21: Hello, hello, I hope all y'all Americans had a happy Thanksgiving yesterday, and didn't go too crazy shopping today.
Sponsor: You haven't updated in a while, what gives?
21: School, namely midterms, essays, homework, the usual, etc.
Sponsor: That was very irresponsible of you to neglect your story.
21: I know, that's why I typed most of this episode while on the road with my family.
George: See? Isn't he a nice guy?
Sponsor: (grumbles)
21: Anyways, as a result of typing while being driven, there may be a few more grammatical mistakes than usual, but I did look this over a few times before uploading it, so hopefully it's up to usual standards.
George: Fine, fine, get to the point already so we can start eating!
21: One last thing before I hand things over to Mr. Sponsorpants over there. To the anonymous reviewer from the previous chapter, yes Crocmon and his Armor digivolved form Sobekmon are my creations. As far as I know there are no other ones out there, and certainly none that are canonical (and if there comes to be a Crocmon in canon, just remember, there wasn't when I first started these stories). One more thing, if you want to learn more about Crocmon and my other OCs, you really should read my D0 stories first. (I should be restarting the last part as soon as I complete chapter 9 of this story...)
Sponsor: Is it my turn yet?
21: Yes Mr. Crank...
Sponsor: Finally, The21stMartian does not own Digimon, nor does he own Jethro Tull's song from which the main title of this episode is taken.
21: and now, without further ado-
George: Let's eat!
21: err, yes that too, but also I hereby present the latest in my installments of Season 2 revised, namely...
Episode 6: Bungle in the Jungle part 1: A Blast from the Digital Past
Joe: Last time George had told us older Digidestined that the Emperor was in position to take over the Digital World within a week. Later I found out the Gomamon was captured, so I joined the others for the trip to the Digital World. While there, George set off to take out the Emperor's prison, while the rest of us were supposed to knock down the Spire. Unfortunately, Cody fell off our makeshift sled and caught a bad cold due to being dunked in a river. He and I stayed behind while the others attacked the Spire, but the Emperor found us and sent Ikkakumon to attack us. Fortunately Cody proved himself to be quite reliable and managed to free Gomamon, and with George's successful destruction of the prison, we've managed to destabilize the Emperor's claim in that entire region! Not bad for a Friday afternoon…
As George continued to stare at the screen, a line of text appeared
SourceofStrength has logged on
"Hmmm," thought the Warrior of Power, "not who I was expecting, but…"
He began typing.
Powerhouse: hey, long time no see…
SourceofStrength: …and who's fault it that?
Powerhouse: mine I suppose…how's everything going?
SourceofStrength: not too bad…the company is doing well as usual. Nobody would ever expect that for the most part you're an absentee boss…
Powerhouse: How're the others?
SourceofStrength: Same ol' same ol'. Rachel's off on her latest 'save the planet' crusade, and Dan and Jimmy are scheduled to withdraw from Iraq in a few months.
Powerhouse: …wait, since when have Dan and Jimmy been in Iraq?
SourceofStrength: Boy, you're really out of the loop aren't you?
Powerhouse: I've been trying to clean up a mess that I made thank you very much…
SourceofStrength: yeah, how's that going?
Powerhouse: sigh…it could be better.
SourceofStrength: what's wrong?
Powerhouse: a new batch of Digidestined has been called to help take out the Emperor…
SourceofStrength: well that's good then isn't it? Now you've got help.
Powerhouse: Yeah well, the newbies really piss me off…
SourceofStrength: Why's that?
Powerhouse: Davis and Yolei don't seem to take the responsibility seriously; they're immature and a danger to the other Digidestined they work with…Cody's not bad though…maybe a little too serious
SourceofStrength: Sounds to me like they could use some training…
Powerhouse: …we both know how the last guy I taught ended up. Already I've succeeded in freaking out Davis and getting on Cody's bad side. Let's face it, I'm a lousy mentor…
SourceofStrength: You may be a little harsh at times, but I highly doubt you'll repeat the mistakes you made before. You're better than that.
Powerhouse: …I should have listened to you in the first place. If I had, none of this would have happened
SourceofStrength: It's not your fault! You were just trying to do what was best for the Digital World.
Powerhouse: The road to Hell is paved with good intentions…
SourceofStrength: I'm sure Gennai has already told you this, but if you don't stop berating yourself for something that isn't even your fault, you'll never defeat the Emperor. What happened, happened, move on and deal with it!
Powerhouse: Easy for you to say, you didn't create the monster…
SourceofStrength: ENOUGH! I've seen you mope before, but this is ridiculous! Pick yourself up off the floor and get a grip already. It's either that, or allow the new Digidestined to fully takeover
Powerhouse: Over my dead body! I won't be replaced that easily!
SourceofStrength: A little extreme maybe, but I think I got my point across…so tell me, what's that latest news from the front?
George explained the situation fully, starting from Ken's assault on File Island a month ago and ending with the events in the tundra.
SourceofStrength: …sounds like you've been busy. What's with this 'armor digivolving?'
Powerhouse: (A/N: This comment has been removed for blatent spoilers).
SourceofStrength: …I see, so if I were to find a DigiEgg with the Crest of Strength on it…
Powerhouse: I'm afraid as far as Azulongmon and Gennai know, no such egg exists…
SourceofStrength: but what about your DigiEgg?
Powerhouse: according to them, the only Crests capable of producing Armor digimon are the Crests of Light and Darkness, the latter being the ultimate corrupted potential of the Crest of Power. As such, the components that make up my Crest, and that had been used to create the Odaiba Digidestined's Crests, are also capable of producing Armor digimon, which has been what's happening.
SourceofStrength: I see…that's unfortunate. I'd have liked to help…
Powerhouse: You are helping…everytime I find myself in need of advice, you're there…you always have been, and for that I thank you.
SourceofStrength: Just remember, we're a team. Even if you're not fond of some of the members we still have to look out for each other.
Powerhouse: You're right…maybe my expectations are a little too high…
SourceofStrength: Not everyone is capable of bearing your burden…
Powerhouse: Ain't that the truth…
SourceofStrength: Also, you underestimate yourself. You're a great mentor and someone to look up to. I'm sure the new Digidestined will figure that out soon…
Powerhouse: I dunno, that Davis kid is rather thickheaded…
SourceofStrength: Isn't that exactly what you said about Tai?
Powerhouse: Yeah, but at least Tai didn't swear so often…
SourceofStrength: Still, Tai turned out fine didn't he?
Powerhouse: I suppose you're right…as usual
SourceofStrength: and don't you forget it!
SourceofStrength: …so when're you coming back?
Powerhouse: I don't know. I'm only staying here through tomorrow because Mimi's coming and I promised her parents I'd meet her at the airport…with the whole immenant world domination of the Emperor, I'm probably going to be pulling quite a few all nighters to turn the tides in our favor…
SourceofStrength: I understand, but if you could make it to Dan and Jimmy's welcome home party I'm sure they'd appreciate it.
Powerhouse: I didn't even know they were gone remember?
SourceofStrength: True, but I'm sure they'd like to see you again anyways.
Powerhouse: I'll try my best, but no promises…
SourceofStrength: That's all anyone can ask of you…don't you forget that.
George smiled and began to type a reply, but was interrupted by another line of text that flashed onto the screen.
