"Even though we dodged, how did this still happen?" Kari couldn't understand it.
"He doesn't care whether he hits his own allies," T.K. glared at Kimeramon, furious at its indiscriminate attacks.
"Ken… if this keeps going, even this base will get destroyed," Wormmon said anxiously.
The Digimon Emperor stared at the screen and replied without even turning around, his tone impatient. "I know."
"Blue Thunder!" Raidramon forced himself back up and fired his special attack at Kimeramon. The other Digimon also gritted through the pain, struggling to their feet and attacking.
"Gold Rush!"
"Tempest Wing!"
"Shooting Star!"
Darcmon swung her holy sword and slashed at Kimeramon's arm.
Boom! Boom! Boom! Their attacks detonated across Kimeramon's body, smoke swallowing its silhouette. Darcmon rushed in through the cover and brought her blade down on Kimeramon's demon arm, carving a deep wound.
"Did we do it?" The kids stared into the smoke, eyes bright with hope.
Thud.
A figure burst out of the haze and slammed onto the ground. The kids looked over—Darcmon, the one who'd charged in.
Then several scorching Heat Vipers blasted through the smoke and slammed toward the Digimon who were still waiting for the outcome. They barely managed to dodge the beams, but even the shockwaves alone were more than they could withstand—each of them was sent flying again, smashed hard into the walls.
The Digimon refused to give up and kept charging in, again and again. But reality was cruel. Their effort didn't bring victory—only failure after failure. The kids could only watch in pain as their partners rushed forward, got blown back, and crashed into the walls over and over.
"Holy Shield!" Darcmon abandoned her sword and raised a holy staff instead, drawing a shield of light in front of her to protect Halsemon, who couldn't dodge Heat Viper in time.
Hiss—!
Heat Viper hammered into the Holy Shield, shrieking as it burned against it. Darcmon's outstretched arm was forced back inch by inch. Kimeramon, seeing the shot didn't finish them, poured on even more power—an even larger beam roared forward.
The Holy Shield shattered instantly.
Darcmon only had time to brace her holy staff in front of her before she was blasted away.
"Darcmon!" Kari tried to stand and run to her, but Yolei grabbed her tightly and held her back.
As the smoke cleared, Darcmon's armor was charred black, her wings torn and frayed. The holy staff in her hand had been reduced to a tiny remnant before it dissolved into light and returned to the Crest of Light on her arm. Darcmon herself became a beam of light and reverted into Gatomon, collapsing there without strength.
"Gatomon!"
"I can't… anymore." Digmon, completely drained, spoke weakly and reverted into Upamon.
"Upamon!"
"I don't have any power left…" Halsemon twitched in pain, then reverted into Poromon.
"Poromon!"
"Davis… I'm sorry." Raidramon was slammed into the wall, his body trembling as he reverted into Chibimon.
"Chibimon!"
"My strength… is gone…" Pegasusmon said—and fell from the air, reverting into Patamon before hitting the ground.
"Patamon!"
"These little guys… I think I've seen them somewhere." The Digimon Emperor frowned at the reverted Chibimon and the others. Then it hit him—back at that soccer match, these kids had been in the stands with them. "It was then… How did they end up in the real world?"
"They're living beings," Wormmon said behind him. "You can't defeat them just with those attacks."
"What did you say?" The Digimon Emperor snapped around, startled, then awkwardly turned back to the screen, his face full of confusion and uncertainty. "Living beings? Alive…?"
His expression suddenly twisted. Cold sweat broke out as memories flashed—those Digimon living with the kids, talking with them, laughing with them. Ken clutched his chest, staring at Kimeramon on the screen as it prepared to attack again, and forced out an order:
"Kimeramon, stop attacking."
After giving the command, even the Digimon Emperor looked surprised at himself. But the moment he thought of those warm scenes between kids and Digimon, his head began to throb in waves. Even so, he didn't give the order to attack again.
The kids stared in shock as Kimeramon—holding the overwhelming advantage—stopped in place and didn't move. They didn't understand why, but they knew it was a rare chance. They rushed out at once, gathering their exhausted partners into their arms.
"I'm going to crush them myself," the Digimon Emperor said, stepping out—half speaking to Wormmon, and half to himself.
"We need to get out of here," T.K. suddenly said.
"Get out…?" The word hit everyone like a slap. The kids stared at T.K., stunned.
