If there was one thing he could not tolerate, the Emperor had decided, it was defeat. No, not just defeat – failure. Putting forth all his vast power toward preventing his defeat, and simply, irrevocably failing.

As usual, all his failures could be traced back to that damnable Wormmon… first it and now Bearmon had gotten the jump on him, exposed him as the fallible human being he was so certain he wasn't. And thanks to them, Digimon all over his great empire were getting ideas and coming together in rebellion against him – exactly what he'd been trying to prevent! What good was being able to predict all the potential setbacks of his campaign if he was unable to do anything about it?

It was unfair, that was what it was. Just a few more measly Digimon fighting alongside the Digidestined shouldn't have made any difference, but when those Digimon started inspiring other Digimon, and they started inspiring others… it was an exponential growth curve, like the spread of an infectious disease, and for all his power there wasn't a thing he could do to wipe it out.

He gripped his whip as he stewed in his rage, his knuckles turning white inside his velvet gloves. He should have been out there fighting to reconquer his lands, but he was so far behind schedule that he couldn't even do that. The Digidestined were liberating and destroying his prison blocks almost more quickly than he could construct them, and if he wanted to get any conquering done, he needed somewhere to hold his prisoners…

He took a few steps forward and glared down into the ravine far below him, watching his hundreds of ringed slaves toiling away in the rocky quarry, struggling to finish construction on the prison block where they themselves would soon be held captive.

"Faster!" he barked down at them. "Unless you want to feel the whip on your backs, you'll – "

There was an explosion.

––

Wormmon scampered through the winding maze of a tunnel, following the same path he'd taken the past several days when he'd been sent out on recon. Being such a small little Digimon meant he was an ideal scout, able to map out the Emperor's prison blocks without ever being noticed.

"You're sure this is the way, Wormmon?" Cody whispered from behind him.

"I'm sure, Cody," he whispered back. "This is the way I went yesterday. I remember it."

"You'd better be sure. We've only got one shot at this," muttered one of the three Gotsumon who were walking along behind them. All of them belonged to Bearmon's refugee group, although really Wormmon had taken to thinking of them more as rebels than refugees. Though they no longer seemed angry at him for it, he still carried with him the guilt of being the reason they had first lost their homes, and he would do anything in his power to make up for it.

"I trust Wormmon," Armadillomon said firmly. "I'm sure he knows what he's doin'."

The group followed Wormmon through the tunnel in silence for a while, only coming to a stop as it opened up into a large cave that faced the ravine and was probably in the process of being turned into a prison cell. Cody and the others watched as Wormmon balanced on his hind legs, feeling around the rocky wall before drawing to a stop and nodding.

"Here it is," he said. "I checked, and this is where the rock is weakest, Cody. If you and Armadillomon attacked it right here, the whole wall would come apart."

"Hey, don't forget about us!" said one of the Gotsumon. "We were built for this job. Literally!"

Cody nodded and turned to his partner. "Now remember, Armadillomon, our job is to create a distraction," he instructed him. "We need the Emperor's attention on us so the others can knock down the Control Spire. And that goes for the rest of you too," he addressed the Gotsumon. "Everyone understand?"

The Digimon all nodded.

"Right. Then let's hurry." Cody held up the Digiegg of Knowledge. "Digiarmor energize!"

Wormmon and all the Gotsumon stepped back and braced themselves as Armadillomon was enveloped in a blinding light, transforming into Digmon before their very eyes. Cody gave his partner a nod as he brandished his drills with a mischievous glint in his eyes.

"Right. I think this place could use a little remodeling!" he shouted, launching his drills directly at the wall.

––

"Faster! Unless you want to feel the whip on your backs, you'll – "

There was an explosion. The left wall of the quarry came bursting open with a deafening crash, stone and gravel flying in all directions and causing the Digimon slaves in the ravine to scream and scatter. The Emperor's eyes bulged as he saw an all too familiar Armor Digimon flying out of the hole in the wall with a malicious cackle.

