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Disclaimer: I don't own Digimon.

Summery: AU, very AU and dark, with mentioning of torture, violence and blood drinking.

Taichi's been disowned by the master and barely escaped both his execution and the destruction of his castle as Jun and the Digimon Emperor battled for supremacy of that area. In the battle, the Emperor revealed his new great weapon, Kimeramon. And in the real world, Oikawa Ukyou approached the master with an offer of alliance or destruction.

Special note: {Thoughts}

The desert looked a bit calmer, as the Digi Destined crowed together around the messy haired boy as he broke out of the hug he had had with Mimi and Kari. A slight blush on his face as he turned to regard the other kids crowding in around them.

"Taichi?" Sora spoke as she stepped closer; one hand reached out to grab his shoulder, testing to make sure that it wasn't a dream. That one of her best friends really was back among them again. "You can't guess how much I've missed you for the last four years." Then she grew a bit tense as she noticed Matt turn his head away from them. "It's been a long time, and Tai." Reaching out a hand, she pulled Matt over to them. "I want you to meet Matt, he's my boyfriend, and one of the oldest Digi Destined."

Staring at Matt, Tai gave a weak smile as he could partly recognized the blond haired boy as someone who he had seen fighting the digimons four years ago, as well as that giant digimon VenomMyotismon. Reaching out a hand, Tai looked over at Sora in time to see an expectant look on her face. "HI, I'm Taichi."

"I know who you are." Matt replied a bit icily as he looked down at the hand held out towards him, not shaking it as he turned to stare at the rest of the group for a few seconds before looking back at Tai. "And it's, nice to have you back to the good side."

Giving a puzzled expression at the blond haired boy as he turned and left. Tai shot a quick look over at his sister to see her shake her head a bit. "So, is the rest of your team like that?"

Stepping up and looking at the messy haired boy, Izzy nodded as he pulled out his lab top and opened it up. "It is fascinating to meet you. I've heard a lot about you from your sister and friends." Poking a finger at Tai's shoulder, Izzy nodded a bit to himself as he quickly inputted some data on his computer. "If you don't mind, I would like to do some test to see what this virus thing is that's infecting you."

Looking up at the words from the red haired boy, Kari quickly pulled Tai back a bit and glared at Izzy. "He's not going to do any tests until he's back home again, and have gotten a chance to relax and meet mom and dad."

Holding up a hand in front of him, Izzy backed off a bit at her tone of voice. "Of course, it's just." Shooting a quick look over at Mimi, Izzy looked away again when he noticed her staring at him as well, with a less unfriendly look. But still looking a bit upset "I couldn't get Mimi to agree, and I really want to know more about it."

Off to the side, Matt shook his head as he turned to face Sora who stared at the scene with a smile on her face. "I still don't trust him." The words making the girl look at him. "Who's to say he won't go evil on us again."

Looking a bit unsure about it as well. Sora looked over at the three smiling kids talking as they began to walk off. "We can't, all we can do, is trust him for now." It pained her to say it, but there was a chance Matt could be right.

Laughing a bit at some comment Mimi had made about Tai's cape. Kari stopped as a beeping sound called her attention away from hearing Tai reply. Pulling out her D-terminal, she plopped it open and stared at the message on it. "Guys, we have to go now, the other's are in trouble. The Digimon Emperor's got them trapped in a sewer."

Snapping his head around. Matt stared at the small girl with a dark expression on his face. "TK." Then he looked towards the place where Gennai had been. Seeing it empty, he turned back to the group. "Okay, we need to help TK and the others. Izzy, try and come up with a plan for, Kari, Gatomon is the only digimon who can armor digivolve. So we need you." Facing Tai, Sora and Mimi, Matt eyes stayed on the messy haired boy for a few seconds. "Sora, Mimi, our digimons can't digivolve as long as there is a control spire nearby, but we need all the help we can. If nothing else, we might be able to distract him."

Looking at the blond haired boy handing out order, Tai smirked a bit. Then he frowned as he looked over at Kari, seeing the traces of doubt in her eyes as she looked between Matt and him. "Kari, help him, don't worry about me. I'll stay back here and wait for you."

"No you're not." Matt added in as he looked at Tai. "No offense. But I just don't trust you." Turning to face Sora and Mimi again, he sighed a bit. "You two, keep an eye on him, just in case."

Watching the blond walk off, Tai stared at Mimi and Sora, watching them as they two different expressions on their faces. One who had a bit of hesitation in her eyes as she smiled, and the other who looked sorry about the words Matt had spoken. "So, where we going."

"Tai." Kari yelled out as she looked over at him. "You can ride with Izzy on Kabuterimon." Pulling out her D-terminal and D3, Kari stared at her brother. "If you want to that is."

Staring at Sora and Mimi, Tai gave a short nod before he walked over to his little sister. Staring down at the white feline digimon at her feet, freezing up as he noticed just whom she looked like. "Kari, that digimon."

Looking down at her partner, Kari smiled grew a bit bigger. "Oh, this is my partner digimon, her names Gatomon." At her introduction, Gatomon tails gave a small twirl as she looked at Tai. "Okay, are you ready."

Shaking his head a bit, Tai nodded as he looked at the others. And tried to forget just how much jis little sister's digimon partner had looked like Blackgatomon. A pain shooting through him at the though of his last few moments with her, and her last words when she had, died.

Of to the side, Mimi noticed the trouble expression on Tai's face and turned to regard Palmon at her feet. "Palmon, where do you think Blackgatomon is?"

