21: Betcha y'all weren't expecting to see me again so soon!
Sponsor: To what do we owe this *sigh* pleasure?
21: Well, actually I was originally going to just have one long episode called "Bungle in the Jungle" but I eventually realized that it was getting a little too long, so I cut it short.
George: And afterward, since you knew where you had been going with the plot, it was easy to finish the episode right?
21: Indeed, plus I happen to enjoy episodes featuring more than one of my protagonist. It's very interesting to see how his psyche evolves over time (at least the time line I've got brewing in my brain anyways).
George: ...I'm not really sure what to think about that.
21: One more thing! I include a reference in this chapter to something that will make sense after I finish D0: The Demonic Dozen (I'm currently working on writing a new episode for that, but I highly suspect I'll finish the next one of these before I get to that...)
George: Take it away Sponsor man!
Sponsor: The21stMartian owns neither Digimon nor the Jethro Tull song from which this episode's name was taken, please do not sue him.
21: Onward with the spectacle!
Episode 7: Bungle in the Jungle part 2: Double Trouble Helltower Style!
Mimi: Last time I flew in from America, and joined Izzy as he and George accompanied the younger Digidestined into a territory known as the Jungle of Parallel Times. The Digimon Emperor had gone through the ruins of the Citadel of Time located in the jungle and had placed a Control Spire in the past. While attempting to destroy the evil tower, several enemies appeared. George valiantly stood up to them in order for us to escape, and sent Sobekmon along to help us. Shortly thereafter, we were ambushed once again. This time, a different version of George Helltower from the past helped us escape. Now we're on our way to rescue our George Helltower from my partner Togamon who's in charge of the Emperor's forces in this sector…I hope we can save her.
"Still won't talk eh?" asked Togamon as she glanced at the beaten Helltower before her, "oh well, too bad for you."
As the massive cactus pulled her fist back yet again, George smirked. He had just come up with an amusing idea.
"Okay, okay!" he said feigning desperation, "I'll talk! No more!"
"That's more like it!" said Togamon as she lowered her fist, "now, how do you know so much about the Emperor's plans? Who's your spy?"
"Y-y-you are," said George, "I planted a mind control device within the programming of your Dark Ring. It makes you tell me everything you know!"
"What?" exclaimed the distraught cactus, "that's impossible!"
"It's true," said George, "the only way to get rid of my brainwashing device is to break your Dark Ring."
"It's a trick!" exclaimed Togamon, "it has to be!"
"How else did I know about the Emperor's planned invasion?" asked George, as blood trickled down his lips.
As Togamon pondered this development, the Digidestined convoy arrived.
"Croc Missiles!"
Two crocodile shaped missiles launched out of secret compartments within MetalCrocmon's armor. They landed between George and Togamon and exploded.
"Yeehaw!" yelled past George, as he and MetalCrocmon dove down into the confused enemy forces.
Digmon burst out of the ground near the Control Spire.
"Gold Rush!"
As Digmon's drills flew towards the Spire, a Sepikmon knocked them off course with his boomerang.
"Fire Rocket!"
Flamedramon blasted several Allomon and Kiwimon with his flaming torpedoes, but Togamon snuck up behind him, and sucker punched the bipedal lizard.
"Oof," said Flamedramon as he dedigivolved into Veemon.
"That cactus punches hard," said Veemon.
"Hey!" exclaimed Davis, "that's not fair!"
Past George placed a hand on Davis's shoulder.
"Sit back and let the professionals handle this," he said smugly.
As Halsemon, Pegasusmon, Nefertimon, and Sobekmon joined in the fray; Togamon took control of her confused forces and fought back. All the while George Helltower was caught in the crossfire.
"Hey!" he exclaimed, "a little help here!"
Sobekmon dashed forward to free George with Halsemon covering him, but a pair of Yanmamon intercepted the gryphon before Sobekmon could complete his task, and Togamon's forces were beginning to overwhelm the Digidestined, despite past George's best efforts.
"Shit!" exclaimed past Helltower, "there're too many of them…"
As the enslaved horde began to take back the clearing, Sobekmon cut down the tree George was stuck too, and grabbed his digivice and sunglasses from a nearby rock where Togamon had placed them. (After all, she wouldn't want George to have such dangerous devices while interrogating him…)
Digmon was struck down by a pair of Allomon, and Pegasusmon and Nefertimon were taken out by a barrage of boomerangs courtesy of the Sepikmon, which just left past George and MetalCrocmon fighting.
"It's time to retreat," grunted Sobekmon, "we got what we came for."
"Warriors of Power never retreat!" exclaimed past George, as he backhanded a Sepikmon's boomerang with ease.
"We're being overwhelmed!" exclaimed TK, "we have to retreat!"
"Do what you want," said the oldest gogglehead, "but we're staying here."
"I'm afraid I can't allow that," said the other George Helltower, as Sobekmon pulled the last needle out of the tree's bark, "you see, if you die here, I won't exist, and that would be a little problem."
"If you were truly me, you'd know I can't die!" exclaimed past Helltower.
"Ah," said present George, "but since I really am you, I know that you know that's not quite true, and this is a situation where it is highly likely you will die."
Past Helltower spat at the feet of his present counterpart.
"I dunno what the hell happened to me," he said, "but I've gotten pathetic!"
"No you haven't," sighed present Helltower, "you've gotten smarter."
As past Helltower was about to retort, present Helltower took five shaky steps forward, and pinched a certain nerve cluster at the base of his past counterpart's neck.
"You've also perfected the Vulcan neck pinch," he said as his counterpart dropped into unconsciousness. (A/N: I do not own Star Trek)
As Sobekmon hoisted both Georges onto MetalCrocmon's back, present George signaled the retreat, and the Digidestined pulled back.
As usual, the Emperor wasn't happy. He was supposed to have had reinforcements from the past arrive five minutes ago to help him reconquer the tundra territories, but they had yet to arrive. From his position on an icy cliff overlooking the battle below, the Emperor flicked a button on his control panel and called Togamon. A hologram of the giant cactus appeared in front of him.
"What's going on Togamon?" demanded the Emperor, "where are those reinforcements I ordered?"
"We've had some…difficulties Master," apologized the cactus.
"Explain," ordered the Emperor, "and it had better be a good excuse or else I'll delete you personally!"
"There are two of him!" blurted the cactus.
"Two of who?" demanded the Emperor.
"Two Georges," elaborated Togamon, "and one of them claims to have planted a program in my Dark Ring that makes me tell him anything he wants to know!"
"That's preposterous!" exclaimed the Emperor, "he just said that so that you'd break your Ring!"
"Yes Master, but what should we do?" asked Togamon, "with two Georges it will be dangerous to leave this sector undefended, so we can't give you reinforcements."
"Hmmm," mused the Emperor, "if I have you kill the George indigenous to that time period, he would cease to exist in this one."
The tyrant appeared to consider this new idea for a little while, but eventually dismissed it with a shake of his head.
"Unfortunately," he sighed, "eliminating Helltower then would also prevent me from taking what is truly mine."
The Emperor thought for a few more minutes before coming to a decision.
