silence a few minutes assessing each other.
Finally, Yolei snapped.
"Can we please just go to the Digital World already?" she demanded, "I can't wait to slay some dragons!"
"Ha! You probably wouldn't even be able to beat the first level," scoffed Davis.
"Will there be any close quarter combat missions?" asked Cody, "I'd like to try my kendo skills against a computer."
After each of the three new Digidestined's outbursts, George grew angrier and angrier. He threw down his can and crushed it as he advanced towards the unsuspecting trio, flames of rage burning in his normally green eyes. Izzy, TK, and Kari backed away slowly.
"YOU THINK THIS IS A GAME? WELL? DO YOU?" he shouted, veins pulsing in his eyes.
"Isn't it?" asked Yolei, instantly regretting her response.
"NO THIS IS NOT A GAME! THE DIGITAL WORLD IS IN TROUBLE AND YOU DUMBASSES THINK IT'S A GAME? I'VE SPENT THOUSANDS OF YEARS DEFENDING THIS WORLD FROM EVIL DIGIMON WHO'D JUST LOVE FOR ME TO LET DOWN MY GUARD SO THEY CAN TAKE OVER. I'VE LOST QUITE A FEW FRIENDS THANK YOU VERY—"
George's rant was cut short by the arrival of Tai and Sora.
"You might wanna keep it down George," said Tai, "we could hear you all the way from the high school."
George harrumphed and stomped away from the new Digidestined, who were cowering in a corner, and mumbled something about "more Digimon Emperors".
Sora approached him, "so I guess this would be a bad time to ask you what you know about the Emperor?" she asked.
"He's evil," George said, "That's all you need to know."
Sora opened her mouth to respond, but George stood up taking out his digivice.
"Are we going or not," he said grumpily.
The other eight people nodded and began to fish out their digivices, when Principal Toyama appeared in the doorway.
"Ah, there you are Mr. Helltower," he said, "I thought I heard you shouting. Is everything alright?"
"Everything is fine; I was just showing these guys another of my gadgets. Perhaps you'd like to see a demonstration as well?" asked George pushing the principal out of the computer room.
"Sounds great!" said Toyama as the two began walking towards his office.
Unbeknownst to the eager principal, George flashed the 'V' sign back into the computer lab.
The others breathed a sigh of relief.
"Whew, another close call averted by George," said Tai.
Sora, Izzy, TK, and Kari nodded.
"All ashore that's going ashore!" yelled Davis.
At this point, they finally opened the DigiPort and transported to the Digital World.
Yolei and Cody stood in shock. Where had once been a computer room, there was now a grassy hill, where the only shade came from a black obelisk in the distance. Davis too was in shock, but he recovered faster than before.
Suddenly, Cody pointed at Yolei. "You're clothes," he said simply.
Yolei looked down at herself. She was now wearing red parachute pants with boots that went up to mid-shin. She now had a light blue shirt over which she wore a tan vest, and on her hands were white gloves. Gone was her bandana, only to be replaced by a loud orange helmet.
"Oh wow, I'm dressed like one of the cool crowd," she exclaimed, and then looked at Cody, "and so are you!"
Cody looked down and saw that he too was wearing new clothes. He now had on a tan tunic with purple stripes at the sleeves and neck. Furthermore, his pants were now purple, and he wore brown and white shoes.
"How odd…" he remarked, "but comfortable."
"Oh yeah," said Davis, "I forgot that this place comes with a new wardrobe…I wonder if they've got anything surfer style."
As Davis and Yolei continued to admire their new clothes, Cody walked up to the older Digidestined.
"Kids these days have no sense of values," Sora was saying, "when I was a kid I showed a lot more respect whenever I received a gift."
"Sora, I hate to say this, but you're sounding just like my mom," said Kari.
Tai chuckled, and then noticed the serious expression on Cody's face.
"What's up Cody?" he asked.
The 4th grader looked Tai straight in the eyes and asked, "why does George hate us?"
"…ummm, well, you see…it's quite simple…" stammered Tai, a little unnerved by Cody's unwavering gaze.
"Allow me to explain," said Izzy, "George doesn't hate you; he just gets upset whenever someone insinuates that this world isn't real."
"You mean this place is real?" asked Cody, wonder showing in his eyes.
"Of course it is," said the Child of Knowledge, "and the creatures here are every bit as alive as we are."
"Alright, that explains why he was upset when we thought this world was a video game, but what did he mean by 'I spent thousands of years defending this world'? He can't be much older than 20," asked Cody.