Giving a startled jump at Mimi's question, Palmon regarded the sight of Tai and Kari and blinked. She had hardly noticed it, but Mimi was right. She hadn't seen Blackgatomon at all, not since the last few moments at the castle. "You think she?"

"I don't know." Mimi mumbled out as she lifted up her digivice. "But I think it would be best if we asked him about it later." Turning around, she looked at Sora. "Ready?"

Nodding, the four digimons stood at their partners' feet. "Let's go." Gabumon spoke out as he looked at Matt.

Smirking at his partner's words, Matt held out his digivice. "Digivolve!" At his yell, a bright light shot out form it, as well as that of Izzy and Sora's.

"Gabumon Digivolve too, Garurumon!"

"Tentomon Digivolve too, Kabuterimon!"

"Biyomon digivolve too, Birddramon!"

Pushing open her D-terminal, Kari looked at the outline of th digiegg of light forming on thes mall screen. "Digi Armor energize!" Her digivice shooting out a beam of light to hit the digiegg of light as it emerged from her d-terminal.

"Gatomon, Armor digivolve too, Nefertimon, the angel of light!"

Staring at the much larger champion level digimon's, Tai looked over at the red haired kid as he crawled up on the back of the insect digimon. "Come on, it perfectly safe."

Looking at the hand held out towards him, Tai slowly nodded as he crawled up on the back of the digimon. "Thanks." Mumbling out the word, he pulled his hand out the younger boy's.

Giving a smile at the messy haired boy, Izzy watched as he found the best way to sit of Kabuterimon's back. "You're welcome." Nodding a bit at the other boy's word, Tai grinned a bit. "If you don't mind." Izzy started as he pulled out his lab top and placed it in front of him. "That digimon back there in the cave, just what kind was it, I've never see one delete in such a fashion before."

Looking a bit unsure, Tai looked around to see that the others had gotten onto their digimons and where ready to leave as well. Turning back to face the red haired boy, Tai saw him still waiting for an answer patiently. "I don't really know much about them, but I can tell you what I do know."

"Excellent." Came the reply from Izzy as he pushed a few buttons on his lab top.

Several digimons screamed as they ran for their lives in a brightly lit street. A dark shadow falling over their heads and village as beams of destruction shot down at them. The carnage followed by a rain of dark rings and dark spirals on the survivors who escaped the carnage.

At the front line of this carnage flew a monstrous digimon. It's eyes glinting with joy of the destruction it caused, the darkness in its spirit and body growing as it sought to overpower the control of its master. And failed as it had many times, but, for each time it tried, the control of its mind and actions, grew just a bit weaker, and his own will gained more control of his body. "Heat Viper!"

A beam of sickly green fire shot through the air as the words rang out. Its target exploding with a cloud of smoke and normal looking fire, the mess reaching up to join the other pillars of smoke and fire, in the remains of what had once been a digital city behind the monster flying through the air.

Behind the digimon, came a object the likes of which no digimon could remember ever having seen before. Something they would describe as a floating rock, easily the size of small villages, and as tall as a skyscraper. Metal and glass glinting from various places on the rocky surface, the black surfaces reflection the light of destruction below.

And looking down at the carnage form atop his flying fortress, The Digimon Emperor, also known as Ken laughed as he watched the destruction being dealt to the digital world, his prize creation living up to all of his expectations. Already he had secured at least 10 percent more land that he normally would in a single day. And that was just in one hour.

But the real test of his creation lay ahead of him. Standing on a tall hill reaching up towards him, each of their faces showing a grim determination as their armor digimon lined up before them. "Come on Digi Destined, Haven't I already showed you just how worthless you are." Giving a dark laugh at his small private joke. the Digimon Emperor settled down in his chair. Calling up his control panel. "Kimeramon, Show the Digi Destined who's boss."

Giving a roar of obedience, the synthetic digimon flew out of the sky, heading towards the armor digimons on the ground before him, a lust for destruction slowly growing inside of him as he approached. He would enjoy crushing these digimons, and all the others in the digital world as well.

On the ground, Davis, TK, Yolie and Cody watched as the Digimon Emperor's fortress and Kimeramon approached. A dark look on the two oldest boys as they watched the level of destruction left behind, A look of shock on the purple haired girl's face as she witnessed it, while one of pure anger had formed on the youngest member of the little group.

Clenching his hand, Davis looked at the three next to him. "We have to stop this, right now." Turning his face back to look at the burning village, he watched, as Kimeramon seemed to focus his attention on them. "We can't let the Digimon Emperor and his sideshow monster continue to do this."

Next to him, TK nodded as he concentrated his eyes on the upper arms of the synthetic monster. Feeling a cold pit forming in his stomach as he easily recognized them. "I agree, there won't be anything left of the digital world if we don't stop them right here."

"Do you think we stand a chance?" Yolie mumbled out as she watched the digimon four hands clench open and close again as it came closer. "It destroyed the village so easily."

Next to her, Cody glared at the monster as he clenched his hands, His nails cutting into the flesh of the palms, almost deep enough to draw blood. "I can't believe he went this far, to create something like that." Eyes flashing, Cody turned to face his digimon partner with looked up at the flying digimon with a look of, concern. "Digmon, you have to defeat him, we can't let him continued to destroy the digital world."

"Relax." Raidramon mumbled out as he stepped closer to the edge of the hill. His eyes focused on Kimeramon as he came closer to them. "We beat all the other digimons the emperor sent out way, so we can defeat this one with no problems."

Spreading out his wings and kicking up some dirt, Pegasusmon stepped up next to the blue armored digimon. "Wish I could agree with you, but that digimon has the parts of some of the strongest and toughest digimons around." Watching the fortress behind it, the horse like digimon shuddered. "And who knows what the emperor will throw at us as well."