"No! No, no, no!" The Emperor screamed, grabbing at his hair. "You can't tell me they followed me all the way to – attack them!" He jabbed a desperate finger at Cody and Digmon, and all his slaves immediately turned around and converged on them.

"Guys, a little help?" Cody nervously called over to the Gotsumon, but all three of them were busy bashing away at the cracked stone where Digmon had broken it, causing more and more of the quarry wall to crumble and collapse.

"Just leave it to us!" came a triumphant voice, and suddenly Bearmon and his rebels all came pouring out of the hole, shouting deafening battle cries and meeting the Emperor's slaves in a spectacular clash. The quarry instantly devolved into total anarchy as the Gotsumon continued to destroy the half-finished walls of the prison block, causing an avalanche as the stone came crashing and tumbling down and forcing everyone in the melee to frantically scramble backwards.

"Be careful, Bearmon!" Cody shouted from up on Digmon's back.

"Can't make any promises!" Bearmon shouted back with a cheeky grin before spinning around and slugging a Gizamon in the face.

The Emperor could only stare down in dumbfounded rage at the chaos unfolding before him, not even noticing the other four Armor Digimon and their partners racing past him until it was too late.

"No you don't!" he shouted, his voice breaking as he spun around to see his hated enemies converging on the Control Spire up on the rocky hill just behind them. "You're not beating me that easily! Not this time!"

He held up his digivice as its screen glowed an ugly purple, and at his summons a group of DarkLizardmon slaves suddenly appeared, stomping in front of the Digidestined and their partners and cutting off their path to the Spire. The four human children immediately skidded to a stop, but not one of them looked intimidated in the slightest.

"It's gonna take more than that to get rid of us!" Yolei laughed. "Halsemon, let's show these guys what we're made of!"

"It will be my pleasure!"

Yolei hopped on her partner's back, and TK and Kari did the same. The three Digimon took to the air, circling around the heads of the DarkLizardmon, deftly dodging the attacks of shadowy flame targeting them and firing off attacks of their own.

"Davis! Go!" TK shouted down.

"All right Flamedramon, you heard him! Let's take care of this!" Davis shouted at his partner, and together the two of them raced past the distracted slaves, directly toward the unprotected Spire.

The Emperor could only watch in complete helplessness. "No! Stop it! Stop it!"

Flamedramon leapt into the air, wreathed his body in flames and slammed into the Spire with all his might.

The Spire didn't stand a chance. It splintered and cracked, finally bursting apart completely and crumbling to the ground in a pile of useless rubble.

The Emperor was already long gone, having fled the scene in fear the moment he realized his Spire was about to be destroyed, unwilling to repeat the incident with the Dobermon. He was not missed. All at once, his slaves returned to their senses as their Dark Rings lost control over them, looking around in confusion before filling with relief and joy as they realized they were free. The quarry was in ruins, and the chaotic whoops and cheers of victory, the signal of another defeat of the Digimon Emperor, could be heard for miles around.

––

Some time later, the rebel camp was filled with the same laughs and cheers as the Digidestined, together with Bearmon and his friends, came tromping back in the highest of spirits, arms slung around each other as several of them collapsed to the ground for some well-earned rest.

"Man, did you guys see the look on his face?" Davis snorted in laughter, clutching his sides. "He was all, 'How dare you free all those prisoners who never did anything wrong? Who do you think you are?'"

"Serves his ugly mug right! I only wish I coulda slugged him some more. This time I'd really make it count!" Bearmon snickered.

"Man, Bearmon, we never coulda made it this far without you guys. You're the best!" Davis said with a grin, he and Bearmon sharing a fistbump.

If any of the others thought this was a rather unlikely friendship that had formed, they didn't comment. "Yeah, I have to admit, Davis is right," TK said with a genial smile. "Bearmon, you and your friends have been a huge help to us. We've done more with you guys than we ever could have managed by ourselves."