"I think I'll let him explain that one to you," said Izzy, "just know that things are not always what they seem to be."
Cody nodded respectfully, but continued to ponder the mysterious mannerisms of George Samuel Helltower.
By now, Davis and Yolei had finished admiring their clothing, and Davis was yelling for someone called 'Veemon'.
Suddenly, his call was answered.
"Davish!" said a bipedal blue lizard as he ran up a neighboring hill, "I brought Agumon and his friends with me."
Also appearing on the horizon were Gatomon, Patamon, Agumon, and what appeared to be a pygmy crocodile.
Veemon bounded over to Davis, Gatomon ran over to Kari, Patamon flew onto TK's hat, and Agumon headed straight for Tai. The crocodile however, stopped a few feet away from everyone and looked around.
"Where's George?" asked the reptilian digimon.
"He had to stay behind," said Tai, "but you're always welcome to stick with us."
Izzy and Sora meanwhile were calling out for their partners.
"Biyomon!"
"Tentomon!"
Patamon, Gatomon, and Agumon shared a sad look, before Gatomon nodded.
The feline digimon walked over to the redheaded Digidestined and shook her head sadly.
"I'm sorry," she said, "but Biyomon and Tentomon have been captured by the Digimon Emperor."
Sora's eyes narrowed as she thought back to her confrontation of George earlier.
"Why didn't Helltower tell us?" she said angrily.
"To be honest," said Agumon, "he didn't know either…it only happened two days ago, and he's been too busy to keep track of everything. It's not his fault!"
"Fine," grumbled Sora, "but there's something he's hiding from us, and I won't rest until I find out what it is!"
Tai walked over to comfort his angry girlfriend as Yolei and Cody examined the digimon in shock. Each one took turns introducing themselves to them.
"…They can talk," said Yolei.
"This certainly defies logic," said Cody, as he knelt down to examine Crocmon.
"I have a digimon partner and you don't," scoffed Davis, as Yolei fumed.
Cody however was thinking…Agumon was Tai's partner, Gatomon was Kari's partner, Patamon was TK's partner, and Veemon was Davis's partner. Sora and Izzy's partners had been captured, and Crocmon had asked for George so…
"Are you George Helltower's partner?" he asked the reptilian digimon.
"Certainly," replied Crocmon, "you must be one of the new Digidestined I heard about from Veemon."
"How well do you know your partner?" asked the 4th grader.
"We're best buds," came the reply, "I know everything there is to know about him."
"Would you mind answering a few questions then?" asked Cody eagerly.
"If they're questions about myself, no. If they're questions about George, then you should ask him yourself," replied the crocodile.
As this was going on, the Digimon Emperor sat on his throne in his control room. He saw the arrival of the Digidestined, and was especially pleased to see Sora and Izzy.
"Welcome back to the Digital World, I've got a little surprise for you," he cackled before hitting a few buttons on his control panel to dispatch some of his slaves, and hitting another button to activate his pitfall trap.
Cody was about to ask Crocmon about the Digital World, when suddenly, the ground beneath Davis's feet gave away. The goggled boy fell into the deep abyss and Veemon charged in to rescue him…both disappeared into the inky blackness of the pit.
"Oh my," said Yolei, "the ground opened up and swallowed him!"
Suddenly, not two feet from where they were standing, an orb of electricity struck the ground and blew everyone backwards.
Izzy involuntarily shuddered as he saw the source, a massive insect with a helmeted head that had a horn jutting out of it. The exoskeleton was blue, but in some places there were gray cybernetic components. The bug's four wings gave off a faint buzzing sound, though they were nearly invisible, as the insect flew. Under the helmet was a set of organic mandibles. A dark ring encircled one of the bug's four arms.
"…Tentomon," Izzy said quietly.
"I am Kabuterimon," corrected the insectoid digimon, "and the Emperor has sent me to destroy you."
Static electricity began to build in his arms, and he brought them together.
"Long Live the Emperor! Electro Shocker!"
Another sphere of electricity shot down towards the Digidestined, this one more powerful and accurate than the previous one.
"Move!" yelled Izzy.
Cody and Yolei were frozen in fear. They could hear the sizzling of electrons as the orb grew closer, and felt their hair start to stand on end. This was no game…
TK and Izzy grabbed Cody and hauled him out of harm's way with Patamon and Crocmon following.
