The town of Santagania had been built along the side of a mountain, a terraced city rising step by step up the slope. A narrow, winding road ran straight through its center, all the way up to the back of the town and on toward the summit. From the highest point atop that mountain, you could clearly see a single Dark Tower rising into the sky.
"There's a Dark Tower up there. If we destroy it first, our Digimon will be able to Digivolve again. That'll give us the edge when we fight the Digimon Emperor." Matt suggested.
"Yeah. Leave something that small to me and Hawkmon, right, Hawkmon?" Yolei answered, full of energy. "Armor Digivolution!"
"Hawkmon Armor Digivolve to—
Halsemon, the Wings of Love!"
Halsemon took to the sky and shot straight toward the Dark Tower at the mountaintop.
"Mach Impulse!"
The huge twin horns on his helmet fired off two scarlet shockwaves, slamming into the Dark Tower and shattering it to pieces.
With the Tower's restriction lifted, the kids, full of fighting spirit again, charged toward the town occupied by the Digimon Emperor.
But just as they were ready to go all out, they froze, staring dumbfounded at the sight before them: in the streets of the town, groups of Vegiemon and RedVegiemon were standing around, holding Dark Rings in their hands and wearing equally confused expressions.
"Huh? What was I doing again?"
"Yeah, what were we just doing?"
"Yeah, yeah, what were we doing?"
"What… is going on?" T.K. had no idea how to make sense of the scene.
"Hey!" Davis ran up front and shouted, drawing the attention of every Vegiemon present. "Quit pretending! Aren't you the Digimon Emperor's flunkies? Get over here and let me pound you! Come on!"
"Huh? Who's that? What's he yelling about?"
"Yeah, what's that supposed to mean? I don't get it."
"Yeah, yeah! Maybe he's just an idiot? Standing there yelling nonsense for no reason."
"Definitely an idiot."
"I think so too."
The Vegiemon chattered among themselves, dissecting Davis's behavior as if he weren't even there. The target of all this trash-talk was practically turning to stone off to the side.
"Davis… you okay there?" T.K. asked uncertainly, the corner of his mouth twitching as he looked at the already-'petrified' Davis. After all, not just anyone could get called a moron by a bunch of Digimon and walk away unbothered.
"Davis is hopeless. Charging in without figuring out what's going on first." Kari covered her mouth to stifle a laugh, sprinkling an extra handful of salt right onto Davis's wounded pride.
With the help of the Vegiemon, who were now free of the Digimon Emperor's control, the kids freed the Digimon locked in the town's prison. After saying goodbye to the Vegiemon and Gazimon, they returned to the computer lab in the Human World, where Izzy and Tai were already waiting for them.
"So you're saying once the Dark Tower was destroyed, all the Digimon wearing Dark Rings turned back to normal?" Izzy asked in disbelief. As soon as they got back, the kids had told Tai and Izzy about this impossible-sounding event in the Digital World.
"It looks like the Dark Towers aren't just there to block Digivolution—they're also what control the Dark Rings." Izzy rested his chin on his right hand as he spoke. "Just like a cell phone needs a signal tower to work, the Dark Towers receive the Digimon Emperor's power and broadcast it to the surrounding area. The Dark Rings pick up that signal and use it to control the Digimon. That means we've got another way to free Digimon under the Emperor's control now."
"And there's one more thing I'd like you all to see."
Izzy turned the monitor in front of him toward the group. Onscreen was a grid of alternating black and white squares.
"What's that?"
"This popped up after I analyzed the D-3 I borrowed from Yolei."
"It kind of looks like a Digital Map." someone murmured.
"Here." Izzy pointed to a single white square surrounded on all sides by black ones. "Just a moment ago, this was still black. Now it's turned white. That change happened right when you destroyed the Dark Tower. So we can say the black areas represent regions that have Dark Towers. That means my hypothesis was correct: the DigiDestined's mission is to go into every area under the Digimon Emperor's control and destroy each Dark Tower, one by one."
"But the black areas on the Digital World's map are probably still increasing." Cody said.
"So that means the road ahead is still really long?" Davis's voice dipped into despair.
"I'll do my best, Matt." T.K. said firmly.
"I will too, Tai." Kari's tone was just as resolute.
With their objective clear, the kids launched a major campaign in the Digital World. They split into five teams; each team had one D-3 and one original Digivice, and pairs moved out together, starting a grand operation to wipe out the Dark Towers. One tower after another fell to their Digimon's special attacks, and the white areas of the Digital Map slowly began to spread.
Meanwhile, inside a certain fortress, the Digimon Emperor, wearing his black Digi-Goggles, watched on the screen as the kids and their Digimon destroyed Dark Tower after Dark Tower he had worked so hard to build. His face twisted with anger—though to be fair, anyone would be furious watching their hard work get smashed over and over.
