Chapter 19 - The Captive Digimon (Pt.1)

"Hold on, Agumon," Tai told the rain-streaked window as a clap of thunder sounded overhead, "I'll be there soon. Just a few more minutes." He squirmed uncomfortably in has seat as the teacher continued watching the class.
"Are you holding up okay, Tai?" Azukia asked sadly from her seat next to him. But Tai was too distracted to hear. She sighed and went back to taking her math test. Tai gave a start and went back back to his own. The bell sounded and the pair rushed out the door.

A parade of brightly colored umbrellas filled the middle-school grounds. The Digi-Destined were once again making their way to the computer room.
"We're late!" Kari cried.
"Hurry!" TK added.
"Quit splashing!" Davis cried as Tara kicked a large amount of water towards him. Once to the safety of the building the group, minus Cody, Ashi, and Yolei, ran to the computer room. Tai, Ashi, Cody, Azukia, and Izzy were already there.
"You're late." Tai told them.
"We're so sorry, Tai." Kari breathed. Ashley nodded, blue eyes wide with concern.
"Hey, don't blame them," Davis said, stepping forward, "It's my fault we're late. I had an appointment for a haircut, but when I looked in the mirror, I realized my hair was perfect."
"What a completely helpful thing to be worrying about about at a time like this." Tara said, rolling her eyes.
"The problem is that he was looking in the mirror for over an hour." TK said.
"But what about Agumon?" Tai asked, "What about Emi?"
"They can make their own appointments." Davis said. Tai growled and began shaking. Azukia narrowed her eyes and started fingering the silver whistle with the "A" writting in pink gem-stones around her neck.
"Davis, if you're going to part of the group then you're going to have to think less of your hair and more of the team." Kari said.
"Here here." Ashi piped up.
"Okay." Davis said.
"Now let's go save our friends." Kari said.
"By the way, what did you tell your mom about Emi missing last night?" Azukia asked TK.
"I just told her she was spending the night at Matt's." TK said, looking worried, "But I don't want to tell Matt yet."
"You're going to have to soon." Azukia said.
"We'll find her today." TK said, trying to sound confident even though he didn't look it, "But where is Yolei?"
"She's cleaning her glasses." Izzy said as Poromon cried her name.
"As big as those are, that could take hours." Ashley joked.
"When are people going to learn to wear goggles?" Davis asked.
"Well hurry up and go find her so we can leave already." Tai ordered.
"Okay, okay." Davis said, hurrying out the door.
"We'll go with you." Cody said, and he Ashi followed him. But right as they exited the room, they found Yolei standing right beside it.
"Yolei?!" Cody asked.
"Hey. How you doin'?" She said in a monotone and walked in the door, slumped over.
"Yolei, we've been waiting for you so we can go to the Digital World." Tai said as the girl made it into the room, "We're going to save Agumon and Emi."
"And show that Digital Emperor just who's boss!" Davis said as he, Cody, and Ashi followed Yolei into the room. Yolei said nothing.
"What's wrong, Yolei?" Ashi asked, walking up to her.
"Don't you want to go to the Digital World?" Poromon asked.
"I'm not going." Yolei said.
"Why not?" Demiveemon asked, "Tell us what's wrong so we can help."
"Well, I can tell that you're the last person I'd turn to if I was in trouble and needed some help." Tai snapped.
"Be nice, Tai." Kari said, touching her brother lightly on the arm.
"I'm sorry," Tai sighed, "I'm just worried about Agumon."
"And I'm worried about Emi." TK said.
"Well, she should be okay. I mean, if his Dark Rings can't control Ultimate Digimon, it's not likely they can control people." Tried to assure him. TK didn't perk up much.
"I don't want any of you to put your lives in danger if you don't think you're up to the challenge." Tai said solemnly, "So maybe it would be best if you stayed here, Yolei. I don't want anyone to go if their heart isn't into it."
"M-hm." Kari said with a nod, still clutching her brother's arm.
"And if it'll make you feel any better, Yolei," Tara said, "You stay here and do my math homework. Just to keep yourself busy."
"Mine, too!" Davis said.
"Come to think of it, some of our kendo sticks need polishing." Ashi said, looking at Cody with a grin.
"And some of my pictures need framed and matted for the art show." Ashley said.
"I don't...have to go?" Yolie asked, looking confused.
"Sure." Izzy assured her with a smile, "You can make a day of it. Cleaning, math homework, and all those other fun things you love."
"You sure?"
"What do we have to do, hold up a sign?" Gatomon asked, "If everyone says you should stay, then you should stay."
"Gatomon's right, Yolei," Poromon said in his squeaky voice, "If you don't feel like going to the Digital World, then I don't feel like going either."
"Now that that's finally settled, let's go get Agumon and Emi." TK said.
"Right!" Azukia said. She and Kari ran to the computer.
"Everyone's ready, so let's go, Digi-Destined!" Kari cheered, "Digi-Port open!"
And away they went.