"Togamon," he ordered, "you are to move all available forces through the Citadel of Time. Set traps within the ruins for the Digidestined, who will be sure to attempt to follow you. Make sure they cannot make it out of the ruins!"
"But sir, what about your Spire here?" asked Togamon, "if we leave it will surely be destroyed!"
"Controlling the past is not important to me," said the Emperor, "the only thing that concerns me is controlling the present. I may not be able to kill past Helltower, but I can trap his contemporary counterpart in the past. Then there will be no one who can stop me!"
"I understand sir!" said Togamon saluting, "we're on our way!"
The transmission went dead.
"Would you mind being a little gentler?" asked George wincing, "I kind of have a few broken ribs here…"
"It's amazing you can move at all in your condition," said Izzy nodding.
The other Digidestined were trying to put some distance between themselves and the Spire. TK and Davis were supporting the battered Helltower, while Sobekmon was carrying the comatose one slung over his metallic shoulder.
A few minutes later, they arrived in a clearing and, at present George's insistence; they stopped there for a break.
"I've never seen him so beaten up before," whispered TK to Kari, "it's a little unnerving that the Emperor's minions can do that to someone of his caliber."
"He'll be alright," said Kari reassuringly although she herself wasn't entirely sure she believed what she was saying.
Eventually, past George (who had been deposited against one of the trees) woke up, and he was cranky. He stomped over to his present counterpart, who was having his ribs bandaged by Izzy and Mimi.
"It's a good thing I remembered to bring bandages," Mimi was saying, "that's something I learned from Joe while we were separated from the rest of the group during the Dark Masters' reign of terror."
Past George unceremoniously pushed aside the two Odaiba Digidestined and confronted his counterpart.
"Is there a problem?" asked present George, who stood up unsteadily, and leaned on a makeshift walking stick for support.
"You bet there's a problem," said past George, "it's you! Who do you think you are pulling me out of battle like that?"
"As I said before," sighed present George, "your survival is of the utmost importance to me. I can't have you traipsing around the Digital World fighting battles with insurmountable odds!"
"Isn't that what you did?" asked his past counterpart heatedly.
"Yes," replied present George, "and take a good look at what happened to me."
Past George opened his mouth, but decided better. He stood fidgeting with his goggles for a few moments before his present counterpart continued.
"The only reason I am still alive is because they needed to extract information from me," he said, "information which I refused to give them."
"You withstood torture?" asked past George incredulously, "man, I am amazing!"
"Listen to me," said present George, "that evil tower does more than allow the tyrant to control the Dark Rings; it also drains the power of those who are not under his control. That's why in the present it is impossible for us to digivolve normally, which is why we use Armor digivolution."
"But I could make Crocmon digivolve normally," answered past George stiffly, "so I must be exempt from the power drain."
"You're not," said George, "you just haven't been exposed to it as long as the rest of us have."
In the back of his mind, present Helltower was wondering if what he said was truly accurate, or if he was just trying to justify a fault of his own with the actions of another.
"I'll prove it," continued present George, "try Slide digivolving and see what happens."
"Alright," said past George confidently.
He stood in place for a few moments, a look of concentration passed over his features. After a few seconds, when nothing happened, his expression changed to one of pained strain. Still nothing happened, and past Helltower opened his eyes.
"We have to destroy that tower immediately!" he said as he began a heated charge towards the clearing with the offending tower.
"Not so fast junior," said present George grabbing his past counterpart on the shoulder, "it bothers me that they haven't come after us. Clearly they're up to something."
"At least one of them uses his head," whispered Cody to Yolei.
"HEY!" shouted the two Georges, "WE HEARD THAT!"
Yolei was in super fan girl mode.
"Two Georges," she thought dreamily, "two gorgeous hunks of programming genii…eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!"
"…uh Yolei?" asked Davis, waving a hand in front of her face, "I think we lost her."
"I'll handle this," said Cody, as he gave Yolei a pinch.
That snapped her back into reality.
"What'd you do that for Cody?" demanded the lavender haired girl.
"We're kind of in the middle of a crisis here," said the 4th grader unapologetically.
"I suggest we scout out the clearing before we decide whether or not to directly reengage our adversaries," suggested Izzy.
Present George nodded, but winced in pain.
"You're not going anywhere buster!" said Mimi sternly, "you're staying here and resting up. I'll stay with you! It's the least I can do since it was my partner that did this to you."
Present George shook his head.
"You stay with the others. They'll be able to help you," he said, "don't worry about me. I've got a plan."
"Alright, but holler if you need anything!" said Mimi cheerfully.
"Hold it!" demanded Cody, "we are not just going to leave him here like this! It was irresponsible of us to have abandoned him in the first place and now we have to make sure nothing else will happen to him!"
Present George raised his hands in protest.
"If it'll make you feel any better Sobekmon will stay with me, but that's it," he said, "you'll need as much firepower as you can get to defeat our adversaries."
Cody looked uneasy, but TK put a reassuring hand on his shoulder.
"George knows what he's doing," said the hatted Digidestined, "we need to trust him."
Finally, the 4th grader nodded, and turned to leave with the others, but past George looked back for a parting remark.
"The nearest portal is roughly six miles due northwest," he said.
Present George nodded, and his past counterpart continued towards the clearing with the others.
The Emperor was waiting at the other side of the Citadel's ruins as his army, led by Togamon, emerged. In preparation for their arrival, he'd built a Control Spire on this side of the jungle as well.
"Excellent!" said the Emperor sinisterly, "now I shall conquer the Digital World and nobody will be able to stop me!"
Wormmon stood silently by the Emperor's side, peering anxiously into the depths of the Citadel's ruins as though hoping someone else would emerge.
"Alright troops, move out!" ordered the Emperor, and they were off.
"Are you sure this will work?" asked Sobekmon as he carefully flew George in the direction indicated by his past counterpart, "I thought you destroyed all the DigiPorts to Upload Island except the one in your personal laptop."
"I did," said George, "or more accurately in this time period, I will."
"Ah yes," said Sobekmon, as the duo continued their journey.
"Almost there," said past George.
He was leading the Digidestined as they crept stealthily towards the clearing. Unfortunately for the newer Digidestined, this particular George was used to leading an army, not a bunch of kids, so they were tired due to the pace they'd been forced to march at.
"You know," grumbled Davis, "despite being slightly crazier, I think I prefer our George to this one."
Cody agreed.
"This one has not yet learned discipline, and he still has our George's drinking problem!" he added.
The others glanced at past George who was taking out a can of beer. Past George downed it in one gulp, and pulled out another.
"Correction," said TK as they observed him drink three more beers in this manner, "our George has learned restraint, this George is the one with the problem…"
"From what he's told me about his past this was one of the most crucial periods in his psychological development," said Izzy, "fighting Milleniummon taught him a great deal of things about himself and his own mortality. This George has just found out he is nearly invincible, so he isn't as cautious and hasn't learned restraint yet…it also doesn't help that this George hasn't seen humans in at least a thousand years."
"If you're through chit chatting about how that weakling is better than me, I'd suggest we get a move on!" said past George surprising everyone.
"Sir yes sir!" said the Digidestined unenthusiastically as they continued towards the clearing.