"Can you imagine if we had to fight the Digimon Emperor all by ourselves?" Yolei laughed, stretching her arms above her head. "Talk about obnoxious. We probably would've gotten nowhere by now. And he'd still be prancing around going on and on about how he's better than everyone else – "

"Well, he's still doing that, but he's not fooling anyone anymore," Kari giggled. It wasn't hard to see that thanks to his latest long string of defeats, the Emperor's veneer of control was beginning to slip. Gradually, the Digital World was coming to see him less as a warmongering tyrant and more as an overinflated bully with more bark than bite. And without his fear tactics, more and more Digimon were finding there was nothing stopping them from standing up to him…

"Well, enough talk. I think it's about dinnertime, don't you guys?" said Bearmon. "I dunno about all a' you, but I'm so hungry I could eat a Whamon right about now."

"Not if I eat it first!" Davis shouted as he ran off after Bearmon. Everyone else obediently set off to prepare the food, and within a few minutes the large group had a number of campfires going and was chowing down on some delicious smoked salmon… at least it tasted like salmon, thought the Digidestined, but given what world they were in, it could have been anything. The first day Bearmon had invited the human children over for a meal, Davis, Yolei and Cody had all looked somewhat wary at the offering, only for TK and Kari to laugh and assure them that Digital World food was perfectly safe. That was enough for them to eagerly dig in – more specifically, Davis and Yolei had dived into an impromptu eating contest with Cody looking on in disgust.

Today, Davis was sitting apart from the other kids and having what looked like a very involved conversation with Bearmon. Wormmon watched the two of them as they talked; apparently Davis was having another one of those "lessons". Just a few days after they had first formed their truce, Davis had sheepishly approached Bearmon by himself with a rather unexpected request.

"So… listen, Bearmon," he muttered, rubbing his arm uneasily. "I was thinking about what you said before, and… I think you were right. You are a way better leader than I am." This was clearly making him uncomfortable to confess. "See, I kinda just started doing this, and I don't know a whole lot, and I know I should… I mean, I know the Digimon Emperor's not a joke, and it's really important that we beat him, so… I was wondering…" He paused, unsure of how to continue. "D'you think maybe… you could give me… leader lessons?"

Bearmon stared up at him, completely blank-faced. "'Leader lessons'?"

"If ya don't mind," Davis said with a lopsided grin.

Bearmon could only continue to stare at him in silence for a moment before narrowing his eyes. "You're a weird human, Davis."

"So is that a no?" Davis looked disappointed.

Suddenly, to his surprise, Bearmon grew a grin of his own. "Hey now, I didn't say that," he said. "So you wanna learn from the best, huh? Well, you came to the right mon."

They seemed to have had a lesson like this every day since then. Wormmon was truly impressed with Davis lately; he really had started taking his leadership role seriously, and Bearmon was more than willing to accommodate. With how closely their teams had been working together, Wormmon supposed the two leaders would want to learn from each other as much as possible.

Wormmon himself was seated with Veemon and the other partner Digimon, all of whom were gleefully chowing down on the large fruit pile in front of them while chatting about the day's events. He rarely joined in on conversations like this; he was much more of a listener. Of course, today he was finding it hard to even do that, and before long he had abandoned the apple he had been toying with and drifted off into his thoughts.

Things really had been going better for him lately, he thought. Barely a month ago he'd had no friends at all, and now, somehow, he'd become one of the most popular Digimon in the Digital World. Since his courageous stand against the Digimon Emperor, it seemed like he'd become an inspiration to just about everybody, and he was nearly overwhelmed by all the Digimon who wanted to be his friend nowadays. The Emperor was surely still out for his blood, but with both the Digidestined and Bearmon's team grown so protective of him, it hardly seemed worth panicking over anymore. For the first time ever, it really seemed like his future was looking bright…

…Though deep down, he had to admit he still wasn't quite as happy as he should have been. He was grateful, of course, grateful to Davis and Bearmon and everyone else… but he would never be completely at ease so long as he was with the Digidestined and their partner Digimon, living with the reminder of how very partnerless he was himself.

It didn't help that he was still having the dream.