"The Dark Rings keep failing." The Digimon Emperor said, "First there was Andromon. Then SkullGreymon. It doesn't work on the girl either." He lifted his fingers to one of the touch-screens floating in the air, "The Dark Ring...there must be a flaw with it, but what could be wrong? Is it not powerful enough."
The screen switched to a view of Greymon laying on the ground, motionless. Next to him, the girl he had captured was curled up, still having not woke up from the shock she had recieved the day before.
"Well, I can still experiment on those two." He said to himself.
"Here we go again." Wormon sighed.

"It's good to have the whole gang back again." Tentomon said. He buzzed to stop on a limb, "Welcome to my treehouse. Actually, it's not much of a tree-house anymore, since SkullGreymon destroyed it. Now it's more a twig-house. But that's okay. I was planning on re-decorating anyway."
"We don't care about your stupid tree, Tentomon." Davis said, "We're here to stop the Digimon Emperor from hurting more Digimon and people."
"It's incredibly important that we stop him." Tai urged, "If he continues to get more powerful, he'll destroy the entire digital world!"
"Watch it Cody! Be careful!" Armadillomon cried as a stick came perilously close to smashing him in the head.
"I'm sorry," Cody apologized, "It's just that Ken makes me so angry!"
"Yeah!" Armadillomon and Rikumon cried, "Me, too!"
"Guys, you really need to learn to control your temper." Cody said, putting the stick down. Ashi giggled.
"How in the Digi-World are we going to find out where Agumon and Emi are?" Patamon asked, watching as Tentomon buzzed to and fro.
"Tentomon will help." TK said confidently.
"Now that Tentomon is out of his tree," Veemon said, "We can climb and take a look around."
"You bet!" Davis said.
"Don't touch my tree!" Tentomon snapped. The pair sighed dejectedly.
"Tai...you okay?" Kari asked. Tai didn't answer.
"I haven't seen Tai this upset since Nekomon and I popped his soccorball with our claws." Gatmon said. Nekomon sweatdropped at the old memory.
"He's really upset." TK mused.
"You both have a right to be." Azukia pointed out.
"All this standing around is making my paws itch." Nekomon complained, "Let's get a move on."
"Right," Tentomon said, buzzing off over a large pool of lava, "I'll go see what I can find out. But don't touch my tree! I know exactly how many pieces of bark on it." As he left, Tara poked his tree.
"Oops." She laughed under breath.

Greymon was sprawled out on his stomach in the same room he had been left earlier. Emi was now chained to wall opposite him, light blue eyes half-open.
"Greymon!" The Digimon Emperor's voice came over the speakers, "Now is the time! Dark-Digivolve!" Greymon stood up.
"Greymon Dark-Digivolve to...SkullGreymon!" Emi's eyes flew open. SkullGreymon was now smashing all of his bony limbs into the surfaces of their prison room. Emi screamed as he came racing towards her and began to headbutt the wall above her head. She screwed her eyes shut.
"At least it isn't Coronamon, at least it isn't Coronamon!" She chanted. SkullGreymon gave up on that and walked off to try another means of escape.
"Look, Master," Wormon said, "He's trying to escape. And we just had those walls re-done." The Digimon Emperor gasped.
"He's too powerful! He's overloading the Dark Ring! I must transfer more power to it." At this point, SkullGreymon began to launch torpedos at the domed ceiling.
"Greymon!" Emi cried, "Stop! You'll kill us both!" But he could not or would not listen. Once he had made the hole began enough, he leapt towards it, only to have a huge wave electricity crackled over the walls of the room. Emi screamed as it hit her and her vision began to fade, but this time she fought it.
"That was close." The Digimon Emperor breathed as SkullGreymon faded back into Greymon.
"Greymon..." Emi whispered.
"You can't control SkullGreymon, he's too powerful." Wormon warned.
"Want a bet?" The Digimon Emperor asked. The Dark Ring on one of his screens disentegrated.
"Please, Master. Let's just let him go."
"Be quiet! Greymon! Dark-Digivolve!"