Present George and Sobekmon materialized on Upload Island not too far from Gargantuan Mountain.
"This would be the original design," said George to himself as he walked over to the door carved into the mountain, "which means what I'm looking for is on the floor labeled 4."
As George deactivated the alarms he and Sobekmon wandered into their old home (before it was destroyed during George's battle with the Dark Masters) and over to the elevator on the other side of the hall.
The elevator deposited them on the forth floor, which was mostly unoccupied except for a pinball machine and a TV. George crossed the room to a door labeled "Authorized Personnel Only" and held out his Crest to be scanned. Instantly the door opened and George entered. A few flashes of light later, he emerged, significantly less injured, but still not fully back to normal.
"It's the best I can do in such time constraints," he said, "I'll fully heal up after this adventure is over."
"Understood," said Sobekmon, as the two prepared to rejoin the others.
"I don't understand this!" said past George completely flustered, "where the hell are they?"
The clearing was completely empty except for the Spire.
"A few moments ago, they were desperate to defend it, and now they're gone," said Izzy, "it makes no sense!"
"Well," said past George pulling out his digivice, "I'm going to destroy it!"
"No!"
Everyone turned their heads in shock at Davis, who was the source of the outcry.
"As our version of you would say, this smells like a trap," said the youngest gogglehead.
"He's right," said present George casually as he and Sobekmon landed nearby, "and for me to agree with Davis over myself is certainly astounding. Well done Mr. Motamiya!"
Davis grinned proudly.
"Your injuries," said Izzy pointing, "they appear to have healed faster than one would expect."
"I told you I knew what I was doing," said George.
"I suppose that's true," thought Cody, "this version of him appears to be more of a 'big picture' kind of person than his past counterpart…"
"Well," demanded past George, "how're we going to destroy that tower if the clearing is booby trapped?"
"We spring the trap with a trap of our own," said present George.
Five more squares on the map turned black.
"Excellent!" sneered the Emperor, "as I expected nobody here is capable of resisting me!"
After having retaken the tundra sectors he'd lost the day before, the Emperor decided he'd enjoy watching the take over from the comforts of home. Thus he was sitting on his throne in the control room of his secret base observing as more and more sectors of the Digital World came under his influence. First a Spire would pop up, and then his army would follow. Those who resisted got deleted on sight. No mercy.
"At this rate the Digital World will be mine in just a few more minutes," scoffed the Emperor.
Nearby, Wormmon was watching the Emperor with sad eyes.
"Ken," he thought, "what have you done?"
"Are you sure this is a good idea?" asked Davis, as past George tried to push him into the clearing.
"Yes I'm sure," said past George, "if there's an ambush, we'll get the drop on it, and if there's a land mine or other such trap, we'll know they've left the area."
"But if there's a landmine, won't I trip it?" asked Davis.
"So?" demanded the goggleheaded George, "that's what you get for being smarter than me!"
"Hold on there!" said present George, "I've got a better idea. Why doesn't an aerial digimon fly into the clearing? That way, no landmines can get tripped."
The others nodded, and Halsemon was chosen to test out the area. Taking a deep breath, the gryphon flew into the clearing…nothing happened.
"Alright!" exclaimed past George, "smooth sailing!"
With that, he took off, pushed past Halsemon, and charged the Control Spire.
"Stand back!" yelled present George as his past self charged up massive energy blasts in his hands.
The Digidestined and their partners scrambled for safety as past George released the blasts.
"Data Bomb!"
The energy blasts collided with the Control Spire and tore it to shreds. The chunks fell from the air and landed in the clearing.
"Shit," said both Georges as the first piece of debris touched the ground.
BOOM!
The jungle was rocked by the explosion of the submerged landmines that had been planted in the clearing.
"That's it!" exclaimed the Emperor in triumph as the last sector, the heart of Upload Island, turned black, "I've finally done it! The Digital World is mine!"
As the Digidestined strained to see what had happened, the smoke began to clear, revealing that present George had dive tackled his past counterpart to the other side of the clearing before the explosions could harm him.
"I told you it's a problem for me if you die here!" said present George thwacking his past counterpart, "so stop being so reckless!"
"Y-y-you just saved my life," said past George, "if I had died and reformed as an egg, the explosions would have incinerated it…"
"Do try to be a little more careful," said present George, "and believe me when I tell you that I have only your best interests in mind."
As past George lied in shock, present George rejoined his companions on the other side of the crater that had formerly been the clearing.
"A lot of things don't add up," he said, "for one, not only are the enslaved digimon gone, but that trap they left by the Spire would have blown it as well as us up if we hadn't been more careful…"
"Which logically means that defending the Spire wasn't their goal," continued Izzy, "but rather our destruction was. They knew we'd come back here to destroy the Spire, so they planted traps to kill us, even at the cost of the Spire."
"Logically," said George picking up the train of thought once more, "that means that the Spire had fulfilled its purpose, which means…"
As the severity of the situation dawned upon the fallen warrior, his eyes widened in shock that he had actually been outmaneuvered by the Digimon Emperor.
"The Emperor has had his army of enslaved digimon from the past meet up with him in the present, and has thus begun taking over the Digital World at an even faster rate," he concluded.
"Then we don't have any time to lose," said past Helltower as he rejoined the group, "let's go back the way you came and kick this punks butt once and for all!"
"Who said you're coming with us?" demanded Davis; he'd had enough of this particular George.
"You should remain in your own time period," said Izzy, "your departure could change history!"
"…I'm going to agree with my past self here," said present George, "history has already been changed by the Emperor, and we're going to need all the help we can get. He can come with us…as long as he behaves himself."
"Yes!" said past George childishly.
"To save time, I suggest that this time we fly towards the ruins," said present George.
"…wait, you mean those strange ruins in the center of the jungle are how you got here?" asked past George, "but that's preposterous!"
"Is it?" asked present George as he and the aerial digimon took off towards the ruins of the Citadel of Time.
Grumbling about the ridiculousness of time travel, past George followed.
A few moments later, they were outside the Citadel's ruins. Cautiously, present George entered. Seeing no traps, he beckoned the other Digidestined to follow him and they once again entered the labyrinth in the Citadel's catacombs.
After a few hours of walking, past George began complaining about how they were probably just walking in circles.
"This is a waste of time!" he exclaimed, "if our adversaries went in here, they likely never left!"
"Fine," said present George, "if you're so miserable, just go back to your own time period!"
"…I don't know which way the exit is," said past George sheepishly.
After another ten minutes or so of walking, the signs of the Resistance's occupation became visible once again indicating they were approaching the staircase that led to George's secret stash of beer. The younger Digidestined were beginning to lag due to their smaller legs.
"Can we take a break?" asked Cody, who was the shortest member of the Digidestined, "my legs are getting really tired."
"We'll take a break once we ascend the stairs," said present George, turning his head back to answer the query.
Because he wasn't looking where he was going, he failed to notice the little red light nestled in the shadows of the ceiling.
A small explosion caused the ceiling to come tumbling down on the unaware Digidestined.
Tai and Sora had returned from soccer practice. The coach had been so happy to see Tai 'back in the game' that he'd extended practice to three hours. To their surprise however, the Digidestined had not yet returned from their trip to the Digital World.
