Hey guys! Sorry for another late one, but it's kind of a hard job typing with six fingers...okay seven. Apparently I'm supposed to buddy-tape by finger instead of put it in a splint...oh well. I'll come up with better excuses as time goes on.

Chapter 12!

His Majesty's Voice

"Sora...hey, come on Sora!" Matt reached out and grabbed his terrified friend by the shoulders to try and clam her, but Sora's trembling continued incessant. Biyomon fluttered in the air beside her, concern and shock covering her features. Sora soon dropped to her knees, which brought the rest of the children running. They crowded around, sitting and kneeling beside her.

"Hey," Matt said calmly, hoping that if he kept his cool, it would rub off on her. "Tell us what happened."

MegaKabuterimon's guttural voice came next from down in the crater, calling to Biyomon who was sitting by Sora. "We still need Garudamon's help down here!"

The bird digimon took one more glance at her partner, and then nodded to Matt in reassurance before taking off to digivolve. Matt stayed where he was in front of Sora, trying to coax an explanation out of her.

"Don't ignore me, Sora. What happened to Kari?"

The girl took a deep breath to regain her composure. "S...something took her. Over that sand dune." Sora pointed. "I followed her and when I got to the top, I saw her. She was struggling with...something. I don't know what it was. Biyomon and I ran to help her, and then the ground...opened up and pulled them under."

"Like quicksand?" Matt ventured, but Sora shook her head.

"It wasn't like that. The sand just seemed to open. There was nothing underneath except darkness. It surrounded them before they went down."

Izzy hummed in thought, "A break between dimensions. Probably directly to the Dark World."

At that Tai, who had been uncharacteristically quiet for some time now, sprang to his feet, unable to keep cool any longer. He sprinted towards the dune that Sora had gestured to, hollering over his shoulder. "WarGreymon!"

The mega promptly soared over the edge of the crater, following Tai. Sora ran after as well, realizing the goggle-head's motives and knowing he would need a pointer as to where to dig. Matt, however, went to the hole and called down to his own working partner.

"Garurumon! Take WarGreymon's job when Digmon comes up. You're digging now."

The blue wolf nodded and warp digivolved to mega as Digmon finished the next segment. MetalGarurumon took to flight and readied his attack. The rumble of the blast reached Tai and Sora up on the crest of the sand dune, though they disregarded it. Tai was staring blankly across the bleak, trackless stretch of desert before him, and then looked at Sora.

"Where did it happen?"

"Just down there, at the foot of the hill."

Tai turned to his partner. "WarGreymon, time to dig some more."

The mega nodded, charging a Terra Force, and then unleashed it towards the spot Sora had pointed out. He had toned down his attack even more so than when he was tunnelling with Digmon, but the blast still blew up a cloud of sand. There was nothing out of the ordinary underneath. WarGreymon attacked again. And again.

"Nothing," Tai growled. "Are you sure it was there, Sora?"

"I'm sure, and it's not something I'm forgetting any time soon, Tai." She replied with a shiver. They stood in silence, watching Tai's partner dig further until an unmistakeably energetic voice interrupted.

"Hey guys! Hate to be a party crasher, but we're packing up!" It was Davis. Tai frowned at him.

"We can't go yet! She's still down there, dealing with who knows what."

"Probably nothing that TK hasn't already dealt with." Tai hadn't noticed that Matt came up with Davis. The blond apparently felt the same way about the situation. Ever since he found TK's hat on the sidewalk, Matt had fallen into a subdued state. He had spent his time trying not to panic, waiting as patiently as he could while watching the digimon dig towards the Dark Area. It was the difference between Tai and Matt. Where one would snap, the other would withdraw. In a situation like this, Matt knew Tai needed a good amount of persuasion if he was to stop the search for his sister. After all, it had taken a bit of talking from Izzy to convince Matt to quit for the night.

"Tai," he said, deciding to use the words Izzy had. "We have to get back before curfew. We're already pretty late as it is. Think of our parents, and how they would react."

The Bearer of Courage lowered his head and clenched his fists. The air grew uncomfortable as the internal battle raged. After a long moment, he looked back up to Matt. "Fine, but what are we going to tell them about TK and Kari?"