Informant has logged on
Instead of his initial reply he then typed this instead:
Powerhouse: Thanks, I really appreciate the support you've given me, but I've got to go now. It's getting late…
SourceofStrength: I understand. Good night George. It was good to talk to you again, even if it was over the computer.
Powerhouse: Good morning Hannah, and thanks again. We really should keep in touch more often…
SourceofStrength has logged off
With that, George turned his attention to the other screenname, and the reason he was on this chat site to begin with.
Powerhouse: You're late…
Informant: I'm sorry. Security is a little tighter than usual tonight. Ken's onto us.
Powerhouse: Maybe so, but I doubt he'll suspect you…
Informant: For my sake I hope you're right…and for Ken's sake too…
Powerhouse: What new news do you have for me?
Informant: The Emperor is planning on trying to reclaim the territory you took today…but that's not all.
Powerhouse: I'm all ears…
The 8:00 flight from New York touched down in Tokyo a few minutes ahead of schedule. As the plane landed an announcement came over the PA system.
"EastWest airlines welcomes you to Tokyo. Again we apologize for the pilot stepping out for popcorn during the in-flight movie."
After the plane had taxied up to the gate, and had stopped moving, the passengers began to disembark. Among the passengers was a pink-haired girl who had yellow stars in her hair. She was wearing a white mini skirt and a blue and red top with a white stripe and star that left her midriff exposed. She wore the latest in fashionable shoes, and had a carry on purse slung over her shoulder.
Her brown eyes took in the airport as she looked for her friends.
She found a few of them nearby waving at her.
"Judging by your apparel I assume you've adjusted to American life well Mimi," said Izzy smiling as the girl approached.
"With no small help from George," she said, "honestly, when I first arrived in New York I was extremely confused. I had no idea where the local shopping malls were, or what the latest fashions were, and don't even get me started about the food. He helped me get used to the new culture by flying over from Pittsburgh almost every weekend for a few months."
The girl looked around the terminal for a few minutes.
"By the way, where is George?" she asked, "he promised my parents he'd be here to keep an eye on me."
"He uhhh, had a little difficulty with the car rental agency," said Tai, "apparently being almost 9,000 years old in the Digital World still doesn't mean he can rent a car before he's 25 in human years."
"When did he speak to your parents about this trip?" asked the curious Izzy, "he's been here for a while."
"He came by last Thursday to convince my parents to let me go on this trip," replied Mimi, "they left Japan because of the whole 'Digital World' thing, and didn't think it would be safe for me to go back. I tried to tell them I'd be fine and that I missed you guys, but they wouldn't hear of it. They don't want me to have anything to do with the Digital World."
"…so they sent you up here at the request of the global Digidestined's leader?" asked Tai incredulously.
"They don't know he's a Digidestined," replied Mimi, "according to my parents, I met George through Izzy, and George met Izzy on an online chess tournament."
"Apparently, George was so impressed by my skills, that he flew out to Japan to meet me," continued Izzy, "at least, that's how the story goes."
"…and your parents actually believe that?" asked Sora skeptically.
"Sure," replied Mimi, "to them it makes perfect sense that all the world's geniuses know each other."
"You managed to book a flight to Japan two days prior to the flight?" asked Izzy incredulously, "that is very hard to believe."
"George has a lot of influence in the US," said Mimi, "all he had to do was call the airline and ask for a first class seat, and poof, it was available."
As they were talking, they walked towards baggage claim. Seated next to one of the carosels looking disheveled and extremely annoyed was George. He was surrounded by about a dozen or so bright pink suitcases stacked onto three trolleys.
"Hey!" shouted Tai, "looks like you made it after all!"
"No thanks to that blasted rental agency," grumbled George.
"Did you finally procure a vehicle?" inquired Izzy.
"No," sighed the fallen warrior, "I flew here instead. Much less of a hassle."
"Do you want me to drive you back?" asked Sora, "there ought to be enough room in my mom's van."
George muttered something about being driven by inferior beings making him sick and declined the offer.
"So are these your suitcases Mimi?" asked Tai.
"Yeah," said Mimi, "and it looks like George got them all."
"There are an awful lot of them," commented Tai.
"Grab a trolley and push," sighed George, as he, Tai, and Sora approached the carts.
Davis was having yet another nightmare. Again he was in an infinitely looping series of events, and again George Helltower was the source of his torment.
Let's take another peek shall we?
"I've got you just where I want you!" exclaimed the Emperor as his minions bound the Digidestined, "there's no escape this time!"
Unbeknownst to the Emperor, George appeared behind him with Sobekmon. They had approached him from his blind side, so he hadn't noticed them yet.
"Hi George!" said Davis cheerfully, "I suppose you're here to help?"
George and Sobekmon froze for a moment as the Emperor turned around.
"Destroy them!" he yelled to his minions, who proceded to attack and delete George and Sobekmon. The scene whited out.
"What kind of idiot are you anyways?" George wanted to know, "didn't you notice that we were trying to sneak up on the Emperor?"
"Sorry," said Davis sheepishly.
"Sorry?" exclaimed George, "sorry doesn't cut it when your teammate's lives are at stake! Go back and get it right this time!"
The fallen warrior gave Davis a push backwards, and, like last time, Davis found himself in the exact same situation as before. This time, however, he remained silent and George and Sobekmon managed to startle the Emperor.
"Shotgun Blaster!"
Sobekmon pulled out a white shell from his belt and shot it at the Emperor's minions. The shell multiplied and broke several of the Dark Rings. George meanwhile was engaged in fisticuffs with the Emperor. Davis and the others watched as, eventually, the duo was overwhelmed by sheer numbers, and was captured as well.
"At last I've even managed to capture my mortal enemy George Helltower," said the Emperor gleefully, "I shall now execute punishment for his defiance."
The Emperor pulled out a Colt .45 revolver and placed it against the fallen warrior's head.
"Hasta lavista Helltower!" scoffed the Emperor as he pulled the trigger.
The scene whited out, and George appeared again looking very angry.
"That's twice you've let me die!" he exclaimed, "do you not like me or something?"
"It doesn't help that you barge into my dreams," remarked Davis.
"Silence!" barked George, "what you feel towards your other teammates doesn't matter. They are your teammates and you must protect them…just as they would do the same for you!"
"What the hell did you want me to do?" demanded Davis, "I was kinda tied up at the time…"
"Do the words 'DigiArmor Energize' mean anything to you?" asked George, "because there were at least two different ways of breaking your bindings."
Davis still looked confused.
"There were fragments from Dark Rings lying around…sharp fragments," said George slowly, "do you understand what I'm trying to tell you?"
"…I think so," said Davis.
"Good," said George smiling, "because if you let me die one more time, it's curtains for you!"
"NO!" exclaimed Davis, "I don't wanna be killed by curtains! I hear they can wrap you up tighter than a boa constrictor!"
"First of all," said George smaking his forehead, "no they can't. Second, it's a figure of speech. What I meant was, if you fail me again I will have you sent to detention…for eternity!"
"NOOOOOOOOOOOO!" exclaimed a distraught Davis.
Davis awoke in a cold sweat; the alarm clock read 3:02am.
"Dammit!" he thought, "this isn't going to be a regular occurrence is it?"