"That's weird," said Tai, "I wonder what could be keeping them."
"Their parents must be getting worried," said Sora, "we need to contact the others and tell them to make up cover stories for their parents."
"Agreed," said Tai, "I'll head to the computer room to send out an email asking George what's going on."
As Tai dashed to the computer room, Sora called Joe and Matt and told them to cover for the younger Digidestined. As she hung up with Matt, Tai came running back, nearly out of breath.
"Did you get a response?" asked Sora.
"I didn't have to," said Tai panting, "C'mon you've got to see this!"
As Sora entered the computer lab, she saw that the Digital World Map program was still open on one of the monitors. The squares were all black.
"What the?" she said.
The explosion had caused a cave in, but fortunately digimon had reacted in time to save their partners. Both Georges, Izzy, and Mimi stood on one side of the debris wall, while TK, Kari, and the rest of the younger Digidestined were safely on the other side of the wall.
"What do we do now?" coughed Yolei.
"Let's take out this wall," said Armadillomon, "and I know just the guy to do it, Digmon!"
"Not a good idea," said Izzy, "that could cause an even worse cave in."
"Are there any other ways out of here?" asked TK.
After a few moments of pondering, present George sighed.
"I'm afraid not," he said sadly, "as I said earlier, the only other path out had already collapsed centuries ago."
"Well," reasoned Cody, "if we're coming from the past, and the past was millennia before our present, then the other path shouldn't have collapsed yet."
"Yes," said present George, "but no doubt you've noticed the returning of the Resistance's influence which means we've already passed into our own time, so the path is collapsed…the best I can do for you is tell you how to get back out into the past."
"How're we going to help you from there?" asked Davis.
"You're not," sighed present George, "once again you'll just have to trust that I'll come back for you."
"I understand George," said Cody, "I trust you."
"Good," he said, "then at every intersection look for the path with the little smiley face marking. That should get you back out to the past."
"See y'all soon!" said Armadillomon, as he and the others bade farewell to their companions and headed back into the past.
Present George sighed.
"Onward," he said turning back towards the staircase.
"So you see," said Joe nervously, "Yolei, Cody, and TK haven't returned yet because George is treating the computer club to lunch."
Mrs. Inoue stared at the sweaty blue haired teen standing in front of her. Before she could protest though, he waved and ran off.
"and that's where Davis is right now," said Matt.
"You're lying," said Jun, who had answered the door, "I can tell because people always blink a lot when they're lying."
"Huh wha-?" mumbled Matt blinking three times.
Jun chuckled; here was the opportunity of a lifetime!
"I promise I won't tell my parents you're lying if you take me out on a date this Friday," she said cunningly.
"Bu-" began Matt.
"Great!" said Jun excitedly, "you can pick me up at seven!"
"Huh?" said Matt as the Motamiya's front door was slammed in his face.
After taking a quick stop to grab some libations from George's secret stash ("I never know when the next time I'll be in here is," George had said), the four Digidestined and two Crocmon emerged into the present. They blinked as their eyes became accustomed to the sunlight.
The first thing they noticed was the Control Spire.
"Great," said past George sarcastically, "the ruins didn't take us into the future at all, they only succeeded in keeping us occupied while that moron tyrant managed to build yet another one of his towers. No wonder he destroyed the first. He knew you'd be stupid enough to try and—"
"ENOUGH!" yelled present George, "believe it or not, we are actually thousands of years later than when we started, and we have to assume that the Emperor has already claimed most, if not all, of the Digital World."
"So what should we do?" asked Mimi.
"I suggest we find a portal and go back to the real world," said present George, "that way, we can scope out the situation from a bird's eye view using the map."
"Wait!" exclaimed past George, "are you mad? We can't go back into the real world! Our data components will blur and pixilated becoming completely useless!"
"On the contrary," said present George, "after your reboot into this body, the data components were upgraded to be compatible in the real world, so it's not a problem."
Past George looked a little queasy about the idea of going back to the real world, but nodded all the same.
The procession slowly made its way through the jungle, avoiding all of the main paths and clearings so as not to be spotted. All around them they could here the sounds of digimon moving, slithering, eating, and many other things. Occasionally, they would see a glint of glowing red eyes, but luckily none of them lingered on the Digidestined for too long.
"We're lucky," whispered Izzy, "the Emperor probably thinks he's trapped us in the past, so his security isn't as tight as it should be."
"True," said present George, "but you can be sure that at the first sign of resistance the Emperor will tighten security, so for now we need to lay low."
As the Digidestined approached the portal, they found, to their relief, it was still operational. ("Of course," said present George, "the Emperor needs to get around in the Digital World too you know!") However, it was being guarded by two familiar digimon.
"Oh no!" whispered Izzy, eying the first guard, "Kabuterimon…"
"Togamon," sobbed Mimi, looking at the second guard.
"Obviously the Emperor isn't taking any chances of us escaping," said present George, "we need a distraction."
"You thinkin' what I'm thinkin'?" asked past George.
"Let's pull a 'Caesarmon' on them," said present George smirking.
Both Georges picked up big rocks and moved to the other side of the clearing. A few moments later, they returned. Seemingly nothing had happened.
"ummm," said Izzy, "what's a 'Caesarmon'?"
"Back when we were fighting Caesarmon, one of his favorite strategies was to rig the field in his favor by laying traps involving flying boulders," replied past George.
"So we figured we'd take a page from his book and do the same," finished present George, pointing into the clearing.
A few seconds later, the boulders flew out of the foliage and struck the unwary guards.
"Hey!" shouted Togamon.
"What was that?" buzzed Kabuterimon.
"I don't know," replied the cactus, "but whoever did that is going to get it!"
The two digimon stomped off to the other side of the clearing.
"Go!" hissed present George, as he and his past counterpart gave each other a congratulatory 'high five'.
The Digidestined rushed to the portal and opened it. The light faded just as the guards returned.
"It must've been one of those annoying Sepikmon," grumbled Togamon.
The Digidestined popped out of the school's computer, Mimi, Izzy, and past George and Crocmon in a tangled pile while present George and Crocmon were a half a foot away.
"How'd you do that?" demanded past George.
"Trade secret," replied his present counterpart, "you'll figure it out someday."
As the others untangled themselves, they heard the sound of several people rushing towards the computer lab. Present George glanced at his digivice.
"I figured," he said, as Tai, Sora, Matt, and Joe burst into the room and stopped cold.
"There you guys are!" exclaimed Tai, "…but where're Kari and the others?"
"and why are there two Georges?" asked Sora.
"It's a long story," said present George, "but first, what's been going on here?"
"We've given cover stories for the new Digidestined, but if they don't get home soon, their parents will become suspicious," said Joe.
"Now would you mind explaining why the whole Digital World has gone black?" demanded Matt.
"The whole Digital World?" asked present George turning severely pale.
"Yeah," said Matt, "you've been gone nearly three and a half hours, and yet the Digimon Emperor has still managed to take over the entire Digital World. You've been slacking off!"
"It's not our fault!" exclaimed past George, "…or at least not my fault anyway. I don't even belong here!"