"So it was those brats." Wormmon muttered unhappily.
"Whatever. None of those places are strategically important anyway." the Digimon Emperor said carelessly. "At this rate, I'll have completely conquered this world in under a year."
Suddenly he jumped to his feet, and in a grand, pompous tone, declared, "All Digimon will bow to me, serve me, revere me! Hahahaha!"
He threw his head back and laughed loudly, every bit the edgy, chuunibyou teen that he was.
Far away, at the storm-lashed northernmost reaches of the Digital World, blizzards howled and snow was driven sideways by the wind. There, a group of bruised, exhausted Gizamon staggered back and forth across the snow, hauling loads of some unknown black material on their backs.
Gizamon were Rookie-level Digimon. Although they preferred to live in the water, they could leap across land like frogs, and were classified as a ferocious type of Rookie.
Special techniques:
Spiral Edge: Gizamon curls its body into a ball and uses the huge teeth on its back to cut into the enemy.
Frog Kick: Jumps high and kicks the enemy with its feet mid-leap.
Water Cure: Fires a high-pressure jet of water at the enemy.
"Crack! Crack!"
The Digimon Emperor snapped his whip down on any Gizamon that lagged behind. "Faster, all of you! Move it! Hurry up!"
"Ken, put this on." Wormmon held up a thick fur blanket, trying to drape it over him.
All he got in return was a vicious glare and a merciless kick. "Mind your own business."
"Hurry up!"
Kicking Wormmon aside, the Digimon Emperor lashed another fallen Gizamon with his whip. "Get up, you useless trash!"
"Stop it!"
Bruised and exhausted himself, Gomamon still managed to grab the whip. "Everyone's already worn out. And Gizamon aren't good at walking on land to begin with."
"So you dare defy me, you worthless thing."
The Digimon Emperor struck Gomamon with a furious lash, sending him flying. "Anyone who resists me pays a price."
Then he smiled cruelly, turning to the Gizamon. "Whoever knocks this guy down gets to rest. How about that?"
He let out a harsh laugh.
At those words, the Gizamon turned on Gomamon with savage eyes. One after another, Gizamon rushed him, slamming into him from all sides. Gomamon was rammed and battered over and over, his body covered in wounds, until he finally collapsed in the snow, unable to move at all.
"Hmph. All talk, no bite." The Digimon Emperor looked down at him with a satisfied smile.
"Ken… the one who beat him does get to rest, right?" Wormmon stepped in front of him and asked.
"No." The Digimon Emperor snapped. "Get up and get back to work!"
He shouted, then unleashed a swarm of Dark Rings that shot out and clamped onto the Gizamon. At once, they moved as if all their exhaustion had vanished, throwing themselves back into their labor with frantic intensity.
Watching the tireless Gizamon, the Digimon Emperor nodded in satisfaction, then turned and left the area with Wormmon trailing behind him—leaving only Gomamon lying alone and battered in the snow.
Suddenly, Gomamon opened his eyes. Gritting his teeth against the pain and braving the storm, he began to crawl across the snow. Eventually he found a TV—but by then he was so exhausted he collapsed in front of it.
At that same time, Joe was still at cram school when his Digivice at his waist suddenly began to beep. After hearing about what had been happening from Matt and the others, Joe knew this could only mean one thing: something had happened to Gomamon, and his partner was calling him for help.
"Gomamon…"
Worried sick, Joe broke into a run, heading straight for the computer lab. He didn't even bother going back to cram school, leaving everyone who knew him stunned. For someone like Joe—who normally treated grades as life itself—skipping cram school was a first.
In the Odaiba computer lab, all the kids had already gathered except Cody, who had kendo practice. Yolei had spotted a blinking red dot on the Digital Map: a distress signal coming from that location.
Crash!
The computer lab door flew open, and Joe burst in, panting for breath.
"Joe? What are you doing here?" Kari asked, puzzled. At this hour, Joe was supposed to be in cram school.
"My Digivice picked up an SOS from Gomamon, so I ran straight here. We've got to go save him." Joe managed between breaths.
"Just as I thought, that red dot is a distress signal from our partners. But the Digimon Emperor's territory has expanded again. It's infuriating." Davis said angrily.
"All right, let's head out right away." T.K. raised his D-3.
"Yeah!"
"Digital Gate, open! DigiDestined, move out!"
The moment they stepped into the Digital World, all of them shivered hard. It was freezing. Even the TV screen they'd emerged from was coated in a layer of ice and snow.
"So cold… Where are we?" Joe's clothes were at least fairly thick, but the kids' outfits auto-changed whenever they entered the Digital World—and out of everyone's new gear, Davis's was by far the lightest and breeziest. No wonder he felt like he was freezing to death.
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