Flying in the air just above them. Halsemon stared silently at the digimon with a concerned look on his face. Already feeling some of the digimons power. "No matter what he is, we must stop this madness before it spreads any further."

"I agree." Digmon added in as he watched Kimeramon closely. And it looks like we will get a chance to prove ourselves against him right now." Turning his head to watch the kids behind him, Digmon stared at his partner silently for a second before he finally spoke. "Cody, all of you. get out of here, we don't know how dangerous he is, and I'd rather not take any chances."

"Right." Came the reply from the four kids as they moved towards the safest place around.

Inside of his control room, the Digimon Emperor smirked as he watched the kids leave the hill, their digimon's remaining behind as Kimeramon move din for the attack. "Heh, looks like the kids knows the fate their digimons are in for." Laughing a bit at it, the Digimon Emperor pushed a few buttons on his control panel. "I must remember to record this battle, it's going into my video collection along with all of my other victories. This way, I can enjoy it over and over again." Standing up of his chair, the Digimon Emperor's eyes flashed as he watched the screens around him. "Finally, with the brats out of the way, no one can threaten me anymore, this world is mine, all mine!"

Sitting on the edge of light cast by the screens. A small green digimon looked up at his partner with a sad expression on his face. The eyes showing a deep concern and fear for the human boy as he laughed. "Oh Ken, is this really what you want?"

Attacking as one. The four armor digimons flew or ran towards the approaching Kimeramon. Their determination growing with each step or bit if air the moved through. "Now!" Raidramon yelled out as his back and horn alit with pure arches of electricity. "Lightning Blast!"

Flapping his wings and lowering his head, Pegasusmon fired off a green triangle shaped beam from his helmet. "Equus beam!"

At the same time, Halsemon eyes glowed bright red before two arrowed shaped beams shot out and right towards Kimeramon's head. "Eagle Eye!"

On the ground, Digimon pointed all of his drills at the evil digimon and fired them all off at once. "Gold Rush!"

Impacted right on his head or upper chest. Kimeramon roared as he was covered in a cloud of smoke, which quickly faded away as he shot through it, laughing at the weak attempts by the armor digimons to hurt him, Kimeramon simply hovered in the air for a second before he opened his mouth. Poison green fires already flicking around his sharp teeth. "Heat Viper!"

Shooting right the air, the green fire passed by Pegasusmon and Halsemon, the two digimons dodging it in time, but not the power radiating out from the beam as it flew past them. The air rippled and rose to searing heights as the two digimons gave a cry of pain and shock.

On the ground, Raidramon and Digmon stared wide-eyed on the beam as it hurled towards them. "Scatter!" Yelling out the command at the same time, the two digimon turned and fled as fast as they could. Sand and rocks hammering into them as the ground exploded from Kimeramon's attack.

High above the ground, Pegasusmon restored his flight and turned to face Kimeramon again. "Such a level of power." Then he flew up in the air again, flapping his wings as he tried another one of his attack. "Star Shower!"

Moving out his nose dive, Halsemon shot up in the air, aiming right form the lower parts of Kimeramon, powering up an attack as he shot through the air with a loud whine. "Tempest Wing!"

Once again the attack hammered into the evil digimon, hiding him for a bit as a small twister roared into life form Halsemon's attack around him. Then it was blown apart as another beam of green fire shot through the air.

"They're not doing so well are they?" Yolie asked as she watched Halsemon and Pegasusmon escape another attack form Kimeramon. Her hands clasped together in front of her as she looked at Davis, TK and Cody.

TK didn't look away from the battle as he answered her. Not wanting to miss anything. "I'll say, they're getting creamed."

Sticking his head up over their hiding place, Davis shot a clenched up fist into the air as he watched his digimon rush towards the battle again. "Go Raidramon, show that digimon who boss."

"Should we pull back TK?" Cody's voice broke in as he watched Digmon pull himself free of the sand and rocks, the yellow colored armor on the digimon looking a bit worse then ever before. "They attack him all at once, and it didn't even slow him down."

Biting his lip as he stared away from the battle, TK reached down a hand towards his belt. "We might have to." Lifting up his D-terminal, he gasped and looked up as Pegasusmon fell down from the sky again. "Okay, I'm telling Kari about this, and then we get the heck out of here."

Turning around at the statement form TK, Davis eyes flashed as he looked at them. "Run away from a battle. We can't just let that digimon continue to rampage through the digital world like that, he'll." Seeing the look in TK eyes, Davis nodded as he turned back to the battle scene. "Okay, we're drawing back for now and." Freezing, Davis stared in muted shock at the battle scene. "Raidramon, no!"

Looking up at his yell, TK, Yolie and Cody stared at the scene before them. Feeling the same level of horror as Davis was suffering from. "No." TK breathed out as he quickly punched in a message and get ready to hit the send button when his attention was drawn away by the battle.

In the air, Pegasusmon were still falling when he felt something grab his back legs in a crushing grip, then the air and world rushed sideways as he was flung around and used to batter Halsemon with, the impact sending a wave of pain through his body as he dropped from the sky and onto the ground. Glowing brightly upon impact, he returned to his Togemon form.

Next him, Poromon groaned as he struggled to sit up as well, his body wrecked by the same feeling of pain. Stopping as he dropped back down onto the round. A feeling of regret going through him as he saw Kimeramon pass over them.

"Thunder blast!"

"Gold Rush!"

The two attacks hit Kimeramon right on and had the evil digimon turn its attention away from Tokomon and Poromon . The air heavy with tension as the evil digimon rushed towards them. "Heat Viper!"