Sora, Kari, and Tai picked up Yolei and carried the stunned girl away from the orb's path, with Gatomon and Agumon bringing up the rear.
The orb impacted the hill in a cloud of smoke and dust.
By the time the cloud had cleared, the two groups had separated and were getting away.
A shadow fell on Kabuterimon as another digimon's presence blocked out the sun. This digimon was an orange and yellow bird whose feathers appeared to be made of flames. She had clawed talons that gleamed menacingly, and her beak was full of razor sharp (and somewhat crooked) teeth. She wore a dark ring around her neck, so her normally blue eyes were glowing red.
"The Emperor would like to know of your progress," she said.
"They've split up," said Kabuterimon, "I can't handle this alone."
"Then I shall assist you," said the avian digimon as she flew after the larger group.
Davis woke up to find himself hanging from a cliff.
"Whoa, have I been sleep walking again?" he asked, "and where am I anyways?"
Suddenly, he heard a cold chuckle from above him, and he looked up to see a caped figure with dark blue hair and purple sunglasses.
"You're just…hanging out," cackled the figure.
"Who the hell are you?" demanded Davis.
"You're worst nightmare come to life," replied the figure.
Davis looked dumbfounded for a moment.
"I swear I didn't do it Principal Toyama!" he said.
"What're you talking about?" asked the figure impatiently.
Davis continued to look dumbfounded.
"You said you were my worst nightmare come to life…but you're not Toyama ordering the teachers to give me extra homework…or my parents suggesting that Jun be my tutor…no, no, nothing about this adds up at all…then again I was never good at math in the first place," said Davis.
"SILENCE!" yelled the figure, cutting off Davis's ramblings, "I concede to not being that nightmare, but I am at least as bad if not worse."
"…so you're a demonic soccer ball from hell that tries to bite my legs off every time I try to kick it?" asked Davis, "you don't look like that either…"
"Just how stupid are you anyways?" demanded the figure, "I'm the Digimon Emperor!"
"You?" asked Davis incredulously, "but you're a kid just like me!"
"Foolish boy," scoffed the Emperor, "if I was 'just like you' I'd be the one hanging from a cliff…which reminds me."
The Emperor pushed a series of buttons on his control panel, and the face of the opposite cliff turned around revealing Veemon similarly strapped to the cliff.
"Davish!" said Veemon, taking a look around, "nice view isn't it?"
"I haven't had time to look," said Davis, "quick, you've got to armor digivolve!"
"Just one problem," interjected the Emperor, "don't you need these in order to pull off that little stunt?"
The tyrant pulled out Davis's digivice and mini computer from his pockets and tossed them around.
"Shit!" swore Davis.
Cody had finally recovered enough to run on his own. Kabuterimon had, apparently, chosen to chase them and was buzzing in closer and closer.
Suddenly, at the edge of a desert, Crocmon stopped.
TK and Izzy looked at him in confusion.
"Keep going," said the reptilian digimon, "I'll hold him off."
"That's self destruction," said Izzy, "you can't be serious!"
Crocmon drew himself up to his full height.
"I am a Warrior of Power. We run from no one," he said proudly.
"But," began Cody.
"Leave him," said TK sorrowfully pushing Cody into the desert.
The last thing they heard before they were out of range was the brave cry of the warrior's attack.
"Flaming Breath!"
As the humans and digimon continued running, Cody looked back apprehensively.
An electrical explosion could be seen in the distance.
He waited until they ran into the refuge of a decrepit Coliseum, and then he rounded on his companions.
"Why?" he demanded, "why did we leave him behind?"
TK put a reassuring arm on the 4th grader.
"There was no arguing with him. Trust me, once he and George make up their minds nothing can change their decision…" he said.
"Besides," said Izzy sadly, "like he said, a Warrior of Power never runs…it must be disastrous for him and George to not be at full fighting capacity now, and he wanted to prove that despite his disadvantage he could still be useful…"
Cody sighed; here too was another mystery he'd never be able to solve until he spoke to George…
Suddenly, they saw Kabuterimon flying towards them charging up for another attack, but before he launched, a semi beaten Crocmon jumped onto his back, causing his aim to falter. Instead, he hit the floor of the Coliseum, which began to collapse entirely.
"Hey, bug brain; I'm not done with you yet!" yelled the reptilian digimon, "Croc Bite!"
As the floor collapsed, the Digidestined could do nothing to help Crocmon since they too were falling with the debris.
Yolei was terrified; her face was as white as a sheet.
