The Crest Of Courage

Part V: The Price Of Freedom

 

Far away from the Digital World; far away, in a sense, from the real world, a young girl sat wide awake in bed. A strange greenish glow emanated from a drawer in the desk near her computer. What is that? she wondered. Hesitantly, fearfully, she slid the covers back and walked slowly toward the strange glow. Briefly, she hesitated before opening the desk drawer. Whatever was inside that drawer had such a strange aura- and it somehow didn’t feel quite right to her.

With a shrug, Sakura threw all caution aside. Her life, after all, had been nothing but chaos and confusion from the time she could remember anything at all- what, then, was one thing more? Sakura lived in one of the few largely whole structures in what was left of Tokyo, Japan. Shortly after she had been born, strange creatures from another world had emerged from a dark gateway near a place called Highton View Terrace. They began to wage mindless, senseless destruction on the city.

One of their first acts had been to raze Highton View Terrace itself to the ground. Nothing lived there, and nothing could grow there. It was, for all intents and purposes, a desert- a terrible wasteland in the middle of Japan where, because of the tremendous, deadly levels of radiation in the area, nothing could survive. Sakura vaguely remembered fleeing from Odaiba as an army of strange, burning humanoid creatures marched through the streets, destroying everything in site in one titanic, blazing inferno.

It was a boy; an older boy, she remembered- he was actually riding one of the creatures, a giant metallic wolf. He was the only reason she and her parents had survived the massacre at Odaiba- shortly thereafter, the city was decimated in a blitz of nuclear missiles as the Japanese military desperately tried to neutralize the threat of the invaders once and for all. But of course, the invaders seemed limitless.

Humans and monsters had fought what became known as the Great Wars- a series of battles that the humans, to a large extent, had lost. United under a leader known only as the Warlock Lord, the monsters had left Japan a broken, subjugated country where any remaining humans served as slaves to the armies of the Dark Lord- and then proceeded to wage war against the other nations of Earth.

The entire continent of South America was virtually uninhabitable- its jungles were so full of dangerous natural predators that, rather than waste valuable time and lives on them, the Warlock Lord had simply eliminated them using stolen nuclear technology from Pakistan, India, and Russia. Even the United States was merely a shadow of its former self, it’s economy on the verge of collapse and its troops all but exhausted in the battle against the invaders. Europe and Africa remained, for the most part, untouched- but it was only a matter of time. Even now, the invaders swarmed, unstoppable, over the plains of Central Asia, and a few had been spotted as far south as the Mediterranean.

There had been rumors of a power even stronger than that of the Warlock Lord, a power vast beyond belief- and more twisted, more evil than the Dark Lord himself. Except for the small, scattered bands of resistance fighters, Sakura couldn’t help but feel that this was indeed the end: that the entire Earth should fall to the darkness, that humans would, one by one, fall prey to the creatures of evil that had already practically destroyed the world. Sakura picked up the two glowing objects. Each in turn flared briefly at her touch, and then grew still and dark. It made her wonder if they were in fact meant for her at all. As she hung the long chain to which the smaller of the two was attached about her neck, it began to glow again- to burn against her chest with a growing, swirling internal fire. Sakura felt a deep sense of unease creep through her- was it trying to warn her about something?

Unbeknownst to Sakura, a pair of feral red eyes made their way slowly up the front walk. Paws of stealth padded noiselessly along the broken concrete, the creature so fixated on its target that it completely ignored the world about it. The neighbors might have voiced a warning- but what few of them actually saw the nightmare beast quickly ducked their heads back inside and prayed the monster hadn’t seen them. Its claws slipped out of their sheaths in anticipation of the kill. It had sensed a type of energy unknown to Earth for decades- an energy source that had originated in the Digital World. That could mean only one thing- a return of the Digi-Destined. And that was one thing the beast, and its master, would do anything to prevent. With a snarl of anticipation, the beast leapt at the heavy oaken door.

Sakura stared at the two glowing objects, torn by indecision. Is this right? What exactly am I getting into? she wondered. Even as the crest continued to burn against her skin, a subtle feeling of horror, of wrongness that Sakura found hard to explain began to seep through her body. Something’s not right here... she thought. Suddenly, a muffled crashing sound came somewhere below and to the right of her- the front door. They’re here, Sakura thought. Then I have no choice. All indecision eliminated by the sudden attack, Sakura slipped the digivice into a pocket. Quickly, silently, she began to undo the window locks.

The monster padded stealthily into the entrance hall. It hadn’t been in a true human household for so long… where had the mysterious radiation come from? It had the luxury of time, it decided. After all, it was one of the most powerful beings in the Digital World, a match for even a Mega Digimon like the old Digi-Destined had once had. Those had been exciting times- when the island the humans called Japan remained untaken by the Warlock Lord, and there had been plenty of Digimon that were worthy opponents to battle. But then they had all gradually disappeared... Killing humans was far too easy, and the only thing the beast lived for was the fight; the test of skill and cunning against strength and speed, the match of logic versus instinct. The nightmare creature had all of these, and it had emerged the undisputed master of all that had dared to challenge it. Perhaps a new challenge such as had existed in the old days awaited somewhere in the human dwelling…

The first of the doors on the second story burst inward. Sakura shivered. Whatever it was, it was immensely powerful- and it was after her. Somehow, Sakura knew this beyond a doubt- and the beast grew ever closer. Door after door splintered under its assault as it relentlessly made its way toward Sakura, checking each room along the way to be sure that none escaped. There, Sakura thought. The last of the locks had been undone, and all that required doing was the deactivation of the Digital Barrier that warded the window. Sakura raised a hand to depress the Emergency Off button when the doorway suddenly exploded into the room. The beast snarled with instinctual rage. Sakura gasped in shock. What stood in the ruins of the collapsed doorway was a beast so hideous Sakura almost couldn’t bear to look. It was a four-legged creature, a monster, a predator like nothing she’d ever seen. The legends are true, then, she thought. A Demon Hunter.

The demon took its time. With, slow, mincing, deliberate steps, it stalked its way toward Sakura. It’s playing with me, she realized. It knows there’s no way I can stop it. Unless… Quickly, Sakura bent over the keyboard. With a few swift, unhesitating keystrokes, she changed a single setting on a small menu in the upper right-hand corner of the screen. It was enough. The massive beast realized what she was doing and leapt to stop her- but it was already too late. “Digital Barrier- activate!” Sakura shouted. The complex electronic net that was woven subtly into the very walls of the house hummed to life. The monitor dimmed with the power required to keep the field operational. And the Digital Barrier snapped into position between Sakura and the Demon Hunter.

The powerful electric field threw the huge monster across the room- but the electronic net hadn’t been designed to repel the assault of a creature as powerful as the attacking monster, and it wavered uncertainly as more energy was drained. It clearly couldn’t last much longer. The far wall of Sakura’s bedroom collapsed as the heavy body of the demon hurtled into it. Surely that would be enough to destroy it? Sakura thought. But as the dust from the impact settled, Sakura saw the Demon Hunter’s bulk straining against the tons of steel-reinforced concrete that lay atop it. Slowly, slowly, the pile of rubble shifted.

The hellhound’s mad, gleaming yellow eyes held Sakura transfixed. But as it prepared to charge again, the device that Sakura had so thoughtlessly slipped into her pocket flared with sudden light- enough to block out the demon’s gaze. Abruptly released from its entrancing spell, Sakura turned to the window, and leapt the two stories down to the ground. Momentarily dazed by the drop, Sakura shook herself mentally. The streets of Tokyo were unsafe at best, particularly so at night- but it was better by far to risk them than to remain where she was and suffer death at the hands of the hideous monster that lurked above. Shakily, Sakura climbed to her feet and started off into the night. Above and behind her, there was a sudden flash of sparks as the coruscating energy flow of the Digital Barrier ceased altogether- the demon had broken through! That must be an incredibly strong creature, Sakura thought. That Digital Barrier was supposed to have been able to withstand a Mega for longer than that!

Sakura began to run. Behind her, the Demon Hunter hit the ground with an earthshaking thud. As Sakura glanced backward over her shoulder, she realized she had no hope of outrunning the monster- the beast was impossibly fast, and closing the distance between them at an alarming rate. She could hear it now on the broken concrete of the back road, almost feel the fetid warmth of its breath as it closed. If I can just reach one of the shelters, Sakura thought, those places have Barriers that are supposed to withstand anything. But she could already tell that it would be over long before then. Any second now, the demon would be on her…

“Thunder Force!” A blinding flash of electricity lashed out from the alley behind her, and the demon fell sideways with an enraged growl. Sakura looked wildly around for the source of the attack, and her eyes lit upon a small, dog-like creature with large, floppy ears and stunning blue eyes. It was… a Digimon. Confused, Sakura glanced first at the Demon Hunter, then at its strangely familiar attacker. But I thought that all the Digimon were allied with the Darkness… Sakura thought. “I’m Cincomon!” the Digimon said. “There’s not much time, we’ve got to get out of here!” Anything’s better than waiting around for that thing to wake up, Sakura decided. Even now, the demon grunted faintly, already stirring from its unconscious state. “Let’s go!” Sakura shouted. And not a moment too soon. In seconds, the demon was after them. Sakura ran blindly ahead, with Cincomon at her side. Left, right, then left again… Sakura soon lost track of how many turns they’d taken, and where they were. If we could just find one of the shelters! she thought in frustration as she glanced to the side at her newfound protector. Another left turn- and Sakura stopped in horror as she realized they’d reached a dead end. Quickly, she turned, hoping against hope that the Demon Hunter was far enough back that they could escape- but faster than thought, the menacing bulk of the demon blocked the opening, the feeble light from the street lamp disappearing. Oh, no…

 

Ken jumped stealthily from the stone awning onto the pavement below. The last of the Digi-Destined, or so he thought. It’s been twenty years since the rest of the Digi-Destined were murdered by the Warlock Lord, he thought. Twenty years, and I could do nothing about the atrocities he and his Digimon army committed. And now, today, all that is going to change. “Ken?” Wormmon said, as if sensing his discomfort. “It’s… nothing, Wormmon,” Ken said distractedly. “Listen; they’re coming!” A resonant drumbeat had begun to fill the air. The first of the long train of slaves turned the corner. Heads lowered, arms shackled, and bound to one another like pack animals, the slaves shuffled in submission before their Digimon captors.

Geptamon, Ken thought in contempt. Geptamon were strong, man-sized reptiles that walked on their hind legs. Their natural armored hides tended to repel blaster bolts and most other assaults by man-made weaponry, and each had a long, serpentine neck with a hooded head like a cobra’s. Worse still, their very skin was poisonous, and as Royal Guard they carried hand-held weapons that when used collectively were capable of leveling an entire city block- but they were still only Champion-level Digimon, and not much of a challenge to any true Digi-Destined. Still, they had incredibly cruel natures- as Ken watched, a Geptamon jabbed his captive in the back with a bayonet for no reason other than its own amusement. Its forked tongue flicked out from between its lips with pleasure.

This final injustice was enough to make Ken want to end the evil creature’s life then and there- but justice would have to wait. The mission came first. The Autocrat came into view. Once a relatively reasonable human being, after Japan’s fall Antaeus had taken over as human dictator. Even though he had committed enough atrocities on his own to deserve death a thousand times over, he was merely a puppet for the true dictator, the one who would not be satisfied with less than the complete domination of Earth and the Digital World- and still, Ken waited. Finally, surrounded by his personal elite Royal Guardians, atop an enormous Mammothmon, he came into view. King Etemon. Ken’s face darkened with hatred at the sight of the one who had caused so much pain.

At the moment of the Warlock Lord’s greatest triumph, when he had paraded through the streets after the final conquest of Japan, MetalEtemon had appeared. A Digimon long thought dead, MetalEtemon had taken the Dark Lord by surprise, attacking from behind. MetalEtemon quickly snatched away the Dark Digivice and Crest of Shadows, which Ken knew were the secret behind the Warlock Lord’s power. With that power taken away, he wasn’t capable of shifting forms. It was still a long, drawn-out battle, but in the end surprise had paid off for MetalEtemon, and the Dark Lord was vanquished.

For a while, the people had rejoiced- but when the dark energy from the Crest of Shadows mixed with MetalEtemon’s own power, he digivolved into KingEtemon- a state that was, incredibly, even higher than Mega. But the dark energy had also turned Etemon cruel and evil beyond belief, and now he seemed to enjoy nothing more than causing pain and anguish in whoever he came into contact with. Even King Etemon’s own troops became subject to his own particular brand of punishment. And none had dared to resist him- until today. Ken caught a glimpse of King Etemon’s face behind his swirling robes of scarlet. The crown on his head tilted backward as his jaw opened wide with what appeared to be laughter- Ken couldn’t tell over the noise of the parade. But as he came closer, it was plain to see- King Etemon was actually laughing at the misery of his human captives! Ken’s face clouded over with the pent-up rage of years of anguish. “We’ve got to free those slaves,” Ken said quietly, almost to himself. The time was right- King Etemon was almost to the entrance of the narrow alley. Almost... “Wormmon!” Ken shouted. “Let’s go!” A bright white light began to fill the narrow alley...

“Wormmon warp-digivolve to... GranKuwagamon!”

 

            Meanwhile, King Etemon sat astride the enormous Mammothmon. It had been a long time since he had been able to enjoy himself in this manner- but since the suppression of the majority of the rebels and the capture of the Orion space-defense laser, he’d had nothing but time on his hands. A parade was just what he needed, he’d decided. And indeed, as a Geptamon savagely prodded his human captive with a bayonet, he found he really was enjoying himself. His natural voice sounding as if it were coming out of a loudspeaker, deep and resonant, King Etemon addressed the city. “Citizens of Tokyo,” King Etemon began. “Your city lies before me- defenseless, incapable of resistance. In front of me are the pitiful remnants of human beings- the leaders of the so-called rebellion my army has crushed! Further resistance is pointless- for I am the most powerful Digimon in both worlds! He tilted his head back to laugh at the downtrodden remnants of human beings that cowered before the whips of the slavedrivers- but stopped in mid-laugh as a harsh white light flooded the street.