"Are you sure you won't come along with us George?" asked Sora as she and the other Digidestined climbed into the van.
George looked at the packed vehicle. Mimi's luggage occupied the entire trunk and backseat areas as well as the aisles. Izzy sat cramped in one of the middle row seats while Mimi sat comfortably in the other. Tai was squished in the front passenger seat with Mimi's carry on purse taking up most of his leg room, and Sora had the driver's seat.
"I'm sure," said George without any hesitation whatsoever, "I'll meet you guys back in Odaiba."
With that, the fallen warrior turned and began jogging in the direction of Odaiba.
"At that rate he'll get there tomorrow evening," remarked Mimi.
"Once he's out of sight, he'll fly to Odaiba," said Izzy, "in reality, he'll probably get there before we do…"
"Come on Patamon!" exclaimed TK, "we're going to be late!"
TK grabbed the orange and white pig-like digimon and stuffed him in his backpack as he ran out the door.
He and the other Digidestined (newbies included) were supposed to meet at the school at 9:00am. (George had managed to convince Principal Toyama to allow him to use the facility even though it was Saturday.) Right now it was 8:45, and TK had to meet Yolei and Cody downstairs in the lobby before heading off to school.
"Okay Gatomon, in you go!" said Kari happily indicating her backpack, "I've made a nice little bed for you."
"If you think I'm getting in there think again!" said Gatomon defiantly.
"Oh come on," said Kari cheerfully as she grabbed Gatomon by the scruff of her neck and shoved her unceremoniously into the awaiting backpack, "it'll be fun!"
Gatomon mentally sighed; Kari couldn't have done this 4 years ago…
"Upamon where are you?" said Cody, "I turn my back on him for a few seconds…"
The yellow blob was located in a basket on the kitchen table watching Fumiko Hida (Cody's mother) as she cut several green objects with white and brownish fillings.
"Cody!" he exclaimed noticing his partner, and jumping down from the table (still in the basket).
"How many times do I have to tell you do stay out of sight?" asked Cody almost scolding.
"I think your mom is making us some candy!" exclaimed the blob, not perturbed in the least.
"That's not candy; it's sushi," corrected Cody as he carried the basket containing his partner into his room.
"Does it taste like candy?" asked Upamon.
"No," said Cody, "it's raw fish and seaweed."
"Yucky!" exclaimed Upamon sticking out his tongue.
"That's what I though too at first," said Cody as he closed to door to his room.
"Yolei where are you going?" asked her mother.
"I told you," shouted Yolei, "Izzy's got a guest speaker visiting the Computer Club, and today's the only day he can impart his wisdom on us."
"On a Saturday?" asked her mother, "just who would come into Odaiba on a Saturday to give a lecture to a Computer Club? It surely couldn't be anyone important, besides, today's the day you help out around the convenience store."
Yolei decided that telling the truth would be a good idea in this instance…sort of.
"The guest speaker is George Helltower," she said, "only the world's best programmer and videogame tycoon of the United States. He's a busy man and could only come in today…he's got a lot of meetings you know."
"How'd Izzy manage to book a speaker like that?" her mother wanted to know.
"He and Izzy go way back," ad-libbed Yolei, "they met on some Internet forum or other, and Izzy impressed George, so now they're friends."
"…I see," said Mrs. Inoue, as her daughter skipped out the doors.
"Man, where are those guys?" grumbled Davis. It was 9:03 and there was no sign of anyone at the school exept him and Kari.
Kari noticed that Davis appeared exhausted once again.
"Are you okay Davis?" she asked.
The gogglehead nodded.
"I'm fine," he said, yawning, "I'm just having a little trouble sleeping."
"This wouldn't have anything to do with George would it?" she asked.
"…not exactly," said Davis vaguely looking away from Kari.
She was about to ask what he meant, but a shadow fell over the duo as George Helltower began to land.
"Sorry I'm late," he remarked as he touched ground, "you wouldn't believe the traffic in the skyway this morning."
He looked around.
"Where're the others?" he asked.
"Here we are!" shouted Yolei as she, TK, and Cody ran over to the group.
"I apologize for our tardiness," said Cody bowing slightly, "but Upamon refused to leave my apartment without tasting some sushi…"
"It's all good," said George, "we still have to wait for the others to arrive from the airport; it took a while to get Mimi's entire luggage loaded…"
TK and Kari chuckled, but Davis, Yolei, and Cody looked confused.
"Who's Mimi?" asked the lavender haired girl.
"She's another of the Odaiba Digidestined," remarked George, "but her parents decided they would move to New York after the events of four years ago."
George checked his watch, and a few seconds later, the packed van appeared.
"Huh?" asked Tai.
"How'd we get here so quickly?" asked Sora.
"Couldn't we have at least dropped my luggage off at Sora's first?" complained Mimi.
"I'm sorry," said George sympathetically, "but I needed to borrow Izzy. We're about to go to the Digital World."
Mimi's eyes lit up.
"Can I come too?" she asked.
The Digidestined nodded and remarked how it would be great to have her come along, but George's features became somber. He pulled the pink princess to the side and whispered so that no one else could hear.
"You may want to sit this one out," he said quietly.
"Why?" asked Mimi.
"You remember the Digimon Emperor I was telling you about?" asked George.
"The guy who began taking over the Digital World and enslaving digimon right?" confirmed Mimi.
"Yeah," said George sadly, "and unfortunately, my sources have told me he's now captured and enslaved Palmon…"
Mimi's eyes went wide with shock as George continued.
"The sector I intend to recapture today is the last known location where Palmon was stationed. It's likely we'll have to fight her, and I don't want you to have to see that…" he said caringly.
Mimi forced a smile to her face as she replied.
"You don't have to worry about me George. Stop acting like my parents and trying to protect me from all harm. I appreciate all that you've done for me so far, but you can't just shield me from evil. I've been to the Digital World before and fought the Dark Masters. If Palmon needs me, then how can I just sit here and pretend that nothing is happening?" she said.
George sighed.
"I understand," he replied, and the two rejoined the others, who were already filing inside the school…except for Tai and Sora.
"We'll see you guys later!" Tai called as he and Sora ran towards the soccer fields.
"Practice hard!" said Kari.
"When was Tai allowed to play soccer again?" Izzy wanted to know.
"Yesterday evening the doctor called and told us that Tai was no longer under medical supervision," said Kari, "however, he did recommend that Tai should take it easy for a few more days at the very least."
"…and the first thing he does is go play soccer?" asked Izzy incredulously.
"That's Tai for you!" said Davis proudly.
"Besides," added George, "you and I both know there's nothing wrong with him."
Izzy conceded, and the Digidestined finally entered the school, heading straight for the computer lab.
As Izzy pulled up the Digital World map program he and George had discovered, the eldest Digidestined thought about the previous night's discussion he had with Hannah.
"She's right," he thought, "the new Digidestined deserve to be treated as part of the team…even if I'm not fond of their particular personalities. The Digital World must have chosen them for a reason, and who am I to question the powers that be?"
As he began to open his mouth, he was cutoff by Izzy.
"Hey everybody look at this!" exclaimed the boy genius.
"What's up?" asked Yolei as she and the others gathered around.
The Child of Knowledge enlarged the center of the map and pointed to the square in the exact middle of the Digital World. It was half black and half white.