When they had seen Kabuterimon fly in the opposite direction, they had thought themselves to be safe for the moment (naturally they were worried about the others, but everyone has some kind of survival instinct)…until the flaming bird had descended on them, that is.
From the moment the avian digimon had appeared, Sora had a haunted look in her eyes, for this was Birdramon, her partner.
"Meteor Wing!"
Another volley of gigantic fireballs crashed around the Digidestined as they fought their way through a jungle. Fortunately, the bird's aim was off due to the amount of foliage that disrupted her flight.
Suddenly, they found themselves in a clearing. On the other side was a building that looked suspiciously like an ancient temple which would provide good protection from the aerial assault of their pursuer…unfortunately, the massive amount of stairs precluded a direct approach as Birdramon would fry them on their way up. A difficult problem indeed, but Tai had a solution.
"Sora, you, Kari, and Yolei head for the temple. Agumon and I will hold off Birdramon," he said.
"No Tai, I won't let you do that!" Sora exclaimed.
"Sora," said Tai, "I love you, but now is not the time to argue."
Indeed, Birdramon burst forth from the foliage right in front of them.
Tai and Agumon pushed the others toward the temple.
"Ready Agumon?" he asked.
The orange dinosaur nodded.
"You dare oppose me?" scoffed Birdramon, "I suppose it's your funeral then."
"Meteor Wing!"
"Pepper Breath!"
Sora and the others ran towards the temple, and had begun ascending the stairs, when the explosion occurred. Sora's heart plummeted, but she kept moving. Tai's sacrifice would not be in vein.
Cody awoke. He tried to remember where he was, but his mind seemed scrambled. He remembered the Digital World…and Kabuterimon…and Crocmon…instantly, it all came back to him, the reptilian digimon's valiant sacrifice, plummeting through the Coliseum's floor, and hitting his head.
Cody looked around. It was dark except for where light shined through the missing floor pieces above. The tunnel they had fallen into was about 20 feet below the ground, and it didn't look like there was a good way to climb out.
One of the beams of light fell onto a pedestal. On the pedestal sat a curious yellow object. The object was shaped like a dome, with small 'toes' sticking out the backend. A strange pattern was depicted on the object's front that looked sort of like a pair of glasses, and at the top there was a hole with a mini drill sticking out of it. Several other marks could be seen around it.
At about this time, TK, Izzy, and Patamon also woke up.
"Oww my head," griped Patamon.
"Hmmm," said Izzy, "I appear to be in one piece."
Then he noticed the object. His eyes widened as he saw they symbol on the front.
"That's the Crest of Knowledge," he exclaimed, "which means that's another DigiEgg. Prodigious! We could use some more help now."
He walked over to the pedestal and attempted to remove the object…it didn't budge.
"Curious," thought the boy genius, but then he remembered that Tai had said that he couldn't lift the DigiEgg of Courage, while Davis could…so maybe…
"Cody," said Izzy, turning to the small boy, "I think you should try."
"Me?" asked Cody, "…all right, if you're sure Izzy."
Cody walked over to the pedestal and put his hands around the DigiEgg. It came up with no resistance whatsoever.
"Curious," said Cody, but was cut off as a purple beam of light shone from the hole in the pedestal.
Similar to before, a solid being was formed within the light, and he eagerly jumped out.
This time, though, the being was a yellow quadruped with a tan shell that covered his back, a tan armor plate that covered the top of his head, a tail, and four armored legs that ended in three clawed feet. His ears were similar to miniature bird's wings, and he had a red diamond and four short red stripes on his head armor.
"Why'd ya have ta wake me," drawled the being in a thick southern accent, "I was havin' such a nice dream."
"…who're you?" asked Cody staring at the creature wide-eyed.
"I'm Armadillomon, and you and I are partners," exclaimed the creature happily.
"Partners?" asked Cody, "Like TK and Patamon, Izzy and Kabuterimon, and George and Crocmon?"
"Yep, you and I are gonna be best buds," said Armadillomon smiling.
While Cody was processing this information, there was a loud crash from above, and a very battered Crocmon fell through one of the holes and landed next to Izzy, promptly de-digivolving all the way back to his baby form, Botamon.
Cody noticed the injured digimon and began to understand some of George's frustration with their earlier behavior.
"…this place isn't just one big video game," he said, "the digimon here are just as alive as I am...I learned a valuable lesson today, and will continue to try to learn as much from the Digital World as I possibly can…but I don't even know where to begin. This world makes no sense to me, yet it's not my place to question it."