He shielded his eyes from the glare until it had finally died down, to be replaced by- “WHAT?!” King Etemon’s astonishment was audible. “You think you’re the most powerful Digimon in the world?” Ken shouted as he stormed out of the alleyway. “Well, think again! GranKuwagamon!” GranKuwagamon needed no encouragement. A darker, more menacing version of HerculesKabuterimon, GranKuwagamon spread his enormous, vibrating insect wings and soared from the alley above Ken, like a dark angel rising for vengeance. Swathed in his crimson robes though he was, King Etemon could not help but show amazement. “Well, well...” he said at last. “A Digi-Destined. I thought they were all destroyed long ago... No matter.” “Not this one!” Ken shouted. “And I will make sure you pay for what you have done to this world!” “I shall try to make this quick and painless,” King Etemon said as if bored. “If you wish to surrender-”

GranKuwagamon didn’t give him the chance to finish his sentence. “Rapid Striker!” he roared. A blur of deadly red laser beams shot forth from GranKuwagamon’s outstretched arms, and the Mammothmon beneath King Etemon went down in agony. King Etemon leapt lightly from atop the stricken Mammothmon, his robes a blur of scarlet as he drew forth a shining, double-bladed scimitar. “I’d say your aim was a little off, if you ask me,” he said offhandedly.

“Want some more?” Grankuwagamon growled. “Rapid Striker!” Once more the deadly red laser beams lanced forth, this time directly at King Etemon. “Now that’s more like it!” King Etemon said, dissolving GranKuwagamon’s attack with a single slash of his sword. The crowd that had begun to gather watched, spellbound. On one side was the young, determined Digi-Destined, whom all had thought lost- and on the other was the most powerful, ruthless tyrant the world had ever known. There was a collective groan as the dust from the blast cleared, and King Etemon emerged unharmed. He laughed mirthlessly. “Is that the best you can do?” he asked tauntingly. The huge green gemstone atop the scepter at his side began to glow with power. “Scepter Blast!” he roared. A beam of wicked green light leapt from the scepter and struck GranKuwagamon full on. With a groan of pain he crashed back against the side of a building. This doesn’t look good, Ken thought grimly.

As if to belie his thoughts, GranKuwagamon was up again almost immediately. Standing fully erect, arms crossed in front of him and every muscle in his body tensed to the max, GranKuwagamon prepared for his strongest attack. “Pulse-Wave Blast!” he shouted. A sonic boom shattered windows all along the street as the powerful faster-than-sound attack ripped into King Etemon. The scepter went flying out of his hands as he flew across the street into a stone column near the former Imperial Palace, which collapsed. Tons of concrete and rubble tumbled down to crush King Etemon- or so Ken thought. Laughing, King Etemon effortlessly tossed the column aside and climbed free of the debris, still holding his saber aloft.

Meanwhile, a whirring sound at Ken’s side told him the robots he’d summoned from his hidden lab had arrived. “Attack bots- free the slaves!” Ken whispered. The attack bots seemed to need no urging. High-powered disruptors lanced out of their metallic arms, eliminating most of the Geptamon outright. The few who survived were soon easily dispatched.

The human slaves looked up in surprised gratitude as high-intensity cutting lasers freed them of their manacles. “Freedom...” one whispered in awe. “You don’t have much time!” Ken shouted. “Get out of here!” As one, the emaciated captives began to run. King Etemon saw what was going on. Leaning past the imposing bulk of GranKuwagamon, he raised his free hand. “Imperial Beam!” he shouted. A blast of violent blue light began to streak toward the fugitives- but faster than thought, GranKuwagamon leapt, interposing himself between the attack and the former slaves. The attack struck home, leaving visible damage on GranKuwagamon’s iron-hard carapace. “Hang in there, GranKuwagamon!” Ken called, stepping over the body of a downed Geptamon to snatch up a high-powered blaster rifle. “We need to buy more time for the prisoners to escape!” I don’t know how much longer he can last, he thought, as blast after blast struck GranKuwagamon.

 

            Meanwhile, in another part of the ruined city, another Digi-Destined looked up at the clear, cerulean blue sky, lost in thought. I know you’re out there somewhere, Sora, he thought to himself. Some day, somehow, I’m going to make him pay for what he did. He remembered her sweet, sad smile on that last fateful day. She’d looked so beautiful to him at that moment- and the selfless act that had followed only served to immortalize her in his mind for all eternity.

            “Matt,” she’d said. The memory was almost too painful to bear. “Matt, these people are counting on you to get them out. Don’t sacrifice yourself to save us- we’re finished.” As she spoke those words, a cry of mortal pain echoed in the background as WarGreymon was struck down. His body jerked spasmodically as blast after blast of deadly red energy struck home.  Matt watched in shock as Diablomon laughed victoriously, WarGreymon’s body beginning to break down as his life force was extinguished. The wicked dark red Digimon hissed in demonic glee, its forked tongue flicking out over its razor-sharp teeth. His yellow eyes gleaming in anticipation, Diablomon thrust his arm out toward the nearest building. The entire area ignited in one blazing, titanic inferno.

Tai staggered out of the blaze, his clothing singed and his skin badly burned. “It’s finished.” he gasped weakly. “Matt, Sora- get out of here now!” “You go nowhere, child!” Diablomon said, extending one crooked yellow claw in Tai’s direction. Faster than thought, a single, lethal red laser beam lanced toward Tai. Immolated by the fatal attack, Tai struggled to turn his head one last time toward the remaining Digi-Destined. “The Digi-Destined are finished,” he gasped. “Save yourselves- or no one will remain to stand against the darkness.” With those final words, Tai slumped to the ground, his eyes going blank as death finally came to the hero of Courage. Phoenixmon swooped down from the sky, coming to rest next to Sora. “Matt,” Sora said. “If you hang around now, you’ll all be lost.” As she spoke, she gestured over her shoulder at the family that sat astride MetalGarurumon, who awaited only Matt’s command to carry them all to safety. “We’ll hold them off- get out of here now!”

            “Sora,” he said, “Wait- just wait.” She turned and glanced back at Matt, a single tear rolling down her cheek. “Matt, honey. Save yourself- save them. Maybe some other time, some other life, we’ll see each other again. I’ve always loved you, Matt. I’ll always be with you.” With those words, Sora turned and ran at the dark, menacing beast in front of them, Phoenixmon at her side. “Sora, no!” A single blast of violent red light, and Phoenixmon fell from the sky. “I will wait for you in heaven!” Sora cried as she charged at Diablomon, drawing out a blaster. The monster swatted the weapon aside with ease. Diablomon unsheathed his claws. With a single thrust, he jabbed them deep into Sora’s stomach and lifted her off the ground, high into the air. Blood flowed freely from the wound. Matt watched in horror as the life drained from her eyes. He thought he saw a final look of appeal there, as if she was crying out to him for rescue... or for vengeance. Then Diablomon released her, and her lifeless body crumpled to the ground. “Come on, pretty boy,” Diablomon hissed. “If you would live up to the honor she has shown here, come and fight- or be shown for the pathetic coward you are.” Matt had run then, hating himself for it- but knowing there was no way he could triumph over the hideous monster that had murdered the rest of the Digi-Destined.

            And then the missiles had rained down from the heavens, and all of Odaiba disappeared in a final, fantastic explosion of terrible, cleansing flame. Matt and the family he was protecting had barely escaped that fiasco- only himself, a middle-aged man and a tiny baby girl had emerged from the ruins of the once-proud city. She’s so young, to have to endure such a tragedy, he’d thought, looking back at the wide-eyed baby girl as MetalGarurumon had spirited them away... So many battles they’d fought since then, since the time when they’d actually had a chance against the armies of darkness- Gabumon had actually become permanently digivolved into his Mega form. An explosion echoed somewhere off to the north. So much misery, so much death have the people of this world endured, Matt thought sadly, and there’s not anything we can do to stop it. Suddenly a brilliant beam sliced through the sky overhead, the sonic boom of its wake almost rocking Matt off his feet. Could it be? Matt wondered. Could someone else actually be fighting against the darkness? He knew of only one Digimon that could use that particular attack. And that meant... “Ken?” Matt wondered aloud. I won’t let this happen again. I’ve got to help him before they both get killed! “MetalGarurumon!” Matt shouted. The giant wolf was instantly at his side. And I’ve been standing here like a fool this whole time, doing nothing! he raged silently at himself. He leapt astride his Digimon partner. Without being told, MetalGarurumon seemed to know where Matt wanted to go. Snarling in fury, he set out at a flat run for the source of the battle. This one’s for you, Sora, Matt thought, his mind a whirl of anger and pain and hate. At the moment, all he wanted to do was kill...

Meanwhile a dark, sinister, wraithlike figure swathed in midnight black robes laughed coldly as he watched the blond hero disappear into the distance...

 

The Digital Portal closed with an angry snap like a whip’s, leaving the Digi-Destined in total darkness. “Hey Davis, watch where you’re landing!” Joe yelled angrily as someone fell from the spot where the portal had been directly onto Joe’s head. “I’m not Davis- and besides, it’s not my fault the Portal put me where it did!” Matt said. “Hey, where are we, anyway?” Tai asked. “Somewhere dark?” Mimi suggested helpfully. “I’m not sure,” Izzy said thoughtfully. “But perhaps finding a light switch would help us out?” There was a frantic scrambling along the walls as Joe and Mimi groped for the lights (both being extremely afraid of the dark).

After several loud crashes that were apparently from things falling off shelves, the lights abruptly snapped on. A mop had fallen on top of Joe’s head, and he was in the midst of frantically trying to destroy it by beating it against the wall, when he realized what it was. “Oh,” he said sheepishly as the others began to laugh. “I thought something had me.” “It appears as if we’re in some kind of storage closet,” Izzy said. And so they were. Bottles of cleaner, brooms, and cleaning buckets lined the interior of the small room. “Well then, let’s get out of here!” said Tai, impatient. “Hold it, Tai,” Izzy said. “We don’t know what could be out there.” “But someone could come along and notice us any second!” Tai insisted.

Tai’s words proved correct as the door suddenly swung open of its own accord. A janitor in a blue work suit turned his head from calling to another passerby, and noticed the eight children. “Hey, what are you-” he started, but trailed off as he noticed Palmon trying unsuccessfully to hide behind the folds of Mimi’s pink dress. “Digimon!” he shouted. Turning from the supply closet, he ran wildly down a side corridor bellowing something about “evil children and their monsters”. After his footsteps had faded off down the hallway and the children had recovered from their surprise somewhat, they swung the door slowly shut again. “We’d better get out of here- that guy could come back with reinforcements any minute!” Tai exclaimed. “Well, he didn’t seem to be much of a threat to me,” Izzy said. “But for once, I think Tai’s right. We don’t know where, or even when, we are, and he seemed to recognize them well enough,” he said, gesturing to the Digimon. “Come on, let’s go.”

Slowly, the Digi-Destined eased open the door again to find that they were in a highly modern sort of observatory. The walls were metallic, and straight ahead of them glassed in, offering a panoramic view of lush, dense jungle that stretched further than the eye could see in all directions. “Well, that rules out Japan,” Tai said forlornly. “Unless we’ve gone into the distant future, or another dimension altogether, that is,” Izzy said. The sound of more than one set of running combat boots echoed from the corridor the janitor had run toward. The Digi-Destined swiftly ducked into a nearby hallway and began to run quickly down it. “Stop!” a male voice called from behind them. As if to accentuate his words, a heavy blaster bolt ricocheted off the wall less than a foot from Tai’s head. The Digi-Destined skidded to a halt, turning to face the voice. A squad of black-clad troopers adorned with the symbol of the viper filled the corridor behind them.

The man who was evidently their leader, by the manner of his bearing and by the many combat decorations he wore across his uniform, stepped forward from their midst. His manner was confidant- no, Sora corrected herself, haughty. His eyes were cold and gray, and his hair was jet black tinged with white that ran down his sharply defined jawline, ending in a small, pointed goatee that he twirled absentmindedly with his fingers as he strode toward the Digi-Destined, blaster in hand and aimed straight at Mimi’s temple. He was taking no chances.

“Well, well- what do we have here?” he asked, almost as if to himself. “Excuse me sir, but we’re-” “Silence, boy!” Izzy’s reply was cut short by the older man’s snarl. “When I want you to talk, I’ll tell you. Now...” the man’s eyes roved among the group in a way Joe didn’t like, as if he were assessing possible targets. “We have a standing order to eliminate any Digimon and their accomplices outright, with no questions asked,” the officer said, almost as if he were enjoying the prospect. “Let’s start with you,” he said, snatching Patamon cruelly off his perch on T.K.’s shoulder. “No! Patamon!” T.K. cried, tensing his muscles for a leap he knew would never be successful. Tai held up his digivice.

Brilliant white light shone forth from the device... and nothing happened. Tai looked at the digivice in shock as the glow faded. “I don’t know what you were planning to do with that thing- but you can be next.” The officer smiled coldly, his gloved hands tightening on his weapon. The effect on the other troopers was somewhat the opposite, however. They all backed up nervously, and two even fainted outright. “Prepare to die, scum,” the man before them sneered. His finger tightened on the trigger......

“Stop!” A rich, commanding voice echoed from behind the Digi-Destined. “Just what do you think you’re doing, General Tao?” The man lowered his blaster slightly, but kept his hold on Patamon firm. The tiny Digimon, seeing no other avenue of escape, abruptly sank his sharp teeth viciously into the General’s hand. With a sharp curse that made even Matt wince, General Tao opened his hand just enough to allow Patamon to escape. He flew rapidly toward T.K.- but Tao snatched him again before he could get there. “You little-” Tao leveled his blaster at Patamon. “General Tao, release that Digimon!” The voice came from the tall, commanding figure behind the Digi-Destined. Tao dropped Patamon for good this time, and holstered his blaster. “These children brought Digimon into the building! If you release them, the enemy will discover our location!” Tao said angrily.