Giving a loud cry of surprise, Raidramon jumped out of the way, running in a wide circle towards the place where Poromon and Togemon had landed, stopping when he reached them. "You two okay?" Looking over his shoulder, he saw Kimeramon roar our in frustration as Digimon used his drills to move underground. "Think you're up to doing a retreat?"

"Look." Togemon whispered out as he pointed one of his legs up into the air, his eyes opening and closing a bit as he focused on something coming towards them.

Turning his head, Raidramon watched as a Devidramon flew into view. A young messy haired boy standing on the back, dressed in a blue, white and gold colored outfit. "The Digimon Emperor!"

Smirking at the yell from the digimon, the Digimon Emperor held out the hand not holding his whip, making his cape flash out in a dramatic way. "Correct, and now digi brats, you and your pets have been defeated." the Digimon Emperor stopped his speech as he watched the three boy and one girl ran up to their digimons, the blond and purple haired ones of them grabbing their partners. "As I was saying, you are defeated, but, I'm in a good mood today, so if you surrender now, and I will allow you to leave the digital world, on the conditions that you never return, this is my world, and I will defend it from inferior beings like you anyway I can."

Glaring up at the Digimon Emperor as he finished speaking, Davis felt his eyes narrowed. "Never, I will never surrender to you, come on Ken, can't you see what you're doing is wrong."

Next to him, TK nodded as he held Togemon close, feeling the small body shake a bit. "Yeah, digimon's a living creatures, and you can't just enslave them."

Nodding as she looked at Poromon 's wings. Yolie looked up with anger. "And who said it was okay for you to create your own digimon, don't you have enough in your partner digimon."

Just giving the Digimon Emperor a cold, indifferent look, Cody stared from him to Kimeramon and back again. "I didn't think you could anymore evil, but this time, I don't think I will ever forgive you for all you have done, even... "

"Silence!" Roaring out the word, the Digimon Emperor glared down at each of the digi destined. "I am the digimon Emperor, and this is my world. I can do what I want to with it, and as for my partner, I don't need him, not as long as I have, Kimeramon." Eyes narrowing as he finished laughing after his little speech, the Digimon Emperor turned around slowly. "But, since you won't surrender, I have no choice but to throw you out of the digital world by force, Kimeramon!"

"Rock Cracking!"

Eyes growing wide at the sudden yell, the Digimon Emperor stared in shock as the ground simply crumbled away under the digi destined feet's, sending a shower of dirt and rubble up as they vanished. "No, how could they escape." Staring down, the messy haired boy focused on the rather wide hole in the round. "Heh, hiding underground like the rats they are, Kimeramon chase them out."

Moving over to the hole, the huge digimon glared down at it and growled. Then looked up at the burning village around them, not really feeling like chasing after the weaklings when he could be destroying the rest of the place instead.

"Kimeramon!" The digimon Emperor's voice rang out as the cracking sound of a whip filled the air. Glaring at the digimon, Ken smirked as it slowly turned back to stare at the hole. "Good, now show them who's boss!"

Opening his mouth, Kimeramon felt the fire flick across his teeth, shooting out to form a pure beam of destruction. "Heat Viper!"

Behind Kimeramon, the Digimon Emperor laughed as the green fire lighted up the hole. "Yes, there's no way they could have missing seeing that, no way." Then he looked down at his D3, as a loud beeping sound filled the air. "What, they should be coming out here, so how come I can track them running away?" Looking at the four white dots moving away from him and Kimeramon, his eyes narrowed as he looked down at the hole. "A tunnel." Then he smirked. "Well, looks we'll have to root out a few rats."

Down below the street, Yolie, TK, Davis and Cody stared around at the brick covered walls they were running past, while trying to ignore the smell of the water running in a canal in the middle of the tunnel. Above them, they could hear the faint sounds of several buildings falling down as the Digimon Emperor continued his rampage. Reaching a larger round room with tunnels running off in three more directions, they stopped to catch their breath.

"I can't believe we lost." Davis spat out as he punched the wall, his anger clearly showing as he punched the wall a second time.

Gasping for her breath, Yolie turned to look at Poromon with a concerned look, picking him up after she had caught her breath. "They couldn't even hurt that digimon." Voice shaking a bit, she looked up at the brick covered ceiling. "How can we hope to stop that thing if we can't even slow him down."

Looking down at the muddy brown water, Cody sighed a bit as he turned to face Digmon. "Looks like Ken wins after all, our digimons simply aren't strong enough to stop him."

Eyes narrowing at their words, Davis turned away form the wall and stared at them. "No. I refuse to give up, there has to be some way of winning. I won't stop fighting until we have won"

"Davis." TK started to say, as he looked at the messy haired boy, his hands clenched up at his side. Patamon resting on his head just like he had in the old days. "I agree with you, but right now we have to think of ourselves." Seeing the protest in Davis eyes, TK sighed. "We can't fight him with only half of our team, we need all of our teams to win this."

Staring at the blond haired boy, Davis bit his lip in order to hold back another protest. TK was right, but it felt wrong to just run away like this. "We better call Kari, and tell her about this." Davis mumbled out as he kicked a small stone into the water. "Do you think we'll get a chance like this again TK?" Staring at the blond haired boy, he frowned when he noticed TK staring back down the tunnel they had just come from. "What is it?"

Staring into the darkness, TK eyes narrowed as he tensed up. "I thought I heard something."

"There's something over there!" Yolie screamed out as she snapped a hand out to point into the darkness.