"On the contrary," said Izzy, "the only way to learn is to ask questions. How do you think I got to this point?"
"You constantly asked questions," said Cody, "but what good is a question without an answer?"
"The answers are for you to figure out, but if there's ever a problem you can't solve on your own, you can always come to me. Together we'll find a solution that satisfies your curiosity," explained Izzy.
"Alright Izzy, it's a deal!" exclaimed Cody.
With that, the DigiEgg of Knowledge began to glow.
Sora slumped to the ground crying as soon as they reached the sanctity of the temple.
"Stupid Tai," she said, "why'd I have to go and fall in love with you?"
Kari went over to comfort her brother's girlfriend, while Yolei and Gatomon took a look around.
"Hey," shouted Yolei, "what's this?"
The object in question was also sitting on a pedestal. It was gray and had two wing-like projections coming out of it. A purple heart was displayed on its front.
Seeing that the others were too upset to come take a look, Yolei decided to pick up the object and show them.
She placed her hands around the object and lifted; it came up with no problem…not that she had been expecting a problem mind you, but it should still be duly noted that there wasn't a problem anyways (and now I'm just rambling…)
As she turned away, a red beam of light shot out of the pedestal. Within the beam something solid was forming.
Before Yolei knew what was going on, a feathered bipedal bird popped out of the light. The feathers on his torso and wings were a rusty red-brown color, while the ones on his head were white. He had a yellow beak and talons. His wings ended in three black tips and his talons ended in three white claws. He had a short red-brown tail, and a 'V' pattern on his forehead and squiggles under his blue eyes. Finally, he was wearing a black headband with a single feather sticking out the back.
"Greetings, I am Hawkmon," said the bird in a proper British accent, "and I'm your partner."
"W-w-what?" stammered Yolei.
"Together we shall fight to defeat the forces of evil," said Hawkmon.
"Fight? But I'm not a fighter. The only time I fight is with my sisters over whose turn it is to wash the dishes," said Yolei.
By now, Gatomon had aroused the others and had brought them over.
"Are you saying you refuse to fight?" asked Hawkmon incredulously.
Yolei nodded wordlessly.
"Hmph! How did I wind up with a defective human?" asked the bird digimon.
Sora walked over to Yolei.
"Do you want Tai to die?" she asked the younger girl.
"…no," replied Yolei uncertainly, "but…can he die here?"
"Yes," replied Sora, "the Digital World is just as real as our world, and the creatures herein are as alive as us humans, but the Digimon Emperor is trying to enslave them and turn them into mindless killing machines like Birdramon."
"…" Yolei had no response.
"Listen, you remind me of a good friend of mine named Mimi. She's a Digidestined too, but at one point she decided she didn't want to fight anymore. Eventually she learned that there are some things worth fighting for…like the ones you love," said Sora, her eyes flashing.
"I see…" said Yolei.
"Your digimon partner can become your best friend if you let him, but if you turn your back on him and the Digital World, he'll just get enslaved by the Digimon Emperor. Is that what you want?" asked Sora.
Even though she had only known Hawkmon for a few minutes, she didn't want him to become enslaved by the Emperor.
"…no," she said, "I understand. I'll fight for my friends both digital and human!"
With that, the DigiEgg of Love began to glow.
"Pardon me," said Hawkmon, "but I believe if you want me to digivolve you'll need to say 'DigiArmor Energize'."
"DigiArmor Energize!" yelled Yolei.
"Hawkmon Armor Digivolve to—Halsemon the Wings of Love!"
Gone was the small bipedal bird only to be replaced with a giant quadruped gryphon. The egg had broken apart and attached itself like a helmet to the gryphon's head. The wings jutted out from the sides of the helmet and could be used as armor for the legendary beast's actual wings when in flight. The front two talons had three white claws in front of the foot, while the back two talons had three purple claws, one in back and two in front.
"I am Halsemon, as Hawkmon I used the Digiegg of Love to digivolve. I use my Tempest Wing and Eagle Eye attacks to obliterate my enemies," said the gryphon in a deep and noble voice.
"Go get 'em Yolei!" said Sora, pumping her fist.
"Excuse me Cody, but if ya want me to digivolve, ya need ta say 'DigiArmor Energize'," said Armadillomon.
Cody nodded and said, "DigiArmor Energize!"