“I doubt these children and their Digimon pose any serious threat to our base,” the other man said. Kari noticed that his uniform bore the symbol of the Rising Sun, rather than the insignia of the viper. “They are my responsibility now. I suggest you take your men and leave.” General Tao glowered angrily at this, but nonetheless he turned on his heel and stalked angrily down the hall, taking his troopers with him. “Allow me to introduce myself,” the other officer said when General Tao and his men had left. “My name is General Davis Miyamoto, and I am commander of this base. Please follow me.” The General turned and started forward at a brisk pace, the Digi-Destined following.

At the mention of Davis’s name, Tai started visibly. “Where is Davis, anyhow?” he asked quietly. “There’s no way to tell, I guess. The Digital Portal must have dropped him somewhere different than the rest of us, for some reason.” Izzy said. “We’ll just have to hope he can get by all right on his own.” “Well, he is pretty annoying, but I hope nothing’s happened to him,” Tai said. None of the other Digi-Destined had noticed the sudden lack of whining, complaining, and general noise in the group before then, so no one had really thought about Davis. They stopped short as the other Davis approached a doorway set into the wall. Holding his palm up to a scanner near the entrance, General Miyamoto led the way into the room as the doors swished open. “This is my office,” he said by way of explanation as the Digi-Destined entered and the door shut slowly behind them. “In here we can talk without disturbances. You are the Digi-Destined, correct?”

Izzy’s mouth dropped open. “But how did you know?” he asked. “My grandfather Gennai said you’d come. Most of his predictions were vague, and more than a little, well, strange- but they did seem to have an uncanny habit of coming true.” “Your grandfather?” Izzy asked. “But that would mean-” “You’ve been transported twenty years into the future,” the General said, cutting him off. “About two years after the battle with Myotismon, the Digi-Destined returned to Earth. There were rumors that their return wasn’t of their own accord- that they were forced out of the Digital World by the Warlock Lord. By that time, his presence was as strong here as it apparently was in the Digital World. But then, it happened- barely a month after the return of the Digi-Destined, a Digital Portal opened near Highton View Terrace, and the army of the Dark Lord emerged.” His expression darkened.

“It seemed that conquering the Digital World wasn’t enough for the Warlock Lord. The Digi-Destined fought bravely, but they were outnumbered, outmatched. One after another, they were found and destroyed. Now all of Japan has been conquered by this Digimon army, and Jungle Base is all we have left against King Etemon and his army.” “King Etemon?” Tai asked. “Yes, he was the one to finally defeat the Warlock Lord- but the darkness turned him more evil, more twisted and cruel than he’d ever been before. At least the Dark Lord left us more or less alone, but that one actually seems to enjoy watching humans suffer... but I thought there was supposed to be one more?”

“We’re not sure where he ended up,” Tai admitted. “The Digital Portal must have dropped him somewhere else- maybe even an entirely different dimension. Who was that man that tried to kill Patamon?” “General Tao is our head of security,” Miyamoto said. “You must understand that by some, the arrival of the Digi-Destined is viewed as a cataclysmic event- and Tao is one of those.” “But then why-” Izzy’s words were cut short as an alarm klaxon began to hoot loudly throughout the base. “We’re under attack!” Miyamoto exclaimed. “ALL PERSONNEL TO BATTLE STATIONS. THIS IS NOT A DRILL. REPEAT...” The loudspeaker repeated its message as General Miyamoto rushed out of the room, leaving the Digi-Destined wondering what to do next...

 

Meanwhile, across the city, another Digital Portal blazed to life atop a ruined building overlooking a small, dingy alley below. Davis and Veemon tumbled out of the Portal to land on the crumbling concrete rooftop. “Whew,” said Davis. “I never thought I’d be so glad to see civilization again... where are we, Veemon?” “I’m not sure, Davis,” Veemon said helpfully. “But it looks like the place you humans call Tokyo- just a little bit more run-down.” “A little bit isn’t exactly the word for it,” Davis said, a chill beginning to creep down his spine. If this was Tokyo, then they’d been transported to the future- a not-too-distant future by the looks of things; Davis even recognized a few of the buildings. But he dreaded to think what had happened to the city- the place had become an urban wasteland, a ghost town, a future out of Davis’s worst nightmares... As if to prove Davis’s dark thoughts true, a heavy thudding of paws sounded on the street below. Davis squinted in the flickering yellow glow of a nearby street lamp- and recoiled in horror at what he saw. A Demon Hunter... here in Tokyo? Davis shuddered. This wasn’t looking good... The nightmare beast below caught a glimpse of the boy and Digimon on the rooftop. It snarled a feral challenge as madness gleamed in its yellow eyes. It was a berserker, a monster- and it had to be stopped. “Golden armor, energize!” Davis shouted.

 

Sakura shrank back into the shadows in fear, horrified at the sight of the advancing monster. Cincomon stepped in front of her. “Thunder Javelin!” he shouted. His entire body glowed with the energy he was expending, and a brilliant white spear of electricity arced from Cincomon’s rigid body toward the encroaching demon. But this time, the Demon Hunter was ready. A single massive, armored forearm swung forward, deflecting the blast into the side of a nearby building with ease. Cincomon slumped weakly against the dingy brick wall of the alley, exhausted. I put nearly all my energy into that attack, he thought, and it didn’t even phase that monster! But he had to defend the human he’d so recently come to care for- even at the expense of his own life. “Don’t come any closer!” he warned, using nearly all his strength just to remain upright. The demon hissed in anticipation, and continued stalking slowly toward Sakura and Cincomon. “Thunder Force!” Cincomon shouted again. The blast caused the demon to skid back a few feet- but Cincomon had expended all his energy. It was only through sheer willpower that he remained standing at all. “I’m sorry, Sakura...” he said weakly. “I tried...” He looked up at the human girl, tears in his eyes. How could he explain what he felt for her- and the frustration he felt at not being enough to save her, despite having used all his power in her defense? I’ll fight to the very end for her, he thought. It’s all I can do now. With a growl of anticipation, the Demon Hunter tensed to lunge...

“Veemon golden armor-digivolve to... Magnamon!”

Sakura looked up in surprise. Just as she’d almost given up hope... maybe there was a chance, after all. A shining golden radiance filled the air above them. The demon shrank back warily, uncertain as to how to meet the new challenge. It had encountered digivolutions before, but none that were anything like this...

“Magna Kick!” The radiant, armored Digimon leaped from atop the building, one foot striking the demon in the flank. The nightmare beast flew into the opposite wall of the alley, a rain of loose gravel and concrete cascading down about it. But the battle was far from over. The Demon Hunter pushed off the wall with its hind legs, catapulting into Magnamon. “Magna Punch!” Magnamon cried. Fists of fury met wicked claws of steel, and the two combatants rolled around the alley, kicking, punching, biting, clawing- anything to win. It’s all my fault, Cincomon thought. Now this new Digimon’s in trouble because I couldn’t defend Sakura, and it’s all because of me. Maybe I can at least help him out- just one more attack, he told himself.

Limping toward the two Digimon, both of them locked in mortal combat, Cincomon saw that the demon’s size and weight were giving it a distinct advantage- any second now, those razor sharp claws would penetrate to slash Magnamon’s throat... Cincomon gathered what little strength remained to him. It’s now or never... Raising himself up on his hind legs, Cincomon concentrated on the energy in the environment around him, the electrons present in the air, pulling them to him, increasing his own power... The ions gathered into a ball of pulsating electricity in Cincomon’s outstretched arms. With a last tremendous effort, Cincomon sent the attack on its way. “Electro Beam!” he gasped. Combined with the last of Cincomon’s own power, the powerful electric charge hit the Demon Hunter full on, where it had no armor plating or other defenses to protect it. With an inhuman cry of shock, the demon was blasted away from Magnamon, toward the alley’s entrance.

I hope it was enough, Cincomon thought to himself as he felt the blackness closing in. Goodbye, Sakura... With that thought, Cincomon slipped into unconsciousness. Sakura rushed forward to gather the valiant little Digimon into her arms, hoping against hope that she’d be able to do something to keep him alive. Meanwhile, Magnamon was still locked in mortal combat with the enraged demon. Although Cincomon’s last attack had been enough to save him, the battle wasn’t over yet. “Magna Blaster!” he roared, pulse after pulse of radiant white light ripping into the demon. With a howling, ululating cry of pain, the Demon Hunter turned to run from the alley, from the battle it knew it couldn’t win. “Finish him, Magnamon!” Davis cried, leaping down from the rooftop where he’d been watching the fight. Magnamon raised his arms. “Magna Explosion!” he shouted. The blast was so bright Davis thought at first he’d gone blind. Blinking rapidly, his vision slowly returned to normal... to discover an exhausted DemiVeemon and a pile of blackened, smoldering ashes where the Demon Hunter had stood.

It was only then that he became aware of the alley’s other occupant. Sakura walked toward him hesitantly, as if unsure of the demon’s destruction. Many times she’d seen a Demon Hunter kill, but never, never, had she seen one die. “You- you saved me!” she said, astonished. Now why does he get all the credit?  DemiVeemon thought, too tired to really care. Wow, Davis thought. I’ve never been the hero before... He stood motionless, at a loss for words. After a while, he decided that he rather liked the feeling, being a hero and all... “We’d better get moving,” he said at last. “The battle’s probably going to attract some unwelcome visitors- and our Digimon aren’t in any shape to fight again right now.” Who is this guy? Sakura thought to herself. He saved my life, and I don’t even know him... And he’s SO handsome! Side by side, each carrying their own Digimon, Davis and Sakura walked out of the alleyway.

 

Colonel Robert Nakamura, squadron leader in what was left of Japan’s Naval Air Force, climbed into the cockpit of his fighter, helmet in hand. While most of Japan’s navy had been destroyed by a surprise attack in the harbor at Nagasaki, the carrier Karu had escaped by simple luck, still on its shakedown cruise fresh from the shipbuilding yard.

Nakamura grinned at the sheer irony of it all. The Chinese government, pressured by overpopulation and the threat of a civilian revolt, had attacked Japan to gain land for their exploding population. Thus, for a while, the Japanese had fought a war on two fronts- against the invading Digimon from within, and against the Chinese from without. Then the monsters had attacked China, too, and the two nations formed an uneasy alliance against the common threat- until both had been conquered by the Dark Lord.

He donned his helmet, wincing at the earsplitting noise as the helmet’s systems purged static from the channel. As the glass canopy swung slowly shut, the voice of the Communications Officer echoed in his ears. “It’s just a routine mission this time, Colonel,” he’d said. “A couple of big ones are on the loose in downtown Tokyo, and the CO wants you to take them out.” Just another routine mission- but then, such missions truly had become the norm since the first Dark Portal had opened in downtown Odaiba... When will it end? he wondered. How many more missions, how much more can we take before there’s nothing left?

The crew chief knelt, one arm raised, then pointed forward. Grinning wryly at the age-old gesture, Nakamura slammed the throttles to full. At the same time, the steam-powered catapult rammed his fighter down the runway. It was exhilarating. It’d been so long since Nakamura’s last real catapult launch- Karu’s catapult never had worked properly, and whenever the maintenance techs managed to “fix” it, it never seemed to work for more than a few launches at a time.

Once clear of the carrier, Nakamura throttled back a bit to wait for his wingmen to catch up.  Hawk, Star, and Scarman rose into the air behind him. Nakamura’s voice crackled over the channel. “Cobra Leader to Cobra Flight, form on me. Assume course two-one-two, speed 700 KPS on afterburners.” The flight formed up into a loose diamond shape around him, executing a slow turn and boosting toward the city.

Nakamura’s fighter performed smoothly, afterburners igniting a split second before those of his wingmen. The Scimitar was an older craft- not as heavily armed or technologically equipped as some of the more modern jet fighters, but still competitive in the hands of a skilled pilot. Its speed and maneuverability more than made up for its lack of heavy weapons, and tended to make it a tough opponent against any known enemy craft- and there were all too many of those these days. Star’s feminine voice echoed over the channel, cold now, professional. “Objective in sight, Cobra Leader.” Nakamura’s eyes strained as he made out two large dinosaur-like Digimon in the midst of destroying several skyscrapers near the Imperial Palace.

“Roger that, Cobra Four. Prepare to deploy the Seekers.” The ‘Seekers’ were a relatively new technological development. Long ago it had been discovered that every Digimon emitted a special frequency outside of anything that normally occurred on Earth. The Seeker missile homed in on these frequencies, making for flawless delivery of the warhead to the target. The problem was, the bulky instrument packages weighed so much that the missiles had an extremely limited range before the thrusters burned out and the weapons dropped harmlessly to earth. This made the Scimitar, with its superior acceleration, speed, and maneuverability the perfect craft for the job, since it had a better chance of getting close in to the target and out again without taking damage from the monsters’ often unpredictable projectile attacks.

Suddenly a strange, cold voice crackled over the headset. Nakamura frowned. The voice was somehow familiar; he was sure he’d heard it somewhere before... “Banshee Leader to Cobra Flight. Abort your mission and return to base- or be destroyed.” Nakamura scanned his radar, looking in vain for the source of the broadcast. There was no telltale blip to signify any sort of threat, and the Scimitar’s improved radar should have been able to detect even Stealthed aircraft... “What do we do now, Cobra leader?” Hawk’s worried voice echoed over the comm. Nakamura thought. There didn’t seem to be any true threat anywhere nearby... Meanwhile, the range to target steadily dwindled on his HUD, the two Digimon growing closer, more visible in the distance. “Disregard Banshee Leader,” he said after a pause. “Continue to close range and eliminate the target.”