"What the hell?" swore Davis, "what the f%$$ does that mean?"
"Language Mr. Motamiya," said George, "I was just about to explain."
All eyes turned toward the fallen warrior as he began to elucidate that sector's bizarre behavior.
"The center of the Digital World is known as the The Jungle of Parallel Times," began George, "the name eminates from the fact that the jungle exists simultaneously at two times. Usually, one plane of the jungle is morning or early afternoon, while the other plane is late afternoon or evening. Beware though, even though it looks like the times are twelve hours apart, in reality they are centuries, If not millennia, apart."
"I know the Digital World can defy conventional physic, but that seems a little excessive," said Izzy.
"What he said," added Davis.
"How can that be possible?" asked Cody.
George sighed.
"It's a long story," he said, "the Jungle of Parallel Times was not always known by that name. At one point it had been known as the Central Jungle, denoting the fact that it's at the center of the Digital World's landmass. However, a few millennia ago, an evil digimon emerged from the future to battle the most powerful of the Digidestined...me."
George looked around the room to see all eyes were glued to him in rapt attention, even Davis managed to look somewhat intelligent.
"This Digimon was aptly named Milleniummon. I'm still not sure when he came from, but one day he just suddenly appeared," he continued, "Milleniummon had the ability to manipulate space-time. In other words, it is because of his influence that, for a while, the Digital World and the real world were out of sync timewise. His appearance distorted the timeline and retroactively sped up the Digital World's chronology in comparison to that of the real world. In fact, it was only a few months ago that the worlds realigned."
"But you defeated Milleniummon right?" asked Davis.
"Yes," replied George, "it wasn't easy, but eventually, with a lot of help, I managed to finally defeat Milleniummon."
"Then how is it that the Jungle of Parallel Times still exists in two times? It is a remnant of Milleniummon's influence?" inquired Izzy.
"Yes and no," replied George, "you see during his invasion, Milleniummon built a massive tower at the center of the Digital World's landmass, the Central Jungle. This citadel amplified his already unstoppable powers because it was made out of a material that will be discovered thousands of years from now that can distort space-time, which will give rise to the first time machines. The tower became known as the Citadel of Time and was a symbol of the tyranny of Milleniummon."
"So the tower is still there?" asked Cody.
"Of course not!" said George indignantly, "after defeating Milleniummon the first thing I did was I blew up the accursed tower."
"So how is it still distorting time?" asked Kari.
"…the explosions didn't reach the subbasements," replied George sadly, "there are extensive catacombs that form a labyrinth underneath where the tower used to stand. That is what is causing the time distortion."
"So why don't you destroy the subbasements too?" asked Izzy.
"In order to do that, I'd have to blow up a decent part of the jungle itself," replied George, "Milleniummon extended the subbasements throughout the entire underground of the territory."
"Enough with the history lesson!" yelled Davis, "let's go already!"
Izzy selected the Jungle of Parallel Times as the destination, and the Digidestined held up their digivices.
The Digimon Emperor gazed at his latest Spire as is stood majestically lit by the moon's rays. Truth be told, he had been a little nervous about claiming this territory because of Millenniummon's influence. He himself had seen the destruction and devastation caused by the temporal digimon roughly ten years ago. True he had been a little kid back then, but even now he still had the occasional nightmare revolving around Millenniummon. For the most part though, he viewed Millenniummon as a challenge to surpass.
"If I want to become the most evil being the Digital World has ever encountered, I'll have to surpass even Millenniummon," he had figured, and hence, as a sign of his superiority, he'd built a Control Spire in the very territory that had been the temporal deity's homebase, the very territory that still had the after effects of his occupation.
"The best part is, those fools will never be able to find this Spire because I've hidden it in the past!" thought the Emperor.
Wormmon scuttled over to his master.
"Togamon reported that the takeover has been completed Master, the indigenous Digimon have been captured," he said.
"Excellent!" said the Emperor, "everything is proceding as I had planned. I'll amass a large army in the past and use it to take over the present!"
After glancing around for a few moments, the tyrant looked at his watch.
"Let's go Wormmon! We still have to reclaim those territories we lost yesterday!" he shouted as he turned back towards where he had come from.
One bright flash of light later, the Digidestined found themselves blinking in the sunlight of a hot and steamy jungle.
"Wow," said Davis, "it sure is a scorcher!"
"Of course it is," pontificated Izzy, "we're in a tropical climate which is usually very warm, and very humid."
"I'll take a look around for the Control Spire," said George, who, for obvious reasons, had not worn his heavy trench coat on this mission.
The Warrior of Power flew upwards above the treetops and glimpsed around in all directions. As he had been informed, the Spire wasn't there.
He sighed as he flew back down to the ground.
"See anything?" asked Yolei.
He shook his head.
"Well that's just great!" exclaimed Davis, "how the hell are we supposed to destroy the Spire now?"
"Relax oh short and goggled one," said George, "and follow me."
The Digidestined and their partners trailed behind the Warriors of Power as they led them in an all too familiar direction.
Crocmon noticed his partner was looking a little concerned.
"Is something wrong?" he asked.
"I never wanted to return there," replied George as a haunted look came over his eyes.
By now, the Emperor had returned to the northern hemisphere of the Digital World and was currently attempting to regain control of the territories he'd lost the day before, but the digimon defenders, united under Ikkakumon, were too well organized and prepared for his return…it was almost as if they'd predicted his moves, but that was impossible. More than likely they had just guessed he wouldn't take a defeat like yesterday's lying down and would more than likely return to reclaim the territories and slaves he had lost.
"Still," he thought, as his army of slaves continued to get beaten back, "I can never be too careful. Especially with a spy afoot…"
After a few miles, everyone was drenched in sweat. The jungle seemed endless.
"This jungle is going to ruin my hair," remarked Mimi.
Everyone, except George and Izzy, glared at her. Even the usually even tempered Cody was finding himself annoyed by the elder Digidestined's obsession with her appearance. This was the third comment she had made about how the jungle was destroying her image. Davis was especially cranky, having not had a good night's sleep for two nights in a row now.
"Shut up lady!" he yelled, "you're getting on my nerves."
A few moments passed in silence. Kari glanced at George. She had expected him to comment on Davis's outburst, but he remained completely silent as he led them down a path only he and Crocmon seemed to know.
"Something's wrong," she thought, "usually George is a lot more cheerful and undaunted by their missions, but this one seemed to bother him immensely. She could read from his behavior. His movements were rigid, his muscles were tensed up, and he was deathly silent, none of which was characteristic of the George she knew. Gatomon could tell too.
"What's up with George?" asked the feline digimon, "he looks about as nervous as a long tailed cat near a rocking chair."
"I'm not sure," replied Kari.
"I have a hypothesis," said Izzy as he came alongside the two, "my guess is that George is leading us to the Citadel of Time."
"What's that got to do with his strange behavior?" asked Tentomon.
"From what he told us, fighting Millenniummon was extremely difficult. That building reminds him of Millenniummon, and therefore he subconsciously tenses himself up and gets ready for combat," explained the boy genius.
Kari nodded, that made sense.
A half hour later, the Digidestined were still walking through the jungle. By now everyone was angry, hot, and tired, except George, who now seemed tenser than before.