Clenching up their hands, TK and Davis moved up side by side as several shapes began to come into the faint light. "Guess Ken didn't want us to get away this time." Davis mumbled out as he began to count the shapes. "Who are those digimons anyway?"

The digimons had become rather clear, and had a shape that looked like a mutated frog with a fin on it's head. Around their front legs, Dark Rings could be seen. "We're Betamon's, and our supreme master, the Digimon Emperor sent us to capture you child."

Stepping back, Davis turned to look back over his shoulder. "Raidramon, are you ready?"

"You too Digmon." Cody added in as he watched the Betamon keep moving out of the darkness, trying to keep the fear out of his voice. "You and Raidramon are the only ones left who can fight."

"Guys!" Yolie's voice yelled out as she pointed down one of the side tunnels, a group of familiar white colored digimons flying through the air. "There's a group of Bakemon's headed this way."

Eyes narrowing even more, TK looked at the large number of hostile digimons and then at the only two battle able digimons they had left on their own side. "Davis, have Raidramon cover us from the Bakemons, Cody get Digmon to collapse the tunnel on the Betamon's."

"What?" Cody voiced out as he shot a quick look over at the blond haired boy. "But, they're digimons, I can't kill them."

Looking a bit angry, Davis clenched his hands hard enough to draw a bit of blood. "You have to, if we get captured, who's going to save the digital world." Staring into the tunnel with the Bakemons, Davis nodded. "Do it Raidramon!"

Holding out a hand in a stopping gesture, Cody eyes snapped wide open. "Wait, there has to be another way." Then he turned around as he noticed several of the Betamon's looking at him, electric sparks floating around in their mouths. "Oh no."

"Cody!!"

"We have to go faster!" Matt's voice cut through the air as he and Garurumon rushed across the desert floor, Sora and Mimi flying on Birddramon directly above him with Kari and Nefertimon next to them, and above all of them Kabuterimon flew through the air with Tai and Izzy on his back. "I swear, if Ken's harmed him in anyway, I'll take him down myself."

Looking down at her boyfriend, Sora felt her mouth go dry. There was only one other time she could recall seeing the same look of hate in those blue eyes. And that was when one of the Dark Master's had kidnapped TK. "Matt, calm down, we'll save them." Even before she had finished speaking, she had to ask herself id she was trying to convince herself or Matt, with only one armor digimon, how much of a chance did they stand against the army of dark ringed digimons under the emperor control.

Not giving any sign of having heard her, Matt urged Garurumon to run faster. But still, he had to admit, he felt a bit of doubt in what he could do. His digimon couldn't digivovle to champion, and even if it was still possible to reach it, his mega form would be rendered useless by the control towers or that blasted black digivice the emperor had. But he had to try, it was his brother out there, and he was not going to site by as he was once again put in mortal danger.

Hanging onto Nefertimon, Kari had her eyes closed as she tried to avoid thinking of what might be happening to both TK and Davis at the moment, not to mention Yolie and Cody. As well as trying to convince herself that it wasn't her fault they were in trouble, she had to go and find her brother, they had agreed on it. So why did it fell like it was her fault.

"It's not." Nefertimon spoke out as she flew through the evening sky. "No matter how much you think it is, it's not your fault." Feeling her partner's confusion, Nefertimon chuckled a bit. "You tend to speak out your thoughts when you're really concerned."

Looking a bit embarrassed, Kari remembered why they where talking about it, and felt depressed again. "It might have been different if we had been there."

Giving a deep, sighing sound, Nefertimon eased up a bit on her flying speed as she adjusted her direction. "Or it could have been the same result, we have no idea how powerful the Emperor's new digimon is. I think it's safe to say that if the four other digimons couldn't even harm him, how could we have helped. "

"We might have." Kari started a protest and stopped, her voice failing her as she realized just what her partner had been hinting at. "So now what do we do."

Not answering her partner right away, Nefertimon stared at the horizon for a few seconds. "Our best."

Back on Earth, Night had fallen over the City of Tokyo. Covering the sky with a layer of stars and clouds barely seen in the light from the street lamps. Inside the house in a sparsely furnished guestroom, the master slept after a hard day of planning and cursing the digi destined.

"No, don't delete him." Twisting around in his sleep. The Master shook his head as he once more he relived one of the worst moments of his life. Watching his best friend, and the most trusted one in his life engage in a battle he couldn't hope to win, no matter how hard he tried.

Facing him, Two other digimon's stood on top of a snow covered mountain, a rare break in the endless storms allowing them the peace for this final battle between the three. He could see them clearly, a great orange dinosaur and a fur-covered wolf a bit over the size of a midsize family car.

And behind them, two human figures, light coming from their hands as their digivices reacted to their wish to end this battle. "No." Shaking his head and trying as hard as he could, he could only watch as his partner rushed out to do battle with them. "Stop it!"

Sitting up in the bed, The master sighed as he felt his sweat covered forehead, purple hair stuck to his sweaty forehead head as he rolled over onto his side, a green glow greeting him from the alarm clock, standing there on the simple wooden desk. "3am."

Sitting up as he muttered out the time, he stared out the window and into the night sky, seeing nothing but a dark blanket above the buildings. The light from the stars drowned out by the constant light form the city streets below, hiding the one thing he had always thought could comfort him. "Gennai, the sovern digimons." Eyes growing hard at the thought of the dream, he lifted up a hand to press against the window. "They will all pay for what they did, even my so called servants and generals. They have the most part of the blame."