“This is your last warning, Cobra Leader- disengage!” Nakamura began to get irritated with the cold, dispassionate voice that echoed over the comm unit. “Negative, Banshee Leader, whoever you are,” Nakamura said tightly, “And get the hell off my channel!” he snapped. “As you wish, Colonel,” the voice responded. Suddenly four blips appeared on his radar, loosely arrayed around Nakamura’s formation. Four fighters flickered into view around the four Scimitars of Cobra Flight. Where’d they come from? Nakamura’s gut went cold. Cloaked fighters? He didn’t know the enemy had that kind of power...

“Cobra Flight! Do you copy?” Nakamura shouted over the radio. “Emergency maneuvers!” As the four Scimitars of Cobra Flight streaked toward the ocean’s surface, the bandits opened fire...

 

Yolie Inoue stretched luxuriously as the morning sun rose over the hidden valley north of Tokyo. Stepping out onto the small porch of the cottage, Yolie thought back to that fateful day so long ago...

Yolie shivered as Diablomon laughed in triumph, the broken body of WarGreymon falling to the ground behind him. Abruptly, Diablomon thrust his arm out toward the nearest building. A sheet of flame erupted from the place the building had been, cutting the rest of the Digi-Destined off from view. Yolie could only assume they’d been caught in the blaze... Diablomon stepped back through the roaring inferno, apparently unscathed by the fires he’d unleashed. Madness gleaming in his feral yellow eyes, Diablomon stalked slowly toward the remaining Digi-Destined. Yolie’s blood ran cold as she realized that today, she was going to die.

The group shrank back into the shadow of a towering building, knowing that there was nothing more they could do, that this time their luck really had run out. Suddenly, from an entirely unexpected direction, Ankylomon charged. Though he knew it was hopeless, that he had no chance against the red monster of a Digimon that had all but destroyed the Digi-Destined, still he charged- trying his best to protect Cody one last time. Seeing the direction of their gaze Diablomon turned toward the unexpected attacker- but too late. Ankylomon smashed into Diablomon, sending him tumbling to the debris-strewn avenue in what had once been the city of Odaiba. “Tail Hammer!” he cried, the spike-studded iron ball at the end of his tail arcing forward to impale itself directly between Diablomon’s shoulder blades. Shattered chunks of flesh and bone flew skyward, blood rushing from what was surely a mortal wound...

But even as Yolie watched, Diablomon climbed slowly, painfully to his feet. As she stared in mounting horror, Diablomon grabbed hold of Ankylomon’s tail and, with an effort, pulled it free of his body. Utilizing what was surely the last of his terrible power, Diablomon swung Ankylomon by his tail, sending him crashing into a burning building behind him. But the evil Digimon would not go down. Hissing with anticipation, Diablomon again turned his maddened gaze upon the three remaining Digi-Destined. “Just how much can that monster take?” Cody asked in shock. But even wounded, covered by burning debris and feeling as if every bone in his body was shattered, Ankylomon refused to give up. “I’ve... got to... help Cody!” the Digimon gasped, struggling to his feet with a superhuman effort. With a growl of renewed resolution, the valiant Digimon shook off the last of the burning debris and charged at Diablomon once again- but this time, the monster was ready.

Slowly, slowly, Diablomon turned toward his attacker- and with speed like nothing Yolie had ever seen, his gleaming yellow claws extended until they became impossibly long, imbedding themselves in Ankylomon’s tough hide. The armored Digimon screamed in agony as red flames raced down their length, the pain excruciating as they burned over his entire body. When he could take it no longer, his energy long since expended, Ankylomon began to shrink, slowly transforming back into Armadillomon. Yellow eyes gleaming, Diablomon stalked forward...

“Static Force!” Somehow, Yolie didn’t know, Sylphimon had managed to escape the inferno that had become Odaiba and circle around, arriving just in time. While the evil Digimon was still blinded by the blast, Sylphimon snatched Armadillomon from the broken pavement. Then she turned, heading toward the Digi-Destined- but Diablomon had already seen her intentions. “Apocalypse Laser!” he growled- and a dark red, focused beam shot directly at Yolie. Yolie was frozen with fear- but Kari, standing beside her, wasn’t. Kari had seen the look on Yolie’s face, knew she couldn’t move from sheer terror- and in one final act of selflessness, pushed her friend roughly aside, taking for herself the blow that had been meant for Yolie. And Kari fell, the power of Light gone dark once and for all.

Then Sylphimon was there. Grabbing Yolie under one arm and Cody the other, they flew away from the flaming apocalypse the city had become... and they saw as the missiles streaked down from the heavens, the final flash of nuclear fire extinguishing any hope of survivors besides themselves.

 

            Cody had lived with Yolie for a time after that, she thought, remembering- but something about that day had devastated the young Digi-Destined. He had seemed to create a sort of wall within his mind, had forgotten everything that had happened while he was a Digi-Destined... and one morning Yolie had woken to find him and Armadillomon gone, leaving no note or anything; nothing to signify their passage. Yolie worried about Cody- she hoped he was all right, wherever he was now...

Yolie got up to water her small garden. Though the little valley above Tokyo was warm and peaceful, and had plenty of running water (and was, in Yolie’s opinion, about the closest to paradise one could get) it provided precious little in the way of food, so cultivating the little garden became one of her daily activities, and in fact she soon grew to enjoy it. The garden had been Cody’s gift before he left; to her surprise his grandmother had owned a small working farm and had taught Cody the rudiments necessary for farming.

As she lifted the watering can, a faint rumbling in the earth caught her off balance. An earthquake? she wondered. Suddenly a huge tree at the edge of the clearing crashed to the ground- covered in intense red flames. Yolie could feel the heat all the way across the clearing... and four Airdramon hove into view over the valley. Clearly, they had been behind the destruction- but why? The leader banked sharply into a steep dive- directly at Yolie. Startled, she rolled quickly to the side- and just in time. “Tornado Flame!” the Airdramon roared, a fiery blast scorching the garden where Yolie had just stood. The rest of the Airdramon followed their leader’s example, and Yolie continued desperately to dodge- but how long could she keep it up before the Airdramon got her?

 As she twisted frantically aside to dodge yet another attack, a root protruding from the ground caught her leg- and she went tumbling to the ground in a graceless heap. As she lay on the ground, breathing hard, she twisted her head around in time to see the small farmhouse burst into flame- and the leader of the Airdramon, sensing opportunity, swung around at her for another attack. Yolie knew she couldn’t dodge this one; knew that this time, she really was going to die. Red flames began to gather at the Airdramon’s wingtips...

            “Static Force!” Sylphimon’s attack sent the Airdramon tumbling out of the sky. The remaining three Airdramon scattered, wheeling about, trying to assess this new threat. But before they could do anything, Sylphimon swooped down, snatching up Yolie and carrying her quickly away. The slower Airdramon could not hope to follow. A booming explosion echoed throughout the valley. Startled, Yolie looked up- it hadn’t been from what remained of her small house. Abruptly, a climbing tower of flame erupted from central Tokyo, from somewhere that must have been near the old Imperial Palace...

            “Something must be going on down there,” Yolie thought aloud. “Why else would they send those Airdramon to attack us- and who made that explosion? King Etemon may be cruel, but I never thought he’d waste that kind of power on destroying a building...” “Maybe somebody’s fighting him at last,” Sylphimon responded. “That could be it,” Yolie said thoughtfully, “and whoever it is could probably use our help.” “Then it’s settled,” Sylphimon said. “Let’s go check it out!”

 

            The Digi-Destined rushed into the corridor after General Miyamoto, the alarm klaxons wailing in the distance. Matt watched in silence as the General palmed open a security locker outside his office. Grim-faced, Miyamoto withdrew a strangely shaped object two or three feet in length, with a concave-shaped bowl at one end. “What’s that?” Matt asked, curious. “A disruptor,” Miyamoto replied. “They’re relatively new weapons that work only against Digimon- they’re tuned to the Digimons’ special frequency. Once the beam connects, it sets up a field where molecules can’t hold together anymore- in other words, the target Digimon quite simply disintegrates. The disruptors have never been used in battle before, but the theory is that once a Digimon is hit by a disruptor beam, its data becomes so scrambled that it can’t return to Primary Village for reconfiguration- a Disrupted Digimon isn’t coming back.”  A distant explosion echoed through the base. Miyamoto slung a bandolier studded with extra power packs across his chest, and started down the corridor. “You kids find somewhere safe to wait until the attack is over,” he called back over his shoulder as he ran toward the source of the explosion.

 

            “Rapid Striker!” GranKuwagamon roared. King Etemon rolled effortlessly out of the way, the attack striking the remains of one of the attack bots. Earlier in the battle, the five robots had charged at King Etemon, disruptors blazing- but a single slash from the evil tyrant’s saber had been enough to put them all out of the fight. Ken was worried. GranKuwagamon was beginning to tire, and he certainly couldn’t last much longer unless the fight came to an end, and soon. Ken snapped off another shot with his blaster, the heavy laser beam glancing off King Etemon’s armor. The intense battle between the two Digimon had turned much of the surrounding city to rubble, and even the old Imperial Palace had taken some hits.

King Etemon vaulted over a fallen column, preparing to attack once more. Ken raised his blaster- but the intense firing of the past few minutes had melted the barrel, and the weapon was useless. “Imperial Beam!” King Etemon shouted. The brilliant blue beam threw GranKuwagamon back, where he lay on the ground, motionless. The valiant Digimon struggled to rise, to face his enemy once more- but the long battle with King Etemon had nearly depleted his energy, and the evil Digimon still looked completely undamaged.

I have one more chance, GranKuwagamon thought, every muscle in his body protesting as he sought to stand, One last chance to rid the world of this monster once and for all. With the last of his energy, GranKuwagamon abruptly surged to his feet. “Carapace Missile!” he bellowed. The giant horn on his forehead shot forward, catching King Etemon in the shoulder. The evil Digimon flew backwards, the horn penning him to a heavily damaged skyscraper. Though he struggled to free himself, King Etemon was impaled, unable to get away. GranKuwagamon extended his arms, power gathering as he sought to direct one last blast against King Etemon.

“GranKuwagamon, no!” Ken shouted, seeing what the Digimon was about to do. “It ends here!” GranKuwagamon roared. “Pulse-wave Implosion!” An aura of white energy gathered around GranKuwagamon, forming into an enormous ball of raw power in his outstretched hands. With a final bellow of defiance, GranKuwagamon sent the attack streaking forward. King Etemon saw what was coming, tried to avoid it- but to no avail. The beam struck home, and the entire city seemed to disappear in a wash of brilliant white light...

            When Ken could finally see again after the blinding burst of power, he saw a wide swath of devastation, a long strip of land on which nothing survived, an avenue of destruction through the middle of Tokyo that stretched so far he thought he could see the distant glimmer of the sea... and an unconscious Wormmon, stretched flat on the pavement. “Wormmon!” Ken cried as he rushed forward to gather the little Digimon in his arms. Wormmon didn’t respond, his breathing shallow and uneven.

Ken rocked back a little, off balance on the broken concrete- and just missed the lethal red laser beam that passed through the area where his head had just been. Armor now tarnished and scorched, in some places nearly burned through, and crimson robes long since disintegrated, King Etemon stepped out of the shadows. Breathing hard and shakily grasping a laser pistol, the evil Digimon advanced on Ken and the helpless Wormmon. “That blast was enough to deplete most of my energy,” King Etemon said, “but then, one doesn’t always need powerful attacks to finish the job. This blaster should do just as well, don’t you think?”

 

            MetalGarurumon raced through the streets of Tokyo, toward the site of the explosion he and Matt had seen from the harbor area. Suddenly a blinding flash of pure energy erupted from somewhere up ahead. Even at this distance, the sheer force of the attack slammed MetalGarurumon against the side of a nearby building. “Are you all right, Matt?” he growled. “Sure...” Matt said shakily. “It’s getting pretty intense up there- I hope GranKuwagamon wasn’t on the receiving end of that attack.” “I hope we can get there in time,” MetalGarurumon said as he started once more toward the site of the blast.

 

            A distant explosion echoed through the base. At the sound of the word “battle”, Tai had gone racing through the corridors trying to find some place where he could be of help. And what could the other Digi-Destined do but follow him? Within minutes they ran up a glass-enclosed stairwell and ended up on the control bridge, a cylindrical turret that projected above the armored body of Jungle Base. Narrow rectangular windows encircled the control room, allowing a full view in all directions. The glowing diagnostic screens directly below each viewport flashed alarm warnings. A line of heavy photon guns, lasers, and ion cannons ringed the platform- but because of Tai’s enthusiasm, the Digi-Destined had arrived before most of the gunners.

General Miyamoto struggled to shout orders over the sounds of aircraft engines that suddenly filled the air around Jungle Base. There was a muffled concussion as the first of the perimeter guns fired. Armed guards ran about, strapping additional weapons to their belts, preparing to defend the station. “What’s going on?” a soldier with commander’s insignia shouted at Miyamoto. “We’re under attack!” Miyamoto shouted back. “Scorpion-class bombers and Gotha fighters- it looks like the Mandarins again.” “The Mandarins?” Izzy asked. “Who are they?” “Human traitors,” the General shouted back. “They fought for King Etemon when-” he stopped short as he noticed the eight Digi-Destined.

“What are you doing here?” he asked sharply. “Well,” Izzy started, “We heard the alarms and everything and thought we might be able to help.” The general glared angrily at them- but whatever reply he had been about to make was cut off by Matt’s shout as he ran toward one of the gun mounts. “Hey, Tai!” he shouted. “These controls are just like that video game we used to play, Universal Obliterator!” “Yeah!” Tai yelled, rushing for the quad laser cannon next to Matt’s. “I always used to outscore you at that game!” “Did not!” Matt retorted. The two quickly became engaged in a heated competition as to who could shoot down more enemy fighters. General Miyamoto watched in disbelief as fighter after fighter bit the dust. “Well,” he said after a moment, “I guess you can stay here and help out- but don’t get underfoot!”