"Armadillomon Armor Digivolve to—Digmon the Drill of Knowledge!"
Where Armadillomon had been, there now was a bipedal insectoid digimon. Each leg had three claws (two in the front, one in the back). He had two small black hands that came out under two larger arms. The larger arms each ended with a pair of drills. His back was armored and had two insect wings sticking out of the armor. His head had the same pattern on it that Armadillomon had, but had another drill for the nose. The only part of his actual face that could be seen were his calm blue eyes. His ears were two short yellow antennae that ended in red spikes. His legs and back had purple patterns on them, and his underbelly was purple as well. Aside from that and the drills, he was completely yellow.
"I am Digmon. As Armadillomon I used the DigiEgg of Knowledge to armor digivole. My Gold Rush and Rock Cracking attacks will shake up my enemies!" declared the yellow digimon proudly (hints of the southern accent were still around despite the deeper voice).
Cody stared at his partner in shock, before he remembered their conundrum.
"Alright boys," said Digmon, "grab on tight, and let's get out of here."
Cody grabbed the unconscious Botamon, and Digmon grabbed Cody with his smaller hands. Izzy and TK clambered onto the living drill's back. Patamon perched himself on TK's hat (as usual).
With all five drills whirling, Digmon began to drill their way out of the tunnel, and presently, the Digidestined were blinking in the sunlight of the desert. They had tunneled out from underneath the Coliseum and were now looking back the way they came.
"Let's find the others," said Cody.
"One problem with that," said a raspy voice, and they turned around to see that Kabuterimon hadn't left.
"Get him Digmon!" yelled Cody.
"Electro Shocker!"
As the orb of electricity approached, everyone scattered away from the drilling digimon, when the orb impacted, there was nothing there but a hole in the ground.
"Where'd he go?" asked Kabuterimon, "ah, he must've run away knowing he couldn't defeat me…I'll just deal with the others then."
As the cyborg insect charged up for another attack, the ground beneath him gave way, and out popped Digmon.
"Gold Rush!"
All five drills launched themselves off of Digmon's body, and were aimed directly at Kabuterimon, who didn't have time to react before the whirling drill hit and shattered the Dark Ring.
Kabuterimon glowed in a white light before de-digivolving back into a smaller red and gray beetle-like digimon with green eyes. After a few minutes, the beetle woke up and took a look around. His eyes found a very familiar face (well, three actually, but he was most interested in the one.)
"IZZY!" shouted the beetle.
"It's nice to see you too Tentomon," said Izzy smiling.
The beetle then addressed TK.
"Wow TK, you've sure grown a lot," he said.
The reunion was cut short by Cody.
"I understand this is an emotional time, but we do still need to find the others," he said.
Izzy nodded, that was true enough.
"Alright then, let's go!" said TK.
Tai and Koromon had collapsed on the ground severely burnt and unconscious. Birdramon was flying in for the final blow, when suddenly…
"Tempest Wing!"
Halsemon spun himself around into a tornado, and launched himself at Birdramon's Dark Ring. Unfortunately, at the last moment, the corrupted digimon dodged the blow.
"Meteor Wing!"
As the salvo of fiery meteors came towards them, Halsemon steadied himself.
"Eagle Eye!"
With careful precision, the gryphon blasted every single meteor into tiny particles with lasers from his eyes. He launched one final laser beam, which broke Birdramon's Dark Ring, and the battle was over.
Birdramon was engulfed in a white light before de-digivolving into a very dazed Biyomon.
Sora, who had been checking up on Tai's condition and was assured he was alive, ran over to her partner.
"Oh Biyomon. It's good to see you again," she said smiling.
"It's good to see you too Sora," said the bird, still a little confused.
A few minutes later, when Sora was back to checking on Tai, it clicked.
"SORA!" yelled the little bird loudly, and ran up to her partner.
"Might I suggest we go find the others?" asked Halsemon.
"There's a problem," said Sora, "I don't think we can move Tai."
As the girls pondered their way out of this mess, Halsemon said, "he can fly on my back with one of you to make sure he doesn't fall off."
Sora sighed, "I suppose that's the best we can do…"
As the girls carefully lifted Tai onto the gryphon's back, Biyomon tenderly picked up Koromon, who de-digivolved into another Botamon, not nearly as burned, but still unconscious.
"Sora," said Yolei, "you should ride with Tai…he's your boyfriend after all."
"Yeah, but Halsemon is your digimon," replied Sora.