"As I recall," said Mimi, "you requested to come along with us Mr. Hotshot!"
"Just calm down, and tell us what happened," said Sora reassuringly.
As present George sat moping in a corner drinking his secret beer, Izzy and Mimi explained the day's events to the other four Odaiba Digidestined.
"…and so we've only just returned from the past," finished Izzy.
"That's a little difficult to believe," said Matt.
"Do you not see two Georges?" asked Izzy, "that ought to be proof enough."
"…so what you're saying then is that the others are trapped in the past?" asked Tai, approaching present George.
The fallen warrior nodded, and Tai grabbed him by the front of his shirt.
"YOU TRAPPED MY SISTER IN THE PAST?" yelled the gogglehead.
Another feeble nod.
Before anyone could stop him, Tai punched the former gogglehead right in the face.
"Tai!" exclaimed Sora, "he did all he could!"
"He should've done better!" said Tai angrily.
As present George continued to mope in the corner, the other Digidestined began bickering and arguing.
"ENOUGH!" yelled past George, surprising everyone, "even I know that this is no time for us to be fighting. We need to devise a strategy to take down this Emperor!"
"He's right," said present George, standing firm once again, "and I think I know where to start…"
Present George walked over to the computer and began typing.
"What's he up to?" asked Izzy.
"How the heck would I know?" asked past George, "this guy's a mystery to me…"
After a few more minutes of typing, present George pulled back and cracked his knuckles.
"It took some doing," he said, "but I finally managed to reactivate one of the DigiPorts on Upload Island."
"Why's that important?" asked Tai.
Past George's eyes widened.
"We're going home," he said.
"I'd advise the rest of you to stay here," said present George, "without your partners things could get too dangerous. At least here you're safe."
"Forget it!" said Tai, "we're a team!"
"How could we even think about staying here when the Digital World is in danger?" asked Matt.
"We can't afford to split up now," said Izzy, "not when the forces of darkness are right on our doorstep."
"You can't get rid of me that easily," said Mimi.
"Well," said Joe looking around, "I'm certainly not staying here all by myself, so count me in."
"Alright," said George, "but there are a few things we'll need first."
Present George dashed out of the computer lab, and reappeared moments later with his trench coat.
"…you went all the way back to Izzy's house for your coat?" asked Tai.
George began rummaging around within the coat and pulled out a sword the same as his past counterpart's. He also pulled out a pair of revolvers, a shotgun, and an assault rifle.
"Whoa," said Matt, "what's with the heavy artillery?"
"Precautions," said present George, "so that you are not defenseless against the Emperor's minions."
George handed a revolver to Sora and the other to Mimi, Matt got the shotgun, and Tai got the assault rifle.
"Don't worry;" said the fallen warrior, "they're Granitemon design, which means they shoot lasers instead of bullets. Think of them as phasers." (A/N: 4Kids'd!)
"What about us?" asked Joe indicating him and Izzy.
George gave Joe his trench coat and Izzy his sunglasses.
"The trench coat is a very flexible, but durable armor, and the sunglasses have various functions including a pen-laser and x-ray, infrared, and night vision," explained present George.
"If we're done with the preparations, let's get this party started!" exclaimed past George as he held his digivice up to the computer screen.
One bright flash of light later, they were gone.
"I wonder what's happening in the future," sighed TK, he hated being so helpless at a time as crucial as this.
"Forget that!" exclaimed Davis, "I'm wondering what we're going to have for lunch. I'm starving!"
"He has a point," said Cody, "we should find a source of food because it may be a while before George can return us to the present."
The youngest Digidestined nodded and began to search for food.
"Home sweet home!" exclaimed present George as he walked up to the familiar door.
"It's nice to know that this place is still around even in the future," said past George.
The portal, after an especially rough ride, had dropped the Digidestined right by the mountain, so they managed to sneak up to George's front door without being noticed.
"How come there were no guards by this portal?" asked Izzy, "the Emperor seemed mighty eager to guard the other ones."
"This one technically doesn't work, so the Emperor didn't bother to defend it I suppose," replied present George, disarming the security alarms.
Within moments, the Digidestined were in the hallway leading to the elevator.
Present George pushed the button labeled 'C'.
"Hey," asked past George, "what's with the letter coded floors?"
"A security measure," replied present George, "assuming someone got this far, they'd see the letters and assume the floors are in alphabetical order. They're not. This gives me yet another advantage when dealing with intruders."
"Paranoid much?" asked past George, and then the doors opened.
"I've been expecting you Mr. Helltower," drawled the Emperor lazily, as he sat in the main chair at the far end of the hall, "and look, you brought friends too."
"…I guess you're not paranoid enough," said past George, "who's the short guy?"
"That would be the Digimon Emperor," said present George.
Past George burst out laughing.
"and here I thought this Emperor guy would actually be a threat," he scoffed.
Past George unsheathed his sword and charged headlong down the corridor.
"Wait!" called his present counterpart, but it was too late.
The Emperor seemed to withdraw his whip from thin air. He cracked it at the feet of the oncoming Helltower causing the Warrior of Power to trip and crash into the wall.
"Olé!" exclaimed the Emperor, smirking.
Present George was considerably more cautious in his approached. He unsheathed his sword, but remained out of the whip's striking distance.
"It's not much fun when you play so defensively," said the Emperor, "I suppose that, once again, it's up to me to liven things up around here."
The tyrant snapped his fingers, which summoned a bunch of Gizamon, Gazimon, Geckomon, Gotsumon, Elecmon, and Otamamon. Although most of them were Rookie level digimon, their sheer numbers were a force to be reckoned with, especially since MetalCrocmon and Sobekmon would be unable to fight effectively in the control room.
"Checkmate!" scoffed the Emperor, "once I've dealt with you, nothing will stand in my way of ruling the Digital World!"
Pure hatred filled the Emperor's features as he uttered his next command.
"Restrain Mr. Helltower while I kill his companions. I want him to suffer for what he did to me!" ordered the Emperor.
The slaves hesitated for a moment trying to figure out which Helltower the Emperor was referring to.
"The one without the goggles you worthless idiots!" barked the Emperor, but it was too late, the slaves' hesitation bought present Helltower enough time to devise a plan. It was a rather risky plan, but it was all they had at this point.
As the enslaved mass lurched towards him, present Helltower flew upwards and dive bombed the Emperor, causing him to dodge away from George's personal laptop. The fallen warrior held his digivice in front of the computer, seemingly to open a DigiPort, but instead a glowing orb came out of the monitor, dazzling everyone with its brightness.
As soon as it was fully emerged, present Helltower grabbed it, and was instantly enveloped in a bright beam of light. All of the Dark Rings were instantly shattered in the presence of this overwhelming source of power, and the Emperor began to feel a massive burning sensation in the nape of his neck. So great was the pain, that, with a wild shriek of agony, the Emperor jumped out of the window to the control room, and was swept up by an awaiting Airdramon.
"This isn't finished yet Helltower! I will be back soon!" he threatened.