Tai and Matt paid no attention to the general’s announcement, so absorbed were they in their game. The invading aircraft were closer now, engines screaming against the atmosphere as they sought to weave a deadly dance against the lancing beam weapons of the defenders of Jungle Base. Tai squeezed the trigger- a miss! The fighters were darting in and out now, more evasive as they went after targets spread along the outer surface of Jungle base. Despite heroic efforts by the defenders, bomber after bomber dropped their deadly loads on the base, burning fuel from the high explosives setting the jungle canopy aflame. The Gotha fighters, meanwhile, mounted deadly, precision attacks against the missile and gunnery defenses of the base. Position after position went down under their relentless assault- the fighters were just too many, and too quick and evasive, for the defenders to keep accurate track of them.

Tai grunted as he realigned the targeting circle, feeling the energy thrum through the firing sticks in his fingers. More defenders charged onto the defensive platform, taking up positions at a few of the heavier guns. They glanced curiously at the two young Digi-Destined, but they didn’t argue, instead beginning to lash out at targets of their own. Tai used his targeting circles to lock onto a sluggish, fully loaded Scorpion bomber that arrowed toward the clustered residential structures. The bomber came in, picking up speed, its deadly bomb-bay door opened. Tai grasped the firing controls of the heavy cannons and gritted his teeth as a loud whoop next to him indicated that Matt had scored another kill. Finally, the target lock blinked as the Scorpion bomber settled directly in the crosshairs.

Tai squeezed the trigger, launching searing blasts of laser energy from the turret. The beams hit the bomber just before it could drop its load of explosives. Instead of destroying the homes of hundreds of civilians, the bomber erupted in midair. The blossoming detonations grew louder and louder as its own heavy bombs fed into the eruption, and the brilliant ball of smoke and fire expanded into the sky. “I’m one up on you now, Matt!” Tai cried. “Amazing,” Izzy said. “All that time they spent on those pointless video games is paying off- they’re out shooting all the other gunners!” A Gotha fighter screamed past, hammering the shields of the platform with its heavy photon cannons. Matt’s turret abruptly lashed out, catching the fighter in mid turn as it came around for another pass.

“Good work, men!” General Miyamoto called. “We’re driving them off!” Indeed, the ranks of marauding aircraft seemed somewhat thinned- but then, new alarms began to wail, this time from a different section of the station. “We’ve had a station breach!” the general shouted. “Some damn fool’s trying to open the hangar bay!” At the same instant, more enemy aircraft appeared on radar, closing from space- a long way away, but moving fast. Four of what looked like marine transports, being escorted by fighters Izzy hadn’t seen before. Their sleek, otherworldly lines confirmed that they were indeed of an advanced design- and not something the Mandarins could have produced on their own. And they were headed directly for the opening hangar bay. General Miyamoto swore. “Imperial Guard- King Etemon must be in on this, too! I’ll try to stop whoever’s opening the hangar bay- shoot down those marine transports at all costs!”

Without another word, General Miyamoto dashed out the door. Tai stared at the display. The new enemy aircraft were closing fast- and the Scorpions and Gothas, which had been running from Jungle Base, abruptly turned and boosted back toward the embattled defenders. Matt laughed weakly. “You know what this reminds me of, Tai? Level Seven from Universal Obliterator.” “Level Seven?” Tai asked. “You mean the level where the fleet of alien warships attacks and you always lose?” “Yeah,” Matt said. “I’m starting to get a real funny feeling about all of this.”

Suddenly, Tai’s face went pale. “Missiles inbound!” the tactical officer shouted. The enemy fighters had boosted ahead of the transports- and from each fighter detached a swarm of radar-homing missiles. “We’d better get out of here!” Joe cried. The Digi-Destined headed for the stairwell- but they were the only ones who did. The rest of the defenders stayed put, determined to fight to the end. Matt stood in the doorway a moment, watching spellbound as the missiles closed. Guns blazing, the defenders of Jungle Base sought to destroy the approaching warheads. Missiles went down right and left, violent explosions filling the sky. But there were just too many. Hundreds of missiles emerged from the explosions, angling toward the defensive platform.

Point defenses kicked in, a spray of old-fashioned machine gun rounds punching out. More missiles went down- but still, the rest continued to close. Matt turned to run. A missile mount on the platform’s outer skin fired- an amazing shot, connecting with one of the four marine transports. The transport went down into the jungle, flaming- and then the world disappeared in a rush of fiery explosions for the defenders of Jungle Base.

 

            Cody Hida sat on the soft warm sands of Wartaki Island, a few miles off the coast of Japan. After the disastrous battle with Diablomon, Cody had retreated into himself. He didn’t remember anything about the time when he was a Digi-Destined, from his first trip into the Digital World to that final fateful battle, when the Digi-Destined had finally been defeated.

His memories from that point on had been hazy for awhile- he remembered vaguely staying with someone named Yolie, and that she had taken care of him when he was very sick. Why he’d been sick, he didn’t remember- but all the time he’d stayed with her, his life was filled with an overwhelming sense of loss. And the most frustrating part was, he just didn’t know why. So one day, he’d set out from the little valley above Tokyo, determined to find the answers.

He’d searched for almost five years, and he still didn’t seem any closer to what he was searching for than he had been in the beginning. Then he’d found this island. It still wasn’t perfect, and it definitely wasn’t what he’d been searching for- but its warm, golden sands reminded him vaguely of someone’s face, especially when she smiled. He sighed in frustration. That was the one memory of his past he still retained. A face framed in golden blond hair, her silent laughter seeming to light up the whole room in Cody’s mind- but that’s all she was, a face. Cody had been searching for her especially, wondering who she was- his mother? Almost certainly not; she seemed much too young for that, at least in Cody’s mind. Maybe his sister then, or even someone he hadn’t yet met- but Cody had never found that vision of angelic beauty, never found the only thing he really longed for. Dimly, he sensed that whoever it was, she was lost to him forever.

So the island had become Cody’s home. Throughout all his searches, the only thing he’d really discovered was repeated wherever he went- visions of death, of destruction and horrors out of his worst nightmares. The island was the only place he’d ever been that seemed... peaceful. He’d finally given up his search for his lost past- maybe it was enough, for right now, just to live in the present, to enjoy the hot sands beneath his feet and the companionship of the only one who’d ever stayed with him- Armadillomon.

The little creature walked silently up to Cody now, offering him a piece of kola-nut he’d gotten from one of the small island’s treetops. Cody savored the tasty morsel, thinking. He didn’t remember when he’d first met Armadillomon. The little creature had seemed shocked and hurt at first that Cody didn’t know him- but how could he? He’d never met Armadillomon before in his life. Armadillomon called himself a Digimon- another word Cody didn’t know, but that he associated faintly with feelings of hatred and distrust. He’d kept the little creature around, though- Armadillomon seemed to be the only link to Cody’s lost past, and he sensed that it would be a mistake to lose him.

Cody took another bite of kola-nut. A distant noise echoed from the direction of mainland Japan in Cody’s small hut. He stepped out into the sun, blinking at the sudden brightness. It had sounded somewhat like the distant pounding of ocean waves- but Cody had lived on the island long enough to know the difference. Suddenly, a giant metal machine roared through the air close to the waves. A fighter jet, Cody’s mind said- though he didn’t know where he’d gotten that information. Another fighter, this one larger, painted jet black, followed, lancing out with its heavy energy beams at the smaller craft. The other pilot, his craft marginally faster, more agile, twisted frantically to avoid the penetrating red beams.

What’s happening? Cody wondered, his head beginning to ache with a sort of dull pain. Suddenly, there was another explosion- this one behind him, from the other side of the tiny island. “Cody, help me!” Armadillomon called faintly. Tearing his eyes away from the battle before him, Cody turned and ran toward the sound of his friend’s voice. There. Armadillomon stood facing the sea, his back toward the rest of the little island. Facing him stood six... Geptamon? his mind told him.

Scuba masks and fins thrown aside, the giant reptilian Digimon advanced on Armadillomon, backing him into the trunk of a giant kola-nut tree. Geptamon... what are they doing here? Cody wondered. The shock troops of... the Warlock Lord? The aching in his head grew. They were his deadly enemies, he remembered. Wasn’t it they who had attacked him, just before the appearance of... Diablomon. The throbbing pain in Cody’s head became blinding.

He screamed. Suddenly, memories rose- memories of Cody’s forgotten past. At first they were vague, like thin wisps of smoke, transparent before his view of the impending battle- but they gradually became clearer and clearer, taking up the whole of Cody’s vision. His first trip into the Digital World, looking around wide-eyed at the strange sights... his first battle, Armadillomon standing up for him... his first vision of Kari.

Other memories came, hard, fast now, a relentless assault of names, faces, and events. His vision cleared for a moment, and Cody saw Armadillomon locked in mortal combat with the Geptamon. “Diamond Shell!” the little Digimon shouted, striking one of the Geptamon in the face. Armadillomon was good... but not good enough to go up against six of the deadly Geptamon and have a chance of survival. As Armadillomon continued his deadly battle, the memories took hold again...

The horrors of the Digimon Emperor, and freeing the slaves from his prisons... standing against BlackWarGreymon, with no one to back him up... and the Warlock Lord, and... Diablomon...

Cody fell to the ground, on the verge of unconsciousness, the pain in his head so terrible he couldn’t stand it. Diablomon’s talons extended, embedding themselves in Ankylomon’s tough hide, Ankylomon screaming in agony... The evil Digimon’s attack streaking forward... and Kari throwing herself selflessly in front of the blast, trying desperately to save Yolie... Kari... my only true love.

He’d loved her, he knew that now- her smiling face as she spoke some word of kindness; the way she could make him feel better no matter how depressed he was... the way her laughter filled the room with light, so beautiful it brought tears to his eyes.       He loved her so much, but he’d never been able to tell her...

He choked back a sob. And Diablomon had just murdered her. “NO!” Cody shouted, the real world returning to him again for an instant. The pain of his memories was almost too much to bear... but this time, he had to keep fighting; this time he couldn’t quit... for her. For Kari. His features twisted with pain and hate, tears streaming down his face from the agony of loss. Cody held out the Digivice- and Armadillomon began to glow. Harsh white light surrounding him, for the first time in almost twenty years, he started to change. His voice rough from long years of disuse, Armadillomon roared.

 

“Armadillomon digivolve to... Ankylomon!

 

The Geptamon looked on in astonishment. “King Etemon told us this wouldn’t happen!” one of the evil Digimon hissed. As one, they turned and ran for the water- but his eyes glittering with terrible rage, Ankylomon was faster. “Tail Hammer!” he shouted, catching the last Geptamon in the back. The rest redoubled their efforts to get away, running even faster for the water- but to no avail.

“Light Speed Charge!” Ankylomon roared, the sheer power and rage in his voice freezing the Geptamon in their tracks. His movements faster than Cody could track, Ankylomon charged the evil Digimon, the iron-studded ball at the end of his tail in constant motion- and soon, there was nothing left of the Geptamon, their pitiful remains drifting away on the waves. “You’re back.” Cody whispered, drying his tears on the corner of his shirt. “Something’s happening in Tokyo- I can feel it,” Ankylomon growled, his voice hoarse from long years of disuse. “Maybe there’s still time,” Cody said. “We’ve got to go- maybe we can get there in time to help out whatever’s left.” For you, Kari, he thought, his face tightening into a mask of anger, rage at the whole world over what had happened to her...

And the boy and the Digimon turned their backs on the small island, never to return.

 

MetalGarurumon bounded through the streets of Tokyo near the old Imperial Palace. All sounds of combat had ceased up ahead. Matt just hoped Ken and GranKuwagamon were all right...

“It should be just ahead,” MetalGarurumon rumbled. ‘It’ was the was the large, relatively open area near the Imperial Palace where the government had directed a bomber strike in a last-ditch effort to save Tokyo from the Dark Lord. Thousands of Digimon had died in the attempt- but the Warlock Lord had inevitably conquered. Control of Primary Village meant his armies really were inexhaustible, Matt supposed.

In one bounding leap, MetalGarurumon cleared a towering pile of rubble- and they came upon a most unusual sight. Ken knelt on the ground, holding an unconscious Wormmon to his chest, and King Etemon, looking very much the worse for wear, held a blaster pistol to his head. GranKuwagamon must’ve given him a good fight, Matt thought to himself. Wouldn’t Ken have found this ironic in his old Digimon Emperor days- a Digimon decides to take over our world, and he is prepared to sacrifice his life to protect one of them- when at first he didn’t even think they were real.

“Stay where you are!” King Etemon rasped. “Unless you want your friend here to die.” The blaster pistol wavered ever so slightly in his grasp. MetalGarurumon growled menacingly. Suddenly, ice blue lasers shot out of his eyes, connecting with the blaster pistol King Etemon held. It exploded on contact. King Etemon drew his hand back, shaking. Ken didn’t waver, maintaining the same rigid pose.

“I’ve been waiting a long time for this,” Matt said, advancing on King Etemon with MetalGarurumon at his side. “All the pain you’ve caused, all the horrors you’ve perpetuated- it ends here.” His voice rising in pitch, Matt raised his fist, shaking with anger. “You will pay for what you have done to this world!” King Etemon stepped back, his energy exhausted- unable now even to defend himself. “All your power, all your armies, all your might- and this is what you’ve become.” Matt’s voice hardened. “Sora and the rest of the Digi-Destined died trying to stop what you’ve created. I will finish their work. You remember Sora, you monster?”