Standing in the darkness outside the guestroom. Oikawa smiled grimly as he listen to the barely heard mutterings of his ally. A dark grin forming on his face as he began to walk away, taking care not to cause too much noise. Reaching his own room, he closed his door behind him and allowed a grin to form on his face. "Fool, our alliance only goes as far as to the digital world. After that, who knows what will happen." As he spoke, a dark cloud formed around Oikawa as his eyes glowed bright red. "Other then my darkness covering everything, as it has always been destined to."

Across town in an apartment complex, two adults sat silently inside a living room, hoping that their only remaining child would come through the front door, unharmed and with a good excuse.

Around town, almost the same thing was thought out by a lot of people, all of them completely oblivious to the fact that their children was up against some very dark odds in a world few of them had ever dreamed off.

"Master, more digi destined have entered the area."

Turning to stare at the screen, the Digimon Emperor put down his teacup and smirked. "About time as well." Standing up, he looked at one screen in particular; the very one he had spent the last 20 minutes looking at in fact. "Now, I will have a complete collection of defeated brats."

Looking a bit unsure at what his partner was saying. Wormmon stared at the screen, the four children and digimons sitting inside each of their cells clearly shown on it. "When will you send them back to earth again?"

"Later." Came the ice-cold reply as the Digimon emperor continued to push buttons on his control console. "The brats refused my offer, therefore, I won't let them go free anytime soon." Laughing coldly, the messy haired boy stood up. "They can rot in the cells until I grow tired of hearing their cries for mercy."

Eyes opening at his partner's words, Wormmon gave a weak moan. "But Ken, they." The rest was cut off as Wormmon had to move back a bit to prevent the whip from hitting him.

Glaring at his partner with hateful eyes, the Digimon emperor stood up, turned back to the console. "Never call me that again Wormmon, I am the digimon Emperor, and you shall call me either that, or master." Nodding to his commands as he moved back from the console, a small chuckle came from him. "Perfect, the last of the Armor brats are here, I shall enjoy seeing their expression when their digimons become my loyal slaves."

As his partner left the room, Wormmon remained behind to watch the empty space where his partner had been just a few seconds ago. "Ken." Moving a bit to the side to watch the monitors, Wormmon stopped as his eyes fell onto the eight objects placed on a small table by his partner. A feeling of doubt washing through him, but only for a few seconds as he regarded the children on the screen, seeing the way they cared for their partners. "I'm doing this for you Ken."

"I don't believe this."

The words were spoken by Mimi, but could have come from anyone of the digi destined as they came to the remains of the village. The sight of the burning buildings and roaming dark ringed digimon sending a shiver down their spine as most of them were reminded off pas destruction wrought by the four dark masters.

But even they could have come up with an excuse for destroying everything; The Digimon Emperor hadn't a single one. If the human boy had wanted too, he simply could have planted a control spire and taken over the digimons without the senseless violence. The Dark Masters had lacked that power as they hadn't even considered taking over the minds of digimons, but rather sought to rule through power alone.

Staring up at the looming fortress above the village. Matt clenched up a hand as he watched the single metal part sticking out of the front of it. "Okay, we have to move fast now." Removing his gaze from the fortress, Matt focused on the burnt out city. "Kari, write TK and find out if they're okay, also, tell them we're on our way."

Nodding as she pulled out her D-terminal, Kari quickly wrote up a message and hit the send button. Her eyes staring at the screen non stop, waiting for an answer.

"It is useless to even try that."

Spinning around at the familiar sneering voice, the five kids focused on the single boy standing before them. one foot planted dramatically on the only remains wall of a building. The blue and yellow cape fluttering a bit in the weak wind as a smirk formed on his face. "Your friends are now my prisoners, and I suggest you surrender, if you don't, they will have a very bad accident."

Eyes smoldering with anger, Matt felt his nails cut through the flesh on his hands. "Bastard, let them go now!"

One eyebrow rising a bit at the way he was spoken to, the Digimon Emperor's smirk grew wider as he lifted up a hand. "Maybe what you need is a bit more of a reason to surrender." Snapping his fingers, a dark laughter escaped from him. "Meet me most perfect creation yet, Kimeramon!" Eyes covered by a reflex in his glass as he lowered his arm, the digimon Emperor felt Kimeramon rise up from behind one of the buildings in a most dramatic way. "Surrender now, or I will be forced to have your digimons deleted, and I hate to let good slaves go to waste."

Feeling a bit of anger at the words from the Digimon Emperor, Tai froze before he could say anything. His mind going back over the digimons he had enslaved, or deleted. And for what, a master who had turned on him, or was it because he had liked it, to see someone cower before him in the dust, begging for mercy that wouldn't come. Was there really any difference between himself and this boy?

"Well." Came a more arrogant and impatient demand from the Digimon Emperor, his eyes narrowing behind the sunglasses. "If you fools don't make up your mind, I will be forced to let Kimeramon delete your digimons. You don't want that, do you?"

At the mentioning of him, the huge digimon growled a bit as he floated closer to the kids and their digimons. Already feeling like destroying them, despite the commands of his master to wait for a signal, a command that could barely hold him back as it were.

Staring around at the rest of the team, Matt growled as he saw the same unsure look in each f their eyes, except for the look on Tai's face. He looked almost, sorry for the Emperor. Still, with the odds so heavily against them, they could really only do one thing. "We surrender."

Smirking as arrogantly and self-assured as he could, the Digimon Emperor watched the resigned look on all the digi destined faces. "Good, throw your digivices on the ground, and step away from them." Turning his head in Kari's direction, he glared at Nefertimon. "And have your digimon dedigivolve back to her normal state, I don't want anyone playing hero."

Lifting up a hand in front of him, a dark laughter echoed out into the ruined city as five digivices landed on the ground before him. "At last, I have won, the Digital World is mine, and only mine."