When the light died down, George Helltower stood before them a new man. His outfit was a pure white oxford with white pants, his hair had become a radiant white color, he wore a white cape with golden runes spiraling along the edges, and his eyes had turned into a piercing golden color. His sword had lengthened and narrowed and also gained seven golden runes along the hilt and blade. These particular runes symbolized the seven components of power, which contributed to George's Crest. White gloves covered his hands, and white boots went up to his shins. The Crest of Power glowed brightly once more.
"Whoa," said past Helltower, who'd finally regained his senses, "what happened to you?"
"I am George Helltower Sovereign mode," said the being in an angelic voice, "I used the power of the DigiCores to once again achieve the form granted to me by the late Griffinmon, former leader of the Harmonious Ones who protect this world from evil."
"…sweet," said past Helltower, "I can't wait to be able to do that!"
"The Emperor will not be gone for long," said the honorary Sovereign, "and he will return with greater numbers and strength."
"Well what should we do?" asked Tai.
"What I am about to do is…unadvisable to say the least, but in my opinion it is the only choice we have," replied the holy being as he began glowing brightly.
Everyone had to shut their eyes to his brilliant radiance, and when they opened them, they, Digimon and Digidestined, were all standing on the shores of an unfamiliar Island. A massive structure loomed in front of them with tall spires and turrets. Stain glass windows depicting ancient battles were on every floor. The building appeared to be very old, but at the same time immaculately taken care of. The recently freed digimon gaped in open shock.
"The Temple of the Sovereigns," gasped one of the Gotsumon.
"We are not worthy," said a Gazimon.
"What is this place?" asked past George.
"The Island Forgotten by Time," replied a deep and wise voice, "and you are not welcome here."
The Digidestined glanced towards the source of the voice. A massive serpentine blue dragon hovered before them. Chains were wrapped around his massive form, but more so decoratively than restrictively. Located around the dragons four talons were three blue orbs each, adding up to twelve orbs. His face was blue with yellow stripes. A jagged ice blue horn emerged from his forehead, and his four eyes gazed down upon the newcomers. Sovereign George stepped forwards.
"It's alright Azulongmon," he said, "they are with me. They come seeking refuge from the Digimon Emperor."
"Helltower?" said Azulongmon, "you are not supposed to permit anyone who is not a Sovereign, or honorary Sovereign, onto this Island, let alone bring them here!"
"There is no where else to go!" exclaimed Sovereign Helltower, "the rest of the Digital World has been taken over by the Digimon Emperor."
"Save it for the Tribunal," said Azulongmon sadly.
Sovereign George nodded sadly and walked towards the temple.
"You guys stay here," he said.
His past counterpart ran over to him and walked beside him towards the temple.
"I'm not going to let you take the blame," he said, "because after all, I'm you, and if you're guilty then so am I."
"I don't think that's quite how it works," said Sovereign George, "but I appreciate the gesture."
The Emperor had returned to Gargantuan Mountain bringing with him his most elite forces including the partners of the Odaiba Digidestined and many other Champion digimon (even a few Ultimates), but he found that Helltower's home was abandoned.
"Where'd they go?" he exclaimed, "spread out and find them! They can't have gone far!"
The Emperor's minions scattered across the Island.
Sovereign Helltower stood in the center of a massive chamber surrounded by the four Harmonious ones.
Towards the north stood a massive two headed turtle whose shell was a massive tree. Surrounding the tree were twelve yellow orbs. Each of the turtle's heads was covered in black wooden-like armor. His scales were tan, and his underbelly was white. He was Ebonwumon, the Black Tortoise of the North, and the eldest living Sovereign.
To the south perched a massive red bird. A flame pattern was displayed on his wings and to a lesser extent down his spine and onto his tail. He had four wings on his back, a pair of larger wings and a pair of smaller wings, and two smaller sets of wing-like appendages that doubled as his talons. The plumage on his neck was black. His head was yellow, but it was covered in a red mask. Six red orbs encircled both his neck and tail for a grand total to twelve orbs. His four red eyes glanced down at the human-digimon hybrid below him. He was Zhuqiaomon, the Vermillion Bird of the South.
To the east floated Azulongmon, the Azure Dragon of the East.
Opposite of Azulongmon crouched and enormous white tiger with blue stripes. He wore spiked collars around his back legs, while his front legs were protected by blue metallic armor displaying kanji. There was a ring of spikes around his tail, and several spikes on his upper back. His face was covered in a blue mask that revealed the beast's mouth and came to long sharp points at each end of his jaw. Encircling his body were twelve white orbs. His four red eyes lingered on George curiously. He was Baihumon, the White Tiger of the West, the youngest living Sovereign, and the successor of Griffinmon.
Lingering near the entrance of the chamber were past George and the two Crocmons.
"George Helltower," Azulongmon was saying, "the charges against you are as follows: that you did knowingly and willingly bring non-Sovereigns to this island, that you did knowingly and willingly abuse the power given to you by the late Griffinmon, and that you have knowingly and willingly interfered with the timeline by bringing your past counterpart to our time period. How do you plead?"
"Guilty," said George, holding his head high.
"Can you defend your actions before this Tribunal?" inquired Baihumon.
"In my opinion there was nowhere else to turn to," replied George, "the Digimon Emperor has tampered with time such that he has taken over the rest of the Digital World. If we had gone anywhere else, the Emperor would have found and eradicated the others by now. He has captured and enslaved their partners making them practically helpless in the Digital World."
"Then why did you permit them to enter it after the Emperor had conquered it in the first place," interrupted Zhuqiaomon, "you must have known it wouldn't be safe for them here!"
"Let the laddie speak," said one of Ebonwumon's heads.
"To answer Zhuqiaomon's question," continued George, "it is not in my power to prevent Digidestined from traveling to the Digital World. If they were not supposed to be in the Digital World, why were they chosen in the first place?"
"A good point," said Baihumon, "but surely there are other locations within the Digital World that you could have stashed them while you came here, and you certainly didn't need to bring all of those other digimon either."
"On the contrary," countered the fallen warrior, "the second safest place in the Digital World was my home on Upload Island. That's where we went to start out with. I had hoped to be able to use my old surveillance systems to devise a plan to take out the Emperor's control on the island, but he was already there when we arrived."
"…you mean the Emperor managed to get past your security?" asked Ebonwumon's first head.
"Pathetic," snarled the other.
"Also," continued George, "if I had just left the recently freed digimon in my former home, they would have easily been recaptured, or even deleted by the Emperor. I decided that it would be preferable for that not to occur. After all, are not we Sovereigns supposed to protect the Digital World?"
"You know as well as I do that we are only supposed to interfere indirectly," snarled Zhuqiaomon, "and what you did and have been doing has clearly not been interfering 'indirectly'."
"Agreed," concurred present George, "however, if you'll recall, in this instance I was given express permission by this council to interfere directly in order to rectify a few of my mistakes."
"But nowhere did we give you permission to use the power of the DigiCores!" said Baihumon harshly.
"Yet you didn't tell me not to use them either," said George simply, "if that is to be the case, then it will have to take effect from today."
"Agreed," said Azulongmon, "but you have still interfered with the time line by allowing your past counterpart to accompany you to the present. What is your reasoning for this?"
