"I'm sure we can find an antidote herb somewhere in this forest. I'll go look," Gatomon—the resident wilderness expert—sighed, breaking the heavy mood. With her long tail swaying, she headed into the trees.
Meanwhile, Davis and the others kept looking around as they searched for the legendary Digimon Emperor's base… but all they could see were the endless Control Spires the Digimon Emperor had built, stretching as far as the eye could see.
"There are Control Spires here too," Cody said with a sigh.
"They were probably just completed recently," Tentomon explained as he scouted ahead in the air, answering their questions.
"Let's just check farther up first," T.K. concluded, keeping everyone's spirits up. "Maybe the Digimon Emperor's base is over there."
"Hm?" Cody happened to notice a huge shadow on the mountain wall. When he stopped to look closely, the shadow had already vanished.
"Cody, what is it?" Armadillomon asked with concern, keeping a close eye on his partner. Hearing him, the others turned around to look at Cody too.
"It's nothing, Armadillomon. Just now I thought I saw something over there…" Cody looked again, but the shadow was truly gone. He could only drop his arm in frustration and hurry after the group.
At this very moment, inside the Digimon Emperor's base…
In the dim control room, several massive screens displayed data and images of powerful Champion and Ultimate Digimon. Ken Ichijouji continuously saved information on their strongest parts, edited and adjusted it, then sorted it into piles upon piles of organized files.
"I know where the Dark Spiral is now." Ken suddenly lifted his head and stared at the screen. "Just a little more… just one last step."
As he spoke, a smug, twisted smile spread across his face.
"Ken…" Wormmon felt like the Ken he used to know was getting farther and farther away.
On a separate screen was the image of a bizarre, patchwork Digimon—made of random, mismatched parts.
The view shifted underground.
Somewhere unknown in the Digital World, at an unknown depth, a gigantic fortress rumbled as it worked. Endless earth was forced upward with the roar of the machinery. Inside, countless Machine Digimon hurried back and forth, swapping out damaged parts and maintaining the fortress's normal operation. Judging from how practiced their movements were, they had been doing this for a long time.
Suddenly, the fortress's roar stopped.
Then it began to shake, and its outer form started to change.
A mechanical voice directed the entire operation. All the Machine Digimon immediately began a new task. Even though it was different work, everything continued with perfect order.
The mechanical voice reported in a broken, stilted manner:
"Thunder found Emperor… base data link… Knight reboot… restart…"
Kari and Yolei sat on the grass together. Yolei had been staring at Hawkmon—resting with his head on her lap—for a long time now. The sun was leaning low, and pink light filtered through the forest, making the quiet surroundings feel warm and gentle.
Hawkmon's eyelids twitched. Finally, he opened his eyes.
"Yolei…"
"Hawkmon, you're finally awake!" Yolei's voice couldn't hide her joy.
"That's great." Kari beamed, genuinely happy that Hawkmon had woken up.
"I'm sorry, Hawkmon…" Tears gathered at the corners of Yolei's eyes.
"Don't take it to heart," Hawkmon said, deeply moved.
"Mm! Mm!" Yolei nodded hard.
Just then, Gatomon returned with herbs and happened to run into Kari, who had stepped aside to give them space.
"I found an antidote herb." Gatomon wagged her tail, proud of herself.
"Good, but wait a moment first," Kari said with a warm smile.
Gatomon peeked over and saw Hawkmon and Yolei talking, so she nodded and stood there with Kari.
"When I think about dueling the Digimon Emperor, I can't help getting nervous… and I can't control myself. That's why I was acting so weird," Yolei admitted awkwardly, full of guilt. "It's because of me that Hawkmon almost died. I'm like a wound-up spring—I just can't stop. It's awful. Someone like me… isn't qualified to be a good partner."
Her words made Hawkmon laugh.
"Don't blame yourself anymore. Because that's the real you, Yolei."
"Huh?!" Yolei's mouth fell open.
Hawkmon sat up and looked at her seriously.
"And I like you exactly like that!"
"Thank you…" Yolei's tears fell again. "I'm just the type who panics easily—like a professional nervous wreck. From now on, I'll be counting on you to keep teaching me."
"I'm the one who—" Hawkmon started, but Yolei suddenly pulled him into a tight hug.
Kari and Gatomon watched the heartwarming scene from a distance. Kari smiled, lifted Gatomon into her arms too, and stroked Gatomon's smooth fur as she laughed happily.
By nightfall, Hawkmon's injury was basically healed thanks to Gatomon's antidote herb. He was moving his body around, testing himself, while Yolei watched him with a constant smile.
"Ooo… ooo… ooo…"
At that moment, a low, droning sound echoed from far away.
