"Don't underestimate the power of darkness, otherwise—" The voice cut off there, and Devimon was fully retrieved.
"A hallucination? If it was a hallucination, that message was way too weird. I'm the mighty King of the Digital World—what could I possibly not do?" Ken Ichijouji comforted himself, pale-faced. The more he thought about it, the more he started laughing.
T.K., face dark, strode deeper inside without caring about Cody calling out behind him. He just kept going stubbornly. Patamon hurried after him, flapping his batlike wings.
Ken piloted the Mechanorimon back to the base. Seeing him return safely, Wormmon finally let out a breath and rushed up to him.
But the moment Ken stepped into the control room, an alarm flashed as red dots lit up on the screen.
"The prison's been breached. Those guys snuck in. When did they get inside?" Ken turned his head. "Whatever. I don't have time to deal with them right now."
He only reinforced the other areas a little, then went right back to his own work. The base began rising, pulling away from the Dark Whirlpool.
As the base moved off, the Dark Whirlpool gradually disappeared. The surrounding seawater returned to its normal flow and color, as if that whirlpool had never existed at all.
On the screen, Ken manipulated the data, attaching Devimon's claws onto the patchwork, mismatched Digimon. He laughed smugly.
"See? It fits perfectly. Now my original Digimon is complete! Hahahaha!"
He laughed in triumph, completely missing the tears shining in Wormmon's eyes. Wormmon had to admit it—the gentle Ken he once knew was gone. This Ken was being swallowed by darkness.
Over on Jun Motomiya's side, she was still dozing in the elderly couple's car, not noticing that they were driving farther and farther away from the city… and deeper into the countryside.
"It looks like everyone ran pretty far," Veemon said, staring ahead—still no sign of the others.
"Yeah," Davis nodded, fully agreeing. "If we don't hurry, we won't catch up. But this island… dang it—"
Completely forgetting that he'd been planning to make a canoe and paddle it by hand earlier.
"Yolei, do you think Davis is going to be mad?" Kari asked. After all, the two of them had left Davis behind and rushed out.
"There's nothing we can do. Veemon can't fly," Yolei said with a shrug, like it wasn't her fault at all. Then she pointed. "Look over there…"
Yolei spotted something ahead.
In the thin sea mist near the shoreline, a fortress flew through the sky—and it was approaching them fast. That strange, distinctive shape told Kari and Yolei exactly what it was.
The Digimon Emperor's aerial fortress.
"It's coming this way," Holsmon said anxiously, preparing to intercept.
Inside the control room, the Digimon Emperor had already detected Kari and Yolei. He spoke smugly, brimming with pride.
"Perfect timing. I can test just how strong my composite Digimon really is. Go—Kimeramon!"
A hatch on top of the base opened. A Digimon stitched together from many different colored limbs was exposed to the sunlight. With a heavy flap of its wings, it launched into the sky and flew straight toward Kari and Yolei.
"Something's coming!" Yolei craned her neck, trying to see clearly—then she saw a chaotic mess of a Digimon, like a doll that had been torn apart and crudely sewn back together.
"What is that?!"
Kimeramon is an Ultimate-level Digimon formed by combining the head of Kabuterimon; the wings of Angemon and Airdramon; the claws of Devimon, SkullGreymon, and Kuwagamon; the tail of Monochromon; the legs of Garurumon; the upper body of Greymon; the "hair" of MetalGreymon's head; and additional parts and data from other Digimon. Exactly why it was created is unknown. Unlike Megadramon, which is composed of metal parts, Kimeramon is built primarily from biological components—whether it is a prototype, or a Digimon created to counter something else, remains unclear. What is known is that Kimeramon possesses terrifying fighting instincts and immense destructive power. Even passing close to it can cause injury. Its attack, launched from its four arms, is the death ray "Heat Viper." Those struck by it are torn apart, as if cursed by Kimeramon itself—showing just how brutal it is.
"I've never seen or even heard of a Digimon like that!" Tentomon said urgently. "While Darcmon and Holsmon are fighting it, we need to hurry and free the Digimon that were captured!"
Cody knew time was tight. He immediately continued smashing cell doors with Digmon.
Kimeramon was fast—so fast that Kari and Yolei felt caught off guard.
"Crimson Sun!"
Holsmon struck first, his eyes flashing red as two laser beams fired into Kimeramon's head—yet it didn't even leave a scratch.