"I had figured that it would be useful to have a little more firepower to fight the Emperor," said George, "he had already seen us and been corrupted by the Emperor's time traveling antics, so I decided it couldn't get any worse."
"That was not your decision to make," replied Zhuqiaomon, "and it certainly isn't good enough to justify your actions."
"Hold on a moment!" said past George charging into the chamber, "you can't blame him for my being here!"
"And why not?" asked Zhuqiaomon, "who are you to tell us what to do?"
"I'm George Samuel Helltower," replied past Helltower, "and I'm telling you that it's not his fault because I chose to come here on my own. I saw what the Emperor did in the past, and decided it was my responsibility to help the Digital World no matter where, or when, it was that happened to need my help. Also, since I'm technically not a Sovereign yet, I can interfere directly to save the Digital World."
"Sassy McAngerpants has a point," conceded Ebonwumon's first head.
"He could have been a little more polite about it though," grumbled his second head.
"We shall deliberate the evidence before us," said Azulongmon, as the four Harmonious Ones vanished.
"You shouldn't have interrupted the Tribunal," said present Helltower.
"What, and let you get fried for something that was out of your control?" asked his past counterpart raising an eyebrow.
"I could have stopped you if I felt like it…" said present Helltower.
"How?" asked past Helltower, "the Vulcan neck pinch? I don't fall for the same tricks twice you know, and you couldn't risk killing me either."
As Sovereign Helltower began to reply, the Harmonious Ones reappeared.
"We've come to a verdict," said Azulongmon, "you are cleared of all charges."
"However," said Baihumon, "for future, you are not permitted to use the power of the DigiCores to interfere directly in the goings on of the Digital World. That power is either to be given to another, or to be used in an indirect manner to aid the Digital World."
"Agreed," said Sovereign Helltower, "thank you."
"Now then," said Ebonwumon's first head in it's Scottish accent, "if'n I know ya correctly, ya have some kinda plan fer dealin' with tha Emperor."
"So spit it out!" said the second head bluntly.
"And he called me rude," whispered past Helltower, as his present counterpart cleared his throat.
"As you, I'm sure, know, the newest Digidestined have been trapped in the past by the Digimon Emperor," began Sovereign George, "he has collapsed the only remaining passageway that leads through to the other side of the Citadel of Time, which may not be a bad thing except that it traps my past counterpart here, and the younger Digidestined there."
The Sovereigns nodded.
"What I suggest is that we deal with both of our main problems, namely the Emperor's control over the Digital World, and the temporal mix up, with one fell swoop," continued George.
Azulongmon understood where this was going.
"Oh no," he said, "time traveling to the past in order to correct mistakes is forbidden for a Sovereign."
"Granted," said George, "but the mistake being corrected here would not be mine. I wouldn't be whispering suggestions into my past self's ears. I will let him make the same mistakes I did, much as it pains me now, because that is the way it must be."
"Then what are you suggesting?" asked Baihumon.
"I suggest that my past counterpart and I travel back to the past just before the Emperor's arrival," proposed the former gogglehead, "that way we can stop him before any of this ever happened, and I wouldn't be correcting a mistake of mine since I had not yet known about his temporal invasion."
"We will consider your preposterous proposal," said Zhuqiaomon, as the Sovereigns disappeared once again to confer.
After a few more minutes, they reappeared.
"Your idea has been approved," grumbled the Vermillion Bird, "we shall begin preparations immediately, and the rest of your companions are to remain here while you are gone."
Present George nodded, as the Sovereigns began to release their power.
Each of their twelve DigiCores began to glow brightly as a time portal began to open.
"What do you mean you haven't been able to find them?" demanded the Emperor, "you haven't been trying hard enough!"
The Digidestined's partners stood before the maniacal tyrant with their heads hung low.
"But sir," began Greymon.
"I don't want your excuses, I want Helltower's head on a plate!" said the Emperor.
"They're not here sir," blurted Garurumon.
"Then you let them escape!" exclaimed the Emperor.
"No sir!" said Kabuterimon desperately.
"It's not our fault!" cried Birdramon.
"You have failed me," said the Emperor, "and you know the price of failure."
The Emperor typed a command on his control panel. Instantly, the Dark Rings began to emit electrical shocks to the six digimon standing before him.
"Please sir," said Togamon writhing in pain.
"Give us another chance!" begged Ikakkumon as his fur began to smoke.
"I'm sorry," said the Emperor casually, "I can't do that."
The tyrant pushed one final button, which caused the Odaiba Digidestined's partners so much pain that they were instantly deleted.
"A shame," said the Emperor nonchalantly, "they were decent servants…"
George and the Sovereigns sat in a meditation pose. With concentration as deep and profound as theirs, they were able to sense the very essence of the Digital World. At the moment it felt…wrong and tainted, but when six simultaneous deletions occurred, it felt like six lights going out, forever.
Sovereign George opened his eyes.
"No…" he said, "this can't be…"
"Unfortunately it can, and it has happened," said Azulongmon, "please inform your comrades. They have the right to know."
Sovereign George nodded solemnly and went outside the Temple, where the others were waiting, as he walked, he felt the power of the DigiCore drain out of him until he was his regular self again.
"What is it?" asked past George, who wasn't yet as attuned to the DigiWorld's essence, "what's going on?"
The Odaiba Digidestined looked up as the Georges approached.
"So?" asked Tai, "how'd it go? Are we allowed to stay here or what?"
"Yes," said the fallen warrior sadly, "but there is something you six must know."
"What?" asked Sora, not liking the feeling of overwhelming sadness emanating from George.
"While the Sovereigns and I were in meditation, we sensed the life-force of every being on the planet," began George, "six of those life-forces were suddenly terminated…"
"Get to the point already!" demanded Matt.
"Those life-forces belonged to your partners," said the former gogglehead, "they have been deleted by the Emperor."
"That son of a—" began Matt, but he was cut off by Joe.
"Admittedly that's not the best news we've heard," said the Child of Reliability, "but digimon get reborn, so are partners will too right?"
"Yes," said present George, "and normally they'd remember you too."
"Normally?" asked Izzy worriedly, George would not have said that if this wasn't an exception to the rule.
"You see, they were deleted while under the influence of the Emperor's Dark Rings," explained present George sadly, "the Dark Rings block the digimon's memory from reaching the surface making it a mindless slave of the Emperor. Since they were wearing the Dark Rings when they were deleted, it's a good bet their memories are gone."
"So they won't remember us at all?" asked Mimi.
"I'm afraid not," said present George, "I'm truly and deeply sorry."
"A fat lot of good your apology does us!" yelled Matt, "this is all your fault anyways! Why did you go back in time in the first place? You could have stayed here to fight the Emperor's army when it tried to come back through the Citadel!"
"That's illogical," said Izzy, "there were too many of them. George alone could not have fought them. This is nobody's fault but the Emperor's."
"That's right!" said past George, "and we're gonna get him!"
"How?" asked Joe.
"As we speak, the Sovereigns are preparing a time portal that will take us back to the moment when the Digimon Emperor tried to enter the past," replied present George.
"At that point, we will surprise attack him and prevent any of this from ever happening," finished past George.