"I'll settle this," said Kari, by climbing aboard Halsemon, "he is my brother you know."
"Perfecto!" shouted Yolei, "we're ready to go!"
The Digimon Emperor had been entertaining himself by watching his prisoners squirm, but now it was time to deal with the business at hand…
"Give me back my digivice," yelled Davis, "and let Veemon go. He's got nothing to do with this!"
"Yeah right," scoffed the Emperor, "you've both trespassed into a world where you don't belong, and now you shall receive your just desserts."
"Ooo, I love candy!" said Veemon.
"Punishment you buffoon," corrected the Emperor, "and I believe I have the appropriate one for such an occasion. You will watch as I enslave your partner."
The Emperor snapped his fingers, and a Dark Ring appeared hovering next to him.
"Veemon no!" yelled Davis.
"Ha! You'll never get me to be your slave, you might as well destroy me now!" scoffed the blue bipedal lizard.
"We'll see about that," said the Emperor, snapping his fingers again. The Ring began to float closer and closer to Veemon and he began to squirm nervously.
"Hey take it easy! I was just kidding! Come on old buddy don't you know a good joke when you hear one? You know, a little comedy to lighten the mood," stammered Veemon.
"No one's laughing Veemon," said the Emperor as the Ring drew ever closer to its intended target.
"Leave him alone!" shouted Davis.
Almost as if on cue, a red laser beam shot through the canyons and disintegrated the evil device.
Halsemon, having carefully unloaded his passengers and loaded on Yolei, shot through the canyon following the attack.
He started cutting Davis's shackles.
"Don't worry about me," said Davis, "save Veemon."
Again, almost as if on cue, the rock wall behind Veemon collapsed and he found himself being held by Digmon's mini arms.
"Sorry to burst in on you like this," said Digmon.
"You could have knocked!" joked Veemon.
The Emperor turned to go, but found himself facing a mad Gatomon.
"This litter box ain't big enough for the two of us," she said.
Suddenly, a small green insect appeared in front of the Digimon Emperor. It had a segmented body like a caterpillar and two feet per segment (with the exception of the front segment which was his head). Each foot ended in a purple toe. His tail was on the last segment and was two purple spikes. There was a black stripe that encircled the final segment, but it was clearly not a Dark Ring. He had two big blue eyes and a black mouth that opened sideways. He had a purple 'y' on his forehead and two green antennae.
"Keep your claws to yourself you big bully," he said charging at Gatomon.
The cat kept her cool and punched the insect digimon back at the Emperor, who temporarily lost his balance. This resulted in him accidentally throwing Davis's digivice and mini-computer off the cliff.
"You're useless Wormmon!" shouted the Emperor.
"Thank you," shouted Yolei, as she caught Davis's gear.
The Emperor cracked his whip and several ghost like digimon wearing Dark Rings appeared.
"Who're they?" asked a disgusted and totally freaked out Yolei.
"Bakemon," replied Sora, remembering those ghosts well, "they may seem like normal ghosts, but their Zombie Claw attack is sure solid enough."
"Be careful," Izzy warned.
"Ready for some payback?" asked Davis.
Veemon nodded.
"DigiArmor Energize," yelled Davis.
"Veemon Armor Digivolve to—Flamedramon the Fire of Courage!"
As the three armor digimon charged towards their specter adversaries, they launched their attacks.
"Fire Rocket!"
"Gold Rush!"
"Eagle Eye!"
Some Bakemon managed to dodge the assault, but many others had their Dark Rings broken.
"Zombie Claw!"
Those who had managed to dodge began striking at the armor digimon with gigantic black fists, but there was no coordination. The Emperor had decided to retreat and plan his next trap.
Within moments, the remaining Bakemon had been freed and floated away.
"Now that's what I'm talking about!" said Davis, as the three digimon de-digivolved to their Rookie stages. A beam of light representing the DigiEggs flashed into the pockets of Yolei and Cody. To their surprise, they pulled out two more mini computers, but they didn't have time to examine them.
"So, Yolei, can I count on your assistance from now on?" asked Hawkmon.
Although she knew this was a big commitment, Yolei knew the consequences of refusal, and no digimon deserve to be enslaved.
"Of couse!" she said giving the Rookie digimon a thumbs up.
"What about you Cody? Will we be pardners when I'm not nappin'?" asked Armadillomon.
"It would be an honor," said Cody smiling.
"It looks like the new Digidestined are starting to understand the magnitude of their task," said Sora.