"We must be getting close," thought Kari.
Sure enough, they soon came across a heap of slag that had become severely corroded with time. Vines, ferns, and moss had grown on the pile's surface, but it had clearly, at one time, been part of a massive structure of some sort. As they continued walking, the slag heaps became more and more common all in the same condition as the first. Eventually, the Digidestined could see a structure in a clearing just up ahead, or so it appeared. It took another twenty minutes to actually get close to the structure, and another five to reach it.
The structure was a massive base on which the Citadel of Time had once been built. All that remained was sections of a heavily corroded wall covered with moss and the remains of an ancient doorway.
"Wow," said Izzy, impressed despite the heat, "that must be at least a half a mile in diameter…"
"Yeah," remarked George, breaking his silence, "and the tower itself was over five miles tall…bad guys never think small do they?"
The Warrior of Power laughed nervously, but it was clear that he was just trying to defuse his anxiety.
As he led the other Digidestined inside the former building, the fallen warrior shuddered involuntarily, as though an evil wind suddenly had blown through the air.
Upon entering, it was clear that the whole place was just as messy and decayed as the outside. George walked towards a far corner, and the others followed silently. When they got to the corner, they saw a rickety corroded staircase that led down to depths unknown. It was at this staircase that George stopped.
"I really never thought I'd have to come back here," he said, more to himself than to anyone else, and began descending the staircase. The others followed suit.
"Wow, that George Helltower must have prepared a long speech," said Mrs. Inoue, "those kids have been gone for at least two hours."
"More than likely, Yolei is bombarding him with a million questions," replied her husband chuckling.
"Maybe we should call Izzy and see what's going on," said Mrs. Inoue a little nervously.
"Don't bother," replied Manturo, her eldest and only son, "if this Helltower guy is still speaking, interrupting him would be a crime punishable by death…at least according to Yolei."
"If you say so…" replied Mrs. Inoue, but she was still a little upset that her daughter hadn't returned home yet…now who was going to sweep the aisles?
The air became decidedly chillier as the Digidestined continued to descend the stairway. The metal walls had long since faded and were now solid rock. Some of the rocks had rune like symbols on them, which made Izzy curious.
"What's with the runes?" he asked.
"Part of the subbasement was already here to begin with," replied George, Millenniummon just built on top of and expanded these ruins for the foundation of his Citadel."
"How much further down do we have to go?" asked Patamon, "it feels like we've been walking forever…"
"Not far now," replied Crocmon.
Indeed, a few minutes later, the bottom was in sight, and the Digidestined quickly finished their descent. At the bottom was an unexpected sight. There were remnants of what appeared to be the camp of a small army, camp fire burns, litter, a few tattered tents, some broken weapons, and more all lay discarded and scattered around the floor of the massive room. On the walls were slogans, advocating causes long since vanished.
'Viva La Resistance!'
'Down with the Dark Masters!'
'Freedom for all!'
Several doorways were seen around the edges of the room's parimeter.
"What was this place?" asked Yolei as she and the others looked around in awe.
"This was one of the main headquarters of the digimon resistance against the Dark Masters," replied George, "and it became the only base after my home on Upload Island was destroyed and my mobile aquatic fortress was disabled…"
"You fought against the Dark Masters?" asked TK, "how come you didn't come help us then?"
"As a Sovereign, it is not permitted for me to interfere directly in the matters of the Digital World," replied George, "as such, I helped out by donating my surveilence network, facilities, and time to the cause as well as organizing the resistance and keeping the Dark Masters off your back until you were capable of defeating them. I even went head-to-head with all four of them once. That's how my home was destroyed."
"That Sovereign bullshit isn't stopping you from interfering now," commented Davis.
"This case is…different," said George carefully, "mostly because this time it's a human that's invading the Digital World."
"We can catch up on our history lessons later," remarked Cody, "for now we need to focus on our mission to stop the Digimon Emperor."
"Cody's right," said Mimi with a hint of steel in her voice that only George understood.
He put a comforting hand on the pink princess's shoulder.
"Don't worry," he whispered, half smiling, "we'll find and rescue Palmon."
"Which way do we go now boss?" asked Davis.
"This way," replied George, as he and Crocmon again took the lead.
The duo led the Digidestined through a series of complex tunnels that twisted, turned, and forked in many directions. In each of the tunnels, evidence of the resistance's occupation was present. Within moments, the Digidestined were completely lost, with no idea which way was even up.
"This is even worse than Myotismon's castle," remarked Izzy.
"The castle was modeled after this place," replied George as he continued to lead, occasionally stopping to glance at a familiar marking.
"It was?" asked Izzy, "so Myotismon knew about this place?"
"No," said George, "the castle that became Myotismon's was once the headquarters of Gennai and his companions known as the Order. It was taken over by the Dark Masters when they tried to stop them from creating the new Crests. The winding and gravity defying staircases were meant to be an ultimate, impenetrable defense but…"
After a few more twists and turns, the Digidestined found themselves at a dead-end.
"Way to go genius," said Davis sarcastically, "you've gotten us lost."
"On the contrary," said George approaching the far wall, "I know exactly where we are."
The Warrior of Power felt around for a bit on the wall, but eventually pushed a secret switch hidden in the bricks. The wall began to turn around revealing…
…a set of shelves filled with various bottles and cans of beer. (A/N: anticlimactic ain't it?) The Digidestined sweatdropped as George fondly pulled down an ancient looking bottle.
"My secret stash!" he said happily taking a chug.
"YOU LED US ALL THE WAY HERE JUST SO YOU COULD DRINK SOME BEER?" yelled Davis, "WHAT THE HELL'S THE MATTER WITH YOU!"
"For once I agree with Davis," said Cody, "we shouldn't be fooling around at a time like this."
"Geez you guys have no sense of humor," said George sadly, "I know this maze like the back of my hand. Not only have I spent a lot of time in here, but I've also been through mazes that were a lot worse than this one…"
"…and you still led us here instead of to our ultimate destination?" asked Yolei, "that's sad…"
"It just so happens," continued George, "that one of the more direct passages to our destination is collapsed. Thus the fastest way is actually through here."
The Digidestined looked dumbfounded.
"There's nothing here but your shitty beer," commented Davis, which really got George angry.
"Number one," said the fallen warrior menacingly as he approached Davis who promptly cowered in the corner, "do NOT insult my beer. This happens to be quality stuff."
Cody and Yolei rolled their eyes sarcastically as if to say 'get to the point already!'
"Number two," said George as he stepped onto a second hidden switch, causing part of the floor to fold inward revealing a flight of stairs, "I purposely hid my beer here to mark the location of this secret staircase."
"WHY DIDN'T YOU SAY SO IN THE FIRST GODDAMNED PLACE!" shouted Davis.
"Because I don't need to explain myself to you Mr. Motomiya," replied George as he began descending the secret staircase. Once again the Digidestined followed.
What seemed like an eternity later, they reached the bottom, which revealed several more passageways, each with evidence of the resistance's occupation.
"Just how big was this resistance?" asked Izzy.
"I'd say a few hundred thousand digimon or so…you can practically hide an army down here," replied George, "also, time itself is slowed down in here, so what seems like an hour down here is actually a few seconds in the Digital World."