"We're coming too," said Matt, "we can't afford to have you bungle things once again."
"That's not fair Matt," said Izzy, "Mimi and I were with him when he went back in time. Does that mean we messed up too?"
"None of you are permitted to come along," said present George, "but it's for your own good."
"Oh yeah?" demanded Matt, "and why's that?"
"Because if you go back in time with me and return to the future, you will remember everything that never happened," said present George, "sometimes it's best to just let things go."
Matt looked like he wanted to argue some more, but Tai cut him off.
"He's right," said the Child of Courage, "sometimes it is just better to forget."
"Mr. Helltower," came a voice in present George's head, "your portal is ready."
George glanced at his past counterpart.
"It's time," he said.
The Digimon Emperor laughed to himself as he thought about how ingenious his new plan was. Who would think to look for a Control Spire in the past?
He had taken several of his faithful slaves with him, including the recently captured former partner of Mimi Tachikawa, Togamon. Unfortunately, he couldn't bring a massive invasion force for several reasons. The first one was he had noticed that the balance of power was shifting out of his favor, and reducing his forces significantly in the present could hurt his position more in the long run than this endeavor would help it. Second, he couldn't afford to send in a large army because that would likely attract the attention of his nemesis George Helltower, and he was the last person the Emperor wanted to know about this plan. Finally, and probably most importantly, his dark digivice only controlled those digimon within a few yards of him, and there was no Spire in this sector as of yet, so he needed to keep his forces close by.
As the tunnel began to incline, the Emperor saw that the end of his journey through these accursed catacombs was nearly complete. He could see the moonlight shining through the exit.
"Let's move!" ordered the Emperor.
As the Emperor and his minions exited the ruins of the Citadel of Time, they were greeted by a most unwelcome sight. Standing just outside the ruins were not one, but two Georges along with two MetalCrocmons.
"Hello Ken," said the George without goggles, "fancy seeing you here."
"Helltower," spat the Emperor, "but how did you know?"
"Trade secret," said the one without goggles, "I'll never tell you."
"Bah!" exclaimed the Emperor, "I have not come this far just to be stopped by you…even if there are two of you. Attack!"
"Bad move Mr. Emperor," said goggleheaded George, charging up energy blasts in his palms.
"Data Bomb!"
"Croc Missiles!" (x2)
The two MetalCrocmons launched their hidden missiles into the midst of the enslaved digimon, causing them to scatter. As a result, some of them were removed temporarily from the Emperor's sphere of influence. Present George broke their rings without a fuss.
Meanwhile past George sent energy blasts into the remaining rings causing the Emperor's plan to fall apart once and for all.
As the two Georges high fived, the scene around them began to fade away.
"Hey," said past George, "what gives?"
"My guess is that the timeline is returning to normal," said present Helltower, "which means that soon I'll be the only one to remember that this ever happened."
"Well," said past Helltower, "before the time-space continuum splits us apart, I've got a few parting statements for you to remember."
"Go ahead," said present George warily, "I'm listening."
"First off, you're not so bad," said past George, "at first I thought you were a weak fool, but now I realize that you have just gained a little more maturity, at the cost of a little sanity though."
Present George nodded.
"Secondly," said past George, "while you may be smarter, more mature, and considerably better than me, I have noticed something about you a little disturbing."
"What's that?" asked present George.
"You appear to have lost a little of yourself during your maturity process," said past George, "I don't think you believe for one instant that it's because I wasn't exposed to the Spire's evil influence as long as you that I was able to get Crocmon to digivolve normally. Something subconscious is blocking you from achieving your true potential, and that's a shame and a waste."
"I see," said present George as both Georges began to fade, "I shall think about what you have told me. It was a pleasure working with you, stubborn and arrogant as you are."
He extended his hand, and past George took it.
"And it was a pleasure working with you, even though you're a self-righteous intolerant buffoon," he replied.
With that, the scene had fully faded, and the timeline was restored to normal.
Present George opened his eyes to find Davis staring at him.
"Ah," he said, "you're finally awake."
"I must have dozed off," said George casually observing his surroundings.
He was in the Jungle of Parallel Times, but this time, he was still in the present. A Control Spire stood dead ahead with nobody protecting it. The younger Digidestined along with Izzy and Mimi were watching him.
Inwardly, he shuddered.
"It never happened," he thought to himself.
"Well?" asked Davis, "should we take out the Spire?"
"Have we ascertained whether or not there are any traps nearby?" asked the fallen warrior.
"Yes," said Cody, "we have seemingly defeated the guards that protected this Spire."
At this, George noticed the small plant-like digimon standing near Mimi.
"Then what're we waiting for?" asked the Warrior of Power, "let's rock the Emperor's world once more!"
Within moments, another Control Spire had bitten the dust, and George Helltower breathed a sigh of relief.
"No!" shouted the Emperor as yet another square on the map turned white. Not only had he failed in recapturing the tundra he lost yesterday, but he'd also lost more territory to boot. One more thing, he also had a nagging feeling that somehow George Helltower had defeated him in a most horrendous manner.
As the Digidestined approached the DigiPort, Yolei looked back at George.
"Are you sure you're not coming back with us?" she asked.
"Positive," replied George, "I have things that need to be taken care of here. Izzy will fill you in on the big picture when you get back to the real world."
"I will?" asked Izzy incredulously.
"You will," confirmed George, "and I will send you the blueprints and the list of targets later today. For now, I need to rest. I've had a long day."
Mimi chuckled.
"Arguing with rental agencies is that tiring?" she asked.
"Something like that," mumbled George, as he flew away carrying Crocmon.
Shortly thereafter, the Digidestined returned to the real world unaware of how close to disaster they had actually come.
Narrator: How will the Emperor make up for this defeat, and what effect will past George's parting words have on his present counterpart? Find out next time on Digimon: Digital Monsters!
21: Not too shabby eh? I already know what's going to happen next episode, unfortunately it will be a lot closer to the anime than these past two episodes were, but as you can see, things are already diverging from the anime counterpart to this story. (PS: I seem to use the word counterpart a lot I think...)
Sponsor: Can we go now?
21: Not just yet, one more thing must be taken care of.
George: What's that?
21: The answer to my question a few episodes ago about the hidden quote from an anime that I placed into episode 4.
Sponsor: And that would be?
21: If you look closely at Davis's line right before my segue into Santa Geria, you'll notice that he doesn't say "chit-chat" he actually says "chat-chit" which is paying homage to Omi from "Xiaolin Showdown" (which I do not own). Also, in this episode I pay homage to "The Seven Songs of Merlin" by T.A. Barron (once again which I do not own), in the form of George's sword and the seven symbols composing power.
Sponsor: Will that be all?
21: Yeah, that should do it...
Sponsor: Good, because it's 1:18AM, and for some strange reason I WANT TO GO TO BED AND GET SOME SLEEP!
George: Huh, couldn't begin to imagine why you'd want to do something as useless as sleep...
21: Whatever, let's just leave the raving lunatic to his idiocy...
(21 and George leave the building locking it up behind them)
Sponsor: DAMN IT YOU TWO! THIS ISN'T FUNNY! LET ME OUT!
(21 and George start snickering like crazy)