King Etemon stumbled backward, a look of terror in his eyes- finally realizing that this time, this fight might not end the way he wanted it to. Sora, Matt thought, remembering the pain he’d felt that day. “This is for her!” he shouted. Matt raised his blaster, a bolt of deadly red energy streaking toward King Etemon. King Etemon lunged to the side, the beam missing him narrowly. His eyes focusing on a point behind Matt, he began to laugh. “Don’t you understand, Digi-Destined?” he said, his voice a pale shadow of its former self. “You’ve lost already.”

“What are you talking about?” Matt asked, infuriated. He leveled the blaster again. “Look behind you, boy!” King Etemon rasped. Sensing sudden danger, Matt twisted rapidly around- and jumped backward, barely missing the giant metallic forearm that passed through the space where he had just been standing. Enraged, MetalGururumon charged. He slammed into King Etemon, sending the evil Digimon flying back into the side of a crumbling skyscraper. Growling, he prepared for one last attack that would end the evil king’s reign once and for all. “Metal Wolf Claw!” he roared. But before the attack could be launched, an enormous fireball burned into his side, knocking him to the ground. The energy blast intended for King Etemon went flying harmlessly into the side of a nearby building. 

King Etemon laughed mirthlessly. “It seems the tables have turned, Digi-Destined,” he gasped, as another towering Digimon emerged from behind the skyscraper he had fallen against. “Two Ultimates- a bit much even for you to handle, don’t you think?” Matt said nothing, his fists clenched in fury. “MetalTyrannomon- attack!” King Etemon shouted. The two giant Digimon lumbered forward...

 

Colonel Robert Nakamura whip-kicked his fighter around in a dangerous maneuver near the ocean’s surface. The enemy was fast- too fast, and dangerous. Star had been too slow once the four hidden ships had decloaked, and they’d gotten her...

One of the raiders dropped in behind him, relentlessly following the swift Scimitar effortlessly through all the complex maneuvers Nakamura could think of. The raider’s heavy particle cannon lashed out at him, hammering at his weakening rear shields. Nakamura pulled up in a sharp tuck-and-roll maneuver that put him behind the strange black craft. Nakamura cued his lasers. Beams of coherent red energy flared the raider’s rear shields- and then the strange black craft began to flicker out of view, rolling to the side to escape the probing beams.

Scarman flashed into his vision, two raiders on his tail, twisting desperately to escape their assault. One of the black craft released a heat-seeking missile. The range was so close Scarman didn’t have a chance. The missile impacted on the rear of the Scimitar, and the craft fireballed, an incandescent flash spiraling through the sky. Abruptly, all four black ships cloaked again, and Nakamura lost them. “Be careful,” Hawk warned over the comm. “They’re still out there somewhere.” Warned by a sudden instinct, Nakamura kicked his fighter around, opening up with a spread of beams and missiles- just as one of the raiders flickered into view behind him. The enemy fighter exploded, pieces of the ruined craft raining off onto Nakamura’s shields, weakening them further.

Meanwhile, another enemy craft had appeared next to the first one. Nakamura opened fire- but the enemy fighter rolled to the side, limping away with one wing crumpled and spewing fuel from its ruptured wing tanks. “You’ll pay for that!” the other pilot said over the comm, his cockpit warning lights flashing red in the background. Hawk hadn’t been so lucky. The two other fighters had appeared behind and below him, cutting loose with a devastating barrage. He didn’t even have time to maneuver before the probing beams had cut his fighter apart. Nakamura swallowed. He was the only one left, now...

The aerial battle had drifted over Tokyo. Below he could see the target: two large dinosaur-like monsters. But what was this? Another monster, a giant metallic wolf, was actually fighting the first two! If the giant metallic wolf was fighting the other monsters- well, at least Nakamura could maybe give it a chance. Abruptly, the swift Scimitar banked into one of the steep, plunging dives that were the craft’s specialty. The three remaining black craft swerved to follow him- but in this one area, at least, the Scimitar had them outclassed. It was exhilarating. They could never catch him now! Banking in on the two monsters, Nakamura pressed the lever that would release the Seekers. The two warheads streaked away... that was all he could do now. He flipped the fighter on its side, maneuvering between two towering skyscrapers. Swerving left, he banked out over the ocean...

But what was this? One of the two monsters had launched missiles! The warning chimed in his ears, growing in pitch as the missiles grew closer. Nakamura sought to evade- but the missiles followed his every movement! Nakamura swore. Reaching between his legs, he pulled hard on the ejector D-ring, praying that he was not already too late. The ejector seat shot out of the fighter’s glassine canopy, even as the Scimitar exploded into flames around him...

 

Meanwhile, MetalGarurumon was locked in mortal combat with the two MetalTyrannomon. Though he was stronger than either one of them individually, every time it looked like he was getting the advantage, the other Digimon would attack, forcing him back. And MetalGarurumon also had to worry about protecting Wormmon and the two humans...

“Metal Wolf Claw!” he roared. The attack collided with one of the MetalTyrannomon, knocking it to the ground. Growling with anticipation, MetalGarurumon tensed his muscles to lunge- and the other Digimon grabbed him from behind with one giant metallic forearm. Suddenly, the giant wolf was helpless! Shot after shot rang out as Matt took aim with his blaster, but the heavy laser blasts had no effect on the evil Digimon. MetalTyrannomon held the giant wolf motionless in front of him as the other evil Digimon rose from the ground. Roaring with fury, the MetalTyrannomon prepared to direct a devastating attack at MetalGarurumon- but suddenly, help came from an entirely unexpected direction.

A small, quick fighter jet darted down from the sky, missiles releasing from its wings. One MetalTyrannomon got a shot off at it with a missile attack- and then, suddenly, it was over. The missiles closed, exploding against the two giant Digimon. The intensity of the explosions catapulted MetalGarurumon through the air. He landed in a half-crouch behind Matt on the broken pavement. He growled, preparing to go on the attack again- but when the smoke cleared, nothing was left of the MetalTyrannomon. Matt stood beside him now, fists clenched. “Good work, MetalGarurumon,” he said. “Now it’s time to deal with King Etemon!”

But as they looked around the devastated plaza, the evil king was nowhere to be found. Matt cursed helplessly. “We had him!” he shouted. “We had him, and now he’s gone! We might never get a chance like this again!” “Matt,” MetalGarurumon growled, “We may have lost King Etemon for now- but there are still those who could use our help.” Matt paused to glance over to where Ken still cradled the unconscious Wormmon against his chest. “You’re right,” he said at last, wiping away his tears of rage. “We’ve got to get Wormmon some help fast. Let’s try one of the nearby shelters.” And so Matt, Ken, and Wormmon set off on MetalGarurumon, vaulting over one of the collapsed columns and disappearing from view.

 

General Tao sat back in the cockpit of the black fighter jet, cursing. Though all four Scimitars had been destroyed, the mission had failed- the two Digi-Destined had escaped. And it had happened at the cost of one of the priceless new Banshee-class attack craft- unthinkable! The Master would not be pleased...

The three remaining Banshees were over the jungle now. Using his transmitted access codes, General Tao began to open the hangar bay, swooping in for a hard, fast landing. With the cloaked fighter jet, it was child’s play to avoid fire from the few remaining defensive batteries. He smiled coldly. The first thing he’d do after climbing out of the cockpit would be to lower the shielding so the four Imperial Guard transports could land. Then he’d have the pleasure of dealing with the remaining Digi-Destined personally...

 

General Miyamoto ran full tilt down the corridor toward the hangar bay, praying he would not be too late. If those four marine transports landed, any hope for the survival of Jungle Base would be gone...

He reached the doorway of the hangar. He punched in his access code- but the door wouldn’t open! The diagnostic screen to the right of the keypad showed that the door was locked manually from the other side. Cursing, the general drew his blaster. The door lock on the other side should be right about... There. General Miyamoto squeezed the trigger. A tiny, precise red circle of superheated metal appeared at the point of the laser beam. A perfect hole was drilled in the door. The general raised his foot and kicked the door in- and was greeted by a shocking sight. Squadrons of marines were drawn up in tight ranks. They all bore the insignia of the viper.

And near the far wall, General Tao was using his access codes to disable the shielding! “General Tao!” Miyamoto shouted. “What do you think you’re doing?” General Tao paused a moment, looking up from the keypad. “That should be obvious, General,” he said, smiling coldly. “I’m disabling the shielding so that the Imperial Guard transports can land.” “You’ve betrayed us,” Miyamoto whispered, a cold feeling settling in the pit of his stomach. “I should kill you right here!” he shouted, raising his blaster. “You’re welcome to try,” Tao said, “but if you took a shot at me, I doubt my troops would let you get very far.” He gestured to the squadrons of marines assembled in the open hangar bay, their viper insignias glittering faintly in the semi-gloom.

At his nod, they raised their blast rifles, aiming for General Miyamoto. “I suggest you evacuate Jungle Base while there’s still time,” Tao said, turning back to the keypad. Outside, the faint, wavering glow of the heavy shielding began to dissipate. “Shoot the General if he moves,” Tao said to his men, “the transports should be landing soon.” “I’ll see you in hell!” General Miyamoto screamed. Raising his blaster, he snapped off a shot at Tao, turning and racing back into the corridor the way he had come. He didn’t know if the shot had connected- but he hoped it had. A violent explosion rocked the station, nearly shaking Miyamoto off his feet. He cursed, leaning against the wall for balance. He had to find somewhere to talk to the command center- warn them of what was coming. There, on the far wall- an intercom. He raced toward it- but suddenly a blaster was pointing at him from thin air!

General Miyamoto looked wildly around for the source- and could only discern a thin, pebbly outline against the gray bulkhead. Aarmon, he thought, it must be... Aarmon were like chameleons; they could, over time, blend in completely with their surroundings. But if Digimon had already penetrated the station, Jungle Base really was finished... He pivoted suddenly, a snap-kick to the Aarmon’s hand sending the blaster skittering away into the shadows. Raising his own blaster, Miyamoto fired a single, deadly laser blast directly between the Aarmon’s two glowing orange eyes. The reptile Digimon hissed, sinking to the floor, slowly becoming visible as it died.

And then the second Aarmon loomed behind the general, striking him over the head with a hard iron truncheon. General Miyamoto sagged to the floor...

Meanwhile the Digi-Destined raced down the stairwell, explosions echoing overhead as what had once been the central defensive command post of Jungle Base was rapidly being reduced to rubble. Pieces of stone, iron, and other materials cascaded past the Digi-Destined as they jumped the last few steps to land in the corridor- and none too soon. A heavy compression noise echoed through the halls as tons of debris collapsed the stairs. “We’ve got to get out of here!” Izzy cried. “No way,” Matt said. “We’ve got to find the general- remember, he said something about going to secure the hangar bay? Besides, without him how will we even know where the exit is, or where to go once we get out of the base? The jungle is a pretty big place- Izzy?” Izzy wasn’t even listening to what Matt was saying.

Rather, he had plugged his laptop into a computer linkup on the wall that was, miraculously enough, still working, and sat doing what he did anyway half the time- typing away on his computer as if nothing else mattered, and completely ignoring the rest of the world. “IZZY!” Matt yelled, getting down close to his ear. Izzy winced at the volume of Matt’s voice, closing his laptop and unhooking it from the wall. “The hangar bay is this way, guys,” he said, starting off down a corridor to the right. “Well, I guess we’d better follow him...” Tai said, confused. “Go figure,” Matt said, starting after Izzy.

 

General Miyamoto struggled to his feet, the pain in his head blinding. His vision blurred, he struggled toward where he thought the comm unit had been. His hand groped at the wall, as much for general support as for searching. His fingers touched the “Transmit” button, and he jabbed at it, gasping with the effort. His message resonated throughout the station. If anyone’s still alive to respond to it, he thought to himself. “The station has been penetrated by Imperial Guard,” he said, his voice sounding weary in his own ears. “General Tao is a traitor... I couldn’t stop him. Jungle Base is lost to us now,” he said, the words painful to say. “Evacuate the base while there’s still time!” General Miyamoto slumped to the floor, exhausted. He’d done all he could do, for now... The general lay heavily on the steel plate decking, and let the blackness take him...

 

General Tao cursed, hearing Miyamoto’s message. Somehow Miyamoto had slipped past the ambush he’d planned... it would be just like him to resist until the last moment. The three surviving Imperial Guard shuttles were being unloaded behind him. Digimon as well as human mercenaries climbed out of the craft, assembling into tightly drawn ranks behind him. Tao sighed. Well, at least he’d still have the pleasure of hunting down the Digi-Destined personally...

 

Izzy and the other Digi-Destined raced down the corridor toward the hangar bay. Izzy looked back for a moment to see if the others were following- and tripped over something lying on the floor. A body? No, it was still alive, just unconscious... “General Miyamoto!” Izzy shouted, suddenly recognizing him in the darkness. The others came to a sudden stop behind him. “He’s got a nasty bump on the head,” Joe said, with his usual talent for stating the obvious. The general groaned, slowly opening his eyes. “Look- he’s coming around!” Sora said. Miyamoto suddenly sat up straight, as if suddenly remembering the situation- and nearly hit the floor again at the pain his reaction brought him.

“Careful,” Matt said. “Something must’ve hit you pretty hard.” “Didn’t see him,” the general mumbled. “Behind me.” Then he seemed to become fully alert, struggling to his feet. “We’ve got to get out of here!” he gasped. “General Tao could be along at any moment!” Indeed, as Tai listened, he could hear distant footsteps, many of them- and they were coming closer. “Let’s go,” he said, putting one of the general’s arms around his shoulders, helping him to walk. Miyamoto and the Digi-Destined hurried down another corridor toward one of the few access points to the base besides the hangar that Miyamoto said would still be free of enemy troops. The group was slowed by the injured general, however, and as he stumbled once more Matt bit off a curse. “Leave me,” he gasped as he struggled to his feet once again. “We can’t do that,” Tai said, taking Miyamoto’s hand and helping him along. “The Digi-Destined don’t leave people behind. Besides, without you how would we ever find our way out of the jungle?” Despite his words, even Tai began to grow worried as the sounds of pursuit neared.