"Hey, how about a sleep-over at my place?" Davis volunteered. "I was already planning on having one with all of us younger guys but I guess we can do it tonight." Matt and Tai nodded in silent approval as they started down the hill towards the others. The working digimon had come up from the now huge crater while Izzy located the nearest gate. When it was found, the group boarded Garudamon and MegaKabuterimon for the ride, the rest of the digimon dedigivolving before hopping on board.

Before ten minutes had passed, the humans, along with the younger kids' digimon, were standing in the computer room. Red-orange sunlight poured through the window, bathing the room in a soft glow like it had so many evenings in the past. It was the type of atmosphere that the second Digidestined were used to when they mused over the day's happenings. That's what everyone was doing for a few moments after the digi-port closed behind them.

The buzzing of a vibrating phone interrupted the pensive silence, and was followed by a grumble from Matt. He pulled it out to see what the fuss was about, and could've guessed that it was his mother who had left a message. He listened in.

"Hello, Matt, I was wondering if TK is with you, or if you know where he is. He hasn't come home yet, and he usually calls if he's going to be late. Call back as soon as possible. Love you son!"

Matt dropped the phone from his ear after the beep sounded. He formulated his reply, and then dialed. The phone rang three times before being answered.

"Hello?"

"Hey, Mom, it's Matt. Sorry I didn't call earlier, but we were kinda busy."

There was a pause, and then, "I understand."

Matt was aware that TK told their mother of the DigiWorld. "Anyway, Davis invited TK and some of his other friends for a sleep-over. I guess he didn't hear about it till the last minute, but he's going anyway."

"Oh. Okay, that's fine. Does he have any excuse for not calling me?"

"Uh...he lost his phone? Or maybe he just forgot. After all we were kinda...busy."

Nancy Takaishi snorted on the other line. "Oh alright. Thanks for calling Matt."

"No problem. See ya Mom."

"Bye, son."

Matt sighed once the call was over. That was a bit easier expected, and he was glad of it. Everyone shared a glance, until Ken broke the silence.

"I think I'd better go now."

"Aw, what?" Davis whined. "You're not coming?"

Ken shook his head. "My mom likes to know things a bit further ahead than the hour of. She may love the fact that I spend so much time with you guys, but she still is a little overprotective."

Before Davis could pout again, Tai stepped over and lay a hand on Ken's shoulder. "It's okay, Ken. You can go on home. We only need a couple kids to help cover for Kari and TK."

Ken gave a small smile before leaving the others behind in the computer room. As he walked along with Wormmon in his backpack, he let himself sink into deep thought. In reality, he didn't want to go home to reassure his mother of his safety, but rather just wanted to get some time alone. He was glad no one decided to walk with him; he left too quickly for anyone to think about it. Today wasn't exactly a day he wanted to talk. The whole weekend had been like that, actually. Ever since that first night, when he heard the Emperor's proud voice, he hadn't been able to rest easy. It had come every day since then, taunting him with foreshadowing words. When TK disappeared, Ken had been taken over by a sense of dread and urgency. TK was the one who was going to get hurt soon. But how soon was soon?

Really soon.

Ken was out on the streets of Odaiba when he heard the voice. His voice. He froze in alarm. What was the darkness planning? How much danger was TK really in?

You should be worrying about yourself, Ken.

The raven-haired boy resumed his pace, wanting to escape the Digimon Emperor's words. It was a futile effort, and he knew it. The voice was in his head, and it would stay there just as the dormant Dark Spore remained in his neck. He just didn't know how to subdue it like he did the Spore.

Ken knew there was no room for him to be fearful for himself. TK was out there in the Dark World, and now Kari too. They were going to have to spend the night with the darkness. The blackest hours of a dark land. What would they have to face? Ken shuddered as images ran through his head. They were helpless, Kari especially. At least TK had a partner with him, but the darkness had home-field advantage. It had them in the palm of its hand.

They would be worse off in your hands.

What? How?

You are the Emperor, Ken. The merciless one who doesn't know the meaning of weak. You enslave weaklings. You kill them.

Ken shivered. Slavery and killing innocent beings may be the Emperor's job, but it wasn't his own any longer. He wasn't the Emperor.

You can't avoid it. It is who you are.

"No," Ken said aloud this time. He was desperate to end the voice's accusations. He shut his eyes and held his head as he stormed along a straight stretch of sidewalk. No one around noticed him, and he didn't care to look at his surroundings. Even when his path turned grey-scale in front of him. Or when the whole environment dimmed and discoloured.

Not even when it faded to black altogether.

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Next chapter coming asap...