"Amazing," said Izzy, "I'd like to take an eternity just to study these tunnels and ruins thoroughly…"
"Unfortunately, this sector, because of the weak boundaries between space-time, is also the most unstable sector in the Digital World," said George, "from time to time there will be severe storms and earthquakes that spontaneously occur…if you're trapped in here during an earthquake you will likely get crushed by falling debris…"
"Ah" said Izzy, and the Digidestined continued walking in silence.
Eventually, the signs of the Resistance's occupation disappeared and they felt the ground beginning to incline, which meant the end of their trip was at hand. After they finally emerged into the fresh night air, Izzy, once again, appeared deep in thought.
"It bothers me that the Emperor was able to plant a Control Spire at this end of the time tunnel," he remarked, "because if the only way to get here is via the Citadel of Time, then the Emperor must have known it as well as you did to make it through the maze…"
"Not necessarily," said George, "like I said, time is slowed down in there. We were actually in there for only about 15 seconds. If the Emperor had no idea which way to go, he probably just marked passageways and explored the whole thing to get here…which would take about a half hour of real time, which goes to show you how extensive those tunnels are. Either way, a half hour isn't that much time, so he could have easily planted a Spire here and returned to the Digital World using the markings he left in the maze beforehand making his return trip much faster."
After walking a few miles away from the decrepit Citadel, George stopped in a clearing and raised a hand to signal the others to stop.
"I suggest we take a quick break and get a bearing on our position," he said, after which the others promptly collapsed and began massaging their sore feet.
In the interim, Geogre climbed a nearby tree, and began surveying the surrounding area for any sign of the Control Spire. He didn't have to look for very long. The tall obelisk protruded from the jungle canopy roughly five miles from their current position.
"There you are," George thought, as his eyes fell on the structure, "I wonder what sort of trap Ken has planned for us this time…"
"See anything?" called Davis from below.
"The Spire isn't far from here, but I'd wager that the Emperor has traps hidden in the foliage," replied the former gogglehead, as he leapt down from the tree.
"So what do we do?" asked Mimi.
"Give us a moment," replied George, "I'm sure Izzy and I can come up with something…"
A pair of glowing red eyes watched the Digidestined's arrival from the ruins of the Citadel.
"Interesting," said the shadowed figure behind the eyes, "I'm sure Togamon would love to hear about this…"
The figure retreated into the shrubbery and began swinging from branches and vines to get to his ultimate destination.
"So if we spilt up into two groups and cut around the path, one group can distract the enemies while the other takes out the Spire," concluded Izzy as he pointed to the diagram he and George had drawn on the ground (with a stick).
"Ok, so who's in what group?" asked Yolei.
"We'll worry about that when the time comes," said George, "in the meantime, we're going to be staying in one group, just in case we happen to encounter enemies en route to the Spire."
The Digidestined nodded, and George scuffed out the plan as they began to walk towards the evil tower.
As they were walking George was thinking.
"I wonder," he thought, "based on what I saw from the ruins on this side, the Resistance had not yet made the catacombs their secret base yet…that means this timeline is pre-Dark Masters, but how far beforehand are we?"
The fallen warrior stopped walking to ponder this latest conundrum.
"I don't recall seeing a Spire before the Digimon Emperor came around, but if we've gone far enough back in time…" he thought, "there's got to be a way I can find out for sure…"
As he was thinking, he saw something interesting out of the corner of his eye.
"I'll be right back," he told the other Digidestined as he pulled Crocmon off of the path, "bathroom break, go on without me."
"Charming," said Yolei, as she and the others continued walking.
When the others were out of earshot, Crocmon glanced at his partner.
"What's up?" he asked.
"I'm not sure, but something about this version of the jungle tells me we've traveled back quite a ways," replied George, as he walked towards a nearby tree.
Scratches could be seen in the bark. At one point, the scratches had resembled a picture of George and the other original digidestined, but now it was stretched out.
"This tree got burned down by Milleniummon while we were fighting…in fact, this whole area of the jungle had been burned down," said George, "it was only just starting to fully regrow when the Dark Masters showed up…which means."
"We've gone back in time to before Milleniummon's arrival," finished Crocmon, "I get it."
George patted his partner on the back.
"C'mon old friend, we have someone we simply must get in contact with," he said.
"General Togamon!" yelled an enslaved digimon as he burst forth from the underbrush, "there are intruders in the Emperor's domain."
The digimon was ape-like and had brown fur. He had bandages around his lower arms just above the wrists, and a tail that poked out of the grass loincloth he was wearing. He had green grass-like hair, and wore a necklace of teeth around his waist. A brightly colored mask with a feathery crown covered his face, but his glowing red eyes were visable through the mask. In his left arm, he carried a red boomerang that was covered in hieroglyphics, and had a bandage around the end he was carrying. A Dark ring encircled one of his ankles.
"Intruders Sepikmon?" asked Togamon, "what did they look like?" A Dark Ring was visable around the giant cactus' wrist just above the red boxing glove, and it caused Togamon's eyes and mouth to glow eerily in the night's dim light.
"Humans by the look of them," replied the digimon, "I couldn't count how many."
"Those pesky Digidestined must have found out the Emperor's plan!" exclaimed Togamon, "we must hasten preparations and find out how much they know!"
The cactus brought her fists together, and, at the signal, several dozen shadowed figures appeared around Togamon, their eyes all glowed red.
"There are intruders," said Togamon, "find them and capture them!"
The digimon nodded and scattered.
"That should get his attention," said George, as he and Crocmon walked back towards the path.
"It will certainly make things…interesting," said Crocmon.
As they came in sight of the path¸they saw that the other Digidestined were taking a short break.
As George approached, he saw several pairs of glowing red eyes surrounding the others. There was only a moment for George and Crocmon to process the situation when five digimon, including two Sepikmon, and three large brown flightless birds with white masks jumped his surprised companions.
"Shit!" swore George as he charged in to save his friends.
"W-w-who are you guys?" asked Davis as the enslaved digimon grabbed them.
"We are Sepikmon," said the boomerang holding digimon, "beware our Spirit Boomerang attack or it will eliminate you!"
"We are Kiwimon," said the flightless birds, "we will pummel you into submission with our Pummel Peck!"
As the seven humans and five Rookies struggled to get free, George burst out from the underbrush and slammed into one of the Sepikmon.
"Not on my watch buster!" he yelled as he aimed a punch at one of the Kiwimon.
"Spirit Boomerang!"
The remaining Sepikmon threw his boomerang at George. The hieroglyphs glowed bright blue. George dodged the boomerang, which immediately sliced through several trees, but, like all boomerangs, it made a return trip, which George had forgotten about in the heat of the moment. The boomerang knocked George on the head, and he fell over.
The first Sepikmon stood up, and gave a warcry. Instantly, numerous enslaved digimon descended upon the Digidestined, including a few bipedal blue dinosaurs with red stripes wearing feathered headbands and a necklace with metal coins, brown furry digimon that looked just like Mojyamon, and a few gigantic green dragonflies.
"We're Allomon," said the dinosaurs, "we'll incinerate you with our Dino Burst attack!"
"We're JungleMojyamon," said the brown yetis, "we'll defeat you with our Jungle Punch and Jungle Bone attacks!"