A blaster bolt ricocheted off the wall a foot from Sora’s head. “Stop where you are or we’ll open fire!” the words of General Tao echoed from behind them. “What should we do?” Mimi asked worriedly. A squadron of armed troops headed by General Tao emerged into the light less than fifty feet from the Digi-Destined. They leveled their weapons. “This is your last chance, Digi-Destined!” General Tao shouted. “Surrender now or be destroyed!” In unison, Gabumon, Tentomon, Agumon and Biyomon turned about. “Spiral Twister!” “Blue Blaster!” “Super Shocker!” “Pepper Breath!” General Tao and his men hit the deck plates, and scattered rifle blasts hit the walls all around the Digi-Destined- but the attacks had not been aimed at the clustered men. One of the support columns for the heavy, 10 foot thick stone ceiling was vaporized in a flash. A section of the heavy stone fell with a loud crash into the corridor- directly between the Digi-Destined and Tao’s men. Muffled yells and blaster fire could be heard echoing from behind the solid rock.

“Come on!” General Miyamoto gasped as the Digi-Destined stared at the place where the rock had fallen, “We’ve got to get out of here!” Shaking off Tai’s helping arm, he sprinted to a panel set into the floor. Squinting in the gloom of Jungle Base’s emergency lighting, he began to key in his personal access code on the numerical keypad inset into the panel. Glowing red points of light became visible as the enemy troops began to blast away at the huge rock in an effort to get through. “Come on...” T.K. said under his breath, urgency evident in his voice. With a barely perceptible hiss, the floor panel rose. A ladder set into one of the base’s four giant main support struts was visible leading to the ground. “There is no way I’m climbing that thing!” Mimi exclaimed upon seeing the distance they would have to climb. “Come on!” Tai shouted, seeing the pinpoints of red grow brighter. “We haven’t got much time!”

Finally, Joe began to climb down the ladder, with Mimi perched precariously on his shoulders. “Why is it always me who has to carry her?” he complained as he began the long descent. The others followed. The last in line, Tai swung out the access panel and grabbed hold of the ladder- just as the fallen rock blocking the corridor exploded from the intense blaster fire. General Tao’s troops raced into the corridor, looking angrily about for the Digi-Destined- but General Miyamoto had already locked the access panel back in place, and without the proper access codes, there was no way to re-open it. General Tao dashed into the small control room just to the left of the floor panel- and saw nothing. The passage dead-ended just beyond that. Then he remembered. Cursing, he walked over to the access panel- but short of blasting the entire floor apart, there was no way to re-open it. The Digi-Destined had escaped into the jungle...

 

King Etemon stood on a balcony overlooking Tokyo, in his lavish suite in the old Imperial Palace. A human servant, bowing, gestured that someone wished to speak to him. King Etemon followed the servant in, gesturing him out as he sat down in front of his personal vid-com unit. Bowing once again, the man left. King Etemon cued the unit. The face of General Tao appeared on the screen, heavy smoke swirling in the background. “Your status?” King Etemon asked. “Sir,” General Tao said, breathing hard, “Imperial Guard assault marines have penetrated the station. We’re mopping up the last of the resistance as we speak.” “I know that,” King Etemon said, waving his hand dismissively. “What about the Digi-Destined?”

“Sir,” Tao said, his face visibly paling, “We lost them. They escaped through an access hatch into the jungle. We believe they’ve gone for the motor pool.” King Etemon’s face darkened with anger. “You allowed the Digi-Destined to escape?” he shouted, his voice rattling the walls. “Sir, it wasn’t like-” “Silence!” King Etemon roared. “The Banshee fighters are too valuable to risk- but send a few of the Gothas that still have enough fuel down into the jungle after them. And get some men down to the motor pool! The Digi-Destined must not escape!” His voice shook with rage. “Yes, sir!” General Tao said, trembling. “Tao out!” The vid-com image snapped off. King Etemon destroyed the unit with one swing of his massive paw. Incompetent fools! he raged to himself. I’ll have to deal with those Digi-Destined pests by  myself! Crimson robes swirling around him, King Etemon stalked wrathfully out of the palace...

The engines of the Gotha fighter screamed in the lower levels of the jungle as the Digi-Destined sought desperately to climb to the ground. “We’ve got to do something!” Izzy shouted as the Gotha fighter screamed past again, particle cannons blazing. “One of these times that fighter’s going to hit us!” “I’ll handle it!” Biyomon cried. A flare of white light flashed out from Sora’s Digivice- and nothing happened. “Our Digivices don’t seem to work in this world!” Kari shouted. “What’s happening?!” “It’s the Forbidden Jungle!” General Miyamoto gasped. “I’ll tell you when we’ve got more time! Now... in my pack, there’s a long rope! Tie it to that step up there and we can all slide down!” Another Gotha joined the first, strafing the tree next to the support strut the Digi-Destined were climbing down. Tai quickly tied an expert sailor’s knot to the rung on the ladder, then gestured for Joe and Mimi, the first two to begin the descent, to slide down. Miraculously, the rope held, and the Digi-Destined quickly slid to the ground- just as the first Gotha pilot, apparently tired of waiting around, released a powerful Phoenix missile at the giant support strut.

Normally the base’s supports were protected by nearly impenetrable shielding- but General Tao had already disabled the shields of Jungle Base. The warhead detonated, almost ten feet of the support strut vaporizing instantly. The remaining three supports groaned under the new weight suddenly imposed upon them. Meanwhile, the Digi-Destined had reached the soft, spongy ground that made up the jungle floor. General Miyamoto drew his blaster. “We’ve got to get to that building over there,” he said, pointing. “The motor pool.” The Digi-Destined raced across the jungle floor, looking anxiously for armed guards- but apparently General Tao’s forces hadn’t reached this section of the base yet. When they reached the motor pool, it was deserted. General Miyamoto frowned. There should at least be a guard or two on duty... Then his hand touched something wet. Blood. Sprawled over the back of a light tank was the body of one of his troopers- or what was left of him, anyway. The corpse looked to have been badly mangled...

Suddenly, there was a skittering in the far right corner of the room. A large, scorpion-like creature with multiple eyes and an insectile body emerged into the gloom, its deadly sharp-tipped stinger poised to strike. “It’s Scorpiomon!” Sora cried. “But what can we do?” Biyomon said in horror. “We can’t digivolve!” “Digi-Desssstined...” Scorpiomon hissed. The insect Digimon skittered forward, his beady eyes fastened on his intended victims. “Blue Blaster!” Agumon cried. “Spiral Twister!” “Pepper Breath!”

The attacks of the Rookies didn’t even seem to phase the monster. He skittered forward another few steps, now less than a dozen feet away from the Digi-Destined. Suddenly, General Miyamoto whipped out the long, futuristic looking weapon Matt had seen him pull out of a weapons locker earlier: a disruptor. Setting it up on a small, three-legged tripod, the general aimed carefully. “What are you doing?” Scorpiomon asked curiously. “Weaponssss fire will not affect me!” General Miyamoto pulled the trigger. A brilliant beam of pulsing green light shot at Scorpiomon, seeming to envelope his entire body. “What’ssss happening to me?” Scorpiomon cried. “Noooooo!” With a final, incandescent green flash, Scorpiomon simply disintegrated. It was as if he’d never been.

When the others recovered from their shocked silence, General Miyamoto was the first to speak. “We were lucky that wasn’t a very strong Digimon,” he said. “The first disruptor test models failed against the more powerful ones. There’s a stronger prototype in my landspeeder- but it’s one of the few that exist on this world. We’d better get going, before General Tao and his men find out we’re down here.” The Digi-Destined followed General Miyamoto to a futuristic looking hovercraft. “Climb in,” he said. “It’s not very well armed, I’m afraid- only two light laser cannons forward. But it’s the fastest craft we have here, and we need to get to Tokyo as fast as possible.” “Tokyo? Then- we’re in Japan?” Mimi asked hesitantly. “Of course we are- I’ll explain on the way,” the general said, tossing his bag of equipment into the back. Suddenly, they heard a loud rumbling sound combined with the groaning of fatigued metal from somewhere outside.

Racing to the entrance of the motor pool, Matt looked in the direction of the base- and saw with alarm that it was tilted at a crazy angle, set to fall at any moment right on top of the Digi-Destined. That missile strike must have done more damage than he’d thought! He ran back toward the others, who were just getting settled in the landspeeder. “We’ve got to get going!” he shouted. “That missile strike did a lot of damage- the base is getting ready to fall down on us any second!” That got the others moving. Matt swung into the back seat next to a startled (but secretly rather pleased) Mimi, and General Miyamoto started the engine. A low, vibrant hum filled the motor pool- the landspeeder’s electric engine warming up.

Miyamoto backed the craft up, then slowly began to accelerate toward the entrance. They’d just about made it out, when a squad of guards bearing the insignia of the viper appeared, barring the entrance. Their drawn weapons were leveled at the general and the Digi-Destined. “Well, well,” General Tao said, stepping out from their midst. “It appears we’ve caught you, after all. Get out of the landspeeder.” “I don’t listen to traitors,” General Miyamoto said defiantly. “What was that?” Tao exclaimed, drawing his blaster. Abruptly, Miyamoto whipped something out of his officer’s jacket and threw it at the ground in front of the landspeeder. A cloud of smoke blossomed up from the point of impact. Tao and his men began coughing and waving at the air, trying frantically to see what was in front of them. Meanwhile, General Miyamoto rammed the speed rheostat to full. The small craft rammed through the middle of the grouped men, bursting out the entrance of the motor pool.

Scattered blaster fire came from behind as fresh troops came swarming in from the direction of the base- but General Miyamoto and the Digi-Destined were too far ahead of them now. The landspeeder raced through the trees, sometimes with only inches to spare as Miyamoto concentrated hard on the controls, executing pinpoint maneuvers that left Mimi dizzy. And in the background, Jungle Base fell to the ground, an enormous, incandescent eruption of smoke and flame that bathed the gloomy jungle underworld in a sudden unnatural light. “Well,” Sora said at last, looking back at the flaming ruins, “At least that takes care of General Tao and his men.” Miyamoto looked away from the base for a moment, stunned. The landspeeder slowed to a hovering stop. “He was a good man, once,” the general said at last. “But somehow, the darkness just got to him...”

“Why can’t we digivolve?” Agumon asked, curious. “Agumon,” Tai said, “Now probably isn’t the best-” General Miyamoto cut him off with a wave of his hand. “No,” he said, “He has a right to know... Years ago, when the Warlock Lord conquered Japan, the rebels hid out in the mountains near Tokyo. The Dark Lord knew he couldn’t hope to wipe them all out, and the remnants of the Digi-Destined were still out there somewhere- so somehow, he used his powers to create this place. We call it the Forbidden Jungle. Everything within seems frozen in time somehow- we’ve even tried cutting some of this mess down, but whenever we manage to knock down a tree, it grows back again almost overnight. That’s why no digivolutions can take place- the digivices should work fine anywhere else in the world. But for some reason, this place prohibits normal digivolving.”

T.K. reached idly forward to brush a stray branch out of his path- and gasped in shock as a burning pain lanced through his arm. Glistening black fibers seemed to coat the limb- and T.K. abruptly realized why the Forbidden Jungle stopped the digivices from working. “That’s why nobody can digivolve!” he exclaimed aloud. “The trees- they’re made out of control spires!” “Pepper Breath!” Agumon cried. The tree limb was reduced to ash. “Well,” Matt said wryly, “I didn’t manage to get a good look at the thing before Agumon toasted it- but I think T.K. was right. I knew there was something wrong about this place.” Suddenly, as if to accentuate Matt’s words, the shrieking of a jet engine resounded through the jungle.

A Gotha fighter rocketed through the canopy overhead- then abruptly turned, laser cannons blazing, as its pilot caught sight of the Digi-Destined. The blasts missed- but not by far. “We’ve got to get going!” Mimi shouted. “Right.” Miyamoto said. “Tai- take over for me.” “What- me?!” Tai asked, incredulous. “You want ME to pilot this thing?” General Miyamoto ignored Tai’s exclamations, continuing. “Matt,” he said, gesturing, “Take the weapons console. I’ve got a little surprise ready for that Gotha. Let’s get moving!” Tai slid quickly behind the wheel, scarcely waiting for Matt to take the seat beside him before he rammed the acceleration pedal to the floor. The landspeeder took off like a rocket with Tai turning the wheel frantically, slipping them through the trees with inches to spare like he actually knew what he was doing. “See,” he called back, turning to look at his friends, “This isn’t so-” “WATCH OUT FOR THAT TREE!” Mimi screamed.

Matt’s finger stabbed at the weapons console. Brilliant red beams of light vaporized the trunk of the tree in front of them- just in time, as the landspeeder raced through the spot where it had been. The topmost layers of the tree crashed into the jungle somewhere behind them. “Watch where you’re driving!” General Miyamoto called angrily from the back. From a compartment in the back of the landspeeder, Miyamoto withdrew a long, thin crate. Prying it open he revealed a large gray tube and two mushroom-shaped shells. “A rocket launcher?” T.K. asked. “Exactly,” the general said, “But I’ve only got two shells... I’ll have to make them count.” The fighter flashed by, too quickly for Kari’s eyes to see- but Miyamoto, aiming carefully, squeezed the trigger. A pillar of smoke and flame exploded out of the rocket launcher- but just then, Tai swerved tightly to avoid yet another tree, and the shell missed narrowly. Miyamoto swore vehemently, reaching back for the one remaining rocket.