When he wasn't having nightmares about the Digimon Emperor, it seemed, he was having the dream of the make-believe human boy, the one who laughed and played with him, the one who said he loved him. He was always so happy in that dream, and so devastated whenever he woke up and realized none of it was real…

He couldn't explain why, but he loved that boy in his dreams, more than he loved anyone in the real waking world. Just the fact that he wasn't real filled Wormmon's heart with such an aching longing that he couldn't begin to understand.

Maybe it was that this was the closest he'd ever get to having a real human partner. This was the only way he'd ever have of knowing what it was like.

As it was, he couldn't stop thinking about that boy. He couldn't stop thinking about what it would be like if he were real, and if he were part of the Digidestined with Davis and the others. Wormmon would be able to digivolve into something big and strong and protect him, and when he wasn't doing that his partner would carry him around everywhere in his arms. And he'd see Veemon and the other children's Digimon, and he'd wave and say "Look, everyone! I have a partner too! I have my very own partner!" And they'd all look so surprised and so jealous because of course Wormmon had the very best partner of all.

He was busy having that very daydream when he realized he was being nudged. Startled, he broke out of his reverie to see Gatomon looking directly at him, stifling an amused smile from the surprised look on his face. The others had apparently finished eating and had run off to play with the other Digimon.

"Something on your mind, Wormmon?" she asked him. "You looked like you were thinking very hard about something."

"Oh… I'm sorry, Gatomon," he muttered, blushing and fidgeting as he gazed at the ground. Gatomon had always filled him with a sort of awe; she was so wise and mature, nothing like Veemon and the others. It probably had something to do with being a Champion level by default.

"It's fine. Is it anything you want to talk about?"

"I…" He paused. None of the others really knew how much he wanted a partner, how much it had grown to consume his thoughts. He'd mentioned it to Davis, but that had been a while ago, and since then it had seemed like the rebellion against the Emperor had been the most important thing.

"…I don't know," he said. "I don't know if I should talk about it. It's silly, really."

Gatomon sighed and looked at him sadly. "Oh, Wormmon. You shouldn't talk down on yourself like that. I'm sure it's not silly at all." She shuffled closer to him. "You know all of us are your friends, don't you? You can talk to us about anything."

Wormmon stared at her. His natural inclination was just to keep things buried, but seeing the sincere look in her eyes, he suddenly began to reconsider… she was so wise, after all. Maybe she would understand.

"Well… I… it's just, I…" He paused and took a deep breath before plunging in. "I want a human partner. I want one very, very much. It's almost all I can think about." He was looking at the ground off to his side, afraid to look Gatomon in the eye, and only went on when she didn't respond. "I thought being on the team with the Digidestined would make it go away, but it's only made it worse. I want my own partner. I know it sounds silly, but… it feels like I'm supposed to have a partner, like I won't really be okay until I find them."

He rubbed his forelegs together, antennae drooping miserably as he continued to gaze at the ground. He was sure Gatomon was about to admonish him for having such a selfish wish… he wasn't prepared for what she did say.

"I believe you."

Wormmon looked up at her. "What? You do?"

She nodded. "Tell me, Wormmon… this isn't just something that's started recently, is it? Is this something you've always wanted deep down in your heart? Something that just keeps eating at you, something you can't ignore?"

Wormmon nodded vigorously, his eyes wide. "Yes! Yes, it is… well, I always knew I wanted something, but I wasn't ever sure what it was until I met you and the Digidestined." He fidgeted. "But now I know for sure. I want a human partner, more than anything in the whole world." He glanced up timidly at Gatomon. "You… you really believe me?"

"I do," she said. "Because I had that exact same feeling."

Wormmon stared in shock.

"Listen, Wormmon… I haven't told you everything about myself. Kari and I… we didn't meet when we were supposed to. I was lost as an egg, and I ended up being raised by an evil Digimon named Myotismon."