Tapping a finger against the floor, Davis stared out through the black iron bars and sighed. It wasn't how he expected it all to end. Held prisoner in his enemy's base, waiting for the moment when the Emperor would force him and his friends to watch as he turned their partner digimons into a slave.

At least he couldn't complain about the company in the cell. If only they had been a more lively, TK seemed to share his dark mood, while Yolie were busy looking at Cody curled up on the only escape form the cold floor. "Is he still in shock Yolie?"

"I'm not sure." Came the reply as the purple haired girl turned her attention away from the youngest member in the group, and focused on the leader. "I think he's awake, he just don't want to respond to anything I say."

Lifting his eyes up from where they had been focused at, Cody slowly curled out of his mute shell. "I'm just thinking, if it hadn't been for Digmon, I would have died back there." Voice turning a bit strained at the end; Cody stood up and walked over to stare out the door, his eyes landing on the small pink ball that was his partner's current form.

Electric sparks floated around in the Betamon's mouths as they aimed it right at the young boy. The cries of the other human children around them ignored as they followed the orders they had been given bring back the digi destined no matter what. "Electric shock!"

Falling down, Digimon lay on the ground as smoke rose up from him, His body glowing brightly a second or so later as the damaged caused him to regress back to his in training level.

Lowering his head to avoid seeing the hurt expression on Cody face, Davis tried to block out the memory that arose when he saw his own partner but couldn't. The battered form of Demiveemon showed just how ruthless the Digimon Emperor slaves had been in the fight. "I'm sorry,"

"For what?" TK spat out as he kicked out and hit an iron bar. "It all Ken's fault, if he hadn't turned into such a." The rest of his words were forgotten as he stared at a small, green digimon looking back at them. "What are you doing here?"

Sitting up at blond haired boys sudden question, Davis, Cody and Yolie stared at the digimon as well. Recognizing him as the one who constantly followed the Digimon Emperor around, a brown back lying on the ground behind him.

Walking a bit closer, Wormmon looked over at the messy haired boy inside the cell. Recognizing him as the one his partner always ranted about, claiming he was his archenemy. And as such, he had to be the one with the best chance of helping him. "You have to help me, please."

"Me?" Davis replied in a surprised tone of voice as he poked a finger at himself. "Why should I, you work for the Digimon Emperor, you're just going to set us up." Voice turning a bit resentful at the end, Davis stood up.

Shaking his head, Wormmon crawled even closer to the cell. "No, you have to believe me, I won't set you up." Feeling the other digimons focused on him as well, Wormmon pulled the bag closer to the cell door. "I brought your digivices, I'll give them to you, if you agree to help me save Ken."

Feeling rather puzzled at what the digimon were saying, Davis turned his attention back at the digimon. "Save him, from what?"

Getting an embarrassed expression on his face, Wormmon shook it and looked back at Davis with a hopeful expression. "From himself, you seen what he has made, that evil digimon Kimeramon, I'm afraid I'll lose him forever. Please, help me."

"Okay." Smiling as he ignored the shocked gasps from the others, Davis kneeled down to look out through the iron bars. "But first we have to get out of here."

"You'll help me? Thanks." Having a grateful expression on his face, Wormmon pushed the bag closer to the iron bars and watched as Davis and the others reached a hand into the bag, pulling out both their D3s and D-terminals. "Your digimons can armor digivolve with these, and break you out."

A small cough from the other cell drew their attention over to the digimons sitting there, and Demiveemon looking out at them with a tired expression. "We can't armor digivolve, we're too tired. We need energy, and food."

"I can get you out of there in no time."

Turning to face the new voice, the digi destined and digimons stared in mute surprise at the red haired boy and insect like digimon. "Izzy, Tentomon."

Looking more surprised then the others, Wormmon looked at them. "How did you get up here, the fortress is flying above the ground."

Walking over to the cell doors, Izzy poked the lock a bit, before pulling out a key from his pocket. "We convinced an Unimon from the village to give us a lift up here. Sadly he didn't want to wait around in case the Digimon Emperor spotted him" Stepping back from the cell door, Izzy pointed a finger at a small mark he had scratched into the locks metal surface. "Okay Tentomon, hit it right there, and the lock should break open."

Flying up to him, Tentomon gave a salute to his partner. "Ay, Ay Izzy." Focusing on the mark, Tentomon called up his powers for his basic attack. "Super Shocker!"

Giving a weak cracking sound, the door shook a bit before it opened. "Ha, A simple electric shock in the right place to override the magnetic lock." Looking rather smug, Izzy looked at the kids. "Well."

"We'll thank you later." Davis added as he walked over to the digimons cell. "After you get them out of there."

Several minutes later had the group of humans walking down the prison hallway, the various digimons trapped in the prison cells looking out at them. "Can't we do something for them?" Cody voiced out as he spotted a group of Koromon's huddling in a corner.

Watching the digimons, Izzy nodded at Tentomon and then looked up at the four younger digi destined. "You four go, me and Tentomon will stay here and free them." Seeing the protesting expression on their faces, Izzy shook his head. "Right now we have a strong advantage, the Digimon Emperor isn't on the base right now, so we have a chance of shutting this place down."

Eyes lighting up with understanding, Davis nodded as he turned around to walk down the corridor again. "Okay, we'll go for the engine room, you and Tentomon free these digimons, and then you can meet us there."

Still laughing a bit to himself, the Digimon Emperor watched the five digi destined walking before him, the look of defeat on their face, filling him with joy. "Now that they are all dealt wth, my only problem lies in deciding where to go next, maybe I should hunt down that girl before she becoems a problem as well."