"Indeed," said Izzy, "and we're here to give them any assistance they may need."
"…so how're we going to get Tai out of here?" asked Kari.
Izzy solemnly walked over to the comatose and barbecued Tai. He checked the pulse and breathing rate. They appeared to be steady.
"It's times like this I wish Joe were around," he sighed, "but I believe if we take him on a makeshift stretcher he should be fine."
As the sunset blazed in the west, the Digidestined and their digimon made a stretcher out of materials from the nearby forest. Tai was carefully placed onto the stretcher by TK and Izzy.
"Oh man," said Davis, "what happened to him?"
"He held off Birdramon while we headed for shelter…otherwise none of us would have made it," replied Kari.
"…but he'll be fine when we return to the real world right? These wounds aren't real…are they?" asked Davis.
"…I'm sorry Davis, but I'm afraid it's not that simple. Anything that happens in this world still affects your presence in the real world," replied Izzy.
"…coach," said Davis sadly eyeing his unconscious mentor.
The stretcher was alternatively held by TK and Izzy, and Sora and Davis as the Digidestined and their digimon trekked towards the grassy field where they had first come into the Digital World.
Sure enough, upon arrival, they noticed a TV. When they got close enough, the TV turned on to reveal a darkened computer lab with someone staring at the computer screen. It was George.
"Hang on," he said, "I'll prep the landing for Tai."
George began typing on the computer at his end, and in a few moments he gave a thumbs up.
"The portal should be stable enough for him now, send him through," he said.
Kari held up her digivice to the screen and made sure Tai was nearby.
Instantly, the Kamiya siblings went through the portal and landed on a pile of pillows set by George. Immediately, the former Warrior of Power checked the pulse and the breathing rate.
"He should be fine; he just needs some treatments for those burns," said George, "I'll call an ambulance, and Kari you call home, but first we need to move Tai so the others can get through the DigiPort without squashing him."
Carefully, Kari and George picked up the stretcher and carried it out of the computer lab.
As soon as they were clear of the door, the other Digidestined held up their digivices and landed in a dog pile on the other side. The digimon had come along as well.
Yolei noticed the pink blob with wings and a single feather sticking out of the top of its body.
"I'm Poromon," said the blob, "but I'm also Hawkmon."
Cody noticed the yellow blob with wing-like ears.
"Hello, I'm Upamon," said the blob, "but I'm also Armadillomon."
"I don't understand how something so small can become something like Digmon," remarked Cody, looking around to see a radish looking blob that identified herself as "Yokomon", a walking blob with two tiny arms who called himself "Motimon", Patamon, Gatomon, and the two Botamons.
"Uh-oh," he said, "how're we going to tell whose Botamon is whose?"
"This one's mine," said George as he stepped back into the room and picking up one of the Botamon.
Noticing Sora's concerned look he smiled comfortingly and said, "the ambulance will be here momentarily, and I've already thought of a cover story. In the meantime, I'll go apologize to the Kamiya family and meet up with you guys in the hospital soon."
Sora was going to ask how they were going to get to the hospital, since there wasn't enough room for all of them in one ambulance, when Joe ran into the room.
"I took the liberty of calling Joe," were George's parting words, "he finished his test about a half hour ago."
A few minutes later, the ambulance arrived and the Digidestined (sans Kari who was family) climbed into Joe's minivan and followed the ambulance towards the hospital.
The Kamiyas were grabbing their coats to leave, when suddenly their doorbell rang. Intending to brush off whoever was there, Susumu Kamiya answered the door.
The trench coat clad person stepped in.
Narrator: Will Tai recover from his injuries and how will George talk his way out of this one? Find out next time on Digimon: Digital Monsters!
21: A little darker than the original version eh?
George: But it does have some funny parts too...like that Toyama fellow. Such a nice gullible principal he is :)
21: Just as an aside, I got part of this episode's title from a little dubbing error that was fairly common in the beginning of the canonical season 2.
George: ...what's that?
21: Digmon often referred to himself as 'The Drill of Power' instead of 'The Drill of Knowledge'. This is kinda crucial in this storyline considering there already is a Crest of Power right?
George: I may have heard something about it...
(The Sponsor begins to wake up)
21: Uh-oh!
George: Let's bail before he comes to!
(21 and George bolt. A few moments later, the Sponsor awakens to find a massive mess.)
Sponsor: *sigh* not again...
(A piece of pizza falls off the ceiling and lands on the Sponsor's head.)