Wormmon instinctively drew back in fear. He'd heard that name from the other Digimon, of course. "You were? Why, that… that sounds horrible…"

"It was," she agreed, looking very glum. Wormmon thought he saw her gazing down at one of her gloves for some reason. "It's not a time of my life I like to think about. I don't know how I would have carried on all that time, except for…"

"Except for what?"

"A feeling I had," she said with a small, sad-looking smile. "I always had this feeling deep down that I was looking for someone. That there was someone out there who needed me, and I needed them… and no matter how much I was beaten or punished for it, that feeling never went away."

Wormmon was gazing at her with such fascination that she couldn't help but giggle at the look on his face. "And I was right. I found who I was looking for… and I've never looked back."

She and Wormmon both glanced over at Kari, who was currently holding her sides and laughing at a joke Yolei had just made. She was truly beautiful when she laughed like that, and as Gatomon gazed over at her, she no longer seemed like the stoic Champion she was, just a Digimon filled with wide-eyed adoration for her partner.

Wormmon tried to fight back his jealousy, but he didn't stand a chance. He ached to see how perfectly Kari and Gatomon fit together, just like Davis and Veemon… how would he ever find someone like that?

Gatomon finally seemed to remember where she was, turning back to Wormmon with an embarrassed smile. "What I'm trying to say, Wormmon, is that if you really think deep down that you were meant to have a human partner… then I believe you. And you shouldn't let anything or anyone stop you from finding them."

Wormmon had no idea how to respond, and so finally she got up and walked over to join the other Digimon in their game, looking over her shoulder and giving him a wink as she left.

Wormmon stared after her in silence. Had that conversation really just happened? Gatomon, of all Digimon, had had the same feeling as him? She'd been missing her partner, and she'd found her? Did that mean… could the same thing possibly happen to him?

He'd been so sure the boy from his dreams wasn't truly real, but… what if it wasn't just a hopeless fantasy after all? What if his dreams were trying to tell him something?

Davis was still utterly convinced that the Digimon Emperor wasn't even a real Digidestined at all ("What Digidestined would act the way he does?" he always reasoned), and the digivice he owned simply belonged to somebody else. It wasn't entirely impossible, the others decided; what with all the pain and death he'd already inflicted on this world, a little something like stealing clearly wasn't beneath him. Though of course that would mean there were still other Digidestined out there they still didn't know about…

TK had been skeptical at the idea, of course, but… what if Davis was right? What if there was another child out there who was meant to have that digivice? What if –

Wormmon stopped moving and froze.

What if the Emperor's digivice belonged to his partner?

His heartbeat began to escalate, and he nearly started outright twitching in excitement at the very thought of it. He desperately tried to calm himself down, not wanting to be disappointed if it turned out to be a false hope, but… it would explain everything, wouldn't it? How someone as horrible as the Emperor got into the Digital World in the first place? Why Wormmon was so desperately sure he was meant to have a partner, and yet that partner was nowhere to be found? If the Emperor had stolen his digivice, that meant he had no way of getting to the Digital World! No wonder he and Wormmon had never met each other…

It gradually dawned on him that this conflict with the Emperor was a more personal matter than he'd ever realized. Not only was he wreaking havoc on the Digital World, why, he was keeping Wormmon from meeting his partner, the one human he was meant to devote his life to!

He was so wrapped up in his thoughts that he barely even noticed the game between the other Digimon draw to a close, or Davis and Bearmon saying goodbye before the gogglehead walked up to the other kids and announced that they'd better get back to their own world now. Wormmon wandered along after the group without a word as they set off, his head spinning in dizzy excitement. Even if someone had tried to talk to him, he was miles away.

He really might have a partner after all… the thought made him giddy, but at the same time, he realized how serious the situation truly was. He would have to do his very best to help the others defeat the Emperor; that was the only way they could take the digivice back from him, and then find out from whom he had taken it…

He decided not to tell any of the others about his plan. For now, this would be his little secret.

We will beat the Digimon Emperor… I'm sure of it, he thought solemnly. And when we do… then I can finally meet my partner.

––

A/N: Poor Wormmon, he just doesn't get it, does he? Though he's probably much happier that way…