"If we stay, we can't fight anyway! The operation failed—we retreat for now and wait for another chance!" T.K. analyzed the situation calmly. "And it's not like we got nothing today. We go back, meet up with Tai and the others, then come back and destroy this fortress."
"Yeah… we don't have any other choice," Kari said, head lowered, discouraged. "Gatomon and the others have no strength left. Staying here doesn't mean anything."
"I get it," Cody said, his voice just as heavy.
"I don't agree!" Davis suddenly shouted.
"Davis?" Everyone looked at him, shocked by how much fire he still had.
"I can't keep waiting anymore! If we retreat now, that guy is going to keep destroying the Digital World—who knows if we'll even be able to sneak into this fortress again after that!" Davis said, furious. When T.K. tried to speak, Davis cut him off by yelling even louder, "And don't tell me to go find Tai and the others! We're the Chosen Children, aren't we? If I don't fight until the very last moment, I'm never giving up!"
"But everyone's already lost their fighting strength," Yolei said, drained. "What can we even do?"
"So what?!" Davis clenched his fists, teeth grinding. "Didn't you all see it? When Kimeramon was tearing up the streets, we could only stand there and watch—completely useless. I never want to see that again. I won't let that thing do whatever it wants anymore. Even if it's only me, I'm going. We can't give up now. We're already here—there's no way back."
After hearing Davis, Chibimon crawled out of his arms and climbed onto his head. "If Davis goes, I'm going too."
"Good. Chibimon, hold on tight." Davis took off running, slid down a hanging iron chain, and kept going until he reached the central engine room.
The others stood up, about to follow—
When a familiar voice sounded behind them:
"Kimeramon, start attacking."
"Digimon Emperor!" The kids whipped around in horror.
Kimeramon had already turned, jaws opening as scorching light gathered in its mouth.
The kids lowered their heads, hugging their partners tightly, bracing themselves for death.
Boom—!
The base shook violently, but the kids didn't feel any impact.
Confused, they opened their eyes and looked up.
Kimeramon had blasted a massive hole straight through the base—an opening that led outside. Then it rose, flying out through the breach.
"Where are you going?! Kimeramon… Kimeramon!" The Digimon Emperor shouted after it, but the usually obedient Kimeramon didn't even hesitate, flying straight out without any sign of turning back.
"Hah! Hah! Hah!" That familiar laughter echoed again, dripping with smug satisfaction.
"That voice…" T.K. frowned. He still felt like he'd heard it before.
In the Digimon Emperor's eyes, the world turned into complete darkness again—warped light and twisted images crawling across his vision. Something pounded inside his head, making him suffer so badly that cold sweat poured down.
"I'm not afraid! It's just dark power!" the Digimon Emperor forced out through clenched teeth. "I'm the king of this world. Of course I can use dark power freely!"
"If only I'd stopped him when we were collecting that dark data… none of this would've happened," Wormmon murmured, watching Ken in agony, blaming himself. "In this world, the only one who can protect Ken… is me."
"He wanted to use dark power, but instead he got used by it," T.K. said, looking at Ken's pain. He still wanted to know who that familiar voice belonged to, but they had a mission. "While we've got this chance, we move—straight to the engine room."
"That's the engine room, right?" Davis said, heading toward the door.
Wormmon suddenly jumped out. "You're the Digimon Emperor's—"
Before he could finish, Wormmon spun around. "This way—hurry. Aren't you trying to get to the engine room?"
"But why are you telling me?" Davis narrowed his eyes, cautious. "What if it's a trap?"
"It's not," Wormmon said quickly. "I just want to save Ken. Kimeramon is too terrifying—if it keeps existing like this, sooner or later Ken will get dragged somewhere I can't reach."
"…I understand. I'll believe you."
Following Wormmon, Davis reached the door of the steel fortress. When it opened, the sheer energy inside was so intense it made the air warp.
"What is that? It looks like it's overflowing with energy," Chibimon said, stunned.
"Ken found it," Wormmon explained. "That stone is the base's main power source."
At the center stood a strangely shaped black stone, planted upright. Weird patterns wrapped around it and spread out along the floor in branching lines.
"So if we remove that, the base will stop moving?" Davis reached toward it—
But before his hand even touched the stone, it rose up on its own.
The entire base instantly lost power.
And then, from within the black stone, golden light began to spill out.
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