He sighted down along the narrow tube, tracking the fighter’s movements carefully. The Gotha came around for another pass... and Miyamoto squeezed the trigger again. This time, the rocket flew straight, unwavering- and the Gotha fighter disintegrated in a violent explosion, its burning fuel scattering to set the forest behind them alight. Tai weaved wildly through the trees, Matt at the gunnery controls to blast away whatever objects Tai was about to plow into. Less than an hour later, they’d arrived at the outskirts of the old city. This part of Tokyo King Etemon had mostly left alone- partly because most of the residents had left to escape the fallout from what had once been Odaiba. “Wow...” Matt said, looking at the devastation some of the buildings closest to the blast had endured. “I grew up near here,” Tai said, looking around at the destruction the Digimon army had caused. “Look what they’ve done to this place.”

“We still have awhile to go before we reach our rendezvous point,” General Miyamoto said heavily. “Let’s get going.” The landspeeder sped up slightly, still moving slowly enough so the Digi-Destined could see what had become of their home- an urban wasteland, poisoned by radiation and soaked through with the blood of millions of innocent people. Nothing could ever grow there, and the people who had once lived in the devastated old buildings would never return. In time, what remained of the district would finally crumble into dust, leaving only the parched, barren earth behind as if nothing else had ever even existed. Stunned at the horrors the armies of the Dark Lord had wrought, Tai slowed the landspeeder once again, passing through the Arch of Triumph that had been erected at Odaiba’s entrance following the defeat of the Chinese- just before the Dark Lord had emerged from the Digital Portal to crush them all.

As the Digi-Destined bowed their heads at the sight of the nuclear wasteland the rest of Odaiba had become, they didn’t notice the dark form creeping around one of the massive pillars that supported the Arch of Triumph. They didn’t see the gleaming metallic hand extend from within the crimson robes, preparing to fire a lethal blast that truly would destroy the Digi-Destined once and for all. Abruptly, a warning light began to flash on the landspeeder’s display. “Digimon scanner?” Tai read. “What’s this?” General Miyamoto jerked upright. “There’s an enemy Digimon in the area!” he shouted. “Let’s get out of here!” Reaching over, General Miyamoto floored the accelerator and jerked the wheel to the right- and action that saved all of their lives. Just as the landspeeder began to turn, an incandescent beam of blue light sliced into the underside of the craft, destroying the repulsors that kept it afloat.

With a resounding crash, the vehicle fell to the ground, skidding into the side of a nearby building. Tai struggled to raise his head from where it had impacted the dashboard, squinting to read the display. One glance at the flashing sensors told him the worst. “The landspeeder’s about to blow!” he shouted over the wailing alarms. “We’ve got to get out of here!” Quickly, the Digi-Destined and their Digimon scrambled out of the dying craft- but General Miyamoto remained motionless. His face a bloody mass, penned by a bent-in section of the landspeeder’s hull, he sat helplessly as the tiny craft came closer and closer to blowing up. Dark smoke filled the cockpit, and flames licked hungrily ever closer to his face.

Turning, Matt noticed that Miyamoto was still in the dying landspeeder. “Guys!” he called to the Digi-Destined. “Come help me out!” The others crowded back into the smoldering wreck and began trying to pry Miyamoto loose from the bent-in section of hull that had him penned. “Leave me...” he gasped, hard-pressed even to speak. “I told you before,” Matt grunted, straining against the wreckage, “The Digi-Destined don’t leave people behind.” But as they strained and the metal refused to move, it became increasingly apparent that leaving the general was indeed their only option. The others began looking uncertainly towards the door- and then one of the Digimon edged in among the humans. “Blue Blaster!” Gabumon cried, instantly vaporizing the slab of metal that had given the Digi-Destined so much trouble.

“Now let’s get out of here!” he said, helping unfasten the general’s harness as the others carried him quickly out of the cockpit. When he thought they’d gotten a good distance away, Tai signaled to the others to set Miyamoto down against a burned-out skyscraper. Panting for breath, they eased the general gently into a sitting position facing the wreckage of the little craft- just as what remained of the landspeeder disappeared in a violent explosion, pieces of the vessel flying out to land hundreds of meters away. “Is everyone all right?” Mimi asked hesitantly. “Gabumon,” Matt said, “If it hadn’t been for you, none of us would have made it out of that landspeeder. You really saved the day back there.” Blushing, the blue-furred Digimon leaned forward impulsively, catching Matt up in a tight hug. “It was nothing,” he said offhandedly, though anyone who was watching could see his blush grow all the more. “Well, well...” a dark, menacing figure stalked slowly toward the Digi-Destined, crimson robes swirling around him and gleaming saber held aloft. “Isn’t this a touching moment?” “King Etemon!” General Miyamoto gasped, trying to struggle to his feet.

“So,” King Etemon said, advancing on the group, “The Digi-Destined managed to survive after all.” “You’re the one who did this, aren’t you?” Tai said angrily, gesturing toward the ruins of the devastated city that surrounded them. “You killed all these people. All the lives you’ve ruined, all the destruction you’ve caused...” he trailed off, at a loss for words in his fury. “Well,” King Etemon said offhandedly, “I might have had something to do with it...” “Agumon!” Tai cried in anger. The Digimon stepped forward, needing no encouragement. “You’re going to pay for everything you’ve done to this world!” Tai shouted. Brilliant white light flared out from the Digivice in his hand, and Agumon began to change...

 

“Agumon warp-digivolve to... WarGreymon!”

“Gabumon warp-digivolve to... MetalGarurumon!”

 

            The two Megas stood together menacingly, staring forward at King Etemon. “Well, well,” he said, amused. “It appears this little game will be interesting, after all.” Leaning heavily against the side of the burned-out building, General Miyamoto pulled out his disruptor. He knew he’d only get one shot...

            He lined up carefully on the gleaming metallic body of the evil king. The general watched as the Digimon gesticulated, apparently actually laughing at his two challengers. Just a little more... the general thought as King Etemon moved slightly to the right. The crosshairs of the weapon centered on the evil Digimon. Got you! he thought triumphantly. Miyamoto squeezed the trigger. A coherent beam of wicked green light streaked forward, connecting dead-on with King Etemon. The evil Digimon had time for only a single, startled exclamation as the beam intensified, the Digi-Destined looking away as the blinding green flash expanded, filling the entire area with an eerie glow. As the light dissipated, Miyamoto blinked away the afterimages to discover King Etemon- still standing exactly as he had been, laughing at the man who had just tried to end his life. “Did you really think you could harm me with that toy?” he sneered.

Unstrapping a gleaming metal dagger from his side, King Etemon hurled the blade with flawless precision, catching the disruptor and knocking it out of the general’s hand. The weapon exploded. With a violent curse, Miyamoto struggled to his feet. Drawing out his blaster, he limped toward King Etemon. Firing off shot after shot, he continued forward. The shots didn’t phase King Etemon, who watched in puzzlement as the human continued forward. Snatching two grenades from his bandolier, General Miyamoto pulled the pins and tossed them at King Etemon, where they exploded harmlessly. “No!” Matt cried, seeing what Miyamoto was doing and racing forward to stop him. “You’ll never win- he’s just too strong!” The general shook Matt of angrily, continuing forward. The power pack on the blaster ran down, its stores exhausted by the constant firing of the past few minutes. General Miyamoto didn’t seem to notice, and continued squeezing the trigger pointlessly, aiming dead on at the evil Digimon even though nothing was coming out the other end. With a single backhanded swipe, King Etemon knocked the general flying.

With an agonized cry, Miyamoto hit the ground and was still- unconscious, or maybe dead. “You’re going to pay for that,” MetalGarurumon rumbled. “Oh, really?” King Etemon said, drawing forth his deadly double-edged blade once more. “Well, we’ll just have to see about that.” With a snarl of fury the giant wolf lunged, his fangs bared to tear out the evil Digimon’s throat. King Etemon stepped easily aside, the force of MetalGarurumon’s leap carrying him well past the Digimon king. “Terra Force!” WarGreymon roared. The giant ball of energy flew straight for King Etemon. There was no way he was going to avoid this one...

            The evil Digimon sliced through the center of the energy ball with a single slash of his sword, the two halves spinning off through the air to detonate with stunning force somewhere in the distance. Missiles streaked forward from beneath MetalGarurumon’s steel wings, exploding all around King Etemon- but he didn’t even seem to notice the giant wolf’s relentless assault. King Etemon turned, the emerald atop his staff glowing with power. “Scepter Blast!” the evil Digimon cried, a surge of wicked green light striking MetalGarurumon’s flank. The giant wolf didn’t even have time to dodge...   When the smoke from the blast cleared, the unconscious form of Gabumon lay on the ground, motionless. “One down,” King Etemon said lightly. “What is that thing?” Mimi asked in horror. King Etemon laughed mirthlessly. “Mega Claw!” WarGreymon cried. Faster than thought, King Etemon’s hand shot out.

Grabbing WarGreymon’s arm in mid-swipe, the Digimon king hurled him over his shoulder, where he fell to the ground with a groan of pain. King Etemon twisted the other Digimon’s arm behind his back cruelly, laughing as WarGreymon was powerless to break the hold. His hand extended, palm forward, for the ultimate blow- but it never came. “Hand of Fate!” Angemon cried, the attack smashing point blank into the back of the evil Digimon’s head. With a grunt of pain, the evil Digimon rolled down and over, coming to his feet with the double-edged saber in his hands. “How ‘bout some Needle Spray!” Togemon shouted, thousands of razor-sharp needles showering the area. “Harpoon Torpedo!” Ikkakumon roared, his missile attack streaking down from the sky. “Meteor Wing!” “Electro-Shocker!” “Celestial Arrow!” King Etemon withstood the attacks easily.

“You Digi-Destined never quit, do you?” he said, half to himself. “You really are no match for me. Imperial Beam!” he cried. A broad beam of iridescent blue energy struck down between Angewomon and Togemon, draining their energy in one shot and forcing them to return to their Rookie levels. Meanwhile WarGreymon struggled back to his feet, determined to fight to the last. A single slash from King Etemon’s saber had him down on the ground again, groaning in agony. “Why do you continue to fight like this?” King Etemon roared, firing blast after blast of coherent energy at the other Digimon. “Your pathetic efforts are useless!” “You think so?” Tai asked, the crest of Courage shining brightly. “Well, think again!” As one, three Digivices shone with blinding white light...

 

“Ikkakumon digivolve to... Zudomon!”

“Birdramon digivolve to... Phoenixmon!”

“Kabuterimon digivolve to... MegaKabuterimon!”

 

                                   “Mega Electro Shocker!” King Etemon extended his hand, palm outward, and effortlessly deflected the blast into Phoenixmon, knocking the bird Digimon from the sky. Darting quickly behind MegaKabuterimon, King Etemon put the other Digimon in a stranglehold, laughing mirthlessly as MegaKabuterimon gasped for air. “Remember this?” Zudomon cried. “Vulcan’s Hammer!” Zudomon sent the giant hammer whirling through the air straight at the Digimon king- but King Etemon caught it single-handedly, throwing it back forcefully at Zudomon. “I’ve evolved a bit since the old days,” he said offhandedly as the marine Digimon shrank back into his Rookie form. With a violent kick, King Etemon threw MegaKabuterimon so that he landed on top of the downed WarGreymon. The emerald atop the staff at his side glowed with energy once more. “Scepter Blast!” he cried. When the wicked green light from the blast cleared, Agumon and Gomamon lay exhausted atop each other, unable to move. “Seven Digimon... I’d say that was good day’s work, wouldn’t you?” he said toward the Digi-Destined. “That leaves only one more before I can destroy the Digi-Destined for good.” “Hand of Fate!” Angemon roared from behind him. King Etemon rubbed the back of his head. “Was that attack supposed to harm me?” he asked. “I think I felt something that time...” “We need more power!” T.K. shouted in frustration. In reaction to the young boy’s need, the crest of Hope flared to life...

 

“Angemon digivolve to... MagnaAngemon!”

 

                                   Before the glow from the digivolution had completely cleared, MagnaAngemon drew forth the mighty sword Excalibur, bringing it down in a vengeful swipe toward King Etemon’s head. Stumbling backward in surprise, King Etemon was barely able to parry the blow. “Well,” he said, amused, “You might actually be one worth fighting.” “Gate of Destiny!” MagnaAngemon cried, the swirling blue vortex of a Digital Portal opening behind the evil king. “You have caused so much suffering...” the angel Digimon said, forcing King Etemon back toward the vortex. “It ends here. You will not be permitted to remain in this world.” “And what makes you think that you can stop me?” King Etemon asked. Faster than thought, he leapt to the side, rolling under MagnaAngemon’s stroke, and came up with saber held aloft. With a growl of fury, he charged at MagnaAngemon. This time, the angel was the one barely able to parry the other’s blow.

                                   “Why don’t you Digimon ever surrender?” King Etemon shouted in frustration. “Because if we did, Digimon like you would rule the world,” MagnaAngemon answered, “And that can never be allowed.” Pushing hard with his sword arm, MagnaAngemon forced the evil king to his knees. “Prepare to face the final judgment,” he said, relentlessly pressing down on the evil Digimon. “Never!” King Etemon roared. Keeping MagnaAngemon’s sword arm at bay with his own, he swung his other arm around. “Scepter Blast!” he roared. The angel Digimon went flying as the Digital Portal closed once more, a massive hole drilled through his midriff. “He’s too strong!” the angel Digimon gasped, looking desperately backward at the Digi-Destined. “Get out of here, now! I’ll try to hold him off.” In spite of his terrible agony, MagnaAngemon fought to remain upright, the sword Excalibur poised before him as a last defense. “Thank you for the fencing contest,” King Etemon said, “But I really must get back to work. Imperial Beam!” With a final cry of excruciating pain, MagnaAngemon dropped to the ground, unmoving. The Digi-Destined watched in shock as their last defender shrank into his Rookie stage, unable to believe the power of the evil king. The evil Digimon walked forward, not even breathing hard as he stood defiant before the Digi-Destined. “You should know better than to try to fight powers beyond your comprehension,” he said, raising his scepter once more. As the Digi-Destined looked on in horror, King Etemon laughed...