"Look, a Control Spire!" Ashley called to the group, pointing to the tall black tower on the hill.
"Good catch, Ashley," Davis rewarded. Ashley turned a light shade of pink and beamed.
"This is one of the areas the Digimon Emperor controls." Ashi said. Flamedramon strode a few paces ahead of the group.
"Somethin's coming!" Davis warned. A large, dead-tree-like digimon rose from the dirt.
"I am Woodmon," He announced, "And I am unbeatable."
"Riiiight." Tara said, disbelievingly.
"Fire Shield!" Flamedramon threw himself at the Woodmon, causing it to go sailing into the Control Spire.
"Yikes." The Woodmon said as he caught the Control Spire before it smashed him into the ground. The Dark Ring around his forehead shattered, "Who are you? And where am I?"
"Hey Woodmon!" Azukia shouted, cupping her hands around her mouth, "Do you know where the Digimon Emperor is?"
"I can't be sure, but I think he went that away." The Woodmon pointed with his foot.
"Thank you!" Ashi called with a wave.
"Go! Go!" Tai urged. The group began to run off in the direction they had been given.
"Hey!" The Woodmon called after them, "A little help? Big tower! Really heavy!"

"Huh. I've cleaned my glasses three times now, but I still don't feel happy," Yolei, back in the real world, said as she shut of the faucet. She picked up her digivice, "Tai? Guys? Is everything okay? They probably never want to talk to me again after I abandoned them. Well, it's time for me to get strong! Oops, I missed a spot."

"Accoridng to my calculations, Agumon and Emi can be found in Rail Town." Tentomon told Izzy via the computer connection.
"That's great, Tentomon," Izzy said, typing away at the computer, "I'll let them know."
"And tell them to stay out of my tree!"
"Uh...you bet!"
"Is everybody okay, Izzy?" Yolei asked, walking into the room.
"Tentomon may have found Agumon and Emi." Izzy told her with a smile, "Hey what's wrong?"
"I wanna help." She walked over and took Izzy's seat, "Let me tell them, okay?"
"Well, sure. Just tell them about Rail Town."
"Yeah."

"Once more..." The Digimon Emperor said. SkullGreymon smashed his palm into the ceiling, this time only inches away from Emi.
"Are you trying to kill me?" Emi snapped. The Digimon Emperor ignored her.
"The power-levels..." SkullGreymon began to headbutt things again. Soon after, he took up torpedoing once more, "Hm..."
This time, the torpedo caused part of the ceiling to cave in. SkullGreymon growled as a large piece hit his head and Emi screamed as one came close to smashing her.
"Foolish creature." The Digimon Emperor muttered as SkullGreymon became Agumon, "You should know better than to fight me. But you gave me what I need. A Dark Ring can control an adult-stage digimon, but not a fully evolved digimon. It needs to be a different shape, like a cyldenir or a-" He gasped, "Of course! I know what I need to do now!"

"Tai! Azukia! Slow down!" Cody shouted. His and Ashi's shorter legs were having trouble keeping up with the older kids' pace. Neither slowed down.
"We don't have time to slow down." Tai said.
"Hey look!" Patamon said. A Control Spire stood on one of the small, flowery green hills that surrounded the area.
"That must mean we're in Rail Town." Azukia said excitedly.
"Rail Town!" Ashi cried.
"Rail Town!" Cody shouted.
"It looks more like Grass and Hill Town to me." Davis remarked.
"Okay guys!" Tai said, rushing forward, "Emi and Agumon are in this town somewhere! Now let's go find them! Every body split up and go looking for them."

"If Agumon escapes, then Ken will have to use me." Wormon's shadow fell over the sleeping Agumon. One pincer lifted to split the Dark Ring and electricity crackled around it, "But he's gonna be mad. Oh, I'll bake him some brownies." He scuttled out the door and tossed the Ring behind him.
"The Dark Ring's gone." Agumon said, waking up to find the Dark Ring in front of him, "I'm free! Now it's time for a little pay back." He walked out the door. Because he hadn't known Emi was there, he didn't take her with him.

"This new structure will increase the power ten-fold." The Digital Emperor spoke to the dark, empty room, "I won't even need the Control Spires! No one will be able to stop me from taking over the Digital World! Not a Dark Ring...but a Dark Spiral! With this I can control even a fully Digivolved Digimon. Now to test it on Agumon and that pathetic girl."
He looked at the screen that was monitoring the room. Emi was still hanging from the wall, glaring around the room. But there was something else that was missing.
"What?! Agumon is gone! But...but how?!"

"Agumon's close." Davis said, "I'm following his tracks."
"...Those are train-tracks, Davis." Tai said.
"You know, sort of like the things that apparently did damage to your brain when you were little?" Tara piped up. Suddenly a sound came from the tunnel behind them.
"What's that noise?" Canimon asked, she and Tara turning to look.
"It's either the local or the express." Kari said as a light appeared in the tunnel. A train chugged out, spewing smoke.
"And look who's driving!" Azukia squealed. Agumon was driving the train from behind it, smiling happily.
"It' Agumon!" Tai cheered, "Hey Agumon!"
"Tai!" Agumon called back. Gatomon and Rikumon pulled the lever system, causing the train to change routes and slow to a stop after hitting the barrier.
"That should slow him down." Gatomon said.

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