"We're Yanmamon," said the giant dragonflies, "we'll zap you with our Thunder Ray attack!"
George stood up shakily. Blood trickled from where the boomerang had hit him, but he glanced at the other Digidestined.
"Get out of here," he said, "I'll distract them long enough for you to escape and hide."
"That's crazy!" exclaimed Yolei, "we can just Armor Digivolve and take these guys out!"
"There are too many of them," said George, "and besides, taking out the Spire is much more important."
Izzy sighed.
"Logically, he's correct," said the boy genius, "destroying the Spire will free all the digimon, but if we stay here and get captured in a pointless engagement, the Emperor will win."
George pulled out his digivice and checked the signal. Regular digivolution was still jammed.
"DigiArmor Energize!" he yelled.
"Crocmon Armor Digivolve to Sobekmon, the Steel Soldier of Power!"
"Sobekmon, stay with the others. They'll need you more than they'll need me," said George.
"I understand," said Sobekmon, as he covered the retreat.
George turned to face the enslaved horde; his palms sparked with energy.
"You wanna get my friends?" he asked, "you'll have to get through me first!"
The Digidestined had managed to retreat a safe distance away from the battle.
"Why did you abandon your partner?" asked Izzy, "he needs your help!"
"He'll be fine," said Sobekmon, "I'm needed here more than I'm needed there."
Before Izzy could reply, an explosion rocked the jungle.
"Are you sure?" asked Cody sarcastically.
"We got him!" said an Allomon, as he slung an unconscious George over his shoulder, "I'll take him back to Togamon, the rest of you find the others!"
The other Digimon nodded and scattered once again as the Allomon dashed towards the Spire and the awaiting Togamon.
The Digidestined were still headed towards the Control Spire, but they were avoiding the main path. Fortunately, Sobekmon had an impeccable sense of direction due to an internal compass, so they hadn't gotten turned around during their retreat.
Since the explosion, they had been walking in silence, but after a few more minutes Davis couldn't take it any more.
"Aren't we going to help George?" he asked.
"Patience," said Sobekmon, "we can help him by destroying the Spire and freeing the enslaved digimon."
Davis grumbled a little, but nothing more was said on the subject.
"George and Crocmon seem to trust each other completely. Crocmon was willing to let George face insurmountable odds just so that the mission would succeed. He didn't question George's decision at all," thought Cody, "I wonder if Armadillomon and I will be like that some day."
The 4th grader's thought were interrupted by a familiar warcry, as seven Sepikmon leapt out of the nearby foliage.
"Shit!" swore Davis as he and the younger Digidestined pulled out their digivices.
"We have captured an intruder General Togamon!" exclaimed the Allomon as he burst into the clearing where the Spire stood.
"Excellent!" said Togamon, and then she saw who the intruder was and her eyes widened (A/N: Can Togamon's eyes actually change shape even?), "you managed to defeat and capture George Helltower? The Master will be very pleased; he has been after this one for a long time."
"We live only to serve the Emperor," said the Allomon as he dropped the comatose George unceremoniously in front of the giant cactus digimon.
"Capture his friends and I'll see to it that the Emperor rewards you all," said Togamon.
The Allomon bowed and ran off back into the heart of the jungle.
"Fire Rocket!"
"Tempest Wing!"
"Star Shower!"
"Gold Rush!"
"Cat's Eye Beam!"
The Armor digimon launched their respective attacks against their simian foes, but the Sepikmon were too agile, they dodged each assault easily, and counterattacked.
"Spirit Boomerang!"
The boomerangs collided with the Armor digimon, but they still stood strong against their adversaries. Unfortunately, the Sepikmon's warcry had attracted the attention of the other hostile digimon in the area, and soon the other enslaved digimon arrived and surrounded the Digidestined.
"Spirit Boomerang!"
"Pummel Peck!"
"Dino Burst!"
"Jungle Bone!"
"Thunder Ray!"
The Sepikmon's boomerangs, a bunch of tiny explosive birds, several fire balls, large bones, and waves of electricity slammed into the Armor digimon causing them to dedigivolve into their Rookie levels until only Sobekmon, who thus far had remained motionless, was left standing.
"Hey!" exclaimed Davis to the motionless mechanized digimon, "a little help here!"
"This area is a little cramped for my particular fighting style," said Sobekmon, "if we could lure them into a clearing I'd be able to fight without hurting any of you."
"How the hell are we going to do that?" exclaimed Yolei.
"We could try running," suggested Izzy.
"On the count of three we make a break for it," said Davis, "Sobekmon can cover us."
Sobekmon nodded and charged his tail-whip.
"Three!" exclaimed Davis as he and the others made a run for it, when an enslaved Digimon got too close, Sobekmon slashed out with his electrified tail.
Soon, the group found themselves in a small clearing. Sobekmon nodded, and the Digidestined stopped running as the mechanized warrior pulled out his shotgun and inserted a white shell.
As their adversaries began to enter the clearing, Sobekmon pulled the trigger.
"Shotgun Blaster!"
The shell multiplied and struck several opponents forcing them to pull back a little. For the moment, the two parties were in a stalemate.
"What do we do now?" asked Mimi, "if we leave, Sobekmon won't be able to fight as effectively, but if we stay here we can help George."
"I wouldn't worry about that," said Sobekmon knowingly, "help is on the way."
"What do you mean by—" began Veemon, but he was cut off by a disturbance by their enemy's rear line. The source of the disturbance was revealed to be a medium sized figure that was attacking the enslaved digimon. The figure broke ring after ring until one of the Allomon called for a retreat, and the remaining captured digimon ran off.
"You folks alright?" asked the figure as he stepped out of the trees' shadow.
"Yeah we're—" began Yolei, but she was cut off as the figure was revealed to be none other than George Samuel Helltower.
George woke up, he found himself pinned to a tree by Togamon's needles; he couldn't move. Togamon and a guarding squad of about seven digimon were standing around the Control Spire, but when the giant cactus noticed that George was awake she thumped her gloves together loudly and walked towards him, her eerie glow being the main source of light in the clearing.
"Well, well, well Mr. Helltower," she said smugly, "you've given my Master a lot of trouble lately."
"Ken Ichijouji is not your master," said George, "you are the partner of Mimi Tachikawa. You helped defeat the Dark Masters and Apocalymon remember?"
"You pathetic attempts to brainwash me are futile Helltower," said the cactus, "the Emperor has opened my eyes to the truth."
George sighed.
"Talk about backwards logic," he thought.
"I didn't come here to chit-chat about ideologies with you Mr. Helltower," said the cactus, "I'm here to find out just how much you know of the Emperor's plans and to expose any spy you might have in his organization."
"I won't tell you anything," said Helltower defiantly.
Togamon cracked her knuckles.
"I was hoping you'd say that," she said as she pulled back one of her fists.
It was George Helltower, but it wasn't. He wore very similar clothing, and had the same hair style, and piercing green eyes. A tag and crest dangled from his neck, but it was impossible to see the symbol on it. Next to the crest hung a medallion with two pieces attached to it. He wore a sword, which was sheathed on his right hip. Additionally, he also wore a pair of worn goggles on his head, similar to how Tai, and later Davis, would come to wear them. He looked at the Digidestined with a look of puzzlement and slight shock.