Reaching down a hand to pull out a communicator, the Emperor looked up at his fortress. "Wormmon, come in, I need you to send down the Airdramon's with another cage." Smirking evilly at the thought, he looked down at his prisoners. "I have another group of Digi Destined that needs to be removed from my world."

Waiting for a reply, his eyes narrowed as the seconds passed with no response. "Wormmon?" Still not getting an answer, he growled as he turned off the communicator. "That little, you can't trust him to do anything right." Turning to his forces, he looked at them. "Guard them, I need to return to the base." Jumping up on a nearby Airdramon as he spoke, he looked down at his prisoners again. "Don't worry, I'll be right back to deal with you. Let's go Kimeramon."

Growling in response, the huge evil digimon took off form the ground, heading up towards the place where he had first come into existence. His eyes narrowing as he came closer to the rocky surface of the place. The control on him was nearly gone, just a few more minutes and he would be free.

--------------------

"Is this it?" Yolie asked out loud as they looked in awe at the towering metal spire running up and down the center of the base, the top and bottom parts hidden by the sheer height of it. "What's he doing with that thing, picking up TV signal's from around the world."

Jumping a head of them on the metal gangway, Wormmon headed towards the bubbled shaped central point of it. "This way, the Engine room over here."

Following after him, Davis and TK stared at the inside of the room engine, the feeling of raw power heavy in the air as they stepped in. "What's that?" Davis mumbled out as he pointed a clack color shape standing a pedestal in the center of the room.

Following his finger, Wormmon eyes frowned a bit as he hopped closer to it. "I don't know, Ken found it. It's what powers the base."

Stepping closer to it, Davis looked down at it. "We can't lift that thing." Turning to TK, he lifted up a hand towards the blond haired boy. "Got any ideas?"

Looking just as lost as him, TK shrugged. "No, but you can always try grabbing it, if it zaps you, we know that didn't work." The last was added with a grin.

"Ha, ha." Davis laughed out in a fake voice as he looked down at the black thing. "But we have to get it away from there"

"Get away from my power source!"

Turning around at the angry roar, Davis and TK stared at the sight of the Digimon Emperor standing out on the gangway, the black whip uncurled on the floor as Yolie and Cody backed away form him, or the looming presence of Kimeramon behind him. "I said, get away from there."

Glaring at the messy haired boy, Davis spun around. "Never." almost touching the thing, Davis stopped as the room started shaking, golden beams of light shooting out form the black thing. "Now what!"

Out on the gangway, the Digimon Emperor stumbled backwards, reaching out a hand to steady him as the shaking started. As he leaned on Kimeramon, he watched in disbelief, as his engine room was simply ripped apart by a golden light. "What's going on?" Then he tumbled over as Kimeramon took off from the floor, his eyes focused on the lightshow and his master, before he turned around to leave, smashing down a wall in the process. "Kimeramon, come back here, where you going. I need you to stop them! Kimeramon, I order you to come back!"

Staring after his creation, the Digimon Emperor froze as a cold feeling washed over him, a faint laughter growing louder with each heart beat, making the doubt inside of him grow with each second. "Why won't he obey me, I'm his master, his creator."

"Did you really think you could control the Darkness?"

Falling down onto his knees as the voice echoed through his head, the Digimon Emperor gritted his teeth as the metal floor beneath him seemingly turned into a hole of liquid darkness, several voices laughing out at him from its depts. "I don't fear the darkness, it should fear me. I am the ruler of this world."

Staring at the sight, Yolie struggled to figure out if she should rush over to help him, or let him suffer through whatever was wrong with him. "What do you think is wrong?" Still, it couldn't hurt to ask someone.

Turning away form the golden light, TK stared at their enemy, hearing the words he mumbled out. "I think he tried to control the darkness of this world, but it proved to much for him." At that moment, a final shuddered went through the base as all the lights went out around the place. "Way to go Davis, whatever you did worked!"

"Look at our digimons." Cody pointed out as he stared at Upamon glowing brightly. "Something's happening to them."

"Upamon digivolve too, Armadillomon!"

"Poromon digivolve too, Hawkmon!"

Staring in awe, Yolie watched her partner, as he looked just as surprised. "They digivolved."

"Togemon digivolve too, Patamon!"

Staring at his own partner who had flown off his hat when he digivolved, TK blinked. "I don't believe this."

"DemiVeemon digivolve too, Veemon."

Looking down at his partner, Davis smiled. "You're back." Then he turned back to watch the light die down around the object, a digiegg of pure gold taking shape before him as it hovered gently up into his hand. "Is this mine?"

Staring in pure excitement at the digiegg, Veemon nodded. "It must be, come on let's use it."

Facing the other digi destined, he saw the looks of determination in their eyes. "Okay." Then he spun around completely and held the digiegg out before him, somehow knowing what he had to say in order to activate it. "Golden Armor Energize"

At his cry, the digiegg explode into several rays of light that blazed out to cover his digimon partner. "Veemon Golden armor digivolve too, Magnamon." The light fading to reveal a dragon man like digimon dressed in golden body armor.

Hovering in the air above the remains of the engine room, Magnamon looked at the human children before him, seeing the hope in their eyes, a hope that he could stop the Digimon Emperor once and for all. A hope he wouldn't fail. "The balance of power has shifted."

TBC: Times of Hope.

AN: Things are moving forward with this story. And once again I am surprise of what I had only intended to be a one shot dark fic. Eight chapters and a Prologue and the story isn't even halfway done yet.

Hope the last part didn't look too much like the actual episode.