Kari and Yolei quickly climbed up onto a train car embedded in the mountainside (sweat) and looked toward the sound. A strange, oddly shaped aerial fortress—lights blinking—was flying through the sky toward them.
"What is that?!" Yolei asked in shock.
"That… has to be the Digimon Emperor's base," Kari said with certainty, sounding like someone who'd seen enough to know.
"So it really can fly," Yolei said, her voice full of pride.
Hawkmon untied his bandages and let them flutter away on the wind. "Yolei, you were right."
Kari and Yolei immediately sent a message to T.K. and the others. After the kids discussed it with Tai and Izzy, they decided to rest for the night first, then set out the next morning—shadowing the Digimon Emperor's base and looking for the right chance to destroy it.
Early the next day, Submarimon carried Cody, and Pegasmon carried T.K., while Tentomon went with them to scout.
"Davis is definitely going to be mad," Submarimon said uneasily.
"Maybe," Cody answered distractedly.
"Why didn't we bring Davis and the others to scout together?" Tentomon asked, confused.
"We can't exactly leave Kari and Yolei—two girls—there by themselves," T.K. said helplessly. All he could do was "sell out" Davis for now.
Meanwhile, Kari and Yolei woke up and saw the message T.K. had sent. Kari read it as she looked it over.
"They said they already know where the Digimon Emperor's base went."
"Where did it go?" Yolei asked, curious.
As T.K. flew, he noticed something strange about the Control Spires: they were arranged in a straight line, stretching from inland all the way out toward the ocean. Now the Control Spires continued straight down into the sea—so deep the tops couldn't even be seen anymore. And based on the information Cody sent from underwater, those Control Spires weren't stopping—they were still being built on the ocean floor, continuing that straight line into the unknown.
A bad feeling rose in T.K.'s chest. The Digimon Emperor seemed to be searching for something… and now he had found it, which was why he'd arranged the Control Spires like this.
"Leaving me behind and not letting me go…" Davis sat cross-legged on the ground, his whole face full of frustration.
"Don't be so down, Davis," Veemon comforted him.
Meanwhile, the Digimon Emperor lounged comfortably in his chair, staring at the central screen that showed that misshapen, not-quite-anything Digimon. His face was overflowing with pride and satisfaction.
"What are you going to do about the remaining parts?" Wormmon asked curiously.
"Hahahaha!" the Digimon Emperor laughed smugly. "Don't rush. We'll get them soon."
In the human world, Tai, Matt, and Izzy stared intently at the computer, following the messages Cody had sent so they could keep track of what was happening in the Digital World.
As for Matt's dad, he was washing rice with a face full of misery, muttering to himself, "Why is it me?"
Over on Jun Motomiya's side…
She was still stubbornly following in Matt's footsteps. But her luck was so terrible it was almost impressive. Yesterday she'd been shaken off by Matt; today, after finally getting word of where they were camping, she rushed to catch a bus—only to miss it. When she finally managed to flag down a ride, it turned out to be an elderly couple.
Their speed could only be described as… even if they hit a person, that person probably wouldn't get hurt. Even if they hit a cat, the cat wouldn't lose a single hair.
T.K. and the others had already flown close to the Digimon Emperor's base. Cody, riding Submarimon, approached from the water.
Davis, riding Raidramon, finally made it to the seaside—only to realize that none of Veemon's Armor Digivolutions could fly, while Kari and Yolei had already flown far off on Darcmon and Holsmon.
Davis stared ahead at a small tree—only about as thick as his thigh—and declared grandly, "I'm going to chop this tree down and make a canoe to chase Kari and the others!"
Veemon agreed eagerly. "That's a really good idea!"
Honestly, that tree might've been the biggest one around… but no matter how you looked at it, there was no way it could fit the two of you inside it.
"Alright, if we've decided, then let's do it!" Davis said, brimming with motivation as he tried to push the tree over.
And he really did push it over—no, not a big uncle… a big tree—but it only fell halfway. Then the island beneath their feet split apart within a few meters of where they stood and began surging forward at high speed.
"How can this happen?!" Veemon stared in shock at the instant "island-to-ship" transformation.
"Whatever," Davis said carelessly. "The point is, we can ride this little island and catch up to them!"
Honestly, Davis, your nerves are thicker than that tree. Even Veemon—an actual Digimon from this world—was shocked by an island turning into a boat, and you immediately jumped to using it to chase people.
So one boy and one Digimon rode that bizarre little island as it drifted into the distance, racing toward Kari and the others.
//Check out my P@tre0n for 20 extra chapters on all my fanfics //[email protected]/Razeil0810