"Humans?" he said more to himself than anyone else, "how is that possible?"
"You mean you don't know us?" asked Veemon.
"You digimon I know…at least I know of your species, but I've never seen these people before," replied the person who looked like George.
He spent a few more minutes pondering the situation, before deciding on a course of action. He withdrew his sword and leveled it at the Digidestined.
"I'm not sure what's going on here, but you people have some explaining to do," he said, "first a bizarre tower pops up in this sector, next the Dark Rings show up again, then I get a message on one of my surveillance cameras from a person who looks exactly like me, and a digimon that looks just like my partner, and now I find that there are other humans in the Digital World. Call me crazy, but something doesn't add up here."
Davis stepped forward.
"We're Digidestined just like you, I'm Davis, that's Yolei, Cody, TK, Kari, Izzy, and Mimi, and our partners Veemon, Hawkmon, Armadillomon, Patamon, and Gatomon. We're from the future just like that tower. The tower is called a Control Spire, and an evil tyrant from the future came back in time through those ruins in the center of the jungle, and began enslaving the digimon with his Dark Rings. We came back in time to stop him," he explained.
"Ok, but who's the big guy," asked the person who looked like George indicating Sobekmon, "and where's the guy that looks like me?"
"I'm Sobekmon, partner to George Helltower," replied the mechanical soldier, who wasn't at all surprised by the appearance of the strange person, "and George was taken hostage by the enslaved digimon."
"If I might ask," began Izzy, who was puzzled by this whole situation, "who are you and what are you doing here?"
The man who looked like George appeared puzzled for a moment before replying.
"Wherever there is evil afoot, and wherever digimon are in danger, I shall always be there, for I am George Samuel Helltower, the most powerful Digidestined on the planet!"
"…I was afraid you'd say that," said Izzy.
Past George appeared to be considering for a few moments before he sheathed his sword.
"Those controlled digimom were attacking you as well, so you are obviously not their ally," he said fiddling with his goggles, "for the moment I will take what you said at face value, not that I believe in all that 'time travel' crap, but it's the most logical explanation for your arrival…"
"I know what you're thinking," said Sobekmon, "and trust me Humongousmon is not responsible for the reemergence of the Dark Rings."
"Humongousmon?" asked Davis, before he was silenced by a wave from past George.
"Are you certain? This seems exactly like what he'd do if he finally recharged," he replied uncertainly.
"I am positive. You can trust me; I'd never lie to you," replied Sobekmon.
Past George appeared to breathe a sigh of relief, and he beckoned the Digidestined to follow him.
As they walked, Davis looked at Sobekmon and asked again.
"Who's Humongousmon?"
"Humongousmon was a gargantuan evil robotic tyrant who plunged the world into the Great Digital War," replied Sobekmon, "his main method for building up his army was by enslaving digimon with Dark Rings, similar to the Emperor's."
Past George, who had been listening in on their discussion, decided to chime in.
"Similar?" he asked, "they look like the same thing to me."
"We thought so too the first time we saw them, but these are much less powerful than the originals," replied Sobekmon.
Past George nodded, and they continued walking in silence.
Eventually, they reached a cave that was lit up by a camp fire within.
A crocodilian digimon was lounging near the fire, seemingly asleep until they were right upon him.
"Well?" asked the past Crocmon eyeing the newcomers, especially Sobekmon, with an aloof interest, "did you find out what's going on?"
"You're not going to believe this but…" began past George.
"Tell me what you know!" demanded Togamon, as she reared her fist yet again.
"I…will…tell…you…nothing!" said George between clenched teeth and bloody lips.
"Most unfortunate," said Togamon, "…for you that is!"
"Light Speed Jabbing!"
Togamon's fists rammed into George repeatedly and at very high speeds, the fallen warrior could have sworn he heard some ribs breaking. This time, he couldn't hold back the scream of pain that emerged from his lips.
"What was that?" asked past George, tweaking his goggles.
Past George had just finished explaining the situation to past Crocmon, when the cry of terror and pain echoed through the jungle.
"George!" exclaimed the younger Digidestined.
"Yes?" asked past George.
"No, we meant that the scream must have been George," explained Izzy quickly.
Past George stood up quickly, and pulled out his digivice.
"What're we waiting for?" he asked, "lets go save…uh…me!"
Past Crocmon nodded, and past George's digivice glowed as Sobekmon looked on with wide eyes.
"Crocmon digivolve to—MetalCrocmon!"
Past Crocmon had grown to a massive size, and his entire upper half was covered in metallic armor. A pair of metallic wings had emerged about halfway down his torso. He snapped his jaw menacingly.
"I am MetalCrocmon," explained the digimon, "don't mess with me or I'll blast you to bits with my Croc Missiles."
Sobekmon was astounded, "but how?" he asked quietly.
"Climb on!" said past George, as he climbed aboard his partner's back. The goggled warrior held out his hands towards the Digidestined. Izzy and Mimi took him up on the offer, but the others declined.
"It's high time you see what we can do!" exclaimed Davis.
"DigiArmor Energize!" yelled the five younger Digidestined.
"Veemon Armor digivolve to—Flamedramon, the Fires of Courage!"
"Hawkmon Armor digivolve to—Halsemon, the Wings of Love!"
"Armadillomon Armor digivolve to—Digmon, the Drill of Knowledge!"
"Patamon Armor digivolve to—Pegasusmon, Flying Hope!"
"Gatomon Armor digivolve to—Nefertimon, the Angel of Light!"
When the lights died down, Flamedramon, Halsemon, Digmon, Pegasusmon, and Nefertimon stood before them. Past George was fascinated.
"Armor digivolution huh?" he said, "that's a new one…"
As the younger Digidestined climbed aboard their partners (except for Davis and Cody who climbed aboard Nefertimon and Pegasusmon respectively), past George looked upon them with slight admiration and curiousity.
"Let's go!" exclaimed Davis.
"Enthusiastic little bugger ain't he?" past George asked Sobekmon.
The mechanized warrior nodded.
"I assume since I've never seen you in this form before, that you are Crocmon's Armor digivolved form?" asked past George.
"Correct as usual," replied Sobekmon.
The flying digimon took off, Flamedramon leaped around the trees, Digmon buried underground, and the procession was underway.
George coughed up blood. He would need a severe recharge after this. He only hoped his past self had gotten the message he'd sent and had teamed up with the new Digidestined.
"Knowing myself, I either believed them, or executed them," he thought
Narrator: Will George be able to escape from Togamon's grasp and free her from the Emperor's control, and what's with past George? Find out next time on Digimon: Digital Monsters!
21: Not bad for a day's work eh?
Sponsor: Oh great, now there are two of them...
George: Two of me? Yay!
21: The next chapter is already in progress, so hopefully I'll have it up soon.
Sponsor: You'd better!
George: Oh, before I forget, props for putting in a cameo of Hannah. We hadn't seen or heard from my old companions since this story began.
21: You needed a voice of reason as usual, and she was the most logical choice.
George: One more question, why did Dan and Jimmy join the army?
21: They decided they wanted to help save the world again, but they didn't quite want it to be as difficult as it had been when they were in the Digital World...
George: Ah...
Sponsor: Can we please wrap this up? I have some shopping to do!
21: Alright, alright, yeesh...That's all for now folks!