"Kabuterimon's head is made from a special metal, so that won't work," Ken said smugly, watching his masterpiece's first battle.
"Lovely Attack!"
Darcmon slashed her twin swords, sending two pink blade arcs toward Kimeramon's wings. But Kimeramon dodged with shocking agility, then whipped around—moving at a speed that didn't match its massive body at all—and dove again at Darcmon and Holsmon.
"Angemon and Airdramon's wings make it incredibly agile. Now it's our turn to attack," Ken said, savoring the moment.
Kimeramon lunged. Holsmon slipped under it, but didn't notice the tail in time—he was struck hard.
"Garurumon's legs, plus Monochromon's tail…"
A red claw reached for Kari, but Darcmon dodged aside. Immediately after, a skull-shaped claw swiped again. She barely avoided it—only for a black arm to appear behind her and smash Darcmon downward.
"Kuwagamon, SkullGreymon, and Devimon's arms… Greymon's body, MetalGreymon's hair—hahahaha! Well? My invention is amazing, isn't it?" Ken watched with satisfaction as Kimeramon overwhelmed the kids' Digimon, beating them down again and again.
Holsmon finally pulled up just before crashing into the sea. Yolei—who had just experienced a rollercoaster-like drop again—stared, still shaken, at Kimeramon hovering proudly in the sky.
"What kind of monster is that?!"
"Hahahaha!" Ken kept laughing smugly. "Just like I thought—so strong! Only a Digimon like this is worthy of being the partner of the King of the Digital World!"
Then Ken turned and fixed Wormmon with a vicious glare.
"Not some cowardly thing like you."
He didn't notice the sorrow and tears in Wormmon's eyes at all.
While Darcmon and Holsmon struggled to hold Kimeramon back, the Digimon who had been freed threw a rope from the entrance down onto a boat shaped like a small island. One by one, they slid down.
"Alright—the Digimon are all rescued. We need to get out of here!" Tentomon urged.
Cody glanced back at the deep, shadowy cave and hesitated. "But T.K.—"
"Oh, come on. They'll figure it out. We have to go!" Tentomon insisted urgently.
With no choice, Cody rode Submarimon down into the sea and withdrew underwater, putting distance between them and the Digimon Emperor's base.
Meanwhile, T.K. was still inside the base, searching for the Digimon Emperor. Patamon had been trying to talk him out of it for a long time, but T.K. didn't budge—silent, angry, and pushing deeper.
"T.K., if you want to duel, do it later! Right now we have other things we have to do!" Patamon pleaded, trying to pull his partner away. But judging by the fury and iron resolve on T.K.'s face, it was clearly useless.
T.K. suddenly stopped.
A shadow approached.
From the side, the Digimon Emperor stepped in front of T.K. He lifted his head, once again wearing that arrogant, domineering expression.
"I didn't think you had it in you. You've got nerve—breaking into the base of the King of the Digital World who controls the power of darkness."
"Controls darkness?" T.K. heard that and suddenly burst out laughing.
"What are you laughing at?!" the Digimon Emperor snapped, furious.
T.K. stopped laughing and looked at him with open scorn.
"Ken Ichijouji, how long are you going to keep playing this 'conquer the world' game? Is it fun? You keep talking about 'dark power,' but you don't even understand it yourself. If you get hurt, it won't be worth it. Grow up already—stop acting like a child."
The Digimon Emperor's whole body trembled. He started shouting again and again, "Useless! Useless…!"
But anyone could hear it—beneath the anger was insecurity, and beneath the words was hatred born from having his insides exposed.
"Is that the only thing you can say?" T.K. kept taunting him.
"Shut up!" The Digimon Emperor's voice shook as he lashed his whip out, trying to shut T.K. up.
Crack!
The whip struck T.K.'s face, leaving a bleeding mark. The Digimon Emperor froze the moment he realized what he'd done.
T.K. touched the wound, looked at the blood on his fingers, and spoke with a pitying tone.
"Can't win with words, so you use your whip instead?"
"It's not…" The Digimon Emperor's voice was almost too quiet to hear, stubborn even as it shook.
"Not? Whatever. There's no point arguing with you." T.K. lowered his hand and stared at him. "You done? Then be careful—now it's my turn."
T.K.'s previously smiling eyes sharpened into something cold.
"What—?" The Digimon Emperor blinked.
T.K. charged forward, swinging his fist—one punch slammed into the Digimon Emperor's face and